Category: NJPW

NJPW Strong Independence Day Final Cards 7/4 & 7/5 2023

NJPW will hold its Strong Independence Day event over the course of two nights on July 4th and July 5th in Japan, with both shows airing on NJPW World at 5:10 a.m. Eastern time.

The event will feature two AEW stars in action as Jon Moxley, who will be teaming with Homicide on the first night against El Desperado & Jun Kasai in an “Exciting Encounter Doomsday No DQ” match, while he’ll wrestle Desperado on the second night in a “Final Death” match.

Eddie Kingston will also be in action. Here are the final cards:

Night 1

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match:
TJP & Francesco Akira (champions) vs. Drilla Moloney & Clark Connors

Exciting Encounter Doomsday No DQ Match:
Jon Moxley & Homicide vs. El Desperado & Jun Kasai

NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship Match:
Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI (champions) vs. Alex Coughlin & Gabe Kidd

Eddie Kingston & Rocky Romero vs. KENTA & Gedo

Tom Lawlor vs. Kosei Fujita

Lance Archer, Alex Zayne & Ryohei Oiwa vs. JR Kratos, Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs

Bad Dude Tito vs. The DKC

Willow Nightingale & Momo Kohgo vs. Giulia & Thekla

Kickoff Match:
Syusuke Taguchi, YOH & Oskar Leube vs. Kengo, Dragon Libre & Takahiro Katori

Night 2

NJPW Strong Openweight Championship Match:
KENTA (champion) vs. Eddie Kingston

Final Death Match:
Jon Moxley vs. El Desperado

IWGP Tag Team Championship Match:
Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI (champions) vs. Alex Coughlin & Gabe Kidd

NJPW Strong Women’s Championship Match:
Willow Nightingale (champion) vs. Giulia

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tomohiro Ishii & The DKC vs. Tom Lawlor, Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs

Lance Archer & Alex Zayne vs. Bad Dude Tito & Kosei Fujita

Drilla Moloney & Clark Connors vs. YOH & Rocky Romero

Homicide & Ryohei Oiwa vs. TJP & Francesco Akira

JR Kratos vs. OSkar Leube

Kickoff Match:
Ryusuke Taguchi, Master Wato & Boltin Oleg vs. Dragon Libre, Takahiro Katori & Rekka

AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 6/25/2023 (Results)

ZERO HOUR

Mogul Embassy (Swerve Strickland, Brian Cage, Toa Liona, and Bishop Kaun) (with Prince Nana) def. Chaos (Chuck Taylor, Rocky Romero and Trent Beretta) and El Desperado 

WOMEN’S OWEN HART CUP TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND MATCH:
Athena def. Billie Starkz

El Phantasmo def. Stu Grayson

Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi, Bushi, and Hiromu Takahashi) def. United Empire (Jeff Cobb, Kyle Fletcher, and TJP)

FORBIDDEN DOOR

AEW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
MJF (c) def.. Hiroshi Tanahashi

MJF hit a knockout shot on Tanahashi with his ring, enabling him to get the win.

MEN’S OWEN HART CUP TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND MATCH:
CM Punk def. Satoshi Kojima

AEW INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP FOUR-WAY MATCH:
Orange Cassidy (c) def.. Zack Sabre Jr., Katsuyori Shibata and Daniel Garcia

IWGP WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
Sanada (c) def. “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry

After the match, Jungle Boy makes a surprising heel turn by laying out Hook with a lariat. The crowd in Toronto was livid. Jungle Boy taunts them before holding up the FTW title, dropping it beside HOOK before heading to the back.

The Elite (“Hangman” Adam Page, Matt Jackson, and Nick Jackson), Eddie Kingston, and Tomohiro Ishii def. Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Wheeler Yuta, and Claudio Castagnoli), Konosuke Takeshita, and Shota Umino

AEW WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
Toni Storm (c) def. Willow Nightingale

IWGP UNITED STATES HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
Will Ospreay def. Kenny Omega (c) to become the new IWGP US Heavyweight Champion

Sting, Darby Allin, and Tetsuya Naito def. Jericho Appreciation Society (Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara) and Minoru Suzuki

Jericho stops the celebration early as he attacks Naito with a bat, until Darby and Sting cut him off and send him retreating to the ramp!

Bryan Danielson def. Kazuchika Okada by submission

AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 6/25/2023 (Card)

  • Date: June 25, 2023
  • Location: ScotiaBank Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

CARD

IWGP UNITED STATES HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
Kenny Omega (c) vs. Will Ospreay

Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada

IWGP WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
Sanada (c) vs. “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry

AEW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
MJF (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

MEN’S OWEN HART CUP TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND MATCH:
CM Punk vs. Satoshi Kojima

AEW INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP FOUR-WAY MATCH:
Orange Cassidy (c) vs. Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Katsuyori Shibata vs. Daniel Garcia

AEW WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
Toni Storm (c) vs. Willow Nightingale

Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Wheeler Yuta, and Claudio Castagnoli), Konosuke Takeshita, and Shota Umino vs. The Elite (“Hangman” Adam Page, Matt Jackson, and Nick Jackson), Eddie Kingston, and Tomohiro Ishii

Jericho Appreciation Society (Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara) and Minoru Suzuki vs. Sting, Darby Allin, and TBA

Adam Cole vs. “Filthy” Tom Lawlor

ZERO HOUR

WOMEN’S OWEN HART CUP TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND MATCH:
Athena vs. Billie Starkz

Bryan Danielson Reportedly ‘Banged Up’ Ahead Of AEW X NJPW Forbidden Door

At this juncture of his career, every Bryan Danielson match is like “an occasion” for ardent pro wrestling fans. In 2023, “The American Dragon” has wrestled all of seven matches, with his last two bouts coming on pay-per-view — Anarchy in the Arena at Double or Nothing and the Iron Man Match against MJF at Revolution. Prior to that, Danielson wrestled a rare bout on television against Rush on February 8 as part of his gauntlet of matches to get to MJF. 

According to Fightful Select, there is a good reason for Danielson’s limited in-ring schedule, and it’s to do with the veteran wrestler being “banged up” of late. The report noted that Danielson’s compromised health is the reason why he performed limited spots in the Anarchy in the Arena match, and did not wrestle at all following his 60-minute Iron Man Match for the AEW World Championship. 

Furthermore, fans must have noticed that Danielson has largely avoided physical contact in several brawls of late, be it the brawls pitting his Blackpool Combat Club against The Elite, or his recent run-in with NJPW star Kazuchika Okada. As such, to make up for his limited participation in brawls, Danielson has routinely worked commentary during BCC’s matches, per Fightful. The report added that Danielson has been “heavily involved in creative in the first several weeks of AEW Collision,” a function he also undertook during his final year in WWE. In fact, Dave Meltzer reported in June that Danielson already wields a lot of influence in AEW’s booking decisions, suggesting that Danielson was serious about expanding his backstage role with AEW.  

Fightful did not go into specific details about Danielson’s nagging injuries, and whether they would affect his performance in the main event of Sunday’s Forbidden Door pay-per-view against

Source: Wrestling Inc.

The Updated AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door II Lineup – 5 Huge Matches Set

Following this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite, we now have five matches announced for the AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door II pay-per-view event, which takes place on June 25th from Toronto, Canada.

The updated AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door II card below:

AEW World Championship Match:
MJF (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

IWGP United States Championship Match:
Kenny Omega (c) vs. Will Ospreay

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship Match:
SANADA (c) vs. Jungle Boy Jack Perry

Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada

AEW International Championship Match:
Orange Cassidy (c) vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Report – AEW Interested In Mercedes Mone For AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door

While Mercedes Mone is currently out of action with an ankle injury, Tony Khan and other AEW officials were in talks with New Japan Pro Wrestling about having the former Sasha Banks appear at AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door II.

According to a report from Fightful Select, the two sides were speaking about the possibility of Mone appearing at the June 25th pay-per-view event. These talks took place before Mone suffered her injury at the NJPW Resurgence event.

In the past, AEW has referenced Mone on commentary. Several sources in both AEW and NJPW have said the talks may have gone as far back as January.

While there have been rumors that Mone would be facing off against Saraya at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door II, that has not been confirmed.

It remains to be seen how long Mone will be out of in-ring action or whether she’ll still be making an appearance on the show.

Source: eWn

Report – KENTA vs. CM Punk Being Discussed For AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door II

KENTA has reportedly been discussed for the AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door II pay-per-view event, which takes place on June 25, 2023, at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

According to a report from Fightful Select, the “working plan” is for KENTA to work the show. In recent interviews, the former Hideo Itami in WWE has stated that he’d be open to working the show “if the money is right.”

As of this writing, there is no word on whether a deal to have KENTA appear on the pay-per-view event has been finalized. With that being said, both AEW and NJPW are working under the assumption that he’ll be wrestling on the show.

Finally, it is said that CM Punk may be his potential opponent. Of course, KENTA and CM Punk have been involved in a long online feud over Punk using KENTA’s finishing maneuver.

Source: eWn

Backstage Update On Mercedes Mone’s NJPW Contract

As previously reported, Mercedes Mone suffered an injury, believed to be a broken ankle, in the main event of NJPW Resurgence while she was wrestling Willow Nightingale on Sunday night. 

Mone was supposed to become the first-ever NJPW Strong Women’s Champion, but when she went for a code red off the top rope and slipped, resulting in the injury, plans had to be changed with Willow going over. 

Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the former IWGP Women’s Champion agreed to a long-term deal on April 27th.

“Mone had agreed to a longer-term deal with New Japan when her original deal expired on 4/27. We were told that the New Japan Strong championship and belt were created when she agreed to the longer term deal and both were created for her, after she showed strong drawing power for the San Jose show which sold out the Civic Auditorium,” Meltzer wrote.

Source: eWn

Mercedes Mone Injured At NJPW Resurgence

Mercedes Mone appears to have suffered an injury.

At Sunday night’s NJPW Resurgence pay-per-view event, the former Sasha Banks faced off against AEW wrestler Willow Nightingale in the finals of the one-night NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship tournament.

The end of the match came when Nightingale hit her Doctor Comb finisher on Mercedes for a two-count. She then hit another one immediately after for the pinfall. Following the match, Mone was carried out of the arena.

As of this writing, there is no word on Mone’s current condition.

Pwinsider and Bryan Alvarez report that the word going around is that Mone suffered a broken ankle in a spot where she fell off the top rope, which you can see below:

Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that Mone was supposed to win the title, but the decision to put the title on Willow was made on the fly due to the injury.

https://twitter.com/Queenofallerass/status/1660490281370931202
https://twitter.com/THENEXTBlGTHlNG/status/1660488950727983104

Source: eWn

https://twitter.com/MercedesVarnado/status/1660509287335211009

NJPW Resurgence 5/21/2023 (Results)

  • The DKC def. Bateman
  • Alex Coughlin def. Christopher Daniels
  • Virus & Barbaro Cavernario def. Zack Sabre Jr. & Bad Dude Tito
  • Mercedes Moné def. Stephanie Vaquer – NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship Tournament Semi-Final
  • Willow Nightingale def. Momo Kohgo – NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship Tournament Semi-Final
  • Juice Robinson def. Fred Rosser – Street Fight
  • KENTA def. Hikuleo (c) – NJPW STRONG Openweight Championship
  • Jon Moxley, Wheeler Yuta, & Shota Umino def. Rocky Romero, Kazuchika Okada, & Tomohiro Ishii
  • Will Ospreay def. Hiroshi Tanahashi – IWGP United States Heavyweight Title Number One Contender’s Tournament Semi-Final
  • Willow Nightingale def. Mercedes Moné – NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship