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NJPW New Japan Cup Finals (March 21) Preview, Statistics & Research

by | Apr 3, 2021 | Column, NJPW, Preview

NJPW Sakura Genesis

Date: April 4, 2021

Venue: Ryogoku Kokugikan

Time: 5:00pm JST

Watch: NJPWWorld.com (With Live English Commentary)

International Start Times

First Match
DOUKI, Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr vs. Jado, Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa

Recent History – Overall (2021 Year To Date)

History in Ryogoku – All Match Types

Second Match
Hirooki Goto, Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Dick Togo, EVIL, KENTA, Taiji Ishimori & Yujiro Takahashi

Recent History – Overall


  • EVIL’s 43 matches are the most in NJPW in 2021.
  • Kazuchika Okada’s 40 matches are third-most in NJPW in 2021.
  • Yujiro Takahashi’s -11 Fall Differential is fifth-worst in NJPW so far in 2021.

History in Ryogoku – All Match Types

Third Match
SANADA, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito vs. Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb & “X”

Recent History – Overall (2021 Year To Date)

  • SANADA’s 9 hours, 59 minutes, and 50 seconds of Total Overall Match Length is the highest in NJPW this year.
  • Only Will Ospreay (30) has more wins in NJPW in 2021 than Great-O-Khan (29)
  • Jeff Cobb’s .857 winning percentage is the highest in NJPW in 2021.
  • Jeff Cobb’s +15 Fall Differential is the best in NJPW in 2021.
  • Shingo Takagi and SANADA each sit at a +13 Fall Differential, good for a tie for second-best in NJPW this year.

History in Ryogoku – All Match Types

  • Shingo Takagi’s only career loss in Ryogoku was his Best Of The Super Junior 26 Finals loss to The United Empire’s kingpin, Will Ospreay
  • Jeff Cobb’s only career loss at Ryogoku was his G1 Climax 30 loss to Yujiro Takahashi. That was Cobb’s last singles match before joining The United Empire.

Fourth Match
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Satoshi Kojima vs. Bad Luck Fale & Jay White

Recent History – Overall (2021 Year To Date)

History in Ryogoku – All Match Types

  • Jay White’s only victory in any match type at Ryogoku occurred on June 5, 2019 at the Best of The Super Junior 26 Finals event. He defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi in a singles match that night.
  • This will be Satoshi Kojima’s 100th match on record at Ryogoku.

Fifth Match
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match
El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [C] vs. SHO & YOH

Recent History – Individual Overall (2021 Year To Date)

  • El Desperado’s +9 Fall Differential is fifth highest in New Japan, year to date.
  • El Desperado’s 10 winning falls in 2021 also ties him for fifth-most in New Japan, year to date.
  • SHO’s 36 matches ties him for fifth-most in New Japan, year to date.

Head To Head History

  • These two teams have wrestled each other for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championships four times. El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru lead the championship series 3-1. These teams have faced each other eight times overall in direct Tag Team matches, and the all-time series is tied at 4-4.

History in Ryogoku – All Match Types

  • SHO enters tonight’s match on a 5 match losing streak in Ryogoku, his partner YOH joins him on a 4 match losing streak.
  • El Desperado enters tonight’s match amid a 7 match winning streak in Ryogoku including two IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag team Championship matches.

History in Ryogoku – Tag Matches

  • SHO & YOH are just 1-3 when competing in tag team matches at Ryogoku. Their only victory at tonight’s venue was their first IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship victory.
  • El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru are 3-0 in tag team matches at Ryogoku. They defeated Roppongi 3K & Los Ingobernables De Japon in a three way match at Sakura Genesis 2018, they defeated Jyushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask at King of Pro Wrestling 2018, and they defeated Roppongi 3k at King of Pro Wrestling 2019.

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championships

  • The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles have been decided in 173 matches since their introduction in 1998. The titles have changed hands in 37.51% of matches with the titles on the line.
  • The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships have been defended at Ryogoku 28 times, they have changed hands at Ryogoku 39.29% of the time they were defended which accounts for almost 17% of all IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title Changes.
  • SHO & YOH have wrestled for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championships at Ryogoku twice, including their first IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship victory at King Of Pro Wrestling 2017 when they defeated Ricochet and Ryusuke Taguchi for the titles.
  • These two teams have faced each other for these titles in Ryogoku once. El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru successfully defended against SHO & YOH and BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi in a three way match at Sakura Genesis 2018.
  • El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru have wrestled for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships twice at Ryogoku, both successful defenses. At Sakura Genesis 2018, they defended against tonight’s opponents, SHO & YOH. Later that year, they defended against Jyushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask at King of Pro Wrestling.
  • SHO & YOH have wrestled for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championships 13 times in their career. They are 7-6 in title matches.
  • El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru have wrestled for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championships 12 times. They are 9-3 in title matches
  • El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru’s 304-day reign in 2018 was the second longest IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship reign of all time. Only Shinjiro Otani and Tatsuhito Takaiwa’s 348-day reign 1999-2000 reign was longer.
  • El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru rank fifth on the list of all-time, cumulative days as Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions, currently sitting at 474 days. SHO & YOH rank sixth in cumulative days as Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions at just 12 days fewer, 462.

Main Event
IWGP World Heavyweight Championship Match
Kota Ibushi [C] vs. Will Ospreay

Recent History – 2021 Singles

  • Will Ospreay and Shingo Takagi are the only two NJPW wrestlers who have already accumulated six singles victories in 2021.
  • Kota Ibushi’s 31-minute and 8-second average singles match length is the longest in NJPW in 2021. All of Ibushi’s matches so far in 2021 have had at least one title on the line.
  • The last time Will Ospreay competed for an IWGP sanctioned title was January 4, 2020 when he lost the Junior Heavyweight Championship to Kota Ibushi.
  • Ospreay enters his match with Ibushi on a 6 match winning streak in singles matches. His last loss occurred on January 4th at Wrestle Kingdom against Kazuchika Okada.
  • Kota Ibushi enters his match with Ospreay 9-1 in his last ten singles matches. His only loss in that span occurred when he lost his Wrestle Kingdom right to challenge briefcase to Jay White at Power Struggle.

Recent History – Last 365 Days Singles

Recent History – 2021 Overall

  • Will Ospreay’s 30 overall victories are the most in NJPW so far in 2021 and only his unit-mate Jeff Cobb’s .857 winning percentage is higher than Ospreay’s .833.
  • Ibushi’s record may not be quite as impressive as Ospreay’s, but his +10 Fall Differential is fourth highest in NJPW through the first quarter of 2021.

Head To Head History

  • Ibushi and Ospreay have met three times in singles matches with Ibushi winning the last two, both during G1 Climax tournaments.
  • Ospreay’s only victory over Ibushi occurred on NJPW’s biggest stage at Wrestle Kingdom 13 where Ospreay defeated Ibushi for the NEVER Openweight Championship.

History In Ryogoku – All Match Types

History In Ryogoku – Singles Matches

Will Ospreay

  • Will Ospreay enters his IWGP World Heavyweight Championship Match with Kota Ibushi with a five match winning streak in singles matches at Ryogoku. When we include tag matches, Ospreay is on an 8 match winning streak in Ryogoku. His only loss was his first match in the building against KUSHIDA at Invasion Attack 2016.

Kota Ibushi

  • Kota Ibushi enters the first ever IWGP World Heavyweight Championship defense with a three-match winning streak in singles matches at Ryogoku.
  • Ibushi, like Ospreay, is 5-1 in his last 6 singles matches in Ryogoku.
  • All things come full circle. Kota Ibushi’s first IWGP Heavyweight Championship match was on April 5th, 2015 against AJ Styles in Ryogoku (NJPW Invasion Attack 2016), now Kota Ibushi’s first IWGP World Heavyweight Championship match occurs nearly 5 years to the date in the same venue.