IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji sat down for a new interview with NJPW. Tsuji is set to defend his world title against Callum Newman at Sakura Genesis this weekend. Newman became the new #1 contender after winning the New Japan Cup last month. And with their clash mere days away, Tsuji has been reflecting on their matches in Newman’s native England.
NJPW’s traditional excursion saw Tsuji wrestle in RevPro throughout 2021. The Japanese star debuted in a losing effort against a then relatively unknown Kyle Fletcher before going on to wrestle several past, present, and future NJPW stars, including Drilla Moloney, Robbie X, and Shota Umino.
Tsuji and Umino formed a tag team during their run in RevPro called The Legion, working together to defeat a young Newman and J.J. Gale in late 2022. But it didn’t sound like Tsuji was overly impressed by the young Newman’s threshold for pain.
“We had a few matches in the UK actually. He was 19, 20 at the time,” recalled Tsuji. “The biggest impression I was left with was of a kid who didn’t like getting hit. I remember hitting a move on him and him saying he was hurt. The match ended right there, I thought maybe he’d hurt his ribs since he was clutching his midsection, but he got to the back and threw up.”
Newman’s rise has surprised Tsuji
Despite questioning Newman’s resilience, Yota Tsuji has been impressed by his transformation in NJPW. Recent tensions with the previous United Empire leader and mentor, Will Ospreay, may be building Newman’s next big feud. And if he’s victorious at Sakura Genesis, Ospreay might be his first challenger. But Tsuji recognized the positive effect that the Aerial Assassin was having on Newman, noting that the young Brit might not have made it to NJPW without his mentor’s guidance.
“He was skinny then but with a ton of athletic ability. He was doing shooting star presses, and obviously he was Ospreay’s student. I thought he had a ton of potential, but I thought if he didn’t like getting hit that badly, there was no chance. He said he wanted to come to New Japan, but I figured there was no way he would get anywhere.
“Like I said before, he wasn’t happy with where he was in United Empire, and he took things into his own hands. We’re fairly similar like that. There are quite a few wrestlers in New Japan who are happy with where they are and don’t want to rock the boat. That’s not Callum, and I can respect that.”
NJPW’s 2026 standouts clash at Sakura Genesis
Newman’s mentality has delivered in 2026. A victory over David Finlay in his final NJPW match put Newman on the path to glory. The United Empire leader defeated an incredible crop of talent to lift the New Japan Cup. He bested Yoshi-Hashi, Hartley Jackson, Hirooki Goto, Shota Umino, and Yuya Uemura to win the tournament. The victory made him the youngest New Japan Cup winner in history at 23.
After unifying NJPW’s heavyweight titles at Wrestle Kingdom 20 with his victory over Konosuke Takeshita, Yota Tsuji has gone on to defend his world title twice in 2026. First, he retained against Jake Lee before repeating the feat over Andrade El Idolo. A third defence against Newman will see his reign pass the 100-day mark.
