Horangi

Agreed that the last few matches were really good last night, not sure if any were match of the year contenders (could see an argument for Callum/Shingo as a lower end consideration). I felt last night was more about progressing stories more than anything

Just a thought, would it just be easier to have one 2026 NJPW thread instead of ones for every tour? I'm not sure the engagement for individual threads really exists anymore. Either way, night 1 thoughts. Will probably miss most of night 2 live.

I can't compare the Trenton match as its still PPV (I think), but Tsuji vs Andrade was excellent. A mid/late 2010s style NJPW main event with just some insanely brutal spots.

NOAH spoilers:

I noticed I did not add the following, see the New Japan Cup/Sakura Genesis threads for thoughts (really high recommendations here): - 20/3/26: Yuya Uemura vs Oleg Boltin - 20/3/26: Shota Umino vs Callum Newman - 21/3/26: Yuya Uemura vs Callum Newman - 4/4/26: IWGP Tag - Knockout Brothers vs Zack Sabre Jr & Ryohei Oiwa - 4/4/26: IWGP Heavyweight - Yota Tsuji vs Callum Newman And two more from Hiroshima Red Zone 25/4/26: IWGP Jr Tag - Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X vs Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita 25/4/26: IWGP Tag: Knockout Brothers vs Bishamon

I'm probably the biggest New Japan defender here so hopefully I can provide a relevant perspective. Callum as IWGP Champion: HATED it when it happened, still not completely sold on it and unless Tsuji is winning it back at Dominion I have no idea how this draws, especially over say Tsuji vs Uemura. I'm going to take this as New Japan has him on a 3 year deal and want to get the most out of it before inevitably losing him to AEW or WWE. Beating Nakamura's record just seems like a way to force Newman into a spot he may not be ready for. Yota Tsuji losing the belt: One thing I'd like to point out is that the charismatic anti-hero archetypes rarely have long runs - Tsuji, Naito, Chono (injured yes but never getting another run makes me feel it wasnt going to be a long one), Nakamura (I feel Tsuji will be more associated with the 'white belt' like Nak) and even Choshu to a point are examples. AEW x NJPW: Compared to a lot of the X/Reddit fanbase I don't hate the relationship, things like Forbidden Door are benefiting them financially, if i had any gripes it would just be having so much booking revolve around AEW. Newman winning makes me think we're getting an Ospreay reign and I think native fans are tired of AEW holding the top belt - Moxley was lukewarm and TAKESHITA was very much rejected. Tsuji is probably dropping the Global to Gabe which leads to the possibility of both top titles being on AEW guys. Yes, both have links to New Japan but still, most fans wish they'd prioritise their home talent which just doesn't seem to be happening. I do wish like someone else said AEW would send young guys or those they arent really using for a few tours. The Future: All things aside, if they can sort out their long term booking, they have a lot of very talented guys, possibly one of the most talented generations they've ever had: Uemura deserves to be in the discussion for best in the world at the moment, Umino has found his groove finally, Tsuji is pretty much there as long as he doesnt get screwed by the booking, Oiwa and Yuto-Ice are very good and close to putting it together, Boltin and Wolf will be legit threats, Fujita will be a great junior ace...the problem really comes down to Gedo. I will say the Newman change is a VERY Gedo move though.

Champions Carnival Blocks Block A: - Kento Miyahara - Go Shiozaki - Yuma Anzai - Rei Saito - Kuma Arashi - Talos - Oddyssey - Kengo Mashimo Block B: -Jun Saito - Ren Ayabe - Hideki Suzuki - Ryuki Honda - Daisuke Sekimoto - Cyrus - Xyon - Madoka Kikuta Block A looks like a blast! Kento, Mashimo, Anzai and Go all together. 5/5 Korakuen is another Kento vs Mashimo match, their one last year was match of the tournament for me.

I'm not going to use spoiler tags as I'm guessing anyone interested either already saw the match or at least knows the result. I'm 100% fine with Callum win, which is a sign of how far he has come as I hated him challenging last year when Cobb left abruptly. I dont think he wins, nor should he (he'd be a great choice for Global champ though) with Dominion getting a terrestrial TV slot, i would think Tsuji holds until atleast then and defends against another top native (Yuya, Shota or Goto maybe?). Yuya losing is fine, I think hes a great shout to win the G1, especially if Tsuji holds until the Dome. Overall summary of the cup for me is despite the slow start, they achieved 3 very important things: Established Callum Newman as a top guy, Yuya Uemura as a very viable ace candidate, and revitalised Shota Umino. From a personal perspective, I completely expected to take a very long break from wrestling after the Dome but they've roped me back in and I'm very excited for the next few months.

Will sum up my thoughts on the final in the morning, but I think Yuya Uemura needs to be in the discussion for best in the world at the moment.

Agreed, I think that was both Newman and Umino's best match to date. Absolutely great stuff and may be my non Tanahashi retirement NJPW match of the year (need to rewatch Tsuji/Takeshita). Umino is finally clicking and Newman since going heel has improved immensely. These two just murdered each other for 30 minutes and I'm looking forward to seeing more in the future (If Shota stays a hontai guy/baby face, Newman is his best rival i think) Yuya/Boltin was great too. Boltin doesn't get talked about enough, he's growth from young lion to here in the short period it has been is very under discussed. Give him another 12 momths and he's going to be an absolute beast. I've said plenty about how good Yuya is recently so just more of the same

Shota vs Zack was great as expected, as I said in the NJPW MOTY thread, these two gel so well together and I think a lot of the shitting on Shota comes from last years Dome main event (some of it fair, some not, nobody taking into account the last minute time very likely added due to the Jr title match injury which Shota wasn't ready for). Since the tag feud with KOB and now this, he's finally starting to get It. Going back to the pink tights (away from the nappy and the starry white pants) has helped tremendously, and this is the most positive I have felt about him since his matches with Ospreay. I still feel having him AND Yuya in Hontai as traditional babyfaces is an issue and one of them either needs to join one of the heelish groups (maybe Shota to UE due to his Ospreay connection) or form their own group (maybe Yuya linking with Taichi and Despe as some J5G/Suzuki-Gun hybrid). I think Yuya/Shota is the likely final, and if I had to make a call, Shota wins it (someone on commentary said besides Jacob Austin Young and someone else, he's the only guy to have not won anything that isn't a young lion) as Tsuji and Shota have generally avoided each other since coming back from excursion (they've met twice in singles matches in block match in 2023 and a playoff in 2025 so never outside the G1 since returning). I am not sure what they can do about Shota and Tokyo/Osaka crowds, but if some kind of edge/turn is teased into the final they can hopefully lean into it (Fukushima crowd was VERY pro Shota, so he's doing okay regionally, just not in the major markets).

Two more to add from the Quarter Finals of the New Japan Cup! These two, along with Zack/Oiwa are by far the best matches of the tournament and it is very positive to see WHO are in these matches for the future: - 15/3: Yuya Uemura vs Shingo Takagi - 17/3: Zack Sabre Jr vs Shota Umino Yuya/Shingo was more fast paced as you'd expect from the two, hard hitting and Shingo's selling was top tier. One thing I love about Yuya's matches is when they really work around the idea of him locking in the arms for the Deadbolt being death, gives kind of a Kento Miyahara feel with the Shutdown Suplex (god Kento would be a great mentor for Yuya). Zack & Shota work so well together, their previous cup and G1 matches, even the Tokyo Dome is nowhere near as bad as people made it out to be (I still believe the rumour this match got the bulk of the added time from DOUKI's injury is true). I will put my thoughts on Shota as a whole in the New Japan Cup thread, but he finally seems to be getting it! Plenty of venom in his strikes, Zack was a complete dick and brought out that anger in Shota.

A few rumours going around NJPW going about at the moment from Super J Cast/VOW/Reddit that are interesting: - Apparently Dragon Dia (Dragon Gate) is expected to join New Japan soon, I'd guess around Super Juniors. - Another big name junior freelancer is also 'very close' to signing with New Japan and this person has a big unannounced match with a top New Japan junior. Let the speculation begin on who this could be As per Super J Cast, EVIL (no surprise) and Hiromu (a little surprised, I thought he'd run around a bit with Naito & BUSHI first) are likely headed to WWE. Again none of this is confirmed but Super J Cast's track record lately has been pretty good (despite their podcast being horrid). They further stated that EVIL wants to go to NXT first to get used to the WWE style, but WWE want him on the main roster while Hiromu is likely NXT bound.

Will definitely be adding Yuya vs Shingo to the best New Japan matches list. The comparisons of Yuya to Bret, Steamboat etc are pretty apt to me, which is likely why of the Reiwa guys Yuya has taken the mantle of my boy (him and Roy). I feel Yuya gets the basics better than any of the others, and is the most adaptable because of it. Not a match of the year, but really fun match was Callum vs Big JAG. Hartley Jackson is by far my biggest guilty pleasure, I'm all in for a Big JAG G1 run. The NJPW Cup hasn't really started firing up until the quarter finals, I wouldn't be against them limiting the field to 16 and doing qualifiers during the New Beginning tour. This year, for example, a 16 man tournament with say Umino, Narita, Uemura, Oiwa, Boltin, Zack, Goto, Callum, Shingo, Drilla, O-Khan, Taichi, Big JAG, ELP, YOSHI-HASHI and HENARE would work so much better and omits deadweight like Chase, Yujiro, Fale. Actually really looking forward to the Zack/Umino quarter final. Ignoring their Dome match, Zack generally gets the best out of Shota.

I will add Zack Sabre Jr vs Ryohei Oiwa to this list from 14/3. A master vs student technical war. Maybe a little long but didnt feel that way to me. Oiwa feels like he is close to that breakthrough win and ZSJ is just one of the best in the world.

Have been busy with life so I've only seen the anniversary show and last night Amagasaki show. Agree on the the Jr title match. I feel this was the worst of their 3 but still really good. From Amagasaki, only one of the two matches is worth seeing and obviously that was Shota Umino vs Chase Owens.... I'm kidding! Oiwa vs Yuto was really good, well worth a look.

For the February portion of the New Beginning tour, there is definitely a match of the year contender from the Osaka show, what I will call Horangi's unapologetic guilty pleasure match and another which is probably not a match of the year but just a really fun match. They are, in order: 11/2/26: Yuto-Ice & OSKAR vs Shota Umino & Yuya Uemura (IWGP Tag) 2/2/26: Boltin Oleg vs Hartley Jackson 2/2/26: Hirooki Goto vs Ryohei Oiwa I really liked the rematch of Bishamon/Boltin & TMDK from Osaka, but the 19/1 version was the better match so it will have to miss the cut this time. Zack vs YOSHI-HASHI just missed the list as well.

Mashimo is still in pretty good shape at 47, his match with Miyahara was my match of the tournament from last year. Surprised no Davey Boy Smith Jr, I am guessing he's been replaced by Talos as the top big gaijin? I've become a Xyon fan, he's perfectly fine as a midcard/tag guy and looks incredible. HAVOC as a stable seems really over which probably helps.

Meltzer obviously has a preference and Jake Lee's oddness doesn't fit into that. The Cagematch 5.77/10 is probably more fair of a score. If you're expecting the typical New Japan title match (like Tsuji vs Takeshita) you will be very disappointed (like Dave was). Bloody hell he gave Gabe vs Andrade 4 stars? I haven't really paid much attention to Dave's ratings in a while, do people still put a lot of stock into them?

The whole thing seems to be based off a dodgy grok translation from a 2nd hand source used on Kenoh's YouTube. Based on what I can see, he may 'technically' be a free agent, he's just negotiating his deal for more money but has full intnetion to sign. How much of this is kayfabe I'm not sure but Kakutolog (the source second hand quoting Kenoh's channel which is known to be clickbaity/shit stirring) is known to be more kayfabe. EffingKENTA's X account explains it better than me EDIT: Tsuji re-signed yesterday, just the normal January/February chaos. You'd think they would learn by now

Without looking too deep into it, Goto is close but Yano is the answer to this for a full timer. Taguchi I think had his debut a couple of months before Goto too.

I am in two minds about putting this on my list of best New Japan matches of 2026 as it is not the typical New Japan epic that most would expect to be on the list, but in terms of favourite matches I think Boltin Oleg vs Hartley Jackson from last night's Korakuen Hall show will absolutely be there. There's just something special about two big lads beating the daylights out of each other all over Korakuen Hall (and 45 year old Hartley Jackson taking that bump onto the chairs...I'm hitting 40 this year and every part of me winced at that). Goto vs Oiwa and Zack vs YOSHI-HASHI are well worth a look too.

I would add the following (I am not doing a top 10 list this year as I am not sure how much I am going to really watch, so I'll just list matches I think were really good) - 4/1/2026: EVIL vs Aaron Wolf (NEVER Openweight) - 5/1/2026: Yuto-Ice & OSKAR vs Zack Sabre Jr & Ryohei Oiwa (IWGP Tag) - 19/1/2026: Zack Sabre Jr, Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson vs Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Boltin Oleg (NEVER 6 Man Tag) - 19/1/2026: Shota Umino & Yuya Uemura vs Taichi & Tomohiro Ishii January was a pretty good month all things considered, especially if you enjoy tag team wrestling.

Completely forgot to mention Nagai! I'm really looking forward to the future Fujita/Nagai rivalry in the next few years. Hell, as long as they all stay, Fujita/Nagai/Wato/Akira is a great potential big four for the junior division.