Cody Rhodes has made his final comments before arguably Ring of Honor’s biggest event of the year. Supercard of Honor takes place tonight from the UNO Lakefront Arena in New Orleans and is a co-branded event with New Japan Pro Wrestling. Cody, who has declared himself the ‘Leader’ of the Bullet Club faction will be taking on Kenny Omega, the man who many have felt has been positioned at the top of the NJPW stable since AJ Styles, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson left the company for WWE.

Cody stated on Twitter that his bout tonight will be “the match of the weekend.” With the hype surrounding this NJPW/ROH crossover feud and the in fighting/politics of the Bullet Club stable over the past few months it is difficult to argue that many matches outside of the WWE bubble have as much intrigue as this. This will also be the very first time that the two stars have faced one on one anywhere in the world.

You can order Supercard of Honor via the FITE TV App for $24.99. Full details can be found on FITE’s official website.

Bullet Club is fine

The match of the weekend, I'll prove it#ROHSupercard pic.twitter.com/uasapirtVD

— Cody Rhodes (@CodyRhodes) April 7, 2018

205 General Manager Drake Maverick has given his pick for tonight’s NXT North American Championship Ladder Match. The former TNA/IMPACT and PROGRESS star has touted EC3 as the man to climb the ladder and become the first ever holder of the new title. He stated: “Im rooting for my best friend @therealec3 tonight at @WWENXT #NXTTakeOver as competes to be your FIRST North American Champion.”

NXT General Manager William Regal announced on the March 7th edition of the weekly WWE Network show that the North American Title would be introduced at tonight’s Takeover: New Orleans event. The belt will become the 4th active title on NXT (fifth if you count the sporadically defended United Kingdom title) and tonight’s Ladder Match to determine the first ever Champion will feature: Ricochet, Killian Dain, Lars Sullivan, Velveteen Dream, EC3 and Adam Cole.

https://twitter.com/WWEMaverick/status/982658046135500800

Joey Janela and Game Changer Wrestling hosted the second ever ‘Spring Break’ PPV event last night from New Orleans. Last year’s event during WrestleMania weekend proved a huge hit and featured a vast array of more eclectic wrestling styles and stars from the past, including WCW’s Glacier.

Janela faced The Great Sasuke in the main event of ‘Spring Break 2’ in a great match with a bunch of wild spots, however one of the most talked about incidents happened before the bell when Janela ‘attacked’ wrestling personality Frank The Clown. Frank took to Twitter to respond to Janela’s ‘attack,’ he stated: “Go Figure. The Most talked about moment of Joey Janela’s stupid show yesterday involves me. Also, f*ck Joey Janela & the internet dorks.”

Whilst this is likely part of a worked storyline it is worth checking out the ‘attack’ via the tweet below:

Go figure:

The most talked about moment of @JANELABABY’s stupid show yesterday involves me.

Also, fuck Joey Janela & the internet dorks.

??? https://t.co/DKBeJnKxki

— ? FTC – Frank The Clown ? (@FrankTheClown_) April 7, 2018

PROGRESS Wrestling held the first of their two planned Chapter event shows from New Orleans last night. Chapter 66 ‘Mardi Graps’ took place from the Pontchartrain Convention Center in New Orleans in front of a packed crowd. The show featured the first ever ‘Thunderb*stard’ match to take place outside of UK shores as well as a huge triple threat bout between WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne, 205 Superstar Mark Andrews and ‘Flash’ Morgan Webster. The show was headlined by a World Championship bout between Travis Banks and Shane Strickland. Here are the results:

PROGRESS World Tag Team Title Match – The Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake & Zack Gibson) b. Moustache Mountain (Trent Seven & Tyler Bate) – James Drake pinned Tyler Bate and the GYV successfully defend their World Tag Team titles

Will Ospreay b. Mark Haskins – This match two former PROGRESS World Champions in a ‘dream’ bout type scenario, Ospreay took the pinfall win after hitting the OsCutter

Ringkampf (WALTER & Timothy Thatcher) b. David Starr & Keith Lee (replacing Jack Sexsmith) – Ringkampf took the pinfall win after WALTER hit a Powerbomb on David Starr

Thunderb*stard Match – Jeff Cobb b. Chris Brookes, Joey Janela, Parrow, MJF, Austin Theory & Rickey Shane Page – Cobb hit the Tour of the Islands to gain the pinfall win over Chris Brookes and advance to a PROGRESS World Title match at Chapter 67.

Jinny & Mercedes Martinez b. Shazza McKenzie & Toni Storm – Jinny and Martinez took the win after Martinez pinned McKenzie. Martinez will now face Toni Storm for the PROGRESS Women’s Championship at Chapter 67.

Matt Riddle b. Jimmy Havoc – Riddle won via submission despite interference from Vicky Haskins 

Pete Dunne b. Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster – Dunne took the pinfall win after Andrews hit Webster with a SSP which led to Dunne hitting Andrews with the Bitter End. After the match Eddie Dennis came out to confront Andrews but the 205 Live Superstar left the ring

PROGRESS World Championship Match – Travis Banks b.  Shane Strickland – Banks took the win via pinfall after hitting a ‘Super’ Kiwi Crusher, this was a hellacious bout that left the New Zealand star bloodied. He now faces Jeff Cobb in the main event of Chapter 67.

So that was #chapter66. We leave you with this @trentseven gif to use accordingly. pic.twitter.com/eHw0WLY1RK

— PROGRESS Wrestling (@ThisIs_Progress) April 6, 2018

Revolution Pro Wrestling (Rev Pro) held their now annual Wrestlecon event yesterday at the Sugar Mill, 1021 Convention Center Blvd in New Orleans. This promised to be a stacked card featuring some of the best performers from the UK scene as well as seeing some of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s most well known stars. Kota Ibushi, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Will Ospreay and Minoru Suzuki were on hand for the show and Suzuki-Gun member Zack Sabre Jr defended his British Heavyweight Championship against CHAOS member Tomohiro Ishii. Here are the results:

David Starr b. Martin Stone via pinfall – Starr had his feet on the ropes in a controversial finish

Adam Brooks b. Brian Cage – The Australian star took the win after hitting a low blow, roll up combo

Will Ospreay, Rocky Romero & Chuck Taylor b. KOTA Ibushi, Shane Strickland & Flip Gordon – Ospreay still appeared in this match despite the injuries he sustained last weekend, his team eventually took the win

Minoru Suzuki b. Jeff Cobb – Suzuki took the tap out win after locking in a sleeper

Hiroshi Tanahashi & Juice Robinson b. Aussie Open – The New Japan team defeated the  rising UK scene stars 

British Undisputed Heavyweight Championship Match Tomohiro Ishi b. Zack Sabre Jr – Ishii pins ZSJ to become the NEW British Heavyweight Champion, he will now likely go on to defend this title against Keith Lee at the Epic Encounter event.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay confirmed earlier this week that he would be performing in New Orleans this weekend as part of the massive independent shows surrounding WrestleMania.

The UK sensation took part in a hellacious bout with longtime rival Marty Scurll last weekend as part of New Japan’s Sakura Genesis event which saw him land awkwardly on his head following a One Man Spanish Fly from the ring apron to the floor. The match garnered a 5 Star review from journalist Dave Meltzer.

Ospreay participated in bouts for EVOLVE, Wrestlecon, PROGRESS, Rev Pro and WWN on Thursday and Friday. He has updated fans on Twitter confirming that whilst he is indeed working injured he will honoring his commitments for the rest of this weekend. Check out the tweet below:

You guys clearly know what I’m dealing with. But I will not quit until I complete my weekend of promises.

Thank you for the ovation I love you guys. ? pic.twitter.com/PdFSz0lMHr

— Will Ospreay • ????????? (@WillOspreay) April 6, 2018

UK based promotion RIPTIDE Wrestling has announced the next batch of bouts for their upcoming ‘Spring Break’ event on May 4th.

The Grizzled Young Veterans tag team will be making their way to Brighton to face Adam Chase & A-Kid, the Anti-Fun Police and Kip Sabian with a mystery partner. You may recognise one half of the Grizzled Young Vets in Zack Gibson, he is appearing as part of WWE’s United Kingdom Championship Invitational this weekend and could be challenging for the title this Sunday against Pete Dunne.

Other bouts already announced for this massive show include Wild Boar vs PROGRESS ATLAS Champion WALTER, Jimmy Havoc taking on his protege Jinny, Jack Sexsmith facing 205 Live Superstar Mark Andrews and Chakara, Sierra Loxton and Pro Wrestling: EVE Champion Samii Jayne colliding in a triple threat match.

Tickets for the show are available to purchase now via Ticket Tailor.

https://twitter.com/RIPTIDEwres/status/981576969140744197

https://twitter.com/RIPTIDEwres/status/981870844099080194

Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) has announced that former WWE Tag Team Champion Paul London will no longer be able to appear at their Newcastle show on April 15th due to injury. London was scheduled to challenge for the ICW World Championship against Undisputed Champion BT Gunn.

ICW has now announced the replacement for Newcastle and it has kicked the event up by quite a notch…former PROGRESS World/Tag Team Champion Mark Haskins will now be taking on Gunn for a chance to add the Insane Championship title to his impressive run on top of the UK scene.

Tickets for the event in Newcastle are available to purchase now via Ticketmaster.

https://twitter.com/InsaneChampWres/status/981577227027517445

The announcement of Daniel Bryan’s return to WWE in a competitive capacity has kicked the excitement of the road to WrestleMania into high gear. In previous years, the road to WrestleMania has been a mixed bag, but the late addition of Daniel Bryan to the card has all but guaranteed this year’s show will be one to remember.

The prospect of a healthy Daniel Bryan presents countless ‘dream match’ scenarios. Aside from “I can’t believe this is really happening” battles against likes of The Miz, Shinsuke Nakamura, AJ Styles and Brock Lesnar – we’re taking a look at 3

Jeff Hardy

Jeff Hardy was once touted as the next big megastar in WWE, whilst his run as WWE Champion left a lot to be desired and his personal issues caused a massive rift between himself and the company he is now seemingly back (pending any fallout from his recent legal issues). Although Hardy is technically a RAW Superstar there is definitely sense in moving him over to the Blue brand potentially alongside his ‘Broken’ brother Matt.

Hardy’s experience and penchant for the extreme could mesh well with the more technical style of Bryan, assuming that Bryan will venture more into a mat based style to appease any looming doubts from WWE’s top brass. This could be an extremely intriguing bout between two veteran performers who stood near the top of the mountain in their own ‘eras’ and could be a perfect ‘left field’ bout to give Bryan between some of these mega dream matches.

Neville

Neville

We have not seen the ‘King of The Cruiserweights’ for a long time…but there is no reason to expect anything other than a return to a WWE ring for the UK Superstar in the near future. This could be great way to transition Neville into the ‘Heavyweight’ division, giving him the opportunity to over-power the beloved Bryan and continue to establish his villainous persona on the main roster shows of either Smackdown or RAW.

This could be a technical masterclass from two stars who have worked across the UK, Europe and Japan and could essentially elevate Neville to the ranks of upper mid carder…somewhere he could thrive.

Pete Dunne

The WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne has a lot in common with NXT General Manager William Regal, a man who had some exceptional matches with Daniel Bryan in his career. Whilst the comparisons to Regal are well earned it is important to remember that the young UK Superstar has a huge amount of upside potential and has been crafting his ‘Bruiserweight’ persona across the United Kingdom for PROGRESS, ICW and Rev Pro et al for the past several years in his own right.

This has ‘technical masterpiece’ written all over it, a real chance to show that Dunne can ‘go’ on the biggest stages and having him compete against a star the stature of Bryan would do wonders for his career. Out of the three matches listed this would be the least likely but certainly the most important in terms of helping to build upon the creation of a new star.

Who would you like Bryan to face? Let us know in the comments.

EVOLVE, PWG and PROGRESS Star Keith Lee tweeted earlier today to confirm his status following a car accident. The man who asks you to ‘Bask in His Glory’ stated: “Yes. I was in a car accident earlier today. Thank you all for the concern and support. But There is NO WAY I miss ANY matches this weekend!”

Lee is currently scheduled to face NXT Superstar Kassius Ohno at WrestleMania Axxess amid rumors that he will heading to the company in the near future, Lee has denied that he has signed a contract. Another man who will be facing Ohno this weekend will be WALTER, who is also slated to be heading to WWE in the near future but again has denied that a contract has been signed.

Keith Lee will also be appearing at several independent events over the weekend, make sure you’re following him on Twitter for further updates:

Just wanted to chime in. Yes. I was in a car accident earlier today. Thank you for all the concern and support.

But there is NO WAY I miss ANY matches this weekend!

And for further positivity, @DonovanDijak found me a decent place to eat! Thanks bro! Off to Bourbon St.

— Loving Lee (@RealKeithLee) April 5, 2018

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay has confirmed that he will be performing in New Orleans this weekend as part of the massive independent shows surrounding WrestleMania.

The UK sensation took part in a hellacious bout with longtime rival Marty Scurll last weekend as part of New Japan’s Sakura Genesis event which saw him land awkwardly on his head following a One Man Spanish Fly from the ring apron to the floor. The match garnered a 5 Star review from journalist Dave Meltzer.

You can catch the ‘Aerial Assassin’ at the following events this weekend:

• April 5th: Evolve & WrestleCon
• April 6th: PROGRESS, RPW & WWN
• April 7th: PROGRESS & CZW

Any fans attending any of the shows I’m on a have so much merch including the “Ospreay vs Louisiana” shirt.

Come over say hello and help me pay the fines ?

— Will Ospreay • ????????? (@WillOspreay) April 4, 2018

I will fight. #NOLA pic.twitter.com/JzerrdatSe

— Will Ospreay • ????????? (@WillOspreay) April 3, 2018

WWE announced earlier this week that Axxess would feature Four Invitational tournaments taking place over three days: Thursday 5th to Saturday 7th and would feature stars from across WWE’s NXT, 205 Live and United Kingdom rosters. The winners of these tournaments would go on to face their respective title’s Champions on WrestleMania Sunday.

One of the more interesting inclusions can be found in the WWE United Kingdom Championship Invitational, which sees UK star Zack Gibson making his way to NOLA and WWE for the first time as an announced Superstar.

Gibson is one of the most well respected performers in the United Kingdom, his run for the now defunct 5 Star Wrestling arguably stole the show on every live televised programme and his performances for PROGRESS, Futureshock, OTT and ICW have made him one of the most in demand wrestlers across England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales…in fact Gibson challenged for the United Kingdom Championship earlier this year against Pete Dunne for Futureshock Wrestling.

The other names announced for the UK Invitational are as follows:

• Mark Andrews
• Lio Rush
• Buddy Murphy
• Lince Dorado
• Raul Mendoza
• Dan Matha
• Drew Gulak

You can check out Gibson’s reaction below:

https://twitter.com/ZackGibson01/status/980907815224082433

Irish and UK based promotion Over The Top (OTT) Wrestling has announced the main event for their stacked Scrappermania IV card that takes place on May 12th from the National Stadium in Dublin, Ireland.

The OTT Heavyweight Champion and member of the WWE United Kingdom roster Jordan Devlin will be putting his title on the line against New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Zack Sabre Jr. Whilst ZSJ is predominately known for this appearances across the UK scene his recent run in NJPW and bout for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship has pushed him into another tier of superstar, garnering him worldwide acclaim. Devlin, who was trained in Ireland by mentor and former WWE Universal Champion Finn Balor was one of the featured stars in the WWE United Kingdom Championship tournament. He is expected to return to the roster when the WWE returns to the UK in December this year.

Here’s the announced matches for May 12th:

#ScrapperMania
Main Event
OTT Title Match
Jordan Devlin Vs Zack Sabre Jr
May 12th National Stadium Dublin
Tickets https://t.co/9lbJjlDekS #OTT pic.twitter.com/YVHVJDNZUH

— OTT WRESTLING (@OTT_wrestling) April 2, 2018

PROGRESS has released a brand new Original feature on UK Wrestling icon Doug Williams.

As well as being featured on shows across the UK and Europe over the past 25 years, Doug has been an X-Division, TNA Television, TNA World Tag Team, IWGP Tag Team and Ring of Honor Pure Champion.

The film entitled ‘Tightrope’ is available to view now on YouTube and it focuses on Doug’s incredible career during an interview with PROGRESS co-owner Glen Joseph. It follows Williams before and during an independent show in the UK leading up to a bout with former PROGRESS World Champion Mark Haskins. If you’re a fan of UK wrestling then this is an absolute MUST SEE. Check it out via the tweet below:

A #ProgressOriginal Film: Doug Williams – Tightrope https://t.co/UkLlEFunoR

— PROGRESS Wrestling (@ThisIs_Progress) April 2, 2018

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay successfully defended his title against longtime rival Marty Scurll at this past Sunday’s Sakura Genesis event for New Japan Pro Wrestling. Ospreay took a relentless beating during the match, including injuring his neck during a Spanish Fly off of the ring apron and sustaining a deep cut that bled throughout the final stages of the bout.

Ospreay has taken to Twitter to update fans on his condition, he is expected to be joining some of the bigger independent shows surrounding next weekend’s WrestleMania show in New Orleans, including events for PROGRESS, Rev Pro and EVOLVE. Check out his full comments below:

Hey guys I’m ok. But I might not be fit to compete for NOLA. I’ll update you once I know more.

— Will Ospreay • ????????? (@WillOspreay) April 1, 2018

Back at my hotel now. Time can only tell. Thanks for the messages, can’t help but tell you how much I love you guys.

P.S I could really do without the whole “I told you so” or “This is why” ? pic.twitter.com/kAPqmJCFFR

— Will Ospreay • ????????? (@WillOspreay) April 1, 2018

Pro Wrestling: EVE has announced a brand new promotion that will be focused on establishing newer female stars in the United Kingdom. Dubbed ‘SHEVOLUTION’ the first event will be taking place on Sunday June 10th from EVE’s spiritual home, the Resistance Gallery in Bethnal Green, London.

Tickets for the event (known as Stage One) are available to purchase via the company’s official site and are priced at just £10.

EVE has issued the following release on the brand new venture:

Pro-Wrestling:EVE launches exciting new women’s wrestling brand SHEVOLUTION! So… What is SHEVOLUTION?

https://twitter.com/ProWrestlingEVE/status/980470883348369410

New Japan Pro Wrestling has released the classic bout between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura from 2016’s Wrestle Kingdom 10 show for free on YouTube/NJPW World.

This was the first ever singles encounter between AJ and Shinsuke, and it would end up being their only match together for New Japan. Both men reportedly handed in their notice to New Japan prior to this event, AJ appeared for WWE at the Royal Rumble later that month and Shinsuke debuted in NXT against Sami Zayn over Wrestlemania weekend.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HajGBj3uQiE

This past weekend saw UK promotion Fight Club: Pro hold their biggest ever events. The 3 day Dream Tag Team Invitational (DTTI) took place in Manchester, Wolverhampton and Birmingham’s NEC arena to a huge attendance on each night.

The second night of the weekender took place at Manchester’s Academy One venue and featured a DTTI bout between Moustache Mountain (Trent Seven & Tyler Bate) and Gentleman’s Club (Chuck Taylor & Orange Cassidy) which clocked in at 71 minutes and 25 seconds making it the longest ‘traditional’ tag team match in recorded history. There are several tag matches that exceed this time however they are all 8 or 16 man bouts.

The two teams agreed to make the match a ‘Falls Count Anywhere’ contest and began to fight outside of the arena and into Manchester itself…they returned around intermission and sold merchandise briefly before again continuing the match. One of the Gentleman’s Club members ‘Swamp Monster’ appeared to help the team but this turned out to be WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne who proceeded to beat down the GC and help his British Strong Style stablemates get the win and advance in the tournament.

You can see just a small portion of the chaos that Moustache Mountain and GC caused below:

Take a look at some more footage of the Falls Count Anywhere match between #MoustacheMountain (@Tyler_Bate & @trentseven) and #GentlemansClub (@SexyChuckieT & @orangecassidy). They brawled all over Manchester for an incredible 71 minutes 25 seconds! #DTTI pic.twitter.com/ekCyn7Nxw5

— Fight Club: PRO (@Fightclubpro) April 1, 2018

https://twitter.com/YaBoy__KJ/status/980168386373193728?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Flastwordonprowrestling.com%2F2018%2F03%2F31%2F71-minute-tag-match-breaks-record-at-fight-club-pro%2F&tfw_creator=Sharpshooter519

New Japan has announced the top matches for their upcoming ‘Wrestling Dontaku’ tour which begins on 4/23. This yearly tour usually determines the top bouts for the major Dominion show that will be taking place June 9th and will once again emanate from the historic Osaka Jo Hall.

Arguably the biggest match that will be taking place is the Day 2 main event between two of New Japan’s biggest stars: Kazuchika Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi. These two men have one of the most high profile rivalries in NJPW history and have faced each other on the biggest stages that Japanese wrestling has to offer, a collision between Tanahashi and arguably the man whose career he helped make in Okada could be considered a MOTYC if the stars align.

Here is the full schedule for the tour:

Road to Wrestling Dontaku (April 23)

• Six Man Tag Team Match: Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & EVIL vs. Minoru Suzuki & Killer Elite Squad
• IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (c) vs. Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI

Road to Wrestling Dontaku (April 24)

• Six Man Tag Team Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto & Gedo
• IWGP US Heavyweight Championship Match: Jay White (c) vs. David Finlay

Road to Wrestling Dontaku (April 27)

• Special Tag Team Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi & KUSHIDA vs. Kazuchika Okada & Will Ospreay
• NEVER Openweight Championship: Hirooki Goto (c) vs. Juice Robinson

Wrestling Hinokuni 2018 (April 29)

• Singles Match: BUSHI vs. El Desperado
• Singles Match: Hiromu Takahashi vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
• IWGP Tag Team Championship: SANADA & EVIL (c) vs. Killer Elite Squad
• IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Minoru Suzuki (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito

Wrestling Dontaku 2018 Day 1 (May 3)

• NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship: Bad Luck Fale & Guerrillas of Destiny (c) vs. The Young Bucks & Marty Scurll
• Singles Match: Kota Ibushi vs. Cody
• Singles Match: Kenny Omega vs. Hangman Page

Wrestling Dontaku 2018 Day 2 (May 4)

• Bullet Club vs. Bullet Club 10-Man: Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, Bad Luck Fale & Guerrillas of Destiny vs. Cody, Hangman Page, Marty Scurll & The Young Bucks
• IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Will Ospreay (c) vs. KUSHIDA
• IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

credit to r/njpw for the lineup

?4?24?????????????????????
?????????????vs???????????US???????????
?????????vs???????????https://t.co/HWu6JR8O7S#njdontaku #njpw pic.twitter.com/Vj3KPQoBR2

— ?????????????? (@njpw1972) April 2, 2018

PROGRESS Wrestling has announced the 8 men that will be taking part in their first ever ‘Thunderb*stard’ match to take place outside of the United Kingdom on April 6th.

The WrestleMania weekend show is already shaping up to be one of the can not miss events of the whole weekend and now 8 of the finest performers on the independent scene will be facing to determine the next Number 1 contender for either PROGRESS’ World, Tag or ATLAS title.

The Thunderb*stard match is one of PROGRESS’ biggest bouts of the year and this will be the first time that the contest has ever taken place outside of UK soil, the rules are fairly simple and PROGRESS has them outlined in the tweet below:

New wrestler every 2 minutes, elimination by pinfall, submission or DQ.
https://t.co/bDW5y5HL5S

— PROGRESS Wrestling (@ThisIs_Progress) March 30, 2018

The 8 men confirmed for the match are:

• Austin Theory
• Joey Janela
• Jeff Cobb
• Rickey Shane Page
• Chris Brookes
• Darby Allin
• MJF
• Parrow

#Chapter66: The 1st THUNDERBASTARD to take place outside the UK – @austintheory1 vs @JANELABABY vs @RealJeffCobb vs @RickeyShanePage vs @OBEYBrookes vs @DarbyAllin vs @The_MJF vs @Parrow_! Winner earns a title match of their choice! https://t.co/7cexAZv3PD #ThisIsProgress pic.twitter.com/Dds5A97C0H

— PROGRESS Wrestling (@ThisIs_Progress) March 30, 2018

Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) has announced that Undisputed Champion BT Gunn will be putting his ICW World Championship on the line against Mikey Whiplash in a DeathMatch for the main event of Barramania IV.

BT Gunn holds both the ICW World and Zero-G Championships, he gained the World Title in the main event of ICW’s biggest ever event Fear & Loathing X when he defeated then Champion Joe Coffey, successfully defending his Zero-G title in the process.

The annual Barramania event will be taking place once again at the Barrowlands in Glasgow, Scotland. As well as this massive main event ICW has announced that the following matches will be rounding out the card on April 29th:

https://twitter.com/InsaneChampWres/status/980567005299429376

New Japan Pro Wrestling has announced the dates for their annual G1 Climax tournament, the 2018 iteration will be taking place from Saturday July 14th to Sunday August 12th. NJPW released the following statement on their NJPW1972.com English language site regarding the dates, arenas and tag line for the 28th G1 Climax:

The G1 Climax is the most physically and emotionally demanding month for the creme de la creme of professional wrestling. Its eventual victor has to have the will to outlast and overcome the best competition in the world night in and night out, a sentiment that is captured by this year’s tagline:

G1 Climax 28: Be A Survivor!

This year, the G1 Climax starts in Tokyo’s Ota Ward in the Ota General Gymnasium on Saturday July 14 and Sunday July 15. Then, it’s up north to Hokkaido Monday July 16 and Hokkai Kita Yell.

We then go back to Tokyo for three nights in Korakuen from Thursday July 19 through to Saturday the 21st, before a first for the G1 Climax in Hachioji’s Esforta Arena on Sunday July 22.

Osaka always sees some of the most explosive moments in the G1, and now there’s double the excitement as we rock Edion arena in Osaka for two nights August 4th and 5th. Finally, for the first time in G1 history, and the first time in 14 years for New Japan, we head to the Nippon Budokan for three nights from Friday August 10 to Sunday August 12.

Here are the full dates for the tournament, the shows that will be aired on NJPWWorld.com have not yet been confirmed:

• Saturday July 14 • Tokyo • Ota General Gymnasium (opening day)
• Sunday July 15 • Tokyo • Ota General Gymnasium
• Monday July 16 • Hokkaido • Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center Hokkai Kita Yell
• Thursday July 19 • Tokyo • Korakuen Hall
• Friday July 20 • Tokyo • Korakuen Hall
• Saturday July 21 • Tokyo • Korakuen Hall
• Sunday July 22 • Tokyo • Hachioji Esforta Arena
• Thursday July 26 • Niigata • Aore Nagaoka
• Friday July 27 • Shizuoka • Act City Hamamatsu
• Saturday July 28 • Aichi • Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium
• Monday July 30 • Kagawa • Takamatsu City General Gymnasium Arena 1
• Wednesday August 1 • Kagoshima • Kagoshima Arena
• Thursday August 2 • Fukuoka • Fukuoka Public Gymnasium
• Saturday August 4 • Osaka • Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium (Edion Arena Osaka)
• Sunday August 5 • Osaka • Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium (Edion Arena Osaka)
• Wednesday August 8 • Kanagawa • Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium
• Friday August 10 • Tokyo • Nippon Budokan
• Saturday August 11 • Tokyo • Nippon Budokan
• Sunday August 12 • Tokyo • Nippon Budokan (Finals)

The battle lines have been drawn for G1 Climax 28! From two days in Ota, to two explosive Osaka nights and a Budokan climax, Who will BE A SURVIVOR?#njpwhttps://t.co/oRQnjGpjgF pic.twitter.com/WLVIYDNzSU

— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) April 2, 2018

UK based promotion RIPTIDE Wrestling has announced that they will be hosting their first ever RUMBLE event this June.

The upstart promotion from Brighton, England have been building a huge underground following ever since their first event in June of 2017 (Beers. Bands. Wrestling). With a unique presentation style and some of the best names available on the UK and European independent scene RIPTIDE look set to build upon their already impressive following way before even their first anniversary as a company.

No names have yet been announced for the ‘RIPTIDE RUMBLE’ but you can expect company regulars such as Chris Brookes, Kid Lykos, Chief Deputy Dunne, Drew Parker, Jimmy Havoc, British Strong Style (Pete Dunne & Trent Seven) and Aussie Open to potentially make an appearance.

If you’ve never had the chance to watch a RIPTIDE bout then check out the match below from BRIGHTON SPIRIT between #CCK member Chris Brookes and Jonah Rock:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I9XW3mgGXo&t=351s

https://twitter.com/RIPTIDEwres/status/980480110041161728

PROGRESS Wrestling will be heading to the United States once again for WrestleMania weekend but on this occasion their shows will be taking extra prevalence. This year will mark the first time that PROGRESS has hosted ‘Chapter’ events outside of the United Kingdom and as such some absolutely huge matches have been announced for New Orleans.

These shows will be the only place to see Mark Andrews, Trent Seven, Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne outside of any WWE contracted events that they will be working, so this is an absolute must see for any independent wrestling fans making their way to New Orleans.

April 6th will be the date for Chapter 66: Mardi Graps and April 7th for Chapter 67: Bourbon is Also a Biscuit. The following matches have been announced for the two shows:

April 6th

• WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne vs ‘Flash’ Morgan Webster vs Mark Andrews
• PROGRESS World Championship Match – Travis Banks (c) vs Shane Strickland
• Ringkampf vs Sexy Starr
• Jinny & Mercedes Martinez vs PROGRESS Women’s Champion Toni Storm & Shazza Mckenzie

April 7th

• PROGRESS World Championship Number 1 Contenders Match – ATLAS Champion WALTER vs Zack Sabre Jr

#Chapter66: @PeteDunneYxB vs @Flash_Morgan vs @MandrewsJunior on 6th April in New Orleans! Tickets: https://t.co/7cexAZv3PD #ThisIsProgress #MardiGraps #ProgressNOLA pic.twitter.com/elBKz8cQc0

— PROGRESS Wrestling (@ThisIs_Progress) March 27, 2018

#Chapter67: @WalterAUT – unbeaten since Sept, 2x Atlas Champ, eyes on World Title. @zacksabrejr – unbeaten since Sept, best technical wrestler in the world, never been PROGRESS Champion. 7 April, we decide a No.1 Contender. https://t.co/7cexAZv3PD #ThisIsProgress #ProgressNOLA pic.twitter.com/Fthp2XbkPQ

— PROGRESS Wrestling (@ThisIs_Progress) March 28, 2018

Mae Young Classic competitor and current reigning Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) Women’s Champion Viper/Piper Niven recently faced fellow Mae Young Classic star and Stardom SWA Champion Toni Storm in a bout for their aforementioned titles.

https://twitter.com/InsaneChampWres/status/978980382778458115