DDT “NEVER MIND 2024”, 22/12/2024
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
966 Fans – No Vacancy
1. MJ Paul, Demus & Ilusion defeated Takeshi Masada, Yuni & Kazuma Sumi when Demus pinned Sumi with La Valagueza (8:39).
2. Danshoku Dieno & Kazuki Hirata defeated Toru Owashi & Antonio Honda when Dieno pinned Honda with the Danshoku Driver (9:25).
3. Jun Akiyama, Shinya Aoki & Keigo Nakamura defeated HARASHIMA, Yukio Naya & Yuki Ishida when Nakamura pinned Ishida with a Brazilian Kick (10:50).
4. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo, Yuya Koroku & Akito defeated MAO, To-y & Soma Takao by TKO when Koroku used the Chickenwing Arm Lock on To-y (13:47).
5. Special Single Match: Super Sasadango Machine defeated Yuki Ueno with an Inside Cradle (9:20).
6. Special Single Match: Tomohiro Ishii defeated Yuki Iino with the Vertical Drop Brainbuster (16:55).
7. Road To Ultimate Party 2024! Special Tag Match: Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi defeated Daisuke Sasaki & KANON when Brookes pinned Sasaki with the Praying Mantis Bomb (16:38).
It’s one more week to go until “ULTIMATE PARTY 2024” but first there was a little matter of DDT running their last show at Korakuen Hall for 2024. Chris Brookes and Daisuke Sasaki got to clash one more time before their KO-D Openweight Title match. Here it was CDK against the top two of DAMNATION T.A. The match broke down with the rest of DAMNATION T.A interfering to attack Masahiro Takanashi. That led to SCHADENFREUDE International launching a counter attack that ended with the four of them all hitting Sasaki with a grouped up Super Kick. KANON brought in a chair but Brookes grabbed it off him, hit it over Sasaki’s head and pinned him with the Praying Mantis Bomb.
Brookes told everyone after the match that one year ago he was having surgery to remove a tumor but one year later he is here in the DDT ring as the KO-D Champion! He is confident he will defend the title at Sumo Hall. Sasaki thinks otherwise because today he absorbed all of Brookes’s moves. That means when “ULTIMATE PARTY 2024” comes around Sasaki will have Brookes all figured out. He suggests that Brookes start packing his bags because when Sumo Hall is over Sasaki will kick him back to the UK!
DDT was on in the afternoon today before New Japan took over Korakuen for the evening slot. That opened up an opportunity to have a few cross-promotional things happen like Yuki Iino fighting Tomohiro Ishii is a battle of the stocky heavyweights. There were Shoulder Blocks, Elbow Strikes, Chops, Lariats and Heabutts galore. Iino got to hit the Spear but Ishii kicked out at two. Ishii wore down Iino and finished him off with the Vertical Drop Brainbuster to win. Backstage Ishii said Iino is close to being ready and it’s a shame he isn’t there yet. Iino has power, stamina and drive but he still needs to fight and search for what he needs to get to that next level. He does not care if Iino wants to do that though. Ishii has already moved on so whatever Iino does in the future does not concern him.
There was a slight technological delay buy Super Sasadango Machine was able to display his latest PowerPoint presentation. It’s all about connecting the dots in order to beat Yuki Ueno. The greatest weapon in Ueno’s arsenal is his high flying moves so Sasadango secretly told everyone in Korakuen that he hid a spare King Of Sasadango title belt under the ring with three thumbtacks sticking out of it. During the match Sasadango swapped his belt with the thumbtack belt and lured Ueno into doing the Frog Splash. Ueno landed stomach first on the thumbtacks and was rolled over with a School Boy. Ueno kicked out though and gave Sasadango a Dropkick followed by a Body Slam onto the belt. But when he went for the pin, Sasadango suddenly caught him in an Inside Cradle and held him down long enough for Yukinori Matsui to eventually count to three! Sasadango then asked Ueno to nominate him as his first challenger if Ueno regains the KO-D Title next year.
Loss after loss has gotten to Yuya Koroku so he was determined not to get beaten by To-y again today. To-y was on fire though. He used the Kojima Impact on Akito and did the same to Koroku. But this time Tetsuya Endo was there to break the pin in time. Koroku then grabbed Kojima by the arm and refused to let go. He countered a Headlock into the Chickenwing Arm Lock and increased the struggle until To-y could no longer fight out of the move. To-y wouldn’t submit either so Matsui stopped the match for his safety and rewarded Koroku’s team with the win. Backstage Endo explained that the one thing Koroku has been missing until now was cruelty. Sometimes in wrestling you just have to be cruel to your opponent. Koroku agrees and said next time he will break To-y’s arm! However To-y thinks this result won’t happen again at Sumo Hall. He and MAO will win the vacant KO-D Tag Team Titles and they’ll have fun doing it.
Match #3 provided a good workout for some of the Sumo Hall undercard matches. Jun Akiyama and Yukio Naya started it off while Shinya Aoki and HARASHIMA got to wrestle each other again. Naya eventually got the upper hand by giving Akiyama the Choke Slam. However the match came down to Keigo Nakamura striking Yuki Ishida with High Kicks before knocking him down with the Brazilian Kick for the victory. Aoki told Nakamura they’re off to a good start as a team. Nakamura is confident they can beat Kenoh and the NOAH team at Sumo Hall. He will go there with his head held high. Akiyama told Naya that the practice matches are now over. It is now up to them to go at each other as strong as they can in Sumo Hall.
We all know what to expect by now when DDT books a tag match like Danshoku Dieno & Kazuki Hirata against Toru Owashi & Antonio Honda. Dieno went into the Hell Gate position, Honda used it to charge up Gongitsune and he ended up hitting Owashi with the move by accident. Dieno then charged up his own attack but hit Hirata with it by mistake. Honda then went for the Diving Fist Drop but Dieno blocked it with a Claw Attack and went on to pin Honda with the Danshoku Driver.
Dieno was not done yet however. He got on the microphone and wanted to talk about his Sumo Hall match with Great-O-Khan. So he invited O-Khan to the show to discuss the match stipulation in the ring! Khan entered the venue and sat with Dieno in the ring. They both agreed they want to have a match at Sumo Hall that can never be done there ever again. Something that DDT and New Japan would also not let them do either. O-Khan then brought out an unexpected guest, the voice actor Kentaro Kumagai. He also happens to be somebody that Dieno gave the Lip Lock to at a DDT show back in June. O-Khan gave him a United Empire shirt and ordered him to wear it out of loyalty. Another voice actor Tetsu Inada then entered the ring to side with Dieno and DDT. Dieno decided the match should have the DDT Extreme Title on the line but Hisaya Imabayashi refused to grant his request. It’s a miracle that Imabayashi convinced NJPW to let this match happen in the first place so upgrading it a title bout will be impossible. Dieno does not care and promised O-Khan the Extreme Title will be on the line even if DDT will not make it official. Kumagai then started complaining about the time Dieno gave him the Lip Lock. Inada argued back because the things Pheromones did to him were way worse. The two voice actors decided they will be at ringside for the match to support their wrestlers.
The rest of DAMNATION T.A put some of DDT’s younger wrestlers through the wringer in the opening match. MJ Paul & Demus worked together to give Kazuma Sumi a Double Argentine Facebuster. Ilusion landed the Swanton Bomb onto Yuni and then Demus used La Valagueza on Sumi to win the match. Ilusion made fun of NωA Jr. for trying to be fake idols while Demus promised to kill Sumi again at Sumo Hall. Both Yuni & Sumi want to get revenge on those two. Takeshi Masada asked the two of them to please win that match.
It was announced that Minoru Suzuki will be at DDT’s 28th Anniversary show at Korakuen Hall on 20th March.
Dramatic DDT 