Tag: wrestling

AEW Dynamite 12/28/22 Results (Updated x3)

Here are the quick results from tonight’s AEW Dynamite in Broomfield, CO:

Bryan Danielson beat Ethan Page by submission.

Claudio Castagnoli & Jon Moxley beat Top Flight. Castagnoli pinned Darius Martin after an uppercut.

Hook beat Baylum Lynx by submission. Squash.

AEW Trios Title 7 Match Series Match 6: In a Falls Count Anywhere Match, The Elite beat Death Triangle. Kenny Omega pinned Rey Fenix after One Winged Angel through a table. It’s now 3-3, meaning Match 7 for the titles is a Ladder Match in 2 weeks on 1/11 in Los Angeles, CA. (It can’t be next week because Omega will be returning to New Japan Pro Wrestling for their Tokyo Dome event next Wednesday morning)

Tay Melo & Anna Jay.A.S. beat Ruby Soho & Willow Nightingale. Melo pinned Soho after TayKO.

AEW TNT Champion Samoa Joe beat Wardlow by submission to retain the title.

I missed the show due to illness so no thoughts/comments.

Friday on Rampage: Swerve Strickland vs. Wheeler Yuta and AEW All-Atlantic Champion Orange Cassidy vs. Trent Beretta for the title.

UPDATE: AEW TBS Champion Jade Cargill vs. Kiera Hogan for the title has been added to Rampage. Also promos from Jamie Hayter & Jon Moxley (the latter could result in a fight with Adam Page based on recent history).

UPDATE 2: Jay Lethal/Jeff Jarrett/Sonjay Dutt promo has been added to Rampage.

Added to next week on Dynamite is AEW TNT Champion Samoa Joe vs. Darby Allin for the title.

UPDATE 3: And Tony Schiavone speaking to Darby Allin & Sting has been added to Rampage. Bear in mind this is all TAPED already.

DEVELOPING: Sumo-Suspensions & Worse?

This is coming from a YouTube video I just saw so I can’t yet verify its accuracy (maybe we’ll know more next week when NHK World Japan does their regular Grand Sumo Preview special for the upcoming tournament), but it’s huge if true: July champion Ichinojo is OUT of the January tournament AND Isegahama, chief judge of sumo and stablemaster of Isegahama Beya, may be either demoted or removed from the sumo ranking board. That also would be huge for the banzuke and especially his wrestlers (pretty much anybody with “Fuji” at the end of their name). And one lower tier wrestler at the stable has been forced to retire over bullying allegations (it should be noted this stable boasts, among others, current Yokozuna Terunofuji).

Ichinojo’s issues seem to stem from poor conduct and missing training often, likely due to excessive drinking, and reportedly struck his stablemaster’s (Minato) wife once as she tried to escort Ichinojo home from a bar (and Ichinojo, the Mongolian who is the biggest top-tier wrestler at well over 450 pounds, and closer to 475, probably outweighed her by at least 350 pounds so that’s very scary). But this supposedly happened over 5 years ago so it’s “old news”. But this charge was reduced to breaking Covid rules (that’s what got former Ozeki Asanoyama suspended for a year, and November champion Abi suspended for 6 months). Minato (stablemaster of Minato Beya) is docked 20% pay for the next 3 months.

As for Isegahama Beya, a younger wrestler claimed he was beaten and had boiling chanko (stew) water poured on him, and those claims were found to be true. One of the guilty parties has retired, the other is out the next 2 tournaments. We may know who when the Nihon Sumo Kyokai updates the “Absent Rikishi Info” page on their website as the start of the tournament nears at the end of next week. Stablemaster Isegahama, the chief judge often seen prominently at sumo tournaments and as part of the awards ceremony, will likely be gone from that role completely and not seen at all.

The source of this news is the YouTube video below:

Ganbare Pro 12/27/22 Results

Ganbare Pro ran their final event of 2022 today, a major event dubbed “GIRI GIRI CHOP! 2022” featuring a but of everything-a debut, a return, a farewell and a title match main event.

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

The paid attendance has not yet been announced. The opposite-hard camera side where the monitor(s) is/are was completely closed so it’s probably going to be low.

There were several major opening announcements including launching a separate women’s operation, a Young Ganbare Cup and an Ota City major event on 7/9/23.

Match 1: Sotatsu Nakamura Debut Match: Shinichiro Tominaga beat Sotatsu Nakamura.

Match 2: Yuki Kamifuku & YuuRI beat Suuzme & Yoshiko Hasegawa. Kamifuku pinned Hasegawa after Fameasser.

Match 3: Ken Ohka & Yumehito Imanari vs. Danshoku Dieno & Yuki Iino went to a No Contest. Ref assault.

Match 4: Yuna Manase, Moeka Haruhi & HARUKAZE beat Nao Ishikawa, Yuki Mashiro & Kaede Matsushita (Ice Ribbon). Manase pinned Ishikawa after a short range lariat.

Match 5: Shota Return Match: Shuichiro Katsumura & Shota beat Takao Soma & Shigehiro Irie. Shota pinned Soma after a frog splash.

Match 6: Takaaki Iwasaki Farewell Match: Keisuke Ishii beat Takaaki Iwasaki.

Main Event: Mizuki Watase beat Spirit of Ganbare World Openweight Champion Hartley Jackson to win the title. Watase becomes the 4th Spirit of Ganbare World Openweight Champion.

Their first event of 2023 is 1/5 at Itabashi Green Hall in Tokyo. There will be no live broadcast.

UPDATE: They didn’t announce attendance.

DEVELOPING: TJPW Tag Tournament Bracket Unveiled

In a free YouTube video posted a short time ago, Tokyo Joshi Pro unveiled the full bracket for the 3rd Futari-wa Princess Max Heart Tournament starting in January. The matches were determined via a random draw by ring announcer Sayuri Namba.

The bracket is as follows:
First, because there are 10 teams it means 2 get a free pass into the Quarterfinals. Those lucky two are Suzume & Arisu Endo and last year’s champions Miu Watanabe & Rika Tatsumi. Likewise, 4 teams start in Round 1 and must win an additional match to win it all, including current Princess Tag Team Champions Yuki Arai & Saki Akai.
Round 1 (1/15):
Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu vs. Moka Miyamoto & Juria Nagano
Yuki Arai & Saki Akai vs. Yuki Aino & Raku

Quarterfinals:
1/15:
Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh vs. Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta
1/19:
Suzume & Arisu Endo vs. Kamifuku/Kiryu-Miyamoto/Nagano winner
Miu Watanabe & Rika Tatsumi vs. Arai/Akai-Aino/Raku winner
Hyper Misao & Shoko Nakajima vs. Neko Haruna & Kaya Toribami

Semifinals (1/29):
Yamashita/Itoh-Noa/Kakuta winner vs. Suzume/Endo-1/15 winner
Misao/Nakajima-Haruna/Toribami winner vs. Watanabe/Tatsumi-1/15 winner

Finals (2/11):
1/29 winners

Watanabe & Tatsumi are the defending tournament winners. The winners likely will get a Princess Tag Team Championship shot unless the current champions at the time win. After 1/4 we’ll know if that’s still Arai/Akai or if they, like everyone else, will be going for a shot at Heidi Howitzer & Max The Impaler. As a reminder, there are 3 wrestlers not participating, hence only 10 teams: Yuka Sakazaki (scheduled excursion to All Elite Wresting in USA), Mizuki (refused to participate because she’s a snobby brat and she won’t team with anyone except Sakazaki) and Pom Harajuku (opted out to support Aino/Raku).

Sumo-January 2023 Banzuke Announced

As their late Christmas Day gift to their fans outside Japan, the Nihon Sumo Kyokai (Japan Sumo Association) has announced the Banzuke (rankings) for the January 2023 Grand Sumo Tournament. Click below for a look at how the top 2 tiers shape up:

Continue reading “Sumo-January 2023 Banzuke Announced”

Tokyo Joshi Pro “Se-no, Merry Christmas! 2022” LIVE Results (12/24/22)

Tokyo Joshi Pro wraps up their 2022 schedule today with their annual Christmas event, which is more of a fan appreciation event as they continue a tradition where all the matches, except for the main event, are determined by a fan lottery held at an event earlier in the month. That was again the case here but there have been a couple of last-minute changes because both Rika Tatsumi & Nao Kakuta are now off the card. Tatsumi was pulled earlier today due to gastroenteritis after being hospitalized for the always-vague “poor physical condition”, and Kakuta is off due to coronavirus. The latter had left Yuki Kamifuku in limbo without a match, but with Tatsumi being off and that leaving Mahiro Kiryu without a match, the sometimes-partners will now face each other.

Today’s event will be held at Ryogoku KFC Hall in Tokyo and can be watched LIVE on WRESTLE UNIVERSE. There will be no commentary. Because all the matches except for the main event have 10 minute time limits, even if they go the distance this will be a fast, short event. The total runtime will probably be just under 90 minutes.

Today’s lineup:
Neko Haruna vs. Kaya Toribami
Pom Harajuku vs. Arisu Endo
Yuki Kamifuku vs. Mahiro Kiryu
Hikari Noa vs. Yuki Aino
Miu Watanabe vs. Raku & Juria Nagano in a 3-way
Yuka Sakazaki, Mizuki, Shoko Nakajima & Suzume vs. Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh, Hyper Misao & Moka Miyamoto

Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.

Updates below will begin at 10:30 PM ET/7:30 PM PT

The stream was to go live at 10 PM ET but that was pushed back last-minute to 10:15 PM ET.

10:30 PM ET UPDATE: Live updates begin now…
We are LIVE from Ryogoku KFC Hall in Tokyo, Japan. There is no commentary.

The paid attendance will be announced after the event but based on ticket sales and same-day advertisements, and Christmas, it’ll probably be on the low side. I’d guess around 175. It may be lower in part because vocal cheering is allowed.

The matches begin at 10:40 PM ET. Took me a bit to notice it’s hard-camera-only setup today.

Match 1: Neko Haruna vs. Kaya Toribami. 10 minute time limit
Result: Kaya Toribami beat Neko Haruna. I think that’s her first ever singles win, and maybe just her second win overall, if not first.

Match 2: Arisu Endo (with new entrance music) vs. Pom Harajuku. 10 minute time limit
Result: Pom Harajuku beat Arisu Endo. Christmas themed comedy match (which of course was a lot of fun).

Match 3: Miu Watanabe vs. Raku & Juria Nagano in a 3-way. 10 minute time limit
Result: Miu Watanabe beat Raku & Juria Nagano in a 3-way by pinning Nagano.

Match 4: Yuki Kamifuku vs. Mahiro Kiryu. 10 minute time limit
Result: Yuki Kamifuku beat Mahiro Kiryu

Match 5: Hikari Noa vs. Yuki Aino. 10 minute time limit
Result: Time Limit Draw. And now we know they still use the old TJPW theme music when that happens. I prefer it over the new one (it’s fine for games like Final Fantasy-one of their composers did it, but for wrestling like this, no)

Quick break for ring maintenance/repairs..This lasted about 5 minutes.

Main Event: Yuka Sakazaki, Mizuki, Shoko Nakajima & Suzume vs. Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh, Hyper Misao & Moka Miyamoto. 30 minute time limit
In progress.

Post-show Update: The announced paid attendance was 335, a super full house/very near sellout. That means they were much closer to full capacity than they had been all year (I believe the venue’s full capacity is in the 400-500 range).

Pro Wrestling NOAH 12/23/22 Results

Pro Wrestling NOAH wrapped up their 2022 schedule today with the final N INNOVATION event of the year, shining the spotlight on their Jr. Heavyweight division once more with a major event headlined by two title matches.

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

The announced paid attendance was 320. Vocal cheering was allowed meaning this sounded like a higher number than what reduced capacity would usually be, possibly a sellout (the venue’s normal capacity is roughly 500).

Match 1: Shoki Kitamura beat Hi69 by submission.

Match 2: Ninja Mack, Alejandro & Andy Wu beat Shuji Kondo, Tadasuke & Hajime Ohara. Alejandro pinned Tadasuke after Casadora con Hero.

Match 3: Yasutaka Yano beat NOSAWA Rongai. UPSET ALERT!

Match 4: Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Eita went to a No Contest. Tadasuke & Hi69 interference.

Match 5: YO-HEY & Kzy (Dragon Gate) beat GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Atsushi Kotoge & Seiki Yoshioka to win the titles. YO-HEY & Kzy become the 54th GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. Kzy pinned Kotoge after KZ Time.

Main Event: AMAKUSA beat GHC Jr. Heavyweight Champion Dante Leon to win the title. AMAKUSA becomes the 52nd GHC Jr. Heavyweight Champion. The former Haoh plays the ultimate revenge version of Kongo Bongo…first he got kicked out of the faction. Then he got kicked out of NOAH. Then he snuck back under a mask and a new name. Now he does what most of Kongo has not been able to do-win the Jr. Heavyweight Championship. Very fun times ahead.

And with that, Pro Wrestling NOAH’s 2022 comes to a close. It was another up & down year especially with generally poor attendance for major events despite being helped out by funding from CyberFight Corporation to keep them going, and once again they were hurt by their top stars going down with injuries for long stretches. And then it became all about Keiji Muto when he announced he will retire in February, and I believe they did become the first promotion to run the new Ariake Arena in Tokyo (built for the 2020 Summer Olympics). The start of 2023 will be all about Muto’s retirement but they also have a literally red-hot rivalry between Kenoh & Kaito Kiyomiya that shows no signs of slowing down. It’s always been a bit of a struggle for the promotion since the death of founder Mitsuharu Misawa, but they always keep him in their hearts and continue voyaging forward.

The first event of 2023 is ABEMA presents “NOAH THE NEW YEAR” 2023 on 1/1 at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo. It’s an absolutely loaded blowout event with a one-last-time worldwide dream match as former New Japan superstar Shinsuke Nakamura, currently competing in WWE, returns to Japan for a special single match against Keiji Muto. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in English only will begin at 1:45 AM ET/10:45 PM PT on 12/31. This is an ABEMA-exclusive broadcast so the original Japanese broadcast will only be available on demand after the event.

New Japan 12/23/22 Results

New Japan wrapped up their 2022 today with the second half of Road to TOKYO DOME, the final event of the year that also promised the final farewell to the Suzuki-gun faction after 11 years.

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 1376, a legit advance sellout.

Match 1: Sho & Yujiro Takahashi beat Yuto Nakashima & Jado. Takahashi pinned Nakashima after Pimp Juice.

Match 2: Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii beat Kosei Fujita & Ryohei Oiwa. Ishii pinned Oiwa.

Match 3; Francesco Akira, Aaron Henare, Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb beat Ren Narita, Tiger Mask, Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe. Akira pinned TM 4 after Fireball.

Match 4: Hiromu Takahashi & Shingo Takagi beat Dick Togo & EVIL. Takagi pinned Togo after a sliding lariat.

Match 5: YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan. Goto pinned Tenzan after Shoto.

Match 6: BUSHI, SANADA & Tetsuya Naito beat Shota Umino, Ryusuke Taguchi & Hiroshi Tanahashi. Naito pinned Taguchi after Destino.

Match 7: Master Wato, Yoh & Kazuchika Okada beat Gedo, Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo. Yoh pinned Gedo after Direct Drive. Afterwards, Akira laid out Yoh with Fireball.

Main Event: Suzuki-gun Farewell Match: DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. beat TAKA Michinoku, El Desperado, Lance Archer & Minoru Suzuki. Sabre pinned Suzuki after Zack Driver. Afterwards, all the members took turns sending messages of gratitude to Suzuki as the faction will now disband, but as the celebration wound down…look out, it’s CRAZY KOUZU! Takashi Iizuka returned with his signature entrance rampaging through the crowd to steal his iron fingers back from Taichi!

And with that, New Japan’s 2022 comes to a close as the 50th Anniversary celebration nears its conclusion. A year-long celebration wound down on a very somber note following the death of founder Antonio Inoki in October, just as rumors were breaking that Inoki was going to be named Lifetime Honorary Chairman despite distancing himself from the promotion and focusing more on his own rival IGF promotion. But he was always an important part of New Japan and always will be. But as is custom in NJPW, the end leads to the beginning…

The first event of 2023 is the biggest annual event in Japanese pro wrestling and the outside-US version of WrestleMania…WRESTLE KINGDOM 17 in TOKYO DOME, on 1/4 at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo. Live streaming ONLY ON New Japan World in Japanese and English will begin on 1/4 at 1:30 AM ET in the east US, 1/3 at 10:30 PM PT in the west US. Make sure to sign up for New Japan World between 1/1 and 1/3 so you’re subscribed and ready to watch, it should only cost between $7.50-$8 US. And after that, come back for New Year’s Dash on 1/5 which will be available worldwide FOR FREE!

DEVELOPING: Another TJPW 12/24 Change

Tokyo Joshi Pro has announced another last-minute change for today’s (12/24) event: Rika Tatsumi is now off. Gastroenteritis. It was diagnosed after she was hospitalized for the always vague “poor physical condition”. She was to have faced Mahiro Kiryu. Yuki Kamifuku, who lost her scheduled match when Nao Kakuta was pulled due to coronavirus, is the replacement. The event will now have 6 matches, all but the main event have 10 minute time limits.