Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Mike Bailey official for Impact x NJPW Multiverse United
After offering his services earlier in the day to fill in for the injured Will Ospreay, Hiroshi Tanahashi got his wish Tuesday as he will take on “Speedball” Mike Bailey at next Thursday’s Impact x NJPW Multiverse United.
The pay-per-view takes place in Los Angeles as part of WrestleMania weekend following a live Impact on AXS TV.
Ospreay injured his shoulder in the New Japan Cup and had to withdraw from the tournament. It was unclear until today if he would miss the Multiverse event as well.
This will be Tanahashi and Bailey’s first-ever match against each other of any kind.
It was also confirmed that KENTA will put his NJPW Strong Openweight title on the line against Minoru Suzuki in their previously announced match.
Also announced Tuesday was a bout for the countdown show as Gabriel Kidd takes on Yuya Uemura.
Here’s the final lineup:
- Impact World Champion Josh Alexander defends against KUSHIDA
- Knockouts Champion Mickie James defends against Deonna Purrazzo, Gisele Shaw and Miyu Yamashita in a four-way
- X-Division Champion Trey Miguel defends against Rich Swann, Kevin Knight, Frankie Kazarian, Clark Connors, and Rocky Romero in a scramble
- Impact Tag Team Champions Chris Bey & Ace Austin defend against Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark David) vs. TMDK (Shane Haste & Bad Dude Tito) vs. The Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley)
- NJPW Strong Openweight Champion KENTA defends against Minoru Suzuki
- Mike Bailey vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
- Jeff Cobb vs. Moose
- Callihan, PCO, Fred Rosser & Alex Coughlin vs. Joe Hendry, Eddie Edwards, JR Kratos & Tom Lawlor
- Countdown Show: Yuya Uemura vs. Gabriel Kidd