Tag: New Japan

New Japan ran a standalone event called Anjo Rainy Days today, the second straight year they have run a hometown event for Kazuchika Okada.

Today’s event was held at Tochi Arena Anjo in Aichi. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 2247, a legit sellout.

All matches were announced at the start of the event, nothing was announced in advance.

Match 1: Boltin Oleg & Ryusuke Taguchi beat TAKA Michinoku & DOUKI. Taguchi pinned TAKA.

Match 2: Jado & Master Wato beat Gedo & Taiji Ishimori. Wato beat Gedo with Vendeval.

Match 3: Minoru Suzuki & Yuji Nagata beat Oskar Leube & Yuto Nakashima. Nagata pinned Nakashima with a backdrop hold.

Match 4: Ren Narita & Shota Umino beat Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe. Narita beat Honma with a cobra twist. Afterwards, Narita challenged for the NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Championship on 11/17. Honma, Narita & Taguchi are scheduled to face current champions Tomohiro Ishii, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada in a NON-TITLE match on that date. But New Japan’s English preview of the event hints at the potential for a title rematch before the year ends if they win.

Match 5: Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL beat Callum Newman, HENARE, Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb. Sho pinned Newman after Shock Arrow.

Match 6: Yoh, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat BUSHI, HIromu Takahashi & Yota Tsuji. Goto pinned BUSHI after Shoto. Afterwards, several wrestlers attempted to win the DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Championship from Takahashi. Will he make it to tonight’s DDT event as champion?

Main Event: NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Champions Tomohiro Ishii, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada beat Yuya Uemura, Taichi & SANADA to retain the titles. Okada pinned Uemura after Rainmaker. V5 for the champs. They went just over 30 minutes. Post-match, Okada promo where he vowed to return next year as IWGP World Heavyweight Champion to close the event and send the hometown crowd home happy.

Next up is the New Japan Road Tour, which is just 2 events this year. The first event is Friday at Yamagata Big Wing in Yamagata headlined by Sho vs. Taichi for the KOPW 2023 Title. We still don’t know what their proposed rules are going to be. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET.

New Japan is back in the US today for their next STRONG LIVE event, Lonestar Shootout. Following up on last month’s Fighting Spirit Unleashed, it’s another loaded event with 5 title matches among a 12-match lineup. First up, the STRONG Tag Team Championship is on the line as Hikuleo & El Phantasmo defend the titles against West Coast Wrecking Crew (Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs), who want to bring the titles back stateside away from the Japan mainstays. Second, STRONG Openweight Champion Eddie Kingston will defend the title against the legendary Satoshi Kojima, who has already firmly established the Bread Club in Texas. The third title match is a highly-anticipated show stealer candidate as NJPW WORLD TV Champion Zack Sabre Jr. goes for his 16th (!) successful defense against Mike Bailey, who basically continues to do nothing but have MOTY candidate matches all the time. In the 4th title match, IWGP Women’s Champion Mayu Iwatani travels to the US from Stardom to defend against CMLL standout Stephanie Vaquer, who earned her chance at the title with a victory in Las Vegas. Finally in the main event, NEW NEVER Openweight Champion Shingo Takagi will defend the title against AEW’s Trent Beretta.

Today’s event will be held at Curtis Culwell Center in Garland Park, TX (Dallas/Ft. Worth area) and can be watched LIVE on New Japan World in Japanese. It was originally planned to be a PPV on the service but following yesterday’s (bumpy of course) major update/relaunch of the New Japan World service it was decided to make is available for all with no additional purchase required. Those who purchased the PPV before on the service will get refunds (I never saw/had that option). With the pricing changes at the relaunch yesterday a new subscription will now cost $9.99/month if you go through their website, or as much as $12.99/month going through app stores. It will also be available LIVE on FITE in English only for $19.99. There will also be a FREE 30 minute pre-show before the event on FITE, which also is part of the New Japan World broadcast, and it also will be available on the New Japan World YouTube channel. The pre-show is headlined by another rivalry match between Fred Rosser & Tom Lawlor. Only 2 of the matches have longer than 30 minute time limits, but based on last month as well as the pre-show I anticipate this event having a total running time of around 4 hours.

Today’s lineup:
Pre-show:
Matt Vandagriff vs. Barrett Brown
Fred Rosser vs. Tom Lawlor

Main show/PPV:
Mascara Dorada, Tiger Mask 4 & Atlantis vs. Hechicero, Rocky Romero & Ultimo Guerrero
Kevin Knight, KUSHIDA, Tanga Loa & Tama Tonga vs. Clark Connors, Gabriel Kidd, Alex Coughlin & Chase Owens
Toru Yano vs. Joey Janela
Mistico vs. TJP
STRONG Tag Team Champions Hikuleo & El Phantasmo vs. West Coast Wrecking Crew for the titles
STRONG Openweight Champion Eddie Kingston vs. Satoshi Kojima for the title
NJPW WORLD TV Champion Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Mike Bailey for the title
Jon Moxley & Wheeler Yuta vs. David Finlay & KENTA
IWGP Women’s Champion Mayu Iwatani vs. Stephanie Vaquer for the title
NEVER Openweight Champion Shingo Takagi vs. Trent Beretta for the title

Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.

Updates below will begin at 4:30 PM PT/7:30 PM ET.

4:05 PM PT UPDATE: After some initial connection issues on their end, the live stream has successfully launched in pre-show mode. I am testing the new Apple TV app and will be using that initially to stream the event. The presentation is the same as watching it in a web browser.

4:30 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates begin now…

We are LIVE from Curtis Culwell Center in Garland Park, TX. Your hosts are Haruo Murata, Milano Collection A.T. & Miki Motoi. (If you’re watching in English on FITE, your hoses are Walker Stephens & Veda Scott)

The paid attendance will be announced after the event. The configuration looks to be for around 3400 at most (using a half-arena setup), so based on ticket sales through yesterday I’m thinking it’ll be in the range of 2800-3000. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 1027. Was I ever off…much smaller setup than I expected, and there seemed to be a lot of ringside seats left today which surprised me)

Pre-show:
Match 1: Matt Vandagriff vs. Barrett Brown
Result: Barrett Brown beat Matt Vandagriff

Match 2: Fred Rosser vs. Tom Lawlor. 20 minute time limit
Result: Fred Rosser beat Tom Lawlor

Quick break for end of pre-show.

PPV/main show:
The opening match rundown video misspelled David FInlay’s last name as Finley.
Match 1: Mascara Dorada, Tiger Mask 4 & Atlantis vs. Hechicero, Rocky Romero & Ultimo Guerrero. 20 minute time limit
Result: Mascara Dorada, Tiger Mask 4 & Atlantis beat Hechicero, Rocky Romero & Ultimo Guerrero. Dorada pinned Hechicero after Shooting Star Press.

Match 2: Toru Yano vs. Joey Janela. 20 minute time limit
Once Yano entered the ring Janela sneak attacked him. Janela with microphone. After finding Yano’s pants were loaded with rolls of tape, he demanded a No DQ match. The change was made and the match is now No DQ.
Result: Toru Yano beat Joey Janela

TJP interviewed backstage.

Quick break to reset the ring after that last match. Toru Yano likes to remove the tunbuckle padding (New Japan uses velcro-attached padding in the corners)

Match 3: Kevin Knight, KUSHIDA, Tanga Loa & Tama Tonga vs. Clark Connors, Gabriel Kidd, Alex Coughlin & Chase Owens. 20 minute time limit
Result: Clark Connors, Gabriel Kidd, Alex Coughlin & Chase Owens beat Kevin Knight, KUSHIDA, Tanga Loa & Tama Tonga. Connors pinned Knight after an assisted piledriver.

Match 4: STRONG Tag Team Champions Hikuleo & El Phantasmo vs. West Coast Wrecking Crew (Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs) for the titles. 30 minute time limit
Result: STRONG Tag Team Champions HIkuleo & El Phantasmo beat West Coast Wrecking Crew to retain the titles. Phantasmo pinned Nelson after an errant Isaacs belt shot (ducked and hit Nelson). V2 for the champs.

Match 5: Mistico vs. TJP. 30 minute time limit
Result: Mistico beat TJP by submission

Match 6: STRONG Openweight Champion Eddie Kingston vs. Satoshi Kojima for the title. 30 minute time limit
Result: STRONG Openweight Champion Eddie Kingston beat Satoshi Kojima to retain the title. V7 for Kingston. Next up: Apparently Gabriel Kidd, who came out and laid out Kingston with the title belt. Kidd with microphone afterwards then a piledriver. Kidd finishes by saying David Finlay sent him out to win gold. Sounds like this could happen in January at the next US event in San Jose, CA.

Trent Beretta interviewed in the back as he arrives.

Match 7: Jon Moxley & Wheeler Yuta vs. David Finlay & KENTA. 30 minute time limit
Result: Jon Moxley & Wheeler Yuta beat David Finlay & KENTA. Moxley pinned KENTA after Death Rider.

Match 8: NJPW WORLD TV Champion Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Mike Bailey for the title. 15 minute time limit
Result: NJPW WORLD TV Champion Zack Sabre Jr. beat Mike Bailey by submission to retain the title. V16(!) for Sabre. Ended with only about 5 seconds left until the time limit.

Match 9: IWGP Women’s Champion Mayu Iwatani vs. Stephanie Vaquer for the title. 1 Hour time limit
Result: IWGP Women’s Champion Mayu Iwatani beat Stephanie Vaquer to retain the title. V2 for Iwatani.

Main Event: NEVER Openweight Champion Shingo Takagi vs. Trent Beretta for the title. 1 Hour time limit
Result: NEVER Openweight Champion Shingo Takagi beat Trent Beretta to retain the title. V1 for Takagi. Post-match, Takagi with microphone. In English, as he did when he won the title last time, he demanded a next challenger appear. At the end the lights went out, so it appears we have our answer: G.o.D…specifically, Tama Tonga. With microphone. REMATCH! (Takagi beat Tonga last month in Las Vegas to win the title) Takagi said “OF COURSE! At Tokyo Dome!” We’ll see if New Japan makes this official. Afterwards, Takagi produced a cowboy hat and wore it in the ring while posing for photos and waving to the crowd to end the show.

Including the pre-show and post-main event stuff, the event ran about 4 1/4 hours total. As far as the initial new NJPW WORLD experience, I give it a 9.9 out of 10. No issues with the stream once it began, quality was a little better than before (the ringside video camera quality was noticeably improved), the only thing I would like is improved DVR functionality-specifically being able to press left/right on my Apple TV remote to rewind/fast forward 10 or 15 seconds at a time. Right now it’s going way too far either way when I try to prevision jump back. But a very minor complaint at that. Almost perfectly passed my first test.

The next US event scheduled is Battle In The Valley on 1/13/24 in San Jose, CA. Tickets are on sale now. Broadcast plans TBA.

The next event in Japan is Anjo Rainy Days tomorrow at Tosho Arena Anjo in Aichi. This may be a Kazuchika Okada hometown event. The matches will not be announced ahead of event time. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

After originally planning to air it live, the New Japan World Twitter account hd announced that, due to issues with the relaunch of the updated service, the live broadcast in Japanese tomorrow will not happen. It now will be ON DEMAND ONLY. That means the only way to watch live will be in English on FITE for $19.99. On the flip side, it does mean 4-5 hours more of the illustrious (and just awesome) Veda Scott on commentary!

The broadcast begins with a FREE pre-show at 4:30 PM Pt/7:30 PM ET with the PPV beginning 30 minutes later.

UPDATE: For now at least the event is back on New Japan World as live in Japanese. A couple hours ago it was not on any version I used (web, mobile app, Apple TV app, Roku app. Haven’t tried Android app yet on my Kindle Fire HD but that may not yet be working properly) We’ll see what happens.

UPDATE 2: More clarification from the official Japanese New Japan account and that of President Takami Ohbari: Originally the live broadcast was going to be a PPV, although I never saw such an option to purchase it on New Japan World. That is no longer the case. It will be live on the service in Japanese only with no additional purchase required, you just have to be a subscriber to the service. If you purchased the PPV on World already, you will get a full refund.

According to a Twitter post liked by New Japan’s Japanese account, Tokyo Sports reports New Japan’s Tetsuya Naito was recently hospitalized but discharged today. Right eye surgery. Upper muscle paralysis that causes double vision. It’s the second time this year he’s had surgery there. Out indefinitely. He will not be part of the upcoming World Tag League this year and, since this is partly why Naito got it done now, he should be 100% in time for Tokyo Dome on 1/4. Translation made it sound like best-case for a return post-surgery is as little as 2 weeks.

More as it becomes available.

New Japan has announced a KOPW 2023 Title match for 11/17 at Yamagata Big Wing in Yamagata (the first event of the 2 event New Japan Road tour). Current champion Sho will defend against Taichi, who Sho beat to win the title, with proposed rules TBA. They should be made available soon for the prerequisite 3 days of online fan voting to determine the rules.

It will be the main event of a 7-match card, which has been announced in full by New Japan’s Japanese website:
Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima vs. Boltin Oleg & Oskar Leube
Toru Yano & Master Wato vs. Gedo & Taiji Ishimori
Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Yoh vs. Callum Newman, HENARE & Great-O-Khan
Yuji Nagata, Minoru Suzuki, Shota Umino & Tiger Mask vs. BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Yota Tsuji & Shingo Takagi
TAKA Michinoku, DOUKI, Yuya Uemura & SANADA vs. Dick Togo, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL
Tomoaki Honma Produced Match-Tonoaki Honma, Ren Narita & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Tomohiro Ishii, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada
KOPW 2023 Champion Sho vs. Taichi for the title

The event will be a live broadcast on New Japan World on 11/17 at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET. The other tour event on 11/19 will not be televised (this may be the last non-televised event of the year).

In other news, Takahashi recently fended off attempts by Kazuki Hirata to reclaim the DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Championship ahead of their Sunday match in DDT for the title (but apparently not for Hirata’s DDT Extreme Championship). There will be some kind of undetermined comedy rules for the match per Hirata. That event can be seen live in the US on WRESTLE UNIVERSE beginning Saturday at 9 PM PT/midnight ET and the match may be added to New Japan World at a later date.

Speaking of New Japan World, the updated version of the service will be launched Thursday at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET. You can still access the service as normal, but you can’t subscribe, cancel subscriptions, change your email or purchase PPV content until then. After the launch you’ll have to reset your password via the email used to sign up and new pricing takes effect. If you preciously signed up via the website, it will be 1299 Japanese yen per month or equivalent in your area (right now that will be around $8.75/month in the US). If you sign up via the website going forward or cancel and resubscribe, it will be $9.99/month. You can also sign up via the new mobile/smart TV apps when they launch via the App Store & Google Play (and Amazon for Fire TVs), but you may pay more (could be up to $12.99/month).

At a 1/4/24 Tokyo Dome press conference today, New Japan executive President Naoki Sugabayashi announced that, following David Finlay destroying the IWGP US (UK) Heavyweight Championshop belt at Power Struggle, a new title will be created to replace it. Current champion Will Ospreay was announced as defending on 1/4 against Finlay & Jon Moxley in a 3-way.

More as it becomes available.