Ibushi & YOSHIHIKO Go Hardcore, Togo Homecoming Card

April 30, 2011

K-DOJO “GWSP6”, 29/04/2011
Chiba Blue Field
161 Fans

WEW Hardcore Tag Team Title: Kengo Mashimo & Ryuichi Sekine (c) defeated Kota Ibushi & YOSHIHIKO when Sekine pinned YOSHIHIKO with a Hardcore Body Press (24:40).
*V2 for Mashimo & Sekine.

Kota Ibushi & YOSHIHIKO joined forces and traveled down to Chiba Blue Field to take part in yesterday’s K-DOJO show (No confirmation on whether YOSHIHIKO got a window seat or was stored as luggage on the train ride over). They battled with Kengo Mashimo & Ryuichi Sekine over the WEW Hardcore Tag Team Championships. As you can see by the name of the title, it was defended under Hardcore rules. YOSHIHIKO stole the spotlight with a balcony dive onto the champions. He also joined Ibushi up on top of a vending machine for a double dive when everyone brawled out of the arena. However, the challengers just couldn’t do enough to grab the win. Mashimo & Sekine turned the tables thanks to a ladder. The ending came when Sekine buried YOSHIHIKO under a pile of chairs, climbed the top turnbuckle and splashed onto his opponent.

DDT “WRESTLING MASTER FINAL COUNTDOWN ~ DICK TOGO LOCAL TRIUMPHANT RETURN MATCH”, 22/05/2011
Odate Citizen Gymnasium

1. MIKAMI VS DJ Nira
2. Hikaru Sato Vs Kazuki Hirata
3. HARASHIMA & Michael Nakazawa Vs Takao Soma & Tomomitsu Matsunaga
4. KUDO & Makoto Oishi Vs Antonio Honda & Daisuke Sasaki
5. The Great Sasuke & Kesen Numajiro Vs Sanshiro Takagi & Danshoku Dino
6. Dick Togo, GENTARO & Yasu Urano Vs Kota Ibushi, Kenny Omega & Keisuke Ishii

Hikaru Sato’s tournament run for the year continues to struggle. He and Kikutaro finished sixth out of seven teams in the AJPW Jr. Tag League. Their only victories in the tournament were over the teams of Super Crazy & BUSHI, and MAZADA & Super Hate. Hikaru claimed the wins in both matches, submitting Super Crazy with the Flying Cross Armbreaker and pinning Hate with a High Kick. Sato’s next tournament will be the King Of DDT where a shot for the KO-D Title at Sumo Hall will be on the line.


Togo At King Of Trios

April 18, 2011

CHIKARA “KING OF TRIOS 2011 – NIGHT 1”, 15/04/2011
The Asylum Arena

King of Trios Opening Round: Great Sasuke, Jinsei Shinzaki & Dick Togo defeated 1-2-3 Kid, Arik Cannon & Darin Corbin when Togo pinned Corbin with the Diving Senton (22:51).

CHIKARA “KING OF TRIOS 2011 – NIGHT 2”, 16/04/2011
The Asylum Arena

King of Trios Quarter-Final: Great Sasuke, Jinsei Shinzaki & Dick Togo defeated Mike Quackenbush, Jigsaw & Manami Toyota when Sasuke pinned Quackenbush with the Thunder Fire Power Bomb (21:28).

CHIKARA “KING OF TRIOS 2011 – NIGHT 3”, 17/04/2011
The Asylum Arena

King of Trios Semi-Final: Icarus, Chuck Taylor & Johnny Gargano defeated Great Sasuke, Jinsei Shinzaki & Dick Togo when Icarus pinned Sasuke with a Small Package (16:13).

Current KO-D Openweight Champion Dick Togo was in America during the weekend for one of the biggest events on the indy wrestling calander, the Chikara King Of Trios tournament. Togo travelled to Philadelphia with fellow Japanese stars The Great Sasuke & Jinsei Shinzaki to enter the tournament and represent Michinoku Pro. They made it to the semi-finals, beating two highly hyped teams along the way. On Night 1 Team M-Pro defeated Team Minnesota in the main event, which marked Sean Waltman returning to his roots and becoming the 1-2-3 Kid once again. Togo claimed the pinfall over Darin Corbin to send his team through to Night 2. There, Team M-Pro went over Mike Quackenbush, Jigsaw & Manami Toyota. Reports have it that Togo had no problem beating up joshi legend Toyota when they were in the ring together. But just when it looked like the tournament was there for the taking, Team M-Pro were defeated by Chikara’s most hated Rudos, Team F.I.S.T. DVDs of the event will be available from Smart Mark Video very soon.


More Shows Coming Up

April 14, 2011

DDT, 17/04/2011
Nagoya

1. Shigehiro Irie & Akito Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Keisuke Ishii
2. Tomomitsu Matsunaga Vs Kazuki Hirata
3. KUDO Vs Michael Nakazawa
4. HERO! & Mr. #6 Vs DJ Nira & Antonio Honda
5. Kenny Omega Vs MIKAMI
6. KO-D Tag Team Titles: GENTARO & Yasu Urano (c) Vs Takao Soma & Super Shit Machine
*No DQ for Shit Heart ♥ Foundation, GRANMA must pin for 5-count.
7. 3 Way: Kota Ibushi Vs Danshoku Dino Vs HARASHIMA

The Shit Heart ♥ Foundation have been getting one over GRANMA for the last couple of shows thanks to some dirty tricks. Now Takao Soma & Super Shit Machine have two more advantages over GENTARO & Yasu Urano, the SHF are allowed fight under No DQ rules and the champions have to pin the challengers for five seconds in order to win. GENTARO & Urano have a tough task ahead of them if they aim to keep the KO-D Tag Team Titles around their waists.

DDT “NON-FIX DX 4.22”, 22/04/2011
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Keisuke Ishii & Daisuke Sasaki Vs Hoshitango & Shigehiro Irie
2. MIKAMI Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga
3. Takao Soma Vs Kazuki Hirata
4. HERO! & HARASHIMA Vs Antonio Honda & Michael Nakazawa
5. Kota Ibushi Vs DJ Nira
6. Dick Togo, GENTARO & Yasu Urano Vs Danshoku Dino, KUDO & Makoto Oishi

How does DJ Nira keep getting work?

DDT “MAX BUMP 2011”, 04/05/2011
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Goergeous Matsuno Comeback Match: Gorgeous Matsuno & MIKAMI Vs Antonio Honda & Hoshitango
2. Bob Sapp Games – 3rd Stage: Danshoku Dino Vs Bob Sapp’s 3rd Assassin
3. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Champions After 17/4 Vs HARASHIMA & HERO!
4. KO-D Openweight Title: Dick Togo (c) Vs Shuji Ishikawa

HARASHIMA & HERO! have been nominated as the next challengers for the KO-D Tag Team Titles. They will take on whichever team leaves the 17/04 Nagoya show as champions.

Danshoku Dino is two for two against Bob Sapp’s deadly army of assassins. The third one being sent to face Dino has been described as a thug. Take that for what it’s worth.

Gorgeous Matsuno has been away from wrestling matches in DDT since September 2008 due to old age and ill health. He’s made appearances in DDT since then but this will be his first match back in over two and a half years.

DDT “DICK TOGO RETIREMENT SHOW”, 30/06/2011
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Antonio Honda & Jado Vs The Great Sasuke & TAKA Michinoku
2. Dick Togo Vs Gedo

I haven’t labelled Dick Togo Vs Gedo as Togo’s retirement match because he may be having more than one match on the show.


DDT Results At Shinjuku FACE

April 13, 2011

DDT, 13/04/2011
Shinjuku FACE

1. Hikaru Sato defeated Kazuki Hirata with a Cross Armbreaker (7:54).
2. 3 Way: KUDO & Makoto Oishi defeated MIKAMI & Rion Mizuki and Michael Nakazawa & DJ Nira when Oishi pinned Nakazawa with a Sunset Flip(11:22).
3. Super Shit Machine defeated Yasu Urano with a Back Drop (7:53).
4. Takao Soma defeated GENTARO by DQ when he faked a Low Blow (7:26).
5. Danshoku Dino defeated Ryan Genesis by KO with a kiss (9:18).
6. HARASHIMA & hero! defeated Kenny Omega & Keisuke Ishii when hero! pinned Ishii (11:29).
7. Dick Togo, Gedo & Tomohiro Ishii defeated Kota Ibushi, Antonio Honda & Daisuke Sasaki when Togi pinned Honda with the Diving Senton (19:35).

Two matches were announced for Dick Togo’s retirement show on 30th June. Togo’s final match in his illustrious career will be against Gedo. There will also be a tag match pitting Antonio Honda & Jado against The Great Sasuke & TAKA Michinoku.

The Shit Heart ♥ Foundation used plenty of dirty tactics to win both of their matches over GRANMA. Tomimitsu Matsunaga, who announced back at “NON-FIX 3.16” that he would not appear on this event, showed up disguised as the Super Shit Machine and swapped places with the real Machine during its match with Yasu Urano. The plan worked a treat and Matsunaga pinned Urano with Yukinori Matsui none the wiser. Takao Soma won the next match by DQ when he convinced the ref that GENTARO gave him a Low Blow. By winning both matches, the SHF were allowed to add two stipulations for the KO-D Tag Team Title match in Nagoya on 4/17. Their stipulations are that the SHF cannot be disqualified and that Urano & GENTARO can only win by pinning Soma or Machine for 5 seconds rather than the traditional 3 count.

Kenny Omega announced that he will participate in the upcoming KO-D Openweight Title Contendership Tournament. This will be the first time Kenny will enter the annual DDT tournament.

Gorgeous Matsuno will have his return match on 4th May at Korakuen Hall.


Togo Gets Ready For Shuji, Shit Happens

March 28, 2011

Dick Togo may have eliminated Kota Ibushi from the title chase, but he still has a busy time ahead of him. The main event for DDT’s return to Shinjuku FACE on 13th April has Togo teaming with New Japan wrestlers Gedo & Tomohiro Ishii to take on Ibushi, Antonio Honda & Daisuke Sasaki.

Shuji Ishikawa is next in line for a crack at the KO-D Openweight Champion after winning the Battle Royal from the 14th Anniversary show. Their match is set for 4th May in Korakuen Hall. That’s not all, as Togo’s GRANMA stablemate GENTARO has the “Anytime And Anywhere” title shot, which allows him to cash it in at any show from now until Sumo Hall. GENTARO has claimed he will challenge the winner of Togo Vs Ishikawa, but he hasn’t exactly said when he will face them.

GENTARO has enough on his plate already. He and Yasu Urano are currently the KO-D Tag Team Champions and they now have the Shit Heart ♥ Foundation on their heels. Takao Soma and the Super Shit Machine are next in line to challenge for the belts. Two singles matches involving both sides will happen on 13th April. GENTARO better not take Takao Soma lightly as the young SHF leader has been on a role this year. Meanwhile Yasu Urano faces the Super Shit Machine, who has already made his presence felt in DDT with his SHIT Down Power Bomb finisher (Best move name of 2011 so far). The Tag Team Title match will take place four days later in Nagoya.

Danshoku Dino was able to defeat the first of Bob Sapp’s assassins, American indy wrestler Jonathan Gresham. Another assassin will battle Dino in Shinjuku FACE. Just the thought of Bob Sapp training pro wrestlers to be ninjas fills me with great joy.

DDT, 13/04/2011
Shinjuku FACE

1. Yasu Urano Vs Super Shit Machine
2. GENTARO Vs Takao Soma
3. Danshoku Dino Vs Bob Sapp’s 2nd Assassin
4. Dick Togo, Gedo & Tomohiro Ishii Vs Kota Ibushi, Antonio Honda & Daisuke Sasaki

DDT, 17/04/2011
Nagoya

1. KO-D Tag Team Titles: GENTARO & Yasu Urano (c) Vs Takao Soma & Super Shit Machine

DDT “MAX BUMP 2011”, 04/05/2011
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. KO-D Openweight Title: Dick Togo (c) Vs Shuji Ishikawa


DDT “JUDGEMENT 2011” Results

March 27, 2011

DDT “JUDGEMENT 2011 ~DDT 14TH ANNIVERSARY”, 27/03/2011
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Hikaru Sato, Tanomusaku Toba & Rion Mizuki defeated Tsunehito Naito, Kazuki Hirata & Akito when Toba pinned Hirata with a Straight Right Punch (10:34).
2. 14th Anniversary Memorial Match: MIKAMI & Rojo del Sol defeated Venomous Snake & Snake Well (w/ Poison Sawada JULIE & Naomi Susan) when MIKAMI pinned Venomous Snake with a School Boy (4:10).
3. Special Singles Match: HARASHIMA defeated Antonio Honda with the Somato (9:03).
4. Danshoku Dino defeated Jonathan Gresham with the Gotch Style Danshoku Driver (8:50).
5. KO-D Openweight Title Challenge Right Fight +alpha Anytime and Anywhere Battle Royal: Shuji Ishikawa defeated KUDO with the Splash Mountain (29:39). GENTARO won the “Anytime And Anywhere” contract.
Other Entries: Makoto Oishi, Daisuke Sasaki, Keisuke Ishii, Shigehiro Irie, Takao Soma, Super Shit Machine, Tomimitsu Matsunaga, Kenny Omega, Michael Nakazawa, GENTARO, Yasu Urano, Seiya Morohashi & Ken Ohka
6. KO-D Openweight Title: Dick Togo (c) defeated Kota Ibushi with the Diving Senton (36:57).
*V2 for Togo.

Shuji Ishikawa won the Battle Royal part of Match #5. He will get his KO-D Openweight Title shot against Dick Togo on the 4th May Korakuen Hall event. GENTARO won the “Anytime And Anywhere” KO-D Title shot. He has decided to challenge the winner of Togo Vs Ishikawa.

Danshoku Dino will face another assassin sent by Bob Sapp on the 13th April show in Shinjuku FACE.

Sanshiro Takagi & Mitsuya Nagai were the two members of the Snake Corps.

Gorgeous Matsuno made an appearance at the show and was the centrepiece of the end of show group photo.


DDT “INTO THE FIGHT 2011” Results

February 27, 2011

DDT “INTO THE FIGHT 2011”, 27/02/2011
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,262 Fans

0. Seiya Morohashi defeated Hoshitango with the New Hair Solution (5:14).
1. Keisuke Ishii & Akito defeated MIKAMI & Rion Mizuki when Ishii submitted Mizuki with a Single Leg Crab Hold (5:27).
2. Antonio Honda & Daisuke Sasaki defeated Michael Nakazawa & Tomimitsu Matsunaga by DQ when Takao Soma interfered (10:14).
3. Kota Ibushi defeated Shigehiro Irie with the Phoenix Splash (8:19).
4. Winner Gets to Choose His Ryogoku Match: Danshoku Dino defeated Tsuyoshi Kikuchi, Tanomusaku Toba, Kazuki Hirata & DJ Nira when Dino submitted Nira with a crab Hold (13:08).
5. No DQ Hair Vs Hair Match: Takao Soma defeated Hikaru Sato with a Schwein onto a metal barrell (14:13).
6. KO-D Tag Team Title: GENTARO & Yasu Urano (c) defeated KUDO & Makoto Oishi when Urano pinned KUDO with the Tombstone Piledriver (14:09).
*V1 for GENTARO & Yasu Urano.
7. KO-D Openweight Title: Dick Togo (c) defeated HARASHIMA with the Modified Crippler Crossface (20:43).
*V1 for Dick Togo.

After defeating Shigehiro Irie in what was described as “a short but insanely good” match, Kota Ibushi nominated himself as the next challenger for the KO-D Openweight Title. He should be facing Dick Togo at the 27th March Korakuen Hall show.

The 27th March show will also feature what has become one of my favourite annual DDT matches in recent years, the Anytime, Anywhere Contention Battle Royal. The match is usually a combination of a Royal Rumble and a Ladder match. There are a number of prizes hanging above the ring, the most important of which is a Money In The Bank style contract that allows the holder to challenge for the KO-D Openweight Title at any show between then and Sumo Hall. Other prizes normally include dates with a female wrestler, a DDT contract or even the role of company CEO. After all of the prizes are gone, the Rumble part of the match continues with the winner of that match receiving a KO-D Title shot. Previous winners of the Money In The Bank contract are Yoshiaki Yago and Ken Ohka, with Ohka giving the contract to Shuji Ishikawa. Nobody has yet to cash it in with any success.

By winning match #4, Danshoku Dino was rewarded a chance to make his own match for the 24th July Sumo Hall event. It’s the bout that we all wanted to see (Right? Anyone?), Danshoku Dino Vs Bob Sapp! The match was fought under Scramble Bunkhouse (Non) Deathmatch rules. Normally Scramble Bunkhouse matches have each wrestler placed at opposite sides of the arena and when the bell rings they have to rush to the ring. Here in DDT, it was done a little differently. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi started out in the ring, Kazuki Hirata was placed in Dick Togo’s dressing room, Tanomusaku Toba was spotted in the car park, DJ Nira was in the Tokyo Dome (!!!) and Dino was at the Metro Station outside Tokyo Dome City. When the match began, Kikuchi spent his time waiting for the opponents to come by running the ropes and taking bumps.

The Shit Heart ♥ Foundation grew in strength when their leader Takao Soma defeated Hikaru Sato in a No DQ Hair Vs Hair match. Despite Takao’s cronies Michael Nakazawa & Tomimitsu Matsunaga being banned from ringside, young Soma scored his biggest win to date over the former KO-D Champion and also got to shave him bald as a result. Afterwards the SHF introduced their newest member of the group, the Super Shit Machine! However, as soon as Super Shit Machine was introduced to the fans he, Soma & Matsunaga attacked Michael Nakazawa and kicked him out of the SHF. Soma called Nakazawa the weak link of the group and his new “weapon” was Michael’s replacement.

After taking the fall in the KO-D Tag Team Title match, KUDO challenged Yasu Urano to a singles match at DDT Dotonbori Story 9 in Osaka on 13th March.

Seiya Morohashi has become the spokesperson for Svenson Inc., a company that creates haircare and hair restoration products. They seem to be good quality as Seiya came out for his dark match against Hoshitango with a full head of hair instead of the large bald spot he used to have.


Dick Togo Chikara Bound

February 24, 2011

The current KO-D Openweight Champion is part of the latest team revealed to compete in this year’s Chikara King Of Trios tournament. Dick Togo will be forming Team Michinoku Pro with two of the promotion’s other famous stars, The Great Sasuke & Jinsei Shinzaki for the weekend of April 15th, 16th & 17th in Viking Hall The ECW Arena The XPW Arena The New Alhambra Arena The “Hey Let’s Just Call It ‘The Arena'” Arena The Asylum Arena, Philadelphia. Being arguably the highest profile team announced so far, you can bet this trio will be favourites to go all the way to the final, if not win the whole thing.


DDT “SWEET DREAMS!” Results, Kota Concussed, It’s Sapp Time!

January 30, 2011

DDT “SWEET DREAMS!”, 30/01/2011
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,428 Fans – Super No Vacancy

1. Akito defeated Kazuki Hirata with a Modified Ankle Hold (8:18).
2. GENTARO & Yasu Urano defeated MIKAMI & Rion Mizuki when GENTARO submitted Mizuki with the Sharpshooter (10:29).
3. Takao Soma & Tomimitsu Matsunaga defeated Hikaru Sato & Daisuke Sasaki when Sato was DQ’ed (12:58).
4. Right to Produce “Someone´s Produce Show” Battle Royal: Keisuke Ishii defeated Yukihiro Abe with the Kneel Kick (12:13).
Order Of Eliminations: Hoshitango (3:16), Minoru Fujita (5:04), Michael Nakazawa (5:51), Tanomusaku Toba (5:57), Danshoku Dino (4:49), Makoto Oishi (7:02), DJ Nira (9:21) and Yukihiro Abe (12:13).
5. DDT Tokyo Beginning of Fight 2011 Special Tag Match: Kota Ibushi & Kenny Omega defeated HARASHIMA & KUDO when Omega pinned KUDO with the Croyth’s Wrath (16:55)
6. KO-D Openweight Title Unification Match: Dick Togo (c) defeated Antonio Honda (i/c) with the Diving Senton (26:24).
*Dick Togo becomes the 35th KO-D Openweight Champion.

With the injury setback now behind him, Dick Togo reclaimed his place on top of the DDT landscape by defeating Antonio Honda to unite the KO-D Openweight Championship with its unified version. In a correction to what I wrote a while back, Togo is officially the 35th KO-D Champion and now a 4-time holder of the title.

A Royal Rumble will take place at the 11th February Shin-Kiba 1st Ring show to determine the next challenger for Togo. The confirmed challengers so far are HARASHIMA, KUDO, Kota Ibushi, MIKAMI, Keisuke Ishii and Daisuke Sasaki. Also set to take place on the night is Dick Togo Vs DJ Nira in a non-title match and Kenny Omega Vs Michael Nakazawa.

Kota Ibushi had to go to the hospital for a CAT Scan after he suffered a mild concussion after a High Kick by HARASHIMA. He is likely to recover quickly and not miss any of the upcoming shows.

Keisuke Ishii was victorious in the Battle Royal. He will now get to produce his own show for the DDT Brand tripleshot at Shin-Kiba 1st Ring on 6th March. An extra rule was added to the match. The Suzumiya Haruhi theme song was played for almost the entire match. Whenever the song reached its chorus, everyone in the ring had to do the “Hare Hare Yukai” dance or be eliminated. Yukihiro Abe spent the match dressed as the main character from the series.

The disqualification in match #2 led to Hikaru Sato challenging Takao Soma to a match at the 27th Fabruary Korakuen Hall show. The match was accepted and will be Hair Vs Hair!

Bob Sapp was announced to appear at DDT’s Sumo Hall show on 24th August. Yes, that Bob Sapp. A video was shown of “The Beast” confronting Sanshiro Takagi and Ken Ohka at DDT HQ. Takagi came up with some suggestions on Twitter for Sapp’s opponent. So far he’s thought of Bob Sapp Vs Tsuyoshi Kikuchi, Bob Sapp Vs Tsurumi Goro and Bob Sapp Vs Ultraman Robin. A fun little fact that comes out of this is that in the space of a year, three former IWGP Heavyweight Champions have appeared in DDT so far: Genichiro Tenryu, Togi Makabe & Manabu Nakanishi. Bob Sapp will make it four if he does indeed show up and compete on the night.

Speaking of Takagi, he seems to be very pleased to be the “World’s Second Largest Promoter!” after the Wrestling Observer Awards came out.


KO-D Unification Match Set, Next KO-D Tag Title Challengers Picked

January 19, 2011

DDT “SWEET DREAMS!”, 30/01/2011
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Kazuki Hirata Vs Akito
2. GENTARO & Yasu Urano Vs MIKAMI & Rion Mizuki
3. Right to Produce “Someone’s Produce Show” Battle Royal: Danshoku Dino, Tanomusaku Toba, Michael Nakazawa, DJ Nira, Keisuke Ishii, Hoshitango, Yukihiro Abe, Makoto Oishi
4. Hikaru Sato & Daisuke Sasaki Vs Takao Soma & Tomimitsu Matsunaga
5. DDT Tokyo Beginning of Fight 2011 Special Tag Match: Kota Ibushi & Kenny Omega Vs HARASHIMA & KUDO
6. KO-D Openweight Title Unification Match: Dick Togo (c) Vs Antonio Honda (i/c)

We didn’t have to wait long for Dick Togo to recover from his injured tailbone. The original main event for “NEVER MIND 2010” is now set for DDT “SWEET DREAMS!” at Korakuen Hall on 30th January. The KO-D Openweight Title and its Interim version will be unified back into one championship. Depending on the result, either Dick Togo will get his first defence of the belt or Antonio Honda will be officially recognised as the 35th KO-D Champion.

Win or lose, Honda is still one of the KO-D Tag Team Champions. He and Daisuke Sasaki now know their next challengers for the belts, Togo’s GRANMA teammates, GENTARO and Yasu Urano. Their match will take place in Funabashi on 20th February.