Who is Takuya Sugi -- Japan Expo NWA France

NWA France's annual participation to the Japan Expo is usually met with the addition of world class talent to the event.  This year is no different.  As announced in the NWA France: ICWA Returns to Japan Expo article I posted earlier this week, Sugi is the big announced name for this years Catch portion of the Expo.  In previous years the show had Metal Master and WWE's Daniel Bryan.  Now Sugi might be a well known name in the States his International Presence has been well documented.  Sugi has competed in Japan with ZERO1, HUSTLE, Inoki Genome Federation, Michinoku Pro, Big Mouth Loud, and New Japan's Lock Up Brand; The United States with Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, and recently in Mexico with AAA.

 As The★ZEST he defeated Ozamu Namiguchi for the WWA Jr. Heavyweight Title and later as NOIZ defeated a second The★ZEST.  The WWA Jr. Heavyweight Title was briefly recognized by ZERO1 as the disputed portion of the WWA from Mexico.  Takuya Sugi has competed for several NWA affiliates over the years, but this will mark the first time he will compete in NWA France.  French fans will get one heck of a show with Sugi on the card. 

NWA France: ICWA -- Returns to the Japan Expo

Wrestling is back at the 2011 Japan Expo from Paris-Nord Villenpinte Exhibition Center from June 30th to July 3rd 2011. The ICWA will be returning to the annual event off the heels of their June Brawl show earlier in the month from Lestrem France. In the past this festival has hosted wrestlers from all over the world including WWE's Daniel Bryan and Metal Master, check out the results from 2008 here. This year, the French NWA Members are going to be no different bringing in direct from AAA, Sugi and his rival Ronin. Sugi is known to finish off his opponents with the Shooting Star Press and the Catch Fans in France are in for a treat when the duo face off. Ronin and Sugi have been facing off in Mexico and the grudge will carry on to France during the Japan Expo. Also expected to participate at the annual Catch event in France is the NWA France Heavyweight Champion PV Red, NWA European Champion FRITZ Hellmeister, NWA European Tag Champions French Flavour and Kim Kaycee the NWA European Ladies Champion.

The Japan Expo will conclude a busy month of the ICWA, as previously mention June Brawl on June 19th and Red on June 4th were also events scheduled this month.  Click here for more on the Japan-Expo and for more on NWA France

NWA International: Spanning the Globe

Pro Wrestling has been celebrated across the globe in hundreds of wrestling promotions throughout the years.  The National Wrestling Alliance has firmly kept its international roots since its inception well over 60 years ago.  And although over time, the names and faces have changed, the NWA is very much a global wrestling sanctioning body, with offices all across the United States there are other offices that span the globe that include, Canada, Mexico, Scotland, France, Japan, Korea, and Australia.  Often times the coverage of non-North American Wrestling promotions go by the way side.  But here at Alliance-Wrestling we are working to provide coverage on all things NWA, even to our lesser known international promotions.

The World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) had announced their newest project much to the chagrin of The Scottish Wrestling Alliance (SWA).  The SWA has been the most active NWA member in the UK and even developed a training/feeder promotion to produce talent for its SWA, title NXT: The Next Generation.  The owner of SWA and NXT released the following comment to the media regarding the WWE announcement.

Everyone at the Scottish Wrestling Alliance is honoured that WWE have decided to name their latest product after SWA's feeder programme, NXT. We would like to assure our fans that the original NXT is still leading the way for trainees in Scotland and the shows on 6th February, Spittal Community Centre, Rutherglen, 19th February, Bargarran Community Centre, Erskine, March 6th, Viewpark Community Centre, Uddingston and March 19th, Links Community Centre, Cumbernauld are all still due to go ahead as advertised."   After long and careful planning, SWA:NXT made it’s debut in January 2007 as a promotion designed to showcase up and coming talent within Scotland in conjunction with SWA’s Area 52 wrestling school. In 2009
NXT Wrestling split from the Scottish Wrestling Alliance to stand on it’s own two feet, taking it’s own creative direction in September 

The situation was resolved when PJ Murphy, owner of the SWA stated on the SWA Website that the "WWE was proactive in working with us to come to mutually agreeable terms on the release of the NXT trademark once it learned of the potential conflict. The timing was right for us as we were planning on renaming the NXT brand to SWA:Source to be closer aligned with the SWA parent brand"  Scottish Wrestling Alliance presents: Live Pro Wrestling in Erskine, Renfrewshire on Feb.19th 2010.  The NWA Scottish Heavyweight Champion is "The Butcher" Scott Renwick, The Laird of the Ring Champion is Damien O'Conor, and the SWA Tag Team Champions are the STI.

NWA France has completed a newly designed Website for their fans. They have already announced two live events for the month of March, with the first event being March 7th, featuring NWA European Women's Champion Bulla Punk. International Catch Wrestling Alliance has the distinction of being the home promotion for both the NWA France championship: Greg Fury, the NWA European Championship: Fritz Hellmeister, and the NWA European Tag Team Champions: East Connection. The ICWA also recognizes its own champions in former WWE wrestler Joe. E. Legend as the Heavyweight Champion and Booster Rocket as the Extreme Champion.

The country of Australia might be heading towards a cooling off season, but the wrestling in Australia is anything but. There are two promotions representing the National Wrestling Alliance in the land down under. NWA Pro Wrestling Australia Perth, Western Australia. NWA Pro Australia has recently announced that they will be creating a new tag team division, the NWA Pro Tag League begins to crown the first Australian National Tag Team Champions at Zero Tolerance. Teams confirmed for the tournament so far: The Graham Brothers' Greg and Joey, The Los Aztecas, Hartley Jackson & "Pitbull" Craig Cole and the Australian National Championship will be defended. Zero Tolerance will be taking place March 20th. EPW has started its second season on Loco TV with its Monday Night Wrestling program, becoming Friday Night Wrestling on Loco TV. The first episode features a hardcore match up between Kracker Jack and former NWA Pro Wrestling M1W Heavyweight Champion: Bobby Marshall. This match took place at EPW's Evolution 2009 and was brutal. This was prior to Bobby Marshall being exiled from Australia after being suspended by EPW Officials. Marshall was recently exiled from the US after losing his M1W Heavyweight Championship, one has to believe that Marshall is set to take his revenge on Richter and the entire Darkest Hour. EPW's next big event is entitled GOLD RUSH 3 which is set to take place on April 17th. at the Cyril Jackson Rec Centre, Fisher St, Bassendean.

The NWA continues to span the globe and at Alliance-Wrestling.com, we plan to follow it. 

Updates on NWA France: ICWA

The Institute of National French Catch has partnered with NWA France to bring an exclusive training grounds for the International Wrestling Catch Alliance. Students of the INFC have an intensive training for 2 months. The best students compete for spots on the ICWA Roster. This intensive training begins three to four times a year. The sessions will run from Monday to Friday, with three hours of the morning training in private lessons and free access to training in the evening, together with the wrestlers and pro wrestlers attending INFC.

That's not all that's happening in France, the ICWA recently ran an event Bulla Punk regain the NWA France Women's Championship. The main event of that night was the Smoke and Roll Express defeating the newly formed X-Force. Before the match Ken Abis came to the ring and announced that he couldn't wrestle, but found a partner of his stature. So Bis Abis, teamed up with the Szandor.

Their next shows are announced for September 12th. With no card announced yet, the ICWA plans on 2 running shows in 2 different locations. One in Calonne Ricouart and one in Aubergenville.

NWA Week In Review Jan. 24th

Here is our first installment of the Week in Review.

2009 started off quickly for the NWA. And not even a month into the new year do we have a new National Champion, Phillip Shatter. Shatter defeated former champion Crusher Hansen and Chris LeRusso in a Triple Threat Match. Shatter was originally scheduled to have a title shot against Hansen in Niles, OH for the Santa Slam. The match was postponed due to traveling issues for the former Anarchy Heavyweight Champion. Shatter after winning the championship has already signed on for a defense for the new NWA Charlotte taking on Mikal Judas.

Speaking of NWA Charlotte Saturday the 24th will be their debut event entitled "Homecoming" The inaugural show will feature talents from NWA Anarchy, NWA Pro, and Mid-Atlantic Legends. This show, described as a throwback to Mid-Atlantic tradition. JD Costello (former manager to NWA tag team MOD, had said “We will begin bi-weekly shows in Charlotte under the NWA Charlotte brand in early 2009." Costello already has scheduled a Main Event match-up between "Shooter" Brent Albright and "Scrap Iron" Adam Pearce in a match to determine a #1 Contender to Blue Demon Jr. In addition to the National Heavyweight Championship bout and Albright-Pearce showdown, a "Legends Championship Match" between Ivan Koloff and The Barbarian has been scheduled. NWA Charlotte plans to broadcasts its bi-weekly shows.

NWA Wrestling Showcase makes it's return to Colours TV. The shows were recorded in the lush Columbia Square Studios in Hollywood, California. The debut was to be set for Friday the 23rd however due to some technical issues, the broadcast will be pushed back to next Friday, the 30th of January. If you have Dish Network, you can watch the premiere next Friday at 6:00pm EST. on Channel 9407 on Dish or streaming from the Colours TV.org. It is expected that the episodes will air on demand on NWAWrestling.com.

NWA Mexico and their quest to be more accessible to their crowds was recently reported by The Cubsfan. It was also mentioned that Blue Demon Jr. could be appearing for New Japan Pro Wrestling, for an up-coming Lucha Extravaganza in Mexico and El Dandy will be getting a US visa to challenge his nemesis, Demon Jr. on American Soil.

Stretching in far East with WWA Korea, NWA Championship Wrestling from Florida affiliate, has introduced a new website. The website is loaded with content from theme music, pictures, and video. In the video section there are clips shown of the press conference between "Super Dragon" Lee Wang Pyo and MMA Fighter and former IWGP Heavyweight Champion Bob Sapp. In the clip Sapp shoves Super Dragon to the floor. And Dragon retaliates by slapping Sapp in the face. The two agreed to a MMA style fight for the WWA Heavyweight Title. Pyo, student to Legendary Korean Wrestler Kim II defeated Sapp with an armbar submission.

NWA France had a their annual event entitled Revolution 5. The venue was packed with 2,500 fans in attendance. And what they saw was Bulla Punk defend her ICWA Women's Championship against Ohio Valley Wrestling's Serena Deeb, Greg Furry became the 1st ever Time Scale Champion, Smoke'N'Roll Express retained tag titles and Joe E. Legend retained his tag title. Also ICWA will be introducing 2 new championships, NWA French National Championship and the NWA European Championship.

Two points of interest from the land down under. Monday Night Wrestling has begun to re-air on LocoTV. Monday Night Wrestling's 1st Season Originally aired on Perth's Access 31, a public access. Since Access 31 is out of business and the new home is LocoTV, a broadcasting site based from Australia. Thus far, this showcase of NWA Australian talent has had 4 episodes and are all available on demand. Explosive Pro Wrestling PERTH is also set to show their first big event of '09. The Great Aussie Bash will feature Shane Haste and Team Blitz, The European Union, Bobby Marshall, Richter, and EPW Heavyweight Champion, Davis Storm. The fate of former EPW Superstar Jamie Jurah will also be decided.

IWA Puerto Rico's affiliation with the NWA is no longer in existence. IWA PR was home to the crowning of a New NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship after the TNA-NWA split. This was briefly discussed on the Alliance Message Board with NWA Pro front man, David Marquez. There was a great topic on the current members of the NWA. Wait... you're not a member yet? What are you waiting for? Sign up here!

Jerry "The King" Lawler will return to the Tennessee to wrestle for NWA Main Event on Saturday, January 24th. The veteran of 35 years in the ring will take on "Crippler" Jeff Daniels. This marks the second time in recent months that Jerry Lawler has worked on his home turf and is an expected sell out event.

Lastly, NWA Southwest has added a new member into its territory. Paradise Pro Wrestling (South Padre Island), joins the NWA Southwest family which is made up of; NWA Oklahoma, PWF (Amarillo, Texas), WOW (Houston, TX), GCWA - (Corpus Christi, TX). The promotion is fronted by Carmine DeSpirito, who has had many experiences in the NWA promoting and booking in Midwest and with NWA Pro. DeSpirito plans to start running shows in conjunction with Spring Break. with initial shows centering around Spring Break and will take place at the South Padre Island Convention Center beginning Sunday, February 15th at 5pm. And will continue with shows scheduled for March 15th, 22nd and 29th.

And that's your NWA Week In Review for Janurary 24th.

Big announcements were made in France

NWA France had a their annual event entitled Revolution 5. Big news was reported as the NWA and ICWA have come to the agreement that will change the face of the NWA in France. ICWA with the NWA will create 2 new titles for 2009. John Do, a representative of the NWA made the announcement office that the NWA will be creating the first ever NWA France National Title and the NWA European Championship.

The first championship announced from The venue was packed with 2,500 fans in attendance and featured several championship bouts. The first championship match featured the French Connection and the Smoke and Roll Express. Ken Abis and Bis A Bis retained their tag team titles. Next up was the Women's Championship and Bulla Punk defended against Ohio Valley Wrestling's Serena Deeb. Next was the new concept of "Time Scale." This match featured Greg Fury and Tom Delacroix battling back and forth, minutes later they are joined by Driss Djaffali, Romeo, Peter Fisher, and Yan Colby, and lastly Szandor. Each wrestler tried to obtain a title that was hung from the ceiling. The match ended when Fury picked up the title. A new concept that must be seen to believe. Lastly the ICWA Heavyweight Champion, Joe E. Legend defended his crown against former WWE wrestler Gangrel, the Vampire Warrior. Legend retained his title.

The Globalization of the NWA

It wasn't long ago, when the influence of the National Wrestling Alliance only went as far as the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. With all the talk of how the NWA has grown leaps and bounds in the past few years, very little is spoken about the International Expansion of the NWA. Here's a break down of the growth of the NWA in the past 5 Years.

2003
NWA Mid-Atlantic used a mix of the their current roster and an expanded roster that included Dr. Death Steve Williams and Terry Taylor to promote a series of events in the People's Republic of China.

2005
NWA Mid-Atlantic made another expedition to Asia, this time to Korea. This show was packed with Superstars; Sting, Billy Gunn, Dusty Rhodes, Buff Bagwell, Terry Taylor, Raven, DDP, AJ Styles and then Worlds Champion Jeff Jarret.

2006
NWA Championship Wrestling From Florida begin to sanction Korea's World Wrestling Alliance, creating NWA South Korea.

NWA Pro Wrestling enter a partnership with Explosive Pro Wrestling in Perth and Adelaide. The partnership includes NWA Sanctioning of NWA Australia and a talent exchange.

2007
NWA Pro tours Australia with NWA Australia. Claudio Castagnoli, and Rocky Romero join the Australian roster to determine an Australian National Champion. Plus a World Tag Team defense of then champions, The Real American Heroes. And a main event that saw Sean Waltman wrestle Bryan Danielson.

2008
David Marquez, with Blue Demon Jr. announces the creation of a new NWA member in Mexico.
New Japan Pro Wrestling rejoins the National Wrestling Alliance.
NWA Pro announced its sanctioning of International Catch Wrestling Association as NWA France.
And just announced NWA Pro/Pro Wrestling Revolution will be touring Portugal, with El Hijo De Rey Misterio, Balls Mahoney, and Big Vito.

Independent Wrestling Zone canceled its plans to run in Lima Peru, however have announced that it has plans to run Internationally in the Dominican Republic. The dates announced are Sept. 26 in La Romana, Sept. 27 in Santiago, and Sept. 28 - Santo Domingo.

NWA France's Euroresu 2008

The International Catch Wrestling Alliance, more commonly referred to NWA France recently held its annual event at the Japanese Expo in France. NWA France has now participated in the event for a 3rd year in a row. This year's showcase was mixed with both Women and Men's wrestling with training seminars. The international talent included “Spider Lady” Mariko Yoshida, Misaki Ohata, a masked Chad Malenko "Metal Master" and a masked Bryan Danielson "American Dragon. The series of matches started on July 3 and concluded on July 6th.

The Finals of the Women's Matches was “Spider Lady” Mariko Yoshida beats “English Pink” Sweet Saraya. And "Metal Master" defeated "American Dragon" in the Male Tournament Finals.

Credit for the results to the Catch Fans
Credit for the photos to Cyril Lavier a.k.a. "davromaniak".
***I mistakenly did not give Cyril Lavier credit for his awesome photos. Please check out his photo galleries.