TOKYO JOSHI PRO “GRAND PRINCESS ’26” Preview

March 28, 2026

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “GRAND PRINCESS ’26”, 29/03/2026
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

1. Uta Takami Vs Shion Kanzaki
2. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Staggered Entry Battle Royal: Antonio Honda (c) Vs Sumire Uesaka Vs Rika Tatsumi/Great Wakabayashi-kun Vs Raku Vs Mahiro Kiryu Vs Mifu Ashida Vs Kira Summer Vs Chika Nanase Vs Sakura Hattori Vs Matcha Vs Momo Sato Vs Minimo (w/ Mari Yaguchi)
3. HIMAWARI & Shino Suzuki Vs Toga & Ren Konatsu
4. Shoko Nakajima, Yuki Aino & Haru Kazashiro (w/ Ninja Red, Geki Red & Go-On Red) Vs Aja Kong, VENY & Pom Harajuku
5. Mizuki Vs Andreza Giant Panda
6. Miyu Yamashita & Arisu Endo Vs Sareee & Takumi Iroha
7. Special Tag Match: Yuka Sakazaki & KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs Hyper Misao & Super Sasadango Machine
8. International Princess Title: MIRAI (c) Vs Suzume
9. Princess Tag Team Titles: Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara (c) Vs Jessie McKay & Cassie Lee
10. Princess Of Princess Title: Miu Watanabe (c) Vs Yuki Arai

It’s only when I started typing this when I noticed Tokyo Joshi Pro has been running Sumo Hall on a two year cycle this entire time. “GRAND PRINCESS” has been held at Ryogoku in 2022, 2024 and now 2026. The third time looks to be their most ambitious event in the venue with the ultimate goal of reaching a sell out being put in place. I don’t know if the success Stardom got in the building at the end of 2025 has anything to do with it but something prodded TJPW hard enough to get them into marketing their show harder than ever before. We have celebrity and multimedia tie-ins galore on the undercard alongside some new wrestling crossovers that TJPW doesn’t normally go through. Putting it all together is a smorgasbord of different storylines that range from some wrestlers striving to become stronger, others fighting alongside their heroes, a deep throwback to pro wrestling’s Showa days and a main event rivalry that can honest to God find comparisons with King’s Road. Things are looking different compared to the last two Ryogoku shows because TJPW are now firmly trusting their second generation to perform at the top end of the card. Another sign of a new era approaching is the show will debut newly designed belts for the three TJPW championships.

The promotional blitz is all thanks to Super Sasadango Machine. The masked wrestler from DDT is also a savvy business man outside of wrestling with a good reputation for his marketing abilities. TJPW hired him to be the PR Ambassador for this show and he came up with the “Ryogoku Road To Success” Challenge. He approached people from all over the company with tasks, instructions or challenges for them to complete. These ideas would both prepare the wrestlers for their matches while hopefully attract attention and promote the show in the process. The end result is probably the most fun I’ve had seeing a build up for a show like this in a while. Many of the challenges won’t actually apply to the matches themselves once they take place but following everyone’s adventures to get here was a nice way to get more emotional investment in the roster, especially for the lower card wrestlers. Back when DDT first ran Sumo Hall in 2009, part of its success was built on the company being the little engine that could with everyone involved doing their part to sell tickets. It’s silly to call TJPW an underdog with the corporate backing they have these days but given the similar age the company is in here to DDT back then (DDT was 12 years old in 2009, TJPW is currently 12 now), the effort being put in feels like a spiritual successor in a way.

The question I have now going into the show is will this whole thing work out in the box office? TJPW got 1,714 fans in Sumo Hall for 2022 (pandemic era) and 2,349 fans for 2024. Looking at the events page on the TJPW site, a lot of the floor seats have sold out. Although having been in Ryogoku myself recently and seeing first hand what the layout is like, the one person per box seat layout means that isn’t really as big an amount as it sounds. Also pro wrestling is one of those events nowadays where the most expensive tickets almost always sell out to the hardcores even when the standard tickets don’t sell like hot cakes. I personally would be thrilled to see the show at least break the 3,000 mark and go beyond that. I would also be tugging at the collar if it can’t break 2,500 but that’s just projections coming from a fan.

1. Uta Takami Vs Shion Kanzaki

Road To Success Challenge: Shion Kanzaki must perform a live street show by singing and playing the guitar right in the heart of Shinjuku.

We start off with the brightest star of the “Next Generation” taking on the most recent rookie to debut. Uta Takami had been breaking out of the young pack with some in-ring success that is catching up to her endlessly energetic personality. She won the Next Generation Tournament last Autumn and followed up a few months later with a performance that took her all the way to the Max Heart Tournament final. She’s also become creative with her photoshops on Twitter to promote her matches. Now Takami is being entrusted with the opening singles match of the show. Things are looking up (up) for this member of The Up Up Girls.

Shion Kanzaki only just made her debut on 4th January and if there’s a similarity I can make for her, it would be towards HIMAWARI. This is someone who when they only just wrestled their first match, they already looked like a perfect fit for TJPW and fitted in like they’ve already been there this whole time. That doesn’t mean I expect Kanzaki to be giving out Jackhammers like HIMAWARI does anytime soon. She’s still finding herself by fighting up from the bottom. Given her previous history from being in a band, Sasadango instructed her to go sing as a busker in the lively streets of Shinjuku. She was only able to do one song before an unusual interruption brought her session to an end. More will be explained in the next match.

2. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Staggered Entry Battle Royal: Antonio Honda (c) Vs Sumire Uesaka Vs Rika Tatsumi/Great Wakabayashi-kun Vs Raku Vs Mahiro Kiryu Vs Mifu Ashida Vs Kira Summer Vs Chika Nanase Vs Sakura Hattori Vs Matcha Vs Momo Sato Vs Minimo (w/ Mari Yaguchi)

Road To Success Challenge: Tetsuya Koda must find a famous guest from outside of wrestling who is big enough to sell out Ryogoku all by themselves and have them make their pro wrestling debut.

Road To Success Challenge: Rika Tatsumi needs to delve into her inner madness.

Road To Success Challenge: Minimo must master a special move through intensive training!

Road To Success Challenge: Sanshiro Takagi must scout another idol to make her pro wrestling debut.

Where do I even begin with this? I think starting with the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title makes the most sense. The championship usually belongs to DDT but thanks to the 24/7 rule, a bunch of different events going back to last summer led it to finding a second home in TJPW. DDT recently got their belt back thanks to Antonio Honda but there is paranoia among management (particularly the DDT GM Hisaya Imabayashi) that Honda could end up losing the belt to a New Japan wrestler, which is the last thing DDT wants. At the time of writing Honda is currently the title holder but there are several people hunting him down just so they have a chance to say they will defend a championship inside Sumo Hall this weekend.

Okay class you’ll need to open up your history books because we’re about to delve into 1970s NJPW for this part. TJPW’s boss Tetsuya Koda was tasked by Sasadango to go find a big star for the show. It must be someone famous enough to sell out Sumo Hall by themselves and they also must be from outside the wrestling scene. Koda had no luck finding anyone to pass this challenge and pretty much gave up on it. Then a weird bit of fortune came his way when he accompanied Shion Kanzaki for her Shinjuku busking. As they were promoting the Sumo Hall show, a saber was suddenly thrown their direction. From out of nowhere the famous singer and voice actress Sumire Uesaka (who once sold out Ryogoku with a solo concert) appeared wearing an Indian robe. She attacked Koda with the saber while ranting about the Iron Man Title she once held a year ago. The incident got coverage in Tokyo Sports where it was compared to Tiger Jeet Singh attacking Antonio Inoki at the same Shinjuku spot back in 1973. They interviewed Uesaka where she explained she accidentally grabbed her saber instead of her umbrella before leaving her home that day (we’ve all been there) and she has no memory of anything that happened afterward. However she also revealed she got hooked on Showa era pro wrestling as a teenager after listening to Singh’s entrance song. She loves the dynamic of strong style Japanese wrestlers fighting villainous foreigners of all shapes and sizes. She has no wrestling skills but will bring the saber along with her as a good luck charm. Then when she found out a wrestler with the name Antonio was now the champion, she declared war on him for the belt! Honda’s response is he will target Uesaka’s arm if they have to fight. That way if she ends up getting hurt, an injured arm won’t get in the way of her voice acting career.

Now here is where things get messy. There are so many other people in this match with their own stories to tell! Well, most of them do. Rika Tatsumi was told by Sasadango to go in search of her inner madness. Tatsumi didn’t understand what he meant because according to her, she is a pure idol wrestler and not a psychopath in any way. She went forth on her journey anyway and got to meet her comedy hero Cookie! to learn how to hone in her more insane instincts. The result of this is the creation of a new persona called The Great Wakabayashi-kun and TJPW are expecting Tatsumi to show it off in the Battle Royal. Speaking of new personas, the masked cassowary Kaya Toribami has now turned into a ninja called Sakura Hattori. The change happened when she went to visit ninja master Genichi Mitsuhashi in Iga City for ninja training and then discovered a mysterious faceguard that seemed to possess her. Hattori has since gone on a four match winning streak that happened during the Texas tour while showing some change in personality. She still appears and interacts with others outside of matches but in the ring Hattori has a more aggressive moveset than last time. She needs to be quicker doing the nine hand seals pose on the top rope though. Maybe in her mind she’s doing it lightning fast but in the real world it takes forever before she completes it.

There are special guests taking part in the match too. Matcha is coming over from Thailand to continue TJPW’s working relationship with SETUP. She recently beat Hattori/Toribami to take the IWA Japan SETUP World Tag Team Titles away from K!SS// and this could be their next meeting in the ring. Momo Sato is another celebrity entry. She is here because Sanshiro Takagi was ordered to scout a new idol to make their wrestling debut. Takagi found out that DDT wrestler Daichi Sato has a little sister in the group Harajuku Gakuen who already has some experience with pro wrestling training. When Takagi convinced Momo to take part, Sasadango applauded him for achieving the perfect combination of a nepotism hire with sky high potential. The last piece of pop culture to fill out the field is Minimo-chan, the mascot from the 2000s idol group Minimoni. It will be accompanied by one of its members Mari Yaguchi thanks to a business hookup that took place when TJPW held a show in Malaysia last year. Minimo-chan was instructed by Sasadango to go learn a devastating finishing move for its debut. After some heavy training where Mahiro Kiryu was used as the crash test dummy, Minimo-chan developed a new finishing move called the Drink Some Delicious Milk Pyon! Kick. In the meantime the mascot has been watching AJPW tapes, becoming a big fan of Steve Williams, Doug Furnas and Dan Kroffat in the process. So if anybody complains about this match for being too silly, tell them it is directly influenced by the glory days of New Japan and All Japan.

The Battle Royal also has Raku, Mifu Ashida, Kira Summer and Chika Nanase all taking part but to be honest they are all getting overshadowed by the idols, psychos, ninjas, mascots and tributes to pro wrestling from five decades ago… How the fuck does this Battle Royal have more stories to talk about than the Royal Rumble this year?

3. HIMAWARI & Shino Suzuki Vs Toga & Ren Konatsu

Road To Success Challenge: Shino Suzuki must play Rock Paper Scissors against influencers with a combined total of 100,000+ followers on social media and keep playing until she beats three of them.

Road To Success Challenge: To improve her sharpness, Ren Konatsu must take dance lessons at LDH!

I brought up HIMAWARI earlier as a potential path for growth in regards to Kanzaki. Someone who immediately fits in with the company upon debut and gradually work up the card. Another key milestone for a TJPW wrestler like this is to find a connection with another wrestler and form a tag team with them. HIMAWARI did that by forming the Bumping gRitters with Shino Suzuki. They’re still in the early phase where they are pretty much the likeable losers of the division but a match on a show like this is usually a good sign that a team will be moving up a step. The entire build up to this match was pretty much an excuse to find out what the mental breaking point is for Suzuki. Even at the best of times she turns into a cramped up ball of anxiety when thrown into a competitive environment so Sasadango came up with the bright idea to lean into it. He challenged Suzuki to go find influencers with over 100,000 followers and challenge them to games of Rock Paper Scissors (plus an added rule where you have to make them flinch in the right direction after winning). Suzuki would need to keep on doing this until she could beat three influencers. She eventually passed the challenge with a 3-2 record and hopefully she will come out of the experience with a newly enforced iron will. Although I’m struggling to think of any situation where picking scissors will beat taking an Elbow Strike from Toga.

Toga has spent the last few months levelling up in her own way. She formed a tag team with Yuna Manase called Hot Shot and the relationship allowed her to make a rare outside appearance in order to wrestle on a Ganbare☆Pro show. With some new experiences boldening her up, Toga wanted to prove she can go win by herself. She’s continuing to find new ways of stretching her wings by taking an outside booking at Las Vegas during Wrestlemania Week too. She might wind up being a good influence for a rookie like Ren Konatsu to look up to. Konatsu is starting to progress at a nice pace. Having Kanzaki debut means she has somebody below her on the pecking order to win matches against. She now has her first finishing move called the Aries Comet added to her arsenal. Plus she was given a task by Sasadango too. She had to go take dance lessons at a studio owned by LDH (the entertainment agency Kaisei Takechi belongs to). Konatsu claims she is already noticing an improvement to the Aries Comet because of this training so the Bumping gRitters better watch out!

4. Shoko Nakajima, Yuki Aino & Haru Kazashiro (w/ Ninja Red, Geki Red & Go-On Red) Vs Aja Kong, VENY & Pom Harajuku

Road To Success Challenge: The ToJo Tokusatsu Club must take part in “Fireball Return Training” as seen in Episode #19 of Gekisou Sentai Carranger.

If you haven’t noticed with TJPW, there is a lot of social activity that goes on within the locker room. Long lasting friendships are made away from the wrestling ring as the wrestlers get to know each other further and find out they share similar interests. The ToJo Tokusatsu Club is an example of this for the wrestlers who obsess over Super Sentai. The club originally existed for Shoko Nakajima, Nodoka Tenma & Yuki Aino to show off their hobby during shows but disappeared after Tenma retired. When Haru Kazashiro joined TJPW and expressed her love for tokusatsu, the club returned with a big goal in mind. They want to teach children that pro wrestling can make dreams come true so what better way to do that than to invite the Super Sentai over to Sumo Hall where they can all fight kaiju together!

The timing of this collaboration confused me because Super Sentai only just recently ended its fifty year run on television. The rumour is it happened because a falling out between Toei and Hasbro over the handling of source material and merchandising for Super Sentai and Power Rangers going forward. Heck if I know if that’s true but CyberFight went and organized something with the Super Sentai anyway. The ToJo Tokusatsu Club will be joined by Ninja Red, Geki Red & Go-On Red for their match as the club takes on a trio of the nastiest villains you can think of.

Well, sort of. Max The Impaler was meant to be part of the match but unfortunately couldn’t get a travel visa approved in time so they have to miss the show. At least this allows me to type out the sentence “The kaiju could not appear because of visa problems” which is right up there with “The Human Torch was denied a bank loan.” Max would have reunited with both Aja Kong and Pom Harajuku, which is usually the case for Max’s appearance at TJPW’s bigger shows. Some last minute decision making has resulted in an interesting X factor being thrown into the mix. VENY will be taking the place of Max for the match. If there’s any joshi out there that can capture the bitchy energy of Rita Repulsa, it’s her.

5. Mizuki Vs Andreza Giant Panda

Road To Success Challenge: To fight off the panda, Mizuki must find and acquire a new legendary weapon.

A mystery emerged in TJPW during February when the Pico Pico Hammer belonging to Mizuki was stolen during a show held in Okayama. A clue was found when a small USA flag was left in its place. At the time I thought this was a storyline created for the Texas tour or possibly even next month’s Las Vegas show but it turned out to be something of a red herring. Instead members of New Nemuro Pro Wrestling contacted TJPW to take credit for the theft. It was one of their wrestlers Mr. USA that stole the hammer and left the flag behind but the actual mastermind behind the plot was Andreza Giant Panda! It was two years ago when Mizuki struck Andreza over the head with her hammer in a moment that went viral across the internet due to how photogenic the entire thing was. The amount of attention it had left Andreza feeling humiliated. Ever since that day he had bided his time and waited for the opportunity to get revenge. With Sumo Hall coming up, now is the time for it to take place!

Mizuki hasn’t been able to retrieve the stolen Pico Pico Hammer but the Texas tour showed that she has a spare in her collection. That won’t be enough to defeat an enraged giant panda so Sasadango came to her aid with an idea. She would have to go find a new legendary weapon to replace the hammer. Her journey (which also includes an isekai side story game TJPW made for their LINE account) led her on the path to meeting Masami Obami, the creator of Brave Bang Bravern and director of other anime in the mecha genre. With the help of Bravern itself, Obami went to work on forging the Burn Pico Pico Core Axe Hammer for Mizuki to use. Prepare for the weapon to be unleashed inside Sumo Hall this weekend!

6. Miyu Yamashita & Arisu Endo Vs Sareee & Takumi Iroha

Road To Success Challenge: Miyu Yamashita should participate in idol practice and undergo intense idol training.

The original plan for this match was for Lei Ying Lee to be a part of it. However TNA pulled Lee from the show because she was needed to wrestle at their PPV last night and presumably their TV tapings happening this weekend too. Because you see it was really important for Lee to be in a 3 Way TNA Knockouts Title match where she was about to win only to get pulled out of the ring so the champion could steal the pinfall instead. The pull out led to TNA sending an apology where they stated neither TJPW nor Lee were at fault over the situation. The English version of the news story was pretty polite but the funny thing is the Japanese report includes TJPW saying they don’t understand how this could have happened when the booking was put together and agreed to well in advance.

On the bright side, TNA’s decision has the knock-on effect of putting together a more interesting tag team match. Sareee was meant to be Lee’s partner as part of her first appearance in TJPW since 2020. The last time she was here she locked horns with Miyu Yamashita and the same plan is in place here. With Lee now out of the picture, TJPW quickly made a deal with Marvelous to replace her with Takumi Iroha. Not only are we now getting the TJPW debut of Iroha but it also means Sareee & Iroha are bringing their Spark Rush tag team over here! The positions these two currently hold in the joshi hierarchy is quite fascinating. Sareee gets to bounce between Stardom, Marigold and other companies while running her own shows while Iroha gets to do her own flirting with different joshi promotions and also NOAH too. I’m trying to think of a good comparison to their current positions and the best I can come up with is maybe Yoshihiro Takayama and Kensuke Sasaki in the late 2000s, early 2010s? Does that make Marvelous comparable to Kensuke Office? No wait, then that means Chigusa Nagayo is Kensuke Sasaki and Iroha is Katsuhiko Nakajima. If that’s the case, Yamashita would need to keep her chin tucked in for the entire match otherwise it will become a massive target… Hang on, where was I?

The hype for the match is built around everyone getting to see Yamashita fight Sareee and Iroha but that story is leaving somebody out to the side. The usually cheerful Arisu Endo isn’t happy that she’s being forgotten about by everyone else. She just as much wants a piece of Spark Rush as Yamashita does. If she gets her way she is going to shine the brightest out of anyone in the match! As I mentioned at the start of this preview, TJPW has found faith in their second generation, which Endo is a part of. A strong performance here wouldn’t shock me if it leads to her getting a main event Korakuen Hall singles match sometime later this year. Maybe at the Tokyo Princess Cup at the earliest, eh? Would that tickle anyone’s fancy? While I shouldn’t ever count out Yamashita from winning more prizes in TJPW, her focus this year seems to be on being the locker room leader while also helping out with the global expansion plans.

Yamashita was the last person to complete their challenge given to them by Sasadango. She was ordered to go take on intensive idol training. She did just that by going to visit three members of Niji No Conquistador. She learned the three most important things of being an idol from Karin Matoba, Mayu Kurihara and Yu Kawabata. They are the introduction, appealing to the fans and pulling off the idol group’s dance. I don’t know how any of those three qualities will help her deal with Spark Rush.

7. Special Tag Match: Yuka Sakazaki & KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs Hyper Misao & Super Sasadango Machine

We’re approaching a year since the day Konosuke Takeshita and Yuka Sakazaki revealed to the world that they are a married couple. That it took this long to book them as a tag team tells you where the state of the wrestling industry’s imagination is at nowadays. Don’t give me your excuses that Takeshita was busy wrestling for three different companies, fighting in tournaments and defending the IWGP World Heavyweight Title. Sakazaki’s only being booked whenever ROH needs to warm up somebody in order to put over someone else. Her last match on record was for TJPW back on 4th January so there’s not a lot to write about. Actually there is one thing. Sakazaki will debut a new theme song at this show called “AYAYAYAY” by Hi-yunk. Hype for the match went lopsided when Shingo Takagi and Natsupoi announced their marriage last month. Fans thought it would make a lot of sense to do a couples versus couples tag like that.

Instead the opposing team is something way more incomprehensible. Hyper Misao took it upon herself to be one of the opponents as part of a plan to acquire as many contracts for herself as possible. Her logic is if she can beat the team of Sakazaki & Takeshita then New Japan, DDT and AEW will all offer her deals to sign with them! She needed a tag team partner who acts just as outside of the box as she does in order to have a chance at winning. That’s where Sasadango comes in. It turns out that the PR in PR Ambassador does not stand for Public Relations. It infact stands for Pro Wrestling Ring and by taking on the role, Sasadango also automatically agreed to wrestle a match on the show without realizing it. He wanted no part of the until Misao talked him into it. She explained that if Sasadango’s appearance can sell even one ticket it would be worth it just to make that one fan happy. If Sasadango can’t even achieve that then there is no hope that his marketing will help sell out Sumo Hall either. Now fired up, Sasadango is ready to bring the fight towards Takeshita & Sakazaki. Not only does he want to win the same contracts that Misao wants, he is aiming to get signed by every wrestling company out there!

8. International Princess Title: MIRAI (c) Vs Suzume

It took a roundabout way to get here but we’re getting the BeeStar championship rivalry that was destined to happen one way or another. MIRAI made her return to TJPW this year and immediately staked her claim for the International Princess Title by beating Arisu Endo for the belt. The title win gave MIRAI the achievement of being the first wrestler to win championships in TJPW, Stardom and Marigold. She took care of Toga in her first defence before calling out someone very close from her past to be her next challenger. Suzume was MIRAI’s classmate and their debuts in 2019 happened only a few months apart of each other. They teamed together as BeeStar until MIRAI split from TJPW in 2021. Since then the two of them took their own paths to grow into successful wrestlers. MIRAI had stays in Stardom and Marigold until she recently moved over to her new home Michinoku Pro. In doing that she is on a wave of success that’s sailing her around Japan’s wrestling scene. Suzume meanwhile stayed in TJPW where her success came from winning the Princess Tag Team Titles as part of Daisy Monkey and also winning the International Princess Title by herself.

And it is the IP Title that brings MIRAI and Suzume together in the ring once more. As much as Suzume appreciates everything MIRAI has done for her in their early days together, the IP Title is a championship that means just as much to her. Meanwhile MIRAI is trying to add an element of TJPW Vs Michinoku Pro to the proceedings. Both women have become stars for their respective home promotions and MIRAI has often brought along M-Pro wrestlers to stand in her corner for her TJPW title matches so far. That might change with this match coming up because she offered Toga to take up that role after the two earned each other’s respect from the previous title defence. MIRAI’s work during this run is a bit odd. The ingredients are there for an inter-promotional feud to take place with MIRAI as an outsider yet she’s pretty much been welcome back with open arms and the workings are here for her to stick around on a semi-regular basis. In fact, TJPW had announced in advance that an IP Title match would take place at their Las Vegas show but they then had to walk it back when they couldn’t book MIRAI for that show. Way to paint yourself into a corner, lads. It can still go ahead if Suzume wins back the title but the way the news was announced kind of comes off as a spoiler no matter how they tried to cut it.

9. Princess Tag Team Titles: Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara (c) Vs Jessie McKay & Cassie Lee

Road To Success Challenge: Ober Eats must post images or videos that will go viral with 10,000 likes.

I think this video pretty much sums up my opinion of the match.

Look, if this was anywhere in the first seven matches of the card you would get no complaints from me. Have it be non-title, place it in Ota Ward Gymnasium or put another company’s tag belts on the line then fine, awesome, I can live with it. This is the semi-main event of a Sumo Hall show! The previous matches we got in this position with the Princess Tag Titles were The Magical Sugar Rabbits Vs Daydream and Yukiniki Vs Daisy Monkey. Those are good standards to have! Instead we’re getting Ober Eats Vs The IInspiration. Maybe it will be better than Reiwa AA Cannon Vs The Uprising from 2022 but holy hell that’s the faintest praise I can damn it with. I wonder if the plan here is to give Jessie McKay & Cassie Lee a transitional title reign in order to put over another TJPW team in Las Vegas next month.

The reason I think that is because Ober Eats is currently top of the pile in TJPW’s tag division with no nearby contenders in sight. They became the first team to ever win the Max Heart Tournament while holding the Princess Tag Titles. With Sumo Hall next on their list, Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara asked for a team more glamourous and buzzworthy than them to be their challengers. They’re thrilled with The IInspiration being chosen for them as a more global challenge to surpass. To help them build up the hype, Sasadango told Ober Eats to go viral on social media by getting 10,000 likes. Kamifuku put out a video of her walking through the streets in her wrestling costume. At the time of writing it is sitting pretty at 6,600+ likes. Meanwhile Uehara unintentionally smashed through the challenge without trying when a picture of her meeting the Buc-ee’s mascot hit 10,000 likes within the day it was posted. (Her actual tweet for the challenge only reached 2,500+ likes). I swear, sometimes everything just goes that girl’s way. Except when it doesn’t, like when The IInspiration beat her in Austin earlier this month as a preview for what’s to come.

10. Princess Of Princess Title: Miu Watanabe (c) Vs Yuki Arai

Is TJPW King’s Road? I’m not joking when I ask this because the rivalry between Miu Watanabe and Yuki Arai over the last two months is the closest thing to the King’s Road philosophy that anyone is doing right now. That philosophy is not dangerous head drops or finisher kick outs. It is telling the story of a rivalry that progresses match by match as the two adversaries figure each other out step by step. And if that means taking a big flat back bump or two onto the floor along the way then so be it.

Watanabe has been enjoying a six month reign as the Princess Of Princess Champion. She has overcome her mental block over whether she fights like a princess or like a monster and has been racking up the usual amount of title defences a typical Princess champion would get for her reign. She also has a match of the year contender with Suzume from 4th January that will likely be remembered as the peak of this title run. TJPW threw together a 6 Way Elimination to determine the No. 1 Contender and Arai came out on top, going as far as to submit Yamashita to win the match. She failed to win the Princess Title in her first attempt last year so now the story is will her inevitable push to a title win happen the second time?

Last month at Korakuen Hall was where the fun began. A preview tag match featuring the two of them took a turn when they fought each other on the ring apron. Arai won the exchange in an extreme manner by using the Full Nelson Buster to throw Watanabe from the apron onto the floor! From that point forward, it was on! Arai put more focus on using the Scorpion Death Lock to win matches while also introducing a new Twister Brainbuster to beat lesser opponents. Watanabe then got to make Arai give up to the Canadian Backbreaker only to get a taste of her own medicine in the next battle after that. Watanabe is sometimes seen having tape strips applied to her back and while the story isn’t yelling to everybody on a loudspeaker that she isn’t 100%, Arai’s use of the Scorpion Death Lock was able to make Watanabe tap out on one occasion during the series. With that being said, any fear of Watanabe having a serious back injury was put to bed after that when she found ways to power her way straight out of Arai’s finishing move in order to turn it into a Giant Swing. The two most recently exchanged wins during the Texas tour. Watanabe has the most recent direct victory while Arai got a moral one by hitting the Finally axe kick after being unable to do so match after match until the end.

As we now finally approach Sumo Hall it’s been something of a stalemate between champion and challenger. Or at least when one of them gets ahead it’s never far enough to prevent the other from catching up and overtaking them. The winner of this match will be heading over to Vegas where they will defend the title against the new American Gladiator J-Rod. That is a match we’ve seen with Watanabe already while it would be something completely fresh for Arai. However international shows such as that is where you can get away with burning a rematch that doesn’t need to be done back in the home market. The reign Watanabe is on has no need to be stopped right now and this build up has done wonders for making Arai an interesting rival for her. Should Arai win the title the question I have for her is can she stay this interesting against other opponents? If she has figured out how to be more dynamic with laying out her matches then maybe the time is now to pull the trigger on her. But if it was up to me I’m more interested in seeing Watanabe hold on for whoever wins the Princess Cup later this year.

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DDT “NEXT GENERATION 2025 ~KISARAGI ROMAN~” Results

February 23, 2025

DDT “NEXT GENERATION 2025 ~KISARAGI ROMAN~”, 23/02/2025
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
??? Fans – Unannounced

1. Toru Owashi & Yuki Ishida defeated Yuni & Kazuma Sumi when Ishida pinned Sumi with the Flame Palm (5:10).
2. Special Single Match: Kazuki Hirata defeated Antonio Honda with the Miracle One Shot Cradle (7:11).
3. Special Tag Match: Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno & Koju “Shining Ball” Takeda Vs Super Sasadango Machine & Yumehito Imanari ended in a No Contest (11:12).
4. Daisuke Sasaki, KANON, MJ Paul & Ilusion defeated To-y, Jun Akiyama, Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Daichi Sato when KANON pinned Matsunaga with the Sleepy Hollow (9:32).
5. Special Tag Match: Chris Brookes & Baliyan Akki defeated Shinya Aoki & Keigo Nakamura when Brookes pinned Nakamura with the Praying Mantis Bomb (9:46).
6. “Brave Bang Bravern!” Collaboration 6-Man Tag Match ~ Bravern Debut Match: Bravern, Yuki Ueno & MAO defeated Yukio Naya, Akito & Soma Takao when Bravern pinned Takao with the Brave Cross Stinger (17:29).
7. D GENERATIONS CUP 2025 – Final: Yuya Koroku defeated Takeshi Masada with the Modified Triangle Lancer (16:40).

DDT really wanted to shine a spotlight on their new generation of wrestlers so they placed this year’s D GENERATIONS CUP final in the main event of today’s Korakuen Hall show. With a future KO-D Openweight Title shot on the line, Takeshi Masada and Yuya Koroku faced off in a rematch of the 2023 DGC final. At first Koroku went for his usual game plan to target the arm until he started pulling out moves from his former BURNING allies. He used the Intercept DDT from Yusuke Okada and the Spinning Torture Rack Bomb from Tetsuya Endo. He also had Masada’s finisher scouted and countered the move into the Chickenwing Arm Lock before switching over to the Triangle Lancer. Masada had no answer to that and gave up, making Koroku the third tournament winner!

Koroku thanked the fans for supporting him and talked about what happened five months ago when he was humiliated in this ring. He thought about quitting but the fan support gave him the strength to get to this point. This is just the beginning because on 6th April he will get his KO-D title match at Korakuen Hall. Backstage he told reporters that he wouldn’t have come this far without BURNING because they taught him so much about everything. He also thinks it is an honour he will get to fight for the KO-D Title exactly four years into his career. He made himself a promise at the start of the year and this April he will fulfill it by winning that title!

There was something familiar surrounding the Brave Bang Bravern collaboration match that I just can’t put my finger on. The giant mecha Bravern was shrunk down to human size for its debut pro wrestling match. It teamed with Yuki Ueno (back from his health scare) & MAO to take on the team of Yukio Naya, Akito & Soma Takao who were representing the show’s bad guys. One of the voice actors for the show (and also the current Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion) Tetsu Inada watched from the commentary booth but became so invested in the match he moved down to ringside. There he saw Bravern, Ueno & MAO give Akito a Triple Razor’s Edge from the corner. Bravern then used the Somato Brave Cross Stinger on Akito to get the pinfall. He thanked Ueno & MAO for helping him save DDT with their fiery spirit and indomitable courage. If DDT is ever in trouble again they can call for his help. In return Ueno & MAO suggested they can show up in Season 2 of the anime if it ever gets made.

In a last minute change to the show Masahiro Takanashi became ill with fever symptoms and was replaced by Baliyan Akki. He and Chris Brookes still meshed together well as a tag team. Perhaps a little too well because when Brookes tried to slap Keigo Nakamura and Nakamura ducked, Akki saw it coming and blocked it before instinctively slapping Brookes back. That minor setback gave Nakamura & Shinya Aoki a chance to get the win but it didn’t work out for them. In the end Brookes got his second wind, dodged Nakamura’s Diving Headbutt and eventually pinned him with the Praying Mantis Bomb.

After the match Hisaya Imabayashi approached Brookes in the ring. He had given him a month to decide who he wants defend the KO-D Title against at DDT’s 28th Anniversary show on 20th March. Brookes knew who to pick and decided to ring the person on his phone right there in the ring. The call was answered and it turned out to be Masahiro Takanashi on the other end! Brookes asked his CDK partner to challenge him for a title match. Takanashi said he knew Brookes would pick him and asked if it was out of kindness for all that he has done for him? Brookes told him it is an important show so he wants to fight a strong Takanashi, not a kind one. He will kill him in the ring if he has to! Takanashi promised he will give it his all and take the belt from Brookes so he will be the one defending it against the DGC winner in April!

A ragtag bunch of babyfaces were not able to beat DAMNATION T.A in an 8-Man Tag Match. To-y tried to take charge by telling Jun Akiyama to grab Ilusion and hold him still. To-y then missed his attack and hit Akiyama instead so Akiyama angrily yelled at him while DAMNATION T.A were beating up To-y. Akiyama had a much better time doing teamwork with Daichi Sato. The youngster even went toe to toe with MJ Paul until the match broke down into a brawl. To-y ended up hitting Akiyama by accident again and nobody was there to save Tomomitsu Matsunaga from being pinned by KANON. Akiyama got a shot in on To-y for revenge after the match.

The day wasn’t over for DAMNATION T.A yet. All of a sudden Hideki Okatani walked down to the ring armed with a bamboo stick. He climbed inside and attacked KANON with it while the rest of DAMNATION T.A… joined in on the attack! After the beatdown Daisuke Sasaki introduced Okatani as DAMANTION T.A’s newest crazy member and then announced KANON has been kicked out of the group! According to Sasaki, KANON has become too smug and no good for the unit so it is time to say goodbye. Okatani then called KANON a brown-nosing wrestler for always pandering to the crowd before hitting him again with the bamboo stick until it broke.

Okatani explained even more backstage, revealing that KANON has actually been cut off from the unit a long time ago. Sasaki called KANON the biggest failure he has ever created but now he has created his new masterpiece in Okatani. He then claimed that Okatani will have his return match in April. He tore his ACL last April so a year will have passed when he wrestles again. KANON was in tears backstage because he doesn’t know what he did to deserve this. He demanded a singles match with Sasaki to settle things and DDT ended up booking it for 20th March. Lost in the middle of this is what will happen with the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles? DAMNATION T.A are the current title holders and KANON was part of the champion team.

Hisaya Imabayashi’s worst nightmare came back to life for one night only. There was supposed to be a full blown Pheromones reunion but it got hampered when Yuki Iino got injured. Super Sasadango Machine filled in for him and Yumehito Imanari appeared as his normal self. But Danshoku Dieno & Koju Takeda both showed up acting like their Pheromones personas. The match eventually became too lewd for any audience and Imabayashi had to call it off by using a towel to cover anything that should not be seen on a live broadcast. He paid the price and Pheromones rendered him unconscious with their salacious attacks.

While this was all happening, Sasadango made his way up to the commentary table and grabbed everyone’s attention with his latest PowerPoint presentation. It was titled “Characteristics And Practical Methods Of People Who Are Good At Schedule Management.” He explained how posters can be used to promote his matches and pointed out he does not have a match yet for the 28th Anniversary show despite being on the poster. So he is challenging Dieno to a DDT Extreme Title match for 20th March! It will be a special day for DDT and Dieno is a special wrestler for the company. Also the Extreme Title is the only proper DDT championship Sasadango has ever held. He even added an extra condition to make the match even more special. It will be the last time Sasadango will challenge for that title! Dieno refused the challenge but only so he can nominate Sasadango as his next challenger. He also told Imabayashi he wants his alter ego Amon Tsurumi to be part of the match as the special referee! Together these three old men promise to put on the worst match ever!

Kazuki Hirata had a lot of down time while he was recovering from his knee injury so he occupied himself by watching a lot of wrestling. By doing so he made the eye opening discovery that nobody else dances during their matches. So for his return match he wanted to take things seriously and wrestle properly. Too bad his opponent Antonio Honda wanted to see him dance instead and kept tempting him to put the Hirata GO glasses back on. Hirata couldn’t take it but just when he was about to put on the glasses, Honda attacked him. Hirata fought back though and pinned Honda with the Miracle One Shot Cradle before getting to dance as his true self again.

Hirata then had an announcement to make about his 15th Anniversary Match on 12th March. He and Keisuke Ishii are going to team up with someone special to take on YO-HEY, Kenshin Chikano & Soma Takao. The third man on his team is Hiromu Takahashi! He said he is putting everything he has into the production of this show so everyone will have a happy time together.

The show began with a song performance by NωA Jr. (no doubt trying to impress Kaisei Takechi over at the commentary booth. When they were done Yuni & Kazuma Sumi then faced Toru Owashi & Yuki Ishida in the opening bout. Owashi did a little bit of lucha before switching over to sumo which fitted in more with Ishida’s Dosukoi spirit. Sumi tried to win with a Lionsault and the School Boy but Ishida threw him over with a Scooping German Suplex and pinned him with the Flame Palm.

DDT “JUDGEMENT 2025 ~28TH ANNIVERSARY 5 HOUR SPECIAL~”, 20/03/2025
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. 3 Way Match: Toru Owashi Vs Antonio Honda Vs Kazuki Hirata
2. Makoto Oishi, Akito & Soma Takao Vs Yukio Naya, Yuya Koroku & Keigo Nakamura
3. Special Tag Match: MJ Paul & Ilusion Vs JJ Furno & Tomomitsu Matsunaga
4. Special Tag Match: Jun Akiyama & Daichi Sato Vs HARASHIMA & Takeshi Masada
5. Special 6-Man Tag Match ~ Kazusada Higuchi & Shunma Katsumata Double Comeback Match: Kazusada Higuchi, Ryota Nakatsu & Yuki Ishida Vs Shunma Katsumata, Yuni & Kazuma Sumi
6. Special Single Match: Daisuke Sasaki Vs KANON
7. KO-D Tag Team Titles: MAO & To-y (c) Vs Fuminori Abe & Takuya Nomura
8. DDT Extreme Title: Danshoku Dieno (c) Vs Super Sasadango Machine
*Special Referee: Amon Tsurumi.
9. DDT Universal Title: Yuki Ueno (c) Vs Minoru Suzuki
10. KO-D Openweight Title: Chris Brookes (c) Vs Masahiro Takanashi

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Love So Sauna, Ueno Vs Suzuki Confirmed, MatchMake & Agent, Bravern Debut, Honda’s US Dream Match?

February 6, 2025

DDT “NEPPA OVER FLOWERS 4 ~LOVE SO SAUNA~”, 14/02/2025
Shinjuku FACE

1. 120℃ High Temperature Sauna Match: Danshoku Dieno & Fuminori Abe Vs Yukio Naya & Yuki Ishida
2. Totonoi ALL OUT: Shin KONOSUKE TAKESHITA & Shin Shunma Katsumata Vs Akito & Yuki Iino
3. Big NeppoWER!!: Shinya Aoki Vs Keigo Nakamura
4. SeaSaunaShack Presents ~To-y Löyly~: To-y Vs Sauna Lover X
5. Ueno Nordic Presents ~Yuki Ueno Löyly~: Yuki Ueno Vs Kuishinbo Kamen Vs Kikutaro
6. BZW Tag Team Title – NELJAS Presents ~MAO Löyly~: MAO & Yoshihiko (c) Vs Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi

The next sauna themed show from The 37KAMIINA has its full card with a bunch of sponsorships also applied. The ALL OUT match is going to be as advertised. Akito & Yuki Iino will face new (and improved?) versions of Konosuke Takeshita & Shunma Katsumata. If it turns out to be Sakura Hirota portraying both gimmicks at once then that’s wrestler of the year for 2025 already wrapped up.

Shinya Aoki has thrown his support behind Keigo Nakamura for the D GENERATIONS CUP. Nakamura might have made it to the final by the time they face off against each other on this show.

As for the 120℃ Temperature match, that sounds like something IWA Japan did for a video tape many, many years ago.

DDT “NEXT GENERATION 2025 ~KISARAGI ROMAN~”, 23/02/2025
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. 3 Way Match: Super Sasadango Machine Vs Antonio Honda Vs Kazuki Hirata
2. “Brave Bang Bravern!” Collaboration 6-Man Tag Match ~ Bravern Debut Match: Bravern, Yuki Ueno & MAO Vs Yukio Naya, Akito & Soma Takao
3. Special Tag Match: Danshoku Dieno & Koju Takeda Vs Yuki Iino & Yumehito Imanari
4. D GENERATIONS CUP 2025 – Final: Winner Of A Block Vs Winner Of B Block

How big is the mech Bravern going to be when it stands face to face with Yukio Naya? Could Akito or Soma Takao find ways to trip it down or will they be handled by Yuki Ueno & MAO?

Tetsu Inada will return to DDT as a commentator for this match. The current Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion is a cast member on the anime and has been spending his time proudly showing off the title belt to other voice actors from across the industry. There’s been a couple of title changes in that time that I’ll have to look up when I have the time. Inada is as of this writing the 1,711st champion.

BAKA GAIJIN + FRIENDS “VOL. 20”, 04/03/2025
Tokyo ARENA Shimokitazawa

1. Special Tag Match: Shota & Soma Takao Vs Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi

The next Baka Gaijin + Friends show sees CDK taking on ROMANCE DAWN. It will be a rematch of their “WRESTLE SEKIGAHARA” bout from Ganbare☆Pro back in 2022. ROMANCE DAWN won that one. Can CDK get some revenge on their own home turf?

DDT “JUDGEMENT 2025 ~28TH ANNIVERSARY 5 HOUR SPECIAL~”, 20/03/2025
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Kazusada Higuchi Return Match: Kazusada Higuchi Vs X
2. DDT Extreme Title: Danshoku Dieno (c) Vs Yuki Iino
3. DDT Universal Title: Yuki Ueno (c) Vs Minoru Suzuki
4. KO-D Openweight Title: Chris Brookes (c) Vs X

It’s been confirmed straight from the devil’s mouth. Minoru Suzuki will challenge Yuki Ueno for the DDT Universal Title! The championship itself does not have any particular special value to Suzuki but the fact that Ueno dared call him out for the match has him interested.

M&A “SANSHIRO TAKAGI 30TH ANNIVERSARY PROJECT ~MATCHMAKE & AGENT~”, 09/04/2025
Tokyo Ueno Park Outdoor Stage

1. Special Tag Match: Yuji Nagata & Kuroshio TOKYO Japan Vs Brahman Shu & Brahman Kei

The concept for Sanshiro Takagi’s recent 30th Anniversary show worked out so well that he wants to continue doing it, once again without the need for DDT contracted talent to be involved. Thus the creation of MatchMake & Agent Pro Wrestling which Takagi is planning to hold a show once every two months at least up to the summer. He definitely has the vast amount of connections to keep the cards fresh. The first match though is coming out of the anniversary show. Yuji Nagata & Kuroshio TOKYO Japan are teaming together as a pair of “Ikemen” to take on The Brahman Brothers!

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

1. Special Single Match: Antonio Honda Vs Santana Jackson

The first match for DDT’s trip to Las Vegas has been revealed and it sure has left me speechless. Santana Jackson is a Michael Jackson gimmick who regularly goes viral for incorporating Michael’s spots into his wrestling matches. Apparently whenever Japanese fans find footage of him it’s DDT who get the requests to bring him over. Antonio Honda must be looking forward to the match too given how much he loves classic American pop culture.

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CDK Getting Busy In February, Pheromones Reunion, TJPW In Las Vegas Roster

January 29, 2025

DDT “SETSUBUN MATCH 2025”, 08/02/2025
Yokohama Radiant Hall

1. Jun Akiyama & Soma Takao Vs Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya
2. Danshoku Dieno & To-y Vs Toru Owashi & Antonio Honda
3. Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul Vs Yuki Ueno, MAO & Kazuma Sumi
4. D GENERATIONS CUP 2025 – B Block: Yuya Koroku Vs Yuni
5. D GENERATIONS CUP 2025 – A Block: Ilusion Vs Yuki Ishida
6. D GENERATIONS CUP 2025 – A Block: Takeshi Masada Vs Keigo Nakamura
7. Special Tag Match: Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi Vs HARASHIMA & Akito

There will be plenty of CDK tag matches in DDT this February starting off with a first time meeting against HARASHIMA & Akito.

DDT “SENDAI NEW LEGEND 2025 ~ZUNDAMOCHI~”, 09/02/2025
Miyagi Yume Messe Miyagi

1. Danshoku Dieno, Jun Akiyama, Makoto Oishi & Keigo Nakamura Vs HARASHIMA, Akito, Soma Takao & Yuki Ishida
2. DAMNATION T.A Vs SCHADENFREUDE International!: Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul Vs Chris Brookes, Masahiro Takanashi & Antonio Honda
3. D GENERATIONS CUP 2025 – B Block: Yuni Vs Kazuma Sumi
4. D GENERATIONS CUP 2025 – B Block: To-y Vs Yuya Koroku
5. D GENERATIONS CUP 2025 – A Block: Takeshi Masada Vs Ilusion
6. Special Tag Match: Yuki Ueno & MAO Vs Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya

For DDT’s return to MAO’s hometown MAO & Yuki Ueno are taking on the heavyweights Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya.

One of the last matches in the D GENERATIONS CUP group stage is Takeshi Masada against Ilusion. DDT are getting ahead of any unit trouble by also booking the rest of DAMNATION T.A against SCHADENFREUDE International on the same card.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW X YAON ~SINGING AND JOSHI WRESTLING OUTDOORS IN THE MIDDLE OF WINTER~”, 11/02/2025
Tokyo Hibiya Open-Air Concert Hall

1. 10-Woman Tag Match: Hyper Misao, Miu Watanabe, Raku, Shino Suzuki & Uta Takami Vs Rika Tatsumi, Yuki Aino, Wakana Uehara, Pom Harajuku & Max The Impaler

The show is being held at an outdoor concert venue and will be five matches long. There will also be several solo musical performances throughout the show. The performers will be Miu Watanabe, Raku, Shino Suzuki, Uta Takami, Rika Tatsumi, Yuki Aino and Wakana Uehara. So fans are not just getting The Up Up Girls (Pro Wrestling) but a few bonus singers too.

DDT “REMBRANDT HIGHWAY SERIES 2025 ICHIGO BOUT IN EBINA”, 16/02/2025
Kanagawa Rembrandt Hotel Ebina

1. Takeshi Masaa & Yuya Koroku Vs Keigo Nakamura & Yuki Ishida
2. 3 Way Match: Toru Owashi Vs Yuki Iino Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga
3. Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul Vs Soma Takao & Yukio Naya
4. Danshoku Dieno & Antonio Honda Vs Yuni & Kazuma Sumi
5. SCHADENFREUDE International Vs DAMNATION T.A!: Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi Vs KANON & Ilusion
6. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yuki Ueno, MAO & To-y Vs Jun Akiyama, HARASHIMA & Akito

CDK has more SCHADENFREUDE Vs DAMNATION T.A matches to worry about during the month.

DDT “NEXT GENERATION 2025 ~KISARAGI ROMAN~”, 23/02/2025
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. “Brave Bang Bravern!” Collaboration Match ~ Bravern Debut Match: Bravern Vs X
2. Special Tag Match: Danshoku Dieno & Koju Takeda Vs Yuki Iino & Yumehito Imanari
3. D GENERATIONS CUP 2025 – Final: Winner Of A Block Vs Winner Of B Block

Who ever thought we would get a Pheromones reunion but without the Pheromones gimmicks? Since Danshoku Dieno and Yuki Iino are facing each other for the DDT Extreme Title soon, the preview match invites their former allies Yumehito Imanari and Koju Takeda back to the DDT ring.

The latest anime collaboration DDT is involved with is the mecha show Brave Bang Bravern. The mech itself Bravern will have its debut pro wrestling match wearing a costume specially designed by the show director Masami Obari.

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

Sixteen women from Tokyo Joshi Pro will be heading to Vegas this April for both “TJPW LIVE IN LAS VEGAS” and “DDT VS TJPW VS GCW”. The roster for the shows are Mizuki, Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh, Suzume, Yuki Kamifuku, Pom Harajuku, Shoko Nakajima, Rika Tatsumi, Hyper Misao, Yuki Aino, Miu Watanabe, Raku, Arisu Endo, Yuki Arai, Wakana Uehara and Shino Suzuki. There will also be other wrestlers from around the world taking part in the TJPW show. They will be announced soon.

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DDT “NEW YEAR, NEW HERO. 2025 ~A NEW STORY BEGINS~” Results

January 26, 2025

DDT “NEW YEAR, NEW HERO. 2025 ~A NEW STORY BEGINS~”, 26/01/2025
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
??? Fans – Unannounced

1. Yuki Iino & Daichi Sato defeated Soma Takao & Yukio Naya when Iino pinned Takao with the Spear (9:30).
2. MAO & Toru Owashi defeated Masahiro Takanashi & Antonio Honda when MAO pinned Honda with a Japanese Leg Roll Clutch Hold (8:29).
3. Jun Akiyama, HARASHIMA & Tomomitsu Matsunaga defeated Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul when Matsunaga pinned KANON with a Sideways Cradle Hold (9:20).
4. DDT Extreme Title – Life’s Sparkle Rules: Danshoku Dieno (c) defeated Gorgeous Matsuno with an Inside Cradle (9:47).
*V2 for Danshoku Dieno.
5. Road To D GENERATIONS CUP 2025! Special 8-Man Tag Match: To-y, Yuya Koroku, Yuni & Kazuma Sumi defeated Takeshi Masada, Keigo Nakamura, Ilusion & Yuki Ishida when Koroku submitted Nakamura with the Modified Triangle Lancer (12:53).
6. DDT Universal Title: Yuki Ueno defeated Gringo Loco (c) with the WR (15:40).
*Gringo Loco fails in V3. Yuki Ueno becomes the 17th DDT Universal Champion!
7. KO-D Openweight Title: Chris Brookes (c) defeated Shuji Ishikawa with the Ground Octopus Stretch (22:21).
*V2 for Chris Brookes.

The second KO-D Openweight Title defence is in the bag for Chris Brookes. He was given a big challenge in the form of Shuji Ishikawa so he took some big risks to try and beat him. He tried attacking him with a stapler but Ishikawa did the same to him. Brookes set up a table at ringside but Ishikawa put him through it with the Fire Thunder and then attacked him with the remains to make the champ bleed. Brookes was able to deal some damage with the Somato and Praying Mantis Bomb but Ishikawa kicked out of them. Ishikawa pulled out another Fire Thunder but Brookes kept on fighting, even kicking out after he was given the Kamigoye and the Splash Mountain. An opening was badly needed to reverse him fortunes and Brookes found one when he avoided the Giant Slam. He jumped onto Ishikawa and clamped him into the Octopus Stretch, pulling him down to the mat and tightening the hold until Ishikawa gave up.

Ishikawa declined to shake Brookes’s hand after the match and left the ring. Brookes was then met with Akito who was serving as the GM in place of Hisaya Imabayashi today. Akito told him the next KO-D Title match will be at DDT’s 28th Anniversary show in Korakuen Hall on 20th March. He asked if Brookes had an opponent in mind? Brookes said there are around 10 people he would like to defend the title against but right now he cannot think straight because of the match he just had. Akito told him he has until the 23rd February Korakuen show to nominate his challenger. Brookes then decided to sing some karaoke in place of Ishikawa, singing “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen. But when he reached the chorus, Ishikawa suddenly returned to the ring to join in! He then shook Brookes’s hand and left again. Backstage he promised the next time he fights Brookes he will be singing The Beatles for karaoke afterwards.

The DDT Universal Title has spent the last two months travelling around North America with Gringo Loco. Today was the first time he was wrestling in Japan since winning the championship at DDT’s Seattle weekend back in November. Yuki Ueno was his opponent of choice and the two provided a match filled with high flying and high impact moves. There were plenty of Frankensteiners, Destroyers and Spanish Flies to be seen. Loco hit the Base Bomb onto the ring apron and also gave Ueno an Avalanche Falcon Arrow. However Ueno hit back with the Dropkick to the Face, a Reverse Hurricanrana and then the WR to win the match and become the new champion! The two shook hands and Ueno told Loco he will see him next time in America.

Ueno called the Universal Title a divine belt that he won again for the first time in years. As much as he would like to spend a month going overseas to defend the belt in countries like America and Mexico, there is another idea he wants to do first. When he thinks about who he could defend the title against, one person immediately came to mind. There is a “Pirate King” he fought last year that he would like to fight again and he finally has the treasure needed to lure him back to DDT. He wants Minoru Suzuki! Akito heard his request and said he will pass it on to Suzuki. A decision over whether or not the title match can happen will depend on Suzuki’s schedule.

With the D GENERATIONS CUP about to start next month, all eight participants were eager to show what they are made of in an 8-Man Tag preview. Well, most of them were. Ilusion spent the last few days complaining about being sick and not wanting to wrestle today so he was nowhere to be seen at the start. His team had to wrestle 4-on-3 until Ilusion finally showed up to attack Takeshi Masada even though they were meant to be partners. They continued to get in each other’s way, allowing Kazuma Sumi & To-y to both get some moves in on them. Keigo Nakamura also got involved trying stop Ilusion from attacking the other team with a chair, distracting him long enough for Masada to Super Kick him. So Ilusion decided to get revenge by attacking Masada with the chair, leaving Nakamura & Yuki Ishida to spend the rest of the match fighting 2 against 4. Ishida in particular used his sumo power to fend off To-y, Yuni & Sumi. That left Nakamura and Yuya Koroku fighting each other by themselves. Koroku blocked Nakamura’s Crucifix Pin and turned it into the Modified Triangle Lancer to get the tap out win for his team.

According to Danshoku Dieno the most important thing in the world is the next second you live so his DDT Extreme Title match against Gorgeous Matsuno only needed a One Count Pinfall to win. The rule meant Matsuno needed to be at his absolute best while his back was against the wall. He constantly kicked out of Dieno’s moves before the pins could be counted but as the match went on, everybody noticed that Dieno was hesitant to use the Lip Lock on his 63 year old opponent. Matsuno saw his chance to win when Dieno missed a Moonsault. He gave Dieno his own Lip Lock, causing Dieno to wretch and collapse to the mat. Matsuno then hit the Gorgeous Superstar Elbow onto Dieno’s back. But when he rolled Dieno over, Dieno caught him with an Inside Cradle to get the one count pin and win.

Matsuno accepted defeat and shook Dieno’s hand before leaving the ring. Akito then told Dieno there is one person he would like Dieno to defend the Extreme Title defence on 20th March. It’s Yuki Iino! Akito explained it is the one match DDT has been avoiding. Their history together as Pheromones continues to cause a lot of trouble because videos of their matches recently demonetized DDT’s Youtube channel. However Akito would like Dieno and Iino to face each other before Pheromones completely disappears from everyone’s memories. Dieno argued against the decision because he wants to decide when he will fight Iino, not DDT. Iino told Dieno it was never the company’s decision to make him quit Pheromones, it was his own. He is also challenging Dieno for the Extreme Title out of his own free will, not because Akito asked him to do it. Akito ensured the two they can do whatever they want in the match as long as it results in the best Extreme Title bout ever. Dieno said he will do it but on one condition. Hisaya Imabayashi must be the referee! Akito agreed to his request and said he will take full responsibility for everything that will happen to Imabayashi.

The next challengers for the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles made themselves known after they beat DAMNATION T.A in a non-title bout. Tomomitsu Matsunaga used KANON’s momentum against him and used an Arm-Trap Cradle to get the three count. Afterward he said he can sense the team of himself, Jun Akiyama & HARASHIMA are good enough to fight Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul again this time with the titles on the line. Akito agreed and booked a title match for 5th February at Shinjuku FACE. Matsunaga promised his team will turn the world upside down when they win the titles from DAMNATION T.A!

When Antonio Honda was winding up his Bionic Elbow in Match #2, MAO quickly removed his own wrestling gear to reveal he was wearing his Antonio Honda XL costume underneath. The two then did mirror spots to Toru Owashi and Masahiro Takanashi before fighting each other in a mirrored setting. MAO ended up becoming the better Honda by reversing the Japanese Leg Roll Clutch for the pinfall. They played Honda’s victory music after the match anyway.

The teenage heavyweight Daichi Sato wanted to fight Yukio Naya directly, leaving Yuki Iino to put away Soma Takao without much danger to worry about.

During the show Kazuasada Higuchi made an appearance to announce his return from injury. He had taken time off from wrestling last June to recover from several injuries including a cervical hernia. Higuchi told the fans he will return on 20th March because the ring means everything to him.

More details were announced for DDT’s collaboration with the anime “Brave Bang Bravern”. There will be merchandise of the characters Isami Ao & Lewis Smith dressed up as Yuki Ueno & MAO under the tag team name Brave Knights. Also on 23rd February DDT will host the pro wrestling debut of the Bravern, the anime’s star mecha! Bravern’s wrestling costume will be designed by the anime’s director Masami Obari.

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