It’s been a difficult last few weeks for New Japan Pro Wrestling. The company has postponed its two planned “Wrestle Grand Slam” events including the May 29th show which was to eminate from the Tokyo Dome. At least 9 wrestlers on its roster has tested positive for COVID-19 following night 2 of Wrestling Dontaku at the start of the month. On top of all that, Will Ospreay has been forced to vacate the IWGP World title due to a neck injury.
According to a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, several of the promotion’s foreign talent are upset with the company over being kept in the dark regarding the company’s schedule and quarantining rules.
“There is also a lot going on behind-the-scenes with New Japan since the COVID outbreak and unhappiness regarding going through quarantine, particularly among the foreign contingent,” wrote Dave Meltzer.
The report would continue to say that wrestlers who have tested positive for the virus have been quarantining in the Dojo. The only reported names at this point are David Finlay and Jay White.
“There is a lot of unrest among some of the foreign talent because of the situation there, the dates canceled and the feeling they’ve been kept in the dark,” Meltzer continued.
David Finlay Considering Leaving NJPW?
Recently, it was reported that David Finlay is looking at options outside of NJPW. His father Fit was on a podcast recently and spoke to his sons situation.
“I don’t know how New Japan are going to handle this new outbreak or, I don’t know, no one does,” Finlay said (transcriptions via POST Wrestling). “But, he’s a little bit confused at the minute as what to do next, you know? Is he going to stay in Japan, does he want to try here, like WWE or whatever. But him and I are gonna sit down when he does eventually come home and try and figure it out but he just needs a little bit of wisdom put in his head. Not that I have any.”
