Tag: pro wrestling

New Japan 12/8/23 Results

New Japan ran Day 14 of the World Tag League today, wrapping up Block B and filling out the Semifinals.

Today’s event was held at Hayamizu Park Sports & Cultural Center in Miyazaki and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 1288.

Pre-show Match: DOUKI beat Shoma Kato.

Match 1: Callum Newman, HENARE & Great-O-Khan beat Yuto Nakashima, Toa Liona & Bishop Kaun. HENARE pinned Nakashima after Rampage.

Match 2: Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & RVIL beat Tiger Mask, Ryusuke Taguchi & Shota Umino. Sho pinned TM 4. Ren Narita laid out Umino post-match.

Match 3: Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada beat Boltin Oleg, Tomoaki Honma, Ryohei Oiwa & Kaito Kiyomiya. Yano pinned Honma.

Match 4: Taiji Ishimori, Gabriel Kidd & Alex Coughlin beat Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls. Coughlin pinned Fujita after a jackhammer.

World Tag League:
Match 5: Minoru Suzuki & Yuji Nagata beat Jack Bonza & Bad Luck Fale. Suzuki pinned Bonza after a Gotch-style piledriver.
Match 6: Soberano Jr. & Atlantis Jr. beat Zandokan Je. & Yota Tsuji. Soberano pinned Zandokan after Soberano Driver. Zandokan/Tsuji now OUT. Afterwards, Tetsuya Naito suggested Zandokan joining LIJ may not happen.
Match 7: El Phantasmo & Hikuleo beat Alex Zayne & Lance Archer. Phantasmo pinned Zayne after Super Thunder Kiss 86. As a result, Phantasmo/Hikuleo win Block B and advance to the Semifinals.
Main Event: YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat Yuya Uenura & Taichi. YOSHI-HASHI pinned Uenura after Shoto. As a result, Bishamon finish 2nd in Block B and advance to the Semifinals.

The Semifinals will be Kidd/Coughlin vs. Goto/YOSHI-HASHI and Phantasmo/Hikukeo vs. Haste/Nicholls.

The Semifinals are tomorrow at Kirishima City Makizono Arena in Kagoshima. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET.

AEW Dynamite 12/6/23 Results

Here are the quick results from tonight’s ARW Dynamite in Montreal, Canada:

Match 1: Continental Classic Gold Block: Jon Moxley vs. Rush
Result: Jon Moxley beat Rush by ref stoppage (technical submission).
Moxley is 3-0, 9 points. Rush is 1-2, 3 points. This means some losers tonight will potentially be eliminated from Finals contention.

The Kingdom interviewed.

MJF/Adam Page go at it verbally until Samoa Joe breaks it up. MJF thinks Page is The Devil.

Match 2: Continental Classic Gold Block: Mark Briscoe vs. Swerve Strickland
Result: Swerve Strickland beat Mark Briscoe
Strickland is 3-0, 9 points. Briscoe is 0-3, 0 points and can’t advance to the Finals.

Samoa Joe comes out for his match but the lights go out and The Devil’s Masked Men surround the ring. Lights go out again and when they come back on, they’re gone. We then see Joe alone in the ring and The Devil appears on the screen above the entrance area, cutting to MJF having been laid out, apparently by a broken beer bottle.

Jon Moxley promo. Swerve Strickland interrupts. Somebody’s 0 Has Got To Go and it’ll be next week at Winter Is Coming.

Match 3: AEW Women’s Champion Toni Storm vs. Skye Blue for the title
Result: AEW Women’s Champion Toni Storm beat Skye Blue to retain the title. Next up: Possibly Riho, who returned post-match to crash the victory celebration.

Match 4: Continental Classic Gold Block: Jay Lethal vs. Jay White
Result: Jay White beat Jay Lethal
White is 2-1, 6 points. Lethal is 0-3, 0 points and can’t advance to the Finals.

Friday on Rampage: Powerhouse Hobbs & Konosuke Takeshita vs. Christopher Dnaiels & Matt Sydal, Abadon vs. Trish Adora, Bryan Danielson vs. Daniel Garcia in the Continental Classic and Orange Cassidy & Danhause

Next week: Srickland-Moxley, White-Briscoe and Rush-Lethal in the Classic. Also Samoa Joe Speaks and The Von Erichs return to Dallas, plus Adam Page vs. Roderick Strong.

Main Event: AEW TNT Champion Christian Cage vs. Adam Copeland for the title
Result: AEW TNT Champion Christian Cage beat Adam Copeland to retain the title. Screwjob of course, in this case when Nick Wayne’s mom came out and turned on Copeland.

As a whole the show was average to just above average again. Not a bad show but outside of the Continental Classic, which continues to be solid if unspectacular, there’s nothing to care about. The main event finish was a big Go F*ck Yourself to all the non-Christian fans, and the fans in general. Not Best For Business and the live business is struggling for AEW right now regardless of how Tony Khan spins it.

Next week is the annual Winter Is Coming special.

All-Japan 12/6/23 Results

All-Japan wrapped up the Real World Tag League today with the final day of matches.

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on AJPW.TV.

The announced paid attendance was 1443, almost certainly a legit sellout.

Match 1: Hikaru Sato, Koji Iwamoto & Fuminori Abe beat Atsuki Aoyagi, Rising Hayato & Ryo Inoue. Abe pinned Inoue.

Match 2; GAORA TV Champion Minoru Tanaka beat Takao Omori, Yoshitatsu & Black Menso-re in a 4-way by beating Menso-re to retain the title. V3 for Tanaka.

Match 3: Real World Tag League: Kuroshio TOKYO japan & Seigo Tachibana beat Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani. Kiroshio pinned Okatani. Both mathematically eliminated.

Match 4: Real World Tag League: Hayato Tamura & Galeno Del Mal beat Cyrus & Ryan Davidson. Tamura pinned Davidson after a lariat. Cyrus/Davidson mathematically eliminated.

Match 5: Jr. Battle Of Glory Finals: Dan Tamura beat Naruki Doi to win the tournament.

Match 6: Real World Tag League: Shuji Ishikawa & Ren Ayabe beat Suwama & Hideki Suzuki. Ishikawa pinned Suwama after Fire Thunder. Ishikawa/Atabe mathematically eliminated.

Match 7: Real World Tag League: Ryuki Honda & Yuma Anzai beat Jun & Rei Saito. Anzai pinned Rei Saito with a German suplex hold. Honda/Anzai mathematically eliminated.

Main Event: Real World Tag League: Katsuhiko Nakajima & Hokuto Omori beat Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi to win the tournament. Omori pinned Aoyagi after Mushin Ichiban. Nakajima/Omori finish 6-3, 12 points. Saitos, Suwama/Suzuki and Tamura/De Mal finish 5-4, 10 points. This probably means Nakajima/Omori vs. Saitos for the All-Japan World Tag Team Chhampionship at some point, but not this year as Nakajima has a Triple Crown defense upcoming against Miyahara.

The next event is NEW AGE CHRONICLE-Z 2, the second Rosing Hayato Produced event following on the success of the first one earlier this year featuring younger and less-experienced wrestlers. On 12/21 at Shin-Kiba 1st Ring. Live streaming on AJPW.TV will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET.

Tokyo Joshi Pro 12/6/23 Results

Tokyo Joshi Pro finished their 10th Anniversary celebration by returning to where it all began-the site of their very first event-but it also marked an ending as they said farewell to original roster member Yuka Sakazaki, who had been with the promotion since Day 1. Sakazaki is leaving to continue her career outside Japan.

Today’s event was held at Kitazawa Town Hall in Tokyo and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE Monday. There was no live broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 204, a super full house/very near sellout.

The event opened with a random lottery draw for the card for the annual fan lottery match event on 12/17. Those matches include Wakana Uehara vs. Aja Kong and also on 1/4/24 it will be International Princess Champion Max The Impaler defending against…Yuki Arai! I’m both excited and scared for my girl Arai, just surviving against the Non-Binary Nightmare will not be easy.

Match 1: In an I Quit Match, Yuka Sakazaki & Rika Tatsumi beat Antonio Honda (DDT) & Trans-Am⭐️Hiroshi by making Honda say “I Quit”, which was the only way to win.

Match 2: Wakana Uehara, Shino Suzuki & Runa Okubo beat HIMAWARI, Toga & Haru Kazashiro. Uehara beat Kazashiro with a sleeper hold.

Match 3: Miu Watanabe, Suzume & Arisu Endo beat Yuki Kamifuku, Mahiro Kiryu & Kaya Toribami. Watanabe pinned Toribami after Teardrop.

Match 4: Hikari Noa, Nao Kakuta, Mizuki & Moka Miyamoto beat Hyper Misao, Yuki Aino, Raku & Pom Harajuku. Mizuki pinned Harajuku with Cutie Special.

Main Event: Yuka Sakazaki Farewell Match: In a No Time Limit match, Yuka Sakazaki beat Miyu Yamashita & Shoko Nakajima in a 3-way by pinning Nakajima. Which led to…
Impromptu Match: Yuka Sakazaki vs. Mizuki went to a 3 minute time limit draw.

Sakazaki farewell ceremony closed the event. In Japanese culture they call it Graduation when one leaves a group/promotion for reasons other than being fired or retiring. It had its usual weird moments such as Tatsumi ceremonially b*tch slapping Sakazaki (they’re weird customs), traditional gift and flower presentations, group hugs and photos and lots of tears flowing as Sakazaki’s 10 years in TJPW came to a close. While it’s not entirely clear where Sakazaki will go next beyond outside Japan, the common thought is she will return to All Elite Wrestling, as she has been part of their roster since Day 1 and was pushed early on, including handing Britt Baker her first AEW loss. Unfortunately the pandemic and global travel restrictions halted that push early on but once restrictions eased she was able to return for a few appearances. Such a move would also keep the door open for independent and other international appearances, including potential special returns to Japan.

The next event is COMBAT PRINCESS USA on 12/14 in Los Angeles, CA. Although the Globe Theater is listed as the venue, co-promoter Prestige Wrestling announced late yesterday it will be moved to The Vermont Hollywood. This will be a live PPV on WRESTLE UNIVERSE for 3000 yen (around $20 US) in English, and a paid monthly subscription is not required to buy the PPV. There also will be support content packs available for 1500 yen (around $10). The PPV can be purchased now until 12/20 and includes on demand replays until 1/30/24. The live broadcast begins on 12/14 at 7 PM PT/10 PM ET.

There also is another pre-taped PPV that will be available on WRESTLE UNIVERSE Sunday, this is an Aquarium Pro Wrestling event at Halkeijima Sea Paradise in Yokohama. It will premiere Sunday at 3 AM PT/6 AM ET and can be purchased until 12/19, with replays available until 2/28/24. This PPV also costs 3000 yen (around $20).

New Japan 12/6/23 Results

New Japan ran Day 13 of the World Tag League today, the final day of Block A which would determine the first 2 teams making the Semifinals.

Today’s event was held at Karatsu City Cultural Gym in Saga and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 907.

Pre-show Match: Oskar Leube beat Shoma Kato.

Match 1: Taiji Ishimori, Jack Bonza & Bad Luck Fale beat Ryusuke Taguchi, Minoru Suzuki & Yuji Nagata. Bonza pinned Taguchi after Napalm Thunder Driver.

Match 2: BUSHI, Zandokan Jr., Yota Tsuji & Shingo Takagi beat Tomoaki Honma, Tiger Mask, Soberano Jr. & Atlantis Jr. Takagi pinned TM 4 after Pumping Bomber. Afterwards, Tsuji & Zandokan apparently unnasked-or tried to-the Mexicans.

Match 3: Master Wato, Alex Zayne & Lance Archer beat Jado, El Phantasmo & Hikuleo. Wato beat Jado with Vendeval.

Match 4: YOSHI-HASHI, Hirooki Goto, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada beat DOUKI, Yuya Uemura, Taichi & SANADA. Tanahashi pinned DOUKI after High Fly Flow.

World Tag League:
Match 5: Toa Liona & Bisbop Kaun beat Ryohei Oiwa & Kaito Kiyomiya. Kaun pinned Oiwa after Fall From Heaven.
Match 6: Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL beat Ren Narita & Shota Umino. EVIL pinned Umino after EVIL. During & after the match, Narita turned on Umino and joined House Of Torture.
Match 7: KENARE & Great-O-Khan beat Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii. HENARE pinned Ishii after Streets Of Rage.
Main Event: Gabriel Kidd & Alex Coughlin beat Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls. Kidd pinned Nicholls after a hijack piledriver. As a result, Kidd/Coughlin win Block A and Haste/Nicholls finish 2nd. Both advance to the Semifinals.

The next event is tomorrow at Hayamizu Park Sports & Culture Center in Miyazaki for the final day of Block B. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 2 AM PT/5 AM ET.

Dragon Gate 12/5/23 Results (Updated)

Dragon Gate continued the Fantastic Gate 2023 Tour with their penultimate visit to Tokyo this year.

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hal in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on DRAGONGATE NETWORK.

The announced paid attendance was 1399, a legit sellout.

Match 1: YAMATO & Naruki Doi beat Madoka Kikuta & Ryoya Tanaka. YAMATO pinned Tanaka after Gallaria.

Match 2: Genki Horiguchi, Problem Dragon & Punch Tominaga beat Kenichiro Arai, Ho Ho Lun & Daiki Yanagiuchi. Tomonaga beat Yanagiuchi with a flying cross armbar.

Match 3: Kota Minoura & Ben-K beat Shuji Kondo & Kagetora. Minoura pinned Kagetora after a jumping knee strike.

Match 4: Masaaki Mochizuki, Susumu Mochizuki & Yasushi Kanda beat BIGBOSS Shimizu, Jason Lee & U-T. Masaaki Mochizuki pinned U-T after Twister.

Match 5: Luis Mante beat KAI.

Match 6: Kzy, VENTO & JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI beat Shun Skywalker, Yoshiki Kato & Demus. KAMEI pinned Kato after JFK.

Match 7: Yuki Yoshioka & Dragon Dia beat Dragon Kid & Eita. Yoshioka pinned Wita after a frog splash.

Main Event: Hyo beat Open The Brave Gate Champion ISHIN to win the title. Hyo becomes the 51st Open The Brave Gate Champion.

The next event is tomorrow at Kasukabe Fureai Cube in Saitama. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

UPDATE: Hyo will now defend the title tomorrow against JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI. Title matches for THE FINAL GATE 2023 on 12/24 were also announced: Open The Twin Gate Champions Yuki Yoshioka & Dragon Dia vs. Kaito Kiyomiya (Pro Wrestling NOAH) & Alejandro for the titles and Open The Dream Gate Champion Madoka Kikuta vs. Shun Skywalker & Luis Mante in a 3-way for the title.

BREAKING: TJPW Title Match Added To US Event (Updated x2)

Another big change was just made for Tokyo Joshi Pro’s COMBAT PRINCESS USA event in Los Angeles, CA later this month: An already announced match between Nao Kakuta & Hikari Noa and Janai Kai & Shazza McKenzie has just been changed to be for the Princess Tag Team Championship held by Noa & Kakuta. This will be the 3rd defense for the champs.

The event will be held on 12/14 and it also was announced that it will be broadcast on PPV but I don’t know where (it likely will not be WRESTLE UNIVERSE or FITE).

UPDATE: PPV will be on WRESTLE UNIVERSE for 3000 yen, or around $20 US. Will be in English. Pre-sales begin Thursday.

UPDATE 2: And more potential headaches for the event…co-host Prestige Wrestling just announced the event has been moved from the Globe Theater to the Vermont Hollywood in Los Angeles, CA due to ongoing issues with the former. First The Globe was going to close, then it wasn’t, and now this with the event just 9 days away.

New Japan 12/4/23 Results

New Japan ran Day 12 of the World Tag League today, the penultimate day of Block B.

Today’s event was held at Kochi Prefectural Gym in Kochi and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 801.

Pre-show Match: Master Wato beat Katsuya Murashima.

Match 1: Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Sho beat BUSHI & Shingo Takagi. Kanemaru pinned BUSHI with Samson Clutch.

Match 2: Boltin Oleg, Toa Liona & Bishop Kaun beat Oskar Leube, Ryohei Oiwa & Kaito Kiyomiya. Liona pinned Leube after Fall From Heaven.

Match 3: Callum Newman, HENARE & Great-O-Khan beat Tomoaki Honma, Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii. HENARE beat Honma with Ultima.

Match 4: Dick Togo, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL beat Ryusuke Taguchi, Ren Narita & Shota Umoni. EVIL beat Taguchi with a scorpion deathlock.

Match 5: Taiji Ishimori, Gabriel Kidd & Alex Coughlin beat Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls. Ishimori beat Fujita with Bone Lock.

World Tag League:
Match 6: Jack Bonza & Bad Luck Fale beat Yuya Uemura & Taichi. Fale pinned Uemura after Bad Luck Fall.
Match 7: El Phantasmo & Hikuleo beat Soberano Jr. & Atlantis Jr. Phantasmo pinned Soberano after Super Thunder Kiss 86.
Match 8: YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat Minoru Suzuki & Yuji Nagata. Goto pinned Nagata.
Main Event: Zandokan Jr. & Yota Tsuji beat Alex Zayne & Lance Archer. Tsuji pinned Zayne after Gene Blaster. Tetsuya Naito was a guest on commentary for the main event.

Standings:
1-Hikuleo/Phantasmo, 4-2, 8 pts
2-Taichi/Uemura, 4-2, 8 pts
3-Archer/Zayne, 4-2, 8 pts
4-YOSHI-HASHI/Goto, 3-3-1, 7 pts
5-Zandokan/Tsuji, 3-4, 6 pts
6-Soberano/Atlantis, 2-4-1, 5 pts (OUT)
7-Bonza/Fale, 2-5, 4 pts (OUT)
8-Suzuki/Nagata, 1-6, 2 pts (OUT)
The Top 2 advance to the Finals. It’s a little more open here than in Block A but not too complicated. It’s actually simple-the Hikuleo/Phantasmo-Zayne/Archer winner next time out advances. Same for the Taichi/Uemura-YOSHI-HASHI/Goto winner…BUT…if Hikuleo/Phantasmo-Archer/Zayne is a time limit draw and Bishamon win, YOSHI-HASHI/Goto would lose the tiebreaker as they lost to both other teams. Also, Zandokan/Tsuji still have a chance thanks to tiebreakers. They must win their final match (Atlantis/Soberano) AND Hikuleo/Phantasmo-Archer-Zayne MUST END IN A NO CONTEST/DOUBLE DQ. Something that means no points for both…AND Bishamon must win. If all that happens, Tsuji/Zandokan have a chance. They do lose tiebreakers right now to Archer/Zayne though.

The next event is Wednesday at Karatsu Athletic Stadium in Saga for the final day of Block A. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET.

The promotion has also announced that, due to ongoing bug fixes/improvements since the New Japan World update/relaunch, Sunday’s Finals live broadcast will be in Japanese only with English on demand as soon as possible after the event. The plan was Japanese and English live but that won’t happen now.