Starting later today, tonight in the United Kingdom, the stars of New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) and Revolution Pro Wrestling (RevPro) will collide for a series of shows, Global Wars UK 2016.
Borrowing their namesake from the series of NJPW and Ring of Honor joint shows, this version of Global Wars may be the best use of modern NJPW shows in a foreign promotion yet.
Global Wars UK 2016 – Night One
Night One—which kicks off in a few hours from York Hall—features an insane card highlighted by RevPro British Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr putting his title on the line against Katsuyori Shibata. These two had a disappointing match earlier in the year and will look for a correction tonight.
Elsewhere on the card, Jushin Thunder Liger takes on Marty Scrull, high fliers BUSHI and Will Ospreay will go head-to-head, Sha Samuels battles Tomoaki Honma and Los Ingobernables de Japon—represented by EVIL, SANADA and Tetsuya Naito—will go to war with Trent Seven & Tyler Bate (Moustache Mountain) & David Starr.
Those matches alone would make for a fun card but to borrow from TV infomercial: THERE’S MORE! In particular, the otherwise inconspicuous Pete Dunne vs. Yuji Nagata match.
Sure, it’s a fun little match, Dunne is great and fresh off his WWE tryout. Nagata is a legend. What’s to it? Well, this will mark the first time Nagata has left his native Japan since 2005 (to wrestle of course, I have no insights on his vacationing habits). The last time Nagata wrestled anywhere but Japan was in June 2005 when the stars of NJPW worked a series of shows in Italy (NJPW Toukon Spirito Guerrerio). Before that, we’d have to jump all the way back to July 1998 when Nagata wrapped up his tour of World Championship Wrestling to find the last time Nagata left the confines of Japan. This is a big deal.
Also a big deal: Chris Hero vs. Tomohiro Ishii. Hero vs. Ishii. Chris Hero. Tomohiro Ishii. Do I need to go on?
Okay, I will. This first-time-ever matchup has everyone buzzing as the potential for an absolute, no doubt Match of the Year contender exists. Hero is on an otherworldly run over the past two years and is quickly cementing himself as one of the best ever. Hero laying an egg against Ishii of all people is next to impossible.
Global Wars UK 2016 – Night Two
Night Two of RevPro/NJPW Global Wars UK 2016 isn’t quite as jump off the page great as Night One but still presents quite a few interesting matchups.
The fans at Walthamstow Assembly Hall in London will be treated to a huge main event between Leaders of the New School (Sabre & Scrull) vs. the Los Ingobernables de Japon team of SANADA and Tetsuya Naito. The characters alone in that match will make it must-see but the potential for awesome mat work between SANADA—fresh off his impressive showing at Power Struggle 2016—and Zack Sabre Jr. has me salivating.
The rest of the card see Liger vs. Ospreay, a rematch from this year’s Best of the Super Juniors, a battle of the barrel chests in Dunne vs. Ishii, Charlie Garrett & Joel Redman vs. BUSHI & EVIL, Josh Bodom vs. Honma, Trent Seven vs. Yuji Nagata and last but certainly not least: Hero vs. Shibata. Like my preview for Hero vs. Ishii, I’ll let the names speak for themselves: Chris Hero. Katsuyori Shibata.
I don’t like making a direct comparison between RPW and ROH for their use of New Japan talent but these two cards, particularly Night One, may blow away any NJPW/ROH presentation. At the very least, Global Wars UK Night One is right on par with the first-ever NJPW/ROH War of the Worlds in 2014.
Coverage
Our entire BritWres Roundtable podcast crew will be at the shows live so be sure to follow Robin (@TheRDouble), Oli (@AnotherOli) & Arnold Furious (@ArnoldFurious) for live updates, photos and much more. We will also have reviews of both shows in the coming week.
If you want to learn more about the European wrestling scene, be sure to subscribe to the aforementioned BritWres Roundtable. You can view their episode archives and subscribe below:
