NJPW Adds Title Match To Battle In The Valley
NJPW Battle in the Valley takes place on February 18, and features Mercedes Mone challenging KAIRI for the IWGP Women's Championship. This will not be the show's only championship match, as NJPW has officially announced that the Motor City Machine Guns will put their NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship on the line against the West Coast Wrecking Crew. Jorel Nelson and Royce Isaacs have been a team on the indies for a few years, and have picked up recent victories over the likes of C4 and Los Suavecitos. This will be Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley's third title defense for NJPW — having previously defended against the Stray Dog Army and Roppongi Vice.
Also added to the NJPW Battle in the Valley card is an eight-man tag team match. The tag match will see KUSHIDA, Kevin Knight, Volador Jr., and The DKC face off against the team of Rocky Romero, Mascara Dorada, Adrian Quest, and Impact World Champion Josh Alexander. Already announced for Battle In The Valley is Jay White taking on AEW star Eddie Kingston in a singles match, and Homicide taking on "Filthy" Tom Lawlor. The West Coast Wrecking Crew are in a faction with Lawlor known as Team Filthy, recently picking up a trios victory over the team of The Conglomerate.
Battle In The Valley will be headlined by the aforementioned Mone vs KAIRI encounter, which will be Mone's first match since walking out of WWE in May 2022. The IWGP World Heavyweight Championship will also be defended at the event, however, the participants in the match are yet to be confirmed.