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Search Results: "NJPW"

155 result(s) found

AEW

AEW Forbidden Door Results – June 28, 2026

4d ago

All Elite Wrestling passes through the Forbidden Door this evening, as AEW, NJPW, CMLL and STARDOM will join forces to present the AEW Forbidden Door 2026 pay-p...

NEWS

Mercedes Mone Wins First Championship In NJPW

February 19, 2023

Call her a champion. Mercedes Mone, known as Sasha Banks in WWE, has won her first championship as a member of the NJPW roster. She defeated Kairi for the IWGP Women’s Championship at NJPW’s Battle in the Valley show in San Jose, California. From Bleacher Report: NJPW sold out tickets to Battle in the Valley after Kairi vs. Mercedes Moné was announced and it showed as the crowd erupted as it began. It was the loudest the audience in attendance got all night. Mone entered the arena wearing new gear as a tribute to the late Hana Kimura. You could see how much she reveres Japanese wrestling, and how much this moment means to her. The former WWE star hasn’t wrestled since May 13, 2022, but she hasn’t missed a beat. The Blueprint dominated early on with the crowd behind her, but Kairi came roaring back. It looked like the champion could retain when she locked in the Ikari, but Mone fought out and cinched in her trademark crossface. Then, Kairi hit her staggering spinning back fist to f..

NEWS

Farewell? Weekly Wrestling Series Seems To Be Coming To An End

January 8, 2023

One less? Wrestling has been around for a very long time and a lot of that time has seen it airing on television. It makes all the sense in the world as anyone can watch a wrestling match and get the basic idea. There are all kinds of ways to present wrestling and different promotions around the world have showcased it in varying styles. Now though, we might not be seeing one of them again. In a new post on his personal blog, New Japan’s Hiroshi Tanahashi revealed that New Japan Strong, the weekly New Japan American television series, will be coming to an end after this weekend’s television tapings. There was no reason given as to why the show would be coming to an end. However, last month, New Japan President Takami Ohbari said that New Japan Strong “will be rebuilt next year” (meaning 2023). ???????STRONG???????????????????#njpwSTRONG will be rebuilt next year. — ????/Takami Ohbari (@TAKAMIOHBARI) December 25, 2022 Strong had some good stuff. Check out some of its efforts: [This..

NEWS

Shorthanded: AEW To Be Missing Some Top Stars In Coming Weeks

December 21, 2022

It might be a bit. There are all kinds of talented wrestlers on the AEW roster, who have come together to help make the company as popular as it is. The company has been built around several different styles of wrestling, some of which have been around the promotion since the beginning. There is not room for everyone on the roster though, and now some of them will be missing in action for a bit. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Big Fans: Wendy’s Has A Prediction For AEW Best Of Seven Series According to PWInsider.com, some AEW stars will be missing from upcoming editions of Dynamite due to international commitments. First, Sammy Guevara, Tay Melo and FTR will all be missing from the December 28 edition of Dynamite as they will be competing for AAA in Mexico that night. Second, Kenny Omega and FTR will not be at the January 4 Dynamite as they will be in Japan for NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17. Everyone should be back as usual following these dates. That is some talent to have missing. Check out the ..

NEWS

Sasha Banks Appearing At Wrestle Kingdom 17

December 9, 2022

The Boss is heading overseas. According to a report from PWInsider, Sasha Banks is expected to appear at New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Wrestle Kingdom 17 event next month. It is unknown in what capacity she will be used, if at all, during the show. Banks has not wrestled since she and Naomi walked out on WWE before the May 16 episode of Raw. Both women were upset about the creative direction of their characters, and were subsequently stripped of the Women’s Tag Team Championships. From the report: Back in October, Varnado teased the idea of wrestling former WWE star KAIRI in STARDOM, which shares the same corporate owner as NJPW and recently did a crossover event with NJPW. Banks has been training at a number of places in recent months in the United States and Mexico. Banks recently made a number of trademark filings related to her given name as well as the terms Mercedes Mone’, Mone’ Talks, Bank Mone’, and Statement Maker under company name Soulnado, obviously preparing for her next m..

NEWS

REVIEW: New Japan Lonestar Shootout: Half Of A Heck Of A Night

October 4, 2022

Welcome to KB’s Old School (and New School) Reviews. I’ve been reviewing wrestling shows for over twelve years now and have reviewed over 6,000 shows. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I’ll be posting a new review here on Wrestlingrumors.net. It could be anything from modern WWE to old school to indies to anything in between. Note that I rate using letters instead of stars and I don’t rate matches under three minutes as really, how good or bad can something that short be? Lonestar Shootout Date: April 1, 2022 Location: Fairmont Hotel, Dallas, Texas Attendance: 582 Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Matthew Rehwoldt So this is an interesting one as it is part of the NJPW Strong promotion, but there were two shows taped here. First up was the Lonestar Shootout special, followed by a regular TV show. That wasn’t mentioned during the night so this will be split in two rather than the one night that I watched it live. Let’s get to it. I don’t follow New Japan Strong so I apologize in advance f..

NEWS

Antonio Inoki Passes Away At Age 79

October 1, 2022

We have some sad news to report as WWE Hall of Famer and wrestling legend Antonio Inoki has passed away at age 79. From WWE.com: One of the key figures in the history of Japanese wrestling, Antonio Inoki was among the most respected men in sports entertainment and a bona fide legend in his homeland. Born in Yokohama, Japan in 1943, Inoki grew into a natural in-ring competitor. The incredible squared circle figure found his greatest success in New Japan Pro Wrestling, a promotion he founded in 1972. Over the course of the next two decades, Inoki built NJPW into the most successful wrestling company in Asia. Utilizing talented Japanese competitors like Tatsumi Fujinami and Riki Choshu, innovative high-flyers like Tiger Mask and Dynamite Kid, and American Superstars like Bob Backlund and Vader, the young promoter created a product that was unique, influential, and far ahead of its time. In addition to running the company, Inoki himself was one of the top stars in NJPW, carrying the cha..

NEWS

First Match Set For Forbidden Door

June 2, 2022

The door is beginning to open. On tonight’s episode of Dynamite, we may have gotten a glimpse of the first match set for the upcoming AEW/NJPW crossover event, “Forbidden Door.” In the opening match of the show, CM Punk and FTR defeated the team of Max Caster and The Gunn Club. After the match, Punk cut a promo saying that it was time to begin selling the upcoming pay-per-view. He then issued an open challenge to anybody from NJPW to face him at the show. This brought out 8-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi, who seems to have accepted the challenge and will face Punk at Forbidden Door. Editor’s Opinion: A lot of people think that it was going to be either Okada or maybe Jay White that would be facing Punk, but Tanahashi is an excellent choice. Widely regarded as one of the best professional wrestlers of all time, this clash of styles should make for an outstanding mean event in a great way to sell the show. I’m looking forward to seeing these two warriors go at it! ..

NEWS

Big Damo, AKA Killian Dain Debuts in AEW

May 21, 2022

The Giant has arrived. On tonight’s episode of AEW rampage, Big Damo, known as Killian Dain in WWE, made his debut for the company. He would go on to lose in a squash against Shawn Spears. Damo was part of several releases by WWE in June 2021, after being with the company since 2016. He was initially part of the group known as Sanity in NXT from 2016 to 2018, and after a brief call-up to the SmackDown brand in WWE’s 2018 Superstar Shake-up, Damo returned to the NXT brand in 2019 Damo debuted for NJPW earlier this year and has remained active on both the international and American independent scenes since leaving NXT. He also appeared for the Control Your Narrative promotion earlier this month, winning both of his bouts for that company. He is married to WWE wrestler Nikki Cross (Nikki A.S.H.), and the two have been wed since January 2019. Editor’s Opinion: I am unapologetically not a fan of All Elite Wrestling, so I simply look at this as the company not worried about finding its ..

NEWS

RUMOR: Problems Between Kota Ibushi and NJPW

May 12, 2022

This is only a rumor, so take it for its worth. According to Brian Alvarez of Wrestling Observer Radio, some further drama is taking place between Kota Ibushi and New Japan Pro Wrestling. Apparently, Ibushi is not happy with NJPW as he feels the company is trying to get him back in the ring before he is fully healed. Ibushi suffered a shoulder injury after taking a hard landing during his G1 Climax finals match against Kazuchika Okada in October 2021. Ibushi was initially planned to participate in this year’s New Japan Cup. He was pulled from the tournament as he wasn’t ready to return to action. This adds to the potentially current drama, as he recently posted a series of cryptic tweets in Japanese. This left many foreign fans confused, due to mistranslations, as some shocking terms were seen through the translation tool on Twitter, such as “sexually harassing bosses.” Ibushi signed a “lifetime contract” with NJPW back in 2019. [h/t to SEScoops] Editor’s Opinion: While rushing h..

NEWS

Ouch: Top AEW Star Dealing With Injury

April 3, 2022

That could be a big problem. Wrestling is a physical sport and there is always the chance that someone could get hurt out of nowhere. It isn’t good to see, but it is a reality that is always around. When wrestlers work even more than usual, the possibility becomes even stronger and that was the case again during the busiest weekend of the year. Now it seems to have caught up with a major star. According to Wrestling Observer Radio, AEW’s Jon Moxley has suffered a hamstring injury at some point during a recent training session. Moxley is expected to work through the injury, as he wrestled multiple matches over WrestleMania weekend. He also appeared at NJPW Strong Lone Star Shootout and referenced the injury. There is no word on when Moxley is expected to wrestle next. Opinion: This is the kind of thing that can happen and that is never a good thing to see. The good thing is that this doesn’t seem to be the most severe, as Moxley seems like he won’t be missing any time. That being said..