NJPW presented the 2024 edition of their Sakura Genesis event on April 6th, 2024. It took place in Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan, and featured nine matches. It included a match featuring AEW’s Jon Moxley, and a huge IWGP World Heavyweight Championship match.
Ryusuke Taguchi & El Desperado vs TMDK (Zack Sabre Jr. & Kosei Fujita)
- Fujita pinned Taguchi with an O’Connor Roll
In a fairly standard, yet fun to watch bout, TMDK picked up the victory in the Sakura Genesis opener.
The match saw some impressive sequences between ZSJ and El Desperado, as TMDK quietly build up an impressive streak of wins.
Los Ingobernables De Japon (BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi) vs BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Gedo & David Finlay)
- BUSHI made Gedo tap out to a Figure Four leg lock
This match could not have been more “meh”. While BUSHI and Takahashi are two of the top wrestlers in the company, Gedo and Finlay continue to fail to impress.
BUSHI won the match for his team, but it is barely worth watching. A poor bout for NJPW.
Just Five Guys (DOUKI, Yuya Uemura & SANADA) vs United Empire (Callum Newman, Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb)
- Uemura pinned O-Khan with a crucifix
Again, another one that you can avoid. It was a nothing match, and its sad to see how SANADA has fallen since losing the world title at WrestleKingdom.
Uemara pinned O-Khan with a crucifix pin, setting up a KOPW match for the future.
Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney) vs Catch 2/2 (Francesco Akira & TJP) vs Intergalactic Jet Setters (Kevin Knight & KUSHIDA)
- Connors pinned KUSHIDA
The show finally kicked into gear with this three-way tag team match. It started with a big brawl, before moving into some fast-paced action that got the crowd on their feet.
The War Dogs won the match with a Full Clip, but the win was marred by some words shared between Knight and Moloney.
IWGP Tag Team Championships- BULLET CLUB (Chase Owens & KENTA) vs Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI)
- YOSHI-HASHI pinned KENTA
This match was fine, but it was good to see the tag belts off KENTA and Chase Owens once again. Their reign has been disappointing, and really should never have been given the belts.
It was a fairly slow match that didn’t push any boundaries. A decent match to watch if you have time, although I doubt you will on this weekend.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship- SHO vs YOH
- SHO won the match after referee’s stoppage
This match had so much promise, but barely lasted a minute before it was called off.
A shoulder injury from YOH forced the match to be called off. This was a huge shame, considering how long the former tag partners had built up this title match.
Shota Umino & Jon Moxley vs HOUSE OF TORTURE (Ren Narita & Jack Perry)
- Moxley pinned Narita after a Death Rider
If you can ignore the HoT interference (I simply can’t), then this was probably the best tag match of the night. Moxley and Umino work well together, and Perry is really coming into his own as a heel in NJPW.
Narita was thwarted in his attempt to cheat to win, leading to a Death Rider by Moxley to win the match for him and “Shooter”.
NEVER Openweight Championship- EVIL vs Shingo Takagi
- Tagaki pinned EVIL with a Last of the Dragon.
I just can’t deal with House of Torture anymore. It was always going to feature interference with these two teams, but the amount of nonsense was so egregious that it made the whole match a complete farce.
It featured multiple referees, Hiromu Takahashi dressed as a referee, and a full-scale brawl between the two factions. Not worth a watch at all, although I’m glad the title is off EVIL for now. NJPW should just stop with the HOT now.
IWGP World Heavyweight Championship- Tetsuya Naito vs Yota Tsuji
- Naito pinned Tsuji after a Destino
This was probably the best match of the night. It told a good story, and having two wrestlers with some of the coolest move sets in the company did not hurt it one bit.
Naito showed he was not ready to cede control of LIJ to the young Tsuji, and will continue what is likely to be his last world title reign in style.
Tetsuya Naito set up a huge match against Jon Moxley by defeating his LIJ teammate at Sakura Genesis.
