DDT “DDT TV SHOW! #4”, 23/05/2020 DDT TV SHOW Studio
1. Akito & Yuki Iino Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Naya
2. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Danshoku Dieno (c) Vs Antonio Jonda
3. Special Tag Match: Masato Tanaka & HARASHIMA Vs Tetsuya Endo & Soma Takao
4. Konosuke Takeshita Vs Yoshihiko
5. Jun Akiyama Vs Mizuki Watase
6. DDT Extreme Title: Shinya Aoki (c) Vs Keigo Nakamura
7. DDT UNIVERSAL Title – 4 Way Match: Daisuke Sasaki (c) Vs Chris Brookes Vs Naomi Yoshimura Vs MAO
The DDT TV SHOW is now established on the schedule with more weekly episodes taking place until at least 20th June. Daisuke Sasaki has to defend the DDT UNIVERSAL Title against three wrestlers who all want to take the belt from him. Shinya Aoki versus Keigo Nakamura for the DDT Extreme Title finally takes place. Mizuki Watase dug up the courage to challenge Jun Akiyama. After last week’s calamity of a match, Danshoku Dieno and Antonio Honda get a re-do for their Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title bout.
Next, let’s move over to the KO-D Openweight Title scene. Tetsuya Endo regained the KO-D Challenger Sword and can now challenge Masato Tanaka for the title whenever he wants. Tanaka is coming in to face Endo in a tag match. One bad result for Endo will dash his plans for a second time and whether it is Tanaka or HARASHIMA who pins him it will be another wild twist in the title scene. Or maybe Soma Takao throws a wrench in and beats Tanaka himself?
And let’s not forget about Yoshihiko’s blood feud with ALL OUT. The doll has checked off every member from its list, except for Konosuke Takeshita. This is the last stand for ALL OUT. Either Takeshita banished the threat or it’s a total party kill.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW PPV SHOW ~ZENRYOKU YELL~”, 31/05/2020 OPENREC.tv
The return of Tokyo Joshi Pro after a two month absence will be a special PPV event broadcasting on the OPENREC streaming service. Seven matches will be on offer with the regular roster taking part. The stream is available in three tiers, each includes live viewing and VOD until 16th June. The show will be added to WRESTLE UNIVERSE after that date.
The Regular Tier costs ¥1650. You get 100 Yell Points which briefly posts a message of support for the wrestlers on screen during matches. The Special Tier costs ¥3300. You get 100 Yell Points, a 10 second video message from a wrestler of your choosing and a poster signed by all the wrestlers. The Premium Tier costs ¥5500. You get everything already mentioned as well as sponsoring a paper tape thrown during an entrance and also a chance to participate in a Zoom party after the show.
GAKE NO FUCHI JOSHI PRO “MUJIN PRO WRESTLING 2020 ~NOBODY SHOW~”, 05/06/2020 ???
1. Miyako Matsumoto Vs Cypress Ueno
Miyako Matsumoto’s plan to do an unmanned pro wrestling show is going ahead after all. No wrestlers, no referees, no fans but there are commentators. Shota and Munenori Sawa will be somewhere to call play by play for whatever it is Matsumoto and hip hop artist Cypress Ueno are doing.
DDT “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2020 DAY 1”, 06/06/2020 DDT TV SHOW Studio
DDT “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2020 DAY 2”, 07/06/2020 DDT TV SHOW Studio
Clap your hands so “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2020” can live! Everyone is doing two shows for their biggest event of the year now so DDT is doing the same. Day 1 will be exclusively on WRESTLE UNIVERSE. Day 2 will be on both WRESTLE UNIVERSE and ABEMA.
DDT “REMOTE PRO WRESTLING PUBLIC TEST MATCH”, 15/05/2020 ???
DDT has been privately experimenting with remote pro wrestling matches this week. The tests so far have been successful so they are now taking it public for a spin. This Friday matches will be held along with a Zoom broadcast featuring 100 fans virtually cheering and interacting with the wrestlers. DDT will tweet out a link to their Zoom waiting room at around 4:30pm JST and allow the first 100 people to participate in the experiment. The matches will be announced before the show takes place.
Since this is their first attempt at a public experiment please be aware that usernames will be visible to everyone and if a participant on video or audio is found misbehaving they will be forced to leave. Also matches could get interrupted or even cancelled if the stream quality becomes unreliable that day.
DDT “DDT TV SHOW! #3”, 16/05/2020 DDT TV SHOW Studio
1. Kazusada Higuchi Vs Keigo Nakamura
2. HARASHIMA & Naomi Yoshimura Vs Soma Takao & Mad Paulie
3. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Danshoku Dieno (c) Vs Antonio Honda
4. DAMNATION Vs ALL OUT!: Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo Vs Konosuke Takeshita & Akito
5. Hardcore Match: Yoshihiko Vs Shunma Katsumata
6. Jun Akiyama & Keisuke Ishii Vs Mizuki Watase & Hideki Okatani
7. Saki Akai “Okibariyasu” 7 Match Series – 6th Match: Saori Anou Vs Saki Akai
Three added matches completes the card for episode #3. Antonio Honda might be the next name added to Danshoku Dieno’s list of title defences. Kazusada Higuchi is giving Keigo Nakamura a chance to win the KO-D Challenger Sword from him.
DDT “DDT TV SHOW! #2”, 09/05/2020 DDT TV SHOW Studio 0 Fans
1. Saki Akai & Mizuki Watase Vs Saori Anou & Yukio Naya
2. Akito Vs Yoshihiko
3. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – 4 Way Match: Danshoku Dieno (c) Vs HARASHIMA Vs Soma Takao Vs Keigo Nakamura
4. Konosuke Takeshita Vs Gota Ihashi
5. Hardcore Match: Chris Brookes Vs Shunma Katsumata
6. KO-D Openweight Title: Masato Tanaka (c) Vs Yukio Sakaguchi
DDT “DDT TV SHOW! #2”, 09/05/2020 DDT TV SHOW Studio 0 Fans
1. Saori Anou & Yukio Naya defeated Saki Akai & Mizuki Watase when Anou pinned Akai with a German Suplex (9:24).
2. Akito defeated Yoshihiko by Pinfall (11:27). *Akito wins Yoshihiko’s Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Gauntlet.
3. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – 1 Person Time Difference Admission 4 Way Match: Danshoku Dieno (c) defeated HARASHIMA, Soma Takao and Keigo Nakamura when Dieno pinned Nakamura with the Danshoku Driver (6:03). *V? for Danshoku Dieno.
4. Konosuke Takeshita defeated Gota Ihashi with an Oklahoma Roll (11:13).
5. Hardcore Match: Chris Brookes defeated Shunma Katsumata with the Praying Mantis Bomb through a table (20:43).
6. KO-D Openweight Title: Masato Tanaka (c) defeated Yukio Sakaguchi by TKO (13:02). *V3 for Masato Tanaka.
A pinfall or a submission was not the way for Masato Tanaka to defeat Yukio Sakaguchi. Today he had to take the challenger beyond his breaking point. A Dragon Screw damaged Sakaguchi’s knee which begun Tanaka’s focused attacks to that target. The pain was bad enough to keep Sakaguchi grounded and any attempts to make a comeback were quickly cut down with a strike to the knee. Even acts of defence caused more damage like when Sakaguchi blocked the Super Fly with his knees. Sakaguchi fought through the pain to his the God’s Right Knee. He squeezed in the Cobra Clutch but Tanaka got the rope break and fired back with Elbow Strikes. The attacks ended with the Sliding D but Sakaguchi kicked out at one and suddenly caught Tanaka in a Sleeper Hold! He let go to do the God’s Right Knee but Tanaka blocked it with his elbow and hit the Roaring Elbow for a nearfall. Tanaka went on a relentless assault of Mounted Elbows before hitting another Sliding D. Sakaguchi once again kicked out at one! However the damage still proved to be too much and Yukinori Matsui called for a TKO when Sakaguchi collapsed from trying to stand back up.
After the match Kazusada Higuchi approached Tanaka with the KO-D Challenger Sword in his grasp. He raised the sword while Tanaka raised the KO-D Openweight Title next to it. Tanaka got on the microphone and said it’s unfortunate the Saitama Super Arena show isn’t going ahead this year. He does not know when it will take place but he will protect the KO-D Title until then.
Backstage after the show, Tetsuya Endo confronted Higuchi wanting the sword returned back to him. He can’t grab it off him right now because of social distancing but he warns he will definitely get it back eventually.
The hardcore grudge match between Chris Brookes and Shunma Katsumata saw the two try to kill each other multiple times. That is because it is more acceptable to do that in a wrestling match than it is to do on Twitter. There were kendo sticks, chairs, trash cans, tables, ladders, block toys, plastic cases and fighting on the Shinjuku FACE counters. Brookes kept hitting Katsumata over the head with chairs demanding him to give up but he refused. So Brookes had to give him the Praying Mantis Bomb through a table to beat him.
Brookes was attacked by Daisuke Sasaki with a chairs after the match. According to Sasaki he has changed his mind and he will defend the DDT UNIVERSAL Title after all. Suddenly MAO and Naomi Yoshimura rushed out and attacked Sasaki! Brookes recovered and gave Sasaki the Praying Mantis Bomb. There isn’t an alliance forming though. Both MAO and Yoshimura came out wanting to challenge for the title instead of Brookes. The three of them argued until Hisaya Imabayashi came out. Since the three of them want a title shot and Sasaki last week said he won’t defend the title without another Japanese wrestler involved, let’s do a 4 Way match for the belt! Brookes told Sasaki there is no guarantee he will beat him next week, but Sasaki will never come out of the match as champion!
DDT’s new guest coach Jun Akiyama came out to greet the viewers on DDT UNIVERSE. He said he would like to teach the DDT roster everything that Giant Baba handed down to him. According to Akiyama, Sanshiro Takagi put together a united group of hard working wrestlers. He is interested in fighting them so he will wrestle matches in DDT whenever his All Japan schedule allows it. Imabayashi then announced Akiyama will wrestle on next week’s episode of DDT TV SHOW! He will team with Keisuke Ishii to face Mizuki Watase & Hideki Okatani. In a backstage interview, Takagi and Akiyama explained that now is the time for the Japanese wrestling scene to protect itself while there are so few shows taking place. Akiyama is available to work with DDT because his planned visit to WWE as a guest trainer this month was postponed due to COVID-19. When asked about the possibility of doing a Street Wrestling match, Akiyama reminded the reporter that he is a former Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion.
Yoshihiko’s quest to make “ALL OUT All Dead” increased with more attacks on the unit this week. Some of them were out of retaliation. Earlier in the show, Konosuke Takeshita had attacked Yoshihiko so the doll responded in kind during Takeshita’s match with Gota Ihashi. Takeshita had the match won when the lights went out. When the lights came back on, Yoshihiko was in the ring ready to attack!. It gave Takeshita a Piledriver then left him for Ihashi to finish the job. However Ihashi missed the Moonsault and Takeshita pinned him with an Oklahoma Roll, clutching victory from the jaws of defeat. Katsumata asked Yoshihiko why it holds a grudge with ALL OUT? He’ll find out when the two of them have a match next week!
Keigo Nakamura convinced Soma Takao and HARASHIMA backstage to make the Iron Man Title 4 Way match held under special rules. The idea was the match began with the three challengers wrestling each other. The champion Danshoku Dieno would enter the match after five minutes. However if a fall took place in the first five minutes, the title would change hands even though Dieno wouldn’t have entered the match yet. Dieno overheard this plan backstage and foiled Nakamura’s plan by hiding underneath the ring before the match began. When it was time to enter, Dieno caught his opponents with an ambush from behind and pinned Nakamura to defend the championship.
So what did Takeshita do to Yoshihiko earlier in the show to cause the bad blood between them to heat up even further? Takeshita violently attacked Yoshihiko during its match with Akito, that’s what. Takeshita pulled Yoshihiko out of the ring and swung him round in circles, hitting its head against the ring post over and over! Yoshihiko was thrown back into the ring for a weakened Akito to pin it. Akito now holds the black Right To Challenge Gauntlet. He wants to use it on the KO-D Challenger Sword but only if Endo gets it back. Otherwise he’d rather sell it than cash it in against Higuchi.
In a preview of their upcoming singles match, Saori Anou pinned Saki Akai in a tag bout. Watase was able to rescue Akai from being pinned a couple of times until Yukio Naya took him out with a Choke Slam. Anou wasn’t fully convinced that Akai is a challenge for her. She said “Blue Saori” will come out of the match looking better than “Red Saki”. Akai said the match will prove who is the stronger wrestler from Kansai between them.
DDT “DDT TV SHOW! #2”, 09/05/2020 DDT TV SHOW Studio
1. Akito Vs Yoshihiko
2. Konosuke Takeshita Vs Gota Ihashi
3. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – 4 Way Match: Danshoku Dieno (c) Vs HARASHIMA Vs Soma Takao Vs Keigo Nakamura
4. Hardcore Match: Chris Brookes Vs Shunma Katsumata
Before Chris Brookes fights to regain the DDT UNIVERSAL Title, there is another grudge match he has to go through first. Last Summer a social media spat between Brookes and Shunma Katsumata led to Brookes getting temporarily suspended from Twitter. He got banned when he threatened to kill Katsumata but that’s not important. The time for revenge is next week! Sanshiro Takagi describes this as a rivalry that can only exist in 2020. He hopes this time Brookes does something that will get Katsumata suspended from Twitter.
Danshoku Dieno’s new goal for now is to break the record for the most Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title defences. It is an impossible task given the belt’s history but Dieno is at least trying to keep a list of everybody he successfully defends the title against. Keigo Nakamura helped him defend the title in the first episode of DDT TV SHOW but now he is one of Dieno’s next opponents. HARASHIMA and Soma Takao are tough obstacles to overcome too.
The first big angle to come out of DDT TV SHOW is Yoshihiko declaring “ALL OUT All Dead!” He defeated Yuki Iino and attacked Konosuke Takeshita. Now Akito is challenging it to a match in retaliation.
DDT “DDT TV SHOW! #1”, 02/05/2020 DDT TV SHOW Studio
DDT “DDT TV SHOW! #2”, 09/05/2020 DDT TV SHOW Studio
DDT “DDT TV SHOW! #3”, 16/05/2020 DDT TV SHOW Studio
DDT “DDT TV SHOW! #4”, 23/05/2020 DDT TV SHOW Studio
Hooray there’s finally something to write about again. DDT’s attempt at launching a new weekly series three weeks ago to replace the cancelled schedule was put on hold as quickly as it was announced. This May they are trying to launch DDT TV SHOW again with an episode airing on DDT UNIVERSE every Saturday. Here is the card for this week’s debut episode.
DDT “DDT TV SHOW! #1”, 02/05/2020 DDT TV SHOW Studio
1. Yoshihiko Vs Yuki Iino
2. 3 Way Match: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Naomi Yoshimura Vs MAO
3. HARASHIMA & Pokotan Vs Chris Brookes & Maki Itoh
4. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Danshoku Dieno (c) Vs Akito
5. DDT UNIVERSAL Title: Daisuke Sasaki (c) Vs Antonio Honda
6. Right To Challenge For The KO-D Openweight Title Sword: Tetsuya Endo Vs Kazusada Higuchi
The sword currently under Tetsuya Endo’s possession no longer signifies the main event spot for Saitama Super Arena. Instead it represents a KO-D Openweight Title shot for whoever holds it. So it is pretty much just like the gauntlets, except sharper, pointier and a bigger risk of getting arrested if you’re seen carrying it in public. Kazusada Higuchi still gets his chance to take the sword from Endo.
The planned DDT UNIVERSAL Title match between Daisuke Sasaki and Antonio Honda takes place here. Honda has found time to keep in skills sharp by wrestling in Gatoh Move while Sasaki has been drinking and giving poor relationship advice on Youtube.
The NEO Itoh Respect Army are already making threats on Twitter about what they are going to do to Pokotan. This will be the first time HARASHIMA and Maki Itoh will wrestle each other outside of a Battle Royal.
DDT “THE FATE OF IRONMAN!”, 12/04/2020 Tokyo Ochanomizu Dojo 0 Fans
1. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Danshoku Dieno defeated Toru Owashi (c) with the Space Tornado Danshoku Driver (2:58). *Danshoku Dieno becomes the 1,479th champion.
1. Jordan Heatley Debut & Goodbye Match: Konosuke Takeshita defeated Jordan Heatley with the Komoritsuri Otoshiiiiii!!!!!!!!!! (11:27).
2. Handicap Match: Kazusada Higuchi defeated Keigo Nakamura & Hideki Okatani when Higuchi submitted Okatani with the Canadian Backbreaker (6:22).
3. Akito, Shunma Katsumata & Yukio Naya defeated Daisuke Sasaki, Soma Takao & Mad Paulie when Akito submitted Paulie with a Figure 4 Leg Lock (8:41).
4. Saki Akai “Okibariyasu” 7 Match Series – 5th Match: Syuri defeated Saki Akai with the Suzaku (8:02).
5. MAO & Mike Bailey Vs Chris Brookes & Danshoku Dieno ended in a No Contest (13:56).
6. DDT Extreme Title – NO MOVE, NO LIFE Rule: Shinya Aoki (c) defeated Makoto Oishi by TKO (12:09). *V1 for Shinya Aoki.
7. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Tetsuya Endo, T-Hawk & El Lindaman (c) defeated HARASHIMA, Yuki Ueno & Naomi Yoshimura when Lindaman pinned Ueno with the Tiger Suplex (16:02). *V1 for #DAMNHEARTS.
Every dog has his day. Today’s that day and El Lindaman is that dog. In the closing stretch of the main event, Lindaman was close to losing the match when Yuki Ueno hit the Frog Splash. T-Hawk broke the pin and Lindaman got his second wind by clearing the ring with German Suplexes. Tetsuya Endo dove onto HARASHIMA & Naomi Yoshimura with the Sasuke Special. That gave Lindaman clear to pin Ueno with the Tiger Suplex. Endo isn’t satisfied with #DAMNHEARTS only defending the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles once. T-Hawk told everyone he and Lindaman will continue to go 100%.
Inspired by the recent Go Shiozaki Vs Kazuyuki Fujita match, the DDT Extreme Title was put on the line in a NO MOVE, NO LIFE match. The match would go as normal for 60 seconds then Shinya Aoki and Makoto Oishi would have to hold still for a minute. When the minute was up they could wrestle again for another 60 seconds before having to freeze again. This would continue until somebody could not stay still three times. Oishi got Aoki to move twice at time when they were stuck grappling each other. Oishi sneakily licked Aoki’s nipple and poked him in the rear to make him jump. Knowing he was ahead, Oishi purposely moved twice to attack a defenceless Aoki. He did this thinking it did enough damage to pin Aoki. But the plan cost him big time when Aoki caught him in a Cradle in the moment they had to freeze. The pin was counted and Oishi kicked out at two. But it was the third time he moved so he still lose the match by TKO.
Aoki made a surprising choice for his next challenger. It’s Keigo Nakamura! He told Nakamura to take this opportunity seriously. Nakamura accepted the challenge and Aoki yelled at him for not stretching the moment out like a pro wrestler should.
Even without an audience Danshoku Dieno finds a way to get his match cancelled. He tried to get his hands on Mike Bailey at every opportunity, making Bailey mad enough to throw a chair at him. Chris Brookes joined in the fun for extra insult but that just made Bailey even madder. The two teams fought their way out to the parking lot where Dieno & Brookes threw The Moonlight Express into a van and drove off. Yukinori Matsui was left on his own inside the ring and he bowed to the cameras in apology. The match was a no contest.
The Saki Akai Vs Syuri match was taped in Tokyo Ochanomizu Dojo. Hey if taping matches from the same show in different locations is good enough for WWE then it’s good enough for DDT. Syuri escaped from the Quetzalcoatl and made Akai submit to the Suzaku Armbar. She is apologetic for confusing Akai’s Kyoto accent with an Osaka one. Akai’s penultimate match for the “Okibariyasu” series is against Saori Anou on on 3rd May.
Springtime in DDT means Mad Paulie is back in heat! He appeared with a red pattern in his face and he was difficult to control during his match. He attacked his DAMNATION teammates as well as his opponents. Akito weathered the assault and directed Paulie to attack Daisuke Sasaki & Soma Takao. Paulie then attacked Akito with Mounted Punches but that left him open for Yukio Naya to hit him with a Running Knee. Akito applied a Figure 4 Leg Lock from that position which was enough to make Paulie give up.
Kazusada Higuchi was the only Eruption member in Chiba today. He was put in a handicap match against the two rookies Nakamura & Hideki Okatani. Higuchi’s power nulled the 2 on 1 handicap and he made Okatani submit to the Canadian Backbreaker. For Higuchi this match was made to show off his power to Endo.
Jordan Heatley said his favorite wrestler was El Generico so it is only fitting for Konosuke Takeshita to beat him with a move similar to the Brainbustaaaaahhhhh!!!!! Takeshita beat Heatley with an Avalanche Air Raid Crash onto the top turnbuckle, which I’m translating as Komoritsuri Otoshiiiiii!!!!!!!!!! for the time being.
Heatley got to give a speech later on to keep the show going after Dieno’s van incident. He said it was sad to wrestle in front of no fans but he still had fun. He hopes to return to Japan some day so he can wrestle in front of the Japanese fans. A group photo was then put together for him. When Heatley goes home he promises to spread the DDT style across the world.
At the end of the show Dieno returned to the ring and gave a speech. He thanked the fans at home for watching at a time when Japan and the rest of the world are in a very difficult situation. He explain the job of a major professional wrestler is to get up ever day no matter how driven or beaten they are. He promises that he and the rest of DDT will never give up. He will always fight even if his wrestling style in vulgar.
There was a part in the show where Takeshita also gave a speech to the audience about how hard the entire DDT Group was working to put these shows together.
Yukio Sakaguchi sent in a video message to promote his match with Masato Tanaka for the KO-D Openweight Title. Sakaguchi wanted it to be at Korakuen Hall but it will have to be at Shinjuku FACE instead. He told the DDT fans to take care of each other and he will see them again soon.