NJPW – 8/7c
New Year Dash part 1
* Los Ingobernables de Japon and Suzuki-gun square off in a special ten-man tag team match
* Chaos takes on Nagata, Cobb and KUSHIDA.
WOW Women of Wrestling – 9/8c
* With her father physically assaulted by Tessa Blanchard, Santana Garrett vows that the Championship is now second to her personal issues with The Born Legend. Can Santana overcome this distraction as The Beast, Jungle Grrrl, and Tessa set their sights on the Championship Belt that she holds?
Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega almost ended up signing with Impact Wrestling, according to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Impact Co-Executive Vice President Don Callis, who is good friends with Jericho, was reportedly very close to signing Jericho and Omega to contracts before All Elite Wrestling brought their offers to the table.
Jericho recently revealed that his AEW contract is the best deal of his pro wrestling career. Omega is expected to sign with AEW once his New Japan Pro Wrestling contract expires on January 31, however his signing has not been confirmed.
The Observer notes that before AEW was the plan, the idea was for Omega to keep working for NJPW and then do 30 dates per year for Impact. Jericho would have worked for Impact while working another year for NJPW since he would have had so much input on his creative plans. Jericho recently confirmed that he will continue to work with NJPW in the future.
Jericho recently spoke about signing with AEW on his “Talk Is Jericho”podcast and discussed his talks with Impact. Jericho praised Callis and Scott D’Amore for what they’ve done with the company, adding that he really enjoys the product these days.
“I’ve gotta tell you guys, man, I’ve been really impressed with Impact over the last year,” Jericho said. “I thought Don Callis and Scott D’Amore have really turned things around in that company, and I really, really enjoy it. And I thought long and hard about doing some shows there. I even had a meeting with Scott and Don in Toronto, and Ed Nordholm. The offer they made was a great offer. That’s something that’s funny when I hear all these companies are vying for the talent, for the free agents – WWE, AEW, Ring of Honor, New Japan, and someone mentioned MLW. Dude, what about Impact? They’ve got money. They were going to spend some money on Chris Jericho. We had some great matches planned. Jericho vs. Sami Callihan maybe, or with Johnny Impact, Brian Cage, Rich Swann. I’d love to work with Rich Swann. I did honestly talk to Impact and really, really thought about going there. And then Tony Khan came in with this offer, that’s the biggest offer I’ve ever been offered in my career.”
Source: WrestlingINC
NJPW has released the full cards for their upcoming “The New Beginning in USA’ events.
Here are the full cards for all three shows:
1/30/19 – Los Angeles – Globe Theatre
* Roppongi Vice v. Tracy Williams and Juice Robinson
* David Finlay v. Chuckie T
* Jeff Cobb v. Karl Fredericks
* Brody King and Marty Scurll v. Davey Both Smith Jr. and Lance Archer
* Colt Cabana v. Shane Taylor
* Jonathan Gresham v. Tyler Bateman
* Alex Coughlin v. Clark Connors
2/1/19 – North Carolina – Grady Cole Center
* Juice Robinson (c) v. Beretta – IWGP United States Title
* Tracy Williams and David Finlay v. Rocky Romero and Chuckie T
* Alex Coughlin v. Davey Boy Smith Jr.
* Jonathan Gresham and Jeff Cobb v. Brody King and Marty Scurll
* Tracer X v. Great-O-Kharn
* John Skyler and Colt Cabana v. Shane Taylor and Lance Archer
* Karl Fredericks v. Clark Connors
2/2/19 – Tennessee – War Memorial Auditorium
* Tracy Williams, David Finlay and Juice Robinson v. Rocky Romero, Chuckie T and Beretta
* Jeff Cobb v. Brody King
* Clark Connors v. Marty Scurll
* Harlem Bravado v. Great-O-Kharn
* Jonathan Gresham and Colt Cabana v. Shane Taylor and Lance Archer
* Karl Fredericks v. Alex Coughlin
At Wrestle Kingdom 13, Chris Jericho lost the IWGP Intercontinental Championship to Tetsuya Naito in a no disqualification match. In his post-match interview, Jericho was adamant in saying that he was not done with New Japan Pro Wrestling. Jericho also made his intentions clear about wanting to face the new IWGP Heavyweight Champion, Hiroshi Tanahashi.
Jericho’s contract with NJPW reportedly expired at Wrestle Kingdom 13, and with the former IWGP Intercontinental Champion recently thanking AEW President / Jacksonville Jaguars co-owner Tony Khan for helping him get tickets to an NFL game, many speculated that Jericho would end up signing with All Elite Wrestling.
During the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer discussed Jericho’s status with NJPW. Meltzer revealed that while Jericho’s contract with NJPW expired at Wrestle Kingdom 13, NJPW really wants to keep him. He noted that Jericho wants to stay with NJPW as well. Dave further said that New Japan wants to book a match between Jericho and Tanahashi in 2019, and with Jericho wanting to stay with the promotion, it is just a matter of both parties agreeing to a new deal.
Source: WrestlingINC
NJPW held a post-Wrestle Kingdom 13 Press Conference yesterday and it was announced that KUSHIDA will be leaving the company at the end of the month and will be heading overseas.
NJPW Announcer Chris Charlton translated some of KUSHIDA’s comments about “heading overseas.”
WWE had reportedly shown interest in the former IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion, potentially bringing him into NXT.
During his time with NJPW, KUSHIDA was a six-time IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion, two-time IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champion, and two-time winner of Best of the Super Juniors.
Source: WrestlingINC
Lance Archer, Davey Boy Smith Jr., and Takayuki Iizuka vs. Yoh, Sho, and Rocky Romero – Winners: Yoh, Sho, Rocky Romero
Yujiro Takahashi and Chase Owens vs. Toa Henare and Tomoaki Honma – Winners: Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi
Beretta and Chuckie T vs. Juice Robinson and David Finlay – Winners: David Finlay and Juice Robinson via DQ
KUSHIDA, Yuji Nagata, Jeff Cobb vs. Will Ospreay, Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii – Winners: Will Ospreay, Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii
NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship: (C) Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, and Taiji Ishimori (with Jado) vs. Ryusuke Taguchi, Togi Makabe, and Toru Yano – Winners: Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa, and Taiji Ishimori
Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi helped Bullet Club get the win. Bullet Club accepted Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi back into Bullet Club
Minoru Suzuki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr., and El Desperado vs. EVIL, BUSHI, Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, and SANADA – Winners: Minoru Suzuki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr., and El Desperado
Jay White, Bad Luck Fale, and Gedo vs. YOSHI-HASHI, Kazuchika Okada, and Hiroshi Tanahashi – Winners: Jay White, Bad Luck Fale, and Gedo
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 – Winners: Ryusuke Taguchi, Togi Makabe & Toru Yano
NEVER Openweight Championship: (C) Kota Ibushi vs. Will Ospreay – Winner: Will Ospreay
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: (C) Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado vs. Roppongi 3K vs. BUSHI & Shingo Takagi – Winners and new IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions: BUSHI & Shingo Takagi
RevPro British Heavyweight Championship: (C) Tomohiro Ishii vs. Zack Sabre Jr. – Winner and new RevPro British Heavyweight Champion: Zack Sabre Jr.
IWGP Tag Team Championship: (C) Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa vs. EVIL & SANADA vs. The Young Bucks – Winners and new IWGP Tag Team champions: EVIL & SANADA
IWGP US Championship: (C) Cody Rhodes vs. Juice Robinson – Winner and new IWGP US Champion: Juice Robinson
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: (C) KUSHIDA vs. Taiji Ishimori – Winner and new IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion: Taiji Ishimori
Kazuchika Okada vs. Jay White – Winner: Jay White
IWGP Intercontinental Championship – No DQ: (C) Chris Jericho vs. Tetsuya Naito – Winner and new IWGP Intercontinental Champion: Tetsuya Naito
IWGP Heavyweight Championship: (C) Kenny Omega vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi – Winner and new IWGP Heavyweight Champion: Hiroshi Tanahashi
New Japan made a handful of announcements on Friday before Wrestle Kingdom 13, including plans to run events later this year in Texas and London.
G1 Climax 29 will kickoff July 6th in Dallas, Texas at the American Airlines Center. The company will then head to the UK on August 31st for an event at The Copper Box.
As you’ll recall, this is in addition to their joint show with ROH at Madison Square Garden.
NJPW also announced they’ll be at the Tokyo Dome for two days next year during the weekend of Wrestle Kingdom.
Read New Japan’s full announcement by CLICKING HERE.
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
Despite Kenny Omega being under contract with New Japan Pro Wrestling until later this month, Dave Meltzer reported on the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio that WWE made Omega a “fantastic offer.”
With All Elite Wrestling being announced earlier this week, Meltzer noted that Omega is a “wildcard”, as NJPW obviously wants to keep him while AEW wants him as well.
Omega was defending his IWGP Championship against Hiroshi Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom 13.
Source: WrestlingINC
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:
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.
Wrestling News Blog 