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FREE VIDEO: Satoshi Kojima vs. Go Shiozaki (1/2/24) (Limited Time)

Ahead of the GHC Heavyweight Championship match on 1/13 featuring Go Shiozaki challenging Kenoh for the title, Pro Wrestling NOAH has uploaded Shiozaki’s match against Satoshi Kojima from the 1/3 event to YouTube for a limited time. If lariats (sadly in Kojima’s case here, sans bread courtesy of fans) are your thing, Go check it out below. Video courtesy of the Pro Wrestling NOAH Official Japanese YouTube Channel:

You can also watch the match on WRESTLE UNIVERSE (paid subscription required) in Japanese and English.

DEVELOPING: Has New Japan Gone EVIL? (Updated x2)

While browsing the socials just now, a post in Japanese by New Japan wrestler EVIL caught my eye, which was quoted by Tama Tonga. It stems from what happened at-and after-Tokyo Dome. Because this may affect an upcoming New Japan event, I am adding a SPOILER WARNING here just in case. Read on at your own risk. (See below, I’ve removes the spoiler warning because it actually is not)

What happened is EVIL posted a screenshot of the roster page from New Japan’s official Japanese website (the mobile version) showing EVIL as the 43rd NEVER Openweight Champion. Tonga is the current 42nd champion having won the title back on 1/4. But then in backstage comments Tonga announced he was leaving New Japan next month for family reasons (although he is from Tonga, he may have family in Hawaii which is where his brother Tanga Loa is from, Tonga wants to work where he can be closer to them). Tonga is to defend the title against EVIL next month and this screenshot suggests the conclusion is foregone. And it seems to be legit. I then went to NJPW’s Japanese website and took the following screenshot (note the time shown is US Pacific Time/GMT-8):

Make of that what you will while we wait for potential comments from New Japan.

More as it becomes available.

UPDATE: New Japan’s new English announcer, Walker Stewart, is claiming the title change happened today in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Nothing official yet from New Japan.

UPDATE 2: It was all fake. New Japan clarified this and posted a video clip of EVIL threatening website staff. See below:

Dragon Gate 1/10/24 Results (Updated)

Dragon Gate ran their first Tokyo event of the year today, the first half of a doubleheader. Today was headlined by a Masaaki Mochizuki 30th Anniversary match.

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on DRAGONGATE NETWORK.

The announced paid attendance was 1485, a legit sellout.

Match 1: Luis Mante & Hyo beat Kagetora & Ryoya Tanaka. Hyo pinned Tanaka after Hunting.

Match 2: BIGBOSS Shimizu & JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI beat Susumu Mochizuki & Yasushi Kanda. KAMEI pinned Kanda after JACKY Knife.

Match 3: Open The Owarai Gate Champion Longerie Muto vs. Don Fujii went to a double countout. But based on post-match fan reactions/support, Muto retains the title. V1 for Muto. (This is a comedy title where the champion can lose the match but retain the title as fan reaction determines who wins)

Match 4: KAI & Gianni Valletta beat Ultimo Dragon & Punch Tominaga. Vallenta pinned Tomonaga after a King Kong kneedrop.

Match 5: YAMATO, Dragon Kid, BxB Hulk, Kzy & Naruki Doi (Independent/Freelancer) beat Madoka Kikuta, Dragon Dia, Ben-K, Strong Machine J & Kota Minoura. YAMATO pinned Minoura after Gallaria.

Match 6: Shun Skywalker, ISHIN & Yoshiki Kato beat Shuji Kondo, Toru Owashi (DDT) & Takuya Sugawara (Independent/Freelancer) by DQ. Kato DQ’d.

Main Event: Masaaki Mochizuki 30th Anniversary Match: Shingo Takagi (New Japan) beat Masaaki Mochizuki.

The next event is tomorrow. Live streaming on DRAGONGATE NETWORK will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET.

UPDATE: A few hours after the event, following happenings today after their tag match, Open The Brave Gate Champion Hyo vs. Kagetora for the title was added to THE GATE OF BAYSIDE 2024 on 1/27.

TJPW News: Tag Team Tournament Field Revealed

Tokyo Joshi Pro has announced the field for the 4th Futari-wa Princess Max Heart Tournament, the promotion’s annual tag team tournament. There will be 11 teams this year comprising the entire roster except for Maki Itoh (injured), Hikari Noa (injured/illness), Yuki Aino (current Princess Tag Team Champion and probably because no Ryo Mizunami participation as co-Champion) & Runa Okubo (on hiatus to focus on education).

The full field:
Miyu Yamashita & Toga
Yuki Arai & Wakana Uehara
Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe
Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao
Mizuki & Shino Suzuki
Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu
Nao Kakuta & HIMAWARI
Raku & Pom Harajuku
Suzume & Arisu Endo
Moka Miyamoto & Juria Nagano
Kaya Toribami & Haru Kazashiro

The tournament is single-elimination bracket format with 6 teams facing off in Round 1 and the other 5 going straight to the Quarterfinals. Matchups will be determined by random draw at a later date.

Unless something happens, the winning team will face Aino & Mizunami for the Princess Tag Team Championship at a later date, probably at GRAND PRINCESS ’24 on 3/31. Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh won last year’s edition but won’t repeat because no Itoh (she would not have participated anyway because she was to have been in the US the rest of January). On paper Tatsumi/Watanabe are the early favorites and have won the tournament before followed by Suzume/Endo as sleepers.

The schedule is as follows:
1/20 (Club eX in Shinagawa Prince Hotel, Tokyo): Round 1 and one Quarterfinals
1/21 (Club eX): Remaining 3 Qurterfinals
1/27 (Ryogoku KFC Hall, Tokyo): Semifinals
2/10 (Korakuen Hall, Tokyo): Finals

New Japan News: Post-Tokyo Dome Press Conference News (Updated)

New Japan held their traditional post-major event press conference today for Tokyo Dome, a lot of news coming out of it:

NEW IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Tetsuya Naito appeared and was asked if his views on the title have changed now that he won it. So far, to put it simply, not really. He hasn’t work it yet and it hasn’t settled in. His first defense is set too: SANADA rematch. That will happen on 2/24 at Hikkaido Prefectural Sports Center Hokkai Kitayell in Hokkaido as part of THE NEW BEGINNING IN SAPPORO.

On 2/23 at the first half in Hokkaido, inaugural IWGP Global Champion David Finlay will make his first defense against Nic Nemeth, the former Dolph Ziggler in WWE. Nic & his younger brother Ryan (currently in All Elite Wrestling) watched the title match at Tokyo Dome from commentary and had a confrontation with Finlay after the match. That same day, NJPW WORLD TV Champion Biroshi Tanahashi will defend against fellow ex-WWE wrestler Matt Riddle.

On 2/11 at THE NEW BEGINNING IN OSAKA, AEW’s Bryan Danielson will face Zack Sabre Jr. and the main event will be Will Ospreay’s final New Japan match: United Empire vs. Bullet Club in a 10-man Steel Cage match. 2 title matches are also set for Osaka: Hikuleo & El Phantasmo vs. Chase Owens & KENTA for the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (but apparently not the STRONG Tag Team Championship), and NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Champions Tomohiro Ishii, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada vs. Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls for the titles.

In addition to faction warfare, Korakuen Hall events later this month also have title matches: 1/23 will see NEW IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion El Desperado vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru for the title.

Finally, on 1/20 at THE NEW BEGINNING IN NAGOYA it will be NEVER Openweight Champion Tama Tonga vs. EVIL for the title and KOPW 2024 Champion Taiji Ishimori vs. Great-O-Khan for the title.

All events will stream live in Japanese and English on New Japan World.

UPDATE: On the socials after the presser concluded, STRONG Tag Team Champions El Phantasmo & Hikuleo vs. Clark Connors & Alex Coughlin for the titles was announced for Saturday’s Battle In The Valley event. Like the above match, it’s not for both titles they hold.

Also, it appears Young Lions Oskar Leube & Yuto Nakashima may have chosen England for their training excursion. A social media post from Revolution Pro Wrestling (RevPro) has announced their debut in the promotion at their 2/4 event in London. They are being billed as “Young Blood” in a promo graphic for the match. RevPro has their own subscription streaming service so the match should be available there on demand soon after the event.

TJPW News: Juria Nagano Leaving Promotion, Wrestling

At a press conference in Tokyo today, Juria Nagano announced she is leaving Tokyo Joshi Pro and quitting wrestling this spring. Nagano has always been a part-time wrestler due to her other work as an actress and nurse, and is quitting to focus more on acting/entertainment but also due to personal reasons. It’s essentially retiring without saying retiring as she says she will be done with wrestling, hence TJPW calling it “graduating”.

She will work the following events before leaving: 1/20 (Club eX in Shinagawa Prince Hotel, Tokyo), 1/27 (Korakuen Hall), 2/10 (Korakuen), 3/31 (Ryogoku Kokugikan) and finish up on 4/13 (Kitazawa Town Hall, Tokyo).

Stardom 1/8/24 Results

Stardom continued the New Years Stars 2024 Tour today with a house show in Anjo (Kazuchika Okada’s hometown).

Today’s event was held at Anjo City Gym in Aichi and will be available on demand on Stardom World at a later date.

The announced paid attendance was 274.

Match 1: Yuzuki & Saya Kamitani beat Ranna Yagami & Saya Iida. Kamitani pinned Yagami.

Match 2; HANAKO & Maika beat Sayaka Kurara & Mina Shirakawa. Maika pinned Kurara after Yamachika.

Match 3: Mei Seira & Suzu Suzuki beat Ami Sohrei & Lady C. Suzuki pinned C after Tequila Shot.

Match 4; AZM & Utami Hayashishita beat Mai Sakurai & Giulia. Hayashishita pinned Sakurai with a German suplex hold.

Match 5: Saori Anou, Meghan Bayne & Yuna Mizumori beat Saki Kashima, MIRAI & Syuri. Anou pinned Kashima.

Main Event: Hazuki, Hanan & Mayu Iwatani beat Starlight Kid, Sumire Natsu & Natsuko Tora. Hanan pinned Natsu with a backdrop hold.

Tam Nakano appeared between matches 4 & 5 to greet the fans in attendance. Nakano is currently out due to injury.

The next event is Saturday at Osaka Prefectural Gym 2 in Osaka, the first half of a weekend doubleheader. It will be available on demand on Stardom World at a later date.

Dragon Gate 1/8/24 Results

Dragon Gate continues the New Year’s Gate 2024 Tour today with a non-televised house show.

Today’s event was held at Yamanori City Gym in Mie. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 272.

Match 1: Kzy, BIGBOSS Shimizu & Jason Lee beat Kota Minoura, Ben-K & BxB Hulk. Kzy pinned Hulk with Skayde Schoolboy.

Match 2: JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI beat Kaito Nagano.

Match 3: Ultimo Dragon, Madoka Kikuta & Dragon Dia beat Genki Horiguchi, Susumu Mochizuki & Yasushi Kanda. Kikuta pinned Horiguchi after a tolling lariat.

Match 4: Hyo & Luis Mante beat U-T & Strong Machine J. Hyo pinned U-T after Samson Driver.

Main Event: YAMATO, Dragon Kid. Don Fujii & Punch Tomonaga beat Shun Slywalker, KAI, ISHIN & Yoshiki Kato. YAMATO pinned ISHIN after Omnipotent & Omniscient Frankensteiner.

The next event is Wednesday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo for the first half of a doubleheader, featuring a Masaaki Mochizuki 30th Anniversary Match as Mochizuki faces former Dragon Gate star Shingo Takagi (now with New Japan). Live streaming on DRAGONGATE NETWORK will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET.

Dragon Gate 1/7/24 Results

Dragon Gate continued the New Year Gate 2024 Tour today with their first Osaka event of the year.

Today’s event was held at Osaka Prefectural Gym 2 in Osaka and can be watched on demand on DRAGONGATE NETWORK.

The announced paid attendance was 879, a super full house/very near sellout.

Match 1: U-T, Jason Lee & JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI” beat Madoka Kikuta, Dragon Dia & Ryoya Tanaka. KAMEI pinned Tanaka after JFK.

Match 2: KAI & Yoshiki Kato beat Kota Minoura & Ben-K. KAI pinned Ben-K with Gannosuke Clutch.

Match 3: Yasushi Kanda vs. Strong Machine J went to a double countout.

Match 4: Ultimo Dragon, Dragon Kid, Don Fujii & Naruki Doi (Independent/Freelancer) beat YAMATO, Takashi Yoshida, Problem Dragon & Eita. Doi pinned Dragon after Bakatare Sliding Kick.

Match 5: Masaaki Mochizuki & Susumu Mochizuki beat Kzy & BIGBOSS Shimizu. Susumu Mochizuki pinned Kzy after Jumbo Wins!

Main Event: Luis Mante & Hyo beat Shun Skywalker & ISHIN. Mante pinned ISHIN after Spertigre.

The next event is tomorrow at Yamamori Gym in Mie. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

Sayaka Unagi Produced Event 1/7/24 Results

Sayaka Unagi, currently working as a freelancer although based in Stardom, held her own independent event today which was supported/co-produced by All-Japan.

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. It’s not known if there will be any on demand video anywhere, apparently there was no live broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 1230, a legit sellout.

Match 1: Takumi Iroha beat Sayaka Unagi.

Match 2; Takanori Ito & Issei Onitsuka beat Minoru Fujita & Takayuki Ueki. Onitsuka pinned Fujita after a spear.

Match 3: Haruka Umesaki & Nanami beat Itsuki Aoki & Aoi. Umesaki pinned Aoi after a swivel diving body press.

Match 4: All-Japan 6-Man Tag Team Champions Suwama, Mayumi Ozaki & Maya Yukihi beat Dark Eel, Dark Tiger & Dark Wolf to retain the titles. Suwama beat Eel with a torso sleeper hold. V1 for the champs.

Match 5: In a Deadly Weapons Match, Risa Sera, Natsumi Mochi & Akane Fujita beat SAKI, Kurumi Hiragi & Yuko Sakurai. Sera pinned Sakurai after Ayers Rock.

Match 6: Dick Togo & Jun Kasai beat Kuroshio TOKYO Japan & Fuminori Abe. Kasai pinned Abe.

Main Event: Minoru Suzuki & Masato Tanaka beat Sayaka Unagi & Konami. Suzuki pinned Unagi after a Gotch-style piledriver.