Tag: New Japan

New Japan made its first trip of the year to Chiba Prefecture today, and of course that means a Yuji Nagata Produced event as the self-proclaimed oldest 56-year-old would do his best today to make his latest event, BLUE JUSTICE 15, a success.

Today’s event was held at Sakura Municipal Gym in Chiba and can be watched on demand on New Japan World. This was also a Samurai! TV broadcast in Japan.

The announced paid attendance was 1105.

Match 1: Jacob Austin Young, Francesco Akira & Great-O-Khan beat Katsuya Murashima, Shoma Kato & Shota Umino. Akira pinned Murashima after Fireball.

Match 2: Ryohei Oiwa, Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita beat Tomoaki Honma, Yoh & El Desperado. Oiwa pinned Honma after The Grip.

Match 3: Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito beat Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan. Takahashi pinned Kojima with Nameless Hiromu Roll Part 2.

Match 4: Taiji Ishimori & SANADA beat TAKA Michinoku & Taichi. SANADA beat TAKA with Skull End.

Match 5: Clark Connors, Drilla Moloney & Gabriel Kidd beat BUSHI, Shingo Takagi & Yota tsuji. Moloney pinned BUSHI after Drilla Killer.

Match 6: YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat Hartley Jackson & Zack Sabre Jr. YOSHI-HASHI pinned Jackson after Shoto.

Main Event: Boltin Oleg, Toru Yano, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Yuji Nagata beat Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & Ren Narita. Oleg pinned Kanemaru after Kamikaze.

The next event is the Road To THE NEW BEGINNING Tour, which officially starts the full year campaign and the road to Tokyo Dome 2026, starting Wednesday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET.

Following Great-O-Khan announcing he was “retiring” the KOPW (King Of Pro Wrestling) championship at the end of 2024, meaning it wouldn’t be contested for at New Japan’s year-opening events (Tokyo Dome and NEW YEAR DASH!!), the IWGP Executive Committee-the sanctioning body that oversees New Japan’s championships-has made it official: The “title” is retired and dead. The title was created in mid-2020 at the suggestion of Kazuchika Okada and saw over 50 title matches in its existence, each with unique rules proposed by the participants and voted on by fans. It was never considered or treated as an “official” championship though.

Forget We Want Mina…more like Everyone Wants Konosuke. New Japan just announced that, following winning the NEVER Openweight Championship at the Tokyo Dome, Konosuke Takeshita has signed with the promotion. Already signed with both home promotion DDT and All Elite Wrestling, he is now in a unique position of being signed with 3 different promotions together. It’s not known how long this contract os for but knowing New Japan I imagine it’s for one year (contracts ate usually up after Tokyo Dome & New Year Dash and re-done during the break before the first tour of the year).

With Tokyo Dome now in the books, New Japan officially began their new year today, and the road to Tokyo Dome 2026, with their traditional new campaign launch 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.

The announced paid attendance was 2348.

None of the matches were announced in advance.

Pre-show match: Yuji Nagata, Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan beat Daiki Nagai, Katsuya Murashima & Shoma Kato. Nagata beat Nagai with Nagata Lock 2.

Match 1: In an Exhibition Match, Boltin Oleg vs. Josh Barnett went to a 5 minute time limit draw.

Match 2; Jacob Austin Young, Francesco Akira, TJP, Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb beat Jado, Master Wato, Tomoaki Honma, Shota Umino & El Phantasmo. Khan pinned Honma after Eliminator. Afterwards, Khan tore up a handmade IWGP World Heavyweight Championship belt Umino had been carrying around which was made by a young fan, which probably sets up the next feud for Umino.

Match 3: Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Yujiro Takahashi, Sho & Ren Narita beat Tiger Mask, Togi Makabe, Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi. Sho pinned TM 4.

Match 4: Clark Connors & SANADA beat TAKA Michinoku & Taichi. SANDA beat TAKA with Skull End.

Match 5: KUSHIDA & El Desperado beat KENTA & Taiji Ishimori. KUSHIDA beat KENTA with Hoverboard Lock.

Match 6: BUSHI, Titan, Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji beat Gedo, Drilla Moloney, Gabriel Kidd & David Finlay. Titan pinned Gedo after Jade Immortal.

Match 7: Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito beat Ryusuke Taguchi & Alex Zayne. Naito pinned Taguchi after Destino. Afterwards, Naito issued an IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship challenge to Matt & Nick Jackson, who beat LIJ in a 3-way yesterday to win the vacant titles.

Main Event: Rocky Romero, Yoh, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat Kosei Fujita, Robbie Eagles, Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. Yoh beat Eagles with a ground cobra twist. Afterwards, with the shot in hand from winning the New Japan Ranbo on Saturday, Goto issues the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship challenge to Sabre. That match will likely happen at THE NEW BEGINNING on 2/11 at Osaka Prefectural Gym in Osaka.

The next event is Battle In The Valley 2025 Saturday at San Jose Civic in San Jose, CA. Live streaming on New Japan World for all paying subscribers and as a PPV on Triller/FITE ($19.99) will begin at 7 PM PT/10 PM ET. No live results because, recent health concerns not withstanding, I will be there live in person!

New Japan returns to the Tokyo Dome today just hours after their annual year-opening biggest event of the year for WRESTLE DYNASTY, a special crossover event featuring partner promotions AEW, CMLL, Stardom and more. With yesterday now in the books, that means several expected changes were made to the card but also some unexpected changes. With Zack Sabre Jr. still IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, that means he now defends against Ricochet in what will be the main event, while NEW NEVER Openweight Champion Konosuke Takeshita defends the title AND the AEW International Championshp against Tomohiro Ishii, and NEW IWGP Global Champion Yota Tsuji defends the title against Jack Perry. And in unexpected changes, Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi have cashed in their IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship shot earned for winning the World Tag League to make today’s determination match for the vacant titles a 3-way (and the TBA that was Great-O-Khan’s mystery partner has been revealed to be Jeff Cobb), plus Hiroshi Tanahashi & Katsuyori Shibata face off in an exhibition match.

Today’s event will be held at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo and can be watched LIVE on New Japan World in Japanese and English. It will also be available live and on demand as a PPV on Triller/FITE for $29.99 or as a combo pack for $47.99 which includes unlimited replays of yesterday’s event. Both have replays for the next 90 days. There will be 2 pre-show matches and 12 matches total so strap in for a potential all-nighter if you’re on the US east coast as the event’s total running time will probably be close to 5 hours.

Today’s lineup:
Pre-show:
International Women’s Cup: Momo Watanabe vs. Willow Nightingale, Athena & Persephone in a 4-way
ROH Tag Team Champions Dustin Rhodes & Sammy Guevara vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Sho for the titles

Main show/PPV:
Lucha Gauntlet. 4 New Japan & 4 CMLL participants. Staggered entry (every minute), first pinfall or submission wins. No over the top rope rules
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Katsuyori Shibata in a 5 Minute Exhibition Match
STRONG Women’s Champion Mercedes Mone vs. RevPro British Women’s Champion Mina Shirakawa for the titles
David Finlay vs. Brody King
Shota Umino vs. Claudio Castagnoli
NEVER Openweight Champion & AEW International Champion Konosuke Takeshita vs. Tomohiro Ishii for the titles
Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb vs. Matt & Nick Jackson and Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi in a 3-way for the vacant IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship
IWGP Global Champion Yota Tsuji vs. Jack Perry for the title
Kenny Omega vs. Gabriel Kidd
IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Ricochet for the title

Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.

Updates below will begin at 7 PM PT/10 PM ET.

7 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates begin now.

We are LIVE from the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. Your hosts are Haruo Murata, Milano Collection A.T. & Miki Motoi. El Desperado is our first guest on commentary. Your English hosts are Walker Stewart & Chris Charlton.

The paid attendance will be announced after the event. The crowd will still be filing in over the next hour but most of the floor/field level seating is already full. Advance sales didn’t seem as strong as for yesterday so I’ll initially guess it’ll be around 20,000. That still would likely be the second-biggest number of the entire year anywhere in Japan. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 16,300)

Pre-show:
Match 1: International Women’s Cup: Momo Watanabe vs. Willow Nightingale, Athena & Persephone in a 4-way. No time limit
Result: Momo Watanabe beat Willow Nightingale, Athena & Persephone in a 4-way by pinning Athena. Thekla, who was seconding Watanabe, was ejected right before by the ref for interfering, allowing Watanabe to use her baseball bat to knock out Athena.

Match 2: ROH Tag Team Champions Dustin Rhodes & Sammy Guevara vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Sho for the titles. 1 Hour time limit
Result: ROH Tag Team Champions Dustin Rhodes & Sammy Guevara beat Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Sho to retain the titles. Rhodes pinned Kanemaru after a Guevara swanton bomb.

Pre-show ends at 7:35 PM PT/10:30 PM ET. Updates will resume when the main show/PPV begins.

Main show/PPV:
This event is airing live as part of WORLD PRO WRESTLING LIVE 2025 on TV Asahi.

Match 1: Lucha Gauntlet. 4 New Japan & 4 CMLL participants. Staggered entry (every minute), first pinfall or submission wins. No over the top rope rules. Participants were not announced in advance. No time limit.
Participants (order of entry in parentheses): New Japan-Kosei Fujita (2), Master Wato (4). Taiji Ishimori (6), El Desperado (8). CMLL-Hechicero (1), Soberano Jr. (3), Mascara Dorada (5), Titan (7).
Result: Taiji Ishimori won by pinning Desperado.

Match 2: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Katsuyori Shibata in an Exhibition Match. 5 minute time limit
Result: Time Limit Draw. A standup slap/chop fest.

Match 3: STRONG Women’s Champion Mercedes Mone vs. RevPro British Women’s Champion Mina Shirakawa for the titles. 30 minute time limit
Result: STRONG Women’s Champion Mercedes Mone beat Mina Shirakawa to retain the title and win the RevPro British Women’s Championship. V4 for Mone. Which hopefully means I get to see her Saturday at Battle In The Valley.

El Desperado rejoins Japanese commentary for the next match and hosts are swapped as Haruo Murata gets a break.

Match 4: David Finlay vs. Brody King. 30 minute time limit
Result: David Finlay beat Brody King

Match 5: Shota Umino vs. Claudio Castagnoli. 30 minute time limit
Result: Shota Umino beat Claudio Castagnoli

Upcoming US event announcements. Windy City Riot in April in Chicago is being billed as Hiroshi Tanahashi’s final US appearance before his retirement.

Match 6: NEVER Openweight Champion & AEW International Champion Konosuke Takeshita vs. Tomohiro Ishii for the titles. 1 Hour time limit
Result: NEVER Openweight Champion & AEW International Champion Konosuke Takeshita beat Tomohiro Ishii to retain the titles. V1 for Takeshita.

Match 7: Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb vs. Matt & Nick Jackson and Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi in a 3-way for the vacant IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. 1 Hour time limit
Result: Matt & Nick Jackson beat Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb and Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi in a 3-way, when Matt Jackson pinned Khan, to win the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. The Jacksons become the 106th IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions.

Hiroshi Tanahashi joins Japanese commentaryz

Match 8: IWGP Global Champion Yota Tsuji vs. Jack Perry for the title. 1 Hour time limit
Result: IWGP Global Champion Yota Tsuji beat Jack Perry to retain the title. V1 for Tsuji.

Match 9: Kenny Omega vs. Gabriel Kidd. No time limit
Result: Kenny Omega beat Gabriel Kidd

Main Event: IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Ricochet for the title. 1 Hour time limit
Result: IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr. beat Ricochet by submission to retain the title. V4 for Sabre.

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.

UPDATE: As a result of winning the pre-show women’s 4-way, Momo Watanabe gets a future title shot of her choice. Presumably that means any title in Stardom or the other women’s titles in AEW, ROH or CMLL. (UPDATE 2: It sounds like she chose the ROH Women’s Championship currently held by Athena)

New Japan wrapped up their 2024 today with the final event of the year and the conclusion of the Road To TOKYO DOME Tour.

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 1509, a legit sellout.

Pre-show match; Hiromu Takahashi beat Katsuya Murashima.

Match 1: Jeff Cobb beat Hartley Jackson (Independent/Freelancer).

Match 2: Kevin Knight & KUSHIDA vs. Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles went to a no contest. Drilla Moloney & Clark Connors interference. Then United Empire interference. Which led to…

Match 3: Francesco Akira & TJP vs. Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney went to a no contest in 40 seconds. Chairs used by Bullet Club. Afterwards, Fujita proposed changing the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship 4-way match on 1/4, possibly to either a No DQ or a TLC (Tables, Ladders, Chairs) match. We’ll see.

Match 4; Master Wato, Satoshi Kojima & El Desperado beat TAKA Michinoku, Taichi & DOUKI. Desperado pinned TAKA after Pinche Loco.

Match 5: Tomoaki Honma, Boltin Oleg, Toru Yano, El Phantasmo & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi, Ren Narita & EVIL. Phantasmo pinned Takahashi after Thunder Kiss 86. Afterwards, EVIL cut off at least some of Tanahashi’s hair, much to the anger of the crowd.

Match 6; Gedo, SANADA & David Finlay beat BUSHI, Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji. Finlay pinned BUSHI after Overkill.

Main Event: Tomohiro Ishii & Shota Umino beat Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. Umino pinned Oiwa after Death Rider.

2024 has now come to a close for New Japan. And you know what that means…it’s the end, but also the beginning…

The next event is WRESTLE KINGDOM 19, the annual year-opener and the biggest event in all of Japanese pro wrestling and perhaps the biggest in the world outside of WrestleMania, on 1/4 at The Tokyo Dome. Live streaming on New Japan World OUTSIDE JAPAN ONLY will begin at midnight PT/3 AM ET. This will be a live and exclusive TV Asahi broadcast in Japan. (UPDATE: The event will now begin with a pre-show match on 1/3 at 11 PM PT/2 AM ET)

UPDATE: Another 1/4 change-the KOPW Title is now dead. Retired by Great-O-Khan and won’t return next year. Instead, the New Japan Ranbo Battle Royal on 1/4 now has a new stip-the winner will get an IWGP World Heavyweight Championship shot after 1/5.

UPDATE 2: Both the 1/4 & 1/5 events will also be available as PPVs on Triller/FITE. Pricing TBA as they are not yet available for pre-order (I’m thinking they’ll be around $30 each with a $50 combo pack that has both). New Japan World subscribers get both included with subscription meaning you can watch both there for $9.99.

UPDATE 3: The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship 4-way on 1/4 is now a Ladder Match.

UPDATE 4: PPV pre-orders on Triller/FITE are now available. $30 each or $48 for combo pack. Each includes live broadcast and unlimited replays for 3 months (until 4/4 and 4/5, respectively)