BAKA GAIJIN + FRIENDS “VOL. TWELVE: TEEN AGE RIOT”, 27/02/2024 Tokyo ARENA Shimokitazawa ??? Fans
1. Mikan Cassidy defeated Antonio Honda with the Mikan Punch (15:14).
2. Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi defeated Mad Dr. Ueki & Mecha Mummy when Takanashi pinned Mummy with a School Boy (12:54).
3. SWS Hardcore Title: Munetatsu Nakamura defeated Kota Ibushikoshi (c) with the Michinoku Driver II (9:51). *Munetatsu Nakamura becomes the 173rd SWS Hardcore Champion!
4. Bonus Track: Chris Brookes & El Amigo defeated MAO & Mecha Mummy when Amigo pinned Mummy to prevent a Suicide Bombing (20:10).
No matches were advertised in advance of this month’s hangout with the Baka Gaijin + Friends. The Youtube feed only featured three matches with the third being announced as the main event. However after the feed cut off there turned out to be a bonus match featuring a new face. Or we can only assume it was a fresh face because it was obscured with a makeshift mask. A mysterious wrestler by the name of El Amigo showed up to team with Chris Brookes for a tag team free for all against MAO & Mecha Mummy. Amigo and MAO took the fight outside up above the glass roof of ARENA Shimokitazawa. They returned to the room and Amigo covered the place in fog with a fire extinguisher. The room was then at risk when Mummy looked like it was about to explode. Amigo grabbed Mummy with a hug and pinned it to the floor to get the three count. There were guesses online as to who El Amigo really is? El Desperado came out and revealed he is related to El Amigo. But he would like it if people do not tag him in pictures of his relative.
The match that was officially the main event was used as a spotlight for the future. Student pro wrestler Kota Ibushikoshi was back and he had the SWS Hardcore Title with him, ready to defend it in Baka Gaijin again. The challenger was Munetatsu Nakamura. In what could be the start of a new generational rivalry, Nakamura used the Michinoku Driver II to pin Ibushikoshi and win the SWS Hardcore Title! He was a little paranoid that other wrestlers would try to take the belt away from him during what seemed to be the show closing speech.
There was a conflict of interests in Match #2 because it was a tag match featuring all wrestlers who are currently attached to the KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles. The tag match was CDK taking on Mad Dr. Ueki & Mecha Mummy. However Mummy thought it was teaming with CDK and had to be convinced by Ueki to stand by his side. Brookes struggled to fight against Mummy’s steel armour and heavy weight. But when Ueki missed a Falling Headbutt from a stool, Masahiro Takanashi came to his partner’s aid. His fight with Ueki then took a pause so they could sit and drink beer together inbetween throwing strikes at each other. Ueki ended up getting drunk and stripping out of his scientist costume to reveal he was wearing his police themed wrestling singlet underneath. He then pulled out a gun and held everyone in the room hostage. Mummy stopped him with a Rocket Punch, knocking him back to sobriety. It then attacked Takanashi with the Rocket Drill. Ueki order Mummy to hold Takanashi in place so he can throw the Rocket Fist at him. The plan backfired because Takanashi ducked, the fist hit Mummy and CDK rolled Mummy up with a School Boy to win the match. Ueki blamed Mummy for the loss and it sadly walked away carrying the drill in its hands.
Antonio Honda had an unexpected opponent in the opening bout. MAO walked out wearing a tye dye denim jacket and was introduced as Mikan Cassidy! His relaxed and lazy behaviour frustrated Honda as he just couldn’t figure his opponent out. Particularly how to pull his hands out of his pockets. Mikan proceeded to wrestled almost the entire match like that, only pulling his hands out to use his own version of Gongitsune against Honda’s. The tempo changed when Honda began singing while Mikan clicked his fingers to the beat. He then dodged the Bionic Elbow and hit Honda with the Mikan Punch to win the match.
As always with this article I start off thinking it is going to be a lighter month than the last until it grows and grows. There are always extra bookings on the horizons whenever the boys and girls from DDT and Tokyo Joshi Pro go abroad. August was dominated by two stories in my mind. Konosuke Takeshita wrestling The Golden Lovers in Wembley and Maki Itoh being all over GCW even more so than usual. Other things of note include TJPW announcing its return to America while dipping its toe into China, MAO becoming fast friends with El Desperado and Miyu Yamashita finding herself in ChocoPro territory by virtue of being EVE’s champion. Maybe next month’s article will be the one that finally slows down a little bit.
AEW “DYNAMITE 200”, 02/08/2023 Yuengling Center, Tampa, Florida, USA
1. Chris Jericho & Konosuke Takeshita Vs Sammy Guevara & Daniel Garcia
WRESTLING REVOLVER “HEAT EM UP”, 03/08/2023 Calumet Center, Dayton, Ohio, USA
1. Lucha Street Fight: Gringo Loco Vs Konosuke Takeshita
Video starts at 39:54. MDRN NMD/GATOH MOVE “CHOCO NIGHT GRAPS!”, 29/08/2023 The Bread Shed, Grosvenor St., Manchester, England
1. Masahiro Takanashi Vs Kid Lykos
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Results
AEW “DYNAMITE 200”, 02/08/2023 Yuengling Center, Tampa, Florida, USA
1. Chris Jericho & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Sammy Guevara & Daniel Garcia when Jericho pinned Garcia after a Bat Attack from Don Callis (12:21).
As I feared, Takeshita’s storyline with Don Callis was pretty much hijacked by Chris Jericho to set up his own angle with Takeshita’s manager. Takeshita & Jericho teamed up under Callis’s recommendation against two people close to Jericho, Sammy Guevara & Daniel Garcia. Callis knocked out Garcia with a baseball bat behind the ref’s back and Jericho made the choice to pin him for the victory.
WRESTLING REVOLVER “HEAT EM UP”, 03/08/2023 Calumet Center, Dayton, Ohio, USA
1. Lucha Street Fight: Konosuke Takeshita defeated Gringo Loco with the Diving Senton (14:39).
Takeshita showed up in Wrestling REVOLVER as a short notice replacement for Jon Moxley. His appearance made up for Takeshita’s own cancelled booking with the promotion back in June. Here Takeshita faced Gringo Loco in a Lucha Street Fight. By coincidence one of Loco’s big moves is the Himawari Bomb that Sanshiro Takagi also uses. Takeshita kicked out of the move and then countered a top rope version into a Poison Rana. Loco kicked out of the Powerdrive Knee so Takeshita then took a page out of Moxley’s book by giving Loco the Paradigm Shift. From there Takeshita won with the Diving Senton.
DREAMWAVE “SUMMER SPECTACULAR 2023”, 04/08/2023 Knights of Columbus, LaSalle, Illinois, USA
1. Dreamwave Women’s Title Qualifying Scramble: Zayda Steele defeated Brittnie Brooks, Maki Itoh, B3CCA, Kaia McKenna and Shazza McKenzie when Steele pinned McKenzie after the It’s Brittnie Bitch from Brooks (8:08).
Itoh entered Dreamwave’s 6-Woman Scramble in the hopes of qualifying for their new Women’s Championship. It was first fall to a finish but the ring soon emptied when some of the women, Itoh included got thrown out. She didn’t factor into the finish but would soon find out she had another chance.
DREAMWAVE “THOSE SUMMER NIGHTS”, 05/08/2023 Knights of Columbus, LaSalle, Illinois, USA
1. Dreamwave Women’s Title Qualifying Scramble: Brittnie Brooks defeated Maki Itoh, B3CCA, Kaia McKenna, Maggie Lee and Shelly Benson when Brookes pinned Lee with the It’s Brittnie Bitch (8:08).
The second chance didn’t work out any better for her. Another 6-Woman Scramble was held the next night with some of the same women involved. Itoh tried to submit two opponents at once by giving them a Double Half Crab but it left her vulnerable to a Super Kick. She went to recover outside the ring and couldn’t climb back in time to break the pin.
GCW “NO SIGNAL IN THE HILLS”, 11/08/2023 Ukrainian Cultural Center, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. 4 Way Match: Steph De Lander defeated Allie Katch, Maki Itoh and Masha Slamovich when De Lander pinned Itoh with the Fireman’s Carry Facebuster (11:53).
Okay maybe multi-person free for alls are not Itoh’s forte. This one was a bit crazy though. Masha Slamovich had Allie Katch beaten when all of a sudden Blake Christian jumped into the ring and attacked her. Itoh took exception and threw punches at Christian, opening herself up to Steph De Lander giving her an F5-like move to win.
PWG “MYSTERY VORTEX”, 13/08/2023 Globe Theatre, Los Angeles, California, USA
Here’s something I never thought I’d write. Maki Itoh did a balcony dive at a PWG show! It’s been rare to see PWG holding shows nowadays but last month they held one of their signature events “MYSTERY VORTEX” where nothing is advertised before hand and fans only know what the matches are when they happen. Itoh was involved in a bizarre mixture of wrestlers in a 6-Person Tag Match. She teamed with Evil Uno & Aramis to beat Masha Slamovich, Peter Avalon & Látigo in a match mixing together AEW, lucha libre and women’s wrestling talent.
Takeshita was also on the show too, beating Rey Horus. I’d call him a PWG regular at this point if they ran shows more often.
KOPW “THE NEW ERA OF CHINESE PRO WRESTLING III”, 19/08/2023 Tianyue Sports City, Nanhai Foshan, Guangdong, China
1. Mizuki defeated Nao Kakuta with the Cutie Special (?:??).
TJPW made their first steps into China when Mizuki and Nao Kakuta were invited to take part in King Of Pro Wrestling. They faced each other in a non-title match and won over the crowd with their back and forth action.
NJPW “LEC PRESENTS ALL STAR JR FESTIVAL USA 2023”, 19/08/2023 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
1. El Desperado & MAO defeated Nick Wayne & Jordan Oliver when Desperado pinned Oliver with the Pinche Loco (19:14).
The All Star Jr. Festival proved to be such a good idea in Japan that they brought the show over to America. MAO was invited along and got to team with El Desperado. The two of them bonded by playing Dragon Quest V on the flight to America so their team name was DQV. They fought a tag team MAO lost to earlier this year, The East West Express. Both Nick Wayne & Jordan Oliver performed Stereo Springboard Cutters to their opponents but both only got a two count. MAO got rid of Wayne by spiking him onto the canvas with a Spinning Headscissors and Desperado pinned Oliver with the Pinche Loco.
GCW “HOMECOMING – PART 1”, 19/08/2023
The Showboat, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA
1. Nick Gage & Maki Itoh defeated Matt Cardona & Steph De Lander when Gage & Itoh pinned Cardona & De Lander each with the Kokeshi (11:57).
Months of fights between Maki Death Kill and Deathmatch Royalty led to a climactic battle between them finally happening. Itoh & Nick Gage were finally going to get their hands on Matt Cardona & De Lander with nothing in their way to stop them. Cardona & De Lander made a big entrance out of it, arriving at the venue in the Ecto-1 and wearing Ghostbusters outfits. For you see tonight they were the Deathmatch Busters! The joke blew up in their faces because Maki Death Kill sliced the two of them apart with pizza cutters! Cardona & De Lander tried to Pedigree Gage & Itoh onto thumbtacks but they were both Back Body Dropped onto the pile instead. Gage & Itoh then delivered stereo Kokeshi Headbutts to win the match and possibly put an end to the feud.
IMPACT/NJPW “MULTIVERSE UNITED”, 20/08/2023 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
1. Scramble Match: Chris Sabin defeated Kevin Knight, Frankie Kazarian, BUSHI, YOH, Rich Swann, MAO and El Desperado when Sabin pinned YOH with the Cradle Shock (8:06).
MAO was involved even further with the international Jr. Heavyweight Division action the next night. Impact and New Japan held a co-promoted event and MAO was thrown into an 8-Man Scramble match to open the show. He tried joining forces with Desperado again but the numbers game still proved to be too much for the two of them. Instead Chris Sabin ended up being the last man standing. Well, at least until BUSHI blinded him with Poison Mist after the match.
GCW “HOMECOMING – PART 2”, 20/08/2023 The Showboat, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA
1. Maki Itoh defeated B3CCA with the Itoh Deluxe (9:21).
In the first of two singles matches they have coming up together, Itoh beat B3CCA in GCW. Will the result be the same when they have a rematch at MLW next month?
ROW/GCW “GCW VS RENEGADES OF WRESTLING”, 25/08/2023 Roundhouse, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
1. Maki Itoh defeated Charli Evans with the Itoh Deluxe (18:03).
Itoh’s next focus in GCW was their tour of Australia with the Renegades Of Wrestling promotion. On Night 1 Itoh defeated Charli Evans and revealed a new word she learned that Aussies like to call other people. I’m not going to type it out here. It’s difficult enough trying to keep this blog from getting caught in web filters.
ROW/GCW “GCW VS RENEGADES OF WRESTLING”, 26/08/2023
Melbourne Pavilion, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
1. ROW Women’s Title: Aysha (c) defeated Maki Itoh with a Double Arm DDT (12:58). *V3 for Aysha.
The second night featured Itoh challenged Aysha for the ROW Women’s Title. Itoh had the champion beat when she made her tap out to the Itoh Deluxe but Aysha’s cronies at ringside kept distracting the referee so it wouldn’t be seen. Itoh let go of the hold to chase them off but turned around into a Double Arm DDT, stealing the win for Aysha.
GATOH MOVE “CHOCOPRO”, 26/08/2023 The Yard Theatre, London, England
Just including this result because Masahiro Takanashi is a DDT guy as well as a ChocoPro regular. I have more to talk about the second show of the double header.
EVE/GATOH MOVE “CHOCOPRO X EVE SUPER SHOW”, 26/08/2023 The Dome, Tufnell Park, London, England
1. EVE Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) defeated Emersyn Jayne with the Crash Rabbit Heat (19:39). *V8 for Miyu Yamashita.
2. Mei Suruga & Masahiro Takanashi defeated Kanji & Kid Lykos when Suruga pinned Kanji with the Maple Model (11:25).
Being the EVE Champion got Miyu Yamashita to appear on a ChocoPro branded show for the first time. She opened up the show with a title defence against Emersyn Jayne. That match was supposed to happen in July but travel problems for the challenger prevented that from happening. It finally went ahead here and the match turned out to be a violent one. Yamashita was slammed onto the front row of chairs outside the ring and Jayne ended up getting busted open. Jayne did kick out of the Skull Kick, being one of the few people to do so. But Yamashita followed it up with the Crash Rabbit Heat to remain the champion.
One of ChocoPro’s victories on the show against EVE happened when Masahiro Takanashi & Mei Suruga defeated Kid Lykos & Kanji. It was one of the rare times men got to wrestle on an EVE show too.
The show also left with a question of what could have been because Marika Kobashi was planned to compete as an EVE representative. She is currently staying in Scotland but her flight to London was cancelled and she was unable to make it to the show. Part of her apology included regret over not being able to see Yamashita again so I wonder if she was meant to wrestle her instead of Jayne?
I was at this show by the way. Although I admit leaving during the main event in order to catch my train back to the hotel so I missed Emi Sakura’s surprise induction into EVE’s Hall Of Fame at the end.
ROW/GCW “GCW VS RENEGADES OF WRESTLING”, 27/08/2023 Eatons Hill Hotel, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
1. Maki Itoh defeated Allie Katch with the I.S.D. (11:03).
Itoh bounced back from her failure to win a title by taking on GCW’s own Allie Katch on the final night of the Australian tour. It was another clean victory for Itoh. She seems to have Katch’s number every time they face each other.
AEW “ALL IN LONDON”, 27/08/2023 Wembley Stadium, London, England
1. Jay White, Juice Robinson & Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Austin Gunn & Colten Gunn) defeated The Golden Elite Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi & Adam Page when Takeshita pinned Omega with a School Boy (20:28).
I was at this show too! Getting to see Takeshita live in front of 80,000+ people in Wembley was great especially since my first time seeing him was in front of 330 people somewhere in Saitama back in 2016. That I got to see him mix it up with The Golden Lovers was a bonus. Even the result went Takeshita’s way. He countered Kota Ibushi’s Kamigoye with a sick looking Jumping Knee Strike of his own. Then when Kenny Omega was dealing with Bullet Club Gold, Takeshita rolled him up with a School Boy to steal the win.
MDRN NMD/GATOH MOVE “CHOCO NIGHT GRAPS!”, 29/08/2023 The Bread Shed, Grosvenor St., Manchester, England
1. Masahiro Takanashi defeated Kid Lykos with the Takatonic (?:??).
ChocoPro’s trip to England ended with a collaboration show alongside Modern Nomad Pro Wrestling. Takanashi took on Lykos again, this time in a singles match and at a venue where there was no wrestling ring. It was a mat wrestling show similar to ChocoPro’s own events in Ichigaya.
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Upcoming Appearances
GCW “SAY YOU WILL”, 01/09/2023 Grand Sports Arena, Hoffman Estates, Illinois, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs X
GCW advertised Maki Death Kill as showing up in the show but they won’t be wrestling together. Gage is facing El Hijo del Vikingo while Itoh’s match on the show has not been announced yet.
OTT “WRESTLERAMA”, 02/09/2023 The Warehouse Red Cow, Dublin, Ireland
1. Session Moth Martina & Miyu Yamashita Vs Debbie Keitel & Anita Vaughan
Yamashita is heading over to my neck of the woods in Ireland for OTT. She’s looking forward to it and I bet Itoh told her stories about what Session Moth Martina is like. Debbie Keitel & Anita Vaughan will be there to stop the party though.
MLW “FURY ROAD”, 03/09/2023 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
1. B3CCA Vs Maki Itoh
Funny stuff that MLW announced this match first then GCW went and did it anyway.
AEW “ALL OUT”, 03/09/2023 United Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA
1. Kenny Omega Vs Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Don Callis)
It was announced during the “ALL IN” post-show scrum that Omega and Takeshita will face each other this weekend in Chicago at “ALL OUT”.
GCW “CRUSHED UP”, 10/09/2023 Roulette Intermedium, New York City, New York, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs Killer Kelly
Itoh’s last match of her current tour is a one on one meeting against Killer Kelly.
PRESTIGE “THE RESPECT ISSUE”, 24/09/2023 Globe Theatre, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. Trish Adora Vs Shoko Nakajima
When Itoh is back in Japan, Shoko Nakajima tags out to be the next one going over to America. It’s all to build up TJPW’s big plan with Prestige as you will see at the bottom of this post.
REPUBLIC OF LUCHA “ROL VI VI VI: LA NOCHE DE WALPURGIS”, 30/10/2023 Republic Of Lucha, South Pasadena, California, USA
1. Konosuke Takeshita, Penta el Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix Vs Shun Skywalker, Bestia 666 & Mecha Wolf
Now isn’t this quite interesting? Takeshita from DDT and Shun Skywalker from Dragongate being pitted against each other. We also have the Lucha Brothers and La Rebelion involved in the match too.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO/PRESTIGE “COMBAT PRINCESS USA”, 14/12/2023 Globe Theatre, Los Angeles, California, USA
TJPW with the help of Prestige is coming back to Los Angeles this December! Announced for the show so far are Itoh, Yamashita, Rika Tatsumi, Mizuki, Taya Valkyrie, Masha Slamovich, Killer Kelly and Sandra Moone.
America had to deal with the adventures of MAO & Yoshihiko for most of July. The two of them were inseperable and causing chaos on every wrestling show they were booked for. Meanwhile Konosuke Takeshita is fitting into his heel role nicely, bringing the act over from AEW to DDT and creating consequences in both companies. Since next month is AEW’s big week of doing Wembley in London and the United Center in Chicago one after the other you would think Takeshita will get an important match somewhere on either card.
With those topics out of the way that leaves us with Maki Itoh. The experience gained from touring America is doing wonders for her career but she didn’t win the Princess Of Princess Title back in Tokyo Joshi Pro like she hoped. Her storyline in GCW is coming to a head in August and she has her sights set on many more tours in the future. It can make you wonder if she will reach a stage where she might choose to say goodbye to TJPW some day. Her interviews on the subject have been contradictory depending on who she talks to. She would love to get a full time deal from a big American company but she also likes being signed to TJPW because they let her work this kind of international schedule. It’s nothing to fret over right now but the thought has crossed my mind when it became clear her future plans do not include the Princess Title.
CIRCLE 6 “LOVE DON’T LIVE HERE”, 16/07/2023 1720 Warehouse, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. AJ Gray Vs MAO
AEW “DYNAMITE”, 19/07/2023 TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
1. Blood & Guts: Kenny Omega, Hangman Page, Nick Jackson, Matt Jackson & Kota Ibushi Vs Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, Konosuke Takeshita & PAC
Video starts at 1:01:38 for the match. Go to 01:41:04 for Itoh’s birthday celebration. SMASH “CAN-US CLASSIC 2023”, 22/07/2023 Western Fair District, London, Ontario, Canada
1. Jody Threat Vs Maki Itoh
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Results
EVE “NMITB”, 02/07/2023 The Dome, Tufnell Park, London, England
1. Eve Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) defeated Rhio with the Crash Rabbit Heat (21:21). *V6 for Miyu Yamashita.
Miyu Yamashita was scheduled to defend the EVE Title against Emersyn Jayne but the challenger couldn’t make the show due to travel problems. Yamashita instead had to put the belt on the line against “The Unbreakable” Rhio with both wrestlers having no time to prepare for each other. Rhio’s power was brought into the fore with her getting nearfalls from a Pumphandle Bomb and Death Valley Driver onto her knee. But Yamashita escaped from a Package Piledriver attempt and caught Rhio with the Skull Kick. Rhio fell next to the ropes so she used a rope break to avoid being pinned. Yamashita then wore her down with kicks until she could pin Rhio with the Crash Rabbit Heat.
WEST COAST PRO “CRUEL SUMMER 2023”, 08/07/2023 United Irish Cultural Center, San Francisco, California, USA
1. Bryan Keith defeated MAO with the Emerald Tiger Driver (15:55).
MAO’s trip to America began at West Coast Pro where Bryan Keith was waiting for him. Keith had warned MAO not to expect any moonlight on this ocassion while MAO thought he would be fine because he is a “fucked up wrestler with an empty head.” That was proven when Yoshihiko interfered to help him! Keith survived the surprise attack and fired himself up and threw Yoshihiko out of the ring with a Razor’s Edge to even the odds. After a back and forth, Keith pinned MAO with the Emerald Tiger Driver for the win.
JCW “BIG ASS EXTREME BIRTHDAY BASH”, 09/07/2023 Ridgefield Park Knights of Columbus, Ridgefield Park, New Jersey, USA
1. MAO defeated Mike Bailey with the Avalanche Michinoku Driver (14:47).
2. Bunkhouse Stampede: Manders defeated Charles Mason by Ring Out (22:13). Order Of Elimination: Jay Sawyer, Steve Off, Steve Scott, Grim Reefer, Brogan Finlay, Marcus Mathers, Kaia McKenna, Charlie Tiger, Eddy Herrera, Bam Sullivan, CPA, Ciclope, Miedo Extremo, Yoshihiko, Yoya, John Wayne Murdoch, Parrow and Charles Mason.
Wherever MAO went in America, Yoshihiko followed him the entire way. It led to an awkward reunion with Mike Bailey in JCW. MAO and Speedball faced off in a battle between The Moonlight Express but things went sideways when MAO accidentally knocked out the referee with a Helluva Kick. Yoshihiko grabbed itself a ref shirt and went in as the replacement! However its officiating didn’t meet Bailey’s expectations so Yoshihiko was thrown out of the ring Razor’s Edge style deep into the crowd. The distraction might have led to Bailey’s undoing because MAO went on to beat him with a top rope Michinoku Driver with the original ref making the count.
Yoshihiko would reappear in a Bunkhouse Stampede match booked later in the show. It was a complete free for all where Yoshihiko appeared for a confrontation with Charles Mason and his backup muscle Parrow. The three of them have previous bad blood in the GCW/JCW system because Mason hates being embarrassed by the doll. Parrow tried to throw Yoshihiko out but Yoshihiko grabbed onto him and applied a Sleeper Hold. Mason lost his mind and hit Yoshihiko/Parrow with chairshot after chairshot before finally throwing the doll out of the ring to eliminate it.
AEW “RAMPAGE”, 12/07/2023 (Aired 14/07/2023) SaskTel Centre, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
1. Konosuke Takeshita defeated Mentallo with a Diving Senton (4:07).
Don Callis went the personal route to help Takeshita prepare for Blood & Guts. The show took place in Canada so Callis got AEW to book Kenny Omega’s longtime friend and training partner Mentallo as Takeshita’s opponent. The masked wrestler put up a good effort but Takeshita was victorious in the end, using a Diving Senton to add a new high flying move to his arsenal.
IWTV “MARCUS MATHERS ALL I WANT 2”, 13/07/2023 H20 Wrestling Center, Williamstown, New Jersey, USA
1. Yoshihiko defeated Jimmy Lloyd with the Yoshihiko Destroyer (9:56).
2. MAO defeated Brandon Kirk with the Phoenix Splash through the Plastic Cases (16:14).
The bottom ring rope snapped off during the first five minutes of the opening match and couldn’t be repaired. That should tell you the kind of night waiting ahead for MAO and Yoshihiko. But that’s the kind of fucked up wrestling MAO wants so he didn’t lose a step fighting against Brandon Kirk. A lot of chairs and plastic boxes were thrown into the mix for the two to beat each other up with.
Yoshihiko was tasked with fighting Jimmy Lloyd and both were prepared to tear the place apart. Yoshihiko did a balcony dive and landed Headbutt first onto Lloyd to break him through a wooden panel. Lloyd tried using a Steiner Screwdriver, Package Piledriver and Sleeper Suplex onto chairs but couldn’t get the three count. He went desperate by taking Yoshihiko to the top rope with chairs laid out below. Yoshihiko flipped him off with a Canadian Destroyer onto the chairs and then followed up with a second Destroyer for the finish.
GCW “NOW AND FOREVER”, 14/07/2023 Melrose Ballroom, Queens, New York, USA
1. Maki Itoh defeated Billie Starkz with the Itoh Deluxe (15:16).
2. Mike Bailey defeated Yoshihiko with the Stormbreaker (23:28).
3. GCW World Title: Blake Christian (c) defeated MAO with a Step Up Curb Stomp (14:21) *V6 for Blake Christian.
MAO had a big chance to grab some gold in his trip to GCW proper. He took on Blake Christian for the GCW World Title but things just didn’t work out for him on this night. Christian gave him a Low Blow, a Death Valley Driver and then finished him off with a Curb Stomp for a successful title defence.
There was something familiar about Bailey Vs Yoshihiko but I just can’t quite put my finger as to what it was. In a completely original match Bailey was accompanied by MAO Callis and his bodyguards. MAO was quickly ejected backstage but later returned to hand Bailey a screwdriver to attack Yoshihiko with. He then used the One-Winged Angel but Yoshihiko kicked out at one. Bailey lost his temper so he gave Yoshihiko the Tiger Driver ’91 (maybe that should be written without the apostraphe because he slammed the doll’s head into the mat around 91 times), the Hidden Blade and the Stormbreaker to win the match. It was unlike anything anyone had seen within the space of a three week period.
In a rematch from last August, Itoh defeated Billie Starkz not just in a wrestling match but in a pose-off to see who is cuter that happened midway through. After the match Itoh celebrated with Nick Gage and they then threw out a challenge to Matt Cardona & Steph De Lander. A video message from the two played over the screen in response but it turned out to be a trap! Cardona & De Lander ran into the ring through the crowd and ambushed Maki Death Kill. When they were done with the attack they accepted the challenge for a tag match.
1. Maki Itoh defeated Vanessa Kraven with the I.S.D. (14:49).
I don’t often talk much about match quality in these articles but you’re best to avoid watching this one. It wasn’t good.
CIRCLE 6 “BARROOM BLITZ”, 15/07/2023 Knucklehead Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. MAO Vs Bobby Beverly
I couldn’t find the result for this match on a show that had no wrestling ring. What I could find was footage of MAO giving Bobby Beverly a really nasty looking Package Piledriver onto a chair with Beverly’s head clipping off of the headrest. There was also footage of MAO singing with a band so win or lose he looked like he was having a great time.
CIRCLE 6 “LOVE DON’T LIVE HERE”, 16/07/2023 1720 Warehouse, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. AJ Gray defeated MAO with a Lariat (?:??).
Yoshihiko again interfered in one of MAO’s matches to aid him, this time against AJ Gray. While Yoshihiko did not get hurled across the room into the audience, Grey overcame the 2-on-1 disadvantage to win.
AEW “DYNAMITE”, 19/07/2023 TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
1. Blood & Guts: Kenny Omega, Hangman Page, Nick Jackson, Matt Jackson & Kota Ibushi defeated Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, Konosuke Takeshita & PAC when Moxley gave up (23:01).
Oh what drama that has been brewing in The Elite Vs Blackpool Combat Club feud in its final month. Takeshita travelled over to Mexico to assault Omega then helped BCC launch another attack on him back in America. That was when The Elite revealed their ace in the hole for Blood & Guts. The return of Kota Ibushi! In a match that was violent as promised, the BCC team fell apart when PAC took an accidental blow from Claudio Castagnoli. PAC has no loyalty to the group so he broke out of the cage and left. When The Elite got their second wind, Callis told Takeshita to leave the cage too! Takeshita did so and The Elite went on to beat BCC to end their feud.
1. Maki Itoh defeated Jody Threat with the I.S.D. (?:??).
Itoh was having a good night in Smash to begin with when she defeated Jody Threat. Then at the end of the show she was given a surprise birthday party in the ring because everyone found out it was her birthday that day! How sweet of them.
PRESTIGE “ALL RISE”, 23/07/2023 House Of Independents, Asbury Park, New Jersey, USA
1. Trish Adora defeated Maki Itoh with the Lariat Tubman (13:43).
Itoh’s return to Prestige was for a semi-main event match against Trish Adora. Oddly enough this was the first time they’ve faced each other even though Adora has become a regular opponent for TJPW wrestlers. Itoh lost on this day by running straight into Adora’s Lariat. Itoh declined to shake her hand afterwards.
DEFY “SPIRIT WC”, 28/07/2023 Washington Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA
1. DEFY Women’s Title: Vert Vixen (c) defeated Maki Itoh with the Game Over (?:??). *V7 for Vert Vixen.
The main event of DEFY’s women only show was where Itoh had her latest chance to win an American championship. Vert Vixen defeated her, making it three successful DEFY Women’s Title defences against TJPW talent.
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Upcoming Appearances
AEW “DYNAMITE 200”, 02/08/2023 Yuengling Center, Tampa, Florida, USA
1. Chris Jericho & Konosuke Takeshita Vs Sammy Guevara & Daniel Garcia
It was only a matter of time until Chris Jericho would latch onto the new hot act and change the story into one about himself. He got the screen time with Callis while Takeshita was back in Japan wrestling for DDT. When Takeshita returns to America he will team with Jericho to take on Sammy Guevara & Daniel Garcia in the latest chapter of the Jericho Appreciation Society story. It’s going to suck if the latest direction for “ALL IN” and “ALL OUT” only pushes Takeshita into the background. Maybe there is hope for him getting an important match if Omega is not going to face Will Ospreay for a third time or if Ibushi is not being a tease about showing up at Wembley.
WRESTLING REVOLVER “HEAT EM UP”, 03/08/2023 Calumet Center, Dayton, Ohio, USA
1. Gringo Loco Vs Konosuke Takeshita
Coming in hot right as I am finishing up this article is news that Takeshita will be at this Thursday’s Wrestling REVOLVER show as a last minute replacement for Jon Moxley. According to Moxley he gave REVOLVER his approval for them to book Takeshita. The original plan was for Moxley to take on Gringo Loco in a Lucha Street Fight. Instead Loco will face Takeshita but the Street Fight stipulation seems to be dropped.
DREAMWAVE “SUMMER SPECTACULAR NIGHT 1”, 04/08/2023 Knights of Columbus, LaSalle, Illinois, USA
1. 6-Person Scramble: Brittnie Brooks Vs Maki Itoh Vs Zayda Steele Vs B3CCA Vs Kaia McKenna Vs Shazza McKenzie
The winner of the scramble match in DREAMWAVE earns a spot in a match on 14th October that will crown the promotion’s first Women’s Champion.
DREAMWAVE “SUMMER SPECTACULAR NIGHT 2”, 05/08/2023 Knights of Columbus, LaSalle, Illinois, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs X
Most likely the results on the first show will determine what Itoh is doing on the second. DREAMWAVE says there will be a second Scramble match on this second show where the winner also qualifies for October’s championship match. So if Itoh does not win the first time then maybe she can get a second chance if she demands it.
GCW “NO SIGNAL IN THE HILLS”, 11/08/2023 Ukrainian Cultural Center, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. 4 Way Match: Allie Katch Vs Steph De Lander Vs Maki Itoh Vs Masha Slamovich
The four leading women in GCW right now are all set to collide in a 4 Way Match. Itoh has her grudge with De Lander but the likes of Allie Katch and Masha Slamovich could get in her way.
KOPW “THE NEW ERA OF CHINESE PRO WRESTLING III”, 19/08/2023 Tianyue Sports City, Nanhai Foshan, Guangdong, China
1. Mizuki Vs Nao Kakuta
TJPW is sending Mizuki and Nao Kakuta over to China to hold an offer match at the latest King Of Pro Wrestling show. The Chinese promotion has booked joshi before such as Riho, Makoto, Emi Sakura and Mei Suruga.
NJPW “LEC PRESENTS ALL STAR JR FESTIVAL USA 2023”, 19/08/2023 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
1. El Desperado & MAO Vs Nick Wayne & Jordan Oliver
The first “ALL STAR JR FESTIVAL” in Tokyo earlier this year was such a major success New Japan and the sponsor LEC decided to bring the concept over to America. MAO gets invited back as a result and gets to take on The East West Express again. This time however he is teaming with El Desperado, making it the first time those two will be in the same match together.
GCW “HOMECOMING – PART 1”, 19/08/2023 The Showboat, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA
1. Matt Cardona & Steph De Lander Vs Nick Gage & Maki Itoh
The big grudge match GCW has been building up since March finally takes place near the end of the summer. Maki Death Kill have been trading blows back and forth with Cardona & De Lander ever since. Is one match enough to settle the score?
GCW “HOMECOMING – PART 2”, 20/08/2023 The Showboat, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs B3CCA
If that is the end of the feud then what will be next for Itoh in GCW?
ROW/GCW “GCW VS RENEGADES OF WRESTLING”, 25/08/2023 Roundhouse, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
1. Charli Evans Vs Maki Itoh
The answer of course is go to Australia! GCW is touring over there with a local group called Renegades Of Wrestling. First up Itoh takes on Charli Evans.
ROW/GCW “GCW VS RENEGADES OF WRESTLING”, 26/08/2023 Melbourne Pavilion, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
1. ROW Women’s Title: Aysha (c) Vs Maki Itoh
The second Australian show gives Itoh a shot at the ROW Women’s Title held by Aysha. The promotion has only been around for a year so the championships don’t have much history behind them. I think Aysha is more of a regular with Deathmatch Downunder.
EVE/CHOCOPRO “CHOCOPRO X EVE SUPER SHOW”, 26/08/2023 The Dome, Tufnell Park, London, England
1. Masahiro Takanashi Vs X
2. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
Well, well, well, isn’t this a surprise? ChocoPro are heading over to London the same weekend as All In to hold shows with EVE. It makes sense for Masahiro Takanashi to be one of the guests because he is linked to Gatoh Move. But Yamashita appearing on the show is something I didn’t expect even though she is EVE’s main champion. There is also a solo ChocoPro event happening that day but this is the show where you will get to see Yamashita. Do you think AEW is interested in booking her again, for the next day? I hope so but the answer is probably no. Come on, she’ll become the only person to wrestle in the Tokyo Dome and Wembley the same year if they book her!
ROW/GCW “GCW VS RENEGADES OF WRESTLING”, 27/08/2023 Eatons Hill Hotel, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
1. Allie Katch Vs Maki Itoh
Itoh ends the Australia tour with a match against Allie Katch. Itoh already has a singles win over her in GCW. In fact that was the match where she discovered how useful a pizza cutter is against opponents.
GCW “SAY YOU WILL”, 01/09/2023 Grand Sports Arena, Hoffman Estates, Illinois New Jersey, USA
1. Nick Gage & Maki Itoh Vs X & X
Another tag match for Maki Death Kill? This could go anywhere from fighting The East West Express to taking on Los Macizos or anywhere in between!
MLW “FURY ROAD”, 03/09/2023 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
1. B3CCA Vs Maki Itoh
Now Major League Wrestling has to deal with Maki Itoh. MLW has a habit of chasing after trends but not really getting much out of them. The company also has a knack of putting out whatever news stories they want and wresting sites will report it without question. Court Bauer just has the clout to say anything and always be taken at face value I guess. The curse of that though is the attention never really pays off with anything substantial. When MLW is at its best their storylines can be really creative and different to what the other promotions are doing. But if they don’t have a plan for you you’re just there to put over people they do have plans for. Even worse is how they sometimes write people out of storylines. Itoh can kayfabe be carried out of her last show inside a body bag if they want to. Or since her opponent B3CCA has a pop singer gimmick on the show they can do a vocal injury if they want to get sinister. But that’s just me fantasy booking based on what they’ve done before.
PRESTIGE “THE RESPECT ISSUE”, 24/09/2023 Globe Theatre, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. Trish Adora Vs Shoko Nakajima
Good to see Shoko Nakajima getting international bookings again. Prestige seems to handle that sort of stuff Stateside thanks to their working relationship with TJPW. They’re trying to get her a couple other bookings while she’s over there. A match with Trish Adora is the first one on the cards for her.
DDT “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2023”, 23/07/2023 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan 3,465 Fans – No Vacancy
1. Takeshi Masada defeated Kazuma Sumi with the Masada Power KOBU Mukimuki (6:48).
2. Sanshiro Takagi, Shinichiro Kawamatsu & Yuni defeated Masahiro Takanashi, Toy Kojima & Rukiya when Kawamatsu pinned Rukiya with the Shitamachi Rocket (8:30).
3. 3 Way 6-Man Tag Match: Minoru Fujita, MJ Paul & KANON defeated Naruki Doi, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata and Kotaro Suzuki, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku when KANON pinned Koroku with the Vietnam Driver II (11:45).
4. Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari (w/ Kachikire Hisaya) defeated Akito, Soma Takao & Yoshitomo Shimohigashi (w/ Buchigire Ujihara) when Iino pinned Akito after the Sexy Cannon (9:42).
5. Special Tag Match: Chiitan☆ & Pokotan defeated Andreza Giant Panda & Super Sasadango Machine when Chiitan☆ pinned Sasadango after the ChiiPoko☆Trigger (11:50).
6. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani defeated Kazusada Higuchi, Ryota Nakatsu & Yuki Ishida (c) when Okatani pinned Ishida with the Double Arm Suplex (9:27). *Harimao fails in V1. Eruption becomes the 52nd KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions!
7. Special Single Match: MAO defeated TAKA Michinoku with the Phoenix Splash (13:11).
8. Special Tag Match ~ Yukio Naya Return Match: Jun Akiyama & Shigehiro Irie defeated HARASHIMA & Yukio Naya when Irie pinned Naya with the Beast Bomber (13:25).
9. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA defeated Yuki Ueno with the Brainbuster onto the corner turnbuckle (12:53).
10. DDT Universal Title: Matt Cardona (w/ Steph De Lander) defeated Tetsuya Endo (c) with the Radio Silence (15:43). *Tetsuya Endo fails in V2. Matt Cardona becomes the 11th DDT Universal Champion!
11. Mexico Kanko Presents Dramatic Dream Match: El Desperado defeated Daisuke Sasaki with the Numero Dos (20:32).
12. KO-D Openweight Title – Good Com Asset Presents: Chris Brookes defeated Yuji Hino (c) with the Praying Mantis Bomb (21:04). *Yuji Hino fails in V3. Chris Brookes becomes the 81st KO-D Openweight Champion!
In 2019 Chris Brookes came over from the British indepedents to DDT, taking to Japan’s wrestling scene like a duck to water. As his stay laster longer and longer he ticked off the most hardcore of bucket lists you can come up with in wrestling. He wasn’t just here to step inside Korakuen Hall, grab a Ribera jacket and have an excuse to start writing his name in Japanese for merchandise reasons. He ingrained himself into different pockets of all sizes in the wrestling industry. All the desire and hard work paid off with different accomplishments being added to his name over the years. The biggest one happened today when Brookes headlined “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2023” in Sumo Hall and became the new KO-D Openweight Champion! His challenge against the champion Yuji Hino was a big one but Brookes had a secret weapon ready for the ocassion.
The pre-match hype video revealed Brookes had spent time training with KUDO in order to add the High Kick to his moveset. KUDO won his first KO-D Title in Sumo Hall in 2011 and that inspired Brookes to get in touch and learn from him. Not only did he take the High Kick from training, he also used KUDO’s Diving Double Knee Drop on Hino. However Hino took that move as well as the Praying Mantis Bomb and shook off the attack. He fought back with a Lariat and Exploder Suplex. Then Hino made a mistake of putting his hands behind his back and daring Brookes to strike him. Brookes hit a few Flying Knee Strikes that Hino brushed off but it was the High Kick that rocked the champion. Then Brookes pulled out another secret weapon, hitting HARASHIMA’s finisher the Somato! Brookes then dropped Hino with a second Praying Mantis Bomb to become the new champion.
After the match Brookes was given the KO-D Title by special guest Kenta Kobashi. Brookes said Hino was really strong and he thanked him for the match today. He then wasted no time and asked if there was somebody out there to be his first challenger. Shigehiro Irie walked down to the ring. He congratulated Brookes and the two of them talked about the times they wrestled together in Europe. Irie also pointed out that he too has gone to foreign countries and won championships there. They haven’t had a match against each other in Japan yet so Irie wants to challenge Brookes for the belt. It was accepted and will take place at Ota Ward Gymnasium on 9th September. Irie warned that he’s come to take the KO-D Title and he’s the one who will bring it over to Europe. After he left, Brookes called out the DDT roster and paid his thanks to every one of them for their support. He reminded everyone that DDT stands for Dramatic Dream Team and everyone here is part of a team. He also went into the crowd to celebrate with the fans.
According to El Desperado, he is one of Daisuke Sasaki’s few friends and he offered him a bouquet of roses before their match as proof. Sasaki repaid Desperado by attacking him with the bouquet while they brawled outside. Sasaki also laid out Desperado on the front row of chairs and hit a Diving Elbow Drop from the top rope into him. Back in the ring Sasaki pulled off a Destroyer counter for Desperado’s Tombstone Piledriver. But La Mistica Crossface Lock was countered and Desperado stuck up his middle finger to Sasaki before trapping him in the Numero Dos to make him submit.
Desperado called the match fun but he now has a year’s worth of tequila that he won’t be able to drink all by himself. Sasaki confessed he is now feeling emotional about the match they just had and might start crying. Maybe they can have a rematch someday but this time in New Japan? Desperado joked that he has a spare key for the NJPW office so he might be able to sneak Sasaki in for something down the line. Backstage he told reporters he is going to split the tequila prize in half with Sasaki. Also if the sponsor allows it he wants to autograph the empty bottles with Sasaki and sell them with all of the proceeds going towards Yoshihiro Takayama and Shinjiro Otani.
The second of three title changes took place in Match #10 when Tetsuya Endo lost the DDT Universal Title to Matt Cardona thanks to the interference of Steph De Lander. Cardona & De Lander entered the ring carrying all of their championships, including Cardona wearing a replica of the WWE Women’s Tag Team Title that currently belongs to his wife Chelsea Green. De Lander’s constant interference backfired at one point when Cardona’s belt shot aimed for Endo hit her instead. Endo took control and had Cardona all set up for the Burning Star Press when De Lander recovered and distracted him again. This time she started flirting with Endo and gave him a bunch of kisses! Meanwhile Cardona turned the ref’s back to them so De Lander could kick Endo below the belt. Cardona then pinned Endo with the Radio Silence to add a new championship to his collection.
Cardona & De Lander’s celebration was quickly interrupted by the video screen. A live message from Maki Itoh started playing where she challenged Cardona for the Universal Title! She promised to take the championship and leave her GCW enemy covered in blood! The title match was later approved for the 24th September Korakuen Hall show. Backstage Cardona bragged about his title win and said he came here to conquer the world. It’s his first time in DDT and he already made the company and Endo his bitch. He’s not going back to WWE or AEW but when he leaves DDT he will be bringing the Universal Title with him!
Can the version of Konosuke Takeshita that showed up in Sumo Hall today be called new and improved? He was different than the Takeshita of old from before his AEW run that’s for sure. Yuki Ueno found that out up front during the latest match in their rivalry. Takeshita removed his own elbow pad to deliver raw Elbow Strikes and later dropped Ueno with an Implant Driver on the entrance ramp. Ueno fought back but his BME attempt was blocked with him getting kicked in midair. Takeshita then hit the Zahi into the corner and deadlifted Ueno up into a top rope Brainbuster onto the turnbuckle! Ueno had no answer for that and took the fall, losing again to his friend. Or is that now former friend?
Tension could be felt after the match when Ueno refused to shake Takeshita’s hand after the match. Then Toy Kojima decided to step in between them and push Takeshita away! Backstage Takeshita’s message towards Ueno was a blunt one. If Ueno ever wants to win the KO-D Title he should keep quiet and follow Takeshita! Elsewhere, Ueno said he needs to get stronger and increasing DDT’s audience is a way to do that. But after losing again today he doesn’t know what he should do next.
Yukio Naya went straight into the thick of things with his return match from injury. He started off the match with Shigehiro Irie and was just as eager to face off with Jun Akiyama. HARASHIMA was happy to fight Irie for the first time in a while although his opinion might have changed after Irie gave him a Piledriver on top of Naya. The Beat Bomber was blocked with a Knee Strike by Naya but Akiyama came in and threw Naya with the Exploder Suplex. Irie got a nearfall with a Running Cannonball into the corner and then got the three count after he hit the Beast Bomber. Both Akiyama & Irie spoke of their surprise by how powerful Naya was in his first match back. But Irie is on a mission to take everything in the world that he can, as shown by his appearance at the end of the show.
Start paying attention because MAO is back on track with a massive victory over TAKA Michinoku! MAO used his own versions of his influence’s moveset, using the Alien Plancha with an added midair twist and then two versions of the Michinoku Driver including one from the top rope. He then finished TAKA off with a Phoenix Splash. MAO said he was really happy to have this match because he’s been losing confidence in himself as a singles wrestler lately. He always admires TAKA so to beat him inside Sumo Hall using his own techniques means so much to him. However TAKA said in beating him in this day and age is not worth even a medal. MAO should be beating him and he should also be aiming for the top!
Just because Saki Akai is retiring later this year doesn’t mean she’s done winning championships. She achieved her goal of winning the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles with Eruption one more time! Eruption defeated Harimao, the team led by their former “brother” Kazusada Higuchi to claim the belts. Akai herself went head to head with Higuchi and took his best shot. She held her ground and performed the Quetzalcoatl with some help from Yukio Sakaguchi hitting Higuchi with the God’s Right Knee. Akai then dived onto Higuchi & Ryota Nakatsu outside the ring, leaving Hideki Okatani to face off with Yuki Ishida. Okatani kicked out of the Dosukoi Hold and pinned Ishida with the Double Arm Suplex to cause the title change. Both teams shook hands after the match to show there is no bad blood between them.
Afterwards Akai said her retirement match will be at Sumo Hall later this year so she’s going at full speed for her remaining months as a pro wrestler. She wanted to win the titles with Sakaguchi & Okatani in this building and is glad to have done so. She is especially happy for Okatani because this is his first championship win. Okatani then revealed Eruption’s next big plan. If they have the power to challenge anybody then they want to go to All Japan and win the AJPW TV 6-Man Tag Team Titles! They are even willing to put the KO-D 6-Man Tag Titles on the line in a double championship match to get what they want. Akai is already booked for AJPW’s show in Nagoya on 27th August and she heard that their trios champions put out an open challenge regardless of company or gender. So she’s bringing the rest of Eruption with her!
There was a reason why Andreza Giant Panda & Super Sasadango Machine were given the tag team name Food Chain. Sasadango wrestled the match wrapped together in giant bamboo leaves, just like a real sasadango. The reason why was shown when Andreza started to deflate with hunger. Sasadango made himself bait to be sacrificed to the panda! The venue went dark and in the darkness Andreza swallowed Sasadango whole, leaving only his mask behind for a horrified Yukinori Matsui to discover. Now fully fed and powered up, Andreza went on a rampage of Headbutts against the ChiiPoko☆Ultra Cute Alliance. However Chiitan pulled out a samurai sword and stabbed Andreza in the stomach with it. The venue went dark again sparing the audience from seeing a giant panda throw up. The lights came back on and Sasadango was back in the ring in one piece, covered in bits of vomit. Pokotan took advantage by giving Sasadango the Swanton Bomb. Then the two mascots joined forces and did the ChiiPoko☆Trigger together on Sasadango to score the win. Backstage Sasadango explained what it was like being eaten by Andreza. He said Andreza’s stomach was bigger than he thought and would make for a comfortable living space in Tokyo.
The comedian Buchigire Ujihara was given the full Pheromones experience, something that the former Hisaya Imabayashi was happy to see because it wasn’t him getting humiliated for once. However he overstepped his bounds when he tried to interfere and attack Akito with a chair. Akito dodged it and the chair hit both Yuki Iino & Danshoku Dieno instead. Yumehito Imanari then caused a mess using a fire extinguisher on Akito, Soma Takao & Yoshitomo Shimohigashi. Dieno then launched Iino across the ring with a hip thrust, causing Iino to pin Akito with the Spear.
A victorious Hisaya celebrated Pheromones winning the match but didn’t expect them to turn on him. Imanari suddenly grabbed him and gave him a DDT inbetween Iino & Dieno’s backsides, leaving him vertically jammed upside down in the gap! Ujihara gave them a nod of approval, coming around to understand what Pheromones is like. Backstage Akito approached Pheromones asking for one more match. If Akito wins then Pheromones will disband but if Pheromones win then Akito will stop trying to destroy them. Dieno demanded that Akito crawl between Iino’s legs and then press his own face into Iino’s backside to prove he is being sincere. Akito did so and said he wanted the match to happen on 9th September at Ota Ward Gym.
DAMNATION T.A won the 3 Way Trios match against BURNING and the Dragon Gene team. KANON pulled out the Vietnam Driver II, a move previously used by Daisuke Sasaki to beat Yuya Koroku for the finish. KANON was of mixed emotions backstage afterwards. He was so happy that Minoru Fujita made it to the show on time and also that MJ Paul did his best. But then he got mad that the three of them were thrown into a nothing 3 Way Tag Match! Fujita had to calm him down. The BURNING team took the loss in good grace. Kotaro Suzuki was happy to wrestle in DDT again while Yusuke Okada was thankful to wrestle inside Sumo Hall again. Koroku said he will take the loss as another learning experience. Neither Naruki Doi, Toru Owashi or Kazuki Hirata gave any comments after the match.
Being born and raised in Ryogoku was enough motivation for Shinichiro Kawamatsu to go out there and win. With Sanshiro Takagi & Yuni on his team the three of them were able to beat Masahiro Takanashi, Toy Kojima & Rukiya. Takagi stacked Takanashi and Kojima on top of him to deliver a Double Samoan Drop. Yuni followed up with a Moonsault out of the ring. Kawamatsu then targeted Rukiya’s mid-section with the Shitamachi Rocket Spear to get the three count. Yuni called it a memorable experience because it is the first time he won a match inside Sumo Hall. His effort didn’t go unnoticed by Kojima because Kojima blames Yuni for his team losing! Takagi told Kawamatsu DDT will be back here in November so he’ll find a great opponent for him if he wants to wrestle then.
The opening match of the show saw Takeshi Masada use the Samurai Driver ’01 to beat Kazuma Sumi. However here the move was called the Masada Power KOBU Mukimuki. It’s been almost a year since Masada debuted and he feels like he has regressed since the end of the D GENERATIONS CUP. Today’s win against his classmate Sumi is a good step forward towards DDT’s next major shows in Ota Ward and Sumo Hall happening later this year. Sumi is frustrated to lose but he promises to do his best until he can win, no matter how many more times he loses.
When the show finally ended and all the wrestlers left ringside, the credits began to roll. And then it stopped for a sudden post-credits sequence. A fallen Sasaki was seen sitting on a hallway floor when he is approached by Takeshita. The scene ends with Takeshita offering his hand and Sasaki shaking it! To add more to the confusing scene, it was reported that Takeshita’s post-show meet and greet took place at the DAMNATION T.A merch table. What made things even more confusing is Takeshita afterwards said he has no intention of joining DAMNATION T.A. Instead he is doing this to position himself against The 37KAMIINA because he thinks the unit no longer needs him.
DDT “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2023”, 23/07/2023 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
1. Takeshi Masada Vs Kazuma Sumi
2. Sanshiro Takagi, Shinichiro Kawamatsu & Yuni Vs Masahiro Takanashi, Toy Kojima & Rukiya
3. 3 Way 6-Man Tag Match: Naruki Doi, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Minoru Fujita, MJ Paul & KANON Vs Kotaro Suzuki, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku
4. Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari (w/ Kachikire Hisaya) Vs Akito, Soma Takao & Yoshitomo Shimohigashi (w/ Buchigire Ujihara)
5. Special Tag Match: Chiitan☆ & Pokotan Vs Andreza Giant Panda & Super Sasadango Machine
6. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Kazusada Higuchi, Ryota Nakatsu & Yuki Ishida (c) Vs Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani
7. Special Single Match: TAKA Michinoku Vs MAO
8. Special Tag Match ~ Yukio Naya Return Match: HARASHIMA & Yukio Naya Vs Jun Akiyama & Shigehiro Irie
9. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs Yuki Ueno
10. DDT Universal Title: Tetsuya Endo (c) Vs Matt Cardona (w/ Steph De Lander)
11. Mexico Kanko Presents Dramatic Dream Match: Daisuke Sasaki Vs El Desperado
12. KO-D Openweight Title – Good Com Asset Presents: Yuji Hino (c) Vs Chris Brookes
Welcome to the 15th annual “WRESTLE PETER PAN”! This year DDT is bringing their flagpole supercard back to Sumo Hall for the first time sine 2018. There is a lot to go through. It’s a twelve match card and all of it is included on the main card. No dark matches, pre-show exhibitions or whatever you want to call them. DDT needs to put their best foot forward on Sunday as they struggle to regain the ground they lost over the pandemic years. A few matches on the card looks like they’re throwing different ideas to the wall and seeing what sticks. It hasn’t reached the depths of desperation yet but they could really do with this show becoming a hit.
I’ll go through each topic in more detail below when it applies to the match but DDT has been hampered by a few things this year. There is a little bit of an identity crisis in there, perhaps the wrong people were chosen to hold a few of the championships and an injury bug keeps getting in the way of every attempt to elevate people. There is also a staleness to the humour and the fresh blood are not being given enough opportunities to come up with their own jokes. I will listen to any arguments that CyberFight should stop being scared of mixing DDT and NOAH together for more inter-promotional matches. Keiji Muto’s retirement show was a great demonstration what DDT and Tokyo Joshi Pro wrestlers would look like under NOAH’s top notch presentation. The problem there is the people in charge are determined not to make any of the same mistakes SWS did in the early 90s when it comes to to managing multiple companies in a “room-by-room” manner. It’s a delicate task having to juggle several different rosters with their own differing views on what kind of wrestling show to put on.
1. Takeshi Masada Vs Kazuma Sumi
The day kicks off with a match between two wrestlers from the current crop of rookies that have been at times referred to as D GENERATIONS. The name came from the D GENERATIONS CUP tournament that was held in the Spring to give DDT’s fresh blood the chance to earn the last spot on the company’s trip to Los Angeles for their DDT USA shows. The winner of the tournament was Takeshi Masada who was already being marketed as the highest prospect to come out of DDT’s dojo in years. Getting to debut after only three months of training will give you that kind of hype. He was the first from a group of five to debut. The second is his opponent here Kazuma Sumi. Officially it took him half a year of training before debut but in reality Sumi was previously attached to Dragongate’s dojo and dropped out. If there is more to the story about how, when and why he jumped to DDT, it hasn’t been told to anyone publicly so I doubt there is anything unusual or controversial behind it. So much of DDT’s talent development throughout its history is built around taking in dropouts from other dojos anyway. They’re not a picky company and if they are I can’t imagine what kind of trainees they’ve turned down for reasons involving quality.
The current state of DDT’s training system is sort of displayed with this matchup. The rookies they’ve been debuting over the last twelve to eighteen months are all functionally good. Masada’s been the best of the bunch and has clearly been positioned as such. Sumi gets to display his athleticism but not much else in the form of character. While I enjoy seeing fresh faces coming in and have fun following the careers that last, the underlying problem so far is the lack of creativity given to their roles. I can tell they get to have fun doing what they do and are willing to join in whatever silliness is thrown their way. It’s just that so far none of it is by their own creation. DDT needs to come up with new jokes and gimmicks. Keigo Nakamura is an example of somebody who is standing out as his own character and personality but unfortunately he’s become injury prone and I fear his wrestling career has been shortened for that reason. It’s fine that the company is able to attract new trainees on a regular basis but I would like to see them become more than just extra bodies to drop falls to the veterans.
2. Sanshiro Takagi, Shinichiro Kawamatsu & Yuni Vs Masahiro Takanashi, Toy Kojima & Rukiya
A battle between generations young and old with a few returns from injury added too. Sanshiro Takagi has been rehabbing a torn calf in his left leg in order to make this show. He is also the current Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion at the time of writing. You’d think he’d be tempting fate by telling the other wrestlers not to take advantage of his weakened state but everyone followed the order and left him be. The politician Shinichiro Kawamatsu had a failed attempt at becoming the new O-40 Champion back in March but made up for it a month later by directly winning a match for the first time. Yuni has been the most active out of anyone from the team. The youngster unmasked himself to end his El Unicorn gimmick and graduated from child pro wrestler to teenage pro wrestler. The other team has Masahiro Takanashi as the veteran captaining two young prospects. Toy Kojima is finding his place in the world as part of The 37KAMIINA. He recently lost a feud to DAMNATION T.A but showed a lot of fire standing up for himself and his friends. Rukiya is at the time of writing still recovering from a cracked sternum. He only debuted in April so hopefully it’s just a minor setback. Still though, I always say rookies break easily. DDT is only just coming out of an injury bug too.
3. 3 Way 6-Man Tag Match: Naruki Doi, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Minoru Fujita, MJ Paul & KANON Vs Kotaro Suzuki, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku
Long story short this is three wrestlers who all carry the Toryumon gene in some form taking on both DAMNATION T.A and the lower ranked wrestlers in BURNING. Ever since he went freelance Naruki Doi has been on a tear by winning championships in both DDT and All Japan. His brightest moment in DDT was short lived but he still shows up from time to time where he is stuck with Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata due to their shared wrestling heritage. Yes, even including Hirata. DAMNATION T.A have sort of been inconsistent this year. KANON got injured with a dislocated shoulder and just came back to the ring recently. Minoru Fujita was busy wrestling elsewhere so DDT was not a priority for him. MJ Paul is the same as always but at least he gets a KO-D Tag Team Title reign out of it. BURNING’s two youngest wrestlers have spent a lot of time on the undercard. That’s fair for Yuya Koroku given how young his career is but Yusuke Okada never progresses anywhere and I’m not sure why. Kotaro Suzuki leads the team into the match and remains involved with BURNING as an extra guiding hand whenever they need it.
DDT was spared from having the main event scene successfully taken over by Pheromones after “MEGA MAX BUMP 2023” back in May. Yuki Iino has brushed aside his short lived “Strong” persona to become “Sexy” again and is back to pushing the envelope with Danshoku Dieno & Yumehito Imanari. The boss Takagi has long since passed the responsibility of suppressing Pheromones down to his Vice President Akito. It’s a thankless task but Akito keeps agreeing to the job in the hopes it will take him right to the top of CyberFight management whenever Takagi calls it a day. Soma Takao is dragged into the mission as the man in charge of the Dropkick Bar. That makes him a vital employee in the eyes of Akito so he must take part whether he wants to or not. Filling out the team is Akito’s secret weapon. One with a origin that goes back to Kota Ibushi. It’s not Ibushi himself though. He was busy this week.
Remember the Ibushi Wrestling Institute? It’s that project Ibushi put together after he ended his double contract with DDT and New Japan. It turned out there actually was somebody who debuted as a pro wrestler under that banner in 2018. Meet Yoshitomo Shimohigashi, aka “Golden Stardust” the first man to carry on Ibushi’s pro wrestling legacy. His background is in pro bowling, his wife is a competitive eater and he’s barely wrestled much in the 5 years since. Boy, Ibushi sure knows how to pick them. Shimohigashi’s most high profile matches have been with Tokyo Gurentai and I haven’t been able to find anywhere else he’s been. He is a figure more known inside the pro wrestling business than out and Akito is attached to him through having an advisory role in the Institute.
One last addition to the match is the involvement of Buchigire Ujihara, a comedian on Youtube who was just a bystander at a restaurant where Pheromones and Akito’s team got into a fight. He got caught in the crossfire along with the DDT GM Hisaya Imabayashi. When Imabayashi found out who Ujihara is, he flipped his lid. Ujihara gets to make a living off of playing pranks and acting a fool on Youtube while Imabayashi has to work several different part time jobs along with his subcontracted DDT role in order to get a decent salary. The jealousy caused Imabayashi to unexpectedly side with Pheromones because he no longer sees the point of defending DDT against them when he is not a full time employee. Now going by the name Kachikire Hisaya, this time he’ll get to join in with the Pheromones abuse after years of having to take it.
5. Special Tag Match: Chiitan☆ & Pokotan Vs Andreza Giant Panda & Super Sasadango Machine
What can I say? Mascots are big in Japan. Chiitan’s crazy debut in May lured DDT’s own mascot Pokotan back to the ring out of jealousy. They settled their differences in a tag match and discovered they can work quite well together as a team. They also already came up with their own tag team finisher called the Chi☆Poco Trigger. All that was left needed is a tag team name. DDT fans did the job for them, coming up with ChiiPoko☆Ultra Cute Alliance as the name. Everything’s ready so let’s see what their opponents get up to. Andreza Giant Panda & Super Sasadango Machine have prior history with each other. In 2018 Sasadango made it his mission to put a stop to Andreza because the panda’s gigantic appitite was a danger to the local environment. He failed but ended up on Andreza’s good side afterward. Almost four years later and they are back in the ring together going against two violent mascots. Andreza defeated Pokotan in a preview singles match that saw Andreza take off Pokotan’s head with an uppercut! Will Chiitan be given the same fate? Normally Sasadango would come up with a big plan and happily tell the audience what he means to achieve, slide by slide. He won’t have to do that with something as powerful as Andreza by his side Headbutting mascots left, right and centre.
6. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Kazusada Higuchi, Ryota Nakatsu & Yuki Ishida (c) Vs Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani
Aw man, we’re getting closer towards saying goodbye to Saki Akai. I don’t want to do that yet. She is set to retire from pro wrestling on 12th November, ending a decade long career on her own terms without injury and away from life changing circumstances (she has since called out the double standard in the industry where men always assume a female wrestler’s decision to retire is because of marriage or pregnancy). Until that day comes, Akai has one goal in mind and that is to win the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles with Eruption one more time. It is a belt she has held just once before with the original Eruption trio. That is what makes this match a little more spicy because this time Akai & Yukio Sakaguchi are teaming with Hideki Okatani while Kazusada Higuchi is now on the other side defending the championship against them!
We are well past Higuchi’s reign at the top of the mountain sadly enough. Harimao wanted to blow a new wind across DDT but that plan hit a massive wall when Naomi Yoshimura took time off to deal with a herniated disc. Higuchi did his best to rebuild the unit to make up for Yoshimura’s absence. He called in his DNA generation rival Ryota Nakatsu from BASARA not to replace Yoshimura but to add more firepower for when he returns. The decision worked out as Harimao went on to win the KO-D 6-Man Tag Titles, giving the third man Yuki Ishida plenty of experience to gain. Ishida himself is gradually levelling up by relying heavily on having Dosukoi spirit. It inspired a new pinning hold he uses that has scored the three count on both Sakaguchi and Akai. Those results have left Sakaguchi in a bad mood. So not only does Eruption want to win the titles one more time, Sakaguchi wants Ishida’s head on a plate too!
7. Special Single Match: TAKA Michinoku Vs MAO
MAO has spent the month in America and is coming back ready for an important match against one of his inspirations. Growing up in the Tohoku region as a wrestling fan means it is obvious that MAO would look up to somebody like TAKA Michinoku. The Spaceman Plancha and use of the Michinoku Driver are as clear nods as you can get. This is not the first time MAO and TAKA have fought each other though. Back in 2017 TAKA defeated MAO on a DNA event. TAKA was complimentary towards him then. A few months later MAO avenged the loss a little bit by pinning TAKA at the annual New Year’s Eve Korakuen Hall show. What’s noteworthy about that is it happened right when the countdown reached zero so it was both the last pro wrestling result in Japan of 2017 as well as the first pro wrestling result of 2018! The two have not fought each other since then and a lot has changed. TAKA is a key part of Just 5 Guys in New Japan while 2023 became the year MAO started getting noticed on the American indies for his nutty antics inside and out of the ring.
This singles match will be a good test to see where MAO fits in from this point forward. His strongest work in DDT is as a tag team wrestler. His run with the KO-D Tag Titles as part of ShunMao is a highlight of DDT’s 2023 that sadly had to end when Shunma Katsumata fractured his ankle. That point I made for the first match about DDT giving the younger wrestlers more chances to be creative? MAO is a good example of letting that happen, especially when he used the recent USA excursion to spread his wings. Who ever thought we would see him cosplay as Don Callis for example? His feud with Yoshihiko and Kazuki Hirata over the vacant DDT Extreme Title was a fun way to shine a bigger spotlight over that part of the roster too. I hope to see that sort of energy going into the match with TAKA. Would his opponent be up for it though?
8. Special Tag Match ~ Yukio Naya Return Match: HARASHIMA & Yukio Naya Vs Jun Akiyama & Shigehiro Irie
The injury bug has been a regular problem for DDT this year. Several times they try to build up wrestlers and then bam! They go down with an injury. Yukio Naya is probably the biggest example of that given his main event push. After years of trying, the big lug finally started to click things together and had a strong run in the D-Ou Grand Prix, beating Higuchi in an upset to reach the final. He didn’t win the tournament but the push continued into Spring where he main evented DDT’s Korakuen shows two more times, including the 26th Anniversary show. Then his ankle went kaput and he’s been out of action ever since. Four months later and he finally gets to return and start climbing the ranks again. The question now is if the injury was disruptive enough to wipe away the progress he made since the winter? Before he got hurt he had improved a bunch but boy did it take a long time for that to happen. DDT wants to build their main events around heavyweights which is why they are determined to get a guy like Naya over. Him being part of a famous sumo family is a reason too.
So if Naya is back to being able to give and take a lot of big impact moves, DDT have found the right people to put him in the ring with. HARASHIMA was one of the wrestlers who lost to Naya as part of Naya’s rise up to the main event spot in the first half of the year. So it makes sense to have those two teaming up. Jun Akiyama is always there for Naya’s generation to chase after. There will be a day where Naya scores a fall on Akiyama but it won’t be here. Shigehiro Irie running into people at full speed is always as fun as it is dangerous. I’ll be sweating bullets thought if Irie does the Running Cannonball spot against the ropes to Naya. A guy Naya’s size will take the move better than Yumehito Imanari ever could but that injury bug is still hanging around.
9. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs Yuki Ueno
I don’t know how many more times I’ll get to write about Konosuke Takeshita in these kind of show previews so enjoy them while we can. A heel turn in AEW has him firmly placed in a storyline with The Elite over on the Dynamite half of the company. With that heel turn comes questions about how Takeshita will behave when he is back in DDT wrestling against his longtime friend Yuki Ueno. The hint is in how his name is now spelt. He has ditched the hiragana writing to go completely romanized in the upper case, becoming KONOSUKE TAKESHITA! Shout it as loud as that one Wakana Uehara fan for full effect. So how will Takeshita treat Ueno? Is he still a sauna loving member of The 37KAMIINA? Did Don Callis tell him to ditch the Cinnabon takeouts and go on a diet? Will he become Chris Jericho’s next clout victim? So many questions to answer and only some will be given at this match.
Takeshita and Ueno have had two previous singles matches this year. The first was only a ten minute long draw that was done as a new year bonus for the fans. The second took place in Los Angeles as the main event for DDT’s USA show with Takeshita coming out on top. While he’s been sorting out things in AEW, Ueno’s been advancing up the ranks in DDT by winning the D-Ou Grand Prix and working towards becoming the guy to carry the company on his back. The results so far have not matched his ambition. As much as I think the guy is talented in the ring, a bland personality continues to hold him back. I don’t know if the solution is to make him find a rotten side by turning heel or take some comedy classes to develop a wackier character but what he is right now does not connect. Something he has been up to recently is getting an acting role for a children’s TV show on NHK. So maybe the next step is booking him into becoming a hero to children? Ueno has always been in Takeshita’s shadow though. If the Takeshita that turns up is nothing like the one Ueno knows then there could be a harsh lesson to learn there.
10. DDT Universal Title: Tetsuya Endo (c) Vs Matt Cardona (w/ Steph De Lander)
2022 turned into a year to forget for Tetsuya Endo and not by choice either. There is no denying the diamond’s shine has been diminished ever since Katsuhiko Nakajima knocked him out and he hasn’t come close to reclaiming it. 2023 has been better. He has bounced back somewhat by holding the KO-D 6-Man Tag Titles with BURNING and then went on to win the DDT Universal Title. He is now being positioned in an important match of the card against a big international name. Not bad but given the high hopes I’ve always held for they guy I’m always going to think he should be doing better. How much that should be blamed on him is a bitter pill for me to swallow. That slap is going to keep haunting him for quite a while yet and it doesn’t look like he’ll a chance to exorcise that ghost anytime soon.
Next question to ask, is Endo’s opponent a good fit for DDT? Matt Cardona was the success story of the American indies in 2021 with his heel run in GCW reinventing himself into something way more newsworthy than just another ex-WWE superstar. He’s gone on to win championships across America and now sets his sights on winning the DDT Universal Title with a big pay day to go along with it. That last piece of info touched a nerve with the champion. He was told to expect a former WWE wrestler to come challenge him. But he didn’t know DDT was allegedly paying the challenger 30 million yen to do the match! That Cardona is the person chosen to fight him after so much hype does not impress Endo one bit. He doesn’t think of him as a strong opponent if it’s being based on how many social media followers he has. If that much money is being spent then Endo thinks it should have been given to himself instead! One thing to watch out for is Cardona’s partner in crime Steph De Lander. The former NXT wrestler has benefited greatly from working with Cardona as his Sensational Sherri equivalent. She won’t be afraid to do some nasty things to Endo in the ring if the opportunity presents itself. She said it herself in the hype video “When the Indy God and the Baddest Bitch come to DDT, you’re all fucked!”
11. Mexico Kanko Presents Dramatic Dream Match: Daisuke Sasaki Vs El Desperado
It’s not often that Daisuke Sasaki springs up a surprise for DDT fans that everyone approves of. So everyone was thrilled when he pulled some strings and got this as the first match announcement for the show. For somebody who always threatens to quit and go home every time he suffers a setback, the match has been keeping Sasaki focused for the last few months. That it’s being sponsored by a tourism company willing to reward the winner with a year’s worth of tequila probably helps. The company has already been warned that one year’s worth for Sasaki is equal to five year’s worth for anyone else. Sasaki is already promising to drink through three bottles a day if he wins. Can you blame the guy when he’s had to spend the last couple of weeks feuding with somebody as persistent as Toy Kojima? All that chair swinging is thirsty work you know.
Who right now is living a happier wrestling life than El Desperado? The masked man has been ticking off a bucket list of goals this year while somehow championing the independents as a New Japan wrestler. He’s been repping Junior Heavyweight wrestling, getting into death matches with Jon Moxley, fighting in the GCW Tournament Of Survival, popping through the Forbidden Door, getting a tour with CMLL that includes a visit to Arena Mexico and even found a way to get Jun Kasai inside the NJPW ring for the first time ever. The man loves the indies so much he wrestled Evil Uno on a Mystery Wrestling show for God’s sake! So when he got challenged by Sasaki, who is he to say no? In a wrestling world where it feels like every important match needs something on the line, both Sasaki and Desperado are happy to just have it be for the tequila. They don’t see the need for a championship to be on the line or for masks and hair to be wagered. Just the two of them as they are will be enough to promise an intense fight in the ring.
12. KO-D Openweight Title – Good Com Asset Presents: Yuji Hino (c) Vs Chris Brookes
The running storyline that carried DDT’s main event scene across 2022 was whoever was KO-D Openweight Champion became the man to carry DDT on their back from that point forward. In Higuchi’s case he was literally turned into the company’s flag bearer. The rest of the year was spent having Higuchi defend the title against the likes of Endo, Takeshita, Shinya Aoki, Sakaguchi and Ueno. Unfortunately he didn’t become much of a difference maker for DDT. As much as the foreign fanbase approves of Higuchi, he doesn’t have the same hold on the home audience. That’s why in 2023 the value of the KO-D Title has felt a little off. Yuji Hino defeated Higuchi to take the title in January and has held onto it ever since. What has felt off the entire time is Hino himself. He hasn’t been the big nasty heel that longtime fans remember from K-DOJO. In fact he’s been pretty supportive of DDT as their champion. He does his part to promote the company as the place to be, it just hasn’t been working out that way despite his efforts. DDT also really wants to get more heavyweights going in the main event position, as shown by having Hino’s defences so far be against Naya and Iino. It’s been a criticism towards DDT for quite a while now. Why fight to compete against the heavyweight divisions of the bigger companies when your appeal was always supposed to be something entirely different?
So if they story for DDT is the search for the right person to carry the company, they may have had him in the background the entire time. Chris Brookes from the moment he stepped foot in the company got what DDT is. Not just from a fanboy level by getting to relive everything he ever downloaded from Megaupload but also understanding a company spirit that is all parts open minded, anarchic and most of all daft. The dedication was also there when he chose to stay in Japan during the pandemic. Ever since then he’s been an integral part of DDT as well as Gatoh Move and a few other indies. He also went ahead and crafted his own little hub in the Japanese wrestling scene with the Baka Gaijin + Friends shows. At a time when DDT is trying to develop something that’s as prestigious as whatever NOAH or All Japan are doing, Brookes is busy digging up Mecha Mummy and putting together events that capture the warm vibes of DDT’s Beer Garden shows. The company always has a high ambition of where they want to go but perhaps how they get there is all wrong. It’s time to switch things up and Brookes looks like the guy to lead the pack.
That’s all easier said then done though. Brookes dislocated his shoulder two months ago and was out of action for a lot of the build up to this main event. He even admits he might have come back to wrestle too soon with his shoulder being anywhere from 70% to 90% recovered. His injury time has left Hino feeling annoyed for several reasons. Hino goes into his matches hurt too but he never takes time off. He argued why does Brookes get to stay home and rest while he has to keep wrestling on shows? Then Hino’s attitude towards Brookes changed into something more mocking. He started cracking jokes and treating Brookes like a rookie making his debut instead of an established wrestler coming back from injury. It was up to the challenger’s friends to step up and fight Hino on his behalf. Even when Brookes started wrestling again and won a tag match, Hino would still make fun of him for only beating Makoto Oishi. Brookes will have to work real hard to prove Hino wrong. He has taken big guys down with the Octopus Stretch in the past but Hino has been winning matches with the King Kong Sleeper. The champion also has the Fuckin’ BOMB, one of the most devastating moves in DDT. Does Brookes have the strength to lift up Hino with the Praying Mantis Bomb to combat this? The result of this match can lead to a different looking DDT for the rest of the year.
DDT “DDT TANABATA SPECIAL 2023 IN SHINJUKU”, 07/07/2023 Shin-Kiba 1st RING 305 Fans – No Vacancy
1. Toru Owashi & Kazuma Sumi defeated Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno when Sumi pinned Dieno after the Kamigoye from Yoshitomo Shimohigashi (9:38).
2. DISASTER BOX Vs BURNING!: HARASHIMA & Kazuki Hirata defeated Jun Akiyama & Yusuke Okada when HARASHIMA pinned Okada with the Somato (8:15).
3. Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani defeated Kazusada Higuchi, Yuki Ishida & Ilusion when Okatani pinned Ishida with a Running Elbow Butt (9:20).
4. KANON Debut 4th Anniversary Match ~ Special Tag Match: TAKA Michinoku & KANON defeated Tetsuya Endo & Yuya Koroku when KANON submitted Koroku with the Ground Cobra Twist (11:12).
5. International Special Single Match: Yuki Ueno defeated Nick Wayne with the WR (14:29).
6. Special Single Match: Daisuke Sasaki defeated Toy Kojima with the Crossface Lock (10:26).
7. Road To PETER PAN 2023! Special Tag Match: Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi defeated Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi when Hino submitted Brookes with the King Kong Sleeper (10:43).
Today saw the return of Chris Brookes to the ring after spending over a month recovering from a dislocated shoulder. He only has a little over two weeks now to get into his best condition for “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2023”. The start of his “Champion’s Road” could not have gotten off to a rockier start when CDK took on Ω. Brookes showed some some threat to Yuji Hino by countering the Fuckin’ BOMB into an Octopus Stretch. But Hino powered his way out of the move and submitted Brookes with the King Kong Sleeper. Hino taunted Brookes after the match by pretending his opponent was an amateur making his debut today. Makoto Oishi had to remind him it’s his challenger for Sumo Hall. Backstage Brookes admitted he is lacking confidence but he will get it back and win the KO-D Openweight Title from Hino. A lot can change in two weeks.
After weeks and weeks of cheating and dirty fighting from Daisuke Sasaki towards Toy Kojima, their grudge match today went by mostly without incident. Sasaki was by himself and fought clean the entire match. Kojima almsot beat him with the Kojima In Wonderland but then missed a Totonou Splash. That allowed Sasaki to take over and submit him with the Crossface Lock. Sasaki then gave Kojima an offer to join DAMNATION T.A after the match! Kojima refused and left the ring.
Sasaki changed the subject by promising a big surprise for the fans in attendance. El Desperado’s music suddenly played but nobody came out. Sasaki then stopped the music and made fun of everyone for thinking he was going to invite him here. Desperado’s music then played again and this time he really did appear! He asked Sasaki what was going to be at stake for their match at “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2023”? Neither of them have any championships but the match sponsor will reward the winner with a year’s supply of tequila. That’s good enough for them! On 23rd July Sasaki and Desperado will fight not for championships, not for hair, not for masks and it will not be a No DQ Match. The two of them are just going to enjoy an intense fight against each other.
A big week is coming up for Nick Wayne. His official debut for AEW back in America was announced for next week but first he had to finish off his tour with DDT today. He lost to Yuki Ueno but left a good impression on his opponent. Ueno said in his post-match comments that Wayne’s potential is not his physcial ability but his love for pro wrestling. It’s on the same level as Brookes and Konosuke Takeshita and will take him wherever he wants to go. Wayne said he learned a lot from the wrestlers on this tour professionally, physically and mentally. He thinks being able to learn stuff like that right before his AEW debut will benefit him.
KANON got to celebrate the 4th Anniversary of his debut match by teaming with his mentor TAKA Michinoku. They defeated Tetsuya Endo & Yuya Koroku with KANON submitting Koroku. Endo doesn’t mind the result because he got to hit the Sasuke Special on Michinoku. Apparantely that was all that mattered to him today because he didn’t care it was KANON’s anniversary. Michinoku will be back in DDT on 23rd July to face MAO so he feels like he is currently standing in the eye of a hurricane. He also hopes to be brought back for KANON’s 5th anniversay. KANON suggests maybe then they can fight each other for that occasion.
The boost of momentum Yuki Ishida has gotten against Eruption lately was brushed aside by Hideki Okatani. The Dosukoi Hold Ishida’s been using to be Yukio Sakaguchi & Saki Akai did not work here and instead Okatani pinned him with a Running Elbow Butt. Sakaguchi asked Harimao after the match what is the point of “Dosukoi”? If they care that much about it they can go eat yakitori in Ryogoku and leave the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles to them. This attitude was in contrast to the start of the show when the two teams signed the contract for their title match at “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2023”. During that Eruption said this is their last chance to win the 6-Man Tag Titles because of Akai’s retirement at the end of the year.
Kazuki Hirata would have lost his tag match several times over if it wasn’t for HARASHIMA running in to break the pin every time. Everything Jun Akiyama did to Hirata would have been a one hit kill otherwise. HARASHIMA kept his team in the game and scored the win over Yusuke Okada with the Somato. His performance today got Hirata to ask if HARASHIMA has any weaknesses at all? It’s becoming very difficult for Hirata to think of a stipulation that will give him any chance of beating HARASHIMA when their DDT Extreme Title match takes place on 30th July.
Akito was at ringside for the entrances in the opening match with the intention of ambushing Pheromones. His goal was to eliminate them before they could reach the ring so their match would be cancelled. Toru Owashi & Kazuma Sumi agreed to look the other way and let Akito go ahead with his plan. It didn’t work. Yuki Iino & Danshoku Dieno survived Akito’s ambush and gave him a face full of Iino’s backside in front of the fans. The match went ahead as usual until all of a sudden Yoshitomo Shimohigashi interfered! He knocked out Dieno with a Bowling Uppercut followed by the Kamigoye, allowing Sumi to pin Dieno for the first time. Akito said Shimohigashi and Soma Takao are part of his Pheromones Subjugation Squad and they are going to drive Pheromones out of Sumo Hall!
I’ll get to the Yuka Sakazaki news in a seperate post. God damn injury bug.
DDT “WHAT ARE YOU DOING 2023 TOUR IN OSAKA”, 10/06/2023 Osaka Suminoe Maikon Hall
1. 2 Vs 1 Handicap Match: Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Akito
2. Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani Vs Sanshiro Takagi, Makoto Oishi & Rukiya
3. Yuki Ueno Vs Kazuma Sumi
4. Tetsuya Endo & Jun Akiyama Vs Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku
5. Special Tag Match: Toru Owashi & “brother” YASSHI Vs Naruki Doi & Kazuki Hirata
6. DAMNATION T.A Vs The 37KAMIINA!: Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul Vs MAO & Toy Kojima
7. Maikon no Kohara Presents Special Tag Match: Yuji Hino & HARASHIMA Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Takeshi Masada
Yuki Ishida has been pulled from this weekend’s shows after coming up with a fever and being diagnosed with a stomach bug. The early section of the card has been changed as a result. Poor Akito really got the short end of the stick here. He was supposed to fight Pheromones in a 3 Vs 2 Handicap match on the team with the numbers advantage and now he has to fight them on his own!
DDT “WHAT ARE YOU DOING 2023 TOUR IN MATSUYAMA”, 11/06/2023 Ehime Matsuyama City Comprehensive Community Center Exhibition Hall
1. 2 Vs 3 Handicap Match: Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata & Rukiya
2. Special Tag Match: Akito & Char Vs Yusuke Okada & Tsuru Himeka
3. Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Takeshi Masada
4. Matsuyama Specialty Special 6-Man Tag Match: Sanshiro Takagi (w/ Cutie Elly The Ehime), Imabari Taoru Mascaras & Tsutenkakka Vs HARASHIMA, Saki Akai & Kazuma Sumi
5. Ω Vs Eruption!: Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani
6. BURNING Vs The 37KAMIINA!: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yuya Koroku Vs MAO, Yuki Ueno & Toy Kojima
Ishida was in a singles match with Rukiya so DDT’s solution was easy. Rukiya is moved to the opener and there is now one less match on the card.
GANBARE☆JOSHI “GANJO MILON’S SECRET CASTLE ’23”, 17/06/2023 Tokyo GEN Sports Palace
1. Miyako Matsumoto & Alex Lee Vs Marika Kobashi & Echika Miyabi
2. Gatoh Move Offer Match: Makoto Vs Tokiko Kirihara
2. Riara Vs Ancham
3. GanJo Vs JUST TAP OUT! Special Tag Match: YuuRI & Yoshiko Hasegawa Vs Sumika Yanagawa & Misa Kagura
Gatoh Move are sending over former kickboxer turned pro wrestler Tokiko Kirihara to Ganbare☆Joshi for a match against Makoto.
GANBARE☆PRO “WRESTLE SEKIGAHARA II”, 09/07/2023 Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium
1. Munetatsu Nakamura Vs Masahiro Takanashi
2. Keisuke Ishii, Shigehiro Irie & Soma Takao Vs Akito, Shota & Shinichiro Tominaga
3. Riara Vs Sayaka Unagi
4. Yoshiko Hasegawa Vs Miyuki Takase
5. YuuRI & Tomoka Inaba Vs Takumi Iroha & Mio Momono
6. Spirit Of Ganbare World Tag Team Titles Next Challengers Decision Survival 4 Way Tag Match: Ken Ohka & Kuma Arashi Vs Hartley Jackson & HARUKAZE Vs Minoru Fujita & Daiki Shimomura Vs Tsuyoshi Okada & Yuki Kanzaki
7. Spirit Of Ganbare World Tag Team Titles: Hikaru Sato & Tyson Maeguchi (c) Vs Shuichiro Katsumura & Takuya Wada
8. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Mizuki Watase (c) Vs Isami Kodaka
A big 4 Way Elimination Tag match will determine who gets a future shot for the Spirit Of Ganbare Tag Team Titles. The new addition Kuma Arashi gets to team with Ken Ohka as requested but they have to survive together against three other teams. Hartley Jackson & HARUKAZE have become a favorite mixed tag team on Ganbare☆Pro shows over the last few months, Sento Minzoku are a thorn in Ohka’s side thanks to his promotion’s rivalry with BASARA and there is a wild card team in the form of Tsuyoshi Okada & Yuki Kanzaki.
The rookie Munetatsu Nakamura gets to face Masahiro Takanashi one on one.
DDT “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2023”, 23/07/2023 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
1. Special Tag Match: Chiitan☆ & Pokotan Vs Andreza Giant Panda & Super Sasadango Machine
2. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Kazusada Higuchi, Ryota Nakatsu & Yuki Ishida (c) Vs Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani
3. Mexico Kanko Presents Dramatic Dream Match: Daisuke Sasaki Vs El Desperado
4. DDT Universal Title: Tetsuya Endo (c) Vs Matt Cardona (w/ Steph De Lander)
5. KO-D Openweight Title: Yuji Hino (c) Vs Chris Brookes
The Daisuke Sasaki Vs El Desperado match is now sponsored by a travel agency called Mexico Kanko. The company specializes in holidays to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. They are aware that both Sasaki and Desperado really love tequila so now the prize for the match is a year’s supply of Mexican tequila! After finding out about the prize, Sasaki is confident he will win and get to drink three bottles a day. Desperado admits what counts as one year’s supply for Sasaki is probably the same as a five year supply for himself.
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.
DDT “DRAMATIC DREAM TOUR IN SHINJUKU 2023”, 24/03/2023 Shinjuku FACE
1. HARASHIMA & Keigo Nakamura Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida
2. WORLD HINO CLASSIC ~Opening Match~: Makoto Oishi & Bambi Vs Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno
3. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Akito (c) Vs Yusuke Okada
4. Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON Vs Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata & Kazuma Sumi
5. BURNING Vs The 37KAMIINA!: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yuya Koroku Vs MAO, Shunma Katsumata & Toy Kojima
6. Yuji Hino & Yukio Naya Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani
7. International Special Tag Match: Konosuke Takeshita & Samuray Del Sol Vs Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada
Coming out of the anniversary show, Pheromones are demanding that Yuki Iino be chosen as the No. 1 Contender for the KO-D Openweight Title. It has been refused by Hisaya Imabayashi and Yuji Hino agrees with the decision. Hino knows Iino is a strong man but he wants nothing to do with that character. At first he said he will only consider giving Iino a title shot if he becomes a serious heavyweight again. Then Makoto Oishi came up with an idea called the World Hino Classic. Pheromones will go through a couple of trial matches and if they win them all then Iino gets his title match. The opening match is being called the Group Of Death because Iino & Danshoku Dieno have to fight the Ω team of Oishi and Bambi. All Pheromones need to do is win this match and they will go straight to the WHC final. What the final is will be revealed if Pheromones make it out of the Group Of Death.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE TOUR IN SPRING ’23”, 26/03/2023 Tokyo Ryogoku KFC Hall
1. Wakana Uehara Vs Toga
2. Raku Vs Shino Suzuki
3. Yuka Sakazaki, Moka Miyamoto & Kaya Toribami Vs Yuki Kamifuku, Haru Kazashiro & Runa Okubo
4. Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe Vs Pom Harajuku & HIMAWARI
5. Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao Vs Yuki Aino & Haruna Neko
6. Mizuki, Suzume & Arisu Endo Vs Hikari Noa, Nao Kakuta & Mahiro Kiryu
The recently debuted Haru Kazashiro is about to graduate from junior high school so this will be her final match as a junior high student.
Both Miyu Yamashita and Maki Itoh are missing the show to wrestle in Canada this weekend.
DDT “APRIL FOOL 2023”, 09/04/2023 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. Rukiya Ikeda Debut Match: Yuya Koroku Vs Rukiya Ikeda
2. Special Single Match: Yuki Ueno Vs Yuni
3. KO-D Tag Team Titles: MAO & Shunma Katsumata (c) Vs HARASHIMA & Keigo Nakamura
A new tag team of HARASHIMA & Keigo Nakamura are next to challenge ShunMao for the KO-D Tag Team Titles. It is the addition of Nakamura to the match that excites MAO & Shunma Katsumata. The two of them have fought HARASHIMA a lot so he’s nothing new. But Nakamura is from the new generation of DDT wrestlers who are all hungry to climb up the ladder. It was Nakamura who wanted to challenge the champions. That took HARASHIMA off guard but he quickly came around on the idea when he realised it is making Nakamura want to work hard.
The elementary school wrestler Yuni finally revealed he was El Unicorn all along and has ditched the mask to start a new chapter in his career. Now in high school, Yuni wants to make a fresh start in wrestling and thinks showing his real face is the best way to go about it. He is back to using the name Yuni but it is now written in katakana instead of hiragana. He is training to grow bigger and stronger for his goal to win the KO-D Title while still in high school. He sees his match against Yuki Ueno as a huge opportunity he does not want to miss.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “STAND ALONE ’23”, 15/04/2023 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao Vs Yuki Arai & HIMAWARI (Special Referee: Shiori Aoki)
2. Princess Of Princess Title: Mizuki (c) Vs Nao Kakuta
Last December Mizuki chose Nao Kakuta to be part of her 10th Anniversary match. This week Kakuta returned the favour by telling Mizuki she wants to fight her for the Princess Of Princess Title. It is a challenge Mizuki says she cannot refuse.
SKE48 idol Shiori Aoki gets to be a pro wrestling referee. There’s a conflict of interest though because Yuki Arai will be wrestling in the match. Does Aoki go on to play favorites or even go the complete opposite way and screw over her fellow idol? Even if she calls everything fair and square, having to officiate a Kyoraku Kyomei match sounds way too much for a rookie referee to handle.
DDT “YAMADA FISHERIES PRESENTS 4.23 SHIBUSHI FISH MEAT DECISIVE BATTLE @ UNAGI STATION”, 23/04/2023 Kagoshima Shibushi City Unagi Station
1. Fish Vs Meat Full-Scale Battle! Special 6-Man Tag Match: Shishamo Power, Unagi Mask & Super Unagi Mask Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Naya & Yuki Ishida
The war between fish eaters and meat eaters went lopsided after Kazusada Higuchi betrayed Shishamo Power & Unagi Mask last month. Higuchi revealed he prefers meat over seafood so jumped over to side with Yukio Naya & Yuki Ishida for the next match in the feud. The seafood team looked to be in trouble until the president of Yamada Suisan revealed the company has been developing another Unagi Mask wrestler to even the odds. According to the president, Super Unagi Mask is more well-trained than the regular Unagi Mask. He thinks the two of them would work well together in a seafood wrestling Tag League. Sanshiro Takagi likes the idea and will consider launching Yamada Suisan Pro Wrestling if the seafood team wins their battle against the meat eaters.
Shiro Koshinaka and Rayne Leverkusen will both be on the show.
DDT “MEGA MAX BUMP 2023 IN YOKOHAMA”, 03/05/2023 Yokohama Budokan
1. Chiitan☆Debut Match: Chiitan Vs X
2. International Special Single Match: Saki Akai Vs Rayne Leverkusen
3. DDT Extreme Title: Jun Akiyama (c) Vs Shunma Katsumata
4. DDT Universal Title: Tetsuya Endo (c) Vs MAO
5. KO-D Openweight Title: Yuji Hino (c) Vs X
So at the moment Hino will be defending the KO-D Title at Yokohama Budokan. He just does not have an official opponent yet. It might be Iino if Pheromones win the World Hino Classic.
Things are going well again for Tetsuya Endo now he is the new DDT Universal Champion. He considers Naruki Doi a friend and wants to see him sticking around in DDT. What Endo does not like is having MAO as his first defence. However the pride of the Miyagi prefecture is on the line with Endo representing Shiroishi City and MAO representing Osaki City. This side will determine which city is the best!
Both ShunMao wrestlers have a chance of becoming double champions at the same time. Shunma Katsumata challenges Jun Akiyama for the DDT Extreme Title. It will be back to the crazy stuff for Akiyama after having such a nice, normal and relaxing match with Kotaro Suzuki.
Rayne Leverkusen is debuting for DDT in April but her only match announced so far is a singles bout against Saki Akai in May.
The insane mascot Chiitan makes its pro wrestling debut. Its presence has already driven Chris Brookes into a murderous rage so he’ll probably be involved in the match. Maybe Pokotan can be a part of it too.
Nick Wayne will be on the show making his first appearance in Japan for DDT.
DDT “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2023”, 23/07/2023 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
1. Dramatic Dream Match: Daisuke Sasaki Vs El Desperado
Turns out Daisuke Sasaki kept himself busy while he was out from injury. Instead of staying around in bed he went out, did the work and signed up a dream match for himself against El Desperado from New Japan! Desperado is an interesting figure, constantly referring to the wider pro wrestling scene in Japan on his social media. At times it looked like that was the only interactions with other wrestlers that the public would get to see. But as the scene opens up more in order to get fans back into the arenas Desperado is at the forefront of getting into matches with wrestlers outside of NJPW. In a past life he’s had a little bit of involvement in DDT related shows. He’s been part of a few Monthly Young Communication shows that happened back in 2011. Only recently Sasaki and Desperado fought each other in a tag match that ended in a DQ so there is some bad blood between the two going into this dream bout.
DDT “JUDGEMENT 2023 ~LONGEST 5 HOUR SPECIAL IN KORAKUEN HISTORY~”, 21/03/2023 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 1,138 Fans – No Vacancy
0. Ilusion & El Unicorn DDTeeeen!! Graduation Match: Ilusion & Munetatsu Nakamura defeated El Unicorn & Raimu Imai when Ilusion pinned Unicorn with the RE:VISION1 (8:15).
1. Yuya Koroku & Yuki Ishida defeated Toy Kojima & Kazuma Sumi when Koroku submitted Sumi with the Modified Triangle Lancer (9:02).
2. Kazuki Hirata Debut 13th Anniversary Match: Keisuke Ishii & Soma Takao defeated Kazuki Hirata & Yoshihiko when Ishii pinned Hirata with the Running Double Arm Driver (10:39).
3. O-40 Title – 3 Way Match: Makoto Oishi defeated Gorgeous Matsuno and Shinichiro Kawamatsu when Oishi pinned Matsuno with a Cradle (4:54). *Makoto Oishi becomes the 4th O-40 Champion!
4. Pheromones Vs Pheromones Subjugation Army All Out Battle: Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno, Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari & Koju “Shining Ball” Takeda Vs Akito, Toru Owashi, Hiroshi Yamato & Yusuke Okada ended in a No Contest (11:21).
5. Special Tag Match: Max The Impaler & Heidi Howitzer defeated Super Sasadango Machine & Antonio Honda when Howitzer pinned Honda after the Master Blaster (7:46).
6. Saki Akai Debut 10th Anniversary Match Vol 1.: Saki Akai defeated Masahiro Takanashi with the Quetzalcoatl (9:19).
7. HARASHIMA & Keigo Nakamura defeated Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani when HARASHIMA pinned Okatani with the Somato (12:26).
8. Special Single Match: Takeshi Masada defeated Hikaru Machida with the Samurai Driver ’01 (6:31).
9. Special 6-Man Tag Match ~ CHARISMA RETURNS!: Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON defeated Chris Brookes, Drew Parker & Hagane Shinno when Sasaki submitted Shinno with La Mistica Crossface Lock (11:55).
10. DDT Extreme Title – Regular Pro Wrestling Rules: Jun Akiyama (c) defeated Kotaro Suzuki with a Wrist-Clutch Cradle (10:48). *V4 for Jun Akiyama.
11. DDT 26th Anniversary Special Single Match: Konosuke Takeshita defeated Sanshiro Takagi by Knockout (13:17).
12. International Special Single Match: Yuki Ueno defeated Samuray Del Sol with the WR (13:28).
13. DDT Universal Title: Tetsuya Endo defeated Naruki Doi (c) with the Burning Star Press (20:49). *Naruki Doi fails in V2. Tetsuya Endo becomes the 10th DDT Universal Champion!
14. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Falls Count Anywhere Match: MAO & Shunma Katsumata (c) defeated Kazusada Higuchi & Ryota Nakatsu when MAO pinned Nakatsu after the Oretachi no Madmax (18:15). *V4 for ShunMao.
15. KO-D Openweight Title: Yuji Hino (c) defeated Yukio Naya with the Fuckin’ BOMB (22:23). *V1 for Yuji Hino.
Settle in folks because this is going to be a long one. DDT produced 16 matches across over almost 6 hours in Korakuen Hall to celebrate their 26th Anniversary. The spotlight at the end was given to Yuji Hino defending the KO-D Openweight Title against Yukio Naya. Hino had become something of a mentor to Naya over the last two years and today was a chance for the young heavyweight project to try and take the company’s top spot. With Kenta Kobashi watching from the commentary table, the two wrestlers threw heavy strikes and slam to each other. Naya eventually became flustered by the challenge, yelling this wasn’t going the way it was supposed to be while getting into another strike exchange late into the match. Hino took Naya’s best shots but the same could not be said vice versa. Naya looked to be down for the count until Hino stopped the referee and demanded his opponent to return back to his feet under his own strength. When Naya did Hino took him down with a Lariat but only got a two count out of it. He then finished off Naya with the Fuckin’ BOMB to successfully defend the KO-D Title.
After the match Kobashi presented Hino with the KO-D Title and Hino shook Naya’s hand. Hisaya Imabayashi informed the champion that his next defence will be at Yokohama Budokan on 3rd May. Before Naya could comment on that they were suddenly interrupted by Pheromones! According to Danshoku Dieno, Hino’s next challenger is going to be Yuki “Sexy” Iino! Earlier in the show Pheromones made a promise to Imabayashi not to get naked during their match and in return Iino should get a KO-D Title shot. Imabayashi refused because he thinks Pheromones did not live up to their promise. Hino agreed with the GM and told Iino to come back once he starts behaving like a more serious wrestler. Dieno said Hino is a big, heavy and strong man but is missing something. DDT needs a champion who is big, heavy, strong and naughty. The only man who fulfills those requirements is Iino! Imabayashi put off making a decision since everybody is feeling tired after such a long show. Hino said DDT is the only place that can do that kind of overkill. He praised the roster for putting on amazing matches today and told the fans if you want to see amazing matches then come see DDT where he the amazing champion!
It was time for MAO to get over his negative memories of DNA and Ryota Nakatsu by finally standing up to him. ShunMao put the KO-D Tag Team Titles on the line against Harimao in a Falls Count Anywhere match. Nakatsu brought out the plastic baseball bat he carried around in DNA and bullied MAO into doing a dance he used to do to make others laugh. MAO did what he was told despite Shunma Katsumata’s protests. Kazusada Higuchi then attacked Katsumata and brought him up to the balcony while Nakatsu dragged MAO over to the spot on the floor beneath it. Higuchi tried to throw Katsumata over the balcony with a Power Bomb but Katsumata escaped. So Higuchi found a nearby turnbuckle pad in the balcony and threw it at MAO down below. The brawl moved over to the lobby where Higuchi put Katsumata through a table near the staircase by jumping off a vending machine. Katsumata got one back in the aisle towards ringside by doing the Stuka Splash off of the entrance onto Higuchi. ShunMao brought out ring boards used for the canvas and bridged them over the front row barricade. They slammed Nakatsu onto the boards with the Oretachi no Madmax to get the 3 count and finally but MAO’s bad memories to bed.
ShunMao met with Imabayashi in the ring afterwards to find out where their next title defence would be. Suddenly Keigo Nakamura entered the ring, saying he and HARASHIMA should be the next challengers. Nakamura acted the same after his match earlier in the show. HARASHIMA went along with the idea because he wants to see Nakamura work hard and take advantage of his momentum. MAO isn’t interested in fighting HARASHIMA but Nakamura has caught his attention from out of nowhere. The title challenge was accepted and will take place in Korakuen on 9th April. When that was settled, all members of The 37KAMIINA got together in the ring and did their group pose.
That period of the show turned out to be a busy one for MAO. He was involved in the aftermath of the DDT Universal Title match. Tetsuya Endo won that championship for the first time by dethroning Naruki Doi. Endo’s knee was targeted and some of his high risk moves missed, like the Swan Dive Firebird Splash. But he also kicked out of the Bakatare Sliding Kick and blocked the Noshigami. Doi got stunned with an Overhead Kick and was thrown to the canvas with the Tetsuya In The Ski With Diamonds. Endo got the win when he did the Burning Star Press, taking the Universal Title away from Doi. After the match Endo apologised to Doi for calling him an enemy outsider. Doi carried DDT on his back by bringing the Universal Title with him to his matches for other companies and for that reason Endo now accepts him as one of us. Backstage Doi said he was planning on withdrawing from DDT after the loss but he cannot end his run here like this. He’ll be back to win more championships and other achievements!
MAO then entered the ring to challenge Endo to a title match. Endo got annoyed because he wants to fight challengers from around the world, not a neighbor from Miyagi! MAO brought up that he is currently one half of the KO-D Tag Champions and is also a former Universal Champion so he is qualified for a shot. Endo reluctantly agreed and brought up that MAO is probably more famous than him overseas. Endo is also still the tourism ambassador of Shiriashi City so he has the power to ban MAO from Miyagi if given the chance! The match will take place on 3rd May.
An international showdown saw Yuki Ueno defeat the visiting Samuray Del Sol. The match had dives back and forth from both as they tried to out-do each other. Ueno avoided the Soledo Del Sol but got caught with a Reverse Frankensteiner that’s called the Rising Sun for a nearfall. Ueno got his bearings back though and picked up the win once he put Del Sol in the WR. Backstage Del Sol said Ueno’s name sounds like “bueno” and it was a great honour to fight a great wrestler like him. Ueno said he is still carrying DDT on his back even though he no longer has the Universal Title. Even without the championship he wants to let the world know about DDT.
The relationship between Sanshiro Takagi and Konosuke Takeshita is similar to one between a father and son. Takeshita has grown up in DDT to become the wrestler he is today. It means a lot to Tagaki, so much so that preview video of the match revealed Takagi’s original dream plan for the company’s 25th Anniversary show. His dream was to hold that show in the Tokyo Dome and headline it with Takeshita Vs Kota Ibushi. Takeshita also means so much to Takagi that he felt if there was ever going to be a singles match between them it would be Takagi’s retirement match. Today the match finally happened and Takagi put everything he had into it. He did Avalanche Brainbusters only for Takeshita to return with his own, including one that went through a table outside the ring. Takagi had to rely on using the Stunner and he gave the move to Takeshita over and over and over. Takeshita was tough enough to take those Stunners and fire back with the Zahi twice. A beaten Takagi told Takeshita to finish him off with one more Zahi. Tears came down Takeshita’s face but he did the move one more time. Takagi suddenly popped back up to give Takeshita one more Stunner but that was it. Takeshita got back to his feet while Takagi couldn’t, ending the match with a knockout. Afterwards Takeshita told everyone he will win a singles championship in AEW as a DDT wrestler no matter what it takes. In exchange for this, he wants to see Takagi win the KO-D Title one more time before he decides to retire! He doesn’t care how long it takes because one day both Takeshita and Takagi will both fulfill this promise and then they can face each other one more time.
Jun Akiyama fought his favourite disciple Kotaro Suzuki in the fourth defence of his DDT Extreme Title reign. In a change of pace for the championship, there were no special rules attached to the match. It was a regular pro wrestling match between two of the best to do it. Suzuki got a nearfall with the Tiger Driver and held his ground to stop Akiyama from doing the Wrist-Clutch Exploder Suplex. But Akiyama kept his grip on Suzuki’s wrist and rolled him over into a cradle to get the win. Suzuki was happy with how the match went despite losing. He sees the result as a kick up the pants for him to continue fighting for his goals.
Akiyama appreciated the subdued nature of the match compared to the rest of the card. He was sent crashing back into the DDT world afterwards though when his next challenger appeared. Shunma Katsumata quickly got into the ring, asked for a title match and left so he could prepare for the KO-D Tag Title bout. Akiyama told Imabayashi he accepts the challenge and the match will take place on 3rd May. He also wants a message to be sent back to Katsumata telling him he has no chance of winning.
DAMNATION T.A were back to good strength with Daisuke Sasaki’s return to the ring after recovering from a left eye injury. There was a little bit of rustiness, particularly the part where Sasaki’s chair attacks hit MJ Paul & KANON by accident. That gave Chris Brookes, Drew Parker & Hagane Shinno to take control of the match. However Sasaki used a ref bump to give Shinno a Low Blow. He then got him in La Mistica Crossface Lock for the submission win.
Sasaki got on the microphone after the match. First he told Parker they should do a singles match sometime. Then he called Imabayashi incompetent because Sasaki got up to something while he was gone. Sasaki didn’t spend the last two months away from the ring by lying around in a hospital. He went on day trips to get a deal done for “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2023” that Imabayashi did not know about. Sasaki has put himself in a big match for Sumo Hall on 23rd July. The video screen then revealed Sasaki’s opponent will be El Desperado! The two wrestlers have been angling for a match for a long time now. Sasaki’s message to Desperado is the DDT ring will be where he will beat him up first! Until then, Sasaki might decide to disappear again until the match takes place.
Takeshi Masada scored a big win by beating Hikaru Machida in a strike heavy battle. Machida had Tanomusaku Toba in his corner giving the kickboxer advice. Masada found himself taking big shots from Machida but once the rookie got to do the Samurai Driver ’01, it was all over. Machida admitted it was a complete defeat and he has to start over if he wants to survive in pro wrestling. Masada is happy with the result but is also concerned over how beat up he is getting in these matchups, even when he wins. He knows he has to continue working hard to make up for that difference.
HARASHIMA & Nakamura’s path to the KO-D Tag Title shot came from them beating Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani. HARASHIMA scored the fall but it was Nakamura who suddenly got on the microphone and declared the two of them will use this momentum to get a title shot. The comments got a good response from the fans so HARASHIMA told him they would talk about it backstage. As mentioned above, they came back out after the KO-D Tag Title match and made their challenge official. Meanwhile Okatani said he now won’t be in good shape going into the 3 Way Qualifying Battle for the King Of DDT taking place on 1st April. Sakaguchi told him he will have to fight through the pain.
Saki Akai kicked off her 10th anniversary celebration with a massive win over Masahiro Takanashi, the man she teamed with for her debut match a decade ago. The special ocassion was almost spoiled thanks to interference from Chris Brookes. He gave Akai a Diving Senton outside the ring, taking out Okatani with a Dropkick in the process. That got all of Eruption more involved in reaction to this with Sakaguchi giving Brookes a PK and sticking around to stop Takanashi from cheating again. Akai got her second wind by wiping all of those people out with a Cross Body outside the ring. She caught up to Takanashi by stunning him with the Rookie Award and then hit the Quetzalcoatl to score the upset win. Akai said she was able to win by showing everyone she has learned a lot more than just what Takanashi had taught her.
PowerPoint Presentations are not going to stop The Wasteland War Party from doing what they want. Super Sasadango Machine made one to show how he and Antonio Honda would beat their opponents today. He reckoned Max The Impaler & Heidi Howitzer were not on the same page after losing the Princess Tag Team Titles in Tokyo Joshi Pro a few days ago. So the plan was to act friendly towards Max so they will fall out with Howitzer and split the team apart. Then they can coax Max over to their side by promising gifts like food and Mad Max DVDs. It looked to be working at first. Max accepted the food and began eating it while Howitzer complained. But Sasadango & Honda couldn’t capitalize and soon the War Party became a reunited force. Max & Howitzer solved their problems and went on to win the match. Sasadango & Honda called it a scary experience. However Sasadango also ended up taking a liking to Howitzer and wonders if maybe something nice could happen between them under different circumstances. He also noticed Max looks like they enjoy being in Japan. It makes him hope more foreign wrestlers will visit and fall in love with the country. He knows foreign wrestlers like the hard hitting power fighters like Kenta Kobashi and Kensuke Sasaki but he hopes today’s match will let those people know there are wrestlers like Sasadango & Honda in Japan too.
I mentioned earlier that Pheromones made a promise to Imabayashi as part of their plan to get Iino a KO-D Title shot. That promise was they would keep their clothes on for their match and if they broke that rule they would be disqualified. Toru Owashi taunted Iino by claiming to be sexier than he is. Iino submitted to his urges and tried to strip out of his costume anyway. When Imabayashi got on the microphone to warn Iino, all of Pheromones gave Yukinori Matsui a Low Blow. Imabayashi then had to be rescued by the other wrestlers causing Akito, Owashi, Hiroshi Yamato & Yusuke Okada to all get knocked out by very lewd moves. By the time Pheromones got their hands on Imanari and did their thing, Matsui recovered and threw the match out. Dieno claimed his side kept their promise because the match ended in a No Contest instead of a DQ.
Makoto Oishi used his tricky wrestling style to tangle up both of his opponents to win the vacant O-40 Title. He had a small alliance with Gorgeous Matsuno that broke down when Matsuno saw his chance to win. Matsuno got Shinichiro Kawamatsu with the Gorgeous Star Elbow only for Oishi to pounce on top of him to steal the three count and win the belt. Oishi said the title is seen as a comedy championship but he wants it to be something for every wrestler around the world over the age of 40 will want to fight him for. Matsuno swears he will get revenge and take back what belongs to him. Kawamatsu has heard stories about wrestlers backstabbing each other so he wasn’t surprise to find out that happened with his two opponents.
Kazuki Hirata got to celebrate 13 years in the business by teaming with Yoshihiko. He warned Keisuke Ishii & Soma Takao not to treat Yoshihiko like a doll then proceeded to use Yoshihiko as a weapon against both of them. Takao got Yosihiko trapped in the Official Endless Waltz but he wasn’t able to get a three count out of it. Hirata threw some Clotheslines that he called the 13th Anniversary Bomber. Yoshihiko gave Takao the Reincarnation but Ishii broke the pin. Takao used the Gin And Tonic on Yoshihiko to take the doll out of the match so Ishii could beat Hirata with the Running Double Arm Driver. It’s been a while since Hirata fought Ishii. He has nothing but good things to say about Ishii, calling him the same old monster with the great wrestling mind. Ishii said Hirata was a very good wrestler when he began 13 years ago and he was even better than that today.
The opening match of the main show saw Yuya Koroku & Yuki Ishida defeating Toy Kojima & Kazuma Sumi. Koroku blocked a Moonsault from Sumi with his knees and then submitted him with the Modified Triangle Lancer. He has unfinished business with Kojima along with Okatani going into the King Of DDT 3 Way Qualifying Battle on 1st April. Koroku has beaten both Kojima and Okatani in singles matches before so he is confident he will do that again in back to back falls.
The pre-show match was a graduation for the DDTeeeen!! wrestlers. Ilusion and El Unicorn have both grown out of their positions as teenager pro wrestlers and are moving on up to the proper DDT roster. The match also included Raimu Imai who has been on the sub-brand previously and Munetatsu Nakamura who wasn’t. Ilusion scored the win by pinning Unicorn with his Modified Pedigree. That version of the move he uses is now called the RE:VISION1.
After the match Takagi congratulated both Ilusion and Unicorn on their graduation. He explained that the two of them had to wrestle in masks the entire time because they were underage. Today they can choose if they want to keep the masks or remove them and reveal their identities. Unicorn said he has recently graduated from middle school as well as DDTeeeen!! and will about to enter high school. For that reason he will unmask. He took the mask off and revealed he is Yuni, the young pro wrestler who’s been with DDT since 2016 when he started training at 8 years old. Ilusion teased taking off his mask but decided against it. He said he has more work to do as Ilusion and wants to keep the mask on for the time being.
A variety of different names and faces will be coming to DDT over in the not too distant future. The most bizarre of which is Chiitan, the infamous mascot who often goes viral on Twitter for doing crazy stunts. The “otter fairy” mascot has dabbled with pro wrestling and will have its official debut match on 3rd May. Chiitan’s announcement was interrupted by Chris Brookes, who attacked Chiitan in the ring while it was greeting the fans. Brookes threatened to kill Chiitan there and then with a Diving Double Stomp but Imabayashi stopped him from doing it. Chiitan then got some measure of revenge by Dropkicking Brookes out of the ring.
British wrestler Rayne Leverkusen will be coming to DDT in April. She often wrestles for EVE and is also the niece of the late Clive Burr from Iron Maiden. Her big match on the tour will be a singles bout against Saki Akai on 3rd May.
Last but certainly not least, American wrestler Nick Wayne will bet at the Yokohama Budokan show on 3rd May. The youngster has been called a supernova on the US indies and gained attention for signing a deal with AEW at the age of 16. Takeshita recommended DDT to bring him over to Japan for a tour.
Posted by JamieOD 
Dramatic DDT 