DDT “DDT PRO WRESTLING IN IKEBUKURO FULL MOON FESTIVAL” Results

October 1, 2022

DDT “YUBUN PRESENTS DDT PRO WRESTLING IN IKEBUKURO FULL MOON FESTIVAL”, 01/10/2022
Ikebukuro Nishiguchi Park Outdoor Theater Global Ring Theater
??? Fans – Unannounced

1. Yukio Naya defeated Yuya Koroku with the Torture Cobra Twist (7:29).
2. DDTeeeen!! Special Single Match: El Unicorn defeated Ilusion with the Phoenix Splash (9:29).
3. Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Sanshiro Takagi & Kazuki Hirata ended in a No Contest (10:29).
4. Toru Owashi & Makoto Oishi defeated Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani when Oishi pinned Okatani with a Figure 4 Jackknife Pin (9:44).
5. Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yusuke Okada defeated HARASHIMA, MAO & Antonio Honda when Endo pinned Honda with the Burning Star Press (13:34).
6. Daisuke Sasaki & KANON defeated Yuji Hino & Takeshi Masada when Sasaki submitted Masada with the Crossface Lock (8:26).
7. Harimao Vs The 37KAMIINA!: Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & Toi Kojima defeated Kazusada Higuchi, Naomi Yoshimura & Yuki Ishida when Ueno pinned Ishida with the BME (13:42).

Today was El Unicorn’s final match before he takes time off from pro wrestling to study for his high school entrance exams. He ended his current run with a big win over his DDTeeeen!! rival Ilusion, pinning him with the Phoenix Splash. Unicorn later said he will be gone for 5 months because of his studies but when he comes back he will be bigger than he is now.


All Wrestle Princess III Matches Revealed, DDT’s Sapporo Weekend

September 28, 2022

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “WRESTLE PRINCESS III”, 09/10/2022
Tokyo Dome City Hall

1. Aja Kong, Raku & Pom Harajuku Vs Rika Tatsumi, Yuki Aino & Max The Impaler
2. Mizuki Vs Hyper Misao
3. Moka Miyamoto & Juria Nagano Vs Arisu Endo & Kaya Toribami
4. Yuki Kamifuku, Mahiro Kiryu & Haruna Neko Vs Nao Kakuta, Yuna Manase & Yoshiko Hasegawa
5. Suzume Vs Ryo Mizunami
6. Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh Vs Riho & Hikari Noa
7. International Princess Title: Alex Windsor (c) Vs Miu Watanabe
8. Princess Tag Team Titles: Saki Akai & Yuki Arai (c) Vs Rhia O’Reilly & Nightshade
9. Princess Of Princess Title: Shoko Nakajima (c) Vs Yuka Sakazaki

All matches for “WRESTLE PRINCESS III” have now been announced but the official match order is not decided yet. Riho returns to Tokyo Joshi Pro to team up with Hikari Noa after their AEW exhibition match took place at the Tokyo Game Show. The two of them join forces to take on 121000000.

It seems like every month Suzume is being given her biggest challenges yet in her career and it continues here when Ryo Mizunami comes back to town.

On the surface Match #3 looks like a continuation between the TJPW and Ganbare☆Joshi. But look a little bit closer and you’ll see the GanJo related team is more of an Actwres girl’Z reunion of sorts! Nao Kakuta, Yuna Manase & Yoshiko Hasegawa have all come from that place but the three of them never wrestled in the same match together over there. Can the trio gel against the leadership Yuki Kamifuku, the strictness of Mahiro Kiryu and the feline antics of Haruna Neko?

Moka Miyamoto & Juria Nagano continue to be linked together for whenever Nagano can fit in a match on her busy schedule. Arisu Endo & Kaya Toribami are both racking up the ring time lately but don’t have the results to show for it. This is the rare chance for them to have the edge in experience against their opponents.

DDT “GOD BLESS DDT 2022 TOUR IN SAPPORO – DAY 1”, 15/10/2022
Hokkaido Sapporo ii-one Stadium

1. Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Toru Owashi & Chris Brookes
2. Kazuki Hirata & Saki Akai Vs Shunma Katsumata & Manami Kanda
3. Daisuke Sasaki & KANON Vs Yusuke Okada & Takeshi Masada
4. Yuki Ueno, MAO & Toi Kojima Vs HARASHIMA, Yuji Hino & Tomoya
5. Special Single Match: Kouki Iwasaki Vs Hideki Okatani
6. Sapporo Specialty Special Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo & Jun Akiyama Vs Noriyuki Yoshida & Yuya Koroku
7. Special Tag Match: Kazusada Higuchi & Naomi Yoshimura Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Akito

The week before Kazusada Higuchi and Yukio Sakaguchi face off for the KO-D Openweight Title, they will have two preview tag matches against each other in Sapporo.

DDT “GOD BLESS DDT 2022 TOUR IN SAPPORO – DAY 2”, 16/10/2022
Hokkaido Sapporo ii-one Stadium

1. 3 Way Tag Match: Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs MAO & Toi Kojima
2. Daisuke Sasaki & KANON Vs Yuji Hino & Yusuke Okada
3. HARASHIMA & Makoto Oishi Vs Tomoya & Takeshi Masada
4. Special Single Match: Saki Akai Vs Manami Kanda
5. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & Chris Brookes Vs Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Noriyuki Yoshida
6. Sapporo Specialty Special 6-Man Tag Match: Kazusada Higuchi, Naomi Yoshimura & Yuki Ishida Vs Yukio Sakaguchi, Hideki Okatani & Kouki Iwasaki

The Sapporo weekend also has Kouki Iwasaki and Hideki Okatani linked together. They are opponents on Day 1 and then are teaming together in the main event for Day 2.


Power Of Dream, Itoh & Arai Duet, Sumi Debut Match

September 26, 2022

GANBARE☆PRO “NERAWARETA GAKUEN 2022”, 02/10/2022
Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall

1. Toyama & India Vs Ota Ward & Nakano All-Out Battle!: Shinichiro Tominaga & Baliyan Akki Vs Soma Takao & Mizuki Watase
2. Union Alumni Assocation In Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling: Ken Ohka Vs Daichi Kazato
3. Nerawareta Gakuen 2022 Special Tag Match: Shuichiro Katsumura & Thanomsak Toba Vs Keisuke Ishii & Yumehito Imanari
4. Power Of Dream Class Reunion In Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling: Kouki Iwasaki Vs Yuki Kanzaki
5. England x Makai x GanJo! Special 6-Woman Tag Match: Nightshade, Moeka Haruhi & HARUKAZE Vs Ram Kaichow, YuuRI & Yoshiko Hasegawa
6. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Hartley Jackson (c) Vs Yuna Manase

Makai wrestler Yuki Kanzaki wants to stick around in Ganbare☆Pro and compete more often on their shows. He is linked to Kouki Iwasaki because they both train at the same gym called Power Of Dream.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “WRESTLE PRINCESS III”, 09/10/2022
Tokyo Dome City Hall

1. Aja Kong, Raku & Pom Harajuku Vs Rika Tatsumi, Yuki Aino & Max The Impaler
2. Mizuki Vs Hyper Misao
3. International Princess Title: Alex Windsor (c) Vs Miu Watanabe
4. Princess Tag Team Titles: Saki Akai & Yuki Arai (c) Vs Rhia O’Reilly & Nightshade
5. Princess Of Princess Title: Shoko Nakajima (c) Vs Yuka Sakazaki

The show will be set up for 50% capacity to allow fans to cheer.

Maki Itoh was a guest performer at the SKE48 14th Anniversary concert in Nagoya yesterday. She did a duet with Yuki Arai on stage, singing “Ookami To Pride” together. At the end of the song Itoh Headbutted Arai and gave the crowd a thumbs up.

DDT “GOD BLESS DDT 2022”, 23/10/2022
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

0. Dark Match – Pheromones Vs Takagi-gun Complete Showdown FINAL ~ 2 Vs 5 Handicap Match: Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno (w/ Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari) Vs Sanshiro Takagi, Toru Owashi, Makoto Oishi, Antonio Honda & Akito
1. Kazuma Sumi Debut Match: Kazuki Hirata Vs Kazuma Sumi
2. Daisuke Sasaki, Minoru Fujita, MJ Paul & KANON Vs Shunma Katsumata, Toi Kojima, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani
3. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku Vs Osamu Nishimura, Shinichiro Kawamatsu & Yuki Ishida
4. Special Tag Match: HARASHIMA & Takeshi Masada Vs Soma Takao & Hikaru Machida
5. Road To D-Ou GP Special 6-Man Tag Match: Naomi Yoshimura, Yuji Hino & Chris Brookes Vs Tetsuya Endo, MAO & Yukio Naya
6. DDT Universal Title: Yuki Ueno (c) Vs Koju “Shining Ball” Takeda
7. KO-D Openweight Title: Kazusada Higuchi (c) Vs Yukio Sakaguchi

There is more confidence surrounding Kazusada Higuchi as the KO-D Openweight Champion after yesterday’s result. He defeated Konosuke Takeshita and now has his “big brother” Yukio Sakaguchi waiting for him next. Sakaguchi knows Higuchi inside and out from their days together in Eruption. Higuchi admits that Sakaguchi probably knows his weaknesses but he still wants to face him head on. He is also waiting on Shinya Aoki to make his move with the Right To Challenge NFT.

Yuki Ueno is still feeling the love from his match with Cara Noir yesterday. He has a lot of respect for the English wrestler to come over and fight him. It’s motivating him to do his best and become more confident. The next challenger for the DDT Universal Title is Koju Takeda. The newest member of Pheromones used to team with Ueno when they were both in DNA together. Their peak was winning the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles together with Kota Umeda. Ueno is happy to take on the challenge but is a bit worried about Takeda’s new “Shining Ball” persona.

19 year old Kazuma Sumi is the second wrestler from this year’s trainee class to make his debut. He was born in Tsu City, Mie on 27th March, 2003. He is 163cm tall and weighs 65kg. His background is in karate and gymnastics.

The final dramatic must-see battle between Sanshiro Takagi and Pheromones is relegated to the dark match. Takagi has the advantage because he made it a 5 Vs 2 Handicap match. However Pheromones will still have Yumehito Imanari in their corner and you deserve what you get for relying on Kazuki Hirata & Antonio Honda in this day and age so it’s an evenly matched contest once you think about it.


DDT “WHO’S GONNA TOP? 2022” Results

September 25, 2022

DDT “WHO’S GONNA TOP? 2022”, 25/09/2022
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
701 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

0. Dark Match: Hideki Okatani & Toi Kojima defeated Yuya Koroku & Yuki Ishida when Okatani pinned Ishida with the Double Arm Suplex (6:37).
1. MAO, Asuka & Saki Akai defeated Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata & Antonio Honda when Akai pinned Honda with the Rookie Award (6:44).
2. Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere 3 Way Match: Shinya Aoki defeated Shunma Katsumata and Yuki “Sexy” Iino (w/ Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno) when Aoki pinned Katsumata with the European Clutch (6:58).
3. Special Tag Match: Akito & Yukio Naya defeated Osamu Nishimura & Shinichiro Kawamatsu when Naya submitted Kawamatsu with the Torture Cobra Twist (11:41).
4. Daisuke Sasaki, Minoru Fujita & KANON (w/ MJ Paul) defeated Naomi Yoshimura, Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi when Sasaki submitted Oishi with the Crossface Lock (11:21).
5. Sanshiro Takagi, HARASHIMA, Yukio Sakaguchi & Soma Takao defeated Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama, Yusuke Okada & Takeshi Masada when Sakaguchi pinned Okada with the God’s Right Knee (11:18).
6. DDT Universal Title: Yuki Ueno (c) defeated Cara Noir with the WR (13:01).
*V1 for Yuki Ueno.
7. KO-D Openweight Title: Kazusada Higuchi (c) defeated Konosuke Takeshita with the Buchikamashi (18:57).
*V2 for Kazusada Higuchi.

A hard headed effort from Kazusada Higuchi withstood the challenge of Konosuke Takeshita, preventing the KO-D Openweight Title from leaving Japan once Takeshita goes back to America. Higuchi’s iron toughness was on show when Takeshita pulled him by the arms, driving him head first into the steel ring post. Higuchi took a second long pause to register what happened and calmly fired back with a Headbutt that drew some blood from Takeshita’s forehead. Higuchi later attempted a big Choke Slam from the top rope but it was countered into a Frankensteiner followed by the Zahi. Higuhci kicked out of that and also the German Suplex before catching the Jumping Knee. More big bombs were thrown between the two and Takeshita finally hit the Jumping Knee. What he didn’t see coming was Higuchi standing firm and then charging in with the Buchikamashi sumo tackle. That put Takeshita down for the three count and Higuchi remains the champion.

After the match Takeshita gave his approval to Higuchi for being the champion and told him to do his best. He will be in America for around two and a half months before coming back for a DDT booking at the end of the year. Shinya Aoki then came down to ringside but rather than tease cashing in his title shot, he reached through the ropes to give Higuchi a fist bump instead and left. Yukio Sakaguchi then came out during Higuchi’s victory speech. He said Higuchi understands why he came out and he still does not understand true fear the likes of which Sakaguchi is capable of. Higuchi accepted his challenge and the two former “brothers” will fight for the KO-D Title on 23rd October.

You ever hear when wrestling commentators joke about how “it ain’t ballet”? Isn’t that in reality an insult backfire when you think about it? I’ve watched footage of ballet training and that stuff looks like hell on Earth even when compared to pro wrestling drills. Okay, okay, I’m getting distracted because I don’t want to make the usual theatre puns when writing about Cara Noir. The English wrestler performed his big entrance for the fans and then jumped Yuki Ueno with a John Woo Dropkick. Ueno was able to defend himself and escape from the Blackout Sleeper. He then returned with a Dropkick of his own, hitting Noir right in his face. The WR afterwards got Ueno the win and a successful DDT Universal Title defence under his belt.

There is a language barrier between the two but Ueno thanked Noir for coming to Japan after their match. It is a difficult time for Ueno to do what he wants and defend the Universal Title abroad, so he appreciates foreign opponents coming to DDT to challenge him. The three main members of Pheromones then entered the ring. Yuki Iino stepped over to Ueno and then turned around, revealing Ueno’s iPhone sticking out of his butt. Ueno pulled out his phone and found out he got a message from Koju Takeda. He read the message containing accusations that he does not have enough Pheromones. Takeda wants to measure their hormone levels together and so challenges Ueno for the Universal Title on 23rd October. Ueno accepts and wants to see how much Takeda has changed since their days in DNA together.

Sakaguchi cemented his claim for a KO-D Title shot by grabbing the win in Match #5. He was part of a DDT all veteran team against three members of BURNING along with the rookie Takeshi Masada. For some reason Sanshiro Takagi was a target for the opposing team. Tetsuya Endo got some ring time with HARASHIMA but Masada in particular wanted to beat Takagi. Jun Akiyama explained to the reporters backstage it’s because pro wrestling is the only place where it is acceptable to beat up the company president. It’s also acceptable to kick the heck out of Yusuke Okada like Sakaguchi did to win the match. Soma Takao was just kind of there. Even he noticed that he isn’t in any of the match pictures on DDT’s website.

DAMNATION T.A gave some of their next KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles opponents a taste of what’s to come. Minoru Fujita & KANON had their hands full with Naomi Yoshimura & Yuji Hino until MJ Paul got into a brawl with Hino out of the ring and up towards the balcony. Daisuke Sasaki had Makoto Oishi right where he wanted him from there. DAMNATION T.A benefited from the numbers game and Sasaki ended up tapping out Oishi with the Crossface Lock. Sasaki mocked Oishi for being so weak and wanted to injure him with a chair. Suddenly Shiori Asahi’s music began playing and he ran out to rescue his friend, fighting off Sasaki with a skateboard. Together, Oishi & Asahi then gave KANON the Cactus Flower. Asahi said it’s been a long time since he showed up as X on DDT shows. Hino said Ω is getting closer to a complete recovery. They will show DAMNATION T.A what real evil looks like when they take the KO-D 6-Man Tag Titles from them!

The politician tag team of Osamu Nishimura & Shinichiro Kawamatsu were back at it again, this time wrestling against Akito & Yukio Naya. Two two are becoming more cohesive by doing double team moves together. However Naya was able to break them apart and submit Kawamatsu with the Cobra Twist. Nishimura gave advice to Kawamatsu by comparing a wrestling career to an election. Elections are the accumulation of everything politicians do day by day. Kawamatsu admits that every time he steps into the ring to wrestle his head goes blank and everything happens at a blink of an eye. Akito thinks this won’t be the last we see of Kawamatsu. Naya meanwhile has more important matters to get ready for.

Aoki had no choice but to put his Right To Challenge NFT on the line against Shunma Katsumata and Yuki Iino in a 3 Way Match. Katsumata dealt with Iino by sticking party poppers into his backside and setting them off. What he couldn’t have anticipated was Aoki turning into a Pheromones gimmick! He reappeared wearing very little and pinned Katsumata with the European Clutch. He still hasn’t publicly told people when he wants to cash in the NFT for a KO-D Title shot. The only hint he gives is it will happen soon.

Romance was unexpectedly in the air during the opening bout. Toru Owashi and Antonio Honda’s grappling gradually turned into them slowly embracing each other for a kiss. That was interrupted by the others but soon some unintentional hugging led to Saki Akai wanting to kiss Asuka and MAO wanting to kiss Kazuki Hirata. Before they could almost all of them snapped back to normal and Akai pinned Honda with the Rookie Award. Asuka was left in a frozen state with her eyes closed, still waiting for Akai to kiss her. Yukinori Matsui woke her up causing Asuka to scream at the sight of him and leave.

The dark match saw Hideki Okatani & Toi Kojima beat Yuya Koroku & Yuki Ishida in a tag battle between the young generation. Ishida kicked out of Okatani’s Northern Lights Suplex so Okatani had to pull out the Double Arm Suplex for the win.

19 year old trainee Kazuma Sumi will make his debut against Kazuki Hirata on 23rd October. He spoke to the crowd and called Hirata a very talented person so he will do his best. Sumi has a background in karate and gymnastics. He is the second of the trainee class introduced in May to make his debut, the first being Takeshi Masada.

Danshoku Dieno has written a book to celebrate his 20th Anniversary in pro wrestling. He said he lied to the publisher about making a self-help book to convince them to sell it. However he will be covering topics about the pro wrestling business from his point of view based on his two decades of experience. It will be available in December and Dieno is hosting a special event at Korakuen Hall on the 21st to commemorate the release. Attendees will receive a copy of the book but the cost of it will be added on top of the ticket price.

The D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 lineup was revealed. The A Block consists of Yuki Ueno, Naomi Yoshimura, Joey Janela, Tetsuya Endo, Daisuke Sasaki and Rickey Shane Page. The B Block consists of Kazusada Higuchi, Chris Brookes, MAO, Yuji Hino, KANON and Yukio Naya.


Video – Konosuke Takeshita’s Debut Match Against El Generico

September 24, 2022

DDT “BUDOKAN PETER PAN 2012 ~ DDT 15TH ANNIVERSARY”, 18/08/2012
Tokyo Nippon Budokan
10,124 Fans – Super No Vacancy

Konosuke Takeshita Debut Match: El Generico Vs Konosuke Takeshita


Takeshita Heading Back To USA Next Month, El Unicorn Taking Time Off To Study

September 22, 2022

GANBARE☆PRO “TWIN PEAKS 2022”, 23/09/2022
Tokyo Oji BASEMENT MON☆STAR

1. GanPro Three Major Singles Match: Shuichiro Katsumura Vs Yuki Ishida
2. GanPro Specialty! Mixed 6-Man Tag Match: Ken Ohka, Moeka Haruhi & HARUKAZE Vs Yumehito Imanari, Yuna Manase & YuuRI
3. GanPro Three Major Singles Match: Soma Takao Vs Yuki Kanzaki
4. GanPro Three Major Singles Match: Shinichiro Tominaga Vs Jun Masaoka
5. Twin Peaks 2022 Special Tag Match: Keisuke Ishii & Tyson Maeguchi Vs Kouki Iwasaki & Mizuki Watase

Here’s the match order for the first Ganbare☆Pro show of the day. They are a few ticket sales away from a sell out.

GANBARE☆PRO “ENEMY OF AMERICA 2022”, 23/09/2022
Tokyo Oji BASEMENT MON☆STAR

1. Young Drama Generation Vs Reiwa Dramatic Generation: Keisuke Ishii Vs Toi Kojima
2. GanPro Three Major Tag Match: Moeka Haruhi & HARUKAZE Vs Miyuki Takase & Yoshiko Hasegawa
3. YuuRI GanPro 1st Anniversary Match: Yuna Manase Vs YuuRI
4. GanPro Three Major Tag Match: Shuichiro Katsumura & Shinichiro Tominaga Vs Kouki Iwasaki & Yuki Kanzaki
5. GanPro Three Major Tag Match: Ken Ohka & Yumehito Imanari Vs Soma Takao & Mizuki Watase

And here’s the match order for the evening. This show is sold out.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW AUTUMN TOUR ’22”, 24/09/2022
Tokyo Ryogoku KFC Hall

1. 3 Way Match: Hikari Noa Vs Suzume Vs Moka Miyamoto
2. Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh Vs Miu Watanabe & Arisu Endo
3. Yuki Kamifuku Vs Kaya Toribami
4. Nao Kakuta Vs Haruna Neko
5. Shoko Nakajima, Hyper Misao & Rika Tatsumi & Yuki Aino Vs Yuka Sakazaki, Mizuki, Raku & Pom Harajuku

A contract signing with Shoko Nakajima and Yuka Sakazaki for the main event of “WRESTLE PRINCESS III” will be held during the show.

Both Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh are back from their American bookings. They are together as 121000000 for their first match back.

Mahiro Kiryu will miss the show due to a shoulder injury.

BASARA “BASARA 200 ~TAKAGARI 12~”, 24/09/2022
Takashimadaira Ward Community Center

1. Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi & Antonio Honda Vs Fuminori Abe & Yasu Urano
2. 3 Way Match: Ryota Nakatsu Vs SAGAT Vs Akiyori Takizawa
3. Takumi Tsukamoto Vs Jun Masaoka
4. Elimination 6-Man Tag Match: Isami Kodaka, Daiki Shimomura & Minoru Fujita Vs Lil’ Kraken, Tsutomu Oosugi & Banana Senga
5. IRON FIST Tag Titles: Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino (c) Vs FUMA & Daichi Kazato

A big jump up the card for Lil’ Kraken. The “mystery” masked wrestler teams with Speed Of Sounds to take on Sento Minzoku in an Elimination Tag Match.

The three regular members of Sparky are going all against each other in a 3 Way Match.

DDT “WHO’S GONNA TOP? 2022”, 25/09/2022
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

0. Dark Match: Hideki Okatani & Toi Kojima Vs Yuya Koroku & Yuki Ishida
1. MAO, Asuka & Saki Akai Vs Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata & Antonio Honda
2. Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere 3 Way Match: Shinya Aoki Vs Shunma Katsumata Vs Yuki “Sexy” Iino (w/ Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno)
3. Special Tag Match: Osamu Nishimura & Shinichiro Kawamatsu Vs Akito & Yukio Naya
4. Daisuke Sasaki, Minoru Fujita & KANON (w/ MJ Paul) Vs Naomi Yoshimura, Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi
5. Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama, Yusuke Okada & Takeshi Masada Vs Sanshiro Takagi, HARASHIMA, Yukio Sakaguchi & Soma Takao
6. DDT Universal Title: Yuki Ueno (c) Vs Cara Noir
7. KO-D Openweight Title: Kazusada Higuchi (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita

A press conference was held earlier today featuring the participants of the two title matches. Konosuke Takeshita announced he is returning to America in October so his goal for Sunday is to win the KO-D Openweight Title and bring it with him to AEW. He does not believe Kazusada Higuchi’s claim that a new wind is blowing through DDT. Higuchi disagrees and thinks the KO-D Title has already taken a new form that will not change back if Takeshita wins it off him and takes it abroad. Win or lose, this is the match Higuchi has been looking for.

Nobody was able to get a word out of Cara Noir during the press conference. Even Yuki Ueno tried to make him speak by asking him questions in English but Noir stayed silent throughout. However his physical gestures made it clear he wants to beat Ueno and become the new DDT Universal Champion. Ueno hopes that if he can successfully defend the title it will open the door to him having a title defence in the United Kingdom. He also wants to defend the belt in Thailand to live up to a promise that Masahiro Takanashi made when he was the champion.

The full line-up of this year’s D-Ou Grand Prix tournament will be revealed during the show.

DDT “YUBUN PRESENTS DDT PRO WRESTLING IN IKEBUKURO FULL MOON FESTIVAL”, 01/10/2022
Ikebukuro Nishiguchi Park Outdoor Theater Global Ring Theater

1. Yukio Naya Vs Yuya Koroku
2. Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Sanshiro Takagi & Kazuki Hirata
3. DDTeeeen!! Special Single Match: Ilusion Vs El Unicorn
4. Toru Owashi & Makoto Oishi Vs Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani
5. Daisuke Sasaki & KANON Vs Yuji Hino & Takeshi Masada
6. Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yusuke Okada Vs HARASHIMA, MAO & Antonio Honda
7. Harimao Vs The 37KAMIINA!: Kazusada Higuchi, Naomi Yoshimura & Yuki Ishida Vs Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & Toi Kojima

El Unicorn will be taking time off from pro wrestling to prepare for his upcoming high school entrance exams. Before he leaves he will get one more singles match against his DDTeeeen!! rival Ilusion. El Unicorn said he is sad he won’t be able to wrestle for a while but he also understands this will be good for the future of his pro wrestling career.

GANBARE☆PRO “NERAWARETA GAKUEN 2022”, 02/10/2022
Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall

1. Union Alumni Assocation In Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling: Ken Ohka Vs Daichi Kazato
2. Toyama & India Vs Ota Ward & Nakano All-Out Battle!: Shinichiro Tominaga & Baliyan Akki Vs Soma Takao & Mizuki Watase
3. England x Makai x GanJo! Special 6-Woman Tag Match: Nightshade, Moeka Haruhi & HARUKAZE Vs Ram Kaichow, YuuRI & Yoshiko Hasegawa
4. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Hartley Jackson (c) Vs Yuna Manase

We haven’t seen Baliyan Akki around Ganpro since April. He’s been doing well since then, just coming back from wrestling across America including a couple of AEW appearances.

Daichi Kazato from BASARA is coming over for a Union Pro reunion with Ken Okha. Both of them have changed a lot since they were last in the ring together.

Tyson Maeguchi and Yuki Kanzaki will also be on the show.

DDT “DRAMATIC DREAMS! VOL. 9 ~NO CLOUDS OVER THE MOON~”, 10/10/2022
Osaka Higashinari Ward Community Center

1. The Man Called Supernova & The Man Who Was Once Called Supernova Vs The Men Who Were Never Called Supernova: Soma Takao & Takeshi Masada Vs Yusuke Okada & Yuki Ishida
2. A Song Of Geniuses! Special 4 Way Tag Match: Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Sanshiro Takagi & Makoto Oishi Vs Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi & Yoshihiko
3. DDT Dotonbori THE NEXT!: Toi Kojima & Harutoki Vs Hideki Okatani & Yuya Koroku
4. Special 6-Man Tag Match ~Smile Squash Vs DAMNATION T.A~: HARASHIMA, Yasu Urano & Akito Vs Minoru Fujita, MJ Paul & KANON
5. Special Tag Match Sterness Siege ~Men Of Ice Vs Men Of Melting Ice~: Jun Akiyama & Antonio Honda Vs Kuishinbo Kamen & Kikutaro
6. Special Single Match ~Road Of Former Champions~: Tetsuya Endo Vs Masahiro Takanashi
7. Special Tag Match ~Wrestling Master Jrs Vs The 37KAMIINA~: Daisuke Sasaki & HUB Vs Yuki Ueno & Shunma Katsumata
8. Naniwa Earthquake! Super Special 6-Man Tag Match: Magnitude Kishiwada, Yuji Hino & Yukio Naya Vs Shuji Ishikawa, Yukio Sakaguchi & Chris Brookes
9. Special Tag Match Osaka Monogatari ~ Destruction Demon King Vs The “It Was The Power Of Wrestling That Resolved The Worst Of Their Relationship To The Point Where They Didn’t Even See Eye To Eye. Their Belief Is That There Is Never A Normal Good Match And The Common Denominator Is An Unusual wrestling Head”z~: Kazusada Higuchi & Naomi Yoshimura Vs Shigehiro Irie & MAO

Harutoki is been wrestling for three years with Dotonbori Pro.

DDT “GOD BLESS DDT 2022 TOUR IN SAPPORO – DAY 1”, 15/10/2022
Hokkaido Sapporo ii-one Stadium

1. Kazuki Hirata & Saki Akai Vs Shunma Katsumata & Manami Kanda
2. Special Single Match: Kouki Iwasaki Vs Hideki Okatani
3. Sapporo Specialty Special Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo & Jun Akiyama Vs Noriyuki Yoshida & Yuya Koroku

Several guests have been booked for the show. On this very day one year ago Noriyuki Yoshida fought Jun Akiyama in an emotional match to celebrate his 15th wrestling anniversary. They meet again this time in a tag match with other members of BURNING. Also on the show are Kouki Iwasaki, Manami Kanda and Tomoya.

DDT “GOD BLESS DDT 2022 TOUR IN SAPPORO – DAY 2”, 16/10/2022
Hokkaido Sapporo ii-one Stadium

1. HARASHIMA & Makoto Oishi Vs Tomoya & Takeshi Masada
2. Special Single Match: Saki Akai Vs Manami Kanda
3. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & Chris Brookes Vs Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Noriyuki Yoshida

The next day will see Akiyama and Yoshida teaming together.

Kanda’s weekend in DDT is built around matches against Saki Akai.

DDT “GOD BLESS DDT 2022”, 23/10/2022
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku Vs Osamu Nishimura, Shinichiro Kawamatsu & Yuki Ishida
2. Special Tag Match: HARASHIMA & Takeshi Masada Vs Soma Takao & Hikaru Machida
3. Pheromones Vs Takagi-gun Complete Settlement Battle FINAL: X Vs X

Kickboxer Hikaru Machida is coming back to DDT and HARASHIMA will be there waiting for him. The big matches are also piling up for the rookie Takeshi Masada. He’s getting some ring time with Soma Takao both as teammates and opponents in October.

Osamu Nishimura & Shinichiro Kawamatsu are sticking around in DDT. They have a battle alongside Yuki Ishida against BURNING coming up next month.


Kong Vs Max, Hot Spring Match, Takagi’s Final Battle With Pheromones, Miracle Rematch 12 Years Later

September 20, 2022

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “WRESTLE PRINCESS III”, 09/10/2022
Tokyo Dome City Hall

1. Aja Kong, Raku & Pom Harajuku Vs Rika Tatsumi, Yuki Aino & Max The Impaler
2. Mizuki Vs Hyper Misao
3. International Princess Title: Alex Windsor (c) Vs Miu Watanabe
4. Princess Tag Team Titles: Saki Akai & Yuki Arai (c) Vs Rhia O’Reilly & Nightshade
5. Princess Of Princess Title: Shoko Nakajima (c) Vs Yuka Sakazaki

The return of Alex Windsor to Japan is happening just in time because there is now a No. 1 Contender for her International Princess Title. Last week Miu Watanabe won the next title shot and will now face Windsor for the belt at “WRESTLE PRINCESS III”. Winning the title here will continue her big momentum coming out of the summer.

Two pro wrestling beasts will collide! For ages Tetsuya Koda thought that Aja Kong was the only monster left in joshi. Then he discovered Max The Impaler and brought the wasteland warrior over to Tokyo Joshi Pro. Max looked unstoppable in their few appearances here so Koda found himself in an embarrassing position to look for help, otherwise his roster is going to get destroyed by Max one wrestler at a time. Luckily for him, Kong always shows up at TJPW’s most important shows and Koda thinks she is the only one who can hunt down Max. There’s one problem though. If Kong and Max fight each other outside the ring they could end up causing a lot of damage around Tokyo Dome City Hall and TJPW will have to pay what will certainly be a massive repair bill. Koda’s solution is to ask the other four women in the match to stop that from happening and keep the two monsters within the squared circle. Kong gets along with Raku & Pom Harajuku while Max took a liking to Rika Tatsumi & Yuki Aino so there’s a chance our hapless heroes can somehow calm down the monsters enough to keep the match under control.

The main event is between a member of Kyoraku Kyomei and The Magical Sugar Rabbits. So let’s have the other halves of both teams face off against each other too. Hyper Misao and Mizuki have only one previous singles match together that happened back in 2018. Mizuki won that match. Misao will need to come up with something clever to even the score.

DDT “ROJO PRO WRESTLING IN NANIWA HEALTH LAND HOT SPRING~TOPIA”, 10/10/2022
Osaka Naniwa Health Land Hot Spring~Topia

1. Falls Count Anywhere Tag Match: Shunma Katsumata & Toi Kojima Vs Yukio Naya & Yuya Koroku

DDT will be back in Osaka on 10th October for a second show celebrating Jun Akiyama’s 30th Anniversary. However that is not the only wrestling match DDT will hold that night. At the stroke of midnight Shunma Katsumata, Toi Kojima, Yukio Naya and Yuya Koroku will have a Falls Count Anywhere Tag match at a Naniwa hot spring. Fans coming over to watch the match have been advised to bring swimwear.

DDT “GOD BLESS DDT 2022”, 23/10/2022
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Pheromones Vs Takagi-gun Complete Settlement Battle FINAL: X Vs X

It’s the final battle between Sanshiro Takagi and Pheromones. Again. For like the fourth time I think? Well they mean it this time. Takagi is once more trying to destroy Pheromones for good before they destroy the company. With four members in the unit, Pheromones claim they are complete and at the pique of their power. But Takagi cannot risk letting them continue to exist in this way. The match type and participants for the climactic battle in this war has not been decided yet. If it’s all four members of Pheromones involved then that means Yuki Iino, Danshoku Dieno, Yumehito Imanari & Koju Takeda taking part. Takagi has been relying lately on Antonio Honda, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata to compete against them. So the cast is there for a 4 Vs 4 Tag match of some kind. That nothing has been decided yet makes me wonder if there is a wild card going to be played by either side.

“The Iai Puncher” Hikaru Machida will be on the show.

“MASAHIRO TAKANASHI INDEPENDENT PERFORMANCE – BOKUTACHI 4 HANJUKU 4 I LOVE YOU! 2022”, 22/11/2022
Shinjuku FACE

1. Daisuke Sekimoto Vs Masahiro Takanashi

Twelve years ago in Shinjuku FACE there was a KO-D Openweight Title defence. The outsider champion Daisuke Sekimoto put the belt on the line against little Masa Takanashi. What followed was a classic David Vs Goliath bout with a performance from Takanashi that was seconds away from being described as a miracle victory. Sekimoto won the match in the end and remained champion. The two never had never faced against each other since then. Well soon will be time for the rematch in the same room. Masahiro Takanashi has grown a lot since that title challenge and after a twelve year wait is going to face Sekimoto one more time in the main event of his own self produced show.


Video – Tetsuya Endo Vs Jun Akiyama For The KO-D Title From 2021

September 19, 2022

DDT “KAWASAKI STRONG 2021”, 14/02/2021
Culttz Kawasaki
900 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

KO-D Openweight Title – Yanekabe Presents: Tetsuya Endo (c) Vs Jun Akiyama


DDT “STERNNESS 30TH ANNIVERSARY ~JUN AKIYAMA 30TH ANNIVERSARY~” Results

September 18, 2022

DDT “STERNNESS 30TH ANNIVERSARY ~JUN AKIYAMA 30TH ANNIVERSARY~”, 18/09/2022
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
715 Fans – Super No Vacancy

1. Yusuke Okada defeated Yuya Koroku with the Sudden Death (7:01).
2. Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno, Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari & Koju “Shining Ball” Takeda Vs Sanshiro Takagi, Toru Owashi, Antonio Honda & Kazuki Hirata ended in a No Contest (7:16).
3. Akito, Soma Takao & Yukio Naya defeated HARASHIMA & Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani when Naya submitted Okatani with the Torture Cobra Twist (10:36).
4. Daisuke Sasaki, Minoru Fujita, MJ Paul & KANON defeated Kazusada Higuchi, Yuki Ishida, Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi when KANON pinned Ishida with the Sleepy Hollow (12:40).
5. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Cara Noir, Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi defeated Yuki Ueno, MAO & Toi Kojima when Noir submitted Kojima with the Blackout Sleeper (12:47).
6. Naomi Yoshimura defeated Takeshi Masada with the Lariat (10:14).
7. Jun Akiyama Debut 30th Anniversary Match – Special 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Tetsuya Endo & Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated Yuji Nagata, Konosuke Takeshita & Shunma Katsumata when Akiyama pinned Katsumata with the Wrist-Clutch Exploder Suplex (20:34).

On 17th September, 1992 Jun Akiyama made his pro wrestling debut against Kenta Kobashi inside an All Japan ring. Over the next 30 years he fought for both AJPW and NOAH back and forth until he found an unlikely new home in DDT. So it was DDT who got to host his milestone celebration. But there is also some crossover with New Japan on the show with Akiyama inviting both Yuji Nagata and Yoshinobu Kanemaru to compete. Akiyama has close ties with both of them, Nagata was his rival from the enemy company while Kanemaru was his long time tag partner. The DDT involvement in the match included Tetsuya Endo and Konosuke Takeshita, who Akiyama have both taken under his wing in certain ways, as well as Shunma Katsumata. He is here because he reminds Akiyama so much of Kanemaru. Akiyama also received congratulations from Kobashi and President Kitai from the K.O. Gym.

It was only fitting for Akiyama and Nagata to start off the match together. They had a back and forth battle until Kanemaru and Katsumata got involved. Kanemaru went to spit liquor at his opponent but Katsumata ducked and Akiyama got sprayed with it instead. Endo and Takeshita cancelled each other out, particularly when Endo did a Canadian Destroyer and Takeshita hit back with the Zahi for a double down. Katsumata tried to take matters into his own hands but he missed the Totonou Splash aimed for Akiyama. That led to a string of finishers with Kanemaru giving Katsumata the Deep Impact, Endo hitting an Exploder Suplex and Akiyama charging in with a Running Knee Strike. The end came with Akiyama pulling out the Wrist-Clutch Exploder for the pinfall.

After the match Akiyama talked about when he was scouted by Giant Baba to become a pro wrestler. He also learned so much from Jumbo Tsuruta and Mitsuharu Misawa. Sadly they have all since passed away so he told Kobashi to please stay healthy for a long time! He then talked about DDT and how Sanshiro Takagi is their Baba-like figure. He then named Endo, Takeshita, Kazusada Higuchi and Naomi Yoshimura as DDT’s Four Pillars/Heavenly Kings. Akiyama is happy and grateful to be a part of DDT and the company feels like family to him. He ended the show by telling a story about Baba. During Baba’s later years he once said he is no longer in a fight against other wrestlers, but with himself. He will not lost to himself and instead will make the most of each and every day. Akiyama promises to do the same from here on out. Backstage Nagata praised Endo for being competitive and having a good slap.

Akiyama purposely chose Yoshimura versus Takeshi Masada to be in the semi-main event position. The reason is Akiyama’s debut match 30 years ago was in the same spot. Masada is getting so much attention as the rookie with a high ceiling that Akiyama felt he should be given the same opportunity. The result was expected, Yoshimura was dominant for the most part and took Masada’s offence before pinning him with the Lariat. Masada was able to show toughness by kicking out of one of the earlier Lariats. Backstage Yoshimura admitted to feeling nervous over the match because Akiyama put it together. However he wants Akiyama to know that he never looks down on any of the younger wrestlers. He praised Masada for the strength of his strikes, saying he hasn’t felt kicks that hard from a younger wrestler since Keigo Nakamura in his debut match. But Yoshimura is still stronger than him so Masada will have to think of another way to try and beat him. Masada said getting the chance to fight Yoshimura at the peak of his power will definitely help his pro wrestling career in the future.

The ballet wrestler Cara Noir made his DDT debut, performing his dramatic Swan Lake entrance in Japan for the first time. He has a DDT Universal Title shot against Yuki Ueno coming up on 25th September so the two faced off in a 6-Man Tag Match here. Ueno had his usual buddies in The 37KAMIINA on his side while Noir teamed with CDK. Just because those two were the focus of the match didn’t mean the others stepped aside. MAO got a cheap shot Straight Punch in on Noir, CDK got Noir to join in on a human pyramid style group taunt at their opponents’ expense. Toi Kojima tried firing up on the newcomer but once Noir spun into him to apply the Blackout Sleeper, it was all over. Ueno welcomed Noir after the match but told him he won’t give over the Universal Title to him next week. Noir didn’t say anything, instead he just gently stroked the title belt on Ueno’s shoulder and did a dramatic pose.

The confidence surrounding DAMNATION T.A is growing at a rapid rate after today’s result. All four members of the unit were together to win an 8-Man Tag Match against a combination of Harimao and Ω wrestlers. KANON grabbed the victory by pinning Yuki Ishida. Then Daisuke Sasaki started complaining about how much he doesn’t care about Akiyama’s 30th Anniversary. He continues to get Ω confused with Kenny Omega and warned everyone that all of the tag team championships in DDT should belong to DAMNATION T.A! Backstage Sasaki said the unit is now at full strength with Minoru Fujita back from injury and the entire company will be finished thanks to them. KANON then threw his name into the hat for the D-Ou Grand Prix, saying he expects to see a few people in the tournament who owe him favours. Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi are now licking their wounds over today’s defeat. But they know they have so many options in Ω for backup when they and Shiori Asahi challenge DAMNATION T.A for the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles on 8th October. Higuchi also warned DAMNATION T.A not to act so arrogant when they face Harimao for the KO-D Tag Team Titles four days later.

Yukio Naya also made a strong appeal to be included in the D-Ou Grand Prix. He got the victory in Match #3 by making Hideki Okatani submit. This was after he took all the kicks he could from HARASHIMA & Yukio Sakaguchi. When Akito & Soma Takao was able to clear them out of the ring, Naya took control and won the match for his team. Naya said he learned a lot from Akiyama and Hino over the last year when he was feeling so helpless. He is not only determined to be part of the tournament but also win it too!

Another day another Pheromones match getting cancelled midway through because of, well, Pheromones stuff. You have Koju Takeda attacking Kazuki Hirata with his bare backside while a clean shaven Yumehito Imanari watches on. Takagi tried leading his side in unison which went well until Antonio Honda’s Gongitsune went out of control and wiped the entire team out. Danshoku Dieno then called for the lights to switch off so Yuki Iino could strip completely naked. Hisaya Imabayashi called off the match so he and the ringside attendants could cover up Iino’s waist. Takagi was furious to see Pheromones pull off this stunt during Akiyama’s 30th Anniversary. He demanded an immediate rematch but Imabayashi refused. Instead there will be one final showdown between Takagi and Pheromones on 23rd October. Takagi told Honda & Toru Owashi to join him so they can all get revenge for Hirata. Dieno pointed out this will be their fourth “final battle” in two months. If that is not enough, Takeda later backstage called out Yuki Ueno for not having enough Pheromones in him!

The opening match was given to Yusuke Okada and Yuya Koroku, the two remaining members of BURNING. Akiyama chose them because he wanted the first match to be an exciting start for the show. The more experienced Okada got the win with the Sudden Death shortly after Koroku missed a Moonsault. The two of them congratulated Akiyama on his Anniversary. Okada said he’s been working with Akiyama for the last 6 years so he is proud to be involved today. Koroku promised to keep training hard so he can become as great and strong as Akiyama.

A second show celebrating Akiyama’s 30th Anniversary will be held in his hometown of Izumi, Osaka on 10th December.


TGS Exhibition Matches, Abadon Off TJPW Show, This Is Not Meant To Be An AEW Blog I Swear

September 15, 2022

AEW “TOKYO GAME SHOW 2022 EXHIBITION MATCH”, 16/09/2022
Chiba Makuhari Messe Hall

1. AEW: Fight Forever Exhibition Match: Christopher Daniels Vs Chris Brookes
2. AEW: Fight Forever Exhibition Match: Ryo Mizunami Vs Hikari Noa
3. AEW: Fight Forever Exhibition Match: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Winner Of Match #1

There’s the confirmation over what I was talking about from yesterday’s post. AEW are holding exhibition matches at the Tokyo Game Show with DDT and Tokyo Joshi Pro also involved. There will be matches held over three days with a variety of wrestlers from the promotions already mentioned plus a few more names in store. On Day 1 the first two matches will be held at 1:00 pm. Match #3 will be at 3:00 pm.

Other names advertised to appear during the weekend are Riho, Michael Nakazawa, Yuka Sakazaki, Maki Itoh, Hagane Shinno and Yuki Ueno. Itoh I’m surprised by because she has a match in Canada on Friday and a match in America on Saturday. Does the time difference work out for her to make it back on Sunday? There are also a few big name omissions given who is also in the country this weekend. Earlier today Hikaru Shida starred in the latest Makai performance and Emi Sakura was running a Gatoh Move event. And of course there is all the talk surrounding Kenny Omega. He is currently suspended from AEW related business due to investigations over the incident that is now referred to online as “Brawl Out”.

The latest gossip is Omega will not be involved with the promotion for AEW’s video game at TGS. News has since come out that both Nakazawa and Christopher Daniels have been cleared of any wrongdoing so their suspensions have been lifted and they can go ahead with their duties. Omega however is over in Japan on his own volition working on personal projects with Sega and Capcom. He visited Sega’s office and posted pictures of himself getting scanned, presumably to become a character for one of the upcoming Yakuza/Like A Dragon games in production. The Capcom connection is an upcoming panel appearance to talk about Street Fighter 6. Oh yeah and he reunited with Kota Ibushi too. As much as that tugs on my heartstrings I won’t go any further with that unless The Golden Lovers reunion makes its way over to DDT. Don’t hold your breath with that one.

Once every match from all three days is completed I will gather them all together for a results post along with video links should they be filmed on any of THQ Nordic’s social channels. Normally I would save AEW results for my Around The World posts but this is all happening in Japan with more direct involvement from DDT and TJPW than usual. So I may as well give the results their own post.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW AUTUMN TOUR ’22”, 16/09/2022
Shinjuku FACE

1. 3 Way Match: Hyper Misao Vs Yuki Kamifuku Vs Haruna Neko
2. Moka Miyamoto Vs Mei Suruga
3. Rika Tatsumi Vs Mahiro Kiryu
4. Hikari Noa, Nao Kakuta & Kaya Toribami Vs Yuki Aino, Raku & Pom Harajuku
5. Shoko Nakajima & Arisu Endo Vs Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki
6. International Princess Title Next Challenger Match: Miu Watanabe Vs Suzume

Sadly Abadon could not get a visa ready in time to travel and cannot be in Japan this weekend. Their appearance at tomorrow’s TJPW show has been cancelled and Mei Suruga is being called in to be Moka Miyamoto’s new opponent. Abadon was meant to be at TGS first and foremost. The TJPW booking was made after the fact but visa troubles with the “event organiser” happened shortly afterwards. Attempts were made to solve the problem but the booking was cancelled in the end. This is not a problem exclusive to AEW contracted wrestlers (see Timothy Thatcher and NOAH last month) but I’m worried this happening so close to Willow Nightingale’s cancelled booking is revealing a trend.

DDT “STERNNESS 30TH ANNIVERSARY ~JUN AKIYAMA 30TH ANNIVERSARY~”, 18/09/2022
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Yusuke Okada Vs Yuya Koroku
2. Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno, Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari & Koju “Shining Ball” Takeda Vs Sanshiro Takagi, Toru Owashi, Antonio Honda & Kazuki Hirata
3. HARASHIMA & Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani & Soma Takao & Yukio Naya
4. Kazusada Higuchi, Yuki Ishida, Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi Vs Daisuke Sasaki, Minoru Fujita, MJ Paul & KANON
5. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yuki Ueno, MAO & Toi Kojima Vs Cara Noir, Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi
6. Naomi Yoshimura Vs Takeshi Masada
7. Jun Akiyama Debut 30th Anniversary Match – Special 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Tetsuya Endo & Yoshinobu Kanemaru Vs Yuji Nagata, Konosuke Takeshita & Shunma Katsumata

Jun Akiyama gave a few comments on the card for DDT’s website. He made some DDT to All Japan comparisons, saying Sanshiro Takagi is DDT’s Giant Baba. He also named Konosuke Takeshita, Tetsuya Endo, Kazusada Higuchi and Naomi Yoshimura as DDT’s Four Pillars. Because Takagi is like Baba, Akiyama describes Takagi’s tag match against Pheromones as something like the Family Gundan Vs Akuyaku Shokai comedy bouts that AJPW held throughout the 90s. Does that make Antonio Honda this generation’s Rusher Kimura?

Kenta Kobashi will be a special guest commentator on the show. He was Akiyama’s debut opponent.

GANBARE☆PRO “NERAWARETA GAKUEN 2022”, 02/10/2022
Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall

1. England x Makai x GanJo! Special 6-Woman Tag Match: Nightshade, Moeka Haruhi & HARUKAZE Vs Ram Kaichow, YuuRI & Yoshiko Hasegawa
2. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Hartley Jackson (c) Vs Yuna Manase

A big shift in Ganbare☆Pro’s main event scene was made after Hartley Jackson won the Spirit Of Ganbare Title from Yumehito Imanari. The first person to challenge him for the belt is Yuna Manase! The two have been in the ring together before over at ZERO1. Manase thinks Jackson does not know the meaning of Ganbare so she won’t let him extinguish its flame.

Nightshade won’t just be working with TJPW when she returns to Japan next month. She will be at Ganpro for the first time in 3 years too. Her match is a chaotic mix of joshi talent including the Ganpro debut of Ram Kaichow!

DDT “GET ALIVE 2022”, 12/10/2022
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. 4 Way Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul Vs Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari Vs Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku Vs Yukio Naya & Hideki Okatani
2. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yuji Hino Vs HARASHIMA, Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi
3. Get Alive 4 Major Single Match! Yuki Ishida 1st Anniversary Match ~ Playfulness Series Act 4: Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Yuki Ishida
4. Get Alive 4 Major Single Match!: Koju “Shining Ball” Takeda Vs Toi Kojima
5. Get Alive 4 Major Single Match!: Toru Owashi Vs Kazuki Hirata
6. Get Alive 4 Major Single Match!: Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Takeshi Masada
7. Makoto Oishi 20th Anniversary Match ~ Men’s Club Vs The 37KAMIINA: Makoto Oishi, MEN’S Teoih & Shiori Asahi Vs Yuki Ueno, MAO & Shunma Katsumata
8. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Kazusada Higuchi & Naomi Yoshimura (c) Vs Daisuke Sasaki & KANON

The midcard is filled up with four significant singles matches. Yukio Sakaguchi is the latest veteran to put the super rookie Takeshi Masada to the test, Toru Owashi and Kazuki Hirata are finally facing each other in a regular one on one match, Koju Takeda has his first singles bout in DDT since joining Pheromones and Yuki Ishida celebrates his 1 year anniversary.