Tag: pro wrestling

Pro Wrestling NOAH 9/14/24 Results (Updated)

Pro Wrestling NOAH ran this month’s STAR NAVIGATION 2024 event today, saying farewell to Ryohei Oiwa before the Young Lion returns to New Japan upon completion of his traditional training excursion, which he chose to spend in Japan instead of going overseas like most do.

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 English only due to ABEMA exclusives in Japan. Former NOAH wrestler Tamon Honda was a special guest on Japanese commentary. You can also watch the first 2 matches FOR FREE on YouTube.

The announced paid attendance was 1391.

Match 1: Daiki Odashima Debut Match: Yu Owada beat Daiki Odashima by submission. Odashima was trained by Honda so he got to watch his latest protege begin his pro career.

Match 2: Shuji Kondo & Eita beat Shuhei Taniguchi & Kai Fujimura. Eita pinned Fujimura after Imperial Uno.

Match 3: Naomichi Marufuji, Takashi Sugiura & Masa Kitamiya beat Kenoh, Alejandro & Cristobal. Kitamiya pinned Cristobal after Saito suplex.

Match 4: Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr., Galeno Del Mal & Daga beat Dragon Bane, Alpha Wolf & Super Crazy. Del Mal pinned Crazy after Galeno Special.

Match 5: HAYATA, YO-HEY, Tadasuke & Yuto Kikuchi beat AMAKUSA, Atsushi Kotoge, Hajime Ohara & Junta Miyawako. YO-HEY pinned Kotoge after a dropkick. This was the first official NOAH match for Kikuchi as a member of the promotion (he previously competed on some LIMIT BREAK events, he previously was a member of Dotonbori Pro Wrestling but joined NOAH on 9/1 on the recommendation of Daisuke Harada).

Match 6: Manabu Soya beat GHC National Champion Ulka Sasaki to win the title. Soya becomes the 13th GHC National Champion.

Main Event: Ryohei Oiwa Final NOAH Match: Kaito Kiyomiya beat Ryohei Oiwa by submission. The match went over 27 minutes. As noted earlier, Oiwa is now headed back to New Japan although when he will resume competing there is not yet known.

The usual post-big event news/fallout:
First up for Soya: Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr., the most dominant GHC National Champion to date. That match will happen on 10/14 at Korakuen
GHC Heavyweight Champion Kaito Kiyomiya vs. Masa Kitamiya for the title is also now official for 10/14.
10/14 will be the final Korakuen match for Akitoshi Saito before his retirement in November. That match will be Saito, Shiro Koshinaka & AKIRA vs. Go Shiozaki, Mohammed Yone & Atsushi Kotoge.
The 4th match now set for 10/14 is Josh Barnett & Ulka Sasaki vs. Masakatsu Funaki & Kazyyuki Fujita.
Daiki Odashima, after his debut today, faces AMAKUSA tomorrow then gets quite the step up after that in his third career match-Kenoh. That match will happen on 9/21 at Shinjuku Face.

The next event is Monday at Kasukabe Fureai Cube in Saitama. There will be no live broadcast.

UPDATE: In outside-the-ring news, congratulations to NOAH semi-regular LJ Cleary on his announcement of becoming engaged to current WWE wrestler Lyra Valkyria, which was made on Cleary’s Instagram.

Stardom 9/13/24 Results

Stardom held the 14th NEW BLOOD event today, their developmental series geared towards younger and less-experienced wrestlers.

Today’s event was held at Chunichi Hall in Nagoya and can be watched on demand on Stardom World. You can also watch the first match FOR FREE on YouTube.

The paid attendance was not announced. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 326)

Match 1: Maika & Rian beat Tam Nakano & Sayaka Kurara. Maika pinned Kurara after Michinoku Driver 2.

Match 2: Konami beat Ranna Yagami.

Match 3: HANAKO & Waka Tuskiyama beat Hanan & Saya Iida. HANAKO pinned Iida after egret.

Match 4: Hina & Tomoka Inaba beat Starlight Kid & Miyu Amasaki. Inaba pinned Amasaki after Inaba Drop (Michinoku Driver 2).

Main Event: Rina & Azusa Inaba beat Aya Sakura & Yuna Mizunori. Rina pinned Sakura after a diving double kneedrop.

The next event is STARDOM NAMBA FIGHT 2024 tomorrow at Osaka Prefectural Gym in Osaka. Live streaming on Stardom World as a PPV (4400 Japanese yen, around $30 US) will begin TONIGHT at 11 PM PT/2 AM ET. The PPV window is until Tuesday morning, it will be available for all monthly Stardom World subscribers without additional purchase either Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday. (UPDATE: You can also watch the first 2 matches live and on demand FOR FREE on YouTube)

New Japan News: First Royal Quest 4 Matches Official

New Japan has announced the first official matches for Royal Quest 4, their return to England on 10/20:
The first match is Zack Sabre Jr. vs. SANADA, which as of now is a NON-TITLE match. That could change is Sabre wins the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at DESTRUCTION later this month. Right now it’s a “special single match”, meaning 1 Hour time limit.
The second match is fallout from CAPITAL COLLISION 2024, where Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomohiro Ishii earned the next STRONG Tag Team Championship match against Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls. That match will happen on 10/20.

Broadcast plans are TBA for the event, which will start that day at 5:30 PM England time (1:30 PM PT/10:30 AM PT).

Injury Report: Bad Footed Bastard

Since jumping from Pro Wrestling NOAH to New Japan, Jake Lee joined Bullet Club and formed a team apparently called UGLY BASTARDS with Gabriel Kidd. It hasn’t started well as Lee was injured in his match yesterday. Right foot. Out indefinitely including Saturday. He was to have teamed with Kidd, Gedo & David Finlay to face YOSHI-HASHI, Hirooki Goto, Tomoaki Honma & Tomohiro Ishii. Honma is now off and it will be a 6-man tag. It’s not yet known how long Lee will be out.

More as it becomes available.

New Japan 9/11/24 Results

New Japan finished up the first part of the Road To DESTRUCTION Tour today in Sendai.

Today’s event was held at Sendai Sun Plaza in Sendai and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 1126.

Pre-show match: Yasutora Yasuda vs. Daiki Nagai went to a 10 minute time limit draw.

Before the matches began, a 10 Bell Salute was held for former wrestler & New Japan Dojo head Kuniaki Kobayashi, who died earlier this week.

Match 1: Tiger Mask & Tomoaki Honma beat Katsuya Murashima & Shoma Kato. TM 4 pinned Kato with a tiger suplex hold.

Match 2: Francesco Akira beat TAKA Michinoku.

Match 3: Taichi & SANADA beat Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr. SANADA pinned Sabre after Deadfall. Between this and post-match comments, if Sabre wins the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship later this month (not waiting until Tokyo Dome for his G1 CLIMAX 34 prize use), this could set up a title match at Royal Quest 4.

Match 4: Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Dick Togo, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL beat Ryusuke Taguchi, Boltin Oleg, Shota Umino, Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi. Togo pinned Taguchi after Magic Killer.

Match 5: Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI beat Jake Lee, Gabriel Kidd & David Finlay. Goto pinned Kidd after a brainbuster.

Match 6: BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Yota Tauji, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito beat Jacob Austin Young, Callum Newman, HENARE, Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan. Naito pinned Young after Pluma Blanca.

Main Event: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion DOUKI beat Taiji Ishimori to retain the title. V1 for DOUKI. Next up: Possibly Kanemaru.

The next event is Saturday at Noboribetsu City General Gym in Hokkaido to begin the second part of the tour, with all remaining events in Hokkaido. Former New Japan wrestler Takashi Iizuka will participate as will Kazushi Sakuraba, and there will also be a NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Championship match. The event is a legit advance sellout. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at midnight PT/3 AM ET. This is the last broadcast for the tour (the rest after this will have no live or on demand video).

Stardom News: Full 9/14/24 Card, More

Stardom held a press conference earlier today (it was streamed live on and can be watched on demand on YouTube), here’s what came out of it:
First, the full card for Saturday at Osaka Prefectural Gym in Osaka, which will be a live PPV on Stardom World (on demand for all monthly paid subscribers sometime next week):
Gina vs. Rian (possibly a pre-show match)
Mina Shirakawa vs. Saya Kamitani
Waka Tsukiyama & HANAKO vs. Hina & Ranna Yagami
Saori Anou, Yuna Mizumori. Aya Sakura & Sayaka Kurara vs. Natsuko Tora, Rina, Ruaka & Azusa Inaba
Starlight Kid, Mei Seira & ? (someone from WAVE) vs. Koguma, Saya Iida & Momo Kohgo
Syuri, Saki Kashima & Lady C vs. Momo Watanabe, Konami & Thekla
Suzu Suzuki vs. Tomoka Inaba
Mayu Iwatani & Hanan vs. AZM & Miyu Amasaki
Wonder Of Stardom Champion Natsupoi vs. Hazuki for the title
World Of Stardom Champion Tam Nakano vs. Maika for the title

There were new rules announced for the NEW BLOOD events and titles: For the NEW BLOOD Tag Team Championship, one member of each team must meet eligibility requirements, which is either under age 21 or 3 years or less experience in her career. After Friday, there will be one NEW BLOOD event each month the rest of the year, dates TBA. Friday’s event will be a live broadcast on Stardom World.

Tomoho Toyama, a ring announcer who is also an actress, will be a guest announcer Friday. Toyama has worked as a freelancer for GLEAT, Freedoms, New Japan and previously apepared in Stardom in October 2023 and also was part of last week’s TAKAYAMANIA EMPIRE special event (a fundraiser for legendary wrestler Yoshihiro Takayama, who is now wheelchair-bound due to injuries and medical issues. That event is available as a PPV on WRESTLE UNIVERSE). Friday’s event will begin at 3 AM PT/6 AM ET.

New wrestler auditions were held recently and candidates are being reviewed.

News: The 2024 PWI 500 Is Here! Japan Wrestler Rankings (SPOILERS!)

If you read “Pro Wrestling Illustrated” religiously like me, the best issue of the year just dropped digitally-it’s PWI 500 time! For those waiting for paper copies, it’s about 3 weeks away. If you want to avoid SPOILERS, stop reading here. Otherwise, click below for the top 10 overall and Japan wrestlers in this year’s rankings (including foreigners who compete primarily in Japan):

Continue reading “News: The 2024 PWI 500 Is Here! Japan Wrestler Rankings (SPOILERS!)”

Injury Report: Tortured Son Of Strong Style

This may not be unpopular given he’s part of the hated House Of Torture, but New Japan has announced Ren Narita was injured at yesterday’s event. Right arm. Out tomorrow, status uncertain beyond that. He was to have teamed with Yoshinobu Kanemaru to face Shota Umino & Jado. That match is now off. Umino & Kanemaru have been added to what was match 5, which is now match 4 and will be a 10-man tag instead of 8-man tag and the event will have only 7 matches instead of 8. Jado is now off the event.

DDT 9/10/24 Results

DDT held their second NO SPOILERS event today as part of a Beer Garden Pro Wresting event, asking that nobody post anything related to match results, photos, etc. until midnight (8 AM PT/11 AM ET). Now the time has passed, so…

Today’s event was held at Ueno Park Outdoor Stage in Tokyo and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date. There was no live broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 532.

Before the matches began, a signing ceremony was held for the next KO-D Tag Team Championship match, which will be Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada defending against Shunma Katsumata & MAO. That match will happen on 9/20 at Shinjuku Face.

Match 1: Makoto Oishi, Yukio Naya & Yuki Ishida beat Masa Takanashi, Akito & Illusion. Oishi beat Illusion with a Texas Cloverleaf.

Match 2: In a handicap match, Tetsuya Endo beat Poison Sawada JULIE, Anaconda Yuki (Yuki Iino), Viper Yuni (Yuni), Takashikajaya Erotic (Yuya Koroku) & Viper Kazuma (Kazuma Sumi) by pinning JULIE.

Match 3: In a Dragon Gate Rules match, Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul vs. Master Lick, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata went to a no contest. Master Lick out of control.

Match 4: Mikan Cassidy (MAO) beat K5000 (Keigo Nakamura), Sergeant Chris (Chris Brookes) & OBAKESHIMA (HARASHIMA) in a 4-way by pinning K5000.

Match 5: Yoshihiko beat Takeshi Masada by ref stoppage (TKO).

Main Event: Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & To-y beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Sauna Master (Danshoku Dieno), Keizo Matsuda & Takayuki Ueki, with To-y pinning Dieno to win the title. To-y becomes the 1668th Champion. He also wins Dieno’s “Money In The Bank” title shot. There was a special rile where those who misbehaved were sent to a sauna room elsewhere in the arena. Which led to…

Danshoku Dieno beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion To-y to win the title. Dieno becomes the 1669th Champion. Which led to…

Impromptu Match: Danshoku Dieno vs. Makoto Oishi went to a 4:07 time limit draw. Oishi demanded one more single match with Dieno before retiring. Immediately agreed to by GM Imabayashi. That match will happen on 9/29 at Korakuen Hall.

The next event is Saturday at Shiroishi White Cube in Miyagi. There will be no live broadcast.

New Japan 9/9/24 Results (Updated)

New Japan continued the Road To DESTRUCTION Tour today with another event in Tokyo.

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on New Japan World. This was a Samurai! TV broadcast in Japan.

The announced paid attendance was 1190.

Pre-show match: Ryusuke Taguchi & Yuji Nagata beat Combatants N & Y. Taguchi beat N with Oh My & Gar Ankle. This was a collaboration match with a stage/theater show starting this week in Japan that El Desperado is part of.

Match 1; Jacob Austin Young beat Shoma Kato.

Match 2; Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Katsuya Murashima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan. Fujita beat Murashima with Clarky Cat.

Match 3; Sho & Ren Narita beat Jado & Shota Umino. Sho beat Jado with a kneebar.

Match 4: Jake Lee & Gabriel Kidd beat Tomoaki Honma & Tomohiro Ishii. Kidd pinned Honma after O-KNEE.

Match 5: Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Dick Togo, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL beat Tiger Mask, Boltin Oleg, Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi. Kanemaru beat TM 4 with a Figure 4.

Match 6: TAKA Michinoku & DOUKI beat Gedo & Taiji Ishimori. TAKA beat Gedo with Just Facelock.

Match 7: Francesco Akira, Callum Newman, Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan beat BUSHI, Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji & Tetsuya Naito. Khan pinned BUSHI after Eliminator.

Main Event: NEVER Openweight Champion HENARE beat Hiromu Takahashi to retain the title. V1 for HENARE. Next up: Takagi. That match will likely happen on 9/29 at DESTRUCTION. Not official yet.

The tour-ender for this portion of the tour is Wednesday at Sendai Sun Plaze in Sendai with an IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship main event. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET. After this event the rest of the tour will be in Hokkaido with only the first event being broadcast (the rest are non-televised events) so unless plans change, no New Japan World for 2 weeks.

UPDATE: A 10 bell salute will be held before Wednesday’s event in memory of Kuniaki Kobayashi, who died today at 68. He was the manager of the New Japan Dojo and wrestled for New Japan and All-Japan from 1972 until 2000. He was a former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion and All-Japan World Junior Heavyweight Champion.