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New Japan Pro Wrestling
New Japan Pro Wrestling held the second night of Castle Attack today in Osaka-j? Hall.
The full results were:
• Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima def. Jeff Cobb and Will Ospreay
• Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano def. Chase Owens, EVIL and Jay White
• IWGP Tag Team Championships: Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa (c) def. Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI
• NEVER Openweight Championship: Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) def. Great-O-Khan
• IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: El Desperado def. BUSHI & El Phantasmo
• IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Kota Ibushi (c) def. Tetsuya Naito
Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa made their second successful defense of the IWGP Tag Team Championships against Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI.
Hiroshi Tanahashi made his first successful defense of the NEVER Openweight Championship against Great-O-Khan.
El Desperado won the vacant IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship after defeating BUSHI and El Phantasmo in a three-way match.
Kota Ibushi made his third successful defense of the IWGP Intercontinental Championship against Tetsuya Naito in the main event. El Desperado challenged Ibushi to a match at New Japan’s Anniversary Event on March 4 in the Nippon Budokan after the main event.
The Anniversary Event is traditionally headlined by the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship holder facing the IWGP Heavyweight Championship holder in a non-title match, with recent examples including Jay White versus Will Ospreay in 2019 and Kazuchika Okada versus Ospreay in 2018.
Hiromu Takahashi was scheduled to face Naito at last year’s Anniversary Event but the show was cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic.
Unlike previous years however, El Desperado challenged Ibushi to put the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and IWGP Intercontinental Championship on the line. Should the match take place, it would be Ibushi’s third defense of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and fourth defense of the IWGP Intercontinental Championship.
Although, Ibushi has repeatedly mentioned wanting to unify the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and IWGP Intercontinental Championship. Naito specifically challenged for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship because he did not want the unification to happen. After Naito’s loss today, one has to wonder if the unification is simply a formality at this point.
El Desperado and Ibushi also have a history together. When El Desperado returned from excursion at Wrestle Kingdom 8 in 2014, he challenged Ibushi for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. Ibushi retained the title against El Desperado at The New Beginning In Osaka a month later and it remains their own singles match to date.
The match would also be the second time El Desperado has headlined the Nippon Budokan in three months. He lost to Takahashi in the Best of the Super Juniors final on December 11 in the legendary arena.
It would also be the first time El Desperado has challenged for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship or IWGP Intercontinental Championship. It is very rare to see a junior heavyweight wrestler challenge for the either title. Prior to the introduction of the double title concept, the last time it happened was when Prince Devitt (now Finn Bálor in WWE) faced Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in July 2013.
DDT Pro-Wrestling
DDT Pro-Wrestling held a show in Korakuen Hall today.
The full results were:
• Toi Kojima and Yusuke Okada def. Keigo Nakamura and Yuki Ueno
• Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship: Young Bucks’ autobiography (c) vs. Antonio Honda vs. Danshoku Dieno vs. Kazuki Hirata vs. Saki Akai
• HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi and Yukio Naya def. Daisuke Sasaki, Mad Paulie and Nobuhiro Shimatani
• Soma Takao, Tetsuya Endo and Yuji Hino def. Akito, Konosuke Takeshita and Yuki Iino
• Chris Brookes, Kazusada Higuchi and Yukio Sakaguchi def. Hideki Okatani, Jun Akiyama and Makoto Oishi
• DDT Extreme Championship deathmatch: Shunma Katsumata (c) def. MAO
Taking fantasy booking to an unprecedented literal level, the Young Bucks’ autobiography lost the Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship to Saki Akai’s photo book.
The photo book, titled Lip Hip Shake, was originally released in 2006. The internet wrestling community has not yet caused a riot over something from 15 years ago being rehashed.
It was announced during today’s show that All Out will officially disband after a farewell match at DDT’s show on March 12 in Shin-Kiba 1st Ring.
The group – comprised of Akito, Konosuke Takeshita, Shunma Katsumata and Yuki Iino – had been on an extended hiatus until Yuki Iino’s return at Kawasaki Strong 2021 on February 14.
While the farewell match has not been announced yet, one has to assume it will be a tag team match involving all four men.
Katsumata made his first successful defense of the DDT Extreme Championship against MAO in the main event. MAO previously had an undefeated 5-0 record against Katsumata, the most recent match being MAO’s return from a left MCL injury at Ultimate Party 2020 last November.
The bout was not a traditional deathmatch. It was competed under “Sauna Count Edition” rules: no countout or rope escapes, all weapons already in the ring at the start of the match are legal, any outside weapons are only legal if the referee seems it safe for children and a culminate 37-count wins the match (as translated by the excellent DDT/TJPW English Update account here).
With Katsumata venturing further into deathmatch wrestling, such as competing in the Ikkitousen Deathmatch Survivor tournament, it will be interesting to see how the DDT Extreme Championship is handled moving forward.
Chris Brookes challenged Katsumata after the main event. The match will take place at DDT’s show on March 14 in Korakuen Hall.
Dragon Gate
Dragon Gate held its final Truth Gate 2021 tour show today in Fukuyama Big Rose.
The full results were:
• Diamante, Eita and SB KENTo def. Kzy, Susumu Yokosuka and U-T
• Ben-K and Keisuke Okuda def. BxB Hulk and H.Y.O
• Genki Horiguchi and Ultimo Dragon def. Shuji Kondo and Yasushi Kanda
• Dragon Kid, Shachihoko Boy and YAMATO def. Bokutimo Dragon, Punch Tominaga and Ryo Saito
• Jason Lee, Kota Minoura, La Estrella and Shun Skywalker def. Dia Inferno, KAI, Kaito Ishida and KAZMA SAKAMOTO
Dragon Gate has announced the full cards for its first three Glorious Gate 2021 tour shows on March 2 in Mercure Hotel Yokosuka, March 3 in Fureai Cube Kasukabe and March 4 in Korakuen Hall.
The full cards are:
March 2 in Mercure Hotel Yokosuka
• Bokutimo Dragon, Masaaki Mochizuki and Ryo Saito vs. Jason Lee, Kagetora and Shachihoko Boy
• Ben-K and Dragon Kid vs. Kenichiro Arai and Ultimo Dragon
• Eita and H.Y.O vs. Keisuke Okuda and YAMATO
• Diamante and Kaito Ishida vs. Kota Minoura and Shun Skywalker
• BxB Hulk, Diamante, HipHop Kikuta and SB KENTo vs. Genki Horiguchi, Kzy, Susumu Yokosuka and U-T
March 3 in Fureai Cube Kasukabe
• Ben-K, Keisuke Okuda and Kenichiro Arai vs. Kota Minoura, Masaaki Mochizuki and Shachihoko Boy
• Diamante and H.Y.O vs. Kagetora and Ultimo Dragon
• Bokutimo Dragon and Ryo Saito vs. Dragon Kid and YAMATO
• BxB Hulk and Kaito Ishida vs. Jason Lee and Shun Skywalker
• Dia Inferno, Eita, HipHop Kikuta and SB KENTo vs. Genki Horiguchi, Kzy, Susumu Yokosuka and U-T
March 4 in Korakuen Hall
• Don Fujii, Gamma, Shuji Kondo and Yosuke Santa Maria vs. Genki Horiguchi, Kzy, Susumu Yokosuka and U-T
• Bokutimo Dragon and Ultimo Dragon vs. Diamante and KAZMA SAKAMOTO
• Ben-K and Keisuke Okuda vs. BxB Hulk and H.Y.O vs. Kenichiro Arai and Yasushi Kanda vs. Masaaki Mochizuki and Takashi Yoshida
• Dia Inferno, Eita, HipHop Kikuta and Kaito Ishida vs. Jason Lee, Kagetora, Kota Minoura and Shun Skywalker
• Dragon Kid vs. SB KENTo
• KAI vs. YAMATO
Big Japan Pro Wrestling
Big Japan Pro Wrestling has announced the full cards for its March 8, 13 and 14 and April 3 shows.
The full cards are:
March 8 in Korakuen Hall
• Daichi Hashimoto and Takuya Nomura vs. Takuho Kato and Yuya Aoki
• Isami Kodaka, Kazuki Hashimoto and Masaki Morihiro vs. Kosuke Sato, Kota Sekifuda and Tatsuhiko Yoshino
• Daisuke Sekimoto, Ryota Hama and Yasufumi Nakanoue vs. Kazumi Kikuta, Shigehiro Irie and Yuji Okabayashi
• Deathmatch: Akira Hyodo and Kankuro Hoshino vs. Hideyoshi Kamitani and Masaya Takahashi
• Deathmatch: Drew Parker, Jaki Numazawa and Masashi Takeda vs. Minoru Fujita, Ryuji Ito and Yuki Ishikawa
• Ikkitousen Deathmatch Survivor A Block: Abdullah Kobayashi vs. Violento Jack
• Ikkitousen Deathmatch Survivor A Block: Takumi Tsukamoto vs. Yuko Miyamoto
March 13 in Niigata
• Great Kojika and Yuichi Taniguchi vs. Jaki Numazawa and Masaki Morihiro
• Kosuke Sato and Takuya Nomura vs. Takuho Kato and Yasufumi Naknaoue
• Drew Parker and Yuki Ishikawa vs. Keiki Suzuki and Kota Sekifuda
• Daichi Hashimoto and Yuya Aoki vs. Kazumi Kikuta and Ryuichi Kawakami
• Akira Hyodo, Kankuro Hoshino and Kazuki Hashimoto vs. Big THE Ryokan, Hideyoshi Kamitani and Ryuji Ito
• Niigata Openweight Championship: Shigeno Shima (c) vs. Abdullah Kobayashi
March 14 in Niigata
• Kota Sekifuda vs. Takuho Kato
• Kazuki Hashimoto vs. Yasufumi Nakanoue
• Akira Hyodo and Kankuro Hoshino vs. Ryuji Ito and Yuki Ishikawa
• Drew Parker and Keiki Suzuki vs. Kosuke Sato and Takuya Nomura
• Niigata Tag Team Championships: Great Kojika and Shigeno Shima (c) vs. Abdullah Kobayashi and Jaki Numazawa
• Yokohama Shopping Street 6-Man Tag Team Championships: Daichi Hashimoto, Hideyoshi Kamitani and Yuya Aoki (c) vs. Big THE Ryokan, Kazumi Kikuta and Ryuichi Kawakami
April 3 in Twin Messe Shizuoka
• Kazumi Kikuta and Kosuke Sato vs. Masaki Morihiro and Takuho Kato
• Manami Katsu vs. Mari Manji
• Akira Hyodo, Drew Parker and Yuko Miyamoto vs. Abdullah Kobayashi, Jaki Numazawa and Ryuji Ito
• Ikkitousen Deathmatch Survivor C Block: Kankuro Hoshino vs. Minoru Fujita
• Ikkitousen Deathmatch Survivor C Block: Hideyoshi Kamitani vs. Yuki Ishikawa
Daichi Hashimoto, Hideyoshi Kamitani and Yuya Aoki will attempt their first defense of the Yokohama Shopping Street 6-Man Tag Team Championships against Big THE Ryokan, Kazumi Kikuta and Ryuichi Kawakami on March 14.
Active Advance Pro Wrestling
Active Advance Pro Wrestling held a show in 2AW Square today.
The full results were:
• Tatsuya Hanami def. Takuro Niki
• Ayame Sasamura and Chibayan def. Chicharito Shoki and Ricky Fuji
• Kengo Mashimo and Kunio Toshima def. Hiroshi Yamato and Kyu Mogami
• Daiju Wakamatsu trial series: Minoru Fujita def. Daiju Wakamatsu
• Kaji Tamato and Shu Asakawa def. Ayato Yoshida and Tank Nagai & Taishi Takizawa and Taylor Adams
2AW has announced the full card for its show on March 7 in 2AW Square. The full card is:
• Ricky Fuji vs. Taylor Adams
• Kengo Mashimo and Tatsuya Hanami vs. Taishi Takizawa and Takuro Niki
• Ayumu Honda and Shigehiro Irie vs. Hiroshi Yamato and Kyu Mogami
• Kunio Toshima vs. Tank Nagai
• Ayame Sasamura, Ayato Yoshida and Kotaro Yoshino vs. Kaji Tomato, Naka Shuma and Shu Asakawa
CROWN
CROWN held its debut show – ONESTEPvol1 – in Kanzaki today.
The full results were:
• Daisuke Sekimoto, Naoki Sakurajima and Shiro Koshinaka def. Kodai Nozaki, Kohei Sato and Yoshiaki Fujiwara
• Hitamaru Sasaki and Hide Kubota def. Shogun Okamoto and TARU via DQ
• SHINGO def. Yuko Miyamoto
• SUGI def. Fuminori Abe
Shogun Okamoto and TARU lost via disqualification after TARU threw powder at Hitamaru Sasaki and Hide Kubota. Okamoto asked Sasaki for a rematch in Kyushu Pro Wrestling.
Okamoto and TARU also attacked Towa Iwasaki, who was ringside but did not wrestle on the show.
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