Various: Konosuke Takeshita Announced for Two Upcoming NJPW US Events, Ric Flair Issues Statement on Passing of His Stepson Over the Weekend, Indies

Oct 29, 2024

NJPW Announces Konosuke Takeshita Appearances for Fighting Spirit Unleashed 2024 and Strong Style Evolved 2024 Events

New Japan Pro Wrestling announced earlier today that Konosuke Takeshita will be making appearances for the company at their Fighting Spirit Unleashed 2024 event on November 8th in Lowell, Massachusetts and their Strong Style Evolved 2024 event in Long Beach, California.

It was also announced that Takeshita will be defending his AEW International Championship against anyone willing to step up to his challenge at these upcoming events.

BREAKING

A message from AEW International Champion @Takesoup – Takeshita returns to NJPW NOVEMBER 8 in Lowell!

November 8, Lowell MA #njFSU https://t.co/I3dyGYi2JG

December 15 Long Beach CA #njSSE https://t.co/V5YcU5DCE5 #njpw pic.twitter.com/AbZx3xHsHs
— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) October 29, 2024

Ric Flair Issues Statement on Passing of His Stepson Sebatian Kidder

TMZ reported that Sebastian Kidder, son of former WCW wrestler Wendy Barlow and stepson of WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair, passed away at the age of 24 this past Saturday.

It was reported that Barlow confirmed that her son had died by suicide following him being discovered with a gunshot wound at his home in Georgia.

In a statement to TMZ, Barlow stated:

“I am devastated and shocked. This is an epidemic with your young men. And mental health…”

Flair issued an official statement on Twitter this past Sunday about Kidder’s passing and offered words of encouragement to Barlow during these tough times for her.

“I Have Spent Hours Wondering What To Say. After Hearing The News Of Sebastian’s Passing, I Can Only Imagine What Wendy & Paul Are Going Through Having Lost A Son Approximately The Same Age In 2013. I Know The Pain Of Your Loss Will Be With You The Rest Of Your Life. I Still Every Day Of My Life Think About Reid As You Will Continue To Think About Sebastian. You Can’t Blame Yourselves As I Blamed Myself For Making Reid My Best Friend Instead Of Being A Good Parent. Sometimes We Get So Close To Our Kids, We Forget That They Need Us In So Many Different Ways. I’m So Thankful For The Time I Had With Sebastian. I Have So Many Great Memories & Bonding Time With Him As He Grew Up! He Stood Tall By His Mother Along With The Whole Family- Sophia, Paris, And Summer, While I Was Dying. He Was So Unselfish Sharing His Mother With Me As I Was Dying. And Also, At The Passing Of My Son Reid. He Was Multi-Talented & In Everybody’s Eyes A Huge Success And Will Always Be Remembered That Way. I’m So Sorry! Wendy, Please Stay Strong & Don’t Let Anything Deter You From All Your Successful Endeavors You Have In Place In The Future. God Bless You Both! Rest In Peace Sebastian! 🙏🏻 @sebastianonmic”

Misc. Wrestling News & Notes

Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre recently announced that they have pulled Lluvia and Unagi Sayaka from their upcoming events on October 28th and October 29th due to both currently dealing with medical-related health issues.

Monday’s CMLL Lunes Clásico event at the Arena Puebla in Puebla, Mexico featured Xelhua defeating Arkalis, Pegasso, Perverso, Guerrero Maya Jr., Multy, Rey Samuray, and Stigma in a 2024 Rey del Inframundo Tournament Elimination match to advance to the Finals of this year’s tournament. Xelhua joins Barbaro Cavernario as those who will be competing in the Finals.

As noted before, former WWE wrestler Ted DiBiase Jr. was charged this in April of 2023 with several criminal charges by the United States Department of Justice over his involvement in embezzling welfare funds as part of a larger welfare scandal in the State of Mississippi. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that DiBiase Jr. is currently scheduled to attend a court hearing on November 15th before The Mississippi Southern District Court based on recent court records. Johnson reported that this upcoming hearing will be about the recent sealed motion that was filed for his case.

ASE Wrestling recently announced that they will be officially debuting their first championship, AEW Men’s Championship, and crowning its inaugural champion at their One Year Anniversary Show on December 7th in Charlotte, North Carolina.

PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that the reason why the Northern Armory’s Judas Icarus & Travis Williams were absent from this past Sunday’s Impact! tapings for TNA Wrestling was due to work visa-related issues. Those spoken to reportedly stated that Icarus and Willams work visas for the United States did not arrive in time for them to be able to work at TNA’s tapings in Detroit, Michigan. Johnson reported that The Good Hands (John Skyler & Jason Hotch) stepped in to fill in for Icarus & Williams roles for TNA officials plans for their tapings.

This past Sunday’s Last Week with John Oliver show featured TNA Knockouts World Champion Masha Slamovich making a surprise appearance during a Will Ferrell segment on the show.

Mike Santana recently reflected on Twitter about the past year of his wrestling career and getting to wrestle at this past Saturday’s TNA Bound For Glory 2024 event. Santana stated “*Long Post, please read* Last night meant a lot to me for many reasons. The entire weekend leading up to BFG, I couldn’t help but reflect on how far I’ve come not just in my life but in my career. I’ve been blessed with doing so many great and meaniful things the last 16 years and none of that happens without the love and support from my family and all the fans around the world who believed in me in times when I didn’t believe in myself…. The very last time I wrestled in Detroit, I was staring up at the ceiling of the Little Caesars Arena. Thinking my career was over after I had completely blown out my knee. At that point I was in such a dark place in my life and little did I know that things were only going to get darker. Fast Forward 14 months. Crazy recovery. A stint in Rehab. And fully rediscovering and building myself to the person you see today… Oct 26th 2023, I had my very LAST match for AEW… Oct 26th 2024, im wrestling and beating a former World Champion and arguably the face of @tnawrestling. At the biggest show of the year in front of thousands of people. With that being said, TRUST YOUR PROCESS AND BELIEVE IN YOU! No one is going to put in the work, no one is going to hold your hand. You have to get the [expletive deleted] up, get out there, and prove you are exactly who you say you are. Last night was special. For my life. For my career. For those that helped get me here, THANK YOU. For those that doubted me, THANK YOU. LETS GET IT!“

As noted before, YOH made his official return from injury at New Japan Pro Wrestling’s King of Pro Wrestling 2024 event earlier this month. In a recent interview with Nikkan Niigata WEB Town, YOH gave his thoughts about his recent return from his shoulder injury. YOH stated “I am looking forward to the (Super Junior Tag League). Even during the half-year absence, I was constantly updating myself. This is actually the second time I’ve had a major injury; four years ago, I was out of competition for about a year with a ruptured ACL, and that was the first time I felt the frustration of being sidelined for an extended period of time. However, since I had experienced it once before, I felt more relaxed this time. I was depressed on the day of my injury and in the morning of the following day. But in the afternoon, I thought, what am I going to do for the next six months until I heal? I think I have always had many hobbies, such as street culture fashion, skateboarding, and even making clothes and bags with a sewing machine. I also like music, so I even started playing the drums for rehabilitation (laughs). I also did things that seemed unrelated to music for reasons such as, ‘This is good for the inner muscles in my shoulders.’ Injuries can’t be rushed!“

In a recent interview with WrestleSphere, Brody King gave his thoughts about his interest in working in Japan again for NJPW. King stated “I would love to go back to New Japan, in Japan specifically, and do some matches there. I would love to do a trios match with the House of Black in Japan, I think that would be really amazing. Of course having a title is cool, because it is another accomplishment under your belt, but that’s never been my ultimate goal in wrestling. Obviously with titles comes more money or more validation to certain people, but I look forward most to wrestling different people and pushing myself in different directions.“

Major League Wrestling recently announced two new matches for the card of their MLW Fusion taping on November 9th in Cicero, Illinois:

Delmi Exo vs. Gigi Rey
Kevin Knight vs. Donovan Dijak