News, results & more from Japanese Pro Wrestling & Sumo
Still no breaks for DDT on the injury front as another one was added to the body count over the weekend-the latest casualty is young wrestler Kazuma Sumi. Left knee. Out at least this next week and will miss the next 2 events on Friday and Sunday, beyond that is uncertain.
More as it becomes available.
In a posy on their website in Japanese and English, DDT announced ring announcer/WRESTLE UNIVERSE commentator Ken Kato has been fired by the promotion effective today. Apparently he made what the promotion deemed inappropriate comments on social media/SNS (I have not seen these comments yet) and showed no remorse when approached about it. So his contract was terminated. Kato was heard on pre-show matches on WRESTLE UNIVERSE and occasionally relieved regular host/commentator Haruo Murata on longer DDT live broadcasts.
New Japan wrapped up CMLL FANTASTICAMANIA 2024 today, which was considered another successful event and likely set the table for another installment in 2025 (it has been annual since 2011 except for a couple times the last few years when it didn’t happen due to the pandemic).
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 1455, a legit sellout.
Before the event began, CMLL President Salvador Luterroth appeared to greet the crowd. Luterroth and the CMLL wrestlers also visited the Mexican embassy in Tokyo earlier in the day.
Match 1: Yoh, Ryusuke Taguchi & Brillante Jr. beat Francesco Akira, Pegasso & Stigma. Brillante pinned Pegasso after Senton Contornillo.
Match 2: BUSHI, KAMAITACHI, Tetsuya Naito & Titan beat Sho, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, DIfunto & Magnus. Titan pinned Difunto after Jade Immortal.
Match 3: OKUMURA beat Dark Panther.
Match 4: Atlantis Jr. beat Hechicero.
Match 5: MUSASHI (Michinoku Pro), El Desperado, Templario & Volador Jr. beat Tiger Mask, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Soberano Jr. & Rocky Romero. Desperado pinned TM 4 after El Es Cero.
Match 6: Mistico beat Ultimo Guerrero.
Main Event: Mascara Dorada beat Stuka Jr.
The next event is THE NEW BEGINNING in SAPPORO Friday & Saturday at Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center Hokkai Kita Yell in Hokkaido. Live streaming on New Japan World for both events will begin Friday at midnight PT/3 AM ET for the first event and at 9 PM PT/midnight ET for the second event. Both will be available OUTSIDE JAPAN ONLY, they will be TV Asahi live broadcasts in Japan.(Correction: The post initially said the next events were Saturday & Sunday in Japan. They are Friday and Saturday, both Friday in the US)
Dragon Gate continued the Truth Gate 2024 Tour today with an event in Mie.
Today’s event was held at Heartful Mikuno in Mie. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 346, a super full house/very near sellout.
Match 1; Kota Minoura & Ben-K beat Kzy & JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI. Ben-K pinned KAMEI after a spear.
Match 2: Gianni Valetta beat Ho Ho Lun.
Match 3: Ultimo Dragon & Yasushi Kanda beat Masaaki Mochizuki & Punch Tominaga. Kanda pinned Tominaga after Ryu’s.
Match 4: Madoka Kikuta, Dragon Dia & Ryoya Tanaka beat BIGBOSS Shimizu, Strong Machine J & Jason Lee. Dia pinned Lee.
Match 5; Luis Mante & Hyo beat Susumu Mochizuki & Takashi Yoshida. Mante pinned Yoshida after Super Tigre.
Main Event: Don Fujii, YAMATO & Dragon Kid beat Shun Skywalker, KAI & ISHIN. YAMATO pinned ISHIN after Gallaria.
The next event is Friday at Juroku Plaza in Gifu. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.
Stardom followed up their big Tokyo doubleheader with a house show today.
Today’s event was held at Belle Salle Shibuya 1 in Tokyo and will be available on demand on Stardom World at a later date.
The announced paid attendance was 356, a full house/near sellout.
Match 1: Rina & Ruaka beat HANAKO & Waka Tsukiyama. Rina pinned HANAKO.
Match 2; Mei Seira beat Mai Sakurai & Hanan in a 3-way by pinning Sakurai.
Match 3: Momo Watanabe, Starlight Kid & Natsuko Tora beat Sayaka Kurara, Yunz Mizumori & Tam Nakano. Kid beat Kurara.
Match 4; Suzu Suzumi & Giulia beat Koguma & Hazuki. Suzuki pinned Koguma with a German suplex hold.
Match 5: Miyu Amasaki, Lady C, AZM, Saya Kamitani & Utami Hayashishita beat Ranna Yagami, Saki Kashima, Ami Sohrei, MIRAI & Syuri. Amasaki pinned Yagami after Tensei.
Main Event: Hina, Mina Shirakawa & Maika beat Yuzuki, Saya Iida & Mayu Iwatani. SHirakawa beat Yuzuki with a figure 4.
The next event is Saturday at G Messe Gunma in Gunma. It will be available on demand on Stardom World at a later date.
New Japan ran the penultimate event of CMLL FANTASTICAMANIA 2024 today as the first half of a Tokyo doubleheader.
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 1455, a legit sellout.
Match 1: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Pegasso & Ryusuke Taguchi beat Yoh, Tiger Mask & Kokeshi Machine 2 (Tomoaki Honma). Tanahashi pinned Machine 2.
Match 2: BUSHI, KAMAITACHI, Yota Tsuji & Tetsuya Naito beat Sho, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Yujiro Takahashi & Magnus. Tsuji pinned Magnus after reversing Campana.
Match 3: Titan beat Brillante Jr.
Match 4: MUSASHI (Michinoku Pro), Dark Panther & Atlantis Jr. beat DOUKI, OKUMURA & Hechicero. Panther pinned OKUMURA after Rudo Ragnarok.
Match 5: El Desperado, Stigma, Mascara Dorada & Mistico beat Difunto, Francesco Akira, Stuka Jr. & Ultimo Guerrero. Stigma pinned Difunto after Scandalo Driver.
Match 6: Soberano Jr. beat Templario.
Main Event: Volador Jr. beat Rocky Romero.
The tour-ender is tomorrow. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET. This will be a Samurai! TV broadcast in Japan.
DDT continued the Into The Fight 2024 Tour today with their half of a weekend doubleheader with Tokyo Joshi Pro.
Today’s event was held at Duo Cerezo in Niigata and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date. There was no live broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 230.
Match 1: Toru Owashi beat Kazuma Sumi.
Match 2: To-y (Toi Kojima) beat Kazuki Hirata.
Match 3: Daisuke Sasaki & LANON beat Yuki Iino & Rukiya. KANON beat Rukiya with Just Cobra Twist.
Match 4: Jun Akiyama & Yoshitatsu beat Tetsuya Endo & Makoto Oishi. Akiyama pinned Oishi after Deformed Sternness Dust Alpha.
Match 5: Danshoku Dieno vs. Super Sasadango Machine went to a Double Fall. Both fell asleep.
Match 6: HARASHIMA & Akito beat Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada. HARASHIMA pinned Masada after Blue Sword.
Main Event: Yuki Ueno, MAO & Shunma Katusmata beat Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Naya & Hideki Okatani. Katusmata pinned Okatani after Our Mad Max.
The next event is Friday at Yokohama Radiant Hall in Yokohama. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at midnight PT/3 AM ET.
For those who are/were not aware, there will be no AEW Collision tonight (2/17/24) because of TNT’s coverage of the NBA All-Star Weekend. Collision will return on 2/24/24.
(There is one bit of unmentioned news coming out of yesterday’s AEW Rampage in the meantime-AEW has officially signed Queen Aminata after her first win in the promotion on Rampage. Having first seen her on Dark and impressing me there I am happy for her getting a chance like this. She reportedly is also the first African-born [not African American] woman wrestler to sign with a major US promotion)
Dragon Gate continued the Truth Gate 2024 Tour today with an event in Kyoto.
Today’s event was held at Kyoto KBS Hall in Kyoro and can be watched on demand on DRAGONGATE NETWORK.
The paid attendance has not yet been announced. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 312)
Match 1: Madoka Kikuta, Dargon Dia & Ryoya Tanaka vs. Shun SKywalker, ISHIN & Yoshiki Kato went to a 15 minute time limit draw.
Match 2: KAI & Gianni Valetta beat Masaaki Mochizuki & Shachihoko BOY. Valetta pinned BOY after a King Kong kneedrop.
Match 3: YAMATO & Susumu Mochizuki beat Yasushi Kanda & Ho Ho Lun. Mochizuki pinned Lun after Yokosuka Cutter.
Match 4: Kota MInoura, Ben-K & BxB Hulk beat Ultimo Dragon, Kzy & U-T. Hulk pinned U-T after E.V.O.
Main Event: Dragon Kid, Naruki Doi (Indpeendent/Freelancer), BIGBOSS Shimizu & Strong Machine J beat Luis Mante, Hyo, Jason Lee & JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI. J pinned Lee with Machine Suplex.
The next event is tomorrow at Heartful Mikuno in Mie. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.
Tokyo Joshi Pro kicked off a weekend doubleheader with DDT in Niigata today, a Shoko Nakajima hometown event.
Today’s event was held at Duo Cerezo in Niigata and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date (probably Tuesday or Wednesday). There was no live broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 281.
Match 1: Kaya Toribami beat Haru Kazashiro.
Match 2: Mizuki beat Shino Suzuki & Raku in a 3-way by beating Suzuki.
Match 3: Yuki AIno & Pom Harajuku beat Mahiro Kiryu & HIMAWARI. Aino pinned HIMAWARI after Venus DDT.
Match 4; Suzume & Arisu Endo beat Yuki Kamifuku & Toga. Endo pinned Toga.
Match 5; Miyu Yamashita beat Wakana Uehara.
Match 6: Rika Tatsumi beat Zara Zucker by submisison.
Main Event: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao beat Miu Watanabe & Moka Miyamoto. Nakajima pinned Miyamoto after a diving senton. Then it was announced that Nakajima & Misao would face the literal monster-size team of Aja Kong & Max The Impaler at GRAND PRINCESS ’24 on 3/31.
The next event is “BEAT POWER ’24” on 2/24 at Osaka Prefectural Gym 2 in Osaka. There will be no live broadcast.