DEVELOPING: Former TJPW Wrestler Returning To The Ring

One of the great unsolved mysteries in Japanese women’s wrestling the last few years is why Hikari Noa, a rising star in Tokyo Joshi Pro who balanced Up Up Girls with hardcore dabbling on the side, inexplicably walked away without revealing why. We may never get an answer but Noa resurfaced on social media today with a new Twitter account and, based on a video posted by Sayaka Unagi to YouTube, is making a comeback. They revealed in the video that Noa will return at a Unagi-produced independent event on 6/21 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Her look has understandably changed, most notably she has full blonde hair now but looks well physically and this is already generating a lot of excitement among fans.

More as it becomes available.

New Japan News: Regarsing 4/16 US Event Broadcast Plans

Until the other day, broadcast plans for New Japan’s El Desperado Produced event in Las Vegas, NV on Thursday seemed in flux as I hadn’t found any streaming details. Those have now been cleared up-the event will be a PPV on New Japan World in Japanese & English. It can be purchased now for $22.99 in the US or 3500 yen (around $22) in Japan and will include unlimited replays until 5/30.

For now the event has 5 matches scheduled which are as follows (match order will be announced on event day):
Dragon Kid & Starlight Kid vs. El Phantasmo & TBA. TBA was to have been Maki Itoh but she is now off the event. Visa issues.
Nick Gage & Matt Tremont vs. El Desperado & Jun Kasai and Rina Yanashita & Masashi Takeda in a 3-way death match
Effy vs. Jimmy Lloyd & ISHIN in a 3-way
Jordan Oliver & Alec Price vs. KUSHIDA & YAMATO and Mansoor & Mason Madden in a 3-way

Injury Report: That Smile Isn’t GLEAT (Updated)

GLEAT bad puns are so easy to come up with…joking aside, unfortunately they have another injury absence to report, this time it’s MICHIKO. Fractured axial vertebra tooth based on translation. Out indefinitely. No word yet on how long she may be out.

More as it becomes available.

UPDATE: Correction1the injury appears to be a neck bone. This from translation of MICHIKO commenting on GLEAT’s original post.

All-Japan 4/12/2026 Results

All-Japan kicked off the 2026 Champions Carnival, the annual spring Heavyweight singles tournament, today in Tokyo.

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on drmand on AJPW.TV. This will also be a taped Samurai! TV broadcast in Japan at a later date.

The announced paid attendance was 1194.

Match 1: Dan Tamura, Hokuto Omori & Hikaru Sato beat Seigo Tachibana, Shota Kofuji & Seiki Yoshioka. Tamura pinned Tachibana with La Magistral.

Match 2: Champions Carnival Block A: Rei Saito beat Kumaarashi.

Match 3: Champions Carnival Blovk B: Daisuke Sekimoto beat Yuma Aoyagi.

Match 4: Champions Carnival Block A: Kengo Mashimo beat Talos.

Match 5: Kento Miyahara, Atsuki Aoyagi, Ryuki Honda & Rising Hayato beat Odyssey, Shotaro Ashino, MUSASHI & Ryo Inoue. Miyahara pinned Inoue with a shutdown suplex hold.

Match 6: Champions Carnival Block B: Xyon beat Hideki Suzuki.

Match 7: Champions Carnival Block B: Ren Ayabe beat Jun Saito.

Main Event/ Champions Carnival Block A: Go Shiozaki beat Yuma Anzai.

The next event is Saturday at Kinjo Pier Arena in Nagoya. Live streaming on AJPW.TV will begin Friday at 11 PM PT/2 AM ET.

In other news, it was announced that Yasutaka Yano, who first appeared in the promotion as masked wrestler KURAMA before unmasking, will re-debut on 5/17.

Tokyo Joshi Pro 4/12/2026 Results

Tokyo Joshi Pro ran a morning matinee today as the second half of their Canada devut weekend.

Today’s event was held at Great Canadian Hastings Racecourse & Casino in Vancouver, Canada and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in English.

The announced paid attendance was 352.

Match 1: HIMAWARI & Shino Suzuki beat Wakana Uehara & Toga. HIMAWARI pinned Toga after Sunflower Tempest.

Match 2: Yuki Kamifuku beat Krystala.

Match 3: Liza Hall & Uta Takami beat Raku & Pom Harajuku. Hall pinned Harajuku after a piledriver.

Match 4: Miu Watanabe beat Cherry Blossom.

Match 5: Miyu Yamashita beat Nicole Matthews.

Main Event: Yuki Arai & Suzume beat J-Rod & Sakura Hattori. Suzume pinned Hattori after Ring A Bell.

The next event is TJPW LIVE IN LAS VEGAS 2026 Thursday at The Pearl At The Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, NV. Live streaming as a PPV on Triller/FITE will begin at 11 AM PT/2 PM ET. The PPV is available for $19.99 or as bundle packs with other events that day and will include unlimited on demand replays until 4/20/27. It should be on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in a couple months.

Pro Wrestling NOAH 4/12/2026 Results (Updated)

APEX CONQUEST 2026 in NAGOYA, Pro Wrestling NOAH’s latest major event, is now in the books.

Today’s event was held at Kinjo Pier Arena in Nagoya and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in English. This was an exclusive ABEMA broadcast in Japan.

The announced paid attendance was 1280. That’s just over half capacity for the venue in the promotion’s debut since it reopened in January after a brief closure (it first opened in 2008). The venue’s main arena capacity listed is 2536.

Match 1: Hajime Ohara, Daiki Odashima & Midori Takahashi beat Manabu Soya, Black Menso-re & Yuto Koyanagi. Odashima pinned Menso-re after Dead End.

Match 2: Angel Reyes & RYUSEI beat Eita & Hiroto Tsuruya. RYUSEI beat Tsuruya with a reverse Boston Crab.

Match 3: Knull, Kai Fujimura & Tadasuke beat Atsushi Kotoge, Mohammed Yone & Hi69. Tadasuke pinned Hi69.

Match 4: Kenoh, Naomichi Marufuji & AMAKUSA beat Tetsuya Endo, HAYATA & Katsumi Inahata. AMAKUSA pinned Inabata after Opening Of The Country.

Match 5: Masa Kitamiya & Takashi Sugiura beat Kaito Kiyomiya & Harutoki. Kitamiya beat Harutoki with Stranglehold y.

Match 6: GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Dragon Bane & Alejandro beat Kid Lycos 1 & 2 to retain the titles. Bane pinned 2 after Santa Maria. V1 for the champs.

Match 7: GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Tetsuya Naito & BUSHI beat OZAWA & Jun Masaoka to retain the titles. Naito pinned OZAWA. V3 for the champs.

Main event: GHC Heavyweight Champion Yoshiki Inamura beat Alpha Wolf to retain the title. V6 for Inamura.

The next event is Saturday at Bandaijima Mumtipurpose Square Okama in Niigata. There will be no live or on demand broadcast (at this time).

UPDATE: Here is the post-event news/fallout roundup:

Next up for Inamura: Shane Haste, who until a few months ago was part of New Japan but hasn’t been seen in a while. He was a regular in NOAH in his early career along with longtime tag partner Mikey Nicholls. That match will happen on 5/2 at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo. 5/2 will also have GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion AMAKUSA vs. Dragon Bane for the title. Haste will be part of the White Raven Squad faction in this current run.

It’s time for GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Bane & Alejandro to run the Team 2000X gauntlet as next up are Tadasuke & Fujimura. That match will happen on 4/24 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo.

New Japan wrestler Tiger Mask 4, who is retiring in July, has been announced for 5/13 at Korakuen and will team with Kenoh to face Marufuji & Alejandro.

Tokyo Joshi Pro 4/11/2026 Results (Event 2)

For today’s second event, Tokyo Joshi Pro made their Canada debut with the first 2 events in Vancouver, meaning another reunion with our beloved former ring announcer Sayuri Namba, who is currently based there.

Today’s event was held at Great Canadian Hastings Racecourse & Casino in Vancouver, Canada and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in English.

The announced paid attendance was 400, a legit sellout.

Match 1: Yuki Kamifuku beat Shino Suzuki.

Match 2: Amira beat Uta Takami.

Match 3: Sakura Hattori & Toga beat Raku & Pom Harajuku. Hattori pinned Harajuku after Yoshio Cage.

Match 4: Suzume beat Alexa Nicole.

Match 5: Nicole Matthews & Liza Hall beat Miyu Yamashita & HIMAWARI. Matthews pinned HIMAWARI after Roll The Dice.

Main Event: Miu Watanabe & J-Rod beat Yuki Arai & Wakana Uehara. J-Rod pinned Uehara after Ultimate Spear.

The next event is tomorrow. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in English will begin at 11:30 AM PT/2:30 PM ET.

Stardom 4/11/2026 Results

Stardom ran their regular weekend matinee event today in Tokyo.

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on Stardom World. You can also watch the pre-show match and the first match FOR FREE on YouTube.

The announced paid attendance was 1422.

Pre-show match: Akira Kurogame & Tabata (CMLL) beat Matoi Hamabe & Anne Kanaya. Tabata pinned Hamabe after Pulpo Guerrero.

Match 1: Starlight Kid beat Fuwa-chan.

Match 2: Hina & Lady C beat Xena & Waka Tsukiyama. Hina pinned Tsukiyama with Gedo Clutch.

Match 3: Suzu Suzuki, Rina Yamashita & Itsuki Aoki beat Maki Itoh, Rian & HANAKO. Yamashita pinned Rian after Implant.

Match 4: Syuri, Tomoka Inaba, Ranna Yagami & Kiyoka Kokatsu beat Hanan, Saya Iida, Bea Priestley & Momo Kohgo. Syuri pinned Kohgo.

Match 5: Maika, Mei Seira & Sayaka Unagi (Independent/Freelancer) beat Saki Kashima, Hazuki & Koguma. Unagi pinned Kashima.

Match 6: Rookie Of Stardom 2026 Finals: Ema Maishima beat Kikyo Furusawa to win the tournament. As a result, Maishima will get a Future Of Stardom Championship shot on 4/26.

Main Event: Natsupoi, Saori Anou, Yuna Mizumori, Aya Sakura, Sayaka Kurara, AZM & Miyu Amasaki beat Saya Kamitani, Natsuko Tora, Ruaka, Rina, Konami, Azusa Inaba & Fukigen. Kurara pinned Kamitani after Tokineki Spear. Gotta give her faint hopes as much as I diskike it.

The next event is AMERICAN DREAM 2026 Friday at The Pearl At The Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, NV. Live streaming as a PPV on Triller/FITE will begin at 3 PM PT/6 PM ET. The PPV can be pre-ordered for $19.99 or as a bundle with other events next week and includes unlimited replays for about a year.

Tokyo Joshi Pro 4/11/2026 Results (Event 1)

Tokyo Joshi Pro participated in a free independent event today featuring the roster members who did not go to Canada for this weekend’s events there.

Today’s event was held at Shinjo Village Gaisen Sakura Street in Okayama and may be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date. There was no live broadcast.

This was a free event with no paid attendance.

Match 1: Takumi Tsukamoto beat Hiroshi Inoue.

Match 2: Rika Tatsumi beat Kira Summer.

Match 3: Hyper Misao & Mahiro Kiryu beat Arisu Endo & Chika Nanase. Misao pinned Nanase after I Am A Hero.

Match 4: Ryota Nakatsu, FUMA & Takato Nakano beat Minoru Fujita, Yasu Urano & Trans-Am Hiroshi. Nakano pinned Hiroshi after Falconry.

Match 5: Shoko Nakajima, Yuki Aino & Haru Kazashiro beat Aja Kong, Mizuki & Mifu Ashida. Aino pinned Ashida after Venus DDT.

Main Event: Union MAX Champion Shuji Ishikawa beat Ryuichi Sekine to retain the title. V3 for Ishikawa.

The next event is TONIGHT at Great Canadian Hastings Racecourse & Casino in Vancouver, Canada. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in English will begin at 7 PM PT/10 PM ET.

BREAKING: Sumo-Isrgahama/Terunofuji Punishment Issued

As expected, the Japan Sumo Association handed down punishment to stablemaster Isrgahama fka Terunofuji today and as expected, it wasn’t severe.

The punishment: 2 Rank Elder Stock Demotion to the lowest rank and a 10% pay cut for 3 months. It could have been as bad as kicked out of sumo.

There is some precedent here as a similar incident caused then-stablemaster Nakagawa to lose bis stable 6 years ago, but it seems that since it was essentially just one punch and from a seated position, Isegahama got off easy It also seemed to be seen as corrective action towards Hakunofuji and there seems to be no indications of regular violence in the stable. The stable will also be placed on the equivalent of probation.

As for Hakunofuji, he is given a severe reprimand but no formal disciplinary action.

Both appeared before the Japanese media today and apologized for the incident.

But yeah, sumo again protecting its own elders above all else plus it’s that powerful Isrgahama clout.