Juice Robinson's time with NJPW is coming to an end.
In October 2015, Juice Robinson signed with NJPW just six months after leaving the WWE. His most recent contract with the promotion was set to expire in January of this year, but as he told Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp in a new interview (seen above), they were able to negotiate an extension.
"I agreed to a continuation on that contract. Yep," he said.
Robinson is set to compete at NJPW Windy City Riot on April 16 when he teams with David Finlay and Brody King in a street fight against JONAH, Shane Haste, and Bad Dude Tito. He says that he has fifty family and friends coming to the show and that they're getting a party bus to celebrate the occasion.
"Man, I started with New Japan in September of 2015 and I’ve been with them ever since," Robinson began. "It’s been a crazy, crazy time. I’ve grown so much as a man, as a performer. It’s really crazy. I can’t believe it. I can’t believe it’s all come to now, having a street fight in Chicago, my home area. I got fifty people coming from my friends and my family. They’re getting a party bus. It’s gonna be a ruckus, sold-out crowd. We got Brody King and Finlay and me against Bad Dude Tito, Shane Haste and JONAH. It’s gonna be insane with all kind of street fight weapons. Are you kidding me?"
The FinJuice member then curiously stated that if fans want to support him one last time, they should check out the show.
"This is it. Support me one last time in Chicago for the Windy City Riot. It’s sold out. You can get it on Fite TV if you want to support me," he said.
Elaborating on his comments, Juice stated that he had signed a three-month extension and that his match at Windy City Riot will be his last with NJPW.
"Yeah. It ended January 31st and then it was a three-month extension. So that puts me at the end of April. I will no longer be with New Japan as of April 30th. So this will be my last match, April 16th in the street fight. It’s pretty cool. My whole family’s gonna be there. It’s gonna be fun. It’s gonna be pretty emotional for me. It’ll be a great time," Robinson shared.
Robinson continued, saying that he knows what the job entails and is just not sure he can do it anymore. That said, the departure is happening on good terms.
"It’s on good terms. It’s just I’ve gotten to a point where I understand what the job entails and I don’t know if I want to do that still. I don’t know if I can continue to do the job in which it needs to be done as far as travel, being away from home and it’s not fair [to them] if I can’t do the job, I can’t have the contract saying I do. So, yes, it’s on good terms," he said.
As for whether this means fewer NJPW dates or fewer wrestling dates in general, Robinson tells Fightful that he'll be taking far fewer dates and will be moving onto something else.
"Definitely taking far, far, far less dates. Moving onto something else, pending and in the process of. But definitely far less dates," Robinson revealed.
A staple in the promotion over the past seven years, Robinson is a former IWGP United States Champion and IWGP Tag Team Champion. Though he had a good time, Robinson notes that everything comes to an end.
"Yeah. I had a great time, though, in New Japan. I did. Years and years and years. It was a good time. But everything comes to an end. It’s bittersweet in a way, but it is what it is," he closed by saying.
To view the updated lineup for NJPW Windy City Riot, click here.
Fightful will have results from the event immediately following its conclusion. You can view results from past NJPW show by visiting Fightful's results section.
