NJPW Teases A U.S. Version Of The All Star Junior Festival For Later This Year
In the early hours of Wednesday morning, the All Star Junior Festival, an event put together by IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi, took place at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. The showcase for junior heavyweights featured talent from New Japan, All Japan, Pro Wrestling NOAH, Dragon Gate, GLEAT, CMLL, and other promotions. The event drew more than 1,300 fans.
The show did well enough that New Japan floated the idea of a potential sequel show while praising the Festival on Twitter shortly after its conclusion.
"The All Star Junior Festival more than lived up to every bit of that billing tonight... and could we be seeing a US version this year??" the tweet said.
An article on New Japan's website was even more explicit about a follow-up show that could occur in the United States. According to the article, Rocky Romero, via video message, offered Takahashi a chance to produce a similar festival in the United States later this year. It wasn't revealed whether Takahashi took him up on the offer, with the article pondering just how a U.S. version of the festival would come across.
If a U.S. edition of the All Star Junior Festival were to occur, it would likely include the participation of promotions such as AEW and Impact Wrestling, in addition to the numerous promotions from Japan. Both AEW and Impact are partners of New Japan, with AEW also currently maintaining strong relationships with DDT Wrestling and Pro Wrestling NOAH.