Nagaoka sees tournament final
After an intense fortnight of action, the New Japan Cup finally comes down to it's last battle. Ao-re Nagaoka plays host to the Cup finals as we find out just who is the spring survivor for 2025.
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Main event: New Japan Cup Final- Shota Umino vs David Finlay
Singles record: 1-0 Finlay
Our main event will determine who the spring survivor will be for 2025 as David Finlay takes on Shota Umino. Neither man's path to the final has been easy, with Finlay advancing past EVIL, Yuya Uemura and Zack Sabre Jr., while Shota Umino has gotten past Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb and Shingo Takagi to reach this point. For Umino, it's been addition via subtraction that has seen him progress; after a month of soul searching, he returned to action with shaved head, and stripped back ring gear, coupled with an added determination and stubbornness that has proven effective.
It's hard to outdo Finlay in the determination stakes, however. After losing the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship to Yota Tsuji at Wrestle Kingdom, Finlay has decided that he will stop at nothing until he has the IWGP World Heavyweight gold, and can think of nothing finer than defeating Hirooki Goto in Ryogoku, repeating his feat from King of Pro-Wrestling last year, to do so. This is Finlay's second cup final, with his first coming in 2023, and after a quarterfinal success in that year's tournament over Umino. Will Shota avenge that defeat and score the biggest win of his career, or does the cup belong to the Savage King
7th Match: El Desperado, Boltin Oleg & Hirooki Goto vs TMDK (Hartley Jackson, Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr.)
For the first time since losing the IWGP World Heavyweight title at New Beginning, former champion Zack Sabre Jr. meets current champ Hirooki Goto tonight in Nagaoka. Meanwhile El Desperado returns to action after a deathmatch sojourn last week to mark Barb Sasaki's anniversary, and with a hardcore match against Clark Connors for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight gold approaching fast. Plus, as Ryohei Oiwa continues to try and cement his NEVER intentions, what message can he deliver to champion Konosuke Takeshita tonight?
6th Match: Los Ingobernables De Japon (Shingo Takagi & EVIL) vs HOUSE OF TORTURE (EVIL & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)
Ever since EVIL defeated Yota Tsuji in the first round of the New Japan Cup, thanks in no small part to Dick Togo and a handful of powder to the eyes, the King of Darkness has tried to assert his claim to the IWGP Global heavyweight Championship on the Gene Blast's shoulder. The only problem is that in Nagoya Saturday and Fukushima on Monday night, Tsuji has very physically rebuffed those claims, and shown in the process he's not above giving EVIL a much needed boot in his particularly dark regions. This might be the last shot for EVIL to make a statement at the champion's expense, but can he finally take the smile of Tsuji's face?
5th Match: War Dogs (Gabe Kidd, Drilla Moloney & Taiji Ishimori) vs HOUSE OF TORTURE (Ren Narita, Yujiro Takahashi & SHO)
It would be one thing to say War Dogs and HOUSE OF TORTURE's factional war has spiraled out of control, but the truth is control didn't exist from the outset. In a tour marked with disqualifications and countouts on a daily basis, what has escalated is the level of reckless abandon both teams have had as their hatred continues to mount. As Taiji Ishimori re-enters the fray tonight, it seems unlikely this six man bout will put an end to the hostilities, but will there be an in ring result this evening?
4th Match: Los Ingobernables De Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI) vs United Empire (Jeff Cobb, Callum Newman & Jakob Austin Young)
Hiromu Takahashi makes his return to action tonight, and not a moment too soon for Tetsuya Naito, who has been put in a tight spot by Jeff Cobb and Callum Newman of late. Despite advancing past Newman in the New Japan Cup, he fell to Cobb in the second round, and ever since, the United Empire duo has been pressuring Naito for an IWGP Tag Team title shot. Naito for his part has said that he cannot act without the 'team captain's permission, and hasn't been able to get hold of Hiromu through the presumed traditional means of tin cans on the tendedero. Will there be an answer for the prospective challengers tonight?
3rd Match: Just Four Guys (Yuya Uemura, Taichi & TAKA Michinoku) vs BULLET CLUB (SANADA, Chase Owens & Bad Luck Fale)
Bad blood continues to simmer around SANADA's November betrayal of what is now Just Four Guys, and his jealousy that stemmed from Yuya Uemura eliminating him from the first round of the New Japan Cup. After SANADA delivered a post match Deadfall to Uemura Saturday in Nagoya, it's clear these personal issues are not over. Meanwhile, the members of Just Four Guys received an intriguing offer from none other than Hiroshi Tanahashi himself backstage Monday night. The Ace invited Just Four Guys to join forces with Hontai and present a united front against BULLET CUB in all of its forms. Might a decision be made tonight?
2nd Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi Final Road ~Kinship~ Satoshi Kojima vs Hiroshi Tanahashi
Singles record: 5-4 Tanahashi
For the first time in close to 11 years, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Satoshi Kojima go head to head as Tanahashi's Final Road continues. Tanahashi's history with Kojima is deep and complex; in 2001, Kojima left New Japan for All Japan along with Keiji Muto, an opportunity that was offered to Tanahashi as well, but turned down. As the future Ace was on the rise, Kojima hit his prime in the mid 2000s, and drew the ire of Tanahashi in his disrespectful actions after becoming the first to hold AJPW's Triple Crown and the IWGP heavyweight Championship.
Years later, Kojima would meet Tanahashi in the finals of the 2010 G1. Kojima was victorious, making history again as the only non contracted NJPW wrestler to win the summer tournament. Tanahashi felt aggrieved that he was unable to protect NJPW's standing, especially as Kojima went on to win the IWGP Heavyweight title once more, but as Kojima officially re-entered the NJPW fold, it was at Wrestle Kingdom V that Tanahashi defeated the Strongest Arm at last and set the pace for a year long and then record V11 IWGP reign.
Fast forward past their last encounter in the 2o14 G1 and to 2025, where Tanahashi and Kojima tangle for the 10th and final time. There's opportunity for Kojima tonight to tie up the career score with the Ace, while Tanahashi seeks to show his superiority once and for all.
1st Match: ELP NJPW World Open Challenge- El Phantasmo vs ?
We'll start the main card in Nagaoka with the return of El Phantasmo's NJPW World Open Challenge. Last time out at Anniversary, Master Wato's sudden appearance to challenge was a real surprise, but this time, there might be more grounds to speculation. Great-O-Khan defeated ELP in the New Japan Cup to stake a claim to the TV gold, while TJP scored his own pin on the TV Champion with a hurricanrana in Nagoya Saturday. Phantasmo would welcome either, both, or someone completely different Thursday night; who will it be?
Kickoff Match: YOSHI-HASHI & Katsuya Murashima vs Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii
A bonus kickoff match will see Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano take on YOSHI-HASHI and Katsuya Murashima. As Murashima continues to progress as a Young Lion, his power has been of note, even able to powerslam the likes of Satoshi Kojima and Hartley Jackson. Can he and YOSHI-HASHI prove their worth against former IWGP Tag Champions in Ishii and Yano?
