John LaRocca and I are back with another episode of The Fight Game Podcast.
We kicked things off by talking about the live wrestling we will get to see on Saturday night at the old San Jose Civic Auditorium with NJPW Battle in the Valley.
We then got to the rest of our Top 5 which included:
Positives & negatives to the Young Bucks being Sting’s opponents for his last match at March’s AEW Revolution
The reason why Roman Reigns’ WWE Royal Rumble title match is a four-way
The build to Samoa Joe vs. Hook
The situation between Joe, Hangman Page, and Swerve
NJPW has revealed the full card for next Saturday’s Battle in the Valley pay-per-view in San Jose, California.
As announced earlier on Friday, Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay will headline, with Jon Moxley vs. Shingo Takagi in a no DQ match set for the semifinal position.
The debuting Matt Riddle and a mystery partner will take on Zack Sabre Jr. & Bad Dude Tito of TMDK. Sabre and Bryan Danielson teased another match at Friday’s New Year Dash event.
Three title matches are also set for the event. NJPW Strong Women’s Champion Giulia will defend her title against Trish Adora, NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Champions Hikuleo & El Phantasmo will defend their titles against Clark Connors & Alex Coughlin of Bullet Club War Dogs, and AEW Continental Crown holder Eddie Kingston will defend his title against Gabe Kidd on the show.
The full lineup for the event is listed below:
NJPW Battle in the Valley, Saturday, January 13, 10 p.m. Eastern time on FITE TV pay-per-view —
Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay
No DQ match: Jon Moxley vs. Shingo Takagi
AEW Continental Crown: Eddie Kingston defends against Gabe Kidd
Matt Riddle & a mystery partner vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Bad Dude Tito
NJPW Strong Women’s Champion Giulia defends against Trish Adora
NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Champions Hikuleo & El Phantasmo defend against Clark Connors & Alex Coughlin
David Finlay vs. TJP
Volador Jr. & Mascara Dorada vs. Rocky Romero & Soberano Jr.
Shota Umino, Fred Rosser & Jacob Fatu vs. Tom Lawor, Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs
The first match is official for NJPW Battle in the Valley on Saturday, January 13, with two other high-profile bouts teased or agreed to.
NJPW officially announced the main event for next Saturday’s pay-per-view will be Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay. It will be the tenth career singles meeting between the two, and the first since the G1 Climax 33 in July 2023.
Two other matches appear likely for the event following the post-New Year Dash backstage comments.
Shingo Takagi confronted Jon Moxley in the backstage comments following Dash and challenged Moxley for Battle in the Valley. Moxley accepted the challenge and added a no-DQ stipulation. While agreed to, the match has yet to be officially announced by NJPW.
Similarly, it looks as though Bryan Danielson vs. Zack Sabre Jr. will meet once again at Battle in the Valley. Sabre addressed Danielson backstage, while Danielson said that there is no way that Sabre can make him tap out. Danielson & Sabre met at AEW WrestleDream on October 1, 2023 in a match won by Danielson. AEW billed the bout as a dream match, and it was the third career meeting between the two, but the first since 2009.
Will Ospreay still has unfinished business with Kazuchika Okada.
While speaking as part of NJPW’s Wrestle Kingdom 18 interview series, Ospreay issued a challenge to Okada for NJPW Battle in the Valley. Ospreay said he’s confident that he’s going to become the first-ever IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion. Ospreay then wants his first title defense to be against Okada in San Jose.
Ospreay is facing Jon Moxley and David Finlay in a three-way match at Wrestle Kingdom 18 to determine the inaugural IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion.
Ospreay was the final IWGP United States/United Kingdom Heavyweight Championship before the title was retired. The title belt was destroyed by Finlay during the build to Wrestle Kingdom.
Though this is his last Wrestle Kingdom as a full-time NJPW-contracted talent, Ospreay said he’s still dedicated to competing in an NJPW ring. He wants to show that with this match against Okada. Ospreay has signed a multi-year deal with AEW but will still be able to wrestle for NJPW as well.
Ospreay said in his challenge to Okada:
Asked if his AEW status affects Wrestle Kingdom and @willospreay in 2024, Ospreay has an idea of how to show his commitment to the IWGP Global title- a challenge to Okada Jan 13 in San Jose!
I’m confident going into this match that I’ll be walking away with this championship. I’m that confident in doing it, like, I’m prepared to make a challenge right here for San Jose. I know it’s on the poster that Okada is on that poster. And we have so much unfinished business. Yeah, granted, I was able to get that win in the G1 and I could finally prove to everybody that I can beat Okada. But I’m happy to put this challenge out right here, right now in front of you all that I want to face Okada in San Jose.
Okada is facing Bryan Danielson at Wrestle Kingdom 18 on January 4.
Okada’s NJPW contract is set to expire at the end of January. He’s reportedly “seriously entertaining” the idea of signing with a promotion other than NJPW, which would mean WWE or AEW.
Battle in the Valley is being held at the San Jose Civic in San Jose, California on Saturday, January 13.
New talent announcements have been made for NJPW Battle in the Valley 2024.
NJPW returns to the United States on Saturday, January 13 for Battle in the Valley. Taking place nine days after Wrestle Kingdom 18, it’s the first NJPW US show of the new year. The show is being held at the San Jose Civic in San Jose, California.
NJPW has confirmed that Shota Umino, Rocky Romero, TJP, Bad Dude Tito, David Finlay, Gabe Kidd, Alex Coughlin, Fred Rosser, Tom Lawlor, Jorel Nelson, and Royce Isaacs will be in action at Battle in the Valley.
The full list of announced talent can be seen below:
Kazuchika Okada
Will Ospreay
Zack Sabre Jr.
Eddie Kingston
Giulia
El Phantasmo
Hikuleo
Shota Umino
Rocky Romero
TJP
Bad Dude Tito
David Finlay
Gabe Kidd
Alex Coughlin
Fred Rosser
Tom Lawlor
Jorel Nelson
Royce Isaacs
This is NJPW’s second annual Battle in the Valley event. In February 2023, the first Battle in the Valley was headlined by a double main event of Okada vs. Tanahashi and Mercedes Mone vs. Kairi. It aired as a live pay-per-view on Fite TV.
Several of NJPW’s biggest stars and current champions will be at Battle in the Valley in San Jose on January 13.
New Japan announced on Wednesday that Kazuchika Okada, Will Ospreay, Shingo Takagi, Zack Sabre Jr, Eddie Kingston, Giulia, El Phantasmo, and Hikuleo will be on the show.
Nine days after Wrestle Kingdom and his second showdown with Bryan Danielson, how will Kazuchika Okada start his 2024 campaign in earnest? With his time as a full time NJPW wrestler nearing its end Will Ospreay heads to San Jose, but will he do so with new championship gold? Will current champions of NEVER, NJPW World TV and NJPW STRONG divisions still be in possession of their hardware come January 13? See these names and more this January!
Battle in the Valley will be NJPW’s next show in the United States. The last NJPW of USA show was Lonestar Shootout on November 10 in Garland, Texas. The card was headlined by Takagi retaining the NEVER Openweight title over Trent Beretta.
The upcoming AEW Continental Classic could factor into what matches are booked for San Jose as well. Kingston’s NJPW Strong Openweight Championship will be part of a Triple Crown title held by the winner of the tournament come that time.
The wrestlers announced today all currently hold championships in NJPW. Takagi holds the NEVER Openweight belt, Kingston is the NJPW Strong Openweight Champion, Giulia the NJPW Strong Women’s Champion, ELP & Hikuleo the NJPW Strong Tag Team Champions, Ospreay the IWGP US/UK Champion, Okada is one-third of the NEVER Six-Man Champions, and Zack Sabre Jr. holds the NJPW World TV title. NJPW does not announce title matches before previously advertised title matches have taken place.
NJPW Battle in the Valley is once again coming to California in 2024.
The promotion has announced that the 2024 edition of the event will be held on Saturday, January 13, and once again take place in San Jose, California.
Tickets for the show will go on sale on Thursday, October 5 with prices ranging from $29 to $299. No matches or talent have been announced for the show to this point.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s first US event of 2024 is official, as NJPW heads to the San Jose Civic in San Jose California for Battle in the Valley.
Just nine days after an epic start to the 2024 calendar in the Tokyo Dome at Wrestle Kingdom 18, Battle in the Valley will see NJPW’s best from Japan, America and beyond vie for control of a hotly contested year.
In 2023, a capacity crowd at the Civic bore witness to Mercedes Moné capturing the IWGP Women’s Championship from KAIRI, while Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada continued a classic rivalry over the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. As the struggle for power unfolds in a new year, who will emerge victorious from Battle in the Valley in 2024?
The 2023 edition of Battle in the Valley also took place in San Jose, but was held in February. That show featured Mercedes Mone defeating KAIRI for the IWGP Women’s Championship in her first NJPW match, as well as a Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi main event for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.
In 2021, Battle in the Valley took place in October, with Tomohiro Ishii defeating Jay White for the NEVER Openweight Championship in the main event.
I am back with another Sunday edition of Wrestling Observer Live and a busy Saturday night that saw both WWE and NJPW pay-per-views.
At WWE Elimination Chamber, Roman Reigns retained the Undisputed Universal title over Sami Zayn in Montreal. I talk about whether or not this was the right call and discuss the rest of the night’s results.
Nearly at the same time, New Japan Pro Wrestling held Battle in the Valley in San Jose, California, which saw the promotional in-ring debut of Mercedes Mone as she defeated KAIRI for the IWGP Women’s title.
Also on the show, Eddie Kingston’s win over Jay White means he can no longer wrestle in NJPW and Okada defeated Tanahashi in the main event to retain the IWGP World title.
Plus, I talk the build to AEW Revolution, Tony Khan’s Wednesday announcement and this week’s Dynamite lineup, and more.
In her first NJPW match, Mone defeated KAIRI by pinfall to capture the IWGP Women’s title at the Battle in the Valley pay-per-view. Mone scored the win in 26:47 with her new Mone Maker finisher.
Decked out in gear inspired by the late Hana Kimura’s ring attire, Mone won the title after a back and forth battle that saw her use her old Bank Statement finisher, as well as Bayley’s trademark Bayley-to-Belly move en route to the victory.
Mone vs. KAIRI was the first half of a double main event at Battle in the Valley in San Jose, going on next to last.
In the show’s closing bout, Kazuchika Okada defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi to retain the IWGP World Heavyweight title in the 16th career singles meeting between the two.
After defeating Tanahashi, Okada cut a promo asking Tanahashi to reform their “dream team” to go after the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team titles. Mone then entered and pointed out the similarities between herself and Okada, teasing a future pairing of Okada and Mone in a mixed tag team bout.
Earlier on the card, KENTA defeated Fred Rosser to win the NJPW Strong Openweight Championship, with an assist coming from Bullet Club’s Juice Robinson.
In the evening’s other title bouts, Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Clark Connors to retain the NJPW World Television title, and Motor City Machine Guns defeated West Coast Wrecking Crew to retain the Strong Openweight Tag titles.
The Battle in the Valley pay-per-view on FITE TV was marred by technical issues that forced a 43 minute delay in the start of the the main card.
Eddie Kingston defeated White in a Loser Leaves NJPW match at Saturday’s Battle in the Valley pay-per-view, ending this chapter of The Switchblade’s New Japan career.
White seemingly had the match won after hitting his Blade Runner finisher, but Kingston rolled to the floor to avoid a pinfall. Kingston countered with a Northern Lights Driver, but White kicked out.
With the contest at the peak of its drama, Kingston then pulled White to his feet, hugged him, then hit a second Northern Lights Driver to pin White.
After the bout, David Finlay hit the ring and attacked White, laying him out with a shillelagh, then cut a scathing promo, saying that White had squandered the opportunity he was given by NJPW, and that Finlay was putting the wrestling world on notice that he is a force to be reckoned with. White was then helped out of the arena by ringside attendants.
White, 30, joined the NJPW Dojo as a Young Lion in January 2015. He took his international excursion in 2016, then returned to the company’s main unit with the Switchblade gimmick in November 2017.
In the five-plus years that followed, White had an unprecedented run for a foreign-born wrestler in NJPW, becoming the first Grand Slam Champion (four different singles titles) in company history.
Among his many accolades, White headlined Wrestle Kingdom 15 in 2021, as well as Wrestle Kingdom 17 in 2023. He also headlined NJPW’s Madison Square Garden debut in 2019.
White held NJPW’s top title on two occasions, holding the IWGP Heavyweight Championship for 54 days in 2019, and holding the IWGP World Heavyweight title for 206 days from June 2022 until Wrestle Kingdom 17 this year.
On his way out of the company, White also dropped a “Loser Leaves Japan” match to Hikuleo at last week’s The New Beginning in Osaka event.
Saturday is an important day for both WWE and New Japan Pro Wrestling with Elimination Chamber and Battle of the Valley, respectively.
Both events have lots of questions.
How WWE will get out of Sami Zayn not winning the Universal title from Roman Reigns without alienating fans? I look at the history of WWE and Triple H not giving fans what they are clamoring for.
Mercedes Mone makes her NJPW in-ring debut, so what does she need to accomplish for it to be seen as a success?
Plus, news and thoughts on Bray Wyatt, Uncle Howdy, Ariel Helwani, CM Punk, and more.
Mercedes Mone says that wrestling for NJPW will be “a dream come true.”
NJPW Battle in the Valley on Saturday will be Mone’s first match since a WWE house show on May 15, 2022. She challenges KAIRI for the IWGP Women’s Championship on the show. Monet was interviewed by Under the Ring recently and spoke about her decision to sign with New Japan.
Mone said:
This is such a huge honor for me. It made it a really easy decision to go to New Japan to help kick-start this Women’s division for this company. With New Japan being the biggest professional wrestling company in Japan, it was just an easy, easy decision.
I grew up watching New Japan, I grew up watching Pro Wrestling NOAH, and all these Japanese Women’s wrestling growing up. This was such an easy decision. It’s a dream come true for me and I think tomorrow night is just going to create so much magic and so much history for women’s wrestling.
Mone was also asked about working with Stardom.
They have some of the top, top, top wrestlers I have ever seen and I’m just excited to introduce the American audience to the style of Stardom women. I think just giving them the opportunity to show what they can do to a global scale of audience, it’s just going to open up the doors for women’s wrestling all over the world. I think they have the greatest wrestling, so I’m excited to be part of it and just to expand this broad of an audience to something they’ve never seen before.
She continued to say of Stardom:
I’m still a student of the game, I’m not done learning. I still want to wrestle the best, I still want to have the greatest matches of all time and I think with the Stardom women, I can do that. There’s so many women that I’ve been watching that I’m just like, wow, we can create magic. I can create magic with her, I can do something with her. I think, for this year, I am the most excited about my wrestling career than I’ve possibly ever been.
NJPW Battle in the Valley takes place from The San Jose Civic on Saturday, February 18, at 10 p.m. Eastern time. It will air live via pay-per-view on FITE TV. The event is sold-out. The announced lineup is below:
IWGP Women’s Championship: KAIRI (c) vs. Mercedes Mone
IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
NJPW Strong Openweight Championship: Fred Rosser (c) vs. KENTA
NJPW Strong Tag Team Championship: Motor City Machine Guns (c) vs. World Class Wrecking Crew
NJPW World Television Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Clark Connors
Eddie Kingston vs. Jay White
Filthy Rules: “Filthy” Tom Lawlor vs. Homicide – Loser Leaves NJPW
Mascara Dorada, Josh Alexander, Adrian Quest, and Rocky Romero vs. KUSHIDA, Kevin Knight, Volador Jr., and The DKC
The stakes have been raised for Jay White vs. Eddie Kingston.
White and Kingston were both guests on Thursday’s edition of Wrestling Observer Live with our own Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive. During the segment, Kingston and White agreed to a “Loser Leaves NJPW” stipulation for their match at Battle in the Valley on Saturday.
Kingston said to White:
How about we just finish it? If I beat that a**, which I will, if I beat a former IWGP Champion, and you’re supposedly putting me on the map, right? How about you never wrestle for New Japan again? When I beat you, you never wrestle for New Japan again.
White responded:
I see what you’re putting out and you know Eddie, I don’t have much else left to lose other than that. I’m all about making the stakes higher because nobody performs under pressure like myself. So, you know what, Eddie? That sounds just great to me but I’m going to need you to put up something as well. So, how about I’ll agree to that if you, Eddie, you agree to do the same. When I beat you, teach you your lesson and give you your moment, you can never compete in a New Japan ring or against or with any New Japan talent ever again.
And how about we put in a little fine print in that? You can do that on one condition, you have to come and get permisson from me.
White would clarify that Kingston would not be able to work with any New Japan talent or in an NJPW ring “unless he comes to Switchblade Jay White, gets on his knees, looks up to me, and begs me and then maybe I’ll give him permission.”
Kingston continued:
It’s a deal. Let’s do it, dog, I got no fear. And let me tell you something, though, when you’re done with New Japan, don’t come to AEW. I’m telling you that right now cause you’re not one of the favorites, you’re not one of the pillars, so that means you’re going to be stuck with me and I’m going to beat that a** there too, so do not come to AEW.
WOL: Eddie Kingston and Jay White have agreed to new terms in their match at Battle In The Valley.
