New Japan Cup 2026 quarterfinals set
The 2026 New Japan Cup is down to its final eight wrestlers.
The tournament continued today with a show in Aichi at Nagoya Kinjo Pier Arena. The final two second-round matches took place on the show.
In the main event, Zack Sabre Jr. defeated his TMDK teammate Ryohei Oiwa with a Sabre Driver in a match that went just under 30 minutes.
Our own Corey Michaels wrote of the bout, “What a main event. It’d be easy to mistake this contest as the finals, given the effort these two put in. The mental games these two played while harkening to their strengths, it’s peak storytelling without the need for words.“
In the semi-main event, Shota Umino booked his ticket to the quarterfinals by defeating Yujiro Takahashi. Umino needed to fend off interference from Takahashi’s House of Torture stablemates, but ultimately picked up the win with the Second Chapter.
Sabre and Umino will now meet in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.
The updated schedule for the tournament is below.
Quarterfinals —
Sunday, March 15:
- Yuya Uemura vs. Shingo Takagi
- Oleg Boltin vs. Ren Narita
Tuesday, March 17:
- Hirooki Goto vs. Callum Newman
- Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Shota Umino
Semifinals —
Friday, March 20:
- TBD
- TBD
Finals —
Saturday, March 21:
- TBD
Ian Carey is a writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, whose work has been featured in NOW Magazine, The Huffington Post, and more. A lifelong wrestling aficionado born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, he has covered the industry for a decade and a half. He joined the f4wonline.com team in 2019.