WRESTLE KINGDOM SCOOPS THREAD!

Welcome to our NJPW Wrestle Kingdom SCOOPS THREAD!

• There were rumors within New Japan Pro Wrestling that EVIL could be looking at his options outside of NJPW soon. AEW is not one of those options, as Tony Khan had never been a fan of his work.

• Willow Nightingale is in town attending the show.

• As one would expect, NJPW was thrilled with the ticket sales. Even before they opened up more seats, they anticipated selling it out quickly. This led to a number of people in the company telling us that they considered moving back to one specialized night a big success.

• There are a number of other contracts that are coming up soon, as usual -- however, it's not the case across the board for NJPW. Several talent worked on handshake agreements for months after Wrestle Kingdom last year. NJPW is expected to work on a bunch of those in the coming weeks, and usually approach talent the week of Wrestle Kingdom.

• There's a lot of excitement within NJPW for the debut of Aaron Wolf. There was a lot of positivity from the company about the buzz around his announcement and debut.

• We're told that NJPW is hopeful they can retain David Finlay, Clark Connors and Drilla Moloney, after we reported they're all exploring U.S. options. Finlay specifically was interested in spending more time in the States. Company sources indicated that NJPW isn't opposed to doing dual deals with each of them.

• Finlay still has a number of dates planned with NJPW after Wrestle Kingdom.

• We've not heard of any WWE names planned for the show as of yet, despite speculation. If we hear of any, we'll let you know.

• There's at least one more name that hasn't been around NJPW in a while that is planned to make an on-screen appearance for the show.

• It was reiterated to us this week that Shinsuke Nakamura appearing or facing Hiroshi Tanahashi was only considered a "pipe dream," as NJPW was of the belief he re-signed with WWE quite a while back. Kazuchika Okada was solidified as the opponent, and Kenny Omega was brought up as well.

• We're told Kenny Omega will be traveling back to Japan in the coming months, but it's unknown if it is related to New Japan Pro Wrestling at all.

• There was an AEW logo over Andrade's video at the Wrestle Kingdom press conference. He is eligible to be signed there now.

• Fightful has a Wrestle Kingdom post show right after the event featuring SP3 and Lyric Carter!

  Author's Note on Yota Tsuji story!

Regarding Yota Tsuji and the reaction to our report -- NJPW is not exempt from being reported on, and this piece of news has not been a secret within New Japan pro wrestling. This was first put on our radar when we reported on the internal AEW plans for him to face Swerve Strickland at Forbidden Door 2024, and than again when we reported on the lack of NJPW United States dates.

New Japan, like any wrestling company, works personal feelings into storylines. I've personally covered and interviewed Tetsuya Naito, Kenny Omega, Will Ospreay, Gabe Kidd, Kazuchika Okada doing this. I'm not sure why anyone would assume that wouldn't be first thing we would suspect. Like any other wrestling company, NJPW promos and interviews are also reported on -- they're not exempt! Tsuji had made it pretty clear to many people he wasn't keen on the AEW relationship as it existed.

That being said, this isn't an Evil-Toru Yano situation where AEW is opposed to using him, or he likely would not have been on Forbidden Door at all.

We also saw people say that the story "hurt kayfabe" -- that's particularly baffling, since it goes right along with the sentiment that has existed for both Will Ospreay and Gabe Kidd's matches with Kenny Omega. If anything, it reinforces kayfabe, because it appears to be Tsuji's real feelings.

Oh, also, this story didn't come from Rocky Romero or anyone tied to AEW, and we've broken hundreds of NJPW stories in our ten years. If our subscribers have any other questions, I'll be as transparent as possible. The reaction to this story was particularly weird.

Enjoy Wrestle Kingdom!