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lovelyluna9001 · 7 months

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Watching every Triple Crown Championship and Champion Carnival match. If you want to watch these matches (there are playlists of each defence per year on Dailymotion on 'Sugar J's channel. Below I will give a description of my history watching All Japan Pro Wrestling.

This is from my Threads, (also on my Bluesky, and originally written on my Cagematch)

I have had a fascination with AJPW for a long time, hearing about it was about its supposed peak in the 90s, and how it is supposed to be the best period for in ring wrestling ever. I found it especially interesting given how in 2000 all but two of their native talent stayed with the company, as everyone else had gone into an exodus, forming Pro Wrestling NOAH lead my Mitsuharu Misawa, their ace at the time, and how it survived into modern day despite this. I have mostly watched the current product, which is very good, but have only watched off and on, overall I am a fan. The stuff I have seen of the older stuff is good, but never best of all time (the only five star match I have given prior to modern stuff is Holy Demon Army vs No Fear.

1. Stan Hansen vs. Jumbo Tsuruta (18.4.1989)

A pretty good match, there was some nice brawling, on the slow side and the climax isn't massive, but good. Highlighting Hansen's lariat as his best weapon, but his overreliance makes it hard for him to go for anything else, and Tsuruta would capitalise. Tsuruta was a worthy first champion, being AJPW's ace, he was a good choice. ***½

2. Jumbo Tsuruta (c) vs. Genichiro Tenryu (20.4.89)

There was a lot of heat at the start of the match, but then it went into some grappling, and not the most inspired grappling either. It got hotter over time, especially when Tenryu began taking it to Tsuruta, diving to him on the outside, and trying to keep the higher ground, and make sure Tsuruta stayed out of the ring. The match ended with with a wicked power bomb from Tsuruta, it clearly knocked out Tenryu, so the match seemingly ended early. ***¾

3. Jumbo Tsuruta (c) vs. Genichiro Tenryu (05.06.1989)

Excellent match, the best Triple Crown Championship match at the time by far, and deserving of its praise, a great audience reaction really made it a lot better. The constant action is clearly a way to retreave Tenryu's cred. They succeeded, especially as he got the titles and it feels big. ****1/2

4. Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Genichiro Tenryu (c) (18.07.1989)

Yatsu using his tricks to keep in the match against the much stronger and resileant Tenryu was cool to watch. Tenryu is used to fighting opponents similar to him, pitting strength against strength. Yatsu's plan keeps him ahead for a bit, but Tenryu just could not be denied. ****

5. Genichiro Tenryu (c) vs. Terry Gordy (2.09.1989)

Exciting is the key word here. Terry Gordy is young, strong, and energetic. He wants to prove himself by taking it to Tenryu, Gordy wants to gain the respect of Tenryu, and posibly the fans by beating Tenryu for the belts, and uses the simple plan of beat him, until he is done. Although he loses he gains the respect of Tenryu in an excellent effort. (****¼)

6. Genichiro Tenryu (c) vs. Jumbo Tsuruta (11.10.1989)

Really fun, a suprising amount of weapon usage, but that was fine. They went hard against each other. Also, a lot of great near falls. Well worth watching, and caps of an amazing reign for Tenryu. (****½)

7. Barry Windham vs. Jumbo Tsuruta (c) (06.03.1990)

The worst Triple Crown defence so far. Barry Windham is quite a good wrestler, but they did not jive together particuarly well. This is clearly a lesser priority, as the Tag Titles were defended in the main event. This was clipped as well. (***)

8. Genichiro Tenryu vs. Jumbo Tsuruta (c) (19.04.1990)

Disappointing, it was pretty good, but not to the the standard. The focus over the attack by Stan Hansen weakened it a fair bit. I really enjoyed his Triple Crown matches, so it is disappointing it wasn't to the same standard of his other matches. ***1/2

This is the last Tenryu Triple Crown Championship match until 2000, as he left for SWS

9. Jumbo Tsuruta (c) vs. Terry Gordy (05.06.1990)

Decent enough, a bit of a step down, but it had the factor of a suprise result unlike the previous match, and a few good big spots. ***1/4

10. Stan Hansen vs. Terry Gordy (c) (08.06.1990)

So far the worst of the Triple Crown matches so far. It just made the Terry Gordy reign pointless, and is worse then if he just lost at the defence. Even worse was that it wasn't the main event, its not for the first time, but the main, even if legendary had nothing on the line, this should have happened later, as a rematch happens anyway. **3/4

11. Stan Hansen (c) vs. Terry Gordy (17.07.1990)

I found this match to be dreadfully dull. Why book Gordy to lose to Hansen only to win it again, with no sucessful defences since Gordy first won it. Very pointless on all levels. (**)

Gordy would have to vacate it as he had an overdose, and would never wrestle well again (not that he was a good champion).

12. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Stan Hansen (27.07.1990)

Pretty good, a big step compared to the rest of 1990's defences (barring Tenryu vs Tsuruta which was good, but not there best effort - with no 1990 Triple Crown match getting a four star rating) They don't jell to well against one another, but both fought hard which kept it together, unlike the rest of Triple Crown stuff. *** ½

13. Stan Hansen (c) vs. Steve Williams (01.09.1990)

Hansen and Williams had a fairly good match, but it was JIP, one of the better 1990 Triple Crown Championship matches, but that is a low bar. There battle was somewhat heated, but not to the level where I did not feel riped off on it being JIP. ***¼

14. Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Stan Hansen (c) (19.01.1991)

Stan Hansen continues to be a good, but never great wrestler on this watch, he was apparently having great tag matches at the time, but it doesn't show up, at least not at this point. I am desperately missing Tenryu on this watch, as he is the guy who made the title feel as important and bring it, as much as people praise 90s AJPW. Good, not great, strong strikes, but nothing blow away. (***¾)

15. Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Stan Hansen (16.04.1991) (CC)

Pretty good, but I am getting bored of Stan Hansen in this watch of Triple Crown matches and CC finals, his results are good a fair bit of the time, but not as good as Tsuruta, or near Tenryu. Just another match between the two ***½.

A LOT MORE TO COME.

#wrestling #triple crown #ajpw #all japan pro wrestling #all japan #Champion Carnival

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busaikuknee · 2 days

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a quick look back at march and april 2024

i didn't initially intend to combine these into a single post, but "me remembering write my march post" coincided with "me being busy with work and watching mania weekend shows," so i figured it'd be best to wait until all that was done with so there would be plenty to sift through. with that established, let's get started!

general overview and numbers

ended up catching 131 matches during these past two months (51 in march, 80 in april), which is quite a lot for me! despite this, i still feel woefully behind on everything; i've been trying to keep up with a lot, but i don't enjoy half-watching things and i only have so much brainspace for wrestling. as a result, it's been a breadth-not-depth kind of spring.

tjpw came in second for "promotions i caught the most of," which i'm hoping to continue! most of my prior teej viewing has been of isolated individual matches, so it's been nice getting a more holistic view of the promotion. first place was noah—those monday magic shows scratch some kind of itch for me, even if a lot of the cards aren't that different from your normal sunny voyage fare

most appearances throughout the month(s)

if you're exclusively counting matches that occurred in the last two months, yuma anzai comes in at #1 with 6 appearances—i've been trying to keep up with his champion carnival run, with the keyword being "try" since i'm terrible at watching tournaments. expanding that to matches that were viewed during the past few months, katsuhiko nakajima's at #1 at 12 appearances, making him the Spreadsheet Champ of the Month(s). check out his match vs daiki inaba and the preview tag before it from his wrestle-1 run, they're fun.

anyway, there doesn't seem to be an up-to-date fullbody render for him and i'm not grabbing a screenshot just for my dumb photoshop bit, so simply imagine it in your mind's eye.

speaking of anzai and nakajima,

the part where i mumble about matches in no particular order

yuma anzai vs katsuhiko nakajima (ajpw, march 30th)

i have a habit of pausing matches to go and take a break less than a minute before the ending. just poor timing on my part. paused this match about 15 seconds before the finish, got up to walk around and stretch, and mentally drafted a whole thing about how, even though anzai definitely wasn't going to win, this was a great showing from him and did a good job making the case for him as a future triple crown champ. then i unpaused and watched those fifteen seconds. immediate egg on my face. i'm pretty excited for anzai, though! it's nice seeing promotions really get behind their young talent.

hype!2 (tjpw, april 19th)

i'm putting the whole show down, seeing as there's only one "traditional" wrestling match and it would feel strange to excise it from the whole performance. i loved the first hype and was looking forward to this; while i think you can feel that a lot of the show had to be changed last-minute in the final product, i still had a pretty good time with it. i'm very fond of wrestling shows that skew closer to being plays, they're something i want to dig further into when time allows.

athena vs hikaru shida (roh, april 5th)

while i enjoyed keeping up with mania weekend, having that much wrestling shoved into my brain in such a short time period meant that most of the matches have melted together in my memory. this one is one of the few that stand out. incredible work from two stellar performers. i don't like rewatching things often, but i'm due for a rewatch.

yamato vs mike santana (etu/dragongate, april 6th)

one of the other mania standouts for me. i don't have much to say about it—i don't think it's anything crazy—but it ended up really working for me

shunma katsumata vs hideki okatani (ddt, march 16th)

violent, emotional affair. thoroughly enjoyed the last-minute-high-school-production-of-tarzan levels of set dressing. i think shunma and okatani are kind of a golden combo—i so desperately wish that they could have a singles match without one of them getting injured. at least i'll always have the image of the plush snake wrapped in barbed wire

hub vs ryuya matsufusa (osaka pro, april 14th) and ryu fuda vs masaaki mochizuki (dragongate, march 6th)

i decided to fold these two together, seeing as they're both young guy vs veteran matches where i went in knowing little-to-nothing about said young guys (i only knew matsufusa by name beforehand and i believe fuda's been injured for most of my dragongate viewing) and came out caring a lot about them. while i can be a little take-it-or-leave-it about english commentary depending on the promotion, jae does an excellent job breaking down who fuda is, what his struggles have been, and how said struggles play into this particular matchup. good stuff. i went into the hub vs matsufusa match with almost no context and still enjoyed it, but digging around afterwards and learning a bit about matsufusa's history with hub and osaka pro as a whole really added to the whole experience. [guy who needs to cut down on how many promotions he watches voice] maybe i should watch more osaka pro

i'm pretty sure these posts are just me yelling into the void, but if you read this, let me know if there are any matches you particularly enjoyed from this spring! see you next month.

#statsposting

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enbywrestlingfan · 1 year

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Satoshi Kojima vs. Go Shiozaki - CyberFight Festival 2022

51 year old Satoshi Kojima proved that he can still go at a top level despite falling down the card in NJPW, as he defeated Go Shiozaki to become GHC Heavyweight Champion. In doing so, he became the fourth man to hold the IWGP Heavyweight, AJPW Triple Crown and GHC Heavyweight Championships in his career - joining Keiji Mutoh, Kensuke Sasaki and Yoshihiro Takayama. His reign would last 34 days, with Kenoh winning the belt at NOAH Destination 2022 - but just winning it put him alongside legends, where he belongs.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

#My Gifs #Pro Wrestling #Pro Wrestling Gifs #Pro Wrestling NOAH #CybeFight Festival 2022 #Keiji Mutoh #Kensuke Sasaki #Yoshihiro Takayama #go shiozaki #satoshi kojima

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pwrestlingxpress · 8 months

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Why N-1 Victory 2023 is Go's to Win

I have to be quick on this due to timing issues. So here goes.

Despite being in this business for nearly 20 years, Go Shiozaki has never won a round-robin pro wrestling tournament.

G1 Climax...only entered once. Didn't make it pass the block stage. Champion Carnival...think he entered twice and 1 of the 2 time or both, only made it to the semi-finals.

Global League (now N-1 Victory)....manages to win his block in 2017 only to lose to Kenoh who had arrived in NOAH around the same time Go Shiozaki returned back in late 2015/2016.

Every year after losing out in the final that year, would barely pass the block stage. In 2020, had the chance to win his block but lost to Kaito Kiyomiya. Same chance in 2022 but lost in the end.

So...why do I believe this one will be different? Mostly because of the one thing none of us can beat...time. Go Shiozaki is 41 years old. He's been GHC Champion, Triple Crown Champion. He's won singles titles almost all over but for some reason, can never win a round robin tournament. Despite being NOAH's Ace for so long, he's never won a round-robin tournament. NJPW's Ace Hiroshi Tanahashi won his first G1 in 2007 at the age of 31. Don't know much about the AJPW history of the Champion but know that Kento Miyahara and Suwama both have won that tournament before. So, this time will be different because if Go doesn't win, I don't think there will be another chance for him to win it all.

Another reason is because of Katsuhiko Nakajima. Not many know this but 1 of the reasons why Go Shiozaki's fourth reign as GHC Heavyweight Champion lasted so long was because of Katsuhiko Nakajima. Nakajima was not only that voice but was that one person that encourage Go to pull through despite the pain. Even after betraying him in August of 2020, Nakajima would still encourage Go to pull through. Katsuhiko Nakajima is that key to where Go can gain full confidence in his ability to win. Without Nakajima there though, things get cut short like his fifth GHC Title reign. No defenses and loses it 1 hour after Jay White defeated Kazuchika Okada to become IWGP World Heavyweight Champion on the same day.

So...reasons why I think this N-1 is Go's to win. One...time. It waits for none of us. And two, Nakajima. He was the key to making Go Shiozaki's fourth reign one of the best in his career.

N-1 Victory 2023 Grand FINAL in Osaka airs at 3 AM Eastern/2 AM Central on ABEMA with Japanese commentary and Wrestle Universe with English commentary.

#Go Shiozaki #N-1 Victory 2023 #Pro Wrestling NOAH #Katsuhiko Nakajima

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blueonwrestling · 4 months

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AJPW New Year Giant Series 2024 - Tag 2 Triple Crown Title Match Katsuhiko Nakajima (c) vs. Charlie Dempsey 3.75 stars

#ajpw #wwe #nxt #katsuhiko nakajima #charlie dempsey #star ratings

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cavenewstimes · 11 months

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NJPW Star Yuji Nagata Reintroduces Original AJPW Triple Crown Championship

[#item_full_content]Read More Wrestling Inc.

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blackstarwrestling · 4 months

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#toshiaki kawada #ajpw #triple crown

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playitagin · 1 year

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2000 - Jumbo Tsuruta

Tomomi "Tommy" Tsuruta (鶴田友美, Tsuruta Tomomi, March 25, 1951 – May 13, 2000), better known by his ring name Jumbo Tsuruta (ジャンボ鶴田, Janbotsuruta), was a Japanese professional wrestler who wrestled for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) for most of his career, and is well known for being the first ever Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion.

#May.13.2000 #date of death #Jumbo Tsuruta #Japanese professional wrestler #AJPW #history today #gif

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urakenbomb · 4 months

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credit: taigaPhoto

#ajpw #katsuhiko nakajima #MANIAx 2023 #triple crown championship #puroresu

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wrestlingmgc · 1 year

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AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion Kento Miyahara

#AJPW #AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion #Kento Miyahara #AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship #All Japan Pro Wrestling #Puroresu #Heavyweight Title #Pro Wrestling #20s

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siscosfavoritecomics · 2 years

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The Main Event is the Impact World Championship Match between Joe Doering of Violent by Design (VBD) vs Champ Josh Alexander. I really had no clue of the pedigree that Joe Doering brings to this match. I had no idea that he was a multi-time AJPW Triple Crown Champion. But I can't see Alexander dropping the strap yet.

#ImpactWrestling #ImpactWrestling20 #Impact20 #ImpactAgainstAllOdds2022 #AgainstAllOdds2022 #ImpactWorldChampionship #JoshAlexander #JoeDoering #ViolentByDesign #VBD #ProWrestling #LuchaLibre #Poruresu #SiscosFavoriteComics

https://www.instagram.com/p/CffkOmssRe_/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#Impact Wrestling #Impact Wrestling 20 #Impact 20 #Impact Against All Odds 2022 #Against All Odds 2022 #Impact World Championship #Josh Alexander #Joe Doering #Violent by Design #VBD #Pro Wrestling #Lucha Libre #Poruresu #SiscosFavoriteComics

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gdwessel · 2 years

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NOAH, AJPW, STARDOM, Dragon Gate Supercard Results for Emperor’s Birthday Holiday 2/23/2022 With Title Matches & Changes Galore; DDT’s COVID-19 Woes Continue To Wreak Havoc On Ultimate Tag League, DDT/TJPW 2/23/2022 Results

Today is the 62nd birthday for the Reiwa Emperor Naruhito. It is a national holiday in Japan, so there is a bunch of wrestling happening, with a bunch of title defenses across a bunch of promotions.

Pro Wrestling NOAH

NOAH ran Gain Control 2022 in Nagoya today, live on ABEMA and Wrestle Universe. Two title defenses, and a match to fill a third title, took place on this show.

Gain Control 2022 in Nagoya - 2/23/2022, Aichi Nagoya Congress Center Event Hall (ABEMA, Wrestle Universe)

King Tany & Muhammad Yone [Funky Express] d. Akitoshi Saito & Masao Inoue [Funky Express] (Yone > Inoue, Kinniku Buster, 11:58)

Nio [Kongo] d. Kinya Okada (Stuka Splash, 9:58)

NOSAWA Rongai & Kotaro Suzuki [Perros del Mal de Japon] d. Yoshinari Ogawa [STINGER] & Yasutaka Yano (Suzuki > Yano, Excalibur, 6:42)

Tadasuke, Hajime Ohara & ALEJA [Kongo] d. Hao, Junta Miyawaki & Kai Fujimura (Tadasuke > Fujimura, Fuyuki Special, 14:42)

Masato Tanaka [M’s Alliance] DCO Kendo Kashin [Sugiura-gun] (11:01)

Naomichi Marufuji [M’s Alliance] & Takashi Sugiura [Sugiura-gun] d. Masa Kitamiya & Yoshiki Inamura (Sugiura > Inamura, Olympic Qualifying Slam, 20:22)

GHC Juniorheavyweight Tag Team Championship Decision Match: Atsushi Kotoge & YO-HEY d. HAYATA & Yuya Susumu [STINGER] (YO-HEY > Susumu, Super Face G, 26:58) - Kotoge/YO-HEY are the 49th champions

GHC Juniorheavyweight Championship: Daisuke Harada © d. Super Crazy [Perros del Mal de Japon] (Hurricanrana, 18:57) - Harada succeeds his 2nd defense

Go Shiozaki, Kaito Kiyomiya & Daiki Inaba d. Kenoh, Masakatsu Funaki & Manabu Soya [Kongo] (Kiyomiya > Soya, Double Armlock, 21:21)

GHC Heavyweight Championship: Kazuyuki Fujita [Sugiura-gun] d. Katsuhiko Nakajima [Kongo] © (Powerbomb, 21:11) - Nakajima fails his 5th defense - Fujita is the 37th champion

Good golly, Miss Molly. Kazuyuki Fujita can now be one of the all-time worst IWGP *and* GHC Heavyweight Champions of all time. What can I say, besides, CyberFight love their 50+ year-old champions. I really don’t know what purpose this serves to NOAH. God I hate Kazuyuki Fujita.

So I guess Hajime Ohara is part of Kongo now. I can’t keep up with the changes in that stable anymore. YO-HEY comes good for Ohara’s old partner Kotoge, as they now fill the vacant junior tag belts. Hope this reign lasts more than a week, given the vacations of the belts the last month. One day BIG TANK Yoshiki Inamura will beat Takashi Sugiura. Super Crazy does not get to hold two promotions’ junior titles in the span of a couple of months. Masao Inoue returned to the ring in an inter-Funky-Express match.

NOAH’s next show is on Friday from Yokohama Radiant Hall.

All Japan Pro Wrestling

A Triple Crown match highlighted today’s Korakuen Hall rally for AJPW. Three other title matches took place on this one too. Hokuto Omori and Yusuke Kodama were pulled from this show as being close contacts to an undetermined positive COVID-19 case.

Excite Series 2022 Night 5 - 2/23/2022, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (AJPW.tv)

Ryuki Honda [TOTAL ECLIPSE] d. Ryo Inoue (Lariat, 4:00)

Dan Tamura [Evolution] & Ryuji Hijikata d. Takuho Kato & Kazumasa Yoshida (Tamura > Yoshida, 6:49)

Shuji Ishikawa, Takao Omori & Black Menso-re d. Yuma Aoyagi, Atsuki Aoyagi & Rising HAYATO [NEXTREAM] (Ishikawa > HAYATO, Fire Thunder Bomb, 9:02)

KAZMA SAKAMOTO, Takayuki Ueki & Seigo Tachibana d. Yoshitatsu, Izanagi & Devil Murasaki (KAZMA > Yoshitatsu, Schoolboy, 8:22)

World Juniorheavyweight Championship: Hikaru Sato [Evolution] d. SUGI © (Cross Armbreaker, 9:51) - SUGI fails his 3rd defense - Sato is the 61st champion

World Tag Team Championship: Suwama & Shotaro Ashino [Evolution] © d. Koji Doi & Kuma Arashi [TOTAL ECLIPSE] (Ashino > Doi, T-Bone Suplex, 18:26) - Runaway SUPLEX succeed their 3rd defense

Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship: Kento Miyahara [NEXTREAM] © d. Abdullah Kobayashi [BJW] (German Suplex Hold, 16:06) - Miyahara succeeds his 1st defense

I don’t think there were any surprises here today, including the junior title change. AJPW will not put the Triple Crown on a wrestler contracted to Big Japan. Sato is far superior a wrestler to SUGI. But hey, Shigehiro Irie retained his title, and we like him a lot around these parts.

It would not surprise me to see Shuji Ishikawa challenge Kento coming up either.

The Excite Series wraps up Sunday in Chiba.

STARDOM

STARDOM held Cinderella Journey in Nagaoka today, live on PPV. I don’t think you can still get it; both links I tried, failed. Four title matches on this one.

Cinderella Journey 2022 in Nagaoka - 2/23/2022, Niigata Aore Nagaoka (PPV)

Future Of Stardom Next Challenger 3-Way Match: - Rina [Oedo Tai] d. Waka Tsukiyama [Cosmic Angels] & Mai Sakurai [Donna del Mondo] (Rina > Tsukiyama, Gory Bomb, 6:09) - Mai Sakurai [Donna del Mondo] d. Waka Tsukiyama [Cosmic Angels] (8:06)

Future Of Stardom Championship: Hanan [STARS] © d. Momo Kohgo [Queen’s Quest] (Backdrop Hold, 5:20) - Hanan succeeds her 2nd defense

Ruaka & Momo Watanabe [Oedo Tai] d. Utami Hayashishita & Lady C [Queen’s Quest] (Ruaka > C, Freezer Bomb, 7:34)

Mayu Iwatani [STARS] & Tam Nakano [Cosmic Angels] d. Saki Kashima & Fukigen Death [Oedo Tai] (Iwatani > Kashima, Moonsault Press, 10:04)

Syuri, Maika & Himeka [Donna del Mondo] TLD Giulia, MIRAI & Thekla [Donna del Mondo] (20:00)

Goddess Of Stardom Championship: Koguma & Hazuki [STARS] © d. Mina Shirakawa & Unagi Sayaka [Cosmic Angels] (Koguma > Shirakawa, Diving Body Press, 12:28) - Koguma/Hazuki succeed their 2nd defense

High Speed Championship: AZM [Queen’s Quest] d. Starlight Kid [Oedo Tai] © (Numero Uno, 17:03) - Starlight Kid fails her 6th defense - AZM is the 22nd champion

Wonder Of Stardom Championship: Saya Kamitani [Queen’s Quest] © d. Natsupoi [Donna del Mondo] (Phoenix Splash, 21:55) - Kamitani succeeds her 2nd defense

Immediately after retaining her title, Saya Kamitani nominated both her table leader Utami Hayashishita, and Cosmic Angels’ leader Tam Nakano, as challengers to her title for both nights at Ryogoku on 3/26 & 3/27/2022. Momo Watanabe challenged Koguma & Hazuki for their titles, with a special mystery partner to team with her. The crux of the opener is to determine the challengers for Hanan on both nights of Ryogoku, which will now be Rina and Mai Sakurai, both. Seems like an awfully busy time for STARDOM.

STARDOM return this weekend with shows Saturday and Sunday.

Dragon Gate

DG held Memorial Gate 2022 in Wakayama today, which you can see now on Dragon Gate Network. Featured today was the first defense of the Open The Twin Gate titles for Dragon Dia & Yuki Yoshioka.

Memorial Gate 2022 in Wakayama - 2/23/2022, Wakayama Prefectural Gymnasium (Dragon Gate Network)

Susumu Yokosuka, Big Boss Shimizu & U-T [Natural Vibes] TLD KAI, BxB Hulk & Shun Skywalker [Z-Brats] (15:00)

Takashi Yoshida & Ho Ho Lun d. Strong Machine J & Shachihoko Boy (Yoshida > Boy, Release Powerbomb, 3:49)

SB KENTo & Diamante [Z-Brats] d. Yosuke Santa Maria & Punch Tominaga (KENTo > Yosuke, SB Shooter, 0:34)

YAMATO, Dragon Kid, Ben-K, Keisuke Okuda & Kagetora [HIGH-END] d. Ultimo Dragon, Masaaki Mochizuki, Don Fujii, Yasushi Kanda & Shuji Kondo (Kagetora > Kanda, Kagenui, 12:24)

Open The Brave Gate #1 Contender 5-Way Match: Takuma Fujiwara d. Riki Iihashi, Ishin Iihashi, Takumi Hayakawa & Ryu Fuda (Fujiwara > Ishin, Schoolboy, 7:32)

Naruki Doi, Kota Minoura & Kaito Ishida d. Kzy, Genki Horiguchi & Jacky “Funky” Kamei [Natural Vibes] (Minoura > Horiguchi, Gang, 9:58)

HYO [Z-Brats] d. Eita (Schoolboy with ropes, 7:37)

Open The Twin Gate Championship: Dragon Dia & Yuki Yoshioka © d. Jason Lee & La Estrella (Yoshioka > Estrella, Frog Splash, 17:58) - DiaYoshi succeed their 1st defense

Dragon Dia remains a double-crown champion after he & Yoshioka beat Dia’s former MASQUERADE mates in Lee & Estrella. I don’t know if DiaYoshi is the name, but it sounded good and DG-esque. Dia will now face Takuma Fujiwara to defend the Brave Gate title after Fujiwara beat his dojo class fellows. I was kinda rooting for Ryu Fuda actually. That match will be at Champion Gate in Osaka on 3/5/2022.

Naruki Doi’s Unit With No Name gets a good prelude win over Natural Vibes, as we head for that Open The Triangle Gate match, also on 3/5/2022.

HYO gets another one over on Eita, the man he deposed to turn R.E.D. into Z-Brats. In other Z-Brats goings on, after a week or so of Big Boss Shimizu beating HYO in prelude matches, and getting a direct win over KAI, now Z-Brats is starting to get one over on Shimizu, first with KAI interfering to cause Shimizu’s loss to Jason Lee on Sunday, and now a time limit draw in the opener to add some intrigue to the KAI v. Shimizu Open The Dream Gate title defense that is coming 3/6/2022 in Osaka.

The Truth Gate 2022 tour wraps up Saturday in Tsushima, and on Sunday with another streamed show from Kobe.

DDT / Tokyo Joshi

The COVID-19 issues for DDT continue, as Hideki Okatani has now tested positive as well. Eruption are now effectively out of the tournament – their match that was to take place today v. Yuji Hino & Yukio Naya is a forfeit, and due to Kazuki Hirata being out, the Eruption v. Hirata & Shuji Kondo match for the Final on Saturday will be a double-forfeit. Neither team were in the running at this point as it was. So today’s Ultimate Tag League show had no actual Ultimate Tag League matches on it. Yuji Hino & Yukio Naya end the League with 4 points, not in the running for the Final as that will come down to Burning v. The 37KAMIINA on Sunday for A Block.

DDT Ultimate Tag League 2022 In Fukushima!! - 2/23/2022, Will Fukushima (Wrestle Universe)

Kazusada Higuchi d. Yuki Ishida (Brain Claw, 10:00)

Danshoku Dino & Yuki iino [Pheromones] NC Toru Owashi & Naomi Yoshimura [DISASTER BOX] (13:08)

Chris Brookes d. Yukio Naya (Death By Roll-Up, 12:41)

HARASHIMA [DISASTER BOX] & Antonio Honda d. Yukio Sakaguchi [Eruption] & Gorgeous Matsuno (Honda > Matsuno, Crushed La Magistral Cradle, 13:07)

Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul [DAMNATION TA] d. Yuji Hino & Akito (Sasaki > Akito, Crossface, 12:43)

Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yusuke Okada [Burning] d. Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & MAO [The 37KAMIINA] (Endo > Katsumata, Best Burning Star Press In The Universe, 19:27)

Burning get the win in a prelude match to the Final on Sunday against The 37KAMIINA. Post-main, Endo and Akiyama basically said The 37KAMIINA ain’t shit without Konosuke Takeshita. Endo says he will beat Takeshita at Korakuen Hall Sunday, and for the KO-D Openweight title at Ryogoku. Endo also ripped MAO’s favorite Gorgeous Matsuno shirt, for which MAO swore revenge. Speaking of Gorgeous Matsuno, at age 60, given CyberFight’s proclivities towards titling up older wrestlers, he may like his chances here soon.

Current Ultimate Tag League 2022 Standings:

A Block Akiyama/Endo – 6pts (3W 0D 0L) Takeshita/Ueno – 4pts (2W 0D 1L) Hino/Naya – 4pts (2W 0D 2L) Higuchi/Okatani – 2pts (1W 0D 3L) Kondo/Hirata – 0pts (0W 0D 4L)

B Block HARASHIMA/Yoshimura – 4pts (2W 0D 1L) Sasaki/Paul – 4pts (2W 0D 2L) Iino/Imanari – 4pts (2W 0D 1L) Brookes/Takanashi – 2pts (1W 0D 2L) MAO/Katsumata – 2pts (1W 0D 2L) The Final show is Sunday from Tokyo Korakuen Hall. Block A comes down to Burning v. The 37KAMIINA. Block B is still up for grabs between DISASTER BOX & Pheromones; DAMNATION TA are out, having had 4 matches (One of them was a forfeit win however). The Final will be the Block winners in the main event. Hopefully this card stands.

DDT Ultimate Tag League 2022 The Final!! - 2/27/2022, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (Wrestle Universe)

Soma Takao, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku v. Toru Owashi, Toi Kojima & Yuki Ishida

3-Way Match: Danshoku Dino [Pheromones] v. Antonio Honda v. Hiroshi Yamato

Daisuke Sasaki, Minoru Fujita & MJ Paul [DAMNATION TA] v. Yuji Hino, Akito & Yukio Naya

Ultimate Tag League 2022 B Block: Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi v. Shunma Katsumata & MAO [The 37KAMIINA]

Ultimate Tag League 2022 B Block: HARASHIMA & Naomi Yoshimura [DISASTER BOX] v. Yuki Iino & Yumehito Imanari [Pheromones]

Ultimate Tag League 2022 A Block: Tetsuya Endo & Jun Akiyama [Burning] v. Konosuke Takeshita & Yuki Ueno [The 37KAMIINA]

Yukio Sakaguchi & Saki Akai [Eruption] v. Sanshiro Takagi & Maya Yukihi

Ultimate Tag League 2022 Final: WINNER A Block v. WINNER B Block

Tokyo Joshi also ran today, a second show this week from Tokyo Ryogoku KFC Hall. Miyu Yamashita and Maki Itoh are still out due to positive COVID-19 tests.

Tokyo Joshi 2022 Winter - 2/23/2022, Tokyo Ryogoku KFC Hall (Wrestle Universe)

Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu d. Hikari Noa & Kaya Toribami (Kamifuku > Toribami, Famouser, 9:10)

3-Way Match: Suzume d. Haruna Neko & Moka Miyamoto (Suzume > Neko, Jackknife Hold, 9:52)

Hyper Misao d. Marika Kobashi (Hypami Returns, 10:51)

Shoko Nakajima, Nodoka Tenma & Yuki Aino d. Raku, Pom Harajuku & Yuki Arai (Aino > Harajuku, Bakuretsu Bulldog, 14:40)

Rika Tatsumi, Miu Watanabe & Nao Kakuta d. Yuka Sakazaki, Mizuki & Arisu Endo (Tatsumi > Endo, Twist Of Fate, 16:28)

Tatsumi cut a post-match promo about how great it was that she and Yuka Sakazaki joined TJPW as classmates, and how Daydream will beat the Magical Sugar Rabbits at Ryogoku. Nodoka Tenma will have a singles match at Ryogoku as well against her Bakuretsu Sister, Yuki Aino, as we head towards her retirement. Hyper Misao will also face Sanshiro Takagi at Sumo Hall. Misao also protested Marika Kobashi’s “graduation from TJPW” before their match.

BJW, Ice Ribbon and Gatoh Move also held shows today. There may have been even more I don’t know about.

No post tomorrow. I am going to try to do an Upcoming Events post on Saturday, then back to the regularly scheduled posts on Sunday.

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