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Pro Wrestling NOAH 1/9/23 Results

Pro Wrestling NOAH continued the never-ending SUNNY VOYAGE (now) 2023 Tour today headlined by a special non-title Champion vs. Champion match between the GHC Heavyweight & Jr. Heavyweight Champions.

Today’s event was held at Yokohama Radiant Hall in Yokohama and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.

The announced paid attendance was 227. No vocal cheering today.

Match 1: Tadasuke beat Taishi Ozawa.

Match 2: Jack Morris beat Shuhei Taniguchi.

Match 3: Katsuhiko Nakajima & Manabu Soya beat Hijo dd Dr. Wagner Jr. & Timothy Thatcher. Soya pinned Wagner after Trajectory. Afterwards, Soya issued a challenge to Wagner Jr. for the GHC National Championship. That match will happen on 2/5 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo.

Match 4: Masa Kitamiya, Daiki Inaba & Shuhei Taniguchi beat Naomichi Marufuji, Mohammed Yone & Akitoshi Saito. Inaba pinned Yone.

Match 5: Junta Miyawaki beat Yasutaku Yano.

Match 6: Takashi Sugiura & NOSAWA Rongai beat Kenoh & Hajime Ohara. Sugiura pinned Ohara after Olympic Yosen Slam.

Main Event: Kaito Kiyomiya beat AMAKUSA.

The next event is Sunday at Fujisan Messe in Shizuoka. There will be no live broadcast. It will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date, probably next Wednesday.

Dragon Gate 1/8/23 Results

Dragon Gate continued the Open The New Year Gate 2023 Tour today with their second event of the year, spotlighting their faction warfare with a 3-match main event.

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

The announced paid attendance was 302.

Match 1: Yuki Yoshioka, Dragon Dia & Madoka Kikuta beat Mochizuki Jr., Yoshiki Kato & Kaito Nagano. Yoshioka beat Mochizuki with Battle Hook.

Match 2: Minorita beat Ichikawa.

Match 3: Kzy, BIGBOSS Shimizu, Jason Lee, Strong Machine J & JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI beat Genki Horiguchi, Shachihoko BOY, Punch Tominaga, Ho Ho Lun & Ryu Fuda. Kzy pinned Fuda after a running elbow smash.

Match 4: Ultimo Dragon & Naruki Doi beat Susumu Mochizuki & Yasushi Kanda. Dragon pinned Kanda with La Magistral.

Match 5: Kota Minoura beat BxB Hulk.

Main Event: Z-Brats vs. HIGH-END 3 Match Series:
Match 1: KAI beat Takashi Yoshida.
Match 2: Problem Dragon beat H-Y-O.
Match 3: Dragon Kid beat ISHIN.
HIGH-END wins 2-1.

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

GLEAT “GLEAT Ver. 5” 1/8/23 Results

GLEAT ran the 5th installment of their signature GLEAT event series today, a combination of Lidet Entertainment’s two brands under the label-Lidet UWF hybrid wrestling/shootfights and G PROWRESTLING.

Today’s event was held at Osaka Prefectural Gym 2 in Osaka and will be available on demand on YouTube FOR FREE at a later date (TBA but based on past GLEAT events it probably would be in 1 week at the earliest).

The announced paid attendance was 502, a full house/near sellout. Vocal cheering was allowed, which is the first time GLEAT had such an event.

Match 1: Kaito Ishida won an 18 man G-Rumble battle royal, last eliminating Hayato Tamura. As a result, Ishida would face G-REX Champion El Lindaman for the title in the main event.

Lidet UWF Bouts (combination of wrestling & MMA-no pinfalls, no closed-fist punches or strikes to the back of the head, win by submission, KO or TKO [lose 5 points via rope escape, beating 10 count down, or penalties for rule violation; Tag Team matches only have one person in the ring at all times):
Match 2: Takanori Ito & Yu Iizuka beat Ryuya Takakura & Nasayoshi Miyabi (Just Tap Out) by submission. Iizuka beat Miyabi with an armbar.
Match 3: Yura Suzuki beat Maya Fukuda by submission.
Match 4: Seichi Ikemoto & Oji Shiba beat Hideki Sekine & Ryo Inoue by KO. Ikemoto beat Inoue with a high kick.

G PROWRESTLING matches:
Match 5: CIMA, T-Hawk, Jack Cartwheel & ? beat Soma Watanabe, Keiichi Sato, Septimo Dragon & Michiko Miyagi. Cartwheel pinned Sato after Jack Arrow.
Match 6: Kaz Hayashi beat Luigi Primo.
Match 7: BUSHI (New Japan Pro Wrestling) beat Jun Tonsho.
Match 8: Tomoaki Honma (New Japan Pro Wrestling) & Tetsuya Izuchi beat Minoru Tanaka & Issei Onitsuka. Izuchi pinned Onitsuka after Spin Break.
Match 9: Yutani, Gringo Loco & Hartley Jackson beat Hayato Tamura, Check Shimatani & Quiet Storm. Yutani pinned Shimatani after a vertical drop Death Valley Bomb.
Main Event: Kaito Ishida beat G-REX Champion El Lindaman to win the title. Ishida becomes the second G-REX Champion. Considering he was the first champion and had quite the record in defenses as this was the 8th for Lindaman, this qualifies as a definite upset. Afterwards, Ishida unveiled his new faction in GLEAT, BLACK GENERATION INTERNATIONAL, consisting of himself, Yutani, Jackson, Gringo Loco, Flamita and Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Kotaro Suzuki.

The next event is G PROWRESTLING Ver 42 -Origin- on 1/18 at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo. Broadcast plans TBA but if it is not streamed live then it should be available on demand on YouTube roughly 3 days after the event.

Sumo-January 2023 Tournament Day 1 Results (Opening Day) (1/8/23) (Top 2 Tiers)

Here are the quick results from the Opening Day of the January 2023 Grand Sumo Tournament in Tokyo:
Key: M-Maegashira, K-Komusubi, S-Sekiwake, O-Ozeki, Y-Yokozuna, J-Juryo

Makuuchi (Top Tier):
Takarafuji (M16) beat Chiyomaru (M16)
Tsurugisho (M15) beat Mitoryu (M15)
Azumaryu (M14) beat Kotoeko (M13)
Kotoshoho (M13) beat Ichiyamamoto (M14)
Tochinoshin (M11) beat Chiyoshoma (M11)
Aoiyama (M10) beat Hiradoumi (M10)
Takanosho (M9) beat Endo (M9)
Onosho (M8) beat Oho (M8)
Myogiryu (M6) beat Ura (M7)
Hokutofui (M6) beat Nishikigi (M5)
Ryuden (M5) beat Nishikifuji (M4)
Midorifuji (M3) beat Sadanoumi (M4)
Abi (M3) beat Kotonowaka (K)
Tamawashi (M2) beat Kiribayama (K)
Mitakwumi (M2) beat Shodai (S)
Daieisho (M1) beat Takayasu (S)
Hoshoryu (S) beat Tobizaru (M1)
Wakatakakage (S) beat Meisei (K)
Takakeisho (O) beat Wakamotoharu (K)
WITHDRAWALS: Terunofuji (Y), Ichinojo (M7). Terunofuji is out a second straight tournament due to recovery from double knee surgery after the September Tournament, it may have been aggravated during training recently. The hope is he’s ready for March, if not there may start to be more pressure on him to return soon or consider retiring (while Yokuzuna can never be demoted, they can be pressured or forced to retire due to consistent poor performance or extended absences). Ichinojo is suspended the entire tournament for what is being called coronavirus protocol violations, but it’s really more due to bad conduct in public since his July 2022 Championship.
Of note: Shodai must get at least 10 wins to return to Ozeki in March, otherwise the process starts over from the beginning. Wakatakakage & Hoshoryu can get into Ozeki promotion consideration if one or both finishes with at least 11 wins. Some people online think Takayasu can get back to Ozeki with the same, but in reality the only way that’s going to happen here is a Championship. Takakeisho can solidify his Yokozuna case with a runner-up finish again or at least 12 wins, while a Championship would probably seal it.

Juryo:
Hakuyozan (J14) beat Tsushimanada (J14)
Shonannoumi (J13) beat Kaisho (J13)
Asanoyama (J12) beat Takakento (J12)
Shimazuumi (J11) beat Chiyosakae (J11)
Gonoyama (J10) beat Terutsuyoshi (J10)
Roga (J9) beat Hidenoumi (J9)
Kitanowaka (J8) beat Shimanoumi (J8)
Chiyonokuni (J7) beat Tochimusashi (J7)
Daishoho (J6) beat Churanoumi (J6)
Kinbozan (J5) beat Kotokuzan (J5)
Tohakuryu (J4) beat Enho (J4)
Atamifuji (J3) beat Oshoma (J3)
Daiamami (J2) beat Hokuseiho (J2)
Bushozan (J1) beat Akua (J1)
Of note: It wasn’t easy, but the former Ozeki Asanoyama pulled out the victory in his Juryo return in his 4th tournament back after a one year suspension. At J12 there is no chance he returns to the top tier after this tournament, even if he goes 15-0. He’s scheduled to face Chiyosakae tomorrow on Day 2. On the other end, that’s 17 straight losses for Terutsuyoshi, who still can’t find his form outside of his standard epic salt throws pre-match, which are numbered because they don’t get to do all that in Makushita or below.

Lower-tier notes: Former top tier mainstay Ishiura is once again a pre-tournament withdrawal due to injuries. He was in the Sandanme this time around at Sandanme 30. He was among a number of pre-tournament withdrawals in the lower 4 tiers. This is his 5th straight missed tournament and could well drop him down to Jonidan if he can return in March, if ever.
Once again there are only 90 ranks in the Sandanme as the days of the traditional 100 may be over. There are 102 in the Jonidan and 16 (31 wrestlers total) in the Jonokuchi although 7 are already withdrawals and may not be making their debuts this time.

Finally, it was announced that on January 28, just under a week after the tournament concludes, the official retirement ceremony for the former Yokozuna Hakuho will be held, including the symbolic cutting off of his topknot. After retiring last year, Hakuho became Oyakata Makagi and now is the owner/master of Miyagino Beya and thus has taken the name Miyagino.

Tokyo Joshi Pro 1/8/23 Results

Tokyo Joshi Pro continued the CITY CIRCUIT series with a visit to Okayama today, their first trip to Yuki Aino’s hometown in about a year.

Today’s event was held at Okayama Convention Center in Okayama and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date (probably Wednesday). There was no live broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 284. Vocal cheering was allowed and despite the reduced capacity, photos on DDT’s website show a mostly full venue.

Match 1: Moka Miyamoto beat HIMAWARI by submission.

Match 2: Mizuki beat Kaya Toribami.

Match 3: Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta beat Raku & Pom Harajuku. Noa pinned Harajuku with a blizzard suplex hold. Well, at least we know Harajuku is alive after yesterday…

Match 4: Trish Adora beat Hyper Misao.

Match 5: Miu Watanabe & Suzume beat Maki Itoh & Mahiro Kiryu. Watanabe pinned Kiryu after Teardrop.

Match 6: Max The Impaler & Heidi Howitzer beat Yuka Sakazaki & Arisu Endo. Max pinned Endo after Master Blaster.

Main Event: Shoko Nakajima & Yuki Aino beat Rika Tatsumi & Yuki Kamifuku. Aino pinned Kamifuku after Venus DDT.

The next event is 1/15 at Otemachi Mitsui Hall in Tokyo with the start of the 3rd Futari-wa Princess Max Heart Tournament. I imagine the tournament winners will now get a chance to try and regain the Princess Tag Team Championship back from Wasteland War Party, most likely at GRAND PRINCESS ’23. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin Saturday at 11:30 PM ET/8:30 PM PT.

Pro Wrestling NOAH 1/8/23 Results (Second Event)

The second half of NOAH’s doubleheader today, REBOOT 2023, consisted of the Semifinals and Finals of the Scramble Shuffle Tag Team Tournament, with other matches not announced in advance and matchups only revealed when entrances began.

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in Japanese.

The announced paid attendance was 570. Vocal cheering was allowed. This was lower than the early event number but they were also running right after the opening day of the January 2022 Grand Sumo Tournament wrapped up.

Match 1: Shuhei Taniguchi beat Taishi Ozawa.

Match 2: Scramble Shuffle Tag Team Tournament Semifinals: Katsuhiko Nakajima & Seiki Yoshioka beat Manabu Soya & Atsushi Kotoge. Nakajima pinned Kotoge after Vertical Spike. As a result, Nakajima & Yoshioka advance to the Finals.

Match 3: Scramble Shuffle Tag Team Tournament Semifinals: Satoshi Kojima & Shuji Kondo beat Masakatsu Funaki & YO-HEY. Kojima pinned YO-HEY after Western Lariat. As a result, Kojima & Kondo advance to the Finals.

Match 4: Dante Leon beat Yasutaka Yano.

Match 5: Masa Kitamiya & Daiki Inaba beat Takashi Sugiura & Timothy Thatcher by ref stoppage. Kitamiya beat Sugiura with a head cutting Prison Lock. (Which probably means it included Kitamiya’s devastating headbutts)

Match 6: AMAKUSA & Ninja Mack beat Tadasuke & Hi69. AMAKUSA pinned Tadasuke after Firebird Splash.

Match 7: Kenoh & Hajime Ohara beat Masato Tanaka (ZERO1) & Shoki Kitamura. Kenoh pinned Kitamura after PFS.

Match 8: Naomichi Marufuji, Junta Miyawaki & Alejandro beat Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr., Yoshinari Ogawa & Eita. Miyawaki pinned Eita.

Match 9: Jake Lee & Jack Morris beat Kaito Kiyomiya & Yoshiki Inamura. Morris pinned Kiyomiya after a Tiger driver. Significant as will be noted later below.

Main Event: Scramble Shuffle Tag Team Tournament Finals: Katsuhiko Nakajima & Seiki Yoshioka beat Satoshi Kojima & Shuji Kondo to win the tournament. Nakajima pinned Kojima after Vertical Spike.

The next event is tomorrow at Yokohama Radiant Hall in Yokohama, beginning the 2023 portion of the never-ending SUNNY VOYAGE Tour. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 12:30 AM PT/3:30 AM ET.

Now the significance of earlier-Morris has earned a GHC Heavyweight Championship match against Kiyomiya because of what happened. That match will happen on 2/12 at GREAT VOYAGE 2023 in OSAKA at Osaka Prefectural Gym. Also announced for 2/12 is GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Takashi Sugiura & Satoshi Kojima vs. Masa Kitamiya & Daiki Inaba for the titles.

The full card for the Great Muta Final Event on 1/22 at Yokohama Arena has also been announced:
Atsushi Kotoge & Seiki Yoshioka vs. Hajime Ohara & Hi69
Saori Anou & Jungle Kyona vs. Sumire Natsu & Maya Yukihi
Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Timothy Thatcher
Yoshinari Ogawa, Eita & NOSAWA Rongai vs. Junta Miyawaki, Alejandro & Yasutaku Yano
Jake Lee, Jack Morris & Anthony Greene vs. Masa Kitamiya, Daiki Inaba & Yoshiki Inamura
Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Hideki Suzuki in a GHC Martial Arts Rules Match
AMAKUSA, Ultimo Dragon & Ninja Mack vs. YO-HEY, Kzy & Dante Leon
Kaito Kiyomiya, Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr., Takashi Sugiura & Satoshi Kojima vs. Kenoh, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Masakatsu Funaki & Manabu Soya
The Great Muta, Darby Allin (All Elite Wrestling) & Sting vs. Hakushi, AKIRA & Naomichi Marufuji
The event will be an ABEMA-exclusive broadcast in Japan, but will be available outside Japan in English only on WRESTLE UNIVERSE for subscribers and also is available now for pre-order as a PPV on FITE for $19.99.

Dragon Gate 1/7/23 Results

Beginning this site’s expanded coverage of the promotion, Dragon Gate Pro Wrestling began their 2023 today with the opening event of the Open The New Year Gate 2023 Tour.

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 500. Vocal cheering was allowed meaning reduced capacity.

Match 1; Don Fujii, Kaito Nagano, Naruki Doi & Yoshiki Kato beat Masaaki Mochizuki, Susumu Mochizuki, Mochizuki Jr. & Yasushi Kanda. Kato pinned Mochizuki Jr. after Bloodfall.

Match 2: Eita beat Ryu Fuda by submission.

Match 3: Ultimo Dragon, Jason Lee & Strong Machine J beat Genki Horiguchi, Punch Tominaga & Ho Ho Lun. J pinned Tominaga after Demon Windfall.

Match 4: Kzy & BIGBOSS Shimizu beat Ichikawa & Shachihoko BOY. Shimizu beat Ichikawa with a giant swing.

Match 5: KAI, BxB Hulk & ISHIN beat Dragon Kid, Takashi Yoshida & Problem Dragon. ISHIN pinned Dragon after Capital Punishment.

Match 6: Minorita & Dragon Dia beat H-Y-O & JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI. Minorita pinned H-Y-O after Minoritanic.

Main Event: Madoka Kikuta & Diamante beat Yuki Yoshioka & Kota Minoura. Kikuta pinned Minoura after a high-speed piledriver.

The next event is tomorrow at Kyoto KBS Hall in Kyoto. Live streaming on DRAGONGATE NETWORK will begin at midnight PT/3 AM ET.

Pro Wrestling NOAH “NEW SUNRISE” 2023 Results (1/8/23)

With their New Year’s Day blowout spectacular behind them and another crossover event with New Japan coming up, Pro Wrestling NOAH kicks off their 2023 today with a special doubleheader featuring a one-day scramble tag team tournament. Spread out between both events, the tournament is interesting in that teams are made up of one NOAH roster member and one Kongo member. While we won’t get Kaito Kiyomiya & Kenoh together aa a team, every pairing is something…Kenoh & AMAKUSA, the former Haoh who took Hi69’s old ring name and his hair before being banished from NOAH and returning under a mask and new identity, is intriguing. The first half main event will see the NOAH debut of Jake Lee, who showed up just hours after he left All-Japan Pro Wrestling when his contract there ended (he chose not to re-sign) and will face Yoshiki Inamura in his NOAH debut.

Today’s events will be held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and both can be watched LIVE on WRESTLE UNIVERSE. If there is commentary it will be Japanese only. You can also watch the first 3 matches of both events FOR FREE on YouTube. Based on the start times for both events they will be on a strict time limit, at least for the first event. I expect the first half to run 2 1/2-3 hours based on the number of matches. Note also that live results will only be posted for the first event and not the second, which is a 1 AM start for me.

Today’s lineup:
Masa Kitamiya & Daiki Inaba vs. Yasutaku Yano & Taishi Ozawa
Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. & Timothy Thatcher vs. Mohammed Yone & Akitoshi Saito
Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Jack Morris
Yoshinari Ogawa & Eita vs. Junta Miyawaki & Alejandro
Scramble Shuffle Tag Team Tournament:
Naomichi Marufuji & Hi69 vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima & Seiki Yoshioka
Masakatsu Funaki & YO-HEY vs. Takashi Sugiura & Hajime Ohara
Kaito Kiyomiya & Tadasuke vs. Manabu Soya & Atsushi Kotoge
Satoshi Kojima & Shuji Kondo vs. Kenoh & AMAKUSA
Ninja Mack vs. Dante Leon
Yoshiki Inamura vs. Jake Lee

Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.

Updates below will begin at 9:45 PM ET/6:45 PM PT.

9:45 PM ET UPDATE: Live streaming has started. We should go to the venue in the next 10-15 minutes.

9:50 PM ET UPDATE: Live updates begin now…
We are LIVE from Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. There is Japanese commentary, I didn’t catch their names.

The paid attendance will be announced after the event. Vocal cheering is allowed so it’s reduced capacity. At the start of the matches it looked close to full so I’m estimating 650-700.
POST-EVENT UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 622.

The matches should begin in 10-15 minutes.

We have that annoying-looking English announcer G-man welcoming us at the top of the hour. Dude looks like he’s had too much plastic surgery. The opening video follows.

The matches begin at 10:05 PM ET. Note that all tournament matches will have no time limit.

Match 1: Masa Kitamiya & Daiki Inaba vs. Yasutaku Yano & Taishi Ozawa. 20 minute time limit
Result: Masa Kitamiya & Daiki Inaba beat Yasutaku Yano & Taishi Ozawa. Inaba beat Ozawa with an armlock.

Match 2: Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. & Timothy Thatcher vs. Mohammed Yone & Akitoshi Saito. 20 minute time limit
Result: Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. & Timothy Thatcher beat Mohammed Yone & Akitoshi Saito. Thatcher beat Saito with a Fujiwara armbar.

Match 3: Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Jack Morris. 30 minute time limit
Result: Jack Morris beat Masaaki Mochizuki.

The YouTube broadcast ends here.

Match 4: Yoshinari Ogawa & Eita vs. Junta Miyawaki & Alejandro. 30 minute time limit
Result: Junta Miyawaki & Alejandro beat Yoshinari Ogawa & Eita. Miyawaki pinned Ogawa with a rollup after an Eita dropkick attempt towards Miyawaki backfired and hit Ogawa instead. Afterwards, Miyawaki with microphone. As I was thinking might happen, challenge issued for the GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship held by Ogawa & Eita. Ogawa left the ring before this and there were tensions with Eita. It sounds like Eita accepted the challenge. More as it becomes available.

Upcoming major events were announced, new additions are 4.16 in Sendai for ABEMA PRESENTS GREEN JOURNEY 2023 in Sendai and 5/4 at Ryogoku Kokugikan. On 2/12 at GREAT VOYAGE 2023 in Osaka Mexican sensation Dralistico makes his NOAH debut. After this the March & April schedule was announced on Twitter:
3/9-Korakuen Hall; 3/19-Yokohama Budokan (GREAT VOYAGE 2022 in YOKOHAMA); 4/8-Osaka ATC Hall; 4/9-Takaoka Ecole, Toyama; 4/16-Xebio Arena Sendai (GREEN JOURNEY 2023 in SENDAI); 5/22-Act City Hamamatsu, Shizuoka; 4/23-Kyoto KBS Hall, Kyoto; 4/29-Korakuen Hall.

Akitoshi Saito joins commentary.

Match 5: Scramble Shuffle Tag Team Tournament Quarterfinals: Naomichi Marufuji & Hi69 vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima & Seiki Yoshioka. No time limit
Result; Katsuhiko Nakajima & Seiki Yoshioka beat Naomichi Marufuji & Hi69. Yoshioka pinned Hi69. As a result, Nakajima & Yoshioka advance to the Semifinals at the second event later today.

Match 6: Scramble Shuffle Tag Team Tournament Quarterfinals: Masakatsu Funaki & YO-HEY vs. Takashi Sugiura & Hajime Ohara. No time limit
Result: Masakatsu Funaki & YO-HEY beat Takashi Sugiura & Hajime Ohara. YO-HEY pinned Ohara after a jumping double knee strike. As a result, Funaki & YO-HEY advance to the Semifinals.

Match 7: Ninja Mack vs. Dante Leon. 30 minute time limit
Result: Ninja Mack beat Dante Leon. Almost didn’t happen as Leon entered first but Mack ambushed him immediately and they went at it with weapons outside the ring for a couple minutes before it officially began. Leon unmasked Mack late but it turned out Mack had a second mask on underneath.

Match 8: Scramble Shuffle Tag Team Tournament Quarterfinals: Kaito Kiyomiya & Tadasuke vs. Manabu Soya & Atsushi Kotoge. No time limit
Result: Manabu Soya & Atsushi Kotoge beat Kaito Kiyomiya & Tadasuke. Kotoge pinned Tadasuke after a moonsault. As a result, Soya & Kotoge advance to the Semifinals.

Match 9: Scramble Shuffle Tag Team Tournament Quarterfinals: Satoshi Kojima & Shuji Kondo vs. Kenoh & AMAKUSA. No tlme limit
Result: Satoshi Kojima & Shuji Kondo beat Kenoh & AMAKUSA. Kondo beat AMAKUSA with a modified Figure 4.

Main Event: Yoshiki Inamura vs. Jake Lee. 1 Hour time limit. Lee came out to his previous All-Japan entrance theme.
Result: Jake Lee beat Yoshiki Inamura

The next event is later today. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 12:45 AM PT/3:45 AM ET.

DEVELOPING: NJPW STRONG Ending Today?

This is just a rumor right now, but a post today on New Japan icon Hiroshi Tanahashi’s Japanese blog suggests the NJPW STRONG program is ending. This follows a Twitter post from NJPW President Takami Ohbari that STRONG “will be rebuilt next year”, meaning this year. Tanahashi indicates the final STRONG tapings are the one happening today. There are rumors elsewhere this could all be ties to AEW & Ring Of Honor owner Tony Khan’s plans for a reboot of ROH’s weekly TV show, which finished its prior 10-year syndication & FITE run last year and for now is expected to be on the rebooted HonorClub platform, now a streaming service for ROH past events and TV, available on the US only for $9.99/month.

This is all just a rumor right now but it does bear watching, moreso since New Japan and AEW have a working relationship.

More as it becomes available.

DEVELOPING: 2023 New Japan Cup Announced

On their Japanese website, New Japan announced the 2023 New Japan Cup Tournament, to take place in its traditional March timeframe. The tournament, a singles event with a single-elimination format, will begin on 3/5 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and tun 11 events, concluding on 3/21 at Aore Nagaoka in Niigata. Advance ticket sales for fan club members begin Friday.

More as it becomes available. Also, the promotion’s annual Anniversary Event will be held on 3/6 at Ota City General Gym in Tokyo, the date of what will be the promotion’s 51st Anniversary.