Sanada Wins IWGP World Heavyweight Title At Sakura Genesis 2023
Sanada has had a long journey in professional wrestling. Fans may remember him working in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling(Impact Wrestling) between 2014 and 2015, where he was an X-Division Champion. After his career in TNA ended, he joined NJPW and has worked there since. For several years, he was in the popular faction Los Ingobernables de Japon(Tatsuya Naito, Hiromu Takahashi, Bushi, Shingo Takagi & Evil) and has been a prominent talent in the company. However, he never had the opportunity to be the IWGP Heavyweight Champion.
During this year's New Japan Cup, Sanada made a change. He left LIJ and aligned himself with the now Just Five Guys Faction(Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Douki & Taka Michinoku). He also changed his appearance and added a new finishing move to his move set. This has resulted in Sanada winning the New Japan Cup by defeating David Finlay in the finals on March 21. The win allowed Sanada to challenge Kazuchika Okada for IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at Sakura Genesis 2023 on April 8.
In the main event of Sakura Genesis 2023, Sanada defeated Okada to become the world champion in NJPW finally.
After the match with Okada, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, and former ally Takahashi interrupted his celebration. Before the main event, Takahashi successfully defended his title against Robbie Eagles. Takahashi challenged Sanada for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. However, Kanemaru wanted an opportunity at Takahashi's title, and he had to beat him before he faced Sanada. The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion accepted the stipulation, and fans should expect the match soon.
NJPW is having The Five Guys and LIJ faction feud against each other. Another match at Sakura Genesis 2023 had Taichi, Kanemaru & Douki defeat Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & Bushi. After the win, Douki wanted a match against Naito, and Taichi teased a match against Takagi for the King of Pro Wrestling Championship. It's unclear when those matches will happen, but NJPW is seemingly invested in having the two factions compete against each other for a while.
It's possible this could lead to Naito getting his revenge on Sanada by challenging him for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship later this year.
