Following Callum Newman’s shock IWGP Championship win, A hooded figure appeared out of the crowd and jumped Tsuji, who was still recovering on the outside. Gabe Kidd unmasked, unzipping his jacket to reveal an AEW shirt. He fled the ringside area with the IWGP Global title, which he lost to Tsuji back in October.
One of the top matches from Saturday’s show had Konosuke Takeshita go to a time limit draw with Shota Umino, retaining the NJPW World Television title. However, a mystery man in a mask and suit appeared at ringside, momentarily distracting Takeshita. This allowed Chase Owens to run in and jump the TV Champion from behind. Owens continued his assault until Umino came back to the ring for the save.
Earlier in the show, Boltin Oleg & Bishimon retained the NEVER Six-Man titles against Ren Narita, Yujiro Takahashi, and Owens, with Bishimon taking out Yujiro as Oleg had Narita in a torture rack. After the match, he cut a short promo making it clear he wanted the next shot at Narita’s NEVER Championship.
In the co-main event, The Knockout Brothers defeated Zack Sabre Jr. and Ryohei Oiwa in a classic bout to retain the IWGP Tag Team titles. Yuto-Ice cut a promo after the match saying they wanted another shot at Bishimon. But before Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI could arrive, Aaron Henare and Great-O-Khan entered the ring, saying they wanted the next shot. Eventually it was decided that Bishimon and the two members of the United Empire would face off in the future with the winners challenging the champions.
Ren Narita and Oleg Boltin have earned their spots in the next round of New Japan Cup 2026.
The second night of the tournament took place at Korakuen Hall on Thursday with Narita defeating Taichi and Oleg defeating El Phantasmo. Their second-round matchups are now set with Narita vs. Satoshi Kojima and Oleg vs. HENARE scheduled for March 12.
Kojima and HENARE are among the wrestlers who randomly received a first-round bye in the tournament. The 55-year-old Kojima was a late replacement to the New Japan Cup field after replacing the injured Tomohiro Ishii.
New Japan Cup 2026 began yesterday with Yuya Uemura and Don Fale advancing to the second round. The tournament runs through March 21, with the winner receiving an IWGP World Championship shot against Yota Tsuji at Sakura Genesis in April.
This Friday, two New Japan Cup first-round matches will be part of the card for NJPW’s 54th Anniversary show. Here is the remaining schedule for the opening round:
Friday, March 6 —
YOSHI-HASHI vs. Jake Lee (winner faces Hirooki Goto next round)
OSKAR vs. Callum Newman (winner faces Hartley Jackson)
Sunday, March 8 —
Shota Umino vs. Chase Owens (winner faces Yujiro Takahashi)
Yuto-Ice vs. Ryohei Oiwa (winner faces Zack Sabre Jr.)
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive are back with tons to talk about including the latest legal issue involving Vince McMahon, Hirooki Goto is the new IWGP Heavyweight Champion, a full recap of RAW from Monday night, OLEG BOLTIN OR BOLTIN OLEG, and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
NJPW’s Frontier Zone match will make its return as Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & Boltin Oleg take on Ayato Yoshida, Takuro Niki & Chicharito Shoki at Sakura Genesis. The Frontier Zone concept pits members of the NJPW roster against wrestlers from smaller promotions. Yoshida, Niki & Shoki are representing 2AW (Active Advance Wrestling).
NJPW wrote:
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!
Airing on the pre-show, Ishii, Yano & Oleg vs. Yoshida, Niki & Shoki will kick off the action at Sakura Genesis.
Sakura Genesis is taking place from Sumo Hall in Tokyo on Saturday, April 6. The show will air live on NJPW World.
Here’s the full lineup:
NJPW Sakura Genesis 2024 —
IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Tetsuya Naito defends against Yota Tsuji
NEVER Openweight Champion EVIL defends against Shingo Takagi
Jon Moxley & Shota Umino vs. Jack Perry & Ren Narita
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion SHO defends against YOH
IWGP Tag Team Champions KENTA & Chase Owens defend against Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI
Three-way match: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney defend against KUSHIDA & Kevin Knight) and Francesco Akira & TJP
SANADA, Yuya Uemura & DOUKI vs. Jeff Cobb, Great-O-Khan & Callum Newman
Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI vs. David Finlay & Gedo
El Desperado & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Kosei Fujita
NJPW’s Road to Destruction tour kicks off today with an NJPW World TV Championship match.
In the show’s co-main event, Zack Sabre Jr. will defend the NJPW World TV title against Boltin Oleg. As with all TV title bouts, the match will have a 15 minute time limit.
In the other half of the main event, SANADA & Taichi of Just Five Guys will team against EVIL & SHO of Bullet Club’s House of Torture.
The full card:
SANADA & Taichi vs. EVIL & SHO
NJPW World TV Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. defends against Boltin Oleg
Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji & Hiromu Takahashi vs. Jeff Cobb, Great-O-Khan, HENARE & Callum Newman
Taguchi paid tribute to Funk by attempting a spinning toe hold, but Kanemaru reversed into a pin. Taguchi kicked out, but followed up with another cross-leg pin to snag the win.
Minoru Suzuki, Ren Narita, El Desperado, Tomoaki Honma defeated Shota Umino, Master Wato, Oskar Leube, & Yugi Nagata
This fantastic tag excited me for the rest of the tour. Nagata and Suzuki together will never get old, and Ren and Umino are one of my favorite pairings in the company.
After an intense staredown before the opening bell, Nagata and Suzuki traded blows; even after tagging out, the pair continued to brawl. Ren and Umnio also engaged in passionate attacks when the opportunity was presented.
Leube locking in a Boston crab initiated both teams hitting the ring, clearing the stage for the finish. After missing a leg drop, Leube ate a suplex from Ren before submitting to the cobra twist.
There was quite a bit of unimpactful action, with a couple of Yano segments intermixed. The match finished when Haste and Nicholls hit Yano with an assisted fireman’s carry into a double suplex.
This match, given its lineup, over-delivered. The veteran quartet played their role exceptionally well, while the dream team (plus Nakashima) were great as always. It’s not a great match, but a fun one.
It opened with a brawl, leaving Tenzan and Ishii alone to trade strikes. Okada and Kojima also exchanged licks in the ring before giving Nakashima a chance to shine. There were some sloppy exchanges, especially after the late match breakdown, but everyone, even TM IV, looked good in this match at some point.
The match ended as the late brawl failed to resolve, even with the referee’s interference, resulting in a no-contest. The fight continued after the ruling, with Tenzan and Ishii as the main focal points.
This was a by-the-book early tour showcase tag, but Newman was given the opportunity to shine.
It didn’t take long for the match to spill outside of the ring, with the teams fighting in the crowd. Back in the ropes, newcomer Newman showed off his speed against Hiromu. The match eventually broke down again, with both teams hitting the ring until only Newman and Tsuji were left alone. Tsuji caught Newman with one of the prettiest spears I’ve ever seen to win the match.
NJPW World TV Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. (c) defeated Ryohei Oiwa
Oleg Boltin was pulled from this match due to an infection. Oiwa, with Kaito Kiyomiya in his corner, was his replacement.
Oiwa opened the match by whipping ZSJ into the barricades, gaining an early lead. ZSJ gained advantage by securing the arm and whipping it into the barricade himself. From here on, ZSJ maintained this game plan, focusing the arm. After minutes of ZSJ control, Oiwa attempted a rally, only for ZSJ to catch his arm and force a submission.
After the match, Kaito and ZSJ had a brief staredown.
This win leaves ZSJ as the winningest champion in modern history, with 13 defences.
EVIL & SHO defeated SANADA & Taichi
This was an awful main event.
EVIL and SHO came to the ring with the IWGP World and KOPW belts, which they stole from Taichi and SANADA. EVIL also has new merch celebrating his reign as the 8th IWGP World champion, ignoring the statement’s falsehood.
The match opened with SHO fleeing to the floor. On the outside, Taichi whipped SHO into the barricade before returning to the ring. From here, the typical H.o.T.isms filled the match. Padless turnbuckles, eye rakes, and environmental offense were the focus.
With a downed referee, EVIL dropped Taichi with a low blow. SHO followed up with a wrench shot. EVIL then hit SANADA with the IWGP belt and Everything is Evil to win the match.
After the match, the attack continued. DOUKI and Kanemaru made the save. EVIL and SHO left with their stolen belts.
