In a social media post moments ago, Impact/TNA Wrestling announced New Japan Jr. Heavyweight KUSHIDA has signed with TNA. He has been a semi-regular in Impact over the last few years.
More as it becomes available.
Tag: pro wrestling
DEVELOPING: Tokyo Sports Awards Winners Announced
The Japanese newspaper/website Tokyo Sports announced the winners of their annual Year-End Awards, which are a very big deal in Japanese pro wrestling. The promotions have begun congratulating their winners, for convenience here is a full list of the major winners courtesy of Samurai! TV and New Japan World personality:commentator Miki Motoi:
The award winners:
MVP-Tetsuya Naito (New Japan)
Match Of The Year-The Great Muta vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (NOAH, 1/1)
Tag Team-Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI (New Japan)
Outstanding Performance: Hiromu Takahashi (New Japan)
Fighting Spirit-Kenoh (NOAH)
Technique-Yuma Aoyagi (All-Japan)
Rookie Of The Year-Jun & Rei Saito (All-Japan)
Women’s MVP-Tam Nakano (Stardom)
News: Major TV Crossover Event in Early 2024
According to news items from both All-Japan and Pro Wrestling NOAH, both promotions are set to participate in a special February 2024 event to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of Japanese TV station Nippon TV (NTV), which at one time or another was a broadcast partner for both (I remember NOAH events in the early days airing on NTV’s G+ network). The event, called (loosely translated from Japanese) “70 Years of Pro Wrestling Broadcast THE Nippon TV Pro Wrestling”, will be held on 2/9 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Tickets are now on sale ranging from around $60 US up to around $650 (Correction: Earlier versions of this post said $6500, which was incorrect as that’s around 1 million yen where these tickets actually are 100,000 yen) for front row VIP seats that come with commemorative goods, a special photo opportunity and more. All-Japan has announced Masanobu Fuchi will appear at the event while NOAH Vice President Naomichi Marufuji issued a statement about the event but didn’t do any name drops.
The event will be broadcast on Japanese TV but it’s not yet known if it will be live or taped, and at this time it’s not known when/if it may be available on AJPW.TV and/or WRESTLE UNIVERSE. Check out a promo graphic for the event below:
New Japan News: Post-WTL Press Conference Notes
New Japan held their traditional post-major event/tournament press conference today in Tokyo, which cowered post-World Tag League and more news for Tokyo Dome:
First up, it’s now official-IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions & World Tag League winners YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto vs. STRONG Tag Team Champions El Phantasmo & Hikuleo for both titles is set for 1/4.
Second, following reports it was going to happen, the IWGP Global Championship was unveiled today, which will replace the IWGP US/UK Championship. This essentially combines and replaces the titles and puts to rest any rumors of reviving the IWGP Intercontinental Championship, surely to the dismay of one Tetsuya Naito, and os meant to be a truly international title. What had been a 3-way between IWGP US Champion Will Ospreay, Jon Moxley & David Finlay on 1/4 for the title will now be to crown the inaugural Global Champion.
The cards for Road To Tokyo Dome on 12/21 & 12/22 at Korakuen Hall were also announced, and 12/22 will be the monthly FREE EVENT on New Japan World. 12/21 has 2 title matches: KOPW 2023 Champion Taichi vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru for the title in the final KOPW match of the year, with stips TBA, and NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Champions Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tomohiro Ishii & Kazuchika Okada vs. HENARE, Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb for the titles. 12/22 is the final event of the year and the last build to Tokyo Dome.
Dragon Gate 12/10/23 Results
Dragon Gate continued the Fantastic Gate 223 Your today with an event in Kyoto, and aso announced the full 12/24 card.
Today’s event was held at Kyoto KBS Hall in Kyoto and can be watched on demand on DRAGONGATE NETWORK.
The announced paid attendance was 445, a super full house/very near sellout.
Match 1: Don Fujii, Dragon Kid, Genki Horigichi & Takashi Yodhida beat Kzy, BIGBOSS Shimizu, Jason Lee & JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI. Horiguchi pinned Kzy after Backslide Times.
Match 2: Masaaki Mochizuki, Susumu Mochizuki & Yasushi Kanda beat Ultimo Dragon, Kaito Nagano & Problem Dragon. Kanda pinned Nagano after Ryu’s.
Match 3: YAMATO beat Yoshiki Kato by DQ. Z-Brats interference.
Match 4: Hyo & Luis Mante beat Kota Minoura & Ben-K. Hyo pinned Minoura after Samson Driver.
Main Event: Shun Skywalker, KAI & ISHIN beat Madoka Kikuta, Yuki Yoshioka & Dragon Dia. Skywalker pinned Yoshioka after SSW.
The next event is Saturday at Fukuyama Big Rose in Hiroshima. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.
Here is the full card for THE FINAL GATE 2023, the last blowout event of the year, on 12/24 at Fukuoka International Center in Fukuoka:
Jason Lee, U-T & JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI vs. Ryoya Tanaka, Kaito Nagano & Daiki Yanagiuchi
Open The Brave Gate Champion Hyo vs. Genki Horiguchi for the title
Masaaki Mochizuki, Susumu Mochizuki & Yasushi Kanda vs. Ultimo Dragon, Don Fujii & Kagetora
8-Man Tag with the following: Kzy, BIGBOSS Shimizu, Strong Machine J, Kota Minoura, Ben-K, BxB Hulk, Naruki Doi, Shuji Kondo. Teams TBA on 12/23 via lottery
Open The Triangle Gate Champions TAMATO, Dragon Kid & Punch Tominaga vs. KAI, ISHIN & Yoshiki Kato for the titles
Open The Twin Gate Champions Yuki Yoshioka & Dragon Dia vs. Kaito Kiyomiya & Alejandro (Pro Wrestling NOAH) for the titles
Open The Dream Gate Champion Madoka Kikuta vs. Shun Skywalker & Luis Mante in a 3-way for the title
GLEAT 12/10/23 Results
GLEAT ran a GLEAT Ver. EX event today as they wind down the build to their next blowout event coming up in a few weeks at the start of the new year.
Today’s event was held at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo and can be watched on demand FOR FREE on YouTube.
Click below to watch (video courtesy of the GLEAT Official YouTube Channel):
The announced paid attendance was 226.
Match 1: Takanori Ito & Yusuke Kodama beat Soma Watanabe & Jun Tonsho. Ito pinned Tonsho with a German suplex hold.
Match 2: Galeno Del Mal won a 5 person battle royal, last eliminating Hartley Jackson. The other participants were Masato Kamino, Aja Kong & Daisuke Sekimoto.
Match 3: Kaz Hayashi, El Lindaman & Issei Onitsuka beat Kotaro Suzuki, Keiichi Sato & HANAOKA. Lindaman pinned Sato with a German suplex hold. Afterwards, Kuroshio TOKYO Japan appeared and was announced for 12/30, possibly in a 6-man tag match with Colt Cabana & Brandon Cutler from All Elite Wrestling.
Match 4: Aoi beat MICHIKO. Afterwards, Aoi announced she was leaving DIAMOND EGOIST, MICHIKO’s current faction, and asked to re-form a team with Sayaka Unagi. But Yukari Hosokawa then appeared and declared her loyalty to MICHIKO.
Match 5; Kaito Ishida beat Ryuichi Kawakami.
Match 6: T-hawk, Jun & Rei Saito beat Hayato Tamura, KAZMA SAKAMOTO & Check Shimatani. T-Hak pinned Shimatani after Night Ride.
Main Event: Lidet UWF Championship Next Challenger Tournament Finals: Minoru Tanaka beat Tetsuya Izuchi by submission to win the tournament. As a result, Tanaka will fight Lidet UWF Champion Fujita “Jr.” Hayato for the title on 12/30 at Tokyo Dome City Hall.
The next event is 12/24 at Umeda Stellar Hall in Osaka for the final G PROWRESTLING event of the year and the last event before TDC Hall. Broadcast plans TBA but since it’s in Osaka there almost certainly will be no live broadcast. If that’s the case, it will be available on demand on YouTube a few days after the event.
Tokyo Joshi Pro 12/10/23 Results
Tokyo Joshi Pro held a special aquarium-thened comedy event recently that was premiered for viewing earlier today. This was a previously recorded standalone event.
This event was held at Hakkeijima Sea Paradise in Yokohama and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE as a PPV (separate purchase required). It should be available for all monthly subscribers without additional purchase in a few months.
This was a closed venue event with no fans in attendance.
The format was a best-of-3 match series between teams of 6 led by Yuka Sakazaki & Yuki Arai. Matches were held inside an actual aquarium and were Falls Count Anywhere with no actual ring aka Street Fights, similar to how DDT does their Street Pro Wrestling events.
Match 1: Miu Watanabe & Arisu Endo beat Shoko Nakajima & HIMAWARI. Watanabe beat HIMAWARI with a Canadian backbreaker.
Match 2: Rika Tatsumi & Suzume beat Yuki Arai & Raku. Tatsumi pinned Raku.
Main Event: Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki vs. Hyper Misao & Nao Kakuta went to a no contest. Ref assault by both teams. Draw. Which led to…
Impromptu Match: Yuka Sakazaki, Mizuki, Rika Tatsumi, Suuzume, Shoko Nakajima & HIMAWARI beat Yuki Arai, Raku, Miu Watanabe, Arisu Endo, Hyper Misao & Nao Kakuta. Sakazaki pinned Endo after a running elbow butt. Sakazaki gets sent off with a giant stuffed animal.
Pro Wrestling NOAH 12/10/23 Results
Pro Wrestling NOAH continues the SUNNY VOYAGE 2023 Tour today with a house show built around what they bill as their biggest annual pre-event autograph session for fans in attendance.
Today’s event was held at Kira Messe Numazu in Shizuoka and can be watched on demand FOR FREE on YouTube. This was an “emergency decision” made just yesterday, originally there was to be no live broadcast. It will also be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE Tuesday or Wednesday. (If you do watch below, the view is fixed/hard camera only for the entire event and there is no commentary. The total running time was about 2 1/4 hours)
You can watch the event FOR FREE below, video courtesy of the Pro Wrestling NOAH Official Japanese YouTube channel:
The announced paid attendance was 412.
Match 1: Hajime Ohara & Kai Fujimura beat Super Crazy & Yu Owada. Fujimura pinned Owada.
Match 2: Terry Yaki beat Extreme Tiger.
Match 3: Saxon Huxley, Timothy Thatcher & Shuhei Taniguchi beat Mohammed Yone, Akitoshi Saito & Taishi Ozawa. Thatcher pinned Ozawa.
Match 4: Alejandro beat Tadasuke.
Match 5: Jake Lee, LJ Cleary & YO-HEY beat Takashi Sugiura, Atsushi Kotoge & Hi69. YO-HEY pinned Hi69 after Super Face-G.
Match 6: HAYATA & Eita beat Shuji Kondo & Junta Miyawaki. Eita pinned Miwataki after a dropkick.
Main Event: Kenoh, Naomichi Marufuji & Go Shiozeki beat Manabu Soya, Masa Kitamiya & Daiki Inaba. Marufuji pinned Inaba after God Tiger King.
The next event is Saturday at Yokohama Radiant Hall in Yokohama. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin Friday at 11:30 PM PT/2:30 AM ET.
New Japan 12/10/23 Results
New Japan wrapped up the World Tag League today with the Finals. This will almost certainly set up an IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship match for Tokyo Dome on 1/4.
Today’s event was held at Grand Messe Kumamoto in Kumamoto and can be watched on demand on New Japan World in Japanese. They planned for English as well but due to ongoing technical issues with the relaunched service it will be on demand at a later date. This event aired in Japan as part of WORLD PRO WRESTLING LIVE 2023 on TV Asahi.
The announced paid attendance was 2658.
Pre-show Match: Boltin Oleg & Ryusuke Taguchi beat Asosan & Kodai Nozaki. Taguchi pinned Asosan with Kid Clutch. The losers were local wrestlers from regional independent promotions and this was billed as a Frontier Zone match.
Hiromu Takahashi made a special appearance to open the event.
Match 1: Master Wato, Soberano Jr. & Atlantis Jr. beat Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls. Wato pinned Fujita with a Tsutenkaku German suplex hold.
Match 2: Alex Zayne, Lance Archer, Minoru Suzuki & Yuji Nagata beat Gabriel Kidd, Alex Coughlin, Jack Bonza & bad Luck Fale. Zayne pinned Bonza after Blackout Sauce.
Match 3: Callum Newman, HENARE, Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb beat Oakar Leube, Yuto Nakashima, Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii. Cobb pinned Leube after Tour of the Islands.
Match 4: Sho & Ren Narita beat Tiger Mask & Shota Umino. Sho pinned TM 4.
Match 5: Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL beat Tomoaki Honma, Ryohei Oiwa & Kaito Kiyomiya (Pro Wrestling NOAH). EVIL pinned Honma after EVIL.
Match 6; Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada beat Toa Liona & Bishop Kaun. Okada pinned Liona after Rainmaker.
Matchb7: BUSHI, Yota Tsuji, Zandokan Jr., Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Kaito beat TAKA Michinoku, DOUKI, Yuya Uemura, Taichi & SANADA. BUSHI pinned TAKA after MX. Afterwards, Kanemaru attacked Taichi and made a KOPW 2023 Title challenge.
Main Event: World Tag League Finals: Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI beat El Phantasmo & Hikuleo to win the tournament. Goto pinned Phantasmo after Naraku. They went 40 1/2 minutes. Bishamon 3-peat after it seemed dead earlier on. Based on post-match happenings, this likely means a Double Title rematch at Tokyo Done for the IWGP Heavyweight and STRONG Tag Team Championships.
The next event is Road To TOKYO DOME, which this year will be a year-ending doubleheader on 12/21 & 12/22 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET both days. This will end their 2023 schedule.
Impact Wrestling Final Resolution 2023 Results (12/9/23) (Updated)
Impact Wrestling wraps up their 2023-and the Impact era-today with their final live event of the year, Final Resolution. It’s also the last official event before their rebranding to once again be TNA Wrestling in January (more on that and related news in a bit). With most of the major Hard To Kill matches already set, this one is less about title matches (just 2) and more about big names in big-on-paper matches. Ahead of Kazuchika Okada’s TNA return in January, Zack Sabre Jr. will represent New Japan tonight in what is the likely main event, teaming with Josh Alexander against Motor City Machine Guns. The Knockouts headliner is Trinity & Jordynne Grace vs. Deonna Purrazzo & Gisele Shaw as Trinity once again teams with her next Knockouts World Championship challenger in Grace and there’s a chance this is Purrazzo’s Impact finale (she is about to be a free agent). There’s also a potential hoss fight on tap between Rhino & Moose. The title matches are for the Impact Tag Team Championship as Ace Austin & Chris Bey defend against Brian Myers & Eddie Edwards and Digital Media Champion Tommy Dreamer defends against Deaner after retaining last time out by DQ.
Today’s event will be held at Don Kolov Arena in Toronto, Canada and can be watched LIVE on Impact+ (subscription required), YouTube (Ultimate Insider subscription required) and FITE ($9.99). The event is a legit advance sellout. This may be the last live broadcast on all platforms as is because Impact has also announced their streaming service has been acquired by Endeavor…THAT Endeavor, the one that is now a part-owner of WWE (HEY YO!), and while they promise improvements when they relaunch it as TNA+ next year (during the show it was announced it will launch on 1/5), other plans are uncertain. TNA+ also means a price increase-the service price will go up to $9.99/month or $95.99/year (20% more a month or nearly 1/3 more for yearly, currently it’s $7.99/month or $71.99/year) but current Impact+ subscribers will reportedly get a promo offer next week. It will be the same content at Impact+ right now, but they also will offer a VIP plan for $219.95/year (annual only) which will include the 4 quarterly PPVs live instead of having to wait 30 days for on demand. That’s about a $36 savings over buying them separately, or almost one free (their PPVs are $40). What this means for the YouTube subscription plans is not yet known. (And on a slightly related note, FITE announced today they will be changing their name to Triller TV, essentially having their current owner’s name forced on them. They will expand their sports offerings somewhat under the Triller label but will retain their focus of extensive combat sports coverage including a ton of pro wrestling).
There will also be a FREE 30 minute pre-show on all platforms. Given they always stick to a set timeframe for live monthly events and PPVs expect this event to have a total running time of 3 1/2 hours.
Today’s lineup:
Pre-show:
Sheldon Jean vs. Frankie Kazarian
PPV:
Jake Something vs. Jason Hotch
Impact Digital Media Champion Tommy Dreamer vs. Deaner for the title
Mike Bailey vs. Trey Miguel
Impact Tag Team Champions Ace Austin & Chris Bey vs. Brian Myers & Eddie Edwards for the titles
Rhino vs. Moose
Trinity & Jordynne Grace vs. Gisele Shaw & Deonna Purrazzo
Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley) vs. Josh Alexander & Zack Sabre Jr.
Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.
Updates below will begin at 4:30 PM PT/7:30 PM ET.
4:30 PM PT UPDATE: Waiting on the live stream to start, they are running late.
4:32 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates begin now…
We are LIVE from Don Kolov Arena in Toronto, Canada. Your hsots are Thom Hannifan & Matt Rehwoldt.
We join what looks like an unannounced pre-show match in progress…
Pre-show:
Match 1: Jessie V vs. PCO
Result: PCO beat Jessie V
Jake Something promo. He gets laid out by Jason Hotch attacking with a chair.
Another unannounced match next:
Match 2: Jack Price vs. Aiden Prince
Result: Jack Price beat Aiden Prince
Trinity & Jordynne Grace interviewed backstage.
Match 3: Sheldon Jean vs. Frankie Kazarian
Result: Frankie Kazarian beat Sheldon Jean by submission
PPV:
Mandatory FBI warning. Opening video follows.
Match 1: Impact Tag Team Champions Ace Austin & Chris Bey vs. Brian Myers & Eddie Edwards for the titles
Result: Impact Tag Team Champions Ace Austin & Chris Bey beat Brian Myers & Eddie Edwards to retain the titles. Bey pinned Myers. Rascalz hit the ring immediately afterwards for a beatdown.
Josh Alexander & Zack Sabre Jr. promo. Their tag match is the main event.
Alisha Edwards with microphone in the ring. Santino Marella comes out to interrupt. Alisha won’t leave the ring so Santino will make her leave. Which led to…
Match 2: Alisha Edwards vs. Jody Threat
Result: Jody Threat beat Alisha Edwards
Match 3: Impact Digital Media Champion Tommy Dreamer vs. Deaner for the title
Result: Impact Digital Media Champion Tommy Dreamer beat Deaner to retain the title.
Rascalz promo. Santino interrupts. He changes Trey Miguel vs. Mike Bailey tonight to Rascalz vs. Bailey & a partner Santino chose, which is next.
Match 4: Trey Miguel & Zachary Wentz vs. Mike Bailey & Santino Marella’s chosen partner, which is Trent Seven
Result: Mike Bailey & Trent Seven beat Trey Miguel & Zachary Wentz. Seven pinned Wentz after a Bailey Ultima Weapon. Immediately after this, Scorr D’Amore comes out. With microphone. He puts Don Kolov and Seven over before producing a Trent Seven logo towel, revealing a TNA logo hidden by his hand. D’Amore then hands Seven a TNA contract offer and Bailey lets Seven use his back to sign the contract. Trent Seven is now a part of TNA Wrestling.
Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley promo.
Match 5: Jake Something vs. Jason Hotch
Result: Jake Something beat Jason Hotch
Match 6: Rhino vs. Moose
Result: Rhino beat Moose by DQ. Low blow. Very short match. After the bell, Rhino with microphone. He wants a restart as a street fight. Moose leaves but ring announcer David Penzer announces Sanitno has approved it and it’s now a street fight. AND if Moose leaves like he is now, he loses his Impact World Championship chance at Hard To Kill. Which led to…
Rematch: Rhino vs. Moose in a Street Fight. Anything goes, just must win by pinfall or submission in the ring
Result: Moose beat Rhino
Frankie Kazarian promo.
Match 7: Trinity & Jordynne Grace vs. Deonna Purrazzo & Gisele Shaw
Result: Trinity & Jordynne Grace beat Deonna Purrazzo & Gisele Shaw. Grace pinned Purrazzo after a full nelson bomb. After the match, Purrazzo & Shaw argued in the ring, then shook hands before Shaw laid out Purrazzo. That’s a big a clue as any that Purrazzo is going to be done with Impact, but Grace was in a similar situation earlier this year and re-signed so we’ll see.
Moose interviewed backstage.
Hard To Kill card rundown so far. Also announced for 1/14 TV tapings is Motor City Machine Guns & Kazuchika Okada vs. Moose, Eddie Edwards & Brian Myers. Another 1/14 match will be announced after the main event, which is up now.
Main Event: Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) vs. Josh Alexander & Zack Sabre Jr. (New Japan Pro Wrestling). The Final Match of the Impact Wrestling Era
Result: Josh Alexander & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Motor City Machine Guns. Alexander pinned Sabin after C4 Spike. This went a good 30 minutes.
The end graphic had the wrong copyright year, 2022. HAHAHA! Way to end 20 years of Impact! The show was a slight bit shorter than expected with the main portion coming in at just under 2 hours 45 minutes.
End Show.
UPDATE: That second 1/14 match was announced in the socials after the event. Josh Alexander vs. Will Ospreay rematch. This is before Ospreay’s AEW contract officially kicks in.