DramaticDDT’s Predictions For 2024

December 24, 2023

Merry Christmas! I’m giving this another go despite how bad my predictions for 2023 went. What do I think is in store for DDT, Tokyo Joshi Pro, Ganbare☆Pro, BASARA and maybe even CyberFight as a whole? It’s a tricky challenge this time because whenever I try guessing how 2024 will turn out, all I see is murkiness. There’s a weird contradiction in my thoughts about where wrestling is right now. On the one hand there is a status quo where all the companies around the world are positioned that I do not see changing anytime soon. But then there are changes within the companies themselves, some that are so unexpected that I have no idea what the entire scene will look like this time next year. Like of course WWE will be the top company on the planet but what does it turn into next as it finally moves away from Vince McMahon’s ideas and has the most fan goodwill it has probably ever had? AEW badly fell apart this year but the Continental Classic tournament is providing a nice set of building blocks to rebuild the company with. The problem is will Tony Khan want to use those blocks? It doesn’t help that the loudest podcasters in the room are constantly telling everyone that AEW should be more like WWE in the storyline department. That is my biggest pet peeve with wrestling at the moment, by the way. Whenever I hear people say every wrestling show should be a three ringed circus with something for everybody they’re really just saying “go be like WWE”. It’s the same voices that reject other companies for doing things differently.

And then there is Japan’s wrestling scene still trying to re-establish themselves post-pandemic. It’s mostly alright with some brief moments of greatness but there’s not a lot that has really caught my imagination this year compared to the 2010s. Show attendances week to week isn’t inspiring much hope in me either. It seems like homecoming shows and retirement matches can bring in crowds but outside of that a lot of companies are getting dwindling crowd numbers which has me worried. New Japan and Stardom will be fine as long as they can manage themselves properly. 2023 definitely gave Stardom a lot of lessons about show scheduling and injuries but they seem to be learning from it. All Japan discovering success again should also be a sign that there is still an audience out there in Japan that pro wrestling can appeal to. Now let’s see if this United Japan Pro Wrestling alliance is actually going to mean anything substantial.

Before I give you my predictions for 2024, here is how my 2023’s predictions went. Not very good it turns out.

DDT

✓. Mike Bailey wrestles a match in DDT again.
X. KANON outperforms Daisuke Sasaki.
X. Yuya Koroku becomes the next wrestler from DDT’s new generation (debuted 2020 onwards) to win a championship.
✓. Tetsuya Endo struggles to reclaim the top position in DDT.
X. Dramatic Dream Gate is revived.

The first one was by far the easiest prediction to make. It is basically the free spot on a bingo card. DDT going to America guaranteed that Mike Bailey would be on one of their shows. Although I do think the New Japan appearances he also made this year means he’s fully done with DDT in Japan. KANON is slowly getting pushed but I wouldn’t put his work above Daisuke Sasaki’s in 2023. Hideki Okatani was the breakout in the new generation, not Yuya Koroku like I expected. Tetsuya Endo is definitely struggling and I’ll get back to that point later. No Dramatic Dream Gate revival because DDT worked with All Japan instead of Dragongate.

Tokyo Joshi Pro

X. At least 3 women who originally came from Actwres girl’Z will appear in TJPW and at least 1 of them becomes a regular roster member.
X. An outsider wins the Princess Of Princess Title.
X. Maki Itoh gets to No. 1 on a iTunes or Spotify chart somewhere in the world.
X. A woman from Sakisama’s past comes back to haunt her.
X. Sasha Banks appears at Grand Princess ’23.

Oh so now Actwres girl’Z gets their act together and stops leaking talent left, right and centre! TJPW’s roster growth all came from training their own rookies and bringing in foreign wrestlers. An outsider did become champion but it was Max The Impaler winning the International Princess Title, not the Princess Of Princess Title. No idea how to look up music chart data but if Maki Itoh got No. 1 somewhere we would have heard about it. My Sakisama fantasy booking was inspired by the rumour of CyberFight wanting to sign Maya Yukihi. If Mercedes Moné does end up going back to WWE then the hype surrounding her for an entire year was an absolute waste of time for everyone else involved.

Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling

✓. Some of the wrestlers Shota worked with in America get booked for Ganpro.
X. Keisuke Ishii wins the Spirit Of Ganbare Title.
1/2✓. Ganpro creates a tag team championship and builds it around mixed tag wrestling.
X. Ganbare☆Joshi runs their own show in Korakuen Hall.
X. Kota Ibushi wrestles a match in Ganpro.

Shota’s American excursion got the likes of Dan The Dad and Kody Lane booked in Japan. Keisuke Ishii did get a Spirit Of Ganbare Title but lost that match to Mizuki Watase in one of Ganpro’s best matches of the year. We did get the Spirit Of Ganbare World Tag Team Titles created and it does allow intergender teams. However it has not been the focal point of the title’s existence yet so I only got it half right. No standalone Ganbare☆Joshi show in Korakuen Hall yet but I think it is only a matter of time before it happens. Who on earth would have guessed Kota Ibushi’s first match back would be in GCW?

Miscellaneous

X. Gake no Fuchi Joshi crosses over with Baka Gaijin + Friends.
X. AEW will host another event in Japan with DDT & TJPW involvement.
X. CyberFight adds another promotion to their portfolio.
X. A brand new puroresu console game gets announced.
✓. BASARA does something new and different.

I’m kind of surprised Miyako Matsumoto hasn’t shown up in Baka Gaijin + Friends yet. It seems like her kind of wrestling but I can’t tell what goes through her mind on most days. AEW seems to have developed less interest in the Japanese scene while they go through something of an identity crisis heading into the fifth year of their existence. No new wrestling brand for CyberFight but there is the United Japan Pro Wrestling brand attaching the big wrestling companies together. No new puroresu game which makes me sad. AEW: Fight Forever is fine and I bet has a good base to create a better sequel. Will that happen though? The last prediction is also the best one for me. BASARA made Banana Senga their champion! That was definitely something new and different.

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So yeah, let’s ignore all that and get on to next year’s predictions. I came up with 20 predictions for 2024 spread across four categories. Five for DDT, five for Tokyo Joshi Pro, five for Ganbare☆Pro and five guesses that apply to anything attached to BASARA and the CyberFight promotions. I’m also listing them in order from easy to hard, likely to unlikely, mild to spicy, etc. I came up with these predictions using booking patterns, reading tea leaves and coming up with ideas that are just as creative as they are plausible.

DDT

Prediction: Naomi Yoshimura returns from injury and gets a singles push.

It’s been over a year since Naomi Yoshimura last wrestled a match. What’s promising though is his regular appearances seconding the other wrestlers in Harimao. There’s also glimpses on his social media of him training in the DDT dojo again. It at least suggests he will be back in the ring sooner or later. When Yoshimura took time off to recover from a herniated disc he said he wanted to reclaim the KO-D Tag Team Titles for Harimao when he returns. I think too much time has past for that to be his only goal. He should instead focus on catching up with Yuki Ueno. My fingers are crossed he is able to come back, stay healthy and win some accomplishments by himself.

Prediction: Kento Miyahara will be at “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2024”.

At no point this year did I expect DDT and All Japan to be doing inter-promotional matches with each other. What a great thing that turned out to be though. Adding a few DDT Vs AJPW matches on shows here and there spiced up the midcard for both companies. It had history to play off of because of Jun Akiyama’s involvement. It is helping Yukio Naya develop into the heavyweight DDT wants him to be thanks to the feud with The Saito Brothers that will likely continue in AJPW. Eruption got to start their new chapter without Saki Akai by winning the All Asia Tag Team Titles and giving Yukio Sakaguchi an achievement he can now share with his father. Eruption also entered the Real World Tag League which gave Hideki Okatani some valuable experience. I want this working relationship to continue in 2024 and I know the best place where it can reach its climax. DDT will likely have a big guest for their Sumo Hall show in July. Bring on over AJPW’s biggest star Kento Miyahara to liven up the place! He would be a great singles match opponent for somebody like Yuki Ueno or Kazusada Higuchi. He’s definitely someone who Ueno should learn from about how to be a showman in the ring.

Prediction: Sanshiro Takagi fights Hiroshi Tanahashi in a battle of the presidents!

This week New Japan announced Hiroshi Tanahashi has become the new president of the company. Now he has a lot more in common with Sanshiro Takagi. Now Tanahashi has an awkward history with DDT but that was years ago and I’m sure it’s all water under the bridge. But just in case there’s still some bad blood there is always the wrestling ring right there for them to settle their differences. Two presidents of different wrestling companies having a match against each other is the kind of idea Takagi would jump on and I think Tanahashi would be game for it. United Japan Pro Wrestling is going to need something a little bit novel to put on their Budokan Hall card in the summer. Why not this in the midcard?

Prediction: Somebody (or something) from WWE wins the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title.

WWE looking to carve out their place in Japan is a topic that gets brought up a lot online. This year finally saw the company make their move when they signed a broadcasting deal with ABEMA and also got increased presence in Shukan Puroresu magazine. There were also points throughout the year when Shinsuke Nakamura would pop up. He headlined a big show for NOAH as the final opponent for The Great Muta. He also filmed a special message for Saki Akai that was shown to her during her retirement ceremony. If that’s not enough, on the day I am writing this paragraph All Japan are teasing that the mystery challenger for a Triple Crown title match on 3rd January could be coming from NXT. So if WWE in Japan really is happening, we might as well have some fun with it before everything gets ruined again. DDT will be in Philadelphia during Wrestlemania week and that usually means the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title will be going along for the ride. It’s only a matter of time before somebody in the WWE gets to win the championship for even the briefest of moments. Now I’m not expecting Cody Rhodes to win it in front of 50,000 people to finish the story. But somebody involved with the company hanging out at WrestleCon and taking their chance to win a 24/7 title just to amuse themselves? That sounds more likely. This prediction also applies to any item, prop or official piece of merchandise tied to WWE. If a Jey Uso “Yeet” shirt becomes champion then it counts!

Prediction: Tetsuya Endo should go on an overseas excursion.

This is not so much of a prediction but more a piece of advice. After thinking of ways for Tetsuya Endo to get out of the current position he is in, the best idea I can come up with is for him to go wrestle overseas for a while. Whether that is a several month stay in America or going on weekend trips to Europe every couple of months, he badly needs a change of pace in a new surrounding. Get him in there with Gringo Loco in GCW, have Shigehiro Irie show him the (lack of) sights in Oberhausen during a wXw tournament weekend, book him on ROH so he can travel around with the AEW crew, seat him in the front row behind the commentary table at an NXT taping. He should go broaden his horizons because the direction DDT put him in as Kenta Kobashi’s protégé is not working.

Tokyo Joshi Pro

Prediction: Somebody from the 2023 Class scores a pinfall on a TJPW veteran.

We got six rookies in 2023 and they have all been fun to watch as they learn on the job and figure out who they want to be. Wakana Uehara winning the New Generation Tournament shows that TJPW have faith in her becoming an important part of the roster if she sticks with them. HIMAWARI had her character down flat from day one and her match against Uehara in the final is a great example of how to create a dramatic match with limited movesets. Toga is capturing everyone’s hearts one big Elbow Smash at a time (although really you should thank Hikari Noa for selling that move like a champ), Shino Suzuki has the bonus advantage of being in The Up Up Girls and we might end up with a future generational rivalry between Haru Kazashiro & Runa Okubo as they learn different wrestling styles separate from each other. Talent development for TJPW needs to be coming quick and fast if there is a need to replace the likes of Yuka Sakazaki. Young blood needs to be beating veterans eventually and it is more likely to happen than you think. Remember, TJPW holds a couple of one day tournaments throughout the year with matches that end in 2 Count pinfalls. That’s where you can see Uehara suddenly beat Mahiro Kiryu or Toga only needing to roll up Kaya Toribami for two seconds to get her hand raised. I don’t expect it to be on the level of Arisu Endo pinning Shoko Nakajima out of nowhere but somebody from the 2023 class is going to get a moment in the spotlight her senpai’s expense in 2024.

Prediction: Mizuki Vs Rika Tatsumi finally happens… in the Tokyo Princess Cup.

When Mizuki’s reign as the Princess Champion ended there was one thing that left me completely baffled. Why was there never a title defence against Rika Tatsumi? One of the longest running pieces of character lore in TJPW is Tatsumi’s crush on Mizuki going all the way back to 2018 when Tatsumi wanted to banish the Forbidden Three rules the in-house roster had to follow because nobody was sure if “No Boyfriends” also meant “No Girlfriends”. Fast forward to 2023 and we got a very good 2-Vs-1 Handicap Match between Daydream and Mizuki where Tatsumi battled those feelings in order to beat her crush. Nothing ever came out of it and to be fair it never intended to be more than an emergency replacement match due to Sakazaki getting injured. TJPW also has an odd thing where some of their big singles matches only ever happen in the Tokyo Princess Cup, either as a 1st Round match to eliminate a top contender early or as a random drawing in the final stages of the tournament. So I think if we ever do get Mizuki Vs Tatsumi, it will be at the Princess Cup instead of a big singles title bout.

Prediction: Maki Itoh wins the GCW World Heavyweight Championship.

I think odds are really good for Maki Itoh to win one of GCW’s championships next year given she is one of the bigger attractions for the group nowadays. Her winning the tag team titles with Nick Gage is an obvious direction to go. But I want to go all in for this prediction. GCW has Blake Christian as their long term heel world champion and groundwork has been laid down for a Blake Vs Gage title match down the road. But we’ve been there, done that with Gage as the top babyface champion for GCW. This is a company that doesn’t mind doing wacky novelty booking with their titles. So how about Itoh unexpectedly gets a title match with Blake, maybe Money In The Bank style and she shockingly beats him for the GCW Title? It would be the peak of her run with the company, that’s for sure.

Prediction: Aja Kong takes on a regular role in TJPW.

Just like how Jun Akiyama became a coach in DDT, I’d like to see Aja Kong do something similar in TJPW. She has been a guest for so many shows at this point it’s not like she would be a stranger to everyone there. Whether it is coaching the youngsters, becoming a matchmaker or just keeping a stern eye on Tetsuya Koda so he won’t lose focus Kong would have a wealth of knowledge to offer the company. And maybe then we get a payoff for her rivalry with Max The Impaler.

Prediction: Miyu Yamashita and Maki Itoh remain with TJPW for the year.

I’m testing fate with this one, aren’t I? Miyu Yamashita has done almost everything there is to do in TJPW and Maki Itoh spends so much time in America she’s currently divorced from what’s going on in her home promotion. And yet I just don’t believe both of them are ready to graduate from TJPW like Yuka Sakazaki did. At least not in the next 12 months. Yamashita and Itoh will definitely have plenty of American bookings for everyone to look forward to in 2024. But leaving TJPW to focus on that entirely? I don’t think so. They will still have TJPW as their home base.

Ganbare☆Pro

Prediction: Ken Ohka Wins The Spirit Of Ganbare Title From Isami Kodaka

The ways that Ken Ohka and Isami Kodaka have been booked in GanPro this year makes this in my opinion the likeliest prediction to come true. Kodaka is cleaving through the roster with title defence after title defence while Ohka, the main guy behind all of GanPro, has been kept away from the title picture for over a year and a half. Ohka is always fighting from the bottom as the underdog so him never winning the Spirit Of Ganbare Title would fit how he books himself. However that’s not how pro wrestling works and there is bound to be a day when he finally gets his hands on his own promotion’s championship.

Prediction: The Ganbare☆Climax returns.

The last time GanPro held a tournament called the Ganbare☆Climax was in 2021 and that was to crown their first SOG Champion. It would be nice to see it come back to determine a No. 1 Contender during the year. GanPro held tournaments for the Young Ganbare Cup and the Spirit Of Ganbare Tag Team Titles this year but they both felt like one-offs. That clears up the schedule for a single elimination tournament to happen whenever they want.

Prediction: Yuna Manase returns from injury and feuds with YuuRI.

One of the key additions to GanPro this year was the relaunch of the Ganbare☆Joshi division built around YuuRI, Yoshiko Hasegawa and Riara. Sadly Yuna Manase was relegated to a GM role while she recovers from her ACL injury. YuuRI in particular put in the work to become the face of the GanJo division in her absence. So let’s say that Manase is able to wrestle again in 2024. Would she be willing to play second fiddle to YuuRI? Or will history continue to be a circle and Manase now finds herself as the veteran unwilling to let the new generation surpass her? Wouldn’t that be interesting given Manase’s feud with Yuu Yamagata a few years ago was over the same idea? YuuRI still has a lot to prove and the dynamic could make Hasegawa and Riara choose sides until the matter is resolved. Build it up to one big singles match and it could end up being a lot of fun to follow.

Prediction: A mixed gender tag team wins the Spirit Of Ganbare Tag Titles.

I admit this is just a repackaged prediction I made last year about the SOG Tag Titles being built around intergender wrestling. There’s only been one title defence so far featuring a mixed gender team and that was when Lethal Weapon (Hartley Jackson & HARUKAZE) were the challengers. I like seeing them team together but I fear that match in August was their only chance, at least while Ground Absolute hold the belts/trophies. There are always other people in GanPro for HARUKAZE to team with and also Banny Oikawa is now with GanPro mostly to do mixed tags. I bet it is only a matter of time before it happens.

Prediction: A Stardom wrestler appears on a Ganbare☆Joshi show.

Another factor of GanJo’s return this year was seeing that roster interact with wrestlers from TJPW, Ice Ribbon, Marvelous, Diana and more. YuuRI even brought over Ice Ribbon’s main championship for a title defence on a GanJo show. Now let’s add Stardom to the list through the UJNW connection. Stardom and TJPW will probably stay being icy towards each other but Yuna Manase and YuuRI both got to wrestle on a Stardom show in 2022. I see talk online about how cool it would be if all the joshi companies get together in 2024 for a major arena show to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of “BIG EGG UNIVERSE”. Something like that was kind of done in 2022 to celebrate 60 years of Korakuen Hall and even then that had some bruised egos coming out of it when Shukan Puroresu only put Starlight Kid on the front cover at the expense of everyone else involved who were not associated with Stardom. Also TJPW stayed away from the show too which again, some icy relationships are probably going on there. So let’s keep this prediction on a much smaller level and just say a Stardom wrestler shows up at a GanJo event.

Miscellaneous

Prediction: A DDT wrestler makes a full time jump over to BASARA.

Appearances from Kazusada Higuchi during the last quarter of 2023 helped freshen up BASARA a little bit. They’re not a company I expect much change from going forward but they could do with adding another full timer to their roster. Even though they are independent there is history with a DDT wrestler deciding they are better off jumping over to BASARA (or Union Pro before that) so they can play a bigger role at shows. It could be a veteran who already wrestles in BASARA and no longer seeing themselves being relevant in DDT (*cough*Soma Takao*cough*) or maybe one of the younger, less experienced wrestlers are looking for a change of pace. Ilusion for example seems to get along with that group well. Someone from that age group would turn into a rival for Munetatsu Nakamura too if that were to happen.

Prediction: Konosuke Takeshita wrestles in the main event of an AEW PPV.

It is really annoying to see Konosuke Takeshita being wasted in The Don Callis Family storyline. It is also annoying that the next step of the angle is the group using Freebird rules that will obviously set up Sammy Guevara’s return to TV rather than giving more focus to Takeshita or Powerhouse Hobbs for that matter. So what is it that has me thinking Takeshita can be in a PPV main event next year? Just the numbers game, really. AEW are adding more PPVs to their schedule so that should be more opportunities for new title challengers. Also if this storyline continues without Kenny Omega and just becomes the Family feuding with Chris Jericho there is can be something like a new Anarchy In The Arena happening to close out one of the PPVs.

Prediction: Yuka Sakazaki becomes the first ROH Women’s TV Champion.

Sakazaki is getting ready for the next chapter in her pro wrestling life. Given how AEW presents their women’s division, she is probably going to get more time in ROH instead. She already had her shot at Athena and the regular ROH Women’s Title but the group now has something new to fight for. A brand new ROH Women’s TV Title was recently revealed and Sakazaki would make a great choice to be its first champion.

Prediction: Baka Gaijin + Friends runs a show at Shin-Kiba 1st RING.

When I wrote a preview for the “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2023” main event I compared the Baka Gaijin + Friends shows to DDT’s Beer Garden shows. There’s a warm vibe and fun atmosphere to these matches that take place in such a small venue. I think the series has become popular enough that Chris Brookes can go from 50 fans in ARENA Shimokitazawa to a triple digit attendance in Shin-Kiba 1st RING, the place where DDT hosted Beer Garden for many years. See it like Gatoh Move running ChocoPro in Ichigaya on the regular and then every once in a while they move up to a place where a full scale wrestling ring can be set up. As long as the drinks still flow the crowd will be with them all the way.

Prediction: The 2024 New Year’s Eve Shuffle Tag Tournament lasts past midnight again.

It used to be that the final show of the year in Korakuen Hall goes beyond midnight into the early hours of the new year. It hasn’t been that way for a while because of restrictions coming out of the pandemic. Unfortunately I think a reason why this year’s edition still has an early evening start is because the show is not much of a draw anymore. But I want to be proven wrong so Korakuen fans get to count down the new year in the middle of a semi-final tag team match again.

Prediction: Yuka Sakazaki gets arrested for assaulting Mickey Mouse at Disney World.

She’s your problem now, Tony!

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Posted by JamieOD

United Japan Pro Wrestling Is Announced

December 15, 2023

UJPW “UNITED JAPAN PRO WRESTLING”, 06/05/2024
Tokyo Nippon Budokan

I’m going to copy and paste the write up on New Japan’s official English site to explain what’s going on with this new thing called United Japan Pro Wrestling.

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December 15, Tokyo Japan

New Japan Pro-Wrestling today announces that it is one of nine organizations that will constitute United Japan Pro-Wrestling, a new industry group representing professional wrestling in Japan.

Without an industry wide group for professional wrestling in Japan, the unprecedented crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic made it all the more clear that there was a need to consolidate and express accurate information and best operating practices between promotions, as well as to communicate effectively with national and municipal governments. In a bid to better anticipate and adapt to societal changes in the future, nine Japanese promotions at the forefront of pro-wrestling in the country will be be part of a collective industry group (henceforth ‘the Group’).

The members of the Group will maintain their individual business identities and competition in the marketplace, but the Group will provide a space to discuss issues that concern the industry at large, and to exchange information with an interest in maintaining its growth. The formation of the Group will be marked by an event on May 6 2024 in Nippon Budokan under the banner of United Japan Pro-Wrestling.

Mission statement

To further the presence of pro-wrestling and its cultural merit in Japanese society at large, allow professional wrestling to contribute further to cultural and sporting sectors, and work toward continued health and prosperity of the industry.

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic made it apparent that there was a lack of communication and unified approach to event guidelines, and no common point of contact between the industry and national and municipal governments. There was also a desire to discuss issues surrounding wrestler health and safety (including in their online presence), to create a pipeline to other sporting organizations and to further the image of professional wrestling through issues of corporate social responsibility. There was a shared desire between members of the Group to continue existing competition within the marketplace while also sharing relevant information and know-how on these and other socio-economic issues.

Core tenets

Unity and integrity. The Group will be the representative spokesgroup for all of professional wrestling in Japan.
Representation. The Group will be the public facing symbol for the collective whole of professional wrestling in Japan.
Continuity. The Group will have a continuous presence and activity in the future.

As a result, the existence of the Group will be made known worldwide, and its members will be actively engaged in actions of merit.

Activities

Governmental communication and requests
Strengthening connections to other industries and sectors
Sharing resources and practices

Including those related to wrestler health and safety, such as the provision of financial support for wrestlers while injured, and to offer compliance training. Group members will also consolidate event data for historical archive purposes.

Monetization

Any proceeds from the monetized use of iconography shall be split among the Group members. Joint events and festivals will be held.

Group members

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (New Japan Pro-Wrestling Co. Ltd.)
All Japan Pro-Wrestling (All Japan Pro-Wrestling Co. Ltd.)
Pro-Wrestling NOAH (Cyber Fight Co. Ltd.)
DDT Pro-Wrestling (Cyber Fight Co. Ltd.)
Ganbare ☆ Pro-Wrestling (Cyber Fight Co. Ltd.)
Big Japan Pro-Wrestling （Yotsuba Industries Ltd.)
DRAGONGATE (DRAGONGATE Co. Ltd.)
STARDOM (BushiRoad Fight Co. Ltd.)
Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling (Cyber Fight Co. Ltd.)

Further Group members will be considered in future.

Founding chair: Seiji Sakaguchi
Executive office: New Japan Pro-Wrestling Co. Ltd.
Executive chief: Naoki Sugabayashi (Chairman: New Japan Pro-Wrestling Co. Ltd.)

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So we’re giving this another go then. My immediate reaction to the news was memories of the Global Professional Wrestling Alliance from the mid 2000s. The GPWA was a similar concept to this, getting many of the wrestling promotions in Japan to co-operate with each other under one banner. It faded away pretty quickly. The only legacy it left behind was the 2007 Differ Cup tournament (and that isn’t even the 2005 one that was hyped by tape traders from that era). It also stayed around as a piece of trivia in wiki pages for each of the companies involved for years afterwards. So from the jump I’m feeling cynical over UJPW’s chances of establishing itself as an important benchmark for Japanese wrestling.

However the entire wrestling landscape is very different now than it was back then. The scene in Japan is not back to pre-pandemic levels of business and it’s only when times are toughest you will get companies willing to work together in order to spark up some kind of momentum again. I see some instant reaction online that this might be another attempt to close up Japan to WWE but I’m struggling to think that’s the main priority here. WWE’s global expansion plans do seem to be revving up again and their recent ABEMA deal has gotten them more coverage in Japan recently. And of course there’s suddenly more and more rumours about WWE trying to snap up Japan’s biggest names at the nearest opportunity. Yet as I see all this on the horizon I still don’t think it is an immediate threat. What’s happening here with UJPW seems to be the Japanese companies all trying to get their plans in order in regards to challenges much closer to home. It’s more like something to represent the majority of the industry when communicating with government bodies.

But hey, let’s give this thing a shot because at the very least what we’re getting out of it is nine promotions working together for a big show at Budokan Hall next May. Company alliances over the last year have been interesting to follow. New Japan and NOAH have been working together, All Japan and DDT have bee working together. Dragongate mostly keeps to themselves while Big Japan and Ganbare☆Pro are usually full of freelancers and wrestlers from other indies showing up at all times. The most surprising dynamic is Stardom and Tokyo Joshi Pro finally interacting with each other. Getting the isolated promotions like Dragongate and TJPW involved in this is significant. TJPW were not involved at all in the big Joshi show celebrating 60 years of Korkauen Hall that was held in 2022. What on earth kind of matchup are they going to put together if inter-promotional bouts are planned for the show?

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Imanari Leaving CyberFight But Staying With GanPro

September 29, 2023

DDT “SAKI AKAI 10TH ANNIVERSARY & FINAL COUNT DOWN IN KYOTO!!”, 30/09/2023
Kyoto KBS Hall

1. Kazusada Higuchi & Rukiya Vs Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku
2. Pheromones Final Countdown In Kyoto: Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Yuni & Kazuma Sumi
3. Yukio Naya & Shinichiro Kawamatsu Vs Makoto Oishi & Toy Kojima
4. Special Single Match: KANON Vs Takeshi Masada
5. BURNING Vs DAMNATION T.A!: Tetsuya Endo & Jun Akiyama Vs Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul
6. Kazuki Hirata & Akito Vs Yuki Ueno & MAO
7. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani (c) Vs HARASHIMA, Masahiro Takanashi & Mei Suruga

This is the match order for tomorrow’s DDT show in Kyoto. Saki Akai will get to wrestle in her home region as a double champion after all because she went to Best Body Japan Pro Wrestling a few days ago and won their Women’s Championship in the main event! Best Body’s wrestling promotion is not something I pay attention to much even though they regularly feature DDT wrestlers. Their events happen too far apart from each other for me to remember they exist. Their website has a results page so if DDT is all over those cards then maybe I’ll add a section for them someday.

GANBARE☆PRO “GIRI GIRI CHOP! 2023”, 01/10/2023
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Riara Vs SAKI
2. GanPro’s Famous Mixed 6-Man Tag Match: Keisuke Ishii, Munetatsu Nakamura & HARUKAZE Vs Soma Takao, Shinichiro Tominaga & Kaho Kobayashi
3. GanJo x TJPW Special Tag Match: Yuki Kamifuku & YuuRI Vs Suzume & Yoshiko Hasegawa
4. Loser Haircut Tag Match ~ No Tag Rules: Ken Ohka & Shota Vs Koji Doi & Kuma Arashi
5. Spirit Of Ganbare World Tag Team Titles: Shuichiro Katsumura & Takuya Wada (c) Vs Hikaru Sato & Tyson Maeguchi
6. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Isami Kodaka (c) Vs Yumehito Imanari

It was revealed in a Shukan Puroresu interview this week that Yumehito Imanari is leaving his video team job with CyberFight at the end of September. However he is going to continue his pro wrestling career with Ganbare☆Pro as a freelancer. He intends to start his next chapter as a wrestler by winning the Spirit Of Ganbare Title and becoming the main character of GanPro.

Shota demanded the Hair Vs Hair Match have a No Tag Rule in effect. He noticed that somebody in the match could theoretically not tag in and then abandon their partner to lose because only the wrestler who drops the fall will suffer the punishment. Shota swears he would never do that to Ken Ohka but does not trust Kuma Arashi will do the same for Koji Doi. It wouldn’t be right for Arashi to come up with the Hair Match stipulation only to run away when his team is about to lose. By adding this rule Ohka will then be able to get his hands on Arashi much more easily. DoiKuma agreed to the demand.

DDT “GOD BLESS DDT 2023 TOUR IN OSAKA”, 01/10/2023
Osaka City Minato Ward Citizens Center

1. Pheromones Final Countdown In Osaka: Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Makoto Oishi & Yuni
2. Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul Vs Akito, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku
3. Osaka Specialty 3 Way Match: “brother” YASSHI Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Kazuma Sumi
4. Tetsuya Endo & Jun Akiyama Vs Hideki Okatani & Rukiya
5. Special Single Match: Yukio Naya Vs Takeshi Masada
6. Special 6-Man Tag Match: HARASHIMA, Masahiro Takanashi & Kazusada Higuchi Vs Yuki Ueno, MAO & Toy Kojima

Takeshi Masada’s campaign to enter this year’s D-Ou Grand Prix begins on Sunday.

DDT “GOD BLESS DDT 2023 TOUR IN SHINJUKU”, 04/10/2023
Shinjuku FACE

1. Jun Akiyama, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku Vs Hideki Okatani, Yukio Naya & Rukiya
2. Kazuki Hirata & Makoto Oishi Vs Takeshi Masada & Kazuma Sumi
3. Yukio Sakaguchi & Saki Akai Vs HARASHIMA & Gota Ihashi
4. Special Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo & Kazusada Higuchi Vs Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul
5. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Minoru Fujita & KANON (c) Vs Soma Takao & Shota
6. Pheromones Final ~ Special 8-Man Tag Match: Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno, Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari & Koju “Shining Ball” Takeda Vs Akito, Yuki Ueno, MAO & Toy Kojima

Goodbye Pheromones. This is goodbye… right? The timing of Imanari going freelance is something that points towards the group supposedly splitting up.

DDT “GOD BLESS DDT 2023 TOUR IN SANJO”, 07/10/2023
Niigata Sanjo City Welfare And Welfare Center

1. Yusuke Okada Vs Rukiya
2. Eruption Vs BURNING!: Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani Vs Tetsuya Endo & Yuyu Koroku
3. Special Single Match: Yukio Naya Vs MJ Paul
4. Special 6-Man Tag Match: HARASHIMA, Kazusada Higuchi & Akito Vs Yuki Ueno, MAO & Toy Kojima
5. All Asia Tag Team Titles: Jun Akiyama & Kotaro Suzuki (c) Vs Takao Omori & Yoshitatsu

It’s not that long ago when DDT would promote a Yukio Naya Vs MJ Paul match as a Megatonweight bout. You know how pro wrestlers these days have gotten smaller and lighter that when an actual heavyweight shows up they get called a super heavyweight? Yeah it was that sort of idea.

DDT “GOD BLESS DDT 2023 TOUR IN SAPPORO – DAY 1”, 14/10/2023
Hokkaido Sapporo ii-one Stadium

1. Daisuke Sasaki & KANON Vs Tomoya & Yusuke Okada
2. Special Tag Match: Kazusada Higuchi & Takeshi Masada Vs Kouki Iwasaki & Rukiya
3. Sapporo Specialty Special Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo & Noriyuki Yoshida Vs Jun Akiyama & Yuya Koroku
4. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Chris Brookes, HARASHIMA & Kazuki Hirata Vs Yuki Ueno, MAO & Toy Kojima

DDT’s weekend trip to Sapporo sees Noriyuki Yoshida, Kouki Iwasaki and Tomoya joining in the fun.

Barring any setbacks, Chris Brookes will be returning to action here to start his preview matches with Yuki Ueno.

DDT “GOD BLESS DDT 2023 TOUR IN SAPPORO – DAY 2”, 15/10/2023
Hokkaido Sapporo ii-one Stadium

1. Daisuke Sasaki & KANON Vs Yukio Naya & Yuya Koroku
2. Special Tag Match: HARASHIMA & Rukiya Vs Kouki Iwasaki & MAO
3. Sapporo Specialty Special 6-Man Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Noriyuki Yoshida Vs Tomoya, Kazusada Higuchi & Kazuma Sumi
4. Special Tag Match: Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada Vs Yuki Ueno & Toy Kojima

Iwasaki gets to reform a DNA team with MAO.

Akai will be on the show to wrestle her last match in Sapporo.

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DDT “NEW YEAR’S CURRENT EXPLOSION!” Results

January 7, 2023

DDT “NEW YEAR’S CURRENT EXPLOSION!”, 07/01/2023
Kanagawa Tsurumi Fruit & Vegetable Market
234 Fans – Super No Vacancy

1. Yukio Naya defeated Takeshi Masada with the Choke Slam (8:22).
2. Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno defeated Hideki Okatani & Kazuma Sumi when Iino submitted Sumi with a Scorpion Ketsulock (8:41).
3. Special 6-Man Tag Match: HARASHIMA, Saori Anou & Yusuke Okada defeated Kazuki Hirata, Saki Akai & Gota Ihashi after Anou pinned Ihashi after a High Kick & Enzuigiri Combo from Akai and Anou (8:58).
4. Chain Death Match: Chris Brookes defeated Demonio Uno by TKO with the Octopus Stretch (12:37).
5. The 37KAMIINA Vs BURNING!: Yuki Ueno & MAO defeated Tetsuya Endo & Yuya Koroku when Ueno pinned Koroku with a Stretch Bomb (13:21).
6. Harimao Vs DAMNATION T.A!: Daisuke Sasaki & KANON defeated Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida when KANON submitted Ishida with the Just Cobra Twist (10:37).
7. “Current Blast” Trademark Rights & Position Battle ~ Legend Resurrected! New Year Aerial Time Bomb & Current Blast Bat Death Match: Atsushi Onita, Shunma Katsumata & Toi Kojima defeated Sanshiro Takagi, Akito & Soma Takao when Onita pinned Takao with a Current Blast Bat Swing (12:23).
*Atsushi Onita becomes the Honorary Drop Kick store manager.

DDT’s first attempt of 2023 to flex their corporate muscle ended in failure and may perhaps come back to haunt them later in the Spring. Sanshiro Takagi, Akito & Soma Takao challenged Atsushi Onita to put his trademark for exploding death matches on the line so DDT could control the stipulation worldwide. In return Onita, Shunma Katsumata & Toi Kojima demanded their opponents to put their CyberFight management roles on the line so whoever lost would have to transfer their company position over to the person who pinned them.

The result of the explosive main event saw Onita spit Poison Mist at Takao, blow him up with a baseball bat and then pin him to end the match. As a result, Onita is the new store manager for the Drop Kick bar! However due to the long distance between Onita’s home and the bar he is unable to do that job properly so he agreed to be the bar’s honorary manager instead. However Takagi still wants to take over the trademark. Katsumata then said he wanted to do another explosion death match and already booked Tsurumi Fruit & Vegetable Market for 19th March. He asked if there was anyone in DDT who wanted to take part? HARASHIMA walked out dragging Kazuki Hirata along with him. He wants to do it and win the trademark for CyberFight. He told Hirata he can do a bomb dance there too.

Onita then dropped a bombshell. He still wants the company president position so he is thinking of forming a new wrestling promotion called DDO… Dramatic Dream Onita! He told Katsumata he can be the vice president and Toi Kojima can become a managing director. If they can convince other wrestlers to join DDO they can then make triple or quadruple the amount of money they currently make in DDT. On 19th March DDO will take over DDT and CyberFight will have to pay for all of their debts! Onita also threw out a challenge for the All Asia Tag Team Titles but that’s another story for another blog to cover.

Yuki Ueno & MAO wrestled their match wearing yankee gear. MAO even tried fighting with his hands in his pockets at the start. He also gave Tetsuya Endo a Low Blow but that backfired when Endo inadvertedly gave MAO a Low Blow back. Ueno took over and used a Stretch Bomb to pin Yuya Koroku.

The Chain Death Match spilled outside of the ring which is where Demonio Uno is at his best. He started a tug of war using the chain and Chris Brookes was able to win it with the help of some fans joining in on his side. Brookes then put Uno on a dolly and pushed him into the ring post. Back in the ring Uno fought back using the chain. However it ended up getting wrapped around Yukinori Matsui, preventing the referee from being able to count any pins. Uno then tried hanging Brookes over the ropes with the chain but Brookes found a way to free himself. He got a nearfall with the Praying Mantis Bomb and then applied a chain assisted Octopus Stretch. Uno wouldn’t respond and the match ended with Brookes declared as the winner.

Gota Ihashi found himself in a state of crisis. He’s already in love with Saki Akai but then he got into the ring with Saori Anou and is feeling can’t decide who he wants more. When Akai and Anou ended up against each other in the ring, Ihashi was convinced they were both fighting over him. He ran towards them hoping to receive just as much adoration in return but instead the two women knocked him out with a High Kick Sandwich.

Class was in session because Pheromones wanted to teach their opponents a lesson today. Yuki Iino used a Stinkface syle Scorpion Deathlock on Kazuma Sumi to win the match by submission. Afterwards Danshoku Dieno told Hideki Okatani that Pheromones do not take their sexy clothes off during matches just for pleasure. They also do it for strength and strategy. Today’s lesson from Pheromones to young people is to think and find your own strength. When in doubt, come back and Pheromones will teach you.

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Masada Ready For Hollywood, Watase’s 1st Title Defence, Explosive New Stipulations

December 28, 2022

DDT “NEVER MIND 2022”, 29/12/2022
Tokyo Dome City Hall

0. Dark Match: Hideki Okatani & Toi Kojima Vs Yuya Koroku & Kazuma Sumi
0. Dark Match: Minoru Fujita, MJ Paul & KANON Vs Masahiro Takanashi, Soma Takao & Antonio Honda
1. Sanshiro Takagi Vs Takeshi Masada
2. HARASHIMA & Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Yuji Hino & Yuki Ishida
3. Pheromones Vs “Miyako & Ward” Pheromones Subjugation Allied Forces ~ Dissolution & Pet Dogs Contra One Day Experience: Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno, Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari & Koju “Shining Ball” Takeda Vs Akito, Osamu Nishimura, Shinichiro Kawamatsu & Shunma Katsumata
4. Special Single Match: Shinya Aoki Vs Chihiro Hashimoto
5. Special Tag Match: Saki Akai & Yuki Arai Vs Saori Anou & Riko Kawahata
6. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Naruki Doi, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata (c) Vs Tetsuya Endo, Kotaro Suzuki & Yusuke Okada
7. DDT Extreme Title – If 45-Year-Old Sasadango Machine’s Weight Loss Fails We Will Have A Standard Rules Match or Sasadango Extreme Rules: Jun Akiyama (c) Vs Super Sasadango Machine
8. Special Tag Match: Konosuke Takeshita & Yukio Naya Vs Daisuke Sekimoto & RSP
9. International 4 Way Match: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Chris Brookes Vs MAO Vs Cara Noir
10. KO-D Openweight Title: Kazusada Higuchi (c) Vs Yuki Ueno

It’s been four months since Takeshi Masada had his debut match. He’s been wrestling matches on a weekly basis since then so he hasn’t had the time to soak in any of them. He also doesn’t understand why DDT has labelled him a super rookie when he hasn’t won any matches yet. He’s also aware that Kazuma Sumi can quickly catch up with him which is another reason why he isn’t comfortable with the super rookie label. As for his match against Sanshiro Takagi, Masada is determined to win so he can be on DDT’s American shows next year. He wants to spread DDT across the world like Konosuke Takeshita is doing while also showing that DDT is more than just Takeshita. He wonders if Takagi really is the company president or only pretends to be one. He’ll find out tomorrow.

DDT “HATSUYUME 2023”, 03/01/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Makoto Oishi & Shiori Asahi Vs Hideki Okatani & Toi Kojima
2. Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Akito & Antonio Honda
3. New Year Special 8-Man Tag Match: Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata, Yuji Hino & Yukio Naya Vs Shinshun Pokotan, Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Kazuma Sumi
4. Alice Tour Presents Special 10-Man Tag Match: Kazusada Higuchi, HARASHIMA, RSP, Soma Takao & Yuki Ishida Vs Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama, Kotaro Suzuki, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku
5. Alice Tour Presents Special Tag Match: Yuki Ueno & Cara Noir Vs MJ Paul & KANON
6. Special Single Match: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Takeshi Masada
7. DDT Universal Title Next Challenger Decision Battle: Naruki Doi Vs Daisuke Sasaki
8. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi Vs MAO & Shunma Katsumata

Matches #4 and #5 are now sponsored by a travel agent called Alice Tours.

GANBARE☆PRO “ADRENALINE 2023”, 05/01/2023
Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall

1. Young Ganbare Cup: Yuki Kanzaki Vs Kentaro Hachisu
2. Young Ganbare Cup: Yumehito Imanari Vs Munetatsu Nakamura
3. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Mizuki Watase (c) Vs Tyson Maeguchi

The new Spirit Of Ganbare Champion already has a list of challengers he wants to face and is wasting no time in going through them. Mizuki Watase said there are some debts that need to be repaid and he mentioned losing to Tyson Maeguchi earlier in the year as an example. When Maeguchi heard this he demanded a title shot with both men agreeing to do it as soon as possible. Maeguchi has wanted to win this title ever since he took part in last year’s Ganbare☆Climax where the first champion was crowned. Doing so will be worth it for all of the times people have told Maeguchi to quit fighting because he is too small and weak.

Hartley Jackson will be on the show, confirming he is part of the Ganbare Family forever!

DDT “NEW YEAR’S CURRENT EXPLOSION!”, 07/01/2023
Kanagawa Tsurumi Fruit & Vegetable Market

1. Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Hideki Okatani & Kazuma Sumi
2. Yukio Naya Vs Takeshi Masada
3. The 37KAMIINA Vs BURNING!: Yuki Ueno & MAO Vs Tetsuya Endo & Yuya Koroku
4. Harimao Vs DAMNATION T.A!: Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida Vs Daisuke Sasaki & KANON
5. Special 6-Man Tag Match: HARASHIMA, Saori Anou & Yusuke Okada Vs Kazuki Hirata, Saki Akai & Gota Ihashi
6. Tsurumi Fruit & Vegetable Market Specialty Special Single Match: Chris Brookes Vs Demonio Uno
7. “Current Blast” Trademark Rights & Position Battle ~ Legend Resurrected! New Year Aerial Time Bomb & Current Blast Bat Death Match: Atsushi Onita, Shunma Katsumata & Toi Kojima Vs Sanshiro Takagi, Akito & Soma Takao

Now there are big stakes on the line for both teams in the main event. If Atsushi Onita’s team loses then Onita must transfer his trademark for exploding death matches over to DDT. However if the DDT team loses then whoever drops the fall must give up their company position to the wrestler who beats them! So either Onita, Shunma Katsumata or Toi Kojima could become the president of CyberFight, the vice president of CyberFight or the store manager of the Drop Kick Bar if they win.

The match itself is an Aerial Time Bomb & Current Blast Bat Death Match. There will be baseball bats rigged with explosives placed around the ring. Once 10 minutes have passed a time bomb that is hanging directly above the ring will drop and explode with a shower of sparks raining down along with it.

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DramaticDDT’s Predictions For 2023

December 24, 2022

Merry Christmas to you all! There are a lot of things I’m not good at. Making predictions for pro wrestling is one of them. It’s what happens when the crystal ball I look through was bought in Lidl. But I like doing it anyway. The Christmas and New Year period is very busy for covering pro wrestling so I never really have the time to do something like this in previous years. To solve that problem I’ve been jotting down predictions in my free time this month so I could finally put out the article. I came up with 20 predictions for 2023 spread across four categories. Five for DDT, five for Tokyo Joshi Pro, five for Ganbare☆Pro and five guesses for anything even slightly related to DDT or CyberFight. I’m also listing them in order from easy to hard, likely to unlikely, mild to spicy, etc. Some are guesses based on past booking patterns, going with gut feelings, going the opposite of gut feelings and in some places just straight up fantasy booking. None of these are hints or teases of the little inside info I do know about. Will any of them come true? Nah, probably not. But let’s take a stab at it anyway?

DDT


– Brass Monkey, That Funky Monkey
Prediction: Mike Bailey wrestles a match in DDT again.

My evidence supporting this prediction is Mike Bailey’s profile on the DDT roster page is still there. They never took him off the website even though he hasn’t wrestled for the company since April 2020. The man has had a well deserved breakout year in America for 2022 splitting his time between Impact and the indies. I bet he’ll be in the area when DDT are doing their Hollywood shows in April. Also if he has the time to come back to Japan, I think it will be for DDT over anywhere else. There’s a whole new class of guys for him to kick the crap out of. Also a Moonlight Express reunion would be sweet.


– Have A Drink And Watch The Die Get Cast
Prediction: KANON outperforms Daisuke Sasaki.

The top prospect from JTO jumped to DDT back in April and has been all in with the company ever since. KANON was rewarded pretty quickly by being added to DAMNATION T.A while Minoru Fujita was out with injury. He had a rough go at the tournaments though, getting eliminated in the King Of DDT 1st Round and only winning one match in the D-Ou Grand Prix. But I’ve been impressed with his work and he is often the one who picks up the wins in DAMNATION T.A tag matches. I think he performs way better in 2023 and racks up a few achievements. In fact, I think he will achieve more in the next 12 months than his leader Daisuke Sasaki will! I’m talking the number of title matches he gets, the better performances he puts in tournaments and a higher amount of significant singles victories. KANON is going to claim some scalps this year that will leave Sasaki looking jealous. That’s if Sasaki is sober enough to register what’s going on.


– 365 Degrees, Burning Down The House
Prediction: Yuya Koroku becomes the next wrestler from DDT’s new generation (debuted 2020 onwards) to win a championship.

The first draft of this was slightly different. I had Yuya Koroku down as the first new gen wrestler to win any championship. Then I remembered Toi Kojima is currently one of the KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Champions and Hideki Okatani once held the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title a year ago. Oh and Keigo Nakamura held both if he counts (debuted 2019 before the pandemic so eh?). As a result this prediction isn’t turning out as sharp as I thought it would be. But I’m sticking with the general idea. There’s a new wave of fresh blood coming into DDT and the highlight for me so far was Koroku and Kojima’s rivalry found within the BURNING Vs The 37KAMIINA tag matches. Eyes will be on Yuki Ishida for becoming a bigger part of a diminished Harimao out of necessity, Takeshi Masada as the hot prospect and Kazuma Sumi for his athleticism. There’s still three more trainees yet to debut plus the short term future of El Unicorn and Ilusion is currently unknown. With that said Koroku has the advantage of seniority over most of the other rookies to make this prediction come true. Even if it’s just as the third man holding the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles, I think Koroku has the best odds of getting belted up next year.


– Where’s Your Head At, At?
Prediction: Tetsuya Endo struggles to reclaim the top position in DDT.

This is a cruel one. Tetsuya Endo had everything in place before the summer to finally be the flag bearer for DDT. Then Katsuhiko Nakajima knocked him out and left him concussed, taking all of that away. I wouldn’t say he is a shadow of his former self since coming back but a bit of shine has disappeared in him becoming the leading man again. He has given himself a new goal of winning all of the singles championships. That’s going to be a long journey if it does work out that way. For 2023 I do not see Endo winning back the KO-D Openweight Title and I don’t think he will win any of the singles tournaments. The DDT Universal Title and DDT Extreme Title can be in his grasp but neither of them will bring him back to the number one main eventer spot in the next 12 months. To take a positive stance for this, think of 2023 as his rebuilding year for 2024. He’s already spent the last few months bulking up to become more a bigger heavyweight. Maybe the key to getting over this will be to confront his demon at “CYBERFIGHT FESTIVAL 2023”…


– Loan Me A Dragon, I Wanna See Space
Prediction: Dramatic Dream Gate is revived.

Remember this unholy alliance? There were three occasions when DDT and Dragongate worked together and promoted shows under the name Dramatic Dream Gate. Once in 2007, again in 2008 and the final one taking place in 2012. Then the relationship between the two companies went icy for a long time after that. Things began to defrost a few years ago thanks to Toru Owashi getting DG bookings and in return bringing one of their wrestlers from his generation over whenever DDT goes to Kobe or Nagano. Now that Naruki Doi is bouncing back and forth between the two companies as a freelancer without pissing anybody off I’d like to think everyone’s now cool with each other. What a way to show it by bringing DDG back for another show! It would be worth it just to see Kazuki Hirata do his Magnum Tokyo parody in front of all the DG wrestlers who weren’t even born when the gimmick first existed. I know, I know, DG currently has a working relationship with NOAH. They’re probably all CyberFight’d out at this point. Doesn’t matter, DDT will continue taking their dojo dropouts anyway…

Tokyo Joshi Pro


– It Ain’t My Fault That I’m Out Here Making News
Prediction: At least 3 women who originally came from Actwres girl’Z will appear in TJPW and at least 1 of them becomes a regular roster member.

It’s kind of a running joke at this point. Actwres girl’Z constantly turn dozens of idols into newly trained joshi at a time then whoever emerges as top of the class ends up leaving them for greener pastures. It’s probably one of the more successful development programs in modern pro wrestling when you think about it. AWG’s lossese end up being another company’s gain and TJPW are usually in that group. Yuna Manase, Natsupoi and Nao Kakuta all came from there. Even just recently we have HIMAWARI pulling off a speed run in how to go from AWG to TJPW in record time. I think it’s only going to increase from here. My prediction is not one, not two but three joshi who were associated with AWG at some point in their lives will appear on TJPW shows throughout 2023. I’m giving myself a little bit of rope here because I am not saying they will all be full time roster additions. Somebody like Saori Anou or Miyuki Takase having one or two guest matches like SAKI did this year would count towards this. But yeah, I can at least guarantee there will definitely be one woman on the active AWG roster who will be showing up at Korakuen Hall wearing a TJPW shirt in the next 12 months.


– Pull Up With A Zelda And A Peach And A Daisy
Prediction: An outsider wins the Princess Of Princess Title

In the almost seven years the Princess Of Princess Title has been around its lineage has belonged entirely to the TJPW roster. In Japan it’s rare for a men’s company to have their main championship stay within their walls for this long but in joshi it’s a little more common. However the scene opened up again to the rest of the world this year and there is a wave of new faces we can all look forward to seeing. The risk is they have their eyes on the gold just as much as the regulars do. I think the time has come for somebody outside of TJPW to become the Princess Champion. Whether they are a Japanese freelancer, an invader fans associate with another company or somebody from overseas I bet the top prize will be taken by an outside force sometime in 2023.


– It’s All Around The World, Just La La La La La
Prediction: Maki Itoh gets to No. 1 on a iTunes or Spotify chart somewhere in the world.

Hikari Noa unexpectedly showing up in the Canadian iTunes J-Pop chart at the end of November inspired this one. Some domino is going to fall that will kickstart a chain reaction resulting in Maki Itoh’s music going viral and being discovered by a new audience. She ends up getting a song to No. 1 on one of the digital music services. It doesn’t matter how obscure this gets. It could be No. 1 in Zimbabwe’s chart for the Chamber Psych genre due to input error for all I care.


– Once I Ran To You, Now I Run From You
Prediction: A woman from Sakisama’s past comes back to haunt her.

It is inevitable that NEO Biishiki-gun will come back to terrorize TJPW again. They always do. Sakisama will return to grace TJPW fans with her glamourous presence while rubbing it in about how perfect she is. She makes it look easy. There has to be a reason for that, right? You don’t become that much of a narcissist without having something, or someone, that’s been out of your reach for your entire life. Like a rival perhaps? That one person who no matter how good you are at something, they are always better. Like what if there was somebody in Sakisama’s life who always stole her thunder whether it was in their private classes, on the badminton court or even at an extravagant gala? What if that woman with a familiar looking face from somewhere else suddenly shows up in TJPW and begins to waltz through the roster, tempting NEO Biishiki-gun away from their leader in the process. What if Sakisama finds herself in a position she has never experienced before, becoming the underdog? It would be a big change of pace for the gimmick that’s for sure.


– Cause A Girl Gonna Push It All Out The Way
Prediction: Sasha Banks appears at Grand Princess ’23.

Am I being cheeky with this one? I dunno, something about the Sasha Banks odyssey still sounds kind of murky to me. I don’t think somebody with her leverage is going to settle down with a contract to just one corporation again. I believe she’s aligning with New Japan/Stardom no doubt about that. But why stop there? Something tells me she isn’t going to be exclusive to them in Japan. Not with the people she’s been meeting and spending time with these last few months. TJPW needs something massive if they want to fill up Ariake Colosseum on 18th March. They won’t be doing that by keeping to themselves. Aim big, play big, win big.

Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling


– I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends
Prediction: Some of the wrestlers Shota worked with in America get booked for Ganpro.

Shota accomplished a lot during his three month stay in America. Among the most important during his excursion was connections. He made friends, met new people and whether intentional or not scouted talent. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see some of the people he wrestled across the United States get invited over to Ganpro in the coming year. The likes of Ryan Davidson and Phil Shark have been to Japan before but could we see a wrestler like Clay Roberts or Aaron Mercer get the chance to come over thanks to their links with Shota?


– All The Way (Keep Going, You Got This)
Prediction: Keisuke Ishii wins the Spirit Of Ganbare Title.

Ganpro has been a good home for Keisuke Ishii ever since he came over from DDT in 2018. Maybe it’s because he’s in a smaller pond but he’s been able to stay more consistent up the top of the card. 2023 will be the right time for Ganpro’s resident “Puwota” to challenge for the Spirit Of Ganbare Title and win it. I’m not confident he will be the man to dethrone Hartley Jackson but if Mizuki Watase or Ken Ohka can’t do it, it may have to come down to him anyway.


– Swing Your Partner ‘Round And ‘Round
Prediction: Ganpro creates a tag team championship and builds it around mixed tag wrestling.

This should have been done when they held the Mixed Tag Tournament in 2021! At the moment the Spirit Of Ganbare Title is the only championship being defended in the promotion. Tag Team Titles should be next on the list for Ganpro to grow into a bigger company. They regularly book mixed tag matches anyway and it would be a good way to differentiate the belts from other company’s tag titles. I’m not even calling for it to be a mandatory rule, just have most of the teams competing in title matches be mixed gender.


– Sunshine, Lollipops And Rainbows
Prediction: Ganbare☆Joshi runs their own show in Korakuen Hall.

The Ganbare☆Joshi division took a step back in 2022. Gone were the Ganpro doubleheaders with GanJo running the afternoon shows. It would be nice if they came back with a vengeance in 2023. Not only could they promote their own shows again but they should take a shot at the big time by having an event at Korakuen! It would be a challenge. Maybe Yuna Manase calls in some favors from Ice Ribbon and Gatoh Move or picks a fight with Prominence to build up a headline match. Moeka Haruhi has worked hard all year too so she deserves a spotlight like this too.


– Shine On You Crazy Diamond
Prediction: Kota Ibushi wrestles a match in Ganpro.

The aftermath of what happens in January could be either a rising flame of a phoenix or an absolute trash fire. There is plenty of gossip online about Kota Ibushi being done completely with New Japan when his contract is allegedly expected to expire during the month. So if he is going to become a free agent you’d think there will be a lot of suitors out there looking for his services. That might not happen if the guy decides to let loose and produce an exposé on his time with NJPW. If he instead behaves and decide against that then there should be nothing to be worried about, right? Hmmm, can’t be too sure on that one. Ibushi made it clear on Twitter he has no interest in ever going back to DDT. He also sounds bullish about doing work with NOAH when rumours of that surfaced online. Money doesn’t sound like it’s a big motivation for his future plans. If that’s true then wouldn’t a place like Ganpro be more his vibe? It’s where you can wrestle with your heart on your sleeve and a fire in your belly. It would be a wild move to see Ibushi do one match in Korakuen for Ganpro while he is sorting out the Ibushi Wrestling Institute or whatever crazy project he’s been thinking about during his time away from the ring.

Miscellaneous


– You Know That I Would Love To See You Next Year, I Hope That I Am Still Alive Next Year
Prediction: Gake no Fuchi Joshi crosses over with Baka Gaijin + Friends.

It’s been a while since we last heard from Gake no Fuchi Joshi. Seems like Miyako Matsumoto has moved on to other priorities. The spirit of insanity we see in those shows could easily fit in with the newly formed Baka Gaijin + Friends. Matsumoto’s chaotic energy is not something Chris Brookes & Drew Parker want to be responsible for but what power do they have to stop it if she ever steps foot inside one of their shows?


– Are You Ready To Meet And Defeat The Elite?
Prediction: AEW will host another event in Japan with DDT & TJPW involvement.

AEW held half of a women’s tournament in Japan during 2021 and produced exhibition matches at the Tokyo Game Show in 2022. They have it in them to do something in Japan for a third year in the row with DDT/TJPW along for the ride. I’m thinking it will be something on a similar scale as the first two events. A project separate from the TV shows and instead taking place on Youtube. That’s if it is intended for broadcast at all. But hey, if they want to go full blown Dynamite taping in Korakuen Hall with Konosuke Takeshita in a title match I’ll take that any day of the week.


– Back To The Family, I Guarantee Emergency
Prediction: CyberFight adds another promotion to their portfolio.

CyberFight’s recent financial losses don’t concern me. In fact I think they’re due for a slight expansion and will add a fifth wrestling promotion to their collection. In past interviews Sanshiro Takagi talked about ideas to launch a new death match group or present another joshi company separate from TJPW. If this happens it can be something brand new or maybe there’s going to be a smaller company that’s finally at the end of their rope and needs to be sold to survive. The recent power shift in WWE kind of winds the clock back to 2019 with their desire to launch spin-offs around the world returning to the surface. The last attempt at that resulted in Stardom selling to Bushiroad and NOAH selling to CyberFight. I could see a repeat happening with another company if WWE wants to go shopping in Japan again. But that’s the cynical prediction. CyberFight might create something brand new to fill in a gap that none of their existing properties can reach. Like what if a certain star who has crazy ideas for his own wrestling company strikes a deal with CyberFight to make it a reality in return for making a few dates with the other promotions? What a golden scenario that would be.


– Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, When I Was Dead Broke, Man I Couldn’t Picture This
Prediction: A brand new puroresu console game gets announced.

Come on, what’s the freaking hold up? I love Fire Pro Wrestling World but I have squeezed every last drop of blood out of that stone. Time for something new. I think this prediction is possible but it all hangs on whether or not AEW: Fight Forever becomes a success. I’m really looking forward to that game and you all know the first thing I’m going to do is pick Yuka Sakazaki but I still have my worries it will turn out to be a bumpy AA title at launch. If it does take off then my hope is for Yuke’s re-using the assets to make a Japan only wrestling game get one step closer to coming true. One where they strike a deal with Bushiroad or CyberFight (or hopefully both). For this prediction Fight Forever releasing “Forbidden Door” DLC doesn’t count, Makoto being added to The Wrestling Code doesn’t count and phone games do not count. I am looking for a full fledged console game here. If it works on the Steam Deck then that would be cool too.


– Same As It Ever Was
Prediction: BASARA does something new and different.

Please? Things have been stale with BASARA for a long time. Even the summer series with Dove Pro I always look forward too is the same old stuff. Probably harsh of me to say that because I hear they are more or less happy with the way things are. They have their regular schedule with their regular crowd always showing up. Sometimes that’s all you need to keep a good thing going. I still wish they showed more ambition though.

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Posted by JamieOD

Konosuke Takeshita Is All Elite

November 20, 2022

I knew this day would come.

“Konosuke Takeshita has signed a contract with All Elite Wrestling. With that, he will be an active member of both the DDT and AEW roster going forward.

Please look forward to the future successes of Takeshita’s wrestling career.”

On Saturday afternoon Tony Khan tweeted an official confirmation that Konosuke Takeshita has signed a contract with AEW and is now “All Elite”. Takeshita was already down as an active member of the roster but this makes it clear he is now on a full time deal. A few minutes later Sanshiro Takagi tweeted his congratulations to Takeshita and clarified he now belongs to both AEW and DDT. So whenever Takeshita is back in Japan he will be wrestling in a DDT ring while AEW will serve as his American home. DDT have said they fully support him taking this challenge to make it in America.

Takagi is in America accompanying Takeshita and Jun Akiyama for their appearances in AEW this past week. The fact he was there should have been a tip off that a business dealing of some sort was going on. The next clue was Takeshita getting a brand new entrance song from AEW’s musical maestro Mikey Rukus (for those who haven’t heard it yet it sounds like a mix of Daisuke Sekimoto’s theme and “Gangplank Galleon” from Donkey Kong Country of all things). While Akiyama and Takeshita were doing their matches, Takagi spent his time meeting up with members of the AEW roster who he previously worked with such as Kenny Omega (who he credited for making “all the connections” in the first place), Sammy Guevara, Ethan Page, Ricky Starks and even Luther.

A little bit more news came from the “FULL GEAR” post-show media scrum. Khan was asked about the deal and if other DDT wrestlers would be brought into AEW going forward. Khan said there are people in DDT who have already the visas needed to make it work so he is open to the idea of using them for TV and PPV.

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Posted by JamieOD

DDT “D-OU GRAND PRIX 2022 OPENING ROUND” Results

November 1, 2022

DDT “D-OU GRAND PRIX 2022 OPENING ROUND”, 01/11/2022
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
411 Fans

0. Dark Match: Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno & Koju “Shining Ball” Takeda (w/ Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari) Vs Toru Owashi, Makoto Oishi & Kazuki Hirata (w/ Akito) ended in a No Contest (7:49).
1. Yusuke Okada, Hideki Okatani & Yuki Ishida defeated Shunma Katsumata, Toi Kojima & Kazuma Sumi when Ishida pinned Sumi with a Spinebuster (9:03).
2. Joey Janela & Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul ended in a No Contest (7:39).
3. D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 – A Block: RSP (2) defeated Naomi Yoshimura (0) with the GTF (8:14).
4. D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 – B Block: MAO (2) defeated Chris Brookes (0) by Countout (11:53).
5. Jun Akiyama Produce Match: Jun Akiyama & HARASHIMA defeated Yuya Koroku & Takeshi Masada when Akiyama pinned Masada with the Exploder Suplex (11:38).
6. D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 – B Block: Yuji Hino (2) defeated Yukio Naya (0) with the World’s Best German Suplex (13:04).
7. D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 – B Block: Kazusada Higuchi (2) defeated KANON (0) with the Brain Claw Slam (18:33).
8. D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 – A Block: Tetsuya Endo (2) defeated Yuki Ueno (0) with the Burning Star Press (15:41).

A Block

1. Tetsuya Endo (2)
-. RSP (2)
3. Daisuke Sasaki (0)
-. Joey Janela (0)
-. Naomi Yoshimura (0)
-. Yuki Ueno (0)

B Block

1. Kazusada Higuchi (2)
-. Yuji Hino (2)
-. MAO (2)
4. Chris Brookes (0)
-. Yukio Naya (0)
-. KANON (0)

A minor ankle injury did over the last week does not seem to be much of a bother for Tetsuya Endo. His start to the D-Ou Grand Prix could not have gone any better. A big win over Yuki Ueno in today’s main event sent the message loud and clear. Endo is determined to win the Grand Prix and after that every DDT singles championship will be in his sights, even the DDT Universal Title held by Ueno! Endo’s next match in his block is another difficult one. He and Daisuke Sasaki have so much history together. Endo is feeling pain in his left ankle and admits he is not at his best, but he will be fine whenever he gets into the ring.

Maybe it’s not a good idea to spend so much time taunting Kazusada Higuchi. Sure, KANON got away with it once or twice heading into today’s match but here is where it all came back to bite him. KANON did show a good fight by getting a nearfall with the Sleepy Hollow. He also grounded Higuchi into the Cobra Twist but getting grabbed with a Brain Claw turned things around. Higuchi smashed him with a few Lariats and pinned him with the Brain Claw Slam. After the match Higuchi brought up KANON’s claim that he would be laughing over his corpse today. That didn’t happen and even if KANON could beat him, he would never die. Instead Higuchi is aiming for the top by winning the DDT Grand Slam! He already won King Of DDT and holds the KO-D Openweight Title. Now he just needs to win the D-Ou Grand Prix.

Friends and tag team partners Yuji Hino and Yukio Naya had to face each other in their opening block match. Naya is putting a lot of effort into convincing everyone he has taken a step up and is ready to win the tournament. He came out to new music and new ring gear to cap off a new version of himself. Unfortunately for Naya, Hino is still one of the strongest wrestlers around. There was the surprise of Naya kicking out of the Fuckin’ BOMB but he was done for once Hino hit the World’s Best German Suplex. Hino was happy to see how much his friend has grown and admitted the German Suplex was a last minute move he needed to win. Naya is not letting the loss get to him because he knows he can still reach the final if he wins his remaining matches.

In non-tournament action, the veteran team of Jun Akiyama & HARASHIMA welcomed the challenge of Yuya Koroku & Takeshi Masada in a battle between the generations. The youngsters gave Akiyama a Double Brainbuster and Masada followed it up with a Triangle Kick for a nearfall. Akiyama cut him off with Running Knee Strikes then shrugged off Masada’s Elbow Strikes to hit some more Knee Strikes. The Exploder Suplex then put an end to the match. Akiyama praised Masada for showing guts and wonders if he will be in the D-Ou GP next year if he continues showing progress. Koroku however might be getting pushed around to easily if Akiyama is being honest.

Back to the Grand Prix where MAO attempted to avenge last year’s tournament loss to Chris Brookes. Last time MAO was counted out in embarrassing fashion and it has haunted him ever since. Both were fighting for the countout win, oddly enough. It led to them fighting up in the balcony before racing back to avoid the 20 count. MAO got ahead and leapt over the barrier, landing on one end of a wooden plank leaning over it. It caused a see-saw effect where the other end hit Brookes right between the legs! MAO made it back to the ring in time to win by countout. He said what we just saw is his ability to win by imperfect means. He only had to put in a 65% performance and he was able to win this way. MAO faces Naya next and he thinks he will have to go 100% just to match Naya’s improved performances.

The debuting RSP put a dampener on Naomi Yoshimura’s start to the tournament. Yoshimura is Kenta Kobashi’s pick to win the tournament but couldn’t find anything to put his American opponent away. Instead RSP got the win with his GTF finisher. RSP explained afterwards that even though Yoshimura’s attacks hurt, he is used to pain and could withstand all of it. Yoshimura is frustrated to lose yet can’t help but love fighting against big and powerful foreign wrestlers.

Some of the undercard matches went out of control a little bit. Joey Janela and Daisuke Sasaki are upcoming opponents so were put in a preview tag team match. Sasaki had good ol’ reliable MJ Paul with him while Janela found himself in an odd couple with Yukio Sakaguchi. Things went off the rails from the get go when Sasaki and Janela fought outside the ring. Chairs were brought into the brawl and Janela accidentally hit Sakaguchi with one. Sakaguchi stormed off in anger, leaving Janela by himself to fight off Sasaki & MJ Paul. Janela was able to give Sasaki a Low Blow and a chair shot before the match was called off by the referee. Janela said Sasaki crossed a line and swore revenge. He later asked interviewers why isn’t Jun Akiyama in the tournament? Janela has fought many old wrestlers from the ages of 50 to 75 so he wants to add Akiyama to the list!

A mixture of DDT talent among the different stables were put together for the opener. Yusuke Okada from BURING, Hideki Okatani from Eruption & Yuki Ishida from Harimao defeated Shunma Katsumata & Toi Kojima from The 37KAMIINA along with the unaffiliated rookie Kazuma Sumi. Ishida pulled out a Sitout Spinebuster on Sumi to get the win.

So much for the Pheromones Subjugation Squad. Akito’s first day in charge of keeping Danshoku Dieno and his buddies under control ended in complete failure. Or did it? Toru Owashi, Makoto Oishi & Kazuki Hirata were rendered powerless to stop them until Akito revealed he had a secret plan. It was Akito stripping himself down to his underwear for some reason. Hisaya Imabayashi called off the match and told Akito there was no point taking his clothes off because there was already too much stripping going on. However that meant Pheromones didn’t win the match so in Akito’s mind his plan kind of worked!

Kenta Kobashi led the D-Ou opening ceremony where all of the entrants were introduced to the fans. He said he was looking forward to seeing exciting fights that would be worthy of the tournament and asked the fans to show their passionate support for the wrestlers.

The day began with Sanshiro Takagi promising to announce an important piece of news about DDT. First, footage was shown of Yuki Iino spending his one day as CyberFight President as promised. After that, Takagi came out and announced DDT has begun a business partnership with Sun Music to open up more entertainment opportunities for their wrestlers. Takagi then introduced everyone to Hiroyuki Oka, the vice president of Sun Music. The goal is to give DDT wrestlers more exposure in the entertainment industry while also bringing in comedians, singers and other talent who are interested in pro wrestling. Oka got in the spirit of things by complimenting the wrestlers in the dark match for all having beautiful butts… It was a Pheromones match, what did you expect?

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DDT “GOD BLESS DDT 2022” Results

October 23, 2022

DDT “GOD BLESS DDT 2022”, 23/10/2022
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
701 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

0. Dark Match – Pheromones Vs Takagi-gun Complete Showdown FINAL ~ Dissolution Contra 1 Day President! 2 Vs 5 Handicap Match: Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno (w/ Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari) defeated Sanshiro Takagi, Toru Owashi, Makoto Oishi, Antonio Honda & Akito when Dieno pinned Takagi after a Chairshot from Hisaya Imabayashi (7:39).
*Yuki “Sexy” Iino gets to be CyberFight President for 1 day.
1. Kazuma Sumi Debut Match: Kazuki Hirata defeated Kazuma Sumi with a Crab Hold (8:48).
2. Daisuke Sasaki, Minoru Fujita, MJ Paul & KANON defeated Shunma Katsumata, Toi Kojima, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani when KANON pinned Kojima with the Sleepy Hollow (12:08).
3. Special Tag Match: Soma Takao & Hikaru Machida defeated HARASHIMA & Takeshi Masada when Machida pinned Masada with the Iai Punch (10:56).
4. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku defeated Osamu Nishimura, Shinichiro Kawamatsu & Yuki Ishida when Koroku submitted Ishida with the Triangle Lancer (10:39).
5. Road To D-Ou GP Special 6-Man Tag Match: Naomi Yoshimura, Yuji Hino & Chris Brookes defeated Tetsuya Endo, MAO & Yukio Naya when Brookes pinned Naya with a Roll Up (15:22).
6. DDT Universal Title: Yuki Ueno (c) defeated Koju “Shining Ball” Takeda with the WR (15:24).
*V2 for Yuki Ueno.
7. KO-D Openweight Title: Kazusada Higuchi (c) defeated Yukio Sakaguchi with the Brain Claw Slam (16:12).
*V4 for Kazusada Higuchi.

A fourth successful KO-D Openweight Title defence is in the books for Kazusada Higuchi and it was his most emotional one yet. Yukio Sakaguchi spent the build up to the match pulling the “big brother” card and reminding everyone that he is Higuchi’s senpai. It was all mind games to see if Higuchi has really moved on from Eruption or not. It added more danger to Sakaguchi’s kicks and choke holds. The attacks left Higuchi bleeding from the bridge of his nose. But Higuchi hit back with the Brain Claw Slam and several Horizontal Chops. Sakaguchi was spent by the end of it while Higuchi yelled at him to stand back up. Both of them knew the match was finished and a tearful Higuchi gave his “big brother” another Brain Claw Slam to get the win.

The aftermatch saw Sakaguchi praising Higuchi for being merciless and also as strong as ever. He told Naomi Yoshimura & Yuki Ishida that they are part of a good unit in Harimao and they should trust Higuchi as their leader. It also made Sakaguchi tell Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani that Eruption need to fire up even stronger from now on because they cannot lose. Higuchi thanked Sakaguchi & Akai for what they taught him in Eruption. He then gave Okatani a gift. It is Higuchi’s entrance gown he wore when he was part of Eruption. When they left, Higuchi said the D-Ou Grand Prix is a physically and mentally tough challenge but he is going to face it and break through. The next KO-D Title defence won’t be until 29th December.

Old allies from the DNA days turned into fresh rivals for the DDT Universal Title. The champion Yuki Ueno not only had to worry about fighting Koju Takeda but the rest of Pheromones too. However The 37KAMIINA were there to support Ueno and get Pheromones out of the way, although it took some dives from Takeda and Ueno to help clear out the interference. When it went back into a 1 on 1 match, Ueno pinned Takeda with the WR to defend the title. He told Takeda afterwards he is glad their match has gone from Kitasenju Theatre 1010 to Korakuen Hall. Ueno doesn’t want to face anyone from Pheromones again but he can’t help but feel jealous at them. Now he will move on to the D-Ou Grand Prix where he hopes to do one better than last year and win the tournament.

A lot of the D-Ou field used today’s matches to get ready and call their shots for the tournament next month. Chris Brookes declared after the trios match he was going to win the D-Ou GP. Yoshimura then cut off the music to say he would win it instead. Yuji Hino called the two of them idiots because he will win. Then Tetsuya Endo questioned all of their opinions and decided he was going to be the winner. MAO kept cutting in during this so everyone just heard the two of them talk over each other. Yukio Naya had enough and shoved them over to say he will win. They played his music to end the segment, which annoyed Brookes because Brookes beat Naya to win the match.

The wrestling politicians team came back. Osamu Nishimura & Shinichiro Kawamatsu teamed with Ishida to take on three members of BURNING. Kawamatsu was thrown right in there with Jun Akiyama which has to be both an exciting and terrifying experience for a long time wrestling fan. Maybe the same can be said for Yusuke Okada getting to fight Nishimura. But it was the two youngest wrestlers of the match who determined which side won. Yuya Koroku timed Ishida’s momentum well and drew him into a Triangle Lancer to get the submission victory. Okada criticized Kawamatsu’s performance in the post-match interview backstage. He said the politician should put more energy into his performance. Elsewhere Kawamatsu said he fell into the same trap as his last match. Whenever he gets into the ring, his mind goes blank and his body stiffens up. If he gets another chance to do a match he promises to devote himself into showing everyone a more solid performance.

A brand new challenge was presented to Takeshi Masada. How would he fare taking on a kickboxer like Hikaru Machida? The match also presented a big challenge for Machida because HARASHIMA was Masada’s tag partner. Masada held his own against both Machida & Soma Takao until Machida started getting the combos in. They took their toll on the rookie and he was done for once the Iai Punch found its target. HARASHIMA would like to team with Masada again but they need a better tag name. The suggestions they got were Pantaloon Tag and Harashimasada but HARASHIMA thinks both of them sound too dorky.

The two members of DAMNATION T.A entering the D-Ou GP are also looking in good shape going into it. Daisuke Sasaki & KANON were victorious along with Minoru Fujita & MJ Paul against a combined foursome of Eruption and The 37KAMIINA members. Sasaki and Shunma Katsumata had a close exchange but KANON got the win by pinning Toi Kojima. After the match Sasaki said he hates the D-Ou GP but will make sure he still wins it. He will see KANON in the final. KANON replied that the D-Ou GP will be covered in DAMNATION T.A’s colours. However things looked to get tense between the two so Fujita and Paul stepped in to keep things cool between everyone.

The debut of Kazuma Sumi gave Kazuki Hirata the opportunity to wrestle a mostly serious match without his wacky antics getting in the way. Sumi made it clear he is going to be a fast moving high flyer. Hirata stopped mid-match and asked Sumi what his goal is going to be. Sumi said he wants to win the match. Hirata asked for the answer to be bigger and louder. Sumi shouted he is going to be at the top of DDT! Hirata wanted an even bigger and louder answer. Sumi shouted he will become the KO-D Champion! Hirata shook his hand and then kicked him to continue the match. He got the rookie to submit to the Crab Hold, as is tradition in pro wrestling. Kojima said Sumi has a good mindset but there are a lot of young wrestlers now in DDT that Sumi has to compete with. Sumi said a week ago he fell into a slump and couldn’t sleep but his debut match was fun and he has Hirata to thank for that.

Perhaps the match with the greatest consequence today took place on the pre-show. The dark match featured Sanshiro Takagi leading a team of wrestlers against Pheromones in a 5 Vs 2 battle. It was kind of 5 Vs 3 because Yumehito Imanari was there at ringside to help his mates out. Still, Yuki Iino & Danshoku Dieno still had to fight Takagi, Toru Owashi, Makoto Oishi, Antonio Honda & Akito all at once. Takagi had Dieno beat with the Himawari Bomb and called Hisaya Imabayashi into the ring. He gave the DDT GM a chair and told him to finish Dieno off once and for all. Imabayashi hesitated until he finally swung the chair… at Takagi! Dieno jumped on top of Takagi to get the three count, meaning Yuki Iino now gets to be President of CyberFight for a day!

Imabayashi explained his actions after the match. He was not betraying Takagi to join Pheromones. Instead he was taking a stand towards Takagi for his abuse of power. A 5 Vs 2 Handicap match was unfair from the beginning. Takagi has too much on his plate as CyberFight president to keep worrying about Pheromones. DDT has a very important project coming up next year that Takagi needs to put his full attention on. Imabayashi won’t be able to feel at peace when he leaves DDT if Takagi doesn’t move on. Takagi understands and announced he his “graduating” from his feud with Pheromones. However he appointed Akito to take his place and keep the feud going. Akito complained that he always fights Pheromones anyway but he accepts the decision.

Midway through the show Saori Anou & Riko Kawahata were brought into the ring to be announced as the opponents for Reiwa AA Cannon on 29th December. Anou was carrying the ICEx∞ Title from Ice Ribbon with her. She said she will prove she is more attractive and strong than either Saki Akai or Yuki Arai. Kawahata said she lost to Akai the last time she was in DDT so she wants to mess up the faces of both Akai & Arai on 29th December. Later Akai said she had singles matches against Anou and Kawahata before. She wonders if anything has changed with Kawahata since their previous match. She also thinks it will be great experience for Arai to fight wrestlers from other promotions and see what they all have to offer.

The big project for next year seems to be DDT’s return to America! First, Takagi announced “DDT GOES HOLLYWOOD” will take place on 30th March, 2023 at the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Los Angeles! The show will be part of The Collective, a series of events spearheaded by GCW held during WrestleMania week. If that wasn’t enough, Joey Janela sent in a video announcing “GCW VS DDT” will take place in the same venue on 31st March! It will be the first time in 4 years DDT will be holding shows in America. Takagi said he’s been wanting to do it every year since the New York show in 2019 but the pandemic kept putting them back at square one. The Yen is weak against the Dollar right now so Takagi is aiming to make a lot of money while DDT is in the USA.

Soma Takao is now the store manager of the Dropkick Bar. So if you ever want to drink with Takao, he’ll be waiting for you at the Dropkick Bar!

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Posted by JamieOD

Naruki Doi And The Dragon Gene Trio

October 13, 2022

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “YUME PRO WRESTLING -DREAM ON THE RING-”, 14/10/2022
Shinjuku FACE

1. Last Mission: Risako Vs Rika Tatsumi
2. Last Mission: Himari Manaka Vs Miyu Yamashita
3. Last Mission: Wakana Uehara Vs Shoko Nakajima
4. 3 Way Match: Hyper Misao Vs Raku Vs Mahiro Kiryu
5. Mizuki & Pom Harajuku Vs Max The Impaler & Yuki Kamifuky
6. Miu Watanabe & Suzume Vs Yuki Aino & Moka Miyamoto
7. Yuka Sakazaki, Maki Itoh & Haruna Neko Vs Rhia O’Reilly, Hikari Noa & Arisu Endo

Tomorrow is the big day for Risako, Himari Manaka and Wakana Uehara.

DDT “GOD BLESS DDT 2022”, 23/10/2022
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

0. Dark Match – Pheromones Vs Takagi-gun Complete Showdown FINAL ~ Dissolution Contra 1 Day President! 2 Vs 5 Handicap Match: Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno (w/ Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari) Vs Sanshiro Takagi, Toru Owashi, Makoto Oishi, Antonio Honda & Akito
1. Kazuma Sumi Debut Match: Kazuki Hirata Vs Kazuma Sumi
2. Daisuke Sasaki, Minoru Fujita, MJ Paul & KANON Vs Shunma Katsumata, Toi Kojima, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani
3. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku Vs Osamu Nishimura, Shinichiro Kawamatsu & Yuki Ishida
4. Special Tag Match: HARASHIMA & Takeshi Masada Vs Soma Takao & Hikaru Machida
5. Road To D-Ou GP Special 6-Man Tag Match: Naomi Yoshimura, Yuji Hino & Chris Brookes Vs Tetsuya Endo, MAO & Yukio Naya
6. DDT Universal Title: Yuki Ueno (c) Vs Koju “Shining Ball” Takeda
7. KO-D Openweight Title: Kazusada Higuchi (c) Vs Yukio Sakaguchi

Never has a dark match had so much on the line! If Sanshiro Takagi’s team wins then Pheromones must split up. However if Pheromones wins then Yuki Iino must become the president of CyberFight for one day! If Kenoh hated the CyberFight president before then hooooo boy…

DDT “D-OU GRAND PRIX 2022 IN OSAKA”, 12/11/2022
Osaka Edion Arena #2

1. Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Produce Match: Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Aja Kong & HARASHIMA
2. D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 – A Block: Yuki Ueno Vs Naomi Yoshimura
3. D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 – A Block: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Joey Janela
4. D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 – A Block: Tetsuya Endo Vs RSP
5. D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 – B Block: Kazusada Higuchi Vs MAO
6. D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 – B Block: Chris Brookes Vs Yukio Naya
7. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Yuji Hino, Makoto Oishi & Shiori Asahi (c) Vs Naruki Doi, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata

That Naruki Doi fella has been full of surprises lately. He recently announced his move from DRAGONGATE to freelance status. Who could have guessed DDT would be his first new destination of choice? He heard about the existence of the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles and would like to win them. When Toru Owashi found out he put together himself, Doi & Kazuki Hirata to challenge the new champions Ω. It is a team DDT is calling the Dragon Gene Trio. Doi has two other dates with DDT on 13th November and 4th December so win or lose he’ll be sticking around for the short term.

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