NJPW conducted their first training dojo camp in March 2018 in Los Angeles. Applicants can learn ‘Japanese wrestling techniques’ from pro-wrestlers in the camp.
Early last year, NJPW President Taakaki Kidani, told Tokyo Sports that opening a training center in Los Angeles was part of the promotion’s strategy to expand into the country further.
NJPW star Kenny Omega appears as a character named Cody in the live action trailer for Capcom’s newest trailer showcasing Cody’s moveset in the game Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition.
You can check out the trailer below:
Cody is a character from the Final Fight series which has been now introduced over to Street Fighter since Street Fighter Alpha 3 and Super Street Fighter IV. The character, who is the mayor of Metro City will be available as a DLC (downloadable content) addon.
Kenny Omega plays Cody in the live action part of the trailer who receives a taunting phone call from a voice very familiar…
The Cody Rhodes and Young Bucks’ self-funded “All In” event which sold out in 30 minutes is going to be the biggest show in the independent wrestling scene. Fans of wrestling are looking forward to the event which will take place at September 1. Major names from the wrestling world have been confirmed for the show, but only one big match has been announced and we don’t have a full match card yet.
At the Ring of Honor: United show in London, Cody Rhodes was interrupted by the current NWA World Champion, Nick Aldis. Both of them are set to face each other at All In, but Aldis wanted plans to change a little.
Cody is going to challenge the Ring of Honor World Champion Dalton Castle for his title at ROH Best in the World next month. Aldis wants his match with Cody to be a title for title match if Cody wins the ROH World Championship.
Cody agreed to Aldis’ stipulation of the match and looks like it will be a title for title match at All In if Cody is able to win the ROH World Championship from Dalton Castle.
New Japan Pro Wrestling’s premier tournament for the Junior Heavyweight Division has now begun. The 2018 iteration features some of the finest high flying and technically gifted athletes on the planet and should present some top tier bouts over the next few weeks.
Here are the results from Night 5 of the tournament which featured the combatants in Block A:
Tiger Mask b. BUSHI – Following two Double Underhook Suplexes (one from the top rope) Tiger hit a double a Tiger Suplex for the pin
Yoshinobu Kanemaru b. ACH – Kanemaru spit the whiskey mist at ACH and hit a brainbuster for a nearfall which was then followed with Deep Impact for the win
Flip Gordon b. Taiji Ishimori – Flip attempted a 450 but Ishimori got his knees up. Ishimori then went for a suplex, but Flip reversed this into an O’Connor Roll to take the win
Will Ospreay b. YOH – The finish came when Ospreay hit a standing Spanish Fly for a nearfall, he then followed with the Storm Breaker for the pinfall win
Here are the results from Night 6 of the tournament which featured the combatants in Block B:
Marty Scurll b. Chris Sabin – Scurll took a flip bump off a big lariat and then popped back up and hit the Black Plague for the win
Ryusuke Taguchi b. KUSHIDA – Taguchi caught KUSHIDA early attempting a front facelock and then small packaged him for the extremely quick upset
SHO b. El Desperado – SHO hit Powerbomb Lungblower for a nearfall, he then hit a lariat and a Shock Arrow for the pinfall win
Dragon Lee b. Hiromu Takahashi – WATCH THIS MATCH, anyway Lee hit a standing Spanish Fly for a nearfall and followed this up with a Dragon Driver for the win…incredible bout
AXS TV sent in word that they will be airing a live broadcast of NJPW’s upcoming G1 Special In San Francisco on Saturday night, July 7th at 8pm ET.
Below is the official press release, including a quote from AXS TV Fights CEO Andrew Simon .
AXS TV TO LIVE BROADCAST NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING’S THIRD U.S. EVENT, THE ‘G1 SPECIAL IN SAN FRANCISCO,’ ON SATURDAY, JULY 7 AT 8pE/5pP
‘G1 SPECIAL IN SAN FRANCISCO’ Marks AXS TV’s Third Live NJPW Broadcast
10,000 Fans Expected at the Historic Cow Palace
Los Angeles (May 25, 2018) – AXS TV announced today that it will exclusively live broadcast New Japan Pro Wrestling’s third U.S. event—the G1 SPECIAL IN SAN FRANCISCO—on Saturday, July 7 at 8pE/5pP. The G1 SPECIAL continues the network’s partnership with the fast-growing wrestling promotion and its Japanese broadcaster TV Asahi, building on the success of AXS TV’s presentation of STRONG STYLE EVOLVED in March 2018 and G1 SPECIAL IN USA in July 2017, along with its award-winning Friday Night NJPW series.
The event marks NJPW’s most ambitious foray into the U.S. market to date, with a crowd of over 10,000 expected at the historic Cow Palace in Daly City, California. Wrestling Hall of Famer Jim Ross and former UFC Heavyweight Champion and NJPW veteran Josh Barnett will call the action ringside as the best wrestlers in the world, including “The Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada, Kenny Omega, Tetsuya Naito, Hiroshi Tanahashi, enter the ring at the G1 SPECIAL IN SAN FRANCISCO.
“As NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING continues their U.S. expansion, we are proud to provide a platform for NJPW and TV Asahi to bring their electrifying events to as many fans as possible through our live, primetime broadcasts,” said AXS TV FIGHTS CEO Andrew Simon. “The Cow Palace has a rich history of major pro wrestling events and we are excited to continue that tradition with our presentation of the G1 SPECIAL IN SAN FRANCISCO.”
Tickets to the live event are available at www.ticketmaster.com.
New Japan Pro Wrestling’s premier tournament for the Junior Heavyweight Division has now begun. The 2018 iteration features some of the finest high flying and technically gifted athletes on the planet and should present some top tier bouts over the next few weeks.
Here are the results from Night 4 of the tournament which featured the combatants in Block B:
SHO b. Chris Sabin– SHO took the win after hitting then package piledriver and getting the pinfall
Dragon Lee b. Ryusuke Taguchi – Taguchi had an ankle lock applied but Lee escaped and hit the Desuncadora for the win
KUSHIDA b. Marty Scurll – Great match, KUSHIDA hit a a knee trembler and Back to the Future to secure the win
El Desperado b. Hiromu Takahashi – Another one for the ‘shock’ column, Desperado attempted to hit low blows on Takahashi multiple times, after distracting the referee for the third time in the match he followed up by low blowing Takahashi and hitting the Guitara De Angel…but Takahashi kicked out. Desperado followed up with an Angel’s Wings for the three count and the win
Earlier today at Night Four of New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) BOTSJ), Tetsuya Naito and BUSHI defeated Tiger Mask and Toa Henare in Tag Team action.
After the match the lights went out and Chris Jericho appeared on the screen and cut an expletive-filled promo on Naito ahead of their clash at Dominion for the Intercontinental Title.
“Naito, I read all of the things you’re saying about me,” Jericho said. “I know how you really feel and listen, you are one of the greatest performers in the world today. One of the biggest stars in NJPW, but to me you mean as much as this turtle.
“Naito, I’m gonna f— you up! I’m going to take your Intercontinental Championship from you, not because you wanted it, you don’t want it, you’re too tranquilo. I’m not tranquilo,” Jericho scoffed. “I’m f—— crazy! I’m gonna show you just how crazy I can be at Dominion on June 9. I’ve been waiting for six months to get my hands on your stupid filthy head. Yeah, Los Ingobernables de Japon. Kiss my f—– ass!
“You’re the best New Japan has to offer, but I’ve seen pieces of s— like you come and go, year after year, and guess what? Chris Jericho is still here,” Jericho continued. “The Alpha is still here. … I’m gonna make your famous Naito, when I beat your f—– ass at Dominion, take the Intercontinental Championship away from you, away from those filthy animals in Japan and take it back to the United States where it belongs. Be careful what you wish for junior because it’s going to come true. I’ll see you on June 9th at Dominion, f— face!”
Afterwards the camera went back to Naito, who was seemingly taking a nap on the mat before cutting a promo in Japanese. A fan on Twitter translated Naito’s promo:
Naito says that he half expected Jericho to show up.. guess he’s occupado. It was a pretty foul mouthed message but rude of whoever played it too: this is the time to celebrate the Juniors and that’s where the spotlight should be. #njbosj
New Japan Pro Wrestling’s premier tournament for the Junior Heavyweight Division has now begun. The 2018 iteration features some of the finest high flying and technically gifted athletes on the planet and should present some top tier bouts over the next few weeks.
Here are the results from Night 2 of the tournament which featured the combatants in Block B:
Dragon Lee b. SHO – Lee took the win after grabbing an arm and hitting the Desnucadora for the pin
El Desperado b. Ryusuke Taguchi – Desperado hit Taguchi with a low blow kick whilst the referee’s back was turned and picked up the pinfall victory
Chris Sabin b. KUSHIDA – Sabin took what could be considered a shock win after hitting an All Hail Sabin and gaining the pinfall
Hiromu Takahashi b. Marty Scurll – Hiromu took the win in a fantastic main event by making Scurll pass out in a Triangle Choke
Fire Pro Wrestling will be arriving on Playstation 4 this summer. The critically acclaimed game was already released on PC back in December 2017 and now the New Japan Pro Wrestling affiliated game will be making the jump to the PS4 on August 9th in Japan and an as yet undisclosed Summer date in the US and Europe.
Fire Pro Wrestling is the popular 2D wrestling franchise that dates back to the late 1980’s. Up until the NJPW partnership, the Fire Pro games never featured officially licensed wrestlers. Instead, the developers focused on addictive gameplay mechanics while the robust creation suite allowed players to recreate famous wrestlers.
Fire Pro Wrestling World for PS4 will feature licensed NJPW wrestlers, their actual move sets and for the first time, a Young Lion story mode.
Japanese wrestling commentator Chris Charlton recently posted translated updates from Fire Pro officials which included the following updates:
There will be 39 Official New Japan Pro Wrestling stars in the latest update
Management mode will be released following the PS4 Launch
A Junior Heavyweight focused campaign mode is in the works
After PS4 Fire Pro World and the NJPW update, next content will be management and a junior heavyweight focused campaign. https://t.co/h7Hn91JLKt
Revolution Pro Wrestling (Rev Pro) have announced more names for the upcoming Strong Style Evolved UK events taking place on June 30th/July 1st in Milton Keynes and Manchester respectively.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay, Taichi, Yuji Nagata, and Toru Yano will be joining the already announced leader of the Suzuki-Gun stable Minoru Suzuki, Bullet Club’s ‘New Bone Soldier’ Taiji Ishimori, Rev Pro British Heavyweight Champion Tomohiro Ishii and IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada.
Fans hoping to see the likes of Kenny Omega at the shows are sadly out of luck, he confirmed recently that he will not be heading to the UK for SSE. More names are expected to be announced for the shows in the coming weeks and we will update here on the site as soon as news becomes available.
Tickets for the first Strong Style Evolved shows outside of the United States are available to purchase via the official Rev Pro website.
IWGP Jr Heavyweight Champion will be in action June 30/July 1 #SSEUK
New Japan Pro Wrestling’s premier tournament for the Junior Heavyweight Division has now begun. The 2018 iteration features some of the finest high flying and technically gifted athletes on the planet and should present some top tier bouts over the next few weeks.
Here are the results from Night 1 of the tournament which featured the combatants in Block A:
Preliminary (Non-Tournament) Match Results
Chris Sabin and Ren Narita b. KUSHIDA and Shota Umino – Sabin hit Umino with the Cradle Shock to secure the win for his team
SHO and YOSHI-HASHI b. Dragon Lee and Tomoyuki Oka – YOSHI-HASHI submitted Oka with the butterfly lock to win the bout for his team
Minoru Suzuki and Desperado b. Ryusuke Taguchi and Toa Henare – Suzuki Henare with the Gotch piledriver to win the match for his team
EVIL and Hiromu Takahashi b. Marty Scurll and Chase Owens – EVIL made Owens submit with the Banshee muzzle the secure the win for his team
A Block Results
Tiger Mask b. Yoshinobu Kanemaru – Tiger Mask took the shock win via pinfall after rolling up Kanemaru
ACH b. Flip Gordon – This was Flip Gordon’s debut in the BOSJ and he lost after ACH hit the Cradle DDT and secured the pinfall win
YOH b. BUSHI – BUSHI hit a Canadian Destroyer and attempted to hit the MX…YOH pulled off a Cradle to grab the shock win
Taiji Ishimori b. Will Ospreay – IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Ospreay attempted the Oscutter which was reveresed into Ishimori’s new finisher: The Bloody Cross (Suplex into a Lungblower) which scored him the pinfall win. The crowd reacted in a big way to the returning star’s win
Leader of the Los Ingobernables stable, former IWGP Heavyweight Champion and reigning IWGP Intercontinental Champion Tetsuya Naito is set to face Chris Jericho as part of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s upcoming Dominion event on June 9th at the iconic Osaka-Jo Hall. This will be Jericho’s first bout for New Japan since his show-stealing match against Kenny Omega at this year’s January 4th Wrestle Kingdom show in the Tokyo Dome and the seeds were sown for this clash way back on January 5th as part of the New Year Dash event.
Speaking on his feud with Jericho with Tokyo Sports, Naito stated that “Jericho lost at Wrestle Kingdom 12, attacked me unprovoked 1/5 (at New Year Dash). He’s not interested in the (Intercontinental) title, he’s interested in me. This can be a non title match.” He went on to state that “Even just the value of Naito transcends the belt, and Jericho is also world famous worldwide.”
The already stacked event will also feature the fourth instalment of Kazuchika Okada and Kenny Omega’s critically acclaimed series, the two men will face in a 2 out of 3 falls match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and the whole show will be available to view with English language commentary on NJPWWorld.com.
New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament kicks off tomorrow from Korakuen Hall. The tournament will run until June 4th, when the final night will once again be held in Korakuen Hall.
Tomorrow’s main event will feature the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, Will Ospreay, take on Taiji Ishimori.
Best of the Super Juniors Night 1 Lineup
Shota Umino & Kushida vs Ren Narita & Chris Sabin
Tomoyuki Oka & Dragon Lee vs Yoshi-Hashi & Sho
Ryusuke Taguchi & Toa Henare vs El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki
Hiromu Takahashi & Evil vs Marty Scurll & Chase Owens
BOSJ 25 A Block
Tiger Mask vs Yoshinobu Kanemaru
BOSJ 25 A Block
ACH vs Flip Gordon
BOSJ 25 A Block
Yoh vs Flip Gordon
BOSJ 25 A Block
Will Ospreay vs Taiji Ishimori
Night 2 of the tournament runs on Saturday and will feature wrestlers from the B Block.
Best of the Super Juniors 25 Night 2 Lineup
Night 2 of the tournament will see Marty Scurll and Hiromu Takahashi in the main event.
Shota Umino vs Ren Narita
Tomoyuki Oka, Tiger Mask, and ACH vs Yoshi-Hashi, Yoh, and Will Ospreay
Toa Henare & Flip Gordon vs Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Minoru Suzuki
Bushi & Sanada vs Taiji Ishimori & Chase Owens
BOSJ 25 B Block
Dragon Lee vs Sho
BOSJ 25 A Block
Ryusuke Taguchi vs El Desperado
BOSJ 25 A Block
Kushida vs Chris Sabin
BOSJ 25 A Block Hiromu Takahashi vs Marty Scurll
There are several possible stories to develop out of this year’s tournament. Kushida has won two of the last three tournaments with only two other wrestlers in history having won the tournament three times.
Current IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, Will Ospreay, won the tournament in 2016. Kushida and Ospreay are set up in different blocks this year and could meet in the finals again this year as they did in 2017.
Tell us who you think will win the 25th edition of the Best of the Super Juniors Tournament:
New Japan Pro Wrestling has announced the signing of the company’s first ever non-Japanese President. Dutch businessperson, Harold Meij, is the former Vice President of Coca-Cola Japan. He was born in the Netherlands but spent his childhood in Japan and is fluent in the language.
Meij recently took part in an interview with Japanese language media outlet, Nikkei.com. Noted NJPW author, Chris Charlton, provided some translated quotes from the article.
Google translate offered more insight into Meij’s comments. While the overall essence of his comments is captured by Google Translate, the translation is not perfect:
“The quality of New Japan Wrestling exceeds the world’s largest professional wrestling organization” WWE “. It is high and has drama nature, the athletes are all handsome, they have many charms to stick to various sexes and age groups such as longing to strength and muscular fetish, etc. That is, there are goods, There is still insufficient publicity and accessibility to arouse. “
It should be noted that despite the above comments by Mr. Meij, Toru Yano is still not very handsome at all.
“We have already mobilized about 400,000 people a year at 150 times a year. Ticket income accounts for 50% of sales, but there are limits to the number of players and the convenience of the venue. Movie distribution, advertisement etc. Advertisement of monthly fee video distribution “New Japan Pro Wrestling World” has about 100,000 members, but WWE’s video distribution has 1.5 million members worldwide. “
New Japan World subscriber numbers have remained stagnant at approximately 100,000. Meij seems to be indicating the company is too reliant on ticket sales as a source of revenue and need to diversify how they monetize their product.
New Japan Pro Wrestling is just about to move into the 25th edition of the Best of the Super Juniors tournament. The tournament gets underway tomorrow from Korakuen Hall.
Revolution Pro Wrestling (Rev Pro) have announced two more names for the upcoming Strong Style Evolved UK events taking place on June 30th/July 1st in Milton Keynes and Manchester respectively.
Japanese wrestling legend and leader of the Suzuki-Gun stable Minoru Suzuki and the returning Bullet Club member and ‘New Bone Soldier’ Taiji Ishimori will be making their way to the UK joining the already announced Tomohiro Ishii and IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada.
Fans hoping to see the likes of Kenny Omega at the shows are sadly out of luck, he confirmed recently that he will not be heading to the UK for SSE. More names are expected to be announced for the shows in the coming weeks and we will update here on the site as soon as news becomes available.
Tickets for the first Strong Style Evolved shows outside of the United States are available to purchase via the official Rev Pro website.
Japanese wrestling legend Hiroshi Tanahashi recently spoke to New Japan Pro Wrestling’s English Language site NJPW1972.com on the upcoming Best of the Super Juniors tournament. The former IWGP Heavyweight Champion was on hand to give his thoughts on the prestigious tournament and offer his insight on the key matches to watch.
When asked who he believed would win the tournament, he stated that Los Ingobernables’ Hiromu Takahashi would go all the way and become the eventual winner, stating that “my pick is Hiromu. When it comes to getting motivated for his matches and really making the fans happy, Hiromu is the best. There might be people that rival him on pure ability, but he has that charismatic X factor that will make him win I think.”
Tanahashi also picked his top four bouts in the A & B Blocks, with the following bouts getting the nod out of the upcoming field:
Will Ospreay vs ACH from May 20th
Sho vs Takahashi from June 2nd
El Desperado vs Takahashi from May 22nd
Taguchi vs Marty Scurll from June 2nd
New Japan’s Best of the Super Juniors begins on May 18th and Night 1 of the tournament will be available to view for free on NJPWWorld.com
Taiji Ishimori recently made his return to New Japan Pro Wrestling by attacking IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay at the Wrestling Dontaku show on May 4th. The ‘New Bone Soldier’ claimed that he was in New Japan to ‘get to the top of the junior heavyweight division’ and with his inclusion in the Best of the Super Juniors he now has his opportunity to put himself in the title picture.
Ishimori recently spoke to New Japan’s English Language site on a variety of topics, here are some of the highlights:
That’s a stupid question. The Bullet Club is the most famous group going. I can be in Japan and still have my name go worldwide. If I’m in Bullet Club, Taiji Ishimori’s name goes global. And this way, I can pick fights with anyone in the junior division, Marty Scurll excepted.
When asked about the Bullet Club ‘Civil War:’ I don’t really know the ins and outs, and I don’t really care about that. I’m not looking to be bogged down with that stuff. All I care about is how best I can use the Bullet Club to benefit me. And if you look at any show in America right now, you see a sea of Bullet Club shirts.
When asked about his match against Will Ospreay on Night 1: I get my chance right away (grins). Anyway, he’s the champ, his speed and technique is awesome for sure. But there’s still a bit of sloppiness in there if you ask me. I think he’s still a bit green.
New Japan Pro Wrestling have announced that their upcoming Dominion event at Osaka-Jo is officially a sell out. The iconic building holds a capacity of around 13,500 (when taking into account the staging for a pro wrestling event).
This is the first time that New Japan has sold out the building for a Dominion show since moving from the Bodymaker Colosseum for the 2015 iteration of the event, the 2017 event drew a crowd of around 11,700.
It should come as no surprise to longtime NJPW fans that this event has sold out, with the blockbuster main event between IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada and Kenny Omega being the fourth encounter between the two world class performers. The highly anticipated match will be contested with no time-limit and will be contested under a 2 out of 3 falls stipulation.
The show will be taking place on June 9th and will be available to watch live on NJPWWorld.com.
Revolution Pro Wrestling (Rev Pro) have announced that CHAOS member and New Japan Pro Wrestling legend Tomohiro Ishii will be making his way to the upcoming Strong Style Evolved UK shows taking place on June 30th/July 1st in Milton Keynes and Manchester respectively. Ishii is the current reigning Rev Pro British Heavyweight Champion, he successfully defended his title against WWE linked star Keith Lee at last weekend’s Epic Encounter event in Bethnal Green, London.
Ishii is only the second name announced for the two day Strong Style Evolved event, the first being IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada. Fans hoping to see the likes of Kenny Omega at the shows are sadly out of luck, he confirmed recently that he will not be heading to the UK for SSE. More names are expected to be announced for the shows in the coming weeks and we will update here on the site as soon as news becomes available.
Tickets for the first Strong Style Evolved shows outside of the United States are available to purchase via the official Rev Pro website.
Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion: TOMOHIRO ISHII joins his CHAOS stablemate Kazuchika Okada as the 2nd name announced for this summers Strong Style Evolved UK shows.
The following press release was sent in on Monday hyping next month’s New Japan Pro Wrestling live event from Daytona Beach, FL in conjunction with CEO Fighting Game Championships:
New Japan Pro-Wrestling comes to the CEO 2018 Fighting Game Championships in Daytona Beach, FL on June 29th, 2018!
CEO Gaming Inc. and New Japan Pro-Wrestling are teaming up to give the Fighting Game Community and East Coast Wrestling fans a taste of NJPW’s high intensity action this summer with a live wrestling show. CEO x NJPW takes place inside of the Daytona Beach Ocean Center with over 8,000 seats available. Prices range from $20 – $100 for the show (before fees).
CEO x NJPW: When Worlds Collide is a Special Two hour live wrestling show including live New Japan Pro-Wrestling featuring stars such as Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, Tetsuya Naito, Hiromu Takahashi, Jyushin Thunder Liger, Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa), Roppongi 3K’s Sho, Yoh and Rocky Romero, Ryusuke Taguchi, Jeff Cobb, David Finlay, Chase Owens, Dragon Lee and Juice Robinson!. Match Card (talent and matches subject to change) will be announced closer to the event in June.
The relationship between CEO Founder (Alex Jebailey) and New Japan Pro-Wrestling star Kenny Omega began through a shared passion for fighting games and wrestling. Kenny Omega has been attending CEO as a player and fighting game fan since 2016. He has been an active part of creating some of CEO’s most memorable experiences. The combined success between them set the partnership into motion and has led to the creation of this special event.
Kenny Omega on the CEO & NJPW Crossover:
“For the past 2 years I’ve gotten the privilege to travel to CEO and enjoy my hobby at the highest level. Whether it be sponsored players that game for a living or spectators just there for casual fun, the FGC has always made me feel welcome. With the upcoming CEOxNJPW event, my hope is to provide a new and fun experience for those that make the trip out to Daytona Beach and give back to the community I love. The crossover potential for wrestling and gaming has always been strong so aside from fully realizing that with CEOxNJPW, I hope that both new comers to games and/or wrestling can have a positive first experience to both worlds. I really think fans are gonna dig it, and I can’t thank Alex Jebailey enough for making it all happen. See you there.”
CEO Gaming Founder and Director Alex Jebailey:
“Sometimes attending the show of your dreams means stepping up and creating it yourself. That’s how CEO became the world renowned event that it is, and CEO x NJPW will be no different. Kenny and I have always dreamed big, and CEO x NJPW is giving us the opportunity bring our latest dream to life. Combining our passion for gaming and wrestling has always led to entertaining moments for our fans, and we expect this show to really be the best of both worlds.”
Tickets go on sale through Ticketmaster.com on Friday May 4th to the General Public at 10 am est (Presale codes will be distributed to currently registered CEO 2018 Convention attendees via email late Wednesdayevening and usable beginning Thursday May 3rd, at 10 am est). Please follow www.twitter.com/CEOGamingfor the direct ticket link and this webpage as soon as they are released.
Live Broadcast details to be revealed at a later date.
Stay tuned for more details on the event and be sure to register to learn more about the CEO experience through www.smash.gg/ceo2018.
Japanese wrestling legend Minoru Suzuki will be facing current reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada for his upcoming 30th Anniversary match. Suzuki made the following comments during an interview with New Japan’s English language site NJPW1972.com:
“When we were putting this card together, this match was part of the conversation from the very start. The reason I wanted Okada was that he was born at the same time my career started, and right now he’s at the very top of the wrestling world. It’s really a dream match to show to so many people, all gathered for free under the blue Yokohama sky. He’s the best opponent I could think of to show everyone just what incredible things can happen in life. That’s what I kept in mind as we negotiated the match.”
The match will be part of the Great Pirate Festival, a two day free event on June 23rd and 24th at Yokohama’s Red Brick Warehouse and wrestling cards will be part of the presentation on both days. It has not been confirmed if the event will be shown on NJPWWorld.com however at this juncture it is unlikely to a live broadcast.
Suzuki has also been confirmed for the main event of day 2, where he will be teaming with Hikaru Sato to take on the team of NOSAWA Rongai & MASADA.
New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) star Kenny Omega recently did an interview with Tokyo Sports to talk about several professional wrestling topics. The Cleaner first discussed his upcoming match-up against Kazuchika Okada at NJPW Dominion. It will be the fourth match between the pair.
Omega talked about the history he has with Okada and the amazing matches they’ve put on with one another:
“In a normal match [Wrestle Kingdom 11], Okada won. In a match, where we both prepared to perfection (last year’s Dominion), it was a draw. In a match where we were both broken down and beaten up, I won.”
In regards to how he thinks he and Okada’s rivalry should be put to bed, he’d like to see a Three Fall match to cap things off:
“A three fall match is the best possible way, the fairest way for us to match stamina, technique and strength.”
You can read Omega’s full interview with Tokyo Sports by clicking this link here.
Wrestling legend Rey Mysterio Jr. was Sean Waltman’s guest on this week’s edition of the X-PAC 1-2-360 podcast. You can Subscribe on iTunes and listen to audio of the full show at the bottom of this article.
During the broadcast, Waltman paid his respects to former WWE Superstar Nick “Big Bully” Busick, who passed away this week. Waltman knew Busick for their days together in Dallas wrestling for GWF. He called Busick a wonderful human being, a tough SOB and someone that had the respect of everyone due to the way he treated others.
Rey Mysterio joined the show and spoke about a number of interesting topic, including his son Dominic’s journey to follow in his footsteps, wanting to work with Cody Rhodes outside of WWE and more.
Here are some highlights sent in by the show’s producers:
Rey Mysterio On The Best High-Flyer In The World Right Now
“Oh, you got me there. I want to say, I guess this answer’s fair because they’re from different countries so I’m going to do one from each country. Mexico Rey Fenix, US Ricochet, and UK Ospreay. I would love to see them in a three-way.”
Wanting To Work With Cody Rhodes:
“I actually do hope to work with him and meet outside of the WWE, I think after you’ve been in the WWE and you know what the grind is like and at some point you feel that it’s not for you and you need a break, you need to speak up, be heard. And I think that’s what he did…but now he’s pretty much doing what he loves, he’s still wrestling.
He’s working with I’d say one of the biggest companies in Japan that is starting to make a big impact here in the U.S as well, but I truly hope to see him in the ring one day for New Japan.”
His Son Dominic’s Future In Pro Wrestling
“I’m very happy and honored to pass the torch on to my son, who’s actually training right now. He’s moving along with his training and there’s nothing that excites me and makes me feel proud as to what my son is doing right now, following in my footsteps. Being in the business as hard as it is and as rough as it is…you obviously hope that your kid would follow in your footsteps one day. And that day came about two and half years ago with my son. He’s actually doing a good job, going through his training phases. He started in Tampa last year with Jay Lethal…he’s back home now and in September he goes up to Canada to train with Lance Storm.
He hasn’t had a match, it’s funny how promoters book me and at the end of the conversation they’ll just throw out ‘Hey if you want to bring your son out here, if he wants to come out, we’ll take care of him.’ and I’m like nah he’s not ready yet. I’ll be the first to say he’s definitely not ready. He’s in the learning process but overall I have this mentality on how I want to prepare him to better than his old man, cause I know he will be, I am that positive that he’s gonna be better than his old man. And I wanna take him around and learn from different camps.
I wanna get him into a New Japan camp, they just opened in LA. Get him into Booker T’s school and I might even send him to Japan for a couple months. Hopefully within the next year and a half if he’s ready, I’ll be the last to take care of him. I’ll just finish it up and polish him to be ready to go.
Get it all on this week’s brand new episode of AfterBuzz TV’s X-Pac 12360. Two words for you…DOWNLOAD IT!
New Japan Pro Wrestling has announced that Day 1 of their upcoming Best of the Super Juniors (BOSJ) Tournament will be free to view on the NJPWWorld.com streaming service.
The first night will be taking place on May 18th from the world famous Korakuen Hall, the main event of that show will see IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay take on the newest member of the NJPW roster: Taiji Ishimori. Ishimori attacked Ospreay during his recent defence of his title against KUSHIDA, the former Pro Wrestling NOAH star was revealed as the new ‘Bone Solider’ character before laying out the Champion and now Ospreay has his chance at vengeance.
Other Round 1 matches scheduled for the first night are as follows:
YOH vs BUSHI
Flip Gordon vs ACH
Tiger Mask vs Yoshinobu Kanemaru
You can find more information on the tournament via NJPW1972.com or you can keep track of all the NJPW News as it happens right here on SEScoops.
Chris Jericho attacked Tetsuya Naito Friday at Wrestling Dontaku in Fukuoka, Japan. The two had previously been involved in a brawl at the New Beginning earlier this year.
New Japan Pro Wrestling has officially confirmed that Jericho will face Naito on the June 9th Dominion show from Osaka, Japan.
NJPW Dominion in Osaka
Jericho vs Naito will be contested for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. Naito defeated Minoru Suzuki for the title recently but has since refused to wear it or bring the belt to the ring. Kevin Kelly cleared up on commentary that Naito does this because he feels New Japan Pro Wrestling has too many title belts. Jericho versus Naito will likely be the semi-main event for the show.
Three other matches have been announced for the show thus far and the promotion has also revealed Rey Mysterio Jr will compete in single’s action. They have not, however, announced who the legendary Luchador’s opponent will be.
Lineup Announced so Far:
Rey Mysterio Jr. vs TBA
NEVER Openweight Championship
3-Way Match
Hirooki Goto (c) vs Michael Elgin vs Taichi
IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships
Evil and Sanada (c) vs the Young Bucks
IWGP Intercontinental Championship
Tetsuya Naito (c) vs Chris Jericho
IWGP Heavyweight Championship
Best 2-of-3 Falls
Kazuchika Okada (c) vs Kenny Omega
It was Okada who challenged Kenny Omega to main event Dominion this year. Following his victory over Hiroshi Tanahashi, Okada said he wanted to make his next title defense special and so he needed to face Omega. He pointed out that the last time he faced Omega at Dominion, it went to a time limit draw.
The Young Bucks challenged Evil and Sanada to a heavyweight tag team championship match at Wrestling Dontaku last week.
