After the biggest Wrestle Kingdom of all-time on January 4 & 5 2020, January 6 will see a huge New Year Dash! Away from its traditional Korakuen Hall home, the Ota City Gymnasium will be packed with fans ready to witness the fallout from the Tokyo Dome, and the first strides toward NJPW in the new year to come.

Already announced is the retirement ceremony for Jushin Thunder Liger, who is set to wrestle his last match on January 5. Apart from this, however, a New Year Dash tradition will be upheld: the night’s card will remain a complete mystery until bell time. At 6:30 PM, minutes before the show starts, the card will be announced for a night that’s guaranteed to see surprises, upsets and huge moments!

NJPW announced today all of the details for the 2 nights of New Japan Showdown, taking place in California on November 9 and 11.

Here are the full cards of the shows:

11/9 – New Japan Showdown: San Jose – San Jose Civic

  • Will Ospreay & Kazuchika Okada v. Amazing Red & Kota Ibushi
  • Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi v. Jay White & Chase Owens
  • IWGP United States Championship – Lance Archer (c) v. David Finlay
  • British Cruiserweight Championship – El Phantasmo (c) v. SHO
  • Rocky Romero, YOH & Hirooki Goto v. KENTA, Taiji Ishimori & Jado
  • TJP, Juice Robinson & Tomohiro Ishii v. BUSHI, EVIL & SANADA
  • Clark Connors & Karl Fredericks v. Minoru Suzuki & El Desperado
  • Jushin Thunder Liger & Aaron Solow v. Colt Cabana & Toru Yano
  • Ren Narita v. Alex Coughlin

11/11 – New Japan Showdown – Los Angeles – Globe Theatre

  • Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI & Shingo Takagi v. Jay White, Chase Owens & Gedo
  • Hirooki Goto, SHO & YOH v. KENTA, El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori
  • Kota Ibushi v. Ren Narita
  • Tomohiro Ishii & Rocky Romero v. EVIL & SANADA
  • Juice Robinson, David Finlay & Clark Connors v. Minoru Suzuki, Lance Archer & El Desperado
  • Colt Cabana & Toru Yano v. Karl Fredericks & Alex Coughlin
  • TJP & Amazing Red v. Aaron Solow & Alex Zayne

Major League Wrestling will return to Chicago’s Cicero Stadium on Saturday, February 29, 2020, for MLW: Intimidation Games 2020 for a global FUSION TV taping. Tickets go on sale next Thursday, November 14 at 10 AM CT (5 PM GMT) at http://www.MLWTickets.com.

On tonight’s AEW Dark, it was announced Britt Baker will face Bea Priestley at AEW Full Gear: The Buy In on November 9 at the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, Maryland.

At AEW Fight for the Fallen in July, Baker teamed up with Riho in a losing effort against Shoko Nakajima and Bea Priestley. Baker suffered a concussion during the match and was out for a few weeks.

In August, on AEW All Out: The Buy In, Baker eliminated Priestley from the Casino Battle Royale, but then was distracted by Priestley, coming up one short of winning the match to get a shot at the then-vacant AEW Women’s World Championship.

Stephon Smith, Shotzi Blackheart, Scarlett Bordeaux and Indi Hartwell

Four new recruits have reported for training at the WWE Performance Center, strengthening the ranks of WWE’s training facility in Orlando. The latest group to report includes 3 independent women’s wrestling standouts and a referee.

Chicago’s Elizabeth Chihaia – aka Scarlett Bordeaux – has made quite the name for herself in America and abroad. The self-proclaimed “Smokeshow” has been a standout for promotions like Mexico’s Lucha Libre AAA, Ring of Honor and Ohio Valley Wrestling. The sultry blonde bombshell recently worked for Impact Wrestling where she was not afraid to wrestle men on intergender matches.

Ashley Urbanski, known on the independent scene as Shotzi Blackheart, is renowned for her fierce, in-your-face style. Fans will recognize Urbanski from her standout performance in a No Disqualification Match at EVOLVE’s 10th Anniversary Special that aired on WWE Network. She was presented her WWE contract by NXT General Manager William Regal last month at an EVOLVE show in Atlanta, GA. She has worked for SHIMMER, SHINE, Impact Wrestling, Bar Wrestling among many others.

Australia’s Samantha De Martin, also known as “Impressive” Indi Hartwell, has been just that during her time on the indies. The 22-year-old has cited Bayley and Sasha Banks’ epic battles in NXT as her inspiration in pursuing a career inside the squared circle. She’s racked up titles in her home country, in New Zealand, and for US promotions like SHIMMER, Bar Wrestling or RISE. She is nicknamed “The Impressive”.

Referee Stephon Smith rounds out the group of newcomers. Smith, a Baltimore native, started out as an in-ring competitor before transitioning to donning the stripes. He’s a graduate of Ohio Valley Wrestling and most recently officiated for EVOLVE Wrestling before joining the PC. From 2009 to 2018, he had wrestled and refereed for numerous companies in the USA and in the UK. He had been with OVW from 2012 to 2018, the company broke the news of his signing with WWE on Twitter 2 weeks ago.

All pics courtesy of WWE, MLW, AEW and NJPW

By Steph Franchomme

News, Reviews, Social Media Editor, Impact Wrestling Reviewer, Interviewer Well, call me The Boss... And French...

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