Two NJPW Stars Injured, US Dojo Head Coach Revealed, Strong Style Evolved Fan Expo, New Japan Cup
- Above is the opening video for this year's New Japan Cup (full bracket here), which gets started on March 9. The first show will feature Juice Robinson vs. Yujiro Takahashi along with Michael Elgin vs. Tomohiro Ishii. The winner of this single-elimination tournament will get a future IWGP Heavyweight Championship match. Below is video of NJPW's New Japan Cup from 2005 until 2017.
- NJPW announced Hikuleo (damage to right ACL) and Katsuya Kitamura (concussion) are both off the New Japan Cup tour to heal up. One-half of the Guerillas of Destiny, Tanga Loa, will be filling in for the tour.
- On March 24, NJPW will hold a fan expo at the US Dojo the day before their Strong Style Evolved event. Tickets go on sale tomorrow at 1pm ET / 10am PT and are $30. There will be autograph sessions (for an additional charge) with Juice Robinson, KUSHIDA, Jushin Thunder Liger, and others. There will be a signing ceremony for IWGP US Champion Jay White and Hangman Page, a press conference, and three matches. You can check out the full details by clicking here.
- The NJPW US Dojo is about to hold its first training camps this month and it was announced Katsuya Shibata will be the Head Coach for the Dojo and Scorpio Sky will be an Assistant Coach. Shibata was injured during his main event match with Kazuchika Okada at last year's Sakura Genesis on April 9. During the match, Shibata hit Okada with a stiff headbutt, which caused Shibata to start bleeding from the forehead. Shibata was taken to the hospital after the match and was diagnosed with subdural hematoma and underwent successful surgery, followed by months of rehabilitation. On his new role, Shibata was looking for a new challenge and found himself in Los Angeles.
"With rehab and training, I've been sensing it's time to move past the struggle of finding what I am capable of doing," Shibata said. "These days, I've had a burning desire to take on a new challenge ? What can I do in my current state? I thought a change of pace was needed, and the next thing I knew, I found myself in Los Angeles."
Katsuyori Shibata to be Head Coach of New Japan Dojo in Los Angeles!https://t.co/yjhdDNZYO1
? njpw_global (@njpwglobal) March 5, 2018