Various: Josh Alexander Expiring TNA Contract Update, AJPW Full Field for AJPW Champion Carnival 2025 Tournament, Indies/Misc.

Feb 9, 2025

Josh Alexander Expiring TNA Contract Status Update

As noted before, Josh Alexander’s contract with TNA Wrestling is currently set to expire on February 15th and he is expected to enter free agency.

Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that Alexander’s contract is currently set to expire on February 14th.

It was reported that those spoken to within TNA have constantly spoken highly of Alexander.

It was also reported that it is currently not known where Alexander will be heading to next for the future of his wrestling career.

AJPW Announces Full Field of Competitors for Champion Carnival 2025 Tournament

All Japan Pro Wrestling announced the full field of competitors for this year’s Champion Carnival tournament, which takes place from April 9h to May 18th in Japan.

Among the new competitors announced for this year’s tournament includes XYON, former Xyon Quinn in WWE.

AJPW official website:

[A total of 18 people have entered!] Announcement of the participants of “Champion Carnival 2025”
All Japan Pro Wrestling’s “Spring Festival” “Champion Carnival 2025” will kick off on Wednesday, April 9th at Korakuen Hall.
This year, 18 wrestlers will participate and the event will be held in two blocks, A and B!
■A Block:
Kento Miyahara (12th appearance in 12 consecutive years/2019, 2024 winner)
Jun Saito (3rd appearance in 3 consecutive years)
Hideki Suzuki (2nd appearance in 2 consecutive years)
Shotaro Ashino (6th appearance in 6 consecutive years/2023 winner)
Kuma Arashi (3rd appearance in 3 years)
Kengo Mashimo (4th appearance in 8 years)
Zion (first appearance)
Silas (3rd appearance in 3 consecutive years)
Davey Boy Smith Jr. (2nd appearance in 2 consecutive years)
■Block B
Yuma Aoyagi (7th time participating for 7 consecutive years / youngest winner in 2022 * 26 years and 6 months old)
Rei Saito (3rd time participating for 3 consecutive years)
Hokuto Omori (3rd time participating for 3 consecutive years)
Yuma Anzai (3rd time participating for 3 consecutive years) Ryuki
Honda (4th time participating for 4 consecutive years)
Ren Ayabe (2nd time participating for 2 consecutive years)
Aigle Blanc (first time participating)
Mike D. Vecchio (first time participating)
Madoka Kikuta (first time participating)
Champion Carnival 2025 Schedule:
April 9th (Wed) 18:30 Tokyo, Korakuen Hall [Opening Match]
April 12th (Sat) 17:00 Fukuoka, Fukuoka Island City Forum
April 13th (Sun) 17:00 Hiroshima, Hiroshima Industrial Hall, East Exhibition Hall
April 19th (Sat) 17:00 Niigata, Sanjo City Welfare Hall
April 20th (Sun) 17:00 Saitama, Tokorozawa Sakura Town
April 23rd (Wed) 18:30 Tokyo, Korakuen Hall
April 26th (Sat) 17:00 Aichi, Port Messe Nagoya 2nd Exhibition Hall
April 27th (Sun) 17:00 Osaka, Edion Arena Osaka 2nd Stadium
April 28th (Mon) 18:30 Kagawa, Takamatsu Symbol Tower
April 29th (Tues, National Holiday) 13:00 Okayama Convention Center, Okayama
May 6th (Tue, Holiday) 18:30 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
May 10th (Sat) 15:00 APA Hotel & Resort Sapporo, Hokkaido
May 11th (Sun) 13:00 APA Hotel & Resort Sapporo, Hokkaido
May 18th (Sun) 16:00 Ota Ward General Gymnasium, Tokyo [Championship Match]

Misc. Wrestling News & Notes

As noted before, TNA talent Jake Something recently suffered an undisclosed injury and will be out of action for the foreseeable future. Deadlock Pro Wrestling recently announced that Something will be vacating his DPW World Championship due to him not being medically cleared to compete at their upcoming events. It was also announced that a new champion will be crowned at their upcoming events.

Vale Anoa’i recently announced on Twitter that her brother and former wrestler Samu Anoa’i will be undergoing open heart surgery on Monday.

Matt Cardona announced on Twitter that he is currently dealing with a tweaked back-related issue and had pulled out of his scheduled booking for Arizona Wrestling Federation’s event this weekend as a result.

As noted before, Elijah, former Elias in WWE, recently released a new video featuring him him appearing alongside The Righteous’ Dutch & Vincent. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources confirmed that Elijah had recently signed a contract with AEW for their Ring of Honor brand.

Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling recently announced that QT Marshall and Harley Cameron will be making an appearance for the company at their Mayhem event on March 14-15 at the St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

Josh Barnett recently announced that Miyu Yamashita and David Modzmanashvili will be making an appearance for Game Changer Wrestling’s Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport XIII event on April 17th in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Joey Janela recently announced that the Wagner Family (Dr. Wagner Jr., El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr., and Galeno Del Mal will be making an appearance for GCW’s Joey Janela’s Spring Break 9 event on April 18th in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Saturday’s SuperFight 6 event for Major League Wrestling in Atlanta, Georgia featured the announcement of Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling talent Shoko Nakajima will be making her official debut appearance soon for the company.

MLW also recently announced two new matches for the card of their Battle Riot VII event on April 5th in Los Angeles, California.