After Konosuke Takeshita retained the NJPW World Television title in the opening match of Monday morning’s Wrestling Dontaku event against Chase Owens, the same suited figure that appeared at Sakura Genesis was seen. The mysterious figure then laid out Takeshita with the Skull End, quickly revealing himself as none other than the former IWGP World Champion.
Once SANADA laid out Takeshita he walked away, carrying the pouch that contained the TV title.
SANADA’s indefinite leave of absence
Following his match at New Year Dash on January 5, SANADA carried a guitar with the message “goodbye NJPW, hinting at a possible departure. Soon after, NJPW announced that he would be taking an indefinite leave of absence.
A longtime member of Los Ingobernables de Japon, SANADA left the group in 2023 to join Just 5 Guys, earning his biggest success by defeating Kazuchika Okada at Sakura Genesis to win the IWGP World Heavyweight title for the first time. The following year, he turned against his stablemates to join Bullet Club War Dogs, then left them to become a member of the House of Torture.
In a short statement on Tuesday morning, the company confirmed that the former IWGP World Champion would be taking an indefinite leave of absence effective immediately.
“Effective January 6, SANADA is on an indefinite leave of absence from competition. No return date is determined at this time. We apologise to fans looking forward to seeing SANADA wrestle, and appreciate your understanding,” they wrote.
SANADA had hinted in recent days that he was perhaps leaving the company, carrying a guitar with the message “goodbye NJPW” at New Year Dash. In post match comments, he went further by saying he was taking his leave.
“I’m leaving this ring for good today,” SANADA said following his match. “I’m going on a journey.”
Joining NJPW in 2016, SANADA gained fame by being a member of Los Ingobernables de Japon. In 2023, he chose to leave the group and joined Just Five Guys, where he found success as IWGP World Champion. He betrayed that group the following year and joined the Bullet Club War Dogs. When they and the House of Torture had their split in 2025, SANADA chose the latter group.
A former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion could be on his way out of NJPW.
Following Wrestle Kingdom 20, a new season for NJPW kicked off on Monday with New Year Dash 2026. SANADA — who competed in a six-man tag match on the show — indicated that he is leaving NJPW. He carried a guitar with the message “goodbye NJPW” and said he is going on a journey.
“I’m leaving this ring for good today,” SANADA said in his post-match comments. “I’m going on a journey.”
House of Torture (SANADA, Yujiro Takahashi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) lost to Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Oleg Boltin at New Year Dash with Takahashi taking the pin.
There have also been rumors that House of Torture leader EVIL could potentially explore free agency. If this is not a storyline, one option that could make sense is SANADA and EVIL joining their former Los Ingobernables de Japon stablemates in Pro Wrestling NOAH. Tetsuya Naito & BUSHI just won the GHC Tag Team titles for NOAH on January 1.
SANADA has been with NJPW on a full-time basis since 2016, with his run including one IWGP World Heavyweight Championship reign and multiple reigns with the IWGP Tag Team titles.
Most of NJPW’s show in Osaka was built towards Wrestle Kingdom 19. After taking a leave of absence earlier in the year, El Desperado returned to NJPW and issued a challenge to DOUKI for January 4 at the Tokyo Dome for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title. Desperado told DOUKI that he wanted this version of DOUKI that has been champion since the summer. DOUKI accepted Desperado’s challenge.
Desperado had won this year’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament and defeated SHO to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title. However, he only held the title for 19 days, losing to DOUKI during the New Japan Soul tour in July.
SANADA, meanwhile, turned his back on Just Five Guys and revealed he was the newest member of Bullet Club War Dogs. Taichi had the match won against David Finlay for the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship when SANADA emerged, wearing a Just Five Guys tracksuit. However, he took off his jacket to reveal he was wearing a Bullet Club t-shirt. That allowed Finlay to lay out Taichi to retain the title.
After the match, SANADA took out Taka Michinoku and Taichi and fended off DOUKI who attempted to enter the ring. After boasting about Yuya Uemura being out of action, Finlay issued a challenge to Yota Tsuji for Wrestle Kingdom. Tsuji entered the ring and accepted the challenge.
One title change took place at Power Struggle, with Henare & Great-O-Khan defeating TMDK (Shane Haste and Mikey Nicholls) to win the IWGP Tag Team titles together for the first time. TMDK had held the titles for 119 days, defeating Chase Owens and KENTA at Dominion back in June. The upcoming World Tag League tournament starting later this month will likely determine the next challengers.
The full lineup has been announced for NJPW’s return to the United Kingdom this weekend.
Royal Quest IV takes place from Crystal Palace Indoor Sports Centre in London this Sunday (October 20). In the main event, the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship will be on the line as new champion Zack Sabre Jr. returns home to face off against SANADA.
Sabre defeated Tetsuya Naito at King of Pro Wrestling on Monday, winning the IWGP World title for the first time in his career. This match against SANADA was already set for Royal Quest and would have been a non-title singles match if Sabre lost to Naito.
Shota Umino and Shingo Takagi have also lined up as potential challengers to Sabre’s title, but he informed them that SANADA was first in line. If Sabre retains against SANADA, he’ll defend against Takagi at Power Struggle on November 4. If SANADA wins the title from Sabre, the Power Struggle challenger will be Umino.
In total, the Royal Quest card will feature 10 matches. The show is airing live in English on RevPro On Demand and live in Japanese on NJPW World. The English commentary version will later be made available on NJPW World.
NJPW Royal Quest IV (Sunday, October 20) —
IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr. defends against SANADA
NJPW Strong Tag Team Champions Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste defend against Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomohiro Ishii
If Zack Sabre Jr. becomes IWGP World Heavyweight Champion next month, his first title defense will take place in his home country.
NJPW has confirmed Sabre vs. SANADA for Royal Quest IV in London on Sunday, October 20. It’s billed as a special singles match right now, but Sabre has said he’ll put the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship on the line if he wins the title.
Sabre is challenging Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at King of Pro Wrestling on October 14. He earned the title shot by winning this year’s G1 Climax. Though the winner of the tournament traditionally gets their title shot at Wrestle Kingdom, Sabre did not want to wait until then. He wanted the chance to return to the United Kingdom as champion at Royal Quest.
The Sabre vs. SANADA match was set up by a challenge that was issued by SANADA after pinning ZSJ in a tag match on Wednesday.
There have now been two matches confirmed for Royal Quest:
NJPW Royal Quest IV (Sunday, October 20) —
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. SANADA
NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Champions TMDK (Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls) defend against Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomohiro Ishii
NJPW has made the first two match announcements for its post-Dominion summer tour.
After Dominion takes place this weekend, New Japan Soul 2024 will kick off the following week. The first event is being held in Sapporo on Sunday, June 16. A pair of title matches have been made official for the show. SANADA will challenge David Finlay for the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship, while Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney are defending the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team titles against Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles.
An illness forced SANADA out of action in April, but he’s now been medically cleared to return. Finlay is looking to avenge his loss to SANADA from the New Japan Cup 2023 finals.
Tournament losses are also part of the story for Bullet Club War Dogs and TMDK’s Junior Heavyweight Tag Team title match. During this year’s Best of the Super Juniors, Fujita defeated Connors and Eagles defeated Moloney when they faced off in tournament matches. Eagles & Fujita also own a victory over Connors & Moloney from Super Junior Tag League 2023.
Fujita, Eagles & Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Connors, Moloney & Gedo in a six-man tag match at an NJPW event this Monday. At Dominion, there will be another six-man tag match with Fujita, Eagles & Sabre facing Connors, Moloney & LJ Cleary.
The New Japan Soul tour runs through Friday, July 5 and features seven events in total. The final night is being held at Budokan Hall.
New Japan Soul 2024 night one (Sunday, June 16, live on NJPW World) —
IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion David Finlay defends against SANADA
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Bullet Club War Dogs (Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney defend against Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles)
After an illness forced him out of action, SANADA is preparing for his in-ring return.
The former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion hasn’t wrestled for nearly a month. It was announced on April 30 that he had been pulled from a slate of NJPW events and would be undergoing a medical appraisal.
“SANADA, who has been absent from matches since April 27 in Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hall due to a health concern, has undergone evaluation at a Tokyo hospital and deemed medically cleared. SANADA will be working toward a return to the ring in the near future,” NJPW announced. “SANADA and New Japan Pro-Wrestling appreciate fans’ support and understanding.”
During his time out of action, SANADA missed the remainder of NJPW’s Wrestling Dontaku tour, both nights of Wrestling Dontaku, United Japan Pro-Wrestling’s All Together event, and the Best of the Super Juniors tour.
SANADA is a one-time IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, holding the title from April 2023 to January 2024.
Challenging for the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship looks to be the direction upon SANADA’s return. David Finlay mentioned SANADA in his post-match comments after winning the title at Wrestling Dontaku. SANADA defeated Finlay when they faced off in the finals of the 2023 New Japan Cup.
Former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion SANADA has been pulled from a slate of upcoming NJPW events.
After already missing two shows, NJPW has announced that SANADA is off the remainder of its Wrestling Dontaku tour. He will miss two more Road to Wrestling Dontaku events, both nights of Wrestling Dontaku, and All Together 2024.
SANADA has been out of action since April 26 due to illness.
NJPW wrote that he’s returning to Tokyo for a medical appraisal:
After missing two events on the Road to Dontaku, it has been determined that SANADA be absent from the remainder of the Dontaku tour, as well as All Together as he returns to Tokyo for a medical appraisal.
We apologise to fans looking forward to seeing SANADA wrestle and appreciate your understanding. :
Wrestling Dontaku is being held this Friday (May 3) and Saturday (May 4). At night one, SANADA, Taichi & Yuya Uemura were supposed to face Great-O-Khan, Callum Newman & Francesco Akira. It will now be a two-on-two tag match with Taichi & Uemura facing O-Khan & Newman.
SANADA & Taichi were scheduled to face Hiroshi Tanahashi & Nic Nemeth at night two of Wrestling Dontaku. That match will now be Taichi & TAKA Michinoku vs. Tanahashi & Nemeth.
All Together 2024 is a cross-promotional show under the United Japan Pro-Wrestling banner. It’s taking place next Monday (May 6). At the event, SANADA was going to team with Dragon Gate’s Kai against Zack Sabre Jr. & DDT wrestler Chris Brookes. With SANADA off the card, it’s been changed to Taichi & KAI vs. Sabre & Brookes.
Two new matches have been added to the card for May’s All Together event, the first show under the United Japan Pro-Wrestling banner.
It was announced in December 2023 that nine promotions had come together to form the United Japan Pro-Wrestling industry group. Their first collaborative show is being held at Budokan Hall on Monday, May 6.
A singles match between Pro Wrestling NOAH star Kenoh and NJPW’s Kosei Fujita has been added to the All Together event. A tag team match with SANADA (NJPW) & KAI (Dragon Gate) facing Zack Sabre Jr. (NJPW) & Chris Brookes (DDT) is also now set.
NJPW, AJPW, NOAH, DDT, Ganbare, Big Japan, Dragon Gate, Stardom, and Tokyo Joshi Pro are the nine promotions in the industry group. While still operating separately, they’ve come together to advance pro wrestling in Japan following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The mission statement for the group is:
To further the presence of pro-wrestling and its cultural merit in Japanese society at large, allow professional wrestling to contribute further to cultural and sporting sectors, and work toward continued health and prosperity of the industry.
All Together is airing as a pay-per-view on ABEMA. A portion of the proceeds from the event are being donated to the victims of the Noto Peninsula earthquake that happened at the beginning of this year.
On Sunday, Yota Tsuji and EVIL both advanced from the quarterfinals. They will now face each other in the semifinals, which take place Monday morning. The winner of that match will then move on to the finals on March 20, where they will face the winner between Hirooki Goto and SANADA.
During Tsuji vs. Ren Narita, House of Torture members began to interfere towards the end of the match. Los Ingobernables de Japon ran out to even the score, allowing Tsuji to advance by rolling up Narita. HoT then jumped Tsuji, but Shingo Takagi got involved, kicking off the main event between Takagi and EVIL. Much like the previous match, HoT regularly interfered until EVIL hit Takagi with the Everything is Evil for the win.
The winner of the New Japan Cup usually challenges for the IWGP World Heavyweight title. SANADA won last year’s New Japan Cup and went on to defeat Kazuchika Okada the following month at Sakura Genesis to win the title.
Though they ended up taking different paths to get there, SANADA and Hirooki Goto have both advanced to the semifinals of New Japan Cup 2024.
SANADA booked his spot in the semifinals by defeating Jack Perry in a quarterfinal match at NJPW’s event in Nagoya on Saturday. Goto vs. David Finlay was also supposed to take place at the show, but it was announced that Finlay couldn’t compete due to illness. Goto instead advanced to the semifinals by forfeit.
“David Finlay will not compete [on Saturday] in Nagoya due to illness,” NJPW announced. “He is currently undergoing evaluation at a local hospital. Hirooki Goto will advance to the semifinals via forfeit.”
Both semifinal matches in the New Japan Cup are taking place on Monday (March 18). SANADA vs. Goto is the first semifinal that’s been confirmed.
Shingo Takagi vs. EVIL and Yota Tsuji vs. Ren Narita at Sunday’s New Japan Cup event will determine who advances to the other semifinal.
The New Japan Cup finals are being held on Wednesday (March 20). The winner earns an IWGP World Heavyweight Championship shot against Tetsuya Naito at Sakura Genesis on Saturday, April 6.
The second round of the New Japan Cup begins today in Ehime.
SANADA vs. YOSHI-HASHI is the headline tournament match, with the winner advancing to the final eight and the quarterfinals round.
SANADA was one of four wrestlers to receive a first round bye in this year’s New Japan Cup, so Monday’s contest will be his first match of the tournament. YOSHI-HASHI defeated KENTA in an opening round contest back on March 6 to advance.
Jack Perry faces Toru Yano in today’s other New Japan Cup tournament bout.
Perry defeated Shota Umino in his NJPW in-ring debut on the March 6 show to advance to the second round, while Yano beat Yujiro Takahashi by countout on the 6th to advance.
The winners of today’s tournament matches will meet on March 16 in the quarterfinals at Dolphin’s Arena in Aichi.
Our coverage of today’s show begins at 6 am. Eastern time.
For a while now, Oleg has been presented as a step above his fellow Young Lions (deservingly), and this was no exception.
At the beginning of the match, TMDK picked Kato apart, basically without challenge. Oleg tagged in, completely reversing the momentum for the Young Lion pair. Eventually, the veterans proved too much, forcing a tag back to Kato. ZSJ and Nicholls were able to close the match quickly following the tag.
This match for the first-round losers and people who weren’t even in the cup was little more than a meaningless card-filler.
DOUKI was the star of this match, initiating most of the interesting sequences. After going to battle with Ishii, DOUKI tagged out to Uemura, while Ishii tagged out to Honma. After a back-and-forth, that was far more competitive than it needed to be, Uemura hit a crossbody and forced Honma to tap with an armbar.
After the match, Ishii and DOUKI continued to trade strikes, perhaps setting up something down the road.
This was a kind of preview for a Bishamon/BULLET CLUB title match. Oh boy.
Owens and KENTA opened the match by isolating Goto. Goto and Makabe fired back with a fight on the floor, but BC held on to control.
After an extended period of isolation, Goto tagged out to Makabe. This led to the most competitive sequence between the teams. KENTA won out and pinned Makabe to win the match.
After the match, the BULLET CLUB pair attacked Goto.
Shota Umino, Tanga Loa, & Jado defeated David Finlay, Gabe Kidd, & Gedo (BULLET CLUB War Dogs)
The War Dogs opened this match with a brawl. They gained full control of the match, which they maintained for most of this match’s runtime. The Babyfaces eventually launched a rally with a legal Umino and Gedo. Umino hit Gedo with Death Rider and won the match.
EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, & Ren Narita (BULLET CLUB House of Torture) defeated Hikuleo, El Phantasmo, YOH, Ryusuke Taguchi
HoT started the match by brawling with the babyfaces. The babyfaces won the initial scuffle, which they used to establish control over Yujiro. The babyfaces continued to find success for quite some time but eventually were overwhelmed by the usual HoT tactics. Eventually, SHO hit Taguchi with his pushup bar and the double cross to win the match.
After the match, HoT beat down Hikuleo with a pile of chairs.
Callum Newman, Francesco Akira, TJP, Jeff Cobb, Great-O-Khan (United Empire) defeated BUSHI, Tetsuya Naito, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi, & Yota Tsuji (Los Ingobernables de Japon)
This match opened with a few back-and-forths between individuals. Once the match broke down, UE emerged with control. This lasted until the second match breakdown, where LIJ came out ahead.
Takagi was in charge of maintaining control for LIJ. Once BUSHI tagged in, the match lost structure again, ending with O-Khan locking BUSHI in his abdominal stretch/iron claw submission to win the match.
New Japan Cup: Jack Perry defeated Toru Yano
This was a Yano match and a HoT match, complete with all the fixings (meaning it was bad).
Yano removed the corner pad immediately after following the opening bell. This backfired, allowing Perry to take the lead. Perry picked apart Yano, taking complete control with basic holds and moves.
When Yano looked to be gaining a lead, Perry resorted to underhanded tactics to maintain his lead. Eventually, Yano landed a suplex, which started a small rally. Yano threw Perry into the exposed corner multiple times, hit a couple of moves, and tried for a couple of quick pins to no avail.
HoT then ran to the ring and beat down Yano. Yano tried to hold off HoT but was pinned after Perry hit a knee.
New Japan Cup: SANADA defeated YOSHI-HASHI
This was another forgettable main event. It was horribly uninteresting for 90% of it’s runtime but transitioning into a passable, but still formulaic, closing sequence.
The match opened with a YH taking SANADA to the mat, working the arm. SANADA fired back, taking control by also working holds on the mat. This back-and-forth continued to play out for some time.
Eventually, SANADA hit a dive to the floor. SANADA then took the fight back to the ring but failed to follow up, leading to another back-and-forth, this time with more substantial moves. YH actually won out, hitting a powerbomb before returning to holds.
SANADA ended YH’s control with a cutter from the fireman’s carry. He then tried for the skull end multiple times, but YH continuously escaped. SANADA eventually locked in the hold, which he maintained for an extended period of time. When SANADA attempted his follow-up moonsault, YH extended the knees, resetting the match.
After the reset, SANADA and YH traded strikes. SANADA hit a spinning neckbreaker to end YH’s attempt at a rally. He followed up with a pair of shining wizards and a rounding body press for a nearfall.
After kicking out, YH hit SANADA with a suplex and a lariat for another match reset. Another strike exchange followed. SANADA tried for a shinningwizard again but missed. YH hit a Meteora, which he followed with a sequence of bombs. Looking to close, YH tried for a suplex, but SANADA reversed. SANADA then hit deadfall and won the match.
SANADA advances to round three of the New Japan Cup to face Jack Perry—a Forbidden Door rematch.
The Big Audio Nightmare is back to talk about everything happening in the very busy world of Japanese professional wrestling as guest co-host Jeremy Diemer (get well soon, Mike!) joins me.
This week’s topics include:
A full recap of Wrestle Kingdom 18
Did Okada vs Danielson live up to expectations?
Was SANADA the true MVP of the Tokyo Dome?
A rundown of all the big NJPW matches on the New Beginning tour including Danielson vs ZSJ
Thoughts on WWE’s interest in partnering with Japanese promotions
Vince Verhei goes solo for the first-ever Vinny Show talking all about NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18 from Tokyo, Japan.
Let’s look back at TJP’s new gimmick, the continuing ascension of President Ace, Yota Tsuji’s battle for the future with Yuya Uemura, Shingo Takagi’s war with Tama Tonga, El Desperado’s championship win, the outlook for Hiromu Takahashi, the debut of Kerwin White’s old caddy, Tetsuya Naito’s return to the throne, plus Okada vs. Danielson II, aka this week’s Best Match of All Time of the Week.
