News, results & more from Japanese Pro Wrestling & Sumo
Updating an item from the 5/10 DDT results post, it was announced at the time that Masami Inahata would be out a week with a back injury and return Sunday at a Matsui Referee Produced event in Osaka. That will not happen. Still out due to doctor’s orders to rest and is mow out indefinitely. Hiroaki Taniguchi will be the replacement Sunday.
More as it becomes available.
The United Japan Pro Wrestling group aka Japan Pro Wrestling Federation, made up of several major and independent promotions (excluding All-Japan Pro Wrestling) held its latest event today in Tokyo. Called FACE THE NEXT, it spotlighted younger & less experienced wrestlers while also serving as a de facto farewell to the venue that is closing soon. New Japan was responsible for promoting the event.
Today‘s event was held at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast (at least at this time).
The announced paid attendance was 460, a legit sellout.
Before the event began, a talk show event was held with New Japan wrestler Kosei Fujita & DDT wrestler Takeshi Masada, followed by a speech from Japan Pro Wrestling Federation representative director Sanshiro Takagi.
Match 1: Tatsuya Matsunoto (New Japan) vs. Yuto Koyanagi (Pro Wrestling NOAH) went to a 10 minute time limit draw.
Match 2: Jiro Shinbashi (Dragon Gate), Hinata Kasai (DDT) & Sentaro Motojima (Ganbare Pro) beat Midori Takahashi (Pro Wrestling NOAH), @KEY (Dragon Gate) & Beniyo Ume (Kyushu Pro Wrestling). Motojima pinned Ume.
Match 3: Takama Selishige (Big Japan), Masatora Yasuda (New Japan), Shota Kawakami (Ganbare Pro) & Katsumi Inahata (Pro Wrestling NOAH) beat Taisei Nakahara (New Japan), Reiya Igarashi (Freedoms), Rukiya (DDT) & GuC (Dragon Gate). Yasuda pinned Nakahara.
Match 4: Kazuma Kimura (Dragon Gate), Daichi Sato (DDT) & Kazumasa Yoshida (Big Japan) beat Hiroto Tsuruya (Pro Wrestling NOAH), Koshiro Asakusa (Big Japan) & Yuki Ishida (DDT). Sato pinned Asakura after Mad Splash.
Match 5: Yuya Koroku (DDT) beat Homare (Dragon Gate) by submission.
Main Event: Ryoya Tanaka (Dragon Gate), Munetatsu Nakamura (Ganbare Pro) & Kazuma Sumi (DDT) beat Daiki Odashima (Pro Wrestling NOAH), Daiki Nagai (New Japan) & Illusion (DDT). Tanaka pinned Illusion after Stardust Press Joker Strider.
After the main event, New Japan President Hiroshi Tanahashi appeared to put over all the wrestlers and send the crowd home happy.
No word yet on when the next UJPW event will be held.
DDT took a break from KING OF DDT to run the May house shows starting yesterday in Nagoya.
Yesterday’s event was held at Imaike Gas Hall in Nagoya and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE Thursday. There was no live broadcast.
The paid attendance was not announced.
Match 1: Yuni & Yuki Ishida beat Viente Maligno & Hinata Kasai. Ishida pinned Kasai.
Match 2: Naomi Yoshimura beat Danshoku Dieno & Kazuki Hirata in a 3-way by pinning Hirata
Match 3: Akito, Junta Miyawaki & Yuya Korku beat Hideki Okatani, Daisuke Sasaki & Illusion. Miyawaki pinned Okatani after Sunshine Schoolboy. Afterwards, Miyawaki issued a DDT Extreme Championship challenge to Okatani. That match will happen on 6/21 at Chunichi Hall.
Match 4: MAO & KANON beat Takeshi Masada & Daichi Sato. MAO pinned Sato after a running palm.
Match 5: Kazuma Sumi & Yukio Naya beat Jun Akiyama & Masami Inahata. Naya pinned Inahata.
Main Event: Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & To-y beat Chris Brookes, HARASHIMA & Antonio Honda. To-y pinned Honda after Kojima Impact. Afterwards, To-y issued a KO-D Tag Team Championship challenge for himself & Ueno. Brookes said no but the fans said yes. And based on that, Acting GM Akito said yes too. That match will happen on 6/21.
The next event is Saturday at Yokohama Radiant Hall in Yokohama. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin Friday at 9 PM PT/midnight ET.
Injury Report: It appears Inahata was injured during today’s match. Back. Out at least 1 week.
DDT continued the KING OF DDT 2026 Tournament today with the Quarterfinals.
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.
Match 1: Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & Illusion beat O-MENZ Kumadori, Masami Inahata & Hinata Kasai. Sasaki beat Kasai with a crossface.
Match 2: Yuya Koroku, Daichi Sato & Yuki Ishida beat Kazuki Hirata, Antonio Honda & Yuni. Koroku pinned Hirata.
Match 3: Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & To-y beat Kazuma Sumi, Junta Miyawaki & Rukiya and KANON, Yukio Naya & Viente Maligno in a 3way when Katsumata pinned Maligno.
KING OF DDT Quarterfinals:
Match 4: MAO beat Hideki Okatani.
Match 5: Danshoku Dieno beat Takeshi Masada.
Match 6: Minoru Suzuki beat Chris Brookes by submission.
Main Event: Shinya Aoki beat HARASHIMA.
As a result, the Semifinals will be Aoki vs. Suzuki and Dieno vs. MAO.
The Semifinals & Finals are 5/31 at Korakuen Hall.
The next event is tomorrow at Imaike Gas Hall in Nagoya. There will be no live broadcast. On demand Thursday
DDT kicked off the 2026 KING OF DDT Tournament today in Tokyo with their Golden Week major event. The first of 2 major single tournament each year in the promotion, this is a single-elimination bracket format event.
Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.
The paid attendance was not announced.
Pre-show:
Match 1: Jun Akiyama, Yuni, Yuki Ishida & Rikiya beat Naomi Yoshinura, Viente Maligno, Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Masami Inabata. Rukiya pinned Maligno with a fishermans buster.
Match 2: Yuki Ueno & Shunma Katsumata beat Daisuke Sadaki & MJ Paul and Antonio Honda & Hinata Kasai in a 3-way when Ueno pinned Kasai. Rather unusual to have the promotion’s top wrestler and champion on a pre-show, don’t you think? Until you realize…
Main show:
All matches were KING OF DDT Round 1 matches. No time limits.
Match 1: Hideki Okatani beat Yuya Koroku.
Match 2: Takeshi Masada beat To-y.
Match 3: Chris Brookes beat Junta Miyawaki.
Match 4: HARASHIMA beat Daichi Sato.
Match 5: Shinya Aoki beat KANON.
Match 6: Minoru Suzuki beat Yukio Naya.
Match 7: Danshoku Dieno beat Kazuki Hirata.
Main Event: MAO beat Kazuma Sumi.
After the main event, it was announced that Sumi will defend the DDT Universal Championship in France on 5/23. That match will be against Gringo Loco & Leedz Lewis in a 3-way. MAO & Yoshihiko will also be there for a BZW Tag Team Championship defense.
As a result of today, the Quarterfinals are as follows: Dieno vs. Masada, Suzuki vs. Brookes, HARASHIMA vs. Aoki, Okatani vs. MAO.
The Quarterfinals are Saturday at Shinjuku Face. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 3 AM PT/6 AM ET
DDT began their May schedule with an event today in Homkaido.
Today’s event was held at Sapporo Sun Plaza in Hokkaido and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE Monday. There was no live broadcast.
The paid attendance was not announced.
Match 1: Hideki Okatani beat Viente Maligno.
Match 2: Danshoku Dieno & Yukio Naya beat Kazuma Sumi & Yuki Ishida. Naya pinned Ishida with La Magistral.
Match 3: Takeya Dou (?), Kaoshi (?) Yoshida, Kazuki Hirata & Tomomitsu Matsunaga beat Akito, Antonio Honda, Junta Miyawaki & Hinata Kasai. Yoshida pinned Kasai.
Match 4: Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & To-y beat Takeshi Masada, Yuya Koroku & O-MENZ Kumadori. Katsumata pinned Kunadori after Totoe Splash.
Match 5: MAO & KANON beat Jun Akiyama & Masami Inahata. KANON pinned Inahata after Guru-Guru Driver.
Main Event: KO-D Tag Team Champions Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA beat Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul to retain the titles. HARASHIMA pinned Paul after a swan dive Blue Sword. V1 for the champs.
The next event is tomorrow with a KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship match. There will be no live broadcast. On demand Wednesday.
DDT continued their current tour today with a house show in Yokohama.
Today’s event was held at Yokohama Radiant Hall in YOkohama and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.
The paid attendance was not announced.
The event started with some bad news, especially for the ladies, and some last-minute changes because of Kaisei Takechi being ruled out of action, and the upcoming King Of DDT Tournament. Acute appendicitis. It was later announced that Kazuki Hirata will be the replacement in the tournament.
Match 1: Shinya Aoki beat Rukiya.
Match 2: Kazuki Hirata & Naomi Yoshimura beat Danshoku DIeno & ANtonio Honda in 2 seconds. Yoshimura beat Honda with a side headlock. Which led to…
Match 2 (again): In a handicap match, Naomi Yoshimura beat Kazuki Hirata, Danshoku Dieno & Antonio Honda by beating Hirata.
Match 3: MAO, KANON, Yuki Iino, Yukio Naya & Viente Maligno beat Kazuma Sumi, Junta Miyawaki, Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Yuni & Yuki Ishida. MAO pinned Yinu after Assault Love Heart.
Match 4: Yuki Ueno & Akito beat Daichi Sato & Masami Inahata. Ueno pinned Inahata after a sitout powetbomb.
Match 5: Hideki Okatani, MJ Paul & Minoru Fujita beat Chris Brookes, HARASHIMA & Hinata Kasai. Olatani pinned Kasai after a koshi-swivel-type Claymore.
Main Event: Shunma Katsumata & To-y beat Takeshi Masada & Yuya Koroku. To-y pinned Masada after a Frankensteiner.
The next event is Wednesday at Higashi-ku Plaza in Niigata. The event is a legit advance sellout. There will be no live broadcast. On demand Friday.
Kaisei Takechi has helped bring a lot of female fans into DDT in the 2 years he’s been active as a pro wrestler, or more specifically a “hybrid performer” much like fellow wrestler/stage performer O-MENZ Kumadori. So when injuries hit that really puts a damper on things, and unfortunately for Takechi-and the ladies-it’s happened again at a very bad time. Acute appendicitis. Out at least a month and that means, as a result, Takechi is out of the 2026 KING OF DDT Tournament. Replacement TBA.
More as it becomes available.
UPDATE: Kazuki Hirata is the replacement.
In addition to press conferences today, DDT continued the build to the KING OF DDT 2026 Tournament today with an event in Tokyo.
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.
Match 1: Hideki Okatani & MJ Paul beat Naomi Yoshimura & Akito and Danshoku Dieno & Kazuki Hirata in a 3-way when Okatani pinned Hirata.
Match 2: Junta Miyawaki beat Antonio Honda.
Match 3: MAO, KANON, Yuki Iino & Viente Maligno beat Kazuma Sumi, O-MENZ Kumadori, Rukiya & Hinata Kasai. Iino pinned Kasai after a lariat.
Match 4: Minoru Suzuki & HARASHIMA beat Yukio Naya & Yuki Ishida. Suzuki pinned Ishida after a Gotch-style piledriver.
Match 5: Yuki Ueno, Shinya Aoki, Shunma Katsumata & To-y beat Takeshi Masada, Yoya Koroku, Daichi Sato & Masami Inahata. Aoki pinned Inahata with European Clutch
Main Event: Chris Brookes beat Illusion.
The next event is Saturday at Yokohama Radiant Hall in Yokohama. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET.
UPDATE: Injury Report-Illusion was injured during the main event. Concussion-like symptoms. Out indefinitely but at least 2 weeks. A decision on returning will be made around or shortly after the 5/6 event. Updates to follow.
In addition to event postponements, DDT also announced an injury absence today. No FIRE! for now as Sanshiro Takagi was injured at the event this weekend. Orbital bones (eye) and nose. Out indefinitely. The promotion said “a short period of time” but event changes resulting from this indicate at least 1-2 weeks. But exactly how long isn’t yet known.
More as it becomes available.