Tag: New Japan Pro Wrestling

New Japan ran another special standalone event today, called “Wrestling Hizen Country”, like WRESTLING REDZONE it seems to replace the traditional Wrestling Satsuma No Kuni event normally held around this time of year.

Today’s event was held at Saga Arena in Saga and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 1604.

Match 1: Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Masatora Yasuda by submission.

Match 2: Hartley Jackson (Independent/Freelancer), Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Katsuya Murashima, Boltin Oleg & Yoru Yano. Oiwa pinned Murashima after The Grip.

Matxh 3: TAKA Michinoku, Taichi, Tomohiro Ishii, Shota Umino & Yuya Uemura beat BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji & Tetsuya Naito. Uemura pinned BUSHI with a kannuki suplex hold.

Match 4: Taiji Ishimori, Clark Connors, Drilla Moloney, Gabriel Kidd & David Finlay vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Sho, Ren Narita, SANADA & EVIL went to a no contest. Out of control. Afterwards, Finlay demanded a Dog Pound Cage Match where the losing side (War Dogs or House Of Torture) must leave Bullet Club. That match will happen on 5/3 at Day 1 of WRESTLING DONTAKU.

Match 5: Jacob Austin Young, Francesco Akira & Callum Newman beat Ryusuke Taguchi, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto. Newman pinned Taguchi after Firebolt.

Match 6: El Phantasmo beat NJPW WORLD TV Champion Great-O-Khan to win the title. Phantasmo becomes the 9th NJPW WORLD TV Champion. That didn’t take long. Next up: If Phantasmo gets his way, Konosuke Takeshita.

Match 7: Master Wato & Yoh beat IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Feam Champions Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles to win the titles. Wato & Yoh become the 78th IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. Wato pinned Fujita after Falcon Blow. Reminder that TMDK also stands for The Mighty Don’t Kosei.

Main Event: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion El Desperado beat Templario to retain the title. V5 for Desperado. In post-match comments Desperado put the soon-departing BUSHI & Naito over saying if they keep wrestling elsewhere he’ll keep watching them.

The next event is tomorrow at Grand Messe Kumamoto in Kumamoto for the first of the last 2 dates of the Road To WRESTLING DONTAKU Tour. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET. The final event Thursday is non-televised.

UPDATE: As is always the case with these title matches, as of 7 PM PT/10 PM ET you also can now watch the NJPW WORLD TV Championship match FOR FREE on YouTube.

UPDATE: It’s now official. Phantasmo-Takeshita for the NJPW WORLD TV Championship has been added to Day 1 of WRESTLING DONTAKU 2025 on 5/3.

New Japan continued the Road To WRESTLING DONTAKU Tour today in Yamaguchi.

Today’s event was held at KDDI Ishin Hall in Yamaguchi and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 1129

Match 1: Masatora Yasuda & Ryusuke Taguchi beat Daiki Nagai & Katsuya Murashima. Taguchi beat Nagai with Oh My & Gar Ankle.

Match 2: Francesco Akira & Great-O-Khan beat Jado & El Phantasmo. Akira pinned Jado after Fireball.

Match 3: TAKA Michinoku, Taichi, Tomohiro Ishii, Shota Umino & Yuya Uemura beat BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji & Tetsuya Naito. Taichi pinned BUSHI after Holy Emperor’s Cross Mausoleum.

Match 4: Taiji Ishimori, Clark Connors, Drilla Moloney & Gabriel Kidd beat Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Sho, Ren Narita & SANADA in 63 seconds by DQ. Kanemaru DQ’d. EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi interference. Which led to…

Match 5: Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Sho, Ren Narita, SANADA, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL beat Taiji Ishimori, Clark Connors, Dilla Moloney, Gabriel Kidd, David Finlay & Gedo. Takahashi pinned Gedo. This was to have been Finlay & Gedo vs. Takahashi & EVIL but changed to a 12-man match after the prior match result.

Match 6: Master Wato, Yoh, Boltin Oleg, Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Kosei Fujita, Robbie Eagles, Hartley Jackson (Independent/Freelancer), Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. Oleg pinned Jackson after Kamikaze.

Main Event: El Desperado, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat Jacob Austin Youn, Templario & Callum Newman. YOSHI-HASHI pinned Young after Shoto.

The next event is “Wrestling Hizen Country” Tuesday at Saga Arena in Saga. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET.

New Japan continued the Road To WRESTLING DONTAKU Tour today in Kochi.

Today’s event was held at Kochi Prefectural Gym in Kochi. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 853.

Match 1: Katsuya Murashima beat Masatora Yasuda.

Match 2: Ryohei Oiwa, Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles beat Toru Yano, Master Wato & Yoh. Oiwa pinned Yano with Arc Clutch.

Match 2; Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Sho, Ren Narita & SANADA beat Gedo, Taiji ishimori, Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney. Sho pinned Gedo.

Match 4: Jacob Austin Young, Francesco Akira, Great-O-Khan, Templario & Callum Newman beat Ryusuke Taguchi, Jado, El Phantasmo, El Desperado & Hirooki Goto. Khan beat Jado with Subaru Sheep Killer.

Match 5: Boltin Oleg & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Hartley Jackson (Independent/Freelancer) & Zack Sabre Jr. Oleg pinned Jackson after Kamikaze.

Main Event; BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuhji & Tetsuya Naito beat TAKA Michinoku, Taichi, Tomohiro Ishii, Shota Umino & Yuya Uemura. Naito pinned TAKA after Destino.

The next event is WRESTLING REDZONE in HIROSHIMA tomorrow at Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hall in Hiroshima. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET.

New Japan continued the Road To WRESTLING DONTAKU Tour today in Ehime. This appears to havebeen a Yuya Uemura hometown event.

Today’s event was held at Tex Port Imabari in Ehime. There is/was bo live or on demand broadcast.

The paid attendance has not yet been announced. Some details are missing from the results due to internet problems at the venue.

Match 1: Masatora Yasuda vs. Daiki Nagai went to a 10 minute time limit draw.

Match 2: Francesco Akira & Great-O-Khan beat Jado & El Phantasmo. Akira pinned Jado after Fireball.

Match 3: Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Ren Narita, Sho & SANADA beat Gedo, Taiji Ishimori, Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney. Kanemaru pinned Gedo.

Match 4: Master Wato, Yoh, Boltin Oleg, Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Kosei Fujita, Robbie Eagles, Hartley Jackson (Independent/Freelancer), Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. Oleg pinned Jackson after Kamikaze.

Match 5: Ryusuke Taguchi, El Desperado & Hirooki Goto beat Jacob Austin Young, Templario & Callum Newman. Taguchi pinned Young.

Main Event: TAKA Michinoku, Taichi, Tomohiro Ishii, Shota Umino & Yuya Uemura beat BUSHI, Hiromu Takahasho, Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji & Tetsuya Naito. Uemura pinned BUSHI with a kannuki suplex hold.

The next event is Friday at Kochi Prefectural Gym in Kochi. There will be bo live or on demand broadcast.

New Japan has posted a brief obituary piece about Hisashi Shinma, a former executive with the promotion who died yesterday at 90. Nikkan Sports also reported on his passing. Shinma was with New Japan at the beginning in 1972 as senior managing director, among his accolades were making the Muhammad Ali-Antonio Inoki fight in 1976 happen and the creation of the International Wrestling Grand Prix (IWGP), the promotion’s sanctioning body for its championships. He also helped create the Tiger Mask character made famous by Satoru Sayama. He left NJPW in 1983 to start the original UWF, then worked elsewhere around the world and even as WWF President at one time. He was inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame in 2019. He was still active working with Sayama in his Real Japan Pro Wrestling until the end.

I join in sending condolences to Shinma’s family and friends.

New Japan continued the Road To WRESTLING DONTAKU Tour today with a second event in Osaka.

Today’s event was held at Osaka Prefectural Gym 2 in Osaka. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast outside Japan. This was a Samurai! TV broadcast in Japan only.

The announced paid attendance was 828.

Match 1: Katsuya Murashima beat Daiki Nagai.

Match 2: Jacob Austin Young beat Masatora Yasuda.

Match 3: Master Wato, Yoh, Boltin Oleg, Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Kosei Fujita, Robbie Eagles, Hartley Jackson (Independent/Freelancer), Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. Oleg pinned Jackson after Kamikaze.

Match 4: Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Sho, Ren Narita & SANADA beat Gedo, Taiji Ishimori, Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney. Sho pinned Gedo.

Match 5: Francesco Akira & Callum Newman beat Ryusuke Taguchi & Hirooki Goto. Newman pinned Taguchi after Firebolt.

Match 6: TAKA Michinoku, Taichi, Tomohiro Ishii, Shota Umino & Yuya Uemura beat BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji & Tetsuya Naito. Ishii pinned BUSHI after a vertical drop brainbuster

Main Event: Great-O-Khan & Templario beat El Phantasmo & El Desperado. Templario pinned Desperado.

The next event is tomorrow at Tex Port Inabari in Ehime. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

UPDATE: Schedule update for this week-Sunday’s event in Yamaguchi (KDDI Ishin Hall) which was to be non-televised will now be available live & on demand on New Japan World. Start time is 1 AM PT/4 AM ET.

New Japan continued the Road To WRESTLING DONTAKU Tour today in Osaka.

Today’s event was held at Osaka Prefectural Gym 2 in Osaka. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 857, a legit sellout.

Match 1: Katsuya Murashima beat Masatora Yasuda.

Match 2: Francesco Akira & Great-O-Khan beat Jado & El Phantasmo. Akira pinned Jado after Fireball.

Match 3: Boltin Oleg, Master Wato & Yoh beat Hartley Jackson (Independent/Freelancer), Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles. Oleg pinned Jackson after Kamikaze.

Match 4: Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi. Sabre pinned Yano.

Match 5: Yoshinobu Kanemaro, Ren Narita, Sho & SANADA beat Gedo, Taiji Ishimori, Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney. Kanemaru pinned Gedo.

Match 6: Ryusuke Taguchi, Hirooki Goto & El Desperado beat Jacob Austin Young, Templario & Callum Newman. Taguchi pinned Young.

Main Event: BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji & Tetsuya Naito beat TAKA Michinoku, Taichi, Tomohiro Ishii, Shota Umino & Yuya Uemura. Takahashi pinned TAKA with Nameless Hiromu Roll.

The next event is tomorrow. There will be no live or on demand broadcast outside Japan. This event is scheduled to be a Samurai! TV broadcast in Japan only. (The next live New Japan World broadcast is scheduled to be Saturday)

New Japan runs a very rare morning matinee event today, which means a convenient Friday night live broadcast for us over in the US. The Road To WRESTLING DONTAKU Tour opener is on top, beginning the run to the traditional Golden Week blowout event in Fukuoka which is expanded to 2 days this year. It’s been a very difficult week for the promotion which is dealing with the impending departures of Jeff Cobb after today then Tetsuya Naito and BUSHI after DONTAKU. Cobb is rumored to be headed to WWE, Naito had been working without a contract and his departure seemed to be about money and usage, and BUSHI requested his release. Cobb’s leaving also means he & Callum Newman had to vacate the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship which is not good news if you can’t stand Bishamon because they get a shot at the vecant titles against Newman & Great-O-Khan, but that’s for later. Cobb’s final NJPW match will be today against Hiroshi Tanahashi.

There have also been last-minute changes to the card today because it was announced Hiroyoshi Tenzan is now off. The always vague poor health. HE was to have teamed with Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata & Tiger Mask to face Yogi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Katsuya Murashima & Daiki Nagai. Masatora Yasuda, the Young Lion who has been out the last few months due to injury, is the replacement and will make his return today.

Today’s event will be held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched LIVE on New Japan World in Japanese and English. There are only 6 matches scheduled but the main event is a no time limit elimination match so I’m guessing the total running time will be around a “Standard” Korakuen non-major event time of 2 1/2 hours.

Today’s lineup:
Masatora Yasuda, Tiger Mask, Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata vs. Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Katsuya Murashima & Daiki Nagai
Master Wato, Boltin Oleg, Yoh & Toru Yano vs. Kosei Fujita, Robbie Eagles, Hartley Jackson (Independent/Freelancer) & Ryohei Oiwa
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jeff Cobb
Gedo, Taiji Ishimori & Drilla Moloney vs. Sho, Ren Narita & SANADA
Ryusuke Taguchi, El Desperado & Hirooki Goto vs. Jacob Austin Young, Templario & Callum Newman
TAKA Michinoku, YOSHI-HASHI, Taichi, Shota Umino & Yuya Uemura vs. BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji in an elimination match (eliminations by pinfall, submission, countout, DQ, over the top rope)

Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.

Updates below will begin at 7:30 PM PT/10:30 PM ET.

7:25 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates begin now.

Opening tour/event preview video starts us earlier than expected. After that…

We are LIVE from Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. Your hosts are Haruo Murata & Milano Collection A.T. Great-O-Khan is the guest on Japanese commentary.

The paid attendance will be announced after the event. It looks close to a sellout which would mean around 1500 if legit. Only see a couple of empty seats here & there at the start. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 1505, a legit sellout)

The matches begin right away.

Match 1: Masatora Yasuda, Tiger Mask, Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata vs. Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Katsuya Murashima & Daiki Nagai. 20 minute time limit
Result: Masatora Yasuda, Tiger Mask, Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata beat Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Katsuya Murashima & Daiki Nagai. Nagata beat Nagai with Nagata Lock 2.

Match 2: Master Wato, Boltin Oleg, Yoh & Toru Yano vs. Kosei Fujita, Robbie Eagles, Hartley Jackson (Independent/Freelancer) & Ryohei Oiwa. 20 minute time limit
Result: Master Wato, Boltin Oleg, Yoh & Toru Yano beat Kosei Fujita, Robbie Eagles, Hartley Jackson & Ryohei Oiwa. Oleg pinned Jackson after Kamikaze.

Match 3: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jeff Cobb. 30 minute time limit
Result: Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Jeff Cobb. Afterwards, United Empire joins Cobb in the ring as he says goodbye to New Japan.

Match 4: Gedo, Taiji Ishimori & Drilla Moloney vs. Sho, Ren Narita & SANADA. 30 minute time limit
Result: Sho, Ren Narita & SANADA beat Gedo, Taiji Ishimori & Drilla Moloney. Narita pinned Gedo.

Match 5: Ryusuke Taguchi, El Desperado & Hirooki Goto vs. Jacob Austin Young, Templario & Callum Newman. 30 minute time limit
Result: Ryusuke Taguchi, El Desperado & Hirooki Goto beat Jacob Austin Young, Templario & Callum Newman. Taguchi pinned Young.

Main Event: TAKA Michinoku, YOSHI-HASHI, Taichi, Shota Umino & Yuya Uemura vs. BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji in an elimination match (eliminations by pinfall, submission, countout, DQ, over the top rope). No time limit
Result: BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji beat TAKA Michinoku, YOSHI-HASHI, Taichi, Shota Umino & Yuya Uemura. Naito was the only winner left, last eliminating Taichi. Afterwards, one final LIJ promo all together to end the event as the end is very near for Naito & BUSHI as they will be leaving New Japan after WRESTLING DONTAKU.

The next event is Monday at Osaka Prefectural Gym 2 in Osaka. There will be no live or on demand broadcast. There likely will be no more broadcasts the rest of the tour, the upcoming standalone events in Hiroshima & Saga before heading to Fukuoka will be live & on demand.

The rumors from a few weeks ago in the Japanese media have proven true…New Japan has announced Tetsuya Naito is done with the promotion. His contract will not be renewed by mutual agreement. The promotion says on their English website Naito is leaving on the best possible terms and will finish up with the promotion on 5/4 at the second day of WRESTLING DONTAKU 2025 in Fukuoka. Naito turns 43 this summer and has just short of 19 years in the ring but of course his future is a big question mark due to injuries, especially chronic knee issues and he’a had eye surgeries each of the last couple years prior to Tokyo Done yet he remains one of New Japan’s most popular wrestlers. Only Hiroshi Tanahashi may be more popular right now.

And just as I was about to post this…it was also announced that BUSHI is also leaving New Japan after 5/4. He requested his release and it was granted. BUSHI, previously known in his pre-New Japan days as T28 in All-Japan (Bushii is his real last name) is 42 and has 18 years experience but has mostly been used as a jobber the last few years. So Los Ingobernables de Japon is suddenly down to just 3 (not counting CMLL wrestler Titan).

They join Jeff Cobb in recently departing the promotion although Cobb’s departure was inmediate amidst runors he is WWE-bound.

More as it becomes available.

UPDATE: In a statement posted on New Japan’s Japanese website regarding these announcements, President Hiroshi Tanahashi stated that yesterday he tried to convince Naito to stay but Naito was determined to leave and Tanahashi couldn’t convince him otherwise.

UPDATE 2: More to come? New Japan has announced a press conference with Toru Yano will be held tomorrow at Noon Japan time, which means TONIGHT at 8 PM PT/11 PM ET. It will be streamed LIVE FOR FREE on New Japan World (no paid subscription required).

UPDATE 3: The Yano presser, hosted by Haruo Murata, was apparently to announce a joint New Japan-DDT Pro Wrestling PPV as Super Sasadango Machine, Sanshiro Takagi & Akito were present for DDT as well as Yano along with New Japan Chairman Naoki Sugabayashi. This PPV apparently will be available on both New Japan World and WRESTLE UNIVERSE. (Said event will be on 6/9 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Tickets and PPV sales will begin 5/11 and will be available on both New japan World and WRESTLE UNIVERSE. Further details TBA but the only thing certain is there will be at least one match which will be Yano vs. Machine)