New Japan Cup 2025

[7.0] "Bit of a slow start but the second half of this tournament was all pretty good with a handful of 4+* matches and a number approaching the 4* mark. A very good final topped it off nicely."

[5.0] "There were some good matches this tournament, but it was mostly kinda dull with a poor finals match. David Finlay wasn't a super interesting pick to win, but I respect the decision due to how good he's gotten lately. I just wish he had a chance to step out of Jay White's shadow. [MOTT: Taichi vs. Zack Sabre Jr.]"

[7.0] "Overall this was a good tournament, much better then last years. Finlay was the right winner, Moloney, Umino, Taichi, Oiwa and Zack all had good showings. Match of the tournament has to be Zack vs Taichi (although Zack vs Finlay and Finlay vs Umino were also really good)."

[7.0] "An overall good NJC. Good showing for new gen in Oiwa, Drilla, Gabe. Umino's second chapter run was interesting and Finlay was a bit obvious, but most certanly the right winner. Still this one was a little weaker than previous two years."

[4.0] "A very poor tournament that, if im honest, was a bit of a chore to get through. Looking back over the tournament now the only two memorable matches I can recall were the ZSJ match against Tai Chi and the final - the final getting a solid 8 from me and probably being the match of the tournament,"

[6.0] "Good tournament overall, though a fairly predictable one. Matches tended to be good, and there are only three that I would say are outright great, though at least one of those was the finals. Probably like a 6.5 overall. I kinda have to criticise the kayfabe convenience of everyone who is feuding (EVIL/Tsuji, EVIL/Finlay, Kidd/Narita, SANADA/Uemura, Umino/GOK) meeting pretty much straight away, but at least we finally got the Dangerous Tekkers match."

[8.0] "A good Tournament With a great winner stand out performances by Drilla and Finlay I also enjoyed ZJS matches"

[6.0] "What this lacked in stand-out in-ring quality, it made up for in meaningful unpredictability. First and foremost, I had expected Gabe to have leapfrogged Finlay, but New Japan have shored up the War Dogs structure. Umino's rehabilitation arc is fascinating to me, though not to other foreign fans. And we were spared a deep Naito run thankfully. The War Dogs were far and away the biggest winners, with Finlay, Gabe and Drilla all getting over and putting in great performances. The final was great but shoutout to Drilla vs Ishii."