Various: NJPW Renews TV Deal with AXS TV for 2024, Daga Announces Departure from AAA, Indies

Dec 19, 2023

NJPW Renews Their TV Deal with AXS TV for 2024

AXS TV announced on Monday that they have recently signed a new television deal with New Japan Pro Wrestling for a new season of their NJPW on AXS TV series for 2024.

This new deal was stated to be for 45 episodes in total to air on their network starting on January 11, 2024.

Official press release (via PWMania.com):

NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING RETURNS TO AXS TV WITH 45 ALL-NEW EPISODES IN 2024, BEGINNING THURSDAY JANUARY 11 AT 10 PM ET
Highlights Include Iconic Matchups from Wrestle Kingdom 18, Featuring Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley, Kazuchika Okada and SANADA
LOS ANGELES (December 18, 2023) – AXS TV, a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment, Inc., has renewed its fan-favorite New Japan Pro-Wrestling series with 45 all-new episodes in 2024. The upcoming season kicks off with four weeks of exclusive coverage from Wrestle Kingdom 18, beginning Thursday, January 11 at 10 p.m. ET. All episodes are presented in English and feature expert play-by-play commentary from NJPW’s own Walker Stewart and Chris Charlton.
Additionally, AXS TV NOW viewers will be able to enjoy classic episodes in English of NJPW every Sunday, starting January 7 at 6 a.m. PT and repeating throughout the day. The AXS TV NOW January slate includes unforgettable bouts from Wrestle Kingdom 7 through 13.
AXS TV’s New Japan Pro-Wrestling schedule for January is as follows (with more matches being announced at a later date):
January 11—Wrestle Kingdom 18
– Will Ospreay, Jon Moxley, and David Finlay go toe-to-toe in a triple threat match for the inaugural IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship.
January 18—Wrestle Kingdom 18
– Next, “The Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada meets “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson once again, in a stunning rematch of their highly-acclaimed bout at Forbidden Door 2 last June.
January 25—Wrestle Kingdom 18
– Then, G1 CLIMAX 33 Winner Tetsuya Naito gets his long-awaited title shot, as the Los Ingobernables de Japón honcho challenges SANADA for the coveted IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.
AXS TV NOW’s January slate of classic New Japan Pro-Wrestling episodes is as follows:
January 7
– Highlights from Wrestle Kingdom 7, 8, and 9.
January 14
– Highlights from Wrestle Kingdom 10 and 11.
January 21
– Highlights from Wrestle Kingdom 12 and 13.
AXS TV produces the English-language version of New Japan Pro-Wrestling as a joint venture with New Japan World and in association with TV ASAHI Corporation.

Daga Announces Departure from AAA

Lucha Libre AAA talent Daga announced earlier today on Facebook that he recently finished up his commitments and has departed from the company.

Daga also announced that he will be focusing on being fully committed to working in Japan for Pro Wrestling NOAH for the next step of his wrestling career.

“Thank you Lucha Libre AAA.
I am grateful for the opportunities but it is time to continue my dreams and fully commit to the fight in Japan with NOAH.”

Prior to his departure, Daga had been working for AAA since December of 2022 and previously worked for the company from 2019 to 2020 and 2012 to 2017.

Misc. Wrestling News & Notes

The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported that his sources stated that El Hijo del Vikingo was banged up after his match against Black Taurus for the AAA Mega Championship at thus past Friday’s Ring of Honor Final Battle 2023 event in Garland, Texas. Meltzer reported that Vikingo’s injury situation was not serious and he was able to work the following night’s ROH TV tapings in the same city.

Impact/TNA Wrestling announced that they have recently signed a new deal with wrestling toys manufacturer PowerTown Wrestling for the production of new TNA action figures and the first set of action figures to be released in Summer of 2024.

Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling recently announced that Riho will be making an appearance for the company at their January 4, 2024 event at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. This will be Riho’s first appearance for TJPW since October of 2022.

Dragon Gate announced that they have pulled HYO from their Fantastic Gate events on December 19th in Tokyo and December 20th in Yokohama, Japan due to HYO currently suffering from an undisclosed illness.

This past Saturday’s 2nd Anniversary event for Deadlock Pro Wrestling in Durham, North Carolina featured three new champions crowned. These were The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) defeating The Workhorsemen (Anthony Henry & JD Drake) to become the new DPW World Tag Team Champions, Miyuki Takase defeating Emi Sakura to become the new DPW Women’s World Champion, and Calvin Tankman defeating Colby Corino to become the new DPW Worlds Champion.

As noted before, WWE recently reached a settlement deal for the antitrust lawsuit against them by Major League Wrestling. The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported that his sources stated that MLW received a substancial amount of money from WWE for their settlement deal that was enough for them to upgrade their promotion. This money reportedly was enough for MLW to go ahead with their plans to sign more talent, pay talent more money, and run more events in 2024.

MLW recently announced that next year’s Intimidation Games event will be taking place on February 29, 2024 in New York City, New York. It was also announced that tickets for this upcoming event will officially go on sale starting on December 21st.

MLW also recently announced that Sami Callihan will be making an appearance for the company at their MLW Fusion tapings on January 6, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was also announced that Callihan will be facing off against Satoshi Kojima at this upcoming event.

MLW also recently announced one new match for the card of their Kings of Colosseum 2024 event on January 6, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: