Yota Tsuji Regains IWGP Heavyweight Championship

By Sam Palmer
Yota Tsuji Etsuo Hara/Getty Images

Yota Tsuji is now a two-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion following the events of NJPW Dominion 6.14 in Osaka-jo-Hall.

"Gene Blast" lost his title back at NJPW Sakura Genesis 2026 to Callum Newman, who earned his shot by winning the 2026 New Japan Cup, but Tsuji vowed to take back what he felt was rightfully his at New Japan Pro Wrestling's second biggest show of the year, and that's exactly what he did.

It took everything in Tsuji's arsenal to put away "The Prince of Pace," who had control of the match when it spilled to the outside. However, Tsuji zoned in on Newman's neck for the majority of the bout when ultimately prevented Newman from hitting his signature moves like the Oscutter with any real impact. Tsuji even debuted a new finisher, the Fire Blaster, but it was his trusted Gene Blaster that got him the victory, making him a two-time champion.

Tsuji will now walk in to this year's G1 Climax tournament as the IWGP Heavyweight Champion, meaning that he will have a huge target on his back as the other 19 participants will compete to earn a shot at Tsuji's title. As for Newman, he will go back to the drawing board when it comes to trying to regain his title, though he does have a current storyline with Will Ospreay running alongside his title aspirations. However, Ospreay was not part of the Dominion festivities as he was attending more personal matters in the form of his wedding to fellow AEW star Alex Windsor.

It's also not been confirmed whether Tsuji or Newman will be at the AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door pay-per-view on June 28. With that said, the IWGP Heavyweight Championship won't be defended on that show thanks to Tsuji's ruling about the title when he won it in January, wanting it to be defended solely in Japan and fought over by NJPW contracted talent only.

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