Bryan Rose is an editor from California that has been covering professional wrestling for well over a decade. He officially joined F4WOnline as an editor in 2017.
With a promise to change things up, WWE announced tonight that five NXT superstars are being called up to the main roster in the near future.
During Raw, it was announced that the following five wrestlers would be called up. What brand or when exactly they’ll debut isn’t known:
Lacey Evans, who has feuded with Kairi Sane in the past on NXT television and had recently been scoring wins against the likes of Candice LeRae and Dakota Kai.
Heavy Machinery, the team of Tucker Knight and Otis Dozovich who have been wrestling together as a unit since 2016. They’ve wrestled against the likes of War Raiders, Authors of Pain, TM-61 and the Undisputed Era.
Nikki Cross, who used to be affiliated with Sanity before they were called up to SmackDown earlier this year. She is coming off a feud against Bianca Belair.
EC3, who has competed for the NXT North American title in the past and is coming off a feud against Lars Sullivan. He was formerly known as Derrick Bateman during his last run with the WWE that ended in 2013.
These call-ups are in addition to Lars Sullivan, whose vignettes have been airing since Survivor Series.
The trios gauntlet match now has a list of participants.
The match, which will take place on the pre-show, will determine the number one contenders for the NEVER six man tag team titles which are currently held by Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa and Taiji Ishimori. The participants are:
Hirooki Goto, Beretta and Chucky T
Minoru Suzuki, Lance Archer and Davey Boy Smith Jr.
Ryusuke Taguchi, Togi Makabe and Toru Yano
Michael Elgin, Jeff Cobb and David Finlay
Marty Scurll, Hangman Page and Yujiro Takahashi
Also announced were matches that will take place during the Wrestle Kingdom 13 Fan Festa event on January 3. These are being billed as Lions Gate Special bouts:
Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Tomoaki Honma & Toa Henare
Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Ayato Yoshida & Shota Umino
The current NEVER six man champions already have high profile matches at the event. The Guerrillas of Destiny will take on The Young Bucks and EVIL & SANADA in a triple threat match for the IWGP tag team titles while Taiji Ishimori will challenge KUSHIDA for the IWGP Jr. title.
Ring of Honor is continuing to sign new talent heading into 2019, as Bandido has signed with the promotion.
Luchablog is reporting that Bandido has signed with ROH and will start with the promotion in early 2019. They also reported that he was a part of a WWE Performance Center tryout a few months ago that was never made public, but passed on signing with them at this time.
Dave Meltzer has also confirmed the signing.
It is expected that he will finish up his remaining dates with other independent promotions. He will finish up with Dragon Gate at the end of their current tour. ROH’s deals don’t apply to Mexico, so he’ll continue to work there with his tag team partner Flamita.
Bandido, 23, has made a name for himself this year worldwide wrestling for PWG, Progress, Revolution Pro, CZW and a number of other promotions. He also wrestles regularly for The Crash in Mexico.
The promotion announced today that the 205 Live star will be making an appearance for the promotions Project Tokyo event at Korakuen Hall on January 7. It wasn’t made clear who he would be facing.
This comes after a number of NXT UK talent were pulled from the show, including British Strong Style, Jordan Devlin and Travis Banks. NXT UK talent have signed new contracts in recent weeks that have put even more restrictions on where they can work. One of the new restrictions also bars wrestlers from competing on a show one week out before a NXT UK taping, and there will in fact be a taping that following weekend.
Tozawa has wrestled infrequently this year as he hasn’t been focused much on 205 Live and the brand doesn’t tour. In recent weeks, however, he has been teaming with Brian Kendrick feuding against Drew Gulak and Jack Gallagher.
PCO and Brody King made their debut in ROH tonight, forming a stable with Marty Scurll.
Scurll was in the ring during tonight’s tapings in Philadelphia when The Kingdom came down to confront him. Taven mocked him. saying that he had no backup. It was then that Villian Enterprises, consisting of PCO and Brody King, came out to assist.
It seemed like the new trio were to take on The Kingdom later on in the tapings for the six man titles. However, the Kingdom came out and said that the group did not deserve a title shot. They instead faced Cheeseburger, Eli Isom and Ryan Nova, which they took care of easily.
Both PCO and King were reported to be coming here in the last couple of weeks. PCO has had several stunts in WWE, WCW and Impact but has experienced a career resurgence as of late, with a high profile match against WALTER during WrestleMania weekend putting him back on the indy scene map. He also competed in this year’s PWG Battle of Los Angeles.
Brody King has also made waves in the last year, wrestling in PWG, DEFY and MLW.
A big tag team bout headlines tonight’s Road to Tokyo Dome event inside Korakuen Hall.
For the first time, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Will Ospreay will team up to take on the Golden Lovers, Kota Ibushi and Kenny Omega. Following Power Struggle, Tanahashi has aligned himself with CHAOS members, so this is a unique team. Of course, the real focus of the match will likely be Opsreay/Ibushi and Omega/Tanahashi, as those pairs are set to go against one another in key major title matches on 1/4.
Another match features the return of Teruaki Kanemitsu, who has been sidelined for over two years with a cervical spine injury. He will team up with Ren Narita to take on Shota Umino and Ayato Yoshida in the opener. His last match was back on November 27, 2016 when he lost to Toa Henare.
Join us for live coverage starting at 4:30 a.m. ET. There will be English commentary.
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They aired a highlight video showcasing all the big angles and wins of the year, including the big tournament wins, Super Strong Machine’s retirement, Gedo turning on Kazuchika Okada, the introductions of Taiji Ishimori and Shingo Takagi, Tomoaki Honma’s return, the fracture and reformation of the Bullet Club and more. Nice highlight piece.
Ren Narita & Teruaki Kanemitsu and Shota Umino & Ayato Yoshida went to a time limit draw
In the two years that he’s been gone, Kanemitsu has bulked up considerably and will likely be a heavyweight in the future. He’s 25, so still plenty of time to develop despite the long injury.
They worked a basic tag team match that was solid overall, built up really well by the end with a good crowd. Kanemitsu looked fine, and everyone looked good. Umino and Yoshida are already really good, and Narita really isn’t that far behind; he planted Yoshida with a really nice overhead belly to belly suplex.
Yoshida and Narita built to where they tagged in both of their partners. Kanemitsu got a big reaction for his hot tag and comeback. Umino had Kanemitsu deep in a Boston crab but the time limit expired.
Roppongi 3K & Rocky Romero defeated Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask and Toa Henare
This was pretty decent, a good back and forth match. Tiger Mask had Sho in a knee lock, with YOH coming in the for the save. Tiger Mask blocked a 3K ant went for a crucifix but didn’t get the shock win. They did wind up hitting the 3K for the win.
Tomohiro Ishii and Hirooki Goto defeated Minoru Suzuki and Takashi Iizuka
Hey, what do you know, this match started with Suzuki-gun jumping Ishii and Goto and taking them to the crowd immediately, whacking them with chairs. They eventually made it back to the ring, where Suzuki honed in on one of Goto’s legs.
Iizuka was unleashed as he started to bite on Goto’s leg. After Suzuki and Ishii went at it, Iizuka and Goto were in the ring. A double team by Suzuki-gun failed as Iizuka walked right into a ushigiroshi/sliding D combo. Ishii then pinned Iizuka with a brainbuster. Solid bout.
Suzuki wasn’t happy after the match, destroying young lions on his way out.
EVIL & SANADA defeated Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi
Chase kind of, sort of got a paradise lock in early, but SANADA got out of it like it was nothing and properly showed Chase how it was one. Milano Collection AT even applauded at ringside.
This was another match that was fine, but more of a build up match for SANADA and EVIL. A lot of comedy. EVIL hit the Darkness Falls on Owens . They actually hit an Indytaker on Yujiro, calling out the Young Bucks, then EVIL pinned Yujiro after the magic killer.
Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi and BUSHI defeated Taichi, El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru
As with every Suzuki-gun match, it went into the crowd early. Kanemaru actually jumped on Shingo’s back and leg dropped him on the guardrail in what was a pretty cool spot. Shingo was busted open hardway as a result.
Suzuki-gun worked on Shingo for a good while until BUSHI was finally tagged in, followed by Naito. He and Taichi battled for a bit, then after a big lariat tagged out to Kanemaru.. BUSHI hit a giant suicide dive that took out Desperado while Naito pinned Kanemaru with the Destino. Another solid match.
A video message appeared on the screen, signaling that it may be from Chris Jericho. However, it was a ruse as Jericho appeared in the crowd with a chair and headed to the ring. Naito, despite the fans freaking out, did not see Jericho from behind. Jericho pelted he and the rest of his LIJ friend with chair shots then laid out Naito with the codebreaker.
Jericho took a camera and muttered something about Naito as he went into the crowd and yelled at fans with LIJ merch.
Jay White, Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa and Taiji Ishimori defeated Kazuchika Okada, Togi Makabe, Toru Yano, Tomoaki Honma and KUSHIDA
It was Okada who jumped Jay White right at the start of the match. They brawled around in the ring. KUSHIDA and Ishimori were in the ring for a bit before Jado hit KUSHIDA with the kendo stick and, for what felt like the 236th time on this show, the heels took the faces into the crowd. This gets tiring after a while.
Heels worked over KUSHIDA for a while, including Fale who dominated him easily. Fale missed a splash, leaving KUSHIDA a window to tag out, but White stopped it as the heels continued their onslaught. Okada was tagged in, as was White as they went at it. Honma came in and tried for the kokeshi on Loa, but wasn’t successful as GoD hit the Guerrilla Warfare.
Yano came in but was quickly dispatched. Everyone came in at one point. Jado hit Honma with the cane, but Honma kicked out. A sitout piledriver scored the win for Bullet Club. Your atypical house show tag match.
Bullet Club were posing in the ring when Kazuchika Okada ran in to jump Jay White. Considering everyone was in the ring when he did this, it did not work. He was laid out with the bladerunner as KUSHIDA, who tried to help, was laid out by Ishimori.
Golden Lovers defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi and Will Ospreay
An incredible match by the end, right up there with some of the best matches of the year. And considering how 2018 was in great, epic matches that is saying a lot. Some of the spots in this match were absolutely bonkers and the crowd was with it the whole way.
Starts off with the usual fare: Ospreay works against Ibushi and Tanahashi works against Omega. Eventually, both Golden Lovers start working on Ospreay.
Tanahashi eventually gets tagged in, working on Omega’s leg. Ibushi makes the save and the Golden Lovers start their tandem offense. Ospreay goes for a crossbody, but the Golden Lovers catch him and dump him over the ropes to the outside. They follow with the Cross Slash, stereo moonsaults to the floor.
Ospreay cut off Omega on the top rope and powerbombed him off the ropes, landing on the square of Ibushi’s back. Omega comes back with snap dragon suplex on Tanahashi, but he roars back with a slingblade that keeps them both down. Ospreay went to springboard, but Ibushi stopped him. He cut off Ibushi and did his springboard, defying him.
Ospreay and Omega go off on one another as Omega hits a v-trigger, but Ospreay hits a spanish fly. He climbs to the top rope, but Ibushi stops him and tries for a super hurricanrana but Ospreay landed on his feet in a cool move. They exchanged some fierce kicks until Ibushi countered Ospreay with a strong lariat.
Omega hit the slingblade on Tanahashi as the Golden Lovers reconvene for the Golden Trigger on Ospreay but Tanahashi comes in. He’s taken out with the v-trigger as both Omega and Ibushi go for the Golden Shower. Ospreay gets up, grabs them both and hits a double spanish fly. Tanahashi goes for the high fly flow as Ospreay hits a shooting star press.
Ospreay looks for the stormbreaker on Omega but he escapes and hits a reverse hurricanrana. Ibushi connects with a last ride powerbomb on Tanahashi. Omega goes for the One Winged Angel but Ospreay reverses with a hurricanrana. Ospreay goes for the Oscutter but Omega grabs him.
Ibushi accidently strikes Omega with a kick as their opponents hit double German suplexes for a nearfall. Ospreay headbutts Ibushi but Omega grabs him and the Golden Lovers hit the Indytaker for another nearfall. They finally grab Ospreay and hit the Golden Trigger for the win.
Both men celebrate with their titles, posing for pictures. Omega then takes the microphone. He says he’s learned lately it is not about age but experience. He says he thought he was right and Tanahashi is wrong, but they may both be wrong. But he still doesn’t like Tanahashi.
At the Tokyo Dome, he says he may do one or two bad things. He then says he thought he heard Santa Claus. He says instead of his catchphrase he’ll sing a Christmas song. He does, in fact, sing ‘White Christmas’.
Snow actually does fall from the arena as Omega hands it to Ibushi. He says he and Ospreay will have a classic at Wrestle Kingdom, and on 1/5 he wants to tag with Omega. Omega then says his catchphrase to close out the show.
WWE Network isn’t putting out just one Hidden Gem this week — there will be more matches and content over the next twelve days.
WWE has announced that they will be uploading a new Hidden Gem to the Vault section of the WWE Network every day through Christmas. The video featured on their site showed footage from various promotions including ECW, Smoky Mountain, NWA, AWA and WWE themselves.
Today’s upload is the Big Time Wrestling/WCCW Christmas Star Wars card from December 25, 1981. This isn’t the complete show, as three matches are missing. But the matches featured include:
Ernie Ladd vs. Jose Lothario for the World Brass Knuckles title
El Solitario vs. Tim Brooks
Fritz von Erich vs. The Great Kabuki in a Texas Death match
Kerry, Kevin & David von Erich vs. Frank Dusek, Bill Irwin and Ten Gu
A battle royal featuring two rings
According to WWE Network News, tomorrow’s upload will also be from Christmas 1981, this time featuring an AWA tag team match with Greg Gagne and Jim Brunzell teaming up to take on Jerry Blackwell and Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissie.
Nick Miller of The Mighty has been released from WWE developmental.
WWE hasn’t officially announced the release, but Casey Michael of Squared Circle Sirens has reported that he has been cut. Dave Meltzer has also confirmed his release.
This comes after people pointed out on social media that the profiles of both he and NXT UK’s Tucker were removed from WWE.com. There is no word on the status of Tucker. Taishan Dong is also reported as being gone from the promotion, though that took place some time back.
Pro Wrestling Sheet noted that it wasn’t clear if Miller requested to be released, but a source told them he was looking to go back home for personal reasons. Dave Meltzer is reporting that Miller returned to Australia when his child was born and decided to stay. The door isn’t shut on him returning at some point if he chooses to.
Shane Thorne, Miller’s tag team partner, is still under WWE contract.
Before signing with the WWE, Miller and Thorne were known as Mikey Nicholls and Shane Haste of The Mighty Don’t Kneel (TMDK for short). They are best known for their run in Pro Wrestling NOAH from 2011 to 2016 where they won the GHC tag team titles on two occasions.
They signed with WWE in 2016 and were first given a run in NXT under the name TM-61, as babyfaces. After Thorne returned from an injury that kept him out for most of 2017, they feuded with the Street Profits, Heavy Machinery and The War Raiders. They eventually turned heel and were renamed The Mighty.
Their last appearance as a team were at the NXT television tapings that were held on November 28, losing to the team of Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan. That match aired just this past week on NXT.
WWE held tryouts this week at the WWE Performance Center as they look for more talent heading into 2019.
This camp was headed by head trainer Matt Bloom and featured a few notable names. Eric Spicely, a contestant on the 23rd season of the Ultimate Fighter, was part of the camp. Also there was Olivia Hasler, better known as “The Bad Girl” Penelope Ford, who made a memorable appearance at All In attacking Hangman Page.
The rest of the camp, which WWE.com notes featured 37 attendees overall, had athletes from various backgrounds including football, powerlifting, amateur wrestling and bodybuilding. There were also a number of regional independent wrestlers.
Other names from this week’s tryouts include:
Cal Bloom, the 6’5 son of Wayne Bloom who wrestled as Beau Beverly in the WWE
Emmanuel Matadi, an amateur wrestler from Liberia who competed in the 2016 Olympics
Heba Ali, a physical trainer and social media star who was on the fifth season of Stone Cold Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Challenge show.
Jeremiah Buoni, a bodybuilber and cast member of MTV’s Floribama Shore.
Tina Rivas, who was recently announced as a cast member of the upcoming NBC series The Titan Games, which is hosted by The Rock
Kenny Marquez, known as Jake Atlas on the independent scene. He was also part of the Undercover Boss episode that Stephanie McMahon recently participated in.
WWE is continuing to hold a number of tryouts across the world, including India which will have their own tryouts in March.
Tokyo Sports have released the names of winners for their annual awards.
Hiroshi Tanahashi has been named the MVP of the year, the first time he’s won the award since 2014. This is the fourth time he’s won the award overall. He won with eighteen votes. Kazuchika Okada came in second with twelve votes, while Kenny Omega got three.
New Japan also won Best Bout, with the Dominion match between Kazuchika Okada and Kenny Omega for the IWGP title winning that category. Tetsuya Naito also walked away with the Technique award.
Shuji Ishikawa and Suwama, who team regularly in All Japan Pro Wrestling, won the Best Tag Team award.
Pro Wrestling NOAH got a couple of nods as well. Kaito Kiyomiya won the Fighting Spirit award, while Naomichi Marufuji won a special award for his 20th anniversary, with an event taking place earlier this year where he faced the former KENTA (Hideo Itami).
For women, Tsukasa Fujimoto of Ice Ribbon also won Joshi wrestler of the year, while Utami Hayashishita of Stardom was voted Rookie of the Year, which includes both men and women wrestlers.
The awards are usually divided out each year by Tokyo Sports and are given to the bigger pro wrestling promotions in Japan. For whatever reason, Dragon Gate did not get an award this year.
Smackdown, Mixed Match Challenge and 205 Live are from Las Vegas. Among the things announced for the show is a rap battle with Sheamus & Cesaro vs. The Usos with New Day as hosts, Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair, and Mixed Match Challenge Smackdown finals with Carmella & R-Truth vs. The Miz & Asuka.
As we enter December, it feels like 2019 has been cemented as an absolutely pivotal year for the immediate future of professional wrestling. The global arms race for talent continued this past week. It was confirmed that WALTER, who is legitimately one of the best wrestlers in the world, has signed with WWE. He’s been signed for NXT’s United Kingdom brand and could play a part in the potential NXT Germany.
A look at the life of Dynamite Kid is the lead story in this week’s issue of the Wrestling Observer.
Look at his influence on the industry, his in-ring sacrifices, read comments from Bret Hart & Julie Hart, a look at his early days and his arrival in Stampede Wrestling, and his explosion of popularity in Japan.
Also look at Vince McMahon’s latest stock sale, as well as co-President George Barrios selling stock.
Read about the decision to flip flop Takeover and the Hall of Fame ceremony in April. Look at awards given to Cena, wrestlers and charity work, and more on the restrictions placed on U.K.
Look more at the XFL and the battle with the AAF that Vince McMahon is going to have starting next spring.
Examine UFC’s decision to sign Greg Hardy and debut him on the same show as Rachael Ostovich and the marketing behind both fights.
Read the update on the New Japan tag team tournament tour with results, business notes, lineups, the Tanahashi & Okada tag team and more.
This issue has an update on the WWE TLC show, with the card, plus ticket sale updates.
Read full coverage of both UFC shows from the past week, with match-by-match coverage and business notes on both shows.
Also look at the PPV numbers for Liddell vs. Ortiz what lessons is teaches.
There is also coverage of AAA’s Guerra de Titanes and ICW’s Fear and Loathing.
Read more on the MMA debut of the former Jack Swagger.
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TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
PWInsider reported that Jason Jordan was in Birmingham, Alabama last weekend getting his neck evaluated. He’s been out of action for around a year and has been working as a producer.
John Cena was on The Graham Norton show with actor Matthew Mcconaughey, who brought up he was once kicked out a an arena in Treeport for throwing tomatoes at Skandor Akbar.
Pre-show tickets for a SmackDown event in Elmira, New York on March 23 will go on sale on 12/14. Matches already being advertised include Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Rusev for the United States title, AJ Styles vs. The Miz and Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch. Obviosuly, the card is subject to change. Click here for tickets, pre-sale code is WWELIVE.
Rhyno reiterated on social media that he is not retired and will fulfill contractual obligations after being “fired” from Raw last week.
Titus O’Neil shot a cover for his upcoming book “There’s No Such Thing As A BAD Kid” at the WWE Performance Center today. The book will be released next summer.
Kevin Owens will be making an appearance at the Cavalcade of Custons at the Duke Energy Convention Center in Cincinnati, Ohio on January 11 from 6-8 p.m.
WWE wrestlers were on a Try Not to Laugh challenge video for Fine Brothers Entertainment.
Matt Hardy spoke to Wrestling Inc, saying there wasn’t a timetable for his return, but he plans to return to the ring.
Bothmembers of the Revival commented on Seth Rollins’ shout out on Raw last night.
You can watch Becky Lynch on Ariel Helwani’s MMA show here.
Pro Wrestling
Joe Doering and Dylan James won this year’s AJPW Real World tag league. They defeated Suwama and Shuji Ishikawa to earn 14 points overall, putting them ahead of everyone else.
Tetsuya Naito cut a promo on Chris Jericho wearing Jericho’s recent facepaint ahead of their match at Wrestle Kingdom 13.
Tank Abbott, who had stints both in UFC and WCW, spoke to Hannibal TV recently. He said he recently got a liver transplant, dying five times on the operating table during the surgery. He’s since lost 100 pounds and has quit drinking.
UFC/MMA
ESPN got a statement from USADA explaining why the site reverted back to showing Lesnar submitting five tests when originally there were six. “USADA updates the Athlete Test History page of the UFC/USADA website on a weekly basis,” said USADA spokesperson Adam Woullard to ESPN. “During an update on the week of October 15th, we experienced a technical issue that resulted in the information on the page being displayed incorrectly. The correct test history for the athlete is one test [that week], not two. The issue has been fixed and the testing numbers on the website are all accurate. We are still investigating the specific technical issue that led to the error.”
Valentina Shevchenko isn’t in a rush to face Joanna Jedrzejczyk again after defeating her this past weekend to win the flyweight title.
Jedrzejczyk was interviewed by Polsat Sport, saying she gave everything in that fight, but did make some mistakes.
Jessica Penne and Jodie Esquibel in a strawweight division fight will take place on UFC’s ESPN debut on 2/17.
ESPN says that UFC 234 in Melbourne, Australia sold out “in minutes”.
PWG has released the card for their next show, Hand of Doom.
In the main event, Trevor Lee will challenge Jeff Cobb for the PWG World title. The PWG tag team titles will also be on the line, as Best Friends will make their return to the promotion challenging current champions The Rascalz (Zachary Wentz and Desmond Xavier).
There will also be a couple of debuts. Jonathan Gresham, who currently wrestles for ROH, will take on Robbie Eagles. Jungle Boy, the son of Beverly Hills 90210 star Luke Perry will also be on the card, taking on Brody King.
Here is the full card for next month’s show, which will take place January 18 at the Globe Theater in Los Angeles, California:
Jeff Cobb vs. Trevor Lee for the PWG title
The Rascalz vs. Best Friends for the PWG tag team titles
The team of Chad Gable and Bobby Roode defeated the Authors of Pain and Drake Maverick in a 3-on-2 handicap match tonight to win the titles for the first time. The Authors of Pain held the titles for 35 days.
The AOP had the match won, as Roode and Gable were laid out following the super collider. Gable tried to fight back, but was laid out once again. Drake Maverick wanted to score the win for his team, so the AOP tagged him out and celebrated on the outside. Maverick did Bobby Roode’s pose, but Roode caught him off guard with a crucifix and picked up the win and the titles.
The AOP defeated Seth Rollins for the titles in what essentially was a handicap match back on November 5. Since then, they have been feuding with Roode and Gable. Last week on Raw, They defeated Bobby Roode in an impromptu 3-on-1 handicap match after the AOP destroyed Chad Gable backstage, then were inserted into the match by acting General Manager Baron Corbin.
New Japan is set to return to the United States for two events.
The tour will be called New Beginning USA. The first event will take place January 30 in Los Angeles, California at the Globe Theater. They will follow that two days later with a show in Charlotte, North Carolina at the Grady Cole Center on February 1.
It was mentioned during tonight’s press conference, which announced the tour, that the young lions training at the NJPW dojo in Los Angeles will be a featured part of both shows. It will be running in conjunction with the New Beginning tour in Japan; wrestlers who are not a part of the USA tour will be wrestling on those cards.
New Japan was last in the United States back on September 30 at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California. The Golden Lovers defeated Kazuchika Okada and Tomohiro Ishii in the main event.
The final card for Wrestle Kingdom 13 has been announced.
Along with other matches previously announced, three new title matches have been added to the show. Number one contender to the NEVER Openweight title Will Ospreay will challenge current champion Kota Ibushi.
The winners of this year’s World Tag League, EVIL and SANADA, will challenge champions the Guerrillas of Destiny. It will be a triple threat match, however as the Young Bucks have been added to the match. This comes following the end of the World Tag League where the Bucks came out and said that since they didn’t get a rematch after losing the titles to GD, they wanted the next shot. EVIL said they would be willing to take on both teams.
A United States title match has also been added, as Juice Robinson will challenge current champion Cody. It was Cody who defeated Juice for the title back at Fighting Spirit Unleashed in September.
The New Japan Rumble that has been featured in previous years has been shelved. Instead, a gauntlet match will take place during the pre-show with the winners becoming the number one contenders for the NEVER six man tag team titles.
Here is the full card for Wrestle Kingdom 13, taking place on January 4 inside the Tokyo Dome:
Kenny Omega vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP title
Chris Jericho vs. Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP Intercontinental title
Kazuchika Okada vs. Jay White
KUSHIDA vs. Taiji Ishimori for the IWGP Jr. title
Cody vs. Juice Robinson for the IWGP United States title
Guerrillas of Destiny vs. The Young Bucks vs. EVIL and SANADA for the IWGP tag team titles
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Zack Sabre Jr. for the British Heavyweight title
Yoshinobu Kanemaru and El Desperado vs. Roppongi 3K vs. BUSHI and Shingo Takagi for the IWGP Jr. tag team titles
Kota Ibushi vs. Will Ospreay for the NEVER Openweight title
Pre-Show: A gauntlet match to determine #1 contenders for NEVER six man titles
