New Japan Pro Wrestling announced the full list of competitors and bracket for this year’s New Japan Cup tournament, which takes place from March 7th to March 20th in Japan.
24 wrestlers were announced to be competing in this year’s tournament with David Finlay, YOSHI-HASHI, Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi, Shota Umino, Jeff Cobb, TJP, and Shingo Takagi all being given a first-round bye.
The winner of this year’s tournament will earn an automatic title shot for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at Sakura Genesis 2025 on April 5th in Tokyo, Japan.
Full First Round matchups schedule for New Japan Cup 2025 tournament:
- March 7th – Yota Tsuji vs. EVIL
- March 7th – Yuya Uemura vs. SANADA
- March 8th – Ryohei Oiwa vs. Chase Owens
- March 8th – Gabe Kidd vs. Ren Narita
- March 9th – El Phantasmo vs. Great-O-Khan
- March 9th – Tetsuya Naito vs. Callum Newman
- March 9th – Tomohiro Ishii vs. Drilla Moloney
- March 9th – Boltin Oleg vs. Bad Luck Fale
With 16 in first round matchups and eight random byes, here is your New Japan Cup bracket!
— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) February 12, 2025
Who will be Strongest of the Spring, and face the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion at Sakura Genesis?https://t.co/qi3fi487Zl#njpw #njcup pic.twitter.com/jn2o7WBMO3
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