Night One Of New Japan Cup 2025 Cancelled Due To Broken Ring

NJPW's New Japan Cup was scheduled to get underway today at Tokyo's Korakuen Hall but all matches planned for the event were cancelled at short notice due to a broken ring.

As can be seen in the image above, one of the ring posts has cracked and New Japan were unable to set up the ring for today's event as a result of the issue. When exactly the ring post broke is unknown. The most recent show to take place at Korakuen Hall was a Dragon Gate event on March 4.

NJPW President Hiroshi Tanahashi opened today's show and apologised for the issue, with fans receiving refunds. Instead of matches, New Japan hosted several spontaneous talk show segments with the talents booked for today's show, including IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Hirooki Goto, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tetsuya Naito, and Yota Tsuji.

Several multi-man matches were booked for today's Korakuen Hall event, as well as the opening matches of New Japan Cup 2025 in Yota Tsuji vs. EVIL and SANADA vs. Yuya Uemura. The two tournament matches have been rescheduled to night two of the New Japan Cup at Korakuen Hall on Saturday, March 8.

The following first-round matches have been announced for New Japan Cup 2025:

• Yota Tsuji vs. EVIL - March 8 - Winner will face David Finlay on March 11.
• Yuya Uemura vs. SANADA - March 8 - Winner will face YOSHI-HASHI on March 11.
• Ryohei Oiwa vs. Chase Owens - March 8 - Winner will face Zack Sabre Jr. on March 11. 
• Gabe Kidd vs. Ren Narita - March 8 - Winner will face Taichi on March 12.
• El Phantasmo vs. Great-O-Khan - March 9 - Winner will face Shota Umino on March 12.
• Tetsuya Naito vs. Callum Newman - March 9 - Winner will face Jeff Cobb on March 14. 
• Tomohiro Ishii vs. Drilla Moloney - March 9 - Winner will face TJP on March 14.
• Boltin Oleg vs. Bad Luck Fale - March 9 - Winner will face Shingo Takagi on March 14.

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