PURO.NEWS

News Round-Up (September 17 – September 27)

A-TEAM: Tomohiko Hashimoto defends the WEW Heavyweight title against Super Tiger on 11/22.

2AW: Ayato Yoshida defended the Openweight title against Kaji Tomato on 9/22 (14:08). The next challenger is Taishi Takizawa on 10/16. Kengo Mashimo & Tatsuya Hanami defended the Tag titles against Shu Asakawa & Taishi Takizawa (23:26).

Niigata Pro: Ryuichi Kawakami defends the Openweight title against Shigeno Shima on 10/24. Great Kojika & Shigeno Shima defend the Tag titles against Ryuichi Kawakami & Kazumi Kikuta on 10/25.

AJPW: The Champion Carnival final on 10/5 will be Zeus vs. Kento Miyahara.

DDT: Naomi Yoshimura & Yuki Ueno defended the Tag titles against Chris Brookes & Drew Parker (11:00) on 9/27. Shinya Aoki defended the Extreme title against Antonio Honda (9:45).

ZERO1: Tamura Hayato defended the World Heavyweight title against Towa Iwasaki (18:08) on 9/18.

The full lineup and blocks for this year’s Fire Festival have been announced. It runs from 10/2 at Shinjuku FACE to the final at Korakuen Hall on 11/1.

Block A:
Yuji Hino
Takuya Sugawara
Yoshikazu Yokoyama
Towa Iwasaki
Hartley Jackson
T-Hawk
Quiet Storm

Block B:
Masato Tanaka
Chris Vice
Ganseki Tanaka
Yuko Miyamoto
Tamura Hayato
Shogun Okamoto
Tsugutaka Sato

BASARA: Fuminori Abe defended the Union MAX title against Ryota Nakatsu in 14:15 on 9/22. Brahman Kei is the next challenger on 9/29. Speed of Sounds defended the Tag titles against Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino (9:30).

NOAH: Haoh challenges Kotaro Suzuki for the GHC Junior Heavyweight title on 10/11. Atsushi Kotoge & Daisuke Harada challenge Yoshinari Ogawa & HAYATA for the GHC Junior Tag titles.

JTO: rhythm will re-debut on 10/16.

FREEDOMS: Kamui & Kenji Fukimoto challenge Mammoth Sasaki & Violento Jack for the Tag titles on 10/4.

SEAdLINNG: Yoshiko defended the BEYOND THE SEA title against Sareee in 22:00 on 9/24.

Ice Ribbon: Suzu Suzuki defended the Infinity title against Tsukushi (16:35) on 9/20. Risa Sera beat Syuri (8:14) to retain the FantastICE title in a No Rope Lumberjack match. Ram Kaicho defended the Triangle Ribbon title against Lady Koju (Koju Takeda) and Satsuki Totoro in 7:28.
Risa Sera & Suzu Suzuki challenge Hiragi Kurumi & Mochi Miyagi for the Tag title on 10/3, as well as Ram Kaicho defends the Triangle title against Akane Fujita and ASUKAMA.

AWG: Riko Kawabata announced that she left AWG on 9/3. She intends to work as a freelancer from now on.

News Round-Up (September 6 – September 16)

ZERO1: Tamura Hayato defends the World Heavyweight title against Towa Iwasaki on 9/18.

BJW: Yuji Okabayashi challenges Daichi Hashimoto for the World Strong title on 10/21. On the same show Masaya Takahashi challenges Minoru Fujita for the Deathmatch Heavyweight title and Tatsuhiko Yoshino challenges Yuya Aoki for the Junior Heavyweight title.

Asuka Pro: The company will suspend all activities after their show on 9/30. Its owner Akira Shinose needs to be hospitalized in October since his brain tumor, which already caused his retirement as a wrestler, is slightly enlarged.

DDT: Eruption defended the KO-D Six Man titles against Danshoku Dino, Seigo Tachibana & Yoshiko on 9/7, while Chris Brookes defended the Universal title against Drew Parker in a No DQ match. Afterwards Brookes & Parker announced a challenge for the KO-D Tag Team titles. The match will take place on 9/27.
At the end of the show Tetsuya Endo nominated Daisuke Sasaki for the title match on 11/3.

A-TEAM: MIKAMI & HASEGAWA beat Takumi Sakurai & Brian Ishizaka for the WEW Tag Team titles on 9/6. Nobutaka Moribe defended the WEW Junior Heavyweight title against Keiichi Sato in 12:07.

BASARA: Speed of Sounds defended the IRON FIST Tag titles against Takumi Tsukamoto & Yasu Urano (20:18) on 9/8. Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino will be the next challengers on 9/22 at Korakuen Hall.

Ice Ribbon: Hiragi Kurumi & Mochi Miyagi defended the tag titles against Akane Fujita & Minoru Fujita on 9/13 (13:56).

TJPW: Mirai Maiumi & Suzume challenge Miu Watanabe & Rika Tatsumi for the tag titles on 9/21.

WAVE: Nagisa Nozaki defended the Regina di WAVE title against Sakura Hirota in 14:26 on 9/6.

AWG: Miyuki Takase defends the AWG title against Kakeru Sekiguchi on 10/18.

SEAdLINNNG: Arisa Nakajima & Tsukasa Fujimoto challenge Hiroyo Matsumoto & Yoshiko for the tag titles on 10/03.

OZ Academy: AKINO & Sonoko Kato defended the tag titles against Kaori Yoneyama & Yuu on 9/6 in 18:39.

MISC: Katsuzaki Shunosuke, Moehiko Harumisawa & Washi Sakurai beat Ken Ohka, Yumehito Imanari & Miss Mongol to become the new GWC Six Man champions at Ganbare on 9/12. Asuka defended the Independent World Junior Heavyweight title against Shinichiro Tominaga.

All SamuraiTV dates for October have been added to the TV calender.

Samson Miyamoto (real name Takashi Miyamoto), former chairman of New Nemuro Pro Wrestling, has died on September 11 at the age of 55.

Riki Choshu’s music album “GET OVER” from 1986 will be reprinted and re-released on September 23.

News Round-Up (August 29 – September 5)

2AW: Kengo Mashimo & Tatsuya Hanami defended the Tag Team titles against Tank Nagai & Ayame Sasamura on 9/4 (21:19).
Ayato Yoshida defends the Openweight title against Kaji Tomato on 9/22. On the same show Kengo Mashimo & Tatsuya Hanami defend the Tag Team titles against Shu Asakawa & Taishi Takizawa.

ZERO1: New Heavyweight champion Tamura Hayato (JTO), who was supposed to defend the title against Towa Iwasaki on 9/4, had to be taken to the hospital with a concussion and dehydration after his title win. Therefore he is off of all upcoming shows.
Shoki Kitamura beat HUB on 9/4 to become the new Double Crown Junior champion in 13:49.

FREEDOMS: Kamui beat Yuya Susumu in 11:47 on 8/31 to become the new UWA World Junior Heavyweight champion. On the same show Toru Sugiura defended the KFC title against Jun Kasai (19:39) and Mammoth Sasaki & Violento Jack defeated Minoru Fujita & Rina Yamashita (14:11) to defend the KFC Tag titles. After the match Yamashita joined the “unchain” stable. Takashi Sasaki will be Toru Sugiura’s next challenger on 10/4.

NOAH: Kazushi Sakuraba & Takashi Sugiura beat Go Shiozaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima (33:16) for the vacant GHC Tag titles on 8/30. On the same show Kotaro Suzuki defended the GHC Junior title against Seiki Yoshioka (17:05) and HAYATA & Yoshinari Ogawa defended the GHC Junior Tag titles against Atsushi Kotogo & Hajime Ohara.

AJPW: Koji Iwamoto defended the AJPW Junior Heavyweight title against Dan Tamura in 12:54 on 8/30. Suwama & Shuji Ishikawa defended the Tag Team titles against Kento Miyahara & Jiro “Ikemen” Kuroshio (27:38).

PURE-J: Leon defended the Openweight title against KAZUKI in 17:44 on 8/30. On the same show Hanako Nakamori & Rina Yamashita defended the Daily Sports Tag titles against Momo Tani & Rydeen Hagane (16:38).

Ice Ribbon: Syuri challenges Risa Sera for the FantastICE title on 9/20 in a no rope Lumberjack match. Tsukushi challenges Suzu Suzuki for the Infinity title.

OZ Academy: Kaori Yoneyama & Yuu challenge AKINO & Sonoko Kato for the tag titles on 9/6.

Diana: All three titles changed hands at the show on 8/30. Jaguar Yokota beat Sakura Hirota and Kyoko Inoue to become the new Queen Elizabeth champion. Haruka Umesaki & Miyuki Takase beat Kaoru Ito & Tomoko Watanabe for the Tag titles. And Asuka beat Ayako Sato for the World title, the rematch will take place on 10/11 at Korakuen Hall.

MISC: An Chamu has announced that she will undergo surgery for cervical cancer at the beginning of September.

The postponed joint Ice Ribbon & AWG show will now take place on 11/16 at Korakuen Hall.

News Round-Up (August 16 – August 28)

ZERO1: Tenkaichi tournament winner Shoki Kitamura challenges HUB for the Junior Double Crown on 9/4.
On 8/27 Tamura Hayato beat Chris Vice for the ZERO1 World Heavyweight title in 20:19. Towa Iwasaki will be his first challenger. On the same show Towa Iwasaki & Tsugutaka Sato defended the NWA Intercontinental Tag Team titles against Shinjiro Otani & Yumehito Imanari (18:09).
Ganseki Tanaka has officially joined ZERO1. He’s now using his real name, Takafumi.

VKF: Hiroaki Taniguchi beat Goa on 8/16 in 18:56 to become the new King Of Wrestle Naniwa champion. His first defense will be against Quiet Storm on 10/31.

FREEDOMS: Additionally to the KFC and KFC Tag title matches, Kamui challenges Yuya Susumu for the UWA World Junior Heavyweight title on 8/31.

DDT: Tetsuya Endo beat T-Hawk to win this year’s King of DDT tournament on 8/23. Since he is the champion he got to pick a challenger and chose Kenny Omega for 11/3. Kenny likely won’t be able to enter the country so he’ll pick another challenger soon.

BJW: Ryuichi Sekine replaces Masashi Takeda as Takumi Tsukamoto’s partner in the Saikyou Tag League.

BASARA: Fuminori Abe defended the Union MAX title against Daiki Shimomura on 8/25 in 19:10. The next challenger is Ryota Nakatsu on 9/22 at Korakuen Hall.

OZ Academy: Mayumi Ozaki defended the Openweight title against Saori Anou on 8/28 in 25:30. On the same show Hiroyo Matsumoto defended the Blast Queen title. The show airs 9/13 on GAORA.

SEAdLINNNG: Yoshiko defends the Beyond The Sea title against Sareee on 9/24.

MISC: Asuka beat Hagane Shinnou for the Independent Junior Heavyweight title on 8/22 in 16:17 at Ganbare Pro. Shinichiro Tominaga challenged her afterwards, the match will take place on 9/12.

Yanagase Pro are running the Yanagase KING tournament from 9/12 to 11/14. You can see the participants below.

The new LIDET promotion is called GLEAT and will have their first show on 10/15 at Korakuen Hall.

On 8/27 nine Joshi promotions came together to announce the founding of Assemble, a group of several promotions which will hold their first show on 10/1 at Ueno Park. The show was completely sold out within hours. You can find more information on their homepage: https://assemble.theshop.jp/

News Round-Up (August 10 – August 15)

BJW: Takayuki Ueki returns to action on 9/9 at Shinkiba 1st RING. Meanwhile Frank Atsushi announced he’ll take an indefinite break from wrestling/refereeing at the end of September for personal reasons. He mentioned that his second child was born in June.
Daichi Hashimoto defended the Strong Heavyweight title against Akira Hyodo on 8/10 (17:28), Shigehiro Irie challenged him afterwards. In the main event Takuya Nomura & Fuminori Abe beat Daisuke Sekimoto & Kohei Sato in 19:47 to become the new BJW Tag Team champions.
On the show they also announced the Saikyou Tag League Lineup, which will be a knock out tournament this year. You can see the brackets for the Death and Strong blocks below.

Niigata Pro: The promotion will return on 9/12 & 9/13 with two shows for the first time in seven months. Ryuichi Kawakami defends the Openweight title against Big THE Ryokan on 9/12. On 9/13 Abdullah Kobayashi & Kazumi Kikuta challenge Shigeno Shima & Great Kojika for the Tag Team titles.

ZERO1: This year’s Fire Festival runs from 10/2 at Shinjuku FACE to 11/1 at Korakuen Hall with a total of eight shows.

Dotonbori Pro: On 8/10 Rapid beat Billy Ken Kid in the final of the Saikyou Otoko tournament. He will challenge Kazuaki Mihara for the WDW title on 9/6. Taiyoto Kamen challenges Osamu Suganuma for the WDWW title while Captain Amemura & Ultimate Spider Jr. challenge Kazuaki Mihara & Katsumi Oribe for the WDW Tag titles.

NOAH: Go Shiozaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima battle Kazushi Sakuraba & Takashi Sugiura for the vacant tag titles on 8/30.

2AW: Kotaro Yoshino tested positive for COVID-19 so they had to cancel the shows on the 16th, 20th and 23rd.

DDT: Naomi Yoshimura & Yuki Ueno defended the KO-D Tag titles against MIKAMI & Tanomusaku Toba (18:50) on 8/15.

BASARA: Fuminori Abe defends the Union MAX title against Daiki Shimomura on 8/25.

HEAT-UP: The company decided to cancel the upcoming Korakuen Hall show on 10/6.

Diana: Kyoko Inoue returns to action on 8/30.

PURE-J: Hanako Nakamori & Rina Yamashita beat Makoto & Moeka Haruhi on 8/10 to become the new Daily Sports tag team champions.

WAVE: HIRO’e’s retirement has been moved to 9/18 at Korakuen Hall.

MISC: DRADITION have cancelled their October 23 (Korakuen Hall) and 25 (Osaka) shows due to concerns regarding the new spike in COVID-19 cases.

All TV dates from SamuraiTV’s September schedule have been added to the TV calendar.

The main event of Atsushi Onita’s Korakuen Hall show on 8/25 will be a Hardcore match between Rocky Kawamura, Atsushi Onita & Yuko Miyamoto and NOSAWA Rongai, Takashi Sugiura & Kaz Hayashi.

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