By Oliver Taylor
All Japan Pro Wrestling
All Japan Pro Wrestling’s Black Menso~re and Shuji Ishikawa have tested positive for COVID-19.
Both men will miss All Japan’s next four shows on July 11 in Osaka, July 13 in Shin-Kiba 1st Ring, July 15 in Yokohama and July 18 in Chiba.
Notably, Ishikawa was scheduled to face Shotaro Ashino on July 11 in a match to determine Jake Lee’s first challenger for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship at All Japan’s show on July 22 in Korakuen Hall.
TAJIRI and a ring announcer have also been deemed in close contact and will miss the same shows.
Unfortunately, T-Hawk will also miss All Japan’s shows on July 15 and 22 due to the broken right rib he suffered against Ryuichi Kawakami at GLEAT’s show on July 1 in Tokyo Dome City Hall.
CIMA will take T-Hawk’s replace on July 15. However, T-Hawk was scheduled to challenge Izanagi and Zeus for the All Asia Tag Team Championships with El Lindaman on July 22.
T-Hawk’s replacement will be an undetermined member of #STRONGHEARTS. The other two members of the group are Issei Onitsuka and Shigehiro Irie – who already teams with Izanagi and Zeus as a member of the Purple Haze faction in All Japan.
The updated cards for All Japan’s shows on July 11, 13 and 15 are:
July 11 in Osaka
• Jun Saito and Rei Saito vs. Quiet Storm and Ryuki Honda
• Andy Wu, Francesco Akira and Hikaru Sato vs. Atsuki Aoyagi, Shoichi Uchida and Yasutaka Oosera
• Izanagi and UTAMARO vs. Takao Omori and Yoshitatsu
• Dan Tamura, Shotaro Ashino and SUWAMA vs. Hokuto Omori, Jake Lee and Yusuke Kodama
• Koji Iwamoto vs. Zeus
• World Tag Team Championships: Kento Miyahara and Yuma Aoyagi (c) vs. Koji Doi and Kuma Arashi
July 13 in Shin-Kiba 1st Ring
• Dan Tamura Hikaru Sato vs. Jun Saito and Rei Saito
• Chikara and Yoshitatsu vs. Koji Iwamoto and Takao Omori
• Hokuto Omori and Kuma Arashi vs. Kento Miyahara and Yuma Aoyagi
• Ryuki Honda vs. Zeus
• Atsuki Aoyagi, Francesco Akira and Rising HAYATO vs. Izanagi, SUGI and Yusuke Kodama
• Jake Lee and Koji Doi vs. Shotaro Ashino and SUWAMA
July 15 in Yokohama
• Hikaru Sato and Ryuki Honda vs. Jun Saito and Rei Saito
• Atsuki Aoyagi and Rising HAYATO vs. Dan Tamura and Francesco Akira
• Baliyan Akki and Yoshitatsu vs. Takao Omori and TAMURA
• Koji Iwamoto vs. SUWAMA
• CIMA, El Lindaman and Issei Onitsuka vs. Devil Murasaki, Izanagi and Zeus
• Hokuto Omori, Jake Lee and Yusuke Kodama vs. Kento Miyahara, Shotaro Ashino and Yuma Aoyagi
Dragon Gate
Dragon Gate held its third Hopeful Gate 2021 tour show today in Nagoya Paloma Mizuho Arena.
The full results were:
• Kagetora, Keisuke Okuda and YAMATO def. Funky Jacky Kamei, Genki Horiguci and King Shimizu
• Ryo Saito and Takashi Yoshida def. Naruki Doi and Problem Dragon
• Ben-K and Dragon Kid vs. Eita and Kaito Ishida – No Contest
• Kzy, Susumu Yokosuka and U-T def. Don Fujii, Super Shisa and Yasushi Kanda
• BxB Hulk, Dia Inferno, Diamante and SB KENTo def. Jason Lee, Kota Minoura, La Estrella and Shun Skywalker
JUST TAP OUT Professional Wrestling
JUST TAP OUT Professional Wrestling held its two-year anniversary show today in Korakuen Hall.
The full results were:
• SEKIYA def. Fire Katsumi
• Carbell Ito, EX Valion and Hyper Brave G Valion def. Black Chango, Black Eagle, Black the Dragon
• Aoi, rhythm and Yuu Yamagata def. Misa Kagura, Sumika Yanagawa and YuuRI
• Ryuya Takekura def. Akira Jo
• Independent Junior Heavyweight Championship and Young Dream Championship: Arata def. Eagle Mask
• Minoru Suzuki and TAKA Michinoku def. KANON and Ren Ayabe
• Tomoka Inaba def. Aki Shizuku
Arata successfully retained the Independent Junior Heavyweight Championship and won the Young Dream Championship in his title-versus-title match against Eagle Mask. After the bout, he was challenged by Carbell Ito.
DDT Pro-Wrestling
DDT Pro-Wrestling has announced the full cards for its shows on July 15 in Shinjuku FACE, July 17 in Utsunomiya and July 18 in Shiroishi.
The full cards are:
July 15 in Shinjuku FACE
• Hideki Okatani vs. Tomomitsu Matsunaga
• Antonio Honda and Toru Owashi vs. Danshoku Dieno and Kazuki Hirata
• HARASHIMA, Keigo Nakamura and Naomi Yoshimura vs. Kazusada Higuchi, Saki Akai and Yukio Sakaguchi
• Akito, Yuki Iino and Yukio Naya vs. Mad Paulie, Tetsuya Endo and Yuji Hino
• Daisuke Sasaki and Soma Takao vs. Yuki Ueno and Yuya Koroku
• Jun Akiyama, Makoto Oishi and Yusuke Okada vs. Konosuke Takeshita, MAO and Shunma Katsumata
• DDT Extreme Championship and Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship No Disqualifications and No Submissions: Chris Brookes vs. Shinya Aoki
July 17 in Utsunomiya
• Akito and Makoto Oishi vs. Kazuki Hirata and Toru Owashi
• Hideki Okatani and Yusuke Okada vs. Jun Akiyama and Yusuke Okada
• Chris Brookes, HARASHIMA and Naomi Yoshimura vs. Kazusada Higuchi, Yuki Iino and Yukio Sakaguchi
• Danshoku Dieno and Demonio Uno vs. Naoshi Sano and Sanshiro Takagi
• Antonio Honda vs. Tetsuya Endo
• Daisuke Sasaki, Mad Paulie, Soma Takao and Yuji Hino vs. Konosuke Takeshita, MAO, Shunma Katsumata and Yuki Ueno
July 18 in Shiroishi
• Hideki Okatani vs. Yuya Koroku
• Akito and Kazuki Hirata vs. Danshoku Dieno and Yuki Iino
• Daisuke Sasaki and Mad Paulie vs. Naomi Yoshimura and Yukio Naya
• HARASHIMA, Keigo Nakamura and Toru Owashi vs. Kazusada Higuchi, Saki Akai and Yukio Sakaguchi
• Chris Brookes vs. Yusuke Okada
• Antonio Honda and Konosuke Takeshita vs. Jun Akiyama and Makoto Oishi
• KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championships: Soma Takao, Tetsuya Endo and Yuji Hino (c) vs. MAO, Shunma Katsumata and Yuki Ueno
DDT has uploaded Daisuke Sasaki versus Konosuke Takeshita and Kazusada Higuchi versus Yuji Hino from its show on July 4 in Korakuen Hall on its YouTube channel. Both matches were the semi-finals of the King of DDT tournament.
The full matches can be watched on the attachments below.
New Japan Pro Wrestling
New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Taichi has declared he wants to defend the IWGP Tag Team Championships against the dream team of Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada at Wrestle Grand Slam on July 25 in the Tokyo Dome, should he and Zack Sabre Jr. make their first successful defense the titles against SANADA and Tetsuya Naito at the second night of Summer Struggle in Sapporo on July 11.
Taichi has made bold proclamations regarding potential challengers in the past, including suggesting Akira Taue and Toshiaki Kawada should challenge for the titles last month.
Taichi is famously Kawada’s protégé. Speaking to Tokyo Sports today, he insisted the legendary team should at least appear at the Tokyo Dome later this month.
An article from Tokyo Sports covering the news can be read here.
New Japan has uploaded the sixty-third edition of Hiroshi Tanahashi’s Ace’s HIGH autobiographical interview series.
Topics discussed include bringing a young Tetsuya Naito wrestle in other promotions, suffering a neck injury against Taiyo Kea at the start of the Champion Carnival in 2008 and wrestling Keiji Mutoh to a 30-minute time limit draw.
The edition, titled Away Game, can be viewed here.
New Japan has also uploaded a video interview with Taiji Ishimori ahead of challenging El Desperado for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship at the first night of Summer Struggle in Sapporo on July 10.
Topics discussed include the two men he has been jealous of throughout his career, whether or not he has reached his limit and his thoughts on Shingo Takagi winning the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.
The video is free to view on NJPW World and has English subtitles. It can be viewed here.
New Japan has uploaded Masked Strong Spirits versus Sinn Bodhi (formerly known as Kizarny in WWE) on its YouTube channel. The match aired at the Anime Expo 2021 and is to promote the company’s Strong Spirits smartphone game.
The full match can be watched on the attachment below.
Big Japan Pro Wrestling
Big Japan Pro Wrestling has announced it will hold two shows on July 31 and three shows on August 1 in Tokyo.
Two matches have been announced for each show on July 31. First, Hideyoshi Kamitani and Masaki Morihiro versus Quiet Storm and Takuho Kato as well as Abdullah Kobayashi and Keiki Suzuki versus Akira Hyodo versus Daichi Hashimoto will take place on the afternoon show.
Second, Kazumasa Yoshida and Yuji Okabayashi versus Kazumi Kikuta and Yuki Ishikawa as well as Kosuke Sato and Yasufumi Nakanoue versus Ryuji Ito and Yuya Aoki will take place on the evening show.
The second show on August 1, starting at 3pm, will only be open to members of Big Japan’s fan club.
Big Japan has also announced Brahman Kei and Brahman Shu will compete at its show on August 8 in Shin-Kiba 1st Ring. The only other match announced is Fuminori Abe and Takuya Nomura attempting their second defense of the BJW Tag Team Championships against either Akira Hyodo and Kankuro Hoshino or Isami Kodaka and Yuko Miyamoto (a match to determine the challengers is scheduled to take place at Big Japan’s show on July 23 in Korakuen Hall).
Oliver Taylor Blog 