Tokyo Sports reports that it was announced at their event today that Maki Itoh, who left Tokyo Joshi Pro last year after 9 years, has joined Stardom. This has been confirmed by Stardom’s official English social media.
More as it becomes available.
Dragon Gate 1/9/2026 Results
Dragon Gate rant he second half of their year-opening doubleheader today in Kobe.
Today’s event was held at Kobe Sambo Hall in Kobe and can be watched on demand on DRAGONGATE NETWORK. You can also watch the first match FOR FREE on YouTube.
The paid attendance has not yet been announced.
There was a last-minute change to the card today because of the announcement that BIGBOSS Shimizu, who has been inactive for most of the last year due to an investigation over potential breach of contract, would make his return today. A planned 6-man tag match became an 8-man tag as a result. Shimizu aligned himself with Natural Vibes for his return and going forward.
Match 1: Hyo, JACKY KAMEI, Riiita & Mochizuki Junior beat Ryu Fuda, Daiki Yanagiuchi, Akihiro Sahara & Kazuma Kimura. KAMEI pinned Yanagiuchi after JFK.
Match 2: BxB Hulk, KAGETORA & Naruki Doi (Independent/Freelancer) beat Masaaki Mochizuki, Yasushi Kanda & Demus. Hulk pinned Kanda after First Flash.
Match 3: Shun Skywalker beat Jiro Shinbashi in 13 seconds.
Match 4: ISHIN won a 9 man battle royal.
Match 5: Yuki Yoshioka, Dragon Dia & Ryoya Tanaka beat YAMATO, Dragon Kid & Susumu Yokosuka. Yoshioka pinned Kid after High Fly Flow.
Match 6: Madoka Kikuta, Kota Minoura, Jason Lee & KAI beat Strong Machine J, Kzy, U-T & BIGBOSS Shimizu. Kikuta pinned Kzy. The finish came after Shimizu possibly turned on Natural Vibes.
Main Event: Yuki Yoshioka beat El Ciero.
The next event is a same-day doubleheader Sunday at Nagoya International Legend Hall in Nagoya. Both events are legit advance sellouts. Live streaming on DRAGONGATE NETWORK will begin Saturday at 8 PM PT/11 PM ET for the first event and Sunday at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET for the second event.
In other news, it was announced that the promotion will return to the USA as part of The Collective 2026 on 4/15 at the Horseshoe Casino & Resort in Las Vegas, NV, part of the now-annual WrestleMania week series of independent events before the WWE flagship event. As perhaps part of this, independent US wrestler Marcus Mathers will make his Dragon Gate debut on 1/18 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and will be part of D’Courage while in Japan. New Japan is also set for The Collective with an El Desperado Produced event.
Injury Report: Maybe this is why that match went just 13 seconds-Shun Skywalker is now off both events tomorrow. Shoulder.
Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling 1/10/2026 LIVE Results
With Ittenyon and their year-opening pre-Tokyo Dome blowout event now behind them, Tokyo Joshi Pro begins their 2026 today with “TJPW New Year Party 2026” in Tokyo. It’s mostly a standard house show but the main event will finish setting what will be the likely main event at GRAND PRINCESS ’26, the biggest event of the year, on 3/29-we already know Princess Of Princess Champion Miu Watanabe will next defend the title then, but a 6-way elimination match today will determine who she defends against. It’s billed as a “survival match” and not a battle royal as there are no over the top rope eliminations. The match has the usual heavy hitter contenders including former champions Miyu Yamashita (who hasn’t held the title in what seems like too long now), Rika Tatsumi & Shoko Nakajima, but also presents the first and best chance so far for Yuki Arai to get a title shot. However, there is a big wild card in the match as Max The Impaler also will take part, admittedly leading to hopes of winning the title then defending first against Pom Harajuku which would be so awesome. And finally there’s, must to my dismay and pending eternal gripes, Mizuki…anyone but her please…
In non-related news, the promotion also has announced the first “official” match for GRAND PRINCESS ’26 aside from the title match-Yuka Sakazaki & Konosuke Takeshita vs. TBA and TBA in what already sounds like a very interesting match. This will be Takeshita’s TJPW debut.
Today’s event will be held at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo and can be watched LIVE on WRESTLE UNIVERSE and ABEMA (the latter requires the new WRESTLE UNIVERSE live subscription which is 1250 Japanese yen but only includes live broadcasts-no on demand replays as those remain exclusive to the standalone UNIVERSE subscription). There will be no commentary. There are just 6 matches today or a usual house show lineup and although the main event will have no time limit I expect the event to be a “typical” house show with a running time or around, or today a little over, 2 hours.
Today’s lineup (match order TBA):
Yuki Kamifuku, Wakana Uehara, Toga & Mifu Ashida vs. Suzume, Arisu Endo, Uta Takami & Ren Konatsu
Hyper Misao, Mahiro Kiryu & Kira Summer vs. Pom Harajuku, HIMAWARI & Shino Suzuki*
Haru Kazashiro vs. Shion Kanzaki
Raku vs. Kaya Toribami & Chika Nanase in a 3-way
Miu Watanabe & J-Rod vs. Ryo Mizunami & Yuki Aino
Miyu Yamashita vs. Rika Tatsumi, Shoko Nakajima, Yuki Arai, Max The Impaler & Mizuki in a 6-way elimination match for the next Princess Of Princess Championship shot at GRAND PRINCESS ’26. No over the top rope rule
Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.
Updates below will begin at 6 PM PT/9 PM ET. The live stream is scheduled to begin 15 minutes before the event.
*-This comes with the usual disclaimer because, last I heard, Kiryu is still the DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion, meaning if she is the loser by pinfall or submission she will lose the title, and will probably find a way to quickly win it back to avoid ruining an already announced upcoming title defense against Aja Kong. But that’s why there’s always that “card subject to change” disclaimer, especially with this being a 24/7 championship.
5:45 PM PT UPDATE: The live stream has begun. We should be going to the venue in 10-15 minutes.
5:57 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates begin now.
We are LIVE from Shinjuku Face in Tokyo, Japan. There is no commentary.
The paid attendance will be announced after the event. Not sure if it’s the reduced capacity setup or full capacity, which is around 350 and 500, respectively, but based on advance sales and first glance it sounds like the latter. Advance sales seemed to be good so I’ll predict the crowd will be around 400. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 361, a full house/near sellout)
The matches should begin in 10-15 minutes.
The matches begin at 6:11 PM PT?9:11 PM ET.
Match 1: Haru Kazashiro vs. Shion Kanzaki. 15 minute time limit
Result: Haru Kazashiro beat Shion Kanzaki by submission
Match 2: Raku vs. Kaya Toribami & Chika Nanase in a 3-way. 20 minute time limit
Result: Raku beat Kaya Toribami & Chika Nanase in a 3-way by pinning Nanase.
Match 3: Hyper Misao, Mahiro Kiryu & Kira Summer vs. Pom Harajuku, HIMAWARI & Shino Suzuki. 20 minute time limit
Result: Pom Harajuku, HIMAWARI & Shino Suzuki beat Hyper Misao, Mahiro Kiryu & Kira Summer. HIMAWARI pinned Summer. They all tried to win the Iron Man title from Kiryu at the start but thwarted each other.
Match 4: Yuki Kamifuku, Wakana Uehara, Toga & Mifu Ashida vs. Suzume, Arisu Endo, Uta Takami & Ren Konatsu. 20 minute time limit
Result: Yuki Kamifuku, Wakana Uehara, Toga & Mifu Ashida beat Suzume, Arisu Endo, Uta Takami & Ren Konatsu. Toga beat Konatsu.
Match 5: Miu Watanabe & J-Rod vs. Ryo Mizunami (Independent/Freelancer) & Yuki Aino. 20 minute time limit
Result: Time Limit Draw
Main Event: Miyu Yamashita vs. Rika Tatsumi, Shoko Nakajima, Yuki Arai, Max The Impaler & Mizuki in a 6-way elimination match for the next Princess Of Princess Championship shot at GRAND PRINCESS ’26. No over the top rope eliminations. No time limit
Order of elimination: Max by Nakajima (diving senton), Mizuki by Nakajima (Tatsumi Missile Hip) (YES!!!), Nakajima by Tatsumi (Twist Of Fate-missed when it happened), Tatsumi by Yamashita (Crash Rabbit Heat), Yamashita by Arai (Scorpion deathlock)
Result: Yuki Arai wins. As a result, Arai will face Princess Of Princess Champion Miu Watanabe for the title at GRAND PRINCESS ’26. OMG!!! HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY!!! What a way to start my spring vacation…Arai possibly becoming PoP Champion! It’s hopefully going to happen! Post-match, Watanabe came out for the first faceoff with her next challenger. I love them both but on 3/29…hopefully…Finally!!! Yeah, I’m a little biased and a little excited!
The next event is the opener of the 6th Max Heart Tournament, the promotion’s annual tag team tournament, on 1/17 at Yokohama Radiant Hall in Yokohama. The start time is a little uncertain because it is scheduled to begin on 1/16 at 7 PM PT/10 PM ET, but live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE is scheduled to begin at 6 PM PT/9 PM ET which suggests the start time is/will be moved up an hour.
Dragon Gate 1/8/2026 Results
Dragon Gate kicked off their 2026 today with the opening event of the Open The New Year Gate 2026 Tour in Kobe.
Today’s event was bels at Kobe Sambo Hall in Kobe and can be watched on demand on DRAGONGATE NETWORK. You can also watch the first match FOR FREE on YouTube.
The paid attendance has not yet been announced.
Match 1: Strong Machine J, Kzy & U-T beat Susumu Yokosuka, KAGETORA & Naruki Doi (Independent/Freelancer). J pinned KAGETORA with a Majin windmill hold.
Match 2: Hyo won an 11 man battle royal, last eliminating YAMATO.
Match 3: Ultimo Dragon, El Cucuy & Demus beat Ho Ho Lun, Ho Lee & Reach Tominaga. Dragon pinned Tominaga with La Magistral.
Match 4: Masaaki Mochizuni & Don Fujii beat Jason Lee & ISHIN. Fujii pinned Lee with Nice German.
Match 5: Madoka Kikuta, Kota Minoura, KAI & Yoshiki Kato beat Yuki Yoshioka, Dragon Dia, Daiki Yanaguichi & Kazuma Kimura. Kato pinned Kimura after Cadere Luna.
Match 6: Shun Skywalker & El Ciero beat Ben-K & JACKY KAMEI. Ciero pinned KAMEI after a spinning tombstone piledriver.
Main Event: Open The Brave Gate Champion Ryoya Tanaka beat Riiita to retain the title. V7 for Tanaka.
The next event is tomorrow. Live streaming on DRAGONGATE NETWORK will begin at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET.
TJPW News: Full Tag Tournament Field Announced
Some TJPW news on what is traditionally a slow week for Japanese pro wrestling (after Ittenyon is typically when contracts are/are not renewed and everyone takes a break for a few days before the new year gets going, it’s also a more active tine for sumo with final January Tournament preps):
The full field for the upcoming annual Max Heart Tournament, the promotion’s annual tag team tournament, has been officially announced. It’s a 12-team field this year and today’s announcement of the last 4 teams features the most important addition: Wasteland Pom Party aka Max The Impaler & Pom Harajuku (wrestling’s best & most lovable odd couple) which made me very happy. They were runners-up last year The other 3 teams announced were Mizuki & Uta Takami, Raku & Ren Konatsu and Kira Summer & Chika Nanase. The 8 previously announced teams were current Princess Tag Team Champions Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara, Miu Watanabe & Rika Tatsumi (always a heavy favorite to win), Arisu Endo & Suzune (likewise a favorite), Yuki Aino & Haru Kazaahiro, Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao (defending tournament winners), HIMAWARI & Shino Suzuki, Miyu Yamashita & Kaya Toribami, Yuki Arai & Mifu Ashida (who I most want to win aside from Max & Pom).
The tournament is single-elimination bracket format with 4 teams directly advancing to the Quarterfinals and the rest competing in first round matches on 1/17 at Yokohama Radiant Hall in Yokohama. The Quarterfinals are on 1/25 at Ryogoku KFC Hall in Tokyo, the Semifinals are on 1/31 at Shinjuku Face and the Finals are on 2/14 at Korakuen Hall. If Kamifujku/Uehara do not win, the winning team will get a Princess Tag Team Championship match/rematch against Ober Eats-while not yet confirmed it likely will be at GRAND PRINCESS ‘26 on 3/29 at Ryoogku Kokugikan…unless Tatsumi/Watanabe win because Watanabe will defend the Princess Of Princess Championship that day.
BREAKING: V4 Returns! (Updated x2)
Huge news from New Japan after yesterday’s event…the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship is no more. At the request of Yota Tsuji and with approval of President Hiroshi Tanahashi, the IWGP Heavyweight Championship is being revived with the popular V4 design and Tsuji will now be recognized as the 87th Champion.
More to come.
UPDATE: This means the IWGP Intercontinental Championship is officially retired. The IWGP Global Championship is unaffected. All prior IWGP World Heavyweight Champions will be recognized as the 75th-86th IWGP Heavyweight Champions, the exception being 74th Champion Kota Ibushi who held the title when the World Heavyweight Championship was created. This was by Tsuji’s count to Tanahashi, meaning by my count they possibly missed someone…(Clarification-the aforementioned count is correct. Title history pages have been updated to reflect this)
UPDATE 2: In related New Japan news. Tanahashi claims over 3.5 million people viewed the 1/4 event. There are reports New Japan World had 108,000 subscribers watching and around 3.4 million viewers for the live broadcast on TV Asahi in Japan.
DDT 1/5/2026 Results
DDT got their 2026 going today with the first monthly tour opener of the year and the start of the 2026 D GENERATIONS CUP.
Today’s event was held at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.
The paid attendance was not announced.
There was an emergency addition announced last-minute to the event on social media, which was Chris Brookes announcing his newest faction-Fantomes Dramatic, with himself, Antonio Honda (of course), Kazuki Hirata & HARASHIMA. That’s a bit of a surprise…but I guess it’s “because he’a training!”
After this the opening ceremony for the D GENERATIONS CUP was held with all the participants. Well, 9 of them anyway from what I saw (there are 10 this year). It’s a 2 block round-robin format.
Match 1: D GENERATIONS CUP Block B: Yuni beat Hinata Kasai.
Match 2: D GENERATIONS CUP Block B: Yuya Koroku beat Rukiya.
Match 3: Akito beat Dansboku Dirno & Kazuki Hirata in a 3-way by beating both. As a result, GM Imabayashi was dismissed…but Akito overturned it via his executive role. (He is also an assistant GM/Vice President in DDT)
Match 4: D GENERATIONS CUP Block A: Kazuma Sumi beat Illusion.
Match 5: D GENERATIONS CUP Block A: Daichi Sato beat Yuki Ishida.
Match 6: Yuki Iino, Yukio Naya, Junta Miyawaki & Takeshi Masada beat MAO, KANON, Jun Akiyama & Munetatsu Nakamuta (Ganbare Pro). Iino pinned KANON after a spear.
Main Event: Chris Brookes, HARASHIMA & Antonio Honda beat Yuki Ueno, To-y & Kazusada Higuchi and Daisuke Sasaki, Hideki Okatani & Demus in a 3-way when Brookes pinned To-y.
The next event is Saturday at Osaka Azalea Taisho in Osaka. There will be no live broadcast.
New Japan 1/5/2026 Results (Updated x2)
With Tokyo Dome now behind us, the post-Hiroshi Tanahashi era* and the official start of New Japan 2026 came today with their traditional year-opening event, NEW YEAR DASH!!
Today’s event was held at Ota City General Gym in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on New Japan World. You can also watch the first 2 matches FOR FREE on YouTube.
The announced paid attendance was 3523, a full house/near sellout.
Match 1: Satoshi Kojima, Taichi & Tomohiro Ishii beat Katsuya Murashima, Yuya Uemura & Shota Umino. Ishii pinned Murashima.
Match 2: Rocky Romero & Konosuke Takeshita beat Shoma Kato & El Phantasmo. Takeshita pinned Kato.
Match 3: Boltin Oleg, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Yujiro Takahashi & SANADA. Oleg pinned Takahashi.
Match 4: Jacob Austin Young, Francesco Akita & Andrade El Idolo beat Clark Connors, Hiromu Takahashi & Gabriel Kidd. Idolo pinned Connors after The Message. Afterwards, Kidd challenged Idolo to a match on 2/11.
Match 5: Master Wato, Yoh, Toru Yano & Aaron Wolf beat Dick Togo, Don Fale, Ren Narita & EVIL. Yoh beat Togo with a Texas cloverleaf. Afterwards, Narita laid out Wolf and teased a NEVER Openweight Championship challenge.
Match 6: HENARE, Great-O-Khan, Callum Newman & Jake Lee beat Drilla Moloney, Shingo Takagi, David Finlay & Yota Tsuju. HENARE pinned Momoney after a coalescing Eliminator. Afterwards, Will Ospreay appeared to shake hands with his United Empire factionmates, although Newman wasn’t thrilled. (Ospreay appeared today as a pre-match autograph signer for fans)
Match 7: Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles beat IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Sho & DOUKI, Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X and El Desperado & KUUKAI in a 4-way, when Fujita pinned X, to win the titles. Fujita & Eagles become the 80th IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. Afterwards, Akira attacked Ishimori until Hiromu Takahashi made the save.
Main Event: IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions OSKAR (The Grouch) & Yuto Ice (Ice Baby) beat Zack Sabre Jr. & Ryohei Oiea to retain the titles. Ice pinned Oiwa after KOB. V2 for the champs. Next up: The winner of an upcoming match between Uemura/Umino and Ishii/Taichi. UPDATE: That match will happen on 1/19.
The next event is BLUE JUSTICE 17, the next Yuji Nagata Produced hometown event, on 1/18 at Sakura Civic Gym in Chiba. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin on 1/17 at 11 PM PT/2 AM ET.
*-Tanahashi only retired as a wrestler. He will remain as President of the promotion, reporting to Chairman Naoki Sugabayasbi and Bushiroad President Takaaki Kitani (the owner of New Japan).
UPDATE: Ospreay also stated he intends to return to New Japan while still competing in All Elite Wrestling when he does cone back Emphasis on when as his future is uncertain while he recovers from a major neck injury. It may mot be anytime soon, I think we’re still looking at several more months.
There are also widespread rumors that, based on his outfits, guitars and comments after Tokyo Dome and today, SANADA is leaving the promotion. Nothing official yet.
UPDATE 2: Wolf-Narita for the NEVER title is now official. That match will happen on 2/11.
The promotion also announced SANADA is temporarily leaving the promotion. Return date TBA
Stardom News: Champion Taking Time Off
Following her post-match Tokyo Dome comments where she stated she was taking tine off but would be back for her next title match, Stardom has confirmed that is the case for Saya Kamitani. While not appearing to be injured, they will give her time to rest “based on her current physical condition”. Out this month and will return on 2/7. Her next World Of Stardom Championship defense is set for that date vs. Starlight Kid.
New Japan Pro Wrestling “WRESTLE KINGDOM 20” LIVE Results (1/4/2026) (Updated x3)
The biggest annual event in Japanese pro wrestling and maybe the biggest in the world after WWE WrestleMania, New Japan’s 1/4 signature event, WRESTLE KINGDOM 20, is finally today. The biggest event in the series will be a very melancholy event and one perhaps some have secvretly been dreading as the promotion says goodbye to perhaps their greatest ever, Hiroshi Tanahashi, who will retire after today. He’s not really leaving as he will remain in his second job as President of New Japan Pro Wrestling, 3rd in command in the promotion (behind Chairman Naoki Sugabayashi and Bushiroad Corporation President Takaaki Kitani-Bushiroad is the owner of New Japan), but for the first time in more than 25 years he won’t be a wrestler, marking the end of a career that has seen him become a once a century generational talent-imagine RIc Flair, Hulk Hogan & John Cena all rolled into one. It’s about so much more than that, with several title matches including Stardom being featured in a double title match, the debut of highly-touted Aaron Wolf and much more, but the focus is largely on the main event as Tanahashi’s final match comes against one of his greatest rivals and who perhaps was going to be the future torch-bearer for the promotion: Kazuchika Okada, who left for All Elite Wrestling but returns today for one glorious finale. (A lot of internet fans thought it would be-and should be-Shinsuke Nakamura instead, but there was zero chance of that because Nakamura is in WWE and New Japan has a working relationship with AEW. That’s Not Best For Business)
Today’s event will be held at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo and can be watched LIVE & EXCLUSIVE OUTSIDE JAPAN ONLY on New Japan World in Japanese & English (no Triller/FITE or anywhere else). This is a live & exclusive TV Asahi broadcast in Japan, which the NJPW World feed will be a simulcast of. The event is a legit advance sellout. The start time has been moved up 30 minutes for a pre-show match. This is also perhaps the promotoin’s longest event of the year even with only 8 matches scheduled but 6 are title matches, and if you’re watching live in the US it’s an all-nighter as the running time will probably be 4 1/2-5 hours, maybe longer depending on how much of an epic send-off Tanahashi gets-and gives-us as there surely will be one final air guitar concert to send the crowd home happy (hopefully). I may not make it through it despite it being a 10:30 PM start for me but I’ve hopefully got enough caffeine to push through. If updates suddenly stop near the end, I didn’t make it through and will update the results after a few hours’ sleep.
Today’s lineup:
Pre-show:
NJPW WORLD TV Champion El Phantasmo vs. Chris Brookes for the title
Main show:
8 team 24-man battle royal for the NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Championship. When one wrestler is eliminated, his entire team is out. Last team left wins. Current Champions Yoh, Master Wato & Toru Yano are participating
IWGP Women’s Champion Syuri vs. STRONG Women’s Champion Saya Kamitani for the titles
Hiromu Takahashi, Gabriel Kidd, Drilla Moloney, David Finlay & Shingo Takagi vs. HENARE, Callum Newman, Great-O-Khan, Andrade El Idolo & TBA
El Desperado vs. Taiji Ishimori, Sho & Kosei Fujita in a 4-way for an IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship shot
Aaron Wolf Debut Match: NEVER Openweight Champion EVIL vs. Aaron Wolf for the title
IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Konosuke Takeshita vs. IWGP Global Champion Yota Tsuji for the titles
Hiroshi Tanahashi Retirement Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada
Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.
Updates below will begin at 10:30 PM PT/1:30 AM ET. The main card is scheduled to begin at 11 PM PT/2 AM ET.
Pre-Show Update; There has been a late addition of a pre-pre-show match added to the event: Shoma Kato & Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. Katsuya Murashima & Masatora Yasuda. Because of this, updates will now begin at 10:15 PM PT/1:15 AM ET.
10:15 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates begin now.
We are LIVE from the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. Your hosts are Haruo Murata (remotely, presumably at Korakuen Hall still as Tokyo Josih Pro’s evnt he called for WRESTLE UNIVERSE finished less than an hour ago) & Milano Collection A.T. No guest on commentary yet.
The paid attendance will be announced after the event. It’s a legit advance sellout but it’s not the full capacity Dome, which is 65,000 for baseball. I’m thinking it’ll be around 50,000. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance-a legit advance sellout with standing room included-was 46,913. That’s about 70% of normal Dome capacity)
Pre-pre-show match: Shoma Kato & Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. Katsuya Murashima & Masatora Yasuda. 10 minute time limit
Result: Katsuya Murashima & Masatora Yasuda beat Shoma Kato & Tetauya Matsumoto. Murashima beat Matsumoto with a modified Boston Crab.
We go right into the pre-show afterwards so it’s starting 5 minutes early. By the way, no free YouTube opening simulcast today. But the next match will be available on demand FOR FREE on YouTube at some point after the event.
Pre-show:
Pre-show match: NJPW WORLD TV Champion El Phantasmo vs. Chris Brookes (DDT) for the title. 15 minute time limit. DDT wrestler Super Sasadango Machine (Muscle Sakai) and a member of BALLISTIK BOYZ are guests on commentary for this match
Result: NJPW WORLD TV Champion El Phantasmo beat Chris Brookes to retain the title. V6 for Phantasmo.
End Pre-show. Updates will resume when the main portion of the event begins in about 15 minutes. The live stream will resume at that time.
Main show:
This event is airing in Japan as the premiere of WORLD PRO WRESTLING LIVE 2026 on TV Asahi. New host on commentary.
Match 1: 8 team 24-man battle royal for the NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Championship. When one wrestler is eliminated, his entire team is out. Last team left wins. No time limit. Staggered entry. Order of entry: Kaisei Takechi/Yuya Uemura/Shota Umino, Yoshinobu Kanemaru/Ren Narita/SANADA, Clark Connors/OSKAR (The Grouch)/Yuto Ice (Ice Baby (with Thekla, who is married to Connors), Zack Sabre Jr/Ryohei Oiwa/Hartley Jackson, Togi Makabe/Ryusuke Taguchi/Tiger Mask (final Tokyo Dome for TM 4 as he is retiring in the next few months), Hirooki Goto/YOSHI-HASHI/Boltin Oleg, Tomohiro Ishii/Taichi/Satoshi Kojima, NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Champions Master Wato/Yoh/Toru Yano
Order of elimination: OSKAR (Connors/OSKAR/Ice out), TM 4 (Makabe/Taguchi/TM 4 out), Taichi (Taichi/Ishii/Kojima out), Uemura (Uemura/Umino/Takechi out), Yoh (Wato/Yoh/Yano out-that means whoever wins will be NEW CHAMPIONS), SANADA (Kanemaru/SANADA/Narita out), Oleg (YOSHI-HASHI/Goto/Oleg out)
Result: Ryohei Oiwa, Hartley Jackson & Zack Sabre Jr. win, last eliminating Oleg/YOSHI-HASHI/Goto, to win the titles. Oiwa, Jackson & Sabre become the 32nd NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Champions.
As Ishii/Taichi/Kojima entered, cameras caught sumo wrestler & Yokozuna Grand Champion Onosato sitting at ringside.
Host change as Haruo Murata is back on Japanese commentary. Might be alternating today. Stardom wrestler Maika is a guest on commentary for the next match.
Match 2: IWGP Women’s Champion Syuri (Stardom) vs. STRONG Women’s Champion Saya Kamitani (Stardom) for the titles. 1 Hour time limit. Stardom’s ring announcer handles the introductions here
Result: Syuri beat Saya Kamitani to win the titles. Syuri becomes the 7th STRONG Women’s Champion. IWGP V1 for Syuri.
Match 3: Hiromu Takahashi, Gabriel Kidd, Drilla Moloney, David Finlay & Shingo Takagi vs. HENARE, Callum Newman, Great-O-Khan, Andrade El Idolo (who the English announcer billed as from AEW) & TBA. TBA is revealed to be…Jake Lee! 30 minute time limit
Result: HENARE, Callum Newman, Great-O-Khan, Andrade El Idolo & Jake Lee beat Hiromu Takahashi, Gabriel Kidd, Drilla Moloney, David Finlay & Shingo Takagi. Lee pinned Takahashi. Afterwards, another mystery man wearing Andrade’s mask appeared, and revealed himself to be the returning Francesco Akira who then laid out Takahashi.
Yoh is the guest on commentary for the next match.
Match 4: El Desperado vs. Taiji Ishimori, Sho & Kosei Fujita in a 4-way for an IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship shot. 1 Hour time limit
Before anyone entered, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion DOUKI came out. With microphone in the ring. A few words amidst heaby boos before intros began.
Result: El Desperado beat Taiji Ishimori, Sho & Kosei Fujita in a 4-way by pinning Sho. As a result, Desperado gets the next IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship shot. No surprise, Desperado always wins at Tokyo Dome, or so it seems.
Afterwards, a short promo was shown for the next DESPE INVITATIONAL event…4/16 in Las Vegas, NV. This was followed by a promo video for upcoming major events in 2026 including the New Japan Cup in March, SAKURA GENESIS on 4/4 at Ryogoku Kokugikan, WRESTLING REDZONE in HIROSHIMA on 4/25, WRESTLING DONTAKU on 5/3 & 5/4 in Fukuoka, Best Of The Super Junior, DOMINION on 6/14 in Osaka, the G1 CLIMAX opener in the USA on 7/11 at NOW Arena in Chicago, IL followed by the Finals on 8/15 & 8/16 at Ryogoku Kokugikan.
The guests on commentary for the next match are Yano, Yuji Nagata and…Masahiro Chono!
Match 5: Aaron Wolf Debut Match: NEVER Openweight Champion EVIL vs. Aaron Wolf for the title. 1 Hour time limit
Result: Aaron Wolf beat NEVER Openweight Champion EVIL by ref stoppage (technical submission) to win the title. Wolf becomes the 50th NEVER Openweight Champion.
Quick break for ring cleaning.
Match 6: IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Konosuke Takeshita vs. IWGP Global Champion Yota Tsuji for the titles. 1 Hour time limit
Result: Yota Tsuji beat Konosuke Takeshita by submission to win the titles. Tsuji becomes the 15th IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. Global V2 for Tsuji. Tsuji’s post-match promo was interrupted by Jake Lee, who beat down the new double champion and silently seemed to issue the challenge, at least for the World title.
That means the time has come…
Main Event: Hiroshi Tanahashi Retirement Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada. 1 Hour time limit
Result: Kazuchika Okada beat Hiroshi Tanahashi. And after 30+ intense minutes, it’s all over. 25+ years of Hiroshi Tanahashi ends with a loss to one of his greatest rivals. Now he will transition to President full-time. The retirement ceremony for Tanahashi followed (will watch later as after 9 hours of wrestling I have to throw in the towel). Several former New Japan wrestlers were present for flower presentations including Kenny Omega, Will Ospreay, Kota Ibushi (hobbling badly alongside Omega), Katsuyori Shibata (who traded some chops with Tanahashi), Keiji Muto, of course Tatsumi Fujinami and, in a big surprise, BUSHI & Tetsuya Naito. The final 10 bell salute followed and Tanahashi rightfully took his time leaving, including being pushed out on a rolling platform by the Young Lions as the festivities went on for about an hour. Now he is President Ace but always FOREVER ACE.
The next event is NEW YEAR DASH!! tomorrow at Ota City General Gym. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET. (The original post incorrectly said the event was at Korakuen Hall. Why I should not be posting at 3 AM)
UPDATE: In non-Dome news, there was a STRONG Tag Team Championship match this weekend in CMLL in Mexico, in which current champions Angel De Oro & Niebla Roja beat Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs to retain he titles. V1 for the champs.
You can also watch the full backstage comments from today, including highlights of Tanahashi’s retirement ceremony and his final epic air guitar performance to send the crowd home happy, FOR FREE on YouTube.
UPDATE 2: The full card for tomorrow is set now, and for now there is a hilarious typo on New Japan’s English website. Take a look at the screencap below about the main event and see for yourself…
Last I checked, that’s not Yota Tsuji pictured there with Ryohei Oiwa…Tsuji is to be in an 8-man tag earlier in the card. Before the main event, there is also a 4-way for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.
UPDATE 3: You can now watch the full Phantasmo-Brookes match FOR FREE on YouTube via the NJPW WORLD Official channel.