New Japan Pro Wrestling announced the full list of competitors and bracket for this year’s New Japan Cup tournament, which takes place from March 7-21 in Japan.
24 wrestlers were announced to be competing in this year’s tournament with Drilla Moloney, Shingo Takagi, Tomohiro Ishii, HENARE, Hirooki Goto, Hartley Jackson, Yujiro Takahashi, and Zack Sabre Jr. all randomly being given a first-round bye.
The winner of this year’s tournament will earn an automatic title shot for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at Sakura Genesis 2026 on April 4th in Tokyo, Japan.
Full First Round matchups schedule for New Japan Cup 2026 tournament:
- March 4 – Yuya Uemura vs. Great-O-Khan
- March 4 – Aaron Wolf vs. Don Fale
- March 5 – Taichi vs. Ren Narita
- March 5 – El Phantasmo vs. Oleg Boltin
- March 6 – YOSHI-HASHI vs. Jake Lee
- March 6 – OSKAR vs. Callum Newman
- March 8 – Shota Umino vs. Chase Owens
- March 8 – Yuto-Ice vs. Ryohei Oiwa
Here is your New Japan Cup bracket for 2026!
— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) February 12, 2026
24 entrants
8 first round matchups
8 random byes
Start March 4 in Korakuen, finals March 21 in Nagaoka!
ALL LIVE in English on @njpwworld!https://t.co/XEv2zx04Gl#njpw #njcup pic.twitter.com/QdMzVLRuN9
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