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! #3”, 16/05/2020 DDT TV SHOW Studio
1. DAMNATION Vs ALL OUT!: Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo Vs Konosuke Takeshita & Akito
2. Hardcore Match: Yoshihiko Vs Shunma Katsumata
3. Jun Akiyama & Keisuke Ishii Vs Mizuki Watase & Hideki Okatani
4. Saki Akai “Okibariyasu” 7 Match Series – 6th Match: Saori Anou Vs Saki Akai
Saturday’s tag match built up a little bad blood between Saki Akai and Saori Anou. The winning result for Anou left her thinking she is too much of a challenge for Akai in a singles match. Akai’s current record in her series is 2-3.
Jun Akiyama is now working with DDT both as a coach and a wrestler. His first match on this run sees him teaming with Keisuke Ishii. The two were last in the ring together wrestling each other in Ganbare☆Wrestling a year and a half ago. Ishii also once won the All Asia Tag Team Titles from him. Mizuki Watase & rookie Hideki Okatani are the first ones who get to learn King’s Road style from him.
“ALL OUT, All Dead” continues with Shunma Katsumata as the next person looking to stop Yoshihiko from hunting the group down. He just lost a Hardcore Match on the last episode but is willing to go through another one just to get his hands on his nemesis. Yoshihiko might also make his presence known when Akito & Konosuke Takeshita have a tag match with their usual enemies in DAMNATION.
GAKE NO FUCHI JOSHI PRO “GAKEPPUCHI RAPUNZEL 2020~”, 20/05/2020 Saitama Wrestle Arena
Add this to the growing list of cancelled shows. Miyako Matsumoto thought of replacing the event with a no person, no audience, no wrestler show but sadly that also couldn’t come to pass. She extends her deepest sympathies to all the people around the world who have been infected with Coronavirus. She hopes the pandemic will end as soon as possible.
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.
A message exchange on Twitter has led to Jun Akiyama becoming a temporary coach for the DDT roster. Originally Akiyama was supposed to be a guest coach for WWE in at their Performance Center this month but that plan was postponed because of COVID-19. WWE’s loss is DDT’s gain and Sanshiro Takagi invited Akiyama to pass along his King’s Road knowledge to the DDT roster instead.
Akiyama is eager to teach the DDT roster everything that Giant Baba taught him. He is also open to wrestling matches with the DDT wrestlers if the timing works out. After all he learned a lot in his early years by wrestling the likes of Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi, Akira Taue and Toshiaki Kawada. One of the young wrestlers he is interested in teaching is Konosuke Takeshita. They wrestled each other in a few tag matches back in 2016 and Akiyama was impressed by Takeshita’s ring sense. Akiyama’s policy as a coach will be acting like a “demon teacher” so don’t expect him to go lightly on anybody. He will appear on tomorrow’s DDT TV SHOW to greet the fans watching at home.
DDT “DDT TV SHOW! #2”, 09/05/2020 DDT TV SHOW Studio
1. Akito Vs Yoshihiko
2. Konosuke Takeshita Vs Gota Ihashi
3. Saki Akai & Mizuki Watase Vs Saori Anou & Yukio Naya
4. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – 4 Way Match: Danshoku Dieno (c) Vs HARASHIMA Vs Soma Takao Vs Keigo Nakamura
5. Hardcore Match: Chris Brookes Vs Shunma Katsumata
6. KO-D Openweight Title: Masato Tanaka (c) Vs Yukio Sakaguchi
The KO-D Openweight Title match is finally going ahead. Masato Tanaka wrestles in DDT again for the first time since his last title defence. Now Yukio Sakaguchi has to do his part to ensure Eruption has completely taken over the main title scene. Meanwhile Saki Akai and Saori Anou prepare for their upcoming singles match by taking part in a tag team bout against each other.
DDT “DDT TV SHOW! #1”, 02/05/2020 DDT TV SHOW Studio 0 Fans
1. Yoshihiko Vs Yuki Iino
2. HARASHIMA & Pokotan Vs Chris Brookes & Maki Itoh
3. 3 Way Match: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Naomi Yoshimura Vs MAO
4. DDT UNIVERSAL Title: Daisuke Sasaki (c) Vs Antonio Honda
5. KO-D Challenger Sword: Tetsuya Endo Vs Kazusada Higuchi
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 0 Fans
1. Yoshihiko defeated Yuki Iino with the Reincarnation (5:42). *Yoshihiko wins Yuki Iino’s Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Gauntlet.
2. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Danshoku Dieno (c) defeated Akito with a Small Package (2:00). *V? for Danshoku Dieno.
3. Chris Brookes & Maki Itoh defeated HARASHIMA & Pokotan when Itoh pinned Pokotan with the Flying Big Head (13:02).
4. 3 Way Match: MAO defeated Konosuke Takeshita and Naomi Yoshimura when MAO pinned Takeshita with the Cannonball 450 (12:35).
5. DDT UNIVERSAL Title: Daisuke Sasaki (c) defeated Antonio Honda with the Crossover Facelock (13:19). *V1 for Daisuke Sasaki.
6. KO-D Challenger Sword: Kazusada Higuchi defeated Tetsuya Endo with the Goten (13:19). *Kazusada Higuchi wins Tetsuya Endo’s KO-D Challenger Sword.
The debut of DDT TV SHOW was an eventful one. Now that DDT can put together some kind of wrestling show every Saturday for the time being, a lot will happen to keep everybody on their toes away from an audience. Take the main event for example. The KO-D Challenger Sword now belongs to Kazusada Higuchi after he defeated Tetsuya Endo. There was a close call when the Goten was countered into a Reverse DDT. Endo followed up with a Canadian Destroyer but missed the Shooting Star Press. Higuchi struck Endo from behind with a Lariat and used the Goten to put him away.
Now Higuchi will wait for the next KO-D Openweight Title match to happen. Masato Tanaka is supposed to defend the belt against Yukio Sakaguchi. Higuchi is supporting Sakaguchi to win and become champion so Eruption will completely take over the main event scene as DDT’s strongest wrestlers! It is their goal to have an Eruption Vs Eruption match for the title. Higuchi also brought up support for Saki Akai to finish her Okibariyasu series with a winning record. Backstage, a defeated Endo swore he will win the KO-D Title from Tanaka even if he no longer has the sword to grant him the title shot.
Antonio Honda used the powers of yoga to get his DDT UNIVERSAL Title shot but there was no signs of tranquility coming from him come match time. He brawled with Daisuke Sasaki around Shinjuku FACE, I mean the DDT TV SHOW Studio. The fight went over to the bar where Pokotan was working. Sasaki stole some beers from Pokotan but Honda poured them over his face. Sasaki left Honda outside to get counted out but Honda returned just in time to trip on the ropes and begin his Gongitsune story. Sasaki stopped him with a Sleeper Hold. Still, Honda used Gongitsune to free himself. The challenger used a Japanese Leg Roll Clutch for a nearfall. When Sasaki kicked out he rolled Honda into the Crossover Facelock to earn the submission victory and his first UNIVERSAL Title defence.
A tired Sasaki gave his opponent credit and wondered if he should leave DAMNATION to reunite the Monster Army with Honda. He quickly forgot about the idea and said he will defend his title against anybody. Chris Brookes came out and challenged Sasaki. He said (in English) he had his fun earlier and now was the time to get serious. Sasaki cheated to win the belt from him so he deserves a rematch. Sasaki told Brookes (in Japanese) he doesn’t understand English that much and he will only defend the title against Japanese wrestlers. Brookes gave Sasaki the Praying Mantis Bomb to put a stamp on his challenge.
MAO won the 3 Way Match thanks to some help from Yoshihiko of all people/wrestlers/things. The finish to the 3 Way saw Konosuke Takeshita setting up Naomi Yoshimura for the German Suplex when the room went dark. The lights switched back on to reveal Yoshihiko swapped places with Yoshimura! The doll Choke Slammed Takeshita and MAO hit the Cannonball 450 to win. Akito called out Yoshihiko for attacking ALL OUT throughout the show. He challenged Yoshihiko to a singles match for next week.
Pokotan was eager to fight Maki Itoh so it could stick up the middle fingers at her. Itoh fake cried to distract the mascot and then bit its tail. Pokotan fired up when its giant head got knocked off. It went wild attacking Itoh until Brookes threw the head at it. Brookes gave Pokotan the Praying Mantis Bomb then held HARASHIMA back while Itoh wore the head and won the match with the Flying Big Head.
At some point over the last month, Danshoku Dieno and Akito filmed an empty arena match in Ochanomizu Dojo. The match never saw the light of day because Dieno’s antics were too outrageous for public viewing. A rematch took place in the same room for this show with the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title on the line. Dieno wants to set the record for the most title defences so he is now writing a list of who he beats. During the match, somebody grabbed Akito’s leg from the ring apron. Dieno stopped a Figure 4 Leg Lock with a Low Blow then pinned Akito with a Small Package to win. The broadcast then replayed the match using a manga style presentation called “Grappling Apocalypse Akito”. It explained in detail why every moment of this 2 minute long match went the way it did. One detail was the reveal that it was Keigo Nakamura who tripped Akito.
Before the first match took place, Yuki Iino went to use the bathroom and found a note written by Yoshihiko that said “ALL OUT All Dead”. Iino was determined to beat his opponent after this but ultimately failed. Yoshihiko countered an Argentine Backbreaker into a Sleeper Hold then turned that into the Reincarnation. By winning the match, Yoshihiko now claims the black Right To Challenge Gauntlet. Thus begins the first angle to come out of DDT TV SHOW: Yoshihiko Vs ALL OUT!
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.