All matches were G1 CLIMAX matches, 20 minute time limit.
Match 1: Block C: David Finlay beat Tomohiro Ishii.
Match 2: Block D: Hirooki Goto beat Toru Yano.
Match 3: Block C: Mikey Nicholls beat HENARE. HENARE is the former Aaron Henare now with a new look-he shaved his head, ditched the mustache and now has facial tattoos.
Match 4: Block D: Shane Haste beat Alex Coughlin.
Match 5: Block C: Eddie Kingston (All Elite Wrestling) beat Shingo Takagi.
Match 6: Block D: Zack Sabre Jr. beat Hiroshi Tanahashi.
Match 7: Block C: EVIL beat Tama Tonga.
Main Event: Block D: Jeff Cobb beat Tetsuya Naito.
Day 3 is Tuesday at Yamagata City Sports Center in Yamagata with Blocks A & B. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET.
New Japan kicked off the G1 CLIMAX 33, the promotion’s biggest annual singles tournament, today with the start of Block A & Block B action. The Road To Tokyo Dome has begun!
Today’s event was held at Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center Hokkai Kitayell in Hokkaido and can be watched on demand on New Japan World in Japanese and English FOR FREE! No login or signup required! It also was streamed on ABEMA in Japan.
All matches were G1 CLIMAX 33 matches, 20 minute time limit. 2 points for win, 1 point for time limit draw, 0 points for loss. They alternated between Block A & B.
Match 1: Block B: YOSHI-HASHI beat El Phantasmo.
Match 2: Block A: Chase Owens beat Gabriel Kidd.
Match 3: Block B: Tanga Loa beat KENTA.
Match 4: Block A: Shota Umino vs. Ren Narita went to a 20 minute time limit draw.
Match 5: Block B: Kazuchika Okada beat Great-O-Khan.
Match 6: Block A: Kaito Kiyomiya (Pro Wrestling NOAH) beat Yota Tsuji.
Match 7: Block B: Taichi beat Will Ospreay.
Main Event: Block A: SANADA beat Hikuleo.
Day 2 is tomorrow. Block C & D begin with Eddie Kingston representing All Elite Wrestling and the main event is scheduled to be Tetsuya Naito vs. Jeff Cobb. Live streaming on New Japan World in Japanese and English will begin TONIGHT at 10 PM PT/1 AM ET, and even better, once again you will be able to watch live and on demand FOR FREE! It will also be streamed for free on ABEMA in Japan.
There are reports on the net, confirmed via his Twitter, that New Japan legend Jushin Thunder Liger apparently will be at tomorrow’s AEW Collision in Calgary, Canada. A translation of the original Japanese notes Liger was invited to be a guest for the Owen Hart Cup Finals tomorrow and is flying from Tokyo to San Francisco, CA then to Calgary. Liger had some history with the late Owen Hart in their early careers in the 1980s & 1990s, both in New Japan and Calgary’s legendary Stampede Wrestling. It’s not known yet if Liger will appear on the broadcast or not. Considering he is also a WWE Hall Of Famer, it makes things interesting there although AEW has a partnership with New Japan. I imagine there would be no WWE mention. We’ll see tomorrow.
Earlier this year New Japan hosted the first Academy Showcase event for a live crowd at the LA Dojo in Los Angeles, CA. While there was no broadcast before, New Japan has now made the event available FOR FREE on YouTube. You can watch the full event below (it runs just over 2 hours and has English commentary), video courtesy of the New Japan Official English YouTube Channel:
New Japan ran the second half of STRONG Independence Day today, following a day full of surprises with the chance for even more.
Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand as a PPV only on New Japan World. (The PPV is only a combo pack that includes yesterday’s Day 1, in the US it’s about $30 and is available until roughly mid-September) You can also watch the pre-show match FOR FREE on YouTube.
The announced paid attendance was 1401, a super full house/very near sellout. They could have called it a sellout as attendance was down only 32 from yesterday.
There was a last-minute change to the card for today as JR Kratos was not cleared to compete today. Cut (head) suffered during yesterday’s match. He was to have faced Oskar Leube in the first PPV match.
Pre-show Match: Boltin Oleg, Master Wato & Ryusuke Taguchi beat Rekka, Takahiro Katori & Dragon Libre. Wato pinned Rekka with a Tsutenkaku German suplex hold.
Match 1: TBA, revealed at match time to (perhaps not surprisingly) be Satoshi Kojima, beat Oskar Leube.
Match 2: Francesco Akira & TJP beat Ryohei Oiwa & Homicide. Akira pinned Oiwa after 2/2.
Rocky Romero demanded an IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title match. Which led to… Match 3: IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney beat Rocky Romero & Yoh to retain the titles. Connors pinned Romero after Full Clip. V1 for the champs.
Match 4: Alex Zayne & Lance Archer beat Kosei Fujita & Bad Dude Tito. Arxher pinned Fujita after a lariat.
Match 5: The DKC, Tomohiro Ishii & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Jorel Nelson, Royce Isaacs & Tom Lawlor. Tanahashi pinned Isaacs.
Match 6: Giulia (Stardom) beat STRONG Women’s Champion Willow Nightingale to win the title. Giulia becomes the second STRONG Women’s Champion.
Match 7: IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto bear Gabriel Kidd & Alex Coughlin to retain the titles. YOSHI-HASHI pinned Kidd after Shoto. V1 for the champs.
Match 8: Eddie Kingston beat STRONG Openweight Champion KENTA to win the title. Kingston becomes the 6th STRONG Openweight Champion.
Main Event: In a Final Death match, Jon Moxley beat El Desperado.
Next up is the G1 CLIMAX 33 Tournament, the promotion’s biggest tournament of the year and the start of the road to Tokyo Dome, beginning on 7/15 at Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center Hokkai Kitayell in Hokkaido. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET. All tournament events will be available live and on demand on New Japan World.
Also announced is the Road to DESTRUCTION Tour, which will be the September and early October tour including DESTRUCTION in KOBE on 9/24 at Kobe World Hall in Kobe and DESTRUCTION in RYOGOKU on 10/9 at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo.
UPDATE: And it’s now official…WRESTLE KINGDOM 18 in TOKYO DOME on 1/4/24 at the Tokyo Dome. That’s a Thursday morning so make plans now.
New Japan brought the STRONG sub-label to Japan for the first time for STRONG Independence Day, starting a 2-day doubleheader in Tokyo today.
Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand as a PPV only on New Japan World. The only purchase option is a combo pack that also includes tomorrow’s event live and on demand (the PPV on demand window is expected to be about 2 months). You can also watch the pre-show match FOR FREE on YouTube.
The announced paid attendance was 1433, a legit advance sellout.
Pre-show Match: Oskar Leube, Yoh & Ryusuke Taguchi beat Takahiro Ketori, Dragon Libre & Kengo.Yoh pinned Libre after Direct Drive.
Match 1: Bad Dude Tito beat The DKC.
Match 2: Jorel Nelson, Royce Isaacs & JR Kratos beat Ryohei Oiwa, Alex Zayne & Lance Archer. Nelson pinned Oiwa after West Coast Classic.
Match 3: Tom Lawlor beat Kosei Fujita.
Match 4: Rocky Romero & Eddie Kingston beat Gedo & KENTA. Kingston pinned KENTA after Backfist To The Future.
Match 5: Momo Kohga (Stardom) & Willow Nightingale beat Thekla & Giulia (Stardom). Nightingale pinned Thekla after Babe With The Powerbomb.
Match 6: Gabriel Kidd & Alex Coughlin beat STRONG Tag Team Champions Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI to win the titles. Kidd & Coughlin become the 5th STRONG Tag Team Champions. Kidd pinned YOSHI-HASHI after a hijack piledriber.
Match 7: Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney beat IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Francesco Akira & TJP to win the titles. Connors & Moloney become the 73rd IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. Moloney pinned TJP after Full Clip. Interesting backstory here because Moloney came into New Japan as part of United Empire before defecting to Bullet Club, who had themselves a night with 2 title wins.
Main Event: In a Doomsday No DQ match, Jun Kasai (Freedoms) & El Desperado beat Homicide & Jon Moxley. Desperado pinned Homicide after Pinche Loco form a reverse tiger driver.
The next event is tomorrow. Live streaming on New Japan World as a PPV only will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET. There will be a FREE pre-show match on YouTube about 20 minutes before the event begins. There are 3 title matches scheduled for tomorrow-STRONG Women’s Champion Willow Nightingale vs. Giulia for the title, YOSHI-HASHI/Goto-Kidd/Coughlin again but this time for the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship and STRONG Openweight Champion KENTA vs. Eddie Kingston for the title. The main event is scheduled to be a Final Death match between El Desperado & Jon Moxley.
Ahead of the STRONG Independence Day events in Japan Tuesday & Wednesday, New Japan has announced Fred Rosser is now off both events. Circumstances beyond his control according to Rosser. in a brief statement on New Japan’s English website, Rosser said he will be in Japan “sooner rather than later” so this sounds like it could be due to something travel-related like flight cancellations or visa/passport issues.
Longtime New Japan fans will no doubt have heard lots about The 3 Musketeers-the moniker given to the trio of Keiji Muto, Masa Chono and Shinya Hashimoto when they came up through the New Japan Dojo in the late 1980s. That bane has sort of come back, as the promotion just announced the Reiwa 3 Musketeers group-Shota Umino, Ren Narita & Yota Tsuji. This comes in recognition of their rapid ascents through the ranks in New Japan, in particular Tsuji recently who just came back from a shorter-than-normal international training excursion to Mexico and almost immediately earned an IWGP World Heavyweight Championship shot (he lost to SANADA).
However, they won’t be seen together as a unit in the ring anytime soon because they are not on next week’s Korakuen Hall events and the G1 CLIMAX is right after that. Maybe near the end of the tournament. This is an interesting development nonetheless, let’s see if they can all live up to this lofty moniker.
The second installment of Forbidden Door, the All Elite Wrestling/New Japan Pro Wrestling crossover event that debuted last year, is on tap today with another lineup of dream matches and crossover title matches. About the only place there isn’t a crossover is the women’s matches (2 scheduled). The main event is expected to be either Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada or IWGP US Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay for the title while AEW World Champion MJF vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi for the title may be the opener so MJF can be MJF and get his heel butt outta Toronto. But perhaps not before an impromptu media scrum comedy rant.
Today’s event will be held at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Canada and can be watched LIVE as follows: US-PPV via cable/satellite and Bleacher Report, participating movie theaters and Dave & Buster’s locations Canada, Mexico and select other countries-YouTube (PPV) and ppv.com Japan-New Japan World (PPV) Elsewhere-FITE and DAZN There will also be a FREE one hour pre-show on YouTube. The post-event media scrum will also stream on YouTube after the event. Based on planned media scrum start timing this will be, including the pre-show, a 4 1/2-5 hour total running time.
Today’s current lineup: Pre-Show: Stu Grayson vs. El Phantasmo Owen Hart Cup Women’s Quarterfinals: Athena vs. Billie Starkz Kyle Fletcher, TJP & Jeff Cobb vs. BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi & Shingo Takagi Swerve Strickland, Brian Cage, Toa Liona & Kaun vs. El Desperado, Rocky Romero, Chuck Taylor & Trent Beretta
PPV: Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara & Minoru Suzuki vs. Darby Allin, Sting & Tetsuya Naito Adam Cole vs. Tom Lawlor (CANCELLED) AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy vs. Daniel Garcia, Katsuyori Shibata & Zack Sabre Jr. in a 4-way for the title AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm vs. Willow Nightingale for the title Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, Shota Umino & Konosuke Takeshita vs. The Young Bucks, Adam Page, Tomohiro Ishii & Eddie Kingston IWGP World Heavyweight Champion SANADA vs. Jungle Boy for the title Owen Hart Cup Men’s Quarterfinals: CM Punk vs. Satoshi Kojima AEW World Champion MJF vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi for the title Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada IWGP US Champion Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay for the title
Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.
Click below to watch the pre-show beginning at 7 PM ET/4 PM PT:
Updates below will begin at 7 PM ET/4 PM PT.
Pre-Show UPDATE: The Adam Cole-Tom Lawlor match tonight is now off as of 1:30 PM PT/4:30 PM ET as Cole is not cleared to compete. Illness. No replacement and per Tony Khan on Twitter the match is cancelled.
Pre-show: Match 1: Swerve Strickland, Brian Cage, Toa Liona & Kaun vs. El Desperado, Rocky Romero, Chuck Taylor & Trent Beretta Result: Swerve Strickland, Brian Cage, Toa Liona & Kaun beat El Desperado, Rocky Romero, Chuck Taylor & Trent Beretta. Strickland pinned Romero after a diving foot stomp.
Match 2: Owen Hart Cup Women’s Tournament Quarterfinal: ROH Women’s Champion Athena vs. Billie Starkz in a NON-TITLE match Result: Athena beat Billie Stakz. As a result, Athena advances to the Semifinals and will face Willow Nightingale.
Match 3: Stu Grayson vs. El Phantasmo Result: El Phantasmo beat Stu Grayson
Match 4: Kyle Fletcher, TJP & Jeff Cobb vs. BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi & Shingo Takagi Result: BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi & Shingo Takagi beat Kyle Fletcher, TJP & Jeff Cobb. Takagi pinned TJP after MADE IN JAPAN.
PPV: Match 1: AEW World Champion MJF vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi for the title Result: AEW World Champion MJF beat Hiroshi Tanahashi to retain the title.
Match 2: Owen Hart Cup Men’s Quarterfinals: CM Punk vs. Satoshi Kojima Result: CM Punk beat Satoshi Kojima. As a result, Punk advances to the Semifinals.
News: All Out, the next AEW PPV, will be in Chicago over Labor Day weekend. Week begins with Dynamite & Rampage taping on 8/30 at Now Arena, then Collision on 9/2 at United Center and All Out on 9/3 at United Center.
Match 3: AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy vs. Daniel Garcia, Katsuyori Shibata & Zack Sabre Jr. in a 4-way for the title Result: AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy beat Daniel Garcia, Katsuyori Shibata & Zack Sabre Jr. in a 4-way by pinning Garcia to retain the title.
Match 4: IWGP World Heavyweight Champion SANADA vs. Jungle Boy for the title Result: IWGP World Heavyweight Champion SANADA beat Jungle Boy to retain the title. V3 for SANADA. Jungle Boy appeared to turn on Hook afterwards, breaking up The World’s Handsomest Tag Team and surely breaking many female fans’ hearts.
Match 5: Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, Shota Umino & Konosuke Takeshita vs. The Young Bucks, Adam Page, Tomohiro Ishii & Eddie Kingston Result: The Young Bucks, Adam Page, Tomohiro Ishii & Eddie Kingston beat Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, Shota Umino & Eddie Kingston. Ishii pinned Yuta after a vertical drop brainbuster.
Match 6: AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm vs. Willow Nightingale for the title Result: AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm beat Willow Nightingale to retain the title.
Match 7: IWGP US Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay for the title Result: WIll Ospreay beat IWGP US Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega to win the title. Ospreay becomes the 18th IWGP US Heavyweight Champion.
Match 8: Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara & Minoru Suzuki vs. Darby Allin, Sting & Tetsuya Naito Result: Darby Allin, Sting & Tetsuya Naito beat Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara & Minoru Suzuki. Sting & Naito pinned Suzuki.
Main Event: Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada Result: Bryan Danielson beat Kazuchika Okada by submission
End Show.
Click below to watch the post-event media scrum after the event ends, which is scheduled to begin at 8:45 PM PT/11:45 PM ET (and in reality will start 20-30 minutes after that. As of 9 PM PT/Midnight ET is is in “Waiting to start” status):