New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s Battle in the Valley event will take place this Saturday inside the San Jose Civic Center. The event was able to see out after just one match — Mercedes Monè (Sasha Banks) vs. Kairi (Sane) for the IWGP Women’s World Championship — was announced. That match was booked after Monè debuted for the promotion at Wrestle Kingdom 17 last month and attacked Kairi following her successful title defense. The former “Boss” walked out of WWE on an episode of Raw last May, and it wasn’t until the start of 2023 that she was officially taken off the company’s roster. This will mark her first match since leaving the company, and given how she’s been hyping up a “World Domination Tour,” the odds of her winning the title and defending it in other companies is fairly high.
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But Monè vs. Kairi isn’t the only bout on the show. Other highlights include Kazuchika Okada defending his IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against longtime rival Hiroshi Tanahashi, Jay White (in what could be one of his final matches for New Japan) vs. AEW’s Eddie Kingston and Fred Rosser vs. Kenta for the Strong Openweight Championship.
NJPW Battle in the Valley 2023 Start Time
- Date: Feb. 18, 2023
- Location: San Jose Civic Center, San Jose, California
- Start Time: 10 p.m. ET
- Stream: FITE
“They were hitting just as hard as the men, having these 30-minute long five-star matches,” Monè said in an interview with NJPW while talking about wrestling Japanese Joshis being her career goal. “I was so amazed by them that Japan became my number one goal even before WWE. I managed to achieve what I wanted to achieve in WWE, and now I get to live out this international dream.”
“It’s cool to see how quick it was, the turnaround to go from another name and character I’ve done for ten years to now be Mercedes Monè, and to see that instantly trend,” Monè continued. “Just people obviously caring and wanting to see my match with KAIRI was cool. For it to sell out, with that match being the only thing announced at that time, was amazing. I know my fans always love and support me, so I knew it was going to do well, but it was kind of a shock to see how quickly it went that well.”
NJPW Battle in the Valley 2023 Card
- IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
- IWGP Women’s World Championship: Kairi vs. Mercedes Monè
- NJPW World Television Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Clark Conners
- Strong Openweight Championship: Fred Rosser vs. Kenta
- Strong Openweight Tag Team Championships: The Motor City Machine Guns vs. West Coast Wrecking Crew
- Jay White vs. Eddie Kingston
- Tom Lawlor vs. Homicide (Filthy Rules Fight)
- Josh Alexander, Mascara Dorada, Adrian Quest & Rocky Romero vs. Kushida, Volador Jr., Kevin Knight & The DKC
- (Kickoff) David Finlay vs. Bobby Fish
- (Kickoff) Alex Coughlin vs. J.R. Kratos
