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

February 15, 2019

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

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

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

———————————————————————–

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

4. Special Single Match: Akito Vs T-Hawk

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

9. Dramatic Dream Match: Naomichi Marufuji Vs Tetsuya Endo

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

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

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

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


DDT “SWEET DREAMS! 2019” Results

January 27, 2019

DDT “SWEET DREAMS! 2019”, 27/01/2019
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,040 Fans – No Vacancy

1. Akito & Space Monkey defeated Antonio Honda & Jason Kincaid when Monkey pinned Honda with the Tail Whip (10:07).
2. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Battle Royal: Asuka defeated Chinsuke Nakamura (c), Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata, Kazusada Higuchi, Keisuke Okuda, Yuki Iino and Kikutaro (9:53).
2a. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Kikutaro eliminated Chinsuke Nakamura (c) after a Big Boot from Toru Owashi (0:04).
*Kikutaro becomes the 1,346th champion.
2b. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Kazuki Hirata eliminated Kikutaro (c) with a School Boy (4:16).
*Kazuki Hirata becomes the 1,347th champion.
2c. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Asuka, Keisuke Okuda & Kazuki Hirata (c) eliminated Toru Owashi, Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Iino by Ring Out (6:32).
*V1 for Kazuki Hirata.
2d. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Asuka & Kazuki Hirata (c) eliminated Keisuke Okuda with a Roll Up (7:40).
*V2 for Kazuki Hirata.
2e. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Asuka eliminated Kazuki Hirata (c) with the Moonsault (9:53).
*Asuka becomes the 1,348th champion.
3. Heisei’s Last Grudge Match Check: Yukio Sakaguchi defeated El Lindaman with the God’s Right Knee (8:42).
4. Soma Takao, Tetsuya Endo, Mad Paulie & Takumi Iroha defeated Sanshiro Takagi, Makoto Oishi, Mizuki Watase & Yuki Ueno when Takao pinned Oishi with the Gin And Tonic (11:22).
5. Special 3 Way Match: Masahiro Takanashi defeated MAO and CIMA when Takanashi pinned MAO with the Laphroaig (10:41).
6. Kota Umeda “Mad Dog” 7 Match Series – Final Match: Shuji Ishikawa defeated Kota Umeda with the Splash Mountain (13:02).
7. Special Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & HARASHIMA defeated Konosuke Takeshita & Shinya Aoki when Sasaki submitted Takeshita with the Crossover Facelock (22:43).

In a preview for next month’s Sumo Hall show, the two big title matches were mashed together for a special wild card tag match. Daisuke Sasaki had to team up with one of his rivals HARASHIMA to take on their competition Konosuke Takeshita & Shinya Aoki. Tensions between the two sides went out of control after a flash Hurricanrana bumped into Yukinori Matsui and knocked him out. Sasaki brought out a chair and chaos happened when a “missed” swing hit his partner with it! Takeshita grabbed the chair but he too missed his target and hit Aoki by accident. Sasaki finally found his mark with a chairshot to Takeshita. However a German Suplex only got him a one count. Victory looked to have slipped away for Sasaki when Takeshita got his hands on him but HARASHIMA suddenly saved the day with the Somato. Sasaki quickly reacted by using La Mistica to put Takeshita in position for the Crossover Facelock. Takeshita was at his limit and had to give up.

HARASHIMA wasted no time after the match asking Aoki what the stipulation will be for their DDT Extreme Title bout. Aoki said their prides will be on the line so it will be a match where both champion and challenger are determined to do their best. They both left the ring so Sasaki and Takeshita could take over. Sasaki doesn’t have pride so the KO-D Openweight Title match won’t be about that. Instead he showed a video of Tetsuya Endo and Mad Paulie having a meal at the restaurant owned by Takeshita’s parents! They left without paying so Konosuke’s mother Keiko Takeshita chased after them yelling into the camera. A slightly embarrassed Takeshita swore revenge on Sasaki for bringing his family into this.

Kota Umeda’s seven match trial series comes to an end with no victories and a defeat to Shuji Ishikawa. Umeda threw many kicks but he was stopped in his tracks with a Running Knee Lift and the Splash Mountain. Ishikawa feels honored to be the final opponent for Umeda’s trial. He thinks Umeda can fill a hole DDT has been missing for a while because there are not many who fight like him. Although Umeda lost every match, he believes he gained something from every one so the trial was worth it. He agrees with Ishikawa that his style is rare in DDT so he wants to continue it.

DDT is a weird place but even with that knowledge CIMA wasn’t prepared for the antics MAO and Masahiro Takanashi had in store. Takanashi stole the win when CIMA went for the Meteora but MAO moved out of the way. MAO hit CIMA with the Screw High Kick but Takanashi then snuck in and pinned MAO with the Laphroaig. He told CIMA that this kind of wrestling is different than what they learned in the Dragon System. They argued about their past until turning their attentions to MAO. CIMA said the 3 Way Match for the KO-D Tag Team Titles will be fought in #STRONGHEARTS favour this time. He also boasted that despite being outsiders, #STRONGHEARTS are popular with the DDT fans. When he left the ring Takanashi told everyone a story about how bad CIMA’s cooking was back when they were in the Toryumon dojo with the Brahman Brothers.

Chigusa Nagayo was in the audience to watch the 8-Person Tag featuring Sanshiro Takagi fighting DAMNATION and Takumi Iroha. When things went wrong for Takagi’s team he yelled out to staff to summon his secret weapon, the Dream Go! Staff went to carry the plastic case mecha only to drop it down the stairs of Korakuen Hall’s lobby. Takagi used the remains as best he could but in the end Soma Takao won the match for DAMNATION.

After the match Takagi asked Takao if he is satisfied being in DAMNATION. What position is he in the group? Number one? Two? Three? Four? When they were part of an anti-establishment unit years ago Takao aimed to reach a much higher level back then than he does now. Takagi doesn’t want to wait until Sumo Hall to fight him. He wants a singles match on 6th February so Takao can finally wake up! Takao said he always hated Takagi. The people he is with in DAMNATION are his friends. He’s going to defeat Takagi on his way to the top. Takao then looked over at Nagayo in the audience and provoked her into standing up. Takagi went over to Nagayo and raised her hands. Takao took back what he said. He’s not going to just beat Takagi to reach the top. He’s going to beat Takagi and Nagayo to reach the top!

El Lindaman made a grave mistake. He spat at Yukio Sakaguchi. You don’t do that without suffering the consequences! Sakaguchi responded with a Rock Punch, a High Kick and the God’s Right Knee to win. Sakaguchi is confident that he and Takanashi can win the KO-D Tag Titles at Sumo Hall. Lindaman said it’s been a long time since he was kicked like this.

Throughout the week Chinsuke Nakamura has been spending his day to day life defending the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title against a bunch of different parody and comedy characters. Being on guard 24/7 must have taken his toll because he was eliminated four seconds into the Battle Royal. Toru Owashi kicked him and everyone piled on top for the pin. Kikutaro was on top of Chinsuke so he was declared the new champion. Kikutaro was chased away from ringside. When everyone returned, Yukinori Matsui was wearing Kikutaro’s mask and holding the title belt. Everyone attacked him until they realised it wasn’t the real deal. Kikutaro used the distraction to attack Keisuke Okuda. He was about to set up the Shining Wizard when Kazuki Hirata gave him a School Boy to win the title. With six wrestlers left they split off into two sides of three. The trio of Hirata, Okuda and Asuka all Dropkicked Owashi, Kazusada Higuchi and Yuki Iino out of the ring to eliminate them. Hirata and Asuka then rolled up Okuda to pin him. With the match down to two, Hirata and Asuka put on Hirata Go! glasses and danced. That ended when Asuka gave Hirata a Choke Bomb and pinned him with the Moonsault to become the new champion! Asuka called it a perfect victory.

The debuting Space Monkey is already getting along with ALL OUT. He was given a banana by Akito before the match started. Jason Kincaid demanded the jokes to stop so they can wrestle. Monkey threw the banana away and gave Kincaid a Monkey Flip. When Antonio Honda got in the ring he slipped on the banana peel and hurt his knee, setting up the latest Gongitsune gag. Honda targeted Monkey’s tail believing it to be his weak point. Monkey toughened up and hit a Lionsault to both members of Gon Gift. He then won the match by hitting Honda across the face with his tail. Akito praised Space Monkey and told him he’s already winning over the DDT fans.

Danshoku Dieno has come up with a final name for his mascot. He finally realised it needed to be family friendly so he is naming his creation Pokotan.

Riki Choshu makes his DDT debut on the 21st March Korakuen show.

Makoto Oishi, Antonio Honda, Colt Cabana, Joey Ryan, Jason Kincaid and Ethan Page are the latest names added to “DDT IS COMING TO AMERICA” in New York on 4th April.

It was already announced that DDT’s next show at Sumo Hall after “JUDGEMENT 2019” will be on 3rd November. The new news today is the show will be called “ULTIMATE PARTY 2019” and will feature big matches from DDT, BASARA, Tokyo Joshi Pro and Ganbare☆Wrestling.

Both Naomi Yoshimura and Shunma Katsumata made appearances at the start of the show to promote their return matches next month.

The Muscle show taking place the day before “JUDGEMENT 2019” in Sumo Hall will feature a retirement match. Pedro Takaishi will have his final match on the show. He is considered one of the four pillars of Muscle. That doesn’t really mean anything but hey, whatever sells tickets. They really need to sell tickets…


Video – DDT Vs STRONG HEARTS!

January 11, 2019

DDT “SHIMO-KITAZAWA FIGHTING THEATER 2019”, 05/01/2019
Kitazawa Town Hall
210 Fans – No Vacancy

HARASHIMA, Yuki Ueno, Kazusada Higuchi & Mizuki Watase Vs CIMA, El Lindaman, Duan Yingnan & Seiki Yoshioka


Video – STRONG HEARTS Vs ALL OUT For 6-Man Tag Titles

January 11, 2019

DDT “DDT LIVE! MAJI MANJI SUPER ~ NEW YEAR BALL SPECIAL! ALL SEATS 2,000 YEN BOX OFFICE!! 2019”, 03/01/2019
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,750 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: CIMA, T-Hawk & Duan Yingnan (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita, Akito & Yuki Iino


DDT “SHIMO-KITAZAWA FIGHTING THEATER 2019” Results

January 5, 2019

DDT “SHIMO-KITAZAWA FIGHTING THEATER 2019”, 05/01/2019
Kitazawa Town Hall
210 Fans – No Vacancy

1. Akito & Kota Umeda defeated Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata when Akito submitted Hirata with the Scorpion Lock (8:44).
2. 3 Way Match: Sammy Guevara defeated Antonio Honda and Gota Ihashi when Guevara pinned Ihashi with the Shooting Star Press (7:42).
3. Yukio Sakaguchi, Masahiro Takanashi & Tomomitsu Matsunaga defeated Tetsuya Endo, Soma Takao & Nobuhiro Shimatani when Sakaguchi pinned Shimatani with the God’s Right Knee (9:33).
4. CIMA, El Lindaman, Duan Yingnan & Seiki Yoshioka defeated HARASHIMA, Yuki Ueno, Kazusada Higuchi & Mizuki Watase when Yoshioka pinned Watase with the SK (15:19).
5. DAMNATION Vs ALL OUT!: Daisuke Sasaki & Mad Paulie defeated Konosuke Takeshita & Yuki Iino when Sasaki submitted Iino with the Cross Facelock (14:48).
6. KO-D Tag Team Titles & STRONGEST-K TAG Titles: Mike Bailey & MAO (K/c) defeated Makoto Oishi & Shiori Asahi (S/c) when MAO pinned Oishi after the Michinoku Tornado Driver (23:41).
*V2 for The Moonlight Express. Makoto Oishi & Shiori Asahi fail in V2. The Moonlight Express becomes the 40th STRONGEST-K TAG Champions!

The Moonlight Express are now double tag team champions! Makoto Oishi & Shiori Asahi set MAO up for the Cactus Flower in the corner but Mike Bailey crushed them from above with the Ultima Weapon. From there Bailey & MAO kept Asahi aside and pinned Oishi with the Michinoku Tornado Driver. MAO said Oishi & Asahi are two wrestlers he admires so he is pleased to have beaten them for the STRONGEST-K TAG Titles.

When the former champions left the ring, Shuten-dōji came out to challenge the Express. Masahiro Takanashi said it is only fair for a team from the same generation as Oishi & Asahi be the one to beat the Express for the belts. Tetsuya Koda decided to book the Express Vs Takanashi & Yukio Sakaguchi for just the KO-D Tag Team Titles at Sumo Hall on 17th February when suddenly #STRONGHEARTS came out! CIMA wants his group to be in the title match to make it more exciting. Hisaya Imabayashi offered to make it a 3 Way Match and CIMA agreed to take part with Seiki Yoshioka on his team. Sakaguchi asked Yoshioka who he is and if he is strong? Sakaguchi will fight him anytime. El Lindaman then stepped in to make fun of Sakaguchi’s blonde hair. The only wrestlers who have proper blonde hair are El Lindaman and Stan Hansen! Sakaguchi attacked Lindaman and the two were pulled apart. Sakaguchi then challenged Lindaman to a match on 27th January.

Daisuke Sasaki is all set on facing Konosuke Takeshita next month. Takeshita is on a roll after winning the D-Ou Grand Prix and pinning CIMA. But Sasaki is always on a roll 24 hours a day, 365 days a year! Sasaki wants to feel excitement for the next month so he wants Takeshita to have some fun with him.

So yeah, #STRONGHEARTS are sticking around in DDT after all. The unit appeared before Match #4 could begin. CIMA explained that they were going to leave DDT but he received a message from the OWE office in Shanghai telling them not to come back until they defeat DDT! So CIMA gathered everyone together to crash this show. #STRONGHEARTS challenged the participants of the match they interrupted to an 8-Man Tag Match. T-Hawk decided to not to take part because he had already wrestled earlier in the day, winning the WRESTLE-1 Championship over at Korakuen Hall. Team DDT accepted but ended up losing the battle.

Daisuke Sasaki & HARASHIMA Vs Konosuke Takeshita & Shinya Aoki was announced for 27th January.


DDT “DDT LIVE! MAJI MANJI SUPER ~ NEW YEAR BALL SPECIAL! ALL SEATS 2,000 YEN BOX OFFICE!! 2019” Results

January 3, 2019

DDT “DDT LIVE! MAJI MANJI SUPER ~ NEW YEAR BALL SPECIAL! ALL SEATS 2,000 YEN BOX OFFICE!! 2019”, 03/01/2019
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,750 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

1. Heisei’s Last Back Comparison: Nobuhiro Shimatani defeated El Lindaman with the Reverse Strike (8:12).
2. Sake & Tears & Men & Women & Foreigners & Former Wrestlers: KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi, Masahiro Takanashi & Saki Akai defeated Mike Bailey, Sammy Guevara, Veda Scott & Hoshitango when Sakaguchi pinned Hoshitango with the God’s Right Knee (7:49).
3. New Year’s Day! Burst Out Laughing! First Laughter Rumble: Gorgeous Matsuno defeated Kuishinbo Kamen with the Gorgeous Superstar Elbow (16:57).
Order Of Elimination: Sanshiro Takagi, Tiger Mask V (Self-Proclaimed), Atsushi Maruyama, Makoto Oishi, Hen China and Kuishinbo Kamen.
4. Kota Umeda “Mad Dog” 7 Match Series – 6th Match: Daichi Hashimoto defeated Kota Umeda with the Shining Wizard (11:50).
5. New Year! 3 Way Tag Ladder Match: MAO & Jun Kasai defeated Super Sasadango Machine & Antonio Honda and Kazusada Higuchi & Mizuki Watase when MAO grabbed the Otoshidama (12:33).
6. DISASTER BOX Vs DAMNATION! ~ Lucha Libre Rules: HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata, Yuki Ueno & Keisuke Ishii defeated Daisuke Sasaki, Soma Takao, Tetsuya Endo, Mad Paulie & Puma King when HARASHIMA pinned King with the Somato (15:13).
7. DDT Extreme Title – Boxing Glove Match: Shinya Aoki (c) defeated Tanomusaku Toba (w/ Hayato Sakurai) by TKO with a Left Hook (R3 1:14).
*V1 for Shinya Aoki.
8. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Konosuke Takeshita, Akito & Yuki Iino defeated CIMA, T-Hawk & Duan Yingnan (c) when Takeshita pinned CIMA with the Fable (19:18).
*#STRONGHEARTS fails in V1. ALL OUT becomes the 37th KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions!

ALL OUT kicks off 2019 by winning the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles from #STRONGHEARTS! The invading force led by CIMA has been a thorn in ALL OUT’s side for over three months. Today ALL OUT got their absolute victory over them. CIMA, T-Hawk & Duan Yingnan were a handful at first and Akito took the brunt of the champion team’s offence. That was until Yuki Iino used his power to clear the ring, leading to CIMA facing off with Konosuke Takeshita once more. CIMA hit the Thrust Kick only for Takeshita to shake it off and Lariat him. Takeshita avoided the Schwein and stuck CIMA with his knee. Then the finish happened. Takeshita used the very move he was inspired to create after losing to CIMA at “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2018”. Takeshita hit the Fable and pinned CIMA to win the titles for ALL OUT!

After the match Takeshita said that after he wins the KO-D Openweight Title he can take the challenge to defend it against CIMA, T-Hawk and Yingnan. CIMA mentioned that he’s been wrestling for the same number of years that Takeshita’s been alive. He accepts defeat for the entire unit today, not just in the main event but also from the opening match. #STRONGHEARTS are going to go have a meeting to figure out where to shake things up next in 2019. CIMA said his goodbyes and it seems that for now #STRONGHEARTS’s time with DDT has come to an end.

The show ended with the confirmed matches for “JUDGEMENT 2019” at Sumo Hall on 17th February. Daisuke Sasaki Vs Konosuke Takeshita for the KO-D Title is the main event. Also Sanshiro Takagi, Chigusa Nagayo & Ryuji Ito will face Soma Takao, Mad Paulie & Takumi Iroha in a Hardcore Match! Sasaki and Takeshita faced off in the ring to close out the show.

A round system was added to the DDT Extreme Title match by Tanomusaku Toba’s request. The match could have lasted for 15 rounds of three minutes each but Shinya Aoki only needed three to knock Toba out. Apparently Hayato “Mach” Sakurai knew all of Aoki’s weak points but Toba was unable to hear his instructions during the match. HARASHIMA approached Aoki after the match to ask for a title rematch. Aoki agreed and it was decided it will take place at “JUDGEMENT 2019”. Aoki said he and HARASHIMA will show a strong side of DDT that only those two can do.

Puma King and Toru Owashi both asked for the 10-Man Tag Match between DAMNATION and DISASTER BOX to be held under Lucha Libre rules. All hell broke loose in the ring until HARASHIMA pinned King with the Somato. Sasaki wore a Shuji Ishikawa shirt for the match and placed it in the middle of the ring when it was over. He invited Ishikawa down to the ring to give everyone the sad news. Since Ishikawa has now signed a contract with All Japan, Sasaki thinks that means he will also be leaving DAMNATION. Tetsuya Endo was asked to give his favourite memories with Ishikawa but he didn’t have any. Ishikawa walked away from the ring so upset that Mad Paulie followed to console him. Sasaki switched the subject to Puma King having his last match in DDT today. It is now time for DAMNATION to rebuild. Suddenly “Matsuken Samba” played and Paulie came out dancing. Ishikawa came back out wearing a DAMNATION shirt singing about how “Shu-chan” won’t quit DAMNATION! Sasaki hit him over the head with a microphone to make him stop. If Ishikawa isn’t quitting then that means “DAMNATION, Forever!”

The new year tradition of otoshidama (an envelope filled with gift money) hung above Korakuen Hall for the 3 Way Tag Ladder match. MAO gave Jun Kasai some bananas to get on his good side but Kasai rejected them because he is tired of eating them. Kasai put Kazusada Higuchi through a table with a Flying Body Press (doesn’t count as the Pearl Harbour Splash because he wasn’t wearing his goggles). MAO used the bananas to lure Super Sasadango Machine & Antonio Honda into a ladder trap at the corner, incapacitating them. Mizuki Watase was knocked off the ladder onto a plastic box that Kasai placed below him. That allowed MAO to grab the otoshidama and win the match. MAO opened it up to see how much was inside and found only a single 500 yen coin. However, Hisaya Imabayashi then told MAO he could also make one wish. MAO asked for a Round One entertainment centre to be built in Aoyama. He was only joking. Instead MAO wishes to create his own kind of hardcore wrestling in DDT. MAO asked Kasai to help him. Kasai will but only on a bigger stage because DDT is too cheap to give them proper prize money. Kasai then kicked MAO and ran off with the 500 yen.

Kota Umeda continues to be winless in his trial series. Match 6 of 7 was against Daichi Hashimoto in a match dominated by kicks. Hashimoto did the deal with a Falcon Arrow for a nearfall. The Shining Wizard afterwards ended the match. Hashimoto said he had a lot of fun doing the the kicking duel with Umeda. With one match left in Umeda’s trial he found out who his opponent will be on 27th January. It’s Shuji Ishikawa! Umeda approached him for a handshake but instead slapped Ishikawa across the face. Ishikawa returned a slap of his own and left the ring.

DDT’s search for the next breakout comedy wrestler took place with Sanshiro Takagi and Makoto Oishi holding a Battle Royal. Hen China was the first entrant but he spent most of his time attaching glow sticks to the ring ropes death match style. Tiger Mask V (Self-Proclaimed) outwrestled Oishi with his dazzlingly flabby Tiger Mask style. Gorgeous Matsuno’s singing entrance was cut off by Kuishinbo Kamen reading his children’s picture book to the audience. The final entrant Atsushi Maruyama was annoyed that DDT booked him in this match instead of something major. Matsuno used Rocket Punches to eliminate the field until it was down to him and Kamen. The rest of the wrestlers stuck around to do comedy spots. They kept encouraging Matsuno to do the Gorgeous Superstar Elbow to Kamen over and over to make it look cool. It made Matsuno so tired that he had to crawl really slowly to cover Kamen. He still got the three count and everyone piled on top of him to celebrate his win.

Shuten-dōji were victorious over their ragtag collection of opponents in the 8-Man Tag Match. Yukio Sakaguchi pinned Hoshitango with the God’s Right Knee.

The other #STRONGHEARTS defeat today came at the hands of Nobuhiro Shimatani of all people! He pinned El Lindaman with the Reverse Strike crucifix slam. Lindaman played a good sport after the match until he gave Shimatani a Low Blow and left the ring. That won’t upset Shimatani though. He’s starting off the year with a win. Everything’s coming up Nobu!

The show began with news that DDT has formed a partnership with the English promotion Fight Club: PRO. FCP co-owner Martin Zaki joined Takagi, MAO and Mike Bailey in the ring for the announcement. Takagi wants DDT to appeal across the world in 2019 so he’s joining in with the Japanese scene’s growing ventures to the UK. Both companies will be sending wrestlers back and forth to each other throughout the year. Zaki says this is a big opportunity to bring talent rich in personality, both male and female, over to the UK. It also gives British wrestlers the opportunity to learn both the spiritual and physical elements of pro wrestling in Japan. Maybe even a new style combining British and Japanese wrestling philosophies can be discovered through this.

Yukio Naya from Real Japan will compete at “JUDGEMENT 2019”. He is the grandson of the legendary sumo wrestler Taiho Koki. Naya has only been wrestling for over a year and says he will be honored to wrestle in Sumo Hall.

Danshoku Dieno’s newest creation OsuMAN Dankon is debuting at “JUDGEMENT 2019”. I don’t know what it is. I don’t think I want to know what it is.

In Tokyo Joshi Pro news Natsumi Maki appeared on this show to confirm her debut with TJPW on tomorrow’s Korakuen show.


Let’s Kick Off 2019!

January 2, 2019

DDT “DDT LIVE! MAJI MANJI SUPER ~ NEW YEAR BALL SPECIAL! ALL SEATS 2,000 YEN BOX OFFICE!! 2019”, 03/01/2019
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Heisei’s Last Back Comparison: El Lindaman Vs Nobuhiro Shimatani
2. Sake & Tears & Men & Women & Foreigners & Former Wrestlers: KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi, Masahiro Takanashi & Saki Akai Vs Mike Bailey, Sammy Guevara, Veda Scott & Hoshitango
3. New Year’s Day! Burst Out Laughing! First Laughter Rumble: Kuishinbo Kamen Vs Atsushi Maruyama Vs Gorgeous Matsuno Vs Tiger Mask V (Self-Proclaimed) Vs Hen China (Jury: Sanshiro Takagi & Makoto Oishi)
4. Kota Umeda “Mad Dog” 7 Match Series – 6th Match: Daichi Hashimoto Vs Kota Umeda
5. New Year! 3 Way Tag Ladder Match: MAO & Jun Kasai Vs Super Sasadango Machine & Antonio Honda Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Mizuki Watase
6. DISASTER BOX Vs DAMNATION!: HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata, Yuki Ueno & Keisuke Ishii Vs Daisuke Sasaki, Soma Takao, Tetsuya Endo, Mad Paulie & Puma King
7. DDT Extreme Title – Boxing Glove Match: Shinya Aoki (c) Vs Tanomusaku Toba (w/ Hayato Sakurai)
8. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: CIMA, T-Hawk & Duan Yingnan (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita, Akito & Yuki Iino

It is now confirmed that the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles match is the main event for DDT’s first show of the year. #STRONGHEARTS defend against ALL OUT and there’s a few small stories to keep track of. CIMA wants Akito to take the fall so #STRONGHEARTS will have swept over the entire ALL OUT unit. CIMA is also encouraging Duan Yingnan to beat Konosuke Takeshita to raise the newcomer’s reputation. Takeshita is riding a wave of momentum by winning the D-Ou Grand Prix as well as the New Year Shuffle Tag Tournament. #STRONGHEART’s only defeat in DDT happened because of Akito and he’s the sole person in the company to claim a win over the invaders. Yuki Iino is eager to show what he learned teaming with Daisuke Sekimoto on the New Year’s Eve show.

The 3 Way Tag is now a Ladder match with an otoshidama gift envelope hanging above the ring for the wrestlers to fight over.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TOKYO JOSHI PRO ’19”, 04/01/2019
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Nodoka Tenma & Yuki Aino Vs Millie McKenzie & X
2. 3 Way Match: Hyper Misao Vs Yuna Manase Vs Veda Scott
3. Marika Kobashi Return Battle: Marika Kobashi, Mina Shirakawa, Haruna Neko & Pom Harajuku Vs Raku, Hikari Noa, Pipipipi Pinano & Miu Watanabe
4. Unagi Himawari Debut Match: Saki Akai & YUMI Vs Yuki Kamifuku & Unagi Himawari
5. Special Single Match: Meiko Satomura Vs Reika Saiki
6. TOKYO Princess Tag Team Titles: Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki (c) Vs Shoko Nakajima & Riho
7. TOKYO Princess Of Princess Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) Vs Maki Itoh

For those attending this show, it will end at around 2:30pm so you’ll have plenty of time to get ready for the Tokyo Dome afterwards.

Will Miyu Yamashita’s curiosity about Maki Itoh’s abilities get in the way of her own performance? Two months ago she intentionally beat Itoh with a Crab Hold in order to see how Itoh would recover her momentum. A month later Itoh was able to pin Yamashita as part of a 2/3 Falls Tag Match so Itoh is capable of beating the champion even if it’s by fluke. Yamashita is certain they will have an interesting match together and wants to find out what version of Itoh shows up for the big main event. Itoh thinks this is the most special TOKYO Princess Title match ever. She knows that the fanbase are expecting her to lose but that only means they won’t see it coming when she wins! Itoh lost a lot and went through many twists and turns to get here. If she becomes champion, fans can look at her and think “Maybe I am a loser like Itoh, but I might be able to win like her too.”

The Magical Sugar Rabbits are determined to hold onto the TOKYO Princess Tag Team Titles because the championship is what makes their team. They will always be on good terms but should they lose the belts to the Twin Cam Monsters then it would greatly diminish their bond. The belts are what brought them together in the first place and they’re having too much fun together to let it fade away like that.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “IT’S A HAPPY STORY IN THE BEGINNING FOR WRESTLING IN THE NEW YEAR!”, 05/01/2019
Kitazawa Town Hall

It’s the Raw After Mani-… The New Year’s D-… The Hangov-no wait they don’t drink… It’s the Tokyo Joshi Pro version of that show that takes place the day after the big event!

DDT “SHIMO-KITAZAWA FIGHTING THEATER 2019”, 05/01/2019
Kitazawa Town Hall

1. Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Akito & Kota Umeda
2. Tetsuya Endo, Soma Takao & Nobuhiro Shimatani Vs Yukio Sakaguchi, Masahiro Takanashi & Tomomitsu Matsunaga
3. Jun Kasai & Antonio Honda Vs Sammy Guevara & Gota Ihashi
4. HARASHIMA & Yuki Ueno Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Mizuki Watase
5. DAMNATION Vs ALL OUT!: Daisuke Sasaki & Mad Paulie Vs Konosuke Takeshita & Yuki Iino
6. KO-D Tag Team Titles & STRONGEST-K TAG Titles: Mike Bailey & MAO (K/c) Vs Makoto Oishi & Shiori Asahi (S/c)

Shuji Ishikawa has signed a contract with All Japan which means he won’t be around for DAMNATION any more. Daisuke Sasaki tweeted that he now has to look for a new pet. Maybe Mad Paulie can cheer him up. Will Sasaki be in the right mindset for Takeshita at Sumo Hall next month? Was he even in the right mindset before?

BASARA “BASARA 85 ~SHUFFLE~”, 06/01/2019
Kitazawa Town Hall

1. Yasu Urano Vs Masato Kamino
2. Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi & SAGAT Vs Takato Nakano & Tatsuhiko Yoshino
3. FUMA & Yusuke Kubo Vs Takumi Tsukamoto & Jun Masaoka
4. Sento Minzoku Vs Best Stretchmen: Ryuichi Sekine, Daiki Shimomura & Minoru Fujita Vs Best Stretchman V3, Best Stretchman Amazon & Stretchman Man
5. Isami Kodaka Returns To War: Isami Kodaka Vs Naoki Tanizaki
6. NWA International Lightweight Tag Team Titles: Fuminori Abe & Ikuto Hidaka (c) Vs Ryota Nakatsu & Akiyori Takizara

On New Year’s Day, Fuminori Abe & Ikuto Hidaka successfully defended the NWA International Lightweight Tag Team Champions over at ZERO1. Since they are already scheduled to take on Ryota Nakatsu & Akiyori Takizara in a tag match, the Sparky members want the belts to be put on the line. The champions accepted the challenge and we now have a main event title match added to BASARA’s first event of 2019!


DDT “D-OU GRAND PRIX 2019 THE FINAL!!” Results

December 30, 2018

DDT “D-OU GRAND PRIX 2019 THE FINAL!!”, 30/12/2018
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
2,018 Fans – Super No Vacancy

0. Under Match: Mizuki Watase Vs Yuki Ueno ended in a Time Limit Draw (10:00).
1. Mike Bailey, MAO, HARASHIMA & Kazusada Higuchi defeated Soma Takao, Tetsuya Endo, Mad Paulie & Nobuhiro Shimatani when MAO pinned Shimatani with the Cannonball 450° (11:40).
2. Muscle Offer Match ~ M-Ou GRAND PRIX 2018 Total Victory Decision Battle Royal: Antonio Honda defeated Choun-Shiryu with a School Boy (7:10).
Order Of Elimination: Yasu Urano and Makoto Oishi, Pedro Takaishi, Super Sasadango Machine, Choun-Shiryu.
3. Yukio Sakaguchi, Masahiro Takanashi & Saki Akai defeated Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata & Meiko Satomura when Sakaguchi pinned Hirata with the PK (9:49).
4. Shinya Aoki & Keisuke Okuda (w/ Hideki Suzuki) Vs Keisuke Ishii & Tanomusaku Toba (w/ Hayato Sakurai) ended in a No Contest (5:08).
5. CIMA, El Lindaman & Seiki Yoshioka defeated Akito, Yuki Iino & Kota Umeda when CIMA pinned Iino with the Meteora (13:06).
6. Daisuke Sasaki & Puma King defeated Naomi Yoshimura & Sammy Guevara by TKO when Sasaki knocked out Yoshimura with the Pedigree (13:02).
7. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – D-Ou Grand Prix 2019 – Final: Konosuke Takeshita (c) defeated Go Shiozaki with the German Suplex (23:07).
*V? for Konosuke Takeshita.

Konosuke Takeshita has booked his ticket for Sumo Hall next February because he is the 2019 D-Ou Grand Prix winner! There was an uncomfortable vibe inside Korakuen Hall before the main event because of what happened to Naomi Yoshimura in the previous match (more on that below). Takeshita encouraged everyone to cheer for Yoshimura while he was on his way to the hospital. When they were done he then told Go Shiozaki not to hesitate fighting him at full force because of what happened earlier. Shiozaki didn’t hold back with his Chops and Lariats, leaving their mark on his opponent. Takeshita kicked out of the Go Flasher and did what he could to combat the Strong Arm Lariat. Takeshita successfully used the Fable then followed with a German Suplex to win the match and the Grand Prix. Since he is also the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion that also means a successful defence but that’s kind of a low priority from the list of accomplishments today. Takeshita now gets a KO-D Openweight Title shot at “JUDGEMENT 2019” on 17th February.

After the match Takeshita said he never imagined he would ever wrestle against Shiozaki. But today near the end of Heisei era, Takeshita got to fight a member of the strongest class of pro wrestlers. He has never felt such pain or suffering before but he wants to go through it again. Takeshita’s pecs will always be ready to take Shiozaki’s Chops. The show ended with the people who made the most impact in DDT this year talking about their summaries of 2018. MAO said he did a lot of weird things this year and wants to do more next year. Meiko Satomura talked about winning the KO-D Title. HARASHIMA said 2018 was a good year because he is still smiling at the end of it. Takeshita gave the last word. He promises to bring fun and exciting pro wrestling with all of DDT in 2019!

The semi-main event was stopped after Naomi Yoshimura spiked his head against the canvas from Daisuke Sasaki’s Pedigree. Yoshimura was knocked out from the move and Yukinori Matsui called off the match so he could get stretchered out. Sasaki got on the microphone, called Yoshimura a waste of scrap that should be sent back home and left the ring. Hisaya Imabayashi later gave everyone the update that Yoshimura could move his legs and was regaining his grip strength. Hours after the show was over it was announced that Yoshimura was diagnosed with a cervical sprain. There is no timetable yet for his return. The KO-D Title match scheduled for 3rd January has been cancelled and will be replaced with a DISASTER BOX Vs DAMNATION 10-Man Tag Match. Sasaki is annoyed because he was thought he now had free time to take a vacation to Hawaii.

#STRONGHEARTS have the upper hand over ALL OUT with today’s win. Yuki Iino was cut off by El Lindaman’s German Suplex. That allowed CIMA to hit the Schwein and the Meteora for the three count. Outside the ring Kota Umeda and Seiki Yoshioka had a face off after the match. CIMA noticed this and said that the difference between Umeda and Yoshioka is the same as the difference between Shunjuku and Ikebukuro. CIMA talked about the upcoming KO-D 6-Man Tag Titles defence on 3rd January. He has now beaten Takeshita and Iino. All that’s left for him to beat is Akito! Although he thinks T-Hawk can do that for him. Or maybe Duan Yingnan can leave his mark in DDT history by beating Takeshita?

When #STRONGHEARTS left the ring one by one, El Lindaman was the last to move until he was suddenly attacked by Nobuhiro Shimatani! They faced off then stood back to back in a height measuring contest. Both men declared themselves the winner.

Shinya Aoki & Keisuke Okuda brought along Hideki Suzuki to be their cornerman to even the odds against Keisuke Ishii & Tanomusaku Toba with Hayato “Mach” Sakurai by their side. This led to chaos when Okuda provoked Sakurai leading to a fight with his own partner Aoki! Okuda, Aoki and Suzuki fought each other among the audience until they found their way back into the ring. Things calmed down and Hisaya Imabayashi asked Aoki to pick the stipulation for his DDT Extreme Title match against Toba on 3rd January. Aoki told Okuda to pick for him and another fight broke out. When that brawl ended Aoki told Toba that they will have a Boxing Gloves Match!

It was an exciting day for Kazuki Hirata because he had a brand new pair of Hirata Go! glasses to show off to everyone. Yukio Sakaguchi didn’t care and tried to break the glasses by placing them on a chair and asking the other wrestlers to sit on it. They survived Saki Akai sitting on them but were crushed underneath Gota Ihashi. Hirata was devastated because if the glasses break then so too does his music. Hirata broke down into tears until Toru Owashi & Meiko Satomura put on their own pairs of glasses and sang “TOKYO GO” to him. Hirata danced along to it until Sakaguchi kicked him to oblivion. Sakaguchi then placed a fresh pair of glasses on Hirata’s body and imitated a line from the Hazuki Glasses commercial.

The D-Ou Grand Prix wasn’t the only big event on the show today. The return of Muscle to promote the sub-brand’s Sumo Hall show on 16th February led to a Battle Royal to determine who gets to be in the main event. The goal of the match is for a wrestler to phone the opponent they wish to face while pinning another wrestler. The winner would get that match as well as up to 1,000,000 yen to book that wrestler and 30% of that to be taken in as a booking fee. Antonio Honda wanted to book his father Tetsu Watanabe, Choun-Shiryu wanted to book Jackie Chan “of the Hong Kong International Police Department”, Pedro Takaishi wanted to book Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Yasu Urano wanted to book the comedian Kuro-chan. We didn’t hear who Makoto Oishi wanted because when he said he was going to book someone from K-DOJO he was cut off by the return of Amon Tsurumi! Tsurumi said he’s been gone for so long because he was busy producing movies. While doing this he discovered that ultra low budget movies can make good profits due to word of mouth. That means you don’t need to blow out your budget getting a big name in order to create a big success. He cancelled the Battle Royal and announced the start of the M-Ou Grand Prix round robin tournament! Urano complained that they don’t have time to do that. Everyone agreed on doing a normal Battle Royal after Tsurumi poked everyone in the eyes. Honda ended up winning the match. His prize was a briefcase representing his right to main event the Muscle show in February. Honda noticed it was heavy so he opened it up. Inside was a pile of unsold tickets for the show! Tsurumi said because Honda is main eventing the show it is now his responsibility to sell the remaining tickets. Only 780 tickets have been sold so far!

The Moonlight Express now have the perfect momentum for their Double Titles match on 5th January. They along with HARASHIMA & Kazusada Higuchi were victorious over DAMNATION in the opener. The Express want to be the best tag team of 2019 so they are already planning appearances inside and outside of DDT. They will be at Fight Club: PRO’s Japan debut on 7th January and also K-DOJO’s next Korakuen show on the 13th no matter the result of the Double Titles match.

Ten minutes wasn’t enough to determine a winner between Yuki Ueno and Mizuki Watase in the pre-show bout.

The big summer show in Ota Ward Gymnasium on 15th July will be called “WRESTLE PETER PAN”. DDT is asking fans to choose the Twitter hashtag for the show. The options are either #PeterPanDDT, #DDTPeterPan, #DDTWPP or #WrestlePeterPan.

Shuten-dōji’s self-produced show that they won from the Dramatic Election will be held in Shinjuku FACE on 17th April. They will bring in a lot of wrestlers associated with the unit and promise to deliver a ridiculous show. KUDO wasn’t there for the announcement so Shota took his place dressed just like Masahiro Takanashi. It was enough to make Sakaguchi laugh.

Shunma Katsumata is planning to return from his orbital injury this February. He had successful eye surgery on 11th December.

Jason “The Gift” Kincaid returns to DDT on 13th January. Space Monkey makes his debut on the 27th.


DDT “D-OU GRAND PRIX 2019 IN SHINJUKU” Results

November 30, 2018

DDT “D-OU GRAND PRIX 2019 IN SHINJUKU”, 30/11/2018
Shinjuku FACE
342 Fans – No Vacancy

0. Scramble Bunkhouse Musical Match: Kota Umeda & Mizuki Watase defeated Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata when Umeda pinned Hirata with a PK (8:25).
1. Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie defeated Yukio Sakaguchi & Yuki Ueno when Endo pinned Ueno with the Swivel Torture Rack Bomb (6:38).
2. D-Ou Grand Prix 2019 – B Block: Masahiro Takanashi (2) defeated Soma Takao (0) with an Official Endless Waltz Cutoff (8:33).
3. D-Ou Grand Prix 2019 – A Block: Puma King (2) defeated Daisuke Sasaki (0) with the Puma Kingdom (13:34).
4. D-Ou Grand Prix 2019 – B Block: Shinya Aoki (2) defeated Sammy Guevara (0) with a Reverse Cross Armbreaker (3:52).
5. Akito, Yuki Iino, Makoto Oishi, Antonio Honda & Gorgeous Matsuno defeated CIMA, El Lindaman, Dezmond Xavier, Zachary Wentz & Trey Miguel when Akito submitted Lindaman with the Perfect Figure 4 Leg Lock (13:00).
6. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – D-Ou Grand Prix 2019 – B Block: Mike Bailey (2) defeated Konosuke Takeshita (c) (0) with the Flamingo Driver (16:56)
*Mike Bailey becomes the 1,338th champion.
7. D-Ou Grand Prix 2019 – A Block: Go Shiozaki (2) defeated Kazusada Higuchi (0) with the Strong Arm Lariat (16:05).
8. D-Ou Grand Prix 2019 – A Block: MAO (2) defeated HARASHIMA (0) with a Jackknife Pin (16:20).

A Block

1. MAO (2)
-. Go Shiozaki (2)
-. Puma King (2)
4. Akito (0)
-. HARASHIMA (0)
-. Kazusada Higuchi (0)
-. Daisuke Sasaki (0)

B Block

1. Mike Bailey (2)
-. Shinya Aoki (2)
-. Masahiro Takanashi (2)
4. Tetsuya Endo (0)
-. Konosuke Takeshita (0)
-. Sammy Guevara (0)
-. Soma Takao (0)

The second D-Ou Grand Prix kicked off with a packed show where the Moonlight Express both earned significant victories over DDT’s most accomplished wrestlers. MAO swept away from HARASHIMA’s Somato, allowing MAO to hit HARASHIMA with a Screw High Kick and then roll him up in a Jackknife to get the surprise three count. HARASHIMA lowered his head to MAO after the match to accept the result. MAO said that his momentum and hot passion will not be stopped. He will win the A Block, Mike Bailey will win the B Block and together these two idiots will put on a foolish final!

Go Shiozaki immediately made his mark in the tournament by turning Kazusada Higuchi’s chest raw with Chops. This was a rematch from their NOAH Global League match from earlier this month and the result was the same. Shiozaki knows just how powerful Higuchi is and he is relieved to get this match over with first in the Grand Prix. Higuchi is disappointed that he wasn’t able to use the lessons learned from their first match to get a different result today. The match was closer this time but he still suffered a complete defeat to Shiozaki twice now.

Speedball joined MAO in the victory circle by beating his former teammate Konosuke Takeshita, winning the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title in the process. Bailey figured he had to do something new to beat Takeshita and boy did he find it. After a Tornado Whirlwind Kick in the corner, Bailey lifted Takeshita onto the turnbuckle and placed him knees first onto his shoulder. Bailey then walked into the centre of the ring and flipped Takeshita down into a driver to get the three count. The move is called the Flamingo Driver and Bailey knew he could win with the move because of how much damage it inflicts on the opponent. Backstage Bailey said the result wasn’t luck. He is a man with brains, skills and worldwide experience. Now he’s a double champion too.

Who would have guessed that STRONG HEARTS would meet their match in the form of Gorgeous Matsuno? Sure, sure, Akito was the one to make El Lindaman submit while Yuki Iino cleaned house, giving ALL OUT some momentum against the outsiders. But CIMA just couldn’t figure Matsuno out even with Matsuno wrestling with a back injury. Antonio Honda threw everyone off even more by telling his Gongitsune joke in English. Iino Speared CIMA while Akito trapped Lindaman in the Perfect Figure 4 Leg Lock to win the match. CIMA made the excuse that he didn’t take the match seriously then brought up how nobody in DDT challenged STRONG HEARTS at the last Korakuen Hall show to a KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles match. Afterwards he was told by Lindaman to look up Akito on the internet. There he found out that Akito is owed a title match by DDT for finishing second in this year’s Dramatic General Election. CIMA wants Akito to use that shot against STRONG HEARTS and to also include Konosuke Takeshita on the team. Akito accepted but added that Yuki Iino will also be on the team because Shunma Katsumata is injured. CIMA doesn’t care about Katsumata. Takeshita is who he wants to fight again. Tetsuya Koda confirmed the match will take place on 30th December. Hisaya Imabayashi cut in and told Koda that Takeshita and Akito can’t be booked for that date yet because one or both of them might be in the Grand Prix final that day. Imabayashi asked CIMA when T-Hawk & Duan Yingnan can next be available for DDT. CIMA said 3rd January. That’s the date of the match then. With that over with, CIMA moved the spotlight over to The Rascalz because the 30th December will be their last match in DDT for this tour. The crowd responded favourably when CIMA asked if they would like to see The Rascalz come back next year.

Back to the Grand Prix and the most unusual pairing in the tournament provided the most unusual match. Sammy Guevara constantly taunted Shinya Aoki by kicking him off the apron and insulting him over the microphone. When he gave Aoki the middle finger, Aoki grabbed his arm and made him tap to the Cross Armbreaker. Aoki didn’t care if he didn’t mesh with Guevara. This is a long tournament for him so starting off with a quick win is a good thing. Guevara couldn’t process what happened, it went by so fast. From his point of view he offered a handshake to Aoki and everything went into a blur from there.

Puma King’s first appearance in DDT could not have gone any better. A clean win over the KO-D Openweight Champion should catch the attention of any DDT fan. Daisuke Sasaki tried to stop King by pulling at his mask but the luchador couldn’t be held down in the Cross Facelock. Sasaki went to the top rope for an Avalanche Pedigree but Puma countered it with a Super Power Bomb for the upset victory. Puma King says DDT has plenty of talented wrestlers and by coming here he can become a world star. Puma King wants to be known all around the world. He was happy to wrestle with Sasaki because they are friends who learned from the same mentor. Sasaki however did not give any interview after the match.

Masahiro Takanashi wanted to put his focus only on Soma Takao but Nobuhiro Shimatani annoyed him from ringside. Takanashi reached his breaking point and attacked Shimatani outside the ring. He then took his DAMNATION sign and attacked Takao with it! When the match went back to normal both wrestlers tried to do the Takatonic to each other. Takao turned the tussle into the Official Endless Waltz but Takanashi stopped it long enough to pin Takao. Afterwards Takao complained about Takanashi not being disqualified for attacking him with the sign.

A strong demand from Kazuki Hirata created a new match for DDT, the Scramble Bunkhouse Musical Match. A pair of Hirata GO! glasses was hung lowly over the ring with the idea that both teams will fight each other for it. Instead Hirata was the only person who ran down to it while everyone else fought with each other around ringside. Hirata later put the glasses on but instead of dancing, he was kicked to oblivion by Kota Umeda & Mizuki Watase in time to his music.

With Danshoku Dieno absent and becoming less reliable, DDT is now on the lookout to recruit new comedy wrestlers. They will hold an audition called the New Year’s Day Burst Out Laughing Rumble to find the next Dieno. Sanshiro Takagi & Makoto Oishi will be the judges.

Meiko Satomura, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata will team together on 30th December.

Match #6 for Kota Umeda’s Mad Dog Trial will be Daichi Hashimoto on 3rd January.


DDT “SOUKEN HOLDINGS PRESENTS DDT SPECIAL 2018” Results

November 25, 2018

DDT “SOUKEN HOLDINGS PRESENTS DDT SPECIAL 2018”, 25/11/2018
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,312 Fans – Super No Vacancy
DDT Dramatic General Election Ranking In Parentheses

0. Under Match: Gota Ihashi (#22) & Makoto Oishi (#23) defeated Mizuki Watase (#21) & Yuki Ueno (#24) when Oishi pinned Watase with a Back Drop Switchover (6:26).
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Konosuke Takeshita defeated Tetsuya Koda (c) with a Low Blow (11:26 am).
*Konosuke Takeshita becomes the 1,337th champion.
1. 3 Way Match: Toru Owashi (#19) defeated Antonio Honda (#12) and Saki Akai (#14) when Owashi pinned Honda with La Magistral Cradle (5:29).
2. Tetsuya Endo (#6) & Soma Takao (#8) defeated Keisuke Ishii (#10) & Yumehito Imanari (#11) when Takao pinned Imanari with a Perfect Driver (7:58).
3. Dezmond Xavier, Zachary Wentz & Trey Miguel defeated KUDO (#15), Shunma Katsumata (#16) & Kazusada Higuchi (#17) when Wentz pinned Katsumata with the Hot Fire Flame (7:00).
4. DDT Special Four Great Singles Match – Hardcore Rules: Jun Kasai (#20) defeated MAO (#9) with the Vertical Drop Reverse Tiger Driver (12:30).
5. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – DDT Special Four Great Singles Match: Konosuke Takeshita (#13) (c) defeated Maki Itoh (#3) by Knockout with a Zahi (11:53).
*V1 Konosuke Takeshita.
6. DDT Special Four Great Singles Match: Akito (#2) Vs Danshoku Dieno (#7) ended in a No Contest (12:04).
7. DISASTER BOX Vs #STRONGHEARTS: CIMA & El Lindaman defeated HARASHIMA (#4) & Kazuki Hirata (#18) when CIMA pinned Hirata with an Egoist Driver (14:17).
8. KO-D Openweight Title & 1,000,000 Yen Prize Money ~ DDT Special Four Great Singles Match: Daisuke Sasaki (#5) (c) defeated Masahiro Takanashi (#1) with the Sasaki Hurricanrana (21:56).
*V1 for Daisuke Sasaki.

Guess who is a million yen richer? Daisuke Sasaki, that’s who! His win over Masahiro Takanashi not only marks his first successful defence of the KO-D Openweight Title but he also wins the cash prize Takanashi originally earned from the Dramatic General Election. Sasaki used the Flash Hurricanrana early for a nearfall but his second attempt twenty minutes later sealed the deal. Inbetween that time, Takanashi used everything from the Takatonic to the Laphroaig to even KUDO’s Diving Double Knee Drop to win. Although Sasaki was the one who had his hand raised, he showed a rare moment of compassion for his opponent by calling him back to the ring. Sasaki asked if the scene around him was what he wanted to see, a packed Korakuen Hall cheering for him. Sasaki said today was an important story and together he and Takanashi can bring in a new era for DDT. He offered out his hand but Takanashi turned around and left the ring.

With that out of the way, Sasaki turned to his future plans. His next scheduled title defence is at Sumo Hall on 17th February against the winner of the D-Ou Grand Prix but he thinks that is a bit too far to wait. He’d rather have a title defence sooner and he also wants nominate his own challenger. The DDT GMs Tetsuya Koda and Hisaya Imabayashi consulted with each other and decided a title match can happen on 3rd January for the first episode of “DDT LIVE! MAJI MANJI SUPER”. Sasaki said he will pay attention to the entire Grand Prix and choose his opponent from his research. Suddenly Tetsuya Endo pushed Sasaki and told him he’s going to win the Grand Prix. Well, either him or Soma Takao. Takao told Endo to calm down and then asked Sasaki if he can have the prize money because Sasaki used the Gin And Tonic in the main event without his permission. Think of it as a rights fee. Sasaki said no. It was his birthday this week so he’s off to spend the money at a bar to celebrate.

El Lindaman was worried that Kazuki Hirata’s entrance would bring back some horrible memories for CIMA so he made CIMA wear an eye mask and headphones until Hirata finished his dance. Hirata instead Dropkicked CIMA while his guard was down. He would then taunt CIMA by giving Lindaman a Gyrating Frankensteiner. To everyone’s surprise, CIMA did his own Gyrating Frankensteiner to Hirata in response. Lindaman dove out of the ring onto HARASHIMA while CIMA tried to take care of Hirata. There was a moment where Hirata caught CIMA in the Miracle One Shot Cradle but CIMA kicked out of it. CIMA got the win when he pinned Hirata with the Egoist Driver. Turns out CIMA has gotten over that piece of his past. After the match CIMA talked about STRONG HEARTS recently getting a new member from WRESTLE-1. Maybe they should get a member from DDT and it should be Hirata! CIMA offered Hirata a handshake but Hirata turned him down. Hirata looked a bit hesitant over his decision as he walked back to the locker room.

Nobody wanted Danshoku Dieno to get his memory back more than Akito. Today was meant to be a dream match for the lad but Dieno just wasn’t himself. Instead of kissing fans in the audience, he just shook their hands. Every time Akito blatantly put himself in position for one of Dieno’s trademark moves Dieno would do something else instead. Makoto Oishi & Super Sasadango Machine got involved desperately trying to cure their friend’s amnesia. Nothing worked and it drove Oishi mad to the point that he grabbed a chair. Oishi swung the chair at Dieno but he ducked and Akito got hit instead. Dieno grabbed the chair and swung at Oishi but missed. The chair bounced off the ropes and smashed back into Dieno’s face! Suddenly Dieno began to stir and the lights went off. When they came back on Dieno was naked with his lose tights covering his junk! He gave Akito the Lip Lock and a naked Danshoku Driver while everyone else at ringside tried to block it from the audience’s view. The match ended in a no contest while Dieno rampaged through the crowd to the back.

The match between Konosuke Takeshita and Maki Itoh became more interesting when Takeshita won the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title at the beginning of the show. So now Itoh had a chance to win back the title. Itoh gave Takeshita the middle finger but struggled to do much against her opponent. However that only charged Itoh up. Takeshita begun to get worried when Itoh started banging her head off the turnbuckles so he removed one of them. That backfired when Itoh was able to throw Takeshita head first into the exposed turnbuckle. Takeshita grabbed the title belt from ringside to use it as a weapon but Itoh stopped him with a DDT. Itoh was later pushed into the steel but she landed onto Takeshita’s crotch for an unintentional low blow. Itoh tried to give Takeshita another middle finger but he grabbed her hand and smashed her in the face with an elbow strike. Takeshita stomped on Itoh’s hands and then hit the Zahi Knee Strike. Yukinori Matsui started counting Itoh out but she slowly started to get up. At nine she gave Takeshita one last middle finger and collapsed, losing the match by knockout.

As Ito was being helped to the back, Takeshita scolded her for giving him the middle finger so many times. He thought they could be rivals but unfortunately admits it is too much of a mismatch. However he wants Ito to continue on the path she has chosen. That is the pro wrestling way. You can go as far as you like when you do things your way as long as you try your hardest. Ito gave him the middle finger and walked off. Michiaki Nakano from Souken Holdings entered the ring and handed the Iron Man Title to Takeshita. Nobuhiro Shimatani and Gota Ihashi both tried to ambush Takeshita with School Boys but Takeshita kicked out of both of them. Nakano then tried to do one but couldn’t even get Takeshita off his feet. Takeshita, Shimatani and Ihashi all stomped on Nakano until he was pulled out of the ring.

MAO has had a crazy 2018 and considered today’s match with Jun Kasai as his final boss battle. He wasn’t able to win but he thinks having a Hardcore Match with Kasai will open new doors for him. They slammed each other through plastic boxes and skewered each other’s heads with bamboo skewers. MAO kicked out of the Pearl Harbor Splash but was put away with the Vertical Drop Reverse Tiger Driver.

STRONG HEARTS were also victorious earlier in the show when Dezmond Xavier, Zachary Wentz & Trey Miguel beat the mixed DDT team of KUDO, Shunma Katsumata & Kazusada Higuchi. The home side were unprepared for the fast paced moves presented by The Rascalz which included a triple dive to the outside. When Higuchi tagged into the match his team were able to take control but eventually Katsumata was singled out. Wentz got the pin with the Hot Fire Flame, a move where he does Standing Moonsault next to his opponent and Xavier pushes him over to the target in mid-air!

The DAMNATION duo of Endo & Takao were able to beat Ganbare☆Wrestling’s pair of Keisuke Ishii & Yumehito Imanari without much trouble. Endo gave Imanari the Swivel Torture Rack and Takao got the three count with the Perfect Driver. Was that done intentionally because CIMA was on the show?

When Toru Owashi put Saki Akai in a Mexican Stretch it had the unintended effect of making Antonio Honda too hyper actively aroused to wrestle. This happened again when Honda was ready to do a Shining Wizard to Akai only to stall when Akai moved herself into a seductive pose. Owashi used the distraction to pin Honda with La Magistral Cradle.

In the pre-show match Makoto Oishi was able to counter Mizuki Watase’s Back Drop into a Cradle to nab the three count.

Takeshita was able to win the Iron Man Title from Tetsuya Koda at the beginning of the show when the two were in the ring for the opening announcements. Takeshita was there to promote the New Year’s Eve wrestling show. He said that he’s been in the final of the annual tournament for the last three years so he has to make it four in a row. When it was Koda’s turn to talk, Takeshita gave him a Low Blow and pinned him to win the title. After he left the ring, Michiaki Nakano climbed in and jumped on top of Koda. Hisaya Imabayashi had to tell him Koda was no longer the champion so nobody was going to count his pin

Chigusa Nagayo’s match at the 17th Febuary Sumo Hall show will be a 6-Person Tag Match. She will be teaming up with Sanshiro Takagi & Ryuji Ito against a trio to be announced later. Nagayo, Takagi & Ito have teamed together once before way back in March 2005 as part of an event produced by Nagayo in Differ Ariake.