Full Sakura Genesis card: Mystery tag added, match order may be controversial

25 comments

1. 5 titles on the line: Women’s, TV, Tag, Junior and Heavyweight, with it looks like 9 matches in total.

2. I think as long as they give the women like 15 to 20 I doubt many would care about the card order.

   If we are serious what stardom can provide for njpw at least in the short term is fast pace matches that are distinctive from the way new japan matches flow. Early on the card is probably the ideal spot for it right now.

   Like the choice of junior hw title match is very interesting. Robbie wrestles like a little hw and I think being in tmdk will move him more towards that grounded style he has.

   So this does open up the women for a chance to stand out on the card if given time

3. I haven’t been keeping up with NJPW as well as I should. Does Sanada actually stand a chance here?

   I’ve fallen off since G1. I love Okada, he’s the second best wrestler on the planet (Seth Rollins) but I was really annoyed they gave him G1. Then WK again.

   Sanada winning would definitely change the landscape, I’d love it, but can it really happen?

4. The Sasha stans will complain unless she’s in the main event, which will never happen. They should count themselves lucky that she’s not in the second or third match on the card.

   No one in Japan knows or cares who she is. She’s not on the card for them or to draw in Japan, so her spot on the card here is probably way too high.

5. I think the match order comes solely from build. IMO, having the women’s match in the middle is awesome because it paces the show perfectly. You kick off the main title matches with a banger. Genuinely looking forward to Sakura Genesis.

   Keep in mind that NJPW is just starting to add women to their cards. There’s a long road ahead before they main event a show. It says nothing about their individual talents. It’s just how a natural progression should work.

6. Not sure what might be controversial about the match order. The women’s title match not being higher is not a slight against the women, the fact is that women’s wrestling matches on NJPW shows altogether are a new thing. Between the tag titles actually being worth something these days and NJPW still trying to build the status of the TV title I understand why they set the matches like that.

7. Will someone think of the Mercedes stans though 😂😂

8. Only controversial to a certain kind of Stan though, no?

9. Tanga Loa looks huge!

10. The real story out of this is J5G is going by Just Three Guys for their tag match

11. Actually super interested to see if Okada wins and Sanada goes right back to square one even though it might be weird or if they are actually surprising us

    Considering I can’t see what program they might have for a non champion Okada I guess I’m leaning towards a rainmaker win

12. Odd that they haven’t taken a new picture of Sanada.

13. Makes sense to me, argument for the women’s title match and the TV title match to be swapped but since Shota who they are trying to push as a next big star vs the ever popular ZSJ the math order makes sense. Plus this is Mone’s first match in NJPW in Japan so they don’t fully know yet how the Japanese crowd will take to her, but if she performance well I’m sure her matches will get put up higher, look at Hiromu the Jr title is normally lower but since Hirmou is the champ and he is a big star the push his title defences further up

14. This makes me suspicious that HoT will win the Never 6 man again jfc.

    Also will that the first time with ELP and Finlay in a match together since the cup final?

15. Match order isn’t that important TO ME, but match time is the big thing. Bushiroad paying Mercedes (supposedly) all this money to not even use her is a huge fumble on NJPW’s side in my opinion. Personally I’d have Okada v Sanada go shorter (which we saw in all of the NJ cup main events) at 20-25 minutes to accommodate for the women’s match.

    Bishamon v Aussie Open is a rematch of their quite long WTL match which I think was around 30 minutes. Bishamon has the recent match with Okada/Tana which was around 20, so I’d give this match 15-18. Eagles/Hiromu get 20, and Shota/ZSJ should honestly go short at 10.

16. Not sure how this is controversial

17. What’s controversial about the match order? Seems exactly as it should be expected to be

18. The 6 man title match between Strong Style and House of Torture is on 4/3. So if Strong Style wins, this will determine the next number one contender. If HoT wins, this will be the next rivalry for the title. Somehow I have a feeling it will be the latter *facepalm*

19. Since Catch 2/2 don’t defend the belts, looking at the NJPW, they might get the record for the longest Jr. Tag reign.

    I just hope I’m not jinxing it.

20. I hope they give the womens match time.

21. The match listing shows Hikuleo but at the top says it’s Tonga Loa lol.

22. This card looks pretty stacked actually, god I hope SANADA wins

23. The women’s match being fifth on the card is not my main issue with the match itself. The belt has been barely seen/used in NJPW or Stardom. This match has been poorly built since most of it has been in Stardom between AZM and Hazuki about the latter being in the match. This would be fine if the match was happening in Stardom but this is a NJPW show with NJPW fans. I would imagine the venn diagram of NJPW fans and Stardom fans has more overlap since the purchase by Bushiroad. However, there are still NJPW fans that are not watching Stardom. The other thing is that it seems that Gedo and Rossy are not on the same page as NJPW and Stardom are under different branches in Bushiroad. This is a classic example of the right hand and left hand not knowing what the other is doing. The original plan might have been for a singles match between Moné and AZM. The problem is AZM has been the High Speed Champion for a year now has been fairly well protected in that regard to singles matches. Plus it is unknown if Moné can work a match at AZM’s pace. So Hazuki is added to the match to take the fall to help it be a high speed match that will probably be between 5-10 minutes in length. I still want to see the match and believe it will be a good one, but I am concerned about how Gedo and Rossy are working together.

24. > It is, in fact, eerily similar to Hirooki Goto’s shift from Hontai to CHAOS in the wake of his final to date failed challenge to the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in 2016;

    ._.

25. Tanga Loa looks huge!