Various: Ricochet on Surprise NJPW Return at Power Struggle 2024, Marko Stunt on His Retirement Decision, Davey Boy Smith Jr. Wins AJPW Triple Crown Title

Nov 4, 2024

Ricochet Comments on His Surprise NJPW Return at Power Struggle 2024

Monday’s Power Struggle 2024 event for New Japan Pro Wrestling in Osaka, Japan featured Ricochet making a surprise return appearance to NJPW.

Following the show, Ricochet gave his thoughts about his surprise return to NJPW in a backstage press conference.

“I came back to New Japan Pro Wrestling to prove a point. That point is that I, Ricochet, am still the man around here. Seems like everyone has just forgotten about the things that I have done. Seems like everyone has just forgotten about the career that I have had. It seems like people have forgotten what I’ve done here in New Japan Pro Wrestling. So what better way to make an impact than to just come out and challenge the champion. Zack and I, we traveled the globe together. Whether it’s been all across America, Europe, Germany, Australia, even here in Japan. We’ve traveled the world, we’ve battled all over. But Zack, it’s different. You’re different, I’m different, we’re at a different time in our lives. I may have been gone, I may have taken a little hiatus for a while but I am back and I am still the fucking man around here. So at January 5th, people are gonna find out all over the world that I am not from here, I am out of this world.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

Marko Stunt Comments on His Decision to Retire from Wrestling

As noted before, former AEW and Game Changer Wrestling talent Marko Stunt announced this past Friday that he has officially retired from his wrestling career.

A recent episode of the Love Wrestling podcast featured Stunt as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Stunt’s decision to retire from wrestling due to health-related issues and concerns.

“So, it’s something that I’ve been trying to avoid for a while. I’ve been dealing with a lot of lower back issues, and I found out why now. It’s just something that I’ve been trying to put oﬀ. I knew it was bound to happen eventually, but I thought I might have had a few more years in me, [and] have one more good run. I went to the doctor, they did a whole bunch of diagnostic tests and looked into a whole bunch of stuﬀ on me. They noticed that might right hip is rotating inwards, and it’s causing my tailbone to be shifted oﬀ to the side. It’s just causing a whole bunch of pain. If I were to continue doing it, with how my hip already is – I will say, I’m already short, right? I’m a small person! But, my right leg, because of the hip thing, is shorter than my left now. Which, is a normal thing. A lot of people have shorter legs, or one leg shorter than the other, but that’s the reason for mine. It’s going to just continue to do that, so I don’t have all the strength in my right leg anymore. I have a good amount of strength: they caught it at a good time. We caught it early enough to where I don’t have to go have surgery next month or anything. We’re going to see what we can do. But, their recommendation was, for my long term health, to step away [from wrestling]. There is that possibility of being paralyzed. That was a wake up call.
I’ve got a family now. Not everybody knows that, but I’ve got a family now. I’ve got a daughter. The last two years have been a whirlwind of great stuﬀ, and obviously, there’s been some not-so-great stuﬀ that has happened. I’m in a great place in my life, regardless of having to step away from the ring, physically. I’m happy where things are going. I’m happy where things are looking. I’m excited to have a family, and to grow a family, and to focus on that as much as I can while still doing as much as I can with wrestling.
It’s tough. I’ve had this consistent pain – it’s not always terrible – for a while now. I took two years oﬀ, at least, from in-ring action, and then came back. I actually think if I had just continued I’d feel better than I do now that I took the time oﬀ and came back and reintroduced myself [to wrestling]. I just had a match last week, and it was great. I had fun! My cardio’s not as good as it used to be, but it was fun. I felt good. But, I woke up the next morning, and I felt it. I felt good mentally, and I was like ‘man, I know this hurts, but I feel like I could keep going’. I had a doctor’s appointment already [scheduled], and I was like ‘okay, I’m going to go, let’s see what this is like,’ and they told me all that. I talked to my family, and I was like ‘this is what they said. This is what could happen, and this is what I’m thinking’. They were fully supportive. I think it’s a sigh of relief for them, almost, because they already don’t like seeing – they enjoy seeing me wrestle, but they don’t enjoy seeing me wrestle at the same time.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

Davey Boy Smith Jr. Wins AJPW Triple Crown Title at Monday’s Giant Series 2024 Event

Monday’s Giant Series 2024 Night 8 event for All Japan Pro Wrestling in Sapporo, Japan featured Davey Boy Smith Jr. defeating Yuma Aoyagi to become the new AJPW Triple Crown Champion.

＼🏔️11.4札幌大会開催中！／

デイビーボーイ・スミスJr.が
青柳優馬から3カウント奪取！

新三冠王者誕生❗️❗️❗️

📺LIVE配信中！https://t.co/2R4sZMhAtq #ajpw #ゼンニチ北海道 #ajpwtv pic.twitter.com/UgnqlMMEc3
— 全日本プロレス/alljapan (@alljapan_pw) November 4, 2024

This was Smith Jr.’s first ever Triple Crown championship victory in his AJPW career. Smith Jr. also became the seventh foreigner to win the title in AJPW history, following Joe Doering, Vader, “Dr. Death” Steve Williams, Stan Hansen, Terry Gordy, and Taiyo Kea.