Yuya Uemura Is "Raising His Value" In The New Japan Cup [Exclusive]

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 20 marked the end of one era and the beginning of another.

Yota Tsuji, Yuya Uemura's longtime rival, became the first of his generation to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, restoring the V4 title belt and its lineage. Ren Narita stepped up as the new leader of House of Torture upon EVIL's departure.

At the same time, Shota Umino and Yuya Uemura, now tag team partners, struggled to find their footing despite once being beloved by the NJPW audience. In the latter half of 2025, the former Young Lions, once known as Yuto Nakashima and Oskar Leube, returned to NJPW after an excursion in Europe as Yuto-Ice and OSKAR, now collectively known as the Knockout Brothers.

Yuya Uemura and Shota Umino came up short against Yuto-Ice and OSKAR is a thrilling IWGP Heavyweight tag title match at NJPW New Beginning In Osaka. | New Japan Pro-Wrestling

The Knockout Brothers would quickly capture the hearts of New Japan Pro-Wrestling fans with their unique presentation and unforgiving in-ring style. In less than six months, they became IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions and took home Tokyo Sports' 2025 Best Tag Team Awards. By the time NJPW New Year Dash 2026 rolled around on January 5, the Knockout Brothers had become one of the top acts of the post-Tanahashi era.

Their popularity had grown so much to the point that Umino and Uemura, typically well-liked by the audience as a team, were booed mercilessly by NJPW fans when they approached the Knockout Brothers to request a shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships.

The new tune from the audience lit a fire under both men, especially Uemura, who had often been overlooked since returning from excursion. In a VTR before Umino and Uemura wrestled the Knockout Brothers at NJPW New Beginning in Osaka, he said, “We cannot accept booing as normal” and “I’ve become just a wrestler on the roster.”

Although the team of Yuya Uemura and Shota Umino came up short at New Beginning in Osaka, they earned the respect of fans and peers alike for their acclaimed performance.

Obviously, he and I have different approaches and ways of thinking, so one of the biggest things I learned teaming with him was to adapt to that, communicate, and work as a team. When you're tagging, you can't just rush ahead. You have to know when to step back and take a broader view of any situation, and that's an important skill to learn. Challenging for the titles again is definitely something I want to do with Umino, but not for a while. When the timing works out again, we'll team up.
Yuya Uemura on Shota Umino

Uemura credits his partnership with Umino for teaching him several important traits as a wrestler. While the New Japan Cup and the world title are his top priorities, he still has plans of becoming the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions someday.

On New Japan Cup

Two different roads.
One destination.

Newman. Uemura.
Tomorrow, it all ends.

New Japan Cupdate:https://t.co/1uq4xxYTHq

Watch the replay:https://t.co/ThvZydcnWy #njcup pic.twitter.com/u3Y8pMqYAG
— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) March 20, 2026

When asked about his comments about not wanting to be viewed by fans as just another wrestler on the roster by The Takedown On SI, Yuya Uemura said, "To be honest, I feel over the last six months or so, I've been holding myself back, and that's been frustrating to me. I'd really like to unleash all of that frustration and use that for the betterment of all of New Japan. So while obviously I'm in the New Japan Cup to win it, it's also a fight for me to raise my value here."

The New Japan Cup is NJPW's annual spring single-elimination tournament. The winner earns an IWGP Heavyweight Championship opportunity, typically at NJPW Dominion, NJPW's second-biggest domestic show of the year.

For Yuya Uemura, this year's Dominion event on June 24 is particularly special because it will be broadcast on network television in Japan for the first time in years, and his eternal rival, Yota Tsuji, is the current champion.

Yuya Uemura and Callum Newman will compete in the 2026 New Japan Cup final on Saturday. | New Japan Pro-Wrestling

Many fans felt like this year's New Japan Cup would be special for Uemura as well. Before the New Japan Cup kicked off, over 43% of participants in Sport of Pro Wrestling's annual New Japan Cup Bracket Challenge selected Uemura as their pick to win it all over the other 23 competitors.

The next top vote getter was Callum Newman, the cunning young leader of United Empire, who Yuya Uemura will stand across the ring from on Saturday in the final match of the New Japan Cup.

Already having defeated Great-O-Khan, Shingo Takagi, and Boltin Oleg to advance to the tournament, Uemura knew that winning the New Japan Cup wouldn't be an easy task. He told The Takedown On SI, "You only make it to the final of a New Japan Cup if you're one of the best, so with that in mind, it doesn't matter to me who it is. I want to face the best there is."

On the current landscape of NJPW

Yuya Uemura wrestled Hiroshi Tanahashi twice during Tanahashi's retirement tour in 2025. He lost to the Ace at NJPW Dominion and defeated him in the G1 Climax two months later. | New Japan Pro-Wrestling

The 2020s ushered in a mixed bag of successes (and failures) for the entirety of NJPW's younger generation. COVID-19 did a lot of damage to the Japanese wrestling scene on every level. Plus, the departures and retirements of top stars like Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada, Tetsuya Naito, Jay White, and Will Ospreay left gaps at the top of the card that still haven't been completely filled.

On June 29, 2023, the announcement of the Reiwa Musketeer s was released via the NJPW website and other official channels. Yota Tsuji, Shota Umino, and Ren Narita had all recently returned from their own excursions and were quickly positioned as the future leaders of the promotion. Yuya Uemura's name was noticeably missing from the conversation with his fellow Dojo graduates, and he didn't return from his excursion in Impact (TNA) Wrestling until October of that year.

I can see so much potential in NJPW right now. There's a tremendous roster on offer and a lot of potential rivals and opponents for me, and we have great opportunities on broadcast network TV coming up. So I think the stars are aligning for myself and for New Japan to really shoot up.
Yuya Uemura on the NJPW roster

Less than three years later, 31-year-old Yuya Uemura may not be a Musketeer, but he's confident that he's ready to lead NJPW into the future, starting with the New Japan Cup.

Uemura said, "I want to show a strong vision of NJPW through my interpretation of what Strong Style is. NJPW is on the brink of a huge boom period in my opinion, and I aim to be right at the center of it, so that's what I want to show through this Cup."

When asked about where he envisioned himself by the next Wrestle Kingdom event in the Tokyo Dome, Yuya Uemura made his vision crystal clear. "I'm already envisioning [myself] winning in the main event and holding the IWGP Heavyweight title. How that pans out and with whom, I'm excited to see!"

The New Japan Cup final airs live on NJPW World on Saturday, March 21, 2026, at 2:00 A.M. EST. When crediting parts of this interview, please include the link and "H/T The Takedown On SI/Lyric Swinton".