Various: NJPW Announces Kevin Kelly Departure, New Matches Announced for NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18, Indies

Nov 14, 2023

NJPW Announces Departure of Kevin Kelly & Kelly to No Longer Work at Wrestle Kingdom 18

New Japan Pro Wrestling announced that English commentator Kevin Kelly has recently left the company.

It was also announced that Kelly will no longer be working for their commentary team for next year’s Wrestle Kingdom 18 event due to family commitments-related reason.

Official press release:

Kevin Kelly departs NJPW
Thank you for supporting New Japan Pro-Wrestling.
Kevin Kelly, who has been the English voice of New Japan broadcasts since King of Pro-Wrestling 2015, has departed NJPW to pursue outside opportunities.
Kevin was originally planning to join the English broadcast of Wrestle Kingdom 18 on January 4, but will be unable to attend due to family commitments.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling joins fans in their gratitude for the work Kevin has done to grow the English-speaking audience for NJPW, and for countless memorable calls over the years. We wish Kevin the very best in his future.

NJPW Announces Two New Matches for Wrestle Kingdom 18, Updated Card

New Japan Pro Wrestling recently announced two new matches for the card of their Wrestle Kingdom 18 event, which takes place on January 4, 2024 at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan.

The first new match announced is a NEVER Openweight Championship match of Tama Tonga vs. Shingo Takagi (c).

The second new match announced is a NJPW World Television Championship match of Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (c).

Updated card for NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18:

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship – Tetsuya Naito vs. SANADA (c)
IWGP United States/United Kingdom Heavyweight Championship Three-way match – Jon Moxley vs. David Finlay vs. Will Ospreay (c)
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship – Catch 2/2 (Francesco Akira & TJP) vs. Bullet Club War Dogs (Drilla Moloney & Clark Connors) (c)
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship – El Desperado vs. Hiromu Takahashi (c)
NJPW World Television Championship – Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr (c)
NEVER Openweight Championship – Tama Tonga vs. Shingo Takagi (c)
Kazuchika Okada vs. Bryan Danielson

Misc. Wrestling News & Notes

This past Sunday’s Goddess of Stardom Tag League 2023 Finals event for Stardom in Nagaoka, Japan featured Maika & Megan Bane defeating Suzu Suzuki & Mei Seira in the Finals to be crowned the winners of this year’s tournament.

New Japan Pro Wrestling recently announced that they will be debuting their next class of Young Lions at their World Tag League 2023 events on November 20th and November 21st in Tokyo, Japan. It was announced that new Young Lion talent Shoma Kato will be facing off against Oskar Leube at Night 1 and new Young Lion talent Katsuya Murashima will be facing off against Yuto Nakashima at Night 2.

As noted before, former wrestler Tammy Sytch was arrested this past May in Florida following a police investigation into a fatal car accident involving Sytch in March of 2022. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that Sytch is currently scheduled to be sentenced on November 27th. Johnson reported that Sytch is also currently facing a potential prison sentence of between four to twenty-five years for the charges against her.

Insane Championship Wrestling recently announced that they will be ending their weekly Fight Club series with the final episode to take place on December 17th.

ETU Wrestling recently announced that Joey Janela will be making his official debut appearance for the company at their Just Gettin’ Warm event on December 16th in Newark, New Jersey.

A24 recently released the official poster for their upcoming The Iron Claw film which is based on the legendary The Von Erich Family.

In a recent interview with Variety, actor Zac Efron gave his thoughts about Kevin Von Erich getting to watch The Iron Claw film early and his review of it. Efron stated “I was very curious about what he thought of the movie. We went out to the patio, sat forehead to forehead, and talked about life for an hour and a half. He told me that he did enjoy the movie. I can’t really put into words how that feels. It’s far and away the most important review to me on so many levels. It meant the world, and everything just came full circle.“

Westside Xtreme Wrestling recently announced one new match for the card of their 23rd Anniversary event on December 23rd in Obserhausen, Germany: