DDT “GOD BLESS DDT 2023 TOUR IN OSAKA”, 01/10/2023 Osaka City Minato Ward Citizens Center 190 Fans – No Vacancy
1. Pheromones Final Countdown In Osaka: Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Makoto Oishi & Yuni ended in a No Contest (9:38).
2. Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul defeated Akito, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku when KANON submitted Koroku with the Cobra Twist (9:38).
3. Osaka Specialty 3 Way Match: “brother” YASSHI defeated Kazuki Hirata and Kazuma Sumi when YASSHI pinned Sumi with the Kingston Piledriver (8:32).
4. Tetsuya Endo & Jun Akiyama defeated Hideki Okatani & Rukiya when Endo pinned Rukiya with the Spinning Torture Rack Bomb (10:46).
5. Special Single Match: Yukio Naya defeated Takeshi Masada with The World’s Largest Back Drop (14:03).
6. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yuki Ueno, MAO & Toy Kojima defeated HARASHIMA, Masahiro Takanashi & Kazusada Higuchi when Ueno pinned Takanashi with the BME (19:39).
A heatwave from The 37KAMIINA was at risk when Kazusada Higuchi was around. Yuki Ueno threw him head first into the ring post and it didn’t effect him. Toy Kojima then gave the fans a defiant pose up on the entrance stage only for Higuchi to reach out from behind the curtain and grab him in the Brain Claw. Higuchi also did teamwork with Masahiro Takanashi, using a move similar to the Hair Of The Dog together on both Ueno & MAO. The match still turned out to be Ueno’s to win. He pushed a briefcase into HARASHIMA’s crotch at ringside and later applied the Octopus Stretch to send a message to Chris Brookes. He then pinned Takanashi with the BME. After the match Ueno told the fans it was here in Osaka where he first watched pro wrestling and fell in love with it. The next time he appears in Osaka it will be as the KO-D Openweight Champion!
Yukio Naya praised Takeshi Masada for the effort he’s shown only one year since his debut. But there is a difference between him and Naya. Masada wants to compete in the D-Ou Grand Prix. Naya wants to win it and move on to become the KO-D Champion! He thinks Masada is not ready for that yet. Masada said he isn’t giving up his goal of entering the tournament.
The 3 Way Match was won by “brother” YASSHI but he didn’t pin Kazuki Hirata so there was no Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title change. YASSHI tried to pin him after the match but Hirata kicked out and escaped.
Before the opening match began the ring announcer Ken Kato ordered Makoto Oishi to protect Yuni from Pheromones because of his age. He also gave advice, explaining that until Pheromones strip out of their clothes they are just a group of chubby people. Unfortunately Yuki Iino & Danshoku Dieno were already stripped down to their undergarments before they entered the ring. The match went ahead but was soon called off before Yuni was traumatised. Afterwards Dieno said Akito is the one to blame for this happening because he is the reason Pheromones are disbanding in the first place. Pheromones would then reappear during the second match to assault Akito at ringside.
GANBARE☆PRO “GIRI GIRI CHOP! 2023”, 01/10/2023 Shinjuku FACE 269 Fans – No Vacancy
1. SAKI defeated Riara with a Cradle Crush (9:36).
2. GanPro’s Famous Mixed 6-Man Tag Match: Keisuke Ishii, Munetatsu Nakamura & HARUKAZE defeated Soma Takao, Shinichiro Tominaga & Kaho Kobayashi when Nakamura pinned Tominaga with the Mune-chan Clutch (8:38).
3. GanJo x TJPW Special Tag Match: Yuki Kamifuku & YuuRI defeated Suzume & Yoshiko Hasegawa when YuuRI pinned Hasegawa with the Swanton Bomb (13:17).
4. Loser Haircut Tag Match ~ No Tag Rules: Koji Doi & Kuma Arashi defeated Ken Ohka & Shota when Arashi pinned Ohka with the Diving Senton (17:48).
5. Spirit Of Ganbare World Tag Team Titles: Shuichiro Katsumura & Takuya Wada (c) defeated Hikaru Sato & Tyson Maeguchi when Wada submitted Maeguchi with the Omoplawada Special (16:28). *V2 for Ground Absolute.
6. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Isami Kodaka (c) defeated Yumehito Imanari with a Unare Lariat Hold (16:25). *V3 for Isami Kodaka.
It was an eventful show for Ganbare☆Pro today when they were in Shinjuku FACE for the first time in over two years. It was also the first day of Yumehito Imanari being a freelance pro wrestler. He is no longer a CyberFight employee but will remain as a regular wrestler with GanPro. To mark this fresh start of “Season 2”, Imanari wanted to win the Spirit Of Ganbare Title from Isami Kodaka. But despite his best efforts, Kodaka ended up pinning him with a Jumbo no Katchigatame style Sliding Lariat.
Kodaka thanked Imanari for the match but was quickly met with Shota in the ring. He thinks he is next in line to challenge Kodaka for the SOG Title and suggested the match can take place on 23rd November. Kodaka accepted the challenge because BASARA and GanPro are both running shows at Takashimadaira Kumin Center that same day. He promised to beat Shota with a Headlock and not to lose until Ken Ohka can catch up to him. Shota brought up the time he headlined a Korakuen Hall show at the beginning of 2021. He remembers saying backstage that the next time he is in a Korakuen main event it will be when he is the top champion of a promotion. He can make this dream come true if he wins the SOG Title from Kodaka because GanPro is running a Korakuen show at the end of December! Shota promised it will be him submitting Kodaka with the Headlock, not the other way around.
There can be no denying now that Ground Absolute are the rightful Spirit Of Ganbare Tag Team Champions. They defeated Hentai Punch Drunkers, denying Hikaru Sato & Tyson Maeguchi the chance of ever holding the physical title belts that did not exist when they were the first tag champs. Instead Sato & Maeguchi had to carry around the trophies they won in the tournament to crown the first champions. To add insult to injury, Shuichiro Katsumura & Takuya Wada took the trophies for themselves after they won the match! Katsumura & Wada were then challenged by Munetatsu Nakamura. The rookie wants to become a champion and he is going to make Keisuke Ishii his tag partner for the title shot. Everyone agreed to it but Kasumura took offence to Nakamura calling him old. Ground Absolute also said they want more teams to line up and challenge them because their goal is to get 100 title defences.
High stakes were on the line in the grudge match between Ohka & Shota against DoiKuma. The invadors convinced the GanPro side to do a Hair Vs Hair match where the loser who took the fall had to get his hair cut off. During the week the teams agreed to have No Tag Rules applied but right before the match began Koji Doi demanded a No DQ rule be applied as well. That was accepted and much of the match became a brawl around the room. Unfortunately for Ohka, he fell to Kuma Arashi’s Diving Senton and had to take the punishment. Ohka grabbed the clippers from Arashi and decided to start cutting his hair by himself. Arashi then continued it by using an electric shaver to cut out a big bald spot on Ohka’s head. He joked that when Ohka is completely shaven bald, Ohka should become his new disciple. Ohka said this is not the end. No matter how painful or said this is, he made it this far and will get back up from this. He asked the fans to keep supporting him so he can get his revenge on Arashi! Later in the day Ohka had the rest of his head completely shaven.
Last time around YuuRI did not impress Yuki Kamifuku that much when they teamed together. This time around YuuRI left a much better impression with her tag partner. Together they defeated Suzume & Yoshiko Hasegawa with YuuRI getting the pinfall on Hasegawa. On the other team, Suzume gave her approval to Hasegawa and said she thinks of her as a part of Tokyo Joshi Pro.
Nakamura came up with a new cradling pin move and successfully used it to win his match. The move is currently called the Mune-chan Clutch and it looks like a grounded rolling version of the One-Winged Angel.
September was looking to be more of a quiet month for looking at the overseas adventures of the DDT extended family until the last week showed up like an avalanche. You can always get a lot of news to cover during tournament weekends. It’s a shame that the current state of the independent scene means those tentpole super weekend events don’t get as much coverage like they used to. Can’t blame them when WWE and AEW dominates everybody’s attention. It’s only going to get tougher when those two companies increase their schedules and reach out even further. This week’s news of WWE getting an ABEMA deal and having NOAH promote it on social media does not thrill me. I’ve seen how this story goes before. Even if some kind of big crossover does happen with WWE it is never worth it for the other company in the long run. And any pundit who says a project like NXT Japan will work as a gateway for getting WWE fans into Japanese wrestling is only fooling themselves. The appetite that audience has for non-WWE wrestling is just not there anymore.
Heading into October we have Konosuke Takeshita deep into a feud with The Golden Lovers. The lack of actual wrestling from Takeshita last month annoyed me. I get holding some wrestlers back for PPV but his standard of ring work has been missing from AEW TV recently. His storyline is also pulling in other wrestlers who are never hurting for screentime which makes me worry he is getting pushed to the side. Maki Itoh has finished up her latest North American tour, Shoko Nakajima had a quick trip to the USA and Miyu Yamashita was in the middle of wrestling in UK and Ireland when the month began. The big chunk of news that completely passed me by until it happened was Mizuki Watase going over to wXw in Germany with Shigehiro Irie. Oh and Tokyo Joshi Pro squeezed in a visit to China right at the deadline.
A few years ago the idea of Yamashita wrestling in OTT would have had me overjoyed but nowadays I don’t want to give the company much of my attention because of how people attached to them handled and disregarded Speaking Out. Her Irish wrestling debut had a slight change in plan thanks to the other team. Debbie Keitel was advertised to team with Anita Vaughan but she instead surprised everyone by bringing along Emersyn Jayne to be her partner instead.
MLW “FURY ROAD”, 03/09/2023 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
1. MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title No. 1 Contendership: B3CCA defeated Maki Itoh with the World Tour (7:42).
A singer showdown took place when Itoh made her first appearance in MLW. Itoh and B3CCA both love to be the centre of attention and literally fought over the microphone during their match. Itoh won that exchange and told B3CCA to “kiss my ass, bitch!” She also found a Singapore cane to beat up B3CCA with outside the ring. But Itoh made the grave mistake of missing the Flying Big Head, allowing B3CCA to give her a Death Valley Driver to the corner and then pin her with the World Tour 450 Splash.
AEW “ALL OUT”, 03/09/2023 United Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA
1. Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Don Callis) defeated Kenny Omega with the Powerdrive Knee (22:30).
A few days after Takeshita pinned Kenny Omega in England, he did it again back in America this time in a singles match. The match carried history over from Omega’s time in DDT, wearing new green and yellows tights based on what he wore in the early 2010s. Don Callis got involved though and brought the dreaded screwdriver into the match for Takeshita to use. However this time the referee stopped it from being used. It turned out Takeshita wouldn’t have needed it because he went on to beat Omega anyway, pulling down his kneepad to hit a raw Powerdrive Knee for the victory. The match even got ***** from Dave Meltzer! Okay, that doesn’t mean as much as it used to but it’s still a good accomplishment to have. Also let’s face it, when the wrestlers who complain about star ratings actually do get ***** from Meltzer they all of a sudden do a 180 and become grateful for it.
MYSTERY WRESTLING “MYSTERY WRESTLING 3”, 08/09/2023 Centre Aydelu, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada
1. Emi Sakura defeated Maki Itoh with La Magistral Cradle (?:??).
This year over in Canada Evil Uno has been running a Mystery Wrestling show on his Twitch channel every couple of months. The surprise headline match for the most recent event was a first time singles bout between Itoh and Emi Sakura. Itoh played a trick to escape from Sakura’s attacks by beginning to cry and then walking out of the match back to the locker room. She then reappeared from the opposite side of the room to attack a confused Sakura from behind. Sakura’s not someone you can beat with just one trick though. She ended up rolling Itoh into La Magistral Cradle to win the match.
GCW “CRUSHED UP”, 10/09/2023 Roulette Intermedium, New York City, New York, USA
1. Maki Itoh defeated Killer Kelly with a Tornado DDT (10:43).
Itoh’s current run with GCW ended here with a match against Killer Kelly. She’ll be back again later this year but what will be in store for her next? Her feud with Matt Cardona & Steph De Lander can be never ending but there has to be other stuff she wants to do in GCW next. Maybe she already found a new arch nemesis as you will see at the bottom of this post.
WXW “INNER CIRCLE”, 21/09/2023 wXw Wrestling Academy, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
1. Mizuki Watase defeated Danny Fray with a Diving Foot Stomp (7:23).
2. Shigehiro Irie defeated 1 Called Manders with a Roaring Elbow (8:57).
This was already announced earlier in the summer and I completely missed it. Irie & Watase reunited as RENEGADES to enter the annual World Tag Team Festival in Germany! But first the wrestlers took part in separate warmup matches the night before the tournament began. Watase’s first match ever in Germany was a win against Danny Fray. Irie also won his match by beating 1 Called Manders in a hoss fight.
WXW “WORLD TAG TEAM FESTIVAL 2023 – NIGHT 1”, 22/09/2023 Turbinenhalle 2, Oberhausen, Germany
1. World Tag Team Festival 2023 – Round 1: Shigehiro Irie & Mizuki Watase defeated Aigle Blanc & Senza Volto when Irie pinned Blanc with the Beast Bomber (16:41).
Irie won wXw’s other premium tournament the 16 Carat Gold back in March so he had his heart set on winning WTTF with Watase. They eliminated The Frenchadors in the opening round. Aigle Blanc & Senza Volto are former wXw World Tag Team Champions so RENEGADES could not have gotten off to a better start.
1. Shigehiro Irie defeated Arez with the Beast Bomber (9:20).
The WTTF weekend also featured shows promoted by GCW as part of their September European tour. Only Irie was on the first of two GCW shows that weekend where he beat the luchador Arez. Normally I wouldn’t include entries for Irie by himself but since he was RENEGADES affiliated for the weekend, I’m adding it here.
FREELANCE “ONCE UPON A TIME IN FREELANCE”, 22/09/2023 Avondale Music Hall, Chicago, Illinois, USA
1. Shoko Nakajima defeated Shazza McKenzie with the Diving Senton (12:19).
Nakajima did a quick trip to the United States near the end of the month. Her first stop was at Freelance where she got over big with the crowd during her win against Shazza McKenzie. Nakajima’s quickness and ability to hit the 619 from any height near the ropes were the key to victory here.
WXW “WORLD TAG TEAM FESTIVAL 2023 – NIGHT 2”, 23/09/2023 Turbinenhalle 2, Oberhausen, Germany
1. World Tag Team Festival 2023 – Round 2: Shigehiro Irie & Mizuki Watase defeated Takuya Nomura & Fuminori Abe when Irie pinned Abe with a Roaring Elbow (16:14).
RENEGADES weren’t the only Japanese team taking part in WTTF weekend. Takuya Nomura & Fuminori Abe from Astronauts were there too! The two team crossed paths in Night 2 where the winners would advance to Sunday’s final.
GCW “GCW VS THE WORLD”, 23/09/2023 Turbinenhalle 2, Oberhausen, Germany
1. Scramble Match: Gringo Loco defeated Mizuki Watase, The Rotation, Arez, Jimmy Lloyd and Aigle Blanc when Loco pinned Blanc with the Base Bomb (11:46).
2. Joey Janela defeated Shigehiro Irie with the Diving Foot Stomp (17:19).
Irie was in GCW again for their other show in Germany, losing to Joey Janela in the main event. Watase also showed up by taking part in one of GCW’s staples, the Scramble Match. Watase hit a big dive and also the Coast To Coast Dropkick but otherwise got lost in the action and did not factor into the finish.
WXW “WORLD TAG TEAM FESTIVAL 2023 – NIGHT 3”, 24/09/2023 Turbinenhalle 2, Oberhausen, Germany
1. wXw World Tag Team Titles – World Tag Team Festival 2023 Final 3 Way Match: Hektor Invictus & Dennis Dullnig defeated Robert Dreissker & Laurance Roman (c) and Shigehiro Irie & Mizuki Watase (23:13). *Amboss fails in V1. Hektor Invictus & Dennis Dullnig become the 64th wXw World Tag Team Champions!
RENEGADES made it all the way to the final. Had Irie & Watase won the match and the tournament they would have become the new wXw Tag Champions. Sadly for them they couldn’t pull it off. Instead Hektor Invictus & Dennis Dullnig were the winners, taking the titles away from the defending champions Amboss.
PRESTIGE “THE RESPECT ISSUE”, 24/09/2023 Globe Theatre, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. Trish Adora defeated Shoko Nakajima with the Lariat Tubman (9:51).
Nakajima’s other US booking this month was with Prestige at the Globe Theatre, the same location TJPW will return to this December. Trish Adora was a tougher opponent for her and kicked out of the Northern Lights Suplex. Just when Nakajima thought he had another shot, she was caught off guard and pinned with the Lariat Tubman.
JFC “JINGWU TAN JFC EXOTIC FIGHTING EXHIBITION 2”, 30/09/2023 Rucker Park, Chaoyang, Shanghai, China
1. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Maki Itoh defeated Yuki Aino with the Itoh Deluxe (?:??).
2. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Mizuki defeated Nao Kakuta with the Cutie Special (?:??).
TJPW sent four of their wrestlers over to China for a martial arts expo taking place in Shanghai. They would be presenting two women’s pro wrestling matches to go along with a bunch of other martial art bouts provided by other groups. It is not the first time joshi wrestling has been part of the event. The same organizers had Sareee and Nanae Takahashi wrestle for them during the first expo in the summer. After a lot of searching through Chinese social media I was able to find a clip of Mizuki beating Nao Kakuta and Itoh locking in the Itoh Deluxe on Yuki Aino.
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Upcoming Appearances
AEW “WRESTLEDREAM”, 01/10/2023 Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, Washington, USA
1. Chris Jericho, Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi Vs Sammy Guevara, Will Ospreay & Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Don Callis)
Takeshita has spent the rest of the month either standing to the side Don Callis or wrestling back in Japan for DDT. Oh and he also invaded Kota Ibushi’s gym, attacking him with a kettlebell (and also getting Yumehito Imanari caught in the crossfire) because Callis understands how much Ibushi means to Omega. The big payoff it is leading to will happen later today when The Golden Lovers & Chris Jericho join forces to get revenge on The Don Callis Family. Takeshita is part of that family teaming with Sammy Guevara (newest member) and Will Ospreay (not a member). It is annoying to see what looked like a big push for Takeshita turn into him getting pushed aside so Jericho, Guevara and Ospreay can all squeeze into the spotlight instead.
WARRIOR “WARRIOR WRESTLING 31”, 06/10/2023 Bendix Arena, South Bend, Indiana, USA
1. Konosuke Takeshita Vs Storm Grayson (w/ Frank The Clown)
One of the few American indies Takeshita wrestles for when he’s not busy with AEW is Warrior Wrestling. The next time he shows up there he takes on one of Frank The Clown’s clients, Storm Grayson.
SPARK “RISING HEAT WEST”, 11/10/2023 LA Dojo, Carson, California, USA
1. Spark Joshi World Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) Vs Billie Starkz
A familiar opponent challenges Yamashita for the Spark Joshi Title. She has a 1-1 singles record against Billi Starkz so this championship bout can also end up becoming a rubber match between the two.
SPARK “RISING HEAT EAST”, 14/10/2023 Engelwood Neighborhood Center, Orlando, Florida, USA
1. Miu Watanabe Vs KiLynn King
2. Miyu Yamashita Vs Jessie
A few days later Yamashita takes on Jessie, the former Jessi Kamea from NXT. That’s an interesting matchup because since leaving WWE, Jessie wound up doing a tour in Stardom. So we have a TJPW Vs Stardom match on a Spark show.
But Yamashita won’t be the only Tokyo Joshi there. Miu Watanabe is along for the ride too! She is getting to fight KiLynn King from Impact in what is sure to be a hoss fight. Or a hossette fight? Whatever, two strong women are going to fight each other. What more do you want?
LLL “THE HANDS OF FATE”, 20/10/2023 The Oriental Theater, Denver, Colorado, USA
1. Lilith Grimm Vs Miyu Yamashita
Are there Lucha Libra & Laughs to be found when Yamashita pays another visit to Denver? Her opponent Lilith Grimm is nicknamed “The War Hammer” and does an entrance where she sets off sparks with a grinder.
SETUP “SETUP EP.16”, 28/10/2023 The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand
1. Gatoh Move One And Only Title & SETUP Thailand Openweight Title: Paksa (G/c) Vs Masahiro Takanashi (S/c)
2. Dramatic Dream Match: Chris Brookes Vs Monomoth
Whenever CDK goes over to Thailand and shows up in SETUP they tend to take over the place. One of the local faces Monomoth tries his best to defend his home but Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi find ways to get the better of him. Monomoth now gets to fight Brookes in a big singles match the next time Brookes heads over.
Meanwhile Takanashi has been ruling the roost in SETUP as the SETUP Openweight Champion. He can increase his domination when he has a double title match against Paksa. Takanashi puts his SETUP Title on the line while Paksa is defending a Gatoh Move branded championship called the One And Only Title.
REPUBLIC OF LUCHA “ROL VI VI VI: LA NOCHE DE WALPURGIS”, 30/10/2023 Republic Of Lucha, South Pasadena, California, USA
1. Konosuke Takeshita, Penta el Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix Vs Shun Skywalker, Bestia 666 & Mecha Wolf
I’m keeping my fingers crossed that nobody in The Lucha Brothers gets injured, company politics do not keep Takeshita and Shun Skywalker away from each other and Vampiro does not show up with La Rebelion.
DAIKAIJU PRO “VOL. 1 – THE KAPPAS WALK AMONG US”, 04/11/2023 White Eagle, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
1. Shoko Nakajima Vs X
Something new and monstrous is coming out of Massachusetts. Daikaiju Pro is holding their debut show and seems to have deep ties with SETUP and also the UMA Corps. The new promotion is promising a mixture of talent coming in to mix around with monsters and other strange creatures. A show like these requires a Big Kaiju so Nakajima will be there.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO/PRESTIGE “COMBAT PRINCESS USA”, 14/12/2023 Globe Theatre, Los Angeles, California, USA
Miu Watanabe has been added to the lineup.
PANDEMONIUM PRO “HOLIDAY IN LA”, 17/12/2023 Don Quixote, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. Mike Bailey Vs Miyu Yamashita
Yeah this do quite nicely. Pandemonium Pro is doing Yamashita against Mike Bailey in a first time ever matchup.
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Other Appearances
GCW “SAY YOU WILL”, 01/09/2023 Grand Sports Arena, Hoffman Estates, Illinois, USA
Itoh did not wrestle on the first GCW show of the month. Instead she showed up to attack Frank The Clown with a pizza cutter much to everyone’s delight.
Posted by JamieOD 
Dramatic DDT 