Injury Report: No Bull (Updated)

Hiroyoshi Tenzan may be a bull in New Japan only in the headgear he wears for his entrances, but he’s still been going occasionally in the ring. Yesterday it didn’t go well as New Japan announced he was injured. Right knee. Out tomorrow. Not sure how this affected the card tomorrow but my guess now is he’a replaced by either Jado or Shota Umino. It’s not yet known how long Tenzan may be out.

UPDATE: Now out the rest of the current tour, which means at least another week. Status for DESTRUCTION and beyond remains uncertain.

All-Japan 9/15/24 Results

All-Japan continued the Royal Road Tournament today in Shizuoka.

Today’s event was held at Act City Hamamatsu in Shizuoka and will be available on demand on AJPW.TV tonight at 6 PM PT/9 PM ET. There was no live broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 505.

Match 1: Shotaro Ashino, Kuroshio TOKYO Japan & Seigo Tachibana beat MUSASHI, Seiki Yoshioka & Ryo Inoue. Ashino pinned Inoue after a T-Bone suplex.

Match 2: Yuma Aoyagi, Dan Tamura & Hideki Sekine (Indpendent/Freelancer) beat Hokuto Omori, Kumaarashi & Jack Kennedy. Aoyagi pinned Kennedy.

Match 3: Davey Boy Smith Jr., Joel Redman & Hikaru Sato beat Rei Saito, Naruki Doi & Senor Saito. Sato beat Senor Saito with a chicken wing.

Match 4: Ryuki Honda & Ren Ayabe beat Yuma Anzai & Rising Hayato. Ayabe pinned Hayato after Des Rolette.

Royal Road Round 1:
Match 5: Cyrus beat Jun Saito.
Main Event: Kento Miyahara beat Hideki Suzuki.
As a result of today, the first Quarterfinals are set, which will be Miyahara vs. Joel Redman and Ryuki Honda vs. Dan Tamura. Cyrus will face the Rei Saito-Kumaarashi winner. The other 2 Round 1 winners (also tomorrow) will meet in the last Quarterfinal.

The next event is tomorrow at Hanahaku Memorial Park Tsurumi Ryokuchi Hanamizuki Hall in Osaka with the remainder of Round 1. There will be no live broadcast. On demand should be available tomorrow night.

In other news, it was announced that Suwama will return from recent injury absence (ear vertigo) on 9/22 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, which will be the Royal Road Semifinals & Finals.

DDT 9/14/24 & 9/15/24 Results

Not to be left out of the fun when it comes to hometowns and Endos yesterday, DDT ran a Tetsuya Endo hometown event. That was followed today by the first half of a Hokkaido doubleheader.

Yesterday’s event was held at Shiroishi White Cube in Miyagi and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE Tuesday. There was no live broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 358, a full house/near sellout.

Match 1: Yukio Naya, Akito & To-y beat Chris Brookes, Takeshi Masada & Illusion. Naya pinned Illusion after a chokeslam.

Match 2: Yuki Iino beat Yuki Ishida. Afterwards, To-y tried to cash in his “Money In The Bank” title shot for the DDT Universal Championship, but Iino prevented this.

Match 3: Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON beat Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & Kazuma Sumi. Paul pinned Sumi after a reverse splash.

Match 4: Jun Akiyama beat Yuya Koroku.

Match 5: HARASHIMA, Danshoku Dieno & Kazuki Hirata beat MAO, Gorgeous Matsuno & Keigo Nakamura in 26 seconds. Hirata pinned Matsuno after a lariat. Which led to…
Match 5 (again): MAO, Gorgeous Matsuno & Keigo Nakamura beat HARASHIMA, Danshoku Dieno & Kazuki Hirata. MAO pinned Hirata after Iai Kick.

Main Event: Tetsuya Endo beat Makoto Oishi.

Today’s event was held at Sapporo Sun Plaze in Hokkaido and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE Wednesday. There was no live broadcast.

The paid attendance has not yet been announced.

Match 1: Takeshi Masada beat Makoto Oishi.

Match 2: Kazuki Hirata beat Kazuma Sumi.

Match 3: Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino beat Takashi Yoshida (Dragon Gate) & Yuki Ishida. Iino pinned Ishida after a spear.

Match 4: Yukio Naya beat Yuya Koroku.

Match 5: Chris Brookes, Akito & Illusion beat Jun Akiyama, Yomoya & DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Danshoku DIeno, with Brookes pinning Dieno to win the title. Brookes becomes the 1670th Champion.

Match 6: Shinya Aoki & HARASHIMA beat MAO & Keigo Nakamura. Aoki beat Nakamura.

Main Event: KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON Beat Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & To-y to retain the titles.Sasaki beat Katsumata with a crossface. V1 for the champs.

The next event is tomorrow (tonight US time). There will be no live broadcast. On demand available Thursday.

Tokyo Joshi Pro 9/14/24 Results

Tokyo Joshi Pro returned to Fukushima yesterday for another Arisu Endo hometown event.

Yesterday’s event was held at Aizuwakamatsu City Tsuruga Castle Gym in Fukushima and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE Tuesday. There was no live broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 462, a super full house/very near sellout. (For the seating configuration, the venue’s actual capacity is much higher)

Match 1: Toga beat Uta Takami.

Match 2: Match 2: Pom Harajuku beat Chika Nanase.

Match 3: Yoshiko Hasegawa & Runa Okubo beat Yuki Aino & Shino Suzuki. Hasegawa beat Suzuki with a muffler hold.

Match 4: Moka Miyamoto beat Wakana Uehara.

Match 5: Miu Watanabe & HIMAWARI beat Mizuki & Haru Kazashiro. Watanabe beat Kazashiro with Reverse Paradox.

Match 6: Aja Kong (OZ Academy) & Raku beat Rika Tatsumi & Mahiro Kiryu. Kong pinned Kiryu after a second rope diving elbow drop.

Main Event: Arisu Endo & Suzume beat Miyu Yamashita & Kaya Toribami. Endo pinned Toribami after The Tenth Law.

The next event is WRESTLE PRINCESS 5, their second-biggest annual event, on 9/22 at Makuhari Messe International Exhibition Hall 6 in Chiba. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin Saturday at 10 PM PT/1 AM ET. Former SKE48 member Marika Tani will make her regular major-event appearance as a guest on commentary along with former AKB48 member Chiyori Nakanishi. SKE48 member Shiori Aoki will return as a special referee for one match, possibly her last as she will be leaving SKE48 later this year (I believe it’s at the end of November).

All-Japan 9/14/24 Results

All-Japan began the 11th Royal Road Tournament today, their now-annual fall single tournament which is a 16-man single-elimination event this year.

Today’s event was held at Nagoya International Conference Center Event Hall in Nagoya and can be watched on demand on AJPW.TV.

The announced paid attendance was 817.

Match 1: All-Asia Tag Team Champions MUSASHI & Seiki Yoshioka beat Kutoshio TOKYO Japan & Seigo Tachibana to retain the titles. MUSASHI pinned Tachibana after Niten First Class. V4 for the champs.

Match 2: Hideki Suzuki & Hikaru Sato beat Fuminori ABe & Hiroki Murase by ref stoppage. Sato beat Abe.

Match 3: Yuma Anzai, Ren Ayabe & Rising Hayato beat Kento Miyahara, Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Ryo Inoue. Anzai pinned Inoue after Gimlet.

Match 4: Hokuto Omori, Kumaarashi, Cyrus & Jack Kennedy beat Jun & Rei Saito, Naruki Doi & Senor Saito. Omori pinned Senor Saito after a frog splash.

Royal Road Round 1:
Match 5: Joel Redman beat Yuko Miyamoto.
Match 6: Dan Tamura beat Shotaro Ashino.
Main Event: Ryuki Honda beat Yuma Aoyagi.

The next event is tomorrow at Act City Hamamatsu in Shizuoka. There will be no live broadcast. It should be available on demand later that day.

Stardom 9/14/24 Results

STARDOM NAMBA GRAND FIGHT 2024, Stardom’s latest major event, went down earlier today.

Today’s event was held at Osaka Prefectural Gym in Osaka and can be watched on demand on Stardom World as a PPV for 4400 Japanese ten (around $30 US) until Tuesday morning. It will then be available on demand for all paid monthly subscribers a short time later, hopefully same day or Wednesday.

The announced paid attendance was 1407.

Pre-show match: Gina beat Rian.

Match 1: Saya Kamitani beat Mina Shirakawa.

Match 2: Waka Tsukiyama & HANAKO beat Hina & Ranna Yagami. HANAKO pionned Hina after egret.

Match 3: Saori Anou, Yuna Mizumori, Aya Sakura & Sayaka Kurara beat Natsuko Tora, Minami, Ruaka & Azusa Inaba. Sakura pinned Minami. (Side note: Earlier this week, Anou lost the Sendai Girls World Championship back to Mika Iwata at a Sendai Girls event. That match and event can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE)

Match 4: Starlight Kid, Mei Seira & ? (from WAVE) beat Koguma, Saya Iida & Momo Kohgo. The WAVE wrestler pinned Kohgo.

Match 5: Momo Watanabe, Konami & Thekla beat Syuri, Saki Kashima & Lady C. Konami pinned Kashima after a buzzsaw kick.

Match 6: Suzu Suzuki beat Tomoka Inaba.

Match 7: Mayu Iwatani & Hanan beat AZM & Miyu Amasaki. Hanan pinned Amasaki with a backdrop hold. After the match, a recorded video from AEW wrestler Toni Storm was shown. This set up what will be an IWGP Women’s Championship match on 10/5. Which based on backstage comments could set up AZM as the next challenger.

Match 8: Wonder Of Stardom Champion Natsupoi beat Hazuki to retain the title. V1 for Natsupoi. Next up: Possibly Thekla.

Main Event: World Of Stardom Champion Tam Nakano beat Maika to retain the title. V1 for Nakano. Next up: If Nakano has her way, Suzuki.

The next event is Wednesday at Aomori Sangyo Kaikan in Aomori. There will be no live broadcast.

New Japan 9/14/24 Results

New Japan began the second half of the Road To DESTRUCTION Tour today, which will take place in Hokkaido the rest of the way.

Today’s event was held at Noboribetsu City General Gym in Hokkaido and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 1255, a legit advance sellout.

Match 1: Kazushi Sakuraba (Pro Wrestling NOAH) & Toru Yano beat Daiki Nagai & Yasutora Yasuda. Sakuraba beat Yasuda with an Achilles hold.

Match 2: Shota Umino won a 20 man battle royal, last eliminating Zack Sabre Jr. Staggered/timed entry with over the top rope rules. Former New Japan wrestler Takashi Iizuka was a special participant in the match. CRAZY KOUZU!!!

Match 3: Gedo, Gabriel Kidd & David Finlay beat Tomohiro Ishii, Hitooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI. Kidd pinned Goto after Drill-a-Hole piledriver.

Match 4: Jacob Austin Young, Callum Newman, HENARE, Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan beat BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito. HENARE beat BUSHI with Ultima.

Main Event: NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Champions Boltin Oleg, Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Dick Togo, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL to retain the titles. Yano pinned Togo after Demon Slayer. V1 for the champs. Obviously this result sent the crowd home happy.

The next event is Monday at Kitami Sports Center in Hokkaido. There will be no live or on demand broadcasts. In fact, today was the last broadcast of the tour, no more video the rest of the way (2 weeks).

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).