A Look at the Roster for the Philadelphia Spectacular

On August 19, the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia will play host to the American version of the All Star Junior Festival 2023. Earlier in March, the festival brought an incredible experience to Korakuen Hall, uniting wrestlers from all manner of promotions across the world. Now in the States, the roster is just as loaded – let’s see the names revealed so far.

Lio Rush (IMPACT/NJPW)

IMPACT X Division Champion

IMPACT’s X Division Champion, Lio Rush completes the ASJF2023 roster roundup. Winning the Super Jr. tag League, impressing in his BOSJ debut, and coming close to defeating Hiromu Takahashi for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title, Rush has also competed heavily in IMPACT of late, where he captured the X Division Championship. He’s also been showing an antagonistic and highly aggressive attitude not seen last time he was in New Japan action- how will he approach competition this weekend?

KC Navarro (Warrior Wrestling)

Warrior Wrestling Champion

KC Navarro heads into ASJF 2023 representing as Warrior Wrestling Champion, a title he’s held for well over 400 days having ended the reign of Will Ospreay in a nine-man War of Attrition match last June. Having racked up seven defenses against the likes of Buddy Matthews, Brian Cage, and Matt Cardona, the young Navarro has certainly put together an impressive resume that he wants to show to the world stage in Philly.

Kosei Fujita (NJPW)

Kosei Fujita’s TMDK teammates have been hyping up the young prospect’s world tour for quite some time, and now he takes his first steps to Philadelphia. Fujita’s participation in the ASJF also marks his clean break from Young Lion days and his full graduation from the Dojo system. An immensely skilled prodigy, just what will Fujita bring to the table on August 19?

Real1 (Free)

Former 2x WWE Cruiserweight Champion

Former WWE Cruiserweight Champion Real1 enters the All Star Junior Festival fray. Having battled in MLW and more since departing WWE, Real1 now looks to make his mark along with a huge cast and against huge competition.

Alex Shelley (IMPACT)

IMPACT World Champion. 3x former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion

Current IMPACT World Champion Alex Shelley is also a former staple of NJPW’s IWGP junior heavyweight division, with three IWGP Junior Tag title reigns to his name. Shelley’s influence over all of junior heavyweight wrestling is impossible to deny, and even though he’ll only be 24 hours shy of defending IMPACT gold against Hiroshi Tanahashi at Multiverse United 2, there was no way he wouldn’t be part of ASJF 2023.

BUSHI (NJPW)

Former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion, 3x former NEVER Openweight 6 Man Tag team Champion

The Jet Black Death Mask BUSHI joins LIJ partner Hiromu Takahashi in the ASJF lineup. While the Time Bomb will be making an odd couple