NJPW Young Lions Katsuya Murashima, Shoma Kato set for excursions

Katsuya Murashima, one of the Young Lions going on excursion later this month. Image Courtesy: NJPW

Two NJPW Young Lion trainees are set to go on an excursion soon.

Shoma Kato and Katsuya Murashima, finalists in this year’s Young Lion Cup, are scheduled to go on an excursion beginning later this month, kicking off what is typically the final stage for NJPW trainees before they return to the promotion and debut under a new persona.

Both wrestlers are expected to head overseas for the next chapter in their careers. While it hasn’t been specified where Murashima will go, it was announced that Kato is heading to Mexico, wrestling for NJPW ally promotion CMLL.

Murashima’s final domestic appearance will be part of next week’s New Beginning in Osaka card. Since Kato is heading to Mexico for his excursion, he’ll stick around for the annual CMLL & NJPW Fantasticamania tour later this month before leaving Japan.

25-year-old Murashima, who won the Young Lion Cup on Sunday, has been wrestling in the NJPW system since 2023. Kato, 23, debuted around the same time.

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Jack Wannan is a journalist from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He writes and reports on professional wrestling, along with other topics like MMA, boxing, music, local news, and more. He graduated from Toronto Metropolitan University in 2023 with a bachelor's degree in journalism. He can be reached at [email protected]