News, results & more from Japanese Pro Wrestling & Sumo
GLEAT holds it’s 3rd Lidet UWF event tomorrow where it will crown the inaugural UWF Champion in a one-day tournament (men only). The entire event will be available LIVE FOR FREE on YouTube.
You can watch the event below beginning tomorrow at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET and on demand after the event concludes.
Tokyo Joshi Pro held “The Night Before GRAND PRINCESS ’23” today, the final event before their biggest event of the year in less than 2 weeks.
Today’s event was held at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.
The announced paid attendance was 297, a full house/near sellout.
Match 1: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao beat Wakana Uehara & HIMAWARI. Nakajima pinned Uehara.
Match 2: Rika Tatsumi beat Kaya Toribami.
Match 3: Shino Suzuki Debut Match: Miu Watanabe & Hikari Noa beat Raku & Shino Suzuki. Noa beat Suzuki with Blue Racer.
Match 4: Touma Debut Match: Miyu Yamashita beat Touma.
Match 5: Yuki Kamifuku, Nao Kakuta & Mahiro Kiryu beat Yuki Aino, Neko Haruna & Pom Harajuku. Kamifuku pinned Harajuku after Fameasser.
Main Event: Yuka Sakazaki, Yuki Arai & Suzume beat Mizuki, Moka Miyamoto & Arisu Endo. Sakazaki pinned Miyamoto after Magical Merry-Go-Round.
The build is now all but over…the next event is GRAND PRINCESS ’23, TJPW’s biggest event of the year, on 3/18 at Ariake Arena in Tokyo. There’s still time to get tickets but they are selling well. The venue will be at 50% capacity as it was set before pandemic restrictions were lifted-that means depending on the setup it’ll probably be a max capacity of around 4000-the venue’s normal full capacity is 12,000. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE on Japanese and English will begin at 2 AM ET/11 PM PT.
UPDATE: It’s now official-Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh vs. Heidi Howitzer & Max The Impaler on 3/18 will be for the Princess Tag Team Championship. V3 for the champs over the weekend in their latest defense so now it’s for the titles at Ariake Arena.
On March 6, 1972, Shin Nihon Puroresu aka New Japan Pro Wrestling held its first official event. The promotion continued its annual tradition of holding an anniversary event aka Flag Raising Day event today, celebrating their 51st Anniversary (but first without the pate Antonio Inoki, the founder of New Japan and Hall of Famer).
Today’s event was held at Ota City General Gym in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on New Japan World FOR FREE! The event also streamed on ABEMA in Japan.
Click below to watch in Japanese:
https://njpwworld.com/p/s_00641_1_1
English is also available but the URL appears to be the same. Go to the New Japan World homepage to choose English.
The announced paid attendance was 2020.
Match 1: El Phantasmo & KENTA beat Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr. KENTA beat Fujita with GAME OVER.
Match 2: Aussie Open & Will Ospreay beat Satoshi Kojima, Toru Yano & Tama Tonga. Kyle Fletcher pinned Kojima after Corealis.
Match 3: El Desperado, Ren Narita & Minoru Suzuki beat Dick Togo, Sho & EVIL. Desperado pinned Togo after Pinche Loco.
Match 4: Aaron Henare, Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb beat SANADA, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito. Henare pinned Takagi after Streets Of Rage. Huge.
Match 5: Lio Rush & Yoh beat BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi. Rush pinned BUSHI after Final Hour.
Match 6: New Japan Cup Round 1: Shota Umino beat Yujiro Takahashi. As a result, Umino advances to Round 2 and will face Zack Sabre Jr.
Match 7: New Japan Cup Round 1: David Finlay beat Tomohiro Ishii. As a result, Finlay advances to Round 2 and will face Great-O-Khan. After the match, Finlay joined Bullet Club.
Main Event: IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada to retain the titles. YOSHI-HASHI pinned Tanahashi after Abyss. V2 for the champs.
The next event is a special Antonio Inoki Farewell Party tomorrow at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo. The first part of the event will be a special ceremony for paying ticket holders only. The second part will be for fans to leave flowers and is open to the public
The New Japan Cup continues Wednesday at Big Palette Fukushima in Fukushima. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET.
Here are the quick results from tonight’s AEW Revolution PPV from San Francisco, CA:
Pre-Show: Mark Briscoe & Lucha Bros beat Ari Daivari & Varsity Athletes. Briscoe pinned Daivari after Froggy Boy.
PPV:
Ricky Starks beat Chris Jericho. JAS was banned from ringside
In a Final Burial Match (Buried Alive Match), Jungle Boy beat Christian Cage.
House Of Black beat AEW Trios Champions The Elite to become THE NEW AEW TRIOS CHAMPIONS! Malakai Black pinned Matt Jackson after Dante’s Inferno.
AEW Women’s Champion Jamie Hayter beat Saraya & Ruby Soho in a 3-way by pinning Soho to retain the title
In a Texas Death Match, Adam Page beat Jon Moxley by submission.
Wardlow beat AEW TNT Champion Samoa Joe by submission to become THE NEW AEW TNT CHAMPION!
ARW Tag Team Champions Gunn Club beat The Acclaimed, Jeff Jarrett & Jay Lethal and Orange Cassidy & Danhausen in a 4-way, when Austin Gunn pinned Danhausen, to retain the titles. FTR returned post-match.
In a 1 Hour Iron Match, AEW World Champion MJF beat Bryan Danielson in Sudden Death after a 3-3 TIE to retain the title.
Dragon Gate ran the second half of CHAMPION GATE 2023 today, headlined by the first Open The Dream Gate Championship defense for Shun Skywalker as the promotion’s top titleholder.
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 528.
Match 1: Kota Minoura, BxB Hulk & Ben-K beat Jason Lee, JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI & Ho Ho Lun. Minoura pinned Lun after R-301.
Match 2: Masaaki Mochizuki, Susumu Mochizuki & Mochizuki Jr. beat Don Fujii, Ichikawa & Shachihoko BOY. Susumu Mochizuki pinned Ichikawa with a cut-back La Magistral. Which led to…
Impromptu Match: Mochizuki Jr. vs. Don Fujii went to a double countout.
Match 3: KAI & H-Y-O beat Genki Horiguchi & Kagetora. H-Y-O pinned Horiguchi after a diving senton.
Match 4: Dragon Kid, Eita & Dragon Dia beat YAMATO, Naruki Doi & Takashi Yoshida. Dia pinned Yoshida.
Match 5: Open The Twin Gate Champions Kzy & BIGBOSS Shimizu beat Yuki Yoshioka & Madoka Kikuta to retain the titles. Shimizu pinned Yoshioka after BIGBOSS Press. V5 for the champs.
Main Event: Open The Dream Gate Champion Shun Skywalker beat Strong Machine J to retain the title. V1 for Skywalker.
The next event is Friday at Singapore Eurasian Community House in Singapore. There will be no live broadcast.
Some NOAH news:
A Kenoh 15th Anniversary event has been announced for 6/24/23 at Tokugin Tokoni Arena (formerly Tokushima City Gym) in Tokushima. Ticket details have been announced but not on sale dates. Kenoh started out in the small Michinoku Pro promotion in northeastern Japan as Ou Kuboshi (sp?) in 2008 before coloring his jet-black hair blonde and changing his name to Kenoh and moving up to NOAH and forming the Kongo faction.
If you weren’t able to watch it live or didn’t want to pay $30-40 extra for it, the 2/21 Keiji Muto Retirement Event is now available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE for all monthly paying subscribers. Both Japanese and English commentary versions are available. The January Tokyo Joshi Pro 10th Anniversary PPV is now available to all as well.
Additionally, there was some NOAH participation in today’s Michinoku Pro event. You will be able to watch it on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE starting Wednesday.
Ganbare Pro ran their latest event today as they continue ro prepare for an upcoming tournament to crown the inaugural Spirit of Ganbare World Tag Tram Champions.
Today’s event was held at Takashimadaira Community Center in Tokyo and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date. There was no live broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 117.
Match 1: Takuya Wada beat Sotetsu Nakamura.
Match 2: Moeka Haruhi & Asahi beat HARUKAZE & Yoshiko Hasegawa. Asahi pinned Hasegawa after Chanmaru Boy.
Match 3: Miyuki Takase beat YuuRI.
Match 4: Tyson Maeguchi beat Shinichiro Tominaga.
Match 5: Shota beat Takao Soma.
Main Event: Mizuki Watase, Shuichiro Katsumura & Tatsuhito Takaiwa beat Ken Ohka, Keisuke Ishii & Yumehito Imanari. Takaiwa pinned Imanari after Death Valley Bomb.
The next event is a tripleheader on 3/25 at Oji Basement MON*STAR in Tokyo. There likely will be no live broadcasts.
DDT continued their current tour today with a house show in Nagano.
Today’s event was held at Nagano City Arts Center Art Space in Nagano and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date. There was no live broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 179.
There was an apparent last-second change to the card due to Toui Kojima missing the event. Unspecified. Gota Ihashi was the replacement.
Match 1: KANON beat Yuki Ishida by submission.
Match 2: In a handicap match, Danshoku Dieno & Yuki Iino beat Akito, Keigo Nakamura & Kazuma Sumi. Iino beat Sumi with TRUE LOVE.
Match 3: Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani beat Takao Soma & Yuya Koroku. Sakaguchi pinned Koroku after God’s Right Knee.
Match 4: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yusuke Okada beat HARASHIMA, Kazusada Higuchi & Takeshi Masada. Endo pinned Masada after a deformation Yurikamome.
Match 5: Yasushi Kanda, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata beat MAO, Shunma Katsumata & Gota Ihashi. Hirata pinned Ihashi with La Magistral.
Main Event: Yukio Naya & Chris Brookes beat Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi. Naya pinned Oishi after a backdrop.
The next event is 3/12 at Tokorozawa Aviation Memorial Park Outdoor Stage in Saitama. There will be no live broadcast.
New Japan kicked off the 2023 New Japan Cup today, the annual March singles tournament that leads into their major April event. The tournament is for heavyweights and is a single-elimination bracket format and awards an IWGP World Heavyweight Championship shot to the eventual winner. Zack Sabre Jr. is the defending winner.
Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on New Japan World in Japanese and English.
The announced paid attendance was 1371, a legit advance sellout.
Match 1: Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Ryohei Oiwa & Tama Tonga. Fujita beat Oiwa with an armbar.
Match 2: Master Wato, Ryusuke Taguchi, Ren Narita & Shota Umino beat Dick Togo, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL. Wato beat Togo with Vendeval.
Match 3: Gedo, Chase Owens & KENTA beat Yuto Nakashima, El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki. Owens pinned Nakashima after a package piledriver.
Match 4: BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi & Shingo Takagi beat Lio Rush, Yoh & Toru Yano. Takagi pinned Yano.
Match 5: YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto beat Tomoaki Honma, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Onada. Ishii pinned Honma after a vertical drop brainbuster.
Match 6: New Japan Cup Round 1: Tetsuya Naito beat El Phantasmo. As a result, Naito advances to Round 2 and will face Chase Owens.
Main Event: New Japan Cup Round 1: SANADA beat Taichi. As a result, SANADA advances to Round 2 and will face KENTA. This potentially could setup an LIJ Quarterfinal.
The next event is the New Japan Pro Wrestling 51st Anniversary Event tomorrow at Ota City General Gym in Tokyo. The Cup will continue with 2 more Round 1 matches as part of the event. Live streaming on New Japan World (and maybe ABEMA in Japan) will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET, and even better this event will be available live and on demand FOR FREE! Also of note-Wednesday will be the special Antonio Inoki Farewell Event for fans at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo beginning at 11 AM JST (Tuesday at 6 PM PT/9 PM ET).
Tokyo Joshi Pro has just announced the full card for their US debut event on 3/31/23 in Los Angeles, CA as part of WrestleCon:
Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki vs. Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh
Shoko Nakajima & Miu Watanabe vs. Heidi Howitzer & Max The Impaler
Hyper Misao & Trish Adora vs. Yuki Aino & Raku
Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta vs. Suzume & Arisu Endo
Rika Tatsumi vs. Billie Starkz
Yuki Kamifuku vs. Janai Kai
Sayuri Namba will be ring announcer
With regards to the Princess Tag Team Championship, it’s expected whoever is champion at the time (if Yamashita/Itoh or Howitzer/Max) would be in a NON-TITLE match.
Tickets for the event are almost sold out (only a few standing room tickets remain). It will not be available on WRESTLE UNIVERSE as a live broadcast at this time, however it will be available in the US as a PPV on FITE. You can pre-order now for $19.99, which includes the live broadcast and unlimited on demand replays. It will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later time/date. If you buy the live event on FITE, be aware that it’s a Friday 3 PM ET/12 PM PT start (3/31 is a holiday in California).