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Ganbare Pro 5/5/23 Results

Ganbare Pro ran their annual Golden Week blowout event, LOVE PHANTOM 2023, today.

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in Japanese. Yuna Manase, who is out most of the rest of the year due to injury, was a special guest on commentary.

The announced paid attendance was 489. The bleacher seats on 3 sides of the venue were not used so capacity was greatly reduced, so while it sounds low for Korakuen it was a good number for the layout.

Match 1: Ken Ohka, Shinichiro Tomonaga & Sotatsu Nakamura beat Isami Kodaka, Minoru Fujita & Daiki Shimomura. Nakamura pinned Kodaka.

Match 2: Reala Debut Match: YuuRI beat Reala.

Match 3: Shuichiro Katsumura & Morka Haruhi beat Hartley Jackson & HARUKAZE. Haruhi pinned HARUKAZE after a diving foot stomp. This was supposed to be Haruhi’s final match for now as she is taking a hiatus from wrestling to become a living kidney donor for her sister. Haruhi intends to return to wrestling after fully recovering. (Her final match may now be tomorrow)

Match 4: Nao Kakuta (Tokyo Joshi Pro) beat Yoshiko Hasegawa.

Match 5: Dan The Dad & Cody Lang beat Shota & Takao Soma. Dan pinned Shota after Your Granded.

Match 6: Spirit Of Ganbare World Tag Team Championship Tournament Finals: Hikaru Sato & Tyson Maeguchi beat Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Yumehito Imanari to won the tournament and the titles and become the inaugural Spirit Of Ganbare World Tag Team Champions. Maeguchi pinned Takaiwa after a buzzsaw kick. And the first defense is already set as they have challengers: Dan The Dad & Cody Lang. that match will happen tomorrow.

Main Event: Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Champion Mizuki Watase beat Keisuke Ishii to retain the title. V4 for Watase.

The next event is tomorrow at Takashimadaira Community Center in Tokyo. There will be no live broadcast.

Dragon Gate 5/4/23 Results

Dragon Gate tan the second half of a Kyoto doubleheader today, the final event before their annual Golden Week blowout event tomorrow.

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

The paid attendance has not yet been announced as these are quick results via the Dragon Gate official Twitter. UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 333.

Match 1: YAMATO & Susumu Mochizuki beat Don Fujii & Genki Horiguchi. Mochizuki pinned Horiguchi after Yokosuka Cutter.

Match 2: Yuki Yoshioka beat Minorita.

Match 3: Ultimo Dragon, Takashi Yoshida, Dragon Dia & Ho Ho Lun beat Shun Skywalker, KAI, Diamante & ISHIN by DQ. Diamante DQ’d. Mask ripping (on Dragon).

Match 4: In a Lumberjack Match, Madoka Kikuta beat H-Y-O.

Main Event: Kzy, BIGBOSS Shimizu & Jason Lee beat Kota Minoura, BxB Hulk & Ben-K. Shimizu pinned Ben-K after a shot put slam.

The next event is DEAD OR ALIVE 2023 tomorrow at Aichi Prefectural Gym in Nagoya. Live streaming on DRAGONGATE NETWORK will begin at midnight PT/3 AM ET.

Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling “YES! WONDERLAND” Results (5/5/23)

Tokyo Joshi Pro holds their annual Golden Week blowout event today, one of their most important events of the year (right up there with GRAND PRINCESS and WRESTLE PRINCESS in scale). Usually there would be 3 title matches at such an event but because TJPW has a double champion there are just 2 (I wouldn’t have minded making Mizuki defend two titles on one day, but then again I don’t like her and want her to lose) so it’s just the singles titles with Mizuki defending the Princess Of Princess Chmpionship against foreigner Sawyer Wreck in the main event. The co-main has International Princess Champion Rika Tatsumi defending against Suzume, who steps up for the biggest match of her career so far. Other highlights of the event include a Yuki Arai 2nd Anniversary Match, as the SKE48 member teams with, oddly enough, Maki Itoh (whi does not like Arai at all) against Yuka Sakazaki & Shoko Nakajima. Juria Nagano, who is out of action due to injury, will be a special guest on commentary today.

Today’s event will be held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched LIVE on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in Japanese and English. You can also watch the first 2 matches FOR FREE on YouTube. The Japanese commentary tram will be Haruo Murata, Kagehiro Osano, Sayoko Mita & Juria Nagano. The English commentary team will be Chris Brookes (DDT) & Drew Parker. The opening announcements will begin 5 minutes before event time and they’ve already announced on Twitter to expect the main event beginning 2 hours in so I anticipate the event’s royal running time being about 2 1/2 hours. They also have a post-event party set at Ryogoku KFC Hall after the event. (They are on a strict clock today because there is a Ganbare Pro event a few hours after this one)

Today’s lineup (in order):
HIMAWARI vs. Shino Suzuki
Hyper Misao, Haru Kazashiro & Runa Okubo vs. Raku, Pom Harajuku & Neko Haruna
Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara vs. Mahiro Kiryu & Toga
Ryo Mizunami, Moka Miyamoto & Kaya Toribami vs. Hikari Noa, Nao Kakuta & Yuki Aino
Miu Watanabe vs. Arisu Endo
Yuki Arai & Maki Itoh vs. Yuka Sakazaki & Shoko Nakajima
International Princess Champion Rika Tatsumi vs. Suzume for the title
Princess Of Princess Champion Mizuki vs. Sawyer Wreck for the title

Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.

Updates below will begin at 7 PM PT/10 PM ET. The matches should begin around 7:45 PM PT with the opening announcements at 7:25 PM PT. The YouTube broadcast will begin at 7:15 PM PT/10:15 PM ET and will go through the end of Match 2.

7 PM PT UPDATE: The live stream has begun. We should be going to the venue in about 15 minutes. Updates will resume at that time.

7:15 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates begin now…
We are LIVE from Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. Your hosts are Haruo Murata, Kagehiro Osano, Sayoko Mita & Juria Nagano. Your English hosts are Chris Brookes & Drew Parker.

The paid attendance will be announced after the event. This is the first time they have been able to run Korakuen at full capacity post-pandemic although the seating behind Japanese commentary is curtained off (English commentary is elsewhere) but hopefully it will be better than what would otherwise likely be 550-650. Full capacity would probably be around 1100. Fans were still filing in just before start time but early crowd shots look good in terms of filling seats so hopefully it will wind up being close to 1000 with a minimum of 800 (probably on the lower end as the opposite-hard camera bleacher seats on the left and right sides are curtained off because of commentary positioning. Once the event got going the venue looked almost full. Not a sellout but a good crowd). Also, fans are finally allowed to hang support banners in the venue again and throw paper tape/streamers at Korakuen events going forward. Streamers will be on a case-by-case basis for events elsewhere for now, primarily at the venue’s discretion.

The opening announcements will begin in 10 minutes. I anticipate the matches beginning in about 30 minutes.

Opening announcements/introduction begin on time at 7:25 PM PT. They announce the card for the Hyper Misao Produced 5/25 event at Kitazawa Town Hall in Tokyo and it includes…YOSHIHIKO! The DDT legend will face Shoko Nakajima in a MUST-SEE MATCH! Other matches set are Arisu Endo & Rika Tatsumi vs. Mahiro Kiryu & Yuki Aino and what looks like a 6-way with Miu Watanabe, Raku, Yuki Kamifuku, Suzume, Moka Miyamoto & HIMAWARI. Also announced was several wrestler hometown events: Shoko Nakajima on 8/5, Yuki Arai on 9/10 at Kyoto KBS Hall, Rika Tatsumi on 9/16, Arisu Endo on 10/20. They’re also headed back to Sendai on 10/21 for the first time in over 4 years. More details on these tomorrow in post-event updates once I get English translations.

The matches begin at 7:48 PM PT.

Match 1: HIMAWARI vs. Shino Suzuki. 15 minute time limit
Result: HIMAWARI beat Shino Suzuki by submission

Match 2: Hyper Misao, Haru Kazashiro & Runa Okubo vs. Raku, Pom Harajuku & Neko Haruna. Kazashiro & Okubo are also wearing Misao masks. 20 minute time limit
Result: Hyper Misao, Haru KAzashiro & Runa Okubo beat Raku, Pom Harajuku & Neko Haruna. Misao pinned Harajuku after I Am A Hero.

The YouTube broadcast ends here.

Match 3: Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara vs. Mahiro Kiryu & Toga. 20 minute time limit
Result: Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara beat Mahiro Kiryu & Toga. Kamifuku pinned Toga after Fameasser.

Match 4: Ryo Mizunami (Independent/Freelancer), Moka Miyamoto & Kaya Toribami vs. Hikari Noa, Nao Kakuta & Yuki Aino. 20 minute time limit
Result: Ryo Mizunami, Moka Miyamoto & Kaya Toribami beat HIkari Noa, Nao Kakuta & Yuki Aino. Mizunami pinned Aino.

Match 5: Miu Watanabe vs. Arisu Endo. 15 minute time limit
Result: Miu Watanabe beat Arisu Endo

Match 6: Yuki Arai 2nd Anniversary Match: Yuki Arai & Maki Itoh vs. Yuka Sakazaki & Shoko Nakajima. 20 minute time limit. Itoh did her entrance song in English today and again was wearing her belt that said “FUCK”. Really. But hey, it’s Japan so it’s cool.
Result: Yuka Sakazaki & Shoko Nakajima beat Yuki Arai & Maki Itoh. Sakazaki pinned Arai after Magical Merry-Go-Round. UNHAPPY UNHAPPY.

Match 7: International Princess Champion Rika Tatsumi vs. Suzume for the title. 30 minute time limit
Result: International Princess Champion Rika Tatsumi beat Suzume to retain the title. V3 for Tatsumi.

Main Event: Princess Of Princess Champion Mizuki vs. Sawyer Wreck for the title. 30 minute time limit
Result: Princess Of Princess Champion Mizuki beat Sawyer Wreck to retain the title. V2 for Mizuki. UNHAPPY UNHAPPY. Next up: OH SNAP…Maki Itoh. That’s even worse. But then again, if she can’t beat Miyu Yamashita for the title, why not try and beat someone else who has it? (By the way, Yamashita is back in England today to defend her Pro Wrestling EVE Championship, today’s challenger is Millie McKenzie. Her international schedule currently has her away from TJPW for at least another month, with mid-June the earliest possible return date at this time) We’ll maybe find out tomorrow when this could happen but my first thought is Summer Sun Princess ’23 in July, the next major event. Updates to come.

The next event is 5/13 at Act City Hamamatsu in Shizuoka to resume the Spring 2023 house show tour. There will be no live broadcast.

Post-show note: The announced paid attendance was 774. It also appears Mizuki-Itoh will indeed happen at Summer Sun Princess ’23 on 7/8 at Ota City General Gym in Tokyo.

All-Japan 5/4/23 Results

All-Japan ran the final day of the Champions Carnival 2023 preliminary round today, which would determine who will face Shotaro Ashino in the Finals.

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

The announced paid attendance was 832.

Match 1: Hikaru Sato, Dan Tamura & Ryo Inoue beat Naruki Doi, Naoki Tanisaki & Oji Shiiba. Sato beat Shiiba with an armbar.

Match 2: Suwama, KONO & Rei Saito beat Shuji Ishikawa, Takao Onori & Yuma Anzai. KONO beat Omori with an armbar.

Match 3: Yuji Nagata (New Japan) & Shotaro Ashino beat Minoru Suzuki & Hokuto Omori. Ashino beat Omori with an ankle lock.

Champions Carnival Block A:
Match 4: Yuma Aoyagi beat Yoshitatsu.
Match 5: Jun Saito beat Ryuki Honda.
Match 6: Satoshi Kojima beat Cyrus.
Match 7: T-Hawk beat Kento Miyahara.
As a result, T-Hawk wins Block A and the Final is T-Hawk vs. Shotaro Ashino. Absolute less than zero chance I saw that being the Finals. I was going with Miyahara vs. Suwama. The winner likely will get the next shot at Nagata for the Triple Crown.

Main Event: Jr. Tag Battle Of Glory Finals: Kaito Ishida & Kotaro Suzuki beat Atsuki Aoyagi & Rising Hayato to win the tournament. Ishida pinned Hayato with a half tiger suplex hold.

The Champions Carnival Final is Sunday at Ota City General Gym in Tokyo, there also is an All-Japan World Jr. Heavyweight Championship match scheduled as Naruki Doi defends against Dan Tamura. Live streaming on AJPW.TV will begin at midnight PT/3 AM ET.

Impact Wrestling 5/4/23 Results

Here are the quick results from tonight’s Impact Wrestling from Chicago, IL:

This episode was taped last weekend (4/28-4/29) as part of what should be the next 4 episodes, including this one, that should take them to Under Siege, the next monthly live event, on 5/26.

The YouTube pre-show match was Laredo Kid vs. Jack Price. The promotion has also signed Jennifer Chung (Jade Chung), the real life wife of Josh Alexander, and she will be the ring announcer for the pre-show match going forward among other announcing duties.

Match 1: Moose & Brian Myers beat Bhupinder Gujjar & Yuya Uemura. Moose pinned Gujjar after a spear.

Gia Miller interviews Steve Maclin, Champagne Singh & Shera.

Replay of Santino Marella backstage attack aftermath from last week, follow-up investigation by Dirty Dango leads to an impromptu Joe Hendry summoning. Hendry thinks Mike Tenay was responsible but Hendry suggests Trey Miguel. Classic running Mike Tenay jokes.

Match 2: .Sami Callihan beat Kon by apparent DQ. This was supposed to have been Callihan vs. Deaner but Deaner announced as he came out that plans changed and Callihan was facing Kon instead. DQ came when Deaner summoned the Army Of Darkness-a bunch of guys in yellow hoodies & jeans-to the ring to beat down Callihan. Deaner finished it with a baseball bat shot to Callihan’s face. The question is whether this was actually DQ or no contest. The ref waved it off but there was no announcement.

Dango & Hendry interrogate Trey Miguel backstage. Miguel is supposedly cleared but not before and after some ridiculous comedy.

Jimmy Jacobs interviews Nick Aldis. Kenny King interrupts mid-promo, in response Aldis challenges King to a match. King says no, gotta earn it.

Match 3: Jody Threat beat Alisha Edwards.

Motor City Machine Guns interviewed. Apparently Chris Sabin is a big Steven Seagal movie fan and spoofs Booker T in counting his X Championship reigns. Alex Shelley says he’s going for the Impact World Championship in the meantime.

Frankie Kazarian retrospective Part 2. Full video will be available on YouTube and Impact+ after tonight’s show, which should be anytime as of this post.

Match 4: PCO, Rhino & Heath beat Steve Maclin, Champagne Singh & Shera. PCO pinned Singh after PCOsault. Rhino & Heath were mystery partners of PCO’s choice.

The Coven promo.

Death Dollz promo. They seek out Father James Mitchell in their quest to get rid of The Coven blocking their access to the undead realm and possibly finding Taya Valkyrie (who of course has left Impact and is now with All Elite Wrestling). Rosemary has a butcher knife for some reason. And after THe Coven introduced a candle into their promo, Jessicka produces an hourglass. They’re really into all this mystic/supernatural stuff.

Match 5: Jonathan Gresham beat Mike Bailey by submission. They played it up like this is the end of the 4-match series between them. I selfishly hope not because this was another FANTASTIC match.

Sami Callihan backstage trying to recruit Rich Swann to help him against Design.

Main Event segment is the Impact debut of Trinity (former Naomi in WWE, now going by her real first name). She cuts a fired-up promo stating she’s here for the Knockouts World Championship, which brings out Deonna Purrazzo. She even takes a shot at how Trinity left WWE but as it gets really heated Jordynne Grace comes out. Trinity is ready to wait for Purrazzo-Grace at Under Siege and then take on whoever emerges as champion. Trinity danced off and left Grace & Purrazzo facing off in the ring.

Next week: Impact World Champion Steve Maclin vs. Rhino for the title, Frankie Kazarian Interview Part 3, Nick Aldis vs. Sheldon Jean, Masha Slamovich vs. Killer Kelly and Impact Knockouts Tag Team Champions The Coven vs. Jordynne Grace & Deonna Purrazzo for the titles.

AEW Rampage 5/5/23 Partial Results (SPOILERS!)

Here are the PARTIAL results for tomorrow’s TAPED AEW Rampage in Baltimore, MD, which will air tomorrow at 6:30 PM ET/3:30 PM PT on TNT. Click below to read as this contains SPOILERS!

Continue reading “AEW Rampage 5/5/23 Partial Results (SPOILERS!)”

Pro Wrestling NOAH 5/4/23 Results

MAJESTIC 2023, Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Golden Week blowout event, is now in the books.

Today’s event was held at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE In Japanese and English.

The announced paid attendance was 2721. Again quite low even with configuration and reduced box seat capacity which still should have meant a capacity of at least 8000-9000 (the venue’s normal full capacity, primarily for sumo, is around 14,000).

Match 1: Mohammed Yone & Super Crazy beat Akitoshi Saito & Taishi Ozawa. Crazy pinned Ozawa after a moonsault press.

Match 2: Atsushi Kotoge & Seiki Yoshioka beat Extreme Tiger & Lancelot. Kotoge pinned Lancelot after Kill Switch.

Match 3: Jack Morris, Anthony Greene, YO-HEY & Tadasuke beat Sean Legacy, Stallion Rogers, Dragon Bane & Alpha Wolf. Greene pinned Rogers after Alternate Ending.

Match 4: Sumire Natsu & Ryo Mizunami beat Maya Yukihi & SAKI. Natsu pinned Yukihi after Youran.

Match 5: Shuji Kondo, Hajime Ohara & Hi69 beat AMAKUSA, Junta Miyawaki & Alejandro. Hi69 pinned Miyawaki after Stuka Splash.

Match 6: Kazuyuki Fujita & Masato Tanaka beat Masa Kitamiya & Daiki Inaba. Tanaka pinned Inaba after Sliding D.

Match 7: In a GHC Martial Arts Rules match, Masakatsu Funaki beat Shinya Aoki by submission.

Match 8: Yoshinari Ogawa & Chris Ridgeway beat Eita & Daga. Ogawa pinned Eita after a Daga Diablo Wings.

Match 9: Dralistico beat Rey Escorpion.

Match 10; Saxon Huxley & Timothy Thatcher beat GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Takashi Sugiura & Shuhei Taniguchi to win the titles. Huxley & Thatcher become the 65th GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. Huxley pinned Taniguchi after a neck hanging bomb.

Match 11: GHC Jr. Heavyweight Champion HAYATA beat Ninja Mack to retain the title. V1 for HAYATA. Next up: Dante Leon. That match will happen on 6/17 at Nagoya Congress Center Event Hall in Nagoya.

Match 12: GHC National Champion Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. beat Hideki Suzuki by submission to retain the title. V4 for Wagner Jr.

Match 13: Go Shiozaki Return Match: Kenoh, Katsuhiko Nakajima & Manabu Soya beat Go Shiozaki, Kaito Kiyomiya & Yoshiki Inamura. Nakajima pinned Shiozaki after Vertical Spike. It’s possible Nakajima defected from Kongo after the match to re-form Axiz with Shiozaki as Kenoh vs. Nakajima has been announced for 5/31 at Shinjuku Face.

Main Event: GHC Heavyweight Champion Jake Lee beat Naomichi Marufuji to retain the title. V2 for Lee.

The next event is 5/14 at Korakuen Hall as part of the never-ending STAR NAVIGATION 2023 Tour. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET. This is also an ABEMA broadcast so the live broadcast on WRESTLE UNIVERSE may be in English only.

In other news, the annual N-1 VICTORY Tournament was announced for 2023. The full schedule was announced and is as follows:
8/6-Yokohama Budokan, Yokohama
8/9-Korakuen Hall
8/10-Korakuen Hall
8/11-Korakuen Hall
8/19-Chateraise Gatteaux Kingdom Sapporo, Hokkaido
8/26-Sendai Pit, Sendai
8/27-Culttz Kawasaki, Kanagawa
9/3-Osaka Prefectural Gym, Osaka (Finals)
All events will be streamed live on ABEMA or WRESTLE UNIVERSE.

AEW Dynamite 5/3/23 Results

Here are the quick results from tonight’s AEW Dynamite in Baltimore, MD:

Orange Cassidy, Bandido, Adam Cole & Roderick Strong beat Angelo Parker, Matt Menard, Daniel Garcia & Jake Hager. Cole pinned Parker after BOOM. Chris Jericho was on commentary. After the match, Cole took out Jericho AND the stage behind commentary. Cole then was forced out of the arena by security as Jericho kept taunting him, which allowed Britt Baker to sneak in and b*tch slap Jericho.

Saraya beat Willow Nightingale. Hikaru Shida returned post-match and appeared to align with The Outcasts, but it was a ruse as Britt Baker & Jamie Hayter hit the ring and Shida laid out The Outcasts.

The Acclaimed & Billy Gunn won the Tres De Mayo Trios Battle Royal, last eliminating The Butcher & The Blade & Kip Sabian. Other teams entered: Lucha Bros & El Hijo De Vikingo, Varsity Athletes, Dark Order, Powerhouse Hobbs & QT Marshall & Aaron Solo.

Wardlow beat Logan LeRoux. Squash. Wardlow called out Luchasaurus for an open challenge AEW TNT Title match but Christian Cage refused.

Ricky Starks beat Juice Robinson.

Darby Allin & Jungle Boy beat MJF & Sammy Guevara. Allin pinned Guevara after Coffin Drop. As a result, the Double Or Nothing Main Event is now AEW World Champion MJF vs. Guevara, Allin & Jungle Boy in a 4-way for the title (ie had been MJF-Guevara).

Another average show overall saved from being meh by the last two matches which were good. The main event wasn’t a great match but the storytelling and mind games were easily A+ material and was a lot of fun to watch.

Friday on Rampage now at 6:30 PM ET/3:30 PM PT: Mark Briscoe vs. Preston Vance, Jade Cargill vs. TBA, Lucha Bros/Vikingo vs. Hobbs/Marshall/Solo and The Firm Deletion at The Hardy Compound (The Hardys, Isaiah Kassidy & Hook vs. Big Bill, Ethan Page, Lee Moriarty & Stokely Hathaway), which likely will be a cinematic match.

Next week: Jon Moxley vs. Kenny Omega in a Steel Cage Match, AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy vs. Daniel Garcia for the title and an FTR promo.

In other AEW news, there are now rumors that Dark, the weekly YouTube program on Tuesdays, has either been cancelled or is on indefinite hiatus. This is apparently because as part of the deal for the rumored new Saturday AEW TV show (announcement being held up by CM Punk status) all AEW programming going forward will only be on WBD TV networks so no YouTube. Ring Of Honor likely would not be affected and would remain on HonorClub. This all is not yet official.

BREAKING: Sumo Champion Retires (Updated)

Breaking sumo news: Nikkan Sports reports Ichinojo, the March Juryo Champion and July 2022 Emperor’s Cup winner, has retired effective immediately. He will submit a formal notice to the Japan Sumo Association today (tomorrow US time). A translation of the Nikkan Sports report says the reason is chronic back pain which is not completely treatable. It should be noted that Ichinojo, at well over 450 pounds/206 kilos, is the largest rikishi in the top 2 tiers of sumo. The report also states he will not take a former master’s name and will leave sumo completely.

Ichinojo, real name Takashi Miura, is from Mongolia but is a Japanese citizen. He was ranked at Maegashira 13 for the May tournament and has 3 career championships, one top tier championship (July 2022) and 2 Juryo championships including March. He won 4 special prizes and is believed to lead all current rikishi with 9 kinboshi (Gold Star victories, when a Maegashira defeats a Yokozuna). His highest ranking was Sekiwake, the 3rd highest in sumo. He debuted in January 2014 at Makushita 15 and needed just 2 tournaments to reach Juryo, tied for the second-fastest promotion ever, won the chanpionship in his Juryo debut, and just 5 tournaments to reach the top tier, reaching Sekiwake in just his second top tier tournament after going 13-2 with 2 Special Prizes in his Makuuchi debut. But after his July 2022 triumph he had 2 straight losing records and then was suspended for January for outside-competition misconduct announced as coronavirus protocol violations, returning at Juryo in March and going 14-1 and winning the championship in what will now be his final tournament.

UPDATE: On their official Japanese Twitter, the Nihon Sumo Kyokai has confirmed and announced Ichinojo’s retirement.

All-Japan News: Possible Title Vacancy Coming

All-Japan posted a comment today from wrestling legend Dory Funk Jr., who also serves as head of the Pacific Wrestling Federation (PWF), one of the governing bodies of All-Japan. His comments suggest the All-Asia Tag Team Championship could/should be vacated soon because of an Atsushi Onita injury. Reportedly an abdominal acute aneurysm that will require emergency surgery. While mot a mandate yet, he is urging Onita & Yoshitatsu to vacate the titles as a result and for Onita to focus on his health. Should they do this and Onita os eventually able to return, Funk is open to them challenging for the titles soon after, even in an Onita-style signature deathmatch.

More as it becomes available. It should be emphasized the titles have not been vacated yet or stripped from Onita & Yoshitatsu. This is just a request from Funk and not a demand/mandate at this time.