Hiroshi Tanahashi has been forced out of his remaining dates on NJPW’s World Tag League Tour due to injury, NJPW announced on Thursday. The company revealed in an announcement that Tanahashi suffered a right knee injury that led them to have to remove him from their show in Yamaguchi tonight, as well as the remainder of the tour which ends on December 11th.
The company noted, that details on Tanahashi’s condition are unknown and that he’s undergoing medical tests. When more information becomes available, the company will decided as to future appearances. It added, “New Japan Pro Wrestling apologizes to fans who were looking forward to seeing Tanahashi perform.
Additionally, the company said that due to the absence, “there will be changes made to the remainder of the cards in the World Tag League tour.”
According to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Jim Ross and AXS TV have verbally agreed to a contract extension, and the new contract is being finalized. Since Ross isn’t appearing on WWE TV (he was signed for the UK project, which hasn’t launched), WWE didn’t stand in the way of the deal. Aldo, his WWE deal allowed him to continue doing existing work.
AXS TV has announced they will air Wrestle Kingdom 12 on January 6, 2018 at 8:00 p.m. ET (7:00 CT) for a special three hour re-airing of the PPV that takes place on January 4.
The show has gained a considerable amount of buzz in the United States for the addition of WWE star Chris Jericho vs. Kenny Omega of The Bullet Club.
You can check out the official press release below including a promo video clip.
AXS TV PREMIERES NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING’S BIGGEST SHOW OF THE YEAR—WRESTLE KINGDOM 12—ON SATURDAY, JAN. 6, 2018 AT 8pE IN A THREE-HOUR SPECIAL EVENT
Championship Battles Between Kenny Omega & Chris Jericho, Kazuchika Okada & Tetsuya Naito, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Jay White Air Saturday Night
Additional Coverage of Wrestle Kingdom 12 Will Premiere as Part of AXS TV’s Weekly Series Friday Nights at 8pE Beginning Jan. 12
Los Angeles, CA (Dec. 3, 2017) – As the exclusive U.S. television home for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), AXS TV will premiere the promotion’s biggest show of the year, Wrestle Kingdom 12, in a three-hour special Saturday, Jan. 6 at 8pE/5pP. AXS TV FIGHTS CEO Andrew Simon made the announcement that the Wrestle Kingdom 12 national television broadcast marks the fastest turnaround time for the spectacular airing just two days after the event takes place at the Tokyo Dome. AXS TV’s Wrestle Kingdom 12 special will showcase the event’s three headlining championship matches: IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho, IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada vs. G1 CLIMAX 27 Tournament Champion Tetsuya Naito, and IWGP Intercontinental Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jay White.
“While NJPW has delivered some of the greatest matches in wrestling history over the past year, we’ve seen viewership growth on AXS TV thanks to New Japan’s expansion in the U.S. and our commitment to air matches closer to when they take place,” said Simon. “With Wrestle Kingdom as their marquee annual event, we thank NJPW and TV Asahi for their support and are proud to kick off 2018 with this historic primetime Saturday night special featuring the dream match-up of Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho.”
AXS TV will continue its coverage of Wrestle Kingdom 12 following the special over five episodes Friday nights starting Jan. 12 at 8pE/5pP on the network’s award-winning weekly series, including the IWGP Jr. Tag Team Championship match between RPG 3K (Sho & Yoh) vs. The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson), the four-way IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship bout featuring Marty Scurll vs. Will Ospreay vs. KUSHIDA vs. Hiromu Takahashi, and the ROH World Title Match between Cody and Kota Ibushi. The championship matches featuring Tanahashi vs. White, Omega vs. Jericho and Okada vs. Naito will also have an encore airing during this time.
Leading up to the Wrestle Kingdom 12 special on Jan. 6, AXS TV will air an eight-hour marathon of NJPW starting at 12pE/9aP. Episodes in the marathon will feature matches that set up the main card at Wrestle Kingdom, including Omega winning the IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Title versus Tomohiro Ishii at the G1 Special in USA; Omega vs. Naito in the G1 CLIMAX 27 Tournament Finals; Omega’s first U.S. Heavyweight Title defense at Destruction in Kobe; an encore of the three-hour King of Pro-Wrestling special headlined by Okada vs. EVIL; and two episodes from Power Struggle headlined by Omega vs. Beretta featuring a special appearance by Jericho.
AXS TV produces the English language version of “New Japan Pro Wrestling” in association with TV ASAHI CORPORATION, the distributor of NJPW.
NJPW announced they have opened an English NJPW YouTube channel that will feature backstage comments and event promos with English subtitles. They already have some videos up, which you can check out by clicking here.
NJPW's Official English YouTube Channel is now PRE-OPEN! Check out the best place to experience everything NJPW: backstage comments, event promos, and more, all with English subtitles! We got tons more content on the way, so subscribe to stay updated! https://t.co/vqv0h5u2Vkpic.twitter.com/fPer0gqrcG
As noted, Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega will meet at NJPW’s Wrestle Kingdom 12 in January after Chris Jericho challenged the IWGP United States Champion at Power Struggle, earlier today. According to Pro Wrestling Sheet, Chris Jericho has been in talks with NJPW since August to appear at Wrestle Kingdom 12. The article also mentioned how during an appearance on the Killing the Town podcast, Jericho said he is personally paying for his Rock ‘n Wrestling Rager at Sea and hoped to get a partnership together with WWE by bringing some NXT talent on board. WWE decided not to get involved and Jericho moved forward by working out a deal with Ring of Honor to put together a Sea of Honor tournament. The Young Bucks and Marty Scurll have already been announced to be on the cruise. On Twitter, Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer noted that Jericho’s WWE contact expired, and he is currently a free agent.
* Juice Robinson, Tiger Mask IV, Jushin Thunder Liger, KUSHIDA, and Hirai Kawato defeated Zack Sabre Jr, El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Taichi, and TAKA Michinoku
* Togi Makabe, Satoshi Kojima, and Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated Cody, Chase Owens, and Yujiro Takahashi
* Roppongi 3K (SHO and YOH) defeated Ryusuke Taguchi and ACH (Super Jr. Tag Tournament Final)
* Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI, and Gedo defeated Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA, BUSHI, and Hiromu Takahashi
This is real everyone! Y2J Chris Jericho will step into a non-WWE ring to face Kenny Omega in January at NJPW Wrestle kingdom 12 at the Tokyo Dome!
Following Kenny Omega’s title defense against Trent Baretta at NJPW’s Power Struggle event this morning, a vignette came up featuring Y2J challenging Omega at the January 4 event by saying he’s the true best wrestler in the world.
NJPW’s Power Struggle will take place on November 5 live on NJPW World at 3am ET and NJPW has announced the full card for the show with the addition of Kenny Omega defending the IWGP United States Championship against Beretta. Here’s the updated card:
* David Finlay vs. Katsuya Kitamura
* The Young Bucks vs. Titan and Dragon Lee
* Juice Robinson, Tiger Mask IV, Jushin Thunder Liger, KUSHIDA, and Hirai Kawato vs. Zack Sabre Jr, El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Taichi, and TAKA Michinoku
* Togi Makabe, Satoshi Kojima, and Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Cody, Chase Owens, and Yujiro Takahashi
* SHO and YOH vs. Ryusuke Taguchi and ACH (Super Jr. Tag Tournament Final)
Wrestle Kingdom 12 tickets are now on sale and NJPW is looking to make it easier for international fans to buy their tickets for next year’s January 4 show. The main event will be IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito, who won this year’s G1 Climax tournament to receive his title shot. For more information on how to purchase tickets click here.
According to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, it appears that Jim Ross will be renewing his AXS TV deal for another year to do commentary on NJPW shows. AXS wants to keep him and he wants to keep doing it, so as long as WWE doesn’t block the deal, which they haven’t had an issue with so far, he will be staying. Ross is not working any television for WWE right now, and is on a limited date deal, and due to the U.K. show not happening, which is what he was brought in for, he hasn’t worked for WWE since the Mae Young Classic.
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