Various: Superstar Billy Graham Health Update, Sat. NJPW Strong Card, Indies

Jan 13, 2023

Superstar Billy Graham Currently in ICU Following Heart Stoppage Incident This Week

As noted before, WWE Hall of Famer Superstar Billy Graham is currently dealing with a bone infection that has spread to his ear bones and portion of his skull.

Graham’s wife Valerie recently provided several health updates on Facebook stating that Graham is currently in intensive care following his heart stopping at one point this past Tuesday.

Tuesday, January 10th update:

Thank you for all the prayers! The following is from Billy’s wife Valerie. Thank you Jesus for prayers answered! Mike (admin):
“I’m asking all of you for your prayers for my husband. He has been in the hospital since last Friday. During a procedure in his hospital room late this afternoon he coded.
There are no words to describe how it felt to witness the man that I’ve loved since I was 18 yrs old stop breathing but the mercy of God was on us and the doctors were able to restart his heart and place a breathing tube.
He is currently in ICU and is completely sedated to allow his body to rest. They still don’t know why this happened but they will figure that out. .
Right now they are working to stabilize his blood pressure along with a multitude of other things.
About 3 hours ago when I was finally able to see him he actually opened his eyes and even squeezed my hand….what a gift it was to see his eyes looking at me
I appreciate so very much each and everyone of you for your steadfast prayers wether you pray for Wayne or Superstar our Lord knows who he is and is listening.”

Wednesday, January 11th update:

Update from Billy’s wife Valerie:
“I wanted to update you on Wayne’s progress as well as some issues. The best news of the day is he breathed on his own all day long!!!! They are turning on the oxygen for the night to allow his body to rest. They are talking about possibly removing the breathing tube all together tomorrow …
One of the new issues is they had to start him on dialysis today. They said that when someone’s heart stops the first thing to shut down are the kidneys and his kidney function dropped significantly overnight so there’s that. But we’re praying this will be temporary.
The Doctor came in to explain to me how serious and severe the ear infection is with the infiltration of his inner ear bones and his skull. He made his concerns very clear, right now Wayne is on at least 7 different antibiotics. Please pray that this will resolve this infection
They tapped 1 liter of fluid off of his right lung so this will make breathing much easier
He spiked a temperature of 102.7 for the first time since he’s been in the hospital but that was early today and didn’t return ….another blessing
I’m sharing all of this so those of you who feel led to pray for him will know his specific needs. And again I can never thank you enough for your concern and most especially your prayers
All things are possible with GOD and I believe with all my heart that HE is delivering my husband from all of this and he will be home with me where he belongs
#WeWalkByFaithNotBySight
#GodIsGoodAllTheTime
#Grateful
#ByHisStripesWayneIsHealed”

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 2 themed episode of NJPW Strong, which will air on New Japan World starting at 8:00PM EST.

Mascara Dorada vs. Che Cabrera
Homicide, David Finlay, & Eddie Kingston vs. Team Filthy (“Filthy” Tom Lawlor, Bobby Fish, & Danny Limelight)
Jeff Cobb vs. Bad Dude Tito

Misc. Wrestling News & Notes

Former Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre and Lucha Libre AAA wrestler Black Warrior, real name Jesús Toral López, passed away this past Tuesday at the age of 54. The announcement of Lopez’s passing was first made by both CMLL and AAA on Twitter. Lopez’s career in wrestling spanned from 1984 to 2022 and was most known for his time in CMLL from 1995 to 2013 and his Black Warrior character.

Impact Wrestling recently announced that Impact Hall of Famer Raven will be making an appearance at their Hard To Kill 2023 event this Friday and their Impact television tapings this Saturday in Atlanta, Georgia.

Impact also announced that the main event of their Hard To Kill 2023 event this Friday in Atlanta will be the Career vs. Title Impact Knockouts World Championship match of Mickie James (career) vs. Jordynne Grace (champion).

Over The Top Wrestling announced that Jon Moxley will be making an appearance for the company at their ScrapperMania 7 event on March 18th in Dublin, Ireland.

As noted before, Kota Ibushi has been out of action for New Japan Pro Wrestling since October of 2021 due to a shoulder injury and issues over allegations of NJPW’s management committing “power harassment” against him. During a recent interview with Dark Puroesu Flowsion, Ibushi stated that he currently has around 40 offers for a potential contract from companies around the world. Ibushi also stated that he is very interested in the idea of a potential match with AEW’s Hangman Adam Page in the future.

New Japan Pro Wrestling announced that they will be holding two new TAMASHII branded events on February 3rd in Sydney and February 4th in Melbourne, Australia.

NJPW also recently announced they are currently holding a fan poll to determine the official stipulation for the upcoming Provisional King of Pro Wrestling 2023 Championship match at their The New Beginning in Nagoya 2023 event on January 22nd in Nagoya, Japan. The options available are Shingo Takagi’s stip of a Takagi style 30 count pinfall rules match and Great-O-Khan’s stip of a Mixed Martial Arts rules match.

NJPW also recently announced that vocal cheering will be allowed at their upcoming NJPW x NOAH Wrestle Kingdom 17 event on January 21st in Yokohama, Japan.

NJPW also recently announced two new matches for the card of their Battle in the Valley 2023 event on February 18th in San Jose, California:

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship – TBA vs. Winner of Shingo Takagi vs. Kazuchika Okada (c)
NJPW Strong Openweight Championship – KENTA vs. Fred Rosser (c)

Major League Wrestling recently announced a new match for the card of their SuperFight 2023 event on February 4th in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:

MLW World Heavyweight Championship – Jacob Fatu vs. Alex Hammerstone (c)

Game Changer Wrestling recently announced a new match for the card of their Jersey J Cup event on February 11th in Jersey City, New Jersey:

J Cup First Round match – “Speedball” Mike Bailey vs. Jonathan Gresham

Warrior Wrestling recently announced a new match for the card of their Warrior Wrestling 27 Back To The Bend event on January 21st in South Bend, Indiana:

Konosuke Takeshita vs. Zachary Wentz