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Kazuyuki Fujita spent his 30th anniversary the way he has spent most of his career: ending a match with the Beast Bomb.
On the 1st, 30 years to the day since his debut, Fujita teamed with Naomichi Marufuji to face Kenoh, who challenges Tetsuya Naito for the GHC Heavyweight Championship on 9 November, and Black Menso-re. Before the bell, Marufuji presented him with a celebratory bouquet in the ring.
It was a fitting tribute. Fujita joined New Japan from the Nihon University wrestling team in 1996 and trained under the late Antonio Inoki. He climbed high in MMA, rose to the top of New Japan by winning the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, and captured the GHC Heavyweight Championship from Katsuhiko Nakajima in February 2022, officially joining NOAH.
Anniversary or not, he was in no mood to hold back. He hit a double lariat on both opponents, then showered Menso-re with a brainbuster, a lariat and a face kick that knocked off his mask, before finishing him with the Beast Bomb.
Afterwards, he took the microphone and thanked the fans. “Thirty years ago today, I jumped into this world, looking up to my great master and senior wrestlers... The reason I am able to stand in this ring today is all thanks to the warm cheers of the fans.”
He bowed his head and the venue responded with applause. He also thanked CyberFight and NOAH for giving him the opportunity.
#noah_ghc
The new Japanese book “Fallen Castle” tells the story of All Japan Women’s Pro Wrestling, the promotion that inspired Netflix’s The Queen of Villains.
For 37 years, AJW produced more than 170 wrestlers and ruled the joshi scene, creating crazes through the Beauty Pair, the Crush Gals and more. Yet it collapsed with debts of roughly 3.5 billion yen.
Chigusa Nagayo hated the founders, the Matsunaga brothers, and loved them too.
Nagayo, who rose to fame in the Crush Gals, knows the system better than most. From 1968, the promotion belonged solely to the four Matsunaga brothers, and she says it was run on ruthless principles. Wrestlers were told not to watch men’s wrestling and arguments were crushed. They joined in their teens, with nowhere else to go. “Never turn away those who come, never pursue those who leave.”
Her verdict is a complicated one. “Zenjo (AJW) was a strange company," she told WEB The Television. "But without that, you couldn’t raise monsters. I was one of those monsters myself, and Zenjo was a monster factory.”
Until the Crush Gals exploded in popularity, she was repeatedly told there were plenty of people to replace her. When she retired in May 1989, the fourth brother, Kunimatsu, asked her to stay on and assist as a booker. She refused and her response shaped the rest of her career. She launched GAEA Japan in 1994, determined to make them realise what a big fish they had let get away.
Today, after 46 years in women’s wrestling and a decade of running Marvelous, she still hears the echoes. “I’ve denied Zenjo in the past, but inside of me, that ‘Zenjo-ism’ might still be flowing.”
Atsushi Onita doesn’t plan to slow down at 70 and he says he doesn’t mind where it ends.
After beating The Great Sasuke, Onita spoke to Battle-News about the mark the two men have left on the Japanese independent scene.
Sasuke’s Michinoku Pro became Japan’s first regional powerhouse in Tohoku and helped popularise lucharesu, while FMW is still talked about today for all sorts of reasons. Onita believes they’re the reason promotions cropped up across different regions in Japan.
He had warm words for his old rival. “Sasuke’s greatness lies in his generous spirit and his vast repertoire. A wrestler who can do anything is truly wonderful. It was fun doing this again after so long.”
Onita then revealed his plans for 2027. He wants to run 70th Birthday Current Blast matches across the country.
“Even if I collapse dead doing it, so be it.”
His schedule goes well beyond that. Around March, he wants to travel to Nepal for reconstruction support. In November, he heads to the United States for a memorial match for Dory Funk Jr., with memorials for Terry Funk and Osamu Nishimura also on his list.
“I absolutely have to go.”
@onitafire123
@the_greatsasuke
Yuki Arai spent her first months as the Princess of Princess champion crushed by anxiety and now she says she can finally call herself the champion.
Arai heads into her sixth title defence against Shoko Nakajima at Korakuen Hall on the weekend.
The road to this point wasn’t smooth. A former SKE48 member who debuted in 2021 and committed fully to wrestling last March, Arai became the 17th champion this year yet the belt weighed heavily. “For the first two or three months, I felt tremendous anxiety and pressure," she told Tokyo Sports.
The turning point came in July, in her fourth title defence against Miyu Yamashita. After the match, Yamashita told her to get it together and reminded her she was the champion. Arai said it tightened her resolve, so that her vulnerabilities wouldn’t show.
People around her now say she looks bigger. She laughed that she hasn’t grown, but confidence shows in the way you stand.
“I’ve reached the point where I can confidently say I am the champion.”
#tjpw
@araiyuki57
Mirko Cro Cop fought Japanese opponents 15 times and won 14. The one fighter he couldn’t beat was Nobuhiko Takada.
The story begins with Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2001, a New Year’s Eve event at Saitama Super Arena that TBS planned to broadcast in prime time, an unprecedented move for combat sports. K-1 approached Mirko about competing under its MMA rules, and in August he took on Kazuyuki Fujita, known as “the Last Successor to Inoki-ism.”
Mirko timed a devastating knee to Fujita’s takedown, left him bleeding heavily and forced a stoppage. Suddenly, he was a villain in Japan, the most hated since the Gracies.
Takada made the call for a New Japan wrestler to avenge Fujita. Nobody answered, so he stepped forward himself. Few took him seriously. Rickson Gracie had beaten him at the Tokyo Dome in October 1997 and 1998, and he was mocked as the “Fast-Tapping Man.” Even his mentor Inoki had said the weakest man had gone out there, and some labelled him a “Class-A war criminal” for damaging wrestling’s claim to be the strongest fighting discipline.
At PRIDE 17, he was determined not to repeat his mistakes. Early on he fractured his right heel and chose to sit on the canvas to lure Mirko into a ground fight, but Mirko refused to engage. The fight became what many call an “Inoki-Ali” situation and ended in a draw.
Cro Cop was unsympathetic towards Takada, telling the Japanese press at the time: "I feel sick and don't want to say much. I cannot believe he would fight like that in front of 55,000 spectators. I think Takada is a coward."
Takako Inoue briefly traded the ring for a microphone at Shinobu Kandori’s 40th anniversary show, and she brought a roast along with the music.
Inoue, who has a history of singing, appeared as a special guest and performed a live set, including her new song, “My Way”.
As an ally of more than 20 years, she also paid tribute to Kandori and her opening line drew a laugh.
“Happy 40th anniversary of continuously beating people up!”
She kept the humour coming, describing Kandori as a fundamentally kind person who has somehow made it this far without softening up. “She’s like an instant water heater, so to speak...”
But she saved the sincerity for the end, calling her “someone who truly knows how to get angry when it matters.”
Inoue, who is literally nicknamed "original idol wrestler" in Japan, was recently seen photo'd with the likes of Kenta Kobashi and reunited with Cutie Suzuki at Megumi Kudo's anniversary.
The last few weeks have been a real treat for fans of old-school joshi puroresu!
@takacoinoue
Aaron Wolf wants the strongest partner possible in New Japan and we might be about to experience a new super pairing.
The NEVER Openweight Champion hinted at teaming with Oleg Boltin for the World Tag League, which starts on 21 November. A judo great paired with an elite amateur wrestler is a pairing few teams could match - at least on paper.
It would be a new experience for Wolf. He won the NEVER title in his debut match at the Tokyo Dome and has already competed in the G1 Climax, but he has never played teamed with others on a regular basis. “I’m a novice when it comes to tag matches,” he admitted to Tokyo Sports.
His reasoning for choosing Boltin is simple: “If there’s someone you ultimately want to beat, but you feel like you can’t beat them just yet, the best thing to do is to watch their matches up close.”
He also believes the pairing is rare. Top athletes from other sports competing under the same rules is one of wrestling’s great appeals, and he thinks he and Boltin are the ones who can do it right now, with Jeff Cobb in the mix as well.
He helped Boltin win a six-man tag with an electric chair slam in Okayama yesterday.
#njpw
Takako Inoue taught Natsupoi from her earliest days in wrestling, and at Shinobu Kandori’s 40th anniversary show, she said goodbye to her in the most fitting way.
Natsupoi teamed with Saori Anou to face Inoue and Yumiko Hotta. It was their final match against each other, as Natsupoi retires on 3 January. Inoue struck first with sharp middle kicks and sent her into the spectator seats. Natsupoi fought back with a crossbody and a top-rope attack, but the legends proved too strong. Inoue threw her with a German Suplex, kicked out of the Fairial Gift and pinned her with a roll-up.
Inoue then gave her a farewell. “Bai-poi.”
The history behind it explains why it mattered. Natsupoi said Inoue helped her right after her debut, when she couldn’t do anything at all, teaching her and supporting her. “Thank you so very much!”
She returned the farewell in the ring. “Takako-san, bai-poi!”
Backstage, she admitted it was frustrating to end like this. “The wall that is Takako-san and Hotta-san remains so high no matter how many years pass.” But she has handed the baton on. “I am entrusting the future of women’s pro wrestling to my partner Saori, so please go knock those two down!”
@n_poi07
@takacoinoue
“I’ve known about Shinya Aoki since the days of PRIDE.” Zack Sabre Jr. said it with respect and then he beat him.
At DDT’s Ryogoku show, the NJPW star beat Aoki in a match billed as a Japan-UK technical showdown, and it delivered a pure collision of submission styles. Aoki hunted Zack’s leg locks, Zack caught his arm, and the positions kept flipping as pins and submission attempts flew back and forth.
Zack was bold. He hit a flying armbar on the man known for flying submissions, then had to escape Aoki’s own armbar and a figure-four leglock. Aoki chased him outside with a tope suicide dive, then followed up with a knee drop and an octopus hold, targeting Zack’s legs relentlessly. The Aoki Clutch was close. But after a rope break, Zack countered it into Clarky Cat and forced the tap out.
His verdict afterwards was generous. “In Judo or No-Gi BJJ, I wouldn’t stand a chance against him," he told Tokyo Sports. "But being able to defeat a grappler of that calibre in pro wrestling holds huge significance for me.”
Aoki lost but kept his sense of humour. “It was fun the whole way through.” He admitted his technical foundation seems different, and said he wants to study it and do it again.
@a_ok_i
Shinobu Kandori was told her 40th anniversary main event would expose her age... she fired back in style.
In the main event of her 40th year anniversary show, she teamed with Chihiro Hashimoto against Sareee and MIRAI. She finished MIRAI with a body-scissors sleeper hold.
Some had doubted the match-up and she knew it. “Age and numbers are really just an illusion. People were saying things about that card, right? Like, ‘She’s over 60...’ But that’s an illusion, so I feel like I’ve still got plenty left in me.”
“To everyone out there: take that... You know, people assume that if you step into that kind of ring, you’re bound to show your decline. But hiding that completely - that’s what makes me Shinobu Kandori.”
She respected her opponents. “They absolutely have momentum, and I fully acknowledge that.” But experience counts for something. “Things like pacing and timing- stuff that comes from experience - are areas they still need to cultivate." she told Tokyo Sports. "In that regard, I’d say Shinobu Kandori put in a pretty good showing.”
Despite the rain, more than 2,100 fans sold the venue out. “Don’t underestimate LLPW. LLPW doesn’t die.”
Asked how long she’ll continue, she refused to set a limit. “I just keep running forward. Without setting a fixed goal, I’ll just go as far as I can. As long as I keep going, matches like today’s can still get booked.”
Taichi promised it would be Gabe Kidd’s last night in a New Japan ring. Instead, the Death Riders took over Hiroshima.
The IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion made his third successful defence against Taichi. Kidd took early control with brutal attacks, including a Piledriver onto a table outside the ring. But Taichi came back strongly. A Jumping Knee and a Backdrop Hold were followed by the Triple Crown Powerbomb and a standard Powerbomb, and he even countered the Death Dog Driver into an Emerald Flowsion.
Kidd survived. He halted Taichi’s avalanche Black Mephisto attempt, answered with an avalanche Canadian Destroyer and followed with a Lariat and a Leg-Trap Piledriver. The Death Dog Driver finally ended it.
The aftermath was worse. Kidd forced Hiroshi Tanahashi into the ring to fasten the belt around his waist, then knocked him out with a Piledriver. Yuya Uemura rushed out to challenge him, saying New Japan would no longer let them do as they pleased, but Jon Moxley appeared and flattened him with a Death Rider. Shingo Takagi charged in next and was cut down by another Death Rider.
Kidd finished the night by delivering a Piledriver to a groggy Uemura.
Taichi wanted to stop the AEW invasion. On this night, the invaders didn’t just survive, they took the ring.
#AEW #NJPW
Shingo Takagi bled for it, fought for it and has now asked Jon Moxley for something more dangerous.
The Continental Champion of AEW returned to New Japan and Takagi was waiting. Ever since beating Moxley’s Death Riders stablemate Claudio Castagnoli in September, he had wanted the faction leader.
Teaming with Jeff Cobb against Moxley and Wheeler Yuta, Takagi was busted open early by a chair shot. Even so, he refused to give an inch once he and Moxley were face to face. He avoided the Death Rider and hit a Ryukon Lariat, then traded elbows, chops and backdrops in a fierce exchange that ended in a double Lariat collision. He kicked out of the Stunner and answered with a Pumping Bomber.
Cobb sealed it with the Tour of the Islands on Yuta, but Takagi wasn’t finished. He hit Yuta with a Shingo Takagi Rider, the same move as the Death Rider, in front of Moxley.
Then he made his demand. “Hey MOX, after doing all this, it doesn’t end today, does it?! Let’s do a more dangerous, unbound deathmatch!”
He has even picked the date: 4 January at the Tokyo Dome.
#AEW #NJPW
One Japanese onlooker likened it to Zelenskyy and Putin meeting face to face. Akira Maeda and Yoshiki Takahashi, smiling together in the same photo, is something few thought they’d ever see.
It was far from friendly in 1997. Following a RINGS event, Maeda publicly called Pancrase an obstacle and said he wanted to destroy it. It wasn’t just about whether certain fights were worked. RINGS was close to full shoot at the time and the claim threatened its credibility in a market increasingly focused on legitimate competition.
Takahashi took it as an attack on his entire promotion. On 6 September, at a Pancrase event, he responded in public. “I’ll take the fight they’ve picked with us. I’ll kill him.”
Maeda refused to engage. He liked Takahashi as a fighter but wouldn’t be drawn into his publicity war, and demanded that Minoru Suzuki come forward instead.
The dispute had begun when a Fuji TV producer allegedly said Pancrase held legitimate fights while RINGS staged predetermined contests, an assessment reportedly attributed to Suzuki. When it reached Maeda, he was furious. Pancrase president Masami Ozaki denied his company had made the accusations.
Fast forward to 2026 and the two met as part of a discussion for an upcoming book which is set to be released next year.
This comes off the back of the news that Yoji Anjo recently underwent serious heart surgery.
We wrote an in-depth post about the famous 1999 story where Anjo punched Maeda and knocked him out here - Takahashi was also present at the scene: nitter.cf/ThePuroPower/status/20…
As UFC 23 got underway, Yoji Anjo wasn't the only man in the building who hated Akira Maeda. By this point, RINGS had transformed into a full shoot promotion and Maeda himself had officially retired from competition. His heated relationship with rival promotions, most notably Pancrase, was well-documented.
To understand the context, one must consider the disparity in how major incidents resonated across the globe. The Montreal Screwjob, which had rocked the western wrestling world in November 1997, barely scratched the surface in Japan. The events of PRIDE 1 in October had left a deep scar, and in November, a vicious war of words erupted between Maeda and Pancrase star Kazuo Takahashi, who publicly threatened to murder Maeda. Crucially, Pancrase maintained a significant presence at UFC 23, and many observers soon began speculating that the promotion had actively collaborated with Anjo in orchestrating the attack.
It made sense given that Anjo shared deep history with Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki - comrades from the UWF era who harboured their own documented grievances with Maeda.
Yet the most revealing detail emerged only after the fact. A day before the event, rumours circulated through the Pancrase office that Anjo was planning to assault Maeda. Confused and seeking clarification, Funaki contacted Anjo directly and posed the question directly. Anjo confirmed it was true.
The scene backstage unfolded with an almost cinematic quality. Pedro Rizzo had just secured a third-round TKO victory over Tsuyoshi Kosaka, Maeda's beloved disciple, in the pre-main event. Maeda's mind had already shifted towards the social gathering to follow and he began making enquiries with the event's organiser. The atmosphere was notably strange; journalists and photographers congregated at the scene. Then it came: the punch.
"Call an ambulance!" Funaki immediately shouted. Shortly after, other voices cut through the chaos with jubilation. "Anjo-san, you did it!" Prior to the moment of impact, numerous furious Pancrase fighters had been actively searching for Maeda, intent upon exacting their own revenge. Yet Anjo, as their senior, had calmly intervened and persuaded them to stand down, accepting full responsibility as though it represented his destiny alone. Had more men joined in the assault, the scene could have deteriorated into genuine catastrophe, such was the simmering vitriol directed towards Maeda at the time.
Another figure who subsequently approached Anjo was RINGS fighter Wataru Sakata. Normally, one would have expected Sakata to react with fury at witnessing his senior laid out so dramatically. Yet Sakata's emotions proved way more complicated. He had been badly beaten by Maeda on camera years earlier after the RINGS founder had grown disappointed with one of his performances - a memory that scarred him. He understood Anjo's feelings better than most and must have sympathised with him when he saw his bloodshot eyes and his body trembling with agitation after the assault.
Anjo's original intention had been to draw money and build an angle with Maeda, which also explained the media presence moments before the assault. However, he hadn't anticipated that his punch would prove so devastating, that Maeda would actually go down. The consequences were swift and severe. Anjo was summarily indicted for assault and fined 200,000 yen (approximately $1,800 at the time).
It was unlike Maeda to let the feud die. Years later, he reflected upon the chaos: "What would've happened if I didn't go down and stayed standing? It would've been a huge scandal in the papers and the whole industry would've been finished. For just a moment, the thought flashed through my mind: maybe I should choke Anjo out. But if I did that, it would become a police matter. The WOWOW broadcast would be lost and RINGS would be finished. So I didn't think of doing anything."
Funaki, who had tentatively agreed to a match with Rickson Gracie at the time, offered a different perspective on the incident. "In the end, this was an internal UWF squabble. When we should have been uniting against powerful opponents like the Gracies, we were busy fighting among ourselves. It was a completely unnecessary fight." His words crystallised a broader tragedy: that UWF's fractured legacy continued to poison relationships years after the promotion's demise.
Maeda's rebellious spirit - once the very characteristic that had made him the most supported Japanese wrestler of a previous era - had by the dawn of the new century transformed him into something far different: the most hated veteran in the entire industry. (2/2)
#前田日明
#安生洋二
Kenny Omega has just pinned the IWGP Heavyweight Champion and he wants the belt at the Tokyo Dome.
The AEW star beat Yota Tsuji in a non-title three-way that also featured Oleg Boltin. It was a high-speed contest in which the advantage swung constantly. Tsuji hit a Gene Blaster, escaped Boltin’s Kamikaze and exploded with a Fire Blaster, but as he went for the pin, Omega struck with a V-Trigger and a Double-Arm Piledriver.
Omega pushed Boltin to the brink with a One-Winged Angel but deliberately refused to cover him. His target was Tsuji. A V-Trigger followed, then another One-Winged Angel, and the champion was pinned.
Omega wasted no time in the ring. “I just beat your champion, you know? There’s nothing left for me to do but make this New Japan belt mine. So hey, if you don’t have an opponent for 4 January, I want to challenge. Give me an answer quickly.”
“If I take the belt, I’ll be wrestling even more matches in New Japan, won’t I? Isn’t that a good thing?”
Tsuji didn’t argue. “As the person standing at the top of New Japan Pro Wrestling, I have to accept today’s result. And there’s no way I can just leave things like this.”
Tsuji has already spoken of all-out war with AEW at the Dome. Omega has now given him the chance.
#AEW #NJPW
UWFi legend Yoji Anjo recently underwent serious heart surgery and is recovering well.
Anjo, 59, was recently pictured with long-time friend Nobuhiko Takada, who commented on Instagram: "Anjo seems to be recovering steadily after undergoing serious heart surgery, and seeing him as energetic as ever, no different from before, is truly the best news!"
Chi Chi has a new career plan for Senka Akatsuki... and it involves a sewing machine.
The two are partners in Marvelous’s Tag League the Best 2026, which starts later this month, and the insults started long before the first bell.
Chi Chi said she only found out about the pairing when it was announced, guessing that Chigusa Nagayo saw them at each other’s throats and thought it would be interesting to throw them together.
She wasn’t gentle about what that means. “If I get pinned, she blames me, and if she gets pinned, it’s like ‘Told you so.’ She’s really hard to work with.”
Then she turned to Akatsuki’s ring attire, which she has been mocking on social media. “How many years is she going to keep wearing that? I don’t know if she wants to be seen as a rookie forever or if ‘Senka Akatsuki = leotard’ is her idea of branding, but I think it looks lame.”
The punchline came next. “The two professions facing the biggest labour shortages in Japan right now are childcare workers and wrestling costume makers.” And if Akatsuki gets pinned and costs them the match: “I’m going to make her become a leotard maker.”
Oil and water, by Chi Chi’s own admission. But there is a flicker of unity. They share the same desire to get stronger and beat their first-round opponents, Spark Rush, and Chi Chi thinks that goal might put them on the same wavelength.
@chichi_fbd @marvelous_SENKA
With Natuspoi and Shingo Takagi teaming up again, we couldn't help but think Minoru Suzuki and Unagi Sayaka would make great opponents before Natuspoi retires.
After Chihiro Hashimoto announced Team 250kg, Unagi tweeted: "Chihiro Hashimoto, please don't leave me behind."
Of course, she may be referring to the fact that Hashimoto has found a 'prince' - but who wouldn't want to see Unagi team up with the Murder Grandpa to face the married couple?
@unapi0902
@suzuki_D_minoru
@Takagi__Shingo
@n_poi07
Chihiro Hashimoto needed a partner and she picked JEFF COBB.
The Sendai Girls star confessed in the ring that she had found him. Her challenge from Shingo Takagi and Natsupoi, the married tag team, required a mixed tag partner at the NJPW Unbound Co. event (think nWo Souled Out but hopefully a lot better) on the 20th at Korakuen Hall. As a single woman, she had been searching for one and out walked Coff.
On paper, it’s a terrifying combination. Hashimoto finished third at the World University Championships. Cobb represented Guam in freestyle wrestling at the Athens Olympics and has competed in WWE. There may be no stronger male-female pairing in wrestling today.
Hashimoto was confident. “He is my ideal type. First off, he is definitely stronger than me. And despite being so strong, he can fly. So my Prince was right here all along! As ‘Team 250kg,’ we’re going to squash those newlyweds flat.”
Takagi had said he wanted Hashimoto to make him feel he couldn’t win without going all out. Now he has Cobb to worry about too.
The mixed tag has taken a dramatic turn. What will become of Takagi and Natsupoi?
#NJPW #STARDOM
Taichi believes New Japan is under siege from AEW and he has decided to be the one who stops it.
The 46-year-old issued a final ultimatum to IWGP GLOBAL Heavyweight Champion Gabe Kidd, whom he challenges in two days' time. Taichi instead teamed with Yuya Uemura and Satoshi Kojima against Aaron Wolf, Oleg Boltin and Toru Yano. He traded strikes with Wolf and hit an Ax Bomber, but Kojima fell to Boltin’s Kamikaze.
The real story came afterwards. Boltin, who faces Yota Tsuji and Kenny Omega in a non-title three-way at the same show, left the ring with Taichi and shared a pledge. “Let’s stop AEW with our own hands.”
Taichi believes they aren’t alone. “I’m not the only one spouting non-sense here. Everyone feels the same way,” he told Tokyo Sports. He questioned why Boltin had been thrown into that match at all, when he could simply have been named the next IWGP Heavyweight challenger.
His concern is the growing AEW presence in New Japan rings. Kidd has done as he pleases as GLOBAL Champion since July, and Omega, Will Ospreay and Jon Moxley have been just as visible. Taichi has had enough.
“We have to stop their invasion. New Japan is not a subsidiary of AEW.”
His message to Kidd was even more pointed. “You better show up, baldy. This will be your last time in a New Japan Pro Wrestling ring.”
#AEW #NJPW
@taichi0319 @OlegBoltin
@GabeKidd0115
