NJPW/IMPACT/Indy Wrestling News/Events Thread

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NJPW Announced Upcoming Title Matches And The Super J-Cup Lineup

After the G1 final, NJPW announced upcoming championship matches, the lineup for the Super J-Cup, and a Wrestle Kingdom 14 possibility.

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Unlike the round-robin G1 and BOSJ, the Super J-Cup is a single-elimination tournament, so New Japan could only announce the matches for its first show in Tacoma, Washington. In addition to an opening tag match of Jushin Thunder Liger (who will wrestle on all three nights of the tournament and is credited as its producer) and Karl Fredericks vs. Shota Umino and Ren Narita, here are the night’s matches:

• Rocky Romero vs. Soberano Jr.
• Clark Connors vs. TJP
• Carístico vs. Bushi
• Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Jonathan Gresham
• Robbie Eagles vs. El Phantasmo
• Yoh vs. Dragon Lee
• Sho vs. Taiji Ishimori
• Will Ospreay vs. Amazing Red

 

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IMPACT Wrestling Still Talking To AXS TV, Viewership Prediction For AEW TNT Debut

IMPACT Wrestling continues negotiations with a new TV home, AEW's TV debut on TNT could draw in a good number based on passed performance.

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IMPACT Wrestling Still Talking To AXS TV

As reported by the Wrestling Observer newsletter, IMPACT Wrestling continues to negotiate with AXS TV regarding moving their show onto the network. While some in the company had hoped that they’d be off Pursuit by summer, talks have slowed. However, some of the negotiations involve IMPACT parent company Anthem purchasing AXS outright, which could shake things up and give the brand a more stable home.

 

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Impact Wrestling's parent company acquires majority interest in AXS TV

Impact Wrestling's parent company has finalized a deal that is expected to lead to a new television home for the promotion in the near future. In a press

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IMPACT WRESTLING'S PARENT COMPANY ACQUIRES MAJORITY INTEREST IN AXS TV


Impact Wrestling's parent company has finalized a deal that will lead to a new television home for the promotion in the near future.

In a press release that was issued today, it was announced that Anthem Sports & Entertainment (Impact's parent company) has acquired a majority interest in HDNet LLC, which is the parent of AXS TV and HDNet Movies.

Anthem "will assume operating management of the two popular channels that cater to music, sports, entertainment and lifestyle audiences. The deal also includes AXS TV’s extensive library of owned programming, including wrestling, MMA and entertainment content."

New Japan Pro Wrestling and Women of Wrestling both air on AXS TV on Saturdays. Season two of WOW premiered on AXS TV this past weekend.

“We are very excited to add these two successful channels to our portfolio,” Anthem Sports & Entertainment CEO Leonard Asper said. “Anthem was founded with a mission to deliver compelling, targeted content and experiences to passionate fans globally on the platform of their choice. The music, sports and entertainment communities served by these channels are a natural extension and perfect complement to our existing properties. The addition of AXS TV and HDNet Movies will allow for increased content ownership, digital expansion and even more compelling programming for consumers and our distribution partners.”

The press release stated that "Mark Cuban and AEG will continue to participate as equity partners, and AEG Global Partnerships, AEG’s advertising and sponsorship sales unit, will continue to support the channels in conjunction with Anthem’s sales team."

“Anthem’s combination of targeted brands, enthusiastic audiences, operational expertise, international footprint and vision makes them an ideal partner to take AXS TV and HDNet Movies to their next levels,” Cuban said. “Given Anthem’s portfolio of premium content and complementary programming networks, we could not ask for a better home, and we are looking forward to the results we will collectively generate for this new partnership.”

Dave Meltzer had reported last week that talks of Impact going to AXS TV were said to still be quite active.

Impact currently airs at 10 p.m. Eastern time on both the Pursuit Channel and Twitch. Anthem also has an ownership stake in the Pursuit Channel.

 

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NJPW Announces Kota Ibushi, Jay White, Okada And More For New Japan Showdown

NJPW has just announced the first names that will be part of New Japan Showdown in November. New Japan Showdown will be at the San…

www.wrestlinginc.com

NJPW Announces Kota Ibushi, Jay White, Okada And More For New Japan Showdown


NJPW has just announced the first names that will be part of New Japan Showdown in November.

New Japan Showdown will be at the San Jose Civic on November 9 and on November 11 in Los Angeles at the Globe Theater. Tickets will be going on sale on September 13.

Below is the list of names:

* Kota Ibushi

* Jushin Thunder Liger (San Jose event only)

* Juice Robinson

* IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada (San Jose event only)

* IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay (San Jose event only)

* IWGP Intercontinental Champion Tetsuya Naito

* EVIL

* SANADA

* Jay White

* Chase Owens

* Minoru Suzuki

* Lance Archer

 

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Don Callis & Chris Jericho Talk Impact Wrestling Being "Hard To Kill"

On the heels of Impact Wrestling's parent company, Anthem Sports and Entertainment, purchasing AXS TV, Don Callis and Scott D'Amore appeared on Talk is

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Don Callis & Chris Jericho Talk Impact Wrestling Being “Hard To Kill”

On the heels of Impact Wrestling’s parent company, Anthem Sports and Entertainment, purchasing AXS TV, Don Callis and Scott D’Amore appeared on Talk is Jericho to speak about what the deal means for their company.

“I love Steven Siegal movie titles and I think our first PPV of 2020 should be ‘Hard to Kill'” Callis joked on the show.

Also during the interview, Don Callis made note of a conversation he had with an Impact employee who has been with the company since the beginning. The employee noted that the new deal with AXS gives Impact more security than they’ve ever had previously.

“One of the things that is very interesting to me was a comment made by a longtime employee here, who’s been here since the beginning, 2002,” Callis said on the show. “He said to me ‘Don, this company has never had this stability, even with the very large rights fees that came with the Spike Deal.’ He said ‘I was there for that and we were always wondering when is the shoe going to drop? When is something going to happen? Because we are totally dependent on this deal.’ He said ‘we’ve never had this kind of – not just the backing, not just the partners, we own the network, we own the platform.'”

“That for me was very telling,” Callis continued.

 

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Cain Velasquez's second-ever pro-wrestling match and the entire AAA/Impact Invading NY show will air Friday on AXS TV, sources told ESPN. The card from MSG's Hulu Theatre initially aired live Sunday on Fite TV pay-per-view. Velasquez impressed again

Read more on ESPN

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Cain Velasquez's second-ever pro-wrestling match and the entire AAA/Impact Invading NY show will air Friday on AXS TV, sources told ESPN. The card from MSG's Hulu Theatre initially aired live Sunday on Fite TV pay-per-view. Velasquez impressed again in teaming with Brian Cage and Psycho Clown to face Black Taurus, Texano Jr. and Rey Escorpion. Dr. Wagner Jr. vs. Blue Demon Jr. was the main event and the show also included the Lucha Brothers vs. LAX for the AAA tag team titles. The AXS TV broadcast will begin at 8 p.m. ET. Impact's parent company Anthem purchased a majority stake in AXS TV last week and Impact will begin airing on the U.S. channel next month. Velasquez has one more date left on his AAA contract: Oct. 13 in Los Angeles.

 

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Don Callis and Scott D’Amore Detail Changes Coming to IMPACT Wrestling

Don Callis and Scott D'Amore appeared on Chris Jericho's podcast to discuss Anthem purchasing AXS and changes coming to IMPACT Wrestling

www.ewrestlingnews.com

Don Callis on critical acclaim for the IMPACT brand:

“Other people like Dave Meltzer said it’s the best booked, best-written wrestling show on TV and I think I said to you, it’s like, you know, we’ve kinda been the Rolling Stones playing in someone’s garage. The music’s great but not enough people are hearing it. So I think now we’ve got a platform where the excitement we’ve created the last number of months with the storylines, with a great roster, we’ve got some of the changes and the signings, now more people are gonna get to see it and can decide what they like and we think they’re gonna love it.”

Scott D’Amore on the ‘frustrating ride’ for fans of IMPACT:

“I think definitely wrestling fans know AXS TV, it’s a destination for wrestling programming, it’s a brand name, it’s a Mark Cuban product and it’s something that certainly brings the prestige back. And I think it’s been a frustrating ride for fans that have followed, historically, this company, because they’ve seen it slide from Spike to Destination America to Pop, and then to go to Pursuit, it was like, ok, maybe this is finally the last of it. So, this now upward move towards AXS, I think [it] has rejuvenated part of the fan base that is jaded and for the very sizable fan base that we still have that is often quiet on these things, they’re excited because they’re along for a ride…”

 

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ROH Announces Match For Death Before Dishonor TV Tapings, Matt Riddle, How Much Is MLW's First PPV?

- Above is today's Feature Match Friday exclusive between Matt Riddle and Johnny Silver from CZW, courtesy of Powerslam.tv! Check out Powerslam.tv and use the…

www.wrestlinginc.com

MLW: Saturday Night SuperFight is the company's first PPV and will take place on November 2 at Cicero Stadium in Chicago for $19.99 (FITE and traditional PPV). The event will be headlined by Jacob Fatu defending the MLW World Heavyweight Championship against LA Park in a No Disqualification Match. Also announced for the show: Low Ki, World Middleweight Champion Teddy Hart, National Openweight Champion Alexander Hammerstone, Davey Boy Smith Jr., World Tag Team Champions MJF & Richard Holliday, Brian Pillman Jr., CONTRA Unit, The Von Erich Boys, Mance Warner, Jordan Oliver, Zenshi, Gringo Loco, "Filthy" Tom Lawlor, El Hijo de LA Park, Myron Reed, Air Wolf and others.

 

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NJPW Announces Matches For Fighting Spirit Unleashed Cards

New Japan Pro Wrestling's invasion of the East Coast of the United States has begun with Fighting Spirit Unleashed. September 27, 28 and 29 will…

www.wrestlinginc.com

NJPW Announces Matches For Fighting Spirit Unleashed Cards


New Japan Pro Wrestling's invasion of the East Coast of the United States has begun with Fighting Spirit Unleashed. September 27, 28 and 29 will feature some of the top stars NJPW has to offer, along with a few American mainstays. The Rock 'n' Roll Express, TJP and Amazing Red will be joining the tour.

Night one, taking place on the 27th in Lowell Massachusetts, will feature Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kota Ibushi against Tetsuya Naito, EVILand SANADA in the main event. The co-main will feature Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa defending the IWGP Tag Team Titles against SHO and YOH.

Night two, taking place on the 28th in New York City, features Okada and Ibushi against EVIL and SANADA. The co-main event will be KENTA defending his NEVER Openweight Title against YOSHI-HASHI. Finally,

The final night on the 29th in Philadelphia will feature an elimination tag match pitting Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI, Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson against Jay White, KENTA, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Chase Owens and Gedo.

Here is the full slate of matches for the upcoming shows:

September 27 - Lowell Memorial Auditorium - Lowell, Massachusetts

* Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kota Ibushi v. Tetsuya Naito, EVIL and SANADA
* Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa (c) v. SHO and YOH - IWGP Tag Team Championships
* Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI and Rocky Romero v. Jay White, KENTA and Gedo
* Tomohiro Ishii and Amazing Red v. Shingo Takagi and BUSHI
* The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson) v. Chase Owens and Jado
* Juice Robinson and Mikey Nicholls v. TJP and Clark Connors
* Lance Archer v. Ren Narita
* Karl Fredericks v. Alex Coughlin

September 28 - Hammerstein Ballroom - NYC

* Kazuchika Okada and Kota Ibushi v. EVIL and SANADA
* KENTA (c) v. YOSHI-HASHI - NEVER Openweight Championship
* Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii and Amazing Red v. Jay White, Chase Owens and Gedo
* Hiroshi Tanahashi and The Rock 'n' Roll Express v. Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi and BUSHI
* Rocky Romero, SHO and YOH v. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa and Jado
* Juice Robinson and Mikey Nicholls v. Clark Connors and Alex Coughlin
* Lance Archer v. Karl Fredericks
* TJP v. Ren Narita

September 29 - 2300 Arena - Philadelphia, PA

* Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI and The Rock 'n' Roll Express v. Jay White, KENTA, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Chase Owens and Gedo - Elimination Match
* Kota Ibushi and TJP v. EVIL and BUSHI
* Juice Robinson, SHO and YOH v. Tetsuya Naito, SANADA and Shingo Takagi
* Amazing Red v. Ren Narita
* Lance Archer v. Alex Coughlin
* Mikey Nicholls v. Karl Fredericks
* Rocky Romero v. Clark Connors

 

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Rush and Dragon Lee released by CMLL

CMLL announced shortly after the conclusion of their anniversary show that both Rush and Dragon Lee are no longer with the promotion. In a series of tweets,

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Rush and Dragon Lee released by CMLL

CMLL announced shortly after the conclusion of their anniversary show that both Rush and Dragon Lee are no longer with the promotion.

In a series of tweets, the promotion stated that they had fired both men for not following programing and company guidelines.

Dragon Lee was recently removed from CMLL’s 86th anniversary show and other events, as well as lineups following the event. The following was written in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter: "While nobody has said why, the belief was that he worked BOLA, when CMLL told both he and Cavernario that they couldn’t do the show and he didn’t listen."

In a video posted shortly before the news broke, Rush and his father La Bestia del Ring said that they would be going independent. Mistico, the son of Bestia and brother of Rush, wished his family well in a tweet, indicating that he would be remaining with CMLL.

Dragon Lee also posted on Twitter, thanking the recently deceased Paco Alonso for his opportunities and welcomes the new stage of his life. He was apparently surprised by his release.

CMLL has trademarks for both the Rush and Dragon Lee names, which means they will likely be using new names going forward. Rush already has bookings for both KAOZ and The Crash under the name El Toro Blanco.

Rush is still with Ring of Honor, having just won their World Championship tonight at Death Before Dishonor. Dragon Lee also worked the event, being added to what originally was a triple threat match for the ROH Television title. Shane Taylor retained the title, but Dragon Lee confronted him after the match, setting up a possible singles match.

Both Rush and Dragon Lee are scheduled to team up to face PCO and Brody King at tomorrow’s television tapings.