News, results & more from Japanese Pro Wrestling & Sumo
Stop me anytime because unfortunately the broken record that is the DDT injury body count has repeated itself again today, this time the loss is Yusuke Okada. Lower abdomen tumor. Out indefinitely and will need surgery. Based on Chris Brookes currently dealing with a similar issue it probably will mean he is out a few months.
More as it becomes available.
Breaking news that I had to break in from vacation to post: New Japan is losing Kazuchika Okada on January 31. Contract expiring and he is moving on. But he will work the 3 big February events on 2/11, 2/23 & 2/24.
Read New Japan’s English statement with comments from Okada below:
https://www.njpw1972.com/168267
More as it becomes available.
UPDATE: New Japan has begun announcing event lineup changes: The NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Championship match schedules for 2/11 in Osaka has been moved up to 1/24 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. It’ll be Okada’s last match at Korakuen for NJPW. Now on 2/11 it will be…One. Last. Time…Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi. 2/24 for Okada’s final match is TBA as is 2/23. Also now on 1/24 is Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Tiger Mask and a planned Shoma Kato & Boltin Oleg vs. Katsuya Murashima & Toru Yano match will be a pre-show match.
Toi Kojima competed in a death match in DDT yesterday alongside Atsushi Onita, and while it may be worth it as he now is All-Asia Tag Team Champion, he worked through injury and those exploding bat shots among other bings aggravated and worsened it, so add his name to the ever growing sidelined roster. Rib cartilage fracture. Out a month. Expected to return on 2/14. It’s now known is this will affect the titles, that is partly up to All-Japan.
More as it becomes availablez
DDT held an emergency press conference earlier today, which was for a surprise announcement: Yukio Sakaguchi will retire on 2/7. A translation of a news item on DDT’s website indicates it is for personal reasons. Sakaguchi, 50, is the son of legendary wrestler Seiji Sakaguchi and has been active since 2007. No retirement tour or anything like that and a retirement match is TBA but based on what he requested, it could be a match against HARASHIMA or Hideki Okatani. (Edit: It will be HARASHIMA)
More as it becomes available.
Dragon Gate continued the New Year Gate 2024 Tour today with an event in Ishikawa, likely the first visit back for hometown star Madoka Kikuta since the devastating earthquake at the start of the year.
Today’s event was held at Kimassi Kanazawa in Ishikawa. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 325.
Match 1: Kota Minoura, Ben-K & BxB Hulk beat Strong Machine J, Jason Lee & JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI. Ben-K pinned Lee after a spear.
Match 2: BIGBOSS Shimizu beat Kaito Nagano.
Match 3: Gianni Valletta beat Shachihoko BOY. Possibly yet another squash.
Match 4: Masaaki Mochizuki, Susumu Mochizuki & Yasushi Kanda vs. Ultimo Dragon, YAMATO & Genki Horiguchi went to a double countout.
Match 5: Hyo & Luis Mante beat Kzy & U-T. Hyo pinned U-T after Samson Driver.
Main Event: Madoka Kikuta, Dragon Dia & Takashi Yoshida beat KAI, ISHIN & Yoshiki Kato. Kikuta pinned Kato after a rolling lariat.
The next event is Saturday at Kobe Sambo Hall in Kobe to start a weekend doubleheader. Live streaming on DRAGONGATE NETWORK will begin at midnight PT/3 AM ET.
Stardom continued their year-opening tour today with the second half of an Osaka doubleheader.
Today’s event was held at Osaka Prefectural Gym 2 in Osaka and will be available on demand on Stardom World at a later date.
The announced paid attendance was 299.
There were last-second changes to the card because Suzu Suzuki was removed just before the event. Illness. That was major because she was to have challenged for the Goddesses Of Stardom Championship with Mei Seira in the main event. AZM was the replacement and it became a NON-TITLE match. AZM was to have faced Sumire Natsu so Natsu was moved and what was Mina Shirakawa vs. Lady C became a 3-way.
Match 1: Mai Sakurai beat Miyu Amasaki.
Match 2: Mina Shirakawa beat Lady C & Sumire Natsu in a 3-way by pinning C.
Match 3: Hazuki, Hanan, Saya Iida & Mayu Iwatani beat Ranna Yagami, Sayaka Kurara, Yuzuki & HANAKO. Iida pinned Kurara with a Northern Lights suplex hold.
Match 4: Momo Watanabe, Starlight Kid, Fukigen & Natsuko Tora beat Saki Kashima, Ami Sohrei, MIRAI & Syuri. Fukigen pinned Kashima.
Match 5: Meghan Bayne & Maika beat Saori Anou & Yuna Mizumori. Maika pinned Mizumori after Flame Drop.
Main Event: Saya Kamitani & Utami Hayashishita beat Mei Seira & AZM. Kamitani pinned Seira after Phoenix Strike.
It’s not known when/if the planned Goddesses Of Stardom title match will happen now.
The next event is Saturday at Belle Salle Takadanobaba in Tokyo. It should be available on demand on Stardom World at a later date.
Dragon Gate continued the New Year Gate 2024 Tour today with an event in Shizuoka.
Today’s event was held at Act City Hamamatsu in Shizuoka. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 286.
Match 1: Kota Minoura, Ben-K & BxB Hulk beat Masaaki Mochizuki, Susumu Mochizuki & Yasushi Kanda. Ben-K pinned Kanda after a spear.
Match 2: Jason Lee beat Genki Horiguchi.
Match 3: Gianni Valletta beat Kaito Nagano in 38 seconds. That’s 2 straight superfast squashes.
Match 4: Ultimo Dragon, Dragon Dia & Madoka Kikuta beat YAMATO, Don Fujii & Naruki Doi (Independent/Freelancer). Kikuta pinned Fujii after a rolling lariat.
Match 5: luis Mante & Hyo beat Strong Machine J & JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI. Mante pinned KAMEI after MCT.
Main Event; Kzy, BIGBOSS Shimizu & U-T beat KAI, ISHIN & Yoshiki Kato. Kzy pinned Kato with Skayde Schoolboy.
The next event is tomorrow at Kanazawa Distribution Hall in Ishikawa. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.
Tokyo Joshi Pro continued their early 2024 house show tour today in Okayama with a hometown event for Yuki Aino.
Today’s event was held at Okayama Convention Center in Okayama and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date. There was no live broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 273, a full house/near sellout.
Match 1: Kaya Toribami beat Shino Suzuki.
Match 2: Nao Kakuta beat Toga.
Match 3; Raku & Pom Harajuku beat Arisu Endo & Haru Kazashiro. Harajuku pinned Kazashiro after Pomu. Do. Justis.
Match 4; Hyper Misao & Mahiro Kiryu beat Mizuki & HIMAWARI. Misao beat HIMAWARI with a chicken wing.
Match 5; Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe beat Suzume & Takana Uehara. Watanabe beat Uehara with a Canadian backbreaker.
Main Event; Shoko Nakajima & Yuki Aino beat Miyu Yamashita & Moka Miyamoto. Aino pinned Miyamoto after UBV. Afterwards, former TJPW wrestler Nodoka Tenma, who is also Aino’s older sister, joined the post-match celebration in the ring.
The next event is the Futari-wa Princess Max Heart Tournament Round 1 on 1/20 at Club eX in Shinagawa Prince Hotel in Tokyo. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin Friday at 6:30 PM PT/9:30 PM ET.
DDT is running their first deathmatch-centered event of 2024 as it is to be headlined by an Atsushi Onita death match.
Today’s event was held at Tsurumi Fruit & Vegetable Market in Kanagawa and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE Wednesday. There is no live broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 220, a full house/near sellout.
There were last-second changes due to Yuni being off the event. Fever.
Match 1: In a Fuun Takagi Castle Match, a 10 minute match where one team had to build a castle by then or they would lose, Kazuki Hirata & Danshoku Dieno (attacking team) beat Sanshiro Takagi, HARASHIMA & Masa Takanashi (castle building team)..
Match 2: Tetsuya Endo, Yuki Iino & Yusuke Okada beat Yoshitatsu, Kazusada Higuchi & Akito. Iino pinned Akito after a spear.
Match 3; Daisuke Sasaki beat Shota by submission.
Match 4: Takao Soma beat KANON.
Match 5: Demonio Uno beat MAO, Mecha Mummy & Mecha Pandita in a 4-way by pinning Pendita.
Match 6: Yuki Ueno & Shunma Katsumata beat Yukio Naya & Rukiya. Katsumata pinned Rukiya after totonoe Splash.
Intermission.
Main Event: In a Current Explosive Bat & Board Death Match, Atsushi Onita & Toi Kojima beat All-Asia Tag Team Champions Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani to win the titles. Onita & Kojima become the 122nd All-Asia Tag Team Champions. Kojima pinned Okatani. Back to title death matches all the time.
The next event is “DDT New Year Fan Appreciation Day” on 1/20 at Club eX in Shinagawa Prince Hotel in Tokyo. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 12:30 AM PT/3:30 AM ET.
New Japan is back in the US for their first international event of the year, Battle In The Valley 2024. As usual they have loaded the card with a mix of wrestlers from Japan, the LA Dojo, partner and independent promotions and more. This year’s event is headlined by what is being billed as Will Ospreay’s last single match in New Japan (at least as a full-time member) before he jumps full-time to All Elite Wrestling next month, and it’s against none other than Kazuchika Okada. The co-main event sees a rematch between Shingo Takagi & Jon Moxley, not surprisingly it will be a No DQ match. Elsewhere, STRONG Openweight Champion Eddie Kingston will defend that title and his AEW Continental Crown (including the AEW Continental Championship and Ring Of Honor World Championship) against Gabriel Kidd while STRONG Women’s Champion Giulia defends her title against rising indy sensation Trish Adora. Bullet Club will also try to win the STRONG Tag Team Championship as Alex Coughlin & Clark Connors challenge Hikuleo & El Phantasmo, but it’s not a double title match so no IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship on the line. That and plenty more to kick off a big international 2024 for the promotion.
Today’s event will be held at the San Jose Civic Center in San Jose, CA and can be watched LIVE on TrillerTV (fka FITE) in English for $19.99. IT IS NOT AVAILABLE LIVE ON NEW JAPAN WORLD OUTSIDE JAPAN. You get the live broadcast and unlimited on demand replays with purchase. There will also be a FREE 30 minute pre-show before the event. None of the title matches have more than a 30 minute time limit and neither do any matches except the last 2 (1 Hour), so including the pre-show I predict the event will have a total running time of around 3 1/2 hours. The longest it could possibly go is roughly 5 hours.
Today’s lineup:
Pre-show:
Matt Vandagriff vs. Goldy
Viva Van vs. Stephanie Vaquer
PPV:
Shota Umino, Fred Rosser & Jacob Fatu vs. Tom Lawlor, Royce Isaacs & Jorel Nelson
Mascara Dorada & Volador Jr. vs. Rocky Romero & Soberano Jr.
TJP vs. David Finlay
STRONG Tag Team Champions El Phantasmo & Hikuleo vs. Alex Coughlin & Clark Connors for the titles
STRONG Women’s Champion Giulia vs. Trish Adora for the title
Matt Riddle & TBA vs. Bad Dude Tito & Zack Sabre Jr.
STRONG Openweight Champion & AEW Continental Crown Champion Eddie Kingston vs. Gabriel Kidd for the titles
Shingo Takagi vs. Jon Moxley in a No DQ match
Will Ospreay vs. Kazuchika Okada
Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.
Updates below will begin at 6:30 PM PT/9:30 PM ET.
6:30 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates begin now.
We are LIVE from San Jose Civic Center in San Jose, CA. Your hosts are Walker Stewart & Veda Scott.
The paid attendance will be announced after the event. They say it’s a legit sellout, if so that means 2100. As of midday today the last number I had was 2050 and they’re still filing in but it’s going to be right around 2100. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 2147, a legit sellout. That means they added some capacity, the original setup was for 2100)
Pre-show:
Match 1; Matt Vandagriff vs. Goldy. 20 minute time limit
Result: Matt Vandagriff beat Goldy
Match 2: Viva Van vs. Stephanie Vaquer. 20 minute time limit
Result: Stephanie Vaquer beat Viva Van
Pre-show ends at 6:55 PM PT/9:55 PM ET. Updates will resume when the PPV begins.
PPV:
Match 1: Shota Umino, Fred Rosser & Jacob Fatu vs. Tom Lawlor, Royce Isaacs & Jorel Nelson. 20 minute time limit
Result: Shota Umino, Fred Rosser & Jacob Fatu beat Tom Lawlor, Royce Isaacs & Jorel Nelson. Umino pinned Isaacs after a double arm DDT.
After the match, while he was celebrating with the fans, Umino was sneak attacked and laid out by Jack Perry, normally part of All Elite Wrestling but not with them although he reportedly is no longer suspended after a backstage altercation with CM Punk last year. Perry held up an AEW contract and tore it up in the ring before producing and donning an armband reading “SCAPEGOAT”. Jungle Boy may officially be no more and no longer All Elite.
Match 2: Mascara Dorada & Volador Jr. vs. Rocky Romero & Soberano Jr.. 20 minute time limit
Result: Mascara Dorada & Volador Jr. beat Rocky Romero & Soberano Jr. Volador pinned Romero after a Canadian destroyer.
Match 3: TJP vs. David Finlay. 20 minute time limit
Result: David Finlay beat TJP
Match 4: STRONG Tag Team Champions El Phantasmo & Hikuleo vs. Alex Coughlin & Clark Connors for the titles. 30 minute time limit
Result: STRONG Tag Team Champions El Phantasmo & Hikuleo beat Alex Coughlin & Clark Connors to retain the titles. Hikuleo pinned Coughlin after Super Thunder Kiss 86. V4 for the champs.
Match 5: STRONG Women’s Champion Giulia vs. Trish Adora for the title. 30 minute time limit
Result: STRONG Women’s Champion Giulia beat Trish Adora to retain the title. V8 for Giulia. So maybe she’s not going to WWE yet. (She is technically a freelancer now although she has made some appearances in Stardom since disbanding her Donna Del Mundo faction)
Video promo from…Mustafa Ali! He does a Presidential campaign-style promo to call out Hiromu Takahashi for a match at Windy City Riot on 4/12 in Chicago, IL. I am all for Ali in New Japan! Or anywhere besides WWE for that matter.
Match 6: Matt Riddle & TBA vs. Bad Dude Tito & Zack Sabre Jr.. 30 minute time limit. TBA is…if a botched graphic during Riddle’s intro is true…and it is…Jeff Cobb.
Result: Matt Riddle & Jeff Cobb beat Zack Sabre Jr. & Bad Dude Tito. Riddle pinned Tito after Bro Derek.
Match 7: STRONG Openweight Champion & AEW Continental Crown Champion Eddie Kingston vs. Gabriel Kidd for the titles. 30 minute time limit
Result: STRONG Openweight Champion & AEW Conitinental Crown Champion Eddie Kingston beat Gabriel Kidd by countout to retain the titles. V10 for Kingston. They kept brawling at the end before Clark Connors & Alex Coughlin joined in for the heel beatdown on Kingston.
Match 8: Shingo Takagi vs. Jon Moxley in a No DQ match. 1 Hour time limit
Result: Jon Moxley beat Shingo Takagi. YOU. SICK. F*CKS! Yeah, there was a little blood and gore.But incredible nonetheless.
Afterwards, Moxley with microphone. It didn’t work at first but Moxley acknowledged it was his fault for not pressing the button. He called out Tetsuya Naito. HOLY SH*T!!!
Quick break for ring cleaning.
It’s Now Official…Naito-Moxley on 4/12 in Chicago (NON-TITLE match for now) as well as Mustafa Ali vs. Hiromu Takahashi. The biggest NJPW STRONG event ever as they’ve been billing it…Definitely!
Main Event: Will Ospreay vs. Kazuchika Okada. 1 Hour time limit
Result: Kazuchika Okada beat Will Ospreay. They went almost 30 minutes. After the match Bullet Club hit the ring for a beatdown on Ospreay. After a couple minutes TJP, Jeff Cobb & Eddie Kingston ran out to make the save. Once he recovered, Ospreay with microphone. He ran down Bullet Club ahead of 2/11 in Osaka and told Kingston “I owe you one”. He then thanked the fans and touched on his 8 years in New Japan as he prepares to move to All Elite Wrestling next month and also puts Okada over. He finishes by building up his final NJPW match on 2/11, which will be a steel cage match. His NSFW choice words about that match got a huge pop to finish his final promo and send the crowd home happy.
End Show.
The next event is THE NEW BEGINNING IN NAGOYA on 1/20 at Aichi Prefectural Gym in Aichi. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at midnight PT/3 AM ET.