Wrestle Kingdom is New Japan Pro Wrestling's equivalent to WrestleMania, and much like WWE's marquee event, Gedo, Rockey Romero, and company pull out all of the stops to make sure the event is as special as possible.
With matches already on the books that felt impossible a few years back, from AEW's Kenny Omega's triumphant return to the promotion that made him against his archrival, Will Ospreay, to a Stardom match between Kairi (Sane) versus Tam Nakano for the IWGP Women's Championship, and even a NEVER Openweight match between WWE's Karl Anderson with Luke Gallows versus Tama Tonga with Jado, Wrestle Kingdom 17 has the potential to be the true Forbidden Door Pay-Per-View even more so than the NJPW x AEW co-promotion of the same name, but how did it come into being? How did a promotion in Japan that runs relatively small shows in America secure some of the biggest stars in professional wrestling? Well, Rocky Romero, who American wrestling-only fans know mostly as an affiliate of Best Friends, stopped by Renee Paquette's Sessions podcast to explain how he was able to break through WWE's informal no-indies policy to bring the “Machine Gun” under the bright lights of the Tokyo Dome.
“It’s been a very stressful situation for me,” Romero said (h/t Wrestling Headlines). “Obviously, when the guys started talking about WWE had reached out to them, I of course started to get nervous because I knew that we had a bunch of dates set and everything and obviously, like you [Renee Paquette] said, Anderson was the NEVER Openweight Champion. I got worried and I said, ‘You know, you guys just don’t screw me over please.’ I was part of the reason that you guys came back and helped to, you know? Obviously, they left on good terms and everything, but just to bring them back was definitely a part of that.”
“So we started talking about that but then finally [Anderson] was like, ‘Okay, we’re gonna sign and somebody’s gonna have to talk to WWE.’ So of course that means me having to talk to WWE. But I got on the line and obviously, there was some confusion on the dates that they were gonna actually do and there was that November 5 show that Anderson had already been announced for for New Japan but then it was also the same time that the Saudi Arabia show was going on. Obviously there was gonna be conflict right there, so that’s kind of how it started. It started off real rocky and they went and did Saudi, we figured it out, got a new date, and then just decided to turn it into a big angle because I thought that was probably the best way to deal with it. Hoping that everything was gonna work out but not really sure. Finally, [Anderson] went and did this last show a couple days ago and successfully defended the title. So now he’ll be at the Tokyo Dome to face Tama Tonga, which is really exciting. Dude, this Tokyo Dome is gonna be insane. We have a WWE wrestler in Karl Anderson, we have Kenny Omega who’s an AEW wrestler, we’ve got Stardom wrestlers on the show, we’ve got New Japan wrestlers.”
Asked point blank by Paquette if AJ Styles, the leader of The OC in WWE and the second leader of Bullet Club, could join The Good Brothers on their January excursion to Japan for Wrestle Kingdom 17, Romero delivered the quote of the podcast.
“Anything is possible, Renee. Anything is possible,” Romero responded.
Rocky Romero comments on another WWE star appearing at Wrestle Kingdom.
Alright, so with Styles maybe making his way back over to Japan for his first New Japan Pro Wrestling appearance since 2016, Paquette also decided to ask Romero about Sasha Banks making an appearance at Wrestle Kingdom 17, which might just be the worst-kept secret in professional wrestling. Still, ever the professional, Romero decided to tow the company line and keep Banks' name – or that of Mercedes Mone's, the name fans think she will use on the indies – out of his mouth.
“I’ve heard a lot of rumors, but I can’t confirm nor deny at this moment,” Romero said (h/t TJR Wrestling). “Fingers crossed, you never know what could happen. There will definitely be surprises at the Tokyo Dome.”
While the arrival of Styles would be an internet-shattering, bazooka-through-the-Forbidden Door sort of moment, the assertion of Banks into the indie wrestling world has to be a close second, as her star power – even if WWE doesn't believe in it – could be transformative for NJPW and any other promotion she works for moving forward.
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