We’ve finally arrived at the quarterfinals, and not a moment too soon. One of these quarterfinals shows even has two tournament matches that don’t involve the House of Torture. Unfortunately, it is not this one. Welcome to Kofu.

New Japan Cup: Boltin Oleg vs. Ren Narita [House of Torture]

Of course, Narita and Yoshinobu Kanemaru jump Boltin during his entrance, and Narita hits Boltin’s knee with a chair. The match starts, and Narita continues working over Boltin’s knee for the next several minutes. Boltin uses a judo throw to create a bit of space between himself and Narita, but Narita kicks the knee and applies a guillotine choke. Boltin tosses him again, though, and then hits a shoulder tackle. Boltin hits a charge in the corner, the Boltin Shake and a Boltin Bomb for a near-fall. Boltin goes for the F5, but Narita counters into an armbar submission; however, Boltin lifts Narita with the one arm into a power bomb. Narita grabs the submission again, but Boltin lifts him into a short Kamikaze. Boltin hurks him up for a real Kamikaze, but Narita escapes out the back and shoves Boltin into the ref, which leads to Kanemaru and Don Fale attacking Boltin while Narita gets the timekeeper’s table for an attempted encore of the finish of the the Kojima match. However, Boltin fights back and hits Narita and Kanemaru with a two-for-one Samoan drop. Fale attacks Boltin, but Toru Yano and Aaron Wolf run in – finally – to put a stop to it. Yano and Wolf take Kanemaru and Fale to the back, and Boltin attempts the Verdict, but Narita counters into a kneebar. Narita pulls Boltin to the middle and attempts to reapply the move, but Boltin counters into a German suplex. Boltin attempts to pull Narita into Kamikaze position, but Narita kicks the knee and hits the Double Cross for a (very) near-fall. Narita goes for Hell’s Guillotine, but Boltin catches him and hits the Verdict and Kamikaze for the win. Outside of the House shenanigans, this match was really good. It makes you wonder how good Narita could be without the House nonsense – it seems to me like he’d be really good – but having to have all the silliness in your matches really puts a hard cap on your potential, and life after the House is uncharted territory so far in NJPW.

New Japan Cup: Yuya Uemura vs. Shingo Takagi [Unbound Co.]

It should be noted that this match is in Takagi’s home prefecture, so he is the clear crowd favorite here. The two go back and forth with mat wrestling to start, but the match gets going pretty quickly, with Takagi using his power advantage to take control. Takagi sends Uemura to the outside and continues to maintain the upper hand. Back in the ring, Takagi hits a vertical suplex for two. Uemura counters a lariat with Divorce Court and goes after Takagi’s left arm for the next several minutes. Uemura hits a back suplex for two, then goes for a double wristlock, but Takagi fights his way to the ropes. Uemura goes for the sleeper, but Takagi manages to disengage with a throw and takes the advantage back with several power moves. Takagi hits a superplex, followed by a sliding Bomber and a power bomb for two. Takagi goes for Made in Japan, but Uemura counters into an arm wrench on Takagi’s right arm. Takagi goes for a strike, but Uemura counters into a Fujiwara armbar; Takagi makes the ropes. The two exchange nasty suplexes; Takagi gets the best of it and goes for the Pumping Bomber, only to be hit by an Uemura dropkick. Uemura hits a dragon suplex for two and goes for the High Fly Flow cross-body, but Takagi comes dangerously close to stealing Samoa Joe’s “nope” spot and steps aside. Takagi hits a Southern Cross and Made in Japan for a near-fall. Takagi pounds Uemura with forearms and a headbutt, but Uemura captures Takagi’s arms for a Deadbolt attempt. Takagi fights out and hits the Pumping Bomber and Burning Dragon for another near-fall. Takagi goes for Last of the Dragon, but Uemura slips out and hits a Pele kick and a hurricanrana, then goes for a cross armbreaker, which turns into an armbar submission – the same one Narita used in the previous match – but when Takagi goes for the same powerbomb Boltin hit, Uemura slips out and hits the Deadbolt. Uemura hits a dropkick in the corner and goes to the top, presumably for the High Fly Flow cross-body, but Takagi hits the ropes and causes Uemura to fall onto the top turnbuckle. Takagi goes for another superplex, but Uemura counters with a sunset flip into a power bomb, then hits the High Fly Flow for two. Uemura grabs the double wristlock; Takagi fights out, but Uemura traps both arms, wins a short headbutt battle, and hits a bridging Deadbolt suplex for the pin. This was a great match, and both guys looked like a million bucks. Uemura has really delivered so far in his three matches in this tournament.

So, Uemura faces Boltin in the semifinals in Nagaoka on Friday. Next up for the tour is the second half of the quarterfinals in Koriyama on Tuesday, which features Hirooki Goto vs. Callum Newman and Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Shota Umino, both of which are rematches of IWGP World Heavyweight Championship matches from 2025. One of them was good; the other was “good,” I guess, in the sense that it told the story it wanted to tell, but the list of matches I’d watch again before even considering that one is very, very long.