GANBARE☆PRO “GRAND BLEU 2025”, 01/06/2025 Tokyo Takashimadaira Kumin Center 137 Fans
1. Keisuke Goto defeated Shota Kawakami with a Vertical Drop Brainbuster (9:06).
2. Ken Ohka, PSYCHO & Moeka Haruhi defeated Shinichiro Tominaga, Daisuke® & Banny Oikawa when PSYCHO pinned Daisuke® with the God Trap (10:54).
3. Yuna Manase & Mio Shirai defeated YuuRI & Nanami Hatano when Shirai pinned YuuRI with the Purple Flash (9:52).
4. GanPro Ultimate Rules: Tyson Maeguchi & Thanomsak Toba defeated Shuichiro Katsumura & Takuya Wada by Knockout when Maeguchi knocked out Katsumura with a Right Backhand Blow (14:00).
5. Keisuke Ishii, Toru Sugiura & Munetatsu Nakamura defeated Yumehito Imanari, Mizuki Watase & Shigehiro Irie when Nakamura pinned Watase with the German Suplex (21:34).
Munetatsu Nakamura was recently given the nickname “GanPro’s Promising Hope” and he is starting to prove he deserves the moniker. He scored the pinfall on Mizuki Watase in the main event thanks to some help from Toru Sugiura. The two set Watase up with a German Suplex for a nearfall. Then Sugiura hit Watase with a Rolling Elbow and Nakamura landed another German Suplex to get the three count. Nakamura then challenged Watase & Shigehiro Irie for the Spirit Of Ganbare World Tag Team Titles on 22nd June. However both Irie and Sugiura have bookings elsewhere that day. Michiyoshi Mishima decided the title match can happen on 19th July and 22nd June will get a Watase Vs Nakamura singles match instead.
The GanPro Ultimate Rules fitted Tyson Maeguchi really well and he ended up knocking out Shuichiro Katsumura to win the match for his team. In fact he likes the rules so much he might start calling himself Tyson “Ultimate” Maeguchi whenever he fights with gloves on. Bolstered by the win, he approached Yumehito Imanari at the end of the show and challenged him for the Spirit Of Ganbare World Title. He told Imanari he’s been treading the muddy waters of indie wrestling for the last year and finally climbed his way up to this point. Imanari agreed and wants the title match to happen on 22nd June. He pointed out that they both belong to the Ibushi Wrestling Institute and he knows what it is like to get stuck in the muddy waters of independent wrestling.
Mio Shirai is getting comfortable being in the ring again ever since she returned from retirement five months ago. After beating YuuRI today she wonders if YuuRI has been getting any stronger too wrestling in Ganbare☆Pro and Ice Ribbon? YuuRI may think she is but she should be training even harder if she wants to beat Shirai. If she has a problem with that then they can have a singles match against each other. GanPro obliged and booked the match for 19th July.
Mishima introduced everyone to a new trainee. Sentaro Motoshima was born in Kagoshima on 4th October, 2001. He is currently getting ready for his debut match and will participate in exhibition matches on upcoming shows as part of his preparations.
1. Ken Ohka & Mio Shirai defeated Daisuke® & YuuRI when Ohka pinned Daisuke® after a kick from Shirai (7:59).
2. Yuki Kanzaki & Tyson Maeguchi defeated Mizuki Watase & Reiya Igarashi when Maeguchi pinned Igarashi with a Flying Knee Kick (11:04).
3. Kyoko Inoue & Moeka Haruhi defeated Yuna Manase & Ibuki Hoshi when Inoue pinned Hoshi with a Power Bomb (7:58).
4. The Great Sasuke & Munetatsu Nakamura defeated Shinichiro Tominaga & Shota Kawakami when Nakamura pinned Kawakami with the Michinoku Driver II (8:03).
5. Yumehito Imanari, Keisuke Ishii & Tatsuhito Takaiwa defeated Shuichiro Katsumura, Takuya Wada & Choun-Shiryu when Imanari pinned Shiryu with the Lariat (13:19).
A wrestling ring was set up next to the boat race lake for Ganbare☆Pro to host a couple of matches in between the races. While none of the wrestlers were unlucky enough to take a dip in the water, the main event did spread out of the ring to take advantage of the surroundings. Also some of the wrestlers in Match #2 attacked each other with water guns.
Having The Great Sasuke as one of the guest wrestlers inspired Munetatsu Nakamura to use the Michinoku Driver II to win their tag match.
Ken Ohka & Mio Shirai had an uneasy time teaming up again for the first time in 13 years but they were able to find that chemistry again as the match went on. Shirai also got into a fight with YuuRI after the match to build up their tag bout on 1st June.
GANBARE☆PRO “SUICIDE SQUAD 2025”, 05/05/2025 Yokohama Radiant Hall 294 Fans – Super No Vacancy
1. Shota Kawakami 1st Anniversary Match: Shota defeated Shota Kawakami with the Frog Splash (10:10).
2. YuuRI, Nanami & Kirari Wakana defeated Moeka Haruhi, Yuna Manase & Banny Oikawa when YuuRI pinned Oikawa with the Swanton Bomb (9:50).
3. Yumehito Imanari, Keisuke Ishii & Shinichiro Tominaga defeated Yuki Kanzaki, Munetatsu Nakamura & Daisuke®️ when Tominaga pinned Daisuke®️ with Wine Hamon Overdrive (13:36).
4. HARUKAZE’s Last Match Before Her Hiatus: Ken Ohka defeated HARUKAZE with the Flame Spear (13:17).
5. Shuichiro Katsumura & Hartley Jackson defeated Toru Sugiura & Dragon Libre when Katsumura pinned Libre with the KKB (15:23).
6. Spirit Of Ganbare World Tag Team Titles: Shigehiro Irie & Mizuki Watase (c) defeated Yasu Urano & PSYCHO when Watase pinned Urano with the Running Elbow Butt (19:25). *V4 for Shigehiro Irie & Mizuki Watase.
After the main event Mizuki Watase brought up that he and Yasu Urano once fought each other for the King Of Dark Title, a championship that DDT awarded to the loser and banished them to the pre-show until they won a match. He noted that match was 16 minutes long and lasted longer than the main event of the same show that day. He also said after today’s show he is now certain who the main character of Ganbare☆Pro is and that’s everybody in the GanPro universe! As for the next challengers for Watase & Shigehiro Irie, they welcome anyone to come face them for the Spirit Of Ganbare World Tag Team Titles. They want to defend the titles at every GanPro show.
The semi-main event sparked a fire between GanPro and FREEDOMS when Takashi Sasaki interfered in the match to help Toru Sugiura & Dragon Libre. The GanPro wrestlers acting as seconds at ringside ran him off allowing Shuichiro Katsumura & Hartley Jackson to win one for the home team. Sasaki swore revenge afterwards and said he will fight GanPro any time.
Sadly for HARUKAZE she is leaving pro wrestling for now without ever winning a match at an independent GanPro show. She was persistent in trying to get Ken Ohka to tap out to an Arm Bar before switching gears to using roll up pins. Ohka couldn’t be beaten though and he pinned HARUKAZE with the Flame Spear. HARUKAZE asked everyone to make GanPro bigger so when she does come back she can win her first match there in front of a larger audience! Ohka said he believes she will be successful in life away from pro wrestling and when she does return they will wrestle together again.
Once the show was completed Munetatsu Nakamura, Shota Kawakami & YuuRI held a Ganbare☆Rally at ringside to promote the “YOUNG GANBARE SUMMIT” show happening on 10th May. Nakamura will be facing Mochizuki Jr. from Dragongate on the show and promised to beat him with a German Suplex. Kawakami called his opponents Kazumasa Yoshida & Ali Najima two big opponents so he and Shota Kofuji will show them a giant killing! YuuRI will be in a 6-Woman Tag Match and said no matter who she teams up with or fights against she will do her best in her own way.
Yoshiko Hasegawa will get to wrestle in GanPro one last time before her retirement. She will team with YuuRI & Riara to take on Yuna Manase, Moeka Haruhi & Banny Oikawa on 22nd June.
What a month. Felt like the moment WrestleMania Week ended the wrestling world just kept going. Konosuke Takeshita was involved with the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament in AEW and when that came to an end he very quickly established a new tag team with Josh Alexander. Then in Japan some DDT and Tokyo Joshi Pro wrestlers took part in Deadlock Pro’s weekend in the country’s capital. There was also some lucha libre action happening in Tokyo a few days later. Back in America Maki Itoh got her face painted again in a very nice and very evil manner. Then the very busy month came to an end with Miyu Yamashita stepping foot back inside AEW after a two or three year absence.
Yamashita is going to have a packed schedule in May. Itoh has a few things coming up but she will be back in TJPW in the middle of the month. Yamashita though has plenty on her plate and the AEW appearance came about at a good time to replenish some interest in her. What’s included below is not the complete schedule she posted on her Twitter account. There are plenty more dates coming up over the next few months but some haven’t been announced by the promotions yet so I left them out just to save some space. Our old pal Yuka Sakazaki got her first booking on the indies in quite a while too. Another thing to keep an eye on is just where will Keigo Nakamura land for his indefinite overseas excursion. Apparently wherever he’s going he is has gone travelling over there already. If he is indeed still going to wrestle I’ll do my best to keep track of it in these articles.
AEW “DYNAMITE – SPRING BREAKTHRU”, 16/04/2025 MGM Music Hall At Fenway, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
1. Owen Hart Foundation 2025 Men’s Tournament – Semi Final: Will Ospreay Vs Konosuke Takeshita
AEW “COLLISION – SPRING BREAKTHRU”, 17/04/2025 MGM Music Hall At Fenway, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
1. Josh Alexander & Konosuke Takeshita Vs Rocky Romero & Tomohiro Ishii
AEW “DYNAMITE”, 23/04/2025 Lakefront Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
1. Will Ospreay & Brody King Vs Josh Alexander & Konosuke Takeshita
AEW “DYNAMITE”, 30/04/2025 Chartway Arena, Norfolk, Virginia, USA
1. AEW Women’s World Title Eliminator Match: Toni Storm (w/ Luther) Vs Miyu Yamashita
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Results
AEW “DYNAMITE – SPRING BREAKTHRU”, 16/04/2025 MGM Music Hall At Fenway, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
1. Owen Hart Foundation 2025 Men’s Tournament – Semi Final: Will Ospreay defeated Konosuke Takeshita with the Stormbreaker (21:43).
A highly anticipated rematch in the Owen Hart Cup saw Takeshita clash with Will Ospreay once again. Ospreay looked to have had Takeshita’s number until Takeshita purposely collapsed to avoid taking the Hidden Blade. Takeshita even caught Ospreay in mid-air with an Elbow Strike only for Ospreay to kick out at one and hit the Hidden Blade from out of nowhere. Takeshita kicked out at one as well leading to a role reversal where Ospreay used the Bastard Driver into the German Suplex and Takeshita responded with a Hidden Blade of his own. More counters came with Ospreay turning the Raging Fire into a Hurricanrana that then switched into the Styles Clash. Takeshita countered another Hidden Blade with a Backslide into a Powerdrive Knee but Ospreay flipped over a Lariat and lifted Takeshita into the Stormbreaker, winning a hard fought match that booked his spot in the final.
AEW “COLLISION – SPRING BREAKTHRU”, 17/04/2025 MGM Music Hall At Fenway, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
1. Josh Alexander & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Rocky Romero & Tomohiro Ishii when Alexander pinned Ishii with a Power Bomb (10:18).
There wasn’t much time for Takeshita to lick his wounds but The Don Callis Family are already regrouping with a new addition to the unit. AEW’s newest signing Josh Alexander has taken on Don Callis’s management services and made to team with Takeshita. They won their first match as a tag team but one of the reasons it happened was because Rocky Romero ended up abandoning Tomohiro Ishii and left him to the wolves. Alexander & Takeshita rocked Ishii with a Double Roaring Elbow then Alexander finished him off with a Power Bomb. There was then more drama when Trent Beretta made his return after the match and attacked Ishii with Romero. Callis gave a wrench to Beretta and he used it to knock Ishii out.
AEW “DYNAMITE”, 23/04/2025 Lakefront Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
1. Josh Alexander & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Will Ospreay & Brody King when Alexander pinned King after the Assisted C4 Spike (13:08).
Winning ways continued for The Don Callis Family when they took on Takeshita’s two opponents from the Owen Hart Cup. It was a heck of a task getting there though. Brody King ran through them like a tank while Ospreay and Takeshita had unfinished business from their match last week. The Family needed Lance Archer to distract the ref in order to turn the tables. Even then it took a lot fo Alexander & Takeshita to put King away. It eventually took Takeshita helping Alexander lift King up for the C4 Spike to finally put the big boy away.
DPW “SPIRIT RISING – NIGHT 1”, 24/04/2025 Shinjuku FACE
1. Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA Vs LaBron Kozone & Calvin Tankman ended in a Draw (?:??).
2. DPW Women’s World Title: Dani Luna (c) defeated Rika Tatsumi (?:??). *V3 for Dani Luna.
I couldn’t get any proper results from DPW’s two shows in Japan since they’re usually pretty good at keeping things under wraps until the matches get uploaded to their streaming service. But some scraping through Twitter I was able to piece together some things. Rika Tatsumi failed in her bid to win the DPW Women’s Title from Dani Luna. Also the DPW Vs DDT match went to a draw, I assume of the time limit kind. One of the big spots was HARASHIMA going to do the Somato on LaBron Kozone only to get ran over in midair with the Pounce from Calvin Tankman.
DPW “SPIRIT RISING – NIGHT 2”, 25/04/2025 Shin-Kiba 1st RING
1. Calvin Tankman & Kazuma Sumi defeated Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida (?:??).
2. Emi Sakura, Chris Brookes, Mei Suruga & Baliyan Akki defeated Miyuki Takase, Kevin Ku, Dominic Garrini & Ryo Mizunami (?:??).
On Night 2 Chris Brookes was part of a ChocoPro team against a USA/Japan alliance representing DPW. Meanwhile Tankman got thrown in with some DDT wrestlers for a tag match between two pairs of big man and little man. Tankman is remaining in Japan for a ZERO1 tour but who knows, maybe DDT will come calling while he’s there.
HOG “ISOLATION”, 25/04/2025 NYC Arena, New York City, New York, USA
1. HOG Heavyweight Title: Mike Santana (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita ended in a No Contest when Charles Mason interfered (15:57). *V14 for Mike Santana.
Well that kind of felt like a waste of time. The HOG Heavyweight Title was on the line and neither Mike Santana nor Takeshita were in a position to take a loss. So Charles Mason came out and ruined the whole thing. Santana had Takeshita pinned with the Spin The Block Roaring Lariat but Santana pulled the ref out of the ring mid-count and attacked Santana to stop the match. Takeshita tried to come to the rescue but Mason fled the ring unharmed. Santana and Takeshita raised each other’s hands to everyone afterward.
BLACK LABEL PRO “BLP AT SCX III”, 25/04/2025 The Wyndham, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Leyla Hirsch with the Skull Kick (?:??).
2. Danhausen & Maki Itoh defeated Davey Bang & August Matthews when Danhausen pinned Matthews and Itoh pinned Bang with the Double Kokeshi (?:??).
The latest American tours for Itoh & Yamashita kicked off over in Black Label Pro. Itoh joined forces with Danhausen once again to reunite Very Cute, Very Evil Makihausen. Itoh had the face fully painted to match her tag partner and be battle ready to go against Bang And Matthews. Itoh was in grave danger when Davey Bang & August Matthews combined to hit the Spears Tower on her but Danhausen broke the pin. When they tried the same move on Danhausen he paused them with a Curse that resulted in Itoh tripping them over. The two then filled their opponents’ mouths with jars of teeth before kicking them in their faces. Itoh & Danhausen then finished them off with Stereo Kokeshi Headbutts.
This month saw Leyla Hirsch return to action, now as a freelancer. Yamashita got to be one her of first opponents back and didn’t show much ring rust with her performance. She tried wearing down Yamashita with an Ankle Lock but Yamashita fired back with strikes that took a lot out of her opponent. Hirsch then missed a Moonsault and charged right into the Skull Kick for the finish.
1. Mexican Tourist Belt – The Road To Studying In Mexico 6 Way Match: Yuki Mashiro defeated Honoka, YuuRI, SONYA, CoCo and Yoshiko Hasegawa when Mashiro pinned Hasegawa with a Modified Suplex Hold (?:??). Order Of Elimination: SONYA, CoCo, Honoka, YuuRI, Yoshiko Hasegawa.
2. Octagon & El Hijo del Octagon Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Pantera Jr. ended in a Draw when El Hijo del Octagon and Pantera Jr. pinned each other from a Romero Special (?:??).
The warm vibes of lucha libre were in the air surrounding Sumo Hall for a sponsored show put together by the Mexico Kanko tourism company. Daisuke Sasaki was thrown in with some luchadors for a tag match. Naturally Sasaki was on the rudo side teaming with Pantera Jr. to take on the supposedly family pair of Octagon & El Hijo del Octagon. Sasaki stepped in to stop Octagon from doing dive from the top turnbuckle. But the match ended up going to a draw when Pantera put El Hijo del Octagon in the Romero Special. The move leaned both luchadors back onto their shoulders resulting in a double pinfall. After some arguing over the finish, all four wrestlers raised each others hands in the ring.
A sixth woman was added to the Mexican Tourist Belt match. Yoshiko Hasegawa may be retiring from wrestling soon but she didn’t want to miss a chance to win a holiday to Mexico! She came close to winning too, eliminating YuuRI and making it to the final two with Yuki Mashiro. She tried to win using the Fisherman Buster but Mashiro got the better of her and won the match with a Modified Suplex.
AEW “DYNAMITE”, 30/04/2025 Chartway Arena, Norfolk, Virginia, USA
1. AEW Women’s World Title Eliminator Match: Toni Storm (w/ Luther) Vs Miyu Yamashita
Right at the end of the month Yamashita wound up in a familiar place. She came back to AEW for the first time since 2022 (or maybe 2023 if you want to count ROH). She was here to repeat what she did back then and that was to fight the AEW Women’s World Champion and beat her to get a title shot. We’re far past the days of Thunder Rosa though. It’s Toni Storm’s time now, which also happens to rewind the clock back one century thanks to her Timeless gimmick. Yamashita got into the swing of things by literally kicking Storm’s ass around the ring as well as kicking away the loyal butler Luther. She also hit the Skull Kick but was too fatigued to make the pin in time. I couldn’t tell if she broke the pin herself or if Storm kicked out of it because both looked like they happened at the same time. Storm made a comeback and avoided the Crash Rabbit Heat to throw Yamashita over to the corner with a German Suplex. She then landed the Running Hip Attack and pinned Yamashita with the Storm Zero. The booking sounds like it was a one time thing for Yamashita during this latest stay in the States. But she promised if she ever comes back to AEW she will kick someone else’s head in!
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Upcoming Appearances
TOP TALENT “LIVE AT MIDWAY MUSIC HALL”, 02/05/2025 Midway Music Hall, Edmonton, Canada
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Ava Lawless
May starts off with Yamashita and Itoh going in separate directions for a while. Yamashita will be in Canada to face Ava Lawless in her Top Talent Wrestling debut.
HOODSLAM “PHANTASMAGORIA”, 02/05/2025 Continental Club, Oakland, California, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs X
Meanwhile Itoh returns to a Hoodslam that is currently in chaos. But when is it ever quiet over there?
GCW “CRAZY SCARY SPOOKY HILARIOUS”, 03/05/2025 Ukrainian Culture Center, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs Miyu Yamashita
The next day 121000000 are back together but this time as opponents. Can Itoh finally beat Yamashita one on one for the first time ever?
GCW “WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU”, 04/05/2025 Hawthorne Theatre, Portland, Oregon, USA
1. JCW World Title: Masha Slamovich (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita
2. GCW World Title: Effy (c) Vs Maki Itoh
Then soon after that the two of them have the chance to both become champions in the GCW sphere on the same night. While Itoh faces Effy for the GCW World Title, Yamashita gets in the ring again with Masha Slamovich in a bid to take away her JCW World Title. Slamovich just recently pinned Yamashita at the “DDT VS TJPW VS GCW” show which seems to be what set this title match up. At the moment this looks to be Itoh’s last booking before she goes back to Japan. Her TJPW return will be on 11th May.
HOG “WAGING WAR”, 09/05/2025 Logan Square Auditorium, Chicago, Illinois, USA
1. Indi Hartwell Vs Miyu Yamashita
Yamashita gets another match with someone who knows what it’s like to wrestle in WWE. This time it is the Indi Hartwell, the former NXT Women’s Champion (bet some of you forgot she held that title for a month) turned TNA’s latest signing.
NJPW “RESURGENCE”, 09/05/2025 Toyota Arena, Ontario, California, USA
1. NEVER Openweight Title: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA (c) Vs El Phantasmo
It’s now been confirmed that Takeshita will defend the NEVER Openweight Title against El Phantasmo at New Japan’s next USA show. This is also happening a week after they face each other in Japan with the NJPW World TV Title on the line. Does Rocky Romero get involved after the ambush he committed on ELP last month?
MAPLE LEAF PRO “NORTHERN RISING”, 10/05/2025 Mattamy Athletic Centre, Toronto, Canada
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Serena Deeb
Yamashita is just bouncing back and forth between Canada and America during this trip. Serena Deeb will want to be the road block that stops her.
MLW “AZTECA LUCHA”, 10/05/2025 Cicero Stadium, Chicago, Illinois USA
1. Shoko Nakajima Vs X
After winning the MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title earlier this month, Shoko Nakajima is set to return to MLW for their next “AZTECA LUCHA” taping. Nothing has been announced yet for what her match is going to be. Could it be a title defence against a luchadora from CMLL?
GCW “BIG TIME”, 17/05/2025 RJ Meyer Arena, Joppa, Maryland, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Tony Deppen
Itoh will be long gone home by this time so GCW could become Yamashita’s for the taking in her absence. Beating the promotion’s gatekeeper Tony Deppen would send her in the right direction.
GCW “RUN FOR IT”, 18/05/2025 Water Street Music Hall, Rochester, New York, USA
1. Billie Starkz Vs Miyu Yamashita
What kind of momentum will be following Yamashita by the time she fights Billie Starkz again?
MKW “BATTLE OF THE DECADE”, 24/05/2025 Dongxin Plaza, Beijing, China
1. Yuki Kamifuku & Chen Wenbin Vs Alexis Lee & Big Sam
Could this be the penultimate chapter of the rivalry between Yuki Kamifuku and Alexis Lee?
SAJ “HUNTER’S NET”, 24/05/2025 Via Dante 72, Sporting Cesate, Milan, Italy
1. Irene Vs Miyu Yamashita Vs Session Moth Martina
A change of venue for Yamashita’s debut in Italy due to an electrical problem in the original building. She is also finally going to face Session Moth Martina after their scheduled match in EVE back in March got cancelled. One week later Martina got to team with Italian wrestler Irene at the most recent SAJ Wrestling show. I haven’t seen it so I don’t know if anything happened as a reason to make them opponents here or if this is just three wrestlers who want to have some fun in the ring.
1. Queen Of Asia Title: Yuki Kamifuku (c) Vs Alexis Lee
If all goes wrong for Kamifuku in May she could end up losing both the VPW Women’s Title and the Queen Of Asia Title!
NEW TEXAS PRO “BAT CITY”, 01/06/2025 Empire Control Room, Austin, Texas, USA
1. Yuka Sakazaki Vs X
Finally Sakazaki gets to wrestle somewhere again! I don’t know if her lack of ring time lately is AEW/ROH not wanting to book her or if there’s an undisclosed injury of some sort holding her back but she’s making a reappearance on the American indies with New Texas Pro as her first stop.
KITSUNE “GOING BACK TO SAN DIEGO”, 07/06/2025 Primal Compound, San Diego, California, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Zara Zakher
2. Vipress & Hudson Envy Vs Nagisa Nozaki & Yuna Manase
The first singles meeting between Yamashita and Zara Zakher. They fought each other once before in a Princess Tag Team Titles match back in January. Yamashita pinned Zakher in that match. Will she do it again?
KITSUNE “8888”, 08/06/2025 South Gate, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. Kitsune World Title: Yuna Manase (c) Vs Tae Honma
This October Tae Honma is going to retire from pro wrestling. One of her last big singles matches will be in America when Yuna Manase defends the Kitsune World Title against her.
LLL “BUT THE TICKET, TAKE THE RIDE NIGHT 2”, 14/06/2025 The Oriental Theater, Denver, Colorado, USA
1. Dark Sheik Vs Miyu Yamashita
Yamashita returns to Lucha, Libre & Laughs for two nights but only one of them has a match announced so far. She faces Dark Sheik on Night 2. Nothing yet on what match she will get on Night 1.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN HOUSTON – NIGHT 1”, 10/07/2025 POST, Houston, Texas, USA
Four wrestlers are currently confirmed for TJPW’s big tripleshot in Texas.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN HOUSTON – NIGHT 2”, 11/07/2025 POST, Houston, Texas, USA
Yamashita and Itoh will be there as will Miu Watanabe and Suzume. So far that’s all of the official announcements.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN DALLAS”, 13/07/2025 The OC, Forney, Texas, USA
Psst… the English website promoting the show also lists Yuki Arai, Mizuki, Hyper Misao, Shoko Nakajima, Pom Harajuku, Moka Miyamoto, Shino Suzuki, Raku and Arisu Endo as all “awaiting confirmation” to be on the show. I guess they could go and confirm them all but as we saw with Harajuku this month they might be making sure everything is absolutely ready for them all to travel first.
What a month it’s been already and we’re not even halfway through yet. It’s the busiest time of the year for American wrestling with WrestleMania coming up next weekend and the carnival of shows that exist around it. DDT and Tokyo Joshi Pro will be deep in the mix with shows held under The Collective banner along with some outside bookings scattered around the Paradise of Las Vegas. Then there is no rest for the wicked afterwards because the months leading into summertime will be very busy for the likes of Miyu Yamashita and Maki Itoh. The international exchange will even be seen in Japan with Deadlock Pro running a tour over there and YuuRI getting involved in a big lucha libre show. Plus one of the big rivalries happening in Southeast Asia may finally come to an end if Yuki Kamifuku defeats Alexis Lee one more time.
But I’m burying the lede here. Shoko Nakajima won a championship in MLW! She has become the latest TJPW wrestler to win a title belonging to a foreign company and we may possibly add another person to that somehow growing list at the end of the month. Meanwhile Konosuke Takeshita is already turning April 2025 into a memorable period. He squashed an age old beef with one of Japan’s modern legends and has started a tournament run that will at least produce a few great matches if he doesn’t make it all the way.
Video starts at 22:53 for Match #1. Go to 1:12:00 for Match #2. MLW “BATTLE RIOT VII”, 05/04/2025 Thunder Studios Arena, Long Beach, California, USA
1. HIMAWARI Vs Janai Kai
2. MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title: Delmi Exo (c) Vs Shoko Nakajima
8th match Backstage 4/11/25 | Windy City Riot 2025
AEW “COLLISION”, 12/04/2025 MassMutual Center, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA
1. Owen Hart Foundation 2025 Men’s Tournament – Quarter Final: Brody King (w/ Julia Hart) Vs Konosuke Takeshita
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Results
AEW “COLLISION”, 02/04/2025 (Aired 05/04/2025) Peoria Civic Center, Peoria, Illinois, USA
1. Kyle Fletcher & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Powerhouse Hobbs & Tomohiro Ishii (w/ Rocky Romero) when Fletcher pinned Ishii with the Sheer Drop Brainbuster (13:47).
Takeshita had to miss the “DYNASTY” PPV because he had other priorities with New Japan that weekend but he was able to fit in an AEW tag match right before he left. He and Kyle Fletcher are really catching on as a tag team lately and they were really put through the grinder against Powerhouse Hobbs & Tomohiro Ishii. They tried to give Ishii a Super Bomb from the corner but Ishii countered it into a Frankensteiner on Fletcher. Takeshita came to help Fletcher give Ishii a Sheer Drop Brainbuster for a nearfall and then clashed with Hobbs. Ishii’s face was bloody at this point but he was still fired up to fight. Fletcher didn’t care though and he used a Tombstone Piledriver followed by another Brainbuster for the victory.
MLW “BATTLE RIOT VII”, 05/04/2025 Thunder Studios Arena, Long Beach, California, USA
1. Janai Kai defeated HIMAWARI with the Tornado Kick (7:28).
2. MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title: Shoko Nakajima defeated Delmi Exo (c) with the Diving Senton (9:17). *Delmi Exofails in V2. Shoko Nakajima becomes the 5th MLW Women’s World Featherweight Champion!
Well would you look at that, MLW went all the way with Nakajima and made her their women’s champion! The 619, Double Arm DDT and Diving Senton put Delmo Exo away and now Nakajima can add the MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title to her collection.
Also HIMAWARI did not in fact get abducted or murdered by CONTRA Unit. She made it back to Japan in one piece. Janai Kai still beat her pretty handily but I’d still call it a successful MLW excursion.
NJPW “WINDY CITY RIOT”, 11/04/2025
Wintrust Arena, Chicago, Illinois, USA
4,674 Fans – No Vacancy
1. Hiroshi Tanahashi Last Match In The USA Final Road ~Kinship~: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi with the Raging Fire (20:37).
It was an emotional battle that’s been over a decade in the making. Takeshita was not only fighting Hiroshi Tanahashi in a rematch from their DDT bout from 2014 but he was defending DDT’s honour over the disrespect Tanahashi gave to them in 2015. Due to the added importance that this will be Tanahashi’s final wrestling match in America before he retires it was made the main event of the show ahead of the IWGP World Heavyweight Title bout. The two had counters for each other’s finishers but Takeshita surprised everyone by doing his own High Fly Flow. Everyone was then in even more shock when Tanahashi kicked out at one! Takeshita nailed Tanahashi with several Wagamama knee strikes before giving a big shout to HARASHIMA by hitting the Somato. After that he used the Raging Fire to get the win.
Backstage Takeshita said he was all anger before this match but now that it is over, his revenge on Tanahashi has ended and he now for the first time respects him. There is one thing that Takeshita couldn’t do to Tanahashi and that was take away the last of his light. He wishes to see Tanahashi keep that light shining until his retirement. He was then interrupted by El Phantasmo who complained about Takeshita not showing respect until now. He still remembers their match at last year’s G1 Climax and he wants to challenge him to a rematch, this time with the NEVER Openweight Title on the line. Suddenly Phantasmo was then attacked from behind by Rocky Romero. Whatever it is that’s going on between them has nothing to do with Takeshita. At least for now.
AEW “COLLISION”, 12/04/2025 MassMutual Center, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA
1. Owen Hart Foundation 2025 Men’s Tournament – Quarter Final: Konosuke Takeshita defeated Brody King (w/ Julia Hart) with the Powerdrive Knee (12:18).
The 4th annual Owen Hart Cup is packed this year on both the men’s and women’s tournaments. Count Takeshita among them on the men’s side. His opening round match was against Brody King from The Hounds Of Hell. Even a guy like Takeshita gets a bit worried when he hears King barking nearby. It took several Powerdrive Knee strikes to break down King and the final two needed Takeshita to pull his kneepad down for extra damage to finally put his opponent down for the count.
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WrestleMania Week Appearances
PANDEMONIUM PRO “THE HOUSE ALWAYS WINS”, 17/04/2025 Fremont Country Club, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Masha Slamovich Vs MAO
2. Maya World Vs Miu Watanabe
Let’s get crazy. The first piece of involvement in Wrestlemania Week from DDT and TJPW both take place at the same show. Miu Watanabe makes a rare outside appearance from TJPW to take on Maya World while one of her later upcoming opponents Masha Slamovich takes a trip on MAO’s wild ride. Or maybe it’s MAO going on Slamovich’s wild ride.
WRESTLECON “MARK HITCHCOCK MEMORIAL SUPERSHOW”, 17/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Mickie James Vs Maki Itoh
Who knows what else WrestleCon has in store for their big event of the week and if it applies here. They have a mystery 10-Man Tag Match on the card which was used to promote TJPW in a previous year. Itoh might meet her match in more ways than one when she faces off against Mickie James. But the worst thing James could do is go in their and underestimate Itoh.
WEST COAST PRO “VEGAS VACATION”, 17/04/2025 Meet Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. MAO Vs Jiah Jewell
It will be the second match of the day for both MAO and Jiah Jewell.
GCW “JOSH BARNETT’S BLOODSPORT XIII”, 17/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Charlie Dempsey Vs Shinya Aoki
2. Nattie Neidhart Vs Miyu Yamashita
This year’s Bloodsport went through a slight overbooking problem with some fighters but it hasn’t affected the two matches here that I care about. Bless GCW and Josh Barnett for having conflicting stories over who is actually booking the show when it was time to explain why previously announced talent were being left off the final card. Friendship aside, Nattie Neidhart doesn’t want to be used as a stepping stone by Yamashita but Yamashita doesn’t want Neidhart to take her lightly either. Are we going to get MMA Shinya Aoki or DDT Shinya Aoki when he fights Charlie Dempsey?
BZW “VIVA LAS VEGAS”, 17/04/2025 Swan Dive, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. BZW Tag Team Titles: MAO & Yoshihiko (c) Vs Marcus Mathers & Alec Price
Alec Price has found a replacement partner to challenge MAO & Yoshihiko for the BZW Tag Team Titles. With Cole Radrick out of action, Marcus Mathers is going to take his place.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “QUERI PRESENTS TJPW LIVE IN LAS VEGAS”, 18/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Rika Tatsumi, Shino Suzuki & Vert Vixen Vs Yuki Aino, Raku & Viva Van
2. Yuki Arai Vs Arisu Endo
3. Maki Itoh & Zara Zakher Vs Max The Impaler & Pom Harajuku
4. Special Single Match: Masha Slamovich Vs Miu Watanabe
5. International Princess Title: Suzume (c) Vs Jada Stone
6. Princess Tag Team Titles: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao (c) Vs Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara
7. Princess Of Princess Title: Mizuki (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita
I’ll aim to have my guide for the TJPW Las Vegas show posted either late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning Las Vegas time.
DDT “DDT GOES LAS VEGAS!”, 18/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Nick Wayne, Shunma Katsumata & Kazuma Sumi Vs Gringo Loco, Marcus Mathers & Tyler Bateman
2. Special Single Match: Antonio Honda Vs Santana Jackson
3. Special Single Match: Shinya Aoki Vs Timothy Thatcher
4. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs MAO
5. wXw Unified World Wrestling Title: 1 Called Manders (c) Vs Yukio Naya
6. DDT Universal Title: Minoru Suzuki (c) Vs Yoshihiko
Same with my guide for the DDT Las Vegas show. You’ll pretty much know I arrived safe and sound when the articles get posted.
WRESTLECORE “FEAR & WRESTLECORE IN LAS VEGAS”, 18/04/2025 Swan Dive, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. ELP Vs Maki Itoh
Well so much for El Phantasmo and Maki Itoh joining forces as The Cutest Tag Team In The World. They’re not getting along so they’re going to fight each other instead.
PRIDESTYLE “OUT OF THIS WORLD”, 18/04/2025 Swan Dive, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
0. Yoshihiko’s Super Special Open Challenge: Yoshihiko Vs X
1. G-Sharpe Vs MAO
A new booking for MAO over at PrideStyle. If his opponent G-Sharpe looks a little familiar it may be because you might recognize him when he wrestles under a mask as Hyperstreak. There is a group called The Cartel de Los Villanos who have been feuding with G-Sharpe over in PrideStyle and they are the ones who hired MAO to fight him.
A bonus attraction will be happening before the show officially starts. That’s right, Yoshihiko is throwing out an open challenge! Who will dare step foot against “The Grave Digger Doll From Hell”?
GRAPHOUSE “FOR VEGAS, BY VEGAS”, 18/04/2025 Fergusons Downtown, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Lazarus Vs MAO
MAO’s Friday night comes to a close with a brawl against Lazarus near Fremont Street. Someone convince MAO to Moonsault off of the Vegas Vic neon sign.
DDT/TOKYO JOSHI PRO/GCW “DDT VS TJPW VS GCW”, 19/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Rika Tatsumi & Antonio Honda Vs Kidd Bandit & Shota
2. 3 Way Match: MAO & Yoshihiko Vs Jimmy Lloyd & Alec Price Vs Jack Cartwheel & Kazuma Sumi
3. Special Tag Match: Mance Warner & Shunma Katsumata Vs John Wayne Murdoch & Matt Tremont
4. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki, Ilusion & Dark Sheik Vs Super Crazy, Marcus Mathers & Shoko Nakajima
5. Special Tag Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA & Masha Slamovich Vs Shinya Aoki & Miyu Yamashita
What the hell kind of Fire Pro random card is this?
GCW “CLUSTERF*CK FOREVER”, 19/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Clusterfuck Match: Yoshihiko Vs X
Yoshihiko is among the many, many competitors announced for the Clusterfuck so far but nobody else from DDT or TJPW has declared they will be in it. It’s likely a bunch of the talent will already be flying home by the time this show takes place.
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Upcoming Appearances After WrestleMania Week
AEW “DYNAMITE – SPRING BREAKTHRU”, 16/04/2025 MGM Music Hall At Fenway, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
1. Owen Hart Foundation 2025 Men’s Tournament – Semi Final: Will Ospreay Vs Konosuke Takeshita
Ok this is during WrestleMania Week but isn’t actually part of it so let’s stick it here. It’s now on to the semi finals for Takeshita where is next opponent is quite a doozy. It’s the rematch against Will Ospreay!
DPW “SPIRIT RISING – NIGHT 1”, 24/04/2025 Shinjuku FACE
1. Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA Vs LaBron Kozone & Calvin Tankman
2. DPW Women’s World Title: Dani Luna (c) Vs Rika Tatsumi
The hype train’s not stopping once WrestleMania is done. The schedule is going to get even more packed heading into the summer! DPW is heading back to Japan and has some familiar wrestlers taking part on their shows. Rika Tatsumi is getting a shot at the DPW Women’s World Title on the first night. The champion Dani Luna is coming out of a violent feud with Hyan over the belt which included title defences in Street Fights and Dog Collar matches. Sounds like she’ll be ready to handle Tatsumi’s madness. Meanwhile Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA are teaming up to take on two of DPW’s mainstays. LaBron Kozone is currently the DPW National Champion which just so happens to be the first DPW championship that his teammate Calvin Tankman won in the company.
DPW “SPIRIT RISING – NIGHT 2”, 25/04/2025 Shin-Kiba 1st RING
1. Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida Vs Calvin Tankman & Kazuma Sumi
2. Emi Sakura, Chris Brookes, Mei Suruga & Baliyan Akki Vs Miyuki Takase, Kevin Ku, Dominic Garrini & Ryo Mizunami
Then on the second night Brookes joins team ChocoPro to fight a mix of joshi and Violence Is Forever… Joshi Is Forever? Violence Is Joshi? Miyuki Takase & Ryo Mizunami Plus Two?
Tankman finds himself in the ring surrounded by DDT wrestlers. It will be a match of big man and little man teams when Tankman teams with Kazuma Sumi to fight the Harimao pair of Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida.
HOG “ISOLATION”, 25/04/2025 NYC Arena, New York City, New York, USA
1. HOG Heavyweight Title: Mike Santana (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita
Will Takeshita bring an end to Mike Santana’s 16 month reign as House Of Glory’s champion?
BLACK LABEL PRO “BLP AT SCX III”, 25/04/2025 The Wyndham, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Leyla Hirsch
2. Danhausen & Maki Itoh Vs Davey Bang & August Matthews
You know, this is one of those shows that feels like it just takes forever to get to.
MEXICO KANKO/CMLL/LADYS RING “LUCHA FIESTA ESPECIAL”, 27/04/2025 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
1. Mexican Tourist Belt – The Road To Studying In Mexico 5 Way Match: Yuki Mashiro Vs Honoka Vs YuuRI Vs SONYA Vs CoCo
2. Octagon & El Hijo del Octagon Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Pantera Jr.
I heard this show has a Street Fighter 6 product placement match. Makoto and Hikaru Shida are cosplaying as R. Mika & Yamato Nadeshiko to fight a pair of masked Zangief wrestlers. It would be funny if The Gief #1 and The Gief #2 were other members of DAMNATION T.A.
I missed that YuuRI was booked for this show a month ago. She’s taking part in a 5 Way match where the winner will be crowned the second Mexican Tourist Belt Champion. Whoever holds possession of the belt is given the right to go study in Mexico thanks to the show sponsors. YuuRI’s opposition in the match are the freelancer Yuki Mashiro, Honoka from WAVE, SONYA from the Costa Rica Wrestling Embassy (CWE) and CoCo from MY WAY.
TOP TALENT “LIVE AT MIDWAY MUSIC HALL”, 02/05/2025 Midway Music Hall, Edmonton, Canada
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
Yamashita is going to be visiting Canada a few more times during this excursion. Top Talent Wrestling is the latest promotion over there to book her.
HOODSLAM “PHANTASMAGORIA”, 02/05/2025 Continental Club, Oakland, California, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs X
Itoh is getting her ass back to Hoodslam!
GCW “CRAZY SCARY SPOOKY HILARIOUS”, 03/05/2025 Ukrainian Culture Center, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs Miyu Yamashita
Itoh believes she cannot lose to Yamashita in GCW. Anywhere but over there!
GCW “WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU”, 04/05/2025 Hawthorne Theatre, Portland, Oregon, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. GCW World Title: Effy (c) Vs Maki Itoh
One day later she gets her chance to win the GCW World Title from Effy. Only one person missing from making it a full Maki Death Bussy reunion.
HOG “WAGING WAR”, 09/05/2025 Logan Square Auditorium, Chicago, Illinois, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
Just have to wait and see who House Of Glory wants to put Yamashita against. It didn’t work out so well for her there last time.
NJPW “RESURGENCE”, 09/05/2025 Toyota Arena, Ontario, California, USA
1. KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs X
It hasn’t been made official at the time of writing but it’s looking like Takeshita will defend the NEVER Openweight Title against El Phantasmo at this show. Unless Romero does something else to ELP and changes the situation.
MAPLE LEAF PRO “NORTHERN RISING”, 10/05/2025 Mattamy Athletic Centre, Toronto, Canada
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Sereena Deeb
North American promoters really have a type of opponent in mind for Yamashita this time around, eh? She’ll have to deal with the wrestling expertise of Serena Deeb for her return to Maple Leaf Pro.
GCW “BIG TIME”, 17/05/2025 RJ Meyer Arena, Joppa, Maryland, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Tony Deppen
Yamashita’s journey through GCW continues.
GCW “RUN FOR IT”, 18/05/2025 Water Street Music Hall, Rochester, New York, USA
1. Billie Starkz Vs Miyu Yamashita
Once again, they meet at last.
MKW “BATTLE OF THE DECADE”, 24/05/2025 Dongxin Plaza, Beijing, China
1. Yuki Kamifuku & Chen Wenbin Vs Alexis Lee & Big Sam
The end of May will be a dramatic period for Yuki Kamifuku and Alexis Lee. This match in Middle Kingdom Wrestling has now become the warmup for what happens in Singapore Pro Wrestling one week later.
SAJ “HUNTER’S NET”, 24/05/2025 Magnete, Milan, Italy
1. Queen Of Asia Title: Yuki Kamifuku (c) Vs Alexis Lee
The stakes have been risen to the extreme. Lee is wagering her pro wrestling career to get one last chance at winning back the Queen Of Asia Title from Kamifuku. If she loses this time then she is done for!
KITSUNE “GOING BACK TO SAN DIEGO”, 07/06/2025 Primal Compound, San Diego, California, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. Vipress & Hudson Envy Vs Nagisa Nozaki & Yuna Manase
Hey since Darkness Revolution are now down a member in Marigold maybe Nagisa Nozaki will consider replacing Bozilla with Yuna Manase.
KITSUNE “8888”, 08/06/2025 South Gate, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. Yuna Manase Vs X
Yamashita’s match on this show will be a singles match with an opponent yet to be determined.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN HOUSTON – NIGHT 1”, 10/07/2025 POST, Houston, Texas, USA
Does the T in TJPW now stand for Texas? On the weekend when AEW runs “ALL IN TEXAS” TJPW will be holding three shows in the Lone Star State.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN HOUSTON – NIGHT 2”, 11/07/2025 POST, Houston, Texas, USA
Two of the shows are going to be in Houston.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN DALLAS”, 13/07/2025 The OC, Forney, Texas, USA
The third show is happening… not in Dallas but they’re calling it Dallas anyway. Is this like years ago when WWE would be in New York State and only mention on air that they’re somewhere near New York City?
GANBARE☆PRO “MAD MAX 2025 ~ GANBARE☆PRO WRESTLING 12TH ANNIVERSARY BOX OFFICE”, 11/04/2025 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 611 Fans
1. Mixed 6-Man Tag Match: Yasu Urano, PSYCHO & Banny Oikawa defeated Hartley Jackson, Daisuke®️ & HARUKAZE when Urano pinned HARUKAZE with an Inside Cradle Counter (15:10).
2. Hikaru Sato & Tyson Maeguchi defeated Toru Sugiura & Munetatsu Nakamura when Sato submitted Nakamura with the Arm Bar (12:22).
3. Mizuki Watase’s Return Match: Mizuki Watase, Shigehiro Irie, Choun-Shiryu & Rekka defeated Kouki Iwasaki, Takuya Wada, Fuminori Abe & Shota Kawakami when Watase pinned Kawakami with the Modified TTD (12:21).
4. Special 6-Woman Tag Match: Yuna Manase, Koguma & Hazuki defeated Moeka Haruhi, YuuRI & Ami Manase when Yuna pinned Ami with the Lariat (14:13).
5. Special Single Match: Masaaki Mochizuki defeated Ken Ohka with a Buzzsaw Kick (10:44).
6. Special Tag Team Match: Yuji Nagata & Tatsuhito Takaiwa defeated Shuichiro Katsumura & Keisuke Ishii when Nagata pinned Katsumura with the Back Drop Hold (14:19).
7. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Yumehito Imanari (c) defeated Shinichiro Tominaga with the Lariat (20:32). *V4 for Yumehito Imanari.
After 16 months away from pro wrestling’s sacred venue, Ganbare☆Pro finally returned to Korakuen Hall today for the first time since becoming an independent company away from CyberFight. When the dust settled in the main event, Yumehito Imanari remained as the man to continue leading GanPro as its champion. His match against Shinichiro Tominaga came down to Power Bombs and Lariats with neither wanting to stay down for the count. Imanari’s Lariat turned out to be the stronger one and he was able to put Tominaga away to keep the Spirit Of Ganbare World Title. Imanari told Tominaga it’s been 15 years since they were struggling amateur pro wrestlers trying to make a documentary together and it is a miracle that both of them just headlined a Korakuen show together. He wants to savor the afterglow of today before he thinks about who should challenge him next. Tominaga pointed out this was only his third match since returning from his torn Achilles tendon back in January and everyone’s hard work pushed him forward towards giving 120% today.
Yuji Nagata was feeling pumped up to wrestle on the show. One of his opponents Shuichiro Katsumata was looking to get revenge on him for losing an MMA fight to his brother Katsuhiko Nagata way back in 2006. But he had to deal with Tatsuhito Takaiwa too and even with Keisuke Ishii’s help couldn’t take it. Takaiwa gave Katsumura the Death Valley Bomb, Nagata hit him with a Knee Strike and then got the win with the Back Drop Hold. Nagata then offered to shake Ishii’s hand after the match but Ishii slapped it away. Nagata told reporters he remembers the MMA fight his brother had with Katsumura but he never knew Katsumura became a pro wrestler until his first time working with GanPro last year. He also remembered it’s been over 20 years since he last teamed up with Takaiwa. He has fond memories of them going out drinking and Takaiwa laughing at Nagata’s belly getting bloated from drinking so much. After three decades of wrestling he wants to experience more kinds of pro wrestling which is why he’s been taking more bookings outside of New Japan lately.
Bad memories of Ken Ohka’s days training under the Toryumon banner swirled through his head when he fought Masaaki Mochizuki. Unfortunately Mochizuki cannot say the same because he didn’t even know Ohka was there back then. But he knows Ohka has been involved with wrestling for around 25 years now so he should forget about that past and focus on what he is representing in the present. Ohka’s not the only one who is getting old so Mochizuki wants to know if he wants to continue fighting him? Ohka gave him a slap in response. Mochizuki then said he’s not the kind of person who hits people back when provoked but if the GanPro fans enjoyed today’s match then maybe they can do it again in front of a younger audience at Dragongate.
There was a reunion of Stardom’s 5th Generation when Yuna Manase invited Koguma & Hazuki over to face a trio representing the Ganbare☆Joshi division. She also remembered her “little sister” Ami Manase was back in GanPro after a long absence. FWC did their thing to keep YuuRI & Moeka Haruhi at bay while Yuna pinned her masked “sister” with a Lariat. Manase thanked FWC and Stardom’s president for letting the two of them come to wrestle in GanPro today even when Stardom had a show of their own happening in Aichi. Hazuki was happy to team up with Manase but Koguma said next time she would like FWC to wrestle against her. Manase likes the idea and thinks a tag match like that would do YuuRI some good too. She’ll think about it because maybe it can be something that can be done for GanJo in the future.
It doesn’t seem like anyone could come back from a ruptures Achilles tendon injury in just four months but Mizuki Watase did just that. He didn’t want to take it easy just because his first match back was an 8-Man Tag either. He got the win by pinning Shota Kawakami with the Modified TTD and was then welcomed back by Shigehiro Irie. The two of them are still the reigning Spirit Of Ganbare World Tag Team Champions so they want to start defending them again soon. Watase said he wants to defend the titles at four times the normal speed to make up for lost time. Yasu Urano & PSYCHO overheard their comments and asked if Watase is really at 100%. Watase said his injury is totally fine but he is feeling pain from his muscles cramping up. Urano then challenged him for the SOG Tag Titles and wants the match to happen as soon as possible. They’ll have to wait a while but the two teams agreed to have the title match on 5th May.
The fighting between Toru Sugiura & Munetatsu Nakamura and the Hentai Punch Drunkers got so heated that it kept going once the match had finished. Nakamura tried to give Hikaru Sato the German Suplex but Tyson Maeguchi cut him off with an Enzuigiri and Sato stretched him out with the Arm Bar for the win. But even though the music played, the two sides kept fighting.
HARUZAKE still has not won a match by herself ever since GanPro went independent. With only a few matches left until she takes a break from pro wrestling she has come up with a drastic decision for her final match. There is only one person in the world she thinks she can beat now and that’s Ken Ohka! They will have a singles match against each other on 5th May.
The next time GanPro is in Korakuen Hall will be on 26th August. The main event will be Mizuki Watase’s 10th anniversary match. He will face Jun Kasai in a Fluorescent Lighttube Death Match!
GANBARE☆PRO “GANBARE☆PRO WRESTLING IN SHIBUYA HIKARIE – MOV MARKET”, 22/02/2025 Tokyo Shibuya Hikarie Creative Lounge MOV ??? Fans – Unannounced
1. Mat Wrestling Falls Count Anywhere Tag Match: Ken Ohka & Shuichiro Katsumura defeated Yumehito Imanari & Shota Kawakami when Ohka pinned Kawakami with the Flame Spear (14:27).
The match was slightly changed because Keisuke Ishii fell sick and couldn’t appear. Ken Ohka who was meant to be the special referee instead took Ishii’s place in the Falls Count Anywhere Match. Shota Kawakami ended up taking signature moves from everybody including the Ganbare☆Pro wrestlers who were not part of the match.
GANBARE☆PRO “JUSTICE LEAGUE 2025”, 16/03/2025 Tokyo Takashimadaira Kumin Center
1. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Yumehito Imanari (c) Vs Fuminori Abe
There was also a press conference where Yumehito Imanari and Michiyoshi Mishima announced who the No. 1 Contender for the Spirit Of Ganbare World Title will be. Imanari revealed he nominated Fuminori Abe to get the shot on 16th March. One of Imanari’s goals as champion is to fight the wrestlers he lost to on his journey to winning the SOG Title. He remembers facing Abe for the ZERO1 World Junior Heavyweight Title & ZERO1 International Junior Heavyweight Title back in 2021 and losing to him. It was a very important match for him because the original plan was for Abe to face Shinjiro Otani in the main event of a Korakuen Hall show but Otani got injured and Imanari was chosen to be his replacement. He never forgotten what Abe told him that day and he will always be a fan of him. So now he gets to make a wish come true by putting together this rematch. Abe said at the time of the match he felt great pity towards Imanari for the position he was suddenly put in but as the match went on, Abe experienced emotions he had never felt before. After he won he felt a sense of pride for giving Imanari the opportunity. He would have liked to do the rematch in Korakuen but after giving the idea some thought, he instead asked for it to take place at Takashimadaira Kumin Center because it is a truly independent venue. He also made sure to keep 11th April free in his schedule because he is confident he will win the championship and have his first defence at GanPro’s Korakuen Hall show that day.
GANBARE☆PRO “MAD MAX 2025 ~ GANBARE☆PRO WRESTLING 12TH ANNIVERSARY BOX OFFICE”, 11/04/2025 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. Ken Ohka Vs X
2. Special 6-Woman Tag Match: Moeka Haruhi, YuuRI & Ami Manase Vs Yuna Manase, Hazuki & Koguma
3. Special Tag Team Match: Shuichiro Katsumura & Keisuke Ishii Vs Yuji Nagata & Tatsuhito Takaiwa
A few matches for the 11th April Korakuen show were also announced at the event. Shuichiro Katsumura revealed he will be teaming with Ishii on the show to take on New Japan legends Yuji Nagata and Tatsuhito Takaiwa! Ishii sent in a message explaining that GanPro wanted him to team with Nagata on the show but he thought it would be better for them to be on opposing teams. The story of the match in Ishii’s mind will be him getting to beat the people he looked up to as a boy. Katsumura said he also has an attachment to those two wrestlers. In 2006 he lost to Yuji’s brother Katsuhiko Nagata at the end of year K-1 “DYNAMITE!!” show and remembers Yuji saluting the fans in the ring after the fight. So he would love it if Yuji brought Katsuhiko along to be at ringside for the show. Katsumura also joked about being a New Japan kid teaming with Ishii who is an All Japan kid.
A 6-Woman Tag Match was also announced pitting Ganbare☆Joshi against a special trio of wrestlers reuniting together. Yuna Manase is bringing in Hazuki & Koguma from Stardom to team with her! The three of them are all from the same fifth generation of Stardom wrestlers but their careers split off in different directions. Manase was able to re-establish contact with them at an Ice Ribbon show last year and hatched a plan for her to team up with FWC for the first time ever. She also had reasons for choosing the wrestlers on the GanJo team. YuuRI is around the same age as Hazuki & Koguma so Manase wants to see them face off. Moeka Haruhi recently celebrated her 20th Anniversary and Manase wanted to be her opponent for the Anniversary match. Last but not least, Ami Manase is still Yuna’s younger sister and only just recently started training for wrestling again after being away for over a year.
Ohka claims that GanPro’s zodiac cycle has come full circle because he was born in the Year Of The Snake and GanPro’s first Korakuen show since going independent is also happening during the Year Of The Snake. He feels like this is fake and predicts he is going to be involved in a big singles match on the show. Something that will be on par with his match against Jushin Liger from Union Pro in 2009.
GANBARE☆JOSHI/KITSUNE “GANJO X KITSUNE”, 28/01/2025 Shin-Kiba 1st RING 104 Fans
1. Kitsune World Title: Yuna Manase defeated MICHIKO (c) with the Lariat (8:01). *MICHIKO fails in V1. Yuna Manase becomes the 4th Kitsube World Champion!
2. Mixed Tag Match: Yumehito Imanari & Chanyota defeated Keisuke Ishii & Echika Miyabi when Chanyota submitted Miyabi with the Nagata Lock I (11:26).
3. Moeka Haruhi defeated Arisa Shinose with the Diving Foot Stomp (9:25).
4. Tae Honma, AKARI & Yappy defeated Mochi Natsumi, Yuki Mashiro & Grizzly Fujitaki when Honda pinned Fujitaki with a School Boy (11:58).
5. YuuRI & Ayame Sasamura Vs Kohaku & Nanami ended in a Time Limit Draw (20:00).
This year sees the return of Ganbare☆Joshi running their own shows again, this one here was being done as part of a working relationship with the American “joshi” promotion Kitsune Women’s Wrestling. A championship match for the guest promotion’s title took place but it was placed in the opening match rather than the main event. Yuna Manase decided a while ago that GanJo should be built around YuuRI and the next generation instead of herself so YuuRI’s match went on last. YuuRI teamed with Ayame Sasamura and fought with Kohaku & Nanami to a 20 minute draw. While she was frustrated that she couldn’t win, she is still thankful for everyone’s support to let GanJo run shows again. She said GanJo is burning red just like the nosebleed she suffered during the match. Manase then got the last word in by telling everyone the future of GanJo is bright.
Yumehito Imanari & Chanyota both took separate pages from Yuji Nagata to win their match. Chanyota made Echika Miyabi tap out to the Nagata Lock I and while she was doing that, Imanari held Keisuke Ishii in the Nagata Lock II. Both Imanari & Chanyota did the Nagata salute pose afterwards to celebrate.
In a rematch from the end of December, Manase defeated MICHIKO to win back the Kitsune World Title. MICHIKO gave her the Tombstone Piledriver on the floor, trying to get a countout win. But Manase made it back in at 11 and then kicked out of a pin. Manase blocked another Tombstone and used Lariats to weaken MICHIKO until the champion could no longer kick out. She said she had the desire to win the belt back but this is not the end of her rivalry with MICHIKO because they now have one win each. But she also wants to defend the title against anyone else who was on today’s show. MICHIKO said she would like to have another match with Manase, with or without the title.
GANBARE☆PRO “NEW YEAR’S BLUES 2025”, 13/01/2025 Shin-Kiba 1st RING 186 Fans
1. Munetatsu Nakamura defeated Shota Kawakami with a Dropkick (9:08).
2. Shigehiro Irie, Rekka & Moeka Haruhi defeated Hartley Jackson, Choun-Shiryu & HARUKAZE when Haruhi submitted HARUKAZE with the 79.5MHz. 2.0 (12:27).
3. Fuminori Abe defeated Tyson Maeguchi with a Cradle (10:50).
4. Kitsune World Title Next Challenger Decision Match: Yuna Manase defeated YuuRI with the Lariat (10:48).
5. Shinichiro Tomingaga Return Match: Keisuke Ishii, Shinichiro Tominaga & Daisuke®️ defeated Ken Ohka, Shuichiro Katsumura & Takuya Wada when Tominaga pinned Ohka with an Inside Cradle (14:25).
6. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Yumehito Imanari (c) defeated Yasu Urano with the Crossface Lock (19:39). *V1 for Yumehito Imanari.
6a. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title – Emergency Match: Yumehito Imanari (c) defeated Yasu Urano with the Lariat (8:05). *V2 for Yumehito Imanari.
In the weeks coming up to this show Yumehito Imanari not only wanted a match with Yasu Urano to get revenge for losing to him via Headlock years ago, he also wanted to put the Spirit Of Ganbare Title on the line. After a hard fought fight, Imanari countered a Tombstone into a roll up for a nearfall and then grabbed Urano into a Crossface Lock to get the win. Imanari then told Urano he would be happy to give him a rematch sometime with the title again on the line. Urano told Imanari he is worthy of being the champion for a company as wonderful as Ganbare☆Pro but if he is serious about the rematch then they can have one right away!
After hearing the crowd respond positively to the idea, Imanari convinced Michiyoshi Mishima to grant them an immediate rematch starting right away! The rematch was given a 15 minute time limit but Imanari only needed eight to beat Urano again this time with a Lariat. Imanari said afterwards he has kicked out of injustices so many times in life that nothing is too unreasonable for him. He can give Urano another rematch but this time they should wait about six months from now. His message to the fans is when he gets treated unfairly he should stand up every time because injustice makes him stronger!
Yuna Manase has won her chance to win the Kitsune World Title back from MICHIKO after beating YuuRI in a No. 1 Contender’s match. While Manase was happy to see YuuRI want to get the title shot, Manase wants to win the belt back even more. She said it would have been the end of her wrestling career if she handed the chance over to YuuRI. There was no handshake after the match and Manase thinks it is because YuuRI was thinking about beating her just as much as she thinks about the championship. Manase will get her title rematch against MICHIKO at the Ganbare☆Joshi x Kitsune show on 28th January.
DDT “NEW YEAR☆DRAMATIC PARADE 2025 ~ANSWERS WILL BE REVEALED ONE YEAR LATER~”, 03/01/2025 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. To-y, Akito & Soma Takao Vs Toru Owashi, Super Sasadango Machine & Tomomitsu Matsunaga
2. Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul, Demus & Ilusion Vs Yuni, Kazuma Sumi, Daichi Sato & Yuki Ishida
3. BZW Tag Team Titles: MAO & Yoshihiko (c) Vs Kazuki Hirata & Antonio Honda
4. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Chris Brookes, Masahiro Takanashi & Takeshi Masada Vs Shinya Aoki, Yuki Ueno & Keigo Nakamura
5. Special Single Match: Tetsuya Endo Vs Yuya Koroku
6. Special Tag Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA & Jun Akiyama Vs Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya
7. KO-D Openweight Title Next Challenger 4 Way Match: Danshoku Dieno Vs Shuji Ishikawa Vs HARASHIMA Vs KANON
I’ll write a separate post about today’s Tetsuya Endo news after this one. Long story short Endo will be taking a leave of absence from DDT after 5th January to go wrestle on a regular basis for NOAH. He is also going to challenge Manabu Soya for the GHC National Title soon as part of this sudden turn of events.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TOKYO JOSHI PRO ’25”, 04/01/2025 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. HIMAWARI, Mifu Ashida & Chika Nanase Vs Shino Suzuki, Toga & Uta Takami
2. Aja Kong, Mahiro Kiryu & Haruna Neko Vs Yuki Aino, Raku & Pom Harajuku
3. Ryo Mizunami, Kaya Toribami & Yoshiko Hasegawa Vs Matcha, Ivy Steele & Kira Summer
4. Yuki Kamifuku & Lei Ying Lee Vs Rika Tatsumi & Wakana Uehara
5. Yuka Sakazaki & Moka Miyamoto Vs Arisu Endo & Haru Kazashiro
6. New Year! Lumbersnake Death Match: Shoko Nakajima Vs Hyper Misao
7. International Princess Title: Yuki Arai (c) Vs Suzume
8. Princess Tag Team Titles: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh (c) Vs Masha Slamovich & Zara Zakher
9. Princess Of Princess Title: Miu Watanabe (c) Vs Mizuki
We’re not done with Poison Sawada JULIE just yet. He is sticking around for another show as the special guest referee for Shoko Nakajima Vs Hyper Misao. That’s not all, his presence means the match is also going to be a Lumbersnake Death Match! The match rules will be announced at the show but the name suggests it is a Lumberjack Match where all of the lumberjacks will be controlled by Sawada’s snake magic.
A few days ago I asked if Tokyo Joshi Pro was going to dive into the loaded joshi free agency scene this year. Then on New Year’s Day they announced at noon on the dot that Mifu Ashida has joined the company. Ashida was among the group of wrestlers from Ice Ribbon who announced in November that they would be leaving the company over payment issues. Ashida only just had her last match with the company on New Year’s Eve. She has a background in cheerleading and became a pro wrestler in 2023 after she was cast in a movie called “THE CHALLENGER: Ring Of Hope” that Ice Ribbon helped produce.
BASARA “BASARA 266 ~SOUEN~”, 10/01/2025 Shin-Kiba 1st RING
1. Turnabout Pro Wrestling Trial: Minoru Fujita Vs Gouma Ryu Vs Banana Senga
2. SAGAT Vs Takeru Inoue
3. 3 Way Tag Match: KUBITO & Daichi Kazato Vs Daiki Shimomura & Tsutomu Oosugi Vs Yasu Urano Vs Judomaster
4. Isami Kodaka, Takumi Tsukamoto & Ryota Nakatsu Vs Takato Nakano, Masato Kamino & Lil’ Kraken
5. Ryuichi Sekine Vs FUMA
Minoru Fujita has gone from from losing the championship straight to the courthouse, er… ring. Always sad to see a champion spiral out of control after they lose their title. What does Banana Senga have on him and can Gouma Ryu get him out of trouble?
GANBARE☆PRO “NEW YEAR’S BLUES 2025”, 13/01/2025 Shin-Kiba 1st RING
1. Munetatsu Nakamura Vs Shota Kawakami
2. Shigehiro Irie, Rekka & Moeka Haruhi Vs Hartley Jackson, Choun-Shiryu & HARUKAZE
3. Tyson Maeguchi Vs Fuminori Abe
4. Kitsune World Title Next Challenger Decision Match: Yuna Manase Vs YuuRI
5. Shinichiro Tomingaga Return Match: Ken Ohka, Shuichiro Katsumura & Takuya Wada Vs Keisuke Ishii, Shinichiro Tomingaga & Daisuke®️
6. Yumehito Imanari Vs Yasu Urano
Many years ago (2017 to be exact) Yumehito Imanari lost a match to Yasu Urano by submitting to a Headlock. Now this isn’t actually as pathetic as it sounds because Urano has used the move to win matches several times in his career. It’s rare but does happen. With that being said, it is a loss that still haunts Imanari so right after he won the Spirit Of Ganbare World Title, he brought up that memory as a reason to challenge Urano to a match. Ganbare☆Pro have not decided to make it a title match yet but Imanari wants to put the belt on the line.
Last May was when Shinichiro Tomingaga blew out his Achilles tendon. After almost 8 months on the shelf he is ready to come back and make up for lost time.
Before Ganbare☆Joshi holds its joint show with Kitsune on 28th January there is the little matter of who should face MICHIKO for the Kitsune World Title to sort out first. Obviously Yuna Manase wants to get a rematch so she can win the title back. But YuuRI also showed interest in challenging MICHIKO for the title. The only way to solve this conundrum is to have Manase and YuuRI fight each other for the No. 1 Contendership.
Tyson Maeguchi Vs Fuminori Abe sounds like a match that is going to hurt.
Posted by JamieOD 
Dramatic DDT 