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Grand Sumo-May 2022 Banzuke

It’s that exciting time again for Grand Sumo fans-we are now less than 2 weeks away from the next tournament and thus the new Banzuke for May 2022 has just been announced.

Among the highlights:
Few changes at the top of Makuuchi (top tier), no Kadoban Ozeki this time. March champion Wakatakakage & Abi remain at Sekiwake. Hoshoryu remains at Komusubi and is joined by Daieisho, the January 2021 champion. March runner-up Takayasu makes a big move up from Maegashira 7 to Maegashira 1 as he tries to get back to Sekiwake, and is joined by Ichinojo. Kotonowaka also continues his big climb up, now at Maegashira 2 after a 2nd straight 11-4 performance
On the down side, the biggest drop was Meisei, who seemed to struggle with lingering injuries and had a terrible March, going 1-14 and finishing dead last. He plunges from Maegashira 1 to Maegashira 13. Ura also saw his rocket run out of steam as despite a late rally of sorts, he still falls from Maegashira 1 to Maegashira 6. Ishiura missed most of the tournament due to injury and fell all the way down to Maegashira 16.
Newcomers/returns include Oho, back for a second try in the top tier at Maegashira 14, a personal best. Midorifuji returns to top tier after spending the last year at Juryo, coming in at Maegasira 16. And finally, for the first time in over 2 years Azumaryu is back in the top tier, coming back at Maegashira 15 after being in Juryo since July 2020.
In the Juryo (second tier), March champion Ryuden, coming off his second championship in 3 tournaments (and nearly 3 straight, he won Makushita in November and lost in January on the final day), is one good performance away from returning to the top tier and will be a Juryo 3, so 9-10 wins should have him back up top in July. Chiyomaru is a Juryo 1 after demotion from the top tier along with Hidenoumi, up from a Juryo 2. Akua was demoted from the top tier as well and will be a Juryo 4. After a winning performance, everyone’s favorite underdog, Enho, moves up to Juryo 7 as he tries to put on more weight and climb back up to the top tier (he is the smallest rikishi at just over 220 pounds/100 kg). Former Sekiwake Kaisei continues a slow slide down the ranks as he falls down to Juryo 9. It’s been 5 straight losing tournaments fror the huge Brazilian wrestler, who also missed 3 matches in January due to injury.
In the Makushita (third tier), March champion Kinbozan, originally from Kazakhstan, goes for his 3rd championship in just his 4h career tournament. He made a big leap from Makishuta 34 to Makushita 4 and will likely be a Juryo Man in July with a winning record. He’s won 8 straight matches overall and has just 2 losses to date. Chiyonoumi, trying to make it back to Juryo after a year down, is a Makushita 1 along with Nishikawa, the January champion who beat Ryuden on the final day to win the title but struggled to just a 4-3 record in March. Popular elder statesman Akiseyama, trying to climb back to the top tier after a steep drop due to coronavirus outbreaks, is up to Makushita 8 this time. Also watch Shishi, a Makushita 7 who will again be a huge sentimental favorite and receive loud ovations from the crowd because he is from Ukraine. There will be one Makushita pre-tournament dropout as former Ozeki Asanoyama serves what should be the final tournament of his 1-year (6 tournament) suspension for breaking coronavirus safety protocols and not being truthful about it. He is a Makushita 42 so if he comes back in July he’ll start his climb back to the top from the Sandanme, the 3rd lowest division.
In addition to the usual 200 in the Sandanme, the no-firm-limit Jonidan division will have roughly 224 participants this time, while the bottom tier Jonokuchi division has 44 entrants.

The May 2022 Tournament runs from 5/8-5/22 at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo. Fans outside Japan can watch the entire tournament in English on NHK World Premium, available through participating cable/satellite providers. You can also watch the daily highlights program with all top tier matches on NHK World Japan, available on participating cable providers plus online and via smartphone and smart TV apps. The online and app versions are 100% FREE to watch with no login or account required and no viewing restrictions. You’ll also be able to find streams/replays on YouTube and the official Nihon Sumo Kyokai mobile app (remember that to watch more than one video a day on the app you have to subscribe to their premium membership, which is about $5 a month).

New Japan Pro Wrestling 4/24/22 Results

New Japan continued the Golden Fight Series Tour today as the second week begins with the final build for tomorrow’s last televised event.

Today’s event was held at Kochi Prefectural Gym in Kochi. There was no live broadcast and on demand video will not be available.

The announced paid attendance was 787.

Natch 1: Tiger Mask beat Yuto Nakashima by submission.

Match 2: Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe beat Kosei Fujita & Toru Yano. Honma pinned Fujita after Kokeshi.

Match 3: Mater Wato & Ryusuke Taguchi beat TAKA Michinoku & El Desperado. Wato beat TAKA with Vendeval.

Match 4: Yoh, Kazuchika Okada, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat Gedo, Taiji Ishimori, Chase Owens & Bad Luck Fale. Okada beat Gedo with Money Clip.

Match 5: Dick Togo, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL beat Jado, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa. Sho pinned Jado.

Main Event: In an Elimination Match, BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi beat DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi. Naito was the only winner left, last eliminating Sabre.

The next event is tomorrow at Hiroshima Sun Plaza in Hiroshima. Live broadcast on New Japan World in Japanese will begin at 2 AM PT/5 AM ET.

Pro Wrestling NOAH: New Stips For 4/29 Matches

Pro Wrestling NOAH has announced new stipulations for two matches that are part of N INNOVATION on 4/29:
The match of Dragon Bane vs. Alpha Wolf & Ninja Mack in a 3-way is now an elimination match, meaning instead of one fall it only ends when the other two wrestlers have been beaten.

The match of Haoh vs. Nioh in a Loser Ring Deprivation Match, where the loser also loses their current ring name, now will also be a Hair vs. Hair Match. The loser also will lose their hair.

Friday’s event begins at 4 AM ET/1 AM PT and will be broadcast LIVE and on demand in English on WRESTLE UNIVERSE. (This is an ABEMA exclusive broadcast in Japan)

DDT 4/24/22 Results

DDT wrapped up the MAX BUMP 2022 Tour with the final event before their blowout event next weekend in Yokohama.

Today’s event was held at Kobe Art Center in Kobe and should be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date. There was no live broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 139.

Match 1: Chris Brookes beat Yuya Takashika by submission.

Match 2: Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Pawl beat Akito & Toui Kojima. Pawl pinned Kojima after Death Valley Bomb.

Match 3: Yuji Hino & Yukio Naya beat Yukio Sakaguchi & Yuki Ishida. Naya pinned Ishida after a big boot.

Match 4: Danshoku Dieno, Yuki Iino & Antonio Honda beat Genki Horiguchi (Dragon Gate), Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata. Iino pinned Hirata after a lariat. This went just 22 seconds. Which led to…
Impromptu Match: Genki Horiguchi, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata beat Danshoku Dieno, Yuki Iino & Antonio Honda. Horiguchi beat Honda with Backslide From NSFW.

Match 5: HARASHIMA & Naomi Yoshimura beat Kazusada Higuchi & Hideki Okatani. Yoshimura pinned Okatani with a throwaway powerbomb.

Main Event: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yusuke Okada beat Yuku Ueno, MAO & Shunma Katsumata. Endo pinned Katsumata after Burning Star Press.

The next event is MEGA MAX BUMP 2022 on 5/1 at Yokohama Budokan in Yokohama. This is believed to be the first time DDT has run the venue. They plan to have full capacity. The full card:
Dark Matches:
KANON vs. Yuya Takashika
Toru Owashi & Naomi Yoshimura vs. Antonio Honda & Yuki Ishida
Main Show:
Shinya Aoki vs. Toui Kojima
Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani vs. Maya Yukihi & Shunma Katsumata
Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Pawl & TBA vs. Yuji Hino, Yukio Naya & Takao Soma
Danshoku Dieno, Yuki Iino & Yumehito Imanari vs. Hisaya Imabayashi (General Manager of DDT), AKIRA & Muscle Sakai
HARASHIMA & Hikaru Sato vs. Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Sakaguchi
KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Champions Poison Sawada JULIE, Takashi Sasaki, GENTARO, MIKAMI & Tanomusaku Toba vs. Sanshiro Takagi, Yoshiaki Yatsu, Akito, Kazuki Hirata & Gorgeous Matsuno for the titles
KO-D Tag Team Champions Chris Brookes & Masa Takanashi vs. Jun Akiyama & Yusuke Okada for the titles
DDT Universal Champion MAO vs. Asuka (Veny) for the title
KO-D Openweight Champion Tetsuya Endo vs. Yuki Ueno for the title
Kenta Kobashi will be a special guest on Japanese commentary and observer for the main event
Megu Taniguchi, a current member of J-Pop all-girl megagroup AKB48, will be a special guest on Japanese commentary

Live broadcast on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin Sunday at 12:30 AM ET/Saturday at 9:30 PM PT and will be available in Japanese and English. English commentary lineup should be announced later this week.

Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling 4/24/22 Results

Tokyo Joshi Pro continues their Spring ’22 house show tour with the first event of a very busy week-3 events are scheduled over the next 6 days leading into their big Golden Week doubleheader the following week (Golden Week is a week-long holiday in Japan and is full of major events). One notable name who will not be present today is Shoko Nakajima-she was in England today for a match in Pro Wrestling EVE, one of the top women’s promotions in Europe. Her status for next week’s events will depend on current coronavirus re-entry protocols for Japanese citizens-if the mandatory isolation/quarantine period is longer than 3 days, she is probably out of both events but should be good for May unless she gets the virus.
Today’s event will be held at Ryogoku KFC Hall in Tokyo and can be watched LIVE on WRESTLE UNIVERSE. There will be no commentary. If you’re going to stay up late to watch, lots of single matches will make this a fast event-I anticipate the total running time being just under 2 hours (post-show update: Total event runtime was just 100 minutes).
Today’s lineup (match order TBA):
Yuki Aino vs. Mahiro Kiryu
Rika Tatsumi vs. Kaya Toribami
Hyper Misao vs. Raku
Yuki Kamifuku & Neko Haruna vs. Suzume & Arisu Endo
Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh vs. Miu Watanabe & Pom Harajuku
Yuka Sakazaki, Mizuki & Yuki Arai vs. Hikaru Noa, Nao Kakuta & Moka Miyamoto
Updates below will begin at 11 PM ET/8 PM PT.
10:56 PM ET: Live stream has started.
We are LIVE from Ryogoku KFC Hall in Tokyo, Japan.
The matches should begin in about 20 minutes.
The matches begin at 11:15 PM ET.
Match 1: Yuki Aino vs. Mahiro Kiryu. 15 minute time limit
Result: Yuki Aino beat Mahiro Kiryu.
 Match 2: Rika Tatsumi vs. Kaya Toribami. 15 minute time limit
Result: Rika Tatsumi beat Kaya Toribami by submission.
Match 3: Yuki Kamifuku & Neko Haruna vs. Suzume & Arisu Endo. 20 minute time limit
Result: Suzume & Arisu Endo beat Yuki Kamifuku & Neko Haruna. Suzume pinned Haruna after Ring A Bell.
Match 4: Hyper Misao vs. Raku. 15 minute time limit
Result: Hyper Misao beat Raku by submission.
Match 5: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh vs. Miu Watanabe & Pom Harajuku. 20 minute time limit
Result: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh beat Miu Watanabe & Pom Harajuku. Itoh beat Harajuku with Iroh Perish.
Main Event: Yuka Sakazaki, Mizuki & Yuki Arai vs. Hikaru Noa, Nao Kakuta & Moka Miyamoto. 20 minute time limit
Result: Hikari Noa, Nao Kakuta & Moka Miyamoto beat Yuka Sakazaki, Miizuki & Yuki Arai. Noa pinned Mizuki with a bridge after whipping Mizuki into an exposed corner where Kakuta removed the turnbuckle padding.
This will be updated tomorrow with attendance. They may claim a legit sellout but opposite hard camera there were a couple empty seats.
The next event is Friday (4/29). Live broadcast on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin Thursday (4/28) at 11 PM ET/8 PM PT.
Post-Show UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 205, a legit sellout, but probably was a little less in actuality.
Also, according to WRESTLE UNIVERSE the 5/3 major event at Korakuen Hall will have English commentary as well as Japanese.

4/24/22-4/30/22 Events Schedule

Here is the schedule of events that will have results posts/coverage for the week of 4/24/22-4/30/22, including events with a 4/23/22 US start time and viewing information if available (subject to change, all times listed are PDT/GMT -8):

4/23/22:
8 PM-Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling Spring ’22 Tour, Ryogoku KFC Hall, Tokyo, Japan. LIVE and on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE. LIVE results will be posted here and on Facebook.
9 PM-DDT Pro Wrestling MAX Bump 2022 Tour, Kobe Arts Center, Kobe, Japan. No live broadcast. On demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date.

4/24/22:
1 AM-New Japan Pro Wrestling Golden Fight Series Tour, Kochi Prefectural Gym, Kochi, Japan. No TV/streaming

4/25/22:
2:30 AM-New Japan Pro Wrestling Golden Fight Series Tour, Hiroshima Sun Plaza, Hiroshima, Japan. Live and on demand on New Japan World

4/26/22:
3:30 AM-Ganbare Pro Wrestling Chubby Women’s Wrestling 3-Waist Spoofing/Side Story, Saitama Wrestle Fighting Hall, Saitama, Japan. No live broadcast. On demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date

4/27/22:
2:30 AM-New Japan Pro Wrestling Golden Fight Series Tour, Hiroshima Big Rose, Hiroshima, Japan. No TV/streaming
5 PM-All Elite Wrestling Dynamite, Philadelphia, PA. LIVE on TBS. LIVE Results on Facebook

4/28/22:
2:30 AM-New Japan Pro Wrestling Golden Fight Series Tour Finale, Yamaguchi KDDI Ishin Hall, Yamaguchi, Japan. No TV/streaming
8 PM-Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling Spring ’22 Tour, Ryogoku KFC Hall, Tokyo, Japan. LIVE and on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE

4/29/22:
1 AM-Pro Wrestling NOAH MAJESTIC 2022-N INNOVATION, Ryogoku Kokugikan, Tokyo, Japan. LIVE in Japan ONLY on ABEMA. LIVE and on demand outside Japan on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in English.
8 PM-Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling Spring ’22 Tour, Ryogoku KFC Hall, Tokyo, Japan. LIVE and on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE. LIVE Results here and on Facebook
11 PM-Pro Wrestling NOAH MAJESTIC 2022, Ryogoku Kokugikan, Tokyo, Japan. LIVE and on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE
TBA-All Elite Wrestling Rampage. TAPED on TNT. Start time TBA depending on NBA Playoffs

4/30/22:
10 PM-DDT Pro Wrestling MEGA MAX BUMP 2022, Yokohama Budokan, Yokohama, Japan. LIVE and on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE

New Japan 4/23/22 Results

New Japan continued the Golden Fight Series with a non-televised event today (4/23).

Today’s event was held at Tex Port Imabari in Ehime. There was no broadcast and video is not available.

The announced paid attendance was 630.

Match 1: Master Wato & Ryusuke Taguchi beat Kosei Fujita & Ryohei Oiwa. Wato beat Fujita with Vendeval.

Match 2: Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat Tiger Mask, Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe. YOSHI-HASHI pinned TM 4.

Match 3: DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Zack Sabre Jr. & El Desperado beat Gedo, Chase Owens, Bad Luck Fale & Taiji Ishimori. DOUKI pinned Gedo after a diving foot stomp.

Match 4: Hiromu Takahashi & Shingo Takagi beat TAKA Michinoku & Taichi. Takahashi pinned TAKA with Hiromu Roll.

Match 5: Yoh & Kazuchika Okada beat BUSHI & Tetsuya Naito. Okada beat BUSHI with Money Clip.

Main Event: In an Elimination Match, Jado, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa beat Dick Togo, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL. Tonga was the only winner left, last eliminating Togo.

The next event is tomorrow at Kochi Prefectural Gym in Kochi. There will be no broadcast or on demand video.

DDT 4/22/22 Results

DDT Pro Wrestling DDT FREE 4/22/22 Results:

DDT ran this month’s DDT FREE event today, an event where all tickets were given away for free to those lucky enough to get them via lottery. There also was greatly increased venue capacity so more could attend. It also came shortly after a press conference for the promotion’s next major event on 5/1 in Yokohama.

Today’s event was held at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.

The announced attendance was 353, a legit sellout. That means capacity was increased at the venue as this number represents roughly 70-75% of max capacity (I believe it’s roughly 500).

Dark Match: Takao Soma beat Yuki Ishida.

Match 1: Shishamo Power & Naomi Yoshimura beat Akito & Yukio Naya. Power pinned Akito with a deformation La Magistral.

Match 2: Saki Akai & Maya Yukihi beat Antonio Honda & Kazuki Hirata. Yukihi pinned Hirata after Snowstorm.

Match 3: KANON beat Toui Kojima by submission.

Match 4: HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi & Yukio Sakaguchi beat Danshoku Dieno, Yuki Iino & Yumehito Imanari by DQ. Imanari DQ’d. Ref assault.

Match 5: Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Pawl beat Kazusada Higuchi & Hideki Okatani. Sasaki pinned Okatani.

Match 6: MAO & Shunma Katsumata beat Asuka (Veny) & Yuji Hino. MAO pinned Asuka with Oklahoma Roll.

Regarding the now-vacant KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championships, determination tournament to crown new champions will be held on 5/6 at Shinjuku Face & 5/22 at Korakuen Hall. It will be a 4-team tournament with two initial matches: Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Pawl & TBA vs. HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi & Naomi Yoshimura and Lazusada Higuchi, Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani vs. Akito, Hikaru Machida & Tanomusaku Toba. Sasaki, Pawl & Minoru Fujita just vacated the titles due to a Fujita injury.

Main Event: Yuki Ueno, Chris Brookes & Masa Takanashi beat Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yuya Takashika by TKO/ref stoppage. Ueno beat Endo with a sleeper hold.

The next event is Sunday at Kobe Art Center in Kobe. There will be no live broadcast. It will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date.

New Japan Pro Wrestling 4/22/22 Results

New Japan continued the Golden Fight Series today with an event in Osaka.

Today’s event was held at Osaka Prefectural Gym #2 in Osaka. The event was not televised and no on demand video is available.

The announced paid attendance was 683.

Match 1: Yuto Nakashima beat Ryohei Oiwa. First victory for Nakashima! Now all the Young Lions have a win!

Match 2: TAKA Michinoku, Zack Sabre Jr., DOUKI & El Desperado beat Tiger Mask, Togi Makabe, Master Wato & Ryusuke Taguchi. Sabre pinned TM 4 after Zack Driver.

Match 3: Taichi & El Desperado beat Gedo & Taiji Ishimori. Taichi beat Gedo with a Taichi-type Gedo Clutch.

Match 4: Chase Owens & Bad Luck Fale beat Tomoaki Honma & Hirooki Goto. Owens pinned Honma after a diving elbow drop.

Match 5: Dick Togo, Sho, Yujiro Takahasho & EVIL beat Jado, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa. Sho pinned Jado.

Main Event: In an Elimination Match, Yoh, YOSHI-HASHI, Toru Yano & Kazuchika Okada beat BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito. Okada was the only winner, last eliminating Naito.

The next event is tomorrow at Tex Port Imabari in Ehime. There will be no broadcast.

New Japan: Other Promotion Participation in May

New Japan has announced participation in 2 upcoming outside events: First, Shingo Takagi will appear in GLEAT, a newer promotion run by LIDET Entertainment that features both pro wrestling and a revival of the UWF (combination wrestling/shootfighting), as part of the CIMA 25th Anniversary match. That match will be Takagi & CIMA vs. Ryuichi Kawakami & Kazma Sakamoto. Since leaving Dragon Gate to help start GLEAT, CIMA has made occasional appearances in New Japan under the banner of his #STRONGHEARTS faction label, and this year made an incredible underdog run to the Semifinals of the New Japan Cup. The event will be held on 5/18 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, and given GLEAT streams most if not all their events this way it may be available for FREE on YouTube.

The second special event is on 5/31 at a Jumbo Tsuruta Memorial Event, in a match of Taichi & TAKA Michinoku vs. Yuji Nagata & All-Japan Pro Wrestling star Suwama. This event is to mark the 23rd Anniversary of the passing of Japanese wrestling legend Jumbo Tsuruta. Hall of Famer Stan Hansen, the first American to reach legend status in Japan, will be a special guest at the event. This event will be held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo.

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