NJPW Announce Madison Square Garden Return & Primetime TV Deal
New Beginning in Osaka brought several major NJPW announcements.
This weekend's New Beginning in Osaka show was a fruitful one for New Japan Pro Wrestling, with the King of Sports making a number of big announcements throughout the broadcast.
One of which was the previously-reported return to Madison Square Garden. Dave Meltzer broke this story in last week's Wrestling Observer Newsletter and NJPW made it official on Sunday, confirming that Wrestle Dynasty will go down in the World's Most Famous Arena on 22 August.
On top of this, the promotion confirmed that their new television show, World Pro Wrestling Returns, will begin airing on BS Asahi at 8pm on Friday evenings starting in April. This is significant as it's a primetime slot. NJPW hasn't had such a spot in years, with their current golden era playing out in a graveyard television slot, making their modern business and creative achievements all the more remarkable.
There's currently no word on what exact date World Pro Wrestling Returns will commence on.
New Beginning in Osaka was also a box office smash, drawing more than double the previous year's attendance (albeit in a much larger building) with KENTA vs. Tetsuya Naito on top.