Tag: New Japan

New Japan ran the 14th Yuji Nagata Produced “BLUE JUSTICE” event today, returning to his hometown for what also was a 40th Anniversary in wrestling event for the oldest 56-year-old who does his best everyday.

Today’s event was held at Togane Arena in Chiba and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 1387.

Match 1: Daiki Nagai, Katsuya Murashima & Boltin Oleg beat Yasutora Yasuda, Shoma Kato & Toru Yano. Oleg pinned Yasuda.

Match 2: Taiji Ishimori, Caveman Agu & Bad Luck Fale beat Hartley Jackson (GLEAT), Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls. Agu pinned Jackson after Tour of the Kaus.

Match 3: Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Sho beat TAKA Michinoku & DOUKI. Kanemaru beat TAKA with a FIgure 4.

Match 4: Hiromu Takahashi & Yota Tsuji beat Jacob Austin Young & Jeff Cobb. Takahashi beat Young with a Figure 4.

Match 5: Shota Umino, Tomohiro Ishii & Hitoshi Tanahashi beat Dick Togo, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL. Umino pinned Togo after Death Rider.

Match 6: Kevin Knight, KUSHIDA, Tomoaki Honma, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat Drilla Moloney, Clark Connors, Gedo, Gabriel Kidd & David Finlay. Knight pinned Gedo after OUT A TIME.

Match 7: Kosei Fujita, Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. beat BUSHI, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito. Oiwa pinned BUSHI after THE GRIP.

Main Event: Yuji Nagata 40th Anniversary Match: Jun Akiyama (DDT) & Yuji Nagata beat Atsushi Kotoge & Go Shiozaki (Pro Wrestling NOAH). Nagata pinned Shiozaki with a backdrop hold.

The next event is Tuesday at Fujisan Messe in Shizuoka to resume the Road To KING OF PRO WRESTLING 2024 Tour. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

New Japan began the Road to KING OF PRO WRESTLING 2024 Tour today, unusual because all the events are/will be non-televised house shows so unless you are/were there you won’t be able to watch.

Today’s event was held at Kumagaya City Municipal Gym in Saitama. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 978.

There were last-minute changes to the event because of Gabriel Kidd being off the event unexpectedly. Flight delays-unable to make it in time as a result.

Match 1: Katsuya Murashima beat Daiki Nagai. First career singles win for the Young Lion!

Match 2: Tomoaki Honma & Boltin Oleg beat Shoma Kato & Tomohiro Ishii. Oleg pinned Kato after Kamikaze.

Match 3: Taiji Ishimori, Caveman Agu & Bad Luck Fale beat Hartley Jackson (Independent/Freelancer), Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls. Fale pinned Jackson after an elbow drop.

Match 4: Taichi & DOUKI beat Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Sho. Taichi beat Kanemaru with a Taichi-type Gedo Clutch.

Match 5: Hiromu Takahashi & Yota Tsuji beat Jacob Austin Young & Jeff Cobb. Takahashi beat Young with a Figure 4.

Match 6: Shota Umino, Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Dick Togo, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL. Umino pinned Togo after Death Rider.

Match 7: Kevin Knight, KUSHIDA, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat Drilla Moloney, Clark Connors, Gedo & David Finlay. YOSHI-HASHI beat Gedo with Butterfly Lock.

Main Event: Kosei Fujita, Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. beat BUSHI, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito. Sabre pinned BUSHI after Sabre Driver.

The next event is BLUE JUSTICE 14, a Yuji Nagata Produced 40th Anniversary event, tomorrow at Togane Arena in Chiba. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at midnight PT/3 AM ET.

UPDATE: Great-O-Khan made an appearance at today’s Stardom PPV in Nagoy and announced he wanted to defend the KOPW 2024 Championship at Historic X-Over 2 on 11/17 against someone-or someones-from Stardom. Khan announced any rules would be acceptable. We’ll see what happens.

Some New Japan news before the next tour begins:

The promotion announced today that Josh Barnett, a longtime MMA and pro wrestling veteran including in New Japan, has been named an interim coach at the New Japan Dojo for this month. In comments, Barnett said he was very honored to be named an interim coach and following in the footsteps of his trainer, Karl Gotch.

It was also announced that the Royal Quest 4 event in England later this month will be a LIVE broadcast worldwide on New Japan World for all paying monthly subscribers-no PPV/paywalls. The event is on 10/20 and will start at a nice matinee time for those of us in the US-9:30 AM PT/12:30 PM ET. While the Road to KING OF PRO WRESTLING tour starting tomorrow will not be televised at all, the event continues a run where every event should be televised at least through after the upcoming Super Jr. Tag League in October & November. Also on New Japan World will be Sunday’s Yuji Nagata Produced event and KING OF PRO WRESTLING 2024, which will be available live OUTSIDE JAPAN ONLY (it’s a TV Asahi exclusive in Japan). The movie “Gladiator 2: The Voice Of The Hero”, being released worldwide soon and in Japan on 11/15, will be the title sponsor of the KOPW 2024 event.

DESTRUCTION, New Japan’s annual fall Kobe blowout event, is now in the books.

Today’s event was held at Kobe World Hall in Kobe 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 2024 on TV Asahi.

The announced paid attendance was 4528, a full house/near sellout.

Match 1: Dragon Dia (Dragon Gate), Ryusuke Taguchi & Shota Umino beat Tiger Mask, Tomoaki Honma & Yuji Nagata. Umino pinned Honma after Death Rider.

Match 2: BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi & Yota Tsuji beat Francesco Akira, Callum Newman & Jeff Cobb. Takahashi beat Akira with a Figure 4.

Match 3: Hirooki Goto vs. Gabriel Kidd went to a double countout. Which led to…
Match 3 (again): In a No DQ match, Hirooki Goto beat Gabriel Kidd.

Match 4: Kosei Fujita, Zack Sabre Jr. & TBA, revealed at match time to be the returning Ryohei Oiwa, beat TAKA Michinoku, Taichi & SANADA. Oiwa pinned TAKA after THE GRIP (sleeper hold into a rolling lariat). This was Oiwa’s return match after finishing up his training excursion in Pro Wrestling NOAH, and it appears he is joining TMDK.

Match 5: NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Champions Boltin Oleg, Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL to retain the titles. Tanahashi pinned Takahashi after High Fly Flow. V2 for the champs.

Match 6: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion DOUKI beat Yoshinobu Kanemaru to retain the title. V2 for DOUKI. Next up: Possibly Sho, who laid out DOUKI afterwards.

Match 7: Shingo Takagi beat NEVER Openweight Champion HENARE to win the title. Takagi becomes the 46th NEVER Openweight Champion.

Match 8: IWGP Global Champion David Finlay beat YOSHI-HASHI to retain the title.V2 for Finlay. Next up: TBA but post-match happenings hint at possibly Goto.

Main Event: IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Tetsuya Naito beat Great-O-Khan to retain the title. V1 for Naito. They went 30+ minutes. Next up: Sabre. As previously announced, that match will happen on 10/14 at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo.

The next event is Saturday at Kumagaya CIty Municipal Gym in Saitama to start the Road To KING OF PRO WRESTLING 2024 Tour. There will be no live or on demand broadcast. In fact, unless plans change last-minute the entire tour will be non-televised (5 events between Saitama, Shizuoka, Ibaraki and Nagano). They’ll make up for it by broadcasting the entire next tour in part because it will have a tournament.

New Japan wrapped up the Road To DESTRUCTION Tour today with the last of a stretch of non-televised Hokkaido events.

Today’s event was held at Yakumo Town General Gym in Hokkaido. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 939, a legit sellout.

Match 1: Ryusuke Taguchi & Tiger Mask beat Daiki Nagai & Yasutora Yasuda. Taguchi pinned Nagai.

Match 2: Francesco Akira beat Katsuya Murashima.

Match 3: Tomoaki Honma & Shota Umino beat Shoma Kato & Jado. Umino pinned Kato.

Match 4: Sho & Yoshinobu Kanemaru beat TAKA Michinoku & DOUKI. Sho pinned TAKA.

Match 5: Boltin Oleg, Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Dick Togo, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL. Oleg pinned Togo after Kamikaze.

Match 6: Taichi & SANADA beat Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr. Taichi pinned Fujita after Black Mephisto.

Match 7: Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI beat Gedo, Gabriel Kidd & David Finlay. YOSHI-HASHI beat Gedo with Butterfly Lock.

Main Event: BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito beat Jacob Austin Young, Callum Newman, Jeff Cobb, HENARE & Great-O-Khan. Naito pinned Young after Destino.

The next event is DESTRUCTION Sunday at Kobe World Hall in Kobe. Live streaming on New Japan World OUTSIDE JAPAN ONLY will begin at midnight PT/3 AM ET. This will be an exclusive TV Asahi broadcast in Japan.

New Japan continued the Road To DESTRUCTION 2024 Tour today with another non-televised event in Hokkaido.

Today’s event was held at Obihiro City General Gym in Hokkaido. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 1105.

Match 1: Yasutora Yasuda vs. Daiki Nagai went to a 10 minute time limit draw.

Match 2: Jacob Austin Young, Francesco Akira, Callum Newman & Jeff Cobb beat Katsuya Murashima, Shoma Kato, Ryusuke Taguchi & Tiger Mask. Akira pinned Murashima after Fireball.

Match 3: Taichi & SANADA beat Tomoaki Honma & Shota Umino. Taichi pinned Honma after Holy Emperor’s Cross Mausoleum.

Match 4: Sho & Yoshinobu Kanemaru beat TAKA Michinoku & DOUKI. Sho pinned TAKA.

Match 5: Boltin Oleg, Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Dick Togo, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL. Tanahashi pnined Togo after High Fly Flow.

Match 6: Great-O-Khan & HENARE beat BUSHI & Shingo Takagi. Khan beat BUSHI with Subaru Sheep Killer.

Match 7: Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI beat Gedo, Gabriel Kidd & David Finlay. Goto pinned Gedo after GTR.

Main Event: Yota Tsuji & Tetsuya Naito beat Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr. Tsuji pinned Fujita after Gene Blaster.

The next event is tomorrow at Hokkaido Wind Hill Kushiro Super Arena in Hokkaido. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

New Japan continued the Road To DESTRUCTION Tour today with the halfway event of their Hokkaido portion of the tour.

Today’s event was held at ES-CON FIELD HOKKAIDO F NEOBANK GATE Concourse in Hokkaido. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 896, a legit sellout. Not a full capacity setup for the venue as the one photo on New Japan’s Japanese website shows levels of empty seating.

Match 1: Yasutora Yasuda vs. Daiki Nagai went to a 10 minute time limit draw.

Match 2: Ryusuke Taguchi & Tiger Mask beat Katsuya Murashima & Shoma Kato. Taguchi beat Kato with Oh My & Gar Ankle.

Match 3: Tomoaki Honma & Shota Umino beat Jacob Austin Young & Callum Newman. Umino pinned Young after Death Rider.

Match 4: Yujiro Takahashi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru beat TAKA Michinoku & DOUKI. Yakahashi pinned TAKA after Big Juice.

Match 5: Boltin Oleg, Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Dick Togo, Sho & EVIL. Yano pinned Togo. Sho apparently assaulted Yasuda pre-match during his “ring boy” duties but afterwards Yasuda returned the favor. With perhaps some help from Tanahashi.

Match 6: Taichi & SANADA beat Kosei Fujita & Zack abre Jr. Taichi pinned Fujita with a backdrop hold.

Match 7: Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Gedo, Gabriel Kidd & David Finlay went to a double countout. Which led to…
Match 7 (again): Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI beat Gedo, Gabriel Kidd & David Finlay. YOSHI-HASHI beat Gedo with Butterfly Lock.

Main Event: Francesco Akira, Jeff Cobb, HENARE & Great-O-Khan beat BUSHI, Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi & Tetsiua Naito. Khan beat BUSHI with Subary Sheep Killer.

The next event is Friday at Obihiro City General Gym in Hokkaido. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

In other news, the 2024 edition of the World Tag League, the promotion’s annual year-end tag team tournament, was also announced today. Participating teams and matches will be announced at a later date, only the schedule was announced today:
11/19-Asahikaga Municipal Gym, Tochigi
11/21-Funabashi Arena, Chiba
11/22-Yokohama Budokan, Yokohama
11/23-Fujisawa City Chichibunomiya Memorial Gymnasium. Kanagawa
11/24-Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
11/26-Big Palette Fukushima, Fukushima
11/27-Yume Messe Miyagi Main Building Exhibition Hall C, Miyagi
11/28-Lily Arena Mito, Ibaraki
11/29-Twin Messe Shizuoka North Building, Shizuoka
12/1-Osaka Prefectural Gym 2, Osaka
12/2-Kochi Prefectural Gym, Kochi
12/4-Karatsu City CUltural Gym, Saga
12/5-Nobeoka Arena Sub Arena, Miyazaki
12/6-Sun Arena Sendai, Kagoshima
12/8-Grand Messe Kumamoto, Kumamoto
Also interesting-following a recent decision by Pro Wrestling NOAH for an upcoming event, video recording by fans will be allowed for the Korakuen event here. Normally it is prohibited at New Japan events. It appears they will allow fans to do it for certain matches. (The only promotions I know of in Japan that allow video recording are DDT & Tokyo Joshi Pro, but they ask fans to limit recordings to a minute if they are going to upload to social media or send via SMS/text, and not record entrance themes)

New Japan continued the Road To DESTRUCTION Tour today with another house show in Hokkaido.

Today’s event was held at Asahikawa City Gym in Hokkaido. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 1155.

Match 1: Yustora Yasuda, Ryusuke Taguchi & Tiger Mask beat Daiki Nagai, Shoma Kato & Jado. Taguchi beat Nagai with Oh My & Gar Ankle.

Match 2: BUSHI beat Katsuya Murashima.

Match 3: Francesco Akira & Callum Newman beat Tomoaki Honma & Shota Umino. Newman pinned Honma after a running knee attack.

Match 4: Sho & Yoshinobu Kanematu beat TAKA Michinoku & DOUKI. Sho pinned TAKA.

Match 5: Boltin Oleg, Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Dick Togo, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL. Yano pinned Togo.

Match 6: Taichi & SANADA beat Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr. Taichi pinned Fujita after Tensho Cross Fang.

Match 7: Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI beat Gedo, Gabriel Kidd & David Finlay. Goto pinned Gedo after GTR.

Main Event: Hiromu Takahashi, Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito beat Jacob Austin Young, Jeff Conb, HENARE & Great-O-Khan. Takahashi pinned Young after Time Bomb.

The next event is tomorrow at Hokkaido Ballpark ES-CON FIELD HOKKAIDO F NEOBANK GATE Concourse in Hokkaido. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

UPDATE: Hiroyoshi Tenzan, who was pulled off this event due to a right knee injury, is now off the rest of the tour. That means at least a week. Status beyond next week uncertain.

New Japan continued the Road To DESTRUCTION Tour today with the second event of the Hokkaido portion of the series.

Today’s event was held at Kitami Sports Center in Hokkaido. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 1041.

Match 1: Yasutora Yasuda & Katsuya Murashima beat Daiki Nagai & Shoma Kato. Murashima pinned Nagai.

Match 2: Francecso Akira, Callum Newman & Jeff Cobb beat Jado, Ryusuke Taguchi & Tiger Mask. Newman pinned TM 4 after a running knee.

Match 3: Taichi & SANADA beat Tomoaki Honma & Shota Umino. Taichi pinned Honma after Holy Emperor’s Cross Mausoleum.

Match 4: Yujiro Takahashi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru beat TAKA Michinoku & DOUKI. Kanemaru beat TAKA with a Figure 4.

Match 5: Boltin Oleg, Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Dick Togo, Sho & EVIL. Yano pinned Togo.

Match 6: Hiromu Takahashi, Yota Tsuhi & Shingo Takagi beat Jacob Austin Young, Great-O-Khan & HENARE. Takahashi pinned Young after Time Bomb.

Match 7: Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI beat Gedo, Gabriel Kidd & David Finlay. YOSHI-HASHI beat Gedo with Butterfly Lock.

Main Event: Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr. beat BUSHI & Tetsuya Naito. Sabre pinned BUSHI after Zack Driver.

The nest event is tomorrow at Asahikawa City General Gym in Hokkaido. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

Hiroyoshi Tenzan may be a bull in New Japan only in the headgear he wears for his entrances, but he’s still been going occasionally in the ring. Yesterday it didn’t go well as New Japan announced he was injured. Right knee. Out tomorrow. Not sure how this affected the card tomorrow but my guess now is he’a replaced by either Jado or Shota Umino. It’s not yet known how long Tenzan may be out.

UPDATE: Now out the rest of the current tour, which means at least another week. Status for DESTRUCTION and beyond remains uncertain.