Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including the story on Jack Perry from this weekend, Alex Coughlin retires, where Becky wants to be on the Mania card, what they might be doing with Rey and Santos, Ronda Rousey buries Vince, and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Tag: Alex Coughlin
NJPW’s Alex Coughlin says he’s retired
Alex Coughlin says he is retired.
The NJPW star wrote on X Saturday night that he was retired, saying it “sucks”.
“Yeah I’m retired and it sucks now leave me the f*** alone,” he wrote. “Actually I have some merch and gear to sell still so don’t f*** off just yet.”
Coughlin, 30, is part of Bullet Club War Dogs and is a former NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Champion with Gabe Kidd. His last match with NJPW took place on February 11, where he teamed with the rest of the War Dogs stable in a winning effort against Will Ospreay and the rest of the the United Empire in a cage match that served as Ospreay’s final match as a NJPW talent.
Beginning his wrestling career in 2018 for New York Wrestling Connection, he started with NJPW later that year and began training as a young lion. He graduated from that career phase in 2021 and started wrestling as The Android. In June of last year, he and Gabe Kidd joined Bullet Club and won the Strong Tag Team titles from Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI. They lost the titles later that year to the Guerrillas of Destiny.
Two title changes at NJPW Strong Independence Day night one
The opening night of NJPW Strong Independence Day included a pair of tag team title changes.
Bullet Club War Dogs are now in possession of the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team titles and the Strong Openweight Tag Team titles. Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney defeated TJP & Francesco Akira to win the Junior Heavyweight belts, while Alex Coughlin & Gabe Kidd claimed the Strong Openweight titles by defeating Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI.
There will be a chance for the faction to add more gold as Coughlin & Kidd challenge Goto & YOSHI-HASHI for the IWGP Tag Team titles at Strong Independence Day night two on Wednesday. Goto & YOSHI-HASHI are entering that match at a disadvantage after Coughlin & Kidd continued to attack them following their match on night one.
David Finlay introduced Connors as a new member of Bullet Club at NJPW Capital Collision this April. Moloney, Coughlin, and Kidd were then added to the group at Dominion last month.
Here’s the full lineup for Strong Independence Day night two:
- Final Death match: Jon Moxley vs. El Desperado
- NJPW Strong Openweight Champion KENTA defends against Eddie Kingston
- IWGP Tag Team Champions Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI defend against Alex Coughlin & Gabe Kidd
- NJPW Strong Women’s Champion Willow Nightingale defends against Giulia
- Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tomohiro Ishii & The DKC vs. Tom Lawlor, Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs
- Lance Archer & Alex Zayne vs. Bad Dude Tito & Kosei Fujita
- Drilla Moloney & Clark Connors vs. YOH & Rocky Romero
- Homicide & Ryohei Oiwa vs. TJP & Francesco Akira
- JR Kratos vs. Oskar Leube
- Kickoff match: Ryusuke Taguchi, Master Wato & Boltin Oleg vs. Dragon Libre, Takahiro Katori & Rekka
Alex Coughlin challenges Katsuyori Shibata to ROH Pure title match
Alex Coughlin wants to face Katsuyori Shibata for the ROH Pure Championship.
Coughlin issued a challenge to his former NJPW LA Dojo mentor on Thursday’s Ring of Honor TV episode, asking Shibata to put the title on the line.
The challenge came after Shibata and Coughlin teamed to defeat The WorkHorsemen (JD Drake & Anthony Henry) in a tag team contest on Thursday’s episode.
Coughlin, 29, was part of the first class of this iteration of NJPW’s LA Dojo in 2018 alongside Karl Fredericks (now Eddy Thorpe in WWE NXT) and Clark Connors. Shibata serves as the LA Dojo’s head trainer, but also resumed his in-ring career in 2021.
Coughlin tweeted:
https://twitter.com/AlexCoughlin93/status/1646672239847251968
Shibata defeated Wheeler Yuta at ROH Supercard of Honor on March 31 to capture the Pure title for the first time.
No date has been announced for the potential mentor vs. student matchup.
Our full Ring of Honor TV report can be found here.
ROH TV taping spoilers from Rhode Island
The following are spoilers from Friday’s pre-AEW Rampage Ring of Honor TV taping in Kingston, Rhode Island — assumed to be for this Thursday’s HonorClub show.
ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli, ROH Women’s Champion Athena and ROH Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata were all in action as was Alex Coughlin who appeared in the company for the first time since 2019’s War of the Worlds series.
- Skye Blue defeated Kelly Madan
- Mark Briscoe defeated Ari Daivari. The Varsity Athletes attacked afterward and FTR made the save
- ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli defeated Metalik to retain the title
- Robyn Renegade defeated Madison Rayne. Rayne appeared to injure her ankle and they went right to the finish.
- Wheeler Yuta defeated Tracy Williams
- ROH Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata & Alex Coughlin defeated The WorkHorsemen
- Darius Martin defeated Mike Bennett by DQ when Matt Taven ran in. Action Andretti made the save.
- Willow Nightingale defeated LMK
- Stu Grayson defeated Tony Nese. After the match, The Righteous (Vincent & Dutch) came out and stared down Evil Uno and Grayson.
- ROH Women’s Champion Athena pinned Ashley D’Amboise in a Proving Ground match
They also taped an AEW dark match afterward.
- Best Friends, Isiah Kassidy & Matt Hardy defeated The Butcher and the Blade, Kip Sabian & Zack Clayton
Thanks to Arya Witner
Jon Moxley gets new opponent for Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport 9
Jon Moxley has a new opponent for Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport 9.
With Davey Richards off the show, Moxley will now face NJPW’s Alex Coughlin at the Bloodsport event. Coughlin challenged Moxley to the match after Josh Barnett announced that Moxley’s opponent would be changing.
https://twitter.com/AlexCoughlin93/status/1639041412183236608
Multiple promotions cut ties with Richards last week after domestic violence allegations that were made against him. Richards issued a statement denying the allegations but announcing that he is retiring from pro wrestling.
Coughlin was originally scheduled to face Yuya Uemura at Bloodsport.
This will be the first time Moxley and Coughlin have ever faced each other. Both have competed at several previous Bloodsport shows.
Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport 9 is being held at the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Los Angeles on Thursday, March 30. The show, which will air live via Fite+, is part of GCW’s The Collective during WrestleMania week.
Kota Ibushi vs. “Speedball” Mike Bailey and Josh Barnett vs. Timothy Thatcher are among the other matches that will be taking place at Bloodsport.
Two matches set for NJPW Collision in Philadelphia
NJPW has made its first two match announcements for next month’s Collision event in Philadelphia.
Eddie Kingston will be in action in a singles match at the show, taking on Gabriel Kidd. An ROH Pure Rules match between Alex Coughlin and Tracy Williams has also been announced for the Sunday, April 16 event.
This will be the second time Kingston and Kidd have faced each other. Kingston defeated Kidd in a match for NJPW Strong that took place in December 2021 and aired in January 2022.
Last month, Kingston defeated Jay White in a Loser Leaves NJPW match at Battle in the Valley.
NJPW wrote about Coughlin vs. Williams: “The rule set in itself implies that this match’s winner could instantly shoot up the rankings for the ROH Pure Championship currently held by Wheeler Yuta; might a new contender emerge from this matchup?”
Collision in Philadelphia is being held at the 2300 Arena. NJPW also has a Capital Collision event taking place in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, April 15. Both shows will air as live pay-per-views and then be used for content for future episodes of Strong On Demand.
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tetsuya Naito, Tomohiro Ishii, Hiromu Takahashi, KENTA, SANADA, and Lance Archer are among the other wrestlers who will be in action at Collision in Philadelphia. Their matches have yet to be announced.
Alex Coughlin off NJPW Burning Spirit tour due to injury
Alex Coughlin has been removed from NJPW’s Burning Spirit tour.
The 28-year-old had been advertised for the tour but later took to social media to say he’s still not ready to return to the ring.
“Sorry if anyone got excited but there was some sort of miscommunication, I won’t be ready to return to the ring for a little while longer- Recovery is going well though, I’m doing everything I can I WILL be back though, and I will be stronger than ever… eventually,” Coughlin posted to Twitter on Monday.
Coughlin missed the final 3 shows of the New Japan Road tour in July and did not appear on the G1 Climax 32 tour either due to a left calf muscle injury. His last match was on the preshow for AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door on June 26.
NJPW announced on Wednesday that Coughlin will be replaced by The DKC on the Burning Spirit Tour, which runs from September 2 to 25.
“Alex Coughlin, who was announced this week for the Burning Spirit tour starting September 2 in Yokohama, will miss action due to a left leg injury,” an NJPW report reads.
Daily Update: Lenny Leonard, Alex Coughlin, Pro Wrestling NOAH
Daily Update
Latest News:
- Dave Meltzer & Bryan Alvarez live Q&A tickets available for All Out weekend
- Bruce Prichard on recent WWE changes: ‘It’s exciting times’
- WWE on A&E ratings down for Edge Biography
- Tyler Bate match announced for WWE NXT
- Johnny Gargano says WWE return ‘still feels like a dream’
- Second Undertaker ‘1 deadMAN SHOW’ set for WWE Clash at the Castle weekend
- Westin Blake’s debut part of 14-match AEW Dark lineup
- WWE Raw video highlights: Johnny Gargano returns
- WWE’s Edge teases 2023 retirement in post-Raw promo
- NJPW reveals details on IWGP Women’s Championship tournament
- WWE Raw video highlights: Two wrestlers having a wrestling match
- Three mixed tag matches announced for NJPW x Stardom Historic X-over
- KUSHIDA’s NJPW Strong debut set for this week’s High Alert episode
- Kurt Angle announced for next week’s WWE Raw
- Three matches announced for Saturday’s NJPW Strong
- Johnny Gargano returns to WWE on Raw
- WWE Raw live results: Lashley vs. Styles US title match
- Six-way number one contender’s match set for Impact Wrestling
- AEW Dark Elevation results: Hikaru Shida & Skye Blue vs. Emi Sakura & Maki Itoh
- IYO SKY & Dakota Kai advance to finals of WWE Women’s Tag Team title tournament
- Toxic Attraction out of WWE Women’s Tag Team title tournament following Dolin injury
Latest Audio:
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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter:
- Match and performer of the week
- The life and times of Gene LeBell, MMA, stunt work, pro wrestling, an accessory to a murder, being trained by Lou Thesz, national judo champion, enforcer work in boxing and wrestling, details on the supposed first mixed match in history and later refereeing Ali vs. Inoki, the Bearcat Wright story, Steven Seagal, Bruce Lee, Chuck Morris, Ronda Rousey, Roddy Piper, the Los Angeles wrestling territory
- Updated G1 Climax report with all the bouts last week, the standings and the final shows
- Clash at the Castle update
- Vice’s Tales from the Territory, what is and isn’t confirmed
- UFC Saturday night coverage
- AAA Triplemania preview and Verano de Escandalo coverage
- The death of the Mexican star TNT, and a look back at a boom period for wrestling in that country
- The most detailed look at the pro wrestling TV business over the past week
- More on the CMLL anniversary sow
- More on the CMLL Grand Prix
- Konnan and Dorian Roldan talk AAA future
- *Stardom Five Star Grand Prix update
- NOAH N-1 tournament
- Ric Flair talks his last match
- Dave Bautista movie update
- Death of Mike Masters/Rocky Jones
- Former early Raw performer loses race for senate
- Lots of AEW updates
- Major star talks going to AEW
- AEW & WWE streaming numbers
- Ticket sale updates on AEW & WWE shows
- UFC new deal in its second biggest market
- Lots of new major UFC fights
- Bo Nickal and UFC
- Vince McMahon’s new payments found
- Questions being asked about a WWE branch
- Returns of Dexter Lumis, Karrion Kross & Scarlett
- Women’s tag team title tournament
- New WWE TV show filming
This Week’s Retro Observer Newsletter:
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Tuesday News Update
WWE
- Matches taped for Main Event this week include Tamina and Dana Brooke vs. Doudrop and Nikki A.S.H., as well as Mustafa Ali and Cedric Alexander vs. T-Bar and Shelton Benjamin.
- The person that attacked AJ Styles during last night’s Raw has been identified as Rajan Husher, who trained at the Battle Arts Academy.
- WWEMusic has added Apollo Crews’ new theme.
- Cardi B on Twitter wrote about the Edge and Lita pairing from 2005-6: “I used to love them….they was such a sexy ass couple …This was truly my wwe era …even tho I was a Trish Stratus girl I used to love this couple.:”
- Matches and segments added to WWE’s YouTube page today includes A Moment of Bliss featuring Sami Zayn from the April 15, 2019 edition of Raw, The Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler from the August 12, 2019 episode of Raw, and Riddle vs. AJ Styles from the August 23, 2021 edition of Raw.
AEW/ROH
- This week’s AEW Road to, which focuses on the title unification match between CM Punk and Jon Moxley.
- Tony Khan on Twitter noted that the Dynamite episode featuring Jon Moxley vs. Chris Jericho for the interim AEW World Championship match did record viewership on ITV4.
- Tony Sciavone and Aubrey Edwards discussed the recent backstage changes in AEW on this week’s Unrestricted Podcast.
Other Wrestling
- Lenny Leonard, longtime announcer on the independent scene, announced on Twitter that he has decided to step away from wrestling going forward. “After close to 2 decades I just think it’s time to call it a day,” he wrote. “Evolve being sold to WWE and the pandemic closing Japan off to me for the last 3 years pretty much put the wheels for this day in motion a while back. There are only so many spots for announcers on the indy scene and it was very clear that there was not going to be a spot for me being part of one of the televised companies. I’m not using the word retire, not because I plan on coming back, but because wrestling announcing was never my career, but simply something I did.”
- After NJPW listed him returning on the upcoming Burning Spirit tour, Alex Coughlin on Twitter wrote there had been a miscommunication issue and wouldn’t be returning to the ring just yet. “Sorry if anyone got excited but there was some sort of miscommunication, I won’t be ready to return to the ring for a little while longer- Recovery is going well though, I’m doing everything I can. I WILL be back though, and I will be stronger than ever… eventually.”
- Pro Wrestling NOAH will allow vocal crowd noise for their October 30 show. Social distancing will remain intact and those in attendance are requested to wear non-woven masks.
- Stan Hansen will be present for the upcoming Triple Crown title match between Suwama and Kento Miyahara at All Japan Pro Wrestling’s event on September 18.
- Hisaya Imabayashi, the general manager of DDT, announced he will be leaving the promotion at the end of 2022.
- The NWA is partnering with MindsEye for this coming weekend’s NWA 74 event to provide audio inside the arena for visually impaired people.
- Kamille was interviewed by Andrew Thompson ahead of NWA 74.
- Recently released NXT UK talent Amale has been added to WXW Femmes Fatales card on October 1.
Four wrestlers not cleared to compete in New Japan Road matches
NJPW has announced several changes to the cards for its current New Japan Road tour.
Alex Coughlin and Yuto Nakashima will both miss the three remaining shows on the tour due to injury. Coughlin has sustained an injury to his left calf muscle, while Nakashima has a left elbow injury.
YOH has tested positive for COVID-19 and has been self isolating. He’ll miss the New Japan Road events on Sunday, July 3 and Monday, July 4 but will be cleared to return in time for the Tuesday, July 5 show, where YOH, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto will challenge EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi & SHO for the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team titles.
DOUKI is off the New Japan Road tour due to being in close contact with someone who was infected with COVID.
Here is the full list of card changes:
Sunday, July 3 —
– Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. Ryohei Oiwa & Yuto Nakashima will now be Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. Ryohei Oiwa & X (mystery partner)
– Alex Coughlin, Clark Connors & The DKC vs. Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & Shingo Takagi will now be Yuji Nagata, Clark Connors & The DKC vs. Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & Shingo Takagi
– YOH, Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Toru Yano vs. EVIL, Dick Togo, Yujiro Takahashi & SHO will now be Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Toru Yano vs. EVIL, Dick Togo & Yujiro Takahashi
– Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Taichi & DOUKI will now be Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Taichi & TAKA Michinoku
Monday, July 4 —
– Yuto Nakashima vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru will now be X (mystery opponent) vs. TAKA Michinoku
– Alex Coughlin, Clark Connors & The DKC vs. Taichi, El Desperado & DOUKI will now be Yuji Nagata, Clark Connors & The DKC vs. Taichi, El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
– YOH, Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Toru Yano vs. EVIL, Dick Togo, Yujiro Takahashi & SHO will now be Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Toru Yano vs. EVIL, Dick Togo & Yujiro Takahashi
Tuesday, July 5 —
– Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Yuto Nakashima will now be Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & X (mystery partner)
– Alex Coughlin, Clark Connors & The DKC vs. Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii & Alex Zayne will now be Yuji Nagata, Clark Connors & The DKC vs. Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii & Alex Zayne
– Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, SANADA, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI vs. Taichi, Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI will now be Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, SANADA, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI vs. Taichi, Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & TAKA Michinoku
Mike Bennett replacing Alex Coughlin at Terminus debut show
An injury has forced a change to the card for Terminus’ debut event.
Terminus announced that, due to injury, Alex Coughlin is off the card for their debut show on Sunday (January 16). Coughlin was scheduled to face Moose.
Mike Bennett is replacing Coughlin at the show and will be Moose’s new opponent.
Bennett, Maria Kanellis-Bennett, Matt Taven, Vincent Marseglia, and PCO were involved in an ROH invasion angle at Impact Wrestling’s Hard to Kill pay-per-view this past Saturday.
Moose is the current Impact Wrestling World Champion.
Terminus is a new promotion from Jonathan Gresham and Baron Black. Sunday’s event is taking place at the Kroc Center in Atlanta and will air live on Fite TV.
Here’s the card for the show:
- ROH World Champion Jonathan Gresham defends against Josh Alexander in a Pure Rules match
- ROH World Champion Bandido defends against Baron Black
- Jay Lethal vs. Lee Moriarty
- Impact Digital Media Champion Jordynne Grace defends against Kiera Hogan
- Moose vs. Mike Bennett
- Liiza Hall vs. Janai Kai
- Terminal eliminator match: JDX vs. Daniel Garcia vs. Invictus Khash vs. Adam Priest
- Tracy Williams & Fred Yehi vs. Dante Caballero & Joe Keys
Lenny Leonard and Dave Prazak will be the commentary team for the show.
ACH return bout announced for NJPW Strong, Alex Coughlin injured
New Japan Pro Wrestling announced matches for this Friday’s Strong event while also announcing an injury.
The company announced this evening that Alex Coughlin has suffered a neck injury and as a result will not be competing in upcoming Strong events.
Coughlin last competed during the Lion’s Break Collision tapings in June.
Matches were also announced for this Friday’s New Japan Strong. In a six-man tag team match, TJP, ACH, and Alex Zayne will face PJ Black, Misterioso, and Blake Christian. This will be the first time ACH has wrestled for NJPW since 2018, working Lion’s Break Project 1.
In a tag team match, Clark Connors and Jordan Clearwater will face Logan Riegel and Barrett Brown..
The two semifinal matches in the NJPW Cup USA tournament will also take place on this card. KENTA will face Jeff Cobb, while David Finlay will face Tama Tonga. The winners of these two matches will face off in the finals on August 21.
Left My Wallet: A talk with NJPW Young Lion Alex Coughlin
Left My Wallet is back for a third show in just a few days, featuring a fun chat with NJPW Young Lion and rising star, Alex Coughlin!
Alex and I discussed coming up in the Los Angelan dojo, the differences between dojo training and traditional U.S. training, what he’s doing during the shutdown in L.A., and ways to stay in shape during this time. Alex also talks about his love for Mike Piazza as a kid on Long Island, training under Mikey Whipwreck, and his road to New Japan Pro Wrestling.
We share many of the same opinions on in ring style, training, and wrestling philosophy and this this conversation was one of my favorites in recent memory. Get to know one of the fastest rising stars in wrestling in this 30 minute episode.