DDT “CHARISMANIA”, 06/11/2024 Shinjuku FACE 500 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House
1. KUBITO & Naohiro Katsumi 19th Anniversary Match: KUBITO defeated Naohiro Katsumi with the Crossface Lock (6:59).
2. Ram Kaichow, Endo Kaichow & Kodara Kaichow (w/ Mataro) defeated Brahman Shu, Brahman Masa & Brahman Keigo (w/ Brahman Kei) when Ram pinned Keigo with a School Boy (10:12).
3. Demus, Ilusion & Anarko Montaña defeated Kaito Ishida, Shunma Katsumata & Diego when Ilusion pinned Diego with the Swanton Bomb (10:53).
4. Ryuichi “Fire” Kawakami & MJ Paul defeated Masashi Takeda & Daichi Sato when Paul pinned Sato with the Reverse Splash (15:27).
5. Special Single Match: Shigehiro Irie defeated KANON with the Beast Bomber (17:37).
6. The Greatest Wrestling Match Of CHARISMANIA: Daisuke Sasaki & Yuko Miyamoto defeated Dick Togo & Minoru Fujita when Sasaki submitted Fujita with La Mistica Crossface Lock (25:19).
Has the student has surpassed his master? Daisuke Sasaki is now entering his 20th year as a pro wrestler so to celebrate he organized “CHARISMANIA” and put himself in the main event with his mentor Dick Togo as well as two wrestlers he looks up to Yuko Miyamoto and Minoru Fujita. All four wrestlers are used to either wrestling dirty or fighting in violent death matches but they instead all fought clean for today’s special match. Togo used La Mistica Crossface Lock on Sasaki and Fujita followed up with the SAYONARA Tombstone. They wanted to finish him off with the Double Impact but Miyamoto cut them off. Sasaki gave Togo the Pedigree and then used his own La Mistica Crossface Lock to submit Fujita. Sasaki & Miyamoto received a prize from members of the rock band HEAD PHONES PRESIDENT for winning the main event.
Sasaki said the other three wrestlers will eternally be his idols. For his 20th anniversary he wants to finally surpass his master and challenged Togo to a singles match. Togo said he isn’t in the best condition right now and there is a clear difference between them. He asked Sasaki to wait five years so Togo can get into his best shape and also get to wrestle the match at 60! Sasaki will be turning 40 next November but don’t tell him he’s getting weaker as he gets older. He doesn’t have time to get old and promised he will defeat his master eventually! Sasaki also wants to run “CHARISMANIA” as an annual event until he’s held it 2000 times!
Naturally DAMNATION T.A were the featured players for most of the show. KANON also took the fair play route when he fought Shigehiro Irie. He tried fighting as hard as he could by giving Irie a Falcon Arrow as well as the Cobra Twist. Irie smashed him with an Elbow Strike, dropped him from the top rope with an Avalanche Back Flip and pinned him with the Beast Bomber. KANON gave Irie the middle finger instead of shaking his hand after the match.
It wasn’t all clean and fair fighting from the DAMNATION T.A wrestlers. Ryuichi “Fire” Kawakami & MJ Paul got into a chair fight with Masashi Takeda & Daichi Sato during their tag match. To be fair, Takeda was just as responsible for making the match violent and also wanted to attack Fire Damnation with his pair of scissors. Sato also stepped up to Paul but was ultimately beaten by him with the Reverse Splash.
Ilusion was joined by Demus & Anarko Montaña to take on the babyface trio of Kaito Ishida, Shunma Katsumata & Diego. Demus brought a more grimy style that worked well with Ilusion & Montaña’s high flying. It ended with that team getting the win when Ilusion pinned Diego with the Swanton Bomb.
Match #2 was the Brahman Army taking on the Kaichow Army with a lot of wrestlers taking either gimmick. The Brahman Brothers got Masahiro Takanashi & Keigo Nakamura to act like them while Ram Kaichow convinced Tetsuya Endo & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi to copy her looks and behavior. Kaichow also brought along the now retired Mataro to be in her team’s corner. Mataro is the member of DDT’s video team who was kept getting put into DAMNATION T.A’s matches during this year’s Beer Garden shows until he was forced to retire from the bit. The Brahman Army attacked him with bats, poured buckets of water over him, dripped slime from their mouths onto him and also put him in the line of fire for the bowling ball suitcase spot. He at least got revenge by doing the same bowling ball spot to the Brahmans. He then got blinded when Kaichow missed her Ectoplasm powder throw and hit him with it by accident. Brahamn Shu threw the suitcase at Kaichow but she dodged it and Nakamura got hit instead. Kaichow took advantage and pinned Nakamura with a School Boy to win.
Two other wrestlers from the SUPER CREW class who debuted along with Sasaki got a spot in the opener. KUBITO beat Naohiro Katsumi in a match that celebrated the 19th anniversary of their debuts. It was also Katsumi’s first wrestling match in 12 years! The two made comments to each other during the match about how long it’s been since they last saw each other. Katsumi also gradually remembered his signature moves as the match went on.
1. KUBITO & Naohiro Katsumi 19th Anniversary Match: KUBITO Vs Naohiro Katsumi
2. Ram Kaichow, Endo Kaichow & Kodara Kaichow (w/ X) Vs Brahman Shu, Brahman Masa & Brahman Keigo (w/ Brahman Kei)
3. Demus, Ilusion & Anarko Montaña Vs Kaito Ishida, Shunma Katsumata & Diego
4. Ryuichi “Fire” Kawakami & MJ Paul Vs Masashi Takeda & Daichi Sato
5. Special Single Match: KANON Vs Shigehiro Irie
6. The Greatest Wrestling Match Of CHARISMANIA: Daisuke Sasaki & Yuko Miyamoto Vs Dick Togo & Minoru Fujita
Tomorrow’s “CHARISMANIA” show has some added juice to it now that Daisuke Sasaki will be headlining a Sumo Hall show at the end of the year. Time for him to sharpen up his skills with Yuko Miyamoto, Dick Togo and Minoru Fujita.
Brahman Kei made his first public appearance in Michinoku Pro over the weekend after getting surgery to remove a tumor. He won’t be able to wrestle for a while yet but is capable of being at ringside for Brahman Shu’s matches again. In order to keep the two teams even, Ram Kaichow has gone looking for someone extra to look out for her team against the Brahmans.
BASARA “BASARA 261 ~SOUEN~”, 08/11/2024 Shin-Kiba 1st RING
1. Lil’ Kraken Vs Takeru Inoue
2. Daiki Shimomura Vs Tsutomu Oosugi
3. Basara Jacket 4 Way Match: KUBITO Vs Gouma Ryu Vs Banana Senga Vs Daisuke Sekimoto
4. SAGAT & Antonio Honda Vs Yasu Urano & Masahiro Takanashi
5. Isami Kodaka & Minoru Fujita Vs Daichi Kazato & Ayato Yoshida
Does BASARA have a jacket big enough for Daisuke Sekimoto to wrestle in without his muscles ripping it apart at the seams?
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “THE MOUNTAIN TOP 2024”, 16/11/2024 Osaka Edion Arena #2
1. 3 Way Match: Shoko Nakajima Vs Haruna Neko Vs Kaya Toribami
2. Yoshiko Hasegawa Vs Chika Nanase
3. Maki Itoh, Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu Vs Yuki Aino, Raku & Pom Harajuku
4. Shazza McKenzie & Moka Miyamoto Vs Rika Tatsumi & HIMAWARI
5. Yuki Arai, Suzume & Arisu Endo Vs Mizuki, Shino Suzuki & Uta Takami
6. Next Generation Tournament ’24 – Semi Final: Haru Kazashiro Vs Wakana Uehara
7. Next Generation Tournament ’24 – Semi Final: Toga Vs Kira Summer
8. Princess Of Princess Title: Miu Watanabe (c) Vs Zara Zakher
The Next Generation Tournament has finished its first round with last year’s winner Wakana Uehara taking the last spot in the semi-final. Next up for her is Haru Kazashiro.
Miyu Yamashita won’t be on the show because she will be wrestling in America for GCW that weekend.
DDT “GET ALIVE 2024 TOUR IN YOKOHAMA”, 16/11/2024 Yokohama Radiant Hall
1. Danshoku Dieno & Kazuki Hirata Vs Soma Takao & Kazuma Sumi
2. Yuki Ueno, To-y & Diego Vs HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi & Yuki Ishida
3. Special Tag Match: Shinya Aoki & Jun Akiyama Vs Yukio Naya & Keigo Nakamura
4. Special Single Match: MAO Vs Yuya Koroku
5. Special Single Match: Shunma Katsumata Vs Tetsuya Endo
6. SCHADENFREUDE International Vs DAMNATION T.A!: Chris Brookes, Masahiro Takanashi, Antonio Honda & Takeshi Masada Vs Daisuke Sasaki, KANON, Demus & Ilusion
The feud between SCHADENFREUDE International Vs DAMNATION T.A is just getting started! Some of the undercard matches have been changed to adapt with the current turn of events.
Two singles matches building up the next KO-D Tag Team Titles match are happening here. Shunma Katsumata can take a big scalp if he can beat Tetsuya Endo by himself. Yuya Koroku has a recent pinfall win over Katsumata but can he get the same result against MAO?
GANBARE☆PRO “WHERE EAGLES DARE 2024”, 17/11/2024 Shin-Kiba 1st RING
1. Tyson Maeguchi Vs Shota Kawakami
2. Yuna Manase & Nanami Vs YuuRI & Soy
3. PSYCHO & Moeka Haruhi Vs Black Menso-re & HARUKAZE
4. Munetatsu Nakamura Vs Yuya Susumu
5. Kouki Iwasaki 10th Anniversary Match: Kouki Iwasaki, Shuichiro Katsumura & Keisuke Ishii Vs Tatsuhito Takaiwa, Yumehito Imanari & Rekka
6. Spirit Of Ganbare World Tag Team Titles: Shigehiro Irie & Mizuki Watase (c) Vs Ken Ohka & Shuji Ishikawa
The main event was originally meant to happen in August but the show was cancelled over typhoon concerns. It took a while to reschedule it but Ken Ohka got a date where Shuji Ishikawa is available to be on the show so they can challenge Shigehiro Irie & Mizuki Watase for the Spirit Of Ganbare Tag Team Titles.
HARUKAZE still has not won a match since Ganbare☆Pro went independent. She hopes teaming up with Black Menso-re is what she needs to finally grab a win for herself. Moeka Haruhi has PSYCHO as her partner to try and continue HARUKAZE’s losing streak.
Ishikawa coming over means he will be bringing someone else from Evolution with him to represent the promotion. Soy is still in her rookie year as a wrestler. Her outsider opponent on the other team is Nanami from Diana.
DDT “MAO TRIUMPHANT RETURN! DRAMATIC DREAM TAISEIKAN ~THE VILLAGE IS WHERE THE SCHOOL IS~ 2024”, 17/11/2024 Miyagi Osaki City Matsuyama B&G Marine Center
1. Makoto Oishi Vs Kazuma Sumi
2. Danshoku Dieno & Kazuki Hirata Vs Toru Owashi & Antonio Honda
3. Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & Ilusion Vs Akito, Takeshi Masada & Yuni
4. Jun Akiyama & HARASHIMA Vs Keigo Nakamura & Yuki Ishida
5. Special Tag Match: MJ Paul & Demus Vs Yukio Naya & Diego
6. The 37KAMIINA Vs BURNING!: Shunma Katsumata & To-y Vs Tetsuya Endo & Yuya Koroku
7. Special Tag Match: MAO & Yuki Ueno Vs Minoru Suzuki & Chris Brookes
More DDT appearances for Demus and Diego.
DDT “NEVER MIND 2024”, 22/12/2024 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. Special Single Match: Tomohiro Ishii Vs Yuki Iino
DDT wants to end 2024 on some high notes by running a Korakuen Hall show and a Sumo Hall show in the last few weeks of December. For Korakuen Yuki Iino is getting a singles match against Tomohiro Ishii! What will it be like when a Stone Pitbull is BURNING?
DDT “ULTIMATE PARTY 2024”, 28/12/2024 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
1. O-MENZ Kumadori Debut Match: Kumadori Vs X
2. Haruto Sakuraba Debut Match: Haruto Sakuraba Vs X
3. KO-D Openweight Title: Chris Brookes Vs Daisuke Sasaki
I have to say I didn’t expect to see Chris Brookes win the KO-D Openweight Title from Shinya Aoki. Even more so I didn’t expect the next Sumo Hall main event to be Brookes Vs Sasaki for the belt. Sasaki is sick of hearing people like Brookes in DDT talk about love and dreams. He is more motivated to make the lives of those people a living hell than he is to become the champion again.
More personalities from the entertainment world are coming to make their pro wrestling debuts in DDT. This time it is a masked man named Kumadori from the “Dance Terrorist Group” O-MENZ. According to Kumadori he is one of the most muscular members of the group and he wants to unleash his breakdancing wrestler skills in the ring. This deal came together when Kumadori met Sanshrio Takagi through a mutual acquaintance. He told Takagi directly that he wanted to give wrestling a try. I looked up some O-MENZ videos online and I think the closest comparison I can think of is they’re like a Japanese version of Jabbawockeez.
DDT “SUMIDA DRAMATIC DREAM! ~FREE SEATING PRO WRESTLING SHOW~”, 04/11/2024 Tokyo Higashin Arena (Sumida City Gymnasium) 2,200 Fans – Super No Vacancy
1. Maruto Potori Foods Presents Tag Match: Yuni & Kazuma Sumi defeated Keigo Nakamura & Yuki Ishida when Sumi pinned Ishida with a School Boy (8:25).
2. Special Tag Match ~ Touchi-kun & Oshinari-kun & Higapyon Pro Wrestling Debut Match: Oshinari-kun & Higapyon defeated Touchi-kun & Pokotan when Oshinari-kun pinned Pokotan with the Diving Hip Drop (5:19).
3. Daisuke Sasaki, KANON, MJ Paul & Demus defeated Tetsuya Endo, Yuki Iino, Masahiro Takanashi & Yuya Koroku when Sasaki submitted Takanashi with La Mistica Crossface Lock (11:31).
4. STOMPING Presents Tag Match: Soma Takao & Makoto Oishi defeated Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata when Takao pinned Hirata with a School Boy (11:06).
5. Special Single Match: Ilusion defeated Takeshi Masada with the Swanton Bomb (10:11).
6. Tokyo Higashi Shinkin Bank Presents Special 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Yukio Naya & Shinichiro Kawamatsu defeated Satoshi Kojima, Akito & Antonio Honda when Kawamatsu pinned Honda with the Shitamachi Rocket (13:13).
7. Toho Kogyo Presents Special 6-Man Tag Match – Reiwa Meiji Restoration: Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & To-y (2) defeated HARASHIMA, Danshoku Dieno & Super Sasadango Machine (0).
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Super Sasadango Machine defeated Yuki Ueno (c) with a School Boy (3:26 pm). *Super Sasadango Machine becomes the 1,687th champion.
7a. To-y pinned Danshoku Dieno after the Shunkoji Wonderland (2:51).
7b. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Shunma Katsumata pinned Super Sasadango Machine (c) with the Totonou Splash (11:44). *Shunma Katsumata becomes the 1,688th champion.
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Yuni defeated Shunma Katsumata (c) with a School Boy (3:43 pm). *Yuni becomes the 1,689th champion.
8. KO-D Openweight Title – Houset Co., Ltd Presents: Chris Brookes defeated Shinya Aoki (c) with the House Piano Death (21:44). *Shinya Aoki fails in V4. Chris Brookes becomes the 84th KO-D Openweight Champion!
A free to attend show was put together by DDT and sponsors at Higashin Arena to kick off the road to Sumo Hall happening at the end of the year. It featured a major title change in the main event with Chris Brookes defeating Shinya Aoki to become the new KO-D Openweight Champion almost a year after his first reign ended! While the match started off in a calm manner with a lot of mat work, it soon went out of the ring where Brookes put Aoki through a table with a Piledriver. Back in the ring Aoki relied on limb holds to counter Brookes, escaping the Praying Mantis Bomb by using a Side Hammerlock to take control and trap Brookes in the Manjigatame. He used the Full Nelson Hold to try and get a pinfall but Brookes kicked out of two. In return Brookes hit the Somato but Aoki kicked out for a nearfall as well. Brookes was able to put Aoki in the Octopus Hold and switched it over to the House Piano Death, keeping Aoki locked in until the champion had to give up.
Aoki took the loss well and presented Brookes with the KO-D Title belt after the match. Brookes was then told by Hisaya Imabayashi he will defend the title at “ULTIMATE PARTY 2024” on 28th December. Daisuke Sasaki entered the ring with a chair but sat down on it and congratulated Brookes instead of attacking him. Sasaki said Brookes talks a lot about love, romance, dreams and other things like that. The ring doesn’t need any of that stuff so Sasaki will win the title and bring DDT back to being the mess that it should be! He wants to fight Brookes on the biggest stage and challenged him for Sumo Hall. Brookes accepted and even shook Sasaki’s hand without incident.
Backstage Brookes praised Aoki for being incredibly strong. But Brookes had a dream of winning the title again and today it came true. Over the last year he dislocated his shoulder and recovered from a tumor but he was able to overcome all of that to become the champion again. His outlook on life and death has changed because of the last year. He also thinks DAMNATION T.A is just a bunch of B and C class wrestlers so he doesn’t think Sasaki can beat him for the title. Aoki is proud of how his title reign went. The belt is a championship, not a medal so he knew the hard work wasn’t over when he won it. Sasaki however is sick to his stomach of all the love and dreams stuff going on in DDT right now. He isn’t actually interested in becoming KO-D Champion again but he wants to mess up Brookes. His threat is Brookes will have Christmas but he won’t make it to New Year’s!
At some point in the day before the venue doors were open to the public, Yuki Ueno won the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title from Danshoku Dieno. Then at the start of the show Dieno and his team declared they are the Reiwa Meiji Restoration that will overthrow the “government” that is The 37KAMIINA! He demanded that their match in the semi-main event should be Best 2 Out Of 3 Falls so nobody can blame losing twice on a fluke. The first fall ended with a double pin on both sides at the same time. To-y pinned Dieno after doing an assisted Kojima Wonderland with Shunma Katsumata while Super Sasadango Machine was pinning Ueno with a School Boy. Daisuke Kiso ruled The 37KAMIINA as the winners of the fall because To-y and Dieno were the legal wrestlers. Sasadango pinning Ueno didn’t count towards the match but was still accepted as an Iron Man Title change, making Sasadango the new champ! The second fall had Katsumata take the Somato from HARASHIMA, the Danshoku Driver from Dieno and the Lehman Shock from Sasadango but his partner made the save. Katsumata fought back on Sasadango and pinned him with the Totonou Splash to give The 37KAMIINA a clean sweep and become Iron Man Champ in the process. All it cost the team was To-y being sacrificed to Dieno’s antics. Yuni then surprised Katsumata with a Roll Up after the match to take the title from him.
Satoshi Kojima was one of the guest attractions for the show and he was advertised in advance so there was no need to call him “X” beforehand. His presence brought memories back to Antonio Honda of the TenKoji Police arresting the Monster Army back in 2012. This time they were teaming up but Honda was still missing some courage. He wanted to quit the match from the moment he had to square off against Jun Akiyama. A stark difference to Shinichiro Kawamatsu wanting to fight Kojima. Yukio Naya stopped Kojima’s momentum with a Choke Slam so Honda tried to summon Gongitsune. Akiyama blocked Honda but that caused Kojima to do the Gongitsune Eye Poke to him instead! He then intercepted Kawamatu’s Axe Bomber with the Lariat but Naya came back to cut him off. Akiyama got his hands on Honda to give him the Exploder Suplex and Kawamatsu recovered to hit Honda with the Shitamachi Rocket and pin him.
This new version of Ilusion is being described by Sasaki as the little demon who sold his soul to the Devil. He tried to avoid fighting Takeshi Masada early in their match and intentionally Dropkicked the referee from behind so the rest of DAMNATION T.A could run interference. Masahiro Takanashi was already in Masada’s corner for the match so he was there to run counter-interference. However DAMNATION T.A had the numbers advantage and KANON distracted the ref long enough for Ilusion to give Masada a Low Blow, Sasaki to give him the Pedigree and Ilusion to hit him over the head with a chair. The ref was let go in time to see Ilusion do the Swanton Bomb onto Masada and get the three count. Ilusion taunted the fans for being quiet and attacked Masada even more to make them boo him. He then said SCHADENFREUDE International are going to live in a dark future from now on and Masada should never show his annoying face to him ever again!
A lot of the matches on the show had different sponsors which is how DDT was able to have free attendance. Match #4 was sponsored by a wrestling themed social networking app called STOMPING. A masked representative from the company named Stomping Mask introduced the match and watched on to see Makoto Oishi & Soma Takao beat Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata. Oishi admitted during the match he was in a bad mood so Hirata convinced him to wear a pair of Hirata GO! glasses to get rid of his stress. They both danced until Takao rolled up Hirata from behind to pin him. Backstage Stomping Mask complained to Hirata for not doing a good job to promote the app. Hirata attacked and unmasked him to reveal it was Hisaya Imabayashi all along!
DAMNATION T.A also won their 8-Man Tag Match earlier in the show. With Demus added to their lineup they had someone who could go toe to toe with Tetsuya Endo with lucha while KANON & MJ Paul were able to handled Takanashi & Yuya Koroku. Sasaki finished things off for Takanashi by dropping him with the Pedigree and submitting him with the Crossface Lock.
Three mascots made their pro wrestling debut in Match #2. On one side, DDT’s own mascot Pokotan teamed up with Touchi-kun from the Japan Self-Defence Force. Their opponents were Oshinari-kun from the Oshinari Shopping District and Higapyon from the Tokyo Higashi Shinkin Bank. Pokotan had no problem fighting Oshinari-kun but didn’t want to attack the cute rabbit Higapyon. Touchi-kun didn’t approve of how violent Pokotan was acting anyway so the three mascots all stood up to Pokotan. They knocked his head off and Oshinari-kun pinned Pokotan with the Diving Hip Drop. Pokotan saw the error of his ways after the match and the four of them all posed for the audience.
Kazuma Sumi is learning new ways to use the School Boy on his opponents. He was able to spin Yuki Ishida into the cradle to take the three count from him in the opening match. Sumi said he will continue to polish this move even more so he can pin his seniors with it from now on. Yuni was happy with his performance because today is his last match before he wrestles in America for DDT’s tour in Seattle next week. He wants to make a name for himself when he wrestles Gringo Loco and Konosuke Takeshita in his two matches over there. Ishida admitted he underestimated Sumi and Keigo Nakamura also said they have no excuses for losing today.
It was announced that Yuki Iino will face New Japan wrestler Tomohiro Ishii at Korakuen Hall on 22nd December! Iino said he is really looking forward to the heavyweight fight and wants everyone to come see it. He wants to end the year by beating Ishii and then win at Sumo Hall so he can keep on BURNING.
There was an intermission performance by members of the idol group KLP48. They are a sister group of AKB48 based in Kuala Lumpur and today was their first ever performance in Japan.
Akito spoke to the wrestling media after the show. He revealed Sanshiro Takagi saw companies like Kyushu Pro running sponsored shows in their own regions which inspired him to try it out with DDT in Tokyo. Akito thinks there were mistakes made but they are able to learn from them. He will give it some thought before deciding if DDT will hold this event again next year. The goal is to get people excited for DDT’s shows at Korakuen and Sumo Hall at the end of the year. The attendance number above isn’t accurate because people were allowed to come and go from the venue as the show went on. Akito said 1,600 seats were set up and the room could take 1,800 people in total at all times. So the extra 400 to make it 2,200 are considered to be people who came in during the show after other people left (the DDT site briefly had the number at 1,800 as the match results were coming in before quickly changing it to 2,200 after the show had ended).
DDT “DDT PRO WRESTLING IN SHINGASHI”, 02/11/2024 Saitama Takashina Elementary School ??? Fans – Unannounced
1. Shunma Katsumata, To-y & Kazuma Sumi defeated Yukio Naya, Yuya Koroku & Yuki Ishida when Katsumata pinned Ishida with the Totonou Splash (10:43).
2. Special Tag Match: Makoto Oishi & Yoshiko Hasegawa submitted Akito & Kaya Toribami when Hasegawa submitted Toribami with the Muffler Hold (8:14).
3. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Danshoku Dieno, HARASHIMA & Tetsuya Endo defeated Chris Brookes, Takeshi Masada & Keigo Nakamura when HARASHIMA pinned Nakamura with the Somato (19:24).
Rainy weather in Saitama resulted in a messy day for DDT. They held a short outdoor wrestling show at the Takashina Elementary School and had the ring set up in the middle of a muddy school yard. A lot of kids were in the crowd so the wrestlers encouraged them to chant “Go baldy” at Keigo Nakamura. Even Chris Brookes bullied him a bit despite being on the same team. Brookes and Danshoku Dieno both held Nakamura upside down and spun his head around on the muddy ground. But Nakamura became the children’s favorite as the match went on. Too bad he ended up losing to HARASHIMA.
Yoshiko Hasegawa also had a lot of support from the crowd because she is from Saitama. Akito targeted her throughout the match but Hasegawa was able to put Kaya Toribami in the Muffler Hold after she dodged the Rolling Senton. Akito was also caught in Makoto Oishi’s Fujiyama Knee Lock at the time so he couldn’t stop Toribami from giving up.
1. Moeka Haruhi & Yuna Manase Vs HARUKAZE & YuuRI
2. Munetatsu Nakamura Vs Harutoki
3. Ken Ohka, Yumehito Imanari & Tsuyoshi Okada Vs Shuichiro Katsumura, Shota Kawakami & Hiroaki Moriya
4. Spirit Of Ganbare World Tag Team Titles: Shigehiro Irie & Mizuki Watase (c) Vs Naoki Tanizaki & Kohei Kinoshita
5. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Keisuke Ishii (c) Vs Hartley Jackson
Hiroaki Moriya is coming to Ganbare☆Pro looking to “Energize” the place. He’s been in the ring with Ken Ohka before but hasn’t with Yumehito Imanari so he’s looking forward to fighting both for different reasons.
DDT “SUMIDA DRAMATIC DREAM! ~FREE SEATING PRO WRESTLING SHOW~”, 04/11/2024 Tokyo Higashin Arena (Sumida City Gymnasium)
1. Maruto Potori Foods Presents Tag Match: Keigo Nakamura & Yuki Ishida Vs Yuni & Kazuma Sumi
2. Special Tag Match ~ Touchi-kun & Oshinari-kun & Higapyon Pro Wrestling Debut Match: Touchi-kun & Pokotan Vs Oshinari-kun & Higapyon
3. Daisuke Sasaki, KANON, MJ Paul & Demus Vs Tetsuya Endo, Yuki Iino, Masahiro Takanashi & Yuya Koroku
4. STOMPING Presents Tag Match: Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Makoto Oishi & Soma Takao
5. Special Single Match: Takeshi Masada Vs Ilusion
6. Tokyo Higashi Shinkin Bank Presents Special 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Yukio Naya & Shinichiro Kawamatsu Vs Satoshi Kojima, Akito & Antonio Honda
7. Toho Kogyo Presents Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & To-y Vs HARASHIMA, Danshoku Dieno & Super Sasadango Machine
8. KO-D Openweight Title – Houset Co., Ltd Presents: Shinya Aoki (c) Vs Chris Brookes
Thought we were all clear from Shinya Aoki’s threats to fight Katsuhiko Nakajima somewhere down the line? Not so fast! Aoki held a short interview with Tokyo Sports today where he said his goal is to hold onto the KO-D Openweight Title long enough that he will still be the champion when he has a grappling match in ONE FC this December. Aoki cannot believe he got a fight in ONE scheduled before he got a booking in GLEAT. He then started rambling about Nakajima and asking why he hasn’t been in the news lately?
BASARA “BASARA 261 ~SOUEN~”, 08/11/2024 Shin-Kiba 1st RING
1. Isami Kodaka & Minoru Fujita Vs Daichi Kazato & Ayato Yoshida
Earlier this year Ayato Yoshida came to BASARA as an opponent for Daichi Kazato. Now they are teaming up for his next appearance.
DDT/DEFY “DDT IN UTERO”, 09/11/2024 Washington Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA
1. 3 Way Tag Match: Cody Chhun & Guillermo Rosas Vs Bryan Keith & Shota Vs Eddie Pearl & Ricky Gibson
2. Danshoku Dieno Vs Randy Myers
3. Gringo Loco Vs Yuni
4. Special Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & Artemis Spencer Vs Gurv Shira & Harv Shira
5. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs Kohei Kinoshita
6. DDT Universal Title – 3 Way Match: MAO (c) Vs Mike Bailey Vs Miyu Yamashita
Miyu Yamashita’s involvement in the DEFY weekend is resulting in some creative matchups. She was already announced as one of MAO’s opponents in the DDT Universal Title match and now we know the other opponent is Mike Bailey! Yamashita could be at a disadvantage if The Moonlight Express decided to use the numbers game against her.
This is not the full card. Both Nick Wayne and Marina Shafir have been announced for the show and do not have their matches announced yet.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “LOOKING AROUND THE WORLD, ISN’T JAPAN AMAZING AFTER ALL!?”, 10/11/2024 Tokyo Ryogoku KFC Hall
1. Rakuhan Vs Pom-chan Army: X Vs X
2. Rakuhan Vs Pom-chan Army: X Vs X
3. Rakuhan Vs Pom-chan Army: X Vs X
4. Rakuhan Vs Pom-chan Army: X Vs X
5. Rakuhan Vs Pom-chan Army: X & X Vs X & X
6. Rakuhan Vs Pom-chan Army: X & X Vs X & X
Rakuhan: Raku, Yuki Arai, HIMAWARI, Shino Suzuki, Haru Kazashiro, Chika Nanase, Ryo Mizunami and Ram Kaichow
Pom-chan Army: Pom Harajuku, Mahiro Kiryu, Haruna Neko, Kaya Toribami, Toga, Kira Summer, Uta Takami and Yoshiko Hasegawa
The match card will be decided on the day by the two team captains Raku and Pom Harajuku.
DDT “UTAN FESTA 2024”, 10/11/2024 Tokyo JR Omori Station East Exit Plaza
1. MJ Paul & Ilusion Vs Takeshi Masada & Gota Ihashi
2. KANON Vs Keigo Nakamura
3. World Omori Title Next Challenger Battle Royal: Toru Owashi Vs Antonio Honda Vs Akito Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Demus Vs Diego
4. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo, Yuki Iino & Yuya Koroku Vs HARASHIMA, Chikara & Yuki Ishida
5. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & Toy- Vs Jun Akiyama, Chris Brookes & Yukio Naya
6. World Omori Title: Soma Takao (c) Vs Masahiro Takanashi
Masahiro Takanashi is chosen to face Soma Takao for the World Omori Title. There is also going to be a Battle Royal to determine next year’s No. 1 Contender.
The full force of BURNING must meet the power of Chikara head on! No one shall be spared.
DDT/TOKYO JOSHI PRO/DEFY “TRIANGLER DTD”, 10/11/2024 Washington Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA
1. Special Single Match: Gringo Loco Vs Miyu Yamashita
2. Special Tag Match: MAO & Mike Bailey Vs Judas Icarus & Travis Williams
3. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs Yuni
Come on Tony, give Yuni a shot at the AEW International Title. Do it for the sickos.
The Moonlight Express will team up proper at the end of the DEFY weekend for a tag match against Sinner & Saint.
I don’t know what kind of person would ever think up a Miyu Yamashita Vs Gringo Loco match but that’s some good booking right there.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE TOUR 2024 AUTUMN”, 22/11/2024 Shinjuku FACE
1. Next Generation Tournament ’24 – Final: X Vs X
2. Rika Tatsumi & Arisu Endo Vs Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao
3. International Princess Title: Yuki Arai (c) Vs Shazza McKenzie
Big children rejoice for it’s the return of Hyper Misao to save the day! No better choice for her first match back from injury than to team up with Shoko Nakajima as Kyoraku Kyomei again. Rika Tatsumi will certainly welcome her back with a big hug that will suspiciously look a lot like a strangulation. Arisu Endo will probably stand to the side and give it a thumbs up.
Zara Zakher will be on the show.
DDT “GET ALIVE 2024”, 23/11/2024 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. Akito 15th Anniversary Debut Special Single Match: Isami Kodaka Vs Akito
2. DDT Extreme Title & Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Danshoku Dieno (c/c) Vs Yuni
3. KO-D Tag Team Titles: MAO & Shunma Katsumata (c) Vs Tetsuya Endo & Yuya Koroku
BURNING have found themselves back in the front of the line for a KO-D Tag Team Titles shot. This time however Tetsuya Endo is teaming with Yuya Koroku instead of Yuki Iino. Koroku has a pinfall win over Shunma Katsumata and that interested MAO enough to accept his title challenge.
Pop the champagne bottles because this month Konosuke Takeshita won his first AEW championship! The first of many I hope. After he finally achieved his crowning glory he… didn’t wrestle again in AEW for the rest of the month. Typical, eh? But he did wrestle elsewhere, up north in fact. And those were some pretty good matches too. His performances this month was enough to have Dave Meltzer call him one of the best wrestlers in the world. Other than that it was kind of a quiet month for everyone else I cover for this article. Yuka Sakazaki had a match in ROH then fantasized about murdering RJ City for Halloween, Shoko Nakajima was in DPW for a tournament final, Yuki Kamifuku continues being the Queen of Asia and Miyu Yamashita went to Canada.
Things are going to pick up in November though. DDT and Tokyo Joshi Pro are having their shows with DEFY in Seattle, MAO and Yoshihiko are going on another European adventure together, Takeshita has stuff lined up with New Japan for the promotion’s next couple of USA shows, Yamashita will be paying GCW another visit and Pom Harajuku is going to be let loose in Southeast Asia. If that’s not enough we even have a peak at what to look forward to in 2025.
After turning on Ospreay, the Don Callis Family hold a press conference! | 10/16/24, AEW Dynamite
MAPLE LEAF PRO “FORGED IN EXCELLENCE – NIGHT 1”, 19/10/2024 St. Clair College, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
1. Gisele Shaw Vs Miyu Yamashita
2. Mike Bailey Vs Konosuke Takeshita
MAPLE LEAF PRO “FORGED IN EXCELLENCE – NIGHT 2”, 20/10/2024 St. Clair College, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
1. Laynie Luck & Harley Cameron Vs Miyu Yamashita & Kylie Rae
2. AEW International Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Josh Alexander
Yuka Has Fun! | Hey! (EW) 10/27/24
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Results
ROH “ROH ON HONOR CLUB”, 08/10/2024 (Aired 17/10/2024) Spokane Arena, Spokane, Washington, USA
1. Yuka Sakazaki defeated Viva Van with the Magical Girl Splash (5:44).
Sakazaki’s move over to ROH this month involved a tricky challenge against Viva Van. She was kept on her toes by Van bridging out of a pin and making Sakazaki flinch with a fakeout attack from the ropes. Sakazaki got her own back by also bridging out of a pin and doing her own Sliding Lariat, no fake out needed. She went on to win by using the Magical Merry-Go-Round as well as the Magical Girl Splash.
AEW “WRESTLEDREAM”, 12/10/2024 Tacoma Dome, Tacoma, Washington, USA
1. AEW International Title: Konosuke Takeshita defeated Will Ospreay (c) and Ricochet when Takeshita pinned Ospreay with the Powerdrive Knee (20:42). *V3 for Will Ospreay fails in V3. Konosuke Takeshita becomes the 10th AEW International Champion!
What a wonderful sight this was. Takeshita was part of a great match with Will Ospreay and Ricochet where everyone went balls to the wall. Takeshita took Ricochet out of the match by putting him through a table at ringside with the Reverse Implant. He also kicked out of Ospreay’s Hidden Blade but looked to be finished when Ospreay hit him with another one. That was when Don Callis pulled the referee out of the ring mid-count. Ospreay got his hands on Callis but just when he was about to give him the Tiger Driver ’91, Kyle Fletcher ran in and hit him over the head with a screwdriver. Takeshita then hit Ospreay with the Powerdrive Knee to win the AEW International Title. Even with the dirty finish the match got a *****1/2 rating from Meltzer.
DEXCON “JAM OF THE JOSHIS”, 13/10/2024 Brawl Pit Bulusan, Manila, Philippines
1. Queen Of Asia Title & VPW Women’s Title: Yuki Kamifuku (c/c) defeated Chelsea Marie with the Diving Famouser (?:??). *V4 for the Queen Of Asia Title. V2 for the VPW Women’s Title.
The Philippines is where Yuki Kamifuku had her next defence of the Asian Double Crown. She had a close match against Chelsea Marie in what was just as much a battle of beauty as it was wits and skill. Marie almost won by putting Kamifuku in the Code Of Silence submission hold but the champ’s leg was long enough to reach over for a rope break. Marie climbed the ropes but was left vulnerable after Kamifuku reached out and poked her in the eye. Kamifuku Dropkicked her opponent off the turnbuckles then climbed up the same corner to hit the Diving Famouser and win the match.
DPW “SUPER BATTLE”, 13/10/2024 Grady Cole Center, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
1. Battle Of The Best – Final: Dani Luna defeated Shoko Nakajima with a Fireman’s Carry Bomb (13:17).
The winner of the Battle Of The Best tournament would be given a shot at the DPW Women’s World Title so Nakajima was on the cusp of getting that title shot. It wasn’t meant to be unfortunately. Dani Luna kicked out of the Northern Lights Suplex and prevented Nakajima from doing the Diving Senton by kicking her off the top rope. Nakajima didn’t expect Luna to then grab her on the apron from the ropes and throw her back into the ring with a Slingshot German Suplex. It was stunning enough for Luna to pin Nakajima with a Fireman’s Carry Bomb to win the tournament.
MAPLE LEAF PRO “FORGED IN EXCELLENCE – NIGHT 1”, 19/10/2024 St. Clair College, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
1. Gisele Shaw defeated Miyu Yamashita with the Denoument (12:36).
2. Konosuke Takeshita defeated Mike Bailey with the Raging Fire (24:39).
The debut weekend of Maple Leaf Pro had both Takeshita and Yamashita taking part in featured matches. The main event of Night 1 was Takeshita and Mike Bailey showing North America what they were missing when Speedball spent most of his time in Japan for DDT. It was already a cross-promotional match between AEW and TNA that became an even bigger deal because it was also the AEW International Champion against the X Division Champion! Bailey kicked out of the Powerdrive Knee but was put away with the Raging Fire. It was another match of Takeshita’s that Meltzer gave the ***** to this month.
History will look back on Miyu Yamashita Vs Gisele Shaw as the buffer match that was placed in between one of the best matches of the year and one of the worst. I admit that’s an unfair way to look at things so seek this out because it was a pretty good match. Had Yamashita won she would have been added to the ROH Women’s World Title match on Night 2. But Shaw wasn’t going to let her get in the way and won this match with her own Running Knee Strike.
MAPLE LEAF PRO “FORGED IN EXCELLENCE – NIGHT 2”, 20/10/2024 St. Clair College, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
1. Miyu Yamashita & Kylie Rae defeated Laynie Luck & Harley Cameron when Yamashita pinned Luck with the Skull Kick (9:26).
2. AEW International Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) defeated Josh Alexander with the Raging Fire (29:31). *V1 for Konosuke Takeshita.
The last time Takeshita fought Josh Alexander one on one it ended in a time limit draw. For the rematch he was putting the AEW International Title on the line. Just like the night before, Takeshita almost won with the Powerdrive Knee and had to use the Raging Fire to put away his opponent. But after the match he and Don Callis decided to continue the attack on Alexander until Ricochet made a surprise appearance to fight Takeshita. The two of them would butt heads again in AEW later in the month so this looks to be Takeshita’s AEW program for November.
On Night 1 Kylie Rae was attacked by Laynie Luck & Harley Cameron so Yamashita’s role here was to even the odds for a tag match. While Rae took care of Cameron outside the ring, Yamashita pinned Luck with the Skull Kick inside the ring.
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Upcoming Appearances
BZW “FRIDAY NIGHT BANGER”, 01/11/2024 Salle Jacques Brel, Faches-Thumesnil, France
1. MAO Vs KURO
Once the calendar flips over to November MAO will be travelling around the world once more with the DDT Universal Title back in his possession. First destination is in France for a weekend of Banger Zone Wrestling events. KURO will be his opponent on Night 1.
BZW “ALCATRAZ”, 02/11/2024 Salle Jacques Brel, Faches-Thumesnil, France
1. BZW Tag Team Titles: Jack Sans-Nom & Paul Robinson (c) Vs MAO & Yoshihiko
On Night 2, MAO will be joined by Yoshihiko to cause more international trouble. One of MAO’s goals for his overseas tour this time is to win a foreign company’s championship so the two of them will face Jack Sans-Nom & Paul Robinson for the BZW Tag Team Titles.
Pom Harajuku is travelling to Singapore by herself without supervision! Is she going to be a sitting duck for Alexis Lee to tear apart limb from limb?
NJPW “FIGHTING SPIRIT UNLEASHED 2024”, 08/11/2024 Lowell Memorial Auditorium, Lowell, Massachusetts, USA
1. KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs X
What is going to be in store for Takeshita when he goes back to New Japan next month for their next American show? Maybe Ricochet will show up looking for a fight again.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO/DEFY “TJPW BRIGHT EYES”, 09/11/2024 Washington Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA
1. Rika Tatsumi & Amira Vs Suzume & Arisu Endo
2. Yuki Kamifuku Vs Wakana Uehara
3. Moka Miyamoto Vs Rebel Kel
4. Mizuki Vs Liiza Hall
5. Miu Watanabe & Shoko Nakajima Vs Yuki Aino & Zara Zakher
6. Princess Tag Team Titles: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh (c) Vs Vert Vixen & Nicole Matthews
All shows from the DDT/TJPW/DEFY weekend will be airing on Triller via the TrillerTV+ subscription.
DDT/DEFY “DDT IN UTERO”, 09/11/2024 Washington Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA
1. 3 Way Tag Match: Cody Chhun & Guillermo Rosas Vs Bryan Keith & Shota Vs Eddie Pearl & Ricky Gibson
2. Danshoku Dieno Vs Randy Myers
3. Gringo Loco Vs Yuni
4. Special Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & Artemis Spencer Vs Gurv Shira & Harv Shira
5. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs Kohei Kinoshita
6. DDT Universal Title – 3 Way Match: MAO (c) Vs Mike Bailey Vs Miyu Yamashita
More news for this show has been announced while I’ve been writing this with more still to come. Marina Shafir and Nick Wayne will both be there to wrestle.
DDT/TOKYO JOSHI PRO/DEFY “TRIANGLER DTD”, 10/11/2024 Washington Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA
1. Special Single Match: Gringo Loco Vs Miyu Yamashita
2. Special Tag Match: MAO & Mike Bailey Vs Judas Icarus & Travis Williams
3. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs Yuni
I think some of the remaining card will not be decided until the other shows have taken place first.
GCW “CHAOS IN KENTUCKY”, 14/11/2024 Headliners Music Hall, Louisville, Kentucky, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Brooke Havok
Three GCW matches for Yamashita coming up in November. She faces Brooke Havok in a first time ever meeting between the two.
GCW “GATEWAY TO THE DEATH”, 15/11/2024 Pop’s Nightclub, Sauget, Illinois, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Mike Bailey
If this match is anything like their Pandemonium Pro bout from last December then the GCW fans will be in for a treat. Just make sure to use a better camera angle for the finish this time…
GCW “NICK GAGE INVITATIONAL 9”, 16/11/2024 Level 13 Event Center, Orlando, Florida, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
Is GCW going to keep that tournament name even though they’re currently on the outs with Nick Gage? Does that mean Maki Itoh has to drop the Maki Death Kill stuff the next time she goes back there or can she take over the gimmick like Kazuki Hirata did with Magnum TOKYO?
SETUP “YEAR END CLIMAX”, 30/11/2024 The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand
1. SETUP All Asia Women’s Title – No DQ Match: Matcha (c) Vs Pom Harajuku
When Harajuku was in a 3 Way Match against Matcha and Raku a month earlier, Matcha was the winner but she pinned Raku and Harajuku was left as the odd one out. Matcha and Harajuku then got into a fight and had to be kept apart. This unexpected grudge is coming to a head in November because SETUP is booking the two of them in a No DQ Match with the SETUP All Asia Women’s Title on the line!
NJPW “STRONG STYLE EVOLVED”, 15/12/2024 Walter Pyramid, Long Beach, California, USA
1. KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs X
Takeshita will also be at NJPW USA’s December show. With two dates here for the rest of 2024 one of them would surely be a good place to defend the AEW International Title.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “AEX32 SANTIAGO 2025”, 08-09/02/2025 Mapocho Station Cultural Center, Santiago, Chile
Both Yamashita and Itoh have filmed videos promoting their matches at the AEX convention. It sounds like there might be matches featuring local wrestlers as well as whoever else TJPW sends over. At least Yamashita and Itoh said they would like to fight whoever Chile can throw at them.
DDT/TOKYO JOSHI PRO “THE COLLECTIVE 2025”, 17-19/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
The actual shows haven’t been officially announced yet but The Collective tagged DDT and TJPW in their tweet announcing next year’s edition of Wrestlemania Week in Las Vegas. I’ll be there for sure!
DDT “ADULT RESORT PRO WRESTLING IN KIRANAH GARDEN TOYOSU”, 30/10/2024 Tokyo Kiranah Garden Toyosu 191 Fans – No Vacancy
1. Yuki Iino defeated Tomomitsu Matsunaga with the BURNING Elbow Drop (10:00).
2. Danshoku Dieno, Soma Takao & Kazuki Hirata defeated Akito, Keigo Nakamura & Yuki Ishida when Hirata pinned Ishida with the Miracle One Shot Cradle (14:48).
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Kazuki Hirata defeated Danshoku Dieno (c) with a Hammer Attack (6:07 pm). *Kazuki Hirata becomes the 1,684th champion.
3. Special Single Match: Demus defeated Kazuma Sumi with La Valagueza (8:14).
4. No Tag Rules: Daisuke Sasaki, KANON, MJ Paul & Ilusion defeated Toru Owashi, Masahiro Takanashi, Antonio Honda & Yukio Naya when Sasaki submitted Honda with the Crossface Lock (13:53).
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Danshoku Dieno defeated Kazuki Hirata (c) with a Sleeper Hod (6:54 pm). *Danshoku Dieno becomes the 1,685th champion.
5. The 37KAMIINA Vs BURNING!: Tetsuya Endo & Yuya Koroku defeated Yuki Ueno & Shunma Katsumata when Koroku pinned Katsumata with a Crucifix Pin (14:14).
6. Kiranah Garden Toyosu First Opening Commemoration! Special Tag Match: Shinya Aoki & MAO defeated Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA when Aoki submitted Brookes with the Manjigatame (18:26).
The stage is getting set for next week’s KO-D Openweight Title match. Before today’s show began Shinya Aoki and Chris Brookes held a contract signing ceremony and talked about the upcoming title bout. Brookes called Aoki the strongest wrestler in the world but Brookes’s love for DDT is stronger. Aoki on the other hand said he will crush Brookes with all of his might and without any emotion just to show there is a clear difference of skill between them. Then in today’s main event Aoki gave an example by using the Manjigatame to make Brookes submit. Afterwards he said he is two steps stronger than him and if he keeps this up he will be fine on 4th November. Brookes praised Aoki for having dangerous Elbow Strikes to go along with his strong submissions. He isn’t letting today’s result put him down.
The undercard had to be changed around because To-y picked up a virus and couldn’t wrestle. Yuki Ueno stepped up to team with Shunma Katsumata and take on the BURNING team of Tetsuya Endo & Yuya Koroku. BURNING pulled off the win against the stronger team thanks to Koroku catching Katsumata off guard with a Crucifix Pin for the three count. Koroku then challenged ShunMAO for the KO-D Tag Team Titles on 23rd November with Endo going to be his partner again. Katsumata refused because he thinks Endo is too strong. MAO however got on a microphone away from the ring and said he finds it interesting that Koroku beat Katsumata. But according to MAO, Katsumata is the weakest member of ShunMao. MAO wants to see if Koroku can beat him too so he accepted the challenge. He also explained to Katsumata later that they should be giving DDT’s younger wrestlers more chances to win championships if they want to lead the company.
The Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title changed hands twice during the show. The first change happened after the second match when Kazuki Hirata knocked out Danshoku Dieno with the ring bell hammer and pinned him. Dieno got his revenge during intermission by sneaking up to Hirata at the autograph table and choking him out with a Sleeper Hold.
Yesterday there was a discovery on Twitter over Kota Ibushi’s recent return to DDT that suddenly came to an abrupt end. The discovery was his two DDT matches from 25th August and 8th September have both been scrubbed off Wrestle Universe and can no longer be watched on the service.* When you go to watch the 25th August show on Wrestle Universe his match is still talked about on the pre-show and the match graphic still appears in the opening video. The match itself though has been edited off the stream and it goes straight from the end of Match #5 to the video package of the main event. The card lineups on each video both have “Some matches have been cut due to circumstances” written on the bottom of the page. That’s not all, DDT also pulled some of their recent Youtube videos of Ibushi’s past matches that they originally uploaded to promote his return. This follows the news at the start of the month of Ibushi’s two October dates with DDT being cancelled with no explanation given by anyone.
*Update: A day after this post was written, Wrestle Universe also removed the Weapon Rumble match from 21st July which featured Ibushi’s actual return to DDT.
I thought that news sounded weird when it happened. Ibushi wasn’t injured and even had a match in GLEAT the next day. There was some guessing online that maybe he was being called upon by AEW and couldn’t be available for the DDT dates anymore. I didn’t want to rule it out because those kind of short notice bookings have happened with DDT and Tokyo Joshi Pro talent in the past. But looking at the AEW schedule at the time it didn’t make much sense to me. He’d miss one booking but had plenty of time to make it back to Japan for the second booking. So when those dates came and went without Ibushi showing up anywhere, I didn’t think about it again until the Wrestle Universe thing was discovered.
So if Ibushi’s absence was not because of injury and was not because of other obligations getting in the way, then that suggests there could have been a falling out between Ibushi and DDT. That’s when I remembered what happened at the very end of the 25th August show. As the crowd was making their way to the exit MAO & Shunma Katsumata announced their intentions to challenge for DDT’s tag team championships. Nothing unusual about that. They continued talking about theirs goals backstage during their post-show interview until MAO changed the subject and brought up “Golden Star Syndrome”. That was the phrase he used to describe Ibushi’s fanbase and the lapsed DDT fans who came to the show just to see him chase old glories again. MAO’s point was the fans should not take the current generation for granted because they are the ones who kept DDT going after Ibushi left and the company went downhill from their peak of popularity.
They were not the only wrestlers who made comments about Ibushi’s return to DDT. Yuki Ueno also spoke about it backstage after his defeat in the main event. Ueno said DDT became what it is today thanks to Ibushi and everyone should be grateful for that. Sanshiro Takagi loves him like family which means Ueno also treats him like family. However, Ueno also questioned Ibushi’s motive for returning to DDT and revealed there are other people in the company who are not happy he came back. Ueno wants to make DDT better but he couldn’t tell if Ibushi’s intentions are the same.
When Ibushi found out about those comments he tweeted out his response. He wonders if the wrestlers were criticizing him out of jealousy? He isn’t interested enough to get involved any further and decided to ignore them. He also asked if those wrestlers are DDT’s current aces and suggested if this deal isn’t working out he still has AEW to go to. At the time of writing those comments are still the most recent tweets on his X account.
A few days later Michael Nakazawa posted a blog to give his thoughts on the matter. He wrote them to be as neutral as possible but admits they will likely come off as defending his close friend Ibushi anyway. He understands there are people who support DDT’s current era that are annoyed to see all of the fan and media attention go to Ibushi for his sudden return to the company. He points out that cutting a promo built around real emotions can sometimes go in an unexpected direction. That happened here when Ibushi did not react the way Ueno, MAO & Katsumata supposedly wanted him to. Nakazawa said if there is anyone who didn’t like the company’s decision to book Ibushi then they should have spoken to someone in the company instead of making the matter public. He also thinks it would not have done Ibushi any good if he picked up on the promo because Ibushi just wants to have fun matches. Nakazawa also compared Ibushi to Kaisei Takechi when it comes to drawing in fans from outside of DDT’s current audience to their shows. However Nakazawa admits Ibushi could have handled the situation in a more mature manner.
The next part of the story takes a surprising turn. While our attention was on the Wrestle Universe story, Marvelous played a video at their show of Ibushi standing around in their dojo. It was a teaser to promote that Ibushi will be in attendance for the promotion’s next Korakuen Hall event on 1st December. Even though Marvelous is a joshi promotion first and foremost, there is often a men’s match booked on the undercard of their shows. Ibushi went to his Instagram to talk about it and wondered if this video will be on their Youtube channel (I can’t tell if this was meant to be a joke about his DDT videos being pulled down).
Ibushi then turned his attention to his situation with DDT. I tried translating it and the comments come out sounding negative. It sounds like Ibushi is accusing DDT of caring more about money than their 20 years of working together. His post also includes hashtags referring to Sanshiro Takagi, DDT collapsing as a company and decisions being made to make up for a deficit. Whatever it is that Ibushi has a problem with, he would like to get an apology over it. Now his focus is going to be on the upcoming Marvelous show.
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So that’s what I’ve been able to gather together so far. Kota Ibushi and DDT have had a falling out and it seems to stem from the comments made by Yuki Ueno & MAO. Whether that was just meant to be a promo to build up a future match and it blew up in everyone’s face isn’t fully clear to me. The few matches Ibushi had in DDT this year had nothing to do with The 37KAMIINA. There was a trios match where Ibushi got to fight Tetsuya Endo again, a nostalgia match where Ibushi reunited with other DDT figures from his generation and the cancelled bout was a freak show kickboxing comedy match where he would have treated his best friend Gota Ihashi as a human crash test dummy like he always does. Maybe something would have been set up for the end of year Sumo Hall show but I guess we will never know now.
It sounds like it was DDT’s decision to remove the videos. I remember early in NJPW World’s existence when Naoya Ogawa successfully requested to have videos of his matches removed but Ibushi’s behavior doesn’t come off like he made any demands like that. But his decision to talk up rumours of DDT’s business decline isn’t going to help things one bit. It’s a bridge burner if I ever heard one and kind of not that far off from how he talked about New Japan when that relationship went sour. At least he hasn’t said anything as extreme as who he suggested some pro wrestling companies were in bed with back then.
I hope what I’ve written helps clear up even a little bit of what’s going on. I wanted to shine a light on the situation after the videos go scrubbed from Wrestle Universe. It makes what happened above way more notable in hindsight than I thought they were at the time. There is still so much we don’t know about behind the scenes but at least this is something to work with if people out there want to talk about it. If there are any mistakes, contradictions or other comments about what I wrote please tell me because the last thing I want to happen is this post causing trouble because of wrong information (causing trouble because of correct information is A-OK though).
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UPDATE: The 4th November issue of the Wrestling Observer newsletter had a write up on the situation based on this post. Dave Meltzer also had additional information from a source close to the matter. The new info was written like this:
“Another person with knowledge of the situation wrote to us saying, “There were comments backstage from the younger guys towards Ibushi that he felt were disrespectful and I guess when the president (Takagi) asked them to apologize and squash the beef, most of the talent didn’t really want to, so Ibushi chose not to work for DDT anymore.” The person also said he felt that this was blown out of proportion”
DDT “FUKUSHIMA ADATARA ONSEN HOTEL PARADISE HILLS BOX OFFICE”, 27/10/2024 Fukushima Adatara Onsen Hotel Paradise Hills Sakura Campground Special Venue 208 Fans
1. Yukio Naya defeated Keigo Nakamura with a Choke Slam (8:30).
2. MJ Paul defeated Yuki Ishida with the Reverse Splash (7:05).
3. Diswear Rule: Danshoku Dieno & Kazuki Hirata defeated To-y & Kazuma Sumi when Hirata pushed Sumi out of the ring (10:44).
4. Daisuke Sasaki, KANON, Demus & Ilusion defeated Yuki Iino, Akito, Yuni & Yuya Koroku when Sasaki pinned Akito with the Sasaki Hurricanrana (11:01).
5. Special Tag Match: Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada defeated Tetsuya Endo & Makoto Oishi when Brookes pinned Oishi with the Praying Mantis Bomb (13:55).
6. Sakura Campground Will Be Used In Its Entirety! Paradise-Style Falls Count Anywhere 6-Man Tag Match: Yuki Ueno, MAO & Shunma Katsumata defeated Jun Akiyama, HARASHIMA & Antonio Honda when MAO pinned Honda after the Our Mad Max onto the pile of Chairs (22:41).
The Falls Count Anywhere Match used a van as an important weapon. MAO drove it towards the ring but Antonio Honda stood in its path to make MAO step on the brakes. Honda approached the driver’s seat, poke MAO in the eyes with Gongitsune, got him out of the van and then drove it into Shunma Katsumata! However The 37KAMIINA were able to recover and together they slammed Honda onto a pile of chairs with the Our Mad Max as performed from the roof of the van for the win. MAO said that’s the kind of match he wants to defend the KO-D Tag Team Titles in. Yuki Ueno however would prefer doing Falls Count Anywhere matches in a sauna. Honda has a similar idea in mind because he would like to bring HARASHIMA & Jun Akiyama with him to a hot spring some day.
Gorgeous Matsuno was in attendance to promote his “GORGEOUS NIGHT” show in Fukushima on 24th November. He sang a song for the audience and also got involved in a few SCHADENFREUDE International spots during Match #5.
The Diswear Rule in Match #3 is simply to knock one of your opponents out of the ring to win.
The mayor of Nihonmatsu City gave a speech at the start of the show and was even encouraged to participate in the opening match when Keigo Nakamura held Yukio Naya in place for him to throw Sumo Slaps at. When he was done and returned to his front row seat Naya Body Slammed Nakamura to the ground right in front of him.
Posted by JamieOD 
