DDT Around The World – May 2026

June 1, 2026

It happened. It’s now done. AEW finally made it to Konosuke Takeshita’s match with Kazuchika Okada and got Takeshita out of The Don Callis Family. At last we can move on with our lives and wait to see if Takeshita’s babyface turn will turn out to be more than just a lateral move. His wife Yuka Sakazaki got some more screentime on ROH this month including a PPV main event. MAO & Yoshihiko brought Kazuma Sumi along on their latest adventure in France, giving Sumi some invaluable overseas experience away from DDT. Chris Brookes gave Munetatsu Nakamura a similar opportunity with a wild weekend over in Manila. Will the summer provide even more wrestling to follow around the globe or can we all take a break for the World Cup? Yeah, yeah, yeah, it’s being ruined by American corporate greed and so on but Blue Lock seems to be timing their latest story arc to climax by the time the final takes place so that gives me something to look forward to after Ireland failed to qualify. Also getting to watch South Korea Vs Czech Republic at 3am is the kind of football sicko behavior that’s been missing in my life for a while.

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Videos

Konosuke Takeshita In AEW Playlist


AEW “DYNAMITE”, 13/05/2026
Harrah’s Cherokee Center, Asheville, North Carolina, USA

1. AEW World Title: Darby Allin (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita


ROH “SUPERCARD SHOWDOWN”, 14/05/2026
SoFi Center, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA

1. Athena, Billie Starkz & Marina Shafir Vs Yuka Sakazaki, Maya World, Lacey Lane


AEW “DOUBLE OR NOTHING”, 24/05/2026
Louis Armstrong Stadium, New York City, New York, USA

1. AEW International Title: Kazuchika Okada (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita


Kyle Fletcher BETRAYS Konosuke Takeshita! | AEW Double or Nothing 2026


AEW “COLLISION”, 30/05/2026
Propst Arena At Von Braun Center, Huntsville, Alabama, USA

1. AEW International Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Daniel Garcia

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Results


ROH “SUPERCARD SHOWDOWN”, 09/05/2026 (Aired 14/05/2026)
SoFi Center, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA

1. Athena, Billie Starkz & Marina Shafir defeated Yuka Sakazaki, Maya World, Lacey Lane when Athena pinned Lane after the Swanton Bomb from Starkz

So Ring Of Honor taped a few matches at the same indoor golf course AEW was at last month and they didn’t let Yuka Sakazaki loose around the place? That was a missed opportunity. Instead her warmup match for Survival Of The Fittest also involved some of the other participants Athena, Billie Starkz and Maya World. However a lot of Sakazaki’s time in this match was spent wrestling with Marina Shafir and also building up the hot tag to Lacey Lane. She also hit a big dive out of the ring onto Shafir and World but that left Lane fighting on her own. Starkz gave Lane the Swanton Bomb but not before Athena blind tagged herself in so she could get the pinfall and take the glory for herself.


AEW “DYNAMITE”, 13/05/2026
Harrah’s Cherokee Center, Asheville, North Carolina, USA

1. AEW World Title: Darby Allin (c) defeated Konosuke Takeshita with the Coffin Drop (15:29).
*V5 for Darby Allin.

Even though Takeshita’s match with Okada was already on the schedule, he was given a big detour a few weeks before the show by getting an AEW World Title shot. It was the latest defence in Darby Allin’s eventful title run where he crammed in many title defences into one month. Takeshita couldn’t get the job done fast enough so El Clon ran down to distract the ref while Don Callis handed Takeshita the Dynamite Diamond Ring to use as a weapon. Takeshita refused to use it and threw it away. Too bad moral victories don’t win you championships because Allin made his comeback after that which included a Coffin Drop to the outside and also the Scorpion Death Drop on top of the steel steps. He hit another Coffin Drop outside the ring but Takeshita wouldn’t be beaten that way. He tried to make a comeback of his own but Allin cut it off with the Scorpion Death Lock, keeping Takeshita down long enough to land one more Coffin Drop for the win.


ROH “SUPERCARD OF HONOR”, 15/05/2026
Wicomico Youth And Civic Center, Salisbury, Maryland, USA

1. ROH Women’s World Title – Survival Of The Fittest Match: Athena (c) defeated Maya World, Trish Adora, Zada Steel, Yuka Sakazaki and Billie Starkz (26:12).
1a. Athena eliminated Zayda Steel with a Rope-Assisted School Boy (5:01).
1b. Yuka Sakazaki eliminated Trish Adora with the Magical Merry-Go-Round (15:39).
1c. Billie Starkz eliminated Yuka Sakazaki with the Avalanche Star 10 (17:27).
1d. Maya World eliminated Billie Starkz with a Jackknife Pin (21:47).
1e. Athena eliminated Maya World with the O-Face from the Ladder (26:12).
*V36 for Athena.

This turned out to be a mess of a match. It turned into a Hardcore Match midway through because of the whole “No DQs In In X Way Match” booking cliche so Sakazaki got to do an American style plunder match for once. She also scored an elimination by pinning Trish Adora with the Magical Merry-Go-Round. Her time in the match came to an end a few minutes later when some high risk fighting ended with Sakazaki taking Starkz’s finisher from the top rope.


BAKA GAIJIN + FRIENDS “MNL”, 23/05/2026
Sari Sari Makati, Makati, Philippines
??? Fans

1. Zack Sabre Jr. & Chris Brookes defeated Hotdog De San Jose & Super P when Sabre submitted San Jose with a Manjigatame (?:??).
2. Main Ronn, Joya & Robienne Sane defeated Demonyitang Daniella Cavite, Crystal & Max Liwanag when Joya pinned Cavite with the Cutter (?:??).
3. Emman & “Mad Kat” Karina defeated Trainee Kenzo & Trainee Kiko when Emman pinned Kiko with the Styles Clash (?:??).
4. Jonathan Johnson defeated Munetatsu Nakamura with a Bridging Pin (?:??).
5. Jake De Leon & Shivam defeated Black Kat & Lifeguard Jack when De Leon pinned Black Kat with the Jumping Super Kick (?:??).

A report of the show can be found here.


GCW/BZW “NOW OR NEVER”, 23/05/2026
Espace Isabelle de Hainaut, Rue de Saint-Quentin, Bapaume, France

1. BZW Tag Team Titles – 3 Way Tag Match: MBM & Ultima Sombra defeated MAO & Yoshihiko (c) and Jimmy Lloyd & Jeffrey John when MBM pinned Yoshihiko with the Reincarnation Reversal (15:27).
*MAO & Yoshihiko fail in V8. Rivality become the 7th BZW Tag Team Champions!
2. DDT Universal Title – 3 Way Match: Kazuma Sumi (c) defeated Gringo Loco and Leedz Lewis when Sumi pinned Lewis with the Reverse 450 Splash (14:22).
*V2 for Kazuma Sumi.

Kazuma Sumi’s goal of defending the DDT Universal Title overseas finally came to pass this month. MAO got him booked for the BZW collab show with GCW in France. His match wasn’t an easy task at all because he had to fight the former Universal Champion Gringo Loco as well as French wrestler Leedz Lewis in a 3 Way bout where he could lose the title without being pinned. Sumi made the most of his moment and pinned Lewis with the Reverse 450 Splash to keep the belt and impress the fans in attendance. He said afterward that he now has a great sense of accomplishment because he can go do his style of wrestling anywhere in the world. He is eager to compete overseas again and spread his name around the planet.

The same success wasn’t there for MAO & Yoshihiko. Their year and a half long reign as BZW Tag Team Champions finally came to an end in a 3 Way Tag against a BZW team and a GCW team. Everybody brawled out of the venue and Yoshihiko did a dive off of a truck to put Jimmy Lloyd through a table. Rivality brought the belts back to their home promotion in the end when MBM found a counter to Yoshihiko’s finishing move, reversing the pin into one of his own for the three count. MAO feels happy that he got to wreak havoc in four different countries while holding the belts with Yoshihiko. His next goal in BZW is to win a singles championship so then some day DDT can hold a show in Europe!


DXCN “DAKILA II”, 24/05/2026
Brawl Pit Bulusan, Quezon City, Philippines

1. 4 Way Match: Robin Sane defeated Jonathan Johnson, Shaheen and Munetatsu Nakamura (?:??).
2. Dexcon World Title: Jake De Leon (c) defeated Chris Brookes (?:??).
*V5 for Jake De Leon.

Another packed weekend in the Philippines is in the books for Brookes. He wasn’t able to come back to Japan with another championship because Jake De Leon was able to defend his Dexcon World Title against him. Munetatsu Nakamura was also part of the Dexcon weekend, taking part in a high flying 4 Way Match where Robin Sane picked up the win over Shaheen.


AEW “DOUBLE OR NOTHING”, 24/05/2026
Louis Armstrong Stadium, New York City, New York, USA

1. AEW International Title: Konosuke Takeshita defeated Kazuchika Okada (c) with the Raging Fire (19:01).
*Kazuchika Okada fails in V10. Konosuke Takeshita becomes the 13th AEW International Champion!

Being at the show live I can tell you the building was very excited to see Okada Vs Takeshita happen with the match graphic on the pre-show getting one of the largest pops out of the lineup. The match was fantastic even with the Don Callis drama at ringside happening midway through. Callis tried to play neutral by telling Okada not to risk injuring Takeshita. While Okada reluctantly followed that instruction, Takeshita did not do the same when Callis gave him the same order. It still took a lot for Takeshita to finally beat Okada, countering the Rainmaker with his own Lariat and then hitting a big Elbow Strike when the Wagamama only got a one count. But when he finally used the Raging Fire there was no fight left in Okada to kick out and Takeshita became the new AEW International Champion! The sweet taste of victory was quickly spoiled when The Don Callis Family all looked to turn on Takeshita after the match. Kyle Fletcher made his big return from injury to hug Takeshita only to turn on him with a backstabbing attack, confirming that our guy is now kicked out of the Family.


AEW “COLLISION”, 30/05/2026
Propst Arena At Von Braun Center, Huntsville, Alabama, USA

1. AEW International Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) defeated Daniel Garcia with the Raging Fire (14:27).
*V1 for Konosuke Takeshita.

Takeshita had to get over the heartbreak of ProtoShita being split up by having his first International Title defence against Daniel Garcia. A wrestler like Garcia has some tricks up his sleeve, like countering Takeshita’s top rope Clothesline into an Arm Drag to the canvas where he then applied the Sharpshooter. Takeshita blocked a rolling cradle that would have set up another submission hold, turning it over to a German Suplex. The big Elbow Strike after that set up the Raging Fire and Takeshita got his first defence in the bag, all while Jon Moxley was watching on from the commentary table. Members of The Don Callis Family ran into the ring to attack Takeshita after the match while outside the ring the Death Riders and Shane Taylor Promotions all suddenly appeared to brawl with each other. If that wasn’t chaotic enough, The Conglomeration entered the fight and cleared the room so it was only them and Takeshita left in the ring. So we end the month with Takeshita finding a new bunch of friends (or an old friend in Mike Bailey’s case).

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Upcoming Appearances


EVE “EVE 150: HISTORY MAKERS RULE BREAKERS!”, 05/06/2026
Big Penny Social, London, England

1. EVE International Title: Kris Statlander (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita

Right, let’s get things out of the way before the World Cup starts. Miyu Yamashita returns to EVE very soon hoping to win gold there again, this time fighting Kris Statlander from AEW for the EVE International Title. As much as I would love to see a result here that follows up from Yamashita’s match with Jamie Hayter last time around, I’m not sure if that’s something EVE is planning for.


WXW “DRIVE OF CHAMPIONS 2026”, 06/06/2026
Turbinenhalle 1, Oberhausen, Germany

1. Ahura & Jun Akiyama Vs 1 Called Manders & Thomas Shire

Germany welcomes Jun Akiyama for the weekend where he will meet Ahura to team up against Cowboy Way.


CMLL “FANTASTICA MANIA 2026”, 19/06/2026
Arena Mexico, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

1. Konosuke Takeshita Vs X

It is CMLL’s turn to host “FANTASTICA MANIA” and Konosuke Takeshita will be there on behalf of New Japan.


SETUP “HELLRAISER”, 27/06/2026
The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand

1. Hardcore Unsanctioned Anything Goes Match: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Jonathan Johnson

The travelling is not ending yet for Daisuke Sasaki. A few weeks after he is done with Best Of The Super Jr. he will be going over to Thailand for a SETUP show. Jonathan Johnson threw out a challenge recently to prove he is one of the best wrestlers in his corner of the world. Sasaki answered his challenge and wants it to be unsanctioned so anything goes!


DDT Around The World – Late April 2026

May 1, 2026

I haven’t gotten around to looking into what happened on Tokyo Joshi Pro’s two European shows outside of the basic results. All I know is Miyu Yamashita has more plans coming up to wrestle across the world this year. While she doesn’t have to wait long until she packs her suitcase again, Daisuke Sasaki is emptying his after finishing up his month long journey across North America. He found a few more places in America to wrestle in before he made the trip back home.

It’s a little hard to tell if the summer is going to get busier for overseas bookings. Is there much of an appetite for international wrestling when the World Cup is going to be on? CMLL is counting on it and Konosuke Takeshita has at least one date with them in June. I’m going to curse out the company if they use their AI poster art to make him look like a Captain Tsubasa drawing.

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Videos

Konosuke Takeshita In AEW Playlist


LUCHA WRESTLING PURORESU “LUCHA LIBRE MEXICANA”, 19/04/2026
Xander Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Drago, Genio del Aire & Torito Negro Vs Doble Cara, Daisuke Sasaki & Ultimo Maldito

Video starts at 1:48:50
LABOR OF LOVE “THE EXHIBITION”, 25/04/2026
Icebox Project Space, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1. Anything Goes: Big Callux Vs Daisuke Sasaki

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Results


LUCHA WRESTLING PURORESU “LUCHA LIBRE MEXICANA”, 19/04/2026
Xander Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Drago, Genio del Aire & Torito Negro defeated Doble Cara, Daisuke Sasaki & Ultimo Maldito when Drago pinned Sasaki with the Tail Of The Dragon (?:??).

Sasaki is one of the more likely DDT wrestlers to go in search of lucha libre when he travels over to the Americas. He didn’t go visit Mexico this time around but he got down there close enough by getting a lucha booking in LA. While there he got to lock horns with Drago as part of a trios match. Sasaki and his rudo partners beat down the other team and held Torito Negro in the Kaientai pose. Genio del Aire tried to make a big counter attack by doing a jumping Hurricanrana to Ultimo Maldito from the human tower only to crash on top of his own head and neck in a disasterous looking botch. Drago inspired the tecnico team’s comeback and both of his partners Moonsaulted out of the ring onto Doble Cara & Maldito. That left Sasaki to duke it out with Drago but he was whipped around into the Tail Of The Dragon llave pin, losing the match to the veteran luchador.


EVE/TOKYO JOSHI PRO “EVE X TJPW”, 25/04/2026
Big Penny Social, London, England
??? Fans

1. EVE International Title Next Contender Tournament – Round 1: Shoko Nakajima defeated Hollie Barlow (?:??).
2. EVE International Title Next Contender Tournament – Round 1: Miyu Yamashita defeated Aliss Ink (?:??).
3. Rhio defeated Hyper Misao (?:??).
4. Session Moth Martina & Aliss Ink defeated Lucy Sky & Yuki Aino when Martina pinned Sky (?:??).
5. EVE International Title Next Contender Tournament – Final: Miyu Yamashita defeated Shoko Nakajima (?:??).

The complete results will eventually be found here once I get around to watching the show.


LABOR OF LOVE “THE EXHIBITION”, 25/04/2026
Icebox Project Space, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1. Anything Goes: Big Callux defeated Daisuke Sasaki with the Black Hole Slam (?:??).

The final stopping point for Sasaki was at The City Of Brotherly Love. Too bad Sasaki hates love because all it ever did was hurt him. The Philly indie scene isn’t what it used to be and hasn’t been for a very long time. But Labor Of Love has popped up to try and find its place in a world that has long since moved on from the days when the corner of Swanson and Ritner St was considered the centrepoint of the American indies. Sasaki went to Philadelphia for a fight with Big Callux where before the match the stipulation was revealed to be Anything Goes. Callux brought along a bag of gifts for Sasaki that included a Gritty toy. Sasaki ripped it in half and threw the remains into the crowd! Callux then gave Sasaki a bouquet of roses but Sasaki just attacked him with them. More fighting broke out with a chair, a chain and also a hockey stick being used as weapons. Sasaki got into the hockey vibes by putting on a Pittsburgh Penguins jersey to piss off the Philly fans even more. He tried to put Callux in the Crossface Lock with the chain to assist him but Callux powered out of it. Sasaki then got the upper hand by unmasking Callux as a distraction to hit him over the head with the chair and then Pedigree him onto it. Callux kicked out though and threw Sasaki from the top rope onto the chair laid out in the middle of the ring. He then hit the Black Hole Slam to win the match, much like how the Philadelphia Flyers went on to win the series against the Penguins in the NHL playoffs a couple of days later.


SAJ/TOKYO JOSHI PRO “SAJ X TJPW”, 26/04/2026
Centro Sport Cesate, Milan, Italy

1. Mirko Mori, Nico Inverardi & Adriano Vs Goro, Merak & Spencer
2. Yuki Aino Vs Irene
3. Shoko Nakajima Vs Kanji
4. Sebastian De Witt Vs Miyu Yamashita
5. SAJ & ASCA Tag Team Titles: Mike Bird & Crimi (c) Vs Rhio & Cory Zero
6. SAJ Openweight Title: Lupo (c) Vs Kouga

Similar to the other TJPW show, I have to go seek out video of this show and when I do, you will find the proper report here.

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Upcoming Appearances


ROH “SUPERCARD OF HONOR”, 15/05/2026
Wicomico Youth And Civic Center, Salisbury, Maryland, USA

1. ROH Women’s World Title – Survival Of The Fittest Match: Athena (c) Vs Yuka Sakazaki Vs Trish Adora Vs Billie Starkz Vs Persephone Vs Maya World

All of the competitors have been confirmed and it’s official. Yuka Sakazaki is among the six wrestlers entering Ring Of Honor’s annual Survival Of The Fittest elimination match. Athena’s reign as ROH Women’s World Champion has reached preposterous levels of record breaking in terms of length. Seriously is this the longest running championship reign with so few highlights to exist in modern times?


BAKA GAIJIN + FRIENDS “MNL”, 23/05/2026
Sari Sari Makati, Makati, Philippines

1. Hotdog De San Jose & Super P Vs Zack Sabre Jr. & Chris Brookes

The first match announced for the show has Chris Brookes teaming up with Zack Sabre Jr. again, bringing SchadenTekkers over to the Philippines. Super P has found a sort of familiar looking super friend in Hotdog De San Jose which means together they are Team SuperHotdog!


GCW/BZW “NOW OR NEVER”, 23/05/2026
Espace Isabelle de Hainaut, Rue de Saint-Quentin, Bapaume, France

1. BZW Tag Team Titles – 3 Way Tag Match: MAO & Yoshihiko (c) Vs MBM & Ultima Sombra Vs Jimmy Lloyd & Jeffrey John

It’s the biggest risk of danger yet for MAO & Yoshihiko in their travels around Europe. They are stuck in the middle of the BZW Vs GCW battle coming up in France and both sides want to take the BZW Tag Team Titles away from them. In the 3 Way Match BZW are sending in Rivality. They are familiar faces to the champions because MBM & Ultima Sombra did a tour in Japan with DDT last year. GCW will be represented by Jimmy Lloyd & Jeffrey John. Gotta be honest they’re not really sending their best into the fight here. Like they have Nick Gage & Vipress teaming up in one of the other matches. That team sounds like a threat!


DXCN “DAKILA II”, 24/05/2026
Brawl Pit Bulusan, Quezon City, Philippines

1. 4 Way Match: Jonathan Johnson Vs Robin Sane Vs Shaheen Vs Munetatsu Nakamura
2. Chris Brookes Vs X

It’s likely that Munetatsu Nakamura will be part of the Baka Gaijin in Manila show as well but for now he’s just been announced for the Dexcon show happening the next day. Even if this turns out to be his only match of the weekend it is still his first overseas expedition which is exciting enough by itself.


AEW “DOUBLE OR NOTHING”, 24/05/2026
Louis Armstrong Stadium, New York City, New York, USA

1. AEW International Title: Kazuchika Okada (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita

Here we go, here we go, here we go! Shenanigans spoiled the previous singles match Takeshita had with Kazuchika Okada and let’s face it, shenanigans will likely happen again. But stakes are still high and the feud is finally heading towards its breaking point. Surely this has to be the blowoff with one of them getting kicked out of The Don Callis Family at the end, right?


EVE “EVE 150: HISTORY MAKERS RULE BREAKERS!”, 05/06/2026
Big Penny Social, London, England

1. EVE International Title: Kris Statlander (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita

The tournament that Yamashita won at the EVE x TJPW show made her the No. 1 Contender for the EVE International Title. She held their main championship during her big push there back in 2023. Is history going to repeat itself when she fights Kris Statlander from AEW for EVE’s other singles title?


WXW “DRIVE OF CHAMPIONS 2026”, 06/06/2026
Turbinenhalle 1, Oberhausen, Germany

1. Ahura & Jun Akiyama Vs 1 Called Manders & Thomas Shire

Is Ahura still going to be in wXw by the time this match happens? He was at the WWE European tryout this past week.


CMLL “FANTASTICA MANIA 2026”, 19/06/2026
Arena Mexico, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

1. Konosuke Takeshita Vs X

Takeshita heads back to Mexico this summer when CMLL holds their version of the “FANTASTICA MANIA” series with New Japan.


DDT Around The World – February 2025

March 1, 2025

Are you sure that everybody wans Mina Shirakawa? Because this month it sure looked like everybody wanted Konosuke Takeshita! He had a big month in AEW, he has big matches coming up in New Japan soon, he wrestled a bunch of times on a cruise and right when it looked like he would have a break, CMLL came calling out for him. If you’re the type who keeps track of any Wrestler Of The Year contenders, Takeshita’s work in February should put him up near the top as an early frontrunner.

He’ll have more to do over the coming months but March will see the Tokyo Joshi Pro side of things take more of the spotlight. Miyu Yamashita has a packed weekend in Europe coming up and Yuki Kamifuku will continue to gift with Southeast Asia her presence. Then in April it’s the big one. Wrestlemania Week! I’ll need to find the time to write a big piece about what DDT and TJPW will be doing during that period.

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Videos

Konosuke Takeshita In AEW Playlist


AEW “DYNAMITE”, 05/02/2025
Gateway Center Arena, College Park, Georgia, USA

1. International All-Star Tag Match: Brody King & Buddy Matthews Vs Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher


AEW “GRAND SLAM AUSTRALIA”, 15/02/2025
Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane, Australia

1. Will Ospreay & Kenny Omega Vs Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher


AEW “DYNAMITE”, 26/02/2025
Frontwave Arena, Oceanside, California, USA

1. AEW International Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Orange Cassidy


CMLL “VIERNES ESPECTACULAR”, 28/02/2025
Arena Mexico, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

1. NEVER Openweight Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Ángel de Oro


“Quiero enfrentar a Blue Panther/Ángel de Oro fue un gran rival”

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Results


JERICHO CRUISE “CHRIS JERICHO’S ROCK ‘N’ WRESTLING RAGER – SIX ON THE BEACH – NIGHT 2”, 01/02/2025
Norwegian Pearl Cruise Ship

1. Will Ospreay & Komander defeated Konosuke Takeshita & Lance Archer (?:??).

I don’t have much to write about for Takeshita’s remaining matches that happened during the Jericho Cruise. But hey some of these sound really good on paper, right? At least this match here gave attendees a taste of what Will Ospreay and Takeshita’s tag match in Australia happening later in the month would be like. Lance Archer probably bounced Komander around like a basketball too.


JERICHO CRUISE “CHRIS JERICHO’S ROCK ‘N’ WRESTLING RAGER – SIX ON THE BEACH – NIGHT 3”, 02/02/2025
Norwegian Pearl Cruise Ship

1. Konosuke Takeshita, Brian Cage & Lance Archer defeated Daniel Garcia, Mark Briscoe & Jay Lethal (?:??).

Like this one for example. It would be great if footage of this shows up somewhere. Takeshita, Archer & Brian Cage all teaming up together against Daniel Garcia, Mark Briscoe & Jay Lethal is the kind of match on paper that would have carried Night 3 of a packed indies weekend we used to get a decade ago.


JERICHO CRUISE “CHRIS JERICHO’S ROCK ‘N’ WRESTLING RAGER – SIX ON THE BEACH – NIGHT 4”, 03/02/2025
Norwegian Pearl Cruise Ship

1. Konosuke Takeshita, Brian Cage & Lance Archer defeated Bandido, Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd (?:??).

The last day of the Jericho Cruise had The Don Callis Family still together against the weird mix of Bandido & The Outrunners. I don’t know how much Takeshita would be into the retro 80s American vibe that The Outrunners bring with them. That’s more up Antonio Honda’s alley.


AEW “DYNAMITE”, 05/02/2025
Gateway Center Arena, College Park, Georgia, USA

1. International All-Star Tag Match: Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher defeated Brody King & Buddy Matthews when Fletcher pinned King after an Assisted Brainbuster (14:15).

There was one last warmup match for Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher before they headed off to Australia. Here they took on the newly renamed Hounds Of Hell. They are the former House Of Black now without Malakai Black involved because he finally made his exit from the company. The challenge in this match was how much it took to put away the immovable force that is Brody King. Takeshita & Fletcher were able to get rid of Buddy Matthews no problem but when it came to King they had to throw everything at him but he wouldn’t stay down. Takeshita had to assist Fletcher with a Vertical Drop Brainbuster to keep the big guy down for the pinfall.


TOKYO JOSHI PRO “AEX32 SANTIAGO 2025”, 09/02/2025
Estación Mapocho Cultural Center, Santiago, Chile
??? Fans

1. Casey defeated Moka Miyamoto with a Loaded Backpack Attack (7:43).
2. Aja Kong defeated Roma with the Uraken (8:55).
3. Princess Tag Team Titles: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh (c) defeated Sara Phoenix & Pandora when Yamashita pinned Phoenix with the Skull Kick (18:19).
*V4 for 121000000.

A report for the show can be found here.


AEW “GRAND SLAM AUSTRALIA”, 15/02/2025
Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane, Australia

1. Will Ospreay & Kenny Omega defeated Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher when Omega pinned Takeshita after the Hidden Blade/One-Winged Angel Combination (21:20).

Talk about a match that delivered! The big tag match in Australia went ahead and ended with something we haven’t seen in a while: Takeshita taking a pinfall loss. It took a combination of the Hidden Blade and One-Winged Angel being mashed together like a Doomsday Device for it to happen which should wind up becoming one of the most memorable match finishes of the year. The aftermath confirmed there is more to come. Ospreay and Fletcher have their own feud moving ahead while Kenny Omega announced his intentions to go after Takeshita’s AEW International Title.


AEW “DYNAMITE”, 26/02/2025
Frontwave Arena, Oceanside, California, USA

1. AEW International Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) defeated Orange Cassidy with the Raging Fire (12:30).
*V8 for Konosuke Takeshita.

But first AEW had to go the long route to set up the match. Before Takeshita goes to a big title match with Omega he first had to beat Orange Cassidy in a with the belt on the line. Takeshita took a table bump when Cassidy dropped him on top of the announce desk with the Beach Break. He was still in danger after getting hit with the Orange Punch and also a Flying DDT outside the ring. But Cassidy made the big mistake of climbing the top turnbuckle. And whenever Takeshita’s opponent jumps off the top turnbuckle there is an Elbow Strike waiting right for them upon landing. There were still some very close calls to come but Takeshita caught the Orange Punch and countered it into the Raging Fire for the win. Don Callis then rubbed salt on the wound by putting Cassidy’s sunglasses onto Takeshita after the match.


CMLL “VIERNES ESPECTACULAR”, 28/02/2025
Arena Mexico, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

1. NEVER Openweight Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) defeated Ángel de Oro with the Raging Fire (?:??).
*V4 for Konosuke Takeshita.

The month ended with Takeshita’s first time in the hallowed grounds of lucha libre known as Arena Mexico. CMLL made it a big deal that he was coming over to wrestle on their famed Friday night show on short notice and offered up Ángel de Oro as a challenger for the NEVER Openweight Title. So this was put together more through CMLL’s relationship with NJPW rather than AEW. Or maybe it’s both at this point because Rocky Romero is the connection point and his backstage connections run pretty deep nowadays. The match itself unintentionally ended up becoming bloody after de Oro suffered a hand injury of some sort. With only one fall needed to win rather than the traditional two, Takeshita came out on top after the two went back and forth with big moves until the Raging Fire brought things to an end.

Backstage Takeshita was asked by reporters who else in CMLL he would like to wrestle? He told a story about the first wrestling show he ever attended when he was a child. It was an Osaka Pro show and the merchandise he bought at the show was a Blue Panther mask. That is his first ever wrestling memory in general so perhaps one day he will cross paths with Blue Panther or a member of his family in the ring.

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Upcoming Appearances


SPW “UNCHAINED”, 07/03/2025
Foo Chow Building, Singapore

1. Yuki Kamifuku & The Statement Vs Alexis Lee & Da Butcherman

An alliance seems to have formed between Yuki Kamifuku and The Statement over in Singapore Pro Wrestling. Maybe the two champions believe it is in their best interests to be on the same side when some familiar rivals are marching forth towards them again. The Statment and Da Butcherman have fought each other plenty of times before. So too have Kamifuku and Alexis Lee. So now the next step is to throw them all in the ring at the same time.


EVE “WOMEN BEHAVING BADLY”, 07/03/2024
The Big Penny Social, London, England

1. Session Moth Martina Vs Miyu Yamashita

A busy weekend in Europe sees Miyu Yamashita wrestling in three countries. First up she is heading back to EVE in England where she will present herself as a big challenge for Session Moth Martina to overcome.


RCW “MARCH MADNESS”, 08/03/2024
Casinet de Hostafrancs, Barcelona, Spain

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Amale

Then on the Saturday Yamashita returns to Spain for her first appearance in RCW since October 2022. Her opponent will be French wrestler and former NXT UK performer Amale.


WXW “16 CARAT GOLD – NIGHT 3”, 09/03/2025
Turbinenhalle, Oberhausen, Germany

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X

Yamashita finishes off the weekend with an appearance at wXw on the last day of the 16 Carat Gold tournament. Unless wXw announces her match beforehand it is a complete roll of the dice who she gets to face at the show.


AEW “REVOLUTION”, 09/03/2025
Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. AEW International Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Kenny Omega

It took 18 months to get here but we’re finally back on track to having another Takeshita Vs Omega match. I’m not going to sugar coat it. I think the title reign ends here and Takeshita’s priorities are about to switch over to New Japan for the spring and summer months.


MLW “BATTLE RIOT VII”, 05/04/2025
The Commerce, California, USA

1. MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title: Delmi Exo (c) Vs Shoko Nakajima

I think we know what to expect here. MLW brings in a Tokyo Joshi Pro wrestler, in this case Shoko Nakajima, and they lose to their women’s champion, in this case Delmi Exo. Although that was done a lot when Janai Kai was the champ so who knows? Maybe Nakajima takes the title from Exo and ends her second reign before it can properly take off.


NJPW “WINDY CITY RIOT”, 11/04/2025
Wintrust Arena, Chicago, Illinois, USA

1. Hiroshi Tanahashi Last Match In The USA Final Road ~Kinship~: Hiroshi Tanahashi Vs KONOSUKE TAKESHITA

I know Hiroshi Tanahashi is getting an IWGP World Heavyweight Title shot at New Japan’s anniversary show in March. And NJPW have announced there will be IWGP Title matches taking place in their next two shows in America. Hmmm…. Alright, alright, that’s just wishful thinking on my part. Although I can see the NEVER Title being on the line when Tanahashi and Takeshita clash in Chicago.


PANDEMONIUM PRO “THE HOUSE ALWAYS WINS”, 17/04/2025
Fremont Country Club, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. Maya World Vs Miu Watanabe

At the moment it doesn’t seem like there will be any other DDT or TJPW talent appearing on the show. So it’s just going to be Miu Watanabe having a match here by the looks of it.


WEST COAST PRO “VEGAS VACATION”, 17/04/2025
Meet Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. MAO Vs Jiah Jewell

Later in the afternoon MAO will be at the West Coast Pro show and the promotion are promising the opponent is just as crazy as he is! Jiah Jewell has made it his goal to “Gator Roll The World” and that sounds like the fucked up wrestling MAO likes to fight for.


GCW “JOSH BARNETT’S BLOODSPORT XIII”, 17/04/2025
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. Shinya Aoki Vs X

No surprise to see Shinya Aoki getting added to the show. The funny thing is the match he’s having on the DDT show would have made much more sense to happen on the Bloodsport show!

Yamashita also returns to Bloodsport for a second go around.


TOKYO JOSHI PRO “QUERI PRESENTS TJPW LIVE IN LAS VEGAS”, 18/04/2025
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. International Princess Title: Suzume (c) Vs X
2. Princess Tag Team Titles: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh (c) Vs X & X
3. Princess Of Princess Title: Mizuki (c) Vs X

The card will begin to take shape right after “GRAND PRINCESS ’25” is over and done with. What we do know for now is there will be championship matches for the Princess Of Princess Title, the Princess Tag Team Titles and the International Princess Title.


DDT “DDT GOES LAS VEGAS!”, 18/04/2025
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. Special Single Match: Antonio Honda Vs Santana Jackson
2. Special Single Match: Shinya Aoki Vs Timothy Thatcher

Like I said above, doesn’t Shinya Aoki Vs Timothy Thatcher sound more like a Bloodsport match than a DDT match? Now Antonio Honda Vs Santana Jackson, that’s a match you’re absolutely not going to see anywhere else.


DDT/TOKYO JOSHI PRO/GCW “DDT VS TJPW VS GCW”, 19/04/2025
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

I really don’t know what the vibe and turnout for this show will be when it happens right slap bang in between the big NXT show and the first night of WrestleMania.


BLACK LABEL PRO “BLP AT SCX III”, 25/04/2025
The Wyndham, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. Danhausen & Maki Itoh Vs Davey Bang & August Matthews

Very cute, very evil and back teaming up again. Danhausen & Maki Itoh reunite as Makihausen for a tag match against Bang And Matthews over at Black Label Pro.


CMLL/LADYS RING “LUCHA FIESTA ESPECIAL”, 27/04/2025
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

1. Octagon & El Hijo del Octagon Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Pantera Jr.

So this is happening in Japan but since it is a one off lucha libre show that is disconnected from everything else going on I decided to include it in this series. This is the Sumo Hall show that made headlines for announcing the debut of a new Hayabusa. One of the lucha matches originally booked for the show was a 3 Way Match between Octagon, El Hijo del Octagon and Pantera Jr. However Daisuke Sasaki crashed one of the press conferences demanding to be part of the show because of his lucha skills. The promoters decided to let him in so he gets to team with Pantera Jr. against the two (kayfabe?) generations of Octagon.


NJPW “RESURGENCE”, 09/05/2025
Toyota Arena, Ontario, California, USA

1. KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs X

Probably another New Japan title defence for Takeshita when he goes to California in May. Hopefully it’s with the IWGP Ti-okay, okay, I’ll give it a break.


DDT Around The World – January 2025

February 1, 2025

A new year means new adventures and a fresh sense of excitement to go exploring again. Konosuke Takeshita now has work with New Japan to deal with alongside his AEW duties. It’s opened up a whole new group of opponents to fight in America as well as Japan, especially since he has a championship in each company he wants to defend often. Yuka Sakazaki had a very big month by taking part in a special retirement match and also getting a big chance to do some things on AEW TV. But now that has come and gone I worry that she’s going to vanish from the shows again. Yuki Kamifuku is continuing her series of matches with Alexis Lee across Southeast Asia. Maki Itoh went on tour across the world with GCW but sadly lost her championship along the way.

A lot more destinations are coming up in the Springtime. Chile gets to experience Tokyo Joshi Pro on their own soil, Takeshita gets a very big tag match in Australia, Miyu Yamashita gets to wrestle in Germany for the first time and all roads will be leading us towards the bright lights of Las Vegas. I know I got the tickets I want for Wrestlemania Week.

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Videos

Konosuke Takeshita In AEW Playlist


IWA Thailand/SETUP “BANGKOK NAVIGATION”, 18/01/2025
The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand

1. IWA Japan World Heavyweight Title Tournament – Qualifying Match: Masahiro Takanashi Vs Jonathan Johnson

AEW “COLLISION – HOMECOMING”, 25/01/2025
Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida, USA


1. TBS Title No. 1 Contender 4 Way Match: Queen Aminata Vs Deonna Purazzo Vs Yuka Sakazaki Vs Serena Deeb


2. AEW International Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Katsuyori Shibata


AEW “DYNAMITE”, 29/01/2025
Propst Arena At Von Braun Center, Huntsville, Alabama, USA

1. TBS Title: Mercedes Moné (c) Vs Yuka Sakazaki

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Results


NJPW “WRESTLE KINGDOM 19 IN TOKYO DOME”, 04/01/2025
Tokyo Dome, Japan
24,107 Fans

1. NEVER Openweight Title & AEW International Title: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA (I/c) defeated Shingo Takagi (N/c) with the Raging Fire (11:42).
*V5 for KONOSUKE TAKESHITA. Shingo Takagi fails in V2. Becomes the 47th/11th Champion!

I already wrote about Takeshita’s big weekend at the Tokyo Dome. You can read it here.


NJPW/AEW/CMLL/STARDOM/ROH “WRESTLE DYNASTY”, 05/01/2025
Tokyo Dome, Japan
16,300 Fans

1. NEVER Openweight Title & AEW International Title: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA (c/c) defeated Tomohiro Ishii with the Raging Fire (13:30).
*V1 for NEVER Openweight Title. V6 for AEW International Title.

Same as above.


SPW “CHAMPIONS NEVER YIELD 3”, 10/01/2025
Foo Chow Building, Singapore

1. Queen Of Asia Title: Yuki Kamifuku (c) defeated Alexis Lee with the Diving Famouser (?:??).
V6 for Yuki Kamifuku.

As far as I know it was just the Queen Of Asia Title that was on the line for Kamifuku’s latest appearance at Singapore Pro Wrestling. Her rivalry with Alexis Lee may have turned friendly but Lee still wants to win that title back. Kamifuku was able to beat her again for another title defence. It also won’t be the last time this year they fight each other in SPW. More on that later.


NJPW “BATTLE IN THE VALLEY”, 11/01/2025
San Jose Civic, San Jose, California, USA

1. Sumie Sakai Retirement Match – Tornado Tag Match: Hiromu Takahashi, Mayu Iwatani & Yuka Sakazaki defeated Sumi Sakai, EVIL & SHO when Takahashi pinned Sakai with the TIME BOMB (14:42).
2. NEVER Openweight Title: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA (c) defeated KUSHIDA with the Raging Fire (15:08).
*V2 for KONOSUKE TAKESHITA.

With a new path forged in New Japan, Takeshita went to fight for the company over in America. California was the place where his next NEVER Openweight Title defence was scheduled. KUSHIDA was his challenger in his latest attempt to take on the heavyweights. His gameplan was to start with breaking down Takeshita’s arm before switching to his legs with sweeping Leg Kicks. The plan worked in that it did weaken Takeshita’s moveset and made the match more competitive than first it looked on paper. But Takeshita was able to stand tall in the end and put away KUSHIDA. Takeshita then went ahead and called his shot. When Hiroshi Tanahashi has his final match in America before he retires, Takeshita wants to be his opponent!

If you want to watch a feel good wrestling match to get you out of the new year dumps, go seek out Sumie Sakai’s retirement bout. She teamed up with House Of Torture members EVIL & SHO because of their connections back in their American excursions days. Sakazaki was one of the many people who wanted to be a part of the match as a thank you to Sakai. She got chosen among the lucky trio that included Hiromu Takahashi from NJPW & Mayu Iwatani from Stardom. There was also a female Kamaitachi hanging around at ringside who nobody has been able to identify since (I’ve seen a few guesses it was Iyo Sky because she was in attendance and I appreciate the cheekiness of it if true). Sakazaki whacked SHO over the head with a foreign object and gave him the Tea Time. Sakai ended up fighting on her own and kept kicking out for as long as she could. Takahashi eventually kept her down for the count with the TIME BOMB.


IWA Thailand/SETUP “BANGKOK NAVIGATION”, 18/01/2025
The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand

1. IWA Japan World Heavyweight Title Tournament – Qualifying Match: Jonathan Johnson defeated Masahiro Takanashi with the Swanton Bomb (?:??).

This month saw SETUP become the new bearers of the International Wrestling Association brand by launching the debut IWA Thailand show. Masahiro Takanashi went over to take part in a tournament to determine the No. 1 Contender for the IWA Japan World Heavyweight Title. He had no problem being the bad guy against Jonathan Johnson and even got some ringside help from Shota getting in Johnson’s way whenever it was convenient. However Johnson fought off the numbers disadvantage and made Shota Super Kick Takanashi by mistake. Johnson then countered the Takatonic into an Implant for a nearfall and then hit the Swanton Bomb to get the upset win, knocking Takanashi out of the tournament in the 1st Round.


GCW “THE PEOPLE VS GCW”, 19/01/2025
Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, New York, USA

1. GCW Ultraviolent Title & GCW Extreme Title – Doors, Ladders & Chairs Unification Match: Matt Tremont defeated Maki Itoh (E/c), John Wayne Murdoch, Drew Parker, Rina Yamashita, Brandon Kirk, Dr. Redacted and Matthew Justice when Tremont grabbed the titles (15:55).
*Maki Itoh fails in V5. Matt Tremont becomes the 10th GCW Ultraviolent Champion and 11th GCW Extreme Champion!

Maki Itoh took a big gamble and it did not pay off. She wanted to double her title collection in GCW by joining the Doors, Ladders & Chairs match where the vacant GCW Ultraviolent Title was on the line. To do that she agreed to put the GCW Extreme Title up for grabs too so both championships would end up being unified together. John Wayne Murdoch complained about her inclusion at the start of the match, causing Itoh to fake cry so everyone else would attack him in her defence. Itoh also did the ladder spin spot, hitting whoever was in her way until Matthew Justice smashed her with a chair. Her last big spot of the match was diving off a ladder onto everyone else outside the ring. She ended up getting taken out of the match when Drew Parker did the Swanton Bomb from the ladder onto herself and Murdoch through some tables at ringside. Matt Tremont ended up being the last one left to climb the ladder and pull down both belts.


BZW/GCW “ENTER THE ZONE”, 25/01/2025
Espace Isabelle De Hainaut, Rue De Saint-Quentin, France

1. BZW Title: Joseph Fenech Jr. (c) defeated Maki Itoh by Disqualification when Itoh was caught with Brass Knuckles (?:??).
*V7 for Joseph Fenech Jr.

One week later Itoh travelled to Europe with GCW for a weekend of shows in France and England. For a brief moment it looked like Itoh was the new champion of Banger Zone Wrestling when she defeated Joseph Fenech Jr. for the BZW Title. However during the match Fenech placed a pair of brass knuckles into Itoh’s gear so when he lost the match, he complained to the ref and accused Itoh of cheating. The ref inspected Itoh, found the brass knucks “hidden” in her costume and decided to reverse the decision.


AEW “COLLISION – HOMECOMING”, 25/01/2025
Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida, USA

1. TBS Title No. 1 Contender 4 Way Match: Yuka Sakazaki defeated Queen Aminata, Deonna Purazzo and Serena Deeb when Sakazaki pinned Purazzo with a Modified Crucifix Pin (9:28).
2. AEW International Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) defeated Katsuyori Shibata with the Raging Fire (13:29).
*V7 for Konosuke Takeshita.

Back in AEW, Takeshita called out an unexpected opponent to be his next challenger for the AEW International Title. He wanted a piece of Katsuyori Shibata after seeing him winning matches in ROH! It was a match that just as much existed to show everyone that Shibata can still take bumps because Takeshita Suplexed him around quite a bit. Shibata though was able to withstand the attacks and push back, fighting his way towards a possible title change. However Don Callis in a panic left the commentary booth to grab Shibata’s leg from ringside as a distraction. Takeshita then grabbed Shibata for the Blue Thunder Bomb. Shibata kicked out of that with a 1 Count so Takeshita put him away with the Raging Fire.

Sakazaki’s AEW direction for this month centered around the TBS Championship. She was thrown into the mix of a 4 Way Match to determine the No. 1 Contender. Her chances improved when Queen Aminata and Serena Deeb fought their way out of the ring and away from ringside. She also benefitted from Deonna Purrazzo getting distracted by Taya Valkyrie being attacked by Harley Cameron. With Purazzo’s guard now down, Sakazaki cradled her into a Crucifix Pin to score the three count and earn herself a title match.


GCW “LIVE IN LONDON”, 26/01/2025
Electric Ballroom, London, England

1. Maki Itoh defeated Man Like DeReiss with a Mouse Trap (11:56).

What Itoh lacked in size against Man Like DeReiss she more than made up for it with ego and personality. She quickly reacted to DeReiss’s big entrance by telling him she’s “not scared, you pussy!” DeReiss still took her lightly, making quips on the microphone while Body Slamming her. But Itoh started a comeback while the Pokémon theme song played over the speakers. However DeReiss took a page out of Itoh’s playbook by crying crocodile tears so Itoh would go easy on him. His plan almost worked until Itoh countered a Power Slam into the Mouse Trap cradle to get the pin out of nowhere.


AEW “DYNAMITE”, 29/01/2025
Propst Arena At Von Braun Center, Huntsville, Alabama, USA

1. TBS Title: Mercedes Moné (c) defeated Yuka Sakazaki with the Money Maker (13:40).
*V13 for Mercedes Moné.

Remember back when Mercedes Moné would put out photos and videos on social media of her training at the TJPW dojo and hanging out with the roster? Well after all that time we finally got to see her wrestle a match against someone TJPW related. Moné and Sakazaki got the main event slot on Dynamite for their TBS Title match. Sakazaki got out of the Statement Maker by cradling it into a nearfall. She thought she had Moné where she wanted her by doing a Snap German Suplex. But Moné blocked the Magical Girl Splash with her knees and eventually pinned her with the Moné Maker.


JERICHO CRUISE “CHRIS JERICHO’S ROCK ‘N’ WRESTLING RAGER – SIX ON THE BEACH – NIGHT 1”, 31/01/2025
Norwegian Pearl Cruise Ship

1. Yuka Sakazaki defeated Viva Van (?:??).
2. AEW International Title Eliminator Match: Konosuke Takeshita defeated Tommy Billington (?:??).

Both Takeshita and Sakazaki were a part of Chris Jericho’s annual Rock ‘N’ Wrestling Rager At Sea cruise. There were four days of shows but from what I could find Sakazaki only wrestled on the first day, beating Viva Van. Takeshita beat the new “Dynamite Kid” Tommy Billington on his first match of the cruise. It has since been promoted in AEW canon as an AEW International Title eliminator match for Ring Of Honor TV. I’ll go through the rest of Takeshita’s matches in next month’s article.

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Upcoming Appearances


TOKYO JOSHI PRO “AEX32 SANTIAGO 2025”, 09/02/2025
Estación Mapocho Cultural Center, Santiago, Chile

1. Moka Miyamoto Vs Casey
2. Aja Kong Vs Roma
3. Princess Tag Team Titles: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh (c) Vs Pandora & Sara Phoenix

The AEX Santiago convention welcomes Tokyo Joshi Pro to Chile in February. The Princess Tag Team Titles will be defended over there too, possibly changing the course of “GRAND PRINCESS ’25” if 121000000 lose the belts over there. Fans over there will also get to see Aja Kong and Moka Miyamoto in action.


AEW “GRAND SLAM AUSTRALIA”, 15/02/2025
Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane, Australia

1. Will Ospreay & Kenny Omega Vs Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher

There’s a lot of logistical confusion going around AEW’s Australia debut but it’s still working out better than that time Takeshita was booked by Sub-Zero Pro back in 2019. He’ll be teaming with Australia’s own Kyle Fletcher as the two members of the Don Callis Family face the combined wrath of Will Ospreay & Kenny Omega!


SPW “UNCHAINED”, 07/03/2025
Foo Chow Building, Singapore

1. Yuki Kamifuku & The Statement Vs Alexis Lee & Da Butcherman

Kamifuku and Lee’s rivalry remains in Singapore for the time being. This time Kamifuku will get involved in a mixed tag match for the first time in SPW. She teams with The Statement (aka Andruew Tang) while Lee will team with Da Butcherman.


WXW “16 CARAT GOLD – NIGHT 3”, 09/03/2025
Turbinenhalle, Oberhausen, Germany

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X

Some of the best wrestling weekends I’ve ever had were in Germany for the 16 Carat Gold tournament. Yamashita’s debut for wXw is only going to be for the third night though. That’s a shame because if she did the entire weekend there would have been a whole list of interesting new matches for her to do.


NJPW “WINDY CITY RIOT”, 11/04/2025
Wintrust Arena, Chicago, Illinois, USA

1. Hiroshi Tanahashi Last Match In The USA Final Road ~Kinship~: Hiroshi Tanahashi Vs KONOSUKE TAKESHITA

America gets a rematch over a decade in the making. In the 2nd year Anniversary of Takeshita’s debut match, he got to fight Tanahashi in his prime at DDT’s Sumo Hall show. He had respect for him for years afterward until 2015 when Tanahashi embarrassed DDT in the same venue. When Takeshita competed in the G1 Climax last year he brought up that situation as a reason for him to chase after Tanahashi in New Japan. Now that Tanahashi is getting ready to retire next year, there’s not a lot of time left to make this match happen. So Takeshita made the demand to be the opponent for Tanahashi’s last match in America (unless AEW gets the itch to book him on super short notice later in the year).


PANDEMONIUM PRO “THE HOUSE ALWAYS WINS”, 17/04/2025
Fremont Country Club, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. Maya World Vs Miu Watanabe

DDT and TJPW’s schedule for Wrestlemania Week is focused on the Friday and Saturday. However Miu Watanabe’s schedule unexpectedly starts a little bit earlier. On the Thursday she will be competing in Pandemonium Pro against the promising wrestler from Texas, Maya World.


TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN LAS VEGAS”, 18/04/2025
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

The sixteen women TJPW are planning to bring over to Las Vegas are Mizuki, Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh, Suzume, Yuki Kamifuku, Pom Harajuku, Shoko Nakajima, Rika Tatsumi, Hyper Misao, Yuki Aino, Miu Watanabe, Raku, Arisu Endo, Yuki Arai, Wakana Uehara and Shino Suzuki. There will be a few more international wrestlers taking part too.


DDT “DDT GOES LAS VEGAS!”, 18/04/2025
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

The first group of DDT wrestlers coming over for the show are MAO, Shinya Aoki, Daisuke Sasaki, Yukio Naya, Antonio Honda, Ilusion, Yuni and Kazuma Sumi. A lot of the regular talent have already been advertised for DDT’s shows back in Japan the same weekend so this might be your lot outside of the guests.


DDT/TOKYO JOSHI PRO/GCW “DDT VS TJPW VS GCW”, 19/04/2025
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Tickets for all three shows are on sale now.


Takeshita’s Tokyo Dome Adventure

January 6, 2025

What a newsworthy weekend Konosuke Takeshita has had! He went into the Tokyo Dome for New Japan’s biggest show of the year ready to defend his AEW International Title. He came out of it still with the belt, gaining another championship and making a pretty important announcement about where his future belongs to.


NJPW “WRESTLE KINGDOM 19 IN TOKYO DOME”, 04/01/2025
Tokyo Dome, Japan
24,107 Fans

1. NEVER Openweight Title & AEW International Title: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA (I/c) defeated Shingo Takagi (N/c) with the Raging Fire (11:42).
*V5 for KONOSUKE TAKESHITA. Shingo Takagi fails in V2. Becomes the 47th/11th Champion!

On the Saturday Takeshita went into a double title match putting his AEW title on the line against Shingo Takagi and his NEVER Openweight Title. The winner would not only have two championships but would also face Tomohiro Ishii in the Dome the next day. So Ishii made it a priority to sit at ringside to watch this match up close. Takeshita tried to weaken the arm Takagi prefers to use the Pumping Bomber with but he never expected Takagi to pull out a Reverse Frankensteiner. However Takeshita was too tough to put down and he won by using the Raging Fire. He held both belts up high while staring down Ishii after the match.

Backstage Takeshita said he always thought Takagi was strong but he was able to beat him on the biggest stage. When he fights Ishii he will show him the pride of AEW as well as give him the fight of a NEVER Champion. He will attack Ishii with 120% of his strength! Takagi said he couldn’t remember what happened in the match other than he lost to Takeshita in under 15 minutes. Ishii meanwhile dared Takeshita to throw all of his strikes at him tomorrow.


NJPW/AEW/CMLL/STARDOM/ROH “WRESTLE DYNASTY”, 05/01/2025
Tokyo Dome, Japan
16,300 Fans

1. NEVER Openweight Title & AEW International Title: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA (c/c) defeated Tomohiro Ishii with the Raging Fire (13:30).
*V1 for NEVER Openweight Title. V6 for AEW International Title.

The next day Takeshita defended both of his championships against Ishii at the Dome. Ishii provoked Takeshita into hitting him with Elbow Strikes then fought back by throwing Chops towards the throat. Then the two started hitting big bombs on each other resulting in a double down. Ishii switched to throwing Headbutts while Takeshita fought back by using Brainbusters and a Reverse Frankensteiner. He was able to hit the Raging Fire and that was enough to put Ishii away for a successful double title defence.

After the match backstage Takeshita had good news to tell the wrestling media. Right now he is currently affiliated with DDT and AEW. Well now he made a deal with New Japan to work for all three companies at the same time! His goal is to unify the pro wrestling world and he will do that by walking a path nobody else has taken before. He then said his upcoming plans are to defend the International Title in AEW again while defending the NEVER Title at New Japan’s USA shows. He singled out KUSHIDA as somebody he would like to defend the NEVER Title against because he is another wrestler who is well-travelled. However when he finished his interview Oleg Boltin walked in and gave him a stare down.


According to Takaaki Kidani through quotes taken from a Tokyo Sports article, Takeshita might have signed a one year contract with New Japan while continuing his current deals with DDT and AEW. Kidani said AEW’s light match schedule makes it possible for Takeshita to wrestle in New Japan more often so if he wants to become a mainstay for the company it can happen. Dave Meltzer on today’s Wrestling Observer Radio explained that AEW is still his priority whenever they want to use him. He also expects AEW and NJPW will keep in touch with each other to avoid any scheduling conflicts. I see DDT as the third wheel in this deal but Takeshita’s appearances for the company have dwindled down to single digits per year so it shouldn’t be too hard to get him for the important shows.


DDT Around The World – December 2024

January 1, 2025

Let’s make this a quick one because the end of this year felt like a safe landing after a long flight. Konosuke Takeshita was building up two separate challengers, one in AEW and one in New Japan. The DDT Universal Title was spotted over in Canada. January sees the international schedules heating up again with matches going on in North America, Southeast Asia and Europe. Then in February South America gets to join in the fun. That’s enough of the introductions, here is what happened in December.

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Videos

Konosuke Takeshita In AEW Playlist


AEW “RAMPAGE – WINTER IS COMING”, 13/12/2024
T-Mobile Center, Kansas City, Missouri, USA

1. Mark Davis & Powerhouse Hobbs Vs Konosuke Takeshita & Lance Archer


DEMAND LUCHA “A VERY MERRY LUCHA CHRISTMAS SHOW”, 19/12/2024
Parkdale Hall, Toronto, Canada

1. DDT Universal Title: Gringo Loco (c) Vs Sidney Akeem


AEW “RAMPAGE – HOLIDAY BASH”, 20/12/2024
Entertainment & Sports Arena, Washington, District Of Columbia, USA

1. Powerhouse Hobbs & Mark Davis Vs Konosuke Takeshita & Brian Cage

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Results


AEW “RAMPAGE – WINTER IS COMING”, 11/12/2024 (Aired 13/12/2024)
T-Mobile Center, Kansas City, Missouri, USA

1. Mark Davis & Powerhouse Hobbs defeated Konosuke Takeshita & Lance Archer when Hobbs pinned Archer with the Spinebuster (12:00).

In December Takeshita was getting ready to deal with upcoming challengers from two fronts. In AEW it was starting to look like Powerhouse Hobbs was going to be the next person he would defend the AEW International Title again. They met in a tag match but Takeshita was taken out of the ring by Mark Davis. Hobbs instead switched his attention over to Lance Archer and he pinned him with the Spinebuster. Takeshita tried to attack Hobbs after the match but he too was given the Spinebuster and Hobbs then posed with his title.


NJPW “STRONG STYLE EVOLVED”, 15/12/2024
Walter Pyramid, Long Beach, California, USA

1. Special Tag Team Grudge Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA & Jack Perry defeated Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji when Perry pinned Tsuji with the Glass Jaw (17:44).

Takeshita had to change his focus over to another challenger over in New Japan because Shingo Takagi also has him in his sights. They clashed in a tag match that also mixed in Yota Tsuji as Takagi’s partner and Jack Perry as Takeshita’s. That caused most of the focus to be on Tsuji Vs Perry which led to a ref bump. Perry gave Tsuji a Low Blow and then hit the Glass Jaw knee strike to get the victory for his team.


AEW “RAMPAGE – HOLIDAY BASH”, 18/12/2024 (Aired 20/12/2024)
Entertainment & Sports Arena, Washington, District Of Columbia, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita & Brian Cage defeated Powerhouse Hobbs & Mark Davis when Takeshita pinned Davis with the Raging Fire (12:27).

This here is Takeshita’s final match on “RAMPAGE” because that show is now coming to an end. He faced off against Hobbs & Davis again but this time had Brian Cage as his tag partner. Cage was able to keep Hobbs at bay so Takeshita could beat Davis with the Powerdrive Knee followed by the Raging Fire. That was it for the warm up matches. The next time Takeshita and Hobbs would meet was on PPV for the title match!


DEMAND LUCHA “A VERY MERRY LUCHA CHRISTMAS SHOW”, 19/12/2024
Parkdale Hall, Toronto, Canada

1. DDT Universal Title: Gringo Loco (c) defeated Sidney Akeem with an Avalanche Inverted Angle Slam (?:??).
*V1 for Gringo Loco.

For the last month the DDT Universal Title has been following around Gringo Loco. He’s brought it with him to many of his different bookings but DDT only gave him permission for one title defence. It happened in Canada for Demand Lucha and Loco’s opponent was Sidney Akeem, the former WWE wrestler who has been doing pretty good on the indies lately particularly with GCW. Given who was involved there were plenty of big moves hit throughout the match. Akeem did a 360 Twirling Double Knee Drop from the top rope as well as multiple cartwheels that led into a Cutter. Loco would have lost to that if he hadn’t reached his arm out for a rope break. The two fought there way up to the top rope once more where Loco gave Akeem an Inverted Olympic Slam to the canvas to get the three count.


AEW “WORLDS END”, 28/12/2024
T-Mobile Center, Kansas City, Missouri, USA

1. AEW International Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) defeated Powerhouse Hobbs with the Raging Fire (16:30).
*V4 for Konosuke Takeshita.

Takeshita’s final match of the year saw him defeat Hobbs to remain as the International Champion. The match got plenty of “Meat!” chants and also a “Please Be Careful” chant when the two fell off the top rope for a botched Superplex spot. Hobbs used the Spinebuster to counter the Powerdrive Knee for a nearfall. But damage accumulated to his knee over time slowed Hobbs down and he had to pause himself in order to take off his knee brace. Takeshita capitalized on the injury and take over the match. He kept up the attack until he pinned Hobbs with the Raging Fire. And with that done it is now onto the Tokyo Dome for Takeshita!


GCW “TAKE CARE”, 28/12/2024
Washington Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA

1. DDT Universal Title: Gringo Loco (c) defeated Rich Swann with the Avalanche Base Bomb (14:20).
*V2 for Gringo Loco.

Loco squeezed in a second Universal Title defence before the end of the year although nobody at the time seemed to be aware of it. His match against Rich Swann at GCW was never announced in the venue or on commentary as a title match (although GCW commentary not being aware of what’s going on half the time is a bad habit of theirs) and DDT has only said Loco has two successful defences under his belt without saying which matches they are (which is why I do these reports to keep track of everything myself). I had to go the title history page on Shukan Puroresu’s site to find out that this match is the one considered to be Loco’s second title defence.

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Upcoming Appearances


NJPW “WRESTLE KINGDOM 19 IN TOKYO DOME”, 04/01/2025
Tokyo Dome, Japan

1. NEVER Openweight Title & AEW International Title: Shingo Takagi (N/c) Vs KONOSUKE TAKESHITA (I/c)

The inter-promotional match between Takagi and Takeshita is now confirmed to be for both the NEVER Openweight Title and the AEW International Title! They only showed a small amount of what they are capable of at Walter Pyramid so what are they going to pull off in the Tokyo Dome?


NJPW/AEW/CMLL/STARDOM/ROH “WRESTLE DYNASTY”, 05/01/2025
Tokyo Dome, Japan

1. NEVER Openweight Title & AEW International Title: Shingo Takagi or KONOSUKE TAKESHITA (c/c) Vs Tomohiro Ishii

There will be no rest for the wicked because the winner of the double title match returns the next day to defend both championships against Tomohiro Ishii. And who knows, maybe Takeshita will show up at “NEW YEAR’S DASH” the day after that!


SPW “CHAMPIONS NEVER YIELD 3”, 10/01/2025
Foo Chow Building, Singapore

1. Queen Of Asia Title: Yuki Kamifuku (c) Vs Alexis Lee

It was back in November 2023 when Yuki Kamifuku won the Queen Of Asia Title from Alexis Lee. Then in May of this year Kamifuku successfully defended the title against Lee in TJPW. Since then Lee has been winning matches in Singapore Pro Wrestling and built herself back up for another title shot. This time it will happen on home ground. No word yet on if the VPW Women’s Title will also be defended. The two of them battled over that belt when it was created earlier this year too.


NJPW “BATTLE IN THE VALLEY”, 11/01/2025
San Jose Civic, San Jose, California, USA

1. KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs X
2. Sumie Sakai Retirement Match: Hiromu Takahashi, Mayu Iwatani & Yuka Sakazaki Vs Sumi Sakai, EVIL & SHO

What in the fever dream is this match? Sumie Sakai has played a vital role for many Japanese wrestlers who stayed in America for their excursions over the years. She often took wrestlers in to live and travel with her while she sorted out their bookings across the country. So when she announced her retirement many people requested to take part in it. First was Hiromu Takahashi so once he got involved Sakai came up with an idea to have both teams feature one man and two women for the match. Mayu Iwatani quickly asked to be involved and so too did Yuka Sakazaki. So we have Hiromu, Mayu and Yuka all teaming together for the first time ever which is wild as hell to think about. Sakai had a couple of ideas for who she wants to team with. There were other people higher up on the list but in the end she wanted EVIL & SHO from The House Of Torture to be on her team. They too were under her watch on their American excursions lifetimes ago and she would love nothing more than to make one last previous memory with them. If that doesn’t interest you then Sakazaki & Iwatani being in the same match together should.

Win, lose or draw at the Tokyo Dome, Takeshita is guaranteed to be making more appearances for New Japan this year.


IWA Thailand/SETUP “BANGKOK NAVIGATION”, 18/01/2025
The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand

1. Masahiro Takanashi Vs X

So IWA Japan has now officially closed down after the passing of its president Tatsukuni Asano in November. In its place SETUP has launched IWA Thailand to continue the brand’s lineage. Masahiro Takanashi will be part of the “debut” show in January.


GCW “THE PEOPLE VS GCW”, 19/01/2025
Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, New York, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

Be careful out there when you’re parking near the Hammerstein Ballroom. I left two tickets for this show in my car. Somebody broke in and left four more.


BZW/GCW “ENTER THE ZONE”, 25/01/2025
Espace Isabelle De Hainaut, Rue De Saint-Quentin, France

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

Maki Itoh’s GCW adventures are going to bring her over to Europe later this month. Banger Zone Wrestling is sure to give her a warm welcome to France.


GCW “LIVE IN LONDON”, 26/01/2025
Electric Ballroom, London, England

1. Maki Itoh Vs Man Like DeReiss

Then the next day Itoh will be in London when GCW visits PROGRESS’s home venue. Man Like DeReiss has kind of made intergender matches his thing in 2024. His GCW win-loss record also hasn’t been great. But give him a microphone and he will leave you with a lasting impression. Itoh might not like getting shown up like that.


TOKYO JOSHI PRO “AEX32 SANTIAGO 2025”, 09/02/2025
Estación Mapocho Cultural Center, Santiago, Chile

1. Moka Miyamoto Vs Pandora
2. Aja Kong Vs Roma
3. Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh Vs Zatara & Sara Phoenix

The Tokyo Joshi Pro show at the anime convention will be all made of up Japan Vs Chile matches. 121000000 will be facing Zatara & Sara Phoenix in the main event, Aja Kong will become one of the biggest opponents Roma has ever faced and Moka Miyamoto tests her skills against Pandora.


TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN LAS VEGAS”, 18/04/2025
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Hopefully we will get more details on the show very soon.


DDT “DDT GOES LAS VEGAS!”, 18/04/2025
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Same goes for this one.


DDT/TOKYO JOSHI PRO/GCW “DDT VS TJPW VS GCW”, 19/04/2025
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

It’s entirely possible I will be spending the whole week following the shows that book DDT and TJPW talent instead of everything else happening in Vegas.


DDT Around The World – November 2024

December 1, 2024

Oh come on, AEW didn’t put Konosuke Takeshita in the Continental Classic?!? Great, just great. So what’s there to write about this month? Well MAO and Yoshihiko had a wild weekend over in France. Takeshita spent the month feuding with Ricochet and defending the AEW International Title in companies outside of AEW. We also see that Takeshita has unfinished business in New Japan which probably explains why he’s not involved in the C2. DDT and Tokyo Joshi Pro had a heck of a time in Seattle. Also it is now official they are both Las Vegas bound for next April. Miyu Yamashita in particular got to do and achieve so many things this month that TJPW would not have done for her back home. Pom Harajuku also got to act out of control in Singapore and Thailand away from the usual supervision. She also… won a championship? And didn’t lose it immediately? What? That can’t be right…

The end of the year will be quiet for international bookings but Takeshita has a lot going on at home in the new year. AEW seems to have written him off their TV for December with Don Callis already cutting promos about 2025 being the year of The Don Callis Family. I’ll do a separate write-up for his New Japan match(es) at the Tokyo Dome when they happen but I wanted to include the build up to them here because AEW is connected to it. January will be business as usual for Maki Itoh too with her plan to tour with GCW again. My mind is going to be stuck on Vegas for a lot of early 2025.

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Videos

Konosuke Takeshita In AEW Playlist


AEW “DYNAMITE”, 06/11/2024
SNHU Arena, Manchester, New Hampshire, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher Vs Ricochet & Powerhouse Hobbs


AEW “DYNAMITE”, 13/11/2024
Total Mortgage Arena, Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita Vs Adam Cole


AEW “DYNAMITE”, 20/11/2024
Santander Arena, Reading, Pennsylvania, USA

1. All Star 8-Man Tag: Will Ospreay, Powerhouse Hobbs, Ricochet & Mark Davis Vs Konosuke Takeshita, Kyle Fletcher, Lance Archer & Brian Cage


SETUP “YEAR END CLIMAX”, 30/11/2024
The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand

1. SETUP All Asia Women’s Title – No DQ Match: Matcha (c) Vs Pom Harajuku

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Results


BZW “FRIDAY NIGHT BANGER”, 01/11/2024
Salle Jacques Brel, Faches-Thumesnil, France

1. MAO defeated KURO by Disqualification when Jack Sans-Nom attacked MAO (?:??).

The first night of MAO’s trip to France turned nasty but it was through no fault of his opponent KURO. They wrestled their match as normal and when MAO was on the top rope getting ready to hit the finishing blow, Jack Sans-Nom ran into the ring and attacked MAO with a wet floor sign for the DQ.


BZW “ALCATRAZ”, 02/11/2024
Salle Jacques Brel, Faches-Thumesnil, France

1. BZW Tag Team Titles: MAO & Yoshihiko defeated Jack Sans-Nom & Paul Robinson (c) when Yoshihiko pinned Sans-Nom with a Rainmaker (?:??).
*Jack Sans-Nom & Paul Robinson fail in V2. MAO & Yoshihiko become the 6th BZW Tag Team Champions!

The next night MAO brought Yoshihiko with him to try and get revenge on San-Nom by winning the BZW Tag Team Titles from him and Paul Robinson. The challengers almost had the match won by pinning Robinson together but Sans-Nom pulled the referee out of the ring during the pin count. However Yoshihiko got its hands on him with MAO’s help and hit a Rainmaker. A three count later and BZW got new unexpected tag team champions!


AEW “DYNAMITE”, 06/11/2024
SNHU Arena, Manchester, New Hampshire, USA

1. Ricochet & Powerhouse Hobbs defeated Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher when Ricochet pinned Takeshita with the Spear Gun (14:36).

Takeshita found out there was unfinished business between himself and Ricochet stemming from the previous month. A tag team match in AEW put Takeshita with Kyle Fletcher against Ricochet and his returning mystery partner Powerhouse Hobbs. Ricochet was the better man on this night. Takeshita tried to catch a Springboard Hurricanrana and turn it into a Power Bomb but Ricochet countered the counter and pulled off his Hurricanrana after all. He then weakened Takeshita with a Shooting Star Press for another nearfall. It took Ricochet using his new Hidden Blade inspired finisher called the Spear Gun to finally get the win over Takeshita (it’s weird how almost a decade ago I would have told people Will Ospreay tries to wrestle like Ricochet and nowadays it feels completely like the opposite). Fletcher got some revenge after the match by attacking the other team with a chair until his former tag partner Mark Davis ran down causing drama that Takeshita wasn’t involved with so I’m not going to write any more about it.


SPW “CROWNING GLORY”, 08/11/2024
Foo Chow Building, Singapore

1. Alexis Lee defeated Pom Harajuku (?:??).

Harajuku went to Singapore to have a lot of fun with Alexis Lee, or at least have a lot of fun at Lee’s expense. Their match made its way out of the ring but rather than cause a violent brawl, Harajuku instead encouraged Lee to go drink alcohol. They also fought their way up to the balcony to add some danger to the proceedings. I was able to see a brief clip of Lee hitting the Somato from behind to Harajuku but I do not know if that was the finish.


NJPW “FIGHTING SPIRIT UNLEASHED 2024”, 08/11/2024
Lowell Memorial Auditorium, Lowell, Massachusetts, USA

1. AEW International Title: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA (c) defeated TJP with the Avalanche Raging Fire (14:13).
*V2 for KONOSUKE TAKESHITA.

Takeshita had to shake off his loss to Ricochet and get himself focused on his next International Title defence. It happened at New Japan’s latest American show with TJP as the challenger. TJP pulled a lights out trick for his entrance to surprise Takeshita with an ambush from behind. He also had his face and body painted to resemble his Aswang alter ego. At first it looked like he was in his normal form but late in the match he blinded Takeshita with the Poison Mist to try and get the advantage. He used the Hidden Blade and Mamba Splash but Takeshita kicked out of both moves. Takeshita’s power soon took over and he was able to get TJP over to the corner, lifting him up from the top rope to hit an Avalanche Falcon Arrow for the victory. After the match Takeshita told the fans he will next defend the International Title at the Tokyo Dome! He called out for anyone to challenge him and Shingo Takagi answered the call! Takagi will fight him at “WRESTLE KINGDOM”! That wasn’t the end though because Tomohiro Ishii then walked out and signaled to them he wants to fight the winner!


TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW BRIGHT EYES”, 09/11/2024
Washington Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA
405 Fans

1. Suzume & Arisu Endo defeated Rika Tatsumi & Amira when Suzume pinned Amira with the Ring A Bell (10:21).
2. Yuki Kamifuku defeated Wakana Uehara with the Famouser (7:19).
3. Rebel Kel defeated Moka Miyamoto with a Falcon Arrow (5:45).
4. Mizuki defeated Liiza Hall with the Diving Foot Stomp (11:07).
5. Yuki Aino & Zara Zakher defeated Miu Watanabe & Shoko Nakajima when Zakher pinned Watanabe with the Control Z (16:43).
6. Princess Tag Team Titles: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh (c) defeated Vert Vixen & Nicole Matthews when Yamashita pinned Matthews with the Skull Kick (24:05).
*V1 for 121000000.

The report of the show can be found here.


DDT/DEFY “DDT IN UTERO”, 09/11/2024
Washington Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA
447 Fans – No Vacancy

1. Gringo Loco defeated Yuni with the Base Bomb (10:32).
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Randy Myers defeated Danshoku Dieno with a School Boy (8:26 pm).
*Randy Myers becomes the 1,691st champion.
2. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Danshoku Dieno defeated Randy Myers (c) with the Gaydo Clutch (8:01).
*Danshoku Dieno becomes the 1,692nd champion.
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Yoshihiko defeated Danshoku Dieno (c) by Referee Stoppage with a Sleeper Hold (8:36 pm).
*Yoshihiko becomes the 1,693rd champion.
3. Nick Wayne defeated Jack Cartwheel with the Wayne’s World (11:49).
4. DEFY Tag Team Titles – 3 Way Tag Match: Cody Chhun & Guillermo Rosas (c) defeated Bryan Keith & Shota and Eddie Pearl & Ricky Gibson when Rosas pinned Shota after the Combined Pop-Up Power Bomb (10:19).
*V2 for C4.
5. DEFY Women’s Title: Marina Shafir (c) defeated Danika Della Rouge with the Mother’s Milk (7:35).
*V3 for Marina Shafir.
6. Special Tag Match: Gurv Shira & Harv Shira defeated Daisuke Sasaki & Artemis Spencer when Gruv pinned Spencer after a Combined Diving Elbow Drop (15:54).
7. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA defeated Kohei Kinoshita with an Avalanche Falcon Arrow (12:41).
8. DDT Universal Title – 3 Way Match: Miyu Yamashita defeated MAO (c) and Mike Bailey when Yamashita pinned Bailey with the Skull Kick (21:25).
*MAO fails in V1. Miyu Yamashita becomes the 15th DDT Universal Champion!

The report of the show can be found here.


DDT/TOKYO JOSHI PRO/DEFY “TRIANGLER DTD”, 10/11/2024
Washington Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA
389 Fans

1. Vert Vixen, Yuki Kamifuku & Moka Miyamoto defeated Rika Tatsumi, Yuki Aino & Arisu Endo when Vixen pinned Endo with a Sit Down Power Bomb (8:38).
2. Bryan Keith defeated Shota with the Diamond Dust (7:59).
3. Maki Itoh & Zara Zakher defeated Amira & Danika Della Rouge when Itoh pinned Rouge with the I.S.D (8:41).
4. Daisuke Sasaki & Kohei Kinoshita Vs Danshoku Dieno & Randy Myers ended in a No Contest (9:32).
5. Miu Watanabe & Suzume defeated Mizuki & Wakana Uehara when Watanabe pinned Uehara with the Tear Drop (10:33).
6. DEFY Women’s Title: Marina Shafir (c) defeated Shoko Nakajima with the Mother’s Milk (14:08).
*V4 for Marina Shafir.
7. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA defeated Yuni with the Wagamama (12:14).
8. DDT Universal Title – 3 Way Match: Gringo Loco defeated Miyu Yamashita (c) and Nick Wayne when Loco pinned Yamashita with the Base Bomb (17:08).
*Miyu Yamashita fails in V1. Gringo Loco becomes the 16th DDT Universal Champion.
9. Special Tag Match: Judas Icarus & Travis Williams defeated MAO & Mike Bailey when Icarus pinned Bailey after the Sudden Silence (22:06).

The report of the show can be found here.


AEW “DYNAMITE”, 13/11/2024
Total Mortgage Arena, Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita defeated Adam Cole with a Dynamite Diamond Ring Assisted Punch (9:38).

Takeshita’s next AEW appearance was to act as a road block for Adam Cole. There was a storyline going on this month where Cole had to win three matches in order to get a PPV match against MJF. He was two wins in going into this night and needed to beat Takeshita to reach his goal. Cole countered the Takeshita Line with a well placed Super Kick and followed up with the Panama Sunrise. But when he went for the Boom knee strike, Takeshita rolled out of the ring to make some distance between them. He then reached under the ring and pulled out the Dynamite Diamond Ring, which belongs to MJF but was recently handed over to Don Callis. Takeshita placed the ring on his finger and punched Cole in the face without the referee seeing the ring, knocking Cole out for the pin. Roderick Strong ran down to get revenge but Takeshita gave him a Low Blow. Then Kyle O’Reilly entered the ring to chase Takeshita away. But once Takeshita was at the entrance and his guard was down, Ricochet appeared and he knocked him over with a Pump Kick.


GCW “CHAOS IN KENTUCKY”, 14/11/2024
Headliners Music Hall, Louisville, Kentucky, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Brooke Havok with the Skull Kick (17:13).

The TJPW shows at Seattle were done but Yamashita stayed behind in America for a weekend of GCW action. On the first show she put Brooke Havok through the meat grinder with kicks and stomps. Havok had some moments of hope and did well to last as long as she did. The Skull Kick put an end to any hope of an upset win though.


GCW “GATEWAY TO THE DEATH”, 15/11/2024
Pop’s Nightclub, Sauget, Illinois, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Mike Bailey with the Crash Rabbit Heat (17:14).

A much tougher challenge awaited Yamashita on the second GCW show. A few days after she pinned Mike Bailey to win the DDT Universal Title, the two met again one on one with nobody else going to get in their way. Bailey hit a Shooting Star Press for a nearfall. Bailey tried to follow up with the Corkscrew Kick into the corner but Yamashita countered it with the Skull Kick. She was too slow to make the pin though so Bailey was able to kick out of it. Bailey took back control but made a fatal mistake when he missed the Ultima Weapon. Yamashita hit him with a Knee Strike from behind after that and scored the pinfall after finding her target once more with the Crash Rabbit Heat. The two traded a fist bump through the ropes after the match.


GCW “NICK GAGE INVITATIONAL 9”, 16/11/2024
Level 13 Event Center, Orlando, Florida, USA

1. Hardcore Match: Miyu Yamashita defeated Broski Jimmy with the Skull Kick (7:44).

The final night of Yamashita’s GCW tour was completely unlike the other two. Yamashita has crossed paths with Broski Jimmy in a few of her other GCW appearances this year. She knocked him out in a match on GCW’s tour of Japan. Then a few shows later in America he interfered in one of her matches so she hit him over the head with a chair. Since this show was being held in the middle of a deathmatch tournament, Yamashita and Jimmy’s grudge match promised to used Hardcore rules. The end result was the closest thing to a death match Yamashita has ever done! She may as well have called herself Rina Yamashita for the night. Chairs, doors, trash cans and even glass were used as weapons. Jimmy even gave Yamashita the Package Piledriver on top of a row of chairs but Yamashita kicked out at one! Yamashita got revenge by giving Jimmy the Attitude Adjustment through a panel of glass in the corner of the ring. She then smashed some lighttubes over Jimmy’s head before breaking the remains of one over her own. All that was left for her to do was hit the Skull Kick for the win.


AEW “DYNAMITE”, 20/11/2024
Santander Arena, Reading, Pennsylvania, USA

1. All Star 8-Man Tag: Konosuke Takeshita, Kyle Fletcher, Lance Archer & Brian Cage defeated Will Ospreay, Powerhouse Hobbs, Ricochet & Mark Davis when Takeshita pinned Davis with the Wagamama (14:33).

The current version of The Don Callis Family were brought together for a match against Ospreay, Hobbs, Ricochet & Davis in a preview for the PPV. Hobbs was taken out of action midway through the match after his knee was attacked with the ring steps but he eventually returned to the match like a house on fire. Things went crazy with everyone hitting their big moves one after another. The end came when Ospreay went for the Hidden Blade and Fletcher pulled Davis into harm’s way. Davis took the full blow and he took another one when Takeshita pulled down his knee pad and hit the Wagamama knee strike for the win.


AEW “FULL GEAR”, 23/11/2024
Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey, USA

1. AEW International Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) (w/ Don Callis) defeated Ricochet with the Avalanche Raging Fire (19:12).
*V3 for Konosuke Takeshita.

After this it’s safe to say Takeshita doesn’t have to worry about Ricochet anymore. Ricochet threw pretty much everything he could do at this stage at him and couldn’t win. Takeshita dodged the Spear Gun this time but couldn’t hit the Wagamama. Ricochet landed a version of the Benadryller instead but Takeshita kicked out of the pin. Then when Ricochet climbed the top rope, Takeshita got up and tripped him by the legs. He hit him with a Knee Strike, climbed up to him and dropped him to the canvas with the Avalanche Falcon Arrow, pinning him clean for a successful title defence.


SETUP “YEAR END CLIMAX”, 30/11/2024
The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand

1. SETUP All Asia Women’s Title – No DQ Match: Pom Harajuku defeated Matcha (c) with two Pom de Justices onto a Chair (?:??).
*Matcha fails in V4. Pom Harajuku becomes the 2nd SETUP All Asia Women’s Champion!

This does not feel real. So let me get this straight. Pom Harajuku went to Thailand, fought in a No DQ Match against Matcha because they hold a grudge from the previous time Harajuku was there and Harajuku won the championship by driving Matcha’s face into a chair with the Pom de Justice. Twice. Unbelievable! This is Harajuku’s first championship win in her career. TJPW is now collecting women’s title belts from around Southeast Asia with the SETUP All Asia Women’s Title now being added to the pile. What a crazy turn of events.

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Upcoming Appearances


NJPW “STRONG STYLE EVOLVED”, 15/12/2024
Walter Pyramid, Long Beach, California, USA

1. Special Tag Team Grudge Match: Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji Vs KONOSUKE TAKESHITA & Jack Perry

So is this path why we didn’t get Takeshita in the Continental Classic this year? Looks like it. The only stuff announced for him for the next few weeks are for New Japan events including the next one happening in America. There is still some AEW involvement though because Jack Perry is teaming with Takeshita here. Also Takeshita gets back in the ring with Yota Tsuji for the first time since the G1 Climax playoff stage. Shingo will be his main target but getting a little bit of revenge on Tsuji will please him too.


NJPW “WRESTLE KINGDOM 19 IN TOKYO DOME”, 04/01/2025
Tokyo Dome, Japan

1. NEVER Openweight Title: Shingo Takagi (c) Vs KONOSUKE TAKESHITA

Well if I’m writing about stuff happening around the world I guess I can include stuff happening in Japan outside of the DDT bubble. As mentioned earlier, Takeshita wants to defend the International Title at the Tokyo Dome and Takagi answered his challenge. Takagi is also the NEVER Openweight Champion so we are on course for a title versus title match on 4th January! There is the risk that Takeshita could lose his championship before this match happens but Takagi’s NEVER Title is guaranteed to be on the line.


“WRESTLE DYNASTY”, 05/01/2025
Tokyo Dome, Japan

1. NEVER Openweight Title: Shingo Takagi or KONOSUKE TAKESHITA (c) Vs Tomohiro Ishii

The winner of the Wrestle Kingdom match will face Ishii the next day at the other big Tokyo Dome show. This event is bringing New Japan, AEW, CMLL, Ring Of Honor and Stardom all together but DDT could secretly sneak in there thanks to Takeshita. If the International Title is indeed involved on 4th January then it will be on the line here too.


GCW “THE PEOPLE VS GCW”, 19/01/2025
Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, New York, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

January sees Itoh working with GCW again for a few important shows. GCW are returning to the scene of the crime, the Hammerstein Ballroom in an attempt to redeem themselves for blowing their big shot at the infamous venue three years earlier. At the time of writing their chances of achieving that redemption are not looking good. Maybe Itoh can do her part to help things out even just a little bit.


GCW “LIVE IN LONDON”, 26/01/2025
Electric Ballroom, London, England

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

Then a week later Itoh will be wrestling for GCW in London at the Electric Ballroom. That venue has been the home of PROGRESS for most of its existence and they’re helping GCW put this show together.


TOKYO JOSHI PRO “AEX32 SANTIAGO 2025”, 09/02/2025
Mapocho Station Cultural Center, Santiago, Chile

No updates yet on who will be joining Yamashita and Itoh at the anime convention or if anyone in Chile wants to challenge them.


TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN LAS VEGAS”, 18/04/2025
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

And we’re off! Next year’s WrestleMania Week in Las Vegas is now confirmed to have DDT and TJPW coming over. Both promotions will be holding shows on the same day at The Collective. TJPW is up first with an 11am start on the Friday morning. They are promising it will be TJPW’s biggest show in America to date!


DDT “DDT GOES LAS VEGAS!”, 18/04/2025
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Then at 3pm that afternoon DDT will have their show. Friday is going to be a warzone of wrestling shows clashing with each other. DDT & TJPW are among the first companies to get their announcements out there. I’ll be there for both but now I have to worry about what’s going to be happening at the same time!


DDT/TOKYO JOSHI PRO/GCW “DDT VS TJPW VS GCW”, 19/04/2025
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Now here’s something a little bit interesting. DDT and TJPW have just held a triple partner show with DEFY so it makes sense to do one with GCW as well. But this show is happening on Saturday, the same day as Night 1 of “WRESTLEMANIA”. So right now there is no start time announced for the event. Remember, this is happening on the West Coast where WrestleMania will be opening its doors in the afternoon. Is this show going to take place in the morning before everyone rushes over to the stadium? Or will they take a risk and hold this show at night, slap bang in the middle between the two WM shows?


DDT Around The World – October 2024

November 1, 2024

Pop the champagne bottles because this month Konosuke Takeshita won his first AEW championship! The first of many I hope. After he finally achieved his crowning glory he… didn’t wrestle again in AEW for the rest of the month. Typical, eh? But he did wrestle elsewhere, up north in fact. And those were some pretty good matches too. His performances this month was enough to have Dave Meltzer call him one of the best wrestlers in the world. Other than that it was kind of a quiet month for everyone else I cover for this article. Yuka Sakazaki had a match in ROH then fantasized about murdering RJ City for Halloween, Shoko Nakajima was in DPW for a tournament final, Yuki Kamifuku continues being the Queen of Asia and Miyu Yamashita went to Canada.

Things are going to pick up in November though. DDT and Tokyo Joshi Pro are having their shows with DEFY in Seattle, MAO and Yoshihiko are going on another European adventure together, Takeshita has stuff lined up with New Japan for the promotion’s next couple of USA shows, Yamashita will be paying GCW another visit and Pom Harajuku is going to be let loose in Southeast Asia. If that’s not enough we even have a peak at what to look forward to in 2025.

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Videos

Konosuke Takeshita In AEW Playlist


After turning on Ospreay, the Don Callis Family hold a press conference! | 10/16/24, AEW Dynamite

MAPLE LEAF PRO “FORGED IN EXCELLENCE – NIGHT 1”, 19/10/2024
St. Clair College, Windsor, Ontario, Canada


1. Gisele Shaw Vs Miyu Yamashita


2. Mike Bailey Vs Konosuke Takeshita

MAPLE LEAF PRO “FORGED IN EXCELLENCE – NIGHT 2”, 20/10/2024
St. Clair College, Windsor, Ontario, Canada


1. Laynie Luck & Harley Cameron Vs Miyu Yamashita & Kylie Rae


2. AEW International Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Josh Alexander


Yuka Has Fun! | Hey! (EW) 10/27/24

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Results


ROH “ROH ON HONOR CLUB”, 08/10/2024 (Aired 17/10/2024)
Spokane Arena, Spokane, Washington, USA

1. Yuka Sakazaki defeated Viva Van with the Magical Girl Splash (5:44).

Sakazaki’s move over to ROH this month involved a tricky challenge against Viva Van. She was kept on her toes by Van bridging out of a pin and making Sakazaki flinch with a fakeout attack from the ropes. Sakazaki got her own back by also bridging out of a pin and doing her own Sliding Lariat, no fake out needed. She went on to win by using the Magical Merry-Go-Round as well as the Magical Girl Splash.


AEW “WRESTLEDREAM”, 12/10/2024
Tacoma Dome, Tacoma, Washington, USA

1. AEW International Title: Konosuke Takeshita defeated Will Ospreay (c) and Ricochet when Takeshita pinned Ospreay with the Powerdrive Knee (20:42).
*V3 for Will Ospreay fails in V3. Konosuke Takeshita becomes the 10th AEW International Champion!

What a wonderful sight this was. Takeshita was part of a great match with Will Ospreay and Ricochet where everyone went balls to the wall. Takeshita took Ricochet out of the match by putting him through a table at ringside with the Reverse Implant. He also kicked out of Ospreay’s Hidden Blade but looked to be finished when Ospreay hit him with another one. That was when Don Callis pulled the referee out of the ring mid-count. Ospreay got his hands on Callis but just when he was about to give him the Tiger Driver ’91, Kyle Fletcher ran in and hit him over the head with a screwdriver. Takeshita then hit Ospreay with the Powerdrive Knee to win the AEW International Title. Even with the dirty finish the match got a *****1/2 rating from Meltzer.


DEXCON “JAM OF THE JOSHIS”, 13/10/2024
Brawl Pit Bulusan, Manila, Philippines

1. Queen Of Asia Title & VPW Women’s Title: Yuki Kamifuku (c/c) defeated Chelsea Marie with the Diving Famouser (?:??).
*V4 for the Queen Of Asia Title. V2 for the VPW Women’s Title.

The Philippines is where Yuki Kamifuku had her next defence of the Asian Double Crown. She had a close match against Chelsea Marie in what was just as much a battle of beauty as it was wits and skill. Marie almost won by putting Kamifuku in the Code Of Silence submission hold but the champ’s leg was long enough to reach over for a rope break. Marie climbed the ropes but was left vulnerable after Kamifuku reached out and poked her in the eye. Kamifuku Dropkicked her opponent off the turnbuckles then climbed up the same corner to hit the Diving Famouser and win the match.


DPW “SUPER BATTLE”, 13/10/2024
Grady Cole Center, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

1. Battle Of The Best – Final: Dani Luna defeated Shoko Nakajima with a Fireman’s Carry Bomb (13:17).

The winner of the Battle Of The Best tournament would be given a shot at the DPW Women’s World Title so Nakajima was on the cusp of getting that title shot. It wasn’t meant to be unfortunately. Dani Luna kicked out of the Northern Lights Suplex and prevented Nakajima from doing the Diving Senton by kicking her off the top rope. Nakajima didn’t expect Luna to then grab her on the apron from the ropes and throw her back into the ring with a Slingshot German Suplex. It was stunning enough for Luna to pin Nakajima with a Fireman’s Carry Bomb to win the tournament.


MAPLE LEAF PRO “FORGED IN EXCELLENCE – NIGHT 1”, 19/10/2024
St. Clair College, Windsor, Ontario, Canada

1. Gisele Shaw defeated Miyu Yamashita with the Denoument (12:36).
2. Konosuke Takeshita defeated Mike Bailey with the Raging Fire (24:39).

The debut weekend of Maple Leaf Pro had both Takeshita and Yamashita taking part in featured matches. The main event of Night 1 was Takeshita and Mike Bailey showing North America what they were missing when Speedball spent most of his time in Japan for DDT. It was already a cross-promotional match between AEW and TNA that became an even bigger deal because it was also the AEW International Champion against the X Division Champion! Bailey kicked out of the Powerdrive Knee but was put away with the Raging Fire. It was another match of Takeshita’s that Meltzer gave the ***** to this month.

History will look back on Miyu Yamashita Vs Gisele Shaw as the buffer match that was placed in between one of the best matches of the year and one of the worst. I admit that’s an unfair way to look at things so seek this out because it was a pretty good match. Had Yamashita won she would have been added to the ROH Women’s World Title match on Night 2. But Shaw wasn’t going to let her get in the way and won this match with her own Running Knee Strike.


MAPLE LEAF PRO “FORGED IN EXCELLENCE – NIGHT 2”, 20/10/2024
St. Clair College, Windsor, Ontario, Canada

1. Miyu Yamashita & Kylie Rae defeated Laynie Luck & Harley Cameron when Yamashita pinned Luck with the Skull Kick (9:26).
2. AEW International Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) defeated Josh Alexander with the Raging Fire (29:31).
*V1 for Konosuke Takeshita.

The last time Takeshita fought Josh Alexander one on one it ended in a time limit draw. For the rematch he was putting the AEW International Title on the line. Just like the night before, Takeshita almost won with the Powerdrive Knee and had to use the Raging Fire to put away his opponent. But after the match he and Don Callis decided to continue the attack on Alexander until Ricochet made a surprise appearance to fight Takeshita. The two of them would butt heads again in AEW later in the month so this looks to be Takeshita’s AEW program for November.

On Night 1 Kylie Rae was attacked by Laynie Luck & Harley Cameron so Yamashita’s role here was to even the odds for a tag match. While Rae took care of Cameron outside the ring, Yamashita pinned Luck with the Skull Kick inside the ring.

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Upcoming Appearances


BZW “FRIDAY NIGHT BANGER”, 01/11/2024
Salle Jacques Brel, Faches-Thumesnil, France

1. MAO Vs KURO

Once the calendar flips over to November MAO will be travelling around the world once more with the DDT Universal Title back in his possession. First destination is in France for a weekend of Banger Zone Wrestling events. KURO will be his opponent on Night 1.


BZW “ALCATRAZ”, 02/11/2024
Salle Jacques Brel, Faches-Thumesnil, France

1. BZW Tag Team Titles: Jack Sans-Nom & Paul Robinson (c) Vs MAO & Yoshihiko

On Night 2, MAO will be joined by Yoshihiko to cause more international trouble. One of MAO’s goals for his overseas tour this time is to win a foreign company’s championship so the two of them will face Jack Sans-Nom & Paul Robinson for the BZW Tag Team Titles.


SPW “CROWNING GLORY”, 08/11/2024
Foo Chow Building, Singapore

1. Alexis Lee Vs Pom Harajuku

Pom Harajuku is travelling to Singapore by herself without supervision! Is she going to be a sitting duck for Alexis Lee to tear apart limb from limb?


NJPW “FIGHTING SPIRIT UNLEASHED 2024”, 08/11/2024
Lowell Memorial Auditorium, Lowell, Massachusetts, USA

1. KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs X

What is going to be in store for Takeshita when he goes back to New Japan next month for their next American show? Maybe Ricochet will show up looking for a fight again.


TOKYO JOSHI PRO/DEFY “TJPW BRIGHT EYES”, 09/11/2024
Washington Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA

1. Rika Tatsumi & Amira Vs Suzume & Arisu Endo
2. Yuki Kamifuku Vs Wakana Uehara
3. Moka Miyamoto Vs Rebel Kel
4. Mizuki Vs Liiza Hall
5. Miu Watanabe & Shoko Nakajima Vs Yuki Aino & Zara Zakher
6. Princess Tag Team Titles: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh (c) Vs Vert Vixen & Nicole Matthews

All shows from the DDT/TJPW/DEFY weekend will be airing on Triller via the TrillerTV+ subscription.


DDT/DEFY “DDT IN UTERO”, 09/11/2024
Washington Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA

1. 3 Way Tag Match: Cody Chhun & Guillermo Rosas Vs Bryan Keith & Shota Vs Eddie Pearl & Ricky Gibson
2. Danshoku Dieno Vs Randy Myers
3. Gringo Loco Vs Yuni
4. Special Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & Artemis Spencer Vs Gurv Shira & Harv Shira
5. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs Kohei Kinoshita
6. DDT Universal Title – 3 Way Match: MAO (c) Vs Mike Bailey Vs Miyu Yamashita

More news for this show has been announced while I’ve been writing this with more still to come. Marina Shafir and Nick Wayne will both be there to wrestle.


DDT/TOKYO JOSHI PRO/DEFY “TRIANGLER DTD”, 10/11/2024
Washington Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA

1. Special Single Match: Gringo Loco Vs Miyu Yamashita
2. Special Tag Match: MAO & Mike Bailey Vs Judas Icarus & Travis Williams
3. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs Yuni

I think some of the remaining card will not be decided until the other shows have taken place first.


GCW “CHAOS IN KENTUCKY”, 14/11/2024
Headliners Music Hall, Louisville, Kentucky, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Brooke Havok

Three GCW matches for Yamashita coming up in November. She faces Brooke Havok in a first time ever meeting between the two.


GCW “GATEWAY TO THE DEATH”, 15/11/2024
Pop’s Nightclub, Sauget, Illinois, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Mike Bailey

If this match is anything like their Pandemonium Pro bout from last December then the GCW fans will be in for a treat. Just make sure to use a better camera angle for the finish this time…


GCW “NICK GAGE INVITATIONAL 9”, 16/11/2024
Level 13 Event Center, Orlando, Florida, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X

Is GCW going to keep that tournament name even though they’re currently on the outs with Nick Gage? Does that mean Maki Itoh has to drop the Maki Death Kill stuff the next time she goes back there or can she take over the gimmick like Kazuki Hirata did with Magnum TOKYO?


SETUP “YEAR END CLIMAX”, 30/11/2024
The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand

1. SETUP All Asia Women’s Title – No DQ Match: Matcha (c) Vs Pom Harajuku

When Harajuku was in a 3 Way Match against Matcha and Raku a month earlier, Matcha was the winner but she pinned Raku and Harajuku was left as the odd one out. Matcha and Harajuku then got into a fight and had to be kept apart. This unexpected grudge is coming to a head in November because SETUP is booking the two of them in a No DQ Match with the SETUP All Asia Women’s Title on the line!


NJPW “STRONG STYLE EVOLVED”, 15/12/2024
Walter Pyramid, Long Beach, California, USA

1. KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs X

Takeshita will also be at NJPW USA’s December show. With two dates here for the rest of 2024 one of them would surely be a good place to defend the AEW International Title.


TOKYO JOSHI PRO “AEX32 SANTIAGO 2025”, 08-09/02/2025
Mapocho Station Cultural Center, Santiago, Chile

Both Yamashita and Itoh have filmed videos promoting their matches at the AEX convention. It sounds like there might be matches featuring local wrestlers as well as whoever else TJPW sends over. At least Yamashita and Itoh said they would like to fight whoever Chile can throw at them.


DDT/TOKYO JOSHI PRO “THE COLLECTIVE 2025”, 17-19/04/2025
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

The actual shows haven’t been officially announced yet but The Collective tagged DDT and TJPW in their tweet announcing next year’s edition of Wrestlemania Week in Las Vegas. I’ll be there for sure!