NJPW reveals 2017 New Japan Cup brackets
New Japan Pro Wrestling revealed the brackets for the promotion’s upcoming New Japan Cup tournament on Monday night. The tournament will take place later this March.
The opening rounds are scheduled for March 11th and 12th and will air live on New Japan World. The first round matchups are as follows:
The left side of the bracket (March 11th) —
- Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. EVIL
- Tomoaki Honma vs. Tanga Roa
- Michael Elgin vs. Bad Luck Fale
- Toru Yano vs. Tama Tonga
The right side of the bracket (March 12th) —
- Katsuyori Shibata vs. Minoru Suzuki
- Juice Robinson vs. Yujiro Takahashi
- Tomohiro Ishii vs. Kenny Omega
- YOSHI-HASHI vs. SANADA
The winners of these matches will advance to quarterfinal bouts, which will be held on March 13th-17th. Semifinal matches will be held on March 19th, with the final match taking place on the 20th. The last two dates will air live on NJPW World.
At the conclusion of the tournament, the winner will earn a future title shot. The winner chooses which championship they want to challenge for out of that year’s given options, and the match usually takes place at NJPW’s April pay-per-view. That show will be Sakura Genesis this year in place of Invasion Attack.