Tag: njpw

New Japan 5/6/2026 Results (Updated)

New Japan ran another standalone event today in Saga

Today’s event was held at Karatsu City Gym in Saga and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 757.

Match 1: Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Sho beat Taisei Nakahara & Ryusuke Taguchi. Sho pinned Nakahara.

Match 2: Master Wato, Yoh & Toru Yano beat Tatsuya Matsumoto, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto. Wato pinned Matsumoto after a swan dive elbow smash.

Match 3: El Desperado & Taichi beat Tomoaki Honma & Shota Umino. Taichi pinned Honma.

Match 4: Kosei Fujita & Ryohei Oiwa beat Masatora Yasuda & Yuya Uemura. Fujita beat Yasuda with Neshen Special.

Match 5: Tiger Mask, Boltin Oleg & Aaron Wolf beat Dick Togo, Yujiro Takahashi & Ren Narita. Wolf beat Togo with a triangle choke.

Match 6: Zane Jay, Jacob Auatin Young, Francesco Akira, Great-O-Khan & HENARE beat Daiki Nagai, Gedo, Taiji Ishimori, OSKAR (The Grouch) & Yuto Ice (Ice Baby). Young pinned Gedo after Bite The Dust.

Main Event: Yota Tsuji & Shingo Takagi beat Jake Lee & Callum Newman. Tsuji pinned Newman after Gene Blaster. As a result, Tsuji will face Newman for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at DOMINION on 6/14 at Osaka-jo Hall in Osaka. Had Lee/Newman won, Tsuji & Takagi could not challenge for the title again as long as Newman was champion. If either Tsuji or Takagi won by beating Newman, which happened, that winner got another title shot.

The next event is FACE THE NEXT, a United Japan Pro Wrestling produced event with all member participation including New Japan, Tuesday at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo. The event will also feature Pro Wrestling NOAH, DDT, Dragon Gate and Ganbare Pro participation among others, and mostly focus on younger wrestlers. Broadcast plans TBA. (All-Japan is not a UJPW member at this time)

The next event after that is Best Of The Super Junior 33, the annual Junior Heavyweight showcase tournament, starting on 5/14 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET.

In other news, it was revealed last night by WWE that EVIL will apparently be known as “Naraku” in NXT. TV debut scheduled for next week (Tuesday).

UPDATE: Injury Report-it appears Boltin Oleg was injured today. Left elbow. Out indefinitely. But it was said he will miss the next series which is Best Of The Super Junior-if that’s the case, then he is out at least a month.

New Japan 5/4/2026 Results (Updated x2)

WRESTLING DONTAKU Day 2, falling on the traditional day of New Japan’s annual Golden Week blowout event, is in the books.

Today’s event was held at Fukuoka International Center in Fukuoka 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 3603, a full house/near sellout. While nearly 50% more than yesterday, that is still less than half capacity for the venue.

Pre-show match: Masatora Yasuda beat Taisei Nakahara.

Match 1: NNPW WORLD TV Champion Konosuke Takeshita beat Chase Owens to retain the title. V3 for Takeshita. Afterwards a masked man attacked Takeshita then revealed his identity…SANADA! See You Next Time! For the title?!?

Match 2: Daiki Nagai & Gedo beat Tatsuya Matsumoto & Ryusuke Taguchi. Nagai pinned Matsumoto after a diving headbutt.

Match 3: OSKAR (The Grouch) & Yuto Ice (Ice Baby) beat Tomoaki Honma & Shota Umino. OSKAR beat Honma with a nightmare hold.

Match 4: Master Wato, Yoh, Tiger Mask, Toru Yano & Aaron Wolf beat Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi, Don Fale & Ren Narita. Wolf pinned Takahashi after Angle Slam. Afterwards, TM 4 gave his farewell speech to the Fukuoka fans.

Match 5: Taichi & Yuya Uemura beat Hartley Jackson & Ryohei Oiwa. Taichi pinned Jackson after Black Mephisto.

Match 6: Robbie X, Taiji Ishimori, Drilla Moloney & Yota Tsuji beat Zane Jay, Jacob Austin Young, Francesco Akira & Jake Lee. Tsuji pinned Jay.

Match 7: Mistico (CMLL) & El Desperado beat IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles to win the titles. Mistico & Desperado become the 83rd IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. Desperado beat Fujita with Numero Dos. Once again, a reminder that TMDK also stands for The Mighty Don’t Kosei.

Match 8: Great-O-Khan, HENARE & Will Ospreay beat NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Champions Boltin Oleg, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto to win the titles. Khan, HENARE & Ospreay become the 34th NEVER Openweight Champions. Khan pinned YOSHI-HASHI after Great Blade Bomb. Afterwards, Khan & HENARE issued an IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship challenge.

Main Event: IWGP Heavyweight Champion Callum Newman beat Shingo Takagi to retain the title. V1 for Newman. 35+ minutes in what easily has to be the longest match of Newman’s career so far. But this proves it wasn’t a fluke. And for now United Empire is back on top of New Japan.

In post-event backstage comments, Takeshita expressed a desire to align with the main New Japan unit as today marked his 2nd anniversary as a member of the promotion (he is also signed with DDT and All Elite Wrestling).

The next event is Wednesday at Karatsu City Gym in Saga. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET.

UPDATE: While nothing has been announced yet for Wednesday, it appears Newman issued a challenge to Takagi & Tsuji after the main event for that day-both of them vs. Newman & Lee. If Newman gets beaten, whoever got the pinfall/submission gets a rematch for the title at DOMINION on 6/14. But if United Empre wins, Takagi & Tsuji can never challenge for the title again. More to come.

UPDATE 2: It’s now official. And specifically, if United Empire wins, neither can challenge Newman for the title again as long as he still is champion, not neither challenging for the title ever again.

New Japan 5/3/2026 Results (Updated)

WRESTLING DONTAKU 2026, New Japan’s annual Fukuoka Golden Week blowout event, kicked off today with the first day of two days of action.

Today’s event was held at Fukuoka International Center in Fukuoka and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 2477. Not sure what the setup was for but that sounds kinda bad given the venue’s full capacity-primarily for sumo-is 7500.

Match 1: Master Wato, Yoh & Toru Yano beat Taisei Nakahara, Ryusuke Taguchi & Tiger Mask. Wato pinned Nakahara after a swan dive elbow smash.

Match 2: OSKAR (The Grouch) & Yuto Ice (Ice Baby) beatMasatora Yasuda & Tomoaki Honma by ref stoppage (KO). Ice beat Yasuda with a knee kick near the chin.

Match 3: Mistico (CMLL), El Desperado, Taichi & Yuya Uemura beat Kosei Fujita, Robbie Eagles, Hartley Jackson & Ryohei Oiwa. Uemura pinned Jackson after a Frankensteiner. Afterwards, Mistico & Desperado issued an IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship challenge to Fujita & Eagles.

Match 4: Great-O-Khan, HENARE & Will Ospreay beat Tatsuya Matsumoto, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto. Khan beat Matsumoto with Collapse (formerly Domination Claw).

Match 5: Shota Umino & Konosuke Takeshita beat Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens. Umino pinned Takahashi after Second Chapter.

Match 6: Daiki Nagai, Robbie X, Taiji Ishimori, Drilla Moloney & Shingo Takagi beat Zane Jay, Jacob Austin Young, Francesco Akira, Jake Lee & Callum Newman. Moloney pinned Jay after Drilla Killer.

Match 7: Aaron Wolf beat Don Fale.

Match 8: NEVER Openweight Champion Ren Narita beat Boltin Oleg by submission to retain the title. V1 for Narita. Next up: Wolf wants a rematch.

Main Event: Andrade El Idolo beat IWGP Global Champion Yota Tsuji to win the title. Andrade becomes the 7th IWGP Global Champion. Whoa. And they went almost 33 minutes. Next up: Sounds like Moloney & Umino in a 3-way.

Day 2 is tomorrow. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin TONIGHT at 11 PM PT/2 AM ET. However there is a pre-show match scheduled for 10:30 PM PT/1:30 AM ET so it may get moved up 30 minutes for that followed by a break before the main start.

UPDATE: It’s now official. Tomorrow’s Mistico/Desperado-Fujita/Eagles match is now for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.

BREAKING: More Former Japan Wrestlers Released By WWE

This could be potential good news for New Japan…it is being reported on various US news/rumor websites that more WWE releases came today and two former New Japan wrestlers are among them-JC Mateo fka Jeff Cobb and Tonga Loa aka Tanga Loa. It’s not yet clear why they are gone but this is possibly by mutual decision. Both left New Japan in 2024 following fellow NJPW departure Tama Tonga (Loa’s real-life brother, they are both sons of Hall of Famer Haku and members of the Tongan/Samoan wrestling dynasties) to WWE and both were briefly in storylines involving top WWE wrestler Roman Reigns. Loa also missed the first half of 2025 due to injury. Mateo/Cobb was there for barely a year, debuting last July and took part in a WWE Tag Team Championship match just last month on the SmackDown TV program but did little else.

I can see both going back to Japan even though they are in their 40s if All Elite Wrestling or TNA Wrestling doesn’t try to pick them up. It’s probably too late for them to make surprise appearances at WRESTLING DONTAKU 2026 though.

More as it becomes available.

New Japan 5/1/2026 Results (Updated)

New Japan wrapped up the Road To WRESTLING DONTAKU 2026 Tour today in Kumamoto.

Today’s event was held at Aira City Sports Park Gym in Kumamoto. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 1311.

Match 1: Daiki Nagai beat Taisei Nakahara.

Match 2: OSKAE (The Grouch) & Yuto Ice (Ice Baby) beat Tomoaki Honma & Toru Yano by ref stoppage. OSKAR beat Honma.

Match 3: Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens beat Yoh, Ryusuke Taguchi & Shota Umino. Takahashi pinned Taguchi after Big Juice.

Match 4: Francesco Akira, Great-O-Khan & HENARE beat Tatsuya Matsunoto, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto. Akira pinned Matsumoto after Fireball.

Match 5: Kosei Fujita, Hartley Jackson, Robbie Eagles & Ryohei Oiwa beat Masatora Yasuda, Master Wato, Taichi & Yuya Uemura. Eagles pinned Yasuda after Turbo Backpack.

Match 6: Mistico (CMLL), Tiger Mask, Aaron Wolf &.Boltin Oleg beat Dick Togo, Sho, Don Fale & Ren Narita. Mistico pinned Togo with La Mystica. Post-match, another TM 4 farewell to local fans followed.

Main Event: Robbie X, Taiji Ishimori, Yota Tsuji & Shingo Takagi beat Zane Jay, Jacob Austin Young, Jake Lee & Callum Newman. Takagi pinned Jay after Pumping Blaster.

The next event is WRESTLING DONTAKU, the annual Fukuoka Golden Week blowout event (this year it’s 2 days again), starting Sunday at Fukuoka International Center in Fukuoka. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 2 AM PT/5 AM ET.

UPDATE: Following his pulling out of this event and this weekend, DOUKI is now out of Best Of The Super Junior. This appears to ve storyline as he claims he is boycotting the tournament as the current IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, which guarantees he will defend the title against the eventual winner, perhaps at DOMINION in June. Daiki Nagai is the replacement in the tournament.

New Japan 4/30/2026 Results (Updated)

New Japan ran the penultimate event of the Toad To WRESTLING DONTAKU 2026 Tour today in Kumamoto.

Today’s event was held at Grand Messe Kumamoto in Kumamoto. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 743.

Match 1: Robbie X beat Taisei Nakahara.

Match 2: OSKAR (The Grouch) & Yuto Ice (Ice Baby) beat Ryusuke Taguchi & Toru Yano. Ice pinned Taguchi.

Match 3: Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens beat Yoh, Tomoaki Honma & Shota Umino. Takahashi pinned Honma after Pimp Juice.

Match 4: Francesco Akira, Great-O-Khan & HENARE beat Tatsuya Matsunoto, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto. Akira pinned Matsumoto after Fireball.

Match 5: Kosei Fujita, Robbie Eagles, Hartley Jackson & Ryohei Oiwa beat Masatora Yasuda, Mistico (CMLL), Taichi & Yuya Uemura. Fujita pinned Yasuda.

Match 6: Master Wato, Tiger Mask, Aaron Wolf & Boltin Oleg beat Dick Togo, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Don Fale & Ren Narita. Wato beat Togo with Vendeval. Afterwards, TM 4 began his retirement tour with a final greeting to the fans as this likely is his last appearance in Kumamoto before retiring in July.

Main Event: Daiki Nagai, Taiji Ishimori, Yota Tauji & Shingo Takagi beat Zane Jay, Jacob Austin Young, Jake Lee & Callum Newman. Takagi pinned Jay after a Takagi-style Bloody Sunday. I wonder what a certain Fergal Devitt would think of that? (That of course would be aka Finn Balor in WWE, fka Prince Devitt)

The tour-ender is tomorrow at Aira City Sports Park Gym in Kagoshima. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

UPDATE: I learned after posting results there were last-minute changes to the card due to DOUKI being pulled off the event. Personal request. Dick Togo was the replacement. Also out tomorrow and will miss WRESTLING DONTAKU 2026 (both days). He was only scheduled for Day 2 this weekend (Monday) where he was to have been in a 10-man tag match. Yujiro Takahashi is the replacement.

New Japan 4/27/2026 Results

New Japan continued the Road To WRESTLING DONTAKU 2026 Tour today with a second event in Yamaguchi.

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

The announced paid attendance was 680.

Match 1: Robbie X beat Taisei Nakahara.

Match 2: OSKAR (The Grouch) & Yuto Ice (Ice Baby) beat Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe. Ice pinned Honma after Cruella.

Match 3: Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens beat Yoh, Ryusuke Taguchi & Shota Umino. Owens pinned Taguchi after Last Testament.

Match 4: Francesco Akira, Great-O-Khan & HENARE beat Tatsuya Matsumoto, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto. Akira pinned Matsumoto after Fireball.

Match 5: Kosei Fujita, Robbie Eagles, Hartley Jackson & Ryohei Oiwa beat Masatora Yasuda, Master Wato, Taichi & Yuya Uemura. Fujita pinned Yasuda.

Match 6: Toru Yano, Tiger Mask, Aaron Wolf & Boltin Oleg vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru, DOUKI, Don Fale & Ren Narita went to a no contest.

Main Event: Daiki Nagai, Taiji Ishimori, Yota Tsuji & Shingo Takagi beat Zane Jay, Jacob Austin Young, Jake Lee & Callum Newman. Takagi pinned Jay after Burning Dragon.

The next event is “Wrestling Hizen Country” Wednesday at Saga Arena in Saga with TM 4-DOUKI for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship in a Lumberjack Match (no countouts). Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET.

New Japan 4/26/2026 Results

New Japan continued the Road To WRESTLING DONTAKU 2026 Tour today with the first of consecutive events in Yamaguchi.

Today’s event was held at KDDI Ishin Hall in Yamaguchi and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 737.

Match 1: Daiki Nagai beat Taisei Nakahara.

Match 2: OSKAR (The Grouch) & Yuto Ice (Ice Baby) beat Toru Yano & Togi Makabe. OSKAR pinned Makabe after The Rumbling.

Match 3: Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens beat Yoh, Tomoaki Honma & Shota Umino. Takahashi pinned Honma after Pimp Juice.

Match 4: Jacob Austin Young, Great-O-Khan & HENARE beat Tatsuya Matsumoto, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto. Young pinned Matsumoto after Bite The Dust.

Match 5: Kosei Fujita, Hartley Jackson, Robbie Eagles & Ryohei Oiwa beat Masatora Yasuda, Ryusuke Taguchi, Taichi & Yuya Uemura. Eagles pinned Yasuda after Sweet Buster.

Match 6: Master Wato, Tiger Mask, Aaron Wolf & Boltin Oleg vs. Sho, DOUKI, Don Fale & Ren Narita went to a no contest. Out of control.

Main Event: Robbie X, Tiaji Ishimori, Yota Tsuji & Shingo Takagi beat Zane Jay, Francesco Akira, Jake Lee & Callum Newman. Takagi pinned Jay after MADE IN JAPAN.

The next event is tomorrow at Yanai City Gym. There will be no live or on demand broadcast. With the exception of Wednesday’s annual Saga special event the televised portion of the tour is over.

New Japan 4/25/2026 Results (Updated)

WRESTLING REDZONE in HIROSHIMA, New Japan’s now-annual late-April mid-major Hiroshima event, was held earlier today.

Today’s event was held at Hiroshima Sun Plaza in Hiroshima 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 2053.

Pre-show match: Tatsuya Matsumoto beat Taisei Nakahara by submission.

Match 1: Master Wato, Toru Yano, Yoh & Shota Umino beat Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens. Yano pinned Takahashi.

Match 2: Francesco Akira, Great-O-Khan & HENARE beat Masatora Yasuda, Ryusuke Taguchi & Taichi. Akira beat Yasuda with a ground tarantula.

Match 3: Togi Makabe, Tiger Mask, Aaron Wolf & Boltin Oleg vs. Dick Togo, Don Fale, DOUKI & Ren Narita went to a no contest. Out of control. Afterwards, DOUKI removed TM 4’s mask and, in response, TM 4 demanded their upcoming IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship match be changed to a Lumberjack match.

Match 4: Hartley Jackson & Ryohei Oiwa beat Tomoaki Honma & Yuya Uemura. Jackson pinned Honma after Death Valley Bomb.

Match 5: Zane Jay, Jacob Austin Young, Jake Lee & Callum Newman beat Daiki Nagai, Gedo, Yota Tsuji & Shingo Takagi. Young pinned Nagai after Bite The Dust.

Match 6: Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles beat IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X to win the titles. Fujita & Eagles become the 82nd IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. Eagles beat Ishimori with Ron Miller Special.

Main Event: IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions OSKAR (The Grouch) & Yuto Ice (Ice Baby) beat YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto to retain the titles. OSKAR pinned YOSHI-HASHI after KOB. V6 for the champs.

The Road To WRESTLING DONTAKU 2026 Tour resumes tomorrow at KDDI Ishin Hall in Yamaguchi. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET. After tomorrow the rest of the tour is non-televised except for Wednesday for the annual “Wrestling Hizen Province” event in Saga.

UPDATE: It’s now official. TM 4 vs. DOUKI on Wednesday for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship is now a Lumberjack match.

DEVELOPING: Former New Japan Star To WWE? (Updated 4/28/2026)

Following up on a major New Japan story post-Tokyo Dome, there are now UNCONFIRMED reports on US wrestling news/rumor sites that EVIL has signed with WWE. He also reportedly will not be EVIL because WWE likes to have control of wrestler names for money-making purposes which probably means he also won’t be his real name, Takaaki Watanabe. There are also rumors that, despite being 39 and very experienced (15 years in Japan and an excursion to Ring Of Honor), he wants to start in the NXT developmental brand. There are also unconfirmed reports in this article that, outside the ring, EVIL is attached to WWE wrestler Iyo Sky (fka Io Shirai), which would be news to me as last I heard she was at least linked to NOSAWA Rongai.

Anyway, this all is not official yet so we’ll see what happens and if WWE does become EVIL…*pause for mouthing and delayed bad dubbing…* INDEEEEEEEEED! (Where have you gone, Funaki!)

4/28/2026 UPDATE: It’s now official. He showed up in NXT tonight.