Tag: New Japan Pro Wrestling

New Japan continued the Road To WRESTLING DONTAKU 2026 Tour today with a second event in Yamaguchi.

Today’s event was held at Yanai City Gym in Yamaguchi. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 680.

Match 1: Robbie X beat Taisei Nakahara.

Match 2: OSKAR (The Grouch) & Yuto Ice (Ice Baby) beat Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe. Ice pinned Honma after Cruella.

Match 3: Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens beat Yoh, Ryusuke Taguchi & Shota Umino. Owens pinned Taguchi after Last Testament.

Match 4: Francesco Akira, Great-O-Khan & HENARE beat Tatsuya Matsumoto, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto. Akira pinned Matsumoto after Fireball.

Match 5: Kosei Fujita, Robbie Eagles, Hartley Jackson & Ryohei Oiwa beat Masatora Yasuda, Master Wato, Taichi & Yuya Uemura. Fujita pinned Yasuda.

Match 6: Toru Yano, Tiger Mask, Aaron Wolf & Boltin Oleg vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru, DOUKI, Don Fale & Ren Narita went to a no contest.

Main Event: Daiki Nagai, Taiji Ishimori, Yota Tsuji & Shingo Takagi beat Zane Jay, Jacob Austin Young, Jake Lee & Callum Newman. Takagi pinned Jay after Burning Dragon.

The next event is “Wrestling Hizen Country” Wednesday at Saga Arena in Saga with TM 4-DOUKI for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship in a Lumberjack Match (no countouts). Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET.

New Japan continued the Road To WRESTLING DONTAKU 2026 Tour today with the first of consecutive events 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 737.

Match 1: Daiki Nagai beat Taisei Nakahara.

Match 2: OSKAR (The Grouch) & Yuto Ice (Ice Baby) beat Toru Yano & Togi Makabe. OSKAR pinned Makabe after The Rumbling.

Match 3: Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens beat Yoh, Tomoaki Honma & Shota Umino. Takahashi pinned Honma after Pimp Juice.

Match 4: Jacob Austin Young, Great-O-Khan & HENARE beat Tatsuya Matsumoto, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto. Young pinned Matsumoto after Bite The Dust.

Match 5: Kosei Fujita, Hartley Jackson, Robbie Eagles & Ryohei Oiwa beat Masatora Yasuda, Ryusuke Taguchi, Taichi & Yuya Uemura. Eagles pinned Yasuda after Sweet Buster.

Match 6: Master Wato, Tiger Mask, Aaron Wolf & Boltin Oleg vs. Sho, DOUKI, Don Fale & Ren Narita went to a no contest. Out of control.

Main Event: Robbie X, Tiaji Ishimori, Yota Tsuji & Shingo Takagi beat Zane Jay, Francesco Akira, Jake Lee & Callum Newman. Takagi pinned Jay after MADE IN JAPAN.

The next event is tomorrow at Yanai City Gym. There will be no live or on demand broadcast. With the exception of Wednesday’s annual Saga special event the televised portion of the tour is over.

WRESTLING REDZONE in HIROSHIMA, New Japan’s now-annual late-April mid-major Hiroshima event, was held earlier today.

Today’s event was held at Hiroshima Sun Plaza in Hiroshima 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 2053.

Pre-show match: Tatsuya Matsumoto beat Taisei Nakahara by submission.

Match 1: Master Wato, Toru Yano, Yoh & Shota Umino beat Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens. Yano pinned Takahashi.

Match 2: Francesco Akira, Great-O-Khan & HENARE beat Masatora Yasuda, Ryusuke Taguchi & Taichi. Akira beat Yasuda with a ground tarantula.

Match 3: Togi Makabe, Tiger Mask, Aaron Wolf & Boltin Oleg vs. Dick Togo, Don Fale, DOUKI & Ren Narita went to a no contest. Out of control. Afterwards, DOUKI removed TM 4’s mask and, in response, TM 4 demanded their upcoming IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship match be changed to a Lumberjack match.

Match 4: Hartley Jackson & Ryohei Oiwa beat Tomoaki Honma & Yuya Uemura. Jackson pinned Honma after Death Valley Bomb.

Match 5: Zane Jay, Jacob Austin Young, Jake Lee & Callum Newman beat Daiki Nagai, Gedo, Yota Tsuji & Shingo Takagi. Young pinned Nagai after Bite The Dust.

Match 6: Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles beat IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X to win the titles. Fujita & Eagles become the 82nd IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. Eagles beat Ishimori with Ron Miller Special.

Main Event: IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions OSKAR (The Grouch) & Yuto Ice (Ice Baby) beat YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto to retain the titles. OSKAR pinned YOSHI-HASHI after KOB. V6 for the champs.

The Road To WRESTLING DONTAKU 2026 Tour resumes tomorrow at KDDI Ishin Hall in Yamaguchi. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET. After tomorrow the rest of the tour is non-televised except for Wednesday for the annual “Wrestling Hizen Province” event in Saga.

UPDATE: It’s now official. TM 4 vs. DOUKI on Wednesday for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship is now a Lumberjack match.

Following up on a major New Japan story post-Tokyo Dome, there are now UNCONFIRMED reports on US wrestling news/rumor sites that EVIL has signed with WWE. He also reportedly will not be EVIL because WWE likes to have control of wrestler names for money-making purposes which probably means he also won’t be his real name, Takaaki Watanabe. There are also rumors that, despite being 39 and very experienced (15 years in Japan and an excursion to Ring Of Honor), he wants to start in the NXT developmental brand. There are also unconfirmed reports in this article that, outside the ring, EVIL is attached to WWE wrestler Iyo Sky (fka Io Shirai), which would be news to me as last I heard she was at least linked to NOSAWA Rongai.

Anyway, this all is not official yet so we’ll see what happens and if WWE does become EVIL…*pause for mouthing and delayed bad dubbing…* INDEEEEEEEEED! (Where have you gone, Funaki!)

4/28/2026 UPDATE: It’s now official. He showed up in NXT tonight.

New Japan continued the Road To WRESTLING DONTAKU 2026 Tour today in Ehime with a Yuya Uemura hometown event.

Today’s event was held at Tex Port Imabari in Ehime and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 738, a full house/near sellout.

Match 1: Masatora Yasuda, Ryusuke Taguchi & Taichi beat Taisei Nakahara, Togi Makabe & Togi Makabe. Yasuda pinned Nakahara.

Match 2: Jacob Austin Young, Great-O-Khan & HENARE beat Tatsuya Matsunoto, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto. Young pinned Matsumoto after Imperial Prison.

Match 3: Master Wato, Yoh, Toru Yano, Tiger Mask & Shota Umino. vs. Dick Togo, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Sho, DOUKI & Chase Owens went to a double countout. TM 4 & DOUKI counted out.

Match 4: Hartley Jackson, Ryohei Oiwa, Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles beat Gedo, Yota Tsuji, Robbie X & Taiji Ishimori. Jackson pinned Gedo after a senton.

Match 5: Daiki Nagai, OSKAR (The Grouch), Yuto Ice (Ice Baby) & Shingo Takagi beat Zane Jay, Francesco Akira, Jake Lee & Callum Newman. Ice pinned Jay after The Rumbling.

Main Event: Aaron Wolf, Boltin Oleg & Yuya Uemura beat Yujiro Takahashi, Don Fale & Ren Narita. Uemura pinned Takahashi after Lions Shiner. Afterwards, Uemura did the hometown win promo to send the crowd home happy.

The next event is WRESTLING REDZONE in HIROSHIMA, the now-annual late April semi-major regional event, tomorrow at Hiroshima Sun Plaza in Hiroshima with two tag team title matches. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET.

New Japan continued the Road To WRESTLING DONTAKU 2036 Tour today with another event 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 live Samurai! TV broadcast in Japan. You can also watch the first 2 matches FOR FREE on YouTube

The announced paid attendance was 940.

Pre-show match: Jacob Austin Young beat Taisei Nakahara.

Match 1: Masatora Yasuda, Taichi & Yuya Uemura beat Tatsuya Matsunoto, Master Wato & Ryusuke Taguchi. Uemura pinned Matsunoto with a Kannuki suplex hold.

Match 2: Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens beat Yoh, Tomoaki Honma, Togi Makabe & Shota ino. Owens pinned Honma after High Noon.

Match 3: Francesco Akira & Jake Lee beat Gedo & Yota Tsuji. Akira pinned Gedo after Fireball.

Match 4: Toru Yano, Aaron Wolf & Boltin Oleg beat Dick Togo, Don Fale & Ren Narita. Yano pinned Togo.

Match 5: Shingo Takagi beat Zane Jay.

Match 6: Callum Newman beat Daiki Nagai.

Match 7: OSKAR (The Grouch), Yuto Ice (Ice Baby), Robbie X & Taiji Ishimori beat Hartley Jackson, Ryohei Oiwa, Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles. OSKAR pinned Jackson after The Rumbling.

Main Event: YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat Great-O-Khan & HENARE. YOSHI-HASHI pinned Khan after Shoto. As a result, (much to our dismay) Bishamon gets an IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship shot. That match will happen on Saturday at Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hall in Hiroshima.

The next event is Friday at Tex Port Imabari in Ehime. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 3 AM PT/6 AM ET.

In case you missed it in a prior updated post, the “emergency press conference” held earlier today was to announce a second Yano vs. Super Sasadango Machine event. That event will happen on 6/8 and will be a PPV on both New Japan World and WRESTLE UNIVERSE. Further details TBA. The presser can be watched on demand FOR FREE on New Japan World and YouTube (on the DDT official channel). PPV sales will begin on 5/5.

New Japan began the Road To WRESTLING DONTAKU 2026 Tour today, which leads up to the annual Golden Week blowout event in Fukuoka.

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall 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 1014.

Match 1: Masatora Yasuda, Taichi & Yuya Uemura beat Taisei Nakahara, Yoh & Ryusuke Taguchi. Uemura beat Nakahara with List Lock.

Match 2: Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens beat Master Wato, Tomoaki Honma, Togi Makabe & Shota Umino. Owens pinned Honma after C Trigger.

Match 3: Jacob Austin Young, Great-O-Khan & HENARE beat Tatsuya Matsumoto, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto. Young pinjned Matsumoto after Bite The Dust.

Match 4: Toru Yano, Aaron Wolf & Boltin Oleg beat Dick Togo, Don Fale & Ren Narita. Yano pinned Togo.

Match 5: Daiki Nagai, Gedo, Yota Tsuji & Shingo Takagi beat Zane Jay, Francesco Akira, Jake Lee & Callum Newman. Tsuji pinned Jay after Gene Blaster.

Match 6: Robbie X & OSKAR (The Grouch) beat Kosei Fujita & Hartley Jackson. OSKAR pinned Jackson after Berlin Fall.

Main Event: Robbie Eagles & Ryohei Oiwa beat Taiji Ishimori & Yuto Ice (Ice Baby). Oiwa pinned Ishimori with Roy Clutch.

The next event is tomorrow. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET. This will also be a live Samurai! TV broadcast in Japan.

In other news, after Match 5 a video was played following up on the Gabriel Kidd injury that will prevent him from his IWGP Global Championship Challenge on 5/3 against Tsuji…Andrade El Idolo is the replacement. Also, an emergency press conference has been announced for tomorrow (late tonight US time) involving Yano. No hint as to what it’s about, but DDT announced an emergency presser for the same time involving Super Sasadango Machine, which could be a clue to another upcoming PPV match between them. We shall see. The Yano presser will stream live FOR FREE on New Japan World while the Machine presser will stream live FOR FREE on YouTube.

UPDATE: The presser was to announced a 5 vs. 5 group battle event between New Japan & DDT. That event will happen on 6/8 and will be a PPV on both New Japan World and WRESTLE UNIVERSE. More as it becomes available.

New Japan has announced a major change to WRESTLING DONTAKU 2026 Day 2 on 5/3-Gabriel Kidd is now off the event. Right shoulder injury. This happened this past weekend at the All Elite Wrestling Dynasty PPV. Out indefinitely but at least a month because of this. He was to have faced IWGP Global Champion Yota Tsuji for the title. No word yet on a potential replacement if any.

More as it becomes available.

UPDATE: Andrade El Idolo is the replacement.

New Japan returns to the US today for an El Desperado Produced event, Death Vegas International”, as part of WrestleMania Week festivities in Las Vegas. As the title suggests, the event focuses heavily on hardcore & death matches with both international and US participation including Desperado himself.

There has been a late change to the card due to Maki Itoh being pulled off the event. Visa issues. She will instead be a guest on Japanese commentary.

Today’s event will be held at the Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas, NV and can be watched LIVE as follows: On Triller/FITE with a Triller+ subscription ($7.99/month, free trial available for new subscribers) in English, and as a PPV on New Japan World ($22.99) in Japanese & English. The Triller+ version includes unlimited on demand replays while the New Japan World version only includes replays until 5/31 (subject to change). There are currently 6 matches scheduled as the Triller lineup does not include a late addition, and based on yesterday’s events and the venue schedule I anticipate this event having a total running time of just over 2 hours.

UPDATE: You can also watch the first match FOR FREE on YouTube.

Today’s lineup (match order TBA):
Daisuke Sasaki & Gedo vs. Gringo Loco & Joey Janela in a House Rules hardcore match
KUSHIDA & YAMATO vs. Mansoor & Mason Madden and Alec Price & Jordan Oliver in a 3-way
Effy vs. Jimmy Lloyd & ISHIN in a 3-way hardcore match
Masashi Takeda & Rina Yamashita vs. El Desperado & Jun Kasai and Matt Tremont & Nick Gage in a 3-way death match
Dragon Kid & Starlight Kid vs. El Phantasmo & TBA (was Maki Itoh)
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. TBA (chosen by Hikaru Sato)

Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.

Updates below will begin at 8 PM PT/11 PM ET.

8 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates begin now.

We are LIVE form the Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas, NV. Your hosts, who I can’t hear well, are Veda Scott and someone else. Might be Rich Bocchini.

The paid attendance will be announced after the event. Looks like a setup for around 500 and close to it. (UPDATE: The paid attendance was not announced)

Match 1: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. TBA chosen by Hikaru Sato. TBA is Fuminori Abe
Result: Zack Sabre Jr. beat Fuminori Abe

Match 2: Effy vs. Jimmy Lloyd & ISHIN (Dragon Gate) in a 3-way hardcore match. 30 minute time limit
Result: ISHIN beat Effy & Jimmy Lloyd in a 3-way by pinning Lloyd.

Match 3: KUSHIDA & YAMATO (Dragon Gate) vs. Mansoor & Mason Madden and Alec Price & Jordan Oliver in a 3-way. 30 minute time limit. Technical difficulties during this match (signal lost)
Result: KUSHIDA & YAMATO won but didn’t see who they beat. Will update later. (UPDATE: KUSHIDA pinned Mansoor)

8:50 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates end here for now due to technical issues. The signal from the venue has been lost.

8:55 PM PT UPDATE: Signal restored for now. Missed end of 3rd match.

Match 4: Dragon Kid (Dragon Gate) & Starlight Kid (Stardom) vs. El Phantasmo & TBA. TBA is Maika (Stardom). 30 minute time limit
Result: El Phantasmo & Maika beat Dragon Kid & Starlight Kid. Phantasmo pinned Dragon Kid.

Match 5: Daisuke Sasaki (DDT) & Gedo vs. Gringo Loco & Joey Janela in a House Rules hardcore match. 30 minute time limit
Result: Gringo Loco & Joey Janela beat Daisuke Sasaki & Gedo. Janela pinned Gedo.

Quick break to prepare for the main event.

Main Event: Masashi Takeda (Freedoms) & Rina Yamashita (Stardom) vs. El Desperado & Jun Kasai (Freedoms) and Matt Tremont & Nick Gage in a 3-way death match. 30 minute time limit
Result: Matt Tremont & Nick Gage beat Masashi Takeda & Rina Yamashita and El Desperado & Jun Kasai in a 3-way when Gage pinned Desperado.

Except for the main event. this was surprisingly lacking hardcore. That and technical issues during match 3 made this a slightly disappointing event overall. Glad I got it for free.

End Show.

The next event is Sunday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo to start the Road To WRESTLING DONTAKU 2026 Tour. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET.

Until the other day, broadcast plans for New Japan’s El Desperado Produced event in Las Vegas, NV on Thursday seemed in flux as I hadn’t found any streaming details. Those have now been cleared up-the event will be a PPV on New Japan World in Japanese & English. It can be purchased now for $22.99 in the US or 3500 yen (around $22) in Japan and will include unlimited replays until 5/30.

For now the event has 5 matches scheduled which are as follows (match order will be announced on event day):
Dragon Kid & Starlight Kid vs. El Phantasmo & TBA. TBA was to have been Maki Itoh but she is now off the event. Visa issues.
Nick Gage & Matt Tremont vs. El Desperado & Jun Kasai and Rina Yanashita & Masashi Takeda in a 3-way death match
Effy vs. Jimmy Lloyd & ISHIN in a 3-way
Jordan Oliver & Alec Price vs. KUSHIDA & YAMATO and Mansoor & Mason Madden in a 3-way

UPDATE: Stardom has announced that Itoh will be a guest on the Japanese commentary version of the PPV (they will be doing it from Japan). Also added to the card is Zack Sabre Jr. vs. TBA, but that TBA will be someone chosen by Hikaru Sato. Also added is Gedo & Daisuke Sasaki vs. Joey Janela & Gringo Loco in a House Rules Hardcore match.

UPDATE 2: The event will also be available on Triller/FITE with a Triller+ subscription, so if you have that you DO NOT need to buy the PPV on New Japan World.