By Oliver Taylor
Pro Wrestling NOAH
Pro Wrestling NOAH held its NOAH the CHRONICLE vol.3 show in Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium today.
The full results were:
• Haoh and Nioh def. Tadasuke and YO-HEY
• Atsushi Kotoge, Hajima Ohara and Seiki Yoshioka def. Kinya Okada, Kotaro Suzuki and Yoshinari Ogawa
• Masaaki Mochizuki, Naomichi Marufuji and Yuko Miyamoto def. Katsuhiko Nakajima, Mohammed Yone and Shuhei Taniguchi
• IPW:UK Junior Heavyweight Championship: HAYATA def. Daisuke Harada (c)
• Kazushi Sakuraba, Kendo Kashin and Takashi Sugiura def. Manabu Soya, Masa Kitamiya and Yoshiki Inamura
• Keiji Mutoh def. Kaito Kiyomiya
• GHC Heavyweight Championship and GHC National Championship: Go Shiozaki vs. Kenoh – Time Limit Draw (60 minutes)
Go Shiozaki and Kenoh fought to a 60-minute time limit draw in the main event. As such, neither the GHC Heavyweight Championship or GHC National Championship changed hands.
Elsewhere on the show, Tadasuke turned on YO-HEY during the opening match.
Seiki Yoshioka challenged Kotaro Suzuki to a GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship match after the second bout.
Then, Atsushi Kotoge tried to challenge HAYATA and Yoshinari Ogawa for the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships alongside Hajime Ohara, but Kotoge failed to notice Stinger had already left the ring.
Daisuke Harada lost the IPW:UK Junior Heavyweight Championship to HAYATA. YO-HEY helped Harada to the back after the match.
Following his victory, HAYATA threw the IPW:UK Junior Heavyweight Championship in the bin.
René Duprée announced he and El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. are vacating the GHC Tag Team Championships due to the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic.
Keiji Mutoh, 57, defeated company ace Kaito Kiyomiya in the semi main event.
In his post match interview, Mutoh told Naomichi Marufuji he will bring a new member to join M’s Alliance at NOAH’s show on August 30 in Culttz Kawasaki.
NOAH announced the full field for this year’s N-1 Victory during the show.
Participating in the tournament will be:
A block
• Go Shiozaki
• Masa Kitamiya
• Manabu Soya
• Kaito Kiyomiya
• Masaaki Mochizuki
• Kazushi Sakuraba
B block
• Naomichi Marufuji
• Shuhei Taniguchi
• Takashi Sugiura
• Katsuhiko Nakajima
• Kenoh
• Yoshiki Inamura
Alexander Hammerstone and El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. are the only two wrestlers not to return from last year’s tournament, understandably so given the current global climate and subsequent travel restrictions..
Kazushi Sakuraba, Manabu Soya and Yoshiki Inamura are all making their N-1 Victory debut in this year’s tournament.
Kaito Kiyomiya was withheld from last year’s tournament due to his status as the holder of the GHC Heavyweight Championship. It appears this will not carry forward, as both Shiozaki (the GHC Heavyweight Championship holder) and Kenoh (the GHC National Championship holder) are in this year’s tournament.
The tournament will take place across shows on September 18, 20, 22, 23, 26 and October 4. There will be two shows on September 23 and the final will take place on October 11.
The full tournament schedule is:
September 18
• A block: Go Shiozaki vs. Manabu Soya
• A block: Kaito Kiyomiya vs. Masaaki Mochizuki
• B block: Kenoh vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima
• B block: Takashi Sugiura vs. Yoshiki Inamura
September 20
• A block: Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Kazushi Sakuraba
• A block: Masa Kitamiya vs. Manabu Soya
• B block: Takashi Sugiura vs. Shuhei Taniguchi
• B block: Naomichi Marufuji vs. Yoshiki Inamura
September 22
• A block: Go Shiozaki vs. Kazushi Sakuraba
• A block: Kaito Kiyomiya vs. Masa Kitamiya
• B block: Naomichi Marufuji vs. Takashi Sugiura
• B block: Kenoh vs. Shuhei Taniguchi
September 23 (Afternoon)
• A block: Kaito Kiyomiya vs. Manabu Soya
• A block: Masa Kitamiya vs. Kazushi Sakuraba
• B block: Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Shuhei Taniguchi
• B block: Kenoh vs. Yoshiki Inamura
September 23 (Evening)
• A block: Go Shiozaki vs. Masaaki Mochizuki
• A block: Kaito Kiyomiya vs. Kazushi Sakuraba
• B block: Takashi Sugiura vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima
• B block: Naomichi Marufuji vs. Kenoh
September 26
• A block: Go Shiozaki vs. Masa Kitamiya
• A block: Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Manabu Soya
• B block: Naomichi Marufuji vs. Shuhei Taniguchi
• B block: Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Yoshiki Inamura
October 4
• A block: Go Shiozaki vs. Kaito Kiyomiya
• A block: Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Manabu Soya
• B block: Naomichi Marufuji vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima
• B block: Takashi Sugiura vs. Kenoh
DDT Pro-Wrestling
DDT Pro-Wrestling’s King Of DDT quarterfinals took place in the Kanda Myojin Hall today.
The full results were:
• Saki Akai and Yukio Sakaguchi def. Danshoku Dino and Seigo Tachibana, Kazuki Hirata and Makoto Oishi & Shunma Katsumata and Yuki Ino
• Antonio Honda and Chris Brookes def. El Lindaman and Nobuhiro Shimatani
• HARASHIMA, Naomi Yoshimura and Toru Owashi def. Daisuke Sasaki, Mad Paulie and Soma Takao
• King Of DDT quarterfinal: T-Hawk def. Yuki Ueno
• King Of DDT quarterfinal: Akito def. Shinya Aoki
• King Of DDT quarterfinal: Tetsuya Endo def. Minoru Tanaka
• King Of DDT quarterfinal: Kazusada Higuchi def. Konosuke Takeshi
Akito, Kazusada Higuchi, T-Hawk and Tetsuya Endo are the four King of DDT semi-finalists.
The four semi-finalists will be shuffled and the semifinals and final will take place on August 23 in Korakuen Hall.
The winner of the tournament will face Endo for the KO-D Openweight Championship at Ultimate Party 2020 on November 3 in Ota Ward General Gymnasium.
However, if Endo wins the tournament himself, he has promised he will name Kenny Omega as his next challenger.
Big Japan Pro Wrestling
Big Japan Pro Wrestling held a show in Korakuen Hall today.
The full results were:
• Deathmatch: Kankuro Hoshino and Masaya Takahashi def. Toshiyuki Sakuda and Yuki Ishikawa
• BJW Junior Heavyweight Championship challenger tournament: Tatsuhiko Yoshino def. Kazuki Hashimoto
• BJW Junior Heavyweight Championship challenger tournament: Shinobu def. Yusuke Kodama
• Kazumi Kikuta and Ryuichi Kawakami def. Shigehiro Irie and Takuho Kato
• Kuma Arashi, Ryota Hama and Yasufumi Nakanoue def. Hideyoshi Kamitani, Yuji Okabayashi and Yuya Aoki
• Deathmatch: Isami Kodaka, Ryuji Ito and Yuko Miyamoto def. Abdullah Kobayashi, Minoru Fujita and Takumi Tsukamoto
• BJW World Strong Heavyweight Championship: Daichi Hashimoto (c) def. Akira Hyodo
• BJW Tag Team Championships: Fuminori Abe and Takuya Nomura def. Daisuke Sekimoto and Kohei Sato (c)
Daichi Hashimoto made his fifth successful defense of the BJW World Strong Heavyweight Championship against Akira Hyodo in the semi main event. It was Hyodo’s first time challenging for the championship.
Then, Shigehiro Irie challenged Hashimoto to a BJW World Strong Heavyweight Championship match at Big Japan’s first of two LAST BUNTAI show in Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium on August 29.
Like Hyodo prior to today, Irie has never challenged for the BJW World Strong Heavyweight Championship.
Fuminori Abe and Takuya Nomura defeated Daisuke Sekimoto and Kohei Sato to win the BJW Tag Team Championships in the main event. They are the fiftieth holders in the championships’ history.
Sekimoto and Sato held the championships for 236 days. They managed three successful defenses.
Big Japan will hold its TOKYO DELTA show, co-promoted with Active Advance Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling ZERO1, in Korakuen Hall tomorrow.
The full card is:
• Chicharito Shoki, Daiju Wakamatsu, Naka Shuma and Takumi Baba vs. Kosuke Sato, Masaki Morhiro, Takuho Kato and Yuki Ishikawa
• Drew Parker, Kota Sekifuda, Takuya Sugawara and Tatsuhiko Yoshino vs. Kaji Tomato, Shoki Kitamura, SUGI and Ricky Fuji
• Akira Hyodo, Yasufumi Nakanoue and Yuji Okabayashi vs. Ayumy Honda, Shu Asakawa and Taishi Takizawa
• Shinjiro Otani vs. Tatsuya Hanami
• Chris Vice and Yoshikazu Yokoyama vs. Kohei Sato and Ryuji Ito
• Daichi Hashimoto, Hartley Jackson and Hideyoshi Kamitani vs. Kazumi Kikuta, Ryuichi Kawakami and Yuya Aoki
• Ayato Yoshida, Daisuke Sekimoto and Masato Tanaka vs. Tank Nagai, Takuya Nomura and Towa Iwasaki
Big Japan also announced full field and schedule for this year’s Saikyo Tag League today.
First round matches will take place on September 6, 12, 14 and 23.
The quarterfinals will be split across September 27 and October 7. The semifinals and final will take place on October 20.
Takayuki Ueki will make his in-ring return on September 9 in Shin-Kiba 1st Ring.
September 9 will be exactly one year since Ueki’s last match.
Unfortunately one return seemingly also means one departure as Tatsumi Fujinami will miss Big Japan’s second of two LAST BUNTAI show in Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium on August 30 due to lumbar stenosis.
Lumbar stenosis is when the spinal canal narrows, therefore causing the nerves traveling through the lower back into the legs to compress. It is a common degenerative condition for people aged over 60.
Fujinami, 66, was scheduled to team with Hashimoto and Yasufumi Nakanoue against Sekimoto, Yuji Okabayashi and Yuya Aoki in a six-man tag team main event.
Instead, Hashimoto suggested Hyodo should replace Fujinami after today’s main event.
Following day’s results, the updated cards for both LAST BUNTAI shows in Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium on August 29 and 30 are:
August 29
• Abdullah Kobayashi, Kazumi Kikuta and Ryuichi Kawakami vs. Brahman Kei, Brahman Shu and and Yuichi Taniguchi
• BJW Junior Heavyweight Championship challenger tournament final: Tatsuhiko Yoshino vs. Shinobu
• Deathmatch: Jaki Numazawa and Jun Kasai vs. Toshiyuki Sakuda and Yuki Ishikawa
• BJW World Strong Heavyweight Championship: Daichi Hashimoto (c) vs. Shigehiro Irie
• BJW Deathmatch Heavyweight Championship fluorescent light and glass board deathmatch: Ryuji Ito (c) vs. Minoru Fujita
August 30
• Akira Hyodo, Kosuke Sato and Takuho Kato vs. Keigo Nakamura, Naomi Yoshimura and Yuki Ueno
• Ice Ribbon six-woman tag team match
• Sendai Girls’ Pro Wrestling six-woman tag team match
• Daiki Shimomura, Isami Kodaka and Ryuichi Sekine vs. Koju Takeda, Onryo and Shinobu
• Deathmatch: Abdullah Kobayashi, Jaki Numazawa, Ryuji Ito and Takashi Sasaki vs. Masaya Takahashi, Shunma Katsumata, Toshiyuki Sakuda and Yuki Ishikawa
• Hardcore: Hideyoshi Kamitani and Leatherface vs. Mammoth Sasaki and Masato Tanaka
• Kazumi Kikuta, Ryota Hama and Ryuichi Kawakami vs. Kohei Sato, Shuji Ishikawa, Tetsuya Endo
• Akira Hyodo, Daichi Hashimoto and Yasufumi Nakanoue vs. Daisuke Sekimoto, Yuji Okabayashi and Yuya Aoki
Nine matches are planned for the August 29, meaning five are yet to be announced.
Competitors confirmed for August 29 but currently without a match are Isami Kodaka, Koju Takeda, Kuma Arashi, Masashi Takeda, Shinobu, Yuko Miyamoto and Yusuke Kodama.
Hyodo will presumably be replaced in the opening six-man tag team match on the August 30 show if he does indeed inherit Fujinami’s spot in the main event, although any such replacement has not been confirmed.
New Japan Pro Wrestling
New Japan Pro Wrestling has announced the cards for the rest of the Summer Struggle tour and the full lineup for SUMMER STRUGGLE in JINGU on August 29 in Jingu Stadium.
The cards for the rest of the Summer Struggle tour are:
August 11 in Edion Arena Osaka, Osaka
• Gabriel Kidd and Yuya Uemura vs. Satoshi Kojima and Tomoaki Honma
• Ryusuke Taguchi, Yota Tsuji and Yuji Nagata vs. SHO, Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano
• DOUKI and Minoru Suzuki vs. SANADA and Shingo Takagi
• El Desperado, Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Kota Ibushi and Master Wato
• Gedo, Jado and Yujiro Takahashi vs. Hirooki Goto, Kazuchika Okada and YOSHI-HASHI
• BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi and Tetsuya Naito vs. Dick Togo, EVIL and Taiji Ishimori
August 12 in Yawatahama Citizen Sports Center, Ehime
• Gabriel Kidd and Yota Tsuji vs. Ryusuke Taguchi and Satoshi Kojima
• Tomoaki Honma, Yuji Nagata and Yuya Uemura vs. Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano and YOSHI-HASHI
• BUSHI and Shingo Takagi vs. El Desperado and Minoru Suzuki
• DOUKI, Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Kota Ibushi and Master Wato
• Gedo, Jado and Yujiro Takahashi vs. Hirooki Goto, Kazuchika Okada and SHO
• Dick Togo, EVIL and Taiji Ishimori vs. Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA and Tetsuya Naito
August 13 in Uwajima City Overall Gymnasium, Ehime
• Satoshi Kojima and Tomoaki Honma vs. Yota Tsuji and Yuya Uemura
• Gabriel Kidd, Ryusuke Taguchi and Yuji Nagata vs. Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii and YOSHI-HASHI
• DOUKI and Minoru Suzuki vs. SANADA and Shingo Takagi
• El Desperado, Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Kota Ibushi and Master Wato
• Gedo, Jado and Yujiro Takahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada, SHO and Toru Yano
• BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi and Tetsuya Naito vs. Dick Togo, EVIL and Taiji Ishimori
August 16 in Twin Messe Shizuoka, Shizuoka
• Gabriel Kidd and Yuya Uemura vs. Ryusuke Taguchi and Satoshi Kojima
• Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii and YOSHI-HASHI vs. Tomoaki Honma, Yota Tsuji and Yuji Nagata
• BUSHI and Shingo Takagi vs. El Desperado and Minoru Suzuki
• DOUKI, Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Kota Ibushi and Master Wato
• Gedo, Jado and Yujiro Takahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada, SHO and Toru Yano
• Dick Togo, EVIL and Taiji Ishimori vs. Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA and Tetsuya Naito
August 26 in Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
• Gabriel Kidd, Yota Tsuji and Yuya Uemura vs. Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii and YOSHI-HASHI
• DOUKI, Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Kota Ibushi and Master Wato
• KOPW tournament: El Desperado vs. Satoshi Kojima
• KOPW tournament: BUSHI vs. Toru Yano
• KOPW tournament: SANADA vs. SHO
• KOPW tournament: Kazuchika Okada vs. Yujiro Takahashi
August 27 in Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
• Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima vs. Yota Tsuji and Yuya Uemura
• Gabriel Kidd, Tomoaki Honma and Yuji Nagata vs. Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii and YOSHI-HASHI
• Gedo, Jado and Yujiro Takahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada, SHO and Toru Yano
• BUSHI, SANADA and Shingo Takagi vs. DOUKI, El Desperado and Minoru Suzuki
• Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi and Master Wato vs. Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Zack Sabre Jr.
• EVIL and Taiji Ishimori vs. Hiromu Takahashi and Tetsuya Naito
The full lineup for SUMMER STRUGGLE in JINGU on August 29 in Jingu Stadium is:
• Master Wato vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
• KOPW four-way: BUSHI/Toru Yano vs. El Desperado/Satoshi Kojima vs. Kazuchika Okada/Yujiro Takahashi vs. SANADA/SHO
• NEVER Openweight Championship: Shingo Takagi (c) vs. Minoru Suzuki
• IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Hiromu Takahashi (c) vs. Taiji Ishimori
• IWGP Tag Team Championships: Taichi and Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kota Ibushi
• IWGP Heavyweight Championship and IWGP intercontinental Championship: EVIL (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito
Togi Makabe is missing the upcoming shows to shoot a movie.
A statement from New Japan read: “Togi Makabe will be shooting a major movie in the coming weeks, and as a result will be absent from forthcoming events starting with Tuesday August 11’s live event in Osaka.
“We apologise to fans who were looking forward to seeing Makabe wrestle and appreciate your understanding and support.
“Stay tuned for more news about this project when it becomes available!”
Makabe added: “‘I’ll be taking some time out to battle in the outside world for a while, all to benefit New Japan Pro-Wrestling! I’ll see you all again soon!”
The full statement can be seen here.
Pro Wrestling FREEDOMS
Masashi Takeda’s King Of FREEDOM World Championship rematch against Toru Sugiura on August 31 in Korakuen Hall has been cancelled.
Takeda faced Sugiura for the championship on July 28 but the match was stopped early due to Takeda suffering significant blood loss from a gash on his arm.
Instead, Jun Kasai will challenge Sugiura for the King Of FREEDOM World Championship.
One could reasonably assume Takeda will also miss Big Japan’s LAST BUNTAI show on August 29 which he is advertised for, as covered earlier in this article.
The full card for FREEDOMS’ August 31 show is:
• Brahman Kei, Brahman Shu and GENTARO vs. Dragon Libre, Kengo and Takahiro Katori
• Deathmatch: Kenji Fukimoto vs. Tomoya Hirata
• UWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship: Yuya Susumu (c) vs. Kamui
• Deathmatch: Daisuke Masaoka vs. Takashi Sasaki
• King Of FREEDOM Tag Team Championships hardcore: Mammoth Sasaki and Violento Jack (c) vs. Minoru Fujita and Rina Yamashita
• King Of FREEDOM World Championship deathmatch: Toru Sugiura (c) vs. Jun Kasai
FREEDOMS held a show in Shin-Kiba 1st Ring yesterday. The full results were:
• GENTARO and Vacuum Mask def. Chikara and Takashi Sasaki
• Hiroshi Yamato def. Dragon Libre
• Kengo, Takahiro Katori and Yuya Susumu def. Brahman Kei, Brahman Shu and Karate Brahman
• Minoru Fujita and Violento Jack def. Kamui and Mammoth Sasaki
• Deathmatch: Daisuke Masaoka, Tomoya Hirata and Toru Sugiura def. Jun Kasai, Kenji Fukimoto and Takumi Tsukamoto
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