Tag: wrestling

TJPW News: New Debuting Wrestlers Get Names

Ahead of their debuts at GRAND PRINCESS ’23, Tokyo Joshi Pro has announced the new names for the two wrestlers making their debuts at the event:

“Momo” will now be known as Runa (Ryuna?) Okubo. She will be the youngest active wrestler in TJPW-she is just 14 years old, standing about 5 feet tall, and was inapires by her parents and traveled to a dojo in Tokyo to train every day after school from her home in Saitama. Her hobbies and skills include cooking and dancing and her goal is to be like TJPW wrestler Yuki Kamifuku.

“Haru” will be known as either Haru Fujo or Haru Kazashiro. Almost as young as Okubo, she will turn 15 in 3 weeks, stands about 5’1″ and learned about TJPW via programs on the Japanese version of Amazon Prime Video. She is an anime fan who decided to become a wrestler after seeing Nodoka Tenma’s retirement match. And in a very exciting doubleheader of sorts for her, she will graduate from junior high school the day after GRAND PRINCESS.

In their Debut Match, they will team with Kaya Toribami & Touma (who just had her Debut Match yesterday) to face Mahiro Kiryo, Wakana Uehara, HIMAWARI & Shino Suzuki.

In other event news, another Japanese event tradition will return at GRAND PRINCESS as it has been announced that fans will be allowed to throw streamers/ticker tape/paper rolls into the ring during wrestler introductions. This was halted in 2020 by the pandemic as an infection control measure and has been allowed at only one or two events since.

FREE VIDEO: DDT 3/4/23 Full Event (Limited Time)

Ahead of their big 5 hour 26th Anniversary Event on 3/21, DDT has made the full vide of their 3/4 Yokohama event available FOR FREE on YouTube for a limited time. Check it out below: (running time is 2 hours)

News: Top Independent Women’s Star Gives Birth

Some happy news to share from the Japanese women’s independent scene-Tsukasa Fujimoto, the top star of Ice Ribbon and longtime face of the former Emi Sakura-run promotion, is now a mother. She announced on Twitter she has given birth to her first child today, it’s a girl. Mother and baby are said to be doing well despite being born ahead of the due date. Fujimoto posted a picture of the new baby on her Twitter, which has been shared by Weekly Pro on their account and congratulations & well-wishes are flowing in from fans and wrestlers including Hall of Famer Aja Kong.

I join the Japanese wresting community and fans in sending congratulations and best wishes to new mother Tsukasa Fujimoto on welcoming her first baby into the world.

GLEAT 3/7/23 Results

GLEAT held a special Lidet UWF event today, featuring all UWF bouts and the start of a tournament to crown the inaugural Lidet UWF Champion. (I had originally noted it would be a one-day tournament, that was incorrect. They only hat the first part today, the tournament concludes at a later event)

Today’s event was held at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo and can be watched on demand FOR FREE on YouTube. The video was posted yesterday (may appear as a link on desktops as it was posted in mobile format).

The announced paid attendance was 214.

Match 1: Maya Fukuda beat Yura Suzuki by KO.

Match 2: Lidet UWF Championship Tournament: Yu Iizuka beat Minoru Tanaka by submission.

Match 3: Lidet UWF Championship Tournament: Shinya Aoki beat Tetsuya Izuchi by submission.

Match 4: Hideki Sekine beat Seichi Ikemoto by KO.

Match 5: Tatsuaki Nakano & Daichi Hashimoto beat Kaz Hayashi & Rionne Fujiwara by submission. Hashimoto beat Fujiwara with STF.

Match 6: Lidet UWF Championship Tournament: Takanori Ito beat Dan Tamura by KO.

Main Event: Lidet UWF Championship Tournament: Hikaru Sato beat Soma Watanabe by submission.

The Semifinals are 4/12 at Korakuen Hall and will be Ito vs. Iizuka and Sato vs. Aoki.

The next event is G PROWRESTLING Ver. 46 on 3/15 at Shinjuku Face. Broadcast plans TBA.

New Japan News: Card Changes This Week

New Japan has announced some changes to event lineups for this week because of David Finlay joining Bullet Club at yesterday’s 51st Anniversary event (none affect the New Japan Cup):

Tomorrow, Finlay replaces Gedo to team with El Phantasmo, Chase Owens & KENTA to face Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, El Desperado & DOUKI & TAKA Michinoku. He was to have teamed with Lio Rush & Tama Tonga to face LIJ. Tomoaki Honma is the replacement.

Friday, Finlay joins Bullet Club for an 8-man tag against Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado, Ren Narita & Ryusuke Taguchi. He was to have been in another 8-man tag against United Empire. Honma again is the replacement.

Finally, announced for Saturday is Finlay & El Phantasmo vs. Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr. This card had been unannounced before so no changes.

UPCOMING LIVE/FREE EVENT VIDEO: GLEAT Lidet UWF 3 (3/7/23)

GLEAT holds it’s 3rd Lidet UWF event tomorrow where it will crown the inaugural UWF Champion in a one-day tournament (men only). The entire event will be available LIVE FOR FREE on YouTube.

You can watch the event below beginning tomorrow at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET and on demand after the event concludes.

https://www.youtube.com/live/3JTH1eCRPnQ?feature=share

Tokyo Joshi Pro 3/6/23 Results (Updated)

Tokyo Joshi Pro held “The Night Before GRAND PRINCESS ’23” today, the final event before their biggest event of the year in less than 2 weeks.

Today’s event was held at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.

The announced paid attendance was 297, a full house/near sellout.

Match 1: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao beat Wakana Uehara & HIMAWARI. Nakajima pinned Uehara.

Match 2: Rika Tatsumi beat Kaya Toribami.

Match 3: Shino Suzuki Debut Match: Miu Watanabe & Hikari Noa beat Raku & Shino Suzuki. Noa beat Suzuki with Blue Racer.

Match 4: Touma Debut Match: Miyu Yamashita beat Touma.

Match 5: Yuki Kamifuku, Nao Kakuta & Mahiro Kiryu beat Yuki Aino, Neko Haruna & Pom Harajuku. Kamifuku pinned Harajuku after Fameasser.

Main Event: Yuka Sakazaki, Yuki Arai & Suzume beat Mizuki, Moka Miyamoto & Arisu Endo. Sakazaki pinned Miyamoto after Magical Merry-Go-Round.

The build is now all but over…the next event is GRAND PRINCESS ’23, TJPW’s biggest event of the year, on 3/18 at Ariake Arena in Tokyo. There’s still time to get tickets but they are selling well. The venue will be at 50% capacity as it was set before pandemic restrictions were lifted-that means depending on the setup it’ll probably be a max capacity of around 4000-the venue’s normal full capacity is 12,000. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE on Japanese and English will begin at 2 AM ET/11 PM PT.

UPDATE: It’s now official-Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh vs. Heidi Howitzer & Max The Impaler on 3/18 will be for the Princess Tag Team Championship. V3 for the champs over the weekend in their latest defense so now it’s for the titles at Ariake Arena.

New Japan 3/6/23 Results

On March 6, 1972, Shin Nihon Puroresu aka New Japan Pro Wrestling held its first official event. The promotion continued its annual tradition of holding an anniversary event aka Flag Raising Day event today, celebrating their 51st Anniversary (but first without the pate Antonio Inoki, the founder of New Japan and Hall of Famer).

Today’s event was held at Ota City General Gym in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on New Japan World FOR FREE! The event also streamed on ABEMA in Japan.

Click below to watch in Japanese:
https://njpwworld.com/p/s_00641_1_1

English is also available but the URL appears to be the same. Go to the New Japan World homepage to choose English.

The announced paid attendance was 2020.

Match 1: El Phantasmo & KENTA beat Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr. KENTA beat Fujita with GAME OVER.

Match 2: Aussie Open & Will Ospreay beat Satoshi Kojima, Toru Yano & Tama Tonga. Kyle Fletcher pinned Kojima after Corealis.

Match 3: El Desperado, Ren Narita & Minoru Suzuki beat Dick Togo, Sho & EVIL. Desperado pinned Togo after Pinche Loco.

Match 4: Aaron Henare, Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb beat SANADA, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito. Henare pinned Takagi after Streets Of Rage. Huge.

Match 5: Lio Rush & Yoh beat BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi. Rush pinned BUSHI after Final Hour.

Match 6: New Japan Cup Round 1: Shota Umino beat Yujiro Takahashi. As a result, Umino advances to Round 2 and will face Zack Sabre Jr.

Match 7: New Japan Cup Round 1: David Finlay beat Tomohiro Ishii. As a result, Finlay advances to Round 2 and will face Great-O-Khan. After the match, Finlay joined Bullet Club.

Main Event: IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada to retain the titles. YOSHI-HASHI pinned Tanahashi after Abyss. V2 for the champs.

The next event is a special Antonio Inoki Farewell Party tomorrow at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo. The first part of the event will be a special ceremony for paying ticket holders only. The second part will be for fans to leave flowers and is open to the public

The New Japan Cup continues Wednesday at Big Palette Fukushima in Fukushima. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET.

AEW Revolution 2023 Results (3/5/23)

Here are the quick results from tonight’s AEW Revolution PPV from San Francisco, CA:
Pre-Show: Mark Briscoe & Lucha Bros beat Ari Daivari & Varsity Athletes. Briscoe pinned Daivari after Froggy Boy.

PPV:
Ricky Starks beat Chris Jericho. JAS was banned from ringside

In a Final Burial Match (Buried Alive Match), Jungle Boy beat Christian Cage.

House Of Black beat AEW Trios Champions The Elite to become THE NEW AEW TRIOS CHAMPIONS! Malakai Black pinned Matt Jackson after Dante’s Inferno.

AEW Women’s Champion Jamie Hayter beat Saraya & Ruby Soho in a 3-way by pinning Soho to retain the title

In a Texas Death Match, Adam Page beat Jon Moxley by submission.

Wardlow beat AEW TNT Champion Samoa Joe by submission to become THE NEW AEW TNT CHAMPION!

ARW Tag Team Champions Gunn Club beat The Acclaimed, Jeff Jarrett & Jay Lethal and Orange Cassidy & Danhausen in a 4-way, when Austin Gunn pinned Danhausen, to retain the titles. FTR returned post-match.

In a 1 Hour Iron Match, AEW World Champion MJF beat Bryan Danielson in Sudden Death after a 3-3 TIE to retain the title.

Dragon Gate 3/5/23 Results

Dragon Gate ran the second half of CHAMPION GATE 2023 today, headlined by the first Open The Dream Gate Championship defense for Shun Skywalker as the promotion’s top titleholder.

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 528.

Match 1: Kota Minoura, BxB Hulk & Ben-K beat Jason Lee, JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI & Ho Ho Lun. Minoura pinned Lun after R-301.

Match 2: Masaaki Mochizuki, Susumu Mochizuki & Mochizuki Jr. beat Don Fujii, Ichikawa & Shachihoko BOY. Susumu Mochizuki pinned Ichikawa with a cut-back La Magistral. Which led to…
Impromptu Match: Mochizuki Jr. vs. Don Fujii went to a double countout.

Match 3: KAI & H-Y-O beat Genki Horiguchi & Kagetora. H-Y-O pinned Horiguchi after a diving senton.

Match 4: Dragon Kid, Eita & Dragon Dia beat YAMATO, Naruki Doi & Takashi Yoshida. Dia pinned Yoshida.

Match 5: Open The Twin Gate Champions Kzy & BIGBOSS Shimizu beat Yuki Yoshioka & Madoka Kikuta to retain the titles. Shimizu pinned Yoshioka after BIGBOSS Press. V5 for the champs.

Main Event: Open The Dream Gate Champion Shun Skywalker beat Strong Machine J to retain the title. V1 for Skywalker.

The next event is Friday at Singapore Eurasian Community House in Singapore. There will be no live broadcast.