Tag: pro wrestling

All-Japan 9/14/24 Results

All-Japan began the 11th Royal Road Tournament today, their now-annual fall single tournament which is a 16-man single-elimination event this year.

Today’s event was held at Nagoya International Conference Center Event Hall in Nagoya and can be watched on demand on AJPW.TV.

The announced paid attendance was 817.

Match 1: All-Asia Tag Team Champions MUSASHI & Seiki Yoshioka beat Kutoshio TOKYO Japan & Seigo Tachibana to retain the titles. MUSASHI pinned Tachibana after Niten First Class. V4 for the champs.

Match 2: Hideki Suzuki & Hikaru Sato beat Fuminori ABe & Hiroki Murase by ref stoppage. Sato beat Abe.

Match 3: Yuma Anzai, Ren Ayabe & Rising Hayato beat Kento Miyahara, Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Ryo Inoue. Anzai pinned Inoue after Gimlet.

Match 4: Hokuto Omori, Kumaarashi, Cyrus & Jack Kennedy beat Jun & Rei Saito, Naruki Doi & Senor Saito. Omori pinned Senor Saito after a frog splash.

Royal Road Round 1:
Match 5: Joel Redman beat Yuko Miyamoto.
Match 6: Dan Tamura beat Shotaro Ashino.
Main Event: Ryuki Honda beat Yuma Aoyagi.

The next event is tomorrow at Act City Hamamatsu in Shizuoka. There will be no live broadcast. It should be available on demand later that day.

Stardom 9/14/24 Results

STARDOM NAMBA GRAND FIGHT 2024, Stardom’s latest major event, went down earlier today.

Today’s event was held at Osaka Prefectural Gym in Osaka and can be watched on demand on Stardom World as a PPV for 4400 Japanese ten (around $30 US) until Tuesday morning. It will then be available on demand for all paid monthly subscribers a short time later, hopefully same day or Wednesday.

The announced paid attendance was 1407.

Pre-show match: Gina beat Rian.

Match 1: Saya Kamitani beat Mina Shirakawa.

Match 2: Waka Tsukiyama & HANAKO beat Hina & Ranna Yagami. HANAKO pionned Hina after egret.

Match 3: Saori Anou, Yuna Mizumori, Aya Sakura & Sayaka Kurara beat Natsuko Tora, Minami, Ruaka & Azusa Inaba. Sakura pinned Minami. (Side note: Earlier this week, Anou lost the Sendai Girls World Championship back to Mika Iwata at a Sendai Girls event. That match and event can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE)

Match 4: Starlight Kid, Mei Seira & ? (from WAVE) beat Koguma, Saya Iida & Momo Kohgo. The WAVE wrestler pinned Kohgo.

Match 5: Momo Watanabe, Konami & Thekla beat Syuri, Saki Kashima & Lady C. Konami pinned Kashima after a buzzsaw kick.

Match 6: Suzu Suzuki beat Tomoka Inaba.

Match 7: Mayu Iwatani & Hanan beat AZM & Miyu Amasaki. Hanan pinned Amasaki with a backdrop hold. After the match, a recorded video from AEW wrestler Toni Storm was shown. This set up what will be an IWGP Women’s Championship match on 10/5. Which based on backstage comments could set up AZM as the next challenger.

Match 8: Wonder Of Stardom Champion Natsupoi beat Hazuki to retain the title. V1 for Natsupoi. Next up: Possibly Thekla.

Main Event: World Of Stardom Champion Tam Nakano beat Maika to retain the title. V1 for Nakano. Next up: If Nakano has her way, Suzuki.

The next event is Wednesday at Aomori Sangyo Kaikan in Aomori. There will be no live broadcast.

New Japan 9/14/24 Results

New Japan began the second half of the Road To DESTRUCTION Tour today, which will take place in Hokkaido the rest of the way.

Today’s event was held at Noboribetsu City General Gym in Hokkaido and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 1255, a legit advance sellout.

Match 1: Kazushi Sakuraba (Pro Wrestling NOAH) & Toru Yano beat Daiki Nagai & Yasutora Yasuda. Sakuraba beat Yasuda with an Achilles hold.

Match 2: Shota Umino won a 20 man battle royal, last eliminating Zack Sabre Jr. Staggered/timed entry with over the top rope rules. Former New Japan wrestler Takashi Iizuka was a special participant in the match. CRAZY KOUZU!!!

Match 3: Gedo, Gabriel Kidd & David Finlay beat Tomohiro Ishii, Hitooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI. Kidd pinned Goto after Drill-a-Hole piledriver.

Match 4: Jacob Austin Young, Callum Newman, HENARE, Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan beat BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito. HENARE beat BUSHI with Ultima.

Main Event: NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Champions Boltin Oleg, Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Dick Togo, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL to retain the titles. Yano pinned Togo after Demon Slayer. V1 for the champs. Obviously this result sent the crowd home happy.

The next event is Monday at Kitami Sports Center in Hokkaido. There will be no live or on demand broadcasts. In fact, today was the last broadcast of the tour, no more video the rest of the way (2 weeks).

Pro Wrestling NOAH 9/14/24 Results (Updated)

Pro Wrestling NOAH ran this month’s STAR NAVIGATION 2024 event today, saying farewell to Ryohei Oiwa before the Young Lion returns to New Japan upon completion of his traditional training excursion, which he chose to spend in Japan instead of going overseas like most do.

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in Japanese and English. The live broadcast was English only due to ABEMA exclusives in Japan. Former NOAH wrestler Tamon Honda was a special guest on Japanese commentary. You can also watch the first 2 matches FOR FREE on YouTube.

The announced paid attendance was 1391.

Match 1: Daiki Odashima Debut Match: Yu Owada beat Daiki Odashima by submission. Odashima was trained by Honda so he got to watch his latest protege begin his pro career.

Match 2: Shuji Kondo & Eita beat Shuhei Taniguchi & Kai Fujimura. Eita pinned Fujimura after Imperial Uno.

Match 3: Naomichi Marufuji, Takashi Sugiura & Masa Kitamiya beat Kenoh, Alejandro & Cristobal. Kitamiya pinned Cristobal after Saito suplex.

Match 4: Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr., Galeno Del Mal & Daga beat Dragon Bane, Alpha Wolf & Super Crazy. Del Mal pinned Crazy after Galeno Special.

Match 5: HAYATA, YO-HEY, Tadasuke & Yuto Kikuchi beat AMAKUSA, Atsushi Kotoge, Hajime Ohara & Junta Miyawako. YO-HEY pinned Kotoge after a dropkick. This was the first official NOAH match for Kikuchi as a member of the promotion (he previously competed on some LIMIT BREAK events, he previously was a member of Dotonbori Pro Wrestling but joined NOAH on 9/1 on the recommendation of Daisuke Harada).

Match 6: Manabu Soya beat GHC National Champion Ulka Sasaki to win the title. Soya becomes the 13th GHC National Champion.

Main Event: Ryohei Oiwa Final NOAH Match: Kaito Kiyomiya beat Ryohei Oiwa by submission. The match went over 27 minutes. As noted earlier, Oiwa is now headed back to New Japan although when he will resume competing there is not yet known.

The usual post-big event news/fallout:
First up for Soya: Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr., the most dominant GHC National Champion to date. That match will happen on 10/14 at Korakuen
GHC Heavyweight Champion Kaito Kiyomiya vs. Masa Kitamiya for the title is also now official for 10/14.
10/14 will be the final Korakuen match for Akitoshi Saito before his retirement in November. That match will be Saito, Shiro Koshinaka & AKIRA vs. Go Shiozaki, Mohammed Yone & Atsushi Kotoge.
The 4th match now set for 10/14 is Josh Barnett & Ulka Sasaki vs. Masakatsu Funaki & Kazyyuki Fujita.
Daiki Odashima, after his debut today, faces AMAKUSA tomorrow then gets quite the step up after that in his third career match-Kenoh. That match will happen on 9/21 at Shinjuku Face.

The next event is Monday at Kasukabe Fureai Cube in Saitama. There will be no live broadcast.

UPDATE: In outside-the-ring news, congratulations to NOAH semi-regular LJ Cleary on his announcement of becoming engaged to current WWE wrestler Lyra Valkyria, which was made on Cleary’s Instagram.

Stardom 9/13/24 Results

Stardom held the 14th NEW BLOOD event today, their developmental series geared towards younger and less-experienced wrestlers.

Today’s event was held at Chunichi Hall in Nagoya and can be watched on demand on Stardom World. You can also watch the first match FOR FREE on YouTube.

The paid attendance was not announced. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 326)

Match 1: Maika & Rian beat Tam Nakano & Sayaka Kurara. Maika pinned Kurara after Michinoku Driver 2.

Match 2: Konami beat Ranna Yagami.

Match 3: HANAKO & Waka Tuskiyama beat Hanan & Saya Iida. HANAKO pinned Iida after egret.

Match 4: Hina & Tomoka Inaba beat Starlight Kid & Miyu Amasaki. Inaba pinned Amasaki after Inaba Drop (Michinoku Driver 2).

Main Event: Rina & Azusa Inaba beat Aya Sakura & Yuna Mizunori. Rina pinned Sakura after a diving double kneedrop.

The next event is STARDOM NAMBA FIGHT 2024 tomorrow at Osaka Prefectural Gym in Osaka. Live streaming on Stardom World as a PPV (4400 Japanese yen, around $30 US) will begin TONIGHT at 11 PM PT/2 AM ET. The PPV window is until Tuesday morning, it will be available for all monthly Stardom World subscribers without additional purchase either Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday. (UPDATE: You can also watch the first 2 matches live and on demand FOR FREE on YouTube)

New Japan News: First Royal Quest 4 Matches Official

New Japan has announced the first official matches for Royal Quest 4, their return to England on 10/20:
The first match is Zack Sabre Jr. vs. SANADA, which as of now is a NON-TITLE match. That could change is Sabre wins the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at DESTRUCTION later this month. Right now it’s a “special single match”, meaning 1 Hour time limit.
The second match is fallout from CAPITAL COLLISION 2024, where Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomohiro Ishii earned the next STRONG Tag Team Championship match against Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls. That match will happen on 10/20.

Broadcast plans are TBA for the event, which will start that day at 5:30 PM England time (1:30 PM PT/10:30 AM PT).

Injury Report: Bad Footed Bastard

Since jumping from Pro Wrestling NOAH to New Japan, Jake Lee joined Bullet Club and formed a team apparently called UGLY BASTARDS with Gabriel Kidd. It hasn’t started well as Lee was injured in his match yesterday. Right foot. Out indefinitely including Saturday. He was to have teamed with Kidd, Gedo & David Finlay to face YOSHI-HASHI, Hirooki Goto, Tomoaki Honma & Tomohiro Ishii. Honma is now off and it will be a 6-man tag. It’s not yet known how long Lee will be out.

More as it becomes available.

New Japan 9/11/24 Results

New Japan finished up the first part of the Road To DESTRUCTION Tour today in Sendai.

Today’s event was held at Sendai Sun Plaza in Sendai and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 1126.

Pre-show match: Yasutora Yasuda vs. Daiki Nagai went to a 10 minute time limit draw.

Before the matches began, a 10 Bell Salute was held for former wrestler & New Japan Dojo head Kuniaki Kobayashi, who died earlier this week.

Match 1: Tiger Mask & Tomoaki Honma beat Katsuya Murashima & Shoma Kato. TM 4 pinned Kato with a tiger suplex hold.

Match 2: Francesco Akira beat TAKA Michinoku.

Match 3: Taichi & SANADA beat Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr. SANADA pinned Sabre after Deadfall. Between this and post-match comments, if Sabre wins the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship later this month (not waiting until Tokyo Dome for his G1 CLIMAX 34 prize use), this could set up a title match at Royal Quest 4.

Match 4: Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Dick Togo, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL beat Ryusuke Taguchi, Boltin Oleg, Shota Umino, Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi. Togo pinned Taguchi after Magic Killer.

Match 5: Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI beat Jake Lee, Gabriel Kidd & David Finlay. Goto pinned Kidd after a brainbuster.

Match 6: BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Yota Tauji, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito beat Jacob Austin Young, Callum Newman, HENARE, Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan. Naito pinned Young after Pluma Blanca.

Main Event: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion DOUKI beat Taiji Ishimori to retain the title. V1 for DOUKI. Next up: Possibly Kanemaru.

The next event is Saturday at Noboribetsu City General Gym in Hokkaido to begin the second part of the tour, with all remaining events in Hokkaido. Former New Japan wrestler Takashi Iizuka will participate as will Kazushi Sakuraba, and there will also be a NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Championship match. The event is a legit advance sellout. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at midnight PT/3 AM ET. This is the last broadcast for the tour (the rest after this will have no live or on demand video).

Stardom News: Full 9/14/24 Card, More

Stardom held a press conference earlier today (it was streamed live on and can be watched on demand on YouTube), here’s what came out of it:
First, the full card for Saturday at Osaka Prefectural Gym in Osaka, which will be a live PPV on Stardom World (on demand for all monthly paid subscribers sometime next week):
Gina vs. Rian (possibly a pre-show match)
Mina Shirakawa vs. Saya Kamitani
Waka Tsukiyama & HANAKO vs. Hina & Ranna Yagami
Saori Anou, Yuna Mizumori. Aya Sakura & Sayaka Kurara vs. Natsuko Tora, Rina, Ruaka & Azusa Inaba
Starlight Kid, Mei Seira & ? (someone from WAVE) vs. Koguma, Saya Iida & Momo Kohgo
Syuri, Saki Kashima & Lady C vs. Momo Watanabe, Konami & Thekla
Suzu Suzuki vs. Tomoka Inaba
Mayu Iwatani & Hanan vs. AZM & Miyu Amasaki
Wonder Of Stardom Champion Natsupoi vs. Hazuki for the title
World Of Stardom Champion Tam Nakano vs. Maika for the title

There were new rules announced for the NEW BLOOD events and titles: For the NEW BLOOD Tag Team Championship, one member of each team must meet eligibility requirements, which is either under age 21 or 3 years or less experience in her career. After Friday, there will be one NEW BLOOD event each month the rest of the year, dates TBA. Friday’s event will be a live broadcast on Stardom World.

Tomoho Toyama, a ring announcer who is also an actress, will be a guest announcer Friday. Toyama has worked as a freelancer for GLEAT, Freedoms, New Japan and previously apepared in Stardom in October 2023 and also was part of last week’s TAKAYAMANIA EMPIRE special event (a fundraiser for legendary wrestler Yoshihiro Takayama, who is now wheelchair-bound due to injuries and medical issues. That event is available as a PPV on WRESTLE UNIVERSE). Friday’s event will begin at 3 AM PT/6 AM ET.

New wrestler auditions were held recently and candidates are being reviewed.

News: The 2024 PWI 500 Is Here! Japan Wrestler Rankings (SPOILERS!)

If you read “Pro Wrestling Illustrated” religiously like me, the best issue of the year just dropped digitally-it’s PWI 500 time! For those waiting for paper copies, it’s about 3 weeks away. If you want to avoid SPOILERS, stop reading here. Otherwise, click below for the top 10 overall and Japan wrestlers in this year’s rankings (including foreigners who compete primarily in Japan):

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