Tag: New Japan Pro Wrestling

New Japan 1/31/23 Results (Updated)

New Japan continued the Road to THE NEW BEGINNING Tour today with the last event of the month.

There were last-second changes to the event as Yoh was a late removal from the card. Fever. Coronavirus rapid test was negative. Status beyond today is uncertain. The main event also saw BUSHI removed as a result.

Today’s event was held at Akita Furusato Village Dome Theater in Akita. There was no live broadcast and no on demand video will be available.

The announced paid attendance was 659.

Match 1: Great-O-Khan beat Yuto Nakashima by submission.

Match 2: Tiger Mask & Tomoaki Homna beat Oskar Leube & Hiroyoshi Tenzan. Honma pinned Leube after Kokeshi.

Match 3: Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo beat Jado & Master Wato. Phantasmo pinned Jado after Sudden Death.

Match 4: Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Gedo & KENTA by DQ. Gedo DQ’d.

Match 5: Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Ryohei Oiwa, YOSHI-HASHI, Hirooki Goto & Tomohiro Ishii. Nicholla pinned Oiwa after a siding lariat.

Match 6: Francesco Akira, TJP, Aaron Henare & Will Ospreay beat TAKA Michinoku, DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi. Ospreay pinned TAKA after Hidden Blade.

Main Event: Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito beat Ryusuke Taguchi, Shota Umino, Togi Makabe & Kazuchika Okada. Takagi pinned Makabe after Last of the Dragon.

The next event is tomorrow at Aomori Budokan in Aomori. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

UPDATE: Yoh is now off tomorrow as well. Precautionary due to fever. BUSHI is now off again as well to change their match from a 10-man tag to 8-man.

New Japan 1/30/23 Results

New Japan continues the Road to THE NEW BEGINNING tour today with another non-televised house show. Coming amidst reports that, following government loosening of coronavirus guidelines, Bushiroad may be returning to full capacity for all NJPW & Stardom events.

Today’s event was held at Iwate Prefectural Gym in Iwate. There was no live broadcast and no on demand video will be available.

The announced paid attendance was 1150.

Match 1: Aaron Henare beat Ryohei Oiwa.

Match 2: Tiger Mask & Togi Makabe beat Yuto Nakashima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan. Makbe pinned Nakashima after a King Kong kneedrop.

Match 3: Jado & Master Wato beat Gedo & Taiji Ishimori. Wato pinned Gedo after RPP.

Match 4: El Phantasmo & KENTA beat Tomoaki Honma & Hiroshi Tanahashi. Phantasmo pinned Honma after Sudden Death.

Match 5: Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Oskar Leube, YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto. Nicholls pinned Leube after a sliding lariat.

Match 6: Francesco Akira, TJP, Great-O-Khan & Will Ospreay beat TAKA Michinoku, DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi. Ospreay pinned TAKA after Hidden Blade.

Main Event: BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito beat Yoh, Ryusuke Taguchi, Shota Umino, Toru Yano & Kazuchika Okada. Takagi pinned Taguchi after MADE IN JAPAN.

The next event is tomorrow at Akita Furusato Village Dome Theater in Akita. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

DEVELOPING: New Japan Re-Brands US Events, TV Show (Updated)

New Japan has announced a rebranding/repackaging of their US product for 2023 amidst rumors of the end of NJPW STRONG…they may have been greatly exaggerated. Going forward, all New Japan US events will be held under the NJPW STRONG label, to include PPVs, which as live events will become known as “STRONG LIVE” starting with Battle In The Valley on 2/18. Then in March the weekly show will become known as “STRONG On Demand” and will feature all the PPV matches over 4 weeks of episodes, 2 or 3 matches per week. This will continue with the WrestleCon weekend event in March and the Washington DC and Philadelphia events in April.

So to summarize, live PPVs in the US will continue but they will now also be called STRONG LIVE and will later be available on the weekly TV show spread out over 4 weeks’ worth of shows a few weeks later. The weekly shows will continue to be available every weekend on New Japan World and presumably FITE. Live events will continue to be available on FITE in English and as PPVs on New Japan World in Japanese. But no more monthly TV tapings like they had been doing since the brand launched in 2020.

UPDATE: On New Japan’s Japanese website, they confirmed the April events will be available as live PPVs. STRONG On Demand also will continue to be available on FITE.

New Japan 1/28/23 Results

New Japan continued the Road to THE NEW BEGINNING Tour today with another non-televised house show event, the first following reports that the Japanese government has lifted all restrictions on capacity and vocal cheering at live events in place since the coronavirus pandemic began. However, vocal cheering was not allowed today.

Today’s event was held at Koga City ES Central Sports Park Hanamomo Gyn in Ibaraki. There was no live broadcast and no on demand video will be available.

The announced paid attendance was 934.

Match 1: Great-O-Khan beat Ryohei Oiwa by submission.

Match 2: Tiger Mask & Toru Yano beat Oskar Leube & Hiroyoshi Tenzan. Yano pinned Leube.

Match 3: Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo beat Master Wato & Tomoaki Honma. Phantasmo pinned Honma after Sudden Death.

Match 4: Jado & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Gedo & KENTA. Tanahashi beat Gedo with a Texas Cloverleaf.

Match 5: Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Yuto Nakashima, YOSHI-HASHI, Hirooki Foto & Tomohiro Ishii. Haste pinned Nakashima after Dynamic Bomb.

Match 6: Francesco Akira, TJP, Aaron Henare & Will Ospreay beat TAKA Michinoku, DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi. Ospreay pinned TAKA after Hidden Blade.

Main Event: Yoh, Ryusuke Taguchi, Shota Umino, Togi Makabe & Kazuchika Okada beat BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito. Yoh pinned BUSHI after Direct Drive.

The next event is Monday at Iwate Prefectural Gym in Iwate. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

New Japan 1/27/23 Results

On a pivotal day in Japan where the Japanese government apparently lifted all capacity and vocal cheering restrictions for events despite another coronavirus surge, New Japan held their first house show of the year as wrestlers celebrated the lifting of these restrictions that have been in place for years.

Today’s event was held at Funabashi City General Gym in Chiba. There was no live broadcast and no on demand video will be available.

The announced paid attendance was 760.

Match 1: Aaron Henare beat Yuto Nakashima.

Match 2: Tiger Mask & Togi Makabe beat Oskar Leube & Huroyoshi Tenzan. Makabe pinned Leube after a King Kong kneedrop.

Match 3: Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo beat Jado & Master Wato. Phantasmo pinned Jado after Sudden Death.

Match 4: Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Gedo & KENTA by DQ. Gedo DQ’d.

Match 5: Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Ryohei Oiwa, YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto. Nicholls pinned Oiwa after a sliding lariat.

Match 6: Francesco Akira, TJP, Great-O-Khan & Will Ospreay beat TAKA Michinoku, DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi. Ospreay pinned TAKA after Hidden Blade.

Main Event: BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito beat Yoh, Ryusuke Taguchi, Shota Umino, Tomoaki Honma & Kazuchika Okada. Takahashi pinned Taguchi after Time Bomb 2.

The next event is tomorrow at Koga City ES Central Sports Park Hanamomo Gym in Ibaraki. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

Additionally, last Saturday’s NJPW-NOAH crossover event is now available on New Japan World for all subscribers (no more PPV). If you are a WRESTLE UNIVERSE subscriber, their version will premiere on the service TONIGHT at 10 PM ET/7 PM PT and should be available on demand later this weekend (their version was an ABEMA PPV and their PPV window runs until early tomorrow).

(Correction: WRESTLE UNIVERSE on demand version is now available per their Japanese Twitter)

(Further clarification on above: Only the Japanese version is now on WRESTLE UNIVERSE. Tonight will be the premiere of the English version)

New Japan 1/25/23 Results

New Japan continued the Road to THE NEW BEGINNING Tour today with the second half of the opening Tokyo doubleheader.

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on New Japan World in Japanese and English.

The announced paid attendance was 670. It’s not known if vocal cheering was allowed, if yes then it was near capacity.

Match 1: Aaron Henare beat Oskar Leube.

Match 2: Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Gedo & KENTA. Yano pinned Gedo.

Match 3: Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo beat Master Wato & Togi Makabe. Phantasmo pinned Makabe after Sudden Death.

Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Yuto Nakashima, YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto. Fujita beat Nakashima with an arm lock.

Match 5: TJP & Great-O-Khan beat TAKA Michinoku & Yoshinobu Kanemaru. Khan beat TAKA with Subaru Sheep Killer.

Match 6: Francesco Akira & Will Ospreay beat DOUKI & Taichi. Ospreay pinned DOUKI after Hidden Blade.

Match 7: SANADA & Tetsuya Naito beat Shota Umino & Tomoaki Honma. Naito pinned Honma.

Main Event: Yoh, Ryusuke Taguchi & Kazuchika Okada beat BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi & Shingo Takagi. Yoh pinned BUSHI after Direct Drive.

The next event is Friday at Funabashi City General Gym in Chiba. Vocal cheering is allowed. There will be no live or on demand broadcast. (There are no televised events scheduled the rest of the month so nothing on New Japan World until 2/4)

New Japan 1/24/23 Results

New Japan began the Road to THE NEW BEGINNING Tour today, the traditional opening of the promotion’s new year as the first series after the annual 1/4 Tokyo Dome blowout event. This begins the unofficial road to next year’s signature event.

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on New Japan World in Japanese and English.

The paid attendance was not announced.

Before the event, a special donation of 3 million yen (nearly $24,000 US) was made on behalf of the promotion and its “STRONG SPIRITS” mobile game to charities that are supporting legendary wrestler Shinjiro Otani as he continues to deal with serious medical issues.

Match 1: Great-O-Khan beat Ryohei Oiwa by submission.

Match 2: Gedo & Taiji Ishimori pinned Jado & Master Wato. Gedo pinned Jado.

Match 3: Francesco Akira & Aaron Henare beat TAKA Michinoku & DOUKI. Henare beat TAKA with Ultima.

Match 4: Oskar Leube, YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto beat Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr. Ishii pinned Fujita.

Match 5: El Phantasmo & KENTA beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Hiroshi Tanahashi. Phantasmo pinned Tenzan after Sudden Death.

Matxh 6: BUSHI & Hiromu Takagashi beat Yoh & Ryusuke Taguchi. BUSHI pinned Taguchi after MX.

Match 7: TJP & Will Ospreay beat Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi. Ospreay pinned Kanemaru after Hidden Blade. So apparently whatever forced TJP off Sunday’s event last-minute wasn’t serious.

Main Event: Shota Umino, Toru Yano & Kazuchika Okada beat SANADA, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito. Umino pinned SANADA after Death Slider. Now although I haven’t seen this yet I do (half-jokingly) wonder if Umino benefitted from biased officiating because New Japan lead/main event referee Red Shoes Unno is Umino’s real-life father.

The next event is tomorrow. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET.

DEVELOPING: Major Jr. Heavyweight Event On 3/1 (Updated)

A major development this morning: New Japan has announced that Hiromu Takahashi is putting together a special Jr. Heavyweight event on 3/1 featuring wrestlers from throughout Japan and around the world. LEC is on board as a sponsor for All Star Jr. Festival on 3/1 at Korakuen Hall and it will be available as a PPV on New Japan World.

More as it becomes available.

UPDATE: The following promotions are confirmed for participation: New Japan, All-Japan, Pro Wrestling NOAH, Dragon Gate, GLEAT, CMLL (Mexico), 666. Osaka Pro, DDT, Ganbare Pro, Pancrase MISSION, ZERO1, Basara, Freedoms, Michinoku Pro, Ryukyu Dragon Pro, Dradition, Just Tap Out, 2AW, Kyushu Pro

Tickets go on sale Sunday. PPV details TBA.

UPCOMING FREE VIDEO: New Japan Rumble On 44th Street 2022 (LIMITED TIME ONLY)

New Japan is making the full 2022 Rumble On 44th Street PPV in New York City available on YouTube FOR FREE for a limited time. You can watch the full event below-it will be available starting at 4 PM PT/7 PM ET and you can watch until 3:59 PM PT/6:59 PM ET on 2/17. After that it will be available on New Japan World to all subscribers. The replay is also available for purchase on FITE (you get unlimited replays with purchase).

New Japan Pro Wrestling THE NEW BEGINNING in NAGOYA Results (1/22/23) (Updated)

New Japan kicks off THE NEW BEGINNING today, the start of their annual post-Tokyo Dome series that marks the official beginning of the new year for the promotion. After their major even earlier today in Yokohama, they head to Nagoya for a standalone event ahead of the main series beginning. The highlight match today is the main event, the first KOPW 2023 Title match of the year as Shingo Takagi, who essentially retained the title from the end of 2022 as the champion at the end of the year, defends the title and it’s new title belt against Great-O-Khan, and because Khan’s stip won the fan vote it will be a Martial Arts match so both will wear gi among other things.

Today’s event will be held at Aichi Prefectural Gym in Nagoya and can be watched LIVE on New Japan World in Japanese and English. If, like me, you’re going to be split-screening to watch this and the Pro Wrestling NOAH event at the same time, this event starts a bit later but they should wrap up at close to the same time. This event will be shorter and I anticipate the total running time being about 2 1/2 hours but no more than 3 hours.

Today’s lineup:
Toru Yano & Togi Makabe vs. Oskar Leube & Yuto Naksahima
Tomoaki Honma, Ren Narita, El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki vs. Dick Togo, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL
Ryohei Oiwa, YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto vs. Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr.
Jado, Master Wato & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Taiji Ishimori, El Phantasmo & KENTA
Francesco Akira, TJP, Aaron Henare & Will Ospreay vs. TAKA Michinoku, DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi
Yoh, Ryusuke Taguchi, Shota Umino & Kazuchika Okada vs. BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA & Tetsuya Naito
KOPW 2023 Champion Shingo Takagi vs. Great-O-Khan in a Martial Arts Rules Match for the title

Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.

Updates below will begin at 2 AM ET/11 PM PT.

10:30 PM PT UPDATE: The live stream has launched. The broadcast will begin at 11 PM PT/2 AM ET.

11 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates begin now…
We are LIVE from Aichi Prefectural Gym in Nagoya, Japan. Your Japanese hosts are Haruo Murata & Milano Collection A.T. No guest on commentary. Your English host is Kevin Kelly.

We begin with the usual preview video with title matches for upcoming events.

When we go to the venue they are making announcements. There may be some last-second changes to the card. It could involve the Jr. Heavyweight 8-man tag based on names mentioned.

The paid attendance will be announced after the event. Vocal cheering is allowed so between that and the setup it will be greatly reduced capacity. I would not be surprised if they don’t get to 2000 (50% and the setup means a maximum of probably between 2500-3000. The venue’s normal capacity is 7500).

The matches begin at 11:08 PM PT.

Match 1: Toru Yano & Togi Makabe vs. Oskar Leube & Yuto Nakashima. 20 minute time limit
Result: Toru Yano & Togi Makabe beat Oskar Leube & Yuto Nakahima. Makabe beat Nakashima.

Match 2: Tomoaki Honma, Ren Narita, El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki vs. Dick Togo, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL. 20 minute time limit
Result: Tomoaki Honma, Ren Narita, El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki beat Dick Togo, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL. Narita beat Togo with an octopus stretch hold.

Match 3: Ryohei Oiwa, YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto vs. Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr. 20 minute time limit
Result: Kosei Fujita, SHane Haste, Micky Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Ryohei Oiwa, YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto. Haste pinned Fujita after Thunder Bomb.

Match 4: Jado, Master Wato & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Taiji Ishimori, El Phantasmo & KENTA. 30 minute time limit
Result: Taiji Ishimori, El Phantasmo & KENTA beat Jado, Master Wato & Hiroshi Tanahashi. Phantasmo pinned Jado after Sudden Death.

Match 5: Francesco Akira, TJP, & Will Ospreay vs. DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi. 30 minute time limit. Apparently Aaron Henare was out for unknown reasons and thus TAKA was out too.
Result: Francesco Akira, Aaron Henare & Will Ospreay beat Yoshinobu Kanemaru, DOUKI & Taichi. Ospreay pinned DOUKI after Hidden Blade.

Match 6: Yoh, Ryusuke Taguchi, Shota Umino & Kazuchika Okada vs. BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA & Tetsuya Naito. 30 minute time limit
Result: Yoh, Ryusuke Taguchi, Shota Umino & Kazuchika Okada beat BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA & Tetsuya Naito. Umino pinned BUSHI.

Main Event: KOPW 2023 Champion Shingo Takagi vs. Great-O-Khan in a Martial Arts Rules Match for the title. No pinfalls. Win only by submission or KO/TKO (10 count down). 1 Hour time limit
Result: KOPW 2023 Champion Shingo Takagi beat Great-O-Khan by submission to retain the title. Takagi also keeps his IWGP World Heavyweight Championship shot on 2/11, which was also on the line.

The next event is the Road to THE NEW BEGINNING Tour opener Tuesday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET.

UPDATE: The Match 5 result has been corrected, apparently it was TJP removed from the match and not Henare.

The announced paid attendance was 1650.