NJPW New Japan Soul 2025 Preview (7/6/2025)

Full New Japan Soul Match Card

• IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: El Desperado (c) vs. Kosei Fujita
• IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: SHO & DOUKI (c) vs. YOH & Master Wato
• G1 Climax 35 Last Chance Play-In Gauntlet: Chase Owens vs. Satoshi Kojima vs. Taichi vs. Tomohiro Ishii
• Hiroshi Tanahashi Final Road & Tiger Mask 30th Anniversary: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tiger Mask
• Six Man Tag Team Match: Hiromu Takahashi, Yota Tsuji, & Shingo Takagi vs. Zack Sabre Jr., Ryohei Oiwa, & Hartley Jackson
• 10 Man Tag Team Match: Ryusuke Taguchi, Tomoaki Honma, Boltin Oleg, Yuya Uemura, & Shota Umino vs. EVIL, Sanada, Ren Narita, Yujiro Takahashi, & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
• Kick-off match 2: Masatora Yasuda & Shoma Kato vs. Katsuya Murashima & Daiki Nagai
• Kick-off match 1: Zane Jay vs. Tatsuya Matsumoto

Tanahashi’s Final Road Coincides with Tiger Mask’s 30th year

The Ace will look to bounce back after failing to take the IWGP Global title from Gabe Kidd last Friday, as he continues to walk his Final Road. This time, he will go head-to-head with another legend, Tiger Mask, who’s celebrating his 30th year in pro-wrestling.

This current Tiger Mask debuted in July of 1995 and is still going strong 30 years later at 54 years old. He looks to prove once more why he deserves to carry the Tiger Mask legacy against Tanahashi, who he only faced once before back in 2006. Tanahashi won their first encounter, and he will surely do his very best this time to get the same result.

Last Chance Gauntlet to Determine Goto’s Replacement

In a cruel twist of fate, NJPW announced that former IWGP World Heavyweight champion Hirooki Goto will miss the G1 Climax due to injury. He sustained an elbow injury during his defense against Zack Sabre Jr. at Tanahashi Jam last June 29, and after further medical evaluation, was deemed unfit to compete in the tournament.

To determine his replacement, NJPW booked a last chance play-in gauntlet. Chase Owens, Satoshi Kojima, Taichi, and Tomohiro Ishii will have another shot to enter the G1 after losing their play-in matches during the tour. The dynamics make this an exciting gauntlet, with House of Torture’s Chase Owens seemingly being the odd man out and the possibility of having the current tag team champs, Ishii and Taichi be the final two participants.

Former Champions Seeking Revenge

YOH & Master Wato lost the Jr. tag titles to SHO and his surprise partner DOUKI last month at Dominion. They did not know that Yoshinobu Kanemaru would be replaced until DOUKI came out and made his return from injury to join House of Torture.

This time, the challengers are well-prepared and also carry a bit of momentum. YOH & Wato became two-thirds of the NEVER Openweight Six-Man tag champions last Friday after beating SHO, Ren Narita, & Yujiro Takahashi. The only question now is, can they repeat to recapture the Junior Tag Team titles?

“Young Punk” Challenges for Junior Singles Gold Again

TMDK’s Kosei Fujita won the 32nd edition of the Best of the Super Junior last month, beating YOH in the finals. He became the youngest winner in the tournament’s history and also earned another shot at the IWGP Junior Championship, currently held by one of the best to ever hold that title, El Desperado.

Last February at the New Beginning tour, Fujita also challenged Desperado, but failed to capture the gold. Although he came up short, he pushed the champion to the limit, with the match lasting a little over 23 minutes. On the other hand, Desperado is coming off a brutal death match against Jun Kasai where he successfully defended the title for the sixth time in this fifth reign.

With both men looking to continue their winning ways, this match might very well top the one they had in February. Desperado holds a 3-0 advantage in singles competition over his challenger, but the confidence Fujita gained from winning the BOSJ is definitely something the champion should be mindful of.