Visa Issues and Upcoming Cards w/International Talent

[HMARK Center]

So, uh, this might not be good:

-NJPW tried to book the New Beginning tour with portions in the US and Japan, with the intention of sending Goto, Ishii, Nagata, and a couple other Japanese wrestlers to the States. This did not happen due to visa issues, made worse by the US being in the midst of a partial government shutdown.

-AEW tried to get joshi stars, including Aja Kong, over for the Double or Nothing announcement event in Vegas. No go - visa issues.

-ROH just ran their annual shows in Tokyo, but couldn't bring everybody they wanted to overseas due to...yep, visa issues.

-EVIL was just booked for an indy show in Chicago but had to miss it because of those visa-related blues.

-A fan tweeted Toa Henare about wanting to see him and a couple other NJPW guys in ROH or generally in the States, and Henare tweeted back about a particular US political figure and how things have been made hard for "me and my Japanese buddies" to travel over for work.

This...isn't encouraging.

Now, clearly this isn't something impacting every single international worker, but apparently things in the US are complicated at the moment (no getting into specific politicians and whatnot, please), and Wrestlemania weekend is barely over a month away. When that weekend rolls around we've got:

-The big NJPW/ROH card at the Garden
-STARDOM, DDT, and Kaiju Big Battel running in Queens
-Various wrestlers who are likely to be in Jersey City for GCW-related shows (e.g. Suzuki was at Bloodsport last year while Hakushi worked Spring Break)
-The possibility of NOAH talent working with Impact
-We also begin the countdown to NJPW running in Dallas for the start of the G1

So...anybody hear anything more about this stuff? Any thoughts about what could end up happening with some of the upcoming shows? Again, please no going on about specific people, but anybody with insight into operations at the State Department with regards to visa issuance would be appreciated, for sure.

[lucas_lee]

If visa issues messes up GCW Bloodsport ill be pretty pissed.

[Mayonnaise]

This was on PWInsider today:

NEW JAPAN-U.S. VISA UPDATE
by Mike Johnson @ 10:45 PM on 2/27/2019

After their Japanese talents missed a trio of shows due to what was announced as United States visa issues caused by the U.S. government shutdown, New Japan issued the following statement on their website this evening:

An Update Regarding US Visas

New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s Japanese wrestlers have obtained their visas for the United States.

We truly appreciate the understanding and support of our fans.

So NJPW seems set.

[Deleted]

backlog from the government shutdown

[Convoy]

Smart for New Japan to release that statement. I'm sure there were parties scared off from MSG due to the New Beginning tour situation.

[King Devitt]

I found the majority of Honor Rising to be a slog, I wonder what they had in store that they couldn't make happen.
It would explain a lot.

[HMARK Center]

Feb 28, 2019 1:04:23 GMT -5 King Devitt said:

I found the majority of Honor Rising to be a slog, I wonder what they had in store that they couldn't make happen.
It would explain a lot.

If I was a betting man, I'd guess there'd have been a tease for MSG for something like Ishii vs. PCO.

Also really think most of the rest of Lifeblood would've been there, given their push. Also was kind of surprising to not see Rush show up given his being Ingobernable.

And yeah, guess the backlog was the key; if NJPW is all set now, then I have to assume things are falling into place for other companies and freelancers, too.

[Deleted]

This was a huge problem for LU during season 4..there were several AAA talents they could not use due to Visa issues.

I never knew how long it took untill they spoke about it they said it takes something like 20 weeks to get a wrestler their visa

so not surprised other companies are having the same problems

[Deleted]

I'm pretty sure Kaiju Big Battel is a bunch of guys from Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

[Fundertaker]

Mar 2, 2019 15:13:14 GMT -5 @mack619 said:

I'm pretty sure Kaiju Big Battel is a bunch of guys from Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

You mean they aren't all giant Japanese wrestling monsters?

[Deleted]

Mar 2, 2019 15:28:17 GMT -5 Fundertaker said:

Mar 2, 2019 15:13:14 GMT -5 @mack619 said:

I'm pretty sure Kaiju Big Battel is a bunch of guys from Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

You mean they aren't all giant Japanese wrestling monsters?

That's just a rumor started by some broad named Kay Fabe.