Various: Tajiri on Nearing End of Wrestling Career, Sat. NJPW Strong Card, New Trademarks, Indies

Jan 20, 2023

Tajiri Comments on Not Having “Much Time Left in My Wrestling Career”

Proresu-Today.com held a recent interview with former ECW and WWE wrestler Tajiri. One of the topics discussed included Tajiri’s thoughts on his recent signing with Kyushu Pro Championship and his wrestling career nearing its end.

“Thank you for coming today, I am TAJIRI. I was born in Kyushu. I am now 52 years old, and I don’t think I have much time left in my wrestling career, so I think that joining Kyushu Pro Wrestling is the beginning of the end, or the end of my career. When I first heard (promotion owner) Ryota Chikuzen speak, there was much that resonated with me. I think that since I am now at my age, holding the belt like this may be my last time. At my age, I want to be the champion and have hot matches, but more than that, I want to nurture the younger generation. Among my many students, there are some who have made it to the WWE in the U.S. and others who have become the top women’s wrestlers in the world. When I told this story to Chikuzen, he said that he would be very interested in having me work in Kyushu, and I thought that this would be an organization where I could demonstrate my abilities to the best of my ability. I am also a writer, and my latest book, ‘What Pro-Wrestlers Are Showing The Audience’, was published by Tokuma Shoten last September. The other day, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported on my book, and I would like to do in Kyushu what I have been doing in stepping up the young people mentioned in this book, so if you are wondering why is TAJIRI joining Kyushu Pro Wrestling, please read this book and you will understand my philosophy, ideology and principles.”

English translation via PostWrestling.com

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

C4 (Cody Chhun & Guillermo Rosas) vs. West Coast Wrecking Crew (Royce Isaacs & Jorel Nelson)
KENTA vs. QT Marshall
NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship – Roppongi Vice (Beretta & Rocky Romero) vs. The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) (c)

Mercedes Mone, Mads Kruger, & Matt Cardona File Several New Trademarks

Mercedes Mone, Mads Kruger, and Matt Cardona recently filed several new trademarks to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

A trademark for “The CEO” was filed by Mercedes Mone on January 14th for wrestling and entertainment-related purposes.

A trademark for “Atrocity Krule” was filed by former MLW talent Mads Kruger on January 16th for wrestling and entertainment-related purposes.

A trademark for “Zack Ryder” was filed by Matt Cardona on January 14th for wrestling and merchandise-related purposes. This is the ring name that Cardona was known by in WWE during his time in the company from 2005 to 2020.

Misc. Wrestling News & Notes

This past Wednesday’s debut episode of Power Slap drew 295,000 viewers, a 0.10 key demographic rating, and a #45 key demographic ranking on TBS, according to ShowBuzz Daily. This series aired following that night’s AEW Dynamite show and was created by UFC President Dana White. This episode was originally planned to air on January 11th but was pushed back one week following the fallout of White slapping his wife during an altercation at a New Year’s Eve party in Las Vegas, Nevada.

As noted before, Alberto El Patron filed a lawsuit against Combate Global in October of 2021 claiming that the company still owes him money for his MMA fight in 2019 and has not given up control of his social media accounts despite him no longer working for the company. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that El Patron’s lawsuit was officially dismissed on January 12th by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York based on recent court records. Johnson reported that El Patron and Combate had filed a joint request asking for the lawsuit’s dismissal, which was granted with prejudice meaning that El Patron would not be legally allowed to file a similar lawsuit in the future.

The Toronto Sun reported that WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan was recently seen with people associated with Scientology, including Tom Cruise. It was also reported that Hogan has been dating a member of the church for the past year.

Game Changer Wrestling recently announced the full list of indie events and schedule for their The Collective 2023 series of events on March 30th to April 2nd in Los Angeles, California.

New Japan Pro Wrestling recently announced that they will be holding this year’s Strong Style Evolved event on March 30th in Los Angeles, California. It was also announced that this upcoming event will be part of WrestleCon’s series of events in the city.

NJPW talent Hiroshi Tanahashi announced on his official blog that he recently signed a new contract with the company.

Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling recently announced that they will be holding their 10th Anniversary Show on January 30th in Tokyo, Japan. It was also announced that this upcoming event will be held as an empty arena show and will take place at the TwinBox AKIHABARA, which is the same venue of TJPW’s first ever event.

TJPW also recently announced a new match for the card of their Circuit City Winter event on February 18th in Nagoya, Japan: