Sapporo Gets Special Shaolin Stuff

May 16, 2012

DDT “ROAD TO BUDOKAN IN SAPPORO ~DRAMATIC DREAM CLOCK TOWER~”, 27/05/2012
Sapporo Teisan Hall

1. Shaolin Temple Death Match: Hiroki Vs Chiharu
2. Special Triple Threat Match: Yasu Urano Vs Masa Takanashi Vs Hikaru Sato
3. Tomoya Vs Takao Soma
4. Sapporo First Landing! Insanely Funny Game Series: Danshoku Dino & Makoto Oishi Vs Antonio Honda & DJ Nira
5. Special Death Match Where Something Terrible Will Happen To The Loser: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Michael Nakazawa
6. Special Tag Team Match: Kota Ibushi & KUDO Vs Keisuke Ishii & Shigehiro Irie
7. KO-D Openweight Title: Yuji Hino (c) Vs HARASHIMA

How do you make a show sound special? Use the word “special” over and over for your matches.

The now annual Hiroki Vs Chiharu death match in Sapporo is set to take place once again. This odd challenge between the two martial artists has been held twice by DDT since 2010. Hiroki is a nunchaku specialist while Chiharu trains in several martial arts. However, his abilities with the nunchaku has led to a rivalry with Hiroki over who is better trained. DDT capitalises on this everytime they come to Sapporo by pitting the two against each other in nunchaku themed death matches. So far Hiroki has bested Chiharu in both of their encounters. This time they will battle in a Shaolin Temple Death Match, which features plenty of nunchaku, sansetsukon and coathangers placed inside the ring and over the ropes.

At this point I think Don Michael has changed his name back to Michael Nakazawa. I lost track.


King Of DDT 2012 Announced

May 15, 2012

DDT “KING OF DDT TOKYO 2012”, 30/06/2012
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

DDT “KING OF DDT OSAKA 2012”, 08/07/2012
Osaka Yodogawa Kumin Center

The King Of DDT tournament returns for another year and will take place over two shows. The opening rounds will be held in Tokyo on 30th June while the final rounds will happen in Osaka on 8th July. The grand prize for the winner will be the main event KO-D Title shot at the 15th Anniversary Show in Budokan Hall this August.


Kazuki Hashimoto Goes Hard Hit

May 14, 2012

DDT “DRAMATIC 2012 MAY SPECIAL”, 20/05/2012
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

0. Amon Contra Amon – Special Dark Match: Hero Amon Vs Gorgeous Matsuno
1. Danshoku Dino Vs Tetsuya Endo
2. 3 Way Match: Makoto Oishi Vs Keita Yano Vs Batten Tamagawa
3. Shigehiro Irie & Hoshitango Vs Hikaru Sato & DJ Nira
4. Kota Ibushi Vs Gota Ihashi
5. Sanshiro Takagi & Takao Soma Vs Don Michael & Miho Wakizawa
6. KUDO & Akito Vs Masa Takanashi & Keisuke Ishii
7. Yuji Hino, Yasu Urano & Antonio Honda Vs HARASHIMA, Daisuke Sasaki & Tomomitsu Matsunaga

Miko Wakizawa was originally from All Japan Women and has lately been involved with the STARDOM joshi promotion.

HARD HIT “~PASSION~”, 03/06/2012
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Ryuichi Sekine Vs ISAO
2. Masashi Takeda Vs Hyato Mashida
3. Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Kazuki Hashimoto

ISAO is from the Sakaguchi Dojo and is currently the Lightweight King Of Pancrase Champion. Hyato Mashida is from Real Japan. Kazuki Hashimoto from Big Japan also makes his Hard Hit debut. Also booked for the show are Hikaru Sato, Shotaro Nasu & Tanomusaku Toba. Meanwhile, Don Michael has been told he will not be taking part in the show.


DDT “DOTONBORI STORY 12” Results

May 13, 2012

DDT “DOTONBORI STORY 12”, 13/05/2012
Osaka Minami Move On Arena
314 Fans – Super No Vacancy

1. Daisuke Sasaki defeated Tetsuya Endo with a Twisting Fisherman Buster (8:42).
2. 4 Way Match: Don Michael Vs DJ Nira Vs Makoto Oishi Vs Antonio Honda ended in a No Contest because of global warming (13:13).
3. Sanshiro Takagi, Takao Soma & Andy Palafox defeated Shoichi Uchida, Hideki Shiota & Kiai Ryuuken Ecchan when Palafox pinned Shiota with the Tiger Driver (12:16).
4. KUDO defeated Keita Yano with the Diving Double Knee Drop (12:44).
5. Masa Takanashi & HARASHIMA defeated Shigehiro Irie & Tomomitsu Matsunaga when HARASHIMA pinned Matsunaga with the Somato (13:29).
6. Hikaru Sato defeated Keisuke Ishii with a Cross Heel Hold (12:56).
7. KO-D Tag Team Title: Yasu Urano & Yuji Hino (c) defeated Kota Ibushi & Danshoku Dino when Hino pinned Ibushi with the F***’N Bomb (25:38).
*V1 for Crying Wolf.

Shigehiro Irie’s Road Warrior style shoulder armour was accidentaly destroyed during Match #5. HARASHIMA apologised and promised to put it back together with glue but it wasn’t enough to stop Irie from crying as he left the ring after the match. The armour was worth 33,000円.

The 4 Way Match was cancelled when Don Michael complained about feeling too hot to wrestle. Antonio Honda blamed Michael’s condition on global warming. Makoto Oishi said that Honda was spewing out so much carbon dioxide from his mouth it was making things worse. So everyone decided not to wrestle today in order to protect the planet from global warming.


Matches For Dotonbori Story 12

May 11, 2012

DDT “DOTONBORI STORY 12”, 13/05/2012
Osaka Minami Move On Arena

1. Daisuke Sasaki Vs Tetsuya Endo
2. 4 Way Match: Don Michael Vs DJ Nira Vs Makoto Oishi Vs Antonio Honda
3. Sanshiro Takagi, Takao Soma & Andy Palafox Vs Shoichi Uchida, Hideki Shiota & Kiai Ryuuken Ecchan
4. KUDO Vs Keita Yano
5. Masa Takanashi & HARASHIMA Vs Shigehiro Irie & Tomomitsu Matsunaga
6. Hikaru Sato Vs Keisuke Ishii
7. KO-D Tag Team Title: Yasu Urano & Yuji Hino (c) Vs Kota Ibushi & Danshoku Dino


Dramatic Dream Gate Card Ready!

May 10, 2012

DDT/DRAGON GATE “DDG COMES BACK”, 05/06/2012
Higashinari Citizens Center

0. Special Dark Match: Michael Nakazawa Vs Hollywood Stalker Ichikawa (Special Guest Referee: Gorgeous Matsuno)
1. Danshoku Rumble: Danshoku Dino Vs Antonio Honda Vs Gorgeous Matsuno Vs Don Fujii Vs Ryo “Jimmy” Saito Vs Rich Swann
2. HARASHIMA, KUDO & Shigehiro Irie Vs Akira Tozawa, Cyber Kong & Kzy
3. Masa Takanashi & Ken Ohka Vs Super Shisa & Shisa Boy
4. Kota Ibushi Vs BxB Hulk
5. Sanshiro Takagi & Takao Soma Vs Masaaki Mochizuki & Kotoka
6. Kenny Omega & Keisuke Ishii Vs Shingo Takagi & YAMATO

Two worlds collided today when wrestlers from both DDT and Dragon Gate held a press conference for the joint “DDG COMES BACK” taking place in June.

Shingo Takagi & YAMATO said that they wanted to fight Kenny Omega because of his exciting style. Keisuke Ishii said he understands that his opponents do not know who he is but he will delight the DDT fans by scoring the win for his team. He also admitted to being a Dragon Gate fan.

BxB Hulk wasn’t too excited to hear he would be facing Kota Ibushi. Hulk wondered out loud if Ibushi was the same guy he fought back in 2007 and that he doesn’t know him much since them because he keeps getting injured. He then told Ibushi to be careful so he wouldn’t injure himself again. Ibushi pointed out that he won the match back in ’07. He will look forward to seeing how much both of them have improved since that match.

Super Shisa complimented Masa Takanashi for his ability to use the Yoshitonic/Takatonic finisher. However, he is insulted that Takanashi named the move after himself as if he was the one who invented it. He’ll show Takanashi what the original is like! Ken Ohka told the Shisa team that he will show them the greatness of a true lion. He then named his team with Takasnashi the Dropout Roses. This is in reference to both Ohka and Takanashi dropping out of the Ultimo Dragon Gym when they originally tried to get into wrestling (Ohka trained in the 7th class from 2000, Masa trained in the 9th class from 2002).

With the show taking place in Osaka, Shigehiro Irie is motivated to win the match in front of his home crowd. He also doesn’t want to lose to Cyber Kong. KUDO thinks that he, Irie and HARASHIMA are the strongest trio DDT can create to take on MAD BLANKEY. Akira Tozawa thinks otherwise.

Stalker Ichikawa had no idea the press conference took place today. In fact, Stalker had no idea the show existed and that he has a dark match against Michael Nakazawa. He only found out when he was called to the table! Special guest referee Gorgeous Matsuno said the match will take place under his rules, “Gorgeous Rules”.


DDT “NASU NATURE SCHOOL WRESTLING” Results

May 6, 2012

DDT “NASU NATURE SCHOOL WRESTLING”, 06/05/2012
Nasu Nature School
166 Fans – Super No Vacancy

1. 6 Way Match: El Generico defeated Kota Ibushi, HARASHIMA, Gota Ihashi, Batten Tamagawa and Takao Soma when Generico pinned Soma with the Brainbustaaaaahhhhh!!!!! onto a table (63:58).

The match was originally delayed due to heavy rain in the area plus a forecast for thunder. The surroundings of the area were similar to Yamanashi Natureland Om where the Campsite shows are held, with a campfire set up in the centre. The school truck was hijacked by one of the wrestlers and its windshield was cracked at some point during the match. Daisuke Kiso joked that they will never use this venue again because of the accident. After El Generico won with a Brainbuster to Takao Soma onto a table, he thanked everyone for experiencing such a crazy match. Kota Ibushi said that next time he will bring more fireworks.


Nasu Nature Change, Amon Contra Amon, Hino Vs HARASHIMA

May 5, 2012

DDT “NASU NATURE SCHOOL WRESTLING”, 06/05/2012
Nasu Nature School

1. 6 Way Match: Kota Ibushi Vs El Generico Vs HARASHIMA VS Gota Ihashi Vs Batten Tamagawa Vs Takao Soma

Ken Ohka had to pull out of the match due to injuries sustained at “GOLDEN UNION 2012”. In his place is not one, but two wrestlers. Batten Tamagawa and Takao Soma have been added to make the match a 6 Way battle.

DDT “ROAD TO BUDOKAN IN FUJI ~DRAMATIC DREAM TSUKENAPORITAN~”, 19/05/2012
Shizuoka Fuji-san Messe

1. Akito Vs Tetsuya Endo
2. Takao Soma Vs DJ Nira
3. Sanshiro Takagi Vs Gota Ihashi
4. Kota Ibushi & Daisuke Sasaki Vs Hikaru Sato & Don Michael
5. Danshoku Dino & Makoto Oishi Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Keisuke Ishii
6. Yuji Hino, Yasu Urano & Antonio Honda Vs HARASHIMA, Masa Takanashi & KUDO

DDT “DRAMATIC 2012 MAY SPECIAL”, 20/05/2012
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

0. Amon Contra Amon – Special Dark Match: Hero Amon Vs Gorgeous Matsuno
1. KUDO & Akito Vs Masa Takanashi & Keisuke Ishii
2. Kota Ibushi Vs Gota Ihashi
3. Yuji Hino, Yasu Urano & Antonio Honda Vs HARASHIMA, Daisuke Sasaki & Tomomitsu Matsunaga

The feud between Tsurumi Amon and New World Japan took a strange turn when Sanshiro Takagi introduced a Luchador by the name of Hero Amon as one of the new members of his group. DDT is immediately not big enough to contain two Amons. Takagi challenged Tsurumi to face Hero Amon in a match. Gorgeous Matsuno has accepted the challenge and will wrestle on behalf of the General Manager.

DDT “ROAD TO BUDOKAN IN SAPPORO ~DRAMATIC DREAM CLOCK TOWER~”, 27/05/2012
Sapporo Teisan Hall

1. KO-D Openweight Title: Yuji Hino (c) Vs HARASHIMA

HARASHIMA pinned Yuji Hino’s stablemate Yasu Urano in a 3 Way match to earn the KO-D Title shot here. With Hino having a firm grip on both KO-D Titles, everyone in DDT will have to put in a lot of effort if they want to be the champion leading the company into its 15th Anniversary.

UNION “NIMOMAKEZU RAIN”, 17/06/2012
Kitizawa Town Hall

1. BJW Tag Team Title: Shuji Ishikawa & Shigehiro Irie (c) Vs Abdullah Kobayashi & Ryuji Ito

Abdullah Kobayashi defeated Shuji Ishikawa in a 306 Fluorescent Lighttubes & Free Weapons Death Match earlier today in Big Japan for the BJW Death Match Title. Now Kobayashi will be the challenger when he and Ryuji Ito team up to go against BIG “G” BANG.

Keizo Matsuda (original) will compete on the show aswell as the RockNES Monsters of Johnny Yuma & Johnny Goodtime.


UNION “GOLDEN UNION 2012” Results

May 4, 2012

UNION “GOLDEN UNION 2012”, 04/05/2012
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,236 Fans – No Vacancy

0. Union League Experiment: Masked Mystery & SAGAT defeated Madoka & Taichi Kazato when SAGAT pinned Kazato with the Dream Of Fetus (9:42).
1. Handicap Match Of Love: Rion Mizuki & Rumi Kazama submitted Hiroshi Fukuda when Kazama pinned Fukuda with the Dragon Panther (8:21).
2. Age Contra Makeup: Emi Samura (w/ Mio Shirai) defeated Cherry with the Spring Love Night (5:03).
3. Big Rude, Black Spider Clutch & GENTARO defeated Goro Tsurumi, El Hijo del Goro & Goro Jr when Rude submitted Hijo del Goro with the Crippler Crossface (9:18).
4. 90′s Indie Wrestler Weapon Rumble: New Sanshiro Takagi Vs New Keizo Matsuda ended in a No Contest when Tarzan Goto pinned both of them (18:13).
5. Hiro Tsumaki Return Match: Isami Kodaka & El Generico defeated Hiro Tsumaki & Kengo Ohka when Kodaka pinned Tsumaki with the Zan Isamu Leg (16:12).
6. BJW Tag Team Title: Shuji Ishikawa & Shigehiro Irie defeated Yoshihito Sasaki & Shinobu (c) when Ishikawa pinned Shinobu with the Splash Mountain (16:07).
*Yoshihito Sasaki & Shinobu fail in V1. BIG “G” BANG become the 36th BJW Tag Team Champions!
7. DDT Extreme Title – Fluorescent Shop Death Match: Yuko Miyamoto (c) defeated Ken Ohka with the Manji Cobra (19:58).
*V1 for Yuko Miyamoto.

The day some people thought they would never see has finally come. Cherry, the resident female wrestler on the Union roster who has always claimed to be very young has revealed her true age. Cherry lost the Age Contra Makeup match to Emi Sakura, who was wrestling on behalf of an injured Mio Shirai. Cherry was defeated with one of her own signature moves as well as from some interference from Mio. Defeated, Cherry said she was born on 14th May, 1974 which makes her 37 years old going on 38. Cherry told the audience she debuted at 30 years old and did so because it was her dream to become a wrestler, no matter how old she was. Cherry’s passport was flashed onto the giant screen behind her to serve as confirmation while a ten bell salute took place in the background.

While at first Shirai thankful for Sakura winning the match, she wasn’t so thrilled with her when she asked if it was necessary for Cherry to reveal her age. Mio told Sakura and Kaori Yoneyama afterwards to “go back to Thailand” and then threatened them with deportation. She did give Cherry a sincere round of applause though.

That wasn’t all of the big news that took place. BIG “G” BANG have grabbed some gold and became the new BJW Tag Team Champions! The large pairing of Shuji Ishikawa & Shigehiro Irie were too much for Yoshihito Sasaki & Shinobu and they defeated the champions to bring a new prize into Union. Big Japan has already determined Abdullah Kobayashi & Ryuji Ito as the No. 1 Contenders for the Tag Title and they will travel to Union on 17th June to challenge for the belts. Speaking of Ishikawa and Kobayashi, they will be fighting each other tomorrow for the BJW Death Match Championship.

And of course there was the main event. Poor Ken Ohka. The man fights his heart out each and every time he enters the ring but rarely does he succeed. The odds of him winning the DDT Extreme Title from Yuko Miyamoto were stacked high from the beginning. They were to fight each other in a match that allowed flourescent lighttubes and Union merchandise to be used as weapons. Despite Miyamoto having an injured foot and Ohka’s attempts to attack it with DVDs, the challenger just could not win and was eventually submitted with a Manji Cobra. Ohka was in tears after the match, as he usually is, but he passionately thanked everyone for their support.

The 1990’s indie wrestlers involved in the battle between New Sanshiro Takagi and New Keizo Matsuda were Takashi Okano (IWA Japan), Death Min Ho (one of Poison Sawada’s first gimmicks), Kyoko Ichiki (IWA Japan & GAEA), Chiharu (AJW), Tsunehito Naito (UWF), Survival Tobita (plus Va-Gon the ape-man terrorising the audience) and finally Tarzan Goto (FMW). At first Goto sided with with New Matsuda until he decided to beat up both of them with chairs and win the match for himself. When he left, Takagi and Matsuda began to fight again. HARASHIMA arrived and got Takagi and Matsuda to shake hands and reconcile. But as they shook hands, they accidentaly bumped heads and knocked each other dizzy, possibly bringing an end to New Sanshiro Takagi & New Keizo Matsuda.

Despite being on the winning team, GENTARO was attacked and abducted by the Goro family after the match. Goro Tsurumi took off his shoes and put one of them over his hand before knocking out GENTARO with a Spinning Backfist.

Hiroshi Fukuda continues to learn that love can hurt people. He lost to Rion Mizuki and Rumi Kazama in a Handicap Of Love match. For most of it Fukuda refused to lay a hand on Kazama while she kept trying to knock some sense into him. He finally began to fight and even delivered the Perfect Plex, only for Kazama to kick out at one. Kazama was then able to lock on her version of a Dragon Sleeper to submit her lovesick protege. After the match, Fukuda accepted the fact that Mizuki and Kazama are a couple but asked Rumi to kick him in the head one more time. She did so and then she kissed him on the cheek before all three left the ring together.

The relationship between Union and Big Japan will continue with another joint show set to take place on 18th July in Shin-Kiba 1st RING.


DDT “MAX BUMP 2012” Results

May 4, 2012

DDT “MAX BUMP 2012”, 04/05/2012
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
2,064 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

0. Dark Match: Gorgeous Matsuno Vs Shota ended in a Time Limit Draw (11:50 am).
1. KAI defeated Keisuke Ishii with the Splash Plancha (10:34).
2. 10-Man Tag Team Match: Daisuke Sasaki, Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Shigehiro Irie, Akito & Tetsuya Endo defeated Antonio Honda, Keita Yano, Poison JULIE Sawada, Hoshitango & Don Michael when Sasaki submitted Michael with a Crossface (9:51).
3. Hikaru Sato defeated DJ Nira with the Cross Armbreaker (9:00).
4. 4-Vs-3 Handicap Match: Sanshiro Takagi, Takao Soma, Andy Palafox & Hero Amon defeated Danshoku Dibo, Makoto Oishi & Masao Inoue when Takagi pinned Oishi with the Sitdown Himawari Bomb (11:24).
5. Kota Ibushi Return Match: El Generico defeated Kota Ibushi with the Brainbustaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!! (20:12).
6. 3 Way KO-D Challenger Playoff Match: HARASHIMA defeated Yasu Urano and KUDO (17:16).
6a. Yasu Urano eliminated KUDO with a Small Package (15:37).
6b. HARASHIMA eliminated Yasu Urano with the Somato (17:16).
7. KO-D Openweight Title: Yuji Hino defeated Masa Takanashi (c) with the F***’N Bomb (26:10).
*Masa Takanashi fails in V1. Yuji Hino becomes the 41st KO-D Openweight Champion!

A miracle performance was needed by Masa Takanashi to survive against Yuji Hino but even a miracle would not have been enough to prevent what happened today. Hino crushed Takanashi’s dreams and now adds the KO-D Openweight Title to his collection along with the KO-D Tag Team Title. Masa tried to outwit Hino with “Operation Eddie Guerrero“. He tricked Hino into thinking he was about to win the match by countout, only for Takanashi to sneak back into the ring and knock Hino into Yukinori Matsui. Takanashi then threw the KO-D belt into Hino’s hands and acted like he was hit over the head with it. The plan would have worked perfectly if Tsurumi Amon had not stopped Matsui from ending the match on DQ and explained to him what happened. The match continued and it eventually led to a moment of déjà vu when Masa attempted to give Hino the Avalanche Takatonic. It was the same move he attempted on Daisuke Sekimoto back in 2010. Unfortunately, just like the one he tried on Sekimoto it was blocked and Hino leapt down to the canvas, crushing Takanashi beneath him with an Implant. One frightening F***’N Bomb later and Yuji Hino is your new KO-D Champion.

Yuji Hino now holds both the KO-D Title and the KO-D Tag Team Title in DDT, meaning that he and Crying Wolf currently rule the roost. The aftermath saw HARASHIMA confirming his status as Hino’s first challenger while Kota Ibushi & Danshoku Dino appeared to remind Hino & Yasu Urano of their upcoming KO-D Tag Title match.

Kota Ibushi made his long awaited return to the ring after an eight month absence. After surgury and rehabilitation for his dislocated left shoulder, Ibushi was ready to wrestle again and who better for his first match back than El Generico? The left shoulder was targeted a lot by Generico, including a moment where he drover Ibushi’s shoulder into the steel post outside the ring in an attempt to win by countout. Ibushi turned the tables and delivered some powerful moves without skipping a beat including a Bermuda Triangle Quebrada, Liger Bomb and a top rope Reverse Frankensteiner. Unfortunately for the Golden Star, his return to the ring ended in a defeat and Ibushi became the latest victim to the dreaded Top Turnbuckle Brainbuster. When asked how his first match back went, Ibushi said it felt good and it was interesting. When asked about his goals for the future, Ibushi said his thoughts are one the Budokan Hall show and the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title. Generico said he wanted another match against Ibushi.

It was announced that Tatsumi Fujinami will compete at the Budokan Hall show in August.

New World Japan got one over on Homoiro Clover Z and Tsurumi Amon. Sanshiro Takagi had to choose an extra partner for him and Takao Soma to team with otherwise they would had have to fight in a handicap match. Takagi brought in an American wrestler named Andy Palafox to be the third man. However, nobody said Takagi had to pick just one wrestler. So he made a second pick to make this a 4-On-3 Handicap match, a Luchador named Hero Amon! The nWJ was able to win when Takagi & Soma double-teamed Makoto Oishi while Danshoku Dino was too busy kissing Palafox to stop them.

After the match Tsurumi Amon appeared and condemned Takagi for pulling off his scheme. Takagi said he wanted Hero Amon to be the DDT General Manager and requested an Amon Contra Amon match over the GM job to take place on 20th May. However, Gorgeous Matsuno suddenly entered the ring and attacked Hero Amon. Tsurumi picked Matsuno to fight Hero Amon on his behalf.

Hikaru Sato defeated DJ Nira in an odd fashion. Both wound up tangled to each other with submission holds, Nira with an Ankle Hold on Sato and Sato with an Armbar on Nira. Sato was able to clamp Nira’s free hand with his feet and Nira verbally submitted. However, neither man could break free and they had to be rolled out of the ring for and away from ringside while they were still entangled.

The 10-Man Tag Team match used a “No Touch” rule for tagging in wrestlers. In other words, wrestlers could simply tag in a partner whenever they left the ring just like in Lucha Libre. Daisuke Sasaki came up with the idea after spending time in Mexico.

After defeating Keisuke Ishii in the opener, KAI told the DDT fans he will beat Kenny Omega on 27th May and bring the AJPW Jr. Heavyweight Title back to All Japan. He was then booed. Ishii said he had no confidence when he left the All Japan Dojo he had no confidence. He gained confidence thanks to DDT and he is proud to be a DDT wrestler.

Rather than use a traditional time limit for the dark match, DDT decided to let it last until 11:50am so the show could begin at noon as planned. They have a habit of doing that sometimes to the point where the dark match literally gets interrupted by the intro movie.