AXS TV issued the following press release:
AXS TV EXTENDS ‘NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING’ FOR 12 MORE EPISODES RETURNING MAY 22
LOS ANGELES – April 2, 2015 – Based on the success of NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING’S (NJPW) inaugural run on AXS TV, the network today announced it has exercised its option to extend the current season by 12 episodes. The second cycle of NJPW will premiere Friday, May 22 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT with coverage of the “Best of the Super Juniors XXI” tournament.
Renowned combat sports commentator Mauro Ranallo and former UFC heavyweight champion and NJPW veteran Josh Barnett reprise their roles as critically acclaimed commentators for the series. The additional episodes feature a combined eight hours of comprehensive coverage of the 24th annual G1 Climax Tournament, including full matches and highlights, and three hours of coverage from “Dominion 6.21.”
The first cycle of NJPW episodes will wrap up April 10 featuring the IWGP Heavyweight Championship match between A.J. Styles and Kazuchika Okada from “Back to the Yokohama Arena.” New episodes air Friday nights on AXS TV leading into the network’s weekly, live AXS TV FIGHTS broadcasts.
“In the second cycle of NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING on AXS TV, we will focus a majority of the episodes on G1 Climax 24, which was hailed by many as one of the best pro wrestling tournaments in history,” said Andrew Simon, CEO of AXS TV FIGHTS. “We are thankful to New Japan Pro Wrestling and our programming partner TV Asahi in Japan for allowing us to acquire this unique series and share it with our audience.”
AXS TV’s NJPW episodes were produced by and acquired from TV ASAHI CORPORATION.
ABOUT AXS TV
AXS TV is the cable industry’s leading general entertainment network for live event programming, and the premier destination for some of the nation’s biggest music festivals in 2015. Launched in July 2012 by visionary entrepreneur Mark Cuban, AXS TV is dedicated to providing groundbreaking music programming, stand-up comedy performances from today’s top comedians, and hard-hitting mixed martial arts promotions. Boasting over 70 hours of exclusive live broadcasts of premier music festivals in 2015 (featuring Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Stagecoach Country Music Festival, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Rock on the Range Music Festival and Firefly Music Festival), the HD channel heavily concentrates on bringing the industry’s biggest names directly into their viewers’ homes, for the ultimate front row experience. Other hit network franchises include such original programs as THE BIG INTERVIEW with Dan Rather; DISCOVERING LUCY ANGEL, THE WORLD’S GREATEST TRIBUTE BANDS, GOTHAM COMEDY LIVE, ART MANN PRESENTS, AXS TV FIGHTS and INSIDE MMA.
New Japan’s first season has two remaining episodes, both focusing on AJ Styles battling Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
