New Japan of America Battle in the Valley Preview 11/13/21

New Japan of America Battle in the Valley Preview 11/13/21. New Japan returns to the San Jose Civic Center in California! After an incredible Resurgence event that saw the return of Will Ospreay, New Japan of America looks to keep that momentum going with this year’s Battle in the Valley. You can catch this event in English on FiteTV and in Japanese on NJPWWorld (with the English language version going up the following day)

With several titleholders in actions from companies all across the world, the “forbidden door” has certainly been kicked wide open for this show. IMPACT! Wrestling World Champion Moose will be in action, along with the NEVER Openweight Champion Jay White. Former WWE standout and current free agent Buddy Matthews will be making his New Japan debut against “the Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada. And that’s just the tip of this iceberg! This is the Battle in the Valley preview.

New Japan of America Battle in the Valley Preview 11/13/21
Yuyu Uemura vs. Josh Alexander

Less than a month ago, at IMPACT! Wrestling’s biggest event of the year, Bound for Glory, Josh Alexander had one of the worst nights of his life. Mere moments after defeating Christian Cage for the IMPACT! World Championship, Moose, cashed in his Call Your Shot Gauntlet win to challenge for and capture the IMPACT World Championship.

Returning to New Japan for the first time since that incident, Alexander will surely have something to prove. His opponent will be Young Lion standout, Yuyu Uemura. Although somewhat unlikely, a win against the “Walking Weapon” would be the biggest moment of Uemura’s young career.

New Japan of America Battle in the Valley Preview 11/13/21
VLNCE UNLTD (Brody King and Chris Dickinson) vs. Stray God Army (Bateman and Misterioso)

The battle for stable supremacy rages on in New Japan of America in the second match of the evening. Stray God Army is a fairly new crew and will be looking to solidify their position as a force to be reckoned with.

SGA’s leader, Bateman, will have to face off against his former team in VLNCE UNLTD. This one should be a hard-hitting affair, as there is a lot of animosity and history between these four men.

New Japan of America Battle in the Valley Preview 11/13/21
Fred Rosser, David Finlay, Rocky Romero, Alex Coughlin, and Alex Zayne vs. Team Filthy (Tom Lawlor, JR Kratos, Royce Isaacs, Jorel Nelson, Danny Limelight)

After petitioning for months and months for a shot at Tom Lawlor’s STRONG Openweight Championship, Fred Rosser finally got his wish. That match will take place at the November 15 tapings of NJPW STRONG Detonation in Riverside, California. Before that, though, we have what should be an chaotic ten-man tag match. Saturday night, Rosser will team up with David Finlay, Rocky Romero, Alex Coughlin, and Alex Zayne against Lawlor and his Team Filthy cronies.

One has to think that a win for Rosser and his team would give him some sort of a mental edge heading into the biggest match of his career. On the flip-side, a defeat could be morale-crushing to “Mr. No Days Off.” In a match with strong title implications, looks for the action to be fast and furious.

New Japan of America Battle in the Valley Preview 11/13/21
LA Dojo (Clark Connors and Karl Fredericks) vs. United Empire (Jeff Cobb and TJP)

Ever since returning to New Japan at Resurgence, Will Ospreay and his United Empire have disparaged the LA Dojo at every turn. After weeks of back-and-forth, LA Dojo graduate TJP aligned himself with Ospreay and UE by beating down several members of the Dojo. Last week on STRONG, the team of Ren Narita and Clark Connors scored an upset victory against the team of TJP and Ospreay, gaining a measure of revenge.

On Saturday, however, they will have to deal with the powerful and dangerous Jeff Cobb. The combination of speed and agility coming from TJP mixed with Cobb’s strength and catch-as-catch-can style may prove to be too much for the young Dojo members. That being said, after their victory against TJP and Ospreay, confidence should definitely be on Connors and Fredericks side.

New Japan of America Battle in the Valley Preview 11/13/21
Ren Narita vs. Will Ospreay

After his defeat at the hands of Ren Narita and Clark Connors, Will Ospreay will surely be dealing with a case of hurt pride. The man who claims to be the “real IWGP World Heavyweight Champion” will look to continue his attempted embarrassment of the LA Dojo.

Ren Narita, who many believe is the cream of the crop in the latest bunch of Young Lions, will have something else in mind. After coming up just short of being the first man to defeat Tom Lawlor since joining STRONG, Narita has shown the fiery competitiveness he’ll need to beat a competitor like Will Ospreay.

Juice Robinson vs. Moose

In the sixth match of the evening, Juice Robinson will look to get a victory against the current IMPACT! World Champion. Moose won the Call Your Shot Gauntlet at Bound for Glory, earning him a shot at a title of his choosing at the time of his choosing. Well, Moose didn’t wait long, as he cashed in moments after Josh Alexander won the title from Christian Cage.

This somewhat despicable title win (Alexander’s wife and child were in the ring when Moose attacked), along with Moose’s braggadocious claim of being a “wrestling god” haven’t set well with Juice Robinson. Juice will try to take the champion down a peg or two via the Left Hand of God to the mouth and claim a big victory over a world champion. Of course, such a victory would cause his stock to skyrocket.

Kazuchika Okada vs. Buddy Matthews

Following his release from WWE on June 2, the entire wrestling world wondered where Buddy Matthews would go. Despite pretty inconsistent booking, Matthews shined in every opportunity WWE gave him. Following a statement that saw Matthews claim to want to face the very best New Japan has to offer, Kazuchika Okada called out the man claiming to be a “Secret No More.”

Buddy Matthews will be looking for vindication and to be prove his doubters wrong with a win against a man that many consider the greatest wrestler alive. In what could surely be match of the night, this highly anticipated bout could even end up getting some match of the year buzz. Both men have plenty to prove and have never encountered each other, so expect a classic encounter.

New Japan of America Battle in the Valley Preview 11/13/21
NEVER Openweight Championship:
“Switchblade” Jay White (c) vs. Tomohiro Ishii

The term “hatred” is not to be used lightly, and many people confuse it with “dislike” or “disdain.” Let’s be clear. Jay White HATES Tomohiro Ishii. At New Year’s Dash, fresh off of “Switchblade’s” devastating IWGP World Heavyweight Championship defeat to Kota Ibushi, White fell once again to Tomohiro Ishii. This dropped his record against the “Stone Pitbull” to 0-2. A dejected Jay White then took a leave of absence from New Japan, while Ishii told him that he would give him a rematch whenever he was ready.

Once Jay White made his return, he made it clear that his goal was the NEVER Openweight title, a title that has become synonymous with Tomohiro Ishii. It quickly became clear that this was all a way for White to continue his rivalry with Ishii, but winning the championship that means that most to “The Stone Pitbull.” Jay White was successful in both of his goals, as shortly after winning the NEVER Openweight Championship, Tomohiro Ishii issued a challenge to “Switchblade.”

After declining the challenge for a few weeks, he finally decided he wanted “to be done” with his old foe. The BULLET CLUB leader then added in a stipulation that states that if he beats Ishii and retains his title, then Ishii will never be able to compete for said title ever again.

All of this adds up to what should be a fantastic main event to top off an incredible night of professional wrestling! This is all after a stacked NJPW STRONG card that will air an hour before this event (on NJPWWorld) as a pre-show. You can find the preview for that show here.

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You can catch NJPW Strong every Saturday at 10 pm EST on NJPW World for ¥999 (about $9.99 USD) a month.

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