1. The 1st UNIVERSE CUP – Semi Final: Naomichi Marufuji defeated Hayabusa with the Perfect Neck Lock (14:52).
2. The 1st UNIVERSE CUP – Semi Final: Sanshiro Takagi defeated The Great Sasuke with the Stunner (14:47).
3. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Miyu Yamashita defeated Shino Suzuki with the Skull Kick (7:44).
4. UNIVERSE MIX MAGIC 8-Man Tag Match: Kaito Kiyomiya, Kuroshio TOKYO Japan, Takeshi Masada & Yumehito Imanari defeated Masato Tanaka, Isami Kodaka, Taro Nohashi & Great Mummy when Imanari pinned Mummy with the Lariat (9:15).
5. 10-WOMAN MAGIC RUMBLE: YUNA defeated Senka Akatsuki by Ring Out (26:41). *Order Of Elimination: Megaton, Manami, Sora Ayame, YuuRI, The Great Sayaka, Yuki Mashiro, Seri Yamaoka, Momoka Hanazono, Senka Akatsuki.
6. The 1st UNIVERSE CUP – Final: Naomichi Marufuji defeated Sanshiro Takagi with the Perfect Neck Lock (17:33).
The winner of the first ever Universe Cup tournament belongs to NOAH! It was a tough road for Naomichi Marufuji to walk through because he first had to fight Hayabusa in the semi final. After taking big blows from dives and Falcon Arrows, Marufuji dodged the Firebird Splash and relied on using Tiger King knee strikes to wear down Hayabusa until he was weak enough to be submitted with the Perfect Cradle. Sanshiro Takagi fought past The Great Sasuke in a rematch many years in the making (Sasuke blamed the slightly different ring size on his defeat) to reach Marufuji in the final. In the battle between the CyberFight Vice Presidents, Takagi was taken to the brink with Marufuji ordering a delay in countouts so Takagi could bring out the Dramatic Dream bike for them to fight with. Marufuji won that duel and Takagi barely made it back to the ring in time just to get put in the Perfect Neck Lock for Marufuji to win the match.
Takagi got injured during the match so only Hayabusa and Sasuke joined Marufuji for his trophy presentation. Marufuji praised all of the wrestlers and promotions involved for doing their best to liven up pro wrestling. Sasuke believes the Universe Cup will continue on for many years which will somehow help Michinoku Pro become invincible! On cue his company’s theme song began to play until Marufuji stopped it so Hayabusa could have the last word. Hayabusa told everyone that the fun is just beginning.
The rest of the show featured random and unexpected wrestlers showing up since that is the whole point of Monday Magic. Multiple promotions were represented including DDT, Ganbare☆Pro and BASARA. There was an 8-Man Tag Match featuring DDT’s Takeshi Masada, GanPro’s Yumehito Imanari and BASARA’s Isami Kodaka. GanPro also had a participant in the women’s Magic Rumble match. YuuRI took part in it but was among the first half of eliminated wrestlers.
Tokyo Joshi Pro also showed up at a Monday Magic event for the first time. TJPW presented a singles match where Miyu Yamashita beat Shino Suzuki. Because they were in front of a new audience, Yamashita was more fired up than usual while Suzuki was able to overcome her anxiety when the fans started calling her name during the match.
1. Takeru Inoue & Sentaro Motoshima defeated Yuki Toki & Nobuhiko Kimura when Inoue submitted Toki with a Crab Hold (8:56).
2. The 1st UNIVERSE CUP – Round 1: Sanshiro Takagi defeated Great Mummy with the Stunner (8:23).
3. The 1st UNIVERSE CUP – Round 1: Naomichi Marufuji defeated Kuroshio TOKYO Japan with the Perfect Neck Lock (9:12).
4. Takumi Iroha, Utami Hayashishita & Miyuki Takase Vs Mayu Iwatani, Mika Iwata & Mio Momono ended in a Time Limit Draw (20:00).
5. The 1st UNIVERSE CUP – Round 1: The Great Sasuke defeated Isami Kodaka with La Magistral Cradle (12:24).
6. The 1st UNIVERSE CUP – Round 1: Hayabusa defeated Yumehito Imanari with the Firebird Splash (14:06).
The first round of the inaugural UNIVERSE CUP took place, pitting eight wrestlers from eight different promotions against each other. The common ground linking almost all of the promotions together is that they are a part of the Wrestle Universe streaming service. Add in the randomness of Monday Magic and the result is a bunch of unexpected surprises in store both in and out of the tournament.
Hayabusa from ZERO1 defeated Yumehito Imanari from Ganbare☆Pro in the main event. Imanari was crushed over the loss because he was originally part of Wrestle Universe from the very beginning when it was called DDT Universe. Hayabusa will meet Naomichi Marufuji from NOAH in the semi-final. Marufuji had to deal with Kuroshio TOKYO Japan’s antics today. Even thought Kuroshio lost, he doesn’t want to go away. The Uptown wrestler asked Marufuji backstage if he can come over to NOAH? Marufuji simply told him no.
The Great Sasuke and Isami Kodaka went wild for their 1st Round match. The Michinoku Pro legend gave Kodaka a Piledriver onto the entrance ramp and also slammed him onto a pile of chairs at ringside. Kodaka almost got him back with a Brainbuster but Sasuke pinned the BASARA wrestler with La Magistral Cradle for the victory. Kodaka hopes he can come back to Monday Magic and maybe get some NOAH bookings too. Sanshiro Takagi had an adventure of his own when he had to fight not just one mummy, but two! While he fought The Great Mummy in the ring, NOSAWA Rongai brought down a second Great Mummy to add some confusion to the mix. Luckily for Takagi, Mecha Mummy showed up to help him and Takagi went on to win the match for DDT. NOSAWA swears he will get revenge on Takagi by sending his mummy wrestlers over to invade Super Japan!
MONDAY MAGIC “UNIVERSE MAGIC 2026”, 06/04/2026 Shinjuku FACE
1. The 1st UNIVERSE CUP – Semi Final: Sanshiro Takagi Vs The Great Sasuke
2. The 1st UNIVERSE CUP – Semi Final: Hayabusa Vs Naomichi Marufuji
3. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: X Vs X
4. 10-WOMAN MAGIC RUMBLE: X Vs X Vs X Vs X Vs X Vs X Vs X Vs X Vs X Vs X
3. The 1st UNIVERSE CUP – Final: X Vs X
There’s been one CyberFight promotion that has stayed away from Monday Magic but that’s all going to change next month. Tokyo Joshi Pro will finally have some involvement in the show, although it is going to be for a match they are putting together by themselves. There will also be a small Royal Rumble style match for the joshi wrestlers so maybe TJPW will start to mix in with the rest of the scene after all.
Looks like I now have to start talking about MONDAY MAGIC a bit more often. This thing started off in 2023 as an idea by NOSAWA Rongai to host live weekly NOAH shows on ABEMA built around mystery lineups and surprise matches. After the debut season, the series was then added to Wrestle Universe and last year it was quietly spun off into becoming its own brand, although it is still NOAH adjacent. I personally like the idea of treating Monday Magic as its own thing but you’d still be right to label it a NOAH show.
During the most recent season titled “RISING SUN”, it was announced that two upcoming spin-off episodes called “UNIVERSE MAGIC” will host the first ever Universe Cup tournament. It will be an eight man tournament featuring a representative from many different wrestling promotions that can be seen on Wrestle Universe. The wrestlers taking part are:
Naomichi Marufuji (Pro Wrestling NOAH)
Sanshiro Takagi (DDT Pro Wrestling)
The Great Sasuke (Michinoku Pro Wrestling)
Hayabusa (ZERO1 Pro Wrestling)
Isami Kodaka (Pro Wrestling BASARA)
Yumehito Imanari (Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling)
Kuroshio TOKYO Japan (Pro Wrestling Uptown)
Great Mummy (MONDAY MAGIC)
MONDAY MAGIC “UNIVERSE MAGIC 2026”, 09/03/2026 Shinjuku FACE
1. UNIVERSE CUP – Round 1: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Great Mummy
2. UNIVERSE CUP – Round 1: Naomichi Marufuji Vs Kuroshio TOKYO Japan
3. UNIVERSE CUP – Round 1: Isami Kodaka Vs The Great Sasuke
4. UNIVERSE CUP – Round 1: Hayabusa Vs Yumehito Imanari
Alright I get to talk about the new Hayabusa! Actually Bahu did a great job explaining the whole situation with him and ZERO1 recently so I recommend you give his video a watch. The inclusion of ZERO1 to this tournament comes from their repaired relationship with NOAH after the Go Shiozaki fiasco (I knew something was up with him a while back) and that led to Hayabusa recently appearing on Monday Magic so his addition has not come out of nowhere.
One of NOSAWA’s running jokes in Monday Magic is to often book one of the wrestlers to disguise themselves as Great Mummy, a throwback to the mummy gimmicks that were a regular presence around Japan’s sleazier indies decades ago. It’s only fitting that Sanshiro Takagi was chosen to be Great Mummy’s opponent in the first round.
MONDAY MAGIC “UNIVERSE MAGIC 2026”, 06/04/2026 Shinjuku FACE
1. UNIVERSE CUP – Semi Final: X Vs X
2. UNIVERSE CUP – Semi Final: X Vs X
3. UNIVERSE CUP – Final: X Vs X
The match announcement video included an image of a playoff bracket that makes it look like the winners of Matches #1 and #3 will meet in one semi final and the winners of Matches #2 and #4 will face off in the other. However I’m feeling suspicious about something. To put it kindly, NOSAWA is a trickster at heart. Don’t be surprised if he suddenly throws in a swerve or two that could completely change the face of the Universe Cup going into the final rounds.
It’s been a over a month since we last paid attention to Tetsuya Endo’s story in NOAH so what’s going on with him now? Well we rejoin Endo right after he decided to leave TEAM 2000X! When we last left him he was in a dramatic situation that led to Takashi Sugiura bringing in Jun Akiyama to try and set him straight. Endo refused to learn his lesson about being who he really is so a tag match was set up to settle their problems.
NOAH “LINE YAHOO! PRESENTS PRO WRESTLING NOAH 25TH ANNIVERSARY MEMORIAL VOYAGE 2025 IN RYOGOKU”, 03/05/2025 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan 4,521 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House
7. Special Tag Match: Jun Akiyama & Takashi Sugiura defeated Tetsuya Endo & Owadasan when Akiyama pinned Endo with the Starness Dust α (16:49).
This match was Akiyama’s first appearance on a normal NOAH show in over four years. He has wrestled on their Limit Break spin-off events and also the two “CYBERFIGHT FESTIVAL” shows but not the regular NOAH brand in that time. Owadasan had faced Akiyama before on those Limit Break shows back when he was known as Yu Owada. During the match Endo & Owadasan cheated by targeting Sugiura’s groin but once Akiyama got into the match like a house on fire, Endo wanted to fight him clean. He even refused to hit Akiyama with the weapon Yoshitatsu handed over to him. The two exchanged Exploder Suplexes on each other until Akiyama hit Endo with a Knee Lift to the face. That got a two count so Akiyama pulled out the Starness Dust α to put him away. He patted Endo on the chest after the match and told him something before leaving. Whatever it is he said, it made Endo start to question everything he’s been doing in NOAH lately.
NOAH “STAR NAVIGATION 2025”, 18/05/2025 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 1,562 Fans
3. Naomichi Marufuji, Takashi Sugiura & Masa Kitamiya defeated Tetsuya Endo, Daga & Owadasan when Sugiura pinned Owadasan with the Olympic Qualifier Slam (10:29).
Endo continued wrestling tag matches for TEAM 2000X trying to forget what happened. He had unfinished business with Sugiura and started complaining that NOAH were booking himself, an outsider, on more shows than they were booking Sugiura who belongs to the promotion. Endo again went for Low Blows on Sugiura while Owadasan did taunts saying Sugiura should be trying to rehabilitate him instead of Endo. Yoshitatsu interfered again to attack Naomichi Marufuji & Masa Kitamiya but once again when he offered a weapon to Endo it was refused. Then Endo went one step further by giving Tatsu the Exploder Suplex! He then stood aside to let Sugiura beat Owadasan to end the match.
Sugiura smiled afterwards and told Endo they should work together and aim for the top of NOAH by chasing after the GHC Heavyweight Title. Endo admitted he doesn’t like the way TEAM 2000X is being run so he is leaving the unit! The two shook hands to cement their new alliance. But there was more to come from this turn of events.
NOAH “STAR NAVIGATION 2025”, 03/06/2025 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. GHC Heavyweight Title – Survival 3 Way Match: OZAWA (c) Vs Tetsuya Endo Vs Takashi Sugiura
After OZAWA retained his GHC Title in the main event Endo got into the ring now wearing a NOAH shirt. He didn’t come to NOAH to get worthless victories with TEAM 2000X, he came here to fight OZAWA and take the GHC Title from him! OZAWA asked what is wrong with Endo because they were like twins. Now it turns out Endo is a traitor instead! OZAWA blamed Sugiura for this and demanded he get into the ring too. Why? Because OZAWA wants to fight both of them at once! He decided his next GHC Title defence will be a Survival 3 Way Match against Endo and Sugiura where the last man standing will be the champion. Endo accepted the challenge and told OZAWA they were never twins. He then put his hand on Sugiura’s shoulder and said they’re all triplets! OZAWA didn’t understand and asked if Endo took a hard slap to the head?
Backstage Endo said he’s been in NOAH for five months now and it’s best for him to act quickly. He did have a goal to get revenge on NOAH but as he felt more of a disconnect with TEAM 2000X, he felt more excitement from fighting the NOAH wrestlers. So now he has an opportunity to turn the tide and prove to fans that DDT is not inferior to NOAH. He could strategically use his alliance with Sugiura to eliminate OZAWA first but he feels that is more like a Handicap Match and it goes against his mindset.
DDT “U1 CLIMAX EEL LOVING WRESTLERS BOX OFFICE”, 13/04/2025 “Unagi no Eki” Special Venue, Shibushi City, Kagoshima ??? Fans – Unannounced
1. KANON defeated Keigo Nakamura with a Modified Facebuster (8:33).
2. Special Single Match: Danshoku Dieno defeated To-y with a Strong Haragatame (7:56).
3. Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul, Hideki Okatani & Ilusion defeated MAO, Kazuki Hirata, Daichi Sato & Kazuma Sumi when Okatani pinned Sumi with the Vertical Drop Brainbuster (14:54).
4. Jun Akiyama & Yukio Naya defeated Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida when Naya pinned Ishida with The World’s Best Back Drop (11:21).
5. Special Tag Match: Naomichi Marufuji & Yuki Ueno defeated Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada when Ueno pinned Masada with a Frog Splash (12:46).
6. Yamada Suisan Fish Army Vs Meat Alliance Army, The Final Showdown! Special 6-Man Tag Match: Shishamo Power, Unagi Mask & Super Unagi Mask defeated Aja Kong, Shunma “EL TURKEY” Katsumata & Yuya “GIBIE” Koroku when Power pinned Katsumata with the Shishamo Driver 2025 (15:11).
It’s been four years now of Shishamo Power wrestling annual matches in DDT on behalf of the Yamada Suisan seafood company. And in that time he has introduced DDT to a seemingly never ending rivalry between seafood themed wrestlers and meat eating fighters. In this latest battle the meat eaters Shunma Katsumata & Yuya Koroku summoned Aja Kong to join their side but the alliance collapsed when Katsumata hit Kong over the head with a steel can by accident. The seafood team then all hit their signature moves on Katsumata. Unagi Mask did a Sling Blade, Super Unagi Mask did a Swan Dive Body Press and Shishamo finished him off with the Shishamo Driver 2025. After the match Kong admitted sea food is great but you can never beat chicken, beef and pork! The Yamada Suisan promised to give Kong some unagi to change her mind.
Naomichi Marufuji made a rare visit to DDT for a match pitting him and Yuki Ueno against Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada. He gets along with Ueno but admitted after the match that he doesn’t actually like saunas. But before anything could come from that, Brookes told Marufuji he would be interested in facing him one on one next time he comes over.
Continuing on from yesterday, Danshoku Dieno wrestled his match without using his usual moveset.
KANON used a Modified Facebuster where he lifted up his opponent into a Canadian Backbreaker and then flipped him sideways into a Sitout Facebuster.
DDT “CRIME PREVENTION TRAINING PRO WRESTLING”, 16/03/2025 Ota Ward Industrial Plaza (PiO) 4th Floor Convention Hall
1. Falls Count Anywhere Tag Match: Yuki Ueno & HARASHIMA Vs Danshoku Dieno & Keigo Nakamura
Tomorrow is going to be very busy. While Tokyo Joshi Pro are holding “GRAND PRINCESS ’25” over at Ota Ward Gymnasium, not far away from them is DDT putting together a fan event to promote next week’s “JUDGEMENT 2025” show. Most of the event is meet and greet stuff but there will be a Falls Count Anywhere match being put together to promote “crime prevention” in the area with the local authorities.
GANBARE☆PRO “BOAT RACE G1 TODA PRIMROSE”, 22/03/2026 Saitama Boat Race Toda
0. CWP Offer Match: X Vs X
1. Sayaka Unagi & Banny Oikawa Vs Yuna Manase & YuuRI
2. El Gambaman Vs London Machine
3. Keisuke Ishii & Kouki Iwasaki Vs Hartley Jackson & Shota Kawakami
4. Shiro Koshinaka, Ken Ohka & Yumehito Imanari Vs Shuichiro Katsumura, Takuya Wada & Choun-Shiryu
Spend a day down at the boat races and you may see Ganbare☆Pro putting on a few matches in a wrestling ring built next to the lake. Shiro Koshinaka, Hartley Jackson and Sayaka Unagi are among the guest wrestlers taking part.
DDT “NANIWA FIGHTER 2025”, 23/03/2025 Osaka City Miyakojima Community Center
1. Danshoku Dieno & Antonio Honda Vs Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata
2. Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & Ilusion Vs Keigo Nakamura, Yuni & Kazuma Sumi
3. JJ Furno Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga
4. The 37KAMIINA Vs Harimao!: MAO & Shunma Katsumata Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida
5. Special Tag Match: Yuki Ueno & To-y Vs Jun Akiyama & Yukio Naya
6. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Chris Brookes, Masahiro Takanashi & Takeshi Masada Vs Yuya Koroku, HARASHIMA & Akito
Osaka gets to see ShunMao back together for a match against Harimao. Also JJ Furno’s first singles match in DDT for this tour is now happening here.
DDT “CHANGE AGE 2025 ~YOUR LIE IN APRIL~”, 06/04/2025 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. Hideki Okatani Return Match: Hideki Okatani Vs X
2. Special 6-Man Tag Match: MAO, Kazuki Hirata & Kumadori Vs Shunma Katsumata, Yuni & Kazuma Sumi
3. KO-D Openweight Title: Chris Brookes (c) Vs Yuya Koroku
DDT continues the idol wars. Kumadori’s next match with the company throws him in the ring against NωA Jr. At least he’ll have MAO & Kazuki Hirata backing him up.
M&A “SANSHIRO TAKAGI 30TH ANNIVERSARY PROJECT ~MATCHMAKE & AGENT~”, 09/04/2025 Tokyo Ueno Park Outdoor Stage
1. Shota Vs Mikiya Sasaki
2. Special Tag Match: Yumiko Hotta & Miku Kanae Vs Mio Shirai & Saran
3. Special Tag Match: Fuminori Abe & Takuya Nomura Vs Hikaru Sato & Ippanjin Munenori Sawa
4. Special Single Match: Jun Kasai Vs Maki Itoh
5. Special Tag Match: Yuji Nagata & Kuroshio TOKYO Japan Vs Brahman Shu & Brahman Kei
It’s going to be Astronauts Vs Perverts! The next match Sanshiro Takagi has come up with for MatchMake & Agent pits Fuminori Abe & Takuya Nomura against Hikaru Sato & Munenori Sawa.
BASARA “BASARA 275 ~YOKOHAMA MONOGATARI 2~”, 12/04/2025 Yokohama Radiant Hall
1. Gouma Ryu Vs Kikutaro
2. Iron Fist Tag Team Titles: Ryuichi Sekine & FUMA (c) Vs Daiki Shimomura & Keisuke Ishii
3. Union MAX Title: Ryota Nakatsu (c) Vs Isami Kodaka
After spending a few years away from Union MAX Title challenges, Isami Kodaka feels it is time for him to chase after the belt again. His plan is to win the title from Ryota Nakatsu and then defend it against all the other former members of Sento Minzoku.
DDT “U1 CLIMAX EEL LOVING WRESTLER DECISION MATCH”, 13/04/2025 “Unagi no Eki” Special Venue, Shibushi City, Kagoshima
1. Special Tag Match: Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada Vs Naomichi Marufuji & Yuki Ueno
One of Chris Brookes’s dream opponents is finally going to face him in the DDT ring. Naomichi Marufuji will be teaming up with Yuki Ueno for a big tag match against Brookes & Takeshi Masada.
Aja Kong will be on the show.
DDT “DDT GOES LAS VEGAS!”, 18/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Special Single Match: Antonio Honda Vs Santana Jackson
2. Special Single Match: Shinya Aoki Vs Timothy Thatcher
3. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs MAO
Now things are heating up for the Las Vegas show. Konosuke Takeshita is fighting one of his old friends from The 37KAMIINA again. Last year was against Shunma Katsumata. This year is against MAO!
NOAH “THE LEAVE PRESENTS LIMIT BREAK. 3 GO! ~GO SHIOZAKI 20TH ANNIVERSARY TOURNAMENT~”, 19/06/2024 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 1,220 Fans
4. Tetsuya Endo, Yuki Iino & Yuya Koroku defeated Atsushi Kotoge, Black Menso-re & Yuto Kikuchi when Endo pinned Menso-re with the Swivel Torture Rack Bomb (11:49).
5. Beast Vs Harimao: Kazuyuki Fujita defeated Kazusada Higuchi with the Kick To The Face (9:13).
7. Go Shiozaki 20th Anniversary Match -DEPARTURE 2024-: Go Shiozaki & Jun Akiyama Vs Naomichi Marufuji & Takashi Sugiura ended in a Time Limit Draw (30:00).
Some of the DDT related storylines over at the NOAH “LIMIT BREAK” shows came to an end today while one in particular is continuing on up until DDT’s next Sumo Hall show. The main event was Go Shiozaki’s 20th anniversary match and he picked Jun Akiyama as one of the other particpants. Akiyama was in Shiozaki’s debut match and the two have been an integral part of each other’s careers since then. Together they faced Naomichi Marufuji & Takashi Sugiura while special guest Kenta Kobashi watched from the commentary booth. The match lasted the entire thirty minute time limit without a winner. Akiyama said he was glad to be invited to Shiozaki’s big day and he’ll see him again somewhere down the line.
The battle between two hard headed brutes from NOAH and DDT was built up on previous Limit Break shows. Today Kazusada Higuchi finally got to fight Kazuyuki Fujita one on one. When the dust settled it was Fujita who hit harder. He countered the Buchikamashi sumo charge with a Lariat and then kicked Higuchi in the face twice for the pinfall. Fujita said the match was not about winning or losing. It was about himself and Higuchi hitting each other with all of their might. Higuchi admitted he was completely defeated today. He will have to start from scratch build himself back up from here.
Shiozaki will be teaming with Atsushi Kotoge at DDT’s Sumo Hall show next month to challenge BURNING for the KO-D Tag Team Titles. On today’s show Kotoge got a preview of what to expect from the champions in the form of a 6-Man Tag Match against them. He & Yuto Kikuchi had Tetsuya Endo on the ropes and left it up to Black Menso-re to finish him off. Endo turned the tables using the Tetsuya In The Sky and pinned Menso-re with the Torture Rack Bomb. Endo asked Kotoge if this match has fired him up. It might not matter because Endo thinks at this rate the title match has already been decided. He likes Kikuchi though and wouldn’t mind coming over to Dotonbori Pro sometime to wrestle him again. Yuki Iino swears Shiozaki’s Chops won’t hurt him when they fight each other again. Yuya Koroku was happy to be booked on the show and would like to take part in more Limit Break events in the future.
A press conference was held today by CyberFight to announce an upcoming change in company structure along with other news regarding their wrestling promotions. The big announcement is the appointment of Yasuo Okamoto as CyberFight’s new president from 1st June onwards. Okamoto began working for CyberAgent in 2000 and is currently an Executive Vice President, a role he’s had since 2020. Sanshiro Takagi will be moving down to EVP under his real name Tadashi Takagi (he is also slightly changing the spelling of his wrestling name from 高木三四郎 to 髙木三四郎) Takagi said he will be taking a break as a pro wrestler in July in order to focus on management as well as to take care of his own health. He will continue to be in charge of DDT and Tokyo Joshi Pro under this direction. On the NOAH side Naomichi Marufuji and Akihiro Takeda remain in their roles as EVP and Director respectively. Akito Nishigaki (aka Akito) will also now serve as a director. Takagi assures fans that the in-ring products for each company is not going to change.
Okamoto joked that when he received the offer for this role he was happy because he now gets to call pro wrestling his job. He already watches the different CyberFight promotions on ABEMA and Wrestle Universe. He also thanked Takagi for all of his hard work in running all three companies up to now. His goal is for everyone to work together in order to make CyberFight the number one wrestling organisation in the industry. His first target is to strengthen the relationship between NOAH and WWE. At the moment WWE shows air in Japan on ABEMA along with NOAH. There is nothing official to announce yet but they are working on having one in the near future. CyberFight is also currently finalizing deals for new corporate sponsors and would like to increase the number of sponsors from time to time. ABEMA streams NOAH programming and there is hope for DDT and TJPW to return to the service with broadcasts of their own big events.
NOAH have signed Ulka Sasaki and EITA to the company. Sasaki is a former MMA fighter who began wrestling for NOAH this past January. His goal is to become the GHC Heavyweight Champion. Takeda made a phone call to EITA at the press conference to announce the news of his signing. EITA told fans through the phone that he will continue to stir up NOAH as the ace of their Jr. Heavyweight division. NOAH also announced they have hired Keiji Muto as their new scouting advisor. Until now he was working as a Pro Wrestling Ambassador for ABEMA. Muto said every company right now is out there looking for new talented people and if any young people are interested they should get in contact with NOAH. Salaries are increasing and Muto heard stories about how Kazuchika Okada could be earning up to 2 billion yen over the next three years. He told Okamoto he would like to see him create a budget for the company that will look three to five years into the future. Muto also mentioned an idea to recruit new trainees from other countries, not just Japan.
Later this month DDT will be holding auditions for male teenagers aged 15 to 19 years old looking to become wrestling trainees. DDT is also setting up a new community project with Masahiro Chono called Safety Task Force (STF, get it?). Together they will hold small scale wrestling events to raise awareness for health disaster prevention and other lifesaving countermeasures. Chono sent in a video message telling DDT he does not want this project to be done half-heartedly.
Tokyo Joshi Pro will be increasing their international schedule over the next year in a bid to go global. On 24th August they will be in England holding an inter-promotional event with EVE. That is happening the same weekend as AEW’s return to Wembley in London. Then in November TJPW is planning to have a show in Seattle, USA. Finally, TJPW confirmed they will be in Las Vegas next April for their annual appearance at WrestleMania Week.
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The WWE part of that news sent a chill down the spine, didn’t it? There is already a little connection between them and NOAH through ABEMA. Looks like it’s about to grow. That has me concerned over just how far that direction can go and if it causes any side effects elsewhere. Takagi moving down a management tier isn’t getting me hopeful either but some of that is just time doing its thing. He’s spoken before about it being time for him to start looking for potential successors and getting them ready for the job. Is that going to be Akito because I think he has just been demoted from EVP to director, unless I missed that happening somewhere already a while ago. I don’t have any feelings towards Okamoto being the new president. Not thrilled with the WWE idea but I’m not going to immediately bash the guy over it.
Muto was never really gone from NOAH so his reappearance in the company is no surprise. He’s the one you have to watch out for when it comes to serving personal goals over company goals. The DDT news I’m indifferent too. They’re happy with how they get rookies and will continue down that path. The international TJPW shows are all good news. I’ll be in London for AEW so will go to the EVE x TJPW show the night before (unless Revolution Pro put out an unbelievable lineup). I’m also going to Vegas for Mania next year just to experience what the strip will look like swarmed by 60,000+ wrestling fans so you’ll be sure to see me at the TJPW show too. It’s a little odd they did not announce anything for DDT at the same time but I think it’s just because they wanted to include a TJPW announcement here and this schedule was all they had.
So yeah let’s hope the WWE stuff becomes minimal. If not then please look forward to “Main Event” Jey Uso fighting Yoshitatsu in Match #4 on a Shinjuku FACE card while The Up Up Girls get the Def Rebel remix treatment. Yeet.
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.
Posted by JamieOD 
Dramatic DDT 