Pro Wrestling NOAH continued the SUNNY VOYAGE 2023 Tour today with an event that promised a Stormy Voyage of a main event as a heated rivalry resumed.
Today’s event was held at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.
The announced paid attendance was 455. A legit advance sellout. No same-day tickets were sold.
Match 1: Manabu Soya beat Taishi Ozawa. Borderline squash, it went just 88 seconds.
Match 2: Yoshinari Ogawa, Chris Ridgeway & Daga beat Shuji Kondo, Hajime Ohara & Hi69. Daga pinned Hi69 after a piledriver. (Update: After this match/event Hi69 left Kongo)
Match 3: Sean Legacy beat Stallion Rogers.
Match 4: HAYATA & Eita beat Dante Leon & Junta Miyawaki. HAYATA pinned Miyawaki after 403 Impact.
Match 5: Go Shiozaki, Kaito Kiyomiya, Masa Kitamiya, Daiki Inaba & Yoshiki Inamura beat Naomichi Marufuji, Takashi Sugiura, Shuhei Taniguchi, Mohammed Yone & Akitoshi Saito. Kiyomiya pinned Saito after Shining Wizard.
Match 6: GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions YO-HEY & Tadasuke beat Atsushi Kotoge & Seiki Yoshioka to retain the titles. Tadasuke pinned Kotoge after Good Looking Piledriver. V2 for the champs. Next up: Chris Ridgeway & Daga. That match will happen on 6/22 at Korakuen Hall.
Main Event: Kenoh vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima went to a 45 minute time limit draw.
The next event is ALL TOGETHER AGAIN, a New Japan/All-Japan/NOAH crossover event for charity, on 6/9 at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo. Live streaming on New Japan World as a PPV will begin at 2 AM PT/5 AM ET.
The next NOAH standalone event is 6/10 at Yokohama Radiant Hall in Yokohama. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 12:30 AM PT/3:30 AM ET.
Breaking sumo news via the Nihon Sumo Kyokai Japanese Twitter account…it’s official: Kiribayama has been promoted to Ozeki! Widely expected anytime now, the promotion to the second-highest rank comes after the Sekiwake managed 34 wins over the last 3 tournaments and also his first top tier championship in March. The vote was unanimous for promotion according to Nikkan Sports. Kiribayama also may have undergone a shikona, or name change after the announcement. It appears his new name will be Kirishima. He is the 6th Mongolian wrestler in the last 15 years to reach Ozeki and history is in his favor…they all eventually were promoted to Yokozuna, the highest rank, most recently Terunofuji. To be eligible for promotion to Grand Champion, Kirishima now must win consecutive tournaments or finish 2 straight tournaments with wins equal to victory.
In other news, the Shin-Juryo & Sai-Juryo rikishi were announced. Promoted to Makushita are Yuma, Shishi-the first rikishi from Ukraine to reach the second tier, and Kawazoe, who also has undergone a shikona and will now be known as Kiho. The returning Juryo riksihi are Shiden (who was absent for what would have been his Juryo debut in 2022) and Chiyonoumi.
While we wait to find out where he will be ranked, May Juryo runner-up Ochiai has also undergone a shikona, changing his name to Hakuoho, It’s a combination of part of his hometown and paying homage to his stablemaster, the former Yokozuna Hakuho (now Miyagino). He went 14-1 this tournament at Juryo 8 and lost the championship to Gonoyama in a playoff.
6/1 UPDATE: Reliable YouTube insider source “Chris Sumo” reports former top tier wrestler Ishiura has retired due to injury (which I have confirmed via the Association’s English website) and will become Oyakata Magaki. Ishiura last competed in the March 2022 Tournament before being sidelined bu what is believed to be a back injury. The former Magaki has left the Japan Sumo Association earlier than expected, his name was briefly taken by former Yokozuna Hakuko upon retirement last year and he is now Miyagino following taking over the Miyagino Beya where Ishiura will remain and train/mentor subordinates & fellow rikishi. Ishiura reached a highest rank of Maegashira 5 and finishes his career with a record of 350-321-108 (win-loss-absent), 161-186-43 in the top tier, 2 championships (1 Jonidan, 1 Jonokuchi) and 1 Special Prize (Fighting Spirit).
Injuries have been hitting tournament winners and especially DDT hard recently. The latest one to go down is recent KING OF DDT winner Chris Brookes. Dislocated right shoulder suffered this past weekend. Out at least 3 weeks but no return date set. Changes for this weekend’s events have been made.
Dragon Gate wrapped up the Hopeful Gate 2023 Tour today with the final event of the month.
Today’s event was held at Fukui Industrial Hall in Fukui. There was no broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 228.
Match 1: YAMATO & Dragon Kid beat Diamante & H-Y-O. YAMATO pinned H-Y-O after Omniscient & Omnipotent Frankensteiner.
Match 2: BIGBOSS Shimizu beat Daiki Yanagiuchi.
Match 3: Jason Lee & JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI beat Takashi Yoshida & Ho Ho Lun. KAMEI pinned Lun after “JACKY” Knife.
Match 4: Shun Skywalker, KAI & ISHIN beat Kzy, Strong Machine J & U-T by DQ. J DQ’d. Ref assault.
Match 5: susumu Mochizuki & Yasushi Kanda beat BxB Hulk & Kagetora. Kanda pinned Kagetora after Candy Magic.
Main Event: Madoka Kikuta, Yuki Yoshioka & Dragon Dia beat Kota Minoura, Ben-K & Minorita. Kikuta pinned Minorita after a rolling lariat.
Next up is the Rainbow Gate 2023 Tour, the promotion’s June series, starting Thursday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, the first half of a doubleheader there. Live streaming on DRAGONGATE NETWORK will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET.
With the May 2023 Grand Sumo Tournament now in the books, below is the final Hoshitori, the standings listed in order of the Banzuke (rankings, records are displayed as win-loss-absent) then some final thoughts…and first things first, no Kiribayama promotion to Ozeki announcement yet:
Final thoughts: Although it didn’t earn him a Special Prize, big shoutout to Nishikigi for his finish. He started 1-6 and seemed headed for demotion, but then he won his last 8 matches and earned a promotion. Meisei was lucky to win Outstanding Performance as he was 8-1 after beating Terunofuji, then finished 0-6. Takakeisho managed to get out of kadoban status and will remain Ozeki, but opted to stay in for the final 2 days and lost his last two, the finale being a painful-looking spill in his loss to Terunofuji. In Sanyaku, Abi should be promoted back to Komusubi while Shodai will be demoted as will Wakatakakage due to being absent. At the bottom, based on finishes I see Asanoyama potentially jumping up to M5 for July, while Kinbozan’s sophmore slump will see him fall from M5, I could see him going back down to as low as M14 but more reasonably to M11. I forgot about Ichinojo’s retirement when guessing on if Ochiai will be promoted to the top tier, that means at least 4 top tier spots should be opening so Gonoyama and Shonannoumi take 2 with their promotions, that could also open the door for an Atamifuji potential return after he went 13-2 at J8. Or more likely Bushozan, who went 10-5 at J3, at worst he’ll go to J1. Chiyonokuni will be demoted to Makushita but likely will be absent in July. As far as Ozeki Watch for July assuming Kiribayama is promoted, the magic number for the other Sekiwake to be promotion eligible is as follows (33 wins over the last 3 tournaments at Komusubi or Sekiwake or win 2 straight tournaments, the latter is not a requirement): Hoshoryu-12 (had 21 wins between March & May) Daieisho-11 (had 22 wins between March & May). He may have missed potential promotion this time by just one win Wakamotoharu-12 (had 21 wins between March & May) If Kotonowaka is promoted to Sekiwake after his 3rd straight winning record at Komusubi, his only hope for potential Ozeki promotion is a championship. He would otherwise need 16 wins to be eligible as his March/May total was only 17 wins. And if Kiribayama somehow does not reach Ozeki this time, his July magic number would be 9. In the Makushita, look for Kawazoe and possibly Shishi to be shin-Juryo in July, and Shiden should be sai-Juryo. March champion Ryuo will take a big fall after going 1-7 at Ms3. A fun side note from the Sandanme-champion Sazanami has gained a lot of fans through his appearance on the “Sumo Prime Time” YouTube program as the assistant trainer in exercise-themed episodes with host Hiro Morita, and that was noted on the last episode so congrats again to to-be-Makushita man Sazanami.
The Banzuke for July will be announced on June 26.
UPDATE: The earliest potential Kiribayama promotion announcement could be Wednesday. That’s when the ranking committee will next meet to determine the July tournament rankings
All-Japan wrapped up the Super Power Series today with a major event headlined by 3 title matches.
Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on AJPW.TV.
The announced paid attendance was 834.
Match 1: Yuto Nakashima, Kosei Fujita & Ryohei Oiwa (New Japan) beat Hikaru Sato, Dan Tamura & Ryo Inoue. Fujita pinned Inoue with a German suplex hold.
Match 2: Satoshi Kojima, Yoshitatsu, Rising Hayato & Oji Shiiba beat Toru Yano (New Japan), Black Menso-re, Mitsuya Nagai (Dradition) & Kotaro Suzuki. Kojima pinned Menso-re after a lariat.
Match 3: Shuji Ishikawa, Ren Ayabe & Oskar Leube (New Japan) beat Jun Saito, KONO & Toshizo. Ishikawa pinned Toshizo after Fire Thunder.
Match 4: Yuma Anzai beat Ryuki Honda.
Match 5: Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi beat Minoru Suzuki & Hokuto Omori. Miyahara pinned Omori after Snake Limit.
Match 6: Atsuki Aoyagi beat All-Japan World Jr. Heavyweight Champion Naruki Doi to win the title. Aoyagi becomes the 65th All-Japan World Jr. Heavyweight Champion.
Match 7: All-Japan World Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Kenoh & Manabu Soya (Pro Wrestling NOAH) beat Suwama & Rei Saito to retain the titles. Kenoh pinned Suwama after PFS. V2 for the champs.
Main Event: All-Japan Triple Crown Champion Yuji Nagata (New Japan) beat T-Hawk (GLEAT) to retain the Triple Crown. V2 for Nagata.
The next event is the All-Japan 51st Anniversary event Saturday at Machida Gym in Tokyo. Broadcast plans TBA.
Dragon Gate continued the Hopeful Gate 2023 Tour today with the penultimate event of the tour.
Today’s event was held at Osaka Prefectural Gym 2 in Osaka and can be watched on demand on DRAGONGATE NETWORK.
The announced paid attendance was 831, a super full house/very near sellout.
Match 1: Kzy, Jason Lee & JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI beat Don Fujii, Genki Horiguchi & Kagetora. KAMEI pinned Horiguchi after “JACKY” Knife.
Match 2: Eita, Takashi Yoshida & Problem Dragon beat KAI, H-Y-O & ISHIN. Eita pinned H-Y-O after Imperial Uno. This was supposed to have been Yoshida & Dragon vs. KAI & ISHIN but Eita & H-Y-O were last-second impromptu additions.
Match 3: Ryoya Tanaka Debut Match: YAMATO beat Ryoya Tanaka.
Match 4: Dragon Kid, Naruki Doi & Shuji Kondo beat Masaaki Mochizuki, Susumu Mochizuki & Yasushi Kanda. Kondo pinned Susumu Mochizuki with a jumping horizontal cross.
Match 5: Shun Skywalker & Diamante beat BIGBOSS Shimizu & Strong Machine J. Skywalker pinned J.
Main Event: Madoka Kikuta, Yuki Yoshioka & Dragon Dia beat BxB Hulk, Minorita & Ben-K. Kikuta pinned Ben-K after a rolling lariat.
The tour-ender is tomorrow at Fukui Industrial Hall in Fukui. There will be no broadcast.
In other news, Open The Dream Gate Champion Madoka Kikuta vs. Yuki Yoshioka for the title is official for Kobe Pro Wrestling Festival 2023, Dragon Gate’s biggest annual event, on 7/2 at Kobe World Hall in Kobe.
DDT continued the WHAT ARE YOU DOING 2023 Tour today with a house show in Kumamoto.
Today’s event was held at Kumamoto Castle Hall Civic Hall in Kumamoto and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a alter date. There was no live broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 283, a super full house/very near sellout.
Match 1: Yuya Koroku beat Rukiya by submission.
Match 2: In a Handicap Match, Yuki Iino & Danshoku Dieno beat HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata. Iino beat Hirata with Pheromon Airport. That’s just one of their VERY NSFW finishes.
Match 3: In a Hardcore Match, Chris Brookes & Sanshiro Takagi beat Hideki Okatani & Kazuma Sumi. Brookes beat Sumi with a ground octopus stretch.
Match 4: Yuki Ueno & MAO beat Tetsuya Endo & Yusuke Okada. Ueno pinned Okada after BME.
Match 5; Jun Akiyama beat Toui Kojima by ref stoppage (TKO).
Match 6: Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida beat Kota Umeda & Takeshi Masada. Ishida pinned Masada after Flame Palm.
Main Event: Yuji Hino, Makoto Oishi & Dark Side HERO! beat Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & Shogun Okamoto. Hino pinned Paul after Fuckin’ BOMB. I can’t confirm this year but pictures I saw and past history leads me to believe HERO! actually was a masked HARASHIMA.
The next event is Yokohama Unlimited Vol. 3 Saturday at Yokohama Radiant Hall in Yokohama. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET.
Ganbae Pro ran their monthly variety tripleheader in Tokyo today, this month it was Yumehito Imanari doing the middle wrestler-produced event among a regular event and wrestlers-produced finale.
All 3 events were held at Oji Basement MON*STAR in Tokyo and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date. There was no live broadcast.
Event 1: The announced paid attendance was 62. There were last-second changes to the event, namely the first match, due to no YuuRI. Sudden illness. Shota was the replacement.
Match 1: Moeka Haruhi & Reala beat Shota & Yoshiko Hasegawa. Haruhi pinned Hasegawa after a diving foot stomp.
Match 2: Keisuke Ishii & Takao Soma beat Hartley Jackson & Mitch Ryder. Soma pinned Ryder after Authorized Endless Waltz.
Match 3: Minoru Fujita & Daiki Shimomura beat Ken Ohka & Shota. Fujita beat Shota with a deformed Samson Clutch.
Event 2 (Yumehito Imanari Produced): The announced paid attendance was 81. Match 1: Moeka Haruhi vs. Yumehito Imanari went to a 30 minute time limit draw. By producer’s decision, Haruhi wins.
Match 2: HARUKAZE won a Yumejin Poison Rumble battle royal, last eliminating both Takao Soma & Yuki Kanzaki.
Main Event: Yumehito Imanari Ganbare Pro 10th Anniversary Match: Ken Ohka & Keisuke Ishii beat Yumehito Imanari & Shinichiro Tominaga. Ishii pinned Imanari after a running double arm driver.
Event 3 (Wrestler group produced): The announced paid attendance was 82. Match 1: Shinichiro Tomianga & HARUKAZE beat Shota & Yoshiko Hasgawa. Shota pinned Tominaga after a moonsault press.
Match 2: Hong Kong International Policewoman beat Hong Kong International Policeman by ref stoppage (TKO).
Match 3: In an Elimination Match, Ken Ohka, Keisuke Ishii & Shuichiro Katsumura beat Mizuki Watase, Takao Soma & Yumehito Imanari. Clean sweep, no winners eliminated.
Main Event: Isami Kodaka beat Sotatsu Nakamura. As a result, Kodaka will challenge Spirit Of Ganbare Openweight Champion Mizuki Watase for the title on 7/9 at Ota City General Gym in Tokyo.
The next event is Saturday (Friday US time) at Takashimadaira Community Center in Tokyo. Streamers thrown by fans will be allowed only for Moeka Haruhi, a hint this might be her final event before she leaves wrestling to donate a kidney to her sister. Haruhi intends to return to wrestling after recovering from the process. There will be no live broadcast.
AEW runs their second quarterly PPV of the year, Double Or Nothing today, back in Las Vegas for the casino-themed event. The build on TV hasn’t been the most impressive and the card seems rather underwhelming, even for the main event featuring the so-called Four Pillars of AEW (not including the “female pillar” Britt Baker) in a 4-way match for MJF’s AEW World Championship with the leading angle being a potential laying-down original plan when MJF tried to pay off original challenger Sammy Guevara, then it soon became a 4-way with Darby Allin & Jungle Boy added. Elsewhere, every AEW title is on the line with maybe the biggest question being will Taya Valkyrie end Jade Cargill’s unbeaten streak in a straight-up match? Also featured is Anarchy In The Arena as The Elite & Blackpool Combat Club will fight all over the venue, Chris Jericho vs. Adam Cole in an Unsanctioned Match and much more.
Today’s event will be held at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV and can be watched LIVE in the US on PPV via cable/satellite providers, Bleacher Report, at select participating movie theaters and Dave & Buster’s restaurants. Elsewhere it will be available on YouTube in Canada and select countries and FITE elsewhere. There will be a FREE 1 hour pre-show on YouTube. Presumably the post-event press conference will stream free on YouTube after the event, which including the pre-show should run 4-5 hours.
Today’s current lineup: Pre-show: The Hardys & Hook vs. Gunn Club & Ethan Page
PPV: AEW Trios Champions House Of Black vs. TBA (possibly The Acclaimed & Billy Gunn) for the titles Adam Cole vs. Chris Jericho in an Unsanctioned Match (doesn’t count towards records, title shots, etc.). Sabu will second Cole AEW TBS Champion Jade Cargill vs. Taya Valkyrie for the title AEW Tag Team Champions FTR vs. Jeff Jarrett & Jay Lethal for the titles AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy vs. 20 others in a Blackjack Battle Royal for the title AEW TNT Champion Wardlow vs. Christian Cage in a Ladder Match for the title AEW Women’s World Champion Jamie Hayter vs. Toni Storm for the title The Elite vs. Blackpool Combat Club in Anarchy In The Arena AEW World Champion MJF vs. Sammy Guevara, Jungle Boy & Darby Allin in a 4-way for the title
Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.
Updates below will begin at 7 PM ET/4 PM PT. You can watch the pre-show FOR FREE below beginning at that time:
Updates begin below.
Pre-show: The Hardys & Hook vs. Gunn Club & Ethan Page Result: The Hardys & Hook beat Gunn Club & Ethan Page. Hook beat Page with Redrum.
Blackjack Battle Royal participants come out. That’s what’s going to open the PPV.
PPV: Blackjack Battle Royal for the AEW International Championship (Champion Orange Cassidy defending) Result: AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy wins to retain the title. The final 4 were Cassidy, Penta El Zero M, Big Bill & Swerve Strickland. Cassidy won by last eliminating Strickland.
Adam Cole vs. Chris Jericho in an Unsanctioned Match. Sabu is special enforcer. Match does not count towards records, title shots, etc. Result: Adam Cole beat Chris Jericho by ref stoppage.
AEW World Tag Team Champions FTR vs. Jeff Jarrett & Jay Lethal for the titles. Mark Briscoe is guest referee Result: AEW World Tag Team Champions FTR beat Jeff Jarrett & Jay Lethal to retain the titles.
Chris Jericho/Saraya promo. They challenged Cole & Britt Baker to a mixed tag team match on this week’s Dynamite.
AEW TNT Champion Wardlow vs. Christian Cage in a Ladder Match for the title Result: AEW TNT Champion Wardlow beat Christian Cage to retain the title.
AEW Women’s World Champion Jamie Hayter vs. Toni Storm for the title Result: Toni Storm beat AEW Women’s World Champion Jamie Hayter to become THE NEW AEW WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPION!
AEW Trios Champions House Of Black vs. TBA in an Open House Challenge for the titles. TBA is The Acclaimed & Billy Gunn Result: AEW Trios Champions House Of Black beat The Acclaimed & Billy Gunn to retain the titles.
AEW TBS Champion Jade Cargill vs. Taya Valkyrie for the title Result: AEW TBS Champion Jade Cargill beat Taya Valkyrie to retain the title. 60-0. Then Cargill got cocky and laid out another apparent open challenge. Which led to… Kris Statlander beat AEW TBS Champion Jade Cargill to become THE NEW AEW TBS CHAMPION! 60-1. SHE’S BACK! And FINALLY has a title!
AEW World Champion MJF vs. Darby Allin, Sammy Guevara & Jungle Boy in a 4-way for the title (that means Anarchy In The Arena likely will be the main event) Result: AEW World Champion MJF beat Darby Allin, Sammy Guevara & Jungle Boy in a 4-way by pinning Allin to retain the title.
Main Event: Anarchy In The Arena (The Elite-The Young Bucks, Kenny Omega & Adam Page vs. Blackpool Combat Club-Jon Moxley, Wheeler Yuta, Claudio Castagnoli & Bryan Danielson) Result: Blackpool Combat Club beat The Elite. Yuta pinned Omega. The end was set up by Konosuke Takeshita interference where he attacked Omega.
End Show. The post-event media scrum (video below) will begin shortly (as of 8:55 PM PT/11:55 PM ET).
After the event ends, click below to watch the post-event media scrum, currently scheduled to begin at or shortly after midnight ET/9 PM PT:
UPDATE: During the media scrum, Tony Khan confirmed the mixed tag match for Dynamite this week. And when asked if a See I’m A Punk may be in Chicago for the Collision premiere, Khan sidestepped the question. The guest lineup was MJF right at the start (impromptu and being MJF), Kris Statlander, Orange Cassidy, Toni Storm & Bryan Danielson (very much not in character). When asked about All In in England, Khan said the latest estimate on ticket sales so far is 65,000 with a UK record $9 million live gate.