NJPW wrestler set for European excursion
NJPW wrestler Katsuya Murashima is heading to Europe as he gains more experience in his wrestling career.
Earlier this month, Murashima was crowned the winner of NJPW’s Young Lion Cup 2026 tournament. It was announced that he would be heading out on excursion, but the location was not revealed. Indie promotion wXw in Germany has now announced that Murashima will be joining their roster and will debut at an event in Essen on March 5.
Murashima will be moving to Germany in the next few weeks for this excursion. While there, he will receive additional training at the wXw Wrestling Academy. This follows OSKAR and Yuto-Ice — the current IWGP Tag Team Champions — having successfully completed their own excursions to wXw in the past.
New Japan Wrestler Katsuya Murashima ab März bei wXw!
— wXw Germany (@wXwGermany) February 12, 2026
New Japan Young Lion Cup Gewinner Katsuya Murashima wird ab März 2026 ein volles Rostermitglied bei wXw. Er ist nach Oskar und Yuto Nakashima der dritte Wrestler, der im Rahmen seiner Exkursion seine Zelte in Deutschland… pic.twitter.com/te0PDt8Izo
“We would like to thank New Japan Pro Wrestling for the trust they have placed in us and hope that Katsuya Murashima will have a similarly successful journey in Germany as [OSKAR and Yuto-Ice] before he too returns to Japan as a star,” wXw wrote.
Murashima is a former amateur wrestler who debuted for NJPW in 2023. Shoma Kato, the opponent he defeated in the Young Lion Cup finals, is going on excursion as well, though Kato is moving to Mexico where NJPW has a relationship with CMLL.
At the New Beginning in Osaka this week, Murashima competed in his final match before excursion. He and Kato tagged together in a loss to Togi Makabe & Toru Yano.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.