NJPW Dontaku: Nic Nemeth retains, but David Finlay's win exposes booking flaws

A Roster in Transition

Fukuoka Kokusai Center has hosted plenty of historic nights for New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Wrestling Dontaku traditionally serves as the violent bridge between the spring tournaments and the grueling summer schedule.

This year's May 3 event was no different. Yet, the energy surrounding the company feels entirely different than it did just a few years ago.

NJPW is a promotion actively trying to rebuild its identity. With massive departures gutting their main event scene, management has been forced to plug the holes with foreign talent and nostalgic veterans.

Tonight's card in Fukuoka highlighted both the successes and the glaring failures of that strategy. As PWInsider documented in their Dontaku report, the results from top to bottom felt wildly disjointed.

Some matches delivered blistering action. Others felt like stubborn booking decisions designed specifically to frustrate the paying audience.

The Hiroshi Tanahashi Problem

Let's start with the main event. Nic Nemeth successfully defended the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship against Hiroshi Tanahashi.

The bell rang, and they went exactly 17:22 before Nemeth finally secured the pinfall. On paper, having a globally recognized name defend a newly minted championship against the company's president sounds like a major attraction.

In execution, it was a glaring reminder of Tanahashi's physical decline. The man is a legend who carried this company on his back through its darkest days.

But his knees are completely shot. He can barely hit the ropes with any sustained velocity. His offense relies entirely on muscle memory and crowd goodwill.

Booking Tanahashi in a 17-minute singles match in 2026 is bordering on promotional malpractice. Nemeth bumped frantically, throwing himself all over the ring to make Tanahashi's offense look dangerous.

He sold the Dragon Screws like he had been shot. He fed into the Sling Blade perfectly.

But you simply cannot hide the lack of mobility. Every time Tanahashi climbed the turnbuckle for the High Fly Flow, you held your breath hoping his joints would survive the landing.

NJPW needs to accept that Tanahashi is best utilized in multi-man tags or short sprints. Putting him in this spot exposed the thinness of the current heavyweight roster.

Nemeth retaining was the only logical outcome. The match just dragged long after the point was made.

Nemeth is clearly trying his hardest to make this NJPW run work. He brings a frantic, nervous energy to his matches that contrasts sharply with the traditional stoic Japanese style.

But the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship lacks a clear identity. It was created to replace the US Title, presumably to cater to a broader international audience.

Yet, its inaugural feuds feel completely disconnected from the rest of the promotion. If the goal is to make Nemeth a credible attraction, he needs to be fighting men in their physical prime.

Defeating a hobbled Tanahashi does not elevate Nemeth. It merely reminds the audience that the true top-tier stars are occupied elsewhere.

Halting Yota Tsuji's Momentum

The most infuriating result of the night belonged to the semi-main event. David Finlay pinned Yota Tsuji after a grueling 22:22.

This is exactly the kind of booking that makes loyal fans want to rip their hair out. Tsuji is arguably the most organically popular member of the Reiwa Three Musketeers.

He has raw charisma, a massive physical presence, and a terrifying spear that gets a massive pop every single time. The crowd actively wants to cheer for him.

They want him to ascend to the top of the card. Instead, Gedo booked David Finlay to beat him clean in the middle of the ring.

Finlay is a highly competent wrestler. He works a brutal, grinding style that fits the Bullet Club War Dogs aesthetic perfectly.

But beating Tsuji right now halts all of the young star's momentum. It is a stubborn adherence to a hierarchy that no longer serves the audience.

The match itself was technically sound, with Finlay targeting Tsuji's neck and forcing him to fight from underneath. But going over 20 minutes drained the energy from the building.

Tsuji needed a definitive, star-making victory. Instead, he was sacrificed to keep Finlay positioned as a top-tier threat.

It is a short-sighted decision. NJPW has a nasty habit of cooling off their young stars the moment they start generating real heat, and this was a textbook example.

Jeff Cobb's Brutal Crowning Moment

Thankfully, the undercard provided some much-needed electricity. The absolute highlight of the night was Jeff Cobb dethroning Zack Sabre Jr. for the NJPW World Television Championship.

The match was a masterclass in contrasting styles, ending cleanly at 13:28. This is exactly what the TV title was designed for.

It forces wrestlers to abandon the slow feeling-out process and get straight to the violence. Zack Sabre Jr. has been a phenomenal champion, carrying the belt with an arrogant swagger and defending it constantly.

He tried to out-grapple Cobb, wrapping himself around the bigger man like a giant spider.

But Cobb is just too strong. He absorbed Sabre's submissions, powered out of intricate traps, and threw the Brit around the ring with terrifying ease.

The finish was spectacular. Cobb caught Sabre mid-transition and flattened him with a Tour of the Islands.

Cobb winning the belt feels earned. He has been a loyal, incredibly consistent performer for United Empire, and giving him a singles run is a smart move.

Furthermore, freeing Zack Sabre Jr. from the TV title picture opens him up for bigger things. With the G1 Climax approaching, Zack should absolutely be in the conversation for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.

He is operating at a peak physical level right now.

The House of Torture Trap

Speaking of the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, Jon Moxley's presence on this tour remains bizarre. Moxley teamed with Shota Umino and El Desperado in a losing effort against House of Torture's EVIL, Ren Narita, and Yoshinobu Kanemaru.

The match ended mercifully at 8:44 when Kanemaru caught Desperado in a Samson Clutch. Let me be clear: House of Torture is the most agonizing act in professional wrestling.

Their matches follow the exact same heavily-interfered formula every single time. Ref bumps, low blows, wrench shots.

It was tired three years ago. It is completely exhausted now.

Moxley's reign as IWGP World Heavyweight Champion is already facing heavy criticism. When he won the belt, the immediate assumption was that he would defend it against the absolute elite of the roster.

Instead, he is being dragged into the House of Torture mud. EVIL is a former world champion himself, but his current gimmick completely disqualifies him from being taken seriously as a threat.

The Fukuoka crowd groaned audibly when Dick Togo began pulling the referee out of the ring. Moxley is a brawler who excels in bloody, violent chaos.

Putting him in comedy matches filled with cheap interference betrays his entire character. NJPW is wasting his limited availability.

Shota Umino also suffers in this scenario. He is supposed to be the chosen successor, the young lion personally mentored by Moxley.

But teaming with his mentor in losing efforts against midcard comedy heels does nothing for his credibility. Umino has the flashy jacket and the elaborate entrance, but his in-ring psychology still feels incredibly raw.

He spends too much time playing to the crowd and not enough time laying in his strikes. If he wants to be the ace, he needs to show a mean streak.

He needs to get angry about losing to Kanemaru. The fact that he simply walked to the back looking mildly disappointed highlights a massive flaw in his character development.

Tag Team Chaos and Roster Depth

Elsewhere on the card, Los Ingobernables de Japon defeated the Bullet Club War Dogs in 11:16. Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi, and BUSHI outlasted Gabe Kidd, Clark Connors, Drilla Moloney, and Gedo.

The finish saw BUSHI lock Gedo in the Fable submission, forcing a quick tap. Naito looked incredibly rested, moving with a bit more snap than we saw during his recent title reign.

The real story here was the continued tension between LIJ and the War Dogs. Gabe Kidd is an absolute maniac right now.

He attacks every match like a genuine street fight. His intensity is exactly what NJPW needs.

Earlier in the night, the Bullet Club faction of KENTA, Chase Owens, and Taiji Ishimori secured a victory over Bishamon's Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI, who teamed with Tiger Mask.

The finish was elementary, with Owens pinning Tiger Mask at the 7:34 mark. Goto and YOSHI-HASHI have been the unshakeable backbone of the tag team division for years.

Pairing them with Tiger Mask here felt like an afterthought. Owens and KENTA operate at a painfully slow pace these days.

Their matches are heavily reliant on stalling tactics, powdering to the outside, and cheap eye rakes. It is effective for drawing local boos, but it translates poorly to television.

The tag team division desperately needs an injection of fresh, athletic blood. Bishamon deserves better opponents than a thrown-together team looking to do the bare minimum.

We also saw the Guerrillas of Destiny grab a win over TMDK. El Phantasmo, Hikuleo, and Jado defeated Mikey Nicholls, Shane Haste, and Kosei Fujita.

The finish came when Phantasmo pinned Nicholls. It was a standard multi-man tag designed to fill time, but Kosei Fujita continues to look excellent.

The young man works with a crisp, no-nonsense aggression. TMDK is a great environment for him to learn.

On the other side, Just 5 Guys picked up a couple of mixed results. Taichi and Yuya Uemura defeated Great-O-Khan and Callum Newman, but SHO and Yujiro Takahashi managed to beat DOUKI and TAKA Michinoku.

An Unforgiving Road Ahead

While the wider wrestling world is already looking ahead to WWE Backlash next week, NJPW is fighting a very different battle. They are not competing on a global scale right now.

They are competing against their own recent history. The May 3 Dontaku card proved they still have incredible talent on the roster.

Jeff Cobb and Zack Sabre Jr. showed what happens when two masters of their craft are given time to shine. But the decisions at the top of the card remain deeply concerning.

Relying on a physically compromised Hiroshi Tanahashi to anchor your main event against Nic Nemeth is a bad look. Cutting off Yota Tsuji's legs to protect David Finlay is a creative failure.

Gedo has a long history of playing the long game with his booking. But modern wrestling moves too fast for that.

Fans have infinite alternatives. If you refuse to give them the stars they want to cheer for, they will simply turn the channel.

NJPW faces an unforgiving few months ahead. They need to find a new ace, establish a solid hierarchy, and finally stop leaning on the ghosts of their past.