Government Shutdown To Blame For Lack Of Japanese Talent On NJPW U.S. New Beginning Shows
New Japan Pro Wrestling announced the cards on Thursday morning for their U.S. New Beginning shows. Right away, fans noticed that there was something missing. While there were several local talent, Ring of Honor and Dojo stars, there weren't any Japanese talent from the company.
The federal government shutdown is the reason for Japanese talent not appearing on the U.S. tour. New Japan noted that they were not able to secure visas due to the shutdown.
"It is with great disappointment that we must announce that due to the ongoing 2018?19 United States federal government shutdown, we were unable to obtain visas for our Japanese talent who were looking forward to seeing our US fans at the New Beginning in USA," NJPW announced.
According to the latest edition of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, visas were apparently applied for in November, with the thought that the process would be completed in time. The U.S. federal government shutdown started on December 22nd, which caused the visas to be put in a holding pattern. NJPW set a deadline for January 24th to announce the cards, because even if the situation were to be cleared up this week, it would take a few weeks before they could be processed.
There were several Japanese stars that were scheduled to headline the U.S. shows, including Tomohiro Ishii, Yuji Nagata, Hirooki Goto and Jushin Liger.
Here is the current lineup for all three U.S. shows:
1/30/19 – Los Angeles – Globe Theatre
* Roppongi Vice v. Tracy Williams and Juice Robinson
* David Finlay v. Chuckie T
* Jeff Cobb v. Karl Fredericks
* Brody King and Marty Scurll v. Davey Both Smith Jr. and Lance Archer
* Colt Cabana v. Shane Taylor
* Jonathan Gresham v. Tyler Bateman
* Alex Coughlin v. Clark Connors
2/1/19 – North Carolina – Grady Cole Center
* Juice Robinson (c) v. Beretta – IWGP United States Title
* Tracy Williams and David Finlay v. Rocky Romero and Chuckie T
* Alex Coughlin v. Davey Boy Smith Jr.
* Jonathan Gresham and Jeff Cobb v. Brody King and Marty Scurll
* Tracer X v. Great-O-Kharn
* John Skyler and Colt Cabana v. Shane Taylor and Lance Archer
* Karl Fredericks v. Clark Connors
2/2/19 – Tennessee – War Memorial Auditorium
* Tracy Williams, David Finlay and Juice Robinson v. Rocky Romero, Chuckie T and Beretta
* Jeff Cobb v. Brody King
* Clark Connors v. Marty Scurll
* Harlem Bravado v. Great-O-Kharn
* Jonathan Gresham and Colt Cabana v. Shane Taylor and Lance Archer
* Karl Fredericks v. Alex Coughlin
Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter
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