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| (Image Source: Wrestling Junkie - USA Today/IMPACT Wrestling/New Japan Pro-Wrestling Corporation of America) |
IMPACT Wrestling and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) will co-produce a major live pro wrestling show on March 30, 2023 at the Globe Theater in Los Angeles, California, USA in conjunction the annual Wrestlecon convention.with megastars from both promotions in-action and numerous first-ever dream matches confirmed. The show – "Multiverse United: Only The STRONG Survive" – will be aired live worldwide on pay-per-view (PPV) via FITE on fite.tv and mobile, starting at 11:00 pm EST/8:00 pm PST (March 31, 11:00 am PHT/HKT/SGT).
IMPACT World Champion Josh Alexander steps into the ring at Multiverse United against KUSHIDA while “Speedball” Mike Bailey battles Will Ospreay in the co-main event that will be a nonstop fight for bragging rights. The Bailey-Ospreay battle is their fifth-ever one-on-one contest and the first since August 2022, with their first-ever back in 2015. “Will Ospreay is the best professional wrestler in the world, after me. So, this will be the best professional wrestling match of the year," Bailey said. Alexander is the longest-reigning IMPACT World Champion and also was half of the decorated tag-team The North (with current All Elite Wrestling star Ethan Page) which is the longest-reigning IMPACT World Tag Team Champions. KUSHIDA is a 6-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion and a 2-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion (with Time Splitters teammate Alex Shelley). KUSHIDA is a 2-time winner of the prestigious Best of the Super Juniors tournament. Also confirmed for Multiverse United: NJPW’s Jeff Cobb battles former IMPACT World Champion Moose. IMPACT stars confirmed for the dual promotion spectacle include reigning X Division Champion Trey Miguel, Ace Austin and Chris Bey, plus most of the Knockouts. NJPW, on the other hand, will be represented at Multiverse United by KENTA, Rocky Romero, Minoru Suzuki, Clark Connors, Kevin Knight, Fred Rosser and many others.
“We are very excited for this unique collaborative event that brings together two of the best wrestling companies in the world. Since NJPW returned to AXS TV just over a year ago, we have been looking at ways to expand our working relationship between the two brands. Multiverse United on March 30th at the Globe Theatre in Los Angeles is the first of many exciting collaborations between IMPACT and NJPW,” said IMPACT Wrestling executive vice-president Scott D’Amore. NJPW representative director Takami Ohbari said, “New Japan Pro-Wrestling and IMPACT have been a winning combination on AXS TV, and now fans get to see these two companies share the same ring in person. I personally cannot wait to see what arises from this special card, and I can guarantee fans will experience a historic event the likes of which they’ve never seen before.”
The IMPACT Wrestling/New Japan Pro-Wrestling relationship began in 2005 with Jushin "Thunder" Liger facing Samoa Joe at BOUND FOR GLORY. In 2006, Hiroshi Tanahashi faced AJ Styles at FINAL RESOLUTION and New Japan fielded Team Japan for the 2006 World X-Cup. IMPACT was involved in New Japan’s Wrestle Kingdom events from 2008 to 2011, with such legendary matches as Kurt Angle vs. Yuji Nagata, Abyss vs. Manabu Nakanishi, and Giant Bernard and Tomko vs. The Steiner Brothers. Other stars who have participated in IMPACT/New Japan matches include the Motor City Machine Guns, Kevin Nash, Masahiro Chono and Tomohiro Ishii, among others. The 2011 Wrestle Kingdom featured a World Championship title defense by Jeff Hardy against Tetsuya Naito. In 2021, NJPW tag team FinJuice arrived in IMPACT Wrestling as well as Jay White, Satoshi Kojima, Minoru Suzuki, the Guerrillas of Destiny, and others. IMPACT star Ace Austin competed in NJPW’s 2022 Best of the Super Juniors and made the finals of the 2022 NJPW Super Junior Tag League with Chris Bey as part of the Bullet Club. Meanwhile, the Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley) are the reigning NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Champions as well as the current IMPACT Wrestling World Tag Team Champions.
