New Japan Cup 2026 night 7 live results: ZSJ vs. Ryohei Oiwa
The New Japan Cup continues with a show in Aichi on Saturday.
Two second-round matches are scheduled for the event. Two-time tournament winner Zack Sabre Jr. will face Ryohei Oiwa in the main event, while Shota Umino takes on Yujiro Takahashi in the other tournament bout. The winners of the two matches will meet each other in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, March 17, in Fukushima.
ZSJ is a two-time tournament winner, having won in 2018 and 2022. He was eliminated by David Finlay in the semifinals of last year’s cup.
Saturday’s card is the final event before the tournament moves into the quarterfinal round on Sunday with Yuya Uemura vs. Shingo Takagi and Oleg Boltin vs. Ren Narita. Hirooki Goto vs. Callum Newman is then scheduled for Tuesday after both men advanced out of the second round on Friday’s show.
Our live coverage begins at 4:30 A.M Eastern Standard Time.
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Main Card
United Empire (Great-O-Khan, HENARE, Franceso Akira, & Jakob Austin Young) defeated Unbound Co. (Yuto-Ice, OSKAR, Drilla Moloney, & Daiki Nagai)
Ice started the night with a heated exchange with HENARE, resulting in the latter thwarting a Bomboclat with a shoulder tackle. Meanwhile, OSKAR and Akira tussled on the entrance ramp. Moloney reunited with former War Dog Akira, with the Italian using OSKAR’s short temper to blind the referee. This led to Akira stomping Moloney’s midsection. Nagai’s spry energy proved hard for Akira to handle, but the United Empire member vanquished him with his Fireball Knees.
Post-match: Ice and HENARE brawled while OSKAR chased Akira out of the arena and back.
Nagai is on fire, and Akira was a great foil for that—they would have a great time in the Best of the Super Juniors against each other.
House of Torture (Don Fale, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, & Chase Owens) defeated Aaron Wolf, Satoshi Kojima, & Masatora Yasuda
Once the dust had settled in the typical House of Torture ambush, Wolf gained control over Fale with an elbow drop. Owens snuck in some cheap shots, so that Fale could tenderize his prey. Kanemaru further excruciated the former judoka in the corner, pressing his legs into Wolf’s shoulder. Owens capitalized by stretching the Olympic athlete’s neck. Kanemaru sought to pick up where Owens left off, but suffered a Scoop and a Slam for his troubles.
Now unleashed, Kojima’s machine gun chops left a crater in Owens’s chest. Koji-Cutter foiled Owens’s aspired comeback, allowing Yasuda to collaborate with Wolf, the former landing a dropkick. Yasuda met a nearfall after a Last Testament. Owens rubbed salt in the wound with a C-Trigger and Last Testament to defeat the Young Lion.
On the bright side, at least it wasn’t a visual pinfall over Wolf’s body. I’m nearly soured on my hopes of Wolf’s booking in this company. I’ll give it another month. However, I don’t want it to be lost that Yasuda has so much upside; it’s ridiculous. He’s definitely among my favorites in this crop of Young Lions.
Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji defeated Yuya Uemura & Tomoaki Honma
Uemura started spectacularly, slowing Takagi in a headlock and dazing him in an armdrag. Tsuji declared war on Honma’s midsection and chest with his boot and chops, leaving the veteran writhing on the mat. Uemura observed Takagi, catching him mid-lariat, yet didn’t anticipate a Sidewalk Slam to counter him. Takagi built up enough steam to send Uemura flat with a shoulder tackle.
In a bit of comic relief, Tsuji kept rolling out of a few of Honma’s Kokeshi attempts. The seasoned wrestler inevitably fell upon his head as Tsuji evaded another Koskeshi at the last second. Eventually, Honma landed the move directly on Tsuji’s shoulder. Uemura lent some aid, but Takagi cut him off with a Pumping Bomber. Tsuji ended Honma with a Gene Blaster.
Oh, this was so much fun. I had a dumb grin just seeing these two teams go at it. Uemura and Takagi are going to have a barn-burner on tomorrow’s March 15 Cup show. Honma’s Kokeshi attempts brought levity to the intensity. Nothing too complicated, just simple graps.
United Empire (Callum Newman, Jake Lee, & Zane Jay) defeated Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) & Tatsuya Matsumoto
Lee grimaced as Bishamon and Matsumoto struck him with Beats of the Revolution after Newman baited Goto with a faux-lock-up spot. Jay subdued YOSHI-HASHI with a torrent of elbows. Matsumoto and Jay set forth a flurry of fists, but it was a dropkick from the former that birthed a comeback. Victory was nearly on the horizon, as Matsumoto fleetingly held a Boston Crab on Jay’s carcass. Lee broke it up and paid dearly, with YOSHI-HASHI coming to the rescue. Matsumoto stared at the lights once Lee’s Facebreak Shot saw the latter pinning him with one palm of his hand.
I enjoyed Newman versus Goto at 2025’s Wrestling Dontaku, and this was a savory primer to tomorrow’s rematch. Matsumoto and Jay were entertaining in their back-and-forth.
Oleg Boltin & Toru Yano defeated House of Torture (Ren Narita & Dick Togo)
Boltin singlehandedly triumphed over an early House of Torture dominance with a Scoop and a Slam to Narita. Yano argued with Referee Marty Asami about his typical turnbuckle pad routine; meanwhile, Togo removed one of those pads. Yano would be subjected to the turnbuckle’s exposed steel repeatedly, in addition to stomps on his left leg. Boltin swung a comeback with his Boltin Shake that disoriented Narita long enough for a Boltin Bomb.
Narita saved himself with a quick kneebar. Yano finally managed to strip bare a turnbuckle pad, and he teamed with Asami against a ruthless Togo. Fortunately for Yano, he stole the win with a roll-up while Togo bickered with Asami.
I totally pictured House of Torture escaping with the pinfall over Yano, or at least a Boltin victory. Maybe a sea of HoT members is interfering. Instead, I got a chuckle out of Yano outsmarting Togo. Narita and Boltin contrast each other quite nicely, so I’m anticipating their next singles match.
New Japan Cup
Shota Umino defeated Yujiro Takahashi
Takahashi soon took off his shirt after many headlocks opened this contest. He employed a single-leg Boston Crab. Firmly in control of the pace, Takahashi’s luck ran out the moment Umino pulled out a Fisherman’s Suplex. Umino ensnared Takahashi via STF, narrowly ending in a rope break. Dick Togo and Yoshinobu Kanemaru came to Takahashi’s side, but he begged them to leave. Both competitors were left to volley elbows to one another’s jaw.
Although Umino picked up speed for a lariat, Takahashi pulled one of his own out in the nick of time to save his control of the match, much to the hype of the Aichi crowd. Umino screamed in defiance, launching himself in a Shining Wizard for a nearfall. Takahashi resorted to a low blow. House of Torture flocked to the ring and gifted Takahashi his shirt back. Umino refused every pinfall, even when the group choked him and clobbered him. He even denied Takahashi’s cane, rebounding with a lariat. Umino left the match with the pinfall courtesy of his Second Chapter, advancing to the quarterfinal.
The story of Takahashi and Umino’s past played an emotional role in this match. Thankfully, I knew better than to get invested. Kanemaru did something similar not too long ago with Taichi. Shame, though, the match was legitimately good until that point. The wrestling narrative equivalent of “it was all a dream” in most storytelling tropes.
Zack Sabre Jr defeated Ryohei Oiwa
Oiwa proved too mighty to kneel to Sabre’s technical stylings in the early goings. Eventually, Sabre secured a headlock. Oiwa’s strength outmatched Sabre’s strategy, his familiarity leading every evasion of armbars and headscissors. Locking in a cravat, Oiwa planted Sabre to the mat. A Penalty Kick echoed from Oiwa’s chest, reverberating through the Nagoya Kinjo Pier Arena.
In the corner, Sabre kicked at his comrade-turned-opponent. A few too many times, he returned to the well with more kicks. Oiwa toppled him with a lariat. He caught Sabre’s leg and targeted his knee. Oiwa retaliated with a dropkick as Sabre clutched desperately at his knee. He carved a space to breathe after a cross armbreaker. Another dropkick by Oiwa swung the match back in his favor. Tying his legs around Oiwa’s shoulders, Sabre cut off Oiwa’s circulation and stole his leg to stall an inevitable rope break.
Oiwa flipped Sabre like a pancake via his patented The Grip. One Doctor Bomb later, and Oiwa caught Sabre in an Ankle Lock. He maneuvered it behind Sabre’s back, applying such pressure to force Sabre to a rope break. Oiwa pulled deep within himself to kick out of a Zack Driver to the shock of the Aichi crowd. Catching a Penalty Kick, Oiwa glanced reproachfully at Sabre, who concussed him a moment later with another, more successful one. Grip after Grip, Oiwa’s aspirations were denied until finally, one sent Sabre to the cerulean mat. Sabre redirected Oiwa’s Grip into a Zack Driver to put away his comrade once and for all.
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. To that effort, though, I need to commend Walker Stewart for his exceptional commentary. For a match just to qualify for a quarterfinal, this match was art. How can you surpass someone you care about, who knows you as much as you know yourself?
Final Thoughts
Not a bad night whatsoever. Sure, the House of Torture got another win in a match featuring Aaron Wolf, but we must expect this of booking right now. Moving on, however, Yota Tsuji and Shingo Takagi versus Yuya Uemura and Tomoaki Honma was my favorite of the undercard.
In terms of the New Japan Cup matches themselves, ZSJ and Oiwa stole the show entirely. Expert craftsmanship from men who knew their craft and their distinctive techniques, respectively. I can’t put over enough how great that match was. Had it not been for the House of Torture shenanigans, Yujiro Takahashi and Shota Umino would have reached that same level. Sadly, I must again stress that we must expect that type of booking in NJPW.
I’m looking forward to what comes of the quarterfinals.
Corey Michaels covers the play-by-play action of events hosted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Referenced by content creators and Wikipedia articles, he adds his prosaic voice with authority to the F4W/WON audience.
A content writer and wrestling fan, Corey has woven the stories of our great sport into literature. He cuts to the emotional core of characters, rivalries, and angles.