Tag: wrestling

Sumo-July 2023 Grand Sumo Tournament Day 1 (Opening Day) Results (7/9/23) (Top 2 Tiers)

Here are the quick results from today’s Day 1-Opening Day-of the July 2023 Grand Sumo Tournament in Nagoya:
Key: M-Maegashira, K-Komusubi, S-Sekiwake, O-Ozeki, Y-Yokozuna, J-Juryo, Ms-Makushita

Makuuchi (Top Tier):
Hakuoho (M17) beat Aoiyama (M17)
Endo (M16) beat Bushozan (M16)
Takarafuji (M15) beat Ryuden (M15)
Shonannnoumi (M14) beat Daishoho (M14)
Gonoyama (M13) beat Kotoshoho (M13)
Chiyoshoma (M12) beat Tsurugisho (M11)
Kotoeko (M11) beat Myogiryu (M10)
Hokutofuji (M9) beat Kinbozan (M10)
Nishikifuji (M8) beat Takanosho (M9)
Tamawashi (M7) beat Sadanoumi (M8)
Takayasu (M7) beat Oho (M6)
Hokuseiho (M6) beat Onosho (M5)
Hiradoumi (M5) beat Ura (M4)
Meisei (M3) beat Asanoyama (M4)
Kotonowaka (K) beat Midorifuji (M3)
Wakamotoharu (S) beat Mitakeumi (M2)
Daieisho (S) beat Shodai (M2)
Hoshoryu (S) beat Tobizaru (M1)
Nishikigi (M1) beat Kirishima (O) by default/withdrawal
Terunofuji (Y) beat Abi (K)
WITHDRAWAL: Kirishima (O), Takakeisho (O) (Pre-Tournament Withdrawal), Wakatakakage (M12) (Pre-Tournament Withdrawal). Kirishima was a last-minute withdrawal today. Right rib contusion per Nikkan Sports. Status uncertain, potentially could be out 3 weeks which would mean the entire tournament and kadoban status in September. Takakeisho-knees. Out 3 weeks and the entire tournament and will again be kadoban in September. Wakatakakage-post-knee surgery recovery. Out the entire tournament.
Of note: Kirishima’s issues apparently just cropped up in the last day or two, a lot of back/side pain. He might try to return later in the tournament but that is uncertain. It was a clean sweep for the newcomers and Sekiwake as all won their matches so Ozeki watch begins with all 3 Sekiwake one win closer to potential promotion (the magic number is now 10 for Daieisho, 11 for Hoshoryu & Wakamotoharu). Kagayaki will be back up tomorrow as the Juryo man of the day at J1 and will face Hakuoho. We’ll also see our first kinboshi cnance of the tournament as Terunofuji faces Nishikigi tomorrow, the latter getting the free win due to Kirishima’s withdrawal.

Juryo:
Tokihayate (Ms1) beat Chiyonoumi (J14)
Yuma (J14) beat Shiden (J13)
Hidenoumi (J12) beat Kiho (J13)
Shishi (J12) beat Tsushimanada (J11)
Chiyomaru (J11) beat Shimanoumi (J10)
Tomokaze (J9) beat Chiyosakae (J10)
Daiamami (J9) beat Akua (J8)
Churanoumi (J7) beat Takakento (J8)
Azumaryu (J6) beat Hakuyozan (J7)
Tamashoho (J4) beat Kitanowaka (J5)
SHimazuumi (J3) beat Tohakuryu (J4)
Oshoma (J4) beat Ichiyamamoto (J3)
Mitoryu (J2) beat Roga (J2)
Kagayaki (J1) beat Atamifuji (J1)
WITHDRAWAL: Fujiseiun (J6). Unknown. Status uncertain.

Ganbare Pro 7/9/23 Results

WRESTLE SEKIGAHARA 2, Ganbare Pro’s biggest event of the year, is now 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 667.

Match 1: Masa Takanashi (DDT) beat Sotatsu Nakamura.

Match 2: Ayaha Takumi & Mio Momomo beat YuuRI & Tomoka Inaba. Takumi pinned YuuRI after Running 3.

Match 3: Sayaka Unagi (Independent/Freelancer) beat Riara. Afterwards, Unagi issued a Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Championship challenge to Mizuki Watase, assuming he retained the title today.

Match 4: Miyuki Takase beat Yoshiko Hasegawa.

Match 5: Keisuke Ishii, Shigehiro Irie & Takao Soma beat Akito (DDT), Shota & Shinichiro Tominaga. Ishii pinned Shota after Nail Kick.

Match 6: Hartley Jackson & KARUKAZE beat Ken Ohka & Kurashi, Tsuyoshi Okada & Yuki Kanzaki and Minoru Fujita & Daiki Shimomura in a 4-way elimination match, last eliminating Ohka/Kurashi. As a result, Jackson & HARUKAZE will be the next challengers for the Spirit Of Ganbare World Tag Team Championship after today. Afterwards, Kurashi turned on Ohka and Irie joined in the beatdown of Ohka.

Match 7: El Lindaman (GLEAT) beat Yumehito Imanari.

Match 8: Shuichiro Katsumura & Takuya Wada beat Spirit Of Ganbare World Tag Team Champions Hikaru Sato & Tyson Maeguchi to win the titles. Katsumura & Wada become the second Spirit Of Ganbare World Tag Team Champions. Katsumura beat Maeguchi with Triple 3 3 Lock. Next up: Jackson/HARUKAZE per earlier. That will happen on TBA.

Main Event: Isami Kodaka beat Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Champion Mizuki Watase to win the title. Kodaka becomes the 5th Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Champion. So much for Unagi’s challenge I guess.

The next event is a Ganbare Women event on 7/15 at Ryogoku KFC Hall in Tokyo. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET.

Pro Wrestling NOAH 7/9/23 Results

Pro Wrestling NOAH continued the never-ending SUNNY VOYAGE 2023 Tour today with a house show in Tokyo. This is the promotion’s first event following Kenoh disbanding Kongo after 4+ years.

Today’s event was held at Tama Mirai Messe in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.

The announced paid attendance was 557.

Match 1: Hi69 beat Taishi Ozawa. This was to have been Hi69 vs. Atsushi Kotoge but Kotoge was pulled from the card due to a fever.

Match 2: Yoshinari Ogawa & LEONA (Dradition) beat Super Crazy & Kai Fujimura. LEONA beat Fujimura with a Figure 4.

Match 3: Shuji Kondo & Seiki Yoshioka beat Hajime Ohara & Alejandro. Yoshioka pinned Alejandro after Crash Driver.

Match 4: Saxon Huxley, Kazuyuki Fujita, Hideki Suzuki & Shuhei Taniguchi beat Naomichi Marufuji, Mohammed Yone, Masa Kitamiya & Yoshiki Inamura. Huxley pinned Yone after a neck hanging bomb.

Match 5: Adam Brooks & Ninja Mack beat Stallion Rogers & Dante Leon. Brooks pinned Rogers after Aussie Buster.

Match 6: Go Shiozaki, Katsuhiko Nakajima, HAYATA & Eita beat Jake Lee, Jack Morris, YO-HEY & Tadasuke. Nakajima pinned YO-HEY after PK.

Match 7: GHC National Champion Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. beat AMAKUSA to retain the title. V5 for Wagner Jr.

Main Event: Kaito Kiyomiya & Kenoh beat Manabu Soya & Daiki Inaba. Kiyomiya pinned Inaba after Transformed Shining Wizard.

The next event is One Night Dream Saturday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo headlined by Nakajima vs. Kento Miyahara with no time limit. The opening match will be the Debut of Yu Owada, a new rookie. The event is already a legit advance sellout and has been for a while. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in English only will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET. This is another ABEMA exclusive broadcast in Japan.

In upcoming events news post-event, GHC Jr. Heavyweight Champion HAYATA vs. Atsuki Aoyagi (All-Japan) for the title was announced for 7/20 at Shinjuku Face.

BREAKING: Sumo-Shocking Last-Second Withdrawal

A stunning last-second Opening Day development in the July Grand Sumo Tournament-new Ozeki Kirishima has WITHDRAWN from the tournament. Right rib contusion. Out indefinitely but possibly 3 weeks, which if true means he will miss the entire tournament and go right into kadoban status in September before he even has a match at the second highest ranking. Disastrous for the Japan Sumo Association as both Ozeki are now out. There is a chance Kirishima may return but it’s wait and see. As a result, Nishikigi will get a free win today.

Dragon Gate 7/8/23 Results (2 Events)

Dragon Gate ran 2 separate events today, continuing the KING OF GATE Tournament and also running the second “Heroic Legend Rei-Zero” event.

First, the KING OF GATE event:
Today’s event was held at Act City Hamamatsu in Shizuoka. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 304.

Match 1: Shun SKywalker, KAI, ISHIN & H-Y-O beat Kzy, U-T, Don Fujii & Ho Ho Lun. ISHIN pinned Lun after a small leg chokeslam.

Match 2: KING OF GATE Tournament Round 1: Shuji Kondo beat Genki Horiguchi.

Match 3: KING OF GATE Tournament Round 1: Dragon Kid beat Kagetora.

Match 4: Kota Minoura, BxB Hulk & Ben-K beat Ultimo Dragon, BIGBOSS Shimizu & Ichikawa. Ben-K pinned Ichikawa after countering La Magistral.

Match 5: YAMATO, Madoka Kikuta & Yuki Yoshioka beat Susumu Mochizuki, Yasushi Kanda & Punch Tominaga. Yoshioka pinned Tominaga after Flashbang.

Main Event: KING OF GATE Tournament Round 1: Dragon Dia beat Jason Lee.

Second, Heroic Legend Rei-Zero 2:
Today’s event was held at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on DRAGONGATE NETWORK.

The announced paid attendance was 353.

Match 1: YAMATO & Masaaki Mochizuki beat Munenori Sawa & Fuminori Abe. YAMATO pinned Abe after Omniescent & Omnipotent Frankensteiner.

Match 2: Hikaru Sato, Takefuim Ito & Ryo Kawamura beat Ben-K, Minorita & Punch Tominaga by ref stoppage (TKO). Kawamura beat Tominaga. Strikes.

Match 3: TBA, revealed to be Kikutaro, beat Ichikawa for the vacant Open The Owarai Gate Championship and won the audience decision after the match for the title. Kikutaro becomes the 32nd Open The Owarai Gate Champion.

Match 4: Madoka Kikuta & Yuki Yoshioka beat MUSASHI & Nohashiro (?) (Michinoku Pro). Kikuta pinned Nohashiro after a rolling lariat.

Match 5: BIGBOSS Shimizu, Mochizuki Jr. & Daiki Yanagiuchi beat Masa Kitamiya, Kai Fujimura & Taishi Ozawa (Pro Wrestling NOAH). Shimizu pinned Ozawa after BIGBOSS Press. I believe this is Yanagiuchi’s first career win.

Main Event: Open The Twin Gate Champions Susumu Mochizuki & Yasushi Kanda beat Takuya Sugawara & Masato Tanaka (ZERO1) to retain the titles. Kanda pinned Sugawara after Candy Magic. V2 for the champs.

The next event is tomorrow at Osaka Prefectural Gym 2 in Osaka. Live streaming on DRAGONGATE NETWORK will begin at 2 AM PT/5 AM ET.

AEW Collision 7/8/23 Results

Here are the quick results from tonight’s AEW Collision in Regina, Canada:

Updates will begin at 8 PM ET/5 PM PT.

CM Punk-Samoa Joe promo before opening video.

CM Punk promo. Collision opening theme plays at start and end instead of his entrance music.

Match 1: Owen Hart Cup Men’s Semifinals: Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Ricky Starks
Result: Ricky Starks beat Powerhouse Hobbs. As a result, Starks advances to the Finals next week.

Miro promo.

The WIllow Nightingale-Athena Owen Hart Cup Women’s Semifinals match tonight is now off. Nightingale is not medically cleared after this week’s New Japan events. The match will now happen next Friday on Rampage.

Match 2: Julia Hart vs. Bambi Hall
Result: Julia Hart beat Bambi Hall by submission. Squash.

Commentary announces Battle Of The Belts 7 will be LIVE next week immediately after Collision, so it’ll be a 3 hour broadcast.

Malakai Black promo.

Andrade El Idolo responds to the Black promo.

Match 3: AEW Tag Team Champions FTR vs. Juice Robinson & Jay White in a NON-TITLE match. It’s the usual Eliminator stip, meaning Robinson/White get a title shot if they win, but this time if they lose, no more chances as long as FTR are champs.
Result: Jay White & Juice Robinson beat FTR. As a result, White & Robinson get a future rematch for the titles.

Next week on BOTB 7: AEW TNT Champion Luchasaurus vs. Shawn Spears for the title

FTR interviewed backstage, interrupted immediately by White & Robinson. At White’s demand, the rematch for the titles will be next week and it will be a 2 of 3 Falls match.

Match 4: Scorpio Sky vs. Action Andretti
Result: Scorpio Sky beat Action Andretti

Main Event: Owen Hart Cup Men’s Semifinals: CM Punk vs. Samoa Joe
Result: CM Punk beat Samoa Joe. As a result, Punk advances to the Finals next week and will face Starks. Afterwards, Joe offered a handshake which Punk accepted, but Joe turned it into Coqina Clutch and choked Punk out before leaving as FTR came out. Starks then came out for a staredown from the ramp before slowly walking away to wrap things up.

End Show.

It was a fine show overall, slightly above average. Collision is still establishing its identity and this was only week 4, but they need to get rid of hard commercial breaks. They hardly do them during matches on Dynamite anymore and it gets annoying. Last-minute changes and postponing matches like Athena-Nightingale does not help either.

Next week: Both Owen Hart Cup Finals (Punk-Starks, Ruby Soho/Skye Blue-Athena/Nightingale) and FTR-White/Robinson in a 2/3 Falls match for the AEW Tag Team Championship. BOTB 7 airs immediately afterwards.

BREAKING: Top Impact Star Off Slammiversary Event (Updated 7/10)

Impact Wrestling just announced a change to the upcoming Slammiversary PPV on 7/15: Steve Maclin is now off. Undisclosed injury. It happened during last week’s Australia events when he got his Impact World Championship rematch against now-champion Alex Shelley, who beat Maclin for the title at Against All Odds. Possibly a hip/groin/leg issue based on reports of what happened during the match. Yes, Maclin was on this week’s Impact Wrestling but that was taped prior to the Australia events.

Maclin was to have teamed with Bully Ray at Slammiversary to face PCO & Scott D’Amore. A replacement will be announced Monday on SiriusXM’s “Busted Open” radio show.

More as it becomes available.

7/10 UPDATE: Bully Ray’s new partner, the replacement for Maclin, is Deaner. PCO is now off after being set on fire on last week’s Impact. Replacement TBA.

DDT 7/8/23 Results

DDT ran a special outdoor mini-event today with free admission for fans outside Shiraishi Castle in Miyagi. Apparently the weather cooperated enough to keep it outdoors (had it rained they would have moved it to a nearby indoor location).

Today’s event was held at Shiraishi Castle Honmaru Square in MIyagi and should be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date. There was no live broadcast.

Because this was a free event and there was no paid attendance, the attendance was not announced.

Match 1: Daisuke Sasaki & KANON beat Hideki Okatani & Kazuma Sumi. KANON beat Sumi with a crucifix cobra twist.

Match 2: Kazuki Hirata, Yuki Iino & Danshoku Dieno beat Yuki Ueno, Toi Kojima & Gorgeous Matsuno. Hirata pinned Kojima.

Match 3: Tetsuya Endo, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku beat HARASHIMA, Yukio Sakaguchi & Antonio Honda. Endo pinned Honda after Burning Star Press.

The next event is 7/15 at Aomori Hanamasu Hall in Aomori. There will be no live broadcast.

Tokyo Joshi Pro 7/8/23 Results

SUMMER SUN PRINCESS ’23, Tokyo Joshi Pro’s annual summer blowout event, is now in the books.

Today’s event was held at Ota City General Gym in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in Japanese. Japanese voice actress Rika Matsumoto, part of the case of the Japanese version of the iconic “Pokemon” anime (I believe she voiced Brock), was a special guest on commentary. You can also watch a pre-show public signing ceremony that began one hour before the event and the first match FOR FREE on YouTube.

The announced paid attendance was 1222. While probably only about half or close to half capacity depending on the layout, they actually sold out of all but the cheapest seats so this was still a strong number.

Match 1: Juria Nagano Return Match: Suzume & Arisu Endo beat Moka Miyamoto & Juria Nagano. Endo beat Nagano with a camel clutch. This was Nagano’s first match in roughly 6 months (she was out due to a broken finger).

Match 2: Mahiro Kiryu, Neko Haruna, HIMAWARI & Shino Suzuki beat Kaya Toribami, Toga, Haru Kazashiro & Runa Okubo. HIMAWARI beat Kazashiro with a single leg Boston Crab. This was Haruna’s first match in roughly 2 months due to injury.

Match 3: Ryo Mizunami (Independent/Freelancer) & Nao Kakuta beat Yuki Kamifuku & Asuka (Veny). Kakuta pinned Kamifuku after Shiden Kai.

Match 4: DEFY Women’s Champion Vertvixen beat Hikari Noa to retain the title. V6 for Vertvixen.

Match 5: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao beat Max The Impaler & Pom Harajuku and Aja Kong (OZ Academy) & Raku in a 3-way when Nakajima pinned Harajuku. Probably not a popular result with the outside-Japan internet fanbase who absolutely loves Wasteland Pom Party.

Match 6: Nyla Rose (All Elite Wrestling) beat Miu Watanabe. And yes, it appears Watanabe managed to EPIC GIANT SWING Rose during the match! This originally was to have been Rose vs. Yuka Sakazaki but plans had to be changed due to a Sakazaki injury.

Match 7: Pro Wrestling EVE Champion Miyu Yamashita beat Sawyer Wreck to retain the title. V7 for Yamashita. This match was held under Spirit Of EVE Rules, which meant no countouts and failure to display sufficient fighting spirit at the referee’s discretion meant a wrestler would be DQ’d.

Match 8: Saki-sama (Saki Akai) & May Saint-Michel (Mei Suruga) beat Yuki Arai & Wakana Uehara. Saki-sama pinned Uehara after Academy Awards. This is the first-and perhaps will be the only-time that Saki & Arai, former Princess Tag Team Champions, will face each other as opponents due to Saki retiring later this year, but we’ll see.

Match 9: International Princess Champion Rika Tatsumi beat Yuki Aino to retain the title. V4 for Tatsumi.

Main Event: Princess Of Princess Champion Mizuki beat Maki Itoh to retain the title. V3 for Mizuki. Once again Itoh is denied the one prize that has eluded her to this date in TJPW. Admittedly the only outcome that would’ve satisfied me here would have been a draw but I guess UNHAPPY UNHAPPY is the lesser of two evils. Next up: Almost certainly the Tokyo Princess Cup winner unless it’s Mizuki. Tentatively put that match down for WRESTLE PRINCESS 4 on 10/8 at Tama Mirai Messe in Tokyo.

The next event is the Tokyo Princess Cup Tournament, the promotion’s annual singles tournament, a single-elimination format with 16 participants this year, beginning Saturday at Ryogoku KFC Hall in Tokyo. The first round will be held over 3 straight days of events there. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin Friday at 8:30 PM PT/11:30 PM ET. Live results are scheduled.

The promotion has also announced a Summer Athletic Park Match PPV event will be held on 7/27 at Lake Sagami Pleasure Forest in Tokyo. 18 wrestlers are scheduled to participate including Yuki Arai & ring announcer Sayuri Namba, Yuka Sakazaki is listed as participating but should be considered questionable due to injury. Everyone will be divided into 2 teams for a best-of-5 Street Pro Wrestling Showdown with a special prize for the winning team. This will be available only as a PPV on WRESTLE UNIVERSE with a separate purchase required. The PPV can be pre-ordered now for 2800 yen (around $19) for paying subscribers and 3500 yen (around $25) for non-subscribers. The PPV will be available to buy until 8/2 at 4 AM PT/7 AM ET and can then be watched on demand until 10/30 at 10 AM PT/1 PM ET. On or after 11/1 it may be available to all WRESTLE UNIVERSE paying subscribers. There will be Japanese commentary for this event. Special support ticket packages with specific wrestler goods/rewards are also available for purchase but this may be Japan-only.

DEVELOPING: Last-Minute NOAH 7/9 Change

Pro Wrestling NOAH has just announced a last-minute change to their 7/9 event: Atsushi Kotoge is now off. Fever. He was to have faced Hi69. Taishi Ozawa is the replacement. No mention of any potential coronavirus tests done so for now it appears Kotoge will hopefully only miss this event as there is nearly a week until the next event after this.

More as it becomes available.