ENSOU! TV Sports Lightning News: MAX-J x North America!

We learned a lot from the executive summary memo coming out of 4536 Group’s latest Board of Directors meeting, including some events that will be occurring within the next month.

EXPEDITIONISM ~ North American Tour for April!

MAX-J is once again heading overseas as a company, a first in many years, this time heading to the North American continent for what should quite the event. Here’s what we know so far:

Pollo Road Battle Royal participation

Days ago, Pollo Road announced that several MAX-J fighters would compete during the 4/1 battle royal at the FOOL’S GOLD show on 4/1 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. MAX-J has now announced the identities of the three fighters:

- Earth Warrior
- Balloon Yamazaki
- Shinzo Takamori

Fans of Pollo Road may be familiar with Earth Warrior, one-half of the World Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions, who has previously competed under the Pollo Road banner. Yamazaki, as well, has fought in several high-profile matches with Pollo Road alum El Cerdo Mostaza.

But it’s “Snap Shot” Shinzo Takamori, a Shining Road alum and a former professional ice hockey standout in Japan, who fans might not know as well. Interestingly, the FOOL’S GOLD event marks a return to Canada by Takamori who had previously competed in his youth against Canada’s national U20 team. He said he’s ready to lace up the boots instead of the skates and that he intends to win the event outright for his home town of Sapporo, Japan!

4/25 + 4/28 Two-Day event

The EXPEDITIONISM tour will continue with a two-day event that will take place in Seattle, Washington, USA and Victoria, British Columbia, Canada on 4/25 and 4/28, respectively.

Day 1 on 4/25 will feature the J1 USA Invitational Series, with the winners of these special matches being offered spots in the August 2024 revival of the J1 SUMMIT, the crown jewel of MAX-J’s tournament scene. Matt Pulver, the first-ever MAX-J Jr. Heavyweight Champion, has been offered an at-large invitation to compete in the tournament if he is medically cleared to participate.

Day 2 will be headlined by METAL HERO and Earth Warrior attempting their V4 defense of the World Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship against “Mr. Canada” Roy Vezina and “Rocket” Rick Hull, members of the Punch Line that currently holds the Pollo Road Tag Team Championship. While the latter tag title will not be on the line in this matchup, this tag team matchup is getting a significant amount of press with many claiming that it will determine the ranking of the two championships, despite the Jr. title having the obvious weight restriction. It's a significant moment in the history of the two titles, both in their early stages, and may have major ramifications in the pro-wrestling community for years to come.

METAL HERO, for one, made a rare public appearance to state that Earth Warrior and himself were weight-training extensively and eating heavily, with a plan of attack being to push the jr. heavyweight limit of 100kg right to the limit. He proclaimed that the Canadians would feel as though they were "being devoured by two Ezo brown bears" come 4/28.