Following Strong Style Evolved, Sumie Sakai shared in a backstage video that she will be retiring after the upcoming NJPW Battle In The Valley 2025 event.
In her conversation with Hiromu Takahashi, she informed him of her intention to face him in her last match.
Both Sakai and Takahashi are scheduled to battle in a six-person tag match at the said event.
Partnering with Sakai will be another female and a male wrestlers, while Hiromu will team up with two female contenders.
Breaking: Sumie Sakai announces retirement after Battle in the Valley January 11. She will take on @TIMEBOMB1105 in a six-person tag match for her final fight!
Who will their teammates be? Stay tuned. #njpw #njbitv
— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) December 16, 2024
A Lucha Gauntlet featuring four wrestlers from NJPW and four from CMLL has been confirmed by New Japan Pro Wrestling for the NJPW x AEW Wrestle Dynasty 2025 at the Tokyo Dome on January 5.
The current lineup for the event includes:
* IWGP Tag Team Championship: Great-O-Khan & TBD vs. The Young Bucks
* NEVER Openweight Championship: Shingo Takagi OR Konosuke Takeshita (c) vs. Tomohiro Ishii
* International Women’s Cup: Willow Nightingale (AEW) vs. Persephone (CMLL) vs. Athena (ROH) vs. TBD (STARDOM)
* NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship: Mercedes Mone (c) vs. Mina Shirakawa
* Zack Sabre Jr. vs Ricochet
* Kenny Omega vs. Gabe Kidd
* Yota Tsuji vs. Jack Perry
* Shota Umino vs. Claudio Castagnoli
* David Finlay vs. Brody King
* Lucha Gauntlet: Competitors from NJPW & CMLL yet to be announced
Details on the final KOPW Title match for 2024, which will take place on December 22, were also released by NJPW.
The match between Great O-Khan and Taichi will follow the best two-out-of-three falls format, each with different rules.
The no rope sumo rules will be implemented in the first fall, while the second will feature Yoshinobu Kanemaru as a guest referee.
If needed, the third fall will be a Last Man Standing match, a stipulation chosen by Taichi, which garnered 72% of the voters’ preference.
Meanwhile, Major League Wrestling’s Holiday Rush 2024 event will be streamed next Tuesday, on Christmas Eve.
The lineup for the show features:
* MLW Championship: Satoshi Kojima vs. Ultimo Guerrero
* MLW Featherweight Championship: Janai Kai vs. Tiffani Avatar
* AKIRA vs. Minoru Suzuki
* Matt Riddle vs. BRG
* Tom Lawlor vs. Timothy Thatcher
* Magnus vs. Titan
* Statements from Cesar Duran and Delmi Exo, updates from Alex Kane and MSL, and an appearance from Paul Walter Hauser.
Last but not least, Major League Wrestling revealed that KENTA will face Donovan Dijak at the Kings of Colosseum event in Dallas on January 11.