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Social Suplex Newsletter No.14

April 16th 2026

Asia & Oceania

Social Suplex Newsletter No.14

April 16th 2026

Watch on STARDOM World

STARDOM

Bitesize Round-up

STARDOM continues building towards its biggest show of the year “All Star Grand Queendom”. The show is themed around the downfall of STARDOM’s heel faction, H.A.T.E, with a coalition of babyface units working together to bring in a new era in STARDOM, with H.A.T.E. running roughshod over the company ever since Saya Kamitani’s heel turn in July 2024. Most of the card has been fleshed out over previous weeks, with STARDOM taking the gutsy decision to thrust the young and inexperienced Sayaka Kurara into the main event for Kamitani’s World of STARDOM Title. If Sayaka loses, her unit Cosmic Angels has to disband. This continues the storyline between Kamitani and Tam Nakano that ended with Tam’s retirement at the 2025 installment of “All Star Grand Queendom”. Sayaka was Tam’s mentee and also has mentioned that Kamitani is the reason she decided to become a wrestler. Nevertheless, the storyline revolves around Sayaka’s desire to get revenge for Tam, and take away everything from Kamitani that she took away from Sayaka at the same arena one year later. With the company on the road to the Tokyo Dome, they will be looking to do better than their record attendance of 7,503, which would be an incredible achievement with such a main event.

H.A.T.E’s Konami will be defending her Wonder of STARDOM Title against Cinderella Tournament winner Hanan, who is herself seeking revenge for Konami taking her out of action as well as defeating her tag partner (Saya Iida) and two sisters (Rina and Hina). H.A.T.E’s premier tag team BMI2000 (Natsuko Tora & Ruaka) will look to fend off a challenge from 02Line (AZM & Miyu Amasaki). There is no better time than now to begin watching STARDOM.

Ahead of Saki Kashima’s retirement ceremony on 26th April, Chris Gannon has written a feature detailing why you should know about her.

For full coverage of all storylines and analysis, tune in to Social Suplex’s podcast covering every major joshi wrestling promotion you could think of: Joshi’ing Around.

STARDOM has been fully transferred from the 100% ownership of New Japan Pro-Wrestling Co., Ltd. to Bushiroad Co., Ltd. Bushiroad owns 70% of New Japan, with TV Asahi owning 22.7%. This simply transferred STARDOM from being a subsidiary of New Japan to being directly owned by Bushiroad. The stated reason is the “optimal allocation of management resources and improved efficiency of corporate functions” within Bushiroad. Bushiroad states that the effect on its consolidated financial results will be minimal, as this is purely an internal reorganisation.

Recommended Matches This Issue

These are in order of personal preference rather than chronological.

Hanan vs. Rina – 15th March at Yokohama Budokan
Rina vs. Sayaka Kurara – 11th March at Korakuen Hall
Sayaka Kurara vs. Tomoka Inaba – 8th March at Korakuen Hall
Azusa Inaba vs. Hina – 8th March at Korakuen Hall
Fuwa-chan & Hazuki vs. Sareee & Takumi Iroha – 28th February at Korakuen Hall
Konami & Saya Kamitani vs. Natsupoi & Sayaka Kurara – 15th March at Yokohama Budokan
Miyu Amasaki vs. Rina – 15th March at Yokohama Budokan
Fuwa-chan vs. Saori Anou – 6th March at Chunichi Hall
Natsupoi vs. Rian – 8th March at Korakuen Hall
Aya Sakura vs. Ranna Yagami – 25th March at Shin-Kiba 1st RING
Akira Kurogane vs. Kikyo Furusawa – 8th April at Korakuen Hall
Hina vs. Xena – 7th March at Chunichi Hall
Akira Kurogane & Suzu Suzuki vs. Sareee & Takumi Iroha – 15th March at Yokohama Budokan
Itsuki Aoki, Rina Yamashita, Saki Kashima & Syuri vs. Kikyo Furusawa, Kiyoka Kotatsu, Maki Ito & Rian – 15th March at Yokohama Budokan

“STARDOM Cinderella Finals” 2026

15th March 2026
Company Announced Attendance: 1,857
Yokohama Budokan, Kanagawa, Japan
Designation: Key Show

Review By Tim Hunter

Hanan is the winner of STARDOM’s Cinderella Tournament for the second time after already winning in 2024. The 21 year old defeated younger sister and prodigy Rina in the finals in arguably a career best effort to win the much coveted “Cinderella wish”, which she would use to gain a shot at Wonder of STARDOM champion Konami at STARDOM’s biggest show of the year All Star Grand Queendom on April 26. This white belt match will be the culmination of a storyline that has been brewing since September of last year when Konami brutally took Hanan out of action for several months in Korakuen Hall. In the meantime Konami went on a path of destruction, brutally going through Hanan’s tag team partner Saya Iida as well as her sisters Rina and Hina, collecting their portraits like Pokemon cards in the process. No matter what you think of Hanan as a wrestler, this title challenge is one of the most logically consistent storylines in wrestling right now. Hanan winning this tournament felt predictable, but not in a bad way. She must get revenge on Konami, for everything she did to her friends, her family and most importantly to herself.

Hanan first had to defeat Aya Sakura in the opener of the show and the semi finals of the tournament to get to the finals. Aya also had a standout tournament, but it shouldn’t be enough for the Cosmic Angel. She fell to the eventual winner’s brutal looking backdrop suplex in just about 12 minutes, after an action packed match and probably Hanan’s second best effort in the tournament.

On the other side of the bracket, Rina had to deal with Miyu Amasaki in order to get to the finals. Miyu herself was on an unexpected path of ascension throughout the tournament eliminating several potential tournament favourites, but she most certainly showed the necessary improvement in her game to back this strong push up. She would later be challenging for the Goddesses of Stardom Tag Team titles as one half of O2 Line with AZM at ASGQ, so her deep run in the tournament also made a lot of sense from that lens. Rina beat her with a brutal looking hydrangea that Miyu had to verbally submit to after 14 minutes to enter the finals.

Introducing the light hearted part of the show, we had this show’s contribution the Saki Kashima retirement tour, as she and her three bodyguards Rina Yamashita, Itsuki Aoki and Syuri defeated the Maki Itoh Respect Gundam consisting of Maki herself, Kikyo Furusawa, Rian and Kiyoka Kotatsu. This match was a ton of fun with all kinds of shenanigans, beginning with the entrances where in contrast to the Gundam’s chaos where several members are evidently still unfamiliar with Maki’s choreography, Saki’s bodyguards treated her like royalty including a red carpet that was being rolled out for her. Syuri wrestling in suitpants made for an absolutely fantastic visual and it looked extra bad ass when she killed Kiyoka in the end, for Saki to pin her.

Out next were Saori Anou and Yuna Mizumori of the Cosmic Angels, teaming with Anne Kanaya, Maika and Xena who went up against Fuwa-Chan and STARS (Bea Priestley, Momo Kohgo, Saya Iida & Yuria Hime). This was your typical 10 man tag card filler match, mainly highlighted by the Saori Anou feud with Fuwa Chan, who will have a special singles match at All Star Grand Queendom as well. It has to be noted how well Fuwa has found her role in STARDOM as the annoying brat just disrespecting and mouthing off at her elder veterans. Not that it should be a surprise that someone who became famous as a social media personality and comedian would have the necessary skillset and charisma to transition into a pro wrestling character flawlessly, but it is still outstanding how fast her improvement is starting to show. Saya Iida in the end pinned Anne after she took her head off with a lariat.

A special tag team match followed, as freelancer Sareee and Spark Rush tag partner Takumi Iroha made their entrance in order to fight and defeat Mi Vida Loca members Suzu Suzuki and Akira Kurogane. Suzu and Sareee had been going at it for quite the heated rivalry in 2025 and this immediately harkened back to that, as they went extremely hard at each other. This was almost reminiscent of Sareee’s 5 StarGP run last year, as the crowd was quite hostile towards Spark Rush here. Sareee hit Suzu with a brutal looking basement dropkick in the ropes followed by a squishing double footstomp from the top, before Suzu killed Sareee with a huge German Suplex. In the end it would be Akira who falls to Spark Rush after almost 11 minutes in a powerbomb jackknife combination.

Up next we had the first title match of the evening, as HANAKO put her Future of STARDOM championship on the line against Ranna Yagami. This was a serviceable match, topped off by a GREAT finish, as Ranna after finally bringing HANAKO to her knees kicked her straight in the mouth with two buzzsaw kicks to straight up KO her for the surprise victory. This was a brilliant finish to make such a vast underdog in Ranna beating the physically much more imposing HANAKO look very plausible and realistic. Anyone can get knocked out if you hit them right in the mouth with your boot.

After another filler Three Way 12 Man Tag match where AZM pinned Tag Team champion Natsuko Tora with the La Mistica/AZM Sushi combo to set up the O2 Line championship challenge, we had the second title match of the night, as Hazuki defended the prestigious CMLL Japan Women’s Title against India Sioux. Hazuki tried her best to get India to a passable match in a 15 minute effort that may as well have been thirty. India tries to do a lot of things that at no time look like she ever has the full control over, which makes the match look more unhinged and scary as a result, but I’m not sure if that is in a good way. In the end India would get the upset victory after her finishing move which is essentially some sort of sit down spinebuster variant that looks like it would hurt your smaller back horrendously to take.

Now it was time for the finals of the tournament. This was a classic STARDOM style epic that built to a gigantic climax with a lot of dramatic kickouts and massive bombs thrown back and forth. Rina gave Hanan two squishing double knee drops from the top before putting her into the hydrangea which Hanan was somehow able to escape from only to eat a kudo driver for another insane nearfall. Hanan then did two backdrop suplex variations before finishing the match with the wristclutch backdrop suplex. This was incredible and it has to be noted how ridiculously high the level between these two already is, considering their ages of 19 and 21. Rina is already looking like a ring general in there, maneuvering through these classic matches and having the crowd’s emotions in the palm of her hand. STARDOM in the hands of the judo sisters will see a bright future, there’s no doubt about it.

Because of the logistics of the winner’s ceremony, where the winner has to get dressed in her fancy custom made Cinderella dress first, the tournament finals – while the de facto main event – are never the final match of this show. While Hanan was getting made up and dressed, Sayaka Kurara and Natsupoi took on red belt champion Saya Kamitani and white belt champion Konami in a shocker of a match. It wasn’t shocking that it was very good considering who is in the ring, the shock came with the nature of the finish as Sayaka Kurara pinned Saya Kamitani clean in the middle of the ring after an absolutely devastating Violet Screwdriver, Sayaka’s mentor Tam Nakano’s signature move. The crowd was doused in stunned silence as this finish not only looked like Saya could potentially have been hurt badly, but also came at a very unusual time for a typical STARDOM main event, as the match felt like it was still in the feeling out phase. It should be noted that this was most certainly the planned finish, however.

The match was built on the premise that if Sayaka Kurara wanted to have her red belt match at ASGQ, she needed to bring something to the table Saya deemed worthy enough to put on the line against the red belt. Kuirara was to present her stipulation after this match and she would do just that. Empowered by the high of having just pinned the red belt champion clean, she would grab the microphone as she pestered Kamitani up against the ring ropes and yell at her that she would put the existence of her entire stable, the legendary Cosmic Angels, on the line for a shot at the title. This was a wager that was too good for Kamitani to refuse, much to the shock of all the other Cosmic Angels at ringside, who seemed to not have been initiated in Kurara’s plans whatsoever.

The Cosmic Angels have been the most popular unit according to fan polls not only in STARDOM, but possibly in all of Japan for several years so the unit disbanding would be a monumental shift in the company. It is in many ways the heart and the soul of STARDOM, and is Tam Nakano’s legacy in the promotion. Not only that, but this stipulation plays directly into Kamitani’s own insecurities, and source of her biggest failure. The responsibility of being a unit leader was thrust upon her when Utami Hayashishita left the promotion, and it was always a major point of her envy in regards to the great Tam Nakano (who was a flawless unit leader) that would ultimately lead Kamitani to wage the war that would change the DNA of the promotion forever. Kamitani herself put the existence of Queen’s Quest on the line in 2024, just as haphazardly as Kurara is doing now and of course she fumbled it and lost, which would be the impetus of her heel turn and the start of this entire arc in the first place. History repeating itself at her own hands two years later at the biggest show of the year would be in equal parts tragic and ironic.

I don’t know what would be left for Kurara if she loses here, other than to follow in Kamitani’s footsteps and turn to the dark side. She put the destiny of the most iconic and popular entity in STARDOM into her own hands and if she fails it is not only a failure for herself, she will let down the stablemates and the legacy of all the former Cosmic Angels who built this unit up long before she ever even started wrestling herself, and she will let down a major part of the fanbase, too. This is an incredibly high stakes wager, and I can’t say that it feels like it is worth it because obviously despite her upset victory here, she must still be considered the overwhelming underdog from every perspective. She is physically inferior, she is infinitely less experienced, she has never even been close to this level before. She is the New Blood tag team champion, she just barely entered regular Tag Team championship territory, not even close to the white belt. She has had her successes, sure, including winning the Cinderella tournament last year to earn her first red belt shot, which only served to illustrate how vastly outclassed by Kamitani she still was. The only thing that Kurara has his the strength of her will and her belief in the absolute necessity to topple the dark force casting a shadow over STARDOM and become the shining light that her mentor once was before she fell at the hands of the Phenex Queen and take back what was taken from her on that fateful night on 4/27/2025. From a jaded outside perspective however, this feels eerily reminiscent of last year’s looming despair.

And then what? What if Kurara does win? This legendary red belt reign from the biggest star the company ever had, ended at the hands of an almost entirely unproven wrestler who was considered a rookie not long ago? Is that the smartest step forward for the promotion? Can she carry on this legacy? It seems impossible for someone like Kurara to live up to these expectations to be honest, and it almost feels like a lose-lose situation for the company. The one glimmer of hope is that whatever ASGQ may bring, I have no doubts that whoever is coming up with these stories, they have a solid plan for the future in place. I think they have most certainly earned that trust after the last two years, so right now all we can do is to let it play out and see where they take us. Every ending must be a new beginning.

…Anyway, this show wasn’t even over yet, as we of course still had the ceremony for the winner. Hanan, who started the day with a beautiful new hairstyle in black red and gold (something that may have already given away her victory as well) entered the ring once again in a wonderful tailored dress to accept her Cinderella trophy and challenge Konami for the White Belt in her victory speech. Konami would not show up however, so Hanan left the ring to head back up the ramp. As she turned around towards the audience one last time to bathe in the ovations, the screens behind her parted and not unlike a scene in a horror movie Konami waited right there with her trusted black spray can to ambush Hanan and completely ruin her new hairdo, exquisite make up and stunning dress with a deranged smile on her face and we are finally off to the races towards “All Star Grand Queendom”.

Full Results

Cinderella Tournament 2026 Semi Final:
Hanan defeats Aya Sakura (11:42)

Cinderella Tournament 2026 Semi Final:
Rina defeats Miyu Amasaki (13:53)

God’s Eye (Saki Kashima & Syuri) & Mi Vida Loca (Itsuki Aoki & Rina Yamashita) defeats Kikyo Furusawa, Kiyoka Kotatsu, Maki Ito & Rian (5:31)

Fuwa-chan & STARS (Bea Priestley, Momo Kohgo, Saya Iida & Yuria Hime) defeats Anne Kanaya, Cosmic Angels (Saori Anou & Yuna Mizumori), Maika & Xena (10:27)

Spark Rush (Sareee & Takumi Iroha) defeats Mi Vida Loca (Akira Kurogane & Suzu Suzuki) (10:43)

Future Of Stardom Title:
Ranna Yagami defeats HANAKO (c) (11:49)

Neo Genesis (AZM, Mei Seira & Starlight Kid) & Tabata defeats God’s Eye (Ami Sourei, Hina, Lady C & Tomoka Inaba) and HATE (Azusa Inaba, Fukigen Death, Natsuko Tora & Ruaka) (5:59)

CMLL-Japan Women’s Title:
India Sioux defeats Hazuki (c) (15:16)

Cinderella Tournament 2026 Final:
Hanan defeats Rina (22:00)

Cosmic Angels (Natsupoi & Sayaka Kurara) defeats HATE (Konami & Saya Kamitani) (12:52)

Watch on NJPW World

New Japan Pro Wrestling

News Round-up

By Trish Speirs

Callum Newman became the youngest ever IWGP World Champion in history when he defeated Yota Tsuji in the main event of “Sakura Genesis” on April 4th at Ryogoku Kokugikan. The win came with Will Ospreay in Newman’s corner, and with a low blow just before the finish that left room for a rematch. Newman, 23, signed a three-year deal earlier this year, with his Will Ospreay storyline mapped out for the next eighteen months at minimum. The pair are expected to meet in the ring at the Tokyo Dome in January 2026.

Newman’s first defense will be against Shingo Takagi on the second night of “Wrestling Dontaku” in Fukuoka on May 4th, a year on from his unsuccessful challenge for the same championship against Hirooki Goto a year prior. The ‘Spring first world title run’ has been used regularly by New Japan as a lower pressure environment that first time champions can gain experience from. The next major show “Dominion” in Osaka on June 14th will once again be aired in primetime in Japan, similar to “Wrestle Kingdom”, and they have also changed the belt at “Tanahashi Jam” last year when it was in a better TV spot, so it likely sets an expectation of another change at “Dominion”.

If Newman successfully sees off Takagi he will be without Will Ospreay for the “Dominion” show as the AEW wrestler is getting married that week. The absence should fall nicely into their ongoing story, especially with how the United Empire are now backing up Ospreay in AEW. Ospreay made his first in ring appearance in New Japan since departing the company at “Sakura Genesis”, and is signed up for multiple further dates this year as well as several for next year. We also understand, from New Japan sources, that other AEW names who held gold previously in New Japan have been approached for dates in 2027 with the promotion.

The title change has been planned for some time, it was not in response to Yota Tsuji’s comments after his Jake Lee defense in Osaka in any way. Tsuji was attacked post match by a masked man, who revealed himself to be Gabe Kidd in an AEW shirt. The pair were due to meet again for the Global Title on the first night of “Wrestling Dontaku”, but Kidd’s injury this past weekend has seen those plans change, with New Japan already officially announcing that he will be replaced. Whilst Taichi has already begun campaigning publicly for the spot, it is our understanding that it will be David Finlay who will be given first refusal. We will have a full review of the show for our next issue.

There have been several tour announcements over recent weeks. The “Best of the Super Junior” tour will open on May 14th and now has full line ups announced for each block. The finals will be at Ota Ward on June 7th.

"Best of the Super Junior Tournament 33" Participants

A Block

Master Wato
Ryusuke Taguchi
Kosei Fujita
Robbie X
Francesco Akira
DOUKI
Titan
Valiente Jr.
Nick Wayne
Jun Kasai

B Block

El Desperado
KUSHIDA
YOH
Robbie Eagles
Taiji Ishimori
Jakob Austin Young
SHO
Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Hyo
Daisuke Sasaki

One name not included on that list is Dragon Dia, who is confirmed by multiple sources to be inbound, as first reported by Voices of Wrestling. Dia has now left previous promotion Dragongate (marked by a very salty statement by the promotion) and will arrive in New Japan shortly. The signing is part of an effort to inject some fresh blood within the Junior division, with freelancers Fuminori Abe and Ryoma Tsukamoto in the frame. New Japan is also casting their eye upon BASARA duo Masato Kamino and Takato Nakano.

Veteran KUSHIDA has also been brought in to work with the juniors in the dojo on their mat work, which is one of several moves currently ongoing in order to speed up development within the dojo system. Hartley Jackson has also been involved in recent dojo training as well.

There is also a full tour line up for the G1, which will open in Chicago on July 11th with a show solely composed of G1 matchups. The Japanese leg will begin in Hokkaido over the weekend of the 18th and 19th, with the tour following a similar path to 2025 before the finals in Tokyo on August 15th and 16th. The finals will revert back to Ryogoku Kokugikan this year after last year’s failed experiment at Ariake Arena. We have been able to confirm that Konosuke Takeshita is again scheduled to be part of the tour this year.

NJPW sources have indicated to us also that Henare has signed a three-year deal with the promotion. Rocky Romero has also publicly confirmed that he has re-signed with the promotion; continuing both his on screen and office roles.

Yoshihiro Yamazaki, 55, who currently holds the Tiger Mask gimmick, will compete in his retirement match at Korakuen Hall on July 7th. Yamazaki made his debut at the venue back in 1995.

Recommended Matches This Issue

These are in order of personal preference rather than chronological.

OSKAR & Yuto-Ice vs. Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. – 4th April at Ryogoku Kokugikan
Ryohei Oiwa vs. Zack Sabre Jr. – 14th March at Nagoya Kinjo Pier Arena
Callum Newman vs. Yuya Uemura – 21st March at Aore Nagaoka
Callum Newman vs. Shota Umino – 20th March at Aore Nagaoka
Oleg Boltin vs. Yuya Uemura – 20th March at Aore Nagaoka
Shota Umino vs. Zack Sabre Jr. – 17th March at Big Palette Fukushima
Hechicero vs. Mascara Dorada – 26th February at Korakuen Hall

“The New Beginning in Osaka”

11th February 2026
Company Announced Attendance: 5,507
EDION Arena Osaka #1, Osaka, Japan

Review By Conor McFall

When a promotion is in a state of flux or transition like New Japan has been for the last while, every major show gets treated like a referendum on the promotion itself. This is unfair, really, but ultimately quite natural, as fans who used to follow more closely dip back in to see if the shows resemble the better days that they still remember fondly. From this show, “The New Beginning in Osaka 2026”, it’s hard to make any definitive conclusions – it featured the good, the bad and the ugly of modern New Japan. However, with a full audience in an arena that had sold out well in advance, we can conclude that this was a successful first outing at the box office for new IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji. As a wrestling show, it was a much more mixed picture.

Hiromu Takahashi/Taiji Ishimori vs Francesco Akira/Jacob Austin Young

This was a deeply underwhelming New Japan farewell for Hiromu as he teamed with one of his more boring major rivals for a bog standard opening tag match. He didn’t really seem to fit in with the new Unbound Company faction but it turns out he was just being parked there before he went out the exit door. Hiromu didn’t particularly do much in the match either, as Ishimori defeated Young, as opposed to the job Hiromu could have done for Akira on the way out. The Junior Division in New Japan is an absolute mess right now. Hiromu wasn’t really a big part of it in recent months but I hope this can at least symbolise them turning over a new leaf. I know some at Social Suplex are big time Hiromu fans but I was never particularly into him so I won’t miss him much. I am morbidly fascinated to see both him and EVIL in WWE if that does come about.
My Rating: 2.5 stars

Drilla Maloney/Shingo Takagi vs Great-O-Khan/HENARE

I honestly don’t have a ton to say about this match. Competently worked tag action that you don’t need to see but you will enjoy it if you watch through the show. I enjoy the Drilla and Shingo team and would like to see them get a crack at the titles.
My Rating: 3.25 stars

Hirooki Goto, Yoshi Hashi and Oleg Boltin vs Zack Sabre Jr., Rohei Oiwa and Hartley Jackson

Hartley Jackson is awesome. Just a big burly dude who hits hard and works his ass off. He gels incredibly well with Boltin in particular, as anyone who watched their amazing Korakuen match on the “Road To” tour will attest to. Boltin has always been good to me but it also seems like he’s found another level in 2026 and I’d love to see him join the ranks of wrestlers slotted for elevation over the next year or two. Great action here.
My Rating: 4 stars

Andrade vs Gabe Kidd

I was quite looking forward to this one given Andrade’s recent form since returning to AEW, but it was… just alright. Between American, Japanese and Mexican bookings, Andrade’s been working a lot recently so maybe he’s just a bit tired but this was pretty bland stuff. It was the most generic competently worked match you can imagine as they went back and forth without really building very much. Most interesting was seeing how not over Gabe Kidd was. A year is a long time in wrestling, as New Japan didn’t capitalise on his post-Omega buzz and now he’s mostly out the door. It was a bit sad to see him go back to the barking spot again and again to get something out of the crowd, with diminishing returns each time. Ultimately, Andrade put him away with the DM to set up an IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship match.
My Rating: 3.25 stars

Callum Newman vs David Finlay

This was Finlay’s job on the way out the door as he elevated the next top gaijin. Finlay got a bad rap during his tenure for a number of reasons – he spent years being typecast as a geek and does not have superstar look or presentation. By the time he finishes his eternal, dead behind the eyes march to the ring, I dread watching the match. But he always gets it to a good place by the end. He is one of the most effective bully heels in wrestling who is great at stringing together chains of offence that look like it actually hurts. Nothing fancy but it works really well. Newman, for his part, shows off the massive improvements he’s made in the last year or so as he’s gotten away from the Ospreay Clone stuff and started to bulk out a bit. He won in a pretty good match and will hopefully not be stuck in Finlay’s position being typecast as a midcarder for years before they try to push him. Given the state of the roster, the decks are clear for him to elevate rather quickly.
My Rating: 3.5 stars

Aaron Wolf vs Ren Narita

This match was a disaster. Firstly, we have the same issue that we always get with the House, in that the baby face triumphs on the big show and then we do the full Men In Black memory wipe and go back as if it never happened, with them getting a ton of heavy heat. Secondly, we are again doing the thing where the company loses a pushed act – EVIL to WWE in this case – and simply slots a lesser wrestler into their place so they don’t have to change the pre-planned booking. In this case it was Ren Narita, someone with one of the worst looks in wrestling, zero charisma, and no great shakes in the ring, either. Lastly, and biggest of all, is the treatment of Wolf. He’s an Olympic champion and a celebrity athlete in Japan just being treated like every other geek babyface. He has no friends, the refs and the company have no authority to stop blatant cheating and I have no choice but to roll my eyes. I have seen the argument that this is just to set up Wolf having a triumphant win at “Dominion” in front of the prime time TV audience, but that will just be a lesser version of what we already saw in the Dome. Presumably, the promotion does want this guy to actually become a good wrestler at some point, in which case he needs to wrestle some actually good workers instead of the untalented part of the roster.
My Rating: -2 Stars (negative 2)

Yuto Ice/Oskar Lube vs Yuya Uemura/Shota Umino

Ironically, given how underserved it has been throughout Gedo’s long reign as booker, the heavyweight tag team division has been the revelation of the last 9 months or so in New Japan. In particular, Yuto and Oskar of the Knockout Brothers have made arguably the greatest immediate impact of any returning Young Lions in years, possibly since Hiromu. Being in a tag team has been an age old way of helping younger wrestlers find their feet and improve their game, as has been the case with both Uemura and Umino together and Oiwa in his team with
Zack Sabre Jr. Being in a team has also breathed new life into Tomohiro Ishii and Taichi. I shouldn’t really need to explain the benefits of tag team wrestling, but in New Japan, it feels like a novelty after a decade plus of cycling between Guerillas of Destiny, Killer Elite Squad, Bishamon, etc. Most of all, New Japan may have found themselves a genuine new star in Yuto Ice, who has projected himself with big room charisma as well as being great in the ring. His brash persona has also brought out a new intensity from Uemura and especially Umino, who desperately needed to show something if the company could ever hope to make him a top guy. The crowds here still booed Umino a bit, especially because the home fan base seem to have strongly taken to KOB, but there is a sense that he’s gradually starting to win people over. I did genuinely think that the challengers were going to take this one, so a few of the flash pins Uemura grabbed before the end really got me, but eventually the champions got the 2 vs 1 advantage and finished off Yuya with their kick-into-jumping tombstone finish. This was one of the best matches of the year so far and I recommend that everyone should watch it if they haven’t already. There’s no better sight in wrestling than watching people become stars before your eyes.
My Rating: 4.5 stars

Yota Tsuji vs Jake Lee

As the main event of a mixed bag of a show, it is perhaps appropriate that this match itself featured drastic tonal shifts. Jake Lee is a conundrum. He’s trying to get over this bizarre character where he’s a…jester…troll…thing? I don’t know, it’s weird. I do not need to see people doing Fortnite dances in an IWGP Heavyweight Championship match. Lee also did a spot where he put a black glove on his hand and then shoved it into Tsuji’s mouth. And then he did it again. Guess what? I also don’t need to see Britt Baker tribute spots in an IWGP Heavyweight Championship match. Lee is someone who has been pushed strong in every promotion he has landed in, and still – to this day – I cannot entirely explain why. He’s tall but he’s not a particularly dynamic worker and the stoic act he’s doing belies a lack of main event charisma. And yet, he is a former GHC Heavyweight and Triple Crown champion, going for the trifecta of major Japanese world championships in this match. In that respect, he is a decent scalp for Tsuji to claim on paper. For his first defence, I can have no complaints about how he carried himself – he projects like someone who wants to lead the company. The match finally got into serious territory towards the closing stretch, with some decent near falls before Tsuji put him away with a spear. Way too schtick heavy for a main event match.
My Rating: 2.5 stars

As I said at the top, this show was a mixed bag. Jake Lee is absolutely not a main event quality wrestler and he displayed his abysmal creative instincts alongside his mid tier work in the main event. However, Yota carried himself well as champion and sits nicely atop a hungry division of young heavyweights who are finally starting to get pushed. Uemura and Umino are all the better for their tag team exploits, while the starting gun has fired on what seems to be a big time push for Callum Newman. Oskar and Yuto Ice are nothing less than a revelation as the tag champions, making the division an essential cornerstone of New Japan for the first time in ages. There are some green shoots; just don’t think too much about the House of Torture and whatever the hell they’re doing with Aaron Wolf…

Full Results

Pre-Show:
Togi Makabe & Toru Yano defeat Katsuya Murashima & Shoma Kato (8:17)

Unbound Co. (Hiromu Takahashi & Taiji Ishimori) defeat United Empire (Francesco Akira & Jakob Austin Young) (9:40)

War Dragons (Drilla Moloney & Shingo Takagi) defeat United Empire (Great-O-Khan & HENARE) (9:24)

NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Title:
Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) & Oleg Boltin (c) defeat TMDK (Hartley Jackson, Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr.) (12:20)

IWGP Global Heavyweight Title #1 Contendership:
Andrade El Idolo defeats Gabe Kidd (14:20)

Callum Newman defeats David Finlay (13:53)

NEVER Openweight Title:
Ren Narita (w/Dick Togo) defeats Aaron Wolf (c) (2:08)

IWGP Tag Team Title:
Knockout Brothers (OSKAR & Yuto-Ice) (c) defeat Shota Umino & Yuya Uemura (19:37)

IWGP Heavyweight Title Match:
Yota Tsuji (c) defeats Jake Lee (23:40)

“New Japan Cup” Semi Finals and Finals

20th March 2026
Company Announced Attendance: 1,906
Aore Nagaoka, Niigata, Japan

Review By Conor McFall

Semi Final 1: Yuya Uemura vs Oleg Boltin

This match was great, and not in the usual New Japan style. This was focused on the nitty gritty, with both wrestlers struggling for every move. The match was punctuated with little details such as battling over a German suplex grip and Oleg not being able to hit his moves at full power due to Uemura working over his shoulder. For his part, Uemura showed wily desperation in his attempts to catch his larger opponent with flash pins.

This is the second time in the last year where Uemura has won acclaim for having a great match outside of the usual New Japan format, following on from his excellent back to basics match with Oiwa during the last G1. The guy has something special, albeit with some rough edges to smooth out. He wrestles so well as a babyface, but if he really wants to be the next Tanahashi, he could do with some more appeals to the crowd to really build that sympathetic connection. For his part, I think Oleg Boltin absolutely rocks. He’s taken to wrestling so well and has the credibility to really be used as any level of the card. I would love to see New Japan take a punt and go all the way with him, though I imagine he will settle in as an upper midcard gatekeeper for the true top guys. Inoki would have put the belt on this guy already.

One quibble I have here is with the ending – in the vein of Tanahashi, Uemura is using a top rope body press as a finish, but I think the Deadbolt suplex was far better for building drama as he struggled with the opponent to get them in position. The splashes he used to finish this match didn’t hit particularly well and seemed like a weak move to put Oleg down after the struggle that came before.
My Rating: 4 stars

Semi Final 2: Callum Newman vs Shota Umino

This one was much more in line with the usual New Japan epic style than the previous semi-final. They started off slow with the usual feeling out process before building up to the big bombs.

The match did feature one of the best table spots I’ve seen in a few years, where Newman powerbombed Umino over the top rope through a table on the floor. What made it great though, was that the table was set up outside the ring a good while before and wasn’t focused on for a number of minutes, allowing the audience enough time to forget that it was there. Umino crashing through the table on the outside came as a genuine surprise when I was watching. These are both wrestlers who have been on the receiving end of criticism over the last year or two, as neither truly seemed to inhabit the roles that they were pushed into. Umino was as flat of a Dome main eventer as there has ever been, while Newman just came off as a gangly and awkward Ospreay clone.

However, both have found themselves in the last year, particularly Newman as a top heel leading his faction. His performances are all the better for finding his own identity in the ring but the biggest difference is just confidence. He feels far more comfortable in projecting himself in the ring and in promos. Umino, meanwhile, has really been helped by being part of the tag team with Uemura and the crowd was more behind him here than they have been in some time. Newman could lose the cringey “kiss the crown” spots, but when he finished Umino off with the Princer’s Curse, he looked like a man ready for a crack at the top spot.
My Rating: 4.5 stars

Final: Callum Newman vs Yuya Uemura
21st March 2026
Company Announced Attendance: 3,007
Aore Nagaoka, Niigata, Japan

We head now into the final, where my pick in the Chris Samsa bracket challenge, Uemura, had made it almost all the way, only to fall at the final hurdle. Uemura again tried to finish the match with Tanahashi spots, which to me don’t work as well as the Deadbolt, but he did have a flurry towards the end of the match that did have me genuinely believing. In fact, he ran off so many moves in succession that I tipped all the way over into being sure that Newman would make a comeback, which he surely did.

For Newman himself, this was another strong performance. After his unexpected title challenge against Hirooki Goto last year in which he did pretty well, his performances have gone from strength to strength as he finds his footing doing New Japan main event style matches. Although he is an Ospreay protege, and was for a while a bit of a poor imitation, he wrestles a bit more like Prince Devitt – not just because his finish is called the Prince’s Curse, but because he does moves like the Bloody Sunday as a false finish and because he wrestles with a lot more viciousness and impact than his mentor did at the same age. Newman again had some interference form Zane Jay in the match, not as obtrusive as House of Torture nonsense thankfully, but he ultimately put Umino away with his own strength to take the cup and continue his rocket to the top of the card. This was not quite as strong as the Umino match but was still a very worthy final. Really, you should watch all three of these matches.
My Rating: 4.25 stars

New Japan has lost so many stars over the last few years – not just the Okada, Naito, Tanahashi level icons but also foreign superstars in Ospreay and White. This year has seen even more losses at the midcard level, with Finlay, EVIL, Hiromu and Sanada being gone from the company. But this may be what they needed to finally get a move on.

No more tenured guys waiting their turn to be elevated after years of midcard typecasting, no more comforting safety blankets to throw on, no choice but to finally crown a new generation. The company still has serious depth issues on this roster, which recent reports suggest they will attempt to rectify with some raids on companies lower down the puro food chain, and has an overall lack of star power but the main event scene is starting to cook with some fresh faces finally getting their shot and, on the evidence of the closing stretch of this New Japan Cup, being me than ready to deliver in-ring.Now if they can just sort out what they’re doing with Aaron Wolf and get him away from this House of Torture vortex, they will have a ready made star to really push this new generation drive to the next level.

Watch on Wrestle Universe

NOAH

Bitesize Round-up

NOAH continued trudging along as they finished up the first quarter of the year. Previously, in the lead article for the New Year show preview I discussed how important it was for NOAH to bounce back from a creatively difficult fourth quarter. NOAH has bounced back, financially, continuing to post impressive attendances, especially at Korakuen Hall, despite OZAWA not being the focus. Instead, they have relied on Los Tranquilos de Japon (Angel Reyes, BUSHI, RYUSEI & Tetsuya Naito) to pad the numbers and they have done so with ease. But creatively, something is still severely lacking. Out of the homegrown “Big Three” (as Naoya Yuzawa, the Editor-in-Chief of Weekly Pro-Wrestling (Shupro) put it in issue #2404), only GHC Heavyweight Champion Yoshiki Inamura has managed to leave an impression at the close of the first quarter, getting better with every single defence. Kaito Kiyomiya is currently in an underwhelming storyline regarding his faction losing members: first Galeno, and soon possibly Alejandro. He’s also not been put in any major matches. And the last of the big three, OZAWA, had been mostly sidelined up until the turn of April where he finally entered a big program going up against Naito. Additionally, what is fueling the growth of men’s promotions in Japan is an uptick in the women demographic, so you want a young, attractive, charismatic star at the helm of the company. The next steps NOAH takes towards re-heating OZAWA will be important. Putting him with Naito is a good first step and it will be fun to watch and see how NOAH transfers Naito’s stardom onto their future stars.

In Shupro #2404, Naito admitted that he had rewatched the footage of his match from “New Year” and agreed with fans that his movement was very poor. He attributed it to not wrestling much and being overconfident about his form, not realising that he was doing around 150 matches a year in New Japan and that he never had to worry about form. He was humble about it and came off very well. He also mentioned that he wants to continue wrestling in NOAH and that his desire to appear in other promotions has diminished the more he wrestles in NOAH. BUSHI and Naito will be defending their GHC Tag Team Titles against OZAWA and Jun Masaoka on 12th April. Given Masaoka was thrown into the match, I am going to guess that BUSHI & Naito retain with Masaoka taking the pin.

As mentioned, Inamura is someone that is gaining strength with each defence. If you read the aforementioned preview, I suggested switching the title to OZAWA since I wasn’t sure what they’d even do with Inamura. Well, as most wrestling media participants are about most things, I was wrong. It turns out just letting Inamura do his thing and have banger wrestling matches at the top of the card just… kinda…works. Who would’ve thought it? On 8th March, Inamura defended his GHC Heavyweight Title against Kenoh in an excellent match that is worth checking out. We have a full review of the event at Yokohama Budokan, which was the biggest NOAH show since “New Year”.

NOAH’s Junior Tag League culminated on 1st March at Korakuen Hall, as Alejandro and Dragon Bane defeated their brothers, Alpha Wolf and Kai Fujimura, in the finals. The winners also went on to defeat Los Intocables (Daga and Daiki Odashima) to become the new GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. The tournament was quite good. The qualifier is that I am comparing it to everything else going on in the promotion, and the junior heavyweights are consistently good, so a whole tournament focused on them was never going to be bad, aside from a few underwhelming performances from Kai Fujimura, whose gimmick is a genuine turn-off. There were also some excellent matches that I expect will be near the top of my NOAH favourite matches by the end of the year, with AMKUSHA (AMAKUSA & Black Menso-re) having an outstanding tournament. In that sense, this was a pretty successful tournament creatively, given it comes at a spot in the Japanese calendar that is usually a bit of a deadspot with the lowest crowd attendances.

NOAH’s heavyweight tag league “GLOBAL TAG LEAGUE 2026″ returns for the first time since 2020 and will get underway from the 23rd May Kyoto show. The tour will include a Yamanashi show on 16th May which marks NOAH’s first visit to the prefecture in seven years. The finals will be held on 16th June at Korakuen Hall.

NOAH has announced a collaboration with the anime “Baki-Dou”, which began streaming exclusively worldwide on Netflix from 26th February. This collaboration came about after Naomichi Marufuji and Yoshiki Inamura publicly expressed their love of the Baki series on social media. Then, a Netflix rep noticed their posts and the rest is history.

Recommended Matches This Issue

These are in order of personal preference rather than chronological.

AMAKUSA vs. Hiromu Takahashi – 1st January at Nippon Budokan
AMAKUSA & Black Menso-re vs. Eita & Katsumi Inahata – 14th February at Shinagawa Prince Hotel Club eX
AMAKUSA vs. Daiki Odashima – 11th January at Korakuen Hall

Recommended Matches of 2025

The categories, in order, are “MOTY”, “MOTYC+”, “MOTYC”, “Promotion MOTYC”, “Excellent”, “Highly Recommended” and “Only if you really like the wrestler(s)/promotion”.

The usual disclaimer applies about this being one person’s tastes, it is a general recommendation to help readers seek out some matches, not a science. If one of a category is not mentioned, then no match meets that criteria. The reason for doing it this way is to compare across promotions, e.g. the top three “MOTY” buckets can compete on a cross-promotion MOTYC list, while “Promotion MOTYC” means it is one of the best matches in that promotion during 2025, but not necessarily a MOTYC in itself.

MOTYC+

6 Oct 2025 – Mayu Iwatani, Seri Yamaoka & Utami Hayashishita vs. Mio Momono, Senka Akatsuki & Takumi Iroha (My #6 across all promotions)

NOAH MOTYC

1 Jan 2025 – Kaito Kiyomiya vs. OZAWA
19 Jul 2025 – Kenoh vs. OZAWA
20 Jul 2025 – Kenoh vs. KENTA
7 Dec 2025 – Kaito Kiyomiya vs. Kenoh

Excellent

24 May 2025 – Alpha Wolf & Dragon Bane vs. HAYATA & Yuto Kikuchi
26 Jul 2025 – Daga & Takashi Sugiura vs. Daiki Inaba & Manabu Soya
25 Aug 2025 – Atsushi Kotoge, Go Shiozaki & Shuji Ishikawa vs. Daisuke Ikeda, Mohammed Yone & Naomichi Marufuji

Highly Recommended

18 May 2025 – Kaito Kiyomiya vs. OZAWA
7 Jun 2025 – Daiki Odashima vs. Owadasan
16 Jun 2025 – Fuminori Abe vs. Ulka Sasaki
13 Jul 2025 – Galeno vs. Will Kroos
3 Aug 2025 – Daiki Odashima vs. Owadasan
23 Sep 2025 – Alejandro & Kai Fujimura vs. Alpha Wolf & Dragon Bane
11 Oct 2025 – Alpha Wolf & Dragon Bane vs. Daga & Daiki Odashima
23 Dec 2025 – Hiroto Tsuruya & Midori Takahashi vs. Kenoh & Naomichi Marufuji

Only if you like the wrestler(s)/promotion

1 Jan 2025 – Kenoh vs. KENTA
11 Feb 2025 – Kenoh & KENTA vs. Kaito Kiyomiya & Shuhei Taniguchi
3 May 2025 – Alpha Wolf & Dragon Bane vs. AMAKUSA & Junta Miyawaki
3 May 2025 – Eita vs. YO-HEY
3 Jun 2025 – OZAWA vs. Takashi Sugiura vs. Tetsuya Endo
7 Jun 2025 – Alpha Wolf & Eita vs. AMAKUSA & Junta Miyawaki
16 Jun 2025 – Daiki Odashima, Masa Kitamiya & Shuji Kondo vs. Robert Martyr, Ryan Clancy & Titus Alexander
21 Jun 2025 – Daiki Odashima vs. Will Kroos
3 Aug 2025 – Alpha Wolf & Dragon Bane vs. Eita & Shuji Kondo
17 Sep 2025 – Kaito Kiyomiya vs. Tetsuya Endo
23 Sep 2025 – Jack Morris vs. Masa Kitamiya
4 Oct 2025 – Galeno vs. Jack Morris
16 Oct 2025 – Dragon Bane vs. Galeno
8 Nov 2025 – KENTA vs. Yoshiki Inamura
8 Nov 2025 – Daiki Odashima vs. Hiromu Takahashi
21 Nov 2025 – Kaito Kiyomiya vs. Yoshiki Inamura
7 Dec 2025 – Daiki Odashima vs. Yuto Koyanagi
23 Dec 2025 – AMAKUSA & Daiki Odashima vs. Daiki Nagai & Hiromu Takahashi
23 Dec 2025 – Kaito Kiyomiya, Tetsuya Endo & Yoshiki Inamura vs. Masa Kitamiya, OZAWA & Tadasuke

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026

The “NOAH Junior Tag League 2026” began on 6th February at Korakuen Hall and finished on 1st March at Korakuen Hall. It was a single round-robin group, with the top two teams facing off in the final. Here is a full re-cap of the tournament. Days 1-4 were covered in the last issue but were kept here for for ease of reading.

Participating Teams

Daga & Daiki Odashima (Los Intocables)
Alejandro & Dragon Bane
Atsushi Kotoge & Hi69 (TEAM NOAH)
AMAKUSA & Black Menso-re (AMAKUSHA—!!!)
Kieron Lacey & Mark Trew
Jun Masaoka & Tadasuke (TEAM 2000X)
Alpha Wolf & Kai Fujimura (TEAM 2000X)
Eita & Katsumi Inahata

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026 Final Standings

NOAH Jr. TAG LEAGUE 2026 Final Standings (W-L-D)

Alpha Wolf & Kai Fujimura — 12 pts (6-1-0) – Advanced to final and lost
Alejandro & Dragon Bane — 10 pts (5-2-0) – Advanced to final and won
Daga & Daiki Odashima — 8 pts (4-3-0)
Jun Masaoka & Tadasuke — 8 pts (4-3-0)
Kieron Lacey & Mark Trew — 8 pts (4-3-0)
Atsushi Kotoge & Hiroki — 4 pts (2-5-0)
Eita & Katsumi Inahata — 3 pts (1-5-1)
AMAKUSA & Black Menso-re — 3 pts (1-5-1)

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026 - Day 1 - 6th February 2026

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026 – Day 1
6th February 2026
Company Announced Attendance: 1,522
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan

The Junior Tag League 2026 kicked off at a sold out Korakuen Hall, largely thanks to Tetsuya Naito’s presence on the card. Interestingly, the main event of the show was Alejandro & Dragon Bane taking on the team from the UK, Kieron Lacey & Mark Trew. Lacey & Trew were a big part of the same tournament last year before Trew was injured in the final at Yokohama Budokan and the match had to be stopped. Clearly, NOAH thinks highly of them to give them that spot, and also the spot on this show, but also they were not brought back for the rest of 2025. The fact that this was the main event was clearly the best decision too, as this match was great. There were some awesome high spots in this match, poisonranas, dives, avalanche Code Reds, planchas, shooting star presses, and of course, Alejandro’s Zero Gravity (avalanche corkscrew splash) which picked up the win.

Daga & Daiki Odashima faced Team 2000X (Alpha Wolf & Kai Fujimura). I mentioned in my last review that I was not sure about the Kai Fujimura gimmick. I’m now sure about it. It’s awful. I don’t know why turning heel has to come along with seemingly brain damage in that now he’s behaving like a possessed animal. It is the opposite of what I want to see in wrestling. On the other hand, Alpha Wolf’s heel turn is totally fine and he’s adapted well, and is more interesting than he was as a babyface. Daiki is a sure-fire superstar of the junior heavyweight scene, even more so than maybe Kosei Fujita in his own promotion. The amount of calls for Daiki in this match was crazy. The ladies absolutely love Daiki, and it’s not like he’s conventionally handsome. A large part of it is actually because of how he wrestles, sells and presents himself, meaning while most of the calls for Daiki are from the women in the crowd, the men equally get behind him. So of course, NOAH had the geek (Kai Fujimura if it wasn’t obvious), beat Daiki. There was total silence after the victory. The match itself was good given how over and great Daiki is. It’s hard for Daiki to have a bad match with anyone.

NOAH new blood, Katsumi Inahata, kicked off the tournament with his partner Eita, facing Team 2000X (Tadasuke & Jun Masaoka). Unfortunately, there is very little that Tadasuke could do to get me invested in any of his matches. The match was fine. Of course Team 2000X picked up the win, but NOAH’s future is quite exciting with the five “rookies” (Daiki Odashima, Katsumi Inahata, Yuto Koyanagi, Midori Takahashi and Hiroto Tsuruya).

AMAKUSA & Black Menso-re lost to Team NOAH (or whatever they’re called) (Atsushi Kotoge & Hi69) after a match where both teams showed a few more skills and tricks than they normally would, including a rare German suplex from Menso-re for a nearfall. Unfortunately, Hi69 pinned him shortly after with the Samson clutch.

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026 - Day 2 - 11th February 2026

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026 – Day 2
11th February 2026
Company Announced Attendance: 1,598
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan

In a match third from the top at Korakuen Hall, Alejandro & Dragon Bane attempted to exact revenge on their respective brothers who had betrayed them to join Team 2000X (Alpha Wolf & Kai Fujimura). Both teams were undefeated heading into the match, so, you’d think it was a big match, but it really didn’t feel like one, and didn’t have the heat of one. I’m just going to say it every time I see him. This Kai Fujimura gimmick is probably the worst gimmick in wrestling today. I watch a lot of wrestling. I genuinely cannot think of a gimmick I hate more. CHIAKI is close. It is funny because Alpha Wolf’s direction of travel after a Team 2000X heel turn is in the opposite direction to Kai’s. On top of his dumb gimmick, Kai was lost in this match. Wolf had to communicate, in English, twice to Kai what the next spot was, as loud as he possibly could. It was almost like it was part of the gimmick, and maybe I’m being worked and it was? It was so bad that I cannot tell. For example, Kai was on his knees, expecting Wolf to use him as a platform to do a corner splash. But Wolf was like “Kai! Up! Up!” Wolf then motioned it out. Kai was like “Oh!” The crowd just laughed it off. Kai pinned his brother after a lowblow and his finisher. Anyway, Bane is incredible and they should re-run the GHC National Title match now that Wolf is heel so they can have a proper match with a conclusive finish.

The GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Los Intocables (Daga & Daiki Odashima) beat Eita and rookie Katsumi Inahata. This was a solid match. I love that Daiki has been elevated to acting like a vet when he’s against Katsumi, encouraging Katsumi to keep chopping him and leaning his chest forward. Daiki is eighteen months into his career, Katsumi is four years in.

Crowd favourites AMAKUSA & Black Menso-re faced the UK crew (unofficial name) Kieron Lacey & Mark Trew. Lacey & Trew are great bumpers. They wrestle a high risk high reward style meaning all of their stuff doesn’t normally come off as they expect. Trew won with a shooting star press that missed quite a bit, but more importantly it deflated the crowd because of how over Menso-re is in this tournament.

TEAM 2000X (Jun Masaoka & Tadasuke) beat Team NOAH (Atsushi Kotoge & Hi69) because Tadasuke hit Hi69 in the back with a chair and then Masaoka hit his finisher, “Ambitions,” for the win.

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026 - Day 3 (AM & PM) - 14th February 2026 (*)

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026 – Day 3 (AM & PM)
14th February 2026
Shinagawa Prince Hotel Club eX, Tokyo, Japan
Recommended Match: AMAKUSA & Black Menso-re vs. Eita & Katsumi Inahata (note, this was included in last issue)

Morning

NOAH held a double-header show in Shinagawa in the capital, hosting four matches of the NOAH Junior Tag League 2026. In the morning, Team NOAH (Atsushi Kotoge & Hi69) failed to take points in their match against one of the tournament favourites in Alejandro & Dragon Bane. Bane, one of the most over people on the roster, won with the Shooting Star Press onto Hi69.

The second tournament match of the morning was an all-Team 2000X affair as Alpha Wolf & Kai Fujimura took on Jun Masaoka & Tadasuke. Interestingly, the designated babyface was Jun Masaoka. Kai and Wolf worked him over and the crowd got behind him. Kai’s ‘hanging the opponent over the ropes spot’ needs to stop immediately. He looks like an idiot. Anyway, this was fine before the last minute or two where Kai ruined my immersion. If my wife walked in on me when Kai was doing that spot I would switch to porn.

I did stick around for the main event out of curiosity. It was Kieron Tracey, Mark Trew & Yoshiki Inamura against Daga, Daiki Odashima and Kenoh. I burst out laughing when Mark Trew was encouraging Inamura from the sidelines and said, with a straight face and a thick London cockney accent “Come on Mister Smack Daddy!” I will say, these two chatting crap on these house shows is quite funny to me, and I’m a Brit so I should be bored of this. You know what, I like these two. I don’t know why, I just do. They entertain me. They fully embrace their characters. Mark was yelling from the sidelines “Come on Kieran. He’s just a mug, Kieran. It’s just Daiki, Kieran.” I hated it when Oddyssey was talking non-stop in All Japan. But I can’t help laughing when these two do it. I’m a hypocrite. I’m ashamed. It might be because I have met people like them and so their characters are so believable to me, whereas Oddyssey comes off fake and inauthentic as he tries to chat up the Japanese women at ringside. You ain’t him. Kieron and Mark are like characters from the Inbetweeners. They’re idiots. It cracks me up. Anyway, this main was a lot of fun. It was also a preview for Kenoh and Inamura and their interactions were great, making me look forward to the match. Good stuff.

Afternoon

AMAKUSHA (AMAKUSA & Black Menso-re) faced Eita and rookie Katsumi Inahata. This match was kind of awesome. They cooked. Hard. AMAKUSHA is a really fun team in the tournament. It’s a bit like Syuri and Saki Kashima in STARDOM, or if Kazuki Hirata had a teammate in DDT. You bite on every single nearfall because the match could end at any moment, and the crowd are fully behind Menso-re. Then on the other side, Katsumi is just a really good rookie, because he’s not really a rookie. He’s been wrestling for years in JTO and even won titles there. So Katsumi and AMAKUSA combined for some great sequences, including AMAKUSA just slapping the taste out of Katsumi’s mouth. There were some interesting moments such as Katsumi trying to get Menso-re for a powerbomb several times. I am leaning on the side of “it was deliberate to tease a future move” but I am not sure. They eventually gave up. After AMAKUSA’s awesome dive, Menso-re hit a German suplex which I was sure was the finish, but Katsumi kicked out at the last second. The heat for this match was great. There were just constant screeches and screams on every nearfall. Katsumi dropkicked AMAKUSA out of the air and hit a falcon arrow for a nearfall. They then traded nearfalls up to the time-limit draw. AMAKUSA hit a leg-trap German suplex with 10 seconds to go but Eita saved the pin. The result was a draw. What a match.

Following on from the preview tag in the morning, Kieron Lacey & Mark Trew fought Los Intocables (Daga & Daiki Odashima) in a Junior Tag League match in the afternoon. I think this match suffered from the match that came before it, in that I was worn out a bit by how good it was. The main event here was still good, but I did not fully invest myself in the work being done. Los Intocables won.

Los Tranquilos de Japon (Angel Reyes, BUSHI, RYUSEI & Tetsuya Naito) faced Team NOAH (Atsushi Kotoge, Hajime Ohara, Hi69 & Muhammed Yone). I was surprised when I saw the card for this show. It’s a Shinagawa house show, why is Naito on it? Well the answer was that they needed to build towards a title match with, wait for it, Manabu Soya and Shuji Kondo. Soya and Kondo came out after the match to challenge. Can you still bet on wrestling matches?

I also saw White Raven Sqwad (HAYATA & Tetsuya Endo) against Kenoh and Yuto Koyanagi, just because I like watching Yuto. This guy can throw some suplexes. I have no idea what his ceiling is though. He looks like another junior heavyweight. If that’s the case then that will be quite the stacked division in five or ten years. Imagine Daiki and Yuto just trading the title in absolute bangers over the course of years. Sorry, I started daydreaming.

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026 - Day 4 - 20th February 2026

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026 – Day 4
20th February 2026
Hiroshima Industrial Hall East Exhibition Hall, Hiroshima, Japan

The GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Los Intocables (Daiki Odashima & Daga faced Team NOAH (Atsushi Kotoge & Hi69). The match was pretty much as you’d expect, aside from the shoot headbutt that Kotoge decided to hit Daiki with. On a house show. In Hiroshima. Sure. Okay. Hi69 got the flash pin on Daga, which could earn them a shot at the belts even if they don’t win the tournament. Every champion needs filler defences I guess.

Eita & Katsumi Inahata put on another great match against Alejandro & Dragon Bane, not as if that’s difficult to do. Katsumi is obviously far ahead of his fellow “rookies” and is allowed to do a bunch of moves and stuff that the others aren’t. So, despite him being dressed like them. He very much ain’t like them. Alejandro won with Zero Gravity.

Kieron Lacey & Mark Trew took on Team 2000X (Jun Masaoka & Tadasuke) in a match that clearly showcased why I prefer Lacey & Trew as heels. I could not get into this match. They’re good workers but a lot of their entertainment value, for me at least, comes from them being aggressive loudmouthes. I was surprised they won, handing Masaoka & Tadasuke their first loss.

After having the best match of the tournament, and likely what will be one of the better matches in NOAH in the year, AMAKUSHA (AMAKUSA & Black Menso-re) were brought back to reality as they faced Team 2000X (Alpha Wolf & Kai Fujimura). No one cares about Kai. This is the closest to an “X-Pac heat” gimmick I have experienced. Just dead silence as he was hanging AMAKUSA over the ropes. It is truly awful wrestling.

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026 - Day 5 - 21st February 2026

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026 – Day 5
21st February 2026
Sun Arena Sendai, Miyagi, Japan

The GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Los Intocables (Daiki Odashima & Daga) took on Team 2000X (Jun Masaoka & Tadasuke) in a clash of the top teams in the tournament. Daiki and Masaoka were great, and while Kai Fujimura has absolutely “fumbled the bag” with his heel turn, as the kids would say, Masaoka is thriving in his new role and has provided a real sharpness to Team 2000X matches that was missing before. Daiki pinned Tadasuke with the Rolling Olympic Rings Of Hell – Part 0 (I think, it’s the most confusing and complicated finisher naming sequence ever).

AMAKUSHA (AMAKUSA & Black Menso-re) lost to Alejandro & Dragon Bane after a solid match. Menso-re has been putting in the work and working more seriously, while AMAKUSA is just awesome. Alejandro & Bane are probably the most consistent team in the junior division, so it all came together for a fun match.

Kieron Lacey & Mark Trew were back to working heel against one of the underrated teams of the tournament in Eita and Katsumi Inahata. This was quite a short, nothing happening match. I watched it two minutes before writing this sentence and still have no memory of it. Lacey & Trew won, getting the pin on Inahata (obviously).

Team 2000X (Alpha Wolf & Kai Fujimura) continued their dominance against Team NOAH (Atsushi Kotoge & Hiroki). Wolf pinned Kotoge with the Wolf Driver which looked insane and I was terrified that Kotoge was going to get spiked on his head. Kai did his weird hanging thing again on Hiroki. Dork.

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026 - Day 6 - 22nd February 2026

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026 – Day 6
22nd February 2026
Grand Messe Kumamoto, Kumamoto, Japan

In the main event, the hottest team and biggest surprise of the tournament, AMAKUSHA (AMAKUSA & Black Menso-re), took on the champions Los Intocables (Daiki Odashima & Daga) in AMAKUSA’s hometown. Like every single match they’ve been in so far, the crowd bit on all of Menso-re’s nearfalls and cradles which led to a heated finishing stretch with Daga picking up the win with a flash pin.

Team 2000X (Jun Masaoka & Tadasuke) faced Alejandro & Dragon Bane. This version of Team 2000X has worked pretty well in the tournament so far. Team 2000X took the win with some cheating at the end including a lowblow and interference from Yoshitatsu. This was a good match with Alejandro and Bane showing off their high-energy, acrobatic, crowd-popping style.

Team NOAH (Atsushi Kotoge & Hiroki) lost to Kieron Lacey & Mark Trew. For some reason, they’d thought it would be interesting for Kotoge to work over Trew’s leg. It was not. As mentioned in a previous review, Lacey & Trew work much better when they are working as heels. Lacey & Trew won. This loss left Team NOAH on two wins and four losses. They’re not doing much since making a huge fuss following Shiozaki’s departure.

Eita & Katsumi Inahata lost to Team 2000X (Alpha Wolf & Kai Fujimura). It was at least relatively short so Kai didn’t have enough time to annoy me. This put Team 2000X on 10 points, making it quite obvious they were going to make the finals, if it wasn’t already.

OZAWA went up against rookie Yuto Koyanagi on the undercard. I was mildly curious to see how they would handle this matchup, since it’s not like OZAWA wrestles like a bully veteran, and in fact, his character hates such stereotypes. Well, for the first few minutes it was just an OZAWA match. You could’ve swapped in Koyanagi with any other roster member. Then Koyanagi did all the cool stuff he’s been doing with the suplexes and the diving missile dropkick. OZAWA won with the Muta lock and then rubbed his nuts on Koyanagi’s face before leaving the arena.

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026 - Day 7 - 23rd February 2026

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026 – Day 7
23rd February 2026
ACROS Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Japan

Heading into Fukuoka, after Alpha Wolf & Kai Fujimura on 10 points, there were four teams tied with 8 points: Alejandro & Dragon Bane, Los Intocables (Daga & Daiki Odashima), Jun Masaoka & Tadasuke and Kieron Lacey & Mark Trew. With Alejandro & Bane due to face Los Intocables in the main event, the most expected outcome was that they would upset the champions to set up a final against their brothers, Wolf & Kai, at Korakuen Hall on 1st March. That’s exactly what happened. In a way, I wasn’t that into the other matches given I kind of knew how all the match-ups would go and that they would end up being inconsequential.

Alejandro & Bane against Los Intocables was great. It was the second best match of the tournament outside of the “Menso-re masterclass in Shinagawa”. Bet you thought you’d never see that phrase mentioned ever. The action was great, it was smooth, the crowd was hot, it felt different from all the other matches that we saw during the tournament. It was just four great wrestlers showing off. Bane had some insane dives and bumps in this match. Alejandro pinned Daiki with Zero Gravity. When this happened, I predicted Alejandro & Bane winning the final and then Los Intocables getting their win back in the subsequent title match. Check if I was wrong!

In a quick round-up of the other matches, Rookie Katsumi Inahata picked up his first NOAH win against Hiroki in their Junior Tag League bout. There was a huge pop for the win. AMAKUSHA (AMAKUSA & Black Menso-re) beat Team 2000X (Jun Masaoka & Tadasuke), but they gave AMAKUSA the pin rather than Menso-re who was looking for his first win of the tournament. In their third babyface match of the league, Lacey & Trew experienced what it was like to go against GHC National Champion Wolf and one of the worst gimmicks in the world, Kai Fujimura. This match was fine. It had a lot of heat and it was mostly Wolf rather than Kai doing the work.

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026 - Day 8 - 1st March 2026 (*)

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026 – Finals
1st March 2026
Company Announced Attendance: 1,396
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Recommended Match: Alejandro & Dragon Bane vs. Alpha Wolf & Kai Fujimura

After turning heel on their brothers on 1st January and 11th January respectively, Alpha Wolf and Kai Fujimura were led right back to their vengeful siblings, Dragon Bane and Alejandro, in the finals of the “NOAH Junior Tag League 2026”. It was obvious that this would be the final, but that doesn’t make it bad. They met during the tournament but the evil brothers won after a lowblow from Kai. That match had lacked heat and it was difficult to get into, despite it being the main storyline the promotion had run with since both heel turns. In the main event of Korakuen Hall this time, it felt far more heated and all four wrestlers put all their effort into it. It helped that Bane is very over and also extremely talented. Bane elevated this match into greatness. He was by far the best person in this match.

Stewart Fulton on commentary said “We haven’t seen the noose yet either, now that is some dark, dark shit right there!” Yes, yes it is. It’s a reminder of how bad wrestling can get when people bring out over-the-top 1980s WWF style gimmicks. If you called Kai “The Executioner” you could literally plop him into that era of wrestling. It is the main reason I hate it so much. Stop reminding me that this is fake. I already know. I just want good stories, not parodies. On the other hand, Wolf’s heel gimmick is great. He’s cocky, confident and a great wrestler. He moved Alejandro closer to Bane, forcing Alejandro to flip the bird to Bane and then ate Alejandro’s finger. It really is night and day between the two. But, outside of the atrocious over-acting, Kai’s wrestling in this match was quite good. Alejandro hit Zero Gravity on Kai, and then Team 2000X interfered by pulling the ref out. Bane and Alejandro fought back. Sorry to say, this interference seemed to work. The crowd really rallied behind Alejandro. Kai hit the Death Hunger on Alejandro but Bane broke up the pin. Bane hit a super Frankensteiner on Kai before going on to hit a Shooting Star Press to Wolf on the outside. Alejandro followed up with another Zero Gravity for the three-count. Incredible spots by Bane in this match.

Kenoh and Yoshiki Inamura clashed in the semi-main event ahead of their GHC Heavyweight Title match on 8th March at Yokohama Budokan. This feels like it has been Inamura’s best feud since capturing the title. Kenoh teamed with Naomichi Marufuji and Shuhei Tanagiuchi, while Inamura’s partners were Kieron Lacey & Mark Trew. I think Kenoh and Inamura can have an excellent match with each other. Their previews have all been good. There’s nothing quite like a Kenoh on top of his game and I think he brings the most out of Inamura. This was a great preview match with lots of stiff strikes. After the match, Kenoh gave Inamura a pep talk saying they need to give it their all to show the outsiders (Los Tranquilos de Japon) what NOAH is all about.

Los Tranquilos de Japon continued their build to their GHC Tag Team Title defence against Manabu Soya and Shuji Kondo. First, Kondo and Yuto Koyanagi faced Angel Reyes and BUSHI, and then Hiroto Tsuruya and Manabu Soya took on RYUSEI & Tetsuya Naito. Koyanagi was super over in his tag match with regular chants from the crowd. Given his confidence and skill-level already for his experience, I am almost certain he is going to work out fine in NOAH’s junior division. Reyes got the pin so I thought that NOSAWA Rongai might have temporarily taken the NOAH book back (“Monday Magic” watchers, if you know you know). Then in the Naito match, I accidentally skipped ahead way too much because I thought Naito’s entrance would take 15 minutes, but apparently RYUSEI is a good catalyst and immediately started attacking the opponents which hurried Naito up. Tsuruya actually looked awesome in his match, he surprisingly stood out more than Koyanagi did in his match. For the easy dunks we can give NOAH booking right now, they do get some things right, and splitting this preview tag into two separate matches and highlighting the rookies was really smart. The crowd were very into both rookies with constant chants and support for both. The Tsuruya match was far, far better, though. RYUSEI and Naito were better foils for the rookie than Angel Reyes and BUSHI. Soya and Naito went back and forth on the mic, and Naito was adlibbing as he normally does and annoying the hell out of Soya, but Soya pulled through. There’s a reason they aren’t doing the Soya & Kondo vs. Los Tranquilos match at Yokohama Budokan on 8th March and instead are saving it for 20th March. We don’t need an over 1 month build for a totally filler defence, but unfortunately Los Tranquilos are in Germany on the weekend of Yokohama Budokan competing in the “16 Carat Gold” tournament.

Team 2000X (Jun Masaoka, Masa Kitamiya, OZAWA & Tadasuke) faced Team NOAH (Atsushi Kotoge, Hajime Ohara, Hiroki & Mohammed Yone). Why not? I guess. I don’t believe there was any storyline for this. In fact, Team NOAH had a pretty atrocious Junior Tag League as well. They have done absolutely nothing since telling Go Shiozaki to “f- himself”. The match was solid. It was interesting how OZAWA seemed to focus on more impactful offense, really milking his shotgun and missile dropkicks, and even pinning Ohara with the lionsault. If you need a reminder, my position is that OZAWA has an incredibly high ceiling, but he needs some help putting his matches together. Once he figures it out, he will be pretty unstoppable. The main difference between him and Saya Kamitani is that Saya totally figured the in-ring stuff out (and also the company wasn’t stupid enough to take the title off her and cool her off).

Galeno, Harutoki and Kaito Kiyomiya bid their goodbyes in All Rebellion’s final time as a trio given Galeno’s departure to WWE Mexico. The one thing I’ll miss about Galeno is his lariat. He blasted Harutoki and then hit the Michinoku Driver for the win.

GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion Los Intocables (Daga & Daiki Odashima) and rookie Midori Takahashi faced White Raven Sqwad (HAYATA, KENTA & Tetsuya Endo). Midori got some good shine in this match. Usually only Yuto Koyanagi and Katsumi Inahata are allowed to do the moves. Midori hit a nice Fisherman’s suplex here before tapping out to a bridging armlock from HAYATA.

AMAKUSHA (AMAKUSA & Black Menso-re) took on Eita and Katsumi Inahata in a post-tag league wind-down. Despite his heroics during the league, it is in fact still the case that the crowd bites on every single nearfall on Menso-re and believes he can lose at any moment to any move. Katsumi continued to impress, this time with a beautiful Yuki Ueno-style dropkick to Menso-re’s head. This was a molten hot opener in which Menso-re finally picked up his first pin in what has got to be a very long time. It seems as though they were saving it for Korakuen Hall and that’s why AMAKUSA picked up the pin in the final round on day 7. After the match, Mark Trew came out to challenge AMAKUSA, back in his usual heel mode. That match took place on 8th March at Yokohama Budokan.

“APEX CONQUEST”

8th March 2026
Company Announced Attendance: 1,904
Yokohama Budokan, Kanagawa, Japan
Designation: Key Show
Recommended Matches: Kenoh vs. Yoshiki Inamura

NOAH posted their best ever attendance at the Yokohama Budokan of 1,904, main-evented by Yoshiki Inamura defending his GHC Heavyweight Title against Kenoh. The venue opened in 2020 to replace the previous Yokohama Cultural General Gym (Bunka). It is across the street from Yokohama BUNTAI, a newer 5,000-capacity venue that NOAH ran in the year it opened, 2024, drawing 1,815 fans. If anything, without Naito on the card, all this means is that there may be a path forward for Inamura, given that there wasn’t really another major match on this show. People wanted to see this match and paid to see it. While it isn’t close to a sell-out, it is a promising turn of events for Inamura, who was let down by the company with its lack of promotion of the Kaito Kiyomiya match in Sendai which drew an abysmal number. Not only could Inamura take some solace from the uptick in business, but also that he had the best match of his reign in the main event. I knew this was going to happen going in. If you want a sneak peak, I write all my reviews live and don’t go back and change anything, so you can see my Korakuen Hall review of their preview tag from 1st March. The short of it is that these two clearly had good chemistry in those preview tags. In particular, they loved beating the crap out of each other. That is exactly the type of match that Inamura excels in, rather than against Team 2000X.

Early in the match, Inamura was brutalising Kenoh. To counteract this, Kenoh landed a stiff, thudding kick to Inamura’s head. Inamura’s selling on this kick was beautiful. He looked like he was genuinely knocked out, and the crowd chanted for his name. Kenoh tried to Irish whip him and Inamura just collapsed. I was immediately invested in this match. I love Kenoh. He is truly one of the best floor-raisers and ceiling-smashers in the business. He gives everyone their best match. His match with OZAWA is still OZAWA’s career-best match, and it’s not even close for me. But, Inamura totally played his part here, and more. It was the most I’ve ever been interested in Inamura and almost made me change my mind on the future of the GHC Heavyweight Title, convincing me he should continue to hold it for much longer. There were so many sick, stiff, hard-hitting sequences between these two. I can’t even recap them. They made me squeal with happiness, I was giddy, I was excited. That’s quite rare for NOAH nowadays, the last match being AMAKUSA against Hiromu Takahashi two months ago. I honestly don’t understand how Kenoh was standing with Inamura’s elbows. Those were making a crazy sound without the use of worked slaps. After a few submission spots and surviving Kenoh’s diving double foot stomps, Inamura blasted through one of Kenoh’s kicks to deliver a lariat and a DISCHARGE for the win. The match did not maintain its pace from early on, but it was still absolutely excellent.

After the main event, Inamura unfortunately said that he wanted to face someone with WWE experience. KENTA came out. Normally, that means he is challenging. He immediately said that he wasn’t and wanted to introduce everyone to his new White Raven Sqwad teammate with WWE experience. Yoshitatsu came out with Alpha Wolf. Everyone was confused then booed him. KENTA laughed and said it wasn’t Yoshitatsu. They attacked KENTA. Yoshitatsu then said he was the last Japanese man to win at “WrestleMania”, and that he lasted four years on “RAW” while Shinsuke lasted only one (before he went to “Smackdown”, which Yoshitatsu is conveniently ignoring). Anyway, Alpha Wolf would be the next challenger on 12th April in Nagoya, and we don’t know who KENTA’s new teammate is.

After getting injured in the Yokohama Budokan semi-main event in 2025, Mark Trew was back in the exact same spot, although this time it was a singles match against AMAKUSA for the GHC Junior Heavyweight Title rather than a Junior Tag League Final. Trew and Lacey were back to working heel after flip flopping throughout the tour. Just as well, because AMAKUSA is an amazing babyface and sold his ass off for Trew before pinning him with the Kaikoku corkscrew press. There was a Canadian Destroyer in the match that popped the Japanese commentary team so hard that one of the sides of my headphones stopped working and I had to replug it for it to work again. This was a fun match but very much a filler defence for AMAKUSA more on the level of a Korakuen Hall show.

Los Intocables lost their GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title to the winners of the “NOAH Junior Tag League 2026”, Alejandro and Dragon Bane. The best part of this match was just how comfortable Daiki Odashima is in big title matches in big arenas. I cannot believe me and only eight other people voted Daiki Odashima for Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s Rookie of the Year 2025. This match essentially became a Daiki showcase, especially as he almost captured the win on Bane with his “Rolling Olympic Rings Of Hell – Part 0” cradle. That was just one example of many awesome nearfalls in this match, as another was when Daga saved Daiki from the Santa Maria Driver. After a crazy dive to the outside by Alejandro where Daga proved how important catching people is and saved Alejandro’s life, Bane pinned Daiki with the Shooting Star Press which squashed his face. The title change made sense given how good Ale & Bane are, and Los Intocables had a good reign. Daiki should be moving on and working on taking the title away from AMAKUSA. This was Alejandro’s first belt in NOAH after five years. Their first defence is Lykos Gym on 12th April in Nagoya.

Los Tranquilos de Japon continued their pattern of having two of them take on a NOAH team of a veteran and rookie. Let me tell you, this just works and is by far the best benefit of the unit being in NOAH (beyond Naito’s proven drawing ability). This time, RYUSEI and Angel Reyes (who, at 20 and inexperienced, is funnily the veteran in this scenario) faced Hiroto Tsuruya and Naomichi Marufuji. This was a very fun match. Tsuruya clearly felt more comfortable about working stiffer against an outsider rookie in RYUSEI. They maybe can’t go as hard on each other, but if an outsider is coming in, it’s important to work stiff. The outsider gimmick is a Japanese staple given how fanatic Japanese fan culture is. Tsuruya was laying in all his tricks and showing off more of his MMA background. On the other hand, RYUSEI was quite great as he invited Naomichi Marufuji to keep chopping him harder and harder, even shoving the referee away to receive more chops. His chest was like hamburger meat when it was all said and done. He was easily finished off with a resulting headlock.

The junior heavyweights of Team 2000X (Alpha Wolf, Jun Masaoka, Kai Fujimura & Tadasuke) took on their former opponents of the Junior Tag League in Black Menso-re, Eita, Katsumi Inabata & Kieron Lacey. There were some absurd things in this match for the second match on the card. One was a ref bump. I don’t mean in the sense “ref bump = bad”, but it was just totally unnecessary and didn’t even lead to the finish. The second absurd thing was that Wolf decided to shoot headbutt ‘rookie’ Katsumi Inahata before hitting a package piledriver for the win. Also totally unnecessary (but kinda awesome). Later, White Raven Sqwad (HAYATA, KENTA & Tetsuya Endo) and Yuto Koyanagi faced the rest of Team 2000X (Knull, Masa Kitamiya, OZAWA & Takashi Sugiura). I honestly forgot about Knull and also forgot he was part of Team 2000X and have no memory of when that turn happened. Knull destroyed Koyanagi with a Last Ride for the win.

Against Kaito Kiyomiya, Galeno had his last match in NOAH before leaving to WWE Mexico full-time.

In the opener Team NOAH (Atsushi Kotoge, Hajime Ohara & Mohammed Yone) faced Manabu Soya, Midori Takahashi & Shuhei Taniguchi. This was mostly to give Midori some shine as he went toe-to-toe with Mohammed Yone including delivering an open-handed strike. Midori had mentioned Yone as one of his favourites, so Yone said he wanted to be a wall for him.

Full Results

Atsushi Kotoge, Hajime Ohara & Mohammed Yone defeat Manabu Soya, Midori Takahashi & Shuhei Taniguchi (7:31)

Team 2000X (Alpha Wolf, Jun Masaoka, Kai Fujimura & Tadasuke) defeat Black Menso-re, Eita, Katsumi Inahata & Kieron Lacey (6:43)

Hiroto Tsuruya & Naomichi Marufuji defeat Los Tranquilos de Japon (Angel Reyes & RYUSEI) (8:53)

Team 2000X (Knull, Masa Kitamiya, OZAWA & Takashi Sugiura) defeat White Raven Squad (HAYATA, KENTA & Tetsuya Endo) & Yuto Koyonagi (9:10)

Kaito Kiyomiya defeats Galeno (9:35)

GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title:
Alejandro & Dragon Bane defeat Los Intocables (Daga & Daiki Odashima) (c) (17:52)

GHC Junior Heavyweight Title:
AMAKUSA (c) defeats Mark Trew (12:10)

GHC Heavyweight Title:
Yoshiki Inamura (c) defeats Kenoh (21:59)

OZAWA lays down the challenge to Naito - 20th March 2026

20th March 2026
Kobe Sambo Hall, Hyogo, Japan

The main event of Kobe saw Los Tranquilos de Japon (BUSHI & Tetsuya Naito) successfully defend their GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Titles against Manabu Soya and Shuji Kondo, who were wearing matching gear. Naito was, of course, very popular. Given that this was the most obvious filler defence in history, they did quite well with getting the crowd into it and also covering up for Naito, who looked fine. Naito gave Kondo one of the best Destinos he’s hit in a while to retain the titles. This was another solid outing for Naito after his match against Ahura in wXw. After the match, OZAWA made his entrance. The crowd popped as soon as his music hit, which honestly is quite rare in Japan. That told me immediately that the crowd sees OZAWA and Naito as a big deal, which we all knew would happen, but that was instant confirmation. It made it look even more stupid how hard they have tried to cool OZAWA off since his return. They had to give him the Inamura match given how popular he is and then he has done pretty much nothing for two months. It has not been a great follow-up booking-wise for their 2025 star. Of course, Naito has been the real draw behind NOAH’s solid first quarter (financially), but they cannot rely on Naito forever. At least they are doing something with OZAWA. OZAWA cut a promo telling Naito to basically get lost or show respect for the GHC belts. He announced that he would challenge with a member of Team 2000X. The crowd chanted for Yoshitatsu. Yoshitatsu rolled out of the ring to stop the chants. OZAWA then named Jun Masaoka as his partner. While OZAWA was leaving, Naito mistakenly called OZAWA the Tokyo Sports MVP (it was Saya Kamitani). He iterated in interviews after that he genuinely thought it was OZAWA and wasn’t just doing a gimmick.

All Rebellion (Alejandro, Harutoki & Kaito Kiyomiya) took Katsumi Inahata and rookie Hiroto Tsuruya under their wing to take on Team 2000X (Jun Masaoka, Kai Fujimura, Knull, OZAWA & Tadasuke). OZAWA pinned Katsumi with a moonsault. Kai hung his brother over the ropes after the match. Kai’s gimmick still sucks. That is all. Alpha Wolf faced his brother, Dragon Bane, in a six-man tag, with Wolf backed up by the other Team 2000X’s teammates Masa Kitamiya and Takashi Sugiura, and Bane tagging with Kazuyuki Fujita and GHC Heavyweight Champion Yoshiki Inamura. This also served as a GHC Heavyweight Title preview between Wolf and Inamura. Bane and Wolf are awesome. That is all.

White Raven Sqwad (HAYATA, KENTA & Tetsuya Endo) opened the show against Los Intocables (Daga & Daiki Odashima) and Yuto Koyanagi. I have enjoyed pretty much all of the rookie matches since they’ve debuted. It’s quite different when watching the rookies of say, joshi independent promotions, where you can get a real mix of those who are very fresh and those who look polished out of the gate. The three NOAH rookies (Midori Takahashi and Hiroto Tsuruya, no longer including Katsumi in that bunch because it seems redundant) are definitely out of the latter bucket. Koyanagi continues to be my favourite. Not only does he have the type of moves I like seeing like the gutwrench, and is seemingly the most adept grappler out of the trio, but he also has an oddly charming cocky attitude that the other two don’t. Koyanagi kept launching at KENTA who just retaliated with open-handed strikes. Koyanagi went for a dropkick but KENTA caught him and transitioned into a Boston crab for the win.

Midori faced Eita in a singles match. Eita did the Samoa Joe by walking out of the way of Midori’s crossbody which got a good pop. He also lost to a Boston crab after a series of pins, which the crowd loved. After the match in backstage comments, Eita mentioned that Midori still looked frightening when wrestling, and reminded him that the fans didn’t pay to see him look scared.

Meanwhile, the rookie of Los Tranquilos de Japon, RYUSEI, teamed up with stablemate Angel Reyes against Team NOAH (Hajime Ohara & Hi69). Team NOAH were afforded the rare win as Ohara tapped out Reyes. It was not a good outing for Reyes, who mistimed several spots and really stood out like a sore thumb.

AMAKUSA, Black Menso-re & Mohamed Yone faced Atsushi Kotoge, Kenoh & Naomichi Marufuji. There were some fun striking exchanges between Yone and Kotoge. It was a skippable preview for AMAKUSA and Kenoh at Korakuen Hall. AMAKUSA pulled out Jinsei Shinzaki’s ropewalk because there is a Michinoku Pro connection between AMAKUSA and Kenoh.

Wolf and Inamura continue their previews - 21st March 2026

21st March 2026
KBS Hall, Kyoto, Japan

In the main event, Team 2000X (Alpha Wolf, Knull, Masa Kiyamiya & OZAWA) took on Daga, Dragon Bane, Kazuyuki Fujita and GHC Heavyweight Champion Yoshiki Inamura in what was a preview match between Wolf and Inamura. So. They will have a good match. There were some great hard-hitting sequences between these two. Wolf, the lucha guy? Yes, him. He also hits hard. He’s kind of awesome. Inamura may yet again have a great match. If the reign is not exciting narratively, I at least just want great matches, and Inamura mostly provides that. OZAWA pinned Daga with the springboard moonsault.

A full unit of Los Tranquilos de Japon (Angel Reyes, BUSHI, RYUSEI & Tetsuya Naito) faced White Raven Sqwad (HAYATA, KENTA & Tetsuya Endo) and rookie Hiroto Tsuruya. It’s noteworthy that Naito is working the tour stops, too. They only did a crowd of 430 for a totally standard house show (that’s pretty good). These matches involving the Tranquilos unit and one NOAH rookie have been really fun. Well, I think I just get a kick out of the “outsider” gimmick in Japan because it is instant heat. It is a cheat code in Japanese wrestling. There was a funny moment where KENTA feigned an attack on Naito who was on the apron and Naito recoiled. KENTA laughed and mocked Naito for being such a wimp. The crowd laughed, too. BUSHI won with a Boston crab on Hiroto. This was a solid house show match.

Rookie-but-not-rookie Katsumi Inahata faced Kaito Kiyomiya in a singles match. Let’s make it clear, he is very much not a rookie. He does not wrestle like one. The only reason he is in rookie gear is likely to give him a story and build up a connection with fans over the time, so they can see his journey from the bottom. It’s just a bit difficult when he’s this good already but not known at all and also not a product of the NOAH dojo. So the decision to debut him as a rookie makes sense. His brother in DDT, Masami, can get away with coming in immediately because the DDT crowd is simply different. A few comedy matches with Antonio Honda, Kazuki Hirata and Danshoku Dieno and he will be just fine.

Yuto Koyanagi took on ‘The Godfather’ Takashi Sugiura in the opener. Early on in the match, Yuto tried to gutwrench suplex Sugiura. He made it look easy but had to pretend it was difficult. Sugiura blocked it and just stared at Yuto, almost as if to say “Damn, that was pretty good.” We never did get that gutwrench on Sugiura. One day.

OZAWA continues taunting Naito - 22nd March 2026

22nd March 2026
Umeda Sky Building Stella Hall, Osaka, Japan

Team 2000X (Alpha Wolf, Masa Kitamiya & OZAWA) clashed with White Raven Sqwad (HAYATA, KENTA & Tetsuya Endo) in the main event in Osaka. The show was held at the landmark Umeda Sky Building, one of the tallest buildings in Osaka which is popular with tourists for its architecture. They have a cute thing on the roof where not only can you see all of Osaka and a lot of Kansai and nearby cities, but you can lock a cute laser-engraved heart-shaped padlock in a small fenced area overlooking the city. Anyway, OZAWA continued doing Naito taunts during the match, as he had done so in Kyoto. Not only that, but he even hit Destino on Endo. That was building up to the confrontation in Tokyo on 25th March. Wolf has looked very impressive in these matches leading up to his challenge.

Los Tranquilos de Japon faced Team NOAH (Atsushi Kotoge & Hajime Ohara), Hiroto Tsuruya and Kenoh. Hiroto and RYUSEI continued their scramble from the night before. Putting the rookies with RYUSEI is clearly deliberate and a way for him to wrestle with people with his experience, considering Tranquilos don’t have their own dojo. This was another fine tag and exactly what you expect on a house show.

AMAKUSA & Manabu Soya defeated Eita & Midori Takahashi. There was a scary moment where Midori was not on the same page as Soya, who tried to lift him for a vertical suplex, but Midori didn’t rotate so he almost scorpion’d himself on the mat. Luckily it wasn’t that bad and his legs managed to come down fast so it wasn’t a total crescent moon-shape, face-down bump as it first appeared it was going to be.

Tetsuya Naito meets OZAWA in the ring - 25th March 2026

25th March 2026
Shinagawa Stellar Ball, Tokyo, Japan

Los Tranquilos de Japon (BUSHI, RYUSEI & Tetsuya Naito) finally went face to face with Team 2000X (Masa Kitamiya, OZAWA & Takashi Sugiura), specifically OZAWA and Naito who kicked off the match. OZAWA ended up sending Naito crowd bowling; Naito graced the fans with his proximity as he trudged through their belongings finding his way to his feet. That was the most fireworks this match would have, as Kitamiya pinned RYUSEI after a great long-distance diving senton. In the post-match, OZAWA referred to RYUSEI as “the twin older brother of that guy from the new promotion, Yasuda.” He also said that RYUSEI deserved to get fired from New Japan (OZAWA was also fired from New Japan). Meanwhile, Naito spoke about “his personal Pro Wrestling MVP of the year, OZAWA.” It was a reference to Naito’s misspeak in Kobe. Naito said that OZAWA lived up to his reputation. It was quite an uncharacteristic praise of OZAWA from Naito.

In the main event, Alejandro, Daiki Odashima, Daga & Dragon Bane competed in a four-on-four elimination match against Team 2000X (Alpha Wolf, Jun Masaoka, Kai Fujimura & Tadasuke). Daga was the first eliminated with the use of a weapon. Wolf accidentally knocked Masaoka off the apron. Brothers Bane and Wolf eliminated each other. Kai then eliminated his own brother, Alejandro, which caused a bunch of the crowd to shriek, since he’s quite over. Daiki eliminated Tadasuke with the Rolling Olympic Rings of Hell – Part 0, which left Kai and Daiki. Kai started strangling Daiki with his t-shirt while making off-putting orgasm sounds. Apart from the sexual outbursts, Kai’s wrestling was good and there were nailbiting nearfalls as they fought to the finish. Kai won with his new finisher, Death Hunger, that he’s protecting quite strongly, as it has never been kicked out of. Kai mocked his brother after the match, so Ale challenged him to a match at Korakuen Hall. Kai just did a dorky laugh. Tadasuke took the mic. One of the best things Tadasuke has done in a while.

Backstage after Kiyomiya’s match earlier in the show, he was discussing with Harutoki about Alejandro possibly leaving All Rebellion. Supposedly, Alejandro has been posting on social media about making a new unit, I assume with Daiki Odashima, Daga and his tag partner Bane. But it also seemed like Daga might be heading off again for a while as he wanted to teach Daiki “the last lesson” in a singles match at Korakuen Hall.

Hiroto Tsuruya and Yuto Koyanagi had a rookie showdown, as they were accompanied by AMAKUSA & Mohammed Yone and Kenoh & Naomichi Marufuji respectively. Since I love watching rookies, I enjoyed this match a lot. It was also good to see Yuto get some comeuppance as he has been booked slightly differently to Midori and Hiroto, so Hiroto getting the chance to wrestle him was super fun. AMAKUSA and Kenoh also briefly fought before their singles match at Korakuen Hall.

Katsumi Inahata had his best performance yet against GHC Heavyweight Champion Yoshiki Inamura in a singles match. Inamura’s chest was left bruised and purple from chops. This match was not a surprise at all considering what we have seen from him already, but here he was given enough time, and the right opponent, to shine. He refused Inamura’s handshake after the bell out of frustration.

Korakuen Previews - 27th March 2026

27th March 2026
Shinjuku FACE, Tokyo, Japan

In the main event of a Shinjuku FACE show that served as previews up and down the board for Korakuen Hall days later, Alpha Wolf and Masa Kitamiya faced GHC Heavyweight Champion Yoshiki Inamura and Dragon Bane. I feel like the longer the Inamura reign goes on, the more I am getting into it. Inamura has rarely had a bad preview tag. He works hard and meshes well with most of his opponents not named OZAWA. Even the Kitamiya match was great, they just missed the peak and it had layout issues. The Golpeadores brothers have excellent chemistry; it was unfortunate that their singles match on New Year’s was tainted by the big angle they did (that ultimately was clearly successful). So all in all, this was a pretty great preview tag. There was an interference finish but, well, it’s wrestling. Bane is really over so screwing him over isn’t actually a terrible thing. It works with these crowds. He will get big wins in the future.

Rookie Hiroto Tsuruya had the privilege of facing Kazuyuki Fujita in a singles match. He had the smart idea of slapping Fujita around the face, pretty hard. Fujita’s neck and face was actually red from the slaps. Fujita of course returned fire, which got the crowd on Tsuruya’s side. After submitting him with a Boston crab, Fujita showed respect to the rookie. Tsuruya has an MMA background with his brother being a well known MMA fighter, so I imagine this was a cool moment for him either way.

Elsewhere on the card were previews for two special singles matches at Korakuen. First, Kenoh and Naomichi Marufuji faced AMAKUSA and Katsumi Inahata ahead of AMAKUSA and Kenoh’s clash. Katsumi is actually starting to get over faster than expected, with several calls for Katsumi during this match as he went toe to toe with Naomichi in chop battles. AMAKUSA and Kenoh were fired up, so we already knew their match was going to be good. Earlier in the night, Daga and Yuto Koyanagi had beaten Daiki Odashima and Midori Takahashi, which was a good opener. The undercards of the smaller shows have improved since the addition of the rookies, which, to be honest, is not always the case.

Kai Fujimura hung Alejandro over the rope and was disqualified in their tag match.

Daga waves goodbye at Korakuen - 1st April 2026

1st April 2026
Company Announced Attendance: 1,012
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan

In the main event, Alpha Wolf and Yoshiki Inamura met once again ahead of their fight for the GHC Heavyweight Title held by Inamura. The unit-less Inamura chose Kazuyuki Fujita as his partner while Wolf looked inwards in Team 2000X for his partner in Masa Kitamiya. Fujita and Kitamiya reignited their rivalry with some fun German suplex sequences. As a reminder, Fujita was the catalyst for Kitamiya’s heel turn, which happened after yet another loss to Fujita. But most importantly, Alpha and Inamura were awesome once again. I find it impossible that the match will be bad. It will, at the very least, be awesome. The lariats these two traded were sickening, as were the bumps they were taking for each other. Wolf pinned Inamura to give him some momentum heading into Nagoya. After the match, Yoshitatsu said that he had spoken to Hunter (but pulled out his phone to show him listed as HHH since that is his more familiar name in Japan). If Wolf won the title, he would be signed to WWE immediately and the title would be a property of WWE’s. The crowd obviously booed this.

In his final NOAH appearance for the time being, Daga taught Daiki Odashima “the last lesson”. Daga had taken Daiki under his wing at the N-1 Finals last year, leading to their great GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title run, establishing Daiki as one of the shining stars of the division, and in NOAH generally. It was one of the most successful face turns in NOAH recently and a great piece of booking. Daga won the singles bout with the Northern Lights Bomb. It was a match that continued to showcase how popular Daiki is, with loud calls for him throughout the match.

Los Tranquilos de Japon (Angel Reyes, BUSHI, RYUSEI & Tetsuya Naito) and Team 2000X (Jun Masaoka, OZAWA, Tadasuke & Takashi Sugiura). The dynamic played out where Tranquilos were the heels, with Naito pulling out the referee from the ring on a count before his whole unit rushed OZAWA to a chorus of boos. OZAWA then hit Destino on RYUSEI for the win right in front of Naito. He nailed it, too. After the match, OZAWA taunted Naito and BUSHI for still being in wrestling for the money, and that’s why Naito mistakenly called OZAWA last year’s Tokyo Sports MVP (it was Saya Kamitani). Backstage, Naito said that some people might be thinking that Tranquilos had lost some momentum given the empty seats, but it was Kaito Kiyomiya, Inamura and OZAWA that should shoulder the blame. This echoed his comments in Shupro #2404.

AMAKUSA and Kenoh locked horns in a special singles match, with their feud referencing their shared past in Michinoku Pro. Kenoh set the tone early with a stiff kick to AMAKUSA’s throat. Clearly, this was a great match. There was no way it was not going to be a good match. They hit each other hard and they had the crowd with them the whole way. The match was shorter than expected with Kenoh tapping out AMAKUSA with the Kenoh Special in just over 10 minutes.

Brothers Alejandro and Kai Fujimura continued their feud, heading into its third month. There have been slower feuds. At one point Kai strangled Alejandro with his shirt right in front of the referee, so I am guessing this was a no-disqualification match. Later, he ran at Alejandro but Alejandro moved out of the way so Kai bumped the ref out of the ring, allowing Tadasuke to beat up Alejandro. Unless the referee is blind, which I am sure he isn’t, that was strike two. This may sound nitpicky, but I just really hate Kai Fujimura’s gimmick. Sometimes you just have a wrestler where you will find absolutely everything wrong with their matches despite it not really mattering. Kai Fujimura’s new gimmick is that for me. Kai strangled Alejandro with his rope and then hit his protected finisher, Death Hunger, for the win. The referee, suffering from a bout of amnesia, got back into the ring to make the three-count. After the match, Tadasuke remarked that because of Ale and Bane’s style of wrestling, the entire orange section had gone off to an Arashi concert (referring to the empty orange seats at Korakuen Hall, Arashi is a J-pop band who are doing their final tour and were in the Tokyo Dome next door at the same time).

Dragon Bane, Eita, Naomichi Marufuji & Yuto Koyanagi faced Harutoki, Hiroto Tsuruya, Kaito Kiyomiya & Midori Takahashi. I just really hope that they don’t keep Yuto locked away in the junior division. He’s 1.73m, 81kg, which is probably just on the cusp of someone able to be a heavyweight in NOAH. He would be a small heavyweight. But he can do so much more than just be a junior. Midori hit a great looking under-arm suplex before Bane retaliated with the Twister Bane (shooting star press) for the win.

White Raven Sqwad (HAYATA & Tetsuya Endo) took Katsumi Inahata under their wing for a six-man tag against Team NOAH (Atsushi Kotoge, Hi69 & Hajime Ohara). Backstage, Endo kept getting confused between Katsumi and his brother, Masami, who left JTO with Katsumi but went on to join DDT instead. Endo, a DDT-contracted wrestler himself, asked Katsumi if he saw Katsumi the day prior. Katsumi responded that he had been training with Inamura on that day. Endo said he must’ve seen Masami then, and then and teamed with Katsumi on this show. Katsumi confirmed that and asked Endo to remember going forward.

Rookie Hiroto Tsuruya main events against Inamura - 4th April 2026

4th April 2026
Tokyo Tama Future Messe, Tokyo, Japan

A week after Katsumi Inahata had a singles match with GHC Heavyweight Champion Yoshiki Inamura, Hiroto Tsuruya found himself in the same position, with a twist. This was the main event, a very unusual situation for a rookie to be in and perhaps a sign of what the company thinks of him. The match didn’t leave much of an impression on me as the Katsumi Inahara singles match the other day. Tsuruya sold well. It was good, but not memorable. A curious choice for a main event.

Team 2000X (Alpha Wolf, Jun Masaoka, Kai Fujimura & Masa Kitamiya) took on Los Tranquilos de Japón (Angel Reyes, BUSHI, RYUSEI & Tetsuya Naito). I’m not going to lie. I saw Tranquilos working over Kai Fujimura as if he is meant to be a sympathetic babyface and I skipped past. That is insanity of the highest order. And there were definitely calls from the crowd for Kai. I just personally do not want to see that. Ever.

OZAWA faced rookie Midori Takahashi. This was exactly what you expected. OZAWA trying to make a mockery out of Midori, doing the Samoa Joe walk-away on a flying crossbody, pretending that he was close to tapping on a submission, hugging the referee to break out of said submission, pretending to fire up like a rookie; you know, the usual. Midori hit a great Fisherman’s suplex for a nearfall before OZAWA pleaded for his life. OZAWA then hit a cracking tornado kick, licked him, then hit the Big Ben Edge for the win.

After intermission, it was Yuto Koyanagi’s turn to face a senior member of the NOAH roster in Kaito Kiyomiya. The craziest part of this match was Koyanagi launching Kaito with a German suplex, with Kaito over-rotating to the point he took a nasty head bump. But the crowd was loud for Koyanagi throughout this.

The only reason I caught up with Daiki Odashima and Manabu Soya against White Raven Sqwad (HAYATA & Tetsuya Endo) on the undercard was to see Daiki and Endo against each other, and it didn’t disappoint. They have a really good chemistry, and it was even more fun as the crowd were calling for both since they are the two of the most over people on the roster. Endo pinned Daiki with the Burning Star Press.

Another Naito and OZAWA meeting - 5th April 2026

5th April 2026
Fujisan Messe, Shizuoka, Japan

Los Tranquilos de Japon (Angel Reyes, BUSHI, RYUSEI & Tetsuya Naito) once again met with Team 2000X in the main event (Jun Masaoka, Knull, Masa Kitamiya & OZAWA). You can tell that Naito is having a lot of fun in this program with OZAWA. The crowd began the match chanting Naito’s name, so OZAWA started breakdancing to the rhythm of the chants. Once the chants died down, Naito got a clap going again because he wanted OZAWA to do a spinaroonie. OZAWA did not comply. Naito looked energised in his sequences with OZAWA, turning back the clock with a cracking enzuigiri to OZAWA’s head. Things looked promising heading into the Nagoya show on 12th April.

Yoshiki Inamura and Dragon Bane once again attempted to beat the crap out of each other. Watching this it finally clicked that these preview tags reminded me of Miku Aono and Utami Hayashishita in Marigold, who consistently destroy each other in preview tags with hellish lariats. It’s great.

It’s easy to forget sometimes just how big Hiroto Tsuruya is until you see him wrestle junior heavyweights, and boy did he look massive wrestling one of his trainers, Daiki Odashima. Of course, Daiki chose to light him up with some deadly chops and show that he was still Tsuruya’s senpai, no matter what. To drive the point home, he tapped him out with a head-and-arm choke.

Tsuruya’s classmate Midori Takahashi, not to be shown up, had one of his best performances in his early career on this show, against Kaito Kiyomiya in a singles match. Midori’s chain wrestling had a snap to it and he hit multiple great dropkicks on Kaito, including one where Kaito was mid-air going for his Skywalker Elbow.

“APEX CONQUEST in NAGOYA”

12th April 2026
Company Announced Attendance: 1,280
Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena, Aichi, Japan
Recommended Match: Alpha Wolf vs. Yoshiki Inamura
Designation: Key Show

NOAH held their third big show of the year, following New Year at Nippon Budokan and “APEX CONQUEST” last month at Yokohama Budokan. This was a show marked by two stories. The first is the elevation of Los Golpeadores, which has been excellent booking by NOAH that has gone completely under the radar. Los Golpeadores (brothers Alpha Wolf & Dragon Bane) broke up in January when Wolf turned on Bane in a controversial heel turn that has proved to pay dividends for both brothers. Aside from OZAWA, they were pretty much the best thing in NOAH in 2025, delivering consistent performances with one of the best matches in NOAH in 2025 coming from them defending their GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title in a random house show. NOAH decided to pull the trigger at the start of the year and give both of them major storylines, as well as titles. Now both brothers sit in prominent positions on a major show. In the main event the GHC National Champion Alpha Wolf attempted to take the top title in NOAH from Yoshiki Inamura but was unsuccessful. Wolf and Inamura had been beating lumps out of each other in the preview tag, so I was expecting a similarly straight-forward, hard-hitting main event and they largely delivered on that as they chopped the hell out of each other early on. The most notable thing for me, though, was not the hard-hits which I was expecting, it was Inamura’s selling of the fatigue of the stiff strikes combined with Team 2000X’s interference. The man at the top of the mountain with no unit to help him. Inamura has played that role almost to perfection. Inamura was also brutal, giving Wolf a shoot headbutt opening up a cut on his forehead. Wolf spat at Inamura during a strike exchange, so Inamura just responded with a slap around the face, a thunderous Muso Slam and DISCHARGE for the win. With each defence that goes on, Inamura keeps getting better and better.

After the match, former TMDK member Shane Haste was revealed as the person with WWE experience that Inamura wanted to face. It was teased on the 8th March show. He’s also a member of White Raven Sqwad now. Awesome. I’ll leave it as a challenge to you to decide whether that’s sarcasm or not, based on how much of the rest of this page you actually read.

Earlier in the show, Wolf’s brother, Bane, defended his GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title with Alejandro against Kid Lykos Gym (Kid Lykos I & Kid Lykos II). While there was less than zero chance of a title change which meant there was little at stake, it was a pretty fun spotfest. The most important part was that Bane remained very over with the audience, with the crowd constantly calling his name during the match, and also that Bane won the match with the Santa Maria driver. After the match, Bane called out AMAKUSA for the GHC Junior Heavyweight Title. Weirdly, AMAKUSA’s music immediately started playing. Normally when these types of challenges happen the champion just walks out to no music. The match is set for Sumo Hall on 2nd May.

The other story underpinning this show was the showdown between Tetsuya Naito and OZAWA, manifested in a match for the GHC Tag Team Title that OZAWA and Jun Masaoka were tried to wrest from BUSHI & Naito. Naito has spoken glowingly about OZAWA, even mistakenly calling him the Tokyo Sports MVP of 2025 (that honour goes to STARDOM’s Saya Kamitani). For Naito, this was the type of match-up he was looking for when deciding to work in NOAH, and he himself has spoken about how the more he wrestles in NOAH, the less he wants to wrestle elsewhere. This was the most heated match on the card and had been built well (see our previous show reports). Naito has been bringing in A-game in this feud (okay, C-feud compared to peak Naito but you get the point), as he even pulled out a great looking Frankensteiner and a tornado DDT that did not look terrible. You know how people say tag teams are to hide Naito, well most of this match was just OZAWA and Naito having a singles match and it was pretty good. I’m unsure if the botched was finished or intended. Naito teased Destino but it turned into a roll-up after BUSHI misted OZAWA in the face. I could buy it being intentional because they immediately set up the Sumo Hall singles match in the post-match, so why give away the Destino on a set-up match?

Teaming alongside Kaito Kiyomiya, Harutoki got the most shine he has gotten since joining NOAH in a tag match against Team 2000X (Masa Kitamiya & Takashi Sugiura). He was the focus of the match and almost secured a pinfall on Kitamiya but Kitamiya prevented the referee from counting to three and then pushed the referee for a ref bump. It wasn’t a DQ. Later, Kitamiya tapped Harutoki out with the Strangehold Gamma. After the match, Kitamiya announced the disbandment of All Rebellion (Alejandro, Kaito and Harutoki). Given Kitamiya is a heel and it’s not his unit, this is just to put more pressure on Kaito and give him something to do.

Katsumi Inahata once again looked fantastic in a six-man tag with HAYATA and Tetsuya Endo against AMAKUSA, Kenoh & Naomichi Marufuji. AMAKUSA won with a Kaikoku that almost took Inahata’s head off.

On the undercard, Los Tranquilos de Japón rookie RYUSEI tapped out NOAH’s rookie Hiroto Tsuruya. It’s noteworthy as Tsuruya was given a main event against GHC Heavyweight Champion Yoshiki Inamura on a house show, earmarking him as someone they believe in. The next step appears to be inserted into the NOAH rivalry against Los Tranquilos de Japon.

Full Results

Daiki Odashima, Hajime Ohara & Midori Takahashi defeat Black Menso-re, Manabu Soya & Yuto Koyanagi (7:55)

Los Tranquilos de Japon (Angel Reyes & RYUSEI) defeat Eita & Hiroto Tsuruya (4:45)

Team 2000X (Kai Fujimura, Knull & Tadasuke) defeat Atsushi Kotoge, Hi69 & Mohammed Yone (3:22)

AMAKUSA, Kenoh & Naomichi Marufuji defeat Katsumi Inahata & White Raven Squad (HAYATA & Tetsuya Endo) (6:43)

Team 2000X (Masa Kitamiya & Takashi Sugiura) defeat All Rebellion (Harutoki & Kaito Kiyomiya) (12:06)

GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title:
Alejandro & Dragon Bane (c) defeat Lykos Gym (Kid Lykos & Kid Lykos II) (12:39)

GHC Tag Team Title:
Los Tranquilos de Japon (BUSHI & Tetsuya Naito) (c) defeat Team 2000X (Jun Masaoka & OZAWA) (19:03)

GHC Heavyweight Title:
Yoshiki Inamura (c) defeats Alpha Wolf (22:53)

Universe Magic

The Universe Magic Cup kicked off on 9th March which involved competitors from the promotions that air on Wrestle Universe, namely NOAH, DDT, Michinoku Pro, BASARA, ZERO1 (doesn’t really air anymore but hey), Ganbare Pro and Uptown. TJPW will be added into the mix from 6th April. NOSAWA provided an interview to Shupro #2400 where he mentioned that his goal was to increase the reach of Wrestle Universe and wanted to repeat the tournament every two to three years. He wants more promotions to join Wrestle Universe so that the field of the tournament can expand.

Universe Magic 1st Round - 9th March 2026 (*)

Universe Magic 1st Round
9th March 2026
Shinjuku FACE, Tokyo, Japan
Recommended Match: Mayu Iwatani, Mika Iwata & Mio Momono vs. Miyuki Takase, Utami Hayashishita & Takumi Iroha

In the first tournament match-up, Great Mummy faced DDT’s Sanshiro Takagi. NOSAWA mentioned in the same Shupro interview that the bloodline of Great Mummy is different from that of Mecha Mummy, and since it’s Monday Magic, it’s the Reiwa-era Mummy. He finished by saying “This is a matchup you just want to see, don’t you?” I missed this match and didn’t go back to watch it. Takagi won and advanced to the next round.

Kuroshio TOKYO Japan (Jiro) is a hit and miss wrestler. His first round bout with Naomichi Marufuji was mostly a hit with me. Marufuji’s signature chops were destroying him and sold them by going cross-eyed which was quite funny. He then had the great idea of wearing his famous jacket the other way around to cover his chest, so Marufuji just chopped his back. They just had a really fun dynamic.

Great Sasuke defeated Isami Kodaka to advance to the semi-finals. It wasn’t great.

Finally, in the main event, ZERO1’s Hayabusa (the new one that debuted in 2025) faced Ganbare Pro’s Yumehito Imanari. Both are great workers, so of course, this was a great match. There was a crazy springboard moonsault from Hayabusa early on where he landed in the chairs after Imanari moved out of the way. After Imanari used his cunning tactics to keep Hayabusa down, Hayabusa fought back with another tope con giro, landing on his ass. The match was paced well and peaked at the right time with some hard-hitting striking exchanges ending with Hayabusa hitting the Firebird splash for the win. He will face Marufuji in the next round, which the crowd was excited for.

Outside of the tournament, Miyuki Takase, Utami Hayashishita and Takumi Iroha took on Mayu Iwatani, Mika Iwata & Mio Momono. To those not familiar, this is an insane grouping of people. They already advertised that the teams would be Sendai Girls, Marigold and Marvelous against Sendai Girls, Marigold and Marvelous if you were wondering why the pairings were so weird. This match was obviously 1) great and 2) a time-limit draw. It is impossible for this group of wrestlers to have a bad match. It was not the MOTYC-level match the Marigold-Marvelous tag was on a previous eason of Monday Magic but that had a lot of in-built storylines elevating it. This was just a good time. Utami and Mika, who were interacting for the first time ever in a match, spent a lot of time wrestling each other up to the time-limit draw.

One of Uptown’s new intakes, Nobuhiko Kimura, and ZERO1’s Yuki Toki lost to Ganbare Pro’s rookie Sentaro Motoshima and BASARA’s Takeru Inoue.

Universe Magic 2nd Round - 6th April 2026 (*)

Universe Magic 2nd Round
6th April 2026
Shinjuku FACE, Tokyo, Japan
Recommended Match: Women’s Battle Royal (if familiar with the characters)

The Universe Cup concluded a month later with the semi-final bouts being set as Hayabusa against Naomichi Marufuji and Sanshiro Takagi against The Great Sasuke. In the first semi-final bout, ZERO1’s talisman was almost dropped on his head early on in the match outside the ring. Luckily, he seemed fine. Hayabusa scored a great counter on Marufuji’s Sliced Bread but failed to follow up as he missed the Firebird splash finisher. Marufuji won the political battle and submitted Hayabusa with a guillotine choke to advance to the final. That was the best of the semi-finals and a pretty good match. In the other, Sasuke spent a lot of time doing his usual gestures and summoning air balls to throw at Takagi, which annoyed Takagi. Many, many minutes later, Sasuke took an apron bump which looked nasty, especially for someone of his age. They tried running at each other with lariats on the Shinjuku FACE counter but Takagi’s power knocked Sasuke off the counter, which was another nasty bump. Takagi summoned his own invisible air ball as revenge and threw it at Sasuke before landing a stunner for the win.

The finals was a showdown between the representatives in the back office for NOAH and DDT in Naomichi Marufuji and Sanshiro Takagi respectively. This was a classic Sanshiro match full of his style of comedy as he got the crowd on his side and played the ultimate underdog. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough Naomichi Marufuji was crowned the inaugural winner of the prestigious Universe Magic Cup. Marufuji submitted Sanshiro with a guillotine choke. Sanshiro’s nose was bleeding after and he looked to be in rough shape, so maybe Marufuji locked it in a bit too tight. It was confirmed the next day that Takagi had suffered a medial orbital wall fracture and a nasal bone fracture.

The show also had a battle royal involving Wrestle Universe affiliated joshi wrestlers, with Manami (Sendai Girls), YUNA (Sendai Girls), YuuRI (GanPro), Great Sakuya (Monday Magic), Megaton (Marigold), Seri Yamaoka (Marigold), Sora Ayame (Marvelous), Senka Akatsuki (Marvelous), Momoka Hanazono (Uptown) and Yuuki Mashiro (ZERO1). The match started with Senka and Seri continuing their fiery rivalry, one of the best in wrestling. Seri showed that she had the advantage on the mat, before YUNA arrived. The three youngsters brawled before Momoka entered and then they turned their efforts on her. When Sora entered the match later she went wild with her signature shin kicks before being stopped by Seri and YUNA. Sora was just blasting Seri’s shin in the corner while Manami was making her entrance. Imagine the scenes if Sora shoot injured Seri in a random battle royal, because Sora does go hard with those kicks. One time, Takumi showed her bruised shin after a match with Sora. The last entrant was Megaton. She was immediately eliminated by everyone. Business picked up again when it was Senka and Seri who traded stiff slaps. Senka eliminated Seri with her axebomber lariat. Momoka and Senka did Momoka’s signature crying spot which always pops me. Senka apologised for making her cry, but then Senka started crying after a move and Momoka just superkicked her in the face. That actually bloodied Senka’s mouth. Senka replied with an axebomber and was going for her frog splash finisher but Momoka got up and met her up there and then kissed her. Senka then delivered another axebomber on the apron to Momoka to eliminate her. The match ended with a mini-singles bout between Senka and YUNA, with YUNA winning by knocking Senka off the apron with a dropkick. Honestly, this match was awesome for highlighting Senka and allowing her to do more variety and in general it was very well laid out, highlighted each character’s gimmick well and booked the interactions between the characters perfectly.

Miyu Yamashita faced Shino Suzuki in a TJPW showcase match. They had a singles match at Korakuen Hall last year which appeared to light a fire within Shino as, pretty much since that bout, Shino has been one of the standouts on the TJPW undercard. This wasn’t as good as that match, which was short and effective, but it was still pretty good. Miyu killed Shino with a skull kick out of nowhere.

Great Mummy, Isami Kodaka (BASARA), Taro Nohashi (MichiPro) and Masato Tanaka (ZERO1) took on Kaito Kiyomiya (NOAH), Kuroshio TOKYO Japan (Uptown), Takeshi Masada (DDT) and Yumehito Imanari (GanPro) in an eight-man tag. This was a fun party match.

Watch on Wrestle Universe

Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling

Bitesize Round-up

“Grand Princess ’26” shattered TJPW’s all-time attendance record, drawing 3,089 fans to Ryogoku Kokugikan and surpassing their previous domestic record of 2,349. The promotion did so while staying entirely true to its identity, which made the achievement all the more poignant. The main event saw Yuki Arai dethrone Miu Watanabe for the Princess of Princess Title in a match that delivered on the extensive build constructed across six weeks of preview tags. The selling from Miu was immaculate throughout, most notably during the Yuki’s Scorpion Deathlock, the same hold Miu had tapped to in their 15th March preview tag. The post-match was a fittingly emotional close, with Yuki in tears and Miu’s exit through a crowd chanting her name providing one of those moments that reminds you why professional wrestling can be so affecting.

The match of the night, however, belonged to Arisu Endo and Miyu Yamashita against Spark Rush, the team of Sareee and Takumi Iroha, with Iroha stepping in as a replacement for Lei Ying Lee after Lee was pulled for a TNA commitment. The layout was textbook tag wrestling executed to perfection, built around the heat on Arisu before Miyu’s eventual hot tag. Every wrestler served their role flawlessly, from Takumi dismissing Arisu entirely in their early exchange only to eat dirt soon after, to the Miyu and Takumi striking sequence, which felt like two of the best kickers in the world finally getting to share a ring together, to Sareee showing Arisu a taste of the independent scene. It was a perfect tag team match and another notch in Spark Rush’s Tag Team of the Year discussion.

TJPW will hold a show in Las Vegas, USA at the Pearl Theater inside the Palms Casino Resort on Thursday 16th April at 11am local time. This is the same venue that TJPW ran last year during “WrestleMania Weekend”.

Following last year’s success, “LOVE & PEACE”, presented by Malaysian idol group KLP48, DDT, and TJPW, was scheduled to return to Malaysia. The event was scheduled to be held over two days, 9th and 10th May, at Geo Space Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia. Unfortunately, the tour has been postponed, with the announcement citing unspecified “changes in the international situation” as having created unforeseen obstacles around local procedures and preparation that are difficult for the organisers to predict. A rescheduled date will be announced in the near future.

Momo Sato, 15, made an appearance at the start of the 7th March Shin-Kiba show with Sanshiro Takagi. She will make her debut at “Grand Princess ‘26”. She is Daichi Satoh’s younger sister. Daichi, 17, is one of the best young wrestlers in DDT and came from HEAT Up, the same dojo Momo has been practising at. Don’t ask why the two promotions spell the sibling’s surnames differently. Momo debuted at “Grand Princess ‘26” and joined the company as a trainee thereafter.

Kaya Toribami has been repackaged as Sakura Hattori, following a storyline in which she discovered a mysterious mask at a shrine in Iga, recalled her “true self,” and trained under ninjutsu instructor Gen’ichi Mitsuhashi of the Mie Ubusuna Martial Arts Dojo. She debuted at TJPW’s Austin show on 17th March, picking up three wins over Shino Suzuki, Hyper Misao, and Uta Takami, the latter via a new reverse dragon sleeper submission. The building blocks are clearly there, with some great offence and counters, but the execution still needs calibration. The ninja gestures came in a bit heavy and some of her offense, most notably a diving forearm that requires a lengthy wait on the turnbuckle are a bit too immersion-breaking. With some fine tuning, though, there is a lot to look forward to. She will challenge Suzume for her International Title in Las Vegas.

Recommended Matches This Issue

These are in order of personal preference rather than chronological.

Arisu Endo & Miyu Yamashita vs. Sareee & Takumi Iroha – 29th March at Ryogoku Kokugikan (My TJPW #2 MOTY)
Miu Watanabe vs. Yuki Arai – 29th March at Ryogoku Kokugikan (My TJPW #3 MOTY)
Arisu Endo, Shino Suzuki & Yuki Arai vs. Haru Kazashiro, Miu Watanabe & Yuki Aino – 28th February at Aioi Hall
Miyu Yamashita vs. Shoko Nakajima – 18th March at Palmer Events Center
HIMAWARI, Shino Suzuki & Yuki Arai vs. Miu Watanabe, Toga & Uta Takami – 7th March at Shin-Kiba 1st RING
Miu Watanabe & Miyu Yamashita vs. Shoko Nakajima & Yuki Arai – 21st March at College Park Center
MIRAI vs. Suzume – 29th March at Ryogoku Kokugikan
Arisu Endo & Miyu Yamashita vs. Mizuki & Yuki Aino – 17th March at Palmer Events Center

“Grand Princess ‘26″ Previews

Yuki Arai surprises Miu Watanabe (Round 1) - 14th February 2026 (*)

(Note: this was already covered in the last issue but I’m reposting the Miu & Yuki review so you can read the series in full)

14th February 2026
Company Announced Attendance: 732
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Recommended Match: Mifu Ashida & Yuki Arai vs. Miu Watanabe & Rika Tatsumi

Daydream (Miu Watanabe & Rika Tatsumi) took on Kyoto Tag Team (unofficial name) (Mifu Ashida & Yuki Arai) in a preview match of the Princess of Princess Title match at Ryogoku Kokugikan on 29th March. This preview reinforced to me that if Yuki Arai is going to have the best Princess of Princess Title match in her career, then it needs to be with Miu Watanabe. They were great together in this match as Miu really brought out the best in Yuki, in particular, letting her sell Miu’s believable offence. Selling is something Yuki does well. Miu struck Yuki with a deadly chop to the upper chest/throat, and Yuki sold it as if she had died. The spot of the match came where Arai, looking slightly unhinged, slammed Miu from the apron to outside the ring with a full nelson slam. Miu’s selling for the remainder of the match was “best in the world”-type selling. I write a lot about how I believe Miu to be one of the best wrestlers in the world, and yet I still think she is underrated.

I was totally immersed in this match from the second she took that bump until the end of the match. That is what selling is. It was an incredible performance. There were moments where she couldn’t walk properly because of her back and she moved in such a believable way that someone with a back injury might walk. She momentarily, through a feat of strength, was able to lift Mifu for a Teardrop to win the match. Incredible performance. I am now looking way more forward to the Arai match than I was before. That’s called a successful preview, folks.

MIRAI and Suzume re-unite in the ring - 21st February 2026

21st February 2026
Kobe Art Center, Hyogo, Japan

In what is likely the last time this particular Kobe venue will be used, hometown hero Mizuki and her tag partner Uta Takami took on Miu Watanabe and Shino Suzuki in the main event. It was a fun main event, although I felt that the politer, quieter TJPW audience did affect the homecoming. Backstage, Mizuki said that her first homecoming was at this venue so she was happy she could team with Uta, although they are not sure when they will return to Kobe.

International Princess Champion MIRAI teamed up with the recent challenger that she overcame at Korakuen Hall, Toga, to face Daisy Monkey (Arisu Endo & Suzume). Not only was this a preview of Suzume’s International Princess Title challenge, but it was also Suzume and MIRAI’s first time meeting since 4th September 2021, and their last time until “Grand Princess ‘26” on 29th March. This was a great preview tag in which Suzume was the main star, going toe-to-toe with both MIRAI and Toga at different points. It is really hard to see Suzume stay away from the Princess of Princess Title for too long. After beating Toga with Ring A Bell, Suzume said that she intended on beating MIRAI and then allowing Arisu to be her first challenge.

K!SS Kick Slash (Miyu Yamashita & Kaya Toribami) were off the show as they were in Thailand defending their SETUP IWA Japan SETUP World Tag Team Title.

Miu Watanabe and Yuki Arai meet once again (Round 2) - 22nd February 2026

22nd February 2026
Okayama Mirai Hall, Okayama, Japan

In Okayama, hometown girl Yuki Aino teamed with her regular tag partner Haru Kazashiro and Shoko Nakajima against Arisu Endo, Mizuki and Uta Takami. Nakajima has a lot of family and friends in Okayama, while Haru said she considers it as a third home away from where she lives and where she was born. Aino pinned Takami with the UBV finisher. Aino’s sister and former TJPW wrestler Nodoka Tenma opened the show as she was promoting Gaisen Sakura Pro-Wrestling’s show on 11th April. It is a promotion she runs with her husband BASARA wrestler Ryuichi Sekine. On that show they will have a lot of TJPW wrestlers participating, as well as Aja Kong. There will be three TJPW matches and three BASARA matches.

In the semi-main event, the Princess of Princess Champion Miu Watanabe teamed up with Rika Tatsumi and Kira Summer to take on her “Grand Princess ‘26” opponent Yuki Arai as well as Toga and Mifu Ashida. After an astonishing preview tag at Korakuen Hall on 14th February, Miu and Yuki continued their build to the big show. Yuki is displaying her most unhinged, psychotic side of her in this feud, as she tapped out Kira Summer with a scorpion deathlock while staring right into Miu’s soul and screaming. This has been the most compelling that Yuki has ever been and Miu deserves a lot of credit for bringing this side out of Miu ahead of their first-ever singles match against each other.

These Miu and Yuki previews are too good (Round 3) - 28th February 2026 (*)

28th February 2026
Kariya Industrial Promotion Center Aioi Hall, Aichi, Japan
Recommended Match: Arisu Endo, Shino Suzuki & Yuki Arai vs. Haru Kazashiro, Miu Watanabe & Yuki Aino

TJPW touched down in Aichi for their first ever show in Kariya City. This is a venue that saw a lot of football in a short period of time as STARDOM, Marvelous and Sendai Girls all held shows at the venue in March. In the main event, Arisu Endo, Shino Suzuki and Yuki Arai faced Prism Greed (Haru Kazashiro & Yuki Aino) and Princess of Princess Champion Miu Watanabe. This was another instalment in Miu and Yuki’s excellent preview matches. This one was just below the Korakuen Hall one, but still absolutely amazing. In particular, we finally got to see Miuderella in her final form. This was probably the most heelish Miu has ever been, as she bullied Yuki Arai relentlessly, in liontamers, giant swings, several aggressive elbows to the back and more. She wanted to send Arai a message, one for hurting her own back at Korakuen Hall, but two, because Miu wanted to find out the extent of Arai’s grit. How far was Yuki Arai willing to go? This was something Miu has been planting in backstage comments during their previews. In this case, Yuki Arai went as far as a brutal Canadian backbreaker before having to verbally submit. Uta Takami came in to check on Yuki Arai and Miu just shoved her out of the way and then shoved her title in Yuki Arai’s face. This is all very deliberate from Miu leading back to when she started debuting this more dark “Princess of Princess” character named Miuderella when she was challenging Mizuki for the title at “Wrestle Princess VI”. She had shown glimpses of it here and there, but this was the first time she has let it rip, and it was glorious. This was a world-class performance from Miu.

K!SS Kick Slash (Kaya Toribami & Miyu Yamashita) returned from a bruising defeat in Thailand for this Aichi show to face Sara Phoenix and Shoko Nakajima. Miyu would be heading back to Europe immediately after. Kaya showed that she is still a work in progress with some missed timings such as on the casadora roll through with Sara. Miyu won with a Skull Kick on Sara. It was Sara’s last show on tour so they all hugged in the ring and the crowd gave her a round of applause.

Ren Konatsu teamed with HIMAWARI to pick up yet another pin over fellow rookie Shion Kanzaki and Suzume. Konatsu won with the Konatsu Crush into the Aries Comet for the win. The Aries Comet is the springboard dropkick that Konatsu pinned Shion with on 14th February at Korakuen Hall. Konatsu looked great and she clearly has a bright future in TJPW.

No really, they are great (Round 4) - 7th March 2026 (*)

7th March 2026
Shin-Kiba 1st RING, Tokyo, Japan
Recommended Match: HIMAWARI, Shino Suzuki & Yuki Arai vs. Miu Watanabe, Toga & Uta Takami

The beautifully told story of Princess of Princess Champion Miu Watanabe and her journey against her challenger Yuki Arai continued at Shin-Kiba. This was another excellent chapter in their story. The story has been simple but masterfully executed. After being initially caught off guard by Yuki’s full nelson slam at Korakuen Hall, well in Aichi Miu entered a mode she has not done so before, at least to not extent, causing Yuki to verbally submit to a Canadian backbreaker while not exposing her to Yuki’s full nelson slam. In Shin-Kiba, Yuki tried to hit a full nelson slam early on, but Miu easily countered it and returned to working on Yuki’s back, a form of revenge for Korakuen Hall but also a tool quite handy given Miu’s signature moves are backbreakers and the Spinning Teardrop, all which cause even more damage to a weakened back. Miu’s confidence overflowed from the Aichi performance and the early full nelson block and led to her being caught by the full nelson slam later in the match. This directly led to the finish as Yuki then transitioned into a brutal scorpion deathlock, the same one she tapped out Miyu Yamashita to win the #1 Contendership, and later Kira Summer in Okayama while staring into Miu’s soul. This time, Miu panicked and was in absolute agony as her face told the story of extreme pain. Miu had no choice. She had been caught. She tapped out to Yuki Arai. This is so beautifully simple. I am willing to say no one uses preview tags like Miu Watanabe does. Which other champion would choose to tap out weeks before the title match just to tell another chapter in the story? Aside from that story beat, HIMAWARI, Shino Suzuki, Toga and Uta Takami were all excellent partners in this match as they showcased the future of the promotion after Daisy Monkey (Arisu Endo & Suzume) and Yuki Arai fill up the top spots in the promotion (I will continue to pretend Ober Eats do not exist).

Pom Harajuku picked up a surprise pin on Shoko Nakajima while teaming with her fellow goblins Mizuki and Raku. The crowd popped big for it and it was a fun match with Pom and Raku working harder than usual.

For some reason on this random Shin-Kiba show, the Princess Tag Team Champions Ober Eats (Wakana Uehara & Yuki Kamifuku) eliminated yet another possible filler defence by just beating Chika Nanase & Kira Summer outright. I am not sure why this could not have just been literally any other match to at least give Ober Eats some opponents after “Grand Princess ‘26”. As at the time of writing, “Grand Princess ‘26” has not happened, so, this match result only makes sense if Ober Eats were actually dropping the title. Which has surely not happened.

Rika Tatsumi continued her storyline of being slowly corrupted into full psychotic evil, a change spurred on by encouragement of Super Sasadango Machine at the Niigata show in February. Tatsumi is in denial despite being obviously evil as she kept on choking out Mahiro Kiryu and Ren Konatsu in a three-way. Konatsu hit the Aries Comet on Mahiro after Rika jumped out of the way, then Rika blasted Konatsu for the win.

The final Miu and Yuki preview tag in Japan (Round 5) - 15th March 2026 (*)

15th March 2026
Ryogoku KFC Hall, Tokyo, Japan

Ahead of their trip to the US, TJPW held their final show in Japan before “Grand Princess ‘26”. The main event was the final instalment in Japan of the excellent Princess of Princess Title preview tags between champion Miu Watanabe and Yuki Arai. This was the 5th chapter. Overall, it may have been the weakest of all the preview tags, but that was always a high bar to achieve. This chapter told a story of the two accepting each other as rivals, and agreeing that “Grand Princess ‘26” would be the beginning of their rivalry. They had developed a relationship over the course of the preview tags that they did not expect would happen. They went to a 20-minute time-limit draw and reached a stalemate after Miu finally landed her Giant Swing and Yuki hit her full nelson slam. My only nitpick would be that Miu should have sold the full nelson slam a bit more considering the selling she had done in the previous preview tags, but this was still pretty great.

Arisu Endo and Miyu Yamashita sought to establish some chemistry ahead of their tag against joshi wrestling’s premier tag team in Spark Rush (Sareee & Takumi Iroha). They beat Ren Konatsu and Toga. It was a pretty good match, with Konatsu in particular impressing in what must be one of her best outings so far in her young career. Buy your Ren stocks now.

Kaya Toribami held her final match under the mask in a singles match against HIMAWARI. Kaya had a bit of an edge to her, strangling HIMAWARI with her own hair. She will now be known as Sakura Hattori going forward.

Mizuki continued her training for the Andreza the Giant Panda match by wrestling Pom Harajuku in a panda costume.

Former DDT Ironman Heavymetalweight Champion Mahiro Kiryu took on Mifu Ashida, Raku and Mahiro’s title rival and former champion herself, RIka Tatsumi. Rika lost the title to Antonio Honda on the DDT show on 11th March. Anton subsequently lost it to DDT GM Hisaya Imabayashi. After the four-way here, Kiryu noticed Rika no longer had the title. She asked Rika where it had gone. They then brought out Imabayashi who was hanging around at the merch stand. They tried to beat him up and take the title back but he ran away. He shouted at them saying he’d defend it at “Grand Princess ‘26”. Backstage, Imabayashi said that he was only hanging around the merch stand because it’s hourly pay, compared to his monthly pay at DDT, and he needed the extra money to help his eldest son through university, which would start in April.

Chika Nanase & Shion Kanzaki took on Shino Suzuki & Uta Takami. Shino has looked great in her outings, pretty much ever since her singles match with Miyu Yamashita at Korakuen Hall last year, which was dubbed a “Level Up” match. Well, that is exactly what Shino has been doing. SHe is currently on the track to become a champion in the promotion. She has clearly worked hard and cleaned up a lot of her game. Things have clicked for her. In this match, she bullied the rookie Shion Kanzaki, including throwing a nasty forearm that felt very out of place in TJPW (in a good way).

United States Tour

TJPW picked up where they left off on their last US tour by kicking off their 2026 version in front of a huge crowd of 1,951. The first Austin show was one of their largest attendances ever. The crowd was hot for a lot of the matches, and it reminded me a bit of the Dallas show last year where they would pop for the basic moves of the wrestlers. Honestly, these shows are just great vibes. Probably some of the best vibes in all of wrestling. The crowd were just so excited to see the TJPW roster. It’s so heartwarming to see the wrestlers get such appreciation that they don’t necessarily receive back home. It does give me goosebumps. I probably wrote this exact same thing last year. All credit is due to TJPW for pulling off successful international tour after successful international tour, the only joshi wrestling company to do so.

Austin Day 1 (Miu & Yuki Round 6) - 17th March 2026 (*)

17th March 2026
Company Announced Attendance: 1,951
Palmer Events Center Exhibition Hall, Austin, Texas
Recommended Match: Arisu Endo & Miyu Yamashita vs. Mizuki & Yuki Aino

In the main event, Princess of Princess Champion Miu Watanabe teamed with her regular Daydream partner Rika Tatsumi against Yuki Arai and Yuki Kamifuku. This was the sixth preview tag between Miu and Yuki. Miu’s running powerslam into a giant swing on Yuki Arai got a massive reaction. This was the first standard giant swing Yuki had received throughout their previews, not including the one where she was faced down in Ryogoku KFC Hall on 15th March. Miu got Yuki in the Canadian backbreaker, a move which Yuki tapped to in Karia on 28th February. Yuki struggled out of the move and countered into a scorpion deathlock, which Miu tapped out to on 15th March. This time, Rika saved Miu very quickly while Miu’s veins were straining as she sold the pain of the move. They repeated the forearm exchange from Ryogoku KFC Hall, with Miu delivering a particularly stiff one, before Miu hit the Laser Beam chop and a Teardrop for the one. This was the first Teardrop that Miu had hit on Yuki since the preview tags began.

Arisu Endo & Miyu Yamashita continued strengthening their bond as a team ahead of “Grand Princess ‘26”. In Austin however, they faced Mizuki & Yuki Aino. This was low-key, a bit of a banger. All four worked very hard in this match and you could see how happy they were as the crowd reacted big to some spots. They brawled all over the crowd before having a hot finish to their match. There was one misstep when the referee counted three as Yuki Aino kicked out just a smidge too late on her nearfall, which is no one’s fault, it happens. Miyu Yamashita won with the Skull Kick on Aino.

A favourite of TJPW international fans, Hyper Misao, teamed with Mifu Ashida against another two favourites, Pom Harajuku and Raku. Pom and Raku were asleep. Misao tried to get Mifu to wake them up with her pom poms. It did not work. Misao asked to ring the bell so they could sneakily pin them. Pom and Raku suckered them in and almost won. They were booed like hell. Misao ran over Mifu Ashida while going 100mph on her bike (or it felt like it). Pom then went to her Tesla which was charging, and then ran over Misao. The Tesla was of course a cardboard box version of a trolley which Raku pushed around.

Sakura Hattori (formerly Kaya Toribami) made her debut against Shino Suzuki to a large reception from the crowd. She has adopted a slightly more aggressive wrestling style. With that, she is quite clearly still figuring out her new presentation. There were slightly too few ninja gestures for my liking. It felt a bit like spamming taunts a WWE 2K game. I do get it was her first chance to get her character over, so maybe with a bit more fine tuning she will find the correct balance. She did land some hellish kicks, but then totally whiffed on some others. As I say, calibration is needed. She submitted Shino with a reverse headlock.

For some reason, the opener between Suzume and Uta Takami was cut in half on the VOD. I wasn’t able to watch live so I have no idea what happened during the first half of the match. The crowd was super hot for all the action in the latter half of the match. Suzume won with the Ring A Bell.

Austin Day 2 - 18th March 2026 (*)

18th March 2026
Company Announced Attendance: 1,561
Palmer Events Center Exhibition Hall, Austin, Texas
Recommended Match: Miyu Yamashita vs. Shoko Nakajima

The vibes continued into the next day at the same venue. In the main event, rivals turned partners for the night, Miu Watanabe and Suzume, faced the goblin team of Mizuki and Uta Takami that went all the way to the Max Heart Tournament Finals. This match was just all guns blazing, with non-stop action and an impossible match to recap. It was a great match and as close to a party match in TJPW that you’ll see.

In a marquee match up, one that TJPW fans would have circled when the cars were out, Miyu Yamashita faced her fellow coach Shoko Nakajima in a singles match. Both regularly provide classes together for those wanting to learn wrestling. Miyu was the one putting on a clinic as she dominated Shoko early with her brutal kicks and submission holds. Shoko fought back with two insane suicide dives, landing on her feet both times. There was a sick transition where Miyu countered a European clutch into rolling backwards, lifting Shoko up with a waistlock and delivering a brutal German suplex. That was beautiful. Miyu hit Shoko with a devastating avalanche AA before following up with her signature triangle kick.

Rika Tatsumi and Yuki Aino faced off in a wacky singles match. Rika bought some popcorn at the food place and then force fed her. (Wait, is it a concession stand in the US? I heard the commentators say that. Hang on, I don’t even know what Brits call it. Oh my god I just realised we don’t have a word for it. Is it a kiosk? I don’t think I’ve ever used that word though. I just say “I’m going to get some food”. I’ve never actually had to refer to it before as an object. The food stand? Yes. The food stand, that does sound better than the food place.) I think Rika won this match.

Ober Eats (Wakana Uehara & Yuki Kamifuku) against Pom Harajuku & Raku after Kamiyu and Pom put on Buc-ee’s uniforms and duelled each other. Kamiyu hit the Famouser for the win. I had to ask my friend Emi what was going on because I didn’t know what a Buc-ee was. I learnt what a Buc-ee was. I am under the impression that it’s a gas (petrol) station chain where Americans buy their lovely big portions of food. As for why the spelling is so offensive to OCDs like me, apparently the Buc-ee’s brand is very litigious. Finding out this information was more interesting than the match itself. That’s mean. It was fine. Sorry.

Sakura Hattori had her second outing against Hyper Misao. Much of the comments for the first night applied here. She has some really cool offence like her dropkicks, but it’s subtracted from with some misses, including a splash that did not look as good here as it did on night one.

As the opener on the card, the crowd was molten hot for Arisu Endo & Shino Suzuki vs. Mifu Ashida & Yuki Arai. Once again, there were pops for every single move, including a huge pop for a back bodydrop. I am not kidding. But once again, the girls did not want to let the crowd down. We had Mifu Ashida pull out the German suplex again, and Yuki winning with a spinning brainbuster. It is quite crazy she debuted a new move in the opener of the second show of the US tour. That is how seriously the wrestlers were taking this tour.

Dallas (Miu & Yuki Round 7) - 21st March 2026 (*)

21st March 2026
Company Announced Attendance: 1,481
College Park Center, University of Texas at Arlington, Dallas, Texas
Recommended Match: Miu Watanabe & Miyu Yamashita vs. Shoko Nakajima & Yuki Arai

This was the show during the US tour that ticket sales looked very soft on, and indeed TJPW may have overplayed their hand when booking this particular venue. With that being said, it was not a small crowd. The building they booked was just too big, so it’s hard to not call it a success. It’s just perhaps not what they were hoping for in this particular building, a city they drew 2.5k to last year on “All In Weekend”. Most importantly, despite the vast number of empty seats, this crowd was still hot for all of the action which made the show very watchable. The main event pitted Miyu Yamashita and Miu Watanabe against Shoko Nakajima and Yuki Arai. I mean. Look at the names. I don’t need to recap this. Go watch it. The crowd went ballistic for most of the match, no matter what move. There was a 619 that Shoko did to Yamashita that I swear you would not be out of order for mistaking it for Hangman’s title win pop in the same city a year prior. Hyperbole? What’s that?

Ober Eats (Wakana Uehara & Yuki Kamifuku) had maybe one of their best matches against Vert Vixen and Yuki Aino. Of course, that bar is quite low, but it’s amazing how much a hot crowd can do to cover up some weak-looking double team moves. For example, the not-so-great assisted boot that Ober Eats do got a huge reaction from the Dallas crowd. This team was made for the US crowds.

After Jada Stone was pulled from the show due to a “delayed flight”, Rika Tatsumi was inserted into a match with Hyper Misao and Mizuki. Misao started the match by doing her usual promo, but in English, saying that despite Mizuki and Rika looking cute, they are both evil devils. She told the crowd not to worry because Mizuki and Rika don’t understand English. This was a standard Misao big show match with the bike and the getting knocked into chairs and the, well, you get the point. It was a fun time.

Pom Harajuku and Raku were dressed as Buc-ee’s beavers as they faced Daisy Monkey (Arisu Endo & Suzume). They brought out the gacha machines and ran Daisy Monkey over with them. Of course, Japan has a huge gacha culture, and it’s the same machine that was there during the last TJPW US tour. Daisy Monkey got a lot of heat for taking off their beaver costumes. They cheered again when they put them on. This was another fun match and exactly what you want from a Pom match.

Sakura Hattori tapped out Uta Takami using her new submission, which is kind of like a reverse dragon sleeper. Sakura has a diving forearm which she may need to immediately switch up because it is very immersion breaking. She waits on top of the turnbuckle for what feels like 30 seconds, and the impact of the move does not pay off the wait. But when she is executing cool back and forths and counters against an opponent by Uta, she looks terrific. Of course, part of that is that Uta is great at making her opponent look like a star.

Mifu Ashida and Shino Suzuki opened the show in a solid singles match. They’ve both improved a ton in 2026 so it was fun seeing them have a singles match in front of a hot crowd.

Houston - 22nd March 2026

22nd March 2026
Company Announced Attendance: 415 (sold out)
Post Houston, Houston, Texas

TJPW returned to Post Houston, the same venue they visited across two days in July 2025. The Houston show was not quite as enjoyable for me as the other shows. There were some production issues that affected the sound quality. While the more egregious issues were fixed, it didn’t feel like the same quality of shows that the other three were. It was good, but skippable. In the main event Arisu Endo, Miu Watanabe and RIka Tatsumi faced Mizuki, Shoko Nakajima and Uta Takami in the match of the night. The same moves that got big reactions on the previous shows did so again, such as Shoko’s springboard headscissors (although she had to repeat the spot), Mizuki’s Whirling Candy, Shoko’s tope suicida and Miu’s Giant Swing on Uta Takami (which was insane). Miu pinned Uta with the Teardrop.

My second favourite match on the show was the opener where Shino Suzuki and Suzume faced Texas native Vert Vixen and Yuki Aino. There were some great sequences, particularly between Vert Vixen and Suzume, such as when Vert hit a great rolling elbow on Suzume, who responded with a Ring A Bell.

Pom Harajuku was rewarded with her overness in the US with a semi-main event spot against the next Princess of Princess Champion Yuki Arai. Surprisingly, there was no Buc-ee’s outfit. This was great. Aside from them using cut outs of each other as weapons, Pom brought out the gacha machine again. She had hidden Yuki Arai’s house keys in one of the capsules. Yuki had to try five times before finding her keys. As soon as she did, Pom ran her over with the machine almost immediately. It was good timing.

Kaylia Capri and Miyu Yamashita lost to Ober Eats (Wakana Uehara & Yuki Kamifuku). The match was not my cup of tea. There were a few messy spots, as Kaylia Capri is still gaining experience, especially when working with joshi wrestling talent.

Hyper Misao and Raku tore down the house in a match that only Misao and Raku could have. If you know these two wrestlers you know what match this was.

Mifu Ashida tapped out to Sakura Hattori in the opener. Sakura won once again with the head and arm trap choke. She had some issues with her headband on this show. Teething issues.

“Grand Princess ‘26”

29th March 2026
Company Announced Attendance: 3,089 (new company record)
Ryogoku Kokugikan, Tokyo, Japan
Recommended Matches: Arisu Endo & Miyu Yamashita vs. Sareee & Takumi Iroha, MIRAI vs. Suzume, Miu Watanabe vs. Yuki Arai
Designation: Key Show

“Grand Princess ’26” set a new all-time attendance record for TJPW, drawing 3,089 fans to Ryogoku Kokugikan, surpassing their previous domestic record of 2,349 and eclipsing their Dallas figure by over 500. They did not just break their record, they shattered it, and it is difficult to argue the achievement was anything other than thoroughly deserved.

The build to this show was, by and large, excellent. Banners were visible at every preceding event. The Miu Watanabe and Yuki Arai rivalry was given the ample time and prominence it warranted and the card itself was constructed with variety in mind. Matches like Mizuki taking on Andreza Giant Panda offered a flavour of something that the Japanese fans enjoy seeing on their big shows, while the inclusion of outside talent such as Sareee and Takumi Iroha added a layer of serious match quality firepower. If there was one area where the build fell short, it was around the tag title picture, but that was a blip compared to the overall giant success of the show.

As a show, “Grand Princess ’26” was, at its heart, a deeply TJPW event. It wore the promotion’s identity proudly. The card featured two matches that would comfortably rank among the year’s best for my own tastes, but beyond those peaks, this was a show that exhibited the quirks and theatrical charm that defines TJPW. The promotion drew its biggest crowd ever while staying entirely true to itself, and for anyone who loves what TJPW does, this show was a very easy watch.

Princess of Princess Title: Miu Watanabe (c) vs. Yuki Arai

The build for this match was simply out of this world. By that, I mean that there is not a single wrestler on this planet that lays out their preview tags in the way that Miu Watanabe does. If that sounds like a big statement, well it is. I stand by it because I watched them all and a lot of other preview tags, and no one else puts as much thought into them as her. Without repeating the reports of the amazing series of preview tags which you can read in the previous sections of this newsletter, the story of their series has been Miu being completely thrown off her game by an aggressive, psychotic and unhinged Yuki Arai, leading to one of Miu’s classic selling performances at Korakuen Hall on 14th February.

In the press conference, Miu mentioned that she had hardly tagged with Yuki Arai and barely stood across from her in the ring. In fact, this was their first ever singles match against each other, which is quite remarkable but also makes sense at the same time if you’re familiar with how slow TJPW booking is, which isn’t a bad thing as I love the variety of booking styles in the scene. Miu said that she didn’t even have an impression of Yuki Arai as someone who was particularly strong. All of this led to Miu being caught off guard at Korakuen. Miu followed those appearances by slowly figuring Yuki Arai out and regaining her dominance over Yuki, going full “Miuderella” and verbally submitting Yuki with a Canadian backbreaker at the Aichi show on 28th February. In that third tag in Aichi, Miu said that she wanted to test the extent of Yuki’s grit, her mental fortitude. However, Miu believes that Yuki’s idol past means that she has the strength of a heart no other professional wrestler could obtain, and that it is the strongest heart in wrestling meaning that she would continue to get back up each time. That is exactly what happened, leading to Miu Watanabe getting submitted in a preview tag on 15th March. Think of a top champion in a promotion. An ace-like figure. Now imagine that they rarely, if ever, get submitted. Alright, now I’ll tell you they tapped out in a preview tag. If you aren’t surprised by that, you’re just pretending. Miu’s characteristic selflessness led to her putting in an all-time star-making performance over the past month and a half to try and make Yuki Arai into a top champion. And it worked. If I were a CyberFight executive deciding Miu Watanabe’s pay, I would be doubling it, minimum.

During the build, Yuki said that since her last Princess of Princess Title challenge against Mizuki at “Summer Sun Princess ‘25”, she had felt the gap between her and achieving the belt feel even wider than it had before the match but on the road to Ryogoku, it was finally narrowing again. Yuki mentioned that she and Miu share a common thread in that they are both idol wrestlers. For Yuki she said this was her chance to shed the “former SKE48” label, the idol group she had left exactly one year prior. While Miu has been reluctant to call herself the ace, feeling it is an antiquated term that doesn’t fit TJPW’s vibes, Yuki had no hesitation announcing her intention to become the next ace and declaring that she is a star in an interview in Shupro #2404. While it’s undeniable the former idol is one of, if not the most, popular wrestlers on the roster, she has had some difficulties when it comes to in-ring proficiency compared to contemporaries such as Arisu Endo, Suzume and Miu. Yuki posted some incredible performances during the preview tags, but unfortunately, I think she peaked in those preview tags, and the culminating match was all about Miu giving up every single last drop of tear and sweat she had to put Yuki over.

The result was not a surprise. Yuki Arai is TJPW’s Kaisei Takechi. She is their ticket to the Tokyo Dome. In the post match, Yuki Arai mentioned wanting to take TJPW to the Tokyo Dome, having performed there already as an idol, as well as being a part of Keiji Mutoh’s retirement show. Having her lose a Princess of Princess title match twice would have not made much sense. The first loss to Mizuki was fine in context, but you cannot keep doing that. On top of that, there was a degree of spoiling in the advertising, which confirmed the winner would face J-ROD in Las Vegas. It seemed unlikely they were going to book Miu and J-ROD again.

What this match needed to do was deliver on the narrative built across six weeks of preview tags, and it absolutely did that, almost right to the finish. The callbacks were smart, the selling was immaculate from Miu Watanabe, and for me this was a low-level MOTYC because I got exactly what I was looking for from the build. I will say that Arai’s selling was slightly underwhelming. In the match, she was set up perfectly to put on a career-best selling performance when Miu Watanabe hit a mini-Teardrop. This gave Yuki everything she needed to sell like her life depended on it, just like Miu had done earlier in the series. Yuki did not come close to Watanabe’s performance in the 14th February tag. That said, I do not think there were moments where I felt she sold poorly enough to take me out of the match.

The moment the match truly got me was the second Scorpion Deathlock. This is the same hold Miu tapped to at Ryogoku KFC Hall on 15th March. This time around, Miu’s selling in the submission hold was genuinely world class stuff. The push-up attempt into the ropes, the way she was dragged back to the centre, the slow fading, it just kept getting better the longer it went on, and that almost never happens with these holds. I had my heart in my mouth. I genuinely bit on it as a finish. There is a moment in every great match that hooks you and takes it onto another level, and that was it. In doing that, Miu put Arai over enormously, making the Scorpion Deathlock feel like a completely legitimate finishing threat on the biggest stage of the year. That is exactly why the finish was disappointing. After everything their preview tags had built around the Deathlock, closing with the axe kick felt a bit deflating. The Deathlock had been established as the move that could win given it did earlier in their preview tags, the crowd believed it, and finishing with it would have given the whole thing a clean arc. With that being said, narratively, the axe kick also worked fine as final proof that Yuki was simply better than Miu, not needing to rely on the deathlock that had finished her off once before already.

Nevertheless, the post-match was touching. Arai was in a flood of tears, and her desperation to get Miu back into the ring to share the moment with her felt genuine. Miu resisted because it was Arai’s moment, and that small act of grace made it even more affecting. Miu relented for a short bit before departing. Their exchange, and Miu’s tearful exit through a crowd chanting her name, was one of those moments that reminds you why professional wrestling at its best is unlike anything else.

Princess Tag Team Title: Ober Eats (Wakana Uehara & Yuki Kamifuku) (c) vs. The Iinspiration (Cassie Lee & Jessie McKay)

The semi-main event spot given to this match was a puzzling decision. At a show of this magnitude, TJPW’s third ever Ryogoku Kokugikan event, the positioning felt difficult to justify, particularly given what was available on the card. The result was the most significant issue with this match, and it is worth addressing directly. Ober Eats had been built meticulously. They won the Max Heart Tournament, they defeated credible challengers in HIMAWARI & Shino Suzuki, Yuki Aino & Haru Kazashiro, and Toga & Yuna Manase, and the TJPW audience were fully invested in them. The reaction when they lost the titles was near silence, which is a telling indicator of how the audience felt. Wakana Uehara’s tears after the match also spoke for itself. The Iinspiration are not a team with an established connection to the TJPW audience, working in Japan at a televised show only once before. Giving Ober Eats as much as TJPW did (which was already a crazy booking decision) and then having that all go up in flames, for the presumed outcome that the titles return to TJPW talent at the Las Vegas show, is quite incredible (derogatory). It raises the question of what ending this run ultimately accomplished, beyond a short-term novelty. The concern is not about the quality of the Iinspiration as performers, which you could reasonably question, but it is about the opportunity cost. A title change of this magnitude at Ryogoku Kokugikan, the promotion’s biggest show, could have served as a defining moment for a homegrown act. Whether that was Mizuki and Uta Takami who made it to the Max Heart Finals only to lose to Ober Eats, or one of the other young challengers Ober Eats had worked through, there were compelling options available. That path would have created something with lasting value for the promotion and its audience.

As for the match itself, it was perfectly competent. Ober Eats were the better team on the night and showed throughout why they had been such a strong champion pairing. The bout did its job without ever threatening to be memorable, and on a show with the quality ceiling that Grand Princess ’26 had, that was always going to leave it feeling like the weakest entry on the card.

International Princess Title: MIRAI vs. Suzume

Part of the background for MIRAI’s unsuccessful defence against Suzume was that Suzume debuted only a few months after MIRAI. They were actually classmates in TJPW in 2019. Suzume said that the person she is today wouldn’t exist without MIRAI, but the two have gone on their own separate paths after four years. Suzume wants to regain the belt for TJPW and she was reminded how much she does not want to lose to her classmate when they clashed on the Kobe preview tag on 21st February. The third member of their class was Sena Shiori who had to retire in 2021 due to chronic illness. MIRAI said that Suzume used to keep her and Sena in line. Suzume also said that the figure-eight run she does during her entrance was MIRAI’s idea and that she used to cut MIRAI’s fringe back in those days.

The result here was directly spoiled. The announcement that all three titles would be defended at the Las Vegas show, without naming MIRAI as a participant, made it fairly straightforward to guess that she would not be leaving Ryogoku as champion. That minor spoiler aside, this was a very good title match. MIRAI’s early work targeting Suzume’s back was well-executed, culminating in a full nelson slam on the apron which was a great spot. Suzume, as she so often does, shone brightest in her counter wrestling. A Gory Bomb to create separation, a cutter out of nowhere to stop a lariat in its tracks, and the Ring-a-Bell counter out of the airplane spin, landed with such great timing that it took a moment to fully register what had happened. That sequence weakened MIRAI just enough that when the springboard cutter followed, she no longer had the wherewithal to counter it a second time. It was tidy, logical storytelling.

The post-match was lovely. MIRAI’s genuine warmth for Suzume in defeat came through clearly, and her backstage comments reflected that too. She spoke about how, during her original TJPW run, lying on the mat looking up at the ceiling was always a feeling of pure frustration, but that this time it felt different. She mentioned that it showed a great deal about how much she has grown and what this return meant to her. Sakura Hattori announced herself as the next challenger by presenting Suzume with a scroll backstage.

Hyper Misao & Super Sasadango Machine vs. Konosuke Takeshita & Yuka Sakazaki

Hyper Misao matches of this type, particularly ones that hinge on an emotional promo midway through, live or die on crowd investment, and the atmosphere here was notably muted for much of the bout. I also feel that Sakazaki had a bit of an off night, with several strikes falling short, and the stretches involving Super Sasadango Machine in direct exchanges with Takeshita were difficult to buy into. The best moment of the match by far though was Takeshita accidentally connecting with a running boot on Sakazaki. Backstage after the match, Sakazaki casually mentioned that she felt like she had been kicked at some point, and Takeshita insisted that she was imagining things and that Hyper Misao’s big boot had simply been unusually powerful. The match eventually settled into something resembling a Misao and Sakazaki singles bout after an emotional promo from Misao talking about how badly she had always wanted a match with Sakazaki. A Blue Thunder Bomb from Takeshita served as another great spot in the match.

Arisu Endo & Miyu Yamashita vs. Spark Rush (Sareee & Takumi Iroha)

After Lei Ying Lee was ruled out by TNA, Takumi Iroha replaced Lee to accidentally create one of the best tag matches of 2026. This was the match of the night for me. Yes, despite me waxing lyrical about the main event. The layout was textbook and executed to perfection. The opening stretch gave the crowd just enough of the Miyu and Sareee matchup, six years in the waiting, to establish the big fight atmosphere, before the heat was built on Arisu, with Spark Rush doing an excellent job of cutting her off and working her over. The crowd wanting Miyu to come in and rescue her partner is one of the oldest tricks in the book in tag team wrestling, and it works because it is rooted in an emotional investment which both Miyu and Arisu have in buckets, and Spark Rush are excellent asshole outsiders. When Endo finally made the tag, the pop just made you smile. Every single wrestler served their role flawlessly in this match, and that is when professional wrestling is at its very best.

The individual moments throughout were outstanding. Takumi dismissing Arisu entirely in their early exchange, only for Arisu to kip up and dropkick her to a huge crowd response, was a perfect spot that got the TJPW audience firmly behind the home team. The Miyu and Takumi sequence felt like a Christmas present, with two of the best kickers in the world trading near-misses with millimetre precision before each landed their strikes. Arisu’s performance throughout the heat segment was also excellent. She is one of the best babyfaces in the promotion and her selling and resilience here was a significant reason the match worked as well as it did. The dread on her face when Sareee landed one of her signature stiff forearms was amazing.

The finishing stretch was awesome too. Miyu taking out Sareee with the skull kick to remove her from the equation, and then Takumi deploying the spinning powerbomb as a near-fall rather than a finish, was a smart piece of booking. Takumi rarely wins with that move, but the crowd, more unfamiliar with Takumi’s work, did not know that, so the crowd bought it as a genuine near-fall, and the fact they were surprised when Arisu kicked out told you everything about how well the match had been laid out. Along with always speaking highly of Arisu and Miyu, Spark Rush were one of my tag teams of the year last year and this was a reminder of exactly why.

The Rest of the Undercard

Aja Kong, VENY & Pom Harajuku faced The TJPW Tokusatsu Club (Haru Kazashiro, Shoko Nakajima & Yuki Aino). This match was originally scheduled to feature Max the Impaler, but a visa issue two days before the show resulted in VENY stepping in as a replacement. The match also served as something of an official coming-out moment for the TJPW Tokusatsu Club, three wrestlers connected both by their Okayama roots and a shared love of tokusatsu, the live-action special effects genre that Super Sentai and, by extension, Power Rangers, a part of. Ninja Red, Geki Red, and Go-On Red accompanied them, characters drawn from three different Super Sentai series, which given the franchise’s recent hiatus feels like a timely, cultural tribute, done deliberately by TJPW. The pre-match theatrics, including Pom taking ring announcer Rise Shirai hostage and demanding that the Tokusatsu Club surrender, were exactly the kind of humour TJPW is renowned for. The match itself was enjoyable, if somewhat long, and the undisputed highlight was Aja Kong’s backdrop suplexes on Nakajima, which were genuinely breathtaking. Shoko was bumping with a reckless abandon that made each one look like death. The sequence ranked among the best spots of the entire show.

TJPW built upon the viral moment from 6th October 2024 where Mizuki struck Andreza Giant Panda with a squeaky toy hammer, by having the two in a singles match with each other once again. A character called Mr. USA stole Mizuki’s hammer in Okayama on 22nd February. There were some funny spots, most notably a prolonged sell from Panda that left Mizuki waiting on the turnbuckle for ages as the Panda tried to inflate itself. Mizuki attempted to try and create a similar viral moment, this time, by doing a diving double foot stomp right onto the Panda’s head for the win.

Bumping gRitters (HIMAWARI & Shino Suzuki) faced Ren Konatsu & Toga. Three of the four wrestlers here are part of the 2023 debut class, and there is a real sense that HIMAWARI, Shino Suzuki, and Toga are the next wave waiting to be elevated once the current top acts (Miu Watanabe, Daisy Monkey & Yuki Arai) have had their moment. Ren Konatsu, the odd one out as she debuted in 2025, more than held her own and continues to develop at an impressive rate. HIMAWARI and Shino are a quietly underrated tag team, and HIMAWARI in particular showed some fun heel work throughout, most notably choking Ren with her long braided hair behind the referee’s back. There were a couple of moments of hesitation early between Ren and Shino that slightly disrupted the flow, but nothing that derailed the match.

Antonio Honda attempted to defend his DDT Ironman Heavymetalweight Title against Chika Nanase, Kira Summer, Mahiro Kiryu, Matcha, Mifu Ashida, Minimo-chan, Momo Sato, Raku, Rika Tatsumi, Sakura Hattori and famous voice actress Sumire Uesaka. If you’d like to know how Anton got the title, see the “DDT Judgement 2026” review in this issue. This match was the traditional organised chaos you would expect from this division, and it delivered well. The title changed hands multiple times throughout, with Raku picking up the belt before the match had even officially begun after Antonio Honda fell asleep during his warm-up next to her pillow. Rika Tatsumi, channelling the dark character arc unlocked by Super Sasadango Machine over the preceding months and wearing Marilyn Manson-inspired attire, picked up a reign of her own which Mahiro Kiryu, who had been the dominant force in the Ironman division for much of the past six months, ended by rolling up Rika later in the match. Anton immediately hurt his leg upon entering the ring and began his Gon the Fox routine, in which he constructs an elaborate inappropriate dirty joke around the folk story using a fox-shaped hand strike. This one was quite funny as he spoke about Tchaikovsky and spoke some basic Russian words, prompting the camera to cut immediately to Sumire Uesaka, who has an affinity for Russian and Soviet history and speaks the language fluently. She was trying not to corpse.

Uesaka herself was the star of the match. A voice actress and self-described devotee of Showa-era wrestling, she arrived with a sabre and a tiger-print outfit paying homage to her idol Tiger Jeet Singh, and proceeded to be genuinely unhinged throughout in the best possible way. Her chemistry with Anton was great, culminating in her performing her own version of the Gon the Fox routine before eventually pinning Mahiro Kiryu to become the new champion. It was a great piece of crossover casting. One other note is that Momo Sato, younger sister of DDT’s Daichi Satoh and currently an active idol, made her in-ring debut here. She announced afterwards that she would be joining TJPW as a trainee, with the stated long-term goal of eventually defeating her brother.

Full Results

Uta Takami defeats Shion Kanzaki (5:43)

DDT Iron Man Heavy Metal Title:
Raku defeats Antonio Honda (c)

DDT Iron Man Heavy Metal Title Delayed Entry Battle Royal:
Sumire Uesaka defeats Raku (c) and Antonio Honda and Chika Nanase and Great Wakabayashi-kun (Rika Tatsumi) and Kira Summer and Mahiro Kiryu and Matcha and Mifu Ashida and Minomo and Momo Sato and Sakura Hattori (26:55)
– Raku pins Minomo (3:16)
– Chika Nanase makes Momo Sato submit (7:09)
– Great Wakabayashi-kun (Rika Tatsumi) pins Raku (11:08)
– Sakura Hattori makes Chika Nanase submit (12:51)
– Kira Summer throws Sakura Hattori over the top rope (14:31)
– Mahiro Kiryu throws Kira Summer & Matcha over the top rope (15:32)
– Great Wakabayashi-kun (Rika Tatsumi) throws Mifu Ashida over the top rope (21:50)
– Mahiro Kiryu pins Great Wakabayashi-kun (Rika Tatsumi) (22:02)
– Sumire Uesaka throws Antonio Honda over the top rope (25:29)
– Sumire Uesaka makes Mahiro Kiryu submit (26:55)

Bumping gRitters (HIMAWARI & Shino Suzuki) defeat Ren Konatsu & Toga (10:46)

Haru Kazashiro, Shoko Nakajima & Yuki Aino defeat Aja Kong, Pom Harajuku & VENY (13:08)

Mizuki defeats Andreza Giant Panda (8:04)

Spark Rush (Sareee & Takumi Iroha) defeat Arisu Endo & Miyu Yamashita (18:44)

Konosuke Takeshita & Yuka Sakazaki defeat Hyper Misao & Super Sasadango Machine (21:29)

International Princess Title:
Suzume defeats MIRAI (c) (15:24)

Princess Tag Team Title:
The IInspiration (Cassie Lee & Jessie McKay) defeat Ober Eats (Wakana Uehara & Yuki Kamifuku) (c) (12:14)

Princess Of Princess Title:
Yuki Arai defeats Miu Watanabe (c) (21:20)

Mifu Ashida’s Homecoming! - 4th April 2026

4th April 2026
Fukuchiyama Sandanike Park General Gymnasium, Kyoto, Japan

Mifu Ashida teamed with her Kyoto-native teammate, new Princess of Princess Champion Yuki Arai for her homecoming show, taking on Mizuki and Uta Takami. This was billed as Mifu’s homecoming but not Yuki’s because it was actually in Mifu’s hometown, Fukuchiyama, which is on the opposite side of Kyoto prefecture to its capital, Kyoto City. The prefecture is bigger than you think! Yuki’s homecomings are normally held at KBS Hall in Kyoto City. The match itself was quite a standard house show main event, but Mifu Ashida continues to be a bright presence on the card.

Miyu Yamashita added another item to her very long list for “best match on the card” as she teamed with Kira Summer against Haru Kazashiro and Suzume. It isn’t really a surprise at this point, but Miyu’s role in 2025 and 2026 must be the best “move a wrestler down the card” moves in recent years across any promotion. She has been removed from any and all title pictures, and yet consistently puts on a show with wrestlers on the undercard who could really use the rub of having a great match with Miyu. It immediately increases their in-ring credibility, and the best example for me personally is Shino Suzuki, who wasn’t on my radar until her barnstorming singles match at Korakuen Hall against Miyu. Side rant over, this was a pretty great match for a house show, all four did well, including Kira Summer who continues to improve and rise up the card from being an opening act.

One of my favourite rookies, Ren Konatsu, got her hands on Miu Watanabe for quite a significant amount of time in a mini-singles match during their six-woman tag. The energy Ren emits is so entertaining and characteristic of TJPW. It just brings a smile to your face seeing her have so much fun, and on top of that, she is a very good wrestler for her level of experience. Seeing her go up against the best wrestler in the promotion was a treat for Ren-heads like myself. There was a fun spot where Ren was attempting her Aries Comet finisher, but Miu hit her signature jumping forearm to knock Ren off the ropes and then delivered a backbreaker, where I can only describe it as time standing still given the way Miu swivelled Ren’s back around onto her knee.

Sakura Hattori continued to sharpen her new gimmick in a singles match against Chika Nanase. This time, on Sakura’s diving forearm, Chika sold by being flat on the mat for longer and only got up when Sakura was done reciting her routine on top of the turnbuckle. It made it look slightly more smooth than the way it came off on the US tour where the opponents would just wobble on their feet for like ten seconds.

Miyu Yamashita’s Homecoming! - 5th April 2026

5th April 2026
ACROS Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Japan

Miyu Yamashita returned to her home prefecture teaming with Shoko Nakajima against Toga and Princess of Princess Champion Yuki Arai. It was a special occasion for Miyu as she explained after the match that her former master, Matsuda Daijiro (using the common readings of the kanji, so mistranslation is possible), who had taught her a bit of everything in martial arts, karate, judo, mixed martial arts, kickboxing, had passed away recently. She said it was a total shock, so she wanted to dedicate the match to him. She must have done him proud as Miyu was excellent in this match, throwing her signature well-timed strikes, winning with a skull kick on Toga. There were some kids in the crowd who thought Miyu’s head was going to be popped off during submission holds because they would scream at the top of their lungs every time she was in a headlock. This was a pretty good match overall, with Yuki Arai also continuing her confident performances following her big win at “Grand Princess ‘26”.

Kazashiro is new #1 International Princess Title Contender! - 9th April 2026

9th April 2026
Ueno Park, Tokyo, Japan

In a five-way to determine the next challenger for the International Princess Title, Haru Kazashiro earned the shot by pinning Shino Suzuki with a Northern Lights suplex. The format didn’t lend itself well to the wrestlers, with a regular five-way proving a bit too convoluted in the early stages and producing some shaky moments. An elimination format would have been better, especially as it would have led to a tense showdown in the final stages. The closing stretch between Kazashiro and Shino was a highlight though. There was no going wrong with any of these five competitors to be the next #1 Contender, so any outcome worked.

Chika Nanase vs. Miu Watanabe was a solid undercard match with some nice grappling and struggle spots, elevated by Miu Watanabe’s ability to make any opponent look good. Chika Nanase has some promising tools, her elbow in particular, but her offence lacks urgency at times and some of her moves do not carry the impact they should at this stage of her career.

Canada Tour

TJPW’s Canadian debut in Vancouver shows sold out at around 400 fans, similar to the Houston turnout, and delivered a similar experience to the US tour matches in most respects, from the commentary to the general atmosphere. Sayuri Namba, the previous TJPW ring announcer, resides in Vancouver and was instrumental in putting the show together, which also ran on the same weekend as AEW Dynasty. There is not a great deal to add beyond what was already said of those shows in previous match reports in terms of match quality. One noticeable difference is that there were far more local independent talent on this show which I thought was a good touch. I like the idea that the huge shows with almost two-thousand people are as close to the Japan product as possible while the smaller shows showcase their roster against local talent. It’s a nice differentiator.

Vancouver Notes - 11th & 12th April 2026

Vancouver – Day 1
11th April 2026
Great Canadian Hastings Racecourse & Casino, Vancouver, Canada

Amira, not a local talent but a prominent independent wrestler on the US West Coast beat Uta Takami in a solid match, using her power allowing Uta to do what she does best, which is playing an underdog. Suzume and Alexia Nicole had a fun singles match, with some cool spots such as Suzume reversing a codebreaker into a jackknife pin. Prominent Canadian independent duo Liiza Hall and Nicole Matthews, known far beyond British Columbia but native to the province, beat Miyu Yamashita and HIMAWARI, as Nicole had a singles match with Miyu on the following night.

The show’s main event was former rivals J-Rod and Miu Watanabe teamed together to form the Muscle Duo against Princess of Princess Champion Yuki Arai and Wakana Uehara, who got speared out of her boots by J-Rod.

Yuki Kamifuki opened the show against Shino Suzuki in a match that overdelivered, helped enormously by a Canadian crowd responding to everything with an enthusiasm you simply do not hear at a standard TJPW show, including a loud pop for a headlock takedown. Kamiyu worked in this environment, looking like a monster on a big boot that drew perhaps the loudest reaction that move has ever received, and Shino’s selling was excellent throughout. Shino continues to quietly become one of the more polished wrestlers on the roster.

Vancouver – Day 2
12th April 2026
Great Canadian Hastings Racecourse & Casino, Vancouver, Canada

The show on 12th April was held in the afternoon to not clash with AEW’s PPV “Dynasty”, as opposed to the Saturday show which was in the evening. On the second day there were new independent talents as Kristara lost to Yuki Kamifuki and Miu Watanabe took on Cherry Blossom, a very fitting name given that it is cherry blossom season in Japan. Cherry is a product of the Lion’s Gate Dojo based in Vancouver, so this was a massive opportunity for her so early in her career.

However, the main event was an International Princess Title preview with Sakura Hattori and J-Rod against Suzume and Yuki Arai. Suzume pinned Sakura cleanly with a Ring A Bell ahead of their Las Vegas title match.

The match of the night was Miyu Yamashita and Nicole Matthews in a singles match underpinned by stiff strikes and counters. This was probably not just the best match of the night but across two nights. The pair had previously met three times, in NEW, DPW and during TJPW’s Seattle show in late 2024.

Watch on Wrestle Universe

DDT

Bitesize Round-up

DDT held “Judgement”, which alongside “Peter Pan” in the summer and “Ultimate Party” in the winter form their biggest shows of the year. They booked out both slots of Korakuen Hall so they could go as long as they wanted to go. Korakuen Hall was fully sold out, so I imagine this is the last time we may see “Judgement” take place at Korakuen Hall for the foreseeable future. DDT Korakuen Hall shows have a very high standard, not just historically, but especially in the past year since they began their hot run enroute to the Tokyo Dome. In comparison to those shows, as well as “Judgement 2025”, this show didn’t beat those out, but was still wildly enjoyable, with Hirata and Takeshita in particular providing the highlight for the show. Once again, Yuki Ueno proved why he is one of the best champions in wrestling today as he defended his KO-D Openweight Title against KANON. Kazuma Sumi won his first ever singles title as he beat Daisuke Sasaki to become the DDT Universal Champion, while paleyouth (Daichi Satoh, Takeshi Masada and Yuya Koroku) retained the KO-D Six Man Tag Team Titles. Finally, Hideki Okatani ended To-y’s historic DDT Extreme reign. DDT has fully transitioned to the D Generations roster as its centerpieces and continues to show an embarrassment of riches in the “young wrestler” category as one of the best promotions in Japan.

On 22nd February, after his match against Yuki Ueno, “THE RAMPAGE” J-Pop star Kaisei Takechi confirmed that he had cleared his schedule for the King of DDT tournament and “Peter Pan”. He was later announced for both, with Takechi facing Konosuke Takeshita in a Dramatic Dream match at “Peter Pan” on 11th August. If that doesn’t signpost to you what DDT will be doing with Takechi, then nothing will. He is very likely to beat Ueno for the KO-D Openweight Title and have an established reign at the top. At the same time, DDT will hope that many of Takechi’s fans stick around and latch onto the next generation of wrestlers such as Takeshi Masada, To-y, Kazuma Sumi, Daichi Satoh and Yuya Koroku. DDT founder Sanshiro Takagi had namedropped Masada, To-y and Koroku as the future of DDT previously and has spoken extensively about Daichi’s potential (poor Sumi). Akito said that the reason they announced “Peter Pan” matches so early is that other big shows around the world have cards announced a year ahead, like “WrestleMania”.

Yuki Ueno gave an interview to Shupro for issue #2400 where he spoke further about the Tokyo Dome goal and how it came about. Ueno mentioned that he never intended to surpass his best friend Konosuke Takeshita as the ace of DDT. The fact he was even a wrestler was already a major goal achieved. But when Takeshita left for the US, he felt that someone needed to step up to lead the DDT that he grew to love. Takeshita being successful didn’t make Ueno jealous, it instead confirmed to him that the “DDT way” works and he can continue doing what they were doing before. Ueno also explains that DDT is unique in that it is one of the best places for younger talent to flourish because the experienced veterans do not get in the way of the younger talent. Ueno cites Sanshiro Takagi, HARASHIMA and Danshoku Dieno as veterans that urge them on. He believes that because they are all doing what they want, they also let the younger guys do what they want, too. That freedom helps foster the environment DDT has today. Ueno explains that sure, people can watch weekly shows as short stories, but ultimately wrestling is a massive long-form story, like a grand historical drama. So when he said he wants to go to the Tokyo Dome, he wanted people to feel like they are following the story from the start, so that when it happens it is a dream that they have realised together. Finally, he says that since he didn’t grow up a wrestling fan, he has no attachment to the Dome, but he knows several DDT roster members do, so he wants the whole DDT roster, and its fans, to go to the Dome together rather than set it as a selfish goal. Ueno understands that the match at Korakuen Hall against Takechi is an important part of the process, a daily accumulation of efforts that will be required to make it to the Dome. Akito mentioned elsewhere that as of 22nd March, he was in the process of deciding what buildings to book for their 30th anniversary in 2027 and it would depend on their current attendances.

On 22nd February, former JTO wrestler Thunder Masami, 20, announced that he would be joining DDT and will go by the name Masami Inahata. He is the brother of Katsumi Inahata who joined NOAH as a rookie on 2nd January. Masami became an official member of the DDT roster at “Judgement” on 22nd March. Masami said that the main motivation for him was to face off against the other young talent in DDT. He is from the same hometown as Sanshiro Takagi which is Toyonaka in Osaka prefecture.

Takeshi Masada and Yuya Koroku have co-founded a new unit in DDT. The name and branding is unknown right now, but it is based on the young “D Generations” group who regularly hold shows facing each other and also some young outsiders. Daichi Satoh has also joined the group, meaning that Dragongate’s Love & Peace is no longer the best in-ring unit in the world (teasing, of course, but I am very excited for this young DDT unit).

I lead with all of those to provide some comfort to fans who may be upset about the retirement of Kazusada Higuchi, who retired on 5th April at Korakuen Hall. During a routine health check, conducted regularly by DDT, they found subluxation of the first and second cervical vertebrae. They pulled him from shows once this discovery was made in early January. Higuchi had just returned from problems with his neck earlier in 2025 and thought he had made a full comeback. Higuchi had not experienced any symptoms prior to the diagnosis. They are unsure if this occurred as a new condition after his previous, different, neck condition or if it was always there and undiscovered until now. Akito clarified that it is in a difficult place to find issues right at the top of the spine near the base of the skull. Since Higuchi wanted to continue wrestling, they explored treatment options. The medical diagnosis was that treatment was possible, but then it would be too dangerous to continue with contact sports. Higuchi, in consultation with his doctor and DDT, subsequently decided to retire. Higuchi asked DDT to withhold the announcement until after the anniversary show, “Judgement”. He asked the promotion to put on a Harimao (his stable) against DNA First Class (Shunma Katsumata, Kota Umeda & Kouki Iwasaki) match prior to his ceremony. Higuchi left behind an enormous legacy of legitimising DDT as its best wrestler for a significant period of time. His work in 2025 cemented his legacy as he helped the company transition to its younger generation, which I laid out above, which are now enroute to a huge 30th anniversary year in 2027. He was also instrumental in allowing me to discover DDT as I was sucked in by his 25th September 2022 match with Konosuke Takeshita. Higuchi will never be forgotten for his role in raising DDT to this level. Fans should take solace in the fact that he is happily married and can focus on his family while not doing further irreparable damage to his health. Celebrate the good times.

DDT’s annual King of DDT tournament kicks off on 4th May at Korakuen Hall, headlined by a special bout between Kaisei Takechi and Danshoku Dieno. Make sure you are wearing your earplugs for that one because the ladies are going to go absolutely wild as Dieno works his match on the J-Pop superstar. Takechi is a favourite to win the tournament.

DDT’s final Shinjuku FACE show will be on 9th September as the venue is set to close shop during that month.

Recommended Matches This Issue

These are in order of personal preference rather than chronological.

Daichi Satoh, Takeshi Masada & Yuya Koroku vs. Kaisei Takechi, To-y & Yuki Ueno – 11th March at Shinjuku FACE (My #1 DDT MOTY)
Kazuki Hirata vs. Konosuke Takeshita – 22nd March at Korakuen Hall
Kazuma Sumi vs. Takeshi Masada – 22nd February at Korakuen Hall
Kaisei Takechi vs. Yuki Ueno – 22nd February at Korakuen Hall
KANON vs. To-y – 8th March at 176BOX
Daichi Satoh vs. Takeshi Masada – 7th March at Imaike Gas Hall
Hideki Okatani vs. Yukio Naya – 15th April at Korakuen Hall
KANON vs. Yuki Ueno – 22nd March at Korakuen Hall
To-y vs. Yuki Ishida – 28th February at Yokohama Radiant Hall
Akito & Junta Miyawaki vs. Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA – 15th March at Yume Messe Miyagi
KANON & MAO vs. To-y & Yuki Ueno – 15th March at Yume Messe Miyagi
Hideki Okatani vs. To-y – 22nd March at Korakuen Hall
Chris Brookes, HARASHIMA & Hinata Kasai vs. Daichi Satoh, Takeshi Masada & Yuya Koroku – 15th April at Korakuen Hall
Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA vs. Junta Miyawaki & Shinya Aoki – 22nd March at Korakuen Hall

“HYBRID PERFORMER 2026”

22nd February 2026
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Recommended Matches: Kazuma Sumi vs. Takeshi Masada, Kaisei Takechi vs. Yuki Ueno
Designation: Key Show

Kaisei Takechi is one of the most popular wrestlers to set foot in DDT due to his side gig performing in one of the most popular J-Pop bands in the country, “THE RAMPAGE”. Around two years ago, Takechi made the decision to begin a professional wrestling career, debuting on 25th February 2024. It wasn’t an easy decision. In Shupro #2399, Takechi spoke about being anxious, tense and conflicted. He was approached with the offer a year and a half before he actually made the decision, which would mean late 2022. That was around the time that he was playing the role of a wrestler in an ABEMA original drama series, which was fully supported by DDT. During that period, DDT noticed his talent and he credits Makoto Oishi and KO-D Openweight Champion Yuki Ueno for continuing to encourage him and telling him that he had a talent for it. It took him so long to decide because he wasn’t expecting his company (LDH) to actually say yes, so the decision was left with him to agonise over. Takechi’s nerves disappeared as he continued to make appearances, leading to him becoming a DDT-contracted wrestler in June 2025. As Takechi recognises himself, it is not often that a wrestler celebrates their 2nd anniversary, and he chose his friend Yuki Ueno for the occasion in a non-title singles match. They hold the KO-D Six Man Tag Team Titles together, but Takechi didn’t quite have the confidence to challenge for the title saying that it was too early for him. His personal goal for the end of 2026 is to be able to wrestle twice a month, roughly the same number of times he performs with “THE RAMPAGE”.

Takechi and Ueno put on a masterclass. By that, I mean they had the entire crowd eating out of the palm of their hand for over 20-minutes of action, and the crowd did not die a single time. This match, much like the semi-main event, was laid out perfectly, built around Kaisei struggling to overcome the ace. Takechi and Ueno milked every last drop they could out of all of these struggle spots, with Takechi putting on the best selling performance of his short career so far. If anyone is unsure about why Kaisei may be hyped up in Japanese media as an outstanding rookie, this match is the best showcase of his abilities and crowd connection. The crowd was absolutely losing their mind during a very smartly-executed crowd brawling segment. The two knew exactly what they were doing, even teasing a count out which led to a big pop as Takechi ran into the ring at the last second. The crowd were so into this that they were popping for submission holds, vertical suplex struggles, boston crabs, anything. There were loud shrieks when Takechi and Ueno were trading strikes at the top of the turnbuckle. This match was yet another notch in the “Ueno is massively underrated” agenda I continue to keep drawing attention to, as he was perfect here. He hit a beautiful frog splash, and didn’t pin Takechi just once, no, he pinned him twice. Each time got a huge reaction, and the crowd burst into “Kaisei!” chants after the second kick out. It’s the little things that really make an excellent match. It was a well-paced, masterfully-executed match drawing on Takechi’s star power. After Takechi ran out of gas, which was an awesome story to tell given his experience and going over 20 minutes, Ueno hit his WR finisher in world record speed to capture the win.

Kazuma Sumi and Takeshi Masada are my favourite young wrestlers in DDT. The fact that the final of the D Generations Cup would be contested between the two felt like it was booked just for me, and I was all the way locked in. The winner of the tournament would earn a shot at Daisuke Sasaki’s DDT Universal Title. That’s a title that feels like Masada is destined to win at some point, so this wasn’t a bad opportunity to give him an easy shot and Sasaki is an opponent that you don’t lose anything by beating him. Sumi doesn’t really need a title. He is one of the most over people on the roster and has done so without being in super elevated spots; therefore, I figured that Masada would win this match. So imagine my pure excitement when they finally did it and gave Sumi a massive win, claiming the D Generations Cup. This match was incredible, and really smartly laid out. Masada was playing the bully, which really put a seed of doubt in my head that he was winning. What that did was mean I was living and dying off of every single nearfall for the entire match as I actually believed that Sumi had a chance of winning, simply due to Masada’s attitude. Sometimes, wrestlers reward you for being a “smart fan”, and this was one of those matches where both of them thought about how to make the crowd peak at the right time and think a certain way. The two deserve massive credit for planning out a match like this.

On top of the layout, Kazuma Sumi was just on top of his game in this match. He was truly incredible, and Masada was all the way there with him. Early on, Sumi was going for a tope suicida, and if you know Sumi, you’ll know he is incredibly fast. Somehow, Masada caught Sumi mid-air and then slammed him into the apron, which was the first sign that Masada was playing this match a bit heelish. Then, Sumi was pinging about the ring looking like one of the best luchadors in the world, landing on his feet from monkey flips, doing moonsaults from every part of the ring and executing one of the best Sumi boomerangs I’ve seen. Straight after, there was an absolutely mind-boggling insane spot, where somehow Sumi countered a wheelbarrow German suplex into the best Canadian destroyer I have ever seen, and transitioned it into a schoolboy with lightning speed. That was one of the best spots I have seen in a very long time. Masada and Sumi traded a Dragongate-inspired combination burst of strikes which ended with Masada landing the beautiful wheelbarrow German suplex, which was a fitting sequence for two of the most Dragongate-coded wrestlers on the roster (with Sumi himself being a former Dragongate trainee). It didn’t really stop there. Sumi countered Masada, who was going for his signature running knee strike, by jumping high into the air. But, Masada caught him in a Canadian backbreaker and slammed him down with a Canadian hammer into a penalty kick. At this point I could hardly believe what I was watching. Masada followed up with the running knee strike. I thought it was all over. Sumi kicked out. Then, out of nowhere, Sumi locked in the tightest schoolboy you will ever see for the surprise win. I jumped out of my seat. I had goosebumps re-living this match for this review.

Viento Maligno (Keigo Nakamura under a mask) made his DDT debut. Nakamura had been on excursion for almost a year doing random shows on the Mexican independent scene in the middle of nowhere. Under the new gimmick, he has joined Strange Love Connection and teamed up with KANON and MAO on this show. They were against Akito, Danshoku Dieno and Super Sasadango Machine. Viento started out with Dieno, which feels like a cruel rib given Viento was trying to show off some llave and it was not working out. I have no idea why they thought it would be a good idea to debut this gimmick against Dieno and Super Sasadango Machine as opposed to someone like Yuya Koroku. His mask was also bothering him and he did not look comfortable at all. At the start of the exchange, Dieno grabbed Viento’s balls and said, “You…no way…!” So they were clearly not hiding the fact it is Nakamura under the mask, and also it is now established lore that Dieno can recognise people from the feel of their balls. This was not a good re-debut for Nakamura, so I would hope that the mask and the choice of opponents played the biggest role in that. After the match, Dieno and SSM challenged SLC for the KO-D Tag Team Titles on 11th March at Shinjuku FACE. SSM also cut a promo into the camera saying that they were not trading games or gacha games. He then paused and then pleaded for CyberAgent to make them into trading cards and gacha games. This was a parody of Yota Tsuji’s promo which got him heat with Bushiroad by saying that the New Japan wrestlers were not trading cards (Bushiroad, who own New Japan, make trading cards, while CyberAgent, who own DDT, make their main revenue from gacha games).

DAMNATION T.A. (Daisuke Sasaki, Hideki Okatani & Ilusion) took on Harimao (Naomi Yoshimura, Ryota Nakatsu & Yuki Ishida). Nakatsu is normally busy running BASARA so only drops in occasionally. Watching this match I couldn’t help but wonder what the plan will be for Hideki Okatani, who has been completely outshone by Ilusion in the same unit. He feels like more of an afterthought. Kazusada Higuchi, who is recovering from some work done on his neck, was at ringside and put on a brain claw hold on Sasaki and MJ Paul. Yoshimura got the rare pin on Ilusion.

Rukiya took the spot of Daichi Satoh as he teamed with Yuya Koroku against Junta Miyawaki and Shinya Aoki. This was a big spot for Rukiya and after he had an excellent D Generations Cup run I was looking forward to seeing what he could do with this opportunity. This match was pretty much built around Rukiya. Rukiya was aggressive, repeatedly attempting to forearm Aoki off of the apron. Aoki of course no sold all of it. Interestingly, Junta also no-sold a lot of offence and was playing the role of the veteran bully as he suplexed Rukiya around the ring. Junta turned his chicken-wing pin into an Aoki clutch-like pin for the victory. Rukiya attacked Junta after the bell. This was a very good match which I enjoyed quite a bit.

FANTÔMES DRAMATIC (Antonio Honda, Chris Brookes, HARASHIMA & Hinata Kasai) teamed up together as a full unit for the first time against Kazuki Hirata, To-y, Toru Owashi and Yuni. I am quite surprised that they did not have anything more for To-y on this show. To-y is one of the younger talents that DDT is pushing very strongly, and you’d think a sold out show with a lot of Kaisei Takechi fans would be the perfect opportunity to put him in a highlight spot. That definitely stood out as something that has bucked the recent trend for To-y. After Anton’s usual Gongitsune routine, he tried to strike Hirata with a fox attack, but Hirata was wearing the “Tokyo Go” glasses which blocked the attack. It didn’t matter. Hirata eventually got pinned. After the match, GM Hisaya Imabayashi announced that DJ John Robinson would be Hirata’s second for his match against Konosuke Takeshita on 22nd March at “Judgement”.

Daichi Satoh was taken off the show and replaced with “The Human Thumb” Ryoma Tsukamoto, who teamed with Sanshiro Takagi and Tomomitsu Matsunaga against Jun Akiyama, Makoto Oishi and Yukio Naya. Given Oishi’s role in supporting Takechi, it is not surprising he was on this show.

Full Results

Jun Akiyama, Makoto Oishi & Yukio Naya defeat Ryoma Tsukamoto, Sanshiro Takagi & Tomomitsu Matsunaga (9:11)

FANTÔMES DRAMATIC (Antonio Honda, Chris Brookes, HARASHIMA & Hinata Kasai) defeat Kazuki Hirata, To-y, Toru Owashi & Yuni (9:41)

Junta Miyawaki & Shinya Aoki defeat Rukiya & Yuya Koroku (10:32)

Harimao (Naomi Yoshimura, Ryota Nakatsu & Yuki Ishida) defeat DAMNATION T.A (Daisuke Sasaki, Hideki Okatani & Ilusion) (10:56)

Strange Love Connection (KANON, MAO & Viento Maligno) defeat Akito, Danshoku Dino & Super Sasadango Machine (10:37)

D Generations Cup 2026 Final:
Kazuma Sumi defeats Takeshi Masada (17:08)

Yuki Ueno defeats Kaisei Takechi (20:50)

“Sumo vs. Soccer!” - To-y retains DDT Extreme Title - 28th February 2026 (*)

28th February 2026
Yokohama Radiant Hall, Kanagawa, Japan
Recommended Match: To-y vs. Yuki Ishida

To-y defended his DDT Extreme Title against Yuki Ishida in the main event. The rules were set to be “Soccer vs. Sumo!” That meant that football (I’m not calling it soccer beyond the official name of the match) and sumo-related items could be used as weapons. I didn’t know what a sumo-related item was. I don’t watch sumo, but it looked like it was a spanking device, since that’s how Ishida used it during the match. This match was great and another notch in To-y’s fantastic Extreme Title reign. Ishida was in his sumo outfit and To-y was fitted out in football gear. To-y actually has some football skills as he did some kick-ups before the match. He then kicked the ball right into Ishida’s nuts as soon as the bell rang. Ishida bounced back with a hard sumo throw. To-y was very scared after that. Ishida bullied To-y and force fed him salt. I am assuming salt is used in sumo in some way. Ishida then humped To-y. What am I missing here with sumo? To-y put out some training cones while Ishida was running the ropes so Ishida had to start running in-between them. To-y then blasted a football right between Ishida’s legs. If you have not been hit by a football before then let me tell you. That hurts. The finish of the match saw To-y take his football top off and exchange chops as they ditched the weapons and started beating the crap out of each other. Then, To-y and Ishida stood across from each other in opposite corners. Ishida threw salt in the air and they launched at each other sumo-style. To-y planted a running enzuigiri on Ishida’s temple and finished off the bout with Kojima in Wonderland for the win. As To-y was leaving the ring after his closing show promo, Hideki Okatani ran out and attacked him with his cane. That sets up a DDT Extreme Title match at “Judgement”.

Viento Maligno (Keigo Nakamura) had another shot at sorting out his gear in another outing as he teamed with KANON and Akito and Yuki Ueno. This was a preview match between Ueno and KANON for their upcoming KO-D Openweight Title match at “Judgement”. Viento had his durag wrapped on tightly so he didn’t have the same issue as before; although, I would just prefer it if he was Keigo Nakamura. Ueno and KANON exchanged some words, with Ueno ending the exchange with a dropkick to KANON’s head.

DAMNATION T.A. (Daisuke Sasaki, Hideki Okatani, Ilusion & MJ Paul) faced Junta Miyawaki, Kazuma Sumi, Shinya Aoki and Yukio Naya. This was a preview match for Sumi and Sasaki’s upcoming DDT Universal Title match at “Judgement”. I still maintain that Sumi has the best chemistry with Okatani, so seeing them interact in any way is a joy for me. Sumi used all of his godlike athleticism at the previous Korakuen Hall show, so he did have some slip ups here, although he saved each of them and made it work.

Daichi Satoh and Rukiya took on Takeshi Masada and Yuya Koroku. After Masada pinned Rukiya in a solid match, Masada spoke about D Generations. They are forming a new unit with Masada and Koroku at the head. I am beyond excited. Masada and Koroku invited Daichi and Rukiya to join them. Daichi accepted but Rukiya declined saying he prefers to fight against them. They also announced their intention to go after the KO-D Six Man Tag Team Title, held by KO-D Openweight Champion Yuki Ueno, DDT Extreme Champion To-y and Kaisei Takechi. That match will be absolutely bonkers.

Ahead of FANTÔMES DRAMATIC (Antonio Honda, Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA) taking on Danshoku Dieno, Jun Akiyama and Kazuki Hirata, GM Hisaya Imabayashi announced that one of their staff members, Yamaguchi, would be leaving the promotion after 6 years on the staff. Imabayashi insisted that Dieno and Hirata don’t get up to any funny business to give Yamaguchi a proper send-off. Yamaguchi sat at ringside and observed. Dieno was about to drop his pants and teabag a guy. Imabayashi told him off, so he stopped. Hirata put on his glasses and was going to give us a dance show. Imabayashi told him off. Anton hurt his leg and was about to hit a Gongitsune attack. Imabayashi intervened. Yamaguchi hopped into the ring and basically said that he loves DDT the way it is. He then choked out Imabayashi allowing Anton to finish his Gongitsune bit. Later, Dieno was set up on the turnbuckle with his ass sticking out and “Tokyo Go!” was playing. Yamaguchi kept trying to pull down Dieno’s pants to expose his ass but Imabayashi kept pulling them up. This was to the rhythm of the song. Yamaguchi won the tussle for Dieno’s pants (down, rather than up) and Imabayashi’s face went into Dieno’s ass for the 500th time in his career. Then, Anton threw Yamaguchi’s face into Dieno’s ass to the rhythm of the song for the first time in his career. Yamaguchi fell on top of Imabayashi and pinned him. Dieno ran after Yamaguchi after the match to try and kiss him.

paleyouth debut as a trio - 7th March 2026

7th March 2026
Imaike Gas Hall, Aichi, Japan

DDT held yet another show at Imaike Gas Hall in Aichi, making me think if this was the new Ueno Park. In the main event, Kazuma Sumi and DDT Universal Champion Daisuke Sasaki started their preview tags against each other as Sumi and Akito faced Sasaki and Ilusion. Sumi continued taking some crazy bumps, such as a running powerslam onto some chairs. It was a solid match but, it’s DAMNATION T.A. in a preview tag so it was never going to light the world on fire. Backstage, Sasaki told Shupro not to use Fuwa-chan as the cover of their magazine anymore and that they should use him instead because Sumi’s schoolboy does nothing to him.

In another preview tag match, this time for the KO-D Six Man Tag Team Titles, paleyouth (Daichi Satoh, Takeshi Masada & Yuya Koroku) faced 37KAMIINA (To-y & Yuki Ueno) and Rukiya. paleyouth is up there with Love & Peace, Mi Vida Loca and Las Fresa des Egoístas for my favourite factions in wrestling. paleyouth was created in the wake of the D Generations Cup and is led by the leaders of the D Generations group, minus To-y who still hangs around with the popular guy in school, Yuki Ueno. Rukiya had refused to join the faction as he wanted to forge his own path. This match was so good. While the name and logo of paleyouth sucks, the wrestlers are outstanding. Rukiya has had a new edge to him since the D Generations Cup, despite being the lowest guy on the roster, he had stepped it up against Koroku and Masada during the tournament. He renewed that aggression against them on this show, with Masada and Koroku being total bullies. Koroku throwed some lethal Hideki Suzuki or Miu Watanabe-style elbows to Rukiya with his arm trapped in the corner. While Rukiya once again had a solid outing, Masada put him away with the running knee strike. Masada announced their unit name and revealed their t-shirt after the match. He looked very comfortable as leader of the unit. The crazier part is that all of paleyouth and Rukiya had wrestled earlier on in the day in the D Generations show (To-y didn’t do much in this match).

Strange Love Connection (MAO, KANON, Viento Maligno & Yukio Naya) faced FANTÔMES DRAMATIC (Antonio Honda, Chris Brookes, HARASHIMA & Hinata Kasai). SLC are hilarious with their demeanour on these house shows. They are literally big kids in their backyard playing pretend wrestling. It’s hilarious. MAO is just jumping excitedly while calling out plays, telling KANON to suplex the opponent. They’re jumping around giddy just because they are wrestling. It’s adorable. They were also excited to harmonise with Anton’s Gongitsune “Chinpo!” back and forth once again. I think I have seen them do this bit at least three times in the past month, and it has been funny every time, especially with their new big dumb kid personality. There was a sick chokeslam into a crucifix driver combination from Yukio Naya and MAO. That should’ve finished the match. Instead, Viento debuted (I think) a new finisher. It’s basically Penta’s finisher, or Shingo Takagi’s Made in Japan.

“D Generations 8” - 8th March 2026 (*)

7th March 2026
Imaike Gas Hall, Aichi, Japan
Recommended Match: Daichi Satoh vs. Takeshi Masada

I’ll be honest, guys. In this review I don’t feel like elaborating because I say it every D Generations show review. DDT has the best young wrestlers in the world, and the shows are always of a high, consistent quality, with no comedy (if you happen to not enjoy laughing, just like Rainer Wolfcastle from The Simpsons). To show how crazy the depth of the DDT younger roster is, they booked new teammates Daichi Satoh and Takeshi Masada to go head-to-head in a singles match. Obviously, this was sick. It was booked for me. This was just two of the best young talents in the world wrestling each other on a Nagoya house show. I don’t need to say more. Then we had Kazuma Sumi and Yuya Koroku face Rukiya and Yuki Ishida. That was pretty great. Finally in the main event there was a preview match for the DDT Extreme Title between champion To-y and Hideki Okatani. Okatani is an underrated young talent in DDT that doesn’t get much buzz. Partly because his gimmick is to not care, so he’s not in featured spots very much. That changed at “DDT Judgement” as he would face To-y high up the marquee card. Okatani’s striking is great, and he’s in the right place at the right time, always. He is by no means the best of the young crop, but he is still good. There were some awesome fast-paced segments between these two. Although, To-y needs to drop the no-sell gimmick. It looks awful and makes his opponents look stupid. Okatani looked like an idiot just staring at To-y screaming. To-y won after a series of open-handed strikes. This was To-y’s first ever win over Okatani. If that wasn’t enough, in the opener there was Sportiva’s Ali Najima facing Hinata Kasai. Najima is a rising young talent in the puro scene who had a great rookie year and this was yet another great appearance in DDT for the youngster as he gave Hinata one of his best matches so far in his young career.

Just ignore the Ilusion versus Mikiya Sasaki match. I did.

Just watch KANON vs. To-y - 8th March 2026 (*)

8th March 2026
176BOX, Osaka, Japan
Recommended Match: KANON vs. To-y

KANON and To-y chopped the ever-living shit out of each other in the main event. I am not exaggerating. KANON once in a while decides to have a match where he wants his chest turned purple. It has happened several times in the past year, most famously against Kazusada Higuchi in the “King of DDT Finals” in 2025. Both KANON and To-y obviously utilise chops a lot in their offence, so this match made total sense. Another of KANON’s weapons is his lariats. Towards the end of the match, KANON started lariating To-y out of his skin, with sweat just leaping into the air with each thunderous blow. KANON finished To-y off with the LONELY DEZIRES finisher. This match was just uncomfortably nasty. It was awesome. It was a match straight out of a gritty puro independent promotion in Basement Monster in Tokyo or something. As a reminder, this was a random DDT VOD where Shupro didn’t even bother sending a reporter. This is the depth of the DDT roster. I will keep writing about it until people understand how good this roster is. There was no doubt in my mind Yuki Ueno and KANON would put on an excellent main event at “Judgement”, especially after KANON had just destroyed Ueno’s closest ally in DDT. I do find it funny that KANON and Ueno probably bruise the easiest in DDT. It’s a good trait to have. They look totally destroyed after chops.

FANTÔMES DRAMATIC (Chris Brookes, HARASHIMA & Hinata Kasai) faced paleyouth (Daichi Satoh, Takeshi Masada & Yuya Koroku) the day after they were founded. It was quite funny to see Chris go so hard at Koroku after he spoke at a Meet and Greet about how much he hated Koroku. On the other hand, Chris would also go up against his former Schadenfreude International teammate, the boy he loved and thought was “one of the best wrestlers in the world” in Masada. They kicked and chopped the hell out of each other. You know what they say, friends hit each other the hardest inside the squared circle. paleyouth is just so god damn good. Seriously. This match was so great, and it was a random undercard match in the same arena small joshi independent promotions like Actwres girl’Z run regularly, i.e. it is small.

Rukiya has been featured more prominently since the beginning of the D Generations Cup. That continued on this show as the veteran team of Jun Akiyama and Tomomitsu Matsunaga tried to keep him down, but he kept on getting back up with the crowd behind him.

DAMNATION T.A. (Daisuke Sasaki, Hideki Okatani & Ilusion) faced Strange Love Connection (MAO, Viento Maligno & Yukio Naya). This was a fun semi-main event. MAO is having the time of his life being out of the spotlight. He was screaming “Vamos!” to Viento, despite it obviously being Keigo Nakamura and not an actual luchador. Sasaki was in an octopus stretch by Naya and kept shouting “Give uppu, give uppu!” He tapped relentlessly. Of course, he wasn’t the legal man.

paleyouth win their first titles already - 11th March 2026 (*) (DDT MOTYC)

11th March 2026
Shinjuku FACE, Tokyo, Japan
Recommended Match: paleyouth (Daichi Satoh, Takeshi Masada & Yuya Koroku) vs. 37KAMIINA (To-y & Yuki Ueno) & Kaisei Takechi

The main event of one of more stacked Shinjuku FACE cards in quite some time was paleyouth (Daichi Satoh, Takeshi Masada & Yuya Koroku) taking on the KO-D Six Man Tag Team Champions 37KAMIINA (To-y & Yuki Ueno) and superstar Kaisei Takechi. I was very, very, very upset that I had accidentally spoiled myself on the result. I had avoided spoilers for the entire day, but for some reason I didn’t think that collecting match cards for the newsletter would spoil me. But alas, the “DDT Judgement” full card had paleyouth defending against Harimao, so I knew a switch had happened. Pretty stupid! That undoubtedly affected the possibility of this match making it into my MOTYC list, because there is nothing that beats the surprise of your favourite wrestlers winning a title. It was still awesome. With the exception of Kazuma Sumi missing from here, these are six of the best young talents in the promotion. It was a showcase of DDT’s embarrassment of riches. A war chest of young talent that they’ve been accumulating with little fanfare or attention. Even though DDT’s fans have known it for quite a while, this match felt like the official beginning of DDT’s golden generation. It wasn’t just To-y on top with his seventeen titles, his D Generations teammates had finally won their own gold, and not even consolation gold. They beat the most pushed team in the promotion to do it. If that wasn’t lighting the bonfire to say “our young guys are now our top guys”, then nothing would.

The crowd, once again, elevated this match to a completely new level. I’ve spoken endlessly about Takechi’s starpower and how loud his fans are at any show he appears on. I’ve only mentioned in passing that the goal of the Takechi push should be to transfer some of that heat to DDT’s other crop of young talent. Well let me tell you, if this match was anything to go by, that plan is going to be successful. As Daichi Satoh tagged in, the whole crowd shrieked with calls for Daichi’s name. He was getting as many calls from the women in the crowd as Takechi. Of course, it has always been the case that Daichi has been the most popular with the women among the D Generations crowd, perhaps along with To-y and Koroku, but him wrestling Takechi really put it into perspective. If you’re wondering why I talk about women in the crowd so much, it’s because they are driving the renaissance of men’s wrestling in Japan. It’s a storyline of each of these men’s promotions. It’s just a fact if you watch any of these shows. (I would love for real demographic data to be released, but it doesn’t exist.) New Japan, All Japan, NOAH and especially DDT have had a huge increase in women watching their products and more importantly attending shows since the pandemic. If you’re happy your favourite promotion is doing well, then first of all, thank the girls, then thank the roster for being handsome enough to draw those crowds. Big ugly men are out of fashion. The Ichiban Sweet Boys are here to stay. If you want a peek into the window of what is driving growth in wrestling in Japan in 2025, just watch this match. This is it. Six hot guys just having an excellent wrestling match.

Alright, back to the match. On top of being a huge draw, Takechi is just a great wrestler. I spoke about it in the Ueno match, but equally, the fact he can so effortlessly do a beautiful tope con giro is honestly crazy. I also popped massively when he pulled out a rebound German suplex onto Masada into a chokeslam. It’s just showing off at that point. One of the key stories of this match is the budding rivalry between Takechi and Masada. They last met in the semi-main event of “Ultimate Party” on 3rd November 2025 as Masada and Kazusada Higuchi took on Konosuke Takeshita and Takechi. That match was all about kicking off the rivalry between the chosen one, Takechi, and the homegrown future ace, Masada. The final stretch of this match was a showdown between the two, and it was absolutely incredible. Every single time Masada had Takechi down for a pin, the crowd erupted, urging Takechi to kick out. Masada then struggled with Takechi before powering up and hitting Chikara KOBU MUKI MUKI for the win. After the match, Harimao came out to challenge. The crowd loved this. Harimao has been on the backburner quite a bit in 2025 and 2026, mostly due to Naomi’s part-time appearances, Ryoka Nakatsu being busy running BASARA and Kazusada Higuchi being out of action. They were regularly spotlighted with Higuchi during his 2025 title reign, though. Masada closed out the show and giving him his own unit is about getting him a lot more experience in that centre-figure role. It’s awesome and very smart booking, especially keeping him away from the KO-D Openweight Title which is presumably heading Takechi’s way. Masada scoring a direct pinfall on Takechi here is a big thing, and presumably Takechi will be back for his win in the King of DDT tournament, or it can potentially set up a future KO-D Openweight Title if Takechi ever wants out of the business during his inevitable run.

Danshoku Dieno and Super Sasadango Machine challenged Strange Love Connection (KANON & MAO) for their KO-D Tag Team Title. Part of the background for this match is that KANON is one of Dieno’s favourite wrestlers. You know what that means. A lot of humping. Dieno also used his mouth several times to try and win the title, such as breaking up a submission hold. I lost count of how many kisses there were. Dieno pulled out a rare moonsault but missed. In the finishing stretch between Dieno and KANON there were some callbacks to their match in Osaka on 23rd September which ended with KANON kissing Dieno to defeat him as the lights faded to black. The story was set up there that KANON is able to overcome Dieno’s mouth. After a multiple-minute kiss from Dieno, KANON broke free. He then took off his trousers, exposing his tight pants. Dieno then reached into KANON’s pants and grabbed his penis (you couldn’t see it). The crowd was going mental. KANON resisted the grip and landed a brutal running lariat for the win. That was a match with some fun spots and a great finishing stretch. It did take some time to get going, though, just like KANON. Maybe Dieno’s hands were just cold. After the match KANON cut a cute promo about wanting to become the ace of DDT, and he beat two icons of DDT, so he was going after Yuki Ueno at “Judgement” next.

Elsewhere, in a “dark match” (in Japan, ‘dark match’ just means pre-show, rather than not broadcasted), Kira Summer and Yuki Kamifuku faced Rika Tatsumi and Uta Takami. This was showcasing TJPW talent on the DDT show. I’m not going to look too much into who they chose to showcase (Uta Takami is the best). After the match, Rika plugged “Grand Princess ‘26”. Antonio Honda then came out and won the DDT Ironman Heavymetalweight Title from Rika. The crowd loved this. And so did I.

FANTÔMES DRAMATIC (Antonio Honda & HARASHIMA) took on Jun Akiyama & Kazuki Hirata. Before the match Hirata told Akiyama to make sure that Anton doesn’t fall over so that he doesn’t do the Gongitsune routine. After Anton entered, he kept talking about what a champion he was and challenged Akiyama. The bell rang and he almost immediately tripped but Akiyama saved him. Later in the match, Akiyama went to help Hirata out, but Akiyama tripped on the rope and fell down. The whole crowd immediately just burst out laughing as they knew what was about to come. Akiyama took the mic and was about to do the Gongitsune routine. He called over Anton, who then also tripped, so they both did the Gongitsune routine. As a reminder, it is a routine where Anton tells a dirty joke related to Gon the Little Fox, a children’s story, and then attacks people with his hands in the shape of a fox. Sometimes it works out well, most of the time it doesn’t. This time it did. After Anton dispatched Akiyama, Hirata tripped over Anton and then HARASHIMA hit Somato on him. Anton then pinned Hirata. This was awesome.

After the match, GM Hisaya Imabayashi announced that Anton would be facing YOH at the 15th April Korakuen Hall. It got a huge reaction (everything in DDT does). Anton said that he would put his shiny new title on the line against YOH. That’s when Imabayashi then hit Anton with the title and rolled him up to become the new champion. Imabayashi apologised saying that he could not allow the title to get into the hands of New Japan and it was he that was managing the risk of DDT like the good corporate pen pusher he is (paraphrased).

FANTÔMES DRAMATIC (Chris Brookes & Hinata Kasai) paired up with Kota Sekifuda against Junta Miyawaki, Shinya Aoki and Viento Maligno (Keigo Nakamura). The joke here is that Aoki would pair up with Nakamura regularly before his excursion. Hinata is improving. He does not look as lost as he did a few months ago. Since I watch him so regularly it sometimes is hard to see the growth in real time as opposed to people checking in now and again, but him being highlighted on recent shows made me realise that he has lost a lot of the initial clumsiness that he had. Also, Chris’s shotgun dropkick is awesome. Always gets a reaction and is an incredibly safe move that looks very impactful. The epitome of what a good wrestling move is.

Kazuma Sumi & Harimao (Naomi Yoshimura, Ryota Nakatsu & Yuki Ishida) took on DAMNATION T.A. (Daisuke Sasaki, Hideki Okatani, Ilusion & MJ Paul) in another preview for the DDT Universal Title. Sasaki had the idea of doing a Russian leg sweep onto Sumi while they were both standing on some chairs. It did not look as impactful as they thought it would, but it probably did hurt a lot. This was a solid match that Naomi won by pinning Ilusion to foreshadow their later challenge.

Gota Ihashi, Shishamo Power & Unagi Mask (Akito) faced Tomomitsu Matsunaga and The Apex (Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya). This was just to set up the announcement that Unagi Mask Woman will debut on 19th April with the Unagi brothers against Aja Kong, Chris Brookies and Antonio Honda. It’s Mifu Ashida.

The Final Round of Preview Tags before “Judgement” - 15th March 2026 (*)

15th March 2026
Yume Messe Miyagi, Miyagi, Japan
Recommended Match: Akito & Junta Miyawaki vs. Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA, KANON & MAO vs. To-y & Yuki Ueno

DDT were back in MAO’s hometown in Sendai, Miyagi, and Strange Love Connection (MAO & KANON) faced 37KAMIINA (To-y & Yuki Ueno) in the main event. They were also in the same venue where MAO broke a sprinkler on the ceiling on the last show while attempting a moonsault on 14th December. Yes, I remember. I did have to look up the date, though, so it’s not that impressive. This time, MAO knocked Ueno to the outside. He then put on the sash that represented Sendai and hyped the crowd up because he was about to do the exact same moonsault. Ueno shouted at him. MAO looked back and snapped back, “What?” Ueno pointed to the light and reminded him what happened last time. MAO had PTSD and was conflicted. To-y mocked him and called him the “Sprinkler Destroyer”. To-y asked him how much it had cost; MAO said 37k yen, or 370k yen. Something like that. There’s no transcript so this was with very, very basic Japanese. The 37 is obviously a reference to 37KAMIINA. I’m assuming. Anyway, this match was so fun. To-y and Ueno are playing the heels, and they start beating up the Sendai sash and body slamming it before launching it out of the ring. Later, Shunma Katsumata, who’s due to face MAO in his return match at “Judgement”, jumped into the ring to clear SLC out and will To-y on out of a submission. It did not work. The match had just the right mix of comedy and action for me, while also serving as MAO’s homecoming and Ueno & KANON’s preview match. I thought it was smart, effective, and most importantly fun. Ueno countered KANON’s LONELY DEZIRES into a headlock takedown for the flash pin.

FANTÔMES DRAMATIC (Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA) beat Akito and Junta Miyawaki in the semi-main event. This was just a classic DDT house show semi-main event. For those not familiar, that means it was a high workrate, no bullshit, balls to the wall match. Junta looked the best he ever had in a DDT ring – and probably a NOAH ring – for a long time. Junta is also using the Aoki clutch as one of his finishers that he has inherited in one of his other great DDT matches against Shinya Aoki. Although, it was only a nearfall here before Chris helped out HARASHIMA. It is ludicrous that HARASHIMA is 51.

In their final preview tag for the DDT Universal Title, Kazuma Sumi teamed with Viento Maligno (Keigo Nakamura) and Yukio Naya in a losing effort DAMNATION T.A. (Daisuke Sasaki, Hideki Okatani & Ilusion), where Sumi was looking to pick up a crucial win for confidence against Sasaki ahead of their “Judgement” showdown. After the match, Sasaki took a chair and tried to talk mad shit to Sumi, so Sumi lowblow’d Sasaki. Sumi said that he might not have won a single preview tag, but he only needs to pin Sasaki once at Korakuen Hall to become the new champion. Also, Viento figured out a way to look good: just wrestle Ilusion. This was probably one of his better outings since he debuted the gimmick. Finally, this was also the match where it clicked for me that Anri’s flying headscissors into a schoolboy move comes from Kazuma Sumi. Anri is a rookie in AWG. They must watch a lot of tape in the AWG dojo.

Ahead of their KO-D Six Man Tag Team Titles bout at “Judgement”, Harimao (Naomi Yoshimura & Yuki Ishida) teamed with Ryoka Nakatsu stand-in, Jun Akiyama. They faced paleyouth (Daichi Saitoh, Takeshi Masada & Yuya Koroku) in a preview tag. Of course, this was a great match. I mean look at the people in it. When people talk about DDT’s young dearth of talent, this is part of it. paleyouth is like collecting the Infinity Stones of young wrestlers, and when you pair them with people such as Yuki Ishida and Naomi Yoshimura, it is impossible to have a bad match. Ishida caught Masada out with a flaming palm strike to win the one and only preview tag before “Judgement”.

“DDT Judgement” 2026

22nd March 2026
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Recommended Matches: Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA vs. Junta Miyawaki & Shinya Aoki, Kazuki Hirata vs. Konosuke Takeshita, KANON vs. Yuki Ueno
Designation: Key Show

DDT held one of their biggest shows of the year, alongside “Peter Pan” in the summer and “Ultimate Party” in the winter. They booked out both slots of Korakuen Hall so they could go as long as they wanted to go. Korakuen Hall was fully sold out, so I imagine this is the last time we may see “Judgement” take place at Korakuen Hall for the foreseeable future. DDT Korakuen Hall shows have a very high standard, not just historically, but especially in the past year since they began their hot run enroute to the Tokyo Dome. In comparison to those shows, as well as “Judgement 2025”, this show didn’t beat those out but was still wildly enjoyable, with Hirata and Takeshita in particular providing the highlight for the show.

KO-D Openweight Title: Yuki Ueno (c) vs. KANON

In the main event, the ace of DDT, Yuki Ueno, defended his KO-D Openweight Title against KANON. In an interview given to Shupro for issue #2403, KANON explained why he had challenged Ueno. He felt that his unit, Strange Love Connection, had reached a turning point. The Apex had just been merged into SLC, and he wanted to show some ambition and continue their momentum after defending the KO-D Tag Team Titles on 25th January. KANON said that MAO kept telling him that Speedball Mike Bailey was a huge influence on him, so MAO wanted to be that same influence on KANON. KANON also spoke about how he had stopped using his LONELY DEZIRES finisher, now called the GURUGURU Driver frequently because he didn’t want his opponents to learn how to counter it, in favour of a stiff lariat. Obviously, in reality that just means he wanted to keep it special. KANON, who transferred from JTO and joined DAMNATION T.A. in 2022, spoke about being expelled from DAMNATION T.A. in 2025, and that his time in the heel unit had caused some distrust between him and the other members of the roster. However, he said that because of those experiences he is who he is today. KANON also boldly stated that he did not want to lead DDT to the Tokyo Dome, even if he won the belt, as he does not believe that’s what the belt means. KANON believes that the leader of the promotion isn’t necessarily the one with the belt, instead it signifies the strongest. Ueno instead believes that the belt must provide dreams and that it is synonymous with leading the promotion into the Dome. KANON has been reserved in this build. He is clearly not comfortable in this position and his promos have been quite dry. Ueno even referred to this, saying that he felt KANON had not broken his shell, and he wanted to see that in the match. The bold, forward-thinking ace against the timid outsider just wanting to prove he is the promotion’s strongest wrestler.

KANON established earlier that he had the power advantage over Ueno. As the fight spilled to the outside, Ueno tried to fight back with chops, but KANON was unscathed and chopped him back twice as hard. There was a great spate of attacks from KANON where he started attacking Ueno’s body. He dropped Ueno on his stomach on top of the turnbuckle before following up with what is now becoming a signature strike of KANON’s, an elbow to the gut. KANON then contorted Ueno’s body with multiple abdominal stretches. All of this was to prepare Ueno for KANON’s GURUGURU Driver that he had stopped using to prevent his opponents from scouting it out. Ueno countered with a brainbuster but KANON stopped Ueno in his tracks with his other signature, a hellacious lariat. They both stood up and started trading chops. Coincidentally, these are the two wrestlers that bruise the easiest from chops on the entire roster, as they found out when both faced Kazusada Higuchi last year. Ueno then kept on prodding KANON with stiff strikes, including slapping him around the face. KANON responded with thunderous lariats that made him look like a killer. KANON then hit the GURUGURU driver into another running lariat for a great nearfall where Ueno barely touched the ropes with his right hand. KANON went for yet another lariat but Ueno teased countering it into WR. KANON fended off the WR attempt but was hit by Ueno’s signature dropkick before being caught in a sleeper. They teased a three count, but KANON lifted his arm just before the third to a loud pop. Ueno immediately followed up with a WR for the win.

The match was surprisingly more heated than I was expecting. This match basically had as much heat as the Dramatic Dream match earlier in the night. That is a testament to how hard these two worked. Ueno put on a clinic in getting KANON over with the crowd, putting on a match that highlighted KANON’s strengths perfectly. It was also a confirmation that KANON had heated up over the course of the last month tremendously, as the crowd was quite muted when he made the initial challenge. He had been this hot last year, but had cooled off significantly. This match showed that he can heat up again when needed. Of course, there was no doubt who was winning this match. If it wasn’t obvious from just watching the product, then earlier in the show they announced the field for the “King of DDT” tournament and KANON was in it but Ueno wasn’t. The only person Ueno was dropping this title to was Kaisei Takechi and no one else. Despite that, they had the crowd in the palm of their hand and put on an excellent match. It’s not that KANON is bad; in fact he is very good, but the fact they got this “top guy” reaction and that they were able to put on this kind of match is another notch in the “Ueno might just be one of the best wrestlers in the world” argument.

After the match, Ueno cut a passionate promo. It was a Ueno promo so of course it was very long. The gist of it was that he thinks KANON needs to show more of his own personality because he’s wonderful and entertaining, but Ueno didn’t realise it until this feud challenge. He wants KANON to come out of his shell, but reassures KANON that no matter what, he has always and will always be part of the DDT family. The promo caused Yuki Iino, KANON’s second, to cry at ringside. KANON went to his unit, and they gave him plaudits and left. Iino immediately came back smiling and laughing to challenge Ueno for his title. This is a great filler defence. Iino is a very underrated performer. He was the first wrestler a friend latched onto during her first ever DDT show as he stole the show in something as simple as a press conference for the KO-D Tag Team Title back when they were challenging Strange Love Connection in January. Iino said that he remembers his time as a trainee where Ueno was his senior one-year ahead of him. Ueno closed out the show with his signature long promos which he somehow manages to do every big show after a long and gruelling match. He truly is one of the best aces in wrestling today.

DDT Universal Title: Daisuke Sasaki (c) vs. Kazuma Sumi

On the back of his monumental D Generations Cup win, Kazuma Sumi attempted to take the DDT Universal Title from Daisuke Sasaki. In the build to the match, Sumi lost every single preview tag. As we know, Sumi is one of the best underdogs in wrestling today. In the press conference, Sumi said that he was starting to panic by losing so many times, not because he was scared of losing or looking like an idiot in front of the fans. Instead, the thing he was most scared of was the thought of giving up, so he resolved that he would keep fighting until the bitter end. They told a simple story of Sasaki working over Sumi’s leg. That made sense because Sumi is one of the best underdog wrestlers in the world and would have a hot comeback. The way they got there initially was a bit messy and the crowd took some time to get into the match following the previous one (Hirata and Takeshita). There was a ref bump and a low blow to Sumi. Yuni tried to help Sumi but they were both beaten up by DAMNATION T.A., Sasaki’s faction of bullied losers, but Sumi survived. The action went outside the ring. Sumi landed on his feet after a dragon suplex attempt on the apron which was sick, before hitting a beautiful springboard moonsault. He rolled Sasaki into the ring and hit one of his best reverse 450 splashes yet. It was a thing of beauty. Sumi paid homage to his former teammates as it hit MAO’s signature punch, before trying to win with a schoolboy, the move that Sasaki had declared he was immune to during the preview matches, in which Sumi lost all of them. MJ Paul tried to hit Sumi with a chair to break it up but missed and hit Sasaki. Sumi tried the La Mistico into a schoolboy but the immune Sasaki countered into a crossface. Sumi then reversed the crossface into a schoolboy for the win. There was literally a shriek from the audience when he won.

Sumi is one of my favourite wrestlers. He makes every DDT card at least good due to how effortlessly good he is, and how over he is with the crowd. I regularly call him the best midcarder in the world. If you ask me, I think it was the wrong call to have Sumi win this match. Sumi is the ultimate underdog. It is a bit strange seeing him win a major singles title before any of the other D Generations guys such as all the members of paleyouth (Daichi Satoh, Takeshi Masada & Yuya Koroku). I’m not saying he should never win one, but it didn’t feel right for it to be here, against Daisuke Sasaki of all people. I suppose, more specifically, I don’t think it was the match worthy of the huge moment for Sumi. Despite the crowd’s reaction to the schoolboy three-count, which was built up very well, the moment still felt underwhelming as it wasn’t a great match, and great matches is kind of what Sumi does. If he is getting this huge moment, I wanted it to be after a great match, and I never believed that Sasaki and Sumi could have that type of match. For example, I would have much preferred Masada to win the title off of Suzuki last year and then drop it to Sumi before Masada went on to create his own unit and run the six-man tag team division. Anyway, at least our boy is now a champion and receiving the plaudits he deserves. He nominated Shunma Katsumata as his first challenge, who had returned from injury earlier in the night.

There’s always one special match on a card titled the “Dramatic Dream” match. A match you just know is going to be a banger. The bar is set high for such matches, and they pretty much always deliver, from Hiroshi Tanahashi and Danshoku Dieno to Chris Brookes and Zack Sabre Jr., to name some recent examples. The designated match on this big show was DDT’s most beloved comedy wrestler Kazuki Hirata against DDT’s best export since the Golden Lovers, Konosuke Takeshita. Not only is he DDT’s best export, but DDT have shown the world how you do special attractions, because each appearance they get out of Takeshita has been used to the max.

Hirata was accompanied by John Robinson, the creator of Hirata’s (and previously Magnum Tokyo’s) “Tokyo Go!” entrance song. He performed the song live. Hirata appeared in the orange seats in the middle of the crowd. It was a suitable superstar entrance for the best comedy wrestler on the planet. Then, Takeshita made his own entrance through the same orange seats and uncharacteristically hyped the crowd out. They of course responded because the DDT audience absolutely loves Takeshita and he will always be one of their own. The crowd clearly saw this as the highlight of the entire show. Or maybe I’m projecting. The entrances and this match in general had a different vibe to it than everything else. It had that “big match” feel. Hirata walked up to Takeshita before the bell with a serious look on his face. He was ready for battle with the best in the world. The bell rang. Takeshita immediately hit a big boot. Hirata hit the floor. Takeshita covered him for the three-count and won. If you watch DDT, you could have won a lot of money predicting a first pinfall within five seconds.

GM Hisaya Imabayashi climbed into the ring. He turned to Hirata and told him that he had done well taking on the world-renowned Takeshita. He told Hirata to stand down, and he had done all he could. Hirata emotionally pleaded for another chance. Sad music started playing. Hirata pleaded once again. Imabayashi was so moved that he then joined Hirata in pleading to Takeshita for a rematch. Takeshita agreed. They were so thankful. The match restarted and Hirata dodged the boot but got hit by Takeshita’s signature elbow and lost again immediately. Imabayashi ran into the ring to comfort Hirata. Both were tearful, the sad music started playing again. They pleaded to Takeshita once again. Takeshita was just covering his face because he was corpsing so hard. Takeshita then took the mic and yelled “How many times are we going to do this?!” Takeshita called Hirata too weak for him and that they needed to do something about it. Takeshita said that if they don’t have a good match, they’re barely going to get a photo in Weekly Pro Magazine’s next issue (Shupro). He then also said that they wouldn’t even get a rating from Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer (yes, really). In order to have a good match that could generate some buzz, Takeshita suggested handicap rules where Hirata would only need a two-count to win rather than three. Hirata called it a stupid idea and said that still wouldn’t fix the problem. Takeshita then offered a twenty-count when pinning Hirata, but only a two-count needed to pin him. Hirata was happy with the new rules. The match restarted. Hirata dodged the big boot and the elbow and hit a flying headscissors. He went for a tope suicide but bailed at the last second due to fear, instead jumping from the apron. Takeshita threw Hirata into the chairs. He was about to hit Hirata with a chair but Robinson stopped him. Robinson offered him the glasses but Takeshita snapped them in half to loud boos. Back in the ring, Takeshita dropped Hirata for an eight-count. It is hilarious that Hirata stayed down for that long on such a basic strike. The crowd rallied behind Hirata with loud chants. Hirata tried to make a comeback, but he realised it was ineffective and wanted to leave the ring out of embarrassment. Takeshita pulled him back in and immediately hit a Blue Thunder Bomb for a seventeen-count. Again, the crowd burst into chants for Hirata.

Takeshita prepared for the Wagamama knee, but Robinson yelled out “Tokyo!” on the mic in the rhythm to his song, which stopped Takeshita mid-sprint. Then, Hirata’s music started playing. Hirata offered Takeshita the glasses. Takeshita put them on and did the dance. The crowd absolutely loved this. Robinson hit Takeshita with a low blow while he was dancing. Hirata tried to win with the Miracle One Shot Cradle. Takeshita kicked out at one. I literally burst out laughing. That segment was hilarious and no amount of words can do it justice. Hirata tried an axebomber, but it just flopped off of Takeshita’s body. Hirata hit a rare Frankensteiner and tried the axebomber again which dropped Takeshita, but it was still only a one-count. Hirata went to put on the glasses. The music started. Takeshita immediately hit the Wagamama knee. The timing was hilarious and perfectly timed. It was a late nineteen-count. Takeshita went for Raging Fire but Hirata countered it into another Miracle One Shot Cradle. Takeshita grabbed onto Hirata’s legs after breaking out of the cradle. He looked Hirata in the eyes and realised Hirata’s weaknesses: submissions. Takeshita simply turned Hirata over and put him into a Boston crab, the same move he lost the IWGP Heavyweight Title to Yota Tsuji with, and Hirata immediately tapped out. Perfect. This is the highest form of comedy in wrestling, whether you like it or not. Hirata asked for a rematch, instead he would only need a one-count and Takeshita would need a thirty-count. Takeshita agreed for some time in the future. Backstage, Takeshita said the only reason he is who he is today is because he came up in DDT alongside wrestlers like Kazuki Hirata.

KO-D Six Man Tag Team Title: paleyouth (Daichi Satoh, Takeshi Masada & Yuya Koroku) (c) vs. Harimao (Naomi Yoshimura, Ryota Nakatsu & Yuki Ishida)

After capturing the titles in one of the best matches of the year at Shinjuku FACE on 11th March, paleyouth successfully defended their KO-D Six-Man Tag Team Title against Harimao at “Judgement”. In the build for the match, Yoshimura spoke about how he felt that his current condition is outstanding since he returned from a neck injury exactly a year prior. But what was not in good condition was his confidence, as he felt that he was holding Harimao back from winning the titles. Yoshimura said that the match meant everything to him. Meanwhile, Koroku spoke about how the DNA generation of DDT (most notably Yuki Ueno) were running the top of the promotion, and they had created paleyouth to challenge that and bring D Generations to the forefront of the promotion and be part of the drive to the Tokyo Dome. paleyouth were the new cool kids on the block. Despite the branding for the logo and name needing some improvement, their theme music matched the young rebellious vibes of the unit (“braindead” by YUNGBLUD off of his fittingly named “the underrated youth”). It screamed “we’re here to shake things up”.

This match was less explosive than the match they won the titles in and didn’t quite live up to my expectations, even if it was so good. Part of that is because I have such high expectations of paleyouth. FANTÔMES DRAMATIC (Antonio Honda, Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA) came out to challenge next. Anton was announcing themselves as next challengers but announced the fourth member of the unit, Hinata Kasai, instead of himself which surprised everyone. There’s a lot of Korakuen Hall shows coming up so they have to keep the challenges going. It’s a good opportunity for Hinata. Anton signed off with the slogan of the unit “Fandora, Fandora, Fandora!” Only one guy in the crowd did it, so Masada shouted at him and Anton thanked him. Chris called back to his Schadenfreude International days with Masada and kept throwing his friend Bun Bun around.

DDT Ironman Heavymetalweight Title: Minoru Suzuki (c) vs. Antonio Honda, Danshoku Dino, Hisaya Imabayashi, Sanshiro Takagi, Super Sasadango Machine & Toru Owashi

The DDT Ironman Heavymetalweight Title has been in the possession of TJPW wrestlers for the past eight months. On 11th March, Antonio Honda won it from Rika Tatsumi, and immediately after, GM Hisaya Imabayashi hit Antonio Honda from behind with the belt to win it. Anton had a date with YOH on 15th April at Korakuen Hall and did not trust Anton to beat YOH, and he badly did not want New Japan to get their hands on the title, since they would never get it back again. Imabayashi was goaded into accepting a challenge at TJPW’s “Grand Princess ‘26” show on 29th March. Before that, however, on 20th March at the press conference, Imabayashi gave an impassioned speech. He accused Akito, a prominent member of the backroom staff, of booking the match without consulting him, tantamount to harassment in the office. But, he said, he would defend it with pride, on behalf of contract workers, agency staff and fixed-term employees all over the country. Minoru Suzuki choked Imabayashi out and won the title during the photo shoot at the press conference. That meant that Suzuki was defending the title against Anton, Imabayashi, Danshoku Dieno, Sanshiro Takagi, Super Sasadango Machine and Toru Owashi.

Before the match, they showed a skit where Imabayashi was training the group for their bout against Minoru, with Anton practising his Gongitsune attack, where he hurts his leg, summons the spirit of a fox and tells a dirty joke about it, playing on a children’s tale. Imabayashi gave them all a pep talk, encouraging them to do their best. Imabayashi was totally overconfident. He took his glasses off, handed them to his team and told them to back off because he’d start off the match. He realised that he needed his glasses, but his team were too busy playing with them, trying them on and messing around. The glasses were too strong and would make them all dizzy. It was an immediate disaster. Imabayashi started realising he was in danger and tried to apologise to Minoru. Minoru just slapped him around the face and tried to choke him out but his team of bumbling idiots finally ran in to help him. They ran the train into the corner but Anton slipped on his run, preparing for the Gongitsune routine they had prepared for. Minoru just kicked Anton in the guts as he started to speak. Well, that was easy. Later, Anton tripped again, but this time Minoru took the mic and insulted all of them. They got down on their knees in embarrassment. Anton took the mic and told Minoru why he was wrong about each of them, and they all had their special talents. He shared memories about each of them. Anton then tried to hit the Gongitsune attack on Minoru, but they found out Minoru was immune to it.

They went to plan B, which was charging up the Gongitsune with Dieno’s ass electricity. Minoru put on Imabayashi’s glasses, which are immune to the electricity. But, calling back to the start of the match, the glasses were too strong and Suzuki collapsed. The team took advantage and piled on top of him. It was a three-count. They all celebrated. Then it was announced that Imabayashi’s glasses was the object on the bottom of the pile and so was the new DDT Ironman Heavymetalweight Champion. Imabayashi celebrated, grabbing the belt and running away, because of course, he wears his glasses, so he was the de facto champion and could defend his title at “Grand Princess ‘26” a week later. Well. After the show, Anton picked up Imabayashi’s glasses from a table they were sitting on. He walked into the ring. Imabayashi said “Hey…Anton, what are you doing? Anton…” Anton proceeded to snap them and become the new DDT Ironman Heavymetalweight Champion. So, Anton will defend at “Grand Princess ‘26”. Imabayashi just walked around aimlessly with his broken glasses on his face as the fans were leaving the arena. The fans were walking straight past him and were not comforting him, which made it even more hilarious.

DDT Extreme Title: To-y (c) vs. Hideki Okatani

To-y’s historic DDT Extreme Title run continued with a defence against Hideki Okatani. Okatani’s favourite weapon is a kendo stick. He’s been whacking everyone non-stop with them over the past year or so since his heel turn. To-y turned that on its head when he announced the stipulation for the match. The rules for the match were as follows. The referee had a button mounted on his head. The wrestler who pressed the button would initiate the music to do a little dance at the referee where they must make him laugh before the music stops. If the referee laughed, then the wrestler would be allowed to use a kendo stick for one entire minute. Aside from that, it was standard rules, e.g. single three-count pinfall, submission, KO, TKO, or count-out. Of course, To-y was the one who pressed the button the first few times. But we were all waiting for Okatani to do it. The person who doesn’t smile or laugh at all since his heel turn. That was what this match was designed for. The crowd could feel it too as any time Okatani was in control of the match, they knew he wanted to use his bamboo stick and would scream at him. He knew it too, judging by the look on his face. But they would make us wait.

To-y forced Okatani to press the button, but Okatani just no-sold it. Okatani accidentally hit the button when trying to hit To-y with a cane illegally. Okatani no-sold the music again. Okatani was going to use the cane, but Matsui stood in the way and told him if he wanted to use it, he would have to make him laugh. Matsui ordered the music to start. Okatani stood in front of the referee and pulled a face which made Matsui take a back bump because of how funny it was. Okatani then blasted To-y with the kendo stick and hit a brainbuster for the finish. This was great. It was a bit of a surprise switch because of how good To-y’s reign had been, but it was a welcome change to give Okatani a bit of a push given how little he had been featured since the King of DDT tournament in 2025. Yukio Naya came out and announced he was the next challenger.

The Rest

Shunma Katsumata, who had been out of action for nine months, returned against his former 37KAMIINA teammate MAO. Shunma was going for his suicide dive, then suddenly, MAO smashed his head in with the signature plastic boxes. The last time we saw this from him was his match with El Desperado in the “Best of the Super Juniors 32”. It was an amazingly done spot because you were anticipating a standard return match where they’d make Shunma look good, and the dynamic completely switched up with the use of the weapon. MAO then powerbombed Katsumata onto a plastic box. The match resorted back to what I expected it to, but then they ramped up again towards its finish, including Shunma dropping MAO on his head with a nasty German suplex. Was it a bit messy at parts? Yes. Do I wish they had just continued with the wacky gimmicks rather than resorting to a more standard match? Yes. But it was still great fun. Backstage, MAO spoke about how they go back thirteen years and much of the current DDT fanbase may not be aware of it. They have held tag titles together several times but due to Shunma’s injuries they had to relinquish them. MAO said he hoped this would be Shunma’s last ‘return from injury’ match.

The next contenders for Strange Love Connection’s (MAO & KANON) KO-D Tag Team Titles was determined by a #1 contenders match between FANTÔMES DRAMATIC (Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA) and Junta Miwayaki & Shinya Aoki, who had bonded after their singles match at Korakuen Hall earlier in the year. In contrast to Dieno going around kissing people during his entrance, Junta finds a kid in the crowd and gives them a wristband and poses with them to the camera. Today, he found a baby. It was adorable. It was the same baby who had interrupted Yuki Ueno’s closing promo at the end of the show. Before they started the match they cleared the ring out of some plastic shards from the previous match. This was a great match. One of the best 50+ year olds on the planet, HARASHIMA, had a great heated sequence with Junta. I was almost hoping they’d keep going. Later in the match, Junta dodged the Somato (running double knees) and tried a Sunshine schoolboy, but it wasn’t enough. He then hit HARASHIMA with the Sunshine screwdriver for another nearfall. Finally, he tried the Sunshine clutch, a variation of the Aoki clutch that his partner popularised. When that wasn’t enough he kept slapping HARASHIMA around the face who returned thunderous open-handed strikes. Chris hit Junta with the Praying Mantis Bomb before HARASHIMA destroyed him with a Somato for the win.

Masami Inahata made his debut teaming with Makoto Oishi in a three-way tag against DAMNATION T.A. (Ilusion & MJ Paul), Kumadori & Viento Maligno (Keigo Nakamura). As soon as Viento tagged in, he slipped on the ropes. Just drop the lucha gimmick, Nakamura. You don’t need it. Please. It was really cool you spent time in Mexico. We are all happy for you. But we just want to see you. Please, come back home. Anyway, Ilusion and Kumadori briefly teamed up. Of course, they had been feuding for ages last year, so I’m not sure why Kumadori trusted him but, Ilusion turned on him pretty quickly. In hindsight, I would have debuted Masami against Jun Akiyama instead and taken the spot of Rukiya. If they weren’t going to do much with the Akiyama and Rukiya match in the opener, then at least putting the focus on Masami would’ve been better served. Masami barely had a moment in this match aside from lifting MJ Paul up.

AEW wrestler and Mystery Wrestling founder Evil Uno teamed up with Akito against The Apex (Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya). Evil Uno had already held a joint show with ChocoPro in Ichigaya days prior. It’s a shame Uno couldn’t get HADDY and Junior Benito on the card, although they did second him at ringside. Uno did not play along with Iino’s “I am the Apex, yeah!” elbow, simply sitting up and avoiding it and wondering what the fuss was about. After being denied a second time, Iino said his catchphrase very quickly so he could land the elbow. It always gets a pop when he does that. Iino speared Akito for the victory.

Rukiya, who had been on a bit of a tear since the beginning of the D Generations Cup and showing more aggressiveness than ever before, faced off against the legendary Jun Akiyama. Akiyama plays a mentoring role to the roster and is rarely featured high up the card, and when he is, such as in “Peter Pan 2025”, he does what is required and can still put on excellent performances. Akiyama is a good example in wrestling of how to use veterans in 2026. Akiyama won with the exploder suplex, with Rukiya having a good showing.

TJPW held another dark match as Chika Nanase, Haru Kazashiro & HIMAWARI faced Toga and the two rookies, Ren Konatsu and Shion Kanzaki. This was the contingent of TJPW wrestlers who did not make the trip to the US for their Texas tour. Despite having watched a Kazashiro match the week before, I barely recognised her as she had dyed her hair blue and looked completely different. HIMAWARI and Toga are standouts from the excellent 2023 TJPW intake, whereas Ren is a great rookie. Shion is too early in her career to get a label. This match was given a decent amount of time. The crowd were mostly polite, but two things got big reactions. HIMAWARI’s hair whips and Ren’s Aries Comet (springboard dropkick).

Hinata Kasai and Yuni faced off in a dark match, with Yuni winning with a tight crucifix pin. Hinata, the son of the legendary Jun Kasai, has slowly improved since his debut at “Peter Pan 2025” on 30th August. His ambition when he initially debuted was that he did not want to be a cheap imitation of his father, and well, he definitely isn’t. He has his own style that he took some time to get a handle of and he is still actively figuring it out. Key points in his career have been the D Generations Cup he recently participated in where he had some of the best performances of his short career, and also joining FANTÔMES DRAMATIC as its rookie. He still has some clumsy moments while wrestling where it doesn’t feel like it’s natural for him and he’s thinking a lot as the match is happening, but that is stuff that can be improved on with experience.

Full Results

Yuni defeats Hinata Kasai (7:26)

Chika Nanase, Haru Kazashiro & HIMAWARI defeat Ren Konatsu, Shion Kanzaki & Toga (9:53)

Jun Akiyama defeats Rukiya (6:20)

The Apex (Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya) defeat Akito & Evil Uno (11:12)

Kumadori & Viento Maligno defeat DAMNATION T.A. (Ilusion & MJ Paul) and Makoto Oishi & Masami Inahata (8:25)

MAO defeats Shunma Katsumata (12:04)

KO-D Tag Team Title #1 Contenders Match:
FANTÔMES DRAMATIC (Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA) defeat Junta Miyawaki & Shinya Aoki (12:33)

DDT Extreme Title:
Hideki Okatani defeats To-y (c) (12:20)

DDT Ironman Heavymetalweight Title Seven-On-One Handicap:
Antonio Honda, Danshoku Dino, Hisaya Imabayashi, Hisaya Imabayashi’s Glasses, Sanshiro Takagi, Super Sasadango Machine & Toru Owashi defeat Minoru Suzuki (c) (11:51)

KO-D Six-Man Tag Team Title:
paleyouth (Daichi Satoh, Takeshi Masada & Yuya Koroku) (c) defeat Harimao (Naomi Yoshimura, Ryota Nakatsu & Yuki Ishida) (14:17)

Dramatic Dream Match:
Konosuke Takeshita defeats Kazuki Hirata (w/John Robinson) (0:07)
Konosuke Takeshita defeats Kazuki Hirata (w/John Robinson) (0:10)
Konosuke Takeshita defeats Kazuki Hirata (w/John Robinson) (9:02)

DDT Universal Title:
Kazuma Sumi defeats Daisuke Sasaki (c) (16:48)

KO-D Openweight Title:
Yuki Ueno (c) defeats KANON (25:12)

Super Japan Pro Wrestling ~ “Judgement” - 24th March 2026

24th March 2026
Shinjuku FACE, Tokyo, Japan

Sanshiro Takagi’s off-shoot promotion (where it’s basically him and his friends messing around) will live another day as the fans voted overwhelmingly to continue the promotion. If they did not receive a majority in the fan vote, the promotion would have dissolved. This was a reference to 29 years prior when Sanshiro Takagi performed the same stunt with DDT’s creation. At the start of the show he announced former All Japan president and former NOAH chairman Masayuki Uchida as the new advisor.

In the main event Fuminori Abe and Yuji Nagata had a great singles match. It was pretty much exactly what you’d expect out of the two in a Shinjuku FACE main event. Afterwards, CIMA came out. He had recently left GLEAT. CIMA said that in WCW he had a singles match with Nagata, so they go way back. CIMA asked Nagata to team with him. Now, earlier in the night Poison Sawada JULIE and Takagi had a singles match. After their match, Poison Sawada JULIE and Takagi made up and joined forces. They came back out after CIMA and Nagata’s team were made in order to challenge them. Nagata referred to Sawada as Sawada-senpai, i.e. showing him respect as his elder since Sawada was in the New Japan dojo at one point. CIMA tried to charge Sawada but was stopped by Sawada’s telekinetic powers (he is a snake charmer). CIMA’s selling of the gimmick was hilarious. The match will take place on 27th May.

Kazunari Murakami and Shinya Aoki faced off, literally, as they opened up the back with a two-minute staredown before Aoki finally slapped Murakami around the face. It ended in a double count-out as they brawled in the crowd.

In one of the undercard matches that I enjoyed, Kuroshio TOKYO Japan faced Kumadori. The gimmick here was obvious, and they did it. During the match, Jiro asked to begin the music so they could start an impromptu dance-off. Of course, professional dancer Kumadori was awesome, and Jiro was dancing intentionally awkwardly. During Kumadori’s second attempt in the dance-off, Jiro rolled him up to win. It was funny, okay? You had to be there to see it, sort of. Don’t look at me like that.

We also had the usual Brahman Brothers brawl, involving Mac Matsushita (the former Maku Donaruto clown gimmick who was controversial for his gimmick where he physically molests his opponents but re-debuted in Super Japan). It is a long standing policy of the newsletter to not review Brahman Brothers brawls as they need to be experienced first-hand.

Another Super Japan staple, Civilian Munenori Sawa, was in a three-way with Gym Trainer Kotoka and Hiroshi Yamato. As you can imagine, it was a lot of comedy involving Kotoka training Sawa and Yamato, doing squats, getting tired, etc.

“DDT×MOP Wrestle Tour 2026 #1” - 28th March 2026

28th March 2026
Mitsui Outlet Park Tama Minamiosawa, Tokyo, Japan

The MOP Tag Team Titles were created to be contested exclusively throughout DDT’s tour of Mitsui Outlet Park (MOP) in Tokyo, in collaboration with the popular shopping destination. DDT began their tour in Tokyo, but has two extra dates at MOP malls in Kobe and Toyama. It was free admission and there were a lot of people gathered to see the show. The inaugural winners of the tag belts were Strange Love Connection (KANON & Viento Maligno) as they beat Junta Miyawaki and Rukiya.

paleyouth (Daichi Satoh & Takeshi Masada) grouped up with Hinata Kasai to face DAMNATION T.A. in the opener, where they didn’t let up. To show how serious the roster is about spreading their wrestling and gaining as many fans as possible as part of their ambition to run Tokyo Dome, there were fighting spirit German suplex shows in this match. The first match of a VOD show on a shopping centre show where the fans did not even pay to attend.

Kazuki Hirata and Kazuma Sumi followed that against Jun Akiyama and Yuya Koroku. Sumi was super over, with both Koroku and even Jun getting less cheers (and boos in the case of Koroku) going up against Sumi. In order to curry favour with Jun and prevent Jun from hitting him with an exploder suplex, Hirata went to go buy some churros and brought them back and handed them to Jun. Jun just snatched the churros and hit the exploder suplex for the win. Jun, Koroku and Sumi all celebrated by eating churros. Yes, Sumi was on Hirata’s team.

FANTÔMES DRAMATIC (Antonio Honda, Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA) against Shunma Katsumata, To-y & Yuni had your classic brawl-in-the-crowd spot, with Chris and HARASHIMA bringing over kids from the audience to stomp on To-y.

The Ueno Park show makes its glorious return - 1st April 2026

1st April 2026
Ueno Park, Tokyo, Japan

DDT returned to Ueno Park for the first time since October 2025, after having held 19 events at the venue in 2025. It was rumoured to be a cost-saving exercise, given the lack of big-event buildings run by NOAH and the reduced Korakuen Hall calendar for TJPW, all promotions run by CyberFight. Despite that being the case, the Ueno Park shows were a personal favourite of mine given the tendency for the roster to do the most insane shit they thought of. Also, this was a “No Spoilers Show”, so there were barely any announcements as to what would happen, which really added to some of the reactions from the crowd.

In the opener, NWA Jr (Kazuma Sumi, Shunma Katsumata & Yuni) were due to do their usual opening song and dance, but Sumi and Yuni beat up Shunma Katsumata. Yuni’s motivation was that he had just graduated from high school and was entering a rebellious period, not wanting to be an idol anymore. That set the tone for this Ueno Park show.

New guy on the block, Masami Inahata, got his first taste of DDT shenanigans as he was on the opposite end of Antonio Honda’s “Gongitsune” routine. If you don’t know what that is, just control+F “Gon” on any Asia page, either this one or previous archives. I’m sure you’ll find it. I can’t explain it every time! This time, though, Yuki Iino and Anton tried to Gon attack each other’s nipples but then started singing in unison before Masami broke it up. Anton got his own back by winning with his signature O’Connor roll. Masami was pretty good here. I’m excited to see him do some more Ueno Park-style comedy.

Then, when I thought it was over, Kazuki Hirata and To-y jumped everyone and started spraying them. It seems as though their roles for this show were your typical Japanese heel unit. The gimmick seems to be based on the fact that they like umbrellas.

paleyouth (Daichi Satoh & Yuya Koroku) faced Kazuma Sumi & Yuni, who were now “Bad Buddy Yuni” and “Pitochiko Sumi” following the opener. They were wearing sunglasses and trying to look cool in their rebellious phase. The crowd popped huge for them when they appeared from the curtain. It was even funnier when they were against one of the faces of DDT’s young wrestlers in Daichi. There was also something ironic about Sumi being a rebellious brat when he is the DDT Universal Champion and arguably the most successful of the young crew. paleyouth just looked at them unimpressed. Sumi started whacking Koroku with a squeaky toy hammer, making sure he got his ass, too. The match ended in a DQ as they destroyed paleyouth with squeaky hammers and plastic toy batons.

DAMNATION T.A. (Hideki Okatani, Ilusion and MJ Paul) faced their mentor Daisuke Sasaki, but not in the way you might think. There was Big Daisuke Sasaki (Yukio Naya in Sasaki cosplay), Fake Daisuke Sasaki A (Takeshi Masada in Sasaki cosplay) and Fake Daisuke Sasaki B (Yuki Ishida in Crow Sting cosplay). Big Daisuke got a huge pop when he came out. This was unannounced, so when Daisuke Sasaki’s music played again, and Sasaki A came out, the crowd popped even louder. Then, his music played a third time for Sasaki B and they were having the time of their lives. Of course, the real Daisuke Sasaki is on an excursion in the US. Masada’s cosplay of Sasaki had the crowd in tears. Ilusion disappeared during the match but came out later in his own Sasaki cosplay named Dai-sion Sasaki (remaining masked). After the match, Dai-sion declared himself the leader of DAMNATION T.A.

Then…then…then we had Hinata Kasai’s “initiation” months after his debut. He faced Danshoku Dieno in a singles match. Before the match, GM Hisaya Imabayashi interviewed Hinata about the match. Hinata finished his poignant, important remarks and Imabayashi just replied with “Would you like to take the microphone?” Imabayashi was holding both his own and Hinata’s microphone. Hinata realised and was instantly embarrassed and everyone started laughing. Anyway, Dieno came out, and Hinata just looked like he wanted to be literally anywhere else while Dieno was doing his usual entrance. During the match, Hinata was doing everything he could not to get kissed, including running away and into the audience. He even moved out of Dieno’s kiss at the last second, throwing Rukiya in the way. Rukiya then jumped up on the apron and revealed he was wearing Dieno’s gear underneath his tracksuit and tried to kiss Hinata. Hinata escaped. Then, Hinata dodged another kiss, with Dieno managing to go straight for referee Matsui’s lips, knocking him out for a bit. Hinata hit a move (who cares what move) on Dieno but Matsui wasn’t there to count. Then, Matsui woke up, slowly walked towards Hinata and slowly took off his belt. The crowd knew what was happening here and immediately burst out into laughter as Matsui revealed his Dieno gear. So Dieno’s kissing had been converting people into Dienos. This truly was a nightmare for Hinata. Hinata threw a DDT staff member into the ring to deal with the zombies, but then the zombies started fighting each other to the back, leaving just Dieno and Hinata again. Dieno accidentally kissed Imabayashi but then threw up, as Imabayashi is by now immune to Dieno’s advances.

The match was then DQ’d because the Heel Umbrella Crew (Hirata & To-y) came out and attacked both of them. Hirata was shoving an umbrella up Dieno’s ass. Hinata, with a coathanger around his head placed there by the heels, said he wanted to team up with Dieno to take on the heels. They did a crowd brawl, with all sorts of fun spots like Hirata giving Dieno a huge wedgie. The majority-women audience were having so much fun. Then, To-y goes to the top rope for his splash where he gets the crowd to chant his name. This went wrong, badly. The entire roster came into the ring slowly chanting his name before slowly, ritualistically lawn darting him right into Dieno’s ass on the opposite corner. It’s really hard to describe. It was like a cult chanting while carrying their sacrifice to their doom. Anyway, after the match, the zombie Dienos returned for Hinata, but they bumped heads and snapped out of it and were embarrassed by what they were wearing, screaming and running to the back. Hinata celebrated, but Dieno was standing right behind him. Dieno finally got his hands, no, lips, onto Hinata and kissed him until he was out cold. Fifty six stars.

In the main event, it was a three-way tag team match between Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA, KANON & MAO and Shunma Katsumata & Yuki Ueno. The twist was that they were dressed as popular high-school kids (known as “Yankees” in Japan, not to be confused with Americans). Brookes and HARASHIMA came out first in their twist on the theme and they looked beautiful. But then, KANON came out in full gyaru cosplay with the poses and everything. He was cosplaying MAO’s girlfriend, where MAO himself was just on his phone and uninterested in everything. The crowd absolutely died at this. Then it was Shunma and Yuki’s turn. Shunma was dressed as a sukeban-style sailor. When the match started, MAO was just on his phone when Ueno and HARASHIMA were locking up. Later in the match, the fake rebellious heels, Sumi and Yuni, came out and disrupted proceedings. The match was restarted with them thrown into the mix. It led to a crowd brawl, including shenanigans such as Ueno throwing Yuni into a bin head first. Back in the ring, Shunma won with a splash on Yuni.

After the match, Ueno was going to confess his love for the beautiful Shunma, but then MAO snatched the mic and was going to do the same. Then, HARASHIMA, Chris (speaking in English) and KANON (still in gyaru cosplay) came up next. Shunma rejected all of them. Then rebellious teen Yuni expressed his love for Shunma. Sumi came out calling Yuni a traitor and then tried to stab him with an umbrella, but missed and stabbed Shunma. Shunma died. They all sang a farewell song to Shunma, with Shunma reviving and joining in on the song. Shunma then closed out the show. Backstage after the show, Ueno called Shunma a liar and then stabbed him. Sumi and Yuni then ran to Shunma and pulled the umbrella out. They all agreed to continue being a part of NWA Jr, ending the rebellious phase of Sumi and Yuni and drawing the show to a close.

Kazusada Higuchi’s Retirement - 5th April 2026

5th April 2026
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan

This is the first time I’ve not designated a DDT Korakuen Hall as a “Key Show”. The simple fact is that they are running Korakuen Hall so often now that not every show is a must-see for following storylines. This was mostly a bonus episode of DDT, although it did have a title switch in the semi-main event. Despite this show being mostly thrown together, it still must have drawn at least 1,300 as there were only a few handfuls of empty seats. That’s quite impressive. This was a must-see if you like Kazusada Higuchi, though, as his retirement ceremony closed out the show, so I suspect the higher-than-expected attendance could have come from there.

Before the retirement ceremony, Higuchi brought together his former DDT DNA teammates, Kota Umeda, Shunma Katsumata and Kouki Iwasaki, to face his Harimao stablemates Naomi Yoshimura, Ryota Nakatsu and Yuki Ishida in what would be the faction’s final outing, disbanding immediately after the match. Initially it was quite a tepid, apprehensive match, in that the crowd was clearly a bit sad but everyone tried their best to liven things up, which they did to varying degrees of success. The crowd lit up the most when Higuchi gave everyone in the match chops which helped for the rest of the bout’s duration. In a touching moment, Ishida shook hands with Higuchi at ringside to empower his running Flaming Fist strike, delivering one of his most deadly ones yet to Shunma for the win. Nakatsu and Ishida were in tears immediately after the match and they could not stop crying for pretty much the entire ceremony, from the end of the match all the way up to when they handed him flowers. Yuji Hino, Kubito and Shuji Ishikawa all made appearances to show respect to Higuchi. That was followed by members of the DDT roster: Jun Akiyama, HARASHIMA, Danshoku Dieno, Antonio Honda, Yuki Ueno and even Tetsuya Endo, who has been on a long hiatus in NOAH. Ueno was in tears. Their last singles match was when Ueno captured the title. Up next was Konosuke Takeshita. Their match on 25th September 2022 is what got me into DDT. This is where I got emotional. That was followed by Higuchi’s former unit, Eruption, including close friend and tag partner Yukio Sakiguchi, Saki Akai and Hideki Okatani, whose gimmick is obviously showing no emotion whatsoever, so this got a big reaction. He came out and handed Higuchi an Eruption coat, shook Higuchi’s hand and posed for photos. It was really sweet. Then it was DDT co-founder Sanshiro Takagi, and finally, the entire DDT roster.

Finally, the ceremony closed out with the 10-bell salute, which is always an emotional moment no matter your connection to the wrestler, but especially so when it’s someone as humble and universally loved as Higuchi. It was a no-bullshit ceremony, just the way Higuchi would like it. It seemed like everyone cried except Higuchi. It seemed as though he had accepted his fate long ago and was ready to leave this life behind. Higuchi got me into DDT, and I will continue covering it until the wheels fall off.

FANTÔMES DRAMATIC (Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA) won their first titles as a new unit as they defeated Strange Love Connection (KANON & MAO), ending their five-month reign. After completely destroying HARASHIMA’s chest with chops to the point that blood was trickling from a wound, KANON also hit him with a Doctor Bomb in homage to Higuchi. HARASHIMA won with a swan dive Somato to a loud pop. DAMNATION T.A.’s new leader, Ilusion, came out to challenge after the match (see the Ueno Park show review if you want to know why he’s the new leader). He announced Daisuke Sasaki as his partner. Does anyone else smell an angle? Okay probably not, but they’ve been teasing it for a very long time. Ilusion is too big for his boots and Charisma needs to cut him down back to size.

Despite Kaisei Takechi being on the card, it wasn’t a full sellout like DDT normally does with him around. Takechi faced one of his trainers, Makoto Oishi, in a singles match. Takechi was playing the role of a wrestler in an ABEMA original drama series, supported by DDT. During that period, DDT noticed his talent and Makoto Oishi & KO-D Openweight Champion Yuki Ueno continued to encourage him. This was a solid match, with the novelty coming from how much heat it had for how relatively little happened. After the match, Danshoku Dieno came out to huge excitement. Dieno challenged Takechi to a singles match. Imabayashi then announced that they would face in the first round of King of DDT on 4th May. Dieno went for a kiss but Takechi stopped him at the last moment because he wanted him to work for it.

Following their attempt to try and topple Minoru Suzuki, the band of idiots (Antonio Honda, Danshoku Dieno, GM Hisaya Imabayashi, Super Sasadango Machina and Toru Owashi) as well as Akito and Kazuki Hirata were all out to prove a point that they weren’t worse wrestlers than a pair of glasses. Also, I only include Akito and Hirata outside of the band of idiots because they weren’t involved in the Suzuki match, but rest assured, they are also idiots (laudatory). The bit was that they came out brawling to no music because they were so excited to prove themselves, and then their entrance music started playing one by one at the most inconvenient time for the wrestler, so they had to rush to the back to do their entrance. One mofo got kissed by Dieno twice this night, once during the initial brawling and another time during his entrance. How come I went to two DDT shows and got ignored twice? During Anton’s entrance he tripped and tried to attack each participant, but needed Dieno’s ass electricity to get past SSM’s mask. During Hirata’s entrance, the speakers went out, so they connected like a human daisy chain from Dieno’s ass electricity all the way to the speakers, with help from some members of the audience to charge the speakers up and allow Hirata to finish his entrance. Imabayashi choked out Hirata as soon as he finished his entrance because the match had run over its allotted time.

Let’s be honest, you know it’s one of the weaker Korakuen shows when the ace Yuki Ueno is in a random six-man tag on the undercard. Shinya Aoki, To-y and Ueno faced Jun Akiyama, Junta Miyawaki and Yuki Iino. This match served as a KO-D Openweight Title preview between Ueno and Iino. He actually managed to pick up the win with a spear. Don’t say the ace isn’t a selfless man.

KO-D Six Man Tag Team Champions paleyouth (Daichi Satoh, Takeshi Masada & Yuya Koroku) provided a wall for Hinata Kasai to overcome in the opener, leading to a moment where the crowd popped as he body slammed big beefy boy Daichi. Teaming up with Hinata was DDT Universal Champion Kazuma Sumi and the new kid on the block, Masami Inahata. Masami showed more of what he was about during a fun chop exchange with Koroku. Sumi was pinging about the ring doing moves I’m not sure I’ve seen before. Sir, this is an opener.

First Beer Garden Event of 2026 - 9th April 2026

9th April 2026
Ueno Park, Tokyo, Japan

The first Beer Garden event of 2026 kicked off at Ueno Park. With Shunjuku FACE closing in September, a new home for the event would be needed, and what fits the bill more than Ueno Park. To commemorate his first ever Beer Garden, Junta Miyawaki requested that his four against MAO, To-y and Antonio Honda instead be a “King of DRUNK” match. But MAO and To-y said they drove to the event so couldn’t drink, and Anton just refused because he thinks Junta is a geek. So Junta ended up being the only one drinking. The rules of “King of DRUNK” are that the match will randomly be paused when the music plays and the participants (only Junta in this case) need to drink. Junta was downing a whole can of beer each time as Anton, MAO and To-y cheered him on. Junta won the match by running and tripping over Anton, pinning him. Junta needs to work a bit on acting drunk. It’s a skill that will come with time as part of the DDT roster.

The pros showed how it was done as the real “King of DRUNK 2026” tournament began with a six way between Chris Brookes, HARASHIMA, KANON, Kazuma Sumi, Rukiya and Yuki Iino. Brookes and HARASHIMA are absolute pros at it, so I knew what to expect there. In fact, I had bought Chris a few drinks at a Meet & Greet, so I already know the shoot Chris is immune to alcohol. HARASHIMA on the other hand, got shitfaced almost immediately and didn’t rotate around the tables as expected, so I don’t know what to believe when it comes to him. I had not seen, or remembered any of the others competing in this event before. They all dressed as salarymen (Japan’s slang term for office workers because of their notoriously demanding and all-hours work culture). KANON and HARASHIMA were already shitfaced when coming out. There’s three different music sounds in this tournament, not just the beer one seen in Junta’s match, but also one for getting dizzy by spinning around an umbrella head down, and a third one: tequila shots. After the tequila shorts, Iino stripped down to his underpants and ran around the arena and to the back which eliminated him. The final two, as expected, were Chris and HARASHIMA. Neither of them could make it to their feet after the last umbrella round and it was called a no contest.

In the main event, Yuni and Shunma Katsumata faced Danshoku Dieno and Kazuki Hirata. The bit was that Yuni had now graduated high school and would be attending Sophia University, making him an adult. Danshokue said he would show no mercy. Yuni agreed. Shunma said he would protect Yuni but got immediately kissed and hit with a Danshoku Driver to be taken out of the match. Then, well, you can guess the rest. Well, maybe not. Hirata said he had developed Danshoku Water which turns anyone sprayed into having a fondness for cute boys. Successive members of the DDT roster kept running in to make the save for Yuni but then were sprayed and would start trying to kiss him.

Following Harimao’s disbandment, Naomi Yoshimura attempted to find his footing as he teamed with Yuki Ueno against paleyouth (Takeshi Masada & Yuya Koroku). For some reason I’m not sure of, Masada really wanted Koroku to hit a People’s Elbow. He even got on his knees and prayed to “Lord Rock” to imbue Koroku with the powers to hit the move. The first attempt didn’t work out so well. The Ueno Park shows of 2025 were what allowed Masada to flesh out his comedic chops and become the lovable weirdo he is today. Koroku hit the elbow and then was immediately rolled up by Ueno.

“DDT×MOP Wrestle Tour 2026 #2” - 11th April 2026

11th April 2026
Mitsui Outlet Park Marine Pia Kobe, Hyogo, Japan

In the second of the MOP shopping centre tour stops, this time in Kobe, HARASHIMA & Masami Inahata beat KANON & Viento Maligno to become the new MOP Tag Team Champions. This was essentially an extended singles match between Nakamura, I mean, Maligno, and Masami. Surprisingly (maybe), Masami got the pin on Maligno with the double arm underhook buster.

paleyouth (Daichi Satoh, Takeshi Masada & Yuya Koroku) beat the team of Kazuki Hirata, Kazuma Sumi & Shunma Katsumata. This was a great mix of comedy and athleticism, with Koroku mirroring Hirata, including failing his corner splash and also putting on the “Tokyo Go!” glasses and dancing with him. During the dance, Masada and Daichi destroyed Hirata and pinned him with Koroku still dancing. paleyouth have brought out a lot of their silly side since grouping together, which is mandatory if you want to reach the top in DDT.

“DDT×MOP Wrestle Tour 2026 #3” - 12th April 2026

12th April 2026
Mitsui Outlet Park Hokuriku Oyabe, Toyama, Japan

The last of the MOP Wrestle Tour stops was in central Japan in Toyama, main evented by the final MOP Tag Team Title match, for now, as HARASHIMA & Masami Inahata finished the tour as champions, defending their newly attained title against Jun Akiyama and Yuni. Akiyama was incredibly over and he wrestled hard for the first few minutes against HARASHIMA, which is always a good thing to see. But mostly, this match was about HARASHIMA and Masami taking turns to destroy Yuni. There were some awesome nearfalls between Yuni and HARASHIMA before Yuni was put away with the Somato.

Daichi Satoh, MAO, Yukio Naya & Yuya Koroku against Junta Miyawaki, Shunma Katsumata, To-y & Yuki Ueno was one of those house show great matches that very few people will watch. I had a lot of fun with this. It was the classic workrate semi-main event that you regularly get on DDT house shows that are amazing. Daichi almost destroyed To-y with a headlock driver that I even thought was the finish because of how brutal it looked. But Junta made the save, so MAO followed up with a 450 splash for the win.

FANTÔMES DRAMATIC (Antonio Honda, Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA) faced DAMNATION T.A. (Hideki Okatani, Ilusion & MJ Paul) with the Gongitsune going horrifically wrong. Anton was misfiring on everyone, including the referee, with the finish being Ilusion repeatedly redirecting the Gongitsune attacks into Anton’s own private parts. Ilusion followed up with a Swanton Bomb for the win.

In the opener, Strange Love Connection (KANON & Viento Maligno) took on Hinata Kasai & Tomomitsu Matsunaga. Maligno is slowly improving in his gimmick with fewer botches in each match. I’d still much rather prefer Keigo Nakamura as his usual self, but if he improves I can live with that. He beat Hinata with a knee strike to the face, a move I am not too keen on given how weak it looks.

“DREAM LIGHTS ~ Wednesday DDT Dosho”

15th April 2026
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Recommended Matches: Chris Brookes, HARASHIMA & Hinata Kasai vs. Daichi Satoh, Takeshi Masada & Yuya Koroku, Hideki Okatani vs. Yukio Naya
Designation: Key Show

DDT returned to Korakuen only 10 days after their previous show, a strategy that many companies take to push to the next level and close the gap on New Japan, with STARDOM and NOAH other such examples. It was a good show, but not one that will be memorable for me by the end of the year. Not due to its lack of quality, but rather because the bar for DDT Korakuen Hall shows is so high that there are too many great ones. Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable and easy watch.

In the main event, Yuki Ueno defended his KO-D Openweight Title in a solid filler defence for Ueno against a well-chosen opponent in Yuki Iino, though the match’s biggest issue was its length, something I’ve said a lot about Ueno. The KANON match had already done the 25-minute hard-hitting bout, and this one would have benefited from being trimmed to around half its length and played as a short banger, because the first 15 minutes did not hold my attention, although it picked up considerably in the closing stretch. The crowd were extremely loud for Iino’s elbow gimmick in the orange seats. The last few minutes were great with close nearfalls on Iino’s spear, before Ueno locked in the rear naked choke for the win. Iino’s sell of the rear naked choke was awesome. Ueno retained, and the match was good when it got going, but the pacing cost it for my own tastes.

There was a first successful DDT Extreme defence for Hideki Okatani, who continues to be one of the most stiff weapon users in the promotion. The tables match (first to go through a table loses) against challenger Yukio Naya did an excellent job of conveying both how much of an unstoppable monster Naya is and how violent Okatani can be, with the two ideas playing off each other well throughout. The standout moments included Naya swinging Okatani into the chairs, a keyboard spot where Okatani used it as a weapon only for Naya to take it and destroy him straight back, and a skateboard stomp with a chair onto another chair placed on Naya’s head. The finish, a sunset flip powerbomb to the outside through a table, was great even if Okatani’s foot technically broke the table a fraction early. These things happen. It was a strong opening defence for the reign, and while comparisons to To-y’s legendary run are not suitable, this was a very good start. An excellent start even.

Paleyouth (Daichi Satoh, Takeshi Masada & Yuya Koroku) retained their KO-D Six Man Tag Team Title in a strong defence against FANTÔMES DRAMATIC (Chris Brookes, HARASHIMA & Hinata Kasai). It was a match considerably better than the Harimao match at Judgement, though still short of the title-winning match which remains one of the best matches of the year. There is not a great deal to break down in terms of notes, but the combination moves were as crisp as ever and the crowd were hot for Hinata Kasai in the closing stretch before Masada put him away with the ChikaraKOBUMUKIMUKI. Strange Love Connection were announced as the next challengers, who I hope don’t win the title as paleyouth need to be protected and pushed as the best young act in the promotion, with Masada in particular needing that momentum if he is eventually going to be in a position to go after Kaisei Takechi down the line. KIMIHIRO made the challenge by doing a little rap, which Koroku mocked. The match will take place on 2nd May in Hokkaido.

There was a special singles match between Antonio Honda and YOH, built around the crowd’s anticipation of Anton’s inevitable trip, with YOH’s strategy being to tire him out to win the match. The tension built as Anton ran the ropes, as the crowd grew louder with each pass waiting for the moment. Eventually, it happened. They shared the Gongitsune routine together before YOH picked up the win with a submission hold. The backstage segment with YOH provided a taste of the dirty jokes, with YOH giving his own Gon the Fox routine, telling a folk tale about a chanko nabe (ちゃんこ) (a type of stew) restaurant before revealing that with the small ya (ゃ) missing from the sign, ‘chanko’ becomes ‘chinko’ (ちんこ), which means dick. He left the folk tale on a cliffhanger. But that’s the type of joke Anton does during all of his Gongitsune routines.

Junta Miyawaki, Shunma Katsumata, To-y & Yuki Ishida vs. KANON, MAO, Viento Maligno & Yuya Aoki was a solid enough eight-man tag with some nice nearfalls, though nothing that left a lasting impression. The more interesting thing was my pre-match confusion, with Yuya Aoki’s appearance coming as a surprise to me after I correctly had Yuya Aoki written down in my notes, but then before the match I changed it to Shinya Aoki assuming I had mistranslated it. It did actually turn out to be freelancer Yuya Aoki. Aoki had recently gone freelance after leaving BJW in March, having delayed his departure to help set up their rookies, Koshiro Asakura and Ryuma Sekimo. His pairing with Keigo Nakamura (Viento Maligno) felt like it could be a deliberate bit, referencing the Shinya Aoki and Keigo Nakamura tag team. But maybe I’m reading into it too much.

In a three-way tag where Danshoku Dieno & Kazuki Hirata faced Kumadori & Naomi Yoshimura and Kazuma Sumi & Yuni, we found out a really important fact. Kumadori has a massive third leg. This whole match was basically all about Kumadori’s piece down under. I don’t even remember seeing Yuni a single time. Dieno tried to grab Kumadori’s piece, but Kumadori was immune and Dieno was terrified at what he had discovered. He asked Hirata to confirm, and Hirata was also terrified. They even brought over their opponent, Sumi, to triple check, and indeed it was true. Kumadori is carrying a large concealed weapon. Dieno and Hirata made sure they weren’t going crazy by checking Sumi’s piece, and it was comfortably small for them. Sumi was saddened by this discovery.

Rukiya, teaming with Jun Akiyama, picked up a win on the new DDT recruit Masami Inahata. Masami is going to be higher up the card at a later point, everyone knows that, so it’s good to give Rukiya some wins to make sure he does not go stone cold. It is the same type of booking that STARDOM utilises, and low and behold, these are the two hottest promotions in Japan.

In the Dramatic Dark Match, there was a fun replacement for Sanshiro Takagi, with Yoshihiko stepping into the fray against Ilusion. The measure of a wrestler’s quality can be assessed by how athletic they are, or how well they cut promos, but in DDT, a wrestler’s quality can be assessed by how good of a match they can have with a stuffed doll, and Ilusion passed the test, if nowhere near Hirata levels. The highlights included a fan throwing Yoshihiko back at Ilusion after he lawndarted it into the crowd, with Ilusion selling it as Yoshihiko jumping onto him. Ilusion then immediately launched Yoshihiko’s head into the ringpost, a little nod to the recently retired Kazusada Higuchi. Earlier in the match, Ilusion had attempted to fool the referee and have him believe that Yoshihiko hit him with a chair. Later, Yoshihiko got his revenge with a lowblow into a Reincarnation for the win. One small criticism was that Ilusion never quite figured out how to make Yoshihiko’s kickouts look convincing, with his shoulders visibly down for the count almost every time, and there was a slightly awkward moment where Ilusion was fiddling around with a plastic string for over a minute. But overall, this was a good match.

Full Results

Yoshihiko defeats Ilusion (15:03)

Jun Akiyama & Rukiya defeat Akito & Masami Inahata (7:32)

Kazuma Sumi & Yuni defeat Danshoku Dino & Kazuki Hirata and Kumadori & Naomi Yoshimura (7:26)

Strange Love Connection (KANON, MAO & Viento Maligno) & Yuya Aoki defeat Junta Miyawaki, Shunma Katsumata, To-y & Yuki Ishida (11:26)

YOH defeats Antonio Honda (13:45)

KO-D Six Man Tag Team Title:
paleyouth (Daichi Satoh, Takeshi Masada & Yuya Koroku) (c) defeat FANTÔMES DRAMATIC (Chris Brookes, HARASHIMA & Hinata Kasai) (12:54)

DDT Extreme Title:
Hideki Okatani (c) defeats Yukio Naya (14:40)

KO-D Openweight Title:
Yuki Ueno (c) defeats Yuki Iino (21:45)

Watch on AJPW TV

All Japan Pro Wrestling

Bitesize Round-up

The “Champion Carnival” runs from 12th April through to 17th May across ten shows, opening at Korakuen Hall and finishing at Ota City General Gymnasium. Block A features Kento Miyahara, Go Shiozaki, Rei Saito, Kuma Arashi, Kengo Mashimo, Yuma Anzai, Talos and Oddyssey, while Block B is made up of Hideki Suzuki, Daisuke Sekimoto, Madoka Kikuta, Ryuki Honda, Ren Ayabe, Jun Saito and Xyon. Cyrus was going to be the last member of Block B but he allegedly stopped responding to All Japan’s requests for flight details so they decided to remove him and replace him with Yuma Aoyagi.

Yuma Aoyagi returned from suspension on 15th March. He was involved in a vehicle collision on 23rd November 2025. It was controversial as he was driving with an expired license and it was not long after the passing away of Taishin Nagao following an incident with the All Japan coach. Aoyagi was placed on a 50% pay cut and handed a three-month suspension which was lifted on 28th February. Aoyagi held a short press conference apologising once again and that he will work to rebuild the trust placed in him. Being an emergency replacement for the “Champion Carnival” is certainly one way to do that. Yuma said he was not sure why he was chosen and that in a “normal year it probably would have been Hokuto Omori and Shotaro Ashino in here.” Hokuto Omori gave an interview to Shupro in issue #2406 complaining about his omission. He pointed out the irony in being put in charge of the new trainees at the dojo, being told that the young homegrown stars of All Japan are its treasures, and then he, a young homegrown star, was left out of the tournament. He pointed out that only the Saito Brothers and Anzai are the only homegrown talents in the tournament.

The key “Champion Carnival” matches on the Block A side include Shiozaki against Anzai on 12th April, Shiozaki against Kento on 18th April, Kento against Anzai on 19th April, Shiozaki against Rei Saito on 23rd April, Kento against Rei on 2nd May, and Rei against Anzai on 5th May. Block B’s standout bouts are Kikuta against Honda on 18th April, Sekimoto against Kikuta on 25th April, and a duo of key matches on 5th May in Sekimoto against Honda and Hideki Suzuki against Jun Saito.

The All Japan “Junior Tag Festival” concluded in March, with the semi-finals producing an excellent bout as Dan Tamura & Hikaru Sato fell to Ryo Inoue and Dragongate’s Mochizuki Jr., the latter once again underlining why he is one of the best junior heavyweights in the world. The second semi-final, which saw AtsuHaya (Atsuki Aoyagi & Rising HAYATO) advance over the freelance duo of Seiki Yoshioka and Yuya Susumu, did not reach the same heights. The final between those two teams was the better match on paper and largely delivered, with HAYATO the standout performer, putting on an excellent back and forth with Junior and overwhelming Inoue with signature shotgun chops when the match spilled outside. AtsuHaya took the tournament with Sid & Nancy (double Spanish Fly) into a Firebird splash, earning a shot at the All Asia Tag Team Title held by Masaaki Mochizuki and Don Fujii in Dragongate, though the result felt somewhat stale given HAYATO’s readiness to move to heavyweight and Atsuki’s tendency to be overpushed. Atsuki himself acknowledged his dwindling fan support in an interview in Shupro #2405.

All Japan announced the signing of Kyushu-native Genki Hanawa, 25, to a new contract effective 1st April. Hanawa had been training in judo since the age of 7. He attended Kokushikan University which is a prestigious university for judo. Genki trained with Aaron Wolf during university and said that it was inspiring to see Aaron make his debut in New Japan. He was working as a teacher but always had the idea of becoming a pro wrestling in the back of his head. He had already resigned as a teacher and was training when he received the offer. He has no pro wrestling experience at all and will be starting from scratch. He will not be living in the dojo as he has a wife and kids already. Kento Miyahara, Chairman of the Wrestler’s Association, said that Genki would still be expected to do chores at the training camp facility. His father is Hanawa, a popular comedian and musician. Hanawa wrote and composed the Saito Brothers’ “Docchi?” song. Genki has thought about his father composing his own entrance song.

All Japan is returning to Kakuda in Miyagi prefecture on 6th June. It is the hometown of the Saito brothers and they were scheduled to have Rei Saito vs. Jun Saito for the Triple Crown there on 13th October 2025 but they postponed it due to Rei’s injury. I would have predicted Rei to win the Champion Carnival and challenge, but I think they would want the title on Jun for that, so it may just be a special singles match between the two and someone else challenging Kento.

The former KURAMA and controversially new trainee, Yasutaka Yano, will debut on 17th May. Yano was a NOAH wrestler who was fired, alongside Kinya Okada for committing sexual assault against a women in her 20s in Sendai in April 2023. Yano was arrested but charges were dropped in December 2023. He emerged in Mexico under the KURAMA gimmick.

It has been revealed that the reason Yuma Anzai took a short break in 2025 was to film season 4 of “Bachelorette Japan”. It will begin streaming on Prime Video Japan on 1st May.

Recommended Matches This Issue

These are in order of personal preference rather than chronological.

Go Shiozaki vs. Yuma Anzai – 12th April at Korakuen Hall (My AJPW 2026 MOTY)
Daisuke Sekimoto vs. Yuma Aoyagi – 12th April at Korakuen Hall
Go Shiozaki, Jun Saito, Kento Miyahara & Yuma Anzai vs. Hideki Suzuki, Rei Saito, Ryuki Honda & Xyon – 3rd April at Shin-Kiba 1st RING
Atsuki Aoyagi & Rising HAYATO vs. Mochizuki Jr. & Ryo Inoue – 20th March at Esforta Arena Hachioji Arena
Dan Tamura & Hikaru Sato vs. Mochizuki Jr. & Ryo Inoue – 15th March at Korakuen Hall
Daisuke Sekimoto vs. Kuma Arashi – 23rd February at Ota City General Gymnasium

“Excite Series” 2026

23rd February 2026
Company Announced Attendance: 2,237
Ota City General Gymnasium, Tokyo, Japan
Recommended Matches: Daisuke Sekimoto vs. Kuma Arashi
Designation: Key Show

The evergreen-ace of All Japan, and Triple Crown Champion, Kento Miyahara defended his title against Jun Saito. Let’s not beat around the bush, this was not an inspiring choice of opponent for Kento. Jun lost the title to Kento on 23rd September five months prior. You might be thinking that that’s quite a long time so it’s fine to run the rematch. The issue is that Jun’s reign lasted for what felt like an eternity (under nine months), so I carry a huge amount of “Jun” fatigue. This was the same show that Rei Saito returned on. Before Rei was injured, they were going to run Rei vs. Jun for the Triple Crown in their hometown of Kakuda, Miyagi in NIKKO Arena. They had to cancel that show, so there was no doubt in my mind that the company wanted to re-run that match. Sure enough, before the main event, in his pre-recorded interview, Jun announced NIKKO Arena for 6th June. That did make me think that there was a strong chance that Jun Saito was going to take the title from Kento.

The story behind this particular defence was quite simple. Kento was upset that the show was being marketed as “DOOM Day” without any promotion of him as the Triple Crown Champion. (I’m assuming this was probably deliberate given how much influence Kento has.) He felt like he was being sidelined by the return of Rei and Jun’s challenge and so wanted to stomp a mudhole into Jun’s face. At the press conference held on 17th February, Kento pleaded to the media to start promoting him. An interviewer asked him if Kento had the right attitude in doing so. Kento prefaced every response he gave with “Always appreciate your support” followed by the most sarcasm-dripping, condescending tones possible. He told the reporter that since the company has chosen to push the Saitos, he has to rely on the only other resource he has, the media, and he finished by saying he is counting on them to do the right thing. The reporter mentioned Kento’s poor record in Ota City (1-4 in Triple Crown matches) and Kento forgot to tell them he appreciates their support and lost the plot.

The match itself was not my cup of tea. Admittedly, I am not a Jun fan. His matches do nothing for me. Therefore, despite a good performance from Kento, this match felt neverending, much like Jun’s title reign. There were long drawn-out selling periods, as in any Kento match, but it didn’t work for me here because I don’t buy Jun as a credible threat to Kento. His offence regularly looks soft, he moves slow and lacks impact for me. This match definitely missed the mark for me, but if you like Jun or Kento, you may like this match because, well, it was the most typical match Jun and Kento could have.

Evolution (Hideki Suzuki & Suwama) challenged Titans of Calamity (Ren Ayabe & Talos) for the World Tag Team Title. This match had some good heat to it. The crowd felt like they were watching these teams rough each other up for real. Ayabe and Hideki started off the match with venomous attacks on each other, before Suwama tagged in and got a huge reaction when attacking Ayabe with forearms and slaps. Despite getting dropped on his neck with a backdrop suplex from Suwama, Ayabe fought back against Hideki before landing the Death Roulette for the win. This was a surprising win for Titans of Calamity, who I was sure were dropping to Suwama’s re-established Evolution team. Rei Saito came out and challenged, so the Saitos would go on to face the Titans on 15th March at Korakuen Hall. They couldn’t have Jun out there because he was about to be in the main event right after.

The All Japan Junior Tag Festival 2026 closed out the first round with two match-ups. In the first, Dan Tamura & Hikaru Sato (their previous team name was “Hentai Man”, I am unsure if it still is) were up against the freelance team of Kota Sekifuda & Toshiyuki Sakuda. Sakuda, a deathmatch wrestler from DIE, brought a barbed wire board out and left it on the side of the ring. Later in the match, the referee got distracted, accidentally got hit by a chair and died for 10 minutes. Then they used the board on Dan. This was quite silly and not very good. The referee just lying on the mat totally broke my immersion. Dan wrapped his arm in barbed wire and did some lariats. Sato tapped out Sakuda with an armbar. Dan and Sato won the match and would go on to face Mochizuki Junior and Ryo Inoue on 15th March at Korakuen Hall.

In the second match-up, MUSASHI and Seiki Yoshioka could finally settle their beef which stemmed from them losing the All Asia Tag Team Title on New Year’s Eve. MUSASHI’s partner was rookie Shota Kofuji while Yoshioka had chosen freelancer Yuya Susumu. Honestly, I felt the same way about this match as I do about all the MUSASHI and Yoshioka matches. Pretty good, but I can never get into them beyond that. The finishing stretch was quite good as Yoshioka pinned MUSASHI with his own finisher. Yoshioka and Susumu would face Atsuki Aoyagi and Rising HAYATO on 15th March at Korakuen Hall

Rei Saito made his return after being out injured since 3rd August at Ota Ward, so he was returning in the same venue he was injured in. He teamed with Makoto Oishi, and the other Saitos (“Mr. Saito” Naruki Doi and Senor Saito). Oishi was replacing Jun who was in the main event. They took on the full team of HAVOC (Go Shiozaki, Oddyssey, Shotaro Ashino & Xyon). The novelty of this match was that it was the first time Rei had faced Go Shiozaki, so they exchanged some chops which was fun. Rei pinned Xyon cleanly with the BBQ Bomb and the running palm strike.

Daisuke Sekimoto attempted to defend his GAORA TV Title against Kuma Arashi, who has been receiving a singles run push after leaving Hokuto-gun, with his goal of winning a title. Well, over a month since that push began, he beat Sekimoto and won the GAORA TV Title, and then after the main event he challenged Kento to a Triple Crown title match in Hachioji on 20th March. This match was absolutely great. It had that sense of danger throughout, where you weren’t sure if either of them were going to finish the match in one piece. There were insane spots like Sekimoto’s tope suicida and a shoot brainbuster from Sekimoto to Arashi. Then, the craziest spot of the match came. Early in the match, Sekimoto tried a deadlift German suplex on Arashi. I thought they had botched it. But clearly it was deliberate as later in the match, Sekimoto tried it again, flawlessly. It got a huge reaction and it looked absolutely insane. Arashi returned the favour by flinging Sekimoto as if he weighed nothing with a side suplex, before following up with the diving senton for the win. Backstage, Arashi said that Sekimoto was one of his idols alongside Okabayashi and he now wants his name said in the same sentence of those two. Okay. Relax.

In maybe the “best match on the card on paper”, Atsuki Aoyagi, Rising HAYATO and Yuma Anzai faced Fuminori Abe, Kengo Mashimo and Ryo Inoue. If you have read any of the newsletter All Japan columns then you are aware that this particular writer loves a lot of these wrestlers, namely HAYATO, Anzai, Abe and Inoue. I was also hoping that HAYATO or Inoue could squeak their way into the Champions’ Carnival, but it wasn’t to be. This was a good match specifically for my tastes, with Inoue and HAYATO working together a lot, and then Anzai and Abe on the finishing stretch, before Anzai won with the Giblet. Backstage, Anzai mentioned that Yuma Aoyagi’s suspension was ending soon and that Aoyagi was the only person that Anzai had not beaten, so he wanted him to come back at his biggest, baddest self so he could feel some achievement by beating him for the first time. Yes Anzai, we all want the same thing.

In the opener, Hokuto Omori continued his losing streak storyline as he fell to Ryuki Honda’s “Final Vent” finisher. This was a pretty good opener with nearfalls and stiff strikes. We all know these two are good wrestlers, but they’re both not doing much right now in the promotion. Presumably, Honda is going to be on the backburner until Royal Road, a tournament he has failed in the finals three times in, so he surely has to win at least once. There’s no Sapporo tours upcoming so I’m guessing Hokkaido-native Hokuto won’t be doing much either.

Full Results

Ryuki Honda defeats Hokuto Omori (8:28)

Atsuki Aoyagi, Rising HAYATO & Yuma Anzai defeat Fuminori Abe, Kengo Mashimo & Ryo Inoue (10:20)

GAORA TV Title:
Kuma Arashi defeats Daisuke Sekimoto (c) (13:02)

Masato Oishi, Naruki Doi, Rei Saito & Senor Saito defeat HAVOC (Go Shiozaki, Oddyssey, Shotaro Ashino & Xyon) (11:41)

All Japan Jr. Tag Festival:
Dan Tamura & Hikaru Sato defeat Kota Sekifuda & Toshiyuki Sakuda (15:48)

All Japan Jr. Tag Festival:
Seiki Yoshioka & Yuya Susumu defeat MUSASHI & Shota Kofuji (15:52)

AJPW World Tag Team Title:
Titans of Calamity (Ren Ayabe & Talos) (c) defeat Evolution (Hideki Suzuki & Suwama) (16:08)

Triple Crown Title:
Kento Miyahara (c) defeats Jun Saito (27:32)

“NEW AGE CHRONICLE-Z FINAL” - 8th March 2026

8th March 2026
Shin-Kiba 1st RING, Tokyo, Japan

“NEW AGE CHRONICLE-Z” was a series produced by Rising HAYATO highlighting the younger talent in All Japan, a bit like DDT’s “D Generations” or STARDOM’s “New Blood”, except held less frequently. Talent like Shota Kofuji made their first appearances on these shows. This was the final episode, but Yuma Anzai teased doing something similar in the future, but he later said he was just joking. Who knows? Anyway, this mostly broke the run of great Shin-Kiba house shows from All Japan.

In the main event, Atsuki Aoyagi, Jun Saito & Yuma Anzai faced Rei Saito, Rising HAYATO & Ryuki Honda. This was a typical main event, which means it was fun, but not a must-see. The best parts of the match were Honda and Atsuki’s exchange which ended with Honda lariating Atsuki inside out, and the finishing stretch between three of All Japan’s best young stars in HAYATO and Anzai. After initially countering Anzai’s Gimlet with a huricanrana, everyone, including his own teammates, turned on HAYATO as Atsuki gave him a Spanish Fly, the Saitos chokeslammed him, Honda hit the Final Vent and Anzai finished things off with the Gimlet.

The All Japan Tag Team Champions Titans of Calamity (Ren Ayabe & Talos) faced Dragongate rookie Kazuma Kimura and Dragongate’s standout young wrestler Mochizuki Jr. Talos continued being great. He tied Kimura in the ropes facing the hard cam, and like a 90s villain said “Oh you wanna be a star, let’s make you a star… say cheese!” while cranking back on Kimura’s head and stretching him out in front of all the cameras. There was a scary spot where Junior was going for his Fosberry Flop, however, he did not get enough rotation and was going to land almost on his head if not for an absolutely excellent catch by Talos. Just a solid hand on the roster.

Even though Seigo Tachibana is now an All Japan Junior Heavyweight Champion, it is apparently still funny to book him in handicap matches against Oddyssey. Seigo teamed up with Shota. Yes, I went into it wanting to hate it, and the match didn’t change my mind. No one cares how strong Oddyssey is because he isn’t going to be using any of that strength in his matches. He is going to be swivelling his hips and cat-calling members of the audience.

Dragongate’s rookie who debuted as a comedy character and hasn’t won a match yet, Jiro Shinbashi, faced Hokuto Omori. Jiro introduced himself and said that he wanted to beat Hokuto to achieve his dream of being promoted to department manager. Jiro then handed Hokuto his business card, as is customary in Jiro matches. Hokuto ripped it up and started beating Jiro up, so this match had all the usual Jiro spots. It worked a lot better here as clearly some of the All Japan audience had not seen the act. The finish was Jiro attempting to whack Hokuto with his umbrella but Hokuto dodged and it rebounded off the top rope and knocked Jiro out. Hokuto sheepishly pinned him, not believing the opportunity he was handed. He’s done this spot with his lunch box before. Hokuto handed Jiro a business card and they bowed and left the ring.

In the opener, Ryo Inoue and Gaia Hox faced Dan Tamura and Uptown’s rookie Nobuhiko Kimura. It was a solid performance from Nobuhiko, who at least appears more battle-tested than Uptown’s joshi rookies.

Junior Tag League Semifinals and Titans retain - 15th March 2026 (*)

15th March 2026
Company Announced Attendance: 1,278
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Recommended Match: Dan Tamura & Hikaru Sato vs. Mochizuki Jr. & Ryo Inoue

In the main event, The Saito Brothers (Jun Saito & Rei Saito) were unable to regain their All Japan World Tag Team Title from Titans of Calamity (Ren Ayabe & Talos). The crowd were super into this match, unfortunately I was not. The work was good, but nothing gripped me emotionally in this match. It happens. I was surprised that the Titans retained as I thought that All Japan would give the Saitos the belts to give them something to do, especially ahead of the show in their hometown in June. It might just be that one of them is getting the Triple Crown Title before that show.

The semi-finals of the All Japan “Junior Tag Festival” took place on this show. In the first semi-final, Dan Tamura & Hikaru Sato faced Ryo Inoue and Dragongate’s Mochizuki Jr. This was an excellent match and Junior keeps showing why he is one of the best junior heavyweights in the world. Early on in the match, Sato dropped Junior with a palm strike. Junior’s selling of this strike as an almost-knockout blow was great. Junior would escape the beating put on him by Sato and Tamura by using his signature cracking kicks. It was Inoue’s time to shine on the finishing stretch as he rocked Sato with his own buzzsaw kick for the finish. In the other semi-final, AtsuHaya (Atsuki Aoyagi & Rising HAYATO) faced the freelance duo of Seiki Yoshioka and Yuya Susumu. While once again HAYATO was the most over person in this match and he was great, obviously, the match did not reach the heights of the previous semi-final. AtsuHaya will face Inoue and Junior in the final. The winner earned a shot at the All Asia Tag Team Title held by Masaaki Mochizuki (Junior’s dad) and Don Fujii in Dragongate.

On the undercard, Triple Crown Champion Kento Miyahara faced Kuma Arashi in a preview tag. Kento’s partners were MUSASHI, Ryuki Honda and Yuma Anzai while Arashi teamed with Daisuke Sekimoto, Masuyuki Kono and Seigo Tachibana. The build has been Kento Miyahara poking fun out of Arashi and just referring to him as a WRESTLE-1 guy and demanding that Arashi finds some WRESTLE-1 seconds for their Triple Crown match. Sekimoto, Kono and Seigo Tachibana all wrestled for the promotion, with Tachibana debuting there. Arashi took the win, pinning Honda after a rocking final couple of minutes where they tried to take each other’s heads off. After the match, the WRESTLE-1 guys beat Kento up, ending with a diving senton. Then, in a post-match promo, they addressed the elephant in the room since Honda is also a WRESTLE-1 guy. After Tachibana mentioned that 80% of his memories from WRESTLE-1 were terrible, he asked Honda why he was against them. Honda told them to go stick it because he was only in the promotion for a year before it went bust, and then Honda walked out.

HAVOC (Go Shiozaki, Oddyssey, Shotaro Ashino & Xyon) took on Hokuto Omori, Kota Sekifuda, Naruki Doi & Toshiyuki Sakuda. This, for some reason, had a lot of heat. It is a totally random assortment of opponents for HAVOC. Doi is very popular though so that might have been part of it. Also, to be fair, the All Japan crowd is the most into its product compared to any other crowd in Japan. Yes, even more than STARDOM and DDT. Unless Xyon gave Sakuda a shoot headbutt, Xyon has learned the Kento headbutt, which involves making a great sound on his headbutt outside the ring with perfect timing. I didn’t see Xyon’s foot stamp as the camera angle wasn’t showing it, but I also really doubt it was a shoot headbutt. Either way, it is good he is continuing to pick things up.

Yuma Aoyagi returned from suspension in a pre-show in a match against Hideki Suzuki. He was involved in a vehicle collision on 23rd November 2025. It was controversial as he was driving with an expired license and it was not long after the passing away of Taishin Nagao following an incident with the All Japan coach. Aoyagi was placed on a 50% pay cut and handed a three-month suspension which was lifted on 28th February. Aoyagi held a short press conference apologising once again and that he will work to rebuild the trust placed in him. This wasn’t on the stream when I watched this show on “ajpw.tv”. The match went to a 15-minute time-limit draw. Backstage, Yuma apologised once again before putting over Yuma Anzai for continuing to support him. Yuma was due to team with Anzai in the World’s Strongest Tag League before his suspension. Yuma said that he wasn’t surprised he was not entered into the Champion’s Carnival given that his incident should have really warranted a disciplinary dismissal or termination from the company.

“Excite Series” 2026

20th March 2026
Company Announced Attendance: 1,750
Esforta Arena Hachioji Arena, Tokyo, Japan
Recommended Match: Atsuki Aoyagi & Rising HAYATO vs. Mochizuki Jr. & Ryo Inoue
Designation: Key Show

After calling his shot following Triple Crown Champion Kento Miyahara’s recent defence against Jun Saito on 23rd February, Kuma Arashi failed to take the Triple Crown from Kento. The build of the match was essentially Kento just taking the piss out of Arashi by referring to him as a former WRESTLE-1 talent over and over again. Kento also demanded that Arashi have three WRESTLE-1 seconds at ringside for the match. Those were Ryuki Honda, Seicho Tachibana and Seiki Yoshioka. Initially, Honda did not want to be there as he had no fond memories of WRESTLE-1, but he relented in the end. During the match, Kento was even more of a heel here than he was in his previous defences. The crowd were into it. Arashi does this strange thing where he is full on bracing for Kento’s blackout kick from miles away, which is slightly immersion breaking. This was a solid match, but not one I could ever care about given how much of a foregone conclusion the match was. Kento won with the, you guessed it, Shutdown suplex.

The All Japan “Junior Tag Team Festival” final was contested between AtsuHaya (Atsuki Aoyagi & Rising HAYATO) and Mochizuki Jr. & Ryo Inoue, in what were the best two teams in the tournament. While Atsuki is the weak link out of the four, by quite a stretch, he is still incredibly over with the woman in the All Japan crowd which keeps his push strong. The strongest link is HAYATO, not including Junior who is obviously fantastic and not an All Japan talent. After being kicked repeatedly in the chest by Inoue, HAYATO just blasted several signature shotgun chops before flinging Inoue all over outside the ring. HAYATO then went on to have an excellent back and forth with Junior. The Inoue and Atsuki pairing had some good moments, but I did not care to see Atsuki act like a veteran and eat Inoue’s strikes. Inoue should be destroying Atsuki with those kicks. In the finishing stretch, Atsuki kicked out of two of Inoue’s buzzsaw kicks. HAYATO broke up the third one, but even then you could see Atsuki kick out of it at the same time. This might seem like a nitpick, but really it diminished Inoue’s awesome looking offense. AtsuHaya hit Sid & Nancy (double Spanish fly) into Atsuki’s Firebird splash for the win. I was disappointed with the result, but not surprised. They are the kings of the All Japan junior heavyweight division afterall, but it is getting a bit stale. HAYATO is ready to become a heavyweight, and Atsuki is overpushed. They had now earned a shot at the All Asia Tag Team Title held by Masaaki Mochizuki and Don Fujii. That was another thing, Junior facing his dad for the title with Inoue would have been far more interesting.

Yuma Aoyagi’s full return was marked by teaming with Hokuto Omori against Ryuki Honda and his W Yuma teammate who he left without a partner following his suspension, Yuma Anzai. Yuma had technically returned to the promotion on the show before but it wasn’t streamed live. Honda pinned Hokuto. Backstage, Hokuto joked that Yuma couldn’t be All Japan’s Head of Training anymore. Or maybe it wasn’t a joke. Hokuto said he would be taking over, and to look forward to the April crop of rookies.

After defending their tag team titles, the Titans of Calamity faced the Saito Brothers in singles matches. This was just weird. It was like they had preview matches after the title match. I initially thought this was just a clever device to give Rei a win without giving the Saitos the titles, but then Ren tapped out Rei. Talos also beat Jun Saito, with a chokeslam. I thought the Titans were already getting a strong push, but this was on another level. A tag win over one of the most popular teams in Japan, the Saitos, and then individual singles wins days later.

HAVOC (Go Shiozaki, Oddyssey, Shotaro Ashino & Xyon) took on the heavyweight team of Daisuke Sekimoto, Hideki Suzuki, Kengo Mashimo and Suwama. After a great back and forth with Suwama, Ashino was pinned with the backdrop suplex. Ashino is so awesome that I cannot believe he is not in the Champions Carnival. He has got to be the most underutilised talent in the Japanese men’s wrestling scene. Suzuki had a stare down with Xyon backstage. Great. Suwama said he came back to face Shiozaki, who had chopped his chest purple during the match. They tentatively set a date for 17th May at Ota Ward (the Champions Carnival finals). Of course, Shiozaki is in the Champions Carnival, so they left it in the air (he definitely isn’t winning).

Dan Tamura, Fuminori Abe, MUSASHI & Yuya Susumu beat Hikaru Sato, Seigo Tachibana, Seiki Yoshioka & Shota Kofuji as Dan pinned the World Junior Heavyweight Champion Tachibana after a powerbomb. It was a fun match with the All Japan junior heavyweights showing why they have a great division. After the match, Dan challenged Tachibana for the title, who accepted. Also, after three months of feuding, Yoshioka and MUSASHI forgave each other and got back together as a team.

Full Results

Ryuki Honda & Yuma Anzai defeat Hokuto Omori & Yuma Aoyagi (8:32)

Saito Brothers (Naruki Doi & Senor Saito) defeat Kota Sekifuda & Toshiyuki Sakuda (8:28)

Talos defeats Jun Saito (13:00)

Dan Tamura, Fuminori Abe, MUSASHI & Yuya Susumu defeat Hikaru Sato, Seigo Tachibana, Seiki Yoshioka & Shota Kofuji (10:56)

Baka No Jidai (Daisuke Sekimoto, Hideki Suzuki, Kengo Mashimo & Suwama) defeat HAVOC (Go Shiozaki, Oddyssey, Shotaro Ashino & Xyon) (15:15)

Ren Ayabe defeats Rei Saito (13:39)

All Japan Junior Tag Festival 2026 Final:
Atsuki Aoyagi & Rising HAYATO defeat Mochizuki Jr. & Ryo Inoue (25:49)

Triple Crown Title:
Kento Miyahara (c) defeats Kuma Arashi (23:15)

Yuma Anzai’s Homecoming Show! - 21st March 2026

21st March 2026
Company Announced Attendance: 1,365
Annaka Shinkumi Sports Center, Gunma, Japan

For Yuma Anzai’s Homecoming to a small town in Gunma prefecture, which is north of Tokyo prefecture, he teamed with Atsuki Aoyaki and Ryuki Honda against Hideki Suzuki, Kento Miyahara and Rising HAYATO in the main event. Anzai said that it had been a dream of his to hold a show in Annaka, the town he was born in. They have held shows in Takasaki and Maebashi, bigger cities in the same prefecture, but never the small town of Annaka. To draw a Korakuen Hall-sized crowd to a house show is quite a feat. In the backstage comments, Kento continued his bit where he pretends to not know what small town he’s in, and said he thought he was in Takasaki.

As I keep saying, AtsuHaya (Atsuki & HAYATO) is obviously pushed strongly, but HAYATO is ready for the full-time heavyweight push. I am hoping they do not do a Hiromu with him. Atsuki can stay in the junior heavyweight division. Kindly. Kento played the heel in this match, as he normally does on the tour stops, especially for homecomings. He kept on glaring at little kids who were cheering for Anzai and yelling at them. Later, he pulled Anzai out of the ring when Anzai was running the ropes which got loud boos. Kento and Hideki then double teamed Anzai, beating him up all over the crowd. Kento took an Anzai towel from a fan, mockingly yelled “Anzai!” in a high-pitched voice and then strangled Anzai with it. Kento and Hideki’s partner, HAYATO, was just chilling in the ring. He’s not the brawling type. I’ve said it before, but Kento is the best house show wrestler on the planet. Even though All Japan doesn’t have blow away matches like other promotions, you can tell why they are still in business. They have a loyal, hot, devoted crowd that always have fun at the shows, and the promotion plays into that. Anzai pinned HAYATO with the Gimlet after a great match.

Hokuto Omori and Kuma Arashi finally engaged in their singles match that they had scheduled over a month ago to finalise Arashi’s breakaway from Hokuto-gun. They tried to wrestle this with some heat as they brawled, slowly, in the crowds. The match was fine, although not very interesting. The best Arashi has looked is going up against big boys of his size, like Daisuke Sekimoto or Shotaro Ashino. His matches with Kento and other singles matches have left a bit to be desired.

The World Tag Team Champions Titans of Calamity (Ren Ayabe & Talos) took on Fuminori Abe & Kengo Mashimo. It’s always very entertaining when Abe plays the underdog because he has a comedic timing like no other, and Talos plays off of him really well. Talos slowly chased Abe around the arena like The Terminator. Abe even picked up a child to use as a shield for a getaway. Talos lifted the child seven feet into the air and playfully shook them, before gently putting them down and ruffling their head. Talos just gets it. After Kengo was taken out of action, Abe tried to take the Titans down by himself. The crowd got behind him but it was too much of a tall task. No pun intended.

In the junior heavyweight offer match on the show, Dan Tamura & Ryo Inoue faced the World Junior Heavyweight Champion Seigo Tachibana and Seiki Yoshioka. This was also a preview between Dan and Tachibana. I’m a big fan of the All Japan juniors, but this match was very long and didn’t have enough interesting action. They worked a house show style match but with a longer match length. I could see the local Gunma crowd was very into it though, in the sense there were some old ladies in the front row looking horrified as Yoshioka and Inoue traded kicks.

Yuma Aoyagi faced Shota Kofuji in the opener. It’s worth noting Yuma had a key role in the dojo prior to his suspension. While Kofuji did not come through the dojo, they have surely spent a lot of time wrestling each other there. Additionally, Yuma was the one who suggested Kofuji sign an All Japan contract after their singles match on 22nd October. Kofuji hits a People’s Elbow now. It’s not a signature move or anything, but the likeness to Rock’s mannerisms were striking. It was a solid opener with Yuma winning with “THE FOOL”.

Road to Champion Carnival - 3rd April 2026 (*)

3rd April 2026
Shin-Kiba 1st RING, Tokyo, Japan
Recommended Match: Go Shiozaki, Jun Saito, Kento Miyahara & Yuma Anzai vs. Hideki Suzuki, Rei Saito, Ryuki Honda & Xyon

I’ve spoken about it in previous Shin-Kiba reviews, but there’s something about this venue that not only attracts the loudest fans but also the most fun matches. This was another very enjoyable house show. As a preview for the Champion Carnival, Go Shiozaki, Jun Saito, Kento Miyahara and Yuma Anzai clashed with Hideki Suzuki, Rei Saito, Ryuki Honda and Xyon. This was your classic multi-man party main event in All Japan, with a very hot crowd to boot. The closing stretch with Anzai and Rei had the crowd yell with constant calls for the two popular wrestlers leading to the time-limit draw. They were awesome with each other.

Dan Tamura and Oddyssey faced World Junior Heavyweight Champion Seigo Tachibana and Fuminori Abe. The most fun I’ve ever had with Oddyssey has been against Abe, one of my absolute favourites. Abe has this ability to make any and all match ups he’s a part of. He is the ultimate floor raiser. He bumped hilariously on Oddyssey’s throws, landing on his head leaning against the ropes. But to his credit, Oddyssey played his part in making this one of the more fun comedy matches in All Japan recently. Oddyssey tried to get in the ring but legendary referee Kyohei Wada did not see the tag and ordered him out. Oddyssey lifted him off his feet and shook him. Then the match was built around Oddyssey tagging in properly, with Abe and Tachibana perfectly working over Dan. When he finally got the tag and ran wild, the crowd loved it. In the end, Dan countered Tachibana and pinned him with the powerbomb. I was really into this match and thought it was awesome. Dan once again challenged Tachibana after the match for his title. Tachibana agreed, for 18th June at Korakuen Hall. So Dan pinned Tachibana on 20th March and then gets his shot three months later. Wow.

Following HAVOC’s participation in the 2AW Korakuen Hall show on 29th March, Shotaro Ashino picked up a rare win over 2AW’s Ayumu Honda (who is also Kengo Mashimo’s tag team partner).

The junior heavyweights are some of the most over wrestlers on the roster, so of course the crowd had full investment in Atsuki Aoyagi, Rising HAYATO and Ryo Inoue facing Hikaru Sato, MUSASHI and Seiki Yoshioka. As with most of Hikaru, Mu-chan and Sei-chan’s matches, there were some light comedy spots but it worked well and the crowd peaked with the finish, MUSASHI scoring a flash pin on Inoue.

Following his return from suspension, Yuma continued teaming with Hokuto Omori, this time against Kengo Mashimo and Yuko Miyamoto. Hokuto double low blow’d the referee and Mashimo (behind the referee’s back). Then Miyamoto knocked Hokuto off the turnbuckle so Hokuto’s nuts hit the turnbuckle. Then Mashimo tripped up Yuma who fell into Hokuto’s nuts. Then Mashimo pinned Hokuto, with the referee doing a fast count. Karma, I guess.

Freelancer Daisuke Sekimoto showed members of the All Japan roster how to have a great match with rookie Shota Kofuji in the opener. Kofuji has had a lot of these singles matches, but this may have been the best as Kofuji tried to chop Sekimoto hard to no avail. Sekimoto then did the Zack Sabre Jr. neck twist, but I had not heard it get as much of a reaction as it did here, with the majority-women audience screaming. Sekimoto won with a hellish lariat. This was so fun.

Champion Carnival 2026

All Japan kicked off its prestigious Champion Carnival tournament in style, with two matches on the card shooting up to my two favourite All Japan matches of the year so far and a smattering of other good matches. The show was helped by All Japan’s notoriously loyal crowd who are, as I’ve said several times, the loudest crowd out of all major Japanese promotions.

"Champion Carnival 2026" - Day 1 - 12th April 2026 (*)

12th April 2026
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Recommended Match: Daisuke Sekimoto vs. Yuma Aoyagi, Go Shiozaki vs. Yuma Anzai

Block A

Heading into the opening bout against the future ace of New Japan, Go Shiozaki was fully aware that it had been 11 years since his previous Champion Carnival tournament and something more was needed. In Shupro #2406, Shiozaki spoke about returning to All Japan as “Shiozaki of HAVOC”, but now, since it would be a gruelling tournament to determine the strongest singles wrestler, he would revive Go Shiozaki as an individual and re-establish who he is. Shiozaki also spoke about Anzai needing to face a tough, stiff challenge to full grow out of his “greenness”, referencing the fact he wrestled against Mitsuhara Misawa and Kenta Kobashi growing up, but All Japan does not have such a figure anymore with Suwama gone, with only Kento coming close who had to grow up with Kensuke Sasaki. Shiozaki thinks it’s vital for young wrestlers to have a strong, admirable, successful senior they can follow.

In order to show Anzai that, Shiozaki mercilessly worked over Anzai’s left knee in front of a red hot Korakuen Hall crowd. Shiozaki looked to be in form and relishing in the new role he wanted to play for New Japan’s next ace, even throwing a stiff chop at Anzai’s leg. Anzai’s selling performance early on was great, so much so that you could not count to three without hearing someone in the audience calling out for Anzai. Shiozaki then pulled out a sequence of moves, each designed to put Anzai away, and each time Anzai kicked out, the crowd went more and more ballistic. Shiozaki hit his Gowan lariat finisher onto Anzai’s knee and put Anzai into a leglock. The emotion that the selling of this hold drew out of this crowd was amazing. Anzai countered a more typical Gowan lariat with a backdrop suplex and then launched two full force jumping knees to Shiozaki. The finishing sequence was incredible with Anzai refusing to stay down from multiple Gowan lariats. Shiozaki lined up the most ridiculous one yet, with Anzai doing a full flip sell. Shiozaki said he wanted to be the wall for Anzai, and he absolutely was. This match was amazing. My only slight nitpick would be that the initial story of the match was around Shiozaki disabling Anzai’s legs. When he sold it, it was great. When he wasn’t selling it, it was electric action with the crowd going wild, so you weren’t really thinking about it, like a bit of a misdirection tactic. Overall though, the match was excellent.

In order to show Anzai that, Shiozaki mercilessly worked over Anzai’s left knee in front of a red hot Korakuen Hall crowd. Shiozaki looked to be in form and relishing in the new role he wanted to play for New Japan’s next ace, even throwing a stiff chop at Anzai’s leg. Anzai’s selling performance was exceptional, so much so that you could not count to three without hearing someone in the audience calling out for Anzai. Shiozaki then pulled out a sequence of moves, each designed to put him away, and each time Anzai kicked out, the crowd went more and more ballistic. Shiozaki hit his Gowan lariat finisher onto Anzai’s knee and put Anzai into a leglock. The emotion that the selling of this hold drew out of this crowd was amazing. Anzai countered a Gowan lariat with a backdrop suplex and then launched two full force jumping knees to Shiozaki. The finishing sequence was incredible with Anzai refusing to stay down from multiple Gowan lariats. Shiozaki lined up the most ridiculous one yet, with Anzai doing a full flip sell. This match was amazing. Shiozaki said he wanted to be the wall for Anzai, and he absolutely was and it was excellent. My only slight nitpick would be that the initial story of the match was around Shiozaki disabling Anzai’s legs, and then he hit so many jumping knees in a row with little fatigue in-between. When he sold it, it was great. It was a bit of a misdirection tactic because when he wasn’t selling it, it was electric action with the crowd going wild so you weren’t really thinking about it.

Kuma Arashi and Rei Saito had a big beefy boy showdown in the first match of the tournament, with Rei taking the win with a BBQ Bomb, impressive given how big Arashi is.

Talos was the victim of a flash pin as Kengo Mashimo scored an upset victory.

Block B

In his first tournament match since filling in for Cyrus, Yuma Aoyagi had to contend with the machine Daisuke Sekimoto. The structure of this match was simple. Bully Yuma and get the crowd behind him. Afterall, he’s probably going to be eating some of the losses Cyrus was scheduled to take. It was simple, but highly effective. This match was probably the best All Japan match of 2026 so far. At point Sekimoto, the insane man he is, decided to do a rare suicide dive, but overshot and went head first into the railings, instantly causing him to bleed from the forehead. But because he’s Sekimoto, he just let out a primal scream and rolled into the ring, waiting for Yuma to get back into the ring. Even though Sekimoto was beating up Yuma and getting the crowd on his side, the crowd could not help but chant for Sekimoto after that spot. The crowd was molten hot for the rest of the fight, biting on every single nearfall. Yuma hit an amazing German suplex into a Fisherman buster, but both were two-counts. After Yuma had sandbagged the previous few attempts, Sekimoto finally got his own German suplex onto Yuma and hit a hellish lariat. I thought that was the finish, but it wasn’t. Finally, Sekimoto hit his finisher for the win. This match was like Yuma had a point to prove. It was one of his best matches in a long time.

The big clash of block B for the night, before the spotlight was stolen by Sekimot and Yuma, was supposed to be Jun Saito and Ren Ayabe. They had recently met in a match for the All Japan World Tag Team Title. Ayabe attempted to show some personality, which he’s been working on his new tag team, this time tapping on his wrist as he waited for Jun to get back into the ring. I have no idea what else happened because I fell asleep shortly after and refused to go back and check, so maybe Ayabe had the right idea. This match went over 20 minutes. Ayabe picked up the points.

In the 9th April press conference Xyon talked about wanting to win in memory of Taishin Nagato, who passed away in 2025. Xyon has spoken about how close they were. Xyon wore green colours in his gear in a tribute to Taishin. As Hideki has done so many times already, he dropped points here to Xyon.

Champion Carnival 2026 Standings as of 12th April

As of 12th April (W-L-D)

Block A

Rei Saito — 2 pts (1-0-0)
Go Shiozaki — 2 pts (1-0-0)
Kengo Mashimo — 2 pts (1-0-0)
Kuma Arashi — 0 pts (0-1-0)
Yuma Anzai — 0 pts (0-1-0)
Talos — 0 pts (0-1-0)
Oddyssey — 0 pts (0-0-0)
Kento Miyahara — 0 pts (0-0-0)

Block B

Daisuke Sekimoto — 2 pts (1-0-0)
Ren Ayabe — 2 pts (1-0-0)
Xyon — 2 pts (1-0-0)
Hideki Suzuki — 0 pts (0-1-0)
Jun Saito — 0 pts (0-1-0)
Yuma Aoyagi — 0 pts (0-1-0)
Madoka Kikuta — 0 pts (0-0-0)
Ryuki Honda — 0 pts (0-0-0)

Watch on Dragongate Network

Dragongate

Bitesize Round-up

February in the land of Dragongate was all about the “UNO! DOS!! TRES!!!” – Dragongate’s new ‘big show’ on the calendar in 2026. With many of the prefectural arenas under remodel, there has been a massive shift in Dragongate’s typical calendar. 2025 was the first year in 2 decades without a “Final Gate” and there is no “Dead or Alive” this year with Dolphins Arena shut down. To replace those events, Dragongate announced “Uno! Dos!! Tres!!!” back in October to make it clear it would be a tentpole event this year. “Final Gate” is always in Fukuoka, but with this show scheduled for February and not December the company deemed a new name necessary. April will stay the same as “Dead or Alive” will remain in Aichi, Nagoya; however, the event will move to the Aichi Budokan.

All of February built towards the major show this month, so in the recap of each match I will also break down what happened and build to it in the preceding shows, which includes our monthly stop to Korakuen Hall, Dragongate’s home base of Kobe, and KBS Hall. Following “Uno! Dos!! Tres!!!”, Dragongate rolls right into Osaka for a doubleheader, as well as our March spot at Korakuen.

March has also been an eventful news month for Dragongate. Big Boss Shimizu was announced to be one of the headliners of “Golden Colosseum” in April, only to get hurt on the March 4th show, putting his momentum and the main event of that show in jeopardy. On the April 6th Korakuen Hall show, Shimizu was taken out of the match and it was turned into a six-way steel cage survival match, with hair and masks on the line, but also the loser’s unit will disband. Madoka Kikuta defended his Open The Dream Gate Title against KAI and then inserted himself into the match alongside Kota Minoura and Yoshiki Kato, as they will face PSYPATRA (El Cielo, Homare & Shun Skywalker).

Former Dragongate stars CIMA & Magnum Tokyo have been making the rounds doing fan events since CIMA’s departure from GLEAT. During the most recent event, Magnum had some disparaging remarks about Dragongate after CIMA said he would like to do a final run in the company. Tokyo claimed the current president of Dragongate overtook the company with a hostile coup and had been mistreating wrestlers for years. With CIMA sitting alongside him it is easy to link this to 2018 when CIMA and company left to form OWE and eventually join GLEAT, though CIMA never co-signed anything. Dragongate responded in a statement strongly denying every allegation and threatening legal counsel.

Dragongate may have responded as harshly as they did to Tokyo & CIMA due to the other big news story right about to drop. The third member of the Dragon lineage and ½ of D’Courage, Dragon Dia, announced he would be departing the company effective immediately. Dia was pulled from all March cards, and it was reported that all of his merchandise had been as well. Dia stated that this was a mutual decision and he had not signed with any other company at the time of the decision. Dragongate responded to Dia’s statement saying they had exclusive rights over him at the time of his original request and would need to have discussions about what would and would not need to be honored in the contract. The company stated Dia refused to engage with them and they were only able to speak to him through his agent, and they were notified he would no longer wrestle for the company after February. The company implied that this negotiation and departure is still ongoing, so there may not be an immediate resolution. This is tough luck for a company that has struggled with retaining talent since the OWE departures. The company has also seen former Dream Gate Champion Eita leave for NOAH, along with Kaito Ishida. SB Kento & Takuma Fujiwara had contract violations and left the company in 2023. Oji Shiiba also left for GLEAT in 2021. Kotoka retired in 2018. Five wrestlers also debuted from the company and got injured and retired within 2 years of their debut from 2020-2022. Big Boss Shimizu had also just returned from a year long suspension in January of this year. The steady stream of departures, along with the timing of Magnum Tokyo’s comments, shine a tough light on the promotion, and these ongoing roster turns may have been what have led to the company’s attendance downfall this decade. Many have speculated that Dia will sign with New Japan as a full time junior, but there is no concrete evidence to go off of at this time. We just know another very talented wrestler has decided that they are better off outside of the company.

Recommended Matches This Issue

These are in order of personal preference rather than chronological.

Yoshiki Kato vs. Yuma Anzai – 13th March at Shinjuku FACE
Ben-K, Hyo & Mochizuki Jr. vs. BxB Hulk, Dragon Kid & YAMATO vs. GuC, @KEY & Kzy – 23rd February at Fukuoka International Center
Dragon Dia & Marcus Mathers vs. JACKY KAMEI & Riiita – 23rd February at Fukuoka International Center
Jason Lee vs. Ryoya Tanaka – 3rd March at Korakuen Hall
Don Fujii & Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Strong Machine J & Tatsumi Fujinami – 3rd March at Korakuen Hall
Gajadokuro (ISHIN, KAI & Madoka Kikuta) vs. Luis Mante, Marcus Mathers & Yuki Yoshioka – 3rd March at Korakuen Hall
Big Boss Shimizu, Kota Minoura & Madoka Kikuta vs. Dragon Kid, KAGETORA & Susumu Yokosuka vs. Hyo, JACKY KAMEI & Riiita – 1st March at EDION Arena Osaka #2
Kazuma Kimura vs. Jiro Shinbashi – 3rd March at Korakuen Hall
PSYPATRA (El Cielo & Shun Skywalker) vs Kazuma Kimura & Mochizuki Jr. – 1st March at EDION Arena Osaka #2

“Uno! Dos!! Tres!!!” & February Round-up

23rd February 2026
Company Announced Attendance: 2,222
Fukuoka Convention Center, Fukuoka, Japan
Recommended Match: Riiita vs. Ryoya Tanaka
Designation: Key Show

Overall, the feelings on this show are very down. Ryo Saito was my personal booker of the year in 2025, as it felt like he could do no wrong. January in large followed suit with 2025, but February was a big 180, where nothing seemed to really click in Dragongate. This card felt cold coming in, and could be felt by the visuals and audio of the crowd at this show. I’m not as down on this card as others, but this is a huge miss none the less. Nothing was awful or even bad, but huge chunks of the show felt pointless coming in and the matches and fallout did nothing to change that. Kikuta winning in the main event puts the company in a very odd position, as he is scheduled to AJPW’s Champion’s Carnival, as well as Dragongate’s US excursion in April, which limits his chances to appear at the second inaugural event of the ‘Big 4’ shows in 2026. I, at this point looking over the schedules, would expect “Golden Colosseum” to be without a Dream Gate defense, and instead the April defense will happen in Vegas in a match with little to no build. Yoshioka felt like the only major character left to dethrone Kikuta in Dragongate, so the future direction of the main event is very foggy. Kikuta seems like he is either going to have to drop the belt in a rematch of someone he has already beaten this reign, or it will be someone completely out of left field.

With the inclusion of Team 2000X, crossovers with AJPW, and the upcoming Gajadokuro produce show featuring outside talent, I’m beginning to suspect that the next Dream Gate Champion will be an outsider. Natural Vibes Volume 5 seems like it will be a big story of at least the first half of 2026, but with the Shimizu story seemingly already blown off I’m not sure what their big angle will now be, and the group still feels pretty clunky. Chemistry will go a long way for them, so hopefully that builds over the coming weeks. Gajadokuro and Psypatra’s feud seems destined for the 6 way cage match in Nagoya, which on paper looks great. The problem is these groups aren’t really gelling and Psypatra feels less tweener than they did in November, which makes this feud feel like two heel units I want to see lose. The inclusion of Team 2000X isn’t providing any help in that factor either, which makes the next big main event on the card hard to care about or be excited about. Not everything is negative coming out of “Uno! Dos!! Tres!!!”, however, as the Ryoya Tanaka Brave Gate run continues to be great, and with the troubles of the top of the card, it feels like the hottest belt in the company. It has been an incredible 10 months or so for the Brave Gate title, which seemed on the verge of deactivation while Yamato held it. JackyRiiita always offers incredible upside to the Twin Gate division as well, even if this night wasn’t their best and they still have questionable booking overall. Jiro Shinbashi continues to seem like the answer to Stalker Ichikawa’s retirement, and Luis Mante feels like he can be built back up to a Dream Gate contender following his month of February.

Main Event: Open the Dream Gate Championship: Madoka Kikuta (c) defeats Yuki Yoshioka

The main event of this show had been brewing for nearly a year, with Open the Dream Gate Champion Madoka Kikuta defending the title against the man he betrayed all the way back in May in Yuki Yoshioka. Kikuta and Yoshioka were stablemates in D’Courage heading into the “Dead or Alive” 6 way cage match, which saw Kikuta betray Yuki and cost him his hair. They told a story of jealousy and frustration on the road to that match, as Yoshioka returned from a 14 month injury and tried to immediately resume his spot on top of the group and Dragongate. Yoshioka was rusty and not at the top of his game like he was prior to the injury, and struggled to regain his main event form for the entire 1st half of 2025. It wasn’t until months after the betrayal that a match against his idol, the soon to be retiring Hiroshi Tanahashi, finally reignited the spark in him. Tanahashi gifted Yoshioka the High Fly Flow, and with this Yoshioka was able to finally build momentum. Yuki and Dragon Dia were able to recapture the Open the Twin Gate Championships they had to vacate due to Yoshioka’s injury. Yuki would also make it to the semi-finals of the King of Gate tournament. Despite losing the Twin Gate titles and falling short of winning King of Gate, Yoshioka’s momentum could not be stopped, and the collision course with Kikuta and the Dream Gate were a foregone conclusion.

The February 5th Korakuen Hall saw the three full time members of D’Courage face off with the Gajadokuro trio of Madoka Kikuta ISHIN and Kota Minoura. This served as a bit of a preview for the main event of “Uno! Dos!! Tres!!!” as those two were who opened this match. ISHIN would eventually be the legal man in the ring with Yoshioka. Just when it seemed Yoshioka had Ishin dead to rights, Kikuta thwarted a High Fly Flow attempt with a shove and a nasty spill to the floor. The Dream Gate Champion followed that vicious attack up with an even more vicious pile driver to the Korakuen hardwood floors for the count out victory. Kikuta wasn’t going to make things easy for his former D’Courage stablemate and allow for his momentum to continue, and Kikuta let him know in his post match comments. This set up a teased injury angle for the rest of the month, as Yoshioka would have a heavily taped neck the rest of the tour.

The main event of the Kobe show on the 7th February saw Yoshioka, Dia & Mathers take on KAI, Kota Minoura and Kikuta. We ended up with Kikuta ripping off Yoshioka’s tape and targeting the neck once again. Yuki was isolated with all 3 members of Gajadokuro taking turns choking him and targeting the neck, and at one point Kikuta and KAI had him sandwiched in between them both eating lariats to either side of his neck. Dia had to save his tag team partner and came in like a house of fire, rolling Yuki to the outside to save him from the assault. Yuki re-entered to meet his rival, but his neck was quickly picked apart again. It became clear Kikuta was not so much interested in winning on this night, but making sure his challenger wasn’t going to make it to their title match. Kikuta set up a pile of steel chairs to pile drive Yoshioka on, only to be countered with a back body drop and tombstone piledriven on them instead. Yuki followed this up with scoring a roll up victory over Minoura. The challenger for the Dream Gate escaped the night with his hand raised.

Yuki Yoshioka proved he is ready to once again be Dream Gate Champion, as he was able to defeat the only other former Dream Gate Champion in Gajadokuro, KAI, at KBS Hall on the 11th February. KAI was more so looking to soften up the challenger for Kikuta in this match, attacking him with weapons on the outside and targeting the taped neck. KAI would force Yoshioka to work from underneath the entire contest, using his size advantage and power moves to wear Yuki down. Yuki survived by catching KAI in a flash rollup with a Reverse Samson.

Yuki was also able to best Kikuta in house show tags 3 to 1 on the way to this match. Kikuta struggled in non-televised tags, going 1-5 in the month, but his lone victory was over his challenger.

One thing that always stands out to me about these Kikuta title defenses is how slow and plodding they are compared to his work once turning heel last May. All Dragongate Dream Gate matches tend to really slow down and be more traditional main event “epics,” but with Kikuta it took away everything that made him white hot and undeniable last spring. While it is now fully expected from these matches, it still is a chore to get through the opening stretches of these matches. Commentator Jae Church had just finished talking about how Kikuta doesn’t rely on outside interference in these defenses when Ishin reached in to stall Yoshioka and gift Kikuta with the momentum of the match. That moment early on signaled that Kikuta realized the threat Yoshioka posed and would use everything at his disposal to ensure victory. While the Dream Gate has changed Kikuta’s style in his big spots for the worse, he has added some nice pieces to his arsenal. The attacks he has done to Yoshioka’s neck throughout the month has given him a great looking and vicious elbow assault in the corner where it seems like he is going to decapitate his opponent. Yoshioka seemed undeniable on the night, as every big move Kikuta was able to land seemed to be met with one in return from the challenger. The pendulum never seemed to really live on the champion’s side, which the champ recognized and shoved the ref to the outside to allow for a sequence where all the stablemates interfered. Somehow, Yoshioka even came out the better of this. Yoshioka finished this stretch of match off with a High Fly Flow and sure victory, only for Ishin and Shimizu to interfere again, stopping the ref clunkily while Shimizu hit Yoshioka with a steel chair. The momentum pendulum was finally in control by the champion, and he would not relinquish it again. Yoshioka used every bit of fighting spirit he had to kick out of a series of moves, but ultimately the Kikuta train could not be stopped and Kikuta retained for his 4th defense and key added to the Dream Gate belt.

Open The Triangle Gate Title: Natural Vibes defeat PARADOX and Love & Peace – NEW CHAMPIONS

Love & Peace were the faction of the year in 2025 in my opinion, as the former Gold Class had the most stand out performances in the calendar year, before perfecting their chemistry and gaining on screen success by winning both tag titles to close out the year. They looked to defend their Triangle Gate belts for the 3rd time against two teams, the ever looming PARADOX, and the newest incarnation of Natural Vibes. Natural Vibes has been the story of Dragongate in 2026, as Big Boss Shimizu returned from his year long suspension to rejoin the group, only to betray them on the very next night. Shimizu proceeded to beat each member in singles matches, ending with the original member and long time former leader in Kzy. Kzy and Strong Machine J had a somber heart to heart in the middle of the ring that night in January, and were on the verge of ending the longest running faction in Dragongate, only for new life to be brought into the group by the emerging Daiki Yanaguichi and Akihiro Sahara. Natural Vibes version 5 was born instead, and the group was now re-energized again.

The main event and opening segment of Korakuen Hall on February 5th were bookended with Natural Vibes segments. The new members have completed their Vibes makeover complete with new ring names. Daiki Yangiuchi is now GuC, and Akihiro Sahara is @Key. The latter name is going to be a nightmare in modern social media and digital platforms, so we will see how long that spelling lasts. Their 1st match as a 5 man unit would be against both the Open the Twin Gate & Open the Triangle Gate Champions in Love & Peace. This night was all about the new members of Vibes, as they got continuous segments throughout this match. Once we got out of the showcase portion of this match is when things really picked up, and with 5 men on either side in Dragongate that means the pace never slows down. Eventually the 5 minute sprint climax of the match ended up with only Kzy & Ben-K left standing, and 3 teeth rattling elbows and uppercuts saw Kzy pin 1/3rd of the trios champions. Following the victory Kzy was excited and laid down the challenge for “Uno! Dos!! Tres!!!” for the Triangle Gate titles.

A ten man tag between Natural Vibes and Paradox with Ultimo Dragon occurred on February 7th. Yamato scored the pinfall over GuC with the Galleria. After the match Yamato demanded the Paradox trio of himself, Dragon Kid, and BxB Hulk be added to the Triangle Gate title match at “Uno! Dos!! Tres!!!”, and GM Ryo Saito agreed.

A 4-way tag at KBS Hall saw all 3 teams (& D’Courage) battle it out. This match set up another match at “Uno! Dos!! Tres!!!”, but also served as our final televised preview of our semi main event. Love and Peace seemed to dominate the road to house show events, scoring 4 victories over Natural Vibes, while the former only captured 1. @Key also dropped all of his singles matches along the way, but Vibes fared pretty well outside this feud and against Gajadokuro. PARADOX did manage to beat Love & Peace & Natural Vibes in their only meetings. The group went 4-4 in the month when not facing their Triangle Gate opponents.

That brings us to the Fukuoka match “Uno! Dos!! Tres!!!” The opening stretch of this match saw Vibes and Love & Peace trade off showcase and comedy spots while Paradox was always receiving the brunt of the attacks – a lot more comedy spots than you would expect from a ‘Big 4’ show of the year in the semi main event. Once we got to the business half of this match things did pick up. With this being an elimination 3 way dance we eventually got Paradox to show up and hit all their big moves and tease victory before being the 1st team out from a Kzy rollup on BxB Hulk. A big highlight of the closing stretch was Mochi Jr. hitting his beautiful stalling bridging german on GuC, only for @Key to break it up with a Giant Swing. From there @Key survived a spear from Ben-K and countered the second attempt with a spinebuster, and Natural Vibes Volume 5 became the 98th Triangle Gate Champions. This was the best match on the show, but I would argue was also the most disappointing. These sort of matches are typically the kind of matches that stand out and set Dragongate apart from every other company, and this one was way too cute at the beginning, and the closing stretch, while great, didn’t do enough to undo an awkward start for a big spot like this. @Key closed strong, but continues to be a square peg in a round hole since joining Vibes. Hopefully the growing pains eventually pass, as Vibes seem primed for a big 2026 push, and it just isn’t meshing quite on level yet. GuC on the other hand is almost too perfect of a fit, which works great with Kzy, but highlights the imperfections elsewhere.

Ten Man Tag: Psypatra & Team 2000X defeat Gajadokuro

The tag battles between Psypatra and Gajadokuro continued over from January at Korakuen Hall, with El Cielo and Homare taking on KAI and Yoshiki Kato on 5th February. As you would expect with a Snake Skulls and former Z-Brats match, this match started with a before-the-bell attack and crowd brawling. Kato and Cielo have had a rivalry to start the year, so we saw those two pair off again with Kato again going after the mask of El Cielo. That was where this match ended as well, as Kato hit Homare with his finisher and a sure to be 3 count, only for Cielo to brain him with a chair shot and beatdown resulting in a disqualification.

A marquee singles match between Shun Skywalker and the character of 2026 Big Boss Shimizu was up next on the same show on 5th February. At “Memorial Gate” Shimizu seemed to put his former team Natural Vibes behind him, and now has his sights set on Psypatra. After a few big strikes to open we quickly moved to faction warfare and some massive chair shots on the outside. The more brutal than typical Dragongate nature of this match continued with mounted strikes and open slaps to the face. Following a massive powerbomb and top rope splash, Big Boss went to finish the job with a Shotput Slam, but Shun grabbed the referee and adjusted his mask to come off in Shimizu’s hand, resulting in a 2nd DQ of the evening in a Psypatra vs Gajadokuro match. Shun followed this up by revealing his plot, a 5 on 5 all out faction warfare match, and despite the fact Psypatra only has 3 members Skywalker had this covered as well. He formed an agreement with Pro Wrestling NOAH’s OZAWA to work together and have Team 2000X send Takashi Suguira & Masa Kitamiya in support.

All out war carried over from Korakuen Hall between Psypatra and Gajadokuro, as Shun Skywalker and Homare attacked Yoshiki Kato & Big Boss Shimizu during their entrance for their tag match in Kobe on 7th February. Given the nature of this angle and the story they are telling it took a long while to get this match out of the crowd brawling portion, as every return to the ring and seemingly start to the wrestling portion of the match was quickly followed up with another trip outside to brawl. That of course was how the match ended as well, as all 4 men attacked each other in the crowd through the 20 count, resulting in a double count out.

Psypatra and Gajadokuro once again battled to an unsatisfying result, as Shimizu once again unmasked Skywalker for a DQ at KBS Hall on 11th February. These two teams continue to build tension for their all out war at “Uno! Dos!! Tres!!” where we would hopefully finally see a winner. Two more double count outs occurred in the house show portion of the tour, along with a DQ, but on the final house show before “Uno! Dos!! Tres!!!” Gajadokuro was finally able to get the upper hand with a Minoura victory over Homare. Shimizu and Gajadokuro were able to score victories when not facing Psypatra, going 6-5 overall, which is more than can be said for Shun’s squad.

The “Uno! Dos!! Tres!!!” match, as promised, had immediate crowd brawling. Jason Lee was back to second his team and keep the numbers advantage; though, to my surprise this match did still have countouts and disqualifications. Once this match got back in the ring is when things really picked up. We had the series of sprinting spots in a Dragongate multi-man tag we all know and love, and those carried us all the way to the end. We got some moments where Skywalker and Suguira accidentally hit each other instead of Shimizu, but rather than tease breakup or frustration we went right into the finish. Shimizu went for the shotput slam on Skywalker, but was countered into a Frankensteiner and cradle for the win for Psypatra. Shimizu refused to accept that Psypatra and Team 2000X are better than Gajadokuro and laid out a couple challenges. First on February 28th will be a 3 match series between Shun, Homare, & El Cielo taking on Shimizu, Kikuta, and Kota Minoura where the pairings for the singles matches will be drawn at random. Secondly, since Psypatra is just a 3 man unit Shimizu challenged both groups to a 3 way trios match on March 3. Team 2000X will be joined by Tadasuke, while Ishin and Yoshiki Kato will join Big Boss.

Open The Twin Gate Title Match: Love & Peace (c) defeat Dragon Dia & Marcus Mathers

A 4-way tag main event at KBS Hall on 11th February was used to determine the “Uno! Dos!! Tres!!!” Twin Gate challengers. The winners seemed a bit predetermined, with 3 of the 4 tag teams booked for “Uno! Dos!! Tres!!!”, but there was no formal stipulation. Yamato’s signature brainbuster spot was humorously turned into a 4 on 3 suplex spot, including Marcus Mathers having to ask his opponent how to pronounce Yamato’s signature phase prior to the move. This was far and away the best match on the show, and Mathers was able to score the win with a Firebird Splash on @Key. Mathers and Dragon Dia laid the challenge out post match to try to unseat Love & Peace of both the Twin Gate titles and also the accomplishment of being the only faction to all be champions. Jacky Kamei and Riiita accepted, and now at “Uno! Dos!! Tres!!!” all 4 members of D’Courage will be in championship matches.

Also on the KBS Hall show on 11th February, we saw Riiita score a pinfall over ISHIN in an 8 man tag. Marcus Mathers fell in singles action to Luis Mante. Mathers fared very well in the untelevised events, going 5-1, including pinning each Twin Gate Champion. Dia was an equally impressive 4-1. Jacky Kamei went 4-2 but dropped a fall to Mathers. Riiita, however, did not have a good February, going 1-4.

At “Uno! Dos!! Tres!!!” D’courage dominated the entire early portion of the title match, highlighted by Mathers hitting Riiita with a tombstone on the concrete on the outside. The chemistry was just off in this match, and instead of Jacky Riiita feeling like they were on 2x speed the entire match, they were closer to 0.75x. This can’t just be placed on the WWE ID wrestler either, as the timing and chemistry was arguably worse with Dragon Dia. The final third of this match is when things finally picked up. Things were jumpstarted by Dia and Mathers hitting an insane Doomsday Device Destroyer. From there on out, it was all big moves and reversal sequences. Kamei was able to best Dia in that final exchange, landing the Jackyknife for the 3- count and a successful defense. JackyRiiita was my Tag Team of the Year in 2025 and I would say they largely earned that by never having an off night the entire year. In 2026 we can not say the same, and this was their worst big match showing since the team was formed. That’s not to say this match was bad, as I still found it to be a solid affair; the bar is just that high with a tag team as good as JackyRiiita. Nonetheless, they did enough to keep the Twin Gate titles and will redeem themselves sooner rather than later.

Open The Brave Gate Title: Ryoya Tanaka(c) defeats Genki Horiguchi

Former Brave Gate champions Genki Horiguchi and Kagetora both laid out challenges for this title match at “Memorial Gate” on February 1st. GM Ryo Saito decided to have them face off on February 7th to determine the #1 contender. Both men faced off while the champion, Ryoya Tanaka, watched on from the time keeper area. Kagetora showed a mean streak after a low dropkick to Genki’s knee by immediately wrapping the knee around the ring post and smashing it into the metal frame. The screams of pain from Genki was like blood in the water for Kagetora and he based all his offense around attacking Horiguchi’s knee. Genki was able to mount some counter offense by recognizing this and preparing for the repeated knee attacks. Ultimately he was a one legged man and couldn’t maintain momentum and found his knee repeatedly getting picked apart. Genki Horiguichi always has an ace up his sleeve that can beat any competitor on any given day, and that is the Backslide from Heaven. Kagetora was able to escape the first few attempts, but Genki knew it was his only chance to score the win, and pivoted to it being the only move he attempted. He was finally able to catch Kagetora in it and score the victory.

Alson on 7th February, we had Dragongate’s version of the Royal Rumble, the Royal Sambo. The Brave Gate Champion scored the win here with the Cross Saber.
Genki Horiguchi picked up a win in 6 man tag action at KBS Hall on 11th February. Genki started us off with calling a child to the ring to be the honorary timekeeper and ring the bell. This job is typically reserved for the bout after intermission. Horiguchi won with the Backslide from Heaven on Susumu Yokosuka to build momentum. The momentum continued in untelevised matches, as Genki went 3-0 including a win over Tanaka. Tanaka went 4-2, but largely victorious over Gajadokuro in Yuki’s story.

At “Uno! Dos!! Tres!!!” a classic story of an old wise veteran versus a young improving star is what opened this match, as Genki tried to ground Tanaka and slow the match down, while Tanaka used his youth and speed to change the pace of the match. Tanaka flipped this dynamic once he gained the upper hand and began targeting Horiguichi’s historically bad knee. Tanaka worked much more like a tweener on the night than his typical babyface. I’m not sure if this was just due to Horiguichi being near his hometown, or if chasing the Brave Gate defense record has gone to Tanaka’s head. Genki did use this to his advantage and surprised Tanaka with a handful of big moves, but Ryoya still managed to kick out of the Backslide from Heaven. Horiguichi rode this momentum to even hit a Beach Break, but the earlier damage to his knee prevented a follow up. After this, Tanaka found another gear and began landing a series of his own signature moves, ending Horiguichi’s challenge with a Stardust Press. D’Courage entered the show with the chance to walk out with all four members in gold, but it was just Ryoya that actually managed to do so. Tanaka has now reached eight defenses, and is three away from tying PAC’s legendary reign of 11 defenses. Defense #9 showed his face post match, as Jason Lee returned from a few weeks off to attack the champion. We wouldn’t have to wait long for this match, as it would take place at Korakuen Hall on March 3rd.

Toru Owashi defeats Jiro Shinbashi via surrender

Salaryman Jiro Shinbashi got his 1st match up against Luis Mante in Kobe on February 7th. Jiro debuted late in 2025 and has slowly faced off one by one with the roster, and with Mante’s return from Mexico, he was next man up. Jiro actually hit a springboard hurricanrana and his signature dropkick before firing up and revealing his hairy chest and seeming on the verge of scoring his first legitimate win. This was until his phone rang and the Salaryman’s priorities were to put the customer first, allowing Mante to recover and hit Shinbashi with the Vuleta Finale 2 for the win. Jiro continues to search for his first legitimate win in Dragongate, as he also lost every match on the untelevised portion of the tour.

Jiro got his 1st match against the Toryumon, Dragongate, & DDT Veteran Toru Owashi for “Uno! Dos!! Tres!!!”. Jiro led us off with a promo before Owashi got a pretty big entrance, featuring the not muted quite fast enough “Sandstorm” by Darude. Shinbashi found himself in a chinlock before getting a ropebreak using the extension of a Salaryman’s body in his umbrella. Since Yagi views the umbrella as an extension of Jiro, he was able to use it for a strike to the knee and rear end of Owashi to build real momentum. Before he could execute a suicide dive his client unfortunately called again. Jiro was never really able to build momentum back up again after this, even with his patented shirt removal and drop kick spot. Owashi hit some big moves and drove Jiro’s laptop case into his chest. Just as he claimed the top rope to hit one final move, Shinbashi pulled a white flag out of his bag and surrendered before the final blow could be struck. The Shinbashi act continues to find new and fun ways to hit the same comedy spots each match to not get too repetitive. The White Flag finish was an absolute delight and a great new wrinkle to unveil on a big show like this.

Strong Machine J & UT defeat Masaaki Mochizuki & Don Fujii, Problem Dragon & Punch Tominaga, and Kagetora & Susumu Yokosuka

Yamato, BxB Hulk, Susumu Yokosuka & Dragon Kid took on All Asia Tag Champions Masaaki Mochizuki & Don Fujii, as well as Punch Tominaga and Ultimo Dragon in Korakuen Hall on February 5th. Exactly what you’d expect from a Tominaga & Ultimo tag match, though Mochizuki ended up picking up the win to continue MochiFujii’s momentum post winning the All Asia Tag Titles. Strong Machine J called out the All Asia champions Don Fujii and Masaaki Mochizuki to defend those titles at the March 3rd Korakuen show against him and 55 year veteran Tatsumi Fujinami to close the Korakuen taping. The match at “Uno! Dos!! Tres!!!” served as a preview of sorts for the next Korakuen Hall show on 3rd March.

The opening match in Kobe on 7th February was the rare occurrence where every competitor was a champion; as two thirds of the Triangle Gate champions, Mochizuki Jr. & Ben-K took on the All Asia tag champions Masaaki Mochizuki & Don Fujii in a non title contest. It is always a fun occurrence when we get the father-son clashes between the Mochizukis, and that was what started us off, before the two powerhouses of their respective teams squared off in a test of strength. A second father/son kick exchange saw the junior win the exchange, and we got a good unintentional comedy moment where Ben-K was looking to the crowd trying to get them to clap and cheer, and nearly missed his tag partner desperately looking for a tag. The finish wasn’t too far behind this, as we quickly ended up with Junior back in the ring with Fujii getting caught in a flash roll up to score the win for the veteran side. ½ of the All Asia Title match on March 3rd faced off as Strong Machine J teamed with Kazuma Kimura and Masaaki Mochizuki teamed with Ultimo Dragon in KBS Hall on 11th February. Mochizuki beat Kimura with a Dragon Suplex.

The match at “Uno! Dos!! Tres!!!” was contested under one fall to differentiate it from the semi main event on the night. Any multi-man match with Punch Tominaga and MochiFujii is going to feature them loving to inflict pain on Punch, and this one was no different. Kagetoa and Susumu forced Punch into a head stand splits, while Fujii delivered sumo slaps and Mochi hit an axe kick to Punch’s Tominagas. Not much else of note here, as we ended with Strong Machine J hitting his signature and finishing moves for the win and to build momentum for March 3rd’s All Asia Title match. This worked as a fun get everyone on the card match, but I don’t think it really worked as a preview of the main draw of the next Korakuen card. This was way too typical of a Punch tag match in this spot.

Luis Mante defeats Kazuma Kimura

The opening match at Korakuen Hall on 5th February saw the odd pairing of one of newest members of the roster Kazuma Kimura and as an injury replacement to injured Ryu Fuda was original Toryumon roster member Kenchiro Arai. They took on the Paradox team of Naruki Doi & Kagetora. Doi was bullying the rookie throughout the contest. When AraKen was the legal man in the match we got veteran comedy that is common to Dragongate, but when Kimura was the legal man we got an actual fight. This dynamic obviously favored Paradox, and with Kagetora having a number one contender’s match a few days away, he picked up the win.

Luis Mante and Marcus Mathers had a rare foreigner vs foreigner singles match in the middle of the show 5th February Korakuen Hall show. Mexican Power showed a mean streak early on and continuously worked over Mathers’s arm. The action was a bit choppy to start, so part of the arm based offense was to slow things down and clean them up. Things picked up in the second half of the match with some big moves from Mathers, but this was a pretty sloppy affair from start to finish. Mante also scored a victory over Jiro Shinbashi on 7th February.

The Royal Sambo also happened in Kobe on 7th February. These matches rarely, if ever, have any stakes attached to them, and just act as a way to get every talent on the show on some of these smaller network shows. Ishin is typically the star in these, as it is a less serious type of match where comedy shines more than anything else, so the resident gremlin always shines brightest. The final two came down to rookie Kazuma Kimura and Brave Gate Champion Ryoya Tanaka. Kimura hit a series of roll ups to nearly score the massive upset, but the champion kicked out of each attempt before pinning Kimura.

Strong Machine J teamed with Kazuma Kimura to take on Masaaki Mochizuki & Ultimo Dragon in KBS Hall on 11th February. Kimura got most of the action in this contest. Mochizuki beat him with a Dragon Suplex. Post match Ultimo suggested Kimura change his ring name to KimuKazu, which Ryo Saito was not happy about.

Mante went 3-2 on the house show portion of the tour, while Kimura went winless.

At “Uno! Dos!! Tres!!!” Kazuma kicked off the show with his first appearance with theme music. Kimura has seemed ready for a push, but that step usually doesn’t happen until a wrestler is given theme music or joins a faction (and gets to use that theme). Still, Luis Mante is a former Dream Gate Champion and no easy task. Mante is one of the largest men, if not the largest man, in Dragongate, so it was impressive to see Kimura hit multiple judo flips and T-bone suplexes on him. There was a bit of a messy sequence towards the end, but Mante was able to salvage it with a sit-out powerbomb. From there it was academic, and Mante picked up the win.

Full Results

Luis Mante defeats Kazuma Kimura (6:33)

Natural Vibes (Strong Machine J & U-T) defeat Don Fujii & Masaaki Mochizuki and PARADOX (KAGETORA & Susumu Yokosuka) and Mondai Ryu & Punch Tominaga (6:01)

Toru Owashi defeats Jiro Shinbashi (6:45)

Open The Brave Gate Title Match:
Ryoya Tanaka (c) defeats Genki Horiguchi (10:36)

Open The Twin Gate Title Match:
Love And Peace (JACKY KAMEI & Riiita) (c) defeat Dragon Dia & Marcus Mathers (13:51)

PSYPATRA (El Cielo, Homare & Shun Skywalker) & Team 2000X (Masa Kitamiya & Takashi Sugiura) defeat Gajadokuro (Big Boss Shimizu, ISHIN, KAI, Kota Minoura & Yoshiki Kato) (9:00)

Open The Triangle Gate Title Three Way Match:
Natural Vibes (GuC, @Key & Kzy) defeat Love And Peace (Ben-K, Hyo & Mochizuki Jr.) (c) and PARADOX (BxB Hulk, Dragon Kid & YAMATO) (19:30)

Open The Dream Gate Title Match:
Madoka Kikuta (c) defeats Yuki Yoshioka (29:00)

Fallout of “Uno! Dos!! Tres!!!”

“Glorious Gate Day 1” - 28th February 2026

28th February 2026
EDION Arena Osaka #2, Osaka, Japan

The main event of the night was a 3 match tug of war between Gajadokuro and Psypatra. The opponents of each match were determined by random draw to open the show. GM Ryo Saito held 3 envelopes for each team to draw from, and these determined the match order and opponents. Madoka Kikuta & Shun drew Match 1, Shimizu and El Cielo Match 2, and Homare and Kota Minoura would be the 3rd Match if necessary. These 3 matches were contested like a 2 out of 3 falls match all in the same main event segment of the show. Kikuta and Shun had a great opportunity to rebound from their disappointing matches at “Uno! Dos!! Tres!!!” Instead, what we got was a doubling down on this style that does nothing for me. They stuck to the heel vs heel dynamic throughout, and traded heat spots rather than someone actually trying to get cheered. Nothing from this encounter stood up or energized me, and this was the hardest portion of this match to stay engaged with. The theme throughout this contest was heel tactics to win, and the first fall was decided by a ref distraction that led to Shimizu throwing powder in Shun’s eyes so Kikuta could land a lariat and the pinfall. Fall 2 was worked fairly quickly and sloppily, ending with Psypatra distracting the refs while Shimizu had Cielo dead to rights, and Shun came in and unmasked his teammate and tossed the mask to Shimizu; Homare released the ref and we got a lucha DQ finish. The third match was the least exciting, but the closest to resembling an actual interesting match. We went all in on Gajadokuro being a Dragongate version of House of Torture with a frustrating amount of run ins and distractions throughout. Doing this after two straight falls of it was very disheartening. Homare managed to overcome the 7 on 3 assault, and score a roll up for the win and to mercifully end this. A frustrated Minoura announced he was taking ISHIN’s place in the March 3rd three way trios match to get his revenge. This was worse than the “Uno! Dos!! Tres!!!” 10 man tag, and I am completely done with this feud. This felt like the only place this feud could be redeemed, and the insistence on heel vs heel schtick over ever having actual wrestling matches are terrible instincts. Team 2000X are on their way back on March 3rd, and this feud seems written in pen to main event “Golden Colosseum” in a Survival Cage Match. I am dreading covering this feud for two more months if this is all we are going to get. At this moment in time the only exciting thing about that cage match is when it is over hopefully this feud will be, too.

I did enjoy the rest of this show as I thought the opening contest between D’Courage and Natural Vibes was very fun. @Key was much better on this night and hit all his spots with crispness and intensity. All three members of D’Courage are clicking right now, and Strong Machine J seems to always lock in when he has a big match coming up. Kzy is Mr. Consistency, so this meant all six men were clicking, and we arguably got a better opener on the night than anything we got on “Uno! Dos!! Tres!!!”. Following the match Jason Lee attacked Ryoya Tanaka to weaken the champion before their match in four days. Tanaka was dragged to the back where seemingly the attack continued.

Next up, we had an Open the Owarai Gate match between Jiro Shinbashi and “X.” Shinbashi won this belt in his debut and defended it a few times before defending against Ultimo Dragon. Ultimo did not understand the rules of the belt, as it is one of, if not the only, “shoot” belt in professional wrestling. The champion is not determined by who wins or loses the match, but by a fan vote immediately after the match of who was the more funny wrestler. Ultimo intentionally lost the contest to Jiro, was informed of the rules, and asked the fans to not vote for him. Unfortunately for him, the fans voted him to his first ever championship in the company he was responsible for founding. Ultimo immediately vacated the belt. Jiro competed for the vacant title on February 20th against Otoko Sakari, and the exact same thing happened. The contest today would be the second contest for the vacant title. X was revealed to be Yosuke Santa Maria. Santa Maria, off the jump, had Jiro taken aback by kindly accepting his business card and attempting a kiss. Santa Maria has an exotico gimmick that traditionally plays off the lucha crowd’s homophobic nature for heat or comedy. That still works very well in Japan, but is awkward to cover and write about in the states. Santa Maria is charming enough to overcome the discomfort that comes with it, and the crowd does always seem to enjoy her. This was shown as she became the 41st champion while also scoring the victory in the match.

Luis Mante has been teaming with Marcus Mathers when D’Courage hasn’t and the two teamed up again to take on Ho-Ho Lun and the returning TAKASHI. Mante has been racking up wins for a potential Dream Gate shot, and I think Mathers has been as well for a potential challenge in “DGUSA” while Kikuta is in the states during “WrestleMania” Weekend. They make pretty quick work of Lun and Takashi here as a result, with Mante landing the Vuelta Finale 2 on Ho-Ho.

Gajadokuro took on the All Asia Tag Champs and Genki Horiguchi in the pre-intermission main event. The bulk of this match was humor between ISHIN and Fujii. Kato scored the win with Cadere Luna on Genki Horiguchi.

The full PARADOX team sans BxB Hulk took on Love & Peace (minus Riiita) & Kazuma Kimura in a 10 man tag. I really enjoyed all the Not Hug spots in this match, and Naruki Doi was my MVP of the match as a result. Somehow this joke never gets old, and adding the bit on top of it of Doi partaking in all the Love & Peace spots at the expense of his partner was a delight. The closing sequence saw everyone get a bit of offense before Kimura was able to land judo flips on YamaDoi. Kagetora was able to stifle the rookie’s momentum and scored the win with a Kuruma pinning maneuver.

“Glorious Gate Day 2” - 1st March 2026

1st March 2026
EDION Arena Osaka #2, Osaka, Japan

Our opening contest was @Key taking on Homare. This was a solid showing from both sophomores on the roster. @Key seems his most comfortable in EDION for whatever reason, and it is a real positive for his work. I think this was arguably @Key’s best showing of 2026 thus far.

Next up we had the rest of Psypatra taking on Mochizuki Jr. and Kazuma Kimura. What a difference it makes putting Psypatra in there with the most entertaining group in Dragongate, even if it was only Junior and rookie Kimura. The break from Gajadokuro was very welcome, and these four had a very fun match. The pace stayed brisk throughout. Psypatra go 2-0 on the show ahead of their trios showdown with Gajadokuro and Team 2000X in two days.

An 8 man tag between Paradox and Natural Vibes was up next. Each team featured a guest spot, with Luis Mante on Vibes and Problem Dragon on Paradox. Problem Dragon was very over with the Osaka crowd on this night, as was GuC’s signature phrase and pose. GuC was targeted and bullied by the veteran team, as they all joined in on mockingly doing his gesture, before GuC was able to fire up and make the tag. It was all Vibes from there with UT ultimately getting Problem Dragon to tap out.

Strong Machine J and Don Fujii faced off in our second singles contest of the night. Fujii continues to be able to turn back the clock in his age 55 campaign. SMJ was able to slow down and ultimately beat one half of the All Asia Tag Champs when he began targeting Fujii’s bad knee. Once Fujii was downed J locked in a series of knee submissions, before a Figure 4 finally sealed the victory.

The semi main saw D’Courage take on a Gajadokuro trio, as Ryoya Tanaka, Marcus Mathers, and Yuki Yoshioka took on ISHIN, KAI, and Yoshiki Kato. A fairly humorous unintentional moment happened prior to the intros for this match, as the intermission mute ended one song early, and played nearly the entirety of “Complicated” by Avril Lavigne before our typical welcome back song of “OPEN THE DREAM GATE” by Diamond Yukai played. The story of this match was the Open the Brave Gate Title match challenger for March 3rd, as Tanaka slid out the ring to attack the man in the corner for Gajadokuro. Tanaka took every opportunity to give Jason Lee a piece of his mind during this match, while still supporting his stablemates. ISHIN had plenty of his comedic gremlin moments throughout the contest, which is a staple for all these smaller shows. This was a fun match, but mostly a heat segment to build anticipation for Tanaka’s attempt at a 9th defense of his title in a couple days. The match ended in support of that, as Lee decked Tanaka with the title while the referee was distracted so ISHIN could score the pin. Brawling continued all the way to the back despite the stables and young boy’s attempts to end it.

The main event was a 3 way trios match named “This is Dragongate” tag. The Gajadokuro trio of Kikuta, Shimizu, and Minoura took on Jacky Kamei, Hyo, & Ben-K of Love & Peace, as well as Dragon Kid and the Sou Ryou Tag Team Champions of Susumu Yokosuka & Kagetora of PARADOX. This was a match that never slowed down, as all nine men were in 6th gear from the bell ringing. Gajadokuro were fittingly eliminated following a ref bump and run in by Psypatra to greet Minoura with a steel chair. That is the theme of this entire feud going over a month now, but this was an elimination match so we still had a bit to go. Dragon Kid basically never ceded control from that point on, however, hitting Kamei with an Ultra Hurricanrana not much longer into the match scoring the victory for PARADOX. Kid led a victory speech to end the show where all of PARADOX came out to celebrate, and they are fitting as a faction of all 6 members being 20 year veterans of the promotion. Couldn’t be a better winner for the This is Dragongate match.

“Glorious Gate Day 3” - 3rd March 2026

3rd March 2026
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan

The main event saw Ryoya Tanaka look to move into a tie for second place all time in Open The Brave Gate Title defenses, as he looked to match Dragon Kid’s defense record of 9 from back in 2012-13. To do so, he would have to get past former champion Jason Lee and Gajadokuro in his corner. It seems what Gajadokuro have landed on to differentiate themselves from their former incarnation of Z-Brats is to ramp up the interference spots to an overload. Heel tactics and cheating is nothing new in Dragongate, but ramping it up to 3 or more interference spots per big match does. This tactic can wear thin quickly on a viewer, but when done tactfully, I do believe it can add to the drama and story of a match, which I believe happened on this night. At this point in Tanaka’s run, not only does he feel destined to beat PAC’s all time record of 11 defenses, but feels like he may graduate straight into Dream Gate contention after this run. Due to this, some of these matches on the journey to 12 defenses feel like a foregone conclusion, so I think the heat generated from Lee and Gajadokuro really helped bring this match back to the forefront and feel like Tanaka was in danger. These two are more than capable of having a great match together without all the extracurriculars, but with the ref bumps, and 7 on 4 attacks, the drama to Lee’s nearfalls was very effective. I bit on more than one, thinking Tanaka’s historic run had closed. Ultimately, Ryoya would not be denied, and the Stardust Press led him to another victory. I went all of February without giving out a 4 star rating to a Dragongate match, but Tanaka was able to break that slump and have a fantastic main event to close out the show.

Elsewhere on the card we had the three way trios match between the 3 heel units of Psypatra, Gajadokuro, and Team 2000X. This match was contested under elimination rules, and saw a similar formula to the rest of this feud up to this point. The staple of modern heel units in Dragongate is the crowd brawling, and that is the majority of the 20 minutes of match we got here. This has really ramped up in this feud, as it is not only the staple of both Dragongate groups, but with the escalating heel tactics in the feud it allows for increased chaos, which means increased opportunities to cheat and attack with weapons. Gajadokuro was the only of the three teams with seconds at ringside, but that was more than enough to keep the ref occupied for most of the match. The big segment of the first fall was “the chairman” of Team 2000X setting his chair up in the middle of the ring to signify king of the castle status. All 3 teams took turns dethroning and crowning themselves to the chair. This was awkward and didn’t seem to add comedy or drama to the match. Eventually Psypatra’s tactics allowed for the upper hand on Gajadokuro, as Homare was able to pin Minoura again just as he did on the 1st of the month. Gajadokuro did not leave ringside following their elimination, instead continuing to brawl with Psypatra. This allowed a confused and annoyed Team 2000X to score a count out victory. The team seemed to speak for at least this viewer in a post match promo, saying this is annoying and they are leaving the territory to no longer deal with it. Sadly, the removal of Team 2000X was not the signs of this feud ending, as GM Ryo Saito announced the “Golden Colosseum” main event would in fact be a 4 way survival cage match between Psypatra’s Shun Skywalker and El Cielo, as well as Gajadokuro’s Big Boss Shimizu and Yoshiki Kato. Outside of kayfabe these plans hit a catastrophic snag, as Shimizu suffered a serious injury in his match the next night. Kato is scheduled to be in the United States during Mania week, and Kikuta is scheduled for both the US tour and Champion’s Carnival, leaving Gajadokuro without a real leading figure to oppose Shun and replace Shimizu in the build, as well as the match. As mentioned in our bitesize round-up, the match was changed, removing Shimizu and adding in Madoka Kikuta, as well as Kota Minoura and Homare.

Our pre intermission main event was the All Asia Tag. Tatsumi Fujinami competed in only his 2nd Dragongate match of his illustrious career, and was the star of the match. This was a lot of fun for a match with a 70 year old and two 50 year olds in it, and it never felt like a gimmick match despite that fact. The young boy by multiple decades, of course, took the fall. This wasn’t a match for MOTY considerations, but it was a delight to see these legends of the sport still compete at a high level decades into their careers.

Love & Peace and Paradox clashed in a 10 man tag. The faction donning orange is typically my favorite part of every show, and getting the full unit together in one match was a blast. This was very fun, but a middle of the card affair, so it never really got into those final gears of great or classic Dragongate matches. Kagetora scored his 3rd victory of the tour already over Love & Peace, this time pinning one half of the Twin Gate Champions in Kamei. The original Jimmyz seem destined to be JackyRiiita’s next challengers, which is a very exciting match up.

Natural Vibes continued their momentum taking on 4 members of the former Mad Blankey. Yamato, despite auctioning off his Blankey ring gear, was not able to escape the reunion on this night, but with the remainder of his team positioned as jobbers in 2026 he knew his fate. This was more of a comedy match than the one with Jiro Shinbashi just before. GuC was the man to pin Punch on this occasion.

Jiro Shinbashi came out like we had never seen him before. He cut a prematch promo giving some back story on himself and his opponent Kazuma Kimura. Kimura and him were dojo trainees in the same class, and joined the Sugihara Corporation at the same time. Only Kimura never showed up to work. This meant Jiro had to teach Kimura a lesson, and he ripped his shirt off right away and took it to Kimura from the jump. Shimbashi was having an actual match tonight! Kimura was ultimately able to survive the initial wave and use his judo background to ground and submit Shinbashi for his first career victory. No one seemed more shocked than Kimura, but now he is finally on a winning streak.

The opening contest at Korakuen was a trios match between Gajadokuro and Yuki Yoshioka, Luis Mante, and Marcus Mathers. I went into the show thinking these were the three men closest to Dream Gate contention, with Yoshioka just dropping a very competitive match to the champion, and Mathers and Mante on a hot streak. With this being Mathers’s final televised match before returning to America, I expected to see him get the win, and was shocked when Gajadokuro was able to cheat with a low blow and roll up from ISHIN to score the win instead. This was a very fun opener regardless of my expectations of the result, but a surprise was welcomed nonetheless. I thought this continued Dragongate’s streak of great openers following “Uno! Dos!! Tres!!!”, and it was a good send off for Mathers.

Watch on Wrestle Universe

Marigold

Bitesize Round-up

Marigold had another quiet few months but will, hopefully, be ramping up creative heading into their first big show of the year, “Shine Forever 2026”, on 23rd May in Ota City General Gymnasium. As an indicator of Marigold waking up from its winter hibernation, Utami Hayashishita has challenged Miku Aono for the World title at Korakuen Hall on 25th April. With its roster, Marigold can easily put on some of the best wrestling in the scene, but the creative only seems to allow them to do that between late April (a month before Shine Forever) and November (a month after Grand Destiny). Everything in-between is pretty great. So if you were out in the cold on Marigold, it might be time to step back in!

Before that though, Miku Aono defended her title in a Hair vs.Title match against CHIAKI, forcing CHIAKI to shave her head. It actually quite suits her. La Vie en Rose (Erina Yamanaka, Mai Sakurai & Natsumi Showzuki) captured the inaugural 3D Trios Title, defeating Darkness Revolution (Nagisa Nozaki, Misa Matsui & Rea Seto) in the final. They have gone on to defend against both Icon Peach Arrow (Komomo Minami, Mayu Iwatani & Victoria Yuzuki) and the younger generation in Seri Yamaoka, Shinno and Yuuka Yamazaki. Mayu Iwatani defended her Superfly Title and GHC Women’s Title in a great main event at Shinjuku FACE against Natsumi Showzuki. After defending her United National Title against Chika Goto on 23rd February, Yuzuki has not defended since, if you wanted an example of the aforementioned creative lull.

Nagisa Tachibana suffered a concussion on the 21st March in Osaka and was pulled from subsequent shows. Mayu Iwatani suffered a fractured toe on 11th April, also in Osaka, and would be sidelined for further shows. Osaka might be cursed.

Recommended Matches This Issue

These are in order of personal preference rather than chronological.

Mayu Iwatani vs. Natsumi Showzuki – 28th March at Shinjuku FACE
Mayu Iwatani vs. Rin – 23rd February at Korakuen Hall
Komomo Minami & Victoria Yuzuki vs. Seri Yamaoka & Yuuka Yamazaki – 4th April in Niigata Hashi Ward Plaza

23rd February 2026
Company Announced Attendance: 895
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Recommended Match: Mayu Iwatani vs. Rin
Designation: Key Show

Marigold continued their streak of unexciting cards on paper at Korakuen Hall, with the attendance once again reflecting that as the promotion believes it is in the same group of promotions that can take the venue for granted. In general, the wrestlers definitely outperformed expectations and it ended up being a solid show overall. The storyline for the main event was that CHIAKI had been chasing Miku Aono for a few weeks, demanding a title shot. Miku would just shrug her off. CHIAKI’s attempts at getting a title shot would piss Miku off, causing her to swear and get angry, but she would still not relent. She did not feel CHIAKI was worthy of a title shot. At the press conference on 19th February, CHIAKI and her Darkness Revolution goons beat up Marigold World Champion Miku Aono. CHIAKI then offered to put her hair on the line for Miku’s belt, so with that offer combined with being under the pressure of getting beaten up and outnumbered, Miku relented and put her title on the line, feeling that CHIAKI had finally offered something worth accepting. CHIAKI obviously ended up losing her hair, because even though Miku is, undeservingly, the weakest booked champion in wrestling today CHIAKI is quite literally the last person in the company who should be holding the World Title, deservingly.

For what it’s worth, the main event was not bad. There were bad parts of the match, but they were mostly evened out by Miku being as awesome as she is. The bad parts of the match were the initial brawling that Darkness Revolution has to do all the time. I did think CHIAKI was more heelish than usual during the early parts though and had some hope for the rest of the match. Then, CHIAKI took so long untying a corner pad that Rea Seto had to help her, and it killed the momentum of the match that was building. It turned out to not be an influential part of the match, but that wasn’t going to stop them. CHIAKI was thrown into it and barely sold it. When Miku was thrown into it later, she at least sold it correctly and allowed heat to build up. Then, the most awesome part of the match came: Miku’s comeback. She drilled Miku with some of the best-looking headkicks you’ll ever see and then destroyed CHIAKI with Red Sensation, which is almost like a Ganso bomb. CHIAKI was spiked on top of her head and lost the match. The terrible parts of the match were almost made worth it just to see Miku ascend into God Mode. Then, CHIAKI was going to break the stipulation but veteran and stablemate Nagisa Nozaki told her to go through with it. They shaved her head a little bit and then she walked off.

Victoria Yuzuki successfully defended her United National Title against Chika Goto in the semi-main event. The match was built around Yuzuki bullying Gochika for being fat. That is not the first time that storyline has been used in this company. In my opinion, this match once again highlighted that Gochika is not ready for a high-level push, for the same reasons I provided when she faced Miku Aono for the World Title. In this match, while there were some solid striking exchanges, there were still some sloppy, messy moves from Gochika who once again looked gassed towards the end of the match. It was a 17-minute match that seemed to be a bit much for Gochika. The match wasn’t bad by any means, but it also wasn’t great. Yuzuki poked Gochika’s belly again after the match telling her to work on it.

La Vie en Rose (Erina Yamanaka, Mai Sakurai & Natsumi Showzuki) became the inaugural 3D Trios Champions, defeating Darkness Revolution (Misa Matsui, Nagisa Nozaki & Rea Seto). This match was quite good, underpinned by a long sequence between Rea Seto and Erina Yamanaka. As soon as Erina won with the Uruka Press (diving corkscrew press) in the semi-finals, I knew that she would win the finals with the same move, given that she had just signed a contract with Marigold and was getting pushed out of the gate. That is exactly what happened. While the move in the semi-finals didn’t look clean, this one was much closer, but she still ended up falling on Rea’s mouth with her wrist, causing Rea to bleed heavily from the mouth. Erina might need to re-think this finisher. It’s spectacular, but so was Saya Kamitani’s Phoenix Splash, and she retired that move after breaking Mina Shirakawa’s jaw on 23rd April 2023. Icon Peach Arrow (Mayu Iwatani, Victoria Yuzuki & Komomo Minami) challenged for the belts after. Guys, I think Komomo might be eating the pin in that one. Also, Icon Peach Arrow is a better name than my unofficial one of “Mayu & her proteges”.

Rin Kadokura, now just known as Rin, returned to Marvelous on 21st December 2025. She had moved back to Japan from Canada due to a change in her husband’s career (her husband is the son of the legendary Akira Hokuto). While we may have initially thought she was just getting her feet wet and would come back full-time, she announced that she was on her retirement road, with the retirement taking place on 5th May at Yokohama BUNTAI at Marvelous’ 10th anniversary show. As part of her retirement, she was on record saying she wanted to face Mayu Iwatani. Well. That match happened quickly, likely due to Rossy Ogawa and Chigusa Nagayo’s well-documented friendship. This match was awesome. Rin has had absolutely no ring rust after three years away, and she put on a great selling performance as Mayu bullied her in the match. One of Mayu’s best traits is her versatility, as she can be ‘zombie Mayu’, selling like her life depends on it, or she can be ‘bully Mayu’, dominating her opponent with cracking, stiff strikes and crazy German and dragon suplexes. She was the latter here, and with Rin’s selling performance it combined for a really enjoyable match. Mayu landed one of the best dragon suplexes I’ve seen her hit, with an awesome bump from Rin, before delivering the loudest buzzsaw kicks you will hear. One final dragon suplex sealed the deal. After the match, Mayu said that there was a diving foot stomp from Rin which almost made her crap her pants. She then asked the audience not to look at her backside. Rin pleaded with Mayu to team with her for her retirement match. Mayu agreed and said they would be called “Blue Marine”. It will take place on 5th May at Yokohama BUNTAI.

There were two three-ways on this show, which was dangerous territory considering the Marigold curse that is in effect for the match type. Hummingbird, SYOKO Koshino and Utami Hayashishita were forced into one after Kouki Amarei was taken off the show. As Utami said in a recent Shupro interview, she wants to achieve what she wants in 2026 with a “tranquilo” mindset. She’s not looking to be the ace in 2026, and that’s why she’s on the backburner in matches like this. It does remind me a bit of TJPW’s veterans going lower down the card and helping improve the overall quality of the shows, so I’m all for it, especially since it seems like it is what Utami wants. After the match, Koshino requested that she face Utami in a series of matches. Ogawa gave approval. Backstage, Utami said that Koshino didn’t say anything at the press conference, she barely posts on Twitter, and Utami struggles to see that Koshino is motivated. Well then, let’s see where this goes.

Nagisa Tachibana impressed in a three-way against Megaton and Gigaton, I mean, Nao Ishikawa. Tachibana has been consistently improving over the past several months. Despite some blips, the overall trend of her progression is upwards. She might have some bad nights, but they are getting less frequent which is the important thing. Here she pulled off two springboard crossbodies back-to-back, pinning Megaton with the second one. The three mostly overcame the Marigold curse, with no major blips beyond them trying to pin Megaton while she was on her front.

In the opener, the future of Marigold (minus Victoria Yuzuki) faced off in a tag match as Komomo Minami & Yuuka Yamazaki took on Spunky Monster (Seri Yamaoka & Shinno). This was a good opener without any botches, which unfortunately is something I have to explicitly mention given the quality of Marigold undercards on the past several tours. Seri in particular was very good and I loved that she is learning more into the Aoki clutch, as she teased a nearfall with a modified waistlock version of the move, before winning the match with the proper full-nelson version of the Aoki clutch. She calls it the RISEAOKI Clutch. Seri has certainly slowed down a little in the past few months, but it’s understandable as she couldn’t really wrestle at the pace she was wrestling at forever without her body breaking down before the age of 20.

Full Results

Spunky Monster (Seri Yamaoka & Shinno) defeat Komomo Minami & Yuuka Yamazaki (12:15)

Nagisa Tachibana defeats Megaton and Nao Ishikawa (9:27)

Utami Hayashishita defeats Hummingbird and SYOKO Koshino (8:04)

3D Trios Title Tournament Final:
La Vie en Rose (Mai Sakurai, Natsumi Showzuki & Erina Yamanaka) defeat Darkness Revolution (Nagisa Nozaki, Misa Matsui & Rea Seto) (13:12)

Mayu Iwatani defeats Rin (13:23)

United National Title:
Victoria Yuzuki (c) defeats Chika Goto (16:54)

Marigold World Title vs. Hair:
Miku Aono (c) defeats CHIAKI (17:27)

Seri, Shinno and Yuuka set up their 3D Trios Title match - 8th March 2026

8th March 2026
Chunichi Hall, Aichi, Japan

In the main event Chika Goto, Nagisa Tachibana & Utami Hayashishita faced Icon Peach Arrow (Komomo Minami, Mayu Iwatani & Victoria Yuzuki) who were due for a 3D Trios Title shot at Korakuen Hall on 14th March. It was Yuzuki’s hometown. This was a fun main event, with Yuzuki wrestling with a swagger and confidence that she is becoming known for, and Tachibana continuing to show her improvement. Gochika is at her best in these multi-person tags just being a hoss. She turned Yuzuki inside out with a lariat that looked great. She’s an awesome midcarder, and she doesn’t need to be anything more. Yuzuki pinned Tachibana with a bridging German suplex. After the match, Gochika said she wanted to team with Utami against Mayu and Yuzuki in her hometown on 15th March. Mayu faced Gochika in a singles match the last time they were there and it was great.

Seri Yamaoka, Shinno and Yuuka Yamazaki pinned the 3D Trios Champions, La Vie en Rose (Erina Yamanaka, Mai Sakurai & Natsumi Showzuki) in their first match after winning the titles. This was a pretty great match. In particular, I am warming quickly to Erina Yamanaka who seems to be improving with each appearance. She is of course rough around the edges, but I feel that she has been a solid addition to the roster. At one point, Seri dropped Erina on her neck with a bridging German suplex, but Natsumi broke up the bridge with a running double knee strike. It looked brutal and a few people in the crowd looked like they had seen a murder. The finish was good as Erina missed her Uruka Press, which Seri immediately took advantage of and locked in a super tight variation of the Aoki clutch. This set them up for the title challenge at Yasukuni Shrine on 29th March. In the post-match promo, the teens were calling La Vie en Rose a bunch of old ladies. Showzuki responded that there were plenty of ladies of a certain age in the crowd so they should watch what they say. It’s a Marigold show – so there definitely were not.

SYOKO Koshino began her seven-match trial series against Marigold World Champion Miku Aono. I think Koshino should immediately drop the singing entrance. It is not good. What is good, though, very good, is Miku Aono. She is a star. After dropping Koshino with brutal dropkicks, she followed up with stiff penalty kicks to Koshino’s back. There was a part of me that wondered if this Koshino series was partly a shoot and that they wanted to motivate her. We have seen Marigold send in certain wrestlers to haze others who do not appear committed (see Natsumi Showzuki and Ryoko Sakimura, the former of which came out of injury break just to beat the hell out of Ryoko at Korakuen Hall). There was a violent kick to Koshino’s shin later which looked like it hurt with how much force Miku threw it with. Miku won with the Styles Clash. After the match, Miku gave Koshino some words of encouragement. Kouki came out after and asked Miku to team with her for the Twin Star Title match on 14th March. Kouki was in tears after. Even after reading the transcript it’s not clear why.

A solid Korakuen Hall show - 14th March 2026

14th March 2026
Company Announced Attendance: 758
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan

Marigold held their monthly Korakuen Hall show. The card was solid, and so the show overall was solid with a few bright spots, especially in comparison to recent cards. In the main event, La Vie en Rose (Mai Sakurai, Natsumi Showzuki & Erina Yamanaka) successfully defended their 3D Trios Title against Icon Arrow Peach (Komomo Minami, Mayu Iwatani & Victoria Yuzuki). La Vie en Rose gave an interview to Shupro for issue #2402 where they spoke about eventually wanting to become a unit with their own logo and potentially recruit more members. It is clear that they have a longer-term goal in mind with the team and they see it more as a unit rather than just a trios team. They came to the ring with matching outfits (but different colours). This was a great match where everyone worked hard. Mai Sakurai was my MVP for the match as she had a stiff striking exchange with Mayu before later launching her old rival Yuzuki with a great Tiger suplex. Natsumi Showzuki, after a bit of a slow start after her return from injury, looked in tip-top form as she drilled Miku-like buzzsaw kicks into Komomo’s head.

Darkness Revolution (CHIAKI & Misa Matsui) defended their title against Kouki Amarei and World Champion Miku Aono. It was a Darkness Revolution match, with the added spice of CHIAKI and Kouki taking the match home. Yeah.

In the most heated match on the card, Megaton won the Independent World Junior Title from Kuroshio TOKYO Japan (Jiro). Jiro played the heel, hissing and spitting at the crowd while drilling great buzzsaw kicks into Megaton’s head. This match is exactly what you’d expect it to be, except Megaton won by putting all her weight onto Jiro for the upset. The crowd absolutely adored Megaton and popped for this win. After the match, both Hummingbird and Seri were crying, so the roster love her too. You cannot blame Marigold for doing something with an incredibly over talent. It’s just a fast forward/skip angle if you personally don’t enjoy it, because Megaton is not going anywhere.

Two of Marigold’s brightest stars, Rea Seto and Seri Yamaoka, locked up in a great singles match. They were supposed to face each other in the Dream Star Grand Prix last year, but Rea had to pull out due to illness. Their last singles match was February 2025, so this was a long time coming. The match started out with some great back-and-forth on the mat, including one scary moment where Seri was holding onto Rea’s neck while she was flipping out of a hold, almost contorting her in a weird way. This match was mostly about Rea targeting Seri’s leg and dominating her, allowing Seri to show off her selling ability. While Seri’s expressiveness was at a very high level, Seri’s leg selling could still do some work given how much Rea targeted it. Seri is still young and gaining experience, so it is to be expected. I enjoyed that they tried this type of match though, it is crucial experience for both. In the end, Seri won with the German suplex into the Aoki clutch. I just wish the match was longer.

SYOKO Koshino continued her trial of matches, this time against the person that spurred on the challenge in the first place, Utami Hayashishita. The match was fine. I will not remember it tomorrow (15th March 2026).

UK wrestlers Angel Hayze and Maddie Morgan made their debuts against Chika Goto and Nao Ishikawa. Hayze, 24, is a nine-year veteran based in Scotland, while Morgan, 18, is only two years into her career and looked impressive as she finished the match with a moonsault press.

Hummingbird, Nagisa Tachibana and Shinno competed in a three-way that escaped the wrath of the Marigold three-way curse. It wasn’t awful, but it also wasn’t exciting. It was fine. Nagisa won with her impressive springboard crossbody, this time following up with a La Magistral cradle.

A new rookie, Lady AI, (yes, pronounced like the acronym for artificial intelligence) debuted against Yuuka Yamazaki. She wears a mask like DOUKI’s and does in fact admire DOUKI. She had been training with Yuuka, meaning she has been a trainee since at least June 2025 when Yuuka debuted, likely joining Marigold around the same time. It took her a while to debut, so AI wished to catch up to Yuuka as quickly as possible. This was a really solid debut for AI. She showed good selling and babyface fire, and did some cool moves for her first match ever. Yuuka played the bully veteran role for the first time ever, inviting AI to launch forearm strikes at her. It was a cool role for Yuuka and she looked confident playing it. I will remind everyone that I have spoken about Yuuka potentially playing a heel in the long-term future purely due to how comfortable she seems in the ring, an important trait for a heel.

Chika Goto’s Homecoming - 15th March 2026

15th March 2026
Sunpearl Arakawa, Tokyo, Japan

The last time we saw Chika Goto at her homecoming show, she was in the main event having one of her best performances against Mayu Iwatani in the middle of the Dream Star Grand Prix tournament. It wasn’t a tournament match, but it stole the show on that day. Building off of the success of that main event, Chika Goto teamed up with Marigold’s 2025 ace Utami Hayashishita to take on Mayu Iwatani and the United National Champion, and Mayu’s protege, Victoria Yuzuki. Gochika and Mayu were once again super fun together, and this was once again your classic homecoming main event with the crowd brawling, comical spots, and also working over the hometown wrestler on the finishing stretch in a series of nearfalls to give the crowd hope. Alas, Yuzuki pinned Gochika with the straitjacket German suplex for the win.

The duo from the UK, Angel Hayze and Maddy Morgan, teamed up with Mai Sakurai to get their first taste of Darkness Revolution (CHIAKI, Misa Matsui & Rea Seto). Get ready to learn repetitive crowd brawling, buddy. They went chair bowling a few minutes into their match. Anyway, I got genuinely annoyed for the third time watching wrestling since December. It really doesn’t happen often. The first was SAKI pinning Crea in a PURE-J Openweight Title match Two of them have involved Rea Seto.

Spunky Monster (Seri Yamaoka & Shinno) faced Hummingbird and Marigold World Champion Miku Aono. This is about the expected spot on the card for Miku in Rossy Ogawa’s Marigold. It was really fun to watch Miku and Shinno, especially Shinno asking for more kicks from Miku. Miku, of course, obliged. The match finished with a fun exchange between Seri and Hummingbird before Seri dropped Hummingbird with her signature German suplex. This was a good match.

Marigold’s newest rookie, The Lady AI, faced Nao Ishikawa in the opener. It was really too short to say anything notable except that she once again looked comfortable and the crowd got behind her when she was in submission holds.

A solid house show - 20th March 2026

20th March 2026
Matsuyama City General Community Centre Exhibition Hall, Ehime, Japan

In the main event Darkness Revolution (CHIAKI, Misa Matsui & Rea Seto) faced Icon Peach Arrow (Komomo Minami, Mayu Iwatani & Victoria Yuzuki). Icon Peach Arrow were coming off a 3D Trios Title loss, so this win kept them in contention for another shot down the line. I suppose DR aren’t going to be challenging for the belts anytime soon or they would’ve won here. Right? Aside from the usual DR stuff, this was a good match. It was cool seeing Rea work with Mayu for a large portion of the match. I did actually bite on some of the cradles late on, but that’s because I really wanted Rea to pick up a big win. Unfortunately, Mayu pinned her. Mayu won with a buzzsaw kick, which is a crazy coincidence because a week prior I had spoken to a friend about how she should be finishing matches with that because it looks (and sounds) so brutal.

Chika Goto, Nagisa Tachibana & Utami Hayashishita took on Mai Sakurai & Shinno, as well as local Ehime Pro Wrestling talent Himeka Tsuru. This was a good match. Gochika is perfect in these multi-person tag roles that can focus on her strengths, comedy and being a power wrestler. Nagisa has developed into a good wrestler, she did not look out of place at all in this tag and I would say along with Gochika, looked the best. EPW’s Tsuru also looked good. Just a solid match.

SYOKO Koshino lost to Natsumi Showzuki in the third of her seven-match trial. Koshino started the match with a German suplex. Good start. Then she just kept flopping on top of Showzuki with a series of falling splashes. Not good. Showzuki was her usual self as she replied with stiff kicks to try and get something out of Koshino. This match just made me love Showzuki even more, rather than make Koshino look good. I think it’s too late for me with Koshino. For now at least. Maybe she will improve so much that I’ll change my mind one day, but for now, she is not for me. Showzuki however, is incredible. The match was fine, but I do not need to see Koshino going to a time-limit draw with Natsumi Showzuki.

Lady AI faced Seri Yamaoka in the opening. There were some clunky spots, where Seri was clearly trying to help AI get into position. Nothing out of the ordinary for a rookie, but I felt like Seri could disguise things a bit better. Seri is a rookie herself afterall, just one with more experience.

I’ve already said it before, but Yuuka Yamazaki doesn’t feel like a rookie. She once again showed off her fun side here, playing to the crowd during a chop battle with Hummingbird. Yuuka lost this match because Hummingbird fired a party poppy nowhere near Yuuka’s face, but it was enough to knock her out for a few seconds. Alright. Glad I’m giving the Marigold house shows a chance.

Yuuka picks up a big win - 21st March 2026

21st March 2026
176BOX, Osaka, Japan

In the main event, Seri Yamaoka, Shinno and Yuuka Yamazaki competed in a tune-up match ahead of the title shot at Yasukuni Shrine against Kouki Amarei, Miku Aono and Nagisa Tachibana. At one point, World Champion Miku blasted Shinno’s leg so hard that the whole crowd gasped, Shinno almost immediately collapsed and Miku grinned from ear-to-ear. Kouki looked fine in this match. I don’t actually think she looks “bad” very often, I think the issue is more that she was earmarked to be a top talent and has turned out to not reach her potential. She is not a “good” wrestler, but she is totally fine and serviceable in the lower to mid card. Nagisa, who had blown past Kouki in her development and looks much better with each appearance, unfortunately got a concussion during this match and was taken off subsequent cards. It was not obvious to me where this concussion occurred. Nagisa seemed lucid throughout the match and she wrestled a lot of it. Yuuka won with the electric chair facebuster on Nagisa.

SYOKO Koshino continued her seven-match series, this time against Mayu Iwatani. I think we have probably seen enough now to say it will take some time for Koshino to improve (if at all). This was a basic Mayu Iwatani match. If you can’t bring it against one of the best of all time, then, well. You know the rest.

Angel Hayze, Maddy Morgan and Mai Sakurai took on Chika Goto, Nao Ishikawa and Utami Hayashishta. Maddy is a really interesting prospect. She is quite early in her career, she is young and her experience is with unknown UK indies, which isn’t exactly comparable to the Japanese independent scene. But, she is very athletic. We already saw her moonsaults at Korakuen Hall, but in this match she did a Buckshot lariat, but without using the ropes, so just doing a front flip into a lariat. I can’t say it’s a move that makes as much sense as the Buckshot lariat, but it was athletically impressive.

The Lady AI slotted into the usual rookie spot, a singles match in the opener, this time against Komomo Minami, who was herself in that position two years ago. Lady AI has had solid performances since debuting. However, I thought more about it, and if she’s been training for just as long as Yuuka Yamazaki, as it was mentioned, then I do think she looks about where I’d expect an average rookie to be, whereas Yuuka is ahead. It’s possible Lady AI missed out on a lot of time due to injury or something else though. We don’t know.

Mayu Iwatani and Natsumi Showzuki put on a show - 28th March 2026

28th March 2026
Shinjuku FACE, Tokyo, Japan

Mayu Iwatani defended the Superfly Title and GHC Women’s Title against Natsumi Showzuki in the main event at Shinjuku FACE. When you saw this match on paper, you already knew it was going to be great, and it absolutely was. This was a match between two elite workers who were just doing their thing. The defining characteristic of this match that put it over the edge for me was the selling. Mayu is one of the best at working as a bully or a heel, despite her being more known for her ‘zombie mode’ type of selling. In particular the early parts of the match were so great as Mayu was kicking the hell out of Natsumi’s own kicking leg. Natsumi’s selling of the damage was world class. The dynamic at the start of the match immediately gripped me. Natsumi would slowly turn the tide until it was Mayu’s turn to sell which made Natsumi look like a killer. I knew I was enjoying this match when I was surprised at the 15-minute call, which meant the Superfly Title was no longer up for grabs. Shortly after, Mayu landed not just one, but two moonsaults to finish Natsumi off, realising the threat she posed had the match gone longer and if she did not put her down then and there. The fact that this match was so good despite them clearly holding back due to the venue and level of the show is a testament to how great these two wrestlers are.

The Queen of Heels, Mayumi Ozaki made her Marigold debut teaming with World Champion Miku Aono and 3D Trios Champion Mai Sakurai to take on Marigold’s only heel unit Darkness Revolution (CHIAKI, Nagisa Nozaki & Rea Seto). This was basically the exact same type of match you would see on an OZ Academy show at the same venue. A lot of crowd brawling and exceptions for Ozaki’s weapon usage. It was fun, but went a bit too long for my own tastes.

SYOKO Koshino had her fifth match of her seven-match series against Chika Goto and it was probably the worst of them (the previous four were with Miku Aono, Utami Hayashishita, Natsumi Showzuki and Mayu Iwatani). I unfortunately did not feel anything watching this match, and being a “wall” for other people is just not a believable role for Chika Goto, given that she mostly plays the underdog babyface in a lot of her matches (despite being bigger than most of the roster, because she is very likable). So this didn’t work on any level for me. Gochika won with her backdrop into a chokeslam move that she’s calling “I’m Gochika”. That is a cool name and fits her character.

Maddy Morgan continued to impress with her athleticism in a six-woman tag teaming up with Angel Hayze and Megaton against Hummingbird, Kouki Amarei and Utami Hayashishita.

Lady AI was thrown in the deep end due to a concussion sustained by Nagisa Tachibana as she was paired up with Komomo Minami and Victoria Yuzuki to take on Seri Yamaoka, Shinno & Yuuka Yamazaki, who had a title match the next day. Of course, as she’s a rookie, there were a few points at which Lady AI got lost. Marigold regularly has a sink or swim policy with its younger talent, and it has worked out well for people like Victoria Yuzuki. Also, it is confirmed that the crowd will be chanting “AI” to root for her, so that’s awesome…

Misa Matsui and Nao Ishikawa had a fun opener. They’re both good wrestlers so that was no surprise.

Komomo is a daredevil - 29th March 2026

29th March 2026
Yasukuni Shrine, Tokyo, Japan

Marigold became the first joshi promotion to run a show at Yasukuni Shrine. The first show at the controversial shrine was held in April 1961 when Japan Pro-Wrestling under Rikidozan held a show there. Following that, ZERO1 ran a show there in April 2005 and have held one every year since. The guy responsible for organising them is now assisting Marigold, hence the booking at the venue this year. Look, you don’t read Marigold house show notes for hot geopolitical takes. Google it and come to your own conclusions.

In the main event, La Vie en Rose (Erina Yamanaka, Mai Sakurai & Natsumi Showzuki) successfully defended their 3D Trios Title against the young trio of Seri Yamaoka, Shinno & Yuuka Yamazaki. The best thing about the 3D Trios division has been the elevation of wrestlers like Yuuka, allowing them to fight for titles. This match was pretty good. In a callback to her debut against Mai, Shinno hit Mai once again with an overhead uranage which looked great. Shinno does not use it regularly. They had a really fun back and forth before Mai finished Shinno with the Glorious Driver.

Darkness Revolution (CHIAKI, Misa Matsui & Rea Seto) took on Icon Arrow Peach (Komomo Minami, Mayu Iwatani & Victoria Yuzuki). This match made the rounds before it aired because they were jumping off all sorts of things. The match started with Rea Seto literally sprinting after Yuzuki around the entire park before Misa interrupted Yuzuki. It was a venue in which DR’s repetitive brawling worked, well, because it was a bit different than the usual formula. Komomo did by far one of the most insane crossbody dives I’ve seen off the roof of one of the side buildings, with nothing to break her fall except her teammates. Honestly, that showed an impressive level of fearlessness for a wrestler of her age and experience and was an incredible spot. The only downer of this match was Rea Seto getting pinned once again by Yuzuki with the straitjacket German. I suppose, the day Rea beats Yuzuki I will pop hard, because she’s been pinned by her at least five times.

SYOKO Koshino had her sixth match out of seven in her trial series against Nagisa Nozaki. Nagisa won with the rear naked choke. It wasn’t a bad match, it also just wasn’t interesting, much like all of Koshino’s previous matches.

Nao Ishikawa and Utami Hayashishita faced Kouki Amarei and Miku Aono. I was watching this match while eating breakfast. I wasn’t really paying attention during the entrances, but when the match was about to start I heard “Gigaton!” calls from the audience, so my head whipped to my screen and I almost spat out my cereal. I was jumpscared by Nao getting back into the Gigaton gimmick for this show. Of course, I was obligated to watch the match because it was Utami and Miku against each other, which is always a beautiful sight. I should have guessed that Gigaton would return at some point. To haunt me.

Angel Hayze and Maddy Morgan faced Chika Goto & Hummingbird. Maddy impressed me again here, for someone plucked out of the UK indies, and not even any prominent ones, early in her career. She’s very athletic, but also in this match, she even hit some good looking forearms to Chika Goto. I almost wonder if Maddy is a fan of Japanese wrestling given how she threw those forearms in a very non-UK-indie type of way, which is of course a compliment.

The YouTube House Show Era begins? - 3rd April 2026

3rd April 2026
INPEX Sakata Arena, Yamagata, Japan

This was the first of two shows that Marigold decided to upload to their YouTube rather than bring out the Wrestle Universe team to produce. Two thirds of Icon Arrow Peach (Komomo Minami & Victoria Yuzuki), so, Arrow Peach, faced two thirds of the 3D Trios Champions La Vie en Rose (Mai Sakurai & Natsumi Showzuki). This match was as hard-hitting as you think it would be for a house show. They didn’t go all out, but more than they needed to in Yamagata. Yuzuki was just firing from the hip and hitting anyone she could find with superkicks and dropkicks. At one point she tried to break up a pin but landed on Komomo with a senton that looked very stiff. Natsumi won with a double knee drop from the top rope. Four good workers combined for a good match.

Chika Goto and Utami Hayashishita took on Seri Yamaoka and Yuuka Yamazaki. This was a really good match. This is pretty much the exact spot that Chika Goto needs to be in, and Yuuka did a lot of the work with Utami and Seri taking it easier, which is what you expect on house shows. Gochika has such a great lariat that I like her in the midcard as a wall for the younger talent while also just staying over by being her usual amusing self. I enjoyed this match quite a bit. She won with a chokeslam on Yuuka.

UK duo Angel Hayze and Maddy Morgan faced Shinno and Nao Ishikawa. Maddy won with the top-rope moonsault. Shinno’s uppercut looks very much out of place as she wrestles, because it doesn’t connect at all. Well, it’s not even close. Whereas her head kicks look like she’s trying to knock her opponent out.

The future of Marigold puts on a show - 4th April 2026 (*)

4th April 2026
Niigata Higashi Ward Plaza, Niigata, Japan
Recommended Match: Komomo Minami & Victoria Yuzuki vs. Seri Yamaoka & Yuuka Yamazaki

Komomo Minami & Victoria Yuzuki taking on Seri Yamaoka & Yuuka Yamazaki was exactly what you’d expect if you’re familiar with all four. It is a glimpse into the future of Marigold. They were comfortable hitting each other as hard as they could with forearms. But most importantly, again, if you’re familiar with these four, they used to go 100mph which would lead to some issues working with each other. That is a thing of the long distant past, and the action here was fluid and they clicked together. It also had a definitive finish, where I have been conditioned to expect time-limit draws in an “all-star young rising star tag match” like this one, Yuzuki won with a straitjacket German suplex on Yuuka. Maybe I’m just biased because I love Yuuka. Yeah, I am. This was the obvious finish. Anyway, great match.

Utami and Miku are pretty good - 8th April 2026

8th April 2026
Wohlfahrt Toyama, Toyama, Japan

In the main event, Miku Aono and Utami Hayashishita clashed just like in the old days (before Grand Destiny 2025) in a preview tag before their 25th April bout. Just like back then, they ran into each other full speed with stiff lariats. It’s honestly why I will never miss a Miku and Utami preview tag. They just don’t miss. They have an energy and a chemistry that is difficult to match. Their Grand Destiny bout was quite underrated, and I hope they put on a match that reminds people how great they both are. So anyway, Chika Goto & SYOKO Koshino were on Utami’s team and Kouki Amarei & Nao Ishikawa were on Miku’s team. No exaggeration, I literally pumped my fists when Nao got the win on Koshino with a German suplex. Let’s go!

Maddy Morgan scored a pinfall over CHIAKI with her moonsault press, leading to a challenge for the Twin Star Title. I think it is notable that Maddy has been getting all the wins rather than Hayze.

There were two good matches on the undercard of this show. The first was the opener in which Lady AI tried to take down Rea Seto, unsuccessfully. Rea is great at playing the aggressive heel, despite her timid and tearful character during promos and outside the ring. She was launching nuclear forearms into Lady AI’s chest. AI sold well, but you can tell how green she still is sometimes as she forgets the order of some spots, which is to be expected. The second match I had fun with was Hummingbird & Natsumi Showzuki against Seri Yamaoka & Yuuka Yamazaki. Of course, I don’t need to say much about three of the names as I do that too much, but Hummingbird was also great and has improved a lot in the two years since Marigold’s inception.

SYOKO Koshino’s seven-match series comes to an end - 11th April 2026

11th April 2026
176BOX, Osaka, Japan

SYOKO Koshino’s final opponent for her extremely important seven-match trial series was not the person that spurred it, Utami Hayashishita, nor was it the ace Miku Aono, or one of the GOATs Mayu Iwatani. It wasn’t United National Champion Victoria Yuzuki, or influential veteran Natsumi Showzuki. No, it was Kouki Amarei. In the main event. Alright. Kouki explained that it was because they were similar, both trying to juggle their side jobs and wrestling (for Kouki it’s acting, for Koshino, I assume it’s a mix of acting and music). The match itself was exactly what you’d expect, and if you think “I’d expect a good match”, then you’re lying to yourself!

A tale as old as time, Utami Hayashishita and Miku Aono tried to take each other’s heads off again ahead of their World Title match on 25th April, which has gotten surprisingly little buzz given it’s the biggest match Marigold has done since Mayu and Takumi on 3rd January. There were a few lariat flip bumps where I was sure that they both wanted to die on this night. I love these two.

Erina Yamanaka & Natsumi Showzuki faced Mayu Iwatani & Yuuka Yamazaki where Mayu hit one of the best superkicks, even for her standard, and followed up with a cracking buzzsaw kick. The crowd was murmuring at how great it looked. But then she hit a moonsault for the win which not totally rocked Erina in the face, but she also suffered a fractured toe, leading her to become sidelined for the foreseeable future. Erina also injured her face in this match, maybe on the superkick, buzzsaw kick or the moonsault…

After Rea Seto pinned Nao Ishikawa in an eight-person tag, CHIAKI announced that Darkness Revolution were going after the 3D Trios Title at some point. It wasn’t clear win. They are also defending their Twin Star Title against Angel Hayze and Maddy Morgan on the 19th April in Sapporo. Maddy Morgan is a pretty solid prospect.

Komomo Minami & Victoria Yuzuki faced Spunky Monster (Seri Yamaoka & Shinno), who, alongside Yuuka Yamazaki as the 5th, are among the brightest talents in the joshi wrestling scene. This was one of their more pedestrian time-limit draws. It was still pretty great, but it was the house-style version of what they can do. Seri looked like she was in pain after the match, or she’s a great seller. I have no idea which. She wrestled on the show the day after, so probably a great seller.

Mai Sakurai had a standard rookie vs. veteran match in the opener against Lady AI. I did not think this was as good as I was expecting it to be. Lady AI was loud and expressive, but it felt like Mai was a bit off. I was expecting her to be her usual hard-hitting self, but it was a bit sloppy and went off the tracks a few times and just didn’t land the way it should have.

A second house show on YouTube - 12th April 2026

12th April 2026
Heartful Mikumo, Mie, Japan

This was the second of two shows that Marigold was trying as YouTube exclusives. As a result of changes following Mayu’s injury on the previous show, Nagisa Nozaki ended up taking on Rea Seto in a singles match. Nagisa played her usual bully role. It was a solid match. Backstage, while Nagisa was talking, Rea randomly started crying, as she does. The gist I got was that Rea respects Nagisa a lot and this was a special match for her as they don’t fight each other very often. So that’s sweet.

Peach Arrow (Victoria Yuzuki & Komomo Minami) defeated Hummingbird & Natsumi Showzuki and then immediately declared that they wanted to go after the Twin Star Title since Mayu would be out for a while. That’s another match that Komomo can take the pin in.

The main event was another preview tag between World Champion Miku Aono and challenger Utami Hayashishita as Kouki Amarei, Mai Sakurai & Miku Aono took on Chika Goto, Nao Ishikawa & Utami Hayashishita. Miku hit an assisted Canadian destroyer onto Utami, with help from Mai. I was wondering if that was intentional, since it’s not something you see every day in Marigold. Something you do see more regularly is Kouki messing up a move with Goto. It happens, I guess. No one’s fault. Mai pinned Ishikawa.

Maddy Morgan should get better bookings after her tour - 14th April 2026

14th April 2026
Shinjuku FACE, Tokyo, Japan

Initially, this show was to host “The Challenge” series, four singles matches pitting rising talents against established names, with Lady AI vs. Victoria Yuzuki, Erina Yamanaka vs. Utami Hayashishita, Mayu Iwatani vs. Nagisa Tachibana and Komomo Minami vs. Miku Aono. But, Mayu Iwatani’s injury in Osaka threw the card into some uncertainty heading into the show, with her scheduled challenge singles match against Nagisa Tachibana needing to be reworked, as well as Erina’s injury from that same show. However, the show held together well enough as the top three matches were all good. Nagisa filled in Mayu’s slot against Hummingbird in a fine match, and anyone still writing Nagisa off as a poor wrestler is working with outdated information at this point. Lady AI against Victoria Yuzuki was a mixed bag, with Lady AI’s striking looking very rough at points, including a forearm that missed entirely, which is a difficult thing to do nearly a year into training. That said, the finishing stretch delivered, with some great nearfalls and 2.99 kickouts from Yuzuki that were exactly what this kind of match should be. Komomo Minami and Miku Aono was the stronger bout, including a nasty-looking apron bump from the turnbuckle from Komomo and a Tiger Driver finish from Miku, who also gifted Komomo one of her old pink costumes afterwards, which was a nice touch.

The Twin Star preview tag between Darkness Revolution (CHIAKI, Misa Matsui, Nagisa Nozaki & Rea Seto) and Angel Hayze, Chika Goto, Kouki Amarei & Maddy Morgan was another enjoyable match on the show, with CHIAKI eating shit (not literally) ahead of the title match. The subplot involved Angel Hayze eventually agreeing to Seri Yamaoka’s title challenge, though after some deliberation she opted to put up specifically the British Empire Wrestling (BEW) Title rather than any of her three other singles championships, which raised more questions than it answered. Why specifically the BEW Title? Is Seri winning the BEW Title? If not, why not just put all of Angel’s titles on the line? I did not quite understand this challenge. It was even funnier because at first Angel said “ok,” so Seri walked off, but actually Angel was just thinking so had to call Seri back to finalise the challenge and announce which belt would be on the line. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. That match would take place at Korakuen Hall on 25th April. Maddy Morgan continues to stand out in these matches and at 18 years old with her athleticism and upside, bigger bookings need to follow soon. I would be absolutely shocked if she does not start getting booked in EVE and other more prominent UK indies. If she doesn’t, then none of those indies are clearly watching Marigold. I mean, most of Maddy’s dates seem to be with Megaslam based in Yorkshire. What are we doing here?!

Match of the Issue for Japanese Independents

Chihiro Hashimoto vs. YUNA – Sendai Girls, 22nd March at Shin-Kiba 1st RING

Japan Independents

Bitesize Round-ups

Here is a round-up of news from the Japanese independent scene. Feel free to Ctrl+F “Key Show” if you want to skip to the reviews for the big shows, or expand any promotion you are interested in and follow the link to the reviews for that promotion!

Note, recommended matches are in order of my own enjoyment of them, rather than chronological.

Marvelous

Marvelous, helmed by former Crush Gal and All Japan Women’s Pro Wrestling legend Chigusa Nagayo and its ace and talisman, Takumi Iroha, has been on an upswing throughout 2025 leading into their 10th anniversary. Cagematch will list other events but they were not part of the official promotion as it is today, which held its first event on 3rd May 2016. They’ve gained renewed interest, both domestically and internationally, for their rookie Senka Akatsuki as well as their high-quality interpromotional feud with Marigold. Marvelous regularly runs Shin-Kiba 1st RING in Tokyo for its ‘canon’ shows, with house shows outside of Tokyo rarely having any coverage, aside from the Social Suplex Network. You can watch Marvelous live on Zaiko, where shows cost around ¥3800, or on demand roughly three to four weeks after the event date on Wrestle Universe.

Recommended Matches:

Miku Kanae & Sareee vs. Senka Akatsuki & Takumi Iroha – 30th March at Shinjuku FACE
Chikayo Nagashima & Sora Ayame vs. Maria & RIKO – 30th March at Shinjuku FACE
Echika Miyavi vs. Mio Momono – 4th April at Oyama Cultural Centre

After the Sareee-ISM main event on 22nd March, Sareee and Takumi Iroha set up their singles match for Takumi’s AAAW Title on 5th May at Marvelous’ 10th Anniversary show at Yokohama BUNTAI. For other announced matches on the show, Magenta (Maria & RIKO) will defend the AAAW Tag Team Title against Nyla Rose and Nightshade, and Rin will be teaming up with Mayu Iwatani. Their tag team name is “Blue Marine”. It is one of Rin’s wishes before she retires on the show as she admires Mayu Iwatani.

The new rookies due to debut on 5th May at Yokohama BUNTAI have chosen their new names to begin their career. Fuka, 12 or 13 (DOB unknown) will go by Ruka Amahane, Kaya Nishimura, 16 or 17 (DOB unknown), is now Kanata Suou and Mahiro Namatame is Hijiri Saotome. Kanata is out with a training injury and her debut has been pushed back to a future date.

Click here if you want show reviews of Marvelous!

Sendai Girls

Sendai Girls was founded in 2006 by one of the greatest joshi wrestlers of all time, Meiko Satomura. Satomura’s promotion is not one that is going to have blow away cards every single time, but they will almost always have at least one match that makes you raise your eyebrows in excitement, and the undercard will work hard to put on solid matches. In some ways, it feels like a gateway to the Japanese independent promotions. If you’re more used to Stardom or Marigold, it’s not hard to get into Sendai Girls. Satomura and her promotion’s standing mean they have access to a wide pool of freelancers and other promotion’s talents, transcending any political divides. Virtually all of their shows can be watched on Wrestle Universe.

Recommended Matches:

DASH Chisako & Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Mio Momono & Yurika Oka – 8th February at Shinjuku FACE
Chihiro Hashimoto vs. Saya Iida – 11th January at Shin-Kiba 1st RING
Chihiro Hashimoto vs. Yuu – 28th December at Shinjuku FACE
Chi Chi & Mika Iwata vs. Mio Momono & Yurika Oka – 1st February at Azalea Taisho Hall
Chihiro Hashimoto vs. Miyuki Takase – 8th February at Shinjuku FACE

Chihiro Hashimoto has been on an absolute tear in the first quarter of 2026, becoming the frontrunner for being the best wrestler on the planet and making a clear cut case for Wrestler of the Year. Ignoring her incredible performances in other promotions such as EVO and Sareee-ISM at the back end of March, she also just gave two Sendai Girls contracted wrestlers, Manami and YUNA, their best ever matches in singles bouts within five days of each other. The YUNA match was, no exaggeration, ninety minutes after she had competed in another low-level MOTYC match in the main event of Sareee-ISM. We have reviews of all of Hashimoto’s exploits in March. Hashimoto will not let her foot off the gas as she will face Syuri in a singles match on 12th April.

Yurika Oka was injured in a match against VENY as she fell awkwardly when taking a bump from a shotgun dropkick. She was subsequently pulled from her scheduled match against Chihiro Hashimoto on 22nd March. She was taken to the hospital but she has since let fans know that she is fine.

Ryo Mizunami has officially joined Sendai Girls, an announcement that felt more like a confirmation than a surprise given how regularly she has been appearing for the promotion. Mizunami had a previous stint with Sendai Girls in 2007 before departing in 2012 and joining WAVE. With the promotion building towards a Nippon Budokan show, the timing makes sense for both parties. I imagine she will continue her outside bookings with OZ Academy and elsewhere.

Sendai Girls has been filming videos documenting their road to the Nippon Budokan, which they hope to run in early 2027. They are subtitled so you can follow along. (Editor’s Note: this documentary series is my favorite wrestling-related thing so far this year.)

Click here if you want show reviews of Sendai Girls!

Sareee-ISM

After returning from a nightmare run in WWE in 2023, one of the best wrestlers in the world, Sareee, went on a tear and was more motivated than ever to show everyone the style of wrestling she professes is the only right way. Her style is heavily inspired by Showa era men’s wrestling in Japan, so it’s no surprise that the Sun God has full support of legends from across the scene, men or women from Genichiro Tenryu to Yumiko Hotta, uniting all lovers of hard-hitting and full-force action. She has also forged a reputation for training up and coming talent, taking them under her wing, whether that’s STARDOM’s Fuwa-chan, SEAdLINNNG’s Selene Misora, or her proteges Chi Chi and Miku Kanae. Expect to see her book those up and coming stars as well as the best independent wrestlers in the scene such as VENY and her Spark Rush tag partner Takumi Iroha. All of the Sareee-ISM shows can be watched live on Sareee-ISM Live. Sareee will upload to her YouTube channel at a much later date.

Recommended Matches:

Amu Fujiwara & Rina vs. Chi Chi & Miku Kanae – 22nd March at Yokohama Budokan
Chihiro Hashimoto & Syuri vs. Sareee & Takumi Iroha – 22nd March at Yokohama Budokan

We have a full review of Sareee’s successful 15th anniversary show held at the Yokohama Budokan.

OZ Academy

OZ Academy is one of the longest standing joshi independent promotions. As with a lot of other joshi promotions, it was founded by a legendary joshi wrestler known for her work in the 90s, Mayumi Ozaki. Her signature heel work manifests itself in this promotion and delivers a unique live experience, making OZ Academy primarily a touring promotion with only one show a month at Shinjuku FACE making tape, alongside special shows at Korakuen Hall and other arena shows a few times a year. OZ Academy can be viewed with a VPN via GAORA’s on demand service. The Shinjuku FACE shows can be watched live for around ¥3300, although sometimes they are on NicoPro where a VPN is not needed. There’s currently no official, international friendly alternative to watching the promotion. They’re only contracted wrestlers are Mayumi Ozaki and AKINO, so they rely heavily on freelancers and co-operating with other promotions.

OZ Academy returned to Shinjuku FACE for their monthly show on 8th March, with the main event taking an impromptu turn after Unagi Sayaka suffered an injury days prior. Mayumi Ozaki had planned to team with Unagi to tempt her back into Seiki-gun, instead having to work a handicap match against Saori Anou and AKINO with Unagi watching from commentary and barred from participating. AKINO picked up the win over Ozaki, and the post-match set up a singles match between Saori and Unagi at Korakuen Hall on 26th April, with Unagi’s Seiki-gun membership on the line, joining if she loses. Elsewhere, Momoka Hanazono pinned double champion Hiroyo Matsumoto in the opener thanks to a party popper from Ram Kaicho earning Momoka a shot at the OZ Academy Openweight Title. That match will be a four-way at Korakuen Hall, with AKINO and Ozaki also inserted into the challenge. The Pioneer Title Tournament also concluded, with Cohaku, Rin and Tsubasa Kuragaki competing for the right to face Rina Yamashita and Ryo Mizunami in the final on the same show. Rin won the bout to secure her spot.

SEAdLINNNG

SEAdLINNNG was once a darling of the joshi independent scene, but with the departure of its founder Nanae Takahashi and the retirement of one of the best joshi of the 2010s in Arisa Nakajima, it has become a promotion more focused on its rookies and young talent, namely its core five young contracted talent in Honori Hana, Miria Koga, Selene Misora, Yuki Funa and Lana Hisaki. It is now run by the team of Natsuki Taiyo and Arisa Nakajima. SEAdLINNNG can be watched on its website. There are live shows which cost around ¥3500 each, or you can wait one month for them to show on the live streaming service if you have a ¥1000/month subscription.

Recommended Matches:

Honori Hana vs. Selene Misora – 28th February at Post di Amistad
Haruka Umesaki vs. Yuki Funa – 28th February at Post di Amistad

SEAd’s third instalment of their critically acclaimed (by me) younger talent series at Post di Amistad was, remarkably, even better than the first show, which itself exceeded all expectations, making it difficult to find a more enjoyable all-round experience on the joshi independent scene right now. The centrepiece was the grudge match between Honori and Selene Misora, a rivalry rooted in a simple but compelling dynamic, the ultimate dumb jock protecting her spot against a rookie raised on Sareee-ISM, with VENY’s attitude coursing through her, and that backdrop produces a natural intensity that cannot be manufactured. Two weeks prior, Honori had headbutted Selene hard enough to force her out of the match temporarily, and the singles rematch was a chance for Selene to exact proper revenge, which she did through a flash pin after the two traded some of the hardest slaps you will see between two wrestlers with their combined level of experience. Honori’s refusal to participate in the post-match birthday celebrations for Yuki Funa, sulking at ringside while everyone else posed for the group photo, was one of the best show endings ever. (Note: writer may be biased, please be warned of hyperbole.)

SEAdLINNNG’s singles tournament to determine the strongest wrestler reached its semi-finals, with the best possible final emerging from the bracket as Ayame Sasamura, the wrestler who suggested the tournament in the first place and who had been handed a significant win at the December Korakuen Hall show, advanced past Nagisa Nozaki with a flash pin to set up a meeting with Beyond The Sea Champion Hiroyo Matsumoto at Korakuen Hall on 17th April. The card for that show took further shape through a three-on-two handicap tag, which served as a preview for the Beyond The Sea Tag Title match between champions Honori Hana and Unagi Sayaka against Las Fresa de Egoístas’ VENY and Selene Misora, with Selene absent through illness on the night. Finally, Miria Koga will be facing her idol Syuri in a singles match. The 17th April Korakuen Hall show is shaping up very nicely for a promotion that is rising from the ashes with some really great creative surrounding their young talent.

Click here if you want show reviews of SEAdLINNNG!

EVO

EVO is a new promotion founded in 2023 by a pair of puro hard-hitters, Shuji Ishikawa and Suwama. It was re-branded in 2025. Despite removing “joshi” from its name, it is still built around its four key joshi talents in Chi Chi, ZONES, Soy and Chika. The shows, which are streamed live on their service for only ¥500 (the cheapest of all services), are held at Shin-Kiba 1st RING once a month, with Shinjuku FACE being an alternative a few times a year. The cards will regularly have matches with Ishikawa, Suwama and other puro freelancers such as Fuminori Abe and Takuya Nomura, so it’s a fun promotion to follow if you prefer mixed shows.

Recommended Matches:

Chihiro Hashimoto vs. Chika – 28th March at Shinjuku FACE
Naoya Nomura vs. Suwama – 28th March at Shinjuku FACE
Chi Chi vs. Honoka – 28th March at Shinjuku FACE

At Evolution’s 28th March show at Shinjuku FACE, founding members Chi Chi and ZONES announced their departures from the promotion, effective 31st March, with both becoming freelancers from 1st April. The announcement came alongside news that the promotion itself is being transferred to a new operating company, Only Advance Co. Ltd., with Suwama stepping down as president to take on a managing director role within the incoming structure.

Only Advance Co. Ltd. is the same company behind 2AW. Keichi Matsuki, Chairman of the Board of Evolution Co., Ltd, cited a lack of resources to dedicate to the promotion. Only Advance has an interesting history, having originally been TAKA Michinoku’s vehicle for Kaientai Dojo before he departed in 2019 to form JTO, after which the company rebranded Kaientai Dojo as 2AW. The timing of Chi Chi and ZONES leaving at the exact same moment as a change in ownership is unlikely to be coincidental. One possible explanation is that the sale triggered negotiations with the talent on whether they were staying under the new structure, and both, independently or otherwise, decided against it. It is worth noting that EVO and 2AW already have a joint show scheduled for 29th April in Chiba (that I will be attending), which now makes a bit more sense given they’re under the same ownership.

Both Chi Chi and ZONES maintain that their decisions were made independently of each other. As for landing spots, Chi Chi is the easier guess, almost certainly falling under Ito Dojo with Sareee’s office handling bookings, consistent with her stated desire to pursue overseas work as she loves America and is a fluent English speaker, combined with Chi Chi mentioning Sareee’s influence on her decision. ZONES is less straightforward. She primarily works OZ Academy and Sendai Girls. OZ doesn’t really retain talent beyond Ozaki, but Senjo could see value in signing her in a similar capacity to Miyuki Takase who is based in Tokyo. Otherwise, she will likely remain freelance. They are established enough that bookings will follow, and freelancing typically means a larger cut, so this is likely a positive development for both.

The issue is what happens with EVO going forward. The promotion was visibly building around Chi Chi and ZONES as its centrepieces. The two had strong chemistry that was developing into what could have been a promotion-defining rivalry. I believe that losing both simultaneously is a significant setback, and freelancers cannot serve as the foundation of a roster, as that’s how you turn into WAVE. A side note is that EVO now has no original founding members at all. Chi Chi, ZONES, and Sunny formed the initial roster. Early on in the promotion’s short history (founded in 2023), Sunny retired into a referee role. Only Soy and Chika remain. Both gave impassioned promos the show after about how they both need to step up now their seniors are gone. They recognised that they would have to become the new seniors to the trainees in the dojo (who joined in December following EVO’s talent search).

After his match on 8th April, Shuji Ishikawa announced that he would be joining EVO as a roster member. It never occurred to me once that he was not already a roster member given he was literally a Co-GM, but there you go. He praised new President Toeda’s vision and wanted to move the company forward alongside Soy, Chika and other staff who decided to stay post-acquisition.

Click here if you want show reviews of EVO!

Ice Ribbon

Once the engine room of the entire joshi scene and a promotion as big as STARDOM during the early 2010s, Ice Ribbon are now in a long re-building phase. Despite that, the product remains vibrant and enjoyable, with one of the best joshi of the 2010s in Tsukasa Fujimoto playing a key role in its production, despite her extended break from in-ring activity. Their dojo, based in Saitama, regularly holds classes for children and they are very active in recruiting wrestlers, including through theatre groups they support such as Venus. They also run regular shows at the dojo, uploaded to their YouTube days later for £8.99/month. The bigger shows are held a few times a month and can be bought on their service for around ¥3500, or you can buy a ¥1000/month subscription to watch them all a month later. If you really want a history lesson of Ice Ribbon, there is a book written about it, in English, by Charles Short.

Recommended Matches:

Ancham & Kaho Matsushita vs. Kirari Wakana & Yuuka – 8th March at TOKYOSQUARE
Ancham vs. Kirari Wakana – 14th March at Ice Ribbon Dojo
Kiku & Tsukina Umino vs. Makoto & Sumika Yanagawa – 8th March at TOKYOSQUARE
Makoto & Sumika Yanagawa vs. Manami Katsu & Misa Kagura – 23rd February at Yokohama Radiant Hall
Kirari Wakana & Yuuka vs. Mizuki Kato & Totoro Satsuki – 12th April at SKIP City Multipurpose Hall
Ayako Sato & Tsukina Umino vs. Kaho Matsushita & Manami Katsu – 12th April at SKIP City Multipurpose Hall

Tsukasa Fujimoto, one of the unsung heroes of joshi wrestling in the 2010s and one half of the legendary tag team with Arisa Nakajima, has confirmed via an interview in Shupro #2403 that she is targeting a return to the ring within 2026. Having stepped away in May 2022 following her marriage and the birth of her child, she briefly returned in August 2024 purely to support Nakajima in her final run, suffering a dislocated elbow and ligament damage during an IWGP match against Mayu Iwatani that drew over 1,000 fans to Korakuen Hall for Ice Ribbon. She subsequently moved into a staff role at the promotion, though that arrangement came to an end in January 2026, and she has since stepped back from the organisation entirely. She confirms she is not injured and her mental state is good, describing her absence as a childcare hiatus rather than anything more permanent, and she has even mentioned that her injury in the Mayu match was a message from the pro wrestling gods telling her not to quit just yet.

Her motivation for returning is Ice Ribbon’s 20th anniversary, and she is candid about her frustration that the occasion does not currently feel like the landmark it should be, noting a disconnect between her own ambitions for the year and president Hajime Sato’s more cautious approach given the promotion’s current scale. It was confirmed that Ice Ribbon only has one Korakuen Hall date planned for 2026, and it’s Ribbonmania at the end of the year, a huge scale-back from the five dates in 2025 (and a decision I was hoping they’d make and wrote about in this newsletter). She also acknowledges that since leaving the back office she barely encounters Ice Ribbon content in her feed, which she attributes to STARDOM and Sareee dominating the conversation, and she wants to help create hooks and strategies that give the promotion more visibility. She has also expressed a desire to face Mayu Iwatani again, given their previous match ended via referee stoppage, and rather than treating her return as a retirement tour, she is now considering a more extended run to help drive the current roster forward.

Makoto and Sumika Yanagawa won the International Ribbon Tag Team Title from Vicky (Manami Katsu & Misa Kagura) on 23rd February. Their team name is Mystic Eclipse.

With the seniors listed first and the juniors after, the teams for the 4th Kizuna Tournament on 12th April were Happy Sisters (Manami Katsu & Kaho Matsushita), Revolutionary Angels (Yuuka & Kirari Wakana), IV Dominion (Ayako Sato & Tsukina Umino), PochiPara (Totoro Satsuki & Mizuki Kato), Hikariko (Hikari Minami & Riko), Yoneyamase (Kaori Yoneyama & Mase Hiiro) and Passion Ole (Misa Kagura & Moe Hiiro). Arisa Shinose struggled to find an opponent but freelancer Akane Fujita came to her aid at the last second. Revolutionary Angels won, challenging Mystic Eclipse on 26th April at Kitazawa Town Hall.

Tsukina Umino accepted Sumika Yanagawa’s challenge for the FantastICE belt on 18th April at the dojo show. The rules will be “Reverse Nine”. A full round-robin of nine wrestlers consisting of one-minute, one-fall bouts. Each pairing takes place twice, meaning each wrestler competes in 18 matches for a total of 72 bouts. This format has been held twice before in Ice Ribbon. Scoring is two points for a win, one point for a draw, and zero points for a loss. The wrestler with the highest total score becomes champion. If multiple wrestlers share the highest score, the result is deemed to have no clear winner, the defence is ruled a draw, and the title is vacated. Welcome to Ice Ribbon dojo shows.

Click here if you want show reviews of Ice Ribbon!

Diana

Diana was founded in 2011 by, you guessed it, another All Japan Women’s wrestler in Kyoko Inoue. Diana is based in Kawasaki, so while it’s not in Tokyo, it also isn’t too far away. Their dojo is regularly used by other promotions such as WAVE and has become a real “home arena” for the smaller joshi independents. They are celebrating their 15th anniversary with four big shows, sandwiched by their regular shows at their dojo, Post di Amistad, as well as a separate series focusing on the younger talent in the independent scene. For some reason, it is the least watched major joshi independent promotion despite it having a great roster of young talent and an easy-to-use streaming service. Diana is also a leading light in co-operating with other promotions, regularly lending talent to other promotions in Japan and even holding shows in Hokkaido with Hokuto Pro, Taiwan with New Taiwan Entertainment Wrestling and soon in Singapore with Grapplemax and Hiroshima with Wrestle BINGO. Their shows can be bought on their service for around ¥3500, or you can buy a ¥1000/month subscription to watch them all a month later, just like SEAdLINNNG and Ice Ribbon (you’ll notice the three websites all use a similar template).

Recommended Matches:

Honoka vs. Miran – 25th March at Post di Amistad
Debbie Keitel & Kyoko Inoue vs. Haruka Umesaki & Nanami Hatano – 8th March at Post di Amistad

Debbie Keitel defended her WWWD Title against Rina Amikura on 23rd February in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, and then again on 29th March at Shin-Kiba 1st RING against Mochi Natsumi. Debbie has been providing a consistent quality of matches, a signature of the promotion, at the top of the card. Her next opponent will be Haruka Umesaki on 19th April at Korakuen Hall. Umesaki had defended the title against Debbie at the end of 2025 before vacating the title ahead of Diana’s 15th anniversary year. Debbie beating Umesaki at Korakuen Hall would even the score between the two, although it would mean that Debbie would have beaten both aces of Diana in Nanami and Umesaki. Debbie retaining would set up Nanami nicely to win the belt off Debbie, but booking in Diana is quite unpredictable so I wouldn’t bet on anything.

Miran defended her Crystal Title against her WAVE contemporary Honoka in an excellent match.

Cosmic is on an excursion from the US. She is an American independent wrestler from New York, who doesn’t really work for any prominent independent promotions you may have heard of. She arrived in Japan over a week before the 29th March Shin-Kiba show and had been training in Kawasaki, so she was thrown into the deep end to replace Anna who was injured. Cosmic impressed in her second bout on 5th April. Prior to her injury, Anna had been making consistent strides in improving her offense.

Click here if you want show reviews of Diana!

WAVE

If you’re familiar with the violent, hard-hitting WAVE from the 2010s, then forget about that. WAVE is a fun comedy promotion which puts a focus on trying to make shows as fun as possible for the live audience. One of their frequent gimmicks is to not announce cards in advance. Run by former wrestlers GAMI and Yumi Ohka, they have three young wrestlers under contract in Cohaku, Saran and Honoka. They are also probably the least accessible promotion we regularly cover, with all shows sold as PPVs costing at least ¥3500 and no archive available if you miss the one week window that the show is available for purchase in. If you feel like throwing money at a promotion, their shows are sold on the Confetti service. If you do not buy within days of the VOD releasing, it’s gone forever. WAVE don’t make it easy do they?

Recommended Matches:

Cohaku & Momoka Hanazono vs. Haruka Umesaki & Honoka – 20th March at Post di Amistad

Itsuki Aoki defended her Regina Di WAVE Title against classmate Kakeru Sekiguchi at Shinjuku FACE on 1st April. Meanwhile, the WAVE Tag Team Title have been on a wild ride. The WAVE Tag Team Title has changed hands like a hot potato. Following SPiCEAP’s reign ending upon Tae Honma’s retirement, Saran and Yumi Ohka won the vacant titles before losing them to Prominence (Hiragi Kurumi & Mochi Natsumi) on 8th February, a pairing of solid freelancers unlikely to energise the promotion. Ame-kyun (Haruka Umesaki & Honoka) then won the titles on 1st March in a match that was essentially a solo carry job from Honoka, before Cohaku and Momoka Hanazono dethroned them in a great match at Post di Amistad on 20th March. Cohaku and Momoka then lost the titles the very next day at a TOKYOSQUARE show to COLORS (Rina Amikura & Yuko Sakurai), with Ami breaking down in tears at winning her first WAVE title and delivering a touching speech about self-doubt and her desire to continue losing weight to become the wrestler she wants to become. COLORS subsequently retained against 1111 (Misa Kagura & Sumika Yanagawa) at Shinjuku FACE on 1st April.

Click here if you want show reviews of WAVE!

Actwres Girl'Z

Actwres girl’Z, founded in 2015, are the most fascinating, underwatched and simultaneously most accessible promotion within our coverage. AWG has an all-inclusive subscription on their ¥1000/month service with a delay of a few days for all shows. All “Step” shows are held at Shin-Kiba 1st RING in Tokyo with full transcriptions of promos available online to follow storylines. In 2022, AWG underwent a significant relaunch under the direction of owner Keiji Sakaguchi. Breaking away from the traditional wrestling model, Sakaguchi declared that AWG was no longer professional wrestling, but rather “performing arts”. His reasoning was that since match outcomes are predetermined, the focus should shift from athletic competition to theatrical performance. As a result, AWG positioned itself outside the usual wrestling ecosystem. In the typically collaborative world of Joshi where inter-promotional matchups are common, AWG remains an outlier. With that being said, they are responsible for most of the prominent joshi in the scene today, a list of names too long to put here, but it includes Tam Nakano, Natsupoi and Saori Anou. If you like hard-hitting, dumb jock wrestling, with a side of rookie hazing, wrestlers sometimes shooting on each other, 3.1 kickouts, nonsensical booking, amazing rookie development and some of the best tag team wrestling in the scene, then AWG is for you.

Recommended Matches:

Anri & Erisa Nagai vs. Nagisa Shiotsuki & Natsuki – 22nd February at Shin-Kiba 1st RING
Anri & Sakura Mizushima vs. Erisa Nagai & Nagisa Shiotsuki – 14th March at 176BOX
Asako Mia & MARU vs. Marino Saihara & Yukina Uehara – 22nd February at Shin-Kiba 1st RING
Marino Saihara vs. Naru – 14th March at 176BOX
Kana Yufuku & Yukina Uehara vs. Marino Nishimura & Rico Fukunaga – 14th March at 176BOX

Naru announced that she was leaving the “Actwres 5” unit and handing down the mantle of “Pink” to AWG rookie Marino Nishimura. Naru cited that she was getting very busy with her costume-making business, which Marino was helping her with, and that she wanted to focus on developing the rookies as the most experienced babyface on the roster.

Standout rookie Anri is back from injury and immediately put on a banger as she teamed with Erisa Nagisa against Midsummer Breeze (Nagisa Shiotsuki & Natsuki). Natsuki is on her retirement road, which will be on 2nd May at Shin-Kiba 1st RING.

Yuri Yamane, 29, will debut on 5th April. She works in theatre through an agency but said she wanted to take on the challenge of professional wrestling. She’s not supposed to say professional wrestling. Early teething issues. Her athletic background is very strong, and very un-like AWG recruits. She has a black belt, and is first dan in Shorinji Kempo while competing in national championships. Kempo is the same martial art that NOAH’s Kenoh and DDT’s Takeshi Masada are trained in. She also said that her acting work has dried up recently but she is still self-sufficient on her acting income. She said someone who has been very good to her introduced her to AWG, and that is the main reason she is trying it. She is not a wrestling fan and does not watch it, so she will probably be awesome. She said that she wants to keep acting until she dies, but also that she wants to wrestle until her body doesn’t allow her anymore.

Sakura Mizushima faced Nano Matsuhashi in GLEAT’s “LIDET UWF Ver.8” under UWF Rules. Nanao is from the Venus theatre group that Ice Ribbon and AWG worked with (it’s unclear if they are running more plays). The format has helped some of the talent improve in-ring, as hard as that may be to believe. Look no further than Yukina Uehara who has competed in the last few UWF shows and has skyrocketed in the ring in recent months, both in confidence and ability. Sakura didn’t look great in her last outing, and here Nanao had some very cool looking takedowns early. Sakura came back and won with a submission. It was a solid performance. Then, Chii Aoba & Yukina faced Marino Saihara & AWG Champion Rico Fukunaga, whose brother is an MMA fighter. The match was quite understated except for the exchange between Marino and Chii as they traded German and backdrop suplexes. Yukina and Rico did not do much.

Act’s side project in which she employs a bunch of AWG wrestlers to help her, “ACTRIUM” will return for a second season on 4th May at Shinjuku FACE. The show is about two sisters who get drawn into a virtual reality gaming world. The ACTRIUM server is run by admins who portray characters from Norse mythology. The archive is no longer available for streaming, so if you want to catch up on Season 1 see this article by Rich at Teppen Life who was there live. Also, Act was not ready to return and drop her AWG Tag Team Title to Harahara Red (Marino Saihara & Yukina Uehara) who have been the Interim AWG Tag Team Champions for six months. So, AWG just relinquished them and made Harahara Red the champions. What a mess that all was. Check out our AWG coverage in previous issues if you want the full details. The short of it is that Act got injured before winning the inaugural AWG Tag Team Title (rather than just letting Midsummer Breeze win them) then went away, then there was a tournament with random teams and participants for the interim titles which Harahara Red won (they only became a team with a name AFTER winning them). Why Act needed to win them in the first place while injured, or why she couldn’t just relinquish them sooner, we’ll never know.

Click here if you want show reviews of AWG!

Rose Girls

Rose Girls is a brand new promotion headed up by legendary former wrestler Megumi Kudo, who also serves as the GM of ZERO1, the promotion which Rose is a part of. The official launch of the promotion was 25th April 2026 at TOKYOSQUARE. There are currently three contracted wrestlers, its main star Yuki Mashiro and two rookies, Konomi Hori and another joshi trainee who was announced on the 10th November show, named Mariko Nanase, whose debut was pushed back due injury. As they build out their division, they are reliant on resourcing from the independent scene, and have been working regularly with VENY, Kaho Kobayashi, Mei Suruga, CoCo, Honoka and Miku Kanae, as well as others. The cards are solid and serve their niche in the scene as no-nonsense showcases of the independent scene, building cards around talent such as Mashiro, CoCo and Honoka, pairing them with established veterans. However, accessibility is a major issue, requiring you to download a phone app. The streams are embedded into the app which also means it’s difficult for you to watch them “free” even if you wanted to! You only need the “Silver” tier for the streams (1000¥/month).

Recommended Matches:

CoCo vs. Mei Suruga – ZERO1, 20th March at Shin-Kiba 1st RING
Chanyota & Echika Miyavi vs. Makoto & VENY – ZERO1, 1st March at TOKYOSQUARE

The first of the pre-launch events for Rose was held on 1st March at yet another sold out TOKYOSQUARE. The ace, Yuki Mashiro, wrestled twice on the show. First in the opener she teamed with Miku Kanae against Mei Suruga and Ryoko Sakimura, and then Mashiro main evented the show with Kakeru Sekiguchi. The main event was solid, about what you expect from a Kakeru Sekiguchi singles match that’s not with Sareee at Korakuen Hall. Kakeru picked up the win, so I guess they are beating their ace with top freelancers for a while. The independent scene classic. The opener was extremely fun with Mei playing more of a heel against Miku and Mashiro. Mashiro needed some coaching to close out the show with the new slogan. ZERO1 rookie Konomi Hori faced veteran Kaoru Ito. This was not a good performance from Ito. The match was incredibly boring and it felt like Konomi was in a submission hold for 8 minutes. If you’re one of those fans that really loves looking at a rookie’s facial expressions for an entire match, you may enjoy it. Konomi’s selling was fine, but it just didn’t feel like an actual match. There are far better ways to have a rookie vs. veteran match. The other matches were Chanyota & Echika Miyavi against Las Fresa de Egoístas (Makoto & VENY) which, as expected, was great, and finally CoCo versus Kaho Kobayashi. Kaho played a more heelish role as it’s clear CoCo will be someone they want to book regularly if her schedule permits.

The second of the pre-launch events for Rose was held at Shin-Kiba 1st RING on 20th March, with a third pre-launch event scheduled for 11th April ahead of Rose’s official launch show on 25th April at TOKYOSQUARE. The standout match on the second pre-launch show was the first ever singles encounter between CoCo and Mei Suruga, with Mei continuing her amazing run as a heel on the independent scene. The match was full of the inventive character work that has made Mei such a compelling presence in every promotion she has visited, including tearing out CoCo’s hair extensions to a loud reaction, tying her braided hair to the ring rope, and a prolonged bit involving a fan’s chair that had the crowd in the palm of her hand throughout. Mei won with Houkiboshi before apologising to ZERO1 GM Megumi Kudo backstage, playing the bit perfectly. Kudo, for her part, named Mei as the most impressive performer on the show, which bodes well for a future return as a regular on the Rose shows.

Rose held its third pre-launch show ahead of the 25th April debut, with Konomi Hori taking a second loss on the same day against Miku Kanae, after losing to Ayame Sasamura on the ZERO1 proper show earlier in the day. Mei Suruga was her usual excellent self, making Ryoko Sakimura look considerably better than expected over fourteen minutes, which at this point is just what Mei does. CoCo outshone Tabata in the lucha exchanges, which says something given Tabata’s background. 2AW’s Yuka Satsuki had a solid showing against Chanyota. The main event of Hiroyo Matsumoto and Kaho Kobayashi against VENY and Yuuki Mashiro was the clear match of the night, with some fun comedy spots that landed well.

We will have full reviews in future issues, as well as a live report, from the official launch show on 25th April, a card including SAKI vs. Sumika Yanagawa, Konomi Hori vs. Megumi Yabushita, Cohaku & Honoka vs. CoCo & Kaho Kobayashi, Hiroyo Matsumoto & VENY vs. Rina Amikura & Ryo Mizunami and in the main event, Magenta (Maria & RIKO) vs. Miku Kanae & Yuuki Mashiro.

ChocoPro

ChocoPro is a light-hearted promotion founded by the legendary Emi Sakura in 2012. It is her second promotion, after founding Ice Ribbon in 2006. They are most known for running shows at the small room covered mostly by a chocolate-coloured wrestling mat in Ichigaya, Tokyo, but they also run shows in regular arenas such as TOKYOSQUARE and Shin-Kiba 1st RING at least once a month. All shows are uploaded for free on their YouTube.

Recommended Matches:

Miya Yotsuba vs. Rina Yamashita – 23rd March at Shin-Kiba 1st RING
Mei Suruga vs. Soy – 23rd March at Shin-Kiba 1st RING
Chie Koishikawa & Hagane Shinnou vs. Hiyori Yawata & Sayaka Obihiro – 25th February at TOKYOSQUARE
Chon Shiryu vs. Rina Yamashita – 25th February at TOKYOSQUARE

Hiyori Yawata is graduating from ChocoPro on 24th March at the Ichigaya Chocolate Square show following her finishing university in March with a job already lined up afterwards. She will be moving away from Tokyo.

ChocoPro held a joint show with Evil Uno’s Mystery Wrestling. In the second match, Best Buds (Baliyan Akki & Chris Brookes) took on HADDY and Junior Benito. Benito clapped Brookes’ cheeks. Multiple times. It was a bit like the Key & Peele “Slap-Ass” skit. It was great. After the show they called HARASHIMA and set up the tag on “#511 The Promised” show, which was also a great match.

Two teams for the 10th edition of the mixed tag team tournament on 5th May at Itabashi Green Hall have been announced as BestBros (Baliyan Akki & Mei Suruga) and Kung Fu Panda (Choun Shiryu & Kaori Yoneyama).

Click here if you want show reviews of ChocoPro!

PURE-J

PURE-J was created in 2017 by Commander Bolshoi from the ashes of Japanese Women Pro-Wrestling Project (JWP), and so it is a long-lost cousin of Ladies Legend Pro Wrestling-X (LLPW-X). PURE-J are a company that are probably the least reported on in the scene, despite drawing almost double Ice Ribbon’s numbers at Korakuen Hall. The fact it is so off the radar that people don’t bother pirating their shows uploaded to YouTube lands the promotion in an infinite loop of obscurity. There are a few talents on the roster that make it worth following the promotion, with Crea being the standout. PURE-J have a similar distribution model to Ice Ribbon including dojo shows, although PURE-J’s bigger shows get uploaded to YouTube for £8.99/month rather than a PPV on a streaming website.

Recommended Matches:

Chie Ozora vs. Misa Kagura – 21st March at Itabashi Green Hall
Chie Ozora & Misa Kagura vs. Hanako Nakamori & Kaho Kobayashi – 21st March at Itabashi Green Hall

On 1st March, PURE-J announced that Momo Tani is pregnant. She was already only competing in the Osaka shows a few times a year in PURE-J. She will take further temporary leave from all shows.

Misa Kagura has been working more PURE-J dates which has provided some necessary in-ring fire power and improved a lot of the shows. This shows the value of bringing in outsiders, which is something some larger joshi wrestling promotions could learn from. Misa won the #1 Contendership for the PURE-J Openweight Title, defeating Chie Ozora, but went on to lose to the ace Hanako Nakamori on 4th April in Itabashi Green Hall.

Crea has been continuing to ease herself into her deathmatch journey, as she works for DIE every month and has teamed with DIE’s promoter, Toshiyuki Sakuda, in FREEDOMS. I saw the Ancham and Crea deathmatch from 30th January recently. It was pretty great. It’s on IWTV (you need a subscription). Crea was clearly getting comfortable bleeding and using more dangerous weapons, as they took it slow and opened each other’s foreheads up with a spiked plate. There was a shoot headbutt before a bloodied Crea was rolled up by Ancham.

Back in her home promotion, Crea will challenge Hanako Nakamori for the PURE-J Openweight Title on 4th May. I am praying, with all my power, that Crea finally wins the big one. I cannot handle another failed attempt like the SAKI one in December. That truly broke me. Crea is one of the hidden gems of the independent scene.

AKARI is back following her short excursion in Mexico with CMLL.

Rookie Mia who debuted on 23rd February at Itabashi Green Hall looks like a promising addition to the roster. She has a calm and confidence to her performance that is rare for younger rookies, but more common among rookies her age (27). She is from Ibaraki prefecture, passed her pro test on 4th December and has a volleyball & athletics background.

Click here if you want show reviews for PURE-J!

Miscellaneous News Round-up

Recommended Matches This Issue

These are in order of personal preference rather than chronological.

Aran Sano & Tigers Mask vs. SUZAKU & TiiiDA – Osaka Pro, 8th March at Azalea Taisho Hall
Aran Sano & Tigers Mask vs. Ryuya Matsufusa & Sho Mizuno – Osaka Pro, 22nd February at Azalea Taisho Hall
Masato Tanaka vs. Van Vert Jack – ZERO1, 14th February at Oita Cycle Shop Kodama Ozu Arena Kendo Hall
Kaori Yoneyama vs. Saki Kashima – Gokigen Pro, 26th February at Shin-Kiba 1st RING
AZM & Starlight Kid vs. Mase Hiiro & Moe Hiiro – Hot Shushu, 28th March at Korakuen Hall
Ayame Sasamura vs. Jun Kasai – 2AW, 29th March at Korakuen Hall
Beast Murayama & Shuji Ishikawa vs. Daisuke Sekimoto & So Daimonji – PPP Tokyo, 10th March at Shinjuku FACE
Chanyota & MIRAI vs. Echika Miyavi & Takumi Iroha – PPP Tokyo, 10th March at Shinjuku FACE
Tetsuya Izuchi vs. Van Vert Jack – GLEAT, 8th April at Shinjuku FACE
Daiki Odashima vs. Kuu Kumagai – Michinoku Pro, 22nd March at Yahaba Town Gymnasium
Bryan Ishizaka & Takuya Sugawara vs. Yuki Toki & Van Vert Jack – ZERO1, 3rd April at Shinjuku FACE
Rin vs. YuuRI – Ganbare Pro, 2nd April at Shin-Kiba 1st RING

Shinjuku FACE

Shinjuku FACE, a legendary venue in Tokyo that has hosted professional wrestling events for two decades, is set to close in September 2026. The closure came to light in an unusual way, as Marigold announced they were running a new venue. Then a bar replied to the tweet hoping it could replace Shinjuku FACE as it was closing in the autumn. Shinjuku FACE then confirmed the news the following day. The venue is owned by HUMAX, so it is likely that given how old the building in Kabukicho is (opened in 1971), HUMAX decided it needed some renovations. It is possible that HUMAX decides to open up business to pro wrestling organisations at another one of their several venues across Tokyo, such as in Shibuya or Ikebukuro.

Beyond the loss of a beloved venue, the closure carries real significance for smaller independent promotions. Shinjuku FACE has always been a pro-wrestling-first venue, meaning its management understood that wrestling organisations were their core clients. This created a familiarity for fans, similar to Korakuen Hall in Suidobashi, where people in the area know they can simply turn up at certain times and watch wrestling. That predictable trickle of casual attendees, while easy to overlook, is not insignificant for smaller promotions working to fill seats. The 500-capacity size also sits in a sweet spot. It is large enough for independents to run significant shows with multiple title matches and culminating storylines, but not so large that they are overreaching. It was also the go-to venue for produce shows, sitting comfortably between Shin-Kiba 1st RING and Korakuen Hall.

The problem is compounded by location. Shinjuku is not the dead centre of Tokyo, but it is highly accessible, roughly seven stops from Suidobashi, and there is simply no comparable venue nearby. Alternatives either fail on size (being roughly half the capacity) or on location (sitting in outlying areas like Itabashi, Ota City, or Shinagawa).

Ultimately, what is being lost is the specific combination of a central location, the right capacity, and a pro-wrestling-friendly environment, all at an accessible price point for smaller independent promotions. Promotions that cannot find a direct replacement will have a difficult choice. They can pay higher fees at corporate event spaces that were never built with wrestling in mind, e.g. Bellesalle Shinjuku, or scale down to smaller venues and unfortunately reduce the audience pool in the process. For freelancers running produce shows, and for smaller independents whose booking structures were built around a venue like Shinjuku FACE, the closure is a genuinely disruptive development for the independent scene.

United Japan Pro-Wrestling

With the aim of “developing and revitalising the world of professional wrestling”, eight promotions from the United Japan Pro-Wrestling Association will take part at an inter-promotional event featuring young wrestlers titled “FACE THE NEXT” event at Shinjuku FACE on 12th May. The participating promotions are NJPW, BJW, NOAH, DDT, Dragongate, Kyushu Pro, FREEDOMS, and Ganbare Pro Wrestling.

Unagi Kabuki

Unagi Sayaka’s company, Unagi Kabuki, is holding a show on 21st June at Korakuen Hall. 21st June is the same date Unagi started her freelance company three years ago, so Unagi said that she was wondering what she could do for her third anniversary and booking one person in particular had to be done. There was a major surprise as during her press conference, she announced the return of former Up Up Girls idol and TJPW wrestler Hikari Noa, who was loved by a lot of fans before retiring from wrestling with the ultimate reason for her departure never disclosed or officially confirmed. Unagi explained that after Hikari left TJPW, even her LINE had changed (like Japanese WhatsApp), so they lost contact with each other. Hikari’s place of work started gaining traction on social media as fans had discovered where she worked, and word got back to Unagi that Hikari still had a love for pro wrestling, and specifically thought what Unagi was doing with her produce shows was fun. Unagi immediately set up a meeting and then relentlessly pursued Hikari until Hikari agreed that it sounded fun and wanted to give it a try. Unagi said there is no plan for after the match, they are focused on her in-ring debut and she is not pushing Hikari into either freelance, her own company, or another promotion. Hikari said that there is a large list of wrestlers she wants to face. Hikari will team with Unagi, but their opponents are unannounced.

ZERO1

The following twelve participants have been announced for 2026’s instalment of the “Fire Festival” Tag Team Tournament: Masato Tanaka, Junya Matsunaga, Hayabusa, Chris Vice, Tsugutaka Sato, Ryunosuke Nagai (Mitsuya Nagai’s son who debuted against Go Shiozaki in December 2025), Kuma Arashi, Koji Doi (Freelancer), Daichi Hashimoto (BJW), Kuroshio TOKYO Japan (Uptown Wrestling), Shuji Ishikawa (EVO) and Katsuhiko Nakajima (Freelancer).

ZERO1 held a double header in Kyushu, with a show on 14th February in Oita and 15th February in Kumamoto. On 14th February, My Way wrestler Van Vert Jack faced ZERO1’s ace Masato Tanaka. My Way is a local promotion in Fukuoka full of masked wrestlers, with Jack being a standout. This match was awesome. Tanaka was ruthless, going after Jack’s leg, including with a cane. The crowd cheered on the Kyushu native, often with shrieks and screams. The finish of the match saw Jack missing a Shooting Star Press which Tanaka took advantage of and landed a sliding elbow to the back of the head. Jack dodged the second Sliding D into a kip up and a casadora roll through for a great nearfall. Tanaka responded with a deadly lariat in which Jack literally went flying across the ring and practically did a running Shooting Star Press to sell that lariat. It was one of the craziest lariat sells I have seen. Finally, after a one-kickout on frog splash which sent the crowd wild, Tanaka closed up shop with a final Sliding D. Jack is only 20 by the way. His sister, CoCo, is only 15 and was on both shows tagging with Manamu Tagirihime against ZERO1 rookie Konomi Hori and ZERO1 “Rose” ace Yuki Mashiro. Both tags were good, but CoCo stood out on the first show with Mashiro. On the second show, it was more about rookie Konomi withstanding Yuki’s bullying. Konomi hit some loud forearms, but ultimately it was a typical rookie performance.

In order to prove his championship credentials, Junya Matsunaga faced Katsuhiko Nakajima in the main event on 28th February at a sold out TOKYOSQUARE. Nakajima’s name clearly has some value, just maybe not at the Korakuen Hall-level of venues. It was a hard hitting bout, but it was not any different from any of Nakajima’s G-REX defenses in GLEAT during his reign. There was nothing new there. It was the standard 2026 Nakajima match. Junya looked as good as he could do with that format. Nakajima did afford him a kick out of the brainbuster, but was then beaten by the Northern Lights Bomb.

After defeating Hayabusa in a great hard-hitting match on 6th March, Junya Matsunaga will challenge Masato Tanaka for the ZERO1 Heavyweight Title on 3rd April at ZERO1’s 25th Anniversary show at Shinjuku FACE. It’s interesting to note that the new Hayabusa doesn’t necessarily work a high-flying style. He is more of a traditional hard-hitter with a repertoire of suplexes and drivers who also happens to be able to hit the Firebird splash and a bunch of topes. The rest of the matches on 6th March were also pretty good, with Daichi Hashimoto putting Chris Vice away after a lowblow and referee distraction. They were beating the snot out of each other prior to that. Van Vert Jack and Yuki Toki went to a great time-limit draw. Finally, Ito Dojo’s Uta Shima played the rare bully role against rookie Konomi Hori. Takuya Sugawara pinned Tanaka in an undercard tag match.

On 20th March at Shin-Kiba 1st RING, ZERO1 held the final show before their 25th anniversary. They are now testing livestreaming shows, with the first four matches available for free and the final two matches membership only. Van Vert Jack and Yuki Toki beat the Kubota Brothers (Hide Kubota & Yasu Kubota). Jack is amazing. There was a crazy ropewalk where he sprinted along one, and then transitioned into a springboard crossbody. The #1 contender for the top title, Junya Matsunaga, faced his tag team partner, Tsugutaka Sato in a good match. Masato Tanaka beat Shuji Ishikawa in another great match. In the main event, Hayabusa took on Katsuhiko Nakajima. Seeing Hayabusa face Nakajima was putting my earlier explanations of the new Hayabusa’s style to the test as he traded kicks with one of the best kickers around while also effortlessly executing tope con giros. Nakajima finished off the great match with the Northern Lights bomb and then invited Hayabusa to his produce show on 31st May.

On 3rd April, ZERO1 held their 25th anniversary show at Shinjuku FACE, with Junya Matsunaga finally surpassing Masato Tanaka, beating him for the ZERO1 Heavyweight Title in the main event. It was a good match with a lot of drama on the finishing stretch, but I personally wasn’t blown away by it and I enjoyed another match on the card more. Van Vert Jack & Yuki Toki defeated Bryan Ishizaka & Takuya Sugawara for the vacant International Light Tag Team Title, rewarding Jack for his impressive outings for the promotion in recent months. The match peaked at the perfect time, with VVJ winning with the Shooting Star Press to a huge crowd roar. It was a great match. On the undercard, BJW’s Daichi Hashimoto faced Yuya Aoki, a man he is very familiar with from their BJW matches, as Aoki very recently went freelance. Their familiarity showed as they were very stiff with each other. It made for a great lower card match. BUSHI was ridiculously over as he faced Hayabusa, with constant support from the crowd and a huge pop when he won by misting Hayabusa.

BJW

At the BJW Korakuen Hall show on 22nd February, Yuya Aoki officially finished his tenure with the promotion to become a freelancer. As previously noted, Aoki’s departure was delayed so he could help teach rookies Ryuma Sekimo and Koshiro Asakura, a commitment that culminated in a hard-hitting farewell match against Sekimo. Sekimo put everything into the performance, and while it may not have reached the heights of his match with Fuminori Abe, it was a great singles bout that served as a good send-off for Aoki. Aoki’s first bookings after becoming a freelancer included GLEAT and Gokigen Pro. So Daimonji retained his BJW World Strong Heavyweight Champion against Ryuji Ito. Daimonji’s faction is called “The Outsiders”, so he is playing the heel in BJW. The problem is that he is quite an over-the-top, cartoonish heel. It did work here because the crowd loved Ito and did boo Daimonji. I would be delusional to say it didn’t work for the live crowd, but it definitely didn’t work for me. The next challenger would be Ryuji Ito’s partner Kankuro Hoshino. This Daimonji reign is not setting the world on fire. It’s been good, but not anything that will change business. In the main event, Abdullah Kobayashi defended the BJW Deathmatch Heavyweight Title against Kazumi Kikuta.

The theme of the 20th March Korakuen Hall show was Strong J vs. Tochigi Pro. The opener was Shoti Kitamura against BJW rookie Ryuma Sekimo. This match started off hot with Sekimo and Kitamura slapping the crap out of each other. Sekimo is quite the hard-hitting rookie, as I remember his match against his mentor Fuminori Abe showed last year. Kitamura gave Sekimo a facewash and Sekimo returned the favour later, just ten times harder. This was yet another great Sekimo match on the undercard. The interpromotional rivalry continued with Tochigi Pro’s Ryo Hoshino and Satsuki Nagao taking on BJW junior heavyweights Kosuke Sato and Tatsuhiko Yoshino. Yoshino is a comedy wrestler, but outside of that, this match had a lot of hard-hitting action. Yoshino got slapped around the face so hard that the pants he was holding in his hands flew into the ceiling and got stuck there. This was fun. The BJW undercard always has a couple of good matches. Nagao challenged Sekimo for his BJW Junior Heavyweight Title at Yokohama Budokan on 29th April. Hoshino said their appearances would continue. Daimonji defended his BJW World Strong Heavyweight Title against Hoshino. It was Hoshino’s first time challenging for the belt. This was pretty much the same story as the Ito defence. It worked for the crowd, quite boring for me. It went over 20 minutes. The fans loved this match. They are clearly very much into the old guys which is part of the problem with Big Japan. There’s so many of them but they’re too scared to replace them with fresh talent. This show drew 392 people, by the way.

After the match, Daimonji cut a babyface promo (even though he is an invading outsider). He proposed Team BJW vs. Outsiders as the theme of the show at Yokohama Budokan. That set up Abdullah Kobayashi against Minoru Fujita for the Deathmatch Heavyweight Title, Daichi Hashimoto and Hideoyoshi Kamitani against Ryota Hama and Yasufumi Nakanoue in a Strong tag match and Daimonji defending his World Strong Heavyweight Title against Kazumasa Yoshida. That is a pretty good card if you include Kosuke Sato against Satsuki Nagao for the BJW Junior Heavyweight Title. Daimonji basically called out the fact that the crowd weren’t behind Yoshida and that he had already beaten him in January. Yoshida didn’t really have a good response. Daimonji said that Yoshida is five years in, yet both one-year rookies Koshiro Asakura and Ryuma Sekimo had surpassed him. It was brutal.

Jacob Crane finished his 18-month tour in Japan on 13th March and has returned to Europe.

GLEAT

Riki Choshu, 74, has stepped down in his role as observer/ringside attendant in GLEAT as of 28th February. He will continue in his role as an advisor to LIDET Entertainment Co., Ltd. (GLEAT’s parent company).

GLEAT will be holding the “G-CLASS 2026” tournament across three events on 13th May, 20th May and 4th June all at Shinjuku FACE. In the first round on 13th May, the match-ups are El Lindaman vs. Takehiro Yamamura, Kaito Ishida vs. KAZMA SAKAMOTO, Hayato Tamura vs. T-Hawk and Brass Knuckles JUN vs. Ryuichi Kawakami. It is a single-elimination tournament.

GLEAT’s 5th anniversary show on 1st July will be held at SGC Hall Ariake. It is a new venue that opened within Tokyo Dream Park on 27th March. Dream Park opened on 2025, so this is the first time SGC Hall has hosted wrestling. It has a capacity of 5,000, so probably subtract a few thousand for pro-wrestling set up. Ambitious, but GLEAT always tries to book expensive new buildings.

The insanely talented Van Vert Jack faced Tetsuya Izuchi on 8th April at Shinjuku FACE. The match was great. It was high-paced action showing off VVJ’s high-flying but also Izuchi with his lightning fast strikes and acceleration. They meshed well together.

MICHIKO will be out of action for the foreseeable future due to a fracture of the odontoid process of the axis (C2 vertebra). MICHIKO replied to the announcement on Twitter “My neck bone was broken! Getting a second opinion really is important…” It implies that she was initially checked and nothing came out and could have continued to wrestle with a fractured C2 vertebrae.

Ganbare Pro Wrestling

Mizuki Watase finally ended Masaaki Mochizuki’s excellent Spirit of Ganbare World Openweight Title on 22nd February. It was a fantastic, hard-hitting fight, with Watase absorbing a myriad of stiff chops and kicks. Mizuki knocked Mochi out with an elbow strike for the surprise victory. Yuna Manase was in the background and you could see her in shock, whether acting or not, it was a cool moment. Watase’s chest was bruised purple from the chops and kicks, although some of the scars were definitely from his recent deathmatch escapades with partner Jun Kasai. Watase went on to defend against Takuya Wada days later. The next contender, Keisuke Ishii, was decided on 28th March in a one-day tournament. Keisuke Ishii will face Mizuki Watase for the World Tile on 29th April at Korakuen Hall. Meanwhile, fresh off of a defeat to Rin in a great match, YuuRI will take on Utami Hayashishita. Ever since her match with Sareee on the 28th December Korakuen Hall show, it feels as though YuuRI has levelled up in these matches with outside talent. Utami is the exact style of wrestler that YuuRI excels with too, so look out for that match.

Kakuto Tanteidan

On 13th April, The Astronauts’ (Fuminori Abe and Takuya Nomura) company, Kakuto Tanteidan (KT), held a press conference announcing an event on 1st July event at Shinjuku FACE titled “Kakuto Tanteidan V ~ONE LAST DANCE: SHINJUKU~”. The first match announced was Ali Najima & Hinata Kasai against Kosuke Sato & Ryuma Sekimo. Sekimo is a BJW rookie who is Abe’s protege, he got into business after being inspired by The Astronauts. Abe gave us some new information which is that Hinata asked Abe if he could train with him, and that Abe and Sekimo also train with Najima who is like a “little senior” to them both. Sato is the BJW Junior Heavyweight Champion, so he is a senior to Sekimo. It will be contested under BattlARTS Rules, which KT is obviously heavily influenced by (the shoot-style hard-hitting style from the late 90s to early 00s pioneered by Daisuke Ikeda, Yuki Ishikawa and others). Speaking of which, Ikeda, Hikaru Sato and Kazunari Murakami will face Abe, Shuji Ishikawa and Yuki Ishikawa in the main event, also under BattlARTS Rules (of course). This is simply a celebration of some of the best wrestlers at this particular style as a send off for Shinjuku FACE before it closes in September. Finally, there’s a normal pro-wrestling match sponsored by Shawn Capture (Ikuto Hidaka’s promotion based in Shimane that he runs alongside Itsuki Aoki): Ikuto Hidaka, Itsuki Aoki & Maika Ozaki against Kakeru Sekiguchi, Masked Hokakudo and Rina Amikura. All are Shawn Capture regulars. Hidaka works with Abe in the KT office. Abe also provided an update on Nomura’s health, who hasn’t wrestled since 6th August 2025 due to a kidney issue. He is living a normal day-to-day life but has some dietary restrictions. There was no update on whether he is returning to wrestling. Abe is targeting Korakuen Hall, but not just yet. He wants to do it at a reasonable time that makes sense for him and Nomura.

Osaka Pro Wrestling

Osaka Pro held their two-day tag team tournament at Azalea Taisho Hall in Osaka on 22nd and 23rd February. SUZAKU & TiiiDA, part of the VerteX stable, defeated Rogue Nation’s TORU & Yasutaka Oosera in the final. The highlight for me was the main event of the first night where Aran Sano & Tigers Mask were knocked out of the first round by Ryuya Matsufusa & Sho Mizuno. Aran & Tigers Mask are the OPW Tag Team champions but Mizuno, with 2 years of experience, was the star of the show and put in an incredible performance. The crowd were going ballistic with calls in the last few minutes of the match as Mizuno made his comeback against Sano. Mizuno pinned Sano with an Olympic slam. The future of Osaka Pro looks good (assuming they don’t leave within a few years to places like All Japan, NOAH and DDT.)

At “BUSHI-DO” on 8th March, the Tag Team Festival winners VerteX (SUZAKU & TiiiDA) challenged Aran Sano & Tigers Mask for the OPW Tag Team Title. Sano is in VerteX too. The constant cry of the kids in the crowd was pretty awesome and gave the match a fascinating level of heat. The early stages of the match saw Tigers Mask get destroyed by the challengers with stiff strikes. The best thing about these Osaka Pro matches is that they seem to peak perfectly and they are paced extremely well. In the closing stretches, SUZAKU and Sano were trading nearfalls and battering each other senseless and the crowd was going nuts. Then Tigers Mask, the veteran, just came out of nowhere and fired up to launch TiiiDA around, including with a beautiful Tiger suplex nearfall. That was probably my favourite moment of the match. After another extended nearfall back-and-forth with TiiiDA, the young Sano finished him off with a Muso slam. Backstage, Tigers Mask asked Sano why he also couldn’t be in VerteX with Sano too. Sano said that it had an age limit of 35-and-under.

Aja Kong’s 40th Anniversary Celebration in Okinawa

Aja Kong will celebrate her 40th Anniversary in Okinawa on 16th May, and the card is pretty great. It’s a celebration of the entire joshi wrestling independent scene. Let’s hope it makes tape.

Aja Kong's 40th Anniversary 16th May Full Card

Mika Iwata & Rina Amikura vs. Shoko Nakajima & Sora Ayame

Mizuki Kato & Shin Hirota Sakura vs. Momoka Hanazono & Unagi Sayaka

Hiroyo Matsumoto & Kyoko Inoue vs. Rina Yamashita & Yurika Oka

Chihiro Hashimoto, Syuri & Takumi Iroha vs. Haruka Umesaki, Itsuki Aoki & Kakeru Sekiguchi

Aja Kong, Hikaru Shida, Kaori Yoneyama & Ryo Mizunami vs. Nagisa Nozaki, Saori Anou, VENY & Yuki Kamifuku (with Maya Yukihi)

BASARA

On 6th March, Shuji Ishikawa defended his MAX Title in a three-way against Daichi Kazato and Tsutomu Oosugi. On 27th March, Masato Kamino & Takato Nakano beat Daiki Shimomura & Takumi Tsukamoto for the Iron Fist Tag Team Title. It is their third time holding the belts, with the last reign occurring in 2023.

FREEDOMS

On 26th March, FREEDOMS held a show at Korakuen Hall with participation from US independent promotion ICW No Holds Barred. One of the marquee interpromotional matches was Bear Bronson and Eric Ryan taking on Masashi Takeda and King of FREEDOM World Champion Violento Jack. Jun Kasai and Mizuki Watase successfully defended their King of FREEDOM World Tag Team Title against Daiki Wakamatsu and Takashi Sasaki. Gaia Hox defeated Kengo to win the King of FREEDOM World Junior Heavyweight Title. In the press conference before the show, Kengo was dismissive of his opponent, saying he only challenged via “process of elimination” with no viable challengers remaining. Well, that’s karma. Finally, freelancer Daisuke Sekimoto beat Tomoya Hirata, who said that he wanted to show something besides deathmatch on a card full of top deathmatch wrestlers.

2AW

In Shupro #2404, Red Lion (Ayame Sasamura, Takuro Niki & Tatsuya Hanami) spoke about the current state of 2AW, specifically being disappointed at the current crowds showing up to their Korakuen Hall shows, after having an explicit wish to fill out the sacred venue at the last Korakuen Hall of 2025. It was referred to as an “orange-coloured responsibility” last year in an issue of Shupro, and Niki said he hasn’t forgotten Shupro’s wording and they will continue to try to wipe out the famous orange seats in the south stand so they are filled with people. They drew 702, which is not bad for a promotion of its size but most importantly their best ever number under the 2AW banner. Ayame faced Jun Kasai in her first ever Hardcore match, putting in a great performance with blood trickling down her face. It was clear that Ayame was having a lot of fun, as Kasai noted himself in his post-match promo to her. Good HAVOC (Go Shiozaki & Shotaro Ashino) invaded 2AW in a losing effort which allowed Kengo Mashimo & Kyu Mogami to retain their 2AW Tag Team Title. This was a pretty good match but I felt like it had missed its peak for me personally. The crowd were super into it throughout. The 2AW ace, Ayato Yoshida, won back his 2AW Openweight Title from Takuro Niki in the main event, his fourth time holding the belt.

Michinoku Pro

Michinoku held their 33rd anniversary show in Yahaba, Iwate. In the opener, Ken45 and Manjimaru faced Taro Nohashi and Tsunaga Sato. Sato, a 20-year-old rookie, is a compelling young high-flyer for his tall size, age and experience. A particularly clean springboard armdrag stood out, and there is something about the way Sato moves in the air that stops time in the same style that Mistico’s high-flying does. It is obviously not the same level, but the same style, which is a difficult thing to replicate. The debut of Kuu Kumagai saw him paired against Daiki Odashima, a match built on the pair’s shared time in the NOAH dojo. They had both come through the Kenoh Channel auditions in November 2023, with Daiki passing and Kumagai getting pushed back to pass with current NOAH rookie Midori Takahashi in February 2024. After a year, Kumagai left and then joined Michinoku Pro, where he had been training for a year before his debut. Yahaba is also Kumagai’s hometown. In Shupro #2405, Kenoh mentioned that he wanted Kumagai to develop a rivalry with fellow rookie Tsunaga Sato. Another link to Kumagai other than how he got his start in wrestling, is that Kenoh’s former home promotion was Michinoku Pro.

In Kumagai’s debut, Kumagai and Daiki hit each other hard with forearms early on, with Kumagai sustaining a nosebleed during the match, which added something to the visual of him struggling in a Boston crab. Daiki, who received just nine votes in the Wrestling Observer Rookie of the Year Award (with me being one of them), carried himself like a veteran throughout. Kumagai eventually tapped out to a tight headlock.

JTO

JTO has begun streaming more of its shows live on YouTube, especially its “Club” shows held at their dojo in Chiba. They attempted to stream the 6th March Korakuen Hall show but it was awful quality and it is not even worth checking out that show due to the streaming quality.

After leaving the promotion to become prominent freelancers in the joshi independent scene, 1111 (Misa Kagura & Sumika Yanagawa) recaptured the JTO Girls Tag Team Title from Aoi and HisokA on 5th April.

Gokigen Pro

Kaori Yoneyama held her 45th birthday on 26th February at Shin-Kiba 1st RING. The only way to stream this show (ethically) is to pay ¥5,500 for the supporter pack, and then they’ll e-mail you an unlisted YouTube URL. It’s one time so you don’t get future events. The reason it’s so expensive is because it also comes with a DVD and your name called out on the show, and benefits like that. They have no lower tier, so that’s it if you want to watch the show without being there. There were some great matches on the show. The first was Rina Yamashita & Yuki Mashiro taking on Haruka Umesaki & Yuka Satsuki. Yuka is a 2AW rookie in which every time she breaks 2AW containment I am impressed by her speed and acceleration, and it was no different here. Umesaki was her usually hard-hitting self and Yamashita was the glue of the match. Mashiro lets her hair down in Gokigen and does more of the comedy she’s known for before returning to her serious-self in ZERO1. Azusa Inaba and Honoka went to a great 10-minute time-limit draw, leaving me sad we didn’t get more as they had excellent chemistry. I am not recapping Kaori Yoneyama versus Saki Kashima. It would take up the whole page. It was a chaotic, comical masterpiece and I loved every second. Yes, this is the match where Taro Okada’s face was destroyed by Matsuzawa-san’s crotch.

Their next major show is on 9th May including matches such as Chikayo Nagashima vs. Momoka Hanazono, Chie Koishikawa & Kikyo Furusawa vs. Haruka Umesaki & Kakeru Sekiguchi and finally a barnburner in Honoka vs. Mei Seira.

P.P.P. Tokyo

Beast Murayama and Shuji Ishikawa faced Daisuke Sekimoto and So Daimonji in front of a hot crowd on 10th March at Shinjuku FACE. Beast has popped up recently in EVO, as a former training colleague of Suwama from decades ago. Well, you’d think he was a well travelled superstar given by the whole crowd chanting “Beasto” on this show. There was something wildly endearing about him trying to lariat the BJW Champion Daimonji down and a look on his face when he saw it wasn’t working and Daimonji returned fire. It was a really, really, good underdog performance when you were probably expecting a full “meat on meat” match. He looked so pleased with himself when he finally did down Sekimoto with a lariat. You could tell this was the most fun he’s ever had and he’s probably glad he called up his old pal Suwama again to restart his career. This match was awesome.

In the main event, there was a match for the joshi sickos as Chanyota & MIRAI faced Echika Miyavi and Takumi Iroha. Chanyota and Echika are contracted to PPP Tokyo, MIRAI is with Michinoku Pro (but basically has a freelancer schedule and is based out of Tokyo) and Takumi Iroha is the ace of Marvelous and has been booking Echika on Marvelous shows, so this was continuing a Marvelous storyline where Echika rejected joining Magenta (Maria, RIKO & Chikayo Nagashima) to stay on the path of Takumi. Most importantly this match was about continuing the in-promotion rivalry between Chanyota and Echika, both of whom are becoming premier talent on the freelance scene. Echika picked up the surprise win on Chanyota after an incredibly fun main event which was everything you would think it would be given the names. Despite being in the same promotion for four years, this was Echika’s first win against Chanyota, and they’ve been kept apart quite a bit with only one singles match between them. After the match, Echika announced a new women’s belt in PPP Tokyo which presumably Echika and Chanyota will fight over. They also played a montage showing their times at Shinjuku FACE which is closing.

Uptown

Uptown held another show at Shinjuku FACE on 5th April. In the main event, Kuroshio TOKYO Japan challenged Yuma Anzai in a battle of “handsome men,” playing the heel by twisting a pinky promise, clawing at Anzai’s face, brawling with a fan, and attempting to graffiti Anzai’s face with a marker pen, all to the crowd’s fury. Anzai ultimately turned the tables, scrawling on Kuroshio’s face himself before finishing him with the Gimlet. Post-match, Momoka Hanazono vs. Ryota Hama was confirmed for 17th April, and Kuroshio plugged Seigo Tachibana’s 10th anniversary show on 12th June. Just so you know, Momoka is a tiny woman, and Ryota Hama is a giant super heavyweight.

Kuroshio TOKYO Japan has sent his joshi rookies, Saito & Shiono, to Ice Ribbon for extra training. They have been appearing on all shows. While Shiono looks very green and inexperienced, Saito has shown early signs of improvement.

Dradition Pro Wrestling

Tatsumi Fujinami will be taking on Ren Narita in the main event of his promotion’s Korakuen Hall show on 22nd May. If that wasn’t enough, his son LEONA will be facing Yujiro Takahashi.

Himalayan Tiger Promotion announced that Tatsumi Fujinami and LEONA of Dradrition will compete at a show in Nepal on 4th July, fulfilling a long-held dream for Fujinami, who had previously been unable to make a scheduled appearance there due to the 2015 earthquake. A promotional event, “Road to Nepal,” also took place on 11th April in TOKYOSQUARE, Itabashi, featuring four lower-level RIZIN and UFC fighters making their professional wrestling debuts.

Shawn Capture

Shawn Capture held their annual “Goen no Kuni Shimane Pro Wrestling 2026” show on 21st March in Ikuto Hidaka’s hometown of Masuda in Shimane prefecture. Hidaka runs the promotion alongside top joshi talent Itsuki Aoki. Their goal is to increase the presence of pro wrestling in the region. They are very active in local promotion, and Aoki is the PR Ambassador for Hamada City, her own hometown. The events are broadcast locally on cable TV which helps with their community outreach work. They regularly visit schools and deliver presentations and recently told Shupro that there was a kid who said they wanted to be a professional wrestler because of the work Shawn Capture is doing.

Hot Shushu

Hot Shushu held their first ever Korakuen Hall show on 28th March drawing 555. The show opened up with Kiku’s retirement, a match with her close friend Arisa Shinose. Kiku is 47 and had only been wrestling a few years. It had the usual (awesome) retirement gimmicks such as the entire roster and seconds running the train with Kiku in the corner. Manami Katsu’s run-up was obviously one of the stiffest. At one point Matsuzawa-san did her Bronco Buster and Yappy was shielding the young Mase Hiiro’s eyes from it. After the match, there was the typical Japanese retirement ceremony with Kiku in tears as the 10-count gong played.

Speaking of young superstar-in-the-making Mase Hiiro, she teamed with her sister Moe against STARDOM’s Star Bomb (AZM and Starlight Kid). The match was awesome. The crowd were more than happy to boo the crap out of Star Bomb and Moe, let’s not forget who is a rookie, was able to keep up with AZM. Kuroshio TOKYO Japan faced Samas. The link here is that Jiro has been sending his rookies to the Ice Ribbon dojo for training, and Hot Shushu is very closely affiliated with Ice Ribbon (they use their dojo as well as their streaming service, and a lot of the talent appear on both). At one point Samas handed Jiro some famous Korakuen Hall chicken (which is awesome despite what people may say), and Jiro threw a piece to someone in the crowd. The main event was a 50-person battle royal which served more to get everyone on the card. Arisa Shinose, who is dual contracted to Hot Shushu and Asuka Pro (her dad’s promotion) won the main event. Overall it was a solid first Korakuen Hall for the small promotion.

Ehime Pro Wrestling

Rising HAYATO, who made his debut for Ehime Pro Wrestling on 15th October 2016, will finally graduate (leave) the promotion on 14th June. He became dual contracted with All Japan Pro Wrestling in January 2022 and had appeared for both as Ehime Pro Wrestling’s ace ever since. HAYATO is an Ehime native (which is a prefecture on Shikoku Island, just off the coast of south west Japan.

Jaguar Yokota Debut 50th Anniversary Show

On 24th July at Korakuen Hall, the legendary Jaguar Yokota will celebrate her 50th anniversary since her debut.

Black Menso-re’s Produce Show

On 9th April at Shinjuku FACE, Menso-re held his own produce show. In the main event, he teamed up with Kenoh against AMAKUSA and Shuji Ishikawa. As you can imagine, Menso-re was pinned immediately within a few seconds. He asked them to restart the match for the big occasion and they agreed. Much like Kazuki Hirata, Menso-re has immense crowd support, especially when working as the underdog against a “strong” wrestler like Shuji Ishikawa, so the dynamics and vibes were off the charts with the crowd going mental. It was a great main event.

Ryoma Tsukamoto

Ryoma Tsukamoto announced that he has taken a hiatus from wrestling in order to pursue his dreams. He subsequently pulled out of Kenta Kobashi’s produce show “Fortune Dream 11”. Those dreams were probably to end up in New Japan during their extensive recruitment drive for junior heavyweights. Tsukamoto, dubbed the “Human Thumb” by myself and Social Suplex regular ‘oddjobs’, is quite thick but he is short enough that he would be considered a junior heavyweight in New Japan.

Land’s End

BJW World Strong Heavyweight Champion So Daimonji’s home promotion, Land’s End, has finished building its new office next to Shin-Osaka Station. It will have accommodation for wrestlers as well as be the central hub for its commercial activities.

Back to Round-up

Watch on Wrestle Universe (VOD)

Watch on Zaiko (Live PPV)

Sora Ayame’s 20th Birthday & Kaya Nishimura’s 2nd Pro Test

23rd February 2026
Shin-Kiba 1st RING, Tokyo, Japan
Designation: Key Show

As reported in our previous issue, Kaya Nishimura, 16, was the last of Marvelous trainees to take her pro test ahead of the 5th May Yokohama BUNTAI show. She failed her first pro test on 28th January and was back almost a month later for her final try if she wanted to debut at Yokohama BUNTAI in time. Last time out, Kaya struggled with her stamina and was completely gassed when it came time to run the ropes. She also struggled with the squats, needing regular breaks every few squats. In this attempt, she was powering through them, but then soon after reverted back to exactly how she had done them in the first pro test, which was with regular breaks. I was just praying that it didn’t affect her stamina later down the line. The next challenges were the one-minute tripod headstand and the one-minute bridge which Kaya passed fine, just as last time. In the last test, Kaya had no issues with the 10 bridge kick-overs where you bridge on your neck and then flip your body over. That was also the case here. Then there were the rotational drills, such as breakfalls and rope running, where Kaya ultimately failed last time after being so gassed in the first test. She was getting gassed on the breakfalls, but she put her everything into the rope running compared to last time. She knew that this was it. I got goosebumps watching her try her hardest to do the rope running here knowing it was a failing point last time. Takumi, who failed her last time, was encouraging her from the sidelines with a smile on her face. Finally there were the sparring rounds: one against Senka, then Mio Momono. Mio stepping into the room gained murmurs from the crowd, since last time it was Mahiro who had just passed her pro test. If that wasn’t bad enough, the final sparring partner last time was Ai Houzan, this time, it was head coach Takumi Iroha herself. Takumi was swatting her off like a fly, and eventually let Kaya get a single leg takedown on her which the crowd cheered for. In the intermission, Chigusa announced that Kaya had passed and that there were no more trainees.

Most people get some socks, or underwear. Other people get a car or a new phone. For Sora Ayame’s 20th birthday, she received a beating from one of the top wrestlers in the world, Sareee, in the main event. This was a really fun match. She tried to throw offence at Sareee and it utterly failed. She also tried her signature package cradle, but not only did it not work, but the crowd did not react much to it. For the past few issues I have mentioned that move as being one of Sora’s best nearfalls, and she used to utilise it perfectly six to nine months ago. She needs to pick her spots better with it if she wants to get the reactions she used to get with it. No one bought it working here. Sareee won with a diving double foot stomp. At least it’s better than losing to her forearm strike.

In the semi-main event, Mika Iwata and Mio Momono teamed together despite their intense rivalry as they traded their first ever wins against each other, and have feuded over the Sendai Girls Tag Team Title for several years. They were against Senka Akatsuki and Itsuki Aoki, who previously teamed together on 21st September and Itsuki helped Senka close out the show. I remember that as it was a very cute moment. This was a fun, house-show type match with Mio and Mika unable to work with each other leading to several awkward moments. Senka hit her finisher, the axebomber lariat into a Zenjo-style pin but Mio reversed the pin into a quick cradle for the win.

RIKO continued attempts to recruit Echika Miyavi to Magenta as she teamed with her against Ai Houzan and Takumi Iroha. Echika was wearing Magenta make-up and being very friendly with RIKO as she was doing a trial run to see if she’d like it in Magenta. This match was great. I loved it. It was up my street. It had the right amount of comedy and hard-hitting action. I won’t recommend it because I know this is an Eric-special (first time I’ve ever namedropped myself in a show review since I always write in first person?) Echika absolutely blasted Ai-chan with the signature pitching chop and she missed the first time so she repeated it, and it was so hard that I yelped. Poor Ai-chan. Echika pinned her with a chokeslam right after. RIKO then asked Echika who she preferred teaming with as she lost when teaming with Spark Rush but won with her. Echika swerved RIKO and said that she wanted to wrestle in Marvelous because of Takumi and she would team with her in PPP Tokyo on 10th March against Chanyota and MIRAI.

Maria faced Yosuke Santa Maria in the opener. You just know Chigusa booked this match. The crowd chanted “Maria” to begin the match. You get the drill. Before the match they agreed to a stipulation. If Maria lost, she had to change her name to “No Eyebrows Gorilla”, and if Santa Maria lost, they’d have to shave their eyebrows and wear Magenta make-up (black). Maria won with the Marian roll, so I presume Santa Maria will be dressed like a Magenta member on the next show.

Full Results

Maria defeats Yosuke Santa Maria (13:57)

Echika Miyabi & RIKO defeat Ai Houzan & Takumi Iroha (12:36)

Mika Iwata & Mio Momono defeat Itsuki Aoki & Senka Akatsuki (17:53)

Sareee defeats Sora Ayame (9:23)

Maria’s 26th Birthday & Ai Houzan’s 5th Debut Anniversary - 8th March 2026

8th March 2026
Kariya Industrial Promotion Center Aioi Hall, Aichi, Japan

For Maria’s 26th birthday, she was awarded a tag match against the most fearsome joshi team today, Spark Rush (Sareee & Takumi Iroha). She was paired up with her Magenta teammate Chikayo Nagashima. This match had a lot of callbacks to Magenta’s previous meetings with Spark Rush as they attempted several times to lock them in the back of a lorry. They did so previously at a Kariya show last year. This time, they managed to get themselves locked in with Spark Rush causing a double count out. The match was restarted and Spark Rush destroyed them, with Takumi pinning Maria with the Running Three.

Then, for Ai Houzan’s 5th anniversary, she paired up with the hometown girl (or as close to her hometown as she can get), Sora Ayame. They faced the Sendai Girls Tag Team Champions Bob Bob Momo Banana (Mio Momono & Yurika Oka) in the main event. There were some callbacks to Mio and Ai’s singles match in February which blew me away (link), but it was mostly fleeting aside from a less-stiff striking exchange than in that match. Ai Houzan stole the mic from Bob Bob Momo Banana so that Ai and Sora could close out the show as Aichi natives. I wish I had a transcript, but alas, even Shupro does not cover these Kariya house shows. I did once record it and pass a promo on a Kariya house show through speech-to-text, but I was too lazy for this one, sorry.

Elsewhere, Senka pinned RIKO once again, this time in a singles match. RIKO once again threw a tantrum after the match and had to be carried off by Chigusa Nagayo. Yosuke Santa Maria pinned Echika Miyavi after a fun match. Santa Maria returned Miyavi’s signature pitching chop which got some laughs.

Senka’s 20th Birthday

30th March 2026
Shinjuku FACE, Tokyo, Japan
Recommended Matches: Chikayo Nagashima & Sora Ayame vs. Maria & RIKO, Miku Kanae & Sareee vs. Senka Akatsuki & Takumi Iroha
Designation: Key Show

At what is likely Marvelous’ last ever show at Shinjuku FACE, Marvelous’ top rookie, Senka Akatsuki, celebrated her 20th birthday by teaming with Marvelous ace Takumi Iroha against Miku Kanae and Takumi’s Spark Rush tag partner, Sareee. Of course, Sareee also mentors Miku. As well as Senka’s birthday present, this was also a preview tag for Sareee and Takumi Iroha at Yokohama BUNTAI on 5th May. The match was excellent. In particular, I loved the dynamic between Sareee and Takumi, with Sareee getting her ass handed to her by Takumi’s cracking kicks. Sareee tried to return a kick but it fell flat, so Takumi showed her how it was done. The match was a time-limit draw as Sareee dodged the Running Three before hitting an uranage for a nearfall. There were a few takeaways from this semi-main event. One is that Takumi and Sareee will tear the house down on 5th May. Another is that Senka and Miku need to have a singles match on that show, because they have very good chemistry. After the match, Magenta came out, and it was revealed that Nyla Rose and Nightshade will challenge them for the AAAW Tag Team Title. I expected Senka to challenge for the tag titles given that she’s pinned Maria once and RIKO twice, but apparently those traditional rules don’t apply to Marvelous, so that leaves Senka open to have a marquee singles match. Please.

The main event of the show, however, was Mio Momono facing off against long-term friend and first-generation Marvelous classmate, Rin. Mio mentioned that her and Rin did not get on at the start of their careers and were the only two wrestlers in their class. Rin is on her retirement road, as she is set to retire on 5th May at Yokohama BUNTAI. This match was a request from Rin. Mio had a blue and pink costume made just for this match in reference to their days as rookies. Mio and Rin did almost everything they could, including brawling on top of the famous counters at Shinjuku FACE. Mio closed out the match in style as she no-sold Rin’s German suplex before suplexing Rin with her own for a two-count. She did not let go of the waistlock and followed up with four more deadly German suplexes, which I was astounded was not the finish. Rin attempted to come back with some forearms, but Mio slapped her around the face and headbutt her for another nearfall. Finally, Mio won with the JK Bomb. After the match, the whole crowd sang happy birthday to Senka, and then the roster and regular outsiders like Itsuki and Itsuki ran the train on Senka in the corner with 20 charges into Senka for her 20th birthday. Then, the same happened with Sareee, instead it was 30 charges for her 30th birthday, which was the day after. It was very wholesome.

Magenta (Chikayo Nagashima, Maria & RIKO) split into teams to battle it out, with Chikayo bringing along Sora Ayame. This was one of Magenta’s most fun matches in quite a while. Sometimes, their gimmick misses, sometimes, it hits. For me, this was a total hit. For those that just like “moves”, this was not that. This was a chaotic, messy, gimmicked tag match that played on the dynamic of Chikayo as Magenta’s caretaker and Sora unleashing hell with her shin kicks and general annoying (complimentary) wrestling style. One of Magenta’s gimmicks is to lock up their opponent outside the arena and try to go for a countout, whether that’s locking them up in trucks in Kariya, or outside the building in Oyama. Here, RIKO took Sora outside the Shinjuku FACE main room and threw her in an elevator and sent her down. It popped me because I’ve been there and those elevators are quite annoying and confusing. Somehow, Sora found a way back, beating the count and surprising Magenta. Chikayo was awesome, having slapping and turnbuckle cushion duels with RIKO, no-selling parts of RIKO’s offence. There were prosthetic human masks which Sora placed on people’s heads so she could shin kick them, given RIKO dodged the shin kicks effortlessly at the start of the match. At one point Sora kicked Chikayo but told her it was in fact RIKO. It worked. In the end, RIKO pinned Sora with her own signature small package.

Two crowd favourites, Itsuki Aoki and Yosuke Santa Maria had a match which the crowd, obviously, loved. Aoki was getting a lot of love from the crowd to start the match, so Santa Maria was jealous, so they also chanted for them, getting some dueling chants going to kick off the match. There were some slow-mo sequences but ultimately, Itsuki won with a spear into a cradle, which looks similar to Naoya Nomura’s Maximum move.

In the opener, Ai Houzan faced Echika Miyavi in a singles match. The chemistry was not quite there between the two, before Echika won with her signature, beautiful, amazing pitching overhand chop into a unique semi-electric chair chokeslam for the win. While Echika is on the up and up, Ai is still spinning her wheels after her MOTY-level match with Mio Momono in February. I wanted that match to propel her forward. Since then, she has gotten new gear and a new look, but her in-ring is the same. I have watched every Ai Houzan match that has made tape in the past year. Beyond a running double-handed chop, a headbutt to the chest, and an under-arm wrist-clutch suplex, I could not tell you what her signature moves are off the top of my head. I cannot even tell you her finisher. She has been wrestling for five years. Someone needs to help Ai. They have the talent in the Marvelous dojo to do it, so I’m confused why it is not translating to the on-screen product. I love Ai Houzan’s character, I’m following along her journey of struggle, that’s the hardest part of wrestling. Please will someone help her with the other part?!

At the intermission, the three rookies yet to debut, Mahiro Namatame, Fuka and Kaya Nishimura announced their new names as Hijiri Saotome, Ruka Amahane and Kanata Suou. Kanata has her arm in a sling, so likely incurred a training injury.

Full Results

Echika Miyabi defeats Ai Houzan (9:19)

Itsuki Aoki defeats Yosuke Santa Maria (10:17)

Magenta (Maria & RIKO) defeat Chikayo Nagashima & Sora Ayame (15:22)

Miku Kanae & Sareee vs. Senka Akatsuki & Takumi Iroha – Time Limit Draw (20:00)

Mio Momono defeats Rin (17:00)

Tall vs. Small - 4th April 2026 (*)

4th April 2026
Oyama Cultural Center, Tochigi, Japan
Recommended Match: Echika Miyavi vs. Mio Momono

After the great show at Shinjuku FACE, Marvelous were back on tour at the familiar Oyama Cultural Center in Tochigi, which is Leo Isaka’s home venue. It’s easy to forget Leo Isaka is the only guy on the Marvelous roster as he’s been out for almost a year, but he was here to greet his hometown, as he does on every Oyama show.

In the main event, Spark Rush (Sareee & Takumi Iroha) faced Sora Ayame and RIKO. It was almost exactly one year to the day that Takumi destroyed Sora in this exact building, leaving Sora’s chest bloodied and bruised in her first real taste of what is needed to make it in pro wrestling. Sora got her revenge as she has come back armed with a shin kick. She booted Takumi in the shin twice. Unfortunately, it would still lead to a loss as she got squished by Sareee’s diving double foot stomp and Takumi’s Swanton bomb. If you’re wondering why Sareee is on a house show in Tochigi, well, she is booked for the main event of Marvelous’ big show on 5th May and this is the penultimate show before that. They have 5,000 tickets to sell! (They will not get close.)

The tall Echika Miyavi faced the small Mio Momono in a great singles match. The fact that Miyavi is even making the Tochigi house show dates means she is part of Chigusa’s regular bookings outside of her contracted talent. At one point, Mio was in the corner and Echika teased her signature chop, so Mio started screaming her head off, literally. It was so loud that Echika decided not to chop Mio because she would’ve felt too bad. Well, later, Echika caught Mio and hit her with a chop so hard that I started to re-think if chops were actually the safest move in wrestling. It may have been the loudest chop I’ve ever heard Echika give. Echika followed up later with a crazy big boot, one of the best in the scene. The finish was excellent as well. Echika teased the electric chair-style chokeslam she used on the last show, but Mio countered it into a roll-through cradle for a nearfall. Then the two battled over the pinning position in a sit-out cradle and it was sold perfectly, so much so that I have no idea how I had not seen that move before. Finally, Mio does eventually get the roll-through cradle for the three-count. Someone should sign Echika Miyavi. ASAP.

In the opener, Yuka Satsuki faced Senka Akatsuki. Satsuki is a rookie as part of the 2AW independent promotion which is also known in the joshi independent scene for housing one of the scene’s unearthed gems in Ayame Sasamura. Well, Satsuki is another one. She’s big, but she is so fast. It is kind of ridiculous how much of an athlete she is for her size and experience. It really reminds me of the best wrestler in the world, Chihiro Hashimoto. Of course, nothing like her since Hashimoto started out as a legit amateur wrestler, but Satsuki is good enough to at least draw some early comparisons to Hashimoto. Every time I have seen Satsuki I have been impressed. It must help that she trains with the guys in the 2AW dojo who probably go a bit harder on her. Senka won this match with the Axe Bomber into the Zenjo-style pin that she so frequently finishes with, but I left this match so impressed with Satsuki, from her grappling in her early stages of the match, to her ability to whip the crowd up. She’s also a good seller and very expressive. This is in the context of her level of experience, since she debuted in March 2025, after Senka. Seriously, if you see a Satsuki match pop-up, just give it a watch.

Team Yellow (Ai Houzan & Chikayo Nagashima) faced The Marias (Maria & Yosuke Santa Maria). Santa Maria accidentally ended up kissing Maria, so Chikayo rolled up Santa Maria for a nearfall. Then Santa Maria had Chikayo in a romantic hold but opted not to kiss her, as Chikayo is not their type. Chikayo grabbed Santa Maria’s face and kissed them. Chikayo was going for a roll up but got caught in a Bastard Driver of sorts and lost. After the match, Maria had her black lipstick all smudged, so that must’ve been a shoot kiss.

Back to Round-up

Yurika Oka injury - 20th March 2026

20th March 2026
Azalea Taisho Hall, Osaka, Japan

Yurika Oka was injured in her match with VENY, ahead of her big encounter against Chihiro Hashimoto which was due to take place on 22nd March, but never did. The injury occurred on an attempted dropkick out of the sky. Yurika was jumping off the turnbuckle and VENY was intercepting with a double-footed dropkick. It’s hard to tell, but I don’t think anything went wrong with the contact between the two, but either way, Yurika landed awkwardly and her head bounced off of her mat. Whether she was loopy before the landing and so couldn’t control it, or just landed awkwardly while conscious, is unclear. That part is the scary, occupational hazard of being a wrestler where anything can happen. The worst part of this was the referee not stopping the match. Yurika is clearly loopy. VENY tried multiple times to lift Yurika up by the hair, but Yurika is clearly not cooperating so VENY has to stop trying. The referee still does not check on Yurika. Instead, he started 10 counts, but Yurika struggled to her knees each time before VENY tried to lift her up again by the hair which broke the count each time. Yurika, somehow, managed to get up to her feet but had no idea where she was and just stood there. VENY lightly slapped her around the face, around 5% of the force she normally uses, and then does a spin kick which doesn’t touch Yurika. VENY then went for a suplex, and Yurika just collapsed. The referee would still not stop the match. The referee did another 10 count, and Yurika failed to get up. So it wasn’t even a referee stoppage! It was a KO. Ridiculous, and the opposite way you protect the health of the wrestlers. Before the injury, the match was super fun. They have great chemistry, with Yurika being just playful enough to get the most out of VENY’s silly side, and also provoking her enough to justify VENY’s hard-hitting style. It was honestly shaping up to be an excellent match and a favourite of mine.

The main event between Chihiro Hashimoto and Spike Nishimura against Red Energy (Mika Iwata & Miyuki Takase) was great, but it was hard to focus given the match prior (the Yurika injury). Some highlights, from what I was able to focus on, were Hashimoto and Iwata’s rare interactions which are always a delight.

Reiwa Ultimate Powers (DASH Chisako & Hiroyo Matsumoto) took on Manami and Nanami Hatano (from Diana). This was a fun match, at least for myself, given that Nanami rarely wrestles in the same circles as the others in the match, even freelancer Hiroyo Matsumoto. Nanami is someone who can easily perform as a power wrestler, so her going back and forth with Matsumoto was great. One thing I was wondering was who would win the match, because there’s no way DASH and Matsumoto are losing, and while I don’t put it past Diana to send Nanami there to lose, I wasn’t expecting it. Manami had a world title match a week later, so she wasn’t losing. So I was guessing a time-limit draw. Matsumoto pinned Manami. Well, okay then. I know the match is filler but don’t make it that obvious!

In the opener, Chika faced YUNA again. The last time they faced in Osaka, I mentioned how odd it was that Chika was playing the veteran and YUNA barely got any offence in. Of course, they did that due to their size disparity, but the way they did it was weird. This match was much better. They really got the crowd going in the final minutes towards a time-limit draw, with a lot of very close nearfalls. It’s probably the loudest I’ve heard a crowd for a Sendai Girls opener.

Spike Nishimura pulls double duty - 21st March 2026

21st March 2026
Kariya Industrial Promotion Center Aioi Hall, Aichi, Japan

Due to Yurika Oka’s injury from the night before, Spike Nishimura pulled double duty in Kariya, the same venue TJPW, Marvelous and Stardom had all run in the previous weeks. I wonder how that happens, it seems too coincidental. In her first outing of the night, she teamed with Miku Kanae in a losing effort against Manami and Yura Suzuki. In the main event, she then joined up with Ryo Mizunami to face Red Energy (Mika Iwata & Miyuki Takase), which is where she replaced Yurika. Spike didn’t take it easy and still worked a large portion of the match as she continued to prove why she belongs as a member of the Sendai Girls roster. Iwata pinned Spike with the Raion for the win.

EVO’s Chika and Diana’s Mizuki Kato teamed up to face a veteran team consisting of Chihiro Hashimoto and Hiroyo Matsumoto. This match was basically to get Chika and Kato over. Chika and Kato are being used as a team in reference to Team 200kg, so I imagine that Meiko is going to use them regularly. They did some of the same double moves in this match, and of course, Yuu is Mizuki’s idol and already passed down the steamroller log roll to her. In a reversal of roles, Chika put Hashimoto in a Boston crab with the crowd chanting for Hashimoto. Chika doesn’t get booked like a rookie who debuted a year ago, that’s for sure. The spot of the match was Hashimoto giving a German suplex to Chika. That was a crazy bump. It led to the finish where Hashimoto just delivered a running lariat for the win.

Chi Chi continued her development into becoming a Sareee/VENY hybrid as she had a hard-hitting bout with DASH Chisako which, alongside stiff strikes, included a shoot headbutt from Chisako, just for fun.

Watch on Wrestle Universe

YUNA puts in a best-ever performance

22nd March 2026
Shin-Kiba 1st RING, Tokyo, Japan
Recommended Matches: DASH Chisako & Mika Iwata vs. Manami & Ryo Mizunami, Chihiro Hashimoto vs. YUNA
Designation: Key Show

It’s no secret that when promotions are forced to make sudden changes to cards, they end up putting on some of the best shows they could. It was no different here for Sendai Girls as an injury to Yurika Oka two days prior put her out of her singles match against Chihiro Hashimoto on this show. Not only that, but given that Chihiro Hashimoto had just wrestled on the Sareee-ISM show literally just over an hour before her scheduled match in Sendai Girls, it made for the most dynamic, unpredictable match for the unsuspecting replacement. Hashimoto worked hard on that Sareee-ISM match as well, so it wasn’t as if she was fresh coming into this Sendai Girls main event. YUNA took Yurika Oka’s place. YUNA has been an unfortunate victim of the incredible depth of talent in the Japanese independent scene. She is over two years into her career and has appeared to be a step behind newly debuting rookies across the scene. That makes her seem worse than she actually is. Shupro and Sendai Girls’ own documentary has served to show YUNA in a new light. She is not a wrestler seeking superstardom. She explicitly has said she is not bothered about that. What she wants is to give children who were like her hope. The hope that things can improve. YUNA struggled to attend school due to several issues and had a difficult childhood. Wrestling helped her, and she wants to give back. That is her sole goal as a wrestler. While that background had certainly allowed me to soften my stance on her and in fact allow me to root for her, none of that could do as much good for her as her match against the ace Chihiro Hashimoto in this make-shift main event. I’m not going to check, but I’d be surprised if this wasn’t YUNA’s first main event, and she knocked it out of the park.

The match followed a tried and true format. A Japanese wrestling classic. The veteran ace against the young, inexperienced wrestler. However, the results were not so formulaic as YUNA showed a side of her that she had never shown before. When a match is set on such short notice, and you’re against the best wrestler in the world, sometimes it’s easier to just go “okay let’s just wrestle like in practice and see what happens”, and it was awesome. If you’ve seen the Sendai Girls documentary, you’ll know Hashimoto runs amateur wrestling training sessions for pro wrestlers where she brings in her friends, who happen to be Olympic-level wrestlers. This match against YUNA felt like one of those sessions, except it had a raucous Shin-Kiba crowd willing YUNA on to victory. YUNA tried her hardest to shoot wrestle Hashimoto and prove that she is good enough to belong in the same promotion as Hashimoto. She struggled multiple times trying to get Hashimoto off her feet, with several single and double leg takedowns ending with her getting brutally stuffed by Hashimoto, such as getting thrown with a gutwrench suplex. YUNA would try to rally with hard-hitting forearms, but Hashimoto would hit back twice as hard. YUNA displayed a level of wrestling we had not seen before, such as when she rolled through a nasty armbar from Hashimoto to reach the ropes, in an unexpectedly smooth fashion. This all built to the moment that YUNA finally latched on her very own armbar which got a huge reaction from the crowd before Hashimoto reached the ropes following a long struggle. After a series of nearfalls, Hashimoto put YUNA away with a thunderous running lariat. There was nothing pretty about this match, and it was awesome.

Ryo Mizunami & Manami beat DASH Chisako & Mika Iwata after, you guessed it, Mizunami pinned Iwata. This was a great match. This was the previously scheduled main event, but it was moved to the semi-main event and before an intermission. There was a sense where these four wanted to put on a great match to thank the fans, as well as buy time for Hashimoto to get ready for her match against YUNA.

Mio Momono brought her fellow Marvelous wrestlers Ai Houzan and Sora Ayame along for a preview tag against Miyuki Takase who teamed with Hiroyo Matsumoto and Spike Nishimura. Mio and Takase would face off in Sendai PIT for the Sendai Girls World Tag Team Title, and they had the best sequence of this match as Mio slapped Takase around the face to initiate a combination from Takase of a stiff lariat into a snappy powerslam. Spike pinned Sora as revenge for getting kicked in the shin during the match, which is Sora’s gimmick.

Yura Suzuki and ZONES went to a good time-limit draw which displayed the improvement of both wrestlers. ZONES has struggled against opponents not named Chi Chi, but this was a confident, reassuring performance from her as she landed several loud chops. Yura looked probably the best she ever has, in terms of her striking and submission transitions. It is clear that she has potential. She has switched up her gear from the half-coat Meiko tribute to something that looks much better but still has a red/blue theme to it.

Earlier in the show, YUNA faced WAVE’s Honoka in a singles match. The contrast between her performance in this match and the main event could not be starker. While it wasn’t bad, it is as if YUNA just doesn’t feel comfortable wrestling her peers. Or, Hashimoto is just that good. I think it’s a bit of both.

Full Results

YUNA defeats Honoka (7:01)

Yura Suzuki vs. ZONES – Time Limit Draw (10:00)

Hiroyo Matsumoto, Miyuki Takase & Spike Nishimura defeat Ai Houzan, Mio Momono & Sora Ayame (14:19)

Manami & Ryo Mizunami defeat DASH Chisako & Mika Iwata (20:35)

Chihiro Hashimoto defeats YUNA (11:58)

Manami challenges for Chihiro Hashimoto’s title - 27th March 2026 (*)

27th March 2026
Sendai PIT, Miyagi, Japan
Recommended Match: Chihiro Hashimoto vs. Manami

I am still not sure why, but Sendai Girls decided to stack one of their regular Sendai PIT shows with multiple title matches. Of course, one of them was called off due to the Yurika Oka injury, so they just casually decided to bring in STARDOM’s Hazuki, because why not. However, the main event was a World Title with the ace Chihiro Hashimoto defending against Manami. The match was built around a clear story. Manami, with no realistic path to matching Hashimoto’s power, targeted the arm in the early exchanges and did so with conviction. Hashimoto sold it well, checking the limb after a manji-gatame applied to Manami, and when Manami later locked in her own manji-gatame on Hashimoto’s injured arm, the crowd popped. The best moments came in the final stretch. Manami’s counter to the running lariat, transitioning seamlessly into an armbar before Hashimoto wrenched free and slammed her out of it, was the highlight of the match. A knee strike on a spear attempt left Hashimoto down, only for a ten-count to begin which is rare for her. There were subsequent near-falls, including a kickout from the running lariat that visibly stunned Hashimoto given she had finished so many matches with it. It added some real drama to the finish. The powerbomb that ended it was the same move that put Manami away in a tag title match late last year, a narrative note as destructive as the move itself. It was a well-constructed title match with a strong central narrative and another reminder that Manami is no joke when she wants to be.

Red Energy (Mika Iwata & Miyuki Takase) were not able to challenge for the World Tag Title and so had to settle with facing Hazuki and Mio Momono. This was a fun match, though one with a familiar format. Red Energy’s semi-main event slot in Sendai Girls has become a well-worn, but still great, formula at this point, and as a result the near-falls struggled to land with me with any real weight. The booking of Red Energy has perhaps played its part in terms of failing to create suspense. The highlight was the chemistry between Mio Momono and Mika Iwata, wrestlers who faced each other so often early in their careers. Their sequences were fast, fluid, and completely in sync. Iwata also landed a great rolling kick off the ropes, connecting perfectly on Hazuki. Hazuki had a great Hazuki Stral nearfall before Iwata closed it out with the Raion. The post-match challenge set up Red Energy against FWC (Hazuki & Koguma) on 12th April at Korakuen Hall.

Spike Nishimura pinned Sendai Girls Junior Champion Senka Akatsuki in a tag match. After the match, Spike challenged Senka for her title. The match was scheduled for 12th April at Korakuen Hall.

“20th Anniversary Kickoff”

12th April 2026
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Recommended Matches: DASH Chisako vs. Kuroshio TOKYO Japan, Chihiro Hashimoto vs. Syuri, Manami & Ryo Mizunami vs. Mio Momono & Yurika Oka
Designation: Key Show

Sendai Girls returned to Korakuen Hall to another full sell-out, a testament to how well the promotion reads the room when it comes to big shows, running the venue sparingly enough that demand never wanes. As a show, this was a balanced and easy watch rather than anything out of this world, with the card structured well from top to bottom and the pacing never outstaying its welcome. The top three matches: the hardcore bout, Hashimoto against Syuri, and the tag title match, were all great in their own right and gave the show its backbone, while the undercard did well to keep any viewer’s attention. The one consistent gripe I had was the classic Sendai Girls Korakuen tendency to keep undercard matches shorter than they deserve, but that’s splitting hairs.

Manami and Ryo Mizunami defeated Bob Bob Momo Banana (Mio Momono & Yurika Oka) to win the tag titles. It was a match that felt like it would have been even better if it were at a Sendai Girls house show, though it was still a strong bout. I can’t explain why that is, but it’s just the feeling I got from having seen a lot of Sendai Girls house shows where they go really hard. Yurika’s return from injury was the background story, now wrestling with a gumshield for reasons that were not entirely clear to me given the nature of her concussion. Maybe she just had dentist work done. In something that’s rare for me, I felt that Mizunami was the standout performer, keeping the match on track during a few shaky moments in the middle stretch and looking particularly sharp alongside Mio. Yurika and Manami’s chemistry, well established through their extended singles rivalry in 2025, was another reliable pairing. The finish came with Manami landing the Somato on Yurika before Mizunami followed up with the Maximum Voltage for the win. After the match, Mizunami announced she had joined Sendai Girls.

IWGP Women’s Champion Syuri submitted Sendai Girls World Champion Chihiro Hashimoto in a non-title match that laid the groundwork for a future title match. Hashimoto and Syuri were clearly not going for an all-time epic here, with this feeling deliberately like the first chapter of a longer story rather than a definitive encounter, and it would be unfair to judge it against either wrestler’s best singles work. The match once again showcased Hashimoto’s “Best in the World” credentials with small details that make her amazing, such as to refusing to be baited by Syuri’s rope-running spot where Syuri hit the mat expecting Hashimoto to jump over her, but Hashimoto immediately took a headlock. There was a double KO tease which made me think it was going to be a double KO, because like AEW with time-limit draws, Japan does not consistently do KO counts, so them being called is always a bit of a hint. But it did not play out there. Hashimoto tapped out to a rear-naked choke, which is a significant moment given how rarely it happens. Her post-match reaction, visibly in tears and clearly feeling the weight of the loss, was as good a piece of selling as you will see in a post-match. She was even crying after the main event when she was closing out the show. Both wrestlers delivered emotionally in their post-match promos, setting things up for the future with nothing officially confirmed.

The hardcore match between DASH Chisako and Kuroshio TOKYO Japan was a match I’d highly recommend and one that I came close to putting in low-level MOTYC territory. It will heavily vary depending on your enjoyment of Jiro, but for me, Jiro put on a hell of a performance in this match. His character work against joshi wrestlers, following his recent match with Megaton, continues to be some of his most entertaining, playing the psychotic heel to perfection before eating shit in the most expressive and hilarious fashion possible, turning the entire Korakuen Hall crowd into Chisako supporters the moment she made her comeback. The big spots were well-structured, timely and very impactful, which is the perfect combination, from Chisako’s slaps to Jiro’s face, to a chalk-filled guitar smashed over her head, to a swanton by Jiro through a table that was uncomfortably close to the corner of the staircase and the seats. Jiro’s toy dog distraction into a superkick, followed by him prompting the crowd to chant Chisako’s name before hitting a second one, was exactly the kind of layered comedy that makes his character so entertaining when deployed correctly.

The craziest moment was Chisako’s Hormone Splash from a ladder to the outside, which she just came up short on but walked away from unscathed. She was bloodied from the mouth but that appeared to happen on the finish rather than this spot. As one of the best no-blood hardcore matches you are likely to see, this came together perfectly, with the comedy, the stiff strikes and the big spots all complementing each other. After the match, Chisako’s 20th anniversary show was announced for 20th July at Korakuen Hall, with El Desperado as her opponent, though some confusion arose between the ring announcer calling it a deathmatch and the poster referring to it as hardcore. Even the Japanese commentators were confused.

Senka Akatsuki retained the Sendai Girls Junior Title against Spike Nishimura in a great match. The opening stretch had a lot of small but cool details, such as Spike transitioning from shoulder tackles straight into a double leg takedown rather than continuing the expected test of strength. Senka’s fundamentals continue to be what sets her apart, with her match structures paced in an almost old-school way that you simply do not see from wrestlers at her stage, and her dodge of the bicycle kick into a single leg Boston crab transition. Senka very rarely makes mistakes and does exactly what she needs to do, which is her strongest asset. She did take a terrifying Michinoku driver that was safe but looked dangerous, the perfect combination. This is a rookie by the way. The result was a mild surprise given that Senka is not a contracted Sendai Girls talent and Senka had already beaten Spike in the Jaja Uma Tournament to win the title in the first place. It continued a pattern of Meiko’s booking that raises a slight eyebrow, though Senka’s greatness makes it difficult to feel too strongly about it.

FWC (Hazuki & Koguma) defeated Red Energy (Mika Iwata & Miyuki Takase) in a really enjoyable six-woman tag match. The early parts of the match were built around Mika Iwata’s ability to work off of Koguma and Takase. Iwata’s visible suffering throughout, from her disgust at the “kuma” chants to Takase wanting to be a crane instead of a bear, to Hazuki piling on to mock her. In terms of athletic performance, Hazuki and Iwata were great together, and the brainbuster finish from Hazuki onto Iwata looked great, seemingly setting up a future encounter between FWC and Bob Bob Momo Banana down the line.

Chi Chi, Rin & VENY took on Hiroyo Matsumoto, Stephanie Maze & Yura Suzuki was a fun six-woman tag match that felt like the classic Sendai Girls Korakuen Hall undercard experience, enjoyable but crying out for another five minutes. This was also a first look at Stephanie Maze, a European on excursion. The highlight of the match was Yura Suzuki and VENY, who had great chemistry, and serves as another reminder that Yura is a quietly excellent young wrestler who deserves more attention than she currently receives.

Shin Sakura Hirota celebrated her 48th birthday on this show, with Yuji Nagata in the crowd playing his part. The bit centred on Hirota wanting a nice birthday match only for ZONES to keep being too strong and ruining it, and Hirota was as sharp as ever, including a split-second glance toward a ringing phone in the crowd that was enough to draw laughs without breaking the flow. The birthday theme ran through the match’s spots, with her completing fourty-eight signature attacks to the ZONES’, and then another nine as she asked Nagata his age which is 57. ZONES attempted to deliver 48 lariats in the corner while Hirota repeatedly tried to escape. ZONES took the win with a Death Valley Bomb.

Opening the show was a perfectly solid match between Miku Kanae and YUNA, with YUNA picking up a welcome win. The standout moments were YUNA’s struggle in a submission hold and a strong closing run of nearfalls, but this was ultimately a match shaped by its position on the card. Sendai Girls openers are rarely the place for anything beyond a competent, straightforward layout, and this was no exception.

Full Results

YUNA defeats Miku Kanae (8:00)

ZONES defeats Shin Sakura Hirota (11:44)

Chi Chi, Rin & VENY defeat Hiroyo Matsumoto, Stephanie Maze & Yura Suzuki (7:01)

FWC (Hazuki & Koguma) defeat Red Energy (Mika Iwata & Miyuki Takase) (13:43)

Sendai Girls Junior Title:
Senka Akatsuki (c) defeats Spike Nishimura (7:18)

Hardcore:
DASH Chisako defeats Kuroshio TOKYO Japan (19:15)

Syuri defeats Chihiro Hashimoto by referee’s decision (14:58)

Sendai Girls Tag Team Title:
Manami & Ryo Mizunami defeat Bob Bob Momo Banana (Mio Momono & Yurika Oka) (c) (13:21)

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“Sareee-ISM Chapter X: Taiyoushin Chronicle ~ 15th Anniversary”

22nd March 2026
Company Announced Attendance: 2,693
Yokohama Budokan, Kanagawa, Japan
Recommended Matches: Amu Fujiwara & Rina vs. Chi Chi & Miku Kanae – 22nd March at Yokohama Budokan, Chihiro Hashimoto & Syuri vs. Sareee & Takumi Iroha
Designation: Key Show

Sareee’s 15th Anniversary show was a landmark occasion, and the reported attendance of 2,693 at a venue with a capacity of around 3,000 is a great number for an independent joshi show, if one that invites at least a little healthy scepticism given the visible empty seats on the night. Even in the most conservative reading, the crowd was comfortably above 2,000, which by any measure represents an awesome achievement for Sareee and one she should be enormously proud of. For context, the reported figure would surpass Stardom’s record at the venue. The occasion was further marked by Sareee gracing the cover of Shupro #2404, tying her with Knockout Brothers, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Hiromu Takashi on two front covers so far in 2026.

The production was great, with strong video packages and entrance presentations drawing inspiration from the likes of All In and Wrestle Kingdom, albeit filtered through a minimalistic and distinctly Sareee-ISM sensibility. The audio mix let the show down somewhat, with the ring noticeably under-mic’d throughout, which is a particular shame for a show built around a wrestler whose strikes are one of her calling cards. As for match quality, I must admit that only two matches truly landed for me, the LLPW-X vs. Chi Chi & Miku Kanae tag and the main event, which is a lower hit rate than a Sareee-ISM show typically delivers. The veteran presence of the likes of Shinobu Kandori, Yumiko Hotta and Kaoru Ito proved more of a drag than anticipated. That said, the aforementioned two matches were excellent.

The main event was the match Sareee had always envisioned for her anniversary. As she explained in Shupro #2402, she considered a big singles match but ultimately decided that what her longest-standing supporters deserved was a match that best represented her style, and the three wrestlers who embody that most are Takumi Iroha, Chihiro Hashimoto and Syuri. There was no compromise in that decision, no fallback option. She got exactly the match she wanted. The partnership between Sareee and Takumi has its own story worth telling, with both wrestlers reflecting in Shupro #2403 on how they were not always on the same page when they first began teaming, and Sareee describing Takumi as her first true tag team partner in the fullest sense, the first she has trained with outside of a shared promotional home.

The match itself was excellent. Sareee worked as the babyface to a crowd entirely behind her, and the dynamic with Hashimoto in particular was as dynamic as ever, with the two destroying each other in a way that made it remarkable that Hashimoto went on to have another outstanding match just over an hour later in Sendai Girls against YUNA. Takumi and Syuri trading kicks was everything you would want from two of the very best in that department, landing strikes simultaneously in a sequence that served as a reminder of what both bring to any match they are in. The finishing stretch between Sareee and Hashimoto was the highlight, with Sareee visibly sandbagging to resist Hashimoto’s German suplex before Hashimoto eventually succumbed to the wrist clutch uranage, getting her win back from their November encounter. Spark Rush also debuted a new double team, an assisted double foot stomp, and finally connected with their swanton and stomp combination after an earlier dodge. The post-match reminded me of why I love the Sareee and Hashimoto rivalry so much as it is entirely competitive in nature, which is why they could embrace after the match without it feeling out of place.

In full honesty, and with the caveat that this comes from someone who rates Takumi as one of the best wrestlers in the world and considers Spark Rush my favourite team, the match did not quite reach the level of the September 2024 Sareee-ISM tag. The action was flawless and there is nothing to criticise about the execution, but it lacked an emotional hook that makes it impossible to look away from certain matches. Some of that may simply be circumstance, a larger arena losing some of the intimacy that made that 2024 match so striking, and some of it may be that the 2024 tag carries a personal emotional weight that makes it nearly impossible to surpass. Whatever the reason, the 2026 tag is still a fantastic match that falls just short of the very highest tier, which perhaps says more about the standard Sareee-ISM has set for itself than anything else. The post-match announcement that Sareee and Takumi will face each other in singles competition, met with a loud crowd response, was the perfect bowtie on the night, a match that has been building since the seeds were quietly planted in their very first AAAW Tag Title defence together in May 2025.

The tag match between LLPW-X duo Amu Fujiwara & Rina and Sareee’s mentees in Chi Chi & Miku Kanae was the other match on the show that truly delivered, and much of that was down to Amu Fujiwara, who is only 14 years old and was competing in just her third professional match. The storyline background to the bout was that Amu had destroyed Miku at an LLPW-X dojo practice, which was enough for Sareee to book her on the spot. Rina, meanwhile, made an immediate impression just by being her. She looks every bit the star she ought to be, and my hope is that Sareee continues to bring her out of LLPW-X, a promotion that has not run a taped show since finishing its Kanda Myojin Hall residency in January 2026.

Amu Fujiwara was the main reason I loved the match so much. There were a lot of things to love, but that was the main one. She has a karate background (and an affinity for Natsupoi), and it shows in the confidence and physicality she brings, most notably in forearms that would not look out of place coming from someone with ten times her experience. Her selling, particularly of the leg work Chi Chi applied, was more emotive than almost anything you will see from a rookie at this stage, and Chi Chi herself said backstage that Amu had everything behind her eyes, not a compliment you pay a young wrestler in Japan very often, vaguely translating to having a fire within her. She was even selling the leg in her post-match comments, mentioning that once it healed she would be back for revenge. What 14-year-old rookie does that after their 3rd ever match in front of almost 3,000 fans? It is frightening to place too much weight on just three matches, but what Amu showed here puts her near the top of any assessment of active rookies right now. Miku rounded things out with her signature tucked-arm senton and a German suplex for the finish, her third of the year and twelfth on tape that I’ve seen, a running tally that I like to keep for fun.

Elsewhere, HANAKO stepped in as a late replacement for Bozilla against VENY, and while she performed fine, she did not have the match that you can have if you have VENY in front of you. The lariat and backdrop suplex looked strong, but a lot of it is VENY’s willingness to take extraordinary bumps. HANAKO was solid, but against a wrestler of VENY’s calibre, solid feels like a missed opportunity, particularly when you consider what Echika Miyavi produced against VENY in ZERO1 and what Bozilla herself did at the previous Sareee-ISM show. VENY’s post-match comments were pointed and quite hilarious, mentioning that HANAKO did not exactly seem to be “an assassin sent from STARDOM,” and elaborating that some of her recent STARDOM opponents, citing Suzu Suzuki in particular, had impressed her, whereas HANAKO had the height and the tools but simply did not make enough of them. VENY also called out Bozilla directly, given this was supposed to be their match before Bozilla’s injury, and the prospect of that encounter happening at a smaller, more intimate venue is even more exciting for me.

The Kaoru Ito and Natsupoi match was the most disappointing bout on the show. Ito is capable of really good work, as some recent matches have indicated, such as her match with Ai Houzan in Marvelous in December, or the AAAW Tag Team Title bout against Spark Rush last year, but the dynamic here was wrong from the outset, with Ito working Natsupoi as though she were a green rookie rather than an established performer, leaning heavily on long, heatless submission holds that killed any momentum the match could have built. The finishing stretch was a marked improvement, with Ito’s running senton and double foot stomps offering a glimpse of what the match could have been throughout, but it was too little too late after the opening passages had already lost me. There appeared to be confusion at the finish, with Poi either being a really good seller or visibly surprised by the three count, which indicated to me that referee Daichi counted the La Magistral when Ito was unable to lift her shoulders properly. However, Daichi is known for holding up counts if it isn’t the finish, so it could just be Ito not executing the intended finish cleanly. Natsupoi called for a rematch afterwards, citing frustration with how the match ended, which could easily be read in kayfabe.

The veterans match with Fuwa-chan, Shinobu Kandori & Yumiko Hotta taking on Jaguar Yokota, Senka Akatsuki & Takako Inoue was a mixed affair, with the quality largely dependent on who was in the ring at any given moment. Shinobu Kandori and Yumiko Hotta were the weak links throughout, and the match suffered noticeably whenever either were involved, with Shinobu in particular having done little of note in LLPW-X over the past year. The saving grace was everything involving Fuwa-chan and Senka Akatsuki, who had a great chemistry that left you wanting a singles match between the two down the line, and Fuwa-chan slapping Senka around the face was the kind of thing you do not see from her in STARDOM. Jaguar Yokota’s post-match comments were very insightful, praising Fuwa-chan’s bumping while making the observation that wrestlers with her agility and dexterity can sometimes look too polished and too clean to come off as convincing, but that Fuwa-chan retains just enough roughness to keep it looking like a contest. A lovely footnote was Fuwa-chan sharing that her mother, a lifelong Jaguar Yokota fan who skipped Zumba to attend, was in the crowd for the occasion.

Kikyo Furusawa and Selene Misora had a match that never quite found its footing, with the large venue doing them no favours and the two looking uncomfortable with each other throughout. Selene had missed the SEAd show just three days prior through illness, and you do not pull out of a home promotion match in the build to your first title shot unless you are struggling, so some allowance is warranted. Also, she’s my favourite rookie. So she’s perfect. The core issue seemed to be Kikyo’s style, with Selene still developing her mat wrestling at around fifteen matches into her career, which left Kikyo unable to operate at the pace her submission-based style requires, having looked far more fluid in similar exchanges in STARDOM.

An unannounced opener saw AKARI and Sayaka Toyota take on Uta Shima and Yuuka, with the presence of both AKARI and Yuuka coming as surprises. That made me think that Sareee actively sought out wider indie representation for the show. AKARI, the Chilean PURE-J wrestler, and Ice Ribbon’s Yuuka were the standouts, and their exchanges were the highlight of an otherwise unremarkable match. The poor ring audio was particularly frustrating here given Yuuka is one of the hardest hitters on the indie scene, and her work inevitably loses something when you cannot hear the impact. Sayaka Toyota, niece of Manami Toyota and a T-HEARTS member alongside Miku Kanae, did little to distinguish herself, and her limited bookings relative to other workers does her no favours in terms of ring time and development.

Full Results

Dark Match:
AKARI & Sayaka Toyota defeat Uta Shima & Yuuka (8:40)

Dark Match:
Kikyo Furusawa vs. Selene Misora – Time Limit Draw (10:00)

Chi Chi & Miku Kanae defeat Amu Fujiwara & Rina (12:42)

VENY defeats HANAKO (8:37)

Kuroshio TOKYO Japan defeats Shin Hirota Sareee (Shin Sakura Hirota) (4:13)

Jaguar Yokota, Senka Akatsuki & Takako Inoue defeat Fuwa-chan, Shinobu Kandori & Yumiko Hotta (7:49)

Natsupoi defeats Kaoru Ito (13:16)

Sareee & Takumi Iroha defeat Chihiro Hashimoto & Syuri (23:06)

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“SEED STAGE vol. 3” – The greatest show on the independent scene

28th February 2026
Post di Amistad, Kawasaki, Japan
Recommended Match: Haruka Umesaki vs. Yuki Funa, Honori Hana vs. Selene Misora
Designation: Key Show

SEAd’s critically acclaimed (by me) series focusing on its younger talent continued with a third instalment at the home of the Japanese joshi independents, Post di Amistad (a venue managed by Diana). While the very first show blew my expectations out of the water, this show was already good on paper and even so, overall this show was even better than the first one. As an all-round experience, I believe it is difficult to find something better on the joshi wrestling independent scene.

Everyone has their favourite thing in wrestling. It might be a particular wrestler, or a rivalry, or even just a combination of wrestlers that they love seeing. My thing is the SEAdLINNNG youngsters. The story has been booked well and handled with care. It did take some time for pieces to fall into place with injuries to Yuki Funa and waiting for the debut of Selene Misora, but once everything was in place, Arisa Nakajima took the baton and ran with it. The main event was everything I am personally looking for in my wrestling. Two young wrestlers, one who is a rookie with barely any experience, beating the hell out of each other in a heated rivalry over who should be the future of SEAd. Honori is the ultimate dumb jock wrestler trying to protect her spot as the most senior member of the roster, while Selene is the girl raised on Sareee-ISM with a dose of VENY’s attitude instilled in her, and she will not sit around and let Honori bully her. That backdrop always leads to explosive bouts between the two.

The main event was a grudge match between Honori and Selene. Two weeks prior, Honori had headbutted Selene so hard that she had to sit out a portion of the match before returning to slap the crap out of Honori and give her a receipt. As a reminder, Selene is the rookie with less than 15 matches under her belt. This singles match was a chance for her to get her proper revenge. The defining feature of this match was the hard slaps the two were giving each other. There is a genuine intensity when these two wrestle that is difficult to manufacture, and blurring the lines is one aspect of wrestling that I love. I squealed and screamed watching this match, hoping that one of them would not end up getting sent to the hospital due to an accident because afterall, they are inexperienced in dishing out violent, but safe, punishment. They stayed within the lines while being as violent as they could be, so I thought it was excellent execution. While her character is the ultimate dumb jock wrestler, Honori may have received some smart tips from headbutt connoisseur Arisa Nakajima herself, as Honori has started to use the shoot headbutt as a tease, a spot that the opponent counters because they know it’s coming. Selene stopped Honori’s headbutt with both hands, leaving her vulnerable to a scoop slam and a subsequent splash. That was a really cool spot for those of us who have followed the journey. In the end, Selene withstood Honori’s slaps, returned fire, and won with a great flash pin. Honori was pissed. After the match, Selene delivered what is becoming her signature promo style, with confidence and poise, telling Honori she will be winning those titles at the Korakuen Hall show. The team brought out a birthday cake for Yuki Funa who was turning 29, and then everyone sang happy birthday, except for Honori who was still fuming. Selene closed out the show, yes, as a 20 year old rookie with less than 15 matches. Everyone posed for the group photo, again, except for Honori. Honori was literally like a spoiled child who wanted to be anywhere but there, and sold the loss perfectly. This is my wrestling.

Speaking of Yuki Funa, in the semi-main event, the improving rising rookie faced the ace of Diana and the Queen of Amistad, Haruka Umesaki. The Honori-Selene feud is quite a funny backdrop when Yuki Funa is playing no role in it and just doing her own thing in her own universe while consistently improving with each appearance. It is as if she is letting her rivals take each other out while she reaps the benefits. That is another reason the dynamic between all the young wrestlers is so interesting. It may not be deliberate booking, but it still works. This match was also just great. Haruka Umesaki is the ultimate floor raiser of the independent scene, able to have good matches with pretty much all sorts of wrestlers, but this was Yuki Funa’s most fluid match yet as she meshed perfectly with Umesaki, including even hitting Umesaki with as hard forearms as she received herself. That is quite a feat when Umesaki has one of the hardest forearm strikes in the scene.

Miria Koga, who is probably the most hit-and-miss of SEAd’s young wrestlers, had a “hit” performance with Sumika Yanagawa. Miria is best when she’s laying in her kicks and strikes, and that’s exactly what she did here. This is yet another good match on the show.

New rookie Lana Hisaki took on Makoto in the opener. This match was interesting because Lana is booked like anything but a rookie. However, a match against Makoto lends itself well to playing the underdog babyface, so I was wondering if Lana would do a more traditional rookie match that we hadn’t seen from her so far in her first couple of matches. Once again, Lana did not shy way from being different and not only pulled out the torture rack submission again, but also a Canadian backbreaker hold on Makoto. So while you have the Honori-Selene feud, Yuki’s improvement and the roller coaster of Miria, there’s a fifth brand new rookie who is fascinating to watch the presentation of and see where it will go.

Full Results

Makoto defeats Lana Hisaki (9:39)

Sumika Yanagawa defeats Miria Koga (8:31)

Haruka Umesaki defeats Yuki Fuuna (12:15)

Selene Misora defeats Honori Hana (12:03)

Shin-Kiba Series 2026 “Vol. 2”

19th March 2026
Shin-Kiba 1st RING, Tokyo, Japan
Designation: Key Show

SEAdLINNNG’s singles tournament to determine the strongest wrestler continued with the semi-finals where Beyond The Sea Champion Hiroyo Matsumoto defended her title against Mio Shirai, since Matsumoto was defending her title in each tournament match. It was a match that was the opposite of what I am looking to see in my joshi wrestling, in the sense that Mio is a total heel character but was playing the underdog babyface. It was bizarre and totally took me out of the match. Nothing about Mio Shirai’s character in SEAdLINNNG warrants support. She is constantly condescending, an asshole and thinks she is better than everyone else. In the other semi-final, joshi independent scene standout Ayame Sasamura advanced to the finals to book a meeting with Hiroyo Matsumoto as she fended off Nagisa Nozaki, winning with a flash pin. This is the best possible final they could have done, and this was also exactly what i would have predicted given that Ayame was given a big win on the December Korakuen Hall show and she was the one that suggested this tournament in the first place.

Honori Hana and VENY continued their long-standing feud in a three-on-two handicap match. It was supposed to be Honori, Misa Kagura and Nanami Hatano against Las Fresa de Egoístas (Makoto & VENY) and Selene Misora, but Selene caught the flu and was absent. This was a preview tag ahead of Selene and VENY challenging Honori and Unagi Sayaka for the Beyond The Sea Tag Team Title at Korakuen Hall on 17th April, with three top joshi talents (Misa, Nanami and Makoto) thrown in the mix. While Honori and VENY certainly turned down the shoot headbutts and violence they normally inflict on each other, there were still ridiculous moments such as shoot slaps (see above image) and VENY throwing a fan’s can at Misa’s head which made a loud clonk. Honori did tease a shoot headbutt, in a callback to their title match on 30th May last year, but VENY dodged it and hit a crazy spin kick. VENY eventually won with the moonsault to close off a great match.

Mei Suruga continued playing the heel on the independent scene. Weeks earlier, she had bullied ZERO1’s new rookie, Konomi Hori. On this show, she tortured Yuki Funa. This match was great. This version of Mei needs to do a tour of the entire independent scene. Despite her already being one of the best wrestlers in the world, she has now added a new-ish (to me) Zack Sabre Jr-style gimmick where she relentlessly targets your limb with creative holds while mocking the junior. She may be doing this in ChocoPro Ichigaya Chocolate Square shows, but I do not cover those. If she does, awesome! Yuki Funa was great and tapped out immediately to a brutal armbar. Yuki is really improving and making great strides with her recent appearances, where I believe she has even shot past Miria Koga in terms of her confidence and match quality.

Danish independent talent Madison Marley returned for another tour. Last year, she had a fun storyline with Las Fresa de Egoístas, where Nagisa Hozaki and Makoto wanted her to join the stable, but she was very grossed out by their approach. It was insanely great acting as she was able to portray what it looks like for someone to get the “ick”. The dynamic was hilarious because Las Freas de Egoístas are the “Mean Girls” of SEAdLINNNG, so the new foreign girl reversing the roles popped me, so much so that I remember it a year later. Anyway, she faced Miria Koga, who she would have been familiar with. Madison won the match while playing the veteran.

In the opener, Lana Hisaki participated in her second ever match against veteran freelancer Itsuki Aoki. Lana is an interesting rookie. She uses moves you don’t normally associate with a rookie, especially a rookie with one of the traditional independents. I make that distinction because AWG rookies also buck the trend, but normally rookies follow a certain template when they debut. They’re limited to forearms, dropkicks, cradles, maybe Boston crabs. Lana already has a torture rack submission, and she was stomping onto Itsuki while cranking on submission holds. They clearly have a different idea for the type of wrestler Lana can become, and she might be more of the Las Fresa de Egoístas type rather than a traditional babyface. On top of that, she might be more of a psychopath than Honori Hana. During the intermission, Arisa Nakajima was announcing new matches for the Korakuen Hall card on 17th April, when a spider or a roach dropped on her head. Arisa and Natsuki Taiyo ran away, terrified by what just happened and they all just stared at the bug sitting in the middle of the ring. Lana then calmly jumped into the ring, picked up the bug with her hands, and calmly ran out of the ring. It was incredible.

Full Results

Itsuki Aoki defeats Lana Hisaki (9:41)

Madison Marley defeats Miria Koga (8:22)

Mei Suruga defeats Yuki Fuuna (11:48)

Three On Two Handicap:
Las Fresa de Egoistas (Makoto & VENY) defeat Honori Hana, Misa Kagura & Nanami Hatano (15:19)

SEAdLINNNG Saikyo Tournament Semi Final:
Ayame Sasamura defeats Nagisa Nozaki (10:08)

SEAdLINNNG Beyond The Sea Title / SEAdLINNNG Saikyo Tournament Semi Final:
Hiroyo Matsumoto (c) defeats Mio Shirai (15:34)

Back to Round-up

Watch on EVO

Tournament #44

28th March 2026
Shinjuku FACE, Tokyo, Japan
Recommended Match: Chika vs. Chihiro Hashimoto, Naoya Nomura vs. Suwama, Chi Chi vs. Honoka
Designation: Key Show

While EVO runs the vast majority of their shows at Shin-Kiba, they once a while will hold a show at Shinjuku FACE (which is an example of its importance to companies of EVO’s size). These shows will usually have a title match, but also a marquee men’s match up. This show had both as well as a great singles match on the undercard. They all combined to produce one of EVO’s strongest shows yet as all three of the top matches were excellent. It was slightly overshadowed by the fact that both Chi Chi and ZONES announced that they were leaving EVO immediately after their matches in backstage segments. But we’ve covered that in the round-up so enough of that here!

In the main event, EVO Strong Women’s Champion Chi Chi defended her title against WAVE’s Honoka. Honoka, who is usually cast in the role of an underdog babyface, flipped the script for Chi Chi in her home promotion and worked over Chi Chi’s leg after it was hurt (in storyline) from a diving crossbody. This was an interesting dynamic that helped spice up the match given that there was no chance that Chi Chi was going to drop to Honoka making her first ever EVO appearance. It was a great selling performance from Chi Chi as the crowd rallied behind her. One of the stories of the match was whether Chi Chi was going to be able to hit the backdrop suplex on Honoka, as Honoka evaded it multiple times. Honoka hit a crazy dropkick right to Chi Chi’s face, who retaliated with one of her cracking superkicks before hitting a spin kick for a nearfall. Chi Chi finally landed the backdrop suplex she inherited from Suwama, but it was a nearfall which I totally bit on as the finish. Chi Chi followed up with another one for the win.

In the marquee match up in the men’s division, EVO co-founder Suwama faced independent standout Naoya Nomura. Nomura has had a few extended runs with All Japan, a promotion Suwama is all too familiar with, with Nomura’s most recent run coming to an end shortly after their World’s Strongest Tag League tour towards the end of 2025. The implication from Nomura’s comments were that it was a one-sided decision, which made it even more surprising considering he was a true shining light on the All Japan shows. This match with Suwama was Nomura’s biggest match since that All Japan run. This match was pretty great. Nomura worked as the underdog, which is typical against Suwama. He tried to hold on after a nasty backdrop suplex, German suplex and a thunderous lariat. Suwama latched on the rear naked choke and his body went limp. Suwama let go and attempted a pin. Nomura kicked out at the last second. That was a great nearfall. Suwama couldn’t believe it and tried twice more to no avail. Nomura attempted his signature flash-pin, Maximum, which is a spear into a roll-through cradle, but Suwama kicked out. Suwama hit another brutal lariat, still Nomura survived. Suwama hit a dangerous backdrop suplex dropping Nomura on his head, but Nomura kicked out at the last second and the time-limit hit. I think Nomura was not supposed to kick out but he probably did so to be safe that it would be a time-limit draw. That’s a fine line to walk against Suwama, so I hope he doesn’t get any flak for it!

In the other men’s match, Ryo Aitaka, formerly of GLEAT, went up against EVO’s other founder, Shuji Ishikawa. Shuji was a bit unhinged on this show. Well, he always is, I just wasn’t expecting a shoot headbutt and a backdrop suplex only a few minutes into the match. This was a great hard-hitting match. There were two kids in the front row with, presumably, their parent. I wonder if this match will be the origin story for someone wanting to become a professional wrestler. One of them seemed unfazed and winced at the headbutts even less than I did.

Sendai Girls World Champion, and arguably the best wrestler in the world, Chihiro Hashimoto, was brought in to face Chika. On a house show in Kariya on 21st March, Hashimoto and Hiroyo Matsumoto worked hard to get Mizuki Kato and Chika over as a new tag team, seemingly to fill the void they feel was left behind by Yuu’s retirement and disbandment of Team 200kg (Hashimoto & Yuu). A singles match against Chika was the second step of that process. Clearly both Meiko and Hashimoto have taken a liking to EVO’s Chika. This match had a lot of callbacks to the 21st March Sendai Girls match, but in this singles version they delayed some of the gratification spots, making Chika work for the judo takedown. Additionally, the start of the match had the signature “spar with Hashimoto” section where they seemingly don’t plan any spots and just roll for several minutes until they start moving to the planned spots. It was pretty awesome and Chika was of course outwrestled and put into submission holds with ease because of Hashimoto’s ridiculous speed. Hashimoto eventually hit the German suplex to a huge pop with people in the crowd seemingly losing their mind. To be fair, it was one of the most impressive German suplexes given Chika’s size. This match made it clear that the Sendai Girls match days earlier was good practice as they repeated a lot of the same (impressive) spots and added on the initial sparring which made the singles match here even more dynamic and exciting than their encounter days prior. This was my favourite Chika match so far in her young career.

Due to injury, Natsu Sumire, who plays the role of Suwama’s secretary in EVO, was replaced by Shin Sakura Hirota who was cosplaying as Natsu. Natsu was injured in January in the finals of a WAVE Tournament to crown the next challenger for their top title. Prominence (Hiragi Kurumi & Mochi Natsumi) would be the ones to take Shin Natsu and Soy. Unfortunately, despite being on the same team, it was Soy who took on the full brunt of Shin Natsu’s Bronco Buster spot. At least Shin Natsu decided to use air freshener on her private parts beforehand.

In the opener, PPP Tokyo’s Riara and ZONES took on one of the best freelance tag teams, 1111 (Misa Kagura & Sumika Yanagawa). Riara of course took the pin. It was ZONES’ birthday (age unknown) so Riara sang ZONES happy birthday during a spot.

Full Results

1111 (Misa Kagura & Sumika Yanagawa) defeat Riara & ZONES (10:36)

Hiragi Kurumi & Mochi Natsumi defeat Shin Natsu Sumire (Shin Sakura Hirota) & Soy (11:28)

Shuji Ishikawa defeats Ryo Aitaka (10:19)

Chihiro Hashimoto defeats Chika (11:41)

Naoya Nomura vs. Suwama – Time Limit Draw (15:00)

Evolution Strong Women’s Title:
Chi Chi (c) defeats Honoka (17:09)

Shin-Kiba Tournament #45

8th April 2026
Shin-Kiba 1st RING, Tokyo, Japan
Recommended Match: Chika vs. Senka Akatsuki
Designation: Key Show

Following their tumultuous last show, EVO attempted to pick itself up on its feet and press ahead. Each match including current or former EVO talent had heartfelt promos aimed at ensuring their fans continue supporting the promotion and I must say, it was quite effective. Chika in particular came out of the show looking like EVO’s newest and brightest diamond as she was in the main event against Marvelous’ own jewel Senka Akatsuki. It was a match that was shorter than anticipated, though both wrestlers went hard throughout. A signature rolling spot from Chika gave Senka some early pain, and Senka took the win with a frog splash, which is notable given she has been alternating between that and her axe bomber into a zenjo-style pin as her finish. The post-match promo was the best part of the evening. Chika reflected on rarely getting to face wrestlers of a similar career length to her own, and spoke about her previous main event, her first ever title match, being a period of immense pressure where every day felt painful. Chika broke into tears from recalling the memory. She described feeling almost crushed by the weight of responsibility upon being handed this main event too. However, through tears, she boldly declared that she could not keep thinking like a junior forever, that she and Soy are the ones who will carry EVO forward. She acknowledged that building a promotion from the ground up is gruelling work, crediting Chi Chi and ZONES for laying that foundation, and committed to repaying them by making EVO as big as she possibly can. What began as a want to become the strongest, she said, is now simply a must. Beautiful.

EVO Strong Women’s Champion Chi Chi teamed up with her regular partner and friend Miku Kanae against one of joshi wrestling’s top tag teams in 1111 (Misa Kagura & Sumika Yanagawa). This was just a great match. There were no storylines heading into it and it was a bit of a cold match so it’s hard to recommend, but in terms of action I had a lot of fun. Sumika got the pin on Chi Chi which shocked the crowd, but it set up Chi Chi’s next title defence. After the match Chi Chi spoke about her decision to leave EVO as well. She mentioned that she keeps her age private but that she has less time than other peers who debuted as teenagers, and so she wants to sprint to the top as quickly as possible which accelerated her decision to become a freelancer. As mentioned in the round-up, Chi Chi going to Ito Dojo or T-HEARTS alongside Miku Kanae would make a lot of sense, but that doesn’t mean that’s what will happen. If Chi Chi wants to get to the top as soon as possible, she may want to get into STARDOM or Marigold ASAP and use that as a route to America given her long-stated goals to work there. I am fully supporting Chi Chi on achieving her dreams. Life’s too short. You do you, girl.

Another former roster member, ZONES, faced current roster member Soy in a tag match also involving Kaho Kobayashi and Miya Yotsuba. Soy had decided to begin wrestling after watching ZONES’ debut match on 31st March 2023, so they had a close link. While ZONES will continue wrestling in the promotion, she said her biggest regret about deciding to go freelance would be leaving behind her first and most important junior in Soy. She also lamented not being able to go to training sessions and other company-activities anymore. Soy replied that she had been crying every single night dreading the 31st March announcement, but then she told herself she would not cry again after that as she would become the most senior member of the roster (aside from Ishikawa and Suwama who are obviously special cases). But, Soy had instead cried every single night after that, including after ZONES’ post-match promo here. She ended by saying that she was going to grow so big that ZONES would regret leaving. It was cute.

After beating Uptown’s rookie Hyo Ogawa, who debuted on 27th December 2025, Shuji Ishikawa announced that he was joining EVO full time and asked the crowd for their support. In Suwama’s match, he teamed with prominent freelancer Hikaru Sato in a winning effort against Ryo Aitaka (who had appeared in the last show against Suwama) and Tyson Maeguchi.

Full Results

Shuji Ishikawa defeats Hyo Ogawa (7:01)

Kaho Kobayashi & ZONES defeat Miya Yotsuba & Soy (14:26)

Hikaru Sato & Suwama defeat Ryo Aitaka & Tyson Maeguchi (11:41)

1111 (Misa Kagura & Sumika Yanagawa) defeat Chi Chi & Miku Kanae (13:24)

Senka Akatsuki defeats Chika (9:12)

Back to Round-up

Ice Ribbon Dojo #1475 - “Yappy's Birthday” - 21st February 2026

21st February 2026

Yappy celebrated her birthday in style as she put on an event at the Ice Ribbon Dojo. In the main event, Arisa Shinose and Kaho Matushita faced Kirari Wakana and Moe Hiiro in a costume swap match. Kirari and Moe were dressed as Bad Butts heels, while Arisa and Kaho were in Yappy’s rookie gear. Kirari is the worst heel in the world, and I love it. She was totally destroyed by Kaho, and at one point used the Bad Butts warning sign trying to hit it over Kaho’s head but missed and it rebounded off the rope into her face, leading to the cradle finish.

Yuka took on Totori Satsuki where music would play randomly and while it was playing they would have to hit the pinata. The first to completely destroy the pinata won. During the first music session, it ended with Yuka trying a missile dropkick from the top rope onto the pinata. Of course, the pinata was dangling from the ceiling and meters above the ring, so she missed completely. Like not even remotely close. She sat in the ring for a good 10 seconds realising what she had just tried with full regret on her face. Later, Yuka landed her super forearm and then just destroyed the pinata with one swipe of the bat. It was badass. I love Yuka. I will die for Yuka. However, the refs were corrupt and said it wasn’t fully destroyed so the match continued for some time after.

Mase Hiiro & Sumika Yanagawa took on Miku Kanae & Riko in a “translate the wrestling move quiz” in which they had to, well, translate the name of the wrestling move on the screen each time they made a one-count pin. They were given the name in either English or Japanese and had multiple-choice of English or Japanese names. Mase, a kid wrestler, received a lot of help for “figure four leg lock” but still picked the wrong letter. Miku got help from the audience and wisely took their counsel. There was a trick question where Yappy asked them to translate “forearm” into Japanese and Sumika correctly picked elbow in katakana rather than forearm in katakana. Given how much I translate stuff, I did get some of these! What I didn’t know is that an Irish whip is called “シュート” which is shoot written in katakana. So an Irish whip is a shoot?

In the opener, Uptown rookies Saito and Shiono were on opposite sides as Saito and Tsukina Umino took on Shiono and Yappy. The match was a “Balloon-Popping” match, which means that a balloon had to be popped first before getting a pinfall. Popping a balloon scored 1 point, and then a painful or submission added three points. You know, as green as these Kuroshio TOKYO Japan rookies are, Shiono was not afraid to get forearmed through a balloon which popped just under her face. Yappy had Umino in a Boston crab. Shiono kept loading up balloons underneath Yappy’s ass as she efficiently popped them again and again to stack up a healthy lead. Yappy and Shionon won with 20 points to 13.

Watch on Ice Ribbon Live

Watch on YouTube (Dojo only)

“Yokohama Ribbon #1476” – New Tag Team Champs

23rd February 2026
Yokohama Radiant Hall, Kanagawa, Japan
Recommended Match: Makoto & Sumika Yanagawa vs. Manami Katsu & Misa Kagura
Designation: Key Show

The International Ribbon Tag Team Titles were defended for the first time since Victoria Pinky (Manami Katsu & Misa Kagura) won them on 21st September 2025. Victoria Pinky, Vicky for short, was up against Makoto and Sumika Yanagawa. Sumika is Misa’s long-term tag team partner stretching back to their JTO days together, in a team called 1111, so this was very much about them. Against all the odds, Makoto pinned Misa to claim the title for their team. Given how few times Vicky had defended them (zero), I figured this could be a title change. I have a paranoid feeling that Manami Katsu is going to retire at any point in time, maybe because she’s my favourite, but her dropping both titles in the space of just over a month, with an emotional post-match promo after the ICExFinity match on 11th January does make me nervous. The only thing that makes me confident she’s staying is the fact they put her banner up for sponsorship for the year 2026-27. But maybe they would just refund the sponsor? Anyway, the match itself was great and exactly what you expect out of all four. I am sad that Vicky lost, partly due to my paranoia, but also because they are an excellent tag team that inject just the right amount of chaos into their matches.

Hot Shushu is a promotion that works closely with Ice Ribbon. It uses Ice Ribbon’s dojo and also uses its ring for shows when they tour, with Ice Ribbon having a match in the morning and then Hot Shushu in the evening. They also share a lot of talent between each other such as the Hiiro sisters and Arisa Shinose. One of their talents, Kiku, is on her retirement road, which would occur on 28th March at Korakuen Hall. As part of that, she wanted to face Tsukina Umino in a singles match on this show. Kiku… is okay. Well, she’s 47, started wrestling in 2021, and she’s now retiring. I think it is fair to say that she’s not quite like Himiko in Diana who started at 50 and is a natural. Kiku is a bit awkward, but she tries her best. I have not yet seen her have an outstanding performance. This was quite high up the card for her and she did what she could. The story they were telling was that Umino was too hesitant to put Kiku away and so lifted her head up after delivering her finisher. If you like Kiku, you will probably really like this match. I have no attachment to her, so it came off a bit awkward for me and went on too long (a time-limit draw…)

Uptown (Kuroshio TOKYO Japan’s promotion) debuted two rookies on 10th September 2025 named Saito and Shiono. Well, maybe because Jiro hasn’t found a dojo yet, they are in the care of Ice Ribbon for the time being. That’s not great, because they are very green. But you know, the Ice Ribbon spirit is that we welcome everyone. So, welcome aboard Saito and Shiono. Just a little request. If you could avoid being in matches with Yuuka so she is freed up to face Manami Katsu and, well, literally anyone else, that’d be great! Yuuka teamed with Shiono in a losing effort against Kaori Yoneyama and Mase Hiiro. In the other match Saito teamed with Kirari Wakana against ICExFinity Champion Kaho Matsushita and Moe Hiiro. It was pretty much exactly what you expect from Saito. Kaho didn’t do much, so it was mostly Moe and Saito. Moe pinned Saito with a bridging (sort of) cradle.

Hikari Minami returned in the opener against Riko. Returning against an 11-year-old rookie. Talk about taking the easy route out. Her first run was between 2005 and 2012 under the original Ice Ribbon founded by Emi Sakura before she left to create Gatoh Move (now ChocoPro). Hikari then returned in 2015 for a brief run, and then once again in 2023 for another brief run. This is her fourth return. She looked great on 4th January in the Ice Ribbon vs. AWG show. It’s hard to gauge what level she’s at when facing Riko, but at least on that show it seemed she was good to go. She beat Riko with a beautiful bridging Cutie Special.

Full Results

Hikari Minami defeats Riko (6:38)

Kaori Yoneyama & Mase Hiiro defeat Shiono & Yuka (6:28)

Miku Kanae & Totoro Satsuki defeat Arisa Shinose & Yappy (8:13)

Kaho Matsushita & Moe Hiiro defeat Kirari Wakana & Saito (10:47)

Kiku vs. Tsukina Umino – Time Limit Draw (15:00)

International Ribbon Tag Team Title:
Makoto & Sumika Yanagawa defeat Manami Katsu & Misa Kagura (c) (17:24)

Ice Ribbon Dojo #1477 - Some dojo newbies come in! - 28th February 2026

28th February 20 – 12th April at SKIP City Multipurpose Hall26

In the main event, Arisa Shinose and Miku Kanae faced ICExFinity Champion Kaho Matsushita and Sumika Yanagawa. The idea was that it was champions versus… not champions. This was an above average dojo match in which all four worked hard. Sumika was due to have a match against Tsukina Umino for the tag belts on 8th March but Umino didn’t show up. After the match, the ring announcer mentioned that Umino sent a letter which told Sumika to wait with her like a dog with their tongue out, panting and waiting for scraps. This annoyed Sumika. They set up a preview tag for the dojo show the week after where Kaho and Sumika will instead take on Yuuka and Tsukina Umino.

In the other two matches we had some new blood compete in the Ice Ribbon dojo. In the opener, Lovelica Hinano faced Totoro Satsuki. I have no idea how her name is romanised. It’s ラブリカ･ヒナーノ in katakana, but obviously that is ambiguous when translating into English. I just guessed Lovelica rather than Luvlica (like on Cagematch) and you’ll have to deal with that. Lovelica is a JTO wrestler. Lovelica’s gimmick is that she is a professional wrestling robot. That is quite a difficult gimmick to pull off as a rookie. She was very green. Totoro held the match together. If you’ve followed my Ice Ribbon reviews over the past year, you’ll know that means something. Let’s see how Hinano’s development continues under the watchful eye of TAKA Michinoku. Then, Filipina Penny Haze made her debut, hailing out of Filipino Pro Wrestling and debuting on 11th October 2025. The rookie, 30, faced her compatriot Yappy in a singles match. It’s good that Ice Ribbon are using the dojo shows to give overseas rookies a chance to improve. That is undoubtedly a net positive for the scene. Penny looked comfortable in her dojo debut, especially in comparison to Lovelica.

Ancham, Riko and Yuuka competed in a Triangle Ribbon match. There must’ve been at least ten betrayals in this match. It felt like an early episode of Game of Thrones. This was a very short match that Yuuka won with a schoolgirl.

Ice Ribbon Dojo #1478 - 7th March 2026

7th March 2026

Hikari Minami teamed up with her Kizuna Tournament teammate, Riko, against Ancham & Kirari Wakana and Passion Olé (Misa Kagura & Moe Hiiro). This was actually the first time in Ice Ribbon we could see Hikari not against a child, so it was insightful in that sense. I think Hikari is a great addition back into the roster, if not just to provide a bit of freshness for a small roster. I do not think she is a Yuka-level return, but I’m very happy to see Hikari in Ice Ribbon. Moe pinned Kirari with the leg roll clutch. Moe’s stocks are rising. After the match, Moe asked Misa to team with her for the Kizuna Tournament on 12th April. Arisa rushed in and asked Misa to team with her, but Arisa was too late. Arisa has been struggling to find a partner.

Arisa Shinose faced Saito in a singles match, before going on to face the other Uptown rookie in Shiono the day after. Saito is more promising than Shiono, but she is still incredibly inexperienced. With the Uptown rookies, we are seeing wrestlers at the very, very start of their careers.

Mase Hiiro and Totoro Satsuki faced Shiono and Yappy. This was another interesting bout (maybe only to me). I wanted to see how Shiono performed with Mase. Because Mase is so small, you are kind of forced to wrestle differently with her, and the Ice Ribbon roster are very good at it, but given that Shiono is even greener than Saito, I was basically wondering whether Shiono would murder Mase. She did not. Shiono is still taking bumps on her ass too, so she sometimes forgets how to do a flat back bump. To be clear, this isn’t criticism. Everyone has to start somewhere. I am just describing the experience of the two rookies so you know what’s going on. When Mase was in there with Yappy it was night and day compared to Shiono and Totoro. Again, not criticism – this is to make a point that you might think Mase, the kid below 10 years old, might be green and not wrestle well, but she is actually very entertaining, and a good wrestler. Yappy used Totoro’s weight to hold down Mase for the pin.

Originally due to be Kaho Matushita and Sumika Yanagawa against Tsukina Umino and Yuuka, Yuuka, one of the most annoying people on the planet (her gimmick), decided that it would actually be a four-way and if she wins she would win Umino’s FantastICE belt. Yuuka waited for Umino, and then stole her FantastICE belt. Then she waited for Sumika, and then stole her International Ribbon Tag Team belt. Finally, she waited for Kaho and then stole her ICExFinity belt. She ran around celebrating before they caught her and dished out her punishment for being so obnoxious. I love Yuuka. Sumika and Tsukina were clubbing each other with crazy forearms. This was released after their tag match the next day, but this would have been a good preview for that bout. This was also the match where I noticed that Kaho is getting much better with her strikes. Now that the pressure is on her to carry the company as the ace, she is actively levelling up. This was a great dojo main event.

After the match, Sumika spoke about how important the tag belts were to her. Tsukina then asked her who the first champions were. Sumika didn’t know and was embarrassed. It was Tanny Mouse & Yuki Miyazaki. It’s notable as Tanny Mouse works with Hot Shushu and around the dojo a lot so Tanny and Sumika know each other well.

“Itabashi Ribbon #1479” – Mystic Eclipse defend for the first time

8th March 2026
TOKYOSQUARE, Itabashi, Japan
Recommended Match: Ancham & Kaho Matsushita vs. Kirari Wakana & Yuuka, Kiku & Tsukina Umino vs. Makoto & Sumika Yanagawa
Designation: Key Show

Mystic Eclipse (Makoto & Sumika Yanagawa) defended their International Ribbon Tag Team Title for the first time against the retiring Kiku and her friend & mentor Tsukina Umino. Much like the last match on an Ice Ribbon PPV that involved Tsukina Umino and Kiku, this was also an incredibly emotional, hard-hitting match. This time though, it involved Umino and Sumika in a stiff, intense final stretch, rather than Kiku and Umino in a singles match. This was likely Sumika’s best ever performance as she put everything into defending the titles and hit as hard as I’ve ever seen her hit before. Sumika lifted Umino’s head for a brutal head kick. It was a glancing blow. On the second attempt, Umino attempted a flash pin, but Sumika reversed it to win the match. Afterwards, Umino was crying her eyes out after the loss. It was really heartwarming and made me immediately endear myself to Umino even more so than I had done at Ribbonmania where she went to war with Akane Fujita. This was a rousing success of a main event and honestly, I wasn’t expecting it. I’ve now recalibrated my expectations of Sumika Yanagawa. She is fast improving to become a standout on the independent scene. Umino finally accepted Sumika’s challenge for the FantastICE belt on 18th April at the dojo show. The rules will be “Reverse Nine”. A full round-robin of nine wrestlers consisting of one-minute, one-fall bouts. Each pairing takes place twice, meaning each wrestler competes in 18 matches for a total of 72 bouts. This format has been held twice before in Ice Ribbon. Scoring is two points for a win, one point for a draw, and zero points for a loss. The wrestler with the highest total score becomes champion. If multiple wrestlers share the highest score, the result is deemed to have no clear winner, the defence is ruled a draw, and the title is vacated. Welcome to Ice Ribbon dojo shows.

Following that was perhaps an even better semi-main event match (depending on your tastes). In a marquee match, Ancham and ICExFinity Champion Kaho Matushita took on Kirari Wakana and Yuuka. I had this highlighted in my calendar before the show, and it delivered. These are four of Ice Ribbon’s better workers in the same match. In particular, it was really refreshing Ancham wrestling straight, because we all know she is an excellent worker, but often has to play the cartoonish “Bad Butts” heel for heat. Teaming with Kaho, she was a straight shooter and it was glorious to see. Yuuka, meanwhile, was the most annoying person in the world as she rang the bell right in Kaho’s ear before taking a microphone just to scream “AHHHHHH” at the top of her lungs in Kaho’s face. It reminded me of something Yurika Oka would do. There were so many cool spots, such as Ancham and Kaho blasting Kirari with stereo penalty kicks. Ultimately, Yuuka would win with the 120% schoolboy. This was when I had the thought, why do Bad Butts (heel stable with Ancham, Crea and Yappy) even need to be a thing? Ancham is so much better when wrestling straight. Yappy is far more fun outside of Bad Butts and she can still retain that smug edge. Then Crea is infinitely better as a babyface when she isn’t handicapping her own offence and doing all the cool moves she can do. It just seems like having heels for the sake of it, since they don’t actually add anything to any of their matches either. I just think Ice Ribbon doesn’t need it anymore. I hope that’s the direction they go in.

Rookie Moe Hiiro continued her development against Miku Kanae. This was a really good match that highlighted Moe’s progress within the past year, as well as accentuated how crazy it is that Miku is basically a veteran in Ice Ribbon and serves as a wall for the younger talent, but is not trusted enough to be near any titles.

Now feels like the right time to say seeing Riko’s progress over the past year brings me joy. She debuted new gear at Ribbonmania (I believe) and she is slowly gaining confidence. There are still some mishaps (poor Lil Marz), but that’s expected given her age and experience. Her match with Totoro Satsuki on this show was fun.

The Uptown rookies were once again in action. First, Shiono lost in the opener to Arisa Shinose. There aren’t many comments here. They are green as grass. I have no idea where Kuroshio TOKYO Japan discovered his rookies. Then, Saito and Yappy took on Kaori Yoneyama and Mase Hiiro. Arisa Shinose reluctantly asked Yappy to be her opponent for the Kizuna Tournament on 12th April. Yappy gloated, and refused. This came after Totoro and Misa Kagura already rejected Arisa. Kaori Yoneyama and Mase Hiiro are now teammates. Yoneyama said she wouldn’t betray Mase ever again. Right.

Full Results

Arisa Shinose defeats Shiono (6:18)

Totoro Satsuki defeats Riko (8:05)

Kaori Yoneyama & Mase Hiiro defeat Saito & Yappy (7:43)

Miku Kanae defeats Moe Hiiro (8:38)

Kirari Wakana & Yuka defeat Ancham & Kaho Matsushita (13:19)

International Ribbon Tag Team Title:
Makoto & Sumika Yanagawa (c) defeat Kiku & Tsukina Umino (17:23)

Ice Ribbon Dojo #1480 - Ancham and Kirari show out - 14th March 2026 (*)

14th March 2026
Recommended Match: Ancham vs. Kirari Wakana

ICExFinity Champion Kaho Matsushita and Uptown rookie Shiono faced Dokizu (Arisa Shinose and FantastICE Champion Tsukina Umino) in the main event. Shiono is very much struggling with wrestling, in a similar way to Diana’s Anna immediately after her debut. Anna is improving, so I can only hope the same for Shiono. While the Kaho and Umino portions of the match were very good, this match was over 19 minutes. I am biased and so I cannot say anything bad about Ice Ribbon dojo shows. That should be enough of a euphemism to tell you how I felt about this match. Anyway, after the match, Arisa wanted to go after the tag teams with Umino. Umino said that they are simply classmates and refused the offer. Arisa said that she’d win the FantastICE belt from Umino so that Umino would want to team with her. Pretty toxic. Arisa then declared that she’d be a part of the 18th April battle for the FantastICE belt involving nine participants under “Reverse Nine” rules as explained in the previous review.

Ancham and Kirari Wakana clashed in only their second singles match against each other. The reason this was booked was because they actually held a random fan lottery after the #1475 dojo show and these were the matches that were drawn. This match was great, as you could expect from these two. Ancham worked over Kirari’s arm early. Ancham started throwing stiff forearms at Kirari, so she returned, but her arm was weakened so she had no power behind them. Kirari fired up and hit some stiffer ones, but Ancham quickly countered into an armbar. Kirari would become overconfident and try to beat Ancham at her own game by attempting a convoluted kimura lock. Kirari cranked back hard, but she cranked so hard that she left her neck open and Ancham latched on a nasty dragon sleeper for the immediate tap out. That was an awesome finish, and this is the rare match I will recommend from an IR dojo show. It’s always fun, but you don’t normally see matches you think others would enjoy as a parachuter. This was one of them.

Riko and Saito took on Yappy and Yuuka. Sometimes when watching dojo shows, they are my safe haven. I’m not always paying full attention. That’s just the nature of the shows, they are fun and enjoyable, but nothing totally gripping that you’ll miss out on something if you look away. Frequently, when I am not paying attention, Yuuka makes me whip my head to my second screen to figure out what on Earth that noise was. Of course, it is always when she decides to hit one of her forearms. She destroyed Saito with a running forearm.

In the opener, the Hiiro sisters were on opposite sides as Mase and Totoro Satsuki beat Miku Kanae and Moe. There was a funny spot where Mase and Totoro were doing Totoro’s usual spot where she stands on her opponent. Totoro was standing on Miku while Mase was standing on her sister. Miku was screaming in pain while Moe just kept looking at Mase, who weighs very little of course. It is still insane to me that someone of Mase’s age can do a human satellite armdrag (kind of like a flying headscissors but not really, finishing off with an arm drag).

Ice Ribbon Dojo #1481 - Kiku’s Last Ice Ribbon Show - 21st March 2026

21st March 2026

At Kiku’s last ever Ice Ribbon show before her impending retirement on 28th March, she requested that she reform the Showa Angles with Himiko and Yappy, for one night only, to take on Kaho Matsushita, Riko and Tsukina Umino. Himiko is 54, Yappy is 46 and Kiku is 47, so that’s why they’re called the Showa Angels (the Showa period lasted from Dec 1926 to Jan 1989). Yappy got the win on Umino, which is yet another person to beat Umino. It was a fun send-off main event for Kiku as she was showered with nice words and flowers.

It was a night of not only last-evers but also first-evers, as in the opener, Hikari Minami faced Kirari Wakana for the first time ever. Of course, this was a 10-minute time-limit draw which is normally the standard when two prominent talents in the promotion are having a dojo singles match without any special rules. One notable thing during this match was the forearm exchange. Kirari was absolutely destroying Hikari, who pretty much missed all of her forearms. Even when Kirari was showing her how it was done, Hikari did not seem to want to hit Kirari hard. Maybe Hikari is just dusting off some ring rust. There was a hilarious (crazy) moment where they started brawling outside and Kirari just grabbed Riko, who was a second at ringside, and then smashed Riko and Hikari’s heads together. I actually heard a clonk. It was clearly accidental but Kirari did not give a crap and just walked back to the ring showing no emotion. Kirari is turning into a cold killer.

Similarly, Arisa Shinose had her first ever singles match against Yuuka. This was an above average dojo match. Yuuka was bringing at least her B-game here as she wrestled this as a serious singles match, which only went 7 minutes but was enjoyable. Of course, we had some customary Yuuka thuds during the forearm exchange with Arisa. Arisa looked like she was struggling.

The Uptown rookies were on opposite sides of the match as Ancham and Shiono faced Totoro Satsuki and Saito. I think the main thing about Shiono that makes it seem like wrestling may not be for her is how she skimpers around the ring like she’s an annoyance to the other wrestlers in the ring. It’s a timidness which can be endearing, but it is so immersion-breaking in contrast to whoever she’s wrestling. She struggles to actually portray that she is fake fighting. I always say that I don’t want to know they’re fake fighting, but this is the absolute opposite extreme. Saito however is quite fine for just starting out.

Overall, aside from the Uptown rookies match, this was a strong dojo show, perhaps in deference to Kiku’s retirement.

Ice Ribbon Dojo #1482 - Cosmic debuts at the dojo - 4th April 2026

4th April 2026

Fresh off the back of her 50-person battle royale win at Hot Shushu’s maiden show at Korakuen Hall on 28th March, Arisa Shinose paired with Miku Kanae against Shiono and Yappy. It was quite hilarious that Miku was working over Shiono’s limbs aggressively. But Shiono is so green, and Miku has gotten so good at wrestling that it made sense, it was just funny to watch in a jarring way.

Hikaririko (Hikari Minami & Riko) had a tune-up bout against Kaho Matsushita and Tsukina Umino ahead of the Kizuna Tag Team Tournament on 12th April. Let me tell you, Umino was messing Hikari up real good. There were some super stiff forearms and chops from Umino. Umino has really become a huge sicko since her return from injury. It’s kind of awesome. But, Hikari would have the last laugh, pinning Umino with the Blockbuster Hold. She then asked for a FantastICE Title challenge. To be honest, everyone has been pinning Umino and asking for one, it’s part of the storyline ahead of the crazy “Reverse Nine” defence mentioned in earlier reviews and explained in the bitesize round-up.

After the match, Arisa Shinose complained about not having a partner for the tournament after being turned down by everyone. Akane Fujita made a surprise return earlier than expected (end of April) just to be Arisa’s partner in a team called “Alones.”

Cosmic, who made her Japan debut in Diana on 29th March, is a US independent wrestler touring the independent scene. She impressed in her second bout against Hiragi Kurumi in Diana on 5th April. She was making her Ice Ribbon debut on this show in a singles match against Ice Ribbon’s rising star, Kirari Wakana. I thought Cosmic did very well here. I’m happy to see independent wrestlers from abroad coming in and having good matches. Kirari won after applying all her weight onto Cosmic on a rollup, which is her signature roll up called “Roll Cake.”

Ice Ribbon Dojo #1483 - Umino and Yuuka have no chill - 11th April 2026

11th April 2026

In the main event, Arisa Shinose & Yuuka took on Moe Hiiro & Tsukina Umino. Part of this match was “who is the biggest sicko” between Yuuka and Umino as they completely destroyed each other’s chests with forearms. It was honestly a bit gross. In an awesome way. It might be one of the hardest hitting forearm battles I’ve seen since Manami Katsu and Yuuka went to war in January. Yuuka is the most annoying person in the universe. It’s quite hilarious. She was casually cutting a promo to end the show and randomly turned to Tsukina to say “hey, it’s a shame you couldn’t close out the show on your birthday,” before continuing with what she was saying before. Incredible.

Kaho Matsushita & Kirari Wakana faced Sumika Yanagawa & Totoro Satsuki. Totoro normally does a spot where she presses her weight down on someone while using the ropes as leverage. Kirari paid back the favour by jumping on Totoro using the ropes which must have been 100 times. Okay, I checked. It was actually 100 times. Totoro got her revenge, smothering Kirari for the win.

Elementary schoolers Mase Hiiro and Riko ran it back again, this being their third singles match against each other. As Mase debuted earlier, she is Riko’s senior and so has a 2-0 score against her. It was a match in which they traded submission holds such as Boston crabs, although both, Mase in particular, are capable of a lot more. The match ended in a time-limit draw.

In the opener, Miku Kanae bullied Uptown rookie Shiono. It’s always pretty awesome seeing Miku wrestle like that.

“4th Kizuna Tournament” #1484 - 12th April 2026 (*)

12th April 2026
SKIP City Multipurpose Hall, Saitama, Japan
Recommended Match: Kirari Wakana & Yuuka vs. Mizuki Kato & Totoro Satsuki, Ayako Sato & Tsukina Umino vs. Kaho Matsushita & Manami Katsu

Revolutionary Angels (Kirari Wakana & Yuuka) were the eventual winners of the 4th Annual Kizuna Tournament which gets wrestlers to pair into seniors and juniors for a one-day tag team tournament. There are other rules such as a senior cannot refuse a junior more than once when they are asked to team, while a junior can refuse a senior as many times as they want. The cut off is with the current champion, Kaho Matsushita, so anyone senior to her was a senior, while she was considered a junior which is why she got to team up with Manami Katsu in a duo called Happy Sisters. A bit unfair, but not enough to win on the day.

First Round

Hikariko (Hikari Minami & Riko) faced Yoneyamase (Kaori Yoneyama & Mase Hiiro) in the first match of the day. It was a short match in which Hikari scored a flash pin on Mase to advance to the next round.

Revolutionary Angels began their route to victory against Totoro Satsuki, who Kirari had stomped the ever-living hell out of on the dojo show the day before, and Mizuki Kato. This match was pretty damn great. It was also the version of Mizuki Kato I most want to see. She was a hard hitter, no bullshit, no Yuu antics, going forearm to forearm with Yuuka. It was awesome. Mizuki and Totoro were just squishing Kirari again and again, and the only way Kirari could win was finding a flash-pin jackknife.

After struggling to find a partner, freelancer Akane Fujita stepped in to team with Arisa Shinose as they beat Passion Ole (Misa Kagura & Moe Hiiro) to advance.

IV Dominion (Ayako Sato & Tsukina Umino) and Happy Sisters (Kaho Matsushita & Manami Katsu) was one of the best matches in the tournament on paper, but also in practice. Manami Katsu refused Ayako Sato’s handshake, so Kaho took direction and kicked away Umino’s handshake. After biting Umino’s leg, Katsu launched Umino into Sato’s corner for a tag. Umino ignored Sato and just went after Katsu with stiff forearms and chops, which Katsu refused to sell. This match had a really good intensity and heat to it. Sato and Katsu were smashing each other over the head with Sato’s aluminium dish with one blow almost using the side of the dish, which looked horrific. Umino scored an upset victory on ICExFinity Champion Kaho, so that might be a title challenge down the line.

Semi Finals

In the first semi-final, Revolutionary Angels jumped Hikariko at the bell to get an advantage. They are probably the two most annoying people in the promotion after all. Like peas in a pod. It’s funny how Yuuka debuted by picking on Kirari and unleashing a mean side of Kirari, and now Yuuka is using Kirari’s new found meanness to her advantage. There were some interesting spots, such as Yuuka kicking out at one for Hikari’s beautiful Cutie Special. Yuuka then won with a diving forearm.

Akane Fujita and Tsukina reignited their feud from last year in the other semi-final, with Fujita taking the win. After the match, Fujita entered the Reverse Nine match on the Ice Ribbon Dojo show to try and claim back her FantastICE Title.

Final

Despite trying to jump Fujita and Arisa during the handshakes, Kirari had already bitten off more than she could chew and was the recipient of an early clonking headbutt from Fujita, because, why not? After exchanging some stiff blows with Arisa, Yuuka won the title for her team with the schoolboy. It’s safe to say that the stronger matches were at the start of the day and that the fatigue played a part in how the semi-finals and finals turned out. Not that they were bad of course, all wrestlers tried exceptionally hard, especially the finalists wrestling three times, but in terms of intensity and heat, the two first-round matches recommended beating out the semi-finals and finals. Revolutionary Angels declared their title challenge after winning.

Back to Round-up

Watch on Diana Live

“Season 1 Episode 7” - 22nd February 2026

22nd February 2026
Post di Amistad, Kawasaki, Japan

As reported on in our last issue, Diana have changed the naming of their shows, so rather than “vol. 105”, we’ve changed to use Diana’s new convention, so this episode was the seventh in the first season, with each season beginning at the start of each quarter (January, April, July, October).

Invader or Innovator (Hanako Nakamori & Himiko) clashed with Grace of Royalty (Haruka Umesaki & Maika Ozaki). I will use this match as an opportunity to once again put over Himiko, who started training wrestling at 50 and now, almost 54, is just a very good wrestler. This match was pretty great. Hanako was working full-speed, Umesaki was hitting as hard as she always does and even Maika Ozaki had some great strikes in this match. Umesaki hit Himiko with a brainbuster that looked so good that I thought Himiko had landed on her head. Umesaki followed up with the Ume Press and the Cutie Special for the win. This was a great match.

Hokuto Pro’s Chiho Urahoho was given a main event spot alongside WWWD Champion Debbie Keitel and Jaguar Yokota against Tradition and Inherited (Kyoko Inoue, Nanami Hatano & Rina Amikura). This match was your monthly Kyoko Inoue showcase, but also served as a preview between Debbie and Amikura, with Amikura even getting the pin on Debbie with the double underhook buster. It’s a shame that the title match, scheduled for 23rd February, may not make tape given it wasn’t available on the Diana store.

Ice Ribbon had its first involvement on a non-Future Sight Diana show in a long time as Ice Ribbon’s young starlet Kirari Wakana teamed up with Makoto against Anna and Ayako Sato. I don’t have much to say about this match. That means that I do have something to say, because the fact I have nothing bad to say about Anna in this match means that she has grown a lot since her debut. Shortly after her debut, I wasn’t sure if she would even make it. She has kept at it, and in a match with three great wrestlers, she did not make any mistakes or look as bad as I was expecting her to. Hats off to Anna. Let’s hope she continues improving and then beats up Kyoko Inoue one day for debuting her far too early.

In the opener, Grace of Royalty’s Miran faced Tradition and Inherited’s Mizuki Kato. These two were beating the hell out of each other at points with stiff forearms. It was good to see Miran working such a style away from her high-speed which we know she does excellently. Aside from that, this was a short match with Miran won with a flash cradle.

“Season 1 Episode 8” - Debbie retains - 23rd February 2026 (*)

23rd February 2026
SPACE-K Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan
Recommended Match: Debbie Keitel vs. Rina Amikura

Debbie Keitel defended her WWWD Title against Rina Amikura. Debbie entered the venue going around the crowd and throwing their hats into the ring. It’s a good bit. The start of the match was cut off because they moved away from the hardcam. There are some clips of their brawling on YouTube. The hard cam action was honestly very good. They had really good chemistry, which isn’t a surprise as both are great wrestlers. After Amikura hit her diving senton, Ayako Sato blasted the referee with a metal plate. So, the good thing is that the referee didn’t see who did it, so much like when a ref gets pulled out of a ring, he doesn’t know who to disqualify. Also, Nanami, Amikura’s tag partner and stablemate, came to the rescue of Amikura. So while I’d prefer not to see this spot, it wasn’t bad. Debbie sprayed coffee in Amikura’s face and hit the Midnight Espresso for a nearfall. To be honest, I thought that was the finish, so when things heated up again and they had an excellent, straight back-and-forth, I did think it made the match even better. So in hindsight, the interference… worked? After having the wind in her sails, Amikura hit the double underhook arm buster, her finisher, but it wasn’t enough. Amikura climbed the ropes for another diving senton but Debbie interrupted her and hit a middle rope Midnight Espresso for the win. This was a really good match. Diana wrestling feels so unique that it’s quite rewarding to watch. They just work really hard throughout the match. I think it’s more suited to my tastes as I do get quite bored with rest holds despite them having a place in wrestling.

Grace of Royalty (Haruka Umesaki, Maika Ozaki & Miran) faced STARDOM’s Kikyo Furusawa, Nanami Hatano & Saran. Kikyo is from Shizuoka. I don’t actually know how this comes about. I’m guessing Diana wanted a popular Shizuoka wrestler and just contacted STARDOM and they were happy to oblige since it gives Kikyo experience working in more intimate environments, where you pick up a lot of skills. Kikyo and Miran were, as you expect, very fun together. Nanami and Umesaki went hard with stiff forearms, once again teasing me that they haven’t done a big title match with the two yet. I kind of thought this was where it was all leading. Diana does have a tendency to sometimes drop storylines. Umesaki’s title reign was meant to be her going through the entire roster, but she randomly stopped because of the creation of units and the vacation of titles at the end of 2025. I think some promotions don’t realise that there are some people who actually follow the storylines! Nah, but, it happens. What can you do? Anyway, this six-woman tag was a lot of fun, of an above average level. Even Saran, despite an early slip, looked great against Umesaki. I think Umesaki is an underrated floor raiser.

PPP Tokyo’s new wrestler, Non Toraga, 26, beat Anna quite quickly. This was the first time I’ve seen Non Toraga. It’s hard to have an opinion of her when she’s wrestling Anna, but she controlled the match well enough for having just debuted in December 2025. She won with a cool short-range lariat. She seems built more towards being a power wrestler like her friend Chanyota. She got into wrestling via the adult film industry just like Chanyota, and is actually Chanyota’s first ever student. Her influences are Rhea Ripley and Takumi Iroha. You would be shocked by how many wrestlers in Japan have said Rhea Ripley, including Saya Kamitani herself, has influenced them.

“Season 1 Episode 9” - A classic Diana main event - 8th March 2026 (*)

8th March 2026
Post di Amistad, Kawasaki, Japan
Recommended Match: Debbie Keitel & Kyoko Inoue vs. Haruka Umesaki & Nanami Hatano

The 1a ace of Diana, Haruka Umesaki, teamed with the 1b ace, Nanami Hatano as they took on the WWWD Champion and Kyoko Inoue. This wasn’t about the units that exist in the company. This was simply building a story of the top Diana talent going after Debbie and even reluctantly teaming together to do so. Nanami wanted revenge on Debbie for losing the vacant title to her on 24th January, while Umesaki simply wanted to become a double champion, having already held the WWWD Tag Team Title with Unagi Sayaka. The match went to a 20-minute time-limit draw. It was one of the few Kyoko Inoue matches in Diana I actually enjoyed because of how hard Umesaki and Nanami were going at their mentor and boss. Of course, Kyoko gave back as good as she got, but it was a hard-hitting encounter. Then, Umesaki and Debbie had a great finishing stretch, including Debbie being dropped on the top of her head with a nasty German suplex. They are setting up Umesaki and Debbie for a later date, I am guessing the 19th April Korakuen Hall, which I am guessing Umesaki wins to become a double champ. But who knows? First, Debbie would defend against Mochi Natsumi on 29th March, which is as filler as filler defences can be.

Invader or Innovator (Ayako Sato & Himiko) faced Grace of Royalty (Miran & Misa Kagura) in a marquee match. This was a classic Diana-style match. By that, I mean that Diana doesn’t really have a lot of finisher kickouts and they don’t build up to an emotional peak or crescendo. Their typical major matches are just worked at a frenetic pace from start to finish, more of a consistent pace with a flying start and little acceleration, rather than a match that starts off slower but has more acceleration.

Hokuto Pro’s Chiho Urahoho ended her Diana excursion as she teamed with Maika Ozaki in a losing effort against Tradition and Inherited (Hiragi Kurumi & Mizuki Kato). Chiho took the pin. There were some good strikes in this match, it was solid. Chiho returned to Hokkaido after this show.

Anna continues her development by somehow still struggling with selling a single leg Boston crab but then absolutely blasting Rina Amikura with forearms. The contrast is hilarious. She has at least found her voice during the submission holds. When she debuted I almost wondered if she was going to drop out. Now I am confident she is at least on the right path, albeit quite slowly.

“Season 1 Episode 10” - Anna continues to improve - 22nd March 2026

“Season 1 Episode 10 ~ Produced by Nanami”
22nd March 2026
Post di Amistad, Kawasaki, Japan

When watching this show I did start to think whether Nanami should just start putting all the cards together. There were some really interesting matchups on this show, including Anna having her best match ever against the ace Haruka Umesaki. Anna showed her extraordinary growth since just a few months ago where I genuinely wasn’t sure if she’d get it. Of course, she was only 15 and completely new, but you had to really watch it to see why I was thinking that. She did not have an athletic bone in our body and completely lacked expressiveness, even failing her pro test several times with harsh words from Jaguar Yokota. Somehow, her offence in particular, has improved dramatically as she launched rocket-powered forearms in Umesaki’s chest and dropped her with precise dropkicks. She also showed a lot of babyface fire in her comebacks. Her selling in submission holds still needs major improvement, but if she can improve other parts of her game, I am now sure she can also improve that. Never count anyone out.

INVA’s leader Ayako Sato snuck in a win against Grace of Royalty member Misa Kagura with a leg clutch. The match was quite mat-based, which is an underrated area of Misa’s wrestling. It was a fun, but short match.

Sato’s stablemates, WWWD Champion Debbie Keitel and Himiko scored a win over Misa Kagura’s stablemates, Maika Ozaki and Miran. Debbie and Miran had some really fun exchanges with each other. There were some moments where they hesitated, but I think that’s because Miran’s brain is thinking at 100mph given how fast she wrestles, so I can imagine that being slightly confusing when working with her. I don’t want to do a Mark Calloway “you need to slow down sister”, but sometimes she goes so fast her execution is a bit off, like when she tries to land on her feet from a double footed front flip when running the ropes. There was an excellent sequence towards the end where Miran was trying to hit La Mistica into an armdrag, but Debbie prevented the armdrag, wrapped on a waistlock and just launched Miran with a crazy German suplex. Debbie followed up with a running knee strike for the win, which unless I haven’t been paying attention, is a new way for her to finish matches.

In the main event, it was an all-Tradition and Inherited tag match as Kyoko Inoue and Mizuki Kato lost to Nijumaru (Nanami Hatano and Rina Amikura).

“Season 1 Episode 11” - Miran vs. Honoka, the next generation's AZM vs. SLK - 25th March 2026 (*)

25th March 2026
Post di Amistad, Kawasaki, Japan
Recommended Match: Honoka vs. Miran

This episode of “Future Sight” held at Diana’s regular Post di Amistad venue hosted a very rare six singles matches. At the top of the card, the WWWD Crystal Champion Miran defended her title (technically, it’s just a crown), against WAVE’s Honoka. The two have developed a budding rivalry over the past few years, especially after they met in the Crystal Tournament semi-finals at the beginning of 2024. With Miran winning that one, a time-limit draw, and then Honoka defending her POP Title against Miran very recently, they were 1-1 coming into this match. Miran took the victory with a flash pin to win 2-1.

The match was excellent. It felt like the premier high-speed match for the independent scene, and that even feels like a disservice to how polished these two wrestlers are becoming. Honoka is 21, Miran is still 16. Their series of matches reminds me of STARDOM’s AZM and Starlight Kid when they were early on in their careers. The comparison is even more apt when you take a look at the style of each wrestler. Honoka has the selling down-pat, in such a way that it is eerily similar to Starlight Kid’s charismatic selling. Of course, they are both masked, so they are forced to sell a particular way, but SLK has mastered it, and Honoka is getting extremely good at it too. Then, Miran is literally the high-speed wrestler on the independent scene. She goes at 100mph with no stop. I remember watching her smash her head into the mat due to a mistake on a huricanrana with Risa Sera at the October Korakuen. What did she do? She repeated the move with no fear, at full speed, and executed it flawlessly. Except now, there aren’t even that many mistakes in her game. On top of that, the AZM comparison is apt as Miran has developed a beautiful buzzsaw kick to her game, reminiscent of AZM’s own. This match interspersed high-speed back-and-forth sequences with submission holds where Honoka could show off her selling, and spectacular high-flying moves like Miran’s springboard moonsault. They definitely, definitely, held back, because I have seen Miran do even crazier moves. They know what they have, and ironically, they are pacing the rivalry at a safe speed, compared to how fast they wrestle.

In one of the more eye-popping matches on the show, Debbie Keitel faced one of the rising freelancers Misa Kagura. This was, obviously, a good match. It would have to go disastrously wrong for these two to have a sub-par performance because they always work hard, and it was no different here. Misa hit the Haretokidoki Misa and went for the pin but Debbie’s INVA teammate Ayako Sato threw her aluminium dish at Misa’s head to break up the pin. This was the second time in a week that Misa had a foreign object thrown right on her head (VENY also clonked her at the SEAd show on 19th March).

Haruka Umesaki and Sumika Yanagawa traded hellacious forearms in their match. It was ludicrous. I would say they can relax but, I don’t want them to and also, Umesaki never would. This was a fun hard-hitting bout, but there wasn’t much there outside of the super stiff forearms. Which, to be honest, is kind of all I personally need.

Leader of Tradition and Inherited, Nanami Hatano, beat her teammate Mizuki Kato in a short match. Mizuki showed some stiff strikes but this was mainly Nanami sneaking a win to make sure Mizuki is still presented as a threat.

As part of her retirement road, Kiku lost to Himiko in a singles match. Kiku would retire three days later at the Hot Shushu show at Korakuen Hall on 28th March.

Anna followed up her solid performance against Haruka Umesaki with yet another reassuring outing against WAVE’s Cohaku. All of the things I said in that review applied here. No mishaps or slip-ups at all.

“Season 1 Episode 12” - A weird show at Shin-Kiba - 29th March 2026

29th March 2026
Shin-Kiba 1st RING, Tokyo, Japan

Diana held a rare show in Shin-Kiba 1st RING with two title matches. Overall, in my opinion the show had slightly different vibes from the usual show at Post di Amistad. It is quite common for promotions to change things up a bit when they are running unfamiliar venues, which is likely in order to appeal to fans who may not be as familiar with the product. The show just had a few matches that didn’t quite hit the way they normally would.

WWWD Champion Debbie Keitel defended her title against Mochi Natsumi. The match was okay, but the finish was a bit immersion-breaking. Debbie sprayed coffee mist into the referee’s eyes by accident. The referee was staring right at Debbie for a few seconds before it happened, so he knew it was her. She did not get disqualified or anything. Is coffee mist legal? Maybe I am misunderstanding the rules of a standard singles match. Mochi tried to roll Debbie up but the referee was down. Then, Debbie hit Midnight Espresso, the referee woke up immediately and counted the pin. Aside from the odd finish, it was also just a bit of an odd match as Mochi was working over Debbie’s knee at times, when Debbie is a total asshole heel character who is hard to root for (in storyline).

Ayako Sato retained her WWWD Elizabeth Title against Miss Mongol and Tomoka Watanabe. The title is only available to wrestlers aged 40 or over and is defended in three-way matches. It was a bit of an odd match, with a finish that didn’t quite work well as they tried to pull off the Eddie Guerrero spot with the weapons and it just came off not as well as expected as people were out of position.

In one of the more Amistad-standard matches on the card, Grace of Royalty (Haruka Umesaki & Maika Ozaki) paired up with WAVE’s Honoka (who is also Umesaki’s regular tag partner) and faced off against Tradition and Inherited (Hiragi Kurumi, Kyoko Inoue and Mizuki Kato). By far the best part of this match was Kato and Honoka wrestling each other. The two young wrestlers have great chemistry. Specifically, I think that Honoka helps Kato unlock a level of her game that we don’t see very often, unless she’s wrestling Syan Syan. There are some wrestlers that just have their favourites, and my observation is that Honoka must be one of Kato’s favourite people to wrestle. Kato drops the Yuu-tribute acts and the yelling and shouting and adopts a more aggressive demeanour, while Honoka does her best work against a giant wall such as Kato. It’s great stuff. Honoka pinned Kato with her signature bridging O’Connor roll.

I was starting to become a bit apprehensive about the show after the second match which saw INVA (Hanako Nakamori & Himiko) take on Nijumaru (Nanami Hatano & Rina Amikura). This should have been the classic Diana workrate match, but it just wasn’t, somehow. It really passed me by and I was surprised how it felt like little had happened. It might have been a me problem, but I’m not sure. I do not have any recollection of anything interesting happening in this match, rare for these four wrestlers, since I enjoy all of them (Hanako more occasionally rather than consistently).

Anna had fractured her left ankle in the previous match against Cohaku, which was entirely unnoticeable during the match. Cosmic replaced Anna to face Makoto. Cosmic is a US independent wrestler from New York, who doesn’t really work for any prominent independent promotions you may have heard of. Recently, she has done a few CZW dates, but the CZW of 2026 is unlike the one of the early 2010s. She arrived in Japan over a week before the show and had been training in Kawasaki, so she was thrown into the deep end to replace Anna. The match was fine considering it had to be put together on short notice. They relied on some comedy spots with Matsuzawa-san at ringside (who is Makoto’s assistant). There was a random (but cool, I guess) German suplex in the match before Makoto won with a flash pin.

“Season 2 Episode 1” - A new season - 5th April 2026

5th April 2026
Post di Amistad, Kawasaki, Japan

To kick off Season 2 of Diana’s 2026 calendar (it’s not as grand as it sounds, there’s a new season every quarter – if you’re going by old numbering, this is vol. 108), Grace of Royalty (Haruka Umesaki & Miran) battled in the main event against Caffeine and Crush (Ayako Sato & Debbie Keitel). This was a preview tag ahead of Debbie Keitel’s WWWD Title defence against Haruka Umesaki on 19th April at Korakuen Hall. After a year of watching I have figured out that Ayako Sato’s aluminium dish is like Mayumi Ozaki’s chain, she is just allowed to use it in front of the referee. I don’t know why they even bother distracting the referee. Anyway, this was a great, classic Diana main event with four great workers and an awesome bounceback from the previous show. When I think of Diana, I think of tag matches like this one. It’s just non-stop action for the duration of the match from bell-to-bell. What is a rest hold? Who needs them? Debbie won by hitting a Midnight Espresso on Miran and taunting Umesaki that that is what would happen to her at Korakuen.

Grace of Royalty (Maika Ozaki & Misa Kagura) paired up with WAVE’s Honoka against Jaguar Yokota and Nijumaru (Nanami Hatano & Rina Amikura). This match was just an excuse to beat the crap out of Honoka. She was bullied by Jaguar, received several stinging chops from Amikura, and took a bunch of double teams from Nijumaru. Kagura and Nanami were great opponents for each other. Nanami won the match for her team after a Northern Lights suplex onto Honoka, following a rolling leg drop from Jaguar.

After being thrown into the deep end on the previous show, Cosmic had a match with Hiragi Kurumi. Cosmic kept trying to shoulder barrage Kurumi to no avail. She asked the crowd to chant “one more time,” which they did, but Cosmic just did a rolling elbow strike. That was pretty funny. Cosmic also had some thudding forearms. Compared to the rough emergency outing against Makoto, this was a much better first showing for Cosmic in Japan.

Back to Round-up

Watch on Confetti (within 1 week)

Ame-kyun tune-up match - 21st February 2026

21st February 2026
Post di Amistad, Kawasaki, Japan

Ahead of their WAVE Tag Team Title shot against Prominence, Ame-kyun (Haruka Umesaki & Honoka) had a tune up match in the main event. It was also to celebrate Honoka’s 21st birthday, which falls on the same day as her WAVE colleague Saran, just four years apart. The match was pretty good. Umesaki played off the fact it was Honoka’s birthday and scraped Honoka’s back to break up a submission hold leading to a loud chorus of boos. Their chemistry was obvious, but it’s a WAVE show so there’s always a ceiling on how hard they go. For a WAVE match in 2026, it was about what I expected. The match went to a time-limit draw. After the match, Honoka and Saran’s were faceplanted into chocolate cakes. Honoka cut a promo with a cake stuck to her face to close out the show.

Honoka becomes WAVE Tag Team Champion again - 1st March 2026

1st March 2026
Shinjuku FACE, Tokyo, Japan

The WAVE Tag Team Champions Prominence (Hiragi Kurumi & Mochi Natsumi) reigned for less than one month and failed in their first defence against Ame-kyun (Haruka Umesaki & Honoka) to give the homegrown young starlet, Honoka, her second WAVE championship. In retrospect, it is clear that Prominence was just booked so that Honoka didn’t have to win a title off of Saran and to protect their matches a bit more. This is a common thing for independent promotions to do, especially those of the size of WAVE (only four contracted wrestlers, one of which has an influential back office role in Yumi Ohka). This match was a solo carry job by Honoka. She dragged Prominence into having a good match kicking and screaming. Honoka’s selling completely captured the crowd and got them biting on some really close nearfalls before Honoka won with her signature bridging O’Connor pin to a large pop. A match with Miran was set up for 7th March for the POP Title.

Rin continued making her rounds of the indies before her retirement, teaming up with old tag team partner and friend Itsuki Aoki against another close friend in Mio Momono and Yumi Ohka. The story of the match was that Mio did not want to be paired with Ohka and was not convinced of the match up. For example, she asked Ohka to prove she could be her partner, so Ohka ran the ropes a million times like Yurika Oka. There was a lot of friendly fire. Aoki won in the end.

In the opener Chiho Urahoho and Uta Shima took on the young team of Miran and Saran (16 and 17). Chiho is from Hokuto Pro Wrestling which has a working relationship with Diana while Uta Shima is an Ito Dojo wrestler and their wrestlers have been making increasingly more appearances in WAVE.

Sumika Yanagawa pinned Cohaku after Cohaku pinned Rina Amikura in a three-way elimination match. There were some sloppy spots, especially by the usually clean Amikura. The win earned Sumika a shot at the WAVE Tag Team Title, not because Amikura and Cohaku are tag champs or anything, but just because. 1111 (Sumika & Misa Kagura) will challenge for the titles on 1st April at Shinjuku FACE.

Maika Ozaki and Mio Shirai faced off in a singles match and then agreed to team up together. Mio Shirai is quite the downgrade from Tae Honma. They challenged Ame-kyun after which would take place at a later date.

Ame-kyun defends their titles - 7th March 2026

7th March 2026
176BOX, Osaka, Japan

Ame-kyun (Honoka & Haruka Umesaki) successfully defended their WAVE Tag Team Title against the make-shift team of Maika Ozaki and Mio Shirai. It is quite difficult to have an uneventful match against Ame-kyun, and unfortunately this was one. Ozaki is someone who needs the right opponents to really shine, and she did not have the chemistry needed here, through no fault of Ame-kyun. The match wasn’t bad, just not much happened!

The Regina di WAVE Champion Itsuki Aoki faced off against Sendai Girls talent YUNA. YUNA has slowly been growing on me. Not due to her in-ring work, which still could use improvement, but her personality and appearances on the Sendai Girls’ documentary which films the roster as they prepare to run the Nippon Budokan in 2027. The match was not much to write home about.

My Way’s CoCo and Sendai Girls’ Spike Nishimura made their 2026 WAVE debuts, with Spike making her first ever WAVE appearance. They faced Cohaku and Kaho Kobayashi. CoCo and Kaho wrestled each other on the first pre-launch show for ZERO1’s “Rose” brand, and their chemistry was once again on display here. Spike also looked awesome, especially as she landed a great looking springboard dropkick.

Rina Amikura, her COLORS teammate Yuko Sakurai and Yuki Mashiro appeared in a three-way match. Really, this match just showed how good Rina Amikura was in that somehow I enjoyed even the Yuko Sakurai parts of this match when she was in there with Amikura. Now that’s a massive rub.

Yuki Funa has been putting work in the SEAdLINNNG dojo in Kawasaki. Despite her very low number of matches wrestled and the fact we only see her once or twice a month, it is actually very stark to see how much she has grown from appearance to appearance. After her return from the injury sustained in her debut, Yuki looked nervous, unsure and also just very green. She was often in the wrong place at the wrong time and very hesitant. In a singles match against Yumi Ohka on this show, she looked assured, confident and on the way up. Since it can’t be from match practice, the only possible explanation is that she’s been working hard in the dojo.

Honori Hana and Mizuki Kato faced Miran and Saran. Honori was a replacement for SEAdLINNNG teammate Miria Koga. Miran was as good as ever. Kato won with the diving splash on Saran. She didn’t move for like a minute after and everyone was checking on her. It seemed like she was crying but I couldn’t tell.

WAVE’s Tag Team Title Hot Potato - 20th & 21st March 2026 (*)

20th March 2026
Post di Amistad, Kanagawa, Japan
Recommended Match: Cohaku & Momoka Hanazono vs. Haruka Umesaki & Honoka

I think the WAVE Tag Team Title booking could be a bit better. It started off with SPiCEAP holding onto the titles until Tae Honma retired in October. Their last ever defence was against Honoka and Saran, the two homegrown stars of WAVE. Of course, the homegrown stars of WAVE lost just to give a retiring wrestler a leaving present. Then, Saran instead teamed up with Yumi Ohka and won the vacant titles. It was a nice moment for Saran, since it was her first title. They lost the titles to Prominence (Hiragi Kurumi & Mochi Natsumi), who are exactly the type of freelancers WAVE regularly books that will prevent WAVE from improving business. They’re a solid hand but unlikely to produce high-quality matches. That happened on 8th February. A few weeks later on 1st March, Ame-kyun (Haruka Umesaki & Honoka) won the titles. Cool, WAVE’s homegrown star, Honoka, winning the title again with Umesaki, one of the better talents on the indie scene. Those are good talents to be champions in this promotion. Now, weeks later, Cohaku & Momoka Hanazono won the titles from Ame-kyun. Okay… at least Cohaku is a contracted WAVE talent and it gives her something to do on bigger shows. She’s also great. Momoka is a well-loved wrestler on the indie scene too. Cool. The next day, on 21st March, Cohaku and Momoka lost them immediately to Rina Amikura and Yuko Sakurai. They’re WAVE regulars, but they’re part of SAKI’s COLORS promotion. Amikura is great, Sakurai is another one of the outsiders who is not going to give you a high quality match or help energise your promotion, but a solid hand just like Prominence. It unfortunately feels like a hot potato for the sake of it. These are the things I look at when WAVE draws 263 at Korakuen Hall, before any other factor like Saya Kamitani. I would prefer some more consistent storytelling which other promotions WAVE’s size are able to do, granted they have slightly larger contracted rosters.

Well, at least they still have some great talent. First, we had the 20th March match where Cohaku and Momoka won. It was in Diana’s venue of Post di Amistad and the crowd was super hot. All four of these wrestlers are great, so it was hard for this match to be bad, especially if you’re into Momoka’s brand of comedy. They teased Ame-kyun knocking into each other, but they stopped just in time. Then they countered it and had Cohaku and Momoka almost run into each other but they stopped just before hitting each other. But Momoka just grabbed Cohaku and kissed her on the lips. Why not? After a long submission hold, Honoka began crying. That is of course copying Momoka’s gimmick. Momoka looked at her for about one second maximum before superkicking her right in the face. She then pulled Honoka up by the hair again and delivered a brutal forearm to the face. The match then built to a series of awesome nearfalls with the crowd on the edge of their seats. The finish was great as Honoka was going for her signature bridging O’Connor roll but Cohaku, obviously knowing Honoka very well, counted it into a sit-out pin.

21st March 2026
TOKYOSQUARE, Itabashi, Tokyo, Japan

In the main event, as mentioned prior, Cohaku and Momoka Hanazono lost the titles in their first defence to COLORS duo Rina Amikura and Yuko Sakurai. They removed their usual entrance gowns to reveal their Brief Sisters gear, in homage to the retired Yuki Miyazaki who they were in a faction with. I honestly have nothing to say about this match. It was fine. I have spoken enough about me being unable to connect with Sakurai. What was cute though is that Amikura broke down in tears when having the belt put on her as it was her first title in WAVE. She spoke about being left behind by her peers and that she and Sakurai never used to be able to do forward rolls. She spoke about having a lot of cruel words said to her, but in life, you can prove people wrong. It was a cute speech. Backstage, she continued that she had extreme self-confidence issues until very recently, and underwent a body transformation losing 10kg. Amikura is awesome.

Miran faced Yumi Ohka on the undercard in a solid match. Mostly it was just for Miran to show off, and she did. There was a spot where Ohka Irish whipped Miran into the corner and Miran just decided to jump on top of the turnbuckle and do a moonsault. Not to dodge anything. Just to stare down Miran. To farm aura. As the kids say. Or so I hear. Because I am not a kid. Sometimes.

Itsuki and COLORS defend their titles - 1st April 2026

1st April 2026
Shinjuku FACE, Tokyo Japan
Recommended Match: Honoka vs. Mei Suruga

The traditional WAVE show at Shinjuku FACE at the start of every other month will soon be a thing of the best following the closure of the venue in September 2026. To commemorate the regularly held shows, there were two titles up for grabs, with the champions retaining in both cases. Regina Di WAVE Champion Itsuki Aoki defended against Kakeru Sekiguchi. Kakeru and Itsuki are teammates in the tag team Hokakudo and have a strong relationship. Kakeru appears regularly in Itsuki’s home promotion of Shawn Capture, so it was a poignant match for the two. Kakeru worked over Itsuki’s arm to take away her lariat and thudding forearm strikes, but of course, it wasn’t enough to keep down the Ace of WAVE for long, and Itsuki made a comeback with cracking lariats before putting Kakeru away with a belly-to-back piledriver, Rasha-hasami. Itsuki announced she was entering the “Catch the WAVE” tournament as champion.

COLORS (Rina Amikura & Yuko Sakurai) retained their WAVE Tag Team Title against 1111 (Misa Kagura & Sumika Yanagawa). The match was fine. It will be hard for me to have any other assessment of a match featuring Yuko Sakurai. Misa and Ami were great together. There was a really rough double team where Ami did a double-footed diving dropkick to Sakurai’s back which would launch her into the opponents. It didn’t look too good. It was a bit immersion breaking. Ami won with the newly named Baka-YAMA Special, a diving senton. She has inherited the move from the retired Yuki Miyazaki.

To celebrate her third anniversary, Honoka was booked in a special singles match against one of the best wrestlers on the planet, Mei Suruga. Mei is currently working in more promotions as a heel, and she continued that here. Obviously, it’s a heel with her own little twist, and it’s incredible. I have loved pretty much every Mei match on her recent independent scene run, this one included.

Ahead of Rin’s retirement on 5th May, she made a special appearance here teaming with Shin Akira Hokuto against Cohaku and Mei Seira, who were Rin’s former Marvelous colleagues before they acrimoniously left the promotion in 2021. Of course, the link between Rin and Akira Hokuto is that Rin is married to Hokuto’s son. Shin Hokuto left the match at some point upset at how she was treated, so the ensuing in-ring action between the three Marvelous homegrown talents was great.

Momoka Hanazono and Unagi Sayaka battled for the pride of Osaka as both are native to Japan’s second biggest city. Before the match started, Unagi said the match should be unlimited time-limit, which in WAVE always means they are going to brawl throughout the show. After the match started, they ended up kissing, as that is what happens in Momoka matches. This was to set up a body swap. Momoka exclaimed “Oh my god I’m 40, my life is over!” Unagi was concerned with something else “Oh my god, my chest is gone!” They tried to kiss to turn back into their own bodies to no avail. They fled the room. They later made sporadic appearances. Before the semi-main event, they met in the ring and had changed gear and hairstyles to make themselves more comfortable. After Aoki’s promo following the main event, Unagi and Momoka kissed again, for a long time. It finally worked and they swapped back.

Back to Round-up

Watch on AWG Net

ACTwrestling “Step 71” – Asako Mia actually challenges for a title

22nd February 2026
Shin-Kiba 1st RING, Tokyo, Japan
Recommended Match: Anri & Erisa Nagai vs. Nagisa Shiotsuki & Natsuki, Asako Mia & MARU vs. Marino Saihara & Yukina Uehara
Designation: Key Show

Asako Mia challenged for a title for the second time in her career, hoping to make it 3 wins in over 400 matches. She last challenged for a title on 24th February 2025, almost exactly a year prior to her second challenge. That time was for the AWG Title against then AWG Champion Natsuki, who is now due to retire on 2nd May 2026. This time around, Asako teamed up with Killer’Z leader MARU against the Interim AWG Tag Team Champions Harahara Red (Marino Saihara & Yukina Uehara). MARU’s motivation for teaming up with Asako is simply because she finds it fun. The title ceremony was hilarious. The contrast between the beautiful, majestic, stunning Harahara Red and then the camera panning over the Asako Mia with her dumb crown and a dumb grin on her face made me burst out laughing. Super Express Asako-MARU put up a hell of a performance but not enough to capture the Interim AWG Tag Team Title from Harahara Red.

The match was excellent, in particular, I want to put over the finishing stretch between MARU and Marino Saihara. It is said that there is a diminishing return to kick-outs and nearfalls. This match went over 20 minutes and the final 5 to 10 minutes or so was essentially a singles match between MARU and Marino with a lot of very close nearfalls. These were some of the most effective nearfalls I have seen from a match that has a lot of them in quite a while. I bit on so many of these, with both kicking out at exactly the perfect moment. The way it was structured too created a sense of nervousness in me. I really wanted Marino to retain, but if you wanted MARU to win, I am sure you would have felt the same emotions. They had somehow managed to make me believe that it was a total 50/50 and could go any way. It was remarkable and put the match over the edge for me, such that I would recommend it to any joshi wrestling fan. It was a MARU masterclass, combined with Marino’s excellent selling performance that she’s showcased on many occasions, interspersed with Asako’s comedy in a smart way. I would say Yukina was on the periphery which is unusual for her, but she can’t shine in every single match.

Anri made her long-awaited return to the ring with her Polaris tag team partner Erisa Nagai, taking on AWG’s premier tag team in Midsummer Breeze (Nagisa Shiotsuki & Natsuki). Anri was injured in training in late 2025 while on course to be a strong contender in people’s Rookie of the Year lists. Since then, her rookie rival, Yukina Uehara, had taken large strides into solidifying herself as the premium rookie in AWG with several confident performances. The two had struck a bet on who would be the first to capture a singles belt in the promotion. Yukina has gone on to win the Interim AWG Tag Team Title, but now that Anri is back, the race is on for the first singles title between the pair. This match was excellent. It was everything you’d expect a match between Polaris and Midsummer Breeze to be. I absolutely loved that it was Anri and Natsuki that was the focus of this match, ahead of Natsuki’s impending retirement. The match was significantly better every time it was that pair rather than Erisa and Nagisa, who had a KING Title match earlier this year so we know what that pairing can (and can’t) do. We know how good of a worker Natsuki is, but Anri was with her every step of the way and she just doesn’t wrestle like a typical rookie. It is a very exciting future for AWG with Anri and Yukina leading the charge among the new generation, and Kana Yufuku and Marino Nishimura following after.

Actwres 5 (Kana Yufuku & Sakura Mizushima) faced Mari and Rio. Rio has been tagging with Mari on and off. Mari sees Rio as an annoying little brat, while Rio is eager to please and try to gain entry into Killer’Z still, after pestering the boss MARU didn’t work. Last month, at “Step 68”, Mari was offended that Rio wore a black Killer’Z t-shirt, so she ripped it off her and then threw it into a bucket of bleach. Well, on this show, Rio was wearing the bleached t-shirt and was very proud of it. This was a super fun match that continued to play on Rio and Mari’s dynamic with several miscommunications and comedy spots which were really well executed. I thought this match was great and Rio picked up her second ever pinfall (I believe) with a spinning body press on Kana. After the match, Mugi Kakuhen announced she would be debuting on 5th April. She is an idol with the “7 Ten Fevers” group who is now beginning a pro wrestling career.

In the opener, new rookie Marino Nishimura faced Actwres 5 member “Pink” Naru. Nishimura has some quite interesting cradles for someone with around five matches. On top of that, she has quite unique submission holds, one of which she holds onto the ankles of the opponent and then uses her hip to push the opponent into a bridging position which is meant to be a stretch. For someone as flexible as Naru, you’d think she was used to a bridging position. Nishimura also does a sliced bread, already. These AWG rookies are just… something else. After, Naru said that she was passing down the “Pink” moniker of Actwres 5 to Marino Nishimura. Naru and NIshimura work together in Naru’s costume-making business, and Naru said that she was now the most experienced babyface on the roster and so wanted to pass the “Pink” mantle down and start looking after the rookies. That’s two new rookies in the top babyface unit now, with Kana Yufuku joining on the 29th December Korakuen Hall show to replace the retiring Yui Tensho.

Ayano Irie, AWG Champion Rico Fukunaga and Hinata Senya met in a three-way, with Ayano and Hinata teaming up due to being part of the same Killer’Z faction. Hinata does not have any instincts for wrestling. That is all.

Full Results

Naru defeats Marino Nishimura (5:50)

Mari & Rio defeat Kana Yafuku & Sakura Mizushima (15:51)

Rico Fukunaga defeats Ayano Irie and Hinata Senya (8:15)

Nagisa Shiotsuki & Natsuki defeat Anri & Erisa Nagai (19:13)

AWG Tag Team Title:
Marino Saihara & Yukina Uehara (c) defeat Asako Mia & MARU (21:45)

ACTwrestling “Step 72” - Natsuki’s Retirement countdown continues - 11th March 2026

11th March 2026
Shin-Kiba 1st RING, Tokyo, Japan

Natsuki continued down her retirement road, defeating Sakura Mizushima in the main event of “Step 72” in a singles match. The two have trained together in the dojo almost every day, but rarely got the chance to face each other in the ring, with this being only their second singles match in four years. This match was great. Natsuki felt like she was at the top of her game, and she had good chemistry with Sakura who was selling as if her life depended on it. There were periods of the match that took me out of it because they were a bit long and not much was happening. I realised I lost focus and had to rewind on a few occasions, so it wasn’t a match that gripped me, but aside from those periods, I thought the work of both was very good. Sakura kicked out of the Midnight Sun which was slightly surprising, but less so when I remembered that, sadly, Natsuki is retiring on 2nd May. Sakura won with the Full Bloom Archhold.

The top two AWG rookies, Anri and Yukina Uehara, were reunited to take on Yukina’s AWG Tag Team Title partner Marino Saihara and the AWG Champion Rico Fukunaga. Yukina is aiming for the AWG Title while Anri has her sights set on AWG Tag Team Title gold. She would not get what she was looking for as Marino Saihara pinned Anri with the MRN Smash. Anri looked as good as ever, even adding a tight shrimp hold to her flying headscissors into a schoolboy move. A match report calls it a “human satellite roll-up”. That sounds so funny that perhaps I will adopt that going forward, since Anri is orbiting her opponent like a satellite before transitioning into the roll-up.

Marino Nishimura had her first match as a member of Actwres 5, although she would team with someone not in the unit, KING Champion Nagisa Shiotsuki. They faced Killer’Z pair Ayano Irie & Kyoka Iwai. Nishimura already has a knack for selling. It was clear from day one. That is a promising base to start off with. On top of that, Nishimura already has some cool moves such as the sliced bread, and also a wrist clutch bridging cradle, which looked awesome. Ayano forced Nishimura to tap.

Chii Aoba teamed up with Rio to face Mari and MARU. Rio was still wearing the black Killer’Z shirt that Mari bleached over a month ago. As a reminder, the storyline is that rookie Rio is being obnoxious and wants to join Killer’Z and has annoyed Mari and MARU for months. The funny part is that Rio is not a heel and acts as a total babyface. She just thinks the Killer’Z are cool. Mari pulled the shirt off Rio’s head and then got a rope and pulled Rio’s legs so she was hanging upside down against the rope. Good start for Rio. Luckily she said Chii on her team who helped her from getting choked out by Mari. At one point Rio tried to barge Mari down with shoulder tackles, but she got bored. She asked Mari to run the ropes. Mari was shocked at Rio’s incredulity. Rio repeated herself, slowly. Mari corpsed and did as her junior commanded. For the finish, Mari lifted Rio up for the Abyss Drop (I’m just using the Google Translate for it because it’s a difficult kanji reading). Rio instantly tapped when positioned, despite not being hit with the move yet. The bell rang, but Rio was dropped by Mari anyway.

In the opener, Haruka Ishikawa pinned her Killer’Z teammate Nanami Togi in the opener. Kyoka Iwai interfered at points, so apparently that feud is still going on.

ACTwrestling Osaka - Just a casual tour stop banger - 14th March 2026 (*)

14th March 2026
176BOX, Osaka, Japan
Recommended Match: Marino Saihara vs. Naru, Kana Yufuku & Yukina Uehara vs. Marino Nishimura & Rico Fukunaga, Anri & Sakura Mizushima vs. Erisa Nagai & Nagisa Shiotsuki (I liked this show)

Sometimes, AWG just puts on a banger of a show. You can sort of tell from the card which ones will be bangers, but not always. Sometimes, the wrestlers just show up and have excellent, well worked matches that have you grinning from ear to ear with no end in sight. I’d say this was more of a “you knew it was going to be great from the card” show. In the main event, Anri and Sakura Mizushima faced Erisa Nagai and KING Champion Nagisa Shiotsuki and put on one of the AWG house style tag matches, i.e. it was great. After Polaris (Anri & Erisa) mistakenly teamed together for a double move, they were also content to hit each other as hard as they could as they traded stiff forearms and kicks. Anri has come back from injury, basically hitting harder than ever. Nagisa has also rounded out completely to be a completely credible champion in the company. When Anri and Nagisa were in this match together it was a joy. Nagisa pinned Anri with the Dolphin Swing, dashing my hopes that Anri would challenge for the KING Title and Yukina for the AWG Title. They have an ongoing bet on who would be the first to capture a singles title. Anri delivered a heartfelt promo after the match to Nagisa. I wish I knew what she said, because her facial expressions were awesome and it got me good.

Rookies Kana Yufuku and Yukina Uehara went up against the AWG Champion and another rookie in Marino Nishimura. The two newest rookies, Nishimura and Kana who are also “Pink” and “Yellow” respectively as part of the Actwres 5 faction, started the match off hot. I’ll be straight, I couldn’t stop having a smile on my face during the exchange. These rookies are something else. After Rico tagged in, Kana pointed at Nishimura on the apron and said “watch this”. Kana proceeded to sit down and eat Rico’s kicks. That’s the type of competitive spirit I want to see. I love Kana. I was watching this match also wondering what on earth happened to Yukina. How did she get so good? She is near flawless in these tags. You can go back and read my columns from around last summer. She was a mess in tags, and decent in singles matches. I love Yukina. Then I was watching Nishimura’s selling in this match, especially as she absorbed hellish kicks from Yukina. How is someone only five or six matches into their career able to move and sell this well? I love Nishimura. Rico was in the match too, I guess. Yukina won with the axe kick she is now calling the “Heel Drop 170”, or something like that (translation error possible). I assume 170 refers to her height (which is indeed 170cm). Yukina’s axe kick is fantastic and probably one of the best around (see cover image). What a prospect Yukina has turned out to be. Yukina wants Rico’s AWG Title. They made it official for 28th March in Osaka. Kana made sure to stomp on Nishimura on the way out. Amazing.

Marino Saihara faced Naru who had just left Actwres 5 and handed her mantle over to Marino Nishimura. This match was great. Naru rarely gets a chance to shine, and she absolutely did so here. The former stablemates hit some brutal kicks and forearms on each other, there were nice transitions, and everything was as smooth as butter. Naru even kicked out of an MRN Smash, but it wasn’t enough as Maru caught Naru out with the Gedo clutch.

On her retirement road, Natsuki had a singles match with Asako Mia. This was an interesting match. Asako got way more than I was expecting, including kicking out of the Cutie Special. It felt like Natsuki wanted to give Asako the best match of her career. I have no clue if she did. But it was a fun match. Natsuki was not letting up on any of her strikes. At one point Asako resorted to hugging Natsuki to try and emotionally guilt trip her. It didn’t work. Natsuki hit the Midnight Sun for the win.

ACTwrestling Osaka - Yukina fails in first AWG Title challenge - 28th March 2026

28th March 2026
176BOX, Osaka, Japan

Rico Fukunaga defended her AWG Title to continue her reign, this time fending off a challenge from rising rookie Yukina Uehara. It was Yukina’s first shot at the title since her debut 16 months prior, a timeline much longer than her fellow rising rookie Anri, who challenged after 3 months. Early on in the match I was certain we were in for a ride as they wrestled each other as if it was UWF Rules, a format both are familiar with from their GLEAT matches. However, the match slowed down considerably and I felt that it was not suited to Yukina, when it absolutely should be as they traded kicks, one of Yukina’s best talents. The match felt stilted and hastily stitched together rather than telling a coherent story. It was like a bunch of disjointed spots rather than something that could hook me. I love Yukina, but Rico wasn’t as great a dance partner for her than I was expecting.

Two of AWG’s best workers in the past several years, Mari and Natsuki, met together in the ring for a singles match. I was extremely excited when I saw this match was made, and even more excited when watching it, given they were two of my favourites when I first started watching AWG, and were part of a tag match that hooked me to start watching this promotion. This match was part of Natsuki’s retirement road, coming up on 2nd May, as Mari had a hand in training Natsuki. This match was really good. I did feel that it underdelivered on my expectations, mostly because those were really high. I was affected by the completely absent 176BOX crowd, as usual doing their gimmick of pretending to be asleep at a wrestling show. Mari was a roadblock to her former mentee, even in their last ever singles match. She kept on keeping Natsuki down with brutal head kicks, but Natsuki would keep kicking out. Finally, Mari put Natsuki away with the Oumagadoki.

Polaris (Anri and Erisa Nagai) went to battle each other as they started their journey towards the AWG Tag Team Title following Anri’s recent return to action. This match was a clear indicator for me as to how good Anri was, because Erisa on the other hand, was not great. Anri had to adapt multiple times in the match to mistakes from Erisa to cover them up, such as Erisa not bending down for Anri’s casadora facebuster, so Anri immediately got up and hook kicked Erisa in the face. After the match, which Anri won with a small package, she challenged Nagisa Shiotsuki for her KING Title. Nagisa accepted, so the challenge would take place on the subsequent show.

W Marino (Marino Saihara & Marino Nishimura) took on Asako Army members, Asako Mia herself and Rio. W Marino are also part of the Actwres 5 faction of course. Before the bell, Asako Mia shouted that she wanted Marino. Marino Saihara, the ace of AWG in 2025, stepped forward. Asako was like “Not you, the other one!” while pointing towards the rookie who debuted only a few months ago, Marino Nishimura. Rio went toe-to-toe with Saihara in a forearm and chop battle, impressive for the rookie who just passed her one year anniversary. Saihara pinned Asako with the MRN Smash.

ACTwrestling “Step 73” - Yuri Yamane and Mugi Kakuhen debut - 5th April 2026

5th April 2026
Shin-Kiba 1st RING, Tokyo, Japan

The show was built around the theme of Actwres 5 vs. Killer’Z, with it being somewhat of a produce show. I’d tell you for sure but I’m riding without any translations on this one. But produce show were the vibes I got. The six-person tag between Actwres 5 (Marino Nishimura, Marino Saihara and Sakura Mizushima) and Killer’Z (Ayano Irie, Kyoka Iwai and MARU) was enjoyable, with the Actwres 5 team’s coordinated five-person dropkick spot being the kind of gloriously dorky spot that makes faction wrestling fun. Outside of MARU, the Killer’Z side did little to hold my attention. I am not sure I will ever understand Kyoka Iwai.

As well as being themed around Actwres 5 vs. Killer’Z, it was also a night of debuts as two new members of the roster were revealed. Mugi Kakuhen made her debut against Wild Bunny, who is Act working a masked gimmick, presumably not yet ready to return as herself and lose an AWG Title match to Harahara Red. Or something like that. Who knows what Act is thinking at any point in time. But it was a typical rookie versus veteran match, nothing that immediately floored me in the way Kana or Marino’s debuts did, but Mugi looks like she could be a fun underdog, and like practically every AWG idol-to-wrestler recruit, her selling instincts were already there from day one. She was even doing the Manami Toyota/Natsupoi/Mei Suruga style rolling pin in her first match.

Then Anri and Yukina Uehara, just over a year into their careers, faced Nagisa Shiotsuki and the debuting Yuri Yamane, who carries a black belt and first dan in Shorinji Kempo. Yukina was the story of the match though for me, looking so assured and dominant that it is easy to forget how far she has come since those early tags in mid-2025. Her Heel Drop 170 finish onto Yuri was a great finish. It was funny that the graphic called it the Heel Drop 180. I assume it’s a typo since as we established in a previous review, the 170 is a reference to Yukina’s height. Yuri’s kicks did not quite live up to my personal expectations of her martial arts background, though it is her debut so I don’t intend that to be a strong statement. Just that I am used to wrestlers of Kempo background (Kenoh, Takeshi Masada) having strong kicks. She could just be scared to lay them in, like a lot of legit athletes are when they start in wrestling.

The three-on-one handicap of Asako Mia, Hinata Senya and Rio against champion Rico Fukunaga was a mixed bag. Hinata’s selling, or lack thereof, against Rico’s kicks was a serious issue in a match where her role was clearly to make the champion look devastating, and she did not come close to fulfilling it. Asako, on the other hand, continues to grow on me enormously. The “I am hopelessly weak” gimmick requires real charisma to pull off, and Asako has it.

Haruka Ishikawa and Kana Yufuku delivered exactly what I would hope for from these two, a hard-hitting forearm exchange where Kana’s signature thud was very much still alive since the last time we checked in on her, but Haruka almost knocked Kana silly with an especially stiff forearm. This was a match I loved because it was two of my AWG favourites doing what they do best, and Haruka ended up looking very strong as she destroyed Kana, far and away from the never ending feud with Kyoka Iwai in recent months.

Back to Round-up

Watch on YouTube

ChocoPro #505 ~ “Choco Museum”

25th February 2026
TOKYOSQUARE, Itabashi, Tokyo, Japan
Recommended Match: Chie Koishikawa & Hagane Shinnou vs. Hiyori Yawata & Sayaka Obihiro, Chon Shiryu vs. Rina Yamashita
Designation: Key Show

At “ChocoPro #500 Day 1” on 22nd January, Chon Shiryu pinned Super Asia Champion Rina Yamashita to earn a shot at her title. While he had been interim champion before, he had never been the official champion. Rina Yamashita is going as hard as she can in as many promotions as she can right now. She is the unsung hero of the independent scene and she showed why in this match as she went blow-for-blow with Shiryu in a hard-hitting match packed with several nail-biting nearfalls. This was an excellent introduction to Yamashita in ChocoPro. She pinned Shiryu with Splash Mountain. Her next challenge will be Miya Yotsuba on 23rd March at Shin-Kiba 1st RING and that may possibly be a title change given Miya’s wins on this show.

After pinning Chie Koishikawa at “ChocoPro #503”, Hiyori Yawata was finally granted the Asia Dream Tag Team Title shot that she had been looking for for so long. She teamed up with Obihiro to attempt to wrest the belts from Chie and Hagane Shinnou. By the time this VOD was released, Hiyori’s final ChocoPro match had already been announced as she was graduating from the promotion. That did telegraph the result here slightly. Chie was a demon in this match as she chopped the hell out of Hiyori’s thigh. That set the tone for the match, which was Chie and Hagane being total bullies and the crowd fully getting behind Hiyori. Hiyori’s babyface performance combined with Chie and Hagane’s demeanour made this match great.

Despite Deadlock Pro-Wrestling ceasing operations, Mei Suruga won the DPW Women’s World Title on their last US show. Emi Sakura has insisted that Mei continue to defend it like a true champion. This is a really good gimmick while Rina Yamashita holds the Super Asia Title, as Mei should almost always be featured in a special singles match on the ring shows given how good she is. She successfully defended the title on this show against Sara Phoenix, who was days away from leaving the country to return to Chile and was making her ChocoPro debut. Mei won with a crazy-looking bridging cross-armed wrist-clutch pin. It was similar to her usual Phoenix Rising pin but seemed to be a bridging variation. Soy will challenge Mei next on 23rd March at Shin-Kiba 1st RING.

After losing the Asia Dream Tag Team Title, Miya Yotsuba has been trying to fight her feet again. She demanded a match against ChocoPro’s founder, Emi Sakura. It was their first singles match since Miya’s debut on 15th September 2022. Emi put over Miya big as she lost to the Miyahammer move. It was probably the best the move has ever looked too as Emi sold the move big time. This was very good.

Diego, known for his DDT work, continues to provide an influx of South Americans into the Japanese scene as we saw not only Sara Phoenix in TJPW and on this card, but Anarko Montaña and Jean Bravo from Chile. Bravo is Diego’s student while Anarko is Diego’s colleague. They lost to BestBuds (Baliyan Akki & Chris Brookes). Bravo looked very good. So good that I’d love to see him do some DDT appearances. Maybe a Ueno Park show or something. BestBuds have some awesome double-team moves. Brookes launched Bravo flying into a powerslam from Akki.

Full Results

Erii Kanae, Kaho Hiromi & Soy defeat Kaori Yoneyama, Sayaka & Tokiko Kirihara (6:04)

Baliyan Akki & Chris Brookes defeat Anarko Montana & Jean Bravo (9:53)

Miya Yotsuba defeats Emi Sakura (8:39)

DPW Women’s World Title:
Mei Suruga (c) defeats Sara Phoenix (9:33)

Asia Dream Tag Team Title:
Chie Koishikawa & Hagane Shinnou (c) defeat Hiyori Yawata & Sayaka Obihiro (10:59)

Super Asia Title:
Rina Yamashita (c) defeats Chon Shiryu (14:33)

ChocoPro #511 ~ “The Promised”

23rd March 2026
Shin-Kiba 1st RING, Tokyo, Japan
Recommended Match: Mei Suruga vs. Soy, Miya Yotsuba vs. Rina Yamashita
Designation: Key Show

Miya Yotsuba has defeated the demons of the past and finally overcame the wall in her career, Rina Yamashita, to become the new Super Asia Champion for the first time in her career. Following an unsuccessful challenge against her teacher Mei Suruga in 2025, Miya Yotsuba was determined to complete her rise to the top of the promotion and return the Super Asia Title back into the hands of a ChocoPro contracted wrestler. Rina Yamashita has been one of the most dependable, reliable and best workers on the independent scene for quite a few years, as she works harder than almost any other wrestler, never putting in a light shift. Her Super Asia Title reign was a well-deserved reign allowing her to receive her flowers, especially as she won the title in one of the best matches in 2025. In addition to that, Miya had been chasing Yamashita herself since the Korakuen Hall event on 31st August 2024, with Rina being one of the genuine roadblocks in Miya’s career, so the win was a cathartic victory for her. It was a great match, with Yamashita on point with pretty much every move, bringing her A-game for this match in order to put Miya over. Miya was as aggressive as I’ve ever seen her, including a super stiff forearm exchange. There were some great nearfalls, such as Miya reversing Yamashita’s sliding lariat into a very close flash pin. In the end, Miya won the title with two Miyahammers to Yamashita’s back, which she had worked on since the start of the match following a body back drop on the apron. The post-match was adorable, with Miya holding Yamashita’s face and asking her if she thought that Miya had finally grown stronger. Miya then promised to continue getting stronger and they performed a pinky promise. Miya ended by saying that Yamashita was still her special one, the symbol of strength to her, and that she loved her. HARASHIMA challenged Miya after and Miya refused, which was a funny moment.

DPW Women’s World Champion Mei Suruga defended her title against Miya Yotsuba’s tag team partner, Soy, on Soy’s birthday. Soy, who has been participating in ChocoPro for under two years, almost as long as her career, is left as one of two wrestlers contracted to EVO after the departures of Chi Chi and ZONES. That means, as Chika’s senior, it would be up to her to carry EVO moving forward which is a huge responsibility. Ahead of that journey, she would test where her development is at against one of the best wrestlers in the world in Mei. Despite a more heelish version of Mei where she was biting Soy’s arm and throwing her wristband into the audience, Soy pressed on, squashing Mei with her falling body press and putting Mei into a brutal Boston crab. Later, Soy yanked Mei from the top rope and launched her to the mat with a super quick overhead throw. There was a great nearfall where Mei went for her propeller clutch but Soy countered into a deathly lariat. The finish didn’t go as planned as Mei was going for her ‘jumping Gedo clutch’ (don’t ask me the name) but it fell apart and Mei just pinned Soy for the win.

During Mystery Wrestling’s stay in Japan, not only did they perform in Ichigaya Chocolate Square, but Evil Uno, HADDY & Junior Benito also faced Baliyan Akki, Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA. This was a pretty great match. The match started with some cool grappling between HARASHIMA and HADDY, the ‘all-caps lock name starts with H’ pairing. Benito’s “Slap Ass” gimmick has been a fun fit in ChocoPro. He tried to slap HARASHIMA on the ass but it didn’t end up well, with HARASHIMA retaliating with several slaps to Benito’s ass, giving him a real spanking and jumping on his little bits. There was a crazy spot where it looked like Akki was struggling to get HADDY up for a powerbomb, but after a few attempts he just launched him effortlessly into the turnbuckle. Benito executed a great over-the-turnbuckle tope suicida. The match then accelerated into the traditional Japanese mutli-person tag match ending with chaotic back-and-forth nearfalls before a combination of moves from Brookes, HARASHIMA and Akki finished Benito off.

Egg Tart (Chie Koishikawa & Hagane Shinnou) vacated the Asia Dream Tag Title due to Shinnou’s injury, thus, a three-way tag match was made to decide the new champions. Chie teamed with Sayaka against Kung Fu Panda (Choun Shiryu & Kaori Yoneyama) and Minoru Fujita & Sayaka Obihiro. Naturally, Chie became a champion again immediately as her and Sayaka pinned Obihiro in a joint pin to win the match. That’s just karma, as Obihiro’s partner, Fujita, had one of the most ear destroying spots I’ve heard as he banged on a gong to break up a pin on his partner. Chie was in tears after winning.

Ahead of her leaving ChocoPro (and wrestling) due to graduating university and moving for work reasons, Hiyori Yawata teamed with her usual “Yowaccheese” partner Kaho Hiromi against Antonio Honda and Tokiko Kirihara. Kaho herself had just graduated from elementary school. After calling for a timeout, Anton started reciting the alphabet, but by the time he got to “H” he already decided to attack Kaho with a “T-shaped” Time Attack. Kaho got her revenge later by launching an “X” attack. Hiyori scored a surprise flash pin on Tokiko to win in her final ChocoPro ring match.

Full Results

Hiyori Yawata & Kaho Hiromi defeat Antonio Honda & Tokiko Kirihara (8:53)

Asia Dream Tag Team Title (vacant):
Chie Koishikawa & Sayaka defeat Chon Shiryu & Lee Yoneyamakao and Minoru Fujita & Sayaka Obihiro (8:19)

Baliyan Akki, Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA defeat Evil Uno, HADDY & Junior Benito (18:30)

DPW Women’s World Title:
Mei Suruga (c) defeats Soy (11:31)

Super Asia Title:
Miya Yotsuba defeats Rina Yamashita (c) (15:31)

Back to Round-up

Watch on YouTube

PURE-J “Rainbow Unicorn vol. 2”

23rd February 2026
Itabashi Green Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Recommended Match: Chie Ozora & Misa Kagura vs. Hanako Nakamori & Kaho Kobayashi
Designation: Key Show

The Kobayashis (Hanako Nakamori & Kaho Kobayashi) successfully defended their Daily Sports Certified Women’s Tag Team Title against Chie Ozora and Misa Kagura. Nakamori also holds the PURE-J Openweight Title, so she was firmly at the top of the promotion as its ace and double champion. Misa came into the promotion recently and was immediately entered in the title chase, which makes sense for rising status as a freelancer. I thought this match was great. I am somewhat grading PURE-J on a curve in the sense that I don’t believe this recommended match is as good as others I recommend, but when looking at the PURE-J 2025 list I did feel bad that I had recommended so few. The goal of my columns is to increase awareness of promotions afterall and I shouldn’t let my personal bias get in the way of that, and hey, who knows, maybe this match will hit big for someone. In particular, Kaho Kobayashi is such an underrated freelancer, and I was glad that this match was centred around her on the finishing stretch. Chie Ozora is the home talent so she was the one to go up against the champion Kaho. There is such a fluidity and smoothness to all of Kaho’s offense and Chie has a good babyface fire that makes for a fun dynamic between the two. Misa and Hanako fought in the early stages of the match but I wasn’t blown away by Hanako. Kaho won the match with an awesome looking Gideon splash (diving corkscrew press).

A new PURE-J rookie, Mia, debuted against Crea. Mia is 27, from Ibaraki prefecture and has a volleyball and athletics background. She was trained in Commander Bolshoi’s one-on-one classes at the Dojo and joined PURE-J in October. She held a 3-minute exhibition match with AKARI at the 14th December Korakuen Hall show. Mia showed a confident performance, although her stamina was lacking, as it does for almost every single rookie. Crea went very easy on Mia compared to what we are used to seeing from her. It was mostly just a showcase for Mia’s dropkicks.

Elsewhere, former Marigold wrestler Ryoko Sakimura returned to the pro wrestling circuit again on this show as she took on Leon. Sakimura left Marigold after clearly struggling with her performances. Natsumi Showzuki returned briefly from injury for one match just to apparently try and beat some motivation into Ryoko. It didn’t work, so she left the company the day after. Well, don’t let your dreams be dreams. She didn’t look too bad here. It is against Leon who is great, but this was a solid re-debut for Ryoko. She certainly looks better than Jenne.

WANTED (Cherry & Rydeen Hagane) faced GanPro’s Ken Ohka and YuuRI. It was originally meant to be Yuna Manase teaming with YuuRI but she was injured so Ken Ohka stepped in. The match went to a 15-minute time-limit draw, which for me felt like an eternity given my lack of connection to all four wrestlers. The inter-promotional rivalry continues, I suppose.

Full Results

Crea defeats Mia (9:20)

Leon defeats Ryoko Sakimura (11:42)

KAZUKI defeats Jenne and Kaori Yoneyama (9:06)

Cherry & Rydeen Hagane vs. Ken Ohka & YuuRI – Time Limit Draw (15:00)

Daily Sports Tag Team Title:
Hanako Nakamori & Kaho Kobayashi (c) defeat Chie Ozora & Misa Kagura (17:12)

PURE-J Dojo #158 - 1st March 2026

1st March 2026
Kame Arena Dojo, Tokyo, Japan

New rookie Mia faced Chie Ozora in the opener. Mia is obviously quite green. This was her second ever match. But she did remind me a bit of Yuuka Yamazaki in Marigold when she first debuted. She wasn’t as confident as Yuuka was, but they have a similar look and approach to matches where they are not nervous, not afraid to scream and shout and express themselves. Mia had Chie in a single leg Boston and screamed at her to tap, before stomping on her.

Arisa Shinose and Hanako Nakamori faced Leon and Rydeen Hagane in the main event. Aside from being the standard PURE-J dojo main event, Arisa in particular continues to stand out for me. A switch flipped for me after seeing her live at Korakuen Hall in December 2025. Sometimes, that’s all you need for someone to become a performer that you enjoy. Arisa hit some hard forearms in this match, which is also a plus if someone wants to sneak into my list of favourite performers.

PURE-J Dojo #159 - 8th March 2026

8th March 2026
Kame Arena Dojo, Tokyo, Japan

There was a rare ‘banger alert’ match on this PURE-J dojo show as AKARI returned from her Mexico excursion to team up with double champion Hanako Nakamori against Crea and Kaho Kobayashi, who is a tag champion with Hanako. The interesting part about this match is that AKARI and Hanako are part of the Invader or Innovator heel unit in Diana, although AKARI has not appeared in Diana since joining the unit, largely due to her excursion. It was also Crea and AKARI’s first time battling each other since their blow off match on 11th November. They were a tag team that broke up on 11th August at Korakuen Hall. This was a great match and a good return from AKARI, who managed to get the pin on her former tag team partner.

Mia continued her training against coach Leon in the opener. I like Mia. As I mentioned in the previous dojo show review, she is confident. I’m excited to see her progress. This was a good selling performance from her in her third ever match.

PURE-J Dojo #160 - Leon’s 26th Debut Anniversary - 15th March 2026

15th March 2026
Kame Arena Dojo, Tokyo, Japan

To celebrate her 26th debut anniversary, Leon teamed with Chie Ozora to face PURE-J ace and double champion Hanako Nakamori and GanPro’s Moeka Haruhi, who has appeared regularly in PURE-J for every year of its existence except the first (2017). Leon got the pin on Hanako after a great back and forth. This was one of the better matches at the PURE-J dojo this year. Presumably, this will lead to another Leon and Nakamori title match in the future.

Once again, Mia was in a singles match in the opener, this time against AKARI. Mia is already popular with the PURE-J dojo faithful, with several people calling out her name during this match. Honestly, Mia is actually quite promising. I already mentioned it in a previous dojo review, but she just has a good confidence to her, she’s quite well built too as she’s 27 and has a sports background. She seems like someone who could quickly become a good wrestler in the scene in the next few years.

PURE-J "Rainbow Unicorn vol. 3" - Misa Kagura becomes #1 Contender - 21st March 2026 (*)

21st March 2026
Itabashi Green Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Recommended Match: Chie Ozora vs. Misa Kagura

In the main event, Misa Kagura secured the #1 contendership by defeating her tag partner Chie Ozora. It was not surprising that Misa’s run in PURE-J would end with a couple of title shots, as she is quite a big freelancer for PURE-J to bring in. Misa is quite quickly turning into one of the premier freelancers on the scene and matches like this show exactly why that is the case. She hits hard, she has her foot on the pedal at all times, she sells well and she’s extremely likable. Chie did something very cool that either she doesn’t do often, or I don’t pay enough attention (I’ve been covering her matches for like 9 months). When doing her ropewalk, she basically jumped down and transitioned into an over-the-top armbar. It was great. So was this match. Just non-stop action with some stiff strikes thrown in there for fun.

To continue celebrating her 26th Anniversary, Leon teamed with Ryoko Sakimura to face AKARI and Kaho Kobayashi. This was AKARI’s first appearance at Itabashi Green Hall since her return. Leon has taken Sakimura under her ring, apparently. Sakimura is fine. I’m not saying she’s good, but she does not stick out as much as she did in Marigold and has clearly been doing some dojo practice. AKARI tapped out Sakimura for the win.

PURE-J Openweight and Tag Team Champion Hanako Nakamori faced YuuRI in the ongoing rivalry between PURE-J and Ganbare Pro. This was yet another good outing from YuuRI in PURE-J, as they kicked the hell out of each other. Really, interpromotional rivalries are a good way to have automatically great, heated, intense matches.

321-chan, Jenne & SAKI faced Cherry, Crea & Kaori Yoneyama. 321-chan (San-ni-ichi-chan) is an OSW wrestler who is a friend of Rydeen Hagane. I was considering going to an OSW show on my next trip to Japan. I will not be doing that. Is this the best booking we can do for Crea? Anyway, it was your standard indie comedy. I mostly skipped it after seeing what type of match it’d be.

There is something about Mia. She was up against KAZUKi on her seven-match trial series, having already faced Crea, Leon and AKARI. Here, she shook KAZUKI’s hand, and then immediately jumped her with a dropkick and stiff forearms to the chest. She just has something about her. A confidence that rookies normally don’t have. Her dropkicks are good but nothing to write home about. But when I’m watching rookies, I want to see a spark, and she seems to have that. Let’s see how it pans out.

PURE-J “Rainbow Unicorn vol. 4”

4th April 2026
Itabashi Green Hall, Tokyo, Japan

The ace, six-time and current PURE-J Openweight Champion, six-time and current Daily Sports Tag Team Champion Hanako Nakamori defended her Openweight Title against Misa Kagura in the main event. Misa was dressed in all white for the special occasion, one of those touches that I truly love and why she’s one of my favourites. During the handshake before the bell, Misa decided to slap Hanako around the face rather than shake her hand, then as soon as the bell rang she launched her signature high-speed bowling ball offense. She kept on throwing herself at Hanako again and again, but as with most Hanako defences, it just took a few headkicks to put Misa away.

After the match, Hanako Nakamori nominated Crea to be her next challenger because Crea is riding a wave of momentum and that’s who she wants to face. She’s referring to Crea appearing in other promotions such as Ice Ribbon, as well as her deathmatch escapades in DIE and FREEDOMS. Crea said that she would be the one to put an end to Hanako’s era in PURE-J.

Prior to challenging Hanako Nakamori, Crea beat Ryoko Sakimura in a singles match. There were early nerves as Sakimura almost kicked Crea’s head off trying a cartwheel to get out of an arm hold as if she’s Chihiro Hashimoto. I will be a bit brutally honest and say that this performance from Sakimura was the first one since her return that reminded me of her performances in Marigold. I felt bad for Crea having to sell some of these strikes ahead of a title challenge promo later in the night.

Mia’s match against Jenne did not make tape as at the time of writing. It’s Jenne, so that’s perfectly fine.

Full Results

Jenne defeats Mia (6:40)

Crea defeats Ryoko Sakimura (11:16)

AKARI, Kaho Kobayashi & SAKI vs. Cherry, KAZUKI & Rydeen Hagane – Time Limit Draw (15:00)

Leon & Moeka Haruhi defeat Arisa Shinose & Chie Ozora (13:20)

PURE-J Openweight Title:
Hanako Nakamori (c) defeats Misa Kagura (15:00)

Back to Round-up

Oceania

Watch on YouTube

Main Location: Victoria, Australia

Melbourne City Wrestling (MCW) News

Following the 16th Anniversary show on 21st February, MCW held “New Horizons 2026” at Thornbury Theatre. Water Rapids (Mitch Waterman & Ryan Rapid) continued their run at the top of the tag team division defending the MCW Tag Team Title against The Dropouts (Scott Green & The Tuckman), the latter of whom received WWE tryouts in February. In the main event, Adam Brooks and Jarvis took on Duke Hanson and Robbie Thorpe. Following that, Adam Brooks will face Robbie Thorpe in a title match at “High Stakes 2026” on 23rd May at one of the biggest shows of the year. Whether it is Brooks’ Intercommonwealth Title or Thorpe’s World Heavyweight Title will be decided by the big wheel.

Watch on YouTube

Main Location: South Australia

Riot City Wrestling (RCW) News

RCW held three shows as part of the “Adelaide Fringe” festival from 20th February to 22nd March. “Big Top Beatdown 2026” on 7th March, “Megaslam” on 14th March and “Super Clash VIII” on 21st March. All three shows were held at The Peacock at Gluttony in Adelaide. RCW Grand Champion Dean Brady defended against Ben Braxon on the 7th and REDSHAW on the 21st.

RCW will be back on 25th April for “Powertrip 2026” where Dean Brady will be defending the RCW Grand Title against Nick Armstrong.

Watch on YouTube

Main Location: New South Wales, Australia

Pro Wrestling Australia (PWA) News

Just days before their EVE Tag Team Title match in London on 8th March, CHEVS and Jessica Troy faced each other in a Steel Cage on 6th March at “In A Cage” in Marrickville. I’ll let you figure out the timezone math. Despite the horrific jet lag they must have been experiencing, they performed great. That is just an example of how hard independent wrestlers work and why you should support them. Also at “In A Cage”, Scott Green won the “PWA Colosseum 2026”, beating Robbie Thorpe in the final.

Main Location: Australia

World Series Wrestling (WSW) News

As well as the already announced “Rise Against” tour from 15th May to 18th May, which will go from Adelaide to two stops in Melbourne and finish in Sydney, WSW announced a new “Megamania” tour from 29th October to 2nd November. The shows will be in Auckland (NZ), Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney. Only two talents have been announced so far for that tour: Andrade El Idolo and Shayna Baszler. The full talent line up for “Rise Against” is WSW Women’s Champion Ash By Elegance, WSW Tag Team Champions The Parea (Eli Theseus & Gabriel Aeros), WSW Australian Champion Matt Riddle, Ryan Nemeth, Donovan Dijak, The Good Brothers, Bishop Dyer, Nic Nemeth, Shotzi Blackheart, Priscilla Kelly, Man Like DeReiss, Killer Kross and Scarlett Bordeaux.

Rest of Asia

Watch on YouTube

Main Location: Malaysia

Malaysia Pro Wrestling (MYPW) News

To celebrate twelve years in their first show of 2026, MYPW held “New Breed 4” on 4th April at KuAsh Theatre in Kuala Lumpur. Miles Karu beat Shivam to win the Southeast Asia Title, while Carlo Cannon held onto his World Title and continued a historic reign, defeating Ares.

Main Location: Malaysia

APAC Wrestling News

The only title that Mercedes Mone did not manage to drop back to one of the independent promotions she worked with during her belt collector run was the APAC Title. Nor Phoenix Diana is APAC’s top talent and originally lost the title to Mercedes in House of Glory in the US. However, Diana had since become a WWE ID talent and WWE had sent international scout Jim Smallman to APAC’s “Edge of Glory” show on 4th April which created some political complications. Mercedes issued a statement in which she said that she and her team tried to make it work but APAC didn’t have the budget to fly her out and they weren’t open to working with other promotions. As that didn’t align with her vision, she decided to vacate the title.

APAC Wrestling owner Shaukat did deny this and said that the promotion did try to reach out to other promotions. Shaukat, one of the “Godfathers” of Malaysian pro wrestling, does have quite a personality. He has booked himself into a run where he has to be slowly convinced by the fans and those around him that actually he does deserve to be a champion of his own promotion. He also created MYPW but left to create APAC. So now read his statement with that context and decide which side may be stretching the truth.

Watch on SOOP

Main Location: Thailand

SETUP Thailand News

Matcha and Monomoth won the IWA Japan SETUP World Tag Team Title from Kaya Toribami (now Sakura Hattori) and Mayu Yamashita at “Episode 26: Real Global Impact”. In the main event, Shivam went to a time-limit draw against Chris Brookes and retained his IWA Japan SETUP World Title. “Episode 27: Absolute Mayhem” takes place on 2nd May in Bangkok.

Watch on YouTube

Main Location: Taiwan

New Taiwan Entertainment Wrestling (NTW) News

NTW has been attempting to livestream more of its shows. It’s moving towards a model where the first few hours of a big show will be free and then the rest will be paywalled, requiring a YouTube membership. The first stream ended early, which was unfortunate because I had really wanted to check out WWWD Champion Debbie Keitel against Syan Syan. The next stream was much smoother, so if you want to check out what pro wrestling is like in Taiwan, keep an eye on their YouTube.

NTW teamed with BJW and PUZZLE for “Miracle Fusion” on 1st March. Notable freelancers such as Gaia Hox, Yuya Aoki, Shigehiro Irie and Minoru Suzuki were also on the show. The main event was a Fluorescent Light Tubes Deathmatch as HAKKA and Ryuji Ito beat Abdullah Kobayashi and Mari Hana.

NTW’s next big show is “The Storm Is Coming” on 25th April. MAN BROS (Jeff Man & Kevin Man) will be on the show. They are Canadian-born twins who wrestle in Hong Kong. Their last appearance in Taiwan was in 2014. The show will take place at the usual Zhongli Dojo.

Syan Syan is wrestling again! She suffered an MCL injury on 8th February and returned in China on 21st March, and wrestled a further two matches on the MKW All-Star Wrestling Tour on 27th and 28th March. We look forward to seeing one of the best prospects back in the ring in NTW and Diana (Japan).

Watch on YouTube

Main Location: Taiwan

PUZZLE Pro Wrestling News

PUZZLE’s Willy is on tour with BJW and has competed in their Ueno Park shows.

Gaia Hox will be making an appearance at the PUZZLE Dojo on 18th April.

Main Location: Singapore

Singapore Pro Wrestling (SPW) News

On 10th April, SPW held “King’s Landing” where the biggest news wasn’t that Dr. Gore won the Singapore Title from CK Vin. Minoru Suzuki made an appearance as he defeated Da Butcherman in the main event. Of course, the show was sold out. Joshi freelancer Marika Kobashi has formed a tag team with young Singaporean wrestler Miss Selina.

Watch on YouTube

Main Location: Vietnam

Vietnam Pro Wrestling (VPW) News

China’s most followed pro wrestler, Chen Wenbin, makes his VPW debut at “Saigon Slam” on 9th May in An Phu, Ho Chi Minh City. There will also be appearances from SPW talent and Filipina wrestler Chelsea Marie. The marquee match is a group called Real Global Threat (Thai veteran Shivan, Singaporean legend Andrew “The Statement” Tang and Filipino star Jake de Leon) going up against the homegrown VPW fan favourite team of The Classic Night (Billy & Bobby) and Meteor Kid.

Watch on YouTube

Main Location: The Phillippines

Dexcon Wrestling (DXCN) News

Chris Brookes and Zack Sabre Jr. will be heading to Manila together across two days on 23rd May and 24th May. Chris will be in Sari Sari Makati for his produce show “Baka Gaijin + Friends MNL Vol. 2” while Zack will wrestle at DXCN’s event Dakila 2 at Brawlpit Bulusan.

While Minoru Suzuki was in Singapore on the 10th April, he also stopped by DXCN’s “DITO NAMAN” show to have a three-way DXCN World Title match against Jake De Leon and Ravena. The show will air on Triller with a significant delay, although they may upload some matches to YouTube too.

Watch on YouTube

Main Location: India

Wrestling Xtreme Mania (WXM) News

WXM has suffered a significant blow after co-founder and COO Jeet Rama (Satender Dagar) departed the promotion he helped build, triggering a chain of exits that has stripped the company of much of its key creative infrastructure. Former WWE and current AEW/ROH wrestler Mansoor, who had spent the past year and a half serving as WXM’s booker, head writer and showrunner, announced he would be stepping away alongside his close friend and mentor Jeet, citing their shared vision for Indian professional wrestling going forward. Creative team member Mark Dallas followed suit shortly after. Both Mansoor and Dallas were warm in their praise of the product WXM produced during their time there, and the departures appear to be amicable rather than acrimonious, with all parties wishing the promotion well. The strong hints in Mansoor’s statement that he and Jeet intend to continue working together have fuelled speculation that a new Indian wrestling venture may be on the horizon.

Main Location: China

Middle Kingdom Wrestling (MKW) News

The MKW All-Star Wrestling Tour took place over two days on 27th March and 28th March in Chongqing and Chengdu. The main event in Chongqing a champions vs. all-stars match in which Benji, Sunny Z, Ho Ho Lun and Wang Tao defended their respective titles against Coldray, Jason Lee, Shaheen & The Wonderboy (the all-stars). The All-Stars managed to pull off the win, but most importantly, Coldray and Wonderboy, who were vying for the MKW Tag Team Title scored the pinfall, so they became the new MKW Tag Team Champions. On the second night in Chengdu, Benji & Sunny Z beat Coldray and Wonderboy to win the titles back. Simple. Also in Chengdu, Shaheen won the MKW Belt & Road Title and Ho Ho Lun successfully defended his MKW World Title against fellow Dragongate wrestler Jason Lee.

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EUROPE & AFRICA

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RETRO

WrestleMania News

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Asia & Oceania

Social Suplex Newsletter No.14

April 16th 2026

Asia & Oceania

Social Suplex Newsletter No.14

April 16th 2026

STARDOM

Bitesize Round-up

Recommended Matches This Issue

“STARDOM Cinderella Finals” 2026

15th March 2026Company Announced Attendance: 1,857Yokohama Budokan, Kanagawa, JapanDesignation: Key Show

Review By Tim Hunter

Full Results

New Japan Pro Wrestling

News Round-up

By Trish Speirs

"Best of the Super Junior Tournament 33" Participants

Recommended Matches This Issue

“The New Beginning in Osaka”

11th February 2026Company Announced Attendance: 5,507EDION Arena Osaka #1, Osaka, Japan

Review By Conor McFall

Hiromu Takahashi/Taiji Ishimori vs Francesco Akira/Jacob Austin Young

Drilla Maloney/Shingo Takagi vs Great-O-Khan/HENARE

Hirooki Goto, Yoshi Hashi and Oleg Boltin vs Zack Sabre Jr., Rohei Oiwa and Hartley Jackson

Andrade vs Gabe Kidd

Callum Newman vs David Finlay

Aaron Wolf vs Ren Narita

Yuto Ice/Oskar Lube vs Yuya Uemura/Shota Umino

Yota Tsuji vs Jake Lee

Full Results

“New Japan Cup” Semi Finals and Finals

20th March 2026Company Announced Attendance: 1,906Aore Nagaoka, Niigata, Japan

Review By Conor McFall

Semi Final 1: Yuya Uemura vs Oleg Boltin

Semi Final 2: Callum Newman vs Shota Umino

Final: Callum Newman vs Yuya Uemura21st March 2026Company Announced Attendance: 3,007Aore Nagaoka, Niigata, Japan

NOAH

Bitesize Round-up

Recommended Matches This Issue

Recommended Matches of 2025

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026 Final Standings

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026 - Day 1 - 6th February 2026

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026 – Day 16th February 2026Company Announced Attendance: 1,522Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026 - Day 2 - 11th February 2026

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026 – Day 211th February 2026Company Announced Attendance: 1,598Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026 - Day 3 (AM & PM) - 14th February 2026 (*)

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026 – Day 3 (AM & PM)14th February 2026Shinagawa Prince Hotel Club eX, Tokyo, JapanRecommended Match: AMAKUSA & Black Menso-re vs. Eita & Katsumi Inahata (note, this was included in last issue)

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026 - Day 4 - 20th February 2026

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026 – Day 420th February 2026Hiroshima Industrial Hall East Exhibition Hall, Hiroshima, Japan

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026 - Day 5 - 21st February 2026

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026 – Day 521st February 2026Sun Arena Sendai, Miyagi, Japan

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026 - Day 6 - 22nd February 2026

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026 – Day 622nd February 2026Grand Messe Kumamoto, Kumamoto, Japan

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026 - Day 7 - 23rd February 2026

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026 – Day 723rd February 2026ACROS Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Japan

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026 - Day 8 - 1st March 2026 (*)

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026 – Finals1st March 2026Company Announced Attendance: 1,396Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, JapanRecommended Match: Alejandro & Dragon Bane vs. Alpha Wolf & Kai Fujimura

“APEX CONQUEST”

8th March 2026Company Announced Attendance: 1,904Yokohama Budokan, Kanagawa, JapanDesignation: Key ShowRecommended Matches: Kenoh vs. Yoshiki Inamura

Full Results

OZAWA lays down the challenge to Naito - 20th March 2026

20th March 2026Kobe Sambo Hall, Hyogo, Japan

Wolf and Inamura continue their previews - 21st March 2026

21st March 2026KBS Hall, Kyoto, Japan

OZAWA continues taunting Naito - 22nd March 2026

22nd March 2026Umeda Sky Building Stella Hall, Osaka, Japan

Tetsuya Naito meets OZAWA in the ring - 25th March 2026

25th March 2026Shinagawa Stellar Ball, Tokyo, Japan

Korakuen Previews - 27th March 2026

27th March 2026Shinjuku FACE, Tokyo, Japan

Daga waves goodbye at Korakuen - 1st April 2026

1st April 2026Company Announced Attendance: 1,012Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan

Rookie Hiroto Tsuruya main events against Inamura - 4th April 2026

4th April 2026Tokyo Tama Future Messe, Tokyo, Japan

Another Naito and OZAWA meeting - 5th April 2026

15th March 2026
Company Announced Attendance: 1,857
Yokohama Budokan, Kanagawa, Japan
Designation: Key Show

11th February 2026
Company Announced Attendance: 5,507
EDION Arena Osaka #1, Osaka, Japan

20th March 2026
Company Announced Attendance: 1,906
Aore Nagaoka, Niigata, Japan

Final: Callum Newman vs Yuya Uemura
21st March 2026
Company Announced Attendance: 3,007
Aore Nagaoka, Niigata, Japan

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026 – Day 1
6th February 2026
Company Announced Attendance: 1,522
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026 – Day 2
11th February 2026
Company Announced Attendance: 1,598
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026 – Day 3 (AM & PM)
14th February 2026
Shinagawa Prince Hotel Club eX, Tokyo, Japan
Recommended Match: AMAKUSA & Black Menso-re vs. Eita & Katsumi Inahata (note, this was included in last issue)

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026 – Day 4
20th February 2026
Hiroshima Industrial Hall East Exhibition Hall, Hiroshima, Japan

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026 – Day 5
21st February 2026
Sun Arena Sendai, Miyagi, Japan

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026 – Day 6
22nd February 2026
Grand Messe Kumamoto, Kumamoto, Japan

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026 – Day 7
23rd February 2026
ACROS Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Japan

NOAH Junior Tag League 2026 – Finals
1st March 2026
Company Announced Attendance: 1,396
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Recommended Match: Alejandro & Dragon Bane vs. Alpha Wolf & Kai Fujimura

8th March 2026
Company Announced Attendance: 1,904
Yokohama Budokan, Kanagawa, Japan
Designation: Key Show
Recommended Matches: Kenoh vs. Yoshiki Inamura

20th March 2026
Kobe Sambo Hall, Hyogo, Japan

21st March 2026
KBS Hall, Kyoto, Japan

22nd March 2026
Umeda Sky Building Stella Hall, Osaka, Japan

25th March 2026
Shinagawa Stellar Ball, Tokyo, Japan

27th March 2026
Shinjuku FACE, Tokyo, Japan

1st April 2026
Company Announced Attendance: 1,012
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan

4th April 2026
Tokyo Tama Future Messe, Tokyo, Japan

5th April 2026
Fujisan Messe, Shizuoka, Japan

12th April 2026
Company Announced Attendance: 1,280
Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena, Aichi, Japan
Recommended Match: Alpha Wolf vs. Yoshiki Inamura
Designation: Key Show

Universe Magic 1st Round
9th March 2026
Shinjuku FACE, Tokyo, Japan
Recommended Match: Mayu Iwatani, Mika Iwata & Mio Momono vs. Miyuki Takase, Utami Hayashishita & Takumi Iroha

Universe Magic 2nd Round
6th April 2026
Shinjuku FACE, Tokyo, Japan
Recommended Match: Women’s Battle Royal (if familiar with the characters)

14th February 2026
Company Announced Attendance: 732
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Recommended Match: Mifu Ashida & Yuki Arai vs. Miu Watanabe & Rika Tatsumi

21st February 2026
Kobe Art Center, Hyogo, Japan

22nd February 2026
Okayama Mirai Hall, Okayama, Japan

28th February 2026
Kariya Industrial Promotion Center Aioi Hall, Aichi, Japan
Recommended Match: Arisu Endo, Shino Suzuki & Yuki Arai vs. Haru Kazashiro, Miu Watanabe & Yuki Aino

7th March 2026
Shin-Kiba 1st RING, Tokyo, Japan
Recommended Match: HIMAWARI, Shino Suzuki & Yuki Arai vs. Miu Watanabe, Toga & Uta Takami

15th March 2026
Ryogoku KFC Hall, Tokyo, Japan

17th March 2026
Company Announced Attendance: 1,951
Palmer Events Center Exhibition Hall, Austin, Texas
Recommended Match: Arisu Endo & Miyu Yamashita vs. Mizuki & Yuki Aino

18th March 2026
Company Announced Attendance: 1,561
Palmer Events Center Exhibition Hall, Austin, Texas
Recommended Match: Miyu Yamashita vs. Shoko Nakajima

21st March 2026
Company Announced Attendance: 1,481
College Park Center, University of Texas at Arlington, Dallas, Texas
Recommended Match: Miu Watanabe & Miyu Yamashita vs. Shoko Nakajima & Yuki Arai

22nd March 2026
Company Announced Attendance: 415 (sold out)
Post Houston, Houston, Texas

29th March 2026
Company Announced Attendance: 3,089 (new company record)
Ryogoku Kokugikan, Tokyo, Japan
Recommended Matches: Arisu Endo & Miyu Yamashita vs. Sareee & Takumi Iroha, MIRAI vs. Suzume, Miu Watanabe vs. Yuki Arai
Designation: Key Show

4th April 2026
Fukuchiyama Sandanike Park General Gymnasium, Kyoto, Japan

5th April 2026
ACROS Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Japan

9th April 2026
Ueno Park, Tokyo, Japan

Vancouver – Day 1
11th April 2026
Great Canadian Hastings Racecourse & Casino, Vancouver, Canada

22nd February 2026
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Recommended Matches: Kazuma Sumi vs. Takeshi Masada, Kaisei Takechi vs. Yuki Ueno
Designation: Key Show

28th February 2026
Yokohama Radiant Hall, Kanagawa, Japan
Recommended Match: To-y vs. Yuki Ishida

7th March 2026
Imaike Gas Hall, Aichi, Japan

7th March 2026
Imaike Gas Hall, Aichi, Japan
Recommended Match: Daichi Satoh vs. Takeshi Masada

8th March 2026
176BOX, Osaka, Japan
Recommended Match: KANON vs. To-y

11th March 2026
Shinjuku FACE, Tokyo, Japan
Recommended Match: paleyouth (Daichi Satoh, Takeshi Masada & Yuya Koroku) vs. 37KAMIINA (To-y & Yuki Ueno) & Kaisei Takechi