Dramatic DDT

DDT “SUMMER VACATION 2022”, 24/07/2022
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
624 Fans

1. Makoto Oishi Return Match: Akito & Yasu Urano defeated Makoto Oishi & Kazuki Hirata when Urano pinned Hirata with a Cradle (0:14).
1a. Rematch: Akito & Yasu Urano defeated Makoto Oishi & Kazuki Hirata when Akito submitted Hirata with an Ankle Hold (5:54).
2. 2 Vs 3 Handicap Match: Yuji Hino & Yukio Naya defeated Antonio Honda, Saki Akai & Ilusion when Naya submitted Honda with the Torture Cobra Twist (7:29).
3. Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari defeated Sanshiro Takagi, Toru Owashi & Gota Ihashi when Iino submitted Ihashi with the Ketsugoye (9:46).
4. Shinya Aoki, Shunma Katsumata & El Unicorn defeated Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON by Disqualification when Sasaki unmasked El Unicorn (12:36).
5. Tetsuya Endo Return Match ~ Special 6-Man Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Chris Brookes defeated HARASHIMA, Yukio Sakaguchi & Soma Takao when Endo pinned Takao with the Burning Star Press (16:24).
6. DDT Universal Title: Masahiro Takanashi (c) defeated Yusuke Okada with the Takatonic (10:55).
*V1 for Masahiro Takanashi.
7. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Kazusada Higuchi & Naomi Yoshimura defeated MAO & Asuka (c) when Higuchi pinned MAO with the Brain Claw Slam (20:07).
*VENIMAO fail in V1. Harimao become the 75th KO-D Tag Team Champions!

The new wind blowing through DDT now has a name. Kazusada Higuchi & Naomi Yoshimura started off the show announcing their tag team from this point forward will be called Harimao. In the main event they went on to beat MAO & Asuka to capture the KO-D Tag Team Titles! MAO wasn’t pleased to hear they came up with a name that sounds similar to his own, so he retroactively named his team with Asuka VENIMAO. The champions didn’t give up easily. They hit Higuchi with the Doomsday Shiranui only for Yoshimura to break the count. Harimao recovered to give Asuka an Assisted Razor’s Edge. Higuchi then grabbed MAO to do the Brain Claw Slam for the victory. The title change means Higuchi is now a double crown champion! He thanked MAO & Asuka after the match for taking Harimao’s challenge on short notice.

Higuchi then turned his attention to “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2022” on 20th August. He knows he is going to defend the KO-D Openweight Title on the show but does not have an opponent yet. He will change that now because he wants to nominate Tetsuya Endo as his challenger! Endo came out and said he is grateful to Higuchi for carrying DDT in his absence along with everyone else in the company. Today Endo got back on his feet with his return match and wants to repay everyone for their support by returning to the top and becoming KO-D Champion again. He turned down Higuchi’s nomination but only so he can be the one to throw out the challenge instead. It will be Higuchi Vs Endo for the KO-D Title at Ota Ward Gymnasium!

A leg injury may have cost Yusuke Okada his only chance to win the DDT Universal Title. He hurt his leg early in the match and Masahiro Takanashi decided to target it from that point on. Takanashi bending the rules by physcially getting the referee in the way stopped Okada from building up any momentum. He finally got back on track but Takanashi avoided the Sudden Death, stunned Okada with a Super Kick and pinned him with the Takatonic. The audience showed their appreciation to Okada after the match but it seems like Takanashi is done with him and moving on. He is taking Okada’s idea of nominating Yuki Ueno as the next challenger. Ueno was not at the show due to having covid but he when he recovers he will get the title shot at “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2022”. Takanashi thinks that out of all of the new generation wrestlers in DDT, Ueno may be the one and is a can’t miss opponent. If Takanashi can beat him then he will start to look outside of DDT for young wrestlers to defend the Universal Title against.

Endo’s return from his concussion was as part of a 6-Man Tag Match. He was supposed to be in full on BURNING trio with Jun Akiyama & Yuya Koroku but Koroku was a close contact suspect and pulled off the show. Chris Brookes replaced him and had no problems with being part of the team. Any worries about the state of Endo’s health went away after HARASHIMA slapped him across the head and Endo kept fighting. Soma Takao quickly congratulated Endo on his return while hitting his moves on him. Endo turned the tables by countering the Gin And Tonic with the Tetsuya In The Sky. A Torture Rack Bomb only got a 2 count so Endo went for the Burning Star Press to complete his comeback with a win. Endo said today was the happiest he felt since his debut match because when you get into the ring there is no guarantee you will get out of it in one piece. He will no longer apologise to the fans for what happened to him, instead he will tell them “thank you” for their support. Akiyama’s advice to him is he can turn what happened into an opportunity and then do his best with it. Even Endo’s opponents were positive over his return. Yukio Sakaguchi said there is no shame if Endo was fighting with himself over how far he fell because the only direction to go next is to climb up.

More covid problems affected the card. DAMNATION T.A was supposed to defend the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles against The 37KAMIINA but that was cancelled because Ueno and Toi Kojima were both absent. Shunma Katsumata is still here but now his tag team partners are Shinya Aoki and El Unicorn. The latter in particular was unexpectedly targeted by Daisuke Sasaki while MJ Paul & KANON dealt with the the others. Sasaki’s attempts to get a fall on Unicorn kept getting cut off so he ended up losing his temper and unmasked Unicorn for the disqualification! Backstage Unicorn demanded a match with Sasaki. Meanwhile Sasaki made a similar challenge but wants to take it one step further. His idea is to face El Unicorn in a Mask Vs Hair match, Mascara Contra Cabellera!

Just when you think Pheromones are all out of surprises, they pull another one out of their hats. Sanshiro Takagi thought he had them on the ropes after his involvement in getting Yuki Iino to lose the DDT Extreme Title. Today his plan was to destroy them once and for all with help from Toru Owashi & Gota Ihashi. Instead a masked man in a shirt and underwear ran out during the match. He then took off his underwear, wore it over his hand and gave Ihashi the Ultimate Venom Arm. Iino took over by putting Ihashi in the Ketsugoye until Ihashi gave up. Danshoku Dieno told everyone that Pheromones now has a new member. He may remind everyone of Michael Nakazawa but according to Dieno it may not be him! The masked man’s identity will remain a mystery for now until 14th August when he will be revealed for all to see.

A scheduled 3 Way Tag Match turned into a 2 Vs 3 Handicap Match because of covid related absences. Yuji Hino & Yukio Naya were almost unmovable objects for Antonio Honda, Saki Akai & Ilusion to try and topple. Honda warned Ilusion not to get Chopped by Hino only to get Chopped himself. Akai tried to give Hino the Quetzalcoatl but he wouldn’t budge due to the massive size difference. Gongistune was the only move effective against the heavyweights but even that couldn’t stop Naya from submitting Honda for the win.

Endo was not the only wrestler returning from injury on this show. Makoto Oishi was out for a year with a hip injury and today was going to be the next chapter of his wrestling career. He was teaming with Kazuki Hirata and their opponents were meant to be Akito & Yuki Ishida. However Ishida was pulled off the show and replaced with Yasu Urano. Oishi made his big entrance with a brand new look but by the time he made it to the ring, Urano had already won the match by pinning Hirata with a Roll Up. Hisaya Imabayashi demanded an immediate rematch for Oishi’s sake. The same thing happened only this time Oishi broke the pin so the match could continue. It went on as normal until the ending when Oishi climbed the top rope wanting to do a cool move only to see Akito put Hirata in an Anklelock to win the match. Oishi stayed still on the top rope and had a microphone handed to him. He said he was able to come back thanks to everyone’s support. He wants to carry DDT on his shoulders and made it his goal to win a championship.

Right before the summer began, DDT introduced five new trainees under their development system. Imabayashi announced that one of them is about to make their pro debut! Takeshi Masada will take on HARASHIMA on 14th August in his first match after only three months of training. It will be the quickest pro wrestling debut in DDT history. Masada is 21 years old, from Osaka and has a background in basketball and Shorinji Kempo.

The Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Battle Royal will be return on 14th August.