Tokyo’s biggest event of the spring
April 6 sees Tokyo’s biggest event of the spring, as Sakura Genesis takes place from Ryogoku Sumo Hall. Five title matches, the return of Jon Moxley and more highlight a stunning card!
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Main event: IWGP World Heavyweight Championship- Tetsuya Naito vs Yota Tsuji
Singles record: 1-0 Naito
The main event sees Tetsuya Naito defending the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against New Japan Cup winner Yota Tsuji. Naito has had an eye out for Tsuji ever since his early Young Lion days, and Tsuji’s own admiration for Naito’s freedom of expression and ungovernable ways saw him to eventually face Naito one on one in his last match before going on excursion in 2021. Two years later, it’s that same connection that saw him return, joining LIJ, but not to be Naito’s underling, rather to surpass El Ingobernable in every way.
Before the New Japan Cup, Tsuji made a promise directly to Naito that he would be winning the tournament and soon enough taking the head of the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. While Naito has openly accepted the challenge, proud of LIj’s ability to better itself through competition, he has to be concerned with Tsuji’s incredible momentum, having gone through a demanding New Japan Cup bracket that ended with victory over a three time former winner in Hirooki Goto. On his victory at Wrestle Kingdom 18, Naito said that his next goal after achieving his roll call in the Tokyo Dome was to have many more all around the world, but Tsuji starts what might be one of the most demanding runs of his career.
8th Match: NEVER Openweight Championship- EVIL vs Shingo Takagi
Singles record: 2-2
The NEVER Openweight Championship is on the line when Shingo Takagi challenges EVIL. The New Japan Cup saw Takagi face the King of Darkness in the quarterfinals, but it was EVIL who prevailed, following a cavalcade of interference from HOUSE OF TORTURE. An infuriated Dragon would take out his frustrations the next night, ensuring that the same fate did not befall Yota Tsuji, who eliminated EVIL from the tournament and went on to win the trophy. Meanwhile, a tag encounter in Nagaoka at the Cup finals saw Shingo again embarrass EVIL before declaring that he would take the NEVER Openweight Championship from him to boot.
Through each of his NEVER reigns, Shingo has fought with pride and spirit, lending the ‘BMF’ credence to the gold. Yet EVIL has mistreated the title from jump, reducing the belt to tatters and spray painting it black. SHingo has declared that he will renovate the title entirely should he win, but will EVIL ensure that it’s still shrouded in darkness?
7th Match: Shota Umino & Jon Moxley vs HOUSE OF TORTURE (Ren Narita & Jack Perry)
Ever since Ren Narita turned his back on former friend Shota Umino and joined HOUSE OF TORTURE, the group has been the bane of Umino’s existence. Just as he thought he could put the dark spectre of Narita’s betrayal aside with a win in Korakuen Hall, he would be defeated by EVIL at New Beginning, and then Jack Perry would surface, leveraging the most hated group in wrestling to knock him out of the New Japan Cup.
Unable to take any more, Umino embarked on a vendetta against jack Perry, eventually securing a singles match with the Scapegoat at Windy City Riot April 12. Before that though, Umino has promised the return of someone to ‘punish’ H.O.T, and nobody is better fit for purpose than Jon Moxley. Mox would like nothing better than a violent tune up before facing Naito in Chicago next week, and in so doing, he meets Jack Perry in ring for the very first time.
6th Match: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship- SHO vs YOH
Singles record: 5-2 SHO
The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship is on the line when YOH challenges champion SHO. At New Beginning in Sapporo, SHO became perhaps the most controversial champion in the title’s 38 year lineage, defeating El Desperado via a tainted countout to lift the gold. One day later, former partner YOH would issue his own breed of justice, when he swiped the belt from under SHO’s nose, and continued to taunt the champion with his property through the New Japan Cup tour- a tour SHO had to miss due to ‘physical and emotional distress’.
When YOH foiled Yoshinobu Kanemaru’s attempt to bring the championship gold back to the HOUSE OF TORTURE, a challenge would officially be issued. The break up of the Roppongi 3K team YOH and SHO were once part of drove the foundation of HOUSE OF TORTURE in the first place back in 2021. Will this spat between two former friends see the group’s continued success, or its greatest downfall?
5th Match: IWGP Tag Team Championships- BULLET CLUB (Chase Owens & KENTA) vs Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI)
Bishamnon will challenge KENTA and Chase Owens for the IWGP tag Team Championships at Sakura Genesis. Nagaoka’s New Japan Cup finals saw Goto just fall short of taking the trophy for a fourth time, but he had little time to lick his wounds and restore his wounded pride as Owens and KENTA assaulted the Fierce Warrior and his partner YOSHI-HASHI. The Headhunter had scored his first ever singles victory over KENTA earlier int he New Japan Cup, and after Goto’s progression through the tournament came at the expense of Owenbs, a claim to the gold and a source of frustration was evident. How will this issue resolve itself in Ryogoku?
4th Match: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships- BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney) vs Catch 2/2 (Francesco Akira & TJP) vs Intergalactic Jet Setters (Kevin Knight & KUSHIDA)
The first of five championship matches in Sumo Hall sees the IWGP Junior Tag Team Championships on the line in a three way match. With pride, confidence and a thirst for blood growing after the Dog Pound Cage Match between United Empire and War Dogs back in February, Francesco Akira went through the New Japan Cup tour consistently challenging champions Connors and Moloney, who haven’t been seen since New Beginning in Osaka. Yet as Akira and TJP wrestled in Nagaoka in winning form at the New Japan Cup finals, a message from the Intergalactic Jet Setters suggested their job would not be that easy.
Kevin Knight and KUSHIDA hold a tag win over the champions during Super Jr. Tag League last November, and haven’t forgotten that fact over the past five months. Now they’ve come to collect, but with chaotic competition, can they leave with the gold?
3rd Match: Just Five Guys (DOUKI, Yuya Uemura & SANADA) vs United Empire (Callum Newman, Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb)
Six man action sees Just Five Guys and United Empire facing off. Though the spring Ryogoku event has historically seen big things happening for both factions in the past, this year sees the two teams on the outside looking in. Yet with Taiwan seeing a tournament to crown new NEVER Openweight 6 Man Champions one week after Sakura Genesis might this match see one or both sides stake a claim?
2nd Match: Los Ingobernables De Japon (BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi) vs BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Gedo & David Finlay)
Tag team competition will see the return of David Finlay after health issues forced him out of the New Japan Cup. Many had the Rebel circled to win the Cup and be in the main event tonight in Ryogoku, and certainly the former Global Champion is looking to quickly make up for lost time. What does he have in store at Sakura Genesis?
1st Match: Ryusuke Taguchi & El Desperado vs TMDK (Zack Sabre Jr. & Kosei Fujita)
Our opening contest sees another return- that of Kosei Fujita fresh off sinus surgery. TMDK will be facing a one time Suzuki-Gun teammate of Zack Sabre Jr.’s in El Desperado, leading to a hot start on what’s sure to be a spectacular night!
Kickoff Match: Frontier Zone- Boltin Oleg, Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii vs 2AW (Ayato Yoshida, Chicharito Shoki & Takuro Niki)
Since its inception in Ryogoku last October, the Frontier Zone has given wrestling fans the chance to sample brand new wrestling from outside the major scene, and that’s the case at Sakura Genesis when 2AW, Active Advance Wrestling gets involved!
Ayato Yoshida, Takuro Niki and Chicharito Shoki will be representing the group in Sumo Hall. It’s a return to the cerulean blue for Yoshida, who wrestled sporadically in NJPW between 2017 and 2019, which included a World Tag League 2018 team with then Young Lion Shota Umino. NJPW fans may remember 25 year old Chicharito Shoki from All Star Junior Festival last March, while 23 year old Takuro Niki will be looking to show the future of his promotion and NJPW at large. This young trio will have a tough time against veterans Toru Yano and Tomohiro Ishii, as well as the huge Boltin Oleg- catch how they fare by tuning in early for Sakura Genesis!
