New Japan is back in the US for their first international event of the year, Battle In The Valley 2024. As usual they have loaded the card with a mix of wrestlers from Japan, the LA Dojo, partner and independent promotions and more. This year’s event is headlined by what is being billed as Will Ospreay’s last single match in New Japan (at least as a full-time member) before he jumps full-time to All Elite Wrestling next month, and it’s against none other than Kazuchika Okada. The co-main event sees a rematch between Shingo Takagi & Jon Moxley, not surprisingly it will be a No DQ match. Elsewhere, STRONG Openweight Champion Eddie Kingston will defend that title and his AEW Continental Crown (including the AEW Continental Championship and Ring Of Honor World Championship) against Gabriel Kidd while STRONG Women’s Champion Giulia defends her title against rising indy sensation Trish Adora. Bullet Club will also try to win the STRONG Tag Team Championship as Alex Coughlin & Clark Connors challenge Hikuleo & El Phantasmo, but it’s not a double title match so no IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship on the line. That and plenty more to kick off a big international 2024 for the promotion.
Today’s event will be held at the San Jose Civic Center in San Jose, CA and can be watched LIVE on TrillerTV (fka FITE) in English for $19.99. IT IS NOT AVAILABLE LIVE ON NEW JAPAN WORLD OUTSIDE JAPAN. You get the live broadcast and unlimited on demand replays with purchase. There will also be a FREE 30 minute pre-show before the event. None of the title matches have more than a 30 minute time limit and neither do any matches except the last 2 (1 Hour), so including the pre-show I predict the event will have a total running time of around 3 1/2 hours. The longest it could possibly go is roughly 5 hours.
Today’s lineup:
Pre-show:
Matt Vandagriff vs. Goldy
Viva Van vs. Stephanie Vaquer
PPV:
Shota Umino, Fred Rosser & Jacob Fatu vs. Tom Lawlor, Royce Isaacs & Jorel Nelson
Mascara Dorada & Volador Jr. vs. Rocky Romero & Soberano Jr.
TJP vs. David Finlay
STRONG Tag Team Champions El Phantasmo & Hikuleo vs. Alex Coughlin & Clark Connors for the titles
STRONG Women’s Champion Giulia vs. Trish Adora for the title
Matt Riddle & TBA vs. Bad Dude Tito & Zack Sabre Jr.
STRONG Openweight Champion & AEW Continental Crown Champion Eddie Kingston vs. Gabriel Kidd for the titles
Shingo Takagi vs. Jon Moxley in a No DQ match
Will Ospreay vs. Kazuchika Okada
Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.
Updates below will begin at 6:30 PM PT/9:30 PM ET.
6:30 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates begin now.
We are LIVE from San Jose Civic Center in San Jose, CA. Your hosts are Walker Stewart & Veda Scott.
The paid attendance will be announced after the event. They say it’s a legit sellout, if so that means 2100. As of midday today the last number I had was 2050 and they’re still filing in but it’s going to be right around 2100. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 2147, a legit sellout. That means they added some capacity, the original setup was for 2100)
Pre-show:
Match 1; Matt Vandagriff vs. Goldy. 20 minute time limit
Result: Matt Vandagriff beat Goldy
Match 2: Viva Van vs. Stephanie Vaquer. 20 minute time limit
Result: Stephanie Vaquer beat Viva Van
Pre-show ends at 6:55 PM PT/9:55 PM ET. Updates will resume when the PPV begins.
PPV:
Match 1: Shota Umino, Fred Rosser & Jacob Fatu vs. Tom Lawlor, Royce Isaacs & Jorel Nelson. 20 minute time limit
Result: Shota Umino, Fred Rosser & Jacob Fatu beat Tom Lawlor, Royce Isaacs & Jorel Nelson. Umino pinned Isaacs after a double arm DDT.
After the match, while he was celebrating with the fans, Umino was sneak attacked and laid out by Jack Perry, normally part of All Elite Wrestling but not with them although he reportedly is no longer suspended after a backstage altercation with CM Punk last year. Perry held up an AEW contract and tore it up in the ring before producing and donning an armband reading “SCAPEGOAT”. Jungle Boy may officially be no more and no longer All Elite.
Match 2: Mascara Dorada & Volador Jr. vs. Rocky Romero & Soberano Jr.. 20 minute time limit
Result: Mascara Dorada & Volador Jr. beat Rocky Romero & Soberano Jr. Volador pinned Romero after a Canadian destroyer.
Match 3: TJP vs. David Finlay. 20 minute time limit
Result: David Finlay beat TJP
Match 4: STRONG Tag Team Champions El Phantasmo & Hikuleo vs. Alex Coughlin & Clark Connors for the titles. 30 minute time limit
Result: STRONG Tag Team Champions El Phantasmo & Hikuleo beat Alex Coughlin & Clark Connors to retain the titles. Hikuleo pinned Coughlin after Super Thunder Kiss 86. V4 for the champs.
Match 5: STRONG Women’s Champion Giulia vs. Trish Adora for the title. 30 minute time limit
Result: STRONG Women’s Champion Giulia beat Trish Adora to retain the title. V8 for Giulia. So maybe she’s not going to WWE yet. (She is technically a freelancer now although she has made some appearances in Stardom since disbanding her Donna Del Mundo faction)
Video promo from…Mustafa Ali! He does a Presidential campaign-style promo to call out Hiromu Takahashi for a match at Windy City Riot on 4/12 in Chicago, IL. I am all for Ali in New Japan! Or anywhere besides WWE for that matter.
Match 6: Matt Riddle & TBA vs. Bad Dude Tito & Zack Sabre Jr.. 30 minute time limit. TBA is…if a botched graphic during Riddle’s intro is true…and it is…Jeff Cobb.
Result: Matt Riddle & Jeff Cobb beat Zack Sabre Jr. & Bad Dude Tito. Riddle pinned Tito after Bro Derek.
Match 7: STRONG Openweight Champion & AEW Continental Crown Champion Eddie Kingston vs. Gabriel Kidd for the titles. 30 minute time limit
Result: STRONG Openweight Champion & AEW Conitinental Crown Champion Eddie Kingston beat Gabriel Kidd by countout to retain the titles. V10 for Kingston. They kept brawling at the end before Clark Connors & Alex Coughlin joined in for the heel beatdown on Kingston.
Match 8: Shingo Takagi vs. Jon Moxley in a No DQ match. 1 Hour time limit
Result: Jon Moxley beat Shingo Takagi. YOU. SICK. F*CKS! Yeah, there was a little blood and gore.But incredible nonetheless.
Afterwards, Moxley with microphone. It didn’t work at first but Moxley acknowledged it was his fault for not pressing the button. He called out Tetsuya Naito. HOLY SH*T!!!
Quick break for ring cleaning.
It’s Now Official…Naito-Moxley on 4/12 in Chicago (NON-TITLE match for now) as well as Mustafa Ali vs. Hiromu Takahashi. The biggest NJPW STRONG event ever as they’ve been billing it…Definitely!
Main Event: Will Ospreay vs. Kazuchika Okada. 1 Hour time limit
Result: Kazuchika Okada beat Will Ospreay. They went almost 30 minutes. After the match Bullet Club hit the ring for a beatdown on Ospreay. After a couple minutes TJP, Jeff Cobb & Eddie Kingston ran out to make the save. Once he recovered, Ospreay with microphone. He ran down Bullet Club ahead of 2/11 in Osaka and told Kingston “I owe you one”. He then thanked the fans and touched on his 8 years in New Japan as he prepares to move to All Elite Wrestling next month and also puts Okada over. He finishes by building up his final NJPW match on 2/11, which will be a steel cage match. His NSFW choice words about that match got a huge pop to finish his final promo and send the crowd home happy.
End Show.
The next event is THE NEW BEGINNING IN NAGOYA on 1/20 at Aichi Prefectural Gym in Aichi. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at midnight PT/3 AM ET.
