Tag: njpw

New Japan continued the Road to WRESTLING DONTAKU Tour today with a mid-major event featuring 2 title matches and the announcement of the entire Best Of The Super Junior 30 field.

Today’s event was held at Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hall in Hiroshima and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 1614.

Match 1: Aaron Henare & Great-O-Khan beat Boltin Oleg & Oskar Leube. Henare beat Leube with Ultima.

Match 2: Yoh, Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat Dick Togo, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL. YOSHI-HASHI pinned Togo after Shoto.

Match 3: Taiji Ishimori, KENTA & David Finlay beat Master Wato, Hikuleo & Tama Tonga. Finlay pinned Wato after INTO OBLIVION.

Match 4: Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Jeff Cobb & Aussie Open. Haste pinned Kyle Fletcher after Tank Buster.

Match 5: Shota Umino, Ren Narita, El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki beat Tomoaki Honma, Togi Makabe, Tomohiro Ishii & Kazuchika Okada. Umino pinned Honma after Deslider.

Match 6: Taichi & SANADA beat BUSHI & Shingo Takagi. SANADA beat BUSHI with Skull End.

Match 7: Tetsuya Naito beat DOUKI.

Match 8: Kevin Knight & KUSHIDA beat IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Francesco Akira & TJP to win the titles. Knight & KUSHIDA become the 71st IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. Knight pinned Akira after Culture Crush.

Main Event: IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi beat Yoshinobu Kanemaru to retain the title. V4 for Takahashi. This went over 30 minutes. That also means it’s now officially official-IWGP World Heavyweight Champion SANADA vs. Takahashi for the title on 5/3 at WRESTLING DONTAKU. SANADA added a stip that had Kanemaru won the title, he got the title shot instead.

Before the title matches, the Best Of The Super Junior 30 field was announced. It’s 20 entrants in 2 blocks of 10 this year, standard round-robin format.

The entrants:
Block A: Hiromu Takahashi, TJP, KUSHIDA, Ryusuke Taguchi, Taiji Ishimori, Sho, Titan, DOUKI, Lio Rush, Mike Bailey
Block B: Francesco Akira, El Desperado, BUSHI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Yoh, Robbie Eagles, Master Wato, Kevin Knight, Clark Connors, Dan Moloney
Takahashi is the defending tournament winner and will be going for 4 straight triumphs and 5th in the last 6 years, although being the current Jr. Heavyweight Champion works heavily against him.
The tournament runs 5/13-5/28 with all events broadcast live on New Japan World.

The next event is “Wrestling Satsuna no Kuni” Saturday at Kagoshima Arena in Kagoshima. The event will be headlined by Aussie Open vs. Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls in an Aussie Aussie Aussie! affair for the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship and Shingo Takagi vs. Taichi once again for the KOPW 2023 Championship, this time in a Takagi Triad Match where the first to earn 3 of these 5 finishes-pinfall, submission, countout, stoppage, KO-wins. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET.

New Japan continued the Road to WRESTLING DONTAKU 2023 Tour today with what should be the last non-televised event until at least mid-June.

Today’s event was held at Yawatahama Citizen Gym in Ehime. There was no live broadcast and there is no on demand broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 504.

Match 1: Ryohei Oiwa vs. Boltin Oleg went to a 10 minute time limit draw.

Match 2: Yoh, Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat Dick Togo, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL. Yoh beat Togo with 5 Star Clutch.

Match 3: Francesco Akira, TJP & Aaron Henare beat Yuto Nakashima, Kevin Knight & KUSHIDA. Henare beat Nakashima with Ultima.

Match 4: Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb & Aussie Open beat Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr. Kyle Fletcher pinned Fujita after Grimstone.

Match 5: Master Wato, Shota Umino, Hikuleo & Tama Tonga beat Gedo, Taiji Ishimori, KENTA & David Finlay. Wato beat Gedo with Vendeval.

Match 6: Tomoaki Honma, Togi Makabe, Tomohiro Ishii & Kazuchika Okada beat Oskar Leube, Ren Narita, El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki. Honma pinned Leube after Kokeshi.

Main Event: DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Taichi & SANADA beat BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito. Taichi pinned BUSHI with Mausoleum of the Holy Emperor Cross.

The next event is tomorrow at Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hall in Hiroshima. Before the event, a public signing ceremony for tomorrow’s IWGP Jr. Heavyweight and Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship matches will be held. Before those title matches, the full field for this year’s Best Of The Super Junior Tournament will be announced. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET.

Also, in related news, it was revealed in recent interviews he did that Will Ospreay’s NjPW contract is up in February. So monitor his status and happenings going into and after Tokyo Dome 2024 for hints on what he may do, moreso with hints he dropped on social media about maybe not having a lot of time left in his career due to injuries.

New Japan continued the Road to WRESTLING DONTAKU 2023 Your today with a non-televised event.

Today’s event was held at Kochi Prefectural Gym in Kochi. There was no live broadcast and no on demand video.

The announced paid attendance was 663.

Match 1: Yuto Nakashima vs. Boltin Oleg went to a 10 minute time limit draw.

Match 2: Yoh, Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto beat Dick Togo, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL. Yano pinned Togo.

Match 3: Francesco Akira, TJP & Great-O-Khan beat Oskar Leube, Kevin Knight & KUSHIDA. Khan pinned Leube with a pancake hold.

Match 4: Aaron Henare, Jeff Cobb & Aussie Open beat Kosei Fujita, Mikey Nicholls, Shane Haste & Zack Sabre Jr. Mark Davis pinned Fujita after Waterfall.

Match 5: Master Wato, Shota Umino, Hikuleo & Tama Tonga beat Gedo, Taiji Ishimori, KENTA & David Finlay. Umino beat Gedo with STF.

Match 6: Tomoaki Honma, Togi Makabe, Tomohiro Ishii & Kazuchika Okada beat Ryohei Oiwa, Ren Narita, El Desperado & Minoru Suuzki. Makabe pinned Oiwa after a King Kong kneedrop.

Main Event: DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Taichi & SANADA beat BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito. Kanemaru beat BUSHI with a Figure 4.

The next event is tomorrow at Yawatahama Citizen Sports Center in Ehime. There will be no live or on demand broadcast. (This will be the last non-televised event for about 2 months)

New Japan resumed the Road to WRESTLING DONTAKU 2023 Tour today with an event in Osaka.

Today’s event was held at Osaka Prefectural Gym 2 in Osaka and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 881, a legit sellout. Osaka clearly is sticking with 50% capacity for the venue despite the lifting of pandemic restrictions nationwide (it’s up to local governments and venues now).

Match 1: Ryohei Oiwa vs. Boltin Oleg went to a 10 minute time limit draw. This was Oleg’s first career single match.

Match 2: Dick Togo, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL beat Yuto Nakashima, Yoh, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto. Takahashi pinned Nakashima after Pimp Juice.

Match 3: Francesco Akira, TJP & Aaron Henare beat Kevin Knight, KUSHIDA & Hiroyoshi Tenzan. Henare beat Tenzan with Ultima.

Match 4: Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb & Aussie Open beat Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr. Cobb pinned Fujita after Tour of the Islands.

Match 5: Jado, Master Wato, HIkuleo & Tama Tonga beat Gedo, Taiji Ishimori, KENTA & David Finlay. Wato beat Gedo with Vendeval.

Match 6: Tiger Mask, Shota Umino, Ren Narita, El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki beat Tomoaki Honma, Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii, Togi Makabe & Kazuchika Okada. Narita beat Honma with a cobra twist.

Main Event: BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito beat DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Taichi & SANADA. Naito pinned DOUKI.

The next event is Tuesday at Kochi Prefectural Gym in Kochi. There will be no live or on demand broadcast. Wednesday also has no broadcasts, but that’s the last time until at least mid-June as all Best Of The Super Junior events and (presumably) DOMINION will be live and on demand.

New Japan continued the Road to WRESTING DONTAKU Tour today with a non-televised house show and more 5/3 developments.

Today’s event was held at Kobe Sambo Hall in Kobe. There was no live broadcast and there is no on demand broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 1251, a legit sellout.

Match 1: Ryohei Oiwa & Shota Umino beat Oskar Leube & Master Wato. Umino beat Leube with STF.

Match 2: Yoh, Togi Makabe, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat Dick Togo, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL. YOSHI-HASHI pinned Togo after Shoto.

Match 3: Francesco Akira, TJP & Aaron Henare beat Kevin Knight, KUSHIDA & Tiger Mask. TJP pinned TM 4 with La Magistral.

Match 4: Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb & Aussie Open beat Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr. Khan beat Fujita with Subaru Sheep Killer.

Match 5: Taiji Ishimori, KENTA & David Finlay beat Jado, Hikuleo & Master Wato. Ishimori beat Jado with Bone Lock.

Match 6: Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Ren Narita, El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki beat Tomoaki Honma, Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii & Lazuchika Okada. Narita beat Honma with a cobra twist.

Main Event: DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Taichi & SANADA beat BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito. Taichi pinned BUSHI after Tensho Cross Phoenix.

The next event is a Hirooki Goto 20th Anniversary event tomorrow at Tsu City Sports Center in Mie. There will be no live broadcast.

The current tour resumes Sunday at Osaka Prefectural Gym 2 in Osaka. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 2 AM PT/5 AM ET.

In the 5/3 developing news, Kazuchika Okada has chosen Tomohiro Ishii has one of bis partners for the NEVER 6 Man Tag Team Title match. The other is TBD. I was thinking Hiroshi Tanahashi but his current injury has that being doubtful (Tanahashi suffered a broken rib Saturday and is out for this tour. Status for 5/3 uncertain but he currently is not on the card).

New Japan kicked off the Road to WRESTLING DONTAKU Tour today, which leads up to their annual Golden Week blowout event in Fukuoka.

Today’s event was held at Nara Prefectural Convention Center Convention Hall in Nara. There was no live broadcast and there is no on demand broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 712.

Match 1: Boltin Oleg & Shota Umino beat Yuto Nakashima & Master Wato. Umino beat Nakashima with a kneebar.

Match 2: Dick Togo, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL beat Yoh, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto. Takahashi pinned Tenzan after Pimp Juice.

Match 3: Francesco Akira, TJP & Great-O-Khan beat Kevin Knight, KUSHIDA & Togi Makbe. Khan beat Makabe with Subaru Sheep Killer.

Match 4: Aaron Henare, Jeff Cobb & Aussie Open beat Kosei Fujita, Mikey Nicholls, Shane Haste & Zack Sabre Jr. Henare pinned Fujita after Rampage.

Match 5: Taiji Ishimori, KENTA & David Finlay beat Jado, Hikuleo & Tama Tonfa. Ishimori beat Jado with Bone Lock.

Match 6: Tomoaki Honma, Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii & Kazuchika Okada beat Tiger Mask, Ren Narita, El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki. Yano pinned TM 4.

Main Event: DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaruc Taichi & SANADA beat BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito. SANADA beat BUSHI with Skull End.

The next event is Kobe Sambo Hall in Kobe. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

In other news, Hiromu Takahashi participation in Dradition has been announced for their 5/30 event at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, where in the main event he will team with Shiro Koshinaka & AKIRA against Masakatsu Funaki, Tatsumi Fujinami & Jinsei Shinzaki.