Masanori “Masa” Saito, known as Mr. Saito to a generation of American wrestling fans, passed away at the age of 76 last weekend following a long struggle with Parkinson’s disease. An Olympic freestyle wrestler in 1964, Saito was a legendarily hard man and among the most universally respected people in the wrestling…
Decades of pro wrestling history were upended via joint press release on Thursday when Ring of Honor, New Japan, and Madison Square Garden announced a joint show at “The World’s Most Famous Arena” for April 6, 2019. Unless an unannounced (but previously reported) planned show from Mexican promotion AAA materializes in…
For wrestling fans, last Friday was a great night to stay in. The night was packed with free or cheap live pro wrestling streaming, with the three highest profile shows coming from companies that have a strong working agreement. New Japan Pro Wrestling had its roster spread across two of three simultaneous shows—a…
One year ago today, a random Twitter user tweeted at Wrestling Observer Newsletter editor Dave Meltzer to ask if he thought that Ring of Honor, the number two pro wrestling promotion in the United States, could sell out a 10,000 seat arena. Meltzer didn’t think so, but Cody Rhodes, a regular in the promotion, called…
Kenny Omega is considered by many to be the best wrestler in the world. Chris Jericho is an unquestioned wrestling legend. They both showed why in Tokyo on Thursday.
The second-biggest pro wrestling event of the calendar year is already upon us, and you should probably brew a pot of coffee. At 3 a.m. ET on Wednesday night/Thursday morning, New Japan Pro Wrestling’s 12th annual Wrestle Kingdom supershow will air live from the Tokyo Dome on their NJPW World streaming service; the…
After IWGP United States champion Kenny Omega dispatched with challenger Beretta in the semi-main event at New Japan Pro Wrestling’s “Power Struggle” event on Sunday in Osaka, the Edion Arena darkened and the venue’s big video screen lit up. On that screen, Omega and the fans in attendance saw a video sent in by…
This week, much has been made of the main event of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s annual Dominion event, which took place on Sunday. IWGP heavyweight champion Kazuchika Okada and challenger Kenny Omega went to a 60-minute time-limit draw, the hallmark of classic title matches for decades. It came five months after their…
This Sunday night’s Backlash show marks the beginning of a new era in WWE, one that would have been shocking even two years ago. For the first time in its history, the world’s largest professional wrestling promotion is attempting to turn a Japanese wrestler into one of its top stars—the top star, in fact, of one of…
