What is being billed as the biggest wrestling event of the year in Japan, in both size and scope, and it likely will be outside of New Japan’s Tokyo Dome January spectacular, returns today with the 3rd installment of CyberFight Festival ’22, the annual showcase for the CyberFight Group’s owned promotions-DDT Pro Wrestling, Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling, Ganbare Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling NOAH. It will have a literal festival atmosphere with nearly a full day’s worth of events outside and inside the venue and 14 matches likely making up a 5-6 hour supershowcase that also will feature an appearance by WWE Hall Of Famer Rob Van Dam. A big announcement from Keiji Muto has been promised for before the event as well, and the double main event of Princess Of Princess Champion Shoko Nakajima vs. Yuka Sakazaki for the title then, in the main event, it’s GHC Heavyweight Champion Go Shiozaki vs. Satoshi Kojima of New Japan for the title.
There was a late change to the early card yesterday, as Ganbare star YuuRI is replacing TJPW star Raku in the second match. Raku is off due to what is being called “poor physical condition”.
Today’s event will be held at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan and can be watched LIVE EXCLUSIVELY on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in Japanese and English. And because they are now offering a 2-week trial for new subscribers, you have the chance to watch FOR FREE! The Japanese commentary will feature several guests: Kendo Kobayashi, Yui Okada, Tina Matsuki and SKE48 member Marika Tani. English commentary is TBA but I expect it to include regular NOAH English commentary team Stewart “BANG!” Fulton & Mark Pickering.
Today’s lineup:
Pre-show:
Rob Van Dam Press Conference
Keiji Muto Press Conference
Muscle Sakai & Yukio Naya vs. Takao Soma & Kazuki Hirata
Hyper Misao, Yuki Aino, YuuRI, Pom Harajuku & Neko Haruna vs. Nao Kakuta, Mahiro Kiryu, Moka Miyamoto, Arisu Endo & Kaya Toribami
Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani vs. Ken Ohka, Yuna Manase & Mizuki Watase
Main Show:
Kinya Okada & Kai Fujimura vs. Toui Kojima & Yuya Koroku
Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh & Juria Nagano vs. Hikari Noa, Suzume & Yuki Arai
Yuki Iino, Danshoku Dieno, Yumehito Imanari & Akito Nishigaki vs. Sanshiro Takagi, Kendo Ka Shin, Shinya Aoki & Yumiko Hotta
Rika Tatsumi vs. Mizuki, Yuki Kamifuku & Miu Watanabe in a 4-way for a Princess Of Princess Championship match at the 7/9/22 TJPW event
Takashi Sugiura, Kazuyuki Fujita, Masa Kitamiya, Daiki Inaba & Shuhei Taniguchi vs. Michael Elgin, Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr., Rene Dupree, Simon Gotch & Timothy Thatcher
HARASHIMA, Naomi Yoshimuram Chris Brookes & Masa Takanashi vs. Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata, MAO & Asuka (Veny)
Rob Van Dam, Yoshinari Ogawa & HAYATA vs. Kaito Kiyomiya, Daisuke Harada & YO-HEY
Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Kazusada Higuchi vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima, Atsushi Kotoge & Yoshiki Inamura
Kenoh vs. Daisuke Sasaki in a No DQ Hardcore Match
Princess Of Princess Champion Shoko Nakajima vs. Yuka Sakazaki for the title
GHC Heavyweight Champion Go Shiozaki vs. Satoshi Kojima for the title
Refresh occasionally for the latest results.
Updates below will begin at 11:30 PM ET/8:30 PM PT. If NWA Always Ready ends in time, the pre-show press conferences will be covered, although they will likely be in Japanese only. Those should begin at 10:45 PM ET/7:45 PM PT.
If you’re coming just for match results, the matches will begin at midnight ET/9 PM PT. Also, a post-event talk show/recap special will air on WRESTLE UNIVERSE Monday at 5 AM PT/8 AM ET.
8:45 PM PT UPDATE: A pre-event talk show is underway featuring guest participants in tonight’s event including Yuki Arai.The main live stream is now up and running and will begin with the pre-show matches at midnight ET/9 PM PT. Stand by for updates.
9 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates begin now.
We are LIVE from the Saitama SUper Arena in Saitama, Japan. Commentary is available in Japanese and English. Stewart Fulton is joined by some new voices on the English side (no Mark Pickering)-Sebastian Cescon & Christelle Ciari. Your Japanese hosts are Haruo Murata & Kagehiro Osano and a full complement of guests-Kendo Kobayashi, Yui Okada, Rina Matsuki & Marika Tani.
The paid attendance will be announced tomorrow. The crowd will still be filing in over the next hour-plus.
Match 1: Muscle Sakai & Yukio Naya vs. Takao Soma & Kazuki Hirata. 15 minute time limit
Result: Muscle Sakai & Yukio Naya beat Takao Soma & Kazuki Hirata. Naya pinned Hirata after a backdrop.
Match 2: Hyper Misao, Yuki Aino, YuuRI (Ganbare Pro Wrestling), Pom Harajuku & Neko Haruna vs. Nao Kakuta, Mahiro Kiryu, Moka Miyamoto, Arisu Endo & Kaya Toribami. 15 minute time limit
Result: Nao Kakuta, Mahiro Kiryu, Moka Miyamoto, Arisu Endo & Kaya Toribami beat Hyper Misao, Yuki Aino, YuuRI, Pom Harajuku & Neko Haruna. Kiryu pinned Harajuku.
Match 3: Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani vs. Ken Ohka, Yuna Manase & Mizuki Watase. 15 minute time limit
Result: Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani beat Ken Ohka, Yuna Manase & Mizuki Watase by ref stoppage. Sakaguchi beat Watase with a sleeper hold. After the match, Watase tried to cut off his hair before Ohka & Manase stopped him.
Updates will resume at 10 PM PT/1 AM ET (about 15 minutes).
Match 4: Kinya Okada & Kai Fujimura vs. Toui Kojima & Yuya Koroku. 20 minute time limit
Result: Kinya Okada & Kai Fujimura beat Toui Kojima & Yuya Koroku. Okada beat Kojima with a Boston Crab.
Match 5: Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh & Juria Nagano vs. Hikari Noa, Suzume & Yuki Arai. 20 minute time limit
Result: Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh & Juria Nagano beat Yuki Arai, Suzume & Hikari Noa. Yamashita pinned Suzume after Skull Kick.
Match 6: Yuki Iino, Danshoku Dieno, Yumehito Imanari & Akito Nishigaki vs. Sanshiro Takagi, Kendo Ka Shin, Shinya Aoki & Yumiko Hotta. 30 minute time limit
Result: Yuki Iino, Danshoku Dieno, Yumehito Imanari & Akito Nishigaki beat Sanshiro Takagi, Kendo Ka Shin, Shinya Aoki & Yumiko Hotta. Akito beat Takagi.
Match 7: Rika Tatsumi vs. Mizuki, Yuki Kamifuku & Miu Watanabe in a 4-way for a Princess Of Princess Championship match at the 7/9/22 TJPW event. 30 minute time limit
Result: Rika Tatsumi beat Mizuki, Yuki Kamifuku & Miu Watanabe in a 4-way by pinning Watanabe. As a result, Tatsumi will face the Princess Of Princess Champion for the title on 7/9.
Match 8: Takashi Sugiura, Kazuyuki Fujita, Masa Kitamiya, Daiki Inaba & Shuhei Taniguchi vs. Michael Elgin, Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr., Rene Dupree, Simon Gotch & Timothy Thatcher. 30 minute time limit
Result: Michael Elgin, Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr., Rene Dupree, Simon Gotch & Timothy Thatcher beat Takashi Sugiura, Kazuyuki Fujita, Masa Kitamiya, Daiki Inaba & Shuhei Taniguchi. Elgin pinned Inaba after Elgin Bomb.
Match 9: HARASHIMA, Naomi Yoshimura, Chris Brookes & Masa Takanashi vs. Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata, MAO & Asuka (Veny). 30 minute time limit
Result: HARASHIMA, Naomi Yoshimura, Chris Brookes & Masa Takanashi vs. Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata, MAO & Asuka. HARASHIMA pinned Katsumata after Blue Sword.
Match 10: Rob Van Dam, Yoshinari Ogawa & HAYATA vs. Kaito Kiyomiya, Daisuke Harada & YO-HEY. 45 minute time limit
Result: Rob Van Damn, Yoshinari Ogawa & HAYATA beat YO-HEY, Daisuke Harada & Kaito Kiyomiya. Van Dam pinned Harada after 5 Star Frog Splash.
“Halftime Performance” by Cyber Japan Dancers.
Match 11: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Kazusada Higuchi vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima, Atsushi Kotoge & Yoshiki Inamura. 34 minute time limit
Result: Katsuhiko nakajima, Atsushi Kotoge & Yoshiki Inamura beat Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Kazusada Higuchi by ref stoppage (KO). Nakajima KO’d Endo with an EPIC b*tch slap. This went just 5 minutes. DAMN! Akiyama & Nakajima had quite a conversation as Endo was tended to.
Match 12: Kenoh vs. Daisuke Sasaki in a No DQ Hardcore Match. No time limit
Result: Kenoh beat Daisuke Sasaki
Quick break for ring cleaning.
Keiji Muto comes out. With microphone. (I switched commentary to English for translation) He is retiring next spring. 5 more matches. More to come…O.M.F.G. The Living Legend has reached the end of the road after nearly 4 decades…
Match 13: Princess Of Princess Champion Shoko Nakajima vs. Yuka Sakazaki for the title. 30 minute time limit
Result: Princess Of Princess Champion Shoko Nakajima beat Yuka Sakazaki to retain the title. V2 for Nakajima. Next up: Because of earlier today, Rika Tatsumi. That match will happen on 7/9.
Main Event: GHC Heavyweight Champion Go Shiozaki vs. Satoshi Kojima (New Japan Pro Wrestling) for the title. 1 Hour time limit
Result: Satoshi Kojima beat GHC Heavyweight Champion Go Shiozaki to win the title. Kojima becomes the 39th GHC Heavyweight Champion. Between Bullet & Bread, it was a great day for the Clubs in New Japan. No Go today…but another no could be next in line…Kenoh. The title is not in NOAH anymore, which in the eyes of the Kongo leader means WAR. And challenge issued. Some breif comedy in response from Kojima before finishing his post-match victory promo to bring CyberFight Festival ’22 to a close.
End Show.
POST-SHOW UPDATRS:
The announced paid attendance was 4896. Based on how the arena was set up, this probably was a little under half capacity (the venue’s maximum capacity is about 17,000 but it appears at least 1/4 of the seats were blocked off).
After being KO’d in Match 11, Tetsuya Endo has been diagnosed with a concussion. He is out indefinitely.
Following the double main event, the two expected title matches are now official. Nakajima-Tatsumi for the Princess Of Princess Championship is set for 7/9 at Ota City General Gym in Tokyo, while Kojima-Kenoh for the GHC Heavyweight Championship will happen on 7/16 at Nippon Budokan.
The next events for the promotions are as follows:
NOAH-6/19 at Kobe Sambo Hall. Will be on demand only on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date
DDT-Wednesday at Shinjuku Face. LIVE on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET
Tokyo Joshi Pro-6/19 at Korakuen hall. LIVE on WRESTLE UNIVERSE Saturday at 10:30 PM ET/7:30 PM PT
Ganbare Pro-6/29 at Shin-Kiba 1st Ring
