Tag: njpw

New Japan News: 2023 New Japan Cup Bracket Announced

New Japan announced the entire field for the 2023 New Japan Cup today, their annual March singles tournament. After a whopping 50 man field last year for the promotion’s 50th Anniversary, it’s back down to a much more reasonable 24 this year in the tournament’s usual single-elimination format, and it’s back to all Heavyweights. The promotion also confirmed the tournament winner will get an IWGP World Heavyweight Championship opportunity at SAKURA GENESIS on 4/8 at Ryogoku Kokugikan, presumably against Saturday’s Kazuchika Okada-Hiroshi Tanahashi winner.

The first-round matchups are set as the whole bracket was revealed:
First-round byes: KENTA, Chase Owens, Jeff Cobb, Will Ospreay, Hirooki Goto, Tama Tonga, Great-O-Khan, Zack Sabre Jr.
Round 1 matches:
3/5: SANADA vs. Taichi, Tetsuya Naito vs. El Phantasmo
3/6: David Finlay vs. Tomohiro Ishii, Shota Umino vs. Yujiro Takahashi
3/8: Ren Narita vs. EVIL, Toru Yano vs. Mark Davis
3/10: YOSHI-HASHI vs. Kyle Fletcher, Shingo Takagi vs. Aaron Henare
Round 2: 3/11, 3/12, 3/13, 3/15
Quarterfinals: 3/17, 3/18
Semifinals: 3/19
Finals: 3/21
Zack Sabre Jr. is the defending tournament champion.

Also announced for the Finals on 3/21 is IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi vs. Lio Rush for the title.

All New Japan Cup events will air live in Japanese and English on New Japan World.

New Japan 2/11/23 Results

New Japan ran THE NEW BEGINNING in OSAKA today, the end of their traditional year-opening tour and a blowout event that would settle many things including potentially the main event of next week’s US event. Whoever emerged from the main event as IWGP World Heavyweight Champion will defend the title on 2/18.

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

The announced paid attendance was 4055. Back to close to full capacity, with the setup that probably was around 70-75% full.

Match 1: Aaron Henare & Great-O-Khan beat Oskar Leube & Toru Yano. Henare pinned Leube after Rampage.

Match 2: BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA & Tetsuya Naito beat Ryusuke Taguchi, Tiger Mask, Shota Umino & Tomoaki Honma. Takahashi pinned Taguchi after TIME BOMB 2. Afterwards, a video played which was Lio Rush issuing an IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship challenge to Takahashi.

Match 3: Taiji Ishimori beat Master Wato.

Match 4: Hiroshi Tanahashi beat KENTA.

The time came where House Of Torture had to defend the NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Championship or be stripped of the titles in light of EVIL continuously refusing to do so. They did finally agree to. Which led to…
Match 5: Ren Narita, El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki beat NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Champions Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL to win the titles. Narita, Desperado & Suzuki become the 25th NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Champions. Narita beat Takahashi with a cobra twist. Afterwards, Suzuki announced their new faction/team will be known as Strong Style.

Match 6: In a Loser Leaves Japan Match, Hikuleo beat Jay White. As a result, White must leave Japan. I have read rumors that White’s contract with New Japan has expired, so we’ll see what happens.

Match 7: NEVER Openweight Champion Tama Tonga beat El Phantasmo to retain the title. V1 for Tonga. And to make it even more memorable, he won with Jay Driller, the late Jay Briscoe’s finisher. REACH FOR THE SKY, BOY!

Main Event: IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada beat Shingo Takagi to retain the title. V1 for Okada. As a result, Okada will defend the title on 2/18 in San Jose, CA. The opponent…Okada called his shot…Tanahashi!!! Ace vs. Rainmaker…reminiscent of 11 years ago here when Okada beat Tanahashi to become champion…they last had a title match 5 years ago, and now…One Last Time?

The next event is Battle In The Valley on 2/18 at San Jose Civic Center in San Jose, CA. The event is a legit advance sellout. Live streaming as a PPV on FITE will begin with a FREE pre-show at 6:20 PM PT/9:20 PM ET. The PPV will be in English for $19.99. It’s also available on New Japan World in Japanese but be aware that will cost, dependent on if a subscription is required, at least $8-15 more. The matches will also be broadcast on the newly-rebranded STRONG On Demand on New Japan World and FITE in the near future, possibly in March.

BREAKING: New Japan Orders 2/11 Title Match

In response to the repeated refusals by the champions, and in particular EVIL, New Japan has just announced an order for Saturday’s event in Osaka: Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL MUST defend the NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Championship against El Desperado, Ren Narita & Minoru Suzuki. If they do not, they will be STRIPPED OF THE TITLES. However, whether or not the challengers would be awarded the titles if this happens was not made clear. Stay tuned.

New Japan 2/9/23 Results (Updated)

New Japan wrapped up the Road to THE NEW BEGINNING Tour with what likely will be the last non-televised house show for some time with major events and tournaments on tap for the next 2 months.

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

The announced paid attendance was 653.

Match 1: Aaron Henare beat Ryohei Oiwa.

Match 2: Great-O-Khan beat Kosei Fujita by submission.

Match 3: Toru Yano beat Oskar Leube.

Match 4: BUSHI & SANADA beat Tiger Mask & Tomoaki Honma. BUSHI pinned TM 4.

Match 5: Dick Togo, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL beat Yuto Nakashima, El Desperado, Ren Narita & Minoru Suzuki. Takahashi pinned Nakashima after Pimp Juice. There is a potential Saturday development ongoing here as EVIL is continuously refusing the NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Title match against Narita/Desperado/Suzuki.

Match 6: Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito beat Ryusuke Taguchi, Shota Umino & Kazuchika Okada. Takagi pinned Taguchi after MADE IN JAPAN.

Main Event: In an Elimination Match, Jado, Master Wato, Tama Tonga, Hikuleo & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Gedo, Taiji Ishimori, El Phantasmo, KENTA & Jay White. Tanahashi was the only winner remaining. Afterwards, Tonga & Wato joined Tanahashi in a triple air guitar show to send the crowd home happy.

The next event is THE NEW BEGINNING in OSAKA Saturday at Osaka Prefectural Gym in Osaka. Live streaming on New Japan World in Japanese & English will begin at midnight PT/3 AM ET.

UPDATE: It has been announced that in response to EVIL’s repeated refusals, if H.O.T does not defend Saturday, they will be STRIPPED OF THE NEVER 6-MAN TAG TEAM TITLES.

BREAKING: Another Title Match for NJPW on 2/18

New Japan just announced on Twitter that after accepting an open challenge from the champion, NJPW WORLD TV Champion Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Clark Connors for the title has been added to Battle in the Valley on 2/18 in San Jose, CA. That’s now 4 title matches scheduled for the event.

Tickets are sold out so make sure to pre-order the PPV on FITE (it’s also on New Japan World as a PPV if you want Japanese but it will cost roughly $7 more).

New Japan News: Antonio Inoki Farewell Party Announced

In what likely will be the final ceremonial event for founder/longtime owner and legend Antonio Inoki, who died in late 2022, New Japan has announced a special farewell party that will be open to the public. It will be a 2-part event with both parts held on 3/7 (the day after New Japan’s annual Anniversary Event) at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo: Part 1 will be a ticketed memorial ceremony where those attending will be given flowers to leave for Inoki and special gifts for attending (a special Inoki towel and message card) while Part 2 will be a flower offering ceremony open to the general public with no ticket required. Tickets for Part 1 will be 10,000 yen (around $77 US) with the lower box seats for 2 people available at that same price. For those who cannot attend but want to participate, they can purchase a flower bouquet online for 6000 yen (around $45 US) and they will receive the special gifts by mail at a later date. That package will be available from 2/16-3/31 via New Japan’s Japanese online shop.

If the event is postponed or cancelled, ticket holders for Part 1 will receive refunds.

DEVELOPING: NJPW-Impact Joint PPV Announced

As part of what will be WrestleMania Weekend in Los Angeles, CA, New Japan and Impact Wrestling have announced a joint PPV for March 30, 2023 at 11 PM ET/8 PM PT. Dubbed “Multiverse United: Only The STRONG Survive”, the event will see multiple crossover matches between both sides with 3 matches already announced: Jeff Cobb vs. Moose, Mike Bailey vs. Will Ospreay and Impact World Champion Josh Alexander vs. KUSHIDA for the title (assuming, presumably, Alexander beats Rich Swann on 2/24 to retain the title. Also announced are Trey Miguel, Chris Bey. Ace Austin, most of the Knockouts roster, KENTA, Minoru Suzuki, Rocky Romero, Clark Connors, Kevin Knight and Fred Rosser among others.

Tickets go on sale Friday and the PPV will air live on FITE. The event will be held at the Globe Theater on LA.

More as it becomes available.

New Japan 2/8/23 Results

New Japan ran the penultimate event of the Road to THE NEW BEGINNING Tour today, the quick final build to Saturday’s major event in Osaka.

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

The announced paid attendance was 606.

Match 1: Yuto Nakashima vs. Kosei Fujita went to a 10 minute time limit draw.

Match 2: Aaron Henare & Great-O-Khan beat Oskar Leube & Toru Yano. Henare pinned Leube after Rampage.

Match 3: Hiromu Takahashi & SANADA beat Tiger Mask & Togi Malabe. Takahashi pinned TM 4 with Nameless Hiromu Roll.

Match 4: YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat Tomoaki Honma & Hiroyoshi Tenzan. YOSHI-HASHI pinned Tenzan after Shoto.

Match 5: Dick Togo, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL beat Ryohei Oiwa, Ren Narita, El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki. Takahashi pinned Oiwa after Pimp Juice.

Match 6: Gedo, El Phantasmo, Taiji Ishimori, KENTA & Jay White beat Jado, Master Wato, Hikuleo, Tama Tonga & Hiroshi Tanahashi. KENTA beat Jado with GAME OVER.

Main Event: Yoh, Shota Umino & Kazuchika Okada beat BUSHI, Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi. Okada pinned BUSHI after Rainmaker.

The tour-ender is tomorrow at Saku City General Gym in Nagano. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

New Japan TAMASHII 2/3/23 & 2/4/23 Results

After a very successful debut late last year, New Japan ran the second round of TAMASHII events last week, the new sub-label focusing on talent from Australia, New Zealand & the Pacific Islands/Australasia region including trainees at the New Zealand Dojo, which is overseen by New Japan’s Bad Luck Fale as lead trainer.

The results from both events are below. There was no live broadcast but they may be available on demand on New Japan World at a later date (if it turns out like the first events, it’s going to be a few months).

Friday:
This event was held at Selina’s Entertainment Center in Sydney, Australia.

The paid attendance was not announced but it was a legit sellout.

Pre-Show Match: Jessica Troy beat Charlie Evans.

Match 1: Paris De Silva & Jude London beat Nikolai Anton Bell & Jordan Allen-Wright. De Silva pinned Bell after Shooting Star Press.

Match 2: Carter Deams beat Jake Taylor by submission.

Match 3: Mick Moretti & Andrew Hoffman beat Richard Mulu & Viktor Langras. Moretti pinned Langras after a wheelbarrow double stomp.

Match 4: Aussie Open beat Bad Luck Fale & Jack Bonza by DQ. Bonza DQ’d.

Match 5: Lyrebird LuchI beat Andrew Villalobos.

Match 6: Ricky South beat Michael Richards.

Main Event: Robbie Eagles beat Aaron Solo by submission.

Saturday:
This event was held at The Croxton in Melbourne, Australia.

The paid attendance was not announced but it was very close to a sellout if not sold out.

Match 1: Gore & Jake Andrewartha beat Nikolai Anton Bell & Shep Alexander. Gore pinned Alexander after Dominator.

Match 2: Richard Mulu beat Jarvis.

Match 3: Bad Luck Fale & Jack Bonza beat Andrew Villalobos & Michael Richarda. Bonza beat Villalobos with STF.

Match 4: Tome & Stevie Filip beat Jake Taylor & Jordan-Allen Wright. Tome Filip pinned Allen-Wright after Air Raid Crash.

Match 5: Mitch Waterman beat Lyrebird Luchi by DQ.

Match 6: Aaron Solo beat Slex.

Match 7: Kyle Fletcher beat Robbie Eagles.

Main Event: Caveman Ugh beat Aaron Henare.

New Japan Pro Wrestling “THE NEW BEGINNING in SAPPORO” Results (2/5/23) (Updated x2)

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.

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