David Finlay Wins The 2025 NEW JAPAN CUP Tournament

This is it.

The final match that crowned a new challenger for Hirooki Goto’s IWGP World Heavyweight Championship came down to David Finlay and Shota Umino. These two wrestled for nearly 30 minutes.

🏆NEW JAPAN CUP 2025🏆長岡大会‼️

『NEW JAPAN CUP 2025』決勝戦‼️
どちらが勝っても初優勝、この激闘を制すのは⁉️

🆚 @Shooter_us × @THEdavidfinlay#njpwworld で配信中📡

視聴＆登録⏩https://t.co/CcdQ1X9P52#NJPW #njpwworld #njcup pic.twitter.com/mxLGpbVQTt

— NJPW WORLD (@njpwworld) March 20, 2025

There were several close calls such as Umino almost getting the counted out around the 16-minute mark and Finlay getting caught in Umino’s submissions. Umino used his power and technical side to get the better of Finlay, but the veteran had stiff knees and clotheslines to counter most of his maneuvers.

.@THEdavidfinlay "💥💥💥"

Sign up Now & Stay tuned to https://t.co/CcdQ1X9P52#NJPW #njpwworld #njcup pic.twitter.com/Cg2ieJjgNs

— NJPW WORLD (@njpwworld) March 20, 2025

The final few minutes saw Umino hit three half nelsons that seemingly killed Finlay. But David kicked out at a hair-raising nearfall. Finlay got the advantage back with a spear, but everytime he tried to nail the Overkill, Umino would regain the advantage. But following a rollup that resulted in another nearfall for Umino, Finlay was able to hit a surprise knee and then the overkill for the win. 

.@Shooter_us "Knee strike → Lariat"

Sign up Now & Stay tuned to https://t.co/CcdQ1X9P52#NJPW #njpwworld #njcup pic.twitter.com/I4jXkD1T0h

— NJPW WORLD (@njpwworld) March 20, 2025

David Finlay will now challenge Hirooki Goto for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at Sakura Genesis on April 5, 2025.

Congratulations to David Finlay!

Check out the full results for the final day of the 2025 New Japan Cup show:

Aore NagaokaTag Team Match: Chaos (Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano) defeated Katsuya Murashima & Yoshi Hashi (Pre Show)

Television Title Match: El Phantasmo (c) defeated TJP

Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Satoshi Kojima

6 Man Tag Team Match: Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens & Sanada) defeated Just 4 Guys (Taka Michinoku, Yuya Uemura & Taichi)

6 Man Tag Team Match: Los Ingobernables De Japon (IWGP Tag Team Champions Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito & Bushi) defeated United Empire (Jakob Austin Young, Callum Newman & Jeff Cobb)

Non Title Match: Bullet Club War Dogs (Strong Openweight Champion Gabe Kidd, Drilla Moloney & Taiji Ishimori) defeated NEVER Openweight 6 Man Tag Team Champions House Of Torture (Yujiro Takahashi, Ren Narita & Sho)

Tag Team Match: Los Ingobernables De Japon (Global Champion Yota Tsuji & Shingo Takagi) defeated House of Torture (Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Evil)

6 Man Tag Team Match: IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Hirooki Goto, Junior Heavyweight Champion El Desperado & Boltin Oleg defeated TMDK (Zack Sabre Jr, Hartley Jackson & Ryohei Oiwa) 

Finals Of The 2025 New Japan Cup: David Finlay defeated Shota Umino