Catching up on a lot of news I missed over the last week so expect a lot of separate posts today.
DDT “AFTER PETER PAN 2024 IN SHINJUKU”, 26/07/2024 Shinjuku FACE
1. Tetsuya Endo & Yuya Koroku Vs Antonio Honda & Ilusion
2. Special Single Match: Kazuki Hirata Vs Yuni
3. Special Single Match: HARASHIMA Vs Keigo Nakamura
4. Special Single Match: Yuki Iino Vs MJ Paul
5. Special Single Match: Shinya Aoki Vs Akito
6. Special 8-Man Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki, Ryuichi “Fire” Kawakami & KANON (w/ MJ Paul) Vs Yukio Naya, Soma Takao & Kazuma Sumi
7. Special 8-Man Tag Match: Yuki Ueno, MAO, Shunma Katsumata & To-y Vs Jun Akiyama, Danshoku Dieno, Makoto Oishi & Takeshi Masada
Reunited and back to full strength, The 37KAMIINA are taking on a mixture of DDT talent in the main event of tomorrow’s show.
DAMNATION T.A has a new ally in the form of Ryuichi “Fire” Kawakami. He’s here in DDT to fight Yukio Naya first and foremost.
With a KO-D Openweight Title shot coming up in his future, Shinya Aoki is starting his preparations with a match against Akito.
DDT “AFTER PETER PAN 2024 IN NAGOYA – DAY 1”, 27/07/2024 Aichi Nagoya Imaike Gas Hall
1. 3 Way Match: Makoto Oishi Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Yuni
2. Jun Akiyama & Keigo Nakamura Vs Toru Owashi & Yuki Iino
3. MAO & To-y Vs Takeshi Masada & Kazuma Sumi
4. Special Tag Match: Yuki Ueno & Shunma Katsumata Vs HARASHIMA & Akito
5. Daisuke Sasaki, Ryuichi “Fire” Kawakami & KANON Vs Tetsuya Endo, Yukio Naya & Yuya Koroku
6. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Danshoku Dieno (c) Vs Antonio Honda
The match between Danshoku Dieno and Antonio Honda is confirmed to be the main event even if the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title is not involved by the time the match happens. The rest of the card is not in its final match order yet.
DDT “AFTER PETER PAN 2024 IN NAGOYA – DAY 2”, 28/07/2024 Aichi Nagoya Imaike Gas Hall
1. 3 Way Match: Antonio Honda Vs To-y Vs Yuni
2. KANON Vs Kazuma Sumi
3. The 37KAMIINA Vs BURNING!: Yuki Ueno, MAO & Shunma Katsumata Vs Tetsuya Endo, Yuki Iino & Yuya Koroku
4. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi Vs HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata
5. Special Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & Ryuichi “Fire” Kawakami Vs Yukio Naya & Keigo Nakamura
6. Special Single Match: Akito Vs Takeshi Masada
Similar setup here. Takeshi Masada’s first ever singles match against Akito is the headline match, everything else is currently out of order.
It’s an unofficial DISASTER BOX reunion as HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata are all teaming up again. Is this going to work out like the Smile Squash revival did?
DDT “OSAKA VS TOKYO ~DREAM EAST-WEST PRO WRESTLING BATTLE 2024~”, 10/08/2024 Osaka Edion Arena #2
1. Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul Vs Toru Owashi, Yukio Naya & Ilusion
2. East Vs West All-Out Competition: Keigo Nakamura (Iwate) & Yuya Koroku (Chiba) Vs Yuki Ishida (Kumamoto) & Kazuma Sumi (Mie)
3. East Vs West All-Out Competition: Makoto Oishi (Shizuoka) & Akito (Aichi) Vs Danshoku Dieno (Hiroshima) & Yuni (Osaka)
4. East Vs West All-Out Competition ~ Special Tag Match: Yoshiko Hasegawa (Saitama) & Riara (Miyagi) Vs Sayaka Unagi (Osaka) & Momoka Hanazono (Osaka)
5. East Vs West All-Out Competition ~ Special 4 Way Match: MAO (Miyagi) Vs Tsutenkakka (Osaka) Vs The Great Koji (Osakananko) Vs A.YAZAWA (Hiroshima)
6. East Vs West All-Out Competition ~ Takeshi Masada Debut 2nd Anniversary Match: Tetsuya Endo (Miyagi) & Yuki Iino (Tokyo) Vs Chris Brookes (England) & Takeshi Masada (Osaka)
7. East Vs West All-Out Competition ~ Tokyo Vs Osaka Special Tag Match: HARASHIMA (Tokyo) & Kazuki Hirata (Tokyo) Vs Yuki Ueno (Osaka) & Jun Akiyama (Osaka)
8. DDT Extreme Title ~ East Vs West All-Out Competition: Shunma Katsumata (c) (Chiba) Vs Kohei Kinoshita (Osaka)
West Army: Kohei Kinoshita (Osaka), Yuki Ueno (Osaka), Jun Akiyama (Osaka), Chris Brookes (England), Takeshi Masada (Osaka), Danshoku Dieno (Hiroshima), Yuki Ishida (Kumamoto), Yuni (Osaka), Kazuma Sumi (Mie), Tsutenkakka (Osaka), The Great Koji (Osakananko), A.YAZAWA (Hiroshima), Sayaka Unagi (Osaka) and Momoka Hanazono (Osaka)
Place Of Unknown Origin: MJ Paul, Ilusion
The East Vs West lineup is now complete.
DDT/GCW “NEVER ENDING NOISY SUMMER”, 12/08/2024 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. DDT Vs GCW Special Single Match: Danshoku Dieno Vs Effy
The first match announced is probably the most DDT Vs GCW match the two companies could come up with together. Dieno takes on Effy!
DDT “MEMORIES OF SUMMER VACATION 2024 TOUR IN YOKOHAMA”, 17/08/2024 Yokohama Radiant Hall
1. Special Single Match: Danshoku Dieno Vs Michael Nakazawa
The return of Michael Nakazawa to DDT was probably not as golden as he thought it was going to be, especially when it got overshadowed by Kota Ibushi minutes later. Still, Nakazawa came in to be used as a weapon against Dieno and that’s an issue that still needs to be settled. So the two are going to have a match against each other next month.
DDT “MEMORIES OF SUMMER VACATION 2024”, 25/08/2024 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. KO-D Openweight Title: Yuki Ueno (c) Vs Shinya Aoki
Yuki Ueno has chosen Shinya Aoki to be his seventh challenger for this KO-D Title reign. Aoki taught him a lot with the matches they had together last year and now Ueno believes he can beat him. Also the match Aoki wants to do most nowadays is to fight Ueno in a DDT ring.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “JUST BEFORE TJPW SSP24”, 13/07/2024 Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall
1. Kaya Toribami Vs Chika Nanase
2. HIMAWARI Vs Kira Summer
3. Maki Itoh & Yuki Kamifuku vs Wakana Uehara & Toga
4. Suzume, Arisu Endo & Haru Kazashiro Vs Mahiro Kiryu, Shino Suzuki & Uta Takami
5. Miu Watanabe, Yuki Aino, Raku & Pom Harajuku Vs Rika Tatsumi, Shoko Nakajima, Mizuki & Runa Okubo
Tomorrow’s Tokyo Joshi Pro card has been shortened down to five matches because of a few absences. Nao Kakuta has an injured back and cannot wrestle. However she will still be attending the show along with Hyper Misao and Haruna Neko for a talk segment between the three of them. Moka Miyamoto is feeling unwell and cannot wrestle tomorrow. Miyu Yamashita was already announced to be wrestling in England this weekend.
DDT “KEIGO NAKAMURA HOMETOWN TRIUMPH! ROAD TO PETER PAN 2024 TOUR IN IWATE”, 13/07/2024 Iwate Education Hall Multipurpose Hall
1. Akito & Kazuma Sumi Vs Daisuke Sasaki & KANON
2. Danshoku Dieno & Yuni Vs Kazuki Hirata & To-y
3. SCHADENFREUDE International Vs D.O.A!: Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada Vs Jun Akiyama & Makoto Oishi
4. Sanshiro Takagi Indefinite Rest Road 5-Man Match: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Takeshi Masada, Yuni, Keigo Nakamura, To-y & Kazuma Sumi
5. Tetsuya Endo, Yuki Iino & Yuya Koroku Vs HARASHIMA, Yukio Naya & Ilusion
6. Iwate Specialty Special Tag Match: Yuki Ueno & Shunma Katsumata Vs MAO & Keigo Nakamura
The DDT card also has a few changes but that’s because so many of the young wrestlers want to fight Sanshiro Takagi before his break. Takagi came up with an idea to face them all in a gauntlet of two minute singles matches one after the other. If any of them can beat him in two minutes he promises to increase their pay as a reward! The wrestlers lining up to face him are Takeshi Masada, Yuni, Keigo Nakamura, To-y & Kazuma Sumi.
DDT “ROAD TO PETER PAN 2024 TOUR IN NIIGATA”, 14/07/2024 Niigata Higashi Ward Plaza Hall
1. Chris Brookes, Ilusion & Kazuma Sumi Vs Yuni, Keigo Nakamura & To-y
2. Special 3 Way Match: Akito Vs Daisuke Sasaki Vs Takeshi Masada
3. Yuki Iino & Yuya Koroku Vs Jun Akiyama & Yukio Naya
4. Special Single Match: HARASHIMA Vs KANON
5. Sanshiro Takagi Indefinite Rest Road ~ Special Tag Match: Sanshiro Takagi & Super Sasadango Machine Vs Danshoku Dieno & Kazuki Hirata
6. The 37KAMIINA Vs BURNING?: Yuki Ueno & Shunma Katsumata Vs MAO & Tetsuya Endo
The KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles are still missing one of the belts after Smile Squash’s attempt to rescue them was only partially successful. They have two of the belts back but KANON still has possession of the third one. Good thing HARASHIMA has a match with him already scheduled so he can try and get it back by force.
DDT “ROJO PRO WRESTLING IN HANDMADE IN JAPAN FES 2024”, 20/07/2024 Tokyo Big Sight West Halls 1 & 2
1. Falls Count Anywhere 4 Way Tag Match: Shunma Katsumata & To-y Vs Sanshiro Takagi & Takeshi Masada Vs Keigo Nakamura & Yuki Ishida Vs Yuya Koroku & Ilusion
DDT returns to the HandMade In Japan Fes for another year and another Falls Count Anywhere match.
DDT “MEET & GREET & FIGHT”, 02/08/2024 Shinjuku FACE
1. Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Match I: X Vs X
2. Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Match II: X Vs X
3. Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Match III: X Vs X
DDT last used the Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere prize in 2022. After putting the concept on the shelf for a year it is back for 2024 and this time three prizes will be up for grabs. The participants and match stipulations have not been decided on yet. But it is guaranteed at least one of the prizes will be for a KO-D Openweight Title shot that can be cashed in at any time when the champion is in the venue.
BASARA “BASARA 254 ~ICHIMIDOUSHIN~”, 04/08/2024 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. Takeru Inoue Debut Match: Takeru Inoue Vs X
2. Special Single Match: Isami Kodaka Vs Yuki Ishikawa
This week it was announced that Big Japan wrestler Yuki Ishikawa will be retiring on 12th August. It was a decision he made after he suffered a shoulder injury back in April. He will pay a visit to BASARA the week before his retirement to face Isami Kodaka at Korakuen Hall. It will be one of if not the final singles match of Ishikawa’s career.
DDT/GCW “NEVER ENDING NOISY SUMMER”, 12/08/2024 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Jordan Oliver has pulled out of the GCW Japan tour due to a torn ACL in his left knee. Marcus Mathers will be replacing him for the tour which includes the DDT show.
BASARA “BASARA 254 ~HIEN~”, 13/08/2024 Shin-Kiba 1st RING
Something BASARA tweeted out today is their plan to separate between the two kinds of “UTAGE” shows they will be producing from August onwards. The “HIEN” shows are now labelled as “Hard Mode” events. The tweet compares the term to “Bati Bati” and they later ruled out doing Hardcore Matches on these shows when a fan responding to them got the two mixed up. So it sounds like BASARA might be giving Battlarts style wrestling a go when using that name. The “SOUEN” shows are now labelled “Fudangi BASARA” and will be no different to the regular “UTAGE” shows they’ve been doing up until now.
June was the most TV time Konosuke Takeshita has gotten in months for AEW. Turns out just sticking the guy in multi-man tag matches every week with other exciting wrestlers is a good idea. His entire month was spent being in the TNT Title picture getting ready for a chaotic Ladder Match against five other people. There was also the big reveal of him entering the G1 Climax later this summer, representing both AEW and DDT. It’s another step to show DDT and New Japan are getting along again. DDT has gotten El Desperado, Hiromu Takahashi and most recently Toru Yano involved in important matches at DDT shows. Takeshita in the G1 is the biggest move of a DDT wrestler doing something of note in New Japan since the days of The Golden Lovers.
The last few dates of Miyu Yamashita’s American tour took place in June. It looks like MLW might have a spot for her whenever she is goes back to America based on how her last match went there. However that’s a company that has a habit of just dropping things from taping to taping at the drop of a hat. Shunma Katsumata got to show GCW what DDT’s version of death match wrestling is like. He is willing to do some nutty things and there are plenty of GCW wrestlers there who would do the same. Maki Itoh has another long tour with them coming up soon. A few others from Tokyo Joshi Pro are lining things up for the summer. We even got a hint from Yuka Sakazaki that she is training again after getting injured back in April.
AEW “DYNAMITE”, 12/06/2024 Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, Iowa, USA
1. Mark Briscoe, Kyle O’Reilly & Orange Cassidy Vs Kyle Fletcher, Roderick Strong & Konosuke Takeshita
AEW “DYNAMITE”, 19/06/2024 EagleBank Arena, Fairfax, Virginia, USA
1. Mark Briscoe, Kyle O’Reilly, Orange Cassidy & Dante Martin Vs Kyle Fletcher, Roderick Strong, Konosuke Takeshita & Zack Sabre Jr.
Video starts at 1:27:05 MLW “ANNIVERSARY ’24”, 22/06/2024 Center Stage, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
1. Triple Threat Match: Miyu Yamashita Vs Jazzy Yang Vs Dani Jordyn
AEW “COLLISION”, 29/06/2024 KeyBank Center, Buffalo, New York, USA
1. Mark Briscoe, Lio Rush & Dante Martin Vs Jack Perry, Konosuke Takeshita & El Phantasmo
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Results
GCW “TOURNAMENT OF SURVIVAL 9”, 01/06/2024 The Showboat, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA
1. Tournament Of Survival 9 – Round 1 – DDT Death Match: Brandon Kirk defeated Shunma Katsumata with the Psycho Driver onto Lighttubes and Chairs (12:45).
A big opportunity in the death match world opened up for Katsumata when he was invited to take part in GCW’s annual Tournament Of Survival. In the first round he crossed paths with the underdog fan favorite Brandon Kirk in a fight that was branded a DDT Death Match. That meant plenty of plastic cases and Lego were used in violent ways along with lighttubes. Katsumata thought he had things won when he hit the Totonou Splash but Kirk kicked out at one! From that point on no matter what Katsumata threw at Kirk he couldn’t pin him with it. Instead Kirk got the win by dropping Katsumata onto a row of folded out steel chairs with the Psycho Driver.
MLW “ANNIVERSARY ’24”, 01/06/2024 (Aired 22/06/2024) Center Stage, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
1. Triple Threat Match: Miyu Yamashita defeated Jazzy Yang and Dani Jordyn when Yamashita pinned Jordyn with the Attitude Adjustment (4:17).
After failing to win the MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title last month, Miyu Yamashita stuck around in MLW for another taping to take on some new opponents. She was put in a 3 Way Match against Jazzy Yang and Dani Jordyn. Yang is the daughter of Jimmy Yang while Jordyn you might remember seeing on AEW Dark on a regular basis during the pandemic days. Compared to the title match Yamashita had an easier time this time around. Jordyn countered Yang’s Black Hole Slam into a Flatliner to roll her out of the ring and then Cradled Yamashita for a nearfall. Yamashita then gave Jordyn a High Kick and pinned her with the Attitude Adjustment, holding her up for an extra couple of seconds for emphasis.
BLACK LABEL PRO “FAMILY REUNION”, 07/06/2024 Logan Square Auditorium, Chicago, Illinois, USA
1. BLP Title: Kevin Ku (c) defeated Miyu Yamashita with a Fisherman Buster (18:03). *V5 for Kevin Ku.
Yamashita’s last shot at winning a championship during her American tour was at a Black Label Pro show. There she found an opponent that hits as hard as she does, Kevin Ku. The two had a war of attrition over the BLP Title going strike for strike against each other. Yamashita used a well timed Leg Sweep to trip Ku onto his knees so she could give him the Skull Kick but Ku kept staying on his feet. Yamashita hit the normal Skull Kick but that only sent Ku falling out of the ring. He was dead weight to lift back into the ring and when he finally got back in, he fell again, dodging another Skull Kick in the process. But it was all a ploy to lure Yamashita into a trap. Yamashita went to pin Ku and Ku cradled her back into a Fisherman Buster that he held onto in order to pin her for the three count. The two paid respect to each other after the match.
1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Laynie Luck with the Skull Kick (?:??).
The next day was Yamashita’s last match of her tour and took place outdoors on a nice, sunny afternoon. She defeated Laynie Luck in the main event of a Midwest All-Star Wrestling show, overcoming some interference in the process.
AEW “DYNAMITE”, 12/06/2024 Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, Iowa, USA
1. Kyle Fletcher, Roderick Strong & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Mark Briscoe, Kyle O’Reilly & Orange Cassidy when Fletcher pinned Briscoe with a Kneeling Piledriver (13:03).
Last month Takeshita’s road to the IWGP World Heavyweight Title was cut off, at least for now. So in May he took a detour into the TNT Championship picture where he qualified for a big multi-man Ladder Match over the vacated title. It resulted in the most TV match time he’s had in ages as some of the wrestlers involved in the match were put into preview multi-man tags on AEW’s weekly programming. Although in the first tag match it was just Takeshita and Mark Briscoe connected to each other. Orange Cassidy, Kyle O’Reilly, Kyle Fletcher and Roderick Strong all have other things going on.
AEW “DYNAMITE”, 19/06/2024 EagleBank Arena, Fairfax, Virginia, USA
1. All Star 8-Man Tag Match: Mark Briscoe, Kyle O’Reilly, Orange Cassidy & Dante Martin defeated Kyle Fletcher, Roderick Strong, Konosuke Takeshita & Zack Sabre Jr. when Cassidy pinned Strong with the Orange Punch (16:41).
Then a week later there was a rematch with Dante Martin and Zack Sabre Jr. joining in on the fun. Martin would become an entrant in the Ladder match too.
AEW “COLLISION”, 26/06/2024 (Aired 29/06/2024) KeyBank Center, Buffalo, New York, USA
1. Jack Perry, Konosuke Takeshita & El Phantasmo defeated Mark Briscoe, Lio Rush & Dante Martin when Takeshita pinned Martin with the Powerdrive Knee (10:52).
The go home show for “FORBIDDEN DOOR” would pit all six wrestlers in the Ladder Match in a final warm up 6-Man Tag. So at this point everyone knew Takeshita would be competing against Briscoe, Martin, Jack Perry, Lio Rush and one of his upcoming G1 opponents El Phantasmo. The G1 weren’t on their minds here though since Takeshita and ELP were able to tag along without any problems. Takeshita even scored the pinfall for his team. But once the match was over all hell broke loose. Perry attacked Takeshita from behind with the TNT Title belt and then one by one everyone started fighting each other, ending with Briscoe climbing a ladder inside the ring and diving onto everyone brawling at ringside below!
AEW/NJPW “FORBIDDEN DOOR 2024”, 30/06/2024 UBS Arena, Elmont, New York, USA
1. TNT Title – Ladder Match: Jack Perry defeated Konosuke Takeshita, Mark Briscoe, Dante Martin, Lio Rush and El Phantasmo when Perry grabbed the title (16:56). *Jack Perry becomes the 24th TNT Champion!
Takeshita came close to winning the Ladder Match but there was always someone in the way. Mark Briscoe, mainly. Takeshita gave Dante a Deadlift Brainbuster onto a Ladder placed on its side. But then Briscoe sandwiched Takeshita between a chair and table at ringside then hit a Rolling Senton out of the ring through them! Takeshita later put ELP through a table at ringside with the Blue Thunder Bomb from the ring apron. But then Briscoe got in the way again and put Takeshita through a ladder with the Jay Driller. That was the end of Takeshita’s presence in the match since Perry went ahead and won the title.
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Upcoming Appearances
DPW “DPW LIVE 7”, 06/07/2024 NC State Fairgrounds, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
1. Battle Of The Best – Round 1: Shoko Nakajima Vs Masha Slamovich
The next TJPW talent to show up at Deadlock Pro is Shoko Nakajima! She is one of the first entrants in their new tournament called Battle Of The Best. Her first round opponent is a familiar face. However Nakajima and Masha Slamovich have only fought each other once before and that was only just recently. They were on opposite sides of the “GCW VS TJPW” main event back in April.
NORTH WRESTLING “THUNDER STRUCK 2”, 13/07/2024 Walker Dome, Newcastle, England
1. Lizzy Evo Vs Miyu Yamashita
Lizzy Evo was one of the many women who failed to take the EVE Title from Yamashita during her big reign over there. They get to have a rematch over at NORTH Wrestling when Yamashita travels back over to England this month.
IWA JAPAN “HARDCORE FOREVER”, 27/07/2024 The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand
1. IWA Japan SETUP World Tag Team Titles – 3 Way Hardcore Match: Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi (c) Vs Mister Suchart & Anont Alonzo Vs Ultramantis Black & X
Not one but two teams are going to challenge CDK for the IWA Japan SETUP World Tag Team Titles. The first challengers are former champions THE GOOD DEAL looking to regain the straps from the team that beat them for it. The other team is a wild card. The UMA Corps are sending over Ultramantis Black and a mystery partner! Is it going to be someone from the Kappa World Order or do they have another monster waiting in the wings?
GCW “NOW AND FOREVER”, 02/08/2024 TempleLive Cleveland Masonic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs X
So begins Itoh’s next big tour of GCW. All of her dates for August have been announced but none of the matches yet.
GCW “CAN I TRUST YOU?”, 04/08/2024 House Of Independents, Asbury Park, New Jersey, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs X
I might have to spam the above poster for the rest of the page.
GCW “NO SIGNAL IN THE HILLS PT. 4”, 17/08/2024 Ukrainian Culture Center, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs X
Who will Itoh step up to in LA?
GCW “SAVE ME”, 18/08/2024 Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs X
This will be a few days after GCW’s tour of Japan, which Itoh will be a part of.
EVE/TOKYO JOSHI PRO “EVE X TJPW”, 24/08/2024 London, England
No location announced as of the time of writing but we do know that Yamashita, Raku, Mahiro Kiryu and HIMAWARI will be heading over representing TJPW. Also Aja Kong will be part of the show too.
GCW “HOMECOMING – NIGHT 1”, 24/08/2024 The Showboat, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs X
Time to start spamming.
GCW “HOMECOMING – NIGHT 2”, 25/08/2024 The Showboat, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs X
Actually, the “HOMECOMING” shows are usually one of GCW’s big weekends of the year so maybe Itoh defends the GCW Extreme Title on one of the nights if she still has it by then.
GCW “LIVE FAST DIE YOUNG”, 31/08/2024 Chicago, Illinois, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. Maki Itoh Vs X
Yamashita will make her return to GCW during Itoh’s tour too.
MKW “CHAMPIONSHIP SUPERCARD FROM SHANGHAI”, 14/09/2024 Bandai Namco Shanghai Base, Shanghai, China
1. Queen Of Asia Title: Yuki Kamifuku (c) Vs Crystal
The next Queen Of Asia Title defence is going to be held in China for Middle Kingdom Wrestling. Over there Yuki Kamifuku will put the belt on the line against Philippines wrestler Crystal in a first time meeting between the two.
GCW “TBA”, 14/09/2024 Detroit, Michigan, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs X
Spamming again.
GCW “TBA”, 15/09/2024 Rochester, New York, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs X
Spammy, spammy, spam.
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Cancelled Appearances
REPUBLIC OF LUCHA “ROL7: HIT THE LIGHTS”, 01/06/2024 Ukrainian Cultural Center, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. Konosuke Takeshita Vs Mike Bailey
Card Subject To Change reared its ugly head. Takeshita did not wrestle on the show and I can’t find a reason why anywhere. Mike Bailey ended up facing Arez Strange instead.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW CITY CIRCUIT ’24”, 23/06/2024 Shizuoka Act City Hamamatsu
1. 3 Way Match: Mizuki Vs Mahiro Kiryu Vs Runa Okubo
2. Yuki Aino Vs Chika Nanase
3. Shoko Nakajima & Kira Summer Vs Haru Kazashiro & Uta Takami
4. Maki Itoh & Yuki Kamifuku Vs Raku & Pom Harajuku
5. Suzume, Arisu Endo & Kaya Toribami Vs Miyu Yamashita, Moka Miyamoto & Toga
6. Nao Kakuta Vs Shino Suzuki
7. Miu Watanabe & Wakana Uehara Vs Rika Tatsumi & HIMAWARI
It will be the first time in over a year when Tokyo Joshi Pro comes to Act City Hamamatsu.
DDT “ROAD TO PETER PAN 2024 TOUR IN SHINJUKU”, 10/07/2024 Shinjuku FACE
1. KANON 5th Anniversary Match ~ Special Single Match: TAKA Michinoku Vs KANON
It should be no surprise to see that TAKA Michinoku is part of KANON’s 5th Anniversary match. Although it being just a singles match between the two is a bit unexpected. I would have thought there would be a tag of some sort involving them along with other wrestlers connected to KANON.
DDT “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2024”, 21/07/2024 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
1. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs Masato Tanaka
2. Dramatic Dream Match: El Desperado Vs Chris Brookes
3. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: HARASHIMA, Akito & Yasu Urano (c) Vs Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul
4. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino (c) Vs Go Shiozaki & Atsushi Kotoge
5. KO-D Openweight Title: Yuki Ueno (c) Vs MAO
Yesterday DAMNATION T.A attacked members of Smile Squash as well as the DDT GM Hisaya Imabayashi backstage during the show. Daisuke Sasaki took it far enough to grab a clothes hanger and hook the inside of Imabayashi’s mouth with it! He did it while demanding DAMNATION T.A be given a KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles rematch. Akito gave in and accepted the challenge but only because DAMNATION T.A are the former champions. He believes they have the right for a championship rematch. Akito also decided the match should take place at Sumo Hall so Smile Squash can get their revenge on the big stage.
DDT/GCW “NEVER ENDING NOISY SUMMER”, 12/08/2024 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
More guest wrestlers from the GCW side will be at the show. Gringo Loco and Broski Jimmy are among them along with 2 Cold Scorpio! DDT are also marketing GCW’s other shows for their Japan tour but I won’t be writing much about them here unless there is a lot of DDT involvement in their lineups.
Most of May was spent going through what Miyu Yamashita got up to in America (plus a little stopover in Canada). She was quite busy away from shows too because a lot of social media activity revealed she’s been training with Mercedes Moné for her first match back from injury, working out in Ace Steel’s wrestling school and also sharpening her skills in the Dungeon 2.0 with Natalya from WWE. Away from the ring there was even whispers from a blog allegedly written by Kairi Sane that Yamashita and Yuka Sakazaki were guests at a surprise birthday party for Iyo Sky. Isn’t that a nice little thing to hear?
Things went kind of wacky for Konosuke Takeshita in AEW. He was built up for Jon Moxley as an important PPV opponent but things hit a rough patch over whether or not he is really allowed to go anywhere near the IWGP World Heavyweight Title. That situation along with a cartoonish attempt to stack the odds against Jon Moxley casted a shadow that spoiled what could have been an exciting match between the two and left Takeshita looking foolish. A kayfabe interview he did for DDT explaining the problems he is currently going through while adjusting to life as an AEW wrestler has not helped matters either.
Some interesting things are happening around in Asia for a few Tokyo Joshi Pro wrestlers. Yuki Kamifuku is now a double crown champion, Mizuki unexpectedly ended up fighting some kappa monsters in Thailand and Nao Kakuta got to wrestle in China for one last time. News is not going to stop there because we are hours away from Shunma Katsumata entering a death match tournament, Yamashita is finishing up her US tour, Takeshita has sights on a new championship and TJPW is heading over to England soon.
TNA “IMPACT!”, 02/05/2024 Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Knockouts World Title: Jordynne Grace (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita
Video starts at 50:05 MLW “FURY ROAD”, 11/05/2024 Cicero Stadium, Chicago, Illinois, USA
1. MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title – 4 Way Match: Janai Kai (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita Vs Zayda Vs Delmi Exo
AEW “DYNAMITE”, 22/05/2024 Mechanics Bank Arena, Bakersfield, California, USA
1. Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Don Callis) Vs Matt Sydal
LLL “HIGH STRANGENESS – NIGHT ONE”, 24/05/2024 The Oriental Theater, Denver, Colorado, USA
1. Abadon Vs Miyu Yamashita
SETUP “CLASH OF THE TITANS”, 25/05/2024 The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand
1. SETUP All Asia Women’s Title: Matcha (c) Vs Mizuki
LLL “HIGH STRANGENESS – NIGHT TWO”, 25/05/2024 The Oriental Theater, Denver, Colorado, USA
1. Dulce Tormenta Vs Miyu Yamashita
AEW “RAMPAGE”, 31/05/2024 The Kia Forum, Inglewood, California, USA
1. TNT Title Eliminator Match: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Penta El Zero Miedo
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Results
GCW “RATHER YOU THAN ME”, 03/05/2024 Egypt Shrine Center, Tampa, Florida, USA
1. Joey Janela defeated Miyu Yamashita with the Package Piledriver (15:30).
The knee being targeted is what ultimately led to Yamashita losing to Joey Janela. He dealt big damage early on by picking Yamashita up at ringside and dropping her knees first into a chair in the front row. The attack paid off later when Yamashita’s leg gave out in the middle of her charging into Janela. She also took a Death Valley Driver onto the ring apron but kept on fighting. Janela though blocked the Skull Kick, hit her with a Palm Strike and attacked the knee again with a Dragon Screw. Yamashita’s last action was to give Janela the middle finger before he gave her a Thrust Kick followed by the Package Piledriver to win the match.
1. VPW Women’s Title: Yuki Kamifuku defeated Alexis Lee with the Diving Famouser (?:??). *Yuki Kamifuku becomes the 1st VPW Women’s Champion!
A new Asian Double Crown Championship has been formed thanks to Kamifuku! The reigning Queen Of Asia Champion has now also become the first ever Women’s Champion for Vietnam Pro Wrestling. Kamifuku even defeated Alexis Lee to win the belt just like she did with the QOA Title. Later in the month Kamifuku defeated Lee again back in Japan at a TJPW show to retain both titles.
MLW “FURY ROAD”, 11/05/2024 Cicero Stadium, Chicago, Illinois, USA
1. MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title – 4 Way Match: Janai Kai (c) defeated Miyu Yamashita, Zayda and Delmi Exo when Kai submitted Zayda with the Demon Clutch(6:45). *V5 for Janai Kai.
Next stop for Yamashita was an international 4 Way Match over in MLW for the MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title. She represented Japan, Delmi Exo represented Mexico, Zayda represented Morocco and Janai Kai disregarded her nationality to fly the CONTRA Unit flag instead. Yamashita thought she picked the right spot when she hit Exo with the Skull Kick in the middle of Exo giving Zayda the Package Piledriver. But Kai knocked down Yamashita with the Tornado Kick and applied the Demon Clutch to her as well as Zayda. Yamashita wasn’t going to quit and had the awareness to grab Zayda’s hand so she wouldn’t tap out either. However Zayda couldn’t hold on for any longer and had to tap out to Kai.
MYSTERY WRESTLING “MYSTERY WRESTLING 8”, 12/05/2024 Centre Aydelu, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada
1. Jordynne Grace defeated Miyu Yamashita with the Juggernaught Driver (?:??).
Yamashita made an unexpected trip up to Canada for a surprise rematch against Jordynne Grace over at the latest Mystery Wrestling show put together by Evil Uno. The result was not any different though. Grace scored the win again and went on to make more newsworthy headlines elsewhere later in the month.
SHINE “SHINE 78”, 18/05/2024 OCC Road House, Clearwater, Florida, USA
1. SHINE Title: Ivelisse Velez (c) defeated Miyu Yamashita with a Cradle (13:47). *V8 for Ivelisse Velez.
The SHINE Championship is a belt that Yamashita has held once before back in 2019. It was her first championship she won outside of Japan so how nice would it be to win it again almost five year later? It almost happened too. She got the three count on Ivelisse Velez by hitting the Skull Kick but Velez had her foot on the ropes during the pinfall. The match restarted and Velez was able to Cradle Yamashita for the successful defence. Yamashita took the result in her stride and the two bowed to each other afterwards.
DPW “LIMIT BREAK”, 19/05/2024 Durham Convention Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita & Lady Frost defeated Hyan & Vert Vixen when Frost pinned Hyan with the Temperature Drop (13:31).
A new face has appeared on Yamashita’s travels. Her return to Deadlock Pro was also the first time she got to be in the ring with Lady Frost. They make a pretty good team together as shown in their match against Yamashita’s regular rivals Hyan & Vert Vixen. Yamashita hit Vixen with two Skull Kicks and Frost hit her version of the Spiral Tap on Hyan for the victory.
AEW “DYNAMITE”, 22/05/2024 Mechanics Bank Arena, Bakersfield, California, USA
1. Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Don Callis) defeated Matt Sydal with an Elbow Butt (1:58).
Takeshita made quick work of Matt Sydal. The only thing that went wrong for him was Sydal countering the Blue Thunder Bomb into a Hurricanrana but Takeshita got him with the move on the second try. Don Callis then instructed Takeshita to knock out Sydal with an Elbow Strike, allowing Takeshita to pin him with only one hand on the chest. Takeshita then mocked Sydal by giving him a handshake after the match before turning him over with a German Suplex. Moxley then came down to the ring from the crowd looking to say something on the microphone. Instead he clocked Takeshita in the head with it and said he will see him at “DOUBLE OR NOTHING”.
LLL “HIGH STRANGENESS – NIGHT ONE”, 24/05/2024 The Oriental Theater, Denver, Colorado, USA
1. Abadon defeated Miyu Yamashita with the Cemetary Drive (?:??).
It was mixed fortunes for Yamashita for her weekend at Lucha Libre & Laughs in Denver. She lost to Abadon on the first show in a match that featured some out of the ring brawling.
LLL “HIGH STRANGENESS – NIGHT TWO”, 25/05/2024 The Oriental Theater, Denver, Colorado, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Dulce Tormenta with the Skull Kick (?:??).
The next night though Yamashita was victorious against the masked luchadora Dulce Tormenta.
SETUP “CLASH OF THE TITANS”, 25/05/2024 The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand
1. SETUP All Asia Women’s Title: Matcha (c) Vs Mizuki ended in a No Contest (?:??). *V2 for Matcha?
The match was originally meant to be a 3 Way Match with Monomoth also involved. It was changed to just a singles between Matcha and Mizuki with the SETUP All Asia Women’s Title still on the line. Mizuki looked to be moments away from becoming the new champion when she climbed the top rope to deliver the Diving Foot Stomp. However the monsters from the Kappa World Order interfered in the match to attack both wrestlers. Poor Mizuki was even hit over the head with a chair which is something that usually never happens to her. Matcha and Mizuki were able to fight them off with Matcha giving one Kappa a Back Drop while Mizuki took out the other one with the Whirling Candy. The match had no winner but the two signaled to each other they can do it again sometime.
AEW “DOUBLE OR NOTHING”, 26/05/2024 MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. IWGP World Heavyweight Title Eliminator Match: Jon Moxley (c) defeated Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Don Callis) with the Death Rider (17:24).
Well this turned into a bit of a mess. The day before this show on Collision Takeshita attacked Moxley and Pilmanized his arm with a chair. So now we had the scenario in place where Takeshita could beat a weakened Moxley to earn a shot at the IWGP Title. That didn’t happen. The finish had Takeshita listen to Callis and go bring chairs into the ring to cause even more damage. Moxely then took the opportunity to Curb Stomp Takeshita while his guard was down and then pin him with the Death Rider. So now there is no IWGP Title match in Takeshita’s future. Look, New Japan wasn’t going to let a DDT guy take part in an IWGP Title match of any sort this way. And it’s possible DDT would have wanted a say in the matter too. Wrestling politics can be weird in that way. I get the criticism of how overbooked the story became when you could have just done a straightforward non-title match but I think that argument is a little bit overblown too. Title Eliminator matches in AEW is just their way of calling it a non-title match because the phrase “Non-Title Match” means absolutely nothing to fans these days. You can then complain why do the match in the first place but I’ll argue the match is still worth doing for a big PPV.
AEW “RAMPAGE”, 29/05/2024 (Aired 31/05/2024) The Kia Forum, Inglewood, California, USA
1. TNT Title Eliminator Match: Konosuke Takeshita defeated Penta El Zero Miedo with the Power Drive Knee (13:09).
So where to next for Takeshita? Time to take the path towards the vacant TNT Title perhaps? Adam Copeland was stripped of the championship due to injury so now the belt will be put on the line in a multi-man Ladder Match. Takeshita is the first person to qualify after he beat Penta El Zero Miedo. He even got under Penta’s skin a little bit by trying to unmask him midway through the match.
INFIN “PRO WRESTLING”, 31/05/2024 Shanghai, China
1. Yuki Kamifuku defeated Nao Kakuta with the Diving Famouser (?:??).
Right at the end of the month we go to China where TJPW sent over two wrestlers to an event held by INFIN and the Hong Kong group HKWF. The match was Kakuta’s last time wrestling outside of Japan before she retires. She couldn’t get the win here against Kamifuku. When she attempted to lift her up for the Shiden Kai, Kamifuku dropped back down and gave her the Famouser. Kamifuku then climbed the ropes and hit the Diving Famouser for the three count.
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Upcoming Appearances
GCW “TOURNAMENT OF SURVIVAL 9”, 01/06/2024 The Showboat, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA
1. Tournament Of Survival 9 – Round 1: Brandon Kirk Vs Shunma Katsumata
We are hours away from Katsumata entering GCW’s annual Tournament Of Survival. He drew Brandon Kirk as his opening round opponent but his real battle seems to be against the airline he flew to America with because they lost his luggage along the way!
REPUBLIC OF LUCHA “ROL7: HIT THE LIGHTS”, 01/06/2024 Ukrainian Cultural Center, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. Konosuke Takeshita Vs Mike Bailey
The original plan was for Republic Of Lucha to hold this show inside the same building that was used as The Temple in Lucha Underground. They got permits to use the building at first but midway during the month those permits were pulled because the building was declared to be unusable. So now the show is taking place in the Ukrainian Cultural Center which is where GCW normally holds their shows in LA. When that was sorted out ROL announced Takeshita’s opponent on the show will be his old buddy Mike Bailey.
BLACK LABEL PRO “FAMILY REUNION”, 07/06/2024 Logan Square Auditorium, Chicago, Illinois, USA
1. BLP Title: Kevin Ku (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita
Before Yamashita heads home she has a chance to win Black Label Pro’s main championship from Kevin Ku. Her opponent has a Karate background just like she does so fire will fight against fire.
I still can’t find anymore Yamashita matches taking place after this so it looks like her American tour ends here.
AEW/NJPW “FORBIDDEN DOOR 2023”, 30/06/2024 UBS Arena, Elmont, New York, USA
1. TNT Title – Ladder Match: Konosuke Takeshita Vs X
The early story setting up this match is The Young Bucks wanted to just give the TNT Title to Jack Perry. So expect Perry to be one of the entrants for the match and perhaps even the favorite to win it.
NORTH WRESTLING “THUNDER STRUCK 2”, 13/07/2024 Walker Dome, Newcastle, England
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
Newcastle gets to experience Yamashita for the first time when she debuts for NORTH Wrestling.
IWA JAPAN “HARDCORE FOREVER”, 27/07/2024 The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand
1. IWA Japan SETUP World Tag Team Titles: Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi (c) Vs X & X
Still weird to me seeing IWA Japan being revived over in Thailand.
EVE/TOKYO JOSHI PRO “EVE X TJPW”, 24/08/2024 London, England
One day before AEW returns to Wembley there will be a few TJPW wrestlers heading over to London for a special joint show with EVE. The EVE promoters are currently finalizing the time and venue for the event because they might try to avoid clashing with Revolution Pro’s big show taking place on the same day. The other thing to take note is this show takes place slap bang inbetween the final two shows of the Tokyo Princess Cup. They won’t be able to announce right away which TJPW wrestlers are coming over because of that tournament. Also I cannot confirm this but I heard Maki Itoh won’t be among the talent going over because she will be in America that month.
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Cancelled Appearances
AEW “RAMPAGE”, 01/05/2024 Canada Life Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
1. Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Don Callis) Vs London Lightning
The dreaded curse of live TV production came for Takeshita at the start of the month. AEW aired Dynamite and Rampage back to back on the same night due to clashing schedules with the NBA. On Dynamite there was a match graphic promoting Takeshita against London Lightning for Rampage. Then Rampage came and went without the match ever happening. Some previous segments overran and Takeshita’s match was cancelled, apparently at the last minute if Takeshita’s interview on the DDT site is entirely honest.
DDT “KING OF DDT ~20TH ANNIVERSARY~ FINAL!!”, 26/05/2024 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 1,005 Fans – No Vacancy
0. Dark Match: Yuni & Keigo Nakamura defeated Ilusion & Kazuma Sumi when Nakamura pinned Sumi with the Diving Headbutt (8:51).
1. KANON & MJ Paul defeated HARASHIMA & Akito when KANON pinned Akito with the Ground Cobra Twist (7:59).
2. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Semi Final: MAO defeated Kazusada Higuchi with the Iai Kick (11:43).
3. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Semi Final – No DQ Match: Daisuke Sasaki defeated Chris Brookes with the El Es Culero (13:48).
4. 3 Way Tag Match: Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi defeated Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata and Yukio Naya & Takeshi Masada when Oishi pinned Hirata with a Rock Bottom (0:05).
4a. Rematch: Yukio Naya & Takeshi Masada defeated Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi and Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata when Naya pinned Hirata and Oishi with the Double Choke Slam (6:42).
5. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Shuji Ishikawa, Masahiro Takanashi & Yuya Koroku defeated Poison Sawada JULIE, Tetsumamushi Endo & Yuki “Anaconda” Iino when Koroku pinned JULIE with a Moonsault Press (9:01).
6. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & To-y defeated Sanshiro Takagi, Jun Akiyama & Tomomitsu Matsunaga when Ueno pinned Matsunaga with the WR (11:45).
7. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Final: MAO defeated Daisuke Sasaki with the 450 Cannonball (23:45).
On the 20th Anniversary a new King Of DDT has been crowned and it is MAO! He reached all the way to the final where Daisuke Sasaki was there standing in his way. MAO wanted to win quickly and busted out the Hollywood Star Press for a nearfall. Sasaki then started targeting MAO’s knees before taking him outside to do a Super Diving Elbow Drop while MAO was sitting in the front row. MAO fought back by biting his way out of the Crossface Lock, turning Sasaki over with the Michinoku Driver I and then applying the Just Face Lock. Sasaki took a big risk to get back into the fight by giving MAO a Superplex out of the ring onto members of The 37KAMIINA and DAMNATION T.A below. He then tried using flash pins including the Hurricanrana but MAO wore him down with Palm Strikes, the Iai Kick and the Cannonball 450 to win.
With this victory MAO thinks he now has a spot in the main event of “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2024” on 21st July. He called Yuki Ueno into the ring to tell him it could be those two fighting for the KO-D Openweight Title at Sumo Hall. However Ueno told everyone that he has to beat Sanshiro Takagi first on 5th June. Takagi entered the ring to congratulate MAO and tell him that he too is fighting to achieve his dream of being in a KO-D Title match at Sumo Hall. The closest he’s been to that position was the King Of DDT 2009 final but he lost to Kota Ibushi. MAO reminded Takagi he still had the Weapon Rumble match against The Great Sasuke that year and that match captured MAO’s heart. So much so that if Takagi becomes his opponent at Sumo Hall then they should have a Weapon Rumble match! But if he faces Ueno the match will just be held under normal rules. Ueno was relieved to hear that. The three of them all agreed by sharing a toast together in the ring.
Sasaki went through a war with Chris Brookes in the semi-finals. The two agreed to have a No DQ Match over expectations that both could cheat against each other. Instead it became a full blown hardcore match with tables, plastic boxes, chairs, a ladder, a stapler and even a fork board laid against the corner with “Fuck You Sasaki” painted on it. Brookes also had backup in the form of Mecha Mummy but Sasaki used a taser to make it short circuit and play no further part in the match. Sasaki was thrown from the ladder through a table and Brookes followed up by hitting a Diving Double Knee Drop onto the remains. Sasaki kicked out and then countered the Praying Mantis Bomb into El Es Culero cradle to steal the win from out of nowhere. A bloody Brookes threw everything he could get his hands on around the ring out of anger after the match.
The other semi-final had MAO beating a previous King Of DDT winner Kazusada Higuchi. He had to use Middle Kicks and Palm Strikes to try and match Higuchi’s Chops and Headbutt. The Doctor Bomb Higuchi used was kicked out of but so was the Green Tea Plunge that MAO pulled out. The match came down to duel between the two. Higuchi charged in looking to do the Buchikamashi but MAO blocked it with a Thrust Kick, stunned Higuchi with a Palm Strike, cut off a Lariat with a Hurricane Kick and finally put his opponent down with the Iai Kick. Higuchi had no problem admitting backstage that MAO is a really, really strong wrestler.
Ueno and Takagi used their 6-Man Tag as a preview for what to expect in the KO-D Title bout by brawling with each other in the crowd with the Dramatic Dream bike involved before taking the fight up to the balcony. They had more to offer back in the ring with Ueno doing a Dropkick and Takagi firing back with the Stunner. Tomomitsu Matsunaga used the opening to hit Ueno with the Tommy Bomber for a nearfall. Ueno recovered and Dropkicked Matsunaga in the face before pinning him with the WR. After the match Takagi said he does not care if Ueno is ready or not for the title match. Takagi is now free from responsibility and will be at his most immature on 5th June! Meanwhile To-y told Shunma Katsumata they will be enemies on 21st June because he wants to win the DDT Extreme Title from him in the 5 Way Sauna match. In fact, To-y accused Katsumata of not helping him during today’s match so they may already be enemies!
Plans for Match #4 changed when before the match Poison Sawada JULIE looking for his teammates to brainwash them with his Snake Magic. While this was going on, Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino asked Yuya Koroku in a nearby locker room to go find them something to drink. Koroku found some cans labelled “Modification Drink” in the room where JULIE was just in and gave them to his BURNING partners. What happened when they drank it scared Koroku out of the room while a returning JULIE was pleased with the results. It all became clear what happened when JULIE entered the ring with Endo & Iino both brainwashed into becoming Tetsumamushi Endo & Yuki “Anaconda” Iino! Koroku now had to team with JULIE’s original partners Shuji Ishikawa & Masahiro Takanashi in order to win the antidotes that would turn Endo & Iino back to normal. It was a tough challenge but a well timed dodge from Kuroku caused Iino to Spear Endo by accident. Koroku then gave JULIE a Back Drop and pinned him with the Moonsault Press. He then quickly fed his friends the cans of antidote to free them from JULIE’s snake magic. Whenever JULIE returns to DDT he promises to get revenge on Koroku for stopping him from turning BURNING into his new Snake Magic army.
The 3 Way Tag Match ended too quickly thanks to Makoto Oishi immediately pinning Kazuki Hirata with a Rock Bottom before one of the other teams even made it to the ring. It required a restart and the same result almost happened. Yukio Naya made it in time to break it up so the match could continue. A noticable trend then happened where Takeshi Masada became left out of all of the multi-man spots. Somehow Yukinori Matsui took his place! When Masada became upset over it, Hisaya Imabayashi paused the match and ordered everyone to let Masada be more involved because he is already a lonely college student. Most of them although Danshoku Dieno wasn’t really interested. Naya instructed Masada to climb the top turnbuckle and wait for the opportunity to do a big move while Naya took care of Dieno and Toru Owashi. Oishi and Hirata tried to give Naya the Double Miracle Ecstasy but it was countered into a Double Choke Slam. Naya decided to pin the both of them while Masada was still waiting on the top turnbuckle. The match ended with them as the winners but a sad and lonely Masada took his time to leave the ring.
DAMNATION T.A halted some of Smile Squash’s momentum in the opening match. HARASHIMA & Akito were doing well against KANON & MJ Paul until KANON caught Akito in the Cobra Twist. He then grounded the move and rolled Akito over to pin his shoulders to the mat for a 3 count. KANON bragged about beating Akito with a roll up style move, something that Akito is meant to be a master of. Fans like it when teams from the past reunite but he hates it and for that reason hates Smile Squash too. HARASHIMA & Yasu Urano weren’t angry over the result. They assured Akito that they now all learned KANON is capable of winning that way and they will have to be careful of it in the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles match.
In the dark match Yuni hit Ilusion & Kazuma Sumi with a top rope Moonsault out of the ring. He then gave Sumi a Spinning DDT in the ring and Keigo Nakamura followed up with the John Woo Dropkick for a nearfall. Nakamura didn’t waste anytime and landed the Diving Headbutt to get the win.
A new singles match was announced for “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2024”. Konosuke Takeshita will face Masato Tanaka in a rematch from March 2020!
There was an announcement during the show that DDT and GCW will be co-promoting a show together in Korakuen Hall on 12th August as part of GCW’s next tour of Japan. The show is called “NEVER ENDING NOISY SUMMER” and Effy sent in a video message to promote it. GCW talent currently announced for the show include Joey Janela, Effy, Allie Katch, Masha Slamovich, Mance Warner, Jordan Oliver, Dark Sheik, Alex Zayne and Rina Yamashita.
Before any of the matches began there was a special presentation held by Saki Akai. One of her first projects with DDT since retiring from pro wrestling last year was to set up a crowdfunding campaign to buy new training equipment for the company. The campaign succeeded and today Akai donated the new equipment to Takagi and DDT.
DDT will be launching a new photobook with Leslie Kee on 21st July. They previously worked together for a photobook called “Super DDT” back in 2013.
Even with WrestleMania Week out of the way there is so much to talk about what happened in April. It’s probably going to be a month Yuka Sakazaki will want to forget. She finally returned to TV screens only to possibly find her way back to the injury list. It only happened two weeks ago so there’s been no update to her condition. All she has tweeted since the match happened is a zombie emoji. She was being set up for a match with Serena Deeb in AEW but that seems to have gone to the wayside because Deeb is already moving ahead in the AEW Women’s Title picture. Just have to wait and see if it was just a knock to the knee or something worse.
In more uplifting news, Konosuke Takeshita is showing interest in taking the IWGP World Heavyweight Title from Jon Moxley. This is going to be facinating watching a DDT affiliated wrestler in an AEW storyline built around New Japan’s top championship. Does he have any realistic chance of becoming champion? Not unless Moxley gets legit knocked out during the match again. New Japan have clearly set their own story over Moxley’s IWGP Title reign. Their roster led by “The Reiwa Musketeers” are all showing frustration over their company playing second fiddle to AEW. Whether it is Moxley not taking part in the Japan tours or handing title matches out to undeserving challengers in America, the story New Japan is telling does not have Takeshita fitting in anywhere as an important player and I do not expect AEW to make booking decisions that will interfere with it. Still though, Takeshita versus Moxley has been good before and the addition of the IWGP Title is a novelty that got me more interested in the rematch.
Wrapping up the month is the Tokyo Joshi Pro portion of appearances. Maki Itoh finished up her latest American tour and got to defend the GCW Extreme Title. Not sure when she is due back in GCW other than we certainly won’t be waiting long to find out. Miyu Yamashita returned to a bunch of familiar promotions from last year’s excursion. The big one was a visit to TNA where she main evented their TV taping. Most important of all, Kaya Toribami stepped in for an injured Hyper Misao to help save the world from a kappa invasion. That’s a good bird.
Oh and there was also the crazy happenings that went on when Kazusada Higuchi and Mecha Mummy went to West Coast Pro. Let’s get to that.
AEW “RAMPAGE”, 20/04/2024 Peoria Civic Center, Peoria, Illinois, USA
1. Yuka Sakazaki Vs Emi Sakura
PRESTIGE/PRIDESTYLE “PRIDE & PRESTIGE”, 26/04/2024 Meet Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Trish Adora
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Results
WEST COAST PRO “CHRIS HERO’S PRO WRES MIXTAPE”, 14/04/2024 Don Quixote Event Center, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. Chris Hero Vs Kazusada Higuchi ended in a No Contest (12:23).
2. Tornado Tag Team Match: Chris Hero & Bryan Keith defeated Kazusada Higuchi & Mecha Mummy when Keith pinned Mummy with the Emerald Tiger Driver (13:45).
This was not how I thought things were going to go between Higuchi and Chris Hero. I mean the first ten minutes, sure. They hit each other hard and Higuchi no sold hitting the ring post head first. That was all well and good. He even used his own head to block one of Hero’s Elbow Strikes. Unfortunately as they kept fighting in the corner the referee stepped in one too many times and got knocked out with a Lariat. Higuchi kept attacking Hero until Bryan Keith made his entrance and started squaring off with him. Hero & Keith joined forces so Higuchi now found himself needing help. Suddenly Mecha Mummy appeared!
There were plans for a Keith Vs Mummy match to happen on the show but now the fans got a Tornado Tag match between the four fighters instead! Mummy gave Keith an Atomic Drop onto the Mecha Fist but Keith returned fire by giving Mummy a Drop Toe Hold, destroying the fist on impact. Keith then challenged Mummy to a duel but it ended with them giving each other and the referee Low Blows. The ref also got impaled with the Mecha Drill by accident. Hero then fought Mummy all the way up to the balcony where Higuchi followed. Mummy fired the repaired Mecha Fist at Keith from the balcony and raced down to pin him for a nearfall. Hero returned with bottles of water but Higuchi stopped him from pouring it over Mummy. Keith however took a big drink of the bottle and spat it all over Mummy to make it go haywire. He then gave it the Emerald Tiger Driver to win a crazy match.
PRESTIGE “ROSELAND 8”, 14/04/2024 Roseland Theater, Portland, Oregon, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Kylie Rae with the Skull Kick (15:30).
Yamashita’s good run in Prestige continued when she beat Kylie Rae in a hard fought match. Hitting the Return Crash seemed to fire up Yamashita in particular. With that boost she broke out of Rae’s Crippler Crossface and kicked out of a Super Kick at one. She then rolled Rae into a Buzzsaw Kick for a nearfall before putting her down for the count with the Skull Kick.
ROH “ROH ON HONOR CLUB”, 17/04/2024 (Aired 25/04/2024) Indiana Farmers Coliseum, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
1. Yuka Sakazaki defeated Leila Grey with the Magical Girl Splash (4:44).
Oh yikes this was bad. There was an awkwardly timed replay segment too right before the finish which only makes me wonder what was cut out because what was left in is the kind of stuff those anti-AEW Twitter accounts would salivate over if people gave a shit about ROH. There was an Elbow Strike exchange that looked like both didn’t want to sell and then Sakazaki tried to do a rope-assisted German Suplex that did not work at all. She was able to beat Leila Grey with the Magical Merry-Go-Round followed by the Magical Girl Splash but that match was one to forget. Or at least it would be if she hadn’t gotten injured in her next match during the month.
UPRISING “UPRISING: WOMEN ATHLETES 2”, 19/04/2024 Knights of Columbus, LaSalle, Illinois, USA
1. Maki Itoh defeated Black Swan with the I.S.D. (9:22).
2. Hyan defeated Miyu Yamashita with the Glam Slam (11:27).
It looks like Hyan is one of the few opponents who seems to have Yamashita’s number whenever Yamashita goes over to America. This was their second singles match and there is a tag match to come later this summer. Hyan has beaten Yamashita both times now but it’s been no easy feat. This time Hyan was overwhelmed by Yamashita’s kicks but found ways to avoid the Attitude Adjustment. The last counter led to Hyan giving Yamashita the Glam Slam to win the match.
Itoh was given an opponent who is just as much of a dramatic attention seeker as she is in the form of Black Swan. They spent part of the match fighting outside where Swan threw Itoh into the barricade and then Itoh Body Slammed Swan onto the floor. After going back and forth in the ring, Itoh dropped Swan with a DDT and then got the win by hitting the I.S.D. off the top rope.
DREAMWAVE “ANNIVERSARY IX”, 20/04/2024 Knights of Columbus, LaSalle, Illinois, USA
1. Megan Bayne defeated Miyu Yamashita with a Tombstone Piledriver (9:52).
The next night Uprising’s main promotion DREAMWAVE put together the surprise matchup of Yamashita against Megan Bayne. She is one of the stronger booked wrestlers on the independents right now and her momentum continued here with a clean win over Yamashita. The result seemed to have put Yamashita in a bad mood afterward because she refused to shake Bayne’s hand after the match and left the ring with a sour look on her face.
AEW “COLLISION”, 20/04/2024 Peoria Civic Center, Peoria, Illinois, USA
1. Bunkhouse Brawl: Bryan Danielson & Claudio Castagnoli defeated Kyle Fletcher & Konosuke Takeshita when Danielson submitted Fletcher with the Chain Assisted LaBell Lock (16:03).
Add the Bunkhouse Brawl to the list of violent matches Takeshita is finding himself in over at AEW. He was all dressed up for the occasion too as one should be for a stipulation like this. Chairs and chains were used by everyone and things got even more chaotic with interference from Powerhouse Hobbs and Moxley. The presence of Hobbs tipped things in favour for The Don Callis Family even when Moxley came down to get rid of him. Things then went south when Bryan Danielson countered Takeshita’s top rope Power Bomb with a Hurricanrana onto a chair set up in the middle of the ring. Claudio Castagnoli then covered his arm with the chain and hit Takeshita with a Charging European Uppercut. Danielson won the match by hitting Kyle Fletcher with the Busaiku Knee followed by putting him in the LaBell Lock for the submission.
AEW “RAMPAGE”, 20/04/2024 Peoria Civic Center, Peoria, Illinois, USA
1. Yuka Sakazaki defeated Emi Sakura with a Sliding German Suplex (9:31).
And here’s where Sakazaki’s return hit a big bump on the road. During her match with Emi Sakura, Sakazaki tried to do a cartwheel from the top rope onto the ring apron to avoid an attack. She missed landing on the apron and crashed onto the floor outside, hurting her knee in the process. Sakura bought some time with some improvised heel work ringside while Sakazaki tried to walk it off. They were able to continue the match but Sakazaki was still clearly shaken up and using the Sliding German Suplex for the finish was definitely not the original plan. Credit to her for gutting through it and still being able to do most of her moves but she couldn’t hide the upset look on her face after the match.
GCW “HOW HIGH”, 20/04/2024 Ukrainian Cultural Center, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. GCW Extreme Title: Maki Itoh (c) defeated Sandra Moone with the I.S.D. (8:55). *V1 for Maki Itoh.
GCW is keeping us on our toes when it comes to Itoh defending the GCW Extreme Title. It wasn’t until the show took place when they announced her match with Sandra Moone would have the title on the line. No worries! Itoh beat Moone in her first defence and they left the ring together shoulder to shoulder.
TNA “IMPACT!”, 21/04/2024 (Aired 02/05/2024) Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Knockouts World Title: Jordynne Grace (c) defeated Miyu Yamashita with the Juggernaught Driver (?:??). *V7 for Jordynne Grace.
Last year Yamashita got to wrestle in Impact for the first time. Now it’s a year later and Impact has gone back to being called TNA. No matter what name it’s under now, she was back to fight Jordynne Grace. The stakes were then made higher when TNA decided to make the match for the Knockouts World Title. Yamashita tried something a little bit new in the match when she hit the Skull Kick to the back of Grace’s head buzzsaw style but Grace recovered and used the Grace Driver to retain her title.
PRESTIGE/PRIDESTYLE “PRIDE & PRESTIGE”, 26/04/2024 Meet Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Trish Adora with the Skull Kick (10:33).
Yamashita’s next Prestige match was at an event co-promoted with PrideStyle Inclusive Pro in Las Vegas. She defeated Trish Adora in a match I haven’t seen the VOD of yet.
DAIKAIJU PRO “VOL. 2 – KAPPAS COUNTERATTACK”, 27/04/2024 White Eagle, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
1. Kaya Toribami defeated Ultramantis Black with the Sento Choryu (?:??).
This was originally supposed to be Hyper Misao coming back to America to protect the land from UltraMantis Black and his kappa army. Unfortunately an ankle injury forced a change of plans. Depending on who you ask she either got injured during her match against Steph de Lander at the “GCW VS TJPW” show or she was the victim of an ambush attack put together by the devious UltraMantis. Either way she sent Kaya Toribami to Daikaiju Pro in her place because they still needed a hero to fight for them. During the match Mantis called upon his kappa army for help but Toribami had backup from all of the other babyfaces to even the odds. In the end good prevailed over evil and Toribami successfully hit the Sento Choryu on Mantis to get the victory.
INSPIRE A.D. “THE EVIL WE DO”, 28/04/2024 Empire Control Room, Austin, Texas, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Maya World (?:??).
The last time Yamashita was at Inspire A.D. she took a surprise upset loss to Killa Kate. That wasn’t going to happen again when she fought Maya World in her return to the promotion.
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Upcoming Appearances
GCW “RATHER YOU THAN ME”, 03/05/2024 Egypt Shrine Center, Tampa, Florida, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Joey Janela
She got a taste of GCW earlier this month with the “GCW VS TJPW” show and is coming back for a proper go this time around. Yamashita is getting thrown into the deep end for her proper GCW debut. Joey Janela is chomping at the bit to break her into pieces so he can rub it in the faces of joshi fans afterwards.
Will Yuki Kamifuku beat Alexis Lee for the VPW Women’s Title so it can go along with her Queen Of Asia Title?
MLW “AZTECA LUCHA”, 11/05/2024 Cicero Stadium, Chicago, Illinois, USA
1. MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title – 4 Way Match: Janai Kai (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita Vs Zayda Vs Delmi Exo
Well Yamashita wasn’t able to win the Knockouts Title in TNA but she has another title match to look forward to in May. She returns to MLW where Janai Kai is defending the MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title in a 4 Way Match. The other challengers are Zayda Steele and Delmi Exo but Kai’s previous title defences have mostly been against joshi wrestlers and TJPW wrestlers in particular. She’s beaten Yamashita before outside of MLW. Can she do it again when her MLW Title is on the line and she needs to have eyes on the back of her head?
DPW “LIMIT BREAK”, 19/05/2024 Durham Convention Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita & Lady Frost Vs Hyan & Vert Vixen
It’s back to Deadlock Pro! Yamashita’s first time in the ring with Lady Frost is as a team together and they are both familiar with their opponents. Hyan is now a regular presence in Yamashita’s US tours and Yamashita teamed with Vert Vixen the last time she was in DPW.
LLL “HIGH STRANGENESS – NIGHT ONE”, 24/05/2024 The Oriental Theater, Denver, Colorado, USA
1. Abadon Vs Miyu Yamashita
This isn’t the first time Yamashita will be fighting a zombie. She used to do that all the time when Maho Kurone was still wrestling. Abadon though is a bit more intense when it comes to that sort of stuff.
LLL “HIGH STRANGENESS – NIGHT TWO”, 25/05/2024 The Oriental Theater, Denver, Colorado, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
What else is Lucha Libre & Laughs going to throw at Yamashita?
SETUP “CLASH OF THE TITANS”, 25/05/2024 The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand
1. SETUP All Asia Women’s Title: Matcha (c) Vs Monomoth Vs Mizuki
How possible is is that Mizuki wins the SETUP All Asia Women’s Title and then brings it along for her Queen Of Asia Title shot that is due anytime soon? Add the VPW Women’s Title then we end up with an Asian Triple Crown of women’s championships.
GCW “TOURNAMENT OF SURVIVAL 9”, 01/06/2024 The Showboat, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA
1. Tournament Of Survival 9: Shunma Katsumata Vs X
One of the big death match tournaments of the year is held by GCW over in America. The 9th annual Tournament Of Survival will have Shunma Katsumata as one of the Japanese entrants along with Big Japan wrestlers Hideyoshi Kamitani and Yuki Ishikawa.
REPUBLIC OF LUCHA “ROL7: HIT THE LIGHTS”, 01/06/2024 The Temple, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. Konosuke Takeshita Vs X
The first two seasons of Lucha Underground was a magical time. Season three was good too but the show suffered from taking a massive break mid-season but that’s a conversation for somewhere else. The warehouse that was used to house The Temple for the show tapings is going to host a wrestling show for the first time in seven years. I don’t expect it to look anything like it did in the old days because a lot of that setup was just a TV set but Takeshita getting to wrestle there is pretty neat nonetheless.
This is still for now the last date on Yamashita’s schedule before she goes back to Japan.
IWA JAPAN “HARDCORE FOREVER”, 27/07/2024 The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand
1. IWA Japan SETUP World Tag Team Titles: Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi (c) Vs X & X
This year is the 30th anniversary of IWA Japan’s launch. What a weird existence this promotion has had. To celebrate there will be a memorial show held by SETUP taking place in Thailand using the IWA branding. CDK will be there to defend the SETUP Tag Team Titles since those belts are also affiliated with IWA Japan. Will Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi have to defend the belts against a pair of kaiju or will they be fighting more normal looking opponents?
Another Wrestlemania has come and gone. I would have posted this article sooner but I was in the middle of my own holiday and didn’t want to spend my vacation time keeping track of what MAO was doing or trying to figure out who was in the Clusterfuck and where in the match did they get eliminated. I eventually did find the time to watch as much as I could. It was a good week of work for everyone involved but I come out of it seeing diminished returns for so many groups that aren’t WWE or GCW. I usually love these weeks because there is too much going on and there’s round the clock stories coming out of it. But we’re reaching the point where there’s less fan interest in the indies and more people seem to be happy giving all of their attention towards WWE and AEW so a lot of these shows are kind of becoming wasted energy that could be refocused towards something else. Too many groups are fighting over the same dwindling audience of eyeballs and that just dilutes everything. GCW’s annual themed shows are also starting to look tired now too.
I am wondering how things will turn out next year and how much of it will depend on the time and place. The Wrestlemania related talk coming out of WWE and TKO this week is they still have not announced next year’s location yet and they may consider holding the event later in the calander to avoid clashing with other major sporting events like the NCAA Final Four or the PGA Masters. Up until now wrestling websites and even other media were pretty much convinced that Minnesota was set to be next year’s host. This week’s news now puts that into doubt and continues the years old running joke that Minnesota always gets considered for Wrestlemania but never gets chosen. Hey, if Las Vegas gets it instead and both DDT and Tokyo Joshi Pro are going over again then I will be there for sure!
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Videos
AEW “COLLISION”, 06/04/2024 DCU Center, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
1. Yuka Sakazaki Vs Trish Adora
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Results
AEW “COLLISION”, 03/04/2024 (Aired 06/04/2024) DCU Center, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
1. Yuka Sakazaki defeated Trish Adora with The Magical Girl Splash (8:24).
Oh hey, Yuka Sakazaki finally made it back to America! That was a weird few months of her going missing. Don’t have to worry about that anymore, I guess? Sakazaki’s first AEW match since leaving TJPW was also her first appearance on the Collision TV show. She defeated Trish Adora and the result attracted the attention of Serena Deeb. Since then Deeb put out a challenge to face Sakazaki in a match. It has not been answered yet as of the time of this article being posted.
CIRCLE 6 “NEW FEAR CITY”, 03/04/2024 The Fire, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
1. Chris Brookes & MAO Vs Casanova Valentine & Nate Webb
The first taste of DDT to be found in Philadelphia this week was over at Circle 6. Both MAO and Chris Brookes had barely just arrived in America on separate flights before they found themselves ready to fight a crazy no ring brawl together against Casanova Valentine & Nate Webb. I couldn’t find the result to the match but what I did find out was all four wrestlers sang “Wonderwall” and “Teenage Dirtbag” together for everyone in the audience afterwards.
1. Chris Brookes & Kid Lykos defeated MAO & Mike Bailey when Lykos pinned Bailey after a Blockbuster/Gory Special Combo (16:12).
2. Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Title – BMF Battle Royal: Schaff (c) defeated Galeno Del Mal by Ring Out (14:57). Order Of Elimination: Gene Munny, LJ Cleary, Mr. Charles Crowly, Shota, Ricky Knight Jr., Luke Jacobs and Galeno Del Mal. *V? for Schaff.
The first appearance Shota made as a new freelancer was for DEFY, entering a Battle Royal for the Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Title. Sadly for him he was eliminated by the champion himself Schaff. Shota tried to give him a Tornado DDT but Schaff’s was too big and strong to be pulled off his feet. Instead Schaff lifted Shota up in a Gorilla Press and threw him out of the ring.
What was perhaps the longest 24 hours of MAO’s life begun here. DEFY was where he had the first of four matches he would have in one day. It started off with MAO and Mike Bailey reuniting as The Moonlight Express for a special tag match against another reunited team in CCK. They did their best but Bailey eventually fell to the barrage of signature moves from Brookes & Kid Lykos, ending with a sick tag move to finish him off.
SHP/LOL “EUPHORIA”, 04/04/2024 Attic Brewing Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
1. MAO defeated Matt Makowski with a German Suplex (10:04).
MAO’s second match of the day was held in a ring under a tent over at the Sean Henderson Presents show. His match against Matt Makowski was non-title but the confused commentary team on stream convinced themselves that the DDT Universal Title was on the line. MAO and Makowski brought the match out of the tent so they could briefly fight on the grass. But it returned to the ring where MAO rolled out of Makowski’s Sleeper Hold and used a German Suplex to pin him for the victory.
DDT “DDT GOES PHILADELPHIA!”, 04/04/2024 Penns Landing Caterers Auditorium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA 750 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House
1. Special Tag Match: Chris Brookes & Kid Lykos defeated Bryan Keith & Shota when Lykos pinned Shota with the Brainbuster (8:28).
2. Special Single Match: Tetsuya Endo defeated Andrew “The Giant” Everett with the Burning Star Press (11:33).
3. Chiitan☆ defeated Dan The Dad with a Superplex through a Board (5:27).
4. Special Single Match: Yoshihiko defeated Kazuki Hirata with the Reincarnation (5:30).
5. DDT Universal Title – No Rules Match: MAO (c) Vs Billie Starkz ended in a Draw after a Double Pinfall (10:55).
5a. Rock Paper Scissors: MAO (c) defeated Billie Starkz when Scissors beat Paper. *V7 for MAO.
6. Special Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & KANON defeated Nick Wayne & Takeshi Masada when KANON pinned Masada after the Freedom Call (7:11).
7. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA defeated Shunma Katsumata with the Walls Of Takeshita (9:41).
8. Special Single Match: Yuki Ueno defeated Mike Bailey with the WR (18:52).
GCW/JCW “GCW/JCW VS THE WORLD”, 04/04/2024 Penns Landing Caterers Auditorium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
1. GCW/JCW Vs The World 14-Man Tag Match: Mike Bailey, Tony Deppen, Calvin Tankman, Marcus Mathers, Charlie Tiger, Terry Yaki & Mr. Danger defeated LJ Cleary, Ricky Knight Jr., Yusaku Ito, Lou Nixon, Ho Ho Lun, Shota & Mizuki Watase when Bailey pinned Watase with the Ultima Weapon (9:54).
2. 4 Way Tag Match: MAO & Yoshihiko defeated Ciclope & Miedo Extremo Vs Robert Dreissker & Norman Harras Vs Man Like DeReiss & Leon Slater when Yoshihiko pinned Harras with the Reincarnation (22:36).
The fourth and final match MAO had on this day was another crazy affair. He joined forces with Yoshihiko to take on three other teams from around the world. Maybe it was random, maybe it was luck or maybe this kind of environment best serves their skills because they were able to stand tall against Los Macizos, the wXw team and Boisterous Behaviour to end the night and finally give MAO some rest.
Before the main event there was a 14-Man Tag Match pitting GCW & JCW against the rest of the world. Shota was part of The World team along with an unexpected appearance by Mizuki Watase! It turns out he made the trip over to Philly too. He said wrestling was not the priority of his visit though. He better have had a good reason because his travelling plans were plagued with delays and other problems according to his tweets during the week. It caused him to miss some wrestling bookings back in Japan too. If all of that wasn’t bad enough, he took the fall by taking a bunch of moves from the opposing team, ending with Bailey’s Ultima Weapon.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN PHILLY”, 05/04/2024 Penn’s Landing Caterers Auditorium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA 750 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House
1. Suzume & Arisu Endo defeated Yuki Aino & Zara Zakher when Suzume pinned Zakher with the Twinkle Twinkle (11:01).
2. Billie Starkz defeated Hyper Misao with the Swanton Bomb (5:57).
3. Yuki Kamifuku & Viva Van defeated Raku & Trish Adora when Kamifuku pinned Raku with the Famouser (8:53).
4. Mizuki & Vert Vixen defeated Aja Kong & Pom Harajuku when Mizuki pinned Harajuku with the Cutie Special (10:31).
5. Shoko Nakajima defeated Rhio with the Senton Bomb (13:24).
6. Special Tag Match: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh defeated Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe when Yamashita pinned Tatsumi with the Skull Kick (19:04).
GCW “JOEY JANELA’S SPRING BREAK 8”, 05/04/2024 Penns Landing Caterers Auditorium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
1. Nick Gage & Maki Itoh (w/ Dewey Donovan) defeated Danhausen & Ram Kaichow when Itoh pinned Kaichow and Gage pinned Danhausen with the MDKokeshi (12:56).
The weirdest of first time matchups took place at GCW’s Spring Break show. Maki Death Kill had to fight the facepainted combination of Danhausen & Ram Kaichow. Danhausen quickly cast a curse on Maki Itoh but she fired one back with her middle fingers. Kaichow then brought in a voodoo doll and twisted it to make Itoh’s body contort in a painful manner. Itoh grabbed the doll off Kaichow and attacked her with it to break the spell. Things went south for Maki Death Kill when Kaichow blinded Nick Gage with ectoplasm dust and Dropkicked him through a board in the ring corner. Danhausen then grabbed Gage’s pizza cutter and sliced open Itoh’s forehead with it! Kaichow did the same while Danhausen poured a jar of teeth into Itoh’s mouth. Gage returned out of nowhere to tackle Danhausen through a board. Maki Death Kill then gave their opponents DDTs and hit the MDKokeshi on them together for the victory.
GCW/TOKYO JOSHI PRO “GCW VS TJPW”, 06/04/2024 Penns Landing Caterers Auditorium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA 672 Fans – No Vacancy
1. 3 Way Match: Suzume defeated SAKI and Pom Harajuku when Suzume pinned Harajuku with the Ring A Bell (7:54).
2. Session Moth Martina defeated Raku with the Codebreaker (5:56).
3. Arisu Endo defeated Shazza McKenzie with the Ju no Okite (7:29).
4. Steph De Lander defeated Hyper Misao with the Steph Five onto a bulk of Lipstick Cases (8:10).
5. Dark Sheik defeated Yuki Kamifuku with the Diving Leg Drop (7:43).
6. Mizuki defeated Allie Katch with the Cutie Special (7:35).
7. Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe defeated Billie Starkz & Janai Kai when Watanabe pinned Kai after the Daydream Eternity (13:27).
8. Special 6-Woman Tag Match: Rina Yamashita, Masha Slamovich & Maki Itoh defeated Miyu Yamashita, Shoko Nakajima & Yuki Aino when Itoh submitted Aino with the Itoh Deluxe (21:01).
1. Clusterfuck Match: Microman defeated Nick Gage by Ring Out (117:52). Order Of Elimination: Jimmy Lloyd, Shota, Bam Sullivan, Lindsay Snow, Rob Shit, Loc, DeVito, Shane Douglas, Justin Credible, Jason Knight, Jeffrey John, Charlie Tiger, Facade, Tony Deppen, Tommy Dreamer, Trevor Outlaw, Frank The Clown, Mike Bailey, Masha Slamovich, Pollo Del Mar, Colin Delaney, Cheech, Midas Black, Jay Lyon, Rob Killjoy, White Mike, Davey Bang, August Matthews, Terry Yaki, Bobby Flaco, Mr. Danger, Aerial Van Go, Tara Zep, Philly Mike, Nate Webb, Emil Jay, Green Phantom, Sexxxy Eddy, Cheeseburger, CPA, Alex Zayne, Marcus Mathers, Dark Sheik, Edith Surreal, Jamie Senegal, Mercedes Martinez, Kaplan, Brandon Kirk, 1 Called Manders, Sawyer Wreck, Kasey Catal, Tank, Monomoth, Sam Stackhouse, Beastman, Viva Van, Grim Reefer, Fuego Del Sol, Cole Radrick, Alec Price, Big Vin, Lance Scaper, Kurt Bale, Man Like DeReiss, American Giant, Silver Potato, Dr. Cube, Double Unicorn Dark, Benny Saint-Hubert, Chiitan☆, Aja Kong, Gringo Loco, Johnny Kashmere, Jordan Oliver, Rina Yamashita, Parrow, Yoshihiko and Nick Gage.
One of the biggest signs that the week has reached the end and it’s time to start going home is whenever GCW holds the Clusterfuck match. The free for all Battle Royal features the most random lineups you will ever see on a wrestling show. Sadly almost the entire DDT and TJPW roster had begun their travels back to Japan by this point but there were still a few entries to keep an eye out for. Shota was the 3rd entrant in the match and got to fight Shane Douglas for a few seconds until he was eliminated by Douglas’ patented Belly To Belly Suplex. Chiitan was one of the biggest surprises, entering the ring while it was filled with other wacky looking fighters in massive costumes. Then right afterwards Aja Kong joined in and destroyed all of those competitors, Chiitan included. The last three wrestlers left in the ring by the end was Gage, Yoshihiko and Microman. Gage attacked Yoshihiko with the pizza cutter before eliminating the doll but at the end, it was Microman who was left standing tall.
GCW/TOKYO JOSHI PRO “GCW VS TJPW”, 06/04/2024 Penns Landing Caterers Auditorium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA 672 Fans – No Vacancy
1. 3 Way Match: Suzume defeated SAKI and Pom Harajuku when Suzume pinned Harajuku with the Ring A Bell (7:54).
2. Session Moth Martina defeated Raku with the Codebreaker (5:56).
3. Arisu Endo defeated Shazza McKenzie with the Ju no Okite (7:29).
4. Steph De Lander defeated Hyper Misao with the Steph Five onto a bulk of Lipstick Cases (8:10).
5. Dark Sheik defeated Yuki Kamifuku with the Diving Leg Drop (7:43).
6. Mizuki defeated Allie Katch with the Cutie Special (7:35).
7. Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe defeated Billie Starkz & Janai Kai when Watanabe pinned Kai after the Daydream Eternity (13:27).
8. Special 6-Woman Tag Match: Rina Yamashita, Masha Slamovich & Maki Itoh defeated Miyu Yamashita, Shoko Nakajima & Yuki Aino when Itoh submitted Aino with the Itoh Deluxe (21:01).
Yesterday Tokyo Joshi Pro were welcomed into The Collective as esteemed guests of GCW getting to put on their own show. Today’s show had GCW as the home team taking on the visitors from TJPW. The main event showed just how much of a GCW show it was by placing Miyu Yamashita, Shoko Nakajima & Yuki Aino into a rare hardcore wrestling environment. For Maki Itoh it is home away from home at this point. The same can be said for Rina Yamashita and even Masha Slamovich. Nakajima tried to keep things familiar to TJPW by bringing out her large sack of kaiju toys from Japan (she claims it cost her an extra 10,000 yen in luggage fees to bring them over). She ended up getting Body Slammed onto them by Rina. Team GCW brought out a door to slam Aino through but in true GCW fashion the door collapsed on itself before that could happen. They found a replacement board to put Aino through instead. One by one each wrestler from both sides got their shots in until Itoh dropped Aino with a DDT and made her submit to the Itoh Deluxe.
Daydream made up for yesterday’s defeat by beating the GCW pairing of Billie Starkz & Janai Kai today. Miu Watanabe called it a clear and sunny victory. The result was just what Rika Tatsumi needed to forget about yesterday. She now wants Daydream to wrestle all over the world so they will now wait for any offers to do so. The feeling wasn’t so bright for Starkz & Kai. They argued with each other over who’s fault it was they lost. They teamed up today but they are not a tag team as far as Starkz is concerned.
I put in the warning in the preview that Mizuki likes to bite her opponents. Allie Katch found that out the hard way. She not only bit Katch’s arms to counter her moves but her thighs and stomach as well! It got Katch so mad she wrecklessly missed a Cannonball attack allowing Mizuki to pin her with the Cutie Special. Katch said she was looking forward to this match but now that she knows how Mizuki really fights she will prepare for her more properly next time.
Yuki Kamifuku claims Dark Sheik won their match today based on wrestling style but in terms of sexiness, Kamifuku was the real winner. With that said, Kamifuku learned a lot this week from people who are a bit crazy. She wants to bring that kind of culture back with her to Fujisawa City while putting her own sexy twist on it.
The match between Hyper Misao and Steph De Lander went hardcore with the use of bamboo skewers, chairs and even a box full of lipstick cases all being used as weapons. De Lander was able to win by giving Misao the Steph Five onto the remains that were left laying on the canvas. This may not be the last time TJPW will see De Lander too. If she does come back it won’t be to make friends or happy memories. She wants to win more championships. Sadly for Misao she seemed to have injured her ankle during the match.
Arisu Endo got to wrestle a foreign opponent one on one for the first time and came out of it with a win. Shazza McKenzine was on Team GCW for this show due to the promotion’s support for her in the past. She wants to work hard so she gets to fight more TJPW wrestlers and finally beat them.
Are pop idols usually allowed to drink alcohol during performances? Don’t let those in charge of The Up Up Girls hear about what happened to Raku when she fought Session Moth Martina then. Martina offered Raku a drink but she chose to take a nap on her pillow instead. Martina then decided to slowly pour the beer into Raku’s mouth, causing her to get into a drowsy level of drunk. She eventually sobered up and got her second wind but Martina countered the Doctor Yellow with a Headbutt and pinned Raku with the Codebreaker. Raku couldn’t tell if she was dreaming or if she was drunk. What she could notice is she now feels even stronger! She would like to team with Martina next time either in America or Japan.
The opening match was a 3 Way with no actual GCW wrestlers on it due to a lot of plans changing along the way. Suzume ended up defeating SAKI and Pom Harajuku. It is a result that makes Suzume very happy because she proved she is strong enough to win matches by herself. SAKI was disappointed she couldn’t team with Nao Kakuta when that was the reason why she was booked on the show in the first place. She feels like she has been deceived because of that. Harajuku is annoyed she lost because she thinks of herself as an expert in 3 Way Matches. She still had fun wrestling in America and will definitely win a match the next time she comes over here.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN PHILLY”, 05/04/2024 Penn’s Landing Caterers Auditorium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
1. Hyper Misao Vs Billie Starkz
2. Shoko Nakajima Vs “The Unbreakable” Rhio
3. Yuki Kamifuku & Viva Van Vs Raku & Trish Adora
4. Suzume & Arisu Endo Vs Yuki Aino & Zara Zakher
5. Aja Kong & Pom Harajuku Vs Mizuki & Vert Vixen
6. Special Tag Match: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh Vs Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe
Some last minute changes to the Tokyo Joshi Pro USA shows had to be made. Nao Kakuta was too ill to travel and will not be on the show. Also Max The Impaler caught covid and can’t be there either. Aja Kong has stepped in to take Max’s place in Match #5. Also Trish Adora is the substitute for Kakuta.
GCW/TOKYO JOSHI PRO “GCW VS TJPW”, 06/04/2024 Penns Landing Caterers Auditorium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
1. 3 Way Match: Suzume Vs SAKI Vs Pom Harajuku
2. Session Moth Martina Vs Raku
3. Dark Sheik Vs Yuki Kamifuku
4. Steph De Lander Vs Hyper Misao
5. Shazza McKenzie Vs Arisu Endo
6. Allie Katch Vs Mizuki
7. Billie Starkz & Janai Kai Vs Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe
8. Special 6-Woman Tag Match: Rina Yamashita, Masha Slamovich & Maki Itoh Vs Miyu Yamashita, Shoko Nakajima & Yuki Aino
Kakuta’s illness means she misses the “GCW VS TJPW” show too. Her tag match will now just be a 3 Way Match with the remaining participants.
Posted by JamieOD 
Dramatic DDT 