NJPW New Japan Cup 2025 Final (March 20) Results and Review

New Japan Pro Wrestling
New Japan Cup 2025 – Final
March 20, 2025
Aore Nagaoka
Nagaoka, Niigata, Japan

New Japan Cup 2025 Final
David Finlay def. Shota Umino

David Finlay defeated Shota Umino to win the New Japan Cup, in a match that was as frustrating as it was interesting. Both men led equally brilliant moments, but the consistency of Finlay led to me breathing a sigh of relief at the final bell.

The tournament has been a microcosm of the Umino issue that New Japan have booked themselves into. I’m not advocating for Umino to be booted from the cerulean blue, but his booking needs to be tempered with some realistic expectations. To put it simply, Umino is the textbook definition of overpushed. He is put in positions that he doesn’t have the charisma, workrate or cache to handle.

Ultimately, this leads to a distancing between the viewer and what’s actually going on in the ring. We know he isn’t good enough to be where he is, so we position ourselves outside of the ring. It’s impossible to get lost in Umino’s matches because we can never quite forget the salient question – is he good enough to be here? Is this going to be the moment that he finally proves he’s worthy of the spot? Every move, nearfall and victory is stained by the fact we know he probably shouldn’t be there in the first place.

It would be unfair to call Umino’s work consistently bad in this match. In fact, there were moments of absolute brilliance. A flying knee smashing straight into the dome of a rampaging Finlay was a lovely bit of violence and the last five minutes had a nearfall that had me scribbling a star rating, convinced it was all over. On a wider level, he had a snarl that had been missing. He showed signs of that famed fighting spirit when he yelled at Finlay for more and harder kicks. Umino showed signs of the intangible fire that all great pro-wrestlers have; that ability to invest fully in the match and drag the audience along with them.

If he could do this for twenty minutes, he would be a star. Unfortunately, five minutes seems to be his limit. For each moment of brilliance, there were two head-scratchers. He sold a guard rail bump with little emotion. It was more reminiscent of a drunk having a sit down on his walk back from the pub than a man who had just had his back obliterated by steel. A teased count-out spot lasted nineteen seconds, but seemed to take a lifetime as we witnessed awkward flopping. Umino looked like a literal fish out of water, which is quite ironic really.

There were two particularly egregious spots where Umino completely botched reversal attempts. The commentary team told us that the reversals were successful, and Finlay sold them as such, but they obviously weren’t. One was so bad that a clear Finlay powerslam was heralded as a DDT in favour of Umino. It was incredibly fourth wall breaking, and something Stewart and Charlton would have been better off ignoring. Unfortunately, the commentary team are often too busy smashing square pegs into round holes, soliloquising about nuance that isn’t there, to ignore anything.

Finlay was very good, as Finlay is wont to be these days. His selling is superb and the most of the stars this match receives are due to his stellar work. I’m not as high on him as others, but his position as a New Japan Cup winner to (presumably) failed IWGP contender is a great spot and fitting of his talent. He understands the little things that aid our investment in a match. Personally, I find his actual work a bit repetitive but he was at the top of his game tonight. He was better against ZSJ earlier in the tournament, but everybody is better with ZSJ.

Finlay moves on to Sakura Genesis, and who knows what’s next for Shota. Whatever it is, it needs to be lower down the card. I don’t think he’s a lost cause, but you need to be someone like Kazuchika Okada to pull off what he’s been given. ***¾

NJPW WORLD TV Championship
El Phantasmo (c) def. TJP

This would have been the best match on the card if they could have stuck the landing. TJP was much more over than I expected here, and the crowd were rabid for some heel shenanigans. Boot scrapes to ELP’s face were cheered with aplomb and it added a lovely dynamic to what, on paper, appeared to be a standard title defence.

The match didn’t reinvent the wheel, but played out a simple structure very well. There was excellent chain wrestling at the start before a couple of high spots took us into the meat of the match. The ending fell a little flat, as it was slightly co-operative during the more complicated exchanges and an ELP shoulder injury led to a stuttery finish.

Great-O-Khan made the challenge for Genesis. ***¾

Hiroshi Tanahashi def. Satoshi Kojima

While Tanahashi is clearly the focus of his retirement tour, it was Kojima’s ageless presence that was the most arresting part of this match. I don’t know if he has made an ill-advised deal with a shadowy figure, but the man is timeless.

Tanahashi’s body is certainly not timeless. He kicked Kojima’s knee at one point, and I wasn’t sure if he was aiming for the knee or if it was the furthest he could lift his leg. Of course, none of that really matters with Tanahashi. It’s his aura that is timeless, even if the body isn’t. There’s going to be a time where we don’t hear that music, witness the air guitar or see the leap over the top rope as a prelude to a High Fly Flow. I find myself watching these retirement tour matches with more attention than the work warrants because I’m so desperate to hold on to what we have left of our one-in-a-hundred-years ace. The match deserves your time if you feel the same way. ***

Gabe Kidd, Drilla Maloney and Taiji Ishimori def. Ren Narita, SHO and Yukiro Takahashi

This match slotted into the series of multi-man tags leading up to the main event, but I think it deserved a special mention. I have been incredibly high on both Kidd and Maloney for a long time, and they are showing flashes of brilliance in their New Japan work. Perhaps it’s because their work speaks to me – I want my wrestlers to be angry and violent. Maloney vs Ishii from the opening round of the cup was my highlight of the tournament and Kidd’s entrance into the main event of Korakuen was a captivating moment.

Unfortunately, they are now linked firmly with the House of Torture. They are the antithesis of each other, and it is not producing anything remotely interesting. Kidd’s countout exit from the Cup was shameful, and the fact we have to sit through this torturous feud night after night is incredibly off putting. The run ins are predictable, the cheating is boring and the booking needs to improve before Maloney and Kidd are lost to the “what could have been” file. **

Elsewhere On The Card

The rest of the card was a largely skippable cavalcade of multiman matches, none of which would be elevated beyond background viewing. Tomohiro Ishii and Yano Toru def. Yoshi Hashi and Katsuya Murishima (***) in a match designed to give Ishii a bit of heat back after his first round loss in the cup. I found myself wondering how I’ll feel when Ishii’s time inevitably comes to an end, and I’m not sure I’m ready for that yet.

Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens and SANADA def. Taichi, TAKA Michinoku and Yuya Uemora (**¾) in an incredibly boring match. SANADA’s allegiances have been a constant question throughout the tour, but nobody cares about the answer. He wore a very snazzy jacket to the ring, but wacky clothes will never be a substitute for personality. The most interesting part of this match came afterwards when TAKA, Taichi and Uemora were invited into Hontai with a series of manly handshakes. El Desperado and Taichi being in the same unit gave us the feel-good factor we needed after a dismal match.

Testuya Naito, Hiromu Takahashi and BUSHI def. Jeff Cobb, Callum Newman and Jakob Austin Young (**½) in a match that simply existed. Newman had a less than stellar run in the New Japan Cup and I’m not convinced he’s worth the bookings at this point. I appreciate that the “young Ospreay” comparisons did him no favours but he offers very little other than being able to run the ropes really quickly.

Yota Tsuji and Shingo Takagi def. EVIL and Yoshinobu Kanemaru in a tag match that is almost impossible to rate because the mere presence of EVIL destroys any interest in whatever he is involved in. Dick Togo managed to ruin anything good by interfering when things picked up and the most interesting spot EVIL managed was a single leg crab.

Boltin Oleg, El Desperado and Hirooki Goto def. Zack Sabre Jr, Ryohei Oiwa and Harley Jackson in a match that did exactly what it said on the tin (***). The interactions between Oleg and ZSJ were captivating. The lovely juxtaposition of the big strong brute against the sneaky, technical master really got me salivating for more between the two of them.

Final Thoughts

A very unimpressive show to top off a mixed tournament. The March 15 show was much more dynamic, with three ****+ matches and a title match to enhance our interest. If you only watch one show from the Cup, it should be that one. This desperately needed a great main event, but I’m not sure Umino can deliver that. Unfortunately, I’m almost certain he’ll get another chance.