Tag: njpw on axs tv

NJPW on AXS TV renewed for 2024

Posted on by Ian Carey

NJPW programming will continue on AXS TV in 2024. 

The network announced today that it has ordered 45 new episodes of NJPW on AXS TV to air in the new year. 

Episodes in January will feature matches from Wrestle Kingdom 18:

  • January 11 episode: Will Ospreay vs. David Finlay vs. Jon Moxley for the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship
  • January 18 episode: Kazuchika Okada vs. Bryan Danielson
  • January 25 episode: IWGP World Champion SANADA defends against G1 Winner Tetsuya Naito. 

Additional matches for each episode will be announced at a later date. 

In addition to episodes airing recent NJPW matches, classic episodes featuring bouts from Wrestle Kingdom 7 through 13 will air on Sundays at 9 a.m. Eastern time on AXS TV NOW. The first classic episode will air on Sunday, January 7. 

  • January 7 classic episode: Highlights from Wrestle Kingdom 7, 8, and 9.
  • January 14 classic episode: Highlights from Wrestle Kingdom 10 and 11.
  • January 21 episode: Highlights from Wrestle Kingdom 12 and 13.

Press release announcing NJPW on AXS TV 2024 programming:

NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING RETURNS TO AXS TV WITH 45 ALL-NEW EPISODES IN 2024, BEGINNING THURSDAY JANUARY 11 AT 10 PM ET

Highlights Include Iconic Matchups from Wrestle Kingdom 18, Featuring Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley, Kazuchika Okada and SANADA

LOS ANGELES (December 18, 2023) – AXS TV, a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment, Inc., has renewed its fan-favorite New Japan Pro-Wrestling series with 45 all-new episodes in 2024. The upcoming season kicks off with four weeks of exclusive coverage from Wrestle Kingdom 18, beginning Thursday, January 11 at 10 p.m. ET. All episodes are presented in English and feature expert play-by-play commentary from NJPW’s own Walker Stewart and Chris Charlton.

Additionally, AXS TV NOW viewers will be able to enjoy classic episodes in English of NJPW every Sunday, starting January 7 at 6 a.m. PT and repeating throughout the day. The AXS TV NOW January slate includes unforgettable bouts from Wrestle Kingdom 7 through 13.

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17 matches to air via tape delay on AXS TV

Posted on by Josh Nason

AXS announced on Wednesday that matches from January’s NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17 will be coming to their airwaves in tape delay fashion to kick off a new 45-episode order for the coming year.

For five weeks starting on Thursday, January 12th at 10 PM Eastern after Impact Wrestling, NJPW will present hour-long episodes featuring matches from its biggest show of the year with both Kevin Kelley and Chris Charlton on commentary.

The first two episodes are already set as the January 12th kickoff will feature Will Ospreay defending the IWGP U.S. title against Kenny Omega while the January 19th episode will see IWGP World Champion Jay White defend against Kazuchika Okada.

Matches for the January 26th, February 2nd and February 9th shows will be announced at a later date.

They also announced a re-air of the 2017 Wrestle Kingdom 11 main event between Okada and Omega for Thursday, January 5th at 10 PM Eastern.

Weekly NJPW shows returning to AXS TV

Posted on by Ethan Renner

NJPW programming is returning to AXS TV. 

A video promo announcing a Thursday, March 3 return date for new episodes aired during today’s Wrestle Kingdom 16 night one event. The show will air weekly following Impact Wrestling on AXS beginning on Thursday, January 20 with “classic” episodes.

According to an Anthem press release, AXS sister channel The Fight Network will also air the NJPW content throughout Canada, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

While not announced, the show will likely be comprised of matches from major NJPW shows from months prior, rather than any new content being produced. The January 20 episode will feature Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho from Wrestle Kingdom 12. 

NJPW previously aired on AXS from 2014 to 2019, with Jim Ross, Mauro Ranallo and Josh Barnett providing commentary at different points. The partnership ended after Anthem Sports and Entertainment, Impact’s parent company, purchased a controlling interest in AXS. 

Initially there was no business relationship between NJPW and Impact after Anthem’s purchase, stemming from bad blood between NJPW and Impact following TNA’s handling of Kazuchika Okada’s excursion years earlier.

Impact and NJPW began working together again in 2020, and talks about NJPW returning to AXS date back as far as February 2021. NJPW reportedly was in search of a bigger television partner in the US. In the interim, their weekly show aired on Roku Channel. The Roku deal is reportedly not exclusive, so the new AXS agreement does not necessarily signal the end of that deal.

The video announcement can be seen below.

https://vimeo.com/662076480