NJPW Star Jumps Ship To TNA
Former NJPW title-holder joins TNA, signs contract.
KUSHIDA has formally signed with TNA Wrestling ahead of the promotion's January 2024 rebrand.
IMPACT Wrestling, which is to return to its TNA roots with its upcoming Hard to Kill 2024 pay-per-view, made the announcement on Wednesday, releasing the following statement:
It’s official, KUSHIDA has signed a contract with TNA Wrestling. As a longtime New Japan Pro-Wrestling standout, KUSHIDA has held the IWGP Jr Heavyweight Championship and IWGP Jr Heavyweight Tag Team Championships on multiple occasions. KUSHIDA has been on the precipice of success since his arrival last year, taking Steve Maclin to his limit in an IMPACT World Championship match at Rebellion 2023. It’s time for KUSHIDA to take his career to the next level and it happens in TNA Wrestling!
KUSHIDA had re-signed with the promotion he is most synonymous with, NJPW, in June 2022, doing so two months after departing WWE. Per the former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion on the Battleground Podcast, signing for TNA will not change his relationship with New Japan.
A six-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, KUSHIDA was considered the division's ace before Hiromu Takahashi's emergence. He left Japan for WWE in 2019, debuting at that April's NXT TakeOver: New York event, though he was never able to make the same mark in the market leaders and left once his initial three-year deal had expired.
KUSHIDA last appeared for IMPACT/TNA in September, though he has been a relatively consistent performer for the Anthem-helmed promotion since July 2022.