New Japan News: New Japan Cup Field Set

With THE NEW BEGINNING now in the books, it’s time to look forward to the New Japan Cup, New Japan’s first annual tournament. The promotion announced the field and matchups today.

The New Japan Cup is a single-elimination bracket-style tournament and is an openweight tournament, meaning Junior Heavyweights participate along with Heavyweights. This year’s event has a field of 24, here is the bracket:

Yota Tsuji is the defending tournament winner. The winner will get an IWGP World Heavyweight Championship shot at SALURA GENESIS in April. Notably absent are NEW IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Hirooki Goto & Hiroshi Tanahashi-their hinted-at 3/6 title match is now official. Goto has promised to defend against Yuji Nagata after that if victorious but whoever wins the Cup may be next.

The tournament begins on 3/8.

New Japan 2/11/25 Results (Updated)

New Japan’s first official (post-Tokyo Dome) blowout event of the year, THE NEW BEGINNING, is now in the books.

Today’s event was held at Osaka Prefectural Gym in Osaka and can be watched on demand OUTSIDE JAPAN ONLY on New Japan World. This event aired in Japan as part of WORLD PRO WRESTLING LIVE 2025 exclusively on TV Asahi.

The announced paid attendance was 5502, a legit advance sellout. If indeed legit that’s maximum capacity and then some as the venue’s normal full capacity, which is primarily for sumo, is roughly 5000.

Pre-show match: Jeff Cobb & Francesco Akira beat Katsuya Murashima & El Desperado. Akira pinned Desperado.

Match 1: Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Togi Makabe.

Match 2: Drilla Moloney beat Shingo Takagi.

Match 3: Great-O-Khan beat Shota Umino. Afterwards, Umino cut off his hair.

Match 4: SANADA beat Taichi. Afterwards, a post-match Bullet Club beatdown on Taichi occurred until Yuya Uemura returned from injury to make the save.

Match 5: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles beat Rocky Romero & Yoh to retain the titles. Fujita pinned Romero after Abandon Hope. V1 for the champs. Next up: Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X.

Match 6: NEVER Openweight Champion Konosuke Takeshita beat Boltin Oleg to retain the title. V3 for Takeshita. Next up: Ryohei Oiwa.

Match 7: Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito beat IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Matt & Nick Jackson to win the titles. Takahashi & Naito become the 107th IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. Naito pinned Nick Jackson after Destino. This may be the first time, or first time in a long time, a Junior Heavyweight (Takahashi) holds half of the Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.

Match 8: IWGP Global Champion Yota Tsuji vs. Gabriel Kidd went to a Double KO. As a result, Tsuji retains the title.V2 for Tsuji. Afterwards, EVIL made a surprise return after vanishing following the 1/11 event in the US and, after a beatdown on Kidd, announced that Kidd and the rest of the War Dogs sub-faction are out of Bullet Club. It’s almost all about House Of Torture now outside of maybe Ishimori & Gedo.

Main Event: Hirooki Goto beat IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr. to win the title. Goto becomes the 12th IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. The one New Japan title that has eluded him for 23 years and 8 prior tries no longer does…Bridesmaid no more. Goto celebrated with his children in the ring afterwards and dedicated the victory to his late father. Next/first up: Based on backstage comments/happenings, Goto wanted to give Tanahashi one last shot at the title before President Ace retires at Tokyo Dome 2026. If what they said proves true, that match will happen on 3/6. And if Goto retains, he then vowed to defend against the oldest at 56 years old, Yuji Nagata, who will do his best to defy father time and the odds yet again like he did a few years ago when he won the All-Japan Triple Crown. What’s New Is…Old Again? However, the New Japan Cup is right around the corner too so plans could change.

The next event is CMLL FANTASTICAMANIA 2025, the (usually) annual crossover showcase featuring wrestlers from Mexico’s CMLL promotion (which is a partner of New Japan), starting on 2/19 at Kadoma Sports Center in Osaka. There will be no live or on demand broadcast. This year’s series consists of 8 events total but only the last 2 (both at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo) will be available on New Japan World.

UPDATE: It’s now official. Goto-Tanahashi will happen on 3/6 for the title. Also added to 3/6 is El Desperado vs. Francesco Akira for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship & NJPW WORLD TV Champion El Phantasmo vs. TBA for the title with TBA being an open challenge.

New Japan 2/9/25 Results

New Japan wrapped up the Road To THE NEW BEGINNING Tour today with a house show in Kyoto.

Today’s event was held at Kameoka Sports Park Gym in Kyoto. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 673.

Match 1: Tiger Mask beat Katsuya Murashima.

Match 2: Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito beat Daiki Nagai & Tomohiro Ishii. Takahashi pinned Nagai.

Match 3: Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & Ren Narita beat Ryusuke Taguchi, Boltin Oleg, Togi makabe & Hiroshi Tanahashi. Narita pinned Taguchi after Double Cross.

Match 4: Jacob Austin Young, Francesco Akira, Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb beat Jado, El Desperado, El Phantasmo & Shota Umino. Khan beat Jado with Subaru Sheep Killer.

Match 5: Clark Connors & SANADA beat TAKA Michinoku & Taichi. Connors pinned TAKA after No Cultivation.

Match 6: Taiji Ishimori, Drilla Moloney & Gabriel Kidd beat BUSHI, Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji. Ishimori beat BUSHI with Gedo Clutch.

Main Event: Tomoaki Honma, Master Wato, Yoh, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat Hartley Jackson (Independent/Freelancer), Kosei Fujita, Robbie Eagles, Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. Goto pinned Jackson after GTR.

The next event is THE NEW BEGINNING Tuesday at Osaka Prefectural Gym in Osaka. Live streaming on New Japan World OUTSIDE JAPAN ONLY will begin Monday at 10 PM PT/1 AM ET. This will be a live & exclusive TV Asahi broadcast in Japan.

New Japan 2/7/25 Results

New Japan ran the penultimate event of the Road To THE NEW BEGINNING Tour today in Nagano.

Today’s event was held at Nagano Sports Park General Gym in Nagano. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 750.

Match 1: Tiger Mask beat Daiki Nagai.

Match 2: Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito beat Katsuya Murashima & Tomohiro Ishii. Naito pinned Murashima.

Match 3: Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & Ren Narita beat Ryusuke Taguchi, Boltin Oleg, Togi Makabe & Hiroshi Tanahashi. Sho pinned Taguchi after Shock Arrow.

Match 4: Jacob Austin Young, Francesco Akira, Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb beat Jado, El Phantasmo, El Desperado & Shota Umino. Akira pinned Jado after Fireball.

Match 5: Taiji Ishimori & SANADA beat TAKA Michinoku & Taichi. Ishimori pinned TAKA after Bloody Cross.

Match 6: Clark Connors, Drilla Moloney & Gabriel Kidd beat BUSHI, Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji. Connora pinned BUSHI after No Cultivation.

Main Event: Hartley Jackson (Independent/Freelancer), Ryohei Oiwa, Kosei Fujita, Robbie Eagles & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Tomoaki Honma, Master Wato, Yoh, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto. Sabre pinned Honma after Zack Driver.

The tour-ender is Sunday at Kameoka Sports Park Gym in Kyoto. There will be no live or on demand broadcast. It also has been announced that Tuesday’s THE NEW BEGINNING event in Osaka is now a legit advance sellout. It will be available live on New Japan World OUTSIDE JAPAN ONLY and will be a live and exclusive TV Asahi broadcast in Japan.

New Japan 2/6/24 Results

New Japan continued the Road To THE NEW BEGINNING Tour with the first of 3 non-televised house shows to finish it up.

Today’s event was held at Kashima Sports Center in Ibaraki. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 663.

Match 1: Tiger Mask beat Katsuya Murashima.

Match 2: Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito beat Daiki Nagai & Tomohiro Ishii. Takahashi pinned Nagai.

Match 3: Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & Ren Narita beat Ryusuke Taguchi, Boltin Oleg, Togi Makabe & Hiroshi Tanahashi. Narita pinned Taguchi.

Match 4: Jacob Austin Young, Francesco Akira, Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb beat Jado, El Desperado, Shota Umino & El Phantasmo. Khan beat Jado with Subaru Sheep Killer.

Match 5: Clark Connors & SANADA beat TAKA Michinoku & Taichi. Connors pinned TAKA after No Cultivation.

Match 6: Taiji Ishimori, Drilla Moloney & Gabriel Kidd beat BUSHI, Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji. Ishimori beat BUSHI with Gedo Clutch.

Main Event: Hartley Jackson (Independent/Freelancer), Kosei Fujita, Robbie Eagles, Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Tomoaki Honma, Master Wato, Yoh, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto. Sabre beat Honma with Clarky Cat.

The next event is tomorrow at Nagano Sports Park General Gym in Nagano. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

New Japan 2/4/25 Results

New Japan continued the Road To THE NEW BEGINNING Tour today with the second half of another Tokyo doubleheader.

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 1287.

Match 1: Daiki Nagai & Togi Makabe beat Katsuya Murashima & Hiroshi Tanahashi. Makabe pinned Murashima after a King Kong kneedrop.

Match 2: Jacob Austin Young, Francesco Akira, Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb beat Jado, Master Wato, Shota Umino & El Phantasmo. Akira pinned Jado after Fireball. Afterwarda, Khan cut off some of Umino’s hair.

Match 3: Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito beat Tomoaki Honma & Boltin Oleg. Naito pinned Honma after Pluma Blanca.

Match 4: Taiji Ishimori & SANADA beat TAKA Michinoku & Taichi by DQ. Taichi DQ’d. Low blow.

Match 5: BUSHI, Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji vs. Clark Connors, Drilla Moloney & Gabriel Kidd went to a double countout.

Match 6: Tomohiro Ishii, Yoh, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat Hartley Jackson (Independent/Freelancer), Ryohei Oiwa, Robbie Eagles & Zack Sabre Jr. YOSHI-HASHI pinned Jackson after Shoto.

Main Event: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion El Desperado beat Kosei Fujita to retain the title. V2 for Desperado. Next up: Akira. That match will happen at the annual Anniversary Event on 3/6 at Ota City General Gym.

The next event is Thursday at Kashima Sports Center in Ibaraki. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

New Japan 2/3/25 Results

New Japan continued the Road To THE NEW BEGINNING Tour today with the first half of another Tokyo doubleheader.

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on New Japan World. This was also a live ABEMA broadcast in Japan.

The announced paid attendance was 928. Continuing an unusual trend down for Korakuen attendance for them.

Pre-show match: Katsuya Murashima beat Masatora Yasuda.

Match 1: Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Daiki Nagai by submission.

Match 2: Master Wato, Ryusuke Taguchi & Shota Umino beat Jacob Austin Young, Francesco Akira & Great-O-Khan. Wato beat Young with Vendeval. Afterwards, Khan grabbed an Umino shirt from a fan and tore it up.

Match 3: Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito beat Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe. Takahashi pinned Honma after Time Bomb 1.5.

Match 4: Clark Connors & SANADA beat TAKA Michinoku & Taichi by DQ. Taichi DQ’d. Low blow fake by SANADA.

Match 5: Taiji Ishimori, Drilla Moloney & Gabriel Kidd beat BUSHI, Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji. Ishimori beat BUSHI with Gedo Clutch.

Match 6: Tomohiro Ishii, Yoh, El Desperado, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat Hartley Jackson (Independent/Freelancer), Robbie Eagles, Kosei Fujita, Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. Ishii pinned Jackson after a vertical drop brainbuster.

Main Event: NJPW WORLD TV Champion El Phantasmo beat Jeff Cobb to retain the title. V2 for Phantasmo.

The next event is tomorrow with IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion El Desperado vs. Kosei Fujita for the title in the main event. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET. This is the last televised event of the tour (no live or on demand for the last 3 events).

New Japan 2/1/25 Results

New Japan continued the Road To THE NEW BEGINNING Tour today in Aomori.

Today’s event was held at Aomori City General Gym in Aomori. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 1508.

Match 1: Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & Ren Narita beat Masatora Yasuda, Katsuya Murashima, Boltin Oleg & Hiroshi Tanahashi. Kanemaru beat Yasuda with a figure 4.

Match 2: Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito beat Daiki Nagai & Tomohiro Ishii. Naito pinned Nagai.

Match 3: Togi Makabe & Shota Umino beat Jacob Austin Young & Great-O-Khan. Makabe pinned Young after a King Kong kneedrop.

Match 4: Francesco Akira & Jeff Cobb beat Jado & El Phantasmo. Akira pinned Jado after Fireball.

Match 5: Taiji Ishimori & SANADA beat TAKA Michinoku & Taichi. Ishimori beat TAKA with Bone Lock.

Match 6: Clark Connors, Drilla Moloney & Gabriel Kidd beat BUSHI, Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji. Moloney pinned BUSHI after Drilla Killer.

Main Event: In an elimination match, Hartley Jackson (Independent/Freelancer), Robbie Eagles, Ryohei Oiwa, Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Tomoaki Honma, Yoh, El Desperado, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto. Oiwa was the only winner left, last eliminating Honma.

The next event is Monday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo to start a doubleheader there with a NJPW WORLD TV Championship match as the scheduld main event. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET. This will also be a live ABEMA broadcast in Japan.

New Japan 1/31/25 Results

New Japan continued the Road To THE NEW BEGINNING Tour today with an event in Iwate.

Today’s event was held at Iwate Prefectural Gym in Iwate. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 1020.

Match 1: Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & Ren Narita beat Daiki Nagai, Masatora Yasuda, Bolein Oleg & Hiroshi Tanahashi. Kanemaru pinned Nagai.

Match 2: Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito beat Katsuya Murashima & Tomohiro Ishii. Takahashi pinned Murashima.

Match 3: Togi Makabe & Shota Umino beat Jacob Austin Young & Great-O-Khan. Makabe pinned Young after a King Kong kneedrop.

Match 4: Francesco Akira & Jeff Cobb beat Jado & El Phantasmo. Akira pinned Jado after Fireball.

Match 5: Clark Connors & SANADA beat TAKA Michinoku & Taichi. Connors pinned TAKA after No Cultivation.

Match 6: Taiji Ishimori, Drilla Moloney & Gabriel Kidd beat BUSHI, Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji. Moloney pinned BUSHI after Drilla Killer.

Main Event: Tomoaki Honma, Yoh, El Desperado, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat Hartley Jackson (Independent/Freelancer), Robbie Eagles, Kosei Fujita, Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. Goto pinned Jackson after Shoto.

The next event is tomorrow at Aomori City General Gym in Aomori. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

New Japan 1/30/25 Results

New Japan resumed the Road To THE NEW BEGINNING Tour today in Sendai.

Today’s event was held at Sendai Sun Plaza in Sendai and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 1077.

Pre-show Match: Masatora Yasuda vs. Daiki Nagai went to a 10 minute time limit draw. This was Yasuda’s return after 2 months due to injury and cones as he replaced Shoma Kato, who is now out due to injury.

Match 1: Hartley Jackson & Ryohei Oiwa beat Katsuya Murashima & YOSHI-HASHI. Oiwa beat Murashima with an arc clutch.

Match 2: Jado, Togi Makabe, Shota Umino & El Phantasmo beat Jacob Austin Young, Francesco Akira, Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan. Phantasmo pinned Young after CR 2.

Match 3: Taiji Ishimori & SANADA beat TAKA Michinoku & Taichi. Ishimori beat TAKA with Gedo Clutch.

Match 4: Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito beat Tomoaki Honma & Tomohiro Ishii. Naito pinned Honma after Pluma Blanca.

Match 5: Clark Connors, Drilla Moloney & Gabriel Kidd beat BUSHI, Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji. Connors pinned BUSHI after No Cultivation.

Match 6: Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & Ren Narita beat NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Champions Boltin Oleg, Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi to win the titles. Sho, Takahashi & Narita become the 30th NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Champions. Sho pinned Yano after a low blow.

Main Event: Robbie Eagles, Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Yoh, El Desperado & Hirooki Goto. Sabre pinned Goto with a European Clutch.

The next event is tomorrow at Iwate Prefectural Gym in Iwate. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

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