New Japan wraps up the World Tag League today with the Finals, which will see the winners get an IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship match in the near future. Whether or not it’s at Tokyo Dome may depend on who wins between Gabriel Kidd & Yota Tsuji and Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. If it’s the former, maybe not because Tsuji is already set for a major double title match on 1/4 against Konosuke Takeshita-while not unprecedented I can’t see a double happening. If Oiwa & Sabre win I think it will happen. When the whole card was announced in the last 24 hours they added 2 additional title matches-EVIL managed to talk his way into a(nother) NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Championship match so he, SANADA & Ren Narita will challenge Master Wato, Yoh & Toru Yano for the titles and perhaps try to spoil Yoh’s granted Tokyo Dome title defense. Also El Phantasmo will defend the NJPW WORLD TV Championship against TBA in what is an open challenge. And of course another Hiroshi Tanahashi final farewell to fans in the area.
Today’s event will be held at Grand Messe Kumamoto in Kumamoto and can be watched LIVE OUTSIDE JAPAN ONLY on New Japan World in Japanese and English. This will be a live & exclusive TV Asahi broadcast in Japan, which will be simulcast on New Japan World (the stream will be blocked in Japan, including on demand until the Asahi window ends, which I think is 2-3 days then those in Japan can watch online on demand). You will also be able to watch the first 2 matches FOR FREE on YouTube. There are 8 matches total with the main event being no time limit for the Tag League finals, so how long it may run ould partly depend on TV but I anticipate 3 hours at a minimum.
Today’s lineup:
NJPW WORLD TV Champion El Phantasmo vs. TBA for the title (open challenge)*
Tatsuya Matsumoto, Katsuya Murashima, Boltin Oleg, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto vs. Masatora Yasuda, Alex Zayne, Lance Archer, Satoshi Kojima & Taichi
Shoma Kato, Shuji Ishikawa & El Desperado vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Don Fale & Sho
Taiji Ishimori, Drilla Moloney & Shingo Takagi vs. DOUKI, Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi
Yuya Uemura, Shota Umino & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Daiki Nagai, OSKAR (The Grouch) & Yuto Ice (Ice Baby)
Hiromu Takahashi & David Finlay vs. Callum Newman & Great-O-Khan
NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Champions Master Wato, Yoh & Toru Yano vs. Ren Narita, SANADA & EVIL for the titles
World Tag League Finals: Gabriel Kidd & Yota Tsuji vs. Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr.
Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.
Updates below will begin at 10 PM PT/1 AM ET.
*-This match will also be made available for viewing FOR FREE on YouTube at a later time/date.
10 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates begin now.
We are LIVE from Grand Messe Kumamoto in Kumamoto, Japan. This event is airing in Japan as part of and perhaps the final installment of WORLD PRO WRESTLING LIVE 2025 on TV Asahi. No guest on commentary yet but we will have one later.
The paid attendance will be announced after the event. Capacity depends on the setup, if it’s the smaller main setup the listed capacity is 3200, for the larger setup it’s 8000. I’m guessing they’ll use the former and I’ll predict near 3000. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 2686, a full house/near sellout)
The matches begin at 10:05 PM PT/1:05 AM ET.
Match 1: NJPW WORLD TV Champion El Phantasmo vs. TBA for the title (open challenge). TBA is Hartley Jackson. 15 minute time limit
Result: NJPW WORLD TV Champion El Phantasmo beat Hartley Jackson to retain the title. V4 for Phantasmo.
Match 2: Tatsuya Matsumoto, Katsuya Murashima, Boltin Oleg, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto vs. Masatora Yasuda, Alex Zayne, Lance Archer, Satoshi Kojima & Taichi. 20 minute time limit
Result: Masatora Yasuda, Alex Zayne, Lance Archer, Satoshi Kojima & Taichi beat Tatsuya Matsumoto, Katsuya Murashima, Boltin Oleg, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto. Kojima pinned Matsumoto after a lariat.
The YouTube broadcast ends here.
Match 3: Shoma Kato, Shuji Ishikawa & El Desperado vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Don Fale & Sho. 20 minute time limit
Result: Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Don Fale & Sho beat Shoma Kato, Shuji Ishikawa & El Desperado. Sho pinned Kato.
Match 4: Taiji Ishimori, Drilla Moloney & Shingo Takagi vs. DOUKI, Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi. 30 minute time limit
Taiji Ishimori, Drilla Moloney & Shingo Takagi beat DOUKI, Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi. Takagi pinned Owens.
Match 5: Yuya Uemura, Shota Umino & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Daiki Nagai, OSKAR (The Grouch) & Yuto Ice (Ice Baby). 30 minute time limit
Result: Yuya Uemura, Shota Umino & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Daiki Nagai, OSKAR & Yuto Ice. Tanahshi pinned Nagai after High Fly Flow. Afterwards, Tanahashi with microphone for a final farewell to the local fans.
Match 6: Hiromu Takahashi & David Finlay vs. Callum Newman & Great-O-Khan. 30 minute time limit
Result: Hiromu Takahashi & David Finlay beat Callum Newman & Great-O-Khan by DQ. Newman DQ’d. Chair use. Afterwards, Findlay with microphone in English. Challenge issued to United Empire for Tokyo Dome.
Match 7: NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Champions Master Wato, Yoh & Toru Yano vs. Ren Narita, SANADA & EVIL for the titles. 1 Hour time limit
Result: NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Champions Master Wato, Yoh & Toru Yano beat Ren Narita, SANADA & EVIL to retain the titles. Yoh pinned SANADA. V3 for the champs.
Tanahashi comes back out to be the guest on commentary for the last match.
Main Event: World Tag League Finals: Gabriel Kidd & Yota Tsuji vs. Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. No time limit
Result: Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Gabriel Kidd & Yota Tsuji to win the tournament. Oiwa pinned Kidd after The Grip. As a result, Oiwa & Sabre will get an IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship match in the near future, possibly at Tokyo Dome.
The next event is Friday at G Messe Gunma in Gunma to start the short year-ending Road To TOKYO DOME Tour. There will be no live or on demand broadcast. The only televised event will be the tour-ender.
UPDATE; Following up on the Finlay challenge issued, Tokyo Sports reports it will be a 10-man tag match at Tokyo Dome AND the absent HENARE will return then. The match would likely be Bullet Club & The Unaffiliated (former Los Ingobernables de Japon) vs. United Empire.