Tag: NJPW news

NJPW announces full card for Ignition to Dominion

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The full card has now been confirmed for NJPW Ignition to Dominion.

Taking place in Karatsu this Wednesday, the show could set the stage for the Dominion 2026 main event. Callum Newman & Jake Lee are facing off against Yota Tsuji & Shingo Takagi. If either Unbound Co. member scores a pinfall over Newman, they earn an IWGP Heavyweight Championship shot against him at Dominion. But if United Empire win, neither Tsuji nor Takagi can challenge for the title again as long as Newman is champion.

Newman issued the challenge for this match after cheating to retain his title against Takagi at Wrestling Dontaku. The youngest IWGP Heavyweight Champion in history, Newman won the belt from Tsuji last month at Sakura Genesis.

Dominion is being held in Osaka on June 14. An IWGP Tag Team title match with Yuto-Ice & OSKAR defending against Great-O-Khan & HENARE of United Empire looks likely for that show. At ignition, they’ll be part of a 10-man tag match with Yuto-Ice, OSKAR, Taiji Ishimori, Gedo & Daiki Nagai facing O-Khan, HENARE, Francesco Akira, Jakob Austin Young & Zane Jay.

The full card for Ignition is listed below. It’s airing live on NJPW World at 4 a.m. Eastern/1 a.m. Pacific and is the last stop for NJPW before Best of the Super Juniors begins on May 14.

NJPW Ignition to Dominion (Wednesday, May 6) —

  • Callum Newman & Jake Lee vs. Yota Tsuji & Shingo Takagi
  • Yuto-Ice, OSKAR, Taiji Ishimori, Gedo & Daiki Nagai vs. Great-O-Khan, HENARE, Francesco Akira, Jakob Austin Young & Zane Jay
  • Aaron Wolf, Oleg Boltin & Tiger Mask vs. Ren Narita, Yujiro Takahashi & Dick Togo
  • Yuya Uemura & Masatora Yasuda vs. Ryohei Oiwa & Kosei Fujita
  • Shota Umino & Tomoaki Honma vs. Taichi & El Desperado
  • Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. Toru Yano, YOH & Master Wato
  • Ryusuke Taguchi & Taisei Nakahara vs. SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru

NJPW sets up tag team match with IWGP title implications

Posted on by Joseph Currier

A high-stakes tag team match looks set to take place on the road to NJPW Dominion.

Night two of Wrestling Dontaku ended with IWGP Heavyweight Champion Callum Newman issuing a challenge to Yota Tsuji & Shingo Takagi. At Ignition to Dominion this Wednesday (May 6), Newman & Jake Lee will team up against the Unbound Co. duo. If United Empire win, neither Tsuji nor Takagi can challenge Newman for the IWGP Heavyweight title again. But if either Tsuji or Takagi manage to score a pinfall over Newman, that competitor earns the right to challenge for his belt in the main event of Dominion on June 14.

NJPW has not officially announced the tag match or revealed the full card for Ignition to Dominion. The show is airing live on New Japan World on Wednesday with a start time of 4 a.m. Eastern/1 a.m. Pacific.

At Dontaku today, Newman used a low blow to retain his IWGP Heavyweight Championship over Takagi. It was Newman’s first defense since winning the title from Tsuji at Sakura Genesis 2026.

Newman’s immediate focus remains on the United Empire/Unbound Co. feud, but a match against his former mentor Will Ospreay appears to be the ultimate direction. Issues between Newman and Ospreay continued to build at Dontaku, where Ospreay did not approve of Newman cheating to win. Ospreay was then initially reluctant to help United Empire with their post-match attack on Takagi and Tsuji. Backstage, Ospreay reaffirmed his commitment to United Empire and said he’s trying his best to be the kind of competitor Newman wants him to be.

Night two of Dontaku saw United Empire capture more gold with Ospreay, Great-O-Khan & HENARE defeating Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Oleg Boltin for the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team titles.

Full card set for NJPW Wrestling Redzone 2026

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The full card has now been announced for NJPW Wrestling Redzone 2026, an event that’s taking place in Hiroshima this weekend on the road to Wrestling Dontaku.

An IWGP Tag Team title match with OSKAR & Yuto-Ice defending against Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI headlines the show. The match was officially confirmed this week with Goto & YOSHI-HASHI defeating HENARE & Great-O-Khan in a number one contender’s bout.

Now out of IWGP Tag Team title contention, HENARE & O-Khan still have a championship match coming up at Wrestling Dontaku, where they’ll team with Will Ospreay and challenge Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Oleg Boltin for the NEVER Six-Man belts. Before that, HENARE, O-Khan & Francesco Akira are taking on Taichi, Ryusuke Taguchi & Masatora Yasuda at Redzone.

The semi-main event of the Redzone show is an IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team title match where Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X are putting their belts on the line against Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles.

Here is the full card, which will stream live on NJPW World:

NJPW Wrestling Redzone 2026 (Saturday, April 25) —

  • IWGP Tag Team Champions OSKAR & Yuto-Ice defend against Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI
  • IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X defend against Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles
  • Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji, Gedo & Daiki Nagai vs. Callum Newman, Jake Lee, Jakob Austin Young & Zane Jay
  • Yuya Uemura & Tomoaki Honma vs. Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson
  • Tiger Mask, Oleg Boltin, Aaron Wolf & Togi Makabe vs. DOUKI, Ren Narita, Don Fale & Dick Togo
  • Taichi, Ryusuke Taguchi & Masatora Yasuda vs. HENARE, Great-O-Khan & Francesco Akira
  • Shota Umino, Toru Yano, YOH & Master Wato vs. Chase Owens, Yujiro Takahashi, SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Kickoff match: Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. Taisei Nakahara

NJPW confirms next IWGP Tag Team title match

Posted on by Joseph Currier

IWGP Tag Team Champions OSKAR & Yuto-Ice now know the identity of their next challengers.

The belts will be on the line when Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI challenge OSKAR & Yuto-Ice at NJPW Wrestling Redzone 2026 this Saturday. To earn their spot in the match, Goto & YOSHI-HASHI defeated HENARE & Great-O-Khan in a number one contender’s bout today.

After sending HENARE out of the ring, Goto & YOSHI-HASHI hit a Shoto on O-Khan for the victory. A face-off between Goto & YOSHI-HASHI and OSKAR & Yuto-Ice then closed today’s show, with NJPW positioning this as a matchup between the most dominant team of the first half of the 2020s and the current champions who have now taken over the division.

Goto & YOSHI-HASHI are aiming for their fifth IWGP Tag Team title reign after most recently holding the belts in 2024.

Wrestling Redzone, airing live on NJPW World, is one of the promotion’s last stops before Wrestling Dontaku 2026. The Redzone card includes two tag team championship matches.

NJPW Wrestling Redzone (Saturday, April 25) —

  • IWGP Tag Team Champions OSKAR & Yuto-Ice defend against Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI
  • IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champions Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X defend against Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles
  • Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji, Gedo & Daiki Nagai vs. Callum Newman, Jake Lee, Jakob Austin Young & Zane Jay
  • Yuya Uemura & Tomoaki Honma vs. Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson
  • Tiger Mask, Oleg Boltin, Aaron Wolf & Togi Makabe vs. DOUKI, Ren Narita, Don Fale & Dick Togo

Will Ospreay files for ‘United Empire’ trademark

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Will Ospreay recently made a trademark filing for the name of his NJPW faction.

On April 10, Ospreay applied to trademark the term “United Empire” for merchandising and wrestling purposes. The faction was founded by Ospreay in NJPW and still exists today with Callum Newman serving as the leader following Ospreay’s departure to AEW.

The trademark is intended to cover the following goods and services:

  • Shirts; Sweatshirts; Hooded sweatshirts; Hats; Bandanas; Socks
  • Providing wrestling news and information via a global computer network; Entertainment services, namely, wrestling exhibits and performances by a professional wrestler and entertainer; Entertainment in the nature of wrestling contests; Entertainment services, namely, televised appearances by a professional wrestler and sports entertainer; Entertainment services, namely, personal appearances by a professional wrestler and sports entertainer; Entertainment services, namely, live appearances by a professional wrestler and sports entertainer; Providing online interviews featuring professional wrestler and sports entertainer in the field of professional wrestling and sports entertainment for entertainment purposes

Ospreay is no longer with NJPW full-time, but he intends to return to Japan more often now that he’s back in the ring following neck surgery. United Empire also crossed over into AEW last week with Newman, HENARE, and Francesco Akira helping Ospreay deal with the Death Riders.

The 23-year-old Newman defeated Yota Tsuji this month to become the youngest IWGP Heavyweight Champion in history, potentially paving the way for an eventual split with Ospreay and subsequent title feud.

NJPW sets date for Tiger Mask Junior Heavyweight title challenge

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Before he retires from the ring, Tiger Mask IV will attempt to become IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion one last time.

NJPW has announced that the main event of Wrestling Hizen no Kuni will see Tiger Mask challenge DOUKI for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title. The show is happening on April 29 as part of the Road to Wrestling Dontaku tour.

Tiger Mask is a six-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, with his most recent reign having been in 2009-2010. He confronted DOUKI earlier this month and issued the challenge for a title match. They were then on the opposite sides of an eight-man tag bout at Sakura Genesis where Tiger Mask’s team got the victory.

The longest-serving Tiger Mask in history, Tiger Mask IV (Yoshihiro Yamazaki) is retiring from the ring soon with his final NJPW date set for July 7. He may need to work some already scheduled international dates after that, but that will be his final event in Japan.

July 2026 marks the 31st anniversary of Tiger Mask IV’s debut. He initially competed for Michinoku Pro before later joining NJPW.

The two biggest stops on the Road to Wrestling Dontaku tour are Wrestling Redzone and Wrestling Hizen no Kuni. On the Redzone card, the IWGP Heavyweight and Junior Heavyweight Tag Team titles will each be defended.

NJPW Wrestling Redzone (Saturday, April 25) —

  • IWGP Tag Team Champions OSKAR & Yuto-Ice defend against either Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI or HENARE & Great-O-Khan (those two teams are facing off in a number one contender’s match on April 20)
  • IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champions Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X defend against Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles
  • Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji, Gedo & Daiki Nagai vs. Callum Newman, Jake Lee, Jakob Austin Young & Zane Jay
  • Yuya Uemura & Tomoaki Honma vs. Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson
  • Tiger Mask, Oleg Boltin, Aaron Wolf & Togi Makabe vs. DOUKI, Ren Narita, Don Fale & Dick Togo

NJPW Wrestling Hizen no Kuni (Wednesday, April 29) —

  • IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion DOUKI defends against Tiger Mask
  • Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji, Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X vs. Callum Newman, Jake Lee, Francesco Akira & Zane Jay
  • Oleg Boltin, Aaron Wolf & Mistico vs. Ren Narita, Don Fale & Dick Togo
  • Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. HENARE, Great-O-Khan & Jakob Austin Young
  • Yuya Uemura, Taichi, Ryusuke Taguchi & Masatora Yasuda vs. Ryohei Oiwa, Hartley Jackson, Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles
  • Toru Yano & Tomoaki Honma vs. OSKAR & Yuto-Ice
  • Shota Umino, YOH, Master Wato & Taisei Nakahara vs. Chase Owens, SHO, Yujiro Takahashi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru

Both shows are living live on NJPW World.

NJPW reveals Wrestling Dontaku 2026 lineups

Posted on by Joseph Currier

With Sakura Genesis now in the rearview mirror, NJPW’s attention turns to Wrestling Dontaku 2026.

The two-night Dontaku event is being held in Fukuoka on Sunday, May 3 and Monday, May 4. Headlining the second night is an IWGP Heavyweight Championship defense by Callum Newman, who is putting his title on the line against Shingo Takagi. Newman — the 2026 New Japan Cup winner — dethroned Yota Tsuji for the belt at Sakura Genesis this past weekend.

At 23 years old, this is Newman’s first IWGP Heavyweight Championship reign. He’s one of the top foreign wrestlers in NJPW and the leader of United Empire.

United Empire has a big night at Wrestling Dontaku night two. In the semi-main event, the group is challenging for the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team titles. The match has AEW’s Will Ospreay — who is returning to Japan once again for both nights of Dontaku — teaming with HENARE & Great-O-Khan against champions Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Oleg Boltin.

Tsuji still holds the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship and will be defending that title in the night one main event. His challenger is Gabe Kidd, who is now waging war on NJPW after joining AEW.

Plus, there is more international representation on the cards with top CMLL star Mistico competing in tag matches.

The shows will stream live on NJPW World. Here are the announced lineups:

NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 2026 —

Night one (Sunday, May 3):

  • IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji defends against Gabe Kidd
  • NEVER Openweight Champion Ren Narita defends against Oleg Boltin
  • Aaron Wolf vs. Don Fale
  • Shingo Takagi, Drilla Moloney, Taiji Ishimori, Robbie X & Daiki Nagai vs. Callum Newman, Jake Lee, Francesco Akira, Jakob Austin Young & Zane Jay
  • Konosuke Takeshita & Shota Umino vs. Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi
  • Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. Will Ospreay, HENARE & Great-O-Khan
  • Yuya Uemura, Taichi, El Desperado & Mistico vs. Ryohei Oiwa, Hartley Jackson, Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita
  • Tomoaki Honma & Masatora Yasuda vs. OSKAR & Yuto-Ice
  • Toru Yano, YOH & Master Wato vs. Tiger Mask, Ryusuke Taguchi & Taisei Nakahara

Night two (Monday, May 4):

  • IWGP Heavyweight Champion Callum Newman defends against Shingo Takagi
  • NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Oleg Boltin defend against Will Ospreay, HENARE & Great-O-Khan
  • Yota Tsuji, Drilla Moloney, Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X vs. Jake Lee, Francesco Akira, Jakob Austin Young & Zane Jay
  • Yuya Uemura & Taichi vs. Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson
  • El Desperado & Mistico vs. Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita
  • Aaron Wolf, Toru Yano, Tiger Mask, YOH & Master Wato vs. Ren Narita, Don Fale, DOUKI, SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Shota Umino & Tomoaki Honma vs. OSKAR & Yuto-Ice
  • Ryusuke Taguchi & Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. Gedo & Daiki Nagai
  • NJPW World Television Champion Konosuke Takeshita defends against Chase Owens
  • Pre-show: Masatora Yasuda vs. Taisei Nakahara

NJPW announces Sakura Genesis card change

Posted on by Joseph Currier

To help build toward an upcoming Junior Heavyweight title match, NJPW has made a slight change to the Sakura Genesis card.

Tiger Mask IV and Master Wato have swapped places on the April 4 lineup, with Tiger Mask now set to compete in an eight-man tag match opposite IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion DOUKI. The match pits Tiger Mask, Aaron Wolf, YOH & Toru Yano against DOUKI, Don Fale, SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru.

As for Wato, he will now team up with Togi Makabe against Hartley Jackson & Kosei Fujita.

The change comes after Tiger Mask confronted DOUKI earlier this week and challenged him to a title match. A date for that bout has not been set yet. Tiger Mask, who only has three months left before the end of his in-ring career, wants to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title and retire as champion.

Sakura Genesis is being held at Sumo Hall in Tokyo and will stream live overnight at 3 a.m. Eastern/midnight Pacific.

NJPW Sakura Genesis 2026 (Saturday, April 4) —

  • IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji defends against Callum Newman
  • IWGP Tag Team Champions The Knock Out Brothers (Oskar & Yuto-Ice) defend against Zack Sabre Jr. & Ryohei Oiwa
  • NJPW World Television Champion Konosuke Takeshita defends against Shota Umino
  • NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Oleg Boltin defend against Ren Narita, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens
  • Will Ospreay, Great-O-Khan & HENARE vs. Yuya Uemura, Taichi & El Desperado
  • Tiger Mask, Aaron Wolf, YOH & Toru Yano vs. DOUKI, Don Fale, SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Shingo Takagi, Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X vs. Jake Lee, Francesco Akira & Jakob Austin Young
  • Togi Makabe & Master Wato vs. Hartley Jackson & Kosei Fujita
  • Pre-show: KUSHIDA & Masatora Yasuda vs. Tatsuya Matsumoto & Taisei Nakahara

Updated list of NJPW Best of the Super Juniors entrants

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The lineup for NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 33 is now almost fully set with 18 of the 20 entrants confirmed.

NJPW has announced that junior heavyweight mainstays KUSHIDA and Ryusuke Taguchi will be participating in this year’s tournament. Along with that, Dragon Gate wrestler Hyo has been added to the list of entrants as he makes his official NJPW debut.

KUSHIDA and Taguchi are both former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champions and BOSJ winners, with KUSHIDA having won the tournament in 2015 and 2017 and Taguchi winning in 2012.

Though this is Hyo’s NJPW debut, he won the promotion’s bodybuilding contest in 2025. He’s a two-time Open the Brave Gate Champion, which is Dragon Gate’s version of a junior heavyweight title.

BOSJ 2026 begins on May 14 and runs through June 7. The final two entrants, along with the block lineups, are set to be revealed this Saturday at NJPW Sakura Genesis. A title shot will be awaiting the BOSJ winner — if current IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion DOUKI does not win the tournament himself.

Here is the updated list of entrants:

NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 33 —

  • Kosei Fujita
  • DOUKI
  • El Desperado
  • Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • SHO
  • Daisuke Sasaki
  • YOH
  • Master Wato
  • Jakob Austin Young
  • Francesco Akira
  • Valiente Jr.
  • Robbie Eagles
  • Taiji Ishimori
  • Robbie X
  • Titan
  • KUSHIDA
  • Ryusuke Taguchi
  • Hyo

Tiger Mask sets NJPW retirement date

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Tiger Mask has set a date and revealed the location for his final NJPW show.

It was already known that the fourth iteration of Tiger Mask would be retiring from the ring this July. After competing at NJPW’s Road to Sakura Genesis event on Thursday, he revealed that his last NJPW date will be on July 7 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. It’s the same venue where this version of Tiger Mask made his official in-ring debut in July 1995.

An opponent for Tiger Mask’s retirement match is not yet known, with him saying he’s not sure if he’ll be wrestling at the show or if there will just be a retirement ceremony. It’s possible that he’ll be working some already scheduled indie dates overseas after this date, but July 7 will be his last NJPW event.

“I don’t even know if I’ll have a retirement match. It might just be a ceremony. If someone I want to face comes along, I might be able to make an announcement at that time,” Tiger Mask said. “My retirement is in July, but there were some overseas matches that were already scheduled after that, and I might not be able to cancel them, so there might be some matches overseas.”

Following in the footsteps of Satoru Sayama, Mitsuharu Misawa, and Koji Kanemoto, Yoshihiro Yamazaki is retiring as the longest-serving Tiger Mask. He is a six-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, most recently holding the title in 2009-2010.

Thursday’s show saw Tiger Mask team up with Shota Umino for a victory over KUSHIDA & Masatora Yasuda. At the end of the night, Tiger Mask appeared again and issued a challenge to IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion DOUKI, wanting to win the title again before retirement.

While the future of the Tiger Mask character is unknown, it was recently announced that CMLL wrestler Magnus is taking over the “Black Tiger” gimmick. That character was initially introduced as a Tiger Mask rival and has been portrayed by the likes of Mark Rocco, Eddie Guerrero, and Rocky Romero.

Will Ospreay set for NJPW return

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Will Ospreay is back in action — and he’s now set to return to the NJPW ring.

In his first match in Japan in more than two years, Ospreay will reunite with United Empire stablemates Great-O-Khan & HENARE for a six-man tag match at NJPW Sakura Genesis on April 4. They’ll be facing off against Yuya Uemura, Taichi & El Desperado.

Ospreay underwent neck surgery in 2025 and spent several months sidelined until returning at AEW Revolution. His comeback match took place on Dynamite last week, with Ospreay defeating Blake Christian. Ospreay is now set to take on Jon Moxley at AEW’s Dynasty pay-per-view next month.

During his injury layoff, Ospreay said that — while AEW is his home base — he was hoping to be able to wrestle for NJPW a few times per year once he was cleared to return. He made an appearance at NJPW New Year Dash 2026 and had a tense interaction with Callum Newman, who is now the leader of United Empire.

The main event of Sakura Genesis will see Newman challenge Yota Tsuji for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Newman earned the title shot through winning this year’s New Japan Cup.

With the addition of this six-man tag match, the card for Sakura Genesis is now finalized. The show is being held at Sumo Hall in Tokyo and will air live on NJPW World.

NJPW Sakura Genesis 2026 (Saturday, April 4) —

  • IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji defends against Callum Newman
  • IWGP Tag Team Champions The Knock Out Brothers (Oskar & Yuto-Ice) defend against Zack Sabre Jr. & Ryohei Oiwa
  • NJPW World Television Champion Konosuke Takeshita defends against Shota Umino
  • NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Oleg Boltin defend against Ren Narita, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens
  • Will Ospreay, Great-O-Khan & HENARE vs. Yuya Uemura, Taichi & El Desperado
  • Aaron Wolf, YOH, Toru Yano & Master Wato vs. Don Fale, DOUKI, SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Shingo Takagi, Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X vs. Jake Lee, Francesco Akira & Jakob Austin Young
  • Togi Makabe & Tiger Mask vs. Hartley Jackson & Kosei Fujita
  • Pre-show: KUSHIDA & Masatora Yasuda vs. Tatsuya Matsumoto & Taisei Nakahara

NJPW grants CMLL wrestler permission to use Black Tiger gimmick

Posted on by Joseph Currier

CMLL wrestler Magnus is officially adopting a classic NJPW gimmick.

On this week’s edition of CMLL Informa, it was revealed that Magnus will now be going by the name “Black Tiger.” He is the ninth wrestler to don the mask, which was originally introduced in the 1980s as a rival to Tiger Mask. The character has been portrayed by the likes of Mark Rocco, Eddie Guerrero, and Rocky Romero.

NJPW chairman Naoki Sugabayashi appeared on Informa and gave the character change his blessing. This comes after Magnus wore the Black Tiger mask during this year’s NJPW & CMLL Fantasticamania tour. The final night of the tour included a singles match where Tiger Mask defeated Magnus.

Along with competing in CMLL, Magnus has made appearances for AEW/ROH and MLW. He is a former MLW Tag Team Champion and recently wrestled at MLW’s TV taping in Atlanta on March 14.

The babyface Tiger Mask character in NJPW is currently played by Yoshihiro Yamazaki, who will be retiring from the ring this July. He is the fourth iteration of Tiger Mask, following Satoru Sayama, Mitsuharu Misawa, and Koji Kanemoto.

NJPW announces title matches for Sakura Genesis 2026

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Coming out of the New Japan Cup finals, NJPW has revealed most of the card for Sakura Genesis 2026.

United Empire’s Callum Newman was crowned the New Japan Cup winner this past weekend. With that victory, he now heads to the main event of Sakura Genesis on April 4 for an IWGP Heavyweight Championship match against Yota Tsuji. It will be the second title defense of Tsuji’s reign. He already holds a victory over United Empire member Jake Lee.

In total, four championship bouts are part of the announced Sakura Genesis lineup. The IWGP Tag Team titles will be on the line when TMDK’s Zack Sabre Jr. & Ryohei Oiwa challenge Oskar & Yuto-Ice. This is a rematch from the main event of New Year Dash 2026, where Oskar & Yuto-Ice retained over Sabre & Oiwa.

Konosuke Takeshita will make another defense of the NJPW World Television Championship, this time against Shota Umino. Takeshita won the belt from El Phantasmo last month and successfully defended against Yujiro Takahashi at the New Japan Cup finals.

Plus, Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Oleg Boltin will put their NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team titles on the line against House of Torture (Ren Narita, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens).

Sakura Genesis is being held at Sumo Hall in Tokyo and will stream live on NJPW World.

NJPW Sakura Genesis 2026 (Saturday, April 4) —

  • IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji defends against Callum Newman
  • IWGP Tag Team Champions The Knock Out Brothers (Oskar & Yuto-Ice) defend against Zack Sabre Jr. & Ryohei Oiwa
  • NJPW World Television Champion Konosuke Takeshita defends against Shota Umino
  • NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Oleg Boltin defend against Ren Narita, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens
  • Aaron Wolf, YOH, Toru Yano & Master Wato vs. Don Fale, DOUKI, SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Shingo Takagi, Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X vs. Jake Lee, Francesco Akira & Jakob Austin Young
  • Togi Makabe & Tiger Mask vs. Hartley Jackson & Kosei Fujita
  • Pre-show: KUSHIDA & Masatora Yasuda vs. Tatsuya Matsumoto & Taisei Nakahara

NJPW looking to introduce more multi-year contracts

Posted on by Joseph Currier

To help entice wrestlers into staying around longer, NJPW is looking into changing the way it structures its contracts.

NJPW contracts, for the most part, have traditionally been recurring one-year deals that expire around the start of each calendar year. Company president Hiroshi Tanahshi told Pro Wrestling Today that altering that structure is a priority for NJPW, along with raising pay and improving the promotion as a whole.

“I strongly feel that we must create a ‘barrier’ to prevent top talent from being poached by other promotions — such as by introducing multi-year contracts — and maintain the quality that makes New Japan Pro-Wrestling great,” Tanahashi said.

NJPW has experienced some departures recently with The Dogs (David Finlay, Gabe Kidd & Clark Connors) joining AEW and EVIL & Hiromu Takahashi likely heading to WWE. The company also lost Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay to AEW in recent years, though the working relationship between NJPW and AEW does allow for occasional returns.

Tanahashi noted that the guaranteed money being offered by overseas promotions like WWE and AEW is very high. With the current state of the Japanese economy, it’s difficult to compete with those offers. He believes the best way to boost NJPW’s standing is to focus on putting on great shows, increase the company’s exposure in advertising activities, and raise revenue over time. He is encouraging NJPW’s rising stars to raise their profile through making more media appearances and participating in other ways to promote themselves and NJPW as a whole.

In December 2023, Tanahashi was named president of NJPW. He is now solely focused on that executive position after retiring from the ring at Wrestle Kingdom 20 in a match against his long-time rival Okada.

NJPW reveals full New Japan Cup finals card, Takeshita title defense set

Posted on by Joseph Currier

With the finals now set, NJPW has revealed the full card for the last night of New Japan Cup 2026.

The tournament will conclude in Niigata on Saturday with Callum Newman and Yuya Uemura facing off in the finals. In addition to being crowned the New Japan Cup winner, the victor earns an IWGP Heavyweight Championship shot against Yota Tsuji at Sakura Genesis on April 4.

It was already known that Konosuke Takeshita would be in action on Saturday. NJPW has now confirmed that he’ll be defending his NJPW World Television Championship against a mystery opponent. It’s the first title defense for Takeshita since he defeated El Phantasmo last month to become champion.

“The NJPW World TV title will be on the line when Konosuke Takeshita makes his first defense,” NJPW wrote. “After winning the title in overtime at New Beginning USA in Trenton New Jersey, who will step up to the plate and face the Alpha?”

Saturday’s event is being held in Niigata and will air live on New Japan World starting at 2 a.m. Eastern time. Here is the complete lineup:

New Japan Cup 2026 finals (Saturday, March 21) —

  • Tournament final: Callum Newman vs. Yuya Uemura
  • Yota Tsuji, OSKAR, Yuto-Ice & Daiki Nagai vs. Zack Sabre Jr., Ryohei Oiwa, Kosei Fujita & Hartley Jackson
  • Oleg Boltin, Toru Yano & Aaron Wolf vs. Ren Narita, Don Fale & Dick Togo
  • Shingo Takagi, Drilla Moloney & Taiji Ishimori vs. Jake Lee, Francesco Akira & Jakob Austin Young
  • Shota Umino & Tomoaki Honma vs. HENARE & Great-O-Khan
  • YOH, Master Wato & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. DOUKI, SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. Taichi, Satoshi Kojima & El Desperado
  • NJPW World Television Champion Konosuke Takeshita defends against mystery opponent
  • Masatora Yasuda vs. Taisei Nakahara