The Front Man VS The Rebel!

The 2025 New Japan Cup is moving into the homestretch, and we have Zack Sabre Jr. battling David Finlay! Will ZSJ return to the finals?

OFFICIAL RESULTS

• Tomohiro Ishii & Katsuya Murashima VS Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson; Oiwa & Jackson win.
• Hiroshi Tanahashi & Daiki Nagai VS Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata; Kojima & Nagata win.
• YOSHI-HASHI & Toru Yano VS Yuya Uemura & Taka Michinoku; Hashi & Yano win.
• Six Man Tag: Hontai VS The United Empire; Hontai wins.
• Tetsuya Naito & BUSHI VS Jeff Cobb & Callum Newman; Cobb & Newman win.
• 10 Man Tag: Bullet Club War Dogs VS House of Torture; House of Torture wins.
• Shota Umino & Tomoaki Honma VS Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji; Takagi & Tsuji win.
• 2025 New Japan Cup Semifinal: Zack Sabre Jr. & David Finlay; Finlay wins and advances to the finals.

PLAY BY PLAY

10 Man Tag: Bullet Club War Dogs VS House of Torture!

After Gabe Kidd eliminated Ren Narita from the New Japan Cup, the Souled Out Strong Style and the boys made sure the Mad Man lost, too! Will Gabe, “Drilla” Moloney, Chase Owens, Bad Luck Fale & Sanada finally bring down the House? Or will the King of Darkness lead his team and prove Everything is Evil?

Well, no sneak attacks during the House’s entrances, but Sho does get the mic. Sho claims that of all the places in Japan, Shizuoka is the worst! Just like the War Dogs! He tells the War Dogs to get out here so they can just end this and go home already. With that, Gabe & Drilla lead the charge and the brawl is on! Evil intercepts Sanada with a kick, but Chase & Fale go after Yujiro & Kanemaru! Gabe BOWLS Ren into chairs in the crowd! The fans fire up but they also have to clear out fast! Gabe sends Ren into the wall, Sanada sends Evil into commentary! The King of Darkness knocks President Ace over!

Gabe fires forearms on Ren at ringside, the fans fire up, but then Evil CHOKES Tanahashi just because!! The fans boo but then Sanada attacks Evil. Ren & Dick turn things around on Gabe! Evil throws Sanada at Milano Collection AT-san! Mmilano ends up falling onto fans! And then Evil just does it again! Ren throws Gabe into a wall! Kanemaru knocks Chase down, then whips him into railing! Sho finally scrambles into the ring to get away from Drilla, and now the bell rings! Sho wants mercy but Drilla puts him in a corner instead. The fans bark as Drilla CHOPS and ROCKS Sho on repeat! The ref reprimands, Drilla won’t stop so the ref pulls him back.

Drilla pushes the ref aside, then runs back in, but Sho ELBOWS Drilla! Sho runs, SPEAR gets stuffed! Drilla fires knees, then hoists Sho up! Sho fights free and he bends Drilla’s fingers! The ref reprimands but Sho whips Drilla into the corner, SURPRISE~! Bare buckles! Drilla hits steel and falls back while Sho BLASTS the War Dogs off their corner! The fans boo but Sho drags Drilla up and TOSSES him outside. Sho distracts the ref as Ren & Evil mug Drilla, then the others join in! The fans boo, but Gabe runs up to attack! He gets mugged, too, and he’s even sent into railing! Drilla is put in for Sho to cover, TWO!

Kanemaru tags in and kicks away on Drilla. Kanemaru whips Drilla to an open corner, runs up and ELBOWS him! Then Kanemaru snapmares to drop a KNEE! Cover, TWO! Drilla is still in this and the fans rally up behind him. Kanemaru bumps Drilla off Yujiro’s boot! Tag to Yujiro and he drags Drilla up. Yujiro bumps Drilla off the bare buckles! The fans rally for Drilla more but Yujiro knees him low. Yujiro fires forearms, stands him against the ropes, and the House holds Drilla in place for the BOOT! Cover, TWO! The fans cheer as Drilla stays in this, but Ren tags in to drag Drilla up. Drilla fires forearms on Ren!

Ren CLAWS Drilla’s eyes! The fans boo, the ref reprimands, but Ren whips Drilla to a corner. Drilla BOOTS him away! And then Drilla puts Ren up top, and GAMANGIRIS! Ren wobbles and the fans fire up! Drilla brings Ren off the corner, but Ren slips free and CLAWS the eyes again! The ref reprimands, Ren lets go to run, but he runs into a SPINEBUSTER! Both men are down and the fans fire up! Ren crawls and Gabe shouts as he rises up! The fans rally, hot tag to Gabe! The Mad Man dodges Ren to BLAST the House! Ren kicks low, whips Gabe, but Gabe reverses and LARIATS in the corner! Then he whips corner to corner to LARIAT again!

Gabe clinches Ren for an EXPLODER! Cover, TWO! The fans bark with Gabe and he hauls Ren up. Gabe suplexes but Ren slips out to SLEEPER! Gabe slips around but Ren fights the back suplex! Ren fires elbows, then he CHOKES Gabe! Gabe breaks free, takes a swing, but Ren catches him into an EXPLODER! Cover, TWO! The fans rally up, Ren drags Gabe to his feet, but Gabe stops the facebuster! Ren avoids the Penalty Kick, gets around to shove Gabe, and Evil gets a cheap shot in! Ren runs up but Gabe gets around the boot to SAIDO! Both men are down, the fans rally up, and both Ren and Gabe crawl for their corners. Hot tags to Chase and Evil!

The fans fire up as the Crown Jewel dodges Evil and JABS! JABS! JABS! Chase winds up, but Evil kicks low! Evil whips, Chase LARIATS him first! Kanemaru & Sho attack, they double whip, but Chase ducks the double lariats! Chase shoves Sho into Kanemaru, then he dragon sleepers Sho. Kanemaru runs up but Chase catches him, URENAGE DDT COMBO! The fans fire up, but Evil waistlocks! Chase breaks free and PELES! Chase hurries to DECK Yujiro for good measure! Chase lines up a shot, C- NO! Evil stops the trigger and CLAWS the eyes! Then he sends the foot at the ref, and he mule kicks Chase’s other leg out!

The fans boo but Sho BLASTS Sanada off the apron! Yujiro & Kanemaru get in to whip Chase to the corner! Then Sho runs up to forearm SMASH! Kanemaru ELBOWS! Yujiro BOOTS! Evil LARIATS! They snapmare Chase, Sho distracts the ref, and Dick Togo goes up! DICK CHOP! Evil covers, TWO!! Chase survives, but Evil “falls” on the ref! Evil grins as he gets a chair! The fans boo, but Evil swings! Chase dodges, but then Evil gives Chase the chair! Evil tries to frame Chase, but Chase SMACKS the mat, and then falls over! Chase turns the tables and now the ref and Evil argue over the chair! The chair is taken away, and Chase sends Evil into Sanada’s DROPKICK!

Chase now spins Evil, wrenches and hammerlocks, for a BUTTERFLY DDT! Cover, but Sho & Kanemaru break it! Sanada & Drilla go after them, TOSS them out, and the brawling on the outside returns! Chase drags Evil up, but Evil clinches! EVERY- NO, Chase rolls Evil up! TWO!! Evil escapes, but a C-TRIGGER hits the mark! The fans fire up but now Yujiro distracts the ref! This lets Kanemaru slip in and CLUB Chase! Then Kanemaru spins Chase around, but Chase UPPERCUTS the whiskey mist into the air! Chase TOSSES Kanemaru, but Dick uses POCKET POWDER! And then EVERYTHING IS EVIL!! Cover, The House wins!

Winners: House of Torture, by pinfall

The War Dogs tried their best, but the House of Torture has too many tricks up their sleeves! Is there nothing that can stop them from being the PRIME Bullet Club? Well hold on! Gabe & Drilla bring out chairs! They get the House running away, but Evil mocks them with the L to the forehead. What must the War Dogs do to finally end this farce?

2025 New Japan Cup Semifinal: Zack Sabre Jr. & David Finlay w/ Gedo!

As a previous two-time New Japan Cup winner, The Front Man has been in this position before. The Rebel has also been in this position before, but the semifinals were as far as he’d go in the past. Will this be the moment Finlay breaks through and proves he’s the Savage King? Or will he be made to #JustTapOut?

The bell rings and the fans rally up already as ZSJ and Finlay circle. They feel things out, Finlay drops down to go for a leg but then backs off. They continue to feel out the grapple, then clinch as they go to ropes. Red Shoes calls the break but ZSJ and Finlay keep hand fighting. Red Shoes reprimands, ZSJ lets off slowly, but Finlay shoves him back. Finlay complains but he still resets with ZSJ. The fans rally some more as the two knuckle lock. Finlay goes for an arm, ZSJ hooks a leg, but Finlay wrenches to a wristlock. ZSJ spins around and slips through to waistlock, then he wrenches, hammerlocks, spins Finlay, and wrangles him to the mat!

The fans cheer this technical wrestling display, but Finlay fights up to trip ZSJ. Finlay has a toehold, ZSJ has a chinlock, but Finlay pushes back on the leg. Finlay shifts around, goes for the Half Crab, and even dares ZSJ to use the ropebreak. ZSJ moves around and stands up, so Finlay lets go of the leg. The fans applaud and the two reset again. ZSJ and Finlay tie up again, and Finlay headlocks. ZSJ powers up but Finlay grinds the hold. ZSJ goes for a leg, Finlay thrashes the headlock, so ZSJ powers up and out to headlock back. Finlay powers up and out, but ZSJ counters the hip toss, only for Finlay to do the same!

They go counter hip toss for counter hip toss, until ZSJ TOSSES Finlay up and out! The fans cheer while Finlay grows frustrated. ZSJ waits on Finlay as Finlay paces. Finlay storms back in, but ZSJ arm-drags him down! Finlay headscissors, ZSJ kips free, and the fans cheer again as they reset. Finlay and ZSJ stare down, Finlay talks some smack, but then he fires a forearm! ZSJ brushes that off, and he UPPERCUTS in return! Finlay nods and comes back with an UPPERCUT of his own! The fans rally up and ZSJ nods. ZSJ UPPERCUTS again, so Finlay UPPERCUTS again! The fans rally up more as Finlay UPPERCUTS again!

ZSJ walks around and gets the fans fired up, but Finlay UPPERCUTS again! ZSJ UPPERCUTS! And UPPERCUTS! But Finlay fires a flurry of forearms! Finlay runs, but ZSJ dodges, only for Finlay yo ELBOW him down! SENTON onto knees! ARMBAR! Finlay scrambles to the ROPEBREAK! The fans cheer and ZSJ lets go. ZSJ brings Finlay back up and reels him in, all to go after an arm! Finlay endures being stuck in this modified headscissors while ZSJ bends his fingers! And then he SNAPS the fingers! The Front Man is rather villainous there and the fans rally up. ZSJ grabs the hand, wrenches and wrenches and wrenches, but Finlay wrenches back!

ZSJ takes as swing, but into Finlay’s IRISH CURSE BACKBREAKER! ZSJ writhes and goes to a corner, but Finlay storms over to stand on him! Red Shoes counts, Finlay steps off, and the fans duel as Finlay whips ZSJ corner to corner hard! ZSJ falls and writhes, Gedo applauds and the fans rally again. Finlay flexes before he storms over and whips ZSJ hard into the other corner! Finlay claims he can do this all day, then he stands on ZSJ again. Finlay stands ZSJ up to whip him HARD into the corner! ZSJ bounces off the buckles and falls to the mat! The fans rally and duel as Finlay storms up on ZSJ again.

ZSJ pushes Finlay away, but Finlay keeps grabbing at him. ZSJ grabs the bad hand and bends the fingers! Then ZSJ UPPERCUTS! And UPPERCUTS! And UPPERCUTS! Finlay UPPERCUTS right back and ZSJ falls! The fans are torn as Finlay watches ZSJ crawl away. Finlay barks, fans bark with him, and Finlay runs in! UPPERCUT! Finlay reels ZSJ in, but ZSJ snap suplexes Finlay into buckles! The fans fire up again while both men are down! Finlay sputters while he gets his legs out of the ropes. ZSJ drags Finlay up, UPPERCUTS again, and Finlay staggers around. ZSJ UPPERCUTS again, and again, and again!

Gedo is worried but Finlay swings, only for ZSJ to backslide! Finlay rolls through, but into a NECK TWIST! And basement DROPKICK! The fans fire up while Finlay writhes. ZSJ stands and encourages them to get louder. The fans rally as ZSJ brings Finlay up. Finlay fights the suplex, tries to suplex back, but ZSJ goes for an arm. Finlay rolls and reels ZSJ in for a BACKBREAKER! ZSJ slumps out of the ring and Finlay grins as he goes out after him. Finlay drags ZSJ up, reels him in, and brings ZSJ up, only for ZSJ to make that a GUILLOTINE FACELOCK! ZSJ squeezes tight, but Finlay RAMS ZSJ into the railing!

The fans rally up while both men are down on the outside, and Gedo applauds Finlay for getting free. Finlay hobbles away, but then runs back in, only for ZSJ to send him into railing! ZSJ now crawls away, but then calls on the fans. The fans rally up, ZSJ lines up a shot, and he runs in to SHOTGUN Finlay back into the railing! Finlay writhes and the fans fire up again! ZSJ stalks Finlay now, passing by secondary commentary with Taichi. ZSJ puts Finlay in the ring, slides in, and then PENALTY KICKS! High stack, TWO!! Finlay survives, Gedo is relieved, and the fans rally up. ZSJ is annoyed but he paces around while Finlay flounders.

ZSJ drags Finlay up, but Finlay fights the scoop! Finlay suplexes, but ZSJ cradle counters! TWO!! Finlay gets free, but ZSJ gets around to hook him up, IRON OCTOPUS! Finlay endures, powers out, and he HOTSHOTS ZSJ off ropes! Then he reels ZSJ in to POWERBOMB! Finlay roars, the fans fire up, and Finlay- NO, ZSJ SCOOPS! SABRE DRIVER!! But ZSJ can’t make the cover! The fans fire up while both men are down! Red Shoes checks and Finlay is still in this. The fans rally while Gedo shouts for Finlay to get up! ZSJ stands first, and he looms over Finlay. ZSJ drags Finlay up, reels him in, but Finlay fights the lift!

ZSJ pats Finlay on the back, then KICKS Finlay in the chest! Finlay flops forward, but pushes himself back up. ZSJ KICKS again! Finlay flops down again, but ZSJ makes him sit up so he can KICK again! Finlay is back down, and ZSJ takes a moment to stretch before he hauls Finlay up. Finlay fights the lift, and he Alabama Lifts ZSJ! But ZSJ Gotch lifts Finlay! Finlay BACKDROPS, ZSJ sunset flips, but Finlay sits on it! TWO, ZSJ sunsets, TWO! Finlay high stacks, to DEADLIFT and POWERBOMB!! Cover, TWO!! ZSJ survives and the fans fire up! Gedo coaches Finlay, Finlay crawls over to ZSJ, and Finlay drags ZSJ back up.

Finlay Canadian Racks, but ZSJ has a SLEEPER while up there! Finlay powers up, but ZSJ slips around to have a standard SLEEPER! Finlay throws ZSJ down, but ZSJ reels him into a TRIANGLE HOLD! Finlay powers up, but he falls back! ZSJ rains down elbows! Then ZSJ focuses on just the ARMBAR! Finlay tries to kick at ZSJ but ZSJ grabs that foot, now he has a HEEL HOOK with the armbar! Finlay endures, reaches out, and the fans duel as he reaches out! ZSJ has the TRIANGLE HOLD back, and then he gets Finlay’s free arm in a wristlock! Finlay only has a leg free and it’s not in a very good spot for this!

The fans fire up as Finlay endures, and gives one last gasp to get his arms free! ROPEBREAK!! ZSJ lets go, and he grins as he looks at Gedo. ZSJ KICKS Finlay, and then KICKS Finlay again! ZSJ runs, but into a SPEAR!! Both men are down again after that desperate attack! Finlay crawls over to ZSJ, drags him up and reels him in, but ZSJ wrenches out to PELE the arm! ZSJ waistlocks, O’Conner Rolls, but Finlay rolls through! ZSJ pushes Finlay down, has the legs, JAPANESE LEG ROLL, TWO!! Finlay escapes, but ZSJ UPPERCUTS! Finlay rebounds to LARIAT! The fans fire up and Finlay winds up! Finlay runs, into a GUILLOTINE!

Finlay powers through, INTO OBLIVION! Cover, TWO!! ZSJ survives and the fans fire up again! Finlay rises up, roars, and he brings ZSJ up. Finlay suplexes, OVER- NO, ZSJ blocks the knee and trips Finlay! ZSJ body scissors, GEDO CLUTCH into the JAPANESE LEG ROLL, and ZSJ is even flipping Finlay off! TWO!!! Finlay escapes, both men stand, and Finlay fires a forearm! And a ROLLING ELBOW! And a ROLLING- LARIAT from ZSJ!! The fans are thunderous as ZSJ watches Finlay go to a corner. ZSJ runs in, Finlay dodges but ZSJ goes up and around to TORNADO DDT and then roll through! Scoop and- NO, Finlay escapes!

Finlay and ZSJ gator roll, Finlay powers up to OVERKILL!!! Cover, FINLAY WINS!!

Winner: David Finlay, by pinfall (advances to the finals)

It was a breakneck pace at the end, and it ended up the breakthrough The Rebel needed! Will ZSJ just have to use a different path back to the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship?

As for Finlay, Gedo joins him in the ring as Finlay gets the mic. The fans cheer him on, and he says, “You can call Zack Sabre Jr. many, many things. You can call him a two-time New Japan Cup Champion. You can call him the 2024 G1 Climax Champion. You can call him the former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. Hell, you can call him the best tournament wrestler int he world. But one thing you cannot call Zack is better than me!” The fans cheer, and Finlay says, “Come Hell or high water, I am winning the Cup because hate always finds a way.” The fans applaud as Finlay hands off the mic to Gedo.

Gedo translates what Finlay said about ZSJ’s accolades, and that the New Japan Cup will now belong to Finlay! “The Rebel takes the F over everything! I need The Rebel! New Japan needs The Rebel! And the world… needs The Rebel!” Finlay is one match away from that dream, and he even mouths off to Tanahashi to make sure he understands that, too. But who will stand against him on the other side? Can anyone stand against him?

My Thoughts:

Another great night for New Japan Cup, though I’m a little surprised we’re stretching things out like this. They could’ve given us Shingo VS Shota, too, but I guess they want to give that match a main event moment, too. The tune-up matches tonight went how I expected, but I covered the War Dogs VS House of Torture match just to see if Sanada does anymore shenanigans, or lack thereof I suppose. This time, Sanada actually did help out a bit, so it isn’t quite clear if he’s betraying the War Dogs after all. This will definitely culminate in a wild No Disqualification style team match, but I would hope they don’t go as wild as when War Dogs and United Empire ripped up the ring. That’s what got Alex Coughlin hurt to where he can’t wrestle anymore.

ZSJ VS Finlay was an awesome main event, and it certainly felt like it could go either way. Finlay winning was only a bit surprising, but perhaps it’s too soon for ZSJ to win the Cup to get back to the world title. Plus, while Finlay is a de facto Face in the Bullet Club Civil War story, he’s Heel everywhere else, and so we’re going to get a Heel VS Face for the Cup, no matter who wins between Takagi and Shota.

My Score: 8.9/10