KO-D Title Fallout

August 3, 2018

A day has passed and I should write a bit more about yesterday’s news than just a proverbial slap on the forehead. Shigehiro Irie began his latest USA tour by losing the KO-D Openweight Title to Sami Callihan. Originally Irie was scheduled to defend the title in a 3 Way Match against Jake Crist and Trey Miguel. Crist pulled out of the match a day before the show due to injury and Callihan took his spot. As you know by now the match happened and Callihan pinned Irie to become the new KO-D Champion. It is the first time the title has changed hands outside of Japan. It was also the first time the belt was officially defended overseas. El Generico put the belt on the line when he was touring the UK a few years ago but DDT never acknowledged those matches as title defences.

The immediate reaction to the title change has been negative on a couple of fronts. For the storyline side, everybody in DDT is shocked by the result. Sanshiro Takagi and Danshoku Dieno are scrambling to sort out what to do to get the title back whether it’s by negotiating with Callihan to come over to Japan for a tour, hoping Irie gets a title rematch before he travels home or figuring out how to get another DDT wrestler out to America to chase after the champion. Takagi himself has volunteered to travel if that last option is chosen. His attempts at researching online who Callihan is immediately brought up pictures of Callihan kissing New Japan wrestlers in the ring back when he toured with that company last year. The wrestlers are also not happy with Irie. Those who remember Akito being the loudest critic of Irie’s behavior for the last year will not be surprised to learn that he accused Irie of embarrassing the company and damaging its reputation. This tour was supposed to show the strength of DDT to the world. Instead Irie loses their top prize to a complete outsider in his first match. And let’s not forget that this scenario was exactly the reason why Dieno and DDT were always hesitant to allow Irie to defend the championship overseas.

On the international front this is already becoming the most unpopular decision by DDT among the foreign fanbase for as long as I have run this site. Given the scale of the audience now the immediate response might even be the most negative in the entire company’s existence (Kenny Omega Vs Haruka happened in Stardom so go annoy them if you’re still angry over it). Callihan is not liked by sections of the wrestling fanbase for a bunch of reasons both privately and professionally. The tonal whiplash between the different reasons makes it difficult for me to talk about this without coming off as insensitive so I apologise if that’s the case. The most serious opinions about Callihan involves past accusations of domestic abuse from his ex-wife. In regards to his wrestling career, his involvement in accidentally injuring Eddie Edwards’s eye with a botched baseball bat spot along with his behavior online in response to criticisms of that incident earned him a lot of scorn too. On the other hand Callihan’s supporters believe his actions and attitude at events since then is exactly what his gimmick is supposed to be. After all a heel is supposed to be hated and unlikable. For those who aren’t bothered by his behavior and see it as him playing the heel there are still parts of that audience who just think he’s not talented enough to warrant the influence he currently holds in America’s wrestling scene. Like it or not, if there’s one thing Callihan can do right it’s capitalize on his controversies and come out of it as a more larger than life figure. And pro wrestling is made for larger than life figures.

With that out of the way, I believe the intention here without a doubt was to serve the storyline between Irie and Dieno back in Japan. Irie believes Dieno in his current role as Producer represents everything that he now hates about DDT. The failed pushes, the change in wrestling styles, a perceived failure in evolving the entertainment side of the product and the promises that never came to fruition. Promises like Irie going abroad to defend the championship. When Irie finally got what he wanted Dieno was the person warning him to protect the KO-D Title and not to get in over his head. It could be that Irie will be more bothered by Dieno being proved right than he is with losing the championship. Even if Irie wins back the title soon he will still return to Japan with a lot of angry eyes on him.

Here are the directions I guess the story can go from here:

1. Irie still has several bookings in America before he returns to Japan. It’s possible that somewhere he can get a rematch with Callihan and win back the title. Irie returns to Japan with the belt but the damage has been done and he faces a lot of conflict with Dieno/DDT over the incident. This begins the push for whatever Irie does at Sumo Hall in October, either a KO-D Title defence against the King Of DDT winner or a grudge match with Dieno. I reckon this is the most likely option, a short-term international title switch to add a spark to what’s been quite frankly a poor main event storyline this year.

2. Irie returns to Japan without the belt. DDT brings in Callihan to defend the title for however long it’s going to last. I do think it’s likely DDT will book Callihan with or without the title this year because of how close Irie is with the Ohio Versus Everything crew in real life.

3. Irie returns without the belt but Callihan stays in America. DDT chooses the plan to send someone over to chase after Callihan and get the belt back. I don’t think this will happen. Only reason I mention it is because Takagi tweeted the idea yesterday and won a Right To Challenge Gauntlet today.

4. I joked on Twitter about Meiko Satomura cashing in her Right To Challenge Gauntlet on Callihan while she is over in America for the Mae Young Classic tapings. This is absolutely not happening. While the global wrestling scene this year is crazy enough that an idea like this can become a reality, it will not be where the story is going. The RTC gimmick is supposed to be Japan only anyway so don’t worry when Satomura loses to Taynara Conti in the 1st Round. Also those results won’t become canon until the Autumn when the Gauntlet will certainly be cashed in by then unless we get some sort of time paradox like Progress and the NXT Tag Team Titles. I’m rambling so long story short, everything in general is Progress’s fault because their WWE association allowed them to be dicks and mess with time travel………………… It’s too warm today.

Comments Off on KO-D Title Fallout | International, News | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by JamieOD

DDT “FIGHTING BEER GARDEN 2018 ~ALL OUT DAY~” Results

August 3, 2018

DDT “FIGHTING BEER GARDEN 2018 ~ALL OUT DAY~”, 03/08/2018
Shinjuku FACE
355 Fans

1. Matsunaga Formula Drunk Match ~ Lumberjack Customers Bring The Alcohol Death Match ~ Keisuke Ishii Heisei Last Summer Special: KUDO Vs Yuki Ueno ended in a No Contest (6:27).
1a. Rematch – Complete Settlement Finger Sumo Rule: Yuki Ueno defeated KUDO by 3 Count (11:55).
2. Wrestling Rules: Yukio Sakaguchi defeated Kuishinbo Kamen with an Achilles Tendon Lock (R2 4:44).
3. Double Main Event: Akito Vs Isami Kodaka ended in a Time Limit Draw (20:00).
4. Double Main Event II – Falls Count Anywhere Customers Bring The Weapons Death Match: Violento Jack defeated Shunma Katsumata with the Package Piledriver onto a Can Board (18:59).
5. Bonus Track: Akito, Shunma Katsumata & Yukio Sakaguchi defeated Nobuhiro Shimatani, Yuki Ueno & Yuki Iino when Katsumata pinned Iino with a Diving Foot Stomp (3:38).

Today was ALL OUT’s turn to have a go at Beer Garden. At this point in the week a few wrestlers have gotten more than their fill of alcohol. They all wanted Shunma Katsumata to drink with them after the main event. Yukio Sakaguchi stepped in and told everyone it was not good for Katsumata’s health to be forced into drinking alcohol. Nobuhiro Shimatani, Yuki Ueno & Yuki Iino all decided to attack Sakaguchi, Akito & Katsumata causing an impromptu match to close out the show. Sakaguchi used Kuishinbo Kamen’s top as a cape to lure Iino into a bullfight. Iino crashed into the turnbuckles. Akito put Iino into a choke and positioned him for Katsumata to hit the Diving Foot Stomp for the win. Konosuke Takeshita joined the rest of ALL OUT to celebrate with one more drink.

Katsumata’s scheduled match was a Fans Bring The Weapons Death Match against Violento Jack. There were already tables, ladders and barbed wire boards placed in the ring but the wrestlers also got different items from the audience to use on each other. The match found its way over to the counters and Jack gave Katsumata a Package Piledriver through a board with empty cans attached to it. After the match Jack said he will never forget Katsumata’s name after today and he appreciated his hard work. Looks like Katsumata has made a new amigo and he is scary as hell!

Akito and Isami Kodaka spent 20 minutes of grappling back and forth without a winner determined. Before the match began Kodaka went around having a beer bash like Stone Cold Steve Austin. Meanwhile Akito decided to wrestle barefoot. In the final minutes both of them tried to find transitions out of a Headlock to get a flash pin but the time ran out without anybody getting pinned. Kodaka told Akito he doesn’t want to wrestle against him much because the fatigue he gets from it is unlike any other time he wrestles. However he noticed that Akito is still in the King Of DDT tournament. If Akito can win it and become the KO-D Openweight Champion then maybe the next time they fight they will both be standing at the top of DDT!

Nobody told Kuishinbo Kamen about Takeshita’s injury. Also nobody told him that Sakaguchi was his new opponent. He was so surprised when he stood across a large scary man in the ring today. He didn’t want to fight Sakaguchi so he instead took out a picture book to read. Sakaguchi took the book and wanted to fight. Kamen agreed to have a match made up of three rounds, two minutes each. Kamen convinced Sakaguchi to do his comedy spots with like the pose, the hop and the Low Blows. Sakaguchi knocked down Kamen with a High Kick but Yukinori Matsui was recovering from the Low Blow. Takeshita got into the ring and everybody gave each other Leg Kicks. Kamen but Sakaguchi in a Leglock that had no effect. Sakaguchi reversed the move and Kamen immediately tapped out. Sakaguchi felt so bad about making Kamen upset after the match that he gave him back his book and asked him to read it to everyone. Takeshita brought out a large version of the book for the audience to see and everyone had a fun time reading it.

Plans for Tomomitsu Matsunaga’s opening match were changed when most of the participants were declared too drunk to wrestle. The match became KUDO Vs Yuki Ueno in a Lumberjack match where the Lumberjacks forced anyone thrown out of the ring to drink more alcohol. The match reached its most obvious conclusion when both KUDO and Ueno got too drunk to wrestle. The solution to this problem was to determine the winner with a game of Finger Sumo. While that went on the other wrestlers found new drinking games to pass the time. They did a lottery where fans pulled out names. They then brought out a dartboard with everyone’s name on it and got Yuni (how was he allowed in here?) to throw a dart and pick the next drinker. Ishii’s name was far larger than anyone else’s. Back at the Finger Sumo, the theme song to “Over The Top” played. KUDO tried to put Ueno in a Cross Armbreaker position but Ueno outmanoeuvred him and pinned down KUDO’s thumb for the three count.

The wrestlers also drank during Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi’s public yoga session. I think they may have a problem.

Comments Off on DDT “FIGHTING BEER GARDEN 2018 ~ALL OUT DAY~” Results | Results | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by JamieOD

DDT “TOKYO IDOL FESTIVAL 2018” Results

August 3, 2018

DDT “TOKYO IDOL FESTIVAL 2018”, 03/08/2018
Tokyo Fuji TV Wangan Studio Side Park
??? Fans

1. Something Like A Falls Count Anywhere Match: Sanshiro Takagi, Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh defeated Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata & MAO and Danshoku Dieno, Momomi Wagatsuma, Imoko Shingeki, Rise Shiokawa & Midori Nagatsuki when Takagi pinned Oishi with a Diving Body Press from a Ladder through a Table (13:19).
*Sanshiro Takagi wins Makoto Oishi’s Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Gauntlet.
2. Something Like A Falls Count Anywhere Match: Danshoku Dieno, Raku, Hikari, Hinano, Miu defeated Makoto Oishi, Hyper Misao & Yuki Kamifuku and Sanshiro Takagi, Akari Saho, Aya Kajishima & Mayu Yoshikawa when Dieno pinned Oishi with the Raw Danshoku Driver on the Dramatic Dream Bicycle (7:45).

Today DDT took a little break from the Beer Garden to visit the Tokyo Idol Festival. The matches were supposed to be held on the stage but all of the wrestlers encouraged the idols to join them on the ground to take part in some Falls Count Anywhere matches.

In the first match all of the idols were given Pico Pico Hammers to attack the wrestlers with. Makoto Oishi wanted to take selfies with the idols but the festival security stepped in whenever he stood to close to the girls. Oishi then got put through a table by Sanshiro Takagi, losing his Right To Challenge Gauntlet to him when he was pinned.

A second match was held a while later and this time Oishi returned with the Up Up Girls (Fake) to perform. Danshoku Dieno and the Up Up Girls (Pro Wrestling) then showed up to stop them. Takagi reappeared on the Dramatic Dream Bicycle and he crashed into Hyper Misao who was using her own Combat Bike. The Up Up Girls all attacked Oishi and Dieno finished him off with the Raw Danshoku Driver on top of the bicycle.

Comments Off on DDT “TOKYO IDOL FESTIVAL 2018” Results | Results | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by JamieOD