Major League Wrestling (MLW) announced earlier this week it had entered into a global alliance with Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling NOAH. According to the press release, “(t)his all-encompassing partnership will feature athletes exchanged between the two organizations as well as opportunities to share content in addition to other opportunities.” The new partnership didn’t take long to see results, as shortly after it was announced that MLW National Openweight Champion Alexander Hammerstone of The Dynasty was heading NOAH’s N-1 Victory Tournament as MLW’s representative on Friday.
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📣緊急速報!!
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⭕️N-1 VICTORY 2019
～NOAH NUMBER ONE PRO-WRESTLING LEAGUE～
出場外国人選手発表！👑MLW王者 @MLW
🇺🇸アレックス･ハマーストーン
Alex Hammerstone @alexhammerstoneN-1 VICTORY 2019 参戦決定！#noah_ghc pic.twitter.com/ynbFK7Volx
— プロレスリング・ノア ｜PROWRESTLING NOAH (@noah_ghc) July 27, 2019
Originally started in 2010 as NOAH’s Global League, this year the event has been rebranded as the N-1 Victory tournament. The Global League has been NOAH’s most prestigious tournament of the year and is a round-robin style tournament similar to NJPW’s G1 Climax or All Japan’s Champion Carnival. Past winners have included KENTA (2012), Naomichi Marufuji (2015), Minoru Suzuki (2016), and last year’s winner, Kaito Kiyomiya.
It’s a huge step for MLW’s Hammerstone, who has emerged as one of the top stars in MLW since making his debut this past February. Since then, he’s been part of a huge faction war between The Dynasty and the Hart Foundation and captured the inaugural MLW National Openweight Championship, after years of being one of the top talents on the West Coast.
NOAH announced their second entrant in the N-1 and it was another North American star in Mexican luchador El Hiji del Dr. Wagner Jr. The 27-year old son of AAA legend Dr. Wagner Jr., he’s competed throughout Mexico, including working with AAA the past few years. He also recently made his own MLW debut earlier this month alongside his father against LA Park and son in Chicago.
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.
