In an interesting twist that may send reverberations throughout the entire wrestling industry in 2019, All Elite Wrestling may have been left out of the relationship between New Japan Pro-Wrestling and Ring of Honor, according to a new report from Dave Meltzer via Wrestling Observer Radio.
As previously reported, parties from all three promotions were scheduled to meet in Japan this past weekend following Wrestle Kingdom 13 at the Tokyo Dome, to discuss a potential business alliance as well as lay out their plans going forward.
“New Japan has made the decision that they are going to work with Ring of Honor,” reports Meltzer, “which means right now — at least for now — they’re not working with All Elite.”
It was assumed that, at least for the foreseeable future, New Japan and ROH would continue their partnership through their major upcoming event at Madison Square Garden this April. It was also known that all the talent heading up AEW, including Cody Rhodes and the Young Bucks, were interested in continuing to work dates for New Japan going forward, but had finished up with ROH and would not be returning.
There are obvious reasons why any promotion in the United States, which includes New Japan as they continue their western expansion with several major tours in 2019, would be hesitant to work too closely with the fledgling AEW, given the amount of money being put being the promotion and reports that major television networks were interested in doing business.
Immediately, the biggest question becomes the future of Kenny Omega. News broke on Sunday that the former IWGP Heavyweight Champion would be leaving New Japan in a move that shocked many, as the assumption was that he would be the catalyst that kept New Japan and AEW working together, as neither side wanted to lose him. There is also an alleged multi-million dollar offer from WWE on the table.