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Sasha Banks is reportedly expected to appear at a major event held by Japanese women's wrestling promotion Stardom on April 23, just three weeks after WWE's WrestleMania 39.
According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t WrestlingInc's Ella Jay), All-Star Grand Queendom was announced for April 23 at the Yokohama Arena on Thursday, and Banks looked "locked in" for the show, although it isn't yet clear what her exact role will be.
Meltzer (h/t WrestlingInc's Sean Neumann) previously confirmed a report that Banks will appear at New Japan Pro-Wrestling's Wrestle Kingdom 17 on Jan. 4 after reaching a high-dollar agreement with New Japan in November.
Since both NJPW and Stardom are owned by Bushiroad, it would make sense for Banks to appear for both companies.
Banks has not been seen in the world of pro wrestling since she and Naomi walked out prior to an episode of WWE Raw in May because of apparent creative differences.
WWE suspended Banks and Naomi and stripped them of the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship, leaving their future with the promotion in flux. It seemed more likely that they would return after Vince McMahon retired and Triple H replaced him as head of creative in July, but the two reportedly never reached an agreement.
Instead, Meltzer noted that Banks is likely to have some level of involvement with the NJPW Women's Championship match between former WWE star Kairi and Tam Nakano at Wrestle Kingdom.
Meltzer added that "many believe" Banks' in-ring return will occur at a Feb. 18 event in San Jose, California, potentially in the form of Banks challenging Kairi.
The events of that show could potentially set the stage for another Banks match at All-Star Grand Queendom.
Fans have also speculated on Banks being the mystery tag team partner for Saraya against Britt Baker and Jamie Hayter on the Jan. 11 episode of AEW Dynamite, but Meltzer reporting that Banks' first match back may not be until February suggests All Elite Wrestling might not be in the cards for Banks.
One can assume that returning to WWE will always be an option for the five-time Raw women's champion, three-time WWE women's tag team champion, one-time SmackDown women's champion and one-time NXT women's champion, but all signs are pointing toward NJPW and Stardom being Banks' focus for the foreseeable future.
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New Japan Pro-Wrestling announced Monday it will return June 15, though fans will not be in attendance.
The Together Project will mark the first NJPW show since Feb. 26. Like so many other sports leagues across the world, NJPW has been on hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The card will be made public at bell time on the day of the event.
Reece Kelley Graham of the Dallas Morning News noted the New Japan Cup will begin the day after the return event and feature the following bracket:
NJPW's announcement came after WWE moved its events to the company's Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. In March, Brent Brookhouse of CBS Sports relayed that WWE moved WrestleMania 36, as well as its weekly Raw and SmackDown television shows, to Orlando.
WrestleMania 36 was initially scheduled to take place at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
WWE, like the UFC, has continued without fans amid the pandemic.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling has expanded its signature show, Wrestle Kingdom, to take place over two nights this year, culminating with Tetsuya Naito being crowned the promotion's first double-champion in the main event on Day 2.
The match between Naito and Kazuchika Okada was set up on Wrestle Kingdom 14's first night. Naito beat Jay White to win the IWGP intercontinental title, and Okada successfully defended the IWGP heavyweight crown in an epic bout with Kota Ibushi.
AEW stars Jon Moxley and Chris Jericho journeyed to Japan to take part in the show. Moxley wrestled both nights and left as the IWGP United States champion. Jericho was able to avoid giving Hiroshi Tanahashi a shot at the AEW title thanks to getting a clean submission win with the Liontamer.
Wrestle Kingdom 14 Results - Day 1
Eight-Man Tag Match: Suzuki-gun defeated L.I.J.
Eight-Man Tag Match: Chaos defeated Bullet Club
Eight-Man Tag Match: FinJuice defeated Guerillas of Destiny
Texas Deathmatch for IWGP U.S. Title: Jon Moxley defeated Lance Archer
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Hiromu Takahashi defeated Will Ospreay
IWGP Intercontinental Title: Tetsuya Naito defeated Jay White
IWGP Heavyweight Title: Kazuchika Okada defeated Kota Ibushi
Wrestle Kingdom 14 Results - Day 2
Tag Match: Hiromu Takahashi & Ryu Lee defeated Jushin Thunder Liger & Naoki Sano
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title: Roppongi 3K defeated Bullet Club
British Heavyweight Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. defeated SANADA
IWGP United States Title: Jon Moxley defeated Juice Robinson
NEVER Openweight Title: Hirooki Goto defeated KENTA
Singles Match: Jay White defeated Kota Ibushi
Singles Match: Chris Jericho defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi
IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Title: Tetsuya Naito defeated Kazuchika Okada
Highlights
One of the biggest stories heading into Day 2 of the event was built around the Jericho-Tanahashi match.
If Tananshi defeated Jericho, he would receive a shot at Jericho's AEW title. This led to speculation some sort of partnership between the two promotions had been worked out.
Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t Randall Ortman of Cageside Seats) reported the move did indicate some type of change in the relationship between NJPW and AEW.
Meltzer later reported the agreement is currently limited to the storyline for Jericho's match with Tanahashi. The leader of the Inner Circle did walk to the ring at Wrestle Kingdom wearing his AEW title.
Once the match got started, both men went to work and broke out some high-risk maneuvers, although Jericho's attempt at a frog splash didn't end well.
One of the best sequences of the match saw Tanahashi block the Judas Effect into a German suplex for a near-fall and attempt a clothesline off the ropes, but Jericho was able to catch him and lock in the Liontamer for the first time.
Tanahashi was able to take control after working his way out of that Liontamer. He attempted a High Fly Flow off the top rope, but Jericho was able to roll through on the landing to lock in the submission for a second time leading to the finish.
Moxley's match with Robinson was originally going to happen in October at King of Pro-Wrestling, but he was unable to fly into Japan due to Typhoon Hagibis. This matchup was set up on Day 1 when Mox captured the IWGP U.S. title for the second time in a Texas Deathmatch against Lance Archer that could only end when a wrestler couldn't answer a 10 count or by submission.
After taking care of business on the first night, Moxley finally got his hands on Robinson in a match that turned into a hardcore showdown with all sorts of weapons involved.
Moxley got the pin after reversing Robinson's attempt to hit the Pulp Friction into the Death Rider. He hit a second one for good measure to get the three count.
New Japan didn't waste any time setting up Moxley's next feud, with Minoru Suzuki attacking the U.S. champion after the match.
In quite possibly the biggest match in NJPW history, given what was on the line, Naito and Okada put on an epic show that went nearly 36 minutes and saw both men kick out of the other's finisher multiple times.
Okada had been champion for nine months since beating Jay White at the G1 Supercard during WrestleMania weekend last April at Madison Square Garden. It was his fifth IWGP heavyweight title reign since 2012.
Naito last held the heavyweight belt in 2016 before losing to Okada at Dominion. The 37-year-old finally got his revenge for that defeat by becoming the first dual champion in NJPW history, but the moment was short-lived due to a post-match attack from KENTA, who celebrated holding the two titles:
The next major shows for New Japan will be The New Beginning on Feb. 9 in Osaka-Jo Hall and a 48th-anniversary show on March 4. It seems likely that at least one of those events will feature the Moxley-Suzuki match and Naito defending his belts against KENTA.
Cain Velasquez's foray into the world of professional wrestling may not be limited to featuring for lucha libre promotion AAA. The former UFC heavyweight champion is also said to be ready to meet with representatives of New Japan Pro-Wrestling on Sunday, per ESPN's Marc Raimondi:
Earlier this month, Raimondi reported Velasquez, 37, will be on the card for AAA shows at Madison Square Garden in New York City as well as California's The Forum arena in Inglewood.
The decorated veteran of the Octagon has already made an appearance in the squared circle. He donned a mask to compete at AAA's Triplemania show.
This isn't the first time interest in rebranding Velasquez as a pro wrestler has been made known. Raimondi also noted how WWE held talks, which ultimately proved fruitless, while Cody Rhodes expressed interest in working with Velasquez in his role for All Elite Wrestling.
Fighters swapping UFC for the wrestling ring and vice versa is nothing new. Brock Lesnar remains the most famous example of a wrestler making a successful switch to combat sports.
Lesnar won the heavyweight strap in UFC but dropped it to Velasquez after a first-round TKO at UFC 121 back in 2010.
The 1990s saw UFC alumni Ken Shamrock and Dan "The Beast" Severn make the jump to what was then known as the World Wrestling Federation. Shamrock became a solid star, occasionally straddling the divide between midcard and main event status.
By contrast, Severn's wrestling career stalled somewhat amid difficulties of how best to use him. Severn did hold the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.
Velasquez may fare better, and New Japan offers an intriguing opportunity for the man knocked out by Francis Ngannou on a UFC Fight Night card back in February. The promotion still features legendary competitors such as Jushin Thunder Liger, while Chris Jericho has also wrestled under its banner.
Injuries ravaged the latter part of Velasquez's career in UFC, and this may be the ideal time to walk away and step up his efforts to be a success elsewhere.
Kota Ibushi beat Jay White in the 2019 NJPW G1 Climax final on Monday at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo.
The Japanese star pinned his Kiwi counterpart after 31 minutes and one second.
On Sunday, White lured Ibushi into the ring after the pair had topped B Block and A Block, respectively. Under the guise of clearing the air between the two, he took the opportunity to attack the Golden Star's right knee and ankle with a chair.
It quickly became apparent in Monday's final that Switchblade was targeting the same areas, hoping to capitalise on Ibushi's injuries.
White wasn't afraid to go for some low blows, too, and he twice came close to pinning Ibushi:
Supplied a chair by Gedo—who attempted to interfere with the fight from the outset—he also went after Ibushi's leg once again.
As he did in the round-robin—in which he lost his first two matches—the 37-year-old battled back, however.
He dropped White to the mat:
After fending off another attempt to interfere with the bout from Gedo, the momentum swung when he twice hit White with a Bomaye knee strike:
After two unsuccessful attempts to finish Switchblade with his signature Kamigoye—the first was reversed with a Blade Runner and the second saw White kick out of it to beat the count at two—Ibushi eventually managed to work an opening to pin his opponent with a third Kamigoye.
In a battle of unbeatens, Jon Moxley defeated Tomohiro Ishii on Friday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo to improve to 3-0 in New Japan Pro-Wrestling's G1 Climax 29.
In a matchup that lived up to its enormous hype, Moxley was able to end it with a Death Rider to secure an impressive win.
Moxley entered Friday's bout with victories over Taichi and Jeff Cobb to his credit, while Ishii had already beaten Cobb and Jay White.
The clash between Moxley and Ishii was among the most highly anticipated matches of Block B; Ishii is arguably the hardest-hitting wrestler in the world, and nobody can absorb a beating quite like Moxley.
The winner stood to establish himself as the man to beat in Block B of the tournament.
Moxley has quickly been pushed as one of the top stars in NJPW despite the fact that he is also contracted to All Elite Wrestling. He beat Juice Robinson for the IWGP United States Championship in his first New Japan match and has been impressive in the G1 as well.
Although Moxley is set to make the transition back to AEW full time in the fall, NJPW is getting its money's worth out of him by placing him in a series of dream matches.
While Moxley's first two matches of the tournament may not have appealed to everyone, Ishii was viewed as an intriguing potential opponent as soon as Moxley signed with New Japan, and the brawlers managed to deliver.
Moxley is in great shape and has a chance to bolster his status as the Block B favorite with a win over Shingo Takagi in Hiroshima on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Ishii will look to get back on track Wednesday when he faces the 0-2 Tetsuya Naito.
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Jon Moxley improved to 2-0 in New Japan Pro-Wrestling's G1 Climax 29 with a win over Jeff Cobb at Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center in Hokkaido, Japan, on Monday.
The match marked Moxley's second outing in the G1 Climax 29 on the heels of his win over Taichi on Saturday in the Block B opener. Cobb also competed Saturday, but he fell to Tomohiro Ishii in a hard-hitting affair.
Since leaving WWE, Moxley has turned New Japan on its head and quickly risen up the ranks to become one of the top stars in the company.
In his debut match for the promotion, he beat Juice Robinson to win the IWGP United States Championship. He followed that up with a convincing victory over Shota Umino at Dominion, after which he announced his intention to enter the G1.
That announcement was met with a great deal of excitement and anticipation among wrestling fans since it set the stage for several potential dream matches.
Moxley vs. Tetsuya Naito is the match fans are primarily waiting for in Block B, but Moxley vs. Cobb was an intriguing clash of styles that never would have happened had Moxley not entered the G1 since they are part of rival companies with Moxley in All Elite Wrestling and Cobb in Ring of Honor.
While Moxley is best known for his brawling and Cobb is an amateur-style wrestler who possesses ridiculous athleticism, they quickly found some chemistry and managed to put on an entertaining match.
Moxley was a heavy favorite entering Monday's match since he seems like a true contender to win Block B along with Naito, while Cobb is seemingly being used as a vehicle to put on quality matches rather than being an actual contender since his primary focus is on ROH.
With Moxley winning, he will put his undefeated record on the line Friday when he locks horns with Ishii in a match that could steal the show at the legendary Korakuen Hall in Tokyo.
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Jon Moxley kicked off Block B action in New Japan Pro-Wrestling's G1 Climax 29 with a win over Taichi at Ota City General Gymnasium in Tokyo on Saturday.
The match marked the first of many first-time-ever bouts that Moxley is set to experience throughout the G1 tournament.
It hasn't taken long for Moxley to make an impact in New Japan on the heels of his departure from WWE. In his first match for the promotion, Mox defeated Juice Robinson to win the IWGP United States Championship.
After beating Shota Umino in his second NJPW match at Dominion, Moxley announced his intent to enter the G1 Climax, making him one of the biggest names in the entire tournament.
While Taichi may not be as world renowned as Moxley, he is a veteran performer who has been a major player in New Japan for much of his career. The 39-year-old is a two-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team champion and two-time NEVER Openweight champion.
Taichi has never gotten much of a look as a main event-caliber guy in New Japan, but he had a chance to prove he belongs on that level in Saturday's match against Moxley.
Since Moxley is under contract with All Elite Wrestling, his time with NJPW is expected to be relatively brief. Once AEW's weekly show begins airing on TNT in the fall, Moxley will likely be exclusive to AEW.
Because of that, NJPW has a limited amount of time to get the most it can out of Moxley, and putting him in the G1 Climax is an ideal way to set up a bunch of dream matches.
Moxley vs. Taichi wasn't necessarily a dream match, but it was a contest that seemed unlikely to ever happen given Moxley's lengthy tenure in WWE as Dean Ambrose.
Now that Moxley has a win under his belt in the G1 Climax, he will turn his attention to Jeff Cobb, who he is set to face in Hokkaido, Japan, on Monday.
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