Puro Report (27/1/2023 — 2/2/2024):

Written by Eli Conroy-de Voss.

After a slow week last week, it seems everyone is back in gear. Only one title change this week, but a lot of big developments coming out of a lot of different promotions.

Pro Wrestling NOAH:

GLG’s Yo-Hey and Tadasuke had their first successful defence since regaining the GHC Jr Heavyweight Tag Team Championships, defeating Junta Miyawaki and Shuji Kondo for the belts. After the match, Eita and Hayata made a challenge for the belts which has since been accepted for the 23rd.

All Japan Pro Wrestling:

After losing to them in the Real World Tag League, the Saito Brothers avenged their loss to New Period, defeating Anzai and Honda to continue their reign as AJPW Tag Champs. After the match, Yuma Aoyagi and Kento Miyahara made it clear they would be challenging for the belts next. That match has been made official for February 25th. Rei’s night didn’t stop there as he also made a challenge for Nakajima’s Triple Crown Championship following his successful defence against Shotaro Ashino. That match will go down on the 20th.

Dragon Gate Pro Wrestling:

The Gate of Bayside saw a straight succession of successful defences. Hyo defended the Open the Brave Gate title against Kagetora while Z-Brats retained the triangle belts over Natural Vibes. NOAH’s Alejandro and Kaito Kiyomiya defeated King Fu Masters to retain the Open the Twin Gate belts before proclaiming them to now be “NOAH” belts”. And finally, Luis Mante finally got revenge over former tag partner Shun Skywalker to retain his Open the Dream Gate Championship.

DDT:

In DDT news, Shunma Katsumata has regained the Extreme Championship, defeating Kazuki Hirata to win back the belt he only lost due to injury. Afterwards, Katsumata extended a hand to Hirata and offered him a spot in the 37KAMIINA, but Hirata declined. Katsumata’s next course of business was declaring Hideki Okatani as his first challenger, a rematch from their last bout which ended with him vacating the title. Before Okatani could make a response though, he was attacked by MJ Paul, who demanded a title shot first. A number one contender’s match has been announced for February 7th to determine which man will face Katsumata for his newly won belt. In the main event of that show, Yuki Ueno defeated Yukio Naya to regain his KO-D Openweight Championship. The pair showed mutual respect in the ring afterwards before Ueno nominated Danshoku Dieno for his next defence. That match will take place on February 14 at the 37KAMIINA produced show “Heatwave Over 3 Flowers”.

Ganbare Pro Wrestling:

Ganbare Pro Wrestling has recently announced they will be ending their deal with CyberFight and Wrestle Universe following the 28th of March. From the end of that month, Ganbare Joshi wrestlers Riara and Yoshiko Hasegawa shall be going freelance. GanJo will also be co-promoting a show with TJPW on the 22nd of March, with five of their wrestlers participating against fifteen of Tokyo Joshi’s finest. Big changes are coming.

Big Japan Pro Wrestling:

On the 27th, Masashi Takeda and Takumi Tsukamoto made their first successful defence of the BJW Tag titles against Daiju Wakamatsu and Yuki Ishikawa after Tsukamoto pinned Ishikawa for the win. Queensland native, Zeke Andino, also came up short in his Jr Heavyweight title match against Ender Kara and Kota Sekifuda. Kara will now be looking to defend his belt outside Japan, challenging Jordan Oliver for a title match at the February 24th BODYSLAM Pro Wrestling show. Speaking of international talent, BJW is set to see a few new faces in the coming months. European wrestler, Jacob Crane, will be debuting for the company and touring for approximately three months while New Taiwan Wrestling’s SKY will be making a trip abroad ahead of their crosspromoted show with BJW later in the year.

Pro Wrestling Zero1:

The fallout from the recent Zero1 show was surprisingly big. After Chris Vice successfully defended his Heavyweight Championship against Yoshikazu Yokoyama, the ring was filled with wrestlers from both Real Zero1 and Tochigi Pro Wrestling factions before a brawl broke out. When Real Zero1’s members were escorted from the ring, Takumi Baba made it clear he would never accept the rival group and swore to take the Heavyweight title, considering his team already held everything else. Following this, Tochigi native Satsuki Nagano made his way to the ring and announced he would instead be joining Real Zero1, as he needed partners who could truly push him and motivate him as a wrestler.

Joshi:

After his departure from All Japan, Shuji Ishikawa has recently been named new General Manager of Evolution. He is aiming to create a larger roster and maybe make an appearance or two. Evolution’s former roster member, Sunny, has also announced she’ll be making a return but in a referee position. She retired last October due to scoliosis, so this it’s wonderful to see her return.

World Wonder Ring Stardom:

After forming late last week, the stable of Maika, Mina Shirakawa, Xena, Waka Tsukiyama and HANAKO has been given a name. From henceforth they shall be known as Empress Nexus Venus (or EXV for short). A leader has yet to be determined. Shirakawa has also made her title intentions clear, laying out a challenge for Mayu Iwatani’s IWGP Women’s Championship. That match has yet to be made official.

Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling:

And finally, the finals for this year’s Futari Wa Princess Max Heart Tournament have been announced. The team of Daisy Monkey (Arisu Endo and Suzume) defeated Juria Nagano and Moka Miyamoto to advance. Meanwhile Hakuchumu (Miu Watanabe and Rika Tatsumi) defeated Wakana Uehara and Yuki Arai. The two teams will face off in the tournament finals in the near future.