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FMW-E ANNOUNCES DEATH MATCH OF HELL, EL DESPERADO REVEALS COVID-19 POSITIVE AND MORE FROM JAPAN

New Japan Pro Wrestling

New Japan Pro Wrestling held its fourth Road to Wrestle Grand Slam tour show today in Korakuen Hall.

Kazuchika Okada made a surprise appearance at the start of the show. He declared his intent to win the vacant IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.

Okada joins the likes of Minoru Suzuki, Shingo Takagi and Zack Sabre Jr. as wrestlers who have expressed interest in the title. New Japan is yet to announce how a new champion will be crowned.

The full results from today’s show were:

• Shingo Takagi def. Yota Tsuji
• Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Master Wato def. Chase Owens, Taiji Ishimori and Yujiro Takahashi
• Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa def. DOUKI and Zack Sabre Jr.
• Great-O-Khan and Jeff Cobb def. Kota Ibushi and Tomoaki Honma
• SANADA and Tetsuya Naito def. Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI

Tetsuya Naito challenged for the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championships on behalf of himself, BUSHI and SANADA. YOSHI-HASHI accepted the challenge.

El Desperado confirmed he tested positive for COVID-19 on Twitter. He is the third New Japan wrestler to publicly address his diagnosis after Okada and Taichi.

His announcement and a thread describing his symptoms can be read below.

New Japan has uploaded the fifty-seventh edition of Hiroshi Tanahashi’s Ace’s HIGH autobiographical interview series.

Topics discussed include posing under the Shasui waterfall in Kanagawa before Hirooki Goto famously did, his bout with cellulitis and winning his first G1 Climax in 2007.

The edition, titled Grade One, can be viewed here.

Dragon Gate

Dragon Gate held its tenth King of Gate show today in Aore Nagaoka.

The full results were:

• BxB Hulk, Diamante, Eita, Kaito Ishida and SB KENTo def. Genki Horiguchi, Kzy, Ryo Saito, Ultimo Dragon and Yasushi Kanda
• King of Gate C block: Keisuke Okuda def. H.Y.O
• King of Gate C block: Shun Skywalker def. U-T
• Dragon Kid and YAMATO def. Bokutimo Dragon and Don Fujii
• King of Gate A block: Kota Minoura def. Takashi Yoshida
• King of Gate B block: Jason Lee def. Susumu Yokosuka

Kota Minoura has officially won A block with a perfect 5-0 record.

Following today’s show, the updated King of Gate standings are:

A block
1. Kota Minoura (5-0 record): 10 points
2. BxB Hulk (3-2 record): 6 points
-. Diamante (3-2 record): 6 points
-. Takashi Yoshida (3-2 record): 6 points
5. Naruki Doi (1-4 record): 2 points
6. Ben-K (0-5 record): 0 points

B block
1. Dragon Kid (2-2-1 record): 5 points
-. Jason Lee (2-2-1 record): 5 points
3. Eita (2-2 record): 4 points
-. Kzy (2-2 record): 4 points
-. SB KENTo (2-2 record): 4 points
-. Susumu Yokosuka (2-2 record): 4 points

C block
1. YAMATO (3-0-2 record): 7 points
2. Shun Skywalker (3-1 record): 6 points
3. Kaito Ishida (2-2 record): 4 points
-. U-T (2-2 record): 4 points
5. Keisuke Okuda (1-2-1 record): 3 points
6. H.Y.O (0-3-1 record): 0 points

There are two matches remaining in B block. Eita will face Susumu Yokosuka on May 29 and Kzy will face SB KENTo on May 30.

If Eita defeats Yokosuka, he will need KENTo to defeat Kzy on May 30. If Yokosuka defeats Eita, he will need Kzy to defeat KENTo.

If Kzy defeats KENTo, he will need Yokosuka to have defeated Eita on May 29. If KENTo defeats Kzy, he will need Eita to have defeated Yokosuka.

There are two matches remaining in C block, although Kaito Ishida versus Keisuke Okuda on May 29 will not factor into determining the block winner.

If Shun Skywalker defeats H.Y.O on May 30, he will win the block. If Skywalker loses to H.Y.O, YAMATO will win the block.

GLEAT

GLEAT held a show today in Shinjuku FACE.

The full results were:

• Keiichi Sato def. TiiiDA
• Francesco Akira and Takanori Ito vs. Issei Onitsuka and Shigehiro Irie
• Misa Matsui and Michiko Miyagi def. Ami Miura and Hikari Shimizu
• Ayato Yoshida def. Yu Iizuka
• El Lindaman, Soma Watanabe and T-Hawk def. CIMA, Kaz Hayashi and Minoru Tanaka

Kaz Hayashi (who holds an executive position in the company) offered Keiichi Sato a spot on GLEAT’s show on July 1 in Tokyo Dome City Hall. Sato accepted.

The mystery woman in the third match was revealed to be Michiko Miyagi (formerly known as Andras Miyagi).

Ryuichi Kawakami attacked CIMA after the main event. T-Hawk confronted Kawakami and challenged him to a match at GLEAT’s show on July 1.

GLEAT announced it will hold a show on June 14 in Basement Monstar.

Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling Explosion

An extra stipulation has been added to the six-man tag team deathmatch main event of Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling Explosion’s debut show.

The main event will pit Abdullah Kobyashi and two mystery partners versus Atsushi Onita, Minoru Fujita and Ricky Fuji. If Kobayashi loses, he will blow up his motorcycle. If Onita loses, he will blow up his trademark jacket.

FMW-E’s debut show will take place on July 4 at the Tsurumi Fruit & Vegetable Market in Yokohama.

DDT Pro-Wrestling

DDT Pro-Wrestling will hold a show tomorrow in Shinjuku FACE, highlighted by the end of its Ultimate Tag League tournament.

The full card is:

• Hideki Okatani and Toi Kojima vs. Keigo Nakamura and Yuya Koroku
• Antonio Honda vs. Danshoku Dieno vs. Kazuki Hirata vs. Saki Akai vs. Yuki Iino
• Akito, Yukio Naya and Yusuke Okada vs. Chris Brookes, MAO and Yuki Ueno
• HARASHIMA, Naomi Yoshimura and Toru Owashi vs. Mad Paulie, Soma Takao and Tetsuya Endo
• Ultimate Tag League: Daisuke Sasaki and Yuji Hino vs. Kazusada Higuchi and Yukio Sakaguchi
• Ultimate Tag League: Jun Akiyama and Makoto Oishi vs. Konosuke Takeshita and Shunma Katsumata

Going into the show, the current Ultimate Tag League standings are:

1. Jun Akiyama and Makoto Oishi (2-1 record): 4 points
-. Kazusada Higuchi and Yukio Sakaguchi (2-1 record): 4 points
2. Daisuke Sasaki and Yuji Hino (1-1-1 record): 3 points
-. Konosuke Takeshita and Shunma Katsumata (1-1-1 record): 3 point
5. Antonio Honda and Chris Brookes (1-3 record): 2 points

Pro Wrestling FREEDOMS

Pro Wrestling FREEDOMS will hold a show tomorrow in Shin-Kiba 1st Ring.

The full card is:

• Brahman Kei, Dragon Libre and GENTARO vs. Kengo, Lekka and Yuya Susumu
• Mammoth Sasaki and Tatsuhito Takaiwa vs. Takahiro Katori and Tomoya Hirata
• Hardcore: Daisuke Masaoka and Takashi Sasaki vs. Kamui and Kenji Fukimoto
• King Of FREEDOM World Championships deathmatch: Minoru Fujita and Rina Yamashita (c) vs. Takayuki Ueki and Toshiyuki Sakuda
• Deathmatch: Jun Kasai and Toru Sugiura vs. Masashi Takeda and Violento Jack

Minoru Fujita and Rina Yamashita will attempt their second defense of the King Of FREEDOM World Championships against Takayuki Ueki and Toshiyuki Sakuda.

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