UJPW “FACE THE NEXT” Results

May 12, 2026

UJPW “FACE THE NEXT”, 12/05/2026
Shinjuku FACE
460 Fans – Super No Vacancy

1. Tatsuya Matsumoto Vs Yuto Koyanagi ended in a Time Limit draw (10:00).
2. Sentaro Motoshima, Hinata Kasai & Jiro Shinbashi defeated @KEY, Koyo Ume & Midori Takahashi when Motoshima submitted Ume with a Crab Hold (10:05).
3. Katsumi Inahata, Shota Kawakami, Masatora Yasuda & Ryuma Sekimo defeated GuC, Rukiya, Reiya Igarashi & Taisei Nakahara when Yasuda submitted Nakahara with a Crab Hold (7:12).
4. Kazumasa Yoshida, Daichi Sato & Kazuma Kimura defeated Yuki Ishida, Koshiro Asakura & Hiroto Tsuruya when Sato pinned Asakura with the Mad Splash (9:16).
5. Yuya Koroku defeated Homare with the Modified Triangle Lancer (8:33).
6. Kazuma Sumi, Munetatsu Nakamura & Ryoya Tanaka defeated Ilusion, Daiki Nagai & Daiki Odashima when Tanaka pinned Ilusion with the Stardust Press Joker Strizer (12:26).

Two years after the ill-fated “ALL TOGETHER” revival, United Japan held its third show built on a much, much smaller scale. This event was focused solely on the next generation of wrestlers provided by eight of the promotions that are members of the federation. DDT and Ganbare☆Pro were well represented on the show especially in the main event. DDT had Kazuma Sumi and Ilusion involved while Munetatsu Nakamura was there on behalf of GanPro. Ilusion didn’t get along with his tag partners and turned on them when Daiki Nagai complained about him using a Low Blow. Ilusion went to Low Blow him too but Nagai blocked it and knocked him away. Sumi & Nakamura then wiped out Nagai & Daiki Odashima with dives while Ryoya Tanaka pinned Ilusion with his own version of the Stardust Press. Sumi was happy to main event the show with the DDT Universal Title over his shoulder. Nakamura was worried about the match because it was first announced while he was recovering from his neck injury. That he made it to the match and was on the winning team means he has recovered perfectly. If there is another event like this in the future, Nakamura said he would like to either challenge Sumi for the Universal Title or challenge Tanaka for the Open The Brave Gate Title. Ilusion called the whole event incomprehensible and blamed the two Daikis, although he thinks the “Red Daiki” treated him more kindly than the “Black Daiki”. Ilusion now hopes that Daisuke Sasaki and Daiki Nagai both reach the final of the Best Of The Super Jr in New Japan so it will be a match between DAMNATION T.A and Unbound Co.!

Yuya Koroku had a lot to handle by taking on an opponent who recently lost his hair in a cage match. Homare from Dragongate took him by surprise with a Topé con Hilo and he then dragged Koroku around ringside to throw into the front rows. Homare also found Bunbun in Koroku’s corner and stomped on it. Koroku tried to make comebacks but Homare would use eye pokes to stop him. He made a mistake by going for the 450 Splash, missing it so Koroku could find his opening to take control. Homare kickedo out of the Modified Northern Lights Bomb but was forced to give up when Koroku locked him into the Triangle Lancer. Koroku said it is insane that Homare has already accomplished so much with just a year and a half of experience under his belt. Homare found Koroku interesting enough to make him think he should maybe check out DDT sometime.

There was a second trios match that had DDT wrestlers on both teams. Match #4 saw Daichi Sato pick up the win for his side while Yuki Ishida was among those heading back to lick their wounds. Sato asked his teammates if they saw the strength of DDT today? Kazumasa Yoshida won the BJW World Strong Heavyweight Title last month and is looking for challengers, so he’d like Sato or Kazuma Kimura to challenge him. Sato said of course he would take on the challenge! Kimura had to stand between the two and explain to them that he just came back from an injury that kept him out of action for eight months. He would like to wrestle both of them someday so they can start building towards that for now. That calmed Yoshida and Sato down enough for them to get along again.

Shota Kawakami found himself on the winners side of his match while DDT’s Rukiya ended up on the opposite end. Neither of them were involved in the finish though. Backstage Ryuma Sekimo encouraged Kawakami to shout out his feelings, so he did. Kawakami said the match shows that the split between major wrestling companies and indie wrestling companies doesn’t matter. He is glad that the indie wrestlers got to show the major league wrestlers what they are made of. Sekimo agreed and pointed out he may be the only person on the show to have bowled inside Ueno Park. Rukiya did not feel fulfilled after the match. He wants to do more in order to find out what is missing. Maybe it’s all of the different wrestlers from different promotions that have gathered together. He wants to fight so many of them!

GanPro comes out of the show with three wins out of three matches. Not only was Nakamura victorious in the main event but Sentaro Motoshima scored his first ever direct victory in Match #2 by making the Kyushu Pro wrestler Koyo Ume tap out! The result may be something of an upset given his tag team partners were Hinata Kasai and the Dragongate salaryman Jiro Shinbashi. Motoshima said this win is a big deal for him and he will work even harder to be a GanPro wrestler.

NJPW’s Aaron Wolf was in the corner of Tatsuya Matsumoto for the young lion’s match against Yuto Koyanagi from NOAH.

The event also featured a talk show held in the ring by Kosei Fujita and Takeshi Masada. Fujita was looking forward to seeing Ilusion wrestle in the main event while Masada hyped up Hinata Kasai for stepping in as a last minute replacement for the injured Masami Inahata. One of the questions they unexpectedly got was from Hiroshi Tanahashi asking them what their type is? As the interview segment reached its close, Fujita and Masada were asked if they would ever wrestle each other one on one? They don’t expect it to ever happen but they would like to do it.

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Posted by JamieOD

UJPW Is Facing The Next Generation

May 3, 2026

UJPW “FACE THE NEXT”, 12/05/2026
Shinjuku FACE

1. Tatsuya Matsumoto Vs Yuto Koyanagi
2. Masami Inahata, Sentaro Motoshima & Jiro Shinbashi Vs @KEY, Koyo Ume & Midori Takahashi
3. Katsumi Inahata, Shota Kawakami, Masatora Yasuda & Ryuma Sekimo Vs GuC, Rukiya, Reiya Igarashi & Taisei Nakahara
4. Kazumasa Yoshida, Daichi Sato & Kazuma Kimura Vs Yuki Ishida, Koshiro Asakura & Hiroto Tsuruya
5. Yuya Koroku Vs Homare
6. Kazuma Sumi, Munetatsu Nakamura & Ryoya Tanaka Vs Ilusion, Daiki Nagai & Daiki Odashima

Hang on. United Japan is running shows again and actually doing something interesting for their next card? Well okay then. Eight members of UJPW are sending their youngest and brightest wrestlers to Shinjuku FACE for a future generation showcase. We have wrestlers from New Japan, NOAH, DDT, Ganbare☆Pro, Dragongate, Kyushu Pro, Big Japan and FREEDOMS all getting involved. Not only are there matches taking place but there will also be a talk show happening with Kosei Fujita and Takeshi Masada as the guests.

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MAO And Dieno Have Matches In Dragon Gate

September 24, 2025

DRAGON GATE “THE GATE OF MIYANE 2025”, 24/09/2025
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,268 Fans – No Vacancy

3. Danshoku Dieno, Masaaki Oka & Don Fujiko defeated KAI, BxB Hulk & Hyo when Dieno pinned KAI with the Danshoku Driver (9:16).
*Special Referee: Seiji Miyane
6. Art Moving Center Presents: Yuki Yoshioka & MAO defeated Dragon Kid & Dragon Dia when Yoshioka pinned Dia with the High Fly Flow (12:52).

Now this brings me back. Remember the Dramatic Dream Gate series of shows? Well it hasn’t been revived but today’s Dragon Gate show had some DDT involvement in it. It was a show produced by the TV personality Seiji Miyane so it wasn’t the usual wrestling card you would come to expect from Dragon Gate. For example MAO had a match where he teamed up with Yuki Yoshioka. The two were paired together because they look alike but the match was also sponsored by a transportation company so they both entered through the audience dressed like delivery men. They took the match against Dragon Kid & Dragon Dia seriously though. A double dive where MAO took out Kid at ringside while Yoshioka landed the High Fly Flow on Dia was the big finish at the end. MAO said he already has many friends and enemies named Yuki in DDT so he is happy to meet another one. He thinks it would be a shame to leave this inter-promotional relationship where it is and not do anything further.

There was another match involving a DDT wrestler and that just so happened to be Danshoku Dieno. He was put in a comedic 6-Man Tag where wrestlers had to kiss their opponents during the pin attempt for it to be counted. Dieno however warned Miyabe that such a stipulation was very dangerous especially to referees. So he left a spare ref shirt aside for Miyabe to wear if an emergency was to happen. Also Masaaki Mochizuki & Don Fujii both showed up dressed in drag. They chased after Hyo while KAI & BxB Hulk fell victim to Dieno’s Hell Gate in the corner. The ref Takayuki Yagi also suffered that cursed fate, causing Miyabe to put the spare ref shirt on and take his place. He counted Dieno pinning KAI to end the match but Dieno got to give him a Lip Lock too after the match.

Oh and Minoru Suzuki brought the DDT Universal Title with him for the main event. That was nice of him.

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DDT Involved In NOAH’s Wrestle Magic Main Event

June 30, 2025

NOAH “WRESTLE MAGIC 2025”, 03/06/2025
Tokyo Shinagawa Stellar Ball
??? Fans

8. Kaito Kiyomiya, Ryohei Oiwa, Yuki Ueno & Yuki Yoshioka defeated YOSHI-HASHI, KAI, Akito & Daiki Inaba when Kiyomiya pinned Inaba with the Shining Lancer (17:51).

The most recent season of “MONDAY MAGIC” promoted a big inter-promotional match featuring wrestlers from NOAH, New Japan, DDT and Dragongate. At the time NOSAWA Rongai acted like it would be a normal tag team match but when it was time for the main event, he surprised everyone by booking an 8-Man Tag instead. In the blue corner was YOSHI-HASHI from NJPW, KAI from DG, Akito from DDT and Daiki Inaba from NOAH. Facing them from the red corner was NOAH’s Kaito Kiyomiya, NJPW’s Ryohei Oiwa, DDT’s Yuki Ueno and DG’s Yuki Yoshioka. Kiyomiya ended up scoring the win for his team by pinning Inaba.

Apparently the point of this match was to gather together two teams of wrestlers from two generations into the same magic wrestling ring. Some of the wrestlers were happy to interact with each other for the first time since the “ALL TOGETHER” shows last year. But Kiyomiya said this generation do not need magic to make the pro wrestling world advance forward. Akito said the future of wrestling is bright while YOSHI-HASHI said next time he shows up here he wants to be in the same ring as KENTA.

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Posted by JamieOD

UJPW Becomes Incorporated

January 20, 2025

Last July members of the United Japan Pro Wrestling association had met to discuss what their next movements should be with the concept. It was decided that UJPW would go from a voluntary organization to an incorporated group. After going quiet for the rest of the year, representatives from all of the member promotions gathered today to announce that UJPW went through with the plan and has now become incorporated as a non-profit organization. With this move UJPW aims to strengthen its governance in Japan’s pro wrestling scene, become more transparent with its management and improve wrestling’s social credibility. They also came up with a slogan: “Pro Wrestling will always be a driving force for the people of Japan.”

The move gives UJPW greater legal options with the example the Japanese press have given being to open up accounts and hold business assets under the corporate name. Sanshiro Takagi has taken on the role as the Representative Director even though the UJPW office will be located inside New Japan’s HQ. Takagi along with the other directors on the board will all serve two year terms. They were all chosen based on the number of voting rights they have in their respective companies. The board of directors will meet twice a year within the fiscal calendar.

Takagi said it is possible for more UJPW events to be held in the future but it is not the goal of the organization and there are no plans to run another event like “ALL TOGETHER” at this time. However there could still be more interactions coming between the promotions. For example, Hiroshi Tanahashi said he would like to appear in the other companies as part of his year long road to retirement.

There are currently ten members of UJPW. They are New Japan, All Japan, NOAH, DDT, Ganbare☆Pro, Big Japan, Dragongate, Stardom, Tokyo Joshi Pro & Kyushu Pro. Seven requirements have been laid out for future members to meet if they would like to join UJPW. They include needing a regular event schedule, being a legally recognized company, having at least one wrestler under a full time contract, having an annual revenue of over 50 million yen, been active for at least two years, have a corporate compliance system and want to improve the wrestling scene even when competing against other members. There will also in the future be a lower tier created place for supporting members to join that involve less demanding requirements. When I posted about these plans last July I mentioned DIANA had representatives at the meeting in an observing capacity. There has been no mention of them being involved since then but I imagine they can end up becoming one such example of a supporting member.

Wrestlers and staff from each of the member promotions were in attendance to give speeches about the news. I’m just going to focus on the companies I usually cover (although I’d like to point out that Takaaki Kidani put his foot in his mouth again). Takagi wants UJPW to also cooperate with as many of the different indies across Japan as possible. Michiyoshi Mishima said GanPro is the smallest member of the group but thinks they can set an example for other promotions of the same size. Chris Brookes spoke about wrestling being something that can unite people. Utami Hayashishita Miyu Yamashita talked about the respect that wrestling fans around the world has for Japan. Haru Kazashiro said she loved wrestling ever since she joined TJPW and wants to see more children drawn to the industry if UJPW can establish the safety and medical standards needed. Ken Ohka believes this attempt at bringing pro wrestling together will take the industry to new heights. Yuna Manase is happy to be able to exchange ideas with wrestlers from other companies that will bring more happiness to the fans.

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DDT “NO SPOILERS X BEER GARDEN PRO WRESTLING IN UENO” Results

September 10, 2024

DDT “NO SPOILERS X BEER GARDEN PRO WRESTLING IN UENO”, 10/09/2024
Tokyo Ueno Park Outdoor Stage
532 Fans

1. Makoto Oishi, Yukio Naya & Yuki Ishida (w/ Furitsuke Kamen) defeated Masahiro Takanashi, Akito & Ilusion when Oishi submitted Ilusion with a Texas Cloverleaf (6:10).
2. 5 Vs 1 Handicap Match: Tetsuya Endo defeated Poison Sawada JULIE, Yuki Anaconda, Mamushi Yuni, Hebi Koroku & Ero Mamushi Kazuma when Endo pinned JULIE with the Burning Star Press (7:34).
3. DRAGONGATE Rules: Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul Vs Pero Pero Oyakata, Toru Owashi From 20 Years Ago & Kazuki Hirata At The Time Of His Debut ended in a No Contest (9:18).
4. Special 4 Way Match: Mikan Cassidy (MAO) defeated Sergeant Chris (Chris Brookes), OBAKSHIMA (HARASHIMA) and K5000 (Keigo Nakamura) when Cassidy pinned K5000 (13:26).
5. Special Single Match: Yoshihiko defeated Takeshi Masada by Referee Stoppage when Yoshihiko tried to drown Masada (9:58).
6. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Sauna Manners Death Match ~ The 37KAMIINA Vs Shin The 37KAMIINA!: Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & To-y defeated Sauna Oyakata (Danshoku Dieno) (c), Keizo Matsuda & Takayuki Ueki when To-y pinned Oyakata with a Frankensteiner (13:27).
*To-y becomes the 1,668th champion. To-y wins Danshoku Dieno’s Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Shield.
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Danshoku Dieno defeated To-y (c) with a School Boy (7:23 pm).
*Danshoku Dieno becomes the 1,669th champion.
-. Bonus Track: Danshoku Dieno Vs Makoto Oishi ended in a Time Limit Draw (4:07).

For the second time this year DDT held a show where they encouraged fans in attendance not to spoil anything that happened on it until the following day. DDT themselves only posted about the pre-show contract signing along with censored hints about the crazy things that happened during the matches. Since this was also a Beer Garden show that meant fans were also getting more creative matches than usual.

For example in the main event a sauna tent was pitched next to the ring and any wrestler caught breaking the rules or ignoring sauna etiquette were sent into the tent as punishment. Danshoku Dieno took part in the match as a “sauna master” of an imposter group called Shin The 37KAMIINA. Their goal was to beat and replace the original unit. One by one a different wrestler was sent to the tent for breaking etiquette. To-y broke the rule of attacking an opponent on the ropes, Dieno was punished for being lewd, Takayuki Ueki was sent to the tent for threatening his opponents with a gun and Yuki Ueno got in trouble for telling Yukinori Matsui to shut up. Eventually everyone was sent to the tent and remained there until To-y ran out accusing Dieno of harrassing him in there. The match continued in the ring where Shunma Katsumata and Keizo Matsuda tried to attack each other using heatwaves until they both fainted. To-y ended up scoring an upset pin on Dieno by giving him a Frankensteiner. As a result he won both the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title as well as Dieno’s Right To Challenge Shield!

Dieno immediately won back the title when he rolled up To-y during his victory speech but the Shield remains with To-y. Makoto Oishi then approached Dieno and asked him for an impromptu singles match right now! Time was short so Hisaya Imabayashi could only let it go ahead if the match had a time limit of 4 minutes and 7 seconds. Everyone agreed and began the match. Dieno and Oishi quickly fought amongst the crowd while the rest of the roster danced and partied around them before joining in the fight. Back in the ring Oishi gave Dieno the Lip Lock but time ran out before he could pin him. Oishi then asked to have another match with Dieno. Imabayashi decided it will happen at Korakuen Hall on 29th September.

Yoshihiko defeated Takeshi Masada in a wild match that at one point had both of them fighting each other on top of a nearby van. The match ended with Yoshihiko trying to drown Masada by pressing his head down into a bucket of water. Matsui called off the match in Yoshihiko’s favour when Masada stopped responding.

Each of the wrestlers in the 4 Way Match took on different gimmicks from their usual selves. MAO came out as an Orange Cassidy tribute called Mikan Cassidy, Chris Brookes turned into a police sergeant, HARASHIMA transformed into OBAKSHIMA the horror monster and Keigo Nakamura became a K5000 robot impervious to almost every attack. Sgt. Brookes shooting him with a gun had no effect. What did cause him harm was MAO squirting K5000 with a water gun. Sgt. Brookes sprayed both OBAKSHIMA and K5000 with a fire extinguisher and then snapped a long rubber strap into them. Mikan then lazily laid on top of K5000 for the pinfall.

A retro themed match was held under DRAGONGATE rules because Toru Owashi was acting like the troublesome heel he was back in 2004. Kazuki Hirata also showed up dressed in his debut gear and acting like a rookie all over again. Antonio Honda filled completed the bizarre trio by appearing as his Hulk Hogan tribute gimmick called Pero Pero Oyakata. Their match against a confused DAMNATION T.A turned into a brawl around the venue. KANON didn’t understand why Hirata wasn’t dancing and tried to tempt him with the Hirata GO! glasses. Things went out of hand when Honda stripped down to his underwear and tried to give everyone the Pedigree. When he tried to do it on Matsui, the referee called off the match.

A planned 6-Man Tag Match was turned into a 5 Vs 1 Handicap Match when Poison Sawada JULIE brainwashed Tetsuya Endo’s partners with Snake Magic! JULIE also did it to his own partners so Endo had to fight a snake army all by himself. Endo got his hands on the antidote during the match and soon cured Yuki Iino, Yuya Koroku and Kazuma Sumi. They all spat Poison Mist at JULIE, rendering him helpless so Endo could pin him with the Burning Star Press. Yuni was still brainwashed after the match but Endo got him to take the antidote and return to normal.

The masked dancing master Furitsuke Kamen choreographed a special entrance for Makoto Oishi but Akito interrupted it halfway through. He, Masahiro Takanashi & Ilusion would only let them do it if Oishi’s team could beat them. With some help from Yukio Naya, Yuki Ishida and Kamen himself Oishi was able to beat Ilusion by submission and everyone did the dance together.

The contract signing before the show was for the upcoming KO-D Tag Team Titles match. ShunMao held the titles last year but had to vacate them when Katsumata got injured. When he recovered, MAO wanted to hold off on challenging for the titles again so it could be used as a trump card. He decided to use that trump card after Ueno lost the KO-D Openweight Title so The 37KAMIINA could quickly recover their momentum. MAO considers CDK to be their true rivals, not SCHADENFREUDE International. Brookes understands his opinion and even agrees with it. He admits he & Masada struggled to beat Ueno & To-y over the weekend. But he wants his team to wrestle using their own style unique to DDT no matter if they win or lose. Masada said he wants to defend the titles even if it means he has to crawl onto the next step. ShunMao thinks he still hasn’t evolved enough yet though.

At the end of the show Oishi told everyone he wants a new version of NωA to continue without him. He asked Shunma Katsumata, Yuni & Sumi to form Shin NωA. Yuni & Sumi were both excited by the idea but Katsumata was hesitant to do it. He eventually agreed when Yuni & Sumi told him they both would like to become idols. The three of them sang one of the songs together to close out the show.

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Posted by JamieOD

DDT At “ALL TOGETHER” Results

May 6, 2024

UJPW “ALL TOGETHER”, 06/05/2024
Tokyo Nippon Budokan
4,583 Fans

1. EVIL, Ren Narita & Yujiro Takahashi defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Sanshiro Takagi & Naomichi Marufuji when EVIL pinned Tanahashi with the EVIL (8:50).
2. Kenoh defeated Kosei Fujita with the PFS (9:44).
3. Starlight Kid & Natsupoi defeated AZM & Miyu Amasaki when Ken pinned Amasaki with the Star Suplex (9:50).
4. Tomohiro Ishii & Daisuke Sekimoto defeated Jeff Cobb & Masa Kitamiya when Ishii pinned Cobb with the Vertical Drop Brainbuster (13:15).
5. El Desperado, HAYATA, Ninja Mack, MAO & Kota Minoura defeated Hiromu Takahashi, Dragon Bane, Alpha Wolf, Shunma Katsumata & YAMATO when Minoura pinned YAMATO after an accidental Hiromu-chan Bomber from Takahashi (13:21).
6. Taichi & KAI defeated Zack Sabre Jr. & Chris Brookes when Taichi pinned Brookes with the Taichi-Style Gedo Clutch (14:59).
7. Jake Lee, David Finlay & Gabe Kidd defeated Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji when Lee pinned Naito with the FBS (17:46).
8. Shota Umino, Kaito Kiyomiya & Yuki Ueno defeated Yuya Uemura, KONOSUKE TAKESHITA & Shun Skywalker when Kaito Kiyomiya pinned Uemura with the Modified Shining Wizard (23:18).

Let’s have a little look at what DDT got up to at the “ALL TOGETHER” show that took place earlier today. Yuki Ueno and Konosuke Takeshita were part of the main event on opposite teams. They had moments in the match to fight each other as well as everyone else. Ueno along with Shota Umino & Kaito Kiyomiya delivered a Triple Missile Dropkick to Yuya Uemura. Ueno then hit a Moonsault to Takeshita & Shun Skywalker outside the ring, leaving Kiyomiya to finish off Uemura with the Shining Wizard. Ueno and Takeshita left separate comments to reporters after the match. Ueno said every company involved in United Japan Pro Wrestling have joined forces to make pro wrestling more exciting because wrestling gives strength to everyone. He got to wrestle inside Budokan Hall today as a champion and he wants to continue making wrestling fun for everyone with DDT. Takeshita however had more demanding things to say about the main event. He wants his generation to create a new era and that will not happen when everyone behaves like friends. If everyone wants to be the best like he does then they should step up and do singles matches with himself and each other. If any of the other five in the main event have the courage to do that then they should step forward.

Zack Sabre Jr. and Chris Brookes got to team up together again. They are now getting SCHADEN TEKKERS across as their team name but they failed to wear matching gear. They enjoyed getting to wrestle against Taichi but maybe didn’t feel the same about KAI. That all came to a head when KAI brought a chair into the ring and Taichi stopped him from attacking Sabre and instead hit KAI with it. He went back to wrestling Brookes and pinned him with the Gedo Clutch. KAI attacked Taichi after the match but SCHADEN TEKKERS came to the rescue.

The Junior Heavyweight divisions of several promotions all banded together for a 10-Man Tag Match. MAO and Shunma Katsumata were there on behalf of DDT. Katsumata was a last minute replacement for Tetsuya Endo because Endo got hurt during yesterday’s DDT show and needed more time to recover. MAO started the match with Hiromu Takahashi and got help from El Desperado when YAMATO came to aid Takahashi. Ninja Mack kept wanting to do the Sasuke Special but kept getting cut off by Katsumata and the rest of his team. He got to hit his dive and so did Dragon Bane and Alpha Wolf. Takahashi’s teamwork with YAMATO self-destructed when he accidentally hit YAMATO with a Clothesline. Kota Minoura then Cradled YAMATO for the three count. MAO told Desperado after the match that Brookes should invite him to Baka Gaijin + Friends some day. MAO will even deliver the invitation to New Japan. Desperado told him he doesn’t think the idea will be possible. Katsumata blamed the loss on his team not having enough NeppoWER!!

The super team of super presidents failed to beat House Of Torture in the opening match of the show. Not even Sanshiro Takagi crashing the Dramatic Dream bike into everyone outside the ring was enough to win the battle. Dick Togo interfered in the match until Takagi gave him the Stunner and Naomichi Marufuji Thrust Kicked him. They even used the same moves to set EVIL up for Hiroshi Tanahashi’s Sling Blade. However the numbers game tipped in House Of Torture’s favour when more of their members showed up for interferene. Ren Narita, Yujiro Takahashi, SHO, Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Togo overwhelmed the presidents and EVIL beat Tanahashi to ruin everyone’s day. Backstage Takagi was confused to see Togo out there because he thought he retired years ago.

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Posted by JamieOD

United Japan Pro Wrestling Is Announced

December 15, 2023

UJPW “UNITED JAPAN PRO WRESTLING”, 06/05/2024
Tokyo Nippon Budokan

I’m going to copy and paste the write up on New Japan’s official English site to explain what’s going on with this new thing called United Japan Pro Wrestling.

———————————————————————–

December 15, Tokyo Japan

New Japan Pro-Wrestling today announces that it is one of nine organizations that will constitute United Japan Pro-Wrestling, a new industry group representing professional wrestling in Japan.

Without an industry wide group for professional wrestling in Japan, the unprecedented crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic made it all the more clear that there was a need to consolidate and express accurate information and best operating practices between promotions, as well as to communicate effectively with national and municipal governments. In a bid to better anticipate and adapt to societal changes in the future, nine Japanese promotions at the forefront of pro-wrestling in the country will be be part of a collective industry group (henceforth ‘the Group’).

The members of the Group will maintain their individual business identities and competition in the marketplace, but the Group will provide a space to discuss issues that concern the industry at large, and to exchange information with an interest in maintaining its growth. The formation of the Group will be marked by an event on May 6 2024 in Nippon Budokan under the banner of United Japan Pro-Wrestling.

Mission statement

To further the presence of pro-wrestling and its cultural merit in Japanese society at large, allow professional wrestling to contribute further to cultural and sporting sectors, and work toward continued health and prosperity of the industry.

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic made it apparent that there was a lack of communication and unified approach to event guidelines, and no common point of contact between the industry and national and municipal governments. There was also a desire to discuss issues surrounding wrestler health and safety (including in their online presence), to create a pipeline to other sporting organizations and to further the image of professional wrestling through issues of corporate social responsibility. There was a shared desire between members of the Group to continue existing competition within the marketplace while also sharing relevant information and know-how on these and other socio-economic issues.

Core tenets

Unity and integrity. The Group will be the representative spokesgroup for all of professional wrestling in Japan.
Representation. The Group will be the public facing symbol for the collective whole of professional wrestling in Japan.
Continuity. The Group will have a continuous presence and activity in the future.

As a result, the existence of the Group will be made known worldwide, and its members will be actively engaged in actions of merit.

Activities

Governmental communication and requests
Strengthening connections to other industries and sectors
Sharing resources and practices

Including those related to wrestler health and safety, such as the provision of financial support for wrestlers while injured, and to offer compliance training. Group members will also consolidate event data for historical archive purposes.

Monetization

Any proceeds from the monetized use of iconography shall be split among the Group members. Joint events and festivals will be held.

Group members

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (New Japan Pro-Wrestling Co. Ltd.)
All Japan Pro-Wrestling (All Japan Pro-Wrestling Co. Ltd.)
Pro-Wrestling NOAH (Cyber Fight Co. Ltd.)
DDT Pro-Wrestling (Cyber Fight Co. Ltd.)
Ganbare ☆ Pro-Wrestling (Cyber Fight Co. Ltd.)
Big Japan Pro-Wrestling （Yotsuba Industries Ltd.)
DRAGONGATE (DRAGONGATE Co. Ltd.)
STARDOM (BushiRoad Fight Co. Ltd.)
Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling (Cyber Fight Co. Ltd.)

Further Group members will be considered in future.

Founding chair: Seiji Sakaguchi
Executive office: New Japan Pro-Wrestling Co. Ltd.
Executive chief: Naoki Sugabayashi (Chairman: New Japan Pro-Wrestling Co. Ltd.)

———————————————————————–

So we’re giving this another go then. My immediate reaction to the news was memories of the Global Professional Wrestling Alliance from the mid 2000s. The GPWA was a similar concept to this, getting many of the wrestling promotions in Japan to co-operate with each other under one banner. It faded away pretty quickly. The only legacy it left behind was the 2007 Differ Cup tournament (and that isn’t even the 2005 one that was hyped by tape traders from that era). It also stayed around as a piece of trivia in wiki pages for each of the companies involved for years afterwards. So from the jump I’m feeling cynical over UJPW’s chances of establishing itself as an important benchmark for Japanese wrestling.

However the entire wrestling landscape is very different now than it was back then. The scene in Japan is not back to pre-pandemic levels of business and it’s only when times are toughest you will get companies willing to work together in order to spark up some kind of momentum again. I see some instant reaction online that this might be another attempt to close up Japan to WWE but I’m struggling to think that’s the main priority here. WWE’s global expansion plans do seem to be revving up again and their recent ABEMA deal has gotten them more coverage in Japan recently. And of course there’s suddenly more and more rumours about WWE trying to snap up Japan’s biggest names at the nearest opportunity. Yet as I see all this on the horizon I still don’t think it is an immediate threat. What’s happening here with UJPW seems to be the Japanese companies all trying to get their plans in order in regards to challenges much closer to home. It’s more like something to represent the majority of the industry when communicating with government bodies.

But hey, let’s give this thing a shot because at the very least what we’re getting out of it is nine promotions working together for a big show at Budokan Hall next May. Company alliances over the last year have been interesting to follow. New Japan and NOAH have been working together, All Japan and DDT have bee working together. Dragongate mostly keeps to themselves while Big Japan and Ganbare☆Pro are usually full of freelancers and wrestlers from other indies showing up at all times. The most surprising dynamic is Stardom and Tokyo Joshi Pro finally interacting with each other. Getting the isolated promotions like Dragongate and TJPW involved in this is significant. TJPW were not involved at all in the big Joshi show celebrating 60 years of Korkauen Hall that was held in 2022. What on earth kind of matchup are they going to put together if inter-promotional bouts are planned for the show?

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“~ALL STAR JR FESTIVAL 2023~” Results

March 1, 2023

“LEC PRESENTS JUNIOR DREAM FESTIVAL ~ALL STAR JR FESTIVAL 2023~”, 01/03/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,381 Fans – Super No Vacancy

0. Special Gift Match: YOH, Soma Watanabe & Kazuma Sumi defeated Fuminori Abe, Akira Jumonji & Ryo Hoshino when YOH pinned Jumonji with the DIRECT DRIVE (10:35).
1. Fujita “Jr.” Hayato, AMAKUSA & Hiromu Takahashi defeated YAMATO, HAYATA & Kazuki Hashimoto when Hayato submitted Hashimoto with the K.I.D (8:52).
2. Isami Kodaka & MAO defeated Onryo & SHO when SHO was Disqualified for assaulting the referee (9:43).
3. Ganbare! Shinjiro Otani 10-Man Tag Match: Tatsuhito Takaiwa, TAKA Michinoku, Minoru Tanaka, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Jun Kasai defeated MUSASHI, LEONA, Kota Sekifuda, Shoki Kitamura & Chicharito Shoki when Takaiwa pinned Shoki with the Death Valley Bomb (10:28).
4. Hikaru Sato, Ryusuke Taguchi & Yumehito Imanari defeated The Great Sasuke, Tigers Mask & Batten×Blabla when Sato submitted Blabla with a Cross Armbreaker (7:29).
5. 3 Way Tag Match: Volador Jr. & El Desperado defeated Yuki Ueno & El Lindaman and HANAOKA & DOUKI when Desperado pinned HANAOKA with the Pinche Loco (10:34).
6. Mistico, Gurukun Mask, Billy Ken Kid & Alejandro defeated Dragon Kid, BUSHI, Black Menso~re & Atlantis Jr. when Mistico submitted Menso~re with La Mistica (11:29).
7. Surprise Match: CIMA defeated Kazuki Hirata with the Meteor (7:16).
8. 5 Way Match: Taiji Ishimori defeated Shun Skywalker, Ninja Mack, YO-HEY and Soberano Jr. when Ishimori pinned YO-HEY with the Bloody Cross (9:38).
9. Master Wato defeated Atsuki Aoyagi with the Recientemente II (14:24).

I’m only covering the matches relating to DDT, BASARA and Ganbare☆Pro but the entire event is worth watching. One of the highlights was the unexpected appearance of Kazuki Hirata for a surprise match with CIMA! Given CIMA’s history with people previously associated with the “Tokyo GO!” song, he was in no mood to dance along with Hirata. CIMA grabbed the Hirata GO! glasses to prevent the song from coming back and got boos from the crowd, causing him to sulk. Later in the match Hirata got his glasses back and convinced CIMA to put on his own pair so the two could finally dance together. They shook hands afterwards and CIMA pinned Hirata with the Somato. Backstage CIMA praised the show for bringing the entire Junior Heavyweight wrestling scene together. If there are still barriers keeping these companies apart, he thinks we should get rid of them. Hirata asked if he is invited for this kind of show again then please do not put him in the unadvertised surprise spot.

Yuki Ueno was thrown into a lucha flavored 3 Way Tag Match teaming with El Lindaman. He was in the ring from the start squaring off against both Volador Jr. and DOUKI. But as the match went on Ueno & Lindaman started bickering a little bit while trying to fight off both DOUKI & HANAOKA. Then El Desperado got a few of his opponents out of the ring for Volador to dive onto all of them. HANAOKA stopped Desperado from doing his own dive but ended up taking the Pinche Loco from him instead for the finish. Backstage Lindaman said he does not hate DDT or Ueno, he just got worked up because he wants to beat everybody. Ueno said he had fun both wrestling in this match and from watching all of the others. He believes the strongest pro wrestlers are those who enjoy wrestling and he hopes there will be a second “ALL STAR JR FESTIVAL” in the future.

Yumehito Imanari showed off his more pervy side by wearing a “Virgin Killer” sweater along with Hikaru Sato & Ryusuke Taguchi in their match. Because their costumes were at risk of becoming too revealing, their opponents were careful with how they fought to avoid shocking the audience. Batten×Blabla convinced Imanari to continue the match without the costume while Taguchi and Tigers Mask did some actual wrestling in between. Sato went on to tap out Blabla with a Cross Armbreaker. Afterwards Sato called his team the pinnacle of Japan’s Jr. division! If there are three wrestlers better than Sato, Taguchi & Imanari then send them their way. Sato has had enough of every pro wrestler trying to look cool. They should instead bare it all for the fans!

MAO wants fucked up pro wrestling for a fucked up world. Isami Kodaka wishes “Peace & Fuck” on the world. But the two of them combined still wasn’t as unusual as the combination of SHO & Onryo. SHO ended up using Onryo as a weapon by slamming him on top of MAO. Onryo got his own back by throwing his ectoplasm powder in SHO’s face. Then in an even weirder turn of events, Ram Kaichow got on the top turnbuckle and hit a Diving Cross Body on SHO. The match lost control when SHO got out of the ring, pulled the referee out with him and then started attacking him for the DQ. Kodaka got on the microphone and told SHO if he wants to use weapons so bad they should do a death match against each other! SHO refused and left ringside in a huff. Backstage Kaichow complained about the show only inviting male wrestlers. If another “ALL STAR JR FESTIVAL” happens she wants to wrestle on it!

A bonus pre-show match gave Kazuma Sumi a spot on the card and a chance to share the ring with YOH & Soma Watanabe. Sumi’s main confrontation was with Akira Jumonji but he had interactions with Fuminori Abe & Ryo Hoshino too. He ended up on the winning side thanks to YOH pinned Jumonji with the DIRECT DRIVE. Sumi thanked the organisers for inviting him and said Jr. Heavyweight wrestling is the best!

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All Star Jr Festival 2023 Announced

January 23, 2023

“LEC PRESENTS JUNIOR DREAM FESTIVAL ~ALL STAR JR FESTIVAL 2023~”, 01/03/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

This is a show that has been years in the making yet I never thought was going to happen. Wrestlers like Hiromu Takahashi and El Desperado have said over and over on interviews their desire for there to be an all star show that gathers together the best junior heavyweights from across the Japanese wrestling scene. Meanwhile other junior heavyweights from different promotions keep interacting with each other on social media teasing matches at times when there were no chances of those matches ever happening. Well now it’s finally happening thanks to sponsorship from LEC, a company that seems to have sponsored every notable Japanese wrestling promotion you can think of at some point in the last decade.

The only details announced so far is it will be taking place in Korakuen Hall and will be broadcast as a PPV on NJPW World. 22 different wrestling companies are attached to the show with wrestlers and matches to be announced as soon as they are decided on.

The participating promotions are:

– Dark Pro Wrestling 666
– Osaka Pro Wrestling
– Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling
– Kyushu Pro Wrestling
– New Japan Pro Wrestling
– All Japan Pro Wrestling
– Big Japan Wrestling
– Pancrase MISSION
– Pro Wrestling SECRET BASE
– Pro Wrestling ZERO1
– Pro Wrestling NOAH
– Pro Wrestling BASARA
– Pro Wrestling FREEDOMS
– Michinoku Pro Wrestling
– Ryukyu Dragon Wrestling
– CMLL
– DDT Pro Wrestling
– DRADITION
– DragonGate
– GLEAT
– JUST TAP OUT
– 2AW

We have a lot of choices among DDT, Ganbare☆Pro and BASARA to throw onto the show. Shunma Katsumata, MAO, Chris Brookes, Masahiro Takanashi, Keisuke Ishii, Shuichiro Katsumura, Shota, Isami Kodaka, Daiki Shimomura, Takato Nakano, the list goes on and on. Not Tetsuya Endo though. He’s been bulking up recently and now weighs over 100kg.

It’s been pointed out online that the show will take place the day after New Japan and CMLL finish up their “FANTASTICA MANIA” tour which explains why CMLL is part of an otherwise Japan only line-up. Also AEW was never going to be a part of this. Even if they could have been, the show is on a Wednesday anyway.

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