Various: Hana Kimura Tributes, AEW Belt Maker on TNT Title Issues & Criticisms, Indies

Bushiroad Issues Statement on Hana Kimura’s Passing, Several Wrestling Companies Pay Tribute

Stardom’s parent company Bushiroad issued a statement on Twitter on the passing of Hana Kimura and the company taking a temporary break from live YouTube activities to cope with her loss.

Official statement (English translation via F4WOnline.com):

Hana Kimura from Stardom passed away today on May 23. We pray for Hana Kimura. Live distribution projects on the Stardom YouTube channel will be temporarily suspended. We will strive to mentally care for other athletes, and Stardom will announce future developments as soon as they are decided.

New Japan Pro Wrestling, Ring of Honor, AEW, and the NWA were among the wrestling companies who paid tribute to Kimura.

ROH also recently uploaded the dark tag team match from last year’s G1 Supercard of Honor event to their YouTube channel in tribute to Kimura. This match featured Kimura partnering with Sumie Sakai & Stella Grey against Kagetsu, Hazuki, & Jenny Rose

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AEW Belt Maker Comments on Design Issues with Reveal of TNT Championship

As noted before, AEW’s Double or Nothing 2020 event featured the official debut of the TNT Championship belt. The reveal of this new championship belt drew criticism from some over the quality of the belt’s design.

AEW’s belt maker, Ron Edwardson, confirmed on the RED Leather Facebook group that the belt was unable to be finished in time for the event due to issues regarding the coronavirus pandemic. Edwardson also stated that once he is able to resume work, the finished belt will feature gold and nickel plating and a relief TNT logo.

Edwardson also revealed that Tony Khan wanted the belt to resemble the NWA Television Championship for its finished design.

“That’s how the person writing the check wanted it. I had my ideas and they had theirs. In the end they are happy but some fans aren’t but one thing about wrestling fans is they are never happy.”

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Misc. Wrestling News & Notes

ROH recently announced that they will be debuting a new weekly series on their YouTube channel called “ROH Week by Week.” It was also announced that the debut episode will air this Monday at 1PM with Quinn McKay as the host.

The debut episode of the Inside the NWA show featured an interview with NWA Vice President David Lagana. During the interview, Lagana revealed that the company lost out on around $500,000 in revenue from the cancellation of this year’s Crockett Cup tournament due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The United States government reportedly recently issued an order updating the exemption list for their current travel ban to include foreign sports players, staff, and their families, according to LuchaBlog. While wrestling was not explicit mentioned, it is currently assumed that foreign wrestlers will also be allowed to enter the country.

Pro Wrestling Tees announced that they have recently partnered with the late Shad Gaspard’s family on the release of a new t-shirt honoring Gaspard. It was also announced that all profits of the shirt’s sales will be donated to Gaspard’s family.