Yota Tsuji is the winner of the New Japan Cup winner and will challenge for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.
Wednesday’s final from Niigata saw the 30-year-old Tsuji defeat Hirooki Goto after a terrific main event, which saw an intense final minutes.
Goto was the sentimental favorite heading into the final after dedicating the tournament to his late father, who passed away in February. The veteran attempted to win his fourth New Japan Cup and first in over a decade.
Goto withstood multiple curb stomps, including a double springboard version off the top turnbuckle. The action escalated after Goto executed the Shouten Kai for a major near-fall. Tsuji launched toward Goto from the three-point stance and was met with a massive lariat which led to the sequence of the match as Goto attempted a Rainmaker and was thwarted by the Gene Blaster with Goto becoming the first member of the roster to kick out of Tsuji’s maneuver. A follow-up Gene Blaster led to the victory for Tsuji.
Tsuji proclaimed himself, “The leader of the new era” but had one more thing to do as he gestured to his LIJ stablemate and IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Tetsuya Naito, who was stationed ringside on commentary.
Naito entered the ring and asked, “Are you ready?” as the two will headline Sakura Genesis at Ryogoku Kokugikan on Saturday, April 6.
The ring was left to Tsuji, who ended his speech by enforcing that the best wrestling in the world occurs inside of NJPW and that he would take the company to new heights.
