Jason David Frank, best known as the Green Power Ranger of the popular 1990’s action TV series Power Rangers, will be getting into the ring soon.

Over the weeken, Frank appeared ringside at a show for the Laredo Wrestling Alliance, a Texas-based independent promotion. As seen below, he got into an angle with “Mr. Studtacular” Brysin Scott.

The Laredo Morning Times, a local news outlet, covered the story and got quotes from JDF and Laredo Wrestling Alliance Owner Rey Chavarria. Chavarria confirmed that the former television star will be making in-ring debut soon.

“The Green Ranger is wrestling for the first time in LWA,” Chavarria stated. “Just listen to that over again. Laredo isn’t known for that. Now it’s going to be known for the home of LWA and where Jason David Frank made his wrestling debut.”

Jason David Frank credited CM Punk & RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey for his interest in transitioning into pro wrestling.

“I’ve always been interested in stepping into a wrestling ring,” he said. “I don’t do this stuff. I do MMA. Just to learn this stuff is cool. I went to WWE, but just to see this passion in these fighters, everyone is hungry and everyone wants to be the best they can. I like that.”

We’ll provide an update when the date of JDF’s first pro wrestling match is announced.

Discussion: What do you think about the ‘Green Power Ranger’ becoming a pro wrestler? 

We recently spoke to new Ring of Honor star Mark Haskins. The former PROGRESS World Champion recently signed to the company and is looking to start 2019 in a big way. The UK star has been a huge part of the revival in the UK/European scene and earlier this year appeared at PROGRESS ‘Hello Wembley’ against Matt Riddle.

This was the second time that we’ve managed to speak to Mark, we would like to thank him again for his time. Here’s the full interview:

Interview

SEScoops: You’ve now officially signed with Ring of Honor. This isn’t the first time that you’ve performed for the company but now you’re under contract. Had this been in the pipeline since your successful performances at the International Cup?

Mark Haskins: Yeah pretty much. After the match with Jay Lethal at York Hall they asked if I’d be interested in working together more and I jumped at the opportunity.

Potential Opponents?

SEScoops: I’m sure there’s many stars in ROH that you have your sights set on, are there any names that you’re gunning for from the get go?

Mark Haskins: Flip Gordon is great, I love being in the ring with him. Jay Lethal is another awesome performer who’s always a joy to be in there with. ROH have a lot of great talent and I’d love to mix things up with some fresh matches in 2019. I’m ready for new matches and different dynamics, I’m rolling in to ROH the best I can be and ready to go.

SEScoops: ROH and New Japan have such a close working relationship. You were previously in Dragon Gate but would you like to return to Japan to represent ROH in NJPW?

Mark Haskins: Sure.

MSG

SEScoops: With New Japan in mind…there’s a big Madison Square Garden event coming up next year. If you could face anyone in NJPW in that famous arena next year who would you pick?

Mark Haskins: Okada. There was a point in time where we were both signed to TNA and we’d be at tapings where they had nothing for us. We’d just hang out backstage with the Machine Guns and have nothing to do. It would be cool to show everyone the opportunities they missed out on. I’m so happy to see him go on to become the mega star he is and show everyone what they wasted by not utilising him.

SEScoops: Vicky Haskins has been such an intrinsic part of your character and presentation over the past few years, will she be joining you in ROH?

Mark Haskins: Oh come on guys, as if I’m going to give away any spoilers. You gotta watch the show see how things unfold and find out for yourselves.

Check out our first interview with Mark here.

PROGRESS held their annual ‘Unboxing’ event last night at the Electric Ballroom in Camden, London. The card and performers for the show are always kept secret right up until they appear on the entrance ramp. One of the biggest bits of news from the night saw Jordynne Grace become the new PROGRESS Women’s Champion.

You're god damn right AND NEW PROGRESS WOMEN'S CHAMPION, @JordynneGrace. #Unboxing. pic.twitter.com/3zhHXk30Zn

— PROGRESS Wrestling (@ThisIs_Progress) December 30, 2018

The world travelled star signed for IMPACT this year and debuted back in October. Grace defeated now former champion Jinny to take the title. Jinny is one of the Superstars signed to WWE’s NXT UK division. Whilst it is not yet known if Jinny will be returning several other high profile UK performers including Pete Dunne have confirmed that they are leaving the British independent scene.

Jinny was/is one of the centerpieces of PROGRESS’ Women’s division, if she has indeed left the company to be focused solely on NXT UK then that is a big loss, but a big gain for WWE. Jinny lost a ‘Loser leaves town’ match for Pro Wrestling: EVE earlier this month, again with the idea that she would not longer be featured with the company.

The ‘Fashionista’ has not yet made any public comment on Twitter regarding the loss.

WWE Network will be adding an intriguing bout to the ‘Hidden Gems’ section next week. WWE Network News reported that Kota Ibushi vs. Bobby Roode will be added to the streaming service. The match will be added on January 3rd, a day before New Japan’s Wrestle Kingdom show. Ibushi will of course be defending his NEVER Openweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom against Will Ospreay.

The bout took place during an NXT House Show in 2016. The Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, California hosted the match on October 30th, 2016. The video is listed as being 22 minutes and 16 seconds long, so it could well be a decent match. A triple threat match featuring Shinsuke Nakamura will also be added next Thursday. Nakamura defended his then NXT Championship against Samoa Joe and Eric Young.

Here’s the full lineup of matches that will be added next week:

• Antonio Inoki vs. Larry Sharpe (Showdown at Shea, August 9, 1980)
• Jerry Lawler & Greg Gagne vs. Riki Choshu & Mr. Saito (AWA, May 14, 1988)
• Sting vs. The Great Muta (WCW Power Hour, September 1, 1989)
• Shinjiro Otani vs. Dean Malenko for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship (WCW Worldwide, May 18, 1996)

PROGRESS are currently holding their annual ‘Unboxing’ event. This event consists of completely unannounced performers and matches, giving the crowd some surprise returns and debuts along the way.

One of the bigger stories coming from the show sees Will Ospreay making his return to the company. Ospreay appeared to re-join his former tag team partner Paul Robinson. Robinson and Ospreay are known as the ‘Swords of Essex’ and were a prominent part of the UK’s tag scene previously. The team were confirmed to be taking on Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis).

Ospreay is due to be part of New Japan’s Wrestle Kingdom show next week. The British sensation will be taking on Kota Ibushi in a dream match. Ibushi recently won the NEVER Openweight Championship and Ospreay became the Number 1 contender, leading to this mega bout.

Ospreay recently sent out a message to Ibushi ahead of their match, he stated that:

“You have no idea how much you helped me this day. Only a few days before this photo/match, I lost a friend who helped me in British Wrestling, Kris Travis. To be in the ring with a man I would call an inspiration, helped me not focus on grieving but to celebrate his life. After this moment and how fans reacted to how we were in the ring, I knew this was the match I wanted.

Now I’m under a week from my dream match on the biggest stage of my life. For a championship that has lost its place on New Japan but now shall live up to what it should be, an Openweight Championship. What I’m saying is thank you for helping me all those years ago, but January 4th, 2019, my idol is my rival.”

.@PR_WRESTLING isn't alone at #Unboxing to face #AussieOpen. In fact, he's brought the Sky King, @WillOspreay with him. pic.twitter.com/IuvEs1ViiJ

— PROGRESS Wrestling (@ThisIs_Progress) December 30, 2018

New UK promotion Wrestle Gate Pro has announced that R.E.D will be heading to the region in March. R.E.D is a Dragon Gate faction whose most famous member is arguably former WWE Superstar PAC.

It is not confirmed if PAC will be joining the crew for this event, Wrestle Gate released the following tweet hyping the group’s appearance:

Breaking News.

March 16th 2019, Wrestle Gate goes R E D

Tickets – https://t.co/Kb1F35eTUC#WrestleGatePro pic.twitter.com/6dZQ15EcUY

— Wrestle Gate Pro (@WrestleGatePro) December 27, 2018

This comes after Rev Pro announced that PAC would be facing Zack Sabre Jr in 2019. The former WWE Superstar will be heading to ‘Live at The Cockpit’ at The Cockpit Theatre in London on January 6th. PAC recently appeared for Rev Pro at their Portsmouth show, where he faced Mike Bailey.

We are just days away from New Japan’s biggest event of the year. January 4th’s Wrestle Kingdom in the Tokyo Dome is one of the most stacked cards in company history. One of the more intriguing bouts will see Will Ospreay challenge for the NEVER Openweight Championship against Kota Ibushi.

Ibushi recently spoke to NJPW’s Japanese language website regarding the bout. The match will be opening the card, Ibushi had an interesting reaction to this, saying initially ‘”Why the first match?” But now I think that there is nothing more delicious than the first game.'” Ibushi elaborated further saying “I thought “Eh?” At first, but now that a few days later I think that it is worth the same as the main [event].”

Ospreay vs Ibushi is being touted as one of the top bouts already announced for 2019. Both men are seen as risk takers, but Ibushi wanted to clarify that “It’s not just a high flyer showdown” although he believes that “there are many people who think so.” 

NJPW also asked Ibushi how he feels the bout will compare to the incredible Ospreay vs Ricochet bouts. Ibushi stated that “I think that I can not compare itself because it is completely different thing. I do not feel like competing against that match in the first place, and I’d like to say that I’m different.“

*Translated from Japanese on www.njpw.co.jp

Cleveland, Ohio based independent company AI Wrestling has announced a great match for WrestleMania weekend. The company will be holding ‘The Slumber Party Massacre’ on Thursday April 4th from the White Eagle Hall in New Jersey. AI Wrestling say that the venue is just “30 minutes outside of Manhattan.” The show will be part of GCW’s “The Collective” so it will likely be affiliated with a Joey Janela themed event.

In something straight from the Joey Janela playbook…Scott Steiner will be taking on former WWE Superstar Hornswoggle. It is a mismatch, but the potential Steiner promo before this match could be the greatest thing ever committed to tape.

There’s been some interesting reactions to the announcement. WWE Superstar Xavier Woods simply tweeted this reaction:

pic.twitter.com/eT6KjtGHqh

— Austin Creed (@AustinCreedWins) December 29, 2018

Also announced for the show is Shinjiro Otani VS. Eddie Kingston. Tickets are available to purchase via Eventbrite now.

Fight Forever has announced a big match for their upcoming ‘Dance of The Dragon’ show. It’s big for two reasons, 1. it’s Bea Priestley vs Millie McKenzie and 2. One is contracted to WoS (Bea) and one is seemingly signed to NXT UK (McKenzie).

NXT UK Superstars are only ‘allowed’ to face fellow NXT UK Superstars on independent shows or talents who are freelance/not on the ‘banned’ list. Companies who are seemingly ‘banned’ are the bigger promotions such as IMPACT, ROH and New Japan among others. There were also seemingly ‘no on demand’ terms in the new contracts, meaning that companies such as PROGRESS, ICW and ATTACK could not use NXT UK Superstars in their on demand platforms. This however is not yet confirmed. With McKenzie believed to be signed to NXT UK

Fight Forever are a relatively new promotion, they held their first tour earlier this year. Without having ‘on demand’ Fight Forever are seemingly free to use any talent from NXT UK for the time being.

WALTER will also be on the show. WALTER has not yet been made official as a WWE signee. It is widely believed that he has signed on and will be debuting in NXT UK shortly, possibly at the Takeover event next month.

https://twitter.com/fightforeveruk/status/1078972343442173952

ICW has announced a top bout for their February Square Go! event. ICW Zero-G Champion and NXT UK Superstar Joe Coffey will be defending against Ilja Dragunov.

This follows the news that Toni Storm has been announced for the same event. ICW are believed to be one of the companies on WWE’s ‘greenlit’ list alongside PROGRESS, OTT and Fight Club: Pro. Whether or not Storm and Coffey appear on the company’s On Demand service remains to be seen. This was reportedly a caveat of the NXT UK contract changes.

The Australian star Toni Storm and Joe Coffey are of course two of the top Superstars from the NXT UK roster, so allowing both to participate and potentially appear on ICW’s On Demand service is a big deal if allowed. Storm would most likely face a fellow NXT UK Superstar at this event, Coffey is facing Dragunov who is a free agent.

ICW recently held their biggest event of the year in Fear & Loathing XI. The card featured some top international names including 205 Live’s Noam Dar, NXT UK’s Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate, Trent Seven and James Storm. You can check out the full results for that show here.

https://twitter.com/InsaneChampWres/status/1076916007388831744

DEFIANT Wrestling has announced that PAC will be taking on an international standout in January. PAC will be facing David Starr as part of the tapings for the returned ‘Loaded’ show. Loaded is a free-to-air programme on YouTube that features many of the top talent from the UK independent scene.The show has seen many iterations over the past few years. DEFIANT sent out the following press release for the return back in September:

“Loaded previously ran for 33 episodes between July 2016 and October 2017, amassing over 25 MILLION views on YouTube. Loaded, at that time, ran under the WCPW (What Culture Pro Wrestling) banner, with WCPW since rebranded as Defiant Wrestling in late 2017 following a diversification from the What Culture brand.”

In other PAC news Revolution Pro (Rev Pro) announced that ‘The King’ will be heading to Bethnal Green in February. The company’s ‘High Stakes 2019’ event takes place on February 15th from the world famous York Hall in London. PAC will be facing Will Ospreay as part of the event. Tickets for the show sold out in record time with just the one match being announced.

This comes after Rev Pro announced that PAC would be facing Zack Sabre Jr in 2019. The former WWE Superstar will be heading to ‘Live at The Cockpit’ at The Cockpit Theatre in London on January 6th. PAC recently appeared for Rev Pro at their Portsmouth show, where he faced Mike Bailey.

World Association of Wrestling (WAW) announced earlier this year that former Premier League football (soccer) player Grant Holt would be swapping his studded boots for wrestling boots and entering the squared circle for the very first time. Holt made his singles debut against Brad O’Brien on 22nd December.

The 37 year old who previously played for the likes of Aston Villa and Norwich recently finished his career professionally for National League side Barrow. The former football star will be headlining a huge stadium show for WAW at Norwich City’s Carrow Road on June 2nd. Holt recently spoke to the BBC regarding the upcoming show, saying that “The club have been fantastic and embraced it from the first moment I walked through the door. They’ve bent over backwards to help us. I’m trying to get people who loved wrestling back in the day back involved in it. I’m hoping everyone comes to enjoy the show and comes to see me in action back at Carrow Road in a different capacity.”

If WAW are successful in filling the stadium they could be looking at a 6,000 strong house. PROGRESS held an event at Wembley earlier this year that drew 4,750 fans, so this could be the biggest event in the country for well over 30 years.

https://twitter.com/BobRutler/status/1078214078550683648

UK independent promotion Fight Club: Pro will be heading to Japan in January for their Project Tokyo event. The company announced earlier this year that they would be debuting in Korakuen Hall. The show takes place on January 7th with a huge card of international stars.

205 Live Superstar Akira Tozawa had previously been announced for the event. Fight Club: Pro is owned by NXT UK Superstar Trent Seven. Seven was originally confirmed for this card but was recently pulled. Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne were also pulled from the event.

Tozawa’s opponents for the show have now been named. The team of Kid Lykos and Chris Brookes (CCK) will be taking on Tozawa and Japanese legend Meiko Satomura.

There had been speculation that FCP was part of the ‘greenlit’ promotions for NXT UK talent. The cancellation of British Strong Style’s involvement seemed to change this but with Tozawa on board as a potential ‘make good’ for the Japanese fans who really knows at this point. NXT UK will be holding a taping within 7 days of this event, that is why British Strong Style were reportedly pulled.

?PROJECT TOKYO?

Capping off our first event in Japan we have two very special matches.

As well as an open challenge!!!

Be a part of this historic event.

Limited tickets available: https://t.co/WOhYUSDdj9#ProjectTokyo pic.twitter.com/qFAHBDo2cu

— Fight Club: PRO (@Fightclubpro) December 26, 2018

wXw has announced the next name for 2019’s 16 Carat Gold tournament. The company has confirmed that NXT Superstar Axel Dieter Jr/Marcel Barthel will be making his way home to Germany. The former wXw and PROGRESS star will be in Oberhausen March 8th-10th to take part in the prestigious event. Other names confirmed for the tournament include Deisuke Sekimoto, Chris Brookes, Jurn Simmons, FENIX and Pentagon Jr.

Dieter Jr recently appeared as part of the company’s Anniversary event. The NXT Superstar took part in a six-man tag team match alongside Ringkampf members Timothy Thatcher and WALTER. The team faced NXT UK Superstars Pete Dunne, Trent Seven and Tyler Bate.

wXw’s 16 Carat Gold tournament is currently regarded as one of the most prestigious in European wrestling. Several top WWE/NXT stars have appeared in and won the event. These include Aleister Black, Sami Zayn and Kassius Ohno. WALTER and Zack Sabre Jr are also synonymous with the event.

The 2017 and 2018 iterations of the tournament are widely regarded as two of the greatest in European wrestling history, you can check them out now on wXw’s on demand service, it certainly matches up to the annual New Japan G1 and PROGRESS Super Strong 16 tournaments on quality.

WWE Champion Daniel Bryan recently appeared in WWE’s YouTube series entitled WWE: Day Of. The filming took place the day of the TLC PPV and Bryan was discussing his opponent in AJ Styles amongst other topics.

Towards the end of the interview Bryan started talking about his return to in-ring competition and how he is seemingly returning to his former glory. Bryan stated that “It’s interesting, there was a period when I was on the independent scene. Probably about 2007/2008 where I literally felt like there was not a better wrestler than me on the planet. And, there were guys who were better at certain things. Sure, but overall there was nobody better on the planet. And now I’m getting back to that point.”

Bryan also discussed how AJ Styles was possibly the ‘best’ when he was out injured. Bryan stated “when I was out I looked at AJ Styles. I looked at AJ Styles and thought ‘he might be the best wrestler on the planet.’ I don’t feel like that anymore. I don’t feel like AJ Styles can touch me.” Bryan also made some rather interesting comments on the independent scene and Japan in particular, saying that “I don’t feel like all the people who get hype on the internet, over in Japan or anywhere else on the independents…I don’t feel like they can touch me. There’s nobody who is better than the New Daniel Bryan.”

Check out the interview below:

Kassius Ohno recently took to Twitter to deny rumors of his alleged upcoming release from NXT. BodySlam.net reported that Ohno was “rumored to have told multiple independent wrestling promoters he may soon be available for independent bookings and appearances.”

Ohno sent out a message saying that “You couldn’t be more wrong. Get better sources!
First time I’m hearing of @BodyslamNet & I presume it will be the last.” Kassius has been performing for several independent promotions whilst under his NXT contract. These include some of the bigger indies such as PROGRESS, ICW and EVOLVE.

In other Ohno news: EVOLVE Wrestling has announced the opponents for Kassius Ohno at two upcoming events. Ohno will wrestle EVOLVE Champion Fabian Aichner at EVOLVE 115 while he’ll take on Shane Strickland at EVOLVE 116.

EVOLVE 115 goes down on December 15th in Queens, NY while EVOLVE 116 takes place on December 16th in Deer Park, NY. The promotion sent out the announcement on Twitter by writing the following, JUST SIGNED: NXT star and ex-EVOLVE Champ Kassius Ohno will challenge EVOLVE Champion Fabian Aichner at EVOLVE 115 on Nov. 9th in the Detroit area! JUST SIGNED: Kassius Ohno vs. Shane Strickland at EVOLVE 116 on Nov. 10th in the Chicago area! http://Ticketfly.com for info.”

Ronda Rousey recently held a Q&A on her YouTube channel. The RAW Women’s Champion discussed a number of topics with the main highlight being her intervention in the TLC Main Event. Rousey interfered and cost Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch the match, leaving Asuka to climb the ladder and grab the Smackdown Women’s Championship.

Rousey said that “I have a lot of respect for Asuka and I’ve always have. I didn’t really want to rain on her parade at the Royal Rumble. I just wanted to come out and congratulate her and bring more eyes to her incredible moment. She didn’t seem too thrilled about that.” Rousey then turned her attention to Lynch and Flair, stating that “At TLC, both Charlotte and Becky are a bunch of cheaters, they had it coming to them. I don’t have to explain my actions to anybody. I was completely justified by my actions.” Ronda elaborated further, saying that “Payback is a b—- and Askua deserves to be champion more than either of them. She’s never had to cheat. She never had to walk out of a match because she was losing. She’s just the best and now she’s the champ.”

You can check out the full Q&A below.

Credit to Ronda Rousey and H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

UK promotion Pro Wrestling: EVE has inducted a British legend into their Hall of Fame. The EVE HOF will be housed in a physical location, Bishopsgate Institute in London, England.

Klondyke Kate is one of the pioneers of professional wrestling in the United Kingdom. The legend began her career at age 14 in the now famous city of Blackpool, England. William Regal of course got his start in the same territory for reference.

Kate took part in an interview with Calling Spots magazine back in 2016 and she listed her favourite opponents, including some WWE Superstars. Kate stated “I spent quite a few months working with Natalya who was then Nattie Neidhart, actually wrestled her Dad funnily enough. If I am honest I would say I really enjoyed the competition and the viciousness of working with Saraya Knight (mother of Paige).”

The British star was one of the most dominating heels of her time. At her largest Kate weighed 28 stones (around 400 pounds) and only stands at 5 foot 4. In recent years she has lost an incredible amount of weight, she mentioned to Calling Spots she had “lost about 14st 9lbs at last count.”

Kate reacted to her induction by tweeting “For every woman who thinks she can’t……I’m telling you she most certainly can!“

Congratulations to Kate and all at Pro Wrestling: EVE. You can find more info via the tweet below.

For every woman who thinks she can’t……I’m telling you she most certainly can! ???? https://t.co/roUI2Ob4mF

— Klondyke Kate (@Klondyke_Kate) December 22, 2018

New UK promotion Fight Forever has confirmed a big name for their January show. WALTER is set to be part of ‘Dance of The Dragon’ on January 4th from Pryzm in Birmingham, England.

There has been some confusion recently regarding the NXT UK contracted Superstars and where they can perform. OTT recently announced that WALTER would be taking on former WWE Superstar Neville/PAC. This move was deemed acceptable by WWE as PAC is classed as a ‘freelance’ talent.

NXT UK Superstars are only ‘allowed’ to face fellow NXT UK Superstars on independent shows or talents who are freelance/not on the ‘banned’ list. Companies who are seemingly ‘banned’ are the bigger promotions such as IMPACT, ROH and New Japan among others. There were also seemingly ‘no on demand’ terms in the new contracts, meaning that companies such as PROGRESS, ICW and ATTACK could not use NXT UK Superstars in their on demand platforms. This however is not yet confirmed.

Fight Forever are a relatively new promotion, they held their first tour earlier this year. Without having ‘on demand’ Fight Forever are seemingly free to use any talent from NXT UK for the time being.

WALTER has not yet been made official as a WWE signee. It is widely believed that he has signed on and will be debuting in NXT UK shortly, possibly at the Takeover event next month.

https://twitter.com/fightforeveruk/status/1076123253431824384

Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) has announced that Toni Storm will be taking part in the Eighth Annual Square Go! event. Storm is one of the first confirmed names for the upcoming show on Sunday February 24th from Glasgow, Scotland. Storm’s opponent for the show has not yet been named.

ICW are believed to be one of the companies on WWE’s ‘greenlit’ list alongside PROGRESS, OTT and Fight Club: Pro. Whether or not Storm appears on the company’s On Demand service remains to be seen, as this was a caveat of NXT UK contract changes. The Australian star Toni Storm is of course one of the top Superstars from the NXT UK roster, so allowing her to participate and potentially appear on ICW’s On Demand service is a big deal if allowed. Storm would most likely face a fellow NXT UK Superstar at this event. However with the recent news that PAC would be facing WALTER for OTT this could change. This big main event for OTT shows that free agent talent are still ‘allowed’ for NXT UK Superstars. PAC, however might just be a special circumstance.

ICW recently held their biggest event of the year in Fear & Loathing XI. The card featured some top international names including 205 Live’s Noam Dar, NXT UK’s Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate, Trent Seven and James Storm. You can check out the full results for that show here.

https://twitter.com/InsaneChampWres/status/1075812602343841793

New Japan will be heading to the world famous Tokyo Dome on 01/04 for their annual Wrestle Kingdom show. The day before will see a Fan Fest event taking place, the matches confirmed for the show are as follows:

• Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask vs. Yuya Uemura & Ren Narita
• Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Tomoaki Honma & Toa Henare
• Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Ayato Yoshida & Shota Umino

As a side note Wrestle Kingdom 13 will be the first since 1995 that Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger has not performed in. 1995 was the only year since the Tokyo Dome tradition started in 1992 that Liger has not been in the ring for.

The Wrestling Observer noted that going back even further when Keiichi Yamada actually debuted under the Jushin Liger mask at the first pro wrestling event ever held at the Tokyo Dome. This took place on April 24, 1989. Since then Liger has been on every biggest show of the year for New Japan as the Liger character from 1989 to 2018, with the exception of 1995.

New Japan will be hosting their annual Tokyo Dome show on January 4th. Wrestle Kingdom is the biggest show in the New Japan calendar and 2019’s event looks stellar. Whilst there are no official number New Japan confirmed on Twitter that sales for the show are still ahead of the pace of this year’s show.

This year’s show featured the big international bout between Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho, causing ticket sales to go from 26,192 in 2017 to 34,995 in 2018.

The Wrestling Observer has also posted an update on New Japan’s financials for 2018. Whilst totals aren’t “official,” the 2018 revenues are “expected to fall at about $43.6 million, up from $35 million last year, a 25 percent increase.” Dave Meltzer attributed the increase to “live event ticket sales, but merchandise in 2018 was four times that of 2013, stemming from the LIJ sales and the U.S. market Hot Topic T-shirt sales.”

It was also confirmed that the NJPWWorld service is up, with over 100,000 subscribers, compared to 60,000 at the same point last year in mid December.

New Japan has announced that a Japanese wrestling legend will be part of Wrestle Kingdom next month. Yuji Nagata has been added to the pre-show match, replacing Michael Elgin.

We recently posted on the news that Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger would not be appearing at Wrestle Kingdom. Liger had been part of every Tokyo Dome event since 1989 except for the 1995 iteration. Incidentally Yuji Nagata now appearing means that he maintains a 25 year January 4th appearance streak. This will also be his 31st consecutive New Japan Tokyo Dome card, more than anyone else in history.

Yuji Nagata was also recently added to the Wrestling Observer’s Hall of Fame. The WO Hall of Fame is notoriously difficult to be added to, giving credence to the level of star and ability of the legendary Nagata.

Here’s the five teams taking part in the pre-show gauntlet match:

• Ryusuke Taguchi, Toru Yano, & Togi Makabe
• Minoru Suzuki, Davey Boy Smith Jr., and Lance Archer
• Jeff Cobb, Yuji Nagata, & David Finlay
• Chuckie T, Beretta, and Hirooki Goto
• Marty Scurll, Hangman Page, and Yujiro Takahashi

Here’s the full card for Wrestle Kingdom 13:

• IWGP Heavyweight Championship
  Kenny Omega (c) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi
• IWGP Intercontinental Championship
  Chris Jericho (c) vs Tetsuya Naito
• Kazuchika Okada vs Jay White
• IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
  KUSHIDA (c) vs Taiji Ishimori
• IWGP United States Championship
  Cody (c) vs Juice Robinson
• RevPro British Heavyweight Championship
  Tomohiro Ishii (c) vs Zack Sabre Jr.
• IWGP Tag Team Championships
  Guerrillas of Destiny (c) vs The Young Bucks vs. EVIL and SANADA
• IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships
  Yoshinobu Kanemaru and El Desperado (c) vs Roppongi 3K vs BUSHI and Shingo Takagi
• IWGP NEVER Openweight Championship
  Kota Ibushi (c) vs Will Ospreay

Yuji Nagata will replace Michael Elgin at the pre-show match!?WK13?https://t.co/U8Voj4AkOS#njpw #njwk13 pic.twitter.com/3Drebiiyvg

— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) December 21, 2018

Over The Top (OTT) Wrestling has announced a big time main event for their February Homecoming show. The event will be taking place on 02/17 from the National Basketball Arena in Dublin, Ireland.

OTT Champion WALTER will be taking on former WWE Superstar PAC. Interestingly WALTER has been confirmed as a new WWE signee, yet he will be performing against a non-NXT UK performer.

The recent situation surrounding the NXT UK contracts has been baffling. It has been rumored that NXT UK Superstars would not be able to perform for companies outside of the ‘WWE Bubble’ and that they could only face other NXT UK contracted talent. This was apparently meant to come into play as of January 1st.

OTT were originally being touted as one of the companies in WWE’s ‘greenlit’ list. With WALTER being OTT Champion he is of course a featured star and the company wouldn’t want to lose his box office appeal. This match against PAC however is very, very interesting…

With a WWE ‘signed’ performer facing someone the likes of PAC (who left the company on bad terms reportedly) how will that affect other matches on the UK and Irish scene? Will Ospreay has been very vocal about his dislike of the ‘NXT UK vs NXT UK only’ stipulation. The UK scene has taken a hit recently and this may be detrimental, but with this huge match being announced maybe the rule has been changed?

Alternatively, WALTER has not been signed to WWE. We can’t confirm at this time either way.

Feb 17th National Basketball Arena Dublin #Homecoming
Walter Vs Pac
All floor seats SOLD OUT !
Stalls available at https://t.co/9949u5EmxD #OTT pic.twitter.com/pOXIGLhDrn

— OTT WRESTLING (@OTT_wrestling) December 19, 2018