Tag: njpw

New Japan News: NEVER Openweight Title in Limbo?

This is currently unconfirmed but if you remember when Juice Robinson was stripped of the IWGP US Heavyweight Championship earlier this year, New Japan may have similar again with the NEVER Openweight Championship. Karl Anderson is scheduled to defend the title against Hikuleo on 11/5. Except The Good Brothers dropped a video today saying they’ll be in WWE that day-WWE is in Saudi Arabia for one of their big events there the Saudis are paying huge for. In response to this, fellow New Japan wrestler (and sort of international liaison) Rocky Romero demanded the belt be returned. No response yet from New Japan.

Original source: https://www.cagesideseats.com/wwe/2022/10/19/23413067/karl-anderson-wwe-crown-jewel-new-japan-title-defense-double-booked-statement

New Japan 10/19/22 Results

New Japan continued the BATTLE AUTUMN ’22 Tour today with the second in a stretch of 4 non-televised house shows.

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

The announced paid attendance was 610.

Match 1: DOUKI beat Kosei Fujita by submission.

Match 2: Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Yuto Nakashima & Togi Makabe. Sabre beat Nakashima with a reverse armbar.

Match 3: YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto beat Ryohei Oiwa, Ren Narita & David Finlay. YOSHI-HASHI beat Oiwa with Butterfly Lock.

Match 4: Aaron Henare, Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb beat Alex Zayne, Tomoaki Honma & Toru Yano. Henare pinned Honma after Streets Of Rage.

Match 5: Dick Togo, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL beat Jado, Ryusuke Taguchi, Hikuleo & Hiroyoshi Tenzan. Takahashi pinned Jado after Pimp Juice.

Match 6: Titan, BUSHI & Tetsuya Naito beat Gideon Gray, Francesco Akira & TJP. BUSHI pinned Gray after Angel Immortal.

Match 7: Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado beat Master Wato & Tiger Mask. Kanemaru pinned TM 4 after Touch Out.

Main Event: Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA & Shingo Takagi beat Gedo, Taiji Ishimori & KENTA. Takagi pinned Gedo after Last of the Dragon.

The next event is Friday at Iwate Prefectural Gym in Iwate. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

New Japan 10/17/22 Results

New Japan continues the BURNING AUTUMN Tour today, pausing the NJPW WORLD TV Title Tournament for a week of non-televised house shows.

Today’s event was held at Big Palette Fukushima in Fukushima, Japan. There was no live broadcast and no on demand video will be available.

The announced paid attendance was 510.

Match 1: Yuto Nakashima beat Ryohei Oiwa.

Match 2: YOSHI-HASHI & Toru Yano beat Gideon Gray & Great-O-Khan. YOSHI-HASHI beat Gray with Butterfly Lock.

Match 3: Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto beat Ren Narita & Togi Makabe. Goto pinned Makabe after GTR.

Match 4: Alex Zayne, Tiger Mask & David Finlay beat TAKA Michinoku, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Zack Sabre Jr. Zayne pinned TAKA after Cinnamon Twist.

Match 5: Dick Togo, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL beat Jado, Ryusuke Taguchi, Hikuleo & Hiroyoshi Tenzan. Takahashi pinned Jado after Pimp Juice.

Match 6: DOUKI, El Desperado & Taichi beat Gedo, Taiji Ishimori & KENTA. DOUKI pinned Gedo after Italian Stretch 32.

Match 7: Hiromu Takahashi & Shingo Takagi beat Master Wato & Tomoaki Honma. Takagi pinned Honma after Pumping Bomber.

Main Event: Titan, BUSHI, SANADA & Tetsuya Naito beat Francesco Akira, TJP, Aaron Henare & Jeff Cobb. Naito pinned Henare after Destino.

The next event is Wednesday at Aimesse Yamanashi in Yamanashi. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

In other news, the latest round of NJPW STRONG wrapped up this weekend with 2 title matches: First up, STRONG Openweight Champion Fred Rosser defended against Chris Dickinson. Ultimately the match ended in a Double Countout. As a result, Rosser retains the title. V4 for Rosser. After that, STRONG Tag Team Champions Aussie Open beat JR Kratos & Danny Limelight to retain the titles. V3 for the champs.

Back on the Japan side, IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions TJP & Francesco Akira vs. BUSHI & Titan for the titles has been added to 11/5 at Osaka Prefectural Gym. Finally, tonight will see fan voting open for the stip for the next KOPW 2022 Trophy match on 10/28 in New York City, a rematch between Shingo Takagi & E Phantasmo. The choices are a Street Fight (Phantasmo) or Last Daddy Standing aka Last Man Standing match (Takagi). Voting on Twitter begins at 9 PM ET/6 PM PT.

New Japan 10/16/22 Results

New Japan continued the BURNING AUTUMN Tour today with the 3rd day of the NJPW WORLD TV Title Tournament. Today’s matches would set the 3rd of the 4 Quarterfinals pairings.

Today’s event was held at Aore Nagaoka in Niigata and can be watched on demand on New Japan World in Japanese.

The announced paid attendance was 1545, a legit advance sellout.

Before the matches began, Hiromu Takahashi appeared and gave cheering instructions to the crowd.

Match 1: Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe beat Kosei Fujita & Ryohei Oiwa. Makabe pinned Oiwa.

Match 2: YOSHI-HASHI, Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii beat Gideon Gray, Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb. YOSHI-HASHI pinned Gray after Butterfly Lock.

Match 3: Dick Togo, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL beat Jado, Ryusuke Taguchi, Hikuleo & Hiroyoshi Tenzan, EVIL pinned Tenzan after EVIL.

Match 4: Ren Narita, Alex Zayne, Master Wato, Tiger Mask & David Finlay beat TAKA Michinoku, DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, El Desperado & Zack Sabre Jr. Zayne pinned TAKA after Cinnamon Twist.

Match 5: Hiromu Takahashi & Shingo Takagi beat Gedo & Taiji Ishimori. Takagi pinned Gedo after Pumping Bomber.

Toshiaki Kawada, one of the greatest wrestlers in Japan of the last 30+ years, joined commentary as a special guest here.

Match 6: Titan, BUSHI & Tetsuya Naito beat Francesco Akira, TJP & Aaron Henare, Titan pinned THP after Angel Immortal.

Match 7: NJPW WORLD TV Title Tournament: KENTA beat Hirooki Goto.

Main Event: NJPW WORLD TV Title Tournament: SANADA beat Taichi. It was close though-the win came with just 3 seconds left before the time limit. As a result, SANADA will face KENTA in the Quarterfinals. That match will happen on 10/30.

The next event is tomorrow at Big Palette Fukushima in Fukushima. There will be no live or on demand broadcast. None of the next 4 events will have video available. The next broadcast event will be next Sunday.

New Japan 10/15/22 Results

New Japan continued the BURNING AUTUMN ’22 tour today with the second half of the opening doubleheader. The first round of the NJPW World TV Title Tournament continued today.

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

The paid attendance has not yet been announced.

Match 1: TAKA Michinoku & Taichi beat Gedo & KENTA. Taichi beat Gedo with Taichi Gedo Clutch.

Match 2: Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto beat Ren Narita, Tonoaki Honma & Togi Makabe. Goto pinned Honma after GTR.

Match 3: Alex Zayne, Master Wato, Tiger Mask & David Finlay beat DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, El Desperado & Zack Sabre Jr. Finlay pinned DOUKI after Trash Panda.

Match 4: Sho & Yujiro Takahashi beat Jado & Hikuleo. Takahashi pinned Jado after Pimp Juice.

Match 5: Titan, BUSHI, SANADA & Tetsuya Naito beat Gideon Gray, Francesco Akira, TJP & Great-O-Khan. Titan pinned Gray after Angel Immortal.

Match 6: Hiromu Takahashi & Shingo Takagi beat Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo by DQ. Phantasmo DQ’d. Ref assault. Phantasmo then broke the KOPW 2022 Trophy again.

Match 7: NJPW World TV Title Tournament: EVIL beat Aaron Henare.

Main Event: NJPW World TV Title Tournament: YOSHI-HASHI beat Jeff Cobb. As a result, YOSHI-HASHI will face EVIL in Round 2. That match will happen on 10/27.

The next event is tomorrow at Aore Nagaoka in Niigata. Vocal cheering will be allowed and the event is a legit advance sellout. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET.

Obituary: Former New Japan Wrestler Dies

Tokyo Sports is reporting that Katsuya Kitamura, a former wrestler in New Japan from 2016-2019, died Wednesday in Japan. He was 36. The cause of death is unknown at this time, but reports are Kitamura felt unwell and called an ambulance, then his condition suddenly deteriorated.

After winning 3 consecutive Greco-Roman Wresting Championships in Japan in the 96kg (about 211 pounds) weight class, Kitamura joined New Japan in 2017 and won that year’s Young Lions Cup Tournament. But he suffered a concussion during an event in March 2018 and retired on January 31, 2019 following an injury in training. He became a bodybuilder and made his MMA debut in November at a RIZIN event in Japan, losing to Bobby Ologun by second round submission. Kitamura was also an active YouTuber and last posted to his channel on Sunday.

No official statement from New Japan yet but I would expect one in the next few days. We pray for Kitamura’s peace in the other world. RIP and God Bless.

New Japan 10/14/22 Results

New Japan kicked off the BATTLE AUTUMN ’22 Tour today, likely to be the last non-tournament series of the year that begins a heavy focus on Tokyo Dome on 1/4. Today also began the NJPW World TV Title Tournament, with the winner being crowned on 1/4.

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on New Japan World in Japanese FOR FREE! No signup or login required! English should be available in a few days. The event also streamed for free on ABEMA.

The announced paid attendance was 608.

Match 1: Ryohei Oiwa & Ren Narita beat Yuto Nakashima & Tomohiro Ishii. Narita beat Nakashima with a Figure 4.

Match 2: Rocky Romero, Master Wato, Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe beat TAKA Michinoku, DOUKI, El Desperado & Taichi. Wato beat TAKA with Vendeval.

Match 3: Dick Togo, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL beat Jado, Ryusuke Taguchi, Hikuleo & Hiroyoshi Tenzan. Takahashi pinned Jado after Pimp Juice.

Match 4: YOSHI-HASHI, Toru Yano & Hirooki Goto beat Aaron Henare, Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb. Yano pinned Henare.

Match 5: Titan, BUSHI & Tetsuya Naito beat Gideon Gray, Francesco Akira & TJP. Titan pinned Gray after Angel Immortal.

Match 6: Taiji Ishimori, El Phantasmo & KENTA beat Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA & Shingo Takagi by DQ. Takagi DQ’d. Chair use on Phantasmo.

NJPW World TV Title Tournament (15 minute time limit):
Match 7: David Finlay beat Yoshinobu Kanemaru.
Main Event: Zack Sabre Jr. beat Alex Zayne by submission. With 5 seconds left.

The next event is tomorrow. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 2:40 AM PT/5:30 AM ET.

New Japan 10/10/22 Results (Updated x3)

New Japan ran their fall blowout event today, dubbed “Declaration Of Power” this year today, although the mood was somber as this was the first event held (excluding the England doubleheader) since the death of New Japan founder & Hall of Fame wrester Antonio Inoki, who was going to be named Honorary Lifetime Chairman today.

Today’s event was held at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on New Japan World in Japanese & English.

The announced paid attendance was 4059. This event aired as part of WORLD PRO WRESTLING LIVE 2022 on TV Asahi. Jushin Thunder Liger is the guest on Japanese commentary.

Before the event began, Oleg Boltin joined the promotion, introduced by Yuji Nagata. A 10 Bell Salute was then held for Antonio Inoki.

Match 1: Ren Narita Return Home Match: Ren Narita, Robbie Eagles & David Finlay beat DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado. Narita pinned DOUKI with a front suplex hold.

Match 2: Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Bad Dude Tito & Shane Haste. Sabre beat Tito with European Clutch.

Match 3: Ryusuke Taguchi, Hikuleo & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL. Taguchi pinned Sho.

Match 4: Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb beat YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto. Cobb pinned YOSHI-HASHI after Tour of the Islands.

Match 5: BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA & Tetsuya Naito beat Francesco Akira, TJP, Aaron Henare & Will Ospreay. BUSHI pinned Akira after MX. After the match, Titan (CMLL) appeared to join LIJ after interfering late in the match.

During intermission, a new title was introduced-the New Japan World TV Championship. Determination tournament forthcoming to crown inaugural champion.

Match 6: Master Wato beat Taiji Ishimori.

Match 7: In a Who’s Your Daddy Match, where the loser had to call the winner Daddy on microphone, KOPW 2022 Trophy Holder Shingo Takagi beat El Phantasmo to retain the trophy. But the trophy was destroyed afterwards.

Match 8: Kazuchika Okada beat Jonah.

Main Event: IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Jay White beat Tama Tonga to retain the title. V2 for White. Next up: Unless plans unexpectedly change, Okada at Tokyo Dome on 1/4/23.

The next event is the Battle Autumn ’22 Tour beginning Friday at Korakuen Hall. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin Friday at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET and this event will be available FOR FREE!

UPDATE: Instead of making the Inoki announcement today, they announced that the 1/4/23 event will be held in honor & memory of Inoki.

UPDATE 2: Regarding the NJPW TV Championship, it was created to celebrate the promotion’s partnership with TV Asahi, their primary broadcast partner in Japan, and New Japan World. A tournament to crown the inaugural champion will start Friday and will conclude on 1/4/23.

UPDATE 3: A 1/4/23 Press Conference will be held tomorrow and will be streamed FOR FREE on YouTube LIVE TONIGHT at 11 PM PT/2 AM ET on the New Japan World YouTube channel (only in Japanese).

BREAKING: New Japan 10/10 Card Changes Coming (Updated)

New Japan has just announced a pending change to their major Monday event at Ryogoku Kokugikan-once again KUSHIDA is out. Still recovering from hand, foot and mouth disease and will not be cleared. He was to have faced IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Taiji Ishimori in a NON-TITLE match. Card changes TBA before the event.

More as it becomes available.

UPDATE: The changes have been announced. Ishimori will now face Master Wato in a NON-TITLE match and, because Wato was scheduled to be in the 3rd match, which was an 8-man tag, that match is now Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hikuleo & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL. Dick Togo is now off.

New Japan 10/2/22 Results (Updated)

New Japan ran the second half of ROYAL QUEST 2 today, wrapping up their return to England for the first time since 2019.

Today’s event was held at Crystal Palace National Sports Center in London, England and will be available on demand on New Japan World at a later date. There was no live broadcast.

The paid attendance has not yet been announced. It has since been revealed that yesterday’s paid attendance was 2137, a legit sellout. As of last week tickets may still have been available for today so I again will predict roughly 2000 for today.

Match 1: DOUKI & El Desperado beat Robbie X & Michael Oku. DOUKI pinned X after El Es Ciero.

Match 2: Hiromu Takahashi & SANADA beat Luke Jacobs & Ethan Allen. SANADA beat Allen with Skull End.

Match 3: IWGP Women’s Championship Tournament: Jazzy Gabert beat Ava White (Alpha Female).

Match 4: Gideon Gray, Aussie Open, Great-O-Khan & Will Ospreay beat Ricky Knight Jr., Gabriel Kidd, SHota Umino & FTR. Khan pinned ? after Eliminator.

Match 5: Hikuleo, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tama Tonga beat Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson & Jay White. Tonga pinned Gallows after Gun Stun.

Match 6: Kazuchika Okada beat Bad Dude Tito.

Match 7: Tomohiro Ishii beat TBA, who turned out to be Yota Tsuji. This was to have been Ishii vs. Jonah, but Jonah missed the weekend’s events due to travel issues.

Main Event: Tetsuya Naito beat Zack Sabre Jr.

The next event is DECLARATION OF POWER on 10/10 at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo. The current card so far:
KUSHIDA vs. Taiji Ishimori
Kazuchika Okada vs. Jonah
Ren Narita Return Home Match: Ren Narita vs. TBA
KOPW 2022 Trophy Holder Shingo Takagi vs. El Phantasmo in a Who’s Your Daddy Match for the title. Normal rules but the loser must call the winner their daddy after the match
IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Jay White vs. Tama Tonga for the title
Live streaming on New Japan World will begin on 10/10 at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET.

UPDATE: Based on New Japan’s English recap, and combined with the Day 1 report on the Japanese recap, the announced paid attendance for Day 2 was 1966. That’s about 98% normal capacity for the venue so just a few short of a sellout.

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