Last night was the latest New Japan Pro Wrestling event in the United States. NJPW Resurgence was once again a solid offering, featuring a one night tournament to crown the first ever NJPW Strong Women’s Champion.
One thing that no one expected was an announcement from the NJPW Strong & IWGP Tag Team Champions, Aussie Open. It was not good news, with it being announced that Mark Davis needs surgery – and as a result, both sets of belts are now vacant.
Mark Davis Needs Knee Surgery, Aussie Open Vacates Two Sets Of Belts
We’d get the following update from Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer.
“Mark Davis of Aussie Open had arthroscopic surgery on his knee to repair a torn meniscus. Aussie Open vacated both the New Japan Strong and IWGP Tag Team titles because they would be unable to make their already advertised defense at the June 4 Dominion show in Osaka.”
On June 4th, Aussie Open were set to defend against Bishamon & House of Torture. This is an ideal situation, as with two sets of challengers – the match can be easily altered to be for the IWGP Tag Team Championships. Regardless of which team wins the belts, it’s expected that Aussie Open will be taking the belts back as soon as Davis is back in the ring.
Forbidden Door Could Crown New NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Championships
The NJPW Strong Tag Team Championships have a less clear path – and we are likely to get an update on those as we get closer to the next US based show. AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door gives a chance to crown new champions. The next show solely run by NJPW to be a two night event in July titled Independence Day.
We will see Kyle Fletcher in action this Wednesday on AEW Dynamite. He will be facing Orange Cassidy, with a chance to win the AEW International Championship in the process.
Fletcher is expected to find more singles matches as Davis recovers, with this being a chance to prove he’s more than simply a tag team specialist. We here at TheOvertimer wish Mark Davis a speedy recovery.
Who do you think will claim the belts previously held by Aussie Open? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
SUBSCRIBE NOW: Get TheOvertimer’s Hottest Stories, Breaking News and Special Features in your email, CLICK HERE!
