Various: Jake Roberts Underwent Successful Hip Revision Surgery, Hiroshi Tanahashi Touts Success of NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 20, Indies/Misc.

AEW

Jan 7, 2026

Jake Roberts Underwent Successful Hip Revision Surgery

WWE Hall of Famer Jake “The Snake” Roberts’ wife Cheryl Roberts announced on Tuesday on Facebook that Roberts had underwent successful hip revision surgery and is currently back home recovering.

“Surgery was a huge success! Jake is now home and recovering. Thank you for all prayers and well wishes.”

PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that Roberts needed the procedure done to replace a previous hip replacement that had became problematic for him.

Hiroshi Tanahashi Touts Success of NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 20

New Japan Pro Wrestling President Hiroshi Tanahashi held a press conference on Tuesday in Japan to tout the success of this past Sunday’s Wrestle Kingdom 20 event at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo.

Tanahashi announced that the event drew over 3.5 million viewers on TV Asahi for the tape-delayed broadcast on the network.

Tanahashi also announced that the event exceeded NJPW’s expectations and left him “completely floored.”

Tanahashi also announced that around 155,000 people watched the show live on New Japan World. This would be on top of the event’s announced attendance of 46,913.

Misc. Wrestling News & Notes

1 Fall Wrestling (1FW) recently announced that owner QT Marshall will be making an appearance at their Clash at the Station event on February 28th in LaGrange, Georgia.

Legendary Joshi tag team The Jumping Bomb Angels (Noriyo Tateno & Itsuki Yamazaki) recently announced that a new documentary based on them is currently in production.

As noted before, WWE Hall of Famer “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase has been dealing with a lawsuit and criminal charges from the State of Mississippi since October of 2021 over allegations that DiBiase and several members of his family had embezzled several million dollars in state welfare funds for illegal purposes. Dark Horse Press Now reported that DiBiase had filed a defamation lawsuit against Mississippi State Auditor Shad White last summer before Hinds County Circuit Court. DiBiase reportedly alleges that White made false and damaging statements about him in White’s book Mississippi Swindle: Brett Favre and the Welfare Scandal that Shocked America. DiBiase claims that the book, which was published in August of 2024, wrongly portrays him as culpable in the alleged misuse of Federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds. In the lawsuit, DiBiase denies any wrongdoing and stated that no court has ruled him liable in a separate lawsuit brought by the Mississippi Department of Human Services (DHS) in December 2022. DiBiase also alleges that White used his public office and platform to promote defamatory claims for personal and political gain. DiBiase claims that White’s statements harmed his reputation and contributed to the closure of his nonprofit Heart of David Ministries in January of 2025. DiBiase is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, attorneys’ fees, and court costs, and a temporary restraining order and injunction to halt further publication and distribution of the book. DiBiase also seeks a declaratory judgment barring publication of the disputed allegations while the DHS lawsuit against him remains unresolved. Johnson reported that White has moved to dismiss the lawsuit and requested a summary judgement “arguing he is protected by absolute privilege, that DiBiase cannot establish falsity or actual malice, and that the requested injunction would constitute an unconstitutional prior restraint under the First Amendment.”

As noted before, this past Sunday’s NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 20 event in Tokyo, Japan featured Aaron Wolf defeating EVIL to become the new NEVER Openweight Championship that was also his official in-ring debut for the company. NJPW English commentator Walker Stewart recently announced on Twitter that Wolf’s Olympic Slam move will now be officially known as the Angle Slam in reverence to Olympic gold medalist and WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle.

NJPW recently released the full cards for their Road To The New Beginning 2026 events on January 19-20 at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo.

As noted before, this past Monday’s NJPW New Year Dash 2026 event in Tokyo featured IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion and IWGP World Heavyweight Champion officially bringing back the iconic IWGP Heavyweight title v4 belt for his title reign. NJPW recently announced that they have officially reinstated their IWGP Heavyweight Championship and recognized Tsuji to be the 87th holder of the title.

This past Monday’s NJPW New Year Dash 2026 event in Tokyo also featured IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion and IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji announce in a post-match backstage press conference that he has formed a new faction called “Unbound Company.” This new faction was revealed to contain Unaffiliated members Tsuji, Hiromu Takahashi, & Shingo Takagi and all of BULLET CLUB War Dogs. Tsuji stated “There’s something I need to say here today. Until now, Bullet Club War Dogs and the Independents have been working together. But that ends today. From now on, we will fight as one unit. Our name is Unbound Co. An organization that is not bound by anyone.“

As noted before, indies wrestler Warhorse has been out of action since this past December due to a broken fibula injury. Warhorse provided an update on Tuesday on Twitter stating that he had underwent succeessful surgery. Warhorse stated “1 METAL PLATE AND 6 SCREWS LATER… OPERATION WAS A SUCCESS. NOW I’M MORE METAL THAN EVER.“

Former WWE and current MLW and indies talent Shotzi Blackheart recently reflected on Twitter about her year of 2025 for her wrestling career. Blackheart stated “2025 was hands down one of the most fun years of my life. My feud with @TheMattCardona made it unforgettable. I hate to admit it, but I’m gonna miss that tan asshole…in a shared ring. unfortunately, he’s my neighbor, so I can never truly escape him or his frequent calls to the HOA. The 12 ft skeleton stays up all year round.“

Major League Wrestling recently announced one new match for the card of their Battle Riot VIII event on January 29th in Kissimmee, Florida: