As usual I will cover returning venues but this was a short tour so there is not too much to write on. The tour ended with 10,220 fans in total putting it 548 fans or 5.36% below last years tour. there were three returning venues, Nights 2, 5 and Genesis itself, each was "down" on last year. For the most part these drops are none to concerning for a tour that was primarily used to establish a new top foreigner.
Night #2
Venue: Act City Hamamatsu
Attendance: Down 1.09% (910 fans total, 10 fan drop)
Main Event: Akira, Jay, Lee, Newman & Young vs Gedo, Ishimori, Takagi, Tsuji & X
Not too much to say in regards to this one, a house show that drew basically the same amount as last year and both shows were held on a Sunday.
Night #5
Venue: Korakuen Hall
Attendance: Down 0.94% (1476 fans total (Sellout), 14 fan drop)
Main Event: DOUKI vs YOH (IWGP Jr)
A tidy number and the only sellout of the tour, people may look at the "down fans" as a negative but honestly DOUKI and YOH being able to draw the same amount as a Desperado title match (this show last year was Desperado vs Connors) this a good sign. Fans love Desperado and for a pair of juniors to be able to equal him in drawing power is a good sign, especially considering this was a Thursday show being compared to a Friday show.
Sakura Genesis
Venue: Ryogoku Kokugikan
Attendance: Down 9.50% (6009 fans total , 631 fan drop)
Main Event: Newman vs Tsuji (IWGP Heavyweight)
A slightly disappointing end to the tour from an attendance standpoint (I loved the wrestling on the show) but not terrible by any means. Last years show was still hot off the Goto revolution with Goto defending his World Heavyweight title in the first real "build to a title match (sorry Tana and Nagata) so it would honestly be difficult to for the newly established Tsuji and (until now) unestablished Newman to push past that. The show breaking the 6,000 mark is still a great sign as that many fans coming to see the new main eventers only gives room for growth.
The Misc
Newman and Tsuji main evented the most shows on this tour with five on the six shows headlined by either them in singles or them in a tag match.
the show in Lily Arena Mito (Night 1) was the first time NJPW have returned to that venue since World Tag League in 2024. attendance was up 14.22%
the show last show held in Twin Messe Shizuoka (Night 3) was World Tag League 2025. attendace was down 37.11% (sidenote here Tanahashi's retirement did great numbers for this Tag League so this show being down on last visit while also being a house show is no surprise.
Night 4 visited the Nagano Prefectural Budokan for the first time since the New Beginning Tour in 2024. attendace was down 15.19%
Conclusion
This tour was another establishing tour, Newman was an unknown variable and thus attendace took a dip. This dip was barely existent in some areas and was a small chunk from the big show. Overall the tour did it's job, Newman is established as the new foreign guy and the next tours ground work has been laid.
by moagrieve