NJPW Sakura Genesis 2018 Card, Start Time, Live Stream and Predictions

Zack Sabre Jr. will continue his journey to the IWGP Heavyweight Championship on Sunday, when he challenges Kazuchika Okada at New Japan Pro-Wrestling's Sakura Genesis event in Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan.

The match, hotly anticipated in the wake of the Brit's dominant victory in the 2018 New Japan Cup, headlines a card that will also see the continuation of Kenny Omega and Cody's ongoing rivalry over control of Bullet Club, an IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship defense by Will Ospreay and a major IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships match.

Start Time

3:00 a.m. ET

Live Stream

Available on New Japan World.

Match Card

• Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi vs. The Young Bucks
• Toru Yano and Tomohiro Ishii vs. Taichi and Takashi Iizuka
• NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championships Match: Ryusuke Taguchi, Michael Elgin and Togi Makabe vs. Tanga Loa, Tama Tonga and Bad Luck Fale
• David Finlay, Juice Robinson and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Yoshi-Hashi, Jay White and Hirooki Goto
• Sanada, Evil and Tetsuya Naito vs. Killer Elite Squad and Minoru Suzuki
• IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships Match: Roppongi 3K vs. El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Hiromu Takahashi and Bushi
• IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Match: Will Ospreay vs. Marty Scurll
• Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi vs. Cody and Hangman Page
• IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match: Kazuchika Okada vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Predictions

The Rainmaker's Successful Title Defense

Okada has successfully defended his IWGP Heavyweight Championship 10 times. A win over Sabre Jr. would make it 11, tying him with the great Hiroshi Tanahashi for a record number of consecutive successful title defenses.

That will happen Sunday in Tokyo.

Sabre has been a revelation to those not already familiar with his work, but as good as he has been and as effectively as he has been booked, he is not the guy to dethrone someone as hot and as accomplished as Okada.

He has amassed numerous wins in a short period of time to establish himself as a championship contender, but he still needs to build credibility as a key member of Suzuki-gun before he can be considered worthy of dethroning the top dog in New Japan.

Okada will survive Sabre's onslaught, make it rain and leave Tokyo one step closer to history.

No Golden Love for Hangman Page and Cody

The feud between Kenny Omega and Cody escalated when the second-generation star seemingly expelled The Cleaner from Bullet Club and created a schism within the faction.

On Sunday, Omega will attempt to avenge his ousting when he and Golden Lovers tag team partner Kota Ibushi battle Cody and Hangman Page just one week after a thrilling, five-star classic against The Young Bucks in Long Beach, California, at Strong Style Evolved.

Cody has tried desperately to erase all traces of Omega from Bullet Club but has managed to alienate himself from The Guerrillas of Destiny and, as fans witnessed at the end of Strong Style Evolved, The Young Bucks.

With his influence on the group waning, he will look to the one man he still has the confidence of, Hangman Page, to help him slow Omega and Ibushi's momentum.

It will not work.

Look for Cody's ego to assign blame when things do not go his way, his relationship with Page to crumble and The Golden Lovers to pick up a second quality win in as many weeks.

David Finlay Sends a Message to Jay White

Just moments after "Switchblade" Jay White defeated Hangman Page to retain his IWGP United States Championship at Strong Style Evolved, he was attacked from out of nowhere by former tag team partner David Finlay. The son of the great Fit Finlay laid out White and announced his intentions to challenge White for his title.

On Sunday, Finlay teams with Juice Robinson and Tanahashi to battle White, Yoshi-Hashi and NEVER openweight champion Hirooki Goto in a Six-Man Tag Team match.

As if his attack on White were not enough, he will go even further in establishing himself as a threat to the Kiwi's title by picking up the win for himself, Robinson and their legendary partner Sunday night.