Dramatic DDT

DDT “ULTIMATE PARTY 2020”, 03/11/2020
Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium

0. Under Match: Keigo Nakamura Vs Hideki Okatani
0. Under Match: Hiroshi Yamato & Hoshitango Vs Mizuki Watase & Yukio Naya
1. MAO Return Battle: MAO Vs Shunma Katsumata
2. Danshoku Dieno Vs Akito
3. 4 Way 6-Man Tag Match: Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Sakaguchi & Saki Akai Vs Toru Owashi, Naomi Yoshimura & Kazuki Hirata Vs Mad Paulie, El Lindaman & Nobuhiro Shimatani Vs Super Sasadango Machine, Makoto Oishi & Antonio Honda
4. DDT Extreme Title – Yanekabe Presents Weapon Rumble: Shinya Aoki (c) Vs Sanshiro Takagi
5. Special Tag Match – HarashiMarafuji Vs CimaSoma: HARASHIMA & Naomichi Marufuji Vs CIMA & Soma Takao
6. DDT UNIVERSAL Title: Chris Brookes (c) Vs Yuki Ueno
7. Special Single Match: Jun Akiyama Vs Konosuke Takeshita
8. KO-D Openweight Title – BLACK OUT Presents: Tetsuya Endo (c) Vs Daisuke Sasaki

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these things. A year ago in fact! Skipped over writing a preview for “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2020” because everything was put together in too short of an amount of time but I can’t complain about a lack of build for this one. As no doubt many of you have seen, most of the pro wrestling industry worldwide has been chugging through the Coronavirus pandemic, good idea or not. For DDT they ran empty arena shows until fans were allowed back in. The block of wrestling companies owned by CyberAgent that DDT is a part of all merged their management together to form CyberFight in order to survive. Some big plans for this show went up in smoke. “ULTIMATE PARTY 2020” was originally meant to be in Sumo Hall, now it is happening in Ota Ward Gymnasium because Ryogoku became unavailable. Also Kenny Omega was supposed to be here but travel restrictions nixed that idea. DDT adapted to the problems, came up with a card they want to reach across the world and show that they aren’t just a storm in a teacup.

0. Under Match: Keigo Nakamura Vs Hideki Okatani

It’s been fun watching these two rookies flourish throughout 2020. Keigo Nakamura has become this lovable little gremlin who can adapt into whatever scenario DDT throws at him. When they need a flexible punching bag, Nakamura is there to take those lumps. I can only imagine what his imagination will be like when he has some more years on him and gets the chance to put something together by himself. It’s not all antics either. He seriously wants to win matches and isn’t happy to see the younger Hideki Okatani quickly overtake him. Okatani has been more straightforward in his first year as a wrestler. He wasted no time standing up to Jun Akiyama for a few DDT TV SHOW bouts. It led to him being the fourth man for Junretsu and getting a bigger spotlight than his “senpai” Nakamura. But these two are still fresh rookies so they get the curtain jerking spot on the pre-show.

0. Under Match: Hiroshi Yamato & Hoshitango Vs Mizuki Watase & Yukio Naya

This is Hoshitango’s first match in DDT this year. As far as I know he’s done nothing but be JR level horny on Twitter during his time away from the ring. If he’s been on other wrestling shows I can’t find them. Hiroshi Yamato made several DDT appearances doing not much of note until recently. He willingly got into the DAMNATION drama and came out of it slightly changed. He hasn’t been singing during his entrances and his eyes have gone black. After years of being stuck in the mud, Mizuki Watase is starting to progress again as part of Junretsu. He needed that kick up the bum and to be honest it isn’t enough if he wants to stop treading water. Yukio Naya is in a similar position of underachieving. He’s been accused of not performing like a man his size should. To be fair he must have a ton of pressure on his shoulders coming from such a well regarded sumo family. His grandfather is a legendary yokozuna and his three younger brothers have all joined sumo stables in the last two years. At least he has his hobbies.

1. MAO Return Battle: MAO Vs Shunma Katsumata

MAO is back from injury and he wants to break Shunma Katsumata. It’s a good sign that the world can go back to normal. A left MCL injury in June has kept MAO out of action so he was reduced to just hanging out at shows when he could. He’s still the same guy he always was. Katsumata however is no longer the sweet little boy we all knew. He was always into deathmatches but he jumped in hard this year. When he’s not wrestling Super Hardcore on Lego in DDT, he is earning his blood soaked stripes in Big Japan also with Lego. It is quickly reaching the point where I wonder if Katsumata is better off in Big Japan than DDT? There isn’t any stipulation added to the match but if MAO and Katsumata wanted to bring weapons in I’m sure nobody will want to stop them.

2. Danshoku Dieno Vs Akito

One of the biggest beneficiaries from the creation of CyberFight is Akito. Ever since he became a Vice President for the company, his success in the ring has soared. The key to his newfound momentum is the Goliath Birdeater, a disgusting looking submission hold that was originally used by Taku Iwasa in Toryumon (“It’s a Spider Thread, It’s a Spider Thread, It’s a Spider Thread, It’s a Spider Threeeeeaaaaad”). It tangles up all of the victim’s limbs just like a spider the move is named after would do. Outside the ring, Akito is taking his new role very seriously and it has made look at things with a more critical eye. He singled out Danshou Dieno in particular, asking him if his work over the summer was up to par. For you see, Akito has always wanted to wrestle Dieno in his prime. He thinks they are both one of a kind in DDT and mixing together can create something special. A match like that should happen in a big venue like Ota Ward Gymnasium. Dieno agrees and wants to prove his best days are not behind him. There’s still a lot of ideas in that creative mind of his. Who could be better than Akito to help bring them to life?

3. 4 Way 6-Man Tag Match: Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Sakaguchi & Saki Akai Vs Toru Owashi, Naomi Yoshimura & Kazuki Hirata Vs Mad Paulie, El Lindaman & Nobuhiro Shimatani Vs Super Sasadango Machine, Makoto Oishi & Antonio Honda

As things stand now the entire tag team division belongs to Eruption. The trio have been a force to be reckoned with and were highly featured on DDT cards throughout the year. Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Sakaguchi recently won the KO-D Tag Team Titles and with Saki Akai they also hold the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles. So far they are living up to their goal of creating their own path in DDT. Higuchi & Sakaguchi have been regular threats to championships. Akai meanwhile completed the Okabariyasu series where she fought the likes of Rina Yamashita, Miranda Gordy, Syuri, Saori Anou and Meiko Satomura. There are no challengers for either tag titles at the moment so Eruption are in a non-title 4 Way with a bunch of DDT regulars. One team is DISASTER BOX with former tag champion Naomi Yoshimura having his final match before taking an extended break to recover from his cervical injuries. Toru Owashi is still in his gatekeeper position while Kazuki Hirata recently reminded Sakaguchi not to take him or the Miracle One Shot Cradle lightly. #DAMNHEARTS are represented by Mad Paulie, El Lindaman & Nobuhiro Shimatani. I bet Lindaman doesn’t want to be reminded of losing the trios titles to Akai after all of that big talk he gave to her beforehand. The last team rounding out the field is Super Sasadango Machine, Makoto Oishi & Antonio Honda. Sasadango has been busy producing the Hiragana Muscle revival that was meant to be the first pro wrestling musical (until Chris Jericho & MJF beat him to the punch). Oishi has been refreshed by becoming the leader of Junretsu. Honda is still Honda and er… let’s leave it at that.

4. DDT Extreme Title – Yanekabe Presents Weapon Rumble: Shinya Aoki (c) Vs Sanshiro Takagi

It has been nigh on impossible for wrestlers to take the DDT Extreme Title from Shinya Aoki. The championship that is defended under many different rules has been over Aoki’s shoulder since March and no amount of DDT foolishness has slowed him down. He’s defended the belt in a Blindfold Hidden Bra Death Match held in the centre of an empty Saitama Super Arena. He’s defended it in a Falls Count Anywhere match to celebrate the end of Japan’s lockdown. He even defended the belt against Maku Donaruto. Nothing seems to stop the MMA veteran. Only one man is left to stop him and he has just the plan needed to succeed. It’s Sanshiro Takagi and the Weapon Rumble! There’s one problem though, Aoki hasn’t signed the contract yet and would rather forfeit the title than do that match. Probably serves DDT right for promoting the match before getting Aoki’s signature but they might have figured out the reason why it came to this. Takagi suggests that Aoki has a phobia of signing contracts because it reminds him too much of his marriage and divorce. He had to sign a marriage certificate and he had to sign the divorce papers. Maybe those memories left him mentally scarred. Takagi does not want to become champion by default and is determined to make the match happen one way or another. If this turns out to be a negotiation tactic to drop the Weapon Rumble stipulation then Takagi will agree to it. Anything to ensure that Aoki shows up to Ota Ward to defend his title. I can’t blame Aoki for his paranoia about this. The weapons used in Weapon Rumbles are just as much for psychological pain than they are physical damage. What if his ex-wife shows up as a weapon?!? Probably not, from what I could find it sounds like they had a nasty split. One that is maybe too upsetting to make fun of by reuniting them in the ring.

Geez way to end the comedy match preview on a sad note, me.

5. Special Tag Match – HarashiMarafuji Vs CimaSoma: HARASHIMA & Naomichi Marufuji Vs CIMA & Soma Takao

This match was originally meant to take place at “WRESTLE PETER PAN” back in June. When DDT got to run shows in front of crowds again, HARASHIMA and Soma Takao were told that the match was back on. There was another risk of the match getting cancelled again when CIMA got into a traffic accident, breaking his nose, fracturing his wrist and getting a couple other minor injuries across the body. Thankfully he recovered and made it back to the ring in good shape. He also has been getting a lot of ring time with Takao, both as tag partners and as opponents. Takao used to wrestle using a tribute gimmick called BIMA when he was in a college wrestling club. CIMA wants to help Takao surpass him so he can start from B, skip C and go straight to D. Then he can be renamed DIMA! Plus they get to to this in Soma’s hometown of Ota. That kind of ambition and regular reps might make them a better oiled machine than HARASHIMA and Naomichi Marufuji. The HarashiMarufuji team have worked together a couple times this year but not as much as CimaSoma. In September there was an Elimination Tag Match where Takao eliminated Marufuji early by throwing him out of the ring. Marufuji wants to get revenge for being humiliated like that. Rustiness is the only weak point I can see with HarashiMarufuji. Experience and skill levels combined makes that team nearly unbeatable otherwise.

6. DDT UNIVERSAL Title: Chris Brookes (c) Vs Yuki Ueno

The newest championship in DDT has been tailor made for Chris Brookes. In February Brookes became the first DDT UNIVERSAL Champion, holding a belt created to boost DDT’s global presence. There was a setback over the Spring where he lost the belt in his first defence and had a hell of a time trying to reclaim it. But reclaim it he did and he’s having a much better go around this time. He got his cockiness back with this reign and it’s been rubbing some of the other wrestlers the wrong way. Like Yuki Ueno for example. After Brookes successfully defended the title against Naomi Yoshimura, he called him weak. Brookes then looked over to Ueno and called him even weaker. Ueno snapped and challenged Brookes for the title so he could shut him up. Brookes accepted and then put Ueno in the Octopus Stretch. Ueno got something back in the mind games department when he used the Praying Mantis Bomb in a match. Things went worse from there with Brookes attacking Ueno again after Nautilus lost the KO-D Tag Titles. Brookes continued to rub Ueno’s face in by presenting him with flowers at a press conference as if he was in mourning of Ueno’s title loss. He has the recent success behind him to back up his cocky attitude. The normally quiet Ueno has to step away from his safety net especially now that Yoshimura is taking time off. By all means the talent is there for Ueno to be a top name for DDT in the future. I always thought Yoshimura would be the stand out of Nautilus but the KO-D Tag Title reign (which has been my highlight of 2020 DDT by the way) was a breakthrough period for Ueno. This match has sleeper hit of the show written all over it.

7. Special Single Match: Jun Akiyama Vs Konosuke Takeshita

Usually it’s one company’s loss that becomes another company’s gain. In this case two companies losing out benefitted DDT. Jun Akiyama was supposed to spend some time in Florida back in May working as a temporary coach in the WWE Performance Center. COVID-19 prevented that trip from happening so DDT offered him the same role for their own roster. Akiyama got to spend time in the ring with guys like Mizuki Watase and Hideki Okatani, teaching them valuable lessons in King’s Road wrestling. The idea worked out so well that DDT struck a deal with All Japan to rent Akiyama’s services for the rest of this year (that is the other company losing out, nobody is expecting Akiyama to go back when his rental period ends). From the get go the plan was to put Akiyama and Konosuke Takeshita together as opponents. Akiyama was here to teach King’s Road but Takeshita was more interested in experiencing Akiyama’s personal wrestling style. In return Akiyama gets to experience the high level of DDT presented by Takeshita. Akiyama formed the unit Junretsu (intentionally referencing the pop band with the same name) to fight against Takeshita & ALL OUT. There is no grudge between the two wrestlers but the fights between them have been fierce. The result of this generational confrontation will shift the balance of the pro wrestling world. There’s no holding back here. Win or lose, Akiyama will do his part to nourish one of DDT’s best and help him grow even stronger.

8. KO-D Openweight Title – BLACK OUT Presents: Tetsuya Endo (c) Vs Daisuke Sasaki

Ambition is what caused this main event to exist. Ambition is what led to a betrayal and then a betrayal of that betrayal. Ambition is what created a fracture in the most powerful faction in DDT. Tetsuya Endo achieved his goal of winning the KO-D Openweight Title from Masato Tanaka back in June. In the midst of the empty arena shows he built up the momentum needed to knock Tanaka off his throne and carry the main event picture onwards. It was Endo’s savviness to form a business alliance between DAMNATION and #STRONGHEARTS, creating #DAMNHEARTS. Then he had an even bigger goal he wanted to accomplish. He let the world know when he won the King Of DDT tournament as the reigning KO-D Champion. Endo wanted to defend the title against Kenny Omega at “ULTIMATE PARTY 2020”! Endo even began using a modified Wrist Clutch One-Winged Angel to prepare for the fateful match. Unfortunately it was unable to happen at Ota Ward so Endo was tasked to find a replacement challenger. He knew who it had to be. There are only two wrestlers left he needs to defeat. One is Omega. The other is his leader Daisuke Sasaki!

At first it looked like the match would happen smoothly. Endo is loyal to Sasaki so there was no bad blood to look out for. Then cracks began to appear when they tagged together. Double team moves would backfire but ultimately would not cause them to lose. Both would take this in somewhat good spirits (if that’s even possible for the mood Sasaki is always in) and instead banter about getting into better shape more than the other can. It all came to a head in September when Sasaki turned on Endo, banished him from DAMNATION and instructed #DAMNHEARTS to join in the beating. Except they didn’t. Instead #DAMNHEARTS took Endo’s side and held a mutiny on Sasaki, kicking him out of the group instead! It turned out that Sasaki and Endo had the same idea of turning on each other and both approached #DAMNHEARTS to join them. Given the choice, #DAMNHEARTS picked to be with Endo. The new leader declared that DAMNATION can now conform, kiss ass and get married! A furious Sasaki declared he was the only member of DAMNATION and the others were banished but he can’t stop them from using the name anyway. His lone attempts to fight his former allies looked hopeless until Hiroshi Yamato came along to help him with mixed results.

As the weeks went by Sasaki fell deep into his drinking and came up with an ultimatum. If he cannot beat Endo at “ULTIMATE PARTY 2020” then he will retire! He will flee Japan in shame and go find a job in another country where he can work three days a week with no early morning shifts. Now it’s difficult to tell how serious Sasaki is with going through with this plan. He has a history of throwing down championships and threatening to quit whenever he loses only to drink his misery away to forget about it. He also has a DAMNATION show celebrating his 15th Anniversary in wrestling happening on 12th November (that the DAMNATION wrestlers have since been banned from) that seems to be going ahead no matter what the result is. What also prevents a Sasaki win from being a sure fire bet is Endo’s supposed match with Omega. Will that still happen if Endo loses the title? You’ve seen what Omega is like now. He probably isn’t going to be interested in making the trip back to DDT when allowed if both Endo and the KO-D Title isn’t involved.