DramaticDDT’s Predictions For 2023

December 24, 2022

Merry Christmas to you all! There are a lot of things I’m not good at. Making predictions for pro wrestling is one of them. It’s what happens when the crystal ball I look through was bought in Lidl. But I like doing it anyway. The Christmas and New Year period is very busy for covering pro wrestling so I never really have the time to do something like this in previous years. To solve that problem I’ve been jotting down predictions in my free time this month so I could finally put out the article. I came up with 20 predictions for 2023 spread across four categories. Five for DDT, five for Tokyo Joshi Pro, five for Ganbare☆Pro and five guesses for anything even slightly related to DDT or CyberFight. I’m also listing them in order from easy to hard, likely to unlikely, mild to spicy, etc. Some are guesses based on past booking patterns, going with gut feelings, going the opposite of gut feelings and in some places just straight up fantasy booking. None of these are hints or teases of the little inside info I do know about. Will any of them come true? Nah, probably not. But let’s take a stab at it anyway?

DDT


Brass Monkey, That Funky Monkey
Prediction: Mike Bailey wrestles a match in DDT again.

My evidence supporting this prediction is Mike Bailey’s profile on the DDT roster page is still there. They never took him off the website even though he hasn’t wrestled for the company since April 2020. The man has had a well deserved breakout year in America for 2022 splitting his time between Impact and the indies. I bet he’ll be in the area when DDT are doing their Hollywood shows in April. Also if he has the time to come back to Japan, I think it will be for DDT over anywhere else. There’s a whole new class of guys for him to kick the crap out of. Also a Moonlight Express reunion would be sweet.


Have A Drink And Watch The Die Get Cast
Prediction: KANON outperforms Daisuke Sasaki.

The top prospect from JTO jumped to DDT back in April and has been all in with the company ever since. KANON was rewarded pretty quickly by being added to DAMNATION T.A while Minoru Fujita was out with injury. He had a rough go at the tournaments though, getting eliminated in the King Of DDT 1st Round and only winning one match in the D-Ou Grand Prix. But I’ve been impressed with his work and he is often the one who picks up the wins in DAMNATION T.A tag matches. I think he performs way better in 2023 and racks up a few achievements. In fact, I think he will achieve more in the next 12 months than his leader Daisuke Sasaki will! I’m talking the number of title matches he gets, the better performances he puts in tournaments and a higher amount of significant singles victories. KANON is going to claim some scalps this year that will leave Sasaki looking jealous. That’s if Sasaki is sober enough to register what’s going on.


365 Degrees, Burning Down The House
Prediction: Yuya Koroku becomes the next wrestler from DDT’s new generation (debuted 2020 onwards) to win a championship.

The first draft of this was slightly different. I had Yuya Koroku down as the first new gen wrestler to win any championship. Then I remembered Toi Kojima is currently one of the KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Champions and Hideki Okatani once held the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title a year ago. Oh and Keigo Nakamura held both if he counts (debuted 2019 before the pandemic so eh?). As a result this prediction isn’t turning out as sharp as I thought it would be. But I’m sticking with the general idea. There’s a new wave of fresh blood coming into DDT and the highlight for me so far was Koroku and Kojima’s rivalry found within the BURNING Vs The 37KAMIINA tag matches. Eyes will be on Yuki Ishida for becoming a bigger part of a diminished Harimao out of necessity, Takeshi Masada as the hot prospect and Kazuma Sumi for his athleticism. There’s still three more trainees yet to debut plus the short term future of El Unicorn and Ilusion is currently unknown. With that said Koroku has the advantage of seniority over most of the other rookies to make this prediction come true. Even if it’s just as the third man holding the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles, I think Koroku has the best odds of getting belted up next year.


Where’s Your Head At, At?
Prediction: Tetsuya Endo struggles to reclaim the top position in DDT.

This is a cruel one. Tetsuya Endo had everything in place before the summer to finally be the flag bearer for DDT. Then Katsuhiko Nakajima knocked him out and left him concussed, taking all of that away. I wouldn’t say he is a shadow of his former self since coming back but a bit of shine has disappeared in him becoming the leading man again. He has given himself a new goal of winning all of the singles championships. That’s going to be a long journey if it does work out that way. For 2023 I do not see Endo winning back the KO-D Openweight Title and I don’t think he will win any of the singles tournaments. The DDT Universal Title and DDT Extreme Title can be in his grasp but neither of them will bring him back to the number one main eventer spot in the next 12 months. To take a positive stance for this, think of 2023 as his rebuilding year for 2024. He’s already spent the last few months bulking up to become more a bigger heavyweight. Maybe the key to getting over this will be to confront his demon at “CYBERFIGHT FESTIVAL 2023”


Loan Me A Dragon, I Wanna See Space
Prediction: Dramatic Dream Gate is revived.

Remember this unholy alliance? There were three occasions when DDT and Dragongate worked together and promoted shows under the name Dramatic Dream Gate. Once in 2007, again in 2008 and the final one taking place in 2012. Then the relationship between the two companies went icy for a long time after that. Things began to defrost a few years ago thanks to Toru Owashi getting DG bookings and in return bringing one of their wrestlers from his generation over whenever DDT goes to Kobe or Nagano. Now that Naruki Doi is bouncing back and forth between the two companies as a freelancer without pissing anybody off I’d like to think everyone’s now cool with each other. What a way to show it by bringing DDG back for another show! It would be worth it just to see Kazuki Hirata do his Magnum Tokyo parody in front of all the DG wrestlers who weren’t even born when the gimmick first existed. I know, I know, DG currently has a working relationship with NOAH. They’re probably all CyberFight’d out at this point. Doesn’t matter, DDT will continue taking their dojo dropouts anyway…

Tokyo Joshi Pro


It Ain’t My Fault That I’m Out Here Making News
Prediction: At least 3 women who originally came from Actwres girl’Z will appear in TJPW and at least 1 of them becomes a regular roster member.

It’s kind of a running joke at this point. Actwres girl’Z constantly turn dozens of idols into newly trained joshi at a time then whoever emerges as top of the class ends up leaving them for greener pastures. It’s probably one of the more successful development programs in modern pro wrestling when you think about it. AWG’s lossese end up being another company’s gain and TJPW are usually in that group. Yuna Manase, Natsupoi and Nao Kakuta all came from there. Even just recently we have HIMAWARI pulling off a speed run in how to go from AWG to TJPW in record time. I think it’s only going to increase from here. My prediction is not one, not two but three joshi who were associated with AWG at some point in their lives will appear on TJPW shows throughout 2023. I’m giving myself a little bit of rope here because I am not saying they will all be full time roster additions. Somebody like Saori Anou or Miyuki Takase having one or two guest matches like SAKI did this year would count towards this. But yeah, I can at least guarantee there will definitely be one woman on the active AWG roster who will be showing up at Korakuen Hall wearing a TJPW shirt in the next 12 months.


Pull Up With A Zelda And A Peach And A Daisy
Prediction: An outsider wins the Princess Of Princess Title

In the almost seven years the Princess Of Princess Title has been around its lineage has belonged entirely to the TJPW roster. In Japan it’s rare for a men’s company to have their main championship stay within their walls for this long but in joshi it’s a little more common. However the scene opened up again to the rest of the world this year and there is a wave of new faces we can all look forward to seeing. The risk is they have their eyes on the gold just as much as the regulars do. I think the time has come for somebody outside of TJPW to become the Princess Champion. Whether they are a Japanese freelancer, an invader fans associate with another company or somebody from overseas I bet the top prize will be taken by an outside force sometime in 2023.


It’s All Around The World, Just La La La La La
Prediction: Maki Itoh gets to No. 1 on a iTunes or Spotify chart somewhere in the world.

Hikari Noa unexpectedly showing up in the Canadian iTunes J-Pop chart at the end of November inspired this one. Some domino is going to fall that will kickstart a chain reaction resulting in Maki Itoh’s music going viral and being discovered by a new audience. She ends up getting a song to No. 1 on one of the digital music services. It doesn’t matter how obscure this gets. It could be No. 1 in Zimbabwe’s chart for the Chamber Psych genre due to input error for all I care.


Once I Ran To You, Now I Run From You
Prediction: A woman from Sakisama’s past comes back to haunt her.

It is inevitable that NEO Biishiki-gun will come back to terrorize TJPW again. They always do. Sakisama will return to grace TJPW fans with her glamourous presence while rubbing it in about how perfect she is. She makes it look easy. There has to be a reason for that, right? You don’t become that much of a narcissist without having something, or someone, that’s been out of your reach for your entire life. Like a rival perhaps? That one person who no matter how good you are at something, they are always better. Like what if there was somebody in Sakisama’s life who always stole her thunder whether it was in their private classes, on the badminton court or even at an extravagant gala? What if that woman with a familiar looking face from somewhere else suddenly shows up in TJPW and begins to waltz through the roster, tempting NEO Biishiki-gun away from their leader in the process. What if Sakisama finds herself in a position she has never experienced before, becoming the underdog? It would be a big change of pace for the gimmick that’s for sure.


Cause A Girl Gonna Push It All Out The Way
Prediction: Sasha Banks appears at Grand Princess ’23.

Am I being cheeky with this one? I dunno, something about the Sasha Banks odyssey still sounds kind of murky to me. I don’t think somebody with her leverage is going to settle down with a contract to just one corporation again. I believe she’s aligning with New Japan/Stardom no doubt about that. But why stop there? Something tells me she isn’t going to be exclusive to them in Japan. Not with the people she’s been meeting and spending time with these last few months. TJPW needs something massive if they want to fill up Ariake Colosseum on 18th March. They won’t be doing that by keeping to themselves. Aim big, play big, win big.

Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling


I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends
Prediction: Some of the wrestlers Shota worked with in America get booked for Ganpro.

Shota accomplished a lot during his three month stay in America. Among the most important during his excursion was connections. He made friends, met new people and whether intentional or not scouted talent. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see some of the people he wrestled across the United States get invited over to Ganpro in the coming year. The likes of Ryan Davidson and Phil Shark have been to Japan before but could we see a wrestler like Clay Roberts or Aaron Mercer get the chance to come over thanks to their links with Shota?


All The Way (Keep Going, You Got This)
Prediction: Keisuke Ishii wins the Spirit Of Ganbare Title.

Ganpro has been a good home for Keisuke Ishii ever since he came over from DDT in 2018. Maybe it’s because he’s in a smaller pond but he’s been able to stay more consistent up the top of the card. 2023 will be the right time for Ganpro’s resident “Puwota” to challenge for the Spirit Of Ganbare Title and win it. I’m not confident he will be the man to dethrone Hartley Jackson but if Mizuki Watase or Ken Ohka can’t do it, it may have to come down to him anyway.


Swing Your Partner ‘Round And ‘Round
Prediction: Ganpro creates a tag team championship and builds it around mixed tag wrestling.

This should have been done when they held the Mixed Tag Tournament in 2021! At the moment the Spirit Of Ganbare Title is the only championship being defended in the promotion. Tag Team Titles should be next on the list for Ganpro to grow into a bigger company. They regularly book mixed tag matches anyway and it would be a good way to differentiate the belts from other company’s tag titles. I’m not even calling for it to be a mandatory rule, just have most of the teams competing in title matches be mixed gender.


Sunshine, Lollipops And Rainbows
Prediction: Ganbare☆Joshi runs their own show in Korakuen Hall.

The Ganbare☆Joshi division took a step back in 2022. Gone were the Ganpro doubleheaders with GanJo running the afternoon shows. It would be nice if they came back with a vengeance in 2023. Not only could they promote their own shows again but they should take a shot at the big time by having an event at Korakuen! It would be a challenge. Maybe Yuna Manase calls in some favors from Ice Ribbon and Gatoh Move or picks a fight with Prominence to build up a headline match. Moeka Haruhi has worked hard all year too so she deserves a spotlight like this too.


Shine On You Crazy Diamond
Prediction: Kota Ibushi wrestles a match in Ganpro.

The aftermath of what happens in January could be either a rising flame of a phoenix or an absolute trash fire. There is plenty of gossip online about Kota Ibushi being done completely with New Japan when his contract is allegedly expected to expire during the month. So if he is going to become a free agent you’d think there will be a lot of suitors out there looking for his services. That might not happen if the guy decides to let loose and produce an exposé on his time with NJPW. If he instead behaves and decide against that then there should be nothing to be worried about, right? Hmmm, can’t be too sure on that one. Ibushi made it clear on Twitter he has no interest in ever going back to DDT. He also sounds bullish about doing work with NOAH when rumours of that surfaced online. Money doesn’t sound like it’s a big motivation for his future plans. If that’s true then wouldn’t a place like Ganpro be more his vibe? It’s where you can wrestle with your heart on your sleeve and a fire in your belly. It would be a wild move to see Ibushi do one match in Korakuen for Ganpro while he is sorting out the Ibushi Wrestling Institute or whatever crazy project he’s been thinking about during his time away from the ring.

Miscellaneous


You Know That I Would Love To See You Next Year, I Hope That I Am Still Alive Next Year
Prediction: Gake no Fuchi Joshi crosses over with Baka Gaijin + Friends.

It’s been a while since we last heard from Gake no Fuchi Joshi. Seems like Miyako Matsumoto has moved on to other priorities. The spirit of insanity we see in those shows could easily fit in with the newly formed Baka Gaijin + Friends. Matsumoto’s chaotic energy is not something Chris Brookes & Drew Parker want to be responsible for but what power do they have to stop it if she ever steps foot inside one of their shows?


Are You Ready To Meet And Defeat The Elite?
Prediction: AEW will host another event in Japan with DDT & TJPW involvement.

AEW held half of a women’s tournament in Japan during 2021 and produced exhibition matches at the Tokyo Game Show in 2022. They have it in them to do something in Japan for a third year in the row with DDT/TJPW along for the ride. I’m thinking it will be something on a similar scale as the first two events. A project separate from the TV shows and instead taking place on Youtube. That’s if it is intended for broadcast at all. But hey, if they want to go full blown Dynamite taping in Korakuen Hall with Konosuke Takeshita in a title match I’ll take that any day of the week.


Back To The Family, I Guarantee Emergency
Prediction: CyberFight adds another promotion to their portfolio.

CyberFight’s recent financial losses don’t concern me. In fact I think they’re due for a slight expansion and will add a fifth wrestling promotion to their collection. In past interviews Sanshiro Takagi talked about ideas to launch a new death match group or present another joshi company separate from TJPW. If this happens it can be something brand new or maybe there’s going to be a smaller company that’s finally at the end of their rope and needs to be sold to survive. The recent power shift in WWE kind of winds the clock back to 2019 with their desire to launch spin-offs around the world returning to the surface. The last attempt at that resulted in Stardom selling to Bushiroad and NOAH selling to CyberFight. I could see a repeat happening with another company if WWE wants to go shopping in Japan again. But that’s the cynical prediction. CyberFight might create something brand new to fill in a gap that none of their existing properties can reach. Like what if a certain star who has crazy ideas for his own wrestling company strikes a deal with CyberFight to make it a reality in return for making a few dates with the other promotions? What a golden scenario that would be.


Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, When I Was Dead Broke, Man I Couldn’t Picture This
Prediction: A brand new puroresu console game gets announced.

Come on, what’s the freaking hold up? I love Fire Pro Wrestling World but I have squeezed every last drop of blood out of that stone. Time for something new. I think this prediction is possible but it all hangs on whether or not AEW: Fight Forever becomes a success. I’m really looking forward to that game and you all know the first thing I’m going to do is pick Yuka Sakazaki but I still have my worries it will turn out to be a bumpy AA title at launch. If it does take off then my hope is for Yuke’s re-using the assets to make a Japan only wrestling game get one step closer to coming true. One where they strike a deal with Bushiroad or CyberFight (or hopefully both). For this prediction Fight Forever releasing “Forbidden Door” DLC doesn’t count, Makoto being added to The Wrestling Code doesn’t count and phone games do not count. I am looking for a full fledged console game here. If it works on the Steam Deck then that would be cool too.


Same As It Ever Was
Prediction: BASARA does something new and different.

Please? Things have been stale with BASARA for a long time. Even the summer series with Dove Pro I always look forward too is the same old stuff. Probably harsh of me to say that because I hear they are more or less happy with the way things are. They have their regular schedule with their regular crowd always showing up. Sometimes that’s all you need to keep a good thing going. I still wish they showed more ambition though.


“CYBERFIGHT FESTIVAL 2022” Results

June 12, 2022

“CYBERFIGHT FESTIVAL 2022”, 12/06/2022
Saitama Super Arena
4,891 Fans

0. STARTING BATTLE KICKOFF ~ DDT Provided Tag Match: Muscle Sakai & Yukio Naya defeated Soma Takao & Kazuki Hirata when Naya pinned Hirata with the Back Drop (9:02).
0. STARTING BATTLE 2 ~ TJPW Provided 10-Woman Tag Match: Nao Kakuta, Mahiro Kiryu, Moka Miyamoto, Arisu Endo & Kaya Toribami defeated Hyper Misao, Yuki Aino, Pom Harajuku, Haruna Neko & YuuRI when Kiryu pinned Harajuku with the Spinebuster (9:10).
0. STARTING BATTLE 3 ~ DDT Vs Ganbare☆Pro Battle: Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani defeated Ken Ohka, Yuna Manase & Mizuki Watase by TKO when Sakaguchi used the Sleeper Hold on Watase (10:20).
1. NOAH Vs DDT Battle: Kinya Okada & Kai Fujimura defeated Toi Kojima & Yuya Koroku when Okada pinned Kojima with a Crab Hold (11:45).
2. TJPW Provided 6-Woman Tag Match: Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh & Juria Nagano defeated Hikari Noa, Suzume & Yuki Arai when Yamashita pinned Suzume with the Skull Kick (10:54).
3. DDT Provided 8-Man Tag Match: Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno, Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari & Akito “Cochin” Nishigaki defeated Sanshiro Takagi, Kendo Kashin, Shinya Aoki & Yumiko Hotta when Nishigaki submitted Takagi with the Chicken Okotta Hold (13:21).
4. Princess Of Princess Title Next Challenger Decision 4 Way Match: Rika Tatsumi defeated Mizuki, Yuki Kamifuku and Miu Watanabe when Tatsumi pinned Watanabe with the Missile Hip (9:37).
5. NOAH Provided 10-Man Tag Match: Michael Elgin, El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr., Rene Dupree, Simon Gotch & Timothy Thatcher defeated Takashi Sugiura, Kazuyuki Fujita, Masa Kitamiya, Daiki Inaba & Shuhei Taniguchi when Elgin pinned Inaba with the Elgin Bomb (14:01).
6. DDT Provided 8-Man Tag Match: HARASHIMA, Naomi Yoshimura, Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi defeated Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata, MAO & Asuka when HARASHIMA pinned Katsumata with the Somato (14:29).
7. NOAH Provided 6-Man Tag Match: Rob Van Dam, Yoshinari Ogawa & HAYATA defeated Kaito Kiyomiya, Daisuke Harada & YO-HEY when Van Dam pinned Harada with the Five Star Frog Splash (12:03).
8. NOAH Vs DDT Battle: Katsuhiko Nakajima, Atsushi Kotoge & Yoshiki Inamura defeated Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Kazusada Higuchi by TKO when Nakajima knocked out Endo (6:20).
9. NOAH Vs DDT Battle ~ Hardcore Match – No DQ Rules: Kenoh defeated Daisuke Sasaki with the P.F.S. from the Ladder (21:28).
10. Princess Of Princess Title: Shoko Nakajima (c) defeated Yuka Sakazaki with the Diving Senton (14:57).
*V3 for Shoko Nakajima.
11. GHC Heavyweight Title: Satoshi Kojima defeated Go Shiozaki (c) with the Lariat (21:11).
*Go Shiozaki fails in V1. Satoshi Kojima becomes the 39th GHC Heavyweight Champion!

The 2nd annual “CYBERFIGHT FESTIVAL” brought together all of the wrestling promotions owned by CyberAgent for a massive show inside Super Saitama Arena. There was plenty of news coming out of it and you can argue it was a better showing for NOAH and Tokyo Joshi Pro than it was for DDT, especially when it came to the inter-promotional matches.

Or maybe it’s New Japan that came out the winner because one of their guys now holds NOAH’s top championship! Satoshi Kojima defeated Go Shiozaki in the main event to win the GHC Heavyweight Title. He is now the fourth wrestler to achieve the biggest grand slam in Japanese pro wrestling. Only he, Kensuke Sasaki, Yoshihiro Takayama and Keiji Muto are the only wrestlers to win the GHC Title, the IWGP Heavyweight Title and the Triple Crown. Shiozaki threw everything at him including Lariats, the Go Flasher and even the Emerald Flowsion. Kojima survived all of it and put his power into three Lariats to dethrone the champion down in his first defence.

Kojima’s big celebration was cut short when Kenoh walked down to the ring. He told Kojima that NOAH is not the destination for New Japan wrestlers. He’s been of the opinion for the last few years because of Muto and Kazuyuki Fujita too. Kenoh promised to open up the future because right now NOAH and CyberFight has none! He challenged Kojima to a title match and Kojima accepted. He later said he doesn’t want anyone to think NOAH is at a low level because he is now their champion. He assures the fans that Shiozaki and the rest of the NOAH roster are not inferior to New Japan. The big title match will take place at Nippon Budokan on 16th July.

TJPW got their spotlight as the semi-main event match. Shoko Nakajima achieved her third straight Princess Of Princess Title defence by beating her long time friend and rival Yuka Sakazaki. Both were given major entrances fitting for the big occasion. Sakazaki got an army of dancing magical girls while Nakajima led a pack of dinosaurs down to the ring. Sakazaki almost won the match by hitting the Magical Merry-Go-Round but her odds vanished after Nakajima blocked the Magical Girl Niwatori Yaro with her knees. The champion then took over with a DDT and pinned Sakazaki with the Diving Senton. Nakajima is happy to see so many people watch her match against somebody as special to her as Sakazaki. Her opponent feels the same even though she lost.

The night had three DDT Vs NOAH matches and NOAH ended up with a clean sweep of victories. The big one was Kenoh defeating Daisuke Sasaki in a No DQ Match. It was a wild affair featuring interference from both DAMNATION T.A and Kongo, including Masakatsu Funaki cycling down the ramp and crashing into the wrong target. Even Yoshihiko showed up defending DDT’s honour only to get thrown out of the ring by Kenoh. Sasaki used a stun gun to prevent Kenoh from doing his Flame Kick. He then brought out a casket with thumbtacks sprinkled inside only to get slammed into it himself. Sasaki also missed a Diving Elbow Drop from the top of the ladder which cost him dearly. Kenoh had no such trouble and hit the P.F.S. Diving Stomp from the ladder to win. Afterwards backstage Kenoh explained his thoughts over DDT. He’s been calling DDT “School Wrestling” and wonders why they should feel ashamed of it? Why does DDT want to turn into a conservative mainstream wrestling company? They were built on being “Cultural Pro Wrestling” so they should have pride and confidence in being that. DDT was at its brightest when they understood it and that was how they could compete against New Japan, NOAH and All Japan. Kenoh thinks Sanshiro Takagi does not understand that and should be lucky to have a guy like Daisuke Sasaki who gets it. Sasaki blamed his loss on having to carry DDT on his back. If he fought selfishly for himself today’s result would have been very different. He says he will carry this shameful loss for the rest of his life, just like how Tetsuya Endo will carry his…

The second big DDT Vs NOAH match was the 6-Man Tag and it ended up becoming the most controversial story of the show. It was meant to be a big match with flashy entrances for everyone involved. Stories were built up pitting Kazusada Higuchi and Yoshiki Inamura against each other along with Jun Akiyama against Atsushi Kotoge. Then five minutes in we get to Tetsuya Endo against Katsuhiko Nakajima. There was an awkward looking moment when Nakajima held himself back against the ropes when Endo tried to drag him away from there. Endo threw a big kick to make him move then some Elbow Strikes. Nakajima responded with a big slap across the face, knocking Endo out and stopping the match! While Endo was getting medical assistance, Akiyama gave Nakajima a stern talking to with the other wrestlers looking on. Endo was still conscious but was helped carried to the back and diagnosed with a concussion. Akiyama criticised Nakajima in his post-match interview without naming him. He explained it doesn’t matter if you can take a strike to the temple if your opponent cannot. He was once told by Giant Baba that no matter what happens, in the end all wrestlers are friends in the same business. He doesn’t think that was the case here. He finished by saying let’s wrestle properly and do it right. I personally do not think it was Nakajima’s intention to knock out Endo but they were clearly not on the same page in the brief time they were in the ring together. I hope it was just a bad misread by Nakajima by trying to add tension to the match. Akiyama was the right person in the right place at the right time to prevent things from escalating further.

The big international guest for the show was Rob Van Dam. Today was his first time wrestling in Japan since 2014. He was on the winning team with Yoshinari Ogawa & HAYATA beating Kaito Kiyomiya, Daisuke Harada & YO-HEY in a 6-Man Tag Match. RVD even picked up the win by pinning Harada with the Five Star Frog Splash. Backstage RVD promised to come back next month. NOSAWA Rongai heard that and challenged him to a Hardcore Match with some of his friends at the Budokan show.

The main core of DDT’s tag team division provided an 8-Man Tag Match. DISASTER BOX & CDK joined forces to take on The 37KAMIINA plus Asuka. There was a massive pile on of Yuki Ueno on top of Asuka on top of Masahiro Takanashi on top of MAO on top of Naomi Yoshimura. The entire thing was then broken up by a Somato from HARASHIMA. MAO & Asuka took care of Chris Brookes with their Doomsday Shiranui double team. Shunma Katsumata tried to finish things off but HARASHIMA got him in the end with the Somato. Takanashi found it weird that wrestlers they feuded with not so long ago are here smiling with them today. Just goes to show when situations change so can certain alliances. The 37KAMIINA also agree they had a fun time and hoped the fans did too.

NOAH’s offer match was a 10-Man Tag Team bout pitting Japan against the world. The foreign team won when Michael Elgin pinned Daiki Inaba with the Elgin Bomb. Timothy Thatcher said if the match took place tomorrow the result may have been different. But today NOAH’s international team were blessed with good teamwork. Simon Gotch said NOAH has always had great foreign wrestlers and this team are part of the new history that will continue to bring in even more. Rene Dupree bragged about North America beating Japan today. The NOAH home team did not provide any post-match comments.

Shoko Nakajima’s next challenger for the Princess Title was determined in a 4 Way Match. Any idea of Daydream joining forces to wipe out the competition did not last long and the match quickly turned into every woman for herself. Miu Watanabe gave both Rika Tatsumi and Mizuki the Giant Swing together. Yuki Kamifuku later tried killing two birds with one stone by hitting the Famouser onto both Tatsumi & Mizuki at the same time. Watanabe jumped in and was ready to give Kamifuku the Tear Drop when Tatsumi broke it up with a Hip Attack. The match came down to the two Daydream wrestlers and Tatsumi came out on top with the Missile Hip to her partner. Tatsumi will now face Nakajima for the Princess Title at Ota Ward Gymnasium on 9th July. Kamifuku said she doesn’t need a championship for now. Instead she wants to fight the Cyber Japan Dancers who performed during intermission!

Pheromones are looking unstoppable once more thanks to their newest member Akito “Cochin” Nishigaki. He is all in on the gimmick, proving it is not an attempt to infiltrate the unit and destroy it from the inside. However their opponents had their own tricks to deal with, such as Kendo Kashin using a body double so he could attack from another angle. Yumiko Hotta got more than she bargained for and was sprayed with a fire extinguisher. Takagi gave Akito a Stunner but Akito stripped out of his costume to toughen up. He put Takagi in a Figure 4 Leg Lock and Yuki Iino sat on Takagi’s face for added damage, making him give up. Backstage Kashin asked for a rematch which Hotta & Shinya Aoki both agreed to. Takagi said maybe next year because his shoulder is bothering him. Kashin said it has to be this year. The four of them then crashed the Pheromones post-match interview to attack Yumehito Imanari and pull his pants down in front of the media.

Nivea sponsored the TJPW 6-Woman Tag Match and rewarded the winners with 10 years supply of their products. Hikari Noa, Suzume & Yuki Arai entered to the brand new TJPW theme song “Princess March” by Masayoshi Soken. Then Maki Itoh performed her theme song with 6 members of IQ Project before Miyu Yamashita & Juria Nagano made their entrance together. The experience of 121000000 was the deciding factor. Yamashita & Itoh took out Noa & Arai with a High Kick/Headbutt Sandwich. Yamashita then wiped out Suzume with the Skull Kick to get the three count. It is Nagano’s first win as a wrestler and Itoh joked about her getting rewarded with gifts from Nivea.

The opening match of the main show was the first DDT Vs NOAH bout of the event. It was between two teams of young wrestlers with Kinya Okada & Kai Fujimura from NOAH beating Toi Kojima & Yuya Koroku from DDT. Kojima & Koroku are both frustrated by the loss but still believe their form of training is not inferior to NOAH’s.

The STARTING BATTLE pre-show provided three dark matches involving DDT, TJPW and Ganbare☆Pro. The Ganpro team went to battle against Eruption but quickly got off on the wrong foot when Ken Ohka got rolled up in tape by his enemies once again. Yuna Manase tried to even the score by getting the better of Saki Akai with a Lariat. Mizuki Watase fought with Hideki Okatani but then turned his attention to Yukio Sakaguchi once Ohka got back into the action. Unfortunately for them, Eruption ended up with the numbers advantage and Sakaguchi choked out Watase with the Sleeper Hold to end the match. When Watase recovered he told Eruption he can continue fighting and began cutting his hair to prove it. Backstage Eruption said they will think about having more matches against Ganpro at Ganpro’s big show in Ota Ward on 10th July. Watase confronted them again and continued cutting off his hair to show how determined he is to fight them. Sakaguchi was convinced an agreed for Eruption to have another match against Ganpro at Ota Ward.

Mahiro Kiryu finally got her day in the sun by getting the win for her team in the TJPW 10-Woman Tag Match. It was an important match for some of the other women too. Kaya Toribami is celebrating finishing her first year as a pro wrestler. Raku was absent and missed by everyone, even by the opposing team. Her replacement YuuRI was disappointed to lose but would be happy to fight with the TJPW wrestlers again. Hyper Misao wanted to win before challenging for the Princess Tag Team Titles soon but still enjoyed her team today. She’d like the 5 of them to do something together again, like have a 5 Way Match! Pom Harajuku was just upset her summer is ending already because she took the fall.

DDT provided the very first match of the day inside the venue when Muscle Sakai & Yukio Naya took on Soma Takao & Kazuki Hirata. Sakai took Kenoh’s criticisms of DDT to heart and wanted to wrestle seriously. He declined a dance battle with Hirata until he was given the Hirata GO! glasses. Takao cut the dancing short so he could continue the match with Naya. Hirata almost pinned Naya with an Inside Cradle but Naya kicked out. He then delivered a Back Drop to Hirata and pinned him Yuji Hino style to get the win. Hirata said he didn’t expect Muscle Sakai of all people to come in wanting to do an exciting match.

Perhaps the biggest news of all to come out of the show was Keiji Muto’s announcement. He once called pro wrestling a marathon without a finishing line but the time has finally come for him to finish. He is going to retire next spring and is planning to wrestle only a few more matches before his career is over. His doctor told him the condition of his left hip is becoming bad and he may need to replace it with an artificial joint. Should he need a hip replacement he will no longer be able to wrestle even though he still wants to. Muto is still thinking of where and when his retirement will take place along with exactly how many more matches he will do before then. He also said The Great Muta may reappear once or twice more but when the Demon Gate to his world closes, it will this time close for good.

The entire event was not just about the pro wrestling show. There was a festival set up around the venue for fans to experience everything about the different CyberFight promotions. I could not find many details but apparently Gake no Fuchi Pro had a stall set up where Miyako Matsumoto held a meet and greet but it was taken over by Prominence.


GAKE NO FUCHI JOSHI PRO “CLOCKWORK GAKE NO FUCHI 2022” Results

January 4, 2022

GAKE NO FUCHI JOSHI PRO “CLOCKWORK GAKE NO FUCHI 2022 ~GAKE NO FUCHI VS PROMINENCE~”, 04/01/2022
Shinjuku FACE
147 Fans

1. Hardcore Match: Chris Brookes defeated Suzu Suzuki with the Praying Mantis Bomb onto the Coffin (22:25).
2. Special Single Match ~ Gake no Fuchi Rules: Risa Sera (105 pts) defeated Miyako Matsumoto (0 pts) by Points Victory (14:28).
3. Special Hardcore Tag Match: Sanshiro Takagi & SenoSister Mao Inoue Vs Mochi Miyagi & Akane Miura ended in a No Contest when Shunma Katsumata interfered (11:45).
4. Gake no Fuchi Vs Prominence Full Scale Battle! No DQ Match: Sanshiro Takagi, Risa Sera, Mochi Miyagi, Akane Fujita & Suzu Suzuki (w/ Hiragi Kurumi) defeated Miyako Matsumoto, Chris Brookes, Shunma Katsumata & SenoSister Mao Inoue (w/ SenoSister Mao & Ippanjin Munenori Sawa) when Sera pinned Matsumoto with the Diving Double Knee Drop onto the Ladder (15:26).

Today was the first event for Prominence since the freelance group’s inception. They were invited by Gake no Fuchi Joshi for a full-scale inter-promotional battle on one of the most important dates of the Japanese wrestling calandar. Four matches pitting different members of the two groups against each other filled out the card.

Up first was Chris Brookes against Suzu Suzuki in a Hardcore Match. The match featured chairs, ladders, thumbtacks, a board full of forks sticking out and most striking of all, a coffin! Brookes won in the end by putting Suzuki through the coffin with the Praying Mantis Bomb. Suzuki still gave him the middle finger afterwards.

Next up was former colleagues Miyako Matsumoto and Risa Sera taking each other on under Gake no Fuchi Rules. The match would get interrupted with mini-games where points are scored. The ringside seconds Munenori Sawa and Hiragi Kurumi would get dragged into the fun with some of the games on offer, like a sumo bout for example. The match was finally called to an end after Sera put Matsumoto in a Giant Swing for 22 rotations. She was given 100 points for it making the final score Risa Sera – 105, Miyako Matsumoto – 0.

Match #3 was turned into a Hardcore Tag Match after strong requests from almost everyone involved. MAO did his SenoSister impersonation gimmick alongside the real SenoSister Mao. His weapon attacks kept hitting Sanshiro Takagi by mistake, causing Takagi to betray Gake no Fuchi and join Prominence’s side! Akane Fujita poured out a box of block toys in the ring and Mochi Miyagi gave MAO a Lou Thesz Press onto them. Takagi was ready to finish him off with the Himawari Bomb when suddenly Shunma Katsumata ran out and attacked the Prominence team! He had previously been accused by Prominence of stealing their ideas for death match weapons so today he came to confront them over it. The Hardcore match was called off and Matsumoto added Katsumata to her team for the main event.

The big finale was an all out battle between Gake no Fuchi Joshi and Prominence. Katsumata and Fujita had a swordfight with swords made out of toy blocks. Matsumoto jumped out of the ring to put Sera through a table at ringside. SenoSister Mao got involved by diving off the top rope onto everyone below. But in the end Prominence took over and Risa hit a Diving Double Knee Drop onto Matsumoto with a ladder to win the match.

The show ultimately ended with Prominence as the winners. Takagi called today a really great show and offered Prominence to distribute their future events on WRESTLE UNIVERSE. Mao encouraged a beaten Matsumoto to make Gake no Fuchi Joshi a rival promotion to Prominence from now on. Matsumoto then announced her new year’s resolution is to get Gake no Fuchi Joshi to Korakuen Hall and ultimately Sumo Hall!


Tomorrow Match Orders, Brookes Vs Yoshihiko, 25th Anniversary Main Event

January 3, 2022

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TOKYO JOSHI PRO ’22”, 04/01/2022
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Mahiro Kiryu & Moka Miyamoto Vs Suzume & Arisu Endo
2. Shoko Nakajima Vs Hyper Misao
3. Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe Vs Yuki Kamifuku & Nao Kakuta
4. Nodoka-oneesan One Day Revival Special Match: Nodoka-oneesan, Yuki Aino & Haruna Neko Vs Marika Kobashi, Raku & Pom Harajuku
5. Yuka Sakazaki Vs Yuki Arai
6. International Princess Title: Hikari Noa (c) Vs Maki Itoh
7. Princess Of Princess Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) Vs Mizuki

This is the match order for tomorrow.

GAKE NO FUCHI JOSHI PRO “CLOCKWORK GAKE NO FUCHI 2022 ~GAKE NO FUCHI VS PROMINENCE~”, 04/01/2021
Shinjuku FACE

1. Hardcore Match: Chris Brookes Vs Suzu Suzuki
2. Special Single Match ~ Gake no Fuchi Rules: Miyako Matsumoto Vs Risa Sera
3. Special Tag Match: Sanshiro Takagi & SenoSister Mao Inoue Vs Mochi Miyagi & Akane Miura
4. Gake no Fuchi Vs Prominence Full Scale Battle! No DQ 8-Man Tag Match: Miyako Matsumoto, Sanshiro Takagi, Chris Brookes & (w/ Ippanjin Munenori Sawa) Vs Risa Sera, Mochi Miyagi, Akane Fujita & Suzu Suzuki (w/ Hiragi Kurumi)

The match order here was switched around a little bit too.

DDT “DDT FREE -JANUARY-”, 07/01/2022
Shinjuku FACE

1. Special Single Match: Chris Brookes Vs Yoshihiko
2. Special Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul Vs Minoru Fujita & Soma Takao

All of a sudden Chris Brookes Vs Yoshihiko has become the hottest grudge in DDT. Earlier today Yoshihiko hit a balcony dive on Brookes and hasn’t stopped assaulting him since. It turns out any enemy of Pokotan is an enemy of Yoshihiko! Brookes wants to settle this quickly so they will face off this Friday.

DDT “JUDGEMENT 2022 ~DDT 25TH ANNIVERSARY~”, 20/03/2022
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

1. KO-D Openweight Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Tetsuya Endo

For the first time in three years Konosuke Takeshita Vs Tetsuya Endo for the KO-D Openweight Title will headline a DDT show! It’s the biggest match for DDT’s biggest show.

Andreza Giant Panda will be on the show.


DDT “DDT 25TH ANNIVERSARY OPENING SPECIAL!” Results

January 3, 2022

DDT “DDT 25TH ANNIVERSARY OPENING SPECIAL! ALL SEATS 3000 YEN BOX OFFICE!!”, 03/01/2022
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
725 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

1. KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles: Toru Owashi, Antonio Honda, Kazuki Hirata & Yoshihiko (c) defeated Sanshiro Takagi, Akito, Soma Takao, Gota Ihashi & Yuki Ishida when Hirata submitted Ihashi with a Jumping Cross Armbreaker (10:23).
*V1 for the The DDT Variety Team.
2. No Tag Rule: Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno, Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari defeated Yuji Hino, Toui Kojima & Yuya Koroku when Dieno pinned Kojima after the Sexy Invader Danshoku Driver (11:33).
3. Special Mixed Tag Match: Masahiro Takanashi & Maya Yukihi defeated Shunma Katsumata & Saki Akai when Takanashi pinned Katsumata with an Oklahoma Roll (11:00).
4. Special Single Match: Chris Brookes defeated Pokotan by TKO with the Diving Foot Stomp (13:57).
5. Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Yuki Ueno ended in a Time Limit Draw (15:00).
6. Kazusada Higuchi defeated Hideki Okatani by TKO with the Torture Canadian Backbreaker (12:02).
7. Tetsuya Endo & Naomi Yoshimura defeated HARASHIMA & MAO when Endo pinned MAO with the Shooting Star Press (13:52).
8. DDT 25th Anniversary Opening Memorial Special Single Match: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Shinya Aoki ended in a Time Limit Draw (15:00).
8a. Overtime: Konosuke Takeshita defeated Shinya Aoki with a Kimura Lock (2:16).

It’s a new year and a very important one for DDT. They are spending 2022 celebrating their 25th anniversary beginning with today’s event in Korakuen Hall. Every match on the card was given a 15 minute time limit to cram in as many matches as they could. In the main event it was the KO-D Openweight Champion and the DDT Extreme Champion battling to a stalemate. Konosuke Takeshita went hold for hold against Shinya Aoki with the match being kept on the ground for most of the fifteen minutes. When the match ended Takeshita asked for a restart and five more minutes were added when Aoki agreed to it. That was when Aoki changed his game plan and attempted a Suicide Dive out of the ring! Takeshita caught him and dropped him onto the floor with a Brainbuster. Back in the ring Takeshita tried to apply the Plus Ultra but couldn’t go through with it. He switched over to a Kimura Lock and that made Aoki submit.

Aoki praised Takeshita for being really strong and Takeshita asked him for a rematch down the road. It is this kind of support that made 2021 Takeshita’s greatest year in his decade long career. The nostalgia DDT is celebrating this year made him think about his debut match at Budokan Hall for DDT’s 15th Anniversary and his championship main event at Saitama Super Arena for the 20th Anniversary. Right when he began saying he would take on any challenger for the 25th Anniversary show, Tetsuya Endo walked down to the ring. He wasted no time and said he is the only one who can face Takeshita in the main event of Sumo Hall. Takeshita simply stuck his hand out and accepted the challenge. It will be Takeshita Vs Endo for the KO-D Title on 20th March!

Some of the tag matches mixed together teams and units as part of the festive mood. HARASHIMA and Naomi Yoshimura were put on opposite sides with HARASHIMA teaming with MAO and Yoshimura teaming with Endo. The finish saw Endo catch MAO with the Tetsuya In The Sky for a nearfall so Endo finished him off with the Shooting Star Press. HARASHIMA thinks the match was a good way to judge how much stronger Yoshimura has gotten. Then a bombshell was dropped. Yoshimura made a request to vacate the KO-D Tag Team Titles! He wants his team with HARASHIMA to advance further and win the Ultimate Tag League 2022 without being champions. HARASHIMA liked the idea and suggested the Tag Titles can be the prize for the tournament winners. That way if DISASTER BOX wins the tournament they will get the belts back and prove they are the absolute best team in DDT! Their request was granted and the KO-D Tag Team Titles were later declared vacant.

Hideki Okatani went through his big test to join Eruption, taking on Kazusada Higuchi. What may have looked like a mismatch was instead a chance for Okatani to show everything he’s got, not just to Higuchi but to the rest of Eruption standing at ringside. Okatani wouldn’t give up even when Higuchi bent him backwards with the Torture Canadian Backbreaker. The bell rang but not because Okatani submitted. Instead Yukio Sakaguchi threw in his hoodie as a stand-in for a towel to forfeit the match on Okatani’s behalf. The three members of Eruption quickly agreed that Okatani had proven himself and he is now the newest member of the group! Sakaguchi said he thought Okatani was just all talk but today he showed guts, determination and the desire to keep climbing. Higuchi said he will be here for when Okatani wants to challenge him again. The rookie achieved his goal of joining Eruption but his story is only just beginning.

There was another time limit draw on today’s show when Sakaguchi teamed with Yuki Ueno to take on DAMNATION T.A. Sakaguchi saw to it to fight against MJ Paul while Ueno reignited his feud with Daisuke Sasaki from last year. Sasaki fought for the Crossface Lock and then the Crossover Facelock to Ueno when the bell rang for the draw. Both sides weren’t thrilled with the result but Sakaguchi did flash Ueno a cheeky NeppoWER!! pose before leaving the ring.

Down, Set, Fight! I think Chris Brookes hates mascots judging from how his day went today. He didn’t know what to make of Pokotan’s antics especially when the mascot kept getting its head stuck between the ropes. It threw Brookes for a loop even further when it began stealing New Japan finishing moves like the Rainmaker, Kamigoye and Sling Blade. When Brookes had finally gotten enough he gave Pokotan an Avalanche Double Arm Suplex, the Praying Mantis Bomb and then crushed its head with a Diving Double Stomp. That last move was so devastating Yukinori Matsui had to call off the match and get Pokotan medical help.

Brookes continued to attack the injured Pokotan after the match until the room went dark and “Darkside” began playing over the speakers. Brookes walked back to the entrance unaware of what was going on until he looked up at the balcony. Suddenly there was Yoshihiko and the doll hit a balcony dive onto Brookes! The two brawled around ringside and when they were pulled apart, Brookes demanded a singles match against Yoshihiko as soon as possible. Hisaya Imabayashi booked the match for 7th January. Yoshihiko later attacked Brookes again backstage during his post-match interview.

Maya Yukihi became a topic of interest a few days ago when Tokyo Sports reported on CyberFight’s determination to sign her to a deal. Today was her first match as a freelancer since leaving Ice Ribbon and she already has several dates with DDT lined up this month. Masahiro Takanashi pinned Shunma Katsumata to get the result but all of the attention was on Yukihi and Saki Akai when they were together. Yukihi reintroduced herself to the DDT fans and said it was an honour for her first freelance match to be here. She’s looking forward to being in the ring with Akai more often both as opponents and as tag team partners. Akai said she is looking forward to seeing what kind of stage awaits Yukihi after her welcoming visit to DDT today. Even though Akai was polite, Yukihi sensed maybe a little bit of jealousy coming from her now that an outsider has appeared to share the spotlight with her. Akai’s point of view is if Yukihi wants to change things for the better then she will support it. But if Yukihi is doing something wrong then Akai will step in and destroy her plans!

A new warning has come from Pheromones. There is an Uber Pheromone among us! Danshoku Dieno can sense it. It can’t be Yuji Hino because he doesn’t like wrestling against Pheromones and was scared off by their behavior in the ring. Hino hardly took any physical damage in the match but the psychological damage stopped him from helping Toui Kojima & Yuya Koroku have any chance to win the match. Not while Yuki Iino propped himself on the ropes calling Hino’s name with Yumehito Imanari filming the entire thing. Pheromones won the match while Hino fled ringside. Afterwards Dieno bragged about Pheromones winning the Best Unit category at the recent Japan Indie Grand Prix Awards. That means Pheromones have a sign of endorsement from Samurai TV! Dieno’s goal for 2022 is Pheromones appearing on Samurai TV and using their lewd material to get the channel kicked off the air!

The KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles are serious business so the challenging team all decided to wrestle in typical salaryman outfits. Kazuki Hirata however wanted to dance because it is the new year and a lot of people bought tickets to see the show. He attacked all of his opponents with the Tegatana Chop until Yuki Ishida blocked it. Hirata won out and started dancing until Sanshiro Takagi put him in an Armbar. Hirata wanted to quit but Toru Owashi wouldn’t let him. Yoshihiko was thrown in to deal with the likes of Akito and Soma Takao. The Gongitsune from Antonio Honda was foiled by Gota Ihashi and his big belly. Hirata then grabbed Ihashi’s arm and made him submit to a Cross Armbreaker. Owashi called the title defence a miracle because the champion team only has 2.5 people on it (Owashi: 1, Honda: 1, Yoshihiko: 0, Hirata: 0.5). Takao didn’t like teaming with the others and never wants to team with them again. However he perked up when Akito suggested he fight Yoshihiko in a first time ever singles match.

Miyako Matsumoto promoted tomorrow’s Gake no Fuchi Joshi show at the beginning of today’s announcements. El Unicorn and Ilusion also promoted the DDTeeeens!! show on the 5th. HARASHIMA opened the show by joking about his old age. He said he is 24 years old.

The entries for Ultimate Tag League 2022 were announced. The 10 teams entering are HARASHIMA & Naomi Yoshimura, Konosuke Takeshita & Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & MAO, Tetsuya Endo & Jun Akiyama, Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi, Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul, Yuji Hino & Yukio Naya, Kazusada Higuchi & Hideki Okatani, Shuji Kondo & Kazuki Hirata and Danshoku Dieno & Yuki Iino. As mentioned above the winners will become the new KO-D Tag Team Champions.


New Year’s Eve Shows, Prominence Reveal Motivations Against Gake no Fuchi, Tokyo Joshi Homecomings

December 30, 2021

“NEW YEAR’S WRESTLING 2021 ~TOSHIWASURE! SHUFFLE 6-MAN TAG TOURNAMENT”, 31/12/2021
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Toshiwasure! Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1A: Kazusada Higuchi, Ryuji Ito & Shiro Koshinaka Vs Chris Brookes, Takuya Nomura & X
2. Toshiwasure! Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1B: Soma Takao, Yuya Aoki & Shuji Ishikawa Vs HARASHIMA, Daichi Hashimoto & Kengo Mashimo
3. Toshiwasure! Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1C: Konosuke Takeshita, Yuji Okabayashi & Kuishinbo Kamen Vs Naomi Yoshimura, Kota Sekifuda & Brahman Kei (w/ Brahman Shu)
4. Toshiwasure! Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1D: MAO, Yasufumi Nakanoue & Shigehiro Irie Vs Akito, Daisuke Sekimoto & Jun Kasai
5. MUSASHI, Daisuke Kanehira, Takafumi & Tatsuya Hanami Vs Takuho Kato, Kosuke Sato, Hideki Okatani & Yuki Ishida
6. Toshiwasure! Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Semi Final: Winners Of Match 1A Vs Winners Of Match 1B
7. Toshiwasure! Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Semi Final: Winners Of Match 1C Vs Winners Of Match 1D
8. 3 Way Tag Match: Abdullah Kobayashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Jaki Numazawa & Antonio Honda Vs Danshoku Dieno & Kankuro Hoshino
9. Toshiwasure! Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Final: X, X & X Vs X, X & X

Team Saiyuki – Akito, Daisuke Sekimoto & Jun Kasai
Ikemen’s – Soma Takao, Yuya Aoki & Shuji Ishikawa
I Dream Of Twins, Lizards And Naomi – Naomi Yoshimura, Kota Sekifuda & Brahman Kei (w/ Brahman Shu)
Three Brothers Kawaii – Chris Brookes, Takuya Nomura & X
I’ll Do It!! – Kazusada Higuchi, Ryuji Ito & Shiro Koshinaka
Deadlifters – Konosuke Takeshita, Yuji Okabayashi & Kuishinbo Kamen
Ugo Association – MAO, Yasufumi Nakanoue & Shigehiro Irie
LEFTOVERS – HARASHIMA, Daichi Hashimoto & Kengo Mashimo

The tradition of wrestling on New Year’s Eve is always a busy one. DDT and Big Japan along with a gang of wrestlers sprinkled throughout the indies close out 2021 over in Korakuen Hall.

BASARA “NEW YEAR’S EVE SHOW”, 31/12/2021
Tokyo Oji BASEMENT MONSTAR

1. Lil Kraken Vs Yasu Urano
2. Tsutomu Oosugi, Banana Senga & Daiki Shimomura Vs FUMA, Yusuke Kubo & Fuminori Abe
3. Jacket Match: Ryota Nakatsu Vs Daichi Kazato
4. Isami Kodaka, Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi & Takato Nakano Vs Takumi Tsukamoto, SAGAT & Masato Kamino
5. Battle Royal: X Vs X

Meanwhile BASARA have their own little end of year show going on at Oji BASEMENT MONSTAR.

DDT “DDT 25TH ANNIVERSARY OPENING SPECIAL! ALL SEATS 3000 YEN BOX OFFICE!!”, 03/01/2022
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Yusuke Okada Vs Yuya Koroku
2. KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles: Toru Owashi, Antonio Honda, Kazuki Hirata & Yoshihiko (c) Vs Sanshiro Takagi, Akito, Soma Takao, Gota Ihashi & Yuki Ishida
3. Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno, Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari Vs Yuji Hino, Yukio Naya & Toui Kojima
4. Special Mixed Tag Match: Shunma Katsumata & Saki Akai Vs Masahiro Takanashi & Maya Yukihi
5. Special Single Match: Chris Brookes Vs Pokotan
6. Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Yuki Ueno
7. Kazusada Higuchi Vs Hideki Okatani
8. HARASHIMA & MAO Vs Tetsuya Endo & Naomi Yoshimura
9. DDT 25th Anniversary Opening Memorial Special Single Match: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Shinya Aoki

The match order is official. Konosuke Takeshita Vs Shinya Aoki is the headliner, a few units get mixed together for tag matches, Chris Brookes gets to deal with the returning Pokotan, previous tag partners Saki Akai and Maya Yukihi are now against each other and the KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles have to be defended by four people.

GAKE NO FUCHI JOSHI PRO “CLOCKWORK GAKE NO FUCHI 2022 ~GAKE NO FUCHI VS PROMINENCE~”, 04/01/2021
Shinjuku FACE

1. Hardcore Match: Chris Brookes Vs Suzu Suzuki
2. Special Tag Match: Sanshiro Takagi & SenoSister Mao Inoue Vs Mochi Miyagi & Akane Fujita
3. Special Single Match ~ Gake no Fuchi Rules: Miyako Matsumoto Vs Risa Sera
4. Gake no Fuchi Vs Prominence Full Scale Battle! No DQ 8-Man Tag Match: Miyako Matsumoto, Sanshiro Takagi, Chris Brookes & (w/ Ippanjin Munenori Sawa) Vs Risa Sera, Mochi Miyagi, Akane Fujita & Suzu Suzuki (w/ Hiragi Kurumi)

This is the first challenge for Prominence since their inception. Risa Sera is close with Miyako Matsumoto and Miyamoto was even considered to be recruited for Prominence during its inception. However Matsumoto turned down the invitation out of loyalty to Gake no Fuchi, CyberFight and Sanshiro Takagi. It must be noted that Matsumoto is NOT a CyberFight employee.

When Suzu Suzuki originally debuted, people kept saying she reminded them of Matsumoto. She felt insulted by that and after holding in her feelings for so long, she will take her anger about it out on Chris Brookes. She isn’t sure how to deal with the height difference but thinks if she can beat a big man with big moves then she cane become a big woman in the ring.

Mochi Miyagi thought she would be taking on the Mao from SenoSister and was looking forward to it. Then she found out it is actually the wrestler MAO and she now wants a explanation. On the bright side she is looking forward to fighting Takagi and making him scream squeal. She isn’t the only person targeting Takagi.

Akane Fujita has accused Shunma Katsumata of stealing all of her ideas for death match weapons. She has proof of using block toys and acupuncture mats as weapons in her own matches before Katsumata used them in DDT. She isn’t facing Katsumata on this show so she will target Takagi instead because he is the DDT president.

Last but not least, Hiragi Kurumi admits she doesn’t know what she is going to do at the show. She isn’t able to wrestle at the moment so she is only advertised to accompany the rest of Prominence for the main event. She knows Munenori Sawa is doing the same so she guesses she will have to deal with him one way or another.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TOKYO JOSHI 2022 WINTER ~KOBE PERFORMANCE~”, 08/01/2022
Kobe Art Center

1. “Futari wa Princess” Max Heart Tournament – Round 1A: Pom Harajuku & Mahiro Kiryu Vs Moka Miyamoto & Yuki Arai
2. Kobe Special 6-Woman Tag Match: Yuka Sakazaki, Mizuki & Shoko Nakajima Vs Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh & Yuki Kamifuku

Will Mizuki enter her hometown of Kobe as the Princess Of Princess Champion?

Kaya Toribami is expected to have her return match on this show. She has spent the last few months in Budapest, Hungary away from wrestling.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TOKYO JOSHI 2022 WINTER ~OKAYAMA PERFORMANCE~”, 09/01/2022
Okayama Convention Center

1. “Futari wa Princess” Max Heart Tournament – Round 1B: Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta Vs Haruna Neko & Kaya Toribami
2. Okayama Special 6-Woman Tag Match: Nodoka Tenma, Yuki Aino & Shoko Nakajima Vs Miyu Yamashita, Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe

The next day will Tokyo Joshi Pro will be in Okayama for The Bakuretsu Sisters homecoming show.


DDT Begins 25th Anniversary Plans For 2022

December 27, 2021

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “THE FINAL ROUND OF 2021 ~I HOPE THERE ARE LOTS OF HAPPY AND FUN THINGS TO DO NEXT YEAR~”, 27/12/2021
Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall

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

The show has already happened as I write this so I’ll be getting to the results ASAP. Just wanted to include the lineup as part of catching up for the sake of it.

DDT “DDT 25TH ANNIVERSARY OPENING SPECIAL! ALL SEATS 3000 YEN BOX OFFICE!!”, 03/01/2022
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno, Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari Vs Yuji Hino, Yukio Naya & Toui Kojima
2. Yusuke Okada Vs Yuya Koroku
3. Kazusada Higuchi Vs Hideki Okatani
4. Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Yuki Ueno
5. HARASHIMA & MAO Vs Tetsuya Endo & Naomi Yoshimura
6. KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles: Toru Owashi, Antonio Honda, Kazuki Hirata & Yoshihiko (c) Vs Sanshiro Takagi, Akito, Soma Takao, Gota Ihashi & Yuki Ishida
7. Special Mixed Tag Match: Shunma Katsumata & Saki Akai Vs Masahiro Takanashi & Maya Yukihi
8. Special Single Match: Chris Brookes Vs Pokotan
9. DDT 25th Anniversary Opening Memorial Special Single Match: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Shinya Aoki

Every match on this show will have a 15 minute time limit. Jun Akiyama will also be on commentary instead of wrestling.

One day after defeating Yuji Okabayashi on DDT’s final show of the year, Konosuke Takeshita is looking for new challenges in 2022. When Takeshita returned home after yesterday’s show, he already saw pictures on social media of Okabayashi already in the gym doing leg exercises. That inspired him to start training again too. Nobody came out after the match to challenge Takeshita for the KO-D Openweight Title which is why he is going out there to seek opponents. First up is Shinya Aoki for a special singles match celebrating DDT’s 25th Anniversary. It’s been two and a half years since their last singles match together and a lot has changed for both of them since then.

Newly freelanced Maya Yukihi will be appearing in DDT for several dates in January. She is also booked for the 7th January and 22nd January events.

Hideki Okatani has unexpectedly volunteered to join Eruption! He approached Kazusada Higuchi after yesterday’s show with the request. He wants to join because there are wrestlers from his class and below that are joining units while he had nothing after Junretsu disbanded. Both Yukio Sakaguchi & Saki Akai approve of the idea but Higuchi wants to find out if Okatani is ready to join them. They will have a singles match so Higuchi can judge him firsthand.

A decision was made by DDT to turn the KO-D 8-Man Tag Team Titles back into the KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles. DDT made the decision in reaction to the lifting of restrictions allowing bigger crowds to gather in one place. However the current champions are not allowed to add a 5th member and must defend the titles in a 4 Vs 5 Handicap Match. The DDT Variety Team are the current champions but have not yet been told about the change in rules. If there is any chance the champions have of retaining the belts it is because Sanshiro Takagi has for some reason put together a team of challengers that do not want to work with each other.

GAKE NO FUCHI JOSHI PRO “CLOCKWORK GAKE NO FUCHI 2022 ~GAKE NO FUCHI VS PROMINENCE~”, 04/01/2021
Shinjuku FACE

1. Hardcore Match: Chris Brookes Vs Suzu Suzuki
2. Special Tag Match: Sanshiro Takagi & SenoSister Mao Inoue Vs Mochi Miyagi & Akane Miura
3. Special Single Match ~ Gake no Fuchi Rules: Miyako Matsumoto Vs Risa Sera
4. Gake no Fuchi Vs Prominence Full Scale Battle! No DQ 8-Man Tag Match: Miyako Matsumoto, Sanshiro Takagi, Chris Brookes & (w/ Ippanjin Munenori Sawa) Vs Risa Sera, Mochi Miyagi, Akane Fujita & Suzu Suzuki (w/ Hiragi Kurumi)

The full Gake no Fuchi Joshi Vs Prominence card has been revealed. Old friends and allies are coming to Miyako Matsumoto’s aid against the brand new deathmatch group. SenoSister Mao Inoue is MAO pretending to be Mao from SenoSister. Matsumoto will be providing her unpredictable match rules against Risa Sera and when all is said and done there will be one last match pitting both sides at their fullest against each other.

DDT “SWEET DREAMS! 2022 TOUR IN OSAKA DAY 1”, 09/01/2022
Osaka 176BOX

1. Akito Vs Yuki Ishida
2. Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul Vs Yuji Hino & Yuya Koroku
3. 3 Way Tag Match: Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno & Yuki “Sexy” Iino Vs Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Antonio Honda & MAO
4. Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & Toui Kojima Vs Chris Brookes, Kazusada Higuchi & Hideki Okatani
5. Special 6-Man Tag Match: HARASHIMA, Naomi Yoshimura & Yukio Naya Vs Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Bodyguard
6. Osaka Specialty Special Single Match: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Yusuke Okada

Two Osaka wrestlers have their first singles match against each other when Takeshita faces Yusuke Okada.

BURNING gets a little bit of assistance from Bodyguard.

DDT “SWEET DREAMS! 2022 TOUR IN OSAKA DAY 2”, 10/01/2022
Osaka 176BOX

1. Shunma Katsumata & Toui Kojima Vs Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku
2. Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul Vs Naomi Yoshimura & Yuki Ishida
3. HARASHIMA & Toru Owashi Vs Antonio Honda & Hideki Okatani
4. Tetsuya Endo & Jun Akiyama Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Naya
5. Special Tag Match: Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno & Yuki “Sexy” Iino Vs Bodyguard & Kazuki Hirata
6. Osaka Specialty Special 6-Man Tag Match: Konosuke Takeshita, Yuki Ueno & MAO Vs Yuji Hino, Chris Brookes & Akito

The next day Bodyguard gets to deal with Pheromones for the first time. Good luck with that, buddy!

DDT “SWEET DREAMS! 2022 ~ULTIMATE TAG LEAGUE 2022 OPENING ROUND~”, 30/01/2022
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. DDT Universal Title: Daisuke Sasaki (c) Vs Minoru Fujita

The original plan was for Daisuke Sasaki Vs Minoru Fujita to happen in October. Fujita fell ill with covid and spent weeks in the ICU in no condition to wrestle so Sasaki defended the DDT Universal Title against Isami Kodaka instead. After Sasaki beat Masahiro Takanashi yesterday he demanded that Fujita be his next challenger no matter what condition he is in. Fujita accepted, knowing that he is nowhere near his physical best but still confident he can beat Sasaki. Just like Takanashi, he is fighting for the pride of ChocoPro!


Suzuki Joins Itoh Respect Army? Prominence Arrives, RENEGADES Revival

December 20, 2021

DDT “NEVER MIND 2021 IN YOYOGI”, 26/12/2021
Yoyogi National Stadium 2nd Gymnasium

0. Dark Match: Toru Owashi & Yukio Naya Vs Antonio Honda & Hideki Okatani
0. Dark Match: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Maku Donaruto
0. Dark Match – DDTeeeen!! Special Single Match: Ilusion Vs Vent Vert Jack
1. Soma Takao & Shota Vs Akito & Yuki Ishida
2. Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno, Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari Vs Shinya Aoki, Yumiko Hotta & Super Sasadango Machine
3. Special Single Match: Shuji Kondo Vs Kazuki Hirata
4. BURNING Vs The 37KAMIINA!: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku Vs Shunma Katsumata, Yuki Ueno, MAO & Toui Kojima
5. Special 6-Man Tag Match – Yukio Sakaguchi Return Match: Yukio Sakaguchi, Kazusada Higuchi & Saki Akai Vs Minoru Suzuki, Chris Brookes & Maki Itoh
6. KO-D Tag Team Titles: HARASHIMA & Naomi Yoshimura Vs Yuji Hino & Bodyguard
7. DDT Universal Title: Daisuke Sasaki (c) Vs Masahiro Takanashi
8. KO-D Openweight Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Yuji Okabayashi

Earlier today Chris Brookes & Maki Itoh went to visit Minoru Suzuki at his clothing store Piledriver in Harajuku. Their intention was to initiate Suzuki as the newest member of The Itoh Respect Army before their match against Eruption. Despite Suzuki’s intimidating presence, the two introduced themselves to him and explained what was going on. Suzuki told them if they spent 10,000 yen in his shop then he would become friends with them. He gave advice to Itoh, telling her not to compare herself to others. He also said he will target Yukio Sakaguchi because he has known him since junior high. Brookes volunteered to fight Saki Akai because they are both tall and slim wrestlers who have good chemistry together in the ring. That leaves Itoh to deal with Kazusada Higuchi. Brookes told Itoh they both have iron heads so it will be an even fight. Itoh welcomed Suzuki into the Itoh Respect Army after making Brookes pay for their items. However Suzuki denies joining the unit because he is still Suzuki-gun.

GAKE NO FUCHI JOSHI PRO “CLOCKWORK GAKE NO FUCHI 2022 ~GAKE NO FUCHI VS PROMINENCE~”, 04/01/2021
Shinjuku FACE

1. Hardcore Match: Chris Brookes Vs Suzu Suzuki

Two years ago Gake No Fuchi Joshi held an unforgettable Ittenyon show where Brookes and Miyako Matsumoto had a nightmare of a Falls Count Anywhere Match. Matsumoto urgently decided to hold a show on 4th January again but this time it’s to welcome one of the newest joshi units onto the scene. A few weeks ago several wrestlers from Ice Ribbon announced their intentions to go leave the company and become a freelance death match unit called Prominence. One of the key members of this new unit is Suzu Suzuki who was built up by Ice Ribbon to be their young prodigy with a love for death match wrestling. A Hardcore Match against Brookes is exactly what she is looking for after taking her career in a new direction.

The other members of Prominence will also be on the show for other matches. The members are Risa Sera, Mochi Miyagi and Akane Fujita. Gake No Fuchi in the past hasn’t held more than two matches in a single show so I expect it to be a tag match with Matsumoto also involved. As you will see below the Prominence wrestlers have no problem with wrestling each other.

DDT “DDTEEEEN!!”, 05/01/2022
Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall

1. Raimu Imai & Toui Kojima Vs Yuya Koroku & Yuki Ishida
2. Daichi Sato Vs Yuki Ueno
3. Hardcore Match: Suzu Suzuki & Hideki Okatani Vs Akane Fujita & Shunma Katsumata
4. Ilusion & Tetsuya Endo Vs Vent Vert Jack & Naomi Yoshimura
5. El Unicorn Vs You-sei☆Estrella

The main event between El Unicorn and You-sei☆Estrella promises to be a high flying battle.

If there is any unsettled business between Ilusion and Vent Vert Jack from Yoyogi then Tetsuya Endo and Naomi Yoshimura will help clear things up between them.

Prominence is also showing up on the next DDTeeeen!! show with Suzuki and Fujita taking part in a Hardcore Match. Suzuki will team with Hideki Okatani who recently took part in his first Hardcore Match thanks to Shunma Katsumata. Only makes sense for Katsumata to drag him into another here.

The other teenage wrestlers Daichi Sato and Raimu Imai are back for more.

GANBARE☆PRO “MOEKA HARUHI PRODUCE ~PARADISE AFTER THE RAIN 2022~”, 08/01/2022
Kitazawa Town Hall

1. Rain And Bumblebees: Shuichiro Katsumura Vs Thanomusaku Toba Vs Fuminori Abe
2. Rain And Then Downpour: Ken Ohka & Miyako Matsumoto Vs Nobuhiro Shimatani & HARUKAZE
3. After The Rain, Gokigen: Kaori Yoneyama Vs YuuRI
4. I Like The Rain: Moeka Haruhi, Makoto & Cherry Vs Yuna Manase, Rina Yamashita & Tsubasa Kuragaki

The final match added to Moeka Haruhi’s produce show is a heavy striking 3 Way between Shuichiro Katsumura, Tanomusaku Toba and Fuminori Abe.

GANBARE☆PRO “TROPIC THUNDER 2022”, 10/01/2022
Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall

1. Hatsuyume Special Tag Match 2nd Round: Yuna Manase & YuuRI Vs SAKI & Hikari Shimizu
2. RENEGADES Are Back! New Year Special Tag Team Match: Shigehiro Irie & Mizuki Watase Vs Yumehito Imanari & Baliyan Akki
3. Ganpro New Year Battle 2022 2nd Round: Shuichiro Katsumura, Taison Maeguchi & Moeka Haruhi Vs Shota, Nobuhiro Shimatani & HARUKAZE
4. New Year Special Single Match 2nd Round: Soma Takao Vs Shinichiro Tominaga
5. Ganpro Vs Takaiwa Army Full Scale Battle 2nd Round: Keisuke Ishii & Kouki Iwasaki Vs 5th Black Tiger & Kenya Maeda
6. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Tatsuhito Takaiwa (c) Vs Ken Ohka

Now that Mizuki Watase has gotten his feet wet in Ganbare☆Pro he is getting straight to business. He is reviving RENEGADES with Shigehiro Irie! The tag team was originally a unit led by Irie during his 2018 main event run in DDT. However most of the unit was made up of foreign wrestlers so for now RENEGADES is coming back as just a tag team. Watase said he will DM the other members and ask them to come back once the pandemic is over. There is one question I have to ask. Does this mean Watase will wrestle in a suit again?

The Ganbare☆Joshi division is open to work with Color’s and that relationship continues here. Yuna Manase is looking for more joshi to appear on GanJo shows. YuuRI also just learned a harsh lesson being in the ring with SAKI.


Akiyama Fired Up, Itoh’s Tokyo Dome Dream, Yamagata Double Booked For Ganjo

April 9, 2021

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “SPRING TOUR ’21 ~THE BULLET~”, 10/04/2021
Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall

1. Shoko Nakajima Vs Arisu Endo
2. Nodoka Tenma & Yuki Aino Vs Hyper Misao & Mahiro Kiryu
3. Marika Kobashi & Hikari Noa Vs Pom Harajuku & Haruna Neko
4. Yuka Sakazaki, Mizuki & Raku Vs Mirai Maiumi, Suzume & Moka Miyamoto
5. Rika Tatsumi, Miu Watanabe & Nao Kakuta Vs Yuki Kamifuku, Maki Itoh & Miyu Yamashita

Sena Shiori will be absent from the show due to family circumstances.

DDT “APRIL FOOL 2021”, 11/04/2021
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

0. Under Match: Hideki Okatani Vs Toui Kojima
1. Yuya Koroku Debut Match: Yusuke Okada Vs Yuya Koroku
2. Chris Brookes, Saki Akai, Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya Vs Makoto Oishi, Akito, Kazuki Hirata & Keigo Nakamura
3. Gorgeous Matsuno Pre-60th Birthday Commemorative Match: Gorgeous Matsuno, Toru Owashi & Antonio Honda Vs Tetsuya Endo, Mad Paulie & Nobuhiro Shimatani
4. DAMNATION Vs The 37KAMIINA: Daisuke Sasaki, Soma Takao & Yuji Hino Vs Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & MAO
5. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Sakaguchi (c) Vs HARASHIMA & Yuji Okabayashi
6. KO-D Openweight Title: Jun Akiyama (c) Vs Danshoku Dieno

Jun Akiyama is expecting Danshoku Dieno to be the fan favourite this Sunday. He welcomes that and is encouraging the DDT fans to support him. Why? Because it will fire up Akiyama even more!

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “STILL INCOMPLETE”, 17/04/2021
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Marika Kobashi & Sena Shiori Vs Moka Miyamoto & Arisu Endo
2. Miu Watanabe, Raku & Pom Harajuku Vs Yuna Manase, Mahiro Kiryu & Haruna Neko
3. Miyu Yamashita Vs Hikari Noa
4. 3 Way Tag Match: Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki Vs Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao Vs Mirai Maiumi & Suzume
5. International Princess Title: Yuki Kamifuku (c) Vs Nao Kakuta
6. Princess Tag Team Titles: Nodoka Tenma & Yuki Aino (c) Vs Sakisama & Mei Saint-Michel
7. Princess Of Princess Title: Rika Tatsumi (c) Vs Maki Itoh

Now that Maki Itoh has achieved her dream of going to AEW she thinks it is time for her to give back to everyone who made her who she is today. There is no bigger gift for her to give than to win the Princess Of Princess Title and bring Tokyo Joshi Pro all the way over to a sold out Tokyo Dome! The difference in popularity between her and Rika Tatsumi hasn’t gone unnoticed by the champion. She admits Itoh has become a major player while she is still on the indies level. But what’s strong is strong no matter what level you are at. Tatsumi crawled her way up to become the Princess Champion and she isn’t giving it away on her second defence.

Sakisama continues to act like The Bakuretsu Sisters are below her despite them being the current Princess Tag Team Champions. She thinks they shouldn’t be walking around with the belts because NEO Biishiki-gun won the Max Heart Tournament and that determines who is the strongest team in TJPW. Mei Saint-Michel is looking forward to decorating her room with the pink title belts. The Sisters said they are taking a piece from all of their previous title match opponents to stay as champions no matter what. They’ve also taken Sakisama’s “Korakuen Pork” insults and turned it into actual “Champion Pork” to sell inside Korakuen Hall during the show.

There is a lot of talk between Yuki Kamifuku and Nao Kakuta over the differences between standing out and being normal. Kamifuku wants to stand out as the International Princess Champion so she can draw in people who aren’t wrestling fans to TJPW. Kakuta believes the value of the IP Title changes depending on the person who claims it. It is valuable because of what Kamifuku has done as champion so far but Kakuta thinks she can become a wonderful champion too with how she is now.

GANBARE☆PRO “GANBARE☆JOSHI PRO WRESTLING ~BUTTERFLY DANCE 2021~”, 24/04/2021
Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall

1. Ganjo Jacket Match: Cherry Vs Shuichiro Katsumura
2. Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling Offer Match: Keisuke Ishii & Shu Sakurai Vs Yumehito Imanari & Shota
3. GWC 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Asuka, Hagane Shinno & Shinichiro Tominaga (c) Vs Chris Brookes, Drew Parker & Miyako Matsumoto
4. Ganjo Vs Actwres girl’Z: Moeka Haruhi Vs Rina Amikura
5. Special Single Match: HARUKAZE Vs Yuu Yamagata
6. Special Single Match: Yuna Manase Vs Yuu Yamagata

The original plan for Yuu Yamagata coming in to the show was just to wrestle HARUKAZE in a singles match. Those two haven’t wrestled each other since 2012. Unfortunately Yamagata has no memory of who HARUKAZE is and doesn’t want to wrestle her. Yuna Manase is the person who put this card together and she appealed to Yamagata to do the match. That caused Yamagata to then challenge Manase to a match on the show instead! After an argument between the three parties it was decided that Yamagata will wrestle twice on the show. Once against HARUKAZE and once against Manase.

Manase was able to make the Asuka, Hagane Shinno & Shinichiro Tominaga match against Gake no Fuchi Joshi for the GWC 6-Man Tag Team Titles.

GANBARE☆PRO “RESERVOIR DOGS 2021”, 01/05/2021
Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall

1. Mixed Tag Tournament – Round 1: X & X Vs X & X
2. Mixed Tag Tournament – Round 1: X & X Vs X & X
3. Mixed Tag Tournament – Round 1: X & X Vs X & X
4. Mixed Tag Tournament – Round 1: X & X Vs X & X

The full list of entries are Ken Ohka & Cherry, Yumehito Imanari & Yuna Manase, Shuichiro Katsumura & Moeka Haruhi, Keisuke Ishii & HARUKAZE, Shota & Miss Mongol, Shinichiro Tominaga & Asuka, Kouki Iwasaki & Itsuki Aoki and Miyako Matsumoto with a partner to be announced. Matsumoto is currently campaigning on Twitter to get John Cena to team with her.

BAKUHA KOSHIEN “BAKUHA KOSHIEN 2021 SPRING”, 02/05/2021
Kanagawa Tsurumi Fruit & Vegetable Market

1. Bakuha Koshien Spring Tag Tournament – Round 1: X & X Vs X & X
2. Bakuha Koshien Spring Tag Tournament – Round 1: X & X Vs X & X
3. Bakuha Koshien Spring Tag Tournament – Final – Current Blast Death Match: X & X Vs X & X

Atsushi Onita & Yumehito Imanari are the third team officially entering the tag tournament. Onita is demanding that Kuro-chan & Super Sasadango Machine be the final team so he can get revenge for losing to them last December.


Takeshita Gone In April, Akiyama Vs Dieno, That’s J-PW, Normal Of Normal Princess

March 29, 2021

DDT “PEANUTS ARE ALSO A GOOD SOURCE OF PROTEIN! 2021”, 03/04/2021
Chiba 2AW Square

1. Akito & Toui Kojima Vs Yusuke Okada & Yukio Naya
2. Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata & Saki Akai Vs Antonio Honda, MAO & Keigo Nakamura
3. Playfulness Series Act 2: Danshoku Dieno Vs Hideki Okatani
4. Eruption Vs DAMNATION!: Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Soma Takao & Mad Paulie
5. Junretsu Vs The 37KAMIINA!: Jun Akiyama & Makoto Oishi Vs Yuki Ueno & Shunma Katsumata
6. Uchibo, Sotobo, Dai Boso! Chiba Specialty Special 6-Man Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki, Tetsuya Endo & Yuji Hino Vs HARASHIMA, Chris Brookes & Yuki Iino

Konosuke Takeshita made a request to take April off from DDT. He isn’t sick or injured. Instead he wants to take a chance to evolve into something stronger and needs to be away for a month to do it. Sounds kind of familiar, doesn’t it? If it means what I think it means then I couldn’t be happier for the guy. Anyway he returns to DDT on 4th May.

BOYZ “BOYZ BE AMBITIOUS! 2021”, 04/04/2021
Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall 2nd Floor

1. Oishi & Okatani Produce Match: Makoto Oishi & Hideki Okatani Vs Yuki Ueno & Kazuki Hirata
2. Tetsuya Endo & Soma Takao Vs Chris Brookes & Jun Masaoka
3. Keisuke Ishii Vs MAO
4. Akito Vs Shota
5. BOYZ Army Vs YaroZ Army Full Scale Special 6-Man Tag Match: HARASHIMA, Shunma Katsumata & Toui Kojima Vs Antonio Honda, Yuki Iino & Keigo Nakamura

An email sent from the address new.damnation.japan.com@gmail.com was sent to the DDT office asking for an opportunity to be recruited for DAMNATION. The mystery person asked for Tetsuya Endo & Soma Takao Vs Chris Brookes & Jun Masaoka to take place on the BOYZ show. Oh, and the email is signed under Jun Masaoka’s name. The email was forwarded to BOYZ producer Akito and after some consideration he agreed to put the match together.

YAROZ “YAROZ PART 9 ~THE SAME DAY AND SAME VENUE DECISIVE BATTLE WITH THE FATEFUL BOYZ! NEVER LOSE TO THOSE WHO ARE POPULAR! RAISE UP THE YAROS! SHOW OFF A MAN’S STORY OF BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS!~”, 04/04/2021
Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall 1st Floor

DDT’s newest signing Yusuke Okada really wants to be part of the BOYZ brand. Unfortunately everyone else thinks he is more suited to YaroZ whether he likes it or not. So for the BOYZ Vs YaroZ double booking, Okada will be wrestling on the YaroZ show.

DDT “APRIL FOOL 2021”, 11/04/2021
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

0. Under Match: Hideki Okatani Vs Toui Kojima
1. Chris Brookes, Saki Akai, Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya Vs Makoto Oishi, Akito, Kazuki Hirata & Keigo Nakamura
2. DAMNATION Vs The 37KAMIINA: Daisuke Sasaki, Soma Takao & Yuji Hino Vs Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & MAO
3. Yuya Koroku Debut Match: Yusuke Okada Vs Yuya Koroku
4. Gorgeous Matsuno Pre-60th Birthday Commemorative Match: Gorgeous Matsuno, Toru Owashi & Antonio Honda Vs Tetsuya Endo, Mad Paulie & Nobuhiro Shimatani
5. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Sakaguchi (c) Vs HARASHIMA & Yuji Okabayashi
6. KO-D Openweight Title: Jun Akiyama (c) Vs Danshoku Dieno

There have been two wrestlers who have either stood up to Jun Akiyama or criticized his role in DDT. Akiyama just dispatched of Kazusada Higuchi so he now has to take care of Danshoku Dieno. Dieno accepted that Akiyama became part of DDT’s history when he signed a contract but the temptation of becoming KO-D Openweight Champion one more time means he cannot stay quiet anymore! If Akiyama hasn’t experienced full blown DDT before, he will now.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “THAT’S J-PW”, 12/04/2021
WRESTLE UNIVERSE

Tokyo Joshi Pro is launching a new series of English shows for WRESTLE UNIVERSE. Every week on Monday and Thursday mornings in Japan “THAT’S J-PW” will host an exclusive TJPW match filmed without an audience and a Q&A session, all presented in English. Chris Brookes & Baliyan Akki will provide commentary and the episodes will last around 15 minutes each. Tetsuya Koda explained the name has a double meaning. The J in “THAT’S J-PW” stands for both Japan and Joshi.

DDT “MAX BUMP 2021 TOUR IN ASAKUSA”, 15/04/2021
Tokyo Hanayashiki Asakusa Flower Theater

1. Makoto Oishi Vs Toui Kojima
2. Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Sakaguchi & Saki Akai Vs Chris Brookes, Antonio Honda & Yuya Koroku
3. Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie Vs Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata
4. Daisuke Sasaki, Soma Takao & Yuji Hino Vs HARASHIMA, Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya
5. Danshoku Dieno & Sanshiro Takagi Vs Akito & Keigo Nakamura
6. Asakusa Specialty! Hana Special 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Hideki Okatani & Yusuke Okada Vs Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & MAO

While Takeshita is away, the rest of The 37KAMIINA will keep the waters warm without him.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “STILL INCOMPLETE”, 17/04/2021
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. International Princess Title: Yuki Kamifuku (c) Vs Nao Kakuta
2. Princess Tag Team Titles: Nodoka Tenma & Yuki Aino (c) Vs Sakisama & Mei Saint-Michel
3. Princess Of Princess Title: Rika Tatsumi (c) Vs Maki Itoh

A criticism that has been aimed towards Nao Kakuta since she started wrestling for TJPW is that she is too normal to stand out. Even her challenge to Yuki Kamifuku for the International Princess Title was considered plain or even a bit boring according to the champion. Kakuta thinks it is fine to be normal. She can be called the Normal Of Normal Princess as far as she is concerned. Her other nickname is “Rat Chaser” (she used to have a catgirl gimmick) and she found her rat in the form of Kamifuku. All she has to do now is catch her! Kakuta also said that she has no senpai or kohai figures in TJPW because she came from somewhere else so she feels comfortable enough to stretch out and use her own fighting styles that she likes.

DDT “MAX BUMP 2021 TOUR IN NIIGATA”, 18/04/2021
Niigata Bandaishima Multipurpose Plaza

1. Toru Owashi & Yuki Iino Vs Makoto Oishi & Toui Kojima
2. Tetsuya Endo Vs Yusuke Okada
3. Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Sakaguchi & Saki Akai Vs HARASHIMA, Akito & Shunma Katsumata
4. Jun Akiyama & Hideki Okatani Vs Yuji Okabayashi & Yukio Naya
5. Gorgeous Matsuno 60th Birthday Commemorative Match: Gorgeous Matsuno, Danshoku Dieno & Kazuki Hirata Vs Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & MAO
6. “Celebrity Of Niigata” Super Sasadango Machine Local Triumphant Return!: Super Sasadango Machine, Chris Brookes & Antonio Honda Vs Daisuke Sasaki, Soma Takao & Mad Paulie

The spotlight shines on Super Sasadango Machine and Gorgeous Matsuno in Niigata.

Whether he wins the KO-D Tag Team Titles or not, Yuji Okabayashi will at least be around for another DDT show in April. In a match against Akiyama too.

Match #2. That is all.

GANBARE☆PRO “GANBARE☆JOSHI PRO WRESTLING ~BUTTERFLY DANCE 2021~”, 24/04/2021
Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall

1. Ganjo Vs Gake no Fuchi Joshi Full Scale Battle: Asuka, Hagane Shinno & Shinichiro Tominaga Vs Chris Brookes, Drew Parker & Miyako Matsumoto
2. Ganjo Jacket Match: Cherry Vs Shuichiro Katsumura

The defence squad has been put together for the Gake no Fuchi Joshi invasion. If Asuka, Hagane Shinno & Shinichiro Tominaga still have the GWC 6-Man Tag Team Titles then it would make for an exciting title defence too.

DDT “MAX BUMP 2021 TOUR IN NAGANO”, 25/04/2021
Nagano City Museum of Art Act Space

1. Hideki Okatani Vs Yuya Koroku
2. The 37KAMIINA Vs DAMNATION!: Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & MAO Vs Daisuke Sasaki, Soma Takao & Mad Paulie
3. DDT Nagano Sales Manager Toru Owashi (Free) Local Triumph! 20th Anniversary Of Debut “Owashi And His Delightful Friends Part 8” Special 6-Man Tag Match: Toru Owashi, Akito & Kazuki Hirata Vs Danshoku Dieno, Antonio Honda & Yukio Naya

The rookie Yuya Koroku gets to face off with one of his senior classmates in Hideki Okatani.

DDT “MAX BUMP 2021”, 04/05/2021
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. DDT UNIVERSAL Title: Yuki Ueno (c) Vs X

Defence number 5 on the schedule for Yuki Ueno. Who will step up to challenge him this time?