Tag: all-japan pro wrestling

All-Japan has announced that, following NEW All-Japan World Jr. Heavyweight Champion Naruki Doi advocating for it, the promotion will be holding a tag tournament dubbed Jr. TAG BATTLE OF GLORY 2023. It will be a round-robin format tournament held at all 4 April events, with the top 2 teams advancing to the Finals on 5/5.

All participants and teams are TBA but already entered are Doi & TBA as a team and Atsuki Aoyagi & Rising Hayato as the second team.

More as it becomes available.

All-Japan continues the AJPW maniaX tour today with another big event headlined by 2 title matches and a heavy New Japan Pro Wrestling presence. In addition to other participation the main event sees Yuji Nagata, the strongest 54 years old who will do his best every day, attempting to become another career grand slammer when he challenges Kento Miyahara for the Triple Crown. Before that, Atsuki Aoyagi defends the All-Japan World Jr. Heavyweight Championship against Naruki Doi, who is becoming a belt collector among freelancers. Every other match except one will have a New Japan presence.

Today’s event will be held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched LIVE on AJPW.TV in Japanese. This likely will be a Samurai! TV simulcast and because of how music rights are with AJPW streams expect a lot of muted entrances/post-matches. If, like me, you plan to split-screen because this event is the same time as New Japan’s US event, you’ll be doing it the whole time as I expect this event’s runtime will be 2 1/2-3 hours.

Today’s lineup:
Hikaru Sato, Dan Tamura & Oji Shiiba vs. Kotaro Suzuki, Rising Hayato & Ryo Inoue
Shotaro Ashino, Ryuki Honda & Masao Hanabata vs. Yoshitatsu, Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato
Shuji Ishikawa, Ren Ayabe & Oskar Leube vs. Takao Omori, Toru Yano & Black Menso-re
Suwama, Jun & Rei Saito vs. Yuto Nakashima, Ryohei Oiwa & Kosei Fujita
Yuma Anzai vs. Shingo Takagi
Yuma Aoyagi & Naoya Nomura vs. Minoru Suzuki & Hokuto Omori
All-Japan World Jr. Heavyweight Champion Atsuki Aoyagi vs. Naruki Doi for the title
All-Japan Triple Crown Champion Kento Miyahara vs. Yuji Nagata for the Triple Crown

Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.

Updates below will begin at 9:30 PM ET/6:30 PM PT.

9:30 PM ET UPDATE: Waiting for the live stream to begin, which should be momentarily.
And a moment after this update…

We are LIVE form Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. As usual we start with audio muted.

The paid attendance will be announced after the event. It’s not a sellout from the opening shots but looks like a very good crowd and full capacity. Likely in the 1200-1300 range.

We have one of New Japan’s ring announcers on the job today.

Match 1: Hikaru Sato, Dan Tamura & Oji Shiiba vs. Kotaro Suzuki, Rising Hayato & Ryo Inoue. 15 minute time limit
Result: Kotaro Suzuki, Rising Hayato & Ryo Inoue beat Hikaru Sato, Dan Tamura & Oji Shiiba. Hayato pinned Shiiba. After the match, Sato foolishly attempted to attack the winners and got a quick beatdown for it.

Match 2: Shotaro Ashino, Ryuki Honda & Masao Hanabata vs. Yoshitatsu, Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato. 15 minute time limit. New Japan/Yoshitatsu entrance muted
Result: Yoshitatsu, Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato beat Shotaro Ashino, Ryuki Honda & Masao Hanabata. Wato pinned Hanabata with a German suplex hold.

Match 3: Shuji Ishikawa, Ren Ayabe & Oskar Leube vs. Takao Omori, Toru Yano & Black Menso-re. 20 minute time limit
Result: Shuji Ishikawa, Ren Ayabe & Oskar Leube beat Takao Omori, Toru Yano & Black Menso-re. Ishikawa pinned Omori.

Match 4: Suwama, Jun & Rei Saito vs. Yuto Nakashima, Ryohei Oiwa & Kosei Fujita. 30 minute time limit
Result: Suwama, Jun & Rei Saito beat Yuto Nakashima, Ryohei Oiwa & Kosei Fujita. Suwama pinned Nakashima after a backdrop.

A special All-Japan vs. GLEAT event is announced for 3/18 at Korakuen Hall. Matches include a 10-person tag match (mixed because Michiko Miyagi is part of it), Hokuto Omori vs. Jun Tonsho, Shotaro Ashino & Ryuki Honda vs. Takanori Ito & Issei Onitsuka, HIkaru Sato/Dan Tamura/Naoya Nomura vs. Minoru Tanaka/Soma Watanabe/Seiichi Ikemoto, Suwama/Saito Bros vs. Hayato Tamura/KAZMA SAKAMOTO/Check Shimatani, Atsuki Aoyagi vs. Kaito Ishida, an 8-man tag of AJPW vs. #STRONGHEARTS,

The participants for the 2023 Champions Carnival (4/8-5/7) are announced:
A Block-Yuma Aoyagi, Jun Saito, Yoshitatsu, Ryuki Honda, Cyrus, T-Hawk (GLEAT), Kento Miyahara, X (TBA)
B Block-Yuma Anzai, Suwama, Rei Saito, Shuji Ishikawa, Shotaro Ashino, Hokuto Omori, Naoya Nomura, X (TBA)

Match 5: Yuma Anzai vs. Shingo Takagi. 30 minute time limit
Result: Shingo Takagi beat Yuma Anzai by submission. (Note: I missed a couple minutes of this match midway through due to technical issues as the stream froze and locked up my tablet I was streaming on. Had to restart my tablet)

Match 6: Yuma Aoyagi & Naoya Nomura vs. Minoru Suzuki & Hokuto Omori. 30 minute time limit
Result: Yuma Aoyagi & Naoya Nomura beat Minoru Suzuki & Hokuto Omori. Aoyagi beat Omori with a modified guillotine choke. Afterwards Nomura called Suzuki back out and got a beatdown for it, and one of the ringside ushers got a chair shot from Suzuki too.

Match 7: All-Japan World Jr. Heavyweight Champion Atsuki Aoyagi vs. Naruki Doi for the title. 1 Hour time limit
Result: Naruki Doi beat All-Japan World Jr. Heavyweight Champion Atsuki Aoyagi to win the title. Doi becomes the 64th All-Japan World Jr. Heavyweight Champion. Next up: Possibly Rising Hayato, who came out to issue the challenge.

Main Event: All-Japan Triple Crown Champion Kento Miyahara vs. Yuji Nagata for the Triple Crown. 1 Hour time limit
Result: Yuji Nagata beat All-Japan Triple Crown Champion Kento Miyahara to win the Triple Crown. Nagata becomes the 69th All-Japan Triple Crown Champion. Career Grand Slam! Nagata now has held the top title in all of the Big 3 (New Japan, All-Japan, Pro Wrestling NOAH) in his career. Next up: Possibly Shuji Ishikawa, who came out to make the customary challenge before Nagata finished his post-victory promo with an Antonio Inoki shout/salute to end the show.

The next event is 2/26 at Green Dome Maebashi Sub-Event Area in Gunma. There will be no live broadcast. Video will be available on demand on AJPW.TV later that day.

UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 1405.

All-Japan began their February ExcitemaniaX tour today with a major event headlined by a Triple Crown match. For the second time in the past year Kento Miyahara looked to turn back the challenge of Yuma Aoyagi.

Today’s event was held at Esforta Arena Hachioji Sub Arena in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on AJPW.TV. This was a Samurai! TV simulcast with Japanese commentary.

The announced paid attendance was 1398. On TV the venue looked 85-90% full so perhaps a near-sellout.

Match 1: Shotaro Ashino & Ryuki Honda beat Dan Tamura & Hikaru Sato. Honda pinned Tamura after Final Vent.

Match 2: Takao Omori, Masao Inoue, Oji Shiiba & Rising Hayato beat Ricky Fuji, Raijin Yaguchi, Black Menso-re & SUSHI. Hayato pinned SUSHI after Sid Vicious.

Match 3: Naruki Doi (Independent/Freelancer) & Hokuto Omori beat Naoya Nomura & Ryo Inoue. Doi pinned Inoue after Bakatare Sliding Kick.

Match 4: In a Tornado Bunkhouse Electric Blast Death Match, Atsushi Onita & Yoshitatsu beat All-Asia Tag Team Champions NOSAWA Rongai & Kendo Ka Shin to win the titles. Onita & Yoshitatsu become the 119th All-Asia Tag Team Champions. Onita pinned NOSAWA after an exploding barbed wire bat attack. This result was probably obvious to those who follow Japanese wrestling closely because NOSAWA is retiring on 2/21.

Match 5: Yuji Nagata (New Japan), Yuma Anzai & Shuji Ishikawa beat Suwama, Jun & Rei Saito. Nagata pinned Suwama with a backdrop hold.

Match 6: All-Japan World Jr. Heavyweight Champion Atsuki Aoyagi beat Kotaro Suzuki (Pro Wrestling NOAH) to retain the title. V5 for Aoyagi.

Main Event: All-Japan Triple Crown Champion Kento Miyahara beat Yuma Aoyagi to retain the Triple Crown. V4 for Miyahara. Next up: Possibly Nagata.

The next event is 2/19 at Korakuen Hall. Live streaming on AJPW.TV will begin on 2/18 at 6:30 PM PT/9:30 PM ET.

All-Japan wraps up their year-opening tour today with the final event of the month, a major event with 3 title matches scheduled and more. Among the highlights is the return of Shotaro Ashino, who has been out a couple months due to injuries suffered during the World’s Strongest Tag League last year. He will return alongside GOA partner Ryuki Honda. The title matches begin with GAORA TV Champion Toshizo defending against Minoru Tanaka, followed by All-Japan World Jr. Heavyweight Champion Atsuki Aoyagi defending against Kaz Hayashi. Finally, the main event will be All-Japan World Tag Team Champions Kento Miyahara & Takuya Nomura defending against Yuma Aoyagi & Naoya Nomura. It could be quite a day for the Aoyagi brothers if both can leave with championships.

Today’s event will be held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched LIVE on AJPW.TV. As it’s a Korakuen event and a weekend matinee I expect there will be Japanese commentary. I don’t expect this event to run too long given they probably want to be done before the last portion of the Grand Sumo Tournament final day gets underway among other things-I’m guessing the total running time will be around 2 1/2 hours so if you’re planning to watch the Pro Wrestling NOAH major event or New Japan event afterwards, you’ll have time to get set up for those.

Today’s lineup (in order):
Black Menso-re & Kotaro Suzuki vs. Rising Hayato & Oji Shiiba
Ryo Inoue & Yuma Anzai vs. Naruki Doi & Hokuto Omori
GAORA TV Champion Toshizo vs. Minoru Tanaka for the title
Shotaro Ashino Return Match: Shotaro Ashino, Ryuki Honda & Masao Hanabata vs. Yuji Nagata, Dan Tamura & Hikaru Sato
Suwama, KONO, Jun & Rei Saito vs. Shuji Ishikawa, Takao Omori, Yoshitatsu & Ren Ayabe
All-Japan World Jr. Heavyweight Champion Atsuki Aoyagi vs. Kaz Hayashi for the title
All-Japan World Tag Team Champions Kento Miyahara & Takuya Nomura vs. Yuma Aoyagi & Naoya Nomura for the titles

Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.

Updates below will begin at 9:30 PM ET/6:30 PM PT.

9:30 PM ET UPDATE: Live updates start below now…
We are LIVE from Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. As usual the audio is muted as we join the live feed.

The paid attendance will be announced after the event but it’s reduced capacity for allowing vocal cheering. Looks like around 550. There is Japanese commentary, they don’t show names.

Before the live broadcast began, Kento Miyahara & Yuma Anzai received their 2022 Tokyo Sports Year-End Awards. Miyahara won MVP and Anzai won Rookie of the Year.

The matches begin at 9:35 PM ET/6:35 PM PT.

Match 1: Black Menso-re & Kotaro Suzuki vs. Rising Hayato & Oji Shiiba. 10 minute time limit
Result: Black Menso-re & Kotaro Suzuki beat Rising Hayato & Oji Shiiba. Suzuki pinned Hayato after Blue Destiny.

Match 2: Ryo Inoue & Yuma Anzai vs. Naruki Doi & Hokuto Omori. 15 minute time limit
Result: Naruki Doi & Hokuto Omori beat Ryo Inoue & Yuma Anzai. Doi pinned Inoue after Bakatare Sliding Kick.

Match 3: GAORA TV Champion Toshizo vs. Minoru Tanaka for the title. 1 Hour time limit
Result: Minoru Tanaka beat GAORA TV Champion Toshizo to win the title. Tanaka becomes the 23rd GAORA TV Champion.

Match 4: Shotaro Ashino Return Match: Shotaro Ashino, Ryuki Honda & Masao Hanabata vs. Yuji Nagata, Dan Tamura & Hikaru Sato. 30 minute time limit
Result: Yuji Nagata, Dan Tamura & Hikaru Sato beat Shotaro Ashino, Ryuki Honda & Masao Hanabata. Nagata beat Honda with Nagata Lock 54 (I think that’s what it is now. Changes every year to match his age, haha).

Quick break to announce matches for upcoming events and major events later this year, including the annual Champions Carnival in April and early May.

Match 5: Suwama, KONO, Jun & Rei Saito vs. Shuji Ishikawa, Takao Omori, Yoshitatsu & Ren Ayabe. 30 minute time limit
Result: Suwama, KONO, Jun & Rei Saito beat Shuji Ishikawa, Takao Omori, Yoshitatsu & Ren Ayabe. Suwama pinned Ishikawa after a backdrop.

Match 6: All-Japan World Jr. Heavyweight Champion Atsuki Aoyagi vs. Kaz Hayashi for the title. 1 Hour time limit
Result: All-Japan World Jr. Heavyweight Champion Atsuki Aoyagi beat Kaz Hayashi to retain the title. V4 for Aoyagi. Next up: Potentially Kotaro Suzuki, who hit the ring to make the next challenge.

Main Event: All-Japan World Tag Team Champions Kento Miyahara & Takuya Nomura vs. Yuma Aoyagi & Naoya Nomura for the titles. 1 Hour time limit
Result: Yuma Aoyagi & Naoya Nomura beat All-Japan World Tag Team Champions Kento Miyahara & Takuya Nomura to win the titles. Aoyagi & Naoya Nomura become the 94th All-Japan World Tag Team Champions. Aoyagi pinned Miyahara. The last 10+ minutes of this match were INCREDIBLE. That outcome is also significant for Aoyagi because if he can do it again next time out, he could win the Triple Crown from Miyahara as well.

The next event is 2/4 at Esforta Arena Hachioji in Tokyo. Broadcast plans TBA. We should know when AJPW.TV announces the monthly broadcast schedule for February at the end of the month.

UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 504.

UPDATE 2: 2/4 will be a live broadcast on AJPW.TV. As for the other February events, the 2/15 & 2/27 events will also be live while 2/26 will be available on demand the following day.

Breaking news: All-Japan wrestler Hokuto Omori has been punished by the promotion for compliance violations pertaining to sake/alcohol. Omori is docked 30% pay for 3 months and cannot drink alcohol or be present in such areas during that time. Both sanctions are in effect until March 31. Tokyo Sports has also picked up the story.

More as it becomes available.

All-Japan continued their current tour today with a house show representing the final build before a big event next weekend.

Today’s event was held at 2AW Square in Chiba and will be available on demand on AJPW.TV later today. There was no live broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 158.

Match 1: Black Menso-re & Kaji Tomato vs. Takuro Niki & Oji Shiba went to a 10 minute time limit draw.

Match 2: Ryuki Honda & Yusuke Kodama beat Ryo Inoue & Yuma Anzai. Honda pinned Inoue after Final Vent.

Match 3: Naruki Doi beat Dan Tamura.

Match 4: Shuji Ishikawa, Takao Omori & Yoshitatsu beat Suwama, Jun & Rei Saito. Yoshitatsu pinned Jun Saito after Cockroach Driver 2022.

Match 5: Hokuto Omori beat Hikaru Sato.

Main Event: Yuma & Atsuki Aoyagi & Naoya Nomura beat Kento Miyahara, Kotaro Suzuki & Rising Hayato. Yuma Aoyagi pinned Hayato after THE FOOL.

The next event is 1/22 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo with 3 scheduled title matches. Live streaming on AJPW.TV will begin Saturday at 9:30 PM ET/6:30 PM PT.

All-Japan continued the New Year Giant Series tour today as they head on the road outside of Tokyo for the first time this year.

Today’s event was held at Hodogaya Public Hall in Yokohama and can be watched on demand on AJPW.TV.

The announced paid attendance was 258.

Match 1: Dan Tamura & Hikaru Sato beat Yoshitatsu & Oji Shiba. Sato pinned Shiba.

Match 2: Takao Omori beat Masao Inoue.

Match 3: Black Tiger beat Black Menso-re.

Match 4: Shuji Ishikawa, Yuma Anzai & Ryo Inoue beat Jun & Rei Saito & Suwama. Anzai pinned Rei Saito with a German suplex hold.

Match 5: Minoru Suzuki & Hokuto Omori beat Ryuki Honda & Yusuke Kodama. Omori pinned Honda.

Main Event: Kento Miyahara, Kaz Hayashi & Rising Hayato beat Yuma & Atsuki Aoyagi & Naoya Nomura. Hayashi pinned Atsuki Aoyagi after Final Cut.

The next event is Sunday at 2AW Square in Chiba. There will be no live broadcast. The event will be available on demand on AJPW.TV the following day, meaning in the US it could be available as soon as midday Sunday (it’s a Saturday night event with an 11 PM ET/8 PM PT start time).

All-Japan ran the second of consecutive morning matinee events today to open 2023, today being a bigger show with 2 title matches planned.

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on AJPW.TV. (I had hoped to do live results but my cable/internet outage since the weekend was not resolved in time to watch, but it was restored after the event concluded)

The announced paid attendance was 1041. I believe that was a few more than yesterday.

Match 1: Dan Tamura & Hikaru Sato beat Rising Hayato & Ryo Inoue. Tamura pinned Inoue after Death Valley Bomb.

Match 2: Black Menso-re & Mitsuya Nagai beat Yusuke Kodama & Masao Hanabata. Nagai beat Hanabata with Stretch Plum.

Match 3: Naoya Nomura beat Ryuki Honda.

Match 4: Jun & Rei Saito & Suwama beat Yoshitatsu, Yuji Nagata (New Japan) & Yuma Anzai by ref stoppage. Suwama beat Yoshitatsu with Sleeper Vise.

Match 5: NOSAWA Rongai & Kendo Ka Shin beat All-Asia Tag Team Champions Masao Inoue & Takao Omori to win the titles. NOSAWA & Ka Shin become the 118th All-Asia Tag Team Champions. NOSAWA pinned Omori.

Match 6: Hokuto Omori, Minoru Suzuki & Naruki Doi beat Yuma & Atsuki Aoyagi & Shuji Ishikawa. Omori pinned Atsuki Aoyagi after Momentum Hardened.

Main Event: All-Japan Triple Crown Champion Kento Miyahara beat Takuya Nomura to retain the Triple Crown. V3 for Miyahara.

The next event is 1/11 at Hodogaya Public Hall in Yokohama. Live streaming on AJPW.TV will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET.

All-Japan kicked off their 2023 today with their first New Year’s series event, featuring a slightly different look as a few stars departed at the end of last year, most notably former 2-time Triple Crown Champion Jake Lee (who apparently showed up in Pro Wrestling NOAH yesterday).

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

The announced paid attendance was 1055. That sounds close to a sellout depending on the layout.

Match 1: Ryuki Honda, Yusuke Kodama & Masao Hanabata beat Dan Tamura, Ryo Inoue & Yuma Anzai. Honda pinned Inoue after Final Vent.

Match 2: Takao Omori, Rising Hayato & Kaz Hayashi (GLEAT) beat Yoshitatsu, Black Menso-re & Mitsuya Nagai (Dradition). Hayashi pinned Menso-re after Final Cut.

Match 3: Minoru Suzuki & Naruki Doi beat Shuji Ishikawa & Hokuto Omori. Suzuki pinned Omori after a Gotch-style piledriver.

Match 4: Yuma Aoyagi & Naoya Nomura beat Jun & Rei Saito. Aoyagi pinned Jun with Staff Roll. As a result, Aoyagi & Nomura get the next All-Japan World Tag Team Championship match after today.

Match 5: All-Japan World Jr. Heavyweight Champion Atsuki Aoyagi beat Hikaru Sato to retain the title. V3 for Aoyagi.

Match 6: Kento Miyahara & Takuya Nomura beat All-Japan World Tag Team Champions Suwama & KONO to win the titles. Miyahara & Nomura become the 93rd All-Japan World Tag Team Champions. Nomura beat KONO with a sleeper hold. Next up: Because of their win earlier, Yuma Aoyagi & Naoya Nomura.

Main Event: Takuya Nomura won a 17-man New Year Battle Royal, last eliminating Ryo Inoue.

The next event is Tuesday with an All-Asia Tag Team Championship match and Takuya Nomura vs. Miyahara for the Triple Crown. Live streaming on AJPW.TV will begin at 9:30 PM ET/6:30 PM PT. Live results are scheduled here but that is dependent on the widespread cable/internet outage in my area being resolved in time (I’m not optimistic).

In other news, the promotion announced that Shotaro Ashino, who suffered an injury during the World’s Strongest Tag League, will return on 1/22.

All-Japan ran the first of their special Christmas week events, wrapping up the year on a slightly more festive tone. It also marked the beginning of a trio of departures as Izanagi had his last match in the promotion today, with TAJIRI and Jake Lee also leaving at the end of the month.

Today’s event was held at Shin-Kiba 1st Ring in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on AJPW.TV. The promotion made a last-minute decision yesterday to make it a free broadcast, but creating a provisional AJPW.TV account is required (but a paid subscription is not).

The announced paid attendance was 286.

Match 1: Dan Tamura & Masao Inoue beat Ryuki Honda & Masao Hanabata. Tamura pinned Hanabata after Death Valley Bomb.

Match 2: Takao Omori beat Suwama by DQ. Deadly weapon use.

Match 3: Jun & Rei Saito beat Yoshitatsu & TAJIRI. Rei pinned Yoshitatsu.

Match 4: Izanagi Final All-Japan Match: Izanagi vs. Black Menso-re went to a Double KO.

Match 5: Atsuki Aoyagi & Hokuto Omori beat Rising Hayato & Ryo Inoue. Aoyagi pinned Inoue after Firebird Splash.

Match 6: Shuji Ishikawa beat Yuma Anzai.

Main Event: Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi vs. Jake Lee & Naoya Nomura went to a 30 minute time limit draw.

The next event is Sunday at Korakuen Hall. Live streaming on AJPW.TV will begin Saturday at 9:30 PM ET/6:30 PM PT. (I had tentatively planned to do live results but that probably will not happen due to schedule conflicts)