Tag: kairi hojo

Daily Update: Tony Khan, KAIRI, weekend schedule

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Daily Update

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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter: 2021 Awards issue, Cody and Brandi Rhodes leave AEW

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Friday News Update

  • We will have a special show tonight, and Bryan and I will be back tomorrow night with Wrestling Observer Radio covering the multitude of huge shows this weekend.
  • One of our biggest issues of the year is up right now, the 2021 Awards issue which lists the readers voting in dozens of different awards categories. The issue has a complete list of awards winners dating back to 1980. We also have the story on the departure of Cody Rhodes from AEW, lots of notes on this year’s WrestleMania and the upcoming AEW Revolution show, all the big events coming up this weekend and all the major news from around the world.

WWE

  • Smackdown is a taped show tonight featuring a Roman Reigns-Bill Goldberg faceoff as well as a Charlotte Flair & Sonya Deville vs. Ronda Rousey & Naomi angle. Only three matches were taped last Friday for the show which were Ivar vs. Jimmy Uso, Ricochet vs. Sheamus and Sami Zayn’s IC title win over Shinsuke Nakamura. Ratings will be interesting because we’ll see the difference between a live and taped show. All of the major stars left days ago for Saudi Arabia so it was impossible to do a live show this week.
  • The company also debuts Level Up tonight at 10 p.m. on Peacock. It’s the same show that was 205 Live, just with a new name. Matches are Harland vs. Javier Bernal, Fallon Henley (the bartender on NXT Tuesday night) & Kala Inlay vs. Ivy Nile & Tatum Paxley and Kushida vs. Edris Enofe. Kelly Kincaid (Quinn McKay) debuts as the ring announcer on the show.
  • The Elimination Chamber show starts at Noon Eastern time tomorrow from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia:
  • Rey Mysterio vs. The Miz
  • Usos vs. Viking Raiders for the Smackdown tag titles
  • Drew McIntyre vs. Madcap Moss falls count anywhere
  • Women’s Chamber, winner gets a Raw title match at WrestleMania with Bianca Belair vs. Liv Morgan vs. Doudrop vs. Nikki ASH vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Alexa Bliss
  • Becky Lynch vs. Lita for the Raw women’s title
  • Ronda Rousey (with one hand tied behind her back) & Naomi vs. Charlotte Flair & Sonya Deville
  • Roman Reigns vs. Bill Goldberg for the Universal title
  • Men’s chamber match for the WWE title with Bobby Lashley, Brock Lesnar, A.J. Styles, Riddle, Austin Theory and Seth Rollins

AEW

  • Regarding the Tony Khan announcement of something big he’s been working on, what we do know is he was in meetings all day yesterday trying to put it together.

Other Wrestling

  • Regarding the former Kairi Sane, whose WWE contract just expired, she is now with Stardom under the name KAIRI. Her first match will be 3/26 at Sumo Hall teaming with Mayu Iwatani vs. Tam Nakano & Unagi Sayaka. She will do a singles match on 3/27 at Sumo Hall. She legitimately picked who she wanted to work with on the two big shows. Right now the plan is for her not to work every show, but work the bigger events.
  • New Japan on New Japan World at 3 a.m. Eastern late tonight from Sapporo:
  • Togi Makabe & Kosei Fujita vs. Taka Michinoku & DOUKI
  • Minoru Suzuki & Taichi vs. Toru Yano & Ryohei Oiwa
  • Tomohiro Ishii & YOH vs. Dick Togo & SHO
  • Great-O-Khan vs. Tomoaki Honma
  • Kazuchika Okada & Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata vs. Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi & Hiromu Takahashi
  • Tiger Mask & Robbie Eagles vs. El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Desperado vs Master Wato & Ryusuke Taguchi for the IWGP Jr. tag tiles
  • Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Evil & Yujiro Takahashi for the IWGP tag titles
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. SANADA for the US title
  • Other big events tomorrow include Impact No Surrender from New Orleans, AAA Rey de Reyes from Veracruz and GCW from the Showboat in Atlantic City. All are available live on FITE TV.
  • Kevin Eck’s weekly look at the ROH news is here.
  • Gangrel debuts for MLW on the 2/26 show in Charlotte against Gnarls Gavin.
  • A 3/11 show at The State Room in South San Francisco, CA with West Coast Pro and Prestige, headlined by Malakai Black vs. Kevin Blackwood, is now sold out.
  • Game Related on 4/15 at The State Room in South San Francisco features Hall of Famer Yuji Nagata.
  • GCW on 3/12 at Center Stage in Atlanta has Blake Christian vs. Jonathan Gresham and AR Fox vs. Nick Wayne, plus Matt Cardona, Joey Janela, and more.
  • MCW tomorrow night in Baltimore at the FPX Theater features Lance Archer and Moses from ROH.
  • Renegades of Wrestling on 4/30 in Melbourne, Australia featuring the return to Australia of JONAH.
  • ISPW tonight in Butler, NJ at St. Anthony’s Church Gym headlined by Scotty 2 Hotty vs. Danny Morrison and H.C. Loc vs. Traxx.

UFC

  • UFC on ESPN+ tomorrow starting at 4 p.m.:
  • Johnny Walker (206) vs. Jamahal Hill (205)
  • Kyle Daukaus (193.5) vs. Jamie Pickett (194) — 195-pound catchweight bout
  • Parker Porter (263) vs. Alan Baudot (256)
  • Jim Miller (156) vs. Nikolas Motta (154.5)
  • Joaquin Buckley (183) vs. Abdul Razak Alhassan (186)
  • Gabriel Benitez (148) vs. David Onama (144.5)
  • Jessica-Rose Clark (135.5) vs. Stephanie Egger (135)
  • Chas Skelly (146) vs. Mark Striegl (145)
  • Diana Belbita (116) vs. Gloria de Paula (115.5)
  • Chad Anheliger (135) vs. Jesse Strader (135)
  • Jonathan Pearce (145.5) vs. Christian Rodriguez (146)
  • Mario Bautista (135.5) vs. Jay Perrin (136)
  • Benitez missed weight by two pounds and will be forfeiting 30 percent of his purse.
  • Joe Rogan is doing a live comedy show on 4/8 in Jacksonville at the Vystar Veterans Memorial Auditorium which tells you he’s going to be doing the UFC show that weekend.
  • Jimmy Crute will be out for one year due to knee reconstructive surgery.
  • Ilia Topuria vs. Jai Hebert has bee added to the 3/19 show in London.
  • Darren Elkins vs. Tristan Connelly is set for a 4/30 show.

Other MMA

  • Bellator tomorrow night on Showtime at 9 p.m. Eastern: 
  • Davion Franklin (262.75) vs. Said Sowma (243)
  • Brennan Ward (174.8) vs. Brandon Bell (173.8)
  • Georgi Karakhanyan (156) vs. Adam Piccolotti (155.5)
  • Andrey Koreshkov (171) vs. Chance Rencountre (169.5)
  • Neiman Gracie (170.75) vs. Logan Storley (170.5)
  • The PFL Challengers series has a series of light heavyweight fights streaming on the Fubo Sports network tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern. Ray Lewis and Tyron Woodley are part of the broadcast team: 
  • Josh Silveira (205) vs. Mohamed Jurna (205.2)
  • Alexander Poppeck (205.6) vs. Taylor Johnson (204.2)
  • Travis Davis (206) vs. Bruce Sout (202.4)
  • Miles Amos (205.6) vs. Karl Williams (205.2)

Kairi Sane returning to the ring at NXT house show in Florida

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Though she suffered a concussion at the Mae Young Classic tapings last month, Kairi Sane (formerly Kairi Hojo) is set to make her NXT house show debut this week.

WWE advertised today that Sane will be in action at NXT’s show in St. Petersburg, Florida this Thursday. Most of the television roster will be on the road while that event is going on, with a tour beginning in Los Angeles, California tonight before stops in Bakersfield, San Jose, and Sacramento.

Pro Wrestling Sheet first reported that Sane suffered a concussion at the Mae Young Classic tapings and was dealing with some neck pain, though it was noted that she was expected to be cleared to return in early August. Her working the show in St. Petersburg would mean that has happened.

Sane’s first WWE match will be made available on the Network when the first four episodes of the Mae Young Classic are released on August 28th. The next batch will be uploaded on September 4th, then the final match will air live on the Network at 10 p.m. ET on September 12th.

Kairi Hojo gets new WWE name, announced for Mae Young Classic

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The Mae Young Classic has added its most noteworthy name yet.

Kairi Hojo, who is one of the best women’s wrestlers in the world and one of the best pro wrestlers in general, was announced for the tournament this morning. The announcement was made during a video at WWE’s house show at Sumo Hall in Japan. She will be using the name Kairi Sane in WWE.

After reporting last year that WWE was interested in both Hojo and Io Shirai from the Stardom promotion, Dave Meltzer confirmed that Hojo had signed a three-year deal with WWE in March. Shirai later agreed to join the company as well, but her coming over has been delayed due to neck issues.

Hojo was expected to be in the tournament and started with WWE in Orlando earlier this month. She revealed publicly that she would be leaving Stardom in May.

Also confirmed for the tournament was Scottish wrestler Viper (who will be known as Piper Niven in it). Meltzer reported that WWE was interested in her for the Mae Young Classic as well, which was interesting given that she had been involved with ITV’s World of Sport project in the UK.

The list of official entrants for the 32-competitor tournament is now up to 14 names. Those are: Toni Storm, Princesa Sugehit, Lacey Evans, Sarah Logan, Tessa Blanchard, Abbey Laith, Taynara Conti, Kavita Devi, Jazzy Gabert, Bianca BelAir, Vanessa Borne, Dakota Kai, Kairi Sane, and Piper Niven.

My Favorite Wrestler (This Week): Kairi Hojo, The Miz, Gran Apache

Posted on by Zach Dominello

It was a busy week in wrestling as always. Some unfortunate injuries led to some directionless WWE television. Meanwhile in New Japan, a dinosaur wrestled a tiger at Shinjuku Face. Here are our favorite wrestlers this week. Who’s yours?

This week’s panel —

Kairi Hojo

By Zach Dominello

It seems it’s finally anchor’s aweigh for one of the best sailors turned pirate wrestlers in the world, as Kairi Hojo finally sets course for WWE.

It’s always a bittersweet situation for fans like me when WWE snatches up a big name talent from the indies or overseas. It’s a pretty big blow for Stardom, and Japanese wrestling in general, but it’s also a great opportunity for Hojo to create more exposure and increase her fan base, and if she does come back, she’ll be a bigger star than ever (as long as she gets more of the Asuka treatment, and not Yoshi Tatsu).

For those not familiar with Hojo’s work, I advise to keep a sharp lookout for her arrival. Two words: elbow drop. Anyway, I’ve avoided as many nautical puns as I can, so I’ll leave you with this photo of what I think is Kairi Hojo dancing.

The Miz

By Jeremy Peeples

The Miz has been given about as big a chance to shine on Raw as he was on SmackDown. While he doesn’t feel like quite the main event-level act he was on SD, he does fit in nicely with Raw’s main event scene revolving around the IC title.

His work on Raw this past week was solid in the ring, but he was exceptional on the mic. It seems like the confidence boost in being given the ball once again on SD has led to him getting more chances on Raw — a trend that should continue.

His ceiling on Raw does seem lower than it did on SmackDown, but as long as he works in more top-notch promo work, he’ll be bullet-proof.

Gran Apache

By Alan4L

The wrestling world lost a true gem of a performer this past weekend when Gran Apache passed away. I had been familiar with Apache’s work and his matches with Oscar Sevilla really knocked my socks off when I first saw them a few years ago.

What I had heard about but never sought out was the Apache Family storyline that was a highlight of AAA TV through the mid 2000s. I guess I assumed that a more skits/promo-heavy storyline would be lost on me so I never really thought about it.

Well with some time to kill while I’m in the hospital, I felt I should honor the man by checking out what many claim was his finest hour as a performer. All I can say is don’t let the language barrier fool you, this storyline with Apache playing the macho head of the family trying to fend off the advances of young babyface Billy Boy from his daughter Faby, was universal drama.

The skits of Apache absconding with Baby Marvin (the one-year-old legit baby of Faby and Billy) and throwing a birthday party for him are absolutely amazing. The actual matches that form the tentpoles of the feud are overflowing with emotion and you’ll see tears running through the crowd. It’s just great pro wrestling. RIP Gran Apache.

WWE-bound Kairi Hojo announces departure from Stardom

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Kairi Hojo, one of the elite woman wrestlers in the world, who signed with WWE in March, but had personally kept it quiet, should be reporting to the Performance Center shortly.

Hojo, real name Kaori Housako, 28, announced at Saturday’s Stardom show that she is leaving the promotion. She never mentioned WWE, because talent is not allowed to mention they are going to WWE until WWE announces it first.

We had reported Hojo’s negotiations and signing as the story was playing out from last year. WWE was after both Hojo and Stardom’s top star, Io Shirai. Shirai was brought to Orlando not that long ago to train, which was not supposed to go public but due to a communications issue, was briefly mentioned on the WWE website.

Shirai hasn’t signed with WWE at this point.

Hojo has wrestled for just over five years and was an Olympic hopeful in yachting before getting into pro wrestling. She had worked a few shows for Lucha Underground but was not under contract with the promotion.