NJPW (New Japan Pro Wrestling) announced that NJPW World Television Champion El Phantasmo will defend his title against Jeff Cobb at their Battle In The Valley event and IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion El Desperado will defend his title against Taiji Ishimori.
NJPW Battle In The Valley 2025 will take place on Saturday, January 11th, at the San Jose Civic in San Jose, California.
You can check out the full announcement below:
“One of the high points of an emotional weekend in the Tokyo Dome came when El Phantasmo won the NJPW World TV Championship in a sensational four-way bout. Returning from a bout with cancer, ELP had not missed a step, but had missed Jeff Cobb on the way to victory. While it was a Thunder Kiss 86 on Ren Narita that sealed the deal in the Tokyo Dome, Cobb was well on the way to the win himself. Now, with no three- or four-way distractions, Cobb and Phantasmo will go head-to-head for the TV gold.
The first kickoff match of the night will see Zane Jay defend his STRONG Survivor spot for the first time against Viento. Jay’s firm fundamentals drilled in the NJPW Academy saw him to be the first to put away Matt Vandagriff in over a year to take the STRONG Survivor label at Strong Style Evolved. Now he faces the exciting luchador Viento in his return to NJPW for the first time since Fantasticamania USA. The STRONG will survive, but who will it be?”
Two big matches just made official for Battle in the Valley during New Year Dash!!
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
El Desperado vs Taiji Ishimori!NEVER Openweight Championship
Konosuke Takeshita vs KUSHIDA!#njbitv TICKETShttps://t.co/y4PeEAA04Z#njdash pic.twitter.com/kJrVyXYT2T— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) January 6, 2025