Various: New Hayabusa on His Goal to Be Recognized as Just “Hayabusa” & Not as 2nd Gen Version or Reincarnation, Bushiroad CEO Takaaki Kidani on His Expectation 2nd Half of 2025 for NJPW & Stardom Will Be “Quite Promising”, Indies/Misc.

Jun 5, 2025

New Hayabusa Comments on His Debut This Pat April & His Goal to Be Recognized as Just “Hayabusa” & Not as 2nd Gen Version or Reincarnation

Tokyo Sports held a recent interview with the new Hayabusa who made his official debut this past April for Pro Wrestling ZERO1. One of the topics discussed included Hayabusa’s thoughts about his recent official debut match against Masato Tanaka.

“I didn’t hear anything about it myself, but I am very grateful. The fact that I was able to have a match with Masato Tanaka on the stage of Ryogoku was a big deal for me.”

Hayabusa also gave his thoughts about Tanaka and General Manager Megumi Kudo were two reasons why he wanted to debut under the ZERO1 banner.

“Masato Tanaka is there, and so is G.M. Megumi Kudo. I think it was inevitable that I would come back here. Why did it have to be this timing? I think it was fate that drew me here.”

Hayabusa also gave his thoughts about his goal of wanting to be recognized as Hayabusa and not as a second or third-generation version or as a reincarnation of the famous character.

“People say I’m the second or third-generation, or a new reincarnation, but I’m Hayabusa. I’m neither the second nor the third generation. I hope that the viewers will recognize me as such.”

The original Hayabusa, real name Eiji Ezaki, passed away in 2016 and the family of Ezaki gave their approval for the revival of the Hayabusa character.

Bushiroad CEO Takaaki Kidani Comments on His Expectation That Second Half of 2025 for NJPW & Stardom Will Be “Quite Promising”

Bushiroad recently held an earnings call to discuss the results from their fiscal 2024 report. One of the topics discussed included Bushiroad CEO Takaaki Kidani stating that he currently expects that the second half of 2025 will be “quite promising” for both New Japan Pro Wrestling and Stardom.

Regarding sports, he assumes that a generational change is taking place in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, with young wrestlers becoming active, while veterans are also being activated, and will be in good shape from spring to summer. He also expects the further rise of young wrestlers in the final road to President Hiroshi Tanahashi’s retirement.
On the other hand, he said that STARDOM has not lost momentum despite the retirements and resignations of prominent players, but rather has been able to increase its momentum. Both New Japan Pro-Wrestling and STARDOM were in a transitional period, but he expressed the expectation that the second half of this year would be quite promising.

Transcript h/t: Gamebiz.jp

Misc. Wrestling News & Notes

Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling recently announced that Yuka Sakazaki will be making a return appearance for the company at their TJPW Live in Dallas event on July 13th in Dallas, Texas.

Indies and former Major League Wrestling talent Richard Holliday recently announced that he will be holding an event called Narcissistic Behavior on August 3rd in Hamden, Connecticut. Holliday announced that this upcoming event will be in celebration of the 10 year anniversary of his wrestling career debut.

Love Pro Wrestling recently announced that Billie Starkz and Sinner & Saint (Judas Icarus & Travis Williams) will be making an appearance at their Love Pro Wrestling 38 event on June 27th in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

In a recent interview with The Stardom Cast podcast, Mara Sade, former Jakara Jackson in WWE, gave her thoughts about her interest in working for Stardom for her post-WWE wrestling career. Sade stated “I would love to work in Japan and Stardom would be a dream. It’s a very prestigious promotion and amazing women have come from there. I just want to sharpen my tools and be the best. I’m not doing this for nothing. If I was given the opportunity to do so, I would thrive, grow, and learn. I respect the culture and how they do things there. It would help me grow as a performer and wrestler. It’d be great.” Sade also gave her thoughts about Saya Kamitani being who she is the most interested in wrestling a potential match against in Stardom. (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

TNA Wrestling announced that Wednesday was the 21st anniversary of the debut of their Impact! television series, TNA stated “Exactly this moment 21 years ago today, the first episode of #TNAiMPACT was broadcast on Fox Sports Net. Thank you to every single person who’s watched any of the 1089 episodes that have helped make TNA iMPACT! one of the longest running wrestling television shows in history.“

In a recent interview with the Lightweights with Joe Vulpis podcast, former TNA and current AEW talent Deonna Purrazzo gave her thoughts about how former TNA President Scott D’Amore gave her permission to talk with WWE and AEW in 2023 when her contract with TNA was expiring. Purrazzo stated “It’s funny because I’ve seen a lot of misconception about this (how Purrazzo got AEW offer), and I’ve talked openly about talking to AEW while I was ending my IMPACT contract and I got permission from Scott D’Amore like 90 days out. So the beginning of October, I was like, ‘Hey, you have not spoke to me about renewing my contract. Is it okay?… I don’t know anything about contract tampering. I don’t want to contract tamper. I don’t want to do anything the wrong way. I respect you, I respect this company so much. Tell me the right way to go about this. You have not spoke to me about re-signing. Is it okay for me to go try to talk to AEW? Or WWE?’ And he was like, ‘Absolutely,’ and he was like, ‘I think that you’re not talking about doing things now… You’re talking about starting January 1st when you would technically be free so, go talk to whoever you wanna talk to.’” Purrazzo also gave her thoughts about how she felt “bummed” over TNA waiting till the last minute to reach out to her for a potential new deal. Purrazzo stated “Yes. Like I — yes and no (Purrazzo responded when asked if she was hurt by IMPACT/TNA not making the effort to re-sign her). So, earlier, my contract at IMPACT was originally two years and it had a third-year option that was their option. So at the end of that two-year mark, I had said, ‘I don’t know if this place is for me. Maybe I wanna explore other things. I know it’s your choice but respectfully, could you not take that third-year option?’ And at first, they were like, ‘You can go talk and explore and whatever but we’ll let you know’ and then they picked up the third-year option, which honestly, I’m very thankful for. I think it all worked out the way it should have and I wasn’t upset by that. But when it came to renewing my contract and getting a completely new one, yeah, I was bummed because I just felt like I gave so much heart and soul and 100 percent of me to this company to be — you know, I was Ms. IMPACT Wrestling for three and a half years so, why wouldn’t you wanna keep me? And it wasn’t until last minute… like the end of November that they were like, ‘No! We do wanna keep you’ and I was kind of already like, hmm, but now I don’t think I want to stay. It was just a very weird — I felt like why wouldn’t you wanna keep me? But also, do you not wanna keep me because you thought I wanted to leave? It was a weird communication, honestly. But yeah, I was upset.” This interview was held in September of 2024 but only was recently released. (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

Game Changer Wrestling recently announced one new match for the card of their The Top Play event on July 5th in Hartford, Connecticut:

Dr. Redacted vs. Ultramantis Black