With Omos heading back to WWE, Pro Wrestling NOAH’s GHC Tag Team titles have been declared vacant.
Omos and his tag team partner Jack Morris made a successful defense of the belts against Kaito Kiyomiya & Galeno over the weekend. Following the match, Omos — who had been on excursion in NOAH — announced that he is returning to WWE. He gave his title belt to Daga and said that Morris & Daga were the new champions, but NOAH has announced that the swap is not being recognized and the titles are now vacant.
“On January 25th, at the GHC Tag Championship match held at the Edion Arena Osaka 2nd Stadium, the champions Jack Morris and Omos successfully defended their titles,” the promotion wrote. “At that time, Omos handed over the GHC Tag Team Championship belts to Daga, but this transfer of the titles will not be recognized and the titles will once again be vacant.”
Omos had a 7-0 record for NOAH during this excursion, which began with him and Morris winning the GHC Tag Team titles from Naomichi Marufuji & Takashi Sugiura on January 1. Omos, Morris & Daga are all members of NOAH’s Team 2000X faction.
NOAH has not yet announced its plans for how new tag champs will be crowned.
News of Omos’ WWE return coincides with the Royal Rumble taking place this Saturday (February 1), leading to speculation that he’ll be a surprise entrant in the men’s Rumble match.
On Saturday’s Pro Wrestling NOAH show in Osaka, Omos revealed that his time with the promotion has ended, although he promised to return. He relinquished half of the GHG Tag Team Championships to his Team 2000X stablemate Daga, making Daga and Jack Morris the new champions.
Omos was revealed as Morris’ mystery partner at NOAH’s New Year’s Day show at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo. They defeated Naomichi Marufuji and Takashi Sugiura to win the titles. In the six matches he wrestled during the three weeks he was with the promotion, Omos went undefeated.
Before debuting with Pro Wrestling NOAH, Omos hadn’t wrestled since April 2024. His last match had been the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal on the SmackDown before WrestleMania 40 in Philadelphia. It was one of only two matches of his to air on WWE programming in 2024, with the other being the Royal Rumble. However, he wrestled at several live events throughout the year.
Pro Wrestling NOAH star Naomichi Marufuji recently received a correspondence from WWE NXT boss Shawn Michaels.
Marufuji — a veteran wrestler and behind-the-scenes figure in NOAH — posted a tweet last night revealing that he’s received a message from Michaels. Though he did not disclose what the message was about, Marufuji said he was happy with it.
“Through a certain person I received a message from Shawn Michaels,” he wrote. “The contents are…I’m happy.”
At NOAH The New Year 2025 on Wednesday, the 45-year-old Marufuji shared the ring with WWE wrestler Omos in a tag team match. Omos & Jack Morris defeated Marufuji & Takashi Sugiura to become the new GHC Tag Team Champions.
WWE’s Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ Styles have also competed in matches for Pro Wrestling NOAH as part of the working relationship that exists between the two companies. Since November, NOAH talent Yoshiki Inamura has been in the United States as a member of the NXT roster.
Michaels oversees NXT and has the job title of Senior Vice President of Talent Development, Creative in that executive role.
To kick off 2025, Omos was in Tokyo to compete at NOAH The New Year. He teamed with Jack Morris at the show, dethroning Naomichi Marufuji & Takashi Sugiura as GHC Tag Team Champions. Omos got the pin on Marufuji after a double-handed chokeslam. This marks the first time a WWE-contracted wrestler has ever been a champion in NOAH.
Morris had teased that he would have the “biggest” ever mystery partner for NOAH The New Year, and that was confirmed to be Omos last week. Omos said before the show that he was a little bit nervous but excited to compete in Japan.
Following the match, Omos & Morris cut a backstage promo where Omos declared that he’s not just a super heavyweight — he’s the “super megaweight of this world.”
— プロレスリング・ノア ｜PRO WRESTLING NOAH (@noah_ghc) January 1, 2025
“I came to Pro Wrestling NOAH, and I won the Tag Team [Championship],” Omos said. “This is the beginning of history, people. You’re witnessing the greatest thing to ever grace this country.”
The Great Muta congratulated Omos on his win, tweeting that he’s happy he’ll be able to see Omos appear for NOAH again.
This was Omos’ first match since April. He was off WWE television for most of 2024 but did compete at some house shows earlier in the year.
WWE star Shinsuke Nakamura — the current United States Champion — also wrestled at NOAH The New Year, defeating former UFC fighter Ulka Sasaki. A World title change headlined the event with Taishi Ozawa winning the GHC Heavyweight Championship from Kaito Kiyomiya.
WWE wrestler Omos will indeed be in action at Pro Wrestling NOAH’s The New Year 2025 event.
As first teased earlier this week, the billed seven-footer will team with Jack Morris in challenging for the GHC Tag Team Championship on January 1 at Budokan Hall. The Omos and Morris due will take on GHC Tag Team Champions Naomichi Marufuji and Takashi Sugiura.
Omos was introduced at the press conference hyping the event with former WWE wrestler Yoshitatsu accompanying him:
X IS WWE STAR OMOS‼️
The 7ft 4in giant will challenge for GHC Tag Team GOLD with @jackmorrisx17 on his NOAH debut on Wednesday!
Omos has not wrestled since April 2024 when he took part in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal on the SmackDown before WrestleMania 40. He remains under contract to the promotion.
WWE United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura will also be in action at NOAH The New Year as he takes on Ulka Sasaki in a non-title match, as WWE continues their practice of sending name talent with connections to Japan for NOAH shows. Examples include Nakamura for The New Year in 2023 and 2025, plus AJ Styles worked the Destination event for the promotion this past July.
One of the biggest stars in Pro Wrestling NOAH history is returning to the promotion to celebrate its 25th anniversary.
KENTA will be back in NOAH for a match against Kenoh at NOAH The New Year 2025 on Wednesday, January 1. The match was made official after Kenoh showed up at Friday’s NJPW event, confronting KENTA and challenging him to a match.
Kenoh said that, if KENTA still had feelings for the promotion where he came from, he would return to NOAH and face him on January 1. The challenge was then accepted by KENTA. Kenoh teased that, after he defeats KENTA in NOAH, they could potentially wrestle each other again in NJPW.
During his NOAH career, KENTA was a decorated champion with both Heavyweight and Junior Heavyweight title reigns. He left the promotion in 2014 but has returned a few times since then, making appearances while with WWE and NJPW.
Kenoh is a three-time GHC Heavyweight Champion in NOAH with his most recent reign lasting from October 2023-February 2024.
NOAH The New Year 2025 — a celebration of NOAH entering its 25th year in existence — is taking place from Budokan Hall in Tokyo. It will air live as a pay-per-view with English commentary. WWE’s Shinsuke Nakamura is part of the card, facing off against Ulka Sasaki.
The first-ever GHC Women’s Champion has been crowned.
Kouki Amarei, a regular with Rossy Ogawa’s Marigold promotion, won a Royal Rumble-style battle royal on today’s Pro Wrestling NOAH Magic Monday show in Tokyo to earn the title.
Sadie Gibbs was the final elimination. Great Sakuya (the storyline daughter of The Great Muta), Miyuki Takase, Miku Aono, Takumi Iroha, Utami Hayashishita, Bozilla, Yuu, Nightshade, and Chigusa Nagayo were also entered into the match.
“I won the singles belt. The Royal Rumble was a bit of an unusual format, but I was the one who remained in the end and am wearing this belt. With this belt, I will continue to grow,” reads a translation of Amarei’s backstage comments.
👑 @xX_0Kouki0_Xx MAKES HISTORY AS THE 1ST GHC WOMEN’S CHAMPION!
Amarei was a classically trained ballet dancer before being scouted by the Actwres girl’Z promotion in 2021. She made the jump to Marigold, beginning with the promotion’s first show, Marigold Fields Forever, in May.
WWE’s vice president of talent development, creative Shawn Michaels has welcomed a Pro Wrestling NOAH talent to WWE NXT.
In a social media post Tuesday as WWE NXT aired on the CW, Michaels welcomed NOAH’s Yoshiki Inamura to the WWE Performance Center to train as part of WWE and NOAH’s business partnership.
Inamura is a well-traveled international talent who has spent time in Progress and WXW this year, gaining valuable experience.
Michaels posted:
“I’m excited to welcome @noah_ghc Wrestler @noah_yoshiki to #WWENXT. This hard-hitting young man is going to be a problem for anyone he steps in the ring with. I look forward to growing NXT’s partnership with @noahglobal in the future. #WWENXT”
WWE’s partnership with NOAH has included sending AJ Styles to Japan for a match against Naomichi Marufuji earlier this year, as well as Tavion Heights and Josh Briggs taking part in NOAH’s N-1 tournament. Shinsuke Nakamura also traveled to Japan in 2023 to face The Great Muta on a NOAH show.
For the first time in its history, Pro Wrestling NOAH will have a women’s champion.
The promotion announced the creation of the GHC Women’s Championship today with the inaugural title holder set to be crowned next month. A 10-woman battle royal at NOAH’s Monday Magic Autumn Episode Three event on November 11 will determine the first champion. The participants for the match have not been revealed yet.
Women’s match have taken place in NOAH since January 2023. At today’s NOAH event, there was a tag team bout where Great Sakuya (the storyline daughter of Great Muta) & Hyan defeated Sadie Gibbs & Jessy Jackson.
This will be the seventh GHC (Global Honored Crown) title to exist in NOAH. There is also the GHC Heavyweight Championship, Junior Heavyweight Championship, Tag Team titles, Junior Heavyweight Tag Team titles, National Championship, and Hardcore Championship.
Established in 2001 with Mitsuharu Misawa as the first champion, the men’s GHC Heavyweight title is currently held by Kaito Kiyomiya.
The November 11 NOAH event is being held at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo and will air live on streaming service Wrestle Universe.
Shinsuke Nakamura is headed back to Pro Wrestling NOAH.
Nakamura vs. Ulka Sasaki has been announced for NOAH The New Year 2025 on January 1, 2025, at the Nippon Budokan. It will be his first match for the promotion since defeating The Great Muta at The New Year 2023. The match was Keiji Muto’s final time performing as Muta.
The news was announced today during NOAH’s show at Korakuen Hall.
“NOAH, it’s been a while. After that miraculous fight, WWE’s SHINSUKE NAKAMURA will return to Nippon Budokan on New Year’s Day! Who will be standing in front of me?”
🚨 #WWE star @ShinsukeN returns to the NOAH ring on 1 January!!
Nakamura: "NOAH, it's been a while. After that miraculous fight, WWE’s SHINSUKE NAKAMURA will return to Nippon Budokan on New Year's Day! Who will be standing in front of me?”#noah_ghcpic.twitter.com/QOICUVzujD
Sasaki is a former UFC and Rizin fighter who made his pro wrestling debut 11 months ago.
Nakamura hasn’t wrestled a match on WWE programming since the April 22, 2024, episode of Raw when he lost to Sheamus. He has been on house shows, however, and was defeated by LA Knight at WWE’s live event in Cardiff, Wales last night.
The 44-year-old was voted into The Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame Class of 2015. He was voted Wrestler of the Year in 2014 and had Match of the Year with Kota Ibushi in 2015 at Wrestle Kingdom.
After a nearly four-decade career, Yoshinari Ogawa is stepping away from the ring.
Pro Wrestling NOAH announced overnight that, due to a neck injury, the 57-year-old Ogawa has decided to retire with immediate effect. Per Ogawa’s wishes, NOAH will not be holding a retirement press conference or retirement ceremony for him.
“We would like to express our sincere gratitude for the support & encouragement our fans [have] shown Ogawa over the years,” NOAH wrote. “Although he will be retiring from wrestling, we’re pleased to inform you that he’ll be able to live his daily life without any issues from the injury.”
Ogawa made his in-ring debut for All Japan Pro Wrestling in 1985. He left AJPW for Pro Wrestling NOAH when the latter promotion was founded in 2000. He spent most of his career as a junior heavyweight with title reigns in both AJPW and NOAH.
In 2002, Ogawa had a run as NOAH’s GHC Heavyweight Champion. He was the third-ever wrestler to hold the title (after Mitsuharu Misawa and Jun Akiyama). Ogawa & Misawa had two reigns holding the GHC Tag Team titles together.
The final match of Ogawa’s career was an eight-man tag bout that took place for NOAH on August 4.
*A detailed look at the SummerSlam show, post-SummerSlam direction, thoughts on key matches, business numbers, a record set that WWE fans and AEW haters seem to have missed, the press conference as well as a major note on the 2025 SummerSlam show. *A look at TKO business, why the stock price rose, breaking down different categories, how much debt does the company have, the lawsuit settlement, the next negotiations and why WWE ticket prices are about to rise. *More notes on the move from USA to CW for NXT, why the second show will likely be loaded up, and how the television situation for both the WWE shows and announcing teams will be changing in the fall, and again in the winter. *Early notes on the Olympics in wrestling *Update on All In’s card and business notes *A drug testing scandal involving the U.S. and USADA *Full coverage of the G-1 tournament an the best matches *Steve McMichael goes into the NFL Hall of Fame and a look at his life and his career *Updates on the Janel Grant claim against Vince McMahon, a court ruling as well as Dr. Carlon Colker fires back at Grant. *The most detailed look at the ratings for the past week. The segment-by-segment, comparisons with last week and a lot of insight into where the major trouble spot is for AEW right now. *MJF vs. Templario at Arena Mexico as well as one of the best matches of the year in Mexico on that show *The biggest stipulation match of the year in Mexico *What trivia distinction in Mexico does MJF have *Former TNA champion wins major title in Mexico *Last build for TripleMania including Dorian Roldan saying that they are going for a five star match with an undercard bout. *Update on El Hijo del Vikingo. *Stardom star out for a year *NOAH’s debut 24 years ago last week *Star of the N-1 tournament *Jeff Cobb notes NJPW star turned down a major WWE offer *Giulia’s final stuff in Japan *A look back at Beauregarde, a 60s and early 70s star *The Bruno Sammartino Cup in Italy *Lots of TNA television notes for the next several weeks *Tony Khan talks media rights *Issues with WBD *Lots more on Pentagon & Fenix leaving AEW *AEW star gets television acting gig *Advance ticket sales for upcoming WWE & AEW shows *International TV ratings including AEW has unusually big numbers in U.K. and Canada *Dana White and Richard Boulaware and the origination of the term Black Gordman High School *UFC announces a loaded show *Conor McGregor flips out on Donald Trump *UFC star subject to a drive by *PFL announces a PPV show *The latest boxing and pro wrestling PV numbers *WWE & AEW July ratings and attendance and how things are moving *Son of former WWE star signs NIIL deal and will continue college *Update on Brock Lesnar
This Week’s Wresting Observer Newsletter Back Issue
– Our weekend show with Garrett Gonzales is up on the site, where we talked heavily on the life of Kevin Sullivan. That show is likely very different from any other show you’ll hear about him because of different perspectives of so many different parts of his career and post-career. We also talked about the key stories in the Observer. Bryan and I will be back tonight talking about lots of different topics including weekend shows, G-1, N- 1 and more.
– Hulk Hogan turned 71 today.
– Yuya Uemura is out of the G-1 tournament due to an elbow injury suffered in his win over Yota Tsuji yesterday in Sendai. For Thursday, if Jeff Cobb, David Finlay or Ren Narita, all 5-3, win on Thursday then they all make the playoffs. If they lose, they will be in a pack that would include the winners of bouts with Tsuji, Hirooki Goto and Konsuke Takeshita who can make the playoffs with a win and the right head-to-head record involving everyone who ends up with a 5-4 record.
– Saw a clip. 50 years ago yesterday I was at the Cow Palace for a show headlined by Jack Brisco vs. Moondog Mayne for the NWA world title (one of only two Brisco NWA title bouts at the Cow Palace). It was a good match. All Brisco matches in that era were, but far from the type of bout he’d have with Dory Funk Jr., Harley Race or Johnny Valentine. The most memorable thing about the night is that early in the show, ring announcer Allan Bolte came out and announced that Brisco wasn’t there and Roy Shire hadn’t heard from him all day (no cell phones in 1974). He said they are assuming that he won’t be there and we have a new main event of Pat Patterson vs. Mayne in a non-title match. They offered refunds (they had to, back then if a main eventer didn’t appear a promoter had to offer refunds per athletic commission rules). Patterson was going to win to set up a U.S. title shot at Mayne. Then 30 or so minutes later, Bolte comes running out, “Jack Brisco has arrived! The world champion has arrived”. Shire never booked Jack Brisco again.
– Looking for reports from today’s RevPro show at York Hall, the two Stardom Five Star Grand Prix shows from the weekend and today’s ROH show in Arlington, TX. We’re looking for results, finishes and highlights to [email protected]
– I’m still going through a lot of stuff but two matches I have seen that are pretty much must-sees are Kaito Kiyomiya vs. Ryohei Oiwa from the N-1 tournament. You will see Oiwa in a completely different light from that one. The other is Oleg Boltin vs. Konosuke Takeshita from yesterday. Takeshita needs to take it easy on some of those high angle bumps because he has the talent to be one of the five best for probably another decade if he works smart. My God, talk about making Boltin look good.
– Kyle Snyder at 213 pounds only placed fifth at the Olympics. It was the first time the U.S. didn’t have a men’s gold medalist since 1968. Zain Retherford was injured in the first round and unable to continue. Spencer Lee got a silver medal. Aaron Brooks got a bronze. Kyle Dake got a bronze medal as well. Blaydes on the women’s side ended up with a silver medal.
– Japan won the team standings.
– At the closing ceremonies several members of Team Mexico wore masks, notably one wearing a Rayo de Jalisco mask.
– Masai Russell won the 100 meter hurdles yesterday, earning a gold medal. Russell is under contract to WWE as an NIL athlete.
– Raw on Monday announced Shayna Baszler & Zoey Stark vs. Iyo Sky & Kairi Sane, Bron Breakker vs. Sami Zayn for the IC title in a 2/3 fall match, Damian Priest vs. Carlito, and The Creeds vs. Otis & Tozawa, plus Rhea Ripley and Randy Orton are also announced.
– The angle at today’s RevPro show at York Hall saw MJF beat Michael Oku to keep the American title using the Tiger Driver. Oku sold an injury. MJF then teased doing the move to Amira Blair (Oku’s girlfriend). Will Ospreay made the save and basically said he would not hesitate to use the Tiger Driver on MJF at All In.
– A block in G-1 finishes the round-robin in a show at 4 a.m. Monday morning Eastern time:
Evil (5-3) vs. Shota Umino (3-5)
Tetsuya Naito (5-3) vs. Great O’Khan (4-4)
Shingo Takagi (4-4) vs. Jake Lee (4-4)
Sanada (4-4) vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (6-2)
Callum Newman (2-6) vs. Gabe Kidd (3-5)
– Sabre has already won the block. Even if he loses, and Evil and/or Naito win, he’s got singles wins over both of them he’s in first. If Naito or Evil win, they are in the playoffs. If they lose, that opens it up for O-Khan, Takagi and Sanada if they win. Then it comes down to tie-breakers.
– Regarding ordering All In on Triller, it is now available to order. It wasn’t until late Friday. Also, they have a deal where for $84.99, or a $15 discount, you can order both All In and All Out. That’s only on Triller
– Ninja Mack is leaving NOAH after tomorrow’s show. He said that this isn’t a permanent departure but he’s leaving for now.
– Donovan Dijak vs. Gabe Kidd has been added to the 8/24 Rev Pro show in London at the Copper Box Arena.
– House of Glory debuts on 9/5 in Chicago at the Logan Square Arena. That’s two nights before All Out. Mike Santana vs. Donovan Dijak is the main event plus Mustafa Ali, Zilla Fatu and a women’s title match with Megan Bayne defending against Kylie Rae.
– FTR is doing a meet and greet in conjunction with the 9/29 Prestige Wrestling show in Portland, OR at the Roseland Theater.
– Tavion Heights lost on today’s N-1 show at Korakuen Hall to Manabu Soya. Heights is now 1-2 while Josh Briggs is 2-1, after losing yesterday to Jack Morris. Fans were chanting for Heights today because of his cool suplexes.
– Anna Jay debuted in the Stardom Five-Star Grand Prix beating Saori Anou. It was a good match. We heard Mayu Iwtani vs. Tam Nakano on yesterday’s show was a great match, as was Syuri vs. Starlight Kid (thanks to Paul Adams)
– Empire State Wrestling is doing a charity event with the PUNT Foundation to host a BBQ party to support local families fighting pediatric cancer. The event is 9/7 at the Rapids Fire Hall in Lockport, NY. It will run from 1 p.m. to 6 pm.
– Antony Smith vs. Dominik Reyes is scheduled for the 12/14 UFC PPV show in Las Vegas at the T Mobile Arena.
– Brock Anderson will make his MLW debut on 8/29. He will form a new Andersons tag team with C.W. Anderson of ECW fame.
Pro Wrestling NOAH announced on Saturday that Marufuji will be a guest commentator on the WWE SummerSlam broadcast that will stream on ABEMA in Japan. The show takes place August 6 at the Cleveland Browns Stadium in Ohio.
📺#ABEMA “SummerSlam 2024 (WWE)” Naomichi Marufuji will appear on ABEMA PPV live commentary🔥
📅Sunday, August 4, 8:00 a.m. start 📺ABEMA PPV complete live broadcast!
— プロレスリング・ノア ｜PRO WRESTLING NOAH (@noah_ghc) July 21, 2024
After initially posting he would be at the show, NOAH later clarified that he would be part of the ABEMA pay-per-view broadcast.
The news comes after Marufuji faced WWE’s AJ Styles at NOAH Destination last weekend. Styles ended up winning the dream match following a Styles Clash.
NOAH and WWE in recent weeks have begun exchanging talent. Along with Styles’ appearance last weekend, NXT’s Tavion Heights and Josh Briggs will be competing in the N1 Victory tournament that begins next month. In the past, WWE has also sent Hideo Itami (KENTA) and Shinsuke Nakamura for one-time appearances.
Along with NOAH, WWE has also been exchanging talent with GCW, who has a Bloodsport event sent for next weekend featuring WWE talent. NXT wrestlers are also set to appear at Saturday’s TNA Slammiversary event, with the No Quarter Catch Crew set to take on The Rascalz, the latter of whom made their debut as a trio on Tuesday’s NXT.
Bryan and I will be back tonight with our weekend show covering the NOAH show with A.J. Styles, SummerSlam, Marigold with Iyo Sky, Fantastica Mania, and the rest of the wrestling news.
Judge Richard Boulware on Friday once again would not sign off on the settlement in the Cung Le and Kajan Johnson lawsuits against UFC. He was clearly unhappy with both settlements, more the latter. He did indicate that over the next week he would either ratify the settlements or not do so which would force a trial. Both sides do not want this to go to trial and he may take that into consideration and ratify even if he believes, which he clearly does, that the fighters are not getting a fair deal.
I will say you should go out of your way to see the A.J. Styles vs. Naomichi Marufuji and Iyo Sky vs. Utami Hayashishita matches from yesterday as well as Kaito Kiyomiya vs. Yoichi, Miku Aono vs Mirai, and Giulia vs. Saree.
We’re looking for reports from WWE last night in Mexico City and tonight in Monterey with results, finishes and highlights to [email protected]. We’re also looking for your thoughts on NJPW Fantastica Mania, the NOAH show and the Marigold show, thumbs up, down or middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]
Mistico challenged Douki for the IWGP jr. title last night in San Jose although they haven’t announced a date or place for that match.
The only thing for the week that made the top 20 Google searches was UFC was No. 7 last night with 200,000 searches which is a good number for a fight night.
The biggest thing from last night’s UFC event was Rose Namajunas winning the main event over Tracy Cortez by a solid decision. The semi was controversial as Muslim Salkkahov beat Santiago Ponzinibbio via split decision. Judge Dean Abeyta had Salikhov winning rounds one and two. Judge Eric Colon had Ponazinibbio winning one and two, so they were totally opposite. Chris Lee had Salikhov winning one and two. Media scores were 69 percent for Ponzinibbio but two of the media scores for Salikhov were Ryan Frederick and Paul Fontaine from this site.
A&E will be airing its bio on The Miz at 8pm tonight.
Conor McGregor said that after talking to Dana White that his fight with Michael Chandler will definitely take place before the end of the year.
The N-1 tournament (NOAH’s version of G-1) is 8/4 to 9/1. Besides NOAH regulars, the A block has Josh Briggs from NXT and Luis Mante from Dragon Gate and B block has Tavion Heights from NXT, so Briggs and Heights will be off NXT television next month.
The next Marigold PPV shows will be 9/28 in Nagoya and 1/3 at the Ota Ward Gym in Tokyo. For those going to Japan for the first week of the year, you can add both the Marigold PPV on 1/3 and a NOAH PPV on 1/1 from Budokan Hall.
Sendai Girls runs Korakuen Halal tomorrow with Chihiro Hashiimoto vs. Jordynne race and a double title match with both the Sendai Girls world title and Wonder of Stardom titles defended by Mika Iwata against Saori Anou.
As noted yesterday, Davey Boy Smith Jr. will be a regular for All Japan starting on 8/3 with his return match on 8/3 in Sendai against Jun Saito.
QT Marshall took first place last night in the Lenda Murray NPC Atlanta physique competition. Marshall competed in the novice division in the classic physique category. He said it would likely be the only such contest he will enter.
Mark Wahlberg on his Instagram Friday night showed that he was watching the MLW Blood & Thunder show. Apparently it’s due to Paul Walter Hauser being on the show as they are working on a movie together.
King Mo Lawal, the former MMA star and pro wrestler, has signed to come out of retirement for Bare Knuckle fighting on 9/13 in Hollywood, FL. He will face Dave Undell. Lawal has been coaching at Dan Lambert’s ATT Gym in Florida. He retired in 2019 citing numerous injuries.
It’s Saturday and that means Wrestling Observer Live with yours truly and to paraphrase Nia Jax, we have a buttload of wrestling to talk about.
Friday’s WWE SmackDown continued the build to SummerSlam and AJ Styles and IYO SKY wrestled in Japan.
Plus Stephanie Vaquer makes her first WWE appearance since signing her contract, we have MJF vs. Will Ospreay this Wednesday, John Cena is returning, press conferences and more.
