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DDT 5/3/23 Results

DDT held MEGA MAX BUMP 2023, their annual Golden Week blowout event, today in Yokohama and it was, well, DDT.

Today’s event was held at Yokohama Budokan in Yokohama and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE. You can also watch up to the second main show match FOR FREE on YouTube.

The announced paid attendance was 1160. Although it only has a capacity of 3000, and was probably smaller with the setup, same-day ticket sales ads made it sound like the gate/attendance was not that good.

Pre-Show:
Match 1: Yumehito Imanari beat Rukiya.
Match 2: Illusion beat Danshoku Dieno.
Match 3: Koju Takeda beat Yuki Ishida.

Main Show:

Match 1: Yuya Koroku & Sotatsu Nakamura beat Toui Kojima & Kazuma Sumi. Koroku pinned Sumi after a deformed Triangle Lancer.

Match 2: Saki Akai beat Rayne Leverkusen.

Match 3: Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & Minoru Fujita beat Takao Soma, Yusuke Okada & Diego. Sasaki beat Diego with a crossface. Diego was a late replacement for Keigo Nakamura, who is out due to injury.

Match 4: In a Dance vs. Kickboxing Match scheduled for 15 2-minute rounds, Hikaru Machida beat Kazuki Hirata by TKO in 7 seconds. Which led to…
Match 4 (again): In a Dance vs. Kickboxing Match scheduled for 15 2-minute rounds, Kazuki Hirata beat Hikaru Machida. Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling ring announcer Sayuri Namba was the special ring card girl (which she also is part-time for MMA and boxing events in Japan).

Match 5: Chiitan⭐️ Debut Match: Chiitan⭐️, Toru Owashi & Akito beat Chris Brookes, Masa Takanashi & Antonio Honda. Chiitan⭐️ pinned Honda after Shining Wizard. Post-match happenings involving Pocotan led to Akito making a giant costume mascot match for 5/13.

Match 6: Yuki Ueno & Yuni beat Van Vert Jacques & Takeshi Masada. Ueno pinned Masada after a rolling guillotine Ace Crusher. Jacques was a replacement for Nick Wayne, who missed the event due to visa issues (announced well in advance).

Match 7: In a TLC (Toys, Ladders, Chairs) Match, Shunma Katsumata beat DDT Extreme Champion Jun Akiyama to win the title. Katsumata becomes the 57th DDT Extreme Champion. Toui Kojima interference helped set it up. Apparently Akiyama had been referring to Kojima as “Toy”, intentionally misspelling his first name. This all led to Akiyama-Kojima being made for 5/28 at Yokohama Budokan.

Match 8: Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Sakaguchi, Naruki Doi & KANON beat Sanshiro Takagi, HARASHIMA, Kotaro Suzuki & Hideki Okatani. Sakaguchi pinned Okatani after God’s Right Knee.

Match 9: DDT Universal Champion Tetsuya Endo beat MAO to retain the title. V1 for Endo.

Main Event: KO-D Openweight Champion Yuji Hino beat Yuki Iino to retain the title. V2 for Hino.

Big announcements made for the future included an unnamed former WWE superstar appearing at WRESTLE PETER PAN on 7/23, to be revealed at Korakuen Hall later this month, and a Ryogoku Kokugikan return date for a big event on 11/12.

The next event is the KING OF DDT 2023 Tournament Round 1 Saturday at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin Friday at 11 PM ET/8 PM PT. Live results here are scheduled for the event.

Dragon Gate 5/3/23 Results

Dragon Gate kicked off their May tour, Hopeful Gate 2023, with the start of a doubleheader in Kyoto to kick off their Golden Week slate.

Today’s event was held at Kyoto KBS Hall in Kyoto and can be watched on demand on DRAGONGATE NETWORK FOR FREE! No signup or login required!

The announced paid attendance was 296.

Match 1: Kzy beat BxB Hulk.

Match 2: Diamante & H-Y-O beat YAMATO & Don Fujii. H-Y-O pinned Fujii after Neko Tamashi.

Match 3: Masaaki Mochizuki, Susumu Mochizuki & Yasushi Kanda beat Ultimo Dragon, Genki Horiguchi & Kaito Nagano. Susumu Mochizuki pinned Kanda after Yokosuka Cutter.

Match 4: Yuki Yoshioka & Dragon Dia beat Dragon Kid & Jason Lee. Dia pinned Lee.

Match 5: BIGBOSS Shimizu, Strong Machine J & JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI beat Kota Minoura, Ben-K & Minorita. Shimizu pinned Minorita after Liger Bomb.

Main Event: KAI & ISHIN beat Shun Skywalker & Madoka Kikuta by TKO. ISHIN beat Kikuta. Ref stoppage (towel).

The next event is tomorrow. Live streaming on DRAGONGATE NETWORK will begin TONIGHT at 11 PM PT/2 AM ET.

New Japan 5/3/23 Results

WRESTLING DONTAKU 2023, New Japan’s annual Golden Week blowout event, is now in the books.

Today’s event was held at Fukuoka International Center in Fukuoka and can be watched on demand on New Japan World. This event aired as part of WORLD PRO WRESTLING LIVE 2023 on TV Asahi.

The announced paid attendance was 4498, a legit advance sellout. They must have had quite the stage setup taking a ton of space because that’s only 60% capacity (the venue’s max capacity is 7500, but that’s primarily for sumo).

Pre-Show Match: In a Young Lion Consecutive Battles Match where Ryohei Oiwa faced Oskar Leube, Boltin Oleg & Yuto Nakashima in 5 minute time limit matches with the chance to win prizes from TV Asahi and an NJPW WORLD TV Championship match if he won all 3, Oiwa finished with one loss and 2 time limit draws. He wins nothing. Leube beat Oiwa.

Match 1: Yoh, Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat Dick Togo, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL. YOSHI-HASHI pinned Togo after Shoto.

Match 2: Great-O-Khan & Aussie Open beat Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls. Khan beat Fujita with Subaru Sheep Killer.

Match 3: Kevin Knight, KUSHIDA & Shota Umino beat Francesco Akira, TJP & Aaron Henare. KUSHIDA pinned TJP with Perfect Small Package.

Match 4: DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi beat BUSHI, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito. Taichi pinned BUSHI after Seitei Jujiro.

Match 5: Hikuleo beat STRONG Openweight Chanpion KENTA to win the title. Hikuleo becomes the 4th STRONG Openweight Champion.

Match 6: NJPW WORLD TV Champion Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Jeff Cobb went to a 15 minute time limit draw. As a result, Sabre retains the title. V6 for Sabre. Next up: Since Oiwa couldn’t earn a shot today, TBA.

Match 7: Tomohiro Ishii, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada beat NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Champions Ren Narita, El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki to win the titles. Ishii, Tanahashi & Okada become the 26th NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Champions. Okada pinned Narita after Rainmaker. Next up: Possibly Umino, who may have chosen Jon Moxley as one of his partners. Moxley will return to Japan for the first time since the pandemic began at DOMINION in June. Other partner seems TBA but it was hinted that Moxley is bringing someone with him, which immediately suggests someone from All Elite Wrestling-namely one of Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli or Wheeler Yuta.

Match 8: David Finlay beat NEVER Openweight Champion Tama Tonga to win the title. Finlay becomes the 39th NEVER Openweight Champion. Next up: TBA, but Finlay’s celebration was short lived thanks to an ambush by El Phantasmo, who is now on the New Japan side after being kicked out of Bullet Club.

Main Event: IWGP World Heavyweight Chanpion SANADA beat Hiromu Takahashi to retain the title. V1 for SANADA. Takahashi’s IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship was not on the line here. Note that as of earlier today New Japan’s English website incorrectly indicated Takahashi wok while indicating SANADA retained. Next up: Possibly a challenger less than nobody expected…Yota Tsuji!?! The Young Lion, who is/has been on his traditional training excursion (he chose to go to Mexico and has been competing in CMLL) made a surprise appearance and laid out SANADA post-match.

Next up is Best Of The Super Junior 30, New Japan’s annual prestigious Jr. Heavyweight showcase, beginning on 5/12 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET. Every BOSJ event will be available live and on demand in Japanese and English. A pre-tournament press conference and talk show event will be held on 5/11 at Tokyo FM Hall in Tokyo, which is open to the public (tickets required to attend).

GLEAT News: Michiko Miyagi Update (5/2/23) (Updated)

GLEAT posted a press release today updating the situation around Michiko Miyagi, who was forced to leave the promotion after losing a match to Sayaka Unagi last month. GLEAT continues to try and talk Miyagi into changing her mind, but Miyagi has refused so far. A compromise of sorts has bene reached-Miyagi is still part of GLEAT, but will not be on any GLEAT events for now and will compete in other promotions like she was a freelancer. Discussions will continue in the future.

More as it becomes available.

UPDATE: In other GLEAT news, SHIHO is now off Saturday’s event. Doctor’s orders. The quick translation is ridiculous and gars to understand (something about brain in the morning and deer temperature). The card has already been changed, not sure what the changed match was.

Ganbare Pro 5/2/23 Results

Ganbare Pro ran the second Ganbare Women stand-alone event today, continuing the effort that re-launched last month under injured wrestler Yuna Manase, who is also GM of the projectz

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: In a 5 minute Exhibition Match, Moeka Haruhi faced Reala. Because this was an exhibition match, there was no winner or loser. Reala makes her official debut Friday.

Match 2: Chocolate Pro Wrestling Provided Match: Chie Koishikawa beat Tokiko Kiribara.

Match 3: Ami Manase vs. Marika Kobashi went to a no contest. Miyako Matsumoto interference. Which led to…
Match 3 (again): Ami Manase & Marika Kobashi beat Miyako Matsunoto & Alex Lee. Manase pinned Matsumoto after Suzuki Dynamic.

Match 4: Tae Honma beat Yoshiko Hasegawa.

Main Event: Moeka Haruhi & YuuRI beat Tomoka Inaba & HisokA. YuuRI pinned HisokA after a swanton bomb.

The next women’s event may have just been announced before this post, which would be on 7/16 at Ryogoku KFC Hall. Ganbare also announced this year’s edition of WRESTLE SEKIGAHARA, normally their biggest event of the year, on 7/9 at Ota City General Gym in Tokyo.

The next event is LOVE PHANTOM 2023, their annual Golden Week blowout event, Friday at Korakuen Hall. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET.

BREAKING: Hana Kimura Memorial Event Returning

FITE has just announced the Hana Kimura Memorial Event will return for a 3rd annual installment. This year’s edition, nicknamed “pinx!”, honoring the former wrestler and daughter of former Japanese wrestler Kyoko Kimura who sadly took her own life after being cyberbullied online, will be held on 5/23 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. In the US it will be available live and on demand on FITE for $24.99-good thing you get unlimited on demand replays with purchase because it’s a 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET start. I imagine there will be English commentary (there was in 2021 thanks to Ring Of Honor commentator Ian Riccaboni & others). If it’s as in past years, a portion of the proceeds will go to support Kyoko Kimura and her efforts to toughen cyberbullying criminal penalties in Japan along with assisting with legal fees and to also help honor Hana’s memory & restore her honor. That alone makes it worth buying.

The current event card is as follows:
Battle Royal. Announced participants: Tsutomu Oosugi, Banana Senga, Fuminori Abe, Menso-re Oyaji, Super Delfin, Hanako Nakamori, Chihiro Hashimoto, Hibiscus Mii, Munenori Sawa
Saori Anou vs. Miyuki Takase
Mika Iwata & Mio Momono vs. Aja Kong & TBA
Konami, Rina & Kaori Yoneyama vs. Shuri, Asuka (the Asuka known as Veny outside Japan) & Natsupoi
Masao Hanabata & Shotaro Ashino (All-Japan Pro Wrestling) vs. Ryo Mizunami & Sonoko Kato, Yuko Miyamoto & Ram Kaichow (666)) and Koji Kanemoto & TBA in a 4-way
Maiden Name Hana Kimura (Sakura Hirota) vs. TBA

The 2 previous events are also available on demand on FITE. If you are a FITE+ subscriber, you can watch both events as part of your subscription. If you are able to buy them, do so. I bought the 2021 event and didn’t know about 2022’s until now. Although I will have to wait to watch on demand I will be buying this year’s event too. Hana left us far too soon and while the bully was found and prosecuted, it was a very minor crime in Japan which is beyond unacceptable. Kyoko Kimura’s legal efforts continue and this event is a great way for us to support this and honor her daughter’s memory.

As Hana would always say, Matane.

Tokyo Joshi Pro 5/1/23 Results

Tokyo Joshi Pro ran a TJPW INSPIRATION event today, the latest in their occasional series of mini-events focusing on comedy and uncommon types of matches.

Today’s event was held at Shin-Kiba 1st Ring in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.

The announced paid attendance was 234, a legit sellout.

Match 1: HIMAWARI beat Toga.

Match 2: Suzume & Arisu Endo beat Moka Miyamoto & Kaya Toribami. Suzume pinned Toribami after Ring A Bell.

Match 3: Gabai-ji Grandpa beat Mahiro Kiryu.

Main Event: In a Fluorescent Lighttubes Death Match, Sawyer Wreck beat Hikari Noa. This was ugly in terms of Noa being an absolute hardcore bloody mess all over afterwards.

The next event is YES! WONDERLAND 2023, their annual Golden Week blowout event, Friday at Korakuen Hall. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in Japanese and English will begin Thursday at 7 PM PT/10 PM ET. Live results are scheduled to be posted here.

Dragon Gate 4/30/23 Results

Dragon Gate wrapped up The Gate Of Passion 2023 Tour yesterday with a non-televised house show.

Yesterday’s event was held at Kira Messe Numazu in Shizuoka. There was no live broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 258.

Match 1: Diamante & ISHIN beat YAMATO & Kaito Nagano. ISHIN pinned Nagano after a small thigh type chokeslam.

Match 2: Kagetora beat Daiki Yanagiuchi.

Match 3: BIGBOSS Shimizu & Jason Lee beat Dragon Kid & Ho Ho Lun. Lee pinned Lun after Maximum Driver.

Match 4: Masaaki Mochizuki, Susumu Mochizuki & Yasushi Kanda beat Ultimo Dragon, Genki Horiguchi & Don Fujii. Susumu Mochizuki pinned Horiguchi after Yokosuka Cutter.

Match 5: Kota Minoura & BxB Hulk beat Kzy & JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI. Minoura pinned KAMEI after R-301.

Main Event: Madoka Kikuta, Yuki Yoshioka & Dragon Dia beat Shun Skywalker, KAI & H-Y-O. Dia pinned H-Y-O after DDDDT.

Next up is the Hopeful Gate 2023 Tour, the May tour, beginning Wednesday at Kyoto KBS Hall in Kyoto. Live streaming on DRAGONGATE NETWORK will begin at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET.

In other news, the July schedule was announced today. The month is headlined by the promotion’s biggest event of the year, Dragon Gate Kobe Pro Wrestling Festival, on 7/2 at Kobe World Hall in Kobe, plus a return to Shinjuku Face on 7/8, both to be streamed live on DRAGONGATE NETWORK. Also, the 5/5 event will be live on DRAGONGATE NETWORK in addition to PPV. Going the firmer of you can will save you around $20.

New Japan 5/1/23 Results

New Japan wrapped up the Road To WRESTLING DONTAKU Tour today with the last event before the Golden Week blowout event.

Today’s event was held at Beppu B-Con Plaza in Oita and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 1006.

Before the event began, Hiroshi Tanahashi appeared and announced he has been cleared to return from a broken rib suffered on 4/15. He will return Wednesday.

Match 1: Oskar Leube vs. Boltin Oleg went to a 10 minute time limit draw.

Match 2: Yoh, Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat Dick Togo, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL. Yano pinned Togo.

Match 3: Francesco Akira, TJP & Aaron Henare beat Ryohei Oiwa, Kegin Knight & KUSHIDA. Henare beat Oiwa with Ultima.

Match 4: Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb & Aussie Open beat Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr. Khan beat Fujita with Subaru Sheep Killer. Afterwards, EVIL & Yujiro stole the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Title belts from Aussie Open. Guess H.O.T. wants next.

Match 5: Jado. Master Wato, Hikuleo & Tama Tonga beat Gedo, Taiji Ishimori, KENTA & David Finlay. Wato beat Gedo with Vendeval.

Match 6: Tomoaki Honma, Tomohiro Ishii, Togi Makabe & Kazuchika Okada beat Yuto Nakashima, Ren Narita, El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki. Ishii pinned Nakashima.

Match 7: DOUKI & Taichi beat BUSHI & Shingo Takagi. Taichi pinned BUSHI after Holy Emperor’s Cross Mausoleum.

Main Event: Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito beat Yoshinobu Kanemaru & SANADA. Naito pinned Kanemaru after Destino.

The next event is WRESTLING DONTAKU 2023, the annual Golden Week blowout event, Wednesday at Fukuoka International Center in Fukuoka. The event is a legit advance sellout. Live streaming on New Japan World outside Japan only will begin at 1;20 AM PT/4:20 AM ET with a special Young Lions Pre-Show Match: Ryohei Oiwa will attempt to beat 3 Young Lions (Nakashima, Leube, Oleg) in a row in matches with a 5 minute time limit. If he wins one or two, he will receive prizes from sponsor TV Asahi. If he wins all 3, he gets a NJPW WORLD TV Title match at a later date.

The main portion of the event will begin at 2 AM PT/5 AM ET on New Japan World outside Japan only. The live broadcast in Japan will be available only on TV Asahi with on demand replays available on New Japan World at a later date.

In other news, Jon Moxley has been announced for Resurgence on 5/21 in Long Beach, CA.

DDT 4/30/23 Results

DDT wrapped up the Road To MAX BUMP Tour today with their last event in April to kick off Golden Week.

Today’s event was held at Create Hamamatsu Hall in Shizuoka and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date. There was no live broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 172, a full house/near sellout. It’s a very small venue.

Match 1: Yusuke Okada beat Kazuma Sumi.

Match 2: Daisuke Sasaki & KANON beat Hideki Okatani & Rukiya. KANON beat Rukiya with a cobra twist.

Match 3: Antonio Honda, Takeshi Masada & Rayne Leverkusen beat Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata & Mari Manji (?). Leverkusen pinned Hirata after Scara Special.

Match 4: HARASHIMA, Yukio Sakaguchi & Hiroshi Yamato beat Kazusada Higuchi, Chris Brookes & Yuki Ishida. Sakaguchi pinned Ishida after God’s Right Knee.

Match 5: Yuki Iino & Danshoku Dieno beat Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi. Iino pinned Oishi.

Main Event: MAO, Shunma Katsumata & Yuki Ueno beat Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yuya Koroku. Katsumata pinned Koroku after Totonoe Splash.

The next event is MEGA MAX BUMP 2023 in YOKOHAMA, the annual Golden Week blowout event, Wednesday at Yokohama Budokan in Yokohama. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin Tuesday at 10 PM PT/1 AM ET. Kenta Kobashi will be a guest on commentary.