Author: Admin

All-Japan News: WWE Wrestler Challenging For Triple Crown

In a story getting a lot of attention because it breaks from their tradition of just about never working with other promotions, WWE is sending a wrestler to All-Japan to start 2024, specifically NXT wrestler Charlie Dempsey who will challenge for the All-Japan Triple Crown on 1/3. Who is champion at that time will be determined on 12/31 when Katsuhiko Nakajima defends against Kento Miyahara.

This is actually the second time this year WWE has allowed a wrestler to go to Japan, the first was for Pro Wrestling NOAH’s 1/1 event when Shinsuke Nakamura was allowed to go back for a special match against Keiji Muto. It seems that William Regal, who returned to WWE Earlier this year after a couple years with All Elite Wrestling, played a part in making this happen…and he revealed for the first time in this announcement that Dempsey is his real-life son, so the pedigree should definitely be there. Dempsey will also participate in All-Japan’s 1/1 event..

Sumo-January 2024 Banzuke Announced (Updated)

It’s Christmas Day in Japan and sumo fans just got their gift-the Japan Sumo Association has announced the Banzuke (Rankings) for the January 2024 Tournament. Here are the top 2 tiers and other notes:

Makuuchi (Top Tier):
Yokozuna-Terunofuji
Ozeki-Kirishima (November Tournament Champion), Hoshoryu, Takakeisho
Sekiwake-Kotonowaka, Daieisho
Komusubi-Takayasu, Ura
Maegashira 1-Wakamotoharu, Atamifuji
Maegashira 2-Midorifuji, Abi
Maegashira 3-Gonoyama, Hokutofuji
Maegashira 4-Tobizaru, Shodai
Maegashira 5-Ryuden, Nishikigi
Maegashira 6-Kinbozan, Shonannoumi
Maegashira 7-Ichiyamamoto, Asanoyama
Maegashira 8-Hokuseiho, Hiradoumi
Maegashira 9-Mitakeumi, Meisei
Maegashira 10-Tamawashi, Sadanoumi
Maegashira 11-Tsurugisho, Oho
Maegashira 12-Takanosho, Myogiryu
Maegashira 13-Churanoumi, Endo
Maegashira 14-Kotoshoho (November Juryo Champion), Onosho
Maegashira 15-Tomokaze, Onosato
Maegashira 16-Takarafuji, Bushozan
Maegashira 17-Shimazuumi, Aoiyama

Juryo:
Juryo 1-Daiamami, Mitoryu
Juryo 2-NIshikifuji, Tohakuryu
Juryo 3-Roga, Kitanowaka
Juryo 4-Tamashoho, Kotoeko
Juryo 5-Chiyoshoma, Oshoma
Juryo 6-Tokihayate, Shirokuma
Juryo 7-Kagayaki, Shishi
Juryo 8-Shimanoumi, Shiden
Juryo 9-Asakoryu, Daishoho
Juryo 10-Takerufuji, Hakuyozan
Juryo 11-Akua, Hidenoumi
Juryo 12-Chiyomaru, Tenshoho
Juryo 13-Yuma, Oshoumi
Juryo 14-Chiyosakae, Tochimusashi

Notes:
As expected, no changes in Sanyaku except Wakamotoharu was demoted to M1 while the new Komusubi this time are Ura for the first time in his career and Takayasu. If Kirishima wins this tournament, he will probably earn promotion to Yokozuna (or will at least be recommended)-he hopes it can happen this time or next time because his stablemaster, the current Michinoku, must retire after the March Tournament (he turns 65 in April, which means he’ll reach the mandatory retirement age in sumo). Terunofuji will be back this tournament after being out the last 3 tournaments according to stablemaster Isegahama, and if he doesn’t return the Yokozuna Deliberation Council will take the first step in a 3-step process that ends with pretty much forcing retirement (Yokozuna can never be demoted but they can be forced to retire for continued poor performance or, in this case, numerous absences). Kotonowaka will be on Ozeki Watch again as he can earn promotion by winning the championship or finishing with at least 13 wins. Daieisho also has a chance at promotion again but he’ll need a championship or to go 14-1 or 15-0. The only real big surprise in the rankings is perhaps Atamifuji making it to M1, I had him a couple ranks lower after another runner-up finish. If he keeps this up we’ll be taking about Ozeki promotion for him by the end of 2024. Also making his top tier debut will be Onosato after losing the Juryo Championship playoff to Kotoshoho, making a huge jump from Juryo 5. He’ll open at M15 against..possibly .Kotoshoho! Normally on the first day wrestlers face the other wrestler who shares their rank but Onosato and Tomokaze at M15 are both from Nishonoseki Beya so that won’t happen. Shimazuumi also sneaks in at M17 which means he’ll also make his top tier debut, possibly against the returning Aoiyama who gets back to the top tier after winning his final November match to finish 8-7 at Juryo 1. Ichiyamamoto was another big winner as 11-4 and a Fighting Spirit Prize took him up to M7 alongside the biggest loser, Asanoyama. His gamble of coming back after missing the first week in November to try and save promotion to Sanyaku backfired and a 4-11 equivalent drops him from M1 to M7.
Nishikifuj, Roga, Kotoeko, Kitanowaka and Tohakuryu all were demoted to Juryo with Kotoeko going down for the first time in 3 years (largely due to injury).
Don’t recognize Shirokuma? I didn’t either. Turns out it’s the former Takahashi with a new Shikona, or name change. He will no longer use his real last name as his ring name.
Takerufuji & Oshoumi are Shin-Juryo this tournament, making their second tier (pro) debuts, while Hakuyozan & Tochimusashi are Sai-Juryo, returning after demotions to Makushita. Tochimusashi will try to have a winning Juryo record for the first time since winning the championship.

In the Makushita, former Sekiwake Wakatakakage just missed promotion to Juryo after a 5-2 effort in his return from injury, and moves up to Ms1 from Ms6. The big question is if Hakuoho will be able to return from injury this time, which is possible-if so, he’ll be at Ms5 but should be back up in no time. Best-case for a top-tier return for the super-rookie seems to be July. September champion Hitoshi was demoted to Ms7 after a disastrous Juryo debut in November, while November Champion Satorufuji got a bigger than expected, and no doubt Isegahama-influenced bump up from Ms42 all the way to Ms3 (normally the Makushita Champion gains 30 spots if they are in the lower half of the 60-rank division).

The Sandanme has the new-usual 90 ranks with 180 wrestlers, with the biggest story being Enho possibly beginning his comeback from a major back injury. He may try to return this tournament and if so he will be at Sd83. He doesn’t plan to retire anytime soon and is no doubt motivated by needing to get back to Juryo one more time to qualify for elder stock upon retirement (you need to have been in Makuuchi and Juryo for at least 5 years-30 tournaments-in your career to qualify to become an Oyakata, and eventually a coach or stablemaster-after retirement. It doesn’t have to be consecutive. Enho has 29 such tournaments, really he missed it by just one win in his last appearance). The Jonidan ranks are a bit thinner this time with just 98 ranks and 196 wrestlers, down from the usual triple digit ranks, while the Jonokuchi will have 17 ranks and 33 wrestlers. In Jonidan, watch November Jonokuchi Champion Aonishiki at Jd10, looking to eventually become the second rikishi from Ukraine to reach the top 2 tiers alongside countryman Shishi (they are not in the same stable).

The January Tournament begins on 1/14 in Tokyo.

UPDATE: Azumaryu, who was demoted from Juryo after November, has now retired after the Banzuke announcement. He was to have been at Makushita 13 in January. His final career record will be 588-522-47 (win-loss-absent), 62-88-15 in the top tier with one Juryo championship and a highest rank of Maegashira 11. In November he was a withdrawal on Day 2 due to injury and didn’t return, finishing the equivalent of 0-15. He had 5 straight demotions and only earned 2 promotions in the last 10 tournaments. Nikkan Sports reports he will have a hair cutting ceremony in September at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo and it sounds like he will not become an elder/oyakata and may return to his native Mongolia (he spent over 10 years in the top 2 tiers, more than double the time needed to qualify for elder stock).

Tokyo Joshi Pro 12/24/23 Results

Tokyo Joshi Pro wrapped up their 2023 with their annual Christmas event, “Se-No, Merry Christmas!”

Today’s event was held at Ryogoku KFC Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.

The announced paid attendance was 365, a legit advance sellout.

There were last-minute changes to the card due to Hikari Noa being off the event (illness). Nao Kakuta also missed the event due to a scheduled stage performance.

During the opening announcements, it was announced that Runa Okubo will be temporarily leaving the promotion after the 1/4 event. High school entrance exams (students in Japan have to take and pass exams before they can begin high school, which typically is at age 15 or 16. Okubo is 15). She plans to return in March.

Match 1: Suzume beat Toga.

Match 2: Mahiro Kiryu beat Haru Kazashiro & Arisu Endo in a 3-way by pinning Kazashiro.

Match 3: Maki Itoh & Yuki Kamifuku beat Wakana Uehara & Shino Suzuki. Itoh beat Suzuki with Itoh Deluxe.

Match 4: In a Holy Night Miracle Rules Match, a comedy match with special rules requested from Santa in advance, Hyper Misao, Yuki Aino & Pom Harajuku beat Mizuki, HIMAWARI & Runa Okubo. Aino pinned HIMAWARI after Venus DDT. The special rules were a bell in a sock was placed in a corner and if it was rung during a Christmas song being played, those rules were lifted. The rules chosen by the teams were 2 count falls only for Mizuki’s team and no Mizuki participation for Misao’s team.

Main Event: Rika Tatsumi, Miu Watanabe, Raku & Moka Miyamoto beat Miyu Yamashita, Shoko Nakajima, Yuki Arai & Kaya Toribami. Miyamoto pinned Toribami after Korokan. Afterwards, all of today’s participants gathered in the ring for the final send-off and to wish all the fans a Merry Christmas.

This concludes 2023 for Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling, a year in which, just a few weeks ago, they celebrated their 10th Anniversary and successfully continued their expansion efforts outside Japan, including returns to the USA and other parts of Asia, which will continue into 2024 and beyond as they move into a brighter post-pandemic future.

The next event is “Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling ’24”, their 2024 opening event, on 1/4 at Korakuen Hall. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in Japanese and English will begin on 1/3 at 5:45 PM PT/8:45 PM ET and live results will be posted. Despite more matches and a longer running time than planned, the event will be over in plenty of time for fans to get to, or prepare to watch, New Japan’s Tokyo Dome blowout event (starting at 11:30 PM PT/2:30 AM ET).

Dragon Gate 12/24/23 Results (Updated)

Dragon Gate’s final blowout event of 2023, THE FINAL GATE 2023, is now in the books.

Today’s event was held at Fukuoka International Center in Fukuoka and will be available on demand on DRAGONGATE NETWORK tomorrow at 5 PM PT/8 PM ET. The event was streamed live on the service but on demand availability is delayed due to broadcast rights.

The paid attendance has not yet been announced. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 2286)

Match 1: Jason Lee, U-T & JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI beat Ryoya Tanaka, Kaito Nagano & Shachihoko BOY. KAMEI pinned Tanaka after “JACKY” Knife. BOY was a late replacement for the absent Daiki Yanagiuchi (illness).

Match 2: Open The Brave Gate Champion Hyo beat Genki Horiguchi to retain the title. V2 for Hyo.

Match 3: Masaaki Mochizuki, Susumu Mochizuki & Yasushi Kanda beat Don Fujii, Kagetora & Problem Dragon. Masaaki Mochizuki pinned Dragon after Twister.

Match 4: Kzy, BIGBOSS Shimizu, Strong Machine J & Naruki Doi beat Ultimo Dragon, BxB Hulk, Dragon Dia & Shuji Kondo. J pinned Hulk with Machine Suplex. The teams for this match were determined by random draw at the event.

Match 5: KAI, ISHIN & Yoshiki Kato beat Open The Triangle Gate Champions YAMATO, Dragon Kid & Punch Tominaga to win the titles. KAI, ISHIN & Kato become the 88th Open The Triangle Gate Champions. Kato pinned Tominaga after Cadere Luna.

Match 6: Kaito Kiyomiya & Alejandro (Pro Wrestling NOAH) beat Open The Twin Gate Champions Ben-K & Kota Minoura to win the titles. Kiyomiya & Alejandro become the 65th Open The Twin Gate Champions. Kiyomiya pinned Minoura after Transformed Shining Wizard.

Main Event: Luis Mante beat Open The Dream Gate Champion Madoka Kikuta & Shun Skywalker in a 3-way elimination match to win the title. Mante becomes the 38th Open The Dream Gate Champion. Skywalker DQ’d first then Mante pinned Kikuta. What a turnaround for Mante, who began the year as Diamante then left for several months after losing his mask this summer, returned under a new unmasked identity and now has won the top title in the promotion.

The next event, their final event of the year, is Tuesday at Kobe Sambo Hall in Kobe. Live streaming on DRAGONGATE NETWORK will begin at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET.

BREAKING: New Japan 1/4/24 Full Card Announced

The countdown is on now…just 12 days to New Japan’s annual 1/4 year-opening spectacular at the Tokyo Dome, and the promotion has just announced the full card for the biggest Japanese pro wrestling event of the year. The full lineup is as follows (in order):
New Japan Ranbo. Battle Royal with an undetermined number of entrants. The last 4 left win and advance to a 4-way on 1/5/24 to determine the first KOPW 2024 Champion
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney vs. Francesco Akira & TJP for the titles
NJPW WORLD TV Champion Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi for the title
Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura
Kaito Kiyomiya (Pro Wrestling NOAH) & Shota Umino vs. Ren Narita & EVIL (*)
NEVER Openweight Champion Shingo Takagi vs. Tama Tonga for the title
IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto vs. STRONG Tag Team Champions Hikuleo & El Phantasmo for the titles (both titles)
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Taakahashi vs. El Desperado for the title
Will Ospreay vs. Jon Moxley & David Finlay in a 3-way for the IWGP Global Championship
Kazuchika Okada vs. Bryan Danielson (All Elite Wrestling)
IWGP World Heavyweight Champion SANADA vs. Tetsuya Naito for the title

(*)-New Japan’s English website says it’s Kiyomiya & Ryohei Oiwa vs. Narita & EVIL but the match graphic and preview description says it’s Umino. I’m 100% certain it’s Kiyomiya & Umino and not Oiwa.

DDT 12/24/23 Results (Updated)

DDT runs their penultimate event of 2023 today and will finish up the preliminary round of the D KING GP 2023 as well. It’s gotten a little less dramatic because today’s lineup has become decimated by injury and illness and that will affect the tournament, namely Block B-Rei Saito was in a must-win situation today but got gifted a free win because opponent Chris Brookes is out doe to injury/illness (malignant tumor in abdomen). And before a must-win for both that screwed MAO because he now can’t advance to the Final even if he beats Yukio Naya because of tiebreakers (he lost to Saito). So Naya advances if he wins, Saito advances if MAO wins or it’s a draw. Yusuke Okada is also out due to illness and Yuki Ishida, just after coming back from injury, is back on the shelf again long-term. There is plenty of other stuff happening today but the focus is the tournament: In Block A, 4 still have a chance to advance so it almost certainly will come down to tiebreakers after the matches unless the simplest scenario occurs, that’s Kazusada Higuchi winning to advance. But if it’s Yuki Ueno & Daisuke Sasaki tied at the top *should both win and Higuchi lose), things get interesting because their match result was a draw.

Today’s event will be held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched LIVE on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in Japanese. Japanese actor Takumi Momose will be a special guest on commentary. There are 2 title matches although one is for the DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Championship, and I think they’ll want to be done in time for viewers to switch over to Tokyo Joshi Pro’s event later today so I anticipate the total running time being 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

Today’s lineup:
Yukio Sakaguchi & Rukiya vs. MJ Paul & KANON
Battle Royal for the DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Championship. Participants announced so far: Toru Owashi, Sanshiro Takagi, Kazuki Hirata, Kazuma Sumi, Akito, TBA (open recruitment slots), presumably Great Koji (current champion-supposedly is really Toi Kojima)
Rei Saito vs. Hideki Okatani
KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions Jun Akiyama, Danshoku DIeno & Makoto Oishi vs. Masa Takanashi, Antonio Honda & Takeshi Masada for the titles
D KING GP:
Block B: MAO vs. Yukio Naya. Naya advances with win. Otherwise Saito advances
Block A: Daisuke Sasaki vs. HARASHIMA. Sasaki must win
Block A: Yuki Ueno vs. Yuki Iino. Ueno must win
Block A: Tetsuya Endo vs. Kazusada Higuchi. Higuchi advances with win

Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.

Updates below will begin at 6:30 PM PT/9:30 PM ET.

6:23 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates begin now…

We are LIVE from Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. Yours hosts are Haruo Murata, Kagehiro Osano and special guest Takumi Momose.

The paid attendance will be announced after the event. The crowd is still filing in but they’re using their usual reduced capacity setup opposite hard-camera and it’s Christmas Eve so that may keep the crowd down (although the Tokyo Joshi Pro event after this is now a legit advance sellout). I’ll estimate it’ll be around 500. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 761, a full house/near sellout)

The matches should begin in about 15 minutes.

The matches begin at 6:33 PM PT.

Match 1: Yukio Sakaguchi & Rukiya vs. MJ Paul & KANON. 30 minute time limit
Result: MJ Paul & KANON beat Yukio Sakaguchi & Rukiya. KANON beat Rukiya with a cobra twist.

Match 2: (At least a 7 man) Battle Royal for the DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Championship. Staggered entry. Over the top rope elimination rules in effect. No time limit. Participants (order of entry): Kazuki Hirata, Toru Owashi, Akito, Kazuma Sumi, Sanshiro Takagi, DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Great Koji (Toi Kojima), Poison Sawada JULIE
Order of elimination: Akito by Takagi, Sumi by Takagi, Hirata by Takagi, Takagi by JULIE, Kojima by JULIE to win the title, JULIE by Owashi to win the title
Result: Toru Owashi wins to win the title, last liminating Poison Sawada JULIE who beat Great Koji to win the title. JULIE became the 1597th Champion. Owashi becomes the 1598th Champion. And inadvertently left without the title belt so GM IMabayashi had to retrieve it and run after him.

Your new host is Ken Kato for now.

Match 3: Rei Saito (All-Japan) vs. Hideki Okatani. 30 minute time limit
Result: Rei Saito beat Hideki Okatani. Glorified squash.

Match 4: KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions Jun Akiyama, Danshoku DIeno & Makoto Oishi vs. Masa Takanashi, Antonio Honda & Takeshi Masada for the titles. 1 Hour time limit
Result: KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions Jun Akiyama, Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi beat Masa Takanashi, Antonio Honda & Takeshi Masada to retain the titles. Oishi pinned Honda with a rollup after reversing a rollup. V1 for the champs.

Quick break for GM Imabayashi’s opening-at-mid-event announcements.

D KING GP 2023 Block B: Rei Saito beat Chris Brookes by forfeit (withdrawal-injury).

Match 5: D KING GP 2023 Block B; MAO vs. Yukio Naya. If Naya wins, he wins Block B and advances to the Finals. If MAO wins or it’s a draw, Rei Saito advances. 30 minute time limit
Result: Yukio Naya beat MAO. As a result, Naya wins Block B and advances to the Finals. Naya had the tiebreaker over Saito by winning their match. He will face the Block A winner on 1/4/24.

Match 6: D KING GP 2023 Block A: Daisuke Sasaki vs. HARASHIMA. Sasaki must win. 30 minute time limit
Result: HARASHIMA beat Daisuke Sasaki. Sasaki is OUT. That means Yuki Ueno can now win Block A with a win AND Kazusada Higuchi loss.

Match 7: D KING GP 2023 Block A: Yuki Ueno vs. Yuki Iino. Ueno must win. 30 minute time limit
Result: Yuki Iino beat Yuki Ueno. As a result, the main event winner wins Block A.

Main Event: D KING GP 2023 Block A: Kazusada Higuchi vs. Tetsuya Endo. The winner wins Block A (Endo would have tiebreaker with a win). If it’s a draw, Higuchi wins Block A. 30 minute time limit
Result: Tetsuya Endo beat Kazusada Higuchi. As a result, Endo wins Block A and will face Naya in the Finals.

Afterwards, Naya, who had been watching from one of the entrances, came to the ring to join Endo and GM Imabayashi in the ring. Promo time.

The Final is on 1/3.

After all this, “All I Want For Christmas Is You” by Mariah Carey is played as the roster comes out in Santa outfits, hats and more with goody bags filled with candy and goodies to be thrown into the crowd. Referee Dsiauke Kiso even brings out a small tree. Kazuki Hirata with microphone to deliver Christmas greetings & wishes to the fans. And then he attacked Toru Owashi with the tree! Which led to…
The Christmas Tree beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Toru Owashi to win the title. The Tree becomes the 1599th Champion. The entire roster made the pinfall, but the tree was directly on top of Owashi and declared the champion. Takagi with microphone. He said a few year-end words before handing off to Ueno for the KO-D Openweight Champion’s send-off. He had the fans all stand and led the roster in a shout of “Merry Christmas, Thank You!” followed by a 2023 highlight video to end the event with the final sendoff: Thank You To DDT Universe And Have A Happy New Year!

The next event is 12/31 with a year-end 1-day 6-man tag team tournament. There will be no live broadcast (unusual because it’s at Korakuen). Before commentary signed off to end the broadcast, it was announced that SKE48 member Marika Tani will return as a guest on commentary for the 1/3 event.

UPDATE: In post-match backstage comments shared on the socials, Daisuke Sasaki claimed he was going to retire. Maybe in a year. We shall see if anything comes of this.

AEW Collision 12/23/23 Results

Here are the quick results form tonight’s AEW Collision in San Antonio, TX:

Match 1: Continental Classic Blue Block: Bryan Danielson vs. Claudio Castagnoli. Danielson advances to Semifinals with win. Castagnoli must win to have a chance
Result: 20 Minute Time Limit Draw. As a result, Danielson advances to the Semifinals. Castagnoli is OUT.
Danielson is 3-1-1, 10 points. Castagnoli is 2-2-1, 7 points.

Match 2: AEW Trios Champions The Acclaimed & Billy Gunn vs. Top Flight & Action Andretti for the titles
Result: AEW Trios Champions The Acclaimed & Billy Gunn beat Top Flight & Action Andretti to retain the titles. Max Caster pinned Andretti.

Hook promo. He challenged Wheeler Yuta for an FTW Title match at Worlds End on 12/30.

Match 3: Brian Cage vs. Keith Lee
Result: Keith Lee beat Brian Cage

Christian Cage promo with Nick Wayne. He brings out Nick Wayne’s mom. She explained her actions towards Adam Copeland before Christian accepted the challenge and it’s now official-No DQ rematch on 12/30 for the AEW TNT Championship.

Ricky Starks & Big Bill interview. They bury Kenny Omega but Chris Jericho interrupts. He still has the AEW Tag TEam Title shot and is going to find another partner.

Match 4: Continental Classic Blue Block: Brody King vs. Daniel Garcia. King must win to have a chance to advance
Result: Daniel Garcia beat Brody King
Garcia is 1-4, 3 points. King is 2-3, 6 points and is OUT.

Match 5: Julia Hart & Skye Blue vs. Thunder Rosa & Abadon
Result: Thunder Rosa & Abadon beat Julia Hart & Skye Bue. Rosa pinned Blue.
During this match I learned that Katsuyori Shibata has officially signed with AEW. He was given permission by New Japan to do so.

Main Event is next. 20 minutes TV time left when last full commercial begins.

Main Event: Continental Classic Blue Block: Andrade El Idolo vs. Eddie Kingston. Andrade advances with a win. Kingston must win to have a chance

Main Event: Continental Classic Blue Block: Andrade El Idolo vs. Eddie Kingston. Andrade advances with a win. Kingston must win to have a chance
Result: Eddie Kingston beat Andrade El Idolo
Both are 3-2, 9 points. As a result, Kingston advances to the Semifinals and will face Bryan Danielson in the Blue Block Final Wednesday on Dynamite. The winner faces the Jon Moxley/Swerve Strickland/Jay White 3-way winner in the final next Saturday. Danielson came back out for a staredown as the show cut away.

End Show.

Pro Wrestling NOAH 12/23/23 Results

Pro Wrestling NOAH wrapped up their 2023 today with THE GIFT 2023 in MAKUHARI, a special event to celebrate The Living Legend Keiji Muto’s 61st birthday. Muto attended the event and participated in a limited pre-event autograph session for fans.

Today’s event was held at Makuhari Messe Hall 6 in Chiba and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date. There was no live broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 366.

Match 1: Shuhei Taniguchi beat Yu Owada.

Match 2: Go Shiozaki, Atsushi Kotoge & Taishi Ozawa beat Mohammed Yone, Akitoshi Saito & Super Crazy. Shiozaki pinned Saito after Go Lariat.

Match 3: Eita beat Hi69.

Match 4: Kazuyuki Fujita, Shuji Kondo & Junta Miyawaki beat Takashi Sugiura, Hajime Ohara & Kai Fujimuta. Kondo pinned Fujimura after Overdose.

Match 5: Jake Lee, YO-HEY & Tadasuke beat Naomichi Marufuji, ALejandro & Terry Yaki. YO-HEY pinned Yaki after a dropkick.

Match 6: HAYATA beat Yoshinari Ogawa.

Main Event: Manabu Soya, Masa Kitamiya & Daiki Inaba beat Kenoh, Kaito Kiyomya & Ryohei Oiwa. Soya pinned Kenoh after Trajectory.

This brings NOAH’s 2023 to a close. It was another up & down year for the promotion, kinda down near the end with the loss of several wrestlers who are moving on or have moved on to other promotions (Katsuhiko Nakajima and Seiki Yoshioka in particular) and their major events still struggle with attendance, but they’re hanging in there with backing from CyberFight Corporation and hopefully will have a relatively injury-free 2024 (another big challenge for some of their major superstars).

The next event, and first of the new year, is NOAH THE NEW YEAR 2024 on 1/2 at Ariake Arena in Tokyo. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in English only will begin on 1/1 at 10 PM PT/1 AM ET. This is an ABEMA-exclusive broadcast in Japan.

Injury Report: Another Last-Minute DDT (Updated x2)

It’s that time of the year when nasty stuff really gets going around. It’s also happening in Japan and unfortunately DDT has been forced to make another last-minute card change as they just announced Yusuke Okada is off tomorrow’s (today US time) event. Illness. He was to have been in a battle royal for the DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Championship assuming plans didn’t change (you never know because of the 24/7 nature of the title. Probably will be no replacement. Hopefully won’t miss any further events as there is a week until the next event.

UPDATE: Shingles per DDT’s English Twitter. Ugh, that bastion of old age. Out indefinitely.

UPDATE 2: On a related note, they also have announced Hikari Noa is now off tomorrow’s (late tonight) Tokyo Joshi Pro event. The always-vague poor health/physical condition. She was to have teamed with Toga to face Suzume & Arisu Endo. The match is now Toga vs. Suzume and Endo has been added to what was a Mahiro Kiryu vs. Haru Kazashiro match to make it a 3-way.

BREAKING: New Japan Appoints New President

In an announcement on their Japanese website, New Japan announced several leadership changes effective tomorrow (12/23, which is now that day Japan time): Former President Takami Ohbari has retired effective today and the replacement is current New Japan wrestler Hiroshi Tanahashi. Taro Okada, President of owner Bushiroad Fight Co. Ltd., becomes a part-Time Director.

A press conference with more details is scheduled for Tuesday (Monday night US time) and Tanahashi will be introduced to fans in bis new role at the Tokyo Dome on 1/4.

More as it becomes available.