Lion's Break Collision

The official *Lion's Break Collision* logo

**Lion's Break Collision** was a professional wrestling television program that was produced by the Japanese professional wrestling promotion New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) and airs worldwide on FITE TV and NJPW's streaming service NJPW World. The show debuted on July 3, 2020, and ended on July 24, 2020, and it served as a flagship program for NJPW's American talent and NJPW's U.S. Young Lions. The show aired weekly for approximately 40 minutes.

## History

### Background

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. On May 12, 2017, during the third night of the War of the Worlds tour, co-produced by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Ring of Honor (ROH), NJPW United States Ambassador George Carroll announced the creation of the IWGP United States Championship. The following day, NJPW revealed the title's official name as the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship. On July 2, Takaaki Kidani announced that NJPW would be opening an office in Los Angeles before the end of 2017, and a dojo to be inaugurated at the start of 2018.

The first NJPW shows to be held in the United States was the G1 Special in USA on July 1 and 2, which was a success, with tickets and meet-and-greets selling out within 2 hours after being available for purchase. Afterwards, NJPW held "Strong Style Saturday" at the newly-opened NJPW LA Dojo, where they announced that Katsuyori Shibata would be serving as head trainer for the newly established dojo. In addition to the opening of the NJPW Dojo in the United States, on July 6, 2018, it was announced a developmental branch in the United States the Lion's Break Project a counterpart of the Lion's Gate Project shows in Japan, which would feature NJPW Young Lions trained in the USA dojo. On October 21, 2019, NJPW announced the creation of its American subsidiary named New Japan Pro-Wrestling of America, based in California, with the goal of expanding in the American market.

### Formation

On June 19, 2020, NJPW announced a new weekly series called Lion's Break Collision that would air throughout the month of July, featuring the L.A Dojo young lions and the debuts of Rust Taylor, Danny Limelight, The DKC, and MLW wrestler Tom Lawlor. It was announced that the show would air on NJPW's internet streaming service NJPW World and digital network FITE TV worldwide. Due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the United States, the shows were held in closed doors without a live audience, with only essential personnel in the arena.

## Roster

The wrestlers featured on Lion's Break Collision took part in scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers were portrayed as heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match.

## See Also

* New Japan Pro-Wrestling of America
* Lion's Break Project
* G1 Special in San Francisco
* Strong Style Evolved