Previews | Dramatic DDT

DDT “ULTIMATE PARTY 2020” Preview

November 1, 2020

DDT “ULTIMATE PARTY 2020”, 03/11/2020
Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium

0. Under Match: Keigo Nakamura Vs Hideki Okatani
0. Under Match: Hiroshi Yamato & Hoshitango Vs Mizuki Watase & Yukio Naya
1. MAO Return Battle: MAO Vs Shunma Katsumata
2. Danshoku Dieno Vs Akito
3. 4 Way 6-Man Tag Match: Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Sakaguchi & Saki Akai Vs Toru Owashi, Naomi Yoshimura & Kazuki Hirata Vs Mad Paulie, El Lindaman & Nobuhiro Shimatani Vs Super Sasadango Machine, Makoto Oishi & Antonio Honda
4. DDT Extreme Title – Yanekabe Presents Weapon Rumble: Shinya Aoki (c) Vs Sanshiro Takagi
5. Special Tag Match – HarashiMarafuji Vs CimaSoma: HARASHIMA & Naomichi Marufuji Vs CIMA & Soma Takao
6. DDT UNIVERSAL Title: Chris Brookes (c) Vs Yuki Ueno
7. Special Single Match: Jun Akiyama Vs Konosuke Takeshita
8. KO-D Openweight Title – BLACK OUT Presents: Tetsuya Endo (c) Vs Daisuke Sasaki

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these things. A year ago in fact! Skipped over writing a preview for “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2020” because everything was put together in too short of an amount of time but I can’t complain about a lack of build for this one. As no doubt many of you have seen, most of the pro wrestling industry worldwide has been chugging through the Coronavirus pandemic, good idea or not. For DDT they ran empty arena shows until fans were allowed back in. The block of wrestling companies owned by CyberAgent that DDT is a part of all merged their management together to form CyberFight in order to survive. Some big plans for this show went up in smoke. “ULTIMATE PARTY 2020” was originally meant to be in Sumo Hall, now it is happening in Ota Ward Gymnasium because Ryogoku became unavailable. Also Kenny Omega was supposed to be here but travel restrictions nixed that idea. DDT adapted to the problems, came up with a card they want to reach across the world and show that they aren’t just a storm in a teacup.

0. Under Match: Keigo Nakamura Vs Hideki Okatani

It’s been fun watching these two rookies flourish throughout 2020. Keigo Nakamura has become this lovable little gremlin who can adapt into whatever scenario DDT throws at him. When they need a flexible punching bag, Nakamura is there to take those lumps. I can only imagine what his imagination will be like when he has some more years on him and gets the chance to put something together by himself. It’s not all antics either. He seriously wants to win matches and isn’t happy to see the younger Hideki Okatani quickly overtake him. Okatani has been more straightforward in his first year as a wrestler. He wasted no time standing up to Jun Akiyama for a few DDT TV SHOW bouts. It led to him being the fourth man for Junretsu and getting a bigger spotlight than his “senpai” Nakamura. But these two are still fresh rookies so they get the curtain jerking spot on the pre-show.

0. Under Match: Hiroshi Yamato & Hoshitango Vs Mizuki Watase & Yukio Naya

This is Hoshitango’s first match in DDT this year. As far as I know he’s done nothing but be JR level horny on Twitter during his time away from the ring. If he’s been on other wrestling shows I can’t find them. Hiroshi Yamato made several DDT appearances doing not much of note until recently. He willingly got into the DAMNATION drama and came out of it slightly changed. He hasn’t been singing during his entrances and his eyes have gone black. After years of being stuck in the mud, Mizuki Watase is starting to progress again as part of Junretsu. He needed that kick up the bum and to be honest it isn’t enough if he wants to stop treading water. Yukio Naya is in a similar position of underachieving. He’s been accused of not performing like a man his size should. To be fair he must have a ton of pressure on his shoulders coming from such a well regarded sumo family. His grandfather is a legendary yokozuna and his three younger brothers have all joined sumo stables in the last two years. At least he has his hobbies.

1. MAO Return Battle: MAO Vs Shunma Katsumata

MAO is back from injury and he wants to break Shunma Katsumata. It’s a good sign that the world can go back to normal. A left MCL injury in June has kept MAO out of action so he was reduced to just hanging out at shows when he could. He’s still the same guy he always was. Katsumata however is no longer the sweet little boy we all knew. He was always into deathmatches but he jumped in hard this year. When he’s not wrestling Super Hardcore on Lego in DDT, he is earning his blood soaked stripes in Big Japan also with Lego. It is quickly reaching the point where I wonder if Katsumata is better off in Big Japan than DDT? There isn’t any stipulation added to the match but if MAO and Katsumata wanted to bring weapons in I’m sure nobody will want to stop them.

2. Danshoku Dieno Vs Akito

One of the biggest beneficiaries from the creation of CyberFight is Akito. Ever since he became a Vice President for the company, his success in the ring has soared. The key to his newfound momentum is the Goliath Birdeater, a disgusting looking submission hold that was originally used by Taku Iwasa in Toryumon (“It’s a Spider Thread, It’s a Spider Thread, It’s a Spider Thread, It’s a Spider Threeeeeaaaaad”). It tangles up all of the victim’s limbs just like a spider the move is named after would do. Outside the ring, Akito is taking his new role very seriously and it has made look at things with a more critical eye. He singled out Danshou Dieno in particular, asking him if his work over the summer was up to par. For you see, Akito has always wanted to wrestle Dieno in his prime. He thinks they are both one of a kind in DDT and mixing together can create something special. A match like that should happen in a big venue like Ota Ward Gymnasium. Dieno agrees and wants to prove his best days are not behind him. There’s still a lot of ideas in that creative mind of his. Who could be better than Akito to help bring them to life?

3. 4 Way 6-Man Tag Match: Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Sakaguchi & Saki Akai Vs Toru Owashi, Naomi Yoshimura & Kazuki Hirata Vs Mad Paulie, El Lindaman & Nobuhiro Shimatani Vs Super Sasadango Machine, Makoto Oishi & Antonio Honda

As things stand now the entire tag team division belongs to Eruption. The trio have been a force to be reckoned with and were highly featured on DDT cards throughout the year. Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Sakaguchi recently won the KO-D Tag Team Titles and with Saki Akai they also hold the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles. So far they are living up to their goal of creating their own path in DDT. Higuchi & Sakaguchi have been regular threats to championships. Akai meanwhile completed the Okabariyasu series where she fought the likes of Rina Yamashita, Miranda Gordy, Syuri, Saori Anou and Meiko Satomura. There are no challengers for either tag titles at the moment so Eruption are in a non-title 4 Way with a bunch of DDT regulars. One team is DISASTER BOX with former tag champion Naomi Yoshimura having his final match before taking an extended break to recover from his cervical injuries. Toru Owashi is still in his gatekeeper position while Kazuki Hirata recently reminded Sakaguchi not to take him or the Miracle One Shot Cradle lightly. #DAMNHEARTS are represented by Mad Paulie, El Lindaman & Nobuhiro Shimatani. I bet Lindaman doesn’t want to be reminded of losing the trios titles to Akai after all of that big talk he gave to her beforehand. The last team rounding out the field is Super Sasadango Machine, Makoto Oishi & Antonio Honda. Sasadango has been busy producing the Hiragana Muscle revival that was meant to be the first pro wrestling musical (until Chris Jericho & MJF beat him to the punch). Oishi has been refreshed by becoming the leader of Junretsu. Honda is still Honda and er… let’s leave it at that.

4. DDT Extreme Title – Yanekabe Presents Weapon Rumble: Shinya Aoki (c) Vs Sanshiro Takagi

It has been nigh on impossible for wrestlers to take the DDT Extreme Title from Shinya Aoki. The championship that is defended under many different rules has been over Aoki’s shoulder since March and no amount of DDT foolishness has slowed him down. He’s defended the belt in a Blindfold Hidden Bra Death Match held in the centre of an empty Saitama Super Arena. He’s defended it in a Falls Count Anywhere match to celebrate the end of Japan’s lockdown. He even defended the belt against Maku Donaruto. Nothing seems to stop the MMA veteran. Only one man is left to stop him and he has just the plan needed to succeed. It’s Sanshiro Takagi and the Weapon Rumble! There’s one problem though, Aoki hasn’t signed the contract yet and would rather forfeit the title than do that match. Probably serves DDT right for promoting the match before getting Aoki’s signature but they might have figured out the reason why it came to this. Takagi suggests that Aoki has a phobia of signing contracts because it reminds him too much of his marriage and divorce. He had to sign a marriage certificate and he had to sign the divorce papers. Maybe those memories left him mentally scarred. Takagi does not want to become champion by default and is determined to make the match happen one way or another. If this turns out to be a negotiation tactic to drop the Weapon Rumble stipulation then Takagi will agree to it. Anything to ensure that Aoki shows up to Ota Ward to defend his title. I can’t blame Aoki for his paranoia about this. The weapons used in Weapon Rumbles are just as much for psychological pain than they are physical damage. What if his ex-wife shows up as a weapon?!? Probably not, from what I could find it sounds like they had a nasty split. One that is maybe too upsetting to make fun of by reuniting them in the ring.

Geez way to end the comedy match preview on a sad note, me.

5. Special Tag Match – HarashiMarafuji Vs CimaSoma: HARASHIMA & Naomichi Marufuji Vs CIMA & Soma Takao

This match was originally meant to take place at “WRESTLE PETER PAN” back in June. When DDT got to run shows in front of crowds again, HARASHIMA and Soma Takao were told that the match was back on. There was another risk of the match getting cancelled again when CIMA got into a traffic accident, breaking his nose, fracturing his wrist and getting a couple other minor injuries across the body. Thankfully he recovered and made it back to the ring in good shape. He also has been getting a lot of ring time with Takao, both as tag partners and as opponents. Takao used to wrestle using a tribute gimmick called BIMA when he was in a college wrestling club. CIMA wants to help Takao surpass him so he can start from B, skip C and go straight to D. Then he can be renamed DIMA! Plus they get to to this in Soma’s hometown of Ota. That kind of ambition and regular reps might make them a better oiled machine than HARASHIMA and Naomichi Marufuji. The HarashiMarufuji team have worked together a couple times this year but not as much as CimaSoma. In September there was an Elimination Tag Match where Takao eliminated Marufuji early by throwing him out of the ring. Marufuji wants to get revenge for being humiliated like that. Rustiness is the only weak point I can see with HarashiMarufuji. Experience and skill levels combined makes that team nearly unbeatable otherwise.

6. DDT UNIVERSAL Title: Chris Brookes (c) Vs Yuki Ueno

The newest championship in DDT has been tailor made for Chris Brookes. In February Brookes became the first DDT UNIVERSAL Champion, holding a belt created to boost DDT’s global presence. There was a setback over the Spring where he lost the belt in his first defence and had a hell of a time trying to reclaim it. But reclaim it he did and he’s having a much better go around this time. He got his cockiness back with this reign and it’s been rubbing some of the other wrestlers the wrong way. Like Yuki Ueno for example. After Brookes successfully defended the title against Naomi Yoshimura, he called him weak. Brookes then looked over to Ueno and called him even weaker. Ueno snapped and challenged Brookes for the title so he could shut him up. Brookes accepted and then put Ueno in the Octopus Stretch. Ueno got something back in the mind games department when he used the Praying Mantis Bomb in a match. Things went worse from there with Brookes attacking Ueno again after Nautilus lost the KO-D Tag Titles. Brookes continued to rub Ueno’s face in by presenting him with flowers at a press conference as if he was in mourning of Ueno’s title loss. He has the recent success behind him to back up his cocky attitude. The normally quiet Ueno has to step away from his safety net especially now that Yoshimura is taking time off. By all means the talent is there for Ueno to be a top name for DDT in the future. I always thought Yoshimura would be the stand out of Nautilus but the KO-D Tag Title reign (which has been my highlight of 2020 DDT by the way) was a breakthrough period for Ueno. This match has sleeper hit of the show written all over it.

7. Special Single Match: Jun Akiyama Vs Konosuke Takeshita

Usually it’s one company’s loss that becomes another company’s gain. In this case two companies losing out benefitted DDT. Jun Akiyama was supposed to spend some time in Florida back in May working as a temporary coach in the WWE Performance Center. COVID-19 prevented that trip from happening so DDT offered him the same role for their own roster. Akiyama got to spend time in the ring with guys like Mizuki Watase and Hideki Okatani, teaching them valuable lessons in King’s Road wrestling. The idea worked out so well that DDT struck a deal with All Japan to rent Akiyama’s services for the rest of this year (that is the other company losing out, nobody is expecting Akiyama to go back when his rental period ends). From the get go the plan was to put Akiyama and Konosuke Takeshita together as opponents. Akiyama was here to teach King’s Road but Takeshita was more interested in experiencing Akiyama’s personal wrestling style. In return Akiyama gets to experience the high level of DDT presented by Takeshita. Akiyama formed the unit Junretsu (intentionally referencing the pop band with the same name) to fight against Takeshita & ALL OUT. There is no grudge between the two wrestlers but the fights between them have been fierce. The result of this generational confrontation will shift the balance of the pro wrestling world. There’s no holding back here. Win or lose, Akiyama will do his part to nourish one of DDT’s best and help him grow even stronger.

8. KO-D Openweight Title – BLACK OUT Presents: Tetsuya Endo (c) Vs Daisuke Sasaki

Ambition is what caused this main event to exist. Ambition is what led to a betrayal and then a betrayal of that betrayal. Ambition is what created a fracture in the most powerful faction in DDT. Tetsuya Endo achieved his goal of winning the KO-D Openweight Title from Masato Tanaka back in June. In the midst of the empty arena shows he built up the momentum needed to knock Tanaka off his throne and carry the main event picture onwards. It was Endo’s savviness to form a business alliance between DAMNATION and #STRONGHEARTS, creating #DAMNHEARTS. Then he had an even bigger goal he wanted to accomplish. He let the world know when he won the King Of DDT tournament as the reigning KO-D Champion. Endo wanted to defend the title against Kenny Omega at “ULTIMATE PARTY 2020”! Endo even began using a modified Wrist Clutch One-Winged Angel to prepare for the fateful match. Unfortunately it was unable to happen at Ota Ward so Endo was tasked to find a replacement challenger. He knew who it had to be. There are only two wrestlers left he needs to defeat. One is Omega. The other is his leader Daisuke Sasaki!

At first it looked like the match would happen smoothly. Endo is loyal to Sasaki so there was no bad blood to look out for. Then cracks began to appear when they tagged together. Double team moves would backfire but ultimately would not cause them to lose. Both would take this in somewhat good spirits (if that’s even possible for the mood Sasaki is always in) and instead banter about getting into better shape more than the other can. It all came to a head in September when Sasaki turned on Endo, banished him from DAMNATION and instructed #DAMNHEARTS to join in the beating. Except they didn’t. Instead #DAMNHEARTS took Endo’s side and held a mutiny on Sasaki, kicking him out of the group instead! It turned out that Sasaki and Endo had the same idea of turning on each other and both approached #DAMNHEARTS to join them. Given the choice, #DAMNHEARTS picked to be with Endo. The new leader declared that DAMNATION can now conform, kiss ass and get married! A furious Sasaki declared he was the only member of DAMNATION and the others were banished but he can’t stop them from using the name anyway. His lone attempts to fight his former allies looked hopeless until Hiroshi Yamato came along to help him with mixed results.

As the weeks went by Sasaki fell deep into his drinking and came up with an ultimatum. If he cannot beat Endo at “ULTIMATE PARTY 2020” then he will retire! He will flee Japan in shame and go find a job in another country where he can work three days a week with no early morning shifts. Now it’s difficult to tell how serious Sasaki is with going through with this plan. He has a history of throwing down championships and threatening to quit whenever he loses only to drink his misery away to forget about it. He also has a DAMNATION show celebrating his 15th Anniversary in wrestling happening on 12th November (that the DAMNATION wrestlers have since been banned from) that seems to be going ahead no matter what the result is. What also prevents a Sasaki win from being a sure fire bet is Endo’s supposed match with Omega. Will that still happen if Endo loses the title? You’ve seen what Omega is like now. He probably isn’t going to be interested in making the trip back to DDT when allowed if both Endo and the KO-D Title isn’t involved.

Comments Off on DDT “ULTIMATE PARTY 2020” Preview | Previews | Tagged: Akito, Antonio Honda, Chris Brookes, CIMA, CimaSoma, Daisuke Sasaki, DAMNATION, DAMNHEARTS, Danshoku Dieno, DDT Extreme Championship, DDT Pro Wrestling, DDT Universal Championship, DISASTER BOX, Dramatic Dream Team, El Lindaman, Eruption, HARASHIMA, HarashiMarufuji, Hideki Okatani, Hiroshi Yamato, Hoshitango, Jun Akiyama, Kazuki Hirata, Kazusada Higuchi, Keigo Nakamura, KO-D Openweight Championship, Konosuke Takeshita, Mad Paulie, Makoto Oishi, MAO, Mizuki Watase, Naomi Yoshimura, Naomichi Marufuji, Nobuhiro Shimatani, Ota Ward Gymnasium, Saki Akai, Sanshiro Takagi, Shinya Aoki, Shunma Katsumata, Soma Takao, Super Sasadango Machine, Tetsuya Endo, Toru Owashi, Yuki Ueno, Yukio Naya, Yukio Sakaguchi | Permalink
Posted by JamieOD

Obtaining Tickets For DDT Group Shows

December 24, 2019

(Taken from DDT’s website)

To Pro-Wrestling Fans Travelling from Overseas during the New Year’s Holidays

Welcome to Japan!

The DDT Group and its wrestlers will be waiting for you at many shows during this period:

TJPW (Friday 12.27, Itabashi Green Hall, 18:00)
DDT (Saturday 12.28, Korakuen Hall, 18:30)
DDT/BJW (Tuesday 12.31, Korakuen Hall, 20:00)
DDT (Friday 1.3, Korakuen Hall, 18:30)
TJPW (Saturday 1.4, Korakuen Hall, 11:30)
TJPW (Sunday 1.5, Itabashi Green Hall, 12:00)
DDT (Sunday 1.5, Itabashi Green Hall, 18:00)

You will be able to pre-purchase tickets for all of the above shows from the following websites (Japanese websites only):

・Ticketpay
https://www.ticketpay.jp/

・Ticket Pia
https://t.pia.jp/

・Lawson Ticket
https://l-tike.com/

・e-plus
https://eplus.jp/

Please use your credit card for your purchases, and take note of your reservation number to bring to Japan with you. Use the number to obtain your ticket at the designated convenience store (Seven Eleven, Family Mart, or Lawson) when you arrive in Japan, by the day of each show.

The easiest option is to purchase tickets through the DDT Official Website using your credit card. Please take a look at the guidance video for details on how to reserve and obtain tickets:

Walk-up tickets will be made available on the day of each show, but only if they are not sold out. Walk-up tickets can only be purchased in cash (Japanese yen only).

We look forward to seeing you at our shows!

Comments Off on Obtaining Tickets For DDT Group Shows | News, Previews, Videos | Tagged: DDT Pro Wrestling, Dramatic Dream Team, Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling | Permalink
Posted by JamieOD

DDT “ULTIMATE PARTY 2019!” Preview

November 1, 2019

DDT “ULTIMATE PARTY 2019! DDT GROUP BIG GATHERING!”, 03/11/2019
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

0. Under Match: Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Mizuki Watase & Keigo Nakamura Vs Daichi Kazato, Masato Kamino & Shuhei Washida
0. Under Match – Tokyo Joshi Pro 8-Woman Tag Match: Hikari Noa, YUMI, Mahiro Kiryu & Suzume Vs Raku, Pom Harajuku, Haruna Neko & Mirai Maiumi
0. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Time Difference Battle Royal: Shota (c) Vs Toru Owashi Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Gorgeous Matsuno Vs HARUKAZE Vs SAGAT Vs Yuki Kamifuku Vs Mina Shirakawa Vs Pokotan Vs Yoshihiko
1. 100 Plastic Cases Match: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Isami Kodaka
2. KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles: Danshoku Dieno, Asuka, Yuki Iino, Mizuki & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi Vs Super Sasadango Machine, Yuna Manase, Jiro Kuroshio, Hiroshi Yamato & Makoto Oishi
3. Gauntlet Tag Match: Yukio Naya & Cody Hall Vs Yuki Ueno & Naomi Yoshimura Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Ryota Nakatsu Vs Shuichiro Katsumura & Kouki Iwasaki Vs Maki Itoh & Chris Brookes Vs Nodoka Tenma & Yuki Aino
4. Independent World Jr. Heavyweight Title: Keisuke Ishii (c) Vs Fuminori Abe
5. UWA World 6-Man Tag Team Titles – 3 Way Match: Takumi Tsukamoto, Yasu Urano & Takato Nakano (c) Vs Tetsuya Endo, Mad Paulie & Nobuhiro Shimatani Vs Ken Ohka, Yumehito Imanari & Miss Mongol
6. Princess Tag Team Titles: Sakisama & Misao (c) Vs Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe
7. KO-D Tag Team Titles – 4 Way Hardcore Match: Daisuke Sasaki & Soma Takao (c) Vs Akito & Shunma Katsumata Vs FUMA & Yusuke Kubo Vs Minoru Fujita & Daiki Shimomura
8. Union MAX Title: Ryuichi Sekine (c) Vs Masahiro Takanashi
9. Princess Of Princess Title: Shoko Nakajima (c) Vs Yuka Sakazaki
10. Souken Holdings Presents Dramatic Dream Match: Kenny Omega & Riho Vs Antonio Honda & Miyu Yamashita
11. BLACK OUT Presents KO-D Openweight Title & DDT Extreme Title: Konosuke Takeshita (K/c) Vs HARASHIMA (E/c)

100 plastic cases, 81 wrestlers, 53 men, 26 women, 14 matches, 9 championships, 4 promotions (maybe make it 5), 2 non-human wrestlers and 1 Ultimate Party to hold it all inside Sumo Hall! Welcome to one of the largest shows DDT has ever put together. There are so many people booked that they could hold it in an empty arena and still outdraw ROH. Thanks to a lot of help from BASARA, Tokyo Joshi Pro and Ganbare☆Wrestling this show will have tons and tons of variety. It will probably last an eternity too so you should get comfortable.

The big family reunion is a little bittersweet. On the bright side we get a big star return. But BASARA will become a completely independent company from DDT at the end of the year and they have already begun the transition process. The BASARA wrestlers all have the same goal in mind for this show. Win and steal as many championships as they can from DDT before they leave! Tokyo Joshi and Ganpro have their own spots on the card where they will aim to steal the show.

0. Under Match: Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Mizuki Watase & Keigo Nakamura Vs Daichi Kazato, Masato Kamino & Shuhei Washida

It’s always fun to see a trainee come in and grow from show to show. The abandoned DNA brand was great for that. The first newcomer to appear in DDT since DNA’s disappearance is Keigo Nakamura. For months before his debut Nakamura was made visible on shows by being dragged into the wacky antics DDT is known for. From the swimming pool to the campsite Nakamura always had a side role to play so he became a familiar face when he finally began wrestling in matches. For his first bout in Sumo Hall he is tagging with Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Mizuki Watase to form a DDT team against a combined BASARA & Ganpro team. Daichi Kazato leads that side with the young bloods Masato Kamino & Shuhei Washida. Kazato may still be carrying the spirit of Best Stretchman V3 inside him.

0. Under Match – Tokyo Joshi Pro 8-Woman Tag Match: Hikari Noa, YUMI, Mahiro Kiryu & Suzume Vs Raku, Pom Harajuku, Haruna Neko & Mirai Maiumi

The new generation of Tokyo Joshi is in full effect here. The most experienced women are Hikari Noa and Raku and they only debuted back in January 2018! Then you get the HiSPC class of YUMI, Mahiro Kiryu, Pom Harajuku and Haruna Neko who all debuted over the last twelve months or so (poor Himawari Unagi is left out because of injury). Mirai Maiumi and Suzume are bringing up the rear as the newest girls on the roster.

0. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Time Difference Battle Royal: Shota (c) Vs Toru Owashi Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Gorgeous Matsuno Vs HARUKAZE Vs SAGAT Vs Yuki Kamifuku Vs Mina Shirakawa Vs Pokotan Vs Yoshihiko

The promise of an Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title defence has been fulfilled. The belt made its way across the world to Mexico and the United States thanks to Puma King. Luckily for DDT, Kikutaro now lives in America and was able to bring the title back to Japan. Unfortunately Kikutaro already has a booking that conflicts with the date of “ULTIMATE PARTY 2019!” He can only make it to Sumo Hall in time if his match is placed in the semi-main event! Thankfully Hisaya Imabayashi came up with a solution. He knocked out Kikutaro and told Shota to pin him and become the new Iron Man champion. Problem solved. Now Shota has to defend the title in a Battle Royal and Kikutaro isn’t getting booked at all. Everyone who matters wins!

Let’s look at the rest of the field that Shota has to deal with. Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata have been doing the usual stuff in DISASTER BOX. Gorgeous Matsuno’s wrestling career gained a new lease of life when he won the O-40 Championship, a belt exclusively fought for between wrestlers over the age of 40. HARUKAZE has been a staple of Ganpro’s joshi division. SAGAT is the violent yet at times plucky BASARA brawler. Yuki Kamifuku has found her groove in the wrestling ring and is now capable of racking up wins on a consistent basis. Her Pink Ready team with Mina Shirakawa is a big reason for that and Shirakawa herself won a championship in a wresting group ran by Best Body Japan. She also discovered a talent for rap. Then we are left with the mascots of DDT. Pokotan does its best to spread cheer until the head comes off and it violently malfunctions. And never underestimate Yoshihiko.

1. 100 Plastic Cases Match: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Isami Kodaka

Big Boss against BASARA Boss! The very first match announced for this show pits Sanshiro Takagi against Isami Kodaka in a rare singles bout between the two. This was placed in the proper opening spot because Takagi believes the curtain jerker is the second most important match after the main event. Kodaka wanted a crazy match to mark his goodbye from DDT so they decided on placing 100 plastic cases around ringside. Takagi has grown really fond of using them as weapons lately and they make satisfying noises when they break (take note American indies once the inevitable door shortage happens).

2. KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles: Danshoku Dieno, Asuka, Yuki Iino, Mizuki & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi Vs Super Sasadango Machine, Yuna Manase, Jiro Kuroshio, Hiroshi Yamato & Makoto Oishi

Bloody Hell they brought back the KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles. Why? Back in 2017 the first champions were crowned right here in Sumo Hall. DDT immediately discovered how difficult it was to book all members of the champion team on a regular basis so the belts quietly disappeared after the first defence. Two years later DDT stripped the champions of the belts under what I will now call the 770 Day Rule. So now we need new champions. I don’t know why but let’s go along with it. Two of the former champs Danshoku Dieno and Super Sasadango Machine were given the task of drafting separate teams to fight for the vacant titles. Dieno chose the fearless Asuka, the rugby fueled Yuki Iino, the Sugar Rabbit Mizuki and the weirdest advertisement for yoga Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi. Sasadango’s choices are the face (and body) of the Pocchari Joshi spin-off Yuna Manase, the soon to be co-opted by the Yanks Jiro Kuroshio, the always first at karaoke Hiroshi Yamato and the left until last Makoto Oishi. With the talent on offer the belts have a second chance at life no matter which team wins. Or maybe it will fall into obscurity until the 770 Day Rule kicks in again.

3. Gauntlet Tag Match: Yukio Naya & Cody Hall Vs Yuki Ueno & Naomi Yoshimura Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Ryota Nakatsu Vs Shuichiro Katsumura & Kouki Iwasaki Vs Maki Itoh & Chris Brookes Vs Nodoka Tenma & Yuki Aino

When DDT is in Sumo Hall you can always expect a Tag Team Gauntlet match in the undercard. Some newly established teams have filled out the ranks along with a couple of power duos. Yukio Naya & Cody Hall have spent several weeks feuding with each other. When Naya defeated Hall in a singles match the two put their differences behind them and formed a team together. Their thought process is nobody can stop their heavyweight size and power when it gets combined together. Yuki Ueno & Naomi Yoshimura begun teaming together when Yoshimura joined DISASTER BOX but took a step to the next level when they named their team Nautilus in September. Yukio Sakaguchi & Ryota Nakatsu are the two premier strikers in DDT and BASARA joining forces. Ganpro are represented by Shuichiro Katsumura & Kouki Iwasaki. The big wild card is the NEO Itoh Respect Army of Maki Itoh & Chris Brookes. Itoh is at a career high as the reigning International Princess Champion and Brookes is back in DDT for a run in both the tag team division and the upcoming D-ou Grand Prix. Last but certainly not least is the Tokyo Joshi team. Year after year DDT has told fans that The Steiner Brothers are not booked for their major shows. Well The Bakuretsu Sisters are sick of it! The Steiners won’t bother showing up so Nodoka Tenma & Yuki Aino have taken their place!

4. Independent World Jr. Heavyweight Title: Keisuke Ishii (c) Vs Fuminori Abe

I feel bad for Shuichiro Katsumura. When he held the Independent World Jr. Heavyweight Title it was he who established the goal of defending it in Sumo Hall. He held onto the belt one match after another until Keisuke Ishii killed his dream just over a month before the show. So instead it is Ishii in the champion’s spot for Ganpro’s featured match on the card. When Ishii declared his intentions to make Ganpro more appealing than the other brands, Fuminori Abe answered his challenge. He also revealed a sinister plan the entire BASARA roster has put together for this show. Since BASARA is becoming independent, they want to win as many championships as they can from the DDT family and claim them as their own once they have completed the split! The Independent Jr. Title has called Ganpro its home for the last two years. Will it make the jump over to BASARA?

5. UWA World 6-Man Tag Team Titles – 3 Way Match: Takumi Tsukamoto, Yasu Urano & Takato Nakano (c) Vs Tetsuya Endo, Mad Paulie & Nobuhiro Shimatani Vs Ken Ohka, Yumehito Imanari & Miss Mongol

The UWA World 6-Man Tag Team Titles have been in DDT before. Around 9 years ago in fact. I even have an incomplete title history page written up back when it was abandoned. WRESTLE-1 revived the belts in 2015 only to give up on them in 2018. Then Big Japan brought them back and they quickly jumped over to BASARA. So now we have a mishmash of teams fighting for the titles. Takumi Tsukamoto, Yasu Urano & Takato Nakano are the current champions going for their second defence. DAMANTION are one of the two challenger teams. Tetsuya Endo has noticeably fallen down the pecking order ever since his failure to claim the headline spot on this show. He at least has Mad Paulie & Nobuhiro Shimatani keeping him company. The third team is the alliance of Ken Ohka’s Ganpro and the pervy Pocchari Joshi sub-brand ran by Yumehito Imanari. Former FMW women’s wrestler Miss Mongol has been teaming regularly with those two throughout the year.

6. Princess Tag Team Titles: Sakisama & Misao (c) Vs Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe

Friendship. Betrayal. Strength. Beauty. Championships. Roses. This match has it all. One of the biggest stories to watch in Tokyo Joshi this year was the transformation of Hyper Misao from a superhero to the Royal Guardswoman for Sakisama. Sick of failure and feeling weak, Misao gave up the mask so she could learn to become strong under Sakisama. Say what you want about her mysterious methods, Sakisama has gotten results from every woman who joined her side. Since Misao’s transformation in March, her personality completely changed along with her win-loss record. The NEO Biishiki-gun team have been nigh on unbeatable and have held the Princess Tag Team Titles for almost 5 months. Along the way they picked on those they feel are below them. Sure that’s everybody but the two most who have received the brunt of it are Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe. In fact this whole storyline began when Misao betrayed Tatsumi during a failed attempt to rescue Watanabe from Sakisama’s attacks. It all comes full circle with Tatsumi & Watanabe joining forces. Tatsumi believes that deep, deep down Hyper Misao is still alive and the evil version of Misao is only a cover. Misao has resisted all attempts to bring back the hero but maybe losing the tag titles could make her snap out of it.

7. KO-D Tag Team Titles – 4 Way Hardcore Match: Daisuke Sasaki & Soma Takao (c) Vs Akito & Shunma Katsumata Vs FUMA & Yusuke Kubo Vs Minoru Fujita & Daiki Shimomura

Four teams charging into a chaotic Hardcore Match for the KO-D Tag Team Titles. The DAMNATION duo of Daisuke Sasaki & Soma Takao are currently having the most successful KO-D Tag Title run in years. They are one win away from tying the record for the second most title defences. They most recently defended the belts against ALL OUT so they already have a win over Akito. The difference here is this time Akito is teaming with Shunma Katsumata and he is the closest thing to a hardcore wrestler in the group. BASARA provides the two other teams. The IRON PRIEST team of FUMA & Yusuke Kubo are possibly the biggest threat to the champs. They regularly wrestle the hardcore style and also hold the brand new IRON FIST TAG Titles. A double crown tag championship is in their sights. Minoru Fujita & Daiki Shimomura are also into hardcore wrestling and want to win the belts for Sento Minzoku. The winners won’t have much time to recover. The next KO-D Tag Title defence will be in a week when the champions take on The Calamari Drunken Kings.

8. Union MAX Title: Ryuichi Sekine (c) Vs Masahiro Takanashi

On paper this looks like a match between BASARA and DDT but it is anything but. Ryuichi Sekine has been confidently holding his own as the Union MAX Champion ever since he won it back in May. He has earned the respect of the BASARA roster so who could he defend the belt against next? Out comes Masahiro Takanashi. The DDT wrestler said he wanted to take a different direction when he turned down the offer to compete in the D-Ou Grand Prix again. It turns out he wants to fight a strong champion in a match where both men are wrestling for themselves, not their companies. Takanashi will be on his own and Sekine won’t have the other members of Sento Minzoku getting involved. Only the strongest will leave Sumo Hall with the MAX Title.

9. Princess Of Princess Title: Shoko Nakajima (c) Vs Yuka Sakazaki

Two of the most important figures in Tokyo Joshi’s existence face off for the big prize. The third one is a bit busy but we’ll get to her later. When Shoko Nakajima won the (TOKYO) Princess Of Princess Title in May, it begun the reign of the BIG KAIJU! With the belt getting redesigned, every defence has felt to her like she won the title again for the first time. Thunder Rosa compacting her spine on the ring apron couldn’t stop her, Mizuki’s Double Stomps coulddn’t stop her and Misao’s newfound strength couldn’t stop her. It might take a miracle to beat her. Or a comedian. How about a Miraclian? Well we’ll find out because Nakajima chose Yuka Sakazaki to be her opponent at Sumo Hall!

Sakazaki has gone through some highs and lows during the summer. She lost the Princess Tag Titles but charmed a brand new audience overseas with her appearances in All Elite Wrestling. Her and Nakajima have been testing just how much they have both leveled up in tag matches over the last month. Evenly matched, the champion and the challenger are ready to show everybody the best of Tokyo Joshi!

10. Souken Holdings Presents Dramatic Dream Match: Kenny Omega & Riho Vs Antonio Honda & Miyu Yamashita

And now we get to the big draw of the show. It’s the DDT return of Riho!

(featuring Kenny Omega)

It’s been five years since Omega said his goodbyes and left DDT for greener pastures. A new generation grew up in DDT while he worked his magic in New Japan and turned the wrestling world upside down. Now representing AEW, the doors opened for a return to his original Japanese home. A match at Sumo Hall was certain but Omega had requests for the other participants. He wanted Riho to be his tag team partner. Riho was the first person Omega ever established a tag team with in Japan (before “Him”). The opposition picked were Antonio Honda because Omega thinks of him as one of his biggest rivals and Miyu Yamashita because he wants to see for himself how talented she is. I’m not saying AEW is in her future but I find it hard to believe she will be left out after Nakajima and Sakazaki wrestled there. Both teams have had practice matches away from each other. Omega & Riho reconnected fine but Honda & Yamashita took a few tries. Yamashita couldn’t understand Honda’s Gongitsune trick and kept believing his fake injuries. Eventually they found their groove but will it be enough to beat the AEW side?

11. BLACK OUT Presents KO-D Openweight Title & DDT Extreme Title: Konosuke Takeshita (K/c) Vs HARASHIMA (E/c)

And after all of that we reach the main event. The current ace of DDT against the previous ace with two championships on the line. Konosuke Takeshita had a rollercoaster run with the KO-D Openweight Title this year. He won it at Sumo Hall in February, lost it in New York two months later then regained it at Ota Ward Gymnasium in July. Since then he has had successful defences against Chris Brookes and Shinya Aoki to show that his style is the one that best represents DDT. The only way he can prove this further is to win the DDT Extreme Title.

HARASHIMA came into play when he, Tetsuya Endo and Jiro Kuroshio got into a 3 Way feud over that championship in the autumn. HARASHIMA pinned both of his opponents in a Survival 3 Way Match to win the title and cement his spot in the Sumo Hall main event. He still feels the sting of Takeshita beating him for the KO-D Title in Saitama Super Arena two years ago. Even worse is he still feels the sting in his back that Takeshita’s been giving him all month long. The Walls Of Takeshita has been used plenty of times to weaken and defeat HARASHIMA. He has lost matches both by having DISASTER BOX throw in the towel as well as outright tapping out to the hold. Takeshita meanwhile feels like he is in perfect condition going into the match. But despite his opponent being hurt, Takeshita knows that HARASHIMA is at his best after he has been defeated. Training doesn’t make him stronger, in fact it is losing. Whoever the strongest really is they will be leaving Sumo Hall a double champion!

Comments Off on DDT “ULTIMATE PARTY 2019!” Preview | Previews | Tagged: AEW, Akito, All Elite Wrestling, ALL OUT, Antonio Honda, Asuka (VENY), Bakuretsu Sisters, Chris Brookes, Cody Hall, Daichi Kazato, Daiki Shimomura, Daisuke Sasaki, DAMNATION, Danshoku Dieno, DDT Extreme Championship, DDT Pro Wrestling, Dramatic Dream Team, FUMA, Fuminori Abe, Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling, GanPro, Gorgeous Matsuno, GPW, HARASHIMA, HARUKAZE, Haruna Neko, Hikari Noa, Hiroshi Yamato, Independent World Jr. Heavyweight Championship, Iron Man Heavymetalweight Championship, IRON PRIEST, Isami Kodaka, Jiro Ikemen Kuroshio, Kazuki Hirata, Keigo Nakamura, Keisuke Ishii, Ken Ohka, Kenny Omega, KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Championship, KO-D Openweight Championship, KO-D Tag Team Championship, Konosuke Takeshita, Kouki Iwasaki, Mad Paulie, Mahiro Kiryu, Maki Itoh, Makoto Oishi, Masahiro Takanashi, Masato Kamino, Mina Shirakawa, Minoru Fujita, Mirai Maiumi, Misao, Miss Mongol, Miu Watanabe, Miyu Yamashita, Mizuki, Mizuki Watase, Naomi Yoshimura, Nautilus, NEO Biishiki-gun, NEO Itoh Respect Army, Nobuhiro Shimatani, Nodoka Tenma, Pokotan, Pom Harajuku, Princess Of Princess Championship, Princess Tag Team Championship, Pro Wrestling BASARA, Raku, Riho, Rika Tatsumi, Ryogoku Kokugikan, Ryota Nakatsu, Ryuichi Sekine, SAGAT, Sakisama, Sanshiro Takagi, Sento Minzoku, Shoko Nakajima, Shota, Shuhei Washida, Shuichiro Katsumura, Shunma Katsumata, Soma Takao, Sumo Hall, Super Sasadango Machine, Suzume, Takato Nakano, Takumi Tsukamoto, Tetsuya Endo, TJPW, Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling, Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Toru Owashi, Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi, Union MAX Championship, UWA World 6-Man Tag Team Championship, Yasu Urano, Yoshihiko, Yuka Sakazaki, Yuki Aino, Yuki Iino, Yuki Kamifuku, Yuki Ueno, Yukio Naya, Yukio Sakaguchi, Yumehito Imanari, YUMI, Yuna Manase, Yusuke Kubo | Permalink
Posted by JamieOD

DDT “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2019” Preview

July 13, 2019

DDT “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2019”, 15/07/2019
Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium

0. Hotel Saint Inn Kurashiki Presents Exhibition Match: Kota Umeda Vs Keigo Nakamura
0. Nihon Partner Kaikei Services Presents Tokyo Joshi Pro Under Match: Rika Tatsumi, Nodoka Tenma & Yuki Aino Vs Natsumi Maki, Yuna Manase & Himawari Unagi
1. Shunma Katsumata, Yuki Iino & Mizuki Watase Vs Yuki Ueno, Naomi Yoshimura & Nobuhiro Shimatani
2. DNA First Life Alumni Match: Kazusada Higuchi & Ryota Nakatsu Vs Kota Umeda & Kouki Iwasaki
3. Super Joshi Pro Wars 2019: Saki Akai Vs Yoshiko
4. DDT Extreme Title – IPPON Fluorescent Lighttube Death Match: Akito (c) Vs Asuka
5. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Time Difference Battle Royal: Toru Owashi (c) Vs Kurochan Vs Shiro Koshinaka Vs Furitsuke Kamen Vs Joey Ryan Vs Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Makoto Oishi Vs Antonio Honda Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Mad Paulie Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga Vs Gorgeous Matsuno Vs Hiroshi Yamato Vs Pokotan Vs Yuki Kamifuku
6. Human Windmill 2nd Generation Vs Taiho 3rd Generation: Hideki Suzuki Vs Yukio Naya
7. Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi Vs MAO & Mike Bailey
8. O-40 Title – Weapon Rumble: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Super Sasadango Machine
9. Dramatic Dream Match: Shinya Aoki Vs Danshoku Dieno
10. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Souken Holdings Presents: Daisuke Sasaki & Soma Takao (c) Vs HARASHIMA & Yasu Urano
11. KO-D Openweight Title – BLACK OUT Presents: Tetsuya Endo (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita

For the first time DDT’s annual supershow is being held inside Ota Ward Gymnasium for an ambitious experiment. This year’s “WRESTLE PETER PAN” will be a free show with tickets being given out through DDT’s website. At the time of writing two of the three sections advertised are sold out, the Arena seats and the A Stand seats. The B Stand seats are still available and whatever is left on the day of the show will be given out one way or another so expect a packed venue. Just ignore that there is a 350 yen processing fee, because of course there’s a processing fee. The goal of this event is to spread the name of DDT and the best way to do that is hold a free show inside a big building to attract fans new and old. DDT’s connections with CyberAgent and AbemaTV helped make this happen.

This show also kickstarts DDT’s goal for 2020, to approach the level of New Japan without sacrificing what makes DDT, well, DDT. During an interview with Yahoo Japan/Weekly Playboy, it was mentioned that DDT’s last peak happened five years ago. Seeds have been planted since then with the new generation of DDT wrestlers. If it takes five years for a new boom period to begin then DDT believes now is the time to strike! If it doesn’t work, then no matter. The show must go on and DDT will do what they can to avoid being repetitive.

So what is happening on the card? There is the return of this generation’s biggest feud over the top championship, a heel aims to destroy his babyface past, an MMA superstar faces the heart of DDT, a new championship for senior wrestlers is created, the next No. 1 Contender is being kept busy, the grandson of a famous sumo wrestler takes on one of the most skillful wrestlers around, a wacky Battle Royal will happen, only one lighttube will get smashed, a joshi rivalry is reignited and a class reunion leads to a farewell.

0. Hotel Saint Inn Kurashiki Presents Exhibition Match: Kota Umeda Vs Keigo Nakamura

Kota Umeda is pulling double duty. His match on the main card is more important but DDT wants to give their newest trainee Keigo Nakamura some ring time so Umeda gets to wrestle twice. Also DDT has sponsored pre-show matches that need to be filled. Nakamura has had two previous exhibition matches and played minor roles in a few street wrestling matches this year so he is quickly getting the DDT experience.

0. Nihon Partner Kaikei Services Presents Tokyo Joshi Pro Under Match: Rika Tatsumi, Nodoka Tenma & Yuki Aino Vs Natsumi Maki, Yuna Manase & Himawari Unagi

The Tokyo Joshi Pro midcard get the Ota Ward spotlight this time around. Seems fair since the main eventers have now reached the level where they are getting bookings in America and Europe. While they are out flying the flag abroad, they are plenty of others around to represent TJPW at DDT’s biggest show. Rika Tatsumi is still finding her footing since coming back from an arm injury back in February. Her efforts to get into the title scene had been disrupted by drama over her former friend Hyper Misao joining the dark side. She also has her hands full wrestling the HiSPC class girls that came after her. The Bakuretsu Sisters may be going into Ota Ward as the new Tokyo Princess Tag Team Champions if things work out for them. Nodoka Tenma & Yuki Aino have a title shot two days before “WRESTLE PETER PAN”. Natsumi Maki’s time in Tokyo Joshi has been free of the controversy that followed her when she debuted for the company in January. She formed the Pandemic Boo-Boo tag team with Hikari Noa and rarely takes the fall in losses. Yuna Manase is fresh out of reaching the Tokyo Princess Cup final. Her performance in that tournament seems to have breathed new life into her career so now the world is her oyster. Himawari Unagi won a fan vote to get into the Princess Cup and has gathered a following online over her love of bubble tea. She also teams with Manase a fair bit whenever she isn’t put with the rest of her classmates.

1. Shunma Katsumata, Yuki Iino & Mizuki Watase Vs Yuki Ueno, Naomi Yoshimura & Nobuhiro Shimatani

The redundant DNA brand has its fingerprints all over the first two matches on the main card. Shunma Katsumata returned from his cheek bone fracture and with Yuki Iino got deep into the feud between ALL OUT and the Sendai Girls. Both of them are heading into this match as two thirds of the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions. Joining them is Mizuki Watase who is still struggling to find a higher place on cards without Shigehiro Irie being there to prop him up. There is talent in Watase but a lot is still missing for him to step up. I don’t know if a move to BASARA or Ganbare☆Wrestling is needed to solve this problem but he looks like a man without a country right now. The other team is an unholy mix of DISASTER BOX and DAMNATION. The pair of Yuki Ueno & Naomi Yoshimura have to team with Nobuhiro Shimatani after they failed to become tag champions. Other than that things have been working out swimmingly for the two ever since Yoshimura joined DISASTER BOX. Shimatani has the most important job out of all the DAMNATION wrestlers on this show and that is to carry around the DAMNATION signboard.

2. DNA First Life Alumni Match: Kazusada Higuchi & Ryota Nakatsu Vs Kota Umeda & Kouki Iwasaki

The other DNA match involves multiple brands and is the last time Kota Umeda will wrestle in a big venue before he leaves the profession. Umeda is quitting DDT on 21st July to work for his family’s business in Kumamoto. Family has always been important to Umeda and he was going to go as far as retire from pro wrestling for them despite only being 24 years old. However DDT convinced him just to quit the company so if he ever wants to come back, he won’t be breaking any retirement vows. Umeda’s partner for his second last match is Kouki Iwasaki. He hasn’t looked back since joining Ganpro and spreading out to other promotions. Their opponents are probably the two top graduates from DNA. Kazusada Higuchi has now firmly found his balance between heavyweight wrestling and wacky comedy behavior. Ryota Nakatsu is coming off of a strong Union MAX Title run in BASARA. He won’t have his Sparky stablemates with him but he never really needed to rely on them either.

3. Super Joshi Pro Wars 2019: Saki Akai Vs Yoshiko

Throughout Saki Akai’s wrestling career there has been one figure who she thinks has played an important role as a rival. That’s Yoshiko. She was one of Akai’s debut opponents and Akai was her first challenger when she was the World Of Stardom Champion. In another world the two could have been childhood friends like Sakisama and Yoshiko-sama are. But whenever Akai gets the opportunity to make her own match, Yoshiko’s name usually pops up as an opponent. This is what’s happening here. Akai wanted a singles joshi match on DDT’s biggest show of the year and decided now is the chance for her to surpass Yoshiko. Maybe it’s possible because the match is happening a few days after Yoshiko was in a big Beyond The Sea Tag Team Titles defence in SEAdLINNNG. Her entire focus was on that match and she admits she didn’t have much time to think about Akai. But what she can promise is she will show everyone in Ota Ward how harsh and pitiful Akai really is. Akai on the other hand has had time to plan and think about this match. She will use her feelings as a pro wrestler to power her way to victory!

4. DDT Extreme Title – IPPON Fluorescent Lighttube Death Match: Akito (c) Vs Asuka

Akito is the DDT Extreme Champion but he is also fighting to answer a simple question that’s been bothering him lately. Is he boring? He has the skills for sure but his challenger Asuka thinks he is dull as dirt (it could be worse, he could be as boring as the current WWE or ROH main event scenes). Asuka thinks the Extreme Title would be a much better fit for her than Akito. She wanted a death match with hundreds of lighttubes involved to prove it but Akito turned it around by making her fight in an IPPON Fluorescent Lighttube Death Match instead. There is only one lighttube and whoever breaks it is the loser. Akito explains that the fear of only breaking one lighttube rather than smashing through hundreds of them is what makes this match type more thrilling. Plus with no pinfalls needed to win, Akito can feel more relaxed in the ring and not worry about getting rolled up. See, he put a lot of thought into this. Would a boring man act that way? Asuka is at a disadvantage because she is struggling to understand the point of the match even after watching videos of the previous times the rule was used.

5. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Time Difference Battle Royal: Toru Owashi (c) Vs Kurochan Vs Shiro Koshinaka Vs Furitsuke Kamen Vs Joey Ryan Vs Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Makoto Oishi Vs Antonio Honda Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Mad Paulie Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga Vs Gorgeous Matsuno Vs Hiroshi Yamato Vs Pokotan Vs Yuki Kamifuku

The Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title has had a little bit of a quiet 2019 so far. Don’t get me wrong there was some eventful title changes that happened. The belt swapped hands a bunch of times in New York, the Governor Of Ehime became champion and a chair held the title. But other than that it’s been the usual stories about the championship. Maybe there’s not much to do because it’s been overshadowed by the new WWE 24/7 Title. But like I said at the start, the show must go on. Toru Owashi is the champion as this is being written and DDT is selling a rubber mask of his face at the show. Kurochan is the comedian from the Muscle show at Sumo Hall back in February. Shiro Koshinaka celebrated his 40th anniversary in wrestling at the start of the year. Other than an office pro wrestling cameo this is his first proper match in DDT since November 2017. Furitsuke Kamen is the pro wrestling alter ego of celebrity choreographer Lucky Ikeda. He showed up in DDT for a dance match back in March. Joey Ryan is back in DDT and is in a new stage of his career where he has no contracts to worry about. His matches still gives Jim Cornette material for his podcast. Yukio Sakaguchi went through a roaring rampage of revenge against DAMNATION in the early summer but wound up empty handed. Makoto Oishi had a little time in the spotlight in April when he was chosen for a title match. He was supposed to be an easy defence but proved to be anything but. Antonio Honda won the Extreme Title in a Panty☆Hunt Tiger Cub Rope Death Match but lost the belt to Akito in his first defence. Kazuki Hirata continues to dance and feud with an 11 year old. Mad Paulie has been trusted by the rest of DAMNATION to win the Iron Man Title so the unit will sweep all of their title matches on the show. Tomomitsu Matsunaga’s highlight of the year has been… I don’t know, losing to Bull James or something? Gorgeous Matsuno has taken a step back from his gatekeeping duties and only appeared in DDT for special occasions. Hiroshi Yamato has begun to proudly talk about the amount of different promotions he wrestles in. If you don’t see him wrestling, you’ll see him singing or shilling his erotic fiction instead. The DDT mascot Pokotan hasn’t been perfect since its debut. It often loses its head during matches which makes it violently malfunction. Last but not least there is Yuki Kamifuku. She was added to the match when Kurochan asked for a woman to be included. Kamifuku agreed to take part but got cold feet when she figured out Kurochan only wanted a woman included so he could act the pervert. He wants to hit three birds with one stone: win the Iron Man Title, kiss Kamifuku and then go get married together.

6. Human Windmill 2nd Generation Vs Taiho 3rd Generation: Hideki Suzuki Vs Yukio Naya

Yukio Naya made his DDT debut at “JUDGEMENT 2019” in Sumo Hall. He liked the experience so much that he signed with the company three months later! The grandson of sumo yokozuna Taiho Koki didn’t waste any time picking his targets. He wants to be the best heavyweight in DDT so he immediately set his sights on the big boys like Higuchi and Mad Paulie. A lack of experience lets him down but Naya has been picking up wins against smaller competition. His next big match is against Hideki Suzuki, a frustratingly talented veteran. He hasn’t watched any of Naya’s matches, only saw pictures of his bout with Higuchi and has no special thoughts about his opponent. He does have some criticism though. Naya has said in interviews that he does not expect to beat Suzuki but wants to do his best to at least make the match enjoyable. Suzuki thinks if Naya is not wrestling to win then he shouldn’t be wrestling at all. Otherwise this match is just a waste of time. If Suzuki has to teach him that lesson in the ring then so be it.

7. Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi Vs MAO & Mike Bailey

At first this match seemed a little throwaway and was positioned further down the card. But when Chris Brookes instantly became DDT’s new favourite adopted son things changed. The English wrestler has only been in DDT for a month but he has taken the company by storm in ways I have not seen since El Generico’s run in the company seven years ago. He took to the street wrestling matches like a duck to water (partly because one of those matches was in a pool )and in his spare time lived a dream puroresu holiday that would leave even the most hardcore wrestling fan green with envy (shhh, don’t tell Will Ospreay that). The crowning achievement of this tour may not have happened yet. On 21st July Brookes will be challenging for the company’s main championship so he will definitely keep a close eye on the main event. Masahiro Takanashi’s profile has dropped a little bit ever since Shuten-dōji split up in April but he hasn’t been keeping quiet. There’s been times this year when Takanashi brought in his friends Shota, Yumehito Imanari and Baliyan Akki to disguise themselves as him and distract opponents. It’s been a winning tactic for the most part but not used as often as its success rate would suggest. Brookes & Takanashi have tagged together only once so far but they already have a team name: Calamari Drunken Kings! Facing them is The Moonlight Express, one of DDT’s top tag teams in recent years. MAO & Mike Bailey were at their strongest in the springtime when they held the KO-D Tag Team Titles and STRONGEST-K TAG Titles at the same time. MAO continues to do fucked up wrestling for a fucked up world, which crosses the big boss sometimes. Speedball has been the nice boy he always is but he’s starting to get lost in the crowd with no clear direction for now. Maybe his shot at putting together a Beer Garden show with MAO next month can spark some inspiration.

8. O-40 Title – Weapon Rumble: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Super Sasadango Machine

Things were looking rough for Sanshiro Takagi on the road to “WRESTLE PETER PAN”. His failure to convert a Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Gauntlet into a championship victory left him absent from the card and frozen out of the show. So imagine how random his luck is when of all things a tweet from TAJIRI not only leads to Takagi getting a match but a rather significant one too. When TAJIRI tweeted about how pro wrestling as an art is split into different tiers with comedy wrestling being in Tier 3, Super Sasadango Machine took offence to that opinion. Particularly, he took offence on behalf of Takagi thinking the tweet was directly aimed at the Big Boss. Takagi doesn’t believe for a second that TAJIRI was talking about him but if Sasadango is demanding to wrestle Takagi in a Weapon Rumble to prove TAJIRI wrong then he may as well go along with it.

It doesn’t end there. Sasadango also asked for a new championship to be on the line for the match. He noticed that there are now many pro wrestlers competing into their forties and that can be inspiring for the DDT fanbase in the same age group. So he has created the O-40 Title (O-40 meaning “Over Forty” of course) with the hopes it will be defended across the wrestling industry. Takagi accepted the proposal and thinks it is a nice parallel to the main event being between two wrestlers in their twenties. Both men have their weapons prepared to be at their most devastating, both physically and mentally. But what of TAJIRI? Will he be there? Sasadango had been expecting to get an apology from him but has heard nothing since the match was announced. He knows TAJIRI is touring Europe at the moment so maybe he got lost somewhere in Malta.

9. Dramatic Dream Match: Shinya Aoki Vs Danshoku Dieno

What can Danshoku Dieno do to prepare for Shinya Aoki? Putting himself through a gauntlet of different martial arts gave him some experience of what to expect. Although when some of the representation included swimming and kabbadi then maybe the results are a little suspect. It doesn’t help that Dieno isn’t entirely sure what kind of match he is having with Aoki. It can’t be MMA because everyone knows he’ll get slaughtered. Maybe there’s a chance if it is just a regular pro wrestling match but who the hell would expect DDT to go that direction? Dieno’s tactic should be to bring out the most ridiculous shenanigans he can think of. Aoki can only go along so much with it before he starts losing his mind. But it would be unfair to assume Aoki’s tolerance for wackiness is limited. He had no problem disguising himself as Pokotan to sneak attack Dieno a few weeks ago. Who knows what silly ideas of his own will be brought to life here.

10. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Souken Holdings Presents: Daisuke Sasaki & Soma Takao (c) Vs HARASHIMA & Yasu Urano

What was once happy memories for Soma Takao are now nothing more than horrible nightmares. There was a time when he was in a unit called Smile Squash with HARASHIMA & Yasu Urano. The group fell apart when Urano left DDT to go freelance and Takao stabbed HARASHIMA in the back to join DAMNATION. But if you take Takao’s word for it, his time in Smile Squash was terrible to the point where even saying the unit name out loud makes him cry. It was Takao’s dream to have a championship match in his hometown but Smile Squash just had to come back and ruin the moment for him. But luckily for Takao he has Daisuke Sasaki looking out for him with a solution. When they successfully defend the KO-D Tag Team Champions, Sasaki & Takao will become the newborn Smile Squash! Of course, DAMNATION’s comments should be taken with a lot of salt. HARASHIMA & Urano are the same good nurtured wrestlers they always are. Urano is extremely happy to compete for a DDT championship again which is something he did not expect when he left the company two years ago. Sasaki made fun of Urano at the contract signing for looking like he hadn’t changed a bit since he left. Urano thinks he doesn’t need to change because he’s always been himself. If he does change anything, it will be him winning the tag titles with HARASHIMA!

11. KO-D Openweight Title – BLACK OUT Presents: Tetsuya Endo (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita

Two years ago this match main evented Sumo Hall with Konosuke Takeshita defending the KO-D Openweight Title against Tetsuya Endo. This time around the positions are reversed and what a road it took to get here. When DDT went to New York in April, Takeshita lost the KO-D Title to Daisuke Sasaki. That by itself would be one of the biggest DDT stories of the year but another title change happened minutes later when Endo fell to temptation and cashed in his Right To Challenge Gauntlet to become the champion at his leader’s expense. Endo came back to Japan as a newly reborn New Yorker and has defended the title four times. His reign has brought stability to the championship after a crazy eight months of title changes. Meanwhile Takeshita earned his spot by winning the King Of DDT tournament and closing out an inter-promotional feud with the Sendai Girls.

This isn’t a rivalry because according to Takeshita rivals are meant to motivate each other to do their best against each other. What he has with Endo is more of a grudge or in Endo’s case outright hatred. The two have not been in each other’s good books ever since Endo joined DAMNATION back in the summer of 2016. In their singles matches Takeshita has usually gotten the better of Endo but they have only had two singles bouts since “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2017” and Takeshita won neither of them. Endo has also gotten over on Takeshita with some mind games during the build up. An ankle injury prevented Endo from competing in a 3 Way with Takeshita and Endo at the last Korakuen Hall show. But when the match was over Endo attacked Takeshita and showed his injury wasn’t as bad as it seemed. He’s also gotten into the habit of throwing Takeshita out of the ring from a Torture Rack to the floor. Whoever wins they won’t have much time to recover. In a week’s time the KO-D Champion will be defending against Chris Brookes and he doesn’t care who he faces. Whatever happens after that is anyone’s guess!

Comments Off on DDT “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2019” Preview | Previews | Tagged: Akito, Antonio Honda, Asuka (VENY), Bakuretsu Sisters, Chris Brookes, Daisuke Sasaki, DAMNATION, Danshoku Dieno, DDT Extreme Championship, DDT Pro Wrestling, DISASTER BOX, Dramatic Dream Team, Furitsuke Kamen, Gorgeous Matsuno, HARASHIMA, Hideki Suzuki, Himawari Unagi, Hiroshi Yamato, Iron Man Heavymetalweight Championship, Joey Ryan, Kazuki Hirata, Kazusada Higuchi, Keigo Nakamura, KO-D Openweight Championship, KO-D Tag Team Championship, Konosuke Takeshita, Kota Umeda, Kouki Iwasaki, Kuro-chan, Lucky Ikeda, Mad Paulie, Makoto Oishi, MAO, Masahiro Takanashi, Mizuki Watase, Moonlight Express, Naomi Yoshimura, Natsumi Maki, Nobuhiro Shimatani, Nodoka Tenma, O-40 Championship, Ota Ward Gymnasium, Pokotan, Rika Tatsumi, Ryota Nakatsu, Saki Akai, Sanshiro Takagi, Shinya Aoki, Shiro Koshinaka, Shunma Katsumata, Smile Squash, Soma Takao, Speedball Mike Bailey, Super Sasadango Machine, Tetsuya Endo, TJPW, Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling, Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Toru Owashi, Wrestle Peter Pan, Yasu Urano, Yoshiko, Yuki Aino, Yuki Iino, Yuki Kamifuku, Yuki Ueno, Yukio Naya, Yukio Sakaguchi, Yuna Manase | Permalink
Posted by JamieOD

Guide To DDT In New York

April 1, 2019

DDT “DDT IS COMING TO AMERICA”, 04/04/2019
La Boom, Queens, New York

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Maki Itoh
2. Danshoku Dieno & Antonio Honda Vs Joey Ryan & Royce Isaacs
3. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Battle Royal: Saki Akai (c) Vs Makoto Oishi Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Yoshihiko Vs Kikutaro Vs Colt Cabana Vs Mizuki Watase Vs X
4. Soma Takao & Tetsuya Endo Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi
5. 3 Way Tag Match: HARASHIMA & Kazusada Higuchi Vs Akito & Ethan Page Vs Shigehiro Irie & Jason Kincaid
6. Weapon Rumble In U.S.A.: MAO Vs Sanshiro Takagi
7. KO-D Openweight Title: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Daisuke Sasaki

So you got a ticket for DDT’s first show in America but you’d like some guidance over what to expect. Maybe you’ve only seen the gifs or read about the crazy angles online or by some chance this just happens to be the wrestling show you get to see while in New York and you’re going in blind. Well step on board and welcome to the Dramatic Dream Team! There are many shows at Wrestlemania week this year that is following the trend of wacky, over the top action (thanks Spring Break) but even so, what DDT is offering to everyone at La Boom in Brooklyn will be unlike anything else going on.

When the New York show was announced DDT promised they will be doing an authentic show just like the ones they do in Japan. I can confidently say they are staying true to their word. Even the non-Japanese wrestlers they are using have regularly toured with DDT in Japan in recent years. This is the type of line-up they would put together for their regular monthly shows in Korakuen Hall which is their regular spot for advancing stories, putting together angles and announcing their important events. The card also resembles a “Best Of” theme for the past year of DDT. So for newcomers and fairweather fans you get to see DDT at its most, well, DDT while the hardcore fans will get some rather big rematches to look forward to.

Where Can I Watch It Online?

There are two streaming sites offering the show on iPPV. Both are airing it live and will add it to their Video On Demand services within 24 hours after the show is over. The show will not air live on DDT Universe. The plan is to add the show to the archives later in April but nothing has been confirmed yet.

It is available on FITE for $14.99. FITE is also offering a More Than Mania event bundle with this show included for $69.99.

It is also available on WWN Live for $19.99.

The matches are listed in order as found on DDT’s official website. However that is not a guarantee it will be the official match order on the night.

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Maki Itoh

This is a rematch of Tokyo Joshi Pro’s Korakuen main event from 4th January. Miyu Yamashita and Maki Itoh are usually friendly to each other but that goes out the window when they face each other in the ring. This is being advertised as a non-title match.

Miyu Yamashita: The ace of Tokyo Joshi since Day 1. The “Pink Striker” has a karate background and is the girl most associated with the TOKYO Princess Of Princess Title. She is the current champion with the most defences under her belt. At one point she was notoriously bad at speaking English but she’s been studying and has apparently improved. Yamashita previously wrestled in America at the 2018 Chikara King Of Trios tournament where she made it to the final as part of the Tokyo Joshi Freedom Fighters.
Moves To Watch Out For: Crash Rabbit Heat (Penalty Kick style Knee Strike), Attitude Adjustment, Modified Cobra Clutch, Brazilian Kick

Maki Itoh: A former singer from the pop group LinQ who turned to pro wrestling when her idol career fell apart. Has a big ego over her cute appearance yet isn’t shy with her opinions of others. When she’s about to punch her opponent in the corner she yells out “Who is the cutest in the world?” and the audience respond with “Ito-chan!” Loves to give the middle fingers to her opponents. Despite her bad attitude during matches, Itoh garnered a big fanbase for her un-idol like behaviour which includes being open about her mental health on social media.
Moves To Watch Out For: Itoh Special (Texas Cloverleaf that was NOT stolen from Hiroshi Tanahashi), Jumping DDT, Flying Big Head (Diving Headbutt), The World’s Most Cutest Knuckle Punch

2. Danshoku Dieno & Antonio Honda Vs Joey Ryan & Royce Isaacs

Here is the match that can cause the most controversy since it is guaranteed to be filled with very lewd comedy. Joey Ryan is the famous dick wrestler, Danshoku Dieno is the gay wrestling gimmick who was the other half of the viral video that shot Ryan into fame, Royce Isaacs has an ass that can break bones yet create miracles and Antonio Honda has a filthy sense of humour whenever he gets to speak English.

Danshoku Dieno: Dieno is DDT’s most infamous gimmick, starting out as a hyper aggressive gay wrestler who wanted to grope his opponents while fighting them. Maybe it’s refuge in audacity or maybe it’s the grandfather clause from lasting this long but over the years Dieno developed his character and turned it into one of DDT’s most beloved creations. The big question is will Dieno be able to act like himself in New York? He has wrestled in America before and was able to hold himself back a bit when he was in family friendly promotions like Chikara. I reckon at this point the people in the crowd know what they’re getting into and Dieno will be Dieno.
Moves To Watch Out For: Danshoku Driver (Piledriver with the victim’s head stuffed into Dieno’s tights), Lip Lock (a paralysing kiss) Danshoku Nightmare (Dieno pulls down his tights and teabags his opponent)

Antonio Honda: The man of many international backgrounds. He’s been Cuban, he’s been Hawaiian, he’s been Italian, at times he probably wouldn’t feel out of place inside Memphis. But nowadays Honda is the man who loves go talk about a children’s story called Gon, The Little Fox (or Gongitsune depending on the translation). Sometimes accident prone, Honda tells himself the story of Gon to cheer himself up when he gets hurt. This is all so his opponent drops their guard and Honda can poke them in the eyes with “Gon” (imagine the Too Sweet handsign).
Moves To Watch Out For: Diving Fist Drop, Octopus Hold, Bionic Elbow, Gongitsune Eye Pokes

Joey Ryan: Famous dick wrestler Joey Ryan has a busy week ahead of him. He has his own Penis Party happening the day after DDT but he shouldn’t look past this match. If it was up to him he would be called the craziest gaijin in DDT but that is a contested claim. Maybe he can earn that accomplishment and prove all his doubters wrong.
Moves To Watch Out For: YouPorn Plex (Ryan’s penis flips the opponent onto their back), Lollipop Assisted Super Kick

Royce Isaacs: Behold the man with the Miracle Ass! When Isaacs toured with DDT he discovered with Dieno’s help that the strength of his backside was powerful enough to break limbs and pop open even the most jammed of jars. It’s been two years since Isaacs wrestled in a DDT show but he still represented the promotion when he guided Naomi Yoshimura and Rekka around the US indies during their overseas excursions.
Moves To Watch Out For: The Zenith (German Suplex lift into a Uranage), Hush Money (Dragon Suplex lift into a German Suplex)

3. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Battle Royal: Saki Akai (c) Vs Makoto Oishi Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Yoshihiko Vs Kikutaro Vs Colt Cabana Vs Mizuki Watase Vs X

The WWF Hardcore Championship taken to it’s most logical extreme. The Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title is always being defended 24/7. If there is a referee or anything resembling a referee nearby then they must officiate what is happening to the champion. Due to the ref’s discretion, pretty much everything is eligible to win the belt. Every wrestler, every person, every living creature, every inanimate object, every concept of existence the human mind can think of, you get the drill.

The current champion going into the show is Saki Akai, a supermodel who became a wrestler thanks to DDT. The physical belt has seen better days so Akai has been fixing it by filling the empty studs with pretty stars and bonbons. Makoto Oishi is a 17 year veteran and usually the butt of the joke during comedy spots. Kazuki Hirata loves to imitate an old gimmick from Dragon Gate called Magnum TOKYO. He wears a special pair of Hirata Go! glasses that forces the room to play the “TOKYO GO!” song for him to dance to. Yoshihiko is the wrestling sex doll. Kikutaro and Colt Cabana are both masters of comedy wrestling. Mizuki Watase wasn’t originally meant to be on this show but he spent his own money to fly over so he could meet up with his buddy Shigehiro Irie.

And then there is the mysterious X. DDT often adds the X label for an unadvertised wrestler to appear in these kinds of Battle Royals. It doesn’t always mean just one extra wrestler, there might be more. I think a few of the wrestlers around for the other shows in La Boom this week could make their appearance in this match even if they have no prior history with DDT. But there are some guesses going around online and it’s fun to talk about them so let’s mention it. Kenny Omega is the popular wish of course. Nobody would be happier to see him show up than me but I doubt it’s happening. Jiro “Ikemen” Kuroshio would be a welcome appearance especially since his entrance is perfect comedy for a Rumble match. My prediction however is someone I haven’t seen mentioned elsewhere. I think X will be Chunsuke Nakamura, the Shinsuke Nakamura impersonator! He usually travels to America to see his muse at Wrestlemania and he often works with DDT whenever they want to cash in on Shinsuke’s popularity.

You can never predict what the Iron Man Title can get up to. If it gets unleashed on New York during a wrestling week as busy as this then there will be untold mayhem all over the place!

4. Soma Takao & Tetsuya Endo Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi

A tag team match between members of DAMNATION against Shuten-dōji. The DAMNATION side features the No. 2 & No. 3 regular members of the unit Soma Takao & Tetsuya Endo. Shuten-dōji will be splitting up later in April so this will be one of Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi’s last matches together as a team.

Soma Takao: A homegrown wrestler who DDT had big hopes for but never reached that potential. Instead he fell in with the rough crowd in DAMNATION. Prefers not to speak much. Usually low blows his opponents en route to victory. He is currently one half of the KO-D Tag Team Champions with Daisuke Sasaki.
Moves To Watch Out For: Gin And Tonic (Axe Guillotine Driver), Official Endless Waltz (countless number of cradled and crucifix pins), Sorarina (Wrist Clutch Inside Cradle), Diving Foot Stomp

Tetsuya Endo: A high flying prodigy and generational rival to Konosuke Takeshita. Endo is in a similar boat to Takao in that he hasn’t quite reached the level of success to match his abilities. Tries to tell everyone he is a rotten person but deep down he is very tidy and carefully follows a diet that gives him one of the best physiques in the company.
Moves To Watch Out For: Shooting Star Press, Spinning Torture Rack Bomb, Tetsuya In The Sky (Spanish Fly), Tetsuya In The Sky With Diamonds (Top Rope Spanish Fly)

Yukio Sakaguchi: A former MMA fighter and son of retired wrestler Seiji Sakaguchi. He switched to pro wrestling in 2012 and has been with DDT for seven years now. Usually a serious figure, he would fight to the death if the situation ever calls for it!
Moves To Watch Out For: God’s Right Knee (Charging right knee strike into the turnbuckle), Purgatory (Double High Kick) Penalty Kick, Cobra Clutch

Masahiro Takanashi: If Shuten-dōji is a family then Takanashi is the little brother who knows the best ways to sneak cans of beer into the home without anyone noticing. Due to his small size, Takanashi has to rely on his smarts and ring presence which can make him a crafty wrestler when he wants to be. Underestimate him at your peril.
Moves To Watch Out For: Takatonic (Yoshitonic), Bacchus (Modified Gannosuke Clutch), Lightning Leg Lariat, Laphroaig (Modified Leg Roll Clutch)

5. 3 Way Tag Match: HARASHIMA & Kazusada Higuchi Vs Akito & Ethan Page Vs Shigehiro Irie & Jason Kincaid

A 3 Way tag sprint mixing together a bunch of wrestlers. HARASHIMA & Kazusada Higuchi have been rivals over the KO-D Openweight Title in the past but team together here. Ethan Page had no strong alliance with any unit during his tours in Japan last year but he is being put with Akito from ALL OUT. The only unit being properly represented here is RENEGADES and they don’t really exist in DDT anymore!

HARASHIMA: The backbone of DDT for the last 13 years if not longer. There are others to come from the company who have reach bigger heights in bigger places but HARASHIMA will always be there for DDT. Usually a straightforward wrestler but always up to get involved in the wackier stuff if he has to, HARASHIMA is a jack of all trades. Being the current DDT Extreme Champion should tell you that. If he wins a match, 999 times out of 1000 it is with the Somato.
Moves To Watch Out For: Somato (Double knee strike to a seated opponent), Double Knee Gutbuster, Reverse Frankensteiner, Falcon Arrow

Kazusada Higuchi: A former sumo who was an unbeaten powerhouse in his rookie years. Has since mellowed out and fits in with the sillier side of the roster despite still being difficult to beat. Maybe he can feel a little out of place in that position but hey, you’d rather be with him than against him. I assure you of that.
Moves To Watch Out For: Goten (Canadian Backbreaker into a Choke Slam), Doctor Bomb, Canadian Backbreaker, Oklahoma Stampede

Akito: The “Submission Freak” has an amateur wrestling background and is one of the original members of ALL OUT. Likes to take submission moves and add “perfect” modifications to them.
Moves To Watch Out For: Scorpion Deathlock, Kinniku Big Move (Muscle Buster lift into a Power Bomb), Hanamasa (Lifting Reverse DDT), Perfect Figure Four Leg Lock (Figure Four Leg Lock with Akito grabbing onto both of his opponent’s arms)

Ethan Page: “All Ego” toured with DDT twice in 2018 and is always working a busy schedule around the North American scene. Like with Joey Ryan, Page’s week in New York is filled to the brim with many matches in different places.
Moves To Watch Out For: Spinning Dwayne (Spinning Rock Bottom), Head Shot (Slingshot RKO)

Shigehiro Irie: Returning to DDT for the first time since October 2018. Irie has spent a lot of his time since then wrestling freelance in America and Europe. He will be heading back to Japan soon and will be wrestling on a DDT show there so this isn’t the last we will see of him.
Moves To Watch Out For: Beast Bomber (Lariat), Tazzmission, Final Impact (Arm Trapped Piledriver), Cannonball into corner

Jason Kincaid: Brought into DDT as a “Gift” from Irie, Kincaid has made the company his home away from home. When Irie left DDT and the RENEGADES unit they were a part of split up, Watase stuck around and became friends with Antonio Honda. Now that Irie is back, so is RENEGADES even if it’s just for a day.
Moves To Watch Out For: Philosopher’s Stomp (Diving Double Stomp from the ring post)

6. Weapon Rumble In U.S.A.: MAO Vs Sanshiro Takagi

A rematch of a very crazy DDT stipulation (yes I know Hustle did it before them, shush) from last October’s visit to Sumo Hall. The Weapon Rumble is a Royal Rumble but for weapons! Every time the buzzer goes off a new “weapon” is introduced to the match for the wrestlers to fight over. Just like with the Iron Man Title, anything can constitute as a weapon. Expect a lot of wacky items, unusual mind games and even a cameo or two.

MAO: “Fucked up wrestling for a fucked up world!” That is the motto MAO lives by. The high flyer has taken the mantle as DDT’s new leader of the Falls Count Anywhere match. He established this by beating Takagi in last October’s Weapon Rumble. He won the match but still holds a grudge with Takagi because one of Takagi’s weapons was telling everyone MAO’s phone number. Part of The Moonlight Express tag team, sadly his partner “Speedball” Mike Bailey will not be on the show for visa reasons.
Moves To Watch Out For: Cannonball 450 (450 Splash), Michinoku Driver (I & II), Screw High Kick, Spaceman Plancha

Sanshiro Takagi: The big boss of DDT. I don’t mean he’s the final challenge, I mean he is the company president! That’s right, Sanshiro Takagi is the one ultimately responsible for all this nonsense. He always enters to a remix of “FIRE” by Scooter and encourages the fans to chant along until the song goes “1…2…3. FIRE!” Has a habit of either copying famous wrestlers or dressing up as a Gundam for important matches. Also likes to decided he will retire after every major achievement only to immediately tell everyone he was lying.
Moves To Watch Out For: Sitdown Sunflower/Himawari Bomb (Electric Chair spun into a Sitdown Power Bomb), Stone Cold Stunner, Spicolli Driver (Power Slam lift into a Death Valler Driver)

7. KO-D Openweight Title: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Daisuke Sasaki

The biggest rematch of them all on the show. This was the main event of DDT’s 22nd Anniversary show in Sumo Hall from February. However this time the roles are reversed. Takeshita is the KO-D Champion and Sasaki is going in as the challenger. The match was originally announced as a non-title bout but last weekend Sasaki demanded the belt be put on the line in New York.

Konosuke Takeshita: The current top dog in DDT, Takeshita is only 23 years old but he has been wrestling for DDT since 2012. The leader of ALL OUT has faced some of the biggest names in Japan when he was a rookie supernova and nowadays he still wants to face the best wrestlers outside of DDT. Some of his influences have rubbed off on him as he built his moveset. He uses Kenny Omega’s knee strikes, added the Chicago Skyline from Colt Cabana and most dangerously of all, on rare occasions he busts out the El Generico Brainbustaaaaahhhhh!!!!! It’s only just recently that Takeshita has opened his horizons and wrestled outside of Japan. He is one to follow during Mania week.
Moves To Watch Out For: German Suplex (includes Deadlift and Cross-Arm variations), Surprise Rose (Wrist Clutch Fisherman Suplex) Fable (Springboard Swanton Bomb onto a seated opponent), V Trigger Knee Strikes

Daisuke Sasaki: The leader of DAMNATION and simply known to his lackeys as “Charisma”. Sasaki is as talented as he is always depressed. He was the previous KO-D Champion until Takeshita won it off him at Sumo Hall in February. Was so down in the dumps over the loss that he considered throwing his entire career away until he won the KO-D Tag Titles with Takao. He better hope Takeshita doesn’t give him the Brainbustaaaaahhhhh!!!!! again because last time they missed the turnbuckle! Also don’t let him know he’ll be staying in the same state as Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae during the week. Sasaki fell in love with LeRae when they teamed together for a tour then his life fell apart when he found out she married Gargano. So if the TakeOver: New York main event gets ruined by a Japanese man dressed in dirty clothes, it will probably be Sasaki.
Moves To Watch Out For: Cross Facelock (includes La Mistica and Gargano Escape variations), Sasaki Hurricanrana, Now Or Never (Power Slam lift twisted into a Reverse DDT), Vietnam Driver II (Reverse Michinoku Driver), Diving Elbow Drop onto a chair

Anything else we should know?

Oh, yes! I almost forgot. Currently in DDT there is something called the Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Gauntlet. It is DDT’s version of the Money In The Bank Contract. However there are three of them in existence and they are defended in every match the gauntlet holders are in until they get cashed in for an instant KO-D Title match. Two of the Gauntlet holders are Tetsuya Endo and Yoshihiko, who are both on this show. Will the gauntlet rules be in effect while they are in America? Well if it’s meant to be an authentic DDT event then it should. Maybe we’ll get a surprise title match after the main event!

Is that everything?

No! DDT will be present at several other shows being held in La Boom throughout Mania week. They are tied in with the WWN Live More Than Mania series so if you want to see more of DDT you will find them there. Here is the rundown of DDT related talent appearing on other shows.

EVOLVE “EVOLVE 125”, 04/04/2019
La Boom, Queens, New York

1. Special Attraction Match: Kazusada Higuchi Vs Curt Stallion
2. EVOLVE Tag Team Titles: Eddie Kingston & Joe Gacy (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita & MAO

There are two shows taking place in La Boom before DDT takes the stage. First up is EVOLVE at noon. Takeshita & MAO are teaming together to go after the EVOLVE Tag Team Championship. The current champions are Eddie Kingston & Joe Gacy, two members of a unit in called The Unwanted. Higuchi has some things lined up for later in the week so for now he gets a warm up match against Curt Stallion.

WXW “AMERIKA IST WUNDERBAR”, 04/04/2019
La Boom, Queens, New York

1. Yuu Vs LuFisto
2. wXw Unified World Title: Bobby Gunns (c) Vs Shigehiro Irie

Next up, Germany’s wXw will run a show in the afternoon. Irie and Yuu are both freelancers now but I want to include their matches here since it felt so good to see and hear what they’ve been up to in Europe the last few months. Irie gets a shot at the wXw Unified World Title when he faces Bobby Gunns, aka the reason why chants are now done to the tune of “Robot Rock” at some European wrestling shows. Meanwhile Yuu faces indy wrestling legend LuFisto.

WWN LIVE “WWN SUPERSHOW 2019 – MERCURY RISING”, 05/04/2019
La Boom, Queens, New York

1. SHINE Title: Allysin Kay (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita
2. WWN Title: JD Drake (c) Vs Kazusada Higuchi
3. The Six Man Tag Team Tradition Continues: AR Fox, Leon Ruff & Adrian Alanis (w/ Ayla) Vs Daisuke Sasaki, Tetsuya Endo & Soma Takao

The entire WWN Live lineup of promotions get together for the annual Mercury Rising supershow. The event likes to hype up their 6-Man Tag Matches and one of them features DAMNATION against The Skulk. Higuchi gets his big match of the week by facing JD Drake for the WWN Championship. Finally Yamashita has challenged Allysin Kay to a match for the SHINE Title.

BLACK LABEL PRO “ADVENTURES IN WRESTLING”, 05/04/2019
White Eagle Hall, New Jersey

1. Jonathan Gresham Vs Shigehiro Irie

The Beast gets to tangle with The Octopus over in Black Label Pro.

WWN LIVE “MORETHANMANIA.COM 2019 WRAP UP PARTY”, 06/04/2019
The Bell House, Brooklyn, New York

1. Falls Count Anywhere Match: Konosuke Takeshita & Sanshiro Takagi Vs Dr. Cube’s Posse

DDT’s week ends in the most wackiest way possible. They get to work with Kaiju Big Battel! At this show, DDT stands for Double Danger Tandems. Takeshita & Takagi are going in together to find the most danger. They are supposedly going to face two kaiju from Dr. Cube’s Posse.

And then that’s it. Unless there are any unadvertised or last minute appearances on other shows, that’s the complete DDT schedule for their trip to New York. Any last questions?

Will the Steiner Brothers be at the DDT show?

No.

Comments Off on Guide To DDT In New York | International, Previews | Tagged: Akito, ALL OUT, Antonio Honda, Black Label Pro, Colt Cabana, Daisuke Sasaki, DAMNATION, Danshoku Dieno, DDT Pro Wrestling, Dramatic Dream Team, Ethan Page, EVOLVE, HARASHIMA, Iron Man Heavymetalweight Championship, Jason Kincaid, Joey Ryan, Kaiju Big Battel, Kazuki Hirata, Kazusada Higuchi, Kikutaro, KO-D Openweight Championship, Konosuke Takeshita, Maki Itoh, Makoto Oishi, MAO, Masahiro Takanashi, Miyu Yamashita, Mizuki Watase, RENEGADES, Royce Isaacs, Saki Akai, Sanshiro Takagi, Shigehiro Irie, Shuten-dōji, Soma Takao, Tetsuya Endo, WWN Live, wXw, Yoshihiko, Yukio Sakaguchi | Permalink
Posted by JamieOD

DDT “JUDGEMENT 2019 ~DDT RAISING AN ARMY 22ND ANNIVERSARY~” Preview

February 15, 2019

DDT “JUDGEMENT 2019 ~DDT RAISING AN ARMY 22ND ANNIVERSARY~”, 17/02/2019
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

0. Pro Wrestling BASARA Offer Match: Ryuichi Sekine & Daiki Shimomura Vs Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino
0. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Yuna Manase, Nodoka Tenma & Yuki Aino Vs Natsumi Maki, Hikari Noa & Miu Watanabe
1. Shunma Katsumata Return Match: Shunma Katsumata, Yuki Ueno & Space Monkey Vs Antonio Honda, Jason Kincaid & Naomi Yoshimura
2. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Time Difference Battle Royal: Asuka (c) Vs Super Sasadango Machine Vs Makoto Oishi Vs Keisuke Okuda Vs Saki Akai Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga Vs Gorgeous Matsuno Vs Hoshitango Vs Gota Ihashi Vs Yuni Vs Yasu Urano Vs El Lindaman Vs Scorpio X2 Vs Yuka Sakazaki Vs Mina Shirakawa Vs Chinsuke Nakamura Vs Maku Donaruto
3. Taiho Koki’s Grandson Yukio Naya Ryogoku Kokugikan First Participation!: Go Shiozaki, Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Naya Vs Daisuke Sekimoto, Toru Owashi & Yuki Iino
4. Special Single Match: Akito Vs T-Hawk
5. Danshoku Dieno Produce Yuru-chara “Pokotan” Debut Match: Danshoku Dieno, Pokotan & KUDO Vs Keisuke Ishii, Kota Umeda & Mizuki Watase
6. Special Hardcore 6-Person Tag Match: Sanshiro Takagi, Chigusa Nagayo & Ryuji Ito Vs Soma Takao, Mad Paulie & Takumi Iroha
7. KO-D Tag Team Titles – 3 Way Match: Mike Bailey & MAO (c) Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi Vs CIMA & Seiki Yoshioka
8. DDT Extreme Title – Souken Holdings Presents – Each Other’s Pride Rules: Shinya Aoki (c) Vs HARASHIMA
9. Dramatic Dream Match: Naomichi Marufuji Vs Tetsuya Endo
10. KO-D Openweight Title – RAGE Presents: Daisuke Sasaki (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita

The first pre-show match will begin at around 12:10pm JST/3:10am GMT. The main show begins at 1:00pm JST/4:00am GMT. For America that means the show begins at 11:00pm EST/8:00pm PST on Saturday.

———————————————————————–

Hey there. Back again to see what DDT is up to at Sumo Hall this time? Cool. The time between Ryogoku visits has been short for this one. Usually DDT books the venue every six or seven months. “JUDGEMENT 2019” is taking place only four months after “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2018” so it kind of feels like this weekend has snuck up on me. As I’ve written in a previous blog post I see this period of the entire wrestling scene as the final chapter of this current era. You can thank Kenny and his buddies for some of the reasons why. The landscape is changing, DDT is establishing new relationships around the world and there’s bound to be more surprising twists to come in the future.

But let’s not worry any further about that stuff. Ryogoku is set for a double header weekend from the DDT family. On Saturday the Muscle brand is back from the dead. What it has come back to do exactly I have no idea. Then on Sunday DDT is bringing together a packed card of matches that only they can provide.

0. Pro Wrestling BASARA Offer Match: Ryuichi Sekine & Daiki Shimomura Vs Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino

One of the big movements happening in BASARA lately is several wrestlers banding together to form the Sento Minzoku unit. Formed by Isami Kodaka and taking inspiration from Dragon Ball Z, each member has grown a monkey’s tail to represent their power. Ryuichi Sekine & Daiki Shimomura are the two guys from BASARA’s main roster to join Kodaka and Minoru Fujita in the group. Facing them are the two freshest faces on the BASARA roster Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino. Nakano has mostly been improving his skills while staying out of trouble. Kamino joined BASARA in December after DNA closed down. Injuries kept him out of action for almost the entirety of DNA’s run so his jump to BASARA so his career has more or less started all over again.

0. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Yuna Manase, Nodoka Tenma & Yuki Aino Vs Natsumi Maki, Hikari Noa & Miu Watanabe

Some new girls from Tokyo Joshi Pro get to wrestle in Sumo Hall for the first time. Yuna Manase, Nodoka Tenma and Natsumi Maki have wrestled there before. Manase and Tenma were there for a Battle Royal during “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2017”. Maki wrestled there for All Japan’s 45th Anniversary show only one week later. Yuki Aino, Hikari Noa and Miu Watanabe however are all wrestling their first Ryogoku match.

Manase has quietly been one of the more protected wrestlers in Tokyo Joshi, regularly winning her matches with the Neck Screw Hold. Nodoka Tenma is weeks away from challenging for the TOKYO Princess Title and has a recent pinfall win over the champion Miyu Yamashita. Aino is there supporting her sister as always. Over on the other side Noa and Watanabe have shown the most progression out of the Up Up Girls (Pro Wrestling) unit. Their recent name and costume changes have allowed them to express their personalities more. Watanabe has added a Laser Beam baseball swing into her chops while Noa has become more enthusiastic in the ring. She took the most out of the opportunity to train with Shinjiro Otani when the Up Up Girls visited the ZERO1 dojo in December. Noa also happens to be wrestling the day before her 21st birthday. Last but certainly not least there is Maki. Her arrival in Tokyo Joshi was surrounded in controversy thanks to a burned bridge with Yumiko Hotta and Actwres girl’Z. But once she started wrestling it became clear that she has moved on. Maki has yet to be pinned or submitted in Tokyo Joshi and she currently finds herself in a feud with Maki Ito over who is cuter. The match hasn’t happened yet but if Hotta is still pissed off with Maki she might spoil the result of that too.

1. Shunma Katsumata Return Match: Shunma Katsumata, Yuki Ueno & Space Monkey Vs Antonio Honda, Jason Kincaid & Naomi Yoshimura

A right orbital and cheek bone fracture has kept Shunma Katsumata out of action for almost three months. When he went under surgery in December his goal was to come back in February and here he is. While he was gone ALL OUT went out of this world to find a new member. They found one with Space Monkey who has been winning everyone in DDT over with his antics, bananas and all. Yuki Ueno has been stepping his game up as a member of DISASTER BOX. He’s also been scouting one of his opponents here in the hopes of forming a new tag team. Antonio Honda & Jason Kincaid are already teaming together as Gon Gift so that leaves Naomi Yoshimura. When he unexpectedly returned to DDT in December he was aiming straight for the top and gunning after the championship. In a scary moment right near the end of 2018, Yoshimura took a Pedigree wrong and was left needing medical attention inside the ring. He ended up getting a cervical sprain and made a full recovery, returning to the ring two months later. With his chance at the main event now far away from his reach he is beginning the climb all over again. Maybe Ueno’s idea for them to team up will get him back on track. Or how about Power Bombing him instead? Yoshimura usually likes to do that given their history together.

2. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Time Difference Battle Royal: Asuka (c) Vs Super Sasadango Machine Vs Makoto Oishi Vs Keisuke Okuda Vs Saki Akai Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga Vs Gorgeous Matsuno Vs Hoshitango Vs Gota Ihashi Vs Yuni Vs Yasu Urano Vs El Lindaman Vs Scorpio X2 Vs Yuka Sakazaki Vs Mina Shirakawa Vs Chinsuke Nakamura Vs Maku Donaruto

DDT has spent the last few months searching for fresh blood and obscure talent from across Japan to diversify their roster. Heading the pack is Asuka. No not the one who hasn’t been booked on TV since the Royal Rumble despite being a champion and tapping out the current big star of the company. I mean the one that’s been blazing through the puroresu scene over the last twelve months as “Japan’s First Genderless Wrestler”. When Asuka left WAVE to go freelance, DDT jumped at the chance to bring her back and promote her as a next generation star. Since then Asuka has won the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title and became so attached to it she now calls it her boyfriend. So far the relationship has worked out better than the last one she had in DDT, even though it’s made her a target for jealous eyes down in Roppongi.

(Sidenote: Most English speaking fans write down ASUKA in all caps to differentiate her from the other Asuka. Out of preference I only do this when the wrestler also spells their name in all caps. Asuka’s name in Japanese is written as 朱崇花 so that’s why I prefer writing it in the lower case).

There is a full field of different faces out to take the title from Asuka. Saki Akai has a new finishing move inspired from her current role in the Fate/Grand Order stage play. The move is called Quetzalcoatl and it is a Twisting Crucifix Bomb similar to Kaji Tomato’s Red Eye finisher. Keisuke Okuda has been settling into DDT by fighting at an outdoor sauna and hate-teaming with Makoto Oishi. Who knows what Super Sasadango Machine will be up to the day after his latest Muscle show takes place. OWE is represented by both El Lindaman and Scorpio X2. Tokyo Joshi are sending in Yuka Sakazaki and Mina Shirakawa. Sakazaki in particular will have a lot of eyes on her after it was announced she will be appearing at All Elite Wrestling soon. Chinsuke Nakamura will no doubt be all up to date on whatever his inspiration is currently doing. And then there’s the rest of the usual low card DDT roster. That’s it. Nobody else. I’m not missing anybody…

… Sigh… Okay there’s one more. You know who I’m talking about. Behold the Twitch chat come to life, the one creation that makes Arby “The Meathead” McDonald look pure and wholesome, he’s ruined seven Valentine’s Days but saved two, it’s Maku Donaruto! This walking cease and desist waiting to happen was found in UDON Pro Wrestling and made an impression on DDT management. However his lewd wrestling style and obscene personality is making DDT a little unsure how often they want to continue booking him after Sumo Hall. A lot? A little? A seven match series with Kazuki Hirata? Here’s his biggest chance to leave an impression on everyone.

3. Taiho Koki’s Grandson Yukio Naya Ryogoku Kokugikan First Participation!: Go Shiozaki, Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Naya Vs Daisuke Sekimoto, Toru Owashi & Yuki Iino

Let’s move on to some history, some legacy that is attached to Sumo Hall. Yukio Naya is only around a year into his wrestling career. He is getting attention because his late grandfather was a legendary sumo wrestler named Taiho Koki. Naya’s grandfather was one of the youngest wrestlers to become a yokozuna and he also earned many accomplishments throughout his distinguished career. Naya has said he is proud to wrestle in the same building where his grandfather achieved much of his success. Teaming with him is DDT’s sumo turned pro Kazusada Higuchi as well as D-Ou Grand Prix finalist Go Shiozaki. Facing them are a trio of big beefy boys! Daisuke Sekimoto, Toru Owashi and Yuki Iino are the opposition in a match that I bet will have many, many chops. And probably a Haka dance from Iino too.

4. Special Single Match: Akito Vs T-Hawk

The #STRONGHEARTS love to cause some commotion wherever they go but what do they do when somebody successfully stands up to them? During their feud with ALL OUT, they were able to get pinfall wins over every member except one. The one guy they haven’t been able to beat is Akito. In order to right this wrong T-Hawk is set to face Akito one on one. As the current WRESTLE-1 Champion, T-Hawk feels on top of the world. It would be nice to see Akito pull him down. Akito is confident wrestling on his own and is convinced that T-Hawk hasn’t watched any of his singles matches. Akito has a reason of his own to win other than keeping #STRONGHEARTS at bay again. He is looking into the idea of wrestling in other companies on behalf of DDT. A win over the WRESTLE-1 Champion can open some doors for him.

5. Danshoku Dieno Produce Yuru-chara “Pokotan” Debut Match: Danshoku Dieno, Pokotan & KUDO Vs Keisuke Ishii, Kota Umeda & Mizuki Watase

You know what’s big these days? Mascots. Put somebody in a big wacky costume, make them do stupid shit, put it online and watch those social media numbers shoot up. Most likely inspired by the popularity of such characters like Chiitan, Nyango Star and you can also include Andreza Giant Panda in that list, Danshoku Dieno now wants a piece of the pie. So he has created his own mascot and went through several names before picking something suitable for everyone. Or at least I assume it’s suitable. It’s probably not but whatever. Anyway the mascot is called Pokotan and it looks like a seal. Dieno himself was planning to be under the costume during the build up to the show. Unfortunately the costume has not been finished as of a week ago. Dieno only has the head ready and he is very upset over it. Will Pokotan be complete in time for his grand reveal?

6. Special Hardcore 6-Person Tag Match: Sanshiro Takagi, Chigusa Nagayo & Ryuji Ito Vs Soma Takao, Mad Paulie & Takumi Iroha
Around 14 years ago Sanshiro Takagi, Chigusa Nagayo & Ryuji Ito teamed up for a 1,000m Barbed Wire And 100 Fluorescent Lighttube Death Match in Differ Ariake. They’re back together again to fight DAMNATION! Nagayo’s involvement in the show was already announced when the story of her saving a woman from an assault made the news in November so yay good publicity! What’s even more interesting is Nagayo’s protege Takumi Iroha is against her on the DAMNATION side. Since she is the Ikemen Joshi she might be there to take up the handsome looking role in the trio. Then again Mad Paulie is still on the team so that’s probably not the reason. Iroha is thrilled to face her mentor but is a little nervous that it’s in a Hardcore Match.

On a more serious note, Soma Takao is going into this match holding a grudge. For weeks leading into the show, Takagi has been poking Takao and questioning the current state of his career. Years ago Takao had the potential to become one of DDT’s best and yet he has never really attempted to take the torch. Maybe he’s gotten too comfortable being the mid-level guy in DAMNATION. Takagi wants to light a fire under Takao and see if he has any real ambition. Takao acts like he is angry at the world and everything around it. Now is his time to prove it.

7. KO-D Tag Team Titles – 3 Way Match: Mike Bailey & MAO (c) Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi Vs CIMA & Seiki Yoshioka

#STRONGHEARTS have a reason for sticking around in DDT despite losing their feud to ALL OUT. After they lost the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles, CIMA and his crew admitted defeat and wanted to head home to the OWE headquarters in Shanghai. OWE told them not to come back until they get revenge on DDT. The best way to do that is to win one of the DDT championships again. This time CIMA is setting his sights on the KO-D Tag Team Titles and he is bringing along one of his newer partners Seiki Yoshioka to get them.

They aren’t the only ones who want the belts. Shuten-dōji challenged for the belts before #STRONGHEARTS did. The solution was to give both of them a shot in a 3 Way Match. Yukio Sakaguchi doesn’t care as long as he fights somebody strong (and El Lindaman provoking him with spitting and insults only resulted in Sakaguchi kicking him half to death). Masahiro Takanashi is interested though since he’s been able to cross paths with CIMA again. The two are linked through the Toryumon system but split off into two completely different paths. Takanashi wants to show CIMA that his unpolished way of wrestling is just as effective as CIMA’s state of the art abilities.

The scenario leaves the champions looking like a third wheel. But maybe that gives The Moonlight Express the advantage. MAO & Mike Bailey are currently ruling the tag team divisions in DDT and K-DOJO, holding both the KO-D Tag Titles and STRONGEST-K TAG Titles. MAO is as comfortable as ever in chaotic situations and Bailey always looks happy to go along for the ride, the crazier the better. MAO also feels the need to beat Shuten-dōji because they have beaten him so many times back when he was a part of NωA. He wants to move on from that part of his life but can’t if Shuten-dōji beats him again. The 3 Way stipulation being used is only one fall so a title change can happen without the Express being directly involved.

8. DDT Extreme Title – Souken Holdings Presents – Each Other’s Pride Rules: Shinya Aoki (c) Vs HARASHIMA

The rematch for the DDT Extreme Title sees HARASHIMA trying to win the belt back from Shinya Aoki. During his brief time in DDT, Aoki has defended the title in a Boxing Glove match and also got challenged into a fight at an outdoor sauna. This is what bad financial decisions can do to some people. But at least Aoki still has his pride. HARASHIMA has pride too so the two of them agreed to let their prides bring the best out of both of them. So that’s it. Nothing complicated, just a battle to see who is the best. Unless DDT decides to pipe in the Pride FC music during the match as a joke there isn’t much else that needs explaining. Well there is that one thing where HARASHIMA isn’t entirely sure what the exact ruleset for the match is. Aoki just keeps talking about pride and he hasn’t been the best at understanding the general pro wrestling rules. Is there even a three count?

9. Dramatic Dream Match: Naomichi Marufuji Vs Tetsuya Endo

Here we go! DDT usually has a dream match saved for Sumo Hall and they picked a good one this time round. Naomichi Marufuji returns to DDT and Tetsuya Endo is there waiting for him. You’d think Endo would see this as an opportunity to make a huge statement to the wrestling world but he’s a little distracted by his diet. No matter where he is or what he is doing Endo has been eating his handmade meals and drinking his protein shakes on a very strict timetable. This has interrupted several press conferences that were meant to promote this match. Marufuji doesn’t mind. There’s no bad blood between the two and Marufuji is looking forward to discovering Endo’s current potential. The match is also happening so soon after Marufuji’s return from injury so he gets to figure out what his own condition is like. We should get a nice, clean and competitive match out of this right. I mean it’s Marufuji in a DDT dream match. Nothing has ever gone wrong in a situation like that before. Right, Kenny?

10. KO-D Openweight Title – RAGE Presents: Daisuke Sasaki (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita

After vanquishing Dieno at “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2018” in October, Daisuke Sasaki is headlining Sumo Hall for the second time in a row. This time he is going in as the KO-D Openweight Champion rather than the challenger. That role goes to Konosuke Takeshita for winning the 2019 D-Ou Grand Prix. In the build up to the match something strange happened. Sasaki started acting friendly, wrestled clean and prohibited the other DAMNATION wrestlers from cheating. He even shook his opponent’s hand after matches. Takeshita wasn’t convinced by this new attitude at first but Sasaki behaved for long enough that Takeshita eventually bought into it. Of course it was at this point when Sasaki could not resist temptation any longer and went back to his usual dirty tactics.

That’s not all. While they wrestled their matches, some of the other DAMNATION members went to the restaurant owned by Takeshita’s mother Keiko. She was happy to serve them until they dined and dashed! That right there was the boiling point that turns Sasaki Vs Takeshita into a blood feud. Over the last few days Sasaki and Takeshita have gotten into fights wherever they find each other. Sasaki attacked Takeshita outside Sumo Hall during an interview and with a Hurricanrana threw Takeshita down a stairway. Takeshita got revenge on another night when he attacked Sasaki at a bar and gave him a Brainbuster onto a sofa. Things escalated even further when Sasaki vandalised Takeshita’s car with anime decals and then gave Takeshita a Pedigree onto the car roof! The match hasn’t even happened yet and both men are already trying to end each other’s careers before they even get to Sunday! Sasaki has said that he will not allow Takeshita win the KO-D title, otherwise DDT will be sent to the dark ages.

Comments Off on DDT “JUDGEMENT 2019 ~DDT RAISING AN ARMY 22ND ANNIVERSARY~” Preview | Previews | Tagged: Akito, ALL OUT, Antonio Honda, Asuka (VENY), Chigusa Nagayo, Chinsuke Nakamura, CIMA, Daiki Shimomura, Daisuke Sasaki, Daisuke Sekimoto, DAMNATION, Danshoku Dieno, DDT Extreme Championship, DDT Pro Wrestling, Dramatic Dream Team, El Lindaman, Go Shiozaki, HARASHIMA, Hikari Noa, Iron Man Heavymetalweight Championship, Jason Kincaid, Kazuki Hirata, Kazusada Higuchi, Keisuke Ishii, Keisuke Okuda, KO-D Openweight Championship, KO-D Tag Team Championship, Konosuke Takeshita, Kota Umeda, KUDO, Mad Paulie, Makoto Oishi, Maku Donaruto, MAO, Masahiro Takanashi, Masato Kamino, Mina Shirakawa, Miu Watanabe, Mizuki Watase, Moonlight Express, Naomi Yoshimura, Naomichi Marufuji, Natsumi Maki, Nodoka Tenma, Pokotan, Pro Wrestling BASARA, Ryogoku Kokugikan, Ryuichi Sekine, Ryuji Ito, Saki Akai, Sanshiro Takagi, Scorpio X2, Seiki Yoshioka, Sento Minzoku, Shinya Aoki, Shunma Katsumata, Shuten-dōji, Soma Takao, Space Monkey, Speedball Mike Bailey, STRONGHEARTS, Sumo Hall, Super Sasadango Machine, T-Hawk, Takato Nakano, Takumi Iroha, TJPW, Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling, Toru Owashi, Yuka Sakazaki, Yuki Aino, Yuki Iino, Yuki Ueno, Yukio Naya, Yukio Sakaguchi, Yuna Manase | Permalink
Posted by JamieOD

MUSCLE “MUSCLE MANIA 2019 IN RYOGOKU ~ OUR SECOND CAREER” Preview

February 15, 2019

MUSCLE “MUSCLE MANIA 2019 IN RYOGOKU ~ OUR SECOND CAREER”, 16/02/2019
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

1. Pedro Takaishi Retirement Match: Pedro Takaishi Vs X

Wrestlers advertised to appear include Muscle Sakai, Danshoku Dieno, Antonio Honda, Pedro Takaishi, Choun-Shiryu, Yasu Urano, Makoto Oishi, Ken Ohka, Norikazu Fujioka, Amon Tsurumi and Andreza Giant Panda. Over on Twitter Akito has talked about wanting to be on the show. Sasadango publicly said he is welcome to come over as long as he keeps it a secret so he does not spoil the surprise…

Other guests include comedian Ryota Yamasato, actor Kurochan, pop band Junretsu and rapper Utamaru.

Here’s my preview: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Heck if I know what’s going to happen! Muscle shows in the past have been held under many sorts of formats. It might be a wrestling card, it might be a talk show, it might be a talent contest, it might be a school exam, it might be a tag team tournament gone horribly off the rails, it might be the first NXT Japan TakeOver in disguise, it might be anything. What I can say for sure is it will be ridiculous. Also don’t be surprised if a big name or two makes a cameo appearance somewhere. In the past such famous wrestlers as Masahiro Chono, Minoru Suzuki, Yoshihiro Takayama, Atsushi Onita, Shinjiro Otani, The Great Sasuke and a lot of the Big Japan roster among others have joined in the fun in one way or another.

Comments Off on MUSCLE “MUSCLE MANIA 2019 IN RYOGOKU ~ OUR SECOND CAREER” Preview | Previews | Tagged: Amon Tsurumi, Andreza Giant Panda, Antonio Honda, Choun Shiryu, Danshoku Dieno, Ken Ohka, Kuro-chan, Makoto Oishi, MUSCLE, Muscle Sakai, Norikazu Fujioka, Pedro Takaishi, Ryogoku Kokugikan, Ryota Yamasato, Sumo Hall, Super Sasadango Machine, Yasu Urano | Permalink
Posted by JamieOD

DDT “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2018 ~FALL WRESTLING CULTURE FESTIVAL~” Preview

October 19, 2018

DDT “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2018 ~FALL WRESTLING CULTURE FESTIVAL~”, 21/10/2018
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

0. Time Difference Battle Royal: Gorgeous Matsuno Vs Hoshitango Vs Gota Ihashi Vs Nobuhiro Shimatani Vs Yumehito Imanari Vs Shota Vs Michael Wolf Vs Tiger Mask V (Self-Proclaimed) Vs Monster Halloween Vs Gundan Hitori
0. Mina Shirakawa DDT First Participation War! Tokyo Joshi Pro 6-Woman Tag Match: Miyu Yamashita, Yuki Kamifuku & Mina Shirakawa Vs Yuka Sakazaki, Mizuki & Shoko Nakajima
1. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Soma Takao, Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie (c) Vs Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata & Yuki Ueno
2. Gauntlet Tag Match: Mike Bailey & Antonio Honda Vs Mizuki Watase & Jason Kincaid Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Kota Umeda Vs KUDO & Masahiro Takanashi Vs Tanomusaku Toba & Keisuke Okuda Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Michael Nakazawa
3. Super Joshi Pro Wars 2018: Saki Akai & Maki Itoh Vs Meiko Satomura & Cassandra Miyagi
4. ALL OUT Vs STRONG HEARTS! Special 6-Man Tag Match: Akito, Shunma Katsumata & Yuki Iino Vs T-Hawk, El Lindaman & Duan Yingnan
5. The World’s Crazy Couple Battle: Makoto Oishi & Misaki Ohata Vs Joey Ryan & Laura James
6. Soken Holdings Present – Will You Eat Or Be Eaten!? Giant Special Single Match: Super Sasadango Machine Vs Andreza Giant Panda
7. The Difference In 27 Years Of Age! Representative Director And President (48 Years Old) And Belonging Wrestler (21 Years Old) Waste Blood Washing Conflict Play – Final Settlement Weapon Rumble!: Sanshiro Takagi Vs MAO
8. Shigehiro Irie’s Grand Fight: Shigehiro Irie & Keisuke Ishii Vs HARASHIMA & Yukio Sakaguchi
9. Dramatic Dream Match: Konosuke Takeshita Vs CIMA
10. KO-D Openweight Title: Danshoku Dieno (c) Vs Daisuke Sasaki

The pre-show matches will begin at 2:00pm JST and the main show begins at 3:00pm JST. That’s 6:00am/7:00am for GMT, 1:00am/2:00am for EST and 10:00pm/11:00pm the night before for PST.

For the first time DDT will be streaming parts of the show live on their Youtube channel. The two pre-show matches and the first three matches of the main card will be aired. The link to the Youtube page is here (https://bit.ly/2q1KIOK).

The entire show will aire live on DDT Universe. Here is the link (https://bit.ly/2yxkxnV).

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The seven months since DDT’s last appearance in Sumo Hall has been a lot to take in. Sometimes hectic, sometimes confusing and for me sometimes exhausting. The number of events grew thanks to the launch of a brand new weekly show called “DDT LIVE! MAJI MANJI” airing live on AbemaTV. The other brands also increased their schedules with more shows in more locations. DDT’s rookie brand DNA was put to bed when the roster was considered too advanced to be a developmental. The lack of rookies ready to debut was also a reason to end the concept for now. Then there was the chaos in the main event scene. DDT’s longest and most dominant title reign ended when the company’s estranged son returned to defeat their golden boy. The new rebellious champion went on to make some unwise decisions leading to a rash of unexpected title changes, some beyond the control of those in charge of DDT and some coming directly from the people with power. With injuries putting some of DDT’s best and brightest on the shelf it was a time for new blood to step up. One in particular took things too far towards his boss. Or maybe he took it far enough and needs to go further? New invaders entered the company. One group wants to prove they are the better than DDT’s best while another gigantic figure arrived looking to kick ass and chew bamboo, and it’s all out of bamboo. There is plenty to talk about so let’s get started.

0. Time Difference Battle Royal: Gorgeous Matsuno Vs Hoshitango Vs Gota Ihashi Vs Nobuhiro Shimatani Vs Yumehito Imanari Vs Shota Vs Michael Wolf Vs Tiger Mask V (Self-Self-Proclaimed) Vs Monster Halloween Vs Gundan Hitori

Normally the Battle Royal on this kind of show will be for a big prize, like the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title. Not this time. The championship found its way into the pop idol group SKE48 back in July and has been passed around between some of the girls ever since. The current champion Yuki Arai promised to show up with the title at Korakuen Hall a week after this show so nobody is anticipating any shenanigans here. Instead the appeal is going to be from the “ALL DOIN” wrestlers. The self-proclaimed Tiger Mask V, the W*ING gimmick that came 25 years too late Monster Halloween and masked man in a fancy shirt Gundan Hitori are all representing the “ALL DOIN” super indy show that is scheduled for November. Most of the DDT regulars have developed a little since “JUDGEMENT 2018” back in March. Gorgeous Matsuno became the self-appointed gatekeeper of DDT against gigantic animals. That didn’t end well for him. Gota Ihashi has been getting into shape with the ultimate goal of earning Riki Choshu’s respect. He’s making enough progress that Choshu’s eternal rival Tatsumi Fujinami has offered to help out. Nobuhiro Shimatani finally achieved his dream of joining DAMNATION. “Nobu” has been full of confidence ever since even if it hasn’t translated into results. Yumehito Imanari has probably advanced the most out of anyone. He launched the Imanari Revolution in Ganbare☆Wrestling to push himself into Ganpro’s main event scene and he hasn’t looked back. The other Ganpro rep is Shota who joined the brand full time in May. Michael Wolf recently entered DDT all the way from Oklahoma’s Compound Pro Wrestling. The only person here who is the same as always is Hoshitango.

0. Mina Shirakawa DDT First Participation War! Tokyo Joshi Pro 6-Woman Tag Match: Miyu Yamashita, Yuki Kamifuku & Mina Shirakawa Vs Yuka Sakazaki, Mizuki & Shoko Nakajima

The spot dedicated entirely to Tokyo Joshi Pro is focusing on their newest signing. Mina Shirakawa is a gravure idol who is a massive pro wrestling fan, so much so that she began training to wrestle in April as part of a collaborated project between DDT and Best Body Japan. She had her debut match in August teaming with one of her opponents here Shoko Nakajima. In September, Shirakawa jumped at the chance to visit Mexico so she could participate in a lucha libre expo. The first thing she did when she arrived was travel to the ZEUS GYM in Naucalpan to train! So far Shirakawa has only wrestled three matches in her career, twice for Big Body Japan and once in Mexico. She has committed herself to Tokyo Joshi full time beginning this November. She has performed at a Tokyo Joshi show before though. Four years ago she was in a Brazilian themed idol duo called Oh P Samba that performed a song and dance at a Tokyo Joshi show. For now this will be her introduction to everyone in DDT.

But that’s enough about the new girl. Can’t let her overshadow the others this easily. Miyu Yamashita is currently on the most successful TOKYO Princess Title run in the championship’s history, winning the belt on 4th January and defending the title a record six times. She, Yuka Sakazaki and Shoko Nakajima also made their American debut competing in the Chikara King Of Trios tournament, making it all the way to the semi finals. Sakazaki has been most successful in tag team action, forming the Magical Sugar Rabbits with Mizuki and winning the TOKYO Tag Team Titles together. Yuki Kamifuku recently won a match for the first ever time after 14 months of wrestling. Everything will be going up from there for her.

1. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Soma Takao, Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie (c) Vs Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata & Yuki Ueno

DAMNATION’s numbers increased back in May when Soma Takao betrayed what was left of Smile Squash to join the heel unit. Since then Takao has been low blowing his way to victory while saying little in between the matches. He is still quietly undefeated at “PETER PAN” with a 9-0 record. Can he make it 10 for 10 and go a full decade of (not so much) destruction? Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie have spent the last half year teaming together, briefly holding the KO-D Tag Team Titles. Not much has changed other than that period when Endo wanted to talk about his pet beetle. He is still a top notch wrestler when he wants to be. That was proven when he made it to the King Of DDT final again.

The team challenging for the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles are the newly relaunched DISASTER BOX. The original unit was formed by Toru Owashi as a heel unit way back in 2006. The unit played a major part in establishing HARASHIMA after he dropped the HERO! gimmick. The unit had another run in 2008 but went away at the start of this decade, with the exception of a one show reunion with original member Shogo “Jet” Takagi in 2017. HARASHIMA and Owashi decided to reform DISASTER BOX this year during the DNA draft and allowed the promising youngster Yuki Ueno to join them. Nobody else. Anyone who said otherwise was ignored. Well, at least until he couldn’t be ignored anymore.

Kazuki Hirata wanted to join in so he could continue teaming with Owashi. He was declined but a miracle run in the King Of DDT tournament convinced HARASHIMA to bring Hirata into the group. To prove he is good enough, Hirata has sometimes tried to wrestle without the aid of his musical Hirata GO! glasses. He has since gone back on that plan now he is an accepted member. When Takao, Endo & Paulie won the vacant titles, they tried to nominate the rest of their unit as the challengers. DISASTER BOX instead got the nod and the two sides have been duking it out for months, waiting for this day to come.

2. Gauntlet Tag Match: Mike Bailey & Antonio Honda Vs Mizuki Watase & Jason Kincaid Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Kota Umeda Vs KUDO & Masahiro Takanashi Vs Tanomusaku Toba & Keisuke Okuda Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Michael Nakazawa

One half of the KO-D Tag Champions is already occupied on the card so Mike Bailey has to get mixed up in the Gauntlet Tag Match. Antonio Honda is by his side as they face a mixture of DDT talent. Mizuki Watase & Jason Kincaid have formed a well run team during their time in the RENEGADES unit. Kincaid was brought into DDT in mere weeks after “JUDGEMENT 2018” as RENEGADES’s gift to the company. Watase has wrestled in a snazzy suit and never really explained why. The Maji Manji show has been mostly built around Kazusada Higuchi & Kota Umeda. Higuchi made it his goal to put somebody through a table on every episode while Umeda became “Mr. Maji Manji” when he won a tournament early in the show to earn a big push by the company. Unfortunately knee injuries have constantly paused his momentum. KUDO & Masahiro Takanashi have been doing their usual thing in Shuten-dōji. Their usual thing is drinking. Tanomusaku Toba returned to DDT first take part in a few Street Wrestling matches. He then appeared on Maji Manji, wrestling to impress his step-son who refuses to call him Dad. That didn’t end up being his proudest moment but he’s gotten more DDT appearances since then, usually whenever they wanted a strike heavy match-up. Keisuke Okuda became DDT’s newest signing in September. Until then he was causing terror in DNA as part of the Naomi Kingdom. So far his biggest move was picking a fight with HARASHIMA. Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Michael Nakazawa reformed Booing 2018 for the Dramatic General Election but kicked out their longtime ally Gota Ihashi. Normally I’d say the winners of this match will go after the KO-D Tag Titles but that didn’t happen the last time.

3. Super Joshi Pro Wars 2018: Saki Akai & Maki Itoh Vs Meiko Satomura & Cassandra Miyagi

What a year it’s been for Meiko Satomura. The Sendai Girls leader has had accomplished years before but 2018 has been an international breakthrough for her. From Fight Club: PRO in England to the WWE Mae Young Classic in America to wXw in Germany, Satomura has been making waves in Europe and America this year. Back in Japan she made her mark in DDT by becoming the first ever woman to win the KO-D Openweight Title! While her reign was short it was the highlight of a turbulent time in the championship’s history. Cassandra Miyagi made two DDT appearances during this time. One as part of an adventure through a secret martial arts factory (it’s a long story) and the other challenging for the KO-D 6-Man Tag Titles. The two Sendai Girls return to DDT to face without a doubt the two most popular women in the DDT family.

Saki Akai has been motivated by Satomura’s success to become more than just the token woman on the DDT roster. This year Akai became the first woman to enter the King Of DDT tournament. Sadly she didn’t make it past the 1st Round. She also got into a situation where she was stalked by the monsters of the UWA Corps. She also returned to Tokyo Joshi for a few matches after so many fans pointed out that she looks identical to the Sakisama. Speaking of Sakisama, the aristocrat returned home to Paris in August after her personal nun became too rebellious (it’s another long story).

But all of the attention goes to Maki Itoh. All of the attention must go to Itoh! She’s been finding ways to constantly stay in the sights of the Tokyo Joshi fanbase and it’s been paying off big for her. After a big match against Riho in May, Itoh considered splitting up the Itoh Respect Army after her alliance with Mizuki hit a rough patch. Their relationship got even rockier when they ended up in opposite sides of a TOKYO Princess Tag Titles match. Itoh took the loss in both that and a singles match with Mizuki afterwards but in those matches she was able to show her growth as a wrestler. While she hasn’t been able to win big in the ring, outside it Itoh’s getting more and more popular. The big evidence for this is her current lead in the Dramatic General Election. Early on in the competition Ito moved miles past the rest of the field. Others have since gained ground but a strong performance at Sumo Hall might be what she needs to seal the deal.

Except that won’t be enough to satisfy Itoh. In a reverse of last year’s match between Satomura and Miyu Yamashita, Itoh has no respect for Satomura. Not after Satomura lost the KO-D Title after Itoh promised to win the Election and challenge her for the belt. This attitude is causing Akai to distrust Itoh. She really shouldn’t be underestimating Satomura. The rift got even worse when Akai & Itoh got into a little scuffle at the press conference for this show. If they can’t get along, they’re screwed. If they can get along… they’re still screwed.

4. ALL OUT Vs STRONG HEARTS! Special 6-Man Tag Match: Akito, Shunma Katsumata & Yuki Iino Vs T-Hawk, El Lindaman & Duan Yingnan

ALL OUT has gone through a bumpy road since “JUDGEMENT 2018”. Things went went south after April when Konosuke Takeshita lost the KO-D Title and Akito briefly went down with an injury. Shunma Katsumata was then called out for his poor performances and had to go in search of himself to improve. Part of it involved signing up to a Gold’s Gym membership. His efforts rewarded ALL OUT with a KO-D 6-Man Tag Title reign that was sadly cut short when Takeshita suffered an injury. With Takeshita out of action it was up to Akito & Katsumata to continue on without him. Katsumata in particular decided go down the road of hardcore wrestling a little more often. He already had a taste of hardcore back in February when he fought Yuko Miyamoto but since then he had matches with table spots against Kazusada Higuchi and went one on one with Violento Jack in a Fans Bring The Weapons Death Match. Things seemed to be looking up when Takeshita returned and the powerful rugby rookie Yuki Iino joined the unit. That’s when a new conflict emerged to challenge them.

One of the big wrestling stories of the year coming out of Japan is the STRONG HEARTS exodus from Dragon Gate. During the springtime, CIMA spent time away from the company teaching pro wrestling in China for a promotion called Oriental Wrestling Entertainment. In May, CIMA along with some of his Japanese proteges more or less left Dragon Gate. Now, the public reason for this was so this group of wrestlers could focus exclusively on OWE in Shanghai. Obviously, everyone was surprised when instead the newly named STRONG HEARTS showed up in Wrestle-1 looking to cause some trouble. When that conflict ended over the summer, STRONG HEARTS found their next target, ALL OUT and DDT. When Takeshita was shared his disappointment with ALL OUT having no plans for “RYOGOKU PETER PAN” this year, STRONG HEARTS immediately sent them the challenge.

Two matches between the two sides will happen at Sumo Hall. First up is the 6-Man Tag. Akito, Katsumata & Iino are there for ALL OUT. STRONG HEARTS will be represented by T-Hawk, El Lindaman and Chinese newcomer Duan Yingnan. They want to show ALL OUT what real fire and fever in the ring is like!

5. The World’s Crazy Couple Battle: Makoto Oishi & Misaki Ohata Vs Joey Ryan & Laura James

The battle of the married couples! Makoto Oishi surprised everyone during a street wrestling event in May when he suddenly proposed to Misaki Ohata during their match. It was a heartwarming story in the middle of a wacky situation. Honestly, who could get upset by that?

Oh, huh… Alright then.

There isn’t much in wrestling that annoys Joey Ryan. Usually it’s him doing the annoying stuff. But somebody doing a marriage proposal during a wrestling match when he and Laura James already did it? Copycats! Ryan & James have challenged Oishi & Ohata to a match to see which marriage deserves to be called crazier. Oishi & Ohata say that their proposal was original and to be fair it is very different to what Ryan & James did. For one thing it involved Yukio Sakaguchi trying to run Ohata over with a truck and Oishi jumped in front of it to save her. How romantic.

6. Soken Holdings Present – Will You Eat Or Be Eaten!? Giant Special Single Match: Super Sasadango Machine Vs Andreza Giant Panda

Behold! The greatest discovery in Japanese wrestling over the last two years isn’t one of the New Japan young lions, nor is it a company ace like Kento Miyahara or Shotaro Ashino. Sure, Masashi Takeda is rad and Hana Kimura has star power written all over her. But nobody has captured attention the same way Andreza Giant Panda has. The “Big Beast Of The North” burst onto the scene from Hokkaido’s New Nemuro Pro Wrestling (N2W) in 2017, a promotion that they themselves admit is filled with out of shape, middle-aged amateur wrestlers with no fighting experience or any physical strengths. But how did Andreza get here? Originally named Shin Shin, he was born in China with a gigantism disease on 1st January 2016. The amount of growth a normal panda goes through in one year, Andreza went through in one month. As a cub he had the appetite of three pandas. Tragically he was abandoned by his parents and was bullied by the other pandas in China. He was found by a Chinese king and was sent to live in his fishing processing company in Nemuro city under the care of New Nemuro’s president Samson Miyamoto. Due to his massive size of 300cm in height and 500kg in weight, Miyamoto knew that this panda was made for pro wrestling. Now renamed Andreza Giant Panda, the animal dominated New Nemuro and quickly became the promotion’s top star. Andreza won the Best Newcomer award in the 2017 Samurai! TV Japan Indie Grand Prize. He also found a mate and became a father. Andreza’s ultimate goal is to appear in WWE after becoming famous. For the moment, a match for DDT in Sumo Hall will be his highest profile wrestling appearance yet. The fate of nature may very well be at stake!

When Super Sasadango Machine was chosen to be Andreza’s opponent he quickly established his motivation for the match. Andreza eats 40kg of bamboo on a daily basis and that is enough to make him a danger to the environment. The problem is Andreza is nigh on unbeatable. Sasadango thought he discovered a weakness. Andreza is supposedly helpless without his master Miyamoto. Sasadango kidnapped Miyamoto and thought it would give him the advantage on Andreza. That was proven wrong when Andreza somehow figured out how to travel from Nemuro to Sapporo by himself to rescue his master. Sasadango has since experienced how powerful Andreza’s Lightspeed Headbutt is and nobody has kicked out of the Andreza Press. A simulated fight with Sanshiro Takagi dressed as a panda gave Sasadango some valuable information. Also DDT is certain this match won’t get them sued for animal mistreatment so Sasadango has the all clear to do whatever he wants to take the air out of the Giant Panda!

7. The Difference In 27 Years Of Age! Representative Director And President (48 Years Old) And Belonging Wrestler (21 Years Old) Waste Blood Washing Conflict Play – Final Settlement Weapon Rumble!: Sanshiro Takagi Vs MAO

Enthusiasm is a characteristic that is usually appreciated but some people tend to take things too far. This year MAO reached that point. When DDT returned to focusing to its Falls Count Anywhere matches, MAO felt now was his time to step up and take the mantle of Street Wrestling king. The days of Sanshiro Takagi doing the crazy stuff is over. MAO wants to replace it with fucked up wrestling for a fucked up world! The over-enthusiasm came when MAO drove a van into Takagi during a match then threatened to blow up Shin-Kiba 1st RING with bottle rockets. MAO’s conflict with Takagi continued after “JUDGEMENT 2018” when the two were paired together in the King Of DDT 1st Round. Their match went crazy with bicycle crashes and the destruction of plastic boxes. They took it even further at Campsite Pro Wrestling when MAO and Takagi chased each other around in cars! The situation has gotten so out of control that both men agreed to have the ultimate DDT match to settle their score… The Weapon Rumble! New weapons will be added to the match Royal Rumble style and they can be anything. Weapons, humiliating mind games, wrestler cameos, family members. Anything is fair game. The two cannot be kept apart now. Even at the press conference they fought each other in a 3 minute wrestling match that ended in a time limit draw. At this point it will take divine intervention for a winner to be determined…

Thank God pro wrestling is so convenient.

Just days before the show, MAO went training in the Arakawa river bed with his Moonlight Express partner Mike Bailey. The training was focused on improving MAO’s accuracy with a pico pico hammer. Things turned south when MAO swung so hard that he lost grip of the hammer and threw it far away. When MAO went searching through the grass, he unexpectedly found the God Of Arakawa. Maybe he took the form of Jason Kincaid wearing a Casper jumper so he wouldn’t scare MAO away. Or maybe that’s just a coincidence and the God always looks like that. Anyway, the God Of Arakawa spoke to MAO and held two hammers, one gold, one silver. He asked if either of them belonged to MAO. MAO said neither were his. The God appreciated MAO’s honesty and awarded him a bag of 100 empty cans as a gift. The God then got mixed up and also gave him the Legendary Pico Pico Hammer. Then he gave him the gold and silver hammers anyway because at this point why not? So now MAO has the power of a God by his side!

8. Shigehiro Irie’s Grand Fight: Shigehiro Irie & Keisuke Ishii Vs HARASHIMA & Yukio Sakaguchi

What in the hell happened these last seven months? What in the hell happened this last year? Shigehiro Irie has been the key figure of confusion throughout DDT from March to October. After spending the early part of the year quiet and entirely absent from the company, he made a surprise return at the end of the previous Sumo Hall show as a different person. Gone was the happy go lucky Irie, in his place was a bitter man watching DDT change into something he no longer loved. His solution was to become KO-D Champion again so he could tear down DDT and rebuild it in his image. A month later he defeated Takeshita to win the title. Slowly but surely he found allies for his cause. Mizuki Watase was the only member of the main roster to join him. The rest of Irie’s followers consisted of wrestlers from overseas like Jason Kincaid, Facade, Sammy Guevara, Baliyan Akki and Ryan Davidson. The group was named RENEGADES because Irie wanted to do things his way rather than management’s.

The sticking point for Irie was DDT’s failure to deliver their promises. Irie loves going on his excursions to America wrestling new people and making new friends. DDT’s ideas to do more international work was never followed up on. It reached the point where Irie wanted to defend the KO-D Title in America and he was going to do it whether DDT allowed it or not. The Director of DDT at the time was Danshoku Dieno and he reluctantly gave Irie permission to go ahead. However he warned Irie not to act reckless and lose the championship. It was Irie’s responsibility alone to be the defending champion overseas.

1st August, 2018. The date will live on as the starting point for the most chaotic period in the history of the KO-D Title. Irie gets pinned by Sami Callihan at a Rockstar Pro show in Ohio, losing the championship in his first defence outside of Japan. When news made its way back to DDT, everybody scrambled to save face. The wrestlers were in shock and blamed Irie for damaging DDT’s reputation abroad. Takagi and Dieno went to work trying to figure out how to get the title back on a DDT wrestler. Irie saved face by winning the championship back a week later and he was able to return to Japan with the belt. Crisis averted but Irie’s pride was scarred. Not so much by the title loss but by Dieno being proven right. Irie grew to resent Dieno even more, blaming him for everything he finds wrong with DDT. The feud led to more chaos in the title scene when Dieno used a Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Gauntlet to win the KO-D Title from Irie on an episode of Maji Manji. Another Gauntlet was used two weeks later by Meiko Satomura that led to her winning the title. Irie had one chance left to win back the belt in a 3 Way Elimination Match but Dieno surprised him with the Gaydo Clutch and Irie became the first person eliminated from the match. Beaten and outsmarted, Irie accepted defeat and admitted it was time to move on. He shook Dieno by the left hand because the left hand is closer to your heart.

When the dust was settled, Irie had a new direction and it is one that relies less on DDT. Late in September Irie announced he will not renew his contract and will become a freelancer in October. He will still be accepting bookings with DDT but his priority will be going abroad with dates already confirmed for America and Germany. His last match before he heads away is here in Sumo Hall with his favourite partner and opponents. HARASHIMA, the man Irie could not beat until this past July. Yukio Sakaguchi, the man who he had violent clashes with in the past. Keisuke Ishii, the man he grew up with in wrestling and shared plenty of time with as part of Team Dream Futures. Already gone from his contract, Irie has shown signs of his old self recently. The big goofy smile is returning. Maybe he will show it to everyone in DDT one more time at Sumo Hall.

I swear if Irie shows up at New Japan in a few months time calling himself “Dramatic” there is going to be Hell to pay.

9. Dramatic Dream Match: Konosuke Takeshita Vs CIMA

The other ALL OUT Vs STRONG HEARTS match is focused on the two big names of the groups. Takeshita Vs CIMA! Sumo Hall has been home to some of Takeshita’s biggest matches in his career. Kenny Omega, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Hiroshi Tanahashi and his battles with both Tetsuya Endo and Shuji Ishikawa all took place in the building for DDT’s biggest events in recent years. CIMA on the other hand? The 2000 Super J Cup and two Dragon Gate shows from almost a decade ago were the only Sumo Hall appearances I can find for him. If home field advantages and venue familiarity count in this situation, Takeshita has it by the bucket load.

Of course the worst thing someone can do in this match is underestimate CIMA. This dude has been wrestling almost as long as Takeshita has been alive. Takeshita wasn’t even three years old when CIMA made his WCW debut. CIMA can be very sly in the ring when he wants to be. Any chance Takeshita has of making this a spot heavy blow for blow banger can be stopped in its tracks when CIMA decides to twist his body a dozen different painful ways instead. The result of this paints an interesting future for DDT’s immediate future. The STRONG HEARTS are already confirmed to appear on the next Korakuen Hall show a week after this show. If CIMA beats Takeshita, what next will be on his mind for DDT? I mean obviously we know what he’ll want. The Iron Man Title of course! STRONG HEARTS Vs SKE48 will be the next big invasion feud, mark my words!!!

10. KO-D Openweight Title: Danshoku Dieno (c) Vs Daisuke Sasaki

And so we finally make it to the finale. Two major figures in DDT that plotted and scrapped their way into the Sumo Hall main event. This is the first “PETER PAN” main event appearance for both Danshoku Dieno and Daisuke Sasaki. Dieno has main evented Sumo Hall for DDT once before back in 2013 but that was the first half of a weekend double header in the building and the lesser of the two shows. This year is what counts for Dieno and he did everything he could do to make it here.

Dieno was the DDT Director for most of the year. When it came to the KO-D Title, he publicly showed no desire for it and was the neutral party when deciding challengers and title defences. He avoided any tournaments or matches to determine the No. 1 contenders and played no part in the annual scramble for the Right To Challenge Gauntlets. But in the background, Dieno had a goal he needed to accomplish. The one thing that’s alluded him in his long DDT career is the main event match at “PETER PAN”. The best way to do that is be the champion and the title holder Shigehiro Irie just happened to be a thorn in his side during this period. Calling in a favour from Super Sasadango Machine, Dieno was gifted a Right To Challenge Gauntlet and he cashed it in on an exhausted Irie, easily beating him to become the new champion. He then immediately quit as the Director so he wouldn’t have to grant Irie a rematch. The one grave mistake he made was forgetting that there was one more Gauntlet in play and it was being held by a disgruntled Meiko Satomura. Dieno loses the title to Satomura in his first defence and his dreams start falling apart. The only saving grace was hearing that Irie wanted revenge. Dieno was able to wiggle his way into a 3 Way Elimination Match for the title and he ended up pinning both opponents to become champion once again. In the end, everything worked out perfectly for Dieno. His dream is finally coming true!

Daisuke Sasaki lived the dream once. He found something too good to be true. He found love. Big Love. A fling with “Japan’s First Genderless Wrestler” Asuka over the summer turned into something more, at least in Sasaki’s mind. They teamed together on Maji Manji shows until they were booked into a singles match against each other at July’s Korakuen show. Sasaki didn’t worry about it until Asuka broke the news to him in the ring. She was never really interested in him. He’s too old for her and also wasn’t her type. This was the point where Sasaki’s 2018 changed. Gone was Big Love and in its place was a hatred for everything. Sasaki defeated Asuka then went on to win the King Of DDT in August. With a broken heart and no desire to fix it, Sasaki’s focus was now on becoming the KO-D Champion at Sumo Hall. Also the 2,000,000 yen cash prize from the main event sponsor.

Dieno talking about his dreams only pisses Sasaki off even more. Sasaki called Dieno the symbol of DDT and a relic of the past. Mind games developed in the last couple of weeks as Sasaki tried to withstand Dieno’s lewd moveset. He now believes he is invincible against Dieno’s erotic wrestling style. Dieno warns that he will go beyond Sasaki’s imagination to win and if that means pulling out the ultimate versions of his signature moves, so be it. This Sunday, the symbol of DDT will be decided!

Comments Off on DDT “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2018 ~FALL WRESTLING CULTURE FESTIVAL~” Preview | Previews | Tagged: Akito, ALL DOIN, ALL OUT, Andreza Giant Panda, Antonio Honda, Cassandra Miyagi, CIMA, Daisuke Sasaki, DAMNATION, Danshoku Dieno, DDT Pro Wrestling, DISASTER BOX, Dramatic Dream Team, Duan Yingnan, El Lindaman, HARASHIMA, Jason Kincaid, Joey Ryan, Kazuki Hirata, Kazusada Higuchi, Keisuke Ishii, Keisuke Okuda, KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship, KO-D Openweight Championship, Konosuke Takeshita, Kota Umeda, KUDO, Laura James, Mad Paulie, Maki Itoh, Makoto Oishi, MAO, Masahiro Takanashi, Meiko Satomura, Michael Nakazawa, Mina Shirakawa, Misaki Ohata, Miyu Yamashita, Mizuki, Mizuki Watase, Ryogoku Kokugikan, Saki Akai, Sanshiro Takagi, Shigehiro Irie, Shoko Nakajima, Shunma Katsumata, Soma Takao, Speedball Mike Bailey, STRONGHEARTS, Sumo Hall, Super Sasadango Machine, T-Hawk, Tetsuya Endo, Thanomsak Toba, TJPW, Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling, Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Toru Owashi, Wrestle Peter Pan, Yuka Sakazaki, Yuki Iino, Yuki Kamifuku, Yuki Ueno, Yukio Sakaguchi | Permalink
Posted by JamieOD

DDT “JUDGEMENT 2018 ~DDT 21ST ANNIVERSARY~” Preview

March 24, 2018

DDT “JUDGEMENT 2018 ~DDT 21ST ANNIVERSARY~”, 25/03/2018
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

0. Under Match: Mizuki Watase, Rekka, Daiki Shimomura, Nobuhiro Shimatani & Takato Nakano Vs Mad Paulie, Hoshitango, Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Gota Ihashi & Cherry
0. Under Match: Kouki Iwasaki & Shinichiro Tominaga Vs Kenshin Chikano & Akira Jo
0. Under Match – Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Yuka Sakazaki & Shoko Nakajima Va Rika Tatsumi & Maho Kurone
1. Gauntlet Tag Match: LiLiCo & Makoto Oishi Vs Reika Saiki & Lady Beard Vs Akito & Shunma Katsumata Vs Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Antonio Honda & Ethan Page Vs Naomi Yoshimura & Keisuke Okuda
2. World Crazy Wrestler No. 1 Decision Battle In DDT: Joey Ryan Vs Colt Cabana
3. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match – Special 6-Woman Tag Match: Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh & Mizuki Vs Saki-sama, Yoshiko-sama & Azusa Christie
4. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Super Sasadango Machine (c) Vs Jiro Kuroshio
5. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi (c) Vs Kota Umeda, Yuki Ueno & Koji Takeda
6. Weapon Rumble 5 Way Tag Loser Gets Anal Blast Match: Sanshiro Takagi & Ippanjin Munenori Sawa Vs Mike Bailey & MAO Vs Yuko Miyamoto & Soma Takao Vs Isami Kodaka & Fuminori Abe Vs Michael Nakazawa & Chinsuke Nakamura
7. Dramatic Dream Match: Danshoku Dino, Keisuke Ishii & Ken Ohka Vs Great Muta, Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo
8. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Uchikomi! Presents: HARASHIMA & Naomichi Marufuji (c) Vs Daisuke Sekimoto & Kazusada Higuchi
9. KO-D Openweight Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Shuji Ishikawa

For an audio preview I appeared on an episode of the Wrestling Omakase podcast to talk about the show. We also review the “SAKI AKAI PRODUCE ~ DDT COLLECTION” show on the same episode. You can listen to it here.

The DDT UNIVERSE live broadcast begins on 1:30pm JST with the first pre-show match beginning at 2:00pm JST and the main show beginning at 3:00pm JST. So for other time zones the main show begins at 7:00am GMT (remember the clocks will have gone forward one hour in this time zone), 2:00am ET and (Saturday) 11:00pm PT. For those with access to AbemaTV the event will also air live for free on the DDT channel (VPN needed for those outside Japan). There will be either muted audio or replacement music for the entrances and video packages because of this.

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DDT is back in Sumo Hall once again for its biggest event of the year. “JUDGEMENT 2018” is being held to mark DDT’s 21st anniversary and is providing a stacked card to celebrate. The headline match is a rematch of a 2016 Sumo Hall main event but there is plenty to talk about from top to bottom. We have grudge matches, we have generational battles, we have wrestling demons, we have anal explosions, we have title matches, we have joshi, we have crazy foreign wrestlers and we have the other sub-brands jumping in to get involved. The only way this show gets any more insane is if DDT goes the Pop Team Epic route and holds an identical 5 hour show immediately after this 5 hour show ends but with different a commentary team.

0. Under Match: Mizuki Watase, Rekka, Daiki Shimomura, Nobuhiro Shimatani & Takato Nakano Vs Mad Paulie, Hoshitango, Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Gota Ihashi & Cherry

The first match of the day is between rookies and veterans. The rookie team consists of DNA and BASARA wrestlers. Mizuki Watase’s big matches in DNA for the last few months have been against wrestlers like Koji Kanemoto & Minoru Tanaka. Taiwanese wrestler Rekka recently formed a short lived team with Chinese wrestler Choun-Shiryu that fell apart over their national differences. Daiki Shimomura has been bottom of the pile and taking loss after loss on most shows. His Gran MilliMeters partner Nobuhiro Shimatani has been the same except he has spent his time trying to win over DAMNATION so he can join their group. BASARA’s Takato Nakano is approaching the first anniversary of his debut match in April.

On the veteran team Mad Paulie has become a little bit calmer ever since he discovered dancing. He loves to dance along to Shuji Ishikawa’s karaoke. Because of this he acts a little bit nicer to his opponents but he is still dangerous to wrestle. Gota Ihashi embarrassed himself on the big stage when he got to team with Kota Ibushi and Riki Choshu on a show produced by Choshu. They won their match but Choshu ripped apart Ihashi with criticism during a post show interview. Ever since then Ihashi has been trying to regain his confidence and even wants to discover if the power of Choshu is inside of him. It isn’t. The real power is the friends you make along the way and Choshu has been friends with Ibushi for years so the entire journey is a waste of time in the first place. Hoshitango, Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Cherry have been filling up the DDT pre-show matches throughout the year.

0. Under Match: Kouki Iwasaki & Shinichiro Tominaga Vs Kenshin Chikano & Akira Jo

The focus of this match is between Kouki Iwasaki and Akira Jo. The two are feuding against each other in DNA where the homegrown wrestlers are defending themselves against the Naomi Kingdom, which Jo is a part of. Shinichiro Tominaga comes over from Ganbare☆Wrestling as a proud “amateur” pro wrestling card carrier. Kenshin Chikano has a DDT appearance here and there. He had a little more of a presence in BASARA last year when BASARA had a summer long rivalry with Dove Pro Wrestling.

0. Under Match – Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Yuka Sakazaki & Shoko Nakajima Va Rika Tatsumi & Maho Kurone

Tokyo Joshi Pro gets fully represented with two matches this time around. The pre-show match is between two of their long standing tag teams the Miraclians and the Dragon Bombers. The Apricots have been teaming together for as long as Yuka Sakazaki & Shoko Nakajima have been around. They have a few achievements between them but the one they share together is becoming the first ever TOKYO Princess Tag Team Champions. On the surface the Dragon Bombers look like an odd pairing but Rika Tatsumi and Maho Kurone have won over fans with their personalities. Kurone’s entire zombie character is immediately eye catching and her behaviour at shows is often fun to follow. Tatsumi got some media attention when she admitted to fancying another Tokyo Joshi wrestler Mizuki and openly questioned the No Relationships rule used by the promotion because it only refers to having boyfriends and not girlfriends. She is currently preparing for the biggest match of her life in May when she main events Korakuen Hall. She recently pinned Nakajima to build up her momentum. Either repeating it or pinning Sakazaki would only increase it further.

1. Gauntlet Tag Match: LiLiCo & Makoto Oishi Vs Reika Saiki & Lady Beard Vs Akito & Shunma Katsumata Vs Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Antonio Honda & Ethan Page Vs Naomi Yoshimura & Keisuke Okuda

The show kicks off proper with a wacky Gauntlet Match for Tag Teams. When LiLiCo was last in DDT she was defending the now forgotten KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles with Makoto Oishi and three others. That was in November. Now she’s back in training with Oishi to enter the gauntlet. Oishi has planning his next steps ever since NωA split up. He demanded to join T2Hide so he could take over the group and even won the right to be a member. But he instead turned it down so he could go do literally anything else. Reika Saiki & Lady Beard are connected together outside of wrestling as the idol duo DEADLIFT LOLITA. This is their first time teaming together for a wrestling match. Shunma Katsumata became the breakout wrestler from NωA when he joined ALL OUT and went through a crazy Hardcore Match where he used thumbtacks. Akito has been by Katsumata’s side during this encouraging him to come out of his shell. Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata are still the same except for the times when Hirata gets deported and replaced by a suspiciously similar looking foreign substitute. They might still be feeling burned by Oishi rejecting them. Ethan Page has been loving his stay in Japan which probably explains why he acts different here compared to how he normally elsewhere. DDT brought him in with big hopes that he will be their next big Canadian star. Antonio Honda is with him to make sure that happens. Finally, Naomi Yoshimura & Keisuke Okuda have been terrorising DNA with their Naomi Kingdom unit. Their troublemaking is now spreading to DDT and they are very interested to be in the same ring as LiLiCo and Saiki.

2. World Crazy Wrestler No. 1 Decision Battle In DDT: Joey Ryan Vs Colt Cabana

Everything about this match is a little funny. Two of America’s most known and successful comedy wrestlers will face off one on one inside one of Japan’s most prestigious wrestling arenas… and there’s been zero build up for it. That’s not to say either of them have done nothing in DDT at all. In January Joey Ryan competed at the D-Oh Grand Prix. He seemed to be more concerned about convincing the audience to throw paper tape at him for his entrances than he was with winning matches. Colt “Boom Boom” Cabana challenged for the KO-D Openweight Title on Christmas Day but failed to win it. He then spent New Year’s Eve pretending to be Abdullah The Butcher. Both are fighting for the right to be called the DDT’s craziest gaijin wrestler.

3. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match – Special 6-Woman Tag Match: Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh & Mizuki Vs Saki-sama, Yoshiko-sama & Azusa Christie

For the first time Tokyo Joshi gets a main card spot on a Sumo Hall show. Miyu Yamashita has regained her position as the ace of the promotion when she won back the TOKYO Princess Of Princess Title on 4th January. Since then she has been fighting off challengers like Veda Scott, Yuna Manase and Maho Kurone. Teaming with her is one of the scariest egos ever to grace a DDT ring. Pop idol turned pro wrestler Maki Itoh often becomes intense when she wrestles. Her petite figure doesn’t stop her from throwing headbutts and giving her opponents the middle finger. She also formed her own team/fan club called the Itoh Respect Army and brought in Mizuki as Member #001. Mizuki doesn’t mind and is happy to make a friend. They even recorded a music video together. It’s just that this friend can act like a psychopath when she doesn’t get her way.

Their opponents are NEO Biishiki-gun, the snooty aristocratic unit led by the snootier and even more aristocratic Saki-sama. Her biggest move over the last year was abducting one of the weakest wrestlers in Tokyo Joshi, Azusa Takigawa and brainwashing her into becoming Azusa Christie. Azusa is now a devoted nun who worships Saki-sama as if she was God. This change has seen her gain more success than she ever had previously and she along with Saki now holds the TOKYO Princess Tag Team Championships. Ever since her inclusion, NEO Biishiki-gun have been the dominant force in Tokyo Joshi and now they have a new girl joining them for this show. In February Saki-sama brought out a shy woman who was hiding her face behind a teddy bear and introduced her as an old friend from her childhood. Maki Itoh confronted this girl and threatened her until the bear was lowered and the face was revealed. The girl is Yoshiko-sama and she isn’t afraid to fight back! Her teddy bear is named Charlotte by the way.

4. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Super Sasadango Machine (c) Vs Jiro Kuroshio

I’ve had trouble trying to keep up with the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title this year. Super Sasadango Machine won it the first week of January and asked to defend the belt against Jiro Kuroshio at Sumo Hall. His wish was granted but on one condition. Sasadango would need to defend the title at least twice a week every week up until the show takes place. Sasadango quickly found a solution to this problem. He set up an office in Nagoya and invited celebrities, spokesmen and other various business people to try and win the belt from him. In return they would get to promote their projects on DDT’s social media. It worked for the most part but there were some title changes I missed from people I don’t know and from there I lost track. As of writing I think he is still the champion and his title match with Kuroshio is all set.

But things are never just normal with this championship. There are always people hunting after the belt and I’ll be shocked if this match just stays between Sasadango and Kuroshio. Heck I’ll be shocked if a title change does not happen right before the match takes place! Also I don’t think Kuroshio would be just satisfied with doing just this match. Remember, he has a pinfall victory over Konosuke Takeshita from the D-Oh Grand Prix. There has to be some sort of follow up to that.

5. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi (c) Vs Kota Umeda, Yuki Ueno & Koji Takeda

On the one hand Shuten-dōji finds themselves in the familiar position of the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles match on DDT’s big supercard. On the other hand their opponents this time includes what used to be one of their own! Kota Umeda returned from a long injury absence last November and is making up for lost time in both DDT and DNA. He built up a quick but intense rivalry with another rookie Yuki Ueno. He also joined the rest of DNA in their feud with the Naomi Kingdom. It was during this time that Umeda started to figure something out. As the fourth member of Shuten-dōji he was often left out of their 6-Man Tag Title matches. The only times he got to step in was to cover for one of the other wrestlers if they were hurt. This had to change.

Shuten-dōji reached the point where they were disappointed by their current position. They wanted to face the best trios DDT could throw at them but in the end it is they who are the best trio. That was when Umeda stepped up to them. He wanted to challenge his brothers for the titles and to do so he is teaming with his rival Ueno as well as another rookie Koji Takeda. The response from Shuten-dōji was mixed. Masahiro Takanashi found it funny. He thought Umeda’s new unit looks so bad that they should be called Pigging 2018 after the consistently worst unit to compete in the DDT General Elections year after year. But KUDO & Yukio Sakaguchi took this seriously. They would allow Umeda to challenge them but he would no longer be a part of Shuten-dōji if he does so. Umeda was willing to pay that price. Now Umeda is leading his generation team against his former family and in the process became a fierce enemy to Sakaguchi in particular. It might get worse when the title match takes place.

6. Weapon Rumble 5 Way Tag Loser Gets Anal Blast Match: Sanshiro Takagi & Ippanjin Munenori Sawa Vs Mike Bailey & MAO Vs Yuko Miyamoto & Soma Takao Vs Isami Kodaka & Fuminori Abe Vs Michael Nakazawa & Chinsuke Nakamura

Well this has been crazy. Originally DDT was going to hold its Falls Count Anywhere specialty match but Sumo Hall management and the Japan Sumo Association finally put their foot down and told them no. The potential risk of audience injuries and building damage is too high for them to accept. Unfortunately for them they weren’t prepared for DDT’s Plan B. Sure DDT will keep it in the ring but now there are explosives involved. At least it’s still safer than Sami Callihan playing with a pinata.

It all begun when Sanshiro Takagi was reunited with an old friend. In a moment that they absolutely swear was not like anything else that happened that same week involving former DDT talent, Munenori Sawa returned to DDT to save Takagi from a beatdown. They embraced, tears were shed and one of DDT’s wackiest tag teams from the last decade were back in business. Although Sawa had retired from pro wrestling to become a salaryman, he would still show up near a wrestling ring every now and then. Takagi threw out a challenge. He and Sawa would face anyone in a Falls Count Anywhere Match at Sumo Hall. They attracted a lot of offers. Yuko Miyamoto wanted to get involved and as the current DDT Extreme Champion he surely qualifies. Soma Takao joins Miyamoto as part of Smile Squash. The call was also answered by Isami Kodaka & Fuminori Abe from BASARA. Kodaka is a hardcore wrestler and Abe is pretty much Munenori Sawa Jr. so the stipulation suits them fine.

The challenge led to an old enemy of Takagi’s resurfacing. Michael Nakazawa sent a video saying he would enter with a friend from “New York”. That friend is Chinsuke Nakamura! The Pauper Of Strong Style made his presence felt when he threw Takagi over the top rope and out of the ring. He celebrated this accomplishment by pointing to the RyogokuMania sign held above Korakuen Hall. The loudest response of all was from MAO fresh off of his split from NωA. MAO thinks now is the time DDT gets a new face for Street Wrestling and it should be him. He’s bringing Speedball Mike Bailey back to team with him. However MAO may be too crazy judging by that time he ran over Takagi with a van to win a Falls Count Anywhere match. He then threatened to blow up Shin-Kiba 1st RING with fireworks.

So the match was set and tensions grew to a dangerous level between Takagi and MAO. Takagi’s response to getting hit by a vehicle was to start shoving fireworks into other wrestlers’ butts to give them an Anal Explosion. MAO responded in kind until it was the major focus by everyone involved in the upcoming match. That was when the ban came and the match had to be cancelled. During that announcement all of the teams came together and threw together a replacement match. The BASARA team wanted to use weapons. MAO demanded that someone should get an Anal Blast. Everyone agreed to a Weapons Rumble match. As the match progresses, new weapons would be brought out Royal Rumble style. Plus whoever loses the match must subject themselves to an Anal Explosion! This means everybody is happy except for the Japan Sumo Association. Serves them right.

7. Dramatic Dream Match: Danshoku Dino, Keisuke Ishii & Ken Ohka Vs Great Muta, Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo

One of the first announcements for this show made back in January was the involvement of The Great Muta. DDT eventually announced that he would be teaming with DAMNATION to take on Danshoku Dino and his friends. Daisuke Sasaki would use the news to announce that he is in charge and Muta would be fighting under his leadership. There was no response from Muta about this. Sasaki then started taunting Dino by spitting cola and coffee at him Poison Mist style. Again there was no response from Muta. But Sasaki’s actions did bring Dino to his breaking point. The attacks made Dino transform into The Great Homo! Under his own Muta-style personality, Dino would constantly attack Sasaki and Tetsuya Endo. Endo moreso than Sasaki. He would spit Poison Milk Mist at them and attack their backsides with a spike. The only way he could be stopped was when Sasaki transformed into Nerima Sting to combat him. This finally made Muta stir. The demon was not pleased by this nonsense especially from Dino.

A threatening message was sent to DDT HQ. Dino has been given the Poison Curse! No matter where Dino goes, Muta would possess everyone around him and make them spit the Poison Mist in Dino’s face. Nowhere was Dino safe. Employees, trainees, referees, wrestlers, fans, models, TV hosts. All of them spat the Mist at Dino under Muta’s power. Dino would get attacked again and again and again and again and again! Has Muta’s plan brought Dino back to the brink enough to summon The Great Homo? Keisuke Ishii and Ken Ohka are there to help Dino but the three of them are clearly outmatched. The only thing they don’t have to worry about is Muta doing a Moonsault but that’s what Endo is there for.

8. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Uchikomi! Presents: HARASHIMA & Naomichi Marufuji (c) Vs Daisuke Sekimoto & Kazusada Higuchi

For many in DDT there is one task that seems impossible and that is beating HARASHIMA. The backbone of DDT is often the biggest mountain to climb and some wrestlers have become obsessed with doing it. The latest wrestler in this position is Kazusada Higuchi. HARASHIMA has been a thorn in his side ever since Higuchi’s first year in DDT. HARASHIMA gave Higuchi his first loss, beat him twice in KO-D Title matches and also won the KO-D Tag Team Titles from him with Naomichi Marufuji. The team known as HarashiMarufuji have held the titles ever since. They even survived a title defence held inside a factory! If they were ever to be beaten, Higuchi would have to find somebody really strong to team with him.

Oh crap. Daisuke Sekimoto wants to get involved.

Sekimoto & Higuchi joined forces for the annual New Year’s Eve cross promotion Tag Team Tournament and made it all the way to the final. They made such a good impression together that they are reuniting to go after HARASHIMA & Marufuji. Sekimoto and HARASHIMA have a history together but there is respect between them. HARASHIMA and Higuchi however do not like each other ever since HARASHIMA knocked out Higuchi during a singles match earlier this month. When Higuchi came to he went on a rampage chasing after HARASHIMA. A defeat to Marufuji too in the run-up to this match hasn’t helped. Higuchi will have to keep his emotions in check against these two.

9. KO-D Openweight Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Shuji Ishikawa

This is the rematch 19 months in the making. Konosuke Takeshita and Shuji Ishikawa main evented “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2016” with the KO-D Openweight Title on the line. Ishikawa came out on top that night and held onto the belt for almost the rest of 2016. HARASHIMA won the title from him in December that year but the championship made its way back to Takeshita at “JUDGEMENT 2017” just over one year ago. Since then Takeshita has firmly kept the belt in his grasp and fought all-comers, breaking the DDT record for most title defences in a single reign with 10 successful defences at this time. Freshly graduated from college, Takeshita has been having a great year as the champion. It’s getting tough though. A lower back injury has plagued Takeshita throughout February and gave him a big target that can be exploited. So it’s been a tough year but a great year none the less.

However you can argue Shuji Ishikawa’s last 12 months have been just as good if not better. He goes on a tear in All Japan and wins the Champion Carnival, then the Triple Crown, then the Real World Tag League with Suwama and then AJPW World Tag Team Titles also with Suwama. When he refocused his efforts in DDT at the beginning of 2018, Ishikawa ends up winning the first ever D-Oh Grand Prix tournament almost unbeaten. His only loss in the competition was against his DAMNATION leader Daisuke Sasaki. The goal of the Grand Prix was to establish DDT’s leading star for the rest of the year and Ishikawa proved there is no one more deserving of it than him.

Ishikawa has gone out to prove he has a range of other talents too. Ever since he won the Grand Prix, Ishikawa has performed karaoke in the ring to celebrate his big victories in DDT. Mad Paulie has joined in the fun by dancing along to his songs. Sasaki & Endo aren’t as eager to join in so they just grin and bare it while he sings. With the big title match on the horizon, Sasaki gave Ishikawa a serious order. Ishikawa cannot sing karaoke and Paulie cannot dance again until Ishikawa beats Takeshita at Sumo Hall to become the KO-D Champion. This gave Ishikawa an idea. Takeshita is injured. If he gets so injured that he cannot defend the title at Sumo Hall then Ishikawa will become the champion by default. Then for the main event Ishikawa can sing karaoke inside the ring all night long! So for the last month Ishikawa has intentionally tried to injure Takeshita in their preview matches. It briefly worked when Takeshita had to miss a show to recover but he came back and in their most recent match together pinned Ishikawa.

So there you have it. The strongest champion in DDT’s history is hurt but still capable of beating whatever is being thrown at him. DDT’s strongest challenger is almost unstoppable and is powered by the desire to show off his vocal talents. Their 2016 match is well worth the watch in preparation for this.

Comments Off on DDT “JUDGEMENT 2018 ~DDT 21ST ANNIVERSARY~” Preview | Previews | Tagged: Akira Jo, Akito, ALL OUT, Antonio Honda, Azusa Christie, Cherry, Chinsuke Nakamura, Colt Cabana, Daiki Shimomura, Daisuke Sasaki, Daisuke Sekimoto, DAMNATION, Danshoku Dieno, DDT New Attitude, DDT Pro Wrestling, Dragon Bombers, Dramatic Dream Team, Ethan Page, Fuminori Abe, Gota Ihashi, Gran MilliMeters, Great Muta, HARASHIMA, HarashiMarufuji, Hoshitango, Iron Man Heavymetalweight Championship, Isami Kodaka, Itoh Respect Army, Jiro Ikemen Kuroshio, Joey Ryan, Kazuki Hirata, Kazusada Higuchi, Keisuke Ishii, Keisuke Okuda, Ken Ohka, Kenshin Chikano, KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship, KO-D Openweight Championship, KO-D Tag Team Championship, Koju Takeda, Konosuke Takeshita, Kota Umeda, Kouki Iwasaki, KUDO, Ladybeard, LiLiCo, Mad Paulie, Maho Kurone, Maki Itoh, Makoto Oishi, MAO, Masahiro Takanashi, Michael Nakazawa, Miraclians, Miyu Yamashita, Mizuki, Mizuki Watase, Munenori Sawa, Naomi Kingdom, Naomi Yoshimura, Naomichi Marufuji, NEO Biishiki-gun, Nobuhiro Shimatani, Pro Wrestling BASARA, Reika Saiki, Rekka, Rika Tatsumi, Ryogoku Kokugikan, Saki Akai, Sakisama, Sanshiro Takagi, Shinichiro Tominaga, Shoko Nakajima, Shuji Ishikawa, Shunma Katsumata, Shuten-dōji, Soma Takao, Speedball Mike Bailey, Sumo Hall, Super Sasadango Machine, T2Hide, Takato Nakano, Tetsuya Endo, Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling, Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Toru Owashi, Yoshiko, Yuka Sakazaki, Yuki Ueno, Yukio Sakaguchi, Yuko Miyamoto | Permalink
Posted by JamieOD

DDT “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2017 ~PETER PAN EVEN IF YOU BECOME 20 YEARS OLD PETER PAN~” Preview

August 17, 2017

DDT “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2017 ~PETER PAN EVEN IF YOU BECOME 20 YEARS OLD PETER PAN~”, 20/08/2017
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

0. King Of Dark Title – Street Pro Wrestling Extra Edition! Gota Ihashi Ryogoku 5 Game Series: Gota Ihashi (c) Vs Mad Paulie, Gorgeous Matsuno, Dai Suzuki, X & X
0. Dark Match: Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Hoshitango, Nobuhiro Shimatani & Masato Kamino Vs Mizuki Watase, Rekka, Diego & Daiki Shimomura
0. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Battle Royal: Tetsuya Koda (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita Vs Shoko Nakajima Vs Yuka Sakazaki Vs Nonoko Vs Rika Tatsumi Vs Azusa Takigawa Vs Yuu Vs Nodoka-oneesan Vs Maho Kurone Vs Marika Kobashi Vs Yuna Manase Vs Mizuki Vs Cherry
1. Yuki Ino Debut Match: Kouki Iwasaki & Yuki Ino Vs Naomi Yoshimura & Yuki Ueno
2. KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles: Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata, Joey Ryan, Saki Akai & Yoshihiko Vs Makoto Oishi, LiLiCo, Lady Beard, Super Sasadango Machine & Ken Ohka
3. Ikemen Vs Idol! Handsome Humanity Battle: Jiro Kuroshio Vs Shunma Katsumata
4. Special 4 Way Tag Match: Kaz Hayashi & Keisuke Ishii Vs Isami Kodaka & Yuko Miyamoto Vs Mike Bailey & MAO Vs Kotaro Suzuki & Soma Takao
5. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi (c) Vs Dick Togo, Yasu Urano & Antonio Honda
6. DDT 20th Anniversary Weapons Rumble – All Rights Contra Marriage: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Danshoku Dino
7. DDT Extreme Title – Cabellera Contra Cabellera: Daisuke Sasaki (c) Vs Akito
8. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Uchikomi! Presents: Shigehiro Irie & Kazusada Higuchi (c) Vs HARASHIMA & Naomichi Marufuji
9. KO-D Openweight Title – Good Com Asset Presents: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Tetsuya Endo

The main show airs live on DDT UNIVERSE on Sunday 20th August at 3:00pm JST, 7:00am GMT, 2:00am ET and Saturday 11:00pm PT.

I was a guest on the Burning Spirits podcast this week to preview the show. The episode can be heard here.

Now that the 20 year celebrations are mostly done with it’s time to return to Neverland for DDT “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2017”! A lot has happened since Saitama Super Arena. DDT went viral for their portrayal of Donald Trump (even getting featured on @midnight), for having a Battle Royal on a moving train and for booking the Tokyo Dome for an Empty Arena Match. We’ve had the new generation establishing themselves in the main event and even got one to reveal his entire tragic life story because he believed it was all the champion’s fault.

So what’s in store for Sumo Hall this time? The show is headlined by the definitive rivalry of modern DDT, the previous ace teams with the ace of NOAH for tag team glory, hair will be chopped off, the company is put on the line against a wrestler’s romantic life (or lack thereof), two handsome men face off, multiple championships are on the line including a brand new 10-Man Tag Team Title, a new strong lad debuts and there will be some free for all brawls spread around the building.

?. Maybe A Dark Match: Kendo Kashin Vs Mitsuo Momota or Chikara

We’re going to start off with something weird that has been developing over the last week but has been simmering in the background for months. Kendo Kashin is an ideas guy and he never lets something like common sense or reality limit his plans. For his appearances in DNA and Ganbare☆Wrestling during the year, Kashin often threw out challenges for a 5 Vs 5 Elimination match to be held on this event’s pre-show with Kashin’s team representing IGF NEW. Nobody took the challenges seriously. Then this past week at the Ganbare☆Climax, Kashin got into confrontations with Mitsuo Momota. The tension between them raised so high that Kashin is now claiming he got permission from DDT to fight Momota inside Sumo Hall on the morning of “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2017”, at 6:30am to be precise. DDT denies this and also revealed that they do not get access to the building until 7:00am. But DDT is interested in doing some sort of dark match featuring Kashin and Momota. They are, as of this writing, negotiating with both wrestlers to organise a match to take place outside the venue at 6:30am. Momota thinks it is a difficult task for him to commit to but his son Chikara has offered to take his spot. Kashin has also demanded Bomber Saito to be the referee. Momota is against that idea because he knows Kashin and Saito went to the same high school together so there is no guarantee Saito will be neutral. If this match goes ahead does this mean the bout will be a Dawn Match instead of a Dark Match?

0. King Of Dark Title – Street Pro Wrestling Extra Edition! Gota Ihashi Ryogoku 5 Game Series: Gota Ihashi Vs Mad Paulie, Gorgeous Matsuno, Dai Suzuki, X & X

Whenever DDT runs in Sumo Hall they can’t help but take the action out of the ring and even out of the building. Gota Ihashi is still cursed to fight for DDT only on the pre-shows because of his status as the King Of Dark Champion. At least DDT is giving him a bunch of opportunities to get rid of it. The rules for his upcoming challenge have not been explained yet but it looks to be a 5 match Gauntlet series, all of them being Falls Count Anywhwere. Mad Paulie, Gorgeous Matsuno and Dai Suzuki are the only opponents revealed so far but the remaining two entries have been kept secret. I have predictions for who they will be. Maybe one of them can be Jun Kasai because he has a habit of showing up for these kind of matches whenever DDT produces them, either as a participant or by getting in the way while working another job. And what if the other was Kota Ibushi? The DDT Falls Count Anywhere matches are right up his alley. Also Ibushi’s first wrestling match after the G1 Climax being a Falls Count Anywhere dark match for DDT in Sumo Hall is the most Kota Ibushi decision he could ever make. I mean yeah, the drama surrounding his relationship with Kenny Omega is captivating and all but you know his desire to Moonsault off of the Ryogoku balcony again is too strong to resist.

Now watch me be wrong and the two mystery wrestlers turn out to be Kendo Kashin and Mitsuo Momota making another appearance.

0. Dark Match: Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Hoshitango, Nobuhiro Shimatani & Masato Kamino Vs Mizuki Watase, Rekka, Diego & Daiki Shimomura

Not much to go on for this mixture of veteran lowcard and DNA wrestlers. Masato Kamino is the freshest face in the match after only debuting on 5th August. He’s trying to grab attention immediately by wearing a lavish entrance jacket that is allegedly worth 100,000 yen. Tomomitsu Matsunaga reclaimed his Sumo King throne during Beer Garden week. Nobuhiro Shimatani has been the butt of many jokes throughout the year. It remains to be seen if this is just rookie hazing or if this will be his role in DDT from now on. Hoshitango has had a quiet year, sticking to appearances for the more significant shows on the calendar. On the other side Mizuki Watase, Rekka, Diego & Daiki Shimomura have all been hard at work in building up DNA. Diego has the highest profile of all four by being a part of the ALL OUT stable. Watase has shown that when you remove him from last year’s romantic soap opera he has solidly improved in the ring. Rekka sadly missed an opportunity to grab the spotlight when his DDT show in Taiwan had to be cancelled. Shimomura has been able to climb a small step above his generational counterpart Shimatani.

0. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Battle Royal: Tetsuya Koda (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita Vs Shoko Nakajima Vs Yuka Sakazaki Vs Nonoko Vs Rika Tatsumi Vs Azusa Takigawa Vs Yuu Vs Nodoka-oneesan Vs Maho Kurone Vs Marika Kobashi Vs Yuna Manase Vs Mizuki Vs Cherry

The Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title found its way to Tokyo Joshi Pro when the zombie girl Maho Kurone ended Joey Ryan’s international title reigns. Since then the belt did its thing and made its way through the roster until Cherry surprisingly got involved and won the title. Until now Cherry has had little to nothing to do with Tokyo Joshi, at least publicly as far as I know. But her determination to be the Iron Man Champion led her to show up and win the belt. So when it looked like Cherry would be the defending champion going into this Battle Royal she lost the belt to the brand’s general manager Tetsuya Koda at a fan club event. Koda claims that he wanted to guarantee the title would be staying in Tokyo Joshi and he would have passed the belt over to one of the girls. However he thinks all of them are equally cute so he couldn’t decide who deserves it most. His solution is to keep the belt for himself! It later turns out that Koda is going to a handshaking event starring singer Maria Makino later this month and he wants to impress her with a nice, shiny championship belt wrapped around him. Unfortunately for Koda, him being the champion means that he now qualifies as an active wrestler and he must enter the Battle Royal to defend the title! Further more, the joshi are pissed that he looked past all of them for a hopeless attempt at impressing some singer.

1. Yuki Ino Debut Match: Kouki Iwasaki & Yuki Ino Vs Naomi Yoshimura & Yuki Ueno

Yuki Ino is the latest in the growing line of DDT rookies to debut on the big stage. The 22 year old university rugby player had several opportunities from other sports on offer but he chose instead to go with pro wrestling. He is pretty strong with reports that he can bench press 205kg, dead lift 300kg and leg press 560kg. He bragged about smashing past the opposition on the rugby pitch and he will do the same in the ring. The kind of attitude might not mesh with another big ego standing on the other side, like say Naomi Yoshimura. The young brute is throwing bodies aside so he can claim to be the new ace of DNA. Now that somebody else of his size has entered the fray things will get interesting indeed.

2. KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles: Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata, Joey Ryan, Saki Akai & Yoshihiko Vs Makoto Oishi, LiLiCo, Lady Beard, Super Sasadango Machine & Ken Ohka

I have one word for this: Overkill. You noticed how many wrestling promotions have established 6-Man Tag Team Titles recently? New Japan, DDT, Big Japan, Ring of Honor and Lucha Underground have all established such championships in the last couple of years. Dragon Gate has always had them so they can get away with it. Then the zombie corpse of FMW decided to come up with an 8-Man Tag Team Championship last year that has since vanished because, well, what do you expect from Atsushi Onita (Not a singles match that’s for sure)? Well, DDT decided to up the ante once more and create the KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles! This probably came about after watching too much Super Sentai because the title belts follow a similar colour scheme. Red, blue, yellow, green and pink belts are on the line for the winners. And what a line-up of insanity DDT has decided to bring in for the two teams!

Toru Owashi is the captain of the side featuring Kazuki Hirata, Joey Ryan, Saki Akai & Yoshihiko. Hirata has spent the year in muted limbo because his entrance song could not be used on DDT UNIVERSE. He was also deported from Japan and replaced by his Italian cousin Hirata Collection A.T. The cousin’s entrance song was also muted so he was no improvement. When Hirata returned he was told to record his own version of “TOKYO GO!”. Lo and behold he pulled it off! Joey Ryan is coming off of a heated feud with Daisuke Sasaki over pictures of his wife Laura James. Saki Akai’s been making allies with foreigners, learning English to team with them and serving beer inside an empty Tokyo Dome. She also has the right to be DDT general manager for a day. Yoshihiko has just been laying around doing its own thing.

The other team is being led by Makoto Oishi and mostly have a flair for live performances. LiLiCo returns to DDT after her romantic life within the company last year went haywire. Lady Beard hasn’t wrestled in DDT much this year but is always ready to sing his heart out. Super Sasadango Machine will undoubtedly have a PowerPoint presentation ready. Ken Ohka is coming in fresh off of winning the Ganbare☆Climax in his home promotion Ganbare☆Wrestling. There are so many questions to ask. Who will win? Will either team get along? Does Ken Ohka still have his “FUCK” hat? Can the belts combine to form a Megazord? Will this championship have a longer shelf life than the WWE UK Title? Who knows?

3. Ikemen Vs Idol! Handsome Humanity Battle: Jiro Kuroshio Vs Shunma Katsumata

We have two charmers here. The kind of people who light up any room they enter. Even though Shunma Katsumata got his start in DDT he first trained to wrestle in the dojo ran by the SMASH promotion. He never got to debut for them and he left before the company fell apart. Juro Kuroshio was also in that dojo and he did get his debut match. From their the two youngsters split apart. Kuroshio stayed with SMASH as it transformed into Wrestling New Classic, then when that went bust he jumped to WRESTLE-1 and became the lovable Ikemen he is today. Katsumata went to DDT where he was among the first generation of DNA wrestlers for the brand’s launch. He then became a pop idol as part of NωA. Now fate has brought them back together in a battle of handsome men. Kuroshio’s jacket Vs Katsumata’s singing. It’s possible Kuroshio’s entrance could last longer than the match. He likes to milk the chants by running through the audience and Sumo Hall is a big building.

4. Special 4 Way Tag Match: Kaz Hayashi & Keisuke Ishii Vs Isami Kodaka & Yuko Miyamoto Vs Mike Bailey & MAO Vs Kotaro Suzuki & Soma Takao

Four teams are thrown together, maybe we’ll get some No. 1 Contenders out of it. Keisuke Ishii removed a ghost from his past by going back to the All Japan Dojo he left many years ago to train with Kaz Hayashi. He was taught how to properly use Hayashi’s finisher the Final Cut but he has yet to use it in DDT. Isami Kodaka has been busy running Pro Wrestling BASARA but he is stopping by with his usual Yankii Ni Cho Kenji partner Yuko Miyamoto. Miyamoto is here as part of Smile Squash for the upcoming Dramatic General Election so he’ll be looking for fan votes. Mike Bailey became cocky when he won a Right To Challenge Contract but has been a bit aimless when his cash in left him empty handed. He teamed with MAO once in July and are teaming again here. Kotaro Suzuki & Soma Takao seems to be a random pairing. Takao is still undefeated at “PETER PAN” with an 8-0 record. But given the number of teams in this match it is the biggest threat yet to his streak. Like I said earlier, I expect the winners will be chasing after a tag team championship afterwards.

5. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi (c) Vs Dick Togo, Yasu Urano & Antonio Honda

Maybe I shouldn’t have trashed the idea of trios championships earlier. Then I look at the title history and see that Shuten-dōji became 6 time champions in the space of 3 years. If it wasn’t for the Iron Man Title, this right here would be the hot potato of DDT. Still, a championship is worth fighting for (King Of Dark excluded) and the challenging team are no slouches. Dick Togo is back for a special appearance with two of his guys. Yasu Urano is no longer affiliated with DDT but still shows up for shows like these. Antonio Honda is here to talk about Gon, The Little Fox. What is Gon’s story anyway? Maybe I can fill out the rest of this preview with the tale and hope that nobody would notice.

…
…
…

You know what, I just looked it up and it’s best that I don’t tell it. Poor Gon, he only wanted to help…

6. DDT 20th Anniversary Weapons Rumble – All Rights Contra Marriage: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Danshoku Dino

Something drastic needed to be done for this special celebration of DDT’s 20 years of existence. Two of DDT’s most important figures will clash and the stakes are as high as they could be for both of them. Sanshiro Takagi has done it all. He created DDT and over two decades built it up to where they now run buildings the size of Sumo Hall on an annual basis. He even got to headline the Tokyo Dome this year… in an empty arena match. Anyway despite his hard work paying off, somebody out there thinks a better job can be done. Danshoku Dino believes Takagi has taken DDT as far as he can and it’s time for a new leader to take over. Dino should be that leader. So his stipulation is simple. If Dino beats Takagi, Dino takes over DDT! In order for this to go ahead, Takagi had to think of something for Dino to do if he lost. Inspiration struck when Takagi had a private conversation with Dino’s mother. Dino turned 40 years old this year he is still single. His mother is worried that he will live the rest of his life alone because there are not that many gay wrestlers available for him to date. A lightbulb went off inside Takagi’s head and he promised to help her. If Takagi beats Dino then Dino must go and get married!

So those are the stakes. One man’s wrestling empire against another man’s bachelorhood. Such an important match needs important rules so DDT is bringing back the Weapon Rumble. Takagi is a veteran of the match facing The Great Sasuke in 2009, Minoru Suzuki in 2012 and Michael Nakazawa in 2014. Every few minutes a weapon is introduced to the match. What it is could be anything. Bicycles, a castle of chairs, boiling hot stew, giant mechanical fists and most importantly of all, famous wrestlers from outside of DDT could appear. Expect a couple of unpredictable cameos in this match.

DDT are already coming up with ideas if Dino loses and has to get married. Top of the pile is “Danshoku Terrace House”, a reality show where Dino is forced to live in a house with a bunch of other people from all around the world until he picks a partner. Another idea is “Danshoku Bachelor” where 25 men and women compete for Dino’s affections. Both DDT UNIVERSE and Samurai TV! are interested in getting the rights to the show.

7. DDT Extreme Title – Cabellera Contra Cabellera: Daisuke Sasaki (c) Vs Akito

Somebody’s going to get a haircut. Daisuke Sasaki has been a scrappy DDT Extreme Champion ever since he won it from Jun Kasai inside Saitama Super Arena. He fought Dick Togo to a 30 minute draw in an Ultimate Submission Match, beat Antonio Honda in a No DQ Match and had two defences against Joey Ryan, one being a Last Man Standing draw and the second being a Ladder Match which Sasaki won. His record as champion hasn’t been 100% but he’ll admit when he’s beaten. Akito has beaten him plenty this year including a singles win during the King Of DDT. Everytime Sasaki lost to Akito he would hand over the DDT Extreme Title to him and walk out of the ring. Akito would be happy to accept the championship if it was an authorised title transfer but a ring attendant would always take the belt away and give it back to Sasaki. It led to a brief period where Akito couldn’t figure out how the concept of championships in wrestling worked.

When the time came for Sasaki to nominate his challenger at Sumo Hall, his usual request for Candice LeRae was declined. Again. Akito came out to challenge him. Sasaki would accept but only if it was Cabellera Contra Cabellera. Hair Vs Hair! Akito agreed because he is willing to sacrifice anything to become a champion again. Sasaki is fine with that. He claims he doesn’t care about his own hair so he’s willing to risk it too. It led to a weird situation during last week’s press conference where both Sasaki and Akito tried to cut off their own hair to prove how much or little it meant to them. Amon Tsurumi had to stop both of them from ruining the stipulation.

The match itself will have No Disqualifications and can only end by either submission, knockout or TKO. Sasaki has more experience in Hardcore Matches but Akito realises he can now use objects to cause even more limb damage for his submission holds.

8. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Uchikomi! Presents: Shigehiro Irie & Kazusada Higuchi (c) Vs HARASHIMA & Naomichi Marufuji

Shigehiro Irie & Kazusada Higuchi will be the first to tell you they are not pretty boy ikemen wrestlers. They are bastards, guys, lads, YaroZ. The two have found success in the tag division since teaming together to represent the unconventional YaroZ sub-brand. Now as the KO-D Tag Team Champions they are challenged by the most powerful ikemen alliance of all. When Naomichi Marufuji was announced to wrestle on this show back in March I knew that he would be doing something with HARASHIMA. I though it was the perfect fit for him as an opponent. But they thought of a different idea and are instead teaming together. When HARASHIMA lost all of his remaining chances to headline Sumo Hall this year he told the wrestling media it was time for him to do something selfish. In previous years he did what was best for DDT but this year he wanted to do something for himself. Turns out it was to join forces with Marufuji and go after the Tag Titles. Plus there looks to be a business relationship being formed between DDT and NOAH. I mean DDT sent two thirds of NωA over for the NOAH Jr. Tag League. That’s kind of like giving your crush a mixtape.

While Marufuji’s appearance in the match would be interesting on its own, the other factor in the match is the rivalry between Irie and HARASHIMA. Poor Irie no matter how hard he tries just cannot beat HARASHIMA. Time after time, HARASHIMA has come out on top. It’s almost a certainty at this point. In their last meeting in June, HARASHIMA pinned Irie in under 3 minutes and Irie’s only reaction was to storm out straight back to the locker room. That has to be stuck in the back of Irie’s mind. Higuchi’s record against HARASHIMA is only a little better with a pinfall tag team victory earned back in April. History is in the challengers’ favour too. Whenever a high level DDT wrestler teams with a famous outside they usually win the KO-D Tag Team Titles. Examples include Shiro Koshinaka & Danshoku Dino, Daisuke Sekimoto & Masa Takanashi, MIKAMI & Tatsumi Fujinami and Yoshihiro Takayama & Danshoku Dino. The odds are against the champions but they wouldn’t be YaroZ if it were easy.

9. KO-D Openweight Title – Good Com Asset Presents: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Tetsuya Endo

This is going to be the definitive match of DDT’s current era. So much history to delve into here. Former friends, former tag team champions together, both have been built up for the last 3 years to be the next generation of stars to lead DDT into the future. Konosuke Takeshita has been described as a supernova ever since his debut match in 2012. You can hardly dream of a better road to the top. When you get a significant debut match held inside Budokan Hall you know there are high aspirations for your career. From there you get special one on one matches with Tatsumi Fujinami, Kenny Omega, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Kota Ibushi, Hiroshi Tanahashi, HARASHIMA, Isami Kodaka and Shuji Ishikawa all before he reaches 21 years of age. Then when he does turn 21 he wins the KO-D Openweight Title on his birthday. Like I said, it’s a dream come true. But while Takeshita has been positioned front and centre, his friend turned rival Tetsuya Endo took a different direction in his rise up to the main event spot.

While Endo and Takeshita were on a successful tag team run as the New Generation Combination, they fought each other several times with the KO-D Title as the reason. Whether it was a No. 1 Contender’s Match or a Championship Bout itself, the two were put in enough situations to find out who was better. And more often than not, Takeshita would win. As it currently stands Takeshita and Endo have had 9 single matches against each other in DDT. Takeshita won 6 of them (1 match was stopped when Endo dislocated his elbow), Endo won 2 and their last match was a draw. To make it even more frustrating for Endo, he couldn’t win the KO-D Title after two attempts while Takeshita achieved the goal with the same amount of opportunities. Endo ended up looking like the bridesmaid to Takeshita. So in July 2016 when Endo lost to Takeshita again, this time in a KO-D Title match, he was immediately approached by Daisuke Sasaki to join DAMNATION. When tempted with the promise that he would no longer be seen as a second class wrestler next to Takeshita, it didn’t take Endo long to make his decision and he willingly abandoned his friends to go down a darker path. Since then Endo has built on success while discarding his emotions. Although he’s been accused of faking his new nihilistic attitude to look cool, Endo can back up his actions with the success he’s earned since joining DAMNATION. The latest achievement was winning the 2017 King Of DDT tournament which leads us to the climactic main event at Sumo Hall.

So much has developed between Takeshita and Endo during the last year. Back in April we learned that 60 minutes was not enough to determine a winner between the two. Takeshita had been using the Cross Arm German Suplex for his most dramatic victories but he also developed a new Wrist Clutch Fisherman Buster called the Surprise Rose to put away his more recent challengers. If that’s not enough, Takeshita has one other big match move in his arsenal. He recently used the top turnbuckle Brainbustaaaaahhhhh!!!!! in tribute to his first opponent and inspiration El Generico. Endo meanwhile has turned the Shooting Star Press and Spanish Fly into killer moves. Endo won the King Of DDT with the Shooting Star Press. The grounded version of the Spanish Fly is called Tetsuya In The Sky and it has given him some unexpected quick victories. Then there is his top rope version the Tetsuya In The Sky With Diamonds to look out for. Is it now Endo’s time to shine or will Takeshita continue to shape the future of DDT? We won’t have to wait long to find out!

Comments Off on DDT “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2017 ~PETER PAN EVEN IF YOU BECOME 20 YEARS OLD PETER PAN~” Preview | Previews | Tagged: Akito, Daisuke Sasaki, Danshoku Dieno, DDT Extreme Championship, DDT Pro Wrestling, Dramatic Dream Team, HARASHIMA, Iron Man Heavymetalweight Championship, Kazusada Higuchi, King Of Dark Championship, KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Championship, KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship, KO-D Openweight Championship, KO-D Tag Team Championship, Konosuke Takeshita, Naomichi Marufuji, Ryogoku Kokugikan, Sanshiro Takagi, Shigehiro Irie, Sumo Hall, Tetsuya Endo, Wrestle Peter Pan | Permalink
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