Category: Uncategorized

Obituary: Masashi Aoyagi Passes Away

New Japan announced today the death of former wrestler and karate instructor Masashi Aoyagi, who died Tuesday according to an announcement from Pro Wrestling ZERO1. He was 65. Aoyagi first got into wrestling after an MMA fight against Atsushi Onita in 1989, during which time Apyagi was the director of a karate dojo, which led to them having a match in FMW. Aoyagi then debuted in New Japan in 1990, where he had an MMA match against Jushin Thunder Liger, then he formed his own faction in 1992 with, among others, current NOAH wrestler Akitoshi Saito, one of Aoyagi’s karate students. Aoyagi later continued making appearances throughout Japanese wrestling promotions, always sticking to a karate-based style.

New Japan’s obituary story in Japanese can be read below:
https://sp.njpw.jp/366230

DDT 7/7/22 Results

DDT ran their monthly DDT FREE event today, a free admission event where lucky lottery winners get to attend at no charge. This was a significant event because the ban on vocal cheering by fans was lifted for the first time in over 2 years.

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

The announced attendance was 160, a legit sellout. Because of the ban on vocal cheering being lifted, the tradeoff is capacity was limited to 50%.

Match 1: KANON beat Yuya Koroku.

Match 2: Yuki Iino & Danshoku Dieno beat Akito & Kazuki Hirata by ref stoppage (TKO). Iino beat Akito. Afterwards, Sanshiro Takagi made himself special referee for the DDT Extreme Title match on 7/16.

Match 3: Masa Takanashi & Shunma Katsumata beat Asuka (Veny) & Yusuke Okada. Takanashi pinned Okada after Uwabami.

Match 4: HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi, Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani beat Jun Akiyama, Yuji Hino, Yukio Naya & Yuki Ishida. HARASHIMA pinned Ishida after Blue Sword. Afterwards, Saki Akai requested a tag match with Akiyama as her partner for 8/2 at WRESTLE PETER PAN.

Match 5: Chris Brookes & Antonio Honda beat Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Pawl. Brookes pinned Pawl.

Match 6: MAO beat Andrew Everett.

Main Event: Kazusada Higuchi & Naomi Yoshimura beat Yuki Ueno & Toui Kojima. Higuchi pinned Kojima after Brain Claw Slam. Afterwards, it was decided the winners would graduate from (leave) their respective factions-Eruption & Disaster Box, respectively-and become a tag team and they made a challenge for the KO-D Tag Team Championship on 7/24, when they will now face MAO & Asuka for the titles.

The next event is 7/16 at Nippongashi Sports Plaza Stadium 3 in Nagoya with a DDT Extreme and KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship match on tap. Unfortunately for those looking forward to them, there will be no live broadcast (likely due to the major NOAH event at the same time).

New Japan Press Conference 7/7/22

Earlier today (late last night US time) New Japan held a special press conference that was open to the public, or at least select members of New Japan’s fan club. Some items of note from New Japan’s English recap will follow but you can also watch the event FOR FREE on New Japan World (no login or signup required):
https://njpwworld.com/p/o_original_0274_1O

(Note: The service will be unavailable on 7/12 from 7 PM PT-1 AM PT due to maintenance)

Notes from the event:
This was a Business Strategy Presentation with Bushiroad Director Takaaki Kidani (Kitani), Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hiromu Takahashi & Great-O-Khan also attending.
They started discussing finances and future plans for the US, which will include women’s matches mainly from Stardom, which is also owned by NJPW owner Bushiroad Corporation.
New Japan will return to the UK in October for the first time since 2019.
An outdoor event will be held at a to be determined location in Japan on 8/20.
The New Japan-Stardom joint event in November will have “around two” mixed tag matches, but not true intergender matches because the women will wrestle only the women, and same for the men. This was something Tanahashi previously hointed at and was pushing for.
Fans will be allowed to cheer vocally at two Korakuen Hall events in September, with masks required and capacity limited to 50%.
New goods and product collaborations were announced, likely Japan-only for now, including protein supplements featuring Tanahashi, a Khan t-shirt and Takahashi featured in trading cards. The t-shirt is designed by famed anime artist Masami Ohbari, the brother of NJPW President Takami Ohbari.
In closing, Kidani described what he calls the “2.1 era”, his vision the future of both New Japan and Stardom.

More on everything as it becomes available.

AEW Dynamite 7/6/22 Results

Here are the quick results from tonight’s AEW Dynamite from Rochester, NY:
In a street fight, Wardlow beat AEW TNT Champion Scorpio Sky to become THE NEW AEW TNT CHAMPION!

Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland beat The Butcher & The Blade. Strickland pinned Blade.

Eddie Kingston still wants Chris Jericho’s blood. Jericho responds by showing Ruby Soho getting a car door slammed on her hand by Tay Conti as a warning.

Dark Order promo highlighted by -1. Ends with QT Marshall challenging -1 to a match but then getting beat down by Dark Order with help from Adam Page.

Rush beat Penta Oscuro.

Gunn Club & The Acclaimed beat Bear Country, Leon Ruff & Fuego Del Sol. Austin pinned one of the Bears. Squash. Gunn Club beat down The Acclaimed afterwards so their partnership seems to be over.

Thunder Rosa & Toni Storm beat Nyla Rose & Marina Shafir. Rosa pinned Shafir.

Interim AEW World Champion Jon Moxley beat Brody King by submission to retain the title.

Next week-Fyter Fest Night 1! Claudio Castagnoli vs. Jake Hager, AEW Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks vs. Strickland & Lee and Powerhouse Hobbs & Ricky Starks in a 3-way for the titles, more TBA.

Friday on Rampage-Konosuke Takeshita vs. Kingston, Mercedes Martinez & Serena Deeb vs. 2 jobbers, Lee Moriarty & Jonathan Gresham vs. Gates Of Agony & Orange Cassidy vs. Tony Nese.

Announced for Ring Of Honor’s Death Before Dishonor PPV on 7/23: ROH TV Champion Samoa Joe vs Jay Lethal for the title, ROH Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta vs. Daniel Garcia for the title and, if a promo before the main event holds true, FTR vs. The Briscoes. The event will be available on PPV, Bleacher Report and FITE.

DDT Announces “Cutey Honey” TJPW Appearance

In announcing broadcast plans for SUMMER SUN PRINCESS ’22, DDT has announced a special guest for the Tokyo Joshi Pro event broadcast-legendary idol Mikie Hara, a former gravure/swimsuit/pinup model who was one of the most acclaimed and popular idols during a long and successful modeling career, who is now an actress & entertainer best known for her starring role as the live-action portrayal of popular manga/anime superheroine “Cutey Honey” on Japanese TV. She will join Japanese commentary alongside Haruo Murata, Kagehiro Osano & Sayoko Mita. The event will also have English commentary with DDT’s Chris Brookes and Baliyan Akki. Remember you can watch FOR FREE if you sign up for WRESTLE UNIVERSE for the first time with a 2 week free trial!
The event streams LIVE Friday at 10 PM PT/1 AM ET.

New Japan 7/5/22 Results

New Japan wrapped up the New Japan Road Tour today with the last of a Tokyo tripleheader, headlined today by a NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Title match and a Toru Yano oddball match because, well, Toru Yano gotta do something like that…

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on New Japan World in Japanese.

The announced paid attendance was 579.

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

Match 2: Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan beat Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe. Kojima pinned Honma after a lariat.

Match 3: Alex Zayne, Tomohiro Ishii & Kazuchika Okada beat The DKC, Clark Connors & Yuji Nagata. Ishii pinned DKC after a vertical drop brainbuster.

Match 4: Jado, KUSHIDA & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Gedo, Taiji Ishimori & KENTA. Tanahashi beat Gedo with a Texas Cloverleaf.

Match 5: BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito beat TAKA Michinoku, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, El Desperado, Minoru Suzuki & Taichi. Takahashi pinned TAKA after D.

Match 6: In a Dog Cage Deathmatch, where the only way to win was to lock your opponent in a large dog cage, Toru Yano beat Dick Togo.

Main Event: Yoh, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Champions Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL to win the titles. Yoh, YOSHI-HASHI & Goto become the 23rd NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Champions. Yoh pinned Sho after Direct Drive. And sent the crowd home very happy…Fo Sho, Yoh.

Next up is the G1 CLIMAX 32, the promotion’s biggest tournament of the year and the unofficial start of the Road To Tokyo Dome in January. Day 1 is 7/16 at Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center Kita Yell in Hokkaido. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin that day at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET, and remember the first 2 days will be available to watch FOR FREE!
Also, a live press conference will be broadcast FOR FREE on New Japan World beginning Wednesday at 11 PM PT/Thursday at 2 AM ET.

DEVELOPING: NOAH 7/16 Title Match Off

Developing NOAH news for 7/16: The GHC Jr. Heavyweight Title match that day is now off and has been postponed. Current co-champion Chris Ridgeway is now off the event. Visa issues. Delays in issuance procedures in the UK may prevent him from making it to Japan in time. New date TBA but it will be when Ridgeway can travel to Japan. Yuya Susumu will now team with Yoshinari Ogawa to face Eita & Kotaro Suzuki in a NON-TITLE match.

Site News: All-Japan Coverage Begins This Week

Starting this coming weekend (7/9/22-7/10/22), I will begin adding coverage of All-Japan Pro Wrestling to the site. All-Japan is considered the #2 promotion in Japan and has been around almost 50 years, having been founded about 6 months after top promotion New Japan Pro Wrestling. Coverage will begin with their event this Saturday at Yokohama Radiant Hall, and I will begin watching that day live and on demand on All-Japan’s streaming service, ajpw.tv. It costs 900 yen per month (same as New Japan World), which as if this moment is $6.68 US.

Please look forward to it!

New Japan 7/4/22 Results

New Japan continued the New Japan Road tour with the middle event of the final 3-event stretch before the G1 CLIMAX.

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on New Japan World in Japanese.

The announced paid attendance was 536. Smaller setup used today on the opposite hard camera side. No guest on commentary. (Togi Makabe joined after the break)

Match 1: Minoru Suzuki beat Kosei Fujita by submission.

Match 2: Satoshi Kojima beat TAKA Michinoku. Kojima came out wearing a Pro Wrestling NOAH shift and with the GHC Heavyweight Championship that he next defends on 7/16. Kojima with microphone afterwards to promote that match.

Match 3: Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe beat Ryohei Oiwa & Hiroyoshi Tenzan. Makabe beat Oiwa with a Boston Crab.

Match 4: Yoshinobu Kanemaru, El Desperado & Taichi beat The DKC, Clark Connors & Yuji Nagata. Taichi pinned DKC after Dangerous Backdrop.

Match 5: Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat Dick Togo, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL. YOSHI-HASHI pinned Takahashi after Shoto.

Match 6: BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito beat Master Wato, Ryusuke Taguchi, Alex Zayne, Tomohiro Ishii & Kazuchika Okada. Takagi pinned Wato after MADE IN JAPAN.

Main Event: Taiji Ishimori & KENTA beat KUSHIDA & Hiroshi Tanahashi. Ishimori beat KUSHIDA with Bone Lock.

The tour-ender is tomorrow with Yano vs. Togo in a Dog Cage Deathmatch and NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Champions Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL vs. Yoh, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto for the titles. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET. After that, it’s on to the G1 CLIMAX-EVERY event will stream LIVE and on demand in Japanese and English on New Japan World, and everyone will be able to watch the first 2 events FOR FREE!

DDT/TJPW Upcoming Event Updates

DDT announced several upcoming event details at a press conference today:
First on the Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling side, Willow Nightingale is now off Saturday’s SUMMER SUN PRINCESS ’22 event. Visa issues/timing (the process won’t be completed in time for travel). She was to have faced Miu Watanabe. Ryo Mizunami is the replacement, making her first appearance in TJPW. Nightingale will travel to Japan and appear at a later date once the visa is secured.

Konosuke Takeshita will return to DDT next month for his 10th Anniversary match on 8/10 against Daisuke Sasaki. He will also be at WRESTLE PETER PAN on 8/20. Takeshita is currently on an excursion to All Elite Wrestling.

NEW KO-D Openweight Champion Kazusada Higuchi appeared and reiterated his desire to defend against Tetsuya Endo on 8/20, but a decision will not be made until after Endo’s return match on 7/24.

2 new events were announced for September-9/13 at Asakusa Kageki Theater in Tokyo and 9/25 at Korakuen Hall. 9/25 will allow vocal cheering by fans although one section for non-vocal fans will be set up. The venue or at least the vocal section will be at 50% capacity.