Category: New Japan Pro Wrestling

AEW and NJPW Announce Crossover Pay-Per-View “Forbidden Door”

AEW, the second-biggest wrestling promotion in the United States, will partner with Japan’s number one promotion NJPW to produce a crossover pay-per-view called “Forbidden Door” in Chicago on June 26.

The announcement was made during last night’s AEW Dynamite. AEW President Tony Khan appeared on the ramp and was soon joined by New Japan Pro Wrestling president Takami Ohbari. TK was about to make the announcement, but the pair of promoters was interrupted by Adam Cole, a man who knows NJPW very well.

Cole appeared on the big screen and announced an event called “Forbidden Door” which will feature talent from both All Elite Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling. Cole then revealed that he will be going one-on-one with New Japan veteran Tomohiro Ishii on Friday’s Rampage. New Japan roster member “Switchblade” Jay White then joined Khan and Ohbari on the ramp to boast about selling out Madison Square Garden and remind everyone that it’s still the Bullet Club era.

https://twitter.com/AEW/status/1516942066294607872
https://twitter.com/AEW/status/1516940662838464512

Kushida Reportedly Parts Ways With WWE

According to a recent report, Japanese wrestler Kushida is no longer with WWE.

Former NXT Cruiserweight Champion Kushida is reportedly no longer a member of the WWE roster.

According to Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp, Kushida parted ways with WWE after his contract expired.

Kushida signed for WWE in 2019. His signing was announced by Triple H at a press conference in New York City just a few days prior to that year’s WrestleMania. In a video on the WWE Performance Center channel at the time of his in-ring WWE debut, Kushida was shown talking about how excited he was to debut in NXT. After defeating Kassius Ohno on his debut, Kushida told an interviewer he felt “reborn” and happy.

The 38-year-old cut his teeth in his native Japan and made a name for himself in New Japan Pro Wrestling — the country’s most prestigious professional wrestling promotion. During his NJPW tenure, Kushida became a six-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion and a two-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion (with Time Splitters teammate Alex Shelley). He also won the 2015 and 2017 Best of the Super Juniors tournaments, and the 2016 Super J-Cup.

While his WWE tenure was largely uneventful, Kushida did have a few standout moments. In 2020, he reunited with Time Splitters partner Alex Shelley in order to compete in that year’s Dusty Classic. The team was eliminated by The Grizzled Young Veterans in the first round, but the moment was special as it was the first time Shelley and Kushida had teamed up since 2015. It was also Shelley’s first appearance in a WWE ring since 2005.

Last April, Kushida won his first and only title in WWE when he defeated Santos Escobar for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship. Kushida lost the title to Roderick Strong on the September 21 episode of NXT 2.0. More recently, Kushida performed as one half of a comedy duo tag team called Jacket Time with his countryman Ikemen Jiro.

Source: TheSportster

UPDATE:

The belief within WWE is that Kushida is going to be returning to New Japan Pro Wrestling at some stage in June, following his WWE departure, according to Dave Meltzer on the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio.

NJPW Windy City Riot Results 4/16/2022

Jon Moxley defeated Will Ospreay

Tomohiro Ishii defeated Minoru Suzuki

Jay White defeated Shota Umino

CHICAGO STREET FIGHT
Brody King and FinJuice (David Finlay and Juice Robinson) defeated TMDK (Shane Haste, JONAH, and Bad Dude Tito)

United Empire (Aaron Henare, Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb, TJP, Mark Davis, and Kyle Fletcher) defeated Bullet Club (Chris Bey, Good Brothers, Hikuleo, Chris Bey El Phantasmo) and Scott Norton

NJPW STRONG OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP:
Tom Lawlor (c) defeated Yuji Nagata

Team Rosser (Fred Rosser, Chris Dickinson, Ren Narita, Alex Coughlin & Josh Alexander) defeated Team Filthy (Danny Limelight, Jorel Nelson, Royce Isaacs, JR Kratos & Black Tiger)

The Factory (Aaron Solo, Nick Comoroto & QT Marshall) defeated Clark Connors, Karl Fredericks & Yuya Uemura

NJPW Windy City Riot 4/16/22

DATE: April 16, 2022 8:00 pm
LOCATION: Odeum Expo Center, Chicago, IL, United States
AVAILABLE ON: FITE

CARD

Jon Moxley vs. Will Ospreay

NJPW STRONG OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP:
Tom Lawlor (c) vs. Yuji Nagata

Bullet Club (Chris Bey, Good Brothers, Hikuleo, Chris Bey El Phantasmo, and Scott Norton) vs. United Empire (Aaron Henare, Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb, TJP, Mark Davis, and Kyle Fletcher)

Jay White Open Challenge

Team Rosser (Fred Rosser, Chris Dickinson, Ren Narita, Alex Coughlin & Josh Alexander) vs. Team Filthy (Danny Limelight, Jorel Nelson, Royce Isaacs, JR Kratos & Black Tiger)

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Minoru Suzuki

CHICAGO STREET FIGHT
Brody King and FinJuice (David Finlay and Juice Robinson) vs. TMDK (Shane Haste, JONAH, and Bad Dude Tito)

NJPW Star SANADA  Out Of Action With Fractured Orbital Bone

New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s SANADA is out of action with a fractured left orbital bone. NJPW confirmed the injury on Friday.

The injury happened on Thursday, during his match against Will Ospreay in the third round of the New Japan Cup tournament. Late in the match, Ospreay executed a running shooting star press. His knee landed on SANADA’s head.

The referee immediately moved in to check on SANADA’s left eye. After a few moments, the match continued with SANADA locking on his Skull End submission hold and then attempting a moonsault. Ospreay got his knees up and followed up with his Hidden Blade running back elbow, which struck SANADA in the right side of his head.

Will Ospreay went for a cover, but SANADA kicked out. Ospreay responded by raining down a series of elbow strikes. He set up for another Hidden Blade but SANADA collapsed down to the mat. Ospreay paused momentarily, then moved in and delivered more elbow strikes until the referee stepped in and stopped the match.

SANADA was pulled from Friday’s card in Shizuoka. NJPW says there is no timetable for his return. SANADA himself posted his own statement on social media.

“SANADA will return,” he tweeted on Friday.

SANADA is the current IWGP United States Champion. He won the title last month from Hiroshi Tanahashi. which aired last not on AXS TV.

Ospreay’s win on Thursday moved him into the quarterfinals of the New Japan Cup where he will face Zack Sabre Jr. Sabre advanced with a win over Great-O-Khan on Thursday. The quarterfinal match between Ospreay and Sabre is scheduled for Monday.

The second quarterfinal match on Monday will see Shingo Takagi face his LIJ stablemate, Hiromu Takahashi. Takahashi advanced with a win Friday over EVIL. Takagi defeated Chase Owens on Friday.

The quarterfinals on the opposite side of the braket will be held on Sunday. IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada will face CIMA and Tetsuya Naito will go up against Jeff Cobb in a Wrestle Kingdom 16 rematch.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

NJPW On AXSTV Preview 3/17/22

New Japan Pro Wrestling airs tonight on AXS TV following IMPACT at 10/9C.

This week’s NJPW on AXS TV includes an IWGP US Heavyweight Championship match from the Golden Series tour in Hokkaido, with SANADA vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi.

Killer Kross Books New Japan Debut With Minoru Suzuki Challenge

Former WWE Superstar Killer Kross (Karrion Kross) will make his NJPW Strong debut at Lonestar Shootout on April 1.

Killer Kross is heading to New Japan! Although he won’t actually be traveling to Japan … not yet, at least. The former WWE Superstar will make his NJPW debut at the promotion’s upcoming Lonestar Shootout event in Texas on April 1.

Kross imminent New Japan debut was announced via a video package shared on social media on Tuesday, March 15. In the video, Kross can be seen attacking trainee wrestlers in a gym. In a promo, Kross said that he earned the “Killer” monicker thanks to his accomplishments in and out of the ring. He then said that his “new beginning” begins in Texas and called out NJPW veteran Minoru Suzuki. The former NXT Champion signed off with his chilling catchphrase: tick-tock.

https://twitter.com/njpwglobal/status/1503898845620580352

Source: TheSportster

NJPW On AXS TV Preview 3/10/22

 NJPW on AXS TV includes matches from the 2022 Golden Series event in Hokkaido:

* IWGP Jr Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: El Phantasmo and Taiji Ishimori (c) vs. El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Ryusuke Taguchi and Master Wato vs. Robbie Eagles and Tiger Mask
* IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto (c) vs. EVIL & Taiji Ishimori

New Japan’s Jay White Walks Through AEW’s Forbidden Door On Dynamite

Former IWGP Heavyweight Champion Jay White finally made his AEW debut on this week’s edition of Dynamite on TBS.

Leader of The Bullet Club, Jay White appeared on an AEW show for the first time during this week’s edition of Dynamite on TBS.

It all went down at the Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. White made his AEW debut during a backstage segment featuring a confrontation between The SuperKliq and Roppongi Vice.

Trent Barretta and Rocky Romero were backstage discussing their upcoming Rampage match, in which they will face The Young Bucks in tag team action. The Bucks then approached Romero and Barretta and attempted to goad them into a fight then and there. Before Roppongi Vice could do anything, the dup was jumped from behind Adam Cole. Nick and Matt Jackson hit a BTE Trigger on Romero … and then “Switchblade” Jay White appeared.

White picked grabbed the already dazed Trent and launched him into the side of the truck that had served as the backdrop for the segment. Cole looked at White approvingly while The Bucks looked slightly confused. Later in the show, Cole attempted to convince The Bucks that they can trust White.

Jay White is a 28-year-old wrestler from Aukland, New Zealand who began his career in 2013. He began training as a Young Lion in 2015 before moving to the US to work for Ring Of Honor in 2016. On 5 November 2017, White returned to NJPW as the mysterious “Switchblade” character at Power Struggle. Last year, there were rumors that WWE was close to signing White, but it doesn’t look like he’ll be heading to the Performance Center any time soon.

The former IWGP Heavyweight Champion — who is currently under contract with New Japan Pro Wrestling — has already walked through one forbidden door when he made his IMPACT Wrestling debut and confronted Kenny Omega at the company’s Slammiversary pay-per-view in July 2021.

White hasn’t wrestled in Japan since last May and is currently based in the US. He lost the NEVER Openweight title to legendary veteran Tomohiro Ishii at NJPW Battle In The Valley last November.

Source: TheSportster

NJPW Cancels/Postpones Remaining Shows In January

New Japan Pro-Wrestling has canceled or postponed all of its remaining shows scheduled for January. New Japan made the announcement early Monday.

“With a number of wrestlers presenting elevated temperatures or being in close contact with same, and in accordance with event protocols, New Japan Pro-Wrestling has arrived at the difficult decision to cancel or postpone remaining live events on the schedule for January.

“We deeply apologize to fans for the inconvenience, disappointment, and concern caused by this decision, and appreciate your understanding.”

New Japan canceled three shows. They were scheduled for Tuesday, January 25 at the Toyota Crown Arena in Fukushima, Saturday, January 29 at Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall, and Sunday, January 30 at Kamisu Bousai Arena in Ibaraki.

New Japan postponed and rescheduled the fourth show. It announced a new date on Monday. The show scheduled for Friday, January 28 will now be held on Monday, April 18 at Nagoya Congress Center Event Hall in Aichi.

Monday’s announcement came after New Japan pulled six wrestlers from a show last Friday. Toru Yano, Satoshi Kojima, Tomoaki Honma, Minoru Suzuki, Taichi, and TAKA Michinoku had participated in a 6-man tag team match on last Thursday’s New Japan show at Korakuen Hall. New Japan said one of the participants in the match was found to have a high temperature. It did not specify who that wrestler was.

New Japan held events over the weekend in Gunma and Tochigi. None of the wrestlers pulled from Friday’s card appeared on those shows.

All of the shows are part of the company’s Golden Series tour. It’s part of the celebration of the company’s 50th anniversary.

New Japan plans to resume live touring on Sunday, February 6 with its show in Chiba. Its next major show is at Xebio Arena Sendai on Friday, February 11. The scheduled main event for that card is El Desperado defending the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship against Master Wato.

Source: Wrestling Inc.