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Invasion Attack 2016
Invasion Attack 2016 was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on April 10, 2016, in Tokyo at Ryōgoku Kokugikan, and featured nine matches, six of which were contested for championships. The main event saw the winner of the 2016 New Japan Cup, Tetsuya Naito defeat Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
The event aired worldwide on NJPW World and featured English commentary, provided by Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino. In addition, the event also aired in Japan as a PPV through SKY PerfecTV!. It was the fourth and last event under the Invasion Attack name; the event was renamed as Sakura Genesis in 2017.
Invasion Attack 2016 featured nine professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in the scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.
On February 22, 2016, NJPW announced the 2016 New Japan Cup, stating that the winner of the tournament would get to choose whether to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship (held by Kazuchika Okada), the IWGP Intercontinental Championship (held by Kenny Omega) or the NEVER Openweight Championship (held by Katsuyori Shibata) at Invasion Attack 2016. On March 12, Tetsuya Naito won the tournament, defeating Hirooki Goto in the finals, and afterwards announced he was challenging Okada for his title. Though he initially stated that he would not cash in his shot at Invasion Attack 2016, Naito changed his mind after a request from Okada. The match was officially confirmed by NJPW two days later. In an interview following his New Japan Cup win, Naito stated that his true opponent at Invasion Attack 2016 was not Okada, but NJPW owner Takaaki Kidani and booker Gedo. This would mark Naito's first shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship since Wrestle Kingdom 8 in Tokyo Dome in January 2014, where he unsuccessfully challenged Okada for the title. Prior to Invasion Attack 2016, Okada and Naito had faced off in six singles match with both having won three of them. The match marked Okada's fourth title defense and a chance for Naito to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship for the first time.
On January 30, 2016, it was reported that British wrestler Will Ospreay had signed with NJPW and would debut at Invasion Attack 2016. On March 3, Ospreay was announced as the newest member of the Chaos stable. Appearing in a video, he proceeded to challenge Kushida to a match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, vowing to become the first British holder of the title. The match was officially announced on March 14.
On February 14 at The New Beginning in Niigata, G.B.H. (Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma) made their first successful defense of the IWGP Tag Team Championship against previous champions, Bullet Club's Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson. After the match, Anderson and Gallows' stablemate Tama Tonga entered the ring and challenged Makabe and Honma, announcing that his partner would be a new member of Bullet Club. The champions accepted the challenge. On March 3, Tonga scored the biggest win of his career by defeating Makabe in the first round of the 2016 New Japan Cup. On March 12, Tonga also pinned Honma in a six-man tag team match and then revealed that his partner would be his real-life brother Tevita Fifita. On March 14, NJPW officially announced the match for the IWGP Tag Team Championship between G.B.H. and the "Guerrillas of Destiny" team of Tonga and the newly renamed Tanga Loa. The match would mark the NJPW debut of the brother team, who had previously wrestled together as the "Sons of Tonga". Loa made his surprise debut on March 27, attacking Makabe during his match with Tonga, which led to him being added to matches on the last three "Road to Invasion Attack 2016" events.
On March 14, NJPW announced that at Invasion Attack 2016 Matt Sydal and Ricochet would make their first defense of the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship against former champions Roppongi Vice (Beretta and Rocky Romero). Prior to the event, it was reported that Ricochet was WWE bound and that behind the scenes NJPW was looking for a new partner for Sydal.
The rest of the matches were announced on March 22. Two title matches were added to the event, contested for the NEVER championships. First, Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson), representing Bullet Club and its sub-group The Elite, were set to defend the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship against Hiroshi Tanahashi, Michael Elgin and Yoshitatsu. Tanahashi and Elgin previously challenged The Elite for the title on March 20, teaming with Juice Robinson, but lost when Robinson was pinned. This match would mark Yoshitatsu's first NJPW match since November 2014, when he was sidelined with a broken neck, suffered in a match with then Bullet Club leader A.J. Styles. Yoshitatsu, who had dubbed himself the "Bullet Club Hunter" prior to his injury, stated that his goal of taking down Bullet Club had not changed. In the other match, Katsuyori Shibata was set to defend the NEVER Openweight Championship against Hiroyoshi Tenzan. On February 11 at The New Beginning in Osaka, NJPW veterans Tenzan, Manabu Nakanishi, Satoshi Kojima and Yuji Nagata came together and proclaimed their intention of showing that they, the so-called "third generation", could still perform at a top level. As part of the new movement, Kojima announced his intention of challenging Katsuyori Shibata for the NEVER Openweight Championship. The match took place on March 19 and saw Shibata retain his title. Afterwards, Tenzan entered the ring and challenged Shibata to a title match, which was made official for Invasion Attack 2016 three days later. The match would mark Tenzan's first shot at a singles NJPW title since October 2006.
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Invasion Attack 2016
Invasion Attack 2016 was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on April 10, 2016, in Tokyo at Ryōgoku Kokugikan, and featured nine matches, six of which were contested for championships. The main event saw the winner of the 2016 New Japan Cup, Tetsuya Naito defeat Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
The event aired worldwide on NJPW World and featured English commentary, provided by Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino. In addition, the event also aired in Japan as a PPV through SKY PerfecTV!. It was the fourth and last event under the Invasion Attack name; the event was renamed as Sakura Genesis in 2017.
Invasion Attack 2016 featured nine professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in the scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.
On February 22, 2016, NJPW announced the 2016 New Japan Cup, stating that the winner of the tournament would get to choose whether to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship (held by Kazuchika Okada), the IWGP Intercontinental Championship (held by Kenny Omega) or the NEVER Openweight Championship (held by Katsuyori Shibata) at Invasion Attack 2016. On March 12, Tetsuya Naito won the tournament, defeating Hirooki Goto in the finals, and afterwards announced he was challenging Okada for his title. Though he initially stated that he would not cash in his shot at Invasion Attack 2016, Naito changed his mind after a request from Okada. The match was officially confirmed by NJPW two days later. In an interview following his New Japan Cup win, Naito stated that his true opponent at Invasion Attack 2016 was not Okada, but NJPW owner Takaaki Kidani and booker Gedo. This would mark Naito's first shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship since Wrestle Kingdom 8 in Tokyo Dome in January 2014, where he unsuccessfully challenged Okada for the title. Prior to Invasion Attack 2016, Okada and Naito had faced off in six singles match with both having won three of them. The match marked Okada's fourth title defense and a chance for Naito to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship for the first time.
On January 30, 2016, it was reported that British wrestler Will Ospreay had signed with NJPW and would debut at Invasion Attack 2016. On March 3, Ospreay was announced as the newest member of the Chaos stable. Appearing in a video, he proceeded to challenge Kushida to a match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, vowing to become the first British holder of the title. The match was officially announced on March 14.
On February 14 at The New Beginning in Niigata, G.B.H. (Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma) made their first successful defense of the IWGP Tag Team Championship against previous champions, Bullet Club's Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson. After the match, Anderson and Gallows' stablemate Tama Tonga entered the ring and challenged Makabe and Honma, announcing that his partner would be a new member of Bullet Club. The champions accepted the challenge. On March 3, Tonga scored the biggest win of his career by defeating Makabe in the first round of the 2016 New Japan Cup. On March 12, Tonga also pinned Honma in a six-man tag team match and then revealed that his partner would be his real-life brother Tevita Fifita. On March 14, NJPW officially announced the match for the IWGP Tag Team Championship between G.B.H. and the "Guerrillas of Destiny" team of Tonga and the newly renamed Tanga Loa. The match would mark the NJPW debut of the brother team, who had previously wrestled together as the "Sons of Tonga". Loa made his surprise debut on March 27, attacking Makabe during his match with Tonga, which led to him being added to matches on the last three "Road to Invasion Attack 2016" events.
On March 14, NJPW announced that at Invasion Attack 2016 Matt Sydal and Ricochet would make their first defense of the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship against former champions Roppongi Vice (Beretta and Rocky Romero). Prior to the event, it was reported that Ricochet was WWE bound and that behind the scenes NJPW was looking for a new partner for Sydal.
The rest of the matches were announced on March 22. Two title matches were added to the event, contested for the NEVER championships. First, Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson), representing Bullet Club and its sub-group The Elite, were set to defend the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship against Hiroshi Tanahashi, Michael Elgin and Yoshitatsu. Tanahashi and Elgin previously challenged The Elite for the title on March 20, teaming with Juice Robinson, but lost when Robinson was pinned. This match would mark Yoshitatsu's first NJPW match since November 2014, when he was sidelined with a broken neck, suffered in a match with then Bullet Club leader A.J. Styles. Yoshitatsu, who had dubbed himself the "Bullet Club Hunter" prior to his injury, stated that his goal of taking down Bullet Club had not changed. In the other match, Katsuyori Shibata was set to defend the NEVER Openweight Championship against Hiroyoshi Tenzan. On February 11 at The New Beginning in Osaka, NJPW veterans Tenzan, Manabu Nakanishi, Satoshi Kojima and Yuji Nagata came together and proclaimed their intention of showing that they, the so-called "third generation", could still perform at a top level. As part of the new movement, Kojima announced his intention of challenging Katsuyori Shibata for the NEVER Openweight Championship. The match took place on March 19 and saw Shibata retain his title. Afterwards, Tenzan entered the ring and challenged Shibata to a title match, which was made official for Invasion Attack 2016 three days later. The match would mark Tenzan's first shot at a singles NJPW title since October 2006.