Kazuchika Okada and Tetsuya Naito will vie for their place in the final. After a crushing defeat to the Rainmaker over the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship in Sapporo, Naito quickly has another chance at Okada, with designs on punching a ticket to the main event at the Tokyo Dome in January 2023. Meanwhile Shingo Takagi and Zack Sabre Jr. meet in the other semifinal. A runner up in 2021, Takagi wants to go one step better in 2022 by taking the trophy. The Submission Master Sabre however is intent on getting his own revenge four years in the making, and his first step is the New Japan Cup gold.