News, results & more from Japanese Pro Wrestling & Sumo
Pro Wrestling NOAH has just announced an injury change to upcoming events-rookie Hiroto Tsuruya apparently was injured over the last few days. Concussion, or at least a suspected one. Out indefinitely. Changes to Wednesday’s card have been made. It’s not yet known how long Tsuruya may be out but the promotion stated on social media in English that “His health and safety are our top priority.”
More as it becomes available.
New Japan continued the Road To WRESTLING DONTAKU 2026 Tour today with a second event in Yamaguchi.
Today’s event was held at Yanai City Gym in Yamaguchi. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 680.
Match 1: Robbie X beat Taisei Nakahara.
Match 2: OSKAR (The Grouch) & Yuto Ice (Ice Baby) beat Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe. Ice pinned Honma after Cruella.
Match 3: Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens beat Yoh, Ryusuke Taguchi & Shota Umino. Owens pinned Taguchi after Last Testament.
Match 4: Francesco Akira, Great-O-Khan & HENARE beat Tatsuya Matsumoto, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto. Akira pinned Matsumoto after Fireball.
Match 5: Kosei Fujita, Robbie Eagles, Hartley Jackson & Ryohei Oiwa beat Masatora Yasuda, Master Wato, Taichi & Yuya Uemura. Fujita pinned Yasuda.
Match 6: Toru Yano, Tiger Mask, Aaron Wolf & Boltin Oleg vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru, DOUKI, Don Fale & Ren Narita went to a no contest.
Main Event: Daiki Nagai, Taiji Ishimori, Yota Tsuji & Shingo Takagi beat Zane Jay, Jacob Austin Young, Jake Lee & Callum Newman. Takagi pinned Jay after Burning Dragon.
The next event is “Wrestling Hizen Country” Wednesday at Saga Arena in Saga with TM 4-DOUKI for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship in a Lumberjack Match (no countouts). Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET.
The wait was a little longer this time but it’s finally over-the Japan Sumo Association has just announced the updated Banzuke (rankings) for the May 2026 Grand Sumo Tournament in Tokyo. Here are the full rankings for the top 2 tiers and other items of note:
Makuuchi (top tier):
Yokozuna-Hoshoryu, Onosato
Ozeki-Kirishima (March Tournament Champion), Kotozakura, Aonishiki
Sekiwake-Atamisuji, Kotoshoho
Komusubi-Wakatakakage, Takayasu
Maegashira 1-Fujinokawa, Takanosho
Maegashira 2-Yoshinofuji, Ichiyamamoto
Maegashira 3-Hiradoumi, Oho
Maegashira 4-Daieisho, Gonoyama
Maegashira 5-Wakamotoharu, Shodai
Maegashira 6-Churanoumi, Fujiseiun
Maegashira 7-Chiyoshoma, Asakoryu
Maegashira 8-Oshoma, Asahakuryu
Maegashira 9-Abi, Nishikifuji
Maegashira 10-Asanoyama, Hakunofuji
Maegashira 11-Ura, Kinbozan
Maegashira 12-Shishi, Tokihayate
Maegashira 13-Kotoeiho, Tamawashi
Maegashira 14-Mitakeumi, Roga
Maegashira 15-Tobizaru, Oshoumi
Maegashira 16-Wakanosho, Ryuden
Maegashira 17-Fujiryoga
Notes: With his March championship Kirishima was re-promoted to Ozeki making 3 at the second-highest rank for now, but Aonishiki is now in kadoban status after his first career losing record, meaning he must win 8+ matches or he will be demoted to Sekiwake. And it was revealed after the tournament Aonishiki actually was injured in March. Foot/toe. That cost him a chance at a 3rd straight championship and potential promotion to Yokozuna now and he must start over. Onosato is expected back for the tournament after having to withdraw in March for not only his first such absence (not counting the final day of January) but also his first career losing record, and equal to 0-15 at that. Sekiwake…wow. Atamifuji was expected to make his debut at that rank and will but…Kotoshoho?!? Did not see that coming! Takayasu was demoted only to Komusubi while Wakatakakage was promoted back up there to replace brother Wakamotoharu. Fujinokawa is now just short of Sanyaku with Yoshinofuji only going down one spot from March. At the bottom, Ryuden returns from Juryo after another tournament down while Wakanosho makes his top tier debut alongside him with Fujiryoga holding on to his top tier spot for a second chance despite a 7-8 debut. And he’ll also likely have a topknot for the first time too.
Finally, Tamawashi’s Iron Man records will keep going but he’s in the most danger of his top tier appearance streak ending than he has been in some time as he’s fallen to M13. This will be top tier appearance #100.
Juryo:
Juryo 1-Onokatsu, Daiseizan
Juryo 2-Sadanoumi, Takerufuji
Juryo 3-Dewanoryu (March Juryo Champion), Hatsuyama
Juryo 4-Kyokukaiyu, Asasuiryu
Juryo 5-Tomokaze, Kitanowaka
Juryo 6-Kazuma, Meisei
Juryo 7-Kagayaki, Toshinofuji
Juryo 8-Shonannoumi, Shirokuma
Juryo 9-Nishinoryu, Kayo
Juryo 10-Tohakuryu, Midorifuji
Juryo 11-Kazekeno, Nishikigi
Juryo 12-Hitoshi, Tamashoho
Juryo 13-Okaryu, Hakuyozan
Juryo 14-Tochitaikai, Enho
Note: The big stories are at the bottom of the ranks, specifically the return of Enho to Juryo after being demoted all the way down the rankings due to injury. This will mark his 30th career tournament in the top 2 tiers and that means he now will qualify for elder stock upon retirement, which he doesn’t plan on anytime soon. He barely made it at J14 but he made it nonetheless. Midorifuji took a big fall from the top tier after missing March due to heart failure, his status is uncertain but hopefully he will be good to go (the initial report in March was he would be out 1 month for treatment). Kazuma made a big move up in a much better second outing after a shaky debut while Takerufuji moves to the fringe of a top tier return. Sadanoumi’s near-miss dropped him only one spot to J2 so he’ll have another chance to get back along with Onokatsu who is down to J1. Okaryu is the only Shin-Juryo rikishi as the top prospect stablemate of Hoshoryu will make his second tier debut, giving Tatsunami Beya 3 rikishi in the top 2 tiers along with Hoshoryu and Meisei. Hakuyozan & Tochitaikai are the Sai-Juryo rikishi this tournament.
Lower tier notes: In the Makushita, March Champion Wakanofuji moved up to Ms3 for his third tournament so he is in position to get Kasugano Beya back into the top two tiers after missing out for the first time in a long time, while Ms1 will be Juryo demotion Fujitensei and Takakento, who may have missed out on a Juryo return with a final day March loss. Because of the timing of his retirement, Tsurugisho is ranked at Ms11 but obviously will not compete. The Sandanme remains at the “new normal” 80 ranks and 160 total wrestlers. The Jonidan slims down slightly to 102 ranks and 204 wrestlers while the Jonokuchi has 23 ranks & 45 wrestlers, with 18 scheduled debuts including top prospect Fuma Kawazoe, who will debut as his real last name of Kawazoe for Ajigawa Beya.
There are also 2 kaimei rikishi in the Makushita as the former Yoshii & Fukai have new shikona (ring names)-Yoshii is now Tokifudo and Fukai is now Asanoryu (following the general Takasago Beya practice of everyone being an Asa first).
The May Tournament is 5/10-5/24 at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo. All tickets are already sold out.
All-Japan continued the Champions Carnival today in Niigata.
Today’s event was held at Sanjo City Welfare Hall in Niigata and can be watched on demand on AJPW.TV. There was no live broadcast but again they got the replay up earlier than scheduled.
The announced paid attendance was 728.
Match 1: Ryuki Honda, Hokuto Omori, Atsuki Aoyagi & Rising Hayato beat Shotaro Ashino, MUSASHI, Ryo Inoue & SHota Kofuji. Hayato pinned Kofuji after Sid Vicious.
Champions Carnival:
Match 2: Block B: Daisuke Sekimoto beat Xyon.
Match 3: Block A: Kengo Mashimo beat Rei Saito by ref stoppage.
Match 4: Match 5: Kuamarashi beat Go Shiozaki.
Match 5: Dan Tamura & Hideki Suzuki beat Seigo Tachibana & Hyo Ogawa (Independent/Freelancer). Tamura pinned Tachibana after a powerbomb.
Champions Carnival:
Match 6: Block A: Odyssey beat Yuma Anzai.
Match 7: Block B: Yuma Aoyagi beat Ren Ayabe.
Main Event: Block A: Talos beat Kento Miyahara.
Standings:
Block A:
1-Mashimo, 3-1, 6 pts
2-Rei Saito, 3-1, 6 pts
3-Odyssey, 3-1, 6 pts
4-Miyahara, 2-2-1, 5 pts
5-Talos, 2-2, 4 pts
6-Shiozaki, 2-3, 4 pts
7-Anzai, 1-2-1, 3 pts
8-Kumaarashi, 1-3, 2 pts
Block B:
1-Sekimoto, 4-1, 8 pts
2-Suzuki, 3-2-1, 7 pts
3-Madoka Kikuta, 3-0-1 NP (No Points), 6 pts
4-Honda, 3-2, 6 pts
5-Anzai, 2-2-1, 5 pts
6-Ayabe, 2-2, 4 pts
7-Xyon, 2-3-1 NP, 4 pts (OUT)
8-Jun Saito, 0-7, 0 pts (OUT-injured)
The top 2 in each block advance to the Semifinals. In Block A, Kumaarashi is now all but out as his only hope is to force a 3-way (or more) tiebreaker because he loses tiebreakers to Saito, Odyssey & Miyahata but has yet to face Mashimo. In Block B, Xyon is now officially out. Despite being at 4 points, Ayabe is still very much in it because he has 3 matches left. Sekimoto controls his destiny but still has Ayabe & Honda so he is not safe despite the lead.
The next event is Saturday (Friday night US time) at Southern Tohoku General Wholesale Center in Fukushima. There will be no live broadcast. On demand shortly after the event.
New Japan continued the Road To WRESTLING DONTAKU 2026 Tour today with the first of consecutive events in Yamaguchi.
Today’s event was held at KDDI Ishin Hall in Yamaguchi and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.
The announced paid attendance was 737.
Match 1: Daiki Nagai beat Taisei Nakahara.
Match 2: OSKAR (The Grouch) & Yuto Ice (Ice Baby) beat Toru Yano & Togi Makabe. OSKAR pinned Makabe after The Rumbling.
Match 3: Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens beat Yoh, Tomoaki Honma & Shota Umino. Takahashi pinned Honma after Pimp Juice.
Match 4: Jacob Austin Young, Great-O-Khan & HENARE beat Tatsuya Matsumoto, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto. Young pinned Matsumoto after Bite The Dust.
Match 5: Kosei Fujita, Hartley Jackson, Robbie Eagles & Ryohei Oiwa beat Masatora Yasuda, Ryusuke Taguchi, Taichi & Yuya Uemura. Eagles pinned Yasuda after Sweet Buster.
Match 6: Master Wato, Tiger Mask, Aaron Wolf & Boltin Oleg vs. Sho, DOUKI, Don Fale & Ren Narita went to a no contest. Out of control.
Main Event: Robbie X, Tiaji Ishimori, Yota Tsuji & Shingo Takagi beat Zane Jay, Francesco Akira, Jake Lee & Callum Newman. Takagi pinned Jay after MADE IN JAPAN.
The next event is tomorrow at Yanai City Gym. There will be no live or on demand broadcast. With the exception of Wednesday’s annual Saga special event the televised portion of the tour is over.
STARDOM GRAND QUEENDOM 2026, perhaps the promotion’s biggest annual event, is happening today. NEAR LIVE results will be posted below as they become available.
Today’s event will be held at Yokohama Arena in Yokohama and can be watched LIVE as a PPV on Stardom world for 4400 Japanese yen (around $27.50 US) in Japanese. Comedy duo Razor Ramon HG & RG and New Japan Pro Wrestling President Hiroshi Tanahashi will be guests on commentary. You will also be able to watch the pre-show FOR FREE on YouTube.
Today’s lineup:
Pre-show:
Aya Sakura vs. Kikyo Furusawa
Akira Kurogame & Anne Kanaya vs. Matoi Hamabe & Kiyoka Kokatsu
Yuna Mizumori vs. Momo Kohgo, Lady C, Tomoka Inaba, Xena and Tabata (CMLL in a 6-way High Speed NON-TITLE match
PPV:
Natsupoi vs. Maki Itoh
Gauntlet Match-Participants: Saya Iida & Bea Priestley, Ami Sohrei & Hina, Starlight Kid & Mei Seira, Hazuki & Koguma, Waka Tuskiyama & Rian, Rina & Azusa Inaba
Future Of Stardom Champion Ranna Yagami vs. Ema Maishima for the title
Saori Anou vs. Fuwa-chan
Saki Kashima Retirement Ceremony
Suzu Suzuki & Rina Yamashita vs. Maika & HANAKO in a hardcore match
IWGP Women’s Champion Syuri vs. Megan Bayne for the title
Goddesses Of Stardom Champions Natsuko Tora & Ruaka vs. AZM & Miyu Amasaki for the titles
Wonder Of Stardom Champion Konami vs. Hanan for the title
World Of Stardom Champion Saya Kamitani vs. Sayaka Kurara for the title. If Kurara loses, Cosmic Angels must disband
The pre-show is scheduled to begin at 10 PM PT/1 AM ET. PPV begins at 11 PM PT/2 AM ET.
10 PM PT UPDATE: Pre-show updates begin now.
We are LIVE from Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan. Your hosts are Haruo Murata & Makoto Oe.
The paid attendance may or may not be announced after the event. This will probably be their biggest crowd of the year as the venue’s capacity is roughly 18,000 but the setup is not for full capacity, probably for closer to 13,000. (UPDATE: As of 7 AM PT/10 AM ET the paid attendance has not been announced)
UPDATE 2: Per Tokyo Sports, the announced paid attendance was 8015. That was up from last year’s event but considered disappointing because they didn’t reach their goal of 10,000.
Pre-show:
Match 1: Aya Sakura vs. Kikyo Furusawa. 15 minute time limit
Result: Aya Sakura beat Kikyo Furusawa
Match 2: Akira Kurogame & Anne Kanaya vs. Matoi Hamabe & Kiyoka Kokatsu. 15 minute time limit
Result: Matoi Hamabe & Kiyoka Kokatsu beat Akira Kurogame & Anne Kanaya. Hamabe beat Kanaya with an armbar.
Match 3: Yuna Mizumori vs. Momo Kohgo, Lady C, Tomoka Inaba, Xena and Tabata (CMLL) in a 6-way. 15 minute time limit. During her ring entrance Mizumori lost her footing and tripped over herself while running down the ramp but hopefully didn’t hurt her knee.
Result: Xena beat Yuna Mizumori, Momo Kohgo, Lady C, Tomoka Inaba & Tabata in a 6-way by pinning Mizumori.
The pre-show and YouTube broadcast end here.
PPV:
Follow-up from pre-show: As a result of winning the third pre-show match, Xena gets a High Speed Championship shot against Mizumori.
11:35 PM PT UPDATE: PPV result updates begin now.
Match 1: Maki Itoh beat Natsupoi.
Match 2: In a Gauntlet match, Hazuki & Koguma beat Starlight Kid & Mei Seira, Waka Tsukiyama & Rian, Rina & Azusa Inaba, Ami Sohrei & Hina and Saya Iida & Bea Priestley. Match progression: Seira & Kid beat Tsukiyama & Rian, Kid & Seira beat Rina & Inaba, Sohrei & Hina beat Kid & Seira, Iida & Priestley beat Sohrei & Hina, Hazuki & Koguma beat Iida & Priestley.
Match 3: Future Of Stardom Champion Ranna Yagami beat Ema Maishima to retain the title. V3 for Yagami.
Match 4: Fuwa-chan beat Saori Anou by submission.
Saki Kashima Retirement Ceremony.
Match 5: In a hardcore match. Suzu Suzuki & Rina Yamashita beat Maika & HANAKO. Suzuki pinned HANAKO with a German suplex hold.
The 2026 5STAR GP Tournament was announced. 16 total events starting 7/18 at Ota City General Gym in Tokyo and ending 8/23 at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo. Tickets go on sale tomorrow.
Match 6: IWGP Women’s Champion Syuri beat Megan Bayne to retain the title. V3 for Syuri.
Match 7: AZM & Miyu Anasaki beat Goddesses Of Stardom Champions Natsuko Tora & Ruaka to win the titles. AZM & Amasaki become the 37th Goddesses Of Stardom Champions. Amasaki pinned Tora after Tensei.
Match 8: Hanan beat Wonder Of Stardom Champion Konami to win the title. Hanan becomes the 26th Wonder Of Stardom Champion.
Main Event: Sayaka Kurara beat World Of Stardom Champion Saya Kamitani to win the title. Kurara becomes the 21st World Of Starsom Champion. Somehow I knew this was happening and I H.A.T.E. It that much more. This was weeks ago telegraphed when Taro Okada made it clear he just can’t let go of Tam Nakano a year after Kamitani forced her to retire months after forcing Nakano out of the promotion. Thus all of H.A.T.E lost today and Cosmic Angels is safe. Kurara is his next Nakano and now, instead of maybe subscribing to Stardom World again, I won’t be due to this.
The next event is Wednesday at Fujiyama Big Rose in Hiroshima. There will be no live broadcast.
It has also been revealed in post-event comments that Bea Priestley defected from Stars and has joined H.A.T.E., reuniting with former partner Konami.
UPDATE 2: It gets even worse. Likely first up for Kurara: Itoh. God save us all.
Instead of their usual Golden Week “DEAD OR ALIVE” blowout event, this year Dragon Gate is moving it up a week or so for “GOLDEN COLOSSEUM” 2026, which will keep most of the usual May event features intact including 3 title matches with only the Open The Dream Gate Championship not on the line. But there are still high stakes for current champion Madoka Kikuta as he is in the annual Mascara Contra Caballera 6-way steel cage match, where the loser will lose his hair or, if either Shun Skywalker or El Cielo lose, their mask…AND…to up the ante further, the losing man’s faction also must disband. If Kikuta is the loser, he won’t lose his hair but BIGBOSS Shimizu will (at least that was the original plan).
There have been some late changes to the original card due to BxB Hulk and Ben-K being pulled off the event due to injuries. Shoulder & neck contusion, respectively. Kazuma Kimura is the replacement for Ben-K. Punch Tominaga is the replacement for Hulk.
Today’s event will be held at Aichi Prefectural Budokan in Nagoya and can be watched LIVE outside Japan on DRAGONGATE NETWORK in Japanese & English. It will also be available live in Japan as a PPV on GAORA On Demand, as a NEAR LIVE broadcast on GAORA SPORTS (on a 3 hour delay) and will also be a taped broadcast on Tokai TV on 5/11. You will also be able to watch the first match FOR FREE on YouTube. There are 8 matches currently planned and with an intermission likely before the main event for setting up the cage (expect it to take possibly 20-30 minutes) this is going to be one of their longer events of the year, possibly running close to 4 hours.
Today’s lineup:
Hyo, Luis Mante & Kazuma Kimura vs. Jason Lee, KAI & ISHIN
Jiro Shinbashi vs. “Jungle Screaming Woman” (Jungle Kyona) (comedy match)
YAMATO, Dragon Kid, Naruki Doi & Punch Tominaga vs. Masaaki Mochizuki, Don Fujii, Genki Horiguchi & Yasushi Kanda
Yuki Yoshioka vs. Strong Machine J
Open The Triangle Gate Champions Kzy, GuC & @KEY vs. Takashi, Problem Dragon & Koji Iwamoto for the titles
Open The Brave Gate Champion Ryoya Tanaka vs. U-T for the title*
Open The Twin Gate Champions JACKY KAMEI & Riiita vs. Susumu Yokosuka & KAGETORA for the titles
Shun Skywalker vs. Homare, El Cielo, Madoka Kikuta, Kota Minoura & Yoshiki Kato in a 6-way Mascara Contra Caballera steel cage match. The loser, who is the last one left after the other 5 climb the cage and grab a flag to escape, loses his hair or mask AND his faction must disband. If Kikuta is the loser, BIGBOSS Shimizu loses his hair. No escapes are allowed in the first 5 minutes
Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.
Updates below will begin at 11 PM PT/2 AM ET. The live broadcast is scheduled to begin 15 minutes before the event.
*-Subject to change last-minute due to a U-T injury. No word yet on if he’ll be cleared in time to return. But based on posts on Tanaka’s social media earlier today, he’s planning as if U-T will be able to compete. As of 4 PM PT/7 PM ET a social media post from DRAGONGATE NETWORK indicates the match is on. (Based on a post from U-T at 5:30 PM PT/8:30 PM ET, it’s on barring anything unexpected last-second)
10:40 PM PT UPDATE: The live stream has begun. We should be going to the venue in 5-10 minutes.
10:45 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates begin now.
We are LIVE from Aichi Prefectural Budokan in Nagoya, Japan. Your host is Katsuya Ichikawa. The first wrestler in a rotating guest spot is KAGETORA.
The paid attendance will be announced after the event. It looks like they’re using the venue’s main arena which has a listed capacity of around 2250 and it already looks on track to be at least 1500, maybe close to 2000. I’ll guess it winds up being in the 1750-1800 range. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 2462, a legit sellout)
The matches should begin in 20-25 minutes. Tanaka-U-T is definitely on now as well.
The matches begin at 11:07 PM PT/2:07 AM ET.
Match 1: Hyo, Luis Mante & Kazuma Kimura vs. Jason Lee, KAI & ISHIN. 15 (?) minute time limit
Result: Hyo, Luis Mante & Kazuma Kimura beat Jason Lee, KAI & ISHIN. Hyo pinned ISHIN after a middle-rope cutter.
Mochizuki Junior is the guest on commentary for the next match after being part of entrances.
Match 2: Jiro Shinbashi vs. Nettaiurin Kyona (Jungle Kyona) (comedy match). 15 minute time limit
Result: Nattaiurin Kyona beat Jiro Shinbashi. Apparently Shinbashi lost by taking off his shirt. Yeah. Comedy match. UPDATE: Kyona beat Shinbashi by DQ. Apparent sexual harassment.:
Kazuma Kimura is the guest on commentary for the next match.
Match 3: YAMATO, Dragon Kid, Naruki Doi (Independent/Freelancer) & Punch Tominaga vs. Masaaki Mochizuki, Don Fujii, Genki Horiguchi & Yasushi Kanda. 20 (?) minute time limit
Result: Masaaki Mochizuki, Don Fujii, Genki Horiguchi & Yasushi Kanda beat YAMATO, Dragon Kid, Naruki Doi & Punch Tominaga. Horiguchi pinned Tominaga with Backslide From Heaven.
Hyo is the guest on commentary for the next match.
Match 4: Yuki Yoshioka vs. Strong Machine J. 20 (?) minute time limit
Result: Yuki Yoshioka beat Strong Machine J
Horiguchi is the guest on commentary for the next match.
Match 5: Open The Triangle Gate Champions Kzy, GuC & @KEY vs. Takashi, Problem Dragon & Koji Iwamoto (Independent/Freelancer) for the titles. 1 Hour time limit
Result: Open The Triangle Gate Champions Kzy, GuC & @KEY beat Takashi, Problem Dragon & Koji Iwamoto to retain the titles. @KEY pinned Dragon after a spinebuster. V1 for the champs.
Dragon Kid is the guest on commentary for the next match.
Match 6: Open The Brave Gate Champion Ryoya Tanaka vs. U-T for the title. 1 Hour time limit
Result: Open The Brave Gate Champion Ryoya Tanaka beat U-T by submission to retain the title. V10(!) for Tanaka. That means in his next defense he will go for a tie for the all-time record for most successful defenses, which currently is 11. Still a ways to go to the longest reign though, he’d have to hold the title until mid-October. (The current record is about 14 1/2 months)
Kzy is the guest on commentary for the next match.
Match 7: Open The Twin Gate Champions JACKY KAMEI & Riiita vs. Susumu Yokosuka & KAGETORA for the titles. 1 Hour time limit
Result: Open The Twin Gate Champions JACKY KAMEI & Riiita beat Susumu Yokosuka & KAGETORA to retain the titles. Riiita pinned Yokosuka after Riiitanic. V3 for the champs. They also won some other tag team title I’ve never heard of that was held by Yokosuka & KAGETORA.
Intermission. This is to set up the ring area and cage for the main event. The main event should be coming up at around 1:45 AM PT/4:45 AM ET.
1:35 AM PT UPDATE: Less than 5 minutes to main event.
The event resumes at 1:37 AM PT/4:37 AM ET.
YAMATO is the guest on commentary for the main event.
Main Event: Shun Skywalker vs. Homare, El Cielo, Madoka Kikuta, Kota Minoura & Yoshiki Kato in a 6-way Mascara Contra Caballera steel cage match. The loser, who is the last one left after the other 5 climb the cage and grab a flag to escape, loses his hair or mask AND his faction must disband. If Kikuta is the loser, BIGBOSS Shimizu loses his hair. No escapes are allowed in the first 5 minutes. No time limit
Order of escape: Kikuta, Cielo, Kato, Minoura, Skywalker.
Result: Homare loses. As a result, Homare loses his hair AND PSYPATRA must disband. As is the case after these matches, the initial buzz job was pretty bad. It’ll be properly finished backstage. After the winners left, Cielo cut some of Homare’s hair before leaving. Skywalker then finished the job to cement his turning on Homare, which might signal the start of a face turn for Homare. As Skywalker left, Homare mustered a “thank you” to Skywalker to end the show.
The taped NEAR LIVE GAORA SPORTS broadcast started during the main event.
The next event is Wednesday at Hiroshima Industrial Hall in Hiroshima. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.
UPDATE: In post-event social media comments, U-T seemingly has tried to deflect criticism for his performance and coming into the Brave Gate title match at less than 100% following injury and a seemingly lackluster finish, noting it was solely his decision.
The promotion also announced what will be their final Shinjuku Face event for 7/13, coming shortly before the venue closes permanently.
Also, a couple of letters to fans & stakeholders have been posted by the promotion in Japanese to social media and their official news blog. I’m trying to get translations of what they mean but social media comments suggest some kind of reconciliation between the promotion and former wrestler Magnum Tokyo, who had a huge falling out with Dragon Gate years ago. This is leading to fan speculation about a potential reconciliation with CIMA, one of the promotion’s former top stars until he left just before the pandemic began to help start GLEAT, which he recently departed from while injured. We shall see.
UPDATE 2: Tokyo Sports has confirmed the documents are from Dragon Gate President & CEO Toru Kido and Magnum Tokyo and they have resolved their past issues. The unspecified events date back nearly 20 years to when Tokyo retired from the promotion. It’s unknown but unlikely Tokyo will return to wrestling as he is now 53.
UPDATE 3: In an unrelated development that has come to light post-event, Dragon Dia has left the promotion. Possibly a contractual dispute as both the promotion and Dia have put out conflicting statements with DG saying Dia requested to leave in mid-February and his contract was terminated as of 3/31 while Dia released his own version of events and quoted it again today on social media, apparently he didn’t want to say anything about negotiations but an announcement from the promotion forced his hand. He intends to continue wrestling elsewhere. His profile has been removed from Dragon Gate’s roster page already leaving D’Courage with just Ryoya Tanaka & Yuki Yoshioka. Dia is only 27 and, with 8 years experience, still has a lot of career left in him. This was just followed today (4/27) by a brief one-word quote response from Dia’s trainer, Dragon Kid, wishing him well.
DDT continued their current tour today with a house show in Yokohama.
Today’s event was held at Yokohama Radiant Hall in YOkohama and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.
The paid attendance was not announced.
The event started with some bad news, especially for the ladies, and some last-minute changes because of Kaisei Takechi being ruled out of action, and the upcoming King Of DDT Tournament. Acute appendicitis. It was later announced that Kazuki Hirata will be the replacement in the tournament.
Match 1: Shinya Aoki beat Rukiya.
Match 2: Kazuki Hirata & Naomi Yoshimura beat Danshoku DIeno & ANtonio Honda in 2 seconds. Yoshimura beat Honda with a side headlock. Which led to…
Match 2 (again): In a handicap match, Naomi Yoshimura beat Kazuki Hirata, Danshoku Dieno & Antonio Honda by beating Hirata.
Match 3: MAO, KANON, Yuki Iino, Yukio Naya & Viente Maligno beat Kazuma Sumi, Junta Miyawaki, Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Yuni & Yuki Ishida. MAO pinned Yinu after Assault Love Heart.
Match 4: Yuki Ueno & Akito beat Daichi Sato & Masami Inahata. Ueno pinned Inahata after a sitout powetbomb.
Match 5: Hideki Okatani, MJ Paul & Minoru Fujita beat Chris Brookes, HARASHIMA & Hinata Kasai. Olatani pinned Kasai after a koshi-swivel-type Claymore.
Main Event: Shunma Katsumata & To-y beat Takeshi Masada & Yuya Koroku. To-y pinned Masada after a Frankensteiner.
The next event is Wednesday at Higashi-ku Plaza in Niigata. The event is a legit advance sellout. There will be no live broadcast. On demand Friday.
Dragon Gate continued The Gate Of Passion 2026 Tour today in Shizuoka with the penultimate event of the tour.
Today’s event was held t Shimizu Marine Building in Shizuoka. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.
The paid attendance has not yet been announced. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 307)
Match 1: YAMATO, Susumu Yokosuka & KAGETORA beat Hyo, JACKY KAMEI & Riiita. KAGETORA pinned Riiita after Phantom Break.
Match 2: Takashi beat @KEY.
Match 3: Luis Mante & Shachihoko BOY beat Dragon Kid & Ho Ho Lun. BOY pinned Lun.
Match 4: Strong Machine K, Kzy & GuC beat Masaaki Mochizuki , Don Fujii & Problem Dragon. Kzy pinned Dragon with Sky High.
Match 5: Yuki Yoshioka & Ryoya Tanaka beat Jason Lee & KAI by DQ. KAI DQ’d. Ref assault.
Main Event: Shun Skywalker, Homare & El Cielo beat Kota Minoura, ISHIN & Yoshiki Kato. Homare pinned ISHIN after a thrust kick.
The next event is GOLDEN COLISEUM 2026, which is replacing the traditional DEAD OR ALIVE Golden Week blowout event this year (probably in part because traditional event venue Aichi Prefectural Gym is now closed), tomorrow at AIchi Prefectural Budokan in Nagoya. Live streaming on DRAGONGATE NETWORK will begin TONIGHT at 11 PM PT/2 AM ET. It will also be a live PPV on GAORA On Demand and a NEAR LIVE GAORA SPORTS broadcast (on a 3 hour delay) in Japan.
This is another of those rare exceptions to the rule of this site not really covering WWE, AEW or non-Japan promotions because it does involve Japanese wrestlers-yesterday was the annual day WWE fans secretly dread after WrestleMania-where lots of wrestlers get cut/released by the promotion. One Japanese name was among them…Kairi Sane, fka Kairi Hojo and KAIRI, was cut by WWE. No specific reason given but one could think it’s to make room for new developmental talents and call-ups from NXT, EVOLVE and the new LFG show (and cut costs although owner TKO has absolutely no shortage of money in part because they also own top MMA promotion UFC). The surprise is because Kairi was in a current TV program with fellow Japanese wrestlers Asuka (Kana) and Iyo Sky (Io Shirai).
So what does this mean for Kairi? My first thought was she may come back to Japan and possibly follow her old boss, the poker-faced grandpa pervert Rossy Ogawa-to Marigold, who could use a big boost because the Japanese wrestling media is reporting Marigold is imminently losing top star Utami Hayashishita (I believe it’s an expiring contract). Of course Stardom, her former home promotion, is another possibility but she could also go the route of ex-WWE release Sareee and be a freelancer while occasionally doing her own events. It also may depend on if Kairi has a no-compete clause, although that usually doesn’t necessarily apply outside of the US. IF there is such a clause, typically it’s between 30-60 days, worst-case is 90 days. AEW also can’t be ruled out as they have some notable Japanese names in Hikaru Shida & Mina Shirakawa. Japanese news website Puroresu Today reports, based on a translation, that fans have already started a social media campaign to get WWE to bring Kairi back for what would be a 3rd time (she was in WWE from 2017-2021, released and returned in 2023), given she was just on Monday night’s “Raw” program.
More as it becomes available.
UPDATE: Also among the cuts was Apollo Crews. If you’ve been following Dragon Gate since the late 2000s-early 2010s you may remember him from bis time in the promotion as Uhaa Nation in both Japan and the US.