Tag: njpw

Apparently Taiji Ishinori thinks he’s superhuman and capable of being reckless & doing ridiculous things, and convinced New Japan to let him to it again today so they presented “Superhuman Taiji Ishinori Gets Even More Ridiculous”.

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on New Japan World as a PPV in Japanese. It is available outside Japan for $22.99 US.

The announced paid attendance was 1562, a legit sellout.

The event consisted of a 2 Hour Iron Man Battle Royal divided into several blocks, with Ishimori facing groups of wrestlers.

Part 1: Pre-Block: Ishimori went 1-1 vs. Katsuya Murashima, Daiki Nagai & Jun Kasai.

Part 2: Secret Block: Ishimori went 1-6vs. Mohammed Yone, LEONA, Atsushi Kotoge, Shiro Koshinaka, Jun Akiyama, Dump Matsunoto and Brahmans Shu & Kei.

Part 3: Tohoku Block: Ishimori went 1-2 vs. Ryusuke Taguchi, Yoh, Dick Togo, TAKA Michinoku, The Great Sasuke, Shuji Ishikawa & MAO.

Part 4: Muscle Block: Ishimori went 3-0 vs. Yoh, MAO, Titan, Sho, Hyo, Koju Takeda, Boltin Oleg, Ryohei Oiwa & Drilla Moloney.

Block 5: Ishimori went 5-1 vs. MAO, Shun Skywalker, Kagetora, Dragon Dia, Ryuji Ito, Shingo Takagi, Tatsumi Fujibami and Kazuki Hirata. Ishimori finishes the 2 hours at 11-10.

Main Event: Taiji Ishimori beat Gedo.

At the end, it was announced Ishimori will get even more ridiculous one more time on 11/12 at Shinjuku Face, and announced for that event was Ishimori vs. Dragon Kid.

Regular programming will now resume with the next event Thursday at Komatsu General Gym in Ishikawa. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 3 AM PT/6 AM ET.

New Japan continued the Road To KING OF PRO WRESTLING 2025 Tour today in Tokyo.

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

The announced paid attendance was 1161.

Pre-show match: Zane Jay & Masatora Yasuda beat Tatsuya Matsunoto & Shoma Kato. Yasuda pinned Matsunoto.

Match 1: Katsuya Murashima & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Jado & El Phantasmo. Tanahashi pinned Jado after High Fly Flow.

Match 2: Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney beat Yosjinobu Kanemaru & SANADA by countout. SANADA counted out.

Match 3: Dick Togo, Sho, Don Fale & EVIL beat Tiger Mask, KUUKAI, Toru Yano & Boltin Oleg. Sho pinned TM 4 after Shock Arrow.

Match 4: Titan, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji beat Gedo, Taiji Ishimori, David Finlay & Gabriel Kidd. Takahashi pinned Gedo after Trauma.

Match 5: Shota Unino beat OSKAR.

Match 6: Yuya Uemura beat Yuto Ice (Ice Baby) by submission.

Main Event: DOUKI beat IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion El Desperado by ref stoppage (KO) to win the title. DOUKI becomes the 99th IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion. Sho interference caused the KO-weapon use during Italian Stretch 32. I figured a change would happen here as DOUKI lost the title to Desperado at Tokyo Dome due to injury, but this fully cements his heel turn as part os House Of Torture. Next up: TBA but I have a feeling it’ll be at Tokyo Dome.

The next event is “Superhuman Taiji Ishimori Gets Even More Ridiculous” tomorrow. Live streaming on New Japan World as a PPV will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET. The PPV is available for pre-order for $22.99 US.

New Japan kicked off the Road To KING OF PRO WRESTLING 2025 Tour today, a quick one-week tour leading to the likely final blowout event of the year and one of the Tokyo Dome main event matches.

Today’s event was held at Tokei Security Hiratsuka General Gym in Kanagawa and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 777. Jackpot!

Match 1: Tatsuya Matsumoto & Katsuya Murashima beat Zane Jay & Masatora Yasuda. Murashima pinned Jay.

Match 2: Shota Umino beat Daiki Nagai.

Match 3: Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & SANADA went to a double countout.

Match 4: Jado & El Phantasmo beat Shoma Kato & Hiroshi Tanahashi. Phantasmo pinned Kato after Thunder Kiss ’86.

Match 5: Tiger Mask, KUUKAI, El Desperado, Toru Yano & Boltin Oleg beat Dick Togo, Sho, DOUKI, Don Fale & EVIL. KUUKAI pinned Togo after Cancion de Coona. KUUKAI is an outsider brought in for some upcoming events.

Match 6: OSKAR & Yuto Ice (Ice Baby) beat Tomoaki Honma & Tuya Uemura by ref stoppage (technical submission). OSKAR beat Honma with a sleeper hold.

Main Event: Titan, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji beat Gedo, Taiji Ishimori, David Finlay & Gabriel Kidd. Tsuji pinned Gedo after Gene Blaster.

The next event is HISTORIC X-OVER in Guangzhou, another crossover event with Stardom, tomorrow at Barley 66LiveHouse in Guangzhou, China. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

The tour continues Monday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET.

At their traditional post-blowout event press conference today in Tokyo, New Japan announced the full 8 match card for KING OF PRO WRESTLING 2025, the likely last such event of the year, on 10/13 at Ryogoku Kokugikan. As expected, the main event will be IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Konosuke Takeshita for the title as Takeshita is doing a Sabre from last year and cashing in his G1 CLIMAX winning prize of a title shot at Tokyo Dome early. It paid off for Sabre, will it happen again? The winner is all but going into 1/4 as champion.

Match 7 will be IWGP Global Champion Gabriel Kidd vs. Yota Tsuji for the title. History actually favors Tsuji slightly as he has an 11-10-2 record against Kidd in single matches.

Match 6 will be NEW IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions OSKAR & Yuto Ice (Ice Baby) vs. Yuya Uemura & Shota Umino for the titles. The history here is when Yuto debuted in 2021 as Yuto Nakashima, his debut match against Uemura barely lasted a minute before he suffered an elbow injury that cost him most of his rookie year. I remember watching that match live on New Japan World, so devastating but an incredible comeback nonetheless.

Match 5 will be MEVER Openweight Champion Boltin Oleg vs. EVIL for the title. Because he is EVIL (…*bad sync-dubbing* INDEEEEEEEED!) and never far from those NEVER titles and will try to become a 4-tome champion.

Match 4 will be NJPW WORLD TV Champion El Phantasmo vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi for the title. This is a 20th Anniversary match for Phantasmo and probably Tanahashi’s last chance at a title before retirement at Tokyo Dome.

The first 3 matches in order are Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi & Titan vs. David Finlay, Taiji Ishimori & Clark Connors, Drilla Moloney vs. SANADA and Yoh, YOSHI-HASHI & the returning Hirooki Goto vs. Ryohei Oiwa, Hartley Jackson & Kosei Fujita.

The event will be available live and on demand OUTSIDE JAPAN ONLY on New Japan World beginning on 10/13 at midnight PT/3 AM ET. It will be a live & exclusive TV Asahi broadcast in Japan.

DESTRUCTION, New Japan’s annual September Kobe blowout event, is now in the books.

Today’s event was held at Kobe World Hall in Kobe and can be watched on demand OUTSIDE JAPAN ONLY on New Japan World. This event aired live in Japan as part of WORLD PRO WRESTLING LIVE 2025 exclusively on TV Asahi.

The announced paid attendance was 4672.

Match 1: Yoh, YOSHI-HASHI, El Desperado, YUya Uemura & Shota Umino beat Sho, DOUKI, SANADA, Dick Togo & EVIL. Uemura pinned Togo after a Frankensteiner.

Match 2: Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Great-O-Khan. Afterwards, Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Kaito Kiyomiya appeared and asked Tanahashi to make one last appearance there before retirement, namely at their 10/11 event at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo.

Match 3: NEVER Openweight Champion Boltin Oleg beat Don Fale to retain the title. V2 for Oleg. Next up: EVIL.

Match 4: OSKAR & Yuto Ice beat IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Taichi & Tomohiro Ishii to win the titles. OSKAR & Ice become the 111th IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. Ice pinned Taichi after K.O.B. Next up: Umino & Uemura. And we’d better get Ice coming out to “Ice Ice Baby” at least once.

Match 5: GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi beat Taiji Ishimori to retain the title. V1 for Takahashi. Afterwards, Eita appeared and attacked Takahashi. Eita gets the next title shot in NOAH on 10/11, which was announced before this match came together last week. It was originally against Takahashi but had Ishimori won he would have defended against Eita on that date.

Match 6: Yota Tsuji beat David Finlay.

Match 7: IWGP Global Champion Gabriel Kidd beat Shingo Takagi to retain the title. V2 for Kidd Next up: Tsuji.

Main Event: IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr. beat Ren Narita to retain the title. V2 for Sabre. Next up: As previously announced, Konosuke Takeshita on 10/13 at Ryogoku Kokugikan. And given the rest of the year after that will be the annual fall/winter tag team tournaments (Super Junior Tag League and World Tag League) and some other special events, it’s all but guaranteed the 10/13 winner is going to Tokyo Dome as champion.

The next event is Saturday at Tokei Security Hiratsuka General Gym in Kanagawa to start the Road To KING OF PRO WRESTLING 2025 Tour. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET. All 4 tour events are scheduled for live and on demand broadcasts.

At today’s New Japan press conference ahead of DESTRUCTION tomorrow, Hirooki Goto appeared and announced that he will return on 10/13 at KING OF PRO WRESTLING at Ryogoku Kokugikan. He has been out the last few months due to injury that also forced him to miss the G1 CLIMAX 35. As far as a return match, details TBA. Goto was also away for a time filming the new “Street Fighter” movie in which he will play E. Honda alongside fellow wrestlers Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns from WWE.

More as it becomes available.

New Japan wrapped up their fall Hokkaido tour today with the final event of the series.

Today’s event was held at Kita Gas Arena Sapporo 46 in Hokkaido and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 2038.

Pre-show match: Zane Jay & Masatora Yasuda beat Tatsuya Matsunoto & Katsuya Murashima. Yasuda pinned Matsumoto.

Match 1: Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Master Wato.

Match 2: Tomoaki Honma, Toru Yano & Togo Malabe beat Shoma Kato, Ryusuke Taguchi & Tiger Mask. Makabe pinned Kato.

Match 3: Yuya Uemura, Shota Umino & Boltin Oleg beat Dick Togo, EVIL & Don Fale. Unino pinned Togo after a Frankensteiner.

Match 4: TAKA Michinoku, Taichi & Tomohiro Ishii beat Gedo, OSKAR & Yuto Ice. Taichi pinned Gedo after Tensho Cross Fang.

Matxh 5: Taiji Ishimori, David Finlay & Gabrie Kidd beat Hiromu Takahashi, Yota Tsuji & Shingo Takagi. Ishimori pinned Takahashi with Gedo Clutch. This could lead to a potential GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship match as Takahashi is the champion but that partly is up to Pro Wrestling NOAH.

Match 6: Yujiro Takahashi, SANADA & Ren Narita beat Hartley Jackson, Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. by DQ. Jackson DQ’d. Guitar shot fake out by SANADA.

Match 7: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions DOUKI & Sho beat Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles to retain the titles. DOUKI pinned Fujita. V2 for the champs.

Main Event: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion El Desperado beat Yoh to retain the title. V8 for Desperado. Next up: Possibly DOUKI, who lost the title to Desperado due to injury.

The next event is DESTRUCTION, the annual September blowout event, Sunday at Kobe World Hall in Kobe. Live streaming on New Japan World OUTSIDE JAPAN ONLY will begin at midnight PT/3 AM ET. This will be a live & exclusive TV Asahi broadcast in Japan.

UPDATE: Takahashi-Ishimori for the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship has been added to DESTRUCTION. The winner will defend vs. Eita in Pro Wrestling NOAH next month as previously announced.

UPDATE 2: Pro Wrestling NOAH has confirmed the above GHC title matches including the winner facing Eita on 10/11.

New Japan continued their Hokkaido fall tour today with another non-televised event.

Today’s event was held at Kitami Sports Center in Hokkaido. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 771.

There were last-minute changes due to Yota Tsuji being removed from the card again. The always-vague poor health.

Match 1: Masatora Yasuda beat Zane Jay.

Match 2: Shoma Kato & Tiger Mask beat Tatsuya Matsunoto & Katsuya Murashima. Kato pinned Matsumoto.

Match 3: Dick Togo, EVIL & Don Fale beat Tomoaki Honma, Shota Umino & Boltin Oleg. EVIL pinned Honma after Magic Killer.

Match 4: David Finlay & Gabriel Kidd beat Daiki Nagai & Shingo Takagi. Finlay pinned Magai after Into Oblivion.

Match 5: Taiji Ishimori, OSKAR & Yuto Ice beat TAKA Michinoku, Taichi & Tomohiro Ishii. Ice pinned TAKA after K.O.B.

Match 6: Ryusuke Taguchi, Yuya Uemura, Hiroshi Tanahashi & El Desperado beat Togi Makabe, Toru Yano, Master Wato & Yoh. Uemura pinned Makabe after a Frankensteiner.

Main Event: Kosei Fujita, Robbie Eagles, Hartley Jackson, Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. beat DOUKI, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi, SANADA & Ren Narita. Oiwa pinned Takahashi after The Grip.

The next event is Saturday at Yakumo City Gym. There will be bo live or on demand broadcast