Tag: New Japan Pro Wrestling

New Japan 2/26/23 Results (Updated)

New Japan began the second half of CMLL FANTASTICAMANIA today after the lone off day of the tour, the 4th event of 6 concluding the mini-tag team tournament that began Friday.

Today’s event was held at Makuhari Messe International Conference Hall 11 in Chiba and can be watched on demand on New Japan World. This was a Samurai! TV simulcast in Japan.

The announced paid attendance was 1092.

Match 1: Sho & Hijo Del Villano 3 beat Ryohei Oiwa & Tiger Mask. Sho pinned Oiwa.

Match 2: Ryusuke Taguchi, Barbaro Cavernario & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Master Wato, Yoh & OKUMURA. Cavernario pinned OKUMURA after Cavernaria.

Match 3: Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito beat Kosei Fujita & Capitan Suicida. Takahashi beat Fujita with a Boston Crab.

Match 4: DOUKI, Templario & Hechicero beat El Desperado, Soberano Jr. & Mistico. DOUKI beat Soberano with Jorge Rivera Special.

Match 5: Interfaction Tag Team Tournament 3rd Place Match: Magia Blanco & Volador Jr. beat Rey Cometa & Dulce Gardenia. Blanco pinned Cometa after Magia Driver.

Main Event: Interfaction Tag Team Tournament Finals: Atlantis Jr. & Ultimo Guerrero beat BUSHI & Titan to win the tournament. Atlantis pinned BUSHI after a diving body press.

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.

UPDATE: New Japan World has announced on YouTube that you can watch tomorrow’s full event on New Japan Word FOR FREE! It will be available in Japanese and Spanish.

3/1/23 All-Star Jr. Festival Card Announced

New Japan today announced, as promised, the full card for the special All-Star Jr. Festival event on 3/1 at Korakuen Hall. Originally proposed by Hiromu Takahashi, the event brings together 20 Jr. Heavyweights from promotions throughout Japan, both the Big 3 (NJPW, All-Japan, Pro Wrestling NOAH) and smaller independent promotions.

Here is the main card, there will be at least one pre-show match which has not been announced, with order to be determined by entrance music at match time:
Hiromu Takahashi, Fujita “Jr.” Hayato (Michinoku Pro) & AMAKUSA (Pro Wrestling NOAH) vs. HAYATA (NOAH), YAMATO (Dragon Gate) & Kazuki Hashimoto (Big Japan)
Isami Kodaka (BASARA) & MAO (DDT) vs. Onryo (666) & Sho
Shinjiro Otani Support Match: Tatsuhito Takaiwa (Independent/Freelancer), Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Jun Kasai (Freedoms), Minoru Tanaka (GLEAT) & TAKA Mchinoku vs. MUSASHI (Michinoku Pro), Shoki Kitamura (ZERO1), LEONA (Dradition), Chicharito Shoki (2AW) & Kota Sekifuda (Big Japan)
Ryusuke Taguchi, Hikaru Sato (Pancrase Mission) & Yumehito Imanari (DDT/Ganbare Pro) vs. The Great Sasuke (Michinoku Pro), Tigers Mask (Osaka Pro) & Batten Burabura (Kyushu Pro)
El Desperado & Volador Jr. (CMLL/Mexico) vs. El Lindaman (GLEAT) & Yuki Ueno (DDT) and DOUKI & HANAOKA (Secret Base) in a 3-way
Mistico (CMLL), Billy Ken Kid (Osaka Pro), Alejandro (NOAH) & Gurukun Mask (Ryukyu Dragon) vs. BUSHI, Atlantis Jr. (CMLL), Dragon Kid (Dragon Gate) & Black Menso-re (All-Japan)
Taiji Ishimori vs. Soberano Jr. (CMLL), Shun Skywalker (Dragon Gate), Ninja Mack (NOAH) & another NOAH star in a 5-way. There is some confusion on the second NOAH star because the graphic shows it’s YO-HEY but the text/preview says it’s Junta Miyawaki. But since Miyawaki just returned to Mexico after Tuesday’s Keiji Muto Retirement Event I’d plan on it being YO-HEY
Main Event: Master Wato vs. Atsuki Aoyagi (All-Japan)

The event will be on Wednesday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and is available as a PPV on New Japan World for about $27. The advertised start time is 12:40 AM PT/3:40 AM ET. New Japan’s English website says no subscription is required for purchase but New Japan World’s site says an account is required, which costs about $8/month. If you purchase the PPV you also get on demand replays until June 1. After that it should be available to all monthly New Japan World subscribers without additional fees.

New Japan 2/24/23 Results

New Japan ran Day 3 of CMLL FANTASTICAMANIA 2023 today, running the first half of a 4-team mini-tag team tournament as the featured attraction.

Today’s event was held at Osaka Municipal Central Gym Sub-Arena in Osaka and can be watched on demand on New Japan World. All these events are available in Japanese AND Spanish…puroresu in espanol? Bueno!

The announced paid attendance was 962, which reportedly was a legit advance sellout.

Match 1: Master Wato, Ryusuke Taguchi & Tiger Mask beat Gedo, Taiji Ishimori & Hijo Del Villano 3. Wato beat Gedo with Vendeval.

Match 2: Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito beat Yoh & Capitan Suicida. Takahashi pinned Suicida with Unnamed Hiromu Roll.

Match 3: Sho, Barbaro Cavernario & Templario beat Kosei Fujita, OKUMURA & Hiroshi Tanahashi. Sho pinned Fujita after a cross-arm piledriver (that sounds an awful lot like Shock Arrow).

Match 4: El Desperado, Soberano Jr. & Mistico beat DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Hechicero. Soberano Jr. pinned Kanemaru after a moonsault.

Match 5: Interfaction Tag Team Tournament: BUSHI & Titan beatRey Cometa & Dulce Gardenia. BUSHI pinned Gardenia after Angel Immortal.

Main Event: Interfaction Tag Team Tournament: Atlantis Jr. & Ultimo Guerrero beat Magia Blanco & Volador Jr. Guerrero pinned Blanco after Guerrero Special. As a result, BUSHI/Titan will face Atlantis Jr./Guerrero in the Final.

The next event is Sunday at Makuhari Messe International Conference Hall 11 in Chiba. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET.

New Japan 2/23/23 Results

New Japan ran Day 2 of CMLL FANTASTICAMANIA 2023 today as the series continues its tour of Japan.

Today’s event was held at Kyoto KBS Hall on Kyoto and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 765, a legit sellout. Back to full capacity at the venue.

Match 1: DOUKI & Yoshinobu Kanemaru beat Yuto Nakashima & Rey Cometa. Kanemaru pinned Cometa with a rollup.

Match 2: Gedo & Taiji Ishimori beat Ryohei Ouwa & Capitan Suicida. Ishimori beat Oiwa with Yes Lock.

Match 3: Hijo Del Villano 3, OKUMURA & Barbaro Cavernario beat Master Wato, Tiger Mask & Dulce Gardenia. 3 pinned TM 4 with an inside cradle.

Match 4: BUSHI, Hiromu Takahasho, Tetsuya Naito & Titan beat Kosei Fujita, Sho, Ryusuke Taguchi & Soberano Jr. Titan pinned Fujita after a springboard double stomp.

Match 5: El Desperado, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Ultimo Guerrero beat Sho, Magia Blanca & Hechicero. Tanahashi pinned Hechicero after High Fly Flow.

Main Event: Templario & Atlantis Jr. beat Volador Jr. & Mistico. Templario pinned Volador after El Templo.

The next event is tomorrow at Osaka Municipal Central Gym Sub Arena in Osaka. It is a legit advance sellout. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET.

New Japan 2/22/23 Results

New Japan launched the return of CMLL FANTASTICAMANIA today, this 2023 edition marking the series’ return after a 3-year pandemic-induced hiatus. A crossover showcasing New Japan’s partnership with the Mexico-based lucha libre promotion, many of the top luchadors made the trip back to Japan for a week of these special events.

Today’s event was held at Takamatsu City General Gym 2 in Kagawa and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 768.

Match 1: Gedo & Taiji Isbimori beat Yuto Nakashima & Capitan Suicida. Ishimori beat Nakashima with Yes Lock.

Match 2: DOUKI & Yoshinobu Kanemaru beat Ryohei Oiwa & Magia Blanca. Kanemaru beat Oiwa with a Figure 4.

Match 3: Hijo De Villano 3, OKUMURA & Barbaro Cavernario beat Yoh, Tiger Mask & Dulce Gardenia. OKUNURA pinned Gardenia after OKUMURA backbreaker.

Match 4: BUSHI, Titan, Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito beat Kosei Fujita, Master Wato, Ryusuke Taguchi & Soberano Jr. Totan beat Fujita with Muta Lock.

Match 5: Sho, Templario & Hechicero beat Rey Cometa, El Desperado & Volador Jr. Hechicero pinned Cometa after Embrujo.

Main Event: Atlantis Jr. & Ultimo Guerrero beat Hiroshi Tanahashi & Mistico. Jr. pinned Mistico after Atlantida. On the CMLL side of things, that’s significant.

The next event is tomorrow at Kyoto KBS Hall in Kyoto. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at midnight PT/3 AM ET.

New Japan 2/18/23 Results

The start of New Japan’s latest US event yesterday was delayed nearly an hour due to technical issues with the PPV feed, causing me to miss the live event. They got it in though so here are the main show results:

The announced paid attendance was 2155. A legit advance sellout.

Match 1: Volador Jr., KUSHIDA, Kevin Knight & The DKC beat Rocky Romero, Josh Alexander, Adrian Quest & Mascara Dorada. Knight pinned Quest after a spike DDT.

Match 2: KENTA beat STRONG Openweight Champion Fred Rosser to win the title. KENTA becomes the 3rd STRONG Openweight Champion.

Match 3: STRONG Tag Team Champions Motor City Machine Guns beat West Coast Wrecking Crew to retain the titles. Chris Sabin pinned Jorel Nelson after Dirt Bomb. V3 for the champs.

Match 4: Eddie Kingston beat Jay White. As a result, White must leave New Japan.

Match 5: In a Filthy Rules Fight (No Ropes, No DQ), Tom Lawlor beat Homicide by ref stoppage.

Match 6: NJPW WORLD TV Champion Zack Sabre Jr. beat Clark Connors to retain the title. V2 for Sabre.

Match 7: Mercedes Mone beat IWGP Women’s Champion KAIRI to win the title. Mone becomes the second IWGP Women’s Champion.

Main Event: IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada beat Hiroshi Tanahashi to retain the title. V2 for Okada.

The next event is CMLL FANTASTICAMANIA 2023 beginning Wednesday at Takamatsu City General Gym 2 in Kagawa. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 2 AM PT/5 AM ET. The series runs one week with events every day except Saturday. All events will be televised.

New Japan Pro Wrestling Battle In The Valley LIVE Results (2/18/23) (CANCELLED)

New Japan runs their first US event of 2023 today, which also marks the start of a re-branding for the NJPW STRONG sub-label. Effective today, the US PPV events will be known as STRONG LIVE while the weekly TV show becomes STRONG ON DEMAND, featuring matches from each PPV over a roughly one-month set of episodes instead of monthly TV tapings like they had been doing. Today’s event is a loaded one with 4 title matches-STRONG Openweight Champion Fred Rosser looks to keep his long reign going against KENTA, STRONG Tag Team Champions Motor City Machine Guns defend against West Coast Wrecking Crew, then a double main event-IWGP Women’s Champion KAIRI defends against Mercedes Mone (the former Sasha Banks) in a match that has drawn constant fan vitriol because it’s not the true main event and last match-that’s a rematch 11 years in the making as IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada defends the title against Hiroshi Tanahashi, in perhaps the final title clash between the legends of NJPW.

Today’s event will be held at San Jose Civic Center in San Jose, CA and can be watched LIVE on FITE in English for $19.99. You get the live event and unlimited on demand replays with purchase. The event is a legit advance sellout. It’s also available in Japanese on New Japan World as a PPV, but it will cost you roughly $10-15 more going that route. There is also a FREE pre-show on YouTube and FITE 40 minutes before the PPV begins with 2 matches and more. The west coast setting and late start time makes this a near-all-nighter for those watching on the east coast, so get some caffeine if you’re staying up to watch as with the pre-show included the event will likely run at least 3 1/2 hours, and because one match won’t have ropes used the setup/takedown time may push the event closer to 4 hours.

Tonight’s lineup:
Pre-show:
Alex Coughlin vs. JR Kratos
David Finlay vs. Bobby Fish

PPV:
Rocky Romero, Josh Alexander, Adrian Quest & Mascara Dorada vs. Volador Jr., KUSHIDA, Kevin Knight & The DKC
STRONG Openweight Champion Fred Rosser vs. KENTA for the title
STRONG Tag Team Champions Motor City Machine Guns vs. West Coast Wrecking Crew for the titles
Eddie Kingston vs. Jay White in a Loser Leaves New Japan Match
Homicide vs. Tom Lawlor in a Filthy Rules Fight (No Ropes, No DQs)
NJPW World TV Champion Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Clark Connors for the title
IWGP Women’s Champion KAIRI vs. Mercedes Mone for the title
IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi for the title

Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.

Updates below will begin at 9:20 PM ET/6:20 PM PT.

9:20 PM ET UPDATE: Live updates begin now…
We are LIVE from San Jose Civic Center in San Jose, CA. Your hosts are .

The paid attendance may be announced after the event but is a legit advance sellout. Based on the venue and layout I’ve heard that may be around 3000. Mostly empty right now as the crowd is still filing in (doors opened just under an hour ago).

There is no audio yet as the pre-show begins, at least on my stream (watching on an Apple TV 4K). From Twitter comments it sounds like it’s not just me, also no audio on the YouTube version. (New Japan confirmed the issues on YouTube about 5 minutes in. Issue persists on FITE)

Pre-show:
Match 1: Alex Coughlin vs. JR Kratos. 20 minute time limit
Result: Alex Coughlin beat JR Kratos

Match 2: David Finlay vs. Bobby Fish. 20 minute time limit
Result: David Finlay beat Bobby Fish

End Pre-Show.

Updates will resume when the PPV begins in 10 minutes (7 PM PT/10 PM ET). Hopefully with audio on the FITE feed. (About 5 minutes before the PPV begins New Japan announced on Twitter the audio issues will be resolved for the PPV)

PPV:
Now we’ve got video problems. Frozen at the start. Matches to start at 10:05 PM ET/7:05 PM PT.

Video restored at start time. But still no audio. Then we lose video again. Could be a long night for us PPV viewers. (If this is not fixed within the next 10 minutes or so I’m going to have to cancel the live results because I’m not putting up with this and will be requesting a refund)

10:15 PM ET UPDATE: Apologies but I am going to CANCEL the live results due to streaming issues. It’s STILL not working.

New Japan News: 2023 New Japan Cup Bracket Announced

New Japan announced the entire field for the 2023 New Japan Cup today, their annual March singles tournament. After a whopping 50 man field last year for the promotion’s 50th Anniversary, it’s back down to a much more reasonable 24 this year in the tournament’s usual single-elimination format, and it’s back to all Heavyweights. The promotion also confirmed the tournament winner will get an IWGP World Heavyweight Championship opportunity at SAKURA GENESIS on 4/8 at Ryogoku Kokugikan, presumably against Saturday’s Kazuchika Okada-Hiroshi Tanahashi winner.

The first-round matchups are set as the whole bracket was revealed:
First-round byes: KENTA, Chase Owens, Jeff Cobb, Will Ospreay, Hirooki Goto, Tama Tonga, Great-O-Khan, Zack Sabre Jr.
Round 1 matches:
3/5: SANADA vs. Taichi, Tetsuya Naito vs. El Phantasmo
3/6: David Finlay vs. Tomohiro Ishii, Shota Umino vs. Yujiro Takahashi
3/8: Ren Narita vs. EVIL, Toru Yano vs. Mark Davis
3/10: YOSHI-HASHI vs. Kyle Fletcher, Shingo Takagi vs. Aaron Henare
Round 2: 3/11, 3/12, 3/13, 3/15
Quarterfinals: 3/17, 3/18
Semifinals: 3/19
Finals: 3/21
Zack Sabre Jr. is the defending tournament champion.

Also announced for the Finals on 3/21 is IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi vs. Lio Rush for the title.

All New Japan Cup events will air live in Japanese and English on New Japan World.

New Japan 2/11/23 Results

New Japan ran THE NEW BEGINNING in OSAKA today, the end of their traditional year-opening tour and a blowout event that would settle many things including potentially the main event of next week’s US event. Whoever emerged from the main event as IWGP World Heavyweight Champion will defend the title on 2/18.

Today’s event was held at Osaka Prefectural Gym in Osaka and can be watched on demand on New Japan World in Japanese and English.

The announced paid attendance was 4055. Back to close to full capacity, with the setup that probably was around 70-75% full.

Match 1: Aaron Henare & Great-O-Khan beat Oskar Leube & Toru Yano. Henare pinned Leube after Rampage.

Match 2: BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA & Tetsuya Naito beat Ryusuke Taguchi, Tiger Mask, Shota Umino & Tomoaki Honma. Takahashi pinned Taguchi after TIME BOMB 2. Afterwards, a video played which was Lio Rush issuing an IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship challenge to Takahashi.

Match 3: Taiji Ishimori beat Master Wato.

Match 4: Hiroshi Tanahashi beat KENTA.

The time came where House Of Torture had to defend the NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Championship or be stripped of the titles in light of EVIL continuously refusing to do so. They did finally agree to. Which led to…
Match 5: Ren Narita, El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki beat NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Champions Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL to win the titles. Narita, Desperado & Suzuki become the 25th NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Champions. Narita beat Takahashi with a cobra twist. Afterwards, Suzuki announced their new faction/team will be known as Strong Style.

Match 6: In a Loser Leaves Japan Match, Hikuleo beat Jay White. As a result, White must leave Japan. I have read rumors that White’s contract with New Japan has expired, so we’ll see what happens.

Match 7: NEVER Openweight Champion Tama Tonga beat El Phantasmo to retain the title. V1 for Tonga. And to make it even more memorable, he won with Jay Driller, the late Jay Briscoe’s finisher. REACH FOR THE SKY, BOY!

Main Event: IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada beat Shingo Takagi to retain the title. V1 for Okada. As a result, Okada will defend the title on 2/18 in San Jose, CA. The opponent…Okada called his shot…Tanahashi!!! Ace vs. Rainmaker…reminiscent of 11 years ago here when Okada beat Tanahashi to become champion…they last had a title match 5 years ago, and now…One Last Time?

The next event is Battle In The Valley on 2/18 at San Jose Civic Center in San Jose, CA. The event is a legit advance sellout. Live streaming as a PPV on FITE will begin with a FREE pre-show at 6:20 PM PT/9:20 PM ET. The PPV will be in English for $19.99. It’s also available on New Japan World in Japanese but be aware that will cost, dependent on if a subscription is required, at least $8-15 more. The matches will also be broadcast on the newly-rebranded STRONG On Demand on New Japan World and FITE in the near future, possibly in March.

BREAKING: New Japan Orders 2/11 Title Match

In response to the repeated refusals by the champions, and in particular EVIL, New Japan has just announced an order for Saturday’s event in Osaka: Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL MUST defend the NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Championship against El Desperado, Ren Narita & Minoru Suzuki. If they do not, they will be STRIPPED OF THE TITLES. However, whether or not the challengers would be awarded the titles if this happens was not made clear. Stay tuned.