DDT And TJPW Results From The GCW Japan 2025 Tour

August 4, 2025

Originally I was only going to write a little bit about GCW’s latest tour of Japan in my monthly DDT Around The World series because there was only a handful of DDT and Tokyo Joshi Pro talent taking part and not even on every show. However plans changed when Masha Slamovich and Microman were both unable to travel to Japan, opening spots up for DDT and TJPW wrestlers to get booked for the shows on short notice. So since there was a lot more to write about, I had to put them in their own post.

GCW “GCW JAPAN 2025 AT SHINJUKU FACE”, 28/07/2025
Shinjuku FACE
??? Fans

1. GCW Tag Team Titles: Alec Price & Jordan Oliver (c) defeated Effy & Dark Sheik when Price pinned Sheik after a Flapjack/Facecrusher Combo (11:48).
*V12 for YDNP.
2. Drew Parker defeated Shotzi Blackheart with the Swanton Bomb (6:48).
3. Jeffrey John defeated Kikutaro with the Pedigree (10:06).
4. MAO defeated Atticus Cogar after a Super Kick/Praying Mantis Bomb Combo with Drew Parker (12:38).
5. Kazusada Higuchi defeated 1 Called Manders with the Claw Slam (14:01).
6. GCW Ultraviolent Title: Matt Tremont (c) defeated Super Crazy with the Death Valley Driver onto a Table (12:07).
*V16 for Matt Tremont.

GCW put together an inter-promotional champion versus champion match. 1 Called Manders was supposed to face Slamovich for the JCW World Title but that match was cancelled. Instead Manders brought along the wXw Unified World Wrestling Title to fight Kazusada Higuchi, the reigning KO-D Openweight Champion in a non-title bout. The two made sure to beat the hell out of each other including a moment at ringside where Higuchi Suplexed Manders onto the exposed floor. The damage done prevented Manders from doing a Gutwrench move later in the match, allowing Higuchi to take over with the Doctor Bomb. But Manders got right back up, Chopped Higuchi in the stomach and pulled off the Gutwrench Suplex on the next attempt. A back and forth series of Chops and Headbutts led to Higuchi reaching out for the Claw Hold but Manders bit his hand instead. A big Lariat from Manders got a two count but Higuchi rocked him back with his own Lariat and used the Claw Slam to get the win. After the match Manders offered to hand the KO-D Title back to Higuchi as a show of respect. Higuchi decided to do the same with the wXw Title.

Opposite attitudes clashed in the ring when MAO fought Atticus Cogar one on one. MAO came into the match wearing shades and a bright orange shirt for the summer while Cogar was all business with no time for dealing with his opponent’s nonsense. When MAO wiggled his way around a Waist Lock, Cogar pulled out his bundle of skewers. The ref took the skewers off him but Cogar pulled another bundle later in the match and threatened the ref when they were taken off him again. MAO ran in to try and stop Atticus but he missed a Big Boot and accidentally knocked the ref out instead! Cogar successfully jabbed MAO in the head with the skewers and then attack him with a chair. Then he suddenly pulled out a dart and was about to stab MAO with it when Drew Parker ran into the ring and stopped him. MAO and Parker then teamed up on Cogar, giving him a Super Kick/Praying Mantis Bomb Combo. MAO was able to pin him while the revived ref counted to three.

GCW “GCW JAPAN 2025 AT TOKYO SQUARE”, 29/07/2025
TOKYO SQUARE In Itabashi
??? Fans

1. Shota defeated Jeffrey John with a School Boy (8:17).
2. Hideyoshi Kamitani defeated 1 Called Manders with a Back Drop (11:29).
3. MAO, Alec Price & Jordan Oliver defeated Miyu Yamashita, Dark Sheik & Shotzi Blackheart when Price pinned Sheik after a Double Impaler DDT (15:19).
4. Atticus Cogar defeated Drew Parker with the Headlock Driver (8:32).
5. GCW World Title: Effy (c) defeated Abdullah Kobayashi with the Diving Sack Rider (14:34).
*V25 for Effy.
6. GCW Ultraviolent Title: Matt Tremont (c) defeated Masashi Takeda with the Death Valley Driver into a box of Lighttubes (12:07).
*V17 for Matt Tremont.

Slamovich’s absence meant Miyu Yamashita was called in to team with Dark Sheik & Shotzi Blackheart. As for their opponents, you already have Alec Price & Jordan Oliver as YDNP so add MAO to the mix and you get YDNPM (Young Dumb ‘N Price MAO)! Yamashita hit Price with the Skull Kick at one point but Price got one back on her by hitting a Rebound Lariat. MAO then took out Yamashita & Blackheart with a Quebrada outside the ring into the aisleway. YDNP then finished Sheik off with a Double Impaler DDT for the victory.

GCW “GCW JAPAN 2025 AT KORAKUEN HALL”, 30/07/2025
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
??? Fans

1. GCW Tag Team Titles: Alec Price & Jordan Oliver (c) defeated MAO & Rina Yamashita when Price pinned Yamashita after the Double Impaler DDT (?:??).
*V13 for YDNP.
2. Atticus Cogar defeated Miyu Yamashita with the Headlock Driver (?:??).
3. Dark Sheik, Yoshihiko & Jeffrey John defeated Invisible Stan, Shota & Kikutaro when Sheik pinned Shota with the Diving Leg Drop (?:??).
4. Jun Akiyama defeated 1 Called Manders with the Wrist-Clutch Exploder Suplex (?:??).
5. Maki Itoh defeated Shotzi Blackheart with a Crab Hold (12:29).
6. Chris Brookes defeated Drew Parker with two Praying Mantis Bombs (23:16).
7. GCW World Title: Effy (c) defeated Matt Tremont with the Diving Sack Rider onto the Chairs (21:34).
*V26 for Effy.

One of the big matches of the finale in Korakuen Hall was Chris Brookes being in the ring again with Drew Parker. This was the first match together in over two years after Parker left Japan to return home. Parker was busted open early when they brawled up the aisleway and Brookes rammed a table into his face. Parker knocked Brookes onto the table then fought off Takeshi Masada who was there as a cornerman. He had Bunbun with him so Parker grabbed Bunbun, climbed the nearby entrance and did a Diving Body Press to Brookes through the table! Brookes later did a Diving Senton to Parker sending both of them crashing into a stack of plastic boxes in the ring. After a long hard fought battle Brookes started giving Parker different kinds of Piledrivers. There was a Tombstone, then a Snap Piledriver, then a top rope Praying Mantis Bomb. Parker kept kicking out though and tried to show whatever defiance he still had left in him. Brookes then gave him two more Praying Mantis Bombs and Parker was finally down for the three count. The two embraced after the match.

Maki Itoh took part in last year’s GCW tour with a hand injury so in a kind of funny turn of events she took on Shotzi Blackheart who was going through the same thing for this year’s tour. At one point during the match Itoh went into the crowd because she noticed Shoko Nakajima and Miu Watanabe sitting on the bleachers as spectators. Back in the ring there was a strike exchange with Itoh no selling strikes to the head while Blackheart no sold Low Blows. When Blackheart got the upper hand, Itoh pulled out a pizza cutter and attacked her with it. Blackheart went for a Running Knee Strike but Itoh rolled her over into a Crab Hold, increasing the pressure until Blackheart gave up.

If anyone had a hard hitting three days of wrestling it was Manders. His third and final singles match of a tour was a dream come true for him because he got to fight Jun Akiyama. Much like the Higuchi match, both men hit and slammed each other as hard as they could until one reached their limit. That happened when Akiyama gave Manders the Wrist-Clutch Exploder Suplex. Manders gave Akiyama the horns up hand sign after the match and Akiyama replied in kind.

Throughout the tour a grudge developed between Jeffrey John and Kikutaro. It led to Kikutaro costing John a match against Shota and then brought Dark Sheik into the picture to even the playing field. Kikutaro was meant to fight Dark Sheik & Yoshihiko on this show with Microman as his partner. Plans changed so he decided to call in the big guns and invite Invisible Stan to team with him and Shota! Stan’s biggest impact in the match was to do the Korakuen balcony dive onto everyone down below! Back in the ring John landed a Plancha to Kikutaro, Yoshihiko gave Shota a Tornado DDT and Sheik then pinned him with the Diving Leg Drop.

The match Yamashita was scheduled to take part in was a singles bout with Atticus Cogar. Nowadays whenever Yamashita takes part in GCW she gets more and more into the wilder wrestling style of the company compared to TJPW. The same was seen here when she briefly stopped Cogar from using a chair by kicking it apart! The frame was still in one piece so it remained to be used as a weapon by both. Cogar pulled out the skewers but it was Yamashita who jabbed them into his head rather than the other way around! However Cogar recovered and gave her the Air Raid Crash. Yamashita kicked out of it but Cogar immediately rolled it into the Headlock Driver to win the match.

MAO and YDNP became opponents for the final show of the tour. The opening match was a GCW Tag Team Titles bout with MAO joining up with Rina Yamashita as Slamovich’s replacement to challenge the champions. They came close to winning when MAO hit a Frog Splash and Yamashita did a Diving Body Press on Price but Oliver made it in time to break the pin. MAO ran up the corner to do a Jumping Cutter but Price cut him off in midair with a Super Kick. With MAO out of the picture, YDNP were then able to beat Yamashita with the Double Impaler DDT.

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Posted by JamieOD

DDT Around The World – January 2025

February 1, 2025

A new year means new adventures and a fresh sense of excitement to go exploring again. Konosuke Takeshita now has work with New Japan to deal with alongside his AEW duties. It’s opened up a whole new group of opponents to fight in America as well as Japan, especially since he has a championship in each company he wants to defend often. Yuka Sakazaki had a very big month by taking part in a special retirement match and also getting a big chance to do some things on AEW TV. But now that has come and gone I worry that she’s going to vanish from the shows again. Yuki Kamifuku is continuing her series of matches with Alexis Lee across Southeast Asia. Maki Itoh went on tour across the world with GCW but sadly lost her championship along the way.

A lot more destinations are coming up in the Springtime. Chile gets to experience Tokyo Joshi Pro on their own soil, Takeshita gets a very big tag match in Australia, Miyu Yamashita gets to wrestle in Germany for the first time and all roads will be leading us towards the bright lights of Las Vegas. I know I got the tickets I want for Wrestlemania Week.

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Videos

Konosuke Takeshita In AEW Playlist


IWA Thailand/SETUP “BANGKOK NAVIGATION”, 18/01/2025
The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand

1. IWA Japan World Heavyweight Title Tournament – Qualifying Match: Masahiro Takanashi Vs Jonathan Johnson

AEW “COLLISION – HOMECOMING”, 25/01/2025
Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida, USA


1. TBS Title No. 1 Contender 4 Way Match: Queen Aminata Vs Deonna Purazzo Vs Yuka Sakazaki Vs Serena Deeb


2. AEW International Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Katsuyori Shibata


AEW “DYNAMITE”, 29/01/2025
Propst Arena At Von Braun Center, Huntsville, Alabama, USA

1. TBS Title: Mercedes Moné (c) Vs Yuka Sakazaki

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Results


NJPW “WRESTLE KINGDOM 19 IN TOKYO DOME”, 04/01/2025
Tokyo Dome, Japan
24,107 Fans

1. NEVER Openweight Title & AEW International Title: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA (I/c) defeated Shingo Takagi (N/c) with the Raging Fire (11:42).
*V5 for KONOSUKE TAKESHITA. Shingo Takagi fails in V2. Becomes the 47th/11th Champion!

I already wrote about Takeshita’s big weekend at the Tokyo Dome. You can read it here.


NJPW/AEW/CMLL/STARDOM/ROH “WRESTLE DYNASTY”, 05/01/2025
Tokyo Dome, Japan
16,300 Fans

1. NEVER Openweight Title & AEW International Title: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA (c/c) defeated Tomohiro Ishii with the Raging Fire (13:30).
*V1 for NEVER Openweight Title. V6 for AEW International Title.

Same as above.


SPW “CHAMPIONS NEVER YIELD 3”, 10/01/2025
Foo Chow Building, Singapore

1. Queen Of Asia Title: Yuki Kamifuku (c) defeated Alexis Lee with the Diving Famouser (?:??).
V6 for Yuki Kamifuku.

As far as I know it was just the Queen Of Asia Title that was on the line for Kamifuku’s latest appearance at Singapore Pro Wrestling. Her rivalry with Alexis Lee may have turned friendly but Lee still wants to win that title back. Kamifuku was able to beat her again for another title defence. It also won’t be the last time this year they fight each other in SPW. More on that later.


NJPW “BATTLE IN THE VALLEY”, 11/01/2025
San Jose Civic, San Jose, California, USA

1. Sumie Sakai Retirement Match – Tornado Tag Match: Hiromu Takahashi, Mayu Iwatani & Yuka Sakazaki defeated Sumi Sakai, EVIL & SHO when Takahashi pinned Sakai with the TIME BOMB (14:42).
2. NEVER Openweight Title: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA (c) defeated KUSHIDA with the Raging Fire (15:08).
*V2 for KONOSUKE TAKESHITA.

With a new path forged in New Japan, Takeshita went to fight for the company over in America. California was the place where his next NEVER Openweight Title defence was scheduled. KUSHIDA was his challenger in his latest attempt to take on the heavyweights. His gameplan was to start with breaking down Takeshita’s arm before switching to his legs with sweeping Leg Kicks. The plan worked in that it did weaken Takeshita’s moveset and made the match more competitive than first it looked on paper. But Takeshita was able to stand tall in the end and put away KUSHIDA. Takeshita then went ahead and called his shot. When Hiroshi Tanahashi has his final match in America before he retires, Takeshita wants to be his opponent!

If you want to watch a feel good wrestling match to get you out of the new year dumps, go seek out Sumie Sakai’s retirement bout. She teamed up with House Of Torture members EVIL & SHO because of their connections back in their American excursions days. Sakazaki was one of the many people who wanted to be a part of the match as a thank you to Sakai. She got chosen among the lucky trio that included Hiromu Takahashi from NJPW & Mayu Iwatani from Stardom. There was also a female Kamaitachi hanging around at ringside who nobody has been able to identify since (I’ve seen a few guesses it was Iyo Sky because she was in attendance and I appreciate the cheekiness of it if true). Sakazaki whacked SHO over the head with a foreign object and gave him the Tea Time. Sakai ended up fighting on her own and kept kicking out for as long as she could. Takahashi eventually kept her down for the count with the TIME BOMB.


IWA Thailand/SETUP “BANGKOK NAVIGATION”, 18/01/2025
The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand

1. IWA Japan World Heavyweight Title Tournament – Qualifying Match: Jonathan Johnson defeated Masahiro Takanashi with the Swanton Bomb (?:??).

This month saw SETUP become the new bearers of the International Wrestling Association brand by launching the debut IWA Thailand show. Masahiro Takanashi went over to take part in a tournament to determine the No. 1 Contender for the IWA Japan World Heavyweight Title. He had no problem being the bad guy against Jonathan Johnson and even got some ringside help from Shota getting in Johnson’s way whenever it was convenient. However Johnson fought off the numbers disadvantage and made Shota Super Kick Takanashi by mistake. Johnson then countered the Takatonic into an Implant for a nearfall and then hit the Swanton Bomb to get the upset win, knocking Takanashi out of the tournament in the 1st Round.


GCW “THE PEOPLE VS GCW”, 19/01/2025
Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, New York, USA

1. GCW Ultraviolent Title & GCW Extreme Title – Doors, Ladders & Chairs Unification Match: Matt Tremont defeated Maki Itoh (E/c), John Wayne Murdoch, Drew Parker, Rina Yamashita, Brandon Kirk, Dr. Redacted and Matthew Justice when Tremont grabbed the titles (15:55).
*Maki Itoh fails in V5. Matt Tremont becomes the 10th GCW Ultraviolent Champion and 11th GCW Extreme Champion!

Maki Itoh took a big gamble and it did not pay off. She wanted to double her title collection in GCW by joining the Doors, Ladders & Chairs match where the vacant GCW Ultraviolent Title was on the line. To do that she agreed to put the GCW Extreme Title up for grabs too so both championships would end up being unified together. John Wayne Murdoch complained about her inclusion at the start of the match, causing Itoh to fake cry so everyone else would attack him in her defence. Itoh also did the ladder spin spot, hitting whoever was in her way until Matthew Justice smashed her with a chair. Her last big spot of the match was diving off a ladder onto everyone else outside the ring. She ended up getting taken out of the match when Drew Parker did the Swanton Bomb from the ladder onto herself and Murdoch through some tables at ringside. Matt Tremont ended up being the last one left to climb the ladder and pull down both belts.


BZW/GCW “ENTER THE ZONE”, 25/01/2025
Espace Isabelle De Hainaut, Rue De Saint-Quentin, France

1. BZW Title: Joseph Fenech Jr. (c) defeated Maki Itoh by Disqualification when Itoh was caught with Brass Knuckles (?:??).
*V7 for Joseph Fenech Jr.

One week later Itoh travelled to Europe with GCW for a weekend of shows in France and England. For a brief moment it looked like Itoh was the new champion of Banger Zone Wrestling when she defeated Joseph Fenech Jr. for the BZW Title. However during the match Fenech placed a pair of brass knuckles into Itoh’s gear so when he lost the match, he complained to the ref and accused Itoh of cheating. The ref inspected Itoh, found the brass knucks “hidden” in her costume and decided to reverse the decision.


AEW “COLLISION – HOMECOMING”, 25/01/2025
Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida, USA

1. TBS Title No. 1 Contender 4 Way Match: Yuka Sakazaki defeated Queen Aminata, Deonna Purazzo and Serena Deeb when Sakazaki pinned Purazzo with a Modified Crucifix Pin (9:28).
2. AEW International Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) defeated Katsuyori Shibata with the Raging Fire (13:29).
*V7 for Konosuke Takeshita.

Back in AEW, Takeshita called out an unexpected opponent to be his next challenger for the AEW International Title. He wanted a piece of Katsuyori Shibata after seeing him winning matches in ROH! It was a match that just as much existed to show everyone that Shibata can still take bumps because Takeshita Suplexed him around quite a bit. Shibata though was able to withstand the attacks and push back, fighting his way towards a possible title change. However Don Callis in a panic left the commentary booth to grab Shibata’s leg from ringside as a distraction. Takeshita then grabbed Shibata for the Blue Thunder Bomb. Shibata kicked out of that with a 1 Count so Takeshita put him away with the Raging Fire.

Sakazaki’s AEW direction for this month centered around the TBS Championship. She was thrown into the mix of a 4 Way Match to determine the No. 1 Contender. Her chances improved when Queen Aminata and Serena Deeb fought their way out of the ring and away from ringside. She also benefitted from Deonna Purrazzo getting distracted by Taya Valkyrie being attacked by Harley Cameron. With Purazzo’s guard now down, Sakazaki cradled her into a Crucifix Pin to score the three count and earn herself a title match.


GCW “LIVE IN LONDON”, 26/01/2025
Electric Ballroom, London, England

1. Maki Itoh defeated Man Like DeReiss with a Mouse Trap (11:56).

What Itoh lacked in size against Man Like DeReiss she more than made up for it with ego and personality. She quickly reacted to DeReiss’s big entrance by telling him she’s “not scared, you pussy!” DeReiss still took her lightly, making quips on the microphone while Body Slamming her. But Itoh started a comeback while the Pokémon theme song played over the speakers. However DeReiss took a page out of Itoh’s playbook by crying crocodile tears so Itoh would go easy on him. His plan almost worked until Itoh countered a Power Slam into the Mouse Trap cradle to get the pin out of nowhere.


AEW “DYNAMITE”, 29/01/2025
Propst Arena At Von Braun Center, Huntsville, Alabama, USA

1. TBS Title: Mercedes Moné (c) defeated Yuka Sakazaki with the Money Maker (13:40).
*V13 for Mercedes Moné.

Remember back when Mercedes Moné would put out photos and videos on social media of her training at the TJPW dojo and hanging out with the roster? Well after all that time we finally got to see her wrestle a match against someone TJPW related. Moné and Sakazaki got the main event slot on Dynamite for their TBS Title match. Sakazaki got out of the Statement Maker by cradling it into a nearfall. She thought she had Moné where she wanted her by doing a Snap German Suplex. But Moné blocked the Magical Girl Splash with her knees and eventually pinned her with the Moné Maker.


JERICHO CRUISE “CHRIS JERICHO’S ROCK ‘N’ WRESTLING RAGER – SIX ON THE BEACH – NIGHT 1”, 31/01/2025
Norwegian Pearl Cruise Ship

1. Yuka Sakazaki defeated Viva Van (?:??).
2. AEW International Title Eliminator Match: Konosuke Takeshita defeated Tommy Billington (?:??).

Both Takeshita and Sakazaki were a part of Chris Jericho’s annual Rock ‘N’ Wrestling Rager At Sea cruise. There were four days of shows but from what I could find Sakazaki only wrestled on the first day, beating Viva Van. Takeshita beat the new “Dynamite Kid” Tommy Billington on his first match of the cruise. It has since been promoted in AEW canon as an AEW International Title eliminator match for Ring Of Honor TV. I’ll go through the rest of Takeshita’s matches in next month’s article.

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Upcoming Appearances


TOKYO JOSHI PRO “AEX32 SANTIAGO 2025”, 09/02/2025
Estación Mapocho Cultural Center, Santiago, Chile

1. Moka Miyamoto Vs Casey
2. Aja Kong Vs Roma
3. Princess Tag Team Titles: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh (c) Vs Pandora & Sara Phoenix

The AEX Santiago convention welcomes Tokyo Joshi Pro to Chile in February. The Princess Tag Team Titles will be defended over there too, possibly changing the course of “GRAND PRINCESS ’25” if 121000000 lose the belts over there. Fans over there will also get to see Aja Kong and Moka Miyamoto in action.


AEW “GRAND SLAM AUSTRALIA”, 15/02/2025
Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane, Australia

1. Will Ospreay & Kenny Omega Vs Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher

There’s a lot of logistical confusion going around AEW’s Australia debut but it’s still working out better than that time Takeshita was booked by Sub-Zero Pro back in 2019. He’ll be teaming with Australia’s own Kyle Fletcher as the two members of the Don Callis Family face the combined wrath of Will Ospreay & Kenny Omega!


SPW “UNCHAINED”, 07/03/2025
Foo Chow Building, Singapore

1. Yuki Kamifuku & The Statement Vs Alexis Lee & Da Butcherman

Kamifuku and Lee’s rivalry remains in Singapore for the time being. This time Kamifuku will get involved in a mixed tag match for the first time in SPW. She teams with The Statement (aka Andruew Tang) while Lee will team with Da Butcherman.


WXW “16 CARAT GOLD – NIGHT 3”, 09/03/2025
Turbinenhalle, Oberhausen, Germany

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X

Some of the best wrestling weekends I’ve ever had were in Germany for the 16 Carat Gold tournament. Yamashita’s debut for wXw is only going to be for the third night though. That’s a shame because if she did the entire weekend there would have been a whole list of interesting new matches for her to do.


NJPW “WINDY CITY RIOT”, 11/04/2025
Wintrust Arena, Chicago, Illinois, USA

1. Hiroshi Tanahashi Last Match In The USA Final Road ~Kinship~: Hiroshi Tanahashi Vs KONOSUKE TAKESHITA

America gets a rematch over a decade in the making. In the 2nd year Anniversary of Takeshita’s debut match, he got to fight Tanahashi in his prime at DDT’s Sumo Hall show. He had respect for him for years afterward until 2015 when Tanahashi embarrassed DDT in the same venue. When Takeshita competed in the G1 Climax last year he brought up that situation as a reason for him to chase after Tanahashi in New Japan. Now that Tanahashi is getting ready to retire next year, there’s not a lot of time left to make this match happen. So Takeshita made the demand to be the opponent for Tanahashi’s last match in America (unless AEW gets the itch to book him on super short notice later in the year).


PANDEMONIUM PRO “THE HOUSE ALWAYS WINS”, 17/04/2025
Fremont Country Club, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. Maya World Vs Miu Watanabe

DDT and TJPW’s schedule for Wrestlemania Week is focused on the Friday and Saturday. However Miu Watanabe’s schedule unexpectedly starts a little bit earlier. On the Thursday she will be competing in Pandemonium Pro against the promising wrestler from Texas, Maya World.


TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN LAS VEGAS”, 18/04/2025
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

The sixteen women TJPW are planning to bring over to Las Vegas are Mizuki, Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh, Suzume, Yuki Kamifuku, Pom Harajuku, Shoko Nakajima, Rika Tatsumi, Hyper Misao, Yuki Aino, Miu Watanabe, Raku, Arisu Endo, Yuki Arai, Wakana Uehara and Shino Suzuki. There will be a few more international wrestlers taking part too.


DDT “DDT GOES LAS VEGAS!”, 18/04/2025
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

The first group of DDT wrestlers coming over for the show are MAO, Shinya Aoki, Daisuke Sasaki, Yukio Naya, Antonio Honda, Ilusion, Yuni and Kazuma Sumi. A lot of the regular talent have already been advertised for DDT’s shows back in Japan the same weekend so this might be your lot outside of the guests.


DDT/TOKYO JOSHI PRO/GCW “DDT VS TJPW VS GCW”, 19/04/2025
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Tickets for all three shows are on sale now.

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BAKA GAIJIN + FRIENDS “VOL. SEVEN: CHRISSY B’S BIRTHDAY BASH” Results

August 24, 2023

BAKA GAIJIN + FRIENDS “VOL. SEVEN: CHRISSY B’S BIRTHDAY BASH”, 24/08/2023
Tokyo ARENA Shimokitazawa
65 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

1. Special Single Match: Chris Brookes defeated Yoshihiko with a Stomping Texas Cloverleaf (10:53).
2. Special Single Match: Takeshi Masada defeated Mecha Mummy (w/ Mad Dr. Ueki) by Pinfall (14:36).
3. Special Single Match: Ram Kaichow defeated Antonio Honda with the Onryo Clutch (9:57).
4. Special Single Match: Hagane Shinno defeated Maya Yukihi with the Ranhei (14:28).

Oh hey, today is Chris Brookes’s birthday! What better way to celebrate it than with a Baka Gaijin + Friends show? Things were a little different this time because a lot of the usual crew were busy travelling over to England for the weekend. Brookes kept himself to the opening match so the main event instead went to Hagane Shinno and Maya Yukihi. The two kept most of the match within the black mat on the floor where Yukihi would reach out to fans in order to rope break Shinno’s submission holds. Shinno would change tactics by doing jumping attacks off of the bar counter. Yukihi’s biggest nearfall came from using the Tiger Driver. Shinno kicked out and traded different pinning combinations with his opponent until he got the three count with the Ranhei.

In the opening moments of the 3rd Match, Ram Kaichow made Antonio Honda cry, kept giving him the middle fingers and threw invisible shuriken stars at him. Honda fought back by pulling Kaichow’s hair and choking her with a folding fan. However Kaichow kicked Honda down when he started telling the Gongitsune story. Honda got to tell the story later by including things Kaichow likes such as Sanrio characters so she wouldn’t interrupt him. The Gongitsune attack missed Kaichow and hit the ref, hurting him so much he couldn’t see Kaichow pinning Honda with the Rainmaker. Honda hit the Bionic Elbow and then the Tenzan Tombstone Driver but Kaichow kicked out. Kaichow took advantage of Honda complaining to the ref by throwing Ectoplasm into his face and then rolling him over with the Onryo Clutch for the win.

Mecha Mummy performed many different wrestling references in its match against Takeshi Masada because Mad Dr. Ueki uploaded Mummy with a bunch of different wrestling tapes to ensure it would be at high performance. Mummy threw Masada around with Manami Toyota style Hair Whips, jogged on the spot like Hiroshi Hase, began speaking like Super Delphin and cut promos on the microphone like Atsushi Onita. The last one led to Mummy grabbing a bottle of water, splashing it around and pouring the bottle over its own head. Unfortunately Mecha Mummy can’t handle having any water in its system and broke down, leaving Masada to easily pin it.

Brookes took on Yoshihiko in the opener and told the fans he was going to put the KO-D Openweight Title on the line because it’s his birthday! The referee Daisuke Kiso held the title belt into the air but was suddenly interrupted by the voice of DDT’s other referee Yukinori Matsui. The voice told Brookes he isn’t allowed to suddenly defend the KO-D Title whenever he wants so the match has to be a normal non-title bout. Brookes apologised and the match began. He gave Yoshihiko a Giant Swing but Yoshihiko fought back with a Sunset Power Bomb from the top of some stools. They fought past the fans over to a window where Brookes threw Yoshihiko out of the building down several stories to the street below! Brookes wanted the match to end by countout but Yoshihiko made it back into the room still ready to fight. It almost choked out Brookes with a Sleeper Hold but Brookes escape, Dropkicked the doll into the audience and then attacked it with a stool. Brookes did a Diving Double Stomp onto Yoshihiko’s head and applied an Arm-Trapped Texas Cloverleaf to make it give up.

Intermission featured a musical performance by Kaori Masukodera. She sang a setlist of pro wrestling entrance themes. She begun with “Kaze Ni Nare” aided by Takayuki Ueki using a hairdryer to make a wind blowing effect. She then changed into a home made Jushin Liger costume to sing “Ikari no Jushin”. When she finished that she then changed clothes again, this time to impersonate Atsushi Onita, water spitting included.

At the end of the show everybody came out and sang Happy Birthday to Brookes. He then talked about Drew Parker and the recent unexpected news of his retirement from pro wrestling. Brookes told the fans he misses Parker and didn’t get the chance to say goodbye to him so he got the audience to applaud for everything Parker has done in the last four years. It takes a lot of work and pressure to put the Baka Gaijin shows together but the brand is not just about Brookes and Parker anymore. Everybody there is Baka Gaijin so the shows will continue!

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Video – “BAKA GAIJIN + FRIENDS VOL. SIX”

July 12, 2023

BAKA GAIJIN + FRIENDS “VOL. SIX: THE ART OF SELF DESTRUCTION”, 04/07/2023
Tokyo ARENA Shimokitazawa
??? Fans

1. Special Tag Team Match: MAO & Chie Koishikawa Vs Takayuki Ueki & Mecha Mummy
2. Special Single Match: Minoru Fujita Vs Rina Yamashita
3. Antonio Honda Vs Shota
4. Special Single Match: Masahiro Takanashi Vs Asuka

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BAKA GAIJIN + FRIENDS “VOL. SIX: THE ART OF SELF DESTRUCTION” Results

July 4, 2023

BAKA GAIJIN + FRIENDS “VOL. SIX: THE ART OF SELF DESTRUCTION”, 04/07/2023
Tokyo ARENA Shimokitazawa
??? Fans

1. Special Tag Team Match: MAO & Chie Koishikawa defeated Takayuki Ueki & Mecha Mummy when MAO pinned Mummy with a Swanton Bomb (11:24).
2. Special Single Match: Minoru Fujita Vs Rina Yamashita ended in a Time Limit Draw (20:00).
3. Shota defeated Antonio Honda with a Cradle (6:11).
4. Special Single Match: Asuka defeated Masahiro Takanashi with a Michinoku Driver II (13:08).

No injury was going to keep Chris Brookes away from his own show! The latest adventures of Baka Gaijin + Friends placed Brookes in the ring announcer role, introducing all of the wrestlers and playing host to the crowd. He was also in good enough shape to get involved in the main event, interfering after a ref bump to help Masahiro Takanashi get the advantage on Asuka. The two on one attack by CDK caused MAO (in Drew Parker cosplay, more on that later) to run in and help Asuka even the odds. MAO and Brookes were soon out of the picture and the main event became a fair fight again. Asuka dropped Takanashi on the floor with a Michinoku Driver II to win the match.

A musical performance by Antonio Honda in the middle of the show was interrupted by the unexpected appearance of Shota from Ganbare☆Pro. He walked into ARENA Shimokitazawa to promote “WRESTLE SEKIGAHARA II” taking place this weekend. Honda at first allowed Shota to stand next to him but it was just to hit him with his guitar! Honda then took off his clothes revealing his wrestling gear underneath and challenged Shota to a match right away. Honda grabbed the show poster and gave Shota papercuts. However he ended up hurting his knee while charging the length of the room and tripping over the mat. He turned it into a Gongitsune attack but Shota turned the move back against him and rolled him up for the three count.

Normally Minoru Fujita and Rina Yamashita would both be up for a fight that would tear any room they are in apart. But the bar their match took place in today was very small and packed with people. They fought each other anyway but did so carefully through the crowd so they could get outside and have all the space they needed for a brawl. Given this is a Baka Gaijin show that means taking the fight up to the roof and standing over the glass ceiling. Thankfully they realized how dangerous that was and decided to arm wrestle over the glass before returning indoors. The match continued and they had a little bit of space to use a chair as a weapon. But the time limit eventually expired, ending the match in a draw. The two kept slapping, pushing and rolling into each other as they left the room in a huff.

The opening match was another chance for Chie Koishikawa to dress up as Brookes and pretend to wrestle like him. Her tag partner MAO took things one step further by showing up in full Drew Parker cosplay! He even had paper cutouts of darts that ended up getting jammed up his wig for a fake blood spot. Takayuki Ueki gave him a DDT afterwards for extra damage. However Ueki being the mad scientist he is made a mistake of feeding liquid to Mecha Mummy, causing the robot to malfunction and attack everybody with its Mecha Fist. Koishikawa stopped Mummy’s rampage with a Jumping Knee and then fired the Mecha Fist back at it. MAO then hit a Parker like Swanton Bomb to get the three count. However Ueki had the last laugh by revealing he collected some of MAO’s DNA during the match and will use it to modify Mecha Mummy into being more MAO-like in the future!

The next Baka Gaijin show will take place on 22nd August.

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New Up Up Girls Show, IP Title No. 1 Contender Match, SILVER QUEEN, Time To Get Assessed

June 5, 2023

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “UP UP GIRLS (PRO WRESTLING) 2ND SHOW GRAB IT! THE HIGHEST STAGE!”, 10/06/2023
Shinjuku FACE

1. Moka Miyamoto & Toga Vs Arisu Endo & Shino Suzuki
2. Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta Vs Wakana Uehara & Haru Kazashiro
3. Miu Watanabe & Suzume Vs Raku & HIMAWARI

For the first time in four and a half years The Up Up Girls (Pro Wrestling) are holding their own show featuring music performances as well as wrestling matches. The first show was a milestone for the unit because it was where each member revealed their pro wrestling names as well debuting their song “Upper Chop!” Shino Suzuki already has her ring name. Unless at the show she decides to change it to Susususu Suzuki?

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “STICK OUT ’23”, 11/06/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Pom Harajuku Vs HIMAWARI
2. Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta Vs Toga & Runa Okubo
3. Shoko Nakajima & Moka Miyamoto Vs Suzume & Haru Kazashiro
4. Yuki Kamifuku, Kaya Toribami & Wakane Uehara Vs Yuki Arai, Raku & Shino Suzuki
5. Hyper Misao Vs Mahiro Kiryu
6. International Princess Title Next Challenger Match: Yuki Aino Vs Arisu Endo
7. Princess Tag Team Titles: Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki (c) Vs Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe

Two wrestlers have stepped forward asking for a shot at the International Princess Title for different reasons. Yuki Aino wants to win the championship after seeing there are women all over the world coming to Tokyo Joshi Pro to fight for it. Arisu Endo was inspired to ask for a shot after standing in her friend Suzume’s corner during last month’s title match. The two will face off in a singles match with the winner getting to challenge Rika Tatsumi somewhere down the road.

A few weeks ago Hyper Misao made Mahiro Kiryu the hero of her own story at the “HYPE!” event. Now they have to be opponents. Misao didn’t see this match coming but understands she will have to beat her friend, even if it ends Kiryu’s momentum coming out of “HYPE!”

Yuki Arai is cleared to return to wrestling on this show. Her return match is also the first time she will be teaming with Raku & Shino Suzuki. That fact is making her look forward to returning even more.

English commentary for the show will be provided by Chris Brookes, Drew Parker and Baliyan Akki.

DDT “WHAT ARE YOU DOING 2023 TOUR IN HAKODATE”, 16/06/2023
Hakodate City General Wholesale Center Distribution Hall

1. SILVER QUEEN Infomercial Match: Sanshiro Takagi & Kazuki Hirata Vs MAO & Yoshihiko

DDT is bringing back the Infomercial Match. It is a wrestling match purposefully put together to promote a local sponsor. For example the sponsor for this show is SILVER QUEEN, a restaurant marketed towards fans of the singer Eikichi Yazawa (the inspiration for Antonio Honda’s alter ego A.YAZAWA).

BASARA “BASARA 222 ~OENSOGURA~”, 17/06/2023
Miyagi-no Cultural Center

1. Lil’ Kraken Vs Yasu Urano
2. FUMA & Daichi Kazato Vs Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi & SAGAT
3. Daiki Shimomura & Takato Nakano Vs Tsutomu Oosugi & Banana Senga
4. Isami Kodaka Vs MUSASHI
5. Chouten ~Itadaki~ 2023 – Round 2 B Block: Ryota Nakatsu Vs Minoru Fujita
6. Chouten ~Itadaki~ 2023 – Round 2 B Block: Takumi Tsukamoto Vs Fuminori Abe

Three of the four remaining wrestlers in the B Block are former Chouten ~Itadaki~ winners. Takumi Tsukamoto has never won the tournament but he is the current Union MAX Champion. Meanwhile Ryota Nakatsu is a two time winner while Minoru Fujita and Fuminori Abe are the two most recent tournament champions.

Isami Kodaka being knocked out of the tournament early frees him up for a first time singles match against MUSASHI from Michinoku Pro.

DDT “WHAT ARE YOU DOING 2023”, 25/06/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai, Hideki Okatani & Sanshiro Takagi Vs Ryota Nakatsu, Yuki Ishida, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku
2. International Special Single Match: Tetsuya Endo Vs Nick Wayne
3. DDT Extreme Title: MAO Vs Kazuki Hirata
4. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul Vs Yuki Ueno & Toy Kojima

This past weekend saw Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul attack Toy Kojima with chairs before throwing their names in for the vacant KO-D Tag Team Titles match. DAMNATION T.A are entering the match thinking the championship is as good as theirs. Kojima has Yuki Ueno backing him up and will be fighting to bring the belts back to The 37KAMIINA on Shunma Katsumata’s behalf.

MAO has threatened to kick Kazuki Hirata to death in order to win the vacant DDT Extreme Title. However Hirata is always ready and expecting to be kicked to death in his matches so MAO will have to think about doing something else!

BASARA “BASARA 223 ~KOO~”, 27/06/2023
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Chouten ~Itadaki~ 2023 – A Block Final: Daiki Shimomura Vs SAGAT
2. Chouten ~Itadaki~ 2023 – B Block Final: X Vs X
3. Chouten ~Itadaki~ 2023 – Final: X Vs X

Daiki Shimomura joins SAGAT in the semi-finals. Shimomura had to beat Kodaka to get hear while SAGAT had a much more peaceful route thanks to a bye sending him past the previous round without him having to wrestle.

GANBARE☆PRO “WRESTLE SEKIGAHARA II”, 09/07/2023
Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium

1. Riara Vs Sayaka Unagi
2. Yoshiko Hasegawa Vs Miyuki Takase
3. YuuRI & Tomoka Inaba Vs Takumi Iroha & Mio Momono
4. Keisuke Ishii, Shigehiro Irie & Soma Takao Vs Akito, Shota & Shinichiro Tominaga
5. Spirit Of Ganbare World Tag Team Titles: Hikaru Sato & Tyson Maeguchi (c) Vs Shuichiro Katsumura & Takuya Wada
6. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Mizuki Watase (c) Vs Isami Kodaka

Friends, training partners, wrestling rivals and now a tag team. That describes the relationship between Shuichiro Katsumura & Takuya Wada. They’ve never been able to fight each other in MMA due to being in different weight classes and also different companies. But they are joining forces believing they are the only two fighters who can defeat Hentai Punch Drunkers for the Spirit Of Ganbare Tag Team Titles. Their challenge was accepted by Tyson Maeguchi before Hikaru Sato could give his thoughts on the matter.

It will soon be time for Riara to get assessed by Sayaka Unagi. Apparently that’s a thing a lot of joshi has to go through these days. Unagi offered to wrestle on Ganbare☆Pro’s biggest show of the year again as a favour to her friend Yuna Manase. Since Manase is currently injured, Riara was chosen to be Unagi’s opponent. The two already knew each other while Riara was training to be a pro wrestler. Unagi’s lesson for her is it takes more than just having the “ganbare” spirit to succeed in wrestling.

The 6-Man Tag Match is a reunion on both sides. Akito, Shota & Shinichiro Tominaga represent the Young Communication Generation while Keisuke Ishii, Shigehiro Irie & Soma Takao are back together as Team Drift.

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Video – “BAKA GAIJIN + FRIENDS VOL. FIVE”

May 26, 2023

BAKA GAIJIN + FRIENDS “VOL. FIVE: THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL”, 23/05/2023
Tokyo ARENA Shimokitazawa
??? Fans

1. Special Single Match: Hyper Misao Vs Chris Brookes
2. Special Single Match: Takayuki Ueki Vs Mecha Mummy
3. Special Tag Team Match: MAO & Mei Suruga Vs Chie Koishikawa & Hagane Shinno
4. Special Single Match: Drew Parker Vs Masahiro Takanashi

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BAKA GAIJIN + FRIENDS “VOL. FIVE: THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL” Results

May 23, 2023

BAKA GAIJIN + FRIENDS “VOL. FIVE: THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL”, 23/05/2023
Tokyo ARENA Shimokitazawa
??? Fans

1. Special Single Match: Chris Brookes defeated Hyper Misao with a Death Valley Driver through a Plastic Box (12:10).
2. Special Single Match: Takayuki Ueki defeated Mecha Mummy with a Falling Headbutt (4:58).
3. Special Tag Team Match: MAO & Mei Suruga defeated Chie Koishikawa & Hagane Shinno when MAO & Mei Suruga pinned Chie Koishikawa & Hagane Shinno after the Hair Of The Dog (12:13).
4. Special Single Match: Drew Parker defeated Masahiro Takanashi with a Somato (16:28).

Drew Parker and Masahiro Takanashi had their first ever singles match together to main event the latest Baka Gaijin + Friends show. Unlike previous main events from the group, this one stayed almost entirely inside the tiny little mat in the centre of the room. Other than a moment when Parker Dropkicked Takanashi into a fan it was a match of oneupmanship rather than a crazy brawl. Parker did a Swanton Bomb from a stepstool but Takanashi kicked out so he hit a Somato to get the win.

The silliness was more on show in the tag team match. MAO & Mei Suruga joined forces to fight Chie Koishikawa & Hagane Shinno, the pairing also known as Egg Tart. Both Suruga and Koishikawa were put in uncomfortable positions after getting trapped in different objects. Koishikawa got tangled up inbetween stepstool legs. Shinno then came up with an idea to put Suruga sitting through the frame of an upside down stool and then placing her on top of Koishikawa. That way MAO and Shinno could fight each other without the women getting in the way. Koishikawa remained trapped in her stepstool until MAO put her in an Ankle Lock. She slipped out of the stool and freed herself from MAO’s submission. The match then split apart into two fights in opposite sides of the room. They all met back in the middle and kept the match going until MAO & Suruga used a combined cradle combination to pin both members of Egg Tart at the same time.

Mecha Mummy made a rare appearance for its first pro wrestling match in years. It looked a little shorter than the last time we saw him but it could still frantically shake its fists at everything. Takayuki Ueki’s solution to fighting Mummy and its rocket fist was to pull out his gun and pull the trigger. However the bullet ricocheted off of Mummy’s chest plate and hit Daisuke Kiso instead! Mummy readied its fist and was about to deliver a finishing blow to Ueki when suddenly Hyper Misao ran out to rescue him! Misao shot Mummy with an electrified bow and arrow, causing Mummy to short circuit. Ueki Heabutted it to the ground, then placed the Rocket Fist over his head to drop another Falling Headbutt. A wounded Kiso slowly counted the pin to give Ueki the victory. Mummy’s system rebooted and it took out an antidote to heal Kiso’s bullet wound. Kiso lost briefly lost consciousness but jumped back to his feet to give this story a happy ending.

Misao’s match with Chris Brookes unexpectedly opened the show and the two of them almost tore the place apart with their fighting. Misao stapled advertising posters of her self-produced show “HYPE!” on Brookes’ arm and chest. Brookes got his own back by stapling a poster onto Misao’s head. He then took out some plastic boxes and tried to Suplex Misao onto them from the bar counter. But Misao backed him off and hit a Diving Cross Body, making Brookes land onto the boxes. Misao then brought out chairs and placed them out sideways. He sprayed Misao in the face and then Body Slammed him onto the chairs! Getting desperate, Misao took out a plastic toy mallet with firecrackers attached to it. She put a flame to the firecrackers and set them off but Brookes dodged her attack and smashed a plastic box over her head. He then got Kiso to put the firecrackers onto another box and set them alight while he put Misao through it with a Death Valley Driver for the three count.

Antonio Honda sung a few songs for the fans before the main event. He had musicians playing a guitar and a saxophone accompanying him.

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DDT “KING OF DDT 2023 FINAL!!” Results

May 21, 2023

DDT “KING OF DDT 2023 FINAL!!”, 21/05/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
677 Fans

0. Dark Match: Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari defeated Akito, Yusuke Okada & Rukiya by TKO when Iino used the Radio Taiso Exercise on Rukiya (6:01).
0. Dark Match: Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai, Soma Takao, Yuni & Yuki Ishida defeated Toru Owashi, Makoto Oishi, Antonio Honda, Kazuki Hirata & Kazuma Sumi when Akai pinned Hirata with the Quetzalcoatl (7:39).
1. King Of DDT 2023 – Semi Final: Kazusada Higuchi defeated Yuki Ueno with the Brain Claw Slam (10:57).
2. King Of DDT 2023 – Semi Final: Chris Brookes defeated Jun Akiyama with the Praying Mantis Bomb (11:20).
3. BURNING Vs DAMNATION T.A!: Tetsuya Endo & Kotaro Suzuki defeated Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul when Endo pinned Paul with the Burning Star Press (11:02).
4. Special 8-Man Tag Match: Yuji Hino, Sanshiro Takagi, HARASHIMA & Naruki Doi defeated MAO, Toy Kojima, Yuya Koroku & Takeshi Masada when Hino submitted Koroku with the King Ghidorah Sleeper (10:32).
5. DDT Extreme Title – Piercing Death Match: Shunma Katsumata (c) defeated Hideki Okatani with an Inside Cradle (12:02).
*V1 for Shunma Katsumata.
6. King Of DDT 2023 – Final: Chris Brookes defeated Kazusada Higuchi with the Ground Octopus Stretch (24:28).

Four years ago an English wrestler from the independents named Chris Brookes came to DDT. He took to Japan’s wrestling scene like a duck to water, ticking off a hardcore puroresu bucket list of things to do that isn’t just wrestle in Korakuen Hall and getting a Ribera Steakhouse jacket. What was supposed to be a year long visit to Japan became a four year stay, partly due to the pandemic, but that only helped his career grow. He ingrained himself into Japan’s wrestling scene from as many corners as he could whether it was for DDT, Gatoh Move or somewhere else. Today that four year journey reached its highest point for now because Brookes is the winner of this year’s King Of DDT tournament!

Brookes earned his victory by beating last year’s winner Kazusada Higuchi in the final. Higuchi kicked out of the Praying Mantis Bomb and used the Brain Claw to set up an Exploder Suplex. That almost resulted in a double KO countout but both men got up at 9. Higuchi did the Doctor Bomb but Brookes kicked out at two. Higuchi provoked Brookes into Headbutting him several times and then fired back with one of his own. But when Higuchi charged in to do the Buchikamashi, Brookes jumped onto him and latched on the Octopus Stretch. The move took Higuchi off his feet and Brookes kept finding ways to twist him until Higuchi finally gave up.

Brookes shook hands with Higuchi after the match and was presented with the trophy. He then celebrated with his cornermen Masahiro Takanashi, Drew Parker and Antonio Honda. Brookes told the fans he was able to win because of their cheers. But his “Dramatic Dream” is not over yet because Brookes is now setting his sights on the KO-D Openweight Title! Backstage he told the reporters that it was not a hard decision to stay in Japan during the pandemic because his friends and family are with DDT and he will always be a part of the company. He beat HARASHIMA, Sanshiro Takagi, Jun Akiyama and Higuchi to win this tournament so he isn’t intimidated with fighting Yuji Hino for the KO-D Title. Higuchi praised Brookes for his persistence and tenacity. He credits that as the difference maker today.

The DDT Extreme Title was on the line in a Piercing Death Match. It was a No DQ match featuring nothing but sharp weapons for Shunma Katsumata and Hideki Okatani to stab each other with. Okatani purposely dyed his hair blonde for the match so he could cover it in Katsumata’s blood! An extra stipulation was added where piercing your opponent’s ear three times was a valid way to win the match. That wasn’t needed in the end although both men did get their ears stapled a lot. Okatani had his back rolled over a pile of thumbtacks while Katsumata was pushed through a barbed wire board. However Katsumata got away with the win thanks to an Inside Cradle.

Afterwards Katsumata said he always thought Okatani had what it takes to do hardcore and death match wrestling. He wants to do a rematch some day. Okatani agreed because he had fun doing his first death match. Katsumata then suggested when Atsushi Onita comes back to DDT on 1st July, they can get him involved too for a tag team match. However when Yukio Sakaguchi heard about the idea backstage he got angry over hearing Onita’s name.

Before Hino knew who his next challenger was going to be, he led his squad to victory in an 8-Man Tag Match. It was a rocky start with MAO’s team setting up a Kongo style train of Elbow Drops onto Takagi. Takeshi Masada attacked Takagi, complaining to his boss that he wants to travel to shows on the bullet train. Takagi ordered him while fighting back to take the bus instead because he’s too immature. Naruki Doi also got more annoyed at his younger opponents as the match progressed. Hino sorted that problem out, hitting both Yuya Koroku and Toy Kojima with his big Chops. Kojima withstood the Chops as best as he could until Hino held both him and Koroku in a Double Dragon Sleeper for the win. When Hino does the move to one person it’s called the King Kong Sleeper. But when he does it to two people at the same time it’s called the King Ghidorah Sleeper!

Tetsuya Endo faced his past in the BURNING Vs DAMNATION T.A tag match. Daisuke Sasaki attacked him before the bell and took a moment to look at the DDT Universal Title. Endo fought back and had help from Kotaro Suzuki against MJ Paul. Suzuki blocked Paul from doing the Reverse Splash and then he along with Endo gave Paul a Power Bomb/Neckbreaker combo. Later Sasaki missed a Diving Clothesline and accidentally hit Paul from behind. That gave Endo the opening to knock Sasaki outside, wipe him out with the Sasuke Special and then climb the turnbuckles to pin Paul with the Burning Star Press.

After the match Endo called for the big announcement over the ex-WWE wrestler coming to DDT soon to be revealed. He doesn’t care who it is but he heard that this person is being paid 30 million yen to come over! A video played revealing the wrestler is Matt Cardona! The man who now calls himself the “Indy God” is going to face Endo for the Universal Title at “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2023” and he is bringing former NXT wrestler Steph De Lander along with him. Endo was not impressed. He expected a big name but this exceeded his expectations in a bad way. He thinks no amount of money or Twitter followers directly relates to how strong a wrestler is. Endo swore he will defend the Universal Title, take Cardona’s Twitter followers and also take the 30 million yen! Endo also put out word he is waiting for KANON to come back from injury because he owes him a match. KANON was supposed to be part of today’s tag match but is out of action with a dislocated shoulder.

Brookes had to go through Akiyama in the King Of DDT semi-finals earlier in the show. Akiyama threw his Knee Strikes, Exploder Suplexes and even applied the Front Neck Lock to no success. Brookes recovered some ground by countering another Exploder into a Cradle for a nearfall. Akiyama went for the move again but Brookes cut him off with a Knee Strike of his own and used the Praying Mantis Bomb to get the win out of nowhere. Akiyama said afterwards he has to get back into the swing of things otherwise he will wind up like the NOAH Health Club. That is a nickname he gave to Jun Izumida, Masao Inoue and Kishin Kawabata back in 2004 for their lackadaisical efforts in training at the time.

Higuchi’s path to the final saw him go through Yuki Ueno in a rematch of their KO-D Title bout from last December. The two know each other well by this point and had counters for each other’s signature moves. Ueno just couldn’t go through with the WR and was stunned with a Headbutt. Higuchi ran him over with a Lariat and finished him off with the Brain Claw Slam. Ueno told the reporters that results like this should prove he is not good enough. But he beat Naruki Doi and Kotaro Suzuki to get to this point so giving up now would only be disrespectful to them. So Ueno will not stop fighting until he makes it to the top of DDT!

The final rounds of the tournament taking up so much of the main card resulted in a lot of the roster being relegated to the dark matches. A 10-Man Tag featured the usual mix. Kazuki Hirata was briefly abandoned by the rest of his side, leaving him alone in the ring with Sakaguchi. That led to a train attack on Hirata until he was able to tag in Toru Owashi. Then Yuni gave Makoto Oishi a top rope Frankensteiner and got a two count that was broken up by Kazuma Sumi. A circle of split leg submissions formed in the ring with Honda and Yuki Ishida both being left out so they joined together in the center of the circle for a Gongitsune spot. The spot went out of control with Honda striking everybody until he and Ishida started pinching each other’s nipples. Hirata broke it up with his dance but that got intercepted by an attack from Sakaguchi. Saki Akai then joined in wearing the Hirata GO! glasses and pinned Hirata with the Quetzalcoatl.

The pre-show began in the morning time so Pheromones had an idea in mind to wake everyone up. They started playing exercise music from a morning TV show midway through the match so they could do lewd looking exercises while fighting off the opposition. Akito & Yusuke Okada both had their attempts to stop the workout fail, leaving Rukiya to take the worst of it. The exercises Pheromones did to him rendered him unconscious so the match ended by TKO.

When the show had ended and Korakuen started clearing out, Daisuke Sasaki urgently called for the media to meet him in the waiting room backstage. There he told them he was waiting for El Desperado to show up because New Japan were running the next event in Korakuen later in the evening. He claimed he only wanted to meet with Desperado and take a picture together to promote their match at “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2023”. However the venue staff started to complain and told Sasaki to leave so they could clean the place up before New Japan arrived. Management then approached Sasaki telling him to leave and he tried to pay them 1,000 yen and then promised that Sanshiro Takagi will pay for an extension fee. He finally gave up and left when the staff started pushing him out of the room with their mops.

The Yuki Ueno & Yuni Vs Nick Wayne & Takeshi Masada that was meant to take place in Yokohama Budokan earlier this month is now happening at Yokohama Radiant Hall on 1st July. Yuni backstage said he is very excited and wil be waiting for Wayne right here in DDT.

Fighting Beer Garden 2023 will be held at Ueno Park on 16th and 29th August. For the first time in four years it will be a full fledged drinking show for the fans like it used to be.

Starting on 23rd May DDT will be doing a free ticket campaign for preschool, elementary school and junior high school students at all of their shows. The plan was originally going to be for just preschoolers but DDT decided to include other students due to Yuki Ueno’s recent appearances on the NHK show Tensai TV-kun.

ShunMao’s next KO-D Tag Team Titles defence was announced to take place at Korakuen on 25th June.

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DDT “KING OF DDT 2023 2ND ROUND” Results

May 7, 2023

DDT “KING OF DDT 2023 2ND ROUND”, 07/05/2023
Shinjuku FACE
206 Fans

0. Dark Match: Yuni & Yuki Ishida defeated Yuya Koroku & Kazuma Sumi when Ishida pinned Sumi with the Flame Palm (6:58).
1. Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno defeated Akito & Antonio Honda by TKO when Iino used the Sleeper From A Wise Reincarnated Man on Honda (6:38).
2. Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON defeated Shunma Katsumata, Toy Kojima & Takeshi Masada when KANON pinned Masada with the Sleepy Hollow (9:00).
3. Special 8-Man Tag Match: Yuji Hino, Tetsuya Endo, Yukio Sakaguchi & Yusuke Okada defeated HARASHIMA, Naruki Doi, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata when Sakaguchi pinned Hirata with the PK (14:14).
4. King Of DDT 2023 – Round 2: Yuki Ueno defeated Kotaro Suzuki with the WR (12:59).
5. King Of DDT 2023 – Round 2: Jun Akiyama defeated MAO with the Sterness Dust (10:19).
6. King Of DDT 2023 – Round 2: Chris Brookes defeated Sanshiro Takagi with the Praying Mantis Bomb (12:04).
7. King Of DDT 2023 – Round 2: Kazusada Higuchi defeated Hideki Okatani with the Brain Claw Slam (16:04).

Former allies in Eruption crossed paths in the King Of DDT 2nd Round. Last year’s winner Kazusada Higuchi fought Hideki Okatani, the youngster who was all set to blaze through the tournament and make a name for himself. Okatani threw his best shot and did get to leave a mark on his opponent but Higuchi stood tall in the end and beat him with the Brain Claw Slam. It wasn’t all bad news for Okatani though. Shunma Katsumata approached him backstage after the main event offering him a DDT Extreme Title shot. Okatani eliminated him in Round 1 so Katsumata wants to settle that score, putting his title on the line in order to do so. Okatani accepted and Katsumata promised to come up with a stipulation that will show off more of Okatani to the fans.

Chris Brookes somehow got a hold of Mecha Mummy’s fist and brought it into his match against Sanshiro Takagi. However a misfired attack knocked out Yukinori Matsui by accident. This also happened after Brookes accidentally took out Daisuke Kiso with a missed RKO. With no more referees in sight Brookes and Takagi fought out of the ring and around the room. Takagi brought out the Dramatic Dream bike but Brookes smashed a plastic box over his head and then threw him into a castle of chairs. Back in the ring both Masahiro Takanashi and Drew Parker interfered to help Brookes out. Takagi fought on but a combination of being put through a table and having more plastic boxes smashed over his head became overwhelming. With nothing left to give, he was pinned with the Praying Mantis Bomb. Backstage Takagi said when he first met Brookes in Japan he thought he had the potential to become the top wrestler in DDT. Today he is convinced Brookes will reach that level.

One thing you should know by now is you should never count out Jun Akiyama in any competition. He reaches the final four by defeating MAO in today’s bout. It took quite a bit to get that result though. The Exploder Suplex and a bare Knee Strike wasn’t enough to put MAO away. Instead Akiyama had to pull out the old Sterness Dust to get his hand raised in the end. MAO didn’t think the match was going to be so close. He went into today with an empty head and came out of the match with a little bit of Akiyama knowledge filling it up. He’ll be going to wrestle in America again soon so he plans to push himself while still wrestling at his own pace.

In a battle of skill, Yuki Ueno came out on top against Kotaro Suzuki. The Endless Waltz couldn’t dizzy Ueno enough to keep him pinned and he also kicked out of a Tombstone. Suzuki then went for the Blue Destiny but Ueno got out of the move and twisted Suzuki into the WR to win the match. Suzuki refuses to let his time in DDT end like this and wants a rematch with Ueno to get revenge.

A lottery was held after the main event to pair off the semi-finals on 21st May. Ueno will face Higuchi and Brookes has to take on Akiyama. Ueno thinks it’s all well and good to see Higuchi shave his head and act like he has given himself a fresh start. But Ueno thinks he himself has been developing too. Higuchi is not giving the final a single thought until he beats Ueno first. Brookes knows he has to go on and win King Of DDT after both HARASHIMA and Takagi have given him their support. If he can beat those two then he can beat Akiyama! But Akiyama has been doing this for decades. Fighting Brookes in a singles match is going to be a new experience for him.

Kazuki Hirata wanted to cheer up and motivate his friend HARASHIMA during their match. He decided the two of them dancing together would be the best way to achieve that. Unfortunately their dance got cut off by the other team and Hirata wound up getting destroyed by Tetsuya Endo & Yukio Sakaguchi, losing the match for his side.

Shunma Katsumata tried to replicate Komander’s tight rope walk into a dive during his match. It ended poorly and Katsumata crotched himself on the rope.

The first appearance of Yuki Iino since his failure to win the KO-D Openweight Title showed him in a crazy state that even has Danshoku Dieno worried. This was a different kind of “Sexy” than everyone is used to seeing. First Iino ran across the entrance way wearing what can be best described as half a speedo. Then when he reappeared for the actual team entrance, Hisaya Imabayashi stopped Pheromones and convinced Dieno to get Iino back into his proper wrestling costume. The match went ahead with Dieno, Akito and Antonio Honda all trying to stop Iino from stripping naked. Honda got Iino to calm down with a lewd Gongitsune joke. In return the now relaxed and enlightened Iino sent both Akito & Honda to sleep with a Sleeper Hold to win the match. Dieno promised the fans that Iino will return to his normal “Sexy” self the next time we see him.

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