Tag: pro wrestling

New Japan 3/20/25 Results (Updated)

New Japan wrapped up the New Japan Cup today with the Finals.

Today’s event was held at Aore Nagaoka in Niigata and can be watched on demand on New Japan World. This was also a live ABEMA broadcast in Japan.

The announced paid attendance was 3271, a full house/near sellout.

Pre-show match: Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii beat Katsuya Murashima & YOSHI-HASHI. Ishii pinned Murashima.

Match 1: NJPW WORLD TV Champion El Phantasmo beat TBA, which turned out to be TJP, to retain the title. V4 for Phantasmo. Another open challenge. Next up: Great-O-Khan.

Match 2: Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Satoshi Kojima.

Match 3: Chase Owens, Bad Luck Fale & SANADA beat TAKA Michinoku, Taichi & Yuya Uemura. Owens pinned TAKA after a package driver.

Match 4: BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito beat Jacob Austin Young, Callum Newman & Jeff Cobb. Takahashi pinned Young with Maximum The Holding 3rd Form. Afterwards, despite the loss, Newman & Cobb made an IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship challenge. Accepted by Takahashi & Naito.

Match 5: Taiji Ishimori, Drilla Moloney & Gabriel Kidd beat Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & Ren Narita. Moloney pinned Sho after Drilla Killer.

Match 6: Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji beat Yoshinobu Kanemaru & EVIL. Tsuji pinned Kanemaru after Gene Blaster. Afterwards, EVIL beat down Tsuji to issue an IWGP Global Championship challenge.

Match 7: El Desperado, Boltin Oleg & Hirooki Goto beat Hartley Jackson (Independent/Freelancer), Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. goto pinned Jackson after GTR.

Main Event: New Japan Cup Finals: David Finlay beat Shota Umino to win the tournament. As a result, Finlay gets the next IWGP World Heavyweight Championship shot against Goto. That match will happen at SAKURA GENESIS on 4/5 at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo.

The next event is 3/29 at Takaoka Techno Dome in Toyama to start the Road To SAKURA GENESIS tour. There will be no live or on demand broadcast. The only televised event of the tour (4 events) is the finale on 4/4.

UPDATE: The 4/2 event in Yamanashi, the 3rd of the tour, will now be streamed live and on demand on New Japan World. It will be headlined by Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Shingo Takagi on wha may be Tanahashi’s final Yamanashi appearance before retirement.

Also, the full SAKURA GENESIS card is now official:
Katsuya Murashima vs. Daiki Nagai (pre-show)
Yuya Uemura vs. SANADA
NJPW WORLD TV Champion El Phantasmo vs. Great-O-Khan for the title
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Shota Umino
NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Champions Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & Ren Narita vs. Gabriel Kidd, Drilla Moloney & Taiji Ishimori for the titles
NEVER Openweight Champion Konosuke Takeshita vs. Ryohei Oiwa for the title
IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito vs. Callum Newman & Jeff Cobb for the titles
IWGP Global Champion Yota Tsuji vs. EVIL for the title
IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Hirooki Goto vs. David Finlay for the title

DDT 3/20/25 Results (Updated x3)

DDT held their 28th Anniversary event today, another 5 hour extravaganza that ended on a very bad note, more on that later.

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

The paid attendance was not announced but looks like close to a sellout based on a photo Saki Akai posted on social media.

Match 1: Shunma Katsumata, Yuni & Kazuma Sumi beat Kazusada Higuchi, Ryota Nakatsu & Yuki Ishida to win the vacant KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship. Katsumata, Yuni & Sumi become the 57th KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions. Sumi pinned Ishida.

Match 2: Toru Owashi beat Antonio Honda & Kazuki Hirata in a 3-way by pinning Honda.

Match 3: MJ Paul & Illusion beat J.J. Furno & Tomomitsu Matsunaga. Paul pinned Matsunaga after a reverse splash.

Match 4: Yukio Naya, Yuya Koroku & Keigo Nakamura beat Makoto Oisho, Akito & Takao Soma. Koroku pinned Soma after Transformed Triangle Lancer.

Match 5: HARASHIMA & Takeshi Masada beat Jun Akiyama & Daichi Sato. HARASHIMA pinned Sato after Blue Sword.

Match 6: In a Loser Entry Match, Super Sasadango Machine beat DDT Extreme Champion Danshoku Doeno to win the title. Machine becomes the 62nd DDT Extreme Champion. As a result, Haku-Dieno’s real-life pet dog-must join DDT.

Naomi Yoshinura appeared and announced he will return on 4/6. He has been out since late 2023 due to injuries.

Match 7: Daisuke Sasaki beat KANON. Afterwards, Sasaki announced the Hideki Okatani return match on 4/6 will be Sasaki & Okatani vs. KANON in a handicap match.

Match 8: Funinori Abe & Takuya Nomura beat KO-D Tag Team Champions MAO & To-y to win the titles. Abe & Nomura become the 86th KO-D Tag Team Champions. Abe pinned To-y with a Manji hold. Next up: Nakamura & Shinya Aoki. That match will happen on 4/6.

Match 9: Minoru Suzuki beat DDT Universal Champion Yuki Ueno to win the title. Suzuki becomes the 14th DDT Universal Champion.

Main Event: KO-D Openweight Champion Chris Brookes beat Masa Takanashi to retain the title. V3 for Brookes. But Takanashi was seriously injured during the match and was unable to move afterwards, and was hospitalized immediately. In post-event comments translated to English, Akito (who also is interim GM of DDT) reported Takanashi is conscious, can speak and move his hands. No further details as to what happened have been provided. More as it becomes available. Next up: As expected per winning the D GENERATIONS CUP, Koroku. That match will happen on 4/6.

The 16-man field for this year’s KING OF DDT Tournament was also announced. Takanashi is in but subject to change.

It was also announced that WRESTLE PETER PAN, the promotion’s biggest annual event in August, will be 2 events this year-8/30 at Higashin Arena in Tokyo and 8/31 at Korakuen.

The next event is Sunday at Moyakojima Community Center in Osaka. There will be no live broadcast.

UPDATE: Tokyo Sports reports Takanashi may have suffered a cervical spine injury. He complained of being unable to move his lower body after the ending of the match, which was an avalanche-style Praying Mantis Bomb (a piledriver variation). Awaiting further updates.

UPDATE 2: DDT has now provided an update-neck injury but still undergoing examination. The results will be announced at a later date.

UPDATE 3: Latest update-2 cervical vertebrae fractures and cervical spine cord injury. Remains in intensive care following successful surgery. Post-operative recovery is progressing well. Further updates to come but assume he will be out several months at the very least. Although announced for KING OF DDT 2025, I assume he’ll be out.

Injury Report: Dimmed Starlight

Ahead of their first ever visit to Okinawa this week, Stardom has announced an injury change to the events-Starlight Kid is now off. Unspecified injury. Out indefinitely. She was to have faced Saya Kamitani on Thursday. Sayaka Kurara is the replacement. No word yet on how long Kid will be out, an extended absence could affect Stardom and other WrestleMania week events in Las Vegas, NV in April that Kid has been announced for.

More as it becomes available.

New Japan 3/17/25 Results

New Japan finished up the preliminary portion of the New Japan Cup today with the second half of the Semifinals.

Today’s event was held at Big Palette Fukushima in Fukushima and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 722.

Match 1: Yuji Nagata & Satoshi Kojima beat Katsuya Murashima & Hiroshi Tanahashi. Kojima pinned Murashima after a lariat.

Match 2: Jacob Austin Young, Callum Newman, Jeff Cobb, TJP & Great-O-Khan beat Daiki Nagai, Jado, Boltin Oleg, Toru Yano & Tl Phantasmo. TJP pinned Nagai.

Match 3: Hartley Jackson (Independent/Freelancer), Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Tomoaki Honma, YOSHI-HASHI & Tomohiro Ishii. Oiwa pinned Honma after The Grip.

Match 4: Drilla Moloney, SANADA & David Finlay beat TAK AMichinoku, Yuya Uemura & Taichi. SANADA beat TAKA with Skull End.

Match 5: Chase Owens, Bad Luck Fale & Gabriel Kidd vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Sho & Ren Narita went to a double countout.

Match 6: Dick Togo, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL beat BUSHI, Tetsuya Naito & Yota Tsuji. EVIL pinned BUSHI after Magic Killer.

Main Event: New Japan Cup Semifinals: Shota Umino beat Shingo Takagi. As a result, the Final will be Umino vs. David Finlay.

The Final is Thursday at Aore Nagaoka in Niigata. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET. This will also be a live ABEMA broadcast in Japan.

New Japan 3/16/25 Results

New Japan continued the New Japan Cup today with the first half of the Semifinals.

Today’s event was held at Twin Messe Shizuoka South Building in Shizuoka and can be watched on demand on New Japan World. This was also a Samurai! TV broadcast in Japan.

The announced paid attendance was 856.

Match 1: Hartley Jackson (Independent/Freelancer) & Ryohei Oiwa beat Katsuya Murashima & Tomohiro Ishii. Jackson pinned Murashima after Death Valley Bomb.

Match 2: Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata beat Daiki Nagai & Hiroshi Tanahashi. Kojima pinned Nagai after a lariat.

Match 3: YOSHI-HASHI & Toru Yano beat TAKA Michinoku & Yuya Uemura. YOSHI-HASHI beat TAKA with Butterfly Lock.

Match 4: Jado, Boltin Oleg & El Phantasmo beat Jacob Austin Young, TJP & Great-O-Khan. Oleg pinned Young after Kamikaze.

Match 5: Callum Newman & Jeff Cobb beat BUSHI & Tetsuya Naito. Newman pinned BUSHI after a running knee strike.

Match 6: Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi, Ren Narita & EVIL beat Chase Owens, Bad Luck Fale, SANADA, Drilla Moloney & Gabriel Kidd. EVIL pinned Owens after EVIL.

Match 7: Tora Tsuji & Shingo Takagi beat Tomoaki Honma & Shota Umino. Tsuji pinned Honma after Gene Blaster.

Main Event: New Japan Cup Semifinals: David Finlay beat Zack Sabre Jr. As a result, Finlay advances to the Finals to face the Umino-Takagi winner.

The second Semifinal is tomorrow at Big Palette Fukushima in Fukushima. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET.

Tokyo Joshi Pro 3/20/25 Results

Tokyo Joshi Pro’s biggest event of the year, GRAND PRINCESS ’25, 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 1212. That’s down from prior years when they ran the event at the much larger Ryogoku Kokugikan (at a greatly reduced capacity which probably was due to the space it provided for spacing out during the pandemic and recovery)but was probably still around half-full for the setup (the venue’s full capacity for wrestling is around 3500).

Match 1: Yoshiko Hasegawa & Mifu Ashida beat HIMAWARI & Shino Suzuki. Hasegawa pinned Suzuki after a diving double knee.

Match 2: Kakeru Sekiguchi (Independent/Freelancer), Mahiro Kiryu, Neko Haruna & Ivy Steele beat Kaya Toribami, Kira Summer, Chika Nanase & Uta Takami. Kiryu pinned Nanase after a spinebuster.

Match 3: Max The Impaler beat Moka Miyamoto.

Match 4: Aja Kong (OZ Academy), Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara beat Yuki Aino, Haru Kazashiro & Toga. Uehara beat Kazashiro with Banana Pillow.

Match 5: Raku beat SETUP All-Asia Women’s Champion Pom Harajuku to win the title. Raku becomes the 3rd SETUP All-Asia Women’s Champion. And now is headed to Thailand in the future to defend against an upcoming #1 contender match winner, meaning either Matcha (who Harajuku beat for the title) or Alexis Lee.

Match 6: Willow Nightingale (All Elite Wrestling) beat Miu Watanabe.

Match 7: Meiko Satomura beat Yuki Arai. Not the result I hoped for as a #1 Arai fanboy but the result I expected as Satomura winds down her career (she’s retiring on 4/28).

Match 8: International Princess Champion Suzume beat Arisu Endo to retain the title. V2 for Suzume.

Match 9: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao beat Princess Tag Team Champions Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh to win the titles. Nakajima & Misao become the 18th Princess Tag Team Champions. Misao pinned Yamashita after Hypami Returns. An unmasked Misao at that.

Main Event: Princess Of Princess Champion Mizuki beat Rika Tatsumi by submission to retain the title.V1 for Mizuki. UNHAPPY UNHAPPY.

The next event is Saturday at Yokohama Radiant Hall in Yokohama to start the Spring 2025 house show tour. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin Friday at 9 PM PT/midnight ET. Also, as far as upcoming major events go, they’re not running Korakuen Hall for their usual Golden Week blowout event in early May this year so don’t be alarmed when that doesn’t happen.

Dragon Gate 3/15/25 Results

Dragon Gate continued the Rey De Parejas today after taking most of the week off.

Today’s event was held at Sanyo Fureai Park Gym in Okayama. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast, but you will be able to watch the Rey De Parejas matches FOR FREE on YouTube later today.

The paid attendance has not yet been announced. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 265)

Match 1: Kota Minoura, Jason Lee & KAI beat Riiita, JACKY KAMEI & Luis Mante. Lee pinned Riiita after Maximum Driver.

Match 2: Gianni Valetta beat Ho Ho Lun.

Match 3: Hyo & Madoka Kikuta beat YAMATO & Shachihoko BOY. Hyo pinned BOY after Samson Driver.

Match 4: Rey De Parejas Block B: Shun Skywalker & Homare beat Ben-K & Mochizuki Junior. Skywalker pinned Junior after a moonsault double kneedrop.

Match 5: Rey De Parejas Block A: ISHIN & Yoshiki Kato beat Susumu Yokosuka & Kagetora. ISHIN pinned Yokosuka.

Main Event: Strong Machine J, Kzy & U-T beat Yuki Yoshioka, Dragon Dia & Ryoya Tanaka. J pinned Tanaka after Machine Suplex.

The next event is Thursday at Atelier Himeji in Hyogo. Live streaming on DRAGONGATE NETWORK will begin at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET.

Stardom 3/15/25 Results

Stardom wrapped up the 2025 Cinderella Tournament today with the Semifinals & Finals as defending champion Hanan attempted to win the tournament for the second straight year.

Today’s event was held at Ota City General Gym in Tokyo and can be watched on demand as a PPV on Stardom World for 4400 Japanese yen (around $30) until 3/22. It will be available on demand for all monthly paying subscribers shortly after that date. You can also watch the first match FOR FREE on YouTube.

The announced paid attendance was 1378.

Pre-show match: Fukigen beat Rian.

Match 1: Maika, Waka Tsukiyama & HANAKO beat Tabata (CMLL), Yuria Hime & Akira Kurogame. HANAKO pinned Kurogame after a brainbuster.

Cinderella Tournament Semifinals:
Match 2: Sayaka Kurara beat Azusa Inaba.
Match 3: Rina beat Hanan. No repeat as little sister beats big sister this time.

Match 4: Saya Kamitani, Natsuko Tora, Momo Watanabe & Ruaka beat Mei Seira, AZM, Miyu Amasaki & Suzu Suzuki. Tora pinned Suzuki.

Match 5: Syuri, Saki Kashima, Lady C, Tomoka Inaba & Ranna Yagami beat Mayu Iwatani, Hazuki, Koguma, Saya Iida & Momo Kohgo. Syuri pinned Iwatani after Syu World.

Match 6: Tam Nakano (Independent/Freelancer) & Saori Anou beat Yuna Mizumori & aya Sakura. Nakano pinned Sakura after Twilight Dream.

Match 7: Thekla beat Mina Shirakawa.

Main Event: Cinderella Tournament Finals: Sayaka Kurara beat Rina to win the tournament. Can’t say I’m surprised after what’s been happening with Nakano and how they’re starting to push Kurara as a result.

The next event is Thursday at Okinawa Convention Center in Okinawa for the first half of a doubleheader. Live streaming on Stardom World as ANOTHER PPV (both events are PPVs) will begin at midnight PT/3 AM ET.

All-Japan 3/15/25 Results

All-Japan continued the Dream Power Series 2024 today in Okinawa with an event featuring 2 title matches.

Today’s event was held at Okinawa Prefectural Budokan in Okinawa and will be available on demand on AJPW.TV at 7 PM PT/10 PM ET. There was no live broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 1650.

Match 1: Atsuki Aoyagi beat Taishin Nagao.

Match 2: Shotaro Ashino, MUSASHI, Churoumi Saver & Tearan Seoser beat Kuroshio TOKYO Japan, ATM, Dingo & Shuri Joe. Ashino pinned Dingo with a German suplex hold. The two unknown/lesser known wrestlers on each team are Okinawa-based independent wrestlers, likely from Okinawa Pro.

Match 3: All-Japan AJPW.TV 6-Man Tag Team Champions Yuma Aoyagi, Fuminori Abe & Hikaru Sato beat Hokuto Omori, Aizawa No. 1 & Mitsuhisa Sunabe to retain the titles. Aoyagi pinned Aizawa after Endgame. V3 for the champs.

Match 4: Kento Miyahara beat Shisa Mask (Okinawa Pro).

Match 5: Ryuki Honda & Ren Ayabe beat Jun & Rei Saito. Ayabe pinned Rei Saito after Iron Maiden.

Main Event: All-Asia Tag Team Champions Rising Hayato & Yuma Anzai beat Hideki Suzuki & Dan Tamura to retain the titles. Anzai pinned Suzuki after Gimlet. V4 for the champs.

The next event is NEW AGE CHRONICLE Z 6, the latest in the series of Rising Hayato Produced events for younger & less experienced wrestlers, on 3/23 at Shin-Kiba 1st Ring in Tokyo. The event is a legit advance sellout. Live streaming on AJPW.TV will begin on 3/22 at 8 PM PT/11 PM ET.

New Japan 3/15/25 Results

New Japan continued the New Japan Cup today with the Quarterfinals.

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

The announced paid attendance was 2752.

Match 1: YOSHI-HASHI & Tomihiro Ishii beat Hartley Jackson (Independent/Freelancer) & Ryohei Oiwa. Ishii pinned Jackson after a vertical drop brainbuster.

Match 2: Jacob Austin Young, Callum Newman, TJP & Great-O-Khan beat Boltin Oleg, Toru Yano, Hiroshi Tanahashi & El Phantasmo. TJP pinned Phantasmo after a huracanrana.

Match 3: Chase Owens, SANADA & Gabriel Kidd vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Sho & Ren Narita went to a double countout.

Match 4: BUSHI, Tetsuya Naito & Yota Tsuji beat Dick Togo, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL. Tsuji pinned Togo after Gene Blaster.

New Japan Cup Quarterfinals:
Match 5: Shingo Takagi beat Drilla Moloney.
Match 6: Shota Umino beat Jeff Cobb.
Match 7: David Finlay beat Yuya Uemura.
Match 8: Zack Sabre Jr. beat Taichi.
As a result, the Semifinals will be Finlay vs. Sabre & Takagi vs. Umino.

Main Event: IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Hirooki Goto beat Yuji Nagata to retain the title. V2 for Goto. Next up: The Cup winner. That match will happen at SAKURA GENESIS on 4/5 at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo.

The first of the Semifinals (Finlay-Sabre) is tomorrow at Twin Messe Shizuoka South Building in Shizuoka. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin TONIGHT at 11 PM PT/2 AM ET. This will also be a live Samurai! TV broadcast in Japan.