Huge news from New Japan after yesterday’s event…the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship is no more. At the request of Yota Tsuji and with approval of President Hiroshi Tanahashi, the IWGP Heavyweight Championship is being revived with the popular V4 design and Tsuji will now be recognized as the 87th Champion.
More to come.
UPDATE: This means the IWGP Intercontinental Championship is officially retired. The IWGP Global Championship is unaffected. All prior IWGP World Heavyweight Champions will be recognized as the 75th-86th IWGP Heavyweight Champions, the exception being 74th Champion Kota Ibushi who held the title when the World Heavyweight Championship was created. This was by Tsuji’s count to Tanahashi, meaning by my count they possibly missed someone…(Clarification-the aforementioned count is correct. Title history pages have been updated to reflect this)
UPDATE 2: In related New Japan news. Tanahashi claims over 3.5 million people viewed the 1/4 event. There are reports New Japan World had 108,000 subscribers watching and around 3.4 million viewers for the live broadcast on TV Asahi in Japan.
With Tokyo Dome now behind us, the post-Hiroshi Tanahashi era* and the official start of New Japan 2026 came today with their traditional year-opening 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. You can also watch the first 2 matches FOR FREE on YouTube.
The announced paid attendance was 3523, a full house/near sellout.
Match 4: Jacob Austin Young, Francesco Akita & Andrade El Idolo beat Clark Connors, Hiromu Takahashi & Gabriel Kidd. Idolo pinned Connors after The Message. Afterwards, Kidd challenged Idolo to a match on 2/11.
Match 5: Master Wato, Yoh, Toru Yano & Aaron Wolf beat Dick Togo, Don Fale, Ren Narita & EVIL. Yoh beat Togo with a Texas cloverleaf. Afterwards, Narita laid out Wolf and teased a NEVER Openweight Championship challenge.
Match 6: HENARE, Great-O-Khan, Callum Newman & Jake Lee beat Drilla Moloney, Shingo Takagi, David Finlay & Yota Tsuju. HENARE pinned Momoney after a coalescing Eliminator. Afterwards, Will Ospreay appeared to shake hands with his United Empire factionmates, although Newman wasn’t thrilled. (Ospreay appeared today as a pre-match autograph signer for fans)
Match 7: Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles beat IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Sho & DOUKI, Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X and El Desperado & KUUKAI in a 4-way, when Fujita pinned X, to win the titles. Fujita & Eagles become the 80th IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. Afterwards, Akira attacked Ishimori until Hiromu Takahashi made the save.
Main Event: IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions OSKAR (The Grouch) & Yuto Ice (Ice Baby) beat Zack Sabre Jr. & Ryohei Oiea to retain the titles. Ice pinned Oiwa after KOB. V2 for the champs. Next up: The winner of an upcoming match between Uemura/Umino and Ishii/Taichi. UPDATE: That match will happen on 1/19.
The next event is BLUE JUSTICE 17, the next Yuji Nagata Produced hometown event, on 1/18 at Sakura Civic Gym in Chiba. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin on 1/17 at 11 PM PT/2 AM ET.
*-Tanahashi only retired as a wrestler. He will remain as President of the promotion, reporting to Chairman Naoki Sugabayasbi and Bushiroad President Takaaki Kitani (the owner of New Japan).
UPDATE: Ospreay also stated he intends to return to New Japan while still competing in All Elite Wrestling when he does cone back Emphasis on when as his future is uncertain while he recovers from a major neck injury. It may mot be anytime soon, I think we’re still looking at several more months.
There are also widespread rumors that, based on his outfits, guitars and comments after Tokyo Dome and today, SANADA is leaving the promotion. Nothing official yet.
UPDATE 2: Wolf-Narita for the NEVER title is now official. That match will happen on 2/11.
The promotion also announced SANADA is temporarily leaving the promotion. Return date TBA
The biggest annual event in Japanese pro wrestling and maybe the biggest in the world after WWE WrestleMania, New Japan’s 1/4 signature event, WRESTLE KINGDOM 20, is finally today. The biggest event in the series will be a very melancholy event and one perhaps some have secvretly been dreading as the promotion says goodbye to perhaps their greatest ever, Hiroshi Tanahashi, who will retire after today. He’s not really leaving as he will remain in his second job as President of New Japan Pro Wrestling, 3rd in command in the promotion (behind Chairman Naoki Sugabayashi and Bushiroad Corporation President Takaaki Kitani-Bushiroad is the owner of New Japan), but for the first time in more than 25 years he won’t be a wrestler, marking the end of a career that has seen him become a once a century generational talent-imagine RIc Flair, Hulk Hogan & John Cena all rolled into one. It’s about so much more than that, with several title matches including Stardom being featured in a double title match, the debut of highly-touted Aaron Wolf and much more, but the focus is largely on the main event as Tanahashi’s final match comes against one of his greatest rivals and who perhaps was going to be the future torch-bearer for the promotion: Kazuchika Okada, who left for All Elite Wrestling but returns today for one glorious finale. (A lot of internet fans thought it would be-and should be-Shinsuke Nakamura instead, but there was zero chance of that because Nakamura is in WWE and New Japan has a working relationship with AEW. That’s Not Best For Business)
Today’s event will be held at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo and can be watched LIVE & EXCLUSIVE OUTSIDE JAPAN ONLY on New Japan World in Japanese & English (no Triller/FITE or anywhere else). This is a live & exclusive TV Asahi broadcast in Japan, which the NJPW World feed will be a simulcast of. The event is a legit advance sellout. The start time has been moved up 30 minutes for a pre-show match. This is also perhaps the promotoin’s longest event of the year even with only 8 matches scheduled but 6 are title matches, and if you’re watching live in the US it’s an all-nighter as the running time will probably be 4 1/2-5 hours, maybe longer depending on how much of an epic send-off Tanahashi gets-and gives-us as there surely will be one final air guitar concert to send the crowd home happy (hopefully). I may not make it through it despite it being a 10:30 PM start for me but I’ve hopefully got enough caffeine to push through. If updates suddenly stop near the end, I didn’t make it through and will update the results after a few hours’ sleep.
Today’s lineup: Pre-show: NJPW WORLD TV Champion El Phantasmo vs. Chris Brookes for the title Main show: 8 team 24-man battle royal for the NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Championship. When one wrestler is eliminated, his entire team is out. Last team left wins. Current Champions Yoh, Master Wato & Toru Yano are participating IWGP Women’s Champion Syuri vs. STRONG Women’s Champion Saya Kamitani for the titles Hiromu Takahashi, Gabriel Kidd, Drilla Moloney, David Finlay & Shingo Takagi vs. HENARE, Callum Newman, Great-O-Khan, Andrade El Idolo & TBA El Desperado vs. Taiji Ishimori, Sho & Kosei Fujita in a 4-way for an IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship shot Aaron Wolf Debut Match: NEVER Openweight Champion EVIL vs. Aaron Wolf for the title IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Konosuke Takeshita vs. IWGP Global Champion Yota Tsuji for the titles Hiroshi Tanahashi Retirement Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada
Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.
Updates below will begin at 10:30 PM PT/1:30 AM ET. The main card is scheduled to begin at 11 PM PT/2 AM ET.
Pre-Show Update; There has been a late addition of a pre-pre-show match added to the event: Shoma Kato & Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. Katsuya Murashima & Masatora Yasuda. Because of this, updates will now begin at 10:15 PM PT/1:15 AM ET.
10:15 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates begin now.
We are LIVE from the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. Your hosts are Haruo Murata (remotely, presumably at Korakuen Hall still as Tokyo Josih Pro’s evnt he called for WRESTLE UNIVERSE finished less than an hour ago) & Milano Collection A.T. No guest on commentary yet.
The paid attendance will be announced after the event. It’s a legit advance sellout but it’s not the full capacity Dome, which is 65,000 for baseball. I’m thinking it’ll be around 50,000. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance-a legit advance sellout with standing room included-was 46,913. That’s about 70% of normal Dome capacity)
Pre-pre-show match: Shoma Kato & Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. Katsuya Murashima & Masatora Yasuda. 10 minute time limit Result: Katsuya Murashima & Masatora Yasuda beat Shoma Kato & Tetauya Matsumoto. Murashima beat Matsumoto with a modified Boston Crab.
We go right into the pre-show afterwards so it’s starting 5 minutes early. By the way, no free YouTube opening simulcast today. But the next match will be available on demand FOR FREE on YouTube at some point after the event.
Pre-show: Pre-show match: NJPW WORLD TV Champion El Phantasmo vs. Chris Brookes (DDT) for the title. 15 minute time limit. DDT wrestler Super Sasadango Machine (Muscle Sakai) and a member of BALLISTIK BOYZ are guests on commentary for this match Result: NJPW WORLD TV Champion El Phantasmo beat Chris Brookes to retain the title. V6 for Phantasmo.
End Pre-show. Updates will resume when the main portion of the event begins in about 15 minutes. The live stream will resume at that time.
Main show: This event is airing in Japan as the premiere of WORLD PRO WRESTLING LIVE 2026 on TV Asahi. New host on commentary.
Match 1: 8 team 24-man battle royal for the NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Championship. When one wrestler is eliminated, his entire team is out. Last team left wins. No time limit. Staggered entry. Order of entry: Kaisei Takechi/Yuya Uemura/Shota Umino, Yoshinobu Kanemaru/Ren Narita/SANADA, Clark Connors/OSKAR (The Grouch)/Yuto Ice (Ice Baby (with Thekla, who is married to Connors), Zack Sabre Jr/Ryohei Oiwa/Hartley Jackson, Togi Makabe/Ryusuke Taguchi/Tiger Mask (final Tokyo Dome for TM 4 as he is retiring in the next few months), Hirooki Goto/YOSHI-HASHI/Boltin Oleg, Tomohiro Ishii/Taichi/Satoshi Kojima, NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Champions Master Wato/Yoh/Toru Yano Order of elimination: OSKAR (Connors/OSKAR/Ice out), TM 4 (Makabe/Taguchi/TM 4 out), Taichi (Taichi/Ishii/Kojima out), Uemura (Uemura/Umino/Takechi out), Yoh (Wato/Yoh/Yano out-that means whoever wins will be NEW CHAMPIONS), SANADA (Kanemaru/SANADA/Narita out), Oleg (YOSHI-HASHI/Goto/Oleg out) Result: Ryohei Oiwa, Hartley Jackson & Zack Sabre Jr. win, last eliminating Oleg/YOSHI-HASHI/Goto, to win the titles. Oiwa, Jackson & Sabre become the 32nd NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Champions. As Ishii/Taichi/Kojima entered, cameras caught sumo wrestler & Yokozuna Grand Champion Onosato sitting at ringside.
Host change as Haruo Murata is back on Japanese commentary. Might be alternating today. Stardom wrestler Maika is a guest on commentary for the next match.
Match 2: IWGP Women’s Champion Syuri (Stardom) vs. STRONG Women’s Champion Saya Kamitani (Stardom) for the titles. 1 Hour time limit. Stardom’s ring announcer handles the introductions here Result: Syuri beat Saya Kamitani to win the titles. Syuri becomes the 7th STRONG Women’s Champion. IWGP V1 for Syuri.
Match 3: Hiromu Takahashi, Gabriel Kidd, Drilla Moloney, David Finlay & Shingo Takagi vs. HENARE, Callum Newman, Great-O-Khan, Andrade El Idolo (who the English announcer billed as from AEW) & TBA. TBA is revealed to be…Jake Lee! 30 minute time limit Result: HENARE, Callum Newman, Great-O-Khan, Andrade El Idolo & Jake Lee beat Hiromu Takahashi, Gabriel Kidd, Drilla Moloney, David Finlay & Shingo Takagi. Lee pinned Takahashi. Afterwards, another mystery man wearing Andrade’s mask appeared, and revealed himself to be the returning Francesco Akira who then laid out Takahashi.
Yoh is the guest on commentary for the next match.
Match 4: El Desperado vs. Taiji Ishimori, Sho & Kosei Fujita in a 4-way for an IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship shot. 1 Hour time limit Before anyone entered, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion DOUKI came out. With microphone in the ring. A few words amidst heaby boos before intros began. Result: El Desperado beat Taiji Ishimori, Sho & Kosei Fujita in a 4-way by pinning Sho. As a result, Desperado gets the next IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship shot. No surprise, Desperado always wins at Tokyo Dome, or so it seems.
Afterwards, a short promo was shown for the next DESPE INVITATIONAL event…4/16 in Las Vegas, NV. This was followed by a promo video for upcoming major events in 2026 including the New Japan Cup in March, SAKURA GENESIS on 4/4 at Ryogoku Kokugikan, WRESTLING REDZONE in HIROSHIMA on 4/25, WRESTLING DONTAKU on 5/3 & 5/4 in Fukuoka, Best Of The Super Junior, DOMINION on 6/14 in Osaka, the G1 CLIMAX opener in the USA on 7/11 at NOW Arena in Chicago, IL followed by the Finals on 8/15 & 8/16 at Ryogoku Kokugikan.
The guests on commentary for the next match are Yano, Yuji Nagata and…Masahiro Chono!
Match 5: Aaron Wolf Debut Match: NEVER Openweight Champion EVIL vs. Aaron Wolf for the title. 1 Hour time limit Result: Aaron Wolf beat NEVER Openweight Champion EVIL by ref stoppage (technical submission) to win the title. Wolf becomes the 50th NEVER Openweight Champion.
Quick break for ring cleaning.
Match 6: IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Konosuke Takeshita vs. IWGP Global Champion Yota Tsuji for the titles. 1 Hour time limit Result: Yota Tsuji beat Konosuke Takeshita by submission to win the titles. Tsuji becomes the 15th IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. Global V2 for Tsuji. Tsuji’s post-match promo was interrupted by Jake Lee, who beat down the new double champion and silently seemed to issue the challenge, at least for the World title.
That means the time has come…
Main Event: Hiroshi Tanahashi Retirement Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada. 1 Hour time limit Result: Kazuchika Okada beat Hiroshi Tanahashi. And after 30+ intense minutes, it’s all over. 25+ years of Hiroshi Tanahashi ends with a loss to one of his greatest rivals. Now he will transition to President full-time. The retirement ceremony for Tanahashi followed (will watch later as after 9 hours of wrestling I have to throw in the towel). Several former New Japan wrestlers were present for flower presentations including Kenny Omega, Will Ospreay, Kota Ibushi (hobbling badly alongside Omega), Katsuyori Shibata (who traded some chops with Tanahashi), Keiji Muto, of course Tatsumi Fujinami and, in a big surprise, BUSHI & Tetsuya Naito. The final 10 bell salute followed and Tanahashi rightfully took his time leaving, including being pushed out on a rolling platform by the Young Lions as the festivities went on for about an hour. Now he is President Ace but always FOREVER ACE.
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. (The original post incorrectly said the event was at Korakuen Hall. Why I should not be posting at 3 AM)
UPDATE: In non-Dome news, there was a STRONG Tag Team Championship match this weekend in CMLL in Mexico, in which current champions Angel De Oro & Niebla Roja beat Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs to retain he titles. V1 for the champs.
You can also watch the full backstage comments from today, including highlights of Tanahashi’s retirement ceremony and his final epic air guitar performance to send the crowd home happy, FOR FREE on YouTube.
UPDATE 2: The full card for tomorrow is set now, and for now there is a hilarious typo on New Japan’s English website. Take a look at the screencap below about the main event and see for yourself…
Last I checked, that’s not Yota Tsuji pictured there with Ryohei Oiwa…Tsuji is to be in an 8-man tag earlier in the card. Before the main event, there is also a 4-way for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.
UPDATE 3: You can now watch the full Phantasmo-Brookes match FOR FREE on YouTube via the NJPW WORLD Official channel.
New Japan wrapped up their 2025 with the final event of the Road To TOKYO DOME Tour and the Hiroshi Tanahashi retirement road, the last event before his retirement match at Tokyo Dome.
Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on New Japan World FOR FREE!!! No account or paid subscription required! No YouTube as a result.
The announced paid attendance was 1515, a legit sellout.
Match 1: NJPW WORLD TV Champion El Phantasmo beat TBA, revealed at match time to be Ryusuke Taguchi, to retain the title. V5 for Phantasmo. Next up: Possibly DDT wrestler Chris Brookes, who attacked Phantasmo post-match and issued the challenge. According to DDT’s official English social media, the challenge is for Tokyo Dome.
Match 2; Boltin Oleg, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat Tiger Mask, Satoshi Kojima & Taichi. YOSHI-HASHI pjnned TM 4.
Match 3: Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Yujiro Takahashi, Ren Narita, SANADA & EVIL beat Master Wato, Yoh, Toru Yano, Yuya Uemura & Shota Umino. Narita pinned Wato. Afterwards, a House Of Torture beatdown commenced until DDT’s Kaisei Takechi made the save, surely to the delight of female fans in attendance.
Match 4: Jacob Austin Young, Callum Newman & Great-O-Khan beat Gedo, Hiromu Takahashi & David Finlay. Newman pinned Gedo after Overkill. Afterwards, Newman revealed one of the two TBA for United Empire in the 10-man tag at Tokyo Dome…Andrade El Idolo. Supposedly Andrade has a 1 year no-compete clause due to being let go again by WWR for drug program violations but I’d heard a “one-time exception” was being negotiated by his legal team. This must be it.
Match 5: Sho & DOUKI beat KUUKAI & El Desperado and Daiki Nagai & Taiji Ishinori in a 3-way when DOUKI pinned Nagai.
Match 6: Yota Tsuji, OSKAR (The Grouch) & Yuto Ice (Ice Baby) beat Hartley Jackson, Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. Tsuji pinned Jackson after Gene Blaster.
Main Event: Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Kosei Fujita. Afterwards, Tanahashi said farewell to the venue where he made his debut and performed one final Korakuen epic air guitar show to send the fans home happy.
2025 has now come to a close for New Japan and the Hiroshi Tanahashi Retirement Road has reached the final stop because…
The next event, the first of 2026, is WRESTLE KINGDOM 20 in TOKYO DOME, the biggest annual event in Japanese pro wrestling and maybe biggest in the world after WWE WrestleMania, on 1/4 at the Tokyo Dome. The event is a legit advance sellout. Live streaming EXCLUSIVELY on New Japan World OUTSIDE JAPAN ONLY will begin on 1/3 at 11 PM PT/2 AM ET. This will be a live & exclusive TV Asahi broadcast in Japan only. Additionally, a special program looking back at Tanahashi’s career will be aired on New Japan World FOR FREE Wednesday beginning at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET.
UPDATE: It’s now official. Phantasmo-Brookes has been added to Tokyo Dome and will be a pre-show match.
Also, the full field for the battle royal for the NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Championship match on 1/4 has been announced: Master Wato, Yoh & Toru Yano will defend the titles against these 7 teams-Shota Umino/Yuya Uemura/Kaisei Takechi (DDT), Hirooki Goto/YOSHI-HASHI/Boltin Oleg, Zack Sabre Jr./Ryohei Oiwa/Hartley Jackson, Togi Makabe/Ryusuke Taguxhi/Tiger Mask, Clark Connors/OSKAR/Yuto Ice, Tomohiro Ishii/Taichi/Satoshi Kojima, Ren Narita/Yoshinobu Kanemaru/SANADA. 2 teams will start and a new team enters every minute. When one wrestler is eliminated that entire trio is out. Eliminations are by pinfall, submission or over the top rope. Last team left wins the match and the titles
New Japan ran their last outside-Tokyo event of the year today and the last such event of Hiroshi Tanahashi’s career as they went to Tochigi for the second and penultimate event of the Road To TOKYO DOME Tour.
Today’s event was held at Light Cube Utsunomiya in Tochigi and can be watched on demand on New Japan World. You can also watch the first 2 matches FOR FREE on YouTube.
The announced paid attendance was 1323, a legit sellout.
Match 1: Sho & DOUKI beat Tatsuya Matsumoto & KUUKAI (Michinoku Pro) by ref stoppage. DOUKI beat Matsumoto with Italian Stretch 32.
Match 2: Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe beat Zane Jay & Katsuya Murashima. Makabe pinned Jay after a King Kong kneedrop.
Match 3: Shoma Kato, Master Wato, Yoh & Toru Yano beat Masatora Yasuda, Tiger Mask, Satoshi Kojima & Taichi.Wato pinned Yasuda after a swan dive uppercut.
Match 4: Boltin Oleg, YOSHI-HASHI, Hirooki Goto, Yuya Uemura & Shota Umino beat Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Yujiro Takahashi, SANADA, Ren Narita & EVIL. Uemura pinned Takahashi with a Kannuki suplex hold.
Match 5: Jacob Austion Young, Callum Newman & Great-O-Khan beat Daiki Nagai, Hiromu Takahashi & SHingo Takagi. Newman pinned Nagai after Time Bomb.
Match 6: Taiji Ishimori, Yota Tsuji, OSKAR (The Grouch) & Yuto Ice (Ice Baby) beat Kosei Fujita, Hartley Jackson, Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. Tsuji pinned Jackson after Gene Blaster.
Main Event: Hiroshi Tanahashi beat El Desperado. Afterwards, Tanahashi said his final farewell to the fans including epic air guitar despite a seemingly painful knee to sent the crowd home happy. And sad too as it’s the last time they’ll see Tanahashi compete.
The tour-ender, and the final event of 2025, is tomorrow at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET, and EVERYONE will be able to watch the full event live & on demand FOR FREE!!!
The last of what is now a year-end awards trilogy from Pro Wrestling Illustrated came out today, as we go down from 500 (wrestlers) to 250 (women) and now 100 (tag teams). The second PWI Tag Team 100 list was revealed today and features both men’s and women’s teams. Naturally I’ve browsed the list already so below are the top ranked teams and how various Japan-based teams fared.
Because this is only in digital format and the print edition will not be out for another 3 weeks or so, those waiting for the latter should stop here to avoid SPOILERS! Otherwise, click below.
New Japan began the Road To TOKYO Dome Tour today, a quick weekend tour that marks the end of the promotion’s 2025 and start of the final farewell for Hiroshi Tanahashi.
Today’s event was held at G Messe Gunma in Gunma and can be watched on demand on New Japan World. Originally there was to be no live or on demand broadcast but thankfully plans changed. You can also watch the first 2 matches FOR FREE on YouTube.
The announced paid attendance was 1291, a legit sellout.
Match 1: Zane Jay, Ryusuke Taguchi & Tiger Mask beat Masatora Yasuda, Tomoaki Honma & Togo Makabe. TM 4 beat Yasuda with a chicken wing.
Match 5: Gedo, Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji beat Jacob Austin Young, Callum Newman & Great-O-Khan. Takagi pinned Young.
Match 6: Kosei Fujita, Hartley Jackson, Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Dakki Nagai, Taiji Ishimori, OSKAR (The Grouch) & Yuto Ice (Ice Baby). Jackson pinned Nagai after Death Valley Bomb.
Main Event: Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Hiromu Takahashi. Afterwards, Tanahashi gave his final sendoff to the Gunma fans including one more air guitar to send the crowd home happy (hopefully…and surely a little sad as it’s the last time they’ll see him competing).
The next event-also Tanahashi’s final event outside of Tokyo-is Sunday at Light Cube Utsunomiya in Tochigi. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at midnight PT/3 AM ET.
UPDATE: In other news…Based on official social media posts, a STRONG Tag Team Championship match between Los Hermanos Chavez & West Coast Wrecking Crew may be happening on 1/2 at Arena Mexico in Mexico City.
New Japan began the Road To TOKYO Dome Tour today, a quick weekend tour that marks the end of the promotion’s 2025 and start of the final farewell for Hiroshi Tanahashi.
Today’s event was held at G Messe Gunma in Gunma and can be watched on demand on New Japan World. Originally there was to be no live or on demand broadcast but thankfully plans changed. You can also watch the first 2 matches FOR FREE on YouTube.
The announced paid attendance was 1291, a legit sellout.
Match 1: Zane Jay, Ryusuke Taguchi & Tiger Mask beat Masatora Yasuda, Tomoaki Honma & Togo Makabe. TM 4 beat Yasuda with a chicken wing.
Match 5: Gedo, Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji beat Jacob Austin Young, Callum Newman & Great-O-Khan. Takagi pinned Young.
Match 6: Kosei Fujita, Hartley Jackson, Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Dakki Nagai, Taiji Ishimori, OSKAR (The Grouch) & Yuto Ice (Ice Baby). Jackson pinned Nagai after Death Valley Bomb.
Main Event: Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Hiromu Takahashi. Afterwards, Tanahashi gave his final sendoff to the Gunma fans including one more air guitar to send the crowd home happy (hopefully…and surely a little sad as it’s the last time they’ll see him competing).
The next event-also Tanahashi’s final event outside of Tokyo-is Sunday at Light Cube Utsunomiya in Tochigi. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at midnight PT/3 AM ET.
Tokyo Sports has announced their annual Pro Wrestling Award winners for 2025 on social media. Here are the winners: MVP (top prize): Saya Kamitani, Stardom (First time ever a woman has won) Match Of The Year: Kaito Kiyomiya vs. OZAWA, Pro Wrestling NOAH, 1/1/2025 Best Tag Team: OSKAR (The Grouch) & Yuto Ice (Ice Baby), New Japan Special Achievement Award: Konosuke Takeshita, New Japan/DDT/All Elite Wrestling Fighting Spirit Award: Sareee, Independent/Freelancer Technique Prize: Hiroshi Tanahashi, New Japan Women’s Grand Prize: Kamitani Rookie Of The Year: Kaisei Takechi, DDT
Quick thoughts on the MVP: In my eyes there were only two real right choices-Kamitani and Takeshita. Either was a right choice but they nicely chose to recognize 2025 as the year of our PHENEX QUEEN in Stardom, and she undoubtedly was the top Japanese women’s wrestler in Japan (not counting the obvious ones that are on WWE or AEW full-time), but you can’t overlook everything Takeshita has accomplished between Japan and the US, that said his not being in Japan as much could have shifted the balance towards Kamitani but that Special Achievement for Takeshita is well-deserved. Rookie is a toss-up, Takechi no doubt was the most popular and with the biggest impact on DDT but one can only wonder what could have been had we not lost All-Japan rookie Taishin Nagao.
New Japan today announced the final card for Tokyo Dome on 1/4…the main event of a light card with only 7 matches will be Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada in Tanahashi’s retirement match. That means the semifinal as Match 6 will be the double title match between IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Konosuke Takeshita & IWGP Global Champion Yota Tsuji. Match 5 is the Aaron Wolf Debut Match of NEVER Openweight Champion RVIL vs. Aaron Wolf for the title. Match 4 will be El Desperado vs. Kosei Fujita, Taiji Ishinori & Sho for the next IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship shot against DOUKI, meaning for the first time in a few years Desperado is not leaving Tokyo Dome as champion. Match 3 is Shingo Takagi, David Finlay, Gabriel Kidd, Drilla Moloney & Hiromu Takahashi vs. Great-O-Khan, Callum Newman, HENARE, TBA & TBA. Match 2 is IWGP Women’s Champion Syuri vs. STRONG Openweight Champion Saya Kamitani for the titles. This also confirms Kamitani’s title defense in Stardom on 13/29 is only for the World Of Stardom Championship. Finally the opening match is a Tonado Battle Royal for the NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Championship. Participating teams besides champions Master Wato, Toru Yano & Yoh are TBA but one participant is confirmed-DDT wrestler Kaisei Takechi as “The Rampage” will male his New Japan debut.
Not happening at the Dome-an IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship match. World Tag League winners Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. appeared at today’s traditional post-tournament presser and announced they will not take the title shot at Tokyo Dome in deference to Tanahashi. That match will happen at New Year Dash!! on 1/5 at Ota City General Gym instead.
In other news which raises the possibility of a last-second Dome addition, NJPW WORLD TV Champion El Phantasmo vs. TBA for the title is set for 12/19 at G Messe Gunma in Gunma. Another open challenge with perhaps a 1:4 title match hinted at if Phantasmo remains champion. Although there will be no live or on demand broadcast of the 12/15 event, the title match will be made available on demand FOR FREE on YouTube at some point after the event.
UPDATE: The promotion has changed course on broadcast plans for the next 2 events-originally to be non-televised at all, they will now be available LIVE and on demand on New Japan World. Additionally, the 12/22 Korakuen Hall event will now be available to everyone FOR FREE!
Correction: The original post incorrectly stated 12/14 as the next NKPW WORLD TV Championship match. It is 12/19.
