Will Ospreay ‘Can’t Wait’ To Make NJPW Return At Sakura Genesis

Will Ospreay is returning to NJPW for the first time in two years this weekend, and it’s something he’s very excited for. As announced last Friday, the AEW star will reunite with Great-O-Khan and HENARE from United Empire for the April 4th show at Ryogoku Sumo Hall. The trio will battle Yuya Uemura, Taichi, and El Desperado.

Ospreay posted to Twitter on Thursday to comment on the match and his return to Japan. He wrote:

“10 Years Ago. I boarded a flight to Tokyo to perform for @njpw1972. 22 years old I could barely speak English and I was so scared going to a country by myself that I couldn’t speak the language. I spent 8 years in Japan & it completely shaped me as a man. Japan taught me patience & etiquette. All I wanted to do was show my love & appreciation to a country that allowed me to be a kid & I got to grow up in a locker room full of men I had the utmost respect for. I’ve not stopped thinking about you since I left 2 years ago. Can’t wait to come home and wrestle in my favourite arena in wrestling.”

The match is Ospreay’s first in Japan since February of 2024, when he competed at NJPW The New Beginning in Osaka. He appeared at this year’s New Year Dash but had not yet been cleared to return to the ring. He made his official return to the ring on the March 18th episode of AEW Dynamite after returning to AEW TV at Revolution.

The card for NJPW Sakura Genesis is:

* IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match: Yota Tsuji vs. Callum Newman.
* IWGP Tag Team Championsship Match: The Knock Out Brothers vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Ryohei Oiwa.
* NJPW World Television Championship Match: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Shota Umino.
* NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championship Match: Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Oleg Boltin vs. Ren Narita, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens.
* Will Ospreay, Great-O-Khan & HENARE vs. Yuya Uemura, Taichi & El Desperado.
* Aaron Wolf, YOH, Toru Yano & Master Wato vs. Don Fale, DOUKI, SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru.
* Shingo Takagi, Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X vs. Jake Lee, Francesco Akira & Jakob Austin Young.
* Togi Makabe & Tiger Mask vs. Hartley Jackson & Kosei Fujita.
* KUSHIDA & Masatora Yasuda vs. Tatsuya Matsumoto & Taisei Nakahara. (Pre-Show Match)

10 Years Ago.

I boarded a flight to Tokyo to perform for @njpw1972.

22 years old I could barely speak English and I was so scared going to a country by myself that I couldn’t speak the language.

I spent 8 years in Japan & it completely shaped me as a man.

Japan taught me… pic.twitter.com/sKsiU5UtS1

— Will Ospreay • ウィル・オスプレイ (@WillOspreay) April 2, 2026