This year’s New Japan Cup will feature 24 participants with the tournament set to take place next month.
The annual New Japan Cup will determine a challenge for the IWGP World Championship and begins on Sunday, March 5th, and runs until Tuesday, March 21st.
Those receiving first-round byes include KENTA, Chase Owens, Jeff Cobb, Will Ospreay, Hirooki Goto, Tama Tonga, Great O-Khan, and Zack Sabre Jr.
The following first-round matches will take place over four events:
*March 5: SANADA vs. Taichi (winner faces KENTA)
*March 5: Tetsuya Naito vs. El Phantasmo (winner faces Chase Owens)
*March 6: David Finlay vs. Tomohiro Ishii (winner faces Great O-Khan)
*March 6: Shota Umino vs. Yujiro Takahashi (winner faces Zack Sabre Jr.)
*March 8: Ren Narita vs. EVIL (winner faces Jeff Cobb)
*March 8: Toru Yano vs. Mark Davis (winner faces Will Ospreay)
*March 10: YOSHI-HASHI vs. Kyle Fletcher (winner faces Hirooki Goto)
*March 10: Shingo Takagi vs. Aaron Henare (winner faces Tama Tonga)
The second round matches will be spread across four shows on March 11, 12, 13 & 15.
The third-round matches are set for March 17 & 18.
The final four to determine who advances to the finals will be on March 19, and the final takes place on March 21 in Niigata.
