FREE VIDEO: GLEAT Ver. 4 (12/30/22)

In a change from past events where it was a PPV, GLEAT streamed their major GLEAT Ver. 4 event live on YouTube earlier today from Tokyo Dome City Hall in Tokyo. If you missed it due to time differences (it was a 1 AM PT/4 AM ET start) you can watch below FOR FREE:

DDT 12/29/22 Results (Updated)

DDT ran their final big event of the year today, NEVER MIND 2022, loaded with numerous major matches and surprises and, unless you shelled out 250,000 yen for the most expensive seats, a money back guarantee if you found it boring courtesy of host LiLiCo. But how could a show starting with a LiLiCo anal explosion be boring?

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

The announced paid attendance was 1207, a super full house/very near sellout. It sounds low for the venue because vocal cheering was allowed, so between the almost-automatic 50% capacity limit and the layout, that lowered the max capacity to maybe 1500 (the venue’s normal capacity is, I believe, in the 3000-3500 range). No word on how many refunds were requested post-show, if any.

The show opened with the promised LiLiCo anal explosion, a DDT blowout event tradition.

Pre-show Match 1: Hideki Okatani & Toui Kojima beat Yuya Koroku & Kazuma Sumi. Okatani pinned Sumi after a diving knee drop.

Pre-show Match 2: Minoru Fujita, MJ Pawl & KANON beat Masa Takanashi, Antonio Honda & Takao Soma. KANON beat Honda with a cobra twist.

Keigo Nakamura, who has been out an extended time due to injury, will return on 1/13.

The LiLiCo anal explosion opened the main show.

Match 1: Sanshiro Takagi beat Takeshi Masada.

Match 2: HARASHIMA & Yukio Sakaguchi beat Yuji Hino & Yuki Ishida. HARASHIMA pinned Ishida after Blue Sword.

Match 3: Danshoku Dieno, Yuki Iino, Yumehito Imanari & Koju Takeda beat Akito, Osamu Nishimura, Shinichiro Kawamatsu & Shunma Katsumata. Iino pinned Katsumata. As a result, Katsumata must join Pheromons for a day.

Match 4: Chihiro Hashimoto (Sendai Girls) beat Shinya Aoki.

Match 5: Yuki Arai (Tokyo Joshi Pro) & Sali Akai beat Saori Anou & Rika Kawabata (Independent/Freelancers). Akai pinned Kawabata after Quetzalcoatl.

Match 6: Tetsuya Endo, Kotaro Suzuki (Pro Wrestling NOAH) & Yusuke Okada beat KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions Naruki Doi, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata to win the titles. Endo, Suzuki & Okada become the 49th KO-D Tag Team Champions. Endo pinned Hirata after Burning Star Press. Mext up: Those despicable Pheromons (Dieno/Iino/Takeda). That match will happen on 1/29 at Korakuen Hall.

Match 7: In a match with rules determined by Super Sasadango Machine’s weight pre-match, DDT Extreme Champion Jun Akiyama beat Super Sasadango Machine to retain the title. V1 for Akiyama. This went just over 2 minutes. Afterwards, Akiyama issued an open challenge for challengers. Next up: Antonio Honda. That match will happen on 1/21 at Yokohama Radiant Hall.

Match 8: Konosuke Takeshita & Yukio Naya beat Daisuke Sekimoto (Big Japan) & Rickey Shane Page. Naya pinned Page after a backdrop.

Match 9: MAO beat Chris Brookes, Daisuke Sasaki & Cara Noir in a 4-way by pinning Brookes.

Main Event: KO-D Openweight Champion Kazusada Higuchi beat Yuki Ueno to retain the title. V5 for Higuchi. Ueno’s DDT Universal Championship was not on the line. Next up: Hino. That match will happen pn 1/29.

Their final event of the year is Saturday at Korakuen Hall with a one-day 6-man tag team tournament. There will be no live broadcast.

UPDATE: With regards to Katsumata having to join Pheromons for a day, that day will be 1/13 at Shinjuku Face.

AEW Dynamite 12/28/22 Results (Updated x3)

Here are the quick results from tonight’s AEW Dynamite in Broomfield, CO:

Bryan Danielson beat Ethan Page by submission.

Claudio Castagnoli & Jon Moxley beat Top Flight. Castagnoli pinned Darius Martin after an uppercut.

Hook beat Baylum Lynx by submission. Squash.

AEW Trios Title 7 Match Series Match 6: In a Falls Count Anywhere Match, The Elite beat Death Triangle. Kenny Omega pinned Rey Fenix after One Winged Angel through a table. It’s now 3-3, meaning Match 7 for the titles is a Ladder Match in 2 weeks on 1/11 in Los Angeles, CA. (It can’t be next week because Omega will be returning to New Japan Pro Wrestling for their Tokyo Dome event next Wednesday morning)

Tay Melo & Anna Jay.A.S. beat Ruby Soho & Willow Nightingale. Melo pinned Soho after TayKO.

AEW TNT Champion Samoa Joe beat Wardlow by submission to retain the title.

I missed the show due to illness so no thoughts/comments.

Friday on Rampage: Swerve Strickland vs. Wheeler Yuta and AEW All-Atlantic Champion Orange Cassidy vs. Trent Beretta for the title.

UPDATE: AEW TBS Champion Jade Cargill vs. Kiera Hogan for the title has been added to Rampage. Also promos from Jamie Hayter & Jon Moxley (the latter could result in a fight with Adam Page based on recent history).

UPDATE 2: Jay Lethal/Jeff Jarrett/Sonjay Dutt promo has been added to Rampage.

Added to next week on Dynamite is AEW TNT Champion Samoa Joe vs. Darby Allin for the title.

UPDATE 3: And Tony Schiavone speaking to Darby Allin & Sting has been added to Rampage. Bear in mind this is all TAPED already.

DEVELOPING: Sumo-Suspensions & Worse?

This is coming from a YouTube video I just saw so I can’t yet verify its accuracy (maybe we’ll know more next week when NHK World Japan does their regular Grand Sumo Preview special for the upcoming tournament), but it’s huge if true: July champion Ichinojo is OUT of the January tournament AND Isegahama, chief judge of sumo and stablemaster of Isegahama Beya, may be either demoted or removed from the sumo ranking board. That also would be huge for the banzuke and especially his wrestlers (pretty much anybody with “Fuji” at the end of their name). And one lower tier wrestler at the stable has been forced to retire over bullying allegations (it should be noted this stable boasts, among others, current Yokozuna Terunofuji).

Ichinojo’s issues seem to stem from poor conduct and missing training often, likely due to excessive drinking, and reportedly struck his stablemaster’s (Minato) wife once as she tried to escort Ichinojo home from a bar (and Ichinojo, the Mongolian who is the biggest top-tier wrestler at well over 450 pounds, and closer to 475, probably outweighed her by at least 350 pounds so that’s very scary). But this supposedly happened over 5 years ago so it’s “old news”. But this charge was reduced to breaking Covid rules (that’s what got former Ozeki Asanoyama suspended for a year, and November champion Abi suspended for 6 months). Minato (stablemaster of Minato Beya) is docked 20% pay for the next 3 months.

As for Isegahama Beya, a younger wrestler claimed he was beaten and had boiling chanko (stew) water poured on him, and those claims were found to be true. One of the guilty parties has retired, the other is out the next 2 tournaments. We may know who when the Nihon Sumo Kyokai updates the “Absent Rikishi Info” page on their website as the start of the tournament nears at the end of next week. Stablemaster Isegahama, the chief judge often seen prominently at sumo tournaments and as part of the awards ceremony, will likely be gone from that role completely and not seen at all.

The source of this news is the YouTube video below:

Ganbare Pro 12/27/22 Results

Ganbare Pro ran their final event of 2022 today, a major event dubbed “GIRI GIRI CHOP! 2022” featuring a but of everything-a debut, a return, a farewell and a title match main event.

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

The paid attendance has not yet been announced. The opposite-hard camera side where the monitor(s) is/are was completely closed so it’s probably going to be low.

There were several major opening announcements including launching a separate women’s operation, a Young Ganbare Cup and an Ota City major event on 7/9/23.

Match 1: Sotatsu Nakamura Debut Match: Shinichiro Tominaga beat Sotatsu Nakamura.

Match 2: Yuki Kamifuku & YuuRI beat Suuzme & Yoshiko Hasegawa. Kamifuku pinned Hasegawa after Fameasser.

Match 3: Ken Ohka & Yumehito Imanari vs. Danshoku Dieno & Yuki Iino went to a No Contest. Ref assault.

Match 4: Yuna Manase, Moeka Haruhi & HARUKAZE beat Nao Ishikawa, Yuki Mashiro & Kaede Matsushita (Ice Ribbon). Manase pinned Ishikawa after a short range lariat.

Match 5: Shota Return Match: Shuichiro Katsumura & Shota beat Takao Soma & Shigehiro Irie. Shota pinned Soma after a frog splash.

Match 6: Takaaki Iwasaki Farewell Match: Keisuke Ishii beat Takaaki Iwasaki.

Main Event: Mizuki Watase beat Spirit of Ganbare World Openweight Champion Hartley Jackson to win the title. Watase becomes the 4th Spirit of Ganbare World Openweight Champion.

Their first event of 2023 is 1/5 at Itabashi Green Hall in Tokyo. There will be no live broadcast.

UPDATE: They didn’t announce attendance.

DEVELOPING: TJPW Tag Tournament Bracket Unveiled

In a free YouTube video posted a short time ago, Tokyo Joshi Pro unveiled the full bracket for the 3rd Futari-wa Princess Max Heart Tournament starting in January. The matches were determined via a random draw by ring announcer Sayuri Namba.

The bracket is as follows:
First, because there are 10 teams it means 2 get a free pass into the Quarterfinals. Those lucky two are Suzume & Arisu Endo and last year’s champions Miu Watanabe & Rika Tatsumi. Likewise, 4 teams start in Round 1 and must win an additional match to win it all, including current Princess Tag Team Champions Yuki Arai & Saki Akai.
Round 1 (1/15):
Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu vs. Moka Miyamoto & Juria Nagano
Yuki Arai & Saki Akai vs. Yuki Aino & Raku

Quarterfinals:
1/15:
Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh vs. Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta
1/19:
Suzume & Arisu Endo vs. Kamifuku/Kiryu-Miyamoto/Nagano winner
Miu Watanabe & Rika Tatsumi vs. Arai/Akai-Aino/Raku winner
Hyper Misao & Shoko Nakajima vs. Neko Haruna & Kaya Toribami

Semifinals (1/29):
Yamashita/Itoh-Noa/Kakuta winner vs. Suzume/Endo-1/15 winner
Misao/Nakajima-Haruna/Toribami winner vs. Watanabe/Tatsumi-1/15 winner

Finals (2/11):
1/29 winners

Watanabe & Tatsumi are the defending tournament winners. The winners likely will get a Princess Tag Team Championship shot unless the current champions at the time win. After 1/4 we’ll know if that’s still Arai/Akai or if they, like everyone else, will be going for a shot at Heidi Howitzer & Max The Impaler. As a reminder, there are 3 wrestlers not participating, hence only 10 teams: Yuka Sakazaki (scheduled excursion to All Elite Wresting in USA), Mizuki (refused to participate because she’s a snobby brat and she won’t team with anyone except Sakazaki) and Pom Harajuku (opted out to support Aino/Raku).

Sumo-January 2023 Banzuke Announced

As their late Christmas Day gift to their fans outside Japan, the Nihon Sumo Kyokai (Japan Sumo Association) has announced the Banzuke (rankings) for the January 2023 Grand Sumo Tournament. Click below for a look at how the top 2 tiers shape up:

Continue reading “Sumo-January 2023 Banzuke Announced”

Tokyo Joshi Pro “Se-no, Merry Christmas! 2022” LIVE Results (12/24/22)

Tokyo Joshi Pro wraps up their 2022 schedule today with their annual Christmas event, which is more of a fan appreciation event as they continue a tradition where all the matches, except for the main event, are determined by a fan lottery held at an event earlier in the month. That was again the case here but there have been a couple of last-minute changes because both Rika Tatsumi & Nao Kakuta are now off the card. Tatsumi was pulled earlier today due to gastroenteritis after being hospitalized for the always-vague “poor physical condition”, and Kakuta is off due to coronavirus. The latter had left Yuki Kamifuku in limbo without a match, but with Tatsumi being off and that leaving Mahiro Kiryu without a match, the sometimes-partners will now face each other.

Today’s event will be held at Ryogoku KFC Hall in Tokyo and can be watched LIVE on WRESTLE UNIVERSE. There will be no commentary. Because all the matches except for the main event have 10 minute time limits, even if they go the distance this will be a fast, short event. The total runtime will probably be just under 90 minutes.

Today’s lineup:
Neko Haruna vs. Kaya Toribami
Pom Harajuku vs. Arisu Endo
Yuki Kamifuku vs. Mahiro Kiryu
Hikari Noa vs. Yuki Aino
Miu Watanabe vs. Raku & Juria Nagano in a 3-way
Yuka Sakazaki, Mizuki, Shoko Nakajima & Suzume vs. Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh, Hyper Misao & Moka Miyamoto

Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.

Updates below will begin at 10:30 PM ET/7:30 PM PT

The stream was to go live at 10 PM ET but that was pushed back last-minute to 10:15 PM ET.

10:30 PM ET UPDATE: Live updates begin now…
We are LIVE from Ryogoku KFC Hall in Tokyo, Japan. There is no commentary.

The paid attendance will be announced after the event but based on ticket sales and same-day advertisements, and Christmas, it’ll probably be on the low side. I’d guess around 175. It may be lower in part because vocal cheering is allowed.

The matches begin at 10:40 PM ET. Took me a bit to notice it’s hard-camera-only setup today.

Match 1: Neko Haruna vs. Kaya Toribami. 10 minute time limit
Result: Kaya Toribami beat Neko Haruna. I think that’s her first ever singles win, and maybe just her second win overall, if not first.

Match 2: Arisu Endo (with new entrance music) vs. Pom Harajuku. 10 minute time limit
Result: Pom Harajuku beat Arisu Endo. Christmas themed comedy match (which of course was a lot of fun).

Match 3: Miu Watanabe vs. Raku & Juria Nagano in a 3-way. 10 minute time limit
Result: Miu Watanabe beat Raku & Juria Nagano in a 3-way by pinning Nagano.

Match 4: Yuki Kamifuku vs. Mahiro Kiryu. 10 minute time limit
Result: Yuki Kamifuku beat Mahiro Kiryu

Match 5: Hikari Noa vs. Yuki Aino. 10 minute time limit
Result: Time Limit Draw. And now we know they still use the old TJPW theme music when that happens. I prefer it over the new one (it’s fine for games like Final Fantasy-one of their composers did it, but for wrestling like this, no)

Quick break for ring maintenance/repairs..This lasted about 5 minutes.

Main Event: Yuka Sakazaki, Mizuki, Shoko Nakajima & Suzume vs. Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh, Hyper Misao & Moka Miyamoto. 30 minute time limit
In progress.

Post-show Update: The announced paid attendance was 335, a super full house/very near sellout. That means they were much closer to full capacity than they had been all year (I believe the venue’s full capacity is in the 400-500 range).

12/25/22-12/31/22 Events Schedule

Here is the current events schedule for 12/25/22-12/31/22, which is subject to change (all times PT):

12/25:
TBA-Nihon Sumo Kyokai January 2023 Tournament Banzuke Announcement

12/27:
1:30 AM-Ganbare Pro Wrestling “GIRI GIRI CHOP! 2022”, Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan. Live on WRESTLE UNIVERSE

12/28:
5 PM-All Elite Wrestling “AEW Dynamite”, Denver, CO. Live on TBS in US and FITE elsewhere

12/29:
Midnight-DDT Pro Wrestling “NEVER MIND 2022′, Tokyo Dome City Hall, Tokyo. Live on WRESTLE UNIVERSE

12/30:
7 PM-All Elite Wrestling “AEW Rampage”. TAPED on TNT in US and FITE elsewhere

12/31:
1:30 AM-DDT Pro Wrestling New Year’s Eve Pro Wrestling 2022, Korakuen Hall, Tokyo. No live broadcast
11 PM-Pro Wrestling NOAH ABEMA Presents “NOAH THE NEW YEAR” 2023, Nippon Budokan, Tokyo. Live on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in English only. LIVE RESULTS TENTATIVELY SCHEDULED