NJPW Announces Lineup For Sakura Genesis
Will Ospreay will have the chance to win the IWGP World Championship (formerly the IWGP Heavyweight & Intercontinental titles) at Sakura Genesis on April 4th. He earned the right to challenge Kota Ibushi for the title after winning the 2021 New Japan Cup.
Ibushi and Ospreay have met 3x in singles competition. The first time was at WrestleKingdom 13 when Ospreay defeated Ibushi for the NEVER Openweight title. Ibushi has defeated Ospreay 2 years in a row in the G1, however.
NJPW has announced the full lineup for the show.
- IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
Kota Ibushi (c) vs Will Ospreay - IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championships
El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (c) vs. SHO & YOH - Hiroshi Tanahashi & Satoshi Kojima vs. Jay White & Bad Luck Fale
- Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & Shingo Takagi vs. The Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb & a mystery partner
- Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano, Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI vs. EVIL, KENTA, Yujiro Takahashi, Taiji Ishimori & Dick Togo
- Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr. & DOUKI vs. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Jado
Will Ospreay spoke backstage about winning the cup and delivering a cutter to Bea Priestley at the end of the show.
“I’m sure you’ve got a lot of questions that need answering” Will Ospreay began, speaking backstage. “I can answer some questions. I love the idea of being the best wrestler in the world.”
“As much as this trophy means a lot to me It doesn’t make me the best wrestler in the world, does it?” Ospreay continued. “Being the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion means you’re the best wrestler in the world, does it not?”
“And I love that more than I love anything, or anyone. So if I can give an OsCutter to a woman I love more than anything in the world? A woman that’s been in my life now for five years; I have a house, I have a family with that girl…but it means nothing to me.”
