It is official that at the Sakura Genesis event come April 4th, Kota Ibushi will defend the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against 2021 New Japan Cup winner Will Ospreay. New Japan Pro-Wrestling shared the news via their official website that a new IWGP World Heavyweight Title design will be revealed on the Road to Sakura Genesis show on March 30th.
Kota Ibushi successfully put the IWGP Intercontinental Title on the line against Tetsuya Naito at the Castle Attack event in late February and following that victory, NJPW Chairman Naoki Sugabayashi told Tokyo Sports that he will be unifying the Heavyweight and Intercontinental Championships.
Ibushi won both titles at this year’s Wrestle Kingdom by defeating Tetsuya Naito on night one and Jay White on night two.
As of this writing, here’s the card for Sakura Genesis on April 4th:
- IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Kota Ibushi (c) vs. Will Ospreay
- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships: El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (c) vs. Roppongi 3K (SHO & YOH)
- Hiroshi Tanahashi & Satoshi Kojima vs. Jay White & Bad Luck Fale
- Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & SANADA vs. The Great O-Khan, Jeff Cobb & Mystery talent
- Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & YOSHI-HASHI vs. BULLET CLUB (EVIL, KENTA, Yujiro Takahashi, Taiji Ishimori & Dick Togo)
- Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) & Jado vs. Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi & DOUKI
