NJPW announces title matches for Sakura Genesis 2026
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
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.