DDT “JUDGEMENT 2018 ~DDT 21ST ANNIVERSARY~” Preview

March 24, 2018

DDT “JUDGEMENT 2018 ~DDT 21ST ANNIVERSARY~”, 25/03/2018
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

0. Under Match: Mizuki Watase, Rekka, Daiki Shimomura, Nobuhiro Shimatani & Takato Nakano Vs Mad Paulie, Hoshitango, Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Gota Ihashi & Cherry
0. Under Match: Kouki Iwasaki & Shinichiro Tominaga Vs Kenshin Chikano & Akira Jo
0. Under Match – Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Yuka Sakazaki & Shoko Nakajima Va Rika Tatsumi & Maho Kurone
1. Gauntlet Tag Match: LiLiCo & Makoto Oishi Vs Reika Saiki & Lady Beard Vs Akito & Shunma Katsumata Vs Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Antonio Honda & Ethan Page Vs Naomi Yoshimura & Keisuke Okuda
2. World Crazy Wrestler No. 1 Decision Battle In DDT: Joey Ryan Vs Colt Cabana
3. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match – Special 6-Woman Tag Match: Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh & Mizuki Vs Saki-sama, Yoshiko-sama & Azusa Christie
4. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Super Sasadango Machine (c) Vs Jiro Kuroshio
5. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi (c) Vs Kota Umeda, Yuki Ueno & Koji Takeda
6. Weapon Rumble 5 Way Tag Loser Gets Anal Blast Match: Sanshiro Takagi & Ippanjin Munenori Sawa Vs Mike Bailey & MAO Vs Yuko Miyamoto & Soma Takao Vs Isami Kodaka & Fuminori Abe Vs Michael Nakazawa & Chinsuke Nakamura
7. Dramatic Dream Match: Danshoku Dino, Keisuke Ishii & Ken Ohka Vs Great Muta, Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo
8. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Uchikomi! Presents: HARASHIMA & Naomichi Marufuji (c) Vs Daisuke Sekimoto & Kazusada Higuchi
9. KO-D Openweight Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Shuji Ishikawa

For an audio preview I appeared on an episode of the Wrestling Omakase podcast to talk about the show. We also review the “SAKI AKAI PRODUCE ~ DDT COLLECTION” show on the same episode. You can listen to it here.

The DDT UNIVERSE live broadcast begins on 1:30pm JST with the first pre-show match beginning at 2:00pm JST and the main show beginning at 3:00pm JST. So for other time zones the main show begins at 7:00am GMT (remember the clocks will have gone forward one hour in this time zone), 2:00am ET and (Saturday) 11:00pm PT. For those with access to AbemaTV the event will also air live for free on the DDT channel (VPN needed for those outside Japan). There will be either muted audio or replacement music for the entrances and video packages because of this.

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DDT is back in Sumo Hall once again for its biggest event of the year. “JUDGEMENT 2018” is being held to mark DDT’s 21st anniversary and is providing a stacked card to celebrate. The headline match is a rematch of a 2016 Sumo Hall main event but there is plenty to talk about from top to bottom. We have grudge matches, we have generational battles, we have wrestling demons, we have anal explosions, we have title matches, we have joshi, we have crazy foreign wrestlers and we have the other sub-brands jumping in to get involved. The only way this show gets any more insane is if DDT goes the Pop Team Epic route and holds an identical 5 hour show immediately after this 5 hour show ends but with different a commentary team.

0. Under Match: Mizuki Watase, Rekka, Daiki Shimomura, Nobuhiro Shimatani & Takato Nakano Vs Mad Paulie, Hoshitango, Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Gota Ihashi & Cherry

The first match of the day is between rookies and veterans. The rookie team consists of DNA and BASARA wrestlers. Mizuki Watase’s big matches in DNA for the last few months have been against wrestlers like Koji Kanemoto & Minoru Tanaka. Taiwanese wrestler Rekka recently formed a short lived team with Chinese wrestler Choun-Shiryu that fell apart over their national differences. Daiki Shimomura has been bottom of the pile and taking loss after loss on most shows. His Gran MilliMeters partner Nobuhiro Shimatani has been the same except he has spent his time trying to win over DAMNATION so he can join their group. BASARA’s Takato Nakano is approaching the first anniversary of his debut match in April.

On the veteran team Mad Paulie has become a little bit calmer ever since he discovered dancing. He loves to dance along to Shuji Ishikawa’s karaoke. Because of this he acts a little bit nicer to his opponents but he is still dangerous to wrestle. Gota Ihashi embarrassed himself on the big stage when he got to team with Kota Ibushi and Riki Choshu on a show produced by Choshu. They won their match but Choshu ripped apart Ihashi with criticism during a post show interview. Ever since then Ihashi has been trying to regain his confidence and even wants to discover if the power of Choshu is inside of him. It isn’t. The real power is the friends you make along the way and Choshu has been friends with Ibushi for years so the entire journey is a waste of time in the first place. Hoshitango, Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Cherry have been filling up the DDT pre-show matches throughout the year.

0. Under Match: Kouki Iwasaki & Shinichiro Tominaga Vs Kenshin Chikano & Akira Jo

The focus of this match is between Kouki Iwasaki and Akira Jo. The two are feuding against each other in DNA where the homegrown wrestlers are defending themselves against the Naomi Kingdom, which Jo is a part of. Shinichiro Tominaga comes over from Ganbare☆Wrestling as a proud “amateur” pro wrestling card carrier. Kenshin Chikano has a DDT appearance here and there. He had a little more of a presence in BASARA last year when BASARA had a summer long rivalry with Dove Pro Wrestling.

0. Under Match – Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Yuka Sakazaki & Shoko Nakajima Va Rika Tatsumi & Maho Kurone

Tokyo Joshi Pro gets fully represented with two matches this time around. The pre-show match is between two of their long standing tag teams the Miraclians and the Dragon Bombers. The Apricots have been teaming together for as long as Yuka Sakazaki & Shoko Nakajima have been around. They have a few achievements between them but the one they share together is becoming the first ever TOKYO Princess Tag Team Champions. On the surface the Dragon Bombers look like an odd pairing but Rika Tatsumi and Maho Kurone have won over fans with their personalities. Kurone’s entire zombie character is immediately eye catching and her behaviour at shows is often fun to follow. Tatsumi got some media attention when she admitted to fancying another Tokyo Joshi wrestler Mizuki and openly questioned the No Relationships rule used by the promotion because it only refers to having boyfriends and not girlfriends. She is currently preparing for the biggest match of her life in May when she main events Korakuen Hall. She recently pinned Nakajima to build up her momentum. Either repeating it or pinning Sakazaki would only increase it further.

1. Gauntlet Tag Match: LiLiCo & Makoto Oishi Vs Reika Saiki & Lady Beard Vs Akito & Shunma Katsumata Vs Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Antonio Honda & Ethan Page Vs Naomi Yoshimura & Keisuke Okuda

The show kicks off proper with a wacky Gauntlet Match for Tag Teams. When LiLiCo was last in DDT she was defending the now forgotten KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles with Makoto Oishi and three others. That was in November. Now she’s back in training with Oishi to enter the gauntlet. Oishi has planning his next steps ever since NωA split up. He demanded to join T2Hide so he could take over the group and even won the right to be a member. But he instead turned it down so he could go do literally anything else. Reika Saiki & Lady Beard are connected together outside of wrestling as the idol duo DEADLIFT LOLITA. This is their first time teaming together for a wrestling match. Shunma Katsumata became the breakout wrestler from NωA when he joined ALL OUT and went through a crazy Hardcore Match where he used thumbtacks. Akito has been by Katsumata’s side during this encouraging him to come out of his shell. Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata are still the same except for the times when Hirata gets deported and replaced by a suspiciously similar looking foreign substitute. They might still be feeling burned by Oishi rejecting them. Ethan Page has been loving his stay in Japan which probably explains why he acts different here compared to how he normally elsewhere. DDT brought him in with big hopes that he will be their next big Canadian star. Antonio Honda is with him to make sure that happens. Finally, Naomi Yoshimura & Keisuke Okuda have been terrorising DNA with their Naomi Kingdom unit. Their troublemaking is now spreading to DDT and they are very interested to be in the same ring as LiLiCo and Saiki.

2. World Crazy Wrestler No. 1 Decision Battle In DDT: Joey Ryan Vs Colt Cabana

Everything about this match is a little funny. Two of America’s most known and successful comedy wrestlers will face off one on one inside one of Japan’s most prestigious wrestling arenas… and there’s been zero build up for it. That’s not to say either of them have done nothing in DDT at all. In January Joey Ryan competed at the D-Oh Grand Prix. He seemed to be more concerned about convincing the audience to throw paper tape at him for his entrances than he was with winning matches. Colt “Boom Boom” Cabana challenged for the KO-D Openweight Title on Christmas Day but failed to win it. He then spent New Year’s Eve pretending to be Abdullah The Butcher. Both are fighting for the right to be called the DDT’s craziest gaijin wrestler.

3. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match – Special 6-Woman Tag Match: Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh & Mizuki Vs Saki-sama, Yoshiko-sama & Azusa Christie

For the first time Tokyo Joshi gets a main card spot on a Sumo Hall show. Miyu Yamashita has regained her position as the ace of the promotion when she won back the TOKYO Princess Of Princess Title on 4th January. Since then she has been fighting off challengers like Veda Scott, Yuna Manase and Maho Kurone. Teaming with her is one of the scariest egos ever to grace a DDT ring. Pop idol turned pro wrestler Maki Itoh often becomes intense when she wrestles. Her petite figure doesn’t stop her from throwing headbutts and giving her opponents the middle finger. She also formed her own team/fan club called the Itoh Respect Army and brought in Mizuki as Member #001. Mizuki doesn’t mind and is happy to make a friend. They even recorded a music video together. It’s just that this friend can act like a psychopath when she doesn’t get her way.

Their opponents are NEO Biishiki-gun, the snooty aristocratic unit led by the snootier and even more aristocratic Saki-sama. Her biggest move over the last year was abducting one of the weakest wrestlers in Tokyo Joshi, Azusa Takigawa and brainwashing her into becoming Azusa Christie. Azusa is now a devoted nun who worships Saki-sama as if she was God. This change has seen her gain more success than she ever had previously and she along with Saki now holds the TOKYO Princess Tag Team Championships. Ever since her inclusion, NEO Biishiki-gun have been the dominant force in Tokyo Joshi and now they have a new girl joining them for this show. In February Saki-sama brought out a shy woman who was hiding her face behind a teddy bear and introduced her as an old friend from her childhood. Maki Itoh confronted this girl and threatened her until the bear was lowered and the face was revealed. The girl is Yoshiko-sama and she isn’t afraid to fight back! Her teddy bear is named Charlotte by the way.

4. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Super Sasadango Machine (c) Vs Jiro Kuroshio

I’ve had trouble trying to keep up with the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title this year. Super Sasadango Machine won it the first week of January and asked to defend the belt against Jiro Kuroshio at Sumo Hall. His wish was granted but on one condition. Sasadango would need to defend the title at least twice a week every week up until the show takes place. Sasadango quickly found a solution to this problem. He set up an office in Nagoya and invited celebrities, spokesmen and other various business people to try and win the belt from him. In return they would get to promote their projects on DDT’s social media. It worked for the most part but there were some title changes I missed from people I don’t know and from there I lost track. As of writing I think he is still the champion and his title match with Kuroshio is all set.

But things are never just normal with this championship. There are always people hunting after the belt and I’ll be shocked if this match just stays between Sasadango and Kuroshio. Heck I’ll be shocked if a title change does not happen right before the match takes place! Also I don’t think Kuroshio would be just satisfied with doing just this match. Remember, he has a pinfall victory over Konosuke Takeshita from the D-Oh Grand Prix. There has to be some sort of follow up to that.

5. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi (c) Vs Kota Umeda, Yuki Ueno & Koji Takeda

On the one hand Shuten-dōji finds themselves in the familiar position of the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles match on DDT’s big supercard. On the other hand their opponents this time includes what used to be one of their own! Kota Umeda returned from a long injury absence last November and is making up for lost time in both DDT and DNA. He built up a quick but intense rivalry with another rookie Yuki Ueno. He also joined the rest of DNA in their feud with the Naomi Kingdom. It was during this time that Umeda started to figure something out. As the fourth member of Shuten-dōji he was often left out of their 6-Man Tag Title matches. The only times he got to step in was to cover for one of the other wrestlers if they were hurt. This had to change.

Shuten-dōji reached the point where they were disappointed by their current position. They wanted to face the best trios DDT could throw at them but in the end it is they who are the best trio. That was when Umeda stepped up to them. He wanted to challenge his brothers for the titles and to do so he is teaming with his rival Ueno as well as another rookie Koji Takeda. The response from Shuten-dōji was mixed. Masahiro Takanashi found it funny. He thought Umeda’s new unit looks so bad that they should be called Pigging 2018 after the consistently worst unit to compete in the DDT General Elections year after year. But KUDO & Yukio Sakaguchi took this seriously. They would allow Umeda to challenge them but he would no longer be a part of Shuten-dōji if he does so. Umeda was willing to pay that price. Now Umeda is leading his generation team against his former family and in the process became a fierce enemy to Sakaguchi in particular. It might get worse when the title match takes place.

6. Weapon Rumble 5 Way Tag Loser Gets Anal Blast Match: Sanshiro Takagi & Ippanjin Munenori Sawa Vs Mike Bailey & MAO Vs Yuko Miyamoto & Soma Takao Vs Isami Kodaka & Fuminori Abe Vs Michael Nakazawa & Chinsuke Nakamura

Well this has been crazy. Originally DDT was going to hold its Falls Count Anywhere specialty match but Sumo Hall management and the Japan Sumo Association finally put their foot down and told them no. The potential risk of audience injuries and building damage is too high for them to accept. Unfortunately for them they weren’t prepared for DDT’s Plan B. Sure DDT will keep it in the ring but now there are explosives involved. At least it’s still safer than Sami Callihan playing with a pinata.

It all begun when Sanshiro Takagi was reunited with an old friend. In a moment that they absolutely swear was not like anything else that happened that same week involving former DDT talent, Munenori Sawa returned to DDT to save Takagi from a beatdown. They embraced, tears were shed and one of DDT’s wackiest tag teams from the last decade were back in business. Although Sawa had retired from pro wrestling to become a salaryman, he would still show up near a wrestling ring every now and then. Takagi threw out a challenge. He and Sawa would face anyone in a Falls Count Anywhere Match at Sumo Hall. They attracted a lot of offers. Yuko Miyamoto wanted to get involved and as the current DDT Extreme Champion he surely qualifies. Soma Takao joins Miyamoto as part of Smile Squash. The call was also answered by Isami Kodaka & Fuminori Abe from BASARA. Kodaka is a hardcore wrestler and Abe is pretty much Munenori Sawa Jr. so the stipulation suits them fine.

The challenge led to an old enemy of Takagi’s resurfacing. Michael Nakazawa sent a video saying he would enter with a friend from “New York”. That friend is Chinsuke Nakamura! The Pauper Of Strong Style made his presence felt when he threw Takagi over the top rope and out of the ring. He celebrated this accomplishment by pointing to the RyogokuMania sign held above Korakuen Hall. The loudest response of all was from MAO fresh off of his split from NωA. MAO thinks now is the time DDT gets a new face for Street Wrestling and it should be him. He’s bringing Speedball Mike Bailey back to team with him. However MAO may be too crazy judging by that time he ran over Takagi with a van to win a Falls Count Anywhere match. He then threatened to blow up Shin-Kiba 1st RING with fireworks.

So the match was set and tensions grew to a dangerous level between Takagi and MAO. Takagi’s response to getting hit by a vehicle was to start shoving fireworks into other wrestlers’ butts to give them an Anal Explosion. MAO responded in kind until it was the major focus by everyone involved in the upcoming match. That was when the ban came and the match had to be cancelled. During that announcement all of the teams came together and threw together a replacement match. The BASARA team wanted to use weapons. MAO demanded that someone should get an Anal Blast. Everyone agreed to a Weapons Rumble match. As the match progresses, new weapons would be brought out Royal Rumble style. Plus whoever loses the match must subject themselves to an Anal Explosion! This means everybody is happy except for the Japan Sumo Association. Serves them right.

7. Dramatic Dream Match: Danshoku Dino, Keisuke Ishii & Ken Ohka Vs Great Muta, Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo

One of the first announcements for this show made back in January was the involvement of The Great Muta. DDT eventually announced that he would be teaming with DAMNATION to take on Danshoku Dino and his friends. Daisuke Sasaki would use the news to announce that he is in charge and Muta would be fighting under his leadership. There was no response from Muta about this. Sasaki then started taunting Dino by spitting cola and coffee at him Poison Mist style. Again there was no response from Muta. But Sasaki’s actions did bring Dino to his breaking point. The attacks made Dino transform into The Great Homo! Under his own Muta-style personality, Dino would constantly attack Sasaki and Tetsuya Endo. Endo moreso than Sasaki. He would spit Poison Milk Mist at them and attack their backsides with a spike. The only way he could be stopped was when Sasaki transformed into Nerima Sting to combat him. This finally made Muta stir. The demon was not pleased by this nonsense especially from Dino.

A threatening message was sent to DDT HQ. Dino has been given the Poison Curse! No matter where Dino goes, Muta would possess everyone around him and make them spit the Poison Mist in Dino’s face. Nowhere was Dino safe. Employees, trainees, referees, wrestlers, fans, models, TV hosts. All of them spat the Mist at Dino under Muta’s power. Dino would get attacked again and again and again and again and again! Has Muta’s plan brought Dino back to the brink enough to summon The Great Homo? Keisuke Ishii and Ken Ohka are there to help Dino but the three of them are clearly outmatched. The only thing they don’t have to worry about is Muta doing a Moonsault but that’s what Endo is there for.

8. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Uchikomi! Presents: HARASHIMA & Naomichi Marufuji (c) Vs Daisuke Sekimoto & Kazusada Higuchi

For many in DDT there is one task that seems impossible and that is beating HARASHIMA. The backbone of DDT is often the biggest mountain to climb and some wrestlers have become obsessed with doing it. The latest wrestler in this position is Kazusada Higuchi. HARASHIMA has been a thorn in his side ever since Higuchi’s first year in DDT. HARASHIMA gave Higuchi his first loss, beat him twice in KO-D Title matches and also won the KO-D Tag Team Titles from him with Naomichi Marufuji. The team known as HarashiMarufuji have held the titles ever since. They even survived a title defence held inside a factory! If they were ever to be beaten, Higuchi would have to find somebody really strong to team with him.

Oh crap. Daisuke Sekimoto wants to get involved.

Sekimoto & Higuchi joined forces for the annual New Year’s Eve cross promotion Tag Team Tournament and made it all the way to the final. They made such a good impression together that they are reuniting to go after HARASHIMA & Marufuji. Sekimoto and HARASHIMA have a history together but there is respect between them. HARASHIMA and Higuchi however do not like each other ever since HARASHIMA knocked out Higuchi during a singles match earlier this month. When Higuchi came to he went on a rampage chasing after HARASHIMA. A defeat to Marufuji too in the run-up to this match hasn’t helped. Higuchi will have to keep his emotions in check against these two.

9. KO-D Openweight Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Shuji Ishikawa

This is the rematch 19 months in the making. Konosuke Takeshita and Shuji Ishikawa main evented “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2016” with the KO-D Openweight Title on the line. Ishikawa came out on top that night and held onto the belt for almost the rest of 2016. HARASHIMA won the title from him in December that year but the championship made its way back to Takeshita at “JUDGEMENT 2017” just over one year ago. Since then Takeshita has firmly kept the belt in his grasp and fought all-comers, breaking the DDT record for most title defences in a single reign with 10 successful defences at this time. Freshly graduated from college, Takeshita has been having a great year as the champion. It’s getting tough though. A lower back injury has plagued Takeshita throughout February and gave him a big target that can be exploited. So it’s been a tough year but a great year none the less.

However you can argue Shuji Ishikawa’s last 12 months have been just as good if not better. He goes on a tear in All Japan and wins the Champion Carnival, then the Triple Crown, then the Real World Tag League with Suwama and then AJPW World Tag Team Titles also with Suwama. When he refocused his efforts in DDT at the beginning of 2018, Ishikawa ends up winning the first ever D-Oh Grand Prix tournament almost unbeaten. His only loss in the competition was against his DAMNATION leader Daisuke Sasaki. The goal of the Grand Prix was to establish DDT’s leading star for the rest of the year and Ishikawa proved there is no one more deserving of it than him.

Ishikawa has gone out to prove he has a range of other talents too. Ever since he won the Grand Prix, Ishikawa has performed karaoke in the ring to celebrate his big victories in DDT. Mad Paulie has joined in the fun by dancing along to his songs. Sasaki & Endo aren’t as eager to join in so they just grin and bare it while he sings. With the big title match on the horizon, Sasaki gave Ishikawa a serious order. Ishikawa cannot sing karaoke and Paulie cannot dance again until Ishikawa beats Takeshita at Sumo Hall to become the KO-D Champion. This gave Ishikawa an idea. Takeshita is injured. If he gets so injured that he cannot defend the title at Sumo Hall then Ishikawa will become the champion by default. Then for the main event Ishikawa can sing karaoke inside the ring all night long! So for the last month Ishikawa has intentionally tried to injure Takeshita in their preview matches. It briefly worked when Takeshita had to miss a show to recover but he came back and in their most recent match together pinned Ishikawa.

So there you have it. The strongest champion in DDT’s history is hurt but still capable of beating whatever is being thrown at him. DDT’s strongest challenger is almost unstoppable and is powered by the desire to show off his vocal talents. Their 2016 match is well worth the watch in preparation for this.


DDT “INTO THE FIGHT 2018” Results

February 25, 2018

DDT “INTO THE FIGHT 2018”, 25/02/2018
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,220 Fans – No Vacancy

0. Under Match: Mad Paulie defeated Tomomitsu Matsunaga with the Paulie Buster (6:32).
1. Tag Rumble: Soma Takao & MAO defeated Sanshiro Takagi & Super Sasadango Machine, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata, Makoto Oishi & Kota Umeda and Yuki Ueno & Koju Takeda (6:14).
1a. Makoto Oishi & Kota Umeda eliminated Yuki Ueno & Koju Takeda by Ring Out when Oishi threw Ueno out of the ring (2:06).
1b. Sanshiro Takagi & Super Sasadango Machine eliminated Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata by Ring Out when Sasadango threw Hirata out of the ring (5:00).
1c. Sanshiro Takagi & Super Sasadango Machine eliminated Makoto Oishi & Kota Umeda when Sasadango pinned Oishi after the Golden☆Trigger (5:32).
1d. Soma Takao & MAO eliminated Sanshiro Takagi & Super Sasadango Machine when MAO pinned Takagi with the Cannonball 450° (6:14).
2. Infomercial Match – Net One Systems Co., Ltd.: Danshoku Dino defeated Saki Akai, Akito, Antonio Honda, Kouki Iwasaki and Mizuki Watase when Dino pinned Honda with the Danshoku Driver (6:58).
3. Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo defeated Keisuke Ishii & Ken Ohka when Sasaki submitted Ohka with the Cross Facelock (8:01).
4. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi (c) defeated Ryuichi Sekine, Ryota Nakatsu & Fuminori Abe when Sakaguchi submitted Nakatsu with a Modified Arm Triangle (8:05).
*V2 for Shuten-dōji.
5. DDT Extreme Title – Hardcore +α Match: Yuko Miyamoto (c) defeated Shunma Katsumata with the Moonsault (11:45).
*V2 for Yuko Miyamoto.
6. Special Single Match: Naomichi Marufuji defeated Kazusada Higuchi with the Ko-oh (13:02).
7. Special Tag Match: Shuji Ishikawa & Daisuke Sekimoto defeated Konosuke Takeshita & HARASHIMA when Ishikawa pinned Takeshita with the Splash Mountain (18:04).

With exactly one month to go until “JUDGEMENT 2018” at Sumo Hall, some big preview matches were put together for Korakuen Hall. In the main event the KO-D Openweight Champion fought alongside one of the KO-D Tag Team Champions against some of their challengers. Konosuke Takeshita, HARASHIMA, Shuji Ishikawa and Daisuke Sekimoto fought back and forth until the match went down to just Takeshita and Ishikawa inside the ring. HARASHIMA and Sekimoto still got involved to break the pins but other than that they focused on fighting each other outside. Ishikawa used the Kamigoe to great effect and hit move after move on Takeshita until the Splash Mountain kept him down for the three count.

After the match Ishikawa told Takeshita he was certainly strong but the result of their match at Sumo Hall will be the same as it was today. He then asked Daisuke Sasaki if he could sing today. He knows both he and Mad Paulie are prohibited from karaoke and dancing celebrations until Sumo Hall but he did just pin the KO-D Champion. Surely that is worth a song. Sasaki refused until Sekimoto threatened him. Sekimoto wants to sing too! Together, Ishikawa and Sekimoto sang “Tonbo” in a duet while Paulie played the air guitar while wearing sunglasses.

The other KO-D Tag Team Title preview saw Naomichi Marufuji defeat Kazusada Higuchi. Higuchi was worn down by Marufuji’s chops and different kicks while his own moves weren’t enough to keep Marufuji down for long. Marufuji said Higuchi has grown better since than the last time they fought but it takes more than youth and momentum to succeed. Marufuji is in too deep for Higuchi to beat him! Higuchi says he is learning from these matches and now understands what he is missing. From now until Sumo Hall, Higuchi & Sekimoto will think about what they need to do to win the KO-D Tag Team Titles.

There were plenty of weapons placed around ringside for the DDT Extreme Title match but two items in particular were the most important. The Hardcore +α Match allowed both Yuko Miyamoto and Shunma Katsumata to choose an extra weapon each. Miyamoto chose a barbed wire bat and Katsumata chose a box full of thumbtacks! The two also fought with tables, ladders, chairs and bamboo swords. Katsumata poured out the thumbtacks but he was the first to taste them when he missed a Moonsault and was then given the Fire Thunder. Katsumata kicked out and later slammed Miyamoto onto the thumbtacks with the ¡Hasta La Vista!. Miyamoto kicked out of that. Miyamoto hit another Fire Thunder and this time got the victory with the Moonsault. Backstage Miyamoto said how surprised he was by Katsumata’s performance. He was expecing an idol performance first and he still wasn’t convinced when the thumbtacks came out. It was only when Katsumata started using the weapons that Miyamoto realised he was really bringing it to him. Katsumata thinks the experience opened something new inside him. He is no longer scared of deathmatches and has a new respect for deathmatch fighters. He hopes he can use what he learned here to do more with ALL OUT.

NEO Biishiki-gun were invited out halfway through the show to reveal their third member for the Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match at Sumo Hall. Saki-sama & Azusa Christie came out to introduce their newest member but Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh were also there to see who it was. The mystery person came out and it was a woman in a dress hiding her face behind a teddy bear. Christie introduced her as Saki-sama’s old childhood friend. She shyly greeted the audience while still hiding behind the bear. Itoh had enough and she shouted at the woman about her appearance until the teddy was lowered. The mystery woman is Yoshiko-sama! She attacked Itoh with the bear and dropped on her with a Senton. Yamashita pulled Itoh out of the ring and had to drag her away. The teddy bear is named Charlotte by the way.

The BASARA team were in sync for most of the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles bout. At one point Ryuichi Sekine, Ryota Nakatsu & Fuminori Abe had a Shuten-dōji wrestler all trapped in submissions move at the same time. Nakatsu came close to pinning Yukio Sakaguchi with a German Suplex. But the champions retained when Sakaguchi countered the V Slider into a Triangle Kimura Hold.

Shuten-dōji were grateful in victory but now they faced a problem. They want to fight the best trio in DDT at Sumo Hall but they are the best trio so they have no opponents. Much to their surprise Yuki Ueno and Koju Takeda both entered the ring. Ueno asked if they could get the title shot at Sumo Hall. Masahiro Takanashi couldn’t believe what he was hearing from the rookie and said it was impossible. Then in a bigger surprise, Kota Umeda offered to be on their team! Sakaguchi was fine with the idea but he told Umeda he would have to leave Shuten-dōji for the time being. Umeda was willing to do that. He later explained that by being fourth man in Shuten-dōji, he was always left out of the 6-Man Tag Title matches unless one of the other three were injured. He also created a respectful bond with Ueno from their matches together since coming back from injury. By leaving Shuten-dōji to team with Ueno & Takeda he is now free to challenge for the championships at Sumo Hall.

Daisuke Sasaki blinded Keisuke Ishii with the Mist then made Ken Ohka tap to the Cross Facelock. Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo’s victory was cut short when the room went dark. The Great Homo appeared and spat Milk Mist at both of the DAMNATION wrestlers! He then pressed a metal spike into Endo’s backside and gave him the Danshoku Driver. The Great Homo made his exit by spitting Milk Mist at the audience.

For the Infomercial Match, Danshoku Dino was fitted with health sensors that displayed his hit points on the Korakuen video screen. With this technology we were able to learn what moves were effective against Dino (Antonio Honda’s strikes) and how Dino was able to recover lost hit points (doing Danshoku things to Akito). Dino was eventually brought down to 0 HP but everyone discovered that at 0 HP, Dino goes into a panic state. In this state Dino attacked everyone with Lip Locks. Dino won the match and told the sponsor that there is something about pro wrestling that cannot be measured by numbers. He then kissed the sponsor.

Congratulations to Sanshiro Takagi & Super Sasadango Machine for being the first team to copy the new Golden Lovers moveset. They attempted the Croyt’s Wrath/High Kick combo on Makoto Oishi. It kind of worked. Then they used the Golden☆Trigger, which did work. All of their progress was for nothing as MAO immediately pinned Takagi with the Cannonball 450° afterwards to win the Tag Rumble for himself and Soma Takao.

When the Tag Rumble was over, MAO said he will be entering the Falls Count Anywhere In Ryogoku tag match with Mike Bailey. He said now is the time for Street Wrestling to be taken over by the new generation. Soma Takao also announced he will be part of the match with Yuko Miyamoto as his partner. They will be representing Smile Squash. Takagi accepted the entries but then the room went dark. A video played of Michael Nakazawa announcing his entry into the match! His partner is a friend from “New York” and he is in Korakuen tonight. “Rising Sun” played over the speakers and Chinsuke Nakamura came out! Takagi attacked Nakamura mid-entrance but got the Kinsasha for his troubles. Chinsuke threw Takagi over the top rope and out of the ring, then pointed to the RyogokuMania sign that suddenly appeared on one of the balconies. One last team announced their entry later in the show. Fuminori Abe called Isami Kodaka on the phone while standing in the ring to confirm they will be part of the match.

Mad Paulie’s size and weight was too large for Tomomitsu Matsunaga to handle. Matsunaga couldn’t lift Paulie with the Back Drop or a Power Bomb. Paulie was able to stop Matsunaga with a Lou Thesz Press then pinned him with the Paulie Buster.

Gota Ihashi continues his path of redemption with a new five match series beginning in April. His first opponent is Koji Kanemoto on 1st April. Ken Ohka explained that Ihashi is wrestling to the best of his abilities but that alone is not getting results. Ihashi has to face wrestlers on the level of Kanemoto if he wants to become good enough to appease Riki Choshu.

Saki Akai revealed three new pieces of information about her “DDT COLLECTION” show at Shinjuku FACE on 15th March. First, Aja Kong will be on the card. Second, there will be a 6 Way Match between Yuko Miyamoto, Ryota Nakatsu, Naomi Yoshimura, Yukio Sakaguchi, Nobuhiro Shimatani and Yoshiko. Last but not least, NEO Biishiki-gun will face T2HiJoshi in a special trios match.

DDT is collaborating with Koei Tecmo for the upcoming horse racing video game “Winning Post 8 2018”. The game will feature two race horses named after Danshoku Dino and Konosuke Takeshita.

The DDT Video Team confirmed their own produced event “BETAMANIA” will be held in Shin-Kiba 1st RING on 23rd April. The video team is made up of Yumehito Imanari, DT-YUTA and Ryohei Fukuda. All three will participate in a match on the show.

Below is the updated card for “JUDGEMENT 2018”.

DDT “JUDGEMENT 2018 ~DDT 21ST ANNIVERSARY~”, 25/03/2018
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

0. Under Match: Kouki Iwasaki & Shinichiro Tominaga Vs Kenshin Chikano & Akira Jo
0. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Yuka Sakazaki & Shoko Nakajima Va Rika Tatsumi & Maho Kurone
0. Under Match: Mizuki Watase, Rekka, Daiki Shimomura, Nobuhiro Shimatani & Takato Nakano Vs Mad Paulie, Hoshitango, Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Gota Ihashi & Cherry
1. Gauntlet Tag Match: LiLiCo & Makoto Oishi Vs Reika Saiki & Lady Beard Vs Akito & Shunma Katsumata Vs Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Antonio Honda & Ethan Page Vs Naomi Yoshimura & Keisuke Okuda
2. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match – Special 6-Woman Tag Match: Miyu Yamashita, Maki Ito & Mizuki Vs Saki-sama, Yoshiko-sama & Azusa Christie
3. World Crazy Wrestler No. 1 Decision Battle In DDT: Joey Ryan Vs Colt Cabana
4. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Super Sasadango Machine (c) Vs Jiro Kuroshio
5. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi (c) Vs Kota Umeda, Yuki Ueno & Koji Takeda
6. Street Wrestling Using The Entire Ryogoku Building ~ Falls Count Anywhere 5 Way Tag Match: Sanshiro Takagi & Normal Person Munenori Sawa Vs Mike Bailey & MAO Vs Yuko Miyamoto & Soma Takao Vs Isami Kodaka & Fuminori Abe Vs Michael Nakazawa & Chinsuke Nakamura
7. Dramatic Dream Match: Danshoku Dino, Keisuke Ishii & Ken Ohka Vs Great Muta, Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo
8. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Uchikomi! Presents: HARASHIMA & Naomichi Marufuji (c) Vs Daisuke Sekimoto & Kazusada Higuchi
9. KO-D Openweight Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Shuji Ishikawa


“NEW YEAR’S EVE WRESTLING 2017” Results

January 1, 2018

“NEW YEAR’S EVE WRESTLING 2017”, 31/12/2017
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,411 Fans

1. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Daisuke Sekimoto & Kazusada Higuchi defeated Ryota Hama & Soma Takao when Sekimoto pinned Takao after a missed Okido Press from Hama (6:06).
2. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Kazuki Hashimoto & Akito defeated Kota Sekifuda & Ryota Nakatsu when Akito submitted Nakatsu with the Perfect Figure 4 Leg Lock (4:32).
3. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Brahman Kei & Daisuke Sasaki (w/ Brahman Shu) defeated Antonio Honda & Takuya Nomura (w/ Jaki Numazawa) when Sasaki pinned Honda after the Syachihoko Clutch (7:21).
4. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Danshoku Dino & Daichi Hashimoto defeated Keisuke Ishii & Takayuki Ueki when Dino pinned Ueki with the Danshoku Screwdriver (9:53).
5. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: HARASHIMA & Yuko Miyamoto defeated Yukio Sakaguchi & Yuya Aoki when Miyamoto pinned Aoki with the Fire Thunder (3:28).
6. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Isami Kodaka & Yoshihisa Uto defeated Masahiro Takanashi & Tatsuhiko Yoshino when Uto pinned Yoshino with the Axis Fall (6:34).
7. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Abdullah Kobayashi & Colt Cabana defeated Minoru Fujita & Shunma Katsumata when Kobayashi submitted Katsumata with a Crab Hold (4:21).
8. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Great Kojika & Tetsuya Koda Vs Hideki Suzuki & Konosuke Takeshita ended in a Time Limit Draw (10:00).
8a. Sudden Death – 1 Count Fall: Hideki Suzuki & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Great Kojika & Tetsuya Koda when Takeshita pinned Kojika with a Rope Assisted School Boy (1:38).
9. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Daisuke Sekimoto & Kazusada Higuchi defeated Kazuki Hashimoto & Akito when Higuchi pinned Akito with a Japanese Leg Roll Clutch (1:52).
10. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Brahman Shu & Daisuke Sasaki (w/ Brahman Kei) defeated Danshoku Dino & Daichi Hashimoto when Shu pinned Dino with a School Boy (8:09).
11. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: HARASHIMA & Yuko Miyamoto defeated Isami Kodaka & Yoshihisa Uto when HARASHIMA pinned Uto with the Somato (9:57).
12. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Hideki The Brody & Jimmy Takeshita Vs Stan Kobayashi & Colt “Boom Boom” Butcher ended in a No Contest after a Referee Assault (2:17).
12a. Sudden Death – 1 Count Fall: Hideki The Brodie & Jimmy Takeshita defeated Stan Kobayashi & Colt “Boom Boom” Butcher by Countout (2:50).
13. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi Final: Daisuke Sekimoto & Kazusada Higuchi defeated HARASHIMA & Yuko Miyamoto when Sekimoto pinned Miyamoto with the Roll Through German Suplex (9:47).
14. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi Final: Hideki The Brody & Jimmy Takeshita defeated Brahman Kei & Daisuke Sasaki (w/ Brahman Shu) when Takeshita pinned Kei with the Superfly Splash (7:02).
15. TAKA Michinoku 25th Anniversary Match: Kotaro Yoshino, Dinosaur Takuma, Kazumi Kikuta & MAO defeated TAKA Michinoku, Dick Togo, Ryuji Ito & Sanshiro Takagi when MAO pinned Michinoku with a School Boy (13:16).
16. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Final: Hideki Suzuki & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Daisuke Sekimoto & Kazusada Higuchi when Suzuki pinned Higuchi with the Double Arm Suplex (12:44).

DDT and Big Japan ended 2017 and begun 2018 with what they usually do at this time every year, a big pro wrestling get together at Korakuen Hall! This year’s tag team tournament was themed around one wrestler from each company joining forces. Every pairing also had their own custom team name too.

Round 1

Sekiguchi-gumi Vs Hamamatsu. The show kicked off with Daisuke Sekimoto & Kazusada Higuchi entering the ring both wearing sunglasses and carrying samurai swords. They won over Ryota Hama & Soma Takao in a match where Hama made the most impact. First he squashed Higuchi with a Hip Attack in the corner. But then he squashed Takao by accident when he missed the Okido Press. Sekimoto pinned a lifeless Takao to win. Hama tried to apologise to Takao afterwards but Takao was too afraid to approach him.

Team Hitomishiri Vs Team 14. Pretty simple first round win for Kazuki Hashimoto & Akito. Although Kota Sekifuda dove onto Hashimoto, he was nowhere to be found when Akito locked Ryota Nakatsu into the Perfect Figure 4 Leg Lock. Sekifuda & Nakatsu didn’t get much time in the ring together but they would like to team up again someday, maybe in next year’s tournament.

Charming Dolls Vs Charisma Brahman. Throughout the night the Brahman Brothers switched back and forth to team with Daisuke Sasaki in their matches. For the first match, Brahman Kei was the legal participant. Sasaki gleefully joined in with their act of throwing water at the audience during their entrance. Meanwhile Takuya Nomura wore identical wrestling gear to Antonio Honda and they were accompanied by Jaki Numzawa in their corner. The match broke down into a 6 Way at one point when Brahman Shu and Numazawa got involved in the fighting. Kei accidentally blinded Sasaki with the black ink. Nomura grabbed the Brahmans’ bucket of water and threw it at them in the corner. But Sasaki & Kei rallied to pin Honda with the Crucifix And Jackknife pinning combination. As the Brahmans walked off they had an idea. For the next match they should become Charisma like Sasaki!

Hakai Kyodai Vs With Love And Enthrallment And Reassurance. Keisuke Ishii & Takayuki Ueki came out dressed as Ryu and Zangief from Street Fighter. At first they acted like the characters but Ueki then got so frustrated by Danshoku Dino & Daichi Hashimoto that he pulled out his gun. Ueki held Dino hostage and demanded that they switch tights so he could possess Dino’s Danshoku skills. Unfortunately Ueki slipped off the top rope and crotched himself. Dino, now wearing the Zangief tights, gave Ueki a Zangief style Spinning Piledriver to advance his team to the next round.

Smile Yankee Vs Team Yokohama. The match begun quickly when Yukio Sakaguchi & Yuya Aoki attacked HARASHIMA & Yuko Miyamoto. But once Smile Yankee isolated Aoki it didn’t take long for them to put him down. Sakaguchi apologised to Aoki for coming up with the reckless plan but Aoki apologised too for being weak.

Yoshino-ka Vs Jikujion. Masahiro Takanashi joined in with Tatsuhiko Yoshino’s local boy gimmick. Yoshihisa Uto carried Isami Kodaka on his shoulders for their entrance but accidentally whacked Kodaka’s head off of the stage. This would happen for all of their matches tonight. Kodaka trusted Uto to carry both him and his victim of a Superplex but Uto struggled to pull it off. He finally succeeded but Kodaka was hurt in the process as if he was given a German Suplex. The move worked well enough to pin Yoshino though.

Shunma To Minoru Vs KobaCabana. Minoru Fujita wanted to sing along with Shunma Katsumata during their entrance but his microphone was switched off for a lot of it. He also wore a strand of barbwire disguised as a headband around his forehead. Sadly their idol behaviour didn’t work and they both submitted to Abdullah Kobayashi & Colt Cabana.

Great To Mago Vs Most Strongest Combi. In a rare occurrence for this tournament, only one match in the entire show went to a time limit draw. The combined skills of Hideki Suzuki & Konosuke Takeshita were not enough to figure out The Great Kojika in under 10 minutes. Tetsuya Endo tried his best to beat Takeshita for the second time in two days but the time ran out during their skirmish. 1 Count Pinfalls were activated for overtime and Kojika surprisingly came close to pinning Takeshita with the Iron Claw. Shockingly, Suzuki pulled the referee away to stop him from counting. Takeshita then used the distraction to School Boy Kojika and Suzuki held down his feet onto the ropes for leverage. Yes, it took that much cheating to pin The Great Kojika for one second!

Round 2

Sekiguchi-gumi Vs Team Hitomishiri. The first bout of Round 2 ended in quick fashion when Higuchi of all people pinned Akito with a Rolling Leg Clutch. Akito & Hashimoto tried to tap out their opponents with Scorpion Locks and Ankle Locks but it wasn’t enough. Akito promised to keep in touch with Hashumoto through LINE.

Charisma Brahman Vs Hakai Kyodai. This time Brahman Shu was teaming with Sasaki. Also this time the Brahmans dressed like Sasaki and were also armed with plates filled with…well…some sort of foul substance I don’t want to think about. Sasaki accidentally got a face full of it. At one point Dino suddenly started grabbing around his partner and pulled out Ueki’s gun from his pants! Sasaki and the Brahmans stopped him with a traffic sign attack then made him sit onto a chair with the plate of dirt placed on it. Sasaki took out toilet roll to wipe the substance off of Dino’s backside and then rub it into his face. Shu then pinned Dino with a School Boy to end the madness. The Brahmans praised Sasaki for his technique in using the plate.

Smile Yankee Vs Jikujion. Uto again carried Kodaka head first into the entrance stage. Their double team Suplex attempt off the top rope failed when Miyamoto held onto HARASHIMA to keep him on the corner. Uto ended up just giving Kodaka a German Suplex instead. Miyamoto dropped Uto with a Fire Thunder then narrowly rolled out of the way of HARASHIMA’s Somato. That was it for Uto & Kodaka’s run in the tournament.

KobaCabana? Vs Most Strongest Combi?. Due to earlier injuries dealt to everyone involved in this match, both teams had to be replaced. Luckily a bunch of “legends” happened to be in the building and stepped in to fill the gap. Suzuki & Takeshita were replaced by Hideki The Brody & Jimmy Takeshita while Kobayashi & Cabana were replaced by Stan Kobayashi & Colt “Boom Boom” Butcher. The two teams brawled with each other around the ring and then all threatened to attack Yukinori Matsui with their weapons. The match ended in a Double DQ because of the threats and had to be restarted. The four then brawled up towards the crowd and Brodie wrapped his chain around both Kobayashi & Cabana. He held them back while Takeshita crawled back to the ring to win the match by countout. When the match was over they all re-entered the ring and attacked a ringside assistant with their finishing moves.

Japan Indie Grand Prize Awards

Samurai TV and Occupation Of The Indies held their annual Japan Indie Grand Prize awards after Round 2. The MVP Award went to Hideki Suzuki. The Best Bout Award went to the Big Japan match between Masashi Takeda Vs Masaya Takahashi from 17th December. Best Unit went to DAMNATION. Best Show went to Big Japan for their 17th November outdoor event in Ueno Park. Best Newcomer went to Andre The Giant Panda. The Special Achievement Award was given to the late Mr. Pogo.

Semi Finals

Sekiguchi-gumi Vs Smile Yankee. A random drawing put together the semi final matchups. Lariats from Sekimoto & Higuchi were the difference maker. Miyamoto also wasn’t prepared for Sekimoto to roll him into the German Suplex from the ropes.

Charisma Brahman Vs Most Strongest Combi. Remember when I said the madness was over? It came back. Suzuki & Takeshita were still in their legend gimmicks and this time they had Kobayashi & Cabana on their side to combat Sasaki & The Brahmans’ tricks. Kei was isolated from his teammates and was put through the Western Lariat, the King Kong Knee Drop, the Poisoned Elbow Drop and finally the Superfly Splash to lose the match. Sasaki and The Brahmans still threw water at the audience afterwards.

TAKA Michinoku 25th Anniversary Match

The final pro wrestling match of 2017 in Japan was TAKA Michinoku’s 25th Anniversary match. He led a veteran team of K-DOJO, Big Japan and DDT wrestlers to face some of the new generation coming from those companies. MAO became a butt of a joke by being the victim of a never ending Corner Train Attack featuring everyone else in the match, loads of wrestlers who weren’t in the match and even one of the Samurai TV cameramen! Cabana was involved too but he just wanted to take a selfie with MAO. This went on for so long that the countdown to the new year began. In the final seconds Michinoku charged in but MAO rolled him over with a School Boy to pin him right as the clock struck zero! Happy new year!

Final

Sekiguchi-gumi Vs Most Strongest Combi. The tournament final is the first wrestling match in Japan of 2018. Suzuki & Takeshita were now back to normal. Both teams threw all that they had left at each other. It all came down to Higuchi and Suzuki fighting each other. Higuchi hit the Doctor Bomb but it wasn’t enough. Takeshita gave Higuchi a Dragon Suplex and Suzuki followed it up with a Dragon Suplex of his own. Higuchi kicked out! Suzuki then used the Double Arm Suplex and that wasn enough to beat Higuchi. The Most Strongest Combi are the Shuffle Tag Tournament winners! When they were given the rewards Takeshita joked that they only wrestled twice in the tournament this year and still won. Suzuki said he was honoured to fight Sekimoto & Higuchi. He also bragged that he wasn’t feeling tired at all. Sekimoto grabbed the microphone and swore into it.


BASARA “VAJRA 48 ~ISAMI KODAKA 15TH ANNIVERSARY~” Results

October 1, 2017

BASARA “VAJRA 48 ~ISAMI KODAKA 15TH ANNIVERSARY~”, 01/10/2017
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
818 Fans

1. Masamune & Fuminori Abe defeated Shiori Asahi & Takato Nakano when Abe submitted Nakano with a Munenori Sawa Style Manjigatame (7:36).
2. Mineo Fujita & Kazuhiro Tamura defeated Daichi Kazato & Gouma Ryu when Fujita pinned Ryu with a Swanton Bomb (13:40).
3. SAGAT Into Heaven!: Daisuke Sekimoto defeated SAGAT with the Deadlift German Suplex (13:40).
4. B FAULTLESS JUNKY’S Vs DOVE Pro Hardcore Steel Battle: Takumi Tsukamoto, Masashi Takeda & Jaki Numazawa defeated Gunso, Kabuki Kida & Naoki Tanizaki when Tsukamoto pinned Gunso with the Zudon onto a Steel Box (12:58).
5. Special Single Match: Yuko Miyamoto defeated Ryota Nakatsu with the Moonsault (13:49).
6. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Ryuichi Sekine, Yuji Hino & Yasu Urano defeated FUMA, Yusuke Kubo & HUB whn Sekine submitted FUMA with the Let’s Combine (14:28).
7. Union MAX Title: Isami Kodaka defeated Trans-Am ★ Ryuichi (c) with the Isamuashi Zan (16:35).
*Trans-Am ★ Ryuichi fails in V4. Isami Kodaka becomes the 9th Union MAX Champion!

15 years isn’t slowing down Isami Kodaka one bit. He regained the Union MAX Championship on his very own 15th Anniversary show! Kodaka’s cry from the main event’s video package was “Enjoy Wrestling!” while the defending champion Trans-Am ★ Ryuichi shouted back with “Freedom!” The video also featured comments from Ryuichi Kawakami who has been constantly compared to Trans-Am ★ Ryuichi for some reason. In a reverse of roles, it was Ryuichi who offered a handshake at the start only for Kodaka to kick his hand away. Kodaka later asked for a handshake but Ryuichi turned him down and shouted “Wooooo!” Kodaka kicked out of the Perfect Plex and fought his way out of the Perfect Five. An Exploder Suplex took Ryuichi out of his game and a bunch of Buzzsaw Kicks and Isamuashi Zan kicks won the match for Kodaka. The new champion said Ryuichi fought like a cyborg. He then asked him to send his thanks to Kawakami. Kodaka thinks Trans-Am ★ Ryuichi and Ryuichi Kawakami should combine to form the Perfect Soldier. Ryuichi’s response in broken English was “Thank you so much!” Kodaka then talked about his own career. It can go another 15, 20, 25 and even 30 years. Kodaka wants to be like The Great Kojika who is still wrestling at 75 years old. However, Kodaka is also dedicated to BASARA. If BASARA ever goes away then that means retirement for Kodaka! He will never let that happen.

HUB got into the IRON PRIEST spirit by rocking out on air guitar with FUMA and Yusuke Kubo for their entrance. FUMA even used HUB’s stinger as a guitar while they were beating on Yasu Urano. Kubo & HUB wiped out Urano & Yuji Hino with dives but the party ended when Ryuichi Sekine countered FUMA’s Reverse Power Slam and rolled it into the Let’s Combine submission. When FUMA tapped out, Urano rushed over to hug Sekine. In the backstage interview, Sekine pointed out that he never touched HUB at all during the match because he hates snakes. He also heard all of his large sized shirts and higher sold out at the merch table. None of the smaller shirts sold which annoyed him because it meant no women were buying them, only men.

In the battle of current gen yankee versus new gen yankee, Yuko Miyamoto defeated Ryota Nakatsu. Miyamoto was put in danger many times by Nakatsu’s submissions, most notably when the Fire Thunder was countered into a Cross Armbreaker. Miyamoto eventually hit the move but Nakatsu fought through the pain to get back up to his feet. However, Nakatsu was knocked down again with a Lariat and put away with the Moonsault. Miyamoto was surprised to discover that BASARA had a wrestler so focused to target his right arm like Nakatsu did. He thinks it is possible for Nakatsu to grow into a great wrestler.

If it was made out of steel, it was allowed to be used in the Hardcore 6-Man Tag Match. Takumi Tsukamoto gathered around some of his friends from Big Japan to battle the Dove Pro team and their heavy bass music that played throughout the match. A steel box was smashed over everyone’s heads a lot. Gunso grabbed a shard of metal and dug it into Tsukamoto’s forehead to make him bleed. Kabuki Kid then created a pile of chairs for Tsukamoto to be slammed onto. However Tsukamoto got some revenge on Kid with a Fisherman Buster. Jaki Numazawa fended off the Dove wrestlers by throwing chairs at them. Masashi Takeda also used the steel box to keep the Dove wrestlers away while Tsukamoto and Gunso fought to the end inside the ring. Tsukamoto Suplexed Gunso from a ladder onto a pile of metal objects below. He then hit the Zudon for the three count, making B FAULTLESS JUNKY’S the winners. Even though a winner was declared, both sides hinted that the conflict between them isn’t over yet. Tsukamoto wasn’t satisfied with the victory.

SAGAT had the impossible task of facing Daisuke Sekimoto one on one. Even with the hard work and crowd behind him, SAGAT fell to the Deadlift German Suplex. Sekimoto gently bowed to SAGAT after the match and left the ring. SAGAT was offered help by Takato Nakano to be taken out of the ring but SAGAT refused and left under his own power. SAGAT said it was impossible for him to beat Sekimoto this year. It will be impossible for him to beat Sekimoto next year. But some year, SAGAT will beat him! Doesn’t matter if it is so long in the future that Sekimoto will be a grandfather when it happens. It will happen!

The recent sale of DDT and all of its franchises has left Gouma Ryu feeling worried. The entire company is a legitimate business now and there is so much that has to change as a result. Ryu can no longer tolerate sneak attacks because it is illegal. He also wants wrestlers to be careful with their kicks because they can cause injuries. Mineo Fujita cut him off with a sneak attack Dropkick to start their tag match. Ryu tried to strike Fujita with his lawbook but Fujita stopped him with a Shining Wizard. Fujita picked up the lawbook but was told by the referee to get rid of it. Fujita dropped the book onto Ryu’s stomach by accident then pinned him with the Swanton Bomb.

Fuminori Abe channeled the abilities of Munenori Sawa to trap Takato Nakano in an Octopus Hold the same way Sawa did. Masamune kept Shiori Asahi at bay to stop the move from being broken.


DDT “DAMNATION ILLEGAL GATHERING” Results

April 14, 2017

DDT “DAMNATION ILLEGAL GATHERING”, 14/04/2017
Shinjuku FACE
600 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

1. Falls Count Anywhere 6-Man Tag Team Match: HARASHIMA, Brahmin Shu & Brahmin Kei Vs Antonio Honda, Masahiro Takanashi & Gota Ihashi ended in a No Contest (10:38).
2. Heidi Katrina defeated Nobuhiro Shimatani with a Leg Drop (2:50).
3. 3 Way Match: Tetsuya Endo defeated Ryuichi Sekine and Yusuke Kodama when Endo pinned Sekine with the Shooting Star Press (14:16).
4. Daisuke Sekimoto & Masato Tanaka defeated Shuji Ishikawa & Mad Paulie when Tanaka pinned Paulie with the Sliding D (14:34).
5. DDT Extreme Title – Ultimate Submission Match: Daisuke Sasaki (c) (3) Vs Dick Togo (3) ended in a Draw (30:00).
5a. Dick Togo submitted Daisuke Sasaki with a Chickenwing Armlock (7:13).
5b. Dick Togo submitted Daisuke Sasaki with a Torso Strangle Sleeper Hold (8:56).
5c. Daisuke Sasaki submitted Dick Togo with a Figure Four Leg Lock (16:22).
5d. Daisuke Sasaki submitted Dick Togo with a Reverse Figure Four Leg Lock (18:23).
5e. Daisuke Sasaki submitted Dick Togo with the Cross Arm Cross Facelock (23:18).
5f. Dick Togo submitted Daisuke Sasaki with the Cross Facelock (25:23).
*V1 for Daisuke Sasaki.

DAMNATION finally put together the self produced show they were given for winning the Unit category in last year’s DDT Dramatic General Election. In the main event Daisuke Sasaki put his DDT Extreme Title on the line against his mentor and enemy Dick Togo in a 30 minute Ultimate Submission match. From the early going both Sasaki and Togo fought to put each other in the Cross Facelock. Togo switched focus to Sasaki’s left arm and scored the first submission with a Chickenwing Armlock. Togo then went two up with a Sleeper Hold. Sasaki had to target Togo’s legs in order to score some points. He tapped out Togo with a Figure Four Leg Lock then tied the score with a reverse version of the move. Sasaki finally locked in a modified Cross Facelock to take the lead. It didn’t take long for Togo to equalise with his own Cross Facelock to make the score 3-3. In the final minutes the two continued to fight over Cross Facelocks until the time expired. The match was declared a draw and therefore counts as a successful title defence for Sasaki.

Sasaki was surprised that the match ended in a draw but he felt too tired to do anything. He brought up Togo retiring from wrestling back in 2012 and compared it to the ancient Mayan prediction that the world was going to end that year. Sasaki said since then he’d been drinking once every three days and he’d drink enough to forget it two days later. All because Togo retired without Sasaki’s permission! Togo accepted that it was his fault that Sasaki’s life went down this strange route. He retired and then came back all without telling Sasaki. But all wrestlers retire then come back, that’s nothing for Togo to be embarrassed about. He will continue to fight until his body won’t let him anymore. He said Sasaki has grown stronger over the last four years and today he could not defeat him. It was a draw but he didn’t win which to him is no better than losing. They are both evolving so next time he will be a high wall for Sasaki to climb over. The two hugged and finally put their grudge behind them. Sasaki felt a little embarrassed because there wasn’t mean to be any reconciliation on this show but he’s happy to be back on the right foot with Togo. He then told Togo not to retire again until after he beats him.

An injured Kohei Sato was replaced by Masato Tanaka in the semi-main event. Together with Daisuke Sekimoto they were able to beat Shuji Ishikawa & Mad Paulie. Sekimoto afterwards said he was happy to be here and wished DAMNATION well. He then asked the reporter if he should be acting so friendly to them because he is a face and DAMNATION are heels.

Tetsuya Endo got to take part in some lighthearted 3 Way antics with Ryuichi Sekine and Yusuke Kodama. Endo and Sekine paired up to outnumber Kodama. Sekine even talked Endo into doing some of his sillier spots like imitating a bull for a Shoulder Charge in the corner. Endo then betrayed Sekine by pulling Kodama out of the way when Sekine went for a Topé Suicida. Endo fought for himself from then on and won with the Shooting Star Press on Sekine.

Nobuhiro Shimatani went into the show not knowing who his opponent would be. Everyone figured it was going to be one of the DAMNATION members but each of them denied it would be them at the start of the show. Sasaki briefly went in search for an opponent and eventually asked if anyone in the audience wanted to take part. A foreign women raised her hand and took off her jacket to show she was already wearing wrestling gear. She introduced herself as Heidi Katrina, a pro wrestler from London, England. Sasaki allowed her to fight . Katrina was bigger, stronger and tougher than Shimatani so she put him away with a Clothesline, an Oklahoma Stampede and a Leg Drop. Sasaki was impressed and he asked Katrina to spend hang out with him afterwards. In a backstage interview Katrina said she has been wrestling around the world for the last four years. She has come to Japan to fight Saki Akai! Katrina warns Akai that she’s been trained by British wrestling legends Robbie Brookside, Marty Jones and Johnny Saint. She wants to give Akai a taste of what women’s wrestling is like in the UK.

Even HARASHIMA couldn’t resist showing a darker side on this show. Then again having to team with the Brahman Brothers will bring that sort of behaviour out of anybody. At first he resisted joining in with their hijinks until green goo began to emerge from his mouth. The Brahmans soaked the audience with water and one of them threw a carry case at the referee with the help of Masahiro Takanashi so the match was called off. The Brahmans then lined seated their opponents in the corner, pressed the carry case in front of them and convinced HARASHIMA to throw a bowling ball at them. Strike! They left with a warning that this may not be the last time you will see HARASHIMA and the Brahman Brothers join forces.


DDT “JUDGEMENT 2017 ~ DDT 20TH ANNIVERSARY BOX OFFICE” Results

March 20, 2017

DDT “JUDGEMENT 2017 ~ DDT 20TH ANNIVERSARY BOX OFFICE”, 20/03/2017
Saitama Super Arena
10,702 Fans – Super No Vacancy

0. DNA Offer Match: Nobuhiro Shimatani, Naomi Yoshimura & Dai Suzuki defeated Rekka, Daiki Shimomura & Yuki Ueno when Yoshimura pinned Ueno with the Throw Away Power Bomb (8:08).
0. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Yuu, Mil Clown & Itoh Maki defeated Reika Saiki, Rika Tatsumi & Azusa Takigawa when Clown pinned Takigawa with the Mil Clutch α (10:23).
0. Iron Man Heavymetalweight & King Of Dark Titles – DDT Pro Wrestling 20th Anniversary Memorial Celebration Dramatic Rumble: Guanchulo (I/c) defeated Ken Ohka and Munenori Sawa by Ring Out (17:06).
0a. Tomohiko Hashimoto eliminated Rion Mizuki with the Choke Slam (3:56).
0b. Poison Sawada JULIE eliminated Daichi Kakimoto by Ring Out (5:17).
0c. Poison Sawada JULIE eliminated GENTARO and BAMBI by Ring Out (5:27).
0d. Poison Sawada JULIE eliminated MIKAMI by Ring Out (5:35).
0e. Poison Sawada JULIE eliminated Tomohiko Hashimoto by Ring Out (5:53).
0f. Gorgeous Matsuno eliminated Poison Sawada JULIE by Pinfall when DJ Nira pushed Matsuno on top of JULIE (6:45).
0g. Yoshihiko eliminated Tomomitsu Matsunaga by Ring Out (11:21).
0h. Yoshihiko eliminated Hoshitango by Ring Out (11:23).
0j. Yoshihiko eliminated Gorgeous Matsuno with the Reincarnation (11:27).
0k. Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi eliminated Yoshihiko with the Michinoku Driver II from Kotatsu (12:20).
0k. Mad Paulie eliminated Gota Ihashi (D/c) with the Reverse Splash (13:30).
*D1 for Gota Ihashi.
0l. Kotatsu (I/c) eliminated Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi and Mad Paulie by Pinfall (14:37).
*V? for Kotatsu.
0m. Guanchulo eliminated Kotatsu (I/c) by Pinfall after the Rabbit Punch from Munenori Sawa (15:08).
*Guanchulo becomes the 1,208th champion.
0n. Guanchulo (I/c) eliminated Ken Ohka and Munenori Sawa by Ring Out (17:06).
*V1 for Guanchulo.
Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Yoshihiko defeated Guanchulo (c) with the Superfly From The Stage (1:43 pm).
*Yoshihiko becomes the 1,209th champion.
1. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles – 3 Way Match: Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata & MAO defeated Kazusada Higuchi, Kouki Iwasaki & Mizuki Watase (c) and Soma Takao, Akito & Yasu Urano when MAO pinned Urano with the Cannonball 450° (8:11).
*Team DNA fails in D2. NωA becomes the 29th KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions!
2. Special 8-Man Tag Match: Jaguar Yokota, Keisuke Ishii, Masahiro Takanashi & Yuni defeated Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata, Antonio Honda & Lady Beard when Yuni pinned Hirata with a Hurricanrana (10:09).
Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Kotatsu defeated Yoshihiko (c) by Pinfall (2:41 pm).
*Kotatsu becomes the 1,21oth champion.
Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Joey Ryan defeated Kotatsu (c) by Pinfall (2:42 pm).
*Joey Ryan becomes the 1,211th champion.
3. Shigehiro Irie Triennial Special Single Match: Shigehiro Irie defeated Mike Bailey with the Tazzmission (8:44).
4. Super Joshi Pro Wars 2017: Saki Akai, Meiko Satomura & Shoko Nakajima defeated Aja Kong, Cherry & Miyu Yamashita when Satomura pinned Yamashita with the Death Valley Bomb (7:56).
5. Shungo Oyama Pro Wrestling Challenge Match: Yoshihiro Takayama & Dick Togo defeated KUDO & Shungo Oyama when Takayama pinned Oyama with the Everest German Suplex (13:15).
6. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – PRO WRESTLING TEES Presents “DDT Is DDT” 20 Years Entertainment Culmination! The Best In The World Bad Guy Decisive Battle Anal Explosion Death Match: Danshoku Dino defeated Joey Ryan (c) with the Danshoku Driver (12:03).
*Danshoku Dino becomes the 1,212th champion.
7. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Masakatsu Funaki & Yukio Sakaguchi (c) defeated Shuji Ishikawa & Tetsuya Endo when Sakaguchi pinned Ishikawa with the Top Rope Right Knee Of God (12:16).
*V2 for Masakatsu Funaki & Yukio Sakaguchi.
8. Kou Shibusawa 35th Anniversary “Nobunaga’s Ambition ~Our Warring States~” Sengoku Warlords Match: Katsuie Shibata (Daisuke Sekimoto), Kenshin Uesugi (Jun Akiyama) & Nobunaga Oda (Kota Ibushi) (w/ Oichi (Mai Iriya)) defeated Toyotomi Hideyoshi (Sanshiro Takagi), Shingen Takeda (Keiji Muto) & Yukimura Sanada (Isami Kodaka) (w/ Matsu-hime (Kimika Tokuta)) when Ibushi pinned Takagi with the Phoenix Splash (14:57).
9. DDT Extreme Title – Sekichu Presents Hardcore Match: Daisuke Sasaki defeated Jun Kasai (c) with the Diving Elbow Drop From The Ladder (19:07).
*Jun Kasai fails in V4. Daisuke Sasaki becomes the 39th DDT Extreme Champion!
10. KO-D Openweight Title – Good Com Asset Presents: Konosuke Takeshita defeated HARASHIMA (c) with the Cross Arm German Suplex (31:28).
*HARASHIMA fails in V4. Konosuke Takeshita becomes the 61st KO-D Openweight Champion!

Welcome to The Future! DDT celebrated 20 years in business by running the main stage of Saitama Super Arena for “JUDGEMENT 2017”. In the main event the torch was passed as the 21 year old Konosuke Takeshita defeated HARASHIMA to become the KO-D Openweight Champion for the second time in his career. The biggest stage called for a major main event and both wrestlers delivered with a 30 minute long clash. HARASHIMA’s neck was targeted early and his title reign was under threat when Takeshita gave him a Vertical Drop Brainbuster on the arena floor. HARASHIMA was left outside to get counted out but he returned on 18. He then turned the tables by avoiding a Dragon Suplex and attacking Takeshita’s knees. The damaged limb would later prevent Takeshita from hitting the German Suplex because HARASHIMA would grab onto them. A Short Range Lariat kept him down for a two count but that only riled HARASHIMA up and made him provoke Takeshita to attack even harder. Takeshita went high risk by placing HARASHIMA on the top turnbuckle. That backfired when HARASHIMA turned it into an Avalanche Reverse Frankensteiner followed by the Somato! Takeshita kicked out at two so HARASHIMA went for the Swan Dive Somato. Takeshita caught him in mid-air but HARASHIMA twisted around for another Reverse Frankensteiner. This time Takeshita blocked it and gave HARASHIMA a Croyt’s Wrath style German Suplex for a nearfall. HARASHIMA took control again and this time gave Takeshita the Yama-ori head drop. With both men completely spent they traded Elbow Smashes until Takeshita punched the champion and followed up with the Bionic Elbow taken from his mentor Antonio Honda. He hit the German Suplex but HARASHIMA was still able to kick out. Finally Takeshita crossed HARASHIMA’s arms together for one more German Suplex and this time the champion was down for the count.

Takeshita thanked HARASHIMA after the match. Takeshita became a pro wrestler because he loves DDT so to be in the main event for the company’s 20th Anniversary means everything to him. He feels the pressure of being the future of this company but he will show everyone why he deserves that title as DDT moves into its 21st year. When the new champion finished the prize ceremony he was approached by Daisuke Sasaki and Tetsuya Endo. Sasaki said he knew Takeshita would beat HARASHIMA then pretended to cry. In truth, he doesn’t care about Takeshita’s accomplishment. DAMNATION will finish him and to prove it his first challenger will be Tetsuya Endo! Takeshita’s former friend said he does not know what the future really is but he’s not interested. In fact, the future he sees now is an eyesore. Takeshita accepted the challenge and they will get their match at Korakuen Hall on 29th April. The show then ended with a curtain call to DDT’s old theme song “Into The Light”. The final scene in the ring had Takeshita and HARASHIMA fist bump and agree to wrestle each other again some day. HARASHIMA went to leave the ring but Takeshita stopped him so they could leave together.

The weapons in the DDT Extreme Title match were provided by a company called Seki-chu and boy did Jun Kasai and Daisuke Sasaki use a lot of them. Tables, ladders, chairs, trash cans, rakes and even a wire mesh fence were used throughout the match. Sasaki came out on top but he had to put his body on the line to do so. Kasai was still alive and kicking after an Avalanche Power Bomb from the ladder through the fence. Even the NOW OR NEVER couldn’t put Kasai away. So Sasaki had to put Kasai on a table and climb up the ladder. With his last words being “I am Charisma!” Sasaki jumped off the ladder and hit a Diving Elbow Drop on Kasai. The table didn’t break but Kasai did and Sasaki became the new Extreme Champion! He threw the belt away, claiming he does not need it. He has words to say to Kasai, many of them that cannot be broadcast on TV but he cannot deny Kasai was at his craziest today. Still, Sasaki won’t conform. He won’t kiss ass. And he definitely won’t get married. “We are DAMNATION! And I am the Charisma, Daisuke Sasaki!”

Saitama Super Arena was taken back to the Romance Of The Three Kingdoms for a special 6-Man Tag promoting the Nobunaga’s Ambition video game. The series produce Kou Shibusawa greeted the audience before the match, telling everyone to enjoy video games and pro wrestling. All the wrestlers took part in their character costumes. Sanshiro Takagi wasted no time in building a castle of chairs in the ring. It was no surprise to anyone that he was thrown into the castle later. Isami Kodaka took out Daisuke Sekimoto with a Topé Suicida. Keiji Muto and Jun Akiyama faced off and had a stalemate when Akiyama hit the Exploder Suplex then Muto immediately fired back with the Shining Wizard. That left Kota Ibushi to give Takagi the Sit Down Last Ride followed by the Phoenix Splash to win the match.

When the segment was over Takagi stayed in the ring for an important announcement. He is happy to see so many people come out to see DDT’s 20th Anniversary. There is nothing left for him to do so he will retire immediately. Even though he is going away he is confident that DDT will grow bigger and bigger without him. He has no regrets even though he had announced a major goal at the 15th Anniversary show in Budokan Hall that never came to pass. He demanded the staff at ringside to give him the 10 bell salute and thanked everyone he could during each ringing of the bell. On the 8th toll he suddenly received a phone call. It turns out there is something left for him to do after all. Suddenly a picture of the Tokyo Dome appeared on the screen. Takagi announced that DDT will hold a Street Wrestling Match inside the Tokyo Dome later this year! Takagi immediately cancelled his plans to retire. There are still dreams and ambitions for DDT to come true!

Masakatsu Funaki & Yukio Sakaguchi overcame an ambush by DAMNATION to keep the KO-D Tag Team Titles over their shoulders. Even though Sakaguchi’s goal for the match was to kill Endo, he instead settled with pinning Shuji Ishikawa to win the match. Not an easy feat at all! Ishikawa blocked the Right Knee Of God the first time so Sakaguchi had to climb the turnbuckles and hit an elevated version of his finisher to put the big dog down. Their victory ceremony was interrupted when Danshoku Dino snuck into the ring and gave the match sponsor a Lip Lock. Dino told Funaki he’s made a lot of enemies over his career but he has never fought a hybrid body like Dino’s, nor has he fought a real Dramatic Dream Team like Danshoku Dino & Yoshihiro Takayama! Dino is here to lay out the challenge. Real No Fear wants the KO-D Tag Team Titles! Funaki realised the match is unavoidable. He and Sakaguchi will fight Real No Fear. But until then the champions will drink.

There is a lot to go through for the next match. A lot! At some point in the show Joey Ryan won the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title. I’ll get into more detail with that later. For now just know that Ryan now had to defend the championship against Danshoku Dino in an Anal Explosion Death Match. But first, Donald Trump appeared for a complete English PowerPoint presentation. Trump revealed that the most powerful person in DDT is not the president Sanshiro Takagi or the KO-D Champion HARASHIMA. It is really the referee Yukinori Matsui! If there is one thing that Matsui hates more than anything else in wrestling it is explicit sexual humour. Do too much of it in front of Matsui and you will get fired. However Dino is the “World’s Strongest Gay Wrestler” and Ryan is the “World’s Strongest Penis Fighter”. Matsui will watch the match backstage so they need to find a way to wrestle explicitly in a way that won’t offend him. Somehow, some way, an Anal Explosion Death Match is acceptable because in this situation “ANAL” stands for “All Nations Anal Love”. If that wasn’t enough, Ryan revealed that Dino’s friend and former Iron Man Champion Ryota Yamazato has been kidnapped by foreign agents. In 20 minute’s time Yamazato’s rear end will be used for the Anal Explosion unless Dino can win the match before then.

The time began to count down and the match was ready to begin. But first the National Anthems of America and Japan had to be played. Additional commentary was provided by Trump and Guanchulo in English, Hoshitango in Spanish and Rekka in Chinese. As the match went on Matsui kept a close eye on the action from backstage. Dino and Ryan fought up the ramp towards the commentary stations. Ryan’s penis flung Dino off the ramp and crashing through the Spanish announce table. Dino was later thrown off the top turnbuckle and he crashed through the Chinese table. The commentators were so mad that they attacked Ryan but he fought them off with his penis. When Dino recovered he gathered the commentators in the ring and placed them on the corner turnbuckles with their backsides exposed. He then overpowered Dino’s penis, getting revenge for the spot that caused all this in the first place. By the time he put the Lip Lock on Ryan, Matsui had seen enough and made his way to the ring. Trump realised the match was in danger of being cancelled so he sprinted backstage. Some of the DNA wrestlers distracted Matsui by treating him like a celebrity, shaking his hand and asking for autographs. Then a mascot blocked his path but Matsui knocked it down with one punch. He then shook its hand. Matsui walked past the women’s locker room and the temptation to peak inside was too much. When it turned out that Cherry was the only person in there Matsui was grossed out and moved on. Finally Trump caught up with Matsui and confronted him. They chopped each other back and forth until they both leaned in closer and closer. Then they kissed. Back in the ring Dino pulled Ryan’s lollipop out of one of the commentator’s backside and he then put it in Ryan’s mouth. That stunned Ryan long enough for Dino to do the Danshoku Driver for the victory. The two congratulated each other after the match and Ryan handed both the Iron Man Title and the bomb button over to Dino. Dino threw the button away and left his buddy Yamazato to get his ass exploded with three firecrackers outside the building. The screen went blank and we’re left with the message “There can be no peace on earth without pro wrestling” along with a picture of Sanshiro Takagi naked. Backstage Dino and Ryan started to act like friends but quickly started fighting again over the Iron Man Title.

Shungo Oyama did well in his debut but ultimately fell to Yoshihiro Takayama. The two locked up and threw punches in a scene that resembled Takayama’s famous fight with Don Frye. The slugfest ended with Takayama pinning Oyama with the Everest German Suplex. Dick Togo respected Oyama’s effort and noticed Oyama respects pro wrestling enough to fear it. KUDO hopes to team with Oyama again if Oyama decides to continue wrestling. Oyama said he felt at home fighting in Saitama Super Arena again.

Miyu Yamashita has caught Meiko Satomura’s attention but she’ll probably wish she hadn’t. Satomura pinned Yamashita to win the women’s match for her team but their interaction did not end there. Yamashita stood up to her from the apron after the match and Satomura’s reaction was to kick her away. In the post-match interview Satomura said she see will never forget what she saw in Yamashita’s eyes today. She’s motivated, that’s for sure. She would like to fight her one on one. Satomura’s partners however she is more friendly with. She felt a sense of unity with Saki Akai and Shoko Nakajima throughout the match. Akai admitted feeling a little of jealous of Yamashita for firing up Satomura. Aja Kong thought Nakajima was okay but small. Cherry was happy to wrestle in front of many fans and she appreciates the women coming together for this show when she previously spent years as the only female wrestler in DDT.

In the match between Shigehiro Irie and Mike Bailey, the Tazzmission proved to be the difference maker. Irie caught Bailey with the submission hold in mid-air and turned it into a Camel Clutch variat to make Speedball tap out. Irie still isn’t finished with his warrior training but at least he got to show everyone in Japan that his trips to America are not going to waste. Irie credited Ohio’s Rockstar Pro Wrestling in particular for his recent improvement. Bailey says Irie is now on the same level as HARASHIMA and Takeshita.

In the 8-Man Tag Match, Yuni found an opportunity to wear the Hirata GO! glasses and start dancing. Kazuki Hirata ruined the moment by knocking Yuni out with a chop to the back of the neck. Hirata put the glasses on and cleared the ring with his dance fighting. But he was then stopped with a Triple Dropkick from Jaguar Yokota, Keisuke Ishii & Masahiro Takanashi. Yuni then pinned Hirata with a Hurricanrana.

The 3 Way Trios match for the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles was a crazy sprint but NωA came out of it with the belts. Yasu Urano countered Kazusada Higuchu’s Power Bomb into a Frankensteiner but Urano was then knocked down by MAO’s Screw Kick. Urano avoided the Firebird Splash from Shunma Katsumata but didn’t see MAO coming with the Cannonball 450°. That move won NωA the championship and all three were in tears when they were handed the belts.

Many wrestlers from DDT’s past, some unexpected, came back for the Dramatic Rumble with the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title and King Of Dark Title both on the line. MIKAMI was out first with his ladder. Daichi Kakimoto was a surprise entrant wearing the mask he used in his Union Pro run. Poison Sawada JULIE eliminated loads of people with his snake magic. Unfortunately his endurance is not what it used to be and he fainted from overuse. Gorgeous Matsuno eliminated JULIE by accident when DJ Nira (who was not an official participant) pushed Matsuno on top of JULIE with his umbrella. Mad Paulie eliminated Gota Ihashi which means Ihashi is still the King Of Dark Champion. Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi stood on top of Kotatsu and leapt off it to deliver a super Michinoku Driver II to Yoshihiko. Kotatsu eliminated a few wrestlers with its comfy quilt until Guanchulo decided to wear Kotatsu over him like a backpack. Munenori Sawa was the last surprise entrant. He hit Guanchulo with a Rabbit Punch and Guanchulo fell on top of Kotatsu. That counted as a pin so Guanchulo won the Iron Man Title. Ken Ohka was the final entrant but he and Sawa spent so long singing to his entrance music that Guanchulo eliminated them both to win the Rumble. His celebration was short lived when Yoshihiko dove on top of him from the stage to win the belt. Later on in the show Kotatsu won the title by pinning Yoshihiko backstage. Joey Ryan congratulated Kotatsu then used his penis strength to flip it over and claim the title for himself.

Mil Clown was accidentally unmasked during the Tokyo Joshi Pro dark match. Her mask flew off when Azusa Takaigawa gave her the X Factor. As much as she tried to hide her face, Clown eventually gave up and focused on beating Takigawa with the Magical Merry Go Round followed by the Mil Clutch α. Clown fled the ring as soon as she got her mask back on.

Naomi Yoshimura continues his aggressive streak by winning the DNA dark match for his team.

Kota Umeda was invited to the ring during the opening announcements. He was at the show as Yoshihiko’s handler but informed everyone that his recovery is going well and he will return to the ring this year. The other injured DNA wrestler Suguru Miyatake was supposed to be at the show but had to miss it because of the flu.

Naomichi Marufuji will participate at “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2017” in Sumo Hall on 20th August.


DDT “JUDGEMENT 2017 ~ DDT 20TH ANNIVERSARY BOX OFFICE” Preview

March 17, 2017

DDT “JUDGEMENT 2017 ~ DDT 20TH ANNIVERSARY BOX OFFICE”, 20/03/2017
Saitama Super Arena

0. Iron Man Heavymetalweight & King Of Dark Titles – DDT Pro Wrestling 20th Anniversary Memorial Celebration Dramatic Rumble: Kotatsu (I/c) Vs Gota Ihashi (D/c) Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga Vs Mad Paulie Vs Guanchulo Vs Hoshitango Vs Gorgeous Matsuno Vs Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi Vs Ken Ohka Vs MIKAMI Vs Poison Sawada JULIE Vs GENTARO Vs Tomohiko Hashimoto Vs Rion Mizuki Vs Bambi Vs Yoshihiko
0. DNA Offer Match: Rekka, Daiki Shimomura & Yuki Ueno Vs Nobuhiro Shimatani, Naomi Yoshimura & Dai Suzuki
0. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Yuu, Mil Clown & Itoh Maki Vs Reika Saiki, Rika Tatsumi & Azusa Takigawa
1. Super Joshi Pro Wars 2017: Saki Akai, Meiko Satomura & Shoko Nakajima Vs Aja Kong, Cherry & Miyu Yamashita
2. Kou Shibusawa 35th Anniversary “Nobunaga’s Ambition ~Our Warring States~” Sengoku Warlords Match: Toyotomi Hideyoshi (Sanshiro Takagi), Shingen Takeda (Keiji Muto) & Yukimura Sanada (Isami Kodaka) (w/ Matsu-hime (Kimika Tokuta)) Vs Katsuie Shibata (Daisuke Sekimoto), Kenshin Uesugi (Jun Akiyama) & Nobunaga Oda (Kota Ibushi) (w/ Oichi (Mai Iriya))
3. Special 8-Man Tag Match: Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata, Antonio Honda & Lady Beard Vs Jaguar Yokota, Keisuke Ishii, Masahiro Takanashi & Yuni
4. Shungo Oyama Pro Wrestling Challenge Match: Yoshihiro Takayama & Dick Togo Vs KUDO & Shungo Oyama
5. Shigehiro Irie Triennial Special Single Match: Shigehiro Irie Vs Mike Bailey
6. PRO WRESTLING TEES Presents “DDT Is DDT” 20 Years Entertainment Culmination! The Best In The World Bad Guy Decisive Battle: Danshoku Dino Vs Joey Ryan
7. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles – 3 Way Match: Kazusada Higuchi, Kouki Iwasaki & Mizuki Watase (c) Vs Soma Takao, Akito & Yasu Urano Vs Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata & MAO
8. DDT Extreme Title – Sekichu Presents Hardcore Match: Jun Kasai (c) Vs Daisuke Sasaki
9. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Masakatsu Funaki & Yukio Sakaguchi (c) Vs Shuji Ishikawa & Tetsuya Endo
10. KO-D Openweight Title – Good Com Asset Presents: HARASHIMA (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita

The show airs live on DDT UNIVERSE om Monday 2:00pm JST, 5:00am GMT, 1:00am ET and Sunday 10:00pm PT.

I was also a guest on the Japanese Audio Wrestling podcast last week to preview the show. The episode can be heard here.

Twenty years. Who would have thought DDT would last twenty years? Sanshiro Takagi’s brainchild was created in 1997 when he, MIKAMI and NOSAWA Rongai quit a promotion called Pro Wrestling Crusaders to form their own wrestling league. From there Dramatic Dream Team was born and it created a bizarre path for itself as time went by. From parodying WWE to experimenting with the elements of pro wrestling that have existed for so long that they were taken for granted, DDT became home to some of the most bizarre gimmicks and ideas in the business. But it had something else going for it. Among the island of misfit toys were some gems that have since gone on to be major players on the scene. The parodies and knock offs eventually transformed into more creative endeavours that can now stand on their own. The buildings being booked became bigger. The roster developed into something that the next generation of wrestlers now choose to be there rather than use it as a backup plan.

And it all leads to here. “JUDGEMENT 2017” the 20th Anniversary celebration for DDT is taking place in Saitama Super Arena. This is a plan years in the making. Originally DDT wanted to run the building in 2011 but there was no room on the Arena’s schedule to make it happen. In 2015 DDT booked the Community Hub section of the building for “SAITAMA SUPER DDT 2015”. Finally this year is the year they are running the full building. If that isn’t aiming high, remember that back at the 15th Anniversary show, Takagi announced his intentions to run the Tokyo Dome for the 20th Anniversary! Sadly that never came to pass but hey, Saitama Super Arena isn’t anything to sneeze at.

So let’s get to the card itself. DDT is following the format that a lot of others now use for their biggest show of the year. Cram as much as they can and give everyone a spot somewhere. This is going to be a long show, ladies and gentlemen. The Future attempts to replace the present, an angry warrior looks set to take on DAMNATION, furniture will fly in a charismatic death match, a 3 Way determines who deserves the trios championship, a viral video clip results in a World Wrestling War, two top singles wrestlers battle it out to move up the ranks, an MMA fighter shifts over to pro wrestling, a joshi legend teams up with a child, there’s a match filled with superstar samurai and much more is on the cards. So let’s dig in.


0. Iron Man Heavymetalweight & King Of Dark Titles – DDT Pro Wrestling 20th Anniversary Memorial Celebration Dramatic Rumble: Kotatsu (I/c) Vs Gota Ihashi (D/c) Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga Vs Mad Paulie Vs Guanchulo Vs Hoshitango Vs Gorgeous Matsuno Vs Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi Vs Ken Ohka Vs MIKAMI Vs Poison Sawada JULIE Vs GENTARO Vs Tomohiko Hashimoto Vs Rion Mizuki Vs Bambi Vs Yoshihiko

We start off with a staple match on these major shows, a Royal Rumble for the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title. However this time there is an added caveat in the mix. The King Of Dark Title is also on the line, hence why this match is on the pre-show. The current Iron Man Champion is Kotatsu, a literal table. Kotatsu has been unstoppable since becoming the champion. Its defensive capabilities is beyond anything seen from previous champions. As you’d expect from a Japanese table it is tough to break. But it has a soft side too. It has a quilt attached around itself that is so comfortable, anyone who sits next to it falls asleep. The current King Of Dark Champion is Gota Ihashi who recently reclaimed the title for the 6th time. The rest of the field is filled with many names from DDT’s past. MIKAMI had been with DDT for most of its existence and was the Jr. Heavyweight star in the group for many years. Poison Sawada JULIE had many forms but is best remembered as the dark snake magician. GENTARO was a dominant tag wrestler, teaming with Takashi Sasaki as the Akarangers. Tomohiko Hashimoto was one of Koichiro Kimura’s disciples and was part of a unit called B52 Special. Rion Mizuki was an ikemen wrestler who briefly has a Saint Seiya gimmick. Bambi wrestled in DDT under a mask as “Showa”. And then there is the usual lot involved too. It is possible that one of the titles will not change hands depending on the result of the match. It’s a complicated situation that the referees are trying to figure out.


0. DNA Offer Match: Rekka, Daiki Shimomura & Yuki Ueno Vs Nobuhiro Shimatani, Naomi Yoshimura & Dai Suzuki

Earlier this year DDT New Attitude reinvented itself into Fighting Gig DNA. It is still a development brand for DDT’s less experienced wrestlers but the plan is for the group to grow and become its own brand of wrestling. Naomi Yoshimura has quickly become a standout to me. He has the fewest matches out of the six wrestlers but the biggest ego and a powerful body to match. His generation counterpart Yuki Ueno is almost the opposite. Ueno takes a beating every match but he takes it in his stride. Daiki Shimomura and Nobuhiro Shimatani are friends/rivals who recently formed a team together called Gran Millimeters. Dai Suzuki just began a 7 match series where he must win or tie one match or else he must retire. He’s 0-1 so far. Rekka is the most experienced of the bunch by far, joining DNA from New Taiwan Wrestling. Everybody involved in this match are hungry and unsatisfied at just being in the pre-show. They are determined to have an exciting match because of this.


0. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Yuu, Mil Clown & Itoh Maki Vs Reika Saiki, Rika Tatsumi & Azusa Takigawa

The last of the pre-show matches involved Tokyo Joshi Pro. DDT’s spin-off women’s brand has been around for four years now and has a colourful cast of idol wrestlers. Yuu is the current queen of the ring, holding the TOKYO Princess Of Princess Title. Her judo talent quickly pushed her heads and shoulders ahead of the rest of the roster. Mil Clown is a trickster from the Magical Country. She came to Tokyo Joshi to take the place of twin sister Yuka Sakazaki when she took a break to find herself. Itoh Maki is a former singer from LinQ and is convinced she is the cutest wrestler ever. Reika Saiki is the powerful Muscle Idol and a member of the Cheer♡1 cheerleader squad. Rika Tatsumi is becoming known for her Dragon Sleeper. It is no coincidence that her ring name was inspired by Tatsumi Fujinami. Finally Azusa Takigawa is the wrestler who is determined to get married. Her use of Zexy Magazine as a weapon in matches got some attention online this year including a request from the magazine’s publisher to stop doing it.


1. Super Joshi Pro Wars 2017: Saki Akai, Meiko Satomura & Shoko Nakajima Vs Aja Kong, Cherry & Miyu Yamashita

Tokyo Joshi’s influence continues into the main show. The two most established wrestlers from the brand are being put in with DDT’s two mainstay women as well as two joshi legends. Miyu Yamashita has been with Tokyo Joshi since its very first show back in January 2013 with Shoko Nakajima coming in a few months later. Yamashita was the first ever Princess Champion while Nakajima is a Tokyo Princess Cup winner and has been in the final for all three tournaments. Saki Akai and Cherry have a not so friendly relationship in DDT. Cherry was the token women’s wrestler for the DDT family until Akai the celebrity came in. Cherry has been jealous of her success and popularity ever since. Then there is the famed rivalry between Meiko Satomura and Aja Kong. I got to see their Sendai Girls match live last April and it was amazing to watch. Maybe Yamashita and Nakajima can impress the right people in this match and get an opportunity to spread their wings.


2. Kou Shibusawa 35th Anniversary “Nobunaga’s Ambition ~Our Warring States~” Sengoku Warlords Match: Toyotomi Hideyoshi (Sanshiro Takagi), Shingen Takeda (Keiji Muto) & Yukimura Sanada (Isami Kodaka) (w/ Matsu-hime (Kimika Tokuta)) Vs Katsuie Shibata (Daisuke Sekimoto), Kenshin Uesugi (Jun Akiyama) & Nobunaga Oda (Kota Ibushi) (w/ Oichi (Mai Iriya))

It’s surprising to see a match of this magnitude apparantly take place so early on the show but this is going to be a highlight for sure. To celebrate game director Kou Shibusawa’s 35th year in the business, DDT is teaming up with Koei Tecmo to put on a star studded match promoting the Nobunaga’s Ambition phone game. If you don’t know about that series then maybe you are more familiar with Dynasty Warriors or Romance Of The Three Kingdoms. Chances are if the Yellow Turban Rebellion is mentioned somewhere then this match relates to it. To get the most out of this match I suggest you grab a Playstation controller and mash Square over and over. It’s how I played through Dynasty Warriors 8.

To the teams themselves. On one side you have the Big President Sanshiro Takagi, the BASARA samurai Isami Kodaka and the Pro Wrestling Master Keiji Muto. On the other side there is the hard bodied Daisuke Sekimoto, the wise man Jun Akiyama and the nutjob who thinks showering in fireworks during a trip to London is a good idea Kota Ibushi. So far so good but to make things more interesting each wrestler is playing a different character from the historical video game series. There are also actresses involved, Mai Iriya is playing Sekimoto’s character’s wife and Kimika Tokuta is playing Muto’s character’s daughter. Ibushi turned down WWE for this and I couldn’t be happier. Twitter videos also show he has a blunderbuss as part of his costume because you know, giving Ibushi a gun is such a good idea.


3. Special 8-Man Tag Match: Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata, Antonio Honda & Lady Beard Vs Jaguar Yokota, Keisuke Ishii, Masahiro Takanashi & Yuni

Another mish-mash multi-person tag match. The focus here is on two people with around a 45 year a age difference between them. Jaguar Yokota wrestled for DDT once before back in June 2003. Teaming with her is the 3rd grade elementary student Yuni. The kid convinced DDT to train him as a wrestler and he’s had a few matches since his debut last December. During his time away from the ring he’s been bouncing on his bed trying to learn stylish moves like the Sky Twister Press. Yokota and Yuni have met and trained together in the build up to this match. They get along and Yokota warns she won’t forgive anyone who tries to bully Yuni in the ring. Joining their team are Keisuke Ishii and Masahiro Takanashi. Ishii has had a banner year since winning the AJPW Jr. Heavyweight Title. Takanashi is firmly suited in his role for Shuten-dōji and can catch anyone with his pinning manoeuvres. Their opponents are Toru Owashi and the three people who annoy him. Kazuki Hirata wants nothing more than to dance on the biggest stage (sadly his music will be blocked on DDT UNIVERSE). Both Antonio Honda and Lady Beard are warming up their vocals and will probably be more interested in telling stories and singing karaoke rather than wrestling.


4. Shungo Oyama Pro Wrestling Challenge Match: Yoshihiro Takayama & Dick Togo Vs KUDO & Shungo Oyama

Former MMA fighter Shungo Oyama has fought many big names in PRIDE, K-1 and HERO’S. He’s fought Wanderlai Silva, Peter Aerts, Renzo Gracie (and a few others from that family), Dan Henderson, Cro Cop and Carlos Newton. He even once fought Sean O’Haire in a kickboxing bout! When his MMA career ended DDT sent him an invite to try out pro wrestling. It’s an idea he considered but put off for years because he was coming off of injuries and did not want to disrespect pro wrestling with a lacklustre performance. But he came round on the idea and figured it is better to do it now then never at all. He sent a strong message to Yoshihiro Takayama in February when they met in a DDT ring. Takayama tried attacked Oyama but was quickly put in a Sleeper Hold and choked unconscious. KUDO is encouraged by Oyama’s appearance. His advice to him is if he can see success then he can win. Takayama isn’t going to take it lying down though. He warns that all Oyama did was wake up the fighter inside him and he’s now hungry for blood! Takayama’s tag partner Dick Togo wants to remind everyone that even though Oyama is strong he is still a pro wrestling rookie. Togo is eager to teach him a lesson!


5. Shigehiro Irie Triennial Special Single Match: Shigehiro Irie Vs Mike Bailey

This is an interesting match up. Shigehiro Irie and “Speedball” Mike Bailey have both been recovering from set-backs after losing title matches to HARASHIMA. They are both on the cusp of hitting the main event level again but are taking different paths to reach it. Irie has been relying on excursions to the United States of America. The first trip saw him return to Japan much stronger and more confident than ever before. He was already planning a return to America when he fought HARASHIMA on Christmas Day but he wanted to bring the KO-D Openweight Title with him. That did not happen. Still, Irie loves spending time in America and did not take his latest trip for granted.

Bailey’s climb to the top is coming from his time teaming with Happy Motels and wrestling in DNA. He won the DNA Grand Prix on his own in October and then won the KO-D Tag Team Titles with Konosuke Takeshita in December. But Irie isn’t impressed. He’s given him the thumbs down after their matches together. Expect the winner of this match to start banging on the door for a title shot in the future.


6. PRO WRESTLING TEES Presents “DDT Is DDT” 20 Years Entertainment Culmination! The Best In The World Bad Guy Decisive Battle: Danshoku Dino Vs Joey Ryan

Where do I even begin with this? DDT put together the most DDT match they could think of to promote DDT UNIVERSE to a global audience. On November 2015, Danshoku Dino and Joey Ryan faced off in a 6-Man Tag. Their interactions went viral and the aftermath has been following them ever since. When Dino was given 500,000 yen to find his dream opponent for Saitama Super Arena he went for the obvious choice. Triple H! Unfortunately he’s too busy trying to drain the European wrestling scene of its talent for NXT so Dino went for the next obvious choice. Joey Ryan! And to make the match even more appealing to a global audience, Super Sasadango Machine is creating a special PowerPoint presentation in Japanese, English, Spanish and Chinese for the match.

Everything surrounding the match was well and good until a few days ago when a certain powerful figure in the world of politics got involved. “Donald Trump” stepped in and declared the match a World Wrestling War between Japan and America. This is a serious situation that calls for a dangerous stipulation. Using the SWOT Analysis on Dino, Trump determined that Dino Vs Ryan should be an Anal Explosion Death Match! If such a match goes ahead then any scenes of graphic content will be censored on DDT UNIVERSE with this NSFW image.

Oh and Pro Wrestling Tees is sponsoring the match. Buy DDT shirts here. You picked a hell of a match to sponsor, lads.


7. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles – 3 Way Match: Kazusada Higuchi, Kouki Iwasaki & Mizuki Watase (c) Vs Soma Takao, Akito & Yasu Urano Vs Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata & MAO

Things will calm down for the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles match. Three units clash and each side has its own story to tell. Team DNA are the champions going into the match. Kazusada Higuchi is the top man in DNA and has progressed far enough to fight for the KO-D Title a few times already. Kouki Iwasaki is a solid wrestler who is currently picking fights with Kazushi Sakuraba in DNA. Mizuki Watase has gotten his wrestling career back on track after a whirlwind romance with TV celebrity and former champion LiLiCo last year.

Smile Squash are the stronger of the two challenging teams. With Soma Takao recently joining the unit they’ve been on a strong run in tag matches. Akito is happy to team with him but Yasu Urano is pretty suspect of the situation. Takao himself admits he joined Smile Squash to wrestle with HARASHIMA and learn what it will take to beat him someday. Urano wonders why should a guy like that get to join the unit? Regardless, this team contains three skillful wrestlers with momentum on their side.

Last but not least is NωA. Their success in the ring is difficult to find but out of all the teams in the match they are the most tightly knit unit. They sing together, dance together and wrestle together. They released two CDs which nobody else on the show can boast.


8. DDT Extreme Title – Sekichu Presents Hardcore Match: Jun Kasai (c) Vs Daisuke Sasaki

Now we’re getting into the big matches. The last three bouts are going to carry the heavy end of the show so I have high hopes for them. The Hardcore Match is being sponsored by Sekichu and the weapons laid out around the ring will all be provided by them. Daisuke Sasaki is mostly over his infatuation with Candice LeRae but the idea that a championship can impress her may still be in his head. But if he has moved on from her he is now focused on getting rid of Jun Kasai. He stole Kasai’s goggles a month ago but Kasai got back at him by stealing his leather jacket. The items were given back to each other but the fighting continued. Sasaki is confident he will win. So much so he is already thinking of using his match winnings to buy a 65 inch TV to replace his 50 inch one. Is Sasaki charismatic enough to overcome Kasai’s violent streak?


9. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Masakatsu Funaki & Yukio Sakaguchi (c) Vs Shuji Ishikawa & Tetsuya Endo

DAMNATION’s presence continues on to the KO-D Tag Team Titles Match. Nobody has gotten Yukio Sakaguchi more riled up than Tetsuya Endo lately. Endo beating Sakaguchi in a singles match last month only made the bad blood between the two worse. Now Endo has his eyes the tag titles and he’s brining along Shuji Ishikawa to help. He’s also winding up Masakatsu Funaki by calling his Hybrid Wrestling style a thing of the past. Sakaguchi threatens that he will fill Saitama Super Arena with Endo’s blood!


10. KO-D Openweight Title – Good Com Asset Presents: HARASHIMA (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita

The backbone of DDT defends his place on top against the future of the company. HARASHIMA is the most successful KO-D Openweight Champion in DDT history with 9 title reigns and around 28 successful title defences over the course of 10 years. Konosuke Takeshita left his mark on history by becoming the youngest ever KO-D Champion, winning the title on his 21st birthday. Takeshita wants nothing more than for HARASHIMA to be at his absolute best when they wrestle. He wants to beat HARASHIMA at his best so he can rewrite the history books and cement his place as the strongest wrestler to ever step foot in DDT. HARASHIMA assures him that he is constantly getting better every time he steps in the ring. He hears Takeshita’s claims that he is the future of DDT but HARASHIMA doesn’t think the generation shift will happen under his watch. HARASHIMA is thrilled to see DDT on the big stage like this after 20 years. He thinks beating Takeshita in the main event is a good way to kickstart the 21st year. The future of DDT is at stake. Is it time for The Future to take over?


“NEW YEAR’S EVE WRESTLING 2016” Results

December 31, 2016

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“NEW YEAR’S EVE WRESTLING 2016”, 31/12/2016
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,510 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

1. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Yukio Sakaguchi & Daichi Hashimoto defeated Brahman Shu & Brahman Kei when Hashimoto pinned Kei with the Shining Wizard (8:03).
2. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Kengo Mashimo & Shigehiro Irie defeated Naoya Nomura & Kouki Iwasaki when Irie pinned Iwasaki with the Beast Bomber (8:30).
3. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Isami Kodaka & Yuko Miyamoto defeated Great Kojika & Joey Ryan when Miyamoto pinned Ryan (7:12).
4. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Yuji Okabayashi & Jiro Kuroshio defeated Ayato Yoshida & Takuya Nomura when Okabayashi submitted Nomura with the Argentine Backbreaker (8:42)
5. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Daisuke Sekimoto & HARASHIMA Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Yoshihisa Uto ended in a Time Limit Draw (10:00).
5a. Overtime – 1 Count Fall: Kazusada Higuchi & Yoshihisa Uto defeated Daisuke Sekimoto & HARASHIMA when Uto pinned Sekimoto with a Lateral Cradle (1:30).
6. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Manabu Soya & Takayuki Ueki defeated Sanshiro Takagi & Abdullah Kobayashi when Soya pinned Takagi with a Horizontal Cradle (4:11).
7. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Daisuke Sasaki & Yuki Sato Vs Atsushi Aoki & Kazuki Hashimoto ended in a Time Limit Draw (10:00).
7a. Overtime – 1 Count Fall: Atsushi Aoki & Kazuki Hashimoto defeated Daisuke Sasaki & Yuki Sato when Aoki submitted Sato with the Cross Armbreaker (0:32).
8. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Hideyoshi Kamitani & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Kaz Hayashi & Danshoku Dino when Takeshita pinned Dino with the German Suplex (9:38).
9. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Yukio Sakaguchi & Daichi Hashimoto defeated Kengo Mashimo & Shigehiro Irie when Sakaguchi pinned Irie with the Right Knee Of God (6:16).
10. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Isami Kodaka & Yuko Miyamoto Vs Yuji Okabayashi & Jiro Kuroshio ended in a Time Limit Draw (10:00).
10a. Overtime – 1 Count Fall: Isami Kodaka & Yuko Miyamoto defeated Yuji Okabayashi & Jiro Kuroshio when Kodaka pinned Kuroshio with a European Clutch (0:51).
11. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Kazusada Higuchi & Yoshihisa Uto defeated Manabu Soya & Takayuki Ueki when Higuchi pinned Ueki with the Doctor Bomb (5:13).
12. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Hideyoshi Kamitani & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Atsushi Aoki & Kazuki Hashimoto when Kamitani pinned Hashimoto with the Back Drop (8:48).
13. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi-Final: Hideyoshi Kamitani & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Yukio Sakaguchi & Daichi Hashimoto when Kamitani pinned Hashimoto with the Back Drop (8:47).
14. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi-Final: Kazusada Higuchi & Yoshihisa Uto defeated Isami Kodaka & Yuko Miyamoto when Uto pinned Kodaka with the Lariat (10:15).
15. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Final: Kazusada Higuchi & Yoshihisa Uto defeated Hideyoshi Kamitani & Konosuke Takeshita when Higuchi pinned Takeshita with the Goten (20:37).

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Korakuen Hall spent its final hours of 2016 hosting the annual New Year’s Supershow co-hosted by Big Japan, DDT, K-DOJO, WRESTLE-1 and All Japan. The entire show was built around a Shuffle Tag Team Tournament, mixing most of the wrestlers together into odd pairings. Some teams got along with each other, some didn’t but hey it’s the holidays so let’s just have fun.

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The opening match saw Yukio Sakaguchi & Daichi Hashimoto barely working together to beat the Brahman Brothers. Even the evil twins suggested that their opponents would have a better chance of winning if they got along. That came back to haunt them when a stop sign attack backfired and Brahman Shu hit Brahman Kei by accident. Hashimoto then drank the Brahman’s black ink and spat it in Kei’s face, leading to the Shining Wizard to finish him off.

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Kengo Mashimo & Shigehiro Irie beat Naoya Nomura & Kouki Iwasaki. The latter worked well together but they weren’t able to outlast their more experienced opponents. Irie isolated Iwasaki while Mashimo threw Nomura out of the ring. Iwasaki said he felt tense having to wrestle on the final night of the year.

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The 3rd match ended in a sleazy manner thanks to Joey Ryan and Laura James. Ryan kept trying to make Yuko Miyamoto touch his groin. Referee Frank Atsushi was slammed into the turnbuckles so James ran in to interfere. This somehow led to a situation where Great Kojika was knocked onto his back, James fell down on top of him sitting on his face, Atsushi stood over her holding his groin in pain and Ryan was knocked down head first onto Kojika’s crotch. If that wasn’t enough, a dazed Miyamoto was holding a Samurai! TV camera standing over them like he was filming a porn scene. Miyamoto eventually fell on top of them for the winning pin.

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The next odd couple team to come along was Yuji Okabayashi & Jiro Kuroshio. Okabayashi had not time for Kuroshio’s antics and just wanted to wrestle. Kuroshio however wanted to know if Okabayashi had a fancy jacket to match his own. He found one and offered it to Okabayashi after they beat Ayato Yoshida & Takuya Nomura but it was refused.

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Daisuke Sekimoto & HARASHIMA Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Yoshihisa Uto was the first match of the night to end in a Time Limit Draw. From there the match went into sudden death 1 count fall rules. HARASHIMA and Higuchi sprinted to pin each other for just one second but neither could. It took Uto to get the upset pin on Sekimoto to win the match and knock out one-half of last year’s tournament winners in the first round.

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The pairing of Sanshiro Takagi & Abdullah Kobayashi were going by the team name GET MILD. They both came out dressed in Takayuki Ueki’s old wrestling costumes with a guiding stick poking out of Takagi’s crotch. Everybody including Manabu Soya pulled out a gun during the match and dared each other to a Western showdown. But it was all a trick, Soya & Ueki both rolled over GET MILD when they turned their backs and got the three count.

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Daisuke Sasaki & Yuki Sato Vs Atsushi Aoki & Kazuki Hashimoto was the next match to go into overtime. It was part of Sasaki & Sato’s plan to waste time by bringing out selfie sticks and playing around with them. Aoki jammed the stick into Sasaki’s groin then tapped out Sato with the Cross Armbreaker.

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The final first round match featured Danshoku Dino trying to woo his Kaz Hayashi into being his partner in more ways than one. Hayashi eventually reciprocated and revealed he was wearing Danshoku tights under his own. Unfortunately the power of love wasn’t enough to beat Hideyoshi Kamitani & Konosuke Takeshita.

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Round 2 began with Sakaguchi & Hashimoto on better terms. They needed to be if they wanted to beat Mashimo & Irie. They hit a Penalty Kick/Shining Wizard combo to Irie then Sakaguchi hit the Right Knee Of God for the three count. A handshake at the end cemented that they were now on the right page together.

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The other disgruntled pairing of the tournament also finally got along. Kuroshio convinced Okabayashi to wear his fancy jacket along with a sun visor with a wig attached to it. He got into the spirit of things and did some Ikemen poses while wrestling. Their match with Yankee Two Kenju went into overtime and sadly the Ikemen dream ended badly. Isami Kodaka caught Kuroshio in a European Clutch for the one count.

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Ueki had a crazy plan to beat Higuchi & Uto. It involved drinking out of a 1.5 litre bottle of Coca-Cola then tightrope walking across the top rope. What he was supposed to achieve I don’t know but he wound up slipping and crotching himself on the rope. Higuchi then pinned him with the Doctor Bomb.

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Kamitani & Takeshita were the last team to qualify for the semi-final with a win over Aoki & Hashimoto. Aoki took out Takeshita with a Topé but in the ring Hashimoto was pinned by Kamitani’s Back Drop.

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With the 2nd Round completed it was time for the 2016 Occupation Of The Indies Awards. Best Newcomer was given to Takuya Nomura from Big Japan. Nomura said he debuted in April and will do his best to meet everyone’s expectations. Best Show went to Ganbare☆Wrestling for “BAD COMMUNICATION 2016” held on 2nd October. Ken Ohka was there to accept the award but had to leave early to participate at “SHOTA AID” in Shin-Kiba later that night. Ohka said he eventually wants to book a show at the Tokyo Dome. Best Unit went to DAMNATION from DDT. Shuji Ishikawa celebrated by singing “Only One Flower In The World” by SMAP. He then got angry at the rest of DAMNATION for not joining in. Best Bout went to the Scaffold G Shock Death Match between Ryuji Ito Vs Kokuro Hoshino from Big Japan’s “RYOGOKUTAN” show on 24th July. Ito wasn’t happy that he lost the match but would take the award as commiseration. Finally the MVP Award went to Shuji Ishikawa. At 41 years old he would like to fight new wrestlers and win new championships.

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A lottery was held to determine the semi-final match ups. First up was Kamitani & Takeshita Vs Sakaguchi & Hashimoto. Once again Kamitani’s Back Drop was the difference maker. Sakaguchi admitted he misunderstood Hashimoto at first but got to know him throughout the night in their matches. He thinks they will meet again some day.

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2016 ended and 2017 begun during the Higuchi & Uto Vs Yankee Two Kenju match. Kodaka & Miyamoto both celebrated by diving out of the ring onto their opponents at the stroke of midnight. Uto claimed the first victory of the new year but giving Kodaka a Double Arm Facebuster followed by a Lariat. Miyamoto coped with defeat by grabbing the Samurai! TV camera again.

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So the final was Kamitani & Takeshita Vs Higuchi & Uto in a Big Japan/DDT Vs DNA/Big Japan final. With no time limit a winner would be determined under normal circumstances. Late in the match Higuchi hit Takeshita with a Lariat but only got a one count. Kamitani blocked Higuchi from doing the Doctor Bomb but Uto got rid of him. That allowed Higuchi to give Takeshita the Goten to pin last year’s co-champion and win the tournament! Higuchi & Uto praised their opponents but they were the strongest tonight. Takeshita said he is the one who will lead DDT and he then stood up to Higuchi. In reply Higuchi said he will not lose. Kamitani said he he will lead the entire pro wrestling landscape. Uto calmed everyone down and encouraged everyone to lead pro wrestling in Japan together. The four congratulated one another and posed for the show ending photographs.


BASARA “ISAMI KODAKA WRESTLING ~ 2ND SHINJUKU STRONGEST GROUND BUDOKAI” Results

September 28, 2016

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BASARA “ISAMI KODAKA WRESTLING ~ 2ND SHINJUKU STRONGEST GROUND BUDOKAI”, 28/09/2016
Shinjuku FACE
520 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

1. Shinjuku Strongest Ground Budokai – Round 1: Shiori Asahi defeated Tatsuhiko Yoshino by Ring Out (7:12).
2. Shinjuku Strongest Ground Budokai – Round 1: Isami Kodaka defeated Brahman Kei (w/ Brahman Shu) with a School Boy (3:54).
3. Shinjuku Strongest Ground Budokai – Round 1: Kengo Mashimo defeated FUMA with the Mudo (8:30).
4. Shinjuku Strongest Ground Budokai – Round 1: Yasu Urano Vs Daisuke Sekimoto ended in a Draw by Double Ring Out (7:02).
4a. Rematch: Daisuke Sekimoto defeated Yasu Urano with a Scorpion Deathlock (0:48).
5. Shinjuku Strongest Ground Budokai – Round 2: Riho defeated Shiori Asahi by Ring Out (4:52).
6. Shinjuku Strongest Ground Budokai – Round 2: Isami Kodaka defeated Manami Toyota by Ring Out (5:09).
-. Reserve Match: FUMA defeated Yasu Urano by Ring Out (4:21).
7. Shinjuku Strongest Ground Budokai – Semi Final: FUMA defeated Riho by Ring Out (7:01).
8. Shinjuku Strongest Ground Budokai – Semi Final: Isami Kodaka defeated Daisuke Sekimoto by Ring Out (10:30).
9. Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi, Takumi Tsukamoto & SAGAT defeated Ryuichi Sekine, Ryota Nakatsu & Koji Iwamoto when SAGAT pinned Nakatsu with the Goregrind (11:41).
10. Shinjuku Strongest Ground Budokai – Final: Isami Kodaka defeated FUMA with the Isamuashi Zan (12:34).

The second Shinjuku Strongest Ground Budokai tournament featured a brand new BASARA ring canvas. Round 1 began with no ropes attached so ring outs could happen easily. Tatsuhiko Yoshino found this out the hard way when he tried to pin Shiori Asahi with a Jackknife but a kickout was strong enough to push him out of the ring. Both of them really wanted to win the match so they could fight Riho in Round 2. Yoshino was upset at the loss but Asahi whispered something into his ear that made him cheer up.

The Brahman Brothers didn’t care about the new ring canvas so they poured water all over it during their entrance. Isami Kodaka came out dressed as Goku from Dragon Ball, monkey tail included. Kodaka was only meant to fight Brahman Kei but Brahman Shu got involved whenever he could. The numbers game actually turned out to give Kodaka the advantage as the two Brahmans kept hitting each other with their foreign objects by accident. Kodaka was then able to roll up Kei to win. Things went bad after the match when the Brahmans attacked Kodaka and dripped green goo into his mouth. Kodaka went motionless and was carried to the back by the Brahmans.

FUMA ditched his usual heavy metal face mask and instead wore Turisas inspired war paint for the tournament. Kengo Mashimo wasn’t in the mood for FUMA’s antics and got him to fight seriously. Mashimo ended up catching FUMA’s arm and switched from a Cross Armbreaker to the Mudo to force FUMA to submit. Unfortunately Mashimo picked up an injury during the match and was unable to continue in the tournament.

The final first round match pitted Yasu Urano against Daisuke Sekimoto. Urano pulled and pushed the referee around so he could use dirty moves on Sekimoto. It also prevented the ref from seeing Urano tap out at one point. A pinning cradle sent both wrestlers rolling out of the ring. The referee couldn’t tell who hit the ground first so the match had to be restarted. Urano again threw the ref into Sekimoto and rolled him into a pin but Sekimoto kicked out. He then put Urano in a Sharpshooter and made him submit. This time the ref saw it.

In Round 2 Shiori Asahi got what he wanted, a match against Riho. However Tatsuhiko Yoshino came out to the ring with him with a big smile on his face. Yoshino said he too was going to fight Riho! Both of them offered to shake Riho’s hand but she refused. Asahi tried to throw Riho out of the ring but she kept fighting to stay in. She even grabbed Asahi’s hair and pulled some of it off his head, making him angry. Riho bit Asahi’s hand in defence and Dropkicked him out of the ring and onto Yoshino to advance to the semi finals.

The legendary joshi Manami Toyota was Kodaka’s 2nd round opponent. However Kodaka was under the Brahman Brothers’s spell and joined in with their water throwing antics around ringside. Toyota was angry at Kodaka’s actions and wasted no time attacking him. Kodaka didn’t know what was going on and yelled “I’m scared! I’m scared” until the Brahmans came to rescue him. Toyota fought them off and pulled Kodaka over by the tail so she could do the Ocean Cyclone Suplex. Kodaka avoided the move and threw a bucked of water at Toyota, making her slip out of the ring. When the match was over Kodaka began shivering and he threw up the green goo the Brahmans fed him earlier. Seeing him return to normal, the Brahmans ran off to come up with another plan to invade BASARA.

Due to Mashimo’s injury removing him from the tournament, FUMA and Urano were given a second chance by competing in a reserve match. In an upset, FUMA defeated the winner of the first tournament after trying to turn him into a metalhead. When that didn’t work he knocked him out of the ring.

FUMA left the ring but had to come back out for his semi final bout against Riho. The ropes were attached to the ring but the ring out rule was still active. When Riho wouldn’t copy his Metal hand sign he called her a bad kid and tried to force her to make the sign. Riho went for a high risk move but FUMA easily caught her and dropped her out of the ring to win.

Now that Kodaka was back to normal he could now focus clearly on Sekimoto. After a big back and forth battle both of them wound up fighting on the apron. Kodaka succeeded in knocking Sekimoto to the floor with the Zeyyari, clearing his road to the final.

A non-tournament match gave the finalists time to breathe. Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi, Takumi Tsukamoto & SAGAT put their little squabbles aside to take on Cavalry. SAGAT finally broke his current funk by hitting the Goregrind on Ryota Nakatsu. The victory gives SAGAT, Hiroshi and Tsukamoto some momentum going into the IRON FIST TAG TOURNAMENT.

So the final was set. Isami Kodaka made it to the final two in the first tournament but couldn’t win it. FUMA was eliminated in the first round but he was given a second chance. With the ring out rule discarded it was now a regular wrestling match to determine who was better. Kodaka summoned his inner strength and threw a Kamehameha on route to a triumphant tournament victory! Kodaka mentioned the tough competition that fought today from Mashimo to Sekimoto. He thinks he will get his chance to fight Mashimo again someday. He shook hands with the wrestlers who stayed behind and even gave FUMA the heavy metal hand sign.


BASARA “VAJRA 12 ~RYOKO KYOTO~” Results

June 10, 2016

deadlift-basara

BASARA “VAJRA 12 ~RYOKO KYOTO~”, 10/06/2016
Kitasenju Theatre 1010
120 Fans – Super No Vacancy

1. Heaven Summit ~Itadaki~ A Block: SAGAT (2) defeated Yusuke Kubo (2) with the Pachiki (11:17).
2. Think About The Troubles Of Foreigners in JAPAN: Ryuichi Sekine, Ryota Nakatsu & Koji Iwamoto defeated Ryu Gouma, Heddi French & Choun-Shiryu when Iwamoto pinned Gouma with the Aloof Art (8:39).
3. Heaven Summit ~Itadaki~ B Block: Hiroshi Fukuda (4) defeated Daichi Kazato (4) with the Perfect Plex (10:26).
4. Heaven Summit ~Itadaki~ B Block: FUMA (5) Vs Takumi Tsukamoto (5) ended in a Draw when both were Disqualified (9:24).
5. Special Tag Match: Daisuke Sekimoto & Hideyoshi Kamitani defeated Isami Kodaka & Hi69 when Sekimoto pinned Kodaka with the Deadlift German Suplex (17:42).

Block A Standings

1. Isami Kodaka (4)
-. Ryota Nakatsu (4)
-. Ryuichi Sekine (4)
4. Yusuke Kubo (2)
-. SAGAT (2)

Block B Standings

1. FUMA (5)
-. Takumi Tsukamoto (5)
3. Daichi Kazato (4)
-. Hiroshi Fukuda (4)
5. Ryu Gouma (0)

After the main event Isami Kodaka gestured to Daisuke Sekimoto that he wants one more match. Kodaka said he lost to HARASHIMA in DDT and he lost to Sekimoto in Big Japan. It frustrates him but he has BASARA to fight for. He said it is a place for guys like Hi69 to step up. He will continue to fight for now and beyond. He thanked the fans for cheering for him. Oh, and also for cheering Hi69.

There was no love lost between Takumi Tsukamoto and FUMA. Both of them lost their cool and could not be separated. Kyohei Wada couldn’t regain control of the match and disqualified both of them. They were finally kept apart by the other wrestlers at ringside. The match counts as a draw so both of them received a point. However Tsukamoto cannot qualify for the final. That goes to the winner of FUMA Vs Hiroshi Fukuda on Sunday.

In the match between Hiroshi Fukuda and Daichi Kazato, Fukuda kept offering to shake Kazato’s hand. Whenever Kazato reached out to accept it Fukuda lifted his own arm into the air and yelled “Hooooooo!”. Even when Fukuda beat him to keep him out of the final, Kazato saw the funny side and smiled.

Ryu Gouma brought in two “beleaguered foreigners” to help him fight Cavalry. The foreigners turned out to be Heddi French and Choun-Shiryu, making this Shiryu’s BASARA debut. Gouma wanted to help solve his partner’s problems. Cavlry protested Shiryu’s entry into the match and he reminded them he is Chinese. Gouma said the unjust discrimination shown by Cavalry should be solved with legal fighting and the match began. French admitted learning Japanese is difficult. Gouma encouraged him because he was able to say that in Japanese. During the match everyone in Cavalry decided to share their problems with Gouma. Ryota Nakatsu was worried that no one in the audience will go to the Drop Kick Bar after the show. Gouma told him at least two people will. Ryuichi Sekine complained that his liver function is insanely high and he can’t donate blood because of it. Gouma said his problem might involve uric acid so he should take medicine for it. Koji Iwamoto didn’t want to tell anyone his problems. Sekine cut in and said he hates sweet peppers. The match broke down into a brawl and Iwamoto gave his finisher on Gouma onto his statute book to win the match for Cavalry.

In his final match for the Heaven Summit tournament, SAGAT finally grabbed a victory. He beat Yusuke Kubo to end his losing streak and was so happy he hugged the referee down onto the ring mat. With no more matches left in the tournament SAGAT is looking forward to the future. First up is a Hardcore Match against Takumi Tsukamoto this Sunday.