Max Heart Round 2, Kojima Challenge Death Match

January 20, 2024

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “THE 4TH “FUTARI WA PRINCESS” MAX HEART TOURNAMENT”, 21/01/2024
Tokyo Shinagawa Prince Hotel Club eX

1. Nao Kakuta Vs Haru Kazashiro
2. Moka Miyamoto Vs HIMAWARI
3. Miyu Yamashita, Kaya Toribami & Toga Vs Yuki Aino, Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu
4. “Futari wa Princess” Max Heart Tournament – Round 2C: Raku & Pom Harajuku Vs Suzume & Arisu Endo
5. “Futari wa Princess” Max Heart Tournament – Round 2B: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao Vs Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe
6. “Futari wa Princess” Max Heart Tournament – Round 2A: Yuki Arai & Wakana Uehara Vs Mizuki & Shino Suzuki

Quick, let’s get this posted before the show begins. Round 2 of the Max Heart Tournament only consists of three matches. We have RakuPom versus Daisy Monkey, Kyoraku Kyomei against Daydream and two pairs of wild cards when Yuki Arai & Wakana Uehara take on Mizuki & Shino Suzuki.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “THE 4TH “THE FUTARI WA PRINCESS” MAX HEART TOURNAMENT”, 27/01/2024
Tokyo Ryogoku KFC Hall

1. “Futari wa Princess” Max Heart Tournament – Semi-Final: Winners Of Match 2A Vs Winners Of Match 2B
2. “Futari wa Princess” Max Heart Tournament – Semi-Final: Winners Of Match 2C Vs Moka Miyamoto & Juria Nagano

The first team to reach the semi-finals is Shinken Kusho. They made it to the same point last year but got to take the quicker route this time around. Can Juria Nagano get one step further towards making her dream come true with Moka Miyamoto?

DDT “SWEET DREAMS! 2024”, 28/01/2024
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Special 10-Man Tag Match: Sanshiro Takagi, Toru Owashi, Akito, Shinichiro Kawamatsu & Yuni Vs HARASHIMA, Tomoya, Antonio Honda, Takeshi Masada & Kazuma Sumi
2. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo, Yuki Iino & Rukiya Vs Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & Bryan Keith (w/ MJ Paul)
3. MAO Birthday Commemorative Match: MAO & TAKA Michinoku Vs Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi
4. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs Naruki Doi
5. Yukio Sakaguchi Korakuen Final Match ~ Special Single Match: Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Hideki Okatani
5. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles – DEAD OR ALIVE Contra DEAD OR ALIVE: Jun Akiyama, Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi (c) Vs Hikaru Sato, Kazusada Higuchi & Ryo Kawamura
6. DDT Extreme Title – Which Is Your Destiny!? Toy Kojima Challenge Death Match: Kazuki Hirata (c) Vs Shunma Katsumata
7. KO-D Openweight Title: Yuki Ueno (c) Vs Yukio Naya

The fate of who will win the DDT Extreme Title match will rest on the shoulders of Toy Kojima. The match rules is whenever Kazuki Hirata or Shunma Katsumata scores a 2 Count fall, submission, knockout or countout win then the “Kojima Challenge” will begin. Kojima will be given a task to do and if he succeeds then the match result will stand. If he fails then the match restarts. This will go on until Kojima passes a challenge. Both Kojima and Katsumata will get to come up with ideas for challenges and they must be purposely designed so that Kojima cannot tell who made them.

Rukiya moves up from the Match #1 to Match #2 as Yusuke Okada’s replacement. Yuni takes Rukiya’s spot in the opener.


DDT “NEW YEAR FAN APPRECIATION DAY!” Results

January 20, 2024

DDT “NEW YEAR FAN APPRECIATION DAY!”, 20/01/2024
Tokyo Shinagawa Prince Hotel Club eX
354 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

1. New Year’s Six Major Single Match: KANON defeated Yuni with the Cobra Twist (8:07).
2. New Year’s Six Major Single Match: Daisuke Sasaki defeated Ilusion with an Inside Cradle (10:06).
3. New Year’s Six Major Single Match ~ 30 Count Outside & Sumi Only 2 Count Fall Match: Danshoku Dieno defeated Kazuma Sumi with the Danshoku Driver (8:07).
4. 4 Way Tag Match: HARASHIMA & Kazusada Higuchi defeated Yuki Ueno & Kazuki Hirata, Yoshitatsu & Akito and Toru Owashi & Yuki Iino when HARASHIMA pinned Hirata with the Somato (12:38).
5. New Year’s Six Major Single Match: Jun Akiyama defeated Rukiya with the Knee Butt (12:04).
6. New Year’s Six Major Single Match: Yukio Naya defeated Takeshi Masada with The World’s Best Back Drop (12:23).
7. New Year’s Six Major Single Match: Tetsuya Endo Vs Hideki Okatani ended in a Time Limit Draw (15:00).
8. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Bryan Keith, Soma Takao & Shota defeated MAO, Shunma Katsumata & Makoto Oishi when Keith pinned Oishi with the Emerald Tiger Driver (18:57).

One of the ideas DDT put together for its Fan Appreciation Day show was to have MAO, Shunma Katsumata & Makoto Oishi bring back NωA for one night only! Unfortunately they lost their match but if you ask MAO that means nothing has changed since NωA were last around. What has changed is the first appearance of Bryan Keith in DDT. He scored the pinfall on Oishi, setting his sights on tomorrow’s match with MAO for the DDT Universal Title. MAO is calling the match an unusual battle of opposites. He is Japanese and fights with an American indies style while Keith is American and uses a Japanese Strong Style! Keith said there have been many wrestlers from Texas who made a name for themselves in Japan and he is going to be next when he gets his bounty from MAO!

Another element in the main event was ROMANCE DAWN getting to fight ShunMao. If Shota can get his way he would like to defend the KO-D Tag Team Titles against MAO & Katsumata in the future. Soma Takao told him to first focus on defending the belts against DAMNATION T.A tomorrow. They need to because Daisuke Sasaki & KANON attacked them backstage after the show! During the fight Sasaki told ROMANCE DAWN that Shinagawa is their graveyard and DAMNATION T.A will have a party tomorrow when they win the titles. However the champions stood their ground and fought off their attackers.

Out of all of the Special Single Matches that took place on today’s show Hideki Okatani was the only one one the underdog side that did not lose. He didn’t win either but getting to fight Tetsuya Endo to a 15 minute time limit draw is nothing to sneeze at. In fact the final moments of the match saw Endo miss the Burning Star Press and Okatani hit him from behind with a Lariat to the back of the head. The bell rang right as Okatani crawled over to cover Endo.

Rukiya was given a chance to show his toughness because Jun Akiyama was beating him up outside the ring. Rukiya beat the 20 count and also kicked out of the Exploder Suplex. He was finally beaten when Akiyama pulled down one of his kneepads and hit a raw Knee Butt for the win.

Kazuma Sumi really wanted to win his match so he asked Danshoku Dieno if he could only need a 2 Count pinfall to beat him. Dieno talked with Yukinori Matsui about it and agreed on the condition that he got to add a rule too. Dieno then attacked Sumi before that rule was revealed. They fought out of the ring and up to the balcony behind a curtain. Sumi reappeared holding Dieno’s tights and a bare bottom could be seen sticking out from the curtains. Sumi made it back to the ring by the time Matsui counted to 20. But instead of ending the match, Matsui kept counting. It turned out the other rule was a 30 count was applied for being outside the ring! Dieno snuck back into the ring in his thong revealing that the butt in the balcony was not his. It was Makoto Oishi’s butt! Dieno then put Sumi in the Lip Lock and pinned him with the Danshoku Driver.

Before any of the matches began there was a contract signing for the three upcoming title matches in DDT. First was MAO and Keith talking about the Universal Title bout. Keith said he beat MAO once in America and he will do it again in MAO’s home country. MAO said he will never forget the match they had in America. He had Yoshihiko by his side then but this time he cannot find the doll anywhere so he has to fight Keith on his own. He wants the fans to support him as much as he can because he admits it is possible he can lose the title to Keith.

Next up was Kazuki Hirata and Katsumata for the DDT Extreme Title. Hirata has decided on what rules the match will have. It will be a Toy Kojima Challenge Death Match! When a wrestler gets a 2 Count pin Kojima will have to take on a challenge. If Kojima succeeds then that wrestler wins the match! Katsumata convinced Hirata to let him help choose what challenges Kojima will have to do. Hirata said if he wins this match then it will be fate for him to break the record for most Extreme Title defences.

Last was the KO-D Openweight Title match between Yuki Ueno and Yukio Naya. The challenger Naya said he has a strong desire to win the title and will do so with everything he has. Ueno talked about winning the 2022 D-Ou Grand Prix and then losing his title shot against Kazusada Higuchi. He expects the strongest version of Naya to come fight him and he wants to beat him to show he is the strongest future DDT has. The two shook hands after signing the contract.


TOKYO JOSHI PRO “THE 4TH “FUTARI WA PRINCESS” MAX HEART TOURNAMENT” Results

January 20, 2024

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “THE 4TH “FUTARI WA PRINCESS” MAX HEART TOURNAMENT”, 20/01/2024
Tokyo Shinagawa Prince Hotel Club eX
263 Fans

1. Yuki Aino, Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe defeated Suzume, Arisu Endo & Shino Suzuki when Watanabe submitted Suzuki with the Canadian Backbreaker (11:44).
2. “Futari wa Princess” Max Heart Tournament – Round 1: Yuki Arai & Wakana Uehara defeated Kaya Toribami & Haru Kazashiro when Arai submitted Kazashiro with the Sasori Gatame (8:32).
3. “Futari wa Princess” Max Heart Tournament – Round 1: Raku & Pom Harajuku defeated Nao Kakuta & HIMAWARI when Raku pinned HIMAWARI with the Doctor Yellow (8:04).
4. “Futari wa Princess” Max Heart Tournament – Round 1: Moka Miyamoto & Juria Nagano defeated Miyu Yamashita & Toga when Nagano pinned Toga with the Hurricane Kick (13:34).
5. “Futari wa Princess” Max Heart Tournament – Round 1: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao defeated Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu when Misao pinned Kiryu with La Magistral Cradle (15:21).

A message was sent loud and clear by Kyoraku Kyomei, they are determined to win this year’s Max Heart Tournament by any means necessary! Shoko Nakajima told the fans before the main event began that Hyper Misao’s voice was completely gone because of the sore throat she had last week. But it was just a trap to make the Toyo Mates lower their guard when the microphone was handed over to them and Misao’s voice was fine after all. Yuki Kamifuku fought back by giving Nakajima a Superplex and Mahiro Kiryu then got a nearfall on Misao with a Spinebuster/Big Boot combo. But during a scramble Nakajima hit Kiryu with the 619, leaving the coast clear for Misao to pin Kiryu with La Magistral Cradle. Kyoraku Kyomei will move on to face Daydream in Round 2 tomorrow. Nakajima declared that she and Misao will win the tournament and at some point later this year win the Princess Tag Team Titles!

There are a lot of new teams and fresh pairings entering the tournament this year mixing together veterans with rookies. The experiment has mixed results so far. Last year’s co-winner Miyu Yamashita is now already eliminated after her team with Toga lost to Shinken Kusho! Last year’s semi-finalists used the advantage of already having tag team experience to make the pairing of Yamashita & Toga crumble. Moka Miyamoto & Juria Nagano double teamed Yamashita to take her out of the picture and Nagano then got to pick Toga apart to win. The result sends Shinken Kusho straight through to the semi-finals due to the uneven number of teams entering the tournament. Nagano is determined to win it all with Miyamoto before she graduates from Tokyo Joshi Pro in April. Yamashita said she had fun teaming with Toga and would like to do it again.

It is a little odd to see Nao Kakuta enter a tag tournament so soon after deciding to focus on being a singles wrestler due to Hikari Noa’s sudden absence. Well it’s not something to give much more thought about now because Kakuta & HIMAWARI were eliminated by Raku & Pom Harajuku. Kakuta was taken out with a Double Cross-Arm Facecrusher and then Raku beat HIMAWARI with the Doctor Yellow. The team called RakuPom will now face Daisy Monkey tomorrow in Round 2. The winners of that match meet Shinken Kusho in the semi-finals.

One of the fresh pairings that did have a successful debut in today’s opening round was Yuki Arai & Wakana Uehara. Together they were able to beat Kaya Toribami & Haru Kazashiro thanks to Arai submitting Kazashiro with the Scorpion Deathlock. Arai admitted she was nervous because she and Uehara had only teamed together once before but this result gave her confidence. They now have to fight Mizuki & Shino Suzuki on tomorrow’s show. Even though Kazashiro lost, she said she was happy to team up with her favorite bird.