Tag: New Japan Pro Wrestling

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)

New Japan ran the penultimate event of the Road To TOKYO DOME Tour, and the year, today in Tokyo.

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on New Japan World. This was also a free live simulcast on ABEMA in Japan.

The announced paid attendance was 1420, a full house/near sellout.

Pre-show match: Hiromu Takahashi beat Shoma Kato.

Match 1: Satoshi Kojima beat Boltin Oleg. This was to have been Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Oleg & Toru Yano, but Tenzan was a last-minute removal from the event due to a fever. Yano was also removed as a result.

Match 2; Yujiro Takahashi & Ren Narita beat Jacob Austin Young & Jeff Cobb and Hartley Jackson & Ryohei Oiwa in a 3-way when Narita pinned Young. After the match, El Phantasmo, who has been away from the promotion due to treatment for cancer, appeared and announced he will return tomorrow, and also issued a NJPW WORLD TV Championship challenge. As a result, the 3-way for the title on 1/4 at the Tokyo Dome is now a 4-way.

Match 3: Master Wato & El Desperado beat TAKA Michinoku & DOUKI. Desperado beat TAKA with Numero Dos.

Match 4: Robbie Eagles beat Kevin Knight, Francesco Akira & Drilla Moloney in a 4-way by pinning Moloney.

Match 5: BUSHI, SHingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji beat Gedo, SANADA & David FInlay. Tsuji pinned Gedo after Gene Blaster.

Match 6; Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Hiroshi Tanahashi & Shota Umino. Sabre pinned Tanahashi after Zack Driver.

Main Event: In a 3 Falls 3 Years Of KOPW Culmination Match, KOPW 2024 Champion Great-O-Khan vs. Taichi ended in a DRAW. 1-1-1. As a result, Khan retains the title. Fall 1, a No Ropes Push Out Match, was won by Taichi. Fall 2, with Yoshinobu Kanemaru as special referee, was won by Khan. Fall 3, a Last Man Standing Anywhere Match )originally a Last Man Standing Lumberjack Death Match), ended in a Double KO. Khan will be the final KOPW 2024 Champion as it will reset and start over for 2025.

The next event, and the final event of the year, is tomorrow. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET.

New Japan reached the halfway point of the Road To TOKYO DOME Tour today with an event in Tochigi, the last event for a while outside of Tokyo.

Today’s event was held at Light Cube Utsunomiya in Tochigi. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 1056.

Match 1: Shoma Kato & Tomoaki Honma beat Daiki Nagai & Katsuya Murashima. Kato pinned Nagai.

Match 2; SANADA, Drilla Moloney & Clark Connors beat Jacob Austin Young, Francesco Akira & TJP by DQ. Young DQ’d.

Match 3: Ryohei Oiwa, Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles beat Ryusuke Taguchi, Kevin Knight & KUSHIDA. Oiwa pinned Taguchi after The Grip.

Match 4: Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb beat Sho & Ren Narita. Cobb pinned Sho after Tour of the Islands.

Match 5: Master Wato, Boltin Oleg, Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Dick Togo, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL. Wato beat Togo with Vendeval.

Match 6: TAKA Michinoku & DOUKI beat Tiger Mask & El Desperado. DOUKI beat TM 4 with Italian Stretch 32.

Match 7: BUSHI & Yota Tsuji beat Gedo & David Finlay. BUSHI pinned Gedo after Fable.

Main Event: Tomohiro Ishii & Shota Umino beat Hartley Jackson (Independent/Freelancer) & Zack Sabre Jr. Umino pinned Jackson after Death Rider.

The next event is tomorrow at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET. This will also be a live ABEMA broadcast in Japan.

In other news, the promotion will host a retirement match for longtime wrestler Sumie Sakai, who has been competing since the mid-1990s, at Battle In The Valley on 1/11 in San Jose, CA. It will be a 6-person tag match with Sakai and 2 partners of her choice vs. Hiromu Takahashi and 2 partners of his choice. Today we learned Takahashi’s second partner will be Yuka Sakazaki, formerly of Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling and now competing internationally, including with All Elite Wrestling. Takahashi’s first partner was previously revealed to be current IWGP Women’s Champion Mayu Iwatani. Sakai hasn’t revealed her partners yet. As I will be there in person on 1/11 I’m excited to be able to see Sakazaki compete both in person and in New Japan.

UPDATE: Hiroyoshi Tenzan is now off tomorrow’s event. Fever. He was to have teamed with Satoshi Kojima to face Boltin Oleg & Toru Yano. Yano is now off and it will be Kojima vs. Oleg.

New Japan continued the Road To TOKYO DOME Tour today in Yamagata.

Today’s event was held at Yamagata Big Wing in Yamagata. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 875.

There were potential changes to the cars due to no Sho. He was “exiled from Yamagata” due to losing a KOPW 2023 Championship match in November 2023. However, he may have appeared as a mysterious masked man. With no video available we may never know.

Match 1: Boltin Oleg & Toru Yano beat Katsuya Murashima & Shoma Kato. Oleg pinned Kato after Kamikaze.

Match 2: Ryohei Oiwa, Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles beat Gedo, Drilla Moloney & Clark Connors. Oiwa pinned Gedo after The Grip.

Match 3: Ryusuke Taguchi, Kevin Knight & KUSHIDA beat Jacob Austin Young, Francesco Akira & TJP. Knight pinned Young after Perfect Timing.

Match 4: Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb beat Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Ren Narita. Khan beat Kanemaru with Subaru Sheep Killer.

Match 5: Master Wato & El Desperado beat TAKA Michinoku & DOUKI. Wato beat TAKA with Recientemente..

Match 6: SANADA & David Finlay beat BUSHI & Yota Tsuji by DQ. BUSHI DQ’d.

Match 7: Dick Togo, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL beat Tiger Mask, Tomoaki Honma & Hiroshi Tanahashi. EVIL pinned Honma after EVIL.

Main Event: Tomohiro Ishii & Shota Unino beat Hartley Jackson (Independent/Freelancer) & Zack Sabre Jr. Umino pinned Jackson after Death Rider.

The next event is Saturday at Light Cube Utsumomiya in Tochigi. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

New Japan kicked off the year-ending Road To TOKYO DOME Tour today, the last build to the annual Tokyo Dome spectacular on 1/4.

Today’s event was held at Tokorozawa Citizen Gym in Saitama. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 726.

Match 1: Shoma Kato & Tomoaki Honma beat Daiki Nagai & Katsuya Murashima. Kato pinned Nagai.

Match 2: Ryohei Oiwa, Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles beat Jacob Austin Young, Francesco Akira & TJP. Oiwa pinned Young after The Grip.

Match 3: SANADA, Drilla Moloney & Clark Connors beat Ryusuke Taguchi, Kevin Knight & KUSHIDA by DQ. Taguchi DQ’d.

Match 4: Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb beat Yujiro Takahashi & Ren Narita. Cobb pinned Takahashi after Tour of the Islands.

Match 5: Master Wato, Boltin Oleg, Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Divk Togo, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Sho & EVIL. Wato beat Togo with Vendeval.

Match 6: TAKA Michinoku & DOUKI beat Tiger Mask & El Desperado. DOUKI beat TM 4 with Italian Stretch 32.

Match 7: BUSHI & Yota Ysuji beat Gedo & David Finlay. BUSHI pinned Gedo after Fable.

Main Event: Tomohiro Ishii & Shota Unino beat Hartley Jackson (Independent/Freelancer) & Zack Sabre Jr. Ishii pinned Jackson after a vertical drop brainbister.

The next event is tomorrow at Yamagata Big Wing in Yamagata. There will be no love or on demand broadcast.