Tag: njpw

All-Star Jr. Festival 2023 Results (3/1/23)

An idea originally proposed by Hiromu Takahashi shortly before Tokyo Dome, New Japan held a special All-Star Jr. Festival event today, bringing together top Jr. Heavyweights from throughout Japan-both the Big 3 and the smaller independent promotions-and a couple of the Mexican luchadors from CMLL that were in Japan this past week. A portion of the proceeds from the event will be donated to longtime wrestler Shinjiro Otani to support his recovery efforts from serious injuries & medical issues.

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand as a PPV on New Japan World for about $27 US. It will be available as a PPV until June 1, after which time it should be available without additional fees for all paying New Japan World subscribers.

The announced paid attendance was 1381, a legit advance sellout.

Pre-show: Soma Watanabe, Kazuma Sumi & Yoh beat Ryo Hoshino, Akira Jumonji & Fuminori Abe. Yoh pinned Jumonji after Direct Drive.

Before the PPV began, Jushin Liger & Tatsumi Fujinami made special appearances. Liger read a message from Otani on his behalf.

Match 1: Hiromu Takahashi, AMAKUSA & Fujita “Jr” Hayato beat Kazuki Hashimoto, HAYATA & YAMATO. Hayato pinned Hashimoto after K.I.D.

Match 2: MAO & Isami Kodaka beat Sho & Onryo by DQ. Sho DQ’d. Ref assault.

Match 3: Shinjiro Otani Support Match: Jun Kasai, Yodhinobu Kanemaru, Minoru Tanaka, TAKA Michinoku & Tatsuhito Takaiwa beat Chichariso Shoki, Shoki Kitamura, Kota Sekifuda, LEONA & MUSASHI. Takaiwa pinned Shoki after Death Valley Bomb.

Match 4: Yumehito Imanari, Ryusuke Taguchi & Hikaru Sato beat Batten Butabura, Tigers Mask & The Great Sasuke. Sato beat Burabura with an armbar.

Match 5: El Desperado & Volador Jr. beat El Lindaman & Yuki Ueno and DOUKI & HANAOKA in a 3-way when Desperado pinned HANAOKA.

Match 6: Alejandro, Billy Ken Kid, Gurukun Mask & Mistico beat Atlantis Jr., Black Menso-re, BUSHI & Dragon Kid. Mistico pinned Menso-re with La Mistica.

Match 7: CIMA beat Kazuki Hirata.

Match 8: Taiji Ishimori beat Shun Skywalker, YO-HEY, Ninja Mack & Soberano Jr. in a 5-way by pinning YO-HEY.

Main Event: Master Wato beat Atsuki Aoyagi.

The event was considered a great success and there are hopes of making this happen again in the future. Rocky Romero made a pre-taped video appearance and stated his desire to hold such an event in the US.

Next up is the 2023 New Japan Cup, the annual heavyweight singles tournament held each March. The tournament begins Sunday at Korakuen Hall with live streaming beginning at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET. Every event will be available live & on demand on New Japan World.

New Japan 2/28/23 Results

New Japan wrapped up CMLL FANTASTICAMANIA 2023 today, capping off a very successful return of the annual Mexican/Japanese showcase after being on hiatus the last 3 years due to the pandemic. Hopefully it will resume being an annual tradition post-Tokyo Dome.

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

The announced paid attendance was 1383, a legit sellout.

Match 1: Yuto Nakashima & Capitan Suicida beat Kosei Fujita & Magia Blanca. Nakashima beat Fujita with a Boston Crab.

Match 2: Tiger Mask beat Hijo Del Villano 3.

Match 3: BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Tetduya Naito & Titan beat Ryohei Oiwa, Satoshi Kojima, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Rey Coneta. Titan pinned Oiwa after a springboard double stomp.

Match 4: Dulce Gardenia beat OKUMURA.

Match 5: Soberano Jr. beat Hechicero by submission.

Match 6: El Desperado, Templario & Volador Jr. beat Master Wato, Barbaro Cavernario & Ultimo Guerrero. Volador Jr. pinned Cavernario after Destroyer.

Main Event: Mistico beat Atlantis Jr.

The next event is All-Star Jr. Festival 2023 tomorrow at Korakuen Hall. This event will be a live PPV on New Japan World (around $27 US) with coverage scheduled to begin at 12:40 AM PT/3:40 AM ET. It should be available to all New Japan World subscribers without additional purchase on or after June 1.

In other news, the 3/30 New Japan-Impact Wrestling crossover PPV is now available for pre-order on FITE. It will be $24.99 and includes the live broadcast and unlimited on demand replays.

New Japan News: Title Defense Coming In ROH (SPOILERS!)

The revived Ring Of Honor returns to weekly TV shows starting this Thursday on HonorClub, their revamped streaming service available for $9.99/month (currently it is only available in the US). There was some New Japan participation in the first round of TV tapings this past weekend and that includes a title match, expected to air sometime over the first 4 episodes before their next PPV at the end of March.

It is not known when this match will air, but it was TAPED this past weekend. If you want SPOILERS or aren’t going to pay for HonorClub but want to know what happened, click below or scroll down to find out.

Continue reading “New Japan News: Title Defense Coming In ROH (SPOILERS!)”

New Japan 2/26/23 Results (Updated)

New Japan began the second half of CMLL FANTASTICAMANIA today after the lone off day of the tour, the 4th event of 6 concluding the mini-tag team tournament that began Friday.

Today’s event was held at Makuhari Messe International Conference Hall 11 in Chiba and can be watched on demand on New Japan World. This was a Samurai! TV simulcast in Japan.

The announced paid attendance was 1092.

Match 1: Sho & Hijo Del Villano 3 beat Ryohei Oiwa & Tiger Mask. Sho pinned Oiwa.

Match 2: Ryusuke Taguchi, Barbaro Cavernario & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Master Wato, Yoh & OKUMURA. Cavernario pinned OKUMURA after Cavernaria.

Match 3: Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito beat Kosei Fujita & Capitan Suicida. Takahashi beat Fujita with a Boston Crab.

Match 4: DOUKI, Templario & Hechicero beat El Desperado, Soberano Jr. & Mistico. DOUKI beat Soberano with Jorge Rivera Special.

Match 5: Interfaction Tag Team Tournament 3rd Place Match: Magia Blanco & Volador Jr. beat Rey Cometa & Dulce Gardenia. Blanco pinned Cometa after Magia Driver.

Main Event: Interfaction Tag Team Tournament Finals: Atlantis Jr. & Ultimo Guerrero beat BUSHI & Titan to win the tournament. Atlantis pinned BUSHI after a diving body press.

The next event is tomorrow at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET.

UPDATE: New Japan World has announced on YouTube that you can watch tomorrow’s full event on New Japan Word FOR FREE! It will be available in Japanese and Spanish.

3/1/23 All-Star Jr. Festival Card Announced

New Japan today announced, as promised, the full card for the special All-Star Jr. Festival event on 3/1 at Korakuen Hall. Originally proposed by Hiromu Takahashi, the event brings together 20 Jr. Heavyweights from promotions throughout Japan, both the Big 3 (NJPW, All-Japan, Pro Wrestling NOAH) and smaller independent promotions.

Here is the main card, there will be at least one pre-show match which has not been announced, with order to be determined by entrance music at match time:
Hiromu Takahashi, Fujita “Jr.” Hayato (Michinoku Pro) & AMAKUSA (Pro Wrestling NOAH) vs. HAYATA (NOAH), YAMATO (Dragon Gate) & Kazuki Hashimoto (Big Japan)
Isami Kodaka (BASARA) & MAO (DDT) vs. Onryo (666) & Sho
Shinjiro Otani Support Match: Tatsuhito Takaiwa (Independent/Freelancer), Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Jun Kasai (Freedoms), Minoru Tanaka (GLEAT) & TAKA Mchinoku vs. MUSASHI (Michinoku Pro), Shoki Kitamura (ZERO1), LEONA (Dradition), Chicharito Shoki (2AW) & Kota Sekifuda (Big Japan)
Ryusuke Taguchi, Hikaru Sato (Pancrase Mission) & Yumehito Imanari (DDT/Ganbare Pro) vs. The Great Sasuke (Michinoku Pro), Tigers Mask (Osaka Pro) & Batten Burabura (Kyushu Pro)
El Desperado & Volador Jr. (CMLL/Mexico) vs. El Lindaman (GLEAT) & Yuki Ueno (DDT) and DOUKI & HANAOKA (Secret Base) in a 3-way
Mistico (CMLL), Billy Ken Kid (Osaka Pro), Alejandro (NOAH) & Gurukun Mask (Ryukyu Dragon) vs. BUSHI, Atlantis Jr. (CMLL), Dragon Kid (Dragon Gate) & Black Menso-re (All-Japan)
Taiji Ishimori vs. Soberano Jr. (CMLL), Shun Skywalker (Dragon Gate), Ninja Mack (NOAH) & another NOAH star in a 5-way. There is some confusion on the second NOAH star because the graphic shows it’s YO-HEY but the text/preview says it’s Junta Miyawaki. But since Miyawaki just returned to Mexico after Tuesday’s Keiji Muto Retirement Event I’d plan on it being YO-HEY
Main Event: Master Wato vs. Atsuki Aoyagi (All-Japan)

The event will be on Wednesday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and is available as a PPV on New Japan World for about $27. The advertised start time is 12:40 AM PT/3:40 AM ET. New Japan’s English website says no subscription is required for purchase but New Japan World’s site says an account is required, which costs about $8/month. If you purchase the PPV you also get on demand replays until June 1. After that it should be available to all monthly New Japan World subscribers without additional fees.

New Japan 2/24/23 Results

New Japan ran Day 3 of CMLL FANTASTICAMANIA 2023 today, running the first half of a 4-team mini-tag team tournament as the featured attraction.

Today’s event was held at Osaka Municipal Central Gym Sub-Arena in Osaka and can be watched on demand on New Japan World. All these events are available in Japanese AND Spanish…puroresu in espanol? Bueno!

The announced paid attendance was 962, which reportedly was a legit advance sellout.

Match 1: Master Wato, Ryusuke Taguchi & Tiger Mask beat Gedo, Taiji Ishimori & Hijo Del Villano 3. Wato beat Gedo with Vendeval.

Match 2: Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito beat Yoh & Capitan Suicida. Takahashi pinned Suicida with Unnamed Hiromu Roll.

Match 3: Sho, Barbaro Cavernario & Templario beat Kosei Fujita, OKUMURA & Hiroshi Tanahashi. Sho pinned Fujita after a cross-arm piledriver (that sounds an awful lot like Shock Arrow).

Match 4: El Desperado, Soberano Jr. & Mistico beat DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Hechicero. Soberano Jr. pinned Kanemaru after a moonsault.

Match 5: Interfaction Tag Team Tournament: BUSHI & Titan beatRey Cometa & Dulce Gardenia. BUSHI pinned Gardenia after Angel Immortal.

Main Event: Interfaction Tag Team Tournament: Atlantis Jr. & Ultimo Guerrero beat Magia Blanco & Volador Jr. Guerrero pinned Blanco after Guerrero Special. As a result, BUSHI/Titan will face Atlantis Jr./Guerrero in the Final.

The next event is Sunday at Makuhari Messe International Conference Hall 11 in Chiba. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET.

New Japan 2/23/23 Results

New Japan ran Day 2 of CMLL FANTASTICAMANIA 2023 today as the series continues its tour of Japan.

Today’s event was held at Kyoto KBS Hall on Kyoto and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 765, a legit sellout. Back to full capacity at the venue.

Match 1: DOUKI & Yoshinobu Kanemaru beat Yuto Nakashima & Rey Cometa. Kanemaru pinned Cometa with a rollup.

Match 2: Gedo & Taiji Ishimori beat Ryohei Ouwa & Capitan Suicida. Ishimori beat Oiwa with Yes Lock.

Match 3: Hijo Del Villano 3, OKUMURA & Barbaro Cavernario beat Master Wato, Tiger Mask & Dulce Gardenia. 3 pinned TM 4 with an inside cradle.

Match 4: BUSHI, Hiromu Takahasho, Tetsuya Naito & Titan beat Kosei Fujita, Sho, Ryusuke Taguchi & Soberano Jr. Titan pinned Fujita after a springboard double stomp.

Match 5: El Desperado, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Ultimo Guerrero beat Sho, Magia Blanca & Hechicero. Tanahashi pinned Hechicero after High Fly Flow.

Main Event: Templario & Atlantis Jr. beat Volador Jr. & Mistico. Templario pinned Volador after El Templo.

The next event is tomorrow at Osaka Municipal Central Gym Sub Arena in Osaka. It is a legit advance sellout. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET.

New Japan 2/22/23 Results

New Japan launched the return of CMLL FANTASTICAMANIA today, this 2023 edition marking the series’ return after a 3-year pandemic-induced hiatus. A crossover showcasing New Japan’s partnership with the Mexico-based lucha libre promotion, many of the top luchadors made the trip back to Japan for a week of these special events.

Today’s event was held at Takamatsu City General Gym 2 in Kagawa and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 768.

Match 1: Gedo & Taiji Isbimori beat Yuto Nakashima & Capitan Suicida. Ishimori beat Nakashima with Yes Lock.

Match 2: DOUKI & Yoshinobu Kanemaru beat Ryohei Oiwa & Magia Blanca. Kanemaru beat Oiwa with a Figure 4.

Match 3: Hijo De Villano 3, OKUMURA & Barbaro Cavernario beat Yoh, Tiger Mask & Dulce Gardenia. OKUNURA pinned Gardenia after OKUMURA backbreaker.

Match 4: BUSHI, Titan, Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito beat Kosei Fujita, Master Wato, Ryusuke Taguchi & Soberano Jr. Totan beat Fujita with Muta Lock.

Match 5: Sho, Templario & Hechicero beat Rey Cometa, El Desperado & Volador Jr. Hechicero pinned Cometa after Embrujo.

Main Event: Atlantis Jr. & Ultimo Guerrero beat Hiroshi Tanahashi & Mistico. Jr. pinned Mistico after Atlantida. On the CMLL side of things, that’s significant.

The next event is tomorrow at Kyoto KBS Hall in Kyoto. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at midnight PT/3 AM ET.

New Japan 2/18/23 Results

The start of New Japan’s latest US event yesterday was delayed nearly an hour due to technical issues with the PPV feed, causing me to miss the live event. They got it in though so here are the main show results:

The announced paid attendance was 2155. A legit advance sellout.

Match 1: Volador Jr., KUSHIDA, Kevin Knight & The DKC beat Rocky Romero, Josh Alexander, Adrian Quest & Mascara Dorada. Knight pinned Quest after a spike DDT.

Match 2: KENTA beat STRONG Openweight Champion Fred Rosser to win the title. KENTA becomes the 3rd STRONG Openweight Champion.

Match 3: STRONG Tag Team Champions Motor City Machine Guns beat West Coast Wrecking Crew to retain the titles. Chris Sabin pinned Jorel Nelson after Dirt Bomb. V3 for the champs.

Match 4: Eddie Kingston beat Jay White. As a result, White must leave New Japan.

Match 5: In a Filthy Rules Fight (No Ropes, No DQ), Tom Lawlor beat Homicide by ref stoppage.

Match 6: NJPW WORLD TV Champion Zack Sabre Jr. beat Clark Connors to retain the title. V2 for Sabre.

Match 7: Mercedes Mone beat IWGP Women’s Champion KAIRI to win the title. Mone becomes the second IWGP Women’s Champion.

Main Event: IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada beat Hiroshi Tanahashi to retain the title. V2 for Okada.

The next event is CMLL FANTASTICAMANIA 2023 beginning Wednesday at Takamatsu City General Gym 2 in Kagawa. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 2 AM PT/5 AM ET. The series runs one week with events every day except Saturday. All events will be televised.

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.

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