Tag: njpw dallas

Minoru Suzuki returning to US for Dallas, Chicago NJPW events

Posted on by Ethan Renner

Minoru Suzuki is coming back to America. 

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Famer and NJPW provisional KOPW 2022 has been announced for NJPW Lonestar Shootout on Friday, April 1 on WrestleMania weekend in Dallas, Texas, as well as NJPW Windy City Riot in the Chicago, Illinois area on Saturday, April 16. 

Suzuki was last in the United States for a nearly two-month tour in September and October 2021 that saw him wrestle dates for AEW, Impact Wrestling, GCW, NJPW, and numerous indie promotions. 

The Lonestar Shootout show will be split up into episodes of NJPW Strong to air on NJPW World, while the Windy City Riot event appears to be a standalone event similar to November’s Battle in the Valley show in San Jose, California.

Suzuki will defend the provisional KOPW 2022 trophy against Toru Yano in a dog cage match on Sunday’s NJPW New Year’s Golden Series event in Hokkaido.

NJPW announces Jushin Thunder Liger for G1 show in Dallas

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Jushin Thunder Liger has added another U.S. date to his retirement tour.

NJPW has announced Liger for the opening night of this year’s G1 Climax, which is taking place at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas on Saturday, July 6. NJPW has yet to reveal Liger’s match for the show or if he’ll be appearing at other events on the G1 tour in Japan.

Liger announced earlier this year that he’ll be retiring at the Tokyo Dome in January 2020.

Liger took part in the Honor Rumble match on the G1 Supercard pre-show at Madison Square Garden last month. He also appeared at the WrestleCon Supershow in New York City, teaming with X-Pac & Hurricane Helms against Caleb Konley, Jake Manning & Zane Riley.

Kazuchika Okada, Kota Ibushi, Tetsuya Naito, and Jay White have also been confirmed for the G1 show in Dallas and are expected to be four of the entrants in the tournament, though the list of participants for it won’t be announced until we get closer to the G1. The tournament will conclude with three straight nights at Budokan Hall in Tokyo from August 10-12.

NJPW advertises first four names for G1 Climax night one in Dallas

Posted on by Joseph Currier

New Japan Pro Wrestling has started to advertise its first group of wrestlers for the opening night of this year’s G1 Climax in Dallas, Texas.

It was announced overnight that IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada, IWGP Intercontinental Champion Kota Ibushi, Tetsuya Naito, and Jay White will be wrestling at the show in Dallas. All four are expected to be in this year’s tournament, though entrants, blocks, and matches won’t be confirmed until we get closer to the G1.

Okada, Ibushi, Naito, and White were the wrestlers in NJPW’s top two matches at G1 Supercard earlier this month. Okada defeated White to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, while Ibushi defeated Naito to win the IWGP Intercontinental title.

The American Airlines Center in Dallas will host the first show of this year’s G1 Climax on Saturday, July 6. The remainder of the tournament will take place in Japan, with it ending with three straight nights at Budokan Hall in Tokyo from August 10-12.

Dave Meltzer reported on ticket sales for the Dallas show in last week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter: “They are discounting tickets in Dallas for 7/6 now because the advance is so disappointing. There are very different views as it’s been expressed that doing so feels like cheapening the product and New Japan’s appeal is to a select group that is willing to pay for the tickets, but the issue is how many of them are in specific markets, especially now with the key American market draws being done.”