DDT “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2023” Preview

July 21, 2023

DDT “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2023”, 23/07/2023
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

1. Takeshi Masada Vs Kazuma Sumi
2. Sanshiro Takagi, Shinichiro Kawamatsu & Yuni Vs Masahiro Takanashi, Toy Kojima & Rukiya
3. 3 Way 6-Man Tag Match: Naruki Doi, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Minoru Fujita, MJ Paul & KANON Vs Kotaro Suzuki, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku
4. Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari (w/ Kachikire Hisaya) Vs Akito, Soma Takao & Yoshitomo Shimohigashi (w/ Buchigire Ujihara)
5. Special Tag Match: Chiitan☆ & Pokotan Vs Andreza Giant Panda & Super Sasadango Machine
6. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Kazusada Higuchi, Ryota Nakatsu & Yuki Ishida (c) Vs Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani
7. Special Single Match: TAKA Michinoku Vs MAO
8. Special Tag Match ~ Yukio Naya Return Match: HARASHIMA & Yukio Naya Vs Jun Akiyama & Shigehiro Irie
9. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs Yuki Ueno
10. DDT Universal Title: Tetsuya Endo (c) Vs Matt Cardona (w/ Steph De Lander)
11. Mexico Kanko Presents Dramatic Dream Match: Daisuke Sasaki Vs El Desperado
12. KO-D Openweight Title – Good Com Asset Presents: Yuji Hino (c) Vs Chris Brookes

Welcome to the 15th annual “WRESTLE PETER PAN”! This year DDT is bringing their flagpole supercard back to Sumo Hall for the first time sine 2018. There is a lot to go through. It’s a twelve match card and all of it is included on the main card. No dark matches, pre-show exhibitions or whatever you want to call them. DDT needs to put their best foot forward on Sunday as they struggle to regain the ground they lost over the pandemic years. A few matches on the card looks like they’re throwing different ideas to the wall and seeing what sticks. It hasn’t reached the depths of desperation yet but they could really do with this show becoming a hit.

I’ll go through each topic in more detail below when it applies to the match but DDT has been hampered by a few things this year. There is a little bit of an identity crisis in there, perhaps the wrong people were chosen to hold a few of the championships and an injury bug keeps getting in the way of every attempt to elevate people. There is also a staleness to the humour and the fresh blood are not being given enough opportunities to come up with their own jokes. I will listen to any arguments that CyberFight should stop being scared of mixing DDT and NOAH together for more inter-promotional matches. Keiji Muto’s retirement show was a great demonstration what DDT and Tokyo Joshi Pro wrestlers would look like under NOAH’s top notch presentation. The problem there is the people in charge are determined not to make any of the same mistakes SWS did in the early 90s when it comes to to managing multiple companies in a “room-by-room” manner. It’s a delicate task having to juggle several different rosters with their own differing views on what kind of wrestling show to put on.

1. Takeshi Masada Vs Kazuma Sumi

The day kicks off with a match between two wrestlers from the current crop of rookies that have been at times referred to as D GENERATIONS. The name came from the D GENERATIONS CUP tournament that was held in the Spring to give DDT’s fresh blood the chance to earn the last spot on the company’s trip to Los Angeles for their DDT USA shows. The winner of the tournament was Takeshi Masada who was already being marketed as the highest prospect to come out of DDT’s dojo in years. Getting to debut after only three months of training will give you that kind of hype. He was the first from a group of five to debut. The second is his opponent here Kazuma Sumi. Officially it took him half a year of training before debut but in reality Sumi was previously attached to Dragongate’s dojo and dropped out. If there is more to the story about how, when and why he jumped to DDT, it hasn’t been told to anyone publicly so I doubt there is anything unusual or controversial behind it. So much of DDT’s talent development throughout its history is built around taking in dropouts from other dojos anyway. They’re not a picky company and if they are I can’t imagine what kind of trainees they’ve turned down for reasons involving quality.

The current state of DDT’s training system is sort of displayed with this matchup. The rookies they’ve been debuting over the last twelve to eighteen months are all functionally good. Masada’s been the best of the bunch and has clearly been positioned as such. Sumi gets to display his athleticism but not much else in the form of character. While I enjoy seeing fresh faces coming in and have fun following the careers that last, the underlying problem so far is the lack of creativity given to their roles. I can tell they get to have fun doing what they do and are willing to join in whatever silliness is thrown their way. It’s just that so far none of it is by their own creation. DDT needs to come up with new jokes and gimmicks. Keigo Nakamura is an example of somebody who is standing out as his own character and personality but unfortunately he’s become injury prone and I fear his wrestling career has been shortened for that reason. It’s fine that the company is able to attract new trainees on a regular basis but I would like to see them become more than just extra bodies to drop falls to the veterans.

2. Sanshiro Takagi, Shinichiro Kawamatsu & Yuni Vs Masahiro Takanashi, Toy Kojima & Rukiya

A battle between generations young and old with a few returns from injury added too. Sanshiro Takagi has been rehabbing a torn calf in his left leg in order to make this show. He is also the current Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion at the time of writing. You’d think he’d be tempting fate by telling the other wrestlers not to take advantage of his weakened state but everyone followed the order and left him be. The politician Shinichiro Kawamatsu had a failed attempt at becoming the new O-40 Champion back in March but made up for it a month later by directly winning a match for the first time. Yuni has been the most active out of anyone from the team. The youngster unmasked himself to end his El Unicorn gimmick and graduated from child pro wrestler to teenage pro wrestler. The other team has Masahiro Takanashi as the veteran captaining two young prospects. Toy Kojima is finding his place in the world as part of The 37KAMIINA. He recently lost a feud to DAMNATION T.A but showed a lot of fire standing up for himself and his friends. Rukiya is at the time of writing still recovering from a cracked sternum. He only debuted in April so hopefully it’s just a minor setback. Still though, I always say rookies break easily. DDT is only just coming out of an injury bug too.

3. 3 Way 6-Man Tag Match: Naruki Doi, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Minoru Fujita, MJ Paul & KANON Vs Kotaro Suzuki, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku

Long story short this is three wrestlers who all carry the Toryumon gene in some form taking on both DAMNATION T.A and the lower ranked wrestlers in BURNING. Ever since he went freelance Naruki Doi has been on a tear by winning championships in both DDT and All Japan. His brightest moment in DDT was short lived but he still shows up from time to time where he is stuck with Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata due to their shared wrestling heritage. Yes, even including Hirata. DAMNATION T.A have sort of been inconsistent this year. KANON got injured with a dislocated shoulder and just came back to the ring recently. Minoru Fujita was busy wrestling elsewhere so DDT was not a priority for him. MJ Paul is the same as always but at least he gets a KO-D Tag Team Title reign out of it. BURNING’s two youngest wrestlers have spent a lot of time on the undercard. That’s fair for Yuya Koroku given how young his career is but Yusuke Okada never progresses anywhere and I’m not sure why. Kotaro Suzuki leads the team into the match and remains involved with BURNING as an extra guiding hand whenever they need it.

4. Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari (w/ Kachikire Hisaya) Vs Akito, Soma Takao & Yoshitomo Shimohigashi (w/ Buchigire Ujihara)

DDT was spared from having the main event scene successfully taken over by Pheromones after “MEGA MAX BUMP 2023” back in May. Yuki Iino has brushed aside his short lived “Strong” persona to become “Sexy” again and is back to pushing the envelope with Danshoku Dieno & Yumehito Imanari. The boss Takagi has long since passed the responsibility of suppressing Pheromones down to his Vice President Akito. It’s a thankless task but Akito keeps agreeing to the job in the hopes it will take him right to the top of CyberFight management whenever Takagi calls it a day. Soma Takao is dragged into the mission as the man in charge of the Dropkick Bar. That makes him a vital employee in the eyes of Akito so he must take part whether he wants to or not. Filling out the team is Akito’s secret weapon. One with a origin that goes back to Kota Ibushi. It’s not Ibushi himself though. He was busy this week.

Remember the Ibushi Wrestling Institute? It’s that project Ibushi put together after he ended his double contract with DDT and New Japan. It turned out there actually was somebody who debuted as a pro wrestler under that banner in 2018. Meet Yoshitomo Shimohigashi, aka “Golden Stardust” the first man to carry on Ibushi’s pro wrestling legacy. His background is in pro bowling, his wife is a competitive eater and he’s barely wrestled much in the 5 years since. Boy, Ibushi sure knows how to pick them. Shimohigashi’s most high profile matches have been with Tokyo Gurentai and I haven’t been able to find anywhere else he’s been. He is a figure more known inside the pro wrestling business than out and Akito is attached to him through having an advisory role in the Institute.

One last addition to the match is the involvement of Buchigire Ujihara, a comedian on Youtube who was just a bystander at a restaurant where Pheromones and Akito’s team got into a fight. He got caught in the crossfire along with the DDT GM Hisaya Imabayashi. When Imabayashi found out who Ujihara is, he flipped his lid. Ujihara gets to make a living off of playing pranks and acting a fool on Youtube while Imabayashi has to work several different part time jobs along with his subcontracted DDT role in order to get a decent salary. The jealousy caused Imabayashi to unexpectedly side with Pheromones because he no longer sees the point of defending DDT against them when he is not a full time employee. Now going by the name Kachikire Hisaya, this time he’ll get to join in with the Pheromones abuse after years of having to take it.

5. Special Tag Match: Chiitan☆ & Pokotan Vs Andreza Giant Panda & Super Sasadango Machine

What can I say? Mascots are big in Japan. Chiitan’s crazy debut in May lured DDT’s own mascot Pokotan back to the ring out of jealousy. They settled their differences in a tag match and discovered they can work quite well together as a team. They also already came up with their own tag team finisher called the Chi☆Poco Trigger. All that was left needed is a tag team name. DDT fans did the job for them, coming up with ChiiPoko☆Ultra Cute Alliance as the name. Everything’s ready so let’s see what their opponents get up to. Andreza Giant Panda & Super Sasadango Machine have prior history with each other. In 2018 Sasadango made it his mission to put a stop to Andreza because the panda’s gigantic appitite was a danger to the local environment. He failed but ended up on Andreza’s good side afterward. Almost four years later and they are back in the ring together going against two violent mascots. Andreza defeated Pokotan in a preview singles match that saw Andreza take off Pokotan’s head with an uppercut! Will Chiitan be given the same fate? Normally Sasadango would come up with a big plan and happily tell the audience what he means to achieve, slide by slide. He won’t have to do that with something as powerful as Andreza by his side Headbutting mascots left, right and centre.

6. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Kazusada Higuchi, Ryota Nakatsu & Yuki Ishida (c) Vs Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani

Aw man, we’re getting closer towards saying goodbye to Saki Akai. I don’t want to do that yet. She is set to retire from pro wrestling on 12th November, ending a decade long career on her own terms without injury and away from life changing circumstances (she has since called out the double standard in the industry where men always assume a female wrestler’s decision to retire is because of marriage or pregnancy). Until that day comes, Akai has one goal in mind and that is to win the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles with Eruption one more time. It is a belt she has held just once before with the original Eruption trio. That is what makes this match a little more spicy because this time Akai & Yukio Sakaguchi are teaming with Hideki Okatani while Kazusada Higuchi is now on the other side defending the championship against them!

We are well past Higuchi’s reign at the top of the mountain sadly enough. Harimao wanted to blow a new wind across DDT but that plan hit a massive wall when Naomi Yoshimura took time off to deal with a herniated disc. Higuchi did his best to rebuild the unit to make up for Yoshimura’s absence. He called in his DNA generation rival Ryota Nakatsu from BASARA not to replace Yoshimura but to add more firepower for when he returns. The decision worked out as Harimao went on to win the KO-D 6-Man Tag Titles, giving the third man Yuki Ishida plenty of experience to gain. Ishida himself is gradually levelling up by relying heavily on having Dosukoi spirit. It inspired a new pinning hold he uses that has scored the three count on both Sakaguchi and Akai. Those results have left Sakaguchi in a bad mood. So not only does Eruption want to win the titles one more time, Sakaguchi wants Ishida’s head on a plate too!

7. Special Single Match: TAKA Michinoku Vs MAO

MAO has spent the month in America and is coming back ready for an important match against one of his inspirations. Growing up in the Tohoku region as a wrestling fan means it is obvious that MAO would look up to somebody like TAKA Michinoku. The Spaceman Plancha and use of the Michinoku Driver are as clear nods as you can get. This is not the first time MAO and TAKA have fought each other though. Back in 2017 TAKA defeated MAO on a DNA event. TAKA was complimentary towards him then. A few months later MAO avenged the loss a little bit by pinning TAKA at the annual New Year’s Eve Korakuen Hall show. What’s noteworthy about that is it happened right when the countdown reached zero so it was both the last pro wrestling result in Japan of 2017 as well as the first pro wrestling result of 2018! The two have not fought each other since then and a lot has changed. TAKA is a key part of Just 5 Guys in New Japan while 2023 became the year MAO started getting noticed on the American indies for his nutty antics inside and out of the ring.

This singles match will be a good test to see where MAO fits in from this point forward. His strongest work in DDT is as a tag team wrestler. His run with the KO-D Tag Titles as part of ShunMao is a highlight of DDT’s 2023 that sadly had to end when Shunma Katsumata fractured his ankle. That point I made for the first match about DDT giving the younger wrestlers more chances to be creative? MAO is a good example of letting that happen, especially when he used the recent USA excursion to spread his wings. Who ever thought we would see him cosplay as Don Callis for example? His feud with Yoshihiko and Kazuki Hirata over the vacant DDT Extreme Title was a fun way to shine a bigger spotlight over that part of the roster too. I hope to see that sort of energy going into the match with TAKA. Would his opponent be up for it though?

8. Special Tag Match ~ Yukio Naya Return Match: HARASHIMA & Yukio Naya Vs Jun Akiyama & Shigehiro Irie

The injury bug has been a regular problem for DDT this year. Several times they try to build up wrestlers and then bam! They go down with an injury. Yukio Naya is probably the biggest example of that given his main event push. After years of trying, the big lug finally started to click things together and had a strong run in the D-Ou Grand Prix, beating Higuchi in an upset to reach the final. He didn’t win the tournament but the push continued into Spring where he main evented DDT’s Korakuen shows two more times, including the 26th Anniversary show. Then his ankle went kaput and he’s been out of action ever since. Four months later and he finally gets to return and start climbing the ranks again. The question now is if the injury was disruptive enough to wipe away the progress he made since the winter? Before he got hurt he had improved a bunch but boy did it take a long time for that to happen. DDT wants to build their main events around heavyweights which is why they are determined to get a guy like Naya over. Him being part of a famous sumo family is a reason too.

So if Naya is back to being able to give and take a lot of big impact moves, DDT have found the right people to put him in the ring with. HARASHIMA was one of the wrestlers who lost to Naya as part of Naya’s rise up to the main event spot in the first half of the year. So it makes sense to have those two teaming up. Jun Akiyama is always there for Naya’s generation to chase after. There will be a day where Naya scores a fall on Akiyama but it won’t be here. Shigehiro Irie running into people at full speed is always as fun as it is dangerous. I’ll be sweating bullets thought if Irie does the Running Cannonball spot against the ropes to Naya. A guy Naya’s size will take the move better than Yumehito Imanari ever could but that injury bug is still hanging around.

9. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs Yuki Ueno

I don’t know how many more times I’ll get to write about Konosuke Takeshita in these kind of show previews so enjoy them while we can. A heel turn in AEW has him firmly placed in a storyline with The Elite over on the Dynamite half of the company. With that heel turn comes questions about how Takeshita will behave when he is back in DDT wrestling against his longtime friend Yuki Ueno. The hint is in how his name is now spelt. He has ditched the hiragana writing to go completely romanized in the upper case, becoming KONOSUKE TAKESHITA! Shout it as loud as that one Wakana Uehara fan for full effect. So how will Takeshita treat Ueno? Is he still a sauna loving member of The 37KAMIINA? Did Don Callis tell him to ditch the Cinnabon takeouts and go on a diet? Will he become Chris Jericho’s next clout victim? So many questions to answer and only some will be given at this match.

Takeshita and Ueno have had two previous singles matches this year. The first was only a ten minute long draw that was done as a new year bonus for the fans. The second took place in Los Angeles as the main event for DDT’s USA show with Takeshita coming out on top. While he’s been sorting out things in AEW, Ueno’s been advancing up the ranks in DDT by winning the D-Ou Grand Prix and working towards becoming the guy to carry the company on his back. The results so far have not matched his ambition. As much as I think the guy is talented in the ring, a bland personality continues to hold him back. I don’t know if the solution is to make him find a rotten side by turning heel or take some comedy classes to develop a wackier character but what he is right now does not connect. Something he has been up to recently is getting an acting role for a children’s TV show on NHK. So maybe the next step is booking him into becoming a hero to children? Ueno has always been in Takeshita’s shadow though. If the Takeshita that turns up is nothing like the one Ueno knows then there could be a harsh lesson to learn there.

10. DDT Universal Title: Tetsuya Endo (c) Vs Matt Cardona (w/ Steph De Lander)

2022 turned into a year to forget for Tetsuya Endo and not by choice either. There is no denying the diamond’s shine has been diminished ever since Katsuhiko Nakajima knocked him out and he hasn’t come close to reclaiming it. 2023 has been better. He has bounced back somewhat by holding the KO-D 6-Man Tag Titles with BURNING and then went on to win the DDT Universal Title. He is now being positioned in an important match of the card against a big international name. Not bad but given the high hopes I’ve always held for they guy I’m always going to think he should be doing better. How much that should be blamed on him is a bitter pill for me to swallow. That slap is going to keep haunting him for quite a while yet and it doesn’t look like he’ll a chance to exorcise that ghost anytime soon.

Next question to ask, is Endo’s opponent a good fit for DDT? Matt Cardona was the success story of the American indies in 2021 with his heel run in GCW reinventing himself into something way more newsworthy than just another ex-WWE superstar. He’s gone on to win championships across America and now sets his sights on winning the DDT Universal Title with a big pay day to go along with it. That last piece of info touched a nerve with the champion. He was told to expect a former WWE wrestler to come challenge him. But he didn’t know DDT was allegedly paying the challenger 30 million yen to do the match! That Cardona is the person chosen to fight him after so much hype does not impress Endo one bit. He doesn’t think of him as a strong opponent if it’s being based on how many social media followers he has. If that much money is being spent then Endo thinks it should have been given to himself instead! One thing to watch out for is Cardona’s partner in crime Steph De Lander. The former NXT wrestler has benefited greatly from working with Cardona as his Sensational Sherri equivalent. She won’t be afraid to do some nasty things to Endo in the ring if the opportunity presents itself. She said it herself in the hype video “When the Indy God and the Baddest Bitch come to DDT, you’re all fucked!”

11. Mexico Kanko Presents Dramatic Dream Match: Daisuke Sasaki Vs El Desperado

It’s not often that Daisuke Sasaki springs up a surprise for DDT fans that everyone approves of. So everyone was thrilled when he pulled some strings and got this as the first match announcement for the show. For somebody who always threatens to quit and go home every time he suffers a setback, the match has been keeping Sasaki focused for the last few months. That it’s being sponsored by a tourism company willing to reward the winner with a year’s worth of tequila probably helps. The company has already been warned that one year’s worth for Sasaki is equal to five year’s worth for anyone else. Sasaki is already promising to drink through three bottles a day if he wins. Can you blame the guy when he’s had to spend the last couple of weeks feuding with somebody as persistent as Toy Kojima? All that chair swinging is thirsty work you know.

Who right now is living a happier wrestling life than El Desperado? The masked man has been ticking off a bucket list of goals this year while somehow championing the independents as a New Japan wrestler. He’s been repping Junior Heavyweight wrestling, getting into death matches with Jon Moxley, fighting in the GCW Tournament Of Survival, popping through the Forbidden Door, getting a tour with CMLL that includes a visit to Arena Mexico and even found a way to get Jun Kasai inside the NJPW ring for the first time ever. The man loves the indies so much he wrestled Evil Uno on a Mystery Wrestling show for God’s sake! So when he got challenged by Sasaki, who is he to say no? In a wrestling world where it feels like every important match needs something on the line, both Sasaki and Desperado are happy to just have it be for the tequila. They don’t see the need for a championship to be on the line or for masks and hair to be wagered. Just the two of them as they are will be enough to promise an intense fight in the ring.

12. KO-D Openweight Title – Good Com Asset Presents: Yuji Hino (c) Vs Chris Brookes

The running storyline that carried DDT’s main event scene across 2022 was whoever was KO-D Openweight Champion became the man to carry DDT on their back from that point forward. In Higuchi’s case he was literally turned into the company’s flag bearer. The rest of the year was spent having Higuchi defend the title against the likes of Endo, Takeshita, Shinya Aoki, Sakaguchi and Ueno. Unfortunately he didn’t become much of a difference maker for DDT. As much as the foreign fanbase approves of Higuchi, he doesn’t have the same hold on the home audience. That’s why in 2023 the value of the KO-D Title has felt a little off. Yuji Hino defeated Higuchi to take the title in January and has held onto it ever since. What has felt off the entire time is Hino himself. He hasn’t been the big nasty heel that longtime fans remember from K-DOJO. In fact he’s been pretty supportive of DDT as their champion. He does his part to promote the company as the place to be, it just hasn’t been working out that way despite his efforts. DDT also really wants to get more heavyweights going in the main event position, as shown by having Hino’s defences so far be against Naya and Iino. It’s been a criticism towards DDT for quite a while now. Why fight to compete against the heavyweight divisions of the bigger companies when your appeal was always supposed to be something entirely different?

So if they story for DDT is the search for the right person to carry the company, they may have had him in the background the entire time. Chris Brookes from the moment he stepped foot in the company got what DDT is. Not just from a fanboy level by getting to relive everything he ever downloaded from Megaupload but also understanding a company spirit that is all parts open minded, anarchic and most of all daft. The dedication was also there when he chose to stay in Japan during the pandemic. Ever since then he’s been an integral part of DDT as well as Gatoh Move and a few other indies. He also went ahead and crafted his own little hub in the Japanese wrestling scene with the Baka Gaijin + Friends shows. At a time when DDT is trying to develop something that’s as prestigious as whatever NOAH or All Japan are doing, Brookes is busy digging up Mecha Mummy and putting together events that capture the warm vibes of DDT’s Beer Garden shows. The company always has a high ambition of where they want to go but perhaps how they get there is all wrong. It’s time to switch things up and Brookes looks like the guy to lead the pack.

That’s all easier said then done though. Brookes dislocated his shoulder two months ago and was out of action for a lot of the build up to this main event. He even admits he might have come back to wrestle too soon with his shoulder being anywhere from 70% to 90% recovered. His injury time has left Hino feeling annoyed for several reasons. Hino goes into his matches hurt too but he never takes time off. He argued why does Brookes get to stay home and rest while he has to keep wrestling on shows? Then Hino’s attitude towards Brookes changed into something more mocking. He started cracking jokes and treating Brookes like a rookie making his debut instead of an established wrestler coming back from injury. It was up to the challenger’s friends to step up and fight Hino on his behalf. Even when Brookes started wrestling again and won a tag match, Hino would still make fun of him for only beating Makoto Oishi. Brookes will have to work real hard to prove Hino wrong. He has taken big guys down with the Octopus Stretch in the past but Hino has been winning matches with the King Kong Sleeper. The champion also has the Fuckin’ BOMB, one of the most devastating moves in DDT. Does Brookes have the strength to lift up Hino with the Praying Mantis Bomb to combat this? The result of this match can lead to a different looking DDT for the rest of the year.


DDT “DDT TANABATA SPECIAL 2023 IN SHINJUKU” Results

July 7, 2023

DDT “DDT TANABATA SPECIAL 2023 IN SHINJUKU”, 07/07/2023
Shin-Kiba 1st RING
305 Fans – No Vacancy

1. Toru Owashi & Kazuma Sumi defeated Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno when Sumi pinned Dieno after the Kamigoye from Yoshitomo Shimohigashi (9:38).
2. DISASTER BOX Vs BURNING!: HARASHIMA & Kazuki Hirata defeated Jun Akiyama & Yusuke Okada when HARASHIMA pinned Okada with the Somato (8:15).
3. Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani defeated Kazusada Higuchi, Yuki Ishida & Ilusion when Okatani pinned Ishida with a Running Elbow Butt (9:20).
4. KANON Debut 4th Anniversary Match ~ Special Tag Match: TAKA Michinoku & KANON defeated Tetsuya Endo & Yuya Koroku when KANON submitted Koroku with the Ground Cobra Twist (11:12).
5. International Special Single Match: Yuki Ueno defeated Nick Wayne with the WR (14:29).
6. Special Single Match: Daisuke Sasaki defeated Toy Kojima with the Crossface Lock (10:26).
7. Road To PETER PAN 2023! Special Tag Match: Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi defeated Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi when Hino submitted Brookes with the King Kong Sleeper (10:43).

Today saw the return of Chris Brookes to the ring after spending over a month recovering from a dislocated shoulder. He only has a little over two weeks now to get into his best condition for “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2023”. The start of his “Champion’s Road” could not have gotten off to a rockier start when CDK took on Ω. Brookes showed some some threat to Yuji Hino by countering the Fuckin’ BOMB into an Octopus Stretch. But Hino powered his way out of the move and submitted Brookes with the King Kong Sleeper. Hino taunted Brookes after the match by pretending his opponent was an amateur making his debut today. Makoto Oishi had to remind him it’s his challenger for Sumo Hall. Backstage Brookes admitted he is lacking confidence but he will get it back and win the KO-D Openweight Title from Hino. A lot can change in two weeks.

After weeks and weeks of cheating and dirty fighting from Daisuke Sasaki towards Toy Kojima, their grudge match today went by mostly without incident. Sasaki was by himself and fought clean the entire match. Kojima almsot beat him with the Kojima In Wonderland but then missed a Totonou Splash. That allowed Sasaki to take over and submit him with the Crossface Lock. Sasaki then gave Kojima an offer to join DAMNATION T.A after the match! Kojima refused and left the ring.

Sasaki changed the subject by promising a big surprise for the fans in attendance. El Desperado’s music suddenly played but nobody came out. Sasaki then stopped the music and made fun of everyone for thinking he was going to invite him here. Desperado’s music then played again and this time he really did appear! He asked Sasaki what was going to be at stake for their match at “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2023”? Neither of them have any championships but the match sponsor will reward the winner with a year’s supply of tequila. That’s good enough for them! On 23rd July Sasaki and Desperado will fight not for championships, not for hair, not for masks and it will not be a No DQ Match. The two of them are just going to enjoy an intense fight against each other.

A big week is coming up for Nick Wayne. His official debut for AEW back in America was announced for next week but first he had to finish off his tour with DDT today. He lost to Yuki Ueno but left a good impression on his opponent. Ueno said in his post-match comments that Wayne’s potential is not his physcial ability but his love for pro wrestling. It’s on the same level as Brookes and Konosuke Takeshita and will take him wherever he wants to go. Wayne said he learned a lot from the wrestlers on this tour professionally, physically and mentally. He thinks being able to learn stuff like that right before his AEW debut will benefit him.

KANON got to celebrate the 4th Anniversary of his debut match by teaming with his mentor TAKA Michinoku. They defeated Tetsuya Endo & Yuya Koroku with KANON submitting Koroku. Endo doesn’t mind the result because he got to hit the Sasuke Special on Michinoku. Apparantely that was all that mattered to him today because he didn’t care it was KANON’s anniversary. Michinoku will be back in DDT on 23rd July to face MAO so he feels like he is currently standing in the eye of a hurricane. He also hopes to be brought back for KANON’s 5th anniversay. KANON suggests maybe then they can fight each other for that occasion.

The boost of momentum Yuki Ishida has gotten against Eruption lately was brushed aside by Hideki Okatani. The Dosukoi Hold Ishida’s been using to be Yukio Sakaguchi & Saki Akai did not work here and instead Okatani pinned him with a Running Elbow Butt. Sakaguchi asked Harimao after the match what is the point of “Dosukoi”? If they care that much about it they can go eat yakitori in Ryogoku and leave the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles to them. This attitude was in contrast to the start of the show when the two teams signed the contract for their title match at “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2023”. During that Eruption said this is their last chance to win the 6-Man Tag Titles because of Akai’s retirement at the end of the year.

Kazuki Hirata would have lost his tag match several times over if it wasn’t for HARASHIMA running in to break the pin every time. Everything Jun Akiyama did to Hirata would have been a one hit kill otherwise. HARASHIMA kept his team in the game and scored the win over Yusuke Okada with the Somato. His performance today got Hirata to ask if HARASHIMA has any weaknesses at all? It’s becoming very difficult for Hirata to think of a stipulation that will give him any chance of beating HARASHIMA when their DDT Extreme Title match takes place on 30th July.

Akito was at ringside for the entrances in the opening match with the intention of ambushing Pheromones. His goal was to eliminate them before they could reach the ring so their match would be cancelled. Toru Owashi & Kazuma Sumi agreed to look the other way and let Akito go ahead with his plan. It didn’t work. Yuki Iino & Danshoku Dieno survived Akito’s ambush and gave him a face full of Iino’s backside in front of the fans. The match went ahead as usual until all of a sudden Yoshitomo Shimohigashi interfered! He knocked out Dieno with a Bowling Uppercut followed by the Kamigoye, allowing Sumi to pin Dieno for the first time. Akito said Shimohigashi and Soma Takao are part of his Pheromones Subjugation Squad and they are going to drive Pheromones out of Sumo Hall!


DDT “DDT YOKOHAMA UNLIMITED SPECIAL” Results

July 1, 2023

DDT “DDT YOKOHAMA UNLIMITED SPECIAL”, 01/07/2023
Yokohama Radiant Hall
219 Fans – Super No Vacancy

1. Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul defeated Yusuke Okada & Kazuma Sumi when Sasaki pinned Sumi with the Diving Elbow Drop (7:37).
2. Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari defeated Akito, MAO & Antonio Honda when Iino pinned Akito after the Fight Ippatsu Spear (10:07).
3. Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida defeated Saki Akai & Yuya Koroku when Ishida pinned Akai with the Dosukoi Hold (9:36).
4. BURNING Vs DISASTER BOX!: Tetsuya Endo & Jun Akiyama defeated Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata when Akiyama pinned Hirata with the Jumping Knee Butt (0:06).
4a. Rematch: Tetsuya Endo & Jun Akiyama defeated Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata when Endo pinned Hirata with a Cradle (8:46).
5. Special Hardcore Tag Match: Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani defeated Atsushi Onita & Toy Kojima when Sakaguchi pinned Kojima with the God’s Right Knee with the Chair (12:02).
6. Special Tag Match: Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi defeated HARASHIMA & Soma Takao when Hino pinned Takao with the Fuckin’ BOMB (14:16).
7. International Special Tag Match: Nick Wayne & Takeshi Masada defeated Yuki Ueno & Yuni when Wayne pinned Yuni with the Wayne’s World (15:55).

Nick Wayne has touched down in DDT and was given the spotlight in the main event along with other young wrestlers in the company. The average age in today’s main event was 20 years old (Yuki Ueno is 27, Yuni is 15, Wayne is 17 and Takeshi Masada is 21). Wayne beat Yuni with his version of the Springboard Cutter called the Wayne’s World. He now hopes to do the same to Ueno in their singles match next week.

Chris Brookes approached the ring after Match #6 to have a stare down with Yuji Hino. Nothing physical took place because according to Hino a tall, handsome amateur like Brookes is not even worth throwing a Chop at. He previously called the tag match on 7th July Brookes’ retirement match but today he joked it is going to be more like Brookes’ professional debut. Hino’s behaviour has reached the point where Makoto Oishi can’t tell if he is praising Brookes or trying to humiliate him.

A Hardcore Tag Match pitting Eruption against Atsushi Onita & Toy Kojima brought a more firey side out of Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani. Onita was thrown into a barbed wire board in the corner and Okatani attacked Kojima with chairs. Onita blinded fought back giving Sakaguchi the Poison Mist followed by a Piledriver through a table. Sakaguchi recovered and used a chair assisted God’s Right Knee to pin Kojima for the three count.

After the match Onita asked Sanshiro Takagi if Jun Akiyama will answer his challenge for an exploding death match at Ota Ward Gymnasium on 9th September. Takagi told him he never got a response from Akiyama. Sakaguchi then told Onita that the All Asia Tag Team Title belt once belonged to his father Seiji Sakaguchi. He can’t continue letting Onita carry it around. Onita agreed to give Sakaguchi a title shot as long as it is in an exploding death match! Takagi endorsed the idea and is now trying to get permission to do the title match in Osaka on 20th August.

Becoming a champion has not changed Kazuki Hirata one bit. He was immediately pinned by Akiyama in his tag match and also dropped the fall to Tetsuya Endo in an immediate rematch. Hirata is trying to convince himself he is in perfect condition because how else would you suffer a perfect defeat like that?

The Dosukoi Hold used by Yuki Ishida has claimed another Eruption victim. This time Saki Akai was pinned with the move. Ishida thinks the hold is now creating the Dosukoi Movement, granting Harimao enough momentum for their upcoming KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles defence against Eruption to make them unstoppable.

Akito placed a bounty on each member of Pheromones for today’s match. Beating Yuki Iino is worth 100,000 yen, beating Yumehito Imanari is worth 50,000 yen and beating Danshoku Dieno is worth 10,000 yen. The reward motiviated MAO at first but he was quickly driven to ignore fighting Dieno because he literally wasn’t worth it. Pheromones took advantage by trying to brainwash MAO to join their side but Akito snapped him out of it by shouting “Money!” at him over and over. His plan ended up failing anyway because Pheromones picked up the win over him.


DDT “WHAT ARE YOU DOING 2023” Results

June 25, 2023

DDT “WHAT ARE YOU DOING 2023”, 25/06/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
755 Fans

0. Dark Match: Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno, Toru Owashi & Yuni Vs Akito, Soma Takao, Kazuma Sumi & Rukiya ended in a No Contest (5:44).
1. Special Single Match: Naruki Doi defeated Takeshi Masada with a Cradle (7:04).
2. Ryota Nakatsu, Yuki Ishida, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku defeated Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai, Hideki Okatani & Sanshiro Takagi when Ishida pinned Sakaguchi with the Dosukoi Hold (9:22).
3. Special Single Match: HARASHIMA defeated Minoru Fujita by Disqualification after Fujita attacked the Referee (7:31).
4. International Special Single Match: Tetsuya Endo defeated Nick Wayne with the Burning Star Press (13:44).
5. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yuji Hino, Jun Akiyama & Makoto Oishi defeated Kazusada Higuchi, Masahiro Takanashi & Antonio Honda when Hino submitted Honda with the King Kong Sleeper (13:23).
6. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul defeated Yuki Ueno & Toy Kojima when Sasaki submitted Kojima with the Crossface Lock (15:29).
*DAMNATION T.A becomes the 77th KO-D Tag Team Champions!
7. DDT Extreme Title – 3 Way Dance: Kazuki Hirata defeated MAO and Yoshihiko (21:25).
7a. MAO and Kazuki Hirata eliminated Yoshihiko with a Double Reincarnation Cutback (17:36).
7b. Kazuki Hirata eliminated MAO with the Miracle One Shot Cradle (21:25).
*Kazuki Hirata becomes the 58th DDT Extreme Champion!

Believe it or not Kazuki Hirata is now a singles champion! For weeks leading up to the 3 Way Dance, everybody including Hirata himself expected him to be taken out of the picture very quickly so MAO and Yoshihiko would fight each other over the vacant DDT Extreme Title. Instead Hirata persisted against his two opponents. He and MAO used their combined power to roll over from Yoshihiko’s Reincarnation and together pin the doll to eliminate it from the match. MAO took control of the match but none of his big moves could work. Hirata ended up countering the Michinoku Driver II into the Miracle One Shot Cradle to pull off the shock of all shocks. He is now the new Extreme Champion!

Hirata now finds himself in a position he never thought about previously. As a champion he now gets to nominate his challengers. Hisaya Imabayashi asked him who he wants to face in his first defence on 30th July. Hirata said there is a lot of people he wants to fight and he gets to pick the rules that will make him beat them too. So his first opponent is his DISASTER BOX stablemate HARASHIMA! He admits he can never beat HARASHIMA in a regular head-to-head fight but he can come up with funny rules that will even the odds. HARASHIMA accepted the challenge because he is a mutltiple time Extreme Champion and has fought in many different kinds of matches over the years.

Poor Toy Kojima suffered so much abuse at the hands of DAMNATION T.A and unfortunately it was all for nothing. The vacant KO-D Tag Team Titles were on the line when Kojima & Yuki Ueno represented The 37KAMIINA against Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul. Ueno & Kojima used their new double team move the My MADMAX on Sasaki but Paul broke up the pin. Then when Kojima used the Kojima In Wonderland on Sasaki, the injured KANON ran down to the ring armed with a stungun! The referee Tomomitsu Matsunaga ran over to stop KANON from entering the ring and missed Sasaki giving two Low Blows to Kojima. Sasaki stayed on the offensive and made Kojima tap to the Crossface Lock to make DAMNATION T.A the new Tag Champions. Backstage Sasaki said Kojima must never forget this day because today is the day he experienced absolute despair and humiliation! Now that DAMNATION T.A is back to full force, they are going to make the second half of 2023 crazy for everybody. Sasaki also said if Ueno, Kojima or anybody else wants to do something about it they are always welcome to join DAMNATION T.A.

Jun Akiyama found a way to fit in with Ω by wearing their shirt along with a bandana and sunglasses. The fun and games for Yuji Hino sort of stopped when Antonio Honda tried standing up to him on behalf of his friend Chris Brookes. The match then moved on to Hino and Kazusada Higuchi squaring off again while Makoto Oishi dealt with Masahiro Takanashi. Honda tagged in ready for his moment when he tripped over the ropes and fell like he always does. But instead of telling a Gongitsune joke, Honda asked himself why does he always fall down? He figured out it’s to get back up! If his best friend Brookes goes back to England, he will get back up. If he gets injured, he will get back up. He will always get back up because he is chasing his dream! A fired up Honda then poked Hino in the eyes and knocked him down with the Bionic Elbow for a nearfall. Unfortunately Hino recovered and countered the Octopus Hold into the King Kong Sleeper to make Honda give up.

After the match Ω called for Brookes’ attention while Honda was being tended to outside the ring. Oishi lambasted him for taking it easy while Hino’s been working hard in the ring week after week. How can Brookes become the KO-D Openweight Champion when all of Hino’s hard work has made him reach his perfect condition? Hino calmed Oishi down and asked Brookes when he can start wrestling again? Brookes said 7th July. Hino said that is a long way off so he is going to make sure that date will become Brookes’ retirement match! Backstage Brookes admits he is feeling guilty over not being able to wrestle because of his injury. He promised to do his best when he returns as his way of showing thanks for everyone who fought for him while he’s been out of action.

Nick Wayne was thrown into the deep end for his Japanese DDT debut when he took on Tetsuya Endo. The young American went for impactful moves like the Poison Hurricanrana and Dragon Suplex. But Endo hit back with the Tetsuya In The Sky and also caught him in mid-air to set up the Swivel Torture Rack Bomb. Wayne kicked out of both moves but became a sitting duck for the Burning Star Press. Endo thinks Wayne will absorb the Japanese way of wrestling during his stay here and it will expand his range. It makes Endo look forward to having a rematch some day. One he thinks he will still win of course. Wayne told reporters he is very inspired by the wrestlers in DDT and being in the same environment makes him feel like he can give 100% every match.

The match between HARASHIMA and Minoru Fujita started off awkwardly when Fujita refused to shake his opponent’s hand and instead give him the HERO! pose. He then accepted HARASHIMA’s handshake but only so he could cheap shot him afterwards. Fujita continued fighting dirty by using the ropes for pin leverage and bringing a chair into the ring. He threw the chair at HARASHIMA right when he was setting up the Somato. Then he gave Yukinori Matsui a Low Blow to purposely get disqualified. Fujita also gave HARASHIMA a Low Blow before doing another HERO! pose and leaving.

In a KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles match preview, Harimao scored a big win over Eruption with an unlikely result. Yuki Ishida ended up pinning Yukio Sakaguchi! He used a move that looks similar to a backwards Gannosuke Clutch to get the three count. He told Ryota Nakatsu that he used “Dokusoi” spirit to beat Sakaguchi so the two of them agreed to call the move the Dosukoi Hold. The move is based on a sumo technique so you can bet Ishida wants to use it again at Sumo Hall. However Sakaguchi wants him to know today’s result isn’t the end of their story so he shouldn’t be getting carried away. Saki Akai was interested to fight Nakatsu for the first time today because they are both from Kyoto. Unfortunately for Sanshiro Takagi, his time in the ring today didn’t last long. According to a tweet he posted after the show he tore a muscle in his leg during the match.

Naruki Doi was the latest big name opponent for the super rookie Takeshi Masada to face one on one. Masada did quite well and looked to be on his way towards scoring a huge upset. But Doi countered the Samurai Driver ’01 into a Cradle to win instead.

Strange bedfellows were put together for the dark match because Toru Owashi & Yuni had to team with Pheromones. Usually the likes of them would be their opponents. We found out the reason why because Akito wanted to ruin Yuni’s reputation by getting pictures of him doing lewd stuff with Pheromones in the ring! Imabayashi told Akito off because creating a scandal like that would harm CyberFight too. Still when Yuki Iino & Danshoku Dieno stacked themselves in the corner with their backsides exposed, Akito tried to force Yuni head first into there. It didn’t matter to him if Kazuma Sumi & Rukiya had to suffer the same fate. Just when Akito looked like he was going to succeed, Imabayashi cancelled the match. Akito went out of control throwing more wrestlers into butts until Soma Takao stopped him. Akito then invited Takao to help him destroy Pheromones. Takao tried not to listen but was eventually convinced to join Akito’s side.

The injured Shunma Katsumata was at ringside for the final two matches. He had to vacate both the Extreme Title and KO-D Tag Title due to a foot injury. He told the fans it will be a while until he gets back to wrestling again but he is currently feeling fine with his recovery.

Also making an appearance today was Yukio Naya. He came here to announce his return match from injury will be “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2023” on 23rd July! He’s been recovering from a fractured right ankle since the end of March. His goal once he returns is to reach the top of DDT in the shortest amount of time possible.

Shota was at the show during the opening announcements. He was there to promote Ganbare☆Pro’s big event “WRESTLE SEKIGAHARA II” at Ota Ward Gymnasium on 9th July.

DDT will also be going to Ota Ward this Autumn. They announced “DDT BIG BANG 2023” will take place there on 9th September. Another announcement regarding the event will be revealed tomorrow.

DDT “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2023”, 23/07/2023
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

1. Takeshi Masada Vs Kazuma Sumi
2. Sanshiro Takagi, Shinichiro Kawamatsu & Yuni Vs Masahiro Takanashi, Toy Kojima & Rukiya
3. Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari Vs Akito, Soma Takao & Yoshitomo Shimohigashi
4. 3 Way 6-Man Tag Match: Naruki Doi, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Minoru Fujita, MJ Paul & KANON Vs Kotaro Suzuki, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku
5. Special Tag Match: Chiitan☆ & Pokotan Vs Andreza Giant Panda & Super Sasadango Machine
6. Special Tag Match ~ Yukio Naya Return Match: HARASHIMA & Yukio Naya Vs Jun Akiyama & Shigehiro Irie
7. Special Single Match: TAKA Michinoku Vs MAO
8. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs Yuki Ueno
9. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Kazusada Higuchi, Ryota Nakatsu & Yuki Ishida (c) Vs Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani
10. Mexico Kanko Presents Dramatic Dream Match: Daisuke Sasaki Vs El Desperado
11. DDT Universal Title: Tetsuya Endo (c) Vs Matt Cardona (w/ Steph De Lander)
12. KO-D Openweight Title: Yuji Hino (c) Vs Chris Brookes


Brookes And KANON Returning From Injury This July

June 21, 2023

DDT “DDT YOKOHAMA UNLIMITED SPECIAL”, 01/07/2023
Yokohama Radiant Hall

1. Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari Vs Akito, MAO & Kazuma Sumi
2. Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul Vs Yusuke Okada & Rukiya
3. Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida Vs Saki Akai & Yuya Koroku
4. BURNING Vs DISASTER BOX!: Tetsuya Endo & Jun Akiyama Vs Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata
5. Special Tag Match: Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi Vs HARASHIMA & Soma Takao
6. Special Hardcore Tag Match: Atsushi Onita & Toy Kojima Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani
7. International Special Tag Match: Yuki Ueno & Yuni Vs Nick Wayne & Takeshi Masada

A preview for the next KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles match is happening here when Saki Akai faces two members of the champions Harimao.

DDT “DRAMATIC DREAMS! VOL. 10 ~SPARE MYSELF AND SPARE MY NAME~”, 02/07/2023
Osaka Komikyo Higashinari Civic Center

1. Dosukoi Thank You Vs DDT’s Most Green Boy Combo: Yusuke Okada & Yuki Ishida Vs Kazuma Sumi & Rukiya
2. Pheromones Vs Former Smile Squash Vs Yoga Sumo ~Between Compliance And The Taste Of Pheromones~: Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Yasu Urano & Soma Takao Vs Toru Owashi & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi
3. Diabolical DAMNATION T.A Vs Men With A Thousand Skills: Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul Vs Tsubasa & Makoto Oishi
4. “Did You Hear That? I Heard That Guy’s A Prick” Special Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo & Kuishinbo Kamen Vs Kikutaro & Antonio Honda
5. Special 6-Man Tag Match – Japan-US Young Wrestling Summit!: MAO, Toy Kojima & Yuni Vs Nick Wayne, Kohei Kinoshita & Yuya Koroku
6. Special Tag Match – One Hundred Tales Of Osaka ~Saki Akai, Her Biggest Crisis Before Retirement~: Yukio Sakaguchi & Saki Akai Vs Kazuki Hirata & No Name
7. Right Before Ryogoku! Road To KOKUGIKAN Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yuji Hino, Jun Akiyama & Hideki Okatani Vs HARASHIMA, Kazusada Higuchi & Akito
8. Magnitude Kishiwada 30th Anniversary Match ~You Guys Will Know When You See It~: Dick Togo, Magnitude Kishiwada & Black Buffalo Vs Sanshiro Takagi, Shigehiro Irie & Takeshi Masada
9. Special Single Match – WR ~Wrestling & Respect~: Yuki Ueno Vs HUB

This is the full card for Yukinori Matsui’s annual self-produced show.

DDT “DDT TANABATA SPECIAL 2023 IN SHINJUKU”, 07/07/2023
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Kazusada Higuchi, Yuki Ishida & Rukiya Vs Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani
2. BURNING Vs DISASTER BOX!: Jun Akiyama & Yusuke Okada Vs HARASHIMA & Kazuki Hirata
3. International Special Single Match: Yuki Ueno Vs Nick Wayne
4. KANON Debut 4th Anniversary Match ~ Special Tag Match: TAKA Michinoku & KANON Vs Tetsuya Endo & Yuya Koroku
5. Road To PETER PAN 2023! Special Tag Match: Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi Vs Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi

Two important names are coming back from injuries on this show. Chris Brookes and KANON are both returning from dislocated shoulders. Brookes has some catching up to do. He is paying back every wrestler who fought on his behalf against Yuji Hino while he was recovering, starting with his CDK buddy Masahiro Takanashi.

KANON’s big return is for his 4th Anniversary match. His trainer TAKA Michinoku was previously announced and now we know they will be teaming up against Tetsuya Endo & Yuya Koroku.

DDT “ROAD TO PETER PAN 2023 IN AOMORI”, 15/07/2023
Aomori Hamanasu Hall

1. Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON Vs Yuki Ueno, Toy Kojima & Takeshi Masada
2. Falls Count Anywhere Special 6-Man Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yuya Koroku Vs Sanshiro Takagi, HARASHIMA & Kazuma Sumi
3. Special Tag Match: Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi Vs Chris Brookes & Kazusada Higuchi

Kazusada Higuchi in particular was doing the heavy lifting against Ω while Brookes was gone. He deserves at least a beer or a lottery ticket as a thank you.

I think this is DDT’s first show in Hamanasu Hall since 2019. It’s been long enough that they are doing a Falls Count Anywhere match as their way to welcome themselves back into the building.

DDT “60TH BIRTHDAY & 20TH ANNIVERSARY ALL TOGETHER! ~ GORGEOUS NIGHT”, 16/07/2023
Fukushima Toyota Crown Arena Sub Arena

1. Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani Vs Kazuki Hirata & Kazuma Sumi
2. Special Tag Match: Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi Vs Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada
3. Fukushima Specialty Special 6-Man Tag Match: Gorgeous Matsuno, HARASHIMA & Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Sanshiro Takagi, Toru Owashi & Antonio Honda

The hometown hero Gorgeous Matsuno gets to team with HARASHIMA & Yukio Sakaguchi for his big show.

Last but not least, the final preview match between Hino and Brookes has Takeshi Masada backing up the Englishman like he always does. I can’t be counting out Makoto Oishi either. He’s stuck with Hino through thick and thin for all of this.


DDT “WHAT ARE YOU DOING 2023 TOUR IN SAPPORO DAY 1” Results

June 17, 2023

DDT “WHAT ARE YOU DOING 2023 TOUR IN SAPPORO DAY 1”, 17/06/2023
Sapporo ii-one Stadium
210 Fans

1. Hideki Okatani defeated Yuki Ishida with the Double Arm Suplex (8:46).
2. 2 Vs 3 Handicap Match: Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno defeated Yusuke Okada, Kazuma Sumi & Rukiya when Iino submitted Rukiya after the Boys Be Ambitious (10:49).
3. Special Tag Match: Andreza Giant Panda & Saki Akai defeated Akito & Kazuki Hirata by TKO after Akito knocked out Akito with an Accidental Elbow Strike (0:19).
3a. Rematch: Andreza Giant Panda & Saki Akai defeated Akito & Kazuki Hirata when Akai pinned Hirata with the Quetzalcoatl (9:59).
4. Sapporo Specialty Special 8-Man Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama, Yuya Koroku & Noriyuki Yoshida defeated Sanshiro Takagi, HARASHIMA, Tomoya & Makoto Oishi when Endo pinned Oishi with the Burning Star Press (14:35).
5. DAMNATION T.A Vs The 37KAMIINA!: MAO & Toy Kojima defeated Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul when Kojima pinned Paul with a School Boy (14:30).
6. Special Tag Match: Yuji Hino & Yukio Sakaguchi defeated Kazusada Higuchi & Takeshi Masada when Hino pinned Masada with the Fuckin’ BOMB (14:33).

It’s possible that Yuji Hino needed a day like today. All he had to do was focus on his match and not worry about Chris Brookes in any way, shape or form. The result of this was Hino scoring the pin and feeling very happy with how hot the atmosphere was in the building. He joked with Makoto Oishi that Sapporo is where it snows in the summer so it couldn’t possibly be this hot today. But it is! Yukio Sakaguchi added to the tension by gesturing towards Kazusada Higuchi and his KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Title belt after the match. He simply warned him that Eruption will take the titles from Harimao at Sumo Hall.

The latest drama between Toy Kojima and DAMNATION T.A continued the chair based beatings on The 37KAMIINA wrestler. However today he got a win over his enemies thanks to some help from MAO. Things went pear shaped when MAO missed the Whirlwind Kick and hit the referee Tomomitsu Matsunaga by accident. Sasaki hit Kojima with a chair until Kojima was able to defend himself and block the attack. Kojima then rolled over MJ Paul with a School Boy to get the 3 count from a recovered Matsunaga. DAMNATION T.A attacked Kojima again after the match but when they left, a defiant Kojima told the fans he and Yuki Ueno will win the vacant KO-D Tag Team Titles at Korakuen Hall! However Sasaki backstage called today’s result a miracle. One that will never happen again.

Obviously whenever Andreza Giant Panda appears it is very noticeable. It was even more so here when fans could see Andreza’s head sticking out behind the entrance curtain before he even made his entrance. He ended up getting stuck and his match began without him. Kazuki Hirata grabbed Saki Akai and Akito threw an Elbow Strike at her. She ducked and Hirata accidentally knocked out Hirata with his elbow. Akai was angry over how the match went and purposely revived Hirata to restart it, entrances and all. Andreza was still stuck behind the stage by the way. The match restarted and Akai made sure it wouldn’t suddenly end with Hirata getting knocked out again. Akito & Hirata got Andreza to chase them around ringside but it was to lure him into a trap. With the help of Underwear Sanshiro (a Sanshiro Takagi impersonator wearing underwear instead of wrestling trunks), Andreza was trapped inside two dollies leaving Akai having to fight Akito & Hirata by herself. Akai was able to fight off her opponents, free Andreza and go on to win the match as a team.

After the match Pokotan suddenly appeared and grabbed the microphone. He said he and Chiitan are now called the Chi-Poko Alliance and they will beat Andreza & Super Sasadango Machine to a pulp at Sumo Hall on 23rd July! But first Pokotan will face Andreza in a singles match tomorrow. He promised a fair fight and shook Andreza’s paw. Pokotan then gave him a Low Blow and a Stunner but Andreza shook it off and Headbutted Pokotan in retaliation!

DDT announced their next doubleshot at Sapporo ii-one Stadium will be on 14th and 15th October.


Brookes Is Indeed Injured, GanJo Gets Marvelous, Sasadango In TJPW

May 31, 2023

DDT “DDT YOKOHAMA UNLIMITED VOL. 3”, 03/06/2023
Yokohama Radiant Hall

1. Takeshi Masada Vs Kazuma Sumi
2. 2 Vs 3 Handicap Match: Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Antonio Honda, Yuya Koroku & Rukiya
3. Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani Vs Yusuke Okada & Yuki Ishida
4. Tetsuya Endo & Jun Akiyama Vs HARASHIMA & Soma Takao
5. Daisuke Sasaki (w/ MJ Paul) Vs Toy Kojima
6. Sanshiro Takagi & Akito Vs Yuki Ueno & Yuni
7. Special Tag Match: MAO & Mei Suruga Vs Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata
8. Special Tag Match: Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Masahiro Takanshi

DDT confirmed that Chris Brookes dislocated his right shoulder yesterday. He will be resting for three weeks but no date has been given yet for when he can return to wrestling. This weekend’s shows have been changed around to make up for Brookes’ absence. Kazusada Higuchi is living up to his promise to help Brookes prepare for the KO-D Openweight Title match as much as he can and still intends to put Yuji Hino’s to the test this weekend.

The Yokohama show is changed a lot because of Brookes’ injury. Masahiro Takanashi replaces him in the main event, MAO now has to team with Mei Suruga again, Yuni will be teaming with Yuki Ueno to fight their bosses Sanshiro Takagi & Akito plus more changes were made down the card.

DDT “JAPAN PARA-WRESTLING FEDERATION CHARITY SHOW ~ WHAT ARE YOU DOING 2023 TOUR IN ODAWARA”, 04/06/2023
Kanagawa Odawara Arena Sub Arena

1. Takeshi Masada Vs Rukiya
2. Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani Vs Kazuki Hirata & Toy Kojima
3. DAMNATION T.A Vs BURNING!: Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul Vs Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku
4. Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Soma Takao & Kazuma Sumi
5. Special Single Match: Yuki Ueno Vs Akito
6. Odawara Specialty Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yoshiaki Yatsu, Tetsuya Endo & Jun Akiyama Vs Sanshiro Takagi, Toru Owashi & Makoto Oishi
7. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yuji Hino, HARASHIMA & Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Kazusada Higuchi, MAO & Yuki Ishida

The Kanagawa show the next day does not have as many changes. MAO replaces Brookes in the main event, turning Harimao into HariMAO! Also Soma Takao is now getting booked to take MAO’s original spot in the Yoshiaki Yatsu match.

GANBARE☆PRO “WRESTLE SEKIGAHARA II”, 09/07/2023
Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium

1. Yoshiko Hasegawa Vs Miyuki Takase
2. YuuRI & Tomoka Inaba Vs Takumi Iroha & Mio Momono
3. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Mizuki Watase (c) Vs Isami Kodaka

The friendly rivalry that’s been brewing between YuuRI & Tomoka Inaba is leading to them teaming together. Their opponents come from Marvelous as that promotion is sending Takumi Iroha & Mio Momono over to Ganbare☆Pro!

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW CITY CIRCUIT ’23 ~SHOKO NAKAJIMA LOCAL TRIUMPH~”, 05/08/2023
Niigata Dúo CEREZO

This show is a long way out but I’m including it for the list of talent announced so far: Yuki Arai, Aja Kong and… Super Sasadango Machine? Well the event it taking place in his hometown after all. Last time he was in Tokyo Joshi Pro it was to help Hyper Misao reveal she got married.


Busy Weekend, Chouten B Block, MAO Vs Hirata For Extreme Title

May 26, 2023

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE TOUR IN SPRING ’23”, 27/05/2023
Kanagawa Fujisawa City Shonandai Cultural Center

1. Hikari Noa Vs Haru Kazashiro
2. Yuki Aino & Pom Harajuku Vs Toga & Runa Okubo
3. Nao Kakuta & Asuka Vs Moka Miyamoto & Kaya Toribami
4. Mizuki & Raku Vs Hyper Misao & Shino Suzuki
5. Rika Tatsumi, Miu Watanabe & HIMAWARI Vs Suzume, Arisu Endo & Wakana Uehara
6. Shoko Nakajima & Yuki Kamifuku Vs Aja Kong & Mahiro Kiryu

The weekend of shows begin with Yuki Kamifuku’s homecoming in Kanagawa.

DDT “WHAT ARE YOU DOING 2023 TOUR IN HIROSHIMA”, 27/05/2023
Hiroshima JMS Aster Plaza

1. Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Kazuma Sumi & Rukiya
2. Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida Vs Sanshiro Takagi & Yusuke Okada
3. MAO Vs Hideki Okatani
4. Special Single Match: Kenshin Chikano Vs Kazuki Hirata
5. Hiroshima Specialty Special 6-Man Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yuya Koroku Vs HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi & Rey Paloma
6. The 37KAMIINA Vs DAMNATION T.A!: Yuki Ueno & Toy Kojima Vs Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul
7. Special Tag Match: Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi Vs Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada

Then it’s onto the first preview of Yuji Hino versus Chris Brookes.

GANBARE☆PRO “I WILL BE A BUTTERFLY FOR YOU 2023”, 28/05/2023
Tokyo Oji BASEMENT MON☆STAR

1. GanPro Vs Australia: Keisuke Ishii & Soma Takao Vs Hartley Jackson & Mitch Ryder
2. GanJo Special Tag Match: YuuRI & Yoshiko Hasegawa Vs Moeka Haruhi & Riara
3. GanPro Vs Sento Minzoku: Ken Ohka & Shota Vs Minoru Fujita & Daiki Shimomura
4. Mizuki Watase, Shuichiro Katsumura & Yuki Kanzaki Vs Yumehito Imanari, Tyson Maeguchi & Shinichiro Tominaga

On Sunday Ganbare☆Pro presents its monthly tripleshot. GanPro’s feud with Sento Minzoku also brings back the rivalry between Ken Ohka and Minoru Fujita.

GANBARE☆PRO “WRESTLE YUMEHITO FACTORY 2023”, 28/05/2023
Tokyo Oji BASEMENT MON☆STAR

1. BEST OF THE SUPER arena Grand Final: Moeka Haruhi Vs YuuRI
2. Yumehito Poison Rumble: Mizuki Watase Vs Soma Takao Vs Tyson Maeguchi Vs Yuki Kanzaki Vs HARUKAZE Vs Yoshiko Hasegawa Vs Riara
3. Shin Rogai-gun Vs Shin Jidai-gun: Shuichiro Katsumura & Shota Vs Ilusion & Munetatsu Nakamura
4. Yumehito Imanari’s GanPro 10th Anniversary Match: Yumehito Imanari & Shinichiro Tominaga Vs Ken Ohka & Keisuke Ishii

Then things get a bit silly with Yumehito Imanari in charge of the middle show. The show’s logo is a tribute to Wrestle Yume Factory.

DDT “WHAT ARE YOU DOING 2023 TOUR IN KUMAMOTO”, 28/05/2023
Kumamoto Castle Hall Civic Hall

1. Yuya Koroku Vs Rukiya
2. 2 Vs 3 Handicap Match: Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata
3. Chris Brookes & Sanshiro Takagi Vs Hideki Okatani & Kazuma Sumi
4. BURNING Vs The 37KAMIINA!: Tetsuya Endo & Yusuke Okada Vs Yuki Ueno & MAO
5. Special Single Match: Jun Akiyama Vs Toy Kojima
6. Kumamoto Specialty Special Tag Match: Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida Vs Kota Umeda & Takeshi Masada
7. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yuji Hino, Makoto Oishi & X Vs Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & Shogun Okamoto

Still no reveal of who X is yet.

GANBARE☆PRO “GANBARE☆PRO WRESTLING PLAYERS ASSOCIATION PERFORMANCE”, 28/05/2023
Tokyo Oji BASEMENT MON☆STAR

1. Mixed Tag Match: Shota & YuuRI Vs Shinichiro Tominaga & HARUKAZE
2. Special Single Match: Choun-Shiryu Vs Moeka Haruhi
3. Elimination 6-Man Tag Match: Mizuki Watase, Soma Takao & Yumehito Imanari Vs Ken Ohka, Keisuke Ishii & Shuichiro Katsumura
4. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title Next Challenger: Isami Kodaka Vs Munetatsu Nakamura

GanPro ends their long day finding out who will be the No. 1 Contender for the Spirit Of Ganbare Title.

BASARA “BASARA 220 ~OJI NI KITSUNE 25~”, 03/06/2023
Tokyo Oji BASEMENT MONSTAR

1. Isami Kodaka & Daiki Shimomura Vs Daichi Kazato & Lil’ Kraken
2. 3 Way Match: Ryuichi Sekine Vs Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi Vs SAGAT
3. Chouten ~Itadaki~ 2023 – Round 1 B Block: Takato Nakano Vs Minoru Fujita
4. Chouten ~Itadaki~ 2023 – Round 1 B Block: Ryota Nakatsu Vs Tatsuhiko Yoshino
5. Chouten ~Itadaki~ 2023 – Round 1 B Block: FUMA Vs Fuminori Abe
6. Chouten ~Itadaki~ 2023 – Round 1 B Block: Takumi Tsukamoto Vs Yasu Urano

The Chouten ~Itadaki~ moves onto the B Block in Round 1.

DDT “DDT YOKOHAMA UNLIMITED VOL. 3”, 03/06/2023
Yokohama Radiant Hall

1. Takeshi Masada Vs Kazuma Sumi
2. Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Akito & Antonio Honda
3. Yukio Sakaguchi, Hideki Okatani & Rukiya Vs Yusuke Okada, Yuya Koroku & Yuki Ishida
4. Tetsuya Endo & Jun Akiyama Vs HARASHIMA & Soma Takao
5. DAMNATION T.A Vs The 37KAMIINA!: Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul Vs Yuki Ueno & Toy Kojima
6. Special Single Match: MAO Vs Yuni
7. Special Tag Match ~ Gatoh Move Vs DDT’s Comical Strongest Tag: Masahiro Takanashi & Mei Suruga Vs Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata
8. Special Tag Match: Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi Vs Chris Brookes & Kazusada Higuchi

One by one Yuni is going to be getting singles matches against DDT’s regulars. Not sure if it’s a good idea to let MAO be of any influence to him.

BASARA “BASARA 221 ~OJI NI KITSUNE 26~”, 03/06/2023
Tokyo Oji BASEMENT MONSTAR

1. FUMA & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi Vs Ryota Nakatsu & SAGAT
2. Ryuichi Sekine Vs Daichi Kazato
3. Takumi Tsukamoto & Yasu Urano Vs Fuminori Abe & Takato Nakano
4. Lil’ Kraken & Leo Isaka Vs Tsutomu Oosugi & Banana Senga
5. Chouten ~Itadaki~ 2023 – Round 2 A Block: Isami Kodaka Vs Daiki Shimomura

The 2nd Round schedule looks to be changed a little bit. Only one match from Round 2 is happening on the show due to some wrestlers having commitments elsewhere that evening. The rest of Round 2 will be happening on the 17th June show.

DDT “JAPAN PARA-WRESTLING FEDERATION CHARITY SHOW ~ WHAT ARE YOU DOING 2023 TOUR IN ODAWARA”, 04/06/2023
Kanagawa Odawara Arena Sub Arena

1. Takeshi Masada Vs Rukiya
2. Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani Vs Kazuki Hirata & Toy Kojima
3. DAMNATION T.A Vs BURNING!: Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul Vs Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku
4. Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs MAO & Kazuma Sumi
5. Special Single Match: Yuki Ueno Vs Akito
6. Odawara Specialty Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yoshiaki Yatsu, Tetsuya Endo & Jun Akiyama Vs Sanshiro Takagi, Toru Owashi & Makoto Oishi
7. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yuji Hino, HARASHIMA & Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Chris Brookes, Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida

Two wrestlers who were part of Hino’s 20th Anniversary match are teaming with him here. Hino gets HARASHIMA & Yukio Sakaguchi on his team while Brookes joins forces with Harimao.

DDT “WHAT ARE YOU DOING 2023 TOUR IN OSAKA”, 10/06/2023
Osaka Suminoe Maikon Hall

1. Yuki Ishida Vs Kazuma Sumi
2. Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Akito & Makoto Oishi
3. Tetsuya Endo & Jun Akiyama Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Rukiya
4. Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani Vs Sanshiro Takagi, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku
5. DAMNATION T.A Vs The 37KAMIINA!: Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul Vs MAO & Toy Kojima
6. Special Tag Match: Toru Owashi & “brother” YASSHI Vs Naruki Doi & Kazuki Hirata
7. Maikon no Kohara Presents Special Tag Match: Yuji Hino & HARASHIMA Vs Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada

The main event gets a sponsor and the undercard is changed around a bit because of Shunma Katsumata’s injury.

DDT “WHAT ARE YOU DOING 2023 TOUR IN MATSUYAMA”, 11/06/2023
Ehime Matsuyama City Comprehensive Community Center Exhibition Hall

1. Kazusada Higuchi Vs Rukiya
2. 2 Vs 3 Handicap Match: Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata & Yuki Ishida
3. Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul Vs Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada
4. Special Tag Match: Akito & Char Vs Yusuke Okada & Tsuru Himeka
5. Ω Vs Eruption!: Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani
6. BURNING Vs The 37KAMIINA!: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yuya Koroku Vs MAO, Yuki Ueno & Toy Kojima
7. Matsuyama Specialty Special 6-Man Tag Match: Sanshiro Takagi (w/ Cutie Elly The Ehime), Imabari Taoru Mascaras & Tsutenkakka Vs HARASHIMA, Saki Akai & Kazuma Sumi

Katsumata’s injury means the Ehime shows gets changed a little bit too.

DDT “WHAT ARE YOU DOING 2023”, 25/06/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai, Hideki Okatani & Sanshiro Takagi Vs Ryota Nakatsu, Yuki Ishida, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku
2. International Special Single Match: Tetsuya Endo Vs Nick Wayne
3. DDT Extreme Title: MAO Vs Kazuki Hirata
4. KO-D Tag Team Titles: X & X Vs X & X

MAO and Kazuki Hirata have been chosen to compete in the vacant DDT Extreme Title match. MAO thinks it is fitting to be the next person to hold the title after Katsumata. Hirata understands that would be lovely story telling but that doesn’t matter because he is going to win it instead! He expects the match to be so exciting it will help Katsumata recover quicker.

Now in his 30s, Tetsuya Endo is starting to notice it takes longer for him to recover from his matches so it motivates him to see the next generation rise. That is why he wants to face Nick Wayne in a singles match for Wayne’s DDT debut in Japan to keep him sharp for Matt Cardona in July.

Sanshiro Takagi wants to team up with Eruption one time before Saki Akai’s retirement takes place. His King Of DDT match against Sakaguchi also inspired him to come up with the idea. Ryota Nakatsu is looking forward to facing Takagi because he likes fighting his bosses. Just ask Isami Kodaka in BASARA.

DDT “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2023”, 23/07/2023
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

1. Special Tag Match: Chiitan☆ & Pokotan Vs Andreza Giant Panda & Super Sasadango Machine
2. Dramatic Dream Match: Daisuke Sasaki Vs El Desperado
3. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Kazusada Higuchi, Ryota Nakatsu & Yuki Ishida (c) Vs Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani
4. DDT Universal Title: Tetsuya Endo (c) Vs Matt Cardona (w/ Steph De Lander)
5. KO-D Openweight Title: Yuji Hino (c) Vs Chris Brookes

One of Akai’s requests before she retires is try and win the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles with Eruption one more time. Takagi immediately put the match together for “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2023”.


DDT/ONLY WE “ONLY WE X DDT SPECIAL! ~YUJI HINO 20TH ANNIVERSARY EVENT~” Results

May 14, 2023

DDT/ONLY WE “ONLY WE X DDT SPECIAL! ~YUJI HINO 20TH ANNIVERSARY EVENT~”, 14/05/2023
Chiba TKP Garden City
241 Fans – Super No Vacancy

1. Hideki Okatani defeated Rukiya with a Running Elbow Butt (4:55).
2. Pheromones Vs DISASTER BOX!: Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno defeated Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata when Iino submitted Hirata with the Chiba Port Tower (9:34).
3. Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON defeated Shunma Katsumata, Yusuke Okada & Kazuma Sumi when KANON submitted Sumi with the Crucifixion Cobra Twist (7:54).
4. Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada defeated Hiroshi Yamato & Yuya Koroku when Brookes submitted Koroku with the Ground Octopus Stretch (6:10).
5. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Kazusada Higuchi, Ryota Nakatsu & Yuki Ishida defeated Shinya Aoki, Yuki Ueno & Super Sasadango Machine (c) when Ishida pinned Machine with the Flame Palm (14:09).
*Shinya Aoki, Yuki Ueno & Super Sasadango Machine fail in V2. Harimao becomes the 51st KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions!
6. Special Tag Match: Makoto Oishi & Shiori Asahi defeated MAO & Toy Kojima when Oishi pinned Kojima after the Cactus Flower (11:17).
7. Yuji Hino Debut 20th Anniversary Match: Yuji Hino, Jun Akiyama & Yukio Sakaguchi defeated Tetsuya Endo, HARASHIMA & Yuji Okabayashi when Hino pinned HARASHIMA with the Fuckin’ BOMB (21:46).

DDT played host to a celebration of Yuji Hino’s 20th anniversary of his debut match. Hino’s first pro match didn’t take place until November 2023 but according to Hino that just means there is time to do a 2nd, 3rd and even 4th show to continue the commemoration across the rest of the year. It’s not like ONLY WE will be doing anything else by themselves. He is already thinking about holding part two in Kumamoto. Hino convinced Jun Akiyama & Yukio Sakaguchi to team up with him for a big trios match against Tetsuya Endo, HARASHIMA & Yuji Okabayashi. His big day was capped off with him pinning HARASHIMA with the Fuckin’ BOMB.

The dream run for Shinya Aoki, Yuki Ueno & Super Sasadango Machine has come to an end. They have lost the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles to Harimao. It was Yuki Ishida who stepped up to the plate for the challengers to cause the title change. Sasadango gave Ishida the Lehmann Shock twice but the first pin was broken up and the second was kicked out at two. Ishida avoided the dreaded finisher a third time and opened the gap for Kazusada Higuchi to hit Sasadango with a Lariat. Ishida then hit the Flame Palm and scrambled on top to get the three count. Higuchi is now calling Harimao the best unit in DDT because they have the 6-Man Tag Titles. Ryota Nakatsu also gave a shoutout to Naomi Yoshimura.

Chris Brookes cut off Hiroshi Yamato’s singing entrance because he thought it was too noisy. However he & Takeshi Masada had a change of heart after they won their match and asked Yamato to sing it again for everyone.

A contract signing between Shunma Katsumata and Hideki Okatani before the show began revealed the stipulation of their DDT Extreme Title match. It will be a Piercing Death Match! It is a No DQ match where you can either win through normal means or by piercing your opponent’s ears three times. Many of the weapons that will be laid around the ring for the match will be of the sharp variety for this reason. Katsumata tried to attack Okatani’s ear with a piercing staple in a twisted demonstration but Okatani fought him off, grabbed the staple and pierced Katsumata’s ear instead!

It was announced at the start of the show that Nick Wayne’s delayed visit to Japan has been successfully rescheduled and he will now be coming in for a tour of DDT shows this summer. His tour begins at Korakuen Hall on 25th June and will last until 7th July.


Time To Catch Up

April 20, 2023

DDT “MAX BUMP 2023 TOUR IN FUKUOKA”, 22/04/2023
Fukuoka Kasuga General Sports Center

1. Sanshiro Takagi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Akito & Takeshi Masada
2. Fukuoka Specialty Special Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & KANON Vs Azul Dragon & Rukiya
3. Pheromones Vs DISASTER BOX!: Yuki “Not Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs HARASHIMA & Toru Owashi
4. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani Vs Yusuke Okada, Rayne Leverkusen & Kazuma Sumi
5. Ω Vs Harimao!: Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida
6. BURNING Vs The 37KAMIINA!: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yuya Koroku Vs MAO, Shunma Katsumata & Toy Kojima

Earlier this week Keigo Nakamura showed symptoms of a concussion but after examination is cleared to return to the ring after a week’s rest. As a precaution DDT has pulled him from all of their shows until 29th April. Rukiya replaces him on this Saturday’s Fukuoka show.

DDT “YAMADA FISHERIES PRESENTS 4.23 SHIBUSHI FISH MEAT DECISIVE BATTLE @ UNAGI STATION”, 23/04/2023
Kagoshima Shibushi City Unagi Station

1. Yusuke Okada Vs Takeshi Masada
2. Shunma Katsumata, Rayne Leverkusen & Kazuki Hirata Vs Makoto Oishi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani
3. The 37KAMIINA Vs DAMNATION T.A!: MAO & Toy Kojima Vs Daisuke Sasaki & KANON
4. Special Tag Match: Yuji Hino & Kazuma Sumi Vs Yuki “Not Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno
5. Shibushi Specialty Special 6-Man Tag Match: Shiro Koshinaka, Toru Owashi & Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Sanshiro Takagi, Tetsuya Endo & Yuya Koroku
6. Fish Vs Meat Full-Scale Battle! Special 6-Man Tag Match: Shishamo Power, Unagi Mask & Super Unagi Mask Vs Jun Akiyama, Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida

A couple of matches on Sunday’s show gets changed around too. Kazuma Sumi moves out of the opener to team with Yuji Hino. Rukiya is the odd man out so he is taken off the card so the match now becomes just Yusuke Okada against Takeshi Masada.

DDT “MEGA MAX BUMP 2023 IN YOKOHAMA”, 03/05/2023
Yokohama Budokan

0. Dark Match – Pheromones Vs D GENERATIONS Army Best Of 3 Singles Matches: Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno, Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari & Koju “Shining Ball” Takeda Vs Yuki Ishida, Ilusion & Rukiya
1. Keigo Nakamura & Munetatsu Nakamura Vs Toy Kojima & Kazuma Sumi
2. Daisuke Sasaki, Minoru Fujita & MJ Paul Vs Soma Takao, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku
3. Dance Vs Kickboxing Mixed Martial Arts Challenge: Kazuki Hirata Vs Hikaru Machida (Round Girl: Sayuri Namba)
4. Chiitan☆ Debut Match ~ Special 6-Man Tag Match: Chiitan☆, Toru Owashi & Akito Vs Chris Brookes, Masahito Takanashi & Antonio Honda
5. International Special Single Match: Saki Akai Vs Rayne Leverkusen
6. International Special Tag Match: Yuki Ueno & Yuni Vs Van Vert Jack & Takeshi Masada
7. Road To King Of DDT 2023 Special 8-Man Tag Match: Sanshiro Takagi, HARASHIMA, Kotaro Suzuki & Hideki Okatani Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Sakaguchi, Naruki Doi & KANON
8. DDT Extreme Title – TLC (Toys, Ladders & Chairs) Match: Jun Akiyama (c) Vs Shunma Katsumata
9. DDT Universal Title: Tetsuya Endo (c) Vs MAO
10. KO-D Openweight Title: Yuji Hino (c) Vs Yuki “Not Sexy” Iino

So far Yuki Iino has passed every test to prove he is “Not Sexy” enough to deserve a KO-D Openweight Title match. His latest test took place at the contract signing two days ago. At first he showed up wearing a Louis Vuitton suit worth about 2 million yen. Makoto Oishi’s Sexy Counter device started alerting him that something sexy was going on. Oishi scanned Iino and discovered he was wearing inappropriate underwear beneath his suit. However Yuji Hino pointed out this wasn’t a a wrestling match so Iino is not breaking any rules. Both the champion and challenger signed the contract for their match. However there are four DDT shows still to take place before 3rd May. Iino needs to remain “Not Sexy” in the ring until then otherwise the title match will be cancelled. Oishi promised to follow Pheromones for every one of those shows to continue judging Iino.

Shunma Katsumata came up with the TLC Match to make Jun Akiyama feel pain he has never felt before in his over 30 years in wrestling. He is encouraging his fans to mail in toys for him to use in the TLC Match. In response to this Akiyama asked if he will be allowed to use Toy Kojima as a weapon because Kojima has the word “Toy” written on his tights. Katsumata hates that idea because he cares so much for Kojima. He tried to call him on the phone to prove it but got no answer. Akiyama then called Kojima on his own phone and he didn’t have to wait long for Kojima to pick up his phone. Akiyama simply ordered Kojima to be at the show on 3rd May.

Unfortunately Nick Wayne’s trip to Japan for DDT has been called off due to delays in his visa being issued. He is unable to get it sorted in time to wrestle on the show. Vent Vert Jack from the MY WAY promotion will be Wayne’s replacement. Jack has a bit of recent history with Yuni from wrestling each other on DDT. Oddly enough their match in January 2022 happened outside of the DDTeeeen!! brand.

Before Nakamura got injured, he was used as Chiitan’s training partner for the mascot’s debut. Chiitan learned to do the Shining Wizard during its training. I can assure you that’s not the reason why Nakamura got injured!

The Dance Vs Kickboxing MMA between Kazuki Hirata and Hikaru Machida bout now has a round girl assigned to the bout. Sayuri Namba, the ring announcer for Tokyo Joshi Pro was chosen to be the round girl based on her having previous experience in the role for RIZIN. She promised to practice walking around to get herself ready because the fight is scheduled to last 15 rounds.

Kenta Kobashi will be on the show as a special guest commentator for the main event.

DDT/ONLY WE “ONLY WE X DDT SPECIAL! ~YUJI HINO 20TH ANNIVERSARY EVENT~”, 14/05/2023
Chiba TKP Garden City

1. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Shinya Aoki, Yuki Ueno & Super Sasadango Machine (c) Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Ryota Nakatsu & Yuki Ishida
2. Yuji Hino Debut 20th Anniversary Match: Yuji Hino, Jun Akiyama & Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Tetsuya Endo, HARASHIMA & X

A bunch of big names are gathering together for Yuji Hino’s 20th Anniversary match. There’s one more left to be revealed too. Could it be somebody attached to ONLY WE?

Now that the big hometown defence is done with, Super Sasadango Machine would be more than happy to give away the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles to another team that deserves it. However Shinya Aoki & Yuki Ueno don’t agree and both want to continue defending the belts. Harimao have stepped up to be their next challengers. They want to win any of the KO-D championships because to them KO-D means “King Of Dosukoi”.

DDT “DDT TANABATA SPECIAL 2023 IN SHINJUKU”, 07/07/2023
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. KANON Debut 4th Anniversary Match: KANON Vs X

KANON has only spent one of his four years in wrestling with DDT but he’s still part of the family. DDT is going to celebrate his 4th Anniversary even if he might not be in the mood to be part of it.