Notable Star Returns To Japan At NJPW Battle Autumn

‘Roughneck’ Shota Umino returned to Japan to confront Will Ospreay in the closing moments of the November 5 Battle Autumn event.

In the main event of the show, Ospreay defeated Tetsuya Naito to retain his IWGP US Championship. After the bout, Ospreay issued an open challenge for the upcoming NJPW X STARDOM Historic X-Over event.

Umino ultimately answered the call, returning from his excursion and joining the NJPW main roster. Umino confronted Ospreay in the ring before dropping the champion with a Death Rider, a homage to Jon Moxley, who previously took Umino under his wing.

Ospreay and Umino previously faced off during the October Royal Quest II event, with Ospreay defeating Umino via referee stoppage, with Umino’s father, Red Shoes Unno, ending the bout.

Umino hasn’t wrestled in Japan since NJPW Destruction In Kobe 2019 in September 2019. During his excursion, Umino mostly wrestled UK promotion Revolution Pro Wrestling, but made appearances for the likes of Over The Top Wrestling and NJPW STRONG.

Here’s the announced card for the November 20 Historic X-Over crossover event:

• Mayu Iwatani vs. KAIRI – IWGP Women’s Championship Tournament Finals
• Will Ospreay (c) vs. Shota Umino – IWGP US Championship
• Hiroshi Tanahashi & Utami Hayashishita vs. Hirooki Goto & Maika
• Tom Lawlor & Syuri vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Giulia
• El Desperado, DOUKI, Starlight Kid, & Momo Watanabe vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Taichi, Natsupoi, & Tam Nakano
• Thekla, Himeka & Mai Sakurai vs. Lady C, AZM & Saya Kamitan.
• Great Muta, Kazuchika Okada & Toru Yano vs. Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb & Aaron Henare

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