FREE VIDEO: Sumo-May 2026 Tournament Ring Purifying Ceremony

As is tradition before each Grand Sumo Tournament, a ring-purifying ceremony will be held 24 hours before the matches begin. This is open to the public to attend at the venue (since this is May it will be at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo) for free but it is also streamed FOR FREE on YouTube. You can watch the livestream below beginning at 6 PM PT/9 PM ET (it typically runs about 25 minutes), replays will also be available a few minutes after it ends:

If the above embedded video does not work, click the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/live/J7hzYNTlmnE?si=07cxq2Y-XrzMHPdG

(Video courtesy of the Japan Sumo Association official YouTube channel)

DEVELOPING: A New Sendai Girls Member Coming?

It won’t be for some time but it’s possible because Sendai Girls has announced that DASH Chisako, about to celebrate her 20th Anniversary, will be out long-term because they’ve learned she is pregnant. The decision was made that she will not compete any more for now to protect her and the baby’s health. A 20th Anniversary event planned on 7/20 will now be a promotion 20th Anniversary event, for now New Japan wrestler El Desperado-who was previously announced for the event-will still participate but this is subject to change. The promotion will also offer refunds to ticket holders for events.

Sendai Girls also offers their heartfelt congratulations to Chisako and will fully support her during this time. It’s safe to say she won’t return to the ring until at least 2027. Chisako posted a photo of her ultrasound on social media showing the baby holding a chair, which clearly has to be fake (the chair), and many top wrestlers including Desperado, Naomichi Marufuji, Yuji Nagata and former wrestler Saki Akai have posted congratulatory messages. I join in congratulating Chisako and sending best wishes for good health for mother and baby in the future.

(As a reminder, Sendai Girls events can be watched on demand, and sometimes live, on WRESTLE UNIVERSE)

Dragon Gate 5/8/2026 Results (Updated)

Dragon Gate continued the Hopeful Gate 2026 Tour, the May tour, today with the monthly Tokyo event.

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on DRAGONGATE NETWORK. You can also watch the first match FOR FREE on YouTube.

The paid attendance has not yet been announced.

Match 1: Strong Machine J, Kzy, U-T, @KEY & GuC beat BxB Hulk, KAGETORA, Toru Owashi (DDT), Punch Tominaga & Takashi. Kzy pinned Tominaga after a running elbow smash.

Match 2: Munenori Sawa beat Jiro Shinbashi.

Match 3: Madoka Kikuta, Jason Lee, Kota Minoura & KAI beat Genki Horiguchi, Yasushi Kanda, Masaaki Mochizuki & Don Fujii. Kikuta pinned Fujii after a rolling lariat.

Match 4: El Cielo beat Dragon Kid & Luis Mante in a 3-way by pinning Mante.

Match 5: Hyo beat Homare.

Match 6: YAMATO, Susumu Yokosuka & Naruki Doi (Independent/Freelancer) beat Yuki Yoshioka, Ryoya Tanaka & Kazuma Kimura. Doi pinned Kimura after Bakatare Sliding Kick. Afterwards, it appeared Doi made an Open The Brave Gate Championship challenge to Tanaka, which was accepted. UPDATE: It’s now official. That match will happen on 6/5.

Main Event: ISHIN & Yoshiki Kato beat JACKY KAMEI & Riiita. ISHIN pinned Riiita. As a result, ISHIN & Kato will get the next All-Asia Tag Team Championship shot.

The next event is tomorrow at Yokohama Radiant Hall in Yokohama. There will be no live or on demand broadcast. Next broadcast is in 2 weeks for a Hokkaido tripleheader.

UPDATE: After the event, Tiger Mask 4 participation was announced for 6/4, the final Dragon Gate appearance for the retiring New Japan icon. TM 4 will team with Ultimo Dragon & The Great Sasuke to face Masaaki Mochizuki, Don Fujii & Dragon Kid.

NOAH News: Next Tournament Field Announced

Pro Wrestling NOAH today announced the full field for the next tournament, the NEO GLOBAL TAG LEAGUE, coming up in about 2 weeks. This will be a round-robin format tournament with 2 blocks of 6 teams and standard scoring, with the winners of each block advancing to the Finals. Tiebreaker if needed will be head-to-head result.

Participating teams:
Block A: Tetsuya Naito & BUSHI, Kaito Kiyomiya & Harutoki, Tetsuya Endo & HAYATA, Katl Anderson & Doc Gallows, Kid Lykos 1 & 2, Masa Kitamiya & Takashi Sugiura
Block B: Naomichi Marufuji & Kenoh, Yoshiki Inamura & Stallion Rogers, Kazuyuki Fujita & Mohammed Yone, KENTA & Katsumi Inahata, Manabu Soya & Yuki Iino, OZAWA & Tadasuke

On paper Block A looks tough to call, I don’t see the Lykoses having a chance but anyone else can win. Block B looks 50-50 between Marufuji/Kenoh, Soya/Iino and OZAWA/Tadasuke. I would expect the winners to get a GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Championship match afterwards unless Naito/BUSHI win as the current champions.

The tournament begins on 5/23 at Kyoto KBS Hall in Kyoto and runs over 12 events through 6/16 (Finals at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo). All events will be streamed LIVE and on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE but 6/16 is listed as an ABEMA live broadcast so we should get an English-only UNIVERSE stream there.

Ganbare Pro 5/6/2026 Results

Ganbare Pro ran their latest house show today in Tokyo.

Today’s event was held at Takashimadaira Community Center in Tokyo and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE Friday.

The paid attendance has not yet been announced.

Match 1: Moeka Haruhi beat Chie Ozora.

Match 2: Yuya Susumu & Reiya Igarashi beat Keisuke Ishii & Sentaro Motojima. Igarashi pinned Motojima with a fisherman’s suplex hold.

Match 3: Shuichiro Katsumura & YuuRI beat Munetatsu Nakamuta & Soy. YuuRI beat Soy.

Match 4: Yunehito Imanari & Rekka beat Mizuki Watase & Shota Kawakami. Imanari beat Kawakami with a headlock.

Main Event: Ken Ohka, Akira Koji & Shinichiro Tomonaga beat Takuya Wada, Tyson Maeguchi & Fuminori Abe. Koji pinned Maeguchi after Toriyama Black Driver.

The next event is 5/31 at Yokohama Trade Hall in Yokohama. On demand 6/2.

DEVELOPING: Sumo-Major May Injury Concern (Updated)

Not good news ahead of the May Grand Sumo Tournament-Nikkan Sports reports Ozeki Aonishiki, who is in danger of demotion after his first losing tournament following 2 straight championships and being in Yokozuna contention, was injured in practice today (yesterday Japan time). Left ankle. It happened during practice at Arashio Beya in Tokyo, which the Ajigawa Beya-based Aonishiki was visiting, and possibly happened during a practice bout with Wakamotoharu. Stablemaster Ajigawa said he will make a decision on Aonishiki’s tournament participation in the next day or two (the deadline for pre-tournament withdrawals is Friday) but if Aonishiki can’t compete or can’t win at least 8 matches he will be demoted to Sekiwake in July.

More as it becomes available.

UPDATE: Aonishiki is OUT. At least for the first day, maybe two days. But right now it does not look like he will miss the entire tournament, meaning he must return and get 8+ wins to avoid demotion. Also, Yokozuna Onosato is also OUT. Left shoulder. Sounds like he will not compete at all.

Stardom 5/6/2026 Results

Stardom wrapped up their Golden Week tour today in Fukuoka.

Today’s event was held at Acros Fukuoka in Fukuoka and can be watched on demand on Stardom World. You can also watch the first 3 matches FOR FREE on YouTube.

The announced paid attendance was 672, a legit sellout.

Match 1: New Blood Tag Team Champions Aya Sakura & Sayaka Kurara beat Matoi Hamabe & Anne Kanaya to retain the titles. Sakura beat Hamabe with a triangle choke. V2 for the champs.

Match 2: Xena beat Ema Maishima.

Match 3: Natsuko Tora, Ruaka & Rina beat Suzu Suzuki, Saori Anou & Waka Tsukiyama. Tora pinned Suzuki after Death Valley Bomb.

Match 4: Tomoka Inaba beat Akira Kurogame.

Match 5: Syuri beat Tabata (CMLL).

Match 6: AZM, Miyu Amasaki & Starlight Kid beat Natsupoi, Yuna Mizumori & Rian. Kid beat Rian with Black Tiger Leg Murder.

Match 7: Hanan, Saya Iida, Momo Kohgo, Ami Sohrei & Lady C beat Konami, Saya Kamitani, Rina, Fukigen & Bea Priestley. Hanan pinned Priestley after 17.

Main Event: Hazuki, Koguma, Maika & Maki Itoh beat Ranna Yagani, HANAKO, Fuwa-chan & Kikyo Furusawa. Hazuki pinned Fuwa-chan after Emerald Flow. This went over 25 minutes.

The next event is 5/16 at G Messe Gunma in Ginma. There will be no live broadcast.

Tokyo Joshi Pro 5/6/2026 Results

Tokyo Joshi Pro ran a Suzume hometown event for the first time today in Ibaraki.

Today’s event was held at Tsukuba International Conference Center Multipurpose Hall in Ibaraki and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE Sunday. There was no live broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 310, a super full house/very near sellout.

Match 1: Yuki Aino beat Shion Kanzaki by submission.

Match 2: Hyper Misao beat Raku & HIMAWARI in a 3-way by pinning HIMAWARI.

Match 3: Miyu Yamashita & Sakura Hattori beat Wakana Uehara & Kira Summer. Hattori pinned Summer.

Match 4: Shoko Nakajima beat Pom Harajuku.

Match 5: Mizuki & Uta Takami beat Haru Kazashiro & Chika Nanase. Takami beat Nanase with Koala Clutch.

Match 6: Yuki Kamifuku & Toga beat Yuki Arai & Shino Suzuki. Kamifuku pinned Suzuki after Fameasser.

Main Event: Suzume, Mahiro Kiryu & Arisu Endo beat Miu Watanabe, Rika Tatsumi & Ren Konatsu. Suzume pinned Konatsu after Ring A Bell. During the post-match promo, Suzume was interrupted by an unexpected International Princess Championship challenger-to-be…Kiryu. Seriously?!? That match will happen on 6/7 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, and I pray Suzume retains.

The next event is 5/16 at Shimizu Marine Building in Shizuoka for a Shino Suzuki hometown event. Shoko Nakajima & Yuki Kamifuku will miss the event due to schedule conflicts. There will be no live broadcast. On demand 5/19.

New Japan 5/6/2026 Results (Updated)

New Japan ran another standalone event today in Saga

Today’s event was held at Karatsu City Gym in Saga and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 757.

Match 1: Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Sho beat Taisei Nakahara & Ryusuke Taguchi. Sho pinned Nakahara.

Match 2: Master Wato, Yoh & Toru Yano beat Tatsuya Matsumoto, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto. Wato pinned Matsumoto after a swan dive elbow smash.

Match 3: El Desperado & Taichi beat Tomoaki Honma & Shota Umino. Taichi pinned Honma.

Match 4: Kosei Fujita & Ryohei Oiwa beat Masatora Yasuda & Yuya Uemura. Fujita beat Yasuda with Neshen Special.

Match 5: Tiger Mask, Boltin Oleg & Aaron Wolf beat Dick Togo, Yujiro Takahashi & Ren Narita. Wolf beat Togo with a triangle choke.

Match 6: Zane Jay, Jacob Auatin Young, Francesco Akira, Great-O-Khan & HENARE beat Daiki Nagai, Gedo, Taiji Ishimori, OSKAR (The Grouch) & Yuto Ice (Ice Baby). Young pinned Gedo after Bite The Dust.

Main Event: Yota Tsuji & Shingo Takagi beat Jake Lee & Callum Newman. Tsuji pinned Newman after Gene Blaster. As a result, Tsuji will face Newman for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at DOMINION on 6/14 at Osaka-jo Hall in Osaka. Had Lee/Newman won, Tsuji & Takagi could not challenge for the title again as long as Newman was champion. If either Tsuji or Takagi won by beating Newman, which happened, that winner got another title shot.

The next event is FACE THE NEXT, a United Japan Pro Wrestling produced event with all member participation including New Japan, Tuesday at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo. The event will also feature Pro Wrestling NOAH, DDT, Dragon Gate and Ganbare Pro participation among others, and mostly focus on younger wrestlers. Broadcast plans TBA. (All-Japan is not a UJPW member at this time)

The next event after that is Best Of The Super Junior 33, the annual Junior Heavyweight showcase tournament, starting on 5/14 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET.

In other news, it was revealed last night by WWE that EVIL will apparently be known as “Naraku” in NXT. TV debut scheduled for next week (Tuesday).

UPDATE: Injury Report-it appears Boltin Oleg was injured today. Left elbow. Out indefinitely. But it was said he will miss the next series which is Best Of The Super Junior-if that’s the case, then he is out at least a month.

All-Japan 5/5/2026 Results (Updated)

All-Japan finished up the preliminary round of the Champions Carnival today in Tokyo.

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

The announced paid attendance was 1377.

There was a last-minute change to the card due to Yuma Anzai being pulled off the event. Right leg injury suffered Saturday. As a result, in the Champions Carnival Rei Saito beat Anzai by forfeit. Senor Saito was the replacement.

Pre-show match: Rei Saito & Senor Saito beat Hideki Suzuki & Shota Kofuji. Senor Saito pinned Kofuji.

Champions Carnival Block A:
Match 1: Talos beat Kumaarashi.
Match 2: Go Shiozaki beat Odyssey.
Match 3: Kengo Mashimo beat Kento Miyahara. As a result, there was a 4-way tie for the top 2 spots between Rei Saito, Shiozaki, Mashimo & Talos. Random draws for 2 tiebreaker matches were held.

Match 4: Seigo Tachibana, MUSASHI, Seiki Yoshioka, Yuya Aoki & Hyo Ogawa (Independent/Freelancers) beat Dan Tamura, Shotaro Ashino, Hokuto Omori, Atsuki Aoyagi & Ryo Inoue. Tachibana pinned Tamura after Yankee Hammer.

Champions Carnival Block B:
Match 5: Xyon beat Yuma Aoyagi.
Match 6: Ryuki Honda beat Daisuke Sekimoto.
Main Event: Madoka Kikuta beat Ren Ayabe. As a result, Hideki Suzuki wins Block B and advances and there was a 4-way tie for 2nd. But because he beat the other 3. Kikuta wins the tiebreakers and advances.

Block A Tiebreakers:
1-Rei Saito beat Kengo Mashimo. As a result, Saito finishes 2nd and advances to the Semifinals.
2-Go Shiozaki beat Talos. As a result, Shiozaki wins Block A and advances to the Semifinals.

Today’s results also mean the tournament winner gets an All-Japan Triple Crown match against Miyahara.

The Semifinals & Finals are 5/17 at Ebara Wave Arena Ota fka Ota City General Gym. Live streaming on AJPW.TV will begin on 5/16 at 10 PM PT/1 AM ET.

UPDATE: During the event, Jun Saito announced he will return from injury (eye) on 6/6. DOOM!!!