New Japan Pro Wrestling returns to the US on January 30 for its three day New Beginning USA tour but there will only be one Japanese wrestler on the shows.

The reason for this is the ongoing US government shut down, which meant New Japan was unable to obtain work visas in time for the shows, despite having applied back in December.

New Japan released the following statement regarding the matter:

It is with great disappointment that we must announce that due to the ongoing 2018–19 United States federal government shutdown, we were unable to obtain visas for our Japanese talent who were looking forward to seeing our US fans at the New Beginning in USA.

We are excited to still be able to share a great line-up with our US fans, regardless of visa issues. The IWGP US Champion, Juice Robinson, is defending his title against Barretta and The Great O-Kharn, who is flying in from England, will be debuting in New Japan!

What’s more, this show will highlight the talent and potential of our Young Lions, who have been working hard in the NJPW LA dojo. We are looking forward to being able to celebrate the abilities of the exciting new generation of young NJPW wrestlers.

The cards for the three events will now be made up of non-Japanese NJPW talent, ROH stars, a handful of North American independent names and rookies from New Japan’s LA Dojo. The only Japanese on the card is Great O-Kharn, who has been on excursion in England for the past six months, largely working for RevPro.

The cards are as follows:

January 30

• Beretta & Rocky Romero vs. Juice Robinson & Tracy Williams
• Chuckie T vs. David Finlay
• Jeff Cobb vs. Karl Fredericks
• Marty Scurll & Brody King vs. Killer Elite Squad
• Colt Cabana vs. Shane Taylor
• Jonathan Gresham vs. Tyler Bateman
• Alex Coughlin vs. Clark Connors

February 1

• Juice Robinson vs. Beretta
• Chuckie T & Rocky Romero vs. David Finlay & Tracy Williams
• Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Alex Coughlin
• Marty Scurll & Brody King vs. Jeff Cobb & Jonathan Gresham
• Great O-Kharn vs. Tracer X
• Colt Cabana & John Skyler vs. Lance Archer & Shane Taylor
• Karl Fredericks vs. Clark Connors

February 2

• Beretta, Chuckie T & Rocky Romero vs. Juice Robinson, David Finlay & Tracy Williams
• Jeff Cobb vs. Brody King
• Marty Scurll vs. Clark Connors
• Great O-Kharn vs. Harlem Bravado
• Colt Cabana & Jonathan Gresham vs. Lance Archer & Shane Taylor
• Karl Fredericks vs. Alex Coughlin

• government shutdown
• NEW BEGINNING
• New Japan
• NJPW

Share this article with friends