Tag: New Japan

New Japan ran a special Taichi hometown event today, the first time that I can recall they’ve visited his hometown of Ishikari, which he shares his last name with although he hasn’t used it in wrestling in a long time. There was also a lot of participation from TAKA Michinoku’s JTO (Just Tap Out) promotion.

Today’s event was held at Minami Junior High School Gym in Hokkaido and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 871, a legit advance sellout.

Match 1: Masatora Yasuda beat Jewel Bird (JTO).

Match 2: Katsuya Murashima & Satoshi Kojima beat Shoma Kato & Yuji Nagata. Kojima pinned Kato after a lariat.

Match 3: JTO Girls Tag Team Champions Rhythm & Tomoka Inaba beat Aoi & Azusa Inaba to retain the titles. Tomoka Inaba pinned Azusa Inaba after Tomoka Kick. V4 for the champs.

Match 4: Daiki Nagai, Hiromu Takahashi & Yota Tsuji beat Ryoma Tsukamoto, Bomber Bomber Tatsuya & Thunder Masami. Tsuji pinned Tsukamoto after Gene Blaster.

Match 5: El Desperado & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Dick Togo & EVIL. Tanahashi beat Togo with a Texas cloverleaf.

Main Event: TAKA Michinoku, Yuya Uemura & Taichi beat Yoshinobu Kanemaru, DOUKI & SANADA. Taichi pinned Kanemaru after Black Mephisto. Taichi finished things off to send the crowd home happy and suggested a return next year was possible.

The next event is the Super Jr. Tag League 2025, the annual Junior Heavyweight tag team tournament, starting Thursday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET. If what New Japan has been saying on social media holds true, every remaining event this year will be available live & on demand on the service (there may be one or two PPVs though). That includes Tokyo Dome with Hiroshi Tanahashi’s retirement match (77 days to go as New Japan is counting down) and New Year Dash!! the day after.

In other news, the first match for a House Of Torture Produced event on 11/19 at Korakuen Hall has also been announced, it will be EVIL vs. Shun Skywalker (Dragon Gate) in a match chosen by EVIL himself. The event is being dubbed “Purge Night Of Torture”.

Lots of New Japan news from today’s post-KING OF PRO WRESTLING press conference in Tokyo:

NEW IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Konosuke Takeshita was the feature attraction. Nothing definite about Tokyo Dome or what’s next given he is signed to 4 different promotions (New Japan, DDT, All Elite Wrestling) but a Hirooki Goto rematch is next. That match will happen on 11/2 at the final Hiroshi Tanahashi hometown event in Gifu.

On 11/2 Tanahashi also will try for one last title in his career (maybe) when he faces NEW IWGP Global Champion Yota Tsuji for the title.

One champion who will be at Tokyo Dome is Stardom top star Saya Kamitani. The World Of Stardom Champion and STRONG Women’s Champion will make her debut at the venue on 1/4, further details TBA.

New signee Aaron Wolf will also debut at Tokyo Dome and his debut match will be against NEW NEVER Openweight Champion EVIL, who wants it to be a NON- TITLE match should he still be champion then, but of course he does. Because he is EVIL! (Indeeeeeeeed!)

The trams for the upcoming Super Jr. Tag League were announced as well. This year it’s a 12-team field in 2 blocks with a round-robin format. The participating teams:

Block A: Ryusuke Taguchi & Dragon Dia, Yoh & Master Wato, Hiromu Takahashi & Gedo, Clark Connors & Daiki Nagai, Templario & Jacob Austin Young, DOUKI & Sho

Block B: El Desperado & KUIKAI, Tiger Mask 4 & YAMATO, KUSHIDA & Yuki Yoshioka, Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita, Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Dick Togo

The winners of each block will advance to the Finals.

Finally, the traditional post-Tokyo Done opening event of the year is set for 2026. New Year Dash!! will be held on 1/5 at Ota City General Gym in Tokyo.

KING OF PRO WRESTLING 2025, New Japan’s likely final blowout event of the year, is in the books.

Today’s event was held at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo and can be watched on demand OUTSIDE JAPAN ONLY on New Japan World. This event aired in Japan as part of WORLD PRO WRESTLING LIVE 2025 exclusively on TV Asahi.

The announced paid attendance was 5372.

Match 1: Syuri beat IWGP Women’s Champion Sareee to win the title. Syuri becomes the 6th IWGP Women’s Champion.

Match 2: Clark Connors, Tiaji Ishimori & David Finlay beat Titan, Hiromu Takahashi & SHingo Takagi. Finlay pinned Titan after Overkill.

Match 3: In a No DQ match, Drilla Moloney beat SANADA.

Match 4: Yoh, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat Kosei Fujita, Hartley Jackson & Ryohei Oiwa. Goto pinned Jackson after GTR.

Match 5: NJPW WORLD TV Champion El Phantasmo vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi went to a 15 minute time limit draw. As a result, Phantasmo retains the title. V3 for Phantasmo.

Match 6: EVIL beat NEVER Openweight Champion Boltin Oleg to win the title. EVIL becomes the 49th NEVER Openweight Champion.

Match 7: IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions OSKAR & Yuto Ice beat Yuya Uemura & Shota Umino to retain the titles. Ice pinned Uemura after K.O.B. V1 for the champs.

Match 8: Yota Tsuji beat IWGP Global Champion Gabriel Kidd to win the title. Tsuji becomes the 6th IWGP Global Champion.

Main Event: Konosuke Takeshita beat IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr. to win the title. Takeshita becomes the 14th IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. So that all but guarantees he’s defending the title at Tokyo Dome in the main event. Against…possibly Goto. We’ll see.

The next event is Saturday at Hanakawa Minami Junior High School Gym in Hokkaido for a Taichi hometown event. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin Friday at 11 PM PT/2 AM ET.

It was also announced that the next US event will be on 2/27/26 in Trenton, NJ. So no San Jose, CA this winter…glad I went this year!

Additionally, as of 8 PM PT/11 PM ET you can now watch the full NJPW WORLD TV Championship match FOR FREE on YouTube.

New Japan wrapped up the short Road To KING OF PRO WRESTLING 2025 Tour today with an event in Saitama.

Today’s event was held at Tokorozawa Civic Gym in Saitama and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 1057.

Match 1: Tatsuya Matsumoto & Shoma Kato beat Zane Jay & Masatora Yasuda. Kato pinned Jay. In post-match commenta backstage after the last event, Jay hinted at potentially beginning a heel turn.

Match 2: Shota Umino beat Katsuya Murashima.

Match 3: Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney beat Yoshinobu Kanemaru & SANADA by conutout. SANADA counted out.

Match 4: Dick Togo, Don Fale & EVIL beat Tiger Mask, Yota Tsuji & Boltin Oleg. EVIL beat EM 4 with a scorpion deathlock.

Match 5: OSKAR (The Grouch) & Yuto Ice (Ice Baby) beat beat Tomoaki Honma & Yuya Uemura by ref stoppage (TKO). OSKAR beat Honma.

Match 6: Gedo, Taiji Ishimori, David Finlay & Gabriel Kidd beat Daiki Nagai, Titan, Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji. Finlay pinned Nagai after Into Oblivion.

Main Event: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Sho & SOUKI beat KUUKAI & El Desperado to retain the titles. DOUKI pinned KUUKAI. V3 for the champs.

The next event is KING OF PRO WRESTLING 2025 Monday at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo. Live streaming on New Japan World OUTSIDE JAPAN ONLY will begin at midnight PT/3 AM ET. This will be a live & exclusive TV Asahi broadcast in Japan.

New Japan continued the Road To KING OF PRO WRESTLING 2025 Tour today in Ishikawa.

Today’s event was held at Komatsu General Gym in Ishikawa and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 1521, a full house/near sellout.

Match 1: Zane Jay & Katsuya Murashima beat Tatsuya Matsunoto & Shoma Kato. Murashima pinned Kato.

Match 2: Yuya Uemura beat Daiki Nagai.

Match 3: Yoshinobu Kanemaru & SANADA beat Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney by DQ. Moloney DQ’d.

Match 4: Jado & El Phantasmo beat Masatora Yasuda & Hiroshi Tanahashi. Phantasmo pinned Hasuda after Thunder Kiss ’86.

Match 5: Dick Togo, Sho, DOUKI, Don Fale & EVIL beat Tiger Mask, KUUKAI, El Desperado, Toru Yano & Boltin Oleg. EVIL pinned TM 4 after Magic Killer.

Match 6: OSKAR (The Grouch) & Yuto Ice (Ice Baby) beat Tomoaki Honma & Shota Umino. OSKAR pinned Honma after Cruella.

Main Event: Titan, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji beat Gedo, Taiji Ishimori, David Finlay & Gabriel Kidd. Titan pinned Gedo after a swan dive foot stomp.

The tour-ender is Saturday at Tokorozawa Civic Gym in Saitama. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at midnight PT/3 AM ET.

UPDATE: The promotion has announced IWGP Women’s Champion Sareee vs. Syuri for the title has been added to KING OF PRO WRESTLING 2025 on Monday.

Apparently Taiji Ishinori thinks he’s superhuman and capable of being reckless & doing ridiculous things, and convinced New Japan to let him to it again today so they presented “Superhuman Taiji Ishinori Gets Even More Ridiculous”.

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on New Japan World as a PPV in Japanese. It is available outside Japan for $22.99 US.

The announced paid attendance was 1562, a legit sellout.

The event consisted of a 2 Hour Iron Man Battle Royal divided into several blocks, with Ishimori facing groups of wrestlers.

Part 1: Pre-Block: Ishimori went 1-1 vs. Katsuya Murashima, Daiki Nagai & Jun Kasai.

Part 2: Secret Block: Ishimori went 1-6vs. Mohammed Yone, LEONA, Atsushi Kotoge, Shiro Koshinaka, Jun Akiyama, Dump Matsunoto and Brahmans Shu & Kei.

Part 3: Tohoku Block: Ishimori went 1-2 vs. Ryusuke Taguchi, Yoh, Dick Togo, TAKA Michinoku, The Great Sasuke, Shuji Ishikawa & MAO.

Part 4: Muscle Block: Ishimori went 3-0 vs. Yoh, MAO, Titan, Sho, Hyo, Koju Takeda, Boltin Oleg, Ryohei Oiwa & Drilla Moloney.

Block 5: Ishimori went 5-1 vs. MAO, Shun Skywalker, Kagetora, Dragon Dia, Ryuji Ito, Shingo Takagi, Tatsumi Fujibami and Kazuki Hirata. Ishimori finishes the 2 hours at 11-10.

Main Event: Taiji Ishimori beat Gedo.

At the end, it was announced Ishimori will get even more ridiculous one more time on 11/12 at Shinjuku Face, and announced for that event was Ishimori vs. Dragon Kid.

Regular programming will now resume with the next event Thursday at Komatsu General Gym in Ishikawa. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 3 AM PT/6 AM ET.

New Japan continued the Road To KING OF PRO WRESTLING 2025 Tour today in Tokyo.

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

The announced paid attendance was 1161.

Pre-show match: Zane Jay & Masatora Yasuda beat Tatsuya Matsunoto & Shoma Kato. Yasuda pinned Matsunoto.

Match 1: Katsuya Murashima & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Jado & El Phantasmo. Tanahashi pinned Jado after High Fly Flow.

Match 2: Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney beat Yosjinobu Kanemaru & SANADA by countout. SANADA counted out.

Match 3: Dick Togo, Sho, Don Fale & EVIL beat Tiger Mask, KUUKAI, Toru Yano & Boltin Oleg. Sho pinned TM 4 after Shock Arrow.

Match 4: Titan, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji beat Gedo, Taiji Ishimori, David Finlay & Gabriel Kidd. Takahashi pinned Gedo after Trauma.

Match 5: Shota Unino beat OSKAR.

Match 6: Yuya Uemura beat Yuto Ice (Ice Baby) by submission.

Main Event: DOUKI beat IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion El Desperado by ref stoppage (KO) to win the title. DOUKI becomes the 99th IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion. Sho interference caused the KO-weapon use during Italian Stretch 32. I figured a change would happen here as DOUKI lost the title to Desperado at Tokyo Dome due to injury, but this fully cements his heel turn as part os House Of Torture. Next up: TBA but I have a feeling it’ll be at Tokyo Dome.

The next event is “Superhuman Taiji Ishimori Gets Even More Ridiculous” tomorrow. Live streaming on New Japan World as a PPV will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET. The PPV is available for pre-order for $22.99 US.

New Japan kicked off the Road To KING OF PRO WRESTLING 2025 Tour today, a quick one-week tour leading to the likely final blowout event of the year and one of the Tokyo Dome main event matches.

Today’s event was held at Tokei Security Hiratsuka General Gym in Kanagawa and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 777. Jackpot!

Match 1: Tatsuya Matsumoto & Katsuya Murashima beat Zane Jay & Masatora Yasuda. Murashima pinned Jay.

Match 2: Shota Umino beat Daiki Nagai.

Match 3: Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & SANADA went to a double countout.

Match 4: Jado & El Phantasmo beat Shoma Kato & Hiroshi Tanahashi. Phantasmo pinned Kato after Thunder Kiss ’86.

Match 5: Tiger Mask, KUUKAI, El Desperado, Toru Yano & Boltin Oleg beat Dick Togo, Sho, DOUKI, Don Fale & EVIL. KUUKAI pinned Togo after Cancion de Coona. KUUKAI is an outsider brought in for some upcoming events.

Match 6: OSKAR & Yuto Ice (Ice Baby) beat Tomoaki Honma & Tuya Uemura by ref stoppage (technical submission). OSKAR beat Honma with a sleeper hold.

Main Event: Titan, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji beat Gedo, Taiji Ishimori, David Finlay & Gabriel Kidd. Tsuji pinned Gedo after Gene Blaster.

The next event is HISTORIC X-OVER in Guangzhou, another crossover event with Stardom, tomorrow at Barley 66LiveHouse in Guangzhou, China. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

The tour continues Monday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET.