Frantic Card Reshuffling, Ibushi’s Replacements

September 12, 2011

DDT “NON-FIX 9.18”, 18/09/2011
Chiba Blue Field

1. 3 Way: Darkside HERO! Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Masa Takanashi
2. Poison JULIE Sawada & Keisuke Ishii Vs MIKAMI & Daisuke Sasaki
3. Yasu Urano Vs Hiro Tonai
4. HARASHIMA Vs HERO!
5. Shigehiro Irie & Takao Soma Vs Yuji Hino & Ryuichi Sekine
6. Danshoku Dino & YOSHIHIKO Vs Antonio Honda & Michael Nakazawa
7. KUDO Vs Makoto Oishi

With Kota Ibushi now out of action for the forseeable future, DDT has a big hole to fill on their cards. Well, desperate times call for desperate measures and DDT went searching for the only man they knew they could rely on to replace Ibushi. Luckily for them, he has accepted their offer and has come to the rescue. YOSHIHIKO will now be replacing Ibushi on the “NON-FIX 9.18” card in Chiba Blue Field. Like I said, desperate times, desperate measures.

DDT “DDT48 Election”, 25/09/2011
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Gorgeous Matsuno Vs YOSHIHIKO
2. Kazuki Hirata Vs Hiro Tsumaki
3. Isami Kodaka Vs Yasu Urano
4. Keisuke Ishii Vs Shigehiro Irie
5. Danshoku Dino & Makoto Oishi Vs El Generico & Hiroya Fukuda
6. DDT Vs Union: KUDO, HARASHIMA & MIKAMI Vs Shuji Ishikawa, Sanshiro Takagi & Kengo Ohka

However, DDT went and found another replacement for Ibushi this time at the “DDT48 Election” show in Korakuen Hall. El Generico comes back to DDT to team with Hiroya Fukuda from Union to fight Danshoku Dino & Makoto Oishi. That’s right, the dream match of Danshoku Dino Vs El Generico will now come true! I mean sure, it’s the kind of dream you get when you eat a lot of cheese at night before going to sleep, but it’s a dream match none the less!

The teams have been chosen for the DDT Vs Union 6-Man Tag Team main event. DDT will be represented by the Caps Lock squad of KUDO, HARASHIMA & MIKAMI. Union has a mix of three seperate factions, Union ace Shuji Ishikawa, Sanshiro Takagi of the TKG48 and Kengo Ohka from the Susan Guard.

Another match to watch out for is Keisuke Ishii Vs Shigehiro Irie. I have become a big fan of both wrestlers over the year. Their matches against each other has lead to an entertaining generation rivalry between the two. Ishii is coming off of a loss to KUDO over the KO-D Openweight Title, but has grown into a confident wrestler who still has a bright future ahead of him. Irie is the lovable big brute of both DDT and Union. With a KO-D Tag Team Title reign and pinfalls over Kota Ibushi and Shuji Ishikawa listed under his recent accomplishments, Irie is quickly climbing the ranks of both brands. He will be looking to avenge his defeat to Ishii at “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2011”.

There are plenty more matches to come for this show. This is because every wrestler involved in this year’s DDT48 Election (except for Ibushi) will compete and get one last chance to campaign for votes from the fans. In order to fit everyone in, every match except the main event will have a ten minute time limit.

DDT “CAMPING-GROUND PRO-WRESTLING OM”, 26/09/2011
Yamanashi Natureland Om

1. Kazuki Hirata Vs Hiroshi Fukuda
2. 4 Way: HARASHIMA & KUDO Vs Sanshiro Takagi & Munenori Sawa Vs Hikaru Sato & Michael Nakazawa Vs Isami Kodaka & Ken Ohka

HARASHIMA will now take Ibushi’s place on the Campsite show.

DDT “PRO WRESTLING FESTIVAL IN SAPPORO”, 10/10/2011
Sapporo Teisen Hall

1. MIKAMI Vs Masa Takanashi
2. KUDO & Hikaru Sato Vs Sanshiro Takagi & Munenori Sawa
3. KO-D Tag Team Title Decision Match: Danshoku Dino & Makoto Oishi Vs X & X

The KO-D Tag Team Championship has now been vacated. Danshoku Dino will have a chance to win back the belts with his other Homoiro Clover Z partner Makoto Oishi in Sapporo. Their opponents will be determined in a mini tournament to be held before then.


Current DDT48 Top 20

August 28, 2011

With the first week of voting now complete, here is the current Top 20 for the DDT48 Election 2011:

1. Kota Ibushi (56 Votes)
2. Shigehiro Irie (36 Votes)
3. HARASHIMA (35 Votes)
4. Hikaru Sato (30 Votes)
5. Antonio Honda (22 Votes)
6. Danshoku Dino (20 Votes)
7. Masa Takanshi (19 Votes)
8. Takao Soma (17 Votes)
9. Makoto Oishi (14 Votes)
– MIKAMI (14 Votes)
11. YOSHIHIKO (12 Votes)
– KUDO (12 Votes)
– Yasu Urano (12 Votes)
14. Keisuke Ishii (8 Votes)
15. Kenny Omega (7 Votes)
– Mr. #6 (7 Votes)
17. Michael Nakazawa (6 Votes)
– Tsuyoshi Kikuchi (6 Votes)
19. Cherry (5 Votes)
20. Daisuke Sasaki (4 Votes)
– Ken Ohka (4 Votes)
– HERO! (4 Votes)
– Ryuichi Sekine (4 Votes)

The final result of the DDT48 Election will take place at a free show held in Shinjuku FACE on 29th September. Remember, the winner of the election will be given a KO-D Title shot at Korakuen Hall on 23rd October. The rest of that card will be filled with the top 18 candidates.


DDT48 General Election 2011 – The Candidates

August 15, 2011

The DDT48 General Election has rolled round once again. DDT and Union fans will get their chance to vote for who they think should be a part of a special Korakuen Hall show on 25th September. The reward for whoever wins the election is a KO-D Openweight Title shot on the 25th plus a grand case prize. Last year it was the top 18 wrestlers who qualified for the Korakuen show but the cut off for this year has not been revealed yet. Last year’s winner Danshoku Dino leads the pack of 48 nominees all hoping to fare well enough in the popularity contest to be part of the grand finale. You never know who will win over the public’s affection. Last year saw Hikaru Sato finish second place, a moment that arguably sparked off his run that led to a KO-D Title reign several months later. Meanwhile Union’s old hag cutie idol Cherry was overwhelmed with emotion when it was announced she finished in third place. There are some fresh faces on the ballot this year to go along with the usual gang. So let’s see how the 2011 elections will go.


01. Danshoku Dino – 男色ディーノ


02. Hikaru Sato – 佐藤光留


03. Cherry – チェリー


04. HARASHIMA


05. Kota Ibushi – 飯伏幸太


06. Sanshiro Takagi – 高木三四郎


07. Michael Nakazawa – 中澤マイケル


08. Antonio Honda – アントーニオ本多


09. Shuji Ishikawa -石川修司


10. MIKAMI


11. YOSHIHIKO – ヨシヒコ


12. Yasu Urano – ヤス・ウラノ


13. Isami Kodaka – 木高イサミ


14. Kenny Omega – ケニーオメガ


15. KUDO


16. Keisuke Ishii – 石井慧介


17. Shigehiro Irie – 入江茂弘


18. Poison Sawada JULIE – ポイズン澤田JULIE


19. Masa Takanashi – マサ高梨


20. Takao Soma – 高尾蒼馬


21. Daisuke Sasaki – 佐々木大輔


22. Hoshitango – 星誕期


23. Makoto Oishi – 大石真翔


24. HERO!


25. Tomomitsu Matsunaga – 松永智充


26. Tanomusaku Toba – タノムサク鳥羽


27. Gorgeous Matsuno – ゴージャス松野


28. Rion Mizuki – 美月凛音


29. Kazuki Hirata – 平田一喜


30. DJ Nira – DJニラ


31. Big Morohashi – ビッグ諸橋


32. Ken Ohka – 大家健


33. Hiro Tsumaki – 妻木洋夫


34. Hiroshi Fukuda – 福田洋


35. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi – 菊地毅


36. Yoshiaki Yago – 矢郷良明


37. Kengo Ohka – 大家拳號


38. Madoka – 円華


39. Chou-un Shiryu – 趙雲子龍


40. BENTEN


41. Batten Tamagawa – ばってん多摩川


42. Mitsuhiro Yoshida – 吉田充宏


43. Akito – 彰人


44. Ryuichi Sekine – 関根龍一


45. Hiro Tonai – ヒロ・トウナイ


46. Shota – 翔太


47. Toru Sugiura – 杉浦透


48. Mr. #6 – ミスター6号

Voting can only take place at open polls that will be held during DDT and UNION shows throughout August and September. They will be located at the following schedule. Attendees will be given one vote for every 2000円 they spend at the merchandise table. Voting ballots will also be sent out to fans who order products from DDT’s online store, again one vote for every 2000円 spent, excluding the costs for postage and packaging. The voting period will end on 26th September and mailed votes must be received before that date to be included in the official count.

21/08 – DDT @ Osaka Minami Move On Arena
28/08 – DDT @ Tokyo Korakuen Hall
01/09 – Monthly Young Communications @ Shin-Kiba 1st RING
10/09 – DDT @ Shin-Kiba 1st RING
18/09 – DDT @ Chiba Blue Field
19/09 – Union @ Shinjuku FACE (Afternoon Show)
19/09 – Union @ Shinjuku FACE (Evening Show)
25/09 – DDT @ Tokyo Korakuen Hall


DDT48 Correction, Young Drama Cup, October Shows, DDT In NEVER

October 10, 2010

I apologise about getting the DDT48 concept wrong. Rather than everyone campaigning for a spot in a tournament, the Election was for the right to be included in the 24th October event itself, with the winner of the election getting ¥1,000,000 and a KO-D Openweight Title shot. So congratulations go to Danshoku Dino for coming out on top (minds out of the gutter, people) and winning the grand prize. Dino will face HARASHIMA for the KO-D Title in the main event of a pretty good looking DDT card at Korakuen Hall.

But before we make it to Korakuen, DDT has a show in Shin-Kiba 1st RING coming up this week. The event will see the return of the Young Drama Cup, a tournament for DDT’s rookies and younger wrestlers. Last year’s winner was Keisuke Ishii and he will be in the tournament to defend his crown.

DDT “NON-FIX 10.14”, 14/10/2010
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Complete Conclusion! Karate Kid Visit! No Ideology Conflict Shin-Kiba Bloody Battle: Karate Kid Vs Michael Nakazawa
2. Young Drama Cup: Takao Soma Vs Rion Mizuki
3. Young Drama Cup: Shigehiro Irie Vs Kazuki Hirata
4. Young Drama Cup: Yukihiro Abe Vs Keisuke Ishii
5. MIKAMI & Tanomusaku Toba Vs Sanshiro Takagi & Hoshitango
6. Dick Togo, GENTARO & Yasu Urano Vs KUDO, Daisuke Sasaki & Yuki Sato
7. Kota Ibushi & Kenny Omega Vs Hikaru Sato & Tomimitsu Matsunaga
8. HARASHIMA & Toru Owashi Vs Danshoku Dino & Antonio Honda

Karate Kid is either Ultraman Robin or a wrestler that Robin discovered during a trip to Europe.

DDT “DDT SPECIAL 2010”, 24/10/2010
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. MIKAMI & KUDO Vs Shuji Ishikawa & Isami Kodaka
2. Kenny Omega & Antonio Honda Vs Keisuke Ishii & YOSHIHIKO
3. Michael Nakazawa Vs Dick Togo
4. Sanshiro Takagi Vs Toru Owashi
5. Yasu Urano Vs Cherry
6. Kota Ibushi Vs Hikaru Sato
7. KO-D Openweight Title: HARASHIMA (c) Vs Danshoku Dino

As I said earlier, this looks like a pretty good card that should be a lot of fun. Danshoku Dino could leave Korakuen Hall as the KO-D Openweight Champion, DDT Extreme Champion and KO-D Tag Team Champion all at once, which is unprecedented in DDT. Kota Ibushi versus Hikaru Sato will be stiff and with Sato upping his game over the last year while Ibushi is getting over his ring rust this could be the best match on the night. Yasu Urano Vs Cherry is a mismatch, but Cherry will definitly do all that she can to win. Sanshiro Takagi Vs Toru Owashi will be the first singles match between the two in DDT since 2006. Michael Nakazawa and his “Shit Heart” will try to take down Dick Togo. Kenny Omega & Antonio Honda versus Keisuke Ishii & YOSHIHIKO will be your typical DDT fun and games. The show opener has potential to be really good with MIKAMI & KUDO representing DDT to face the UNION side of Shuji Ishikawa & Isami Kodaka.

DDT had two wrestlers compete at the New Japan NEVER show in Shin-Kiba. Keisuke Ishii defeated Hiromu Takahashi in the opener while Daisuke Sasaki lost to Tama Tonga in the third match.

NJPW “NEVER.3″, 10/8/10
Shin-Kiba 1st RING
250 Fans

1. Keisuke Ishii defeated Hiromu Takahashi with the Kneel Kick (6:43).
3. Tama Tonga defeated Daisuke Sasaki with the Jackhammer (11:12).


DDT48 Election – Decision Time

October 7, 2010

DDT “DDT48 GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS ANNOUNCEMENT”, 07/10/2010
Shin-Kiba 1st RING
400 Fans – Super No Vacancy

1. HARASHIMA & Kazuki Hirata defeated Seiya Morohashi & Hiroo Tsumaki when Hirata pinned Tsumaki with the Sliding Kick (16:24).
2. Shigehiro Irie defeated Takao Soma with the Diving Teddy Bear (7:00).

DDT 48 General Election Final Results:

01. Danshoku Dino (512 Votes)
02. Hikaru Sato  (498 Votes)
03. Cherry  (309 Votes)
04. HARASHIMA  (258 Votes)
05. Kota Ibushi  (254 Votes)
06. Sanshiro Takagi (233 Votes)
07. Michael Nakazawa (231 Votes)
08. Antonio Honda (230 Votes)
09. Shuji Ishikawa (225 Votes)
10. MIKAMI  (213 Votes)
11. YOSHIHIKO  (209 Votes)
12. Toru Owashi  (206 Votes)
13. Yasu Urano  (183 Votes)
14. Isami Kodaka (182 Votes)
15. Kenny Omega  (171 Votes)
16. Dick Togo   (164 Votes)
17. KUDO  (159 Votes)
18. Keisuke Ishii (146 Votes)

19. Yukihiro Abe (132 Votes)
19. Shigehiro Irie (132 Votes)

Total Votes Cast: 5,973 Votes.

So there is your eighteen contestants for the DDT48 Tournament on the 24th of October. ¥1,000,000 and a KO-D Openweight Title shot is the prize everyone will now be fighting for. If HARASHIMA ends up winning the tournament then he will be allowed to choose his next challenger instead. Danshoku Dino continues to be DDT’s most popular wrestler while Hikaru Sato and Cherry surprisingly finish in the top three. Joining Cherry on the UNION side are Shuji Ishikawa and Isami Kodaka, whose deathmatch antics have given him a fan following in Big Japan. There was only 16 votes seperating Keisuke Ishii and the pair of Yukihiro Abe and Shigehiro Irie. Overall the lineup is what you would expect with the usual DDT cast involved.


“WHO’S GONNA TOP?” Matches Added, DDT48 Standings, Sawada Injured, Ibushi Returning

August 31, 2010

Two matches have been announced for “Who’s Gonna Top? 2010” set to take place in Korakuen Hall on the 26th September. Our new KO-D Tag Team Champions already have their first defence lined up and it couldn’t be against a tougher team. Disaster BOX are the challengers with HARASHIMA looking to add another title to go along with the KO-D Openweight Title currently around his waist while another Tag Title reign would be just peaches for Toru Owashi. Probably the kind he can wear on his head. However, the odd couple of Shiro Koshinaka & Danshoku Dino were able to defeat two highly regarded teams in the DDT roster to become the champs. A successful first defence here will clear the highest profile challengers off the table for the time being.

The second match will be Muscle Sakai’s final appearance on the main DDT brand, and could there be any better choice than Sanshiro Takagi to be his opponent? With his retirement coming just over a week later, I look forward to seeing Sakai provide a lot of entertainment here before he’s gone for good.

DDT “WHO’S GONNA TOP? 2010”
26/09/2010
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. Muscle Sakai Last DDT Match: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Muscle Sakai
2. KO-D Tag Team Championship: Shiro Koshinaka & Danshoku Dino (c) Vs HARASHIMA & Toru Owashi

As of 29th August 2010, the DDT48 Election standings are as follows:

01. HARASHIMA (117 votes)
02. Danshoku Dino (111 votes)
03. Kota Ibushi (92 votes)
04. MIKAMI (84 votes)
05. Sanshiro Takagi (81 votes)
06. YOSHIHIKO (78 votes)
07. Hikaru Sato (77 votes)
08. Dick Togo (74 votes)
09. Shigehiro Irie    (66 votes)
10. Kenny Omega (60 votes)
11. Yasu Urano (53 votes)
12. Michael Nakazawa    (51 votes)
13. KUDO & Antonio Honda (48 votes)
15. Toru Owashi & Daisuke Sasaki (39 votes)
17. Yukihiro Abe, Shuji Ishikawa & Cherry (33 votes)
20. Takao Soma (32 votes)
21. Keisuke Ishii (30 votes)

The top three have received a huge boost in votes and it’s expected that DDT’s three most known names would be on top. Shigehiro Irie is the most notable drop and languishes in the middle of the pack. It’s becoming clear that the fight for the 18th spot will be the most frantic. A tie for the final spot at the end is starting to look likely.

Turns out Poison Sawada JULIE is injured. He’s gone into hibernation after receiving elbow surgery. No more rattling snake magic for a while then.

Kota Ibushi will make his return for the Campsite Pro Wrestling show on 12th September. So far only he and Sanshiro Takagi have been announced to compete.


“THINKING OF SUMMER VACATION 2010” Results

August 29, 2010

DDT “THINKING OF SUMMER VACATION 2010”
29/08/2010
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Keisuke Ishii, Shigehiro Irie & Akito defeated Rion Mizuki, Takao Soma & Kazuki Hirata when Ishii pinned Hirata with the Kneel Kick (8:05).
2. Toru Owashi Presents GM Election Battle Royal: Muscle Sakai defeated Toru Owashi, Hikaru Sato, Tomimitsu Matsunaga, Hoshitango, Yukihiro Abe & Michael Nakazawa (17:37).
3. Dick Togo & Antonio Honda defeated KUDO & Yasu Urano when Togo submitted Urano with the Crippler Crossface (15:35).
4. Special Singles Match: Kenny Omega defeated Ryusuke Taguchi with the Croyt’s Wrath (15:12).
5. KO-D Tag Team Title, 3 Way Match: Shiro Koshinaka & Danshoku Dino defeated Sanshiro Takagi & Munenori Sawa (c) and MIKAMI & Tanomusaku Toba when Dino pinned Takagi with the Danshoku Driver (13:55).
*Takagi & Sawa fail in V10. Koshinaka & Dino become the 32nd KO-D Tag Team Champions.
6. KO-D Openweight Title: HARASHIMA (c) defeated Daisuke Sasaki with the Somato (20:42).
*V1 for HARASHIMA.

The Greatest Title Run Ever ™ has come to an end, :(. I still have to look up the amount of defences they had as I’m certain I’ve added one or two more than they actually had.

After Match #4, Kenny Omega had a staredown with IWGP Jr. Champ Prince Devitt. We all know where this is going.

Muscle Sakai turned out to be the surprise winner of the GM Battle Royal. But with him soon retiring he is unable to take the role. Sakai chose Tsurumi Amon, the afro wearing host of the MUSCLE events, to take the job instead.

The DDT48 Election is now well on its way and we already have an update on the polls. There are still several shows left until the voting ends but so far it looks like Danshoku Dino, HARASHIMA & Shigehiro Irie are guaranteed spots if the trend of voting stays like this. I’m a little surprised at how high Irie is, but I guess the guy has really won over the fans.

01. Danshoku Dino (56 votes)
02. HARASHIMA & Shigehiro Irie (54 votes)
04. Sanshiro Takagi (39 votes)
05. Dick Togo, Kota Ibushi & YOSHIHIKO (39 votes)
08. Hikaru Sato (27 votes)
09. Toru Owashi (24 votes)
10. Antonio Honda & Shoichi Uchida (21 votes)
12. MIKAMI & Hideki Shiota (20 votes)
14. Takao Soma (18 votes)
15. Kenny Omega (17 votes)
16. Cherry (15 votes)
17. Yasu Urano & Michael Nakazawa (14 votes)
19. Yukihiro Abe, Norikazu Fujioka & Akito (11 votes)
22. KUDO & Tanomusaku Toba (9 votes)


Last DDT48 Message, Hikaru Sato In ZERO1

August 25, 2010

The fifth and final video message for the DDT48 Election has been released on DDT’s Ustream channel.

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/9129079

Toru Owashi, Yasu Urano, Shoichi Uchida, Hideki Shiota, Yoshiaki Yago (who deserves to get in just for the guitar solo alone), Kyosuke Sasaki (audio only), DJ Nira (audio and images only) and YOSHIHIKO (announced message).

With that, all 48 candidates have put forth their opening statements and will spend the next month campaigning for the fans votes.

Hikaru Sato will be travelling over to ZERO1 to take part in the annual Tenka-Ichi Jr. Tournament. This will be his second Jr. tournament this year, after a fair showing in All Japan’s Jr. Heavyweight League. The premise of the Tenka-Ichi is based on Dragonball, with each wrestler being given a special sphere to carry down to matches. The match winners take the balls from the losers and eventually the tournament champion has possession of all of them. The grand prize for winning the Tenka-Ichi and collecting all the spheres will be a special wish granted to the winner. Maybe Hikaru’s wish will be to open a maid cafe.


Ustream Videos – DDT48 Election, KO-D Tag Title Match @ Sumo Hall

August 23, 2010

The fourth campaign video for the DDT48 Election was posted during the weekend on DDT’s Ustream channel. Around 40 of the candidates have now sent out messages through the videos making their case for earning a spot on the 24th October Korakuen Hall event.

By the way, has anyone noticed that Poison Sawada JULIE isn’t taking part in this? I don’t know if he’s out with an injury.

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/9020306

Michael Nakazawa, 726, Tatsuhiko Yoshino, Yuki Sato, Hiro Tsumaki, Chou-un Shiryu, Akito, GENTARO and Kota Ibushi.

That wasn’t the only thing added to DDT’s Ustream page. The KO-D Tag Team Title match that took place before the Sumo Hall show has been posted in full. So if you have 20 minutes to spare, enjoy watching Sanshiro Takagi & Munenori Sawa brawl with Jun Kasai & Kamui all around the arena.

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/9053396


DDT Election 2010 – The Campaign Begins Now!

August 18, 2010

The preparations for the upcoming “DDT 48” Election went under way this week with the candidates recording video messages urging fans to vote them into the October 24th show in Korakuen Hall. The messages have so far been split into three seperate videos. There are a few absent faces but chances are they will give their messages in a fourth video to be posted soon. Links to the videos and who features in them are as follows:

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/8923090

Futoshi Miwa, Rion Mizuki, Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Shuji Ishikawa, Ryu Gouma, Madoka (who is at a loss for words), Hikaru Sato (doing a good Koji Kanemoto impression) and Kenny Omega.

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/8929786

Danshoku Dino, Takao Soma, Yukihiro Abe, Seiya Morohashi (looking deeply disturbed), MIKAMI, Keisuke Ishii, Tanomusaku Toba (singing “Imagine” by John Lennon), KUDO, Kazuki Hirata, Antonio Honda, Shigehiro Irie (imitating the jumping noise from Super Mario Bros), HARASHIMA, Daisuke Sasaki, Mr. Magic and Sanshiro Takagi.

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/8986990

Hideki Shiota, Kazunori Huzioka, Cherry, Dick Togo, Isami Kodaka, Pedro Takaishi, Hoshitango and Keita Yano (“My name is Keita In The House!”).

The last video and some possible extras will be posted on DDT’s UStream site, which can be found in the link below.

http://ustre.am/ktaL