The biggest professional wrestling of March has come to a close, with the finals of the New Japan Cup now in the record books. It was a dramatic tournament from start to finish, with the finals seeing SANADA taking on David Finlay.
Considering both men made major career changes during this tournament, with Finlay taking over BULLET CLUB and SANADA exiting Los Ingobernables de Japon – this finals match was a major moment in both men’s careers. After nearly 20 minutes of back and forth action however, SANADA was named the winner.
The Winner Of The 2023 New Japan Cup
With this being the sixth entry for SANADA in a New Japan Cup tournament, many were starting to question if he would ever actually be able to win this, or any singles tournament in NJPW.
Having claimed his first singles championship in NJPW during the year of 2022, SANADA has been slowly but surely proving his doubters wrong.
Leaving Los Ingobernables de Japon after defeating Tetsuya Naito during the tournament proved he was serious this time around – and with the backing of the Just Five Guys stable – he has earned a chance to become the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion.
However, that is another mountain that SANADA must now climb. He’s got a long history with Kazuchika Okada, making his NJPW debut in 2016 when he would assist Naito in taking the IWGP Heavyweight Championship from Okada.
Since then, he has met Okada in 8 singles matches – losing 7 of them. Three of these were matches for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, with Okada consistently able to shut SANADA down in these pivotal matches.
SANADA Will Need To Level Up Once Again At Sakura Genesis
The numbers are clearly against SANADA going into Sakura Genesis, where he will face Okada for the ninth time. He’s bet on himself by leaving one of the more popular factions in NJPW to join an untested group, and while he was able to shut down Finlay to win the New Japan Cup – that’s only chapter one of his new journey.
Unless SANADA is able to once again find a new level to his game at Sakura Genesis – Okada will simply increase the record to 9-1.
Can SANADA finally win a title match against Okada? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
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