News, results & more from Japanese Pro Wrestling & Sumo
Pro Wrestling NOAH announced on Twitter a short time ago that Kinya Okada & Yasutaka Yano are leaving the promotion, presumably effective immediately. It seems to be by mutual agreement but no further details were released. An official statement has also been posted on NOAH’s website but that also said nothing further.
More as it becomes available.
Pro Wrestling NOAH continued the SUNNY VOYAGE 2023 Tour today with an event that promised a Stormy Voyage of a main event as a heated rivalry resumed.
Today’s event was held at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.
The announced paid attendance was 455. A legit advance sellout. No same-day tickets were sold.
Match 1: Manabu Soya beat Taishi Ozawa. Borderline squash, it went just 88 seconds.
Match 2: Yoshinari Ogawa, Chris Ridgeway & Daga beat Shuji Kondo, Hajime Ohara & Hi69. Daga pinned Hi69 after a piledriver. (Update: After this match/event Hi69 left Kongo)
Match 3: Sean Legacy beat Stallion Rogers.
Match 4: HAYATA & Eita beat Dante Leon & Junta Miyawaki. HAYATA pinned Miyawaki after 403 Impact.
Match 5: Go Shiozaki, Kaito Kiyomiya, Masa Kitamiya, Daiki Inaba & Yoshiki Inamura beat Naomichi Marufuji, Takashi Sugiura, Shuhei Taniguchi, Mohammed Yone & Akitoshi Saito. Kiyomiya pinned Saito after Shining Wizard.
Match 6: GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions YO-HEY & Tadasuke beat Atsushi Kotoge & Seiki Yoshioka to retain the titles. Tadasuke pinned Kotoge after Good Looking Piledriver. V2 for the champs. Next up: Chris Ridgeway & Daga. That match will happen on 6/22 at Korakuen Hall.
Main Event: Kenoh vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima went to a 45 minute time limit draw.
The next event is ALL TOGETHER AGAIN, a New Japan/All-Japan/NOAH crossover event for charity, on 6/9 at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo. Live streaming on New Japan World as a PPV will begin at 2 AM PT/5 AM ET.
The next NOAH standalone event is 6/10 at Yokohama Radiant Hall in Yokohama. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 12:30 AM PT/3:30 AM ET.
Pro Wrestling NOAH continued the SUNNY VOYAGE 2023 Tour today with a house show in Niigata.
Today’s event was held at Bandaijima Multipurpose Hall Large Hall in Niigata and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date (likely Wednesday). There was no live broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 582.
Match 1: Hajime Ohara beat Taishi Ozawa.
Match 2: Dante Leon & Super Crazy beat HAYATA & Lancelot. Leon pinned Lancelot after Dante Driver.
Match 3: Kenoh, Manabu Soya & Hi69 beat Sean Legacy, Extreme Tiger & Stallion Rogers. Hi69 pinned Tiger after Stuka Splash.
Match 4: Masa Kitamiya & Yoshiki Inamura beat Naomichi Marufuji & Mohammed Yone. Inamura pinned Yone after Unrivaled.
Match 5: Yoshinari Ogawa, Chris Ridgeway & Daga beat AMAKUSA, Junta Miyawaki & Alejandro. Ridgeway beat Miyawaki with a sleeper hold.
Match 6: Takashi Sugiura, Shuhei Taniguchi, Atsushi Kotovge & Seiki Yoshioka beat Jake Lee, Anthony Greene, YO-HEY & Tadasuke. Sugiura beat Greene with a front neck lock.
Main Event: Go Shiozaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima beat Kaito Kiyomiya & Daiki Inaba. Shiozaki pinned Inaba after Go Lariat.
The next event is Wednesday at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo and includes a GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship match. The event is a legit advance sellout. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET.
Pro Wrestling NOAH continued the SUNNY VOYAGE 2023 Tour today with an event headlined by an All-Japan World Tag Team Championship match. Kenoh & Manabu Soya are the champions but Suwama & KONO were looking to take the title back to All-Japan.
Today’s event was held at Kobe Sambo Hall in Kobe and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date (probably Wednesday). There was no live broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 891, a full house/near sellout. That’s the biggest crowd by a considerable amount for anyone in the venue since at least pre-pandemic.
Match 1: Hajime Ohara & Hi69 beat Alejandro & Super Crazy. Ohara beat Alejandro with Muy Bien.
Match 2: HAYATA, Dragon Bane & Lancelot beat Dante Leon, Extreme Tiger & Alpha Wolf. Bane pinned Wolf after Koura Del Dragon.
Match 3: Kazuyuki Fujita, Kendo Ka Shin, Masato Tanaka & Dave The Clown beat Masa Kitamiya, Yoshiki Inamura, Daiki Inaba & Shuhei Taniguchi. Clown pinned Inaba after a package piledriver.
Match 4: Yoshinari Ogawa, Chris Ridgeway & Sean Legacy beat Kaito Kiyomiya, AMAKUSA & Junta Miyawaki. Legacy pinned Miyawaki after Shambles.
Match 5: Daga beat Eita.
Match 6: Go Shiozaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima beat Masakatsu Funaki & Shuji Kondo. Shiozaki pinned Kondo after Go Lariat.
Match 7: Jake Lee, Anthony Greene, YO-HEY & Tadasuke beat Naomichi Matufuji, Takashi Sugiura, Atsushi Kotoge & Seiki Yoshioka. YO-HEY pinned Yoshioka after a dropkick.
Main Event: All-Japan World Tag Team Champions Kenoh & Manabu Soya beat Suwama & KONO (All-Japan) to retain the titles. Soya pinned KONO after a jumping DDT. V1 for the champs.
The next event is 5/28 at Bandaijima Multipurpose Plaza Large Hall in Niigata. There will be no live broadcast.
UPDATE: Next up for Kenoh/Soya: Suwama (again) & Rei Saito. That will happen on 5/29 in All-Japan.
Pro Wrestling NOAH continued the never-ending STAR NAVIGATION 2023 Tour today with their latest Tokyo event, headlined by the reunited Axiz team of Go Shiozaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima after the latter defected from Kongo.
Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in Japanese and English. The live broadcast was only in English due to being an ABEMA exclusive.
The announced paid attendance was 935.
Match 1: Dragon Bane, Alpha Wolf, Extreme Tiger & Super Crazy beat AMAKUSA, Junta Miyawaki, Alejandro & Lancelot. Wolf pinned Miyawaki after Wolf Driver.
Match 2: Shuhei Taniguchi beat Stallion Rogers.
Match 3: Chris Ridgeway & Daga beat Hajime Ohara & Hi69. Daga pinned Hi69 after a piledriver.
Match 4: Masa Kitamiya, Daiki Inaba & Yoshiki Inamura beat Saxon Huxley, Timothy Thatcher & Hideki Suzuki. Inamura pinned Huxley after Musou.
Match 5: Naomichi Marufuji & HAYATA beat Sean Legacy & Dante Leon. HAYATA pinned Legacy.
Match 6: Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Eita went to a no contest. HAYATA interference.
Match 7: Kaito Kiyomiya, Takashi Sugiura, Atsushi Kotoge & Seiki Yoshioka beat Jake Lee, Anthony Greene, YO-HEY & Tadasuke. Kotoge pinned YO-HEY after Kill Switch.
Main Event: Kenoh & Manabu Soya beat Go Shiozaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima. Kenoh pinned Shiozaki after PFS.
Lots of post-event news:
GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions YO-HEY & Tadasuke vs. Atsushi Kotoge & Seiki Yoshioka for the titles has been added to 5/31 at Shinjuku Face.
GHC Heavyweight Champion Jake Lee vs. Takashi Sugiura for the title and GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Saxon Huxley & Timothy Thatcher vs. Masa Kitamiya & Yoshiki Inamura for the titles have been added to GREEN JOURNEY 2023 in NAGOYA on 6/17 at Nagoya Congress Center Event Hall in Nagoya.
Masakatsu Funaki vs. Josh Barnett in a GHC Martial Arts Rules Match has been announced for 9/3 at Osaka Prefectural Gym in Osaka.
The next event is 5/21 at Kobe Sambo Hall in Kobe (back to the SUNNY VOYAGE 2023 Tour). There will be no live broadcast.
MAJESTIC 2023, Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Golden Week blowout event, is now in the books.
Today’s event was held at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE In Japanese and English.
The announced paid attendance was 2721. Again quite low even with configuration and reduced box seat capacity which still should have meant a capacity of at least 8000-9000 (the venue’s normal full capacity, primarily for sumo, is around 14,000).
Match 1: Mohammed Yone & Super Crazy beat Akitoshi Saito & Taishi Ozawa. Crazy pinned Ozawa after a moonsault press.
Match 2: Atsushi Kotoge & Seiki Yoshioka beat Extreme Tiger & Lancelot. Kotoge pinned Lancelot after Kill Switch.
Match 3: Jack Morris, Anthony Greene, YO-HEY & Tadasuke beat Sean Legacy, Stallion Rogers, Dragon Bane & Alpha Wolf. Greene pinned Rogers after Alternate Ending.
Match 4: Sumire Natsu & Ryo Mizunami beat Maya Yukihi & SAKI. Natsu pinned Yukihi after Youran.
Match 5: Shuji Kondo, Hajime Ohara & Hi69 beat AMAKUSA, Junta Miyawaki & Alejandro. Hi69 pinned Miyawaki after Stuka Splash.
Match 6: Kazuyuki Fujita & Masato Tanaka beat Masa Kitamiya & Daiki Inaba. Tanaka pinned Inaba after Sliding D.
Match 7: In a GHC Martial Arts Rules match, Masakatsu Funaki beat Shinya Aoki by submission.
Match 8: Yoshinari Ogawa & Chris Ridgeway beat Eita & Daga. Ogawa pinned Eita after a Daga Diablo Wings.
Match 9: Dralistico beat Rey Escorpion.
Match 10; Saxon Huxley & Timothy Thatcher beat GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Takashi Sugiura & Shuhei Taniguchi to win the titles. Huxley & Thatcher become the 65th GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. Huxley pinned Taniguchi after a neck hanging bomb.
Match 11: GHC Jr. Heavyweight Champion HAYATA beat Ninja Mack to retain the title. V1 for HAYATA. Next up: Dante Leon. That match will happen on 6/17 at Nagoya Congress Center Event Hall in Nagoya.
Match 12: GHC National Champion Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. beat Hideki Suzuki by submission to retain the title. V4 for Wagner Jr.
Match 13: Go Shiozaki Return Match: Kenoh, Katsuhiko Nakajima & Manabu Soya beat Go Shiozaki, Kaito Kiyomiya & Yoshiki Inamura. Nakajima pinned Shiozaki after Vertical Spike. It’s possible Nakajima defected from Kongo after the match to re-form Axiz with Shiozaki as Kenoh vs. Nakajima has been announced for 5/31 at Shinjuku Face.
Main Event: GHC Heavyweight Champion Jake Lee beat Naomichi Marufuji to retain the title. V2 for Lee.
The next event is 5/14 at Korakuen Hall as part of the never-ending STAR NAVIGATION 2023 Tour. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET. This is also an ABEMA broadcast so the live broadcast on WRESTLE UNIVERSE may be in English only.
In other news, the annual N-1 VICTORY Tournament was announced for 2023. The full schedule was announced and is as follows:
8/6-Yokohama Budokan, Yokohama
8/9-Korakuen Hall
8/10-Korakuen Hall
8/11-Korakuen Hall
8/19-Chateraise Gatteaux Kingdom Sapporo, Hokkaido
8/26-Sendai Pit, Sendai
8/27-Culttz Kawasaki, Kanagawa
9/3-Osaka Prefectural Gym, Osaka (Finals)
All events will be streamed live on ABEMA or WRESTLE UNIVERSE.
Pro Wrestling NOAH continued the never-ending STAR NAVIGATION 2023 Tour today, which now covers mainly mid-major shows in Tokyo like today.
Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in Japanese and English soon. It is unavailable as of this post due to technical issues. The live broadcast was an ABEMA exclusive with English commentary on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.
The announced paid attendance was 1028. Under the current “new normal” for Korakuen that’s just under 80% full.
Match 1: Ninja Mack & Lancelot beat HAYATA & Super Crazy. Mack pinned Crazy after Phoenix Splash.
Match 2: Daiki Inaba & Atsushi Kotoge beat Katsuhiko Nakajima & Hajime Ohara. Kotoge pinned Ohara after Kill Switch.
Match 3: Yoshinari Ogawa & Chris Ridgeway beat Seiki Yoshioka & Alejandro. Ridgeway pinned Yoshioka after Onslaught.
Match 4: Naomichi Matufuji, Masa Kitamiya & Yoshiki Inamura beat Jake Lee, Jack Morris & Anthony Greene. Marufuji pinned Greene after Tiger King.
Match 5: Kenoh, Manabu Soya & Shuji Kondo beat Kaito Kiyomiya, Sean Legacy & AMAKUSA. Kondo pinned AMAKUSA after a King Kong lariat.
Match 6: Junta Miyawaki beat Hi69.
Match 7: Hideki Suzuki, Timothy Thatcher & Saxon Huxley beat Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr., Takashi Sugiura & Shuhei Taniguchi. Suzuki pinned Wagner with a Japanese leg toll clutch hold.
Main Event: GHC Jr.Heavyweight Tag Team Champions YO-HEY & Tadasuke beat Dragon Bane & Alpha Wolf to retain the titles. YO-HEY pinned Bane with a rollup. V1 for the champs.
The next event is ABEMA presents MAJESTIC 2023 Thursday at Ryogoku Kokugikan. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in English only will begin at midnight PT/3 AM ET. This is an ABEMA exclusive broadcast in Japan. A free press conference event, which is open to the public, will be held Monday at Edmont Metropolitan Hotel in Tokyo.
Pro Wrestling NOAH continued the SUNNY VOYAGE 2023 Tour today with a house show in Kyoto.
Today’s event was held at Kyoto KBS Hall in Kyoto and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date (probably Wednesday). There was no live broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 356.
Match 1: Mohammed Yone beat Taishi Ozawa.
Match 2: Hideki Suzuki & Timothy Thatcher beat Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. & Shuhei Taniguchi. Thatcher beat Taniguchi with Fujiwara armbar.
Match 3: AMAKUSA & Alejandro beat Yoshinari Ogawa & Super Crazy. Alejandro pinned Crazy.
Match 4: Alpha Wolf beat Tadasuke & Lancelot in a 3-way by pinning Tadasuke.
Match 5: Kenoh, katsuhiko Nakajima, Hajime Ohara, Manabu Soya & Hi69 beat Masa Kitamiya, Daiki Inaba, Atsushi Kotoge, Yoshiki Inamura & Seiki Yoshioka. Kenoh pinned Yoshioka after PFS.
Match 6: Takashi Sugiura beat Saxon Huxley.
Match 7: Ninja Mack beat HAYATA, Dragon Bane & YO-HEY in a 4-way by pinning YO-HEY.
Main Event: Jake Lee, Jack Morris & Anthony Greene beat Kaito Kiyomiya, Naomichi Marufuji & Sean Legacy. Lee pinned Legacy after a skewered front high kick.
The next event is Saturday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo to resume the also-never-ending STAR NAVIGATION 2023 Tour, which for now will be only Korakuen events. This event is headlined by a GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship match as YO-HEY & Tadasuke defend against Dragon Bane & Alpha Wolf. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in English only will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET. This is an ABEMA exclusive broadcast in Japan.
Pro Wrestling NOAH continued the SUNNY VOYAGE 2023 Tour today with a house show in Shizuoka.
Today’s event was held at Act City Hamamatsu in Shizuoka and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date (probably Tuesday), There was no live broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 337.
Match 1: Masa Kitamiya beat Taishi Ozawa.
Match 2: Lancelot beat Alejandro & Super Crazy in a 3-way by pinning Alejandro.
Match 3: Kenoh & Katsuhiko Nakajima beat Mohammed Yone & Akitoshi Saito. Nakajima pinned Yone after Vertical Spike.
Match 4 Shuji Kondo, Hajime Ohara & Hi69 beat AMAKUSA, Atsushi Kotoge & Seiki Yoshioka. Hi69 pinned Kotoge after Stuka Splash.
Match 5: Kaito Kiyomiya & Yoshinari Ogawa beat Jack Morris & Anthony Greene. Kiyomiya pinned Greene with a rollup.
Match 6: Ninja Mack & Sean Legacy beat HAYATA & Daiki Inaba. Legacy pinned Inaba after a swan dive 450 splash.
Match 7: Timothy Thatcher, Saxon Huxley, Hideki Suzuki & Kazuyuki Fujita beat Takashi Sugiura, Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr., Shuhei Taniguchi & Yoshiki Inamura. Huxley pinned Sugiura after a neck hanging bomb.
Main Event: Naomichi Marufuji, Dragon Bane & Alpha Wolf beat Jake Lee, YO-HEY & Tadasuke. Bane pinned YO-HEY after Twisterbane.
The next event is tomorrow at Kyoto KBS Hall in Kyoto. There will be no live broadcast.
GREEN JOURNEY 2023 in SENDAI, Pro Wrestling NOAH’s latest blowout event today, is now in the books. The event featured every GHC Title on the line, the first-ever women’s single match in the promotion and much more.
Today’s event was held at Xebio Arena Sendai in Sendai and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in Japanese and English. The live broadcast was only in English because of it being an ABEMA exclusive in Japan.
The announced paid attendance was 1277. This sounds bad but Xebio Arena Sendai is not a “huge” venue like the major gyms/sumo halls/Budokans are (it’s primarily a basketball stadium and it’s full capacity for that is only around 3500). With NOAH’s elaborate major event setup that would’ve reduced it to, at most, maybe 2000.
There were unannounced last-minute changes to the first 2 matches as both Yasutaku Yano & Kinya Okada were off the card. Unknown why at this time. Okada was to have been in the 2nd match. Akitoshi Saito was the replacement. Yano was to have been in the opening match. Anthony Greene was the replacement.
Match 1: Anthony Greene beat Taishi Ozawa.
Match 2: Hideki Suzuki, Timothy Thacher & Saxon Huxley beat Akitoshi Saito, Yoshiki Inamura & Sean Legacy. Huxley pinned Saito after a diving knee drop.
Match 3: Maya Yukihi beat Sumire Natsu.
Match 4: Kenoh, Jinsei Shinzaki (Michinoku Pro), Shuji Kondo, Hajime Ohara & Hi69 beat Naomichi Marufuji, Kaito Kiyomiya, Ninja Mack, Atsushi Kotoge & Seiki Yoshioka. Shinzaki pinned Kotoge after Nembutsu powerbomb.
Match 5: Dralistico, Dragon Bane & Alejandro beat Extreme Tiger, Alpha Wolf & Lancelot by ref stoppage. Dralistico beat Tiger when Tiger could not continue. Which led to…
Impromptu Match: In a Handicap Match, Dralistico, Dragon Bane & Alejamdro beat Alpha Wolf & Lancelot. Dralistico pinned Wolf with La Mystica.
Match 6: Takashi Sugiura & Shuhei Taniguchi beat GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Masa Kitamiya & Daiki Inaba to win the titles. Sugiura & Taniguchi become the 64th GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. Taniguchi pinned Inaba with a half nelson suplex.
Match 7: YO-HEY & Tadasuke beat GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Yoshinari Ogawa & Eita to win the titles. YO-HEY & Tadasuke become the 56th GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. Tadasuke pinned Ogawa after a lariat.
Match 8: GHC National Champion Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. beat Jack Morris to retain the title. V3 for Wagner Jr.
Match 9: HAYATA beat GHC Jr. Heavyweight Champion AMAKUSA to win the title. HAYATA becomes the 53rd GHC Jr. Heavyweight Champion.
Main Event: GHC Heavyweight Champion Jake Lee beat Katsuhiko Nakajima to retain the title. V1 for Lee.
Post-event news/fallout:
First up for YO-HEY & Tadasuke: Dragon Bane & Alpha Wolf. That match will happen on 4/29 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo.
The full card for MAJESTIC 2023, the promotion’s Golden Week blowout event on 5/4 at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, has been announced:
Pre-show:
Mohammed Yone & Super Crazy vs. Akitoshi Saito & Taishi Ozawa
Atsushi Kotoge & Seiki Yoshioka vs. Extreme Tiger & Lancelot
Main Show:
Sean Legacy, Stallion Rogers, Dragon Bane & Alpha Wolf vs. Jack Morris, Anthony Greene, YO-HEY & Tadasuke
Maya Yukihi & SAKI vs. Sumire Natsu & Ryo Mizunami
AMAKUSA, Junta Miyawaki & Alejandro vs. Shuji Kondo, Hajime Ohara & Hi69
Masa Kitamiya & Daiki Inaba vs. Kazuyuki Fujita & Masato Tanaka
GHC Martial Arts Rules Match: Masakatsu Funaki vs. Shinya Aoki
Yoshinari Ogawa & Chris Ridgeway vs. Eita & Daga
Dralistico vs. Rey Escorpion
Intermission
GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Takashi Sugiura & Shuhei Taniguchi vs. Timothy Thatcher & Saxon Huxley for the titles
GHC Jr. Heavyweight Champion HAYATA vs. Ninja Mack for the title
GHC National Champion Hijo de. Dr. Wagner Jr. vs. Hideki Suzuki for the title
Go Shiozaki Return Match: Go Shiozaki, Kaito Kiyomiya & Yoshiki Inamura vs. Kenoh, Katsuhiko Nakajima & Manabu Soya
GHC Heavyweight Champion Jake Lee vs. Naomichi Marufuji for the title
This event, as well as 4/29, is an ABEMA exclusive broadcast but WRESTLE UNIVERSE will have live streams in English only outside Japan.
The next event is Saturday at Act City Hamamatsu in Shizuoka as it’s back to the never-ending SUNNY VOYAGE 2023 Tour. There will be no live broadcast.
