Dramatic DDT

DDT “WHO’S GONNA TOP? 2021”, 26/09/2021
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
713 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

0. Under Match – Exhibition Match: Yuya Koroku Vs Yuki Ishida ended in a Time Limit Draw (5:00).
0. Under Match: Sanshiro Takagi & Yumiko Hotta defeated Shinya Aoki & Mizuki Watase when Hotta pinned Aoki with the Pyramid Driver (7:04).
1. Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari (w/ Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno) defeated Yusuke Okada & Hideki Okatani when Iino pinned Okatani with the Sexy Lariat (4:40).
2. Record Of Ragnarok Collaboration Match ~ Gods Vs Humanity~: Daisuke “Zeus” Sekimoto, Kazusada “Beelzebub” Higuchi, Yukio “Susanoo-no-Mikoto” Naya & “Apollo” Akito Vs Shunma Katsumata, Yuki Ueno, MAO & Keigo “Adam” Nakamura (w/ Brynhildr) when Sekimoto pinned Nakamura with the Deadlift German Suplex (7:56).
3. Masahiro Takanashi DDT Return Match: Naomi Yoshimura, Saki Akai & Antonio Honda defeated Masahiro Takanashi, Toru Owashi & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno when Honda pinned Takanashi with the Diving Fist Drop (10:50).
4. Special Tag Match: Jun Akiyama & Yoshihiko defeated HARASHIMA & Kazuki Hirata when Yoshihiko pinned HARASHIMA with the Reincarnation (10:09).
5. DAMNATION Dissolution Match: Daisuke Sasaki, Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie defeated Shuji Ishikawa, Soma Takao & Nobuhiro Shimatani (w/ Yuji Hino) when Sasaki submitted Shimatani with La Mistica Crossface Lock (15:12).
6. KO-D Openweight Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) defeated Chris Brookes with the Plus Ultra (29:51).
*V1 for Konosuke Takeshita.

The weeks leading up to today’s KO-D Openweight Title match was built around whether or not Konosuke Takeshita could beat Chris Brookes with the Plus Ultra. But first a lot of big bombs were dropped in and out the ring to get there. Takeshita did an Avalanche Power Bomb. Brookes fought back with the Praying Mantis Bomb and the Octopus Stretch. Takeshita stayed in the hold but was still able to stand up and climb the turnbuckles again, this time with Brookes on his back. Brookes turned it into his advantage and he did an Avalanche Crucifix Driver. He went for the Praying Mantis Bomb once more but Takeshita did his best to avoid it. Some Lariats from the champion took their toll and Brookes was soon bleeding from the mouth. He kept kicking out of pins so Takeshita finally put him in the Plus Ultra and got him to give up.

After the match Takeshita revealed that Brookes once said he doesn’t have any friends in Japan. Takeshita wants Brookes to take a look and see that he has made many friends in DDT and ChocoPro. In fact, Takeshita even calls Brookes his best friend! He thanked him for coming to Japan and for choosing DDT. After the two hugged, Takeshita said he was happy to have a main event like this in front of a sold out Korakuen Hall. There are still many empty seats because of social distancing but he is sure the day will come in the future when all of them are full again for a DDT show. Backstage Takeshita said next year will be his 10th year in wrestling. He will fight for the next 10 years to give back everything that he’s gotten over the last decade. In regards to his friendship with Brookes, they are two wrestlers who are enthusiastic wrestling fans. Takeshita thinks he can be seen as the Japanese Chris Brookes while Brookes can be seen as the British Takeshita.

It was time to say farewell to DAMNATION. The unit had been around since 2016 but is now forced to go their separate ways after losing the DRAMATIC SURVIVOR tournament earlier this month. The majority of the unit’s members gathered together for the final match. Hiroshi Yamato wasn’t here but recorded a message to be included in the pre-match video. The match itself wasn’t friendly with Shuji Ishikawa & Soma Takao both holding Daisuke Sasaki responsible for the split. They took their frustration out on him whenever he was in the ring while Yuji Hino got illegally involved outside the ring at certain points. However Sasaki had Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie to back him up and with their help Sasaki got the last laugh in the end by submitting Nobuhiro Shimatani. DAMNATION all got together after the match and Sasaki thanked the fans for following them over the last 5 years. All that was left to do is let DAMNATION perform karaoke one final time. Ishikawa then sang “Choo Choo TRAIN” by EXILE while Hino filmed everyone dancing. Sasaki stopped Ishikawa’s singing to remind everyone “We don’t conform, we don’t kiss ass and we don’t get married!” DAMNATION, forever!

The forbidden tag team has been put together! Jun Akiyama and Yoshihiko teamed together for the first time ever to beat HARASHIMA & Kazuki Hirata. It was a big deal but something Akiyama wasn’t 100% comfortable with. His only worry was if today’s special guest Riki Choshu was still in the building while the match went on. As long as Choshu didn’t see what Akiyama did today then everything’s ok! Akiyama & Yoshihiko performed stereo Exploder Suplexes before Yoshihiko pinned Hirata with the Reincarnation. Akiyama made sure once more that Choshu wasn’t around and said he had a lot of fun today.

The return of Masahiro Takanashi to DDT wasn’t the most glamourous of occasions. He was thrown right back into the wacky side of the company. He was also thrown right back into Danshoku Dieno’s backside but we’re getting ahead of things. Naomi Yoshimura wanted to beat up Takanashi because there isn’t enough room for two “orange” wrestlers in DDT. Even Saki Akai wasn’t shy in kicking Takanashi a little harder than she usually would. Toru Owashi didn’t even do much to protect him either. Takanashi almost had Antonio Honda set up for the Takatonic but he ended up getting a face-full of Dieno as mentioned above. Honda then gave Takanashi the TTD and got the three count with the Diving Fist Drop. A group photo was taken after the match with Yukio Sakaguchi joining it.

The Record Of Ragnarok pitted Gods against Humanity while Choshu watched from the commentary booth. The Humanity team were led to the ring by Brynhildr (played by Haruna Iikubo) but they quickly learned they were no match against the Gods led by Daisuke Sekimoto. One by one Shunma Katsumata, Yuki Ueno & MAO were picked apart by Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Naya & Akito. In one final desperate move, Brynhildr called forth the very first human Adam! Nakamura reappeared dressed as “Adam” but Sekimoto destroyed him to leave the Gods victorious. When the dust settled, Choshu & Brynhildr promoted the Record Of Ragnarok anime and stage show. Choshu said he wished he could have done a wrestling match like this in his era, especially against somebody like Sekimoto. Choshu also said if God really did want to destroy the human race then he would fight him!

The growing power of Pheromones was too much for Yusuke Okada & Hideki Okatani to handle. Yuki Iino has found a way to do a sexy version of the Lariat to make it a stronger move. This match aired live on DDT’s Youtube channel so Sanshiro Takagi was concerned the channel was about to get banned thanks to the lewd antics of Iino & Yumehito Imanari. Takagi decided it is up to him and Okada to stop Pheromones from damaging DDT any further. He booked himself, Okada and a third partner to face Pheromones at Ota Ward Gymnasium on 3rd November. Not only that but the match will be for the vacant KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles! Dieno accepted on the condition that if Pheromones wins then Takagi must let them continue doing whatever they want, even if it destroys DDT. Takagi promised he will beat them and break them up before that happens. Dieno then quipped that Takagi likes to break things up lately.

The two pre-show matches were also aired on Youtube in an attempt by DDT to add more importance to the earlier half of the show. One of the matches had Takagi team up with joshi legend Yumiko Hotta to defeat Shinya Aoki & Mizuki Watase. The result saw Hotta strike Aoki with a steel chain before pinning him with the Pyramid Driver. Hotta then challenged Aoki for the DDT Extreme Title. Aoki wants the match to take place at the RIZIN show on 2nd October but it will instead happen in DDT on 12th October.

The other pre-show match was an Exhibition bout for Yuki Ishida. The rookie will properly debut on 12th October and he got five minutes in the ring with Yuya Koroku to prepare for it. Ishida got to hit a big Jumping Shoulder attack and put Koroku in a Crab Hold. Koroku got a rope break and he held Ishida in a Cross Armbreaker until the time expired.

Yukio Sakaguchi appeared at the start of the show to talk about his back injury. He placed both his jacket and his Eruption robe onto the top rope before apologizing for being unable to wrestle today. He will be away from the ring for a while but when he comes back he will be wearing those outfits hanging over the rope again.

Takagi and Hotta had their post-match interview backstage interrupted. Riko Kawahata, who wrestles for Hotta’s T-HEARTS promotion approached Takagi asking if she could wrestle at the 12th October DDT show. Hotta was insulted to see Kawabata act out of turn and directly ask Takagi this way. She grabbed her out of anger but Takagi calmed things down and told Kawabata he will think about it.

The two blocks for the D-Ou Grand Prix 2021 II were both revealed during the show. Block A has Jun Akiyama, Tetsuya Endo, Yuki Ueno, Naomi Yoshimura, Yuji Hino and Bodyguard. Block B consists of Konosuke Takeshita, HARASHIMA, Kazusada Higuchi, MAO, Chris Brookes and Yuji Okabayashi. Daisuke Sasaki was offered a spot in the tournament but he declined to participate.

2022 will be DDT’s 25th Anniversary so a project is being put together to celebrate it. The theme of this project is a “Dramatic Dream Tour” through the past, present and future of DDT. The “Past” is the Dramatic Dream Bout TOP 25 and Dramatic Dream Hall Of Fame TOP 25 where fans get to choose their favourite matches and wrestlers from DDT’s history.

The “Future” is the official debut of the DDT Teenage Project sub brand. It is renamed DDTeeeen!! and the first show is taking place in Shinjuku FACE on 17th October.

And then there is the “Present”. DDT will hold its 25th Anniversary show at Sumo Hall on 20th March, 2022! It will be the first time DDT is back in Ryogoku in three years.