Category: New Japan Pro Wrestling

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 13 1/4/19

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NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 13 will take place tomorrow (1/4) from the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan at 2 am ET/11 pm PT (tonight). You can watch the show live on NJPW World (about $9 to sign-up) or on Fite.tv for $34.99.

You can also watch it on AXS TV:

  • Jan. 4 – Wrestle Kingdom 13 (2 hours) @8 pm ET
  • Jan. 11 – Wrestle Kingdom 13 (2 hours) @8 pm ET
  • Jan. 18 – Wrestle Kingdom 13 – @8 pm ET

IWGP Heavyweight Championship: (C) Kenny Omega vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

IWGP Intercontinental Championship – No DQ: (C) Chris Jericho vs. Tetsuya Naito

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: (C) KUSHIDA vs. Taiji Ishimori

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: (C) Yoshinobu Kanemaru and El Desperado vs. Roppongi 3K vs. BUSHI and Shingo Takagi

RevPro British Heavyweight Championship: (C) Tomohiro Ishii vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

IWGP US Championship: (C) Cody Rhodes vs. Juice Robinson

IWGP Tag Team Championship: (C) Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa vs. EVIL and SANADA vs. The Young Bucks

NEVER Openweight Championship: (C) Kota Ibushi vs. Will Ospreay

Kazuchika Okada vs. Jay White

Number One Contender Gauntlet Match for the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championship (Pre-Show): Hirooki Goto, Beretta, & Chuckie T vs. Minoru Suzuki, Lance Archer, & Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Ryusuke Taguchi, Togi Makabe, & Toru Yano vs. Yuji Nagata, Jeff Cobb, & David Finlay vs. Marty Scurll, Hangman Page, & Yujiro Takahashi

 

I will try to get the results posted sometime Saturday.

10-Hour “Kenny Omega-Thon” Airing Today On AXS TV

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AXS TV is presenting a 10-Hour Kenny Omega Marathon today beginning at 2pm ET/1pm C/11am/ PT.

AXS TV issued the following:

KENNY OMEGA REFLECTS ON HIS JOURNEY TO BECOMING CHAMPION IN AXS TV’S 10-HOUR ‘KENNY OMEGA-THON’ FRIDAY, DEC. 28 STARTING AT 2pE/11aP

Los Angeles – Join IWGP Heavyweight Champion and “Best Bout Machine” Kenny Omega as he revisits his journey toward becoming the champion and defending the belt at Wrestle Kingdom 13 as host of the 10-hour “Kenny Omega-thon” special on Friday, Dec. 28 starting at 2pE/11aP on AXS TV.

The marathon kicks off with Omega’s historic feat as the first non-Japanese wrestler to win the G1 Climax tournament in 2016, which set him on the path to the heavyweight title, and also features Omega’s acclaimed trilogy of matches with Kazuchika Okada; his run as IWGP U.S. Champion, including the highly publicized match with Chris Jericho at last year’s Wrestle Kingdom; and his current reign as IWGP Heavyweight Champion.

Leading up to AXS TV’s premiere of Wrestle Kingdom 13 on Jan. 4 at 8pE/5pP, the network will air a late-night strip of the best of Wrestle Kingdom on weeknights at 5aE/2aP starting Friday, Dec. 7. Highlights include headlining matches from the last five Wrestle Kingdom Events including: Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi’s trilogy from 2013, 2015 and 2016; Okada’s battles with Tetsuya Naito from 2014 and 2018; Naito vs. Tanahashi from 2017 and many more.

“Kenny Omega-thon” Schedule (subject to change) – Friday, Dec. 28 at 2pE/11aP:

– 2pE – G1 Climax 26 Final – Kenny Omega vs. Hirooki Goto

– 3pE – Wrestle Kingdom 11 – IWGP Heavyweight Championship – Omega vs. Kazuchika Okada

– 4pE – Dominion 2017 – IWGP Heavyweight Championship – Omega vs. Okada

– 5pE – G1 Special in USA – IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Championship Tournament Final –Omega vs. Tomohiro Ishii

– 6pE – Wrestle Kingdom 12 – IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Championship – Omega vs. Chris Jericho

– 7pE – New Beginning in Sapporo 2018 – IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Championship – Omega vs. Jay White

– 8pE – Dominion 2018 – IWGP Heavyweight Championship – Omega vs. Okada (2 hr)

– 10pE – G1 Special in San Francisco – IWGP Heavyweight Championship – Omega vs. Cody

– 11pE – King of Pro-Wrestling 2018 – IWGP Heavyweight Championship – Omega vs. Cody vs. Kota Ibushi

CBS Sports Names Becky Lynch Wrestler Of The Year, “The Man” Responds, Full List Of CBS 2018 Award Winners

CBS Sports has named Becky Lynch their 2018 Wrestler of the Year.

The Man took to Twitter today and responded to the honor. She wrote, “Start of 2018, I couldn’t even get on TV. You’re never truly down, you’re never truly out. Stand up and fight. Keep swinging even if you don’t know what you’re swinging for, or at. If you’re like me you’ll eventually slap a head that deserves it and the whole world will notice.”

CBS’ praise for Lynch included the following:

“In a year filled with stunning developments, no one shook up the world of professional wrestling more than Becky Lynch, who has turned both WWE and the business as a whole on its head over the last six months by not only winning the hearts and minds of fans across the globe but doing so while standing out as “The Man” in an industry historically dominated by men. The 31-year-old Rebecca Quinn — largely marginalized by WWE over the last two years despite being a clear fan favorite — has not only become arguably the most popular superstar in the company, she looks to have forced it to change its plans for its biggest show of the coming year, WrestleMania 35 in New York. And that is why Lynch is the 2018 CBS Sports Wrestler of the Year.How has she done it? Quite simply by showing a renewed confidence and natural swagger that has been compared to everyone from Steve Austin to Roddy Piper to countryman Conor McGregor. In actuality, the comparisons do not do Lynch justice and hardly explain why she is now “The Man.” Lynch has quite simply become the best version of herself, a take-no-prisoners bad-ass who is defying convention by exorcising the demons created from two years of being kept out of the championship picture.”

Becky Lynch responded with the Tweet below:

https://twitter.com/BeckyLynchWWE/status/1078047928973967360

Below is the full list of the 2018 CBS Sports Pro Wrestling Award winners. Those marked with an asterisk (*) were WWE-only awards

  • Wrestler of the Year: Becky Lynch (WWE)
  • WWE Male Wrestler of the Year: Johnny Gargano
  • NJPW Wrestler of the Year: Kota Ibushi
  • Match of the Year: Kenny Omega def. Kazuchika Okada (NJPW Dominion 6.9)
  • WWE Match of the Year: Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka (TLC)
  • NXT Match of the Year: Andrade “Cien” Almas def. Johnny Gargano (NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia)
  • Tag Team of the Year: The Usos (WWE)
  • Rookie of the Year: Ronda Rousey (WWE)
  • Commentator of the Year: Mauro Ranallo (NXT)
  • Comeback Wrestler of the Year: Daniel Bryan (WWE)
  • Breakthough Wrestler of the Year*: Buddy Murphy (205 Live)
  • Feud of the Year*: Johnny Gargano vs. Tomasso Ciampa (NXT)
  • Best Pay-Per-View of the Year*: TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs
  • Best Moment of the Year*: Becky Lynch attacks Ronda Rousey on Raw
  • Best Promo of the Year*: Daniel Bryan before TLC
  • Smack Talker of the Year*: Samoa Joe
  • Worst Angle of the Year*: DeGeneration X vs. Brothers of Destruction

Source: CBS Sports and WrestlingINC

Tama Tonga Announces Pre-WrestleMania 35 ‘Bullet Club Block Party’

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Bullet Club will be throwing a tailgate party before WrestleMania 35 in New Jersey and Tama Tonga made the announcement from Korakuen Hall.

The NJPW star has been teasing a block party for weeks and now we know why.

“The Bullet Club Block Party” will officially take place on Sunday, April 7 in conjunction with Jimmy’s Seafood. More details will be announced on January 2.

According to the event’s Twitter page, “This isn’t some invade the parking lot and throw up a tent event. This is gonna be at a real venue where WE call the shots, so be ready for a real party.”

Tonga published a video announcement shot in the ring after a match.

Watch the announcement below.

https://twitter.com/Tama_Tonga/status/1078010743054893056

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

Chris Jericho Announced A Second Jericho Cruise Is A Go

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With the success of his first venture, Jericho announced yesterday that a second cruise is a go. In the video below, he said more details will be announced in January, but for fans who missed out the first time, they will get another shot to cruise with Jericho. Here is his full announcement.

“I want to thank all of you who were a part of Chris Jericho’s “Rock ‘N Wrestling Rager at Sea,” Jericho began. “We made history, we sold it out for the inaugural voyage, for the first time ever, wrestling in the middle of the ocean. We had live comedy, live rock ‘n roll, podcasts, all of you said it was the best vacation of your life. Well, I got some news for ya. Chris Jericho’s “Rock ‘N Wrestling Rager at Sea” part two, second wave, is happening! Yes, we did it! We’re gonna make it happen, all the details: who, what, where, when and how, coming up in January. In the meantime, sign up now at chrisjerichocruise.com for the mailing list, get all the information. It’s happening! I can’t believe, I’m so excited.”

At the end of last October, Chris Jericho’s cruise set sail out of Miami and featured a number of musicians, comedians, and ROH / Impact / NJPW wrestlers over the multi-day event.

The sold-out cruise included a ring on the top deck where the ROH Sea of Honor tournament took place, along with Alpha Club (Young Bucks and Jericho) vs. Bullet Club (Cody Rhodes, Kenny Omega, and Marty Scurll), which was later streamed on FITE.

Source: WrestlingINC

NJPW To Return To The United States In Early 2019 For New Beginning Shows

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New Japan Pro Wrestling will return to the United States to start off their 2019. The company announced they will invade U.S. territory for their “New Beginning” tour.

On January 30th, The Globe Theatre in Los Angeles, California will host night one of the tour. The Grady Cole Center in Charlotte, North Carolina will host night two on February 1st. The young lions currently training in the NJPW Dojo in Los Angeles will be a part of the show. They are currently being trained by Katsuyori Shibata.

Both shows will coincide with the New Beginning shows in Japan on February 2nd and 3rd, in Sapporo. Wrestlers who will not be wrestling at the Japan shows will compete on the U.S. tour.

The last time NJPW was in the United States was for Fighting Spirit Unleashed inside the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California on September 30th. Tickets go on sale for the 2019 shows in California and North Carolina on December 22nd.

Source: WrestlingINC

Cody Rhodes Reveals He Passed On A WWE Offer Weeks Ago

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IWGP US Champion Cody Rhodes is currently in the UK and during his time there he appeared on Fight Forever Wrestling’s production of Bruce Prichard’s Something To Wrestle podcast.

Responding to a fan question about returning to WWE, Rhodes noted he had “passed on the WWE offer a few weeks ago” and felt there is a market for non-PG wrestling after the success of “All In”back in September. The Young Bucks and Rhodes’ self-financed show in Chicago sold-out in a flash, and ever since there has been talk of not only an “All In 2” but a whole new All Elite Wrestling promotion.

Speaking of a follow-up to “All In,” Rhodes teased, “Hypothetically, would it necessarily be ‘All In 2’… or ‘All In: International?” Rhodes continued about the potential of having an international show.

“There are two major territories outside of the US in terms of wrestling: the UK and Australia,” Rhodes said. “If you put up a ring, they will come.”

The group has already moved away from the NJPW owned, Bullet Club, now going as The Elite. Rhodes (along with Adam Page and the Young Bucks) have repeatedly reminded fans they will be free agents on January 1. For Rhodes, his contract with ROH has already finished up, but he will be wrestling in his final match this Friday at ROH Final Battle against ROH World Champion Jay Lethal.

ROH COO Joe Koff spoke to Wrestling Inc last month and commented on if he thought The Elite would return to ROH.

“I don’t think so, and I don’t think that’s new news either,” Koff said. “They definitely have something in mind … and I’m very thankful for Cody and The Young Bucks and Page and their contributions to ROH. They were part of our great year. They’ll always be a part of the ROH family and I’m always excited when people choose to take a different direction or go in a different direction because it’s exciting for them as they embark on the next chapter of their lives.”

Source: WrestlingINC

HBO Reportedly Working On Kenny Omega Documentary

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HBO is reportedly working on a documentary about New Japan Pro Wrestling star Kenny Omega, who is the current IWGP Heavyweight Champion.

Musician Joseph Shabason recently appeared on the Kreative Kontrol podcast and revealed that he had completed the musical score for the documentary. Shabason indicated that the documentary will air in earlt 2019.

“I just finished a documentary about a wrestler, that’s going to be coming out on HBO in the New Year, which is going to be really exciting,” he said. “It’s a wrestler named Kenny Omega, he’s a wrestler from Winnipeg, but he went to Japan and formed this tag team called The Golden Lovers, which was sort of the first-ever queer storyline in wrestling. … He’s a pretty incredible dude. I was really happy with scoring it.”

HBO found major success with their documentary on WWE Hall of Famer Andre the Giant that was released earlier this year along with WWE. Stay tuned for updates on when their Omega documentary will air.

Omega is set to defend his IWGP Heavyweight Title against Hiroshi Tanahashi at the NJPW WrestleKingdom 13 event from the Tokyo Dome on January 4.

Source: WrestlingINC

Chris Jericho Reportedly Involved In Physical Incident Outside Of Tour Bus

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Chris Jericho was reportedly involved in an altercation with a fan following the Fozzy concert at The Exchange in Regina, Saskatchewan on Sunday night.

The incident reportedly started when a drunk man, described as being “all messed up” when the trouble began, tried getting on the Fozzy tour bus, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio. Apparently there was a younger man who helped perform with the band that night, and he wanted to get on the tour bus to get autographs. Another man, the intoxicated guy who later ended up in police custody, reportedly tried to help the autograph-seeker get on the bus. The band did not want the inebriated man on the bus, but he tried sneaking on anyway. A crew member saw this and ended up in a fight with the guy, coming out of it with a broken collarbone.

Jericho reportedly came off the bus and started yelling at the drunk man as he was being kicked out. Jericho hit the man with a Spear and mounted him with punches, according to Meltzer. Jericho returned to the bus, came back out and yelled at the guy, and hit him with more punches.

People were watching the incident unfold and tried to hold the man until police arrived. He got away and was later chased by police, then apprehended. There’s no word yet on what the man was charged with or if anyone else is facing charges.

Source: WrestlingINC

The Young Bucks Address All Elite Wrestling Trademark Filings (AUDIO)

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The Young Bucks say recent trademark filings related to All Elite Wrestling were done in effort to keep the group’s options open next year and protect themselves at the same time.

Nick and Matt Jackson are guests on the upcoming episode of Petey’s Wrestling Perspective Podcast with co-host Dennis Farrell and the two brothers didn’t shy away from talking about the filings in an exclusive clip given to Pro Wrestling Sheet.

Matt says the group all discussed the possibility of doing a follow-up to All In immediately after the successful event in Chicago. Everyone involved agreed that they’d have to do another at some point. “We’re in a situation now where we don’t exactly know what we’re going to do,” Matt explained. “But we do want to protect ourselves in case we decide to do something.

In case you missed it, multiple trademarks were filed this month which seem to indicate future plans for events called Double or Nothing and All Out. The address listed on the docs indicates the group is working with the billionaire Khan family, who own the Jacksonville Jaguars.

According to sources, Cody and the Bucks are leading the charge behind the scenes on this possible new venture for once their ROH deals expire. As we previously reported, we’ve been told Jim Ross and Chris Jericho would only be involved on a talent level should any promotion get off the ground.

Jim Ross talked about this in a roundabout way on his latest podcast. “I’ve been rumored to be in every role in this company and what you find out is eye-rolling,” Ross said unhappily.

“At one point it’s Jericho and me, which I thought ‘that’s really stupid.’ Me and Jericho are gonna spend all the money we made over the years to get into the wrestling business. ‘Nah, you crazy? Are you nuts?’ Then secondly, then we’re not involved at all. It’s these other guys that are really the movers and shakers. There ain’t nothing to move here, folks. There ain’t nothing to shake.”

The legendary announcer then discussed with guest Dave Meltzer how a promotion like All Elite Wrestling would need a TV deal with a major cable or broadcast network to be successful.

Nick Jackson talked further about the future of The Elite during the interview with Petey Williams and said, “We have offers on the table from every major company in the world.” Matt additionally noted that they also have investors who want to work with the group.

“We haven’t said no, really, to anything,” Nick added. “So we’re just keeping our options open and protecting ourselves at the same time.”

The full interview goes live this evening and covers the Bucks’ exit from Impact Wrestling, how it’s been working for Ring of Honor, getting talent over on Being the Elite and more.

Subscribe to Petey’s Wrestling Perspective Podcast by CLICKING HERE.

For now, listen to the exclusive preview below.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet