Tag: pro wrestling

Ganbare Pro 3/28/24 Results

Ganbare Pro ran their final event under the CyberFight banner today as they will leave and become independent this weekend, although they will remain under the WRESTLE UNIVERSE banner for broadcasts of events on demand.

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 205.

Match 1: Yuna Manase & Bunny Oikawa beat Yoshiko Hasegawa & Riara. Manase pinned Riara after Suzuki Dynamic. Hasegawa & Riara are now leaving the promotion.

Match 2: What was supposed to be Zhao Yunzilong (?) & YuuRI vs. Hartley Jackson & HARUKAZE was changed last-second due to Yunzilong & YuuRI being absent. Unknown for Yunzilong, personal reasons for YuuRI. Which led to…
Match 2: Hartley Jackson & HARUKAZE beat Hong Kong International Policeman & Policewoman. Jackson pinned Policeman after Death Valley Bomb.

Match 3: Yuko Miyamoto, Isami Kodaka & Munetatsu Nakamura beat Shota, Takao Soma & Shinichiro Tominaga. Nakamura pinned Shota with a German suplex hold.

Main Event: In an elimination tag match, Shuichiro Katsumura, Ken Ohka, Takuya Wada & Mizuki Watase beat Keisuke Ishii, Yumehito Imanari, Tyson Maeguchi & Takaaki Iwasaki. Katsumura & Ohka were the winners, last eliminating Imanari which left Ishii alone, and thus Ishii could not continue due to it being a tag match.

The first event for the “new” Ganbare as an independent promotion will be on 4/27 at Kitazawa Town Hall in Tokyo. It will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date. Other upcoming events set are 5/18 at Shin-Kiba 1st Ring, 6/2 and 7/15 both at Takashimadaira Community Center.

AEW Dynamite 3/27/24 Results

Here are the quick results from tonight’s AEW Dynamite from Quebec City, Canada:

Match 1: Will Ospreay vs. Katsuyori Shibata
Result: Will Ospreay beat Katsuyori Shibata

Match 2: AEW Tag Team Championship Tournament Quarterfinals: The Young Bucks vs. Private Party
Result: The Young Bucks beat Private Party. Both Bucks pinned Marq Quen after EVP Trigger.

Match 3: Willow Nightingale vs. Kris Staltander, Anna Jay & Skye Blue in a 4-way for an AEW TBS Championship shot at the Dynasty PPV. Mercedes Mone on commentary
Result: Willow Nightingale beat Kris Statlander, Anna Jay & Skye Blue in a 4-way by pinning Jay. As a result, Nightingale will face AEW TBS Champion Julia Hart for the title at the Dynasty PPV in April. Hart laid out Nightingale with a belt shot immediately afterwards.

Match 4: AEW Tag Team Championship Tournament: Best Friends vs. Undisputed Kingdom
Result: Best Friends beat Undisputed Kingdom

Main Event: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Swerve Strickland
Result: Swerve Strickland beat Konosuke Takeshita. As a result, Strickland will be #1 in the updated Rankings coming out after tonight and will face AEW World Champion Samoa Joe for the title at Dynasty.

Aside from Best Friends-Undisputed Kingdom, which I didn’t care about because Orange Cassidy, this was a very good show. Fewer matches because of no in action/squash stuff meant more time for everything else and it showed in how good they were for the most part. Takeshita-Strickland is must-see and check out Ospreay-Shibata. Episodes like this are ones I want to see more of.

Friday on Rampage: TBA.

Saturday on Collision: Ricky Starks & Big Bill vs. Top Flight and FTR vs. The Infantry in the Tournament Quarterfinals and NEW AEW TNT Champion Adam Copeland with the usual open challenge for the title.

Injury Report: All-Japan Veteran Feeling Down

All-Japan has announced an injury change to their major event Saturday: Osamu Nishimura is now off. The always-vague poor physical condition/ill health. He was to have teamed with Takao Omori to face KONO & Toshizo. Kumaarashi is the replacement. Nishimura probably won’t miss any more time beyond this.

News: UJPW Press Conference-ALL TOGETHER Returning (Updated)

At a press conference on Tokyo today, several promotions including New Japan, Pro Wrestling NOAH, DDT, Tokyo Joshi Pro and Stardom came together under the new United Japan Pro Wrestling banner. The biggest item coning out of this was the return of ALL TOGETHER, the joint event between multiple promotions held twice in the past as a charity fundraiser effort. To be held on 5/6 at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, the event will be a fundraiser for Noto Peninsula disaster recovery efforts and include New Japan, NOAH, DDT, Dragon Gate, Big Japan and Stardom participation. The event will be a live PPV worldwide, streaming on ABEMA on Japan and TBA elsewhere.

A second UJPW event will be held on 6/16 in Hokkaido and will focus on other promotions not able to participate in the 5/6 event.

It should be noted that, at this time, the only major Japanese promotion that does not appear to be part of the UJPW is All-Japan. No presence at the presser and no mentions on their website.

One match for 5:6 has already been announced by NOAH: Daisuke Sekimoto & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Jeff Cobb & Masa Kitamiya. HOSS FIGHT ALERT!!!

More as it becomes available.

UPDATE: Second match announced: Naomichi Marufuji, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Sanshiro Takagi vs. EVIL, Ren Narita & Yujiro Takahashi.

And a third match: Yuki Ueno, Kaito Kiyomiya & Shota Umino vs. Yuya Uemura, Konosuke Takeshita & Shun Skywalker.

Stardom 3/24/24 Results

Stardom ran the second half of a weekend house show doubleheader today, serving as the second of two events that were used to test live streaming on their Stardom World streaming service.

Today’s event was held at Kyoto KBS Hall in Kyoto and can be watched on demand on Stardom World. It may also be available on YouTube as it was also live streamed there.

The announced paid attendance was 511, a full house/near sellout.

Match 1: Yuna Mizumori beat Aya Sakura.

Match 2: Starlight Kid & Rina beat Yuzuki & Mayu Iwatani. Rina pinned Yuzuki after Pink Devil.

Match 3: Momo Watanabe, Ruaka & Natsuko Tora beat Lady C, Saya Kamitani & AZM. Watanabe pinned Kamitani after Peach Sunrise.

Match 4: Mei Seira & Suzu Suzuki beat Gina & Mina Shirakawa and Koguma & Hazuki in a 3-way when Suzuki pinned Gina.

Match 5: Mai Sakurai, Natsupoi, MIWRAI, Syuri, Maika & Giulia beat Saori Anou, Sayaka Kurara, Ranna Yagami, Saki Kashima, Tam Nakano & Ami Sohrei. Natsupoi pinned Kurara.

Match 6: Utami Hayashishita beat Miyu Amasaki.

Main Event: New Blood Tag Team Champions Hanan & Saya Iida beat HANAKO & Waka Tsukiyama to retain the titles. Iida pinned HANAKO after Giant Killer. V3 for the champs.

The next event is Saturday (Friday night US time) at Sendai Pit in Sendai. Broadcast plans TBA.

Tokyo Joshi Pro 3/22/24 Results

Tokyo Joshi Pro ran a special joint event today with Ganbare Women, possibly the last event for GanJo for the time being with the promotion becoming independent at the end of the month and some of their women’s talent leaving the promotion (namely Yoshiko Hasegawa & Riara).

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

The announced paid attendance was 137.

Match 1; Mahiro Kiryu & Haru Kazashiro beat Toga & Chika Nanase. Kiryu pinned Nanase after a spinebuster.

Match 2: Rika Tatsumi, Runa Okubo & Uta Takami beat Moka Miyamoto, Wakana Uehara & Kira Summer. Tatsumi pinned Summer after Twist OF Fate.

Match 3: HARUKAZE & Kaya Toribami beat Raku & Shino Suzuki. HARUKAZE pinned Suzuki after Wind Spear.

Match 4: Yuki Kamifuku & YuuRI beat HIMAWARI & Riara. Kamifuku pinned Riara after Fameasser.

Main Event: Yuna Manase & Nao Kakuta beat Shoko Nakajima & Yoshiko Hasegawa. Manase pinned Hasegawa after Suzuki Dynamic.

The next event is GRAND PRINCESS ’24, TJPW’s biggest event of the year, on 3/31 at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin on 3/30 at 10 PM PT/1 AM ET.

DEVELOPING: New Japanese Promotion/Alliance Coming Soon?

In the wake of the rumored talent exodus from Stardom, the promotion made another intriguing announcement today: On Tuesday at 3 PM JST (2 AM ET/Monday at 11 PM PT) a press conference will be held to announce the inauguration of the Japan Pro Wrestling Federation, possibly aka United Japan Pro Wrestling per logos displayed on Stardom’s website. In attendance will be New Japan Chairman Naoki Sugabayashi, New Japan President/CEO Hiroshi Tanahashi, CyberFight President Sanshiro Takagi (DDT) and CyberFight Vice President Naomichi Marufuji (Pro Wrestling NOAH). In addition to a possible ABEMA live broadcast, the presser will also be streamed live on the Stardom YouTube channel.

This has me thinking it could be a new strategic alliance/working partnership much like when Mitsuharu Misawa started the Global Pro Wrestling Alliance after forming Pro Wrestling NOAH. If this involves CyberFight & Bushiroad Corporation, it could also include Stardom and Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling, which on paper is a win-win. But perhaps noticeably absent from said alliance, for now, could be All-Japan Pro Wrestling. No mention of this on their website.

More as it becomes available. The announcement can be viewed below (in Japanese) at Stardom’s website:
https://wwr-stardom.com/news/20240322-2/

Dragon Gate 3/21/24 Results

Dragon Gate ran the 4th installment of their spinoff series “Heroic Legend: Rei-Zero” yesterday.

Yesterday’s event was held at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on DRAGONGATE NETWORK.

The announced paid attendance was 292.

Match 1: Dragon Dia & Alejandro (Pro Wrestling NOAH) vs. Kzy & YO-HEY (Pro Wrestling NOAH) went to a 20 minute time limit draw.

Match 2: Punch Tominaga beat Open The Owarai Gate Champion Lingerie Muto by submission. But due to post-match audience judgment, Muto retains the title. V2 for Muto.

Match 3; YAMATO & Susumu Mochizuki beat Kikutaro & Ryo Kawamura (Independent/Freelancers). YAMATO beat Kikutaro with a sleeper hold.

Match 4; Kota MInoura & Ben-K beat Takashi Sugiura & Hajime Ohara (Pro Wrestling NOAH). Ben-K pinned Ohara after a spear.

Main Event: Shuji Ishikawa (Indpendent/Freelancer) beat BIGBOSS Shimizu.

The next event is tomorrow at Kirameki MInatokan in Fukui to continue the Rey De Parejas. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

BREAKING: Stardom Wrestler Exodus Official

To the dismay of many Stardom fans, the rumored wrestler exodus at the end of the month, when many contracts are up, is now official. Stardom has confirmed these wrestlers will be leaving the promotion when their contracts expire on 3/31: Utami Hayashishita, Giulia, Mai Sakurai, MIRAI and Yuzuki. Hayashishita & Giulia will finish up with Stardom on 4/12, the rest are done after 3/31. Yuzuki is a rookie who just debuted in November, Giulia’s departure was expected, the rest all have been competing for at least 4-5 years. This will have title implications because Hayashishita half of the current Goddesses Of Stardom Champions, so unless a title match happens on 4/12 or perhaps in the USA on 4/4 the titles will have to be vacated.

At this time it’s not known if anyone else is leaving, what is certain is that Mayu Iwatani and Tam Nakano appear to be staying put (Iwatani’s contract is not up for a while, Nakano says she’s not leaving), also probably staying is Maika. The question now is if the departing wrestlers follow Rossy Ogawa to his reported new promotion, but Giulia is rumored to be headed to WWE later this year.

More as it becomes available.