NJPW Sakura Genesis live results: Naito vs. Tsuji IWGP World title match

By Chick Fritts
Published: 6 Apr 2024, 00:00

Tetsuya Naito defends the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against 2024 New Japan Cup winner Yota Tsuji in today’s Sakura Genesis main event at Sumo Hall in Ryogoku.

Both Naito & Tsuji are members of the Los Ingobernables de Japon faction. Naito has held the title since defeating SANADA in the Wrestle Kingdom main event in January.

EVIL defends the NEVER Openweight Championship against LIJ’s Shingo Takagi in the semi-main.

Jon Moxley is in action on the show, teaming with Shota Umino against Jack Perry & Ren Narita.

Former tag team partners collide as SHO defends the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship against YOH.

IWGP Tag Team Champions KENTA & Chase Owens defend against Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI.

Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney defend the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team titles against KUSHIDA & Kevin Knight, and TJP & Francesco Akira in a three-way.

Four tag team bouts round out today’s pre-show and undercard.

TMDK (Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr.) defeated El Desperado & Ryusuke Taguchi

This match was fairly by the book, but a fun opener nonetheless.

The highlight of this match was the mat-based exchange between ZSJ and Desperado. Fujita was also a welcome addition; he was as firey as always.

Fujita and Taguchi engaged in a sequence late in the match. Once ZSJ and Desperado interfered, the match broke down entirely. This distracted Taguchi, allowing Fujita to trap him in an Oconnor roll and win the match.

Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi) defeated BULLET CLUB War Dogs (David Finlay & Gedo)

This was a nothing match.

This match opened with Finlay unloading on Hiromu. Hiromu tried to fight back but continually struggled to overcome Finlay. Gedo eventually tagged in, opening the door to an LIJ rally.

With Gedo legal, LIJ was able to overwhelm BC. Hiromu kept Finlay at bay long enough for BUSHI to secure the figure four. With no one to save him, Gedo tapped out, leaving LIJ with the win.

Just 5 Guys (DOUKI, SANADA & Yuya Uemura) defeated United Empire (Callum Newman, Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb)

This was nothing special.

Early on, J5G tried their best to catch Cobb, but his strength proved too much. Once UE established control, they traded tags, working to isolate DOUKI.

DOUKI eventually tagged out to SANADA, who turned the match around for J5G. He unloaded on UE, connecting with a barrage of dropkicks to shift momentum completely.

Uemura tagged in to challenge O-Khan. A back-and-forth followed, leading to UE rushing the ring. As soon as they left O-Khan in a strong position, Uemura caught O-Khan with a crucifix pin to win the match.

After the match, O-Khan tried to check Uemura. Uemura responded with a deadbolt suplex. After dropping O-Khan, Uemura held up the KOPW belt, teasing a future title challenge.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney) (c) defeated Catch 22 (Francesco Akira & TJP) & Intergalactic Jet Setters (Kevin Knight & KUSHIDA)

This match kicked off with a brawl. Most of the guys fought on the outside, leaving the ring for spots. This played out for some time before the War Dogs cleared the ring and began to isolate Knight.

Knight eventually kicked off the War Dogs, leading to another match breakdown. Once the ring was cleared, Knight hit a dive into the first row of seats.

Back in the ring, Knight hit TJP with a rana before planting Akira with a powerbomb for a nearfall. Once Knight stood up, the War Dogs hit him with their tandem spear. KUSHIDA hit the ring next, only to eat a spear himself.

Moloney tried for a Drilla Killa, but KUSHIDA slipped free, leading to another breakdown. Once the match calmed down, TJP hit Moloney with a splash for a nearfall. Before anyone could follow up, the match fell into chaos again.

After a sequence of quick nearfalls, TJP locked KUSHIDA in a stretch. KUSHIDA reversed into the hoverboard lock. Before TJP could submit, the War Dogs hit the ring to break up the hold. Another match breakdown followed.

The War Dogs emerged from the chaos with the lead. Moloney hit KUSHIDA with the Drilla Killa. With the end in sight, the War Dogs hit Full Clip, their suplex/spear combination. They then pinned KUSHIDA to retain their belts.

IWGP Tag Team Championship: BULLET CLUB (Chase Owens & KENTA) (c) vs. Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI)

The champions kicked off this match by jumping Bishamon, only for Bishamon to reverse momentum almost immediately afterward. BC fought back by taking the challengers to the floor and whipping them into the barricades.

Back in the ring, BC maintained their lead by isolating Goto. Once YH tagged in, Bishamon turned the match back around. Owens tagged in in an attempt to reverse momentum, but Bishamon held on. This lasted until a chair shot from KENTA allowed Owens to take the driver’s seat.

Owens dropped Goto with Jewel Heist for a nearfall. KENTA tried to close with a belt shot, but Goto reversed. Owens quickly responded with a C-Trigger, but Goto stuffed the second. This gave YH time to hit the ring, leading to a Shoto attempt, but Owens slipped free.

Owens hit another C-Trigger for a nearfall. Owens then tried to get his package piledriver, but YH saved it. This led to a back-and-forth between YH and KENTA, ending with a Goto lariat. With the ring cleared, Bishamon grabbed Owens, landed Shoto and won the match.

Bishamon are tag champions once again.

Best of The Super Juniors Lineup

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: SHO (c) defeated YOH

As soon as this match began, YOH took the lead, but he immediately dislocated his shoulder. The match was called off, leaving SHO as the champion.

Once the match was officially over, Fujita and DOUKI came to the ring to challenge SHO, but neither got the match. Instead, Fujita dropped SHO, and DOUKI left with the belt.

Jon Moxley & Shota Umino defeated House of Torture (Jack Perry & Ren Narita)

This match started with HoT gaining the lead in their signature style. Once they were in control, HoT worked to isolate Umino.

Once Moxley tagged in, he leveled Narita, turning the match on its head. Moxley tried taking the fight to the floor, but Perry cut him off. Moxley responded by throwing Perry over the barricade. With Moxley distracted, Narita was free to land a suplex on the floor.

Back in the ring, Narita continued to make advances against Moxley. Moxley hit a cutter, leading to a double tag.

With Perry legal, Umino launched into an intense sequence. Perry reversed momentum by landing an elbow drop from the top rope. This led to Narita hitting the ring, which forced Moxley to get involved. With Moxley’s help, Umino held off HoT before hitting an exploder suplex for a nearfall.

A double tag led to Moxley unloading on Narita. Narita raked Moxley’s eyes to buy some separation but Moxley responded with a lariat. A superplex scored a nearfall for Moxley.

Perry hit the ring, distracting the referee. Narita tried to hit Moxley with his pushup bar, but Narita made the save. Narita tried to hold on, attempting a double cross, but Moxley slipped free. Moxley followed up with a Deathrider and a pin on Narita to win the match.

NEVER Openweight Championship: Shingo Takagi defeated EVIL (c)

This was horrible. One of the worst title matches I have ever seen.

The match started slowly, with Takagi trying to gain control in the ring. Once the match worked its way to the floor, EVIL whipped Takagi into the barricades and attacked him with chairs. Back in the ring, EVIL choked Takagi with a wire.

A dragonscrew from Takagi reset the match in his favor. Shingo followed up with high-impact offense, including a superplex for a nearfall. Once Takagi had a strong lead, EVIL faked a leg injury, distracting the referee.

With the referee distracted, Yujiro removed the turnbuckle cover. EVIL followed up by whipping Takagi into said corner. Takagi tried to respond with a pumping bomber, but Yujiro hit him with a chair again.

This interference led to a man dressed as BUSHI hitting the ring. He distracted the referee, allowing HoT to continue their attack. The real BUSHI hit the ring to make the save, but he spat mist in the face of the referee.

With the referee down, Kanemaru entered the ring wearing an official’s shirt. HoT beat down Takahashi, EVIL hit the magic killer, and Kanemaru counted to three. Takahashi rang the bell to signify EVIL’s faux win.

Hiromu, also wearing a referee’s shirt, ran to the ring to clear out HoT. This led to a full-scale brawl between the teams.

Takagi spat whiskey into the face of EVIL before throwing a faceful of powder at the champion. Hiromu then pulled another real referee to the ring. Shingo hit Last of the Dragon and won the match.

The only thing positive about this match is EVIL is no longer the NEVER champion.

After the match, Gabe Kidd hit the ring and interrupted Takagi’s celebration. He called the NEVER title a joke in it’s current state. He called out management and spat on the lion mark. Kidd promised to kill anyone in his way. He swore he’d take Shingo’s belt before leaving the ring.

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Tetsuya Naito (c) defeated Yota Tsuji

Tsuji was the first to establish control, utilizing basic strikes and holds to gain a lead. Naito fired back with clubbing strikes, but Tsuji continued to advance regardless, landing a tope to further his lead. On the outside, Tsuji whipped Naito into the barricades before dropping him on the apron. Back inside, Tsuji continued utilizing simple holds to dominate Naito.

Naito eventually fired back, landing a dropkick to the back to gain the lead for the first time. Naito followed up with a neckbreaker, beginning his wear down to set up Destino.

After being on the receiving end of Naito’s neck-based offense for a while, Tsuji fired back with a boot. Tsuji then pulled Naito to his feet on the ring’s apron and hit a partial curb stomp to the floor.

Back in the ring, Naito fired back with a DDT. To follow up, Naito hammered Tsuji with elbows to the neck and a frankensteiner.

When Naito tried for Destino, Tsuji reversed and landed a knee for a nearfall. Tsuji followed up with a powerbomb for a nearfall.

Tsuji tried for a Gene Blast, but Naito caught him with a kick. Naito then attempted a Destino, but Tsuji threw him off and hit Gene Blast. Tsuji was too exhausted to make the cover.

With both men down, a strike exchange ensued. Tsuji won out and hoisted Naito to the top rope. Tsuji hit a superplex for a two-count before locking in the Boston crab. Tsuji then hit his top rope curb stomp and a powerbomb for a pair of nearfalls.

With Naito on his last legs, Tsuji tried for Gene Blast. Naito reversed by launching Tsuji into the corner. Naito followed up with a spear of his own. Tsuji kicked out of the follow-up pin at one.

When Naito tried for Destino again, Tsuji reversed. Tsuji tried for a suplex, but Naito landed a partial Destino. Naito followed up with a full Destino to win the match and retain his belt.

After the match, Moxley confronted Naito in the ring. Naito offered putting the belt on the line against Moxley in Chicago. Unsrupringly, Moxley accepted. The match is set. April 12, Moxley vs. Naito for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.