Lion's Break Project

Logo of the first Lion's Break Project show

Lion's Break is the developmental branch of professional wrestling promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), which holds events under the banner of Lion's Break Project. The branch was officially announced on July 6, 2018, and held its first show on November 10 and 11, 2018. In addition to NJPW wrestlers, the Lion's Break Project shows also feature wrestlers from other promotions, resulting in unique cards.

The first events were held in the United States in Anaheim, California at the Anaheim Convention Center. Wrestlers from promotions such as Ring of Honor (ROH) and other independent promotions have also taken part in the project. NJPW rookies Alex Coughlin, Karl Fredericks and Clark Connors have made their official debuts at Lion's Break Project shows.

History

In April 2017, NJPW went public with their plan of an American expansion, which included establishing a subsidiary and running extended tours in the United States with California as the base, while also establishing a dojo for training Americans in Los Angeles, run by Rocky Romero. The full-scale running of the American market was set to launch in 2018. According to NJPW owner Takaaki Kidani, the plan was a direct response to WWE taking four wrestlers, including AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura, from NJPW in January 2016. In July 2, Takaaki Kidani stated that NJPW was going to open an office in Los Angeles before the end of 2017, with a dojo to be opened at the start of 2018.

On March 24, 2018 NJPW helded "Strong Style Saturday" at the newly-opened NJPW LA Dojo, where they announced that Katsuyori Shibata serving as head trainer and ROH wrestler Scorpio Sky serving as assistant trainer for the new established dojo. In addition of the opening of the NJPW Dojo in USA, on July 6, NJPW announced an developmental branch similar to the Lion's Gate in Japan which is called Lion's Break would be holding its first show on November 10 and 11, 2018, in Anaheim, California at the Anaheim Convention Center. NJPW had earlier attempted a developmental branch with a project named NEVER in Japan, which held shows between 2010 and 2012.

Events

Lion's Break Project 1

Lion's Break Project 1
Information
Promotion	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
Brand(s)	Lion's Break
Date	November 10, 2018 November 11, 2018
Venue	Anaheim Convention Center
City	Anaheim, California, U.S.
Event chronology
Previous Power Struggle (2018)
Next World Tag League 2018
Lion's Break Project chronology
Previous First
Next Lion's Break Project 2

The first Lion's Break Project event was held on November 10 and 11, 2018, in Anaheim, California at Anaheim Convention Center. The event featured eight matches, with 4 matches in each nights, in which including one match featuring the official debuts of Karl Fredericks and Alex Coughlin two new young lions forom the US Dojo also debuting was Clark Connors losing against NJPW veteran Jushin Thunder Liger.

Night 1

#	Results	Stipulations	Times
1	Karl Fredericks and Alex Coughlin wrestled to a time limit draw	Singles match	10:00
2	Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Rocky Romero	Singles match	09:24
3	David Finlay defeated Jushin Thunder Liger	Singles match	08:40
4	Hirooki Goto defeated ACH	Singles match	12:54
(c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match – refers to the video of that match

Night 2

#	Results	Stipulations	Times
1	ACH defeated Karl Fredericks	Singles match	05:08
2	Jushin Thunder Liger defeated Clark Connors	Singles match	05:09
3	Jeff Cobb and Ryusuke Taguchi defeated CHAOS (Hirooki Goto and Rocky Romero)	Tag team match	17:15
4	Kenny Omega defeated David Finlay	Singles match	12:41
(c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match – refers to the video of that match

External links

• The official New Japan Pro-Wrestling English website