Several matches have been revealed for WWE’s trip to Japan next month.
WWE will present Supershow events at Ryōgoku Sumo Hall on Friday, October 17, and Saturday, October 18 in Tokyo. Matches for the two shows were advertised last night on ABEMA’s broadcast of WWE SmackDown in Japan.
Shinsuke Nakamura will return to in-ring action on the shows. He hasn’t wrestled since the opening round of the King of the Ring tournament in June. He’s scheduled to team with Jey Uso against Bronson Reed and Bron Breakker on night one, and then team with CM Punk and Uso against The Vision on night two.
October 17, 2025
Women’s United States Championship Giulia (c) defends against IYO SKY and Rhea Ripley in a three-way
World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins defends against CM Punk
Shinsuke Nakamura & Jey Uso vs. Bron Breakker & Bronson Reed
October 18, 2025
Giulia vs. Kairi Sane w/Asuka
Six-Man Tag: Shinsuke Nakamura, CM Punk & Jey Uso vs. Seth Rollins, Bron Breakker & Bronson Reed (“The Vision”)
This October, WWE is heading to Japan for a pair of house shows.
WWE will run Sumo Hall in Tokyo on back-to-back nights with house shows taking place on Friday, October 17 and Saturday, October 18. These will be WWE’s first events in Japan since July 2024. Prior to that, WWE had not been to the country since 2019.
Gunther, AJ Styles, IYO SKY, Rhea Ripley, Jey Uso, Finn Balor, JD McDonagh, Sami Zayn, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods are advertised for the events, which are being branded as “WWE SuperShow Japan.”
All of the talent advertised so far are members of the WWE Raw roster. WWE has a live episode of SmackDown taking place in San Jose, California on October 17.
Tickets for the Japan house shows are going on sale at 10 a.m. local time on Saturday, August 30. There will be wrestler meet and greet packages available as well.
WWE also held a couple international house shows this past weekend with Mexico City and Monterrey hosting WWE SuperShow Mexico. The top matches on those events were Gunther vs. Penta and a six-man tag with Cody Rhodes, Jacob Fatu & Jimmy Uso facing Solo Sikoa, JC Mateo & Tonga Loa.
Though it took place at an untelevised show, fans can now watch Bayley and Meiko Satomura’s WWE Women’s Championship match.
The legendary Satomura faced off against Bayley for the first time ever at WWE’s house show in Tokyo on July 27. A Rose Plant earned Bayley the victory as she remained WWE Women’s Champion. After the match, the two competitors showed respect to each other and Bayley left the ring so Satomura could spend a moment with the crowd.
The full match has been uploaded by WWE to their WWE Vault YouTube channel:
Three WWE house shows were held in Japan from July 25-27. At the other two events, Bayley, Satomura, Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill defeated IYO SKY, Kairi Sane, Dakota Kai & Tiffany Stratton in eight-woman tag matches. This was the first time WWE has been to Japan since 2019.
Bayley is set to defend her WWE Women’s Championship against Nia Jax at SummerSlam this Saturday. Stratton, who holds the Money in the Bank briefcase, has also been positioned as a threat to Bayley’s title reign. There was a spot during the Bayley vs. Satomura match where Stratton wanted to cash in but was laid out by Satomura.
Satomura has announced that she will retire from in-ring competition in April 2025. That month marks the 30th anniversary of her pro wrestling debut. Satomura has been signed to WWE since joining NXT UK as a wrestler and coach in 2021. She also runs the Sendai Girls promotion in Japan.
Bayley and pro wrestling legend Meiko Satomura are set to face off against each other for the first time ever.
At WWE’s house show in Tokyo this Saturday, Bayley will put her WWE Women’s Championship on the line against Satomura. The match was announced after they teamed up together in matches on the first two nights of WWE’s Japan tour. Satomura cut a promo challenging Bayley to the title match.
“Tomorrow night will be an absolute honor,” Bayley wrote. “Feels like I’m having a Wrestlemania match 1 week before Summerslam.”
A WWE Women’s Championship match with Bayley defending against Nia Jax is scheduled for SummerSlam on Saturday, August 3.
WWE was in Osaka on Thursday and Tokyo on Friday for the first two events of the house show tour. It’s the fist time WWE has held shows in Japan since 2019. The tour concludes with Saturday’s live event at Sumo Hall.
Bayley, Satomura, Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill defeated IYO SKY, Kairi Sane, Dakota Kai & Tiffany Stratton at the Thursday and Friday events.
Tokyo Sports reported this week that Satomura has made the decision to retire from in-ring competition and will likely have her final match in spring 2025. Next April marks the 30th anniversary of Satomura’s pro wrestling debut. She runs the Sendai Girls promotion in Japan and is also under contract with WWE.
Satomura is a former NXT UK Women’s Champion. She signed with WWE in 2021 as a wrestler and coach for NXT UK.
On this week’s Pacific Rim, myself and Fumi Saito talk about attending the first-ever Marigold card held at Korakuen Hall. We talk about the atmosphere, the presentation, Bozilla, and Marigold’s plans for the future.
Plus, we chat about this year’s Hana Kimura Memorial Show, WWE running Japan, why Fumi thinks NXT Japan is an inevitability, Pro Wrestling NOAH, Stardom-Bushiroad, and much more.
This summer, WWE is heading to Japan for its first shows in the country since 2019.
WWE will hold house shows in Osaka and Tokyo this July. Cody Rhodes, Shinsuke Nakamura, Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley, IYO SKY, and Asuka & Kairi Sane are advertised to appear at the three events.
Here are the dates and locations for the shows:
Thursday, July 25: Edion Arena in Osaka
Friday, July 26: Sumo Hall in Tokyo
Saturday, July 27: Sumo Hall in Tokyo
“Tickets will be available at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 1, 2024 from E-Plus, Lawson Ticket, Ticket Pia and Kyodo Tokyo,” WWE wrote. “Fans interested in an exclusive presale can visit eplus.jp/wwe/ for more information on signing up.”
In 2019, WWE held two house shows at Sumo Hall. They notably featured what ended up being Triple H’s final matches as an in-ring competitor. Triple H teamed with AJ Styles, Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows to defeat McIntyre, Lashley, Baron Corbin & Samoa Joe the first night. The next night, Triple H & Nakamura defeated Joe & Robert Roode.
WWE’s international travel schedule was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic following those 2019 events.
It was announced today that WWE and ABEMA have agreed to a media rights partnership. Starting this October, WWE programming will stream exclusively on ABEMA platforms in Japan. ABEMA platforms will carry Raw, SmackDown, and NXT, along with WWE premium live events.
Raw and SmackDown will both broadcast free-to-air in Japan every week with Japanese commentary immediately following first broadcast in the U.S., for the first time ever. Starting with Raw on Tuesday, October 3 (and every Tuesday night at 8pm local time) and SmackDown on Saturday, October 7 (and every Saturday night at 8pm local time), both weekly shows will also be available to watch on-demand. The new agreement will also see NXT available to watch on-demand in Japan via ABEMA Video.
Additionally, all WWE Premium Live Events will air exclusively live on ABEMA, with all past editions of WrestleMania available to view on-demand via ABEMA Video beginning October 1.
A special program about the deal will be shown on ABEMA this Friday. Keiji Muto (The Great Muta), who is an ABEMA ambassador, noted that he’ll be involved in that broadcast.
Following his retirement from in-ring competition, Muto was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame earlier this year. He was shown sitting in the crowd when Seth Rollins defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura at Payback this month.
With the ABEMA deal, WWE broadcasts are returning to Japan for the first time since 2021. WWE’s partnership with J Sports ended at the conclusion of that year.
J Sports and WWE’s 24-year partnership will be coming to an end, possibly leaving WWE without a major television partner in Japan.
J Sports issued a statement today announcing the end of their partnership with WWE effective December 31, 2021 for new programming and January 31, 2022 for on demand shows.
J Sports had been airing Raw and SmackDown live in English, plus one-hour highlights versions of the shows. Additionally, versions of the shows with Japanese subtitles have aired on J Sports.
WWE’s pay-per-view events have been available on the J Sports On Demand platform.
“Other than 30-minute “This Week in WWE” updates on SamuraiTV and maybe syndicated regionally in some areas, I think WWE may be without a TV distributor in Japan in 2022.”
Subscribers to the J Sports WWE pack have until December 31 to cancel their subscriptions, or else they will be charged for January’s on demand content.
WWE’s house show tour of Japan that was scheduled for this summer has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The three-day tour was set to take place in early July and was supposed to include a show in Osaka and two shows in Yokohama. “Unfortunately, we will not be holding the ‘WWE Live Japan’ scheduled for July 2nd (Thursday) Edion Arena Osaka and July 3rd (Friday) and 4th (Saturday) Yokohama Arena this year,” WWE announced on their Japanese website.
“Tickets will be refunded from June 8th (Monday) 10:00 to July 12th (Sunday) 23:59.”
These would have been WWE’s first events in Japan since their two house shows in Tokyo last June. Those shows featured Triple H’s most recent in-ring appearances. On night one, he teamed with AJ Styles, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson against Samoa Joe, Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley & Baron Corbin. Triple H & Shinsuke Nakamura then faced Joe & Robert Roode on night two.
WWE was back at Sumo Hall on Saturday to close out two straight nights of house shows in Tokyo, Japan.
– Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch defeated Alexa Bliss and Asuka in a triple threat match to retain her title
WWE set up Asuka & Kairi Sane vs. The IIconics in a non-title match for later.
– Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson defeated Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins
Gallows & Anderson got a Tag Team title shot against The Revival after this.
– Raw Tag Team Champions The Revival (Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder) defeated Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson to retain their titles
– Triple H & Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Robert Roode & Samoa Joe
Triple H was originally only advertised for night one but ended up teaming with Nakamura here. He gave Joe a Pedigree, then Nakamura hit the Kinshasa on Roode for the win.
– The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka & Kairi Sane) defeated Women’s Tag Team Champions The IIconics (Peyton Royce & Billie Kay) in a non-title match
Asuka & Sane defeated The IIconics in non-title matches on both nights in Tokyo and will get a Women’s Tag Team title shot in the future.
– United States Champion Ricochet defeated Cesaro to retain his title
– Universal Champion Seth Rollins, AJ Styles & Braun Strowman defeated Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley & Drew McIntyre
Rollins pinned Corbin after hitting the Curb Stomp.
Triple H will be in action at one of WWE’s house shows in Tokyo, Japan this month.
After teasing that he would be on the show, WWE officially announced that Triple H will be wrestling at their event at Sumo Hall on Friday, June 28. Triple H, AJ Styles, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson teaming against Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley, Baron Corbin & Samoa Joe in an eight-man tag match is advertised for the show.
Triple H lost to Randy Orton at Super ShowDown in Saudi Arabia this past Friday. Triple H also wrestled at WrestleMania 35 in April, defeating Batista in a no holds barred match.
WWE will have another house show at Sumo Hall on June 29, but Triple H has only been added to the first night. Here are the advertised lineups for both events:
June 28 —
Seth Rollins vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the Universal Championship
Becky Lynch vs. Alexa Bliss for the Raw Women’s Championship
Triple H, AJ Styles, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley, Baron Corbin & Samoa Joe
Ricochet vs. Cesaro
Braun Strowman vs. Robert Roode
Peyton Royce & Billie Kay vs. Asuka & Kairi Sane for the Women’s Tag Team titles
Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins vs. The Revival for the Raw Tag Team titles
June 29 —
Seth Rollins, AJ Styles & Braun Strowman vs. Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley & Baron Corbin
Becky Lynch vs. Asuka vs. Alexa Bliss in a triple threat match for the Raw Women’s Championship
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Robert Roode
Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins vs. The Revival vs. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson in a triple threat match for the Raw Tag Team titles
Ricochet vs. Cesaro
Samoa Joe, Kairi Sane, Peyton Royce, and Billie Kay are also set for the show
WWE was back at Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan on Saturday for their second of two house shows at the venue this week.
– The Usos defeated Rusev & Aiden English
– Sin Cara defeated Shelton Benjamin
– Becky Lynch & Naomi defeated Billie Kay & Lana (w/ Peyton Royce)
– Hideo Itami defeated The Miz
For the finish, Itami teased going for the GTS, The Miz went for the Skull Crushing Finale, and Itami countered into a victory roll for the win. Itami referenced his friend Katsuyori Shibata by sitting cross-legged in the ring at one point during the match while Miz was outside.
– Io Shirai made an appearance in front of the crowd and it was announced that she had officially signed with WWE and would be joining NXT this summer.
– SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bludgeon Brothers defeated The New Day, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson, and Cesaro & Sheamus in a fatal four-way match to retain their titles
– Asuka defeated SmackDown Women’s Champion Carmella by DQ
Asuka got the win in her home country, but Carmella kept the title after being disqualified for using a chair. Asuka kicked Carmella after the match and stood tall.
– WWE Champion AJ Styles defeated Samoa Joe and Daniel Bryan in a triple threat match to retain his title
This was supposed to be a fatal four-way with Shinsuke Nakamura included until his dog-bite injury caused him to be unable to wrestle at the show. He again had a crutch today and interfered at the finish when Joe had the Coquina Clutch locked on Styles. Joe tried to choke out Nakamura in a segment yesterday, and he was getting revenge here.
Nakamura went to hit Joe with his crutch, Joe blocked it, and Nakamura gave him a low blow. Styles then hit the Phenomenal Forearm to retain.
Gallows and Anderson came out after the match and, along with Styles, teased a Too Sweet with Nakamura. But Nakamura said that the next time the company comes to Tokyo, he’ll either hold or win the WWE title.
WWE came to Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan today for the first of two nights of house shows at the arena.
– The New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston) w/ Xavier Woods defeated Cesaro & Sheamus
Big E and Kingston hit Midnight Hour to win.
– Hideo Itami defeated Shelton Benjamin
Itami won with a roll-up after they teased finishers.
– Tye Dillinger defeated Shelton Benjamin
Benjamin lost to a roll-up again after issuing a challenge for another opponent.
– Shinsuke Nakamura, who had been advertised to challenge for AJ Styles’ WWE Championship in the main event, came out with a crutch and said he wouldn’t be able to compete tonight after being bit in the left leg by a police dog on Monday. Samoa Joe interrupted him and wanted the title match against Styles.
Nakamura went for a low blow before Joe tried to choke him out. Styles then made the save for Nakamura.
– SmackDown Women’s Champion Carmella defeated Becky Lynch to retain her title
Carmella had her feet on the ropes when getting the pin.
– Daniel Bryan defeated The Miz
Bryan vs. Big Cass and Miz vs. Itami were originally listed for the card before Cass’ release.
– Andrade “Cien” Almas (w/ Zelina Vega) defeated Sin Cara
Almas won after interference from Vega. At one point, Almas (a former Los Ingobernables member) used Tetsuya Naito’s Destino to a good reaction.
– Asuka & Naomi defeated Billie Kay & Lana (w/ Peyton Royce)
The Asuka Lock ended this.
– SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bludgeon Brothers defeated The Usos, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson, and Rusev & Aiden English to retain their titles
– WWE Champion AJ Styles defeated Samoa Joe to retain his title
The SmackDown crew was in Osaka for a show at the Edion Arena today (and some had dinner with members of the NJPW roster while in Japan). The same crew will be joined by John Cena in China on Sunday before flying to Oakland for the Tuesday SmackDown tapings.
– SmackDown Tag Team Champions The New Day defeated Baron Corbin & Dolph Ziggler to retain their titles
Kofi Kingston, who had been cleared after suffering a minor injury in Hawaii, got the pin on Corbin after New Day hit the Midnight Hour.
– Luke Harper defeated Erick Rowan
Harper won with the discus lariat.
– Aiden English defeated Sami Zayn
English hit a DDT for the finish.
– Randy Orton defeated Rusev in a last man standing match
An RKO through a table got the win for Orton.
– Naomi, Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch (w/ Asuka) defeated SmackDown Women’s Champion Natalya, Tamina, Lana & Carmella (w/ James Ellsworth)
Naomi hit the Rear View on Lana for the pin. Asuka and Ellsworth were going at it at the finish.
– United States Champion AJ Styles defeated Kevin Owens to retain his title
These two have been working short matches this week, with Styles retaining with the Phenomenal Forearm.
– WWE Champion Jinder Mahal defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to retain his title
Mahal hit the Khallas for the victory after interference from the Singh Brothers, then Nakamura made a comeback to stand tall after the match.
– Twenty minutes before the show, a video aired with Kairi Sane announcing that she has joined NXT and will participate in the Mae Young Classic. The announcement received an enthusiastic response from the crowd.
– Chris Jericho defeated Hideo Itami
The crowd was split 60/40 in Jericho’s favor despite him playing the subtle heel. Itami was a total face and didn’t display any of the heel tendencies he’s been showing on NXT. Jericho submitted him with the Liontamer in a good, yet unspectacular match.
After it was over, Jericho got on the mic and said: “Hideo…or should I say KENTA…is one of the best Japanese wrestlers in the world and he will be NXT Champion soon.” He then shook Itami’s hand and gave him a hug. Jericho announced that this was his 50th tour of Japan.
– Titus O’Neil defeated Bo Dallas
This was originally scheduled to be O’Neil & Dallas vs. Enzo Amore & Big Cass. O’Neil played the face here and won with a sit-out spinebuster after three minutes.
– WWE Cruiserweight Champion Neville defeated Austin Aries and Akira Tozawa to retain his title
This was a good match, with the crowd solidly behind Tozawa. The finish came when Tozawa hit Aries with a diving senton, then Neville scurried back into the ring and stole the pin to retain.
– Raw Tag Team Champions Cesaro & Sheamus defeated Heath Slater & Rhyno to retain their titles
The champions were cheered over the challengers here. Sheamus hit a Brogue Kick on Rhyno to pick up the win.
– Enzo Amore came out for a promo. After finishing his first line on the ramp, he was attacked by Big Cass. They brawled for a few moments in the ring before Cass laid out Amore with a big boot. Amore was helped to the back.
– Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins defeated Intercontinental Champion The Miz (w/ Maryse) & Samoa Joe
Ambrose and Rollins got the loudest reactions of the night. Ambrose hit Dirty Deeds on The Miz for the win.
– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka, Bayley & Sasha Banks defeated Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss, Emma & Nia Jax
The first half of the match was a lot of comedy. The faces performed a Stink Face on Bliss. The bout was pretty long and just okay. Asuka submitted Emma for the win, then Bayley and Banks pretended to steal Asuka’s belt after the match.
– Finn Balor defeated Karl Anderson (w/ Luke Gallows)
They had the best match of the night. Anderson was able to hit a Gun Stun here (which Balor kicked out of). Anderson attempted a One Winged Angel before Balor slipped out and hit a slingblade and Coup de Grace for the win.
– Roman Reigns defeated Bray Wyatt
The reaction to both was pretty subdued. Reigns won after hitting a spear.
