Tag: pro wrestling

New Japan 11/21/23 Results

New Japan ran Day 2 of the World Tag League today, kicking off Block B action. A pre-show match featured a second new Young Lion beginning his journey to superstardom.

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE. This was a Samurai! TV broadcast in Japan.

The announced paid attendance was 1109.

Pre-show Match: Katsuya Murashima Debut Match: Yuto Nakashima beat Katsuya Murashima by submission.

Match 1: Toa Liona & Bishop Kaun beat Oskar Leube & Tomoaki Honma. Kaun pinned Leube after Heaven’s Gates.

Match 2: Boltin Oleg, Ryohei Oiwa & Kaito Kiyomiya (Pro Wrestling NOAH) bear Callum Newman, HENARE & Great-O-Khan. Kiyomiya pinned Newman after Transformed Shining Wizard.

Match 3: Tiger Mask, Master Wato, Shota Umino & Ren Narita beat Gedo, Taiji Ishimori, Gabriel Kidd & Alex Coughlin. Wato beat Gedo with Vendeval.

Match 4: Dick Togo, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL beat Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls. EVIL pinned Fujita after EVIL.

World Tag League:
Match 5: Soberano Jr. & Atlantis Jr. beat Minoru Suzuki & Yuji Nagata. Soberano pinned Suzuki after Table Pack. UPSET ALERT!!
Match 6: Alex Zayne & Lance Archer beat Jack Bonza & Bad Luck Fale. Zayne pinned Bonza after Cinnamon Twist.
Match 7: Yuya Uemura & Taichi beat Zandokan Je. & Yota Tsuji. Taichi pinned Zandokan after Black Mephisto.
Main Event: El Phantasmo & Hikuleo beat YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto. Hikuleo pinned YOSHI-HASHI after Super Thunder Kiss 86. The STRONG Tag Team Champs take potential Round 1 from the IWGP Tag Team Champs.

The next event is Thursday at Yokohama Budokan in Yokohama. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET.

RUMOR: Another Stardom Star Going For Bigger Stardom?

This is not entirely a done deal yet and, based on later fact-checking done weekly by the site that shares them is probably 55-60% accurate right now, but there are RUMORS another top Stardom name could be WWE-bound. This time it’s top foreigner Giulia. Here’s what is being said: Giulia is verbally committed to Stardom for next year. But talks are to the point that WWE has made an offer. What it may come down to is money and which brand-if it’s NXT (their developmental brand), owner Bushiroad Corporation and sibling company New Japan Pro Wrestling can probably match the offer and keep her. But if it’s main level (Raw or Smackdown), and money is more important, Goulia is probably following KAIRI (back in the latter’s case) to The E. Giulia is said to be a “priority acquisition” for WWE and her multi-racial background (she is mixed Japanese & Italian and was born in England) could help then worldwide. Again, just RUMORS for now but bears watching.

More as it becomes available.

Injury Report: The Juice Can’t Be Loose For Now

According to rumors today from various US news sites, AEW is short a Bullet Club member for a while as Juice Robinson was written off last week on Collision due to a legit injury. Back. Out indefinitely but reportedly at least the rest of the year. We’ll know for sure if we don’t see him on TV this week.

More as it becomes available.

Injury Report: NOAH Old Man Taking It Easy

Pro Wrestling NOAH just announced on the socials that Yoshinari Ogawa, likely their oldest wrestler at 57, will be off Friday’s Korakuen Hall event as a precaution. Dizziness. Not expected to miss much if any more time. He was to have teamed with LEONA to face HAYATA & Eita. Kai Fujimura is the replacement. This also resulted in the first match being changed to Junta Miyawaki vs. Taishi Ozawa.

New Japan 11/20/23 Results

New Japan kicked off the 2023 World Tag League today, their annual year-end tag team tournament, with Block A action. A new Young Lion also debuted today, beginning what hopefully will be a path to becoming a New Japan superstar.

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on New Japan World FOR FREE! No paid subscription or account required! This was an ABEMA simulcast in Japan.

Click below to watch (available in Japanese and English):
https://watch.njpwworld.com/details/38461?playlist_id=203

The announced paid attendance was 1133.

Pre-show Match: Shoma Kato Debut Match: Oskar Leube beat Shoma Kato.

Match 1: Soberano Jr. & Atlantis Jr. beat TAKA Michinoku & DOUKI. Atlantis pinned TAKA after Atlantida.

Match 2: Alex Zayne, Lance Archer, Minoru Suzuki & Yuji Nagata beat Gedo, Taiji Ishimori, Jack Bonza & Bad Luck Fale. Nagata beat Gedo with Nagata Lock 2.

Match 3: Yuya Uemura, Taichi & SANADA beat BUSHI, Zandokan Jr. & Yota Tsuji. Uemura pinned BUSHI with a kannuki suplex hold.

Match 4: Jado, El Phantasmo & Hikuleo beat Yoh, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto. Phantasmo pinned Yoh after CR2.

World Tag League:
Match 5: Shane Haste & Mikey Bicholls beat Toa Liona & Bishop Kaun. Haste pinned Laun after Tank Buster.
Match 6: Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL beat Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii. EVIL pinned Yano after EVIL.
Match 7: Ryohei Oiwa & Kaito Kiyomiya (Pro Wrestling NOAH) beat Gabriel Kidd & Alex Coughlin by countout. Kidd counted out.
Main Event: Ren Narita & Shota Umino beat HENARE & Great-O-Khan. Umino pinned Khan after Death Rider.

The next event 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.

In other news, Stardom announced today that STRONG Women’s Champion Giulia will next defend the title on 12/2 in the promotion vs. AZM. 6th defense for Giulia. I would expect the winner to defend at the next US event on 1/13/24.

All-Japan 11/19/23 Results

All-Japan continued the Real World Tag League yesterday with Day 3.

Yesterday’s event was held at Nagoya Congress Center in Nagoya and can be watched on demand on AJPW.TV.

The announced paid attendance was 733.

Match 1: Jr. Battle Of Glory: Ryo Inoue beat Rising Hayato.

Match 2: Real World Tag League: Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani beat Shuji Ishikawa & Ren Atabe. Okatani pinned Ishikawa after Quetzalcoatl. A first win for our girl Saki Akai (that was one of her finishers).

Match 3: Katsuhiko Nakajima, Hokuto Onori & Naoki Tanisaki beat Yoshitatsu, Kuroshio TOKYO Japan & Black Menso-re. Nakajima pinned Menso-re after Vertical Spike.

Match 4: Real World Tag League: Jun & Rei Saito beat Hayato Tamura & Galeno Del Mal. Rei Saito pinned Mal after Drill-A-Hole piledriver.

Match 5: Jr. Battle Of Glory: Dan Tamura beat Atsuki Aoyagi.

Match 6: Real World Tag League: Cyrus & Ryan Danielson beat Suwama & Hideki Suzuki. Cyrus pinned Suzuki after a reverse splash.

Main Event: Real World Tag League: Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi vs. Ryuki Honda & Yuma Anzai went to a 30 minute time limit draw.

The next event is tomorrow at Shin-Kiba 1st Ring in Tokyo. Live streaming on AJPW.TV will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET.

Injury Report: Trio of Injuries & Effects (Updated x2)

It’s another pileup of injuries across the Japanese scene today, some with major effecrs:

DDT-Sanshiro Takagi suffered an undisclosed injury yesterday and is now off Thursday. He was to have been in a 6-man tag. Illusion is the replacement.

Dragon Gate-KAI reaggravated an arm injury over the weekend. Out indefinitely but at least the rest of the November tour.

Stardom-Both Tam Nakano & Natsupoi, who are already out indefinitely, will be out a long time. Because of this, both the World Of Stardom Championship held by Nakano and the Goddesses Of Stardom Championship they held are now VACANT.

More as it becomes available.

UPDATE: For the Goddesses Of Stardom Championship, determination match between Meghan Bahn & Maika and TBA is set for 12/2/2023 to crown new champions.

UPDATE 2 (11/21): For the World Of Stardom Championship, determination tournament to crown a new champion is set for 11/28. First will be Maika vs. Ami Seira then Mina Shirakawa vs. Momo Watanabe with the winners meeting for the title. The winner will first defend against either Suzu Suzuki (who holds a challenge contract) or Hazuki (if she beats Suzuki on 11/28 for the contract). Utami Hayashishita and Saya Kamitani will also return from injuries on 11/28.

Stardom 11/18/23 Results

Stardom ran their final Osaka big show of the year, STARDOM GOLD RUSH 2023, yesterday, loaded with major title matches and more.

Yesterday’s event was held at Osaka Prefectural Gym in Osaka and can be watched on demand as a PPV via Pia for 4000 yen (around $27 US) until Tuesday morning (purchase by 1 AM PT/4 AM ET Tuesday). It should be available on Stardom World at a later date.

The announced paid attendance was 1033. If the venue was configured for full capacity (5000 for sumo, maybe a little less for wrestling), that’s barely 20% full. Probably was smaller capacity, but on paper that still seems rather bad.

There were multiple late changes to the cards due to Mayu Iwatani and Saki Kashima being off the event (injured).

Match 1: It’s Fukigen (Kaori Yoneyama) won a 7 woman battle royal, last eliminating Miyu Amasaki.

Match 2: Moneyball Tournament: Hanan, Hazuki & Saya Iida beat HANAKO, Ami Sohrei & Konami. Hanan pinned HANAKO after 17.

Match 3: Moneyball Tournament: Mai Sakurai, Thekla & Giulia beat Momo Watanabe, Natsuko Tora & Ruaka. Sakurai pinned Ruaka with Mai Bread Roll.

Match 4: High Speed Champion Mei Seira beat Momoka Hanazono to retain the title. V1 for Seira.

Match 5; AZM beat Starlight Kid & Suzu Suzuki in a 3-way by pinning Kid.

Match 6: In a UWF Rules MMA Fight, Syuri beat Scandinavian Hurricane by TKO.

Match 7: Wonder Of Stardom Champion MIRAI vs. Saori Anou went to a 30 minute time limit draw. As a result, MIRAI retains the title. V3 for MIRAI.

Main Event: Moneyball Tournament Finals: Artist Of Stardom Champions Mai Sakurai, Thekla & Giulia beat Hazuki, Hanan & Saya Iida by retrieving the right chest hanging above the ring with the key to unlock the chest to retain the titles. Thekla made the winning retrieval. V3 for the champs. Afterwards, Thekla challenged Seira for the High Speed Championship. That match will likely happen on 12/2 at Aichi Prefectural Gym in Nagoya.

The next event is Thursday at Nagoya International Conference Center Event Hall in Nagoya. It should be available on Stardom World at a later date.

DDT 11/19/23 Results (Updated)

DDT ran an event in Osaka today as part of a doubleheader with Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling.

Today’s event was held at Osaka Prefectural Gym 2 in Osaka and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date. There was no live broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 354, a full house/near sellout. They used a much smaller layout than TJPW, who wasn’t anywhere near capacity but still drew in the low 400s. (Back in the day the venue had a full capacity of 1500-1800, but since the pandemic they have downsized considerably. Osaka has always been stricter about capacity limits since the pandemic than most of Japan, but it’s their choice)

During the opening introductions and start call, MAO tried unsuccessfully to win the DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Championship from Kazuki Hirata.

Match 1: Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku beat Kazuma Sumi & Yuni. Okada pinned Sumi after Sudden Death.

Match 2: In a No Submissions Match, Sanshiro Takagi & His Excellency Tsuten (a local) beat Danshoku Dieno & Illusion. Tsuten pinned Illusion after a Takagi Stunner.

Match 3: MJ Paul & KANON beat Akito & Rukiya. KANON pinned Rukiya after Vietnam Driver 2.

Match 4: Daisuke Sasaki beat Takeshi Masada by submission.

Match 5: In a Hardcore match, Great Nita, Great Koji & HARASHIMA beat Jun Akiyama, The Bodyguard & Makoto Oishi. Nita beat Oishi by chain hanging chokeout.

Match 6: DDT Universal Champion MAO beat Demus to retain the title. V1 for MAO.

Main Event: Yuki Ueno, Chris Brookes & Kazusada Higuchi beat Tetsuya Endo, Yukio Naya & DDT Ironman Heavymetalweight Champion Kazuki Hirata, with Ueno pinning Hirata after WR to win the title. Ueno becomes the 1594th Champion. The 37Kamiina stick around for the show-ending victory promo. Which led to…
MAO beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Yuki Ueno to win the title. MAO becomes the 1595th Champion. Which led to…
Great Koji beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion MAO to win the title. Koji becomes the 1596th Champion. Guess it’s staying in Osaka for a while now.

The next event is Thursday at Yume Messe Miyagi West Building Hall in Miyagi. There will be no live broadcast.

UPDATE: There are now reports Great Koji is/was actually Toi Kojima. He denies that. It has been since determined that title changes can happen only if Great Koji is pinned or submitted.

New Japan 11/19/23 Results (Updated)

New Japan wrapped up the 2-event New Japan Road tour today with a non-televised event featuring warm-ups for most of the World Tag League participants.

Today’s event was held at Light Cube Utsunomiya in Tochigi. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 1076.

Match 1; Satoshi Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Minoru Suzuki & Yuji Nagata beat Tiger Mask, Togi Makabe, Soberano Jr. & Atlantis Jr. Suzuki pinned TM 4 after a Gotch-style piledriver.

Match 2: Taiji Ishimori, Jack Bonza & Bad Luck Fale beat Ryusuke Taguchi, Alex Zayne & lace Archer. Fale pinned Taguchi after Grenade.

Match 3: Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls beat Yuto Nakashima, Toa Liona & Bishop Kaun. Fujita pinned Nakashima after Abandon Hope.

Match 4: Yoh, Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii beat Dick Togo, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL. Yano pinned Togo.

Match 5: Ren Narita, Master Wato & Shota Umino beat Callum Newman, HENARE & Great-O-Khan. Umino pinned Newman after Blaze Blade.

Match 6: HAYATA (Pro Wrestling NOAH), Ryohei Oiwa & Kaito Kiyomiya (Pro Wrestling NOAH) beat Gedo, Gabriel Kidd & Alex Coughlin. HAYATA pinned Gedo after Hedeck.

Match 7: Tomoaki Honma, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat Jado, El Phantasmo & Hikuleo. YOSHI-HASHI beat Jado with Butterfly Lock.

Main Event: BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Zandokan Jr., Yota Tsuji & Shingo Takagi beat TAKA Michinoku, DOUKI, Taichi, Yuya Uemura & SANADA. Tsuji pinned TAKA after Ankler. This was originally to have been an 8-man tag match but TAKA and Zandokan were late adds.

Next up is the World Tag League, the annual year-ending Heavyweight tag team tournament, beginning tomorrow at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET, and even better, you will be able to watch the event live and on demand FOR FREE! No account or payment required! This will be an ABEMA simulcast in Japan.

UPDATE: Updated main event result to add Zandokan Jr., who is Yota Tsuji’s mystery partner in the World Tag League.