DDT “BEER GARDEN-LIKE PRO WRESTLING 2020 DAY 1”, 30/07/2020 Shinjuku FACE
1. 3 Way Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo Vs Makoto Oishi & Mizuki Watase Vs Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya
2. HARASHIMA & Chris Brookes Vs Soma Takao & Mad Paulie
3. Super Sasadango Machine Produce Match – Hell In A Blue Sheet Timed Blast! Kaidan Shin Numabukuro Death Match: Muscle Sakai, Danshoku Dieno & Antonio Honda Vs Akito, Yumehito Imanari & Shota
4. Jun Akiyama & Hideki Okatani Vs Naomi Yoshimura & Keigo Nakamura
5. Saki Akai Produce Match – NEO Biishiki-gun New Member Open Audition: Margaret☆Owashi Vs Francoise☆Ihashi Vs Pirako Vs Generic Martha Vs Kazuko Higuchi Vs X (Judges: Sakisama & Yukio Saint Laurent)
6. Konosuke Takeshita Produce Match – DDT Sauna Club Vs DDT Legend Army!: Konosuke Takeshita, Shunma Katsumata & Yuki Ueno Vs Sanshiro Takagi, MIKAMI & Tanomusaku Toba
Sanshiro Takagi found out that neither MIKAMI or Tanomusaku Toba follow him on Twitter, after all of these years of working for him! No matter, he still thinks the three of them are such important figures to DDT that they can beat the DDT Sauna Club.
DDT “BEER GARDEN-LIKE PRO WRESTLING 2020 DAY 2”, 31/07/2020 Shinjuku FACE
1. Soma Takao Vs Hideki Okatani
2. Chris Brookes & Akito Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Mad Paulie
3. Jun Akiyama & Mizuki Watase Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Tomomitsu Matsunaga
4. Danshoku Dieno Produce Match – Elimination Tornado Pantyhose Generation Fight!: Danshoku Dieno, Super Sasadango Machine, Makoto Oishi & Antonio Honda Vs Seigo Tachibana, Yuki Iino, Yukio Naya & Keigo Nakamura
5. HARASHIMA Produce Loser Punishment 5 Way Match – Over The Top Rope Losing Rule: HARASHIMA Vs Toru Owashi Vs Yuki Ueno Vs Naomi Yoshimura Vs Kazuki Hirata
6. Tetsuya Endo Produce Hardcore Tag Match – DAMNATION Vs ALL OUT!: Tetsuya Endo & Nobuhiro Shimatani Vs Konosuke Takeshita & Shunma Katsumata
The main event will be a Hardcore Match. That was Tetsuya Endo’s idea of course. That’s probably weak stuff for Shunma Katsumata after the Big Japan deathmatch he was in last week.
DDT “BEER GARDEN-LIKE PRO WRESTLING 2020 DAY 3”, 01/08/2020 Shinjuku FACE
0. Special Under Match “Can You Lose?”: Tetsuya Koda Vs Hisaya Imabayashi
1. Mizuki Watase Vs Yukio Naya
2. Danshoku Dieno & Akito Vs Soma Takao & Mad Paulie
3. Jun Akiyama, Makoto Oishi & Hideki Okatani Vs HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi & Keigo Nakamura
4. Drunk 3 Way Match: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Yuki Iino
5. Rock And Roll 4 Way Death Match: Saki Akai Vs Antonio Honda Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Shunma Katsumata
6. Customer Lottery 6-Man Tag Match That Looks Like A Beer Garden Specialty: Tetsuya Endo, Chris Brookes, Yuki Ueno, Naomi Yoshimura, Konosuke Takeshita, Kazusada Higuchi
The Beer Garden series will be short and sweet this year.
BASARA “BASARA 130 ~TOKUMARU GAHARA~”, 08/08/2020 Tokyo Takashimadaira Ward Hall
1. Tetsuo Usui Vs Tatsuya Hanami
2. Daichi Kazato & Tsutomu Oosugi Vs Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi & Yasu Urano
3. Ryota Nakatsu Vs Yusuke Kubo
4. FUMA & SAGAT Vs Takumi Tsukamoto & Jaki Numazawa
5. 8-Man Tag Team Elimination Match: Isami Kodaka, Ryuichi Sekine, Daiki Shimomura & Minoru Fujita Vs Fuminori Abe, Takuya Nomura, Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino
The main event sees the entire Sento Minzoku unit take on a mixture of Astronauts and the main BASARA roster.
Takumi Tsukamoto was originally supposed to team with Masashi Takeda but Takeda is now unable to participate. He got injured in yesterday’s FREEDOMS main event. Jaki Numazawa from Big Japan takes his place as Tsukamoto’s tag partner.
Tatsuya Hanami is from 2AW.
GANBARE☆WRESTLING “HEAVEN’S DOOR 2020”, 22/08/2020 Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall
1. Ganpro Vs FREEDOMS All Out Battle!: Washi Sakurai Vs Tomoya Hirata
2. First Single! Toyama’s Strongest Decisive Match!: Ken Ohka Vs Shinichiro Tominaga
3. 6 Men And Women Summer Story! Special Mixed 3 Way Tag Match: Shuichiro Katsumura & Moeka Haruhi Vs Yumehito Imanari & Yuna Manase Vs Shota & HARUKAZE
4. Teacher & Student Tag Vs Aikata Tag: Keisuke Ishii & Kouki Iwasaki Vs Ikuto Hidaka & Minoru Fujita
5. Independent World Jr. Heavyweight Title: Hagane Shinno (c) Vs Asuka
These might be the final Independent World Jr. Heavyweight Title defence if Hagane Shinno gets his way. The new champion is in the twilight of his wrestling career and believes the title no longer serves its use. His peak was beating Kota Ibushi for the belt which means it should only be defended against a wrestler on the same level. Asuka is getting the title match because it was already promised to her when Keisuke Ishii was the champion. If Asuka can beat Shinno and achieve her goal of becoming the youngest ever Indy Jr. Champion, then Shinno will be convinced she can become as big of a superstar as Ibushi.
Yuna Manase is now a full time member of Ganbare☆Wrestling! Two weeks ago she received an invite from Yumehito Imanari to wrestle for them on a regular basis. She couldn’t give an answer then because she had not finished her commitment to Tokyo Joshi Pro. But when she appeared at last Sunday’s show she announced she wants to do more with the group and be part of the Ganpro family.
Today a joint press conference was held at CyberAgent HQ featuring members of their pro wrestling companies. It was announced that on 1st September the companies DDT Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling NOAH will merge their operations together and become a new CyberAgent prof wrestling subsidiary called CyberFight. The president and CEO of CyberFight is Sanshiro Takagi, the current president of both DDT and NOAH. Naomichi Marufuji and Akito will serve as executive vice presidents. DDT director Takahiro Yamauchi and NOAH director Arihiro Takeda will retain their roles.
Since CyberAgent’s purchase of NOAH back in January it was inevitable that the management for DDT and NOAH would be unified. Takagi says that both companies have been in good condition under CyberAgent but they were also greatly damaged by the Coronavirus. Due to the unpredictable nature of this epidemic, a decision was made to merge the managements together in order to keep pro wrestling going ahead with optimized personnel and improved cost efficiency. By uniting DDT and NOAH together, CyberFight will strengthen its ability to respond to the changing times.
Takagi, Marufuji, Yamauchi and Takeda are pretty much continuing the management roles they had before. Akito though is the new blood involved. He’s been working with KUDO for the DDT Foods family of restaurants (they are also now part of CyberFight) and earlier this year took over promoting the BOYZ brand. For now he will continue managing the DDT Foods arm of CyberFight as well as the merchandise end. But the hope is for him to become more involved with higher company management in the future.
The actual promotions of DDT and NOAH will still be separate brands with no changes to their identity and in-ring product. The online operations are planned to be improve with an expansion for WRESTLE UNIVERSE being one of the goals. On the wrestling show front, CyberFight is aiming to hold a show at the Tokyo Dome and their overall goal is to take over the No. 1 spot from New Japan Pro Wrestling!
Some of the wrestlers and staff commented on the news. Akito said that since he works with DDT’s restaurants, he often gets to communicate directly with DDT fans. Under his new role he can bring that voice of the fans and their concerns directly to management. He also hopes to serve as a bridge between the young and old generations within the company.
Marufuji never would have expected to see his company change so rapidly. But he wants to focus on the positives instead of the negatives. He would like to continue showing real pro wrestling and he believes CyberFight will raise both NOAH and DDT to the top of the pro wrestling world.
Yuka Sakazaki says this news means Tokyo Joshi Pro is going to get bigger. But Tokyo Joshi will remain as Tokyo Joshi and she will liven it up at her own pace.
Katsuhiko Nakajima from NOAH believes this change is and evolution for his company. He will dream of the day CyberFight becomes number one and will continue taking the next steps forward until then. So keep up with them!
Go Shiozaki is grateful for all that CyberAgent has done for NOAH. He made similar comments as Nakajima of making NOAH the number one wrestling promotion that pushes the industry forward.
Jun Akiyama from DDT (still feels weird typing that) promises to do his best in helping the company catch up to New Japan and then overtake it.
Tetsuya Endo from DDT describes the news as an opportunity. It is all up to the individual work of the wrestlers to make this opportunity a reality.
Chris Brookes says it is a difficult time for pro wrestling to survive while there is a pandemic going on. With NOAH and DDT together in management, WRESTLE UNIVERSE will create more opportunities for people around the world to watch Japanese pro wrestling.
Last but not least, Ken Ohka from Ganbare☆Wrestling gave a somewhat impassioned speech about his small promotion that he created by himself. It is not the size of the other brands in the deal but still Ohka will never give up. He thinks pro wrestling is more amazing than baseball and football. It can give you hope and courage for tomorrow. That is why regardless of the promotion’s size, Ganpro will continue to show their struggle and passion inside the ring. Even if the company changes and grows, what they do in the ring will not change.
As of today YUMI has left Tokyo Joshi Pro and ended her time in pro wrestling. She last wrestled in November so she could take her high school exams. She was able to pass them but could never find a balance between her education and her wrestling career. She ultimately made the decision to focus on her studies. YUMI apologises for the sudden announcement and wants everyone to remember the fun she had in the ring.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TOKYO JOSHI 2020 SUMMER ~TJPW IS 『 』~”, 25/07/2020 Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall
Tomorrow’s show will have its matches kept secret until they happen. That seems to be the plan for the rest of this series of Tokyo Joshi events. Pretty much all of the regular roster will be here except for Natsumi Maki. She has other commitments tomorrow.
DDT “BEER GARDEN-LIKE PRO WRESTLING 2020 DAY 2”, 31/07/2020 Shinjuku FACE
1. Soma Takao Vs Hideki Okatani
2. Chris Brookes & Akito Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Mad Paulie
3. Jun Akiyama & Mizuki Watase Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Tomomitsu Matsunaga
4. Danshoku Dieno Produce Match – Elimination Tornado Pantyhose Generation Fight!: Danshoku Dieno, Super Sasadango Machine, Makoto Oishi & Antonio Honda Vs Seigo Tachibana, Yuki Iino, Yukio Naya & Keigo Nakamura
5. HARASHIMA Produce Loser Punishment 5 Way Match – Over The Top Rope Losing Rule: HARASHIMA Vs Toru Owashi Vs Yuki Ueno Vs Naomi Yoshimura Vs Kazuki Hirata
6. Tetsuya Endo Produce Match – DAMNATION Vs ALL OUT!: Tetsuya Endo & Nobuhiro Shimatani Vs Konosuke Takeshita & Shunma Katsumata
The DISASTER BOX 5 Way Match will have the wrestlers exit the ring when they win a fall. The match continues until one wrestler is left and he will be declared the loser. Kazuki Hirata asked for Over The Top Rope rules to be included. If somebody gets thrown out of the ring they automatically lose the match. Toru Owashi also asked for the loser to be punished after the match. HARASHIMA agreed to both.
Another reason why this is a Beer Garden-Like show instead of a proper Beer Garden show is because alcohol is currently not allowed at the venue. It’s to prevent Coronavirus from spreading so food and drink in general aren’t allowed other than water that people bring themselves to stay hydrated.
BOYZ “SUMMER BOYZ VACATION!”, 16/08/2020 Tokyo Kanda Myojin Hall
1. Shall We Dance??: Chris Brookes Vs Kazuki Hirata
2. Smile Nishinari Yankee First Formation!: HARASHIMA, Konosuke Takeshita & Yuko Miyamoto Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Keigo Nakamura & Hideki Okatani
3. Nautilus Vs Oishi Asahi!: Yuki Ueno & Naomi Yoshimura Vs Makoto Oishi & Shiori Asahi
Six months after its revival, the BOYZ are back in town! Makoto Oishi reunites with Shiori Asahi for a high level generation tag match against Nautilus. Also Konosuke Takeshita teaming with Smile Yankee is an eye catching trio.
DDT “GET ALIVE 2020”, 07/09/2020 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Sakaguchi & Saki Akai Vs Danshoku Dieno, Seigo Tachibana & Yoshiko
2. DDT UNIVERSAL Title: Chris Brookes (c) Vs Drew Parker
If Chris Brookes Vs Drew Parker headlines the show it will be the first time DDT has an all British main event. Even without that position I think this is the first all British match promoted in DDT period.
Danshoku Dieno, Seigo Tachibana & Yoshiko is a group of superfriends if I ever saw one. Yoshiko bakes, Tachibana is evil and Dieno is the responsible one. Can Eruption match that? Saki Akai is pretty responsible, Yukio Sakaguchi has an evil side. Don’t know about Kazusada Higuchi’s cooking skills but if he can whip up a decent crème brûlée then that’s a good time for everybody.
Naomichi Marufuji will be on the show.
DDT “ULTIMATE PARTY 2020”, 03/11/2020 Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium
1. KO-D Openweight Title: Tetsuya Endo (c) Vs KING OF DDT Winner
The winner of this year’s KING OF DDT tournament gets the KO-D Openweight Title match at “ULTIMATE PARTY 2020”. The early story coming out of this is if Tetsuya Endo wins the tournament he gets to choose his challenger. And top of his list is Kenny Omega! Word has reached Omega and he isn’t impressed. He tweeted today “Your title will be nothing more than another trophy to me. I’ll feel nothing when I see you and the entire locker room crying. This is what you chose for DDT and yourself.”
DDT “SUMMER VACATION 2020”, 23/07/2020 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 435 Fans – Super No Vacancy
1. Soma Takao & Mad Paulie defeated Yukio Naya & Keigo Nakamura when Takao pinned Nakamura with the Running Elbow Butt (3:53).
2. Danshoku Dieno, Super Sasadango Machine & Seigo Tachibana defeated Toru Owashi, Naomi Yoshimura & Kazuki Hirata when Tachibana pinned Hirata with the Ikemen Otoshi (8:45).
3. DDT Extreme Title – Special Rules: Shinya Aoki (c) defeated Maku Donaruto with the European Clutch (9:49). *V4 for Shinya Aoki.
4. Chris Brookes & Drew Parker defeated Daisuke Sasaki & Nobuhiro Shimatani when Parker pinned Shimatani with the Swanton Bomb (11:07).
5. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Sakaguchi & Saki Akai (c) defeated HARASHIMA, Antonio Honda & Riho when Sakaguchi submitted Honda with the Triangle Choke (12:34). *V1 for Eruption.
6. Junretsu Vs ALL OUT All Out Battle!: Jun Akiyama, Makoto Oishi, Mizuki Watase & Hideki Okatani defeated Konosuke Takeshita, Akito, Shunma Katsumata & Yuki Iino when Akiyama pinned Takeshita with the Wrist Clutch Exploder (17:21).
7. KO-D Openweight Title: Tetsuya Endo (c) defeated Yuki Ueno with the Shooting Star Press (21:45). *V2 for Tetsuya Endo.
During the week, Tetsuya Endo attempted to use a new dangerous looking move on Yuki Ueno but wasn’t able to pull it off. Today in the Korakuen Hall main event, he was able to do the move. Before that happened, Ueno was ready to hit the WR but Endo grabbed Yukinori Matsui to block it and then he Headbutted his way out of it. Endo threw Ueno over with the Tetsuya In The Sky but Ueno quickly rolled him into a pin for a nearfall. Endo did the move again, going for the pin afterwards but Ueno kicked out at 1. It is here where Endo used his new move, a Wrist Clutch Muscular Bomb. Somehow Ueno kicked out of that too but he was down for good when Endo did the Shooting Star Press.
After the match Endo told Ueno it will be a long time before he wins the KO-D Openweight Title. If he can’t accept that fact then he can try again as many times as he wants. No matter what Ueno does, he is far away from where Endo is at. When Ueno left, Endo asks Hisaya Imabayashi who his next challenger will be. Imabayashi told him it will be the winner of the KING OF DDT tournament and that match will take place at “ULTIMATE PARTY 2020” on 3rd November. Here’s the fun part. If Endo wins the tournament he gets to nominate whoever he wants to be his challenger. He named his top 3 choices, all celebrities but there is one other person he’s thinking of. Kenny Omega!
After weeks of skirmishes the full force clash between ALL OUT and Junretsu went ahead. The match began with Konosuke Takeshita and Jun Akiyama in the ring. It also ended with those two in the ring. Hideki Okatani was in danger early but used a Neckbreaker Drop on Yuki Iino to get out of trouble. Mizuki Watase used a Double Stomp to counter Iino’s Spear. Things for him got more difficult when Akito tagged in and targeted his legs. Makoto Oishi used his wits to make Shunma Katsumata DDT Akito by mistake. Takeshita and Akiyama both tagged in to set up the final minutes of the bout. Takeshita had his opponent in position for a German Suplex when Oishi cut him off with a Swinging Complete Shot. Akiyama got up first and hit Takeshita with Running Knee Butts. He gave a couple of Exploder Suplexes but Takeshita wouldn’t stay down. Akiyama had to use the Wrist Clutch Exploder to put away his new rival.
If you can’t beat them, make them laugh. That’s the usual plan with Antonio Honda yet today it was particularly effective against Yukio Sakaguchi. He couldn’t help himself when Honda brought out the old Gongitsune bit even when the rest of Eruption interrupted it. Riho and Saki Akai had an even fight. Riho stayed on to test herself against Kazusada Higuchi but she needed HARASHIMA’s help to escape from a Canadian Backbreaker. It took the combined effort of the three challengers to take down Higuchi. Honda did the Gongitsune joke in full this time and Sakaguchi burst into laughter. He then made his own Gongitsune hand signs to combat Honda. Riho used Honda as a launching pad to hit Higuchi with the Somato. Akai hit Riho with the Rookie Award kick. Honda got rid of Akai with the Shining Gongitsune. Sakaguchi then trapped Honda in the Triangle Choke to make him submit.
When Eruption won their match, Danshoku Dieno & Seigo Tachibana entered the ring. Both of them want to challenge for the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles. They even have a third friend who agreed to team with them. A video played on the screen showing Yoshiko! The video was Yoshiko explaining what she will do in the ring as if she was baking a cake. First she will squint at her opponents. Then she will throw in 75kg of Elbow Drops. After that she mixes her opponents into one big mess that she will throw onto the canvas. Add in a Diving Senton to finish it off and voila! New KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions fresh out of the oven. Akai is eager to fight Yoshiko again so she accepted the challenge. Sakaguchi looked at Tachibana and wanted to know who the bald guy was standing next to Dieno. Tachibana got mad that Sakaguchi didn’t recognise him after they just wrestled each other two weeks ago. He got even more mad when Higuchi pretended he was going to slice off his little finger. The title match was agreed to take place on 7th September.
Nobuhiro Shimatani proudly showed off a brand new black DAMNATION signboard. Chris Brookes broke it over Daisuke Sasaki’s head. Easy come, easy go. Drew Parker ended up pinning Shimatani with the Swanton Bomb. Parker said in Japanese that the next time he comes to DDT he wants to fight for a championship. He doesn’t want the KO-D Tag Team Titles though. He wants to wrestle Brookes for the DDT UNIVERSAL Title! Brookes also spoke in Japanese, asking if Parker was serious. Hisaya Imabayashi came in to confirm the match but Brookes told him in English that he doesn’t understand Japanese. The title match will happen on the 7th September Korakuen show.
The DDT Extreme Title match was a normal pro wrestling match where wrestlers were allowed to remove their clothes. Maku Donaruto wrestled in grappling gear and wanted to mat wrestle with Shinya Aoki. Things got explicit as tights got pulled down and the wrestlers got into compromising positions. Aoki got his backside exposed while Donaruto was stripped down to his thong. Aoki ended up doing something Donaruto would do and it led him to getting the pin with a European Clutch. Donaruto may have lost but Aoki won a place in his heart after today.
Tachibana is now bald after he lost a Hair Vs Hair match in All Japan during the week. Danshoku Dieno & Super Sasadango Machine knew something looked different about him but couldn’t figure it out. Tachibana was introduced in the ring as a thug, but a harmless one. Kazuki Hirata stood up to him because he’s not as scary as Sakaguchi is. Tachibana put on the Hirata GO! glasses and “Tsuppari High School Rock’n Roll” played instead of “TOKYO GO!” He pinned Hirata with the Ikemen Drop, securing Tachibana’s first win in DDT. Backstage after the match, Naomi Yoshimura said he wants a match with Takuho Kato from Big Japan. Doesn’t matter if it is a singles or for the KO-D Tag Titles.
There wasn’t much chemistry between Yukio Naya & Keigo Nakamura as a tag team. Their big idea for a team move was Naya Choke Slamming Nakamura onto Soma Takao. Takao rolled out of the way and Nakamura was slammed onto the canvas. Mad Paulie got rid of Naya and Takao easily finished off Nakamura.
The 5 Way DISASTER BOX match on the 31st July Beer Garden-Like show will have special rules. The match will continue after every fall with the winners being removed until there is one man left. Hirata protested the rules knowing he will likely be the loser. He asked for Over The Top Rope rules to be included. Toru Owashi agreed but only if the loser of the match takes a punishment afterwards. HARASHIMA thinks that is a great idea and made it official despite Hirata’s complaints.
Some of the spinoffs will return after a lengthy absence. BOYZ will be back on 16th August. The Muscle revival holds its third show “HIRAGANA MUSCLE 3 ~SPECIAL MOVES OUTBREAK~” on 9th November. There will be an open rehearsal show first on 21st September.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “BRAND NEW WRESTLING 4 ~TAKE NOT, BUT GIVE~”, 23/07/2020 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. Moka Miyamoto Debut Match: Moka Miyamaoto & Suzume Vs Mirai Maiumi & Sena Shiori
2. Himawari Unagi Return Match: Himawari Unagi & Haruna Neko Vs Pom Harajuku & Mahiro Kiryu
3. Hikari Noa Vs Raku
4. Yuki Kamifuku Vs Mina Shirakawa
5. Yuna Manase Regular Participation Last Match: Yuna Manase, Nodoka Tenma & Maki Itoh Vs Miyu Yamashita, Mizuki & Natsumi Maki
6. Princess Tag Team Titles: Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe (c) Vs Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao
7. Princess Of Princess Title: Yuka Sakazaki (c) Vs Yuki Aino
English commentary of the show on FITE TV will be provided by Sonny Onoo and Dan Madigan. Yeah the former WCW guy who tried to carny GCW out of Disney World passes earlier this year and your one who pitched the frozen Nazi Heidenreich gimmick in WWE (also wrote the WWE movie See No Evil and a PWTorch podcast he did years ago was where I heard the Vince McMahon burrito story for the first time). I mean, if you’re looking for an eccentric pair of people to do English commentary for a company like DDT then these two fit the bill I guess. Don’t have a problem with Madigan being there, Onoo is the one who makes me worried over the whole thing.
DDT “SUMMER VACATION 2020”, 23/07/2020 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. Soma Takao & Mad Paulie Vs Yukio Naya & Keigo Nakamura
2. Toru Owashi, Naomi Yoshimura & Kazuki Hirata Vs Danshoku Dieno, Super Sasadango Machine & Seigo Tachibana
3. DDT Extreme Title: Shinya Aoki (c) Vs Maku Donaruto
4. Chris Brookes & Drew Parker Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Nobuhiro Shimatani
5. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Sakaguchi & Saki Akai (c) Vs HARASHIMA, Antonio Honda & Riho
6. Junretsu Vs ALL OUT All Out Battle!: Jun Akiyama, Makoto Oishi, Mizuki Watase & Hideki Okatani Vs Konosuke Takeshita, Akito, Shunma Katsumata & Yuki Iino
7. KO-D Openweight Title: Tetsuya Endo (c) Vs Yuki Ueno
English commentary of the show on FITE TV will be provided by Sonny Onoo and Rob Hochman. Hochman’s another one with a dodgy reputation in wrestling from what I could find about him. Found a couple stories about him cancelling indy shows he promoted and ghosting everyone afterwards. He also holds a grudge with Wrestlecon for some reason. FITE sure knows how to pick ’em. Maybe I’m being harsh and the commentaries will be of acceptable quality but I can’t help but think somebody will be getting an undeserved payday out of this. The announcement reminds me of the early FMW DVDs Tokyopop produced where the commentators just made shit up. I’d be happy to get proven wrong over this.
The wrestling unit Junretsu (準烈) this week received the approval of the pop group Junretsu (純烈) over use of the name. The two groups met in public to discuss the situation. The wrestling Junretsu leader Makoto Oishi (yes it’s him, not Jun Akiyama) explained the thought process behind their version of the name. Mainly it was the most popular choice in a Twitter poll. The pop group Junretsu gave their blessing on the condition that the wrestling unit will cherish their fans, aunts and mothers the same way the pop group cherishes their own. Oishi said his mother is a big fan of the pop group. He asked if they could perform a song right there and then so he could send a video of it to his parents. They agreed and sang their most recent single “Ai Wo Kudasai ~Don’t You Cry~” with Oishi filming it on his phone. In return, Akiyama agreed to chop one of the members in his bare chest.
DOVE PRO “CLASH! DOVE X BASARA”, 26/07/2020 Osaka Azalea Taisho Hall
1. Heaven Summit ~Itadaki/Choten~ – Semi Final: Takumi Tsukamoto Vs Naoki Tanizaki
2. Heaven Summit ~Itadaki/Choten~ – Semi Final: Ryota Nakatsu Vs Kenshin Chikano
3. Heaven Summit ~Itadaki/Choten~ – Final: X Vs X
BASARA held the first two rounds of the Itadaki/Choten tournament. Dove Pro gets the rest of it. The final four consists of Takumi Tsukamoto and Ryota Nakatsu on the BASARA side while Dove is represented by Naoki Tanizaki and Kenshin Chikano.
GAKE NO FUCHI JOSHI PRO “GAKE ONNA FESTIVAL! 2020 SUMMER ~STAR☆IT’S SUMMER~”, 01/08/2020 Shinjuku FACE
1. Special Single Match: Nobuhiro Shimatani (w/ Mao) Vs Keigo Nakamura (w/ ARISA)
2. Falls Count Anywhere Tornado Gake no Fuchi Hardcore Special Tag Match: Miyako Matsumoto & Chris Brookes Vs Drew Parker & Rina Yamashita
Punk rock idol band BURST GIRL will be part of the show. They will be joined by idol Hikari Shiina.
BAKUHA KOSHIEN “STREET FIGHT CLUB”, 25/08/2020 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Stop me if you heard this before. Atsushi Onita is starting a new wrestling project! “STREET FIGHT CLUB” is the latest of Onita’s creations, this one being produced under the Bakuha Koshien banner. Many things have changed but Onita believes pro wrestling is forever. He is going to Korakuen Hall to bring back the hardcore Street Fights FMW was associated with. There was supposed to be a Bakuha Koshien show back in March but it was cancelled because of the Coronavirus. Explosions aren’t allowed in Korakuen so the next best thing is to create this spin off and put together a Street Fight that is just as intense as a hot explosion.
1. Eruption Vs DAMNATION!: Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Sakaguchi defeated Soma Takao & Mad Paulie when Sakaguchi pinned Paulie with the God’s Right Knee (14:31).
2. Saki Akai & Gota Ihashi defeated Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo when Akai pinned Ihashi with the Rookie Award (11:15)?
3. Customer Lottery Tag Match: Kazuki Hirata & Akito defeated Antonio Honda & Tomomitsu Matsunaga when Hirata pinned Honda with the Miracle One Shot Cradle (12:53).
4. Customer Lottery 3 Way Match: Shunma Katsumata defeated Naomi Yoshimura and Yuki Iino when Katsumata pinned Iino with a Cradle (11:07).
5. Customer Lottery Single Match: Toru Owashi defeated Makoto Oishi with La Magistral Cradle (9:04).
6. Customer Lottery 6-Man Tag Team Match: Konosuke Takeshita, HARASHIMA & Sanshiro Takagi defeated Yuki Ueno, Danshoku Dieno & Keigo Nakamura when Takeshita submitted Nakamura with the Cabello 2020 (18:34).
7. Customer Lottery Tag Match: Chris Brookes & Hideki Okatani defeated Yukio Naya & Mizuki Watase when Brookes submitted Watase with a Modified Ground Octopus Stretch (18:10).
Five of today’s seven matches were determined by a fan lottery held at the start of the show. Yukio Naya & Mizuki Watase were left in a nervous state when their names were chosen for one of the teams in the main event. The rookie Hideki Okatani was in a similar position but he had Chris Brookes to rely on. They won the match and Brookes complimented Okatani for putting up a good fight in his first main event.
Tetsuya Endo attacked Yuki Ueno backstage before the main event. Endo instructed the photographers to take pictures of an attempted move that involved a Wrist Clutch and also a Half Nelson lift. Ueno escaped from the mystery move and forced Endo to back off. Endo left him alone and warned him not to let his guard down.
Match #2 began with Daisuke Sasaki tempting Gota Ihashi to join his side. He told him “Everything Is EVIL” then gave him the Too Sweet hand gesture. Ihashi refused because he wanted to team with Saki Akai. Unfortunately, Ihashi’s moves kept backfiring and Akai got so angry she slapped him for being so useless. Sasaki again asked Ihashi to join his team because “Everything Is EVIL” and this time Ihashi joined in the Too Sweet pose. The match turned 3 on 1 and Sasaki gave Ihashi a chair while Endo held Akai in place. Akai still kicked the chair into Ihashi’s face and started beating him up. Ihashi told everyone to pause so he could spend 1,000 yen on a nearby gacha machine. He came back with a prize wallet and proposed to Akai! Sasaki & Endo attacked both of them, leading to Ihashi to accidentaly Clothesline Akai. He turned his back to her in shame and apologised because he loves her. He turned around expecting a kiss but instead found out he was talking to Yukinori Matsui. The ref gave Ihashi a High Kick, Akai then hit the Rookie Award and Matsui counted the pin. Akai and Ihashi were on the same team but whatever, Akai won.
DDT “NAYA PROJECT”, 17/07/2020 Tamagawa River Bed 0 Fans
1. Yukio Naya defeated Self-Restraint Police Man with a Cobra Twist under the bridge (?:??).
Yukio Naya was being interviewed for a WRESTLE UNIVERSE documentary when a mysterious man claiming to be from the police confronted him and the camera crew. The man provoked Naya and got into a fight with him. They fought through a playground down towards a river bed. Naya through the man around, pushed his face into the river, Power Bombed him onto the ground, Choke Slammed him into a bush and put him in a Cobra Twist beneath a railway bridge. Naya left him beaten to got get something to eat. The man followed him into the restaurant to apologize before the manager kicked him out.
DDT “BEER GARDEN-LIKE PRO WRESTLING 2020 DAY 1”, 30/07/2020 Shinjuku FACE
1. HARASHIMA & Chris Brookes Vs Soma Takao & Mad Paulie
2. Jun Akiyama & Hideki Okatani Vs Naomi Yoshimura & Keigo Nakamura
3. 3 Way Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo Vs Makoto Oishi & Mizuki Watase Vs Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya
4. Super Sasadango Machine Produce Match – Hell In A Blue Sheet Timed Blast! Kaidan Shin Numabukuro Death Match: Muscle Sakai, Danshoku Dieno & Antonio Honda Vs Akito, Yumehito Imanari & Shota
5. Saki Akai Produce Match – NEO Biishiki-gun New Member Open Audition: X Vs X (Judges: Sakisama & Yukio Saint Laurent)
6. Konosuke Takeshita Produce Match – DDT Sauna Club Vs DDT Legend Army!: Konosuke Takeshita, Shunma Katsumata & Yuki Ueno Vs Sanshiro Takagi, MIKAMI & Tanomusaku Toba
It’s not quite Beer Garden but it is close. DDT’s past meets DDT’s present in the main event of Day 1. MIKAMI & Tanomusaku Toba, aka The Suicide Boyz come back to DDT for their first match here in almost three years. They join forces with Sanshiro Takagi to fight the current day united force that is the DDT Sauna Club.
Dunno why Saki Akai is producing the NEO Biishiki-gun audition. She’s never met Sakisama and doesn’t have anything in common with her or Yukio Saint Laurent either.
The Hell In A Blue Sheet match makes its DDT debut after some successful(?) test runs in Muscle. It’s also going to include Hisaya Imabayashi so maybe we’ll get a scary ghost story too.
DDT “BEER GARDEN-LIKE PRO WRESTLING 2020 DAY 2”, 31/07/2020 Shinjuku FACE
1. Soma Takao Vs Hideki Okatani
2. Chris Brookes & Akito Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Mad Paulie
3. Jun Akiyama & Mizuki Watase Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Tomomitsu Matsunaga
4. Danshoku Dieno Produce Match – Elimination Tornado Pantyhose Generation Struggle!: Danshoku Dieno, Super Sasadango Machine, Makoto Oishi & Antonio Honda Vs Seigo Tachibana, Yuki Iino, Yukio Naya & Keigo Nakamura
5. HARASHIMA Produce Special Rule 5 Way Match: HARASHIMA Vs Toru Owashi Vs Yuki Ueno Vs Naomi Yoshimura Vs Kazuki Hirata
6. Tetsuya Endo Produce Match – DAMNATION Vs ALL OUT!: Tetsuya Endo & Nobuhiro Shimatani Vs Konosuke Takeshita & Shunma Katsumata
What a good friend Tetsuya Endo is. He’s still giving Nobuhiro Shimatani the main event spotlight when the chance presents itself.
An all DISASTER BOX 5 Way match with a mystery rule attached. What on earth does HARASHIMA have planned for his stable?
The other DDT inter-generational battle involves pantyhose. Seigo Tachibana is reluctantly taking part on Danshoku Dieno’s suggestion because he really wants to continue wrestling in DDT.
DDT “BEER GARDEN-LIKE PRO WRESTLING 2020 DAY 3”, 01/08/2020 Shinjuku FACE
0. Special Under Match “Can You Lose?”: Tetsuya Koda Vs Hisaya Imabayashi
1. Mizuki Watase Vs Yukio Naya
2. Danshoku Dieno & Akito Vs Soma Takao & Mad Paulie
3. Jun Akiyama, Makoto Oishi & Hideki Okatani Vs HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi & Keigo Nakamura
4. Drunk 3 Way Match: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Yuki Iino
5. Rock And Roll 4 Way Death Match: Saki Akai Vs Antonio Honda Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Shunma Katsumata
6. Customer Lottery 6-Man Tag Match That Looks Like A Beer Garden Specialty: Tetsuya Endo, Chris Brookes, Yuki Ueno, Naomi Yoshimura, Konosuke Takeshita, Kazusada Higuchi
It’s not the Beer Garden but if it was, it would end with the Customer Lottery 6-Man as always.
What, is A.YAZAWA not around for the Rock And Roll Death Match?
I always thought Yukio Sakaguchi was a sophisticated drinker from his days in Shuten-dōji. We can safely say Daisuke Sasaki isn’t. Yuki Iino is a bit of a wild card in this.
GAKE NO FUCHI JOSHI PRO “GAKE ONNA FESTIVAL! 2020 SUMMER ~STAR☆IT’S SUMMER~”, 01/08/2020 Shinjuku FACE
1. Special Single Match: Nobuhiro Shimatani (w/ Mao) Vs Keigo Nakamura (w/ ARISA)
2. Falls Count Anywhere Tornado Gake no Fuchi Hardcore Special Tag Match: Miyako Matsumoto & Chris Brookes Vs Drew Parker & Rina Yamashita
The match between Shimatani and Keigo Nakamura will now include Divas. Shimatani will be accompanied by Mao, who has appeared in Gake no Fuchi Joshi before. Nakamura will be with one of Miyako Matsumoto’s friends from the hostess world, ARISA. She promises to do her best with her sexy power. Mao apologizes in advance because she doesn’t know what she is going to do when she gets into the ring.
Posted by JamieOD 
