Boltin Oleg and Ren Narita Reach Second Round of NJPW New Japan Cup

By Noah Leatherland

The second day of the NJPW New Japan Cup took place in Korakuen Hall, with four more men looking to reach the second round. Of the hopeful prospects, it was Boltin Oleg and Ren Narita that advanced.

Boltin Oleg faced off against El Phantasmo, two men who had very different fortunes at The New Beginning USA. Oleg rode into Korakuen Hall on the high of dethroning Tomohiro Ishii as NJPW STRONG Openweight Champion, whereas El Phantasmo was reeling from losing his NJPW World TV Title to Konosuke Takeshita. Both men’s recent form carried over into the New Japan Cup. Oleg used his power to thwart El Phantasmo, booking a spot in the second round.

Oleg was feeling the power of the Lion Mark in his post-match comments:

I’m here to win championships, become even stronger, and become the world’s greatest wrestler…. New Japan Pro-Wrestling, let’s get even more exciting, even stronger. I believe New Japan Pro-Wrestling is the world’s greatest wrestling organisation, so I’ll keep pushing forward!

In the main event of the show, Taichi came up against the current NEVER Openweight Champion, Ren Narita. Narita started the match by attacking Taichi during his entrance, quickly turning it into a brawl around the ring. It was not a matter of if the House of Torture would get involved, but when. Shota Umino appeared to try and even the odds, but the House of Torture’s underhanded tactics proved too much for Taichi to handle. Narita took advantage of his stablemates’ interference and scored a pinfall on Taichi, advancing to the second round.

Both men will meet competitors who received a first round bye in the tournament. On March 12th, Ren Narita will face Satoshi Kojima, while Boltin Oleg will come up against HENARE.

Here are the full results for NJPW New Japan Cup 2026 Day 2, courtesy of purolove.com:

• Masatora Yasuda def. Taisei Nakahara (6:51)
• Shota Umino, Aaron Wolf, Toru Yano & Master Wato def. Chase Owens, Yujiro Takahashi, DOUKI & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (8:38)
• Shingo Takagi & Gedo def. Don Fale & Dick Togo (3:53)
• Jake Lee, HENARE & Jakob Austin Young def. Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Tatsuya Matsumoto (9:21)
• OSKAR & Drilla Moloney def. Callum Newman & Zane Jay (4:35)
• Zack Sabre Jr., Ryohei Oiwa, Robbie Eagles, Kosei Fujita & Hartley Jackson def. Yota Tsuji, Yuto-Ice, Taiji Ishimori, Robbie X & Daiki Nagai (14:07)
• New Japan Cup – Round 1: Boltin Oleg def. El Phantasmo (18:08)
• New Japan Cup – Round 1: Ren Narita def. Taichi (22:40)