Tag: wrestling

All-Japan 9/8/23 Results

All-Japan began their September tour, the Giant Series 2023, today with an event in Tokyo.

Today’s event was held at Yoyogi National Stadium Gym 2 in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on AJPW.TV. Former Stardom wrestler and inaugural Wonder Of Stardom Champion Yuzuki Aikawa was a special guest on commentary.

The announced paid attendance was 1675.

Match 1: Yoshitatsu beat Black Menso-re.

Match 2: Naruki Doi, Naoki Tanisaki (Independent/Freelancers) & Hokuto Omori beat Kotaro Suzuki (Pro Wrestling NOAH), Keiichi Sato & MAZADA (Independent/Freelancer). Omori pinned Sato after Worst Of The Worst.

Match 3: Masanobu Fuchi Return Match: Masanobu Fuchi, Kaz Hayashi (GLEAT) & Ryuji Hijikata (Independent/Freelancer) beat Osamu Nishimura, Mitsuya Nagai (Dradition) & Masao Inoue. Fuchi pinned Inoue.

Match 4: T-Hawk, El Lindaman, Shigehiro Irie & Junjae (GLEAT) beat Yoshifuni Iwamoto, Takuya Nomura, Fuminori Abe & Ryo Inoue. T-Hawk pinned Inoue after Night Ride.

Match 5: Jun Akiyama, Sanshiro Takagi & Yusuke Okada (DDT) beat Suwama, Hikaru Sato & Dan Tamura by ref stoppage (technical submission). Akiyama beat Tamura with a front neck lock.

Match 6: KAIRI & Saori Anou beat Sayaka Unagi & Sareee. KAIRI pinned Unagi after Insane Elbow.

Match 7: Yuma & Atsuki Aoyagi & Rising Hayato beat Ryuki Honda, Yusuke Kodama & Masao Hanabata. Yuma Aoyagi pinned Hanabata after Rockstar Buster. After this match, Honda apparently left the GOA faction.

Match 8: G-INFINITY Champions Jun & Rei Saito beat Shuji Ishikawa & Ren Ayabe to retain the titles. Jun Saito pinned Ayabe after Psycho Break. V6 for the champs.

Main Event: Kento Miyahara 15th Anniversary Match: Kento Miyahara beat Yuma Anzai.

The next event is Thursday at Shin-Kiba 1st Ring in Tokyo. Live streaming on AJPW.TV will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET.

New Japan 9/8/23 Results

New Japan kicked off the Road To DESTRUCTION Tour today with the opening event in Tokyo., coming back from possibly their longest break of the year.

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on New Japan World FOR FREE! It also streamed on ABEMA in Japan. Click below to watch (in Japanese, English is also available):

https://njpwworld.com/p/s_00660_1_1

The announced paid attendance was 1087.

There was a last-minute change to the card because Boltin Oleg was off. Left wrist injury and fever. He was to have faced Zack Sabre Jr. for the NJPW WORLD TV Championship. Ryohei Oiwa was the replacement at Oleg’s request.

Before the event began, a 10 Bell Salute for the legendary Terry Funk, who passed away recently, was held. Funk regularly visited Japan in his prime along with his brother Dory Funk Jr., who remains involved with All-Japan Pro Wrestling.

Match 1: DOUKI & Yoshinobu Kanemaru beat Yoh & Ryusuke Taguchi. Kanemaru beat Taguchi with a figure 4.

Match 2: Tomoaki Honma, El Desperado, Ren Narita & Minoru Suzuki beat Oskar Leube, Master Wato, Shota Umino & Yuji Nagata. Narita beat Leube with a cobra twist.

Match 3: Bad Dude Tito, Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls beat Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto. Haste pinned Yano after Highway To Hell.

Match 4: Yuto Nakashima, Tomohiro Ishii, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada vs. Tiger Mask, Togi Makabe, Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan went to a no contest. Tenzan out of control, breaking ref’s restraint and continuously assaulting Ishii. Tenzan is part of a trio challenging Ishii, Tanahashi & Okada for the NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Championship tomorrow.

Match 5: Hiromu Takahashi, Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito beat Callum Newman, HENARE, Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb. Tsuji pinned Newman after Gene Blaster. According to New Japan’s Japanese website, Newman is a new member of United Empire.

Match 6: NJPW WORLD TV Champion Zack Sabre Jr. beat Ryohei Oiwa to retain the title. V13(!) for Sabre. Next up: If Sabre has his way, Kojima. Sabre wants it tomorrow but Kojima is already in a match. Stay tuned…

Main Event: Sho & EVIL beat Taichi & SANADA. EVIL pinned SANADA after EVIL.

The next event is tomorrow. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET. This will be a Samurai! TV simulcast for those watching outside Japan.

Impact Wrestling 9/7/23 Results

Here are the quick results from tonight’s Impact Wrestling in Toronto, Canada:

This episode was taped on 8/28 and wraps up the fallout from Emergence and the build to Victory Road among other things.

The YouTube pre-show match was Ace Austin vs. Jason Hotch.

Match 1: Deonna Purrazzo beat Dani Luna by submission.

Crazzy Steve promo.

Tommy Dreamer promo. Heath interrupts.

Match 2: Joe Hendry & Yuya Uemura beat Champagne Singh & Shera. Hendry pinned Singh.

Steve Maclin & Bully Ray promo.

Josh Alexander interviewed.

Match 3: Sami Callihan & Rich Swann beat Subculture. Swann pinned Mark Andrews after a 450 splash.

Gisele Shaw promo.

Rascalz promo. The Good Hands interrupt to demand a post-Victory Road Impact Tag Team Title shot.

Match 4: Impact X Division Champion Lio Rush beat Kevin Knight in a NON-TITLE match. Rush continued to beat down Knight afterwards including a Hoverboard Lock which caused KUSHIDA to come out and make the save.

Dirty Dango promo.

Jordynne Grace promo.

Santino Marella in the ring with a table set up for tomorrow’s Knockouts Championship contract signing (Trinity vs. Alisha Edwards). Eddie Edwards seconded Alisha. They signed the contract then taunted each other unti Alisha threw a drink in Trinity’s face, then Trinity head kicked Alisha and they began to fight until Eddie put Trinity through a table. Frankie Kazarian then made the save as cameras cut away to commercial.

Motor City Machine Guns promo.

Main Event: Bully Ray & Steve Maclin beat Josh Alexander & PCO. Bully pinned PCO after a low blow.

Next week: Episode 1000!

Next up is Victory Road, this month’s live event, tomorrow in White Plains, NY. The event is available live on Impact+ for subscribers ($7.99/month or $71.99/year) and YouTube for Ultimate Insiders ($4.99/month) and also as a PPV on FITE ($9.99). Live results are scheduled here beginning tomorrow at 5 PM PT/8 PM ET. The next TV tapings are Saturday including next week’s 1000th episode of Impact. There will be a FREE pre-show on YouTube, Impact+ and FITE beginning at 4:30 PM PT/7:30 PM ET with 2 matches scheduled: Ace Austin & Chris Bey vs. Moose & Brian Myers and an Alan Angels Open Challenge.

Injury Report: TJPW Body Count Rising Again

Tokyo Joshi Pro is going through another tough injury absence stretch. Suzume missed an event lat week but should be back this weekend, however they have announced two new absences-Neko Haruna (again) & Haru Kazashiro. Haruna recently just returned from injury but now is out due to a knee injury. Kazashiro is out due to coronavirus. Both will miss the two events this weekend. Their status beyond that is mot yet known but both should be considered questionable for the upcoming events on 9/15 and 9/17.

More as it becomes available.

Dragon Gate 9/7/23 Results

Dragon Gate continues their September tour, Storm Gate 2023, today with their monthly Tokyo event.

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

The announced paid attendance was 1320, which sounds like a legit sellout.

Match 1: Kzy & Strong Machine J beat Kota Minoura & BxB Hulk. J pinned Hulk after Machine Suplex.

Match 2: U-T, Jason Lee & JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI beat Ultimo Dragon, Kagetora & Punch Tominaga. KAMEI pinned Tominaga after JFK.

Match 3: Don Fujii beat Masaaki Mochizuki & Ichikawa in a 3-way by pinning Ichikawa.

Match 4: KAI, H-Y-O & ISHIN beat Shuji Kondo, Ryu Fuda & Daiki Yanagiuchi. H-Y-O pinned Yanagiuchi after a double biceps senton.

Match 5: Naruki Doi, Eita & Takashi Yoshida beat Susumu Mochizuki, Yasushi Kanda & Mochizuki Jr. Eita beat Jr. with a camel clutch.

Match 6: BIGBOSS Shimizu beat Ben-K.

Main Event: Takuma Nishikawa Japan Debut Match: YAMATO, Dragon Kid & Takuma Nishikawa beat Madoka Kikuta, Yuki Yoshioka & Dragon Dia. Nishikawa pinned Dia after Limit Bomb.

The next event is Saturday at Hills Sunpia Yamagata in Yamagata. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

AEW Rampage 9/8/23 Results (SPOILERS!) (Updated)

Here are the quick results for tomorrow’s AEW Rampage in Indianapolis, IN (SPOILERS! MATCH RESULTS ONLY):

UPDATE: In unrelated news, AEW has fired Ace Steel again. Was a question of when following partner/buddy CM Punk being fired last week.

Continue reading “AEW Rampage 9/8/23 Results (SPOILERS!) (Updated)”

AEW Dynamite 9/6/23 Results

Here are the LIVE quick results from tonight’s AEW Dynamite in Indianapolis, IN:

Orange Cassidy comes out first. This was a last-minute add to the show (about 90 minutes before start). He says no time off despite what the bosses say. As he leaves, out comes the man who beat him Sunday for the AEW International Championship…
Match 1: AEW International Champion Jon Moxley vs. AR Fox for the title
Result: AEW International Champion Jon Moxley beat AR Fox to retain the title.
(Apparently Cassidy was a last-minute add to the lineup and replacing an announced Adam Cole Speaks spot)

Christian Cage tries to recruit Nick Wayne backstage as Fox & Darby Allin watch from the ring.

Match 2: AEW TBS Champion Kris Statlander vs. Emi Sakura for the title
Result: AEW TBS Champion Kris Statlander beat Emi Sakura to retain the title.

Match 3: Chris Jericho & Sammy Guevara vs. Aussie Open (Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher). Don Callis on commentary.
Result: Chris Jericho & Sammy Guevara beat Aussie Open. Jericho pinned Fletcher after Judas Effect. Jericho & Guevara argued and shoved each other afterwards until security broke it up. Quite a bit of friendly fire.

Ricky Starks promo.

Bryan Danielson will speak Saturday on Collision.

Callis interviewed. He will reveal Konosuke Takeshita’s next “target” next week.

MJF comes out. Sama Joe soon joined him. Long but hot promo segment that teased a potential MJF-Joe AEW World Championship match on 9/20 if Joe wins the Eliminator Tournament to get the title shot. Joe beat down MJF at the end. MJF tried to fight back but Joe beat him down again and teased a muscle buster before Adam Cole made the save. MJF claimed he couldn’t feel his left arm.
As they took MJF to the back Roderick Strong came out for his match and confronted Cole on the entrance ramp.

Match 4: World Title Eliminator Tournament: Roderick Strong vs. Trent Beretta
Result: Roderick Strong beat Trent Beretta

Toni Storm interviewed. Renee Paquette says there will be a 4-way next week with the winner facing Saraya for the AEW Women’s Championship on 9/20. Storm tries to throw another shoe at Renee on the way out but Renee dodged again.

Friday on Rampage: World Title Eliminator Tournament matches-Penta El Zero M vs. Jay Lethal & Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Hardy. Winners face off Saturday on Collision along with Strong vs. Darby Allin or NIck Wayne.

Adam Page interviewed. Swerve Strickland soon interrupts and buries Page, claiming Page has gotten too comfortable in his spot and taking a back seat to The Elite. Strickland tries to goad Page into a challenge for his spot in the hierarchy but Page just brushes him off until Strickland tries to insult Page’s family. Page snaps but Brian Cage sneaks in for the beatdown.

Also Friday on Rampage: The Young Bucks vs. Angelo Parker & Matt Menard.

Also Saturday on Collision: Bullet Club Gold vs. TBA, Saraya Speaks (with Ruby Soho) and The Acclaimed Speaks.

Next week: Tournament Finals and Britt Baker, Hikaru Shida, Nyla Rose & Toni Storm in a 4-way for a shot at AEW Women’s Champion Saraya on 9/20.

Main Event: World Title Eliminator Tournament: Darby Allin vs. Nick Wayne
Result: Darby Allin beat Nick Wayne by ref stoppage. As a result, Allin will face Roderick Strong in the Semifinals Saturday on Collision. Right before the last commercial Christian Cage & Luchasaurus came out to join commentary.

While not as much All Out fallout as I hoped for, the show got the quick NYC build off to a good start and the matches were all above average or better. The MJF promo segment ran too long but as usual is must-see. Most of the show is at least worth watching.

Finally, announced during the show was that the Full Gear PPV will be on 11/18 at The Forum in Los Angeles.

NOAH News: GHC Title Vacated (Updated)

DEVELOPING: Pro Wrestling NOAH has announced the GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship is now VACANT. Previous champions Daga & Chris Ridgeway have vacated the titles because Ridgeway had to leave Japan and return home for personal reasons. They were supposed to defend the titles on 9/24 vs. Dragon Bane & Alpha Wolf. Bane & Wolf will now face Ninja Mack & Alejandro on that day for the titles. It’s not known when Ridgeway will be able to return.

UPDATE: In a statement on social media, Ridgeway confirmed the situation and thanked NOAH for being professional and allowing him to return home to deal with these issues. Ridgeway did not elaborate as to the reasons and requested privacy but assured fans that he will be back once everything is resolved.

Sumo-September 2023 Banzuke Announced (Updated 9/3)

The Nihon Sumo Kyokai (Japan Sumo Association) has announced the Banzuke (rankings) for the September 2023 Grand Sumo Tournament in Tokyo. Here are the rankings for the top 2 tiers then some other notes:

Makuuchi (top tier):
Yokozuna-Terunofuji
Ozeki-Kirishima, Takakeisho, Hoshoryu (July Tournament Champion)
Sekiwake-Daieisho, Wakamotoharu, Kotonowaka
Komusubi-Nishikigi, Tobizaru
Maegaahira 1-Hokutofuji, Meisei
Maegashira 2-Abi, Asanoyama
Maegashira 3-Shodai, Tamawashi
Maegashira 4-Takanosho, Ura
Maegashira 5-Gonoyama, Shonannoumi
Maegashira 6-Onosho, Ryuden
Maegashira 7-Takayasu, Oho
Maegashira 8-Kotoeko, Hiradoumi
Maegashira 9-Midorifuji, Hakuoho
Maegashira 10-Kinbozan, Endo
Maegashira 11-Mitakeumi, Hokuseiho
Maegashira 12-Takarafuji, Sadanoumi
Maegashira 13-Myogiryu, Nishikifuji
Maegashira 14-Aoiyama, Kotoshoho
Maegashira 15-Atamifuji (July Juryo Champion), Chiyoshoma
Maegashira 16-Kagayaki, Tsurugisho
Maegashira 17-Daishoho
Notes: Hoshoryu is making his Ozeki debut and is the only Ozeki not in kadoban status-Kirishima & Takakeisho both must finish with winning records to avoid demotion. Kotonowaka is newly promoted to Sekiwake after 4 straight tournaments at Komusubi. Nishikigi is among the oldest rikishi to ever debut in Sanyaku, I believe he is the 4th-oldest ever. July runner-up Hokutofuji was perhaps the biggest mover up as he jumped all the way back up to M1, but the 3 July rookies (Gonoyama, Shonannoumi, Hakuoho) also made big jumps. Mitakeumi was the biggest loser after a difficult July that saw his father pass away just before the tournament, and he falls to M11 following a 2-13 finish.
Now for other notes/topics-according to YouTuber “Chris Sumo”, a reliable news source with insider contacts, Terunofuji may sit out September due to back issues and could possibly retire by year’s end. He also says Daieisho & Hakuoho are possibly injured with the latter probably needing shoulder surgery eventually per his stablemaster Miyagino (the former Hakuho). Hakuoho may specifically have a dislocated shoulder, an injury that predates his brief sumo career. As far as potential Ozeki candidates this time, all 3 Sekiwake need to win the tournament to have reasonable chances at promotion, but all could also get there with a 14-1 record (that would get them to the so-called magic number of 33 wins over the last 3 tournaments).
Atamifuji & Kagayaki return to the top tier, Atamifuji for his second career appearance after winning the July Juryo Championship.

Juryo:
Juryo 1-Roga, Tamashoho
Juryo 2-Kitanowaka, Daiamami
Juryo 3-Tomokaze, Mitoryu
Juryo 4-Oshoma, Tohakuryu
Juryo 5-Churanoumi, Bushozan
Juryo 6-Shimazuumi, Azumaryu
Juryo 7-Wakatakakage, Ichiyamamoto
Juryo 8-Shishi, Chiyosakae
Juryo 9-Takakento, Akua
Juryo 10-Chiyomaru, Hakuyozan
Juryo 11-Shiden, Tokihayate (July Makushita Champion)
Juryo 12-Shimanoumi, Takahashi
Juryo 13-Kiho, Asakoryu
Juryo 14-Onosato, Tenshoho
Notes: Wakatakakage will again be absent due to injury. Roga just missed out on making the top tier and will try again this time, needing just a winning record. There are 4 Shin-Juryo rikishi including 2 with new shikona (name changes)-Takahashi, Asakoryu (former Ishizaki), Onosato, Tenshoho (former Mukainakano), while Tokihayate is Sai-Juryo as a returner to the second tier. Kiho maintained his rank despite potential demotion after missing the last 2 days, he had been 7-6 but that left him the equivalent of 7-8.

Other notes: Former top tier rikishi and popular old-timer Akiseyama retired earlier this month despite coming off a promotion to what would have been Makushita 6 after a 5-2 July. He will now become Izutsu Oyakata and mentor subordinates. He finishes his career with a 472-473-29 record (win-loss-absent) in 15+ years, 21-32-7 in 4 top tier tournaments and a highest rank of Maegashira 12. There have been rumors from Chris Sumo that Enho, who was demoted to Makushita 41 after being absent in July (cervical spine injury, which recently ended stablemate Ishiura’s career after over a year on the sidelines) and likely will be out again, may retire too but in a bad scenario because reportedly he was ONE Makuuchi/Juryo appearance short of meeting elder criteria (30 career tournaments in the top 2 tiers, Enho has 29). In other words, he perhaps needed just one win in May before having to withdraw and finish 0-15. Finally, traditional daily closing ceremony performer Satonofuji was demoted to Jonokuchi for this tournament.

The September Tournament begins on 9/10 in Tokyo. All tickets are already sold out.

UPDATE: Nikkan Sports reports Enho is done for the year. They interviewed Enho and he stated January is a targeted return date. That means he’ll return at either Sandanme or Jonidan.
Other topics/notes:
Kirishima is the 11th Ozeki to be kadoban in just his second tournament at Ozeki, the shortest possible time. It last happened in January 2021 (Shodai). Kirishima went 6-7-2 in July, missing the first 3 days due to an injury suffered the morning of Day 1.
The above post was corrected to note Kotonowaka had been Komusubi for 4 straight tournaments before promotion to Sekiwake, not 3.
Nishikigi is actually the 6th oldest rikishi to make his Sanyaku debut, not 4th. He is the 3rd slowest to get there, taking 103 tournaments (17 years).
Following up on Wakatakakage, Nikkan Sports reports he returned to practice today for the first time since his injury in March. It’s not definite he’ll miss the tournament yet. He’s on the early end of projected time missed, which was 6 months-1 year.
Takahashi is tied for 7th fastest promotion to Juryo since debuting, needing just 8 tournaments.
Onosato tied the second-fastest promotion to Juryo post-debut, needing just 2 tournaments. He debuted at Makushita 10 in May, going 6-1 and promoted to Makushita 3 in July, where he went 4-3.

9/3 UPDATE: Hakuoho is OUT the rest of the year. YouTuber Chris Sumo reports Hakuoho had long-rumored shoulder surgery in the last few days for a longstanding issue that predated his sumo career. Out 4-6 months and thus the next 2 tournaments, which may drop him back down to Makushita. Nishikigi also seems to have suffered a torn calf injury in recent joint practices and touring events and is uncertain for September. As for other potential absences, we’ll know more late this week as the next tournament begins Saturday night US time.

AEW Collision 8/5/23 Results

Here are the quick results from tonight’s AEW Collision in Greenville, SC:

AEW World Tag Team Champions FTR beat Big Bill & Brian Cage to retain the titles. FTR pinned Cage after Big Rig. Afterwards, they challenged The Young Bucks to a match at All In England.

AEW TBS Champion Kris Statlander beat Mercedes Martinez to retain the title. Diamante then returned for a post-match beatdown with Martinez on Statlander until Willow Nightingale made the save.

Samoa Joe beat Serpentico. Instant squash. Afterwards, he demands a rematch with CM Punk at All In.

Tony Schiavone interviews The Acclaimed. Sounds like Billy Gunn is done as in retired.

AEW Trios Champions House Of Black beat Action Andretti, Darius Martin & Lee Johnson to retain the titles. Malakai Black pinned Martin after a spinning head kick. House Rules returned for this match, for their stip the challengers chose to have Julia Hart banned from ringside. Afterwards, it is announced they will defend the titles next week against CM Punk & FTR.

QTV.

Christian Cage promo.

Jay White beat Metalik.

CM Punk beat Ricky Starks to retain the “real AEW World Championship”. Ricky Steamboat was special referee. Jim Ross returned to commentary for this match after a month-long absence for health reasons.

I missed the live broadcast due to scheduling conflicts so no comments or thoughts on what happened. Apparently the many title matches was to counterprogram against WWE SummerSlam (which I also did not watch live).

Added to Wednesday on Dynamite: NEW AEW Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida vs. Anna Jay for the title.

Next week: House Of Black-Punk/FTR for the Trios Titles, Statlander & Nightingale vs. Martinez & Diamante and The Acclaimed vs. TBA.

This is the last Collision recap for now due to a pause in site activity this month for planned vacations. I may be back in time for the 8/26 episode but more likely it will be the 9/2 episode.