The CHAOS stable in New Japan is seeing some turbulent times. This past Sunday’s Destruction in Kobe event saw ‘Switchblade’ Jay White attack the leader of the group Kazuchika Okada and align himself Okada’s former manager Gedo.
New Japan has now released a promo video of White before the attack happened. This follows his bout earlier in the night where he joined Will Ospreay and YOSHI-HASHI to defeat Taguchi Japan (Juice Robinson, Toa Henare & David Finlay). White took the win in that bout after hitting the Switchblade on Henare.
In his backstage promo Jay White began with the comment “Very familiar feeling. Every single time that Okada or YOSHI (I am calm) try to take the lead and think they know better we end up losing. Every single time…LOOK WHAT HAPPENED TODAY.” White was joined by Will Ospreay in the backstage area and referred to directly stating “Will (Ospreay) did great, nothing against Will, YOSHI wanted to beat them from the start himself…and then he GOT CAUGHT and got his ar*e kicked.” Luckily Will saved him then your’s truly had to finish the job just like that. We won and that’s the job…Okada, good luck.” Jay White then left the scene for Ospreay to make some final comments. You can check out the full promo below:
The G1 Climax 28 winner, Hiroshi Tanahashi, has stated he will defend the briefcase against Kazuchika Okada and Jay White.
The winner of NJPW’s annual G1 tournament receives a briefcase with a contract for the title shot at WrestleKingdom inside. In recent years, the G1 winner has had to defend the briefcase before advancing to the Tokyo Dome. No G1 Winner has yet to lose the briefcase before WrestleKingdom, however.
Jay White was the only wrestler to defeat Tanahashi in the tournament while Okada and Tanahashi went to a 30-minute draw on the final night of the round-robin.
His post-match press conference comments were translated by the owner of PuroLove.com:
In his post #g128 press conference now 3 time winner Hiroshi Tanahashi said there's no doubt that the G1 champion will become the center of attention in the second half of 2018. He already has an opponent in mind to whom he lost at Wrestling Dontaku and who he drew with in the G1 pic.twitter.com/YlhVyI3cV5
Tanahashi wants to go to the dome after knocking down Okada. He said he understands Okada's strengh well enough so he thinks there's a need to defend his briefcase against Okada even there is a risk of losing.
Even though he considers his G1 victory a "complete resurrection" (kanzen fukkatsu/????) he thinks it's impossible to avoid Okada. When he was asked about Jay White Tanahashi also added that he would like to defend his certificate against him.
As it stands right now, Okada would have to either defeat Hiroshi Tanahashi for the G1 briefcase or Kenny Omega for the IWGP Heavyweight title in order to be in the main event of WrestleKingdom.
If Okada is not in the main event at WrestleKingdom 13 it will be the first time since WrestleKingdom 8 he hasn’t been.
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Jay White
Tanahashi’s post-match comments centered more around Okada than they did Jay White. Still, as the only person to defeat Hiroshi Tanahashi in the G1, White will likely be given a shot at the briefcase.
White and his CHAOS stablemates have not been seeing eye-to-eye as of late. It’s unclear what White’s future with the faction is.
New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) star Jay White has a lot on his plate at the moment. White is set to participate against some of Japan’s best in the G1 Climax tournament, but also is scheduled to defend his IWGP United States Title against Juice Robinson at the G1 Special on July 7th in San Francisco.
White recently participated in a media call to promote the G1 Climax and was asked about his preparation for the tournament. Unfortunately, due to how hectic his schedule is at the moment, White isn’t able to specifically train for the tournament:
“In terms of preparation we’re on tour at the moment,” White said. “If anything I don’t have the chance to prepare because I go home for two and a half days and I fly over for two Strong Style Evolved events in the UK. I’ll get home for another two and a half days and I fly straight to San Fransisco [for the G1 Special at the Cow Palace].
“Then I get home for another two and a half, three days and I go to the G1. A lot of those breaks is just going to be recovering,” the IWGP United States Champion continued. “I just need to get some food in me and some good training do what I can. But it’s not like I’ve got a month off. I’m not doing any kind of crazy cardio leading up to it I’m just trying to keep my body in healthy shape until then.”
“Switchblade” Jay White does not appear to be a team player. This is likely the sentiment being expressed by his stablemates in CHAOS following a controversial social media post from the IWGP United States Champion.
CHAOS had a chance to leave Dominion with the IWGP Heavyweight, Junior Heavyweight, NEVER Openweight, Jr Heavyweight tag-team, and IWGP United States Championship gold over the weekend. In the end, however, White is the only member of the stable still carrying a title belt.
White referenced the recent losing skid from the stables’ champions in a Twitter post below:
“Switchblade” Jay White, IWGP United States Champion
In the above photo, only White still holds their title. Roppongi 3K lost their titles at the New Beginning in Sapporo but had a chance to win them back at Dominion. They were defeated in Osaka by the Suzuki-Gun team of El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru, however.
Hirooki Goto lost the NEVER Openweight Championship to Michael Elgin on Saturday in a triple threat match also involving Taichi. Will Ospreay lost his IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship on Saturday as well. He dropped his belt to the winner of the 2018 Best of the Super Juniors tournament, Hiromu Takahashi.
Finally, Kenny Omega defeated Kazuchika Okada of the IWGP Heavyweight title in Osaka.
Jay White and CHAOS
White joined CHAOS earlier this year after turning down an offer to join Bullet Club from Kenny Omega. White would then defeat Omega at the New Beginning in Sapporo to win the IWGP United States Championship. Despite joining his faction, however, White has said he wouldn’t mind facing Okada someday. He’s also chosen to come out separately from his teammates during ring entrances, something Kevin Kelly has noted on commentary.
It seems Jay White may have joined CHAOS for his own reasons. He doesn’t appear committed to the stable as much as he is to his own career. We could see White leave the faction in the not too distant future.
After successfully defending his IWGP United States Championship against David Finlay on Tuesday, Jay White already knows who will challenge for his belt next. Ring of Honor announced today that Punishment Martinez has been granted a title shot at the May 11th War of the Worlds show from Toronto.
White and Martinez previously engaged in a feud on ROH programming last year. They wrestled each other 3x during White’s 2017 summer excursion to ROH. Martinez won 2 of the 3 matches including the Las Vegas Street Fight at Death Before Dishonor XV.
IWGP United States Championship “Switchblade” Jay White vs. Punishment Martinez
White is just the 2nd ever holder of the IWGP United States Championship. The title was introduced last year at NJPW’s Long Beach shows.
Kenny Omega defeated Tomohiro Ishii in the finals of the 2-day tournament to crown an inaugural champion. He then defended the title 4x successfully with wins over Juice Robinson, Yoshi-Hashi, Beretta, and Chris Jericho. Omega then dropped the title to White at the New Beginning in Sapporo on January 28th, 2018.
After winning the title from Omega, White successfully defended it against Hangman Page at Strong Style Evolved in Long Beach. His win over Finlay on Tuesday main event’ed the Road to Wrestling Dontaku show from Korakuen Hall.
As for Punishment Martinez, the 36-year-old is someone ROH has kept strong ever since his arrival in 2015. He won the Survival of the Fittest tournament in 2017 but dropped his World Title match to Dalton Castle. Martinez lost a #1 contenders match to Marty Scurll at the ROH 16th Anniversary show on March 9th this year. He later defeated Tomohiro Ishii at Supercard of Honor XII.
The IWGP United States Championship is defended on both ROH and NJPW shows, though this will be just the 2nd time the title will be up for grabs on an ROH show. Kenny Omega defended the title against Yoshi-Hashi at War of the Worlds: Chicago last year.
– During the post-Wrestle Kingdom 12 press conference earlier today it was announced that Jay White would be joining CHAOS after turning down Kenny Omega’s invitation to join The Bullet Club. At the New Year’s Dash event following Wrestle Kingdom Omega got on the mic and invited White to join The Bullet Club (H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions):
“I am sick of the in-fighting. I am sick of the Bullet Club talking behind everyone’s back. This group, the Bullet Club, hasn’t been whole for a long time,” said Omega. “We need unity, we need to be a team again. Bullet Club needs to be number one. No more fighting. And so, I have an idea. I know exactly what we need. Switchblade! Jay White.
“Jay, I’ve always seen the potential. I’ve always known what you could be. You could have the world. You remind me of ‘The Cleaner,’ Kenny Omega, in 2015. Look at you. You’re the complete package. And so, Switchblade: I would like to honor you. Bullet Club, Switchblade. Welcome to The Club.”
White put on a Bullet Club shirt and celebrated with Omega before hitting “The Cleaner” with his Blade Runner finisher and fleeing the scene. At the press conference White explained why he decided to join CHAOS instead:
“Since I came back, there’s always a lot of speculation about if I was going to join a group or not,” White said. “See, the way things work over here in New Japan is you can’t always do it alone. Not completely, anyway. So, if I’m going to take on the Bullet Club – I’m not delusional – I know that I can’t do that by myself.”
– Ring Of Honor (ROH) released an article on the top five wrestlers to watch for in 2018. The list named Shane Taylor, Kelly Klein, Matt Taven, Flip Gordon, and Punisher Martinez at the number one spot. You can check out the article here.
In the late 90s, the old NWO faction would release “paid advertisements” on Nitro. Bullet Club is now doing the same in NJPW.
The faction has been the focal point of NJPW’s marketing strategy for their July 1st and 2nd shows in L.A, and have now released the following video:
Bullet Club at NJPW G1 L.A Special
Somewhat surprisingly, Cody will receive an IWGP heavyweight title shot on night 1 of the 2-night event. At Dominion, Cody defeated Michael Elgin in what turned out to be a pretty important match.
The rest of the announced lineup so far:
NJPW July 1st 2017 Lineup
the Briscoes, Will Ospreay, & Roppongi Vice (CHAOS) vs. Bad Luck Fale, the Young Bucks, Yujiro Takahashi & Marty Scurll (Bullet Club)
Jushin Liger, Volador Jr., Dragon Lee & Titan vs. Sanada, Evil, Bushi & Hiromu Takahashi (Los Ingobernables)
IWGP U.S Championship Tournament (1st Round)
Jay Lethal vs. Hangman Page (Bullet Club)
IWGP U.S Championship Tournament (1st Round)
Juice Robinson vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kushida, Jay White & David Finlay vs. Billy Gunn, Yoshi Tatsu, Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu
Here are the results from Revolution Pro Wrestling’s first York Hall show of the year. The promotion has been growing rapidly in popularity over the past year and with this absolutely stacked card that trend looks set to continue:
RPW Interim British Cruiserweight Championship Match:Josh Bodom b. Ryan Smile – Bodom took the win via pinfall to become the Interim Crusierweight Champion. The Interim title has been introduced as current champion Will Ospreay is tied up with New Japan & Ring of Honor commitments
RPW Undisputed British Tag Team Championship Match: Joel Redman & Charlie Sterling b. War Machine – Redman and Sterling took the win to retain their titles after hitting a spinning tombstone on Rowe
YOSHI-HASHI b. Pete Dunne – YOSHI-HASHI took the win after hitting the Karma
Zack Sabre Jr. b. Marty Scurll – Sabre took the win after avoiding a Crossface Chickenwing attempt and rolling Scurll up for the three count
Trent Seven b. Trevor Lee – Seven took the win after hitting his second Snap Piledriver of the match to take the pinfall
Jay White b. Martin Stone – NJPW Young Lion Jay White took the upset win after making Stone tap with a Boston Crab
RPW Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship Match: Katsuyori Shibata b. Matt Riddle – In what was easily the MOTN Shibata retained his title using a rear naked choke. Shibata will now defend his belt against Will Ospreay at the NJPW New Beginning show in February
Ring of Honor have announced several high profile bouts for their ‘Honor Reigns Supreme’ event that takes place February 4th in Dallas. The announced bouts are:
2/3 FALLS (1st PINFALL, 2nd LUCHA TAG, 3rd NO DQ)
Young Bucks (NICK & MATT JACKSON) vs Mark & Jay Briscoe
Rev Pro have announced more matches for their January show in the world famous York Hall in Bethnal Green, London. Having already announced two huge bouts in Riddle/Shibata and Scurll/Sabre Jr the mid card for the event is also starting to shape up nicely:
Rob Lias b. Josh Wall – Lias took the win via submission
Jake McCluskey & Kieran Bruce b. Dan McGee & Kurtis Chapman – McCluskey and Bruce took the win via pinfall
Jinny b. Xia Brookside – Jinny took the win via pinfall, Lucas delivered a Dragon Suplex to Jinny after the match
Jeff Cobb (Matanza Cueto) b. Big Damo – Cobb took the win via pinfall, after the match Damo challenged Zack Sabre Jr to put his title on the line against Cobb at Uprising on August 12th if he defeated Trent Seven in the main event
Josh Bodom b. Ryan Smile – Bodom took the win via pinfall
Marty Scurll B. Jay White – Scurll took the win via submission
Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship Match: Zack Sabre Jr b. Trent Seven – ZSJ took the win via submission to retain his championship, he then agreed to defend his title against Cobb at Uprising this Friday
Revolution Pro have had a busy news week having recently made a number of huge announcements:
As reported on Sescoops recently, Rev Pro have announced 2 co-branded Global Wars shows with New Japan Pro Wrestling that take place on November 10/11th. The first name for these events has been announced and it is NJPW legend Jushin Thunder Liger
The day before their historic bout at Rev Pro’s Uprising event, Will Ospreay and Vader will be taking part in an exclusive Q&A session at the Resistance Gallery in Bethnal Green (opposite York Hall), tickets for the event are available on revolutionprowrestling.com.
The following matches have been confirmed for ‘Live at the Cockpit 11’ taking place on August 7th. Jeff Cobb (Lucha Underground’s Matanza) will be taking on Big Damo. Marty Scurll will be facing NJPW Young Lion Jay White and Ryan Smile will be taking on Josh Bodom.
New Japan ‘Young Lion’ Jay White will soon be making his way to Ring of Honor, the 23 year old from Auckland in New Zealand previously worked for Varsity Pro and Impact Pro Wrestling before making his way to the New Japan dojo in 2015.
It is traditional for NJPW dojo graduates to move away from the company to ‘find themselves,’ much like Okada who worked for TNA for a short while before returning to New Japan and subsequently developing his Rainmaker gimmick.
One more match to go in Japan… Oh and it looks like juice is singing in the picture https://t.co/dqCbBWJV9F
— Switchblade Jay White (@JayWhiteNZ) June 8, 2016
Breaking News:
NJPW has announced that @JayWhiteNZ is going to ROH for excursion after DOMINON.