Category: New Japan Pro Wrestling

NJPW Releases Full Showdown In Los Angeles Event (Videos)

NJPW Showdown in Los Angeles took place on November 11 and NJPW has released the entire event on their English YouTube channel. The show is split up into individual matches, which you can check out below.

Here is the full card:

* Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, and BUSHI vs. Jay White, Chase Owens, and Gedo
* Hirooki Goto, SHO, and YOH vs. KENTA, Taiji Ishimori, and El Phantasmo
* Kota Ibushi vs. Ren Narita
* Tomohiro Ishii and Rocky Romero vs. EVIL and SANADA
* Juice Robinson, David Finlay, and Clark Connors vs. Minoru Suzuki, Lance Archer, and El Desperado
* Toru Yano and Colt Cabana vs. Karl Fredericks and Alex Coughlin
* Amazing Red and TJP vs. Aaron Solow and Alex Zayne

NJPW Reveals Match Cards For Showdown In California

The latest tour in the United States for New Japan Pro Wrestling has arrived. New Japan Showdown will be taking place in California on November 9 and 11. The event on the 9th will be taking place inside the San Jose Civic in San Jose while the event on the 11th will be in the Globe Theatre in Los Angeles.

NJPW announced all of the details for the two nights in a press conference earlier this morning. The main event on the San Jose Showdown show will feature Will Ospreay and Kazuchika Okada against Amazing Red and Kota Ibushi. The British Cruiserweight Championship will be on the line that day, as El Phantasmo will defend his title against SHO. Lance Archer will be defending his newly-won IWGP United States Title as well when he faces Dave Finlay.

The main event on the LA Showdown show will be Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI and Shingo Takagi against Jay White, Chase Owens and Gedo.

Here are the full cards for the tour:

11/9 – New Japan Showdown: San Jose – San Jose Civic

* Will Ospreay and Kazuchika Okada v. Amazing Red and Kota Ibushi
* Tetsuya Naito and Shingo Takagi v. Jay White and Chase Owens
* Lance Archer (c) v. David Finlay – IWGP United States Championship
* El Phantasmo (c) v. SHO – British Cruiserweight Championship
* Rocky Romero, YOH and Hirooki Goto v. KENTA, Taiji Ishimori and Jado
* TJP, Juice Robinson and Tomohiro Ishii v. BUSHI, EVIL and SANADA
*Clark Connors and Karl Fredericks v. Minoru Suzuki and El Desperado
*Jushin Thunder Liger and Aaron Solow v. Colt Cabana and Toru Yano
*Ren Narita v. Alex Coughlin

11/11 – New Japan Showdown – Los Angeles – Globe Theatre

*Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI and Shingo Takagi v. Jay White, Chase Owens and Gedo
*Hirooki Goto, SHO and YOH v. KENTA, El Phantasmo and Taiji Ishimori
*Kota Ibushi v. Ren Narita
*Tomohiro Ishii and Rocky Romero v. EVIL and SANADA
*Juice Robinson, David Finlay and Clark Connors v. Minoru Suzuki, Lance Archer and El Desperado
*Colt Cabana and Toru Yano v. Karl Fredericks and Alex Coughlin
*TJP and Amazing Red v. Aaron Solow and Alex Zayne

Source: Wrestling Inc.

NJPW’s ‘New Year Dash!!’ 2020 To Have A Mystery Card

Following the craziness that will be two Wrestle Kingdom 14 cards, New Japan Pro Wrestling will be back in action on January 6 for New Year Dash!!

Already announced for the card will be Jushin Thunder Liger’s retirement ceremony. Prior to that, he will be wrestling on both nights of Wrestle Kingdom. During night one, Liger will be teaming up with Tiger Mask, Tatsumi Fujinami and The Great Sasuke to take on Ryusuke Taguchi, Tatsuhito Takaiwa, Shinjiro Otani and Naoki Sano. In Liger’s corner will be El Samurai while Kuniaki Kobayashi (who Liger debuted the current character against) will be in the opposite corner. Norio Honaga will be the special guest referee. Each person involved in the bout has had a history with Liger in some way or another.

While Liger is all set, what will be happening during the rest of the card is a mystery. NJPW has decided to throw a curveball by not announcing anything until the first bell. The company announced that the card will be announced exactly at 6:30 p.m.

New Year Dash!! will be taking place inside the Ota City General Gymnasium in Tokyo.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Chris Jericho And Hiromu Takahashi Return To NJPW, Wrestle Kingdom 14 Matches Set

Wrestle Kingdom 14 will feature Chris Jericho and Hiromu Takahashi in matches which were both setup during Saturday night’s NJPW Power Struggle event.

Jericho was the first to make an appearance at Power Struggle when a video played after Kota Ibushi and Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Kazuchika Okada and YOSHI-HASHI.

In the video, a roomful of Tanahashi look-a-likes play air guitar before they’re suddenly all on the ground. Jericho then appears in his Painmaker getup and challenges the “Ace of New Japan” to a match on night two of Wrestle Kingdom 14.

This year’s Wrestle Kingdom will be a two-day event on January 4 and 5.

Jericho – who is the current AEW World Champion – last appeared for NJPW back in June at Dominion when he lost to Kazuchika Okada.

Later in the evening at Power Struggle, Will Ospreay defeated BUSHI in a IWGP Jr. Heavyweight title defense. He then got on the microphone and asked who would challenge him next. As he started to leave the ring, a video began to play that was similar to Hiromu Takahashi’s first “Time Bomb” vignettes. The video ends with Hiromu’s cat dolls lighting a bomb that started a timer on-screen.

Takahashi emerged when the countdown was over and tore off a neck brace before making his way to the ring. He then ran around the ring taking bumps, cut a promo in Japanese and eventually challenged Ospreay to a match on night one of Wrestle Kingdom 14.

Hiromu has been out of action for 16 months after breaking his neck taking a dragon driver from Dragon Lee during the G1 Special in San Francisco back in July.

Watch their returns below.

https://twitter.com/GIFSkull/status/1190918636656979968

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

NJPW Parent Company Bushiroad Purchases Stardom

New Japan Pro Wrestling’s parent company, Bushiroad, has purchased the all-woman’s Japanese promotion, Stardom.

Bushiroad’s Takaaki Kitani and Stardom’s Rossy Ogawa reportedly met back in April, but a deal between the two sides wasn’t completed until August.

Stardom’s Twitter account commented, “Stardom has been acquired by Bushiroad. More details to come shortly! A press conference will be held today at 2 pm JST (1 am EST in the US) on the official Bushiroad YouTube channel, addressing the Stardom acquisition. The Stardom roster will be on stage.”

Stardom was founded in 2010 and has featured names like Io Shirai, Toni Storm, Bea Priestley, Hana Kimura, Kagetsu, and Mayu Iwatani.

Bushiroad’s Takaaki Kitani and Stardom’s Rossy Ogawa reportedly met back in April, but a deal between the two sides wasn’t completed until August. There was a joint press conference with Stardom talent involved following the news.

Starting December 1, 2019, the company name will be changed from Kix Road Co., Ltd. to Bushiroad Fight Co., Ltd. Hiroshi Ogawa will remain the CEO of Stardom, and while the name “Stardom” will be the same, World Wonder Ring Stardom will not exist. As a result of the different branding and TV promotions (NJPW is part-owned by TV-Asahi and the Stardom TV deal is with NTV), Dave Meltzer reported at F4WOnline that both New Japan and Stardom will be run and kept completely separate from one another. Meltzer added that if there was a need by New Japan for women’s matches during foreign shows, something may be able to work out.

Meltzer also noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that WWE had made an offer to purchase Stardom as well. WWE had recently tried to purchase NOAH as well, so they are serious about getting into the Japanese market.

Following the rebrand, advertising and global marketing strategies will be implemented starting in January 2020. This will be developed by BS Nippon Television, with programming on BS NTV every Thursday and a 30-minute program on TOKYO MX.

In regards to talent, Stardom women will be receiving full-time contracts. There are also plans to bring in wrestlers from all over the world.

“We will create contracts with each wrestler,” Bushiroad stated. “We want to create an environment where the wrestlers can concentrate on pro wrestling, and we are expecting to bring in excellent wrestlers from all over the world. We would like to listen to the thoughts of each wrestler and take those thoughts into account when creating this new work environment.”

The opportunities for big shows were announced during the press conference as well. Stardom will run Korakuen Hall 14 times in 2020, with consecutive shows on August 8th and 9th. The first major show for the brand will be on April 29, 2020 inside Tokyo’s Ota Ward Gym. In 2021, there will be a 10th Anniversary show. While a future in the United States is unclear, Stardom will take part in “CharaExpo USA 2019” on December 7th and 8th inside the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA. The featured bout for the promotion will be Mayu Iwatani and Tam Nakano v. Sumie Sakai and Nicole Savoy.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Jon Moxley Stripped Of IWGP US Championship, New Champion Crowned At NJPW King Of Pro Wrestling, David Finlay Returns From Injury

Lance Archer won the IWGP US Championship against Juice Robinson at today’s NJPW King of Pro Wrestling. Due to Typhoon Hagibis, Jon Moxley wasn’t able to make it in for the event and was stripped of the title. Archer was his replacement.

This is Archer’s first time winning the title. Moxley won it back in June.

After the match, Archer continued to attack Robinson and David Finlay ran in to make the save. Finlay had been out since March due to shoulder surgery.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

NJPW Announces New Year Dash And Road To Tokyo Dome Details

NJPW confirmed this year’s Road to Tokyo Dome will take place at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo on December 19, 20, and 21.

Earlier this year, it was announced that Wrestle Kingdom 14 will be two nights instead of one. Both events on January 4th and 5th will take place inside the Tokyo Dome. New Japan Pro Wrestling is looking to pull out all the stops when it comes to utilizing their talent. They will also look to keep their momentum going following those shows.

NJPW also announced New Year Dash!! will take place on Monday, January 6 at Ota City Gymnasium in Tokyo. This event will happen right after Wrestle Kingdom 14, which is going to be a two-day event on January 4 and 5.

Scott D’Amore And Don Callis Talk AXS TV Acquisition, Possibly Working With NJPW And WOW

This past week, Executive Vice Presidents of Impact Wrestling Scott D’Amore and Don Callis spoke with Chris Jericho on his podcast, Talk Is Jericho, about their new deal with AXS TV and what they’re goals are going forward in October.

Recently, Impact Wrestling’s parent partner Anthem Sports & Entertainment made the biggest purchase that has ever happened within their business. Anthem Sports & Entertainment officially announced that they acquired a majority interest in AXS TV, meaning that their weekly show will now move from the Pursuit Channel to AXS.

Now that the sky’s the limit for Impact, Callis believes that this new deal will not only increase viewership among fans, but it will also draw in wrestlers who are looking to work for a different promotion that is tied to a big cable network.

“I think that one of the things that’s been to our benefit so far has been that the talent that we talk to will say ‘hey I watch your show. I think it’s way better than what I see from WWE. I love your show. It’s one of my favorites shows on TV. I love how you guys book,'” Callis said. “We’ll also hear things like ‘I heard you guys have a great locker room,’ which we do. We’ll also hear I love the roaster and the talent. The one-piece I think that wasn’t really spoken about was that a lot of people thought yeah, but the platform. Yeah, but the stability situation. This past week, we solved both of those issues. I think now, there’s no holding back.”

Some are quite worried that Impact will steal the thunder of the already existing wrestling shows like WOW- Women of Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling that air during the weekends on AXS TV. D’ Amore assured those listening to the podcast that they will not steal the spotlight from the other promotions instead, they would like to work with these promotions in the future.

“Our philosophy has been very clear for two years now,” D’Amore begins. “We are willing to embrace an open market. We’re willing to partner and do business with a large variety of partners in the wrestling industry. NJPW and WOW are both properties on AXS. New Japan has a great following. WOW just started a new season and new episodes are being filmed next week out in California. I think it’s business as usual from a network’s perspective. But when you look at it from our perspective, certainly, there are some synergies that can be taken advantage of and explored with the other wrestling companies that share the same television platform.”

Jericho followed up the statement from D’Amore and asked Callis if he would still be working with New Japan Pro Wrestling on commentary after Impact moves over to AXS TV. Callis has been a part of the announce team for NJPW since 2017.

“I guess from my perspective, I never really formally stopped,” Callis answered. “I mean, a lot of it frankly in their defense has been based on my schedule, which has been busy. I know that clearly. You (Jericho) had tweeted about it last year that there was a period of time where they thought they could easily replace me on commentary, because I was expensive, and would only come in one day at a time. I know they tried a few guys and there was a tremendous backlash and then they asked me to come back for the Tokyo Dome, which I did partly because you (Jericho) were going to be on the show, and Kenny, and obviously we’re all very close. I’ve been back four times this year.

“I think for me the sweet spot in terms of going overseas is maybe five or six. I’m not really far off from that. With as busy as Scott and I have been, I haven’t given it a thought. So, I’d say, the old Sean Connery line ‘never say never.’ I won’t say that it’ll never happen, but it definitely has to be under the right circumstances, and it has to be the right situation for me announcing wise.”

It’s been rumored that Impact will begin airing their weekly show sometime after their big pay-per-view event Bound For Glory on October 20th. Jericho asked if there is a finalized date that is set in stone for Impact to officially air.

“No,” D’Amore answers. “So far, we’ve announced that this is coming up and that it’s going to premiere this fall. We’re finalizing the details. Obviously, there’s a lot of things to work through. We’re excited to make our debut this fall.”

You can listen to the full interview by clicking here.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

NJPW’s Contract Ends With AXS TV In January 2021

New Japan Pro Wrestling’s current contract with AXS TV expires in January 2021, according to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

As of now, the future of NJPW remaining on AXS TV is unknown after this week’s news of Anthem Sports & Entertainment, the parent company of Impact Wrestling, acquired a majority interest in Mark Cuban’s AXS TV and HDNet Movies. Anthem will now assume daily operations of the two channels with Women of Wrestling and NJPW currently airing on AXS TV.

“Anthem has been public that it has not made any decisions regarding current programming,” said Ed Nordholm, Chief Corporate Officer of Anthem, and who is also in charge of Impact. “We have been long-time broadcast partners with TV Asahi for NJPW at Fight Network and hope to build on that relationship. We are in the middle of a season with WOW and about to tape another series of episodes next week, so no reason to make any decisions there in the short term. We’re looking forward to getting to know them better.”

NJPW originally made it to AXS TV, thanks to Adam Swift, the company’s former Vice President of Legal Affairs. Swift grew up tape trading Japanese wrestling, which sparked his idea to bring it to the channel. Due to the sale, a number of AXS TV staff members were laid off (including Swift), along with the Dallas office being shut down. Swift’s idea was given the okay by Andrew Simon, CEO of AXS TV Fights, who was also let go earlier this week.

AXS TV has been a NJPW broadcast partner since 2014.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

NJPW Announces Their Coming To Los Angeles In November

New Japan Pro Wrestling announced that they will be coming to Los Angeles on November 11 at the Globe Theatre.

This will be their second event for New Japan Showdown. The first was announced in August during the Super J-Cup and will be in San Jose on November 9.

NJPW hasn’t announced when tickets will be available or any matches yet.