First wrestler advances to New Japan Cup 2025 finals

  • Ian Carey
  • By 

David Finlay has advanced to the New Japan Cup 2025 finals.

He defeated two-time tournament winner Zack Sabre Jr. in the semifinals on Sunday in Shizuoka, Japan. With the win, he moves on to the finals on Thursday, March 21, in Nagaoka, where he will face the winner of Monday’s semifinal match between Shingo Takagi and Shota Umino in Fukushima.

This will be Finlay’s second time wrestling in the finals of the New Japan Cup. He previously advanced to the tournament’s final match in 2023, where he was defeated by SANADA. In 2024, he advanced to the quarterfinals before being forced to withdraw due to illness. Finlay’s first appearance in the New Japan Cup came in 2021, when he made it to the semifinals before being eliminated by Will Ospreay. He was unable to enter the tournament in 2022 due to a shoulder injury.

Sunday’s match was just the second singles bout between Finlay and ZSJ. Their only previous bout took place in the quarterfinals of the New Japan World TV title tournament at NJPW Battle Autumn 2022. ZSJ won the match en route to winning the tournament.

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Ian Carey
Ian Carey

Ian Carey is a writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, whose work has been featured in NOW Magazine, The Huffington Post, and more. A lifelong wrestling aficionado born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, he has covered the industry for a decade and a half. He joined the f4wonline.com team in 2019.