NJPW News: No Japanese Stars At Road To New Beginning USA Due To Shutdown

NJPW’s Road To New Beginning In USA shows will not have any Japanese stars!

With the United States Government still in the midst of a shutdown due to the ongoing back-and-forth over President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall between the country and Mexico, the issue is now not only affecting government workers’ paychecks, but the wrestling industry.

New Japan Pro Wrestling is set to return to the USA next week for three Road To New Beginning events and has revealed the lineups (check out the latest Daily DeMarco for more on that), which will not include any Japanese stars. Today, NJPW revealed the reasoning for this with the following statement announcing that due to the shutdown, they were unable to obtain work visas for the Japanese talent:

“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.”