Dramatic DDT

DDT “NEW YEAR☆DRAMATIC PARADE 2025 ~ANSWERS WILL BE REVEALED ONE YEAR LATER~”, 03/01/2025
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
??? Fans

1. To-y, Akito & Soma Takao defeated Toru Owashi, Super Sasadango Machine & Tomomitsu Matsunaga when To-y pinned Matsunaga with the Kojima Impact (6:45).
2. Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul, Demus & Ilusion defeated Yuni, Kazuma Sumi, Daichi Sato & Yuki Ishida when Ilusion pinned Ishida with the Swanton Bomb (9:21).
3. BZW Tag Team Titles: MAO & Yoshihiko (c) defeated Kazuki Hirata & Antonio Honda when Yoshihiko submitted Hirata with the Arc de Triomphe Hold (11:54).
*V1 for MAO & Yoshihiko.
4. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Chris Brookes, Masahiro Takanashi & Hikaru Sato defeated Shinya Aoki, Yuki Ueno & Keigo Nakamura when Brookes submitted Nakamura with the Ground Octopus Stretch (13:39).
5. Special Single Match: Tetsuya Endo defeated Yuya Koroku with an Exploder Suplex (13:50).
6. Special Tag Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA & Jun Akiyama defeated Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya when TAKESHITA pinned Iino with the Raging Fire (18:46).
7. KO-D Openweight Title Next Challenger 4 Way Match: Shuji Ishikawa defeated Danshoku Dieno, HARASHIMA and KANON when Ishikawa pinned KANON with the Splash Mountain (13:20).

A new year brings new challenges. The main event for DDT’s first show of 2025 was a 4 Way Match to determine the No. 1 Contender for the KO-D Openweight Title. The four competitors all have never faced Chris Brookes for the title before so whoever wins would be a brand new challenger for the champion. Danshoku Dieno was extra grabby than usual given the amount of people in the match and Shuji Ishikawa became everyone’s target for being the biggest threat. HARASHIMA almost beat him with the Somato and same went for Dieno using the Gaydo Clutch on him. KANON attacked Dieno in the corner and left him knocked over in the Hell Gate position. That came back to haunt KANON because Ishikawa lifted him up and drove him head first into Dieno’s backside. KANON got revenge by giving Ishikawa the Sleepy Hollow but he only got a two count out of it. Ishikawa returned the attack by giving KANON the Fire Thunder on top of Dieno’s butt. Ishikawa later cut off Dieno with a Knee Lift and pinned KANON with the Splash Mountain to win the match.

Ishikawa told Brookes after the match that he’s wanted a real singles match with him after they wrestled each other in Osaka last May. He knows Brookes is at his strongest whenever he fights for the KO-D Title. So Ishikawa will face him head to head and beat him at his strongest to become the new champion! Brookes told Ishikawa this will be the most interesting title defence. Ishikawa is a little scary but he will be looking forward to fighting him. Ishikawa then promised when he beats Brookes to a pulp on 26th January he will take the belt and sing karaoke in the ring once more to celebrate!

Konosuke Takeshita started a busy weekend by returning to DDT once more with Don Callis joining him. Waiting for him were two heavyweights each hungry to surpass him. Takeshita teamed with Jun Akiyama for the match but it felt more like a 2-Vs-1 Handicap match because Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya were both determined to beat Takeshita directly. They worked together to try and break down Takeshita. Iino hit the Burning Elbow but Takeshita hit him back with the Knee Strike. Naya Choke Slammed Takeshita but Akiyama got in and threw him with the Exploder Suplex. That left Iino to fight Takeshita by himself. He hit two Spears but Takeshita blocked a third one and used the Raging Fire to pin him straight away. Takeshita’s message to his opponents is to never forget how they feel today. The big wrestlers need to train and work 100 times harder than the smaller wrestlers. It’s up to them to make that their weakness or their weapon. Takeshita also gave his support to Tetsuya Endo for his excursion to NOAH. His message to him is putting your life on the line is life changing and he looks forward to seeing him rise up from here. Iino said he is having a great time fighting tough heavyweights like Takeshita and Tomohiro Ishii. Naya promised to avenge this loss to Takeshita when DDT goes back to America in April!

This week is the last we will see Tetsuya Endo in DDT for a while. He made the decision to go wrestle in NOAH for the foreseeable future (he will still be DDT affiliated when he does). His last DDT match will be on 5th January but before that happened he fought Yuya Koroku today. Iino was at ringside for the match so the three final members of BURNING were together. Koroku targeted Endo’s arm and even went high flying with a Moonsault. But Endo had him done for with the Torture Rack Bomb and Burning Star Press. Rather than pin him with that move, Endo got Koroku back up, told him to do his best while he’s gone and then gave him an Exploder Suplex to win the match.

After the match Endo told Koroku he will be find after the breakup of BURNING. He was able to stand with spirit at the end of the match and if he can keep that up he can do it alone from now on. BURNING is gone but Endo will never forget the three years he spent with Iino & Koroku. Endo will now be wrestling in NOAH but that doesn’t mean he is leaving DDT. Once he takes the top spot in NOAH he will come back to take the top sport in DDT! He told Iino and Koroku to get stronger because the next time they fight it will be when the KO-D title on the line!

Match #4 had a pair of unusual appearances in it. First Hikaru Sato came in on short notice to replace Takeshi Masada who was out with a suspected fever. Also Bryce Remsburg from AEW served as the referee for the bout. Sato got involved with CDK’s prank team work while Remsburg was tricked by the other team into taking part in the reversal. Shinya Aoki got to tussle with Sato and also hit a Topé Suicida to everyone outside. Keigo Nakamura missed a Diving Headbutt aimed for Brookes but kicked out of a Piledriver. Brookes then put him in the Octopus Stretch and increased the pressure until Nakamura gave up.

Some French flavour was added to the proceedings with a BZW Tag Team Titles defence. MAO & Yoshihiko came into the match as champions ready to fight the just as wacky pairing of Kazuki Hirata & Antonio Honda. Yoshihiko interrupted Honda’s Gongitsune spot by using AI to come up with its own folk tale to tell everybody. Yoshihiko also grabbed the legs of both opponents and held them in a Double Achilles Tendon Hold called the Arc de Triomphe Hold. The challengers couldn’t withstand the pain and gave up. MAO wants to defend the titles even more and called out teams from any country to come challenge them.

DAMNATION T.A took out a team of youngsters early in the card. Daichi Sato wanted to go toe-to-toe against the similarly sized MJ Paul. The two ended up fighting towards the commentary table where voice actress Hana Hishikawa was sitting as a special guest. She is a notable fan of Paul so he was happy to take a quick time out to go shake her hand before continuing his fight with Sato. Kazuma Sumi and Demus continued their little rivalry with quick exchanges in the ring. Daisuke Sasaki led a train attack on Yuki Ishida and despite a small comeback from Ishida, Ilusion ended up pinning him with the Swanton Bomb.

For the opening match Akito asked Sanshiro Takagi to come down to the ring and come up with a theme for the match. Takagi decided the winner would receive a New Year’s Gift from him taken from his own pocket. The promise of a rich prize was just the encouragement everyone needed to do their best. Toru Owashi and To-y got into a Chop Battle, Super Sasadango Machine and Soma Takao did whatever they could to win and Tomomitsu Matsunaga threw Lariats at whoever was near him friend of foe. In the end To-y pinned Matsunaga with the Kojima Impact and received 10,000 yen from Takagi as his prize. Everyone then tried to attack Takagi for the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title until he ran off.