Guide To TJPW In Philadelphia

April 2, 2024

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN PHILLY”, 05/04/2024
Penn’s Landing Caterers Auditorium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1. Hyper Misao Vs Billie Starkz
2. Shoko Nakajima Vs “The Unbreakable” Rhio
3. Yuki Aino & Raku Vs Yuki Kamifuku & Viva Van
4. Suzume & Arisu Endo Vs Nao Kakuta & Zara Zakher
5. Mizuki & Vert Vixen Vs Max The Impaler & Pom Harajuku
6. Special Tag Match: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh Vs Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe

Back once again on American soil, Tokyo Joshi Pro is entering this year’s Wrestlemania Week as part of The Collective series of indie shows. This time around TJPW will be involved across two days: one show will be held on their own and the next day they have an inter-promotional event with GCW. It just goes to show how much DDT’s little sister has taken the international spotlight away from them in recent years. Looking at the Mania schedule this year, you can say that about the offerings of Japanese wrestling in general with the joshi shows getting more hype than what the other puroresu companies are sending over. These two shows will be happening only a few days after TJPW holds “GRAND PRINCESS ’24” at Sumo Hall so fans around the world will get to see the promotion take their next step coming out of such an important show. Have you seen the gifs of the Skull Kicks and Giant Swings? Are you curious to know curious to know why a foul mouthed ex-idol has so many simps or why that crazy woman in white likes to choke people so much? Would you like to see a superhero crash her bicycle? Do you write for a wrestling website and mistook this for a Stardom show? Are you wondering what ever happened to Hikari Noa? Well you won’t get an answer to that last question but for everything else, this guide is for you!

Where and when are the shows taking place?

Both shows will be held at Penn’s Landing Caterers Auditorium in Philadelphia. “TJPW LIVE IN PHILLY” is taking place on Friday, 5th April at 11:00am Eastern time. “GCW VS TJPW” will happen on Saturday, 6th April at 2:30pm Eastern time.

Where can I watch it online?

Both shows will air live on Triller TV (or FITE as it used to be called) with English commentary through the TrillerTV+ subscription service. The on-demand versions of both shows will be available to watch on Wrestle Universe a few weeks after the live broadcast.

Is this a proper TJPW show?

Yes. On paper I would put it on the level of their B shows when it comes to the card layout just without the matches built around the younger wrestlers and rookies. This is not like last year when they put together a lineup fitting for a Korakuen Hall show. What we have here fits in more for an event at Shinjuku FACE or Ryogoku KFC Hall. That’s not to say the show quality will be low or uninteresting. It’s more that you are getting to see TJPW at its status quo. The guest wrestlers booked have all appeared in TJPW over the past few years, some on a regular basis so none of the names stick out like a sore thumb. I assure you this will be as close to a genuine TJPW experience you can get without going over to Japan.

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1. Hyper Misao Vs Billie Starkz

It’s a super hero against a Minion In Training! Hyper Misao often delights the fans with her endless crazy ideas to protect love and peace in TJPW. But the chaos she creates is the same kind of environment Billie Starkz feels most at home in. The hero and villain in this match may be more alike then they both realize.

Hyper Misao – When love and peace is under threat in TJPW, you can always rely on Hyper Misao to come to the rescue. Just don’t be surprised if her plan to save the world turns out not to be as heroic as she looks. Sometimes she will get on the microphone, greet the audience with “Hello big children!” and reveal her plans to save the day. Other times she arrives to the ring riding on the Hypami Dramatic Dream combat bike. She has the talent to win fair fights but prefers using underhanded tactics like blinding her opponents with cold spray or crashing the Hypami DD into them. Hey, the Madame Web movie showed that vehicular manslaughter is a heroic trait so it’s acceptable for Misao to do it too!
Moves To Watch Out For: Hypami Returns (Final Cut), I Am A Hero (Diving Cross Body), Crossface Chickenwing, Vanitas (Double Arm Facebuster), Cold Spray Attack

Billie Starkz – Since the last time we saw her in TJPW, “Space Jesus” has gone from indie darling to a Minion In Training that you can rely on. Ring Of Honor is where you will find Starkz on most days but she still finds the time to pop up in GCW plus a few other indies every now and then. In fact this match kind of serves as a warm up for her because hours after this show is finished she will be competing in a tournament final to crown the first ever ROH Women’s World TV Champion.
Moves To Watch Out For: Swanton Bomb, Sugoi Driver (Double Legged One-Winged Angel sometimes on the ring apron), Starkz Driver (Tombstone Piledriver), Star 10 (CRII)

2. Shoko Nakajima Vs “The Unbreakable” Rhio

No, that’s not a typo for those seeing the second name and thinking of somebody else. This match is Japan versus England when one of TJPW’s most decorated wrestlers Shoko Nakajima takes on “The Unbreakable” Rhio, a rising female star from the British scene. Because when a kaiju is on the loose you need to put something unbreakable in the way to keep the rampage under control.

Shoko Nakajima – Meet the Big Kaiju, all 147cm of her! Nakajima has pretty much done it all in TJPW as one of the promotion’s longest serving wrestlers. Usually quick and speedy, she also has the strength to put away opponents with the Northern Lights Suplex. The Diving Senton she uses is nothing to sneeze at either. When put in Hardcore Match situations her favourite weapon is a pile of kaiju toys that she slams her opponents onto. She’s a Swiss Army Knife that can adapt to any kind of situation wrestling can throw at her.
Moves To Watch Out For: Northern Lights Suplex, Diving Senton, Unmanned Local Train Hold (Yurikamome submission hold), 619, Rider Kick (One-Legged Dropkick)

“The Unbreakable” Rhio – A working relationship between TJPW and British women’s promotion EVE opened the doors for Rhio to tour in Japan. She impressed with her power built on her background in Karate and Taekwondo. Since then she has been all over the European scene and has won the Women’s Championship in companies such as Progress and ICW (the Scottish one, not the chains one). She hasn’t been back to Japan since that tour but whenever a TJPW wrestler travels over to England you can count on her to be a likely opponent for them.
Moves To Watch Out For: Dreaded End (Neck Screw Hold), Package Piledriver, Pumphandle Bomb

3. Yuki Aino & Raku Vs Yuki Kamifuku & Viva Van

Here is a battle between sweetness versus seduction, love versus desire and naps versus partying. Among the many friendships that have formed within the promotion, Yuki Aino & Raku is one that has captured a lot of the fanbase’s attention. There’s just something about a sleepy trainspotting pop singer that people just can’t deny. The team facing them have quickly become friends too. Yuki Kamifuku & Viva Van were meant to be put together as opponents but admired each other’s beauty so much they got immediately got along. When Van wanted to come up with a team name for this match, Kamifuku came up with The Casual Vixens. Let’s see if that sticks.

Yuki Aino – It happened so long ago that it’s hard to remember Aino originally debuted in TJPW as a ring announcer before turning pro so she could team with her sister. Tag team wrestling remains her forte and she is one of few wrestlers in TJPW to have held tag title gold with different partners. Love and the fiery power it can bring is what drives her as you can see from the names she gives her moves below. She also adores the woman she gets to team with on the show.
Moves To Watch Out For: Venus DDT (Inverted DDT), UBV/Unlimited Burning Venus (Double Arm Side Buster), Full Nelson Of Love And Fire (Full Nelson Camel Clutch), Side Suplex

Raku – The first of two members from The Up Up Girls you will see on the show. The Up Up Girls are a pop idol group that created a pro wrestling spin off unit in TJPW. The members often perform songs at the start of the show before wrestling in matches later in the card. Raku’s entire personality can be summed down to naps and trains. She knows so much railway trivia she often has a Train Of The Day to tell the audience on every show. Will SEPTA be up to her standards? Her moveset is built around sending her opponents to sleep so she can run over them with the Oyasumi Express. Somehow this entire package has made her absolutely adored to the point where she may as well be God to some people.
Moves To Watch Out For: Doctor Yellow (Jumping Neckbreaker), Hurricane Turn (Cross-Arm Backslide Pin), Oyasumi Express (running on top of the opponent over and over), Good Night Sleeper, Poppo Chop! (Brain Chop)

Yuki Kamifuku – Also known by her nickname Kamiyu, she is “The Casual Beauty” of TJPW. She knows how to get under her opponent’s skin with harsh and catty opinions. But there is another side to her where she is loyal and sympathetic to her friends. She is also proud of her modelling background because her accomplishments in the ring is proof you do not need to be a die hard pro wrestling fan to succeed in the business. Grew up in Ohio during her junior high school years so she knows the most English out of the bunch. Also really loves Zac Efron and after watching “The Iron Claw” it is now her dream to wrestle a match with him. She is currently the Queen Of Asia Champion after winning the belt in Singapore last November.
Moves To Watch Out For: Famouser (Jumping Leg Drop), Big Boot, Yahoo 83cm (Headscissors DDT), Manjigatame, Thumb To The Eye

Viva Van – One of the more recent foreign guests in TJPW is nicknamed “The Hellbent Vixen”. This Vietnamese-American wrestler has gathered together a large amount of championships in recent times but her attempt to dethrone Kamifuku as the Queen Of Asia ended in failure. However even before that match took place the two of them got along anyway because of how good looking they both are. It’s no surprise the two of them are definitely happy they get to reunite in America. Kamifuku even suggested one time they go on the lookout for a third attractive Asian wrestler to join them so they can be a trio Charlie’s Angels style. But don’t let that kind of attitude fool you, Van has been climbing up the ranks high enough to get matches in AEW and AAA as well as New Japan’s USA shows.
Moves To Watch Out For: Hellevator (Electric Chair spun into a Power Bomb), Ocean Cyclone Suplex, Code Red, Meteora, Butterfly Suplex

4. Suzume & Arisu Endo Vs Nao Kakuta & Zara Zakher

When it comes to tag teams in TJPW you can expect a lot of creative team names. Some of the names have elaborate reasons behind them, others not so much. Daisy Monkey is so called because Suzume is like a flower and Arisu Endo is like a monkey. That’s it. Simple enough. Out of all of the pairings in TJPW currently Daisy Monkey have perhaps the closest bond together. The two of them are pretty much inseparable. It’s that kind of friendship that led to them finally winning the Princess Tag Team Titles recently. Facing them is the first time pairing of Nao Kakuta & Zara Zakher. This match will likely be Kakuta’s last time wrestling in America while Zakher’s wrestling career is really only just beginning.

Suzume – As sharp as a wasp, Suzume is the Daisy half of Daisy Monkey. She begun her career as a fast learner, only spending seven months in training before making her pro debut. Just on the looks of her aesthetic alone it is of no surprise that speed is the name of her game. As part of the Daisy Monkey team she has held a desire over the last two years (if not longer) to win the Princess Tag Titles so the two of them could reach the same level as the previous champions they fought and admired.
Moves To Watch Out For: Ring A Bell (RKO), Mikazuki Meteor Shower (Diving Cross Body), Twinkle (Twisting School Boy), Flying Facecrusher

Arisu Endo – The Monkey half of Daisy Monkey, please welcome Aizuwakamatsu City’s most cheerful tourism ambassador. She’s always ready to give fans the thumbs up with a smile. Endo also has a habit of constantly dying her hair in new ways, using every colour in the world you can think of. She has so much pride in where she comes from that she named many of her moves after local destinations and traditions. Together with Suzume, Daisy Monkey have established themselves as TJPW’s top tag team of the new generation.
Moves To Watch Out For: Ju no Okite (Hercules Cutter), Camel Clutch, Mt. Bandai (2nd Rope Springboard Dropkick), Tsuruga Castle (Guillotine Knee Drop)

Nao Kakuta – Soon to retire from pro wrestling, Kakuta gets a chance to say goodbye to her American fans. She was previously a kindergarten teacher, a social welfare director and a camp instructor before becoming a stage actress and pro wrestler. Her wrestling career begun in the original class of Actwres girl’Z before she jumped over to TJPW, where she will stay until this July when she graduates from the industry. There are not a lot of heels in TJPW but Kakuta’s wrestling style is closer to that line than pretty much the rest of the regular roster.
Moves To Watch Out For: Shiden Kai (Fireman’s Carry into a Stunner), Kamitaka (Cross-Legged Front Neck Lock), Tarantula Headscissors, Kenka Kick

Zara Zakher – This past February a new young wrestler from California was given a week long tour of Japan to compete in TJPW. With only a year of experience under her belt at that point, Zakher was thrown straight into the fire with both matches being against former champions. Short in frame but deceptively strong, Zakher had an impressive showing despite coming out on the losing end in both matches. She left enough of a good impression that TJPW fans get to see her again here in Philly.
Moves To Watch Out For: Control Z (Screw Bomb), Lariat, Standing Moonsault

5. Mizuki & Vert Vixen Vs Max The Impaler & Pom Harajuku

Another international tag but this one with a far wilder selection of wrestlers involved. Mizuki joins forces with Vert Vixen for the first time ever. The two were opponents in America once before now everyone gets to see how well they fare as a team. Going against them is one of the most unlikely but heartwarming friendships you will ever find. What happens when you put a wasteland warrior like Max The Impaler with the childlike innocence of Pom Harajuku? You get a buddy-buddy tag team the likes of which would leave Pixar producers seething with jealousy because they hadn’t thought of it first.

Mizuki – The Popping Sugar Rabbit did not start her wrestling career in TJPW but she has established herself as one of the company’s all time best with multiple championship reigns and big show main events to her name. Don’t trust that smiling face of hers, she is vicious when she wants to be which is often. Constantly goes viral for using the Whirling Candy as well as Diving Double Stomps that leave those who see the moves locked in a state of inspiration and amazement. She doesn’t understand what U3+4 means but she is the closest pro wrestling can get to ever creating a real life Lili from Tekken. Just watch out for the biting. She can take the rabbit stuff a bit too literally sometimes.
Moves To Watch Out For: Cutie Special (Bridging Fall Away Slam), Whirling Candy (Spinning Cross Body Block), Diving Foot Stomp, Face Lock

Vert Vixen – Going from what I see online you can spell the name as either VertVixen or Vert Vixen. At last year’s American shows she made her DDT debut and took her first steps into the CyberFight universe. From there she did a month long tour in Japan with TJPW and returned in the summertime to defend the DEFY Women’s Championship, a title she still holds to this day. Obsessed with video games, her ring gear is often inspired by something gaming related. She is nicknamed Player One because Player One always wins!
Moves To Watch Out For: Game Over (Ki Crusher), Blue Thunder Bomb, Rolling Stunner, Sharpshooter

Max The Impaler – Puroresu has a history of bringing over wild rampaging warriors from the western world to cause chaos in their rings. Who could have guess TJPW of all companies would join in the tradition? Whenever “The Non-Binary Nightmare” comes over to TJPW you can expect a path of chaos being left in their wake. And yet Max has ended up becoming really well liked by the roster. Sure the times they rip the building apart gets management a little worried about future bookings with those venues but Max has become a part of the family at this point. And there is one wrestler more than anyone else who Max has established a strong attachment with.
Moves To Watch Out For: Welcome To The Wasteland (Canadian Backbreaker Drop), Short-Range Lariat, Body Block

Pom Harajuku – Bright and colourful costumes, loud screaming and plenty of kicks aimed at shins. Pom Harajuku’s fighting style can be most compared to that of a three year old throwing a temper tantrum. In recent years she has become the centre of Max The Impaler’s attention. Originally opponents in matches that more resembled a monster chasing down their prey, Max & Pom gradually developed respect for each other leading to them joining forces as a team called Pompaler. That is what happens when Max takes a liking to cute things and discovers just how effective it is to throw those cute things at other people. Even without Max, Harajuku can be a lot to handle by herself. And that’s just from the screaming.
Moves To Watch Out For: Pom de Justice (Step-Up Guillotine Leg Drop), Laforet Harajuku (Satellite Headscissors), Shin Kick, Denden Taiko (beating the opponent’s chest like a drum)

6. Special Tag Match: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh Vs Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe

Similar to last year’s show the main event pits two of TJPW’s strongest ever tag teams against each other. 121000000 (pronounced “One To Million” because together their power increases from one to a million) consists of Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh. Both of them are feature players in the company yet in the last year they seem to spend more and more time wrestling overseas. Facing them is a team that can go by two names. Their Japanese name is Hakuchumu but I prefer using the English name Daydream. Together Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe are just as accomplished as their opponents and also have the edge of being the more established tag team. The match is also happening in the aftermath of “GRAND PRINCESS ’24” that just took place in Sumo Hall. Watanabe defeated Yamashita to become the new Princess Of Princess Champion in the main event and here they are fighting each other again. The result of this match may have the consequence of setting up the next Princess Title match back in Japan.

Miyu Yamashita – The Pink Striker has been part of TJPW since they first ran events and is never far away from the Princess Title. She is such a major part of the company that her dominance has long become a big fish in a small pond scenario. The Skull Kick she uses is one of the most deadliest looking finishers around. In recent years she has taken time away from TJPW to wrestle in America and Europe just like her tag team partner. That trend continues because after this show takes place Yamashita will begin a fresh stay in America that will last from April until June.
Moves To Watch Out For: Skull Kick (Backspin High Kick to the head), Crash Rabbit Heat (Running Knee Kick), Attitude Adjustment, Return Crash (Triangle Kick off the turnbuckles)

Maki Itoh – A failed idol who won her way into the hearts of wrestling fans after she transformed into a foul mouthed psychopath with an endless appetite for fame. When she’s about to punch her opponent in the corner she always shouts “Who is the cutest in the world?” and the audience respond with “Itoh-chan!” She struggled for years to become a success in Japan only to start making it big in America wrestling for AEW and GCW. In fact, nowadays you’re more likely to see Itoh carving up opponents with a pizza cutter in GCW than you will trying to be a popstar in TJPW! She recently became the new GCW Extreme Champion. It’s only a matter of time before she takes over the whole place!
Moves To Watch Out For: Itoh Special/Deluxe/Punish (Variations of the Texas Cloverleaf), Flying Big Head (Diving Headbutt), I.S.D/Itoh Suicide DDT (Flying DDT from the top rope), The Cutest Knuckle Punch In The World

Rika Tatsumi – The White Dragon originally took her name and some of her moveset from Tatsumi Fujinami and she also developed hips as hard of diamonds thanks to some special training with Shiro Koshinaka. She is one of only two grand slam champions in TJPW, having won the Princess Title, the Princess Tag Titles and the International Princess Title. But turning into such a powerful creature eventually comes at a cost and she has gradually become a little bit crazy. When you step into the ring with Tatsumi she will find a way to strangle you. She claims it is just her way of making friends. She would also happily run her opponents over with the company tour bus if she knew how to drive it.
Moves To Watch Out For: White Dragon Sleeper, Twist Of Fate, Hip Attack, “Let’s Go!” Elbow Drop, Choking Opponents

Miu Watanabe – The second Up Up Girl appearing on the show and also the strongest. She has found the most success outside of the group by becoming the second ever grand slam champion along with headlining “GRAND PRINCESS ’24” in Sumo Hall just a few days ago. It is the first step towards an Up Up Girl’s ultimate goal of performing in the Nippon Budokan. Always full of energy, she uses big hand gestures to spell out L-O-V-E along with her theme song during her entrances. You need to see her doing the Giant Swing because she knows several ways to put opponents into the move. She’s no one hit wonder though. There are a variety of ways Watanabe gets to show off her strength in the ring. Everyone could see for years that she is TJPW’s next breakout star. It’s only just recently that the booking finally caught up to that opinion.
Moves To Watch Out For: Tear Drop (Modified Flapjack), Laserbeam (Overhand Chop to the chest), Giant Swing, Canadian Backbreaker, Swinging Backbreaker

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GCW/TOKYO JOSHI PRO “GCW VS TJPW”, 06/04/2024
Penns Landing Caterers Auditorium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1. Suzume & Pom Harajuku Vs SAKI & Nao Kakuta
2. Session Moth Martina Vs Raku
3. Dark Sheik Vs Yuki Kamifuku
4. Steph De Lander Vs Hyper Misao
5. Shazza McKenzie Vs Arisu Endo
6. Allie Katch Vs Mizuki
7. Billie Starkz & Janai Kai Vs Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe
8. Special 6-Woman Tag Match: Rina Yamashita, Masha Slamovich & Maki Itoh Vs Miyu Yamashita, Shoko Nakajima & Yuki Aino

The next afternoon TJPW goes head to head against GCW with a show dedicated almost entirely to inter-promotion matches between the two companies. I’ve written about GCW before when DDT worked with them last year so if you don’t mind I’ll repeat my opinions of them here. GCW is a promotion I like but don’t love. I’ve gotten to attend a variety of their events before, most of them during WrestleMania week. They’re really fun to attend in person and I enjoy watching live on Triller whenever I get to chance to do so. Watching the shows on-demand a day or two later though isn’t the same because the energy never carries through the screen. It’s a promotion that does not give its viewers a lot of time to let things soak in because as soon as one show ends they go right into promoting their next events. It can make following them online a bit of a blur at times.

The “GCW Vs X” shows often come off feeling like the lesser event of their doubleshot weekends and I fear the same has happened here despite the admirable effort on GCW’s end to provide an all women’s lineup. It doesn’t help that this show will be on Saturday afternoon and ends only a couple of hours before the first night of WrestleMania opens its doors. I’ve been to other wrestling shows held the same day as WrestleMania in the past and the atmosphere was always poor because the majority of the crowd spends the show keeping an eye on the exits for the entire time. I’m trying to be polite here because the undercard has the potential to be atrocious. Matches #3 up to #6 could be an absolute slog to sit through if some of those style clashes don’t work out. The card was changed a little bit because Sawyer Wreck was originally part of it. A broken hand put her out of action and caused a small reshuffle which includes SAKI getting a last minute booking so she can team with Kakuta. I don’t know what how Allie Katch Vs Mizuki will turn out. That feels like a coin flip as to whether or not the match will be good.

There is something I like about the lineup and that’s the main event. Itoh being on the GCW side makes sense given how she’s been booked in both companies over the last two years. The GCW team consisting of three of their hardest pushed wrestlers against three of TJPW’s longest serving mainstays is a really good idea. And I don’t just mean GCW’s hardest pushed women. Itoh, Rina Yamashita and Masha Slamovich have been among the hardest pushed wrestlers out of the GCW roster in general. That trio is the GCW Ultraviolent Champion, the GCW Extreme Champion and the JCW Champion all joining forces together. Miyu and Masha are great in the ring together while Nakajima and Rina had some fun interactions teaming together during Saki Akai’s retirement road last year. The wild card of the match is Yuki Aino. She might just be there to eat the pin but stranger things have happened.

The penultimate tag match looks fine. I don’t have any complaints about it. I’m a little concerned that Billie Starkz & Janai Kai might be a little tired because of their busy schedules in Philadelphia that week. They both have a bunch of matches already booked and by the time this show happens Starkz will have had a crazy No Rules match with MAO on the DDT show, a possibly crazy match with Misao in TJPW and a championship match in ROH. That kind of schedule is sure to leave some bruises. But other than that they should do good against Daydream.

Last thing to note is the GCW side ran out of women so the opener is all TJPW, even before the card change was made to include SAKI. That is unless Suzume and Pom Harajuku were on the GCW side all along. Has Suzume been the third member of Los Macizos and Pom Harajuku part of the Second Gear Crew this entire time?!?

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There’s at least one other chance to see Maki Itoh during the week. Here is another show at The Collective she will be wrestling on.


GCW “JOEY JANELA’S SPRING BREAK 8”, 05/04/2024
Penns Landing Caterers Auditorium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1. Nick Gage & Maki Itoh Vs Danhausen & Ram Kaichow

While Itoh went back to Japan to wrestle for TJPW again, Gage went and teamed with Danhausen to challenge for the GCW Tag Team Titles. They lost and Danhausen blamed the result on Gage. That caused Gage to come up with a challenge. He and Itoh will fight Danhausen and a partner of his choice at some point during The Collective. All signs pointed towards the annual Spring Break show as the destination for the match. Then Joey Janela broke the news that Danhausen chose Ram Kaichow to be his teammate! Itoh and Kaichow have never crossed paths in the ring before because Kaichow’s TJPW appearances are often contained within the Rakuverse


GCW “JJSB: CLUSTERF*CK FOREVER!”, 06/04/2024
Penns Landing Caterers Auditorium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1. Clusterfuck Match: X Vs X

I’m including this because there are apparently going to be 88 contestants entering this year’s annual Clusterfuck Match so maybe a few TJPW entries could show up in it? Perhaps Itoh will have an Extreme Title defence on the card too.

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Posted by JamieOD

Guide To DDT In Philadelphia

April 2, 2024

DDT “DDT GOES PHILADELPHIA!”, 04/04/2024
Penns Landing Caterers Auditorium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1. Special Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & KANON Vs Nick Wayne & Takeshi Masada
2. Special Tag Match: Chris Brookes & Kid Lykos Vs Bryan Keith & Shota
3. Special Single Match: Kazuki Hirata Vs Yoshihiko
4. Special Single Match: Tetsuya Endo Vs Andrew “The Giant” Everett
5. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs Shunma Katsumata
6. Special Single Match: Yuki Ueno Vs Mike Bailey
7. DDT Universal Title – No Rules Match: MAO (c) Vs Billie Starkz

So you have tickets for DDT’s show in Philadelphia this week but you’re out of the loop on the current product. Maybe you only have surface level knowledge of DDT or just know it as that wacky wrestling company from Japan. Need a hand in knowing what to expect? Then here you go! It is the craziest week on the pro wrestling calander and DDT wouldn’t miss it for the world. They have a show going on in conjunction with The Collective mixing together their own talent with a few international guests who have worked with them before. Tiny bits and pieces of DDT can be found in Philadelphia’s history of independent wrestling. They have played parts in Chikara’s massive tag tournaments back when they were a yearly highlight of the East Coast indies. Things are a very, very different nowadays and DDT find themselves among a loaded week of shows going on. They even face competition from their own sister promotion Tokyo Joshi Pro. So what do they have to offer this time around? Let’s have a look.

When and where is the show taking place?

This week “DDT GOES PHILADELPHIA!” will be held at Penn’s Landing Caterers Auditorium in Philadelphia on 4th April. The show is scheduled to begin at 8:00pm Eastern time.

Where can I watch it online?

The show will air live on Triller TV (you know, FITE) with English commentary through the TrillerTV+ subscription service. The on-demand version of the show will be available to watch on Wrestle Universe sometime after the live broadcast.

Is this a proper DDT show?

It’s missing some of the big veteran players in order to highlight wrestlers from the modern generation but I think it’s a decent lineup. Sort of similar to what was offered last year where half the card focuses on DDT Vs The World. The mistake made last year was all of the wacky stuff being frontloaded to the first third of the show. The rest of the show wasn’t bad but doing so many regular matches in a row did not stand out the way people expect a DDT show would. So assuming this is the confirmed match order they made the right move to make sure the craziest match on paper is happening near the end. Two of the straight forward singles matches have the potential to be highlights of the week and also be suitable for those with a distaste for comedy wrestling.

Will The Steiner Brothers be at the show?

No.

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1. Special Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & KANON Vs Nick Wayne & Takeshi Masada

DDT’s resident heel group opens up the show by getting into a fight with some young wrestlers who have high expectations to live up to based on their future potential. Daisuke Sasaki has been DDT’s main heel wrestler for years now but it’s been a while since he was put in main event level programs. His tag partner KANON has been getting more focus lately and might find himself getting placed into bigger spots on the card in the years to come. Nick Wayne is currently a heel in AEW but still gets to show off on the indies. Takeshi Masada fought Wayne on last year’s DDT USA show but they have gotten along since then and get to team with each other here.

Daisuke Sasaki – Is there any other heel out there as dirty and depressed as this guy? Sasaki is the leader of DAMNATION T.A and can never be counted out of the running no matter what he himself will tell people. He has the talent and success to reach bigger heights but every time there is a setback it sends him tumbling back down into despair. Maybe he will be in a better mood by the time this show takes place. He will be spending a week in Mexico beforehand looking for lucha libre shows to wrestle in. That’s one of the few experiences he has left nowadays that cheers him up.
Moves To Watch Out For: Crossface Lock (includes La Mistica and Crossover variations), Sasaki Hurricanrana, Diving Elbow Drop

KANON – Another heel wrestler with a habit of getting into some wild mood swings. KANON has been learning the DAMNATION ways under Sasaki’s wing for almost two years now. He started out in JTO and was trained by TAKA Michinoku. What could have been a promising young wrestler with a volleyball background has turned into a sadistic little creep. His main talent in the ring is how he uses the Cobra Twist to win his matches. He knows several ways to apply that hold and can adapt it to pin opponents as well as submit them.
Moves To Watch Out For: Sleepy Hollow (Twisting Brainbuster), Just Cobra Twist, Vietnam Driver II (Inverted Michinoku Driver)

Nick Wayne – At 18 years old he is one of the youngest wrestlers on the AEW roster but don’t worry, he has a father figure and family support behind him over there. The son of the late Buddy Wayne toured with DDT last year to get himself ready for his move to AEW. It just so happens that DDT has a bunch of young wrestlers too so Wayne has plenty of people from his generation to work with. There will come the day when Wayne is treated by the scene like a grizzled veteran with hundreds of matches under his belt while still being in his mid twenties. It’s a bright future that will only shine brighter once he flicks the switch and puts all the pieces together to become his own wrestler.
Moves To Watch Out For: Wayne’s World (Sprinboard Flying Cutter), Inverted Hurricanrana, Snap Dragon Suplex, Fisherman Suplex

Takeshi Masada – The 22 year old made his pro debut only three months into his training, making him the fastest debut in DDT’s history. Has a background in Shorinji Kempo and he uses those skills to develop a kick heavy offence. Motivated to a fault, Masada likes to take on challenges that go beyond his current standing in the company. Even if he’s not ready to for that kind of stuff, his kind of outside the box attitude made him a natural fit for SCHADENFREUDE International when that group was formed last November. Rookies have a bad habit of breaking easily but if Masada continues at the rate he’s going, DDT has themselves a diamond in the rough.
Moves To Watch Out For: Masada no Chikara KOBU Mukimuki (Cross-legged Falcon Arrow), Triangle Kick (Running Enzuigiri off the turnbuckles)

2. Special Tag Match: Chris Brookes & Kid Lykos Vs Bryan Keith & Shota

Fans of CCK will be delighted to hear the team is back together for one night only. Chris Brookes has been embracing his SCHADENFREUDE attitude again by putting together a DDT version of the group so teaming with Kid Lykos again must be like putting on an old comfy pair of slippers. Facing them is a mishmash team of two well travelled indie wrestlers from opposite corners of the world. Bryan Keith did well in his DDT appearances earlier this year. The match will also be Shota’s first bout since becoming a freelancer again. He’ll be looking to make a good impression to get his name out there. Too bad he’s going against a team that likes to take the piss out of their opponents.

Chris Brookes – An English wrestler who has carved out his own niche over in Japan by sticking his finger in a whole lot of pies. When not wrestling in DDT you can find Brookes causing trouble in ChocoPro, teaming with Masahiro Takanashi across southeast Asia or running his own group of crazy shows called Baka Gaijin + Friends that is held in a small Tokyo bar once a month. His love for a certain brand of Japanese wrestling gradually turned him into an essential figure in DDT, at one point even standing at the very top of the mountain. All of that takes a lot of work and effort though so lately he is taking a different direction and doing whatever he wants with his pro wrestling friends in SCHADENFREUDE International. But long before all of that happened, Brookes was once best known for being in a tag team with a shitty little wolf.
Moves To Watch Out For: Praying Mantis Bomb (Double Arm Piledriver), Octopus Stretch, Death By Roll-Up

Kid Lykos – That shitty little wolf has grown up a little bit. The British wrestling scene was in a dire state coming out of the pandemic but one key figure who stuck with it through thick and thin was Kid Lykos. Along the way he found another Kid Lykos to team with, got to fight Brookes in a dramatic match between friends and lose his mask on the way to finally obtaining singles glory by becoming the Progress World Champion. He got a brief tour with DDT in Japan during 2022 and that was the last time CCK teamed together. Until now that is.
Moves To Watch Out For: Captain Midnight’s Revenge (Swanton Bomb), Brainbuster, Casanova (Somato), Triple Back Drop

Bryan Keith – This bounty hunter has been making some waves lately. It’s an intimidating sight seeing the man wearing the Black Halo come to town looking to collect. That kind of mercenary life has taken Keith from Texas to all points of America before sending him over to Japan. A stay in DDT at the start of the year allowed him to sharpen his skills further before moving on to AEW where he currently resides. The bounty hunter aesthetic hides a clear love for Japanese pro wrestling. His moveset along with where in the ring he likes to attack are dead giveaways to what his in-ring influences are.
Moves To Watch Out For: Emerald Tiger Driver, Exploder Suplex (sometimes into the turnbuckles), Power Bomb, Knee Strike

Shota – He is a long time journeyman of the Japanese indies and for many years wrestled for Ganbare☆Pro, a spin-off promotion from DDT that until now was also under the CyberFight banner. But big changes have come for him this year. GanPro has gone independent from CyberFight and Shota decided he too will live the independent life once more. One of his first big moves as a freelancer is take some American dates starting with this one. In his previous American excursions he wrestlers for some of the most obscure indies I’ve ever heard of. “Mr. Showtime” is a savvy veteran who thinks one step ahead to outsmart his opponents.
Moves To Watch Out For: Gannosuke Clutch, Frog Splash, Sharpshooter

3. Special Single Match: Kazuki Hirata Vs Yoshihiko

You’re getting classic DDT right here! Kazuki Hirata is a cult favourite for both his comedy act as well as his underdog performances against much stronger opponents. In a way they don’t come much stronger than Yoshihiko. The battle doll is one of DDT’s most infamous gimmicks known worldwide. You ever hear in interviews when a pro wrestler is described as being so good they can have a four star match against a paper bag? Yoshihiko is that theory put into practice. And trust me, Hirata understands how to wrestle against Yoshihiko more than almost anyone else.

Kazuki Hirata – You know when a parody outlives the source material and probably becomes more well known to modern audiences than the original? I think that applies to Hirata. Puro fans might remember one of Dragongate’s early stars was Magnum TOKYO. A key part of Magnum’s presentation was him dancing to his entrance song “Tokyo GO!”. His career in the Toryumon system lasted around a decade. Long after Magnum disappeared from the wrestling industry the DG dojo dropout Hirata took over the gimmick as a spoof in DDT. He’s been doing it since 2014 and I think he has now danced to “Tokyo GO!” for longer than Magnum has! Hirata has been around almost 15 years but remains one of the weakest fighters in DDT. But what he lacks in physical talent he makes up for with a crafty and creative mind. Also he carries around a pair of Hirata GO! glasses that when worn automatically plays “Tokyo GO!” in the room and drives the wearer to dance along to it. It rarely helps Hirata win a match but it’s always a crowd pleaser. What often does work for Hirata is the Miracle One Shot Cradle, a Small Package with a strong success rate especially when Hirata is at his most desperate.
Moves To Watch Out For: Miracle One Shot Cradle (Small Package), Egoist Driver (Pumphandle Michinoku Driver), Sliding Kick, Tegatana (a deadly martial arts chop to the neck)

Yoshihiko – The Grave Digger Doll From Hell has been a mysterious force in DDT for almost two decades now. It first showed up as the brother of Muscle Sakai and kept on replacing him in matches because Sakai was constantly getting injured from gun violence backstage (it’s a long story). Yoshihiko vanished after that storyline ended and would reappear years later as Danshoku Dieno’s surprise tag team partner. Over time the doll’s powers have only gotten stronger and it has the ability to transform into powerful wrestlers like The Great Muta, The Undertaker and Hulk Hogan. You can rip it limb from limb and it will survive. You can drive over it in a car and it will survive. You can throw it off a building and it will survive. To fight Yoshihiko is almost like fighting yourself. Only then can you discover your true talent as a pro wrestler.
Moves To Watch Out For: Reincarnation (multiple rotations into a Hurricanrana), Canadian Destroyer, Yoshihiko Destroyer (multiple Canadian Destroyers in a row)

4. Special Single Match: Tetsuya Endo Vs Andrew “The Giant” Everett

A battle of the high flyers that has the potential to turn into a game of one-upmanship. Tetsuya Endo is far away from being the top guy in DDT like he was a few years ago. Instead he is finding success in the tag team division at the moment. He is somebody who has needed a change of scenery for a while now so hopefully a match like this in America can be a fresh breath of air. His opponent Andrew Everett hasn’t gotten to wrestle in Japan again since his DDT tour in 2022 when they discovered he might not actually be a giant. That’s what you get for lying about your height! But if he really is a giant then he will assert his dominance over Endo no problem. If not then we get to see Endo turn into a giant slayer instead.

Tetsuya Endo – Once the top wrestler in DDT, a disastrous concussion caused by a shoot slap from Katsuhiko Nakajima resulted in a major setback for Endo’s career. While he has yet to become the No. 1 guy in the company again he has regained some success by winning the KO-D Tag Team Titles with Yuki Iino. Endo is currently the leader of BURNING, which is DDT’s attempt at making a current day version of the unit that has roots going back to NOAH and All Japan. He often has Kenta Kobashi’s blessing to represent that legacy and often meets with him to discuss ways to progress his career. With a greay physique and a lot of athleticism, Endo on paper has all of the tools to be a big star. It just never worked out for him that way, especially when you see where his rival is now. But that is not who he has to worry about here.
Moves To Watch Out For: Burning Star Press (Shooting Star Press), Tetsuya In The Sky (One Man Spanish Fly), Spinning Torture Rack Bomb

Andrew “The Giant” Everett – Can you believe there are rumours out there that Everett is not a giant? I know, right! He climbs into the ring by stepping over the top rope like giants do. He does Choke Slams his opponents like giants do. He wears a singlet like giants do. He does Moonsaults like Paul White allegedly did. That means Everett is a giant! Deadlock Pro is where you can find him nowadays. He’s wrestled in DDT before but perhaps his biggest accomplishment in Japan is from NewLegacyInc when his abuse of the Loser Leaves Town rule accidentally resulted in multiple clones of himself and Jun Akiyama being created.
Moves To Watch Out For: 630 Senton, Shooting Star Press, Moonsault, Choke Slam, Pelé Kick

5. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs Shunma Katsumata

The top babyface group in DDT right now is The 37KAMIINA (“The Sauna Kamiina” because 37 in Japanese sounds similar to sauna and Kamiina is what the stoves are called) and Konosuke Takeshita was originally a member until he turned heel in AEW. Over time he has fought against his friends in separate singles matches and now the time has come for Shunma Katsumata to fight him. Is he up to the task against someone who is approaching best in the world territory?

Konosuke Takeshita – No matter where his career in AEW will take him, Takeshita will always have a home in DDT. He’s kind of living a double life because in AEW he is a heel under the increasingly questionable management of Don Callis. That is why DDT now writes his name in English with all upper case letters. Whenever he comes back to Japan he gets to be more like himself, a good boy who can German Suplex anything. He was part of The 37KAMIINA for a long time but left the group to follow his new career path in America. That means he gets to fight against his buddies but it is ultimately being done with good intentions. Matches like these are done so he can push his friends into improving themselves. If is takes smashing them in the face with his knees and elbows to get that message across then so be it.
Moves To Watch Out For: Spinning Falcon Arrow, Powerdrive Knee/Wagamama (V-Trigger style Knee Strike), German Suplex, Blue Thunder Bomb, Takeshita Line (Leaping Clothesline from the ropes)

Shunma Katsumata – Nobody in DDT loves saunas as much as this guy. Don’t let his hobby or his eternally youthful looks fool you though. Katsumata can get crazy violent whenever he wants. He is currently the DDT Extreme Champion, a belt that allows the holder to come up with whatever stipulation they want for their title defences. Just to give an example his most recent defence was called the Painful Jungle Death Match and it was DDT’s bloodiest bout in a long, long time. Yet there are also times when his weapons of choice are Lego and party poppers. The odd strain in Takeshita’s relationship with The 37KAMIINA has ended up with Katsumata being next to fight him. The situation is probably not violent enough for Super Hardcore Katsumata to appear. How he handles this match will depend on how much he will want to take it seriously.
Moves To Watch Out For: ¡Hasta la vista! (Lightning Spiral), Totonou Splash (straight Diving Body Press), Aufguss (Diving Foot Stomp to a standing opponent)

6. Special Single Match: Yuki Ueno Vs Mike Bailey

At the time of writing this match is a non-title bout yet I’m sure these two are going to have a match like it is one. We don’t get to see much of Mike Bailey in DDT anymore. Speedball has one of the more demanding looking schedules going in wrestling right now. He was around while Yuki Ueno was still in the early years of his career and Ueno is a far more developed wrestler now. When it comes to personality I don’t have much to say about Ueno unfortunately. As a wrestler though he is walking the walk as the current KO-D Openweight Champion. These two against each other can tear the house down if they don’t hold back.

Yuki Ueno – The current KO-D Champion which makes him the man to beat in DDT. Ueno has known Takeshita since they were high school classmates together. It was Takeshita’s journey into pro wrestling that convinced Ueno to follow him and give it a go. For most of his career that meant Ueno was stuck standing in his friend’s shadow. However Takeshita leaving DDT for AEW could not have been any more of a benefit for Ueno. Driven to become the ace of DDT, Ueno climbed the ladder and won the KO-D Title at Sumo Hall last November. Since then he has purposely defended the championship against wrestlers who are closely connected to DDT whether they are past aces, beloved personalities or even important management behind the scenes. He does this in order to prove that he is the best person to carry the company forward.
Moves To Watch Out For: BME (Best Moonsault Ever), WR (Rolling Wrist-Clutch Blockbuster), Jul.2 (Rolling Guillotine Ace Crusher), Half Nelson Suplex, Dropkick to the Face

Mike Bailey – There’s been a couple of talented Canadian wrestlers who became big deals in DDT. You can count Speedball among that elite group. Nowadays he is signed to TNA but you never have to look far throughout the North American indies to find him wrestling on the card. Go look up his schedule for the weekend, he has like half a dozen bookings and four of them are on the same day! Bailey has been in the ring with Ueno a bunch of times but never in a singles match together. How this guy hasn’t destroyed his knees yet from the apron bumps in every match I will never know.
Moves To Watch Out For: Ultima Weapon (Shooting Star Double Knee Drop), Flamingo Driver (Cross-Legged One-Winged Angel), Green Tea Plunge (Standing Moonsault Fall Away Slam), Machine Gun Kicks

7. DDT Universal Title – No Rules Match: MAO (c) Vs Billie Starkz

The only title match on the show is going to be off the wall. The DDT Universal Title is a secondary championships that was intentionally created to be defended overseas in order to promote the company abroad. The current holder MAO is eager to go that direction at a time when he as a performer has never been better. When he set his sights on having a title match in Philadelphia, DDT thought outside the box and picked Billie Starkz as his challenger. If her tempo matches with MAO’s then the whole building is going to be left in a mess by the time the show is over.

MAO – Lives by the motto “Fucked up wrestling for a fucked up world!” The high flier feels at his most alive when he is in Falls Count Anywhere situations. He is still immature but in the past year has figured out his own vision for pro wrestling. With that also comes a newly found confidence in his abilities. The result is him becoming a multiple time Universal Champion with a desire to spread DDT and defend the belt around the world. Putting him in the city where extreme wrestling flourished is just asking for trouble. This is a guy who likes wrestling in Circle 6 shows for God’s sake!
Moves To Watch Out For: Cannonball 450 (450 Splash), Michinoku Driver, Marines Tornado Splash (Swan Dive Phoenix Splash), Tornado Kick

Billie Starkz – A busy WrestleMania Week scheduled? Why not add a championship match held under no rules to the diary? From what I’ve seen of Billie Starkz over the years a match like this is a chance for her to blow off some steam and just go out there doing some nutty stuff for fun. Just don’t let Athena know what she’s getting up to while she’s on her own. You can’t replace Minions In Training that easily. Starkz has wrestled for TJPW before but this will be her first time stepping into a DDT ring. I’m sure she’ll feel right at home.
Moves To Watch Out For: Swanton Bomb, Sugoi Driver (Double Legged One-Winged Angel sometimes on the ring apron), Starkz Driver (Tombstone Piledriver), Star 10 (CRII)

———————————————————————–

There will be other chances to see a few DDT wrestlers in action across Philadelphia that week. Mainly MAO. You are going to get a lot of MAO.


CIRCLE 6 “NEW FEAR CITY”, 03/04/2024
The Fire, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1. Chris Brookes Vs X
2. MAO Vs X

Let’s get started with Wrestlemania Week! Out of all the DDT wrestlers heading to Philadelphia it will be MAO who has the lion’s share of bookings. On the Wednesday night he and Chris Brookes are both going to a No Ring show held at a nightclub by Circle 6. It’s a dangerous way to begin one of the most schedule intense weeks of the wrestling calander.


DEFY “CAN’T DENY IT”, 04/04/2024
Penns Landing Caterers Auditorium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1. Chris Brookes & Kid Lykos Vs MAO & Mike Bailey

Thursday is even nuttier. MAO has four bookings in one day! It begins with a DEFY show where MAO and Mike Bailey reunite as Moonlight Express to face CCK.


SHP/LOL “EUPHORIA”, 04/04/2024
Attic Brewing Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1. Matt Makowski Vs MAO

When the DEFY match is done with MAO then goes over to another venue where he will wrestle Matt Makowski. On paper that sounds like a straight forward match but some really wacky things have happened at Sean Henderson Presents shows in the past. Don’t let your guard down, MAO.


GCW/JCW “GCW/JCW VS THE WORLD”, 04/04/2024
Penns Landing Caterers Auditorium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1. Shota Vs X
2. 4 Way Tag Match: Ciclope & Miedo Extremo Vs Robert Dreissker & Laurance Roman Vs Man Like DeReiss & Leon Slater Vs MAO & Yoshihiko

The final show of the day if you go by the starting time being in the very last minute (yeah right like it won’t be delayed). GCW and its sister promotion JCW have invited the world to take them on. MAO & Yoshihiko will be joining forces to enter a 4 Way Tag Match against GCW’s top team from Mexico Los Macizos, the wXw duo from Germany Amboss and Britain’s own Boisterous Behaviour from NORTH Wrestling.

Also on the show is Shota taking his first independent booking since going freelance from GanPro. His match has not been announced yet. Since this is a GCW show it will probably be a Scramble Match since there are a bunch of other wrestlers also advertised with no match yet.


GCW “JJSB: CLUSTERF*CK FOREVER!”, 06/04/2024
Penns Landing Caterers Auditorium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1. Clusterfuck Match: X Vs X

I’m including this because there are apparently going to be 88 contestants entering this year’s annual Clusterfuck Match. Surely that means the odds are good for a few DDT wrestlers showing up somewhere on the show?

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Posted by JamieOD

VP Akito Gets The Next Title Shot, DDT USA Full Card, April Shaping Up

March 18, 2024

BASARA “BASARA 244 ~UTAGE~”, 19/03/2024
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Lil’ Kraken Vs Fuminori Abe
2. 3 Way Tag Match: Ryuichi Sekine & Gouma Ryu Vs Takato Nakano & Yasu Urano Vs Tsutomu Oosugi & Banana Senga
3. Takumi Tsukamoto, SAGAT & Judomaster Vs FUMA, KUBITO & Daichi Kazato
4. Isami Kosaka Vs Kazusada Higuchi
5. Union MAX Title: Minoru Fujita (c) Vs Masato Kamino

It looks like Judomaster is here to stay for as long as Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi is suffering from that dreaded love sickness. Curse that illness!

DDT “SPRING BEER GARDEN PRO WRESTLING – DAY 1”, 21/03/2024
Tokyo Ueno Park Outdoor Stage

1. Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino Vs Makoto Oishi & Yoshitatsu
2. Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul Vs HARASHIMA, Yukio Naya & Hideki Okatani
3. D GENERATIONS CUP 2024 – Round 1D: Yuya Koroku Vs Rukiya
4. D GENERATIONS CUP 2024 – Round 1C: Munetatsu Nakamura Vs Kazuma Sumi
5. D GENERATIONS CUP 2024 – Round 1B: To-y Vs Tsubasa Suzuki
6. D GENERATIONS CUP 2024 – Round 1A: Yuni Vs Ilusion
7. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Chris Brookes, Antonio Honda & Takeshi Masada Vs Danshoku Dieno, Yoshihiko & Pokotan
8. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yuki Ueno, MAO & Shunma Katsumata Vs Akito, Kazusada Higuchi & Kazuki Hirata

We begin the preview tag matches between Yuki Ueno and Akito and also start this year’s D GENERATIONS CUP.

DDT “DDT GOES PHILADELPHIA!”, 04/04/2024
Penn’s Landing Caterers Auditorium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1. Special Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & KANON Vs Nick Wayne & Takeshi Masada
2. Special Tag Match: Chris Brookes & Kid Lykos Vs Bryan Keith & Shota
3. Special Single Match: Kazuki Hirata Vs Yoshihiko
4. Special Single Match: Tetsuya Endo Vs Andrew “The Giant” Everett
5. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs Shunma Katsumata
6. Special Single Match: Yuki Ueno Vs Mike Bailey
7. DDT Universal Title – No Rules Match: MAO (c) Vs Billie Starkz

The headline match for Philadelphia is definitely the craziest one on the list. MAO’s current DDT Universal Title reign is inspiring him to go out and set the world ablaze. Billie Starkz will be waiting for him at Wrestlemania Week and might be tempted to outdo whatever MAO comes up with.

Andrew Everett is already saying what the selling point of his match against Tetsuya Endo will be. Who has the better Shooting Star Press?

Last year we got to see Nick Wayne and Takeshi Masada gel together whenever Wayne appeared in DDT. That relationship started in America as opponents and will continue in America this time as a team against DAMNATION T.A.

DDT “APRIL FOOL 2024”, 07/04/2024
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

0. No Gamble FINAL!: Sanshiro Takagi, Akito & Toru Owashi Vs X
1. D GENERATIONS CUP 2024 – Final: X Vs X
2. Special Single Match: Shinya Aoki Vs Chihiro Hashimoto
3. DDT Extreme Title – Hardcore Match: Shunma Katsumata (c) Vs Hi69
4. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino (c) Vs Jun Akiyama & X
5. Dramatic Dream Tag Match: Yuki Ueno & MAO Vs Zack Sabre Jr. & Chris Brookes

BURNING is now a few months into life without Jun Akiyama guiding them. According to Endo the time is now for he and Yuki Iino to face Akiyama head on. They want to defend the KO-D Tag Team Titles against him and anyone else. Akiyama isn’t going to team with anyone else from D.O.A so who could it be? Another wrestler from BURNING’s history? Somebody Akiyama knows from AEW?

At last NOAH is crossing over into DDT a little bit more. Hi69 from the TEAM NOAH unit is interested in challenging for the DDT Extreme Title and will go through a Hardcore Match in order to win it. Shunma Katsumata is a little annoyed at how little Hi69 knows what the championship is all about. It’s more than just your typical Hardcore Title. Also it’s up to the champion to choose the match stipulation. Katsumata is willing to fight on Hi69’s terms to prove his point.

DDT “DDT X ZEEKSTAR TOKYO SPECIAL PERFORMANCE ~ DDZT”, 26/04/2024
Tokyo Sumida Ward General Gymnasium

1. Keigo Nakamura Return Match: Keigo Nakamura Vs X
2. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Jun Akiyama, Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi (c) Vs Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul
3. KO-D Openweight Title: Yuki Ueno (c) Vs Akito

There’s been a specific list of wrestlers Yuki Ueno wanted to defend the KO-D Openweight Title against in order to establish himself as the new ace of the company. He has just one more name to tick off and that is Akito. While the match does not sound like a major contest on paper, Akito is somebody who eats, sleeps and breathes DDT 24/7 while working as the company’s vice president. If beating Ueno for the KO-D Title is what it takes for Akito to prove how much he loves the company more than anyone else then so be it.

D.O.A ended the existence of Zuncha♪Muscle Survivor over the weekend and now find themselves under threat by DAMNATION T.A. Remember, the current KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions made a deal with each other to disband once they lose the titles. It could happen here.

After being out of action with injury for almost a year, Keigo Nakamura will return to the ring a the end of April. Hopefully he got his right knee sorted this time because it’s an injury that has hampered his wrestling career right when it started to pick up.

DDT “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2024”, 21/07/2024
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

1. KO-D Openweight Title: Yuki Ueno (c) Vs X

There will be a couple more KO-D Title defences going on between April and July so who knows who will be the defending champion when DDT returns to Sumo Hall.

Both Konosuke Takeshita and El Desperado will be on the show.

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DDT “JUDGEMENT 2024 ~27TH ANNIVERSARY 5 HOUR SPECIAL~” Results

March 17, 2024

DDT “JUDGEMENT 2024 ~27TH ANNIVERSARY 5 HOUR SPECIAL~”, 17/03/2024
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,491 Fans – Super No Vacancy

1. “Intern Wrestler” Tsubasa Suzuki Debut Match: Soma Takao defeated Tsubasa Suzuki with the Perfect Driver (9:08).
2. Yuya Koroku Return Match: To-y, Ilusion & Rukiya defeated Yuni, Yuya Koroku & Kazuma Sumi when To-y pinned Koroku with the Kojima Impact (8:42).
3. Keisuke Ishii & Shinichiro Kawamatsu defeated Toru Owashi & Gorgeous Matsuno when Ishii pinned Matsuno with the Double Arm Driver (9:26).
4. Special Single Match: Super Sasadango Machine Vs Akito ended in a Draw when both of them fell asleep (7:20).
5. SCHADENFREUDE International Vs DAMNATION T.A!: Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul defeated Chris Brookes, Masahiro Takanashi & Antonio Honda when KANON submitted Honda with the Just Cobra Twist (11:21).
6. Special Single Match: Ken Ohka defeated Sanshiro Takagi with the Spear Of Flame (10:32).
7. Special Tag Match: Shuji Ishikawa & Yoshitatsu defeated Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Naya when Ishikawa pinned Higuchi with the Splash Mountain (12:24).
8. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles – Belt Contra Dissolution: Jun Akiyama, Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi (c) defeated Kazuki Hirata, Naruki Doi & Shinya Aoki when Oishi pinned Hirata with an Egoist Driver Cutback (9:48).
*V4 for D.O.A. Zuncha♪Muscle Survivor must disband.
9. DDT Extreme Title – Painful Jungle Death Match: Shunma Katsumata (c) defeated Hideki Okatani with the Totonou Splash onto a Barbed Wire Board (13:38).
*V1 for Shunma Katsumata.
10. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino (c) defeated Ryuki Honda & Yuma Anzai when Endo pinned Honda with the Burning Star Press (16:57).
*V1 for BURNING.
11. DDT Universal Title: MAO (c) defeated Takeshi Masada by Knockout with the Senpukyaku (4:22).
*V6 for MAO.
12. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA defeated Yuma Aoyagi with the Modified Falcon Arrow (19:16).
13. KO-D Openweight Title: Yuki Ueno (c) defeated HARASHIMA with the WR (22:50).
*V3 for Yuki Ueno.

27 years of DDT called for another marathon show at Korakuen Hall to celebrate. 13 matches took place across almost 6 hours in front of a big crowd. The big bout at the end was Yuki Ueno moving past HARASHIMA in the latest defence of his KO-D Openweight Title reign. The match called for a big performance for the champion who wants to be established as DDT’s ace against the wrestler who himself is nicknamed “Mr. DDT” for his own dominance over the company throughout the years. Ueno did a Moonsault from one of the aisle entrance ways while back in the ring HARASHIMA did an Inverted Hurricanrana off of the top rope. More action took place out of the ring and almost ended Ueno’s reign but he returned at the 19 count. HARASHIMA hit the Somato but only got a two count with it. Another attempt was countered with Ueno’s big Dropkick and when Ueno gave him the WR, HARASHIMA had no answer for it and was pinned.

After the match Ueno hugged HARASHIMA and Kenta Kobashi handed the KO-D Title to him. Ueno talked about figuring out how to put his thoughts and feelings about his relationship with HARASHIMA into words. Today his heart feels full and satisfied because he got to have a big title match with HARASHIMA. He is sure HARASHIMA will continue to be an ace and they will often be opponents again in the future. But next time Ueno will be stronger and even a little more cocky. He thanked him for always being there.

Now Ueno turns his attention to his next defence. It is scheduled for 26th April in Sumida Ward General Gymnasium. There is one more important person Ueno wants to have a title match and that is DDT’s vice president Akito! Ueno ignored Akito’s objections and called him into the ring. Akito explained it’s not right for a wrestler in his position to take on such an important challenge. He also has not won any singles matches at all this year. Ueno agreed there are other more suitable challengers out there but none of them interest him more than Akito. He has a lot of jobs as vice president and Ueno argued that being a title challenger is one of them. Akito understood but warned the champion what could happen once his filter is switched off because there is nobody who thinks more about DDT than he does! Not Sanshiro Takagi, not Danshoku Dieno, not HARASHIMA and not Yuki Ueno! 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, at work, at home, no matter where he travels to, it is Akito who devotes his life to the company. When DDT has good times he has good times too. When DDT has hard times he has hard times too. Akito is betting his entire life on DDT and will use all of his poison to erase Ueno’s brilliance!

Given this match was DDT against All Japan, you’d expect it would be Konosuke Takeshita coming out doing the wacky DDT entrance. Nope, it was Yuma Aoyagi who got into the swing of things riding to the ring on the Dramatic Dream bike and wearing a crazy looking helmet. The match itself was a smash with the two living up to expectations. Takeshita hit Aoyagi with the Jumping Knee and the Wagamama but it wasn’t enough to win. So he did the deal with the same Spinning Falcon Arrow he used to win a match in AEW earlier this week to get the same result here. Backstage Takeshita sent his thanks out to Aoyagi for accepting his invitation to do the match in DDT. Takeshita respects every wrestler from his generation no matter what company they work for and if possible would like to fight all of them. However he has something to do in America next so he has limited chances to wrestle again in Japan for the time being. He said it is up to his generation in Japan to liven up the wrestling world. Aoyagi called the match refreshing. He would like a rematch once every couple of years on a schedule similar to the Olympics. He also wants to fight other DDT wrestlers from his generation, like Yuki Ueno for example. But not now. Let him take a rest first.

It was a long show and time was not wasted in the DDT Universal Title match. Fueled by the recent criticisms aimed against him by the champion, Takeshi Masada attacked MAO before the bell with a Missile Dropkick. MAO responded with a Leapfrog Stunner over the ref and the match officially began from there. In the next four minutes MAO controlled the match and had an answer for most of what Masada threw at him. Masada got hit with big strikes but was determined to keep on fighting until he was hit with the Whirlwind Kick. Masada couldn’t return to his feet in time and was counted out. MAO quickly moved on and asked for who his challenger will be in America. An image flashed on the screen showing he will defend the Universal Title at Philadelphia on 4th April against Billie Starkz in a No Rules Match! MAO loves the Universal Title so much he will use it to set the whole world on fire!

There was another DDT Vs AJPW match on the card, this one had the KO-D Tag Team Titles on the line. The champions BURNING had been trying to sort themselves out lately over some miscommunication problems. New Period were coming over to be a big distraction for them, one that could see All Japan take over one of DDT’s main championships. The challengers even allegedly got in touch with Yoshihiko to learn what weaknesses of the champions they could exploit! However BURNING in the end got to show their problems with teamwork. In fact it was a missed double team from New Period that led to Ryuki Honda & Yuma Anzai hitting each other by accident. Later Yuki Iino charged towards Tetsuya Endo and Endo dropped down into the splits. Iino then jumped over him to Spear Honda! Endo then gave him the Torture Rack Bomb for a nearfall and finished him off with the Burning Star Press.

Endo declared the result a victory for BURNING and the KO-D Tag Titles still belong to them. However he admits it won’t be long until New Period’s time truly arrives. When that time does come Endo & Iino will want a rematch against them. Endo also told Honda it’s fine to use Yoshihiko but he has to return DDT’s property back to their office (later Honda and Yoshihiko got into a fight backstage bringing their short lived friendship to an end). BURNING’s next title defence will be at the 7th April Korakuen Hall show. Endo asked for Jun Akiyama to be one of the opponents because he wants to defend the title against him. Akiyama accepted but none of his regular partners are available at the moment. If he or DDT can find someone suitable to team with him he will do the title match on 7th April. Iino then tried to provoke Akiyama by doing the BURNING pose in front of him. Akiyama smiled, left the ring and did the same post in the dirction towards Kobashi at the commentary table. Endo told fans to look forward to the new BURNING, one without Akiyama or Kobashi in it!

The Painful Jungle Death Match lived up to its name, providing DDT with one of its most bloodiest matches in a while. Many sharp and piercing objects were placed in the ring along with some jungle looking items. For example there was a barbed wire board with a large snake toy caught on top of it. Shunma Katsumata and Hideki Okatani proceeded to throw and slam each other onto everything with the DDT Extreme Title at stake. Okatani couldn’t get the win with either the Double Arm Suplex or Quetzalcoatl. Instead Katsumata got the upper hand and won with the Totonou Splash while the snake and barbed wire board was placed on top of Okatani. The two embraced after the match and Katsumata thanked Okatani for giving him such an intense match. A video then played on the screen. It is a message sent by Hi69 from NOAH (or TEAM NOAH to be exact). He wants to challenge the Extreme Champion to a Hardcore Match for the title on 7th April! Katsumata is happy to hear Hi69 show interest but he does not know the first thing about the Extreme Title! The champion is supposed to make the rules, not the challenger. Katsumata accepted the challenge anyway.

Zuncha♪Muscle Survivor we hardly knew ye. They went up against D.O.A in a match that had both the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles on the line as well as the future of Kazuki Hirata’s new unit. Sadly for Hirata the match ended in tragedy when he gave Makoto Oishi the Egoist Driver but left himself open for Oishi to cradle him into a suddent defeat. Naruki Doi did not mind facing the consequences. He consoled Hirata over what happened and then told Shinya Aoki it was time for them to go home. However Hirata wanted to soak in the moment knowing it would be the last time Zuncha♪Muscle Survivor would all be together. Hirata gave a speech that made Doi become impatient but sent Aoki to the brink of tears. The three then stood together for a special dissolution ceremony which included the singing of the unit’s anthem plus a narrated history of the unit. All 22 days of it. Meanwhile backstage DAMNATION T.A attacked Makoto Oishi, demanding the next shot at the KO-D 6-Man Tag Titles.

Does this kind of count as another DDT Vs AJPW match? Both Shuji Ishikawa & Yoshitatsu have called All Japan their home promotion up until very recently. They have since taken different paths away from there but those paths reunited them here for a match against two of DDT’s main heavyweights. Ishikawa had a handle of Kazusada Higuchi by the end of it. He blocked the Brain Claw Slam and turned it into the Fire Thunder for a nearfall. Ishikawa followed it up with the Kamigoye and Running Knee Strike for another two count before getting the victory by using the Splash Mountain. Yukio Naya didn’t want the fight to end though and stood toe to toe with Ishikawa afterwards. This won’t be the last we will see of Ishikawa in DDT this year. He is entering the King Of DDT tournament. He believes what he did today shows he is the only choice to win it. Both Naya & Higuchi are warning him not to mess with DDT’s heavyweight division.

The reason why DDT names its anniversary shows “JUDGEMENT” goes back to its very first show in 1997 where the audience in attendance back then judged whether or not Sanshiro Takagi and his crew would go ahead with running more shows. So it is only fitting that Takagi would himself judge whether or not Ken Ohka and Ganbare☆Pro are ready to go independent from CyberFight. GanPro’s next chapter begins in April and the entire group was in Korakuen to support Ohka at ringside while he fought his soon to be former employer. Ohka took a beating in the match and was almost counted out in the ring. But he got back to his feet all fired up, even giving Takagi a Stunner. Ohka then got the better of a strike exchange, knocking Takagi down with a Lariat. The opening was there and Ohka took it. He hit Takagi with the Spear Of Flame and beat his boss!

After the match an emotional Ohka said his life wouldn’t be like this if he never got involved with Takagi. He has changed Ohka’s life so much. Sometimes it was sad and painful but without Takagi, Ohka would not be so happy right now. From now on he will make GanPro a great wrestling company without the need to rely on Takagi and for that he thanks him. Takagi told Ohka he’s had a dramatic life but saying stuff like that makes it sound like Takagi was ruining his life! If that was true then he wouldn’t have a group of friends that all make up GanPro. Whatever happens in the future, Takagi wants to get with Ohka again whether it is to work together or fight each other. He then presented Ohka with a graduation certificate and told him to cherish his friends. Takagi hopes he will continue to give dreams to many people and have a more dramatic pro wrestling life than anyone else. Later Ohka told reporters he will continue with his goal to make pro wrestling into a major sport. Baseball has Shohei Ohtani, basketball has Michael Jordan, Formula 1 has Mika Häkkinen and football has Pelé. Ohka wants to become as great in wrestling as they are in their respective sports.

DAMNATION T.A’s path to a KO-D 6-Man Tag Titles shot started earlier in the show when they beat SCHADENFREUDE International. As always Antonio Honda was bothered by his trick knee but used Gongitsune to bounce back from it. Daisuke Sasaki & KANON hit him with the Freedom Call but CDK were there to break the pin. They got rid of Sasaki & MJ Paul but it turned out KANON could handle the 2 Vs 1 odds that were against him. The match came down to him against Honda and KANON countered the constant cradle pins into the Just Cobra Twist to make Honda submit.

Akito isn’t the only busy wrestler around here. Super Sasadango Machine has his own management problems to deal with and took valuable time out of his schedule to be at this show. So when he found out he wasn’t booked for a match despite being on the poster, Akito offered to fight him as an apology. Both of them have been feeling tired over work lately and Sasadango’s PowerPoint Presentation explained they were both going to wrestle at just 10% of their normal energy bar. However the presentation kept switching to a video of Akito being attacked backstage by all of the young DDT wrestlers so that was the actual reason why he made it to the ring in a tired state. When the match began it was as if Akito and Sasadango were already entering into the finishing stretch. Sasadango gave Akito the Lehmann Shock and went for the pin but before the count reached three everything froze. “Etuprika” began to play and the audience was shown a video of Akito’s inner monologue. Then in slow motion Akito kicked out, fought back and hit Sasadango so hard his mask peeled off. Akito slowly applied an Ankle Lock when time stood still again so everyone could hear Sasadango’s inner monologue. This time Sasadango spoke about how good and relaxed he felt. So much so that he fell asleep. Akito had run out of energy too so both men were practically out cold. Yukinori Matsui checked on both of them while they slept and had to rule the match a draw.

Did the world really need a face off between Gorgeous Matsuno and Shinichiro Kawamatsu? Well they got one. Matsuno’s offence was the weakest its been for a while even with Toru Owashi’s help. Things went from bad to worse when Keisuke Ishii got involved and did not hold back. When he lifted Matsuno up for the Double Arm Driver, Matsuno started to tap out. However the ref was standing on the other side and couldn’t see it so Ishii was free to drop him right onto the canvas for the win. Luckily Matsuno was not hurt too much. He returned at the very end of the show to sing everyone off.

Six of the young wrestlers entering the D GENERATIONS CUP were put in a 6-Man Tag together early in the show. To-y, Ilusion & Rukiya ended up beating Yuni, Yuya Koroku & Kazuma Sumi. It was also Koroku’s return match from injury but he took the losing fall to To-y in the end.

When Soma Takao had his debut match in DDT he won the bout with an Ultra Hurricanrana. So Tsubasa Suzuki trying to win his first DDT match as an intern with a Phoenix Splash isn’t that too outlandish. Too bad he missed his target. The match was going well for him up until then. He still had his wits about him to block the Gin And Tonic but Takao switched over to the Running Elbow Butt and then the Perfect Driver to win the match. He told reporters he could have used a traditional Crab Hold but he wanted to win with the finisher he used in his college club days. He is looking forward to the day Suzuki will beat him with the Phoenix Splash. Suzuki admits he is still weak and the difference between pro wrestling with student wrestling is like competing in a different sport. He hopes to grow into a stronger and better wrestler.

Keigo Nakamura appeared during the early portion of the show with some good news. He is returning to the ring on 26th April!

A guest wrestler was announced for “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2024” on 21st July. It is the return of everyone’s amigo El Desperado!

The full list of entries for the King Of DDT was revealed. Entering the tournament are Poison Sawada JULIE, Sanshiro Takagi, Danshoku Dieno, HARASHIMA, Shuji Ishikawa, Tetsuya Endo, Daisuke Sasaki, Kazusada Higuchi, Chris Brookes, Yuki Ueno, MAO, Yuki Iino, Yukio Naya, KANON, Takeshi Masada and the D GENERATIONS CUP winner.

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Posted by JamieOD

Uta Takami, Naya And Rukiya Both Sick, GCW Side For TJPW Show Revealed

March 2, 2024

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE TOUR 2024 SPRING”, 03/03/2024
Shinjuku FACE

1. 3 Way Match: Suzume Vs Mahiro Kiryu Vs Kaya Toribami
2. Uta Takami Debut Match: Miu Watanabe & Uta Takami Vs Raku & Shino Suzuki
3. Kira Summer Debut Match: Nao Kakuta & Kira Summer Vs Arisu Endo & Chika Nanase
4. Rika Tatsumi Vs Haru Kazashiro
5. Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao Vs Yuki Kamifuku & Pom Harajuku
6. Miyu Yamashita & Moka Miyamoto Vs Wakana Uehara & Toga
7. Ryo Mizunami & Yuki Aino Vs Mizuki & HIMAWARI

Uta the trainee member of The Up Up Girls can be called Uta Takami from now on. She is from Ishikawa, was born on 29th March, 2007 and is 150cm tall.

Ami Yumoto will be at the show tomorrow to greet the fans. Sayuri Namba also has her announcement segment that takes place before any of the matches begins. One of them will be new names announced to appear at “GRAND PRINCESS ’24”.

DDT “NARAHA TOWN RESIDENT WRESTLER TOY KOJIMA THANKSGIVING DAY – NARAHA TOWN COME ON!”, 03/03/2024
Fukushima Naraha Sky Arena

1. Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino Vs Kazuki Hirata & Tomomitsu Matsunaga
2. Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada Vs Sanshiro Takagi & Danshoku Dieno
3. Daisuke Sasaki & KANON Vs Akito & Ilusion
4. Special Tag Match: Yuki Ueno & Soma Takao Vs HARASHIMA & Jun Akiyama
5. Special 6-Man Tag Match: MAO, Shunma Katsumata & Toy Kojima Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Makoto Oishi & Hideki Okatani

Both Yukio Naya and Rukiya are showing fever symptoms and will not be on tomorrow’s show as a precaution. Hideki Okatani moves up the card to take Naya’s spot in the main event, Soma Takao replaces Rukiya in Match #4 and Tomomitsu Matsunaga has been added to the opener.

GCW/TOKYO JOSHI PRO “GCW VS TJPW”, 06/04/2024
Penns Landing Caterers Auditorium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

The GCW side has been revealed. Their lineup is Masha Slamovich, Rina Yamashita, Steph De Lander, Dark Sheik, Billie Starkz, Sawyer Wreck, Janai Kai, Allie Katch, Shazza McKenzie and Session Moth Martina. All of these women have either wrestled in Tokyo Joshi Pro before or have often been in the ring with Miyu Yamashita and Maki Itoh during their tours abroad.

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More DDT Vs AJPW, Ohka Must Fight Takagi, GanPro’s Last Matches Under CyberFight

February 9, 2024

Heads up, my home internet hasn’t been working all week and I don’t know how long it will take for the problem to be fixed. I’ve been using my phone as a hotspot to write up reports in the meantime but it’s been a slow and unreliable experience. So there might be more delays posting results and other news over the next few days.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “THE 4TH “FUTARI WA PRINCESS” MAX HEART TOURNAMENT”, 10/02/2024
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Shino Suzuki Vs Haru Kazashiro
2. Yuki Kamifuku, Nao Kakuta & Mahiro Kiryu Vs Raku, Pom Harajuku & Ram Kaichow
3. Moka Miyamoto Vs Kaya Toribami
4. Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao Vs Wakana Uehara & HIMAWARI
5. Mizuki Vs Zara Zakher
6. Miyu Yamashita & Toga Vs Ryo Mizunami & Yuki Aino
7. International Princess Title: Yuki Arai (c) Vs Juria Nagano
8. “Futari wa Princess” Max Heart Tournament – Final: Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe Vs Suzume & Arisu Endo

Should be an eventful show tomorrow. We have the Max Heart Tournament final and maybe a few announcements for what is in store for Tokyo Joshi Pro this Spring.

BASARA “BASARA 241 ~TAKAGARI 22~”, 10/02/2024
Tokyo Takashimadaira Kumin Center

1. Lil’ Kraken Vs Masahiro Takanashi
2. FUMA, Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi & Daichi Kazato Vs Masato Kamino, Tsutomu Oosugi & Banana Senga
3. Ryuichi Sekine Vs Takato Nakano
4. Isami Kodaka & Minoru Fujita Vs Takumi Tsukamoto & SAGAT
5. IRON FIST Tag Team Titles: Ryota Nakatsu & Kazusada Higuchi (c) Vs KUBITO & Yasu Urano

The IRON FIST Tag Team Titles are being defended tomorrow.

DDT “INTO THE FIGHT 2024 TOUR IN OSAKA”, 11/02/2024
Osaka Azalea Taisho Hall

1. MJ Paul Vs Kazuma Sumi
2. Osaka Specialty Special Tag Match: Chris Brookes & Hideki Okatani Vs Kazuki Hirata & Tsutenkakka
3. Special Single Match: Makoto Oishi Vs Yoshitatsu
4. Sanshiro Takagi, Jun Akiyama & Toru Owashi Vs Kazusada Higuchu, Yukio Naya & Rukiya
5. Special Single Match: MAO Vs Akito
6. Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino Vs HARASHIMA & Takeshi Masada
7. The 37KAMIINA Vs DAMNATION T.A!: Yuki Ueno & Shunma Katsumata Vs Daisuke Sasaki & KANON

This is the match order for Sunday’s DDT show.

DDT “INTO THE FIGHT 2024 TOUR IN NAGOYA”, 12/02/2024
Aichi Nagoya City Higashi Sports Center

1. 3 Way Match: Kazuki Hirata Vs Toru Owashi Vs Shunma Katsumata
2. KANON & MJ Paul Vs Yuki Iino & Hideki Okatani
3. Nagoya Specialty Special 6-Man Tag Match: Sanshiro Takagi, Yoshitatsu & Yukio Naya Vs Lowther, Jack Kennedy & Kazuma Sumi
4. Jun Akiyama & Rukiya Vs HARASHIMA & Kazusada Higuchi
5. Special Single Match: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Makoto Oishi
6. Special Single Match: Tetsuya Endo Vs Akito
7. The 37KAMIINA Vs SCHADENFREUDE International!: Yuki Ueno & MAO Vs Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada

There is a DDT show on Monday too.

DDT “PRO WRESTLING WINTER FESTIVAL 2024 IN JOETSU DAY 2 – INTO THE FIGHT 2024 TOUR IN NIIGATA”, 18/02/2024
Niigata Dúo CEREZO

1. Toru Owashi Vs Kazuma Sumi
2. Daisuke Sasaki & KANON Vs Yuki Iino & Rukiya
3. Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada Vs HARASHIMA & Akito
4. Kazuki Hirata Vs Toy Kojima
5. Special Tag Match: Jun Akiyama & Yoshitatsu Vs Tetsuya Endo & Makoto Oishi
6. Special Single Match: Danshoku Dieno Vs Super Sasadango Machine
7. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yuki Ueno, MAO & Shunma Katsumata Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Naya & Hideki Okatani

The main event is a little preview of the upcoming DDT Extreme Title match in March.

DDT “INTO THE FIGHT 2024 TOUR IN YOKOHAMA”, 23/02/2024
Yokohama Radiant Hall

1. Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino Vs Kazusada Higuchu & Kazuma Sumi
2. Daisuke Sasaki & KANON Vs MAO & Kazuki Hirata
3. Danshoku Dieno Vs Rukiya
4. Special Single Match: Yoshitatsu Vs Soma Takao
5. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & Toy Kojima Vs HARASHIMA, Yukio Naya & Hideki Okatani
6. KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles: Chris Brookes, Masahiro Takanashi, Antonio Honda, Takeshi Masada & Mecha Mummy (c) Vs Maya Yukihi, Ram Kaichow, Rina Yamashita, Sanshiro Takagi & Akito

DDT decided to put Rukiya up to the ultimate test. Put him in the ring on his own against Danshoku Dieno!

DDT “JUDGEMENT 2024 TOUR IN SHINJUKU”, 06/03/2024
Shinjuku FACE

1. Special 6-Man Tag Match ~ DDT Vs AJPW: Tetsuya Endo, Yuki Iino & Rukiya Vs Ryuki Honda, Yuma Anzai & Ryo Inoue

The DDT Vs AJPW rivalry continues with some upcoming matches being built around DDT’s BURNING against All Japan’s New Period. Rukiya and Ryo Inoue are showing up too.

GANBARE☆JOSHI “GANJO SUPER DARIUS ’24”, 09/03/2024
Tokyo Takashimadaira Kumin Center

1. Mixed Tag Match: Riara & Shota Vs Alex Lee & Tyson Maeguchi

For now this is the last regular Ganbare☆Joshi show on the schedule. Both Riara & Shota will be leaving Ganbare☆Pro soon so this may be the only time they will team together. During the week Riara made her debut for WAVE so there is one possible landing spot for her when she moves on from GanPro.

Banny Oikawa will be on the show.

DDT “JUDGEMENT 2024 ~27TH ANNIVERSARY 5 HOUR SPECIAL~”, 17/03/2024
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Tsubasa Suzuki Debut Match: Tsubasa Suzuki Vs X
2. Special Single Match: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Ken Ohka
3. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs Yuma Aoyagi
4. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino (c) Vs Ryuki Honda & Yuma Anzai
5. DDT Extreme Title: Shunma Katsumata (c) Vs Hideki Okatani
6. KO-D Openweight Title: Yuki Ueno (c) Vs X

The last time Shunma Katsumata and Hideki Okatani fought for the Extreme Title, Katsumata won the match but also fractured a bone in his foot. That forced him to vacate the title. Ever since then both he and Okatani dreamed of having a rematch with the same championship on the line. That has now become a reality after Okatani became the No. 1 Contender this week. Katsumata said he will come up with a match stipulation that both of them will approve of.

Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino are the new KO-D Tag Team Champions and want to defend the belts against anyone no matter where they come from. Well here comes Ryuki Honda & Yuma Anzai from AJPW! They had fun wrestling in DDT earlier this week that they want to fight in DDT even more and against stronger opponents. Endo & Iino promised to show them just how much depth DDT has.

Before GanPro goes independent, Ken Ohka must fight his soon to be ex-boss Sanshiro Takagi! Ohka feels the need to face Takagi and defeat him in the first step towards making GanPro grow bigger than DDT. For Takagi this is the biggest test he can give Ohka to see if he will handle his upcoming responsibilities with all of his effort. If Ohka does this half-heartedly then Takagi will destroy him and that could mean DDT will destroy GanPro too!

GANBARE☆PRO “TONIGHT ON THE HILL WHERE YOU CAN SEE THE MOON 2024”, 28/03/2024
Tokyo Ueno Park Outdoor Stage

1. Ueno Special 6-Man Tag Festival: Yuko Miyamoto, Isami Kodaka & Munetatsu Nakamura Vs Shota, Soma Takao & Shinichiro Tominaga

The final GanPro show under CyberFight’s management is inviting Yuko Miyamoto and Isami Kodaka over for fun. It’s been established that Munetatsu Nakamura adores both Miyamoto & Kodaka so getting a chance to team with Yankee Two Kenju must be a dream come true for him.

DDT “DDT GOES PHILADELPHIA!”, 04/04/2024
Penns Landing Caterers Auditorium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

The next set of wrestlers announced for the show are all familiar faces from the AEW circuit. Nick Wayne, Bryan Keith and Billie Starkz will all be there.

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Posted by JamieOD

DDT Around The World – October 2023

November 1, 2023

A messy edition this time around because I wrote most of this up a week ago before going on holiday. Then in the last seven days came the usual landslide of upcoming bookings and match announcements for the following month that I tried to catch up on. That is why some of the graphics below are outdated.

Anyway, this month Konosuke Takeshita is in the same position as he was last month in the whole Don Callis storyline. AEW has really taken a beating with reviews and criticism for their TV shows lately and rightfully so. Thankfully Takeshita got to have a few matches on the indies so he can do his thing more often. Maki Itoh was part of GCW’s visit to Japan so while this article is supposed to be everything DDT related that happens outside of Japan, this still finds a way to be included here. Miyu Yamashita did another group of bookings in America and Miu Watanabe got to join her for a bit. Yamashita also unintentionally made her on-screen WWE debut when she was seen sitting behind the commentary desk on an episode of NXT. May God have mercy on her for having to hear Booker T’s commentary that close in person. Closing out the month was CDK getting to torment the wrestling community in Thailand again.

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Videos

Konosuke Takeshita In AEW Playlist


AEW “DYNAMITE ANNIVERSARY”, 04/10/2023
Stockton Arena, Stockton, California, USA

1. Kenny Omega & Chris Jericho Vs Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher (w/ Don Callis)


LLL “THE HANDS OF FATE”, 20/10/2023
The Oriental Theater, Denver, Colorado, USA

1. Lilith Grimm Vs Miyu Yamashita


AEW “RAMPAGE”, 27/10/2023
Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1. Kyle Fletcher Vs Konosuke Takeshita

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Results


AEW “WRESTLEDREAM”, 01/10/2023
Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, Washington, USA

1. Sammy Guevara, Will Ospreay & Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Don Callis) defeated Chris Jericho, Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi when Guevara pinned Jericho (22:10).

The month kicked off with AEW’s latest PPV being a put together as a tribute to the late Antonio Inoki. For Takeshita, his part on the show was to team up with Sammy Guevara & Will Ospreay to defeat Chris Jericho and The Golden Lovers. Takeshita hit a wall when he went face to face with Kota Ibushi and the two more or less cancelled each other out. The result instead went to Guevara who pinned Jericho after Callis struck Jericho with a baseball bat behind the referee’s back.


AEW “DYNAMITE – ANNIVERSARY”, 04/10/2023
Stockton Arena, Stockton, California, USA

1. Kenny Omega & Chris Jericho defeated Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher (w/ Don Callis) when Omega pinned Fletcher with the One-Winged Angel (15:15).

A few days later Takeshita and Guevara were meant to team up again to fight Jericho & Kenny Omega. However Guevara was not medically cleared to compete so Takeshita teamed up with Kyle Fletcher instead. Omega got Takeshita out of the way with a Snap Dragon Suplex, leaving everything open for The Golden Jets to finish off Fletcher.


WARRIOR “WARRIOR WRESTLING 31”, 06/10/2023
Bendix Arena, South Bend, Indiana, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita defeated Storm Grayson (w/ Frank The Clown) with the Powerdrive Knee (16:09).

Takeshita was back to being a babyface when he returned to Warrior Wrestling. Anybody going against a wrestler accompanied by Frank The Clown would be a babyface no matter what. Storm Grayson needed Frank’s interference to have a chance of winning. Frank pulled the referee out of the ring, got Takeshita to chase him around the venue and grabbed Takeshita’s leg back in the ring to stop his momentum. Grayson followed up by relying an exposed turnbuckle to damage Takeshita’s groin thanks to a missed Helluva Kick and then follow up with a kick between the legs. Takeshita however blocked a second Low Blow, threw Grayson away with the Rollover German Suplex and then pin him with the Powerdrive Knee. Given the way Takeshita was selling the low blow after the match, it does make me wonder if he got an injury that kept him away from the ring for pretty much the rest of the month.


GCW “TO LIVE AND DIE IN TOKYO”, 10/10/2023
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Maki Itoh defeated Jimmy Lloyd with the I.S.D. (9:36).

GCW returned to Japan and Itoh was along for the ride. On night one she took on Jimmy Lloyd by herself and took every big move he threw at her. She kicked out of Piledrivers and even a One-Winged Angel. She fought back violently by using a pizza cutter and also smashing a lighttube over Lloyd’s head. Itoh pulled off the upset by dropping Lloyd with the Itoh Suicide DDT.


SPARK “RISING HEAT WEST”, 11/10/2023
LA Dojo, Carson, California, USA

1. Spark Joshi World Title: Billie Starkz defeated Miyu Yamashita (c) with a Title Belt Attack (15:36).
*Miyu Yamashita fails in V2. Billie Starkz becomes the 2nd Spark Joshi World Champion!

Yamashita’s reign as Spark Joshi World Champion came to an end not that long after she became an international triple crown holder. Xtinguish leader Billie Starkz relied on Sumie Sakai’s interference to hit Yamashita with the title belt and become champion.


GCW “THE WRLD ON GCW”, 12/10/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Effy, Allie Katch & Maki Itoh defeated Kikutaro, Kikutaro (Abdullah Kobayashi) & Kikutaro (Jimmy Lloyd) when Effy, Katch & Itoh all pinned Kikutaro with a Triple Kokeshi Headbutt (8:20).

Night two of GCW’s Japan tour brought them right into Korakuen Hall. Itoh’s match here was a more lighthearted affair because she teamed up with Bussy to take on not one, not two but three Kikutaros! Itoh did a full Nick Gage style entrance with the crowd. She then used a bull rope with Effy to crotch all three Kikutaros with some added rope burn for extra damage. Itoh attacked the original Kikutaro with a pizza cutter until she realised she couldn’t cut through his mask. She and Bussy then unmasked the other two revealing they were Jimmy Lloyd and Abdullah Kobayashi! The original Kikutaro was then triple teamed with Effy, Allie Katch & Itoh all hitting Kokeshi Headbutts on him at the same time for the finish.


SPARK “RISING HEAT EAST”, 14/10/2023
Engelwood Neighborhood Center, Orlando, Florida, USA

1. Miu Watanabe defeated KiLynn King with the Tear Drop (14:09).
2. Miyu Yamashita defeated Jessie with the Skull Kick (13:13).

Things went off better for the Tokyo Joshi Pro side at SPARK’s next show. Jessie tried to match Yamashita kick to kick but fell to the Skull Kick like so many others.

Miu Watanabe scored a big win over KiLynn King, spinning her powerful opponent around with the Giant Swing in the process. She just about kicked out of the King’s Curse, stunned King with the Laserbeam and pinned her with the Tear Drop.


LLL “THE HANDS OF FATE”, 20/10/2023
The Oriental Theater, Denver, Colorado, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Lilith Grimm with the Skull Kick (?:??).

Yamashita didn’t have to worry about Heidi Howitzer in Lucha Libre & Laughs this time around. Her opponent instead was Lilith Grimm.


AEW “RAMPAGE”, 25/10/2023 (Aired 27/10/2023)
Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita defeated Kyle Fletcher with the Wagamama (11:17).

From tag partners to opponents. Takeshita and Fletcher last fought each other one on one in Manchester almost four years ago. Now they fight again this time on American TV. Takeshita used the Wagamama version of his Powerdrive Knee that involves pulling down his kneepad and striking the opponent with the exposed knee. After the match Fletcher attacked Takeshita with a chair in an act of frustration but was stopped by Powerhouse Hobbs and Don Callis. Callis then convinced Fletcher to join his side.


SETUP “SETUP EP.16”, 28/10/2023
The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand

1. SPW Champion Of Singapore & Gatoh Move One And Only Title & SETUP Thailand Openweight Title Unification Match: Shivam (S/c) defeated Masahiro Takanashi (T/c) and Kappa Rockstar (?:??).
*???
2. Dramatic Dream Match: Chris Brookes defeated Monomoth with the Praying Mantis Bomb (?:??).
3. IWA Japan SETUP World Tag Team Titles: Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi defeated Anont Alonzo & Mister Suchart when Brookes pinned Alonzo after the Thrust Kick & Praying Mantis Bomb with Takanashi (?:??)
*THE GOOD DEAL fail in V?. CDK become the 11th IWA Japan SETUP World Tag Team Champions!

CDK went and caused a lot of havoc in Thailand at the end of the month. Chris Brookes defeated Monomoth in what was advertised as the main event Dramatic Dream Match but cheated to do so. He gave Monomoth a Low Blow before finishing him off with the Praying Mantis Bomb. CDK then demanded an impromptu tag title match against SETUP’s tag champions THE GOOD DEAL. They beat the champs to win the IWA Japan SETUP World Tag Team Titles.

Earlier in the show Masahiro Takanashi lost his SETUP Thailand Openweight Title in a 3 Way Match. His original match against Paksa was changed on short notice to a 3 Way Match with Shivam and Kappa Rockstar. Shivam ended up winning the match and all of the championships involved in it.


REPUBLIC OF LUCHA “ROL VI VI VI: LA NOCHE DE WALPURGIS”, 30/10/2023
Republic Of Lucha, South Pasadena, California, USA

1. Penta el Zero Miedo & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Sami Callihan & Shun Skywalker when Penta pinned Skywalker with the Fear Factor onto a stack of chairs (?:??).

This match was originally meant to be Takeshita and The Lucha Brothers teaming up against Shun Skywalker and La Rebellion. Well that didn’t happen. For a variety of reasons from Rey Fenix being injured and La Rebellion recently splitting up (I think? All I heard about the NWA PPV was it included a comedy scene where a bunch of wrestlers did cocaine on camera which is both the least NWA thing ever and also the most NWA thing ever), the match was changed to Takeshita & Penta el Zero Miedo taking on Skywalker & Sami Callihan. The match featured the unexpected inclusion of actor Jason Segel when Callihan found him in the crowd, threw Penta onto his lap and then Super Kicked them. Takeshita and Penta used some good teamwork together on Skywalker, leading to Penta crashing him through a bunch of chairs with a Package Piledriver for the win.

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Iron Man Title In USA


But wait, there’s more. The Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title was taken to America this month too thanks to Hiromu Takahashi. The New Japan wrestler won the belt just before his company’s return to the USA so he was obligated to bring it with him. He was targeted by Danny Limelight during the show but made it out safe and sound as champion. It wasn’t until Takahashi was back at his hotel room when he was completely defenceless. Sumie Sakai snuck into his room with a referee and they found Takahashi sleeping on his bed. However the ref noticed that Takahashi’s iPhone was lying on his chest so he treated it as a pin, counted to three and declared Yellow iPhone 14 as the new champion! Sakai immediately grabbed the phone and pinned it on the floor to win the title. Her celebration was quickly cut off when Takahashi rolled her over with a School Boy to get the belt back and send everyone out of his room. At the time of writing Takahashi is back in Japan with the title but is still getting ambushed backstage at New Japan shows by other wrestlers who want to be the Iron Man Champion.

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Upcoming Appearances


GCW “PLEASE, BUDDY”, 03/11/2023
Pop’s Nightclub, Sauget, Illinois, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs Shazza McKenzie

This was a match originally booked by GCW back in May but was changed into a multiple woman free for all. Itoh and Shazza McKenzie have only wrestled each other in those kind of scramble matches so if plans don’t change again then there first singles match will take place here.


DAIKAIJU PRO “VOL. 1 – THE KAPPAS WALK AMONG US”, 04/11/2023
White Eagle, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA

1. Shoko Nakajima Vs VENY

America gets the first time ever Shoko Nakajima Vs VENY match. The two met in the ring for the first time earlier this year in DDT for one of Saki Akai’s 10th Anniversary celebration matches. Their next meeting is in somewhere very different, the new Daikaiju Pro group.


GCW “¿SI OR NO?”, 04/11/2023
Center Stage, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

1. Maki Itoh, Effy & Allie Katch Vs Jordan Oliver, Davey Bang & August Matthews

The match in Japan worked out for them so Itoh is now teaming up with Effy & Allie Katch to form the unbeatable force known as… Maki Death Bussy! Their opponents is also a trio of teams mashed up together. Jordan Oliver, Davey Bang & August Matthews are going by the name Young, Dumb & Bros.


EVE “FRIDAY NIGHT’S ALRIGHT FOR FIGHTING”, 10/11/2023
Big Penny Social, Walthamstow, London, England

1. International Princess Title: Max The Impaler (c) Vs Kasey

The relationship between TJPW and EVE extends even further with Max The Impaler’s arrival in England. EVE has been given permission to have Max defend the International Princess Title against their upcoming opponent Kasey. The winner will next have a title defence in Japan against Shoko Nakajima.


GCW “GOING AND GOING”, 17/11/2023
Washington Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA

1. Maki Itoh & Nick Gage Vs X

Not a guarantee that Maki Death Kill are teaming up just because they get advertised together.


HOODSLAM “RED”, 18/11/2023
Continental Club, Oakland, California, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

Itoh returns to Hoodslam. I hear things in their shows are getting a bit out of control over there lately.


EVE “WRESTLE QUEENDOM”, 19/11/2023
The Dome, Tufnell Park, London, England

1. EVE Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) Vs Safire Reed

Yamashita will have become a year long EVE Champion by the time her next appearance and title defence on their shows takes place. The next big challenger being built up for her is Safire Reed, the winner of this year’s SHE-1 tournament. Reed got to beat two of Yamashita’s previous EVE opponents to get here too. She has wins over Emersyn Jayne and Alex Windsor.


LLL “DEEP HURTING”, 22/11/2023
The Oriental Theater, Denver, Colorado, USA

1. 3 Way Match: Lilith Grimm Vs Maki Itoh Vs Stormi Renee

Grimm gets another crack at a TJPW talent in Lucha Libre & Laughs, this time against Itoh. It’s a Triple Threat match though with Stormi Renee also in the mix.


SPW “VIVA LA LUCHA!”, 24/11/2023
Foo Chow Building, Singapore

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

A second chance for Yuki Kamifuku. She fought Alexis Lee in Singapore Pro Wrestling for the Queen Of Asia Title back in January this year but lost. Since then Lee also successfully defended the title against Saki Akai.


GCW “WRESTLECADE WEEKEND”, 24/11/2023
Benton Convention Center, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs Kenzie Paige

Now here’s something interesting. Kenzie Paige is currently the NWA World Women’s Champion. Does that play into this match against Itoh in any way shape or form? Or does GCW just ignore that and tell her that Itoh is going over, sister!


BLACK LABEL PRO “SLAMILTON”, 02/12/2023
Berwyn Eagles Club, Berwyn, Illinois, USA

1. Rachel Armstrong Vs Maki Itoh

In another era that image above would be a King Of Trios team. Instead Itoh’s appearance in Black Label Pro is fighting against Rachel Armstrong.


GCW “WHAT IS YOUR CHOICE?”, 03/12/2023
Roulette Intermedium, Brooklyn, New York, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

You know what would be a fun idea? Sayaka Unagi is booked on GCW’s other show that weekend. Put her and Itoh in a match together for old time’s sake.


DREAMWAVE “UPRISING”, 08/12/2023
Knights of Columbus, LaSalle, Illinois, USA

1. Shazza McKenzie Vs Miyu Yamashita

A rematch from ROH earlier this year. Fingers crossed we get the same result.


DREAMWAVE “GOOD AS GOLD”, 09/12/2023
Knights of Columbus, LaSalle, Illinois, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita & Emi Sakura Vs Zayda Steel & Zamaya

Well, well, well, what do we have here? Yamashita and Emi Sakura in the same ring on the same team at the same time? They were on opposite sides once before and that was on a DPW show during the summer. Now we get to see how they will fare when they on the same page. Zayda Steel & Zamaya could be in for a rough night if their opponents gel together really well.


SKYFIRE PRO “NAVIDAD NIGHTMARE”, 10/12/2023
Bay City Brewing Co., San Diego, California, USA

1. Shota Vs X

Shota is heading back to America for an end of year tour. First stop for him is at Skyfire Pro Lucha Libre in San Diego.


TOKYO JOSHI PRO/PRESTIGE “COMBAT PRINCESS USA”, 14/12/2023
Globe Theatre, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh Vs Masha Slamovich & Killer Kelly

Free WiFi and Pom Harajuku have been added to the show.


PANDEMONIUM PRO “HOLIDAY IN LA”, 17/12/2023
Don Quixote, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Vinnie Massaro Vs Shota
2. Mike Bailey Vs Miyu Yamashita

Shota will also be on the same Pandemonium Pro show that’s hosting Yamashita versus Mike Bailey. He takes on indy journeyman Vinnie Massaro.


CIRCLE 6 “KING OF THE DEATHMATCHES”, 30/12/2023
Don Quixote, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. MAO Vs X

Circle 6 is one of the messier deathmatch promotions going on in the scene right now but MAO likes wrestling there so he’s going back to party with them for New Year’s.

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Posted by JamieOD

DDT Around The World – September 2023

October 1, 2023

September was looking to be more of a quiet month for looking at the overseas adventures of the DDT extended family until the last week showed up like an avalanche. You can always get a lot of news to cover during tournament weekends. It’s a shame that the current state of the independent scene means those tentpole super weekend events don’t get as much coverage like they used to. Can’t blame them when WWE and AEW dominates everybody’s attention. It’s only going to get tougher when those two companies increase their schedules and reach out even further. This week’s news of WWE getting an ABEMA deal and having NOAH promote it on social media does not thrill me. I’ve seen how this story goes before. Even if some kind of big crossover does happen with WWE it is never worth it for the other company in the long run. And any pundit who says a project like NXT Japan will work as a gateway for getting WWE fans into Japanese wrestling is only fooling themselves. The appetite that audience has for non-WWE wrestling is just not there anymore.

Heading into October we have Konosuke Takeshita deep into a feud with The Golden Lovers. The lack of actual wrestling from Takeshita last month annoyed me. I get holding some wrestlers back for PPV but his standard of ring work has been missing from AEW TV recently. His storyline is also pulling in other wrestlers who are never hurting for screentime which makes me worry he is getting pushed to the side. Maki Itoh has finished up her latest North American tour, Shoko Nakajima had a quick trip to the USA and Miyu Yamashita was in the middle of wrestling in UK and Ireland when the month began. The big chunk of news that completely passed me by until it happened was Mizuki Watase going over to wXw in Germany with Shigehiro Irie. Oh and Tokyo Joshi Pro squeezed in a visit to China right at the deadline.

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Videos

Konosuke Takeshita In AEW Playlist


AEW “DYNAMITE”, 13/09/2023
Heritage Bank Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

The Invisible Hand, Don Callis, debuts his new masterpiece and next target!


AEW “RAMPAGE”, 22/09/2023
Heritage Bank Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

After his shocking turn on Chris Jericho, Guevara explains his actions!


AEW “DYNAMITE”, 27/09/2023
1st Bank Center, Broomfield, Colorado, USA

Don Callis, Takeshita & Guevara admire their work before WrestleDream!

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Results


OTT “WRESTLERAMA”, 02/09/2023
The Warehouse Red Cow, Dublin, Ireland

1. Session Moth Martina & Miyu Yamashita defeated Debbie Keitel & Emersyn Jayne (w/ Anita Vaughan) (9:36).

A few years ago the idea of Yamashita wrestling in OTT would have had me overjoyed but nowadays I don’t want to give the company much of my attention because of how people attached to them handled and disregarded Speaking Out. Her Irish wrestling debut had a slight change in plan thanks to the other team. Debbie Keitel was advertised to team with Anita Vaughan but she instead surprised everyone by bringing along Emersyn Jayne to be her partner instead.


MLW “FURY ROAD”, 03/09/2023
2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1. MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title No. 1 Contendership: B3CCA defeated Maki Itoh with the World Tour (7:42).

A singer showdown took place when Itoh made her first appearance in MLW. Itoh and B3CCA both love to be the centre of attention and literally fought over the microphone during their match. Itoh won that exchange and told B3CCA to “kiss my ass, bitch!” She also found a Singapore cane to beat up B3CCA with outside the ring. But Itoh made the grave mistake of missing the Flying Big Head, allowing B3CCA to give her a Death Valley Driver to the corner and then pin her with the World Tour 450 Splash.


AEW “ALL OUT”, 03/09/2023
United Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Don Callis) defeated Kenny Omega with the Powerdrive Knee (22:30).

A few days after Takeshita pinned Kenny Omega in England, he did it again back in America this time in a singles match. The match carried history over from Omega’s time in DDT, wearing new green and yellows tights based on what he wore in the early 2010s. Don Callis got involved though and brought the dreaded screwdriver into the match for Takeshita to use. However this time the referee stopped it from being used. It turned out Takeshita wouldn’t have needed it because he went on to beat Omega anyway, pulling down his kneepad to hit a raw Powerdrive Knee for the victory. The match even got ***** from Dave Meltzer! Okay, that doesn’t mean as much as it used to but it’s still a good accomplishment to have. Also let’s face it, when the wrestlers who complain about star ratings actually do get ***** from Meltzer they all of a sudden do a 180 and become grateful for it.


MYSTERY WRESTLING “MYSTERY WRESTLING 3”, 08/09/2023
Centre Aydelu, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada

1. Emi Sakura defeated Maki Itoh with La Magistral Cradle (?:??).

This year over in Canada Evil Uno has been running a Mystery Wrestling show on his Twitch channel every couple of months. The surprise headline match for the most recent event was a first time singles bout between Itoh and Emi Sakura. Itoh played a trick to escape from Sakura’s attacks by beginning to cry and then walking out of the match back to the locker room. She then reappeared from the opposite side of the room to attack a confused Sakura from behind. Sakura’s not someone you can beat with just one trick though. She ended up rolling Itoh into La Magistral Cradle to win the match.


GCW “CRUSHED UP”, 10/09/2023
Roulette Intermedium, New York City, New York, USA

1. Maki Itoh defeated Killer Kelly with a Tornado DDT (10:43).

Itoh’s current run with GCW ended here with a match against Killer Kelly. She’ll be back again later this year but what will be in store for her next? Her feud with Matt Cardona & Steph De Lander can be never ending but there has to be other stuff she wants to do in GCW next. Maybe she already found a new arch nemesis as you will see at the bottom of this post.


WXW “INNER CIRCLE”, 21/09/2023
wXw Wrestling Academy, Gelsenkirchen, Germany

1. Mizuki Watase defeated Danny Fray with a Diving Foot Stomp (7:23).
2. Shigehiro Irie defeated 1 Called Manders with a Roaring Elbow (8:57).

This was already announced earlier in the summer and I completely missed it. Irie & Watase reunited as RENEGADES to enter the annual World Tag Team Festival in Germany! But first the wrestlers took part in separate warmup matches the night before the tournament began. Watase’s first match ever in Germany was a win against Danny Fray. Irie also won his match by beating 1 Called Manders in a hoss fight.


WXW “WORLD TAG TEAM FESTIVAL 2023 – NIGHT 1”, 22/09/2023
Turbinenhalle 2, Oberhausen, Germany

1. World Tag Team Festival 2023 – Round 1: Shigehiro Irie & Mizuki Watase defeated Aigle Blanc & Senza Volto when Irie pinned Blanc with the Beast Bomber (16:41).

Irie won wXw’s other premium tournament the 16 Carat Gold back in March so he had his heart set on winning WTTF with Watase. They eliminated The Frenchadors in the opening round. Aigle Blanc & Senza Volto are former wXw World Tag Team Champions so RENEGADES could not have gotten off to a better start.


GCW “LONG. LIVE. GCW”, 22/09/2023
Turbinenhalle 2, Oberhausen, Germany

1. Shigehiro Irie defeated Arez with the Beast Bomber (9:20).

The WTTF weekend also featured shows promoted by GCW as part of their September European tour. Only Irie was on the first of two GCW shows that weekend where he beat the luchador Arez. Normally I wouldn’t include entries for Irie by himself but since he was RENEGADES affiliated for the weekend, I’m adding it here.


FREELANCE “ONCE UPON A TIME IN FREELANCE”, 22/09/2023
Avondale Music Hall, Chicago, Illinois, USA

1. Shoko Nakajima defeated Shazza McKenzie with the Diving Senton (12:19).

Nakajima did a quick trip to the United States near the end of the month. Her first stop was at Freelance where she got over big with the crowd during her win against Shazza McKenzie. Nakajima’s quickness and ability to hit the 619 from any height near the ropes were the key to victory here.


WXW “WORLD TAG TEAM FESTIVAL 2023 – NIGHT 2”, 23/09/2023
Turbinenhalle 2, Oberhausen, Germany

1. World Tag Team Festival 2023 – Round 2: Shigehiro Irie & Mizuki Watase defeated Takuya Nomura & Fuminori Abe when Irie pinned Abe with a Roaring Elbow (16:14).

RENEGADES weren’t the only Japanese team taking part in WTTF weekend. Takuya Nomura & Fuminori Abe from Astronauts were there too! The two team crossed paths in Night 2 where the winners would advance to Sunday’s final.


GCW “GCW VS THE WORLD”, 23/09/2023
Turbinenhalle 2, Oberhausen, Germany

1. Scramble Match: Gringo Loco defeated Mizuki Watase, The Rotation, Arez, Jimmy Lloyd and Aigle Blanc when Loco pinned Blanc with the Base Bomb (11:46).
2. Joey Janela defeated Shigehiro Irie with the Diving Foot Stomp (17:19).

Irie was in GCW again for their other show in Germany, losing to Joey Janela in the main event. Watase also showed up by taking part in one of GCW’s staples, the Scramble Match. Watase hit a big dive and also the Coast To Coast Dropkick but otherwise got lost in the action and did not factor into the finish.


WXW “WORLD TAG TEAM FESTIVAL 2023 – NIGHT 3”, 24/09/2023
Turbinenhalle 2, Oberhausen, Germany

1. wXw World Tag Team Titles – World Tag Team Festival 2023 Final 3 Way Match: Hektor Invictus & Dennis Dullnig defeated Robert Dreissker & Laurance Roman (c) and Shigehiro Irie & Mizuki Watase (23:13).
*Amboss fails in V1. Hektor Invictus & Dennis Dullnig become the 64th wXw World Tag Team Champions!

RENEGADES made it all the way to the final. Had Irie & Watase won the match and the tournament they would have become the new wXw Tag Champions. Sadly for them they couldn’t pull it off. Instead Hektor Invictus & Dennis Dullnig were the winners, taking the titles away from the defending champions Amboss.


PRESTIGE “THE RESPECT ISSUE”, 24/09/2023
Globe Theatre, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Trish Adora defeated Shoko Nakajima with the Lariat Tubman (9:51).

Nakajima’s other US booking this month was with Prestige at the Globe Theatre, the same location TJPW will return to this December. Trish Adora was a tougher opponent for her and kicked out of the Northern Lights Suplex. Just when Nakajima thought he had another shot, she was caught off guard and pinned with the Lariat Tubman.


JFC “JINGWU TAN JFC EXOTIC FIGHTING EXHIBITION 2”, 30/09/2023
Rucker Park, Chaoyang, Shanghai, China

1. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Maki Itoh defeated Yuki Aino with the Itoh Deluxe (?:??).
2. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Mizuki defeated Nao Kakuta with the Cutie Special (?:??).

TJPW sent four of their wrestlers over to China for a martial arts expo taking place in Shanghai. They would be presenting two women’s pro wrestling matches to go along with a bunch of other martial art bouts provided by other groups. It is not the first time joshi wrestling has been part of the event. The same organizers had Sareee and Nanae Takahashi wrestle for them during the first expo in the summer. After a lot of searching through Chinese social media I was able to find a clip of Mizuki beating Nao Kakuta and Itoh locking in the Itoh Deluxe on Yuki Aino.

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Upcoming Appearances


AEW “WRESTLEDREAM”, 01/10/2023
Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, Washington, USA

1. Chris Jericho, Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi Vs Sammy Guevara, Will Ospreay & Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Don Callis)

Takeshita has spent the rest of the month either standing to the side Don Callis or wrestling back in Japan for DDT. Oh and he also invaded Kota Ibushi’s gym, attacking him with a kettlebell (and also getting Yumehito Imanari caught in the crossfire) because Callis understands how much Ibushi means to Omega. The big payoff it is leading to will happen later today when The Golden Lovers & Chris Jericho join forces to get revenge on The Don Callis Family. Takeshita is part of that family teaming with Sammy Guevara (newest member) and Will Ospreay (not a member). It is annoying to see what looked like a big push for Takeshita turn into him getting pushed aside so Jericho, Guevara and Ospreay can all squeeze into the spotlight instead.


WARRIOR “WARRIOR WRESTLING 31”, 06/10/2023
Bendix Arena, South Bend, Indiana, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita Vs Storm Grayson (w/ Frank The Clown)

One of the few American indies Takeshita wrestles for when he’s not busy with AEW is Warrior Wrestling. The next time he shows up there he takes on one of Frank The Clown’s clients, Storm Grayson.


SPARK “RISING HEAT WEST”, 11/10/2023
LA Dojo, Carson, California, USA

1. Spark Joshi World Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) Vs Billie Starkz

A familiar opponent challenges Yamashita for the Spark Joshi Title. She has a 1-1 singles record against Billi Starkz so this championship bout can also end up becoming a rubber match between the two.


SPARK “RISING HEAT EAST”, 14/10/2023
Engelwood Neighborhood Center, Orlando, Florida, USA

1. Miu Watanabe Vs KiLynn King
2. Miyu Yamashita Vs Jessie

A few days later Yamashita takes on Jessie, the former Jessi Kamea from NXT. That’s an interesting matchup because since leaving WWE, Jessie wound up doing a tour in Stardom. So we have a TJPW Vs Stardom match on a Spark show.

But Yamashita won’t be the only Tokyo Joshi there. Miu Watanabe is along for the ride too! She is getting to fight KiLynn King from Impact in what is sure to be a hoss fight. Or a hossette fight? Whatever, two strong women are going to fight each other. What more do you want?


LLL “THE HANDS OF FATE”, 20/10/2023
The Oriental Theater, Denver, Colorado, USA

1. Lilith Grimm Vs Miyu Yamashita

Are there Lucha Libra & Laughs to be found when Yamashita pays another visit to Denver? Her opponent Lilith Grimm is nicknamed “The War Hammer” and does an entrance where she sets off sparks with a grinder.


SETUP “SETUP EP.16”, 28/10/2023
The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand

1. Gatoh Move One And Only Title & SETUP Thailand Openweight Title: Paksa (G/c) Vs Masahiro Takanashi (S/c)
2. Dramatic Dream Match: Chris Brookes Vs Monomoth

Whenever CDK goes over to Thailand and shows up in SETUP they tend to take over the place. One of the local faces Monomoth tries his best to defend his home but Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi find ways to get the better of him. Monomoth now gets to fight Brookes in a big singles match the next time Brookes heads over.

Meanwhile Takanashi has been ruling the roost in SETUP as the SETUP Openweight Champion. He can increase his domination when he has a double title match against Paksa. Takanashi puts his SETUP Title on the line while Paksa is defending a Gatoh Move branded championship called the One And Only Title.


REPUBLIC OF LUCHA “ROL VI VI VI: LA NOCHE DE WALPURGIS”, 30/10/2023
Republic Of Lucha, South Pasadena, California, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita, Penta el Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix Vs Shun Skywalker, Bestia 666 & Mecha Wolf

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that nobody in The Lucha Brothers gets injured, company politics do not keep Takeshita and Shun Skywalker away from each other and Vampiro does not show up with La Rebelion.


DAIKAIJU PRO “VOL. 1 – THE KAPPAS WALK AMONG US”, 04/11/2023
White Eagle, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA

1. Shoko Nakajima Vs X

Something new and monstrous is coming out of Massachusetts. Daikaiju Pro is holding their debut show and seems to have deep ties with SETUP and also the UMA Corps. The new promotion is promising a mixture of talent coming in to mix around with monsters and other strange creatures. A show like these requires a Big Kaiju so Nakajima will be there.


TOKYO JOSHI PRO/PRESTIGE “COMBAT PRINCESS USA”, 14/12/2023
Globe Theatre, Los Angeles, California, USA

Miu Watanabe has been added to the lineup.


PANDEMONIUM PRO “HOLIDAY IN LA”, 17/12/2023
Don Quixote, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Mike Bailey Vs Miyu Yamashita

Yeah this do quite nicely. Pandemonium Pro is doing Yamashita against Mike Bailey in a first time ever matchup.

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Other Appearances


GCW “SAY YOU WILL”, 01/09/2023
Grand Sports Arena, Hoffman Estates, Illinois, USA

Itoh did not wrestle on the first GCW show of the month. Instead she showed up to attack Frank The Clown with a pizza cutter much to everyone’s delight.

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Posted by JamieOD

DDT Around The World – July 2023

August 1, 2023

America had to deal with the adventures of MAO & Yoshihiko for most of July. The two of them were inseperable and causing chaos on every wrestling show they were booked for. Meanwhile Konosuke Takeshita is fitting into his heel role nicely, bringing the act over from AEW to DDT and creating consequences in both companies. Since next month is AEW’s big week of doing Wembley in London and the United Center in Chicago one after the other you would think Takeshita will get an important match somewhere on either card.

With those topics out of the way that leaves us with Maki Itoh. The experience gained from touring America is doing wonders for her career but she didn’t win the Princess Of Princess Title back in Tokyo Joshi Pro like she hoped. Her storyline in GCW is coming to a head in August and she has her sights set on many more tours in the future. It can make you wonder if she will reach a stage where she might choose to say goodbye to TJPW some day. Her interviews on the subject have been contradictory depending on who she talks to. She would love to get a full time deal from a big American company but she also likes being signed to TJPW because they let her work this kind of international schedule. It’s nothing to fret over right now but the thought has crossed my mind when it became clear her future plans do not include the Princess Title.

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Videos

Konosuke Takeshita In AEW Playlist


AEW “DYNAMITE”, 12/07/2023
SaskTel Centre, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

BCC & The Elite reveal their final members for Blood & Guts!


AEW “RAMPAGE”, 14/07/2023
SaskTel Centre, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

1. Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Don Callis) Vs Mentallo


AAA “TRIPLEMANIA XXXI: TIJUANA”, 15/07/2023
Estadio Chevron, Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico

Konosuke Takeshita attacks Kenny Omega


CIRCLE 6 “LOVE DON’T LIVE HERE”, 16/07/2023
1720 Warehouse, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. AJ Gray Vs MAO


AEW “DYNAMITE”, 19/07/2023
TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

1. Blood & Guts: Kenny Omega, Hangman Page, Nick Jackson, Matt Jackson & Kota Ibushi Vs Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, Konosuke Takeshita & PAC


Video starts at 1:01:38 for the match. Go to 01:41:04 for Itoh’s birthday celebration.
SMASH “CAN-US CLASSIC 2023”, 22/07/2023
Western Fair District, London, Ontario, Canada

1. Jody Threat Vs Maki Itoh

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Results


EVE “NMITB”, 02/07/2023
The Dome, Tufnell Park, London, England

1. Eve Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) defeated Rhio with the Crash Rabbit Heat (21:21).
*V6 for Miyu Yamashita.

Miyu Yamashita was scheduled to defend the EVE Title against Emersyn Jayne but the challenger couldn’t make the show due to travel problems. Yamashita instead had to put the belt on the line against “The Unbreakable” Rhio with both wrestlers having no time to prepare for each other. Rhio’s power was brought into the fore with her getting nearfalls from a Pumphandle Bomb and Death Valley Driver onto her knee. But Yamashita escaped from a Package Piledriver attempt and caught Rhio with the Skull Kick. Rhio fell next to the ropes so she used a rope break to avoid being pinned. Yamashita then wore her down with kicks until she could pin Rhio with the Crash Rabbit Heat.


WEST COAST PRO “CRUEL SUMMER 2023”, 08/07/2023
United Irish Cultural Center, San Francisco, California, USA

1. Bryan Keith defeated MAO with the Emerald Tiger Driver (15:55).

MAO’s trip to America began at West Coast Pro where Bryan Keith was waiting for him. Keith had warned MAO not to expect any moonlight on this ocassion while MAO thought he would be fine because he is a “fucked up wrestler with an empty head.” That was proven when Yoshihiko interfered to help him! Keith survived the surprise attack and fired himself up and threw Yoshihiko out of the ring with a Razor’s Edge to even the odds. After a back and forth, Keith pinned MAO with the Emerald Tiger Driver for the win.


JCW “BIG ASS EXTREME BIRTHDAY BASH”, 09/07/2023
Ridgefield Park Knights of Columbus, Ridgefield Park, New Jersey, USA

1. MAO defeated Mike Bailey with the Avalanche Michinoku Driver (14:47).
2. Bunkhouse Stampede: Manders defeated Charles Mason by Ring Out (22:13).
Order Of Elimination: Jay Sawyer, Steve Off, Steve Scott, Grim Reefer, Brogan Finlay, Marcus Mathers, Kaia McKenna, Charlie Tiger, Eddy Herrera, Bam Sullivan, CPA, Ciclope, Miedo Extremo, Yoshihiko, Yoya, John Wayne Murdoch, Parrow and Charles Mason.

Wherever MAO went in America, Yoshihiko followed him the entire way. It led to an awkward reunion with Mike Bailey in JCW. MAO and Speedball faced off in a battle between The Moonlight Express but things went sideways when MAO accidentally knocked out the referee with a Helluva Kick. Yoshihiko grabbed itself a ref shirt and went in as the replacement! However its officiating didn’t meet Bailey’s expectations so Yoshihiko was thrown out of the ring Razor’s Edge style deep into the crowd. The distraction might have led to Bailey’s undoing because MAO went on to beat him with a top rope Michinoku Driver with the original ref making the count.

Yoshihiko would reappear in a Bunkhouse Stampede match booked later in the show. It was a complete free for all where Yoshihiko appeared for a confrontation with Charles Mason and his backup muscle Parrow. The three of them have previous bad blood in the GCW/JCW system because Mason hates being embarrassed by the doll. Parrow tried to throw Yoshihiko out but Yoshihiko grabbed onto him and applied a Sleeper Hold. Mason lost his mind and hit Yoshihiko/Parrow with chairshot after chairshot before finally throwing the doll out of the ring to eliminate it.


AEW “RAMPAGE”, 12/07/2023 (Aired 14/07/2023)
SaskTel Centre, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

1. Konosuke Takeshita defeated Mentallo with a Diving Senton (4:07).

Don Callis went the personal route to help Takeshita prepare for Blood & Guts. The show took place in Canada so Callis got AEW to book Kenny Omega’s longtime friend and training partner Mentallo as Takeshita’s opponent. The masked wrestler put up a good effort but Takeshita was victorious in the end, using a Diving Senton to add a new high flying move to his arsenal.


IWTV “MARCUS MATHERS ALL I WANT 2”, 13/07/2023
H20 Wrestling Center, Williamstown, New Jersey, USA

1. Yoshihiko defeated Jimmy Lloyd with the Yoshihiko Destroyer (9:56).
2. MAO defeated Brandon Kirk with the Phoenix Splash through the Plastic Cases (16:14).

The bottom ring rope snapped off during the first five minutes of the opening match and couldn’t be repaired. That should tell you the kind of night waiting ahead for MAO and Yoshihiko. But that’s the kind of fucked up wrestling MAO wants so he didn’t lose a step fighting against Brandon Kirk. A lot of chairs and plastic boxes were thrown into the mix for the two to beat each other up with.

Yoshihiko was tasked with fighting Jimmy Lloyd and both were prepared to tear the place apart. Yoshihiko did a balcony dive and landed Headbutt first onto Lloyd to break him through a wooden panel. Lloyd tried using a Steiner Screwdriver, Package Piledriver and Sleeper Suplex onto chairs but couldn’t get the three count. He went desperate by taking Yoshihiko to the top rope with chairs laid out below. Yoshihiko flipped him off with a Canadian Destroyer onto the chairs and then followed up with a second Destroyer for the finish.


GCW “NOW AND FOREVER”, 14/07/2023
Melrose Ballroom, Queens, New York, USA

1. Maki Itoh defeated Billie Starkz with the Itoh Deluxe (15:16).
2. Mike Bailey defeated Yoshihiko with the Stormbreaker (23:28).
3. GCW World Title: Blake Christian (c) defeated MAO with a Step Up Curb Stomp (14:21)
*V6 for Blake Christian.

MAO had a big chance to grab some gold in his trip to GCW proper. He took on Blake Christian for the GCW World Title but things just didn’t work out for him on this night. Christian gave him a Low Blow, a Death Valley Driver and then finished him off with a Curb Stomp for a successful title defence.

There was something familiar about Bailey Vs Yoshihiko but I just can’t quite put my finger as to what it was. In a completely original match Bailey was accompanied by MAO Callis and his bodyguards. MAO was quickly ejected backstage but later returned to hand Bailey a screwdriver to attack Yoshihiko with. He then used the One-Winged Angel but Yoshihiko kicked out at one. Bailey lost his temper so he gave Yoshihiko the Tiger Driver ’91 (maybe that should be written without the apostraphe because he slammed the doll’s head into the mat around 91 times), the Hidden Blade and the Stormbreaker to win the match. It was unlike anything anyone had seen within the space of a three week period.

In a rematch from last August, Itoh defeated Billie Starkz not just in a wrestling match but in a pose-off to see who is cuter that happened midway through. After the match Itoh celebrated with Nick Gage and they then threw out a challenge to Matt Cardona & Steph De Lander. A video message from the two played over the screen in response but it turned out to be a trap! Cardona & De Lander ran into the ring through the crowd and ambushed Maki Death Kill. When they were done with the attack they accepted the challenge for a tag match.


IWS “SCARRED 4 LIFE”, 15/07/2023
L’Olympia, Montreal, Québec, Canada

1. Maki Itoh defeated Vanessa Kraven with the I.S.D. (14:49).

I don’t often talk much about match quality in these articles but you’re best to avoid watching this one. It wasn’t good.


CIRCLE 6 “BARROOM BLITZ”, 15/07/2023
Knucklehead Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. MAO Vs Bobby Beverly

I couldn’t find the result for this match on a show that had no wrestling ring. What I could find was footage of MAO giving Bobby Beverly a really nasty looking Package Piledriver onto a chair with Beverly’s head clipping off of the headrest. There was also footage of MAO singing with a band so win or lose he looked like he was having a great time.


CIRCLE 6 “LOVE DON’T LIVE HERE”, 16/07/2023
1720 Warehouse, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. AJ Gray defeated MAO with a Lariat (?:??).

Yoshihiko again interfered in one of MAO’s matches to aid him, this time against AJ Gray. While Yoshihiko did not get hurled across the room into the audience, Grey overcame the 2-on-1 disadvantage to win.


AEW “DYNAMITE”, 19/07/2023
TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

1. Blood & Guts: Kenny Omega, Hangman Page, Nick Jackson, Matt Jackson & Kota Ibushi defeated Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, Konosuke Takeshita & PAC when Moxley gave up (23:01).

Oh what drama that has been brewing in The Elite Vs Blackpool Combat Club feud in its final month. Takeshita travelled over to Mexico to assault Omega then helped BCC launch another attack on him back in America. That was when The Elite revealed their ace in the hole for Blood & Guts. The return of Kota Ibushi! In a match that was violent as promised, the BCC team fell apart when PAC took an accidental blow from Claudio Castagnoli. PAC has no loyalty to the group so he broke out of the cage and left. When The Elite got their second wind, Callis told Takeshita to leave the cage too! Takeshita did so and The Elite went on to beat BCC to end their feud.


SMASH “CAN-US CLASSIC 2023”, 22/07/2023
Western Fair District, London, Ontario, Canada

1. Maki Itoh defeated Jody Threat with the I.S.D. (?:??).

Itoh was having a good night in Smash to begin with when she defeated Jody Threat. Then at the end of the show she was given a surprise birthday party in the ring because everyone found out it was her birthday that day! How sweet of them.


PRESTIGE “ALL RISE”, 23/07/2023
House Of Independents, Asbury Park, New Jersey, USA

1. Trish Adora defeated Maki Itoh with the Lariat Tubman (13:43).

Itoh’s return to Prestige was for a semi-main event match against Trish Adora. Oddly enough this was the first time they’ve faced each other even though Adora has become a regular opponent for TJPW wrestlers. Itoh lost on this day by running straight into Adora’s Lariat. Itoh declined to shake her hand afterwards.


DEFY “SPIRIT WC”, 28/07/2023
Washington Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA

1. DEFY Women’s Title: Vert Vixen (c) defeated Maki Itoh with the Game Over (?:??).
*V7 for Vert Vixen.

The main event of DEFY’s women only show was where Itoh had her latest chance to win an American championship. Vert Vixen defeated her, making it three successful DEFY Women’s Title defences against TJPW talent.

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Upcoming Appearances


AEW “DYNAMITE 200”, 02/08/2023
Yuengling Center, Tampa, Florida, USA

1. Chris Jericho & Konosuke Takeshita Vs Sammy Guevara & Daniel Garcia

It was only a matter of time until Chris Jericho would latch onto the new hot act and change the story into one about himself. He got the screen time with Callis while Takeshita was back in Japan wrestling for DDT. When Takeshita returns to America he will team with Jericho to take on Sammy Guevara & Daniel Garcia in the latest chapter of the Jericho Appreciation Society story. It’s going to suck if the latest direction for “ALL IN” and “ALL OUT” only pushes Takeshita into the background. Maybe there is hope for him getting an important match if  Omega is not going to face Will Ospreay for a third time or if Ibushi is not being a tease about showing up at Wembley.


WRESTLING REVOLVER “HEAT EM UP”, 03/08/2023
Calumet Center, Dayton, Ohio, USA

1. Gringo Loco Vs Konosuke Takeshita

Coming in hot right as I am finishing up this article is news that Takeshita will be at this Thursday’s Wrestling REVOLVER show as a last minute replacement for Jon Moxley. According to Moxley he gave REVOLVER his approval for them to book Takeshita. The original plan was for Moxley to take on Gringo Loco in a Lucha Street Fight. Instead Loco will face Takeshita but the Street Fight stipulation seems to be dropped.


DREAMWAVE “SUMMER SPECTACULAR NIGHT 1”, 04/08/2023
Knights of Columbus, LaSalle, Illinois, USA

1. 6-Person Scramble: Brittnie Brooks Vs Maki Itoh Vs Zayda Steele Vs B3CCA Vs Kaia McKenna Vs Shazza McKenzie

The winner of the scramble match in DREAMWAVE earns a spot in a match on 14th October that will crown the promotion’s first Women’s Champion.


DREAMWAVE “SUMMER SPECTACULAR NIGHT 2”, 05/08/2023
Knights of Columbus, LaSalle, Illinois, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

Most likely the results on the first show will determine what Itoh is doing on the second. DREAMWAVE says there will be a second Scramble match on this second show where the winner also qualifies for October’s championship match. So if Itoh does not win the first time then maybe she can get a second chance if she demands it.


GCW “NO SIGNAL IN THE HILLS”, 11/08/2023
Ukrainian Cultural Center, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. 4 Way Match: Allie Katch Vs Steph De Lander Vs Maki Itoh Vs Masha Slamovich

The four leading women in GCW right now are all set to collide in a 4 Way Match. Itoh has her grudge with De Lander but the likes of Allie Katch and Masha Slamovich could get in her way.


KOPW “THE NEW ERA OF CHINESE PRO WRESTLING III”, 19/08/2023
Tianyue Sports City, Nanhai Foshan, Guangdong, China

1. Mizuki Vs Nao Kakuta

TJPW is sending Mizuki and Nao Kakuta over to China to hold an offer match at the latest King Of Pro Wrestling show. The Chinese promotion has booked joshi before such as Riho, Makoto, Emi Sakura and Mei Suruga.


NJPW “LEC PRESENTS ALL STAR JR FESTIVAL USA 2023”, 19/08/2023
2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1. El Desperado & MAO Vs Nick Wayne & Jordan Oliver

The first “ALL STAR JR FESTIVAL” in Tokyo earlier this year was such a major success New Japan and the sponsor LEC decided to bring the concept over to America. MAO gets invited back as a result and gets to take on The East West Express again. This time however he is teaming with El Desperado, making it the first time those two will be in the same match together.


GCW “HOMECOMING – PART 1”, 19/08/2023
The Showboat, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

1. Matt Cardona & Steph De Lander Vs Nick Gage & Maki Itoh

The big grudge match GCW has been building up since March finally takes place near the end of the summer. Maki Death Kill have been trading blows back and forth with Cardona & De Lander ever since. Is one match enough to settle the score?


GCW “HOMECOMING – PART 2”, 20/08/2023
The Showboat, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs B3CCA

If that is the end of the feud then what will be next for Itoh in GCW?


ROW/GCW “GCW VS RENEGADES OF WRESTLING”, 25/08/2023
Roundhouse, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

1. Charli Evans Vs Maki Itoh

The answer of course is go to Australia! GCW is touring over there with a local group called Renegades Of Wrestling. First up Itoh takes on Charli Evans.


ROW/GCW “GCW VS RENEGADES OF WRESTLING”, 26/08/2023
Melbourne Pavilion, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

1. ROW Women’s Title: Aysha (c) Vs Maki Itoh

The second Australian show gives Itoh a shot at the ROW Women’s Title held by Aysha. The promotion has only been around for a year so the championships don’t have much history behind them. I think Aysha is more of a regular with Deathmatch Downunder.


EVE/CHOCOPRO “CHOCOPRO X EVE SUPER SHOW”, 26/08/2023
The Dome, Tufnell Park, London, England

1. Masahiro Takanashi Vs X
2. Miyu Yamashita Vs X

Well, well, well, isn’t this a surprise? ChocoPro are heading over to London the same weekend as All In to hold shows with EVE. It makes sense for Masahiro Takanashi to be one of the guests because he is linked to Gatoh Move. But Yamashita appearing on the show is something I didn’t expect even though she is EVE’s main champion. There is also a solo ChocoPro event happening that day but this is the show where you will get to see Yamashita. Do you think AEW is interested in booking her again, for the next day? I hope so but the answer is probably no. Come on, she’ll become the only person to wrestle in the Tokyo Dome and Wembley the same year if they book her!


ROW/GCW “GCW VS RENEGADES OF WRESTLING”, 27/08/2023
Eatons Hill Hotel, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

1. Allie Katch Vs Maki Itoh

Itoh ends the Australia tour with a match against Allie Katch. Itoh already has a singles win over her in GCW. In fact that was the match where she discovered how useful a pizza cutter is against opponents.


GCW “SAY YOU WILL”, 01/09/2023
Grand Sports Arena, Hoffman Estates, Illinois New Jersey, USA

1. Nick Gage & Maki Itoh Vs X & X

Another tag match for Maki Death Kill? This could go anywhere from fighting The East West Express to taking on Los Macizos or anywhere in between!


MLW “FURY ROAD”, 03/09/2023
2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1. B3CCA Vs Maki Itoh

Now Major League Wrestling has to deal with Maki Itoh. MLW has a habit of chasing after trends but not really getting much out of them. The company also has a knack of putting out whatever news stories they want and wresting sites will report it without question. Court Bauer just has the clout to say anything and always be taken at face value I guess. The curse of that though is the attention never really pays off with anything substantial. When MLW is at its best their storylines can be really creative and different to what the other promotions are doing. But if they don’t have a plan for you you’re just there to put over people they do have plans for. Even worse is how they sometimes write people out of storylines. Itoh can kayfabe be carried out of her last show inside a body bag if they want to. Or since her opponent B3CCA has a pop singer gimmick on the show they can do a vocal injury if they want to get sinister. But that’s just me fantasy booking based on what they’ve done before.


PRESTIGE “THE RESPECT ISSUE”, 24/09/2023
Globe Theatre, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Trish Adora Vs Shoko Nakajima

Good to see Shoko Nakajima getting international bookings again. Prestige seems to handle that sort of stuff Stateside thanks to their working relationship with TJPW. They’re trying to get her a couple other bookings while she’s over there. A match with Trish Adora is the first one on the cards for her.

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Posted by JamieOD

DDT Around The World – June 2023

July 1, 2023

One year into writing these articles and I knew it was going to be a good idea to keep track of everything. A busy idea every time the end of the month comes but a good one nonetheless. Summer is still going on but the focus on international travels is swapping some of the cast we’re following. Miyu Yamashita ended her Kick Rampage Tour with a long list of matches and companies worked for under her belt. Maki Itoh is also back in Japan gearing up for possibly the biggest match of her career before she goes touring again. The mystery of why Yuka Sakazaki went to America and not wrestle at all has been cleared up. Well, sort of. There’s a few things out there I’m asking around to clarify knowing full well I won’t be getting any answers. We even got a little bit of Mizuki in there too. Now MAO gets to be a featured part of this series going into the rest of the summer. He’s the latest wrestler to get the travel bug and take in some bookings around America.

Oh, one more thing. I put together two Youtube playlists related to this series. The first is following Takeshita’s AEW run using all of the highlight videos AEW posts on their channels. I avoided adding the episodes of Dark because of the episode lengths. One thing I noticed looking back on everything it’s cool to see how many of Takeshita’s opponents on Dynamite and Rampage early in his run have all circled together as part of feud between The Elite and the Blackpool Combat Club. Intentional or not, Takeshita’s year with the company ended up being something that connected a lot of pieces together.

The other playlist is a collection of Yamashita’s matches from her Rampage Kick Tour. All of the videos I included were posted by either the promotions themselves or the wrestlers she faced against. I avoided fancams and highlight videos unless they were official or endorsed. If there’s anything I missed then send the Youtube links my way. If there’s interest in more I’ll see if I can put a playlist together for Itoh or maybe the DDT and Tokyo Joshi Pro rosters in general.

Konosuke Takeshita In AEW Playlist

Miyu Yamashita Kick Rampage Tour 2023 Playlist

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Videos


AEW “DYNAMITE”, 07/06/2023
Broadmoor World Arena, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Don Callis) Vs Damon Ace


ST. LOUIS ANARCHY “GIANT’S WOKE EYES OPEN”, 09/06/2023
The House of Anarchy, Alton, Illinois, USA

1. Billie Starkz Vs Miyu Yamashita


Video starts at 3:21.
ENJOY “SOMETHING TO WRITE HOME ABOUT”, 17/06/2023
Mr. Smalls Theatre, Millvale, Pennsylvania, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Ray Lyn


WARRIOR “WARRIOR WRESTLING 30 – FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS”, 30/06/2023
Marian Catholic High School, Chicago Heights, Illinois, USA

1. Warhorse Vs Konosuke Takeshita

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Results


LLL “BEST WISHES WARMEST REGARDS”, 02/06/2023
The Oriental Theater, Denver, Colorado, USA

1. LLL Women’s Title – 3 Way Match: Heidi Howitzer (c) defeated Masha Slamovich and Miyu Yamashita when Howitzer pinned Yamashita with the Stunner (15:04).
*V? for Heidi Howitzer.

Earlier this year Yamashita was able to win the Princess Tag Team Titles from The Wasteland War Party in TJPW. Now it was time for her to enter one of Heidi Howitzer’s haunts Lucha Libre & Laughs to try and win another championship from her. Another of Yamashita’s regular opponents Masha Slamovich was also there to make it a 3 Way Match. Yamashita rocked Slamovich with the Skull Kick but just when she thought the match was won, Howitzer came in and gave her a Stunner for the three count and a successful title defence.


BLACK LABEL PRO “FANCY WRESTLING 2”, 03/06/2023
RDS Gym, Crown Point, Indiana, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Rachel Armstrong with the Skull Kick (11:13).

The gap of experience between Yamashita and Rachel Armstrong put Yamashita firmly in the bullying veteran role for the match. She goaded her opponent into a strike exchange that she shrugged off. Armstrong caught Yamashita off guard by criss-crossing the ropes and landing a Running Elbow Smash that knocked Yamashita out of the ring to set up a dive. But back in the ring Yamashita pushed Armstrong away from doing a Shiranui and lifted her high into the air for the Attitude Adjustment. Once she hit the Skull Kick Yamashita applied a dominant pin on top of Armstrong to win the match.


GCW “CAGE OF SURVIVAL 2”, 04/06/2023
The Showboat, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

1. Maki Itoh defeated Janai Kai with the I.S.D. (5:43).

Itoh kicked off GCW’s second annual “CAGE OF SURVIVAL” event by beating Janai Kai but her celebration was cut off by Matt Cardona & Steph De Lander. The two of them were coming out for a tag match against Brandon Kirk & Casey Kirk but first took the time demanding Itoh to keep her nose out of their business. Itoh swore at them and told Cardona to “suck my dick!” Cardona & De Lander went on to beat the Kirks and continued to attack them after the match. Itoh then returned to the ring this time with Nick Gage alongside her. Together Maki Death Kill and The Kirks fought back and Itoh got to smash a bundle of lighttubes over Cardona’s head! If that wasn’t enough she also smeared some of Cardona’s blood she found on the mat over her face afterwards!


INSPIRE A.D. “KIDS OF THE BLACKHOLE”, 04/06/2023
Empire Control Room, Austin, Texas, USA

1. Killa Kate defeated Miyu Yamashita with a Cradle (?:??).

This is possibly the biggest upset defeat Yamashita suffered in her entire excursion. Killa Kate is nicknamed “The Submission Musician” and lived up to it by going for different holds targeting Yamashita’s arm. Yamashita put all of her focus into fighting off the submissions that Kate ended up switching a Cross Armbreaker into a Rolling Cradle to score the pin from out of nowhere.


ROH “ROH ON HONORCLUB”, 07/06/2023 (Aired ??/06/2023)
Broadmoor World Arena, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA

1. Willow Nightingale & Maki Itoh defeated Emi Sakura & Megan Bayne (?:??).

I’m seeing conflicting reports on whether or not this match was taped for ROH. On the night everyone at the show who tweeted about it said it was taped and images show the ROH set up in the arena. However AEW’s Japanese Twitter account made it sound like it was just a dark match only for those in attendance to see. That’s a shame if it doesn’t get shown because Itoh and Willow Nightingale together sounds like a fun pairing, Emi Sakura’s work is consistently enjoyable and Megan Bayne was building up a hot streak on the indies before getting injured last year.


AEW “DYNAMITE”, 07/06/2023
Broadmoor World Arena, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Don Callis) defeated Damon Ace with the PowerDrive Knee (1:29).

Over in AEW we get to see Konosuke Takeshita with a new attitude under the guidance of Don Callis. He gave Damon Ace a quick beating while video footage of Callis betraying Kenny Omega looped over and over on the arena screens.


ST. LOUIS ANARCHY “GIANT’S WOKE EYES OPEN”, 09/06/2023
The House of Anarchy, Alton, Illinois, USA

1. Billie Starkz defeated Miyu Yamashita with a Victory Roll Reversal (14:04).

By this point Yamashita and Billie Starkz have faced each other several times already. But this meeting in St. Louis Anarchy was one that Starkz has been looking forward to for a while. Her persistence paid off because she finally scored her first singles win over Yamashita! The finish came when she tried to use the Sugoi Driver but Yamashita countered it into a Victory Roll. Starkz reversed the hold and rolled herself back on top of Yamashita to get the three count.


SPARK “IGNITE EAST”, 11/06/2023
The Heart Ballroom, Newark, New Jersey, USA

1. Maki Itoh defeated Brittany Blake with the Itoh Deluxe (9:17).
2. Spark Joshi World Title: Miyu Yamashita defeated Rachael Ellering with the Crash Rabbit Heat (16:20).
*Miyu Yamashita becomes the 1st Spark Joshi World Champion!

The debut show for Spark Joshi Puroresu was a good one for Yamashita and Itoh. In the main event Yamashita defeated Rachael Ellering to become the first Spark Joshi World Champion. However Yamashita may need to watch her back for future shows because Starkz threw her name into the hat for a future title shot. She also formed an alliance with Ellering called Xtinguish. On the undercard Itoh beat Brittany Blake.


AEW “DYNAMITE”, 14/06/2023
Capital One Arena, Washington, D.C., USA

0. Dark Match: Riho, Maki Itoh & Abadon defeated Nyla Rose, Marina Shafir & Emi Sakura (?:??).

You know, this would have been a nice match to put on video somewhere. Riho, Itoh & Abadon is a King Of Trios kind of team if I ever saw one. So are Nyla Rose, Marina Shafir & Emi Sakura as a potential Team AEW Dark. Damn it, I miss King Of Trios. Can Tony Khan go do a little bit of grave robbing and grab what’s left of Chikara? Or is that going to unleash a new kind of curse on the world that nobody wants?


AEW “RAMPAGE”, 14/06/2023 (Aired 16/06/2023)
Capital One Arena, Washington, D.C., USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Don Callis) defeated Bandido with the PowerDrive Knee (15:11).

Now this is the good stuff! Big Lariats from Takeshita, big Hurricanranas from Bandido, big bombs everywhere else. Takeshita eventually came out on top against Bandido by hitting the Jumping Knee, an Elbow Strike to the back of the head and then the PowerDrive Knee.


SPARK “IGNITE WEST”, 16/06/2023
East San Gabriel Valley Japanese Cultural Center, West Covina, California, USA

1. Maki Itoh defeated Zeda Zhang with the I.S.D. (9:55).
2. Spark Joshi World Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) defeated Delilah Doom with the Skull Kick (19:06).
*V1 for Miyu Yamashita.

The second Spark show was full of victories again for Yamashita and Itoh. Yamashita earned her first Spark Joshi Title defence by beating Delilah Doom while Itoh was victorious against Zeda Zhang. After the match Sumie Sakai entered the ring, helped Zhang to her feet and held up the Xtinguish banner with her. Itoh told both of them to “Fuck off.”


ENJOY “SOMETHING TO WRITE HOME ABOUT”, 17/06/2023
Mr. Smalls Theatre, Millvale, Pennsylvania, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Ray Lyn with the Skull Kick (18:06).

The final weekend of Yamashita’s tour took her to Enjoy Wrestling where she beat Ray Lyn.


GCW “THANK ME LATER”, 17/06/2023
Ukrainian Cultural Center, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Rina Yamashita defeated Maki Itoh with the Splash Mountain onto a Chair (17:37).

Well the death match stuff was going to catch up with Itoh sooner or later. When she faced Rina Yamashita in GCW she had to fight someone armed with chairs and even a loose door. Itoh had her trusty pizza cutter though and was able to slice her opponent’s head open. However Yamashita put Itoh through the door with an Air Raid Crash, attacked her over and over with the chairs and pinned her with the Splash Mountain onto a chair.


DPW “TAG FESTIVAL 2023”, 18/06/2023
Durham Armory, Durham, North Carolina, USA

1. Emi Sakura & Mizuki (w/ Yuka Sakazaki) defeated Miyu Yamashita & Vert Vixen when Sakura pinned Vixen with La Magistral Cradle (11:37).

Deadlock Pro held the final match of Yamashita’s tour along with Itoh’s last match before she went back to Japan too. A lot of changes happened in the leadup. First the match was supposed to by Yamashita & Hyan against The Magical Sugar Rabbits but Hyan had to pull out because of a schedule conflict. Vert Vixen was brought in to be Yamashita’s new partner. Then Sakazaki got her injury diagnosis and was unable to do the match. DPW decided Mizuki would now team with Emi Sakura, who just so happens to be the DPW Women’s Champion. Sakazaki was still able to attend the show and be at ringside to support Mizuki. Together the three of them became The MagiRabi Queens. Sakazaki even got involved a few times pulling some antics at ringside. Stuff like moving around the ringside railings for wrestlers to get thrown into. She even got in the way and almost had her head kicked off when Yamashita tried to do a running Penalty Kick on the apron. Yamashita stopped herself at the last second while Sakazaki froze in fear, possibly having her life flash before her eyes.

AEW/NJPW “FORBIDDEN DOOR 2023”, 25/06/2023
Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

1. Hangman Page, Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson, Eddie Kingston & Tomohiro Ishii defeated Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, Konosuke Takeshita & Shota Umino when Ishii pinned Yuta with the Vertical Drop Brainbuster (21:29).

Hey this just about counts as DDT being part of the Forbidden Door. Takeshita through his new manager formed an alliance with the Blackpool Combat Club in the leadup to the big show. Together they all challenged The Elite along with Eddie Kingston and his choice of partner Tomohiro Ishii. Takeshita put up a big performance on the night highlighted with the incredibly rare sight of him knocking out Ishii with an Elbow Strike! Ishii recovered and went on to score the pinfall for his team but the story is ready to move on to its next chapter.


WARRIOR “WARRIOR WRESTLING 30 – FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS”, 30/06/2023
Marian Catholic High School, Chicago Heights, Illinois, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita defeated Warhorse with the PowerDrive Knee (18:06).

Takeshita’s return to Warrior Wrestling was a reminder that no matter what happens to him, there will always be that DDT DNA inside of him. Warhorse went into the match with the intentions of not just beating Takeshita but sending him to the injured list. With an entire football field at their disposal they fought everywhere they could reach. They brawled along the track where Takeshita jumped hurdles on the way to kicking Warhorse with a Big Boot. Warhorse turned the tables near the field goal by inviting Takeshita to kick a football and then doing the old Charlie Brown trick to make him fall over. Warhorse then Body Slammed a few nearby people onto Takeshita for good measure! Takeshita fought back by doing a Brainbuster on the field, leaving both feeling hurt enough to take the match back into the ring. A war of attrition took place from there ending with Takeshita pinning Warhorse with the PowerDrive Knee.

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Upcoming Appearances


EVE “NMITB”, 02/07/2023
The Dome, Tufnell Park, London, England

1. Eve Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) Vs Emersyn Jayne

Yamashita’s tour is over but she isn’t finished with travelling by a long shot. Last month Emersyn Jayne defeated Rhio to become the No. 1 Contender for the EVE Title. She is arguably the most accomplished wrestler yet to challenge face Yamashita for the championship.


WEST COAST PRO “CRUEL SUMMER 2023”, 08/07/2023
United Irish Cultural Center, San Francisco, California, USA

1. Bryan Keith Vs MAO

MAO has his own US trip for the summer planned. First up he meets Bryan Keith in the ring for the first time over in West Coast Pro.


IWTV “MARCUS MATHERS ALL I WANT 2”, 13/07/2023
H20 Wrestling Center, Williamstown, New Jersey, USA

1. Yoshihiko Vs X
2. MAO Vs Brandon Kirk

Then MAO heads over to New Jersey to be part of a show being put together by Marcus Mathers. MAO’s opponent will be against death match wrestler Brandon Kirk. He won’t be going there alone though. Yoshihiko will be at the show too but it currently does not have a match announced.


GCW “NOW AND FOREVER”, 14/07/2023
Melrose Ballroom, Queens, New York, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs X
2. Mike Bailey Vs Yoshihiko
3. GCW World Title: Blake Christian (c) Vs MAO

Some big matches await our crew in GCW the next day. MAO gets a shot at the GCW World Title facing the increasingly unpopular Blake Christian. Yoshihiko faces a great test of its abilities against Mike Bailey in a first time ever singles match. They’ve been opponents in a trios match once before but other than that Bailey didn’t interact with Yoshihiko that much while he was in DDT.


IWS “SCARRED 4 LIFE”, 15/07/2023
L’Olympia, Montreal, Québec, Canada

1. Vanessa Kraven Vs Maki Itoh

Vanessa Kraven is a long time veteran wrestler who recently returned to the scene after stepping away for a few years. She’s the size of a giant next to Itoh.


CIRCLE 6 “BARROOM BLITZ”, 15/07/2023
Knucklehead Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. MAO Vs Bobby Beverly

A new place for MAO to experience. If you thought GCW is home to a few misfit toys with nowhere else to go then oh boy you haven’t seen Circle 6 yet! The first show is a no ring show taking place inside a bar in Santa Monica where MAO will fight Bobby Beverly, no holds barred.


CIRCLE 6 “LOVE DON’T LIVE HERE”, 16/07/2023
1720 Warehouse, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. AJ Gray Vs MAO

Then the next day MAO takes on AJ Gray. Yeah let’s move on.


SMASH “CAN-US CLASSIC 2023”, 22/07/2023
Western Fair District, London, Ontario, Canada

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

No update yet on who Itoh faces when she goes to Smash Wrestling.


PRESTIGE “ALL RISE”, 23/07/2023
House Of Independents, Asbury Park, New Jersey, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs Trish Adora

It will be around 10 months since the last time Itoh was on a Prestige show. When she returns Trish Adora will be there to fight her.


DEFY “SPIRIT WC”, 28/07/2023
Washington Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

Itoh heads over to DEFY for the launch of their new women’s wrestling brand called Spirit WC.


DREAMWAVE “SUMMER SPECTACULAR NIGHT 1”, 04/08/2023
Knights of Columbus, LaSalle, Illinois, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

DREAMWAVE “SUMMER SPECTACULAR NIGHT 2”, 05/08/2023
Knights of Columbus, LaSalle, Illinois, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

Itoh has two nights at DREAMWAVE coming up in August. Something interesting to note is Mickie James is being advertised to appear at the second show. They’d probably get along if they met, right? Maybe get Itoh to sing “Hardcore Country” and James to sing “Brooklyn The Hole”?


GCW “NO SIGNAL IN THE HILLS”, 11/08/2023
Ukrainian Cultural Center, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

Itoh’s been with GCW for so long at this point she should get her own vanity show for the next Wrestlemania weekend.


ROW/GCW “GCW VS RENEGADES OF WRESTLING”, 25/08/2023
Roundhouse, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

ROW/GCW “GCW VS RENEGADES OF WRESTLING”, 26/08/2023
Melbourne Pavilion, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

ROW/GCW “GCW VS RENEGADES OF WRESTLING”, 27/08/2023
Eatons Hill Hotel, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

Itoh’s heading over to Australia for the first time as part of GCW’s tour with Renegades Of Wrestling. Australians, do her a favor and teach her only the most foulest of the local swear words while she’s over there.

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Cancelled Appearances


WRESTLING REVOLVER “RING OF DESTINY”, 17/06/2023
Calumet Center, Dayton, Ohio, USA

1. JT Dunn (w/ Allie Katch) Vs Konosuke Takeshita

Takeshita wasn’t able to make the Wrestling REVOLVER show due to travel issues. JT Dunn instead threw out an open challenge and wrestled Sami Callihan to continue their feud in the company.

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