News, results & more from Japanese Pro Wrestling & Sumo
New Japan has announced a major change to WRESTLING DONTAKU 2026 Day 2 on 5/3-Gabriel Kidd is now off the event. Right shoulder injury. This happened this past weekend at the All Elite Wrestling Dynasty PPV. Out indefinitely but at least a month because of this. He was to have faced IWGP Global Champion Yota Tsuji for the title. No word yet on a potential replacement if any.
More as it becomes available.
New Japan returns to the US today for an El Desperado Produced event, Death Vegas International”, as part of WrestleMania Week festivities in Las Vegas. As the title suggests, the event focuses heavily on hardcore & death matches with both international and US participation including Desperado himself.
There has been a late change to the card due to Maki Itoh being pulled off the event. Visa issues. She will instead be a guest on Japanese commentary.
Today’s event will be held at the Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas, NV and can be watched LIVE as follows: On Triller/FITE with a Triller+ subscription ($7.99/month, free trial available for new subscribers) in English, and as a PPV on New Japan World ($22.99) in Japanese & English. The Triller+ version includes unlimited on demand replays while the New Japan World version only includes replays until 5/31 (subject to change). There are currently 6 matches scheduled as the Triller lineup does not include a late addition, and based on yesterday’s events and the venue schedule I anticipate this event having a total running time of just over 2 hours.
UPDATE: You can also watch the first match FOR FREE on YouTube.
Today’s lineup (match order TBA):
Daisuke Sasaki & Gedo vs. Gringo Loco & Joey Janela in a House Rules hardcore match
KUSHIDA & YAMATO vs. Mansoor & Mason Madden and Alec Price & Jordan Oliver in a 3-way
Effy vs. Jimmy Lloyd & ISHIN in a 3-way hardcore match
Masashi Takeda & Rina Yamashita vs. El Desperado & Jun Kasai and Matt Tremont & Nick Gage in a 3-way death match
Dragon Kid & Starlight Kid vs. El Phantasmo & TBA (was Maki Itoh)
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. TBA (chosen by Hikaru Sato)
Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.
Updates below will begin at 8 PM PT/11 PM ET.
8 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates begin now.
We are LIVE form the Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas, NV. Your hosts, who I can’t hear well, are Veda Scott and someone else. Might be Rich Bocchini.
The paid attendance will be announced after the event. Looks like a setup for around 500 and close to it. (UPDATE: The paid attendance was not announced)
Match 1: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. TBA chosen by Hikaru Sato. TBA is Fuminori Abe
Result: Zack Sabre Jr. beat Fuminori Abe
Match 2: Effy vs. Jimmy Lloyd & ISHIN (Dragon Gate) in a 3-way hardcore match. 30 minute time limit
Result: ISHIN beat Effy & Jimmy Lloyd in a 3-way by pinning Lloyd.
Match 3: KUSHIDA & YAMATO (Dragon Gate) vs. Mansoor & Mason Madden and Alec Price & Jordan Oliver in a 3-way. 30 minute time limit. Technical difficulties during this match (signal lost)
Result: KUSHIDA & YAMATO won but didn’t see who they beat. Will update later. (UPDATE: KUSHIDA pinned Mansoor)
8:50 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates end here for now due to technical issues. The signal from the venue has been lost.
8:55 PM PT UPDATE: Signal restored for now. Missed end of 3rd match.
Match 4: Dragon Kid (Dragon Gate) & Starlight Kid (Stardom) vs. El Phantasmo & TBA. TBA is Maika (Stardom). 30 minute time limit
Result: El Phantasmo & Maika beat Dragon Kid & Starlight Kid. Phantasmo pinned Dragon Kid.
Match 5: Daisuke Sasaki (DDT) & Gedo vs. Gringo Loco & Joey Janela in a House Rules hardcore match. 30 minute time limit
Result: Gringo Loco & Joey Janela beat Daisuke Sasaki & Gedo. Janela pinned Gedo.
Quick break to prepare for the main event.
Main Event: Masashi Takeda (Freedoms) & Rina Yamashita (Stardom) vs. El Desperado & Jun Kasai (Freedoms) and Matt Tremont & Nick Gage in a 3-way death match. 30 minute time limit
Result: Matt Tremont & Nick Gage beat Masashi Takeda & Rina Yamashita and El Desperado & Jun Kasai in a 3-way when Gage pinned Desperado.
Except for the main event. this was surprisingly lacking hardcore. That and technical issues during match 3 made this a slightly disappointing event overall. Glad I got it for free.
End Show.
The next event is Sunday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo to start the Road To WRESTLING DONTAKU 2026 Tour. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET.
Until the other day, broadcast plans for New Japan’s El Desperado Produced event in Las Vegas, NV on Thursday seemed in flux as I hadn’t found any streaming details. Those have now been cleared up-the event will be a PPV on New Japan World in Japanese & English. It can be purchased now for $22.99 in the US or 3500 yen (around $22) in Japan and will include unlimited replays until 5/30.
For now the event has 5 matches scheduled which are as follows (match order will be announced on event day):
Dragon Kid & Starlight Kid vs. El Phantasmo & TBA. TBA was to have been Maki Itoh but she is now off the event. Visa issues.
Nick Gage & Matt Tremont vs. El Desperado & Jun Kasai and Rina Yanashita & Masashi Takeda in a 3-way death match
Effy vs. Jimmy Lloyd & ISHIN in a 3-way
Jordan Oliver & Alec Price vs. KUSHIDA & YAMATO and Mansoor & Mason Madden in a 3-way
UPDATE: Stardom has announced that Itoh will be a guest on the Japanese commentary version of the PPV (they will be doing it from Japan). Also added to the card is Zack Sabre Jr. vs. TBA, but that TBA will be someone chosen by Hikaru Sato. Also added is Gedo & Daisuke Sasaki vs. Joey Janela & Gringo Loco in a House Rules Hardcore match.
UPDATE 2: The event will also be available on Triller/FITE with a Triller+ subscription, so if you have that you DO NOT need to buy the PPV on New Japan World.
At the traditional post-blowout event presser at their headquarters in Tokyo today, New Japan began announcing several matches for WRESTLING DONTAKU, the (again 2-day) annual Golden Week blowout event in Fukuoka. First up, the hinted-at first defense for NEW IWGP Heavyweight Champion Callum Newman is now official, it will be on Day 2 on 5/4. The second title match for 5/4 is NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Champions YOSHI-HASHI, Hirooki Goto & Boltin Oleg vs. Will Ospreay, Great-O-Khan & HENARE for the titles. The third 5/4 title match leads off the event and will be NJPW WORLD TV Champion Konosuke Takeshita vs. Chase Owens for the title.
For Day 1 on 5/3, the main event is IWGP Global Champion Yota Tsuji vs. Gabriel Kidd for the title. The second and last title match that day is MEVER Openweight Champion Ren Narita vs. Boltin Oleg for the title.
It was also announced that IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion DOUKI vs. Tiger Mask for the title will happen on 4/29 at Saga Arena in Saga.
Finally, the NJPW WORLD TV Championship match from SAKURA GENESIS can now be watched on demand FOR FREE on YouTube.
SAKURA GENESIS, New Japan’s annual spring blowout event. Is now 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 as part of WORLD PRO WRESTLING LIVE 2026 exclusively on TV Asahi in Japan. You can also watch the first 2 matches FOR FREE on YouTube.
The announced paid attendance was 6009.
Pre-show match: Masatora Yasuda & KUSHIDA beat Taisei Nakahara & Tatsuya Matsumoto. Yasuda pinned Nakahara.
Match 1: Kosei Fujita & Hartley Jackson beat Master Wato & Ryusuke Taguchi. Jackson pinned Taguchi after Death Valley Bomb.
Match 2: Robbie X, Taiji Ishimori & Shingo Takagi beat Jacob Austin Young, Francesco Akira & Jake Lee. Takagi pinned Young after Last Of The Dragon.
Match 3: Toru Yano, Yoh, Tiger Mask & Aaron Wolf beat Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Sho, DOUKI & Don Fale. Wolf beat Kanemaru with an inverted triangle choke.
Match 4: Great-O-Khan, HENARE & Will Ospreay beat El Desperado, Taichi & Yuya Uemura. Ospreay pinned Taichi after Stormbreaker.
Match 5: NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Champions YOSHI-HASHI, Hirooki Goto & Boltin Oleg beat Chase Owens, Yujiro Takahashi & Ren Narita to retain the titles. TOSHI-HASHI pinned Owens after Shoto. V2 for the champs.
Match 6: NJPW WORLD TV Champion Konosuke Takeshita vs. Shota Umino went to a 15 minute time limit draw. As a result, Takeshita retains the title. V2 for Takeshita.
Match 7: IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions OSKAR & Yuto Ice beat Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. to retain the titles. Ice pinned Oiwa after Cruella. V5 for the champs. Next up: Bishamon…or Khan & HENARE…sounds like a determination match between them.
Main Event: Callum Newman beat IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji to win the title. Newman becomes the 88th IWGP Heavyweight Champion. And the youngest ever in a MASSIVE EARTH-SHAKING UPSET.. Tsuji was then further beaten down by Gabriel Kidd afterwards. Next up for the new champ: Takagi.
The next event is DEATH VEGAS INTERNATIONAL on 4/16 at The Horseshoe in Las Vegas, NV. Broadcast plans TBA.
New Japan finished up the Road To SALURA GENESIS Tour today in Tokyo.
Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on New Japan World. You can also watch the first 2 matches FOR FREE on YouTube.
The announced paid attendance was 1476, a legit sellout.
Match 1: Tiger Mask & Shota Umino beat Masatora Yasuda & KUSHIDA. Umino pinned Yasuda after Raging Fire. Afterwards, TM 4 announced his retirement event, which was expected sometime this year, will be on 7/7.
Match 2: Konosuke Takeshita beat Tatsuya Matsumoto.
Match 3: El Desperado, Taichi & Yuya Uemura beat Master Wato, Tomoaki Honma & Togo Makabe. Taichi pinned Honma.
Match 4: Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Don Fale, Chase Owens, Yujiro Takahashi & Ren Narita beat Toru Yano, Aaron Wolf, YOSHI-HASHI, Hirooki Goto & Boltin Oleg. Fale pinned Yano after an elbow drop.
Match 5: Hartley Jackson, Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Gedo, OSKAR (The Grouch) & Yuto Ice (Ice Baby). Jackson pinned Gedo after Death Valley Bomb.
Match 6: Zane Jay, Jake Lee & Callum Newman beat Daiki Nagai, Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji. Newman pinned Nagai after Excalibur.
Match 7: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Robbie X & Taiji Ishimori beat Jacob Auatin Young & Francesco Akira to retain the titles. X pinned Young after X Express. V1 for the champs. Next up: Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles in a rematch from when Ishimori & X won the titles.
Main Event: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion DOUKI beat Yoh to retain the title. V3 for DOUKI. Next up: TM 4 for one last shot before he retires. Unless they hold off until after Best Of The Super Junior.
The next event is SALURA GENESIS, the annual spring blowout event, Saturday at Ryogoku Kokugikan. 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 SAKURA GENESIS Tour today with another event in Shizuoka.
Today’s event was held at Twin Messe Shizuoka North Building in Shizuoka. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.
The paid attendance was not announced. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 510)
There were last-minute changes to the card due to Tiger Mask 4 being pulled off the event once again. The always vague poor health/physical condition. Ryusuke Taguchi was the replacement.
Match 1: Masatora Yasuda beat Taisei Nakahara.
Match 2: KUSHIDA beat Tatsuya Matsumoto.
Match 3: El Desperado, Taichi & Yuya Uemura beat Ryusuke Taguchi, Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe. Uemura pinned Honma after Lions Shiner.
Match 4: Master Wato, Toru Yano, Boltin Oleg & Aaton Wolf beat Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Sho, DOUKI & Don Fale. Yano pinned Kanemaru.
Match 5: Shota Umino, YOSHI-HASHI, Hirooki Goto & Boltin Oleg beat Dick Togo, Chase Owens, Yujiro Takahashi & Ren Narita. Umino pinned Togo after a lariat.
Match 6: Hartley Jackson, Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Gedo, OSKAR (The Grouch) & Yuto Ice (Ice Baby). Jackson pinned Gedo after Death Valley Bomb.
Main Event; Daiki Nagai, Robbie X, Taiji Ishimori, Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji beat Zane Jay, Jacob Austin Young, Francesco Akira, Jake Lee & Callum Newman. Tsuji pinned Jay after Gene Blaster.
The next event is Wednesday at Nagano Prefectural Martial Arts Center iN Nagano. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.
In other news, the promotion has been announcing participants for this year’s Best Of The Super Junior tournament gradually, unveiling 3 participants per day. Here is who we know is in so far: Yoh, Master Wato, Sho, Valiente Jr. (CMLL), Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Daisuke Sasaki (DDT), Kosei Fujita (defending tournament winner), DOUKI, El Desperado. For Sasaki this is the first time in 14 years he will be participating. These announcements will continue until Thursday, then the last 2 entrants and the blocks (this is a round-robin format event) will be announced at SAKURA GENESIS on Saturday.
New Japan continued the Road To SAKURA GENESIS Tour today in Shizuoka.
Today’s event was held at Act City Hamamatsu in Shizuoka. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 910.
There were last-minute changes due to Tiger Mask 4 being pulled off the event. The always vague poor health/physical condition. Also out tomorrow.
Match 1: Tatsuya Matsumoto beat Taisei Nakahara.
Match 2: Ryusuke Taguchi beat Masatora Yasuda.
Match 3: El Desperado, Taichi & Yuya Uemura beat KUSHIDA, Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe. Taichi pinned Honma after Tensho Cross Phoenix.
Match 4: Toru Yano, SHota Umino, Yoh & Aaron Wolf beat Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Sho, DOUKI & Don Fale. Umino beat Kanemaru with STF.
Match 5: Master Wato, YOSHI-HASHI, Hirooki Goto & Boltin Oleg beat Dick Togo, Chase Owens, Yujiro Takahashi & Ren Narita. Wato beat Togo with Vendeval.
Match 6: Hartley Jackson, Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Daiki Nagai, OSKAR (The Grouch) & Yuto Ice (Ice Baby). Jackson pinned Nagai after Death Valley Bomb.
Main Event: Gedo, Robbie X, Taiji Ishimori, Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji beat Zane Jay, Jacob Austin Young, Francesco Akira, Jake Lee & Callum Newman. Takagi pinned Jay after Burning Dragon.
The next event is tomorrow at Twin Messe Shizuoka North Building. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.
New Japan kicked off the Road To SAKURA GENESIS Tour today, a quick sprint to next weekend’s annual April blowout event.
Today’s event was held at Lily Arena Mito in Ibaraki and can be watched on demand on New Japan World. This was also a live Samurai! TV broadcast in Japan. You can also watch the first 2 matches FOR FREE on YouTube.
The announced paid attendance was 795.
There were some last-minute changes to the card due to Tiger Mask 4 being pulled off the event. The always-vague poor health.
Match 1: Masatora Yasuda beat Tatsuya Matsumoto.
Match 2: KUSHIDA beat Taisei Nakahara.
Match 3: El Desperado, Taichi & Yuya Uemura beat Ryusuke Taguchi, Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe. Uemura pinned Honma after Lions Shiner.
Match 4: Master Wato, Toru Yano, Yoh & Aaron Wolf beat Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Sho, DOUKI & Don Fale. Yano pinned Kanemaru.
Match 5: Shota Umino, YOSHI-HASHI, Hirooki Goto & Boltin Oleg beat Dick Togo, Chase Owens, Yujiro Takahashi & Ren Narita. Umino beat Togo with STF.
Match 6: Hartley Jackson, Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Gedo, OSKAR (The Grouch) & Yuto Ice (Ice Baby). Oiwa pinned Gedo with TM Clutch.
Main Event: Daiki Nagai, Robbie X, Taiji Ishimori, Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji beat Zane Jay, Jacob Austin Young, Francesco Akira, Jake LEe & Callum Newman. Tsuji pinned Jay after Gene Blaster.
The next event is tomorrow at Act City Hamamatsu in Shizuoka. THere will be no live or on demand broadcast. Nothing for the next 3 events, the next broadcast event will be the tour-ender.
In other news, Will Ospreay was added to SAKURA GENESIS to finalize the card, his first appearance in New Japan as a wrestler since he left a couple years ago for All Elite Wrestling. He has been sidelined most of the last year due to a serious neck injury.
UPDATE: TM 4 is now off tomorrow and Monday as well. The always vague poor physical condition/health.
New Japan wrapped up the New Japan Cup today with the Finals.
Today’s event was held at Aore Nagaoka in Niigata and can be watched on demand OUTSIDE JAPAN ONLY on New Japan World. This event aired as part of WORLD PRO WRESTLING LIVE 2026 exclusively on TV Asahi in Japan. You can also watch the first 2 matches FOR FREE on YouTube.
The announced paid attendance was 3007, a full house/near sellout.
There were last-minute changes to the card due to Satoshi Kojima being pulled off the event. The always-vague poor physical condition. Because of this, a planned pre-show match was cancelled and Match 2 was changed.
Match 1: NJPW WORLD TV Champion Konosuke Takeshita beat TBA, revealed at match time to be Yujiro Takahashi, to retain the title. V1 for Takeshita. Open challenge. Next up: If Takeshita gets his wish, Shota Umino.
Match 2: Masatora Yasuda, El Desperado & Taichi beat Tatsuya Matsumoto, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto. Desperado pinned Matsumoto after Pinche Loco.
Match 3: Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Sho & DOUKI beat Ryusuke Taguchi, Master Wato & Yoh. DOUKI pinned Taguchi.
Match 4: Great-O-Khan & HENARE beat Tomoaki Honma & Shota Umino. HENARE beat Honma with Ultima.
Match 5: Jacob Austin Young, Francesco Akira & Jake Lee beat Taiji Ishimori, Drilla Moloney & Shingo Takagi. Akira beat Ishimori with a ground tarantula.
Match 6: Toru Yano, Aaron Wolf & Boltin Oleg beat Dick Togo, Don Fale & Ren Narita. Wolf beat Togo with a reverse triangle.
Match 7: Kosei Fujita, Hartley Jackson, Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Daiki Nagai, OSKAR (The Grouhc0, Yuto Ice (Ice Baby) & Yota Tsuji. Fujita pinned Nagai.
Main Event: New Japan Cup Finals: Callum Newman beat Yuya Uemura to win the tournament. As a result, Newman will face IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji for the title at SAKURA GENESIS. UPSET ALERT!!! It seemed like the favorite was going to win as in a pre-tournament poll of fans by New Japan on social media where they asked who would win, the leader in fan voting was Uemura.
The next event is 3/28 at Lily Arena Mito in Ibaraki to start the Road To SAKURA GENESIS 2026 Tour. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at midnight PT/3 AM ET. This will also be a live Samurai! TV broadcast in Japan.