Dramatic DDT

DDT “SAITAMA SLAM! VOL. 10”, 02/04/2016
Saitama Kasukabe Hall
330 Fans – Super No Vacancy

0. King Of Dark Title: Seiya Morohashi (c) defeated Hoshitango with the Quarrel Bomber (4:55).
*Seiya Morohashi passes D2. Hoshitango becomes the 14th King Of Dark Champion.
1. Guanchulo & Mizuki Watase defeated Saki Akai & Makoto Oishi when Watase pinned Akai with a Dropkick (6:37).
*Mizuki Watase wins Saki Akai’s Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Contract.
2. Sanshiro Takagi & Toru Owashi defeated Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Gota Ihashi when Owashi pinned Ihashi with La Magistral Cradle (7:27).
3. Decision To Allow KENSO Or Rekka Into DNA Match: KENSO defeated Rekka with the Diving Elbow Drop (8:14).
4. Danshoku Dino defeated Kazuki Hirata with the Arm Clutch Lip Lock (1:07).
4a. Emergency Decision Single Match: Aja Kong defeated Kazuki Hirata with the Uraken (3:48).
5. Keisuke Ishii, Shigehiro Irie & Soma Takao defeated Yukio Sakaguchi, Masa Takanashi & Kota Umeda when Ishii pinned Umeda with the Kneel Kick (10:37).
6. Konosuke Takeshita & Tetsuya Endo defeated Antonio Honda & Hiroshi Fukuda when Endo pinned Fukuda with the Sky Twister Press (12:33).
7. HARASHIMA, Akito & Yasu Urano defeated Kazusada Higuchi, Kouki Iwasaki & Mao Inoue when HARASHIMA pinned Inoue with the Somato (14:06).

I was in Japan for almost two weeks for a gigantic wrestling trip across Tokyo. A blog post about that entire trip is in the works but for now I’ll focus on the DDT show I got to see in Saitama. After all what sort of DDT fan would I be if I didn’t get to see one of their shows during this trip? They were gearing up for a tour around Japan during my stay but Kasukabe Hall was within distance from where I and my friends were staying. So after an email exchange with DDT to get tickets myself, Joey from America and Matt from Canada set off for Saitama.

Kasukabe is a quiet town from what I can tell. We found a sushi restaurant and through very limited Japanese (zero from myself) were able to order a meal that included tiny little appetizer squids. I didn’t have the stomach for it (blame Splatoon) but the others were happy to try it. According to them it tastes like ginger. We found Kasukabe Hall afterwards, got our tickets and lined up for the show. After getting in it didn’t take long for Amon Tsurumi to greet us. This was the start of a surreal evening where different members of DDT staff came over to greet and thank me for the work I do on this blog. Joey and Matt were amazed at the situation.

The show began with a King Of Dark Title match. Seiya Morohashi defeated Hoshitango to get rid of the cursed belt and pass it over to the Argentinian. Morohashi treated the belt with disdain by swinging it between his legs during his ring announcement. A Quarrel Bomber put away Hoshitango in a brief match. Morohashi then announced he will be quitting DDT in April and is becoming a freelancer. He will still work for their Best Stretch business which is opening a second office in Shinjuku later this month.

The show began with the current Right To Challenge contract holders filling the ring then moved onto the first match. The dates for the next four scheduled KO-D Openweight Title defences were announced. They are happening on 24th April in Korakuen Hall, 8th May in Sapporo, 29th May in Korakuen and 3rd July in Hakata. This does not include any possible Right To Challenge cash ins.

The first match began with Mizuki Watase offering an apology to Saki Akai for the bad blood between them but then yelled he lied. The two were rough to each other throughout the match and Mizuki got the pin on Akai after a Dropkick to win her Right To Challenge contract. Makoto Oishi took the blame for his team’s loss. He and Akai will face Watase and LiLiCo at Korakuen on 24th April. With both the Right To Challenge contract and Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title on the line Akai has a chance to win either of them back from her enemies.

The 2nd match had a lot of comedy based around getting Gota Ihashi tired. He was made to run the ropes a lot and was constantly thrown out of the ring and tossed over to a wall. Also Toru Owashi and Tomomitsu Matsunaga had a duel using their contract arm bands as weapons. Ihashi missed a Moonsault and Owashi capitalised with La Magistral Cradle to win.

Match #3 was KENSO and Rekka fighting over who deserved to be in DNA. KENSO is trying to find any way to join DDT full time. If he has to go through DDT’s developmental brand then so be it. Rekka had the DNA roster support and was led out to the ring in a train formation with the wrestlers. KENSO was relentless and even did a Plancha onto Rekka. They brawled very close to us and KENSO hit a nasty looking Brainbuster onto the floor. Rekka tried to fight back and even kicked out of a Brainbuster at one but he was put away with a Diving Elbow Drop. KENSO told Rekka and the other DNA wrestlers that this business is not so sweet and he is above their level. Kouki Iwasaki took offense and challenge KENSO to defend DNA’s pride. Tsurumi was reluctant to make the match because he doesn’t want to book KENSO again but agreed to let it happen at DNA 16 on 11th May.

Next up was Danshoku Dino Vs Kazuki Hirata. I warned Joey and Matt about Dino’s entrance antics but luckily for us he only had eyes for Hirata on this day. He attacked Hirata before the dance could begin and the match began. A minute later Dino applied the Lip Lock and then twisted Hirata’s arm for a clutch variation of the move, winning the match by tapout. After the match we found out Hirata had his date with Aja Kong and it was recorded. A video played on the screen of the date. They went on a ferris wheel and Hirata was scared of heights. They then ended the night sitting on a bench and looked like they were about to kiss until Hirata got cold feet. He said he tried to like her but it’s impossible. He apologised and ran off, leaving Kong alone.

Dino asked Hirata why he ran off. Hirata said it’s because she’s too chubby and the date was a terrible prank. We then got a surprise when Aja Kong showed up at ringside! She was in a cold state of emotion and Hirata was frozen with fear in the ring. Dino suggested they wrestle a match there and then. He took out a referee shirt so he could look over the match. The bell rang and Kong took her time beating up Hirata. He had one chance at a comeback but wasn’t strong enough to lift Kong up for the Viagra Driver. Kong beat him up again and Dino was too scared to call any fouls so he just let her do what she wanted. One Spinning Backfist later and that was it for Hirata. Dino very slowly counted the pin but it was clear that Hirata was out cold. When he came to he said he realised how wrong he was to ditch Kong and offered to take her out again. Kong rejected him and instead showed interest in Nobuhiro Shimatani, chasing him out of the ring when he got too scared of her. Dino and Hirata were left stunned for a few minutes by what happened. “Eeeeeeh?” … “Eeeeeeh?” … “Eeeeeeh?” ……….. “Eeeeeeh?!?”

I can now say after seeing them in person Yukio Sakaguchi, Kota Umeda and Shigehiro Irie all hit hard. Really hard.

During intermission I got to meet Sanshiro Takagi and Guanchulo and had a brief talk with them. I also got to finally speak with the man behind the Extreme Party website who was such a help during the early years of this blog. It’s pretty weird when Takagi called me over to his table and showed me my Twitter accounts on his phone in order to ask if I was that guy. This show happened half a day after Kota Ibushi’s appearance on NXT Takeover: Dallas but that wasn’t the place to talk about it.

“American Dream” played over the speakers for the semi-main event. Antonio Honda and Hiroshi Fukuda came out for an all Happy Motel tag team match against the New Gen Combo. Honda & Fukuda tried to keep the match at their pace but Konosuke Takeshita & Tetsuya Endo came out the winners in the end. Fukuda’s Perfect Plex was countered into a Brainbuster and Endo hit the Sky Twister Press for the pin. Honda & Fukuda threw their support behind the New Gen Combo for their KO-D Tag Team Titles rematch with Daisuke Sasaki & Shuji Ishikawa later this month.

The main event was the best match of the show. Kazusada Higuchi has a great presence about him and knows how to throw his weight around. His moments with HARASHIMA were very good and the match played around all of Smile Squash trying to cut down Higuchi by the legs. Mao Inoue also shined during the ending sequence but my highlight of the match was HARASHIMA countering Inoue’s Screw Kick with a Leg Sweep in mid air. HARASHIMA won with the Somato of course and Higuchi left the ring to go lick his wounds. The show ended with Smile Squash giving a victory speech. A good end to the evening.

I would like to thank Sanshiro Takagi, Amon Tsurumi and Guanchulo so much for all that they did to accommodate me, Matt and Joey throughout the show. I’d also like to thank Naomi Susan for everything she did to help organise tickets. Quite a few surprises happened along the way and afterwards but I don’t think I can say much about it for now.