Dramatic DDT

DDT “NEVER MIND 2021 IN YOYOGI”, 26/12/2021
Yoyogi National Stadium 2nd Gymnasium
1,134 Fans – No Vacancy

0. Dark Match: Toru Owashi & Yukio Naya defeated Antonio Honda & Hideki Okatani when Naya pinned Okatani with the Back Drop (6:17).
0. Dark Match – DDTeeeen!! Special Single Match: Vent Vert Jack defeated Ilusion with the Tlaloc (9:08).
0. Dark Match: Sanshiro Takagi defeated Maku Donaruto with the Kentucky Bomb (7:54).
1. Soma Takao & Shota defeated Akito & Yuki Ishida when Shota pinned Ishida with the Frog Splash (8:35).
2. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno, Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari (c) defeated Shinya Aoki, Yumiko Hotta & Super Sasadango Machine when Iino submitted Machine after the Ferrozzo (9:57).
*V2 for Pheromones.
3. Special Single Match: Shuji Kondo defeated Kazuki Hirata with the King Kong Lariat (9:40).
4. Special 6-Man Tag Match – Yukio Sakaguchi Return Match: Minoru Suzuki, Chris Brookes & Maki Itoh defeated Yukio Sakaguchi, Kazusada Higuchi & Saki Akai when Suzuki pinned Sakaguchi with the Gotch-Style Piledriver (20:38).
5. BURNING Vs The 37KAMIINA!: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku defeated Shunma Katsumata, Yuki Ueno, MAO & Toui Kojima when Endo pinned Kojima with the Shooting Star Press (16:30).
6. DDT Universal Title – BLACKOUT Presents: Daisuke Sasaki (c) defeated Masahiro Takanashi with the Crossface Lock (17:48).
*V3 for Daisuke Sasaki.
7. KO-D Tag Team Titles – WRESTLE UNIVERSE Presents: HARASHIMA & Naomi Yoshimura defeated Yuji Hino & Bodyguard when Yoshimura pinned Bodyguard with a Lariat (18:17).
*V1 for DISASTER BOX.
8. KO-D Openweight Title – Yanekabe Presents: Konosuke Takeshita (c) defeated Yuji Okabayashi with the Plus Ultra (37:17).
*V2 for Konosuke Takeshita.

The final DDT show of 2021 took place in Yoyogi National Stadium 2nd Gymnasium and was the first time DDT held a show in the venue. The main event was a rematch from the D-Ou Grand Prix with Konosuke Takeshita taking on Yuji Okabayashi. The D-Ou match went the distance and ended with a 30 minute draw but this time the KO-D Openweight Title was on the line, extending the time limit to 60 minutes. Kenta Kobashi watched on from the commentary booth as champion and challenger fought for almost 40 minutes this time. Okabayashi used the power of Pissari to resist the Plus Ultra submission hold. Trading German Suplexes led to a double down moment. Lariats and Jumping Knees couldn’t put Okabayashi away so Takeshita went for Plus Ultra again. Okabayashi used his strength to stand up for Takeshita held on and added a Manjigatame style hold to bring his opponent back down to the mat and make him submit.

Kobashi entered the ring to present the KO-D Title to Takeshita. The champion thanked Okabayashi for coming to DDT from Big Japan all by himself and giving the fans many great matches. Takeshita picked him to be his challenger and in return he got the most spirited opponent he had ever seen. He is now his rival and best opponent. They should have another match again and maybe this time Big Japan can host it. He said this was the year when he, The 37KAMIINA and DDT all improved together as a team. 2022 will be when DDT becomes bigger and stronger without forgetting what makes them DDT. Backstage Takeshita said his determination as champion was the deciding factor today. He thinks if the roles were reversed and he was the challenger he wouldn’t have won. Kobashi called this match more intense than the D-Ou draw. He also complimented the Jumping Knee that Takeshita now uses.

Determination to hold onto the championship is also what drove Naomi Yoshimura today. He & HARASHIMA struggled against Yuji Hino & Bodyguard leading up to the show so today they had to give it their all. Yoshimura took all the Lariats and High Kicks his opponents threw at him while HARASHIMA was there to break him out of trouble. A collapse in teamwork from Hino & Bodyguard gave the champions the opportunity to strike. HARASHIMA hit Hino with the Somato and Yoshimura knocked down Bodyguard with a Lariat. Bodyguard kicked out at two but another Lariat kept him down for good. DISASTER BOX scores their first KO-D Tag Team Titles defence. Bodyguard shook Yoshimura’s hand after the match and praised him for putting up a good fight. HARASHIMA also praised him for his hard work. Yoshimura said he was beaten up so badly today he doesn’t think he will ever get beaten up so badly like this ever again. He knows he is getting stronger but respects his opponents enough to know he has not surpassed them yet. Hino said Bodyguard’s wrestling career still has a long way to go even though he is 53. Hino himself said he will continue wrestling until he becomes 150 years old!

Everything was set up for today to be Masahiro Takanashi’s day. He had the backing of ChocoPro’s male wrestlers joining him for his entrance to take on the dastardly Daisuke Sasaki for the DDT Universal Title. He also got a video message of support from Emi Sakura over in America. The back up was there to even the playing field whenever MJ Paul interfered. Sasaki used a ref bump to hit a Low Blow and a chair attack to Takanashi. When Yukinori Matsui recovered, Sasaki used La Mistica to transition into the Crossface Lock but Takanashi reached a rope break. Sasaki then had to hit the Vietnam Driver II before applying an elevated Crossface Lock to finally win.

Sasaki told Takanashi to go back to Ichigaya because he has unfinished business with somebody else from ChocoPro. Minoru Fujita! He doesn’t care if Fujita has recovered from his illness or not, he wants him to be the next challenger. Fujita admitted his physical condition hasn’t been great since he got out of intensive care but he still looks in better health than Sasaki. Fujita went to the neighborhood of hell and came back stronger in spirit. He will take the title from him on 30th January. Backstage Sasaki called himself a genius because he figured out when you get pinned, you have 2.99 seconds of recovery before you kick out so he used that to his advantage. He also ignored complaints of interference because he only has Paul with him while Takanashi had six people in his corner. Fujita said he wishes Takanashi would have won today but it is now up to him to win the Universal Title for ChocoPro.

The 4th generation of BURNING has gone off to a great start with the entire unit beating the remaining members of The 37KAMIINA. Tetsuya Endo came out to new music produced by Osamu Suzuki and wearing new gear including an entrance robe that Jun Akiyama gave to him. Endo even scored the winning pin on Toui Kojima. However he isn’t content with that. The leader of The 37KAMIINA is Takeshita and that is Endo’s ultimate target. If he can’t beat him at the end then there is no point in this new version of BURNING even existing. But that’s in the future, today Endo sees the potential that he, Akiyama, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku all have together. Akiyama encourages the unit to make a name for themselves not only in DDT but across the wrestling world! MAO was annoyed that Kojima lost but is trying to give him a chance. Yuki Ueno reminded him that The 37KAMIINA will fall apart if they lose their sauna spirit. Shunma Katsumata thanked the fans for supporting them this year.

The return of Yukio Sakaguchi from a herniated disc was added to Minoru Suzuki’s first match in DDT in five years as Eruption battled The Itoh Respect Army. Well, if you ask Suzuki he isn’t part of Maki Itoh’s group as shown when he refused to wear the merchandise Itoh gave him. There is no love lost between Sakaguchi and Suzuki. They kept each other in their sights for the whole match. Itoh kept wanting to do the Cutest Knuckle Punch In The World but Suzuki would pull her aside and keep the fight going. When Suzuki did the punches in the corner, Itoh said her catchphrase which made Suzuki stop and kick both her & Chris Brookes away. He did show support for Itoh later shouting encouragement when she was in the ring with Kazusada Higuchi. Brookes was taken out by Saki Akai and the Quetzalcoatl. The match came down to Sakaguchi and Suzuki again. Suzuki won the strike exchange, applied the Sleeper Hold and pinned Sakaguchi with the Gotch-Style Piledriver. He then gave the other members of Eruption a glare after the match.

Akai admitted to getting goosebumps when Sasaki made his entrance and for some reason it made her want to make Suzuki get even angrier so she could leave a mark on his fighter’s soul. Higuchi was disappointed to lose but also happy to see Sakaguchi come back to the ring. Sakaguchi said the match wasn’t about winning or losing. His three months off with the injury felt hellish to him because he didn’t know if he could return. That he was given a worthy opponent like Suzuki for his return match makes him think he’s not ready to die yet. Eruption aren’t going to forget the look Suzuki gave them after the match. To them it is now a three person race to see who will get Suzuki’s head! Meanwhile Itoh fired Suzuki from The Itoh Respect Army for refusing to wear the unit’s shirt even though she left her Piledriver jacket at home. They can still be friends though.

Shuji Kondo didn’t wait for his match against Kazuki Hirata to begin. He walked out in the middle of Hirata’s entrance while Hirata was going up and down the ramp on a hoverboard. A scared Hirata reversed back towards the ring for the match to start. Hirata tried to stop the match so he could read a letter to Kondo that conveys his feelings but Kondo ripped the letter apart. Toru Owashi came down with Yoshihiko to help Hirata get some offence in and he even countered the Spear into the Miracle One Shot Cradle for a nearfall. But once Kondo hit the King Kong Lariat it was all over. Kondo looked like he was going to praise Hirata after the match but he hit him with another Lariat instead. Kondo explained afterwards that he isn’t made about Hirata’s dancing or anything else he does, it’s just not the wrestling for him. Kondo understands that violence is more frowned upon nowadays but the kind he does is acceptable. He hopes this match will change Hirata but knows it won’t.

Love was in the air for the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles match. Shinya Aoki has fallen in love with Yumiko Hotta and Super Sasadango Machine wanted to help get them together. Fighting Pheromones together was his bright idea. Hotta was confused by the behavior of the champions. Meanwhile Aoki was more concerned with giving her an expensive red belt he bought for her as a Christmas gift than he was with wrestling the match. Pheromones ended up winning by isolating Sasadango. Yuki Iino put him in a European Clutch and Danshoku Dieno sat on top of them, making Sasadango submit when his backside got cramped. Yumehito Imanari filmed the whole thing on his camera. On the bright side, Hotta accepted Aoki’s present and was happy to learn it could fit her. It’s not true love just yet but Hotta would like to form a tag team with Aoki to show her appreciation.

The opening match continues ROMANCE DAWN’s quick success as a tag team. Shota caught Akito with a surprise Topé while Soma Takao took down Yuki Ishida with a Jumping High Kick. Shota followed up with the Frog Splash for the three count. He said it felt huge to win a match in DDT because ROMANCE DAWN has mainly fought together in Ganbare☆Pro. Takao hopes that the wider audience that watched them today understands what ROMANCE DAWN is all about. 2022 will be a big voyage for the team. Akito admits to having some disdain towards this new team because he doesn’t have the kind of teamwork that they have. He thinks he should go look for an ally to work hard with them to form their own tag team. He praised Ishida but he is still just a rookie so the team won’t be with him.

As the pandemic continues spreading across the world, Sanshiro Takagi feels the need to boost the global fast food industry. That is why for his match against Maku Donaruto he was dressed up as Colonel Sanders! The match was fought under Hardcore rules and featured weapons such as plastic cases, barbed wire bats, ladders and chairs. Takagi used a Modified Stretch Bomb that today was called the Kentucky Bomb to win. Takagi thanked Donaruto afterwards and told him it was the end of his run in DDT. After five years in DDT it is time for Donaruto to move on to new pastures. Takagi explained that for DDT’s 25th Anniversary next year they need to make more contributions to society and they can’t do that with Donaruto hanging around. Takagi however would like to continue working with him at events independent from DDT.

The DDTeeeen!! match saw Vent Vert Jack live up to his promise to defeated Ilusion. The Tlaloc Diving Knee Stomp gave the MY WAY wrestler the victory. He thanked DDT for inviting him to wrestling on their big finale for the year and also looks forward to fighting Ilusion again on 5th January. Ilusion swears today’s loss is just a setback and not the end of his story. He sees his future going beyond Jack and he will become a teenage champion next year before he turns 20 years old.

The opening dark match had Antonio Honda get Hideki Okatani to join in with the Gongitsune attack. Yukio Naya hit Okatani back with Big Boots and Running Knee Strikes. He then pinned him with the Back Drop.

The first big talent announcement for “JUDGEMENT 2022 ~DDT 25TH ANNIVERSARY~” on 20th March was revealed. Andreza Giant Panda is back!