NNew Japan Pro Wrestling

My NJC ‘26 Predictions!

  • February 28, 2026


This year’s bracket honestly feels very…straightforward, easy tbh. While I can see Boltin beating Ren, Yuya vs Shota feels like a guarantee for finals with one of them (preferably Shota) turning heel.

(with feeling confident in the end game, that means we’re gonna get swerved with Shota going on to lose to Big Yuj in round 2 and the finals being Aaron Wolf vs Hartley Jackson LOL)

by Meme_Machine_yee

6 comments

  2. Same except Wolf loses to Fale. The key is to have Callum/Shota/Yuya each defeating a former IWGP champ gatekeeper to get to the Final 4

  3. I think you’re dead on the money with two exceptions:

    Wolf is an Olympic Gold Medalist and legitimate draw, Shingo is pretty clearly moving down the card. I think Wolf beats Shingo and loses to Uemura.

    Oiwa and ZSJ have met twice before in the cup. I think Oiwa finally beats ZSJ in the NJC, before losing to Umino.

  4. Still think Oiwa and Goto are destined to meet in the semis and Oiwa will mirror Zack’s run of winning big matches en route to winning the NJC (Ice, Zack, Shota, Goto, and either Uemura or Narita)

    I think it’s either a Narita vs Oiwa finals if Oiwa is winning, or Uemura vs Oiwa for an Uemura win, BUT an Uemura win has to lead to him beating Tsuji.

  5. You said it’s straight forward, so I’ll throw some wrenches in to consider.

    – Wolf is very green, so he might keep doing gimmicky HoT matches for now. A Fale win keeps the feud going.

    – Taichi advancing is superior in my opinion. Taichi/Uemura could bring the emotion that Taichi/ZSJ did. That route also sets up a Never defense at SG, where Ren ultimately gets his win back.

    – Henare and Lee wins can lead to a 6M defense (w/ Akira). Plus Henare/Oleg can fight at the next US show for the Strong title.

    – Oiwa losing to Zack twice in a row is kinda pointless. Especially in his hometown.

    – Newman beating Finlay, Ospreay returning, and the multiyear contract shows their commitment to him. His current direction is much clearer than Shota, who they constantly seem unsure about.

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