News, results & more from Japanese Pro Wrestling & Sumo
Following the announcement of his retirement last week, Pro Wrestling NOAH held a press conference with Akitoshi Saito today to announce further details. Specifically the date-his retirement event will be on 11/17 at Aichi Prefectural Gym in Nagoya.
More as it becomes available.
Breaking injury news from New Japan: After jokingly blaming his DDT match today against Chris Brookes for having holes all over his body, El Desperado got serious and announcing he is headed to the sidelines. Meniscus surgery for an injury he’s been dealing with for 6 months. Out indefinitely but it’ll be several months. With the G1 CLIMAX now underway, he & the Junior Heavyweights get a few weeks off so it comes at a good time. Desperado has vowed to come back at 100% and reclaim the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship.
Stardom ran perhaps the only non-major event in Japan today, a house show in Chiba.
Today’s event was held at TKP Garden City Chiba in Chiba and can be watched on demand on Stardom World.
The announced paid attendance was 301.
Match 1: Hanan, Saya Iida & Ranna Yagami beat Rina, Ruaka & Azusa Inaba. Iida pinned Rina after Iidabashi.
Match 2: Yuna Mizumori beat Rian.
Match 4: Mei Seira beat Saya Kamitani, Natsupoi & Fukigen in a 4-way by pinning Kamitani. Potential High Speed Championship implications there.
Match 5: Mayu Iwatani, Hazuki, Koguma & Momo Kohgo beat Saki Kashima, Tomoka Inaba, Lady C & Hina. Hazuki pinned Hina after a diving senton.
Match 6: Waka Tsukiyama, Gina & Mina Shirakawa beat Tam Nakano, Saori Anou & Aya Sakura and AZM, Starlight Kid & Miyu Amasaki in a 3-way when Gina pinned Nakano. Despite the loss, after the match Nakano demanded a rematch for the Artist Of Stardom Championship. Accepted. That match will happen on 8/4.
Main Event: Maika, Syuri & Konami beat Natsuko Tora, Momo Watanabe & Thekla. Konami pinned Thekla after Triangle Lancer.
The next event is Tuesday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Live streaming on Stardom World will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET.
Kobe Pro Wrestling Festival 2024, Dragon Gate’s annual biggest event and this year a 25th Anniversary celebration, was held earlier today.
Today’s event was held at Kobe World Hall in Kobe and can be watched on demand on DRAGONGATE NETWORK.
The paid attendance has not yet been announced. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 4795, a super full house/very near sellout. Maybe it’s me and they didn’t show all the seating on the broadcast but it looked like less, with at least 1/3 of the seating not used due to the setup. The venue can hold over 8000)
Match 1: Madoka Kikuta beat Kota Minoura.
Match 2: Shachihoko BOY, Ryu Fuda, Faiki Yanagiuchi & Ryoya Tanaka beat Takashi Yoshida, Problem Dragon, Punch Tomonaga & Ho Ho Lun. Tanaka pinned Tominaga after Survive.
Match 3: KAI & ISHIN beat Yosuke ❤️ Santamaria & La Estrella. ISHIN pinned Santamaria after Jinchu.
Match 4: Dragon Gate 25th Anniversary Match: Ultimo Dragon, Don Fujii, Yasushi Kanda, Susunu Yokosuka & Kagetora beat Masaaki Mochizuki, Kenichiro Arai, Super Shisa, Ichikawa & Vhocoflake K-ICHI. Dragon pinned Ichikawa after a blocked La Magistral.
Match 5: Open The Triangle Gate Champions Strong Machine J, BIGBOSS Shimizu & U-T beat BxB Hulk, Minorita & Mochizuki Junior to retain the titles. J pinned Hulk with Machine Suplex. V1 for the champs.
Match 6: Dragon Dia beat Open The Brave Gate Champion Hyo to win the title. Dia becomes the 52nd Open The Brave Gate Champion.
Match 7: Open The Twin Gate Champions Dragon Kid & Naruki Doi beat Luis Mante & JACKY KAMEI, Kzy & Flamita and Shun Skywalker & Jason Lee in a 4-way elimination match to retain the titles. Order of elimination (both members eliminated each time): KAMEI by Flamita, Kzy by Skywalker, Lee by Kid. V1 for the champs.
Main Event: YAMATO beat Open The Dream Gate Champion Ben-K to win the title. YAMATO becomes the 40th Open The Dream Gate Champion.
The next event is Saturday at Shimizu Marine Building in Shizuoka. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.
Here are the quick results from today’s Day 8-the Halfway Point-of the July 2024 Grand Sumo Tournament in Nagoya:
Key: M-Maegashira, K-Komusubi, S-Sekiwake, O-Ozeki, Y-Yokozuna, J-Juryo, Ms-Makushita
Makuuchi (top tier):
Endo (J14) beat Asakoryu (J4)
Roga (M15) beat Hokurofuji (J13)
Bushozan (M16) beat Takarafuji (M13)
Churanoumi (M12) beat NIshikifuji (M17)
Ichiyamamoto (M11) beat Kagayaki (M16)
Chiyoshoma (M15) beat Nishikigi (M11)
Shodai (M10) beat Wakatakakage (M14)
Midorifuji (M10) beat Ryuden (M9)
Kinbozan (M8) beat Kotoshoho (M7)
Sadanoumi (M7) beat Tamawashi (M9)
Oho (M6) beat Oshoma (M9)
Takanosho (M6) beat MitakeumI (M7)
Atamifuji (M1) beat Wakamotoharu (M2)
Hiradoumi (K) beat Meisei (M1)
Abi (S) beat Gonoyama (M3)
Onosato (S) beat Tobizaru (M4)
Kotozakura (O) beat Ura (M4)
Takakeisho (O) beat Kirishima (S)
Hoshoryu (O) beat Daieisho (K)
Terunofyji (Y) beat Shonannoumi (M5)
Leader: Terunofuji (8-0)
Of note: With now at least 2 more days before potential promotions are earned, Terunofuji is halfway to #10 and maintains his 2 win advantage. At this point the question may shift from will he win to will he go 15-0 and perhaps pull a Hakuho, retiring after a perfect championship finale. On the flip side, Nishikigi becomes the first demotion of the tournament as he is now 0-8. Elsewhere, a quick Ozeki re-promotion is all but gone for Kirishima as he is now 4-4, having to go 6-1 or 7-0 now to make is happen. Despite beating Kirishima, Takakeisho also has work to do in order to keep his Ozeki rank as he is now 3-5 so he must go 5-2 or better. And while he may be too far back to win another championship, Onosato has now won 4 straight after a 1-3 start and is now 5-3, keeping his slim Ozeki promotion hopes for September alive. He’s potentially setting up a shot for November promotion with 10-11 wins in September.
Terunofuji goes for 9-0 tomorrow against Daieisho.
Juryo:
Daiseizan (Ms2) beat Kayo (J13)
Shishi (J10) beat Tsushimanada (J12)
Shimazuumi (J10) beat Aoiyama (J11)
Fujiseiun (J14) beat Hidenoumi (J9)
Nabatame (J14) beat Chiyosakae (J9)
Shirokuma (J8) beat Hakuoho (J13)
Myogiryu (J8) beat Hakuyozan (J12)
Shiden (J7) beat Tochitaikai (J11)
Daishoho (J4) beat Tomokaze (J7)
Tamashoho (J6) beat Kitanowaka (J3)
Tsurugisho (J5) beat Mitoryu (J3)
Daiamami (J2) beat Shimanoumi (J6)
Tokihayate (J1) beat Tohakuryu (J5)
Takerufuji (J2) beat Onokatsu (J1)
Leader: Shishi (7-1)
Of note: Takerutuji returned for the first time since winning the Emperor’s Cup in March, staving off another demotion for now and probably at least maintaining jis Juryo rank regardless of what happens now as 0-15 or Absent would mean demotion to Makushita. He can still get a promotion id he wins out but almost certainly wouldn’t get back to the top tier. Tohakuryu will be the first demotion this time at now 0-8. Shishi is now the sole leader, surely would be a popular one because he is a sentimental favorite being one of two current rikishi from Ukraine. At the bottom, Daiseizan came up for an unusual 5th match for an unbeaten Makushita man at this point-he’ll have a couple days off as a result but with this win he’s gone to 5-0 and will be in Juryo in September for the first time.
Lower tier notes:
In the Makushita, besides Daiseizan there are 7 others currently at 4-0 with Dewarnoryu at Ms9 having a chance at Juryo promotion if he can win the championship. The Sandanme has 10 currently at 4-0. The Jinodan has 11 at 4-0 while the Jonokuchi has 3 at 4-0. 2 of those 3 face each other tomorrow so there will only be 2 unbeatens remaining and potentially just one. Enho won today so he currently is 3-1. One more win will definitely see him promoted to Jonidan in September.
New Japan ran Day 2 of the G1 CLIMAX 34 Tournament today.
Today’s event was held at Osaka Prefectural Gym in Osaka and can be watched on demand on New Japan World. (I considered doing live results as I did watch some of the event live but only watched the first half and there were some technical issues with the stream throughout)
The announced paid attendance was 2545.
All matches were G1 CLIMAX matches, 30 minute time limit.
Match 1; Block A: SANADA beat Callum Newman.
Match 2: Block B: HENARE beat Boltin Oleg.
Match 3: Block A: Gabriel Kidd beat Great-O-Khan.
Match 4: Block B: Ren Narita beat El Phantasmo.
Match 5: Block A: EVIL beat Jake Lee.
Match 6: Block B: Yuya Uemura beat Hirooki Goto.
Match 7: Block A: Shota Umino beat Shingo Takagi.
Match 8: Block A: Zack Sabre Jr. beat Tetsuya Naito.
Main Event: Block B: Yota Tsuji beat David Finlay.
Day 3 is Tuesday at Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hall in Hiroshima. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET.
WRESTLE PETER PAN, DDT’s biggest annual event, is now in the books.
Today’s event was held at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.
The announced paid attendance was 4131, a super full house/very near sellout. They used a greatly reduced capacity setup (namely the box seats that normally hold 4-6 people for sumo were sold for only 2 people each), so a legit sellout probably would have been around 5000. The venue’s full normal capacity (mainly for sumo) is 15,000.
Match 1: Keigo Nakamura, Yuki Ishida & Kazuma Sumi beat Yuni, Yuya Koroku & Illusion. Nakamura pinned Yuni after a running diving headbutt.
Match 2: Toru Owashi, Hisamaru Tajima & Shinichiro Kawamatsu beat Makoto Oishi, Takao Soma & Munenori Sawa. Kawamatsu pinned Oishi after Ax Bomber.
Match 3: Super Sasadango Machine beat Kazuki Hirata.
Match 4: Jun Akiyama, Yukio Naya & Tomomitsu Matsunaga beat Minoru Suzuki, Shuji Ishikawa & Hikaru Sato. Naya pinned Sato after a wrist clutch backdrop.
Match 5: Sanshiro Takagi Final Pre-Hiatus Match: In a Weapon Rumble Match, Danshoku Dieno beat Sanshiro Takagi. Dieno also retained the DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Championship, which they traded at a press conference earlier this week. Takagi is now taking an indefinite hiatus from competing, but has emphasized this is not retiring.
Match 6: Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON beat KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions HARASHIMA, Yasu Urano & Akito and Masa Takanashi, Antonio Honda & Takeshi Masada and Aja Kong, Shunma Katsumata & To-y in a 4-way elimination match to win the titles. Sasaki, Paul & KANON become the 56th KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions. Order of elimination (one fall eliminates teams): Katsumata by Akito, Akito by Kanon, Masada by Sasaki.
Match 7: Konosuke Takeshita beat Masato Tanaka (ZERO1).
Match 8: KO-D Tag Team Champions Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino beat Go Shiozaki & Atsushi Kotoge (Pro Wrestling NOAH) to retain the titles. Endo pinned KOtoge after Burning Star Press. V3 for the champs.
Match 9: In a No DQ Match, El Desperado (New Japan) beat Chris Brookes. This was changed last-minute to No DQ at their request.
Main Event: KO-D Openweight Champion Yuki Ueno beat MAO to retain the title. V6 for Ueno. Next up: Shinya Aoki. That match will happen on 8/25 at Korakuen Hall. After this, MAO returned to The37Kamiina. Also, this match was not for the DDT Universal Championship still held by MAO.
The next event is Friday at Shinjuku Face. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 3 AM PT/6 AM ET.
Pro Wrestling NOAH runs their monthly STAR NAVIGATION 2024 Tour event today, the series of Korakuen Hall events, and it’s a rare weekend morning matinee. Not counting a charity fundraiser event after this, it’s the last event before the annual N-1 VICTORY Tournament so almost all the participants will be in various tag matches. There is also a GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship match scheduled as Shuji Kondo & Eita will defend the titles against Alejandro & Cristobal. In the opening match, Kai Fujimura will return from injury.
Today’s event will be held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched LIVE on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in ENGLISH ONLY. This is an ABEMA exclusive broadcast so there may be some parts edited out or that we won’t see live, and Japanese audio will only be available in the on demand version shortly after the event ends. You can also watch the first 2 matches FOR FREE on YouTube. This is a 7 match card and even with the title match i anticipate this event having a “standard” Korakuen running time of around 2 1/2 hours, so if you’re planning to watch other events like I am prepare to perhaps do some brief split screen streaming.
Today’s lineup:
Kai Fujimura vs. Yu Owada
Ninja Mack vs. Junta Miyawaki
Naomichi Marufuji, Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. & AMAKUSA vs. Takashi Sugiura, Hajime Ohara & Alpha Wolf
HAYATA, YO-HEY & Tadasuke vs. Daga, Yoshinari Ogawa & Super Crazy
GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Shuji Kondo & Eita vs. Alejandro & Cristobal for the titles
Kenoh & Ulka Sasaki vs. Yoshiki Inamura & Manabu Soya
Kaito Kiyomiya, Jack Morris & Dragon Bane vs. Go Shiozaki, Masa Kitamiya & Ryohei Oiwa
Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.
Updates below will begin at 7:30 PM PT/10:30 PM ET. The live stream is scheduled to begin 15 minutes before the event.
7:30 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates begin now.
We are LIVE from Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. English Commentary will join the broadcast shortly.
The paid attendance will be announced after the event. Looks like the “new normal” full capacity setup and looked to be around 75% full from the quick first look I got. If that’s the case, I’m predicting the crowd should be near 1000. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 903)
The opening video plays almost as soon as we join, so the matches should begin in 5-10 minutes.
The matches begin at 7:34 PM PT/10:34 PM ET. Thankfully no G-Man ring announcer. Your hosts are Mark Pickering & Mike Schroder (I don’t know where Stewart Fulton is but I miss him already).
Match 1: Kai Fujimura Return Match: Kai Fujimura vs. Yu Owada. 15 minute time limit
Result: Yu Owada beat Kai Fujimura
Match 2: Ninja Mack vs. Junta Miyawaki. 20 minute time limit
Result: Junta Miyawaki beat Ninja Mack
The YouTube broadcast ends here.
Match 3: Naomichi Marufuji, Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. & AMAKUSA vs. Takashi Sugiura, Hajime Ohara & Alpha Wolf. 20 minute time limit
Result: Naomichi Marufuji, Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. & AMAKUSA beat Takashi Sugiura, Hajime Ohara & Alpha Wolf. Wagner Jr. pinned Ohara after Wagner Driver.
Match 4: HAYATA, YO-HEY & Tadasuke vs. Daga, Yoshinari Ogawa & Super Crazy. 30 minute time limit
Result: HAYATA, YO-HEY & Tadauske beat Daga, Yoshinari Ogawa & Super Crazy. YO-HEY pinned Crazy after a dropkick.
Match 5: GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Shuji Kondo & Eita vs. Alejandro & Cristobal for the titles. 1 Hour time limit
Result: GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Shuji Kondo & Eita beat Alejandro & Cristobal to retain the titles. Eita pinned Cristobal after Imperial Uno. V1 for the champs.
Match 6: Kenoh & Ulka Sasaki vs. Yoshiki Inamura & Manabu Soya. 30 minute time limit
Result: Yoshiki Inamura & Manabu Soya beat Kenoh & Ulka Sasaki. Soya pinned Sasaki after a lariat. Afterwards, Soya with microphone. He simply put over his chances in the N-1 VICTORY, a surprise perhaps given he just beat the GHC National Champion. But with the tournament, no title matches for a while. Heavyweight & National titles anyway.
Main Event: Kaito Kiyomiya, Jack Morris & Dragon Bane vs. Go Shiozaki, Masa Kitamiya & Ryohei Oiwa. 1 Hour time linit
Result: Kaito Kiyomiya, Jack Morris & Dragon Bane beat Go Shiozaki, Masa Kitamiya & Ryohei Oiwa. Kiyomiya pinned Kitamiya after Transformed Shining Wizard. Afterwards, Kiyomiya with microphone. He started to put himself over ahead of the N-1 VICTORY, which brought everyone else in the match back in to put themselves over ahead of the tournament (they’re all in). After everyone else was done, Kiyomiya finished putting himself over and predicting he would win to end the show.
The next event is a Noto Peninsula earthquake relief fundraiser event on 7/28 at Ishikawa Prefectural Industrial Exhibition Hall 3 in Ishikawa. There will be no live broadcast.
All-Japan wrapped up the Summer Action Series 2024 tour today in Tokyo.
Toady’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on AJPW.TV.
The announced paid attendance was 1341,
The pre-show was an Actress Girls segment and match.
Match 1: All-Asia Tag Team Champions Seiki Yoshioka & MUSASHI beat Naruki Doi & Senor Saito to retain the titles. MUSASHI pinned Saito after Estrellaftulo. V1 for the champs.
Match 2: Shotaro Ashino, Ryo Inoue, Hideki Suzuki, Kuroshio TOKYO Japan & Seigo Tachibana beat Hokuto Omori, Cyrus, Kumaarashi, Jack Kennedy & Aizawa No. 1. Inoue pinned 1 with a Daikannon suplex hold.
Match 3: Kyohei Wada (referee) 50th Anniversary Match: Masanobu Fuchi, Jun & Rei Saito beat Suwama, Dan Tamura & Takao Omori (Independent/Freelancer). Rei Saito pinned Tamura after a chokeslam.
Match 4: Yuma Aoyagi beat Ren Ayabe by ref stoppage. As a result, Aoyagi gets an All-Japan Triple Crown shot on 8/17.
Match 5: Kento Miyahara beat Rising Hayato.
Main Event: All-Japan Triple Crown Champion Yuma Anzai beat Ryuki Honda to retain the Triple Crown. V4 for Anzai. Next up: Not Aoyagi…yet. First, Rei Saito. That match will happen on 8/3.
The next event is 8/3 at at Sendai Sun Plaza in Sendai. Live streaming on AJPW.TV will begin on 8/2 at 10 PM PT/1 AM ET.
In other news, the 2024 Royal Road Tournament and field was announced. This a 16-man single-elimination tournament. The full field: Ryuki Honda, Yuma Anzai, Jun Saito, Rei Saito, Kento Miyahara, Suwama, Yuma Aoyagi, Shotaro Ashino, Ren Ayabe, Hohuto Omori, Dan Tamura, Hideki Suzuki, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Cyrus, Kumaarashi, Joel Redman. Redman, an 18-year veteran from England, was scheduled to participate in the 2020 Champions Carnival but was unable to travel to Japan due to the coronavirus pandemic. He first competed in All-Japan in the 2910 Champions Carnival and World’s Strongest Tag League, and his career includes being the inaugural WWE NXT Tag Team Champions with former Dragon Gate and current All Elite Wrestling wrestler Pac (who also competed in WWE for a time after leaving Dragon Gate).
The tournament schedule is as follows:
Round 1: 9/14 (Nagoya International Conference Center Event Hall, Nagoya), 9/15 (Act City Hamamatsu, Shizuoka), 9/16 (Hanahaku Memorial Park Tsurumi Ryokuchi Dogwood Hal, Osaka)
Quarterfinals: 9/19 (Shin-Kiba 1st Ring, Tokyo)
Semifinals/Finals: 9/22 (Korakuen)
UPDATE: After the event, it was announced MUSASHI has officially signed with the promotion.
Here are the quick results from today’s Day 7 of the July 2024 Grand Sumo Touranemnt in Nagoya:
Key: M-Maegashira, K-Komusubi, S-Sekiwake, O-Ozeki, Y-Yokozuna, J-Juryo
Makuuchi (top tier):
Chiyoshoma (M15) beat Mitoryu (J3)
Wakatakakage (M14) beat Nishikifuji (M17)
Kagayaki (M16) beat Takarafuji (M13)
Bushozan (M16) beat Hokutofuji (M13)
Endo (M14) beat Nishikigi (M11)
Roga (M15) beat Ichiyamamoto (M11)
Churanoumi (M12) beat Midorifuji (M10)
Shodai (M10) beat Sadanoumi (M7)
Kotoshoho (M7) beat Ryuden (M8)
Oho (M6) beat Tamawashi (M9)
Kinbozan (M8) beat Takanosho (M6)
Shonannoumi (M5) beat Oshoma (M9)
Wakamotoharu (M2) beat Gonoyama (M3)
Daieisho (K) beat Meisei (M1)
Onosato (S) beat Atamifuji (M1)
Abi (S) beat Mitakeumi (M2)
Hiradoumi (K) beat Takakeisho (O)
Kirishima (S) beat Hoshoryu (O)
Kotozakura (I) beat Tobizaru (M4)
Terunofuji (Y) beat Ura (M4)
Leader: Terunofuji (7-0)
Of note: Ura has one career win over Terunofuji and did his best to make it two before finally giving up, keeping the Yokozuna 2 clear of the field. Next o to take a shot tomorrow is Shonannoumi. Elsewhere, Takakeisho’s Ozeki rank is in serious jeopardy as he is now 2-5 and must finish 6-2 to avoid demotion. Kirishima is now 4-3 and must finish 6-2 or better for promotion back to Ozeki. At the bottom, NIshikigi is now one loss from demotion at 0-7.
Juryo:
Kayo (J13) beat Hakuyozan (J12)
Fujiseiun (J14) beat Tochitaikai (J11)
Nabatame (J14) beat Shimazuumi (J10)
Chiyosakae (J9) beat Tsushimanada (J12)
Hakuoho (J13) beat Hidenoumi (J9)
Aoiyama 9J11) beat Shirokuma (J8)
Shishi (J10) beat Shiden (J7)
Tamashoho (J6) beat Myogiryu (J8)
Tomokaze (J7) beat Shimanoumi (J6)
Kitanowaka (J3) beat Tsurugisho (J5)
Daiamami (J2) beat Tohakuryu (J5)
Onokatsu (J1) beat Asakoryu (J4)
Tokihayare (J1) beat Daishoho (J4)
Leader: Onokatsu, Shishi (6-1)
RE-ENTRY: Takerufuji (J2). Will return tomorrow. First match since winning the Emperor’s Cup in his top tier debut in March, but he suffered an ankle injury on Day 14 and missed May. Will be the equivalent of 0-7, but the goal is mainly to get 1 or 2 wins because no wins will mean demotion to Makushita in September. His first match will be against co-leader Onokatsu. It also means Daiseizan, a Makushita man originally from China, can potentially clinch promotion to Juryo in September as he comes up to face Kayo. At 4-0 from Ms2, Daiseizen will be promoted to Ms1 for sure but one more win means an official Juryo debut next time. He debuted in January 2022 so he could make it up in just over 2 1/2 years.
Reminder: NHK World Japan will have 50 minutes of LIVE top tier coverage tomorrow at 1:10 AM PT/4:10 AM ET. The channel is available worldwide FOR FREE with no viewing restrictions/limits and no account/signup required.
