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.
Dramatic DDT 