Tag: tiger mask iv

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 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

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.

Tiger Mask to face Dynamite Kid in GCW Jersey J-Cup

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Game Changer Wrestling is calling back to one of pro wrestling’s greatest-ever rivalries.

The indie promotion has announced that Tiger Mask IV will debut for them in February 2026, facing off against “Dynamite Kid” Tommy Billington in the first round of the Jersey J-Cup. GCW and its sister promotion Jersey Championship Wrestling are presenting the two-night tournament in Jersey City, New Jersey on February 6-7, 2026.

Originally played by Satoru Sayama, the Tiger Mask character debuted in 1981 with a victory over Billington’s uncle Dynamite Kid (Thomas Billington). Sayama and Dynamite Kid had a series of matches that set a new standard for junior heavyweight wrestlers and has influenced every generation since.

Yoshihiro Yamazaki — who has portrayed Tiger Mask since 1995 — is set to retire from the ring in July 2026.

Tommy Billington is under contract with AEW and competes in both AEW & ROH. His tag team partner Adam Priest is among the other Jersey J-Cup entrants, with Jonathan Gresham, Travis Williams, Judas Icarus, Jordan Oliver, Alec Price, Man Like Dereiss, and Erick Stevens also set.

White Eagle Hall in Jersey City is hosting both nights of the junior heavyweight tournament.

Tiger Mask to miss NJPW events due to colonic diverticulitis

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Though NJPW is returning to running shows next week, Tiger Mask will remain out of action for the time being.

NJPW has announced that Tiger Mask will miss their forthcoming events due to colonic diverticulitis: “Tiger Mask will be absent from forthcoming New Japan Pro-Wrestling events as he recovers from colonic diverticulitis. We apologise to all fans who are looking forward to seeing Tiger Mask perform, and wish him well in his recovery.”

Tiger Mask, who is the fourth wrestler to portray the Tiger Mask character and has been doing so since 1995, has held the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship six times during his career.

After the coronavirus pandemic caused them to cancel 53 shows, NJPW is returning next Monday (June 15) with the Together Project Special. The card for the event won’t be announced until bell time.

The New Japan Cup will then begin on June 16 and end on July 11, with the winner advancing to challenge Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and IWGP Intercontinental Championship at Dominion on July 12. This year’s New Japan Cup will now be an openweight tournament.

The Together Project Special and the eight New Japan Cup events prior to the finals won’t have fans in attendance. The New Japan Cup finals and Dominion will then take place at Osaka-jo Hall. Fans will be allowed to attend those two shows, but the arena will be limited to one-third capacity.