44-year-old star officially added to AEW roster
A certain veteran has just been added to AEW's roster. This was following the announcement that he was officially signed with the promotion. The veteran in question is NJPW legend Katsuyori Shibata.
This is far from Shibata's first rodeo with Tony Khan and his promotions, as he has been sporadically appearing in them over the past year. He first appeared at Forbidden Door 2022 to save Orange Cassidy from the United Empire. He has also made a mark in Ring of Honor after having a 239-day reign as the Pure Champion.
Tony Khan recently announced that Shibata had signed with the company, unveiling his much-anticipated All Elite graphic on X. Now, several fans have noticed that the Japanese star has been officially added to the roster page on the company's website.
Katsuyori Shibata's message for Tony Khan following his AEW signing
Along with Tony Khan's announcement that Katsuyori Shibata had signed with All Elite Wrestling, he also posted the letter he received from the Japanese star.
In his announcement tweet, Khan attached the letter he received from Shibata, who announced that he had signed after he got clearance from New Japan Pro-Wrestling. He then talked about his past experiences competing for the Jacksonville-based company and Ring of Honor, and how this was an environment he felt he would thrive in.
Shibata then revealed that he wished this would be the final destination of his career.
"Dear Tony Khan – Today, I have signed the contract with AEW under a permission from New Japan Pro-Wrestling. In the past year, I worked for AEW/ROH and I learned how wonderful the AEW is. This is the best environment where wrestlers can focus only on fighting in the ring. And the love for professional wrestling is overflowing from Tony and all the people who work for him. I want to make AEW’s ring the last end point of The Wrestler’s career. I dedicate my wrestler life to Tony Khan and AEW. Thank you, Katsuyori Shibata."
Shibata last appeared in All Elite Wrestling when he dropped his ROH Pure Championship to The Blackpool Combat Club's Wheeler Yuta. Now that he has signed with the promotion as a full-time star, he could go after the title he lost, or this could now be the opportunity for him to feud with other major stars.
Who would you want to see face Katsuyori Shibata? Let us know in the comments section below.