The final press conference for the Keiji Muto Retirement Event tomorrow at the Tokyo Dome was held earlier today. You can watch below FOR FREE (this is the version from New Japan’s YouTube channel. It is also available on Pro Wrestling NOAH’s YouTube):
Tag: wrestling
DDT 2/19/23 Results (One Match Event) (Updated 2/24)
DDT held another of their signature one-match-only comedy events today, this one taking place on an actual running train line with fans onboard.
Today’s event was held at Tenryu Hamanoko Railway in Shizuoka, and onboard an actual operating train on the line, and should be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date. There was no live broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 47, a legit advance sellout. That was full capacity for the train.
Match Result: A 12-man staggered entry falls count anywhere battle royal, where participating wrestlers boarded the train at stops along the way, was won by Yukio Naya in 47:38, last eliminating Toui Kojima. Order of elimination: Takaya Shibayama by Makoto Oishi & Kazuma Sumi, Keigo Nakamura by Hideki Sekine, Sumi by Sekine, Hamamatsu Kamen L Miccaby (?) by Chika Nagashima & Yu Seyama, Sekine & Danshoku Dieno eliminated themselves, Nagashima & Seyama by Oishi, Akito by HARASHIMA, HARASHIMA by Oishi, Kojima & MAO, Oishi by Naya, Hiroshi Yamato by MAO, MAO by Kojima, Kojima by Naya.
The next event is “Street Pro Wrestling in Burlesque Tokyo” Thursday at Burlesque Tokyo in Tokyo. This is another one-match event and will be a KO-D Tag Team Championship match of KO-D Tag Team Champions MAO & Shunma Katsumata vs. Sanshiro Takagi & Fuminori Abe for the titles. This will be a PPV available live & on demand worldwide on PIA STREAM for 2500 yen (about $20 US), but you can also pay an additional $8 or $16 for support for participants. The PPV will be available on demand with purchase with unlimited replays until 3/1 at 6:59 AM PT/9:59 AM ET.
The next “real” event is “Into The Fight 2023” on 2/26 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin Saturday at 6:30 PM PT/9:30 PM ET. Live results are scheduled for this event.
2/24 UPDATE: This event is now available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in Japanese. Tokyo Joshi Pro wrestler Raku, a noted avid train fan, is a guest commentator.
Dragon Gate 2/18/23-2/19/23 Results (3 Events)
Dragon Gate continued the Rey De Parejas 2023 with 3 events yesterday & today-one event yesterday then a doubleheader early today.
Yesterday’s event was held at Yukihashi Municipal Gym in Fukuoka. There was no live broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 228.
Match 1: Strong Machine J, JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI & Jason Lee beat Kota Minoura, BxB Hulk & Minorita. J pinned Minorita after Diamond Frame.
Match 2: Ben-K beat Mochizuki Jr.
Match 3: Ultimo Dragon, Masaaki Mochizuki & Ho Ho Lun beat Don Fujii, YAMATO & Kaito Nagano. Lun pinned Nagano.
Match 4: Dragon Kid & Eita beat Genki Horiguchi & Kagetora. Kid pinned Horiguchi after Bible.
Match 5: Rey De Parejas Block B: Shun Skywalker & KAI beat Susumu Mochizuki & Yasushi Kanda. Skywalker pinned Kanda after a moonsault double knee drop.
Main Event: Yuki Yoshioka, Dragon Dia & Madoka Kikuta beat Diamante, H-Y-O & ISHIN. Kikuta pinned H-Y-O after a rolling lariat.
Today’s events were held at Acros Fukuoka in Fukuoka and can be watched on demand on DRAGONGATE NETWORK.
Event 1:
The announced paid attendance was 383.
Match 1: Rey De Parejas Block B: Susumu Mochizuki & Yasushi Kanda beat Ben-K & Minorita. Mochizuki pinned Minorita after Yokosuka Cutter.
Match 2: Eita beat Kagetora.
Match 3: KAI & H-Y-O beat Don Fujii & Genki Horiguchi. H-Y-O pinned Horiguchi after a diving senton.
Match 4: Shun SKywalker, Diamante & ISHIN beat Strong Machine J, JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI & Jason Lee. Diamante pinned KAMEI after Vuelta Finale.
Match 5: Dragon Kid, Yuki Yoshioka, Madoka Kikuta & Dragon Dia beat Ultimo Dragon, YAMATO, Kota Minoura & BxB Hulk. Dia pinned Minoura after Double Cork.
Main Event: Rey De Parejas Block A: Masaaki Mochizuki & Mochizuki Jr. vs. Kaito Nagano & Yoshiki Kato went to a 20 minute time limit draw.
Event 2:
The announced paid attendance was 451.
Match 1: Rey De Parejas Block A: Jason Lee & JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI beat Kota Minoura & BxB Hulk. Lee pinned Hulk with a crucifix.
Match 2: Diamante beat Yoshiki Kato.
Match 3: YAMATO & Eita beat Kaito Nagano & Kagetora. YAMATO pinned Nagano after Galleria.
Match 4: Rey De Parejas Block B: Strong Machine J & F beat Ben-K & Minorita. J pinned Minorita with Machine suplex.
Match 5: Masaaki Mochizuki, Susumu Mochizuki & Yasushi Kanda beat Ultimo Dragon, Genki Horiguchi & Ho Ho Lun. Kanda pinned Horiguchi after a diving elbow drop.
Match 6: Rey De Parejas Block A: Yuki Yoshioka & Madoka Kikuta vs. H-Y-O & ISHIN went to a 20 minute time limit draw.
Main Event: Rey De Parejas Block B: Shun Skywalker & KAI beat Dragon Kid & Dragon Dia. Skywalker pinned Dia after a moonsault double kneedrop.
As far as the standings go, the Mochizukis lead Block A with 4 points (1-0-2) while two teams are tied atop Block B with 6 points, however it appears Shun Skywalker & KAI have the tiebreaker and one extra match left.
The next event is tomorrow at Kotakura Gym in Fukuoka. There will be no live broadcast.
New Japan 2/18/23 Results
The start of New Japan’s latest US event yesterday was delayed nearly an hour due to technical issues with the PPV feed, causing me to miss the live event. They got it in though so here are the main show results:
The announced paid attendance was 2155. A legit advance sellout.
Match 1: Volador Jr., KUSHIDA, Kevin Knight & The DKC beat Rocky Romero, Josh Alexander, Adrian Quest & Mascara Dorada. Knight pinned Quest after a spike DDT.
Match 2: KENTA beat STRONG Openweight Champion Fred Rosser to win the title. KENTA becomes the 3rd STRONG Openweight Champion.
Match 3: STRONG Tag Team Champions Motor City Machine Guns beat West Coast Wrecking Crew to retain the titles. Chris Sabin pinned Jorel Nelson after Dirt Bomb. V3 for the champs.
Match 4: Eddie Kingston beat Jay White. As a result, White must leave New Japan.
Match 5: In a Filthy Rules Fight (No Ropes, No DQ), Tom Lawlor beat Homicide by ref stoppage.
Match 6: NJPW WORLD TV Champion Zack Sabre Jr. beat Clark Connors to retain the title. V2 for Sabre.
Match 7: Mercedes Mone beat IWGP Women’s Champion KAIRI to win the title. Mone becomes the second IWGP Women’s Champion.
Main Event: IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada beat Hiroshi Tanahashi to retain the title. V2 for Okada.
The next event is CMLL FANTASTICAMANIA 2023 beginning Wednesday at Takamatsu City General Gym 2 in Kagawa. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 2 AM PT/5 AM ET. The series runs one week with events every day except Saturday. All events will be televised.
New Japan Pro Wrestling Battle In The Valley LIVE Results (2/18/23) (CANCELLED)
New Japan runs their first US event of 2023 today, which also marks the start of a re-branding for the NJPW STRONG sub-label. Effective today, the US PPV events will be known as STRONG LIVE while the weekly TV show becomes STRONG ON DEMAND, featuring matches from each PPV over a roughly one-month set of episodes instead of monthly TV tapings like they had been doing. Today’s event is a loaded one with 4 title matches-STRONG Openweight Champion Fred Rosser looks to keep his long reign going against KENTA, STRONG Tag Team Champions Motor City Machine Guns defend against West Coast Wrecking Crew, then a double main event-IWGP Women’s Champion KAIRI defends against Mercedes Mone (the former Sasha Banks) in a match that has drawn constant fan vitriol because it’s not the true main event and last match-that’s a rematch 11 years in the making as IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada defends the title against Hiroshi Tanahashi, in perhaps the final title clash between the legends of NJPW.
Today’s event will be held at San Jose Civic Center in San Jose, CA and can be watched LIVE on FITE in English for $19.99. You get the live event and unlimited on demand replays with purchase. The event is a legit advance sellout. It’s also available in Japanese on New Japan World as a PPV, but it will cost you roughly $10-15 more going that route. There is also a FREE pre-show on YouTube and FITE 40 minutes before the PPV begins with 2 matches and more. The west coast setting and late start time makes this a near-all-nighter for those watching on the east coast, so get some caffeine if you’re staying up to watch as with the pre-show included the event will likely run at least 3 1/2 hours, and because one match won’t have ropes used the setup/takedown time may push the event closer to 4 hours.
Tonight’s lineup:
Pre-show:
Alex Coughlin vs. JR Kratos
David Finlay vs. Bobby Fish
PPV:
Rocky Romero, Josh Alexander, Adrian Quest & Mascara Dorada vs. Volador Jr., KUSHIDA, Kevin Knight & The DKC
STRONG Openweight Champion Fred Rosser vs. KENTA for the title
STRONG Tag Team Champions Motor City Machine Guns vs. West Coast Wrecking Crew for the titles
Eddie Kingston vs. Jay White in a Loser Leaves New Japan Match
Homicide vs. Tom Lawlor in a Filthy Rules Fight (No Ropes, No DQs)
NJPW World TV Champion Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Clark Connors for the title
IWGP Women’s Champion KAIRI vs. Mercedes Mone for the title
IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi for the title
Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.
Updates below will begin at 9:20 PM ET/6:20 PM PT.
9:20 PM ET UPDATE: Live updates begin now…
We are LIVE from San Jose Civic Center in San Jose, CA. Your hosts are .
The paid attendance may be announced after the event but is a legit advance sellout. Based on the venue and layout I’ve heard that may be around 3000. Mostly empty right now as the crowd is still filing in (doors opened just under an hour ago).
There is no audio yet as the pre-show begins, at least on my stream (watching on an Apple TV 4K). From Twitter comments it sounds like it’s not just me, also no audio on the YouTube version. (New Japan confirmed the issues on YouTube about 5 minutes in. Issue persists on FITE)
Pre-show:
Match 1: Alex Coughlin vs. JR Kratos. 20 minute time limit
Result: Alex Coughlin beat JR Kratos
Match 2: David Finlay vs. Bobby Fish. 20 minute time limit
Result: David Finlay beat Bobby Fish
End Pre-Show.
Updates will resume when the PPV begins in 10 minutes (7 PM PT/10 PM ET). Hopefully with audio on the FITE feed. (About 5 minutes before the PPV begins New Japan announced on Twitter the audio issues will be resolved for the PPV)
PPV:
Now we’ve got video problems. Frozen at the start. Matches to start at 10:05 PM ET/7:05 PM PT.
Video restored at start time. But still no audio. Then we lose video again. Could be a long night for us PPV viewers. (If this is not fixed within the next 10 minutes or so I’m going to have to cancel the live results because I’m not putting up with this and will be requesting a refund)
10:15 PM ET UPDATE: Apologies but I am going to CANCEL the live results due to streaming issues. It’s STILL not working.
All-Japan Pro Wrestling “AJPW maniaX” 2/19/23 Results (Updated)
All-Japan continues the AJPW maniaX tour today with another big event headlined by 2 title matches and a heavy New Japan Pro Wrestling presence. In addition to other participation the main event sees Yuji Nagata, the strongest 54 years old who will do his best every day, attempting to become another career grand slammer when he challenges Kento Miyahara for the Triple Crown. Before that, Atsuki Aoyagi defends the All-Japan World Jr. Heavyweight Championship against Naruki Doi, who is becoming a belt collector among freelancers. Every other match except one will have a New Japan presence.
Today’s event will be held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched LIVE on AJPW.TV in Japanese. This likely will be a Samurai! TV simulcast and because of how music rights are with AJPW streams expect a lot of muted entrances/post-matches. If, like me, you plan to split-screen because this event is the same time as New Japan’s US event, you’ll be doing it the whole time as I expect this event’s runtime will be 2 1/2-3 hours.
Today’s lineup:
Hikaru Sato, Dan Tamura & Oji Shiiba vs. Kotaro Suzuki, Rising Hayato & Ryo Inoue
Shotaro Ashino, Ryuki Honda & Masao Hanabata vs. Yoshitatsu, Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato
Shuji Ishikawa, Ren Ayabe & Oskar Leube vs. Takao Omori, Toru Yano & Black Menso-re
Suwama, Jun & Rei Saito vs. Yuto Nakashima, Ryohei Oiwa & Kosei Fujita
Yuma Anzai vs. Shingo Takagi
Yuma Aoyagi & Naoya Nomura vs. Minoru Suzuki & Hokuto Omori
All-Japan World Jr. Heavyweight Champion Atsuki Aoyagi vs. Naruki Doi for the title
All-Japan Triple Crown Champion Kento Miyahara vs. Yuji Nagata for the Triple Crown
Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.
Updates below will begin at 9:30 PM ET/6:30 PM PT.
9:30 PM ET UPDATE: Waiting for the live stream to begin, which should be momentarily.
And a moment after this update…
We are LIVE form Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. As usual we start with audio muted.
The paid attendance will be announced after the event. It’s not a sellout from the opening shots but looks like a very good crowd and full capacity. Likely in the 1200-1300 range.
We have one of New Japan’s ring announcers on the job today.
Match 1: Hikaru Sato, Dan Tamura & Oji Shiiba vs. Kotaro Suzuki, Rising Hayato & Ryo Inoue. 15 minute time limit
Result: Kotaro Suzuki, Rising Hayato & Ryo Inoue beat Hikaru Sato, Dan Tamura & Oji Shiiba. Hayato pinned Shiiba. After the match, Sato foolishly attempted to attack the winners and got a quick beatdown for it.
Match 2: Shotaro Ashino, Ryuki Honda & Masao Hanabata vs. Yoshitatsu, Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato. 15 minute time limit. New Japan/Yoshitatsu entrance muted
Result: Yoshitatsu, Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato beat Shotaro Ashino, Ryuki Honda & Masao Hanabata. Wato pinned Hanabata with a German suplex hold.
Match 3: Shuji Ishikawa, Ren Ayabe & Oskar Leube vs. Takao Omori, Toru Yano & Black Menso-re. 20 minute time limit
Result: Shuji Ishikawa, Ren Ayabe & Oskar Leube beat Takao Omori, Toru Yano & Black Menso-re. Ishikawa pinned Omori.
Match 4: Suwama, Jun & Rei Saito vs. Yuto Nakashima, Ryohei Oiwa & Kosei Fujita. 30 minute time limit
Result: Suwama, Jun & Rei Saito beat Yuto Nakashima, Ryohei Oiwa & Kosei Fujita. Suwama pinned Nakashima after a backdrop.
A special All-Japan vs. GLEAT event is announced for 3/18 at Korakuen Hall. Matches include a 10-person tag match (mixed because Michiko Miyagi is part of it), Hokuto Omori vs. Jun Tonsho, Shotaro Ashino & Ryuki Honda vs. Takanori Ito & Issei Onitsuka, HIkaru Sato/Dan Tamura/Naoya Nomura vs. Minoru Tanaka/Soma Watanabe/Seiichi Ikemoto, Suwama/Saito Bros vs. Hayato Tamura/KAZMA SAKAMOTO/Check Shimatani, Atsuki Aoyagi vs. Kaito Ishida, an 8-man tag of AJPW vs. #STRONGHEARTS,
The participants for the 2023 Champions Carnival (4/8-5/7) are announced:
A Block-Yuma Aoyagi, Jun Saito, Yoshitatsu, Ryuki Honda, Cyrus, T-Hawk (GLEAT), Kento Miyahara, X (TBA)
B Block-Yuma Anzai, Suwama, Rei Saito, Shuji Ishikawa, Shotaro Ashino, Hokuto Omori, Naoya Nomura, X (TBA)
Match 5: Yuma Anzai vs. Shingo Takagi. 30 minute time limit
Result: Shingo Takagi beat Yuma Anzai by submission. (Note: I missed a couple minutes of this match midway through due to technical issues as the stream froze and locked up my tablet I was streaming on. Had to restart my tablet)
Match 6: Yuma Aoyagi & Naoya Nomura vs. Minoru Suzuki & Hokuto Omori. 30 minute time limit
Result: Yuma Aoyagi & Naoya Nomura beat Minoru Suzuki & Hokuto Omori. Aoyagi beat Omori with a modified guillotine choke. Afterwards Nomura called Suzuki back out and got a beatdown for it, and one of the ringside ushers got a chair shot from Suzuki too.
Match 7: All-Japan World Jr. Heavyweight Champion Atsuki Aoyagi vs. Naruki Doi for the title. 1 Hour time limit
Result: Naruki Doi beat All-Japan World Jr. Heavyweight Champion Atsuki Aoyagi to win the title. Doi becomes the 64th All-Japan World Jr. Heavyweight Champion. Next up: Possibly Rising Hayato, who came out to issue the challenge.
Main Event: All-Japan Triple Crown Champion Kento Miyahara vs. Yuji Nagata for the Triple Crown. 1 Hour time limit
Result: Yuji Nagata beat All-Japan Triple Crown Champion Kento Miyahara to win the Triple Crown. Nagata becomes the 69th All-Japan Triple Crown Champion. Career Grand Slam! Nagata now has held the top title in all of the Big 3 (New Japan, All-Japan, Pro Wrestling NOAH) in his career. Next up: Possibly Shuji Ishikawa, who came out to make the customary challenge before Nagata finished his post-victory promo with an Antonio Inoki shout/salute to end the show.
The next event is 2/26 at Green Dome Maebashi Sub-Event Area in Gunma. There will be no live broadcast. Video will be available on demand on AJPW.TV later that day.
UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 1405.
DDT 2/18/23 Results
DDT ran a standalone event in Nagoya today featuring a pair of title matches and the Japan debut of All Elite Wrestling star Kip Sabian, the latest crossover between the promotions.
Today’s event was held at Nagoya International Conference Center Event Hall in Nagoya and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.
The announced paid attendance was 398.
Match 1: D Generations Cup Block B: Takeshi Masada beat Toui Kojima. As a result, Masada wins Block B and advances to the Finals.
Match 2: D Generations Cup Block A: Yuya Koroku beat Hideki Okatani. As a result, Koroku wins Block A and advances to the Finals.
The Finals will be 2/26 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. The winner may be part of the 3/31 US event.
Match 3: Antonio Honda & Saki Akai beat Gota Ihashi & Keigo Nakamura, Danshoku Dieno & Yuki Iino and Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata in a 4-way when Akai pinned Ihashi. (And just to be clear, being “not straight” does not keep those deplorable Pheromons from forcing themselves on Akai). Ihashi was a late replacement for Tetsuya Endo, who was removed from the event due to illness (not coronavirus or flu). He is expected back Tuesday for the Tokyo Dome Keiji Muto Retirement event.
Match 4: Kotaro Suzuki, Yukio Sakaguchi & Yusuke Okada beat Yuji Hino, Makoto Oishi & Kazuma Sumi. Suzuki pinned Sumi.
Match 5: Kip Sabian (All Elite Wrestling), Chris Brookes & Shinnoha beat Kazusada Higuchi, Yuki Ueno & Yuki Ishida. Sabian pinned Ishida after Deathly Hallows.
Match 6: In an Environmental Utilization Match, DDT Extreme Champion Jun Akiyama beat Akito to retain the title. V3 for Akiyama. Next up: Suzuki. That match will happen on 3/21 at Korakuen Hall in a NON-EXTREME Match, aka a completely normal rules match.
Cameras caught Sabian & Ford making comments backstage as Akai walked by. Which led to…
Penelope Ford beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Saki Akai to win the title. Ford becomes the 1557th DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion.
Match 7: MAO, Shunma Katsumata & Yukio Naya beat HARASHIMA, Takao Soma & Shinya Ishida. Naya pinned Soma after a backdrop.
Main Event: DDT Universal Champion Naruki Doi beat KANON to retain the title. V1 for Doi. Next up: TBA. Doi wanted Endo but GM Imabayashi was non-committal because Endo was absent. No official announcement followed the event so we’ll have to wait and see.
The next event is tomorrow at Tenryu Hamanako Railway in Shizuoka for a Hamatsu Train Pro Wrestling event held on a moving train. There will be no live broadcast but it will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date, scheduled to be 3/1.
Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling 2/18/23 Results (Updated)
Tokyo Joshi Pro continues the CITY CIRCUIT Tour today with a return visit to Nagoya for the first time this year. Nagoya of course is the homebase of popular all-girl J-Pop megagroup SKE48 and TJPW’s Yuki Arai, an SKE48 member and the group once again will be prominently featured on today’s event. In addition to Arai being in the main event opposite her GRAND PRINCESS ’23 opponent, the legendary Hall of Famer Aja Kong, she will be part of a live SKE48 mini-concert during the event with teammates Shiori Aoki, Rika Aoki, Miki Ito & Ayaka Okamoto, and teammate Nao Fukushi will be a guest on commentary. With vocal cheering again allowed by fans it promises to be a very energetic performance and one not to miss. There’s also a title match before the main event as International Princess Champion Miu Watanabe defends the title against Janai Kai.
Today’s event will be held at Nagoya International Conference Center (aka Nagoya Congress Center) Event Hall in Nagoya and can be watched LIVE on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in Japanese. The event could be a legit sellout by event time as there were only a few tickets left as of this morning. The commentary team will be Haruo Murata & Kagehiro Osano with Fukushi the special guest. Note that the SKE48 performance will only be available as part of the on demand replay for one month so watch it ASAP if you miss the live broadcast! There is a DDT event at the venue shortly after this event wraps up so they may be on a tight schedule today and the event can’t go too long, this will probably keep the whole event’s running time to 2 1/2 hours tops (the SKE48 performance probably will go about 15 minutes).
Today’s lineup (in order):
Hikari Noa & Wakana Uehara vs. Yuki Aino & HIMAWARI
Nao Kakuta vs. Neko Haruna & Pom Harajuku in a 3-way
Shoko Nakajima, Hyper Misao & Kaya Toribami vs. Rika Tatsumi, Suzume & Arisu Endo
Yuka Sakazaki, Mizuki & Raku vs. Maki Itoh, Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu
International Princess Champion Miu Watanabe vs. Janai Kai for the title
Miyu Yamashita & Yuki Arai vs. Aja Kong & Moka Miyamoto
It’s not known when the SKE48 performance will take place, my guess is after the second or third match.
Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.
Updates below will begin at 10 PM ET/7 PM PT when the live stream launches. The event is scheduled to begin at 10:30 PM ET/7:30 PM PT.
10 PM ET UPDATE: The live stream has just launched. We should be going to the venue in 20-25 minutes. Updates will resume then.
10:15 PM ET UPDATE: Live updates begin now…
We are LIVE from Nagoya International Conference Center in Nagoya, Japan. Your hosts are Haruo Murata, Kagehiro Osano & SKE48 member Nao Fukushi.
The paid attendance will be announced after the event, but at worst it’s going to be very close to a legit sellout as only one seating area had seats left at the start of the day. It probably will be a sellout. As the event began there looked to be maybe 20-25 empty seats. Hard to tell how many seats the setup has but I’m going to guess the crowd will be in the range of 500.
The event should begin in about 15 minutes.
The introduction & opening announcements begin at 10:25 PM ET. New Up Up Girls member/trainee Shino is part of today’s performance. And it ends with a surprise announcement for Shino…on 3/6 at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo…DEBUT MATCH! Shiho & Raku vs. Miu Watanabe & Hikari Noa in an Up Up Girls special tag match! Very exciting! Very emotional moment for Shino.
The matches begin at 10:45 PM ET.
Match 1: Hikari Noa & Wakana Uehara vs. Yuki Aino & HIMAWARI. 20 minute time limit
Result: Yuki Aino & HIMAWARI beat Hikari Noa & Wakana Uehara. HIMAWARI beat Uehara with a single leg Boston Crab. First career victory for HIMAWARI!
Match 2: Nao Kakuta vs. Neko Haruna & Pom Harajuku in a 3-way. 20 minute time limit
Result: Nao Kakuta beat Neko Haruna & Pom Harajuku in a 3-way by pinning Haruna. Comedy match but as always a lot of fun to watch.
Time for the SKE48 mini-performance! And another surprise announcement…one of them has her TJPW DEBUT MATCH on 4/15 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo! It’ll be Shiori Aoki…as a referee! We also got a glimpse of “fans” Raku & Pom Harajuku watching in the back of the crowd, Harajuku of course in full Yuki Arai fan mode. This leads to the 4th song of the performance, my favorite so far-Finally! This concludes the performance, which went about 20 minutes. Remember, you only have ONE MONTH to watch it on demand!
And now back to the wrestling…
Match 3: Shoko Nakajima, Hyper Misao & Kaya Toribami vs. Rika Tatsumi, Suzume & Arisu Endo. 20 minute time limit
Result: Rika Tatsumi, Suzume & Arisu Endo beat Shoko Nakajima, Hyper Misao & Kaya Toribami. Endo beat Toribami with a camel clutch.
Match 4: Yuka Sakazaki, Mizuki & Raku vs. Maki Itoh, Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu. 20 minute time limit
Result: Yuka Sakazaki, Mizuki & Raku beat Maki Itoh, Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu. Mizuki pinned Kiryu with Cutie Special.
Match 5: International Princess Champion Miu Watanabe vs. Janai Kai for the title. 30 minute time limit
Result: International Princess Champion Miu Watanabe beat Janai Kai to retain the title. V3 for Watanabe. Next up: Tatsumi, who made the challenge immediately afterwards. This will probably happen at GRAND PRINCESS ’23, but we’ll find out soon. (Update: Barring the unexpected, it will be at GRAND PRINCESS ’23)
Main Event: Miyu Yamashita & Yuki Arai vs. Aja Kong & Moka Miyamoto. 30 minute time limit
Result; Miyu Yamashita & Yuki Arai beat Aja Kong & Moka Miyamoto. Arai pinned Miyamoto after Finally. Arai’s SKE48 teammates watched from the back row of the crowd by the entrance area. An Arai win and show-ending promo sends the crowd home happy. Although before leaving Kong stared down Arai and let her know, one month to go…but Arai said she will win no matter what everyone says, which would be her biggest career win so far.
The next event is 2/25 at Ota City Industrial Plaza Small Exhibition Hall in Tokyo. There will be no live broadcast.
UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 604, a super full house/very near sellout. Tatsumi-Watanabe is now official for GRABD PRINCESS ’23.
Also, while it hasn’t been officially announced as such the 3/31 US debut in Los Angeles, CA will be available as a PPV on FITE for $19.99. Start time is 3 PM ET/Noon PT. Be aware this is a Friday (in California it’s a holiday).
AEW Rampage 2/17/23 Results (SPOILERS!)
Click below for the results from today’s TAPED AEW Rampage, airing at 7 PM ET/4 PM PT, but ONLY IF YOU WANT SPOILERS! (I will be unable to watch this week’s episode due to work conflicts with the earlier time) The show airs early due to NBA coverage on TNT.
Continue reading “AEW Rampage 2/17/23 Results (SPOILERS!)”DDT/TJPW News: Weekend Changes, Wrestler Staying In US
A couple of DDT & Tokyo Joshi Pro news items:
DDT has announced Tetsuya Endo is off this weekend’s events tomorrow in Nagoya and Subday’s Shizuoka train event. Apparent illness. Negative for coronavirus and flu. For tomorrow he was to have teamed with Keigo Nakamura in a 4-way tag match. Gota Ihashi is the replacement. For the train event, HARASHIMA is the replacement. Endo is still on for Tuesday at Tokyo Dome at this time. (For Tuesday, it was also announced that while it is a PPV, you will be able to watch the first 5 matches FOR FREE on YouTube)
TJPW’s Miyu Yamashita held a press conference today where she announced she will stay in the US after their 3/31 debut event. Her excursion will last just under 3 months and she will return to Japan for the 6/25 TJPW event. Yamashita has already been announced for some US independent events after 3/31 and there is always a chance she returns to All Elite Wrestling. Asked by ring announcer/MC Sayuri Namba what happens if she wins the Princess Tag Team Championship at GRAND PRINCESS ’23, Yamashita noted partner Maki Itoh makes semi-regular trips to the US so title defenses on the indies are a possibility. Oh, and for what it’s worth, current champions Heidi Howitzer & Max The Impaler have been added to 3/31.