Okay, okay, okay. Bare with me for a bit. I arrived in Vegas and saw the extra match announcements so let me finish up the two guides and they should be ready in an hour or two. Also I’m spamming some posts so the massive Around The World article gets pushed off the front page and the site won’t crash due to overload once the guides are up.
DDT “DDT GOES LAS VEGAS!”, 18/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Yuni Vs Starboy Charlie
2. 3 Way Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & Ilusion Vs Mizuki Watase & Shota Vs Dan The Dad & Kody Lane
3. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Nick Wayne, Shunma Katsumata & Kazuma Sumi Vs Gringo Loco, Marcus Mathers & Tyler Bateman
4. Special Single Match: Antonio Honda Vs Santana Jackson
5. Special Single Match: Shinya Aoki Vs Timothy Thatcher
6. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs MAO
7. wXw Unified World Wrestling Title: 1 Called Manders (c) Vs Yukio Naya
8. DDT Universal Title: Minoru Suzuki (c) Vs Yoshihiko
This is the complete card for DDT’s Las Vegas show. Mizuki Watase, Shota, Dan The Dad, Kody Lane and Starboy Charlie are the last people added.
DDT/TOKYO JOSHI PRO/GCW “DDT VS TJPW VS GCW”, 19/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Rika Tatsumi & Antonio Honda Vs Kidd Bandit & Shota
2. 3 Way Match: MAO & Yoshihiko Vs Jimmy Lloyd & Alec Price Vs Jack Cartwheel & Kazuma Sumi
3. Special Tag Match: 1 Called Manders & Maki Itoh Vs Yukio Naya & Microman
4. Special Tag Match: Mance Warner & Shunma Katsumata Vs John Wayne Murdoch & Matt Tremont
5. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki, Ilusion & Dark Sheik Vs Super Crazy, Marcus Mathers & Shoko Nakajima
6. Special Tag Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA & Masha Slamovich Vs Shinya Aoki & Miyu Yamashita
Who is the cutest in the world? Maki Itoh could have some competition with Microman when it comes to that claim. Add 1 Called Manders and Yukio Naya into the mix and we got ourselves the plot of a straight to video sequel of The Hangover.
No seriously what the hell is this card? There’s still like a third of the lineup still to be booked!
DDT “SAPPORO NIGHT CRUSH”, 26/04/2025 Hokkaido Sapporo Sun Plaza
1. MAO & KANON Vs Yukio Naya & Yuya Koroku
2. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Noriyuki Yoshida & Daichi Sato Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Tomoya & Yuki Ishida
3. Sapporo’s Famous Trial Singles Best Of Two Matches – First Round!!: Akito Vs Kazuki Hirata
4. SCHADENFREUDE International Vs The 37KAMIINA!: Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada Vs Yuki Ueno & To-y
5. Special Single Match: HARASHIMA Vs Danshoku Dieno
6. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Shunma Katsumata, Yuni & Kazuma Sumi (c) Vs Daisuke Sasaki, Hideki Okatani & Ilusion.
DAMNATION T.A want to take back the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles after having to vacate them when they kicked KANON out of the group. They now have Hideki Okatani replacing him and Ilusion wants to be on the team this time too. He’s been targeting NωA Jr. a lot recently anyway. And why does MJ Paul have to be taken out of the equation? Can’t Daisuke Sasaki let him lead the team for once?
DDT “MENKOI DAY SMASH”, 27/04/2025 Hokkaido Sapporo Sun Plaza
1. Yuni Vs Ilusion
2. Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & To-y Vs Jun Akiyama, Yukio Naya & Daichi Sato
3. Special 6-Man Tag Match: HARASHIMA, Tomoya & Noriyuki Yoshida Vs Danshoku Dieno, Yuya Koroku & Kazuma Sumi
4. Sapporo’s Famous Trial Singles Best Of Two Matches – Second Round!!: Akito Vs Kazuki Hirata
5. SCHADENFREUDE International Vs DAMNATION T.A!: Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada Vs Hideki Okatani & MJ Paul
6. STRANGE LOVE CONNECTION Vs Harimao!: MAO & KANON Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida
Updating the main event match name now that MAO & KANON are the Strange Love Connection.
What a month it’s been already and we’re not even halfway through yet. It’s the busiest time of the year for American wrestling with WrestleMania coming up next weekend and the carnival of shows that exist around it. DDT and Tokyo Joshi Pro will be deep in the mix with shows held under The Collective banner along with some outside bookings scattered around the Paradise of Las Vegas. Then there is no rest for the wicked afterwards because the months leading into summertime will be very busy for the likes of Miyu Yamashita and Maki Itoh. The international exchange will even be seen in Japan with Deadlock Pro running a tour over there and YuuRI getting involved in a big lucha libre show. Plus one of the big rivalries happening in Southeast Asia may finally come to an end if Yuki Kamifuku defeats Alexis Lee one more time.
But I’m burying the lede here. Shoko Nakajima won a championship in MLW! She has become the latest TJPW wrestler to win a title belonging to a foreign company and we may possibly add another person to that somehow growing list at the end of the month. Meanwhile Konosuke Takeshita is already turning April 2025 into a memorable period. He squashed an age old beef with one of Japan’s modern legends and has started a tournament run that will at least produce a few great matches if he doesn’t make it all the way.
Video starts at 22:53 for Match #1. Go to 1:12:00 for Match #2. MLW “BATTLE RIOT VII”, 05/04/2025 Thunder Studios Arena, Long Beach, California, USA
1. HIMAWARI Vs Janai Kai
2. MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title: Delmi Exo (c) Vs Shoko Nakajima
8th match Backstage 4/11/25 | Windy City Riot 2025
AEW “COLLISION”, 12/04/2025 MassMutual Center, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA
1. Owen Hart Foundation 2025 Men’s Tournament – Quarter Final: Brody King (w/ Julia Hart) Vs Konosuke Takeshita
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Results
AEW “COLLISION”, 02/04/2025 (Aired 05/04/2025) Peoria Civic Center, Peoria, Illinois, USA
1. Kyle Fletcher & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Powerhouse Hobbs & Tomohiro Ishii (w/ Rocky Romero) when Fletcher pinned Ishii with the Sheer Drop Brainbuster (13:47).
Takeshita had to miss the “DYNASTY” PPV because he had other priorities with New Japan that weekend but he was able to fit in an AEW tag match right before he left. He and Kyle Fletcher are really catching on as a tag team lately and they were really put through the grinder against Powerhouse Hobbs & Tomohiro Ishii. They tried to give Ishii a Super Bomb from the corner but Ishii countered it into a Frankensteiner on Fletcher. Takeshita came to help Fletcher give Ishii a Sheer Drop Brainbuster for a nearfall and then clashed with Hobbs. Ishii’s face was bloody at this point but he was still fired up to fight. Fletcher didn’t care though and he used a Tombstone Piledriver followed by another Brainbuster for the victory.
MLW “BATTLE RIOT VII”, 05/04/2025 Thunder Studios Arena, Long Beach, California, USA
1. Janai Kai defeated HIMAWARI with the Tornado Kick (7:28).
2. MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title: Shoko Nakajima defeated Delmi Exo (c) with the Diving Senton (9:17). *Delmi Exofails in V2. Shoko Nakajima becomes the 5th MLW Women’s World Featherweight Champion!
Well would you look at that, MLW went all the way with Nakajima and made her their women’s champion! The 619, Double Arm DDT and Diving Senton put Delmo Exo away and now Nakajima can add the MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title to her collection.
Also HIMAWARI did not in fact get abducted or murdered by CONTRA Unit. She made it back to Japan in one piece. Janai Kai still beat her pretty handily but I’d still call it a successful MLW excursion.
NJPW “WINDY CITY RIOT”, 11/04/2025
Wintrust Arena, Chicago, Illinois, USA
4,674 Fans – No Vacancy
1. Hiroshi Tanahashi Last Match In The USA Final Road ~Kinship~: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi with the Raging Fire (20:37).
It was an emotional battle that’s been over a decade in the making. Takeshita was not only fighting Hiroshi Tanahashi in a rematch from their DDT bout from 2014 but he was defending DDT’s honour over the disrespect Tanahashi gave to them in 2015. Due to the added importance that this will be Tanahashi’s final wrestling match in America before he retires it was made the main event of the show ahead of the IWGP World Heavyweight Title bout. The two had counters for each other’s finishers but Takeshita surprised everyone by doing his own High Fly Flow. Everyone was then in even more shock when Tanahashi kicked out at one! Takeshita nailed Tanahashi with several Wagamama knee strikes before giving a big shout to HARASHIMA by hitting the Somato. After that he used the Raging Fire to get the win.
Backstage Takeshita said he was all anger before this match but now that it is over, his revenge on Tanahashi has ended and he now for the first time respects him. There is one thing that Takeshita couldn’t do to Tanahashi and that was take away the last of his light. He wishes to see Tanahashi keep that light shining until his retirement. He was then interrupted by El Phantasmo who complained about Takeshita not showing respect until now. He still remembers their match at last year’s G1 Climax and he wants to challenge him to a rematch, this time with the NEVER Openweight Title on the line. Suddenly Phantasmo was then attacked from behind by Rocky Romero. Whatever it is that’s going on between them has nothing to do with Takeshita. At least for now.
AEW “COLLISION”, 12/04/2025 MassMutual Center, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA
1. Owen Hart Foundation 2025 Men’s Tournament – Quarter Final: Konosuke Takeshita defeated Brody King (w/ Julia Hart) with the Powerdrive Knee (12:18).
The 4th annual Owen Hart Cup is packed this year on both the men’s and women’s tournaments. Count Takeshita among them on the men’s side. His opening round match was against Brody King from The Hounds Of Hell. Even a guy like Takeshita gets a bit worried when he hears King barking nearby. It took several Powerdrive Knee strikes to break down King and the final two needed Takeshita to pull his kneepad down for extra damage to finally put his opponent down for the count.
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WrestleMania Week Appearances
PANDEMONIUM PRO “THE HOUSE ALWAYS WINS”, 17/04/2025 Fremont Country Club, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Masha Slamovich Vs MAO
2. Maya World Vs Miu Watanabe
Let’s get crazy. The first piece of involvement in Wrestlemania Week from DDT and TJPW both take place at the same show. Miu Watanabe makes a rare outside appearance from TJPW to take on Maya World while one of her later upcoming opponents Masha Slamovich takes a trip on MAO’s wild ride. Or maybe it’s MAO going on Slamovich’s wild ride.
WRESTLECON “MARK HITCHCOCK MEMORIAL SUPERSHOW”, 17/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Mickie James Vs Maki Itoh
Who knows what else WrestleCon has in store for their big event of the week and if it applies here. They have a mystery 10-Man Tag Match on the card which was used to promote TJPW in a previous year. Itoh might meet her match in more ways than one when she faces off against Mickie James. But the worst thing James could do is go in their and underestimate Itoh.
WEST COAST PRO “VEGAS VACATION”, 17/04/2025 Meet Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. MAO Vs Jiah Jewell
It will be the second match of the day for both MAO and Jiah Jewell.
GCW “JOSH BARNETT’S BLOODSPORT XIII”, 17/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Charlie Dempsey Vs Shinya Aoki
2. Nattie Neidhart Vs Miyu Yamashita
This year’s Bloodsport went through a slight overbooking problem with some fighters but it hasn’t affected the two matches here that I care about. Bless GCW and Josh Barnett for having conflicting stories over who is actually booking the show when it was time to explain why previously announced talent were being left off the final card. Friendship aside, Nattie Neidhart doesn’t want to be used as a stepping stone by Yamashita but Yamashita doesn’t want Neidhart to take her lightly either. Are we going to get MMA Shinya Aoki or DDT Shinya Aoki when he fights Charlie Dempsey?
BZW “VIVA LAS VEGAS”, 17/04/2025 Swan Dive, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. BZW Tag Team Titles: MAO & Yoshihiko (c) Vs Marcus Mathers & Alec Price
Alec Price has found a replacement partner to challenge MAO & Yoshihiko for the BZW Tag Team Titles. With Cole Radrick out of action, Marcus Mathers is going to take his place.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “QUERI PRESENTS TJPW LIVE IN LAS VEGAS”, 18/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Rika Tatsumi, Shino Suzuki & Vert Vixen Vs Yuki Aino, Raku & Viva Van
2. Yuki Arai Vs Arisu Endo
3. Maki Itoh & Zara Zakher Vs Max The Impaler & Pom Harajuku
4. Special Single Match: Masha Slamovich Vs Miu Watanabe
5. International Princess Title: Suzume (c) Vs Jada Stone
6. Princess Tag Team Titles: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao (c) Vs Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara
7. Princess Of Princess Title: Mizuki (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita
I’ll aim to have my guide for the TJPW Las Vegas show posted either late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning Las Vegas time.
DDT “DDT GOES LAS VEGAS!”, 18/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Nick Wayne, Shunma Katsumata & Kazuma Sumi Vs Gringo Loco, Marcus Mathers & Tyler Bateman
2. Special Single Match: Antonio Honda Vs Santana Jackson
3. Special Single Match: Shinya Aoki Vs Timothy Thatcher
4. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs MAO
5. wXw Unified World Wrestling Title: 1 Called Manders (c) Vs Yukio Naya
6. DDT Universal Title: Minoru Suzuki (c) Vs Yoshihiko
Same with my guide for the DDT Las Vegas show. You’ll pretty much know I arrived safe and sound when the articles get posted.
WRESTLECORE “FEAR & WRESTLECORE IN LAS VEGAS”, 18/04/2025 Swan Dive, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. ELP Vs Maki Itoh
Well so much for El Phantasmo and Maki Itoh joining forces as The Cutest Tag Team In The World. They’re not getting along so they’re going to fight each other instead.
PRIDESTYLE “OUT OF THIS WORLD”, 18/04/2025 Swan Dive, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
0. Yoshihiko’s Super Special Open Challenge: Yoshihiko Vs X
1. G-Sharpe Vs MAO
A new booking for MAO over at PrideStyle. If his opponent G-Sharpe looks a little familiar it may be because you might recognize him when he wrestles under a mask as Hyperstreak. There is a group called The Cartel de Los Villanos who have been feuding with G-Sharpe over in PrideStyle and they are the ones who hired MAO to fight him.
A bonus attraction will be happening before the show officially starts. That’s right, Yoshihiko is throwing out an open challenge! Who will dare step foot against “The Grave Digger Doll From Hell”?
GRAPHOUSE “FOR VEGAS, BY VEGAS”, 18/04/2025 Fergusons Downtown, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Lazarus Vs MAO
MAO’s Friday night comes to a close with a brawl against Lazarus near Fremont Street. Someone convince MAO to Moonsault off of the Vegas Vic neon sign.
DDT/TOKYO JOSHI PRO/GCW “DDT VS TJPW VS GCW”, 19/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Rika Tatsumi & Antonio Honda Vs Kidd Bandit & Shota
2. 3 Way Match: MAO & Yoshihiko Vs Jimmy Lloyd & Alec Price Vs Jack Cartwheel & Kazuma Sumi
3. Special Tag Match: Mance Warner & Shunma Katsumata Vs John Wayne Murdoch & Matt Tremont
4. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki, Ilusion & Dark Sheik Vs Super Crazy, Marcus Mathers & Shoko Nakajima
5. Special Tag Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA & Masha Slamovich Vs Shinya Aoki & Miyu Yamashita
What the hell kind of Fire Pro random card is this?
GCW “CLUSTERF*CK FOREVER”, 19/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Clusterfuck Match: Yoshihiko Vs X
Yoshihiko is among the many, many competitors announced for the Clusterfuck so far but nobody else from DDT or TJPW has declared they will be in it. It’s likely a bunch of the talent will already be flying home by the time this show takes place.
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Upcoming Appearances After WrestleMania Week
AEW “DYNAMITE – SPRING BREAKTHRU”, 16/04/2025 MGM Music Hall At Fenway, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
1. Owen Hart Foundation 2025 Men’s Tournament – Semi Final: Will Ospreay Vs Konosuke Takeshita
Ok this is during WrestleMania Week but isn’t actually part of it so let’s stick it here. It’s now on to the semi finals for Takeshita where is next opponent is quite a doozy. It’s the rematch against Will Ospreay!
DPW “SPIRIT RISING – NIGHT 1”, 24/04/2025 Shinjuku FACE
1. Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA Vs LaBron Kozone & Calvin Tankman
2. DPW Women’s World Title: Dani Luna (c) Vs Rika Tatsumi
The hype train’s not stopping once WrestleMania is done. The schedule is going to get even more packed heading into the summer! DPW is heading back to Japan and has some familiar wrestlers taking part on their shows. Rika Tatsumi is getting a shot at the DPW Women’s World Title on the first night. The champion Dani Luna is coming out of a violent feud with Hyan over the belt which included title defences in Street Fights and Dog Collar matches. Sounds like she’ll be ready to handle Tatsumi’s madness. Meanwhile Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA are teaming up to take on two of DPW’s mainstays. LaBron Kozone is currently the DPW National Champion which just so happens to be the first DPW championship that his teammate Calvin Tankman won in the company.
DPW “SPIRIT RISING – NIGHT 2”, 25/04/2025 Shin-Kiba 1st RING
1. Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida Vs Calvin Tankman & Kazuma Sumi
2. Emi Sakura, Chris Brookes, Mei Suruga & Baliyan Akki Vs Miyuki Takase, Kevin Ku, Dominic Garrini & Ryo Mizunami
Then on the second night Brookes joins team ChocoPro to fight a mix of joshi and Violence Is Forever… Joshi Is Forever? Violence Is Joshi? Miyuki Takase & Ryo Mizunami Plus Two?
Tankman finds himself in the ring surrounded by DDT wrestlers. It will be a match of big man and little man teams when Tankman teams with Kazuma Sumi to fight the Harimao pair of Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida.
HOG “ISOLATION”, 25/04/2025 NYC Arena, New York City, New York, USA
1. HOG Heavyweight Title: Mike Santana (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita
Will Takeshita bring an end to Mike Santana’s 16 month reign as House Of Glory’s champion?
BLACK LABEL PRO “BLP AT SCX III”, 25/04/2025 The Wyndham, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Leyla Hirsch
2. Danhausen & Maki Itoh Vs Davey Bang & August Matthews
You know, this is one of those shows that feels like it just takes forever to get to.
MEXICO KANKO/CMLL/LADYS RING “LUCHA FIESTA ESPECIAL”, 27/04/2025 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
1. Mexican Tourist Belt – The Road To Studying In Mexico 5 Way Match: Yuki Mashiro Vs Honoka Vs YuuRI Vs SONYA Vs CoCo
2. Octagon & El Hijo del Octagon Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Pantera Jr.
I heard this show has a Street Fighter 6 product placement match. Makoto and Hikaru Shida are cosplaying as R. Mika & Yamato Nadeshiko to fight a pair of masked Zangief wrestlers. It would be funny if The Gief #1 and The Gief #2 were other members of DAMNATION T.A.
I missed that YuuRI was booked for this show a month ago. She’s taking part in a 5 Way match where the winner will be crowned the second Mexican Tourist Belt Champion. Whoever holds possession of the belt is given the right to go study in Mexico thanks to the show sponsors. YuuRI’s opposition in the match are the freelancer Yuki Mashiro, Honoka from WAVE, SONYA from the Costa Rica Wrestling Embassy (CWE) and CoCo from MY WAY.
TOP TALENT “LIVE AT MIDWAY MUSIC HALL”, 02/05/2025 Midway Music Hall, Edmonton, Canada
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
Yamashita is going to be visiting Canada a few more times during this excursion. Top Talent Wrestling is the latest promotion over there to book her.
HOODSLAM “PHANTASMAGORIA”, 02/05/2025 Continental Club, Oakland, California, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs X
Itoh is getting her ass back to Hoodslam!
GCW “CRAZY SCARY SPOOKY HILARIOUS”, 03/05/2025 Ukrainian Culture Center, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs Miyu Yamashita
Itoh believes she cannot lose to Yamashita in GCW. Anywhere but over there!
GCW “WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU”, 04/05/2025 Hawthorne Theatre, Portland, Oregon, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. GCW World Title: Effy (c) Vs Maki Itoh
One day later she gets her chance to win the GCW World Title from Effy. Only one person missing from making it a full Maki Death Bussy reunion.
HOG “WAGING WAR”, 09/05/2025 Logan Square Auditorium, Chicago, Illinois, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
Just have to wait and see who House Of Glory wants to put Yamashita against. It didn’t work out so well for her there last time.
NJPW “RESURGENCE”, 09/05/2025 Toyota Arena, Ontario, California, USA
1. KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs X
It hasn’t been made official at the time of writing but it’s looking like Takeshita will defend the NEVER Openweight Title against El Phantasmo at this show. Unless Romero does something else to ELP and changes the situation.
MAPLE LEAF PRO “NORTHERN RISING”, 10/05/2025 Mattamy Athletic Centre, Toronto, Canada
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Sereena Deeb
North American promoters really have a type of opponent in mind for Yamashita this time around, eh? She’ll have to deal with the wrestling expertise of Serena Deeb for her return to Maple Leaf Pro.
GCW “BIG TIME”, 17/05/2025 RJ Meyer Arena, Joppa, Maryland, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Tony Deppen
Yamashita’s journey through GCW continues.
GCW “RUN FOR IT”, 18/05/2025 Water Street Music Hall, Rochester, New York, USA
1. Billie Starkz Vs Miyu Yamashita
Once again, they meet at last.
MKW “BATTLE OF THE DECADE”, 24/05/2025 Dongxin Plaza, Beijing, China
1. Yuki Kamifuku & Chen Wenbin Vs Alexis Lee & Big Sam
The end of May will be a dramatic period for Yuki Kamifuku and Alexis Lee. This match in Middle Kingdom Wrestling has now become the warmup for what happens in Singapore Pro Wrestling one week later.
SAJ “HUNTER’S NET”, 24/05/2025 Magnete, Milan, Italy
1. Queen Of Asia Title: Yuki Kamifuku (c) Vs Alexis Lee
The stakes have been risen to the extreme. Lee is wagering her pro wrestling career to get one last chance at winning back the Queen Of Asia Title from Kamifuku. If she loses this time then she is done for!
KITSUNE “GOING BACK TO SAN DIEGO”, 07/06/2025 Primal Compound, San Diego, California, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. Vipress & Hudson Envy Vs Nagisa Nozaki & Yuna Manase
Hey since Darkness Revolution are now down a member in Marigold maybe Nagisa Nozaki will consider replacing Bozilla with Yuna Manase.
KITSUNE “8888”, 08/06/2025 South Gate, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. Yuna Manase Vs X
Yamashita’s match on this show will be a singles match with an opponent yet to be determined.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN HOUSTON – NIGHT 1”, 10/07/2025 POST, Houston, Texas, USA
Does the T in TJPW now stand for Texas? On the weekend when AEW runs “ALL IN TEXAS” TJPW will be holding three shows in the Lone Star State.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN HOUSTON – NIGHT 2”, 11/07/2025 POST, Houston, Texas, USA
Two of the shows are going to be in Houston.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN DALLAS”, 13/07/2025 The OC, Forney, Texas, USA
The third show is happening… not in Dallas but they’re calling it Dallas anyway. Is this like years ago when WWE would be in New York State and only mention on air that they’re somewhere near New York City?
I’m probably going to be posting a lot of stuff over the next week and a half. Probably an unhealthy amount of writing about this stuff.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “WRESTLE UNIVERSE MEMBERS ONLY SHOW – PURE TOKYO JOSHI PRO WRESTLING 9”, 13/04/2025 Tokyo Kitazawa Town Hall
1. Costume Change Match: Mizuki, Suzume, Pom Harajuku & Yoshiko Hasegawa Vs Wakana Uehara, HIMAWARI, Toga & Haru Kazashiro
This week’s Tokyo Joshi Pro fan club show will feature six matches and the first one announced is the return of the Costume Change Match. Everyone is going to be wrestling in someone else’s gear.
Mifu Ashida will not be at the show due to a scheduling conflict.
BAKA GAIJIN + FRIENDS “VOL. 21: THE BEGINNING OF THE END”, 15/04/2025 Tokyo ARENA Shimokitazawa
1. Special Single Match ~Goodbye Keigo~: MAO Vs Keigo Nakamura
2. BK-G Openweight Title – Triple Threat Match: Chris Brookes (c) Vs Mr. Bueno Vs Mr. Malo
You know Keigo Nakamura is going to be missed if Baka Gaijin + Friends are putting together a farewell match for him.
1. Gouma Ryu Vs Minoru Fujita
2. SAGAT Vs Shota Kofuji
3. Takumi Tsukamoto & Judomaster Vs KUBITO & Daichi Kazato
4. Isami Kodaka & Tomoki Hatano Vs Daiki Shimomura & Lil’ Kraken
5. Ryota Nakatsu, Kazusada Higuchi, Naomi Yoshimura & Yuki Ishida Vs Ryuichi Sekine, FUMA, Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino
With the returns of Kazusada Higuchi & Naomi Yoshimura now completed, Harimao are back to full strength. The unit wants to keep making appearances in BASARA as well as DDT so they’re getting a big 8-Man Tag main event against the current Iron Fist Tag Team Champions as well as Aijin Tag.
Tomoki Hatano is coming over from HEAT-UP.
DDT “DDT GOES LAS VEGAS!”, 18/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Nick Wayne, Shunma Katsumata & Kazuma Sumi Vs Gringo Loco, Marcus Mathers & Tyler Bateman
2. Special Single Match: Antonio Honda Vs Santana Jackson
3. Special Single Match: Shinya Aoki Vs Timothy Thatcher
4. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs MAO
5. wXw Unified World Wrestling Title: 1 Called Manders (c) Vs Yukio Naya
6. DDT Universal Title: Minoru Suzuki (c) Vs Yoshihiko
Last week 1 Called Manders made news in the European scene by winning the vacant wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship in Germany. He isn’t wasting any time in putting the belt on the line including a few matches taking place in America this week. If he is still the champion heading into DDT’s Las Vegas show he will defend the title against Yukio Naya.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “KANDA MYOJON CULTURAL EXCHANGE CENTER PRESENTS THIS IS JAPAN”, 19/04/2025 Tokyo Kanda Myojin Hall
1. Kaya Toribami Vs Tabata
2. Yoshiko Hasegawa Vs Kakeru Sekiguchi
3. Ryo Mizunami & Moka Miyamoto Vs Mahiro Kiryu & Haruna Neko
4. International Princess Title Next Challenger Tournament: HIMAWARI Vs Toga Vs Haru Kazashiro Vs Mifu Ashida Vs Kira Summer Vs Chika Nanase Vs Uta Takami Vs Ivy Steele
4a. Round 1: X, X, X & X Vs X, X, X & X
4b. Round 2: X & X Vs X & X
4c. Final: X Vs X
This is the full card for the TJPW show that is happening in Japan while the Las Vegas trip is going on. Four matches that are really six when you count all rounds of the main event. Ryo Mizunami and Kakeru Sekiguchi are being called in from the reserves while the CMLL luchadora Tabata makes her TJPW debut. Tabata is the daughter of Lluvia and the stepdaughter of Ultimo Guerrero. She has been touring Japan with Stardom for an entire month while also appearing in a few Japanese indies here and there.
DDT/TOKYO JOSHI PRO/GCW “DDT VS TJPW VS GCW”, 19/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Rika Tatsumi & Antonio Honda Vs Kidd Bandit & Shota
2. 3 Way Match: MAO & Yoshihiko Vs Jimmy Lloyd & Alec Price Vs Jack Cartwheel & Kazuma Sumi
3. Special Tag Match: Mance Warner & Shunma Katsumata Vs John Wayne Murdoch & Matt Tremont
4. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki, Ilusion & Dark Sheik Vs Super Crazy, Marcus Mathers & Shoko Nakajima
5. Special Tag Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA & Masha Slamovich Vs Shinya Aoki & Miyu Yamashita
What in the hell is this card, man? There’s still more matches to be added too! Dark Sheik siding with DAMNATION T.A to face the Fire Pro random button trio of Super Crazy, Marcus Mathers & Shoko Nakajima. One time opponents Mance Warner and Shunma Katsumata now teaming up to face the deathmatch duo of John Wayne Murdoch & Matt Tremont. Mathers isn’t the only WWE ID talent involved because Jack Cartwheel is booked too. Also Kidd Bandit is there before heading over to Japan for a tour with ZERO1.
DDT “DDT HARU NO KEN FESTIVAL ~STILL GOING ON IN UENO~”, 23/04/2025 Tokyo Ueno Park Outdoor Stage
1. Keigo Nakamura Send Off Match ~ Special Single Match: Yuki Ueno Vs Keigo Nakamura
Soon Keigo Nakamura will be travelling overseas to go on an indefinite excursion. His final match in Japan with DDT will be against Yuki Ueno.
DDT “SAPPORO NIGHT CRUSH”, 26/04/2025 Hokkaido Sapporo Sun Plaza
1. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Noriyuki Yoshida & Daichi Sato Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Tomoya & Yuki Ishida
2. Sapporo’s Famous Trial Singles Best Of Two Matches – First Round!!: Akito Vs Kazuki Hirata
3. Special Single Match: HARASHIMA Vs Danshoku Dieno
DDT returning to Sapporo means Tomoya and Noriyuki Yoshida get their annual bookings with the company.
DDT “MENKOI DAY SMASH”, 27/04/2025 Hokkaido Sapporo Sun Plaza
1. Special 6-Man Tag Match: HARASHIMA, Tomoya & Noriyuki Yoshida Vs Danshoku Dieno, Yuya Koroku & Kazuma Sumi
2. Sapporo’s Famous Trial Singles Best Of Two Matches – Second Round!!: Akito Vs Kazuki Hirata
3. Special Tag Match: MAO & KANON Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida
DDT is also putting on a two match series between Akito and Kazuki Hirata during the weekend in Sapporo.
DDT “D GENERATIONS 2 ~THERE’S NO LIMIT TO GROWING PAINS~”, 14/05/2025 Tokyo Ueno Park Outdoor Stage
1. Special Single Match: To-y Vs Daichi Sato
2. Special Single Match: Keisuke Ishii Vs Yuki Ishida
3. Special Tag Match: Shigehiro Irie & Shota Vs Takeshi Masada & Yuya Koroku
The first D GENERATIONS show ended with a declaration of war between DDT’s current youth movement against the Young Communication generation, a previous iteration of then DDT rookies wanting to prove themselves.
1. Special Single Match: Suwama Vs Muscle Sakai
2. Special Single Match: Yuji Nagata Vs Ken Ohka
Ken Ohka has always looked up to Yuji Nagata for being “Mr. IWGP”. He can never make his dream come true of becoming a great wrestler like Nagata is but he wants to test his unorthodox wrestling abilities against his wrestling hero.
What kind of wheeling and dealing might Sanshiro Takagi get out of booking Suwama for his next MatchMake & Agent show? Maybe Muscle Sakai can give Suwama some savvy business tips for managing Pro Wrestling Evolution.
Buckle up, folks. There is a lot to talk about this month, next month and probably even going into the summer. Konosuke Takeshita is no longer the AEW International Champion. That was to be expected but I am pleasantly surprised he has remained on AEW TV since then and is still winning matches for The Don Callis Family. He remains being protected in the booking so it looks like AEW has something in mind for him down the line even if it’s just building him up to put someone else over. Also in news that is kind of AEW related Yuka Sakazaki is now on the lookout for more wrestling bookings. Sumie Sakai is helping her out on that end but it sounds like Sakazaki will still need AEW’s permission to go ahead with whatever offers come her way.
Next let’s talk about Maki Itoh and Miyu Yamashita. Once the Las Vegas shows are done Itoh will be staying in America until 11th May while Yamashita won’t be coming back to Japan until 21st July for “SUMMER SUN PRINCESS ’25”. I was taken aback by the negative response to the news that both of them will be taking another extended hiatus from Tokyo Joshi Pro to wrestle overseas again. I get the frustration in a way. People think both of them are looking for contracts from WWE or AEW. Itoh has brought up stuff like that in past English interviews but I’m not entirely sure Yamashita has the same goal in mind. There was a public talk event sometime ago where Yamashita revealed she spent a lot of money to go follow one of her favorite K-Pop bands on a US tour and she seems to enjoy when she’s not being relied upon by TJPW to be a company ace. Maybe I’m wrong but I don’t think the two of them keep taking these options in the search for deals that may never come their way. Of course I may also just be blind to what could possibly be some tryout matches coming up next month.
That brings us up to next month’s chaos that is Wrestlemania Week. I can’t wait for this! Too many wrestling shows going on non-stop in Las Vegas for a solid week. Now that’s my kind of holiday! DDT and TJPW don’t have full cards out for their shows yet and I have the feeling one or two more promotions will be booking the likes of MAO and Itoh before we get there. So many shows are going on during the week that I can’t help but wonder if it will just take one badly made political decision somewhere to throw half the shows into chaos.
And if that’s not enough it turns out there will be even more wrestling shows going on through the year after Wrestlemania is finished. Yeah that took me by surprise too. Anyway next month expect me to write up three separate Around The World articles. One for everything that happens before WM Week, one for the week itself and one for the rest of April after that. If the next month doesn’t burn me out something fierce than nothing will.
1. Yuki Kamifuku & The Statement defeated Alexis Lee & Da Butcherman when Statement pinned Butcherman with an Uppercut (?:??).
The latest chapter in the Southeast Asian rivalry between Yuki Kamifuku and Alexis Lee was a little different this time around. Recently in Singapore Pro Wrestling Lee was stabbed in the back by Andruew Tang, or as he prefers to be called now, The Statement. Lee wanted payback and joined forces with one of Statement’s rivals Da Butcherman to get it. Statement called in Kamifuku to back him up so they can become the royal pair who will rule over SPW together with iron fists. An intense tag match resulted in the referee getting knocked out and Statement being saved by a tag team called The Midnight Bastards. The team attacked Butcherman with chairs and held him in place for Statement to knock him out with an Uppercut. Statement & Kamifuku both stood tall over their rivals holding their championships before leaving. Lee swore revenge and promised to take back the Queen Of Asia Title from Kamifuku!
EVE “WOMEN BEHAVING BADLY”, 07/03/2024 The Big Penny Social, London, England
1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Lucia Lee with the Skull Kick (12:48).
Plans in EVE changed for Yamashita when her original opponent Session Moth Martina pulled out of the show due to illness. Instead Yamashita was given Lucia Lee as her new opponent. For Lee it was a chance on short notice to step up against Yamashita and prove she can go toe to toe against her. Despite the good effort, Yamashita knocked her over with the Skull Kick anyway.
RCW “MARCH MADNESS”, 08/03/2024 Casinet de Hostafrancs, Barcelona, Spain
1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Amale with the Skull Kick (15:16).
The next day Yamashita was in Spain to wrestle on an RCW show for the first time since October 2022. Her opponent was “The French Hope” Amale, formerly from NXT UK. She sent Yamashita crashing through the front row of chairs with a Topé Suicida and the two soon found themselves brawling around ringside. Back in the ring Amale kicked out of an Avalanche Attitude Adjustment and almost scored the win with a Small Package. But when Yamashita kicked out she quickly had her opponent in her sights and hit the Skull Kick for the victory.
1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Anita Vaughan with the Crash Rabbit Heat (13:32).
Yamashita’s busy European weekend ended in Germany where she showed up during wXw’s final day of the annual 16 Carat Gold tournament. She didn’t take part in the 16 Carat tournament itself, instead she fought Anita Vaughan who was already eliminated from the competition by that point. Yamashita made it three wins for three but she needed to use the Crash Rabbit Heat this time to end the weekend with a clean sweep.
AEW “REVOLUTION”, 09/03/2025 Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. AEW International Title: Kenny Omega defeated Konosuke Takeshita (c) with a Cradle (28:30). *Konosuke Takeshita fails in V9. Kenny Omega becomes the 11th AEW International Champion!
That’s the end of Takeshita’s first championship reign in AEW. With thoughts of Hajime no Ippo on their mind and also their gear, Takeshita and Kenny Omega went hell for leather in their rematch from September 2023. Omega’s ribs were violently targeted due to his recent bout with diverticulitis and Takeshita got a little help from Don Callis here and there too. But Omega overcame the odds and kept kicked out of the Powerdrive Knee. Takeshita avoided the One-Winged Angel yet when he went for the Raging Fire, Omega countered it into an Inside Cradle. Only getting a nearfall, Omega then switched to more types of cradle pins until he kept Takeshita’s shoulders down long enough for the three count.
AEW “DYNAMITE”, 12/03/2025 Save Mart Center At Fresno State, Fresno, California, USA
1. Konosuke Takeshita defeated Max Caster with the Raging Fire (1:30).
Takeshita wasted no time in getting back to work after his title loss. Max Caster held the latest in his open challenges and tried to talk Takeshita out of it when he walked down to the ring with a purpose. Caster asked if Takeshita was actually here to invite him into The Don Callis Family? When he suggested he could use that position to beat Omega, Takeshita attacked him and quickly won with the Raging Fire.
BZW “WAR AT THE CAPITAL”, 16/03/2025 Claridge, Brussels, Belgium
1. BZW Tag Team Titles: MAO & Yoshihiko (c) defeated Kid Lykos & Kid Lykos II when Yoshihiko submitted Lykos & Lykos II with a Double Half Crab Hold (?:??). *V3 for MAO & Yoshihiko.
I missed when this was announced last month. MAO & Yoshihiko travelled back to Banger Zone Wrestling this month, this time to defend the BZW Tag Team Titles in Belgium. The challengers were the two troublemakers from Lykos Gym in England: Kid Lykos & Kid Lykos II. They weren’t prepared for Yoshihiko to do a balcony dive onto them nor did they expect the dark spirit that sometimes follows Yoshihiko around to show up and Moonsault onto them either. Lykos II made the big mistake of yelling insults towards Yoshihiko. When he tried to Headbutt it only he felt the impact. Yoshihiko was then able to trap both members of Lykos Gym in a Double Half Crab Hold and made both of them tap out at the same time!
AEW “COLLISION – SLAM DUNK SATURDAY”, 19/03/2025 (Aired 22/03/2025) Liberty First Credit Union Arena, Omaha, Nebraska, USA
1. Konosuke Takeshita, Brian Cage & Lance Archer defeated Mark Briscoe, Powerhouse Hobbs & Rocky Romero when Takeshita pinned Romero with the Raging Fire (11:22).
Takeshita continued to rebuild his momentum by teaming with more members of The Don Callis Family. He, Brian Cage & Lance Archer all worked over Rocky Romero until Mark Briscoe got the hot tag. Briscoe had the numbers game against him but he held his own until it was time for Powerhouse Hobbs to get the big tag. But The Don Callis Family withstood the comeback. Cage & Archer took out Romero with a Choke Slam/Power Bomb combo and held his partners at bay so Takeshita could pin Romero with the Raging Fire.
AEW “DYNAMITE”, 26/03/2025 Roy Wilkins Auditorium, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
1. Konosuke Takeshita defeated Mark Briscoe with the Raging Fire (11:39).
There was unfinished business between Takeshita and Briscoe from Collision so they met in a singles match the following week on Dynamite. The episode was sponsored by The Minecraft Movie so the venue they were in ended up kind of looking like a Create-An-Arena you would download from the WWE 2K games. Briscoe took a high risk by running across the barricade outside the ring to jump onto Takeshita with a Diving Elbow Drop. Takeshita hit Briscoe with the Powerdrive Knee back in the ring but it got him a nearfall. Briscoe pulled out the Jay Driller that had Takeshita beat but a rope break stopped him from getting pinned for the three count. Takeshita stunned Briscoe with a Rolling Elbow before using the Raging Fire to win by the skin of his teeth.
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Upcoming Appearances
MLW “BATTLE RIOT VII”, 05/04/2025 Thunder Studios Arena, Long Beach, California, USA
1. HIMAWARI Vs Janai Kai
2. MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title: Delmi Exo (c) Vs Shoko Nakajima
There was a report from Fightful’s Patreon account during the month saying MLW has “big plans” in mind for Shoko Nakajima and HIMAWARI and the promotion hopes to get TJPW more involved with their women’s division. I’m a bit skeptical towards what that could be because the way wrestling media reports on MLW often comes across as Court Bauer trying to get his material over and everybody just taking him for his word. Big plans could mean anything from Nakajima beating Delmi Exo for the MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title or Janai Kai literally murdering HIMAWARI on behalf of CONTRA Unit and right afterward MLW announces a working relationship with Stardom (go see how CIMA was written out of the company right before MLW aired a Dragongate trailer). Or the big plans might just be TJPW talent being used to put over the regulars MLW wants to push. Which at this moment in time is Exo, Kai and maybe Tara Zep. But hey, who knows. It looks like MLW’s working relationship with CMLL is legit. I’ll be happy to be proven wrong.
NJPW “WINDY CITY RIOT”, 11/04/2025 Wintrust Arena, Chicago, Illinois, USA
1. Hiroshi Tanahashi Last Match In The USA Final Road ~Kinship~: Hiroshi Tanahashi Vs KONOSUKE TAKESHITA
I recommend watching the Ace Vs Alpha video New Japan put on their Youtube channel (I included it in the video section above) because it shows Takeshita and Hiroshi Tanahashi talking about their previous match together as well as why Takeshita holds a grudge over how Tanahashi treated DDT in the past. It’s not the complete story of what happened back then because that is more HARASHIMA’s story to tell but it is suffice to build up their match happening next month.
PANDEMONIUM PRO “THE HOUSE ALWAYS WINS”, 17/04/2025 Fremont Country Club, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Masha Slamovich Vs MAO
2. Maya World Vs Miu Watanabe
Now we hit the busiest wrestling week of the year. Damn it really is a week long this time around with WWE going full throttle with their own schedule in Las Vegas from Tuesday to Tuesday. But enough about them, among the early shows kicking off the week is Pandemonium Pro where Miu Watanabe has a match against Maya World and now MAO will be there too for what is sure to be a crazy battle against Masha Slamovich! The two of them have packed schedules of their own so they better pace themselves.
WRESTLECON “MARK HITCHCOCK MEMORIAL SUPERSHOW”, 17/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Mickie James Vs Maki Itoh
It’s a match for the ages between two fierce opponents. One is a wrestling idol with grand ambitions of becoming a popstar who has in the past been unceremoniously fired in a humiliating fashion. The other is Maki Itoh. I know people who still have nightmares from the Revolution Pro show in London two years ago where a group of fans spent literally the entire match chanting “Hardcore Country” non-stop for Mickie James. I hope for my sake those same fans won’t be at this show.
WEST COAST PRO “VEGAS VACATION”, 17/04/2025 Meet Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. MAO Vs Jiah Jewell
MAO’s second show on the Thursday is against Jiah Jewell at West Coast Pro. Because when you think of local rivalries, you think of Miyagi Vs Louisiana.
GCW “JOSH BARNETT’S BLOODSPORT XIII”, 17/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Charlie Dempsey Vs Shinya Aoki
2. Nattie Neidhart Vs Miyu Yamashita
Whenever Yamashita travels to America, Natalya invites her over to her private training facility in Florida to help teach her what she knows. They’ve apparantly become close friends over time but when Josh Barnett started putting the card together for Bloodsport, Natalya (under her non-WWE moniker Nattie Neidhart) publicly asked for Yamashita to be her opponent. Yamashita jumped at the idea and Barnett was happy to make it happen. This will be the second time Yamashita faces a WWE wrestler at Bloodsport, she lost to Shayna Baszler last July. Here she has the martial arts background advantage and Neidhart’s previous attempt at doing this kind of match with NXT Underground ended in a loss. Usually comparing the legitimate fighting pedigree of two fighters would tip off who wins these things but a main roster WWE wrestler losing on a non-WWE show would be an unusual turn of events. Eh, I’ll still bet a dollar on it.
Shinya Aoki’s announced opponent for the show is NXT wrestler Charlie Dempsey. I’d joke about Bloodsport turning into a WWE psy-op but to be fair Dempsey is a regular competitor on these shows and this will be his fourth fight in the series. Plus I don’t want to just write that he is William Regal’s son. From what I’ve seen he fits into this style of wrestling pretty well. Aoki should have fun tangling with him.
BZW “VIVA LAS VEGAS”, 17/04/2025 Swan Dive, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. BZW Tag Team Titles: MAO & Yoshihiko (c) Vs Cole Radrick & Alec Price
MAO ends his busy day with BZW hosting his third match. At least I think it’s his third show. It’s possible he’ll have a fourth somewhere but I haven’t seen anything yet. The match here is going to be changed too because of injury. MAO & Yoshihiko are supposed to defend the BZW Tag Titles against The Gahbage Daddies but unfortunately word came out a few days ago that Cole Radrick is out of action with a torn MCL and meniscus. No word yet on if Alec Price will still be in the match with a replacement tag partner or if a new team will get the title shot instead.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “QUERI PRESENTS TJPW LIVE IN LAS VEGAS”, 18/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Special Single Match: Masha Slamovich Vs Miu Watanabe
2. International Princess Title: Suzume (c) Vs Jada Stone
3. Princess Tag Team Titles: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao (c) Vs Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara
4. Princess Of Princess Title: Mizuki (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita
Only a few weeks to go but the major matches have all been set up. Mizuki Vs Yamashita is the biggest match TJPW can do for the Princess Of Princess Title but it’s been done already in Japan so I can see why it would look fresher in America. Kyoraku Kyomei have their first defence of the Princess Tag Team Titles against Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara’s new tag team OberEats. There is a rematch of the International Princess Title when Suzume clashes with Jada Stone again, this time with Stone having the home field advantage. Plus Watanabe continues getting big opponents away from the title scene when she gets in the ring with Slamovich.
DDT “DDT GOES LAS VEGAS!”, 18/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Special Single Match: Antonio Honda Vs Santana Jackson
2. Special Single Match: Shinya Aoki Vs Timothy Thatcher
3. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs MAO
4. DDT Universal Title: Minoru Suzuki (c) Vs Yoshihiko
The lineup so far is a little more creative than what we got last year and I prefer it this way. Minoru Suzuki Vs Yoshihiko sounds like something GCW would book for “JOEY JANELA’S SPRING BREAK” but DDT needs something like that to stand out for themselves.
WRESTLECORE “FEAR & WRESTLECORE IN LAS VEGAS”, 18/04/2025 Swan Dive, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs X
Another outside booking for Itoh during Mania Week. No opponent has been confirmed by WrestleCore yet but El Phantasmo is trying to convince Itoh to team up with him so they can be The Cutest Tag Team Ever. He just so happens to be on this show too.
GRAPHOUSE “FOR VEGAS, BY VEGAS”, 18/04/2025 Fergusons Downtown, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Lazarus Vs MAO
I think this is MAO’s last non-DDT related booking of the week. Unless…
DDT/TOKYO JOSHI PRO/GCW “DDT VS TJPW VS GCW”, 19/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
As far as DDT and TJPW are concerned this will be the finale of their weekend. One match announced so far and it’s pretty cool looking. Takeshita & Slamovich teaming up against Aoki & Yamashita. It would be a shame if the show runs long and people start leaving during this match to head over to Wrestlemania.
GCW “CLUSTERF*CK FOREVER”, 19/04/2025
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Clusterfuck Match: X Vs X
I’m adding this to the lineup because odds are good someone DDT or TJPW related ends up in the annual Clusterfuck. Yoshihiko was part of it last year and made it to the final three. In fact there’s already an ex-TJPW wrestler announced to be entering the match. Sayaka Unagi is taking part and I can only imagine what kind of eye opening crazy thing she would do in Las Vegas.
HOG “ISOLATION”, 25/04/2025 NYC Arena, New York City, New York, USA
1. HOG Heavyweight Title: Mike Santana (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita
Hey good on Mike Santana for taking a gamble on himself. The stuff he’s been doing on TNA and House Of Glory has been nothing to sneeze at so far. He now has a month to prepare for Takeshita because the two of them are set to fight with the HOG Heavyweight Title on the line.
BLACK LABEL PRO “BLP AT SCX III”, 25/04/2025 The Wyndham, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Leyla Hirsch
2. Danhausen & Maki Itoh Vs Davey Bang & August Matthews
Yamashita’s opponent Leyla Hirsch is fresh out of AEW and wants to show everyone how good she is in the ring.
CMLL/LADYS RING “LUCHA FIESTA ESPECIAL”, 27/04/2025 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
1. Octagon & El Hijo del Octagon Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Pantera Jr.
Daisuke Sasaki will be missing the DDT show happening in Sapporo on the same day for this match.
GCW “CRAZY SCARY SPOOKY HILARIOUS”, 03/05/2025 Ukrainian Culture Center, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs Miyu Yamashita
The 121000000 split up match is happening but not in TJPW. It’s in GCW! In the nine previous times they’ve done this match, Yamashita has won eight of them and the odd result out was a time limit draw. Itoh has never beaten Yamashita in a singles match but this 10th attempt might be her best chance yet because she’ll have the GCW fans behind her. She’ll need a good result because the next day she has a match that will be just as important.
GCW “WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU”, 04/05/2025 Hawthorne Theatre, Portland, Oregon, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. GCW World Title: Effy (c) Vs Maki Itoh
Itoh was originally supposed to get a GCW World Title match against Mance Warner during GCW’s Japan tour last August but a hand injury prevented it from happening. Now nine months later she finally gets her title shot but the champion now is someone completely different. Effy’s first reign as GCW Champ has seen him defend the belt against the weird and the wonderful. Can Itoh beat him to reach her ultimate form as the Queen of the Outlaws?
NJPW “RESURGENCE”, 09/05/2025 Toyota Arena, Ontario, California, USA
1. KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs X
Just have to wait and see what Takeshita does next after the Tanahashi match.
GCW “BIG TIME”, 17/05/2025 RJ Meyer Arena, Joppa, Maryland, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Tony Deppen
Can Yamashita get a better match out of Tony Deppen than YAMATO could?
GCW “RUN FOR IT”, 18/05/2025 Water Street Music Hall, Rochester, New York, USA
1. Billie Starkz Vs Miyu Yamashita
According to GCW this will be the first time ever Yamashita wrestles Billie Starkz. As long as you ignore the EVE match… and the St. Louis Anarchy match… and the SPARK match.
MKW “BATTLE OF THE DECADE”, 24/05/2025 Dongxin Plaza, Beijing, China
1. Yuki Kamifuku & Chen Wenbin Vs Alexis Lee & Big Sam
The Kamifuku Vs Lee rivalry now moves over to China for Middle Kingdom Wrestling’s 10th Anniversary show. Chinese wrestler Chen Wenbin and England’s Big Sam get mixed up in the action too.
SAJ “HUNTER’S NET”, 24/05/2025 Magnete, Milan, Italy
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
Italy will soon become the latest country Yamashita has wrestling in. Squash A Jobber Wrestling is the name of the promotion bringing her in which might be the least Italian name I’ve ever heard for a wrestling company.
KITSUNE “GOING BACK TO SAN DIEGO”, 07/06/2025 Primal Compound, San Diego, California, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. Vipress & Hudson Envy Vs Nagisa Nozaki & Yuna Manase
We’re reaching into the summer for the end of this month’s article. Kitsune have a doubleshot going on with both Yuna Manase and Miyu Yamashita scheduled to be there. Manase is teaming with Nagisa Nozaki in Night 1 to take on Vipress & Hudson Envy. Yamashita’s match has not been announced yet.
KITSUNE “8888”, 08/06/2025 South Gate, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. Yuna Manase Vs X
Manase is still currently the Kitsune World Champion so it would make sense for her to have a title defence on the second show of the doubleshot.
DDT “WEDDING HALL PRO WRESTLING SPRING FESTIVAL IN SENTIR LA SAISON GIFU”, 30/03/2025 Gifu Sentir la Saison
1. Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & Ilusion Vs JJ Furno, Yuni & Keigo Nakamura
2. Yuya Koroku Vs Yuki Ishida
3. Special 6-Man Tag Match: MAO, Jun Akiyama & Yukio Naya Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Toru Owashi & Kazuma Sumi
4. SCHADENFREUDE International Vs The 37KAMIINA!: Chris Brookes, Antonio Honda & Takeshi Masada Vs Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & To-y
There are so many shows happening this weekend it would take up too much space to include the ones that haven’t been changed going into it. One of the wedding shows on Sunday now has its match order confirmed. This will also be the first match The 37KAMIINA having after MAO leaves the unit tomorrow.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW SPRING TOUR 2025 IN HIROSHIMA”, 05/04/2025 Hiroshima Industrial Hall
1. Kaya Toribami Vs Uta Takami
2. Yuki Aino, Raku & Pom Harajuku Vs Mahiro Kiryu, Moka Miyamoto & Chika Nanase
3. Rika Tatsumi Vs Mifu Ashida
4. Miu Watanabe, Haru Kazashiro & Toga Vs Yuki Kamifuku, Kira Summer & Ivy Steele
5. Hyper Misao & Haruna Neko Vs Suzume & Arisu Endo
6. Miyu Yamashita Vs Yoshiko Hasegawa
7. Mizuki & Wakana Uehara Vs Maki Itoh & Shino Suzuki
The cards for Tokyo Joshi Pro’s first weekend of shows in April were announced before Yoshiko Hasegawa’s announcement but they seem to be more fitting now in hindsight. Hasegawa wants to wrestle everybody on the TJPW roster before she retires and this match here with Miyu Yamashita will be a first time singles match between the two.
Both Shoko Nakajima and HIMAWARI will be missing the two shows because they will be wrestling in America for MLW that weekend.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW SPRING TOUR 2025 IN FUKUOKA”, 06/04/2025 Acros Fukuoka
1. 3 Way Match: Raku Vs Kaya Toribami Vs Shino Suzuki
2. Moka Miyamoto Vs Mifu Ashida
3. Mahiro Kiryu & Haruna Neko Vs Yoshiko Hasegawa & Chika Nanase
4. Rika Tatsumi & Toga Vs Kira Summer & Ivy Steele
5. Suzume & Arisu Endo Vs Miu Watanabe & Uta Takami
6. Mizuki & Aja Kong Vs Hyper Misao & Pom Harajuku
7. Miyu Yamashita, Yuki Aino & Haru Kazashiro Vs Maki Itoh, Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara
The homecoming show for Yamashita and Maki Itoh has turned slightly bitter now that 121000000 have disbanded. The two of them will be on opposite sides of a 6-Woman Tag Match in the main event.
Aja Kong comes along to team up with Mizuki. Eh, I think Hyper Misao & Pom Harajuku can handle them.
DDT “MENTAI WARS”, 12/04/2025 Fukuoka Nishitetsu Hall
1. Kazuma Sumi Vs Ilusion
2. HARASHIMA, Azul Dragon & Kazuki Hirata Vs MAO, Toru Owashi & Akito
3. Jun Akiyama, Yuya Koroku & Daichi Sato Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Soma Takao & Yukio Naya
4. Special Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul Vs KANON & Yuki Ishida
5. Special Single Match: Hideki Okatani Vs Keigo Nakamura
6. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Chris Brookes, Danshoku Dieno & Takeshi Masada Vs Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & To-y
Does Hideki Okatani have any grief with the other wrestlers from his generation? He’s only been dealing with KANON so far although he hasn’t properly come back to action yet.
DDT “U1 CLIMAX EEL LOVING WRESTLERS BOX OFFICE”, 13/04/2025 “Unagi no Eki” Special Venue, Shibushi City, Kagoshima
1. KANON Vs Keigo Nakamura
2. Jun Akiyama & Yukio Naya, Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida
3. Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul, Hideki Okatani & Ilusion Vs MAO, Kazuki Hirata, Daichi Sato & Kazuma Sumi
4. Special Single Match: Danshoku Dieno Vs To-y
5. Special Tag Match: Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada Vs Naomichi Marufuji & Yuki Ueno
6. Yamada Suisan Fish Army Vs Meat Alliance Army, The Final Showdown! Special 6-Man Tag Match: Shishamo Power, Unagi Mask & Super Unagi Mask Vs Aja Kong, Shunma “EL TURKEY” Katsumata & Yuya “GIBIE” Koroku
New enemies are emerging to the surface in the seafood versus meat feud that DDT and Yamada Suisan dive into on an annual basis. Shunma “EL TURKEY” Katsumata wants revenge for the meat eating side losing last year’s battle so he went and recruited new teammates. One of them is Yuya “GIBIE” Koroku but the big weapon he’s bringing along is pro wrestling’s most dangerous carnivore Aja Kong! The trio of Shishamo Power, Unagi Mask & Super Unagi Mask are a well armed team at this point but this could be their biggest threat yet!
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “QUERI PRESENTS TJPW LIVE IN LAS VEGAS”, 18/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Special Single Match: Masha Slamovich Vs Miu Watanabe
2. International Princess Title: Suzume (c) Vs Jada Stone
3. Princess Tag Team Titles: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh (c) Vs Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara
4. Princess Of Princess Title: Mizuki (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita
Vert Vixen has been added to the lineup. She was on last year’s TJPW USA shows in Philadelphia and Seattle.
DDT “DDT GOES LAS VEGAS!”, 18/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Special Single Match: Antonio Honda Vs Santana Jackson
2. Special Single Match: Shinya Aoki Vs Timothy Thatcher
3. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs MAO
4. DDT Universal Title: Minoru Suzuki (c) Vs Yoshihiko
The match made in hell! Minoru Suzuki said he will defend the DDT Universal Title against any challenger when he travels over to Las Vegas. Be careful what you wish for because Yoshihiko answered the challenge! The doll was already Vegas bound because of a Banger Zone Wrestling booking now it’s taking the gamble to leave with two championships (it still has the BZW Tag Team Titles with MAO).
DDT/TOKYO JOSHI PRO/GCW “DDT VS TJPW VS GCW”, 19/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Special Tag Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA & Masha Slamovich Vs Shinya Aoki & Miyu Yamashita
Alright this is a good start for a card that needs to be as crazy as possible to attract a right crowd before Wrestlemania begins. Konosuke Takeshita has fought Shinya Aoki several times before. Same goes for Yamashita and Masha Slamovich. So let’s mix them all up together for a unreal tag team battle!
Are you sure that everybody wans Mina Shirakawa? Because this month it sure looked like everybody wanted Konosuke Takeshita! He had a big month in AEW, he has big matches coming up in New Japan soon, he wrestled a bunch of times on a cruise and right when it looked like he would have a break, CMLL came calling out for him. If you’re the type who keeps track of any Wrestler Of The Year contenders, Takeshita’s work in February should put him up near the top as an early frontrunner.
He’ll have more to do over the coming months but March will see the Tokyo Joshi Pro side of things take more of the spotlight. Miyu Yamashita has a packed weekend in Europe coming up and Yuki Kamifuku will continue to gift with Southeast Asia her presence. Then in April it’s the big one. Wrestlemania Week! I’ll need to find the time to write a big piece about what DDT and TJPW will be doing during that period.
I don’t have much to write about for Takeshita’s remaining matches that happened during the Jericho Cruise. But hey some of these sound really good on paper, right? At least this match here gave attendees a taste of what Will Ospreay and Takeshita’s tag match in Australia happening later in the month would be like. Lance Archer probably bounced Komander around like a basketball too.
JERICHO CRUISE “CHRIS JERICHO’S ROCK ‘N’ WRESTLING RAGER – SIX ON THE BEACH – NIGHT 3”, 02/02/2025 Norwegian Pearl Cruise Ship
1. Konosuke Takeshita, Brian Cage & Lance Archer defeated Daniel Garcia, Mark Briscoe & Jay Lethal (?:??).
Like this one for example. It would be great if footage of this shows up somewhere. Takeshita, Archer & Brian Cage all teaming up together against Daniel Garcia, Mark Briscoe & Jay Lethal is the kind of match on paper that would have carried Night 3 of a packed indies weekend we used to get a decade ago.
JERICHO CRUISE “CHRIS JERICHO’S ROCK ‘N’ WRESTLING RAGER – SIX ON THE BEACH – NIGHT 4”, 03/02/2025 Norwegian Pearl Cruise Ship
1. Konosuke Takeshita, Brian Cage & Lance Archer defeated Bandido, Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd (?:??).
The last day of the Jericho Cruise had The Don Callis Family still together against the weird mix of Bandido & The Outrunners. I don’t know how much Takeshita would be into the retro 80s American vibe that The Outrunners bring with them. That’s more up Antonio Honda’s alley.
AEW “DYNAMITE”, 05/02/2025 Gateway Center Arena, College Park, Georgia, USA
1. International All-Star Tag Match: Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher defeated Brody King & Buddy Matthews when Fletcher pinned King after an Assisted Brainbuster (14:15).
There was one last warmup match for Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher before they headed off to Australia. Here they took on the newly renamed Hounds Of Hell. They are the former House Of Black now without Malakai Black involved because he finally made his exit from the company. The challenge in this match was how much it took to put away the immovable force that is Brody King. Takeshita & Fletcher were able to get rid of Buddy Matthews no problem but when it came to King they had to throw everything at him but he wouldn’t stay down. Takeshita had to assist Fletcher with a Vertical Drop Brainbuster to keep the big guy down for the pinfall.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “AEX32 SANTIAGO 2025”, 09/02/2025 Estación Mapocho Cultural Center, Santiago, Chile ??? Fans
1. Casey defeated Moka Miyamoto with a Loaded Backpack Attack (7:43).
2. Aja Kong defeated Roma with the Uraken (8:55).
3. Princess Tag Team Titles: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh (c) defeated Sara Phoenix & Pandora when Yamashita pinned Phoenix with the Skull Kick (18:19). *V4 for 121000000.
AEW “GRAND SLAM AUSTRALIA”, 15/02/2025 Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane, Australia
1. Will Ospreay & Kenny Omega defeated Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher when Omega pinned Takeshita after the Hidden Blade/One-Winged Angel Combination (21:20).
Talk about a match that delivered! The big tag match in Australia went ahead and ended with something we haven’t seen in a while: Takeshita taking a pinfall loss. It took a combination of the Hidden Blade and One-Winged Angel being mashed together like a Doomsday Device for it to happen which should wind up becoming one of the most memorable match finishes of the year. The aftermath confirmed there is more to come. Ospreay and Fletcher have their own feud moving ahead while Kenny Omega announced his intentions to go after Takeshita’s AEW International Title.
AEW “DYNAMITE”, 26/02/2025 Frontwave Arena, Oceanside, California, USA
1. AEW International Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) defeated Orange Cassidy with the Raging Fire (12:30). *V8 for Konosuke Takeshita.
But first AEW had to go the long route to set up the match. Before Takeshita goes to a big title match with Omega he first had to beat Orange Cassidy in a with the belt on the line. Takeshita took a table bump when Cassidy dropped him on top of the announce desk with the Beach Break. He was still in danger after getting hit with the Orange Punch and also a Flying DDT outside the ring. But Cassidy made the big mistake of climbing the top turnbuckle. And whenever Takeshita’s opponent jumps off the top turnbuckle there is an Elbow Strike waiting right for them upon landing. There were still some very close calls to come but Takeshita caught the Orange Punch and countered it into the Raging Fire for the win. Don Callis then rubbed salt on the wound by putting Cassidy’s sunglasses onto Takeshita after the match.
CMLL “VIERNES ESPECTACULAR”, 28/02/2025 Arena Mexico, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
1. NEVER Openweight Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) defeated Ángel de Oro with the Raging Fire (?:??). *V4 for Konosuke Takeshita.
The month ended with Takeshita’s first time in the hallowed grounds of lucha libre known as Arena Mexico. CMLL made it a big deal that he was coming over to wrestle on their famed Friday night show on short notice and offered up Ángel de Oro as a challenger for the NEVER Openweight Title. So this was put together more through CMLL’s relationship with NJPW rather than AEW. Or maybe it’s both at this point because Rocky Romero is the connection point and his backstage connections run pretty deep nowadays. The match itself unintentionally ended up becoming bloody after de Oro suffered a hand injury of some sort. With only one fall needed to win rather than the traditional two, Takeshita came out on top after the two went back and forth with big moves until the Raging Fire brought things to an end.
Backstage Takeshita was asked by reporters who else in CMLL he would like to wrestle? He told a story about the first wrestling show he ever attended when he was a child. It was an Osaka Pro show and the merchandise he bought at the show was a Blue Panther mask. That is his first ever wrestling memory in general so perhaps one day he will cross paths with Blue Panther or a member of his family in the ring.
1. Yuki Kamifuku & The Statement Vs Alexis Lee & Da Butcherman
An alliance seems to have formed between Yuki Kamifuku and The Statement over in Singapore Pro Wrestling. Maybe the two champions believe it is in their best interests to be on the same side when some familiar rivals are marching forth towards them again. The Statment and Da Butcherman have fought each other plenty of times before. So too have Kamifuku and Alexis Lee. So now the next step is to throw them all in the ring at the same time.
EVE “WOMEN BEHAVING BADLY”, 07/03/2024 The Big Penny Social, London, England
1. Session Moth Martina Vs Miyu Yamashita
A busy weekend in Europe sees Miyu Yamashita wrestling in three countries. First up she is heading back to EVE in England where she will present herself as a big challenge for Session Moth Martina to overcome.
RCW “MARCH MADNESS”, 08/03/2024 Casinet de Hostafrancs, Barcelona, Spain
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Amale
Then on the Saturday Yamashita returns to Spain for her first appearance in RCW since October 2022. Her opponent will be French wrestler and former NXT UK performer Amale.
Yamashita finishes off the weekend with an appearance at wXw on the last day of the 16 Carat Gold tournament. Unless wXw announces her match beforehand it is a complete roll of the dice who she gets to face at the show.
AEW “REVOLUTION”, 09/03/2025 Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. AEW International Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Kenny Omega
It took 18 months to get here but we’re finally back on track to having another Takeshita Vs Omega match. I’m not going to sugar coat it. I think the title reign ends here and Takeshita’s priorities are about to switch over to New Japan for the spring and summer months.
MLW “BATTLE RIOT VII”, 05/04/2025 The Commerce, California, USA
1. MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title: Delmi Exo (c) Vs Shoko Nakajima
I think we know what to expect here. MLW brings in a Tokyo Joshi Pro wrestler, in this case Shoko Nakajima, and they lose to their women’s champion, in this case Delmi Exo. Although that was done a lot when Janai Kai was the champ so who knows? Maybe Nakajima takes the title from Exo and ends her second reign before it can properly take off.
NJPW “WINDY CITY RIOT”, 11/04/2025 Wintrust Arena, Chicago, Illinois, USA
1. Hiroshi Tanahashi Last Match In The USA Final Road ~Kinship~: Hiroshi Tanahashi Vs KONOSUKE TAKESHITA
I know Hiroshi Tanahashi is getting an IWGP World Heavyweight Title shot at New Japan’s anniversary show in March. And NJPW have announced there will be IWGP Title matches taking place in their next two shows in America. Hmmm…. Alright, alright, that’s just wishful thinking on my part. Although I can see the NEVER Title being on the line when Tanahashi and Takeshita clash in Chicago.
PANDEMONIUM PRO “THE HOUSE ALWAYS WINS”, 17/04/2025 Fremont Country Club, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Maya World Vs Miu Watanabe
At the moment it doesn’t seem like there will be any other DDT or TJPW talent appearing on the show. So it’s just going to be Miu Watanabe having a match here by the looks of it.
WEST COAST PRO “VEGAS VACATION”, 17/04/2025 Meet Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. MAO Vs Jiah Jewell
Later in the afternoon MAO will be at the West Coast Pro show and the promotion are promising the opponent is just as crazy as he is! Jiah Jewell has made it his goal to “Gator Roll The World” and that sounds like the fucked up wrestling MAO likes to fight for.
GCW “JOSH BARNETT’S BLOODSPORT XIII”, 17/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. Shinya Aoki Vs X
No surprise to see Shinya Aoki getting added to the show. The funny thing is the match he’s having on the DDT show would have made much more sense to happen on the Bloodsport show!
Yamashita also returns to Bloodsport for a second go around.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “QUERI PRESENTS TJPW LIVE IN LAS VEGAS”, 18/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. International Princess Title: Suzume (c) Vs X
2. Princess Tag Team Titles: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh (c) Vs X & X
3. Princess Of Princess Title: Mizuki (c) Vs X
The card will begin to take shape right after “GRAND PRINCESS ’25” is over and done with. What we do know for now is there will be championship matches for the Princess Of Princess Title, the Princess Tag Team Titles and the International Princess Title.
DDT “DDT GOES LAS VEGAS!”, 18/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Special Single Match: Antonio Honda Vs Santana Jackson
2. Special Single Match: Shinya Aoki Vs Timothy Thatcher
Like I said above, doesn’t Shinya Aoki Vs Timothy Thatcher sound more like a Bloodsport match than a DDT match? Now Antonio Honda Vs Santana Jackson, that’s a match you’re absolutely not going to see anywhere else.
DDT/TOKYO JOSHI PRO/GCW “DDT VS TJPW VS GCW”, 19/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
I really don’t know what the vibe and turnout for this show will be when it happens right slap bang in between the big NXT show and the first night of WrestleMania.
BLACK LABEL PRO “BLP AT SCX III”, 25/04/2025 The Wyndham, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. Danhausen & Maki Itoh Vs Davey Bang & August Matthews
Very cute, very evil and back teaming up again. Danhausen & Maki Itoh reunite as Makihausen for a tag match against Bang And Matthews over at Black Label Pro.
CMLL/LADYS RING “LUCHA FIESTA ESPECIAL”, 27/04/2025 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
1. Octagon & El Hijo del Octagon Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Pantera Jr.
So this is happening in Japan but since it is a one off lucha libre show that is disconnected from everything else going on I decided to include it in this series. This is the Sumo Hall show that made headlines for announcing the debut of a new Hayabusa. One of the lucha matches originally booked for the show was a 3 Way Match between Octagon, El Hijo del Octagon and Pantera Jr. However Daisuke Sasaki crashed one of the press conferences demanding to be part of the show because of his lucha skills. The promoters decided to let him in so he gets to team with Pantera Jr. against the two (kayfabe?) generations of Octagon.
NJPW “RESURGENCE”, 09/05/2025 Toyota Arena, Ontario, California, USA
1. KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs X
Probably another New Japan title defence for Takeshita when he goes to California in May. Hopefully it’s with the IWGP Ti-okay, okay, I’ll give it a break.
A new year means new adventures and a fresh sense of excitement to go exploring again. Konosuke Takeshita now has work with New Japan to deal with alongside his AEW duties. It’s opened up a whole new group of opponents to fight in America as well as Japan, especially since he has a championship in each company he wants to defend often. Yuka Sakazaki had a very big month by taking part in a special retirement match and also getting a big chance to do some things on AEW TV. But now that has come and gone I worry that she’s going to vanish from the shows again. Yuki Kamifuku is continuing her series of matches with Alexis Lee across Southeast Asia. Maki Itoh went on tour across the world with GCW but sadly lost her championship along the way.
A lot more destinations are coming up in the Springtime. Chile gets to experience Tokyo Joshi Pro on their own soil, Takeshita gets a very big tag match in Australia, Miyu Yamashita gets to wrestle in Germany for the first time and all roads will be leading us towards the bright lights of Las Vegas. I know I got the tickets I want for Wrestlemania Week.
IWA Thailand/SETUP “BANGKOK NAVIGATION”, 18/01/2025 The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand
1. IWA Japan World Heavyweight Title Tournament – Qualifying Match: Masahiro Takanashi Vs Jonathan Johnson
AEW “COLLISION – HOMECOMING”, 25/01/2025 Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida, USA
1. TBS Title No. 1 Contender 4 Way Match: Queen Aminata Vs Deonna Purazzo Vs Yuka Sakazaki Vs Serena Deeb
2. AEW International Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Katsuyori Shibata
AEW “DYNAMITE”, 29/01/2025 Propst Arena At Von Braun Center, Huntsville, Alabama, USA
1. TBS Title: Mercedes Moné (c) Vs Yuka Sakazaki
———————————————————————–
Results
NJPW “WRESTLE KINGDOM 19 IN TOKYO DOME”, 04/01/2025 Tokyo Dome, Japan 24,107 Fans
1. NEVER Openweight Title & AEW International Title: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA (I/c) defeated Shingo Takagi (N/c) with the Raging Fire (11:42). *V5 for KONOSUKE TAKESHITA. Shingo Takagi fails in V2. Becomes the 47th/11th Champion!
I already wrote about Takeshita’s big weekend at the Tokyo Dome. You can read it here.
NJPW/AEW/CMLL/STARDOM/ROH “WRESTLE DYNASTY”, 05/01/2025 Tokyo Dome, Japan 16,300 Fans
1. NEVER Openweight Title & AEW International Title: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA (c/c) defeated Tomohiro Ishii with the Raging Fire (13:30). *V1 for NEVER Openweight Title. V6 for AEW International Title.
SPW “CHAMPIONS NEVER YIELD 3”, 10/01/2025 Foo Chow Building, Singapore
1. Queen Of Asia Title: Yuki Kamifuku (c) defeated Alexis Lee with the Diving Famouser (?:??). V6 for Yuki Kamifuku.
As far as I know it was just the Queen Of Asia Title that was on the line for Kamifuku’s latest appearance at Singapore Pro Wrestling. Her rivalry with Alexis Lee may have turned friendly but Lee still wants to win that title back. Kamifuku was able to beat her again for another title defence. It also won’t be the last time this year they fight each other in SPW. More on that later.
NJPW “BATTLE IN THE VALLEY”, 11/01/2025 San Jose Civic, San Jose, California, USA
1. Sumie Sakai Retirement Match – Tornado Tag Match: Hiromu Takahashi, Mayu Iwatani & Yuka Sakazaki defeated Sumi Sakai, EVIL & SHO when Takahashi pinned Sakai with the TIME BOMB (14:42).
2. NEVER Openweight Title: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA (c) defeated KUSHIDA with the Raging Fire (15:08). *V2 for KONOSUKE TAKESHITA.
With a new path forged in New Japan, Takeshita went to fight for the company over in America. California was the place where his next NEVER Openweight Title defence was scheduled. KUSHIDA was his challenger in his latest attempt to take on the heavyweights. His gameplan was to start with breaking down Takeshita’s arm before switching to his legs with sweeping Leg Kicks. The plan worked in that it did weaken Takeshita’s moveset and made the match more competitive than first it looked on paper. But Takeshita was able to stand tall in the end and put away KUSHIDA. Takeshita then went ahead and called his shot. When Hiroshi Tanahashi has his final match in America before he retires, Takeshita wants to be his opponent!
If you want to watch a feel good wrestling match to get you out of the new year dumps, go seek out Sumie Sakai’s retirement bout. She teamed up with House Of Torture members EVIL & SHO because of their connections back in their American excursions days. Sakazaki was one of the many people who wanted to be a part of the match as a thank you to Sakai. She got chosen among the lucky trio that included Hiromu Takahashi from NJPW & Mayu Iwatani from Stardom. There was also a female Kamaitachi hanging around at ringside who nobody has been able to identify since (I’ve seen a few guesses it was Iyo Sky because she was in attendance and I appreciate the cheekiness of it if true). Sakazaki whacked SHO over the head with a foreign object and gave him the Tea Time. Sakai ended up fighting on her own and kept kicking out for as long as she could. Takahashi eventually kept her down for the count with the TIME BOMB.
IWA Thailand/SETUP “BANGKOK NAVIGATION”, 18/01/2025 The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand
1. IWA Japan World Heavyweight Title Tournament – Qualifying Match: Jonathan Johnson defeated Masahiro Takanashi with the Swanton Bomb (?:??).
This month saw SETUP become the new bearers of the International Wrestling Association brand by launching the debut IWA Thailand show. Masahiro Takanashi went over to take part in a tournament to determine the No. 1 Contender for the IWA Japan World Heavyweight Title. He had no problem being the bad guy against Jonathan Johnson and even got some ringside help from Shota getting in Johnson’s way whenever it was convenient. However Johnson fought off the numbers disadvantage and made Shota Super Kick Takanashi by mistake. Johnson then countered the Takatonic into an Implant for a nearfall and then hit the Swanton Bomb to get the upset win, knocking Takanashi out of the tournament in the 1st Round.
GCW “THE PEOPLE VS GCW”, 19/01/2025 Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, New York, USA
1. GCW Ultraviolent Title & GCW Extreme Title – Doors, Ladders & Chairs Unification Match: Matt Tremont defeated Maki Itoh (E/c), John Wayne Murdoch, Drew Parker, Rina Yamashita, Brandon Kirk, Dr. Redacted and Matthew Justice when Tremont grabbed the titles (15:55). *Maki Itoh fails in V5. Matt Tremont becomes the 10th GCW Ultraviolent Champion and 11th GCW Extreme Champion!
Maki Itoh took a big gamble and it did not pay off. She wanted to double her title collection in GCW by joining the Doors, Ladders & Chairs match where the vacant GCW Ultraviolent Title was on the line. To do that she agreed to put the GCW Extreme Title up for grabs too so both championships would end up being unified together. John Wayne Murdoch complained about her inclusion at the start of the match, causing Itoh to fake cry so everyone else would attack him in her defence. Itoh also did the ladder spin spot, hitting whoever was in her way until Matthew Justice smashed her with a chair. Her last big spot of the match was diving off a ladder onto everyone else outside the ring. She ended up getting taken out of the match when Drew Parker did the Swanton Bomb from the ladder onto herself and Murdoch through some tables at ringside. Matt Tremont ended up being the last one left to climb the ladder and pull down both belts.
BZW/GCW “ENTER THE ZONE”, 25/01/2025 Espace Isabelle De Hainaut, Rue De Saint-Quentin, France
1. BZW Title: Joseph Fenech Jr. (c) defeated Maki Itoh by Disqualification when Itoh was caught with Brass Knuckles (?:??). *V7 for Joseph Fenech Jr.
One week later Itoh travelled to Europe with GCW for a weekend of shows in France and England. For a brief moment it looked like Itoh was the new champion of Banger Zone Wrestling when she defeated Joseph Fenech Jr. for the BZW Title. However during the match Fenech placed a pair of brass knuckles into Itoh’s gear so when he lost the match, he complained to the ref and accused Itoh of cheating. The ref inspected Itoh, found the brass knucks “hidden” in her costume and decided to reverse the decision.
AEW “COLLISION – HOMECOMING”, 25/01/2025 Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida, USA
1. TBS Title No. 1 Contender 4 Way Match: Yuka Sakazaki defeated Queen Aminata, Deonna Purazzo and Serena Deeb when Sakazaki pinned Purazzo with a Modified Crucifix Pin (9:28).
2. AEW International Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) defeated Katsuyori Shibata with the Raging Fire (13:29). *V7 for Konosuke Takeshita.
Back in AEW, Takeshita called out an unexpected opponent to be his next challenger for the AEW International Title. He wanted a piece of Katsuyori Shibata after seeing him winning matches in ROH! It was a match that just as much existed to show everyone that Shibata can still take bumps because Takeshita Suplexed him around quite a bit. Shibata though was able to withstand the attacks and push back, fighting his way towards a possible title change. However Don Callis in a panic left the commentary booth to grab Shibata’s leg from ringside as a distraction. Takeshita then grabbed Shibata for the Blue Thunder Bomb. Shibata kicked out of that with a 1 Count so Takeshita put him away with the Raging Fire.
Sakazaki’s AEW direction for this month centered around the TBS Championship. She was thrown into the mix of a 4 Way Match to determine the No. 1 Contender. Her chances improved when Queen Aminata and Serena Deeb fought their way out of the ring and away from ringside. She also benefitted from Deonna Purrazzo getting distracted by Taya Valkyrie being attacked by Harley Cameron. With Purazzo’s guard now down, Sakazaki cradled her into a Crucifix Pin to score the three count and earn herself a title match.
GCW “LIVE IN LONDON”, 26/01/2025 Electric Ballroom, London, England
1. Maki Itoh defeated Man Like DeReiss with a Mouse Trap (11:56).
What Itoh lacked in size against Man Like DeReiss she more than made up for it with ego and personality. She quickly reacted to DeReiss’s big entrance by telling him she’s “not scared, you pussy!” DeReiss still took her lightly, making quips on the microphone while Body Slamming her. But Itoh started a comeback while the Pokémon theme song played over the speakers. However DeReiss took a page out of Itoh’s playbook by crying crocodile tears so Itoh would go easy on him. His plan almost worked until Itoh countered a Power Slam into the Mouse Trap cradle to get the pin out of nowhere.
AEW “DYNAMITE”, 29/01/2025
Propst Arena At Von Braun Center, Huntsville, Alabama, USA
1. TBS Title: Mercedes Moné (c) defeated Yuka Sakazaki with the Money Maker (13:40). *V13 for Mercedes Moné.
Remember back when Mercedes Moné would put out photos and videos on social media of her training at the TJPW dojo and hanging out with the roster? Well after all that time we finally got to see her wrestle a match against someone TJPW related. Moné and Sakazaki got the main event slot on Dynamite for their TBS Title match. Sakazaki got out of the Statement Maker by cradling it into a nearfall. She thought she had Moné where she wanted her by doing a Snap German Suplex. But Moné blocked the Magical Girl Splash with her knees and eventually pinned her with the Moné Maker.
JERICHO CRUISE “CHRIS JERICHO’S ROCK ‘N’ WRESTLING RAGER – SIX ON THE BEACH – NIGHT 1”, 31/01/2025 Norwegian Pearl Cruise Ship
1. Yuka Sakazaki defeated Viva Van (?:??).
2. AEW International Title Eliminator Match: Konosuke Takeshita defeated Tommy Billington (?:??).
Both Takeshita and Sakazaki were a part of Chris Jericho’s annual Rock ‘N’ Wrestling Rager At Sea cruise. There were four days of shows but from what I could find Sakazaki only wrestled on the first day, beating Viva Van. Takeshita beat the new “Dynamite Kid” Tommy Billington on his first match of the cruise. It has since been promoted in AEW canon as an AEW International Title eliminator match for Ring Of Honor TV. I’ll go through the rest of Takeshita’s matches in next month’s article.
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Upcoming Appearances
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “AEX32 SANTIAGO 2025”, 09/02/2025 Estación Mapocho Cultural Center, Santiago, Chile
1. Moka Miyamoto Vs Casey
2. Aja Kong Vs Roma
3. Princess Tag Team Titles: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh (c) Vs Pandora & Sara Phoenix
The AEX Santiago convention welcomes Tokyo Joshi Pro to Chile in February. The Princess Tag Team Titles will be defended over there too, possibly changing the course of “GRAND PRINCESS ’25” if 121000000 lose the belts over there. Fans over there will also get to see Aja Kong and Moka Miyamoto in action.
AEW “GRAND SLAM AUSTRALIA”, 15/02/2025 Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane, Australia
1. Will Ospreay & Kenny Omega Vs Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher
There’s a lot of logistical confusion going around AEW’s Australia debut but it’s still working out better than that time Takeshita was booked by Sub-Zero Pro back in 2019. He’ll be teaming with Australia’s own Kyle Fletcher as the two members of the Don Callis Family face the combined wrath of Will Ospreay & Kenny Omega!
1. Yuki Kamifuku & The Statement Vs Alexis Lee & Da Butcherman
Kamifuku and Lee’s rivalry remains in Singapore for the time being. This time Kamifuku will get involved in a mixed tag match for the first time in SPW. She teams with The Statement (aka Andruew Tang) while Lee will team with Da Butcherman.
Some of the best wrestling weekends I’ve ever had were in Germany for the 16 Carat Gold tournament. Yamashita’s debut for wXw is only going to be for the third night though. That’s a shame because if she did the entire weekend there would have been a whole list of interesting new matches for her to do.
NJPW “WINDY CITY RIOT”, 11/04/2025 Wintrust Arena, Chicago, Illinois, USA
1. Hiroshi Tanahashi Last Match In The USA Final Road ~Kinship~: Hiroshi Tanahashi Vs KONOSUKE TAKESHITA
America gets a rematch over a decade in the making. In the 2nd year Anniversary of Takeshita’s debut match, he got to fight Tanahashi in his prime at DDT’s Sumo Hall show. He had respect for him for years afterward until 2015 when Tanahashi embarrassed DDT in the same venue. When Takeshita competed in the G1 Climax last year he brought up that situation as a reason for him to chase after Tanahashi in New Japan. Now that Tanahashi is getting ready to retire next year, there’s not a lot of time left to make this match happen. So Takeshita made the demand to be the opponent for Tanahashi’s last match in America (unless AEW gets the itch to book him on super short notice later in the year).
PANDEMONIUM PRO “THE HOUSE ALWAYS WINS”, 17/04/2025 Fremont Country Club, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Maya World Vs Miu Watanabe
DDT and TJPW’s schedule for Wrestlemania Week is focused on the Friday and Saturday. However Miu Watanabe’s schedule unexpectedly starts a little bit earlier. On the Thursday she will be competing in Pandemonium Pro against the promising wrestler from Texas, Maya World.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN LAS VEGAS”, 18/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
The sixteen women TJPW are planning to bring over to Las Vegas are Mizuki, Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh, Suzume, Yuki Kamifuku, Pom Harajuku, Shoko Nakajima, Rika Tatsumi, Hyper Misao, Yuki Aino, Miu Watanabe, Raku, Arisu Endo, Yuki Arai, Wakana Uehara and Shino Suzuki. There will be a few more international wrestlers taking part too.
DDT “DDT GOES LAS VEGAS!”, 18/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
The first group of DDT wrestlers coming over for the show are MAO, Shinya Aoki, Daisuke Sasaki, Yukio Naya, Antonio Honda, Ilusion, Yuni and Kazuma Sumi. A lot of the regular talent have already been advertised for DDT’s shows back in Japan the same weekend so this might be your lot outside of the guests.
DDT/TOKYO JOSHI PRO/GCW “DDT VS TJPW VS GCW”, 19/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Let’s make this a quick one because the end of this year felt like a safe landing after a long flight. Konosuke Takeshita was building up two separate challengers, one in AEW and one in New Japan. The DDT Universal Title was spotted over in Canada. January sees the international schedules heating up again with matches going on in North America, Southeast Asia and Europe. Then in February South America gets to join in the fun. That’s enough of the introductions, here is what happened in December.
1. DDT Universal Title: Gringo Loco (c) Vs Sidney Akeem
AEW “RAMPAGE – HOLIDAY BASH”, 20/12/2024 Entertainment & Sports Arena, Washington, District Of Columbia, USA
1. Powerhouse Hobbs & Mark Davis Vs Konosuke Takeshita & Brian Cage
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Results
AEW “RAMPAGE – WINTER IS COMING”, 11/12/2024 (Aired 13/12/2024) T-Mobile Center, Kansas City, Missouri, USA
1. Mark Davis & Powerhouse Hobbs defeated Konosuke Takeshita & Lance Archer when Hobbs pinned Archer with the Spinebuster (12:00).
In December Takeshita was getting ready to deal with upcoming challengers from two fronts. In AEW it was starting to look like Powerhouse Hobbs was going to be the next person he would defend the AEW International Title again. They met in a tag match but Takeshita was taken out of the ring by Mark Davis. Hobbs instead switched his attention over to Lance Archer and he pinned him with the Spinebuster. Takeshita tried to attack Hobbs after the match but he too was given the Spinebuster and Hobbs then posed with his title.
NJPW “STRONG STYLE EVOLVED”, 15/12/2024 Walter Pyramid, Long Beach, California, USA
1. Special Tag Team Grudge Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA & Jack Perry defeated Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji when Perry pinned Tsuji with the Glass Jaw (17:44).
Takeshita had to change his focus over to another challenger over in New Japan because Shingo Takagi also has him in his sights. They clashed in a tag match that also mixed in Yota Tsuji as Takagi’s partner and Jack Perry as Takeshita’s. That caused most of the focus to be on Tsuji Vs Perry which led to a ref bump. Perry gave Tsuji a Low Blow and then hit the Glass Jaw knee strike to get the victory for his team.
AEW “RAMPAGE – HOLIDAY BASH”, 18/12/2024 (Aired 20/12/2024) Entertainment & Sports Arena, Washington, District Of Columbia, USA
1. Konosuke Takeshita & Brian Cage defeated Powerhouse Hobbs & Mark Davis when Takeshita pinned Davis with the Raging Fire (12:27).
This here is Takeshita’s final match on “RAMPAGE” because that show is now coming to an end. He faced off against Hobbs & Davis again but this time had Brian Cage as his tag partner. Cage was able to keep Hobbs at bay so Takeshita could beat Davis with the Powerdrive Knee followed by the Raging Fire. That was it for the warm up matches. The next time Takeshita and Hobbs would meet was on PPV for the title match!
1. DDT Universal Title: Gringo Loco (c) defeated Sidney Akeem with an Avalanche Inverted Angle Slam (?:??). *V1 for Gringo Loco.
For the last month the DDT Universal Title has been following around Gringo Loco. He’s brought it with him to many of his different bookings but DDT only gave him permission for one title defence. It happened in Canada for Demand Lucha and Loco’s opponent was Sidney Akeem, the former WWE wrestler who has been doing pretty good on the indies lately particularly with GCW. Given who was involved there were plenty of big moves hit throughout the match. Akeem did a 360 Twirling Double Knee Drop from the top rope as well as multiple cartwheels that led into a Cutter. Loco would have lost to that if he hadn’t reached his arm out for a rope break. The two fought there way up to the top rope once more where Loco gave Akeem an Inverted Olympic Slam to the canvas to get the three count.
AEW “WORLDS END”, 28/12/2024 T-Mobile Center, Kansas City, Missouri, USA
1. AEW International Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) defeated Powerhouse Hobbs with the Raging Fire (16:30). *V4 for Konosuke Takeshita.
Takeshita’s final match of the year saw him defeat Hobbs to remain as the International Champion. The match got plenty of “Meat!” chants and also a “Please Be Careful” chant when the two fell off the top rope for a botched Superplex spot. Hobbs used the Spinebuster to counter the Powerdrive Knee for a nearfall. But damage accumulated to his knee over time slowed Hobbs down and he had to pause himself in order to take off his knee brace. Takeshita capitalized on the injury and take over the match. He kept up the attack until he pinned Hobbs with the Raging Fire. And with that done it is now onto the Tokyo Dome for Takeshita!
GCW “TAKE CARE”, 28/12/2024 Washington Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA
1. DDT Universal Title: Gringo Loco (c) defeated Rich Swann with the Avalanche Base Bomb (14:20). *V2 for Gringo Loco.
Loco squeezed in a second Universal Title defence before the end of the year although nobody at the time seemed to be aware of it. His match against Rich Swann at GCW was never announced in the venue or on commentary as a title match (although GCW commentary not being aware of what’s going on half the time is a bad habit of theirs) and DDT has only said Loco has two successful defences under his belt without saying which matches they are (which is why I do these reports to keep track of everything myself). I had to go the title history page on Shukan Puroresu’s site to find out that this match is the one considered to be Loco’s second title defence.
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Upcoming Appearances
NJPW “WRESTLE KINGDOM 19 IN TOKYO DOME”, 04/01/2025 Tokyo Dome, Japan
1. NEVER Openweight Title & AEW International Title: Shingo Takagi (N/c) Vs KONOSUKE TAKESHITA (I/c)
The inter-promotional match between Takagi and Takeshita is now confirmed to be for both the NEVER Openweight Title and the AEW International Title! They only showed a small amount of what they are capable of at Walter Pyramid so what are they going to pull off in the Tokyo Dome?
NJPW/AEW/CMLL/STARDOM/ROH “WRESTLE DYNASTY”, 05/01/2025 Tokyo Dome, Japan
1. NEVER Openweight Title & AEW International Title: Shingo Takagi or KONOSUKE TAKESHITA (c/c) Vs Tomohiro Ishii
There will be no rest for the wicked because the winner of the double title match returns the next day to defend both championships against Tomohiro Ishii. And who knows, maybe Takeshita will show up at “NEW YEAR’S DASH” the day after that!
SPW “CHAMPIONS NEVER YIELD 3”, 10/01/2025 Foo Chow Building, Singapore
1. Queen Of Asia Title: Yuki Kamifuku (c) Vs Alexis Lee
It was back in November 2023 when Yuki Kamifuku won the Queen Of Asia Title from Alexis Lee. Then in May of this year Kamifuku successfully defended the title against Lee in TJPW. Since then Lee has been winning matches in Singapore Pro Wrestling and built herself back up for another title shot. This time it will happen on home ground. No word yet on if the VPW Women’s Title will also be defended. The two of them battled over that belt when it was created earlier this year too.
NJPW “BATTLE IN THE VALLEY”, 11/01/2025 San Jose Civic, San Jose, California, USA
1. KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs X
2. Sumie Sakai Retirement Match: Hiromu Takahashi, Mayu Iwatani & Yuka Sakazaki Vs Sumi Sakai, EVIL & SHO
What in the fever dream is this match? Sumie Sakai has played a vital role for many Japanese wrestlers who stayed in America for their excursions over the years. She often took wrestlers in to live and travel with her while she sorted out their bookings across the country. So when she announced her retirement many people requested to take part in it. First was Hiromu Takahashi so once he got involved Sakai came up with an idea to have both teams feature one man and two women for the match. Mayu Iwatani quickly asked to be involved and so too did Yuka Sakazaki. So we have Hiromu, Mayu and Yuka all teaming together for the first time ever which is wild as hell to think about. Sakai had a couple of ideas for who she wants to team with. There were other people higher up on the list but in the end she wanted EVIL & SHO from The House Of Torture to be on her team. They too were under her watch on their American excursions lifetimes ago and she would love nothing more than to make one last previous memory with them. If that doesn’t interest you then Sakazaki & Iwatani being in the same match together should.
Win, lose or draw at the Tokyo Dome, Takeshita is guaranteed to be making more appearances for New Japan this year.
IWA Thailand/SETUP “BANGKOK NAVIGATION”, 18/01/2025 The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand
1. Masahiro Takanashi Vs X
So IWA Japan has now officially closed down after the passing of its president Tatsukuni Asano in November. In its place SETUP has launched IWA Thailand to continue the brand’s lineage. Masahiro Takanashi will be part of the “debut” show in January.
GCW “THE PEOPLE VS GCW”, 19/01/2025 Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, New York, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs X
Be careful out there when you’re parking near the Hammerstein Ballroom. I left two tickets for this show in my car. Somebody broke in and left four more.
BZW/GCW “ENTER THE ZONE”, 25/01/2025 Espace Isabelle De Hainaut, Rue De Saint-Quentin, France
1. Maki Itoh Vs X
Maki Itoh’s GCW adventures are going to bring her over to Europe later this month. Banger Zone Wrestling is sure to give her a warm welcome to France.
GCW “LIVE IN LONDON”, 26/01/2025 Electric Ballroom, London, England
1. Maki Itoh Vs Man Like DeReiss
Then the next day Itoh will be in London when GCW visits PROGRESS’s home venue. Man Like DeReiss has kind of made intergender matches his thing in 2024. His GCW win-loss record also hasn’t been great. But give him a microphone and he will leave you with a lasting impression. Itoh might not like getting shown up like that.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “AEX32 SANTIAGO 2025”, 09/02/2025 Estación Mapocho Cultural Center, Santiago, Chile
1. Moka Miyamoto Vs Pandora
2. Aja Kong Vs Roma
3. Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh Vs Zatara & Sara Phoenix
The Tokyo Joshi Pro show at the anime convention will be all made of up Japan Vs Chile matches. 121000000 will be facing Zatara & Sara Phoenix in the main event, Aja Kong will become one of the biggest opponents Roma has ever faced and Moka Miyamoto tests her skills against Pandora.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN LAS VEGAS”, 18/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Hopefully we will get more details on the show very soon.
DDT “DDT GOES LAS VEGAS!”, 18/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Same goes for this one.
DDT/TOKYO JOSHI PRO/GCW “DDT VS TJPW VS GCW”, 19/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
It’s entirely possible I will be spending the whole week following the shows that book DDT and TJPW talent instead of everything else happening in Vegas.
Oh come on, AEW didn’t put Konosuke Takeshita in the Continental Classic?!? Great, just great. So what’s there to write about this month? Well MAO and Yoshihiko had a wild weekend over in France. Takeshita spent the month feuding with Ricochet and defending the AEW International Title in companies outside of AEW. We also see that Takeshita has unfinished business in New Japan which probably explains why he’s not involved in the C2. DDT and Tokyo Joshi Pro had a heck of a time in Seattle. Also it is now official they are both Las Vegas bound for next April. Miyu Yamashita in particular got to do and achieve so many things this month that TJPW would not have done for her back home. Pom Harajuku also got to act out of control in Singapore and Thailand away from the usual supervision. She also… won a championship? And didn’t lose it immediately? What? That can’t be right…
The end of the year will be quiet for international bookings but Takeshita has a lot going on at home in the new year. AEW seems to have written him off their TV for December with Don Callis already cutting promos about 2025 being the year of The Don Callis Family. I’ll do a separate write-up for his New Japan match(es) at the Tokyo Dome when they happen but I wanted to include the build up to them here because AEW is connected to it. January will be business as usual for Maki Itoh too with her plan to tour with GCW again. My mind is going to be stuck on Vegas for a lot of early 2025.
AEW “DYNAMITE”, 13/11/2024 Total Mortgage Arena, Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA
1. Konosuke Takeshita Vs Adam Cole
AEW “DYNAMITE”, 20/11/2024 Santander Arena, Reading, Pennsylvania, USA
1. All Star 8-Man Tag: Will Ospreay, Powerhouse Hobbs, Ricochet & Mark Davis Vs Konosuke Takeshita, Kyle Fletcher, Lance Archer & Brian Cage
SETUP “YEAR END CLIMAX”, 30/11/2024 The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand
1. SETUP All Asia Women’s Title – No DQ Match: Matcha (c) Vs Pom Harajuku
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Results
BZW “FRIDAY NIGHT BANGER”, 01/11/2024 Salle Jacques Brel, Faches-Thumesnil, France
1. MAO defeated KURO by Disqualification when Jack Sans-Nom attacked MAO (?:??).
The first night of MAO’s trip to France turned nasty but it was through no fault of his opponent KURO. They wrestled their match as normal and when MAO was on the top rope getting ready to hit the finishing blow, Jack Sans-Nom ran into the ring and attacked MAO with a wet floor sign for the DQ.
BZW “ALCATRAZ”, 02/11/2024 Salle Jacques Brel, Faches-Thumesnil, France
1. BZW Tag Team Titles: MAO & Yoshihiko defeated Jack Sans-Nom & Paul Robinson (c) when Yoshihiko pinned Sans-Nom with a Rainmaker (?:??). *Jack Sans-Nom & Paul Robinson fail in V2. MAO & Yoshihiko become the 6th BZW Tag Team Champions!
The next night MAO brought Yoshihiko with him to try and get revenge on San-Nom by winning the BZW Tag Team Titles from him and Paul Robinson. The challengers almost had the match won by pinning Robinson together but Sans-Nom pulled the referee out of the ring during the pin count. However Yoshihiko got its hands on him with MAO’s help and hit a Rainmaker. A three count later and BZW got new unexpected tag team champions!
AEW “DYNAMITE”, 06/11/2024 SNHU Arena, Manchester, New Hampshire, USA
1. Ricochet & Powerhouse Hobbs defeated Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher when Ricochet pinned Takeshita with the Spear Gun (14:36).
Takeshita found out there was unfinished business between himself and Ricochet stemming from the previous month. A tag team match in AEW put Takeshita with Kyle Fletcher against Ricochet and his returning mystery partner Powerhouse Hobbs. Ricochet was the better man on this night. Takeshita tried to catch a Springboard Hurricanrana and turn it into a Power Bomb but Ricochet countered the counter and pulled off his Hurricanrana after all. He then weakened Takeshita with a Shooting Star Press for another nearfall. It took Ricochet using his new Hidden Blade inspired finisher called the Spear Gun to finally get the win over Takeshita (it’s weird how almost a decade ago I would have told people Will Ospreay tries to wrestle like Ricochet and nowadays it feels completely like the opposite). Fletcher got some revenge after the match by attacking the other team with a chair until his former tag partner Mark Davis ran down causing drama that Takeshita wasn’t involved with so I’m not going to write any more about it.
Harajuku went to Singapore to have a lot of fun with Alexis Lee, or at least have a lot of fun at Lee’s expense. Their match made its way out of the ring but rather than cause a violent brawl, Harajuku instead encouraged Lee to go drink alcohol. They also fought their way up to the balcony to add some danger to the proceedings. I was able to see a brief clip of Lee hitting the Somato from behind to Harajuku but I do not know if that was the finish.
NJPW “FIGHTING SPIRIT UNLEASHED 2024”, 08/11/2024 Lowell Memorial Auditorium, Lowell, Massachusetts, USA
1. AEW International Title: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA (c) defeated TJP with the Avalanche Raging Fire (14:13). *V2 for KONOSUKE TAKESHITA.
Takeshita had to shake off his loss to Ricochet and get himself focused on his next International Title defence. It happened at New Japan’s latest American show with TJP as the challenger. TJP pulled a lights out trick for his entrance to surprise Takeshita with an ambush from behind. He also had his face and body painted to resemble his Aswang alter ego. At first it looked like he was in his normal form but late in the match he blinded Takeshita with the Poison Mist to try and get the advantage. He used the Hidden Blade and Mamba Splash but Takeshita kicked out of both moves. Takeshita’s power soon took over and he was able to get TJP over to the corner, lifting him up from the top rope to hit an Avalanche Falcon Arrow for the victory. After the match Takeshita told the fans he will next defend the International Title at the Tokyo Dome! He called out for anyone to challenge him and Shingo Takagi answered the call! Takagi will fight him at “WRESTLE KINGDOM”! That wasn’t the end though because Tomohiro Ishii then walked out and signaled to them he wants to fight the winner!
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW BRIGHT EYES”, 09/11/2024 Washington Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA 405 Fans
1. Suzume & Arisu Endo defeated Rika Tatsumi & Amira when Suzume pinned Amira with the Ring A Bell (10:21).
2. Yuki Kamifuku defeated Wakana Uehara with the Famouser (7:19).
3. Rebel Kel defeated Moka Miyamoto with a Falcon Arrow (5:45).
4. Mizuki defeated Liiza Hall with the Diving Foot Stomp (11:07).
5. Yuki Aino & Zara Zakher defeated Miu Watanabe & Shoko Nakajima when Zakher pinned Watanabe with the Control Z (16:43).
6. Princess Tag Team Titles: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh (c) defeated Vert Vixen & Nicole Matthews when Yamashita pinned Matthews with the Skull Kick (24:05). *V1 for 121000000.
DDT/DEFY “DDT IN UTERO”, 09/11/2024 Washington Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA 447 Fans – No Vacancy
1. Gringo Loco defeated Yuni with the Base Bomb (10:32).
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Randy Myers defeated Danshoku Dieno with a School Boy (8:26 pm). *Randy Myers becomes the 1,691st champion.
2. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Danshoku Dieno defeated Randy Myers (c) with the Gaydo Clutch (8:01). *Danshoku Dieno becomes the 1,692nd champion.
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Yoshihiko defeated Danshoku Dieno (c) by Referee Stoppage with a Sleeper Hold (8:36 pm). *Yoshihiko becomes the 1,693rd champion.
3. Nick Wayne defeated Jack Cartwheel with the Wayne’s World (11:49).
4. DEFY Tag Team Titles – 3 Way Tag Match: Cody Chhun & Guillermo Rosas (c) defeated Bryan Keith & Shota and Eddie Pearl & Ricky Gibson when Rosas pinned Shota after the Combined Pop-Up Power Bomb (10:19). *V2 for C4.
5. DEFY Women’s Title: Marina Shafir (c) defeated Danika Della Rouge with the Mother’s Milk (7:35). *V3 for Marina Shafir.
6. Special Tag Match: Gurv Shira & Harv Shira defeated Daisuke Sasaki & Artemis Spencer when Gruv pinned Spencer after a Combined Diving Elbow Drop (15:54).
7. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA defeated Kohei Kinoshita with an Avalanche Falcon Arrow (12:41).
8. DDT Universal Title – 3 Way Match: Miyu Yamashita defeated MAO (c) and Mike Bailey when Yamashita pinned Bailey with the Skull Kick (21:25). *MAO fails in V1. Miyu Yamashita becomes the 15th DDT Universal Champion!
DDT/TOKYO JOSHI PRO/DEFY “TRIANGLER DTD”, 10/11/2024 Washington Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA 389 Fans
1. Vert Vixen, Yuki Kamifuku & Moka Miyamoto defeated Rika Tatsumi, Yuki Aino & Arisu Endo when Vixen pinned Endo with a Sit Down Power Bomb (8:38).
2. Bryan Keith defeated Shota with the Diamond Dust (7:59).
3. Maki Itoh & Zara Zakher defeated Amira & Danika Della Rouge when Itoh pinned Rouge with the I.S.D (8:41).
4. Daisuke Sasaki & Kohei Kinoshita Vs Danshoku Dieno & Randy Myers ended in a No Contest (9:32).
5. Miu Watanabe & Suzume defeated Mizuki & Wakana Uehara when Watanabe pinned Uehara with the Tear Drop (10:33).
6. DEFY Women’s Title: Marina Shafir (c) defeated Shoko Nakajima with the Mother’s Milk (14:08). *V4 for Marina Shafir.
7. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA defeated Yuni with the Wagamama (12:14).
8. DDT Universal Title – 3 Way Match: Gringo Loco defeated Miyu Yamashita (c) and Nick Wayne when Loco pinned Yamashita with the Base Bomb (17:08). *Miyu Yamashita fails in V1. Gringo Loco becomes the 16th DDT Universal Champion.
9. Special Tag Match: Judas Icarus & Travis Williams defeated MAO & Mike Bailey when Icarus pinned Bailey after the Sudden Silence (22:06).
AEW “DYNAMITE”, 13/11/2024 Total Mortgage Arena, Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA
1. Konosuke Takeshita defeated Adam Cole with a Dynamite Diamond Ring Assisted Punch (9:38).
Takeshita’s next AEW appearance was to act as a road block for Adam Cole. There was a storyline going on this month where Cole had to win three matches in order to get a PPV match against MJF. He was two wins in going into this night and needed to beat Takeshita to reach his goal. Cole countered the Takeshita Line with a well placed Super Kick and followed up with the Panama Sunrise. But when he went for the Boom knee strike, Takeshita rolled out of the ring to make some distance between them. He then reached under the ring and pulled out the Dynamite Diamond Ring, which belongs to MJF but was recently handed over to Don Callis. Takeshita placed the ring on his finger and punched Cole in the face without the referee seeing the ring, knocking Cole out for the pin. Roderick Strong ran down to get revenge but Takeshita gave him a Low Blow. Then Kyle O’Reilly entered the ring to chase Takeshita away. But once Takeshita was at the entrance and his guard was down, Ricochet appeared and he knocked him over with a Pump Kick.
GCW “CHAOS IN KENTUCKY”, 14/11/2024 Headliners Music Hall, Louisville, Kentucky, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Brooke Havok with the Skull Kick (17:13).
The TJPW shows at Seattle were done but Yamashita stayed behind in America for a weekend of GCW action. On the first show she put Brooke Havok through the meat grinder with kicks and stomps. Havok had some moments of hope and did well to last as long as she did. The Skull Kick put an end to any hope of an upset win though.
GCW “GATEWAY TO THE DEATH”, 15/11/2024 Pop’s Nightclub, Sauget, Illinois, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Mike Bailey with the Crash Rabbit Heat (17:14).
A much tougher challenge awaited Yamashita on the second GCW show. A few days after she pinned Mike Bailey to win the DDT Universal Title, the two met again one on one with nobody else going to get in their way. Bailey hit a Shooting Star Press for a nearfall. Bailey tried to follow up with the Corkscrew Kick into the corner but Yamashita countered it with the Skull Kick. She was too slow to make the pin though so Bailey was able to kick out of it. Bailey took back control but made a fatal mistake when he missed the Ultima Weapon. Yamashita hit him with a Knee Strike from behind after that and scored the pinfall after finding her target once more with the Crash Rabbit Heat. The two traded a fist bump through the ropes after the match.
GCW “NICK GAGE INVITATIONAL 9”, 16/11/2024 Level 13 Event Center, Orlando, Florida, USA
1. Hardcore Match: Miyu Yamashita defeated Broski Jimmy with the Skull Kick (7:44).
The final night of Yamashita’s GCW tour was completely unlike the other two. Yamashita has crossed paths with Broski Jimmy in a few of her other GCW appearances this year. She knocked him out in a match on GCW’s tour of Japan. Then a few shows later in America he interfered in one of her matches so she hit him over the head with a chair. Since this show was being held in the middle of a deathmatch tournament, Yamashita and Jimmy’s grudge match promised to used Hardcore rules. The end result was the closest thing to a death match Yamashita has ever done! She may as well have called herself Rina Yamashita for the night. Chairs, doors, trash cans and even glass were used as weapons. Jimmy even gave Yamashita the Package Piledriver on top of a row of chairs but Yamashita kicked out at one! Yamashita got revenge by giving Jimmy the Attitude Adjustment through a panel of glass in the corner of the ring. She then smashed some lighttubes over Jimmy’s head before breaking the remains of one over her own. All that was left for her to do was hit the Skull Kick for the win.
AEW “DYNAMITE”, 20/11/2024 Santander Arena, Reading, Pennsylvania, USA
1. All Star 8-Man Tag: Konosuke Takeshita, Kyle Fletcher, Lance Archer & Brian Cage defeated Will Ospreay, Powerhouse Hobbs, Ricochet & Mark Davis when Takeshita pinned Davis with the Wagamama (14:33).
The current version of The Don Callis Family were brought together for a match against Ospreay, Hobbs, Ricochet & Davis in a preview for the PPV. Hobbs was taken out of action midway through the match after his knee was attacked with the ring steps but he eventually returned to the match like a house on fire. Things went crazy with everyone hitting their big moves one after another. The end came when Ospreay went for the Hidden Blade and Fletcher pulled Davis into harm’s way. Davis took the full blow and he took another one when Takeshita pulled down his knee pad and hit the Wagamama knee strike for the win.
AEW “FULL GEAR”, 23/11/2024 Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey, USA
1. AEW International Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) (w/ Don Callis) defeated Ricochet with the Avalanche Raging Fire (19:12). *V3 for Konosuke Takeshita.
After this it’s safe to say Takeshita doesn’t have to worry about Ricochet anymore. Ricochet threw pretty much everything he could do at this stage at him and couldn’t win. Takeshita dodged the Spear Gun this time but couldn’t hit the Wagamama. Ricochet landed a version of the Benadryller instead but Takeshita kicked out of the pin. Then when Ricochet climbed the top rope, Takeshita got up and tripped him by the legs. He hit him with a Knee Strike, climbed up to him and dropped him to the canvas with the Avalanche Falcon Arrow, pinning him clean for a successful title defence.
SETUP “YEAR END CLIMAX”, 30/11/2024 The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand
1. SETUP All Asia Women’s Title – No DQ Match: Pom Harajuku defeated Matcha (c) with two Pom de Justices onto a Chair (?:??). *Matcha fails in V4. Pom Harajuku becomes the 2nd SETUP All Asia Women’s Champion!
This does not feel real. So let me get this straight. Pom Harajuku went to Thailand, fought in a No DQ Match against Matcha because they hold a grudge from the previous time Harajuku was there and Harajuku won the championship by driving Matcha’s face into a chair with the Pom de Justice. Twice. Unbelievable! This is Harajuku’s first championship win in her career. TJPW is now collecting women’s title belts from around Southeast Asia with the SETUP All Asia Women’s Title now being added to the pile. What a crazy turn of events.
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Upcoming Appearances
NJPW “STRONG STYLE EVOLVED”, 15/12/2024 Walter Pyramid, Long Beach, California, USA
1. Special Tag Team Grudge Match: Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji Vs KONOSUKE TAKESHITA & Jack Perry
So is this path why we didn’t get Takeshita in the Continental Classic this year? Looks like it. The only stuff announced for him for the next few weeks are for New Japan events including the next one happening in America. There is still some AEW involvement though because Jack Perry is teaming with Takeshita here. Also Takeshita gets back in the ring with Yota Tsuji for the first time since the G1 Climax playoff stage. Shingo will be his main target but getting a little bit of revenge on Tsuji will please him too.
NJPW “WRESTLE KINGDOM 19 IN TOKYO DOME”, 04/01/2025 Tokyo Dome, Japan
1. NEVER Openweight Title: Shingo Takagi (c) Vs KONOSUKE TAKESHITA
Well if I’m writing about stuff happening around the world I guess I can include stuff happening in Japan outside of the DDT bubble. As mentioned earlier, Takeshita wants to defend the International Title at the Tokyo Dome and Takagi answered his challenge. Takagi is also the NEVER Openweight Champion so we are on course for a title versus title match on 4th January! There is the risk that Takeshita could lose his championship before this match happens but Takagi’s NEVER Title is guaranteed to be on the line.
“WRESTLE DYNASTY”, 05/01/2025 Tokyo Dome, Japan
1. NEVER Openweight Title: Shingo Takagi or KONOSUKE TAKESHITA (c) Vs Tomohiro Ishii
The winner of the Wrestle Kingdom match will face Ishii the next day at the other big Tokyo Dome show. This event is bringing New Japan, AEW, CMLL, Ring Of Honor and Stardom all together but DDT could secretly sneak in there thanks to Takeshita. If the International Title is indeed involved on 4th January then it will be on the line here too.
GCW “THE PEOPLE VS GCW”, 19/01/2025 Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, New York, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs X
January sees Itoh working with GCW again for a few important shows. GCW are returning to the scene of the crime, the Hammerstein Ballroom in an attempt to redeem themselves for blowing their big shot at the infamous venue three years earlier. At the time of writing their chances of achieving that redemption are not looking good. Maybe Itoh can do her part to help things out even just a little bit.
GCW “LIVE IN LONDON”, 26/01/2025 Electric Ballroom, London, England
1. Maki Itoh Vs X
Then a week later Itoh will be wrestling for GCW in London at the Electric Ballroom. That venue has been the home of PROGRESS for most of its existence and they’re helping GCW put this show together.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “AEX32 SANTIAGO 2025”, 09/02/2025 Mapocho Station Cultural Center, Santiago, Chile
No updates yet on who will be joining Yamashita and Itoh at the anime convention or if anyone in Chile wants to challenge them.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN LAS VEGAS”, 18/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
And we’re off! Next year’s WrestleMania Week in Las Vegas is now confirmed to have DDT and TJPW coming over. Both promotions will be holding shows on the same day at The Collective. TJPW is up first with an 11am start on the Friday morning. They are promising it will be TJPW’s biggest show in America to date!
DDT “DDT GOES LAS VEGAS!”, 18/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Then at 3pm that afternoon DDT will have their show. Friday is going to be a warzone of wrestling shows clashing with each other. DDT & TJPW are among the first companies to get their announcements out there. I’ll be there for both but now I have to worry about what’s going to be happening at the same time!
DDT/TOKYO JOSHI PRO/GCW “DDT VS TJPW VS GCW”, 19/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Now here’s something a little bit interesting. DDT and TJPW have just held a triple partner show with DEFY so it makes sense to do one with GCW as well. But this show is happening on Saturday, the same day as Night 1 of “WRESTLEMANIA”. So right now there is no start time announced for the event. Remember, this is happening on the West Coast where WrestleMania will be opening its doors in the afternoon. Is this show going to take place in the morning before everyone rushes over to the stadium? Or will they take a risk and hold this show at night, slap bang in the middle between the two WM shows?
Pop the champagne bottles because this month Konosuke Takeshita won his first AEW championship! The first of many I hope. After he finally achieved his crowning glory he… didn’t wrestle again in AEW for the rest of the month. Typical, eh? But he did wrestle elsewhere, up north in fact. And those were some pretty good matches too. His performances this month was enough to have Dave Meltzer call him one of the best wrestlers in the world. Other than that it was kind of a quiet month for everyone else I cover for this article. Yuka Sakazaki had a match in ROH then fantasized about murdering RJ City for Halloween, Shoko Nakajima was in DPW for a tournament final, Yuki Kamifuku continues being the Queen of Asia and Miyu Yamashita went to Canada.
Things are going to pick up in November though. DDT and Tokyo Joshi Pro are having their shows with DEFY in Seattle, MAO and Yoshihiko are going on another European adventure together, Takeshita has stuff lined up with New Japan for the promotion’s next couple of USA shows, Yamashita will be paying GCW another visit and Pom Harajuku is going to be let loose in Southeast Asia. If that’s not enough we even have a peak at what to look forward to in 2025.
After turning on Ospreay, the Don Callis Family hold a press conference! | 10/16/24, AEW Dynamite
MAPLE LEAF PRO “FORGED IN EXCELLENCE – NIGHT 1”, 19/10/2024 St. Clair College, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
1. Gisele Shaw Vs Miyu Yamashita
2. Mike Bailey Vs Konosuke Takeshita
MAPLE LEAF PRO “FORGED IN EXCELLENCE – NIGHT 2”, 20/10/2024 St. Clair College, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
1. Laynie Luck & Harley Cameron Vs Miyu Yamashita & Kylie Rae
2. AEW International Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Josh Alexander
Yuka Has Fun! | Hey! (EW) 10/27/24
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Results
ROH “ROH ON HONOR CLUB”, 08/10/2024 (Aired 17/10/2024) Spokane Arena, Spokane, Washington, USA
1. Yuka Sakazaki defeated Viva Van with the Magical Girl Splash (5:44).
Sakazaki’s move over to ROH this month involved a tricky challenge against Viva Van. She was kept on her toes by Van bridging out of a pin and making Sakazaki flinch with a fakeout attack from the ropes. Sakazaki got her own back by also bridging out of a pin and doing her own Sliding Lariat, no fake out needed. She went on to win by using the Magical Merry-Go-Round as well as the Magical Girl Splash.
AEW “WRESTLEDREAM”, 12/10/2024 Tacoma Dome, Tacoma, Washington, USA
1. AEW International Title: Konosuke Takeshita defeated Will Ospreay (c) and Ricochet when Takeshita pinned Ospreay with the Powerdrive Knee (20:42). *V3 for Will Ospreay fails in V3. Konosuke Takeshita becomes the 10th AEW International Champion!
What a wonderful sight this was. Takeshita was part of a great match with Will Ospreay and Ricochet where everyone went balls to the wall. Takeshita took Ricochet out of the match by putting him through a table at ringside with the Reverse Implant. He also kicked out of Ospreay’s Hidden Blade but looked to be finished when Ospreay hit him with another one. That was when Don Callis pulled the referee out of the ring mid-count. Ospreay got his hands on Callis but just when he was about to give him the Tiger Driver ’91, Kyle Fletcher ran in and hit him over the head with a screwdriver. Takeshita then hit Ospreay with the Powerdrive Knee to win the AEW International Title. Even with the dirty finish the match got a *****1/2 rating from Meltzer.
DEXCON “JAM OF THE JOSHIS”, 13/10/2024 Brawl Pit Bulusan, Manila, Philippines
1. Queen Of Asia Title & VPW Women’s Title: Yuki Kamifuku (c/c) defeated Chelsea Marie with the Diving Famouser (?:??). *V4 for the Queen Of Asia Title. V2 for the VPW Women’s Title.
The Philippines is where Yuki Kamifuku had her next defence of the Asian Double Crown. She had a close match against Chelsea Marie in what was just as much a battle of beauty as it was wits and skill. Marie almost won by putting Kamifuku in the Code Of Silence submission hold but the champ’s leg was long enough to reach over for a rope break. Marie climbed the ropes but was left vulnerable after Kamifuku reached out and poked her in the eye. Kamifuku Dropkicked her opponent off the turnbuckles then climbed up the same corner to hit the Diving Famouser and win the match.
DPW “SUPER BATTLE”, 13/10/2024 Grady Cole Center, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
1. Battle Of The Best – Final: Dani Luna defeated Shoko Nakajima with a Fireman’s Carry Bomb (13:17).
The winner of the Battle Of The Best tournament would be given a shot at the DPW Women’s World Title so Nakajima was on the cusp of getting that title shot. It wasn’t meant to be unfortunately. Dani Luna kicked out of the Northern Lights Suplex and prevented Nakajima from doing the Diving Senton by kicking her off the top rope. Nakajima didn’t expect Luna to then grab her on the apron from the ropes and throw her back into the ring with a Slingshot German Suplex. It was stunning enough for Luna to pin Nakajima with a Fireman’s Carry Bomb to win the tournament.
MAPLE LEAF PRO “FORGED IN EXCELLENCE – NIGHT 1”, 19/10/2024 St. Clair College, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
1. Gisele Shaw defeated Miyu Yamashita with the Denoument (12:36).
2. Konosuke Takeshita defeated Mike Bailey with the Raging Fire (24:39).
The debut weekend of Maple Leaf Pro had both Takeshita and Yamashita taking part in featured matches. The main event of Night 1 was Takeshita and Mike Bailey showing North America what they were missing when Speedball spent most of his time in Japan for DDT. It was already a cross-promotional match between AEW and TNA that became an even bigger deal because it was also the AEW International Champion against the X Division Champion! Bailey kicked out of the Powerdrive Knee but was put away with the Raging Fire. It was another match of Takeshita’s that Meltzer gave the ***** to this month.
History will look back on Miyu Yamashita Vs Gisele Shaw as the buffer match that was placed in between one of the best matches of the year and one of the worst. I admit that’s an unfair way to look at things so seek this out because it was a pretty good match. Had Yamashita won she would have been added to the ROH Women’s World Title match on Night 2. But Shaw wasn’t going to let her get in the way and won this match with her own Running Knee Strike.
MAPLE LEAF PRO “FORGED IN EXCELLENCE – NIGHT 2”, 20/10/2024 St. Clair College, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
1. Miyu Yamashita & Kylie Rae defeated Laynie Luck & Harley Cameron when Yamashita pinned Luck with the Skull Kick (9:26).
2. AEW International Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) defeated Josh Alexander with the Raging Fire (29:31). *V1 for Konosuke Takeshita.
The last time Takeshita fought Josh Alexander one on one it ended in a time limit draw. For the rematch he was putting the AEW International Title on the line. Just like the night before, Takeshita almost won with the Powerdrive Knee and had to use the Raging Fire to put away his opponent. But after the match he and Don Callis decided to continue the attack on Alexander until Ricochet made a surprise appearance to fight Takeshita. The two of them would butt heads again in AEW later in the month so this looks to be Takeshita’s AEW program for November.
On Night 1 Kylie Rae was attacked by Laynie Luck & Harley Cameron so Yamashita’s role here was to even the odds for a tag match. While Rae took care of Cameron outside the ring, Yamashita pinned Luck with the Skull Kick inside the ring.
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Upcoming Appearances
BZW “FRIDAY NIGHT BANGER”, 01/11/2024 Salle Jacques Brel, Faches-Thumesnil, France
1. MAO Vs KURO
Once the calendar flips over to November MAO will be travelling around the world once more with the DDT Universal Title back in his possession. First destination is in France for a weekend of Banger Zone Wrestling events. KURO will be his opponent on Night 1.
BZW “ALCATRAZ”, 02/11/2024 Salle Jacques Brel, Faches-Thumesnil, France
1. BZW Tag Team Titles: Jack Sans-Nom & Paul Robinson (c) Vs MAO & Yoshihiko
On Night 2, MAO will be joined by Yoshihiko to cause more international trouble. One of MAO’s goals for his overseas tour this time is to win a foreign company’s championship so the two of them will face Jack Sans-Nom & Paul Robinson for the BZW Tag Team Titles.
Pom Harajuku is travelling to Singapore by herself without supervision! Is she going to be a sitting duck for Alexis Lee to tear apart limb from limb?
NJPW “FIGHTING SPIRIT UNLEASHED 2024”, 08/11/2024 Lowell Memorial Auditorium, Lowell, Massachusetts, USA
1. KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs X
What is going to be in store for Takeshita when he goes back to New Japan next month for their next American show? Maybe Ricochet will show up looking for a fight again.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO/DEFY “TJPW BRIGHT EYES”, 09/11/2024 Washington Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA
1. Rika Tatsumi & Amira Vs Suzume & Arisu Endo
2. Yuki Kamifuku Vs Wakana Uehara
3. Moka Miyamoto Vs Rebel Kel
4. Mizuki Vs Liiza Hall
5. Miu Watanabe & Shoko Nakajima Vs Yuki Aino & Zara Zakher
6. Princess Tag Team Titles: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh (c) Vs Vert Vixen & Nicole Matthews
All shows from the DDT/TJPW/DEFY weekend will be airing on Triller via the TrillerTV+ subscription.
DDT/DEFY “DDT IN UTERO”, 09/11/2024 Washington Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA
1. 3 Way Tag Match: Cody Chhun & Guillermo Rosas Vs Bryan Keith & Shota Vs Eddie Pearl & Ricky Gibson
2. Danshoku Dieno Vs Randy Myers
3. Gringo Loco Vs Yuni
4. Special Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & Artemis Spencer Vs Gurv Shira & Harv Shira
5. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs Kohei Kinoshita
6. DDT Universal Title – 3 Way Match: MAO (c) Vs Mike Bailey Vs Miyu Yamashita
More news for this show has been announced while I’ve been writing this with more still to come. Marina Shafir and Nick Wayne will both be there to wrestle.
DDT/TOKYO JOSHI PRO/DEFY “TRIANGLER DTD”, 10/11/2024 Washington Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA
1. Special Single Match: Gringo Loco Vs Miyu Yamashita
2. Special Tag Match: MAO & Mike Bailey Vs Judas Icarus & Travis Williams
3. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs Yuni
I think some of the remaining card will not be decided until the other shows have taken place first.
GCW “CHAOS IN KENTUCKY”, 14/11/2024 Headliners Music Hall, Louisville, Kentucky, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Brooke Havok
Three GCW matches for Yamashita coming up in November. She faces Brooke Havok in a first time ever meeting between the two.
GCW “GATEWAY TO THE DEATH”, 15/11/2024 Pop’s Nightclub, Sauget, Illinois, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Mike Bailey
If this match is anything like their Pandemonium Pro bout from last December then the GCW fans will be in for a treat. Just make sure to use a better camera angle for the finish this time…
GCW “NICK GAGE INVITATIONAL 9”, 16/11/2024 Level 13 Event Center, Orlando, Florida, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
Is GCW going to keep that tournament name even though they’re currently on the outs with Nick Gage? Does that mean Maki Itoh has to drop the Maki Death Kill stuff the next time she goes back there or can she take over the gimmick like Kazuki Hirata did with Magnum TOKYO?
SETUP “YEAR END CLIMAX”, 30/11/2024 The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand
1. SETUP All Asia Women’s Title – No DQ Match: Matcha (c) Vs Pom Harajuku
When Harajuku was in a 3 Way Match against Matcha and Raku a month earlier, Matcha was the winner but she pinned Raku and Harajuku was left as the odd one out. Matcha and Harajuku then got into a fight and had to be kept apart. This unexpected grudge is coming to a head in November because SETUP is booking the two of them in a No DQ Match with the SETUP All Asia Women’s Title on the line!
NJPW “STRONG STYLE EVOLVED”, 15/12/2024 Walter Pyramid, Long Beach, California, USA
1. KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs X
Takeshita will also be at NJPW USA’s December show. With two dates here for the rest of 2024 one of them would surely be a good place to defend the AEW International Title.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “AEX32 SANTIAGO 2025”, 08-09/02/2025 Mapocho Station Cultural Center, Santiago, Chile
Both Yamashita and Itoh have filmed videos promoting their matches at the AEX convention. It sounds like there might be matches featuring local wrestlers as well as whoever else TJPW sends over. At least Yamashita and Itoh said they would like to fight whoever Chile can throw at them.
DDT/TOKYO JOSHI PRO “THE COLLECTIVE 2025”, 17-19/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
The actual shows haven’t been officially announced yet but The Collective tagged DDT and TJPW in their tweet announcing next year’s edition of Wrestlemania Week in Las Vegas. I’ll be there for sure!
Posted by JamieOD 
Dramatic DDT 