Tag: pro wrestling

Stardom 3/2/24 Results

Stardom made their first visit to Ishikawa Prefecture this year today since the major January earthquake that devastated the region. Before the event began, President Taro Okada announced a portion of today’s proceeds would be donated to disaster relief efforts.

Today’s event was held at Kanazawa Distribution Hall in Ishikawa and will be available on demand on Stardom World at a later date.

The announced paid attendance was 367, a full house/near sellout.

Match 1: Saki Kashima beat Ranna Yagami.

Match 2: Miyu Amasaki & Saya Kamitani beat Sayaka Kurara & Yuna Mizumori. Amasaki pinned Kurara after Tensei.

Match 3: Momo Watanabe, Starlight Kid, Ruaka & Natsuko Tora beat Hazuki, Koguma, Hanan & Saya Iida. Watanabe pinned Hanan after a screwdriver without a single screwdriver.

Match 4; AZM & Utami Hayashishita beat Mei Seira & Mai Sakurai. AZM pinned Sakurai after a diving foot stomp.

Match 5; Suzu Suzuki, Giulia, Ami Sohrei, MIRAI & Syuri beat Gina, HANAKo, Waka Tsukiyama, Mina Shirakawa & Maika. Suzuki pinned Tuskiyama after Tequila Shot.

Main Event: Saori Anou & Tam Nakano beat Yuzuki & Mayu Iwatani. Anou pinned Yuzuki after Tintandre.

The next event is tomorrow at Kenshin Kobudokan in Niigata. It will be available on demand at a later date.

The promotion also announced their first US event in 5 years, which will be on 4/4 at 3 PM ET/Noon PT in Philadelphia, PA at 2300 Arena (ECW Arena). It is scheduled to be a live broadcast with further details TBA. This would put it during WWE WrestleMania week in the Philadelphia area, which also will feature a large number of independent wrestling events.

Dragon Gate 3/2/24 Results (Updated)

Dragon Gate ran a special standalone event today, The Gate Of Nostalgia 2024, featuring several returning wrestlers from years past and current wrestlers reviving old personas/gimmicks for one day only.

Today’s event was held at Osaka Prefectural Gym 2 in Osaka and can be watched on demand on DRAGONGATE NETWORK.

The paid attendance has not yet been announced. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 1028, a legit sellout. That’s one of the best numbers if not the best number for anyone at the venue since the pandemic began in 2020)

Match 1: Kota Minoura, Dragon Dia & Jason Lee beat U-T, JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI & Punch Tominaga. Dia pinned Tominaga after DDDDT. Tominaga was a late replacement for Strong Machine J, who was pulled due to a shoulder injury. (J also is now off tomorrow’s event)

Match 2: Jackson & Johnson Florida beat Don Fujii & Yasushi Kanda by DQ. Fujii DQ’d. Chair use (Florida Bros. American Flag chair). Comedy match.

Match 3: BxB Hulk, Masaaki Mochizuki & Dragon Kid beat Genki Horiguchi, Ryo Saito & Cyber Kong (Takashi Yoshida). Hulk pinned Saito after First Flash.

Match 4: Madoka Kikuta & Ryoya Tanaka vs. Big R Shimizu (BIGBOSS Shimizu) & Ben-K went to a no contest. Z-Brats interference.

Match 5: Jimmy Susumu (Susumu Mochizuki) & Jimmy Kagetora (Kagetora) beat Luis Mante & Hyo. Susumu pinned Hyo after Jumbo Wins!

Main Event: In a handicap match, YAMATO, Naruki Doi, Kzy, Problem Dragon & Punch Tominaga vs. Shun Skywalker, KAI, ISHIN & Gianni Valetta went to a double countout. Which led to…
Main Event (again): In a handicap match, Shun Skywalker, KAI, ISHIN & Gianni Valetta beat YAMATO, Naruki Doi, Kzy, Problem Dragon & Punch Tominaga. Valetta pinned Tominaga after a King Kong kneedrop.

The next event is CHAMPION GATE 2024 in Osaka tomorrow. Live streaming on DRAGONGATE NETWORK will begin TONIGHT at 10 PM PT/1 AM ET. I will try to do live results if possible.

Pro Wrestling NOAH 3/2/24 Results

GREAT VOYAGE 2024 in NAGOYA, the late-winter edition of Pro Wrestling NOAH’s signature event series, is in the books.

Today’s event was held at Nagoya Congress Center in Nagoya and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in Japanese and English. As usual with the big events, this was an ABEMA exclusive broadcast so the live stream was English only outside Japan and edited/clipped at the start and end. You can also watch the first 2 matches FOR FREE on YouTube, No Stewart Fulton on English commentary today, just regular co-host Mark Pickering and, when he wasn’t doing his day job, now-full time NOAH ring announcer G-Man.

The announced paid attendance was 809. It didn’t look like they used the full capacity setup for the venue, which is 3000, but even if they used the smaller Event Hall (1800) or the even smaller third vemue space (1400), this still sounds like their usual weak big event numbers.

Match 1; Ninja Mack beat Alejandro.

Match 2; Akitoshi Saito & Hi69 beat Hajime Ohara & Junta Miyawaki. Saito pinned Miyawaki after Sickle Of Death.

Match 3: Naomichi Marufuji, Yoshinari Ogawa & Super Crazy beat Jack Morris, Anthony Greene & YO-HEY. Ogawa pinned YO-HEY.

Match 4; HAYATA beat LJ Cleary.

Match 5: Victory Challenge Tag League: Dragon Bane & Alpha Wolf beat Kenoh & Yu Owada. Bane pinned Owada after Twister Bane.

Match 6: Victory Challenge Tag League: Masa Kitamiya & Daiki Inaba vs. Manabu Soya & Shuji Kondo went to a 20 minute time limit draw.

Match 7: GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion Daga beat Tadasuke to retain the title. V4 for Daga.

Match 8: Victory Challenge Tag League: Go Shiozaki & Atsushi Kotoge beat Saxon Huxley & Timothy Thatcher. Shiozaki pinned Huxley after Go Lariat.

Match 9: Jake Lee vs. Kazuyuki Fujita went to a 30 minute time limit draw.

Main Event: Victory Challenge Tag League: Kaito Kiyomiya & Ryohei Oiwa beat Takashi Sugiura & Ulka Sasaki. Kiyomiya beat Sasaki with a Figure 4.

The next event is tomorrow at Toyama Techno Hall in Toyama. There will be no live broadcast.

Injury Report: Double DDT Yet Again (Updated x2)

Ugh. DDT just can’t stay healthy whether it’s for an event or for a long time. 2 more have gone down, today it’s Yukio Naya & Rukiya. Fever. Out tomorrow as a precaution. Takao Soma & Tomomitsu Matsunaga are the replacements.

Tomorrow’s event (tonight US time) is scheduled to be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE Thursday. There is no live broadcast.

UPDATE: Make it a Triple DDT as Takeshi Masada is now out as well. Fever.

UPDATE 2 (3/5/24): Naya & Rukiya are off tomorrow (3:6). Flu.

Report: Top Stardom Champion Staying

Amidst ongoing rumors of a mass talent exodus from Stardom at the end of March, when almost everyone’s contracts are up (except Mayu Iwatani), when many could follow the fired Rossy Ogawa to his pending new promotion (and perhaps WWE, at least if the Giulia rumors are true), one big name isn’t leaving. Japanese news site Puroresu Today recently interviewed Maika, the current World Of Stardom Champion, and she stated her intent to stay with Stardom.

Check out the story below (in Japanese):

FREE VIDEO: Behind The Scenes-WRESTLE KINGDOM 18

As they have done a few times in recent years, in particular with the comeback story of Hiromu Takahashi from his life-threatening neck injury and around other major events, New Japan has just released a new documentary video FOR FREE on YouTube, and it is also available on New Japan World for subscribers. This 42 minute video offers a behind the scenes look at the 1/4/24 Tokyo Dome event. The video is in Japanese but includes English subtitles. Check out the video below:

Video courtesy of the New Japan English YouTube channel.

Injury Report: Weak Machine

According to the Dragon Gate English Twitter, there have been changes to tomorrow’s Noatalgia Gate 2024 event because Strong Machine J apparently was injured at the PRIME ZONE+ event earlier this week. Shoulder. Out tomorrow. Status uncertain beyond that. For tomorrow he was to have teamed with U-T & JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI to face Kota Minoura, Dragon Dia & Jason Lee. Punch Tominaga is the replacement. Tomonaga is also scheduled to be in the main event, currently a handicap match. If removed as a result, that could become an 8-man tag.

More as it becomes available.

TJPW News: Second Trainee Debut Set (Updated)

Following up on previous news, Tokyo Joshi Pro has announced details of Kira’s debut: The new trainee from Australia will compete using the name Kira Summer and her debut match will be Sunday, when she teams with Nao Kakuta to face Chika Nanase (who just debuted herself) & Arisu Endo.

Kira, 27, is about 5’4″ and is believed to be a true rookie. Her debut match will be streamed live on WRESTLE UNIVERSE as part of Sunday’s event, beginning Saturday at 6 PM PT/9 PM ET.

UPDATE: The third trainee, Uta, will also debut Sunday. Her name will be Uta Takami. She will continue to be part of Up Up Girls.

Stardom News: Cinderella Tournament Bracket, STRONG Title Match, More

Lots of Stardom news today:

The full bracket for the 2024 Cinderella Tournament has been announced. This is a singles tournament in single-elimination format. The rules are as follows:
Round 1 matches are 10 minute time limit.
Round 2 & Quarterfinals matches are 15 minute time limit.
Semifinals are 20 minute time limit.
Finals are no time limit.
Until the Semifinals, over the top rope rules are in place, meaning if a wrestler goes over the top rope outside the ring and both feet touch the floor, the match is over and they lose.
If there is any draw or match that ends without a winner before the Finals, both wrestlers in that match are out.
Finals will be under normal rules. The winner received a Cinderella dress.

Round 1 matches on 3/9 at Yokohama Budokan, Yokohama:
Hanan vs. HANAKO
Yuzuki vs. Starlight Kid
Momo Kohgo vs. Gina
Koguma vs. Ruaka
Saya Iida vs. Saki Kashima
Yuna Mizumori vs. Lady C
Sayaka Kurara vs. Natsuko Tora
Miyu Amasaki vs. Ranna Yagami

Round 2 matches on 3/10 at Korakuen Hall, Tokyo:
MIRAI vs. Hanan/HANAKO winner
Suzu Suzuki vs. Yuzuki/Starlight Kid winner
Mei Seira vs. Saya Iida/Saki Kashima winner
Ami Sohrei vs. Yuna Mizumori/Lady C winner

Round 2 matches on 3/16 at Atelier Himeji, Hyogo:
Waka Tsukiyama vs. Momo Kohgo/Gina winner
AZM vs. Sayaka Kurara/Natsuko Tora winner
Mai Sakurai vs. Miyu Amasaki/Ranna Yagami winner
Hazuki vs. Koguma/Ruaka winner

Quarterfinals: 3/17 at Shiga Prefectural Cultural Industry Exchange Center Event Hall, Shiga

Semifinals & Finals: 3/20 at Nagoya Congress Center, Nagoya

A New Japan STRONG Women’s Championship match has been announced for 3/10 as current champion Giulia will defend against Stephanie Vaquer. This will be the 10th defense for Giulia, coming amidst more rumors of her impending departure from Stardom, possibly to help start Rossy Ogawa’s rumored new promotion then heading to WWE. Vaquer competes primarily in CMLL (Mexico) but has made several appearances in New Japan over the past year.

2 wrestlers sidelined with injuries will also be returning next weekend: Natsupoi is scheduled to return on 3/9 and Aya Sakura is scheduled to return on 3/10. 3/9 will also feature the Stardom debut of Sareee, who has been a freelancer since her return to Japan after being released by WWE. She will team with Sendai Girls’ Chihiro Hashimoto to face Natsupoi & Saori Anou. For 3/10, Sakura’s return match will be announced after the 3/9 event.

The Stardom English Twitter is reporting the 3/9 event will be a live PPV. All the other events, and 3/9 after the PPV viewing window ends, will be available on demand on Stardom World at a later date.