On a new Pacific Rim Pro Wrestling podcast, we take a trip back to the late-90s, specifically 1998.
26 years ago on December 5, 1998, the finals of the All-Japan Pro Wrestling Real World Tag League took place as Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama faced off against Vader & Stan Hansen.
Fumi Saito talks to me about how this wasn’t just one of the best matches of the 90s, but that it symbolized a lot of changes happening around the end of one century and the beginning of another.
Plus, we chat about career of Mighty Inoue, and plenty of other news and notes.
Bryan Danielson will take on another talent from Japan on this week’s Collision.
Danielson will face current DDT star and former Triple Crown Champion Jun Akiyama in a first-time-ever singles match. Akiyama’s only other time competing in AEW was against Danielson’s future opponent, Eddie Kingston, whom Danielson will face at AEW Revolution on March 3.
Another match will see FTR take on Shane Taylor & Lee Moriarty. On Wednesday, FTR wrestled to a time-limit draw against Blackpool Combat Club’s Claudio Castagnoli & Jon Moxley. After the match, Dax Harwood issued the challenge backstage for a rematch at Revolution, but it has yet to be confirmed.
Other matches will see the combination of Jay White, Billy Gunn, and Austin Gunn in action after Bullet Club Gold and The Acclaimed recently combined forces to form a supergroup. Sammy Guevara will face Powerhouse Hobbs, Serena Deeb will face Kiera Hogan, and Thunder Rosa will also be in action.
Join us for live coverage starting at 8 pm ET.
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After a week off, Sir Elton John welcomed us back to Collision, live from Springfield, Missouri. Maybe the Simpsons are here! Tony Schiavone, Kevin Kelly, & Nigel McGuinness were on the call as Sammy Guevara made his entrance for the opening contest.
No Disqualification Match – Powerhouse Hobbs defeated Sammy Guevara
A high-octane, incredibly impressive opener to this show as the Callis Family/Jericho & Guevara feud seems to have come to an end. A big showcase win for Hobbs, who could use the win a lot more than Guevara right now.
The announcers talked about Hobbs’ attack on Guevara last night on Collision, bringing us to tonight’s no DQ match where all parties are banned from ringside. Schiavone noted that Don Callis wasn’t in the building, as he was collecting Will Ospreay from the UK for Wednesday’s Dynamite.
Guevara started hot, charging Hobbs with a pair of jumping knees. Guevara hit a springboard cutter before taking Hobbs to the floor with a Cactus Clothesline. Guevara evaded a Hobbs charge into the barricade but leaped into the arms of Hobbs, who landed a World’s Strongest Slam onto the steel stairs at ringside. Hobbs hit repeated World’s Strongest Slams into the apron before flinging him into the barricade.
Hobbs made his way to the announce desk and menaced Kevin Kelly into giving him his belt. Hobbs gave Guevara some corporal punishment before Guevara landed a pair of superkicks and chair shots. Guevara hit a Van Terminator, but Hobbs flung Guevara into the barricade. Guevara reversed another powerslam into a cutter on the stairs before giving Hobbs a shot with the belt.
Guevara pulled out a table, then slid a chair across the table into Hobbs’ face. Guevara set up a second table and leaped to Hobbs on the apron, but Hobbs caught him and hit a main event spinebuster through both tables as we went to commercial. Back from commercial, Guevara dodged a corner charge and got Hobbs up for the GTH for a nearfall. Guevara grabbed a monitor from ringside and sent it into Hobbs’ head before grabbing another table.
Hobbs obliterated Guevara with a lariat before setting up the table in the ring. Guevara rocked Hobbs with a superkick before going for a double springboard cutter, but Hobbs caught him and hit a World’s Strongest Slam for a nearfall. Hobbs grabbed more tables, setting two up at ringside. Guevara sent Hobbs into the ring post before grabbing a beer from ringside and bashing it over Hobbs’ head.
With Hobbs laid out on the tables at ringside, Guevara grabbed a ladder and set it up in the ring. Guevara rose up the ladder and hit a picture-perfect senton bomb through the tables. Guevara brought Hobbs back in the ring and placed him on the table in the ring, but Hobbs sent the referee into Guevara on the top rope. Hobbs went to the top rope and put Guevara through the table with a World’s Strongest Slam to score the win.
Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli were backstage. Moxley talked about Castagnoli’s first meeting with his trainers, William Regal and Dave Taylor. Castagnoli didn’t have a car, so he walked 20 miles to get to the building. Moxley said that 20 minutes was nothing to Castagnoli, nor was it anything for him. Moxley said that a time-limit draw was unacceptable to them. They accepted FTR’s challenge for a match at Revolution. Castagnoli said that while FTR looked to the past, the Blackpool Combat Club created the wrestling that they wanted to see in the future. Moxley said FTR was going to have to swim in deep water to survive the BCC.
Due to technical difficulties, I joined this match in progress. Moriarty and Taylor were working on Harwood, but Harwood dove out of the way of a splash from Taylor. Harwood fought through Moriarty to get the tag out to Wheeler, who ran wild on both men. Wheeler hit a neckbreaker on Moriarty for a nearfall. Taylor tried to pull a Rude/Warrior and tripped Harwood on a suplex attempt to get Moriarty a nearfall. Taylor snuck a punch to Wheeler, scoring Moriarty another nearfall. Harwood got a blind tag, then hit a double-team powerbomb on Moriarty to score the win.
After the match, FTR took to the microphone. Wheeler said that it would take more than being stepped on to be rid of FTR. Harwood talked about how Moxley was the king of the castle in AEW, but they weren’t afraid of the BCC. Harwood said to be a king, you had to kill one, and FTR was coming to Revolution ready to kill.
We got a video package hyping tonight’s match between Bryan Danielson and Jun Akiyama.
Thunder Rosa defeated Lady Bird Monroe
Lady Bird Monroe sounds like someone June Byers beat for the NWA Women’s Title back in the 50’s. Rosa got a quick win with the Tijuana Bomb, moving to 4-0 on the year.
Kris Statlander, Willow Nightingale, & Stokely Hathaway were in the back with Renee Paquette. Hathaway didn’t like the hostility from Skye Blue & Julia Hart. Statlander challenged Blue to a match next week.
Bang Bang Scissor Gang (Billy Gunn, Colten Gunn & Jay White) vs. The Iron Savages (Bronson, Boulder, & Jacked Jameson)
Oh joy, the Iron Savages. Caster lost his train of thought for his rap on his way to the ring. Billy Gunn and White had some awkwardness when it was time to start, but Billy ended up starting. Billy and Colten teamed up to take Bronson down, but Bronson ducked a corner charge from Colten. The Savages took control of Colten, but he fought to the corner and passed up his father to tag in White.
White ran wild on everybody, hitting a uranage on Jameson and setting up Boulder for a Fameasser. White hit Jameson with the Blade Runner to score the win for the supergroup.
Bryan Danielson is backstage with Lexy Nair. Danielson put over Akiyama as one of the best wrestlers of all time, and one of Eddie Kingston’s idols. He noted that Kingston would be on commentary to watch as he beat one of his heroes. Danielson did not respect Kingston because he wasn’t a professional, despite having incredible potential.
Malakai Black defeated Bryan Keith
The post-match tells me that Black vs. Briscoe will soon be on the cards, possibly for Revolution.
This is Black’s first singles match in AEW since June of 2022, as his fans on Twitter will happily remind me. The announcers recapped Brody King & Julia Hart’s attack on Mark Briscoe 2 weeks ago that left Briscoe bloody. Kevin Kelly noted that Black hadn’t lost a singles match in AEW since June of 2021. Black and Keith traded kicks before Keith pulled Black over with a suplex for a nearfall. Keith went for the Tiger Driver, but Black escaped and drilled Keith with an elbow. Black booted Keith off the apron into the barricade as we went to commercial.
The two traded strikes as we came back from commercial. Keith scored with big strikes before hitting an Exploder suplex. Keith hit an Ushigoroshi for a nearfall. After some confusion in the corner, Keith hit a tornado DDT. The two traded more strikes until Keith headbutted Black on the top rope. Black headbutted him back and hit a double stomp. Black hit a jumping knee and a bridging German suplex for a nearfall.
Keith ducked the Black Mass and hit the Tiger Driver for a nearfall. Keith went for a Shining Wizard, but Black hit the Black Mass to score the win. The lights soon went out before Mark Briscoe appeared with a kendo stick. He took out an interfering Buddy Matthews & Brody King before pulling out a railroad spike. He went to stab Black in the head with it, but Black moved, allowing the House to take control. Black hit the Black Mass, and King hit the Gonzo Bomb to leave Briscoe lying.
We got a video package hyping Sting& Darby Allin vs. The Young Bucks for Revolution.
Serena Deeb defeated Lady Frost
During her entrance, we saw footage of Lady Frost competing in CMLL. Deeb controlled the match to start, but Frost picked up the pace to keep Deeb off of the mat. Deeb took Frost down to the mat before locking on a reverse figure four that forced Frost into the ropes. After a commercial, Deeb took Frost down with a Dragon Screw Leg Whip.
Deeb hit a pair of clotheslines to fire up, then hit a neckbreaker in the ropes. Deeb hit a Twist and Shout neckbreaker for a nearfall. Frost hit a step-up kick in the corner, then hit a cartwheel Air Raid Crash for a nearfall. Deeb avoided a hurricane kick before hitting a Pepsi Twist. Deeb locked on a single-leg crab on Frost’s leg to score the win.
Deeb took to the mic after the match, saying that anyone who wanted to join AEW would have to step to her. She took some veiled shots at the current women’s champions, noting that she didn’t have to turn the lights out or make the screen go black and white to have her matches. She said she was going to put the Wrestling back in All Elite Wrestling.
Eddie Kingston made his way to the commentary desk, standing to watch Danielson’s entrance.
Bryan Danielson defeated Jun Akiyama
This was a good main event. While it may not have reached the lofty expectations you might have with these two names in mind, it was still a quality match. The post-match angle was great, as it not only added heat to Danielson/Kingston but also set up the main event for the go-home edition of Dynamite.
We got highlights of one of Akiyama’s previous appearances in AEW, scoring a win with an Exploder suplex. The announcers noted that Akiyama was a highly touted amateur wrestler, choosing to enter professional wrestling instead of trying to compete in the Olympics. As the two grappled, Kingston laughed at the idea of wasting his potential, noting his three championships. Danielson stomped on Akiyama’s knees in a surfboard stretch, starting the attack on Akiyama’s legs.
Akiyama caught Danielson’s arm in a cross-arm breaker, but Danielson transitioned into a leg lock and eventually a Muta Lock. Akiyama got out by clawing at Danielson’s face. Akiyama wrenched Danielson’s arm to get his target for the match. Danielson sent Akiyama to the floor, but Akiyama cut off a dive with a forearm as we went to commercial. After the break, Akiyama dropped a knee on Danielson’s neck on the apron, but Danielson came back with a suplex on the floor before hitting a running knee strike off the apron.
Danielson hit a shotgun dropkick off the top rope before hitting the running kicks in the corner. Akiyama cut off Danielson with a lariat out of the corner. Danielson snatched Akiyama’s arm and dragged him into the LeBell Lock, but Akiyama quickly got to the ropes. Danielson went to the top rope, but Akiyama cut him off with a forearm. Danielson knocked Akiyama off the ropes, but Akiyama caught him with a knee and hit a piledriver for a nearfall.
Akiyama hit repeated knees to Danielson’s head, but Danielson caught a running kick and turned it into a single-leg crab. Danielson pulled Akiyama up into a German suplex. Danielson hit the middle kicks, but Akiyama caught Danielson with an Exploder Suplex for a nearfall. Akiyama transitioned into a Guillotine Choke, one that Kingston noted choked out Kenta Kobashi. Danielson fought to the ropes and caught Akiyama with a head kick. They traded strikes before Akiyama hit an Exploder and a running knee.
They fought back to their feet, and with the same idea in mind, met in the middle with dueling knees. The two traded forearms until Akiyama crumpled Danielson with a forearm. Akiyama went for the wrist-clutch Exploder, but Danielson rolled out and caught Akiyama with a rising knee to the head. Danielson loaded up for the Busaiku Knee and hit it to score the win.
After the match, Danielson smirked at Kingston before offering a handshake to Akiyama. Danielson flipped Kingston off, which made Akiyama mad. Akiyama slapped Danielson in the face. Danielson apologized and offered his hand again, then kicked Akiyama in the groin. Kingston charged Danielson and brawled with him, leading to Claudio Castagnoli hitting the ring and helping Danielson beat up Kingston. FTR made their way to the ring to run the BCC off. Tony Schiavone announced that on Dynamite, Kingston & FTR would team up to wrestle Danielson, Castagnoli, & Jon Moxley.
Two Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Famers will square off on the February 24 AEW Collision episode.
As announced during Friday’s Rampage show, Bryan Danielson will face Jun Akiyama on next week’s Collision. Danielson was inducted into the WON Hall of Fame in 2016, while Akiyama was part of the Class of 2020.
The Danielson vs. Akiyama singles contest continues a run of singles opponents for Danielson in 2024 that includes two other WON Hall of Famers in Kazuchika Okada at Wrestle Kingdom 18, and Yuji Nagata on a January Collision episode.
Danielson also went one-on-one with seven-time WON Best Technical Wrestler award winner Zack Sabre Jr. at last weekend’s NJPW The New Beginning in Osaka.
In addition to Danielson vs. Akiyama, Serena Deeb in action and Thunder Rosa in action have been announced for next week’s Collision episode.
Collision returns to its regular 8 p.m. Eastern time slot on TNT on Saturday, February 24. The show will not air on Saturday, February 17 due to TNT coverage of NBA All-Star weekend.
The announced lineup for the Saturday, February 24 Collision in Springfield, Missouri:
A singles match between Jun Akiyama and Eddie Kingston has been made for Full Gear’s Zero Hour pre-show.
In addition, a ten-man tag team match has been added, with Orange Cassidy, Rocky Romero, Trent Beretta, Chuck Taylor, and “a mysterious tag team partner) taking on The Factory (QT Marshall, Cole Karter, Nick Comoroto, Aaron Solo, and Lee Johnson).
Friday’s Rampage saw Akiyama and Konosuke Takeshita defeat Kingston and Ortiz after Akiyama pinned Ortiz with an exploder suplex. After Rampage went off the air, Kingston demanded Tony Khan make a singles match between him and Akiyama. Khan agreed.
A backstage promo on Rampage set up the ten-man tag for Saturday. Beretta showed a VHS tape of Danhausen laying teeth across a table. Danhausen was taken out on last week’s Rampage after Marshall piledrove Danhausen on top of steel steps.
AEW Full Gear, Saturday, November 19, 7 p.m. Eastern time on pay-per-view —
AEW World Championship: Jon Moxley (c) vs. MJF
Interim AEW Women’s World Championship: Toni Storm (c) vs. Jamie Hayter
AEW World Tag Team Championship: The Acclaimed (c) vs. Swerve In Our Glory
AEW World Trios Championship: Death Triangle (c) vs. The Elite
ROH World Championship: Chris Jericho (c) vs. Bryan Danielson vs. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Sammy Guevara
TNT Championship: Wardlow (c) vs. Samoa Joe vs. Powerhouse Hobbs
TBS Championship: Jade Cargill (c) vs. Nyla Rose
Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. vs. Saraya
Steel Cage match: Jungle Boy vs. Luchasaurus
Sting & Darby Allin vs. Jay Lethal & Jeff Jarrett
Zero Hour: Jun Akiyama vs. Eddie Kingston
Zero Hour: Ricky Starks vs. Brian Cage in a World title eliminator tournament semifinal
Zero Hour: Orange Cassidy, Rocky Romero, Trent Beretta, Chuck Taylor, and “a mysterious tag team partner) taking on The Factory (QT Marshall, Cole Karter, Nick Comoroto, Aaron Solo, and Lee Johnson)
On this week’s Pacific Rim Pro Wrestling podcast, Fumi Saito and I preview the New Japan x Stardom Historic X-Over event.
Not only is the show a rare mix of male and female talent in Japan, but the women – KAIRI and Mayu for the IWGP Women’s title – will go on last.
Fumi and I also talk about the career of the legendary Jun Akiyama. From his rookie year to All-Japan, Pro Wrestling NOAH and DDT, we talk about where he ranks in the pantheon of Japanese pro wrestling ahead of his AEW debut Friday.
Plus, we talk tag team tournament time in Japan, JONAH’s decision on returning to WWE or staying with NJPW, and more.
*Full coverage of WWE Crown Jewel & New Japan Autumn Attack, business notes on both shows, how successful Crown Jewel was on Peacock, PPV, public interest and business notes on Autumn Attack, plus poll results and more. *What’s next for WWE and New Japan *Cain Velasquez granted bond, Daniel Cormier talks, and a look back at the situation *A look back at the 60s and 70s tag team of Kurt & Karl Von Steiger, including unique political moves, the night they won the AWA tag titles and why the team split up *Full coverage of Saturday’s UFC show, including the probe on the suspicious gambling patterns on one of the fights *Dragon Gate’s Gate of Destiny coverage *PWG’s show on Sunday honoring Alan Denkenson and featuring one of the best trios matches of the year and in PWG history *The most complete look at the TV ratings for the past week *Streaming numbers *AEW has great success in one international market, not in another *Next Stardom PPV show *Update on the New Japan Tokyo Dome show *Crazy story of a plot to steal the NWA title by one of the biggest stars of all-time *More on Andre the Giant carer losses *A very important note on streaming ratings and what it says for viability of WWE & AEW next deals *The Nick Aldis-Billy Corgan split *The story behind former wrestling sponsor winning $75 million and getting national publicity *Politician wants to honor former national hero wrestler who has been forgotten about since his heyday was 40 yeas ago *Notes on the Teddy Hart documentary *A look at the veracity of stories on the Hawaiian episode of Tales from the Territories *Taryn Terrell career noes *Wrestler and promoter arrested *Movie on Baron Von Raschke *Full Gear notes as well as matches to be added *Notes on MJF’s first major Hollywood role *A look at AEW ratings in 2021 vs. 2022, what is up, what is down *Bandido contract notes *AEW woman star filming a movie *More on skirmish backstage at Anderson Silva vs. Jake Paul fight *Upcoming Raw and Smackdown notes *Sasha Banks training with former WCW star *WWE injury updates *Ticket sales for upcoming AEW and WWE events.
Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
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Sunday News Update
We have two weekend shows up with Garrett Gonzales. The first show covers the news of the week, answering questions, Hall of Fame talk and notes from the new Observer. Last night’s show has the latest wrestling news plus we talk UFC, Smackdown and Rampage. Bryan and I will be back tomorrow talking Raw and the latest news.
Very said to report on the death of Anthony “Rumble” Johnson at the age of 38. Johnson was known for having amazing punching power. He really had the talent and power to be world champion, but when he was younger he was killing himself cutting from 210 to 170 and he was actually more successful at light heavyweight, but while a very good wrestler, wasn’t able to stop Daniel Cormier on the ground when he got his light heavyweight title shot. Johnson had been seriously ill since September 2021 and while he had some good news back in May, he had taken a turn for the worst last month. Johnson had his issues outside the ring, including arrests. He had quit fighting after losing to Cormier in 2017, and then came back in Bellator for their light heavyweight Grand Prix. He was to face Vadim Nemkov last year for the Bellator light heavyweight title when he was diagnosed with a very serious illness and had been battling it ever since.
The main event for Survivor Series as it stands right now is confirmed to be Roman Reigns & Sami Zayn & Usos & Solo Sikoa in a War Games match with Sheamus & Drew McIntyre & Ridge Holland & Butch and a wrestler who will likely be named over the next week.
Rey Mysterio was scheduled for the World Cup but he had either a foot or an ankle injury and was replaced by Mustafa Ali. He was in Indianapolis backstage with a walking boot on. He’s not expected to be out more than a few weeks but wasn’t going to be able to do the tournament.
The Eddie Kingston & Ortiz vs. Jun Akiyama & Konosuke Takeshita match which will take place Friday in Newark, NJ, for Rampage, is something of a dream match for Kingston. Kingston is a huge fan of the Misawa, Kawada, Kobashi era of All Japan Pro Wrestling and Akiyama started there in the 90s and was another of the top stars. Months ago Kingston had mentioned wanting to wrestle Akiyama, who is 53. Akiyama said he was up for it and it was put together in conjunction with Takeshita returning.
For Google searches, the UFC show yesterday did 1.35 million searches which is much lower than one would expect for a show headlined by Israel Adesanya. It was the most searched subject on Google yesterday. They don’t break out the main eventers but of non-main events, the highest were Dustin Poirier at No. 12 with 200,000. Carla Esparza was No. 14 with 100,000 and Frankie Edgar, who retired after his loss to Chris Gutierrez, was No. 19 with 50,000. Anthony Johnson had 100,000 searches today. Floyd Mayweather vs. Deji had 100,000 for their boxing exhibition which Mayweather won via sixth round stoppage. Sammy Guevara announced the show and went to Dubai with Tay Melo. Bobby Fish scored a second round TKO in his boxing debut on the undercard.
We’re looking for reports on these shows: *WWE house show last night in Peoria, IL *NXT last night in Orlando, FL *WWE tonight in Madison WI. We’re looking for results, finishes, highlights and other notes to [email protected]
We’re also looking for your thoughts on UFC 281, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]
Last night was a very noteworthy show with two title changes. Dana White indicated running back with Israel Adesanya getting a shot at new champion Alex Pereira next. All three judges gave Adesanya rounds one, three and four and he was up 39-37 going into the final round, meaning Pereira basically needed a finish to win the title, which he got. He is the only person to ever knock out Adesanya in any form of fighting, and he’s done it twice. Adesanya complained of an early stoppage, but it was anything but.
In the Dustin Poirier vs. Michael Chandler fight, all three judges had it 19-19 going into the third round. So nobody gave a 10-8 for Chandler in round two. Judges are pretty much told not to do 10-8s unless the damage is ridiculous, so I’m not surprised, but rounds like that should be 10-8 .
The UFC show last night in Madison Square Garden did more than $11 million at the gate. It was one of the biggest gates in UFC history and was the second biggest for any event ever in MSG, behind only the UFC show headlined by Conor McGregor vs. Eddie Alvarez.
Yesterday was 29 years since UFC debuted on a show promoted by then-WWF promoter Zane Bresloff in Denver, which was famously an eight-man one-night tournament won by Royce Gracie.
This weekend is also the 17th anniversary of the death of Eddy Guerrero, who was one of the smoothest and best in-ring wrestlers of that generation, who flawlessly blended American, Japanese and Lucha Libre styles.
The 11/25 Rampage show will be airing on TNT at 4 p.m. Eastern time. It will be called a Black Friday special. I don’t know this but presume TNT has major sports that night. (thanks to David Wolf)
Tonight’s WWE show in Madison WI, is advertising a Drew McIntyre vs. Killer Kross street fight as the main event plus New Day & Braun Strowman vs. Usos & Solo Sikoa.
There was an altercation at the show in Peoria, IL last night during the McIntyre vs. Kross match. Scarlett interfered and a female fan threw a drink. Scarlett said it was cheap alcohol but others at ringside said it was water. The woman and the man with her were both kicked out of the building.
Other Notes
International ticket sales are available for the 1/1 NOAH show at Budokan Hall with Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Great Muta and Kaito Kiyomiya vs. Kenoh for the GHC title.
Kevin Kelly has gotten a financial stake in the local American Excellence Wrestling promotion that will be running next on 1/7 at the Hamburg, PA Fieldhouse, the same building that WWF taped television from in the 70s and early 8s. The promotion has been running at the building for a few years but not drawing much in the way of crowds. Kelly wants to concentrate on local marketing and grassroots appeal, working with local charities and civic groups. Brutal Bob Evans and Bob Keller are going to be involved. The first how using the American Excellence Wrestling name will be the 1/7 show and they have events booked regularly into building through 2024.
United Wrestling Coalition as its 26th annual Toys for Tots Toy Drive show on 11/26 at the Bordentown Elks Lodge in Boredentown, NJ. Admission for the 7 pm. show is free if you donate a new unwrapped toy with a suggested minimum value of $15. Toys collected will be distributed by members of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves within Burlington County. There will also be a raffle for prizes.
Pro Wrestling Eve from today in London: Yuu retained the Pure J title and beat Eve International champion Laura Di Matteo with both belts at stake, Rin Kadokura b Maria, Rhia O’Reilly & Skye Smitson b Hyper Misao & Session Moth Martina, Miyu Yamashita b Mille McKenzie in a top contender for the Eve title match, Alex Windsor b Jetta to win the Eve title, Emerson Jayne b Charlie Morgan in a lights out match.
Eve had two shows, the the second show results were: Hyper Misao b Nightshade, McKenzie won five-way over Martina, Afire Reed, Di Matteo and Jayne, Kasey drew Rhio over 15:00, Rhio pinned Kasey in 1:00 when both asked for five more minutes and Rhio asked for an EVe title shot, Yuu b Kadokura to keep the Eve International title, Maria b Rane Leverkusen, Lizzy Evo b Nina Samuels using the ropes, Miyu Yamashita b Windsor to win the Eve title. They seemed to set up Yamashita defending against McKenzie in Japan as McKenzie noted her recent win over Yamashita in Spain., Smitson & Nightshade b Morgan & Jetta to keep the Eve tag titles. Promoter Dan Read announced the next show will be 1/7 and it will be the company’s’ 100th show. Chigusa Nagayo was at the show and mentioned Takumi Iroha broke her collarbone as she was scheduled for both shows. She will be back in action in February. Nagayo said she would be wrestling on 12/8 at Korakuen Hall. They noted Kadokura just got married and postponed her honeymoon to work these shows in place of Iroha. (thanks to Shannon Walsh and No Prima Donna)
Japanese wrestling legend Jun Akiyama will make his AEW debut on next Friday’s live edition of Rampage — the go-home show for Full Gear.
Akiyama will team with the returning Konosuke Takeshita against Eddie Kingston & Ortiz as announced on Twitter by Tony Khan.
The 53-year-old has worked in both NJPW and AJPW with his primary home being DDT the past few years.
Takeshita made an positive impression in his AEW run over the summer with standout performances against Jon Moxley, Eddie Kingston, Hangman Page and Claudio Castagnoli. He wrapped up in August before returning to Japan.
Kingston & Ortiz are undefeated as a team, racking up five wins heading into the match. As of this writing, neither have matches for the pay-per-view.
Next Friday’s Rampage will be live from the Prudential Center in Newark, Jersey where next Saturday’s Full Gear will also be held. This is the only match announced for Rampage thus far.
Ordering Info: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
Tuesday News Update
WWE
WWE announced on Raw last night that Cody Rhodes will undergo surgery for his torn pectoral muscle on Wednesday.
PWInsider reported that Edge has now been positioned as a babyface on the Raw roster.
The Rock surprised his mother, Ata Johnson, with a new home and shared videos on Instagram. “I surprised my mom and bought her a new home. Took me and my design team 8 weeks to get it ready, where she could walk thru her front door for the very first time and everything she saw was brand new and a total surprise. I’ve been lucky enough to have bought her a few homes over the years, but this one is special as she’s told me over and over these past few years, “After a lifetime of traveling, I want this home to be my last. Thats my dream.”
The first trailer for Black Adam, which features The Rock as the titular character, will premiere tomorrow.
Ciampa and Sonya Deville have been advertised for this Wednesday’s episode of The Bump.
The Stand Back DLC pack for WWE 2K22 is out now. It features The Hurricane, Stacy Keibler, A-Kid, and Wes Lee.
On June 2, WWE filed trademarks for ‘WWE Legends’ and ‘WWE Smack Talk’.
Both Kayla Braxton and Mick Foley are celebrating birthdays today.
AEW/ROH
This week’s AEW Road to, which focuses on CM Punk and who will challenge for the interim AEW World Championship.
TNT aired their final scheduled NHL game for the season last night, so going forward Rampage will be in its regular timeslot of 10 pm ET.
In an interview with Monthly Puroresu, DDT’s Jun Akiyama expressed interest in wrestling Eddie Kingston, who has wanted a match with Akiyama. “I’m just glad to say that there are many people who still want to wrestle me even at this age,” he said. “I’d want to go against Eddie Kingston.”
Stipulations for Shingo Takagi and Taichi’s match for NJPW Dominion have been decided. Fans will either vote for a no time limit, limited finishes, ten count match (Taichi) or a 10-minute unlimited pinfall scramble where the most pinfalls wins (Takagi).
NJPW’s LA Dojo is hosting a special training seminar featuring Katsuyori Shibata and Hiroshi Tanahashi on June 24. More information here.
The latest edition of Aces High looks at Tanahashi’s first encounter with Kazuchika Okada.
Stardom announced that Mayu Iwatani’s life story is being made into a movie, and auditions will be held for casting.
Dragongate announced that Riki Iihashi, who had made his debut for the promotion back in September, has retired from wrestling and no in-ring retirement match or ceremony will be held. He had been out of action since March with an injury.
A look back at all the WWE cuts of the last week, person by person, with the background, what the direction the company is going. We look at where different people would be best served working at next, highlights of their WWE careers, and a lot more about the cuts.
Also in this issue:
A feature on Del Wilkes, known as The Trooper and The Patriot, his drug issues, his multiple arrests, his entire career, his noteworthy college football career, his biggest matches, how he broke in, and days in AWA, Global, All Japan, WCW and WWF, the origin of the idea of The Patriot that few know about, kicking his drug problem, what others have said about it, and his life after wrestling.
A talent move that will be very interesting to watch and long-term repercussions of this move, Great American Bash news, Money in the Bank news, ticket sales for all WWE shows and Breakout Star tournament news
AAA’s biggest show of the year, with a look at the TripleMania lineup, Verano de Escandalo as well, restrictions and angles leading up to the big matches.
This past week’s UFC show with Cyril Gane and Alexander Volkov, the next heavyweight title match, why Gane vs. Derrick Lewis is happening, why it’s a bad idea, plus match-by-match coverage.
All Japan crowning a new Triple Crown champion after Suwama vacated the title due to COVID and the three-way with Jason Lee, Kento Miyahara and Yuma Aoagi, the complete All Japan Ota Ward show.
More detail on the ratings than any other source, we have how every segment on NXT and AEW did with different age groups, genders and more, plus a look at all other wrestling shows of the past week, how many different viewers the shows had, DVR numbers and how long the average fan watches.
Results of the major pro wrestling events of the past week.
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MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight talking Raw, Eyada, Stardom ratings and the week coming up tonight with Wrestling Observer Radio. You can send questions to the show to [email protected]
Raw tonight has Bobby Lashley & MVP vs. Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods. Yes, it was advertised for several days as Lashley vs. Woods, but plans change. The Men’s Money in the Bank competitors will be on Miz TV.
As a general rule in regards to the ratings, one would expect some of the audience to arrive late and stay until the end compared to usual given the day off work for most people on a holiday weekend. Raw got lucky this week and for that matter going forward until the Olympics aside from next week (Home Run Derby) in that it won’t face the NBA finals. The holiday may hurt a little and if the number is near the same level as last week, that should be part of it. But not having the NBA against it going forward should lead to a few weeks of increases.
The first four games of the NBA finals are tomorrow (which will hurt the Bash number, but being a special show, the number should still be way up from last week), Thursday, Sunday and then Wednesday the 14th (against AEW). If there are games five, six and seven, they will be Saturday the 17th, Tuesday the 20th and Thursday the 22nd. AEW will likely be hurt a lot, but they still did well last week with very tough competition. WWE largely lucked out with no more Raw or Smackdown against the NBA.
The NHL playoffs, which are not as tough competition but are something, do have game four of the Montreal Canadiens vs. Tampa Bay Lighting tonight head-to-head with Raw. The Lightning are up 3-0 and could end it tonight. If Montreal wins, game five is Wednesday against AEW. If Montreal wins that, game six is Friday against Smackdown. A potential game seven is Sunday.
Ratings will be delayed all week due to it being a holiday. So no Raw rating tomorrow and no Smackdown rating today.
Fast 9 was estimated at doing $22,860,000 this past weekend and it’s at nearly $116 million after two weekends of release.
As expected, the main event for the DDT Peter Pan show, its biggest of the year, on 8/21 is Jun Akiyama defending against King of DDT winner Konosuke Takeshita. Akiyama has two wins over Takeshita.
Friday’s Dragon Gate show at Korakuen Hall is sold out due to it being Masato Yoshino’s last match at Korakuen Hall before his retirement (this is a real retirement, not a usual pro wrestling retirement) match in Kobe in a few weeks. It will air live with English commentary at 5:30 a.m. Eastern Friday morning.
Kurt Angle has inked a deal for Virtual Basement’s The Wrestling Code video game
CMLL was talking Arena Puebla opening back up to a limited capacity of around 700 tonight and every Monday going forward. But they needed an inspection being completed and thus tonight’s show is off. They now expect to debut on 7/12.
WWE
WWE has apparently reached a deal with C4 Energy, which has created “Big Swag Energy,” a drink that Montez Ford will be promoting. C4 also has deals with Roman Reigns, Bianca Belair and “Golden Goddess” Energy to be promoted by Mandy Rose.
The NXT Great American Bash show is tomorrow night on USA. It looks great on paper:
Adam Cole vs. Kyle O’Reilly
MSK vs. Tommaso Ciampa & Timothy Thatcher for tag titles
Indi Hartwell & Candice LeRae vs. Io Shirai & Zoey Stark for women’s tag tilt
LA Knight vs. Cameron Grimes for Million Dollar Belt
Johnny Gargano and Karrion Kross faceoff
Hit Row championship celebration
While the final number isn’t in until tomorrow, based on overnights, Smackdown did a low number Friday, as expected given it being Friday night of holiday weekend. The same thing happened last year. I wouldn’t read anything into that number. Smackdown also went against the NHL playoffs, which killed it in Canada. The Canadiens-Lightning game did more than 3 million viewers. Smackdown did 108,000 viewers, which is much lower than it usually does (Thanks to Post Wrestling)
UFC
Four matches have been added to the 7/17 show. They are Montserrat Ruiz vs. Amanda Lemos, Rodrigo Nascimento vs. Alan Baduot, Miles Johns vs. Anderson Dos Santos and Rodolfo Vieira vs. Dustin Stoltzfus.
AEW
There is nothing to think of past this tweet in the sense El Hijo del Vikingo doesn’t have a visa. It is possible Kenny Omega could face him in Mexico and at one point when COVID started the match was in the planning stages. Vikingo did a lot of cool stuff on Saturday at Verano de Escandalo, AAA’s big show. He even did Croyt’s Wrath, a move Omega only does on rare occasions and few in wrestling have ever tried to copy because it’s so physically difficult. Omega wrote about Vikingo’s move, “The balance and core strength this takes is incredible. With a little more Raw power, he could have done it just as good as me. I’ve said Vikingo is one of the best for a reason. Much like Jungle Boy in AAA, I want to crush your future.”
The first major U.S. promotion on the road since the pandemic will be AEW’s TV taping Wednesday night from Miami’s Knight Center. This is the updated lineup:
Young Bucks vs. Penta & Eddie Kingston for AEW tag titles in a street fight
Santana & Ortiz & Jake Hager w/Konnan vs. FTR & Wardlow w/Tully Blanchard
Cody Rhodes. vs QT Marshall in a South Beach strap match
Orange Cassidy & Kris Statlander vs. Blade & Bunny
Andrade El Idolo vs. Matt Sydal
Chris Jericho & MJF face-off
I expect the date for Matt Hardy vs. Christian to be announced on Wednesday. Either way the match is happening very soon.
Ticket sales for Wednesday in Miami have topped 3,200
OTHER NEWS
ROH Glory by Honor tickets for 8/20 and 8/21 were put on sale on Friday.
Shota Umino returned to RevPro last night at the Cockpit Theater in London and they are setting up a match where he challenges Ricky Knight Jr. for the Southside heavyweight title on 8/21 in Manchester.
Stardom runs Korakuen Hall on Tuesday with Tam Nakano & Mina Shirakawa & Unagi Sayaka defending the Artist of Stardom trios belts against Utami Hayashishita & AZM & Saya Kamitani.
wXw is putting tickets on sale for its 20th anniversary show on 8/7 in Oberhausen on Wednesday.
CyberFight has announced a new interpromotional event that will take place in June at the Saitama Super Arena.
In a press conference held this evening, CyberFight announced their CyberFight Festival 2021 event will take place on June 6th. It will feature matches from the four brands under the CyberFight umbrella: Pro Wrestling NOAH, DDT, Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling, and Ganbare Pro. It was also noted that all of the major championships (GHC World Heavyweight, KO-D Openweight, and Princess of Princess Championship) would be defended.
There are also plans for cross-promotional matches. However, NOAH and DDT president Sanshiro Takagi noted there were no specific plans for the matches yet.
Two promotions under the CyberFight umbrella have made moves recently to put their top championships on established names from the past. Keiji Mutoh won the GHC Heavyweight title earlier this month at Budokan Hall, while Jun Akiyama holds DDT’s top title, the KO-D Openweight Championship.
A look at the career of 80s star Hacksaw Butch Reed, who passed away this past week, is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
We look at all of his titles won, sports career before wrestling, what was and wasn’t exaggerated about him, how he got started in wrestling, how fast it was that he was moved to star status, including main eventing at the key wrestling arenas in the country very early, the role Dory Funk Jr, made in his career, how he was booked, a super tag team with Skip Young that few outside of Florida ever saw, feuding with the biggest names on top, his matches with Ric Flair up and down the state of Florida, his sellout with Flair in St. Louis, runs in Georgia and his move to Mid South, his Mid South runs, the high point of his career, his feud with JYD, his Superdome main events, his face and heel turns, his biggest angles, his fight with John Nord and his departure from Mid South, his meeting with Slick, heading to WWF as The Natural Butch Reed, and his WCW run as part of the tag team of Doom with Ron Simmons, life after wrestling and his feelings on Will Hobbs.
Also in this issue:
Nick Khan’s talk about things WWE is doing to try and get new fans, a look at the aging of the sports audience and how wrestling fits in, update on Braun Strowman, update on John Cena TV series, son of 90s star starting in WWE camp, WWE star talks having a stroke, WWE star gets stalked, experience of being in the Thunderdome and what they look for, how WWE & AEW did compared to sports this past week, international rtings news, more on COVID’s effect onWWE, big matches coming on upcoming shows, WWE market value and most-watched shows on the WWE Network this past week.
Bellator’s new broadcast deals in the U.S. and the U.K., as well as main events for the first shows in April, and look at the light heavyweight tournament.
New Beginning in Hiroshima and the Castle Attack cards for New Japan.
Most-watched televised pro wrestling matches in history, including Hogan vs. Andre and Rikidozan vs. Destroyer.
Preview the next two WWE major shows.
Saturday’s UFC event with the potential knockout of the year.
Gina Carano losing her job in “The Mandalorian” on the anniversary of her landmark fight with Julie Kedzie.
A feature looking at the best matches of top wrestlers of 2020.
Television ratings of the past week, including segment-by-segment numbers for the past two weeks on Wednesday, who was watching in different age groups, how different segments did on Raw & Smackdown and more.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight talking NXT Takeover and the rest of the news. You can send questions to the show to [email protected]
NXT Takeover is tonight at 7 p.m. Eastern for a show slated on the WWE Network:
MSK (formerly the Rascalz) vs. Grizzled Young Veterans for the Dusty Rhodes tournament and likely a title shot at Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch. Should be a good mach. GYV are very solid workers and MSK are very good in a different way. MSK were listed as -200 favorites, which makes sense.
Ember Moon & Shotzi Blackheart vs. Raquel Gonzalez & Dakota Kai for the women’s Dusty Rhodes tournament. The winning team faces Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax soon. Moon & Blackheart are the -200 favorites.
Johnny Gargano vs. Kushida for the North American title. On paper, this match should be excellent. It’s Kushida’s first real major match and against a guy who always delivers on the big shows. Gargano is listed as a -275 favorite.
Io Shirai vs. Mercedes Martinez vs. Toni Storm for the women’s title. Also should be good. Shirai is -300 while Storm is +260 and Martinez is +525 in the odds.
Finn Balor vs Pete Dunne for the NXT title. This could be another main event classic and will probably be a long match. Balor is a -500 favorite to retain
51-year-old Hall of Famer Jun Akiyama becomes the second 50-plus year old Hall of Famer (Keiji Muto on Friday being the other) to win a Japanese major title. Akiyama beat Tetsuya Endo on today ‘s DDT show in Kawasaki to win the KO-D title
Raw tomorrow will have a gauntlet match with Drew McIntyre, Sheamus, Jeff Hardy, Miz, A.J. Styles and Randy Orton.
Regarding the suicide death of Tom Cole on Friday, his older brother Lee Cole has an interview.
Regarding Google searches, last night’s UFC PPV did 700,000, which is low end for a PPV show. It was the most searched topic on the Internet yesterday that didn’t involve Valentine’s Day or the Trump impeachment. Searches were heaviest for the main event, as well as for Kelvin Gastelum, Alexa Grasso and Maycee Barber. The only other combat sports related item to crack the top 20 on any dates this week was Gina Carano at No. 1 on Wednesday with 2 million searches.
We spoke about the Ariel Helwani/Dana White stuff on today’s show.
Chigusa Nagayo, the most popular Japanese woman wrestler of all-time, along with Kyoko Inoue and Mima Shimoda are all booked in a Rumble style Battle Royal in Stardom’s 3/3 show at Budokan Hall.
UFC
Last night after his PPV win over Maki Pitolo, Julian Marquez in his post-match interview asked Miley Cyrus to be his Valentine. She then wrote,”Shave an MC into your chest and I am yours. Happy VDay and congrats my love.”
AEW
Fulham, the U.K. soccer team Tony Khan is in management of, beat Everton today at Goodison Park, Everton’s home field. The key to that is Everton had won 22 straight home games over Fulham and had 23 wins and four ties in the previous 27 games on Everton’s field The last time Fulham won on Everton’s field was in 1961.
Miro was in the booth Friday night for the debut of his Fan Controlled Football team
OTHER NOTES
Two different NWA world title matches with Ric Flair vs. Butch Reed. One was the Florida television match which saw Reed as a guy not thought of at that level and then beating Flair on TV which set up all the house show title matches. The other was from 1985 Mid South Wrestling. (thanks to Paul Sosnowski and Ross Blair)
Dan Lambert, the ATT owner who did angles with Bobby Lashley for TNA a few years back and was a top level heel manager, will be on Wednesday’s MLW show doing fight analysis. The idea is he’ll be a heel announcer for Team Filthy and will manage King Mo in his match with Low Ki also on Wednesday.
Stardom results from yesterday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo: Utami Hayashishita & Momo Watanabe won three-way elimination mach over Saya Iida & Ruaka and Lady C & Gokigen Death, Maika & Natsupoi & Himeka b Konami & Natsuko Tora & Saki Kashima, Bea Priestley d Saya Kamitani 15:00, Mayu Iwatani & Rin Kadokua b Tam Nakano & Unagi Sayaka, Syuri b AZM to keep the SWA title, Giulia b Starlight Kid to retain the Wonder of Stardom title
Stardom results from today at Korakuen Hall: Gokigen Death b Lady C, Momo Watanabe b Ruaka, Saki Kashia & Natsuko Tora b Syuri & Natsupoi, Mayu Iwatani b Unagi Sayaka, AZM & Mei Hoshizuki b Starlight Kid & Saya Iida,Saya Kamitani won four-way over Utami Hayashishita,Giulia and Tam Nakano, Himeka & Maika won the Goddesses of Stardom titles over Bea Priestley & Konami) (thanks to Tomi Yamada and Shannon Walsh and wrestlingwithdemons.net)
Pro Wrestling Australia from Friday night on FITE TV from Sydney before a sellout crowd: Robbie Eagles b Jessica Troy-DQ, Unsocial Jordan & Belinda Pierce b Shazza McKenzie & Big Fudge, Sam Osborne b Steph De Lander, Kingley b Jack Bonza, Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis b Matty Walhberg & Ricky South, Lyrebird Luchi b Mick Moretti, Charlie Evans own over Will Kiedis, The Rhys Angel and Matt Diamond, Paris Da Silva & Jude London b Michael Spencer & Kia Drake in a ladder match to keep the tag titles. Next shows are 2/27, Black Label on 3/12 featuring Caveman Ugg defending the PWA tile against Ricky South. (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
Pale Pro Wrestling from Friday night in Arlington, TX on the Title Match Network: Prince Ahmed & Gideon Vain b Adorable Eddie & Wildcard, Chandler Hopkins b Mecha Wolf 450, Gino Medina b Isaiah Broner, Will Allday b Icon Lee, Magnificent Malico b Niles Plonk in a beer chugging contest, Nobe Bryant b Beastman Husk, Aski the Mayan Warrior b Justin Taylor, Myron Reed b Ryan Justice, Cam Cole b Mike Bennett to keep the Reality of Wrestling title, Sam Adonis b Psycho Clown in a no DQ match using a low blow.
Fox 19 in Cincinnati aired a segment Friday about the Northern Wrestling Federation Bonekrushers wrestling camp. (thanks to Brian Henke)
Tokyo Joshi Pro had a lottery on YouTube to determine the first round of its tag team tournament which took place on 2/20 at Narimasu Act Hall in Tokyo and aired on DDT Universe.
Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe vs. Pom Harajuku & Haruna Neko
Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu vs. Moka Miyamoto & Arisu Endo
Yuki Aino & Nodoka Tenma vs. Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki
Sakisama Mei Saint-Michel vs. Raku & Marika Kobashi
On 2//21 at the same venue
Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh face the winners of the first match
Hikari Noa & Sena Shiori meet the winners of the second match
Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao meet the winners of the third match
Suzume & Mirai Maiumi meet the winners of the fourth match (thanks to Shannon Walsh)
Ron Simmons was announced as a guest of WrestleCon.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter announced this morning that five new entrants have entered their Hall of Fame.
Four of these men were inducted by voting. In the Mexico category, Medico Asesino was voted in with 64% of the vote. Karloff Lagarde was also inducted with 61%.
In the Japan category, AJPW/NOAH mainstay Jun Akiyama was voted in with 60%. Kenny Omega, who had extensive runs with both New Japan Pro Wrestling and DDT before coming to the United States to form All Elite Wrestling, was also inducted with 61%.
A fifth entry, early 20th century wrestler Dan Koloff, was also inducted based on Dave Meltzer’s historical analysis and research.
Those that will be added to next year’s ballot include Nikki Bella, Dorrell Dixon, Bill Dundee, Seth Rollins, Kazuchika Okada, Jon Moxley, Hollywood Blonds (Buddy Roberts & Jerry Brown), Octagon, La Parka (AAA version), and Psycho Clown.
For more information on how to subscribe to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, along with our extensive newsletter and radio show archives, check here.
Jun Akiyama confirmed this morning that he will be moving to DDT, leaving All Japan Pro Wrestling for the time being.
Tokyo Sports reported that Akiyama would transfer from AJPW to DDT for the rest of the year. The report uses the word “rental” to describe the move. Akiyama will be considered a DDT talent, at least through the rest of the year. He wrote in a tweet that he felt it was time for AJPW to change, and that he would like to add his pro wrestling to the DDT roster.
DDT has since announced that a press conference between AJPW, DDT and Akiyama would be held on June 27.
Akiyama has already been wrestling for DDT for the last couple of months, appearing on their DDT TV Show cards that have been taking place during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Akiyama started his career with AJPW in 1992 and continued to wrestle there until 2000, when he joined Mitsuharu Misawa to form Pro Wrestling NOAH. He jumped back to AJPW in 2012 and has remained there ever since.
At one point, he had taken control of the promotion, becoming president in 2014. He stepped down from the position last July and the current president, Tsuyoki Fukuda, assumed the role on October 10.
Jun Akiyama is heading to the WWE Performance Center in May.
All Japan Pro Wrestling announced on Twitter this morning that Akiyama will travel to the United States to work as a guest coach at the WWE Performance Center from May 12 through the 22nd. The tweet mentioned he would also be meeting with Triple H.
Yahoo Sports in Japan originally reported the story that Akiyama would be meeting with Triple H, reporting that the two met several times last summer during WWE’s tour of the country.
The news comes as speculation about a possible NXT promotion in Japan has continued. It was reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter back in October that WWE had interest in purchasing Pro Wrestling NOAH, but the deal did not work out. NOAH has since been bought by CyberAgent, who has also purchased Dramatic Dream Team.
Akiyama is the former president of All Japan Pro Wrestling, stepping down this past October. He said at the time that he wanted to focus on his in-ring career. He now serves as the general manager of the promotion.
