Various: Jushin Liger on Will Ospreay’s Special Aura, Sat. NJPW Strong Card, NJPW News, Indies

Jan 6, 2023

Jushin Liger Comments on Will Ospreay’s Special Aura & Potential of Ospreay Working in WWE

In a recent article for Tokyo Sports, wrestling legend Jushin Thunder Liger gave his thoughts on why he feels that Will Ospreay currently has a special aura in wrestling. Liger also gave a warning to New Japan Pro Wrestling about if they are not careful, WWE could end up snagging Ospreay away from the company in the future.

Osprey now has an aura. The top is also the top. If you’re not careful, WWE will take you away, dude. Maybe he will become the best foreigner in New Japan’s 50-year history? You have everything. That’s because the volume of the body is increased and the technique that uses that much space is accurately applied. Mileage isn’t going down. I wonder how far he will grow.
But Kenny Omega was also said to be the best in the past. He has a point. As the head of AEW in the United States and as the head of the organization, I think there is a place where I can say, “Come on.”
Every wrestler is the same, but all the mountain generals. Otherwise you won’t be able to enter the ring. In that sense, Kenny and Ospreay will have a great sense of rivalry.
Kenny omits all the corona factors and says to Osprey, “It’s your fault that the number of customers in New Japan has dropped.” It’s a complete provocation. He’s good at that sort of thing. When the game starts, I think he will show me something like, “I came to see this.”

Full Card for Saturday’s Episode of NJPW Strong

New Japan Pro Wrestling recently announced the full card for this Saturday’s New Japan Nemesis 2023 Night 1 themed episode of NJPW Strong, which will air on New Japan World starting at 8:00PM EST.

Alan Angels & Hikuleo vs. Jay White & El Phantasmo
#1 Contender for NJPW Strong Openweight Championship Strong Survivor match – TBA

NJPW News & Notes

Voices of Wrestling reported that their sources stated that Dragongate recently offered contracts to New Japan Pro Wrestling’s SHO and YOH. It was reported that these were two separate offers and not as a package deal for them to potentially reunite as a tag team in the company. In regards to SHO, it was reported that he has been unhappy over the direction of his career and lack of push in NJPW since splitting from YOH. In regards to YOH, it was reported that he has been pleased with his NJPW career and is less likely to leave for Dragongate.

Voices of Wrestling also reported that the reason why Keiji Muto was able to work at NJPW’s Wrestle Kingdom 17 due to a talent swap deal made between NJPW and Pro Wrestling NOAH. This deal reportedly allowed Muto to work in his final match for NJPW in return for NJPW giving KENTA to NOAH for their The New Year 2023 event.

Karl Anderson recently reflected on Twitter about his match with Tama Tonga for the NEVER Openweight Championship at NJPW’s Wrestle Kingdom 17 event.

Mercedes Mone recently reflected on Twitter about her official debut for NJPW at their Wrestle Kingdom 17 event. Mone stated “Dream come true #wk17@njpw1972.”

Following his match against Will Ospreay for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship, Kenny Omega reflected on Twitter about his match and return to NJPW. Omega stated “Yesterday at #njwk17 we desperately raced towards the same goal and were willing to break our bodies for it. That kind of passion I can respect. I forgive you.”

In regards to Omega’s Final Fantasty VII Sephiroth style entrance at the event, Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that the production for this special entrance had been worked on for quite a while heading into the event.

NJPW’s New Year Dash 2023 event on Thursday featured an Eight-Man Tag Team match between Master Wato, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hikuleo, & Tama Tonga and Bullet Club, which was won by Wato’s team. Following the match Bullet Club launched an attack, which focused on Jay White’s repeated chair shots to Hikuleo. During his attack, White gave a promo stating his anger at Hikuelo for betraying the group and blaming him for why he lost his IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 17. White then issued a match challenge between them where the loser would have to leave Japan.

Lio Rush recently revealed on Twitter that he suffered a broken nose injury at NJPW’s Wrestle Kingdom 17 event this past Wednesday. The injury took place during the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team match with Catch 2/2. Rush suffered the injury following a spot where Catch 2/2 performed a double team move to Rush onto the ramp resulting in Rush’s face getting busted open.

Misc. Wrestling News & Notes

Pro Wrestling Guerilla announced that they have pulled Lio Rush off of their upcoming Battle of Los Angeles 2023 tournament due to him recently suffering a broken nose injury. It was also announced that Bryan Keith will be replacing Rush for his scheduled First Round match against SB KEnTo at the event.

Bobby Fulton recently announced on Twitter that due to the overwhelming online negative backlash to his original announcement, John Laurinaitis will no longer be making an appearance for Big Time Wrestling as part of WrestleCon’s WrestleCon 2023 convention during WrestleMania 39 weekend in Los Angeles, California. This would have been Laurinaitis’ first appearance in wrestling since his firing from WWE this past summer.

This past Monday’s Barmageddon episode featuring former WWE talent Sasha Banks, now known as Mercedes Mone, as the guest drew 526,000 viewers, 0.15 key demographic rating, and a #23 key demographic ranking on USA Network, according to ShowBuzz Daily.

Mercedes Mone recently launched her official store at Pro Wrestling Tees following her official debut for New Japan Pro Wrestling at their Wrestle Kingdom 17 event earlier this week.

Major League Wrestling reportedly recently signed indie talent AKIRA to an official contract with the company, according to Fightful Select. It was reported that their sources stated that a deal had been in the works since this past November and MLW officials currently hold a very high view of AKIRA’s as a potential star for the company.

All Japan Pro Wrestling recently announced that their upcoming February 4th event in Tokyo, Japan will be featuring an Explosion match. It was also announced that Deathmatch legend Atsushi Onita will be making an appearance for the company and will be competing in this match.

Premier Wrestling Network recently announced that they will be officially launching their new streaming service on January 15th. It was also announced that subscriptions for their service will be available for $4.99 for a monthly subscription and $49.99 for a yearly subscription.

Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling talent Miyu Yamashita announced that due to a concussion injury she recently suffered, she will no longer be able to make her scheduled appearance for Pro Wrestling: EVE at their EVE 100 event this Saturday in London, England. Yamashita suffered the injury during her match with Yuka Sakuzaki for the Princess of Princess Championship at TJPW’s January 4th event in Tokyo, Japan.

TJPW recently announced that Yuka Sakuzaki will be leaving the company for several weeks for an upcoming overseas tour. It was also announced that Sakuzaki will be absent from all of their events in Japan from January 15th to February 4th.

TJPW also announced that they have pulled Haruna Neko from the cards of their January 7th, 8th, and 15th events due to her recently suffering a shoulder injury.

Impact Wrestling recently announced two new matches for the card of their Hard To Kill 2023 event on January 13th in Atlanta, Georgia:

Falls Count Anywhere in Atlanta match – Steve Maclin vs. Rich Swann
#1 Contender for Impact Knockouts Women’s World Championship 4-Way match – Masha Slamovich vs. Deonna Purrazo vs. Taylor Wilde vs. Killer Kelly