What’s Going On Everywhere Else?

One good thing about Maki Itoh joining Stardom is I no longer have to write about GCW so much at the start of every month.

BASARA “BASARA 297 ~UTAGE~”, 16/01/2026
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Takeru Inoue Vs Ryuma Sekimo
2. Daichi Kazato Vs Ayumu Honda
3. Ryota Nakatsu & Takato Nakano Vs Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi & Tsutomu Oosugi
4. FUMA & Masato Kamino Vs Shuji Ishikawa & Yasu Urano
5. Takumi Tsukamoto, Daiki Shimomura & Banana Senga Vs SAGAT, Lil’ Kraken & Minoru Fujita

The first BASARA show of the year has a few preview matches for their upcoming title bouts. Also Ryuma Sekimo from Big Japan will be taking part in the opener against BASARA’s rookie Takeru Inoue.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “THE 6TH “FUTARI WA PRINCESS” MAX HEART TOURNAMENT”, 17/01/2026
Yokohama Radiant Hall

1. Miu Watanabe, Rika Tatsumi & Sara Phoenix Vs Yuki Kamifuku, Wakana Uehara & Toga
2. Yuki Aino, Haru Kazashiro & Mahiro Kiryu Vs Suzume, Arisu Endo & Shion Kanzaki
3. “Futari wa Princess” Max Heart Tournament – Round 1D: HIMAWARI & Shino Suzuki Vs Yuki Arai & Mifu Ashida
4. “Futari wa Princess” Max Heart Tournament – Round 1C: Raku & Ren Konatsu Vs Max The Impaler & Pom Harajuku
5. “Futari wa Princess” Max Heart Tournament – Round 1B: Kira Summer & Chika Nanase Vs Mizuki & Uta Takami
6. “Futari wa Princess” Max Heart Tournament – Round 1A: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao Vs Miyu Yamashita & Kaya Toribami

The Max Heart Tournament kicks off later this week. Also during this period, Sara Phoenix from Chile will be touring with Tokyo Joshi Pro up until the end of February.

BASARA “BASARA 298 ~10TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW~”, 31/01/2026
Shinjuku FACE

1. Daichi Kazato Vs X
2. GRACE PROJECT Offer Match: Tomoya Hirata, Captain Grace & Violento Jack Vs Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi, Tsutomu Oosugi & Banana Senga
3. Ryuichi Sekine, Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino Vs Ryota Nakatsu, Naomi Yoshimura & Yuki Ishida
4. Isami Kodaka & Takeru Inoue Vs Minoru Fujita & Yasu Urano
5. Iron Fist Tag Team Titles: Takumi Tsukamoto & Daiki Shimomura (c) Vs SAGAT & Lil’ Kraken
6. Union MAX Title: Shuji Ishikawa (c) Vs FUMA

The Union MAX Title is throwing itself back to its origins now that Shuji Ishikawa is the new champion. His first challenger is FUMA who has held the title both in Union Pro and in BASARA. Ishikawa joked they should bring back an old Union gimmick and have this be a 1,000 Roses Death Match for old time’s sake. He’s taking things a bit more seriously after FUMA said he hunts down boars that are heavier than Ishikawa.

When it comes to dominant factions in BASARA, the Super Family has not been one of them. But they’ve become tenacious enough to earn SAGAT & Lil’ Kraken a shot at the Iron Fist Tag Team Titles. The new champs Takumi Tsukamoto & Daiki Shimomura don’t want to lose the belts to anybody and they especially don’t want to lose to the Super Family!

As he promised a while back, Isami Kodaka returns from his absence in time for BASARA’s anniversary.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “THE 6TH “FUTARI WA PRINCESS” MAX HEART TOURNAMENT”, 14/02/2026
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Mahiro Kiryu (c) Vs Aja Kong
2. International Princess Title: MIRAI (c) Vs Toga
3. “Futari wa Princess” Max Heart Tournament – Final: X & X Vs X & X

The prodigal daughter of TJPW MIRAI has come back to win the International Princess Title that was beyond her grasp in the past. Now she’s looking to the future where she sees an opponent with a similar smash heavy style as hers waiting to challenge her. Toga wants to show everyone she can get the job done without needing help from Yuna Manase or anyone else so she was the first one to ask MIRAI for a title shot.

The Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title just can’t get away from Mahiro Kiryu. Every time she loses the belt, fate makes sure she finds a way to win it back. She now has a pinfall over Aja Kong because of this but that means Kong now wants to fight Kiryu one on one! She knows she can easily take the belt from her whenever she wants but she has enough pride to do it in the ring with a proper wrestling match. The bout will still go ahead if Kiryu loses the title to someone else beforehand.

The two title matches booked for this show are why Toga and Kiryu are not competing in this year’s Max Heart Tournament.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “GRAND PRINCESS ’26”, 29/03/2026
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

1. Special Tag Match: Yuka Sakazaki & KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs X & X
2. Princess Of Princess Title: Miu Watanabe (c) Vs Yuki Arai

Second time’s the charm for Yuki Arai. She avenged her squash to Miyu Yamashita in the recent 6-Woman Elimination match and will now get to face Miu Watanabe for the Princess Of Princess Title. She couldn’t win the belt at Ota Ward Gymnasium last year but can she do it in Sumo Hall this year?

There are so many ways the Special Tag Match can go. It will be Konosuke Takeshita’s first time wrestling in TJPW (he was meant to be part of their US debut in 2020 but that show was cancelled due to covid) and he will be teaming up with his wife Yuka Sakazaki to make it a bigger deal. Their opponents have not been announced yet. The recent news of Shingo Takagi & Natsupoi led to some jokes about them being the other team in a battle of the happy couples. I think enough time has passed that the issue Sakazaki had with Natsupoi leaving TJPW years ago is now water under the bridge. The opponents are likely another mixed pair tag team though, one that doesn’t have to be romantically attached to each other.

The current list of guests who will wrestle on the show are Sareee, Lei Ying Lee, Aja Kong, Andreza Giant Panda and Minimo-chan with Mari Yaguchi accompanying it. Also Max The Impaler will be at the show.

Catching Up On DDT

I’m mostly back on track with everything. A show report here and there still needs to be written about. The big lesson I’ve learned from my Japan trip is not to go on holiday if I come back needing to catch up on fifteen different shows.

DDT “DRAMATIC DREAM TAMAGAWA IN BOAT RACE TAMAGAWA”, 15/01/2026
Tokyo BOAT RACE Tamagawa

1. Sanshiro Takagi & Junta Miyawaki Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Hinata Kasai
2. Chris Brookes, HARASHIMA & Kazuki Hirata Vs Danshoku Dieno, Akito & Pokotan
3. Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling Offer Match: Aja Kong & Yuki Kamifuku Vs Shoko Nakajima & Chika Nanase
4. MAO, KANON (w/ KIMIHIRO) & Kazuma Sumi Vs Naomi Yoshimura, Takeshi Masada & Yuki Ishida
5. Jun Akiyama, To-y & Yuya Koroku Vs Yuki Iino, Yukio Naya & Rukiya

Pro wrestling is really getting into boat racing lately, huh? DDT (with a little bit of Tokyo Joshi Pro) is the latest promotion to spend a day at a lake holding wrestling matches and throwing in some other activities to keep the crowd occupied in between the races.

DDT “SATURDAY CHINATOWN”, 17/01/2026
Yokohama Radiant Hall

1. Danshoku Dieno, Antonio Honda & Akito Vs Kazuki Hirata, Takeshi Masada & Rukiya
2. D GENERATIONS CUP 2026 – A Block: Daichi Sato (2) Vs Ilusion (0)
3. D GENERATIONS CUP 2026 – A Block: To-y (2) Vs Yuki Ishida (2)
4. Special 8-Man Tag Match: Sanshiro Takagi, Jun Akiyama, Shinya Aoki & Tomomitsu Matsunaga Vs Naomi Yoshimura, Ryoma Tsukamoto, Kazuma Sumi & Hinata Kasai
5. Special 6-Man Tag Match: MAO, KANON (w/ KIMIHIRO) & Junta Miyawaki Vs Yuki Iino, Yukio Naya & Yuya Koroku
6. DAMNATION T.A Vs FANTÔMES DRAMATIC!: Daisuke Sasaki & Hideki Okatani Vs Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA

Some of the upcoming DDT shows have to change their lineups a little bit because Yuki Ueno has a calf injury and cannot wrestle. He is still appearing at the events but isn’t allowed to do much physically. He should be good to go for Korakuen Hall at the end of the month but DDT aren’t going to take any chances on him right now.

DDT “MISSION IN BATTLE ~SHINSHUN KENRAN~”, 25/01/2026
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Hideki Okatani & MJ Paul Vs Naomi Yoshimura & Kumadori
2. D GENERATIONS CUP 2006 Special 10-Man Tag Match: To-y, Daichi Sato, Yuki Ishida, Ilusion & Kazuma Sumi Vs Takeshi Masada, Yuya Koroku, Yuni, Rukiya & Hinata Kasai
3. Special 6-Man Tag Match ~ Yoshihiko Return Match: Minoru Suzuki, Danshoku Dieno & Yoshihiko Vs Super Sasadango Machine, Kazuki Hirata & Antonio Honda
4. Special Single Match: Shinya Aoki Vs Junta Miyawaki
5. Special Tag Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA & Jun Akiyama Vs HARASHIMA & Kaisei Takechi
6. KO-D Tag Team Titles: MAO & KANON (c) (w/ KIMIHIRO) Vs Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya
7. KO-D Openweight Title & DDT Universal Title – Irregular 3 Way Match: Yuki Ueno (c/c) Vs Daisuke Sasaki Vs Chris Brookes

Big plans are in store for Kaisei Takechi’s next couple of matches in DDT. First up he and HARASHIMA will be teaming up to face the mighty team of Konosuke Takeshita & Jun Akiyama! This is the strongest pair of wrestlers DDT could find for Takechi and he appreciates being given such a tough challenge.

The newcomer Junta Miyawaki is quickly getting the kind of matches he’s been looking for in DDT. Someone he always wanted to wrestle is Shinya Aoki after being a fan of his since his middle school days. He has studied many of Aoki’s fighting techniques and just making the challenge has impressed Aoki with his ambition.

After a four month absence to deal with injuries, Yoshihiko returns to the ring hopefully feeling refreshed and having a new lease on life. Good thing it will be teaming with Minoru Suzuki and not against him.

DDT “HYBRID PERFORMER 2026 ~KAISEI TAKECHI 2ND ANNIVERSARY~”, 22/02/2026
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. D GENERATIONS CUP 2026 – Final: Winner Of Block A Vs Winner Of Block B
2. Kaisei Takechi 2nd Anniversary Match: Yuki Ueno Vs Kaisei Takechi

Takechi’s other big match coming up will celebrate the 2nd Anniversary of his debut. He wants to wrestle Yuki Ueno and gets that wish in February.