Here is the Hoshitori-the final standings based on the Banzuke (rankings)-for the September 2023 Grand Sumo Tournament (Records are in Win-Lose-Absent format):
Continue reading “Sumo-September 2023 Tournament Final Standings (Updated)”Tag: wrestling
BREAKING: Former AEW Champion Signs With WWE
THAT BITCH SHOW on TBS has just been cancelled. Former AEW TBS Champion Jade Cargill, who won her first 60+ matches in her first 2 years before leaving after 2 straight title match losses to Kris Statlander, has signed with WWE. It’s a multi-year deal but otherwise terms are not known. WWE officials spoke to ESPN, who broke the story. A link to the original article is below.
Cargill in recent media interviews put AEW over and even went as far to state it was the only place she wanted to be, among similar comments. Seems she learned quite well how to play the press.
https://www.espn.com/wwe/story/_/id/38495601/former-aew-champion-jade-cargill-signs-wwe
Injury Report: DDT Champion Sidelined (Updated)
A potentially major DDT injury item is coming out of this past weekend today, potentially major because it’s KO-D Openweight Champion Chris Brookes. Right shoulder. Out at least 1 week and possibly longer, we may know more Friday after a medical exam. This would suggest it happened Sunday when he beat Saki Akai by submission to retain the title.
More as it becomes available.
9/28 UPDATE: DDT announced the exam results-some shoulder damage but won’t interfere with wrestling. Out 2 weeks and will return on 10/14. He was to have challenged for the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship this weekend. HARASHIMA is the replacement.
BREAKING: Top NOAH Star Leaving Promotion
Major news from Pro Wrestling NOAH coming out…Katsuhiko Nakajima is now done with the promotion. He is terminating his contract at the end of the week and will only have 2 dates left-10/20 and 10/28. No hints yet as to why or where Nakajima may go next. He joined NOAH at the beginning of 2016 after Diamond Ring closed and will mark 20 years active early next year.
More as it becomes available.
DEVELOPING: Top AEW Star Staying With Promotion
It’s been a good week for Eddie Kingston. He now has 2 championships, won them in his hometown of New York City, and now is getting paid. Kingston has now told an unspecified podcast that he has re-signed with All Elite Wrestling and will stay with the promotion, it’s a 4-year deal. He didn’t say how much he’ll get paid or exact length beyond “I got four more years”, but it was also revealed by New Japan that Kingston is headed to London for New Japan’s Royal Quest 3 event on 10/14. He’ll team with Hiroshi Tanahashi & Michael Oku to face TJP, HENARE & Jeff Cobb.
This also comes shortly after Kingston sating he will not be working any non-AEWRing Of Honor or New Japan dates for a while due to a back injury, causing a planned STRONG Openweight Championship defense against Rocky Romero tonight to be cancelled.
BREAKING: 2 New Japan Wrestlers Out Of Current Tour
New Japan has just announced 2 wrestlers are now out for the immediate future:
Hirooki Goto suffered an undisclosed injury today at DESTRUCTION IN KOBE. Out indefinitely but will miss non-televised events tomorrow & Tuesday at a minimum.
Taichi has requested and was granted a leave of absence for unspecified reasons. Out indefinitely but presumably off the rest of the tour, or at least through 10/7.
More as it becomes available.
Sumo-September 2023 Tournament Final Day Results
Here are the quick results from today’s Final Day of the September 2023 Grand Sumo Tournament in Tokyo:
Key: M-Maegashira, K-Komusubi, S-Sekiwake, O-Ozeki, J-Juryo, Ms-Makushita, Sd-Sandanme, Jd-Jonidan, Jk-Jonokuchi
Makuuchi (Top Tier):
Going in, the leader was Atamifuji at 11-3 with 4 at 10-4. If Atamifuji wins, he is the champion. Otherwise there is a playoff and could be up to a 4-way playoff…
Nishikifuji (M13) beat Mitakeumi (M11)
Endo (M10) beat Kotoshoho (M14)
Myogiryu (M13) beat Kinbozan (M10)
Midorifuji (M9) beat Aoiyama (M14)
Kagayaki (M16) beat Oho (M7)
Chiyoshoma (M15) beat Ryuden (M6)
Onosho (M6) beat Tsurugisho (M16)
Sadanoumi (M12) beat Shonannoumi (M5)
Takanosho (M4) beat Daishoho (M17)
Hiradoumi (M8) beat Tamawashi (M3)
Shodai (M3) beat Takarafuji (M12)
Asanoyama (M2) beat Atamifuji (M15). PLAYOFF!!!
Meisei (M1) beat Kotoeko (M8)
Abi (M2) beat Hokutofuji (M1)
Gonoyama (M5) beat Tobizaru (K)
Ura (M4) beat Nishikigi (K)
Kotonowaka (S) beat Wakamotoharu (S)
Hoshoryu (O) beat Hokuseiho (M6). Hokuseiho OUT and Hoshoryu avoids kadoban in his Ozeki debut
TakakeishO (O) beat Daieisho (S). Takakeisho in playoff!
Kirishima (O) beat Takayasu (M7). Takayasu OUT…once again so close and yet so far away…
PLAYOFF: Takakeisho (O) beat Atamifuji (M15). TAKAKEISHO YUSHO! The 4th career Emperor’s Cup for the Ozeki! (8th overall championship) And now, you know what that means come November…Takakeisho Yokozuna chance? He was here in May but had to withdraw halfway through due to injury. With rumors of this being the end of the road for Terunofuji (maybe retiring after November), can we finally see Takakeisho break through at last?
SPECIAL PRIZES:
Outstanding Performance (wrestler with winning record and most wins vs. Yokozuna/Ozeki): None. That surprised me, I thought Hokutofuji had it locked up after he beat all 3 Ozeki the first 3 days. Maybe because he only went 8-7…
Fighting Spirit (wrestler with winning record judged to show best fighting spirit): Atamifuji
Technique (wrestler with winning record with most different winning techniques): None
Juryo:
Going in there was a tie at the top between Ichiyamamoto & Onosato at 12-2.
If one win and the other lost, the winner is the champion. If both win or lose, playoff. They met earlier in the tournament and Ichiyamamoto won.
Shimanoumi (J12) beat Takakento (J9)
Hakuyozan (J10) beat Chiyosakae (J8)
Azumaryu (J6) beat Akua (J9)
Shimazuumi (M6) beat Takahashi (J12)
Bushozan (J5) beat Chiyomaru (J10)
Tohakuryu (J4) beat Churanoumi (J5)
Shishi (J8) beat Oshoma (J4)
Tenshoho (J14) beat Mitoryu (J3)
Tomokaze (J3) beat Asakoryu (J13)
Ichiyamamoto (J7) beat Daiamami (J2)
Tokihayate (J11) beat Kitanowaka (J2)
Tamashoho (J1) beat Shiden (J11)
Roga (J1) beat Onosato (J14). ICHIYAMAMOTO JURYO YUSHO! 2nd Juryo championship and 3rd career championship.
Makushita:
There were 7 after Day 13 tied at 6-1. Rare nobody finishes 7-0 but that also means…not 1, not 2, not even 3, but…SEVEN-WAY PLAYOFF!!!????!!!!
Playoffs:
Kitadaichi (Ms17) beat Asahakuryu (Ms27)
Hitoshi (Ms3) beat Onojo (Ms53)
Kayo (Ms23) beat Chiyoarashi (Ms47)
Hitoshi (Ms3) beat Kitadaichi (Ms17)
Kayo (Ms23) beat Daiseizan (Ms50)
Hitoshi (Ms3) beat Kayo (Ms23). HITOSHI MAKUSHITA YUSHO! 1st Makushita championship and 4th career championship. He’s headed to Juryo in November.
Sandanme:
CHAMPION: Kitaharima (Sd2). First career championship for the 21-year veteran who had a cup of coffee in the top tier in his prime, reaching Maegashira 15 for one tournament (demoted after going 6-9). He has only been in Juryo once since late 2017 (one tournament in 2020).
Jonidan:
Playoff: Anosho (Jd14) beat Oki (Jd76). ANOSHO JONIDAN YUSHO! 1st Jonidan championship and 2nd career championship for the 18-year-old in his first 2 tournaments. He’s headed to the Sandanme in November.
Jonokuchi:
CHAMPION: Shiroma (Jk18). 1st career championship. Technically this was his 2nd career tournament but he was Absent in his debut tournament in July.
The next tournament is November 12-26 at Fukuoka International Center in Fukuoka. Advance tickets are on sale now.
Pro Wrestling NOAH 9/24/23 Results
GRAND SHIP 2023 in NAGOYA, Pro Wrestling NOAH’s major event today, is now in the books.
Today’s event was held at Nagoya Congress Center in Nagoya and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in Japanese and English. The live broadcast was only in English due to ABEMA exclusives.
The announced paid attendance was 940.
Match 1: Pre-show match: Akitoshi Saito, Atsushi Kotoge, Stallion Rogers & Taishi Ozawa beat Mohammed Yone, Daiki Inaba, Hi69 & Yu Owada. Rogers pinned Owada after a backdrop.
Match 2: YO-HEY & Tadasuke beat Shuji Kondo & Hajime Ohara. YO-HEY pinned Ohara after a dropkick.
Match 3: Takashi Sugiura, Manabu Soya & Masa Kitamiya beat Kazuyuki Fujita, Hideki Suzuki & Shuhei Taniguchi. Soya pinned Taniguchi after a jumping DDT.
Match 5: Daga beat Junta Miyawaki.
Match 6: Kenoh & Lance Anoa’i beat Katsuhiko Nakajima & Adam Brooks. Kenoh pinned Brooks after PFS.
Match 7: Kaito Kiyomiya, Ryohei Oiwa & Eita beat Naomichi Marufuji, Yoshinari Ogawa & LEONA (Dradition) by DQ. LEONA DQ’d. Ref assault.
Match 8: Jack Morris & Anthony Greene beat GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Timothy Thatcher & Saxon Huxley to win the titles. Morris & Greene become the 66th GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. Morris pinned Thatcher after a tiger driver.
Match 9: Dragon Bane & Alpha Wolf beat Ninja Mack & Alejandro to win the vacant GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. Bane & Wold become the 58th GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. Bane pinned Alejandro after Twisterbane.
Match 10: GHC National Champion Hijo De Dr. Wagner Jr. beat Psycho Clown to retain the title. V6 for Wagner Jr. Next up: Morris. That match will happen on 10/28 at Fukuoka International Center.
Match 11: GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion HAYATA beat Seiki Yoshioka to retain the title. V4 for HAYATA. Next up: Daga. That match will happen on 11/4 at Niigata City Gym.
Main Event: GHC Heavyweight Champion Jake Lee beat Go Shiozaki to retain the title. V4 for Lee. Next up: Kenoh. That match will happen on 10/28.
In other post–event news/fallout, it sounds like Seiki Yoshioka may be leaving the promotion at the end of the year. It was announced that after 10/28, the last of 4 scheduled October dates for him, he will be taking a break from the promotion to prepare for new challenges. This suggests his contract may be expiring and he will look to sign elsewhere. Updates to follow.
The next event is a special NOAH THE HOME DELUXE event on 10/7 at SKIP City Multipurpose Hall in Saitama. This event is open only to NOAH’s Ark fan cclub members only and will not be broadcast.
The next regular event is MONDAY MAGIC Episode 1, the debut of a new short series of 5 Monday night events, on 10/9 at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 3 AM PT/6 AM ET.
New Japan 9/24/23 Results (Updated)
DESTRUCTION in KOBE, one of 2 major events on New Japan’s current tour, went down earlier today in its traditional place on the calendar.
Today’s event was held at Kobe World Hall in Kobe and can be watched on demand on New Japan World. This event aired in Japan as part of WORLD PRO WRESTLING LIVE 2023 on TV Asahi.
The announced paid attendance was 4212, a full house/near sellout.
Match 1: Drilla Moloney & Clark Connors beat Kevin Knight & Tiger Mask. Moloney pinned TM 4 after Full Clip.
Match 2: TAKA Michinoku, DOUKI & SANADA beat Dick Togo, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL. TAKA pinned Togo after Michinoku Driver 2. Wait, when was the last time TAKA won a match in New Japan, let alone be responsible for the win?
Match 3: Jado, El Phantasmo, Hikuleo, Tanga Loa & Tama Tonga beat Gedo, Gabriel Kidd, Alex Coughlin, Chase Owens & David Finlay. Tonga pinned Gedo after Gun Stun.
Match 4: Yoh & Lio Rush beat BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi. Rush pinned BUSHI after Final Hour.
Match 5: Bad Dude Tito & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Tomohiro Ishii & Kazuchika Okada. Sabre pinned Ishii with European Clutch.
Match 6: In a Seconds Handcuffed Match, where House Of Torture members were handcuffed to Just 5 Guys members at ringside, Sho beat KOPW 2023 Chaampion Taichi to win the title. Yoshinobu Kanemaru interference. He seemingly turned on Just 5 Guys to help Sho win. So maybe they will now be Just 4 Guys.
Match 7: IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls to retain the titles. YOSHI-HASHI pinned NIcholls. V2 for the champs.
Match 8: Shingo Takagi beat Great-O-Khan.
Match 9: Tetsuya Naito beat Jeff Cobb. As a result, Naito retained his spot in the 1/4 Tokyo Dome main event.
Main Event: IWGP US Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay beat Yota Tsuji to retain the title. V1 for Ospreay. Next up: Sabre. This could happen at Royal Quest 3 in England. It should be noted that Ospreay has rebranded the title as the IWGP UK Heavyweight Championship although it does not seem to be recognized as such by New Japan. (UPDATE: It’s now official for Royal Quest 3 on 10/14)
The next event is tomorrow at Nagoya Congress Center in Nagoya. There will be no live or on demand broadcast. Also a heads-up for the second DESTRUCTION event in October at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo-at this time New Japan lists the event as only being broadcast live on ABEMA. So it may not be available on New Japan World outside of Japan, but we’ll see what happens.
TJPW News: Full 10/9 Card Announced
Tokyo Joshi Pro has announced the full card for WRESTLE PRINCESS 4 on 10/9 at Tama Mirai Messe in Tokyo, their most important event of the year. The full lineup is as follows (in order):
Haru Kazashiro vs. Runa Okubo
Arisu Endo, Kaya Toribami & HIMAWARI vs. HARUKAZE, Yoshiko Hasegawa & Riara
Moka Miyamoto vs. Juria Nagano
Aja Kong, Raku & Shino Suzuki vs. Hyper Misao, Wakana Uehara & Toga
Ryo Mizunami & Yuki Aino vs. Miu Watanabe & Yuki Arai
Saki-sama (Saki Akai), May Saint-Michel (Mei Suruga), Yukio Saint Laurent (Yukio Sakaguchi( & Martha vs. :Shoko Nakajima, Suzume, Pom Harajuku & Antonio Honda
Maki Itoh vs. Nyla Rose
Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta vs. Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu for the vacant Princess Tag Team Championship
International Princess Champion Rika Tatsumi vs. NWA Women’s TV Champion Max The Impaler for the titles (double title match)
Princess Of Princess Champion Mizuki vs. Miyu Yamashita for the title
Neko Haruna will appear at an onsite autograph session but will not compete (injured).
Tickets are still available and the event will also stream LIVE on WRESTLE UNVIERSE beginning on 10/8 at 10 PM PT/1 AM ET.