News, results & more from Japanese Pro Wrestling & Sumo
Pro Wrestling NOAH has provided an injury update on Midori Takahashi, who missed last weekend due to a dislocated shoulder-after further examination, it was decided he will have surgery. Out indefinitely but based on N-1 VICTORY Tournament card changes it’s probably at least a month (he was not in the tournament). It’s not known exactly how long he will be out.
More as it becomes available.
Pro Wrestling NOAH has announced an apparent injury coming out of this weekend’s events-Eita is now sidelined after the last event due to being injured. Unspecified. Out the entire N-1 VICTORY Tournament even though he would not have participated in it, meaning at least a month. No further details were provided.
More as it becomes available.
UPDATE: The promotion updated the article to provide more clarity with regards to how long he will be out…at least until after the 10/4 event (N-1 Finals) so the earliest he will return is 10/11.
Pro Wrestling NOAH continued the Lethal Odyssey 2026 Tour today in Kobe.
Today’s event was held at Kobe Sambo Hall in Kobe and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.
The announced paid attendance was 475.
Match 1: AMAKUSA, Hiroto Tsuruya & Super Crazy beat Naomichi Marufuji, Yuto Koyanagi & Hiroya Namiki. Tsuruya beat Namiki.
Match 2: HAYATA beat Black Menso-re by submission.
Match 3: Kai FUjimura & Jun Masaoka beat Eita & Daiki Odasahima. Fujimura pinned Eita.
Match 4: Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI & RYUSEI beat Dragon Bane, Alejandro & Katsumi Inahata. Naito beat Inahata with a knee lock.
Match 5: OZAWA & Masa Kitamiya beat Kenoh & Tetsuya Endo. Kitamiya pinned Kenoh after Saito suplex.
Match 6: Manabu Soya beat YO-HEY.
Main Event: Kaito Kiyomiya, Yoshiki Inamura & Takashi Sugiura beat Alpha Wolf, Kazuyuki Fujita & Yuki Iino (DDT). Kiyomiya pinned Iino after a skywalk elbow.
The next event is the N-1 VICTORY 2026 Tournament starting on 9/12 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in English will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET. This is an exclusive ABEMA live broadcast in Japan.
Pro Wrestling NOAH continued the Lethal Odyssey 2026 Tour in Hiroshima today with a HAYATA 20th Anniversary event.
Today’s event was held at Fukuyama Big Rose in Hiroshima and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE Monday There was no live broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 387.
There were late changes made to the card due to Midori Takahashi being pulled off the event. Dislocated shoulder.
Match 1: Eita beat Hiroya Namiki.
Match 2: Masa Kitamiya & Takashi Sugiura beat AMAKUSA & Black Menso-re in 4 seconds. Sugiura pinned Menso-re after a lariat. Which led to…
Match 2 (again): Masa Kitamiya & Takashi Sugiura beat AMAKUSA & Black Menso-re. Sugiura beat Menso-re with a figure 4.
Match 3: Kenoh beat Yuto Koyanagi.
Match 4: Yoshiki Inamura, Kazuyuki Fujita & Katsumi Inahata beat Kaito Kiyomiya, Daiki Odashima & Hiroto Tsuruya. Fujita ponned Tsuruya after Beast Bomb.
Match 5: Tetsuya Baito, BUSHI & RYUSEI beat Manabu Soya, Yuki Iino (DDT) & Super Crazy. BUSHI pinned Crazy after Fable.
Match 6: OZAWA, Kai Fujimura & Alpha Wolf beat Naomichi Matufuji, Dragon Bane & Alejandro. OZAWA pinned Alejandro after a swan dive moonsault.
Main Event: HAYATA 20th Anniversary Match: HAYATA, Yuya Susumu (Independent:Freelancer) & Tetsuya Endo beat YO-HEY, Tadasuke & Jun Masaoka. HAYATA pinned Tadasuke.
The next event is tomorrow at Kobe Sambo Hall in Kobe. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at midnight PT/3 AM ET.
When Pro Wrestling NOAH announced a wrestler named Kouga for the N-1 VICTORY 2026 Tournament, it got a huge reaction even though I didn’t recognize him. Now the promotion has posted more about it on social media in English, and I understand why-Kouga is fka Owadasan fka Yu Owada, who is returning to Japan after his training excursion that took him to Europe last year. He debuted in England’s Progress Wrestling in August 2025 then won his first career championship in Berlin, Germany in February and now he returns as presumably still a member of Team 2000X. Presumably. We’ll find out starting September 12.
Something I was previously unaware of coming out of Sunday until Pro Wrestling NOAH mentioned it was just mentioned as being covered in this week’s issue of Weekly Pro-at his hometown event at Culttz Kawasaki, Hajime Ohara announced after his match that he is headed to the sidelines. Right knee. Out indefinitely but will be having surgery soon so probably done for the year. He vowed to return to the event next year as GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion so all we know it is sounds like a long break.
More as it becomes available.
Pro Wrestling NOAH ran the unofficial official annual Hajime Ohara hometown event today in Kanagawa.
Today’s event was held at Culttz Kawasaki in Kanagawa and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.
The announced paid attendance was 1575.
There were last-minute changes made to the card due to RYUSEI being pulled off the event. Coronavirus.
Match 1: Mohammed Yone, Hi69 & Yuto Koyanagi beat Tetsuya Endo, Hiroto Tsuruya & Hiroya Namiki. Hi69 beat Namiki.
Match 2: Eita beat Black Menso-re & Midori Takahashi in a 3-way by pinning Takahashi.
Match 3: Kaito Kiyomiya & Shuji Kondo beat OZAWA & Masa Kitamiya. Kiyomiya beat Kitamiya with a figure 4.
Match 4: Naomichi Marufuji, Kenoh & AMAKUSA beat Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI & Super Crazy. AMAKUSA pinned Crazy after Opening Of The Country.
Match 5: GHC 200 Champion HAYATA beat Katsumi Inahata to retain the title. V1 for HAYATA.
Match 6: Tadasuke & Alpha Wolf beat Hajime Ohara & Atsushi Kotoge. Tadasuke pinned Ohara.
Match 7: Kai Fujimura, YO-HEY & Jun Masaoka beat Alejandro, Dragon Bane & Daiki Odashima. Fujimura pinned Odashima after Death Hanger.
Main Event: GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Manabu Soya & Yuki Iino beat Yoshiki Inamura & Kazuyuki Fujita to retain the titles. Iino pinned Inamura with Passion Clutch. V2 for the champs.
The next event is Saturday at Fukuyama Big Rose in Hiroshima. There will be no live broadcast. On demand 8/31.
Injury Report: Midori Takahashi was injured during the second match. Dislocated shoulder. Out at least a week and will miss Saturday and 8/30. Cards were already announced so changes have been made. It looks like Super Crazy will be the replacement both days.
UPDATE: The expected 9/15 GHC National Championship match in Kumamoto between Naomichi Marufuji & AMAKUSA is now official. Announced post-event although it had been hinted at for a few weeks
Pro Wrestling NOAH resumed the Lethal Odyssey 2026 Tour today in Shizuoka.
Today’s event was held at Shimizu Marine Building in Shizuoka. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 286.
There were last-minute changes to the card due to RYUSEI being pulled off the event. Coronavirus. Yes, it’s still a thing and still a big issue. Also out tomorrow.
Match 1: HAYATA beat Hiroya Namiki by submission.
Match 2: BUSHI beat Kenoh & Black Menso-re in a 3-way by pinning Menso-re.
Match 3: Yoshiki Inamura & Super Crazy beat Dragon Bane & Alejandro. Inamura pinned Alejandro after Beast Bomb.
Match 4: Tetsuya Endo beat Yuto Koyanagi.
Match 5: Atusshi Kotoge, Hi69 & Midori Takahashi beat Naomichi Marufuji, Katsumi Inahata & Yuto Koyanagi. Kotoge pinned Koyanagy after a bat hanging drop.
Match 6: Kaito Kiyomiya, Eita, Daiki Odashima & AMAKUSA beat OZAWA, Kai Fujimura, Alpha Wolf & Jun Masaoka. Kiyomiya beat Masaoka with a figure 4.
Main Event: Masa Kitamiya, Takashi Sugiura & Tadasuke beat Manabu Soya, Yuki Iino & Shuji Kondo. Kitamiya beat Kondo with Prison Lock.
The next event is tomorrow at Culttz Kawasaki in Kanagawa. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at midnight PT/3 AM ET.
WRESTLE PETER PAN 2026, DDT’s biggest event of the year, 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.
The paid attendance was not announced. Not a sellout and was also greatly reduced capacity (full capacity is 15,000, usually for sumo).
Match 1: KANON, Yukio Naya & Viento Levante beat KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions Takeshi Masada, Yuya Koroku & Daichi Sato to win the titles. KANON, Naya & Levante become the 61st KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions. Levante pinned Masada.
After that match…
Super Sasadango Machine beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Illusion to win the title. Machine becomes the 1885th Champion. Which led to…
Yuki Ishida beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Super Sasadango Machine to win the title. Ishida becomes the 1886th Champion. Which led to…
Yuni beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Yuki Ishida to win the title. Yuni becomes the 1887th Champion. Which led to…
Kazuki Hirata beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Yuni to win the title. Hirata becomes the 1888th Champion. Which led to…
Akito beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Kazuki Hirata to win the title. Akito becomes the 1889th Champion.
Match 2: Illusion won a 12 man battle royal to win the DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Championship. Illusion becomes the 1892nd Champion. Also winning the title during the match were Masami Inahata (1890) and Yoshihiko (1891) Which led to…
Kazuki Hirata beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Illusion to win the title. Hirata becomes the 1893rd Champion.
Basically the whole second half-hour of the event was Iron Man title changes. Pro Wrestling, Everybody!!!
Match 3: Minoru Suzuki & Sanshiro Takagi beat Kazuki Hirata & To-y. Takagi pinned To-y after Stone Cold Stunner. As a result, Takagi wins the “Money In The Bank” title challenge rights from To-y.
Match 4: Jun Akiyama & Rukiya beat Jun & Hinata Kasai. Rukiya pinned Hinata Kasai with R. Fisherman’s Buster.
Match 5: In a Barbed Wire Deathmatch, Shunma Katsumata beat DDT Extreme Champion Hideki Okatani to win the title. Katsumata becomes the 65th DDT Extreme Champion. And also wins the “Money In The Bank” title challenge rights from Okatani.
Match 6: Shinya Aoki & Junta Miyawaki beat KO-D Tag Team Champions Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA to win the titles. Aoki & Miyawaki become the 90th KO-D Tag Team Champions. Miyawaki pinned HARASHIMA with Sunshine Clutch.
Match 7: YAMATO (Dragon Gate) beat Danshoku Dieno.
Match 8: Daisuke Sasaki & DOUKI (New Japan) beat Antonio Honda & Tetsuya Endo. Sasaki beat Honda with a crossface.
Match 9: Ryusuke Taguchi (New Japan) beat DDT Universal Champion Kazuma Sumi to win the title. Taguchi becomes the 22nd DDT Universal Champion. Oh My…
Match 10: Konosuke Takeshita beat Kaisei Takechi.
Main Event: MAO beat KO-D Openweight Champion Yuki Ueno to win the title. MAO becomes the 89th KO-D Openweight Champion. It took almost 34 minutes for MAO to end Ueno’s reign and finally win the title for the first time. But then Takagi cashed in! Which led to…
Impromptu Match: KO-D Openweight Champion MAO beat Samshiro Takagi to retain the title. V1 for MAO. So now that leaves Katsumata with the other challenge rights and about a month to use it, but there also is a right to challenge for the right out there.
And to wrap up things after 5+ hours like only DDT can…
Shogo Yamamoto beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Kazuki Hirata to win the title. Yamamoto becomes the 1894th Champion. (Yamamoto was a special guest and is a teammate of Kaiser Takechi in the entertainment group THE RAMPAGE)
It was also announced that next year, the 30th Anniversary Event on 3/22 will be held at Ryogoku Kokugikan. Usually it’s been at Korakuen Hall.
Now then before further wackiness ensues…
The next event is Thursday at Shinjuku Face for the start of a final Beer Garden Pro Wrestling doubleheader at the venue. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 3 AM PT/6 AM ET.
UPDATE: 2 title matches have been announced following today’s event: Taguchi’s DDT Universal Championship reign might be a short one because his first challenger is Sasaki. And Aoki & Miyawaki will first defend the tag titles against Akiyama & Rukiya. Those matches will happen on 8/30 at Korakuen Hall.
UPDATE 2: This hopefully won’t affect 8/30 but it was announced afterwards that Rukiya is now out of action. Fever. Out at least a week including the next 3 events (8/13-8/17).
Pro Wrestling NOAH ran another Legacy Rose 2026 event today in Tokyo.
Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.
The announced paid attendance was 1292.
Match 1: Hiroya Namiki Debut Match: Daiki Odashima beat Hiroya Namiki. Namiki, 24, is about 5’8” and 77 kg/about 170 pounds so he is/will be a Junior Heavyweight. They went just short of 8 minutes.
Match 2: Naomichi Matufuji & Kenoh beat AMAKUSA & Black Menso-re. Marufuji pinned Menso-re after a round fist.
Match 3: Yoshiki Inamura, Kazuyuki Fujita, Katsumi Inabata & Hiroto Tsuruya beat Manabu Soya, Yuki Iino (DDT), Super Crazy & Yuto Koyanagi. Inamura pinned Koyanagi after Musou.
Match 4: OZAWA, Alpha Wolf & Jun Masaoka beat KENTA, Shane Haste & Midori Takahashi. OZAWA pinned Takahashi after a sean dive moonsault.
Match 5: Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI & RYUSEI beat Kaito Kiyomiya, Kid Lykos 1 & 2. Naito pinned 2.
Match 6: Tadasuke beat YO-HEY by DQ. Ref assault. (Post-script: This apparently led to YO-HEY turning on Manabu Soya and joining Team 2000X)
Match 7: GHC200 Inaugural Champion Tournament Final: HAYATA beat Tetsuya Endo to win the tournament and become the inaugural GHC200 Champion. This was originally a Semifinal match but the other Semifinal didn’t happen because all the potential participants were eliminated per tournament rules (time limit draw meant both wrestlers were out).
Match 8: GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Dragon Bane & Alejandro beat Atsushi Kotoge & Hi69 to retain the titles. Alejandro pinned Hi69 after Sperlana. V5 for the champs.
Main Event: Kai Fujinura beat GhC Junior Heavyweight Champion Eita to win the title. Fujimura becomes the 63rd GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion. UPSET ALERT!!! It probably took a lot of Team 2000X assistance, but nevertheless is an upset in my book.
In major post-event news/fallout, the full field for this year’s N-1 VICTORY Tournament has been announced. It’s a 2-block round-robin format event with 16 participants. The fireld is as follows:
Block A: Kaito Kiyomiya, Shane Haste, Kazuyuki Fujita, Takashi Sugiura, Yoshiki Inamura, Yuki Iino, Chen (a newcomer from Southeast Asia), Alpha Wolf. That guarantees another HOSS FIGHT ALERT!! because of Inamura & Fujita facing off. (Post-script: Chen already has a profile on NOAH’s website as a participating player, alongside several other international wrestlers who appear occasionally. He is a 13-year veteran from Singapore who signed with WWE in 2017 and left the promotion earlier this year)
Block B: Kenoh, Tetsuya Endo, Kouga (from England’s Progress Wrestling), Masa Kitamiya, KENTA, Manabu Soya, Titus Alexander, OZAWA.
The most notable name missing is Marufuji, presumably because he is GHC National Champion.
The tournament runs from 9/12-10/4. All events will be available live and immediately on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.
The next event is Saturday at Shimizu Marine Building in Shizuoka. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.
UPDATE: During this event, AMAKUSA issued a GHC National Championship challenge to Marufuji. AMAKUSA wants it in Kumamoto, his home area. That could possibly mean 9/15 at Kumamoto Castle Hall, assuming that event goes on as planned in the wake of the massive earthquake in the area recently. Updates to follow.
It was also announced that the next challengrs for GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Manabu Soya & Yuki Iino will be…Inamura & Fujita. Interesting. That match will happen on 8/23 at Culttz Kawasaki in Kanagawa.
UPDATE 2: It’s now official. Matufuji-AMAKUSA will happen on 9/15 in Kumamoto. Also official is Naito’s first title challenger-the 2026 N-1 VICTORY winner. That match will happen on 10/25 at Ryogoku Kokugikan. Also set if Fujimura’s first challenger-Alejandro. That match will happen on 9/23z