This could be fun down the road…Tokyo Joshi Pro has announced that another Japanese idol, this time a former J-Pop idol, is trying her hand at wrestling. Ami Yumoto, 26, is a former member of the record-setting all-girl group AKB48 (it really does have 48 members…which also spawned numerous spinoffs including SKE48, which includes current International Princess Champion Yuki Arai) who released one single as a member. She has also been an actress since leaving AKB48 and now is mostly active on stage and has a background in dance & acrobatics. She will debut at GRAND PRINCESS ’24 on 3/31 against Nao Kakuta. Interestingly, they performed on stage together in December and that seems to have led to this. And guess who happened to be a co-star in Yumoto’s prior TV work that was wrestling themed? Arai. AKB48 vs. SKE48…I’d love to see that! But don’t count on much more from Yumoto for a while after her debut-due to other commitments she probably won’t wrestle again until summer if at all.
Tag: pro wrestling
DEVELOPING: Top Stardom Star Gone Soon? (Updated)
Tokyo Sports is reporting that, in a perhaps expected but still huge blow to Stardom and Bushiroad if true, Giulia is leaving the promotion at the end of March. What’s less certain is where she will go-she has been rumored to be following former Stardom head Rossy Ogawa to his pending new promotion, but the rumor mills have also heavily linked her to WWE, suggesting the Japanese-Italian born in England is a very high priority. What this also perhaps leaves in limbo is the New Japan STRONG Women’s Championship which Giulia has has a stronghold on since July. Does it follow her to her next stop? If it’s WWE almost certainly not. The internet fanbase will also be screaming for her to go to All Elite Wrestling which is a possibility despite AEW being ridiculed for what is viewed as poor use of a very loaded women’s division.
Do keep in mind that Tokyo Sports borders on tabloid/dirt sheet in reliability and they’re maybe more flamboyant/out there compared to other mainstream sources like Weekly Pro & Nikkan Sports. But should you wish to decipher this yourself, below is the link (in Japanese):
UPDATE: Related rumors have Giulia following Ogawa to his new promotion to help get it started then going to WWE. That would maybe put her in WWE by this fall. All wait and see
New Japan News: New Japan Cup Set, SAKURA GENESIS Updates, More
With another major event and tour now in the books, it’s time for a big New Japan news dump to get ready for what’s next:
The entire New Japan Cup field has been unveiled. Traditionally a single-elimination bracket format tournament, that is again the case, this year with a field of 28 (down slightly from the last couple years). That means 4 will get a free pass to Round 2, and those 4 are prior Cup winners (SANADA, Hirooki Goto, EVIL and Zack Sabre Jr.). This is also an openweight tournament meaning Junior Heavyweights are entered as well. Not entered are the current IWGP Champions-World Heavyweight Champion Tetsuya Naito, Junior Heavyweight Champion Sho, and Global Champion Nic Nemeth. Also not in it this year is Hiroshi Tanahashi, possibly due to injury. SANADA is the defending tournament champion. NEVER Openweight Champion EVIL is in the field though. Also note the inclusion of (former?) All Elite Wrestling member Jack Perry, who hasn’t been seen in AEW since a backstage incident at their England event in August. He & Shota Umino have traded comments on the socials lately following Perry attacking Umino at Battle In The Valley in the US in January, and that’s led to a Round 1 match.
This year’s tournament begins on 3/6 and ends on 3/20, with every event available live and on demand on New Japan World. Below is a look at the entire bracket:
The winner will face Naito for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at SAKURA GENESIS on 4/6 at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, so if SANADA goes all the way we could very well get a trilogy match following Tokyo Dome and this past weekend, both won by Naito. In first looking at the bracket, scratch Boltin Oleg as the Young Lion entrant and Callum Newman has he’s mainly been a jobber for United Empire, otherwise everyone at least has a chance.
Besides Naito vs. the Cup winner, Nemeth-Tanahashi for the IWGP Global Championship is also set for SAKURA GENESIS. Tanahashi is expected to be back from injury by then, which is a sprained ankle suffered on Day 1 of THE NEW BEGINNING in SAPPORO. In fact, right now it sounds like he’ll be out less than 2 weeks based on below.
Finally, the full card has been announced for the traditional Anniversary Event on 3/6 at Ota City General Gym in Tokyo, returning to the venue where it all began-the site of New Japan’s very first event on March 6, 1972. Here’s the full lineup announced today:
Tomoaki Honma & Tanga Loa vs. Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb
Hikuleo & El Phantasmo vs. Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr.
El Desperado, Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. BUSHI, Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi & Hiromu Takahashi
Callum Newman, Francesco Akira 7& TJP vs. Gedo, Favid Finlay & Gabriel Kidd
Yuya Uemura, Taichi, DOUKI & SANADA vs. Dick Togo, Ren Narita, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & EVIL (the new-look Uemura following losing his hair last weekend)
New Japan Cup Round 1:
Toru Yano vs. Yujiro Takahashi
YOSHI-HASHI vs. KENTA
Shota Umino vs. Jack Perry
Champion vs. Champion Anniversary Match: IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Tetsuya Naito vs. IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Sho in a NON-TITLE match. This is an Anniversary Event tradition that was paused after 2020 due to the pandemic, but returns this year
GLEAT 2/23/24 Results
GLEAT held their latest signature event, GLEAT Ver. 9, this past Friday in Osaka.
Friday’s event was held at Osaka Prefectural Gym 2 in Osaka and should be available on demand on YouTube at a later date. There was no live broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 456..
Match 1: Kotaro Suzuki & Keiichi Sato beat Takanori Ito & Fire Katsumi. Suzuki pinned Katsumi after Blue Destiny.
Match 2: Yuya Susumu & Yusuke Kodama beat MICHIKO & JD Lee. Kodama pinned Lee.
Match 3: In a Fight Without Justice aka Deathmatch/No DQ match, So Daimonji beat Issei Onitsuka. Afterwards, Takanori Ito asked for a match against Daimonji. Accepted, but only on the condition of there being matches in both Tokyo and Osaka. That match will happen on both 3/13 and 3/16.
Match 4: Lidet UWF Bout-Minoru Tanaka beat Takafuni Ito by TKO.
Match 5: Tetsuya Izuchi & Seiichi Ikemoto beat Kaito Ishida & Hartley Jackson. Izuchi beat Jackson with an arm triangle.
Match 6: Soma Watanabe beat TAKUMA.
Match 7: Jun Saito, Yuma Aoyagi & Seigo Tachibana (All-Japan) beat Kaz Hayashi, CIMA & Jun Tonsho. Saito pinned Tonsho. After the match, Saito announced that, due to the current Rei Saito injury, the G INFINITY Championship they held is now VACANT. That means the scheduled 3/13 defense against Kaz Hayashi & CIMA is now off. A tournament will be announced soon to crown new champions.
Match 8: El Lindaman beat Kuroshio TOKYO Japan.
Match 9: T-Hawk, Takehiro Yamamura Seiki Yoshioka & Junjie beat Ryuichi Kawakami, KAZMA SAKAMOTO, Check Shimatani & Quiet Storm. Yoshioka pinned Shimatani after Crash Driver.
Main Event: G-REX Champion Hayato Tamura beat SBK to retain the title. V3 for Tamura. Next up: Minoru Tanaka. That match will happen on 3/13.
The next event is GLEAT Ver. 10 on 3/13 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Broadcast plans TBA but since it’s at Korakuen it probably will be live on YouTube, if so the live broadcast would begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET.
Dragon Gate 2/25/24 Results
Dragon Gate ran the penultimate event of the Truth Gate 2024 Tour today (the rare tour that will stretch into the next month).
Today’s event was held at Kobe Art Center in Kobe and can be watched on demand on DRAGONGATE NETWORK.
The paid attendance has not yet been announced. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 428)
Match 1: Jason Lee, Ho Ho Lun & JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI beat Dragon Kid, Genki Horiguchi & Shachihoko BOY. KAMEI pinned BOY after JACKY Knife.
Match 2: BIGBOSS Shimizu & Punch Tominaga beat Takashi Yoshida & Problem Dragon. Shimizu pinned Dragon after BIGBOSS Press.
Match 3: Kagetora beat U-T.
Match 4: YAMATO, Masaaki Mochizuki & Shuji Kondo beat Kota Minoura, Ben-K & BxB Hulk, YAMATO pinned Minoura after Gallaria.
Match 5: Shun Skywalker & Gianni Valetta beat Kzy & Strong Machine J. Skywalker pinned J.
Main Event: ISHIN won a 9 man battle royal, last eliminating Ryoya Tanaka.
The next event is PRIME ZONE+ Vol. 2 Tuesday at Kobe Lapis Hall in Kobe. Live streaming on DRAGONGATE NETWORK will begin at 2 AM PT/5 AM ET.
AEW Rampage 3/1/24 Results (SPOILERS!)
Here are the quick results for Friday’s (3/1) AEW Rampage from Springfield, MO, which was taped last night (2/24) after Collision (SPOILERS!):
Continue reading “AEW Rampage 3/1/24 Results (SPOILERS!)”All-Japan 2/25/24 Results
All-Japan wrapped up the Excite Series 2024 Tour today with an event in Kyoto.
Today’s event was held at Kyoto KBS Hall in Kyoto and can be watched on demand on AJPW.TV. You can also watch the first 3 matches FOR FREE on YouTube.
The announced paid attendance was 572.
There was a late change to the card because Carbell Ito (ATM) was a last-minute removal from the event. Illness. This caused match 2 to be changed.
Match 1: Katsuhiko Nakajima beat Ren Ayabe.
Match 2: Takao Omori beat Toshizo & Kazuaki Mihara in a 3-way by DQ. Toshizo DQ’d. Ref assault.
Match 3: Shotaro Ashino & Hokuto Omori beat Kuroshio TOKYO Japan & Seigo Tachibana. Ashino pinned Tachibana with a T-Bone suplex.
Match 4: Ryuki Honda & Yuma Anzai vs. Jun Saito & KONO went to a double countout. Which led to…
Match 4 (again): Ryuki Honda & Yuma Anzai vs. Jun Saito & KONO went to a double countout (again).
Match 5: Rising Hayato, Hikaru Sato, Seiki Yoshioka & Fuminori Abe beat Dan Tamura, Ryo Inoue, Naruki Doi (Independent/Freelancer) & “brother” YASSHI (Independent/Freelancer) by ref stoppage. Hayato beat Tamura with Overdose.
Main Event: Suwama & Hideki Suzuki beat Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi to win the vacant All-Japan World Tag Team Championship. Suwama & Suzuki become the 98th All-Japan World Tag Team Champions. Suwama pinned Aoyagi with a backdrop hold.
The next event is 3/9 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. The only match set so far is Dan Tamura vs. Rising Hayato for the All-Japan World Jr. Heavyweight Championship. Live streaming on AJPW.TV will begin on 3/8 at 6:30 PM PT/9:30 PM ET. Live results are currently scheduled.
AEW Collision 2/24/24 Results
Here are the quick results from tonight’s AEW Collision in Springfield, MO:
In a No DQ match, Powerhouse Hobbs beat Sammy Guevara.
FTR beat Shane Taylor & Lee Moriarty.
Thunder Rosa beat Lady Bird Monroe.
Jay White & Gunn Club beat The Iron Savages.
Malakai Black beat Bryan Keith.
Serena Deeb beat Lady Frost. This was to have been Deeb vs. Kiera Hogan but Hogan was a last-minute removal due to illness.
Bryan Danielson beat Jun Akiyama (DDT).
I missed the live broadcast due to scheduling conflicts.
Next week’s episode is TAPED. They are now taping next week’s Rampage.
Injury Report: Close The Dragon Gate
Dragon Gate has announced an injury which has wide-reaching implications: Yoshiki Kato was injured at yesterday’s Gifu event. Right knee. Out indefinitely but it’s going to be at least a month because he is out of Rey de Parejas 2024 and, as a result, the Open The Triangle Gate Championship is now VACANT. A planned title defense at CHAMPION GATE 2024 in Osaka on 3/3 will now be a determination match for the titles between Shun Skywalker, KAI & ISHIN and Madoka Kikuta, Dragon Dia & Ryoya Tanaka. As for the tournament, Kato was to have teamed with Skywalker. ISHIN is the replacement.
Dragon Gate 2/24/24 Results
Dragon Gate continued the Truth Gate 2024 Tour today with the penultimate event of the tour in Hiroshima.
Today’s event was held at Fukuyama Big Rose in Hiroshima. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.
The paid attendance has not yet been announced. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 310)
Match 1: Dragon Dia & Ryoya Tanaka beat Susumu Mochizuki & Genki Horiguchi. Dia pinned Horiguchi after DDDDT.
Match 2: Strong Machine J beat Daiki Yanagiuchi.
Match 3: Luis Mante & Hyo beat Punch Tominaga & Yasushi Kanda. Mante pinned Tominaga after MCK.
Match 4: Madoka KIkuta beat Shachihoko BOY.
Match 5:YAMATO, Naruki Doi & Dragon Kid beat Kota Minoura, Ben-K & BxB Hulk, YAMATO pinned Minoura after Omniscient & Omnipotent Frankensteiner.
Main Event: Shun Skywalker, KAI, ISHIN & Gianni Valetta beat Kzy, BIGBOSS Shimizu, Jason Lee & U-T. Valetta pinned U-T after a King Kong kneedrop.
The next event is tomorrow at Kobe Art Center in Kobe. While this is not the end of the tour, it is the final event of the month (there is one final event for the tour on 3/5 after some upcoming special standalone events). Live streaming on DRAGONGATE NETWORK will begin at midnight PT/3 AM ET.