Tag: New Japan

New Japan runs the second half of THE NEW BEGINNING in SAPPORO today, wrapping up their winter major event in Hokkaido with 3 title matches on tap today. First up, the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship is on the line as YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto defend against Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls. Then, the Australians’ new stablemate Zack Sabre Jr. makes the first defense of the NJPW WORLD TV Championship vs. Tomohiro Ishii, and with a 15 minute time limit it promises a fast pace. Finally, the main event sees bad blood come to a boiling end as Hiromu Takahashi defends the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship against Yoh. And with only non-televised house shows ahead this week, this also will represent the final real build for next weekend’s tour-ending major event in Osaka.

Today’s event will be held at Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center Hokkai Kita Yell in Hokkaido and can be watched LIVE on New Japan World in Japanese and English. You can also watch the first 2 matches FOR FREE on YouTube. With TV Title matches having a 15 minute time limit that potentially shortens the event a little bit but with the other title matches and a full card I anticipate the event’s total running time being around 3 1/4 hours.

Today’s lineup:
Francesco Akira, TJP, Great-O-Khan & Will Ospreay vs. TAKA Michinoku, DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi
Yuto Nakashima, Ren Narita, El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki vs. Dick Togo, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL
Master Wato & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Taiji Ishimori & KENTA
Jado, Hikuleo & Tama Tonga vs. Gedo, El Phantasmo & Jay White
Ryusuke Taguchi, Shota Umino, Toru Yano & Kazuchika Okada vs. BUSHI, SANADA, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito
IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto vs. Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls for the titles
NJPW WORLD TV Champion Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Tomohiro Ishii for the title
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi vs. Yoh for the title

Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.

Updates below will begin at 9 PM PT/midnight ET.

9 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates begin now…
We are LIVE from Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center Hokkai Kita Yell in Hokkaido, Japan. This event is airing as part of WORLD PRO WRESTLING LIVE 2023 on TV Asahi. No guest on Japanese commentary at the start with Milano Collection A.T. and the announcer (didn’t catch name).

The paid attendance will be announced after the event. It’s full capacity with vocal cheering, yesterday’s event drew just over 3000 so that’s the early benchmark for today. The layout does reduce the venue’s actual capacity by about 20% or so.

Match 1: TAKA Michinoku, DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi vs. Francesco Akira, TJP, Great-O-Khan & Will Ospreay. 20 minute time limit
Result: Francesco Akira, TJP, Great-O-Khan & Will Ospreay beat TAKA Michinoku, DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi. Ospreay pinned TAKA after Hidden Blade.

Match 2: Yuto Nakashima, Ren Narita, El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki vs. Dick Togo, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL. 20 minute time limit
Result: Yuto Nakashima, Ren Narita, El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki beat Dick Togo, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL. Narita beat Takahashi with a cobra twist. Afterwards, Suzuki with microphone to issue a challenge to House Of Torture for the NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Championship. As this ended, Suzuki stuck around for a full-throttle KAZE NI NARE from the crowd. Chills. I have missed that so much these last 3 years.

Match 3: Master Wato & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Taiji Ishimori & KENTA. 20 minute time limit
Result: Taiji Ishimori & KENTA beat Master Wato & Hiroshi Tanahashi. Ishimori pinned Wato by using the ropes illegally for leverage but the ref didn’t see.

Match 4: Jado, Hikuleo & Tama Tonga vs. Gedo, El Phantasmo & Jay White. 30 minute time limit (Of note: White came out wearing the new AEW/ROH Jay Briscoe tribute shirt available from both online shops. 100% of proceeds go to support the Briscoe family)
Result: Jado, Hikuleo & Tama Tonga beat Gedo, El Phantasmo & Jay White. Jado beat Gedo with Crossface Of Jado.

Match 5: Ryusuke Taguchi, Shota Umino, Toru Yano & Kazuchika Okada vs. BUSHI, SANADA, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito. 30 minute time limit
result: Ryusuke Taguchi, Shota Umino, Toru Yano & Kazuchika Okada beat BUSHI, SANADA, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito. Okada pinned SANADA after Rainmaker.

El Desperado joins Japanese commentary.

Match 6: IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto vs. Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls for the title. 1 Hour time limit
Result: IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls to retain the titles. Goto pinned Nicholls after Shoto. V1 for the champs

Match 7: NJPW WORLD TV Champion Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Tomohiro Ishii for the title. 15 minute time limit
Result: NJPW WORLD TV Champion Zack Sabre Jr. beat Tomohiro Ishii to retain the title. V1 for Sabre. But it came down to the wire-less than 30 seconds left when it ended.

Main Event: IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi vs. Yoh for the title. 1 Hour time limit
Result: IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi beat Yoh to retain the title. V1 for Takahashi.

The next event is Wednesday at New Sunpia Tochigi in Tochigi. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 3316. That is almost 250 more than yesterday and on TV the arena looked full, excluding tarped-off areas that weren’t visible until the end.

No indication as to who may be next for the champs after today but on the way out Takahashi did have an exchange with and seemingly taunted El Desperado at commentary.

UPDATE 2: It’s now official. Suzuki/Desperado/Narita vs. H.O.T. for the NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Titles has been added to 2/11.

New Japan ran the first half of THE NEW BEGINNING IN SAPPORO today, kicking off a big weekend doubleheader in chilly Hokkaido with title matches and major single matches.

Today’s event was held at Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center Hokkai Kita Yell in Hokkaido and can be watched on demand on New Japan World in Japanese and English.

The announced paid attendance was 3073.

Match 1: Great-O-Khan beat Oskar Leube by submission.

Match 2: Ryohei Oiwa, Ren Narita, El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki beat Dick Togo, Yujiro Takahashi, Sho & EVIL. Narita beat Togo with a cobra twist.

Match 3: Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Yuto Nakashima, YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto. Fujita beat Nakashima with a double armlock.

Match 4: Master Wato, Hikuleo, Tama Tonga & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Taiji Ishimori, El Phantasmo, KENTA & Jay White. Wato pinned Ishimori.

Match 5: BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA & Shingo Takagi beat Yoh, Ryusuke Taguchi, Toru Yano & Kazuchika Okada. Takagi pinned Taguchi after Last of the Dragon.

Match 6: IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Francesco Akira & TJP beat DOUKI & Yoshinobu Kanemaru to retain the titles. Akira pinned DOUKI after Fireball. V4 for the champs.

Match 7: Will Ospreay beat Taichi.

Main Event: Tetsuya Naito beat Shota Umino. This went over 32 minutes.

The second half of the doubleheader is tomorrow with 3 title matches including the first defense of the NJPW WORLD TV Championship. Live streaming on New Japan World in Japanese and English will begin TONIGHT at 9 PM PT/midnight ET. Live results will be posted here.

New Japan wrapped up the first part of the Road to THE NEW BEGINNING Tour today amidst fallout from the departure of Kota Ibushi from the promotion (contract expired) and potential concerns about Yoh, who missed a second straight event today due to a fever. He should be fine for the weekend.

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

The announced paid attendance was 1216.

Match 1: Aaron Henare beat Ryohei Oiwa.

Match 2: Toru Yano & Togi Makabe beat Oskar Leube & Hiroyoshi Tenzan. Yano pinned Leube.

Match 3: Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo beat Master Wato & Tiger Mask. Phantasmo pinned TM 4 after Sudden Death.

Match 4: Jado & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Gedo & KENTA. Tanahashi beat Gedo with a Texas Cloverleaf.

Match 5: Yuto Nakashima, YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto beat Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr. YOSHI-HASHI beat Fujita with Butterfly Lock.

Match 6: Francesco Akira, TJP, Great-O-Khan & Will Ospreay beat TAKA Michinoku, DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi. Ospreay pinned TAKA after Hidden Blade.

Main Event: Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito beat Ryusuke Taguchi, Shota Umino, Tomoaki Honma & Kazuchika Okada. Takagi pinned Honma after Pumping Bomber. During the match, BUSHI interfered against Umino and Naito attacked Umino’s father, referee Red Shoes Unno, potentially setting up the next big rivalry for Naito…after his match against Keiji Muto in The Living Legend’a retirement match, presumably.

The next events are as follows:

TAMASHII returns for its second installment with 2 events this weekend. The first one is Friday in Sydney, Australia and the second one is Saturday in Melbourne, Australia. There will be no live broadcast for both.

On the Japan side. Next up is THE NEW BEGINNING in SAPPORO, a doubleheader Saturday US time at Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center Hokkai Kitayell in Hokkaido. Live streaming on New Japan World in Japanese and English will begin Saturday at midnight PT/3 AM ET for the first event and Saturday at 9 PM PT/midnight ET for the second event. Live results are scheduled for the second event.

Also, announced after the event were a Hirooki Goto 20th Anniversary event on 4/22 in Mie and WRESTLING DONTAKU 2023, the annual Golden Week blowout event in Fukuoka, on 5/3 back at its regular home, Fukuoka International Center. Last year’s event was held at the much larger Fukuoka PayPay Dome for the 50th Anniversary celebration.

New Japan continued the Road to THE NEW BEGINNING Tour today with the last event of the month.

There were last-second changes to the event as Yoh was a late removal from the card. Fever. Coronavirus rapid test was negative. Status beyond today is uncertain. The main event also saw BUSHI removed as a result.

Today’s event was held at Akita Furusato Village Dome Theater in Akita. There was no live broadcast and no on demand video will be available.

The announced paid attendance was 659.

Match 1: Great-O-Khan beat Yuto Nakashima by submission.

Match 2: Tiger Mask & Tomoaki Homna beat Oskar Leube & Hiroyoshi Tenzan. Honma pinned Leube after Kokeshi.

Match 3: Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo beat Jado & Master Wato. Phantasmo pinned Jado after Sudden Death.

Match 4: Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Gedo & KENTA by DQ. Gedo DQ’d.

Match 5: Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Ryohei Oiwa, YOSHI-HASHI, Hirooki Goto & Tomohiro Ishii. Nicholla pinned Oiwa after a siding lariat.

Match 6: Francesco Akira, TJP, Aaron Henare & Will Ospreay beat TAKA Michinoku, DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi. Ospreay pinned TAKA after Hidden Blade.

Main Event: Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito beat Ryusuke Taguchi, Shota Umino, Togi Makabe & Kazuchika Okada. Takagi pinned Makabe after Last of the Dragon.

The next event is tomorrow at Aomori Budokan in Aomori. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

UPDATE: Yoh is now off tomorrow as well. Precautionary due to fever. BUSHI is now off again as well to change their match from a 10-man tag to 8-man.

New Japan continues the Road to THE NEW BEGINNING tour today with another non-televised house show. Coming amidst reports that, following government loosening of coronavirus guidelines, Bushiroad may be returning to full capacity for all NJPW & Stardom events.

Today’s event was held at Iwate Prefectural Gym in Iwate. There was no live broadcast and no on demand video will be available.

The announced paid attendance was 1150.

Match 1: Aaron Henare beat Ryohei Oiwa.

Match 2: Tiger Mask & Togi Makabe beat Yuto Nakashima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan. Makbe pinned Nakashima after a King Kong kneedrop.

Match 3: Jado & Master Wato beat Gedo & Taiji Ishimori. Wato pinned Gedo after RPP.

Match 4: El Phantasmo & KENTA beat Tomoaki Honma & Hiroshi Tanahashi. Phantasmo pinned Honma after Sudden Death.

Match 5: Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Oskar Leube, YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto. Nicholls pinned Leube after a sliding lariat.

Match 6: Francesco Akira, TJP, Great-O-Khan & Will Ospreay beat TAKA Michinoku, DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi. Ospreay pinned TAKA after Hidden Blade.

Main Event: BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito beat Yoh, Ryusuke Taguchi, Shota Umino, Toru Yano & Kazuchika Okada. Takagi pinned Taguchi after MADE IN JAPAN.

The next event is tomorrow at Akita Furusato Village Dome Theater in Akita. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

New Japan continued the Road to THE NEW BEGINNING Tour today with another non-televised house show event, the first following reports that the Japanese government has lifted all restrictions on capacity and vocal cheering at live events in place since the coronavirus pandemic began. However, vocal cheering was not allowed today.

Today’s event was held at Koga City ES Central Sports Park Hanamomo Gyn in Ibaraki. There was no live broadcast and no on demand video will be available.

The announced paid attendance was 934.

Match 1: Great-O-Khan beat Ryohei Oiwa by submission.

Match 2: Tiger Mask & Toru Yano beat Oskar Leube & Hiroyoshi Tenzan. Yano pinned Leube.

Match 3: Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo beat Master Wato & Tomoaki Honma. Phantasmo pinned Honma after Sudden Death.

Match 4: Jado & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Gedo & KENTA. Tanahashi beat Gedo with a Texas Cloverleaf.

Match 5: Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Yuto Nakashima, YOSHI-HASHI, Hirooki Foto & Tomohiro Ishii. Haste pinned Nakashima after Dynamic Bomb.

Match 6: Francesco Akira, TJP, Aaron Henare & Will Ospreay beat TAKA Michinoku, DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi. Ospreay pinned TAKA after Hidden Blade.

Main Event: Yoh, Ryusuke Taguchi, Shota Umino, Togi Makabe & Kazuchika Okada beat BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito. Yoh pinned BUSHI after Direct Drive.

The next event is Monday at Iwate Prefectural Gym in Iwate. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

On a pivotal day in Japan where the Japanese government apparently lifted all capacity and vocal cheering restrictions for events despite another coronavirus surge, New Japan held their first house show of the year as wrestlers celebrated the lifting of these restrictions that have been in place for years.

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

The announced paid attendance was 760.

Match 1: Aaron Henare beat Yuto Nakashima.

Match 2: Tiger Mask & Togi Makabe beat Oskar Leube & Huroyoshi Tenzan. Makabe pinned Leube after a King Kong kneedrop.

Match 3: Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo beat Jado & Master Wato. Phantasmo pinned Jado after Sudden Death.

Match 4: Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Gedo & KENTA by DQ. Gedo DQ’d.

Match 5: Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Ryohei Oiwa, YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto. Nicholls pinned Oiwa after a sliding lariat.

Match 6: Francesco Akira, TJP, Great-O-Khan & Will Ospreay beat TAKA Michinoku, DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi. Ospreay pinned TAKA after Hidden Blade.

Main Event: BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito beat Yoh, Ryusuke Taguchi, Shota Umino, Tomoaki Honma & Kazuchika Okada. Takahashi pinned Taguchi after Time Bomb 2.

The next event is tomorrow at Koga City ES Central Sports Park Hanamomo Gym in Ibaraki. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

Additionally, last Saturday’s NJPW-NOAH crossover event is now available on New Japan World for all subscribers (no more PPV). If you are a WRESTLE UNIVERSE subscriber, their version will premiere on the service TONIGHT at 10 PM ET/7 PM PT and should be available on demand later this weekend (their version was an ABEMA PPV and their PPV window runs until early tomorrow).

(Correction: WRESTLE UNIVERSE on demand version is now available per their Japanese Twitter)

(Further clarification on above: Only the Japanese version is now on WRESTLE UNIVERSE. Tonight will be the premiere of the English version)

New Japan continued the Road to THE NEW BEGINNING Tour today with the second half of the opening Tokyo doubleheader.

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

The announced paid attendance was 670. It’s not known if vocal cheering was allowed, if yes then it was near capacity.

Match 1: Aaron Henare beat Oskar Leube.

Match 2: Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Gedo & KENTA. Yano pinned Gedo.

Match 3: Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo beat Master Wato & Togi Makabe. Phantasmo pinned Makabe after Sudden Death.

Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Yuto Nakashima, YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto. Fujita beat Nakashima with an arm lock.

Match 5: TJP & Great-O-Khan beat TAKA Michinoku & Yoshinobu Kanemaru. Khan beat TAKA with Subaru Sheep Killer.

Match 6: Francesco Akira & Will Ospreay beat DOUKI & Taichi. Ospreay pinned DOUKI after Hidden Blade.

Match 7: SANADA & Tetsuya Naito beat Shota Umino & Tomoaki Honma. Naito pinned Honma.

Main Event: Yoh, Ryusuke Taguchi & Kazuchika Okada beat BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi & Shingo Takagi. Yoh pinned BUSHI after Direct Drive.

The next event is Friday at Funabashi City General Gym in Chiba. Vocal cheering is allowed. There will be no live or on demand broadcast. (There are no televised events scheduled the rest of the month so nothing on New Japan World until 2/4)