Finals set for New Japan Cup 2025
The 2025 New Japan Cup is down to two wrestlers.
Shota Umino defeated Shingo Takagi in the final semifinal match of the tournament on Monday in Fukushima, finishing his opponent off with The Second Chapter (Northern Lights Bomb). With the win, he advances to face David Finlay in the finals on Thursday in Nagaoka.
Your New Japan Cup final is set!
— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) March 17, 2025
After a hard hitting war with Shingo Takagi, Shota Umino will face David Finlay Thursday in Nagaoka!#njcup report:https://t.co/PgREesGkoC
Watch the replay!https://t.co/8fIOhZ708P#njpw pic.twitter.com/i29uxf6cdV
After his win over Takagi, Umino left the ring area without making any post-match comments. However, Finlay and Gedo hit the ring afterward, and Gedo encouraged Umino to come back. Umino returned and briefly told Finlay that he will beat him in the finals before leaving again.
Umino’s three tournament wins come after a rocky start to the year, where he lost two of his first three singles matches. He lost his IWGP World Heavyweight Championship match against Zack Sabre Jr. at Wrestle Kingdom, defeated Claudio Castagnoli the following night at Wrestle Dynasty, and then lost to Great-O-Khan at New Beginning in Osaka. He avenged his loss against Great-O-Khan in the opening round of the New Japan Cup and beat Jeff Cobb in the quarterfinals.
New Japan Cup 2025 Finals on Thursday, March 20, 2025:
- New Japan Cup 2025 Finals: David Finlay vs. Shota Umino
- Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Satoshi Kojima
Ian Carey is the editing manager at F4WOnline and a writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. His work has appeared in award-winning publications including NOW Magazine and The Huffington Post. He joined the F4WOnline team in 2019 and moved into the editing manager role in the summer of 2026. Born in Calgary, Alberta, Ian has covered professional wrestling for more than 15 years.