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Sumo-Former Rikishi Opens Restaurant in Tokyo

Following up on a sudden retirement from sumo during the November 2022 Grand Sumo Tournament, there are numerous reports on Japanese Twitter that former wrestler Chiyotairyu, who abruptly retired during the tournament, has achieved his stated goal of opening a restaurant in Tokyo. just 2 months after leaving sumo. Nikkan Sports reports the former Komusubi, real name Hidemasa Meigetsuin (guess based on quick translation), opened a French yakiniku (grilled meat) restaurant called “Mitoland” in the Roppongi area of Tokyo on January 16 and invited the media to a special event there today.

The restaurant is currently open by reservation only to Instagram followers through March and will be by registration or referral only for the time being with a full course meal available for 15,000 yen (about $116 US). Ultimately, Chiyotairyu hopes to expand into a chain of restaurants and offer meals for $15–20 and encourage retired rikishi to be part of expansion efforts as a way to support both their post-retirement lives and support sumo as a whole.

Original source (in Japanese. Credit: Nikkan Sports Japan): https://www.nikkansports.com/battle/sumo/news/202302070001088.html

TJPW News: Yuki Arai March-April Schedule (Updated)

Tokyo Joshi Pro has announced the schedule of appearances for SKE48 member Yuki Arai in March & April, which is subject to change. Just 3 events are on her schedule right now-3/6 at Shinjuku Face, 3/18 at Ariake Arena (GRAND PRINCESS ’23) and 4/15 at Korakuen Hall. Most disappointing for me but completely expected is no Los Angeles, CA for TJPW’s US debut at the end of March.

UPDATE: TJPW has also announced Arai will be part of an SKE48 LIVE mini-performance during the 2/18 event on 2/18 at Nagoya International Conference Center Event Hall. SKE48 member Nao Fukushi will be a guest on Japanese commentary. This will stream LIVE on WRESTLE UNIVERSE but the SKE48 performance will only be available on demand for one month after the event.

New Japan TAMASHII 2/3/23 & 2/4/23 Results

After a very successful debut late last year, New Japan ran the second round of TAMASHII events last week, the new sub-label focusing on talent from Australia, New Zealand & the Pacific Islands/Australasia region including trainees at the New Zealand Dojo, which is overseen by New Japan’s Bad Luck Fale as lead trainer.

The results from both events are below. There was no live broadcast but they may be available on demand on New Japan World at a later date (if it turns out like the first events, it’s going to be a few months).

Friday:
This event was held at Selina’s Entertainment Center in Sydney, Australia.

The paid attendance was not announced but it was a legit sellout.

Pre-Show Match: Jessica Troy beat Charlie Evans.

Match 1: Paris De Silva & Jude London beat Nikolai Anton Bell & Jordan Allen-Wright. De Silva pinned Bell after Shooting Star Press.

Match 2: Carter Deams beat Jake Taylor by submission.

Match 3: Mick Moretti & Andrew Hoffman beat Richard Mulu & Viktor Langras. Moretti pinned Langras after a wheelbarrow double stomp.

Match 4: Aussie Open beat Bad Luck Fale & Jack Bonza by DQ. Bonza DQ’d.

Match 5: Lyrebird LuchI beat Andrew Villalobos.

Match 6: Ricky South beat Michael Richards.

Main Event: Robbie Eagles beat Aaron Solo by submission.

Saturday:
This event was held at The Croxton in Melbourne, Australia.

The paid attendance was not announced but it was very close to a sellout if not sold out.

Match 1: Gore & Jake Andrewartha beat Nikolai Anton Bell & Shep Alexander. Gore pinned Alexander after Dominator.

Match 2: Richard Mulu beat Jarvis.

Match 3: Bad Luck Fale & Jack Bonza beat Andrew Villalobos & Michael Richarda. Bonza beat Villalobos with STF.

Match 4: Tome & Stevie Filip beat Jake Taylor & Jordan-Allen Wright. Tome Filip pinned Allen-Wright after Air Raid Crash.

Match 5: Mitch Waterman beat Lyrebird Luchi by DQ.

Match 6: Aaron Solo beat Slex.

Match 7: Kyle Fletcher beat Robbie Eagles.

Main Event: Caveman Ugh beat Aaron Henare.

DDT News: Ganbare Sets Women’s Re-Launch, But…

What was going to be exciting news for DDT sub-brand Ganbare Pro today had a sour tone to it…the official re-launch of Ganbare Women as a sub-label was announced and the first event is official but it came with very bad news…flag-bearer Yuna Manase won’t be a part of it for some time. Knee surgery and other injuries. From translation it sounds like best-case for a return is 10 months, and these are injuries she competed through for a while, so unfortunately her 2023 is probably done and she likely won’t be back until some time in 2024. But at the request of roster members HARUKAZE & Yuuri, Ganbare founder/owner Ken Ohka will go forward with the debut event, postponing it to April 1 at Yokohama Radiant Hall in Yokohama. Yoshiko Hasegawa & Moeka Haruhi will also participate.

Dragon Gate 2/5/23 Results

Dragon Gate continued the Rey De Parejas 2023 today with Day 3 of the tournament.

Today’s event was held at Tajimi City Industrial Culture Center in Gifu. There was no live broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 434.

Match 1: Yuki Yoshioka, Dragon Dia & Madoka Kikuta beat Strong Machine J, Jason Lee & JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI. Kikuta pinned KAMEI after a rolling lariat.

Match 2: Don Fujii & Ho Ho Lun beat Ichikawa & Kagetora. Fujii pinned Ivhikawa after a failed German suplex

Match 3: YAMATO beat Mochizuki Jr.

Match 4: Diamante, H-Y-O & ISHIN beat Ultimo Dragon, Dragon Kid & Grnki Horiguchi. ISHIN pinned Horiguchi aftrr Death Penalty.

Match 5: Rey De Parejas Block A: Kota Minoura & BxB Hulk beat Kaito Nagano & Yoshiki Kato. Minoura pinned Nagano after Engranaje.

Main Event: Rey De Parejas Block B: Shun Skywalker & KAI beat Ben-K & Minorita. Skywalker pinned Minorita after SSW.

The next event is Saturday at Kyoto KBS Hall in Kyoto. Live streaming on DRAGONGATE NETWORK will begin at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET.

DDT 2/5/23 Results

DDT kicked off their February tour today with the opening event of the Into The Fight 2023 Tour.

Today’s event was held at Osaka Azalea Taisho in Osaka and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date. There was no live broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 216, a super full house/very near sellout.

Match 1: D GENERATIONS CUP Block A: Yuya Koroku beat Kazuma Sumi.

Match 2: D GENERATIONS CUP Block A: Hideki Okatani beat Illusion.

Match 3: Danshoku Dieno & Yuki Iino vs. Shunma Katsumata & Devil’s Anguish, Yakumon went to a no contest. Based on photos this Yakumon character looked like a bad (and slightly creepy) Ronald McDonald parody.

Match 4: D GENERATIONS CUP Block B: Toui Kojima beat Yuki Ishida.

Match 5: Naruki Doi & Toru Owashi vs. MJ Pawl & KANON went to a double countout. Which led to…
Naruki Doi & Toru Owashi beat MJ Pawl & KANON. Doi pinned KANON with V9 Clutch. KANON laid out Doi afterwards.

Match 6: Kazusada Higuchi & Chris Brookes beat Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi. Higuchi pinned Oishi after Brain Claw Slam.

Match 7: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yusuke Okada beat HARASHIMA, Yukio Sakaguchi & Kazuki Hirata. Endo pinned Hirata after a rotating torture rack bomb.

Main Event: MAO & Yuki Ueno beat Yukio Naya & Takeshi Masada. Ueno pinned Masada after WR.

The next event is Saturday at Yokohama Radiant Hall in Yokohama. There will be no live broadcast.

Pro Wrestling NOAH 2/5/23 Results

Pro Wrestling NOAH continued the never-ending STAR NAVIGATION 2023 Tour (it will now extend into at least April per schedule announcements today) today with an event headlined by a GHC National Championship match.

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE. You can also watch the first 3 matches FOR FREE on YouTube.

The announced paid attendance was 825. Vocal cheering was allowed, not sure what capacity limit was if any.

Match 1: Kinya Okada Return Match: Tadasuke & Hi69 beat Kinya Okada & Taishi Ozawa. Hi69 pinned Ozawa after Trance Rave.

Match 2: Super Crazy beat Yasutaka Yano.

Match 3: Timothy Thatcher & Hideki Suzuki beat Masaaki Mochizuki & Shuhei Taniguchi. Thatcher beat Taniguchi with a Fujiwara armbar.

Match 4: Kenoh, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Shuji Kondo & Hajime Ohara beat Daiki Inaba, Yoshiki Inamura, Ninja Mack & Atsushi Kotoge. Nakajima pinned Inamura after Vertical Spike.

Match 5: Satoshi Kojima beat Masa Kitamiya.

Match 6: Kaito Kiyomiya, Takashi Sugiura & Naomichi Marufuji beat Jack Morris, Jake Lee & Anthony Greene. Kiyomiya pinned Greene with a tiger suplex hold.

Match 7: In an Elimination Match, Yoshinari Ogawa, Eita, NOSAWA Rongai, Chris Ridgeway & Daga beat AMAKUSA, Junta Miyawaki, ALejandro, YO-HEY & Seiki Yoshioka. Order of elimination: AMAKUSA by Eita, Yoshioka by Daga, YO-HEY by Daga, Alejandro by Eita, Miyawaki by Eita. A Clean Sweep! Nobody on the winning team was eliminated.

Main Event: GHC National Champion Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. beat Manabu Soya to retain the title. V2 for Wagner Jr.

The next event is GREAT VOYAGE 2023 in OSAKA on 2/12 at Osaka Prefectural Gym in Osaka. Keiji Muto will be at the event but is not scheduled to participate (of bigger concern is a report that at the Great Muta Final Event he partially tore both hamstrings, although both tears were said to be very small-at a recent event appearance in Japan he was in a wheelchair). Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in English only will begin Saturday at 11 PM PT/Sunday at 2 AM ET. This is an ABEMA-only broadcast in Japan so Japanese audio will not be available until when the on demand version is uploaded shortly after the event concludes.

In other news, the promotion announced additional dates for the March schedule and the April schedule. The majority of the events will be continuing the SUNNY VOYAGE 2023 Tour and a STAR NAVIGATION 2023 Tour event at the end of April. March wraps up with a 4-day run of events in north & northeastern Japan, while April is headlined by ABEMA presents GREEN JOURNEY 2023 in SENDAI on 4/16 at Xebio Arena Sendai in Sendai, followed by a Korakuen Hall return on 4/29 that will lead in to ABEMA presents MAJESTIC 2023, their Golden Week blowout event on 5/4 at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo (this one as well as 4/16 will probably be English-only on WRESTLE UNIVERSE if they are available live).

Dragon Gate 2/4/23 Results

Dragon Gate continued the Rey De Parejas 2023 today with Day 2 of the tag team tournament.

Today’s event was held at Fujisan Messe in Shizuoka and may be available on demand on DRAGONGATE NETWORK. There was no live broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 269.

Match 1: Kota Minoura, BxB Hulk & Don Fujii beat Susumu Mochizuki, Yasushi Kanda & Genki Horiguchi. Minoura pinned Horiguchi after R-301.

Match 2: YAMATO beat Ho Ho Lun.

Match 3: ISHIN beat Kagetora.

Match 4: Rey De Parejas Block A: Masaaki Mochizuki & Mochizuki Jr. vs. JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI & Jason Lee went to a 20 minute time limit draw.

Match 5: Ultimo Dragon, Shuji Kondo, Yuki Yoshioka & Madoka Kikuta beat Shun SKywalker, KAY, Diamante & H-Y-O. Kondo pinned H-Y-O after a King Kong lariat.

Main Event: Rey De Parejas Block B: Dragon Kid & Dragon Dia beat Ben-K & Minorita. Dia pinned Minorita after DDDDT.

The next event is tomorrow at Tajimi City Industrial Culture Center in Gifu. There will be no live broadcast.

New Japan Pro Wrestling “THE NEW BEGINNING in SAPPORO” Results (2/5/23) (Updated x2)

New Japan runs the second half of THE NEW BEGINNING in SAPPORO today, wrapping up their winter major event in Hokkaido with 3 title matches on tap today. First up, the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship is on the line as YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto defend against Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls. Then, the Australians’ new stablemate Zack Sabre Jr. makes the first defense of the NJPW WORLD TV Championship vs. Tomohiro Ishii, and with a 15 minute time limit it promises a fast pace. Finally, the main event sees bad blood come to a boiling end as Hiromu Takahashi defends the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship against Yoh. And with only non-televised house shows ahead this week, this also will represent the final real build for next weekend’s tour-ending major event in Osaka.

Today’s event will be held at Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center Hokkai Kita Yell in Hokkaido and can be watched LIVE on New Japan World in Japanese and English. You can also watch the first 2 matches FOR FREE on YouTube. With TV Title matches having a 15 minute time limit that potentially shortens the event a little bit but with the other title matches and a full card I anticipate the event’s total running time being around 3 1/4 hours.

Today’s lineup:
Francesco Akira, TJP, Great-O-Khan & Will Ospreay vs. TAKA Michinoku, DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi
Yuto Nakashima, Ren Narita, El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki vs. Dick Togo, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL
Master Wato & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Taiji Ishimori & KENTA
Jado, Hikuleo & Tama Tonga vs. Gedo, El Phantasmo & Jay White
Ryusuke Taguchi, Shota Umino, Toru Yano & Kazuchika Okada vs. BUSHI, SANADA, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito
IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto vs. Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls for the titles
NJPW WORLD TV Champion Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Tomohiro Ishii for the title
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi vs. Yoh for the title

Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.

Updates below will begin at 9 PM PT/midnight ET.

9 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates begin now…
We are LIVE from Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center Hokkai Kita Yell in Hokkaido, Japan. This event is airing as part of WORLD PRO WRESTLING LIVE 2023 on TV Asahi. No guest on Japanese commentary at the start with Milano Collection A.T. and the announcer (didn’t catch name).

The paid attendance will be announced after the event. It’s full capacity with vocal cheering, yesterday’s event drew just over 3000 so that’s the early benchmark for today. The layout does reduce the venue’s actual capacity by about 20% or so.

Match 1: TAKA Michinoku, DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi vs. Francesco Akira, TJP, Great-O-Khan & Will Ospreay. 20 minute time limit
Result: Francesco Akira, TJP, Great-O-Khan & Will Ospreay beat TAKA Michinoku, DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi. Ospreay pinned TAKA after Hidden Blade.

Match 2: Yuto Nakashima, Ren Narita, El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki vs. Dick Togo, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL. 20 minute time limit
Result: Yuto Nakashima, Ren Narita, El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki beat Dick Togo, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL. Narita beat Takahashi with a cobra twist. Afterwards, Suzuki with microphone to issue a challenge to House Of Torture for the NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Championship. As this ended, Suzuki stuck around for a full-throttle KAZE NI NARE from the crowd. Chills. I have missed that so much these last 3 years.

Match 3: Master Wato & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Taiji Ishimori & KENTA. 20 minute time limit
Result: Taiji Ishimori & KENTA beat Master Wato & Hiroshi Tanahashi. Ishimori pinned Wato by using the ropes illegally for leverage but the ref didn’t see.

Match 4: Jado, Hikuleo & Tama Tonga vs. Gedo, El Phantasmo & Jay White. 30 minute time limit (Of note: White came out wearing the new AEW/ROH Jay Briscoe tribute shirt available from both online shops. 100% of proceeds go to support the Briscoe family)
Result: Jado, Hikuleo & Tama Tonga beat Gedo, El Phantasmo & Jay White. Jado beat Gedo with Crossface Of Jado.

Match 5: Ryusuke Taguchi, Shota Umino, Toru Yano & Kazuchika Okada vs. BUSHI, SANADA, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito. 30 minute time limit
result: Ryusuke Taguchi, Shota Umino, Toru Yano & Kazuchika Okada beat BUSHI, SANADA, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito. Okada pinned SANADA after Rainmaker.

El Desperado joins Japanese commentary.

Match 6: IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto vs. Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls for the title. 1 Hour time limit
Result: IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls to retain the titles. Goto pinned Nicholls after Shoto. V1 for the champs

Match 7: NJPW WORLD TV Champion Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Tomohiro Ishii for the title. 15 minute time limit
Result: NJPW WORLD TV Champion Zack Sabre Jr. beat Tomohiro Ishii to retain the title. V1 for Sabre. But it came down to the wire-less than 30 seconds left when it ended.

Main Event: IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi vs. Yoh for the title. 1 Hour time limit
Result: IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi beat Yoh to retain the title. V1 for Takahashi.

The next event is Wednesday at New Sunpia Tochigi in Tochigi. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 3316. That is almost 250 more than yesterday and on TV the arena looked full, excluding tarped-off areas that weren’t visible until the end.

No indication as to who may be next for the champs after today but on the way out Takahashi did have an exchange with and seemingly taunted El Desperado at commentary.

UPDATE 2: It’s now official. Suzuki/Desperado/Narita vs. H.O.T. for the NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Titles has been added to 2/11.

2/5/23-2/11/23 Events Schedule

Here is the current events schedule for 2/5/23-2/11/23, which is subject to change (all times PT):
2/5:
Midnight-Dragon Gate Pro Wrestling Rey De Parejas 2023 Tournament, Tajimi City Industrial Culture Center, Gifu, Japan. No live broadcast
1:30 AM-Pro Wrestling NOAH STAR NAVIGATION 2023 Tour, Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan. Live on WRESTLE UNIVERSE

2/8:
2 AM-New Japan Pro Wrestling ROAD to THE NEW BEGINNING Tour, New Sunpia Tochigi, Tochigi, Japan. No live or on demand broadcast
5 PM-All Elite Wrestling “AEW Dynamite”, El Paso, TX. Live on TBS in US and FITE elsewhere

2/9:
1:30 AM-New Japan Pro Wrestling Road to THE NEW BEGINNING Tour, Saku City General Gym, Nagano, Japan. No live or on demand broadcast
5 PM-Impact Wrestling “IMPACT Wrestling”, Orlando, FL. TAPED on AXS TV. Available on demand on Impact+ and YouTube (paid subscription required) at 5:30 PM

2/10:
6:30 PM-Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling Futari-wa Princess Max Heart Tournament 3 Finals, Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan. Live on WRESTLE UNIVERSE. LIVE RESULTS SCHEDULED
7 PM-All Elite Wrestling “AEW Rampage”. TAPED on TNT in US and FITE elsewhere

2/11:
Midnight-New Japan Pro Wrestling THE NEW BEGINNING in OSAKA, Osaka Prefectural Gym, Osaka, Japan. Live on New Japan World
12:30 AM-DDT Pro Wrestling “YOKOHAMA Unlimited Vol. 1”, Yokohama Radiant Hall, Tokyo, Japan. No live broadcast
1 AM-Dragon Gate Pro Wrestling Rey De Parejas 2023 Tournament, Kyoto KBS Hall, Kyoto, Japan. Live on DRAGONGATE NETWORK
5 PM-NWA “Nuff Said”, Tampa, FL. Live on FITE. LIVE RESULTS SCHEDULED (CANCELLED)
9 PM-GLEAT “G PROWRESTLING Ver. 43”, Osaka Azalea Taisho, Osaka, Japan. Broadcast plans TBA
11 PM-Pro Wrestling NOAH GREAT VOYAGE 2023 in OSAKA, Osaka Prefectural Gym, Osaka, Japan. Live on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in English only

2/11/23 UPDATE: NWA PPV Live Results have been cancelled last-minute due to illness.