Additional Details On IMPACT & NJPW Working Relationship

Last night at No Surrender, it was confirmed that former IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions David Finlay and Juice Robinson will be appearing on next week’s IMPACT Wrestling show.

Following on from this, PWInsider has provided some additional details on the working relationship between New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) and IMPACT Wrestling, and how All Elite Wrestling (AEW) factors into things.

The site is reporting that the deal to have FinJuice appear in IMPACT is not part of the relationship between IMPACT and AEW, with the promotion sorting its own deal with NJPW.

The report actually explains that the deal between IMPACT and NJPW to have FinJuice appear was actually sorted before IMPACT and AEW began working together in December 2020, with talks between the two parties dating back until the Summer:

The surprise announcement is not a by-product of the recent AEW-New Japan collaboration that saw KENTA debut for AEW Dynamite earlier this month.  Impact actually already had a deal with NJPW agreed upon before the AEW agreement came to exist.   Discussions between New Japan and Impact date back to the summer of 2020, right around the time The Good Brothers signed with Impact.

The site is also reporting that IMPACT had plans to bring Juice Robinson and David Finlay into the promotion before last night, but scheduling issues meant their IMPACT debuts had to be delayed until last week’s set of tapings.

The report explains that the deal between IMPACT and New Japan was months in the making, with The Good Brothers signing with both promotions last year being believed to be a big factor in the companies working together

PWInsider.com is told that tonight’s announcement was the result of a lot of work (described by one source as being “many, many, MANY months”) to repair the frayed relationship between the companies.  We are also told that The Good Brothers being signed to Impact and NJPW having great interest in using them was a huge factor in helping to mend the bridge between the companies.

Chris Bey working the Super J-Cup last year was also said to be a big factor in the companies working together, and the hope is that FinJuice coming over will be another step in a partnership between the two.

What are your thoughts on the above story? Let us know in the comments on Twitter or Facebook.

• good brothers
• NJPW
• AEW
• IMPACT

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