NJPW Announces New Japan Cup 2020 First Round Matches
:njpw:
New Japan Pro-Wrestling has announced the lineup for the first round of their annual springtime single-elimination tournament, the New Japan Cup.
NJPW has confirmed that the winner of the New Japan Cup 2020 will challenge Tetsuya Naito for his IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Championships at Sakura Genesis on March 31st. All days of the New Japan Cup 2020 will be broadcasted live on NJPW World with an English commentary option.
Similar to last year, the field will consist of 32 NJPW wrestlers. The first round will take place over four events on March 4, 7, 8, and 9. The second round will take place over four events as well, on March 10, 12, 13, and 14. The quarter-finals will be held over three events on March 16, 17, and 18. Finally, the semi-finals will take place on March 20th, with the final match to decide the New Japan Cup winner on March 21st.
In the 2019 New Japan Cup, Kazuchika Okada took victory against SANADA in the final, and used the victory to challenge Jay White for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. He would go on to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at the G1 Supercard event at Madison Square Garden during WrestleMania weekend.
Day 1: Round 1 (March 4)
- Togi Makabe vs. Jeff Cobb
- Toru Yano vs. Chase Owens
- Colt Cabana vs. Bad Luck Fale
- Tomohiro Ishii vs. Toa Henare
Day 2: Round 1 (March 7)
- David Finlay vs. Tanga Loa
- Juice Robinson vs. Alex Coughlin
- Yuji Nagata vs. Minoru Suzuki
- Kazuchika Okada vs. Jay White
Day 3: Round 1 (March 8)
- Mikey Nicholls vs. SANADA
- Will Ospreay vs. Shingo Takagi
- Kota Ibushi vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
- Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Taichi
Day 4: Round 1 (March 9)
- Hirooki Goto vs. Yujiro Takahashi
- Karl Fredericks vs. KENTA
- Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. YOSHI-HASHI
- Satoshi Kojima vs. EVIL
