DDT “D-KING GRAND PRIX 2018 IN OSAKA 2 DAYS”, 08/01/2018
Osaka Hirano Community Hall
335 Fans – Super No Vacancy
1. Danshoku Dino Sometimes Throws Away The Heavy Responsibilities Of A Producer To Hit The Desire Of Man New Year’s Special Battle Royal: Yuki Ueno defeated Kazuki Hirata with a Cradle (12:36). (Special Referee: Danshoku Dino)
Order Of Elimination: Tetsuya Endo, Yukio Sakaguchi & Naomi Yoshimura, Yuni, Toru Owashi, Veda Scott, Mizuki Watase, Kazuki Hirata.
2. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Keisuke Ishii (4) defeated Masahiro Takanashi (0) with the Carolina Reaper (6:17).
3. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Soma Takao (2) defeated Mike Bailey (2) with the Endless Waltz (10:50).
4. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: HARASHIMA (4) defeated Jiro Kuroshio (4) with the Somato (13:56).
5. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Daisuke Sasaki (2) defeated Kazusada Higuchi (2) with La Mistica Cross Facelock (11:58).
6. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Konosuke Takeshita (3) defeated Joey Ryan (0) with the Balls Plex (13:10).
7. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Shuji Ishikawa (4) defeated Akito (2) with the Splash Mountain (18:32).
A Block
1. Keisuke Ishii (4)
-. HARASHIMA (4)
-. Jiro Kuroshio (4)
4. Tetsuya Endo (3)
-. Konosuke Takeshita (3)
6. Joey Ryan (0)
-. Masahiro Takanashi (0)
B Block
1. Shuji Ishikawa (4)
-. Yukio Sakaguchi (4)
3. Mike Bailey (2)
-. Akito (2)
-. Daisuke Sasaki (2)
-. Soma Takao (2)
-. Kazusada Higuchi (2)
Day 3 of the D-King Grand Prix and the two blocks are starting to even out. Shuji Ishikawa has clearly made himself the man to beat in Block B. His win over Akito in the main event means he currently leads the block with two wins and no losses. Akito’s attempts to beat him included the use of Scorpion Locks and Figure 4 Leglocks but Ishikawa was just too strong to be kept in those holds. His last gasp chance to nab a win came from a European Clutch but it was no use. When Ishikawa regained momentum he popped Akito into the air with the Running Kneelift and dropped him with the Splash Mountain. After the match Ishikawa at least gave Akito credit for giving him a bruise for the first time in their fights. He closed out the show by singing a song. Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo peaked through the entrance curtains during the song but they decided not to stop him.
Konosuke Takeshita had to use Joey Ryan’s moves against him in order to beat him. Ryan’s offence, his dong specifically was effective on Takeshita. When Ryan gave him a low blow, Takeshita did one in return but only hurt his foot in the process. Then a wild clash between his head and Ryan’s crotch after an Implant move did more damage to Takeshita. He later pulled Ryan by the legs into the corner post but even that had no effect. Ryan chased Takeshita around the hall and attacked the other wrestlers and DDT staff with his crotch during the rampage until he finally caught Takeshita and threw him into a row of chairs. Takeshita finally turned things around when he deflected Ryan’s lollipop into Daisuke Kiso’s mouth, making the ref faint. When Ryan check on Kiso, Takeshita took out his own lollipop, stuck it into Ryan’s mouth and booted him in the face. Rather than go for the usual German Suplex, Takeshita instead gave Ryan the Balls Plex to get the win. Takeshita said he now knows the best countermeasures to use against American wrestlers thanks to his matches with Ryan and Colt Cabana. Apparently Ryan wasn’t clued up on the Grand Prix rules because he thought losing to Takeshita meant he now had to go home. He also still wants the fans to throw paper tape at him.
After a rough start, Daisuke Sasaki finally has some points on the table with a win over Kazusada Higuchi. Sasaki escaped the Doctor Bomb by struggling out of the move and knocking over the referee in the process. With the ref down, Sasaki kicked Higuchi low and hit the Hurricanrana. However Higuchi kicked out of the move and held on to try and Power Bomb Sasaki again. Sasaki escaped that and trapped Higuchi in La Mistica Cross Facelock to get the win. The win is just what Sasaki needed because his next match is against Soma Takao in his hometown of Nerima on the 10th. The “Hero Of Nerima” cannot lose there otherwise he could never return.
Meanwhile the opposite happened to Jiro Kuroshio. He started off grand but hit his first road bump today against HARASHIMA. The DDT star was motivated and did not back down to Kuroshio’s kicks, eventually winning with the Somato. The two bowed to each other after the match. HARASHIMA knew Kuroshio is a colorful wrestler but today he found out how strong he is too. But HARASHIMA was stronger. The key was HARASHIMA did not go into the match thinking of Kuroshio as an outsider. He had just beaten Takeshita and Masahiro Takanashi so HARASHIMA took in those matches to prepare for him. Speaking of Takeshita, that is HARASHIMA’s next opponent on the 10th.
Soma Takao rolled Mike Bailey round and round and round in the Endless Waltz to beat him. Takao realised afterwards that he is the only wrestler in his block with a signature cradle move to pin his opponents. Soma declared that today he is officially recognising the Endless Waltz as one of his most important moves and he will use it more in his remaining matches. Bailey blamed his loss on a miscalculation that made him angry and lose focus. The positive is his next opponent is Yukio Sakaguchi who is always angry. Bailey can now use his own anger to fight against Sakaguchi’s anger.
At yesterday’s show Keisuke Ishii used the Carolina Reaper submission move to win his match for the first time. Today the move won him the match again, this time as part of the Grand Prix. Ishii feels he has been dragged into his opponent’s pace for every tournament match so far. With his current momentum, Ishii gives himself a 10% chance of winning the Grand Prix. Masahiro Takanashi is now the only wrestler with zero points. He may be a long way from his first win because Takeshita is his next opponent.
The Battle Royal was an excuse for Danshoku Dino to get his hands on some of the male wrestlers. But it wasn’t all fun and games. Dino still had to do his job as a referee and that included reluctantly counting out Yuni when Kazuki Hirata pinned him with a School Boy. Dino got revenge for Yuni by giving Hirata the Danshoku Driver and dragging Yuki Ueno on top to make Ueno the winner.
NωA performed one of their songs for the audience during the break.
Dramatic DDT 