New Japan, Ring of Honor: News and Rumors Roundup for Week of October 4
October 4, 2018
WWE may be gearing up for its Super Show-Down extravaganza but New Japan Pro-Wrestling's Tetsuya Naito, Ring of Honor's Jay Lethal and one of the most celebrated independent stars in the world stayed in the headlines this week.
Tetsuya Naito's Major Announcement
In a video released by New Japan Pro-Wrestling's official YouTube page, Tetsuya Naito announced that on October 8, Los Ingobernables de Japon will announce its newest member.
The reasoning? Hiromu Takahashi's injury will keep him out of action longer than expected.
The video is a nice hook for fans of New Japan and a reminder that, although they have been overshadowed of late by The Bullet Club, The Firing Squad and Chaos, Los Ingobernables still has eyes on becoming the top faction in the promotion.
Naito looked like the star he is as he addressed the viewers, sitting barside and clad in a casual suit. Considering how often the major announcements play out inside the squared circle or in major angles, it was a nice change of pace to see Naito calmly address the wrestling world from an unnamed location away from the ring.
Naturally, the question becomes who might the new member of LIJ be?
Could it be a young lion like Ren Narita, Shota Umino or Tomoyuki Oka? Maybe it is an American-born competitor like Michael Elgin or David Finlay. Perhaps it will be a defector from another faction. Whatever the case may be, NJPW has done a fantastic job of suddenly creating intrigue for its October 8 show.
Joey Janela Injury Update
Joey Janela was one of the brightest young stars on the independent scene, embracing a "Bad Boy" gimmick that captured the attention of fans and promoting a Spring Break event that was among the most anticipated of the year.
At All In on September 1, he came up short against "Hangman" Adam Page in a Chicago Street Fight that was among the night's best matches.
Unfortunately for Janela, he suffered a gruesome knee injury on September 22 and Tuesday, revealed the diagnosis and recovery time in a grim tweet.
Bad Boy Joey Janela @JANELABABYWell I met my surgeon today, it’s official I’ll be gone for atleast a year... even worse then I thought, really heartbroken. He said this one was is really bad, surgery next week... 😔 The voyage has never been easy for me, It's a long way to the top If you wanna rock 'n' roll
The timing is so unfortunate for Janela who, though on a lesser scale, was building a reputation and brand for himself not unlike Bullet Club.
One can only hope his recovery goes smoothly and, in just over a year, the Bad Boy returns to the ring and is able to regain the momentum he had built for himself.
Glory by Honor Main Event Set
The Ring of Honor World Heavyweight Championship will be up for grabs in Baltimore on Friday, October 12 when Jay Lethal defends against "The Last Real Man" Silas Young, as reported by ROHWrestling.com.
Both Lethal and Young are longtime members of the ROH roster and are no strangers to each other. Young, it can be said, has Lethal's number after beating him in a variety of gimmick bouts over the years. With that said, Lethal is a different animal when he holds the top prize in Ring of Honor.
A champion for over 500 days across two title reigns, he works harder and ups the overall quality of his in-ring game when he is trusted to be the face of the company.
Not necessarily the most star-studded main event the company could have put together given the significance of the annual Glory by Honor show but at the same time, it is two of the promotion's most loyal and a match the ROH faithful will undoubtedly be looking forward to come bell time.