Tag: pro wrestling

News: PWI Women’s 250 Announced

As a longtime fan and reader of Pro Wrestling Illustrated magazine, I was excited to get my digital new issue today because it features the second list of their ranking season, the PWI Women’s 250. Whereas the prior PWI 500 features all wrestlers but focuses on men (women are ranked though), this one is just for the ladies. As with the 500, this post focuses on spotlighting where women from and who compete mainly in Japan are ranked, plus the overall top 10.

Because the print edition does not come out for another 3 weeks, be advised that if you are waiting for that version and if you want to avoid SPOILERS until then DO NOT click below! (Be careful browsing online and on Zinio as the cover gives away the top 2)

Continue reading “News: PWI Women’s 250 Announced”

Obituary-Former Japanese Pro Wrestling TV Announcer Dies

According to widely reported news in the Japanese media today, Nippon Television Network (NTV) announcer Daisuke Sugaya, whose career included announcing pro wrestling, died today due to potential complications from pancreatic cancer. He was 53. He was hospitalized on 11/7 after work due to not feeling well because of digestive issues.
Sugaya’s work with NTV included being a TV announcer for Pro Wrestling NOAH when the promotion had a partnership with NTV, with some events airing on NTV’s G+ network for the first decade-plus. Several NOAH wrestlers who were in the promotion at that time, including KENTA, have posted memories and messages of condolences on social media. Sugaya also did a wide variety of other programming work including news, sports, management and more.

Injury Report: So Much For Those GLEAT Plans

There were reports in GLEAT lately about VINA leaving the promotion recently but staying until the end of the year while potential contract extension talks took place, but those were subject to change due to injury among other things. That unfortunately just happened. Multiple left shoulder and left biceps issues. Out indefinitely but surgery is needed so it may be a long time. As a result, the G INFINITY Championship he held with Kuroshio TOKYO Japan is now VACANT. Future title plans TBA.

More as it becomes available.

Quick Note Regarding Ganbare Pro 11/9/25 Results (Updated x3)

Ganbare Pro held a major event today in Tokyo, but since there was no live broadcast and results don’t seem to be posted yet anywhere I will post them as soon as I can find them. Worst-case is they will be up Tuesday as the event is scheduled to be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE Monday at 11 PM PT/Tuesday at 2 AM ET. (It sounds like the main event result may be out there based on social media posts from Yuna Manase & Masaaki Mochizuki, who faced off for the Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Championship held by Mochizuki)

UPDATE: Here are the results:

Today’s event was held at Shin-Kiba 1st Ring in Tokyo and should be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE tomorrow at 11 PM PT/Tuesday at 2 AM ET.

The announced paid attendance was 202.

Match 1: Shota Kawakami beat Sentaro Motojima.

Match 2: YuuRI & Sumika Nakagawa beat Haruka Umesaki & Soy. YuuRI beat Soy with a spiral dragon sleeper.

Match 3: Shuichiro Katsumura, Takuya Wada & Jonathan Johnson beat Yumehito Imanari, Shinichiro Tominaga & Mizuki Watase. Johnson pinned Tominaga after The Jackknife.

Match 4: Keisuke Ishii beat Munetatsu Nakamura.

Match 5: Spirit Of Ganbare World Tag Team Champions Yumehito Nakatsu & Takumi Tsukamoto beat Ken Ohka & Chou-un Shiryu to retain the titles. Nakatsu beat Shiryu with a rear naked choke. V2 for the champs.

Main Event: Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Champion Masaaki Mochizuki beat Yuna Manase to retain the title. V2 for Mochizuki. Manase comes up just short in her bid to become the first woman to hold the promotion’s top title…or virtually any major non-women’s title in Japan for that matter (excluding DDT’s various tag team titles and All-Japan’s 6-man tag team title which both were held by Saki Akai at one time). Next up: Ohka. That match may happen on 11/29 but that depends on scheduling because Dragon Gate also has an event that day in Okinawa (match card TBA) while Ganbare will be in Tokyo. I would think they would hold it for their year-ender on 12/27 when they go back to Korakuen Hall but we’ll see.

The next event is 11/29 at Takashimadaira Community Center. It will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE a few days after the event.

UPDATE 2: Next up for the tag champs-Katsumura & YuuRi. That match will happen on 11/29. Also announced for 12/27 at Korakuen was a YuuRI 5th Anniversary match which will be YuuRI vs. Sareee.

UPDATE 3 (11/13/25): It’s now official. Mochizuki vs. Ohka will happen on 11/29.

Stardom 11/9/25 NEAR LIVE Results

Stardom continues the Goddess Of Stardom Tag League tournament today in Nagano. Results will be posted below as they become available via Stardom’s website and social media.

Today’s event will be held at Kissei Bunka Hall in Nagano and will be available on demand on Stardom World at a later date. There is/will be no live broadcast.

Today’s lineup (match order TBA except for main event):
Saya Iida, Momo Kohgo & Bea Priestley vs. Natsupoi, Aya Sakura & Sayaka Kurara and Saya Kamitani, Konami & Rina in a 3-way
Goddess of Stardom Tournament:
Red Block:
Yuna Mizumori & Mei Seira vs. Bozilla & Akira Kurogame
Waka Tsukiyama & Rian vs. Teotleco & Osita
Hina & Ranna Yagami vs. Sareee & Miku Kanae
Blue Block:
Syuri & Saki Kashima vs. AZM & Miyu Amasaki
Ami Sohrei & Lady C vs. HANAKO & Megan Bayne (main event)

The event is scheduled to begin at 8 PM PT/11 PM ET.

8:25 PM PT UPDATE: Updates below begin now.

The paid attendance may or may not be announced after the event.

Match 1: Goddess Of Stardom Tournament Red Block: Bozilla & Akira Kurogame beat Yuna Mizumori & Mei Seira. Bozilla pinned Seira after a sitdown powerbomb.

Match 2: Goddess Of Stardom Tournament Red Block: Teotleco & Osita beat Waka Tsukiyama & Rian. Teotleco pinned Rian after a spear piledriver.

Match 3: Goddess Of Stardom Tournament Red Block: Hina & Ranna Yagami beat Sareee & Miku Kanae. Hina pinned Kanae after a modified jackhammer.

Match 4: Saya Iida, Momo Kohgo & Bea Priestley beat Natsupoi, Aya Sakura & Sayaka Kurara and Saya Kamitani, Konami & Rina in a 3-way when Iida pinned Konami.

Intermission.

Match 5: Goddess Of Stardom Tournament Blue Block: Syuri & Saki Kashima beat AZM & Miyu Amasaki. Syuri pinned Amasaki after Byakko.

Main Event: Goddess Of Stardom Tournament Blue Block: HANAKO & Megan Bayne beat Ami Sohrei & Lady C. HANAKO pinned C after JP Coaster.

The next event is Wednesday at Sendai Pit in Sendai. Live streaming on Stardom World will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET.

Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling “ALL RISE ’25” LIVE Results (11/9/25) (Updated x2)

Tokyo Joshi Pro runs their likely final major event of the year, ALL RISE ’25, today in Tokyo. It won’t have quite as many matches as the major/blowout events usually do but makes up for it in quality with a total of 4 title matches today. The headliner features another international challenger bring brought in as Miu Watanabe will defend the Princess Of Princess Championship against J-Rod, a US-based wrestler whose outfit resembles one from popular 1990s TV show “American Gladiators”, and also towers over Watanabe at about 6 feet tall. The second title match before that sees Arisu Endo defend the International Princess Championship against Uta Takami, who earned a title shot of her choice by winning the NexGene Tournament and, to my slight surprise, chose this one, maybe because she didn’t want to face her Up Up Girls partner/stablemate in Watanabe, but who knows. The third title match likewise features big chances for new faces as Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara defend the Princess Tag Team Championship against Shino Suzuki & HIMAWARI, which could very well mean there is a chance all the champions after today are Up Up Girls. Finally, a bonus title match will see Shoko Nakajima defend the MLW Women’s Featuerweight Championship against Viva Van. Also on the undercard, 2-decade-plus veteran Hiroyo Matsumoto, who is winding down her solid career, reunites with trainee Yuki Arai one more time for a special tag match-Matsumoto helped train Arai for her wrestling career while she was in . SKE48 And finally, I think Rika Tatsumi is still DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion, so if that is the case…you never know what will happen…

There has been a last-minute change announced to the card because Kira Summer is now off the event. Fever. Possibly cold/flu-like symptoms as well based on a follow-up social media post in Japanese & English from Summer (who is Australian). She was to have been in an 8-woman tag match. Replacement TBA and will be revealed at match time.

Today’s event will be held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched LIVE on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in Japanese & English. Former AKB48 member Erina Oda, who left the all-girl J-Pop megagroup (and parent group of SKE48 which Yuki Arai was part of) and is now a stage performer & entertainment personality, will be a special guest on Japanese commentary. It looks like Tetsu Inada will be filling in for Haruo Murata as host today based on what UNIVERSE is saying. There are just 7 matches today but with 4 title matches that means the running time will still be close to a normal Korakuen event for the promotion meaning it should run 2 1/2-3 hours.

Today’s lineup:
Rika Tatsumi, Chika Nanase, Ren Konatsu & TBA vs. Hyper Misao, Kakeru Sekiguchi, Mahiro Kiryu & Mifu Ashida
Mizuki & Suzume vs. Miyu Yamashita & Kaya Toribami, Yuki Aino & Haru Kazashiro and Pom Harajuku & Raku in a 4-way
Hiroyo Matsumoto & Yuki Arai vs. Yuna Manase & Toga
MLW Women’s Featherweight Champion Shoko Nakajima vs. Viva Van for the title
International Princess Champion Arisu Endo vs. Uta Takami for the title
Princess Tag Team Champions Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara vs. HIMAWARI & Shino Suzuki for the titles
Princess Of Princess Champion Miu Watanabe vs. J-Rod for the title

Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.

Updates below will begin at 6:30 PM PT/9:30 PM ET. The live stream is scheduled to begin 20 minutes before the event.

PRE-SHOW UPDATE: Missed developments from a special childrens’ bookstore reading event today!
A Shohei Ohtani Biography Book beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweoght Champion Rika Tatsumi to win the title. Book becomes the 1780th Champion. Which led to…
Rika Tatsumi beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion A Shohei Ohtani Biography Book to win the title. Tatsumi becomes the 1781st Champion.

6:10 PM PT UPDATE: The live stream has begun. We should be going to the venue in 10-15 minutes.

6:20 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates begin now.

We are LIVE from Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. Your hosts are Tetsu Inada, Kagehiro Osano, Sayoko Mita & special guest Erina Oda. Youe English hosts are Mr. Haku & Baliyan Akki.

The paid attendance will be announced after the event. It’s their usual Korakuen reduced-capacity setup and advance ticket sales looked to be about average so I’ll make my usual average prediction of around 700. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 730)

The matches should begin in about 20 minutes.

The matches begin at 6:40 PM PT/9:40 PM ET. And we have STREAMERS!

Match 1: Rika Tatsumi, Chika Nanase, Ren Konatsu & TBA vs. Hyper Misao, Kakeru Sekiguchi (Independent/Freelancer), Mahiro Kiryu & Mifu Ashida. TBA is revealed during entrances-actually after the match started because Misao is like that-to be Ryo Mizunami (Independent/Freelancer). 20 minute time limit. If anyone beats Tatsumi specifically they will become the DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion.
Result: Rika Tatsumi, Chika Nanase, Ren Konatsu & Ryo Mizunami beat Hyper Misao, Kakeru Sekiguchi, Mahiro Kiryu & Mifu Ashida. Tatsumi pinned Ashida after Twist Of Fate. Tatsumi retains the DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Championship for now.

Change to next match-now No Touch Rule meaning no actual tags needed to tag out, just leave the ring.

Match 2: Mizuki & Suzume vs. Miyu Yamashita & Kaya Toribami, Yuki Aino (with a new entrance theme) & Haru Kazashiro and Pom Harajuku & Raku in a 4-way. 20 minute time limit
Result: Mizuki & Suzume beat Miyu Yamashita & Kaya Toribami, Yuki Aino & Haru Kazashiro and Raku & Pom Harajuku in a 4-way when Suzume pinned Kazashiro.

Match 3: Hiroyo Matsumoto (Independent/Freelancer) & Yuki Arai vs. Yuna Manase (Ganbare Pro) & Toga. 20 minute time limit
Result: Hiroyo Matsumoto & Yuki Arai beat Yuna Manase & Toga. Matsumoto pinned Toga.

Match 4: MLW Women’s Featherweight Champion Shoko Nakajima vs. Viva Van for the title. 30 minute time limit
Result: MLW Women’s Featherweight Champion Shoko Nakajima beat Viva Van to retain the title.

Match 5: International Princess Champion Arisu Endo vs. Uta Takami for the title. 30 minute time limit
Result: International Princess Champion Arisu Endo beat Uta Takami by submission to retain the title. V2 for Endo.

Match 6: Princess Tag Team Champions Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara vs. HIMAWARI & Shino Suzuki for the titles. 30 minute time limit
Result: Princess Tag Team Champions Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara beat HIMAWARI & Shino Suzuki to retain the titles. Uehara pinned Suzuki after a spinning neckbreaker. V2 for the champs.

Main Event: Princess Of Princess Champion Miu Watanabe vs. J-Rod for the title. 30 minute time limit
Result: Princess Of Princess Champion Miu Watanabe beat J-Rod to retain the title. V2 for Watanabe. Next up: Suzume. She wants to join the incredibly exclusive ranks of TJPW Triple Crown Champions. Accepted. Updates to follow but it sounds like it will happen at Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling ’26 on 1/4.

The next event is a TJPW INSPIRATION event on 11/19 at Shinjuku Face. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE wiill begin at 2 AM PT/5 AM ET.

UPDATE: A backstage happening after the International Princess Championship match:
Mahiro Kiryu beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Rika Tatsumi to win the title. Kiryu becomes the 1782nd Champion.

UPDATE 2: It’s now official. Watanabe-Suzume will happen on 1/4.

Pro Wrestling NOAH 11/8/25 Results (Updated)

Pro Wrestling NOAH ran this month’s STAR NAVIGATION 2025 event today in Tokyo, featuring the start of the NOAH Jr. Grand Prix, a single-elimination Junior Heavyweight tournament.

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

The announced paid attendance was 1560, a legit sellout with standing room overflow.

There was a late change to the card due to Tetsuya Endo being pulled off the event. Flu. He was to have been in a 3-way tag match. HAYATA was the replacement.

Match 1: Naomichi Marufuji, Kenoh & Jack Morris beat Kaito Kiyomiya, Harutoki & Mohammed Yone. Kenoh pinned Yone after Round Fist.

Match 2: Dragon Bane & Alpha Wolf beat Manabu Soya & Saxon Huxley and Ulka Sasaki & HAYATA in a 3-way when Wolf pinned HAYATA.

NOAH Jr. Grand Prix Round 1:
Match 3: Kai Fujimura beat Junta Miyawaki.
Match 4: Shuji Kondo beat Black Menso-re.
Match 5: Ninja Mack (Independent/Freelancer) beat Alejandro.
Match 6: Hiromu Takahashi (New Japan) beat Daiki Odashima.

Match 7: Hank Walker & Tank Ledger (WWE) beat GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Masa Kitamiya & Takashi Sugiura to win the titles. Walker & Ledger become the 73rd GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. Ledger pinned Sugiura after Collision Course. Next up: Potentially a rematch but to get it, Sugiura & Kitamiya must first beat Marufuji & KENTA in a determination match for the next title shot. That match will happen on 11/15 at Osaka Prefectural Gym 2 in Osaka.

Main Event: Yoshiki Inamura beat GHC Heavyweight Champion KENTA to win the title. Inamura becomes the 49th GHC Heavyweight Champion. Third time’s the charm. After a first failed attempt as a young prospect, a second failed attempt after an excursion and brief name change to YOICHI, an excursion to WWE and now returning as a cowboy of sorts, he finally breaks through and wins the big one. Next up: The true obligatory rite of passage…Kiyomiya. That match will happen on 11/21 at Sendai Sun Plaza in Sendai.

The next event is tomorrow at Espoir Isanuma in Saitama. There will be no live broadcast. On demand Wednesday.

In other news, a new title match has been added to 1/1 at Nippon Budokan-GHC National Champion Dragon Bane vs. Alpha Wolf for the title.

UPDATE: Kiyomiya also announced that 3 new wrestlers-Midori Takahashi, Hiroto TsuruyŠ° and Yuto Koyanagi-are schedsuled to debut on 12/7.

New Japan 11/8/25 Results (Updated)

New Japan ran their annual Anjo event today despite certain wrestlers this was a hometown event for being gone from the promotion.

Today’s event was held at Tosho Arena Anjo in Aichi and can be watched on demand on New Japan World. You can also watch the first 2 matches FOR FREE on YouTube.

The announced paid attendance was 1483.

There were last-minute changes to the card due to Kosei Fujita being pulled off the event. The always vague poor health.

Match 1: Katsuya Murashima beat Tatsuya Matsumoto.

Match 2: Masatora Yasida & Taichi beat Zane Jay & Shoma Kato. Taichi pinned Jay after Dangerous Backdrop.

Match 2: Jacob Austin Young, Callum Newman & Great-O-Khan beat Tiger Mask, Tomoaki Honma & Boltin Oleg. Newman pinned Honma after Fireball.

Match 4: Gedo, Taiji Ishimori & Shingo Takagi beat Sho, DOUKI & Yujiro Takahashi. Ishimori pinned Sho after Bloody Cross.

Match 5: Ryusuke Taguchi, Shota Umino & Yuya Uemura beat Daiki Nagai, OSKAR (The Grouch) & Yota Tsuji. Uemuta beat Nagai with a chicken wing.

Match 6: El Desperado, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat Hartley Jackson, Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. Goto pinned Jackson after Shoto.

Match 7: NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Champions Master Wato, Yoh & Toru Yano beat Dick Togo, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & EVIL to retain the titles. Wato beat Togo with Vendeval. V2 for the champs.

Main Event: Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Yuto Ice (Ice Baby). Afterwards, the opponent for Tanahashi’s retirement match at Tokyo Dome was revealed…RAINMAKER!!! Back in his hometown today, it’s Kauzchika Okada! (There were a lot of online rumors on US news sites that it was probably going to be Shinsuke Nakamura. But there was less than zero chance of that happening just because Nakamura currently is in WWE and New Japan has a working partnership with WWE rival All Elite Wrestling, where Okada is. WWE has a working partnership with Pro Wrestling NOAH. So I knew it was all but going to be Okada because of that)

The next event is “Superhuman Taiji Ishimori Is Reckless Once Again” Wednesday at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo. Live streaming on New Japan World as a PPV will begin at 1:40 AM PT/4:40 AM ET. The PPV is available for pre-order for $21.99 US.

UPDATE: Following up on the Okada appearance, Tanahashi will hold a Tokyo Dome press conference at midnight PT/3 AM ET tonight. You will be able to watch it live and on demand FOR FREE on New Japan World and presumably YouTube.

Injury Report: The Mighty Don’t Kosei

It must be that time of the year again as many wrestlers are at least briefly being sidelined in Japan. now New Japan has announced Kosei Fujita is a last-minute removal from tomorrow’s event. The always vague poor health. He was to have teamed with Zack Sabre Jr, Ryohei Oiwa (birthday boy) & Hartlry Jackson to face Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, Taichi & El Desperado. Taichi is now out of the match too and instead will team with Masatora Yasuda to face Zane Jay & Shoma Kato. Tatsuya Matsumoto & Katsuya Murashima are now out of that tag match as a result and will now face each other in a single match. With the next event either 4 or 9 days away I doubt Fujita will miss any more events after this.

Stardom 11/8/25 NEAR LIVE Results

Stardom continues the Goddess Of Stardom Tag League Tournament today in Gunma. NEAR LIVE results will be posted as they become available via Stardom’s website and social media.

Today’s event will be held at G Messe Gunma in Gunma and will be available on demand on Stardom World at a later date. There will be no live broadcast.

Today’s lineup (match order TBA):
Yuna Mizumori, Mei Seira & Momo Kohgo vs. Ruaka, Rina & Ram Kaichow
Ami Sohrei, Lady C & Kikyo Furusawa vs. Saya Kamitani, Konami & Natsuko Tora
Goddess Of Stardom Tournament:
Red Block:
Natsupoi & Saori Anou vs. Hina & Ranna Yagami
Bozilla & Akira Kurogame vs. Teotleco & Osita
Waka Tsukiyama & Rian vs. Sareee & Miku Kanae
Blue Block:
AZM & Miyu Amasaki vs. Suzu Suzuki & Rina Yamashita
Saya Iida & Bea Priestley vs. Syuri & Saki Kashima
Aya Sakura & Sayaka Kurara vs. HANAKO & Megan Bayne

The event is scheduled to begin at 8 PM PT/11 PM ET.

In other news, Tokyo Sports reports Fuwa-Chan, a YouTuber who has competed in Stardom twice since her debut there in 2022, will return to the promotion at the year-end blowout event on 12/29. She has been inactive since August 2024 due to inappropriate social media posts.

8:35 PM PT UPDATE: Updates begin now.

The paid attendance may or may not be announced after the event. Lately they’ve not been doing it much. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 675, a full house/near sellout)

Match 1: Goddess Of Stardom Tournament Blue Block: HANAKO & Megan Bayne beat Aya Sakura & Sayaka Kurara. Bayne pinned Kurara after a running powerbomb.

Match 2: Ruaka, Rina & Ram Kaichow (666) beat Yuna Mizumori, Mei Seira & Momo Kohgo. Rina pinned Kohgo after Pink Devil.

Match 3: Goddess Of Stardom Tournament Red Block: Sareee & Miku Kanae beat Waka Tsukiyama & Rian. Kanae pinned Rian with a German suplex hold.

Match 4: Goddess Of Stardom Tournament Red Block: Teotleco & Osita beat Bozilla & Akira Kurogame. Osita beat Kurogame with a body scissor sleeper hold.

Match 5: Ami Sohrei, Lady C & Kikyo Furusawa beat Saya Kamitani, Konami & Natsuko Tora. Sohrei pinned Konami.

Match 6: Goddess Of Stardom Tournament Blue Block: Saya Iida & Bea Priestley beat Syuri & Saki Kashima. Iida pinned Kashima after Iidabashi.

Match 7: Goddess Of Stardom Tournament Blue Block: AZM & Miyu Amasaki beat Suzu Suzuki & Rina Yamashita. AZM pinned Suzuki after Azumi Sushi.

Main Event: Goddess Of Stardom Tournament Red Block: Natsupoi & Saori Anou beat Hina & Ranna Yagami. Anou pinned Yagami with a German suplex hold.

The next event is tomorrow at Kissei Cultural Hall in Nagano. There will be no live broadcast.