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.


Togo Injured, GENTARO Vs Honda For Interim Title Announced!

December 22, 2010

Reports are coming in that Dick Togo has suffered a broken tailbone and is now out of action indefinitly. Tsurumi Amon called in an emergency meeting to decide what to do with the KO-D Openweight Title now that Togo is unable to defend the belt this weekend. While it is uncertain when Togo will be fit to return, Amon made the decision to create an Interim KO-D Openweight Championship to fill the void caused by Togo’s injury until the champion is ready to return and defend his belt, most likely in a unification match. Antonio Honda will still be involved in this weekend’s main event fighting for the championship. Dick Togo’s replacement will be his GRANMA stablemate, GENTARO!

The card for this weekend’s show has been updated to fit around the new main event.

DDT “NEVER MIND 2010″, 26/12/2010
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. KUDO, Keisuke Ishii & Kazuki Hirata Vs Yasu Urano, Hoshitango & Rion Mizuki
2. KO-D Tag Team No. 1 Contender’s Match: MIKAMI & Onryo Vs Tanomusaku Toba & Mitsuya Nagai
3. Loser Eats Dog Food: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Takao Soma
4. Man’s Club: Danshoku Dino Vs Makoto Oishi
5. UWA World Trios Title, Jiyugaoka Six Man Tag Team Title & Nihonkai Six Man Tag Team Title: Michael Nakazawa, Hikaru Sato & Tomimitsu Matsunaga (c) Vs HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi & Yukihiro Abe
6. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title: Kota Ibushi & Kenny Omega (c) Vs Jado & Gedo
7. Interim KO-D Openweight Title: GENTARO Vs Antonio Honda


DDT “GOD BLESS DDT 2010” Results

November 28, 2010

DDT “GOD BLESS DDT 2010”, 28/11/2010
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,525 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

1. KO-D Tag Team Title: Antonio Honda & Daisuke Sasaki (c) defeated GENTARO & Yasu Urano when Honda pinned Urano with a Cradle (15:52).
*V1 for Honda & Sasaki.
2. MIKAMI, KUDO & Tatsuhiko Yoshino defeated Yukihiro Abe, Rion Mizuki & Kazuki Hirata when KUDO pinned Hirata with a Diving Double Knee Drop (8:53).
3. Next Variety Group Election Match: Toru Owashi defeated DJ Nira, Danshoku Dino, Kota Ibushi, Tanomusaku Toba, Hoshitango, Michael Nakazawa & Tomimitsu Matsunaga when Owashi pinned Nira with a Diving Body Press (11:10).
4. Genichiro Tenryu, Masao Orihara & HARASHIMA defeated Sanshiro Takagi, Yoshiaki Yago & Shigehiro Irie when HARASHIMA pinned Irie with the Somato (12:58).
5. Young Drama Cup – Final: Takao Soma defeated Keisuke Ishii with the Diving Guillotine Drop (15:10).
6. KO-D Openweight Title: Dick Togo defeated Hikaru Sato (c) with the Diving Senton (27:55).
*Sato fails in V1. Togo becomes the 34th KO-D Openweight Champion.

Despite planning to retire in six months time, Dick Togo showed he still has it in him to win a big championship. This is Togo’s third reign as KO-D Openweight Champion while Hikaru Sato becomes the seventh wrestler to lose the title without a successful defence. The other six are Masao Orihara, NOSAWA, Super Uchu Power, Sanshiro Takagi, GENTARO and Shoichi Ichimiya.

Antonio Honda will be Togo’s first challenger. Right after winning the title, Togo said he will take on anyone in DDT at anytime. Honda sprinted into the ring so he could make the first challenge before anyone else. He broke down into tears as he told everyone how he thought Togo was one of the best wrestlers in history. Togo said he was glad that his first defence will be against Honda and they hugged. Their match will take place on 26th December in Korakuen Hall.

Takao Soma reached a milestone in his career by winning the Young Drama Cup, beating last year’s winner Keisuke Ishii. The young man’s career has gone off to a very good start going back to winning his debut match at the first Ryogoku Peter Pan show in 2009.

Sanshiro Takagi is now officialy affiliated with Union. At this time he is still scheduled to be on a few DDT shows but that could very well change in the coming weeks. He praised Shigehiro Irie for his performance in the match despite taking the fall. Takagi nominated Irie to be his partner for his match against Shuji Ishikawa & Seiya Morohashi at the Union event on 3rd December. At the end of the show, Dick Togo and Tsurumi Amon presented flowers to Sanshiro Takagi as he said his farewell to the DDT brand. Takagi congratulated Togo on winning the belt and they shook hands, only for Togo to kick Takagi in the gut and give him a Pedigree. Togo posed with his belt and then left the ring. When Takagi recovered he gave said his goodbyes to the fans and led them with one last play of “Fire!” by Scooter.

Match 3 had wrestlers entering the match Royal Rumble style. It started off with Toru Owashi and DJ Nira against each other. Everyone else involved in the match came out dressed as Owashi, mimicking his entrance and body language while “Sandstorm” by Darude was blasting from the speakers each and every time.

Choun Shiryu announced that New Beijing will return to Japan for a show to be held on 11th February 2011. Tsurumi Amon was confused as the New Beijing brand allegedly broke up back at Muscle House 10. Choun explained that in China it is common for dynasties that die in the Autumn to revive in the Spring.

Cherry appeared on screen to announce the new name for the former Mitsuboshi Curry restaurant. The new name for the restaurant is now Nico Nico Curry and it will re-open on 12th December. The new logo conatins a large happy face that covered Cherry’s own face during the video, kind of like the Laughing Man logo from Ghost In The Shell.


Results Round Up

October 18, 2010

There was some DDT involvement in several wrestling promotions during the weekend.

NOAH “AUTUMN NAVIGATION 2010 ~ 4TH NTV CUP JR. HEAVYWEIGHT TAG LEAGUE”, 15/10/2010
Keio Plaza Hotel Hachioji
1,300 Fans – Super No Vacancy

NTV Cup Jr. Heavyweight Tag League – Block B: Dick Togo & Yasu Urano [2] besiegen Yoshinari Ogawa & Kotaro Suzuki [0] when Urano pinned Ogawa with the Backdrop Cutback-Cradle (12:24).

The main one took place over in Pro Wrestling NOAH where Dick Togo & Yasu Urano are teaming up for the NTV Cup Jr. Heavyweight Tag League. They are already off to a good start with Urano using his new Backdrop Cutback-Cradle finisher to pin Yoshinari Ogawa to win their first match and top their group.

ZERO1/Ikuto Hidaka, Kohei Sato & KAMIKAZE Produce “DRUNK NIGHT”, 15/10/2010
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

Regional Heavyweight Title, 4 Way Decision Match: Tengu Kaiser defeated I Am Fuck´n Goddam Chono (Sanshiro Takagi), Minoru Fujita & Lingerie Muto when Kaiser pinned Muto with a Small Package (8:42).

Meanwhile over in ZERO1, Sanshiro Takagi morphed into his Masahiro Chono inspired alter ego, I Am Fuck´n Goddam Chono to take part in an odd 4 Way match for the Regional Heavyweight Title. Also in the match was Lingerie Muto, aka Munenori Sawa, who was eventually pinned to lose the match.

BJW “BJ SPIKEOUT SERIES”, 17/10/2010
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,576 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

BJW Death Match Heavyweight Title, Fluorescent Lighttubes, Glass Board & 49,205 Thumbtacks Death Match: Ryuji Ito (c) defeated Shuji Ishikawa with the Dragon Splash through Lighttubes (20:13).
*V2 for Ito.

Finally, the UNION side was in Big Japan for Shuji Ishikawa challenging Ryuji Ito for the BJW Deathmatch Title. Ito came out on top in what was surely a violent match.

Note: Normally I won’t be reporting on Shuji Ishikawa and Isami Kodaka wrestling in Big Japan unless it turns out to be a really important match such as this.


Sapporo Card, Golden Lovers Vs Apollo 55, Togo & Urano To NOAH, Ohka In SMASH

September 28, 2010

DDT “SAPPORO PRO-WRESTLING FESTIVAL”
10/10/2010
Sapporo Teisen Hall

1. Nunchucks & Nunchucks Board Death Match: Hiroki Vs Chiharu
2. Antonio Honda Vs Tomoya
3. Dick Togo & GENTARO Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Takao Soma
4. 3 Way Match: Yasu Urano Vs Keisuke Ishii Vs DJ Nira
5. Kota Ibushi, Kenny Omega & Futoshi Miwa Vs Sanshiro Takagi, KUDO & Yukihiro Abe
6. HARASHIMA & Toru Owashi Vs Michael Nakazawa & Hikaru Sato
7. KO-D Tag Team Title: Shiro Koshinaka & Danshoku Dino (c) Vs MIKAMI & Tanomusaku Toba

It’s official, the Golden Lovers will take on Apollo 55 for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Titles over in New Japan. The match I have been waiting for the entire year will finally take place in Sumo Hall for NJPW’s “DESTRUCTION ‘10” card in October. This match pits the two top Jr Heavyweight teams in Japan today and the four men have crossed paths several times over the last two years. Prince Devitt and Kota Ibushi fought each other three times with Devitt leading 2-1 in that series of matches. Ryusuke Taguchi also beat Ibushi back in the 2009 Best Of The Super Juniors. Devitt recently beat Kenny Omega in a recent IWGP Jr. Title defence but Omega has been undefeated against Taguchi.

DDT will be represented in NOAH’s upcoming NTV Cup Jr. Tag League. Dick Togo & Yasu Urano have been paired together for the tournament.

Ken Ohka made an appearance at SMASH.8 to say he will be wrestling there soon. Akira Shoji confronted him during the show, possibly to set up a match between the two in the future.