Jan 4, afternoon EST - Court Bauer of MLW breaks the news that Styles, Nakamura, Anderson and Gallows are leaving for WWE.
Jan 4, evening EST - On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer confirms the news. Ring of Honor removes Styles from advertising for future shows.
Jan 5, evening JST - At NJPW New Year Dash in Korakuen Hall, Kenny Omega and Styles beat Nakamura and YOSHI-HASHI when Omega pins Nakamura. After, Omega and the rest of the Bullet Club (including Anderson and Gallows) turn on Styles, "firing" him from the Bullet Club. Omega says he's going after IC champ Nakamura. Styles sells the beat down and emotionally bows before leaving the ring.
Jan 5, morning EST - On WOR, Meltzer suggests Styles is done with ROH dates and will take no new indie bookings. Anderson and Gallows will make good on future dates they have with ROH. (Help me find what those dates are?) Meltzer suggests WWE would have to spend too much money on Styles and Nakamura for them to only be used in NXT.
Jan 5 - WWE Network launches in Japan, as well as Germany.
From Joe Lanza's review of NJPW New Year Dash: http://www.voicesofwrestling.com/2016/01/05/nyd-draft/
Jan 6 -Coming off one of the best Wrestle Kingdom events of all time, news broke Monday that several New Japan wrestlers, specifically AJ Styles, Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows, and, most surprisingly, Shinsuke Nakamura, had given notice.
The obvious speculation is that all four men (and possibly a few others that haven’t yet been reported on, as we’ve heard the name Rocky Romero whispered to us specifically) are potentially headed to NXT. AJ Styles has been pulled from all of his upcoming ROH dates, but as I type this Anderson, Gallows, and Nakamura (who is booked for the Anniversary show in Las Vegas) are still scheduled to work their remaining ROH shots. Styles & Gallows had been working New Japan without a contract. Anderson is under NJPW contract until January 31. Dave Meltzer reported (and our source confirmed) that Nakamura wouldn’t be leaving NJPW immediately, and there are rumors that while he has in fact given notice, that he is still in negotiations to stay with New Japan. He is presumably under the same one year deal as everybody else with a contract, as New Japan still uses the traditional one year deals that expire each January. Re-signing is generally a formality, particularly for natives, but in a quickly changing landscape (read: NXT as a worldwide touring brand, and WWE Network launching in Japan on January 5), New Japan may want to rethink that strategy, as it makes things far too easy for a company like WWE to perform a raid.
Our source indicated that the four gave notice the day of WK10, moments before the show.
“Gedo & Jado dropped their jaws.”
This means Wrestle Kingdom was booked and formatted with no knowledge of the exiting talent (reports are that the WK booking was not changed), and with the way New Japan typically books long term, that very likely original plans needed to be scrapped for the February dual New Beginning shows. This also meant that the booking for the annual January 5th New Year Dash show was likely tweaked as well, since that show typically features angles to set up New Beginning. New Japan didn’t announce a single match for the card until moments before the show.
New Japan has a show at Korakuen Hall on January 30, which could potentially be Nakamura's last appearance in New Japan. Nakamura continues to be advertised on cards for the January 17-24 Fantasticamania tour. (http://www.njpw.co.jp/english/match/)
http://pwinsider.com/article/98852/wwe- ... e.html?p=1
"PWInsider.com has also confimed that WWE has been in discussions with another NJPW performer, Roppongi Vice member Rocky Romero about a potential deal with the company as well. Romero has been down to the WWE Performance Center numerous times in 2015 helping with training. It's unknown whether his potential deal is to come in as a performer or work as a Coach."
WWE.com posts a story acknowledging the rumors. The story doesn't break anything new, though. Paul Levesque "declined to comment".
http://www.wwe.com/inside/are-aj-styles ... e-28508549
Finn Balor teases fans with his "they should've been here by now" photo, at the door of the WWE Performance Center: