PROGRESS and UK Independent wrestling star Alex Cupid made his in ring Japanese debut this past weekend at the Kaientai Dojo event ‘ChiBattle 6’ at the Blue Field in Chiba.

Cupid is best known to fans of the UK independent scene as one half of the Never Say Die tag team. The team formed whilst training in the PROGRESS ‘ProJo’ and were featured heavily on the Freedom’s Road programme on Demand PROGRESS. Both Cupid and his NSD tag partner Dillion D’Angelo have been featured in more single’s bouts across the UK for the likes Sacrifice Pro and UBW.

The ‘Prince of Hearts’ Alex Cupid teamed with Taylor Adams and Latrell Apton to face Ricky Fuji, Shiori Asahi and former WWE Light Heavyweight Champion TAKA Michinoku. The Kaientai Dojo (also known as K-DOJO) is in fact run by Michinoku and can rank a number of Japan’s most technically proficient performers among their alumni including Pro Wrestling ZERO1’s Minoru Fujita, Big Japan’s Madoka and DDT’s Makoto Oishi.

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????????????????????????????#kdojo#??#???? pic.twitter.com/wDWv0pUO86

— 2AW (@2awoffice) July 8, 2018

Will Ospreay’s new promotion Frontline Wrestling has released their debut show ‘Build Me An Empire’ on demand via Vimeo. The show featured some of the finest performers on the UK scene as well as two of Dragon Gate’s most iconic stars.

The main event featured an outrageous bout between Chris Ridgeway and Japan’s KENOH. Ridgeway is an accomplished ‘strong style’ combatant in his own right but this match at the top of the card will be the bout that catapults him into the upper echelons of both the UK scene and, hopefully, Japan (much like how Ospreay’s bout against Okada for Rev Pro got him on a plane going East). We spoke to Ospreay earlier this year and he discussed his want to bring ‘puroresu‘ to the United Kingdom, this big time main event and the reaction from the crowd in attendance seems to solidify that strong style/puroresu has truly arrived in Britain.

The rest of the stellar card stacked up as follows:

• Stixx Vs Rob Lynch
• Mark Haskins Vs Naoki Tanizaki
• M&M (Connor Mills & Maverick Mayhew) Vs The 198 (“Flash” Morgan Webster & Wild Boar)
• Toni Storm Vs Bea Priestley
• Kip Sabian & Chief Deputy Dunne Vs Kely Sixx & El Phantasmo
• Six Man Tag Team match – #CCK (Chris Brookes, Travis Banks & Kid Lykos) Vs Adam Brooks & Aussie Open (Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher)

You can rent or purchase the full card via the tweet below. If you see the show let Will know your thoughts on Twitter @WillOspreay.

Relive Frontline Wrestling’s first show, “Build Me An Empire”

Head To:https://t.co/PtujSHPrwm pic.twitter.com/pfNlwvnoyT

— Frontline Wrestling (@FrontlinePuro) July 5, 2018

WWE Hall of Famer and former World Heavyweight Champion Edge will be heading to the UK and Ireland in late September/early October on a special Speaking Tour for Inside The Ropes. The Rated R Superstar will be heading to the following venues for the ‘Living on The Edge’ tour:

• September 29th – The Grand, London
• October 6th – The Limelight, Belfast
• October 7th – The Tivoli, Dublin
• October 21st – The Comedy Store, Manchester
• October 28th – The Garage, Glasgow

Edge’s accolades in his historic WWE career include winning the King of The Ring, the Royal Rumble, becoming an 11 time World Champion and headlining WrestleMania alongside the Undertaker at WrestleMania 24. Inside The Ropes have promised a special Meet & Greet for the events as well as a spoken word show hosted by Kenny McIntosh.

Edge sent out the following message confirming the upcoming engagements: “England, Scotland & Ireland I’m coming! Thanks to the fine folks @Inside_TheRopes I’ll be over to share stories, answer questions, have high tea with some killer raspberry scones and other offbeat shenanigans (sorry @LanceStorm).”

Tickets for the tour are now available to purchase through Inside The Ropes’ official site.

England, Scotland & Ireland I’m coming! Thanks to the fine folks @Inside_TheRopes I’ll be over to share stories, answer questions, have high tea with some killer raspberry scones and other offbeat shenanigans (sorry @LanceStorm ) Tix gon sale….Friday!(not today)

— Adam Copeland (@RatedRCope) July 4, 2018

Get ready UK and Ireland. For the benefit of those with Flash photography……we're doing a tour with none other than The Rated R Superstar….@EdgeRatedR We CANNOT WAIT! pic.twitter.com/L6Oa4TbGHb

— ITR Wrestling (@ITRWrestling_) July 1, 2018

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi recently spoke to New Japan Pro Wrestling’s NewWorld magazine on a variety of topics, including his excursion to Mexico’s CMLL promotion, the moves that has ‘in his head’ that haven’t yet been performed in a ring and more.

When discussing his time in Mexico the ‘TIME BOMB’ stated that “It wasn’t Mexico that made the Hiromu Takahashi of today, so much has changed him back. The guy you see now is really me as a child. When I joined New Japan I felt a strong pressure to fit in. I felt like the need to behave like a Young Lion, like one of the group, even up to behaving like someone in their third year in the business. But going to Mexico reset that. It wasn’t about ‘fitting in’ but starting from zero. Not wrestling like a Young Lion buy going back to mentally mentally to wanting to become a wrestler in seventh grade and basing everything off that. Mexico was a chance to retake my childhood.”

When asked about his moveset in the Juniors the IWGP Champion confirmed that “he hasn’t used about 60%” of the moves he has in his head, “from finishers to moves he can hit on heavyweights.”

*Credit to Chris Charlton for the translation.

Hiromu says he hasn’t used about 60% of the moves he has in his head, from finishers to moves he can hit on heavyweights. #newworld

— chris charlton (@reasonjp) July 6, 2018

Tetsuya Naito recently spoke to Tokyo Sports on the upcoming G1 Climax Tournament. Naito is one of the stars who will be taking part in the annual spectacular to determine a number 1 contender to Kenny Omega’s IWGP Heavyweight Championship at the Tokyo Dome on January 4th.

Naito usually has some rather interesting points when talking to the Tokyo Sports publication in Japan and he appears to have outdone himself once again…he stated that “there’s a whole bunch of guys absolutely nobody would give a chance of winning to. Can you really call this “grade one?” If it was horse racing’s G-1, you’d have prelims to get in. Right now, you have Taichi bitching about YOSHI-HASHI getting in, because he’s out. Well, fine, let’s have that mean something. Put those two in a qualifying match. And at any rate, having 20 some entrants is too many.”

Do you agree with the leader of Los Ingobernables? Are you looking forward to the G1 tournament? Let us know in the comments.

*Credit to Chris Charlton @reasonjp for the translations

Naito on #g128 ‘there’s a whole bunch of guys absolutely nobody would give a chance of winning to. Can you really call this “grade one?” If it was horse racing’s G-1, you’d have prelims to get in.’ https://t.co/ffaplKir1J

— chris charlton (@reasonjp) July 5, 2018

World of Sport (WoS) has been making several announcements over the past few days confirming the on air talent that will be appearing for the new 10 part series starting later this month.

The company has now announced that former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay will be making his way to mainstream British television for ITV.

The following stars have also been contracted by ITV to feature on the new 10-part show and will be announced in the coming weeks: Grado, Moose, Primate, Martin Kirby, Iestyn Rees, Viper, Bea Priestley, Sha Samuels, Doug Williams, Rampage Brown, Lionheart, Nathan Cruz, Kip Sabian, Robbie X, Gabriel Kidd, CJ Banks and Liam Slater.

WoS has also announced that former TNA on air talent SoCal Val and British wresting legend Alex Shane will be joining former WWE Superstar Wade Barrett/Stu Bennett in the commentary booth for the rebooted series. Val tweeted earlier today “Joining the #WOSW @ITV team as a commentator is a huge honor, especially as a female in #wrestling! I couldn’t be more excited to watch the action with you!”

Joining the #WOSW @ITV team as a commentator is a huge honor, especially as a female in #wrestling! I couldn’t be more excited to watch the action with you! Thanks to everyone who… https://t.co/k1lpZb6iLt

— $oCalVal (@SoCalValerie) July 5, 2018

WOS Exclusive…

The “Aerial Assassin” @WillOspreay soars in to join the WOS roster #WOSW #ITV #STV pic.twitter.com/NyuHDyT9FT

— WOS Wrestling (@WOSWrestling) July 5, 2018

Ring of Honor have announced that two of British Independent wrestling’s greatest icons will be taking part in their upcoming Honor ReUnited tour that starts on August 18th from Doncaster, England.

Jonny Storm and Jody Fleisch both made their ROH debuts on June 22nd 2002 at the  Road to the Title at the Murphy Rec Center and were opponents on that evening. Ring of Honor issued the following as part of a press release on the duo and announced that they will be teaming for the tour:

“Fleisch and Storm have a decade-plus of tag team experience teaming together with accolades that include being the first-ever 1PW Tag Team Champions and have stated they are looking to make an instant splash into the most competitive tag team division in the world in ROH! Fleisch and Storm at young ages early in their careers built their lineages that include bouts against ROH pioneers Christopher Daniels and AJ Styles and more recently against some of the top independent stars in the world and they will be in tag team action in Doncaster and London!”

This follows the news that PROGRESS star Jimmy Havoc will be taking part in the tour as part of the International Cup. You can read more on that story here.

JUST ANNOUNCED: Jody Fleisch and Jonny Storm return to #ROH for the #HonorReUnited Tour!

More Info: https://t.co/nM0803Sx26

Sa Aug 18 – Doncaster – Tix: https://t.co/KPolYzvmRt
Su Aug 19 – London- Tix: https://t.co/3QdB1ERLwa pic.twitter.com/cYbqKaR0zR

— ROH – Ring of Honor Wrestling (@ringofhonor) July 4, 2018

PROGRESS has announced that WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne will be taking part in the company’s 73rd Chapter event ‘Fourth Shade of Green’ on Sunday 15th July from the O2 Academy in Birmingham, England.

Dunne will be teaming with his British Strong Style stablemate and fellow NXT UK roster member Trent Seven to take on the Kings of The North. This will be the first bout for the KOTN in PROGRESS in 18 months and they have one hell of a test on their return.

The third member of British Strong Style Tyler Bate will also be in action at Fourth Shade of Green. The inaugural WWE United Kingdom Champion will be challenging Travis Banks for the PROGRESS Wrestling World Championship in the main event.

All three BSS Superstars will be on hand for the upcoming NXT UK tapings which start in Cambridge later this month on July 28th.

#Chapter73: #KOTN @CorvinNI @BonesawAl return for tag team action after 18 months away; they face @PeteDunneYxB and @trentseven next Sunday at @o2academybham! #ThisIsProgress #FourthShadeOfGreen pic.twitter.com/Bf5MjBtPpa

— PROGRESS Wrestling (@ThisIs_Progress) July 4, 2018

Revolution Pro (Rev Pro) has announced another top bout for their upcoming Summer Sizzler event which takes place Friday August 17th from York Hall in Bethnal Green, London.

Former British Heavyweight Champion and legend of the New Japan Pro Wrestling promotion Tomohiro Ishii will be taking on former PROGRESS ATLAS and wXw Unified World Champion WALTER.

Ishii recently lost his British Heavyweight title against Minoru Suzuki at the Strong Style Evolved this past weekend, after the match WALTER appeared and attacked the ‘Stone Pitbull’ to set up this huge bout at the ‘Sizzler.

WALTER has been heavily rumored for a move to WWE over the past year, his work as part of the Ringkampf stable in wXw and his breakout year on the UK scene for the likes of PROGRESS have earned him worldwide acclaim and a chance to appear for PWG and quite possibly New Japan in the near future.

Before he boarded his plane back to Japan, Tomohiro Ishii told RevPro management he wanted to do 2 things. 1. Get his belt back. 2. Get his hands on Walter. On Friday August 17th Ishii gets the chance to tick one of those items off his list. https://t.co/LhHedYxXS8 pic.twitter.com/ZvzJsjoltp

— Revolution Pro (@RevProUK) July 2, 2018

World of Sport (WoS) has officially announced the first few names for the upcoming return of the iconic series on British television.

WoS announced via their Twitter and Facebook accounts that former WWE Superstar and General Manager of DEFIANT Wrestling Stu Bennett/Wade Barrett would be a ‘WOS Executive’ and commentator for the 10 part series which begins later this month. Bennett made the following comments on Twitter following the reveal:

“Get ready for something massive this summer on @ITV. I’ve brought together the absolute best of the UK wrestling scene & they are going to blow your minds. 100% BRITISH-MADE WRESTLING is BACK on TV! Do not miss it..”

Also announced for the series are the following stars of the UK scene:

• Adam Maxted (5* Wrestling, NGW)
• British Bulldog Junior (Former WWE Superstar Davey Boy Smith Jr)
• Kay Lee Ray (ICW and Pro Wrestling: EVE)
• Joe Hendry (ICW and WCPW)

The show is expected to start on the UK’s ITV channel later this month with a Saturday night slot rumored to run just after the successful Ninja Warrior UK programme.

The following stars have also been contracted by ITV to feature on the new 10-part show: Will Ospreay, Grado, Moose, Primate, Martin Kirby, Iestyn Rees, Viper, Bea Priestley, Sha Samuels, Doug Williams, Rampage Brown, Lionheart, Nathan Cruz, Kip Sabian, Robbie X, Gabriel Kidd, CJ Banks and Liam Slater.

This is one of the biggest opportunities that the UK scene has been exposed to this century, ITV is one of the ‘big four’ channels in the United Kingdom alongside BBC 1, BBC 2 and Channel 4. Stars such as Ospreay who are already major names across the globe to independent wrestling fans will now be able to ply their trade to a brand new audience and potentially break out into the mainstream.

Get ready for something massive this summer on @ITV. I’ve brought together the absolute best of the UK wrestling scene & they are going to blow your minds. 100% BRITISH-MADE WRESTLING is BACK on TV! Do not miss it.. @WOSWrestlingITV ???? pic.twitter.com/X9xvtJ6bL0

— Stu Bennett (@StuBennett) July 4, 2018

Ring of Honor has announced that UK star Jimmy Havoc will be taking part in the upcoming International Cup as part of the Honor ReUnited tour of the United Kingdom in August.

Havoc is a former CZW Tournament of Death winner, the longest reigning Champion in PROGRESS Wrestling history and has performed on a consistent basis for the top promotions in the UK including DEFIANT, Rev Pro, XWA:UK, IPW:UK, ICW Fight Club: Pro and the aforementioned PROGRESS.

The tournament is being billed as “United States vs United Kingdom” and ROH issued the following press release for the announcement of Havoc:

“One of the most sadistic and masochistic wrestlers in the world makes his Ring of Honor debut in Edinburgh as part of Ring of Honor’s Inaugural International Cup! Jimmy Havoc has held championships from all around the globe, including the Progress Championship and CZW Tournament of Death 2016, and is the first competitor announced for the inaugural ROH International Cup! Havoc thrives against more physical and violent wrestlers like Masada and Matt Tremont but is known for his victories against Pete Dunne, Tommy End, Will Ospreay, and Matt Riddle! Havoc is most dangerous not because of the violence he can deliver but because of his ability to wrestle his own match within the confines of the rules of the bout.

Havoc has one of the premiere reputations on the independent scene and enters the tournament as not only its first entrant but also its favorite. Havoc will face an American star to be named in the coming weeks as part of the first round in Edinburgh, with the winners of the first four matches of the International Cup meeting in the semifinals in Doncaster, and the winners of the two semifinal matches meeting in the finals in Doncaster. The inaugural winner of the International Cup will face whomever the Ring of Honor World Champion may be on Sunday August 19 in London!“

.@JimmyHavoc will compete in the inaugural #ROHInternationalCup at the #HonorReUnited Tour!

Learn More: https://t.co/Q9rsvePU9W

Th 8/16 – Edinburgh – TIx: https://t.co/pHfE4JwYcu
Sa 8/18 – Doncaster – Tix: https://t.co/KPolYzvmRt
Su 8/19 – London- Tix: https://t.co/3QdB1ERLwa pic.twitter.com/4G5nnQ99GO

— ROH – Ring of Honor Wrestling (@ringofhonor) July 2, 2018

Kayfabe Events has announced the ticketing information for their upcoming UK tour with the legendary WWE/WCW Superstar Razor Ramon/Scott Hall.

The nWo original will be in London on November 14th, Manchester on the 15th, Cardiff on the 16th and Brighton for the final date on the 17th. The final night in Brighton will be closed out with PROGRESS star Chuck Mambo hosting a ‘Beach Party’ event in the RIPTIDE promotion’s hometown of Brighton.

https://twitter.com/KayfabeEvents/status/1012605705302495232

Frontline Wrestling has announced the first two matches for their upcoming S.P.I.R.I.T event which takes place on August 21st from the Stratford Circus in London, England.

Company owner Will Ospreay recently sent out his appreciation to the fans in attendance for Frontline’s first show ‘Build Me an Empire’ stating: “28/06/18. 19:30. We built an empire. Thank you. Hope to see you back on the 21st August.”

Two bouts have already been announced for the upcoming show, a title bout between Mark Haskins and ‘Battle Tested’ Rob Lynch for the new Frontline Heavyweight Championship and a match pitting former ICW Women’s Champion Viper against fellow Mae Young Classic competitor Kay Lee Ray.

Tickets are available to purchase here.

The first of two confirmed matches for our next show S.P.I.R.I.T on August 21st.

Current SWA World Champion VIPER takes on Mae Young Classic contender Kay Lee Ray.

Tickets on sale now :… https://t.co/rJm1lwMy9s

— Frontline Wrestling (@FrontlinePuro) June 29, 2018

New Japan Pro Wrestling recently joined forces with the UK’s Revolution Pro Wrestling promotion to present Strong Style Evolved UK, the first show took place from Milton Keynes’ Ice Arena and here are the full results curtesy of NJPW1972.com

The Great O-Khan b. Shota Umino – Time: 10m02s Diving Mongolian Chop from Second Rope ? Pin

Taiji Ishimori & Yujiro Takahashi b. Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) – Time: 12m57s Bloody Cross ? Pin

El Desperado, Taichi & Takashi Iizuka b. Jay White, Gedo & Toru Yano – Time: 11m01s Cross Clutch Hold ? Pin

Tiger Mask IV b. David Starr – Time: 10m40s El Es Culero ? Pin

WALTER b. Yuji Nagata – Time: 12m27s Lariat ? Pin

YOSHI-HASHI b. Chris Brookes – Time: 09m03s Karma ? Pin

Will Ospreay b. Yoshinobu Kanemaru – Time: 10m59s Storm Breaker ? Pin

British Tag Team Champions Minoru Suzuki & Zack Sabre Jr. b. Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii – Time: 25m45s Jim Breaks Armbar ? Tap out

RPW ?STRONG STYLE EVOLVED -UNITED KINGDOM- Night1?Full resultshttps://t.co/rmrc6501Zn#njpw #SSEUK pic.twitter.com/jZXz9sFC34

— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) July 2, 2018

World of Sport (WoS) has released a brand new trailer hyping the upcoming reboot series on the UK’s mainstream ITV channel (you can check this out at the bottom of the page).

The video features narration from the new WoS General Manager Stu Bennett/Wade Barrett and also highlights some of the big players making their way to Saturday nights.

The following stars have contracted by ITV to feature on the new 10-part show: Will Ospreay, Davey Boy Jr, Grado, Moose, Primate, Joe Hendry, Martin Kirby, Iestyn Rees, Viper, Kay Lee Ray, Bea Priestley, Sha Samuels, Doug Williams, Rampage Brown, Lionheart, Nathan Cruz, Kip Sabian, Robbie X, Adam Maxted, Gabriel Kidd, CJ Banks and Liam Slater.

This is one of the biggest opportunities that the UK scene has been exposed to this century, ITV is one of the ‘big four’ channels in the United Kingdom alongside BBC 1, BBC 2 and Channel 4. Stars such as Ospreay who are already major names across the globe to independent wrestling fans will now be able to ply their trade to a brand new audience and potentially break out into the mainstream.

WOS Wrestling is BACK!

Let the games begin… #WOSW #wrestling #thisJuly #ITV #dawnofanewera #bringiton pic.twitter.com/eL0c9mP6Mt

— WOS Wrestling (@WOSWrestling) July 1, 2018

DEFIANT Wrestling has announced that former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion and one of the biggest stars to emerge from the thriving UK scene Will Ospreay will be taking on WALTER as part of their upcoming Stacked ’18 event which takes place Sunday August 26th from the Bowlers Exhibition Centre in Manchester, England.

The clash of styles between the two performers is evident, Ospreay is regarded as one of if not THE greatest high flying performer on the planet, although he is well versed in the British mat-based style. WALTER however is one of the most dominant forces in wrestling and will use his powerhouse style to keep Ospreay at bay. This has the potential to be one of the best matches of 2018.

If you’ve never heard of WALTER then he is certainly a performer that should be on your radar. The Austrian powerhouse has been dominating the Tag and Heavyweight divisions in wXw, PROGRESS and PWG over the past couple of years and he is now being slated as a future WWE/NXT signee (even if he denies any sort of negotiations). The de-facto leader of the Ringkampf stable (alongside Timothy Thatcher and previously NXT roster member Axel Dieter Jr) has a ton of potential on the world stage and has already garnered critical praise from the likes of Dave Meltzer, who gave his PWG All-Star Weekend bout against Zack Sabre Jr from October 2017 a 5 star rating.

Tickets for the show are available to purchase here.

Walter vs Ospreay is coming to Manchester! Sunday, August 26th.

Be there… Tickets via https://t.co/MRU9FH66vo pic.twitter.com/JIQ4owXu8p

— DEFIANT Wrestling (@DEFIANTwres) June 29, 2018

Will Ospreay’s new promotion Frontline Wrestling held their debut show ‘Build Me An Empire’ this past Thursday and the show was met with acclaim from the fans in attendance.

During our exclusive interview with Ospreay earlier this year he stated that wanted the Frontline brand to be defined as British Puroresu, saying that “I have fallen in love with the Japanese style of wrestling, and not just the wrestling itself. The story telling, the Drama, the production. Most likely cause I’ve been sucked into that New Japan vibe.”

One of the major elements of the new promotion is the inclusion of ‘Young Lions,’ a concept that this hugely prevalent in Japanese wrestling culture and adds an extra layer of ‘Puroresu’ to the aesthetic of Frontline. The company has issued a press release highlighting the crop of talent chosen to be their first batch of ‘Young Lions’ and they are as follows:

• Cieran Donnelly

Former IPW:UK Tag Champion with DND. With Duggan heading over regularly to the New Japan LA Dojo, Cieran sees this as an opportunity to rebrand and master the Young Lions Programme.

• Joshua Joesph

Trained by The Wild Boar & Mark Andrews, Josh passed the course with flying colours. Showing his mix of strength & agility. He’s also undefeated in amateur mixed martial arts.

• Nico Angelo

Another man trained by Mark Andrews, Nico has an Olympic Power Lifting background. What sealed the deal was his incredible standing “Mooncent” (450 moonsault)

• Scott Davis

Better known in his home promotion OTT, he has been an amateur wrestling from a young age. Scott sees this as a platform to finally stretch out to the U.K. scene and take over.

• Cameron Thomas

Cameron trains at the LSLL and wrestles for Lucha Britannia. He had a huge stand out match with Jody Fleisch at the recent Project W show. Not much match experience however but the heart on this man will shine through more than anything.

• Chris Gladden

Mostly know for his work in Apex. Yet still not completely satisfied with the work he portrays and believes he can offer more. Chris shows so much determination through every single drill & workout we threw at him and wants the responsibility of being a main player in the British Wrestling Scene.

Callum Newman

15 Years Old. But Callum has been wrestling since he was 10. A high-flyer but prides himself on his technical wrestling. As the youngest he has a long journey ahead of him but the level of talent in such a young man is astonishing.

• Rhonda Powell

As the only Female, she completed the drills quicker than 40% of the male athletes. Her cardio was the stand out & great coordination. Not much match experience however a lot of potential to become a strong stand out in Frontline

• Scott Wainwright

Former WCPW Tag Champion, but nearly forced into retirement after a serious stomach injury. After rebuilding his strengths and losing a significant amount of weight, Scott has decided to take part in the Young Lions Programme to redesign himself. “Start from the bottom, climb to the top”

• Nedeem Al-Astrabadi

Absent due to a family emergency, Ned has unlimited potential to be on of the best wrestlers in the world. Mainly seen as part of Triple L promotion as their former champ, he is one of the most charismatic characters you will ever meet, but has agreed to strip it back and allow his ability to shine through.

Journey’s always have a beginning https://t.co/BL7jFgH2aV

— Frontline Wrestling (@FrontlinePuro) June 30, 2018

UK based promotion Fight Forever has announced a huge debut tour that will be taking place December 6th-9th and will feature some of the biggest stars from the Independent wrestling world.

Fight Forever will be hosting shows in Birmingham (6th), London (7th), Bristol (8th) and Liverpool (9th), they have issued the following press release for the tour which will feature a live wrestling show as well as a very special Live version of Something To Wrestle with Conrad Thompson and Bruce Pritchard:

“Brand New UK Professional Wrestling Promotion ‘Fight Forever Wrestling’ Announce Debut Tour featuring ‘Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard Live’, ‘The American Nightmare Cody Rhodes’, WWE UK Tournament Winner Zack Gibson and ‘The Godfather Charles Wright’.

Coming to the UK in December 2018, breakthrough UK Professional Wrestling Promotion, Fight Forever Wrestling, announce their debut tour, featuring an international roster including ‘The American Nightmare’ Cody Rhodes, Brandi Rhodes, Flip Gordon, Jimmy Havoc, James Drake, Flash Morgan Webster, El Ligero, Joe Hendry, Rampage Brown, Travis Banks, and WWE UK Tournament Winner, Zack Gibson. There will be more big names announced ahead of the tour.

WWE Hall of Famer, Charles Wright, will also be appearing on the tour as a special guest and the host of after show party events, ‘Papa Shango’s Voodoo Party’ and ‘The Godfather’s Pimp Party’.”

Tickets for the shows are available to purchase via Fight Forever’s official website.

Fight Forever @ZackGibson01 @JimmyHavoc @joeshendry @Travis_BanksPW @Flash_Morgan @MKirbyProEgo @Kay_Lee_Ray @Ligero1 @MillieMcKenzie0 @BeaPriestley @JamesDrake_GYT @missviper91 @Iestyn_Rees @iamamirjordan @TheKipSabian @Shasamuels https://t.co/rUaCtWAKZE pic.twitter.com/lnOdSrFVyB

— Fight Forever Wrestling (@fightforeveruk) June 29, 2018

Former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay recently offered a Q&A for his Twitter followers (@WillOspreay) ahead of his Frontline Promotions’ debut show ‘Build Me An Empire’ which takes place tomorrow night from the Stratford Circus in London.

Several topics came up during the Q&A including Will’s all time dream opponent, his favourite New Japan Pro Wrestling bout, who his ideal opponent in WWE would be and much more. Check out the highlights below.

• @notyash1 If you were to join NXT, who would you face & why? – Me & Ricochet as a team Vs Tyler & Trent
• @DRose502 If you were to wrestle any wrestler past or present, who would it be and why? – Eddie Guerrero
• @BondzillaTb Favourite Njpw match? – Okada vs Kenny. All of them
• @bmaheshp1 Who is your favourite wrestler from NXT? – Gargano is like the man
• @juan_rafael12 Why would not you like to go to WWE? – Right now I offer nothing. I wanna be able to say I satisfied myself on the independents & in Japan. Then if I ever went go knowing I can help and not just be another guy
• @jyoonhorseback If you moved up to heavyweight would you change up your wrestling style or would you continue to be a flippy lad? – I’ve changed my style anyway. Look at my first match with Kushida in Invasion Attack to my match with Hiromu in Dominion. I’ve evolved over time. In fact my strikes are now on the same level as my high flying

• @JoshuaVisser Who would you’re ideal opponent be in the WWE? – Gargano or Rollins

  https://twitter.com/WillOspreay/status/1012000700858011649

WWE 205 Live Superstar Hideo Itami will be making his return to Pro Wrestling NOAH when he faces Noamichi Marufuji on September 1st.

The man formerly known as KENTA appeared for Pro Wrestling NOAH over a 13 year span. He won the company’s Junior Heavyweight title 3 times and the GHC World Heavyweight Championship on one occasion.

Itami recently appeared in a pre-taped promo for the Pro Wrestling NOAH live crowd, according to his opponent Marufuji the “pop was so huge that you couldn’t hear the video” so he has posted the direct feed footage to Twitter.

You can check this out via the tweet below. The translation of Itami’s promo is as follows:

“Hello NOAH fans, I’m WWE’s Hideo Itami, formerly KENTA. I’ll be part of Marufuji’s 20th anniversary show on 9/1. It’s been 4 years since I was in a NOAH ring, I’m very excited to see you“

*Credit to Chris Charlton for the transcription

Last summer there were rumors that Itami was going to go back to Japan full-time. The rumors started after Itami lost an NXT Championship match at Takeover: Chicago (the first one). Rumors were then that Itami had discussed giving up on WWE and going back to Japan. He then dispelled those rumors in the segment below which aired on NXT programming last summer.

???????????????????????????????????@HideoItami ????????? pic.twitter.com/lCDliLom1H

— ?? ?? (@noah_marufuji_) June 27, 2018

IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega recently spoke to Tokyo Sports in Japan on a variety of topics including his involvement in the upcoming G1 Climax Tournament.

Due to the ‘block’ structure of the round robin tournament the IWGP Champion will be facing his longtime friend and ‘Golden Lovers’ tag team partner Kota Ibushi. When asked how he felt about facing the ‘Golden Star’ Omega gave the following response:

“Honestly I don’t like it. Six Years ago after the Budokan match, we had an agreement. ‘If we do this again, one of us might die. If it isn’t a bigger match than this, let’s never wrestle a singles match again.’ If it was the G1 final, or the Tokyo Dome main event, that level. But the group selection is random, you can’t help that...”

Omega went on to say; “I don’t want there to be an injury and I don’t want to hurt him. But I am the Champion, and I don’t want to lose in that situation. In all honestly, he’s on a level that he could be a legitimate challenger whether he wins the G1 or not but he wants to earn his spot, that’s the type of guy he is. So he’s going to come at me with all he has.”

New Japan’s G1 Climax Tournament begins on Saturday July 14th and will be available to view on NJPWWorld.com

*Credit to Chris Charlton for the transcription

PROGRESS Wrestling has announced the roster for their upcoming tour of the United States. The Coast to Coast tour will be taking place from August 4th and will be hitting the following cities:

• 4th August – 2300 Arena, Philadelphia (aka The ECW Arena). TICKETS ON SALE MONDAY 28TH MAY AT 12PM ET / 5PM UK 
• 5th August – Melrose Memorial Hall, Melrose, Boston. TICKETS
  
• 7th August – La Boom, New York City. TICKETS ON SALE MONDAY 28TH MAY AT 12PM ET / 5PM UK 
• 9th August – Washington Hall, Seattle. TICKETS ON SALE MONDAY 28TH MAY AT 12PM PT / 8PM UK
• 11th August – Cicero Stadium, Cicero, Chicago TICKETS
  
• 12th August – Monaghan Knights of Columbus Hall, Livonia, Detroit TICKETS

The talent that PROGRESS will be taking ‘across the pond’ for #CoastToCoast are as follows:

• PROGRESS World Champion – Travis Banks (4th, 5th, 7th August only)
• PROGRESS Tag Team Champions – Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson and James Drake)
• PROGRESS Women’s Champion – Jinny (4th, 11th, 12th August only)
• WWE United Kingdom Champion – Pete Dunne 
• NXT Tag Team Champions – Moustache Mountain (Tyler Bate and Trent Seven)
• TK Cooper
• WALTER (9th, 11th, 12th August only)
• ‘Flash’ Morgan Webster
• Mark Haskins
• Jimmy Havoc
• Mark Andrews
• Eddie Dennis
• Jack Sexsmith (7th, 9th, 11th, 12th August only
• CCK (Chris Brookes and Kid Lykos)
• Toni Storm (4th, 11th, 12th August only)

Ticket information is available via the tweet below from PROGRESS co-owner Jim Smallman:

After the video reveal of the @ThisIs_Progress roster, in case you missed anyone here’s a link to the names, the shows they’re on and how to get tickets to all of our shows in the USA. Come see us! https://t.co/xUGSR8OPox

— Jim Smallman – ????????? (@jimsmallman) June 23, 2018

PROGRESS Wrestling has announced the main event for their upcoming Chapter 73 event ‘Fourth Shade of Green’ which will be taking place on Sunday July 15th from the O2 Academy in Birmingham, England.

PROGRESS World Champion Travis Banks will be defending his title against British Strong Style/Moustache Mountain stable member Tyler Bate.

The ‘Kiwi Buzzsaw’ Banks has been a dominant reigning World Champion since his win over WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne in September 2017 having avenged losses to Keith Lee and Matt Riddle whilst Champion. Banks also featured in arguably the best PROGRESS bout of 2017 when he defeated Will Ospreay as part of the Unboxing Live show in December, again to retain his title.

Tyler Bate is of course a name that fans of the WWE United Kingdom specials will know well. The inaugural UK Champion has seen his stock rise exponentially over the past year with performances on WWE’s 205 Live and NXT Takeover where he had arguably the match of the year against Pete Dunne; having said that the momentum that PROGRESS has found since ‘turning’ Banks against the fans (he would say that they turned against him) has been nothing short of phenomenal and when he finally drops the title it will be a huge moment and a chance to coronate a new champion and usher in a new era for the UK based company.

CONFIRMED: @Travis_BanksPW vs @Tyler_Bate at #Chapter73 #FourthShadeOfGreen, Sunday 15th July at @o2academybham. Nice. #ThisIsProgress pic.twitter.com/pLf0otVU46

— PROGRESS Wrestling (@ThisIs_Progress) June 24, 2018

New Japan Pro Wrestling has revealed the official website for the upcoming G1 Climax tournament. The annual two block/round robin tournament is regarded by many as the pinnacle of tournament grappling and we are just 19 days away from the start in Ota City, Tokyo.

Here are the entrants for the 2018 iteration of the tournament:

• Kenny Omega (3 time entrant, 3rd consecutive entry)
• Michael Elgin (4 time entrant, 4th consecutive entry)
• Jay White (G1 Debut)
• Hiroshi Tanahashi (17 time entrant, 17th consecutive entry)
• Togi Makabe (15 time entrant, 15th consecutive entry)
• Juice Robinson (2 time entrant, 2nd consecutive entry)
• Kazuchika Okada (7 time entrant, 7th consecutive entry)
• Hirooki Goto (11 time entrant, 11th consecutive entry)
• Tomohiro Ishii (6 time entrant, 6th consecutive entry)
• Toru Yano (13 time entrant, 12th consecutive entry)
• YOSHI-HASHI (3 time entrant, 3rd consecutive entry)
• Bad Luck Fale (5 time entrant, 5th consecutive entry)
• Tama Tonga (3 time entrant, 3rd consecutive entry)
• Hangman Page (G1 Debut)
• Tetsuya Naito (9 time entrant, 9th consecutive entry)
• EVIL (3 time entrant, 3rd consecutive entry)
• SANADA (3 time entrant, 3rd consecutive entry)
• Minoru Suzuki (8 time entrant, 2nd consecutive entry)
• Zack Sabre Jr. (2 time entrant, 2nd consecutive entry)
• Kota Ibushi (4 time entrant, 2nd consecutive entry)

As we reported recently the full card for the tournament has been released by New Japan, the first night’s action in A Block will feature Hiroshi Tanahashi facing Minoru Suzuki and former IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada battling Jay White. Night 2 will see the first bouts in B Block and Kenny Omega vs Tetsuya Naito and Kota Ibushi vs Zack Sabre Jr are the highlight bouts scheduled.

19 days to go until G1 CLIMAX 28 gets underway?? Check out the new look on the official G1 site and keep coming back for more content! https://t.co/VZk5PreSNe #g128 pic.twitter.com/E1mXbKrdNw

— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) June 25, 2018

Kayfabe Events has announced that WWE/WCW legend Razor Ramon/Scott Hall will be heading to the UK for a special run of speaking dates in November.

The nWo original will be in London on November 14th, Manchester on the 15th, Cardiff on the 16th and Brighton for the final date on the 17th. The final night in Brighton will be closed out with PROGRESS star Chuck Mambo hosting a ‘Beach Party’ event in the RIPTIDE promotion’s hometown of Brighton.

Full details including the confirmed venues for the tour are being announced Wednesday and tickets will be available to purchase at 9am on Friday 29th (GMT).

Kayfabe Events recently held a run of dates with Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart that garnered mainstream media attention in the UK through Sky Sports and Hart did not hold back when discussing his time in the WWE, WCW and beyond…there’s definitely going to be some stories that the ‘Bad Guy’ has to tell.

Other confirmed events for Kayfabe Events include:

• An Evening with TK Cooper – Finchley Tavern July 4th
• The Undead Tea Party Tour with Su Yung – 27th and 28th July
• An Evening with Joseph Park and Abyss – September 1st in Worthing

Tickets information for these and other shows are available to view via the tweet below:

https://twitter.com/KayfabeEvents/status/1011294942910656514