Preview: IMPACT/NJPW Multiverse United (3/30/23)

IMPACT Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) team up on March 30^th for Multiverse United live from The Globe Theater in Los Angeles California. The matches will see competitors from IMPACT and NJPW square off as part of WrestleCon. Titles from both promotions will be on the line including the IMPACT World Championship, IMPACT Knockouts Championship, STRONG Openweight Championship, and more. Let’s run down the card and key matchups for the inter-promotional event.

IMPACT/NJPW Multiverse United Full Card:

STRONG Openweight Championship Match: KENTA (c) vs. Minoru Suzuki
The winner Goes to IMPACT Knockouts Championship Match: Masha Slamovich vs. Deonna Purrazzo vs. Gisele Shaw vs. Miyu Yamashita
IMPACT X-Division Championship Match: Trey Miguel (c) vs. Rich Swann vs. Frankie Kazarian vs. Kevin Knight vs. Clark Connors vs. Rocky Romero
IMPACT World Tag Team Championship Match: Bullet Club (Ace Austin and Chris Bey) (c) vs. Aussie Open (Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher) vs. TMDK (Shane Haste and Bad Dude Tito) vs. The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin)
Lio Rush vs. KUSHIDA
Mike Bailey vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
Moose vs. Jeff Cobb
Fred Rosser, Alex Coughlin, Sami Callihan, and PCO vs. Eddie Edwards, Joe Hendry, Tom Lawlor, and J. R. Kratos
Yuya Uemura vs. Gabriel Kidd (pre-show)

Multiverse United: Knockouts — Photo – IMPACT/NJPW

A Shot at Gold is on the Line

Mickie James brought the Last Rodeo to an end at Hard to Kill when she defeated Jordynne Grace for the IMPACT Knockouts Championship. She has successfully defended against Masha Slamovich and Gisele Shaw in singles action. She was scheduled to defend the IMPACT Knockouts Championship at Multiverse United. However, due to an injury, she had to withdraw from the event. Now the winner of this match will get to challenge for the IMPACT Knockouts Championship.

Masha Slamovich is taking James’s place in the match who has unusefully challenged for the Knockouts Championship in the past. Miyu Yamashita comes to Multiverse United from Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling. The current EVE Champion is looking to add another title to her already impressive resume. She already has titles in DDT and SHINE in her collection. A Knockouts Championship belt would be a great addition to the collection.

Slamovich comes with a big strength advantage in this match. Purrazzo and Yamashita bring a technical background to the match while Shaw brings a well-rounded move set to the match. Yamashita is the wild card as she has not been in an IMPACT ring prior to this.

Four competitors enter, and only one will leave with a shot at gold.

Multiverse United: KENTA vs. Suzuki — Photo – NJPW/IMPACT

STRONG Openweight Championship

The lone New Japan belt that will see KENTA take on Minoru Suzuki for the STRONG Openweight Championship. KENTA defeated Fred Rosser at Battle in the Valley to become champion. This will be his first championship defense as he has been busy taking part in the New Japan Cup.

His first defense will be a tough one as he must take on none other than Minoru Suzuki. Suzuki is looking to add another belt to his historic career. He is the current NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champion alongside El Desperado and Ren Narita. Adding a singles title to his resume at the same time would be a great way to keep his 2023 going.

Both men are solid technicians between the ropes however, KENTA is a bit more well-rounded overall. The experience edge undoubtedly goes to Suzuki, but KENTA is a bit more unpredictable. This one should be hard-hitting as both men are capable of throwing lethal strikes.

This will be a hard-hitting match between two talented strikers and the fans are in for a treat at Multiverse United.

How to Watch IMPACT/NJPW Multiverse United

The show can be streamed on FITE TV on Thursday, March 30^th starting at 8 pm Pacific time.

Header photo – IMPACT Wrestling. Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world. As well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can catch IMPACT Wrestling on Thursday nights on AXS TV as well as all the time on IMPACT Plus.

Dominic Padula (LWOPW Department Manager)

Dominic is the Managing Editor for Wrestling and a writer for Gaming. Dominic truly believes very few things connect people the way pro wrestling does. He loves going to shows (indie or not), and working with Warrior Wrestling. He has been a gamer since age 5, and is a big fan of RPGs and anything open-world. He owns many consoles and is planning a gaming PC very soon. He is also getting into the cosplay world as well. Dominic is a huge fan of heavy metal music (listening, going to shows, playing guitar, shopping for vinyl, CDs. etc), is proud DECA alumni, and enjoys anything related to Star Wars, and comic books.