Dramatic DDT

DDT “APRIL FOOL 2012”, 01/04/2012
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,277 Fans – No Vacancy

0. Dark Match: Shota defeated Gota Ihashi with a Crucifix Pin (3:53).
1. Tetsuya Endo Debut Match: Hiroshi Fukuda & Akito defeated Keisuke Ishii & Tetsuya Endo when Akito submitted Endo with a Modified Figure Four Leg Lock (9:22).
2. Antonio Honda defeated Nico Valentine with a School Boy (9:02).
3. Takao Soma & Genba Hirayanagi defeated Hikaru Sato & Michael Nakazawa when Soma pinned Nakazawa with the Boma Ye (8:18).
4. AJPW Jr. Heavyweight Title: Kenny Omega (c) defeated Shigehiro Irie with the One Winged Angel (16:34).
*V5 for Kenny Omega.
5. Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Contract Battle Royal: Yuji Hino defeated Yasu Urano with a German Suplex (23:56).
5a. Right To Challenge Tag Anytime, Anywhere: Tomomitsu Matsunaga (6:09).
5b. Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere 1: Masa Takanashi (9:49).
5c. Performance Rights Anytime, Anywhere: Keita Yano (12:35).
5d. Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere 2: DJ Nira (13:13).
5e. Ken Ohka Anytime, Anywhere: Makoto Oishi (14:46).
6. KO-D Openweight Title: Sanshiro Takagi defeated Danshoku Dino (c) with the Sit Down Himawari Bomb (19:17).
*Danshoku Dino fails in V3. Sanshiro Takagi becomes the 39th KO-D Openweight Champion!
7. KO-D Openweight Title: Masa Takanashi defeated Sanshiro Takagi (c) with the Takatonic (2:04).
*Sanshiro Takagi fails in V1. Masa Takanashi becomes the 40th KO-D Openweight Champion!

The big stories coming from today’s show in Korakuen Hall may sound like something out of an April Fool’s joke, but DDT really does have some big plans in store for the future. Not only that but we got two surprising title changes, both involving the came championship.

The main event saw Sanshiro Takagi lift the KO-D Openweight Title for a record sixth time. But after defeating Danshoku Dino in a hard fought battle, he was in no way, shape or form ready for the sudden cashing in of the Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere contract won by Masa Takanashi earlier in the night. Masa told Takagi he would make him the shortest champion in history and when the show finally ended,  Masa Takanashi was left standing as the most unlikely KO-D Champion in recent memory. But now that Masa has the gold, a huge threat already has him in his sights.

Yuji Hino won the Battle Royal portion of the Right To Challenge series. He now gets to face Masa for the KO-D Title on 4th May. Masa won the first of two Right To Challenge contracts for the KO-D Title. He is the first wrestler in DDT to cash it in successfully. The other KO-D Title contract was won by DJ Nira of all people! Tomomitsu Matsunaga has the KO-D Tag Team Title contract and will get to choose whoever he wants to cash it in with. Keita Yano has the contract that allows him to set up a DDT show wherever and whenever he likes (DDT still gets a big cut of the earnings). That left the Ken Ohka Anytime, Anywhere contract as the last prize to be fought over. Except nobody wanted it. However, Makato Oishi didn’t keep track of which contracts were taken and he dashed up the ladder when the opportunity arose. Everyone else just stood around the ladder and let him grab the contract. So now Makoto can become the next Ken Ohka whenever he wants.

Kota Ibushi returns to the ring on May 4th and his big comeback match is against the lucha phenom that has taken DDT and Union by storm over the last year… El Generico!!! With both wrestlers famed for their high action matches that often spill outside the ring, this match could be insane.

Kyohei Wada was the referee for the AJPW Jr. Title match. Shigehiro Irie made his entrance wearing Road Warrior shoulder pads that matched his wrestling gear. Even though he could not defeat Kenny Omega, he was highly praised by the champion. Kenny said that Irie will someday be the biggest star in DDT. Kenny also asked the audience to support himself and Michael Nakazawa when they enter the All Japan Jr. Tag League in April.

Hard Hit will hold its next show on 3rd June.

Kana will return to DDT on 8th April along with the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title.

DDT’s strategy presentation for the rest of the year included several pieces of information:

1. DDT wants to add more local shows to their schedule. They will now go to Sopporo twice a year, Hakata three times, hold a big show in Osaka in September, hold two Street Pro Wrestling events and have the annual Beer Garden series take place from 29th July to 4th August. There will also be other shows in smaller towns.

2. Kota Ibushi, HARASHIMA & KUDO are now on Twitter. You can follow them at @ibushi_kota, @HARASHIMA_DDT and @KUDO_DDT.

3. DDT will also be releasing their own video app for the iPhone in the coming months. First release will be a trilogy of Bookstore Pro Wrestling matches which will be available in April.

4. The Budokan Hall show will feature the debut of their latest rookie, a 16 year old high school student named Konosuke Takeshita (竹下幸之介). He is from Osaka, born 15th May 1995, height is measured at 186cm and he participated in shot put at high school.

5. DDT will also begin streaming their shows online with a service called Nico DDT Live and DDT Wrestling Hour. They will have a bi-weekly live broadcast and also air recorded footage every other Thursday with the videos available to watch over two days. First live broadcast will be the 8th April event in Shin-Kiba 1st RING. The streams will be free to watch, at least for the first few shows.

6. Last but not least, a pro wrestler audition has been set up by DDT with Seiya Morohashi (aka Big Rude from Union) in charge. He hopes to see a wide range of applicants coming through.

One last thing, there was an announcement for the official DDT 15th Anniversary theme song being created by J-Dance acts Sunplaza Nakano and DJ Yosshi. The song will be called “Under The Big Onion” and a music video will be created to go along with it. You know how Tokyo Dome is nicknamed the Big Egg? Well Budokan Hall is nicknamed the Big Onion.