Ahead of the next Banzuke announcement for January 2025, news has come out since yesterday that former top tier wrestler Onosho has retired effective immediately. He cited multiple injuries and inability to physically continue competing at a high level. Although eligible for elder stock, there apparently is none available and so he will leave sumo and, according to reliable YouTube reporter Chris Sumo, will work for a cosmetics marketing firm. Onosho, real name Fumiya Utetsu, from Aomori Prefecture, retires at 28 after just short of 12 years competing (debuted in January 2013), finishing with a career record of 473-422-59 (win-loss-absent), 297-287-46 in the top tier, 1 Juryo championship, 4 Special Prizes, 2 Kinboshi and a highest rank of Komusubi. He was Juryo 10 for his final tournament in November and finished 2-11-2, being forced to withdraw on Day 13 due to injury, and would have been demoted to Makushita in January. He will be replaced as senior wrestler at Onomatsu Beya by Onokatsu, who was promoted to the top tier in September and was Maegashira 15 in November, but will be promoted after going 9-6.
New Japan 12/19/24 Results
New Japan continued the Road To TOKYO DOME Tour today in Yamagata.
Today’s event was held at Yamagata Big Wing in Yamagata. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 875.
There were potential changes to the cars due to no Sho. He was “exiled from Yamagata” due to losing a KOPW 2023 Championship match in November 2023. However, he may have appeared as a mysterious masked man. With no video available we may never know.
Match 1: Boltin Oleg & Toru Yano beat Katsuya Murashima & Shoma Kato. Oleg pinned Kato after Kamikaze.
Match 2: Ryohei Oiwa, Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles beat Gedo, Drilla Moloney & Clark Connors. Oiwa pinned Gedo after The Grip.
Match 3: Ryusuke Taguchi, Kevin Knight & KUSHIDA beat Jacob Austin Young, Francesco Akira & TJP. Knight pinned Young after Perfect Timing.
Match 4: Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb beat Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Ren Narita. Khan beat Kanemaru with Subaru Sheep Killer.
Match 5: Master Wato & El Desperado beat TAKA Michinoku & DOUKI. Wato beat TAKA with Recientemente..
Match 6: SANADA & David Finlay beat BUSHI & Yota Tsuji by DQ. BUSHI DQ’d.
Match 7: Dick Togo, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL beat Tiger Mask, Tomoaki Honma & Hiroshi Tanahashi. EVIL pinned Honma after EVIL.
Main Event: Tomohiro Ishii & Shota Unino beat Hartley Jackson (Independent/Freelancer) & Zack Sabre Jr. Umino pinned Jackson after Death Rider.
The next event is Saturday at Light Cube Utsumomiya in Tochigi. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.
Pro Wrestling NOAH 12/19/24 Results
Pro Wrestling NOAH ran their final STAR NAVIGATION 2024 event of the year today, also featuring their annual NOAHful Gift holiday-themed matches and more.
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 2 matches FOR FREE on YouTube.
The announced paid attendance was 1205.
Match 1: Luis Mante (Dragon Gate) & Daga beat Eita & Titus Alexander, Naomichi Marufuji & HAYATA and Ulka Sasaki & AMAKUSA in a 4-way when Daga pinned Eita.
Match 2: Kouki Amarei, Takumi Iroha & Utami Hayashishita beat Great Sakuya, Bozilla & Myla Grace. Iroha pinned Grace after Running 3.
Match 3: Mohammed Yone, Atsushi Kotoge & The Reeve Mask beat Hajime Ohara, Koki Iwamoto & Black Menso-re. Mask pinned Menso-re after The Reeve Press.
Match 4: Masa Kitamiya & Daiki Odashima beat Manabu Soya & Kazuyuki Fujita. Kitamiya pinned Soya after a diving senton.
Match 5: Kaito Kiyomiya beat Yoshitatsu.
Match 6: Go Shiozaki beat Yuji Nagata (New Japan).
Match 7: Alejandro & Junta Claus (Junta Miyawaki) beat Yu Owada & Takashi augiura. Claus pinned Owada after an over the shoulder Falcon Arrow.
Main Event: Kaito Kiyomiya, Reindeer Fujimura (Kai Fujimura) & Kenoh beat Manabu Soya, Tadasuke & Tree Man (YO-HEY). Kiyomoya pinned Tadasuke after Transformed Shining Wozard.
The next event is a LIMIT BREAK ex. Sunday at Shin-Kiba 1st Ring, their final event of the year. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin Saturday at 7 PM PT/10 PM ET.
In other news, the promotion announced MONDAY MAGIC will return in 2025, with the next season starting at the end of May and running through June.
New Japan 12/18/24 Results
New Japan kicked off the year-ending Road To TOKYO DOME Tour today, the last build to the annual Tokyo Dome spectacular on 1/4.
Today’s event was held at Tokorozawa Citizen Gym in Saitama. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 726.
Match 1: Shoma Kato & Tomoaki Honma beat Daiki Nagai & Katsuya Murashima. Kato pinned Nagai.
Match 2: Ryohei Oiwa, Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles beat Jacob Austin Young, Francesco Akira & TJP. Oiwa pinned Young after The Grip.
Match 3: SANADA, Drilla Moloney & Clark Connors beat Ryusuke Taguchi, Kevin Knight & KUSHIDA by DQ. Taguchi DQ’d.
Match 4: Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb beat Yujiro Takahashi & Ren Narita. Cobb pinned Takahashi after Tour of the Islands.
Match 5: Master Wato, Boltin Oleg, Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Divk Togo, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Sho & EVIL. Wato beat Togo with Vendeval.
Match 6: TAKA Michinoku & DOUKI beat Tiger Mask & El Desperado. DOUKI beat TM 4 with Italian Stretch 32.
Match 7: BUSHI & Yota Ysuji beat Gedo & David Finlay. BUSHI pinned Gedo after Fable.
Main Event: Tomohiro Ishii & Shota Unino beat Hartley Jackson (Independent/Freelancer) & Zack Sabre Jr. Ishii pinned Jackson after a vertical drop brainbister.
The next event is tomorrow at Yamagata Big Wing in Yamagata. There will be no love or on demand broadcast.
Dragon Gate 12/17/24 Results
Dragon Gate ran their final Tokyo event of 2024 today, which also was the retirement event for longtime comedy wrestler Ichikawa. His final opponent would be none other than New Japan’s Hiroshi Tanahashi.
Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on DRAGONGATE NETWORK.
The announced paid attendance was 1552, which sounds like a legit sellout.
Match 1: Ben-K beat Hyo.
Match 2: Takashi Yoshida & Ho Ho Lun beat Problem Dragon & Punch Tominaga. Yoshida pinned Tominaga after Pineapple Bomber.
Match 3: KAI, Jason Lee, Yoshiki Kato & Homare beat Ryu Fuda, Mochizuki Junior, Daiki Yanagiuchi & Akihiro Sahara. Kato pinned Yanagiuchi after a sitout Canadian Hammer
Match 4: Ultimo Dragon, Shachihoko BOY & Super Shisa bear Genki Horiguchi, Yasushi Kanda & Kenichiro Arai. Dragon pinned Horiguchi with La Magistral.
Match 5: Luis Mante & Flamita beat JACKY KAMEI & Riiita. Mante pinned Riiita after Vuelta Finale.
Match 6: YAMATO, BxB Hulk, Susumu Yokosuka & Kagetora beat Masaaki Mochizuki, Don Fujii, Toru Owashi (DDT) & Shuji Kondo (Independent/Freelancer). YAMATO pinned Fujii after Omniscient & Omnipotent Frankensteiner.
Match 7: Dragon Dia, Madoka Kikuta & Ryoya Tanaka beat Kzy, Strong Machine J & U-T and Shun Skywalker, Kota Minoura & ISHIN in a 3-way when Dia pinned ISHIN.
Main Event: Ichikawa Retirement Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi (New Japan) beat Ichikawa in 16 seconds. Which led to…
Main Event (again): Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Ichikawa.
The next event is tomorrow at Yokohama Radiant Hall in Yokohama. There will be no live or on demand broadcast. Also, on Friday will be this month’s PRIME ZONE+ episode at Kobe Lapis Hall in Kobe, live streaming on DRAGONGATE NETWORK will begin at 2 AM PT/5 AM ET.
GLEAT 12/15/24 Results
GLEAT ran their latest G PROWRESTLING event yesterday in Osaka, the last Osaka event of the year which also featured a new concept experiment.
Yesterday’s event was held at Umeda Stellar Hall in Osaka and will be available on demand on YouTube Wednesday. There was no live broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 267.
Match 1: MICHIKO, Magbitude Kishiwada & Seiichi Ikemoto beat Maho Blanca, Minoru Tanaka & Gamma. MICHIKO pinned Gamma after Masada Drop. Tanaka was a late replacement for the absent CIMA (fever).
Matches 2 & 3 were G-RUSH Matches (7 minute time limit, 2 count pinfalls and also only 2 rope escapes allowed, 3 means loss, if a time limit draw the match continues with no time limit, 1 count falls and 1 rope escape allowed).
Match 2: Issei Onitsuka beat KAZMA SAKAMOTO.
Match 3: Kotaro Suzuki beat Yu Iizuka.
Match 4; El Lindaman & Takanori Ito beat Junjie & JD Lee. Ito pinned Lee with a German suplex hold.
Match 5: T-Hawk beat Ryo Aitaka by submission.
Match 6: Kaito Ishida, So Daimonji & Hartley Jackson beat Ryuichi Kawakami, Brass Knuckles JUN & Chris Weiss. Daimonji pinned JUN after Black Rain.
Match 7: Soma Watanabe & Takehiro Yamamura beat Hayato Tamura & Quier Storm. Watanabe pinned Tamura after White Horse.
Main Event: Lidet UWF Single Bout: Lidet UWF Champion Katsuhiko Nakajima beat Tetsuya Izuchi by TKO to retain the title. V2 for Nakajima.
The next event is GLEAT Ver. 14 on 12/30 at Tokyo Dome City Hall in Tokyo. Live streaming on YouTube will begin at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET…however, it’s not going to be free. They will introduce a channel membership beginning on 12/23 for live broadcasts and other members-only bonus content. The subscription fee will be 990 Japanese yen/month, which works out to around $6.75 US. Like all YouTube membership channels, ti’s month-to-month and you can cancel anytime. I may get it at some point to support the promotion although schedules really don’t allow me to watch their events live.
Stardom News: Upcoming Title Matches Announced
Ahead of their remaining events this year, Stardom announced some more title matches for the year-end events ahead of a press conference for said remaining big shows, which is scheduled for tomorrow (12/17) at 2 AM PT/5 AM ET and will be streamed live FOR FREE on YouTube:
Added to 12/24 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo is High Speed Champion Mei Seira vs. Momo Kohgo for the title. This comes after Kohgo recently pinned Seira in a 6-woman tag match. That makes 2 title matches for the event along with Future Of Stardom Champion Miyu Amasaki vs. Sayaka Kurara for the title. That event will be streamed live FOR FREE on both Stardom World and YouTube.
Set for 12/26 at NEW BLOOD 17 at New Pier Hall Takeshiba in Tokyo is New Blood Tag Team Champions Rina & Azusa Inaba vs. Waka Tsukiyama & HANAKO for the titles. That event will be streamed live FOR FREE only on YouTube.
The rest of both events’ cards are TBA.
Stardom 12/15/24 Results
Stardom ran the second half of a weekend house show doubleheader today in Nagano.
Today’s event was held at Nagano Prefecutral Budokan in Nagano and will be available on demand on Stardom World at a later date. There was no live broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 278.
Match 1; Starlight Kid, Suzu Suzuki & Miyu Amasaki beat Natsupoi, Yuna Mizumori & Sayaka Kurara. Amzaki pinned Kurara.
Match 2: Koguma beat Ranna Yagami & Rian in a 3-way by pinning Yagami.
Match 3: Mei Seira & AZM beat Saki Kashima & Matoi Hamabe. Seira pinned Hamabe after Shooting Star.
Match 4; Natsuko Tora, Momo Watanabe & Konami beat Mayu Iwatani, Hanan & Saya Iida. Watanabe pinned Iida after Tequila Sunrise.
Match 5: Maika, Waka Tsukiyama & HANAKO beat Syuri, Hina & Lady C. Tsukiyama pinned C after 619DDT. Afterwards, H.A.T.E. ambushed & beat down Maika in the backstage comment area.
Main Event: Tam Nakano & Aya Sakura beat Saya Kamitani & Rina. Nakano pinned Rina after Violet Screwdriver.
The next event is Friday at Osaka Prefectural Gym 2 in Osaka. Live streaming on Stardom World will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET. All 6 remaining 2024 events will be available live and on demand immediately afterwards, including the year-end PPV.
Dragon Gate 12/15/24 Results
Dragon Gate ran their final blowout event of the year, THE FINAL GATE 2024, earlier today in Fukuoka.
Today’s event was held at Fukuoka International Center in Fukuoka and can be watched on demand on DRAGONGATE NETWORK.
The announced paid attendance was 2765.
Match 1: Ben-K, Riiita & Mochizuki Junior beat Madoka Kikuta, Ryoya Tanaka & Luis Mante. Ben-K pinned Tanaka after a spear.
Match 2: Strong Machine J & U-T beat JACKY KAMEI & Daiki Yanagiuchi. J pinned Yanagiuchi after Gold Ship.
Match 3: Ultimo Dragon, Genki Horiguchi, Yasushi Kanda & Toru Owashi (DDT) beat Masaaki Mochizuki, Don Fujii, Problem Dragon & Punch Tominaga. Dragon pinned Tominaga with La Magistral.
Match 4; Kuroshio TOKYO Japan beat Hyo.
Match 5: BxB Hulk, Susumu Yokosuka & Kagetora beat KAI, ISHIN & Yoshiki Kato to win the vacant Open The Triangle Gate Championship. Hulk, Yokosuka & Kagetora become the 91st Open The Triangle Gate Champions. Kagetora pinned Kato.
Match 6: Naomichi Marufuji & Takashi Siguira (Pro Wrestling NOAH) beat Shun Skywalker & Homare. Sugiura pinned Homare after Olympic Yosen Slam.
Match 7: Kota Minoura & Jason Lee beat Open The Twin Gate Champions Kzy & Flamita to win the titles. Minoura & Lee become the 68th Open The Twin Gate Champions. Minoura pinned Flamita after Golden Rose.
Main Event: Open The Dream Gate Champion YAMATO beat Open The Brave Gate Champion Dragon Dia to win both titles. YAMATO becomes the 53rd Open The Brave Gate Champion. Open The Dream Gate V4 for YAMATO.
The next event is Tuesday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Live streaming on DRAGONGATE NETWORK will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET.
New Japan Pro Wrestling “STRONG STYLE EVOLVED” 2024 LIVE Results (12/15/24) (Updated)
New Japan runs their final US event of the year, STRONG STYLE EVOLVED 2024, today, and the event may have implications for Tokyo Dome as well as their next US event in January (which I will be attending). In addition to plenty of Tokyo Dome previews, 3 title matches headline the event-first is STRONG Tag Team Champions Grizzled Young Veterans defending the titles against West Coast Wrecking Crew. The second title match sees STRONG Openweight Champion Gabriel Kidd defend against Ryohei Oiwa. And in the main event, after pulling off quite the upset to earn this spot Hazuki will try to win the STRONG Women’s Championship from Mercedes Mone, and frankly ruin January for me as I really want to see the C.E.O. in person as champion, not having the title go to Stardom yet. We’ll see.
Today’s event will be held at Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, CA and can be watched LIVE on New Japan World in Japanese and English. It will also be available as a PPV on TrillerTV/FITE for $19.99. There also will be a pre-show with one match 30 minutes before the event. Including that and with all the main card matches being 30 minute time limit I anticipate this being a “standard” PPV with a total running time of about 3 1/2 hours (not much longer as it’s a Sunday night event).
Today’s lineup:
Pre-show: Matt Vandagriff vs. Zane Jay
PPV:
Mina Shirakawa vs. Johnnie Robbie
STRONG Tag Team Champions James Drake & Zack Gibson vs. Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs for the titles
Clark Connors vs. KUSHIDA, TJP & Kosei Fujita in a 4-way
Lio Rush vs. Hechicero
Titan & Hiromu Takahashi vs. Jacob Austin Young & Templario
STRONG Openweight Champion Gabriel Kidd vs. Ryohei Oiwa for the title
Bad Dude Tito, Shane Haste & Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Fred Rosser, Tom Lawlor & Shota Umino
Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji vs. Konosuke Takeshita & Jack Perry
STRONG Women’s Champion Mercedes Mone vs. Hazuki for the title
Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.
Updates below will begin at 4:30 PM PT/7:30 PM ET.
4:30 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates begin now.
We are LIVE from Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, CA. Your hosts are Haruo Murata & Milano Collection A.T. Your English hosts are Walker Stewart & Veda Scott.
The paid attendance will be announced after the event. The setup is for just under 2800 and the latest estimate on ticket sales I had was Friday afternoon and was roughly 1900. Mostly empty now as the crowd is slowly filing in but I’m thinking the final number will be around 2000. (Early main show note: The crowd looks smaller than that, or in some sections it’s a very late arriving crowd. Looks closer to maybe 1500 from what I can see after the first match. Typical late-arriving LA area crowd as it grew a bit over the first hour) (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 2435. That number definitely sounds overstated. Didn’t look like that much on livestream)
You can also watch the pre-show FOR FREE on YouTube.
Pre-show match: Matt Vandagriff vs. Zane Jay. 20 minute time limit
Result: Zane Jay beat Matt Vandagriff by submission. Vandagriff’s “STRONG Survivor” run is over.
Updates will resume when the PPV/main show begins.
PPV/main show:
Match card order opening video starts things off.
The matches begin at 5:04 PM PT/8:04 PM ET.
Match 1: Mina Shirakawa vs. Johnnie Robbie. 30 minute time limit
Result: Mina Shirakawa beat Johnnie Robbie
Match 2: STRONG Tag Team Champions James Drake & Zack Gibson vs. Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs for the titles. 30 minute time limit
Result: Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs beat STRONG Tag Team Champions James Drake & Zack Gibson to win the titles. Nelson & Isaacs become the 11th STRONG Tag Team Champions. Isaacs pinned Drake. Long time coming win for West Coast Wrecking Crew. Afterwards, Rocky Romero came out. With microphone. He greets the crowd then congratulates the new champs while putting them over. Then the Vice President gets to business…challenge issued with Yoh as his partner for 1/11 in San Jose (SWEET!!! When I’ll be there in person!). Accepted. When Romero leaves, Isaacs drags him back in for a suplex.
Match 3: Clark Connors vs. KUSHIDA, TJP & Kosei Fujita in a 4-way. 30 minute time limit
Result: TJP beat Clark Connors, KUSHIDA & Kosei Fujita in a 4-way by pinning KUSHIDA. Rollup while Fujita had Connors in a submission hold to steal it with a 3 count. VERY CLEVER!!!
Match 4: Lio Rush vs. Hechicero. 30 minute time limit
Result: Hechicero beat Lio Rush
Match 5: Titan & Hiromu Takahashi vs. Jacob Austin Young & Templario. 30 minute time limit
Result: Jacob Austin Young & Templario beat Titan & Hiromu Takahashi. Templario pinned Titan.
Match 6: STRONG Openweight Champion Gabriel Kidd vs. Ryohei Oiwa for the title. 30 minute time limit
Result: STRONG Openweight Champion Gabriel Kidd beat Ryohei Oiwa to retain the title. V4 for Kidd. Afterwards, Kidd with microphone. He cursed out the crowd and a particular fan in the crowd with some uncensored language. He then turned his attention to Kenny Omega, who Kidd is scheduled to face at the Tokyo Dome in January. He finished by calling out Tomohiro Ishii for his next title defense on 1/11 when I’ll be there. OOOOOOOOOOOH!!!
Match 7: Bad Dude Tito, Shane Haste & Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Fred Rosser, Tom Lawlor & Shota Umino. 30 minute time limit
Result: Bad Dude Tito, Shane Haste & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Fred Rosser, Tom Lawlor & Shota Umino. Tito pinned Lawlor after a piledriver.
Match 8: Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji vs. Konosuke Takeshita & Jack Perry. 30 minute time limit
Result: Konosuke Takeshita & Jack Perry beat Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuhi. Perry pinned Tsuji after a running knee strike. Afterwards, Takagi went back in for more but got the heel beatdown until Hiromu Takahashi made the save, only to then get blindsided by Matt & Nick Jackson with a Suprekick Party. The Young Bucks will face Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito for the vacant IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship at Tokyo Dome. After they sent Perry to the back, Matt Jackson with microphone. Took some working up the crowd to try and get half a near-hometown pop (the Jacksons are from nearby Rancho Cucamonga) before Nick stated they came back to play politics…oh wait, to win the tag titles on 1/5 one more time before they retire. Despite trying to be heels they got a mixed reaction.
Main Event: STRONG Women’s Champion Mercedes Mone vs. Hazuki for the title. 30 minute time limit
Result: STRONG Women’s Champion Mercedes Mone beat Hazuki to retain the title. V3 for Mone. But many very close calls over the 25+ minutes. Afterwards, Mone with microphone. She began talking about May 2023 when, in the first title match, she was stretchered out after being injured during the match and now she’s back at champion. Then she stated her first goal for 2025-Tokyo Dome on 1/5. So I may not get the C.E.O. as champion on 1/11…but perhaps…next up…Mina Shirakawa came out. Rather skimpily dressed too but she’s a diva after all. Shirakawa with microphone. Of course she started in English playing the HLAEW card but then she got serious. Challenge issued for 1/5. In return, Mone said she wants a double title match for one of the Europe-based titles Shirakawa holds. So I’m gonna have to hold my breath for 3 weeks to see if I get my Mone worth or if I have to settle for some HLAEW…they did a little synchronized strutting & showing off in the ring to end the event.
End Show.
The next event is the Road To TOKYO DOME Tour, the year-ending series, starting Wednesday at Tokorozawa Municipal Gym in Saitama. There will be no live or on demand broadcast. (No broadcasts for the first 3 events then back live on New Japan World for the final 2 events of the year at Korakuen Hall)
UPDATE: It’s now official-Mone vs. Shirakawa for the STRONG Women’s Championship is set for 1/5. If Shirakawa retains the RevPro British Women’s Championship in her next defense against Dani Luna before then, it’s for both titles. Also added to 1/5 is a Lucha Gauntlet Match with 8 TBA participants, 4 from New Japan and 4 from CMLL. 2 start then a new wrestler enters every minute, first pinfall wins. The participants will not be announced in advance.
