On the heels of their annual PWI 500 issue, I just became aware that Pro Wrestling Illustrated just published their latest issue featuring an expanded women-only ranking, this year growing the list to 250. The digital version is out now, for those waiting for the print edition in 3-4 weeks and/or who want to avoid SPOILERS, stop reading now. Otherwise, click below to see the top 10 and notable Japan wrestler rankings.
Continue reading “News: 2024 PWI Women’s 250 Notes (SPOILERS!)”New Japan News: All KING OF PRO WRESTLING 2024 Post-News/Fallout (So Far)
A lot of New Japan news coming out of yesterday as expected, here’s what we know so far:
First, the full card for ROYAL QUEST 4 on Sunday in London, England is now official:
Oskar Leube & Yuto Nakashima vs. Brendan White & Danny Jones
Danny Black & Joe Landau vs. Taiji Ishimori & TBA
Kanji & Mina Shirakawa vs. Dani Luna & AZM
Kosei Fujita vs. Michael Oku
Yota Tsuji vs. Drilla Moloney
Shota Umino vs. Callum Newman
David Finlay vs. TAKA Michinoku
Titan, Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito vs. Mascara Dorada, Robbie Eagles & Ryohei Oiwa
STRONG Tag Team Champions Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Hiroshi Tanahashi for the titles
IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr. vs. SANADA for the title
The event will be streamed LIVE on New Japan World worldwide for all paid monthly subscribers (it is not a PPV) beginning at 9:30 AM PT/12:30 PM ET. The live broadcast will only be in Japanese. English will be on demand only at a later date. Live results will be provided for the event.
For the annual Anjo City event on 11/9, all matches will again be announced only on the day of the event, and since there’s no Kazuchika Okada this year for his honetown event, Tam Nakano of Stardom will appear instead as the hometown participant.
3 title matches are set for 11/4 at POWER STRUGGLE at Osaka Prefectural Gym in Osaka: IWGP Global Chanpion David Finlay vs. Taichi for the title, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion DOUKI vs. Master Wato for the title and IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls vs. HENARE & Great-O-Khan for the titles. 11/4 also will feature the Super Jr. Tag League Finals.
The Super Jr. Tag League fired has been announced, 12 teams will compete this year in a round-robin format split into 2 blocks of 6 teams. Block A is as follows: Tiger Mask & Capitan Suicida, Ryusuke Taguchi & Dragon Dia (Dragon Gate), Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI, Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita, Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney, Sho & Yoshinobu Kanemaru. Block B is as follows: NEW IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Kevin Knight & KUSHIDA, The DKC & Ninja Mack (Independent/Freelancer, moat recently with Pro Wrestling NOAH), Yoh & Rocky Romero, Francesco Akira & TJP, Jude London & Paris de Silva (Australia/TAMASHII), Taiji Ishimori & TBA.
Format TBA but most likely it will be only the winner of each block advancing to the finals. Akira & TJP are the defending tournament winners. With the winners likely getting the next title shot, that means Connors & Moloney probably have to win to get their rematch against Knight & KUSHIDA after yesterday’s shocking upset.
At today’s post-event press conference, which also had the signing ceremony for Sabre-SANADA, they also had a drawing to determine who the next IWGP World Heavyweight Championship shot goes to after Sunday. If Sabre wins and retains the title, Shingo Takagi will be next. If SANADA wins the title, Shota Umino is next. The former brings interesting possibilities given Takagi is the current NEVER Openweight Champion (and a former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion). When that match will happen in either form is TBA but I would tentatively say 11/4.
BREAKING: TJPW Title Match Set For Osaka
Tokyo Joshi Pro just announced a big title match for later this year when Zara Zakher returns to the promotion…remember her impressive showing in the Tokyo Princess Cup, which included beating Princess Of Princess Champion Miu Watanabe in Round 2 in a massive upset? Rematch time and this time it’s for the title. That match will happen on 11/16 at “The Mountain Top ’24” at Osaka Prefectural Gym 2 in Osaka. It will be the first such title match in Osaka in over 5 years (September 2019). Zakher also has been announced for the 11/22 event at Shibjuku Face in Tokyo.
Stardom 10/14/24 Results
Stardom continued their October house show tour today in Toyama.
Today’s event was held at Borfert Toyama 2F Multipurpose Hall in Toyama and will be available on demand on Stardom World at a later date. There was no live broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 371.
There were changes to the 5th match due to both Gina & Hanan being out with unspecified injuries. Both are out indefinitely.
Match 1; Syuri beat Rian by submission.
Match 2: Koguma & Saya Iida beat Mei Seira & Suzu Suzuki. Koguma pinned SUzuki with 120% Schoolboy. During Iida’s introduction in which she takes off her hoodie and tosses it into the air, it got caught in the lights above the ring. That’s the second time in recent months that’s happened.
Match 3: Waka Tsukiyama & HANAKO beat Ranna Yagami & Lady C. Tsukiyama pinned C.
Match 4: Maika & Mina Shirakawa beat Yuna Mizumori & Aya Sakura. Maika pinned Sakura after Flame Drop.
Match 5: Momo Watanabe, Konami & Saya Kamitani beat Mayu Iwatani, Hazuki & Momo Kohgo. Konami pinned Kohgo after a buzzsaw kick.
Main Event: Starlight Kid, AZM & Miyu Amasaki beat Tam Nakano, Sairo Anou & Sayaka Kurara. Amasaki pinned Kurara after Heavenly.
The next event is NEW BLOOD 16 Saturday at Bellesalle Shinjuku Grand in Tokyo. Live streaming on Stardom World will begin Friday at 9 PM PT/midnight ET. If schedule permits I will do live results.
DDT 10/14/24 Results
DDT continued their current tour today with a Yuki Ishida hometown event.
Today’s event was held at El Caimo Yatsushiro in Kumamoto and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE Thursday. There was no live broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 273, a super full house/very near sellout.
Match 1: To-y beat Tomomitsu Matsunaga.
Match 2: Shunma Katsumata & Keigo Nakamura beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Danshoku Dieno & Takao Soma, with Katsumata pinning Dieno to win the title. Katsumata becomes the 1676th Champion. Katsumata also wins Dieno’s “Money In The Bank” title shot. Nakamura then immediately tried and failed to win the title.
Match 3: Yuki Iino beat Kazuki Hirata by ref stoppage (TKO).
Match 4: Jun Akiyama & HARASHIMA beat Chris Brookes & Kazuma Sumi. HARASHIMA pinned Sumi after Blue Sword.
Intermission.
Match 5: Yuki Ueno & MAO beat Tetsuya Endo & Yuya Koroku. Ueno pinned Koroku after July 2.
Main Event: KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON beat Akito, Yukio Naya & Yuki Ishida to retain the titles. Sasaki beat Ishida with a crossface. V3 for the champs. Despite the loss, Ishida delivered a hometown promo to end the show. Which led to…
Impromptu Match: Kazuki Hirata beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Shunma Katsumata to win the title. Hirata becomes the 1677th Champion. Nakamura tried yet again to win the title from Katsumata but was thwarted by Hirata interfering and stealing the win & title.
The next event is Thursday at Ueno Park Outdoor Stage in Tokyo for the last Beer Garden Pro Wrestling event of the year. The promotion has offered refunds for tickets already purchased because Kota Ibushi will not be at the next 2 events as originally announced (this event and Sunday). There will be no live broadcast.
Pro Wrestling NOAH 10/14/24 Results
Pro Wrestling NOAH ran their monthly STAR NAVIGATION 2024 event in Tokyo today, this one a special PREMIUM event as it would be the last such event for Akitoshi Saito before his retirement next month.
Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in English. Japanese may not be available yet and the English version is edited because it was an ABEMA exclusive broadcast in Japan. You can also watch the first 2 matches FOR FREE on YouTube.
The announced paid attendance was 1302.
Pre-show match: HAYATA beat Daiki Odashima.
Match 1: Shuhei Taniguchi & Eita beat Galeno Del Mal & Alpha Wolf. Taniguchi pinned Wolf after Maybach Bomb Zwei.
Match 2: Junta Miyawaki, Tadasuke, Kai Fujimura & Yu Owada beat YO-HEY, AMAKUSA, Dragon Bane & Yuto Kikuchi. Miyawaki pinned YO-HEY.
Match 3: Jack Morris & Daga beat Anthony Greene & LJ Cleary. Morris pinned Greene after a tiger driver.
Match 4: GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Naomichi Marufuji & Takashi Sugiura beat Kenoh & Alejandro to retain the titles. Sugiura pinned Alejandro after an avalanche Olympic Yosen Slam. V3 for the champs.
Match 5: Masakatsu Funaki & Kazuyuki Fujita beat Josh Barnett & Ulka Sasaki. Funaki beat Barnett with a heel hold.
Match 6: GHC National Champion Manabu Soya beat Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. to retain the title. V1 for Soya.
Match 7: Akitoshi Saito Final Korakuen Match: Akitoshi Saito, Shiro Koshinaka & AKIRA beat Go Shiozaki, Mohammed Yone & Atsushi Kotoge. Saito pinned Kotoge after Death Brand.
Main Event: GHC Heavyweight Champion Kaito Kiyomiya beat Masa Kitamiya by submission to retain the title. V5 for Kiyomiya.
The next event is Saturday at Yokohama Radiant Hall in Yokohama. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 12:30 AM PT/3:30 AM ET.
The post-event news/fallout:
For the second straight year, former New Japan icon and current WWE wrestler Shinsuke Nakamura will return to Japan for NOAH THE NEW YEAR 2025 on Janiuary 1, 2025. Last year he faced Keiji Muto, this year he’ll face Ulka Sasaki.
It was announced that Saturday’s event, the first half of a doubleheader that day at Club eX in Shinagawa Prince Hotel in Tokyo, will now be an ALL REBELLION produced event. The second event is a LIMIT BREAK ex. event. Both events that day will be live on WRESTLE UNIVERSE with the first event beginning Friday at 8 PM PT/11 PM ET. The second event will begin Saturday at 12:30 AM PT/3:30 AM ET.
Nest up for Kiyomiya: The winner of a determination match between Marufuji & Sugiura. That match will happen on 11/6 at Korakuen. The title match will be on 11/17 at the Akitoshi Saito Retirement Event.
Next up for Soya: Shiozaki. That match will happen on 11/9 at Osaka Prefectural Gym 2 in Osaka.
New Japan 10/14/24 Results (Updated x2)
KING OF PRO WRESTLING 2024, New Japan’s latest massive blowout event, is now in the books. And it was massive.
Today’s event was held at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo and can be watched on demand OUTSIDE JAPAN ONLY on New Japan World. This event aired live in Japan as part of WORLD PRO WRESTLING LIVE 2024 on TV Asahi.
The announced paid attendance was 6211.
Before the event began, Yoh made an appearance and, although a specific date wasn’t mentioned, announced he would be returning soon from injuries.
Match 1: Hiromu Takahashi beat Mistico.
Match 2: Kevin Knight & KUSHIDA beat IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Drilla Moloney & Clark Connors to win the titles. Knight & KUSHIDA become the 76th IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. Knight pinned Moloney.
Match 3: IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls beat Caveman Ugg & Bad Luck Fale to retain the titles.. Nicholls pinned Ugg after Thunder Valley. V1 for the champs. Next up: Possibly HENARE & Great-O-Khan.
Match 4: NEVER Openweight Champion Shingo Takagi beat Ryohei Oiwa to retain the title. V1 for Takagi.
Match 5: Ren narita beat NJPW WORLD TV Champion Jeff Cobb & Yota Tsuji in a 3-way by pinning Cobb to win the title. Narita becomes the 6th NJPW WORLD TV Champion.
Match 6: Hiroshi Tanahashi 25th Anniversary Match: El Phantasmo, Shota Umino & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL. Tanahashi pinned Takahashi after High Fly Flow. Then, the news that made my heart skip a beat…the end is near. Tanahashi announced he will retire at Tokyo Dome on January 4, 2026. Naturally EVIL & House Of Torture ruined the moment with a beatdown and more.
Match 7: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion DOUKI beat Sho to retain the title.V3 for DOUKI. In 14 SECONDS. DOUKI was unmasked before the match officially began, revealing…face paint around his mouth. Next up: Possibly Yoshinobu Kanemaru…until the post-match beatdown was broken up by…Master Wato! The former champion returned from a long injury absence and made the save and his challenge. The Junior Heavyweight division is reviving!
Match 8: IWGP Global Champion David Finlay beat Hirooki Goto to retain the title. V3 for Finlay. Next up: Finlay wanted the injured Yuya Uemura, but instead it may be Taichi, who laid out Finlay.
Main Event: Zack Sabre Jr. beat IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Tetsuya Naito to win the title. Sabre becomes the 11th IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. As the Englanders like to say, IT’S COMING HOME. Sabre chose to gamble to try and go home as champion rather than wait for Tokyo Dome for his title shot, and it paid off. Next up: Almost certainly SANADA, his scheduled next opponent, but Umino & Takagi also made challenges. We’ll see what happens over the next couple days.
The next event is ROYAL QUEST 4 Sunday at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London, England. Live streaming worldwide on New Japan World (for all paying subscribers, no PPV) in Japanese will begin at 9:30 AM PT/12:30 PM ET. Live results will be posted. No English commentary (that will be on demand later on).
UPDATE: In the first bit of post-event news, the first US event of 2025, Battle In The Valley, was announced for 1/11 at San Jose Civic Center in San Jose, CA. Tickets go on sale Thursday.
UPDATE 2: It’s now official. The previously announced Sabre-SANADA match for Sunday is now for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.
DDT 10/13/24 Results
DDT continued their current tour today in Fukuoka.
Today’s event was held at Acros Fukuoka in Fukuoka and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE Wednesday. There was no live broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 394.
Match 1: Chris Brookes & Yuki Ishida beat Takao Soma & Kazuki Hirata. Ishida pinned Hirata after Dosukoi Gatame.
Match 2: Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON beat Akito, Yukio Naya & Kazuma Sumi. KANON beat Sumi with a crucifix cobra twist.
Match 3: Toru Owashi beat O-40 Champion Azure Dragon & Danshoku Dieno in a 3-way by pinning Dragon to win the title. Owashi becomes the 6th O-40 Champion.
Match 4: Tetsuya Endo & Yuya Koroku beat Jun AKiyama & Keigo Nakamura. Endo pinned Nakamura after Burning Star Press.
Match 5: Shinya Aoki & Yuki Ueno beat HARASHIMA & Takeshi Masada. Aoki beat Masada with a modified neck lock.
Match 6: KO-D Tag Team Champions MAO & Shunma Katsumata beat Kota Umeda & Tomomitsu Matsunaga to retain the titles. Katsumata pinned Matsunaga after Sauna Trance Splash through a table. V2 for the champs.
Main Event: DDT Universal Champion Yuki Iino beat To-y to retain the title. V2 for Iino.
The next event is tomorrow at El Ceimo Yatsushiro in Kumamoto. There will be no live broadcast. On demand Thursday.
Stardom 10/12/24 Results
Stardom continued their October house show tour yesterday in Ishikawa.
Yesterday’s event was held at Yoshitsune Arena in Ishikawa and will be available on demand on Stardom at a later date, possibly later today. There was no live broadcast.
The annoounced paid attendance was 250.
Match 1: Saori Anou beat Ranna Yagami.
Match 2: Mei Seira, AZM & Miyu Amasaki beat Yuna Mizumori, Aya Sakura & Sayaka Kurara. Seira pinned Mizumori after Shooting Star.
Match 3: Momo Watanabe & Saya Kamitani beat Gina & Waka Tsukiyama and Hazuki & Saya Iida in a 3-way when Watanabe pinned Tsukiyama.
Match 4: Matu Iwatani, Koguma, Hanan & Momo Kohgo beat Maika, Mina Shirakawa, HANAKO & Rian. Koguma pinned Rian after a diving body press.
Match 5: Tam Nakano & Natsupoi beat Syuri & Lady C. Natsupoi pinned C after Fairy Real Gift.
Main Event: Starlight Kid & Suzu Suzuki beat Natsuko Tora & Ruaka. Suzuki pinned Ruaka after Gran Maestro de Tequila.
The next event is tomorrow (tonight US time) at Barfert Toyama 2F Multipurpose Hall in Toyama. There will be no live broadcast.
Injury Report: Gina and Hanan were both injured at this event Awaiting further details as to what exactly happened to both. Out indefinitely. Status uncertain after tomorrow with the next events being next weekend (a NEW BLOOD event Saturday and house show Sunday). Corresponding card changes have already been made for tomororw and Konami has been added to the event.
All-Japan 10/13/24 Results
All-Japan continues the Flag Raising Commemorative Series 224 today in Shizuoka.
Today’s event was held at Kira Messe Numazu in Shizuoka and will be available on demand on AJPW. TV tonight at 6 PM PT/9 PM ET. There was no live broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 515.
Match 1: Seigo Tachibana beat Ryo Inoue.
Match 2: Shotaro Ashino, Dan Tamura & Davey Boy Smith Jr. beat Suwama, Hideki Suzuki & Hikaru Sato. Smith pinned Sato after Bulldog Bomb.
Match 3: Cyrus beat Kuroshio TOKYO Japan in 3 seconds. LEGIT SQUASH.
Match 4: Hokuto Omori, Kumaarashi, Hartley Jackson & Jack Kennedy beat Jun & Rei Saito, Natuki Doi & Senor Saito. Jackson pinned Senor Saito after Death Valley Bomb.
Match 5: Yuma Aoyagi & Kento Miyahara beat Ren Ayabe & Ryuki Honda. Aoyagi pinned Ayabe after Endgame.
Main Event: Rising Hayato & Yuma Anzai beat All-Asia Tag Team Champions Seiki Yoshioka & MUSASHI to win the titles. Hayato & Anzai become the 125th All-Asia Tag Team Champions. Anzai pinned MUSASHI after Gimlet.
The next event is Thursday at Shin-Kiba 1st Ring in Tokyo. Live streaming on AJPW.TV will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET.
