NJPW recently concluded its annual Sakura Genesis event at Ryogoku Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan, where Tetsuya Naito successfully defended the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.
Naito faced off against his Los Ingobrenables de Japon stablemate, Yota Tsuji, in the main event. Tsuji, having earned a shot at the title by winning the New Japan Cup, provided a formidable challenge.
However, Naito emerged victorious. As customary, Naito was about to perform his “LIJ roll call” to close the NJPW show when he was unexpectedly interrupted by his next challenger.
The next challenger for Naito’s title is none other than the multi-time AEW World Champion, Jon Moxley.
Moxley, who earlier in the evening teamed up with Shota Umino to defeat Jack Perry and Ren Narita, issued a challenge to Naito to make their upcoming bout at Windy City Riot on April 12 in Chicago a title match.
Despite the initial plan for a non-title contest, Naito accepted Moxley’s challenge. Notably, the upcoming match will only be the second time the two wrestlers have faced each other in singles competition, with Moxley securing a victory over Naito during the 2019 G1 Climax tournament.
The Windy City Riot card will now feature four championship defenses, including Naito’s title defense.
Zack Sabre Jr. is set to challenge Matt Riddle for the NJPW World Television Championship, Stephanie Vaquer will defend the NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship against AZM.
Moreover, the Guerrillas of Destiny will put the NJPW STRONG Openweight Tag Team Championship on the line against TMDK, The West Coast Wrecking Crew, and the team of Tom Lawlor and Fred Rosser.
Other matches on the card include Mustafa Ali versus Hiromu Takahashi, Jack Perry against Shota Umino, Nic Nemeth facing Tomohiro Ishii, and a Riot Rules Match with Eddie Kingston and Gabe Kidd serving as team captains.
