Dolph Ziggler Makes Surprise NJPW Debut; January 4th Live Wrestling News Round-Up

A new report has given some insight into why NXT Champion Ilja Dragunov missed NXT New Year’s Evil earlier this week.

Dragunov was set to defend his title against #1 Contender Trick Williams who earned the opportunity by winning the Men’s Iron Survivor match at NXT Deadline last month. However, Dragunov was pulled from the show at the last minute, being replaced by Grayson Waller who took on Williams in a #1 Contender match.

Haus of Wrestling reports that Dragunov is “banged up from 2023” and his body is taking longer to heal than previously expected. Additionally, they note that the decision to take Dragunov off of New Years Evil was made this past weekend and at this time, it’s uncertain when he will be returning to the ring.

Dragunov last competed back on December 13th during a taping for the following week’s edition of NXT. On that show, he took on Ridge Holland which ended in a no-contest after Dragunov was injured in kayfabe and stretchered out of the arena.

Just minutes after winning the NEVER Openweight Championship, Tama Tonga has announced he is set to leave New Japan Pro-Wrestling.

At Wrestle Kingdom 18 this morning, Tama Tonga successfully defeated Shingo Takagi to recapture the NEVER Openweight Championship. In a post-match press conference shortly after, however, he made the surprising announcement that he would be finishing up with the promotion at the end of the month.

As noted by Issa of Pro Wrestling Illustrated, Tonga revealed that he is missing his family and doesn’t want to continually leave his children for work as he experienced with his father as a child. Therefore, he is looking for work in the US despite his love for New Japan and Japan as a country overall.

This is Tama Tonga’s last month with #njpw

He wants to find work closer to home as he misses his family and leaving them at home is not something he wants to continue to do (as this was his childhood)

He loves Japan, this company and every wrestler #njwk18 pic.twitter.com/K5zM30oq2R

— Issa – PWI 📸 Contributor (@IssitaMarie) January 4, 2024

It looks like WWE is hoping to sign several free agents this year, with the company reportedly having their eye on one star in particular!

Haus of Wrestling reports, via a tenured WWE source, that the company is “super high” on former NWA Women’s World Champion Kamille who departed NWA and became a free agent this past Monday. The 31-year-old is said to be high up on the company’s list of free agents they are currently interested in.

Additionally, the oulet notes that WWE is said to be active in their signing efforts now that its acqusition by Endeavor and subsequent merger with UFC has been completed. Higher ups at TKO Group Holdings are said to feel that the company is in “acquisition mode” and are interested in bringing in new talents who will make an impact.

Which free agents do you want to see head to WWE in 2024? Join in the conversation and let us know here!

Triple H has announced that WWE Money In The Bank will take place outside the United States for the second year in a row.

In a post to X earlier today, the WWE Chief Content Officer announced that the Money In The Bank will be headed to the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada this July. Additionally, SmackDown and NXT Heatwave will also take place at the same venue the day before and after the Premium Live Event respectively.

Money In The Bank took place outside the US for the very first time last year when the show was held at the O2 in London, England. This is the fourth international WWE main roster Premium Live Event announced for this year with Heatwave being the first in terms of NXT-branded PLEs.

This summer, for the first time ever, Money in the Bank heads to Toronto and headlines a massive weekend at @ScotiabankArena.

7/5 #SmackDown
7/6 #MITB
7/7 #NXTHeatwave

Thrilled to bring one of the most exciting events of the year to Canada… this is going to be epic. pic.twitter.com/z0xPjR7Ezb

— Triple H (@TripleH) January 4, 2024

Today, January 4th, 2024, marks the 25th anniversary of two pivotal moments in the turning tides of the Monday Night Wars.

On January 4th, 1999, Mankind won the WWF Championship from The Rock with the help of ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin. WCW accidentally played a huge part in bringing more eyes to the moment when Tony Schiavone leaked the title win live on Nitro, leading to a reported 600,000 viewers switching over to Raw.

The troubles for WCW that night didn’t end there though. In one of the promotion’s most infamous moments, Hollywood Hulk Hogan pinned Kevin Nash for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship after lightly poking him in the chest in what is now referred to as the ‘Fingerpoke of Doom’.

Did you watch these two moments live 25 years ago? What did you think about them at the time? Join in the conversation and let us know here!

Just a few weeks ahead of his first title defense, Logan Paul appears to have given away the WWE United States Championship in a trade!

In a Instagram Reel posted to his secondary account, Paul is seen speaking to Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes and offers a trade to the NFL Quarterback: His WWE title in exchange for Mahomes’ Super Bowl ring. The deal eventually gets done after Mahomes bartered to have Paul throw a bottle of Lemonade Prime into the mix as well.

WWE has not acknowledged the trade as Paul is still listed as the current WWE United States Champion at the time of writing. Sadly then, it appears we won’t be seeing Mahomes step inside a WWE ring, though Paul will against either Santos Escobar or Kevin Owens at the Royal Rumble Premium Live Event.

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Wrestle Kingdom, the biggest annual event on the New Japan Pro-Wrestling calendar, has come and gone and we have all the results from this year’s edition!

• Great O-Khan, Taiji Ishimori, Toru Yano, and Yoh won the New Japan Rambo
• Catch 2/2 (TJP and Francesco Akira) defeated Bullet Club War Dogs (Clark Connors and Drilla Moloney) to win the IGWP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship
• Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Zack Sabre Jr. to win the NJPW World Television Championship
• Yuya Uemura defeated Yota Tsuji
• House of Torture (EVIL and Ren Narita) defeated Shota Umino and Kaito Kiyomiya
• Tama Tonga defeated Shingo Takagi to win the NEVER Openweight Championship
• Gorillas of Destiny (Hikuleo and El Phantasmo) defeated Bishamon (Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi) to retain the STRONG Openweight Tag Team Championship and win the IWGP Tag Team Championship.
• El Desperado defeated Hiromu Takahashi to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship.
• David Finlay defeated Jon Moxley and Will Ospreay to win the IWGP Global Championship.
• Kazuchika Okada defeated Bryan Danielson
• Tetsuya Naito defeated SANADA to win the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.

Nic Nemeth, the former Dolph Ziggler, and his brother Ryan Nemeth also appeared on the show. They sat at ringside before Gorrilas of Destiny vs. Bishamon until David Finlay vs. Jon Moxley vs. Will Ospreay after Ziggler got into a brawl with Finlay.

Former IMPACT Wrestling star Deonna Purrazzo has signed with AEW following her surprise return to the promotion!

During last night’s episode of AEW Dynamite, three-time IMPACT Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo returned to AEW for the first in over a year and a half – making a shock appearance following the in-ring debut of recent signee Mariah May. After a short face-to-face confrontation with May, Purrazzo announced that she had signed with AEW which was confirmed shortly after by Tony Khan on social media.

Purrazzo first appeared in AEW back in May 2022 when she headlined an episode of Dynamite against Mercedes Martinez. The two faced off in a unification match for the ROH Women’s World Championship after Purrazzo, who won the title on IMPACT programming, was unable to appear at an ROH event due to a conflict with IMPACT, leading Martinez to be crowned interim champion.

“The Virtuosa” Deonna Purrazzo is here to ruin Mariah May’s debut on #AEWDynamite!

Watch #AEWDynamite LIVE on TBS!@DeonnaPurrazzo | @MariahMayX pic.twitter.com/MoL2J3G9LU

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) January 4, 2024

Dolph Ziggler has arrived in NJPW, making a surprise appearance at Wrestle Kingdom 18 this morning!

Prior to the Winner Takes All double title match between Guerillas of Destiny and Bishamon, Nic Nemeth (the former Dolph Ziggler) and his brother Ryan Nemeth made a surprise appearance inside the Tokyo Dome. The two emerged in suits and sat down at ringside for the next few matches.

It wasn’t until the conclusion of the IWGP Global Championship match, which saw David Finlay overcome both Jon Moxley and Will Ospreay to capture the title, that Nemeth made his presence felt once more. After being taunted by Finlay after the match, Nemeth got into a brawl with the new champion – seemingly setting up a match between the two down the line.

This marks Ziggler’s first on-screen appearance since being released from WWE back in September last year. His non-complete clause stemming from his release officially expired on the 21st of last month.

.@THEdavidfinlay × @HEELZiggler "Next Battle?"

Sign up Now & Stay tuned to https://t.co/CeQLGjTmZ5#njwk18 #NJPW #njpwworld pic.twitter.com/AO2znYwWxl

— NJPW WORLD (@njpwworld) January 4, 2024

Welcome back to the ITRWrestling live blog! I’ll be with you from 12pm to 6pm BST (7am – 1pm ET) covering all the biggest stories from WWE, AEW, NJPW, IMPACT, and more.

Today’s top stories are:

• Dolph Ziggler Makes Surprise NJPW Debut
• Deonna Purrazzo Is All Elite After Dynamite Return
• Full Results From NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18