Author: Admin

BREAKING: World Tag League Team Out (Updated)

Breaking development ahead of tomorrow’s New Japan event: The World Tag League has seen a shakeup…New Japan just announced on their Japanese website that Chase Owens and Bad Luck Fale are now OUT of the tournament. Owens had to return to the US due to a family emergency and will be out the rest of the tournament. Owens & Fale were 2-2 with 4 points so far and still were in contention, but now must forfeit their remaining matches.

Upcoming cards will be changed. Each team that had not faced Owens & Fale in the tournament get a free win and 2 points in the standings.

UPDATE: On their official English Twitter, New Japan just announced Owens is out due to a death in his family. I join in sending my deepest condolences to Owens and his family.

Tatsumi Fujinami 50th Anniversary & Final Match Event Results (12/1/2022)

Japanese legend and Hall of Famer Tatsumi Fujinami, through his Dradition (yes, it is spelled that way) promotion, held his 50th Anniversary event today that also featured his final match at age 69. In perhaps a symbolic torch passing, his final opponent was none other than this generation’s icon-Hiroshi Tanahashi. Wrestlers from promotions throughout Japan, both the Big 3 (New Japan, All-Japan, Pro Wrestling NOAH) and smaller promotions were featured throughout the event.

Today’s event was held at Yoyogi National Stadium Gym 2 in Tokyo and can be watched on demand as a PPV on New Japan World as a PPV. Between the event cost and monthly subscription fees it adds up to around $28 US and you can watch on demand with purchase until 3/1/23. After that it may be available to all monthly subscribers.

The announced paid attendance was 2150.

Match 1 (I’m going to botch some names from quick web translations): Alexander Otsuka, Go Takemura, MAZADA & Nobuyuki Kurashima beat Sanshu Tsubakichi (?), TAMURA, Kumaru Tajima (?) & Yutaka Yoshie. Kurashima pinned Tsubakichi with a German suplex hold.

Match 2: Jinsei Shinzaki, AKIRA & Shiro Koshinaka beat Masaaki Mochizuki, Masato Tanaka & Tatsuhito Takaiwa. AKIRA pinned Takaiwa.

Match 3: Hiromu Takahashi (New Japan) beat LEONA.

Match 4: Kengo Mashimo, Daisuke Sekimoto & Naomichi Marufuji (NOAH) beat KENSO, Yoshiki Inamura (NOAH) & Kazusada Higuchi (DDT). Marufuji pinned KENSO after Shiranui.

Match 5: Jake Lee (All-Japan), Zack Sabre Jr. (New Japan) & Masakatsu Funaki (NOAH) beat Mitsuya Nagai, Shingo Takagi (New Japan) & Tetsuya Naito (New Japan). Funaki pinned Nagai after Hybrid Blaster.

Main Event: Tatsumi Fujinami 50th Anniversary & Final Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi (New Japan) beat Tatsumi Fujinami.

Last Chance For Free WRESTLE UNIVERSE TRIAL!

Pro Wrestling NOAH announced on their English Twitter (it got reinstated after it got banned following a post about Great-O-Khan threatening The Great Muta after an event due to breaking rules about inciting violence) that the WRESTLE UNIVERSE 2-week free trial offer for new subscribers is ending Monday. After that it’s back to full price right away-this month it’s gone up to about $6.50 US (New Japan World is up to $7.25) so check it out now as the yen seems to be going up against the dollar! That means it’s going to cost more! If you get the trial and cancel by Day 13 you won’t be charged.

New Japan 11/30/22 Results

New Japan continued the World Tag League today with Day 4 of the heavyweight tag team tournament.

Today’s event was held at Twin Messe Shizuoka North Hall in Shizuoka and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 498.

Match 1: Oskar Leube & Yuto Nakashima beat Ryohei Oiwa & Tomoaki Honma. Nakashima pinned Oiwa.

Match 2: DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado beat Kosei Fujita, Clark Connors & Master Wato. Kanemaru beat Fujita with a figure 4.

Match 3: Titan, BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi & Shingo Takagi beat Gedo, Chris Bey, Ace Austin & Taiji Ishimori. Takagi pinned Gedo after Pumping Bomber.

World Tag League:
Match 4: Chase Owens & Bad Luck Fale beat Gabriel Kidd & Alex Coughlin. Owens pinned Coughlin after a package piledriver.
Match 5: Lance Archer & Minoru Suzuki beat Aaron Henare & Great-O-Khan. Archer pinned Henare after Blackout.
Match 6: Aussie Open beat Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL. Kyle Fletcher pinned Takahashi after Corealis.
Match 7: Shane Haste & Mikey Nocholls beat SANADA & Tetsuya Naito. Nicholls pinned SANADA after Tank Buster.
Main Event: Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto. Tanahashi pinned YOSHI-HASHI after High Fly Flow. Afterwards, Tanahashi & Yano did an air guitar duet to send the crowd home happy.

Standings:
1-Aussie Open, 4-0, 8 pts
2-Archer/Suzuki, 3-1, 6 pts
3-Haste/Nicholls, 3-1, 6 pts
5-Yano/Tanahashi, 2-2, 4 pts
5-YOSHI-HASHI/Goto, 2-2, 4 pts
6-Naito/SANADA, 2-2, 4 pts
7-Khan/Henare, 2-2, 4 pts
8-Fale/Owens, 1-3, 2 pts
9-Coughlin/Kidd, 0-4, 0 pts
10-Takahashi/EVIL, 0-4, 0 pts

The next event is Friday at Osaka Municipal Gym Sub Arena in Osaka with Day 5 of the World Tag League and Day 6 of the Super Jr. Tag League. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 2 AM PT/5 AM ET.

Sumo-November 2022 Post-Tournament Retired Rikishi Update

The Nihon Sumo Kyokai (Japan Sumo Association) has announced a new retirement following the November 2022 Tournament: It received and accepted a retirement request from Yutakayama, making him the second rikishi to retire this month along with Chiyotairyu, who retired after Day 7.

Yutakayama, real name Ryota Oyanagi, was ranked at Juryo 4 in November and went 5-10 in what will be his final tournament. His highest ranking was Maegashira 1 and he won 2 championships in his career (1 Makushita, 1 Sandanme) along with 1 Fighting Spirit Prize in the top tier. He debuted in March 2016 and had a career record of 277-281-10 (win-loss-absent) and 165-215-10 in the top tier. This will leave his beya, Tokitsukaze, with just one rikishi in the top 2 tiers for now (Shodai, who will be demoted from Ozeki for the January tournament).

New Japan News: Next KOPW Stips Presented

At a press conference today broadcast on YouTube, KOPW 2022 Trophy holder Shingo Takagi and Taichi presented their proposed tules for their upcoming match at the next TakaTaichi Produced event on 12/19 at Yoyogi National Stadium Gym 2 in Tokyo, which will be available as a PPV on New Japan World. Takagi was late which forced Taichi to read YouTube comments at the start.

The proposed rules are as follows:
Taichi-30 Minute High Score Match. Every referee count would go towards a point total. After 30 minutes, most points wins.
Takagi-Last Man Standing Lumberjack Match. Only way to win is a 10 count down after a pinfall.

Fan voting for the stip on Twitter is now open and will remain open until 4 AM PT/7 AM ET Friday. The announcement of the winning stip should come Saturday. Also revealed for the event is TAKA Michinoku vs. Hiromu Takahashi, which will be a gimmick match centered around TAKA attempting to escape the Nameless Hiromu Roll, which has failed every time as Takahashi made a jackpot bigger and bigger-last time we heard of it said jackpot was approaching around $7500 US (1 million Japanese yen).

The video of the presser can be watched below (in Japanese via the New Japan World YouTube channel):

New Japan 11/28/22 Results

New Japan continued the Super Jr. Tag League today with Day 5, the halfway point of the tournament.

Today’s event was held at Nagano Sports Park General Gym in Nagano and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 498.

Match 1: Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls beat Oskar Leube & Yuto Nakashima. Nicholls pinned Leube after Mikey Bomb.

Match 2: Aaron Henare, Great-O-Khan & Aussie Open beat Kosei Fujita, Ryohei Oiwa, Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi. Henare pinned Oiwa after Rampage.

Match 3: El Desperado, Taichi, Lance Archer & Minoru Suzuki beat Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito. Taichi beat Takagi with a Taichi-type Gedo Clutch.

Super Jr. Tag League:
Match 4: Clark Connors & Ryusuke Taguchi beat Kevin Knight & KUSHIDA. Connors pinned Knight after Trophy Kill.
Match 5: Francesco Akira & TJP beat Dick Togo & Sho. TJP pinned Togo after 2/2.
Match 6: El Lindaman & Alex Zayne beat Robbie Eagles & Tiger Mask. Zayne pinned TM 4 after Cinnamon Twist.
Match 7: Titan & BUSHI beat DOUKI & Yoshinobu Kanemaru. Titan pinned DOUKI after Angel Immortar.
Main Event: Lio Rush & Yoh beat Chris Bey & Ace Austin. Rush pinned Bey after Final Hour.

Standings will be posted after Day 6 but 5 teams are now tied for the lead at 4-1. On the flip side. Togo/Sho and DOUKI/Kanemaru are all but eliminated at 0-5.

Day 6 is Thursday. The next event is Wednesday at Twin Messe Shizuoka North Hall in Shizuoka with Day 4 of the World Tag League. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET.

DDT 11/27/22 Results

DDT ran another special outdoor event today, held outside a Japanese rail station and resuming a traditional annual event for the first time since before the coronavirus pandemic began.

Today’s event was held at JR Omori Station East Exit Square in Tokyo and should be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date. There was no live broadcast.

The announced attendance was 1127, a super full house. This was a free event.

Match 1: Sanshiro Takagi, Yusuke Okada & Shinichiro Kawamatsu beat Toru Owashi, Toui Kojima & Takeshi Masada. Okada pinned Kojima after Sudden Death.

Match 2: Danshoku Dieno & Yuki Iino beat Akito & Kazuma Sumi. Iino pinned Sumi.

Match 3: Joey Janela, Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi beat Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yuya Koroku. Janela pinned Koroku after a package driver.

Match 4: Takao Soma beat World Omori Class Champion Chikara to win the title. Soma becomes the 8th World Omori Class Champion.

Match 5: HARASHIMA, Yukio Naya & Hideki Okatani beat Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Pawl & KANON. Naya pinned Pawl after a backdrop.

Main Event: Yuki Ueno, MAO & Shunma Katsumata beat Kazusada Higuchi, Yuki Ishida & Rickey Shane Page. Ueno pinned Ishida after a rolling guillotine ace crusher.

The next event is Saturday at 2AW Square in Chiba for the final ONLY WE event of the year. There will be no live broadcast. That will be followed by the D KING GP 2022 Finals a few hours later at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin Saturday at 9:30 PM ET/6:30 PM PT.

All-Japan 11/27/22 Results

All-Japan continued the World’s Strongest Tag League today as the tournament winds down, also holding the penultimate day of the Jr. Battle Of Glory tournament.

Today’s event was held at Shonan Fujisawa Market Special Ring in Kanagawa and can be watched on demand on AJPW.TV.

The announced paid attendance was 800. This was possibly a legit sellout, if not it was very close.

Match 1: World’s Strongest Tag League: Kento Miyahara & Takuya Nomura beat Jake Lee & Yuma Aoyagi. Miyahara pinned Lee after a Frankensteiner.

Match 2: Koji Doi & Kuma Arashi beat Ryuki Honda & Masao Inoue. Arasahi pinned Honda after a diving senton.

Match 3: Dan Tamura & New Market “Ichi” (?) beat Black Menso-re & Ryo Inoue. Ichi pinned Inoue with La Magistral.

Match 4: Yusuke Kodama & Masao Hanabata beat All-Asia Tag Team Champions Yoshitatsu & TAJIRI to win the titles. Kodama & Hanabata become the 116th All-Asia Tag Team Champions. Hanabata pinned Yoshitatsu.

Match 5: Jr. Battle Of Glory: Atsuki Aoyagi beat Hokuto Omori.

Match 6: World’s Strongest Tag League: Jun & Rei Saito beat Shuji Ishikawa & Cyrus. Rei Saito pinned Ishikawa after Drill-a-hole piledriver.

Main Event: Suwama, TARU & KONO beat Yuji Nagata, Atsuki Aoyagi & Takao Omori. Suwama pinned Aoyagi after a backdrop.

With 2 matches left in the tag league Ishikawa & Cyrus still lead but several teams still have a chance to at least force a tiebreaker. In the Jr. Battle Of Glory it comes down to Aoyagi-Tamura. Tamura wins with a win or draw but Aoyagi can win with a victory.

The next event is 12/4 at Osaka Prefectural Gym 2 in Osaka. Live streaming on AJPW.TV will begin at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET.

Verified by MonsterInsights