Tag: New Japan

New Japan Pro Wrestling Battle In The Valley LIVE Results (2/18/23) (CANCELLED)

New Japan runs their first US event of 2023 today, which also marks the start of a re-branding for the NJPW STRONG sub-label. Effective today, the US PPV events will be known as STRONG LIVE while the weekly TV show becomes STRONG ON DEMAND, featuring matches from each PPV over a roughly one-month set of episodes instead of monthly TV tapings like they had been doing. Today’s event is a loaded one with 4 title matches-STRONG Openweight Champion Fred Rosser looks to keep his long reign going against KENTA, STRONG Tag Team Champions Motor City Machine Guns defend against West Coast Wrecking Crew, then a double main event-IWGP Women’s Champion KAIRI defends against Mercedes Mone (the former Sasha Banks) in a match that has drawn constant fan vitriol because it’s not the true main event and last match-that’s a rematch 11 years in the making as IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada defends the title against Hiroshi Tanahashi, in perhaps the final title clash between the legends of NJPW.

Today’s event will be held at San Jose Civic Center in San Jose, CA and can be watched LIVE on FITE in English for $19.99. You get the live event and unlimited on demand replays with purchase. The event is a legit advance sellout. It’s also available in Japanese on New Japan World as a PPV, but it will cost you roughly $10-15 more going that route. There is also a FREE pre-show on YouTube and FITE 40 minutes before the PPV begins with 2 matches and more. The west coast setting and late start time makes this a near-all-nighter for those watching on the east coast, so get some caffeine if you’re staying up to watch as with the pre-show included the event will likely run at least 3 1/2 hours, and because one match won’t have ropes used the setup/takedown time may push the event closer to 4 hours.

Tonight’s lineup:
Pre-show:
Alex Coughlin vs. JR Kratos
David Finlay vs. Bobby Fish

PPV:
Rocky Romero, Josh Alexander, Adrian Quest & Mascara Dorada vs. Volador Jr., KUSHIDA, Kevin Knight & The DKC
STRONG Openweight Champion Fred Rosser vs. KENTA for the title
STRONG Tag Team Champions Motor City Machine Guns vs. West Coast Wrecking Crew for the titles
Eddie Kingston vs. Jay White in a Loser Leaves New Japan Match
Homicide vs. Tom Lawlor in a Filthy Rules Fight (No Ropes, No DQs)
NJPW World TV Champion Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Clark Connors for the title
IWGP Women’s Champion KAIRI vs. Mercedes Mone for the title
IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi for the title

Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.

Updates below will begin at 9:20 PM ET/6:20 PM PT.

9:20 PM ET UPDATE: Live updates begin now…
We are LIVE from San Jose Civic Center in San Jose, CA. Your hosts are .

The paid attendance may be announced after the event but is a legit advance sellout. Based on the venue and layout I’ve heard that may be around 3000. Mostly empty right now as the crowd is still filing in (doors opened just under an hour ago).

There is no audio yet as the pre-show begins, at least on my stream (watching on an Apple TV 4K). From Twitter comments it sounds like it’s not just me, also no audio on the YouTube version. (New Japan confirmed the issues on YouTube about 5 minutes in. Issue persists on FITE)

Pre-show:
Match 1: Alex Coughlin vs. JR Kratos. 20 minute time limit
Result: Alex Coughlin beat JR Kratos

Match 2: David Finlay vs. Bobby Fish. 20 minute time limit
Result: David Finlay beat Bobby Fish

End Pre-Show.

Updates will resume when the PPV begins in 10 minutes (7 PM PT/10 PM ET). Hopefully with audio on the FITE feed. (About 5 minutes before the PPV begins New Japan announced on Twitter the audio issues will be resolved for the PPV)

PPV:
Now we’ve got video problems. Frozen at the start. Matches to start at 10:05 PM ET/7:05 PM PT.

Video restored at start time. But still no audio. Then we lose video again. Could be a long night for us PPV viewers. (If this is not fixed within the next 10 minutes or so I’m going to have to cancel the live results because I’m not putting up with this and will be requesting a refund)

10:15 PM ET UPDATE: Apologies but I am going to CANCEL the live results due to streaming issues. It’s STILL not working.

New Japan News: 2023 New Japan Cup Bracket Announced

New Japan announced the entire field for the 2023 New Japan Cup today, their annual March singles tournament. After a whopping 50 man field last year for the promotion’s 50th Anniversary, it’s back down to a much more reasonable 24 this year in the tournament’s usual single-elimination format, and it’s back to all Heavyweights. The promotion also confirmed the tournament winner will get an IWGP World Heavyweight Championship opportunity at SAKURA GENESIS on 4/8 at Ryogoku Kokugikan, presumably against Saturday’s Kazuchika Okada-Hiroshi Tanahashi winner.

The first-round matchups are set as the whole bracket was revealed:
First-round byes: KENTA, Chase Owens, Jeff Cobb, Will Ospreay, Hirooki Goto, Tama Tonga, Great-O-Khan, Zack Sabre Jr.
Round 1 matches:
3/5: SANADA vs. Taichi, Tetsuya Naito vs. El Phantasmo
3/6: David Finlay vs. Tomohiro Ishii, Shota Umino vs. Yujiro Takahashi
3/8: Ren Narita vs. EVIL, Toru Yano vs. Mark Davis
3/10: YOSHI-HASHI vs. Kyle Fletcher, Shingo Takagi vs. Aaron Henare
Round 2: 3/11, 3/12, 3/13, 3/15
Quarterfinals: 3/17, 3/18
Semifinals: 3/19
Finals: 3/21
Zack Sabre Jr. is the defending tournament champion.

Also announced for the Finals on 3/21 is IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi vs. Lio Rush for the title.

All New Japan Cup events will air live in Japanese and English on New Japan World.

New Japan 2/11/23 Results

New Japan ran THE NEW BEGINNING in OSAKA today, the end of their traditional year-opening tour and a blowout event that would settle many things including potentially the main event of next week’s US event. Whoever emerged from the main event as IWGP World Heavyweight Champion will defend the title on 2/18.

Today’s event was held at Osaka Prefectural Gym in Osaka and can be watched on demand on New Japan World in Japanese and English.

The announced paid attendance was 4055. Back to close to full capacity, with the setup that probably was around 70-75% full.

Match 1: Aaron Henare & Great-O-Khan beat Oskar Leube & Toru Yano. Henare pinned Leube after Rampage.

Match 2: BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA & Tetsuya Naito beat Ryusuke Taguchi, Tiger Mask, Shota Umino & Tomoaki Honma. Takahashi pinned Taguchi after TIME BOMB 2. Afterwards, a video played which was Lio Rush issuing an IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship challenge to Takahashi.

Match 3: Taiji Ishimori beat Master Wato.

Match 4: Hiroshi Tanahashi beat KENTA.

The time came where House Of Torture had to defend the NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Championship or be stripped of the titles in light of EVIL continuously refusing to do so. They did finally agree to. Which led to…
Match 5: Ren Narita, El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki beat NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Champions Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL to win the titles. Narita, Desperado & Suzuki become the 25th NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Champions. Narita beat Takahashi with a cobra twist. Afterwards, Suzuki announced their new faction/team will be known as Strong Style.

Match 6: In a Loser Leaves Japan Match, Hikuleo beat Jay White. As a result, White must leave Japan. I have read rumors that White’s contract with New Japan has expired, so we’ll see what happens.

Match 7: NEVER Openweight Champion Tama Tonga beat El Phantasmo to retain the title. V1 for Tonga. And to make it even more memorable, he won with Jay Driller, the late Jay Briscoe’s finisher. REACH FOR THE SKY, BOY!

Main Event: IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada beat Shingo Takagi to retain the title. V1 for Okada. As a result, Okada will defend the title on 2/18 in San Jose, CA. The opponent…Okada called his shot…Tanahashi!!! Ace vs. Rainmaker…reminiscent of 11 years ago here when Okada beat Tanahashi to become champion…they last had a title match 5 years ago, and now…One Last Time?

The next event is Battle In The Valley on 2/18 at San Jose Civic Center in San Jose, CA. The event is a legit advance sellout. Live streaming as a PPV on FITE will begin with a FREE pre-show at 6:20 PM PT/9:20 PM ET. The PPV will be in English for $19.99. It’s also available on New Japan World in Japanese but be aware that will cost, dependent on if a subscription is required, at least $8-15 more. The matches will also be broadcast on the newly-rebranded STRONG On Demand on New Japan World and FITE in the near future, possibly in March.

BREAKING: New Japan Orders 2/11 Title Match

In response to the repeated refusals by the champions, and in particular EVIL, New Japan has just announced an order for Saturday’s event in Osaka: Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL MUST defend the NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Championship against El Desperado, Ren Narita & Minoru Suzuki. If they do not, they will be STRIPPED OF THE TITLES. However, whether or not the challengers would be awarded the titles if this happens was not made clear. Stay tuned.

New Japan 2/9/23 Results (Updated)

New Japan wrapped up the Road to THE NEW BEGINNING Tour with what likely will be the last non-televised house show for some time with major events and tournaments on tap for the next 2 months.

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

The announced paid attendance was 653.

Match 1: Aaron Henare beat Ryohei Oiwa.

Match 2: Great-O-Khan beat Kosei Fujita by submission.

Match 3: Toru Yano beat Oskar Leube.

Match 4: BUSHI & SANADA beat Tiger Mask & Tomoaki Honma. BUSHI pinned TM 4.

Match 5: Dick Togo, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL beat Yuto Nakashima, El Desperado, Ren Narita & Minoru Suzuki. Takahashi pinned Nakashima after Pimp Juice. There is a potential Saturday development ongoing here as EVIL is continuously refusing the NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Title match against Narita/Desperado/Suzuki.

Match 6: Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito beat Ryusuke Taguchi, Shota Umino & Kazuchika Okada. Takagi pinned Taguchi after MADE IN JAPAN.

Main Event: In an Elimination Match, Jado, Master Wato, Tama Tonga, Hikuleo & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Gedo, Taiji Ishimori, El Phantasmo, KENTA & Jay White. Tanahashi was the only winner remaining. Afterwards, Tonga & Wato joined Tanahashi in a triple air guitar show to send the crowd home happy.

The next event is THE NEW BEGINNING in OSAKA Saturday at Osaka Prefectural Gym in Osaka. Live streaming on New Japan World in Japanese & English will begin at midnight PT/3 AM ET.

UPDATE: It has been announced that in response to EVIL’s repeated refusals, if H.O.T does not defend Saturday, they will be STRIPPED OF THE NEVER 6-MAN TAG TEAM TITLES.

BREAKING: Another Title Match for NJPW on 2/18

New Japan just announced on Twitter that after accepting an open challenge from the champion, NJPW WORLD TV Champion Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Clark Connors for the title has been added to Battle in the Valley on 2/18 in San Jose, CA. That’s now 4 title matches scheduled for the event.

Tickets are sold out so make sure to pre-order the PPV on FITE (it’s also on New Japan World as a PPV if you want Japanese but it will cost roughly $7 more).

New Japan News: Antonio Inoki Farewell Party Announced

In what likely will be the final ceremonial event for founder/longtime owner and legend Antonio Inoki, who died in late 2022, New Japan has announced a special farewell party that will be open to the public. It will be a 2-part event with both parts held on 3/7 (the day after New Japan’s annual Anniversary Event) at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo: Part 1 will be a ticketed memorial ceremony where those attending will be given flowers to leave for Inoki and special gifts for attending (a special Inoki towel and message card) while Part 2 will be a flower offering ceremony open to the general public with no ticket required. Tickets for Part 1 will be 10,000 yen (around $77 US) with the lower box seats for 2 people available at that same price. For those who cannot attend but want to participate, they can purchase a flower bouquet online for 6000 yen (around $45 US) and they will receive the special gifts by mail at a later date. That package will be available from 2/16-3/31 via New Japan’s Japanese online shop.

If the event is postponed or cancelled, ticket holders for Part 1 will receive refunds.

DEVELOPING: NJPW-Impact Joint PPV Announced

As part of what will be WrestleMania Weekend in Los Angeles, CA, New Japan and Impact Wrestling have announced a joint PPV for March 30, 2023 at 11 PM ET/8 PM PT. Dubbed “Multiverse United: Only The STRONG Survive”, the event will see multiple crossover matches between both sides with 3 matches already announced: Jeff Cobb vs. Moose, Mike Bailey vs. Will Ospreay and Impact World Champion Josh Alexander vs. KUSHIDA for the title (assuming, presumably, Alexander beats Rich Swann on 2/24 to retain the title. Also announced are Trey Miguel, Chris Bey. Ace Austin, most of the Knockouts roster, KENTA, Minoru Suzuki, Rocky Romero, Clark Connors, Kevin Knight and Fred Rosser among others.

Tickets go on sale Friday and the PPV will air live on FITE. The event will be held at the Globe Theater on LA.

More as it becomes available.

New Japan 2/8/23 Results

New Japan ran the penultimate event of the Road to THE NEW BEGINNING Tour today, the quick final build to Saturday’s major event in Osaka.

Today’s event was held at New Sunpia Tochigi in Tochigi. There was no live broadcast and no on demand video will be available.

The announced paid attendance was 606.

Match 1: Yuto Nakashima vs. Kosei Fujita went to a 10 minute time limit draw.

Match 2: Aaron Henare & Great-O-Khan beat Oskar Leube & Toru Yano. Henare pinned Leube after Rampage.

Match 3: Hiromu Takahashi & SANADA beat Tiger Mask & Togi Malabe. Takahashi pinned TM 4 with Nameless Hiromu Roll.

Match 4: YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat Tomoaki Honma & Hiroyoshi Tenzan. YOSHI-HASHI pinned Tenzan after Shoto.

Match 5: Dick Togo, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL beat Ryohei Oiwa, Ren Narita, El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki. Takahashi pinned Oiwa after Pimp Juice.

Match 6: Gedo, El Phantasmo, Taiji Ishimori, KENTA & Jay White beat Jado, Master Wato, Hikuleo, Tama Tonga & Hiroshi Tanahashi. KENTA beat Jado with GAME OVER.

Main Event: Yoh, Shota Umino & Kazuchika Okada beat BUSHI, Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi. Okada pinned BUSHI after Rainmaker.

The tour-ender is tomorrow at Saku City General Gym in Nagano. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

New Japan TAMASHII 2/3/23 & 2/4/23 Results

After a very successful debut late last year, New Japan ran the second round of TAMASHII events last week, the new sub-label focusing on talent from Australia, New Zealand & the Pacific Islands/Australasia region including trainees at the New Zealand Dojo, which is overseen by New Japan’s Bad Luck Fale as lead trainer.

The results from both events are below. There was no live broadcast but they may be available on demand on New Japan World at a later date (if it turns out like the first events, it’s going to be a few months).

Friday:
This event was held at Selina’s Entertainment Center in Sydney, Australia.

The paid attendance was not announced but it was a legit sellout.

Pre-Show Match: Jessica Troy beat Charlie Evans.

Match 1: Paris De Silva & Jude London beat Nikolai Anton Bell & Jordan Allen-Wright. De Silva pinned Bell after Shooting Star Press.

Match 2: Carter Deams beat Jake Taylor by submission.

Match 3: Mick Moretti & Andrew Hoffman beat Richard Mulu & Viktor Langras. Moretti pinned Langras after a wheelbarrow double stomp.

Match 4: Aussie Open beat Bad Luck Fale & Jack Bonza by DQ. Bonza DQ’d.

Match 5: Lyrebird LuchI beat Andrew Villalobos.

Match 6: Ricky South beat Michael Richards.

Main Event: Robbie Eagles beat Aaron Solo by submission.

Saturday:
This event was held at The Croxton in Melbourne, Australia.

The paid attendance was not announced but it was very close to a sellout if not sold out.

Match 1: Gore & Jake Andrewartha beat Nikolai Anton Bell & Shep Alexander. Gore pinned Alexander after Dominator.

Match 2: Richard Mulu beat Jarvis.

Match 3: Bad Luck Fale & Jack Bonza beat Andrew Villalobos & Michael Richarda. Bonza beat Villalobos with STF.

Match 4: Tome & Stevie Filip beat Jake Taylor & Jordan-Allen Wright. Tome Filip pinned Allen-Wright after Air Raid Crash.

Match 5: Mitch Waterman beat Lyrebird Luchi by DQ.

Match 6: Aaron Solo beat Slex.

Match 7: Kyle Fletcher beat Robbie Eagles.

Main Event: Caveman Ugh beat Aaron Henare.