Tag: njpw young lions

Two new NJPW Young Lions set to debut

Posted on by Joseph Currier

NJPW’s next tour will see the arrival of two new Young Lions.

This Wednesday, the New Japan Soul 2025 tour kicks off with an event in Aomori. NJPW has announced that two new Young Lions — Zane Jay and Tatsuya Matsumoto — will debut on that show. They will face off in the opening match that night and continue to work against each other throughout the tour, wrestling seven times in matches with 10-minute time limits.

Jay has already competed at NJPW events in the United States but will now be wrestling in Japan for the first time. He started out as a beginner at NJPW’s U.S. dojo and has worked his way up to earning a Young Lion spot.

“A true graduate of the Academy system, Zane started in the beginners class before moving up to advanced, learning under KUSHIDA and Fred Rosser,” NJPW wrote.

“Last summer, the 183cm, 95kg Zane headed to Japan for the first time to train in the Noge Dojo. Using the experience he gained there, Zane would defeat Matt Vandagriff in Long Beach on December 15 to win the STRONG Survivor status, earning a spot in the kickoff matches on US events until Windy City Riot in April, where the Washington native announced that he was refocusing his efforts on making a Japanese debut.”

Jay has also wrestled indie matches in the states of California and Washington.

As for Matsumoto, he has a background in bodybuilding and amateur wrestling, along with working as a personal trainer for several years.

“Matsumoto stands at 180cm and weighs in at 85kg and wrestled and grappled in high school before working as a personal trainer for five years,” NJPW noted. “Matsumoto competed in top flight bodybuilding competitions before passing the Dojo tryout in 2023, and officially entering the Dojo in April of 2024.”

New NJPW Young Lions to debut this month

Posted on by Joseph Currier

New Young Lions from NJPW’s dojo are set to make their in-ring debuts later this month.

NJPW has announced that the 20-year-old Shoma Kato and 23-year-old Katsuya Murashima will debut on the promotion’s World Tag League tour. Kato is making his debut against Oskar Leube on Monday, November 20. Murashima is debuting against Yuto Nakashima on Tuesday, November 21.

Those events are the first two nights of the World Tag League tour. Both shows are being held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Kato and Murashima are competing in the kickoff matches each night.

Kato was featured on “The Spirit,” a show produced by Kazuchika Okada about NJPW dojo hopefuls. Kato has a background in baseball, MMA, and grappling.

Murashima has a background in amateur wrestling. He competed in the sport in college and was a regional champion.

NJPW wrote about the two new Young Lions:

On November 20, Oskar Leube will go up against Shoma Kato. 173cm, 82 kg Kato played baseball through high school in his native Osaka. Transitioning into MMA and grappling practice in his senior year with a view to getting into professional wrestling, the 20 year old won the hearts and minds of viewers of The Spirit, a reality TV show produced by Kazuchika Okada that followed Dojo hopefuls. Now, discerning eyes will be on him looking to make an impact on NJPW fans moving forward.

The next night, Yuto Nakashima will face Katsuya Murashima. 23 year old Murashima has a nine year background in amateur wrestling, where after his upbringing in Ibaraki, a college career saw him a regional champion in eastern Japan at 86 and 92 kg, and where he came second at the national level. Could he gain worldwide success in NJPW? His journey starts Tuesday November 21. 

Kato’s second match will be against Nakashima on November 23. Murashima is facing Leube on November 24.

NJPW Lion’s Break Collision results: Tom Lawlor vs. Rocky Romero

Posted on by Justin Knipper

Clips from TJP vs. Danny Limelight aired from last week’s episode. Limelight lost to TJP in his NJPW debut.

Karl Fredericks and Clark Connors defeated The DKC and Misterioso

This was Misterioso’s Lion’s Break Collision debut.

Good match. Fredericks and DKC started things off for their teams. The two pummeled themselves into the ropes for a break. Fredericks slapped DKC hard, then tagged out to Connors. DKC landed a high kick and tagged out to Misterioso, who tore through a series of high flying moves, finishing with an Asai Moonsault to the floor.

Connors countered later with a powerslam and followed up with some loud chops. The small studio setting for this show really shines in that it lets the audience hear a lot more of the details coming from the ring.

DKC fired up and at one point took out both Connors and Fredericks. He landed his version of La Mistica on Fredericks for a submission attempt, but couldn’t put Fredericks away.

Fredericks eventually got the win by locking in a sleeper, then planted DKC with an implant DDT. 

When he and Connors were celebrating their win, Jeff Cobb ran out and planted Fredericks with a German suplex, a little revenge for what happened in the first episode.

Cobb then cut a backstage promo on Fredericks explaining his actions. He showed a lot more energy here than usual.

Fredericks and Connors were next up for promos. Karl walked off without saying anything. Connors said he didn’t have anything to do with what happened just now, referring to Fredericks and Cobb.

Tom Lawlor defeated Rocky Romero

Good technical matches like this actually benefit from no audience. There was a lot of hold-for-hold grappling in the beginning, lots of hard low kicks exchanged. Romero locked in a cobra twist midway through.

Lawlor caught Romero later in a choke sleeper. Rocky was able to break free and fight on for a few more minutes, but Lawlor went back to the sleeper one more time. He used Romero’s right arm to choke while grapevining his left. Romero had no choice but to tap out.

Lawlor masked up in the post-match interview, then explained how Rocky Romero was ”one of many” who thought they could hang in the ring with him. Lawlor said he’ll be the only survivor once this is all done because he’s the filthiest.

Final thoughts:

Another solid show. The opener was short, but good. The Karl Fredericks/Jeff Cobb build is working because of how simple and well executed it is. Both Romero and Lawlor looked excellent in the main event. I’m sure anyone who watched this will immediately start fantasy booking “Filthy” Tom against whomever is available from NJPW later this year. I can get behind that.

Next week Lion’s Break Collision: Tom Lawor vs. Alex Coughlin and Misterioso vs. Danny Limelight.