NJPW NEW JAPAN CUP 2025 FINAL RESULTS (03/20) : Lansdell’s report on Umino vs Finlay, ELP vs TJP, Kojima vs Tanahashi, more

NJPW NEW JAPAN CUP 2025 NIGHT 8
MARCH 20, 2025
AO-RE NAGAOKA
NAGAOKA, JAPAN
AIRED LIVE ON NJPW WORLD

Walker Stewart and Chris Charlton were on commentary.

(1) EL PHANTASMO (C) vs. TJP – NJPW World TV Championship match

This was billed as an open challenge, which appeared to have been answered by both TJP and Great-O-Khan. O-Khan went up the ring steps first, but only to hold the ropes open for TJP who accepted the challenge. They shook hands to start the match.

TJP got an early armbar. ELP reversed it, then they worked a series of mat reversals with each man applying a headscissors. ELP got the upper hand, showing off with some pushups while maintaining the hold. TJP eventually escaped, but immediately had to duck a Sudden Death attempt. TJP scored a huracanrana, ELP returned the favour sending TJP to the outside, and then followed him with a slingshot crossbody.

ELP rolled TJP back inside, but got caught coming back in with a kick to the head. TJP hit a draping DDT to take control. He applied an Indian deathlock, but ELP made it to the ropes. TJP hit a European uppercut in the corner, followed by a charging back elbow, and then very kindly washed ELP’s face. The crowd wanted him to do it again, but ELP avoided the running kick at the end. TJP slid to the floor, and ELP hit a moonsault to the outside. Back inside, ELP hit a lionsault for a two-count. He went for the UFO, TJP and escaped and locked in an octopus hold. ELP escaped but ate a superkick, only to reply with his own Sudden Death superkick. He connected with the UFO for a near fall at the eight-minute mark.

ELP went for Thunderkiss 86, but missed. TJP hit a running knee for a two-count, then went for the mamba splash. ELP was able to avoid it, TJP however landed on his feet and rolled through. A tornado DDT connected for TJP, followed by a slingshot flying DDT for another two-count. He applied the Pinoy Stretch at the ten-minute mark. ELP pushed him off and seemed to have hurt his shoulder, as TJP stepped off while the referee checked on the champion. ELP hit an elbow strike and collapsed in pain. TJP went for a Death Valley driver, but ELP slipped out. They traded a series of rollups for near falls. ELP countered a rollup into a crucifix for the three-count.

WINNER: El Phantasmo via pinfall in 12:00 to retain the NJPW World TV championship. (***1/4)

• After the match, TJP shook ELP’s hand, then nodded slightly at O-Khan, who jumped ELP from behind and hit a modified tombstone. O-Khan took the microphone, asked if ELP needed a stretcher, and said he was the next challenger. He hit that tombstone again then left the ring. United Empire heel turn?

(Lansdell’s Analysis: I am glad TJP got the title shot here, as he has been pretty tireless for this company without much recognition. It was a good match, though I am not sure why they needed to do an injury angle with the shoulder. It felt very rushed and a little shorter than I would have wanted, which I understand is the gimmick of the title but in this case worked against the overall quality. I might be a little harsh here, though. The post-match stuff, especially with TJP shaking hands after the match, represents a very interesting change of direction for United Empire. If War Dogs are going to move to a more tweener orientation, sending UE in the opposite direction to the same destination is a good call. I would imagine O-Khan wins the belt.)

(2) SATOSHI KOJIMA vs. HIROSHI TANAHASHI

Tanahashi’s Final Road continued with a match we had not seen for 11 years. Kojima got a great ovation, possibly better than Tanahashi’s. Charlton gave us some background on the relationship between the two, including the fact that when Muta and Kojima went to All-Japan, Tanahashi also had an invitation to do so. That would have been an interesting change.

Kojima got an early shoulder tackle to flatten Tanahashi, and we got an early pec dance. Kojima ran into a back elbow and a middle-rope crossbody, then played some air guitar. Dueling taunts! Tanahashi attacked Kojima’s knee in the corner, but missed a charging attack and fell victim to an extended machine gun chop spot. Kojima sent him across the ring and hit a Stinger splash and a middle-rope elbow drop for a two-count. The crowd was loudly behind Kojima. He hit a DDT that landed flush, and went for a Koji Cutter. Tanahashi blocked, dropkicked Kojima’s knee, and followed up with a dragon screw. Kojima ducked a Slingblade attempt and hit the Koji Cutter, but his lariat attempt did not connect as Tanahashi hit the Slingblade. Kojima reversed the follow-up suplex into a brainbuster for a near fall at the five-minute mark.

Both men traded strikes in the middle of the ring. Kojima ended that with a lariat, both men collapsing with the exertion. As they managed to get to their feet, Tanahashi hit his own lariat, then hit Aces High from the top. He went back up top and hit High Fly Flow for the win.

WINNERS: United Empire via submission in 7:00. (**1/2)

(Lansdell’s Analysis: Kojima really turned back the clock here, and Tanahashi seemed to respond in kind. This was the best either man has looked on this tour. They bowed deeply to each other in the ring as Tanahashi seemed quite emotional.)

(3) BULLET CLUB WAR DOGS (Sanada & Chase Owens & Bad Luck Fale) vs. Just Four Guys (Taka Michinoku & Taichi & Yuya Uemura)

Sanada was once again in his Loudred x Jeff Jarrett x Daft Punk outfit. It’s important to mention here that Tanahashi had approached Just Four Guys about joining Chaontai, but did not get a clear answer.

The story of this match was told through commentary. Tanahashi’s pitch to Just Four Guys about their fight against Bullet Club being easier to win if they joined Chaontai, the questionable allegiance of Fale, Owens, and Sanada to the War Dogs, Taichi’s lack of wins in 2025, Uemura being the only successful member of J4G, and Douki’s absence were all mentioned. The action was just kind of there, and ended with Owens hitting the package piledriver on Taka.

WINNERS: War Dogs via pinfall at 8:00. (*1/2)

• The War Dogs beat down J4G after the match, with Sanada hitting a pop-up back kick low blow on Uemura. Sanada retrieved his guitar, but pulled up short as Chaontai (I am going to keep using that name because it is superior to Hontai) hit the ring for the save. The timing was a little off there, Sanada had no reason to stop his swing. Sanada and company left the ring, and Tanahashi offered his hand to each of the J4G team in turn. They all accepted the handshake, and I guess that means we now have Just Chaontai Guys now? For what it’s worth, Ishii at no point cracked his face. He did, however, shake hands with everyone.

(Lansdell’s Analysis: Clearly this only existed to further the deep intrigue around J4G and Hontai, and around Sanada’s loyalty to Finlay. The union of these groups actually makes a lot of sense given the known friendships between Taichi and Yoshi-Hashi, Taichi and Desperado, and Uemura and Tanahashi. Cutting down on the smaller factions is also a good call, but I cannot help but think this makes a Shota Umino-led faction more likely.)

(4) UNITED EMPIRE (Jacob Austin Young & Callum Newman & Jeff Cobb) vs. LOS INGOBERNABLES DE JAPON (Bushi & Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito)

Cobb and Newman had recently been making overtures towards a tag title shot, which is interesting given the uncertainty around Cobb’s contract. He did pin Naito during the Cup, but then again Naito pinned Newman so I guess it’s a wash? LIJ took forever to get to the ring and actually be ready to compete, which I know is supposed to be part of Naito’s schtick but sometimes just irritates me. I am a very old man sometimes. For his part, Cobb looked somehow stoic and unimpressed.

I kind of expected a surprise win for Newman over Naito here to really build to the tag title challenge, but instead Hiromu tapped out Young with Maximum Beholding.

WINNERS: LIJ via submission in 8:00. (**3/4)

• Naito took to the microphone and asked the team leader, who is apparently Hiromu now, what they should do about this title challenge. Hiromu…didn’t exactly answer the question, but kind of accepted? Hiromu is weird.

(Lansdell’s Analysis: Despite a lot of trash talking from Cobb and Newman after the match, this result didn’t do much to build their claim to a title match. That said, LIJ are a face team and were never likely to say no. That result will be an interesting indicator of the future. Very good for a preview tag.)

(5) HOUSE OF TORTURE (Ren Narita & Sho & Yujiro Takahashi) vs BULLET CLUB WAR DOGS (Gabe Kidd & Drilla Moloney & Taiji Ishimori)

This was a non-title match and, to nobody’s surprise, War Dogs met House of Torture on the entrance ramp for a brawl before the bell. We had the typical HoT Shenanigans (TM) but ultimately the match ended with all three War Dogs hitting their finishes on Sho for the win.

WINNER: War Dogs in 9:00. (**1/4)

(Lansdell’s Analysis: My biggest takeaway from this match was that Gabe Kidd is very, very over. Naturally, this result led to a challenge for the Never Six-Man championships. That feels far below Kidd, but we have seen a few times in the past that big singles names can hold that title and still have a high spot on the card.)

(6) HOUSE OF TORTURE (Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Evil) vs. LOS INGOBERNABLES DE JAPON (Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji)

Evil had been trying to secure a title shot against Tsuji for the whole tour, but aside from pinning him in their first-round match he had met with no success. This would be no different, as the typical nonsense from HoT repeatedly backfired and Tsuji hit a Gene Blaster on Kanemaru for the win.

WINNERS: LIJ via pinfall in 9:00. (*1/2)

(Lansdell’s Analysis: Evil and Tsuji have alternated standing over each other throughout the tour, and tonight was Evil’s turn thanks to Togo choking Tsuji out after the bell. It’s safe to assume there will be a Global title match at Sakura Genesis between the two, hopefully not one that ends with Evil winning.)

(7) HIROOKI GOTO & BOLTIN OLEG & EL DESPERADO vs TMDK (Zack Sabre Jr & Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson)

Desperado’s back looked like he had been sliding up and down a cheese grater. Good grief.

ZSJ had a couple of eye-opening segments in this match, with Desperado and Oleg. You would think by now I would be fully aware how good ZSJ is, but to be able to completely switch styles in mid match, managing to make a junior heavyweight and an inexperienced heavyweight both look good while still coming out on top of each exchange?

It’s still weird seeing Goto in a multi-man tag and having him be the one people are targeting. He picked up the win after a GTR on Jackson.

WINNERS: Chaontai via pinfall in 10:00. (**1/2)

(Lansdell’s Analysis: Aside from the ZSJ showcase this felt like it was designed to turn the page on ZSJ’s top-of-the-card chapter. Could he be heading to AEW for a bit while Best of the Super Juniors is happening? Oleg continues to develop well, and he could actually benefit from a trip to North America to get some coaching from someone like Samoa Joe.)

• In what I would call a badass move, Goto got straight out of the ring, grabbed a towel, and took a seat at the Japanese announce table next to Toru Yano.

(8) SHOTA UMINO vs. DAVID FINLAY – New Japan Cup final

The winner of the New Japan Cup receives a World title match at Sakura Genesis, so there was a lot on the line here. On paper, Umino had a title shot at Wrestle Kingdom and lost so he would seem less likely to win. On the other hand, Finlay isn’t even the most popular guy in his own faction and until this tournament had been on the periphery despite being considered a major name in the company.

Umino still seemed to be devoid of any emotion other than intensity during his entrance. Finlay on the other hand was typically cocky and measured for his entrance. Neither man was in a hurry to lock up as the fans chanted predominantly for Finlay. Umino’s dad was the referee, by the way.

Finlay leveled Umino with a shoulder tackle. Umino applied a headlock, and once Finlay pushed him off he came back off the ropes with a pair of tackles and a dropkick to Finlay’s knees. Umino picked a leg and elbowed it, sending Finlay scrambling for the ropes before a hold was applied. After the break Finlay hit a stun gun and a back suplex for a two-count. Finlay mounted Umino and laid in several right hands, then whipped him hard into a corner. Finlay put a single finger on Umino and demanded the referee count, but he refused. Umino’s foot was on the rope anyway.

Another hard whip to the corner sent Umino crumbling to the mat. Umino tried to fight back with a series of elbows at the five-minute mark, but a cross chop to the throat cut the rally short. Finlay stomped away on Umino in the corner and choked him with a boot. Umino stood up while holding Finlay’s foot, hitting a legbreaker and a kneebreaker. Yes, those are different moves. Umino charged, but Finlay stepped into it and lifted him alley-oop style over his head and into the turnbuckle. He followed up with a backbreaker for a two-count.

Finlay squeezed Umino with a rear chinlock. Umino elbowed his way free, then blistered Finlay’s chest with a trio of heavy chops. Finlay retaliated with a Greco-Roman bite to the forehead. Umino reversed an Irish whip and hit another basement dropkick to the knees, then a neckbreaker. After some solid European uppercuts, Umino hit a fisherman’s suplex for another two-count. Finlay fought off a German suplex attempt, so Umino transitioned it into a leg lace. He dragged Finlay to the middle of the ring and locked in an STF. Finlay inched towards the ropes, and again Umino dragged him back to the middle. At the ten minute mark Finlay was inches away from the ropes when again, Umino pulled him back to the middle. This time he dropped Finlay’s knee into the mat before reapplying the hold.

At the fourth time of asking, Finlay managed to get a hand on the bottom rope. Umino released the hold, ducked under a clothesline, but got caught up in a crucifix for a near fall. Umino reversed into his own pinning combination for another near fall in the opposite direction. Finlay hit a Northern Irish Curse backbreaker to turn the tide, but sold the damage to his knee in the process. The crowd applauded as Finlay got to his feet and clotheslined both men over the top to the floor. Finlay struggled to get any weight on his bad leg, but managed to charge fast enough to barge Umino into a barricade. Finlay cleared the ring announcer’s table and went for a uranage through the table, but Shota blocked and hit a series of strikes to drop Finlay to one knee.

Umino went for a powerbomb on the floor, but Finlay punched free and threw Umino horizontally into the ring post. He tried to hit the uranage through the table again, and this time was successful. The referee started counting, but Finlay stopped him from counting and went back to the floor to retrieve Umino. At the 15-minute mark, Finlay powerbombed Umino back-first into the corner post on the outside. Again the referee started to count. Umino rolled back in at the count of 19. Finlay stood over him as he tried to stand, then laid in a succession of European uppercuts. He charged Umino in the corner with a forearm, then hit a vertical suplex throw for a two-count.

Finlay went for a Dominator, Umino slipped out the back and tried to get a backslide, Finlay reversed the grip and went for a powerbomb into…huh. I thought that was a powerslam by Finlay but they are selling it like a counter by Umino. I don’t think they hit that the way they wanted. Umino recovered first and hit a pair of running knes, He perched Finlay on the top turnbuckle, went up with him, and landed a superplex for a two-count. Umino measured Finlay as we heard the 20-minute announcement. His lariat missed, but his dropkick connected. Finlay blocked the follow-up half and half but then got nailed with an enzuigiri. Both men collided with lariats. Finlay slumped to his knees while Umino doubled over. Finlay landed a trio of clubbing standing lariats, but ran into a trio of half-and-half suplexes for a near fall.

The crowd noise swelled as Umino again measured Finlay. He hit the ropes for a lariat – SPEAR by Finlay! Both men were down, with Finlay recovering first. He hit a buckle bomb but Umino came right out of the corner with a dropkick and a pair of powerbombs for a near fall. A lariat got another two-count. He went for Second Chapter, Finlay countered it and hit a Dominator to once again leave both men on the mat. Again Finlay was up first, and he signalled for the end. Into Oblivion…countered into a cutter! Umino was slow to get up, but Finlay was not even getting up. Umino went for Second Chapter, Finlay countered into Overkill! Umino caught his knee to block the move, and the traded shots. They backed into different corners, Finlay went for the Spear…DEAR GOD Umino countered with a running knee that sent Finlay into a flip it was so gorgeous. An even bigger lariat almost decapitated Finlay! 1…2…no! Second Chapter…no! Into Oblivion! 1…2…no! The crowd was electric as Finlay caught his breath and Umino looked out of it.

Finlay pulled Umino up and went for a powerbomb, Umino rolled through for a rollup, but only got a two-count. Finlay somehow kicked out and rolled back into a powerbomb position…and landed it! He held on and hit a second powerbomb! 1…2…still no! Finlay again dragged Umino up, he went for Overkill but Umino rolled him up! 1…2…no! Each man countered the other…OVERKILL CONNECTED! 1…2…3! Wow.

WINNER: David Finlay via pinfall in 28:00 to win the New Japan Cup. (****1/2)

• Finlay helped Umino up after the bell and told him that if he wanted to be like Finlay, he had to do things Finlay’s way. Umino nodded, then left the ring. OK now I am even more sure he’s getting his own faction. Finlay called Goto into the ring, they exchanged generic lines, and Finlay posed with the extremely unattractive trophy and his War Dogs stablemates…well, some of them. Kidd, Moloney, and Ishimori joined him.

(Lansdell’s Analysis: That was one heck of a match, only falling short of the full boat because the opening ten or so minutes did not play into the result at all. Putting together a match full of good moves is not the rarity it used to be, and personally I need a cohesive story in the match in order to call it a five-star classic. Umino working over Finlay’s leg was forgotten. Umino selling his hip was forgotten. The protracted finishing sequence though, with the insane knee and lariat from Umino, almost entirely made up for that. Finlay was the pre-tournament favourite in a lot of people’s minds, and is also widely predicted to take the belt from Goto. I still think that at some point House of Torture and/or Sanada is going to cost him an important match, which I reckon now will be the title shot. It seems clear the Umino’s path forward from here is to form a faction of his own, but what happens after that is less clear. Things are nicely poised nonetheless, and this absolute banger of a match was a more than fitting way to end this year’s Cup.)

Final thoughts: This show felt like it put the final pieces in place for most of the Sakura Genesis card. Of course we knew we were going to finalize the World title match, but we also got a Global, TV, and tag title match confirmed here. Bubbling underneath it all, in the sense of a festering bog full of swamp gas, is the House of Torture nonsense that has to lead to a blowoff sooner rather than later. Will it be LIJ, Chaontai, or War Dogs that put an end to them? Or will it be a combination of the three? Plus we have a new, edgier side of United Empire emerging that could become the new big heel group, and Just Four Guys seemingly being absorbed into (or at least allying with) the main Chaontai unit. For the first time in a while, New Japan seems to be in a spot where all the threads are holding my interest…even if one of them is mostly out of a hope that it leads to the end of House of Torture.

Keep your eyes and ears open for the 7-Star Podcast and Radican Worldwide on PWTorch VIP to hear more of my thoughts on the Cup. Thanks for joining us!