Must See Matches: Episode 44 – ASUKA (VENY) vs. Akito

March 5, 2023

Hey, I got to be a podcast guest for the first time in a while. The Must See Matches Project asked its followers to list, well, the must see matches in pro wrestling. DDT found its way into the project thanks to the IPPON Lighttube Death Match between Akito Vs Asuka getting enough votes to qualify. Many thanks to Mark Buckeldee & Kieran Lefort for inviting me on. I had plenty of fun recording the episode with them.

Jamie from DramaticDDT joins Mark and Kieran on a very special episode, for reasons we get into, to cover the ASUKA vs. Akito IPPON Lighttube Death Match from DDT’s Wrestle Peter Pan 2019 on July 15, 2019; the ONLY singles match these two have ever had! PLUS: The politics of covering Japanese wrestling, blow-up dolls, a dip into ancient DDT history, the comedy genius of Yukinori Matsui, Sugi/Yoshitsune/El Blazer, and much more!

Follow the Must See Matches Project @MustSeeMatches

Of course, here’s the match itself if you haven’t seen it yet.

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GANBARE☆PRO “SHOOTING IN THE COLD RAIN, A GUN FOR PROMISE 2023” Results

March 5, 2023

GANBARE☆PRO “SHOOTING IN THE COLD RAIN, A GUN FOR PROMISE 2023”, 05/03/2023
Takashimadaira Ward Community Center
117 Fans

1. GanPro Three Big Singles Match: Takuya Wada defeated Munetatsu Nakamura with a Cross Heel Hold (6:44).
2. GanJo Special Tag Match: Moeka Haruhi & Asahi defeated HARUKAZE & Yoshiko Hasegawa when Asahi pinned Hasegawa with the Chanmaru Boy (11:54).
3. GanJo Special Single Match: Miyuki Takase defeated YuuRI with the 2nd Rope Diving Guillotine Drop (12:27).
4. GanPro Three Big Singles Match: Tyson Maeguchi defeated Shinichiro Tominaga with the I’m Sorry To Trouble You (11:40).
5. GanPro Three Big Singles Match: Shota defeated Soma Takao with a Backslide Pin (10:17).
6. GanPro Special 6-Man Tag Match: Mizuki Watase, Shuichiro Katsumura & Tatsuhito Takaiwa defeated Ken Ohka, Keisuke Ishii & Yumehito Imanari when Takaiwa pinned Imanari with the Death Valley Bomb (17:31).

The four teams who will enter the tournament to crown the first ever Spirit Of Ganbare Tag Team Champions are now decided. The show began with Ken Ohka & Shuichiro Katsumura confirming their entry together with the team name Daishoken. They said they were the heavy favorites to win the belts but only because they were the only team that had entered at that point. But if that means they can become champions without having to wrestle a match, they’ll be happy to take that route.

Later on after Tyson Maeguchi won his match with a Knee Kick to Shinichiro Tominaga, avenging his loss to him from last year. Afterwards Maeguchi asked Michiyoshi Mishima if he could enter the tag tournament. Mishima said he appreciates the hard work Maeguchi regularly gives for Ganbare☆Pro so he is allowed to take part. Maeguchi originally thought about teaming with Mizuki Watase but decided against it. He lost a Spirit Of Ganbare Title match against him recently and that would make teaming with him very awkward. So instead he invited somebody that he wanted to work with for a long time now to today’s show. It’s Hikaru Sato! It is Sato’s first time seeing a Ganpro show and he is surprised to find so many people he knows from other promotions all gathered together under the one roof. He agreed to team with Maeguchi and they will be using the Punch Drunkers team name. It is already an established name in Ganpro and whatever other names they could come up with will only be forgotten about tomorrow.

Then Shota beat Soma Takao one on one to finally put their rivalry to rest. Shota said his win today means he can finally free himself of being jealous over Takao. Now that their differences are put behind them, Shota & Takao can reform ROMANCE DAWN to enter the tag tournament. Takao agreed with the idea and the two started telling each other to get their tag team costumes washed and ready. Since they already have a lot of experience teaming together, ROMANCE DAWN has the head start over all the other teams.

Last but not least came the final team getting together after the main event. Tatsuhito Takaiwa pinned Yumehito Imanari with the Death Valley Bomb. He then told the fans he wants to be the first person to win the SOG Tag Titles just like he was the first to win the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Titles with Shinjiro Otani 25 years ago! Unfortunately Otani is unable to wrestle now because of his injuries so Takaiwa asked Imanari to team with him instead! Imanari agreed and said their team name is the All Star Junior Stars! You can call them Junior Stars for short! Takaiwa told him they can’t use that nickname without Koji Kanemoto’s permission. Imanari then changed the nickname to All Stars and Takaiwa seemed to be more accepting of it.

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DDT “JUDGEMENT 2023 TOUR IN NAGANO” Results

March 5, 2023

DDT “JUDGEMENT 2023 TOUR IN NAGANO”, 05/03/2023
Nagano City Art Center Act Space
179 Fans

1. KANON defeated Yuki Ishida with the Just Cobra Twist (7:13).
2. 2 Vs 3 Handicap Match: Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno defeated Akito, Keigo Nakamura & Kazuma Sumi when Iino submitted Sumi with the TRUE LOVE (10:20).
3. Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani defeated Soma Takao & Yuya Koroku when Sakaguchi pinned Koroku with the God’s Right Knee (9:38).
4. Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yusuke Okada defeated HARASHIMA, Kazusada Higuchi & Takeshi Masada when Endo submitted Masada with the Yurikamome (12:39).
5. Nagano Specialty Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yasushi Kanda, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata defeated MAO, Shunma Katsumata & Gota Ihashi when Hirata pinned Ihashi with La Magistral Cradle (13:13).
6. Special Tag Match: Yukio Naya & Chris Brookes defeated Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi when Naya pinned Oishi with the Back Drop (16:47).

Yukio Naya scores one tag team win back from Yuji Hino as the two continue trying to build momentum for “JUDGEMENT 2023”. Naya says whenever he wrestles Hino he has so much fun he loses track of the time. Hino however said he is already tired of losing and only wants to win from now on.

Toi Kojima was not in good enough condition to wrestle today and was pulled from the show. Gota Ihashi took his place and tried to fit in with The 37KAMIINA by being all dressed up for a sauna at the start of the show. He was in his normal gear for the match but lost by missing a Moonsault and then getting pinned by Kazuki Hirata. Hirata got to celebrate by convincing Toru Owashi & Yasushi Kanda to dance with him after the match. Kanda thought today’s match was supposed to be serious but he admitted to having a lot of fun out there.

One week from now Takeshi Masada will have a singles match against Jun Akiyama. He hopes that his performances this weekend would catch Akiyama’s attention but he feels like he failed to do that. The BURNING trio he fought today seem to agree. Akiyama said Masada needs to do more when they fight each other next week. Tetsuya Endo thinks Masada has to come at them with the intention of breaking them. Akiyama agrees and suggested if Masada can make Yusuke Okada’s face look three times uglier than it is now then he will have succeeded.

Pheromones were left to fight two against three after Ihashi was moved up the card and out of their match. Akito & Keigo Nakamura caught Yuki Iino underneath the ring and stripped him out of his costume. Iino had to crawl out from under the ring naked and leave Danshoku Dieno on his own. But Iino returned with barely a little bit of clothing on which was enough to keep the match going. He used a submission version of the Kamigoye to beat Kazuma Sumi.

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