SANADA is scheduled to challenge for the IWGP World Heavyweight Title on April 8th.
In the quarter final of the 2023 New Japan Cup tournament, SANADA bested Tetsuya Naito and then opted to leave Los Ingobernables de Japon and join up with Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, DOUKI and TAKA Michinoku to form ‘Just Five Guys’.
SANADA went on to win the New Japan Cup tournament and is challenging for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at NJPW Sakura Genesis.
While speaking to NJPW1972.com, SANADA was asked about his decision to leave LIJ. He feels it’ll always be Naito’s faction and he could never be a ‘true top guy’ while in the group. He spoke on Shingo Takagi’s success and even with that, L.I.J. was still considered to be Naito’s. SANADA did add that the group made him who he is today.
Thing is about LIJ is that Naito brought it back from Mexico, right? And ever since then, it’s been his thing. Even if I was the top guy in the company, L.I.J. would still be Naito’s thing. Like, (Shingo) Takagi was IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, and he won the MVP award. But even then, L.I.J. was still seen as Naito’s faction. I thought that at best, the same thing would happen to me… Right (no matter how great Shingo was, Naito was still the face of the group), so I could never be a true top guy if I was in LIJ… He was definitely ‘a’ top guy. But even he admitted that the Naito image in L.I.J. was too strong… I wrote this on my Instagram, but it was the place I grew up. I definitely feel it made me the man I am today.
In 2020, EVIL was the first to leave Los Ingobernables de Japon. SANADA said at the time, he admired EVIL for making that decision and understands he wanted to move himself up.
In a way I admired it at the time (EVIL leaving L.I.J.). I liked that he took action for himself… He wanted to move himself up. I can understand that much, sure.
Looking back at the 2023 New Japan Cup final in which SANADA defeated David Finlay, he said being in the ring with him made him realize how good Finlay is and feels he’s in that top percentile of foreign wrestlers.
I’ve said this in a few places now, but wrestling him really made me realize how good (David) Finlay is… To be completely honest, I think I had underestimated him. Once we got in there, I really felt like he was in that top class of foreign wrestlers. I think he’ll only keep growing from here.
As of this writing, here is the updated lineup for Sakura Genesis on April 8th:
- United Empire (Francesco Akira, Aaron Henare & Jeff Cobb) vs. House of Torture (SHO, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL)
- Master Wato, Hikuleo & Tama Tonga vs. BULLET CLUB (David Finlay, KENTA & El Phantasmo)
- Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI) vs. DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi
- NJPW World TV Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Shota Umino
- IWGP Tag Team Championships: Bishamon (YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto) (c) vs. Aussie Open (Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher)
- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Hiromu Takahashi (c) vs. Robbie Eagles
- IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. SANADA
- IWGP Women’s Championship — Three Way: Mercedes Moné (c) vs. AZM vs. Hazuki
- Shinnichi Champion Grand Prix Celebration Match: TBA, TBA & TBA vs. TBA, TBA & TBA
