News, results & more from Japanese Pro Wrestling & Sumo
As you may have seen Tuesday, 2 Pro Wrestling NOAH wrestlers appeared to suffer injuries during the event-Daiki Inaba and YO-HEY. Those have now been confirmed. Inaba-dislocated right hip. YO-HEY-torn left medial meniscus (knee). Both out indefinitely. I think it’s safe to say YO-HEY is done for the year and longer but Inaba could be back sooner.
More as it becomes available
It’s that time of year again-Pro Wrestling Illustrated magazine yesterday announced this year’s edition of the PWI 500, ranking the top 500 wrestlers in all of pro wrestling. Naturally it’s my favorite issue of the year and I’ve gone though it already…it’s available on digital now but won’t be on newsstands for another 3-4 weeks. That being said, if you want to see how Japanese wrestlers ranked (as well as the top 10 overall), and don’t mind potential SPOILERS, click below to find out!
Continue reading “News: 2025 PWI 500 Announced”New Japan wrapped up their fall Hokkaido tour today with the final event of the series.
Today’s event was held at Kita Gas Arena Sapporo 46 in Hokkaido and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.
The announced paid attendance was 2038.
Pre-show match: Zane Jay & Masatora Yasuda beat Tatsuya Matsunoto & Katsuya Murashima. Yasuda pinned Matsumoto.
Match 1: Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Master Wato.
Match 2: Tomoaki Honma, Toru Yano & Togo Malabe beat Shoma Kato, Ryusuke Taguchi & Tiger Mask. Makabe pinned Kato.
Match 3: Yuya Uemura, Shota Umino & Boltin Oleg beat Dick Togo, EVIL & Don Fale. Unino pinned Togo after a Frankensteiner.
Match 4: TAKA Michinoku, Taichi & Tomohiro Ishii beat Gedo, OSKAR & Yuto Ice. Taichi pinned Gedo after Tensho Cross Fang.
Matxh 5: Taiji Ishimori, David Finlay & Gabrie Kidd beat Hiromu Takahashi, Yota Tsuji & Shingo Takagi. Ishimori pinned Takahashi with Gedo Clutch. This could lead to a potential GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship match as Takahashi is the champion but that partly is up to Pro Wrestling NOAH.
Match 6: Yujiro Takahashi, SANADA & Ren Narita beat Hartley Jackson, Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. by DQ. Jackson DQ’d. Guitar shot fake out by SANADA.
Match 7: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions DOUKI & Sho beat Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles to retain the titles. DOUKI pinned Fujita. V2 for the champs.
Main Event: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion El Desperado beat Yoh to retain the title. V8 for Desperado. Next up: Possibly DOUKI, who lost the title to Desperado due to injury.
The next event is DESTRUCTION, the annual September blowout event, Sunday at Kobe World Hall in Kobe. Live streaming on New Japan World OUTSIDE JAPAN ONLY will begin at midnight PT/3 AM ET. This will be a live & exclusive TV Asahi broadcast in Japan.
UPDATE: Takahashi-Ishimori for the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship has been added to DESTRUCTION. The winner will defend vs. Eita in Pro Wrestling NOAH next month as previously announced.
UPDATE 2: Pro Wrestling NOAH has confirmed the above GHC title matches including the winner facing Eita on 10/11.
Stardom ran an early afternoon holiday event today in Osaka.
Today’s event was held at Osaka Prefectural Gym 2 in Osaka and can be watched on demand on Stardom World. You can also watch the first 2 matches FOR FREE on YouTube.
The paid attendance has not yet been announced.
There were several last-minute changes to the event due to Miyu Amasaki being pulled off the card late. The always vague poor health.
Match 1: AZM, Saori Anou, Aya Sakura, Sayaka Kurara & Bea Priestley beat Saya Kamitani, Natsuko Tora, Ruaka, Momo Wayanabe & Azusa Inaba. AZM pinned Inaba after a diving foot stomp.
Match 2: Waka Tsukiyama & HANAKO beat Starlight Kid & Mei Seira and Akira Kurogame & Bozilla in a 3-way when Tsukiyama pinned Seira.
Match 3: Saki Kashima, Ami Sohrei & Lady C beat Yuria Hime, Ema Maishima & Kikyo Furusawa. C pinned Hime after a big boot.
Match 4: Tomoka Inaba & Ranna Yagami beat Hina & Kiyoka Kokatsu. Inaba pinned Kokatsu.
Match 5: Natsupoi beat Yuna Mizumori.
Main Event: Artist Of Stardom Champions Konami, Rina & Fukigen beat Hanan, Saya Iida & Momo Kohgo to retain the titles. Konami beat Hanan with a body sleeper. V1 for the champs.
The next event is Saturday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo with a double title match of Kamitani vs. AZM for both the World Of Stardom and STRONG Women’s Championships, and also Hina vs. HANAKO for the Future Of Stardom Championship. Live streaming on Stardom World will begin Friday at 7:30 PM PT/10:30 PM ET.
All-Japan ran their post-Royal Road major event, Giant Dream 2025, today in Tokyo.
Today’s event was held at Arena Tachikawa Tachihi in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on AJPW.TV. This may have also been a live GAORA SPORTS broadcast in Japan or was taped for a later broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 1750.
Match 1: Shotaro Ashino, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Seiki Yoshioka & Fuminori Abe beat Ren Ayabe, Rising Hayato, Ryo Inoue & Shota Kofuji. Yoshioka pinned Kofuji after a buzzsaw kick.
Match 2: Kuroshio TOKYO Japan won a 9 man battle royal, last eliminating GAORA TV Champion Takashi, to win the title. Kuroshio becomes the 30th GAORA TV Champion.
Match 3: Daisuke Sekimoto (Big Japan) beat Dan Tamura.
Match 4: Yuma Aoyagi & Naoya Nomura beat Yuma Anzai & Ryuki Honda. Aoyagi pinned Anzai after THE FOOL.
Match 5: All-Japan World Junior Heavyweight Champion Atsuki Aoyagi beat MUSASHI to retain the title. V1 for Aoyagi.
Match 6: Xyon & Odyssey beat All-Japan World Tag Team Champions Hideki Suzuki & Kengo Mashimo to win the titles. Xyon & Odyssey become the 102nd All-Japan World Tag Team Champions. Xyon pinned Suzuki after a diving headbutt.
Main Event: Kento Miyahara beat All-Japan Triple Crown Champion Jun Saito to win the Triple Crown. Miyahara becomes the 76th All-Japan Triple Crown Champion. Aaarghhh…had a feeling this was coming and it kinds sucks as a big fan of the Saitos, but a fantastic first reign for Jun on his own with brother Rei Saito out a while due to injury.
The next event is 10/11 at Gyoda Green Arena in Saitama. Broadcast plans TBA.
Pro Wrestling NOAH wraps up the N-1 VICTORY 2025 Tournament today with the Finals, part of a holiday matinee in Tokyo. It’s a rather unlikely final consisting of Masa Kitamiya vs. Jack Morris, with the winner getting to face KENTA for the GHC Heavyweight Championship next. Both are Team 2000X members and heels by default, but Kitamiya turned and defected to the unit before the tournament, either way the unit once again will stand tall today with a chance to regain the title soon.
Today’s event will be held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched LIVE OUTSIDE JAPAN on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in English only. This is a live & exclusive ABEMA broadcast in Japan, which will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE shortly after the event. The event is a legit advance sellout including standing room. There are 7 matches scheduled including a GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship match and the main event will be no time limit but I expect it will be a standard Korakuen event with a running time of 2 1/2-3 hours.
Today’s lineup (match order TBA):
KENTA, Manabu Soya, Ulka Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo vs. Galeno, Kenoh, Daiki Inaba & Ricky Knight Jr.
Takashi Sugiura & Daga vs. HAYATA & Daiki Odashima
Go Shiozaki, Kazuyuki Fujita, Mohammed Yone & Atsushi Kotoge vs. Naomichi Marufuji, Kaito Kiyomiya, Harutoki & Shuhei Taniguchi
YO-HEY vs. Tadasuke
Hiromu Takahashi (New Japan) & AMAKUSA vs. Eita & Junta Miyawaki
GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Dragon Bane & Alpha Wolf vs. Alejandro & Kai Fujimura for the titles
N-1 VICTORY Finals: Masa Kitamiya vs. Jack Morris
Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.
Updates below will begin at 7:30 PM PT/10:30 PM ET.. The live stream is scheduled to begin 20 minutes before the event.
7:20 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates begin now.
We are LIVE from Korakuen Hal in Tokyo, Japan. Your hosts are Mark Pickering & Mike Trellner. We’re watching the ABEMA broadcast live where Akitoshi Saito is among the guests on commentary.
The paid attendance will be announced after the event. It’s a legit advance sellout but some reduced capacity due to the commentary setup, but between that and standing room only tickets being sold out it should be 1500-1550. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance, a legit advance sellout plus standing room, was 1596)
The matches should begin in 15-20 minutes.
The matches begin at 7:33 PM PT/10:33 PM ET.
Match 1: KENTA, Manabu Soya, Ulka Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo vs. Galeno, Kenoh, Daiki Inaba & Ricky Knight Jr.. 20 minute time limit
Result: KENTA, Manabu Soya, Ulka Sasaki & Tetsuy Endo beat Galeno, Kenoh, Daiki Inaba & Ricky Knight Jr. Soya pinned Inaba after Death Valley Bomb. Inaba may have been injured just before the end and the ref nearly stopped it. Potential hamstring injury attempting a diving body press off the top rope. He was stretchered out post-match. Updates to follow.
WWE wrestlers Charlie Dempsey & Harlem Lewis come out. Dempsey with microphone in English. He says they’re here to represent WWE NXT in Japan and compete against the best NOAH has to offer. (Japanese translation for the live crowd follows) Dempsey, for those who don’t know, is the the real-life son of the legendary William Regal. Lewis says they will compete on 10/4 in a single match. Dempsey tries to take the microphone but Lewis shoots him a glance before saying they will compete in a tag match against NOAH at Ryogoku Kokugikan on 10/11 then possibly one more appearance on 10/16 at Korakuen.
Match 2: Takashi Sugiura & Daga vs. HAYATA & Daiki Odashima. 20 minute time limit
Result: HAYATA & Daiki Odashima beat Takashi Sugiura & Daga by DQ. Sugiura DQ’d. Yoshitatsu interference after a forced ref bump. Afterwards, Daga turned on Team 2000X to protect Odashima. Daga with microphone. He challenged Yoshitatsu to a match right now. Which led to…
Impromptu Match: Daga & Daiki Odashima vs. Yoshitatsu & Takashi Sugiura
Result: Daga & Daiki Odashima beat Yoshitatsu & Takashi Sugiura in seconds. Daga pinned Yoshitatsu.
Match 3: Go Shiozaki, Kazuyuki Fujita, Mohammed Yone & Atsushi Kotoge vs. Naomichi Marufuji, Kaito Kiyomiya, Harutoki & Shuhei Taniguchi. 20 minute time limit
Result: Go Shiozaki, Kazuyuki Fujita, Mohammed Yone & Atsushi Kotoge beat Naomichi Marufuji, Kaito Kiyomiya, Harutoki & Shuhei Taniguchi. Shiozaki pinned Taniguchi after Go Lariat. Afterwards, while the winners stayed in the ring, Minoru Suzuki came out. With microphone. He called out Fujita and issued the challenge, leaving before Fujita could respond although he seemed to nod yes.
Match 4: YO-HEY vs. Tadasuke. 30 minute time limit
Result: YO-HEY beat Tadasuke by DQ. Ref assaults. YO-HEY may have been injured right before the end after a diving foot stomp attempt.
A video announces NOAH THE NEW YEAR 2026 for 1/1/26 at Nippon Budokan.
Intermission.
The matches resume at 8:37 PM PT/11:37 PM ET.
Match 5: Hiromu Takahashi (New Japan) & AMAKUSA vs. Eita & Junta Miyawaki. 30 imnute time limit
Result: Eita & Junta Miyawaki beat Hiromu Takahashi & AMAKUSA. Eita pinned AMAKUSA after a jumping knee strike.
Match 6: GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Dragon Bane & Alpha Wolf vs. Alejandro & Kai Fujimura for the titles. 1 Hour time limit
Result: GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Dragon Bane & Alpha Wolf beat Alejandro & Kai Fujimura to retain the titles. Bane pinned Alejandro after Santa Maria. V4 for the champs. Next up: Daga & Odashima. Possibly at Ryogoku.
Main Event: N-1 VICTORY Finals: Masa Kitamiya vs. Jack Morris. No time limit
Result: Masa Kitamiya beat Jack Morris by submission to win the tournament. As a result, Kitamiya gets the next GHC Heavyweight Championship shot. A lot of Team 2000X interference late of course to assist. We should find out later today when that match will happen but I’m thinking Ryogoku. Kitamiya called out KENTA and laid him out in the ring to end the show.
The next event is 10/4 at Lives Nagoya in Nagoya. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at midnight PT/3 AM ET. All October events will also be available live and immediately on demand on the service, 10/11 (Ryogoku) will probably be English only for live as it’s an ABEMA exclusive.
UPDATE: It’s now official-10/11 for KENTA-Kitamiya. As a consolation prize, Morris gets another GHC National Championship shot against Galeno. That match will happen on 10/4.
Pro Wrestling NOAH ran the penultimate day of the N-1 VICTORY Tournament today.
Today’s event was held at Light Cube Utsunomiya in Tochigi and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.
The announced paid attendance was 617.
Match 1: AMAKUSA, Alejandro & Kai Fujimura beat Jack Morris, Dragon Bane & Alpha Wolf. Fujimura pinned Bane after Hat Trick.
Match 2: HAYATA, Atsushi Kotoge & Ryo Hoshino beat Junta Miyawaki, Daiki Odashima & Black Menso-re. Hoshino pinned Menso-re after Cancun Tornado.
N-1 VICTORY:
Match 3: Block B: Daiki Inaba beat Harutoki.
Match 4: Block A: Manabu Soya beat Ulka Sasaki.
Match 5: Block B: Galeno beat Kenoh.
Match 6: Block B: Ricky Knight Jr. beat Naomichi Marufuji. As a result, there will be a tiebreaker match between Galeno & Jack Morris to determine who wins Block B.
Match 7: Block A: Daga beat Kaito Kiyomiya.
Match 8: Masa Kitamiya beat Kazuyuki Fujita by ref stoppage.
Match 9: Tetsuya Endo beat KENTA. As a result, Kitamiya wins Block A.
Main Event: Block B Tiebreaker: Jack Morris beat Galeno. As a result, Morris wins Block B.
As a result, the Final will be Kitamiya vs. Morris.
The Final is Tuesday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. The event is a legit advance sellout. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in English Only will begin Monday at 7:30 PM PT/10:30 PM ET. This is a live & exclusive ABEMA broadcast in Japan.
Pro Wrestling NOAH continued the N-1 VICTORY Tournament today in Shizuoka.
Today’s event was held at Act City Hamamatsu in Shizuoka and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.
The announced paid attendance was 494.
Match 1: Mohammed Yone, Atsushi Kotoge, Alejandro, Kai Fujimura & Daiki Odashima beat Shuhei Taniguchi, Dragon Bane, Alpha Wolf, Shuji Kondo & Junta Miyawaki. Fujimura pinned Miyawaki.
Match 2: Jack Morris & Ricky Knight Jr. beat Takashi Sugiura & Tadasuke. Morris pinned Tadasuke after a tiger driver.
N-1 VICTORY:
Match 3: Block B: Kenoh beat Harutoki.
Match 4: Block A: Ulka Sasaki beat Daga by submission.
Match 5: Block A: Masa Kiramiya beat Tetsuya Endo by countout.
Match 6: Block A: KENTA beat Kazuyuki Fujita.
Match 7: Block B: Naomichi Marufuji beat Galeno.
Main Event: Block B: Kaito Kiyomiya beat Manabu Soya.
Standings:
Block A:
1-Fujita, 4-2, 8 pts
2-Kitamiya, 4-2, 8 pts
3-Kiyomiya, 4-2, 8 pts
4-KENTA, 4-2, 8 pts
5-Endo, 3-3, 6 pts
6-Soya, 2-4, 4 pts (OUT)
7-Sasaki, 2-4, 4 pts (OUT)
8-Daga, 1-5, 2 pts (OUT)
Block B:
1-Morris, 5-1-1, 11 pts
2-Marufuji, 5-1, 10 pts
3-Galeno, 4-1-1, 9 pts
4-Knight, 4-2, 8 pts (OUT)
5-Kenoh, 4-2, 8 pts (OUT)
6-Harutoki, 1-5, 2 pts (OUT)
7-Daiki Inaba, 1-5, 2 pts (OUT)
8-OZAWA, 0-7, 0 pts (OUT)
Only the winners of each block advance to the Finals. With the final preliminary matches next, Block A is wide open. Because of the final matches and what they are, It’s all but going to come down to tiebreakers. Block B is a little simpler as only the top 3 have a chance now-because Morris has no matches left, Marufuji wins if he wins his last match tomorrow (Knight). If Marufuji loses, everything depends on Galeno-if Galeno wins his last match (Kenoh), there will be a tiebreaker rematch because Morris-Galeno was a draw. If Galeno loses, Morris advances. If Marufuji draws and Galeno loses or draws, Morris advances on tiebreakers because he beat Marufuji. If Marufuji draws and Galeno wins, a 3-way tiebreaker match will be needed to settle it.
The next event is tomorrow at Light Cube Utsunomiya in Tochigi. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET. The promotion announced some last-minute changes to the event, namely swapping AMAKUSA & Daiki Odashima between the two non-tournament matches (not due to injuries).
WRESTLE PRINCESS 6, Tokyo Joshi Pro’s most important event of the year (no longer their biggest though), is in the books.
Today’s event was held at Ota City General Gym in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.
The announced paid attendance was 1127.
There were some last-minute changes to the event due to Jada Stone being off the card. Not cleared to travel to Japan due to a knee injury. She was to have faced Arisu Endo for the vacant International Princess Championship. Priscilla Kelly was the replacement. She was to have faced Rika Tatsumi though. Pom Harajuku was removed from a battle royal to be the replacement there.
Before the event began, the promotion announced its first event in Thailand for 12/13 in Bangkok, which almost certainly will include Setup Pro Wrestling participation. They also announced that GRAND PRINCESS 2026, their biggest event of the year, will return to Ryogoku Kokugikan on 3/29 after being held elsewhere this year. 3 new trainees were also introduced, for now their names are Shion, Henn & Yuka.
Match 1: Mei Suruga (Chocolate Pro Wrestling( & Uta Takami beat Suzume & Ren Konatsu. Takami beat Konatsu with Koala Clutch.
Match 2: Mahiro Kiryu won an 8 person battle royal, last eliminating DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Raku’s Pillow and Raku, to win the title. Kiryu becomes the 1768th Champion. Raku’s Pillow earlier beat Pocotan to become the 1767th Champion.
Match 3: Aja Kong (OZ Academy) beat HIMAWARI.
Match 4: In a Flag Fight Official Weapons Deathmatch, where wrestlers could use their chosen weapon after grabbing a flag installed in their corner, Pom Harajuku beat Rika Tatsumi.
Match 5: Hiroyo Matsumoto (Independent/Freelancer) & Yuki Arai beat Haru Kazashiro & Toga. Arai pinned Kazashiro after Finally. Matsumoto was who originally trained Arai and helped her get into wrestling, which recently was revealed online.
Match 6: Ryo Mizunami (Independent/Freelancer) & Yuki Aino beat Miyu Yamashita & Kaya Toribami. Aino beat Yamashita with Full Nelson Of Love & Flame.
Match 7: Arisu Endo beat Priscilla Kelly to win the vacant International Princess Championship. Endo becomes the 15th International Princess Champion.
Match 8: Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara beat Princess Tag Team Champions Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao to win the titles. Kamifuku & Uehara become the 19th Princess Tag Team Champions. Kamifuku pinned Nakajima after a diving Fameasser.
Main Event: Miu Watanabe beat Princess Of Princess Champion Mizuki to win the title. Watanabe becomes the 16th Princess Of Princess Champion. HAPPY HAPPY!!! Next up: Aino, who perhaps just had the biggest win of her career to date by beating Yamashita in the tag match. That match will happen on 10/18 at Korakuen Hall.
The next event is 9/27 at Shin-Kiba 1st Ring, which will also feature the retirement ceremony for Neko Haruna, who announced recently she would leave the promotion and retire from wrestling due to injuries. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 2 AM PT/5 AM ET.
UPDATE: After the event, the promotion announced the NexGene 2025 Tournament coming up in October. It will be a double-elimination tournament with 4 participants: Kira Summer, Chika Nanase, Uta Takami, Ren Konatsu. It will be held over 4 events and the eventual winner gets a title shot of their choice.
UPDATE 2: It was also announced that Nakajima’s next M:W Women’s Featherweight Championship defense will be on 10/4 in Long Beach, CA vs. HIMAWARI. As a result, both are now off the 10/4 TJPW event. The MLW event with that match will be streamed live FOR FREE on YouTube and also broadcast live on beIN Sports.
New Japan continued their Hokkaido fall tour today with another non-televised event.
Today’s event was held at Kitami Sports Center in Hokkaido. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 771.
There were last-minute changes due to Yota Tsuji being removed from the card again. The always-vague poor health.
Match 1: Masatora Yasuda beat Zane Jay.
Match 2: Shoma Kato & Tiger Mask beat Tatsuya Matsunoto & Katsuya Murashima. Kato pinned Matsumoto.
Match 3: Dick Togo, EVIL & Don Fale beat Tomoaki Honma, Shota Umino & Boltin Oleg. EVIL pinned Honma after Magic Killer.
Match 4: David Finlay & Gabriel Kidd beat Daiki Nagai & Shingo Takagi. Finlay pinned Magai after Into Oblivion.
Match 5: Taiji Ishimori, OSKAR & Yuto Ice beat TAKA Michinoku, Taichi & Tomohiro Ishii. Ice pinned TAKA after K.O.B.
Match 6: Ryusuke Taguchi, Yuya Uemura, Hiroshi Tanahashi & El Desperado beat Togi Makabe, Toru Yano, Master Wato & Yoh. Uemura pinned Makabe after a Frankensteiner.
Main Event: Kosei Fujita, Robbie Eagles, Hartley Jackson, Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. beat DOUKI, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi, SANADA & Ren Narita. Oiwa pinned Takahashi after The Grip.
The next event is Saturday at Yakumo City Gym. There will be bo live or on demand broadcast