Shuji Ishikawa Defeats Junya Matsunaga on Day 7 of ZERO1’s Fire Festival 2026

By: Ian McCord

On July 18th, Day 7 of Pro Wrestling ZERO1’s Fire Festival 2026 took place at Shin-Kiba 1stRING. At the event, Shuji Ishikawa scored a huge victory over the ZERO1 World Heavyweight Champion Junya Matsunaga.

Ishikawa and Matsunaga duked it out in the main event in Shin-Kiba to see who would claim the top spot in Block A, at least for now. Both men held five points and a part of the three-way tie with Masato Tanaka for first place coming into the event.

Ishikawa picked up the win in just under 20 minutes, pinning Matsunaga following a Giant Slam. The win puts Ishikawa at seven points and makes him the current points leader in Block A.

Ishikawa took to social media following the event, sharing that Matsunaga has gotten stronger since their first match against one another in November of 2025 for Pro-Wrestling Evolution. He also shared that he has one more match in the Fire Festival, taking on Kuroshio TOKYO Japan on July 26th at Urayasu Oriental Hotel Tokyo Bay.

From Shuji Ishikawa:

“It was the Shin-Kiba event. It was my first match against Matsunaga in a year, and he was tough. I managed to pull off a victory through sheer determination. The Fire Festival is coming into view. There’s just one more match left in this nail-biting league vs. Kuroshio TOKYO Japan!”

(English Translation via DeepL)

If victorious against Kuroshio TOKYO Japan, Ishikawa could find himself in the finals of the 2026 Fire Festival at Korakuen Hall on August 7th as the winner of Block A.

Elsewhere on the card, Block A’s Kuma Arashi defeated Kuroshio TOKYO Japan following a Cross Body Attack, adding 2 more points to the scoreboard. In Block B action, Daichi Hashimoto defeated Tsugataka Sato by submission following an STF, tying Koji Doi for first place in Block B with five points

ZERO1 Fire Festival 2026 returns on July 25th at the Yokohama Radiant Hall. There are 3 tournament matches scheduled for the card, including Daichi Hashimoto vs. Hayabusa, Masato Tanaka vs. Ryunosuke Nagai, and Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Koji Doi.

Here are the full results from ZERO1’s Fire Festival 2026 day 7 on July 18th, courtesy of purolove.com:

• Yuko Miyamoto & Fuminori Abe defeat Yasu Kubota & Hide Kubota (7:48) following an Inside Cradle by Miyamoto on Yasu.
• Masato Tanaka & Ryunosuke Nagai defeat Takuya Sugawara & Bryan Ishizaka (9:20) following a Sliding D by Tanaka on Ishizaka.
• Hayabusa & Katsuhiko Nakajima defeat Yuki Toki & Vent Vert Jack (10:45) following a Firebird Splash by Hayabusa on Toki.
• Fire Festival – Block B: Daichi Hashimoto [5] defeats Tsugataka Sato [2] (13:53) with an STF.
• Fire Festival – Block A: Kuma Arashi [5] defeats Kuroshio TOKYO Japan [2] (13:23) with a Cross Body Attack.
• Fire Festival – Block A: Shuji Ishikawa [7] defeats Junya Matsunaga [5] (19:59) with a Giant Slam.

Fire Festival Standings:

Block A:

• Shuji Ishikawa [7]
• Junya Matsunaga [5]
• Masato Tanaka [5]
• Kuma Arashi [5]
• Kuroshio TOKYO Japan [2]
• Ryunosuke Nagai [0]

Block B:

• Koji Doi [5]
• Daichi Hashimoto [5]
• Yuko Miyamoto [4]
• Katsuhiko Nakajima [4]
• Tsugataka Sato [2]
• Hayabusa [2]