Southern Showdown

Promotional poster featuring Will Ospreay, Kazuchika Okada and Jay White

**Southern Showdown** was an two-day professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW). The shows took place on June 29, 2019 in Melbourne, Australia at the Festival Hall for the first night and on June 30, 2019 in Sydney, Australia at the University of New South Wales Roundhouse for the second night. These were the second shows that NJPW had produced in Australia.

The event aired live on FITE TV and was later available for on demand viewing on the NJPW World streaming service. Throught the working relationship with Revolution Pro Wrestling (RPW), the British Cruiserweight Championship was defended at the event.

## Production

### Background

On April 12, 2019, NJPW announced they would produce their second show in Australia on June 29. In February 2018, NJPW had a tour with four shows in Australia the Fallout Down Under tour, which the fans had asked NJPW to return to Australia, following the success of the Fallout Down Under tour.

Pre-sale tickets would go for sale on April 24, with general sale tickets going for sale on April 26, costing from $63,60 to $206,10 in advance, while the day of the event would cost $65,00 to $210,00. On April 18, NJPW announced a second night for the show in Australia taking place at Sydney on June 30. It was previously reported by *Wrestling Observer Newsletter* journalist Dave Meltzer that the event would feature two shows, the first airing live on NJPW World and the second as a house show. The shows also serve as a plan for NJPW expansion in the Australian market in 2020. Tickets for the second show went for sale on April 26, with pre-sale not being available for the second night. On April 24, Kazuchika Okada and Jay White were the first NJPW wrestlers announced for the event. The following day, NJPW announced that Bad Luck Fale and Will Ospreay would also be part of the event. On May 3, the Guerrilla of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa) were announced to take part in the tour. On May 8, Robbie Eagles was announced for the event. Two days later, Gedo and Jado were announced for the event. On May 17, Taiji Ishimori and Toru Yano were announced for the event. On June 10, NJPW announced the full card for the event. On June 18, NJPW announced that additional tickets for the show would be put on sale. On June 26, NJPW announced two more title matches for the event. On June 29, due to flight issues Sho and Ren Narita were pulled out of the show.

### Storylines

Southern Showdown featured professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portray villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in the scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches.

In the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship match, Will Ospreay would made his first title defense agaisnt Robbie Eagles. On June 9, 2019 at Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall, after Ospreay defeated Dragon Lee to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, Ospreay nominated Eagles as his first challenger for the title. The title match was officially announced the following day. Ospreay and Eagles had previously faced each other during the 2019 Best of the Super Juniors, where Eagles won after interference of his Bullet Club stablemate El Phantasmo, but Eagles didn't wanted Phantasmo's help and wansn't satisfied with the result of the match. The two faced each other for the first time on August 11 at a Pro Wrestling Australia event, where Eagles defeated Ospreay. After the match, Opsreay offered him to work at Japan. Leading to the match, Ospreay proclaimed that he wanted Eagles to return to his old self.

In the IWGP Tag Team Championship match, Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa) would made their fourth title defense agaisnt Mikey Nicholls and Juice Robinson. On June 25 at Kizuna Road, Nicholls and Robinson defeated the Guerrillas of Destiny in a non-tite match. After the match, Nicholls attacked the Guerrillas of Destiny and challenged them to a title match, with Robinson being his partner. In a post-match interview, the Guerrillas of Destiny accepted the title match. The title match was announced on June 26.

The show featured another title match with El Phantasmo defending the British Cruiserweight Championship against Rocky Romero. On June 25 at Kizuna Road, after Phantasmo defended the British Cruiserweight Championship against Ryusuke Taguchi, he challenged Romero to a rematch, in a post-match interview, but this time for Phantasmo's title, after being defeated by him in the 2019 Best of the Super Juniors, which ended Phantasmo's undefeated streak. The title match was announced on June 26.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 NJPW Southern Showdown in Melbourne  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro-Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2019-06-29.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 NJPW Southern Showdown in Sydney  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro-Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2019-06-30.
3. ↑ Southern Showdown 1  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro-Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2019-04-10.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Southern Showdown 2  (in English). *New Japan Pro-Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2019-04-10.
5. ↑ Jordan, Paul 2019-04-12. NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING ANNOUNCES AUSTRALIA RETURN, DLC RELEASED FOR FIRE PRO WRESTLING WORLD . *Pro Wrestling Insider*. Retrieved on 2019-04-16.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 NJPW returning to Australia for Southern Showdown . *Wrestling Observer Newsletter* (2019-04-12). Retrieved on 2019-04-16.
7. ↑ Southern Showdown 2  (in English). *New Japan Pro-Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2019-04-18.
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 NJPW OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCES SYDNEY EVENT FOR SOUTHERN SHOWDOWN . *Wrestling Observer Newsletter* (2019-04-18). Retrieved on 2019-04-23.
9. ↑ Kazuchika Okada and Jay White the first two names confirmed for Southern Showdown in Australia!  (in English). *New Japan Pro-Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2019-04-27.
10. ↑ Bad Luck Fale, Will Ospreay added to Southern Showdown!  (in English). *New Japan Pro-Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2019-04-27.
11. ↑ Guerrillas of Destiny added to Southern Showdown!  (in English). *New Japan Pro-Wrestling* (2019-05-03). Retrieved on 2019-05-04.
12. ↑ Robbie Eagles confirmed for NJPW: Southern Showdown!  (in English). *New Japan Pro-Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2019-05-08.
13. ↑ Jado & Gedo added to Southern Showdown!  (in English). *New Japan Pro-Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2019-05-10.
14. ↑ Toru Yano & Taiji Ishimori are coming to Melbourne!  (in English). *New Japan Pro-Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2019-05-17.
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Historic title match set for Southern Showdown in Melbourne!  (in English). *New Japan Pro-Wrestling* (2019-06-10). Retrieved on 2019-06-12.
16. ↑ New seats opening up for Southern Showdown in Melbourne!  (in English). *New Japan Pro-Wrestling* (2019-06-18). Retrieved on 2019-06-18.
17. ↑ Big Changes to Melbourne card as Southern Showdown sees three title matches!  (in English). *New Japan Pro-Wrestling* (2019-06-26). Retrieved on 2019-06-26.
18. ↑ Card Update to NJPW Southern Showdown in Melbourne  (in English). *New Japan Pro-Wrestling* (2019-06-29). Retrieved on 2019-06-29.
19. ↑ Grabianowski, Ed. How Pro Wrestling Works . *HowStuffWorks, Inc.*. Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on 2013-11-18. Retrieved on 2017-06-12.
20. ↑ TITLE MATCH SET FOR NJPW SOUTHERN SHOWDOWN . *Wrestling Observer Newsletter* (2019-06-09). Retrieved on 2019-06-09.
21. ↑ NJPW BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS NIGHT 10 RESULTS: OSPREAY VS. EAGLES . *Wrestling Observer Newsletter* (2019-05-26). Retrieved on 2019-05-26.
22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING 2019-06-21. Assassin vs. Sniper - Road to NJPW Southern Showdown .
23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 23.4 23.5 Two more title defenses set for NJPW Southern Showdown . *Wrestling Observer Newsletter* (2019-06-26). Retrieved on 2019-06-26.
24. ↑ NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING 2019-06-26. Mikey Nicholls wants to take GoD beyond thunderdome! .
25. ↑ NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING 2019-06-26. ELP is still the British Cruiserweight champion! Promises to come after Rocky next! .