Jay White Loses 'Loser Must Leave Japan' Match At NJPW The New Beginning

The Switchblade's time in Japan has come to an end.

by Andrew Pollard
Jay White
NJPW

With plentiful intrigue surrounding yesterday's Loser Leaves Japan match between Jay White and Hikuleo, it was the Switchblade who ultimately came up short.

Taking place at NJPW The New Beginning in Osaka, Hikuelo scored the pinfall victory after hitting White with a chokeslam.

After the match, the New Zealander shared a ringside fist-bump with Hiroshi Tanahashi - who was on commentary - before cutting a backstage promo where, in Japanese, White declared New Japan as his home and the NJPW fans as his family.

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While Jay White's time in Japan may be done, he is still heading to New Japan Strong next Saturday where he will take on Eddie Kingston in San Jose, California as part of Battle in the Valley. As such, Jay's post-match promo at New Beginning also saw him note to the Mad King how White now has nothing else to lose.

Prior to The New Beginning, there were reports that WWE had significant interest in both Jay White and Hikuleo, with many speculating that the loser of that contest would be heading to the market leader. Likewise, AEW would obviously have interest in the pair, too, with both White and Hikuleo having already appeared on All Elite programming.

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In terms of Jay White, the Catalyst's time in New Japan Pro-Wrestling was a hugely successful one, with him progressing from being a Young Lion back in 2015, to now reflecting back on a tenure that saw the 30-year-old win the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, the IWGP Intercontinental Championship, the NEVER Openweight Championship, and the IWGP United States Championship.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.