Max Heart Round 2, SAGAT’s 10th Anniversary, Monoboke Death Match, No Fee Rumble

January 16, 2023

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “THE 3RD “FUTARI WA PRINCESS” MAX HEART TOURNAMENT”, 19/01/2023
Shinjuku FACE

1. Hikari Noa Vs Wakana Uehara
2. Mizuki & Mahiro Kiryu Vs Nao Kakuta & HIMAWARI
3. Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh & Yuki Kamifuku Vs Yuki Aino, Raku & Pom Harajuku
4. “Futari wa Princess” Max Heart Tournament – Round 2D: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao Vs Haruna Neko & Kaya Toribami
5. “Futari wa Princess” Max Heart Tournament – Round 2A: Moka Miyamoto & Juria Nagano Vs Suzume & Arisu Endo
6. “Futari wa Princess” Max Heart Tournament – Round 2C: Saki Akai & Yuki Arai Vs Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe

Round 2 of the Max Heart Tournament has already begun but the majority of the matches will take place here. Kyoraku Kyomei takes on Haruna Neko & Kaya Toribami, Karate Tag faces Daisy Monkey and Reiwa AA Cannon meets Daydream in the main event.

Wakana Uehara gets another big singles match this time against Hikari Noa. Uehara will have new ring gear.

BASARA “BASARA 208 ~HATAAGE ANNIVERSARY~”, 21/01/2023
Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall

1. Daichi Kazato & Lil’ Kraken Vs Tsutomu Oosugi & Banana Senga
2. Takumi Tsukamoto, Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino Vs FUMA, KUBITO & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi
3. SAGAT 10th Anniversary Match: SAGAT Vs Hideyoshi Kamitani
4. Ryuichi Sekine & Daiki Shimomura Vs Ryota Nakatasu & Fuminori Abe
5. Union MAX Title: Isami Kodaka (c) Vs Yasu Urano

To celebrate his 10th anniversary in wrestling, SAGAT takes on Hideyoshi Kamitani from Big Japan. They’ve only been in the same match together once for an Elimination Tag held on a BJW show last July. SAGAT enjoyed the experience of fighting Kamitani so much he’s been wanting a singles match against him ever since. BASARA was able to put it together for his special occasion.

DDT “SWEET DREAMS! 2023 TOUR IN YOKOHAMA”, 21/01/2023
Yokohama Radiant Hall

1. KANON & MJ Paul Vs Yuya Koroku & Kazuma Sumi
2. Yuki Ueno, Toi Kojima & Shinichiro Kawamatsu Vs Sanshiro Takagi, Akito & Makoto Oishi
3. HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Soma Takao, Keigo Nakamura & Takeshi Masada
4. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Kazusada Higuchi, Yuki Ishida & Chris Brookes Vs Yuji Hino, Yukio Naya & Hideki Okatani
5. Yokohama Two Major Singles Match I: Yusuke Okada Vs Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno
6. Yokohama Two Major Singles Match II: Tetsuya Endo Vs Yuki “Sexy” Iino
7. DDT Extreme Title – Monoboke Death Match: Jun Akiyama (c) Vs Antonio Honda

The goal of the Monoboke Death Match is for Antonio Honda to make Jun Akiyama laugh. Every time Honda kicks out of a pin or uses a rope break to escape a submission, he gets to make a joke. If he can get Akiyama to laugh three times he will win the match. Akiyama on the other hand needs to beat Honda by pinfall or submission three times in order to successfully defend the DDT Extreme Title.

If Daisuke Sasaki ends his self-imposed exile and shows up he will be booked for a match. The undercard will be changed around as a result.

MAO & Shunma Katsumata will not be at the show because they will be wrestling in California for Prestige that same day.

GANBARE☆PRO “TRANSPORTER 2023”, 28/01/2023
Tokyo Oji BASEMENT MON☆STAR

1. Young Ganbare Cup: Yumehito Imanari (2) Vs Kentaro Hachisu (2)
2. Young Ganbare Cup: Yuki Kanzaki (0) Vs Munetatsu Nakamura (0)
3. Yuna Manase Vs Yoshiko Hasegawa
4. GanPro Specialty! Mixed 6-Man Tag Match: Keisuke Ishii, Shota & YuuRI Vs Soma Takao, Shinichiro Tominaga & HARUKAZE
5. Mizuki Watase & Tyson Maeguchi Vs Ken Ohka & Thanomsak Toba

Soma Takao is feeling a little lost in DDT lately but in Ganbare☆Pro he has Shota on his mind. The former ROMANCE DAWN partners are on opposite sides for another tag match.

GANBARE☆PRO “SHUICHIRO KATSUMURA PRODUCE”, 28/01/2023
Tokyo Oji BASEMENT MON☆STAR

1. GanPro Specialty! Mixed 6-Man Tag Match: Ken Ohka, Maori Kawashima & YuuRI Vs Yumehito Imanari, Shinichiro Tominaga & Moeka Haruhi
2. Special Single Match ~Baptism Of GanPro~: Takuya Wada Vs X
3. 3-Man Grappling Match: Shuichiro Katsumura Vs Munetatsu Nakamura, HARUKAZE & X
4. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Shuichiro Katsumura, Tsuyoshi Okada & Tyson Maeguchi Vs HARASHIMA, Mizuki Watase & Keisuke Ishii

Former Pancrase fighter Takuya Wada makes his Ganpro debut on a show that is being booked by a former Shooto fighter. Speaking of Shuichiro Katsumura, he is bringing in one of his pro wrestling buddies Maori Kawashima for a match too.

GANBARE☆PRO “GANBARE☆PRO WRESTLING PLAYERS ASSOCIATION PERFORMANCE”, 28/01/2023
Tokyo Oji BASEMENT MON☆STAR

1. Young Ganbare Cup: Yumehito Imanari (2) Vs Yuki Kanzaki (0)
2. Young Ganbare Cup: Kentaro Hachisu (2) Vs Munetatsu Nakamura (0)
3. Yuna Manase & YuuRI Vs Moeka Haruhi & Itsuki Aoki
4. Oji Specialty GanPro Style Survival 8-Man Tag Match: Mizuki Watase, Ken Ohka, Shuichiro Katsumura & Soma Takao Vs Keisuke Ishii, Shota, Shinichiro Tominaga & Hartley Jackson

Itsuki Aoki is coming over for a Ganbare☆Joshi tag match.

DDT “SWEET DREAMS! 2023”, 29/01/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. D GENERATIONS CUP – A Block: Hideki Okatani Vs Kazuma Sumi
2. D GENERATIONS CUP – B Block: Keigo Nakamura Vs Takeshi Masada
3. No Fee Rumble: Sanshiro Takagi & Fuminori Abe Vs X & X
4. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Tetsuya Endo, Kotaro Suzuki & Yusuke Okada (c) Vs Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno & Koju “Shining Ball” Takeda
5. KO-D Tag Team Titles: MAO & Shunma Katsumata (c) Vs Makoto Oishi & Shiori Asahi
6. KO-D Openweight Title: Kazusada Higuchi (c) Vs Yuji Hino

Bonno Dai Shacho are taking a page out of their predecessor’s playbook. They want to break barriers and fight against opponents from all over the Japanese wrestling scene from the indies right down to the most obscure corners of the industry. In order to do that Sanshiro Takagi & Fuminori Abe are looking for teams to enter the No Fee Rumble. It will not cost teams anything to apply for entry. However they will not get paid for taking part either unless they happen to win.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “THE 3RD “FUTARI WA PRINCESS” MAX HEART TOURNAMENT”, 29/01/2023
Saitama Kasukabe Fureai Cube

1. “Futari wa Princess” Max Heart Tournament – Semi-Final: Winners Of Match 2A Vs Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh
2. “Futari wa Princess” Max Heart Tournament – Semi-Final: Winners Of Match 2C Vs Winners Of Match 2D

The winners of Karate Tag versus Daisy Monkey will face 121000000 in the semi-final.

DDT “FRIENDSHIP, EFFORT, VICTORY IN NAGOYA 2023”, 18/02/2023
Aichi Nagoya International Conference Center Event Hall

1. D GENERATIONS CUP – A Block: Hideki Okatani Vs Yuya Koroku
2. D GENERATIONS CUP – B Block: Toi Kojima Vs Takeshi Masada
3. DDT Extreme Title: Jun Akiyama (c) Vs X
4. DDT Universal Title: Naruki Doi (c) Vs KANON

Sasaki has gone missing because Naruki Doi won the DDT Universal Title from Yuki Ueno instead of him. KANON stepped forward as the first challenger expecting his leader to be the new champion. He committed to challenge Doi anyway because he now thinks winning the title from him will cheer Sasaki up and bring him out of hiding.

Kotaro Suzuki, Kip Sabian, Penelope Ford and Shinya Ishida will all be on the show.


“NEW YEAR’S EVE PRO WRESTLING 2022 ~TOSHIWASURE! SHUFFLE 6-MAN TAG TOURNAMENT~” Results

December 31, 2022

“NEW YEAR’S EVE PRO WRESTLING 2022 ~TOSHIWASURE! SHUFFLE 6-MAN TAG TOURNAMENT~”, 31/12/2022
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
615 Fans – No Vacancy

1. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1: MAO, Yuya Aoki & Yuko Miyamoto defeated Yukio Naya, Hideyoshi Kamitani & Kikutaro when MAO pinned Kikutaro after a Double Choke Slam from Naya & Kamitani (8:06).
2. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1: Kazusada Higuchi, Kota Sekifuda & MUSASHI Vs Chris Brookes, Daisuke Sekimoto & Isami Kodaka ended in a Time Limit Draw (10:00).
2a. Overtime – 1 Count Fall Rule: Kazusada Higuchi, Kota Sekifuda & MUSASHI defeated Chris Brookes, Daisuke Sekimoto & Isami Kodaka when Higuchi pinned Brookes with a Cradle Turnback (1:03).
3. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1: Yuki Ueno, Daichi Hashimoto & Yuma Aoyagi defeated Tetsuya Endo, Yasufumi Nakanoue & Brahman Shu (w/ Brahman Kei) when Aoyagi pinned Kei with a School Boy (7:58).
4. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1: HARASHIMA, Yuki Ishikawa & Masashi Takeda defeated Takeshi Masada, Takuya Nomura & Masato Tanaka when Takeda pinned Masada with the Reverse U Crash (8:31).
5. Ryuji Ito, Abdullah Kobayashi, Jaki Numazawa & Kankuro Hoshino defeated Danshoku Dieno, Antonio Honda, Kazuki Hirata & Shunma Katsumata when Ito pinned Hirata with the Biribiri Dragon Splash (14:27).
6. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Semi Final: MAO, Yuya Aoki & Yuko Miyamoto defeated Kazusada Higuchi, Kota Sekifuda & MUSASHI when Aoki pinned Sekifuda with the Blue Storm (10:15).
7. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Semi Final: Yuki Ueno, Daichi Hashimoto & Yuma Aoyagi defeated HARASHIMA, Yuki Ishikawa & Masashi Takeda when Ueno pinned Ishikawa with the Rolling Guillotine Ace Crusher (11:16).
8. Special 8-Man Tag Match: Konosuke Takeshita, Drew Parker, Cara Noir & RSP defeated Yuji Okabayashi, Kazumi Kikuta, Takuho Kato & Kazumasa Yoshida when Takeshita pinned Yoshida with the Zahi (15:23).
9. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Final: Yuki Ueno, Daichi Hashimoto & Yuma Aoyagi defeated MAO, Yuya Aoki & Yuko Miyamoto when Hashimoto pinned MAO with the Rising DDT (19:21).

Last year’s tournament being built around trios matches was kept around for this year’s edition. Each team featured one DDT wrestler, one Big Japan wrestler and one wild card all of which were random combinations. For everyone involved it was their last chance to grab some glory in the ring before the new year begins.

Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1

Ika Ra Takeshi Ki Asu Manji Hai (Driver’s High) Vs Big Bombers

The atmosphere of the show was set early by the team called Big Bombers. Their entrance included a video of MAO, Yuya Aoki & Yuko Miyamoto all travelling together for a road trip on motorbikes. Their opponents attempted to use a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors to determine who starts but Kikutaro misunderstood. He thought it was just a charade to jump Big Bombers while they weren’t looking so he charged them on his own and got beaten up for it. Kikutaro had even more bad luck, the worse of which involved MAO manipulating Yukio Naya & Hideyoshi Kamitani into Double Choke Slamming their own partner. MAO slipped in for the pin afterward to keep his team’s road trip going.

Team 2023 Vs Super J Cups

The only time limit draw on the show took place in the second match. The Super J Cups are called that because it is a trio of junior heavyweight champions. Supposedly. Kazusada Higuchi’s weight was announced in the venue as 99.999999kg so he was really pushing it. Higuchi spent the end of the match fighting with Daisuke Sekimoto too so nobody was complaining about getting to see that heavyweight battle. It built up to Sekimoto leading Chris Brookes & Isami Kodaka into a Triple Topé Suicida aimed at Higuchi, Kota Sekifuda & MUSASHI. The time limit was reached right when Sekimoto gave Higuchi the German Suplex. When overtime began Sekimoto went straight for the pin but Higuchi kicked out immediately. Brookes tagged in and caught Higuchi in a Prawn Hold. However Higuchi reversed the move and rolled himself on top of Brookes to steal the 1 Count pin needed to win.

Zero Hyaku Vs BraNoue In The Sky With Diamonds

If there is one thing everyone knows about The Brahman Brothers its that they like to stay clean, am I right? Tetsuya Endo & Yasufumi Nakanoue shared their concerns and carried around disinfectant spray. Oh, the two of them were also Brahman-ised and happy to take part in their cheating during the match. Yuma Aoyagi fought back by covering his arms with the metal hoses and Lariating both Brahmans but he ended up pinning Brahman Kei by mistake so the match continued. Nakanoue placed a stake up to Yuki Ueno’s butt (after disinfecting the butt first of course) and Brahman Shu hit it with a chairshot. The gameplan then fell apart due to miscommunication. Endo accidentally hit Kei over the head with a steel tray and then the suitcase thrown by Nakanoue hit Shu instead of Aoyagi. It ended up costing them the match and Zero Hyaku advanced at their expense.

Emi Chichichi (Wara Chichichi) Vs Team Kansai

Round 1 almost closed out with a little bit of death match flavour. Masashi Takeda brought out a pair of scissors which annoyed the referee Yukinori Matsui. When that was taken away we were left with a match on the regular level of danger. I mean Takeda and Masato Tanaka were still on opposite sides of the ring here. We also had HARASHIMA and Takuya Nomura trading kicks against each other. Takeshi Masada though ended up getting the worst of everything. He took a Swan Dive Body Press from HARASHIMA, a Double Stomp from Yuki Ishikawa and was finished off with the Takeda’s Reverse U Crash.

Non-Tournament 8-Man Tag Match

DDT and Big Japan got threw some of their veterans together for an inter-promotional 8-Man Tag. Danshoku Dieno was back to his old self looking for men in the audience to kiss during his entrance. Shunma Katsumata took to taunting Ryuji Ito when the opportunity presented itself. Antonio Honda tried to tell a Gongitsune joke but Jaki Numazawa cut him off so he could tell his own jokes. Gongitsune groaned after every punchline. Kazuki Hirata put on the Hirata GO! glasses and danced until Kankuro Hoshino placed fox ears over his head. The music changed to “What Does The Fox Say” and the two danced until Hirata realised what was going on and fainted. Dieno set himself up in the Hell Gate position in the corner to charge up his teammate’s attacks. Abdullah Kobayashi then revealed he has the same ability, it only works once every four years. Kobayashi then formed his own Hell Gate. Ito placed a steel plate over his chest, used Kobayashi to charge it up and then did the Dragon Splash onto Hirata to give Big Japan the win. Ito declared Big Japan as the winners of the feud against DDT but Dieno refused to accept defeat. Ito and Dieno threw challenges at each other and both left the ring in a huff.

Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Semi Final

Ika Ra Takeshi Ki Asu Manji Hai (Driver’s High) Vs Super J Cups

People still didn’t believe that Higuchi is a junior heavyweight so he tried vaulting the top rope along with his tag partners. The whole thing didn’t work because Sekifuda & MUSASHI were both pulled down and Higuchi tripped. The Driver’s High team capitalised and all three hit Handspring Back Elbows to the opposition. Sekifuda recovered and keep trying to go for the win until Aoki cut him off and stole the win with the Blue Storm.

Zero Hyaku Vs Emi Chichichi (Wara Chichichi)

The death match flavour did show up in this match. Takeda took out his scissors again but put them away, promising to fight fair. Zero Hyaku had a lot of communication problems when Ueno tried to direct Hashimoto & Aoyagi into setting up a Triple Power Bomb properly. The match then broke down when chairs were brought into the ring. Ishikawa and even HARASHIMA threw chairshots at their opponents. Ueno took the chair and hit HARASHIMA with it. Takeda then pulled out a stapler and stapled a show poster onto Ueno’s chest! Ueno got his revenge by stapling the poster onto Ishikawa’s forehead and then pinning him with the Rolling Guillotine Ace Crusher.

Special 8-Man Tag Match

Before the final could take place there was another non-tournament match to get through. Konosuke Takeshita led a team of foreign wrestlers against Yuji Okabayashi and his band of Strong BJ fighters. The DDT related side won this one. Everything was built up to Takeshita, Drew Parker and RSP doing stereo Swanton Bombs along with the Fable on Kazumi Kikuta, Takuho Kato & Kazumasa Yoshida. Takeshita then pinned Yoshida with the Zahi. After the match backstage RSP said he first wrestled in Japan for Big Japan but now he considers himself part if DDT. Takeshita thinks 2023 will see the full return of wrestlers travelling everywhere around the world. Cara Noir did not say anything. Okabayashi is impressed by how much Takeshita has improved since the last time they fought. However he is also happy with the knowledge that his Chops are still effective against Takeshita. Kikuta told the DDT team not to get carried away just because they won. Kato spoke about Parker’s success since leaving Big Japan. He considers himself close to Parker because they are the same age and their birthdays are only a few days apart. Yoshida was happy to get to fight Takeshita.

Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Final

Ika Ra Takeshi Ki Asu Manji Hai (Driver’s High) Vs Zero Hyaku

The final came down to this. The Driver’s High team came out all wearing gear matching with Miyamoto’s. Late in the match MAO & Aoki focused on Missile attacks to Hashimoto until the tables turned. Ueno caught MAO with the Dropkick, Aoyagi hit the Rockstar Buster and Hashimoto hit the Shining Wizard. MAO kicked out of both at one so Hashimoto had to drop him with the Rising DDT, crowning Zero Hyaku as the tournament winners!

The winners received their prize from Sayoko Mita. Aoyagi was happy to win because this was his first New Year’s Eve show. Hashimoto said the team went from Zero to Hyaku! Ueno admitted he never expected Hashimoto to be so mischievous and Aoyagi to be so nice. He doesn’t know what to expect in 2023 but the three of them will continue to change pro wrestling. Aoyagi wants the three of them to reunite for next year’s tournament but he was told it can only happen if the random lottery somehow pairs the three of them together again.

Japan Indie Grand Prix Awards 2022

MVP

1. Kazusada Higuchi
2. Drew Parker
3. Fujita Jr. Hayato
4. Konosuke Takeshita
5. Yumehito Imanari

Best Bout

1. MUSASHI Vs Fujita Jr. Hayato (Michinoku Pro, 1st July)
2. Jun Kasai Vs El Desperado (JUST TAP OUT, 12th September)
3. Hartley Jackson Vs Mizuki Watase (Ganbare☆Pro, th )
4. Drew Parker Vs Masashi Takeda (FREEDOMS, 16th November)
5. Konosuke Takeshita Vs Tetsuya Endo (DDT, 20th March)

Best Unit

1. Pheromones
2. The 37KAMIINA
3. Astronauts
4. CDK
5. Speed Of Sounds

Best Box Office

1. Big Japan @ Yokohama Budokan, 5th May
2. Ganbare☆Pro @ Ota Ward Gymnasium, 10th July
3. Michinoku Pro @ Korakuen Hall, 1st July
4. FREEDOMS @ Yokohama Budokan, 3rd May
5. DDT @ Ryogoku Kokugikan, 20th March

Best Newcomer

1. Daiju Wakamatsu
2. Yukio Naya
3. Takeshi Masada
4. HARUKAZE
5. Jun Masaoka


“NEW YEAR’S EVE WRESTLING 2020 ~TOSHIWASHURE! SHUFFLE TAG TOURNAMENT” Results

December 31, 2020

“NEW YEAR’S EVE WRESTLING 2020 ~TOSHIWASHURE! SHUFFLE TAG TOURNAMENT”, 31/12/2020
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
520 Fans

1. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Yuji Okabayashi & HARASHIMA defeated Yuya Aoki & Yukio Naya when Okabayashi submitted Naya with the Argentine Backbreaker (8:53).
2. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Akira Hyodo & Makoto Oishi Vs Takuya Nomura & Konosuke Takeshita ended in a Time Limit Draw (10:00).
2a. Overtime – 1 Count Fall Rules: Takuya Nomura & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Akira Hyodo & Makoto Oishi when Nomura pinned Hyodo with a Rollover Inverted Cross Armbreaker (2:32).
3. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Yasufumi Nakanoue & Yuki Ueno defeated Drew Parker & Danshoku Dieno when Ueno pinned Dieno with a School Boy (7:35).
4. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Daisuke Sekimoto & Tetsuya Endo defeated Hideyoshi Kamitani & Chris Brookes when Sekimoto pinned Kamitani with the German Suplex (7:04).
5. Fluorescent Lighttube Death Match: Ryuji Ito defeated Shunma Katsumata with the Dragon Splash (11:01).
6. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi Final: Yuji Okabayashi & HARASHIMA Vs Takuya Nomura & Konosuke Takeshita ended in a Time Limit Draw (15:00).
6a. Overtime – 1 Count Fall Rules: Yuji Okabayashi & HARASHIMA defeated Takuya Nomura & Konosuke Takeshita when HARASHIMA pinned Takeshita with a Jackknife Pin (0:26).
7. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi Final: Yasufumi Nakanoue & Yuki Ueno defeated Daisuke Sekimoto & Tetsuya Endo when Nakanoue pinned Sekimoto with the Lariat (8:10).
8. New Year’s Wrestling 2020 Special 8-Man Tag Match: Yukio Sakaguchi, Kazuki Hashimoto, Daichi Hashimoto & Kazusada Higuchi defeated Takuho Kato, Yuki Ishikawa, Keigo Nakamura & Hideki Okatani when Hashimoto pinned Okatani with the Falcon Arrow (13:35).
9. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Final: Yuji Okabayashi & HARASHIMA defeated Yasufumi Nakanoue & Yuki Ueno when Okabayashi pinned Nakanoue with the Golem Splash (17:50).

The annual New Year’s Eve show was a much smaller affair in 2020. Safety precautions meant the show took place earlier in the day and would not roll over into the end of year countdown. The Shuffle Tag Tournament between DDT and Big Japan was also reduced to 8 teams instead of the usual 16.

Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1

Smile Pissari Vs HOT Real JAPAN

Two super heavyweights collided when Yuji Okabayashi and Yukio Naya stood face to face from each other. HARASHIMA kept Yuya Aoki away so Naya spent most of the match in the ring. He got some good shots in with Knee Strikes but Okabayashi cut him off with a Lariat and made him submit to the Argentine Backbreaker. Naya said he wants to fight Okabayashi again. Aoki was apologetic for not getting to help his tag partner more.

170cm Vs Nomutake

It only took until the second match for overtime sudden death rules to kick in. Konosuke Takeshita and Makoto Oishi were scrambling over each other in the dying seconds of the match. When time expired, One Count Fall rules came into play for the restart. Takuya Nomura put Akira Hyodo in a Cross Armbreaker and rolled him onto his shoulders to get the pin. At least Hyodo thought he and Oishi worked well as a team given their age difference.

Nakanoueno Vs Sodomy & Scars

Things got cheeky in Match #3. Danshoku Dieno accidentally put Drew Parker in the Lip Lock. Parker later accidentally pulled down Dieno’s tights to reveal he was wearing a diaper underneath because he still has not recovered from the CO2 attack to his rear end last week. Still he went into the Hell Gate position but Yuki Ueno Dropkicked him in the butt. Yasufumi Nakanoue rushed over to give Parker the Lip Lock while Ueno pinned Dieno with a School Boy. Dieno said afterward there are two kinds of butts in the world. Those that are for entertainment and those that are not.

Daisuke In The Sky Vs LINE Tomodachi

Round 1 ended with Daisuke Sekimoto & Tetsuya Endo defeating Hideyoshi Kamitani & Chris Brookes. It went back and forth until Endo gave Brookes the Tetsuya In The Sky and Sekimoto pinned Kamitani with the German Suplex. Brookes threatened to remove Kamitani from their LINE group backstage but Kamitani convinced him to give him one more chance.

Fluorescent Lighttube Death Match

The first of two non-tournament matches was the long awaited lighttube death match between Ryuji Ito and Shunma Katsumata. Lighttubes, thumbtacks, Lego, a barbed wire bat and even sauna stones were used as weapons. Ito came out on top in the end but he praised Katsumata for keeping up with death matches, especially this week’s schedule. He doesn’t likes saunas though because they are too hot. Katsumata tells him everyone says that at first but they always end up liking it.

Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi Final

Smile Pissari Vs Nomutake

The semi finals began and one of them went into extra time. Okabayashi came out wearing a similar entrance robe as HARASHIMA. Nomura wanted to get into a kick battle with HARASHIMA so that is what he got. In the final minutes, Okabayashi and Takeshita both went down from a Lariat but only Okabayashi got to tag out. HARASHIMA went for the Somato and Takeshita avoided it before the bell rang for a time limit draw. At the restart, HARASHIMA kicked Takeshita’s injured arm, followed with a Thrust Kick to the face and pinned him for the one count with a Jackknife. Nomura would like to team with Takeshita again but he doesn’t know if his regular tag partner Fuminori Abe would approve of it. Takeshita then suggested he could fight against Nomura & Abe.

Nakanoueno Vs Daisuke In The Sky

The tag synergy continued with Sekimoto & Endo wearing each other’s entrance robes. After a Double Torture Rack spot, Endo encouraged Sekimoto to German Suplex him and Ueno together. Ueno slipped out and landed on his feet while Endo took the full brunt of the move. Ueno hit Sekimoto with a Frog Splash and Nakanoue won with a big Lariat. Sekimoto apologised to Endo over and over backstage. He admits his wife tells him he is too careless all the time. Endo promised to improve his fingertip strength so his clutch will get stronger.

New Year’s Wrestling 2020 Special 8-Man Tag Match

The young boys were fed to the grizzly old veterans but they didn’t go down without a fight. Yuki Ishikawa stepped in as a last minute replacement for Kosuke Sato because of injury. Takuho Kato set Keigo Nakamura up to do the Exquisite Moonsault on Kazuki Hashimoto. A nearfall then came when Hideki Okatani gave Kazuki the Northern Lights Suplex. Eruption cut them off and Daichi Hashimoto took over. He resisted Okatani’s chops and pinned him with the Falcon Arrow.

Shuffle Tag Tournament – Final

Smile Pissari Vs Nakanoueno

The final turned out to be a preview of Big Japan’s 2nd January main event with Okabayashi and Nakanoue squaring off. The match started off with them and ended with them. Ueno wiped out HARASHIMA with a Tornillo leading to the Big Japan pair to take it home. Nakanoue hit the Diving Elbow but HARASHIMA broke the pin and hit a Somato into the corner. Okabayashi got a nearfall with a Power Bomb. He then had to use the Golem Splash to get the three count and win the tournament with HARASHIMA! He thanked HARASHIMA for teaming with him and also for the entrance robe. HARASHIMA hopes to keep up with Okabayashi in 2021. Nakanoue & Ueno were happy with their performances considering they never teamed together before today. Maybe they have Osaka Power of love and friendship.

Japan Indie Grand Prix Awards 2020

MVP
1. Minoru Fujita
2. Tetsuya Endo
3. Toru Sugiura
4. Fuminori Abe
5. Daichi Hashimoto

Best Bout
1. Tetsuya Endo Vs Daisuke Sasaki (DDT, 3rd November)
2. Ryuji Ito Vs Minoru Fujita (Big Japan, 29th August)
3. Yuji Okabayashi Vs Daisuke Sekimoto (Big Japan, 23rd November)
4. Onryo Vs Yuko Miyamoto (666, 27th June)
5. Masashi Takeda Vs Daisuke Masaoka (FREEDOMS, 10th November)

Best Unit
1. Astronauts
2. Eruption
3. unchain
4. DAMNATION
5. Wataridori Rengo

Best Box Office
1. Big Japan at Yokohama Bunka Gymnasium, 29th August
2. Hiragana Muscle at Tokyo Korakuen Hall, 9th November
3. DDT at Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium, 3rd November
4. Big Japan at Yokohama Bunka Gymnasium, 30th August
5. Hiragan Muscle at Tokyo Shinagawa The Grand Hall, 21st September

Best Newcomer
1. Rina Yamashita
2. Shunma Katsumata
3. Jun Akiyama
4. Yuki Ishikawa
5. Hideki Okatani


“NEW YEAR’S EVE WRESTLING 2019 ~TOSHIWASHURE! SHUFFLE TAG TOURNAMENT” Results

December 31, 2019

“NEW YEAR’S EVE WRESTLING 2019 ~TOSHIWASHURE! SHUFFLE TAG TOURNAMENT”, 31/12/2019
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,232 Fans – No Vacancy

1. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Konosuke Takeshita & Hideyoshi Kamitani defeated Daichi Hashimoto & Akito when Kamitani pinned Akito with the Loyly Diving Elbow Drop (9:36).
2. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Yasufumi Nakanoue & Yuki Iino defeated Yukio Sakaguchi & Kazuki Hashimoto when Nakanoue pinned Hashimoto with a Lariat (6:27).
3. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: HARASHIMA & Yuya Aoki defeated El Lindaman & Yukio Naya when Aoki pinned Lindaman with a Tiger Suplex (9:08).
4. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Daisuke Sekimoto & Chris Brookes defeated Yuji Okabayashi & Antonio Honda when Brookes submitted Honda with the Octopus Stretch (8:48).
5. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Ryuichi Kawakami & T-Hawk Vs Soma Takao & Kota Sekifuda ended in a Time Limit Draw (10:00).
5a. Overtime – 1 Count Fall Rules: Ryuichi Kawakami & T-Hawk defeated Soma Takao & Kota Sekifuda when T-Hawk pinned Sekifuda with the Cerberus (1:02).
6. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Tetsuya Endo & Takuya Nomura defeated Brahman Kei & Naomi Yoshimura when Endo pinned Kei with the Puma Toke de Espaldas (7:07).
7. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Yuko Miyamoto & Daisuke Sasaki defeated Yuki Ueno & Takuho Kato when Sasaki submitted Ueno with the Cross Facelock (7:07).
8. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1 – Lighttube Death Match: Takumi Tsukamoto & Kankuro Hoshino defeated Toshiyuki Sakuda & Shunma Katsumata when Tsukamoto pinned Katsumata with the Suffocation Zudon (7:45).
9. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Yasufumi Nakanoue & Yuki Iino defeated Konosuke Takeshita & Hideyoshi Kamitani when Iino pinned Kamitani with the Spear (8:31).
10. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Daisuke Sekimoto & Chris Brookes defeated HARASHIMA & Yuya Aoki when Sekimoto pinned Aoki with a Lariat (9:03).
11. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Tetsuya Endo & Takuya Nomura defeated Ryuichi Kawakami & T-Hawk when Nomura pinned Kawakami with a Cross Legged Cradle (7:44).
12. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Yuko Miyamoto & Daisuke Sasaki defeated Takumi Tsukamoto & Kankuro Hoshino when Sasaki submitted Hoshino with the Cross Facelock (6:33).
13. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi Final: Tetsuya Endo & Takuya Nomura defeated Yasufumi Nakanoue & Yuki Iino when Endo pinned Iino with the Shooting Star Press (8:01).
14. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi Final: Daisuke Sekimoto & Chris Brookes defeated Yuko Miyamoto & Daisuke Sasaki when Sekimoto pinned Sasaki with the German Suplex (6:45).
15. New Year’s Eve! Defeat Hunger! Very Funny! Special 6-Man Tag Match: Abdullah Kobayashi, Danshoku Dieno & Super Sasadango Machine defeated Tatsuhiko Yoshino, Drew Parker & Mizuki Watase when Kobayashi pinned Watase with the Bakachinga Elbow Drop (8:50).
16. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Final: Tetsuya Endo & Takuya Nomura defeated Daisuke Sekimoto & Chris Brookes when Nomura pinned Sekimoto with the Dragon Suplex (17:19).

A flu pandemic didn’t stop Big Japan from joining up with DDT for the annual New Year’s Eve Wrestling party. In the runup to the show six wrestlers fell ill and had to pull out of the show. While it was a shame that they couldn’t be here it did open up slots for some different faces to take their place.

Round 1

The opening match turned out to be an unusual tribute to Shinjiro Otani. The pairing of Daichi Hashimoto & Akito named themselves Team Shinjiro Otani due to his influence over them. Their opponents Konosuke Takeshita & Hideyoshi Kamitani responded by paying tribute to Masato Tanaka. They both did Tanaka’s pose together while Hashimoto & Akito did Otani’s Fire Sword pose. The Otani team both did the Facewash spot and all looked to be over when Akito punt Takeshita in a Figure 4 Leglock. That was until Kamitani climbed the top rope and hit a Diving Elbow Drop on Akito to get the pin. The losers decided they could no longer call themselves Team Shinjiro Otani so they renamed themselves The Shinjiro Otani Victims Association. They hope Otani will be a member some day.

The next match was all about brute strength against kicking power. Yuki Iino was about to do the Haka Elbow on Yukio Sakaguchi when Kazuki Hashimoto kicked him away. The kickers gave Yasufumi Nakanoue a PK Sandwich but Iino hit both of them with a Double Spear afterwards. Nakanoue & Iino then used their combined strength to Choke Slam Hashimoto. A Lariat from Nakanoue ended the match.

At first it looked like El Lindaman & Yukio Naya were going to get along great. Then they figured out the harsh truth that they are not the same size. They tried doing double team moves together but the 40cm height difference between them made it difficult. Meanwhile HARASHIMA & Yuya Aoki had no such trouble working together. The Lindaman & Naya team fell apart when Naya accidentally hit Lindaman with a Diving Shoulder Block. Lindaman snapped and said some unpleasant things to his partner. An angry Naya Choke Slammed Lindaman and left him to get pinned by Aoki’s Tiger Suplex.

The next match had wrestlers wearing matching gear in their teams. Yuji Okabayashi came out dressed like Antonio Honda while Chris Brookes wore Daisuke Sekimoto’s entrance robe. Honda unleashed Gongitsune after a hot tag. He got Sekimoto in the eyes but Brookes then grabbed both Gon hands and made Honda pinch Okabayashi’s nipples. Brookes locked Honda in an Octopus Stretch for the win. Honda hopes everyone will at least remember Okabayashi’s strawberry costume.

The only match on the show to last the full time limit was Ryuichi Kawakami & T-Hawk Vs Soma Takao & Kota Sekifuda. A lot of the match featured a cuddly toy cobra that Takao brought down to the ring. Unfortunately the cobra ripped in half when Takao & Sekifuda used it to Clothesline on T-Hawk. The time ran out while Sekifuda and T-Hawk had a tug of war over the cobra. Overtime began and Soma swung the cobra at T-Hawk. He ducked and Sekifuda took the hit as the cobra’s remans exploded. T-Hawk gave Sekifuda the Nightride and then the Cerberus knee strike for the one count victory.

We got a rare sighting of a single Brahman Brother wrestling. Brahman Shu was out sing so Brahman Kei was by himself. Good thing Naomi Yoshimura got in the Brahman spirit of things and joined in with Shu’s antics. So did Tetsuya Endo & Takuya Nomura. They stole the buckets of water and threw them at their opponents. Shu placed a suitcase against Endo & Nomura for Yoshimura to throw a bowling ball at. Kei threw the briefcase but Endo ducked and Yoshimura got hit. Nomura blinded Kei with the black India Ink and Endo pinned him with the Puma Toke de Espaldas. Kei blamed the loss on the flu.

The team bonding continued with Daisuke Sasaki wearing similar yankee gear as Yuko Miyamoto. The team of Yuki Ueno & Takuho Kato gelled well together too. Kato held Ueno up on seated on his shoulders and threw him on top of Sasaki for a nearfall. Miyamoto hit Yeno with a Handspring Kneel Kick and then dropped him with the Fire Thunder. The match ended when Sasaki submitted Ueno with the Cross Facelock.

The 1st Round ended with a Lighttube Death Match. Shunma Katsumata has been wanting to do more violent matches so this was his chance. He brought along his own lighttube with Lego attached to it. Takumi Tsukamoto & Kankuro Hoshino gave Katsumata a death match baptism by smashing lighttubes over him. They had control early until Katsumata did some violent spots of his own with the help of Toshiyuki Sakuda. He broke a bundle of lighttubes taped together and revealed there were even more Lego blocks hidden inside it! He gave Hoshino the ¡Hasta la vista! onto the pile but Tsukamoto broke it up. Tsukamoto placed a plastic bag over Katsumata to suffocate him then hit the Zudon for the win. They shook hands after the match and Katsumata smashed the last remaining lighttube over his own head.

Round 2

Round 2 began with a bit of an upset. Nakanoue & Iino defeated Takeshita & Kamitani, ending Takeshita’s streak of reaching the final! The Double Choke Slam was the difference maker again, this time with Iino hitting the Spear on Kamitani to in the match.

As the tournament progressed, the team bonds were getting stronger. Aoki came out wearing matching HARASHIMA gear. Meanwhile Sekimoto joined Brookes in given Aoki a wet willy while he was in a Camel Clutch. HARASHIMA went for the Somato but Brookes dodged it and caught him in the Octopus Stretch. With HARASHIMA held in place, nobody could stop Sekimoto from pinning Aoki with a Lariat.

There was no nonsense in the Endo & Nomura versus Kawakami & T-Hawk match. Nomura was double teamed on while Endo was cut off from rescuing him. But Nomura escaped from the Nightraide and put Kawakami in a Cross Armbreaker. Kawakami tried to roll out but Nomura clasped his legs into a Cradle to pin him for the flash three count.

The last match in the 2n Round turned weird. Miyamoto came out dressed like Shinobu Kandori. Then Hoshino came out looking like Kenshiro from Fist Of The North Star. He used many of Kenshiro’s attacks but when he told Sasaki “You are already dead” Miyamoto hit him in the back with a chair. Sasaki then made Hoshino quickly tap to the Cross Facelock.

Semi Finals

The tournament was now down to four teams. Nakanoue & Iino threw Endo off the top rope then set Nomura up for the Haka Elbow. Iino went for the Spear but Nomura blocked it with a High Kick. Endo came in to hit a Handspring Overhead Kick before pinning Iino with the Shooting Star Press.

Miyamoto decided to return the favour to Sasaki by wearing a leather jacket and carrying around the DAMNATION signboard. Their run came to an end here when Brookes caught Sasaki by surprise with a Cutter and Sekimoto capitalised with the German Suplex.

Special 6-Man Tag Match

Before the final took place there was a non-tournament 6-Man Tag to get through. At this point in the show it was almost midnight. The countdown appeared on the screen while Danshoku Dieno was up to his usual behavior in the ring. As the final seconds counted down, the locker room emptied out and everybody celebrated the new year. When they left we discovered that the wrestlers in the match were all trampled during the celebration. They recovered and slowly wrestled the rest of the match while the song “SEVEN DAYS WAR” by TM Network played over the speakers.

Final

The first complete pro wrestling match of the new decade saw Endo & Nomura defeated Sekimoto & Brookes. Sekimoto tried to German Suplex Nomura but Endo cut him off with the Springboard Overhead Kick. Nomura then tried to German Suplex Sekimoto but Brookes cut him off with a Diving Foot Stomp. Endo had to wipe out Brookes with the Sasuke Special so Nomura could hit the Dragon Suplex on Sekimoto to win the tournment!

Japan Indie Grand Prix Awards

MVP
1. Isami Kodaka
2. Konosuke Takeshita
3. Daisuke Sekimoto
4. HARASHIMA
5. Minoru Fujita

Best Bout
1. Daisuke Sekimoto Vs Michael Elgin (Big Japan, 24th August)
2. Konosuke Takeshita Vs HARASHIMA (DDT, 3rd November)
3. Isami Kodaka Vs Yuko Miyamoto (Big Japan, 4th November)
4. Daisuke Sekimoto & Walter Vs Yuji Okabayashi & Yuji Hino (Big Japan, 4th November)
5. Jun Kasai Vs Toru Sugiura (FREEDOMS, 1st October)

Best Unit
1. #STRONGHEARTS
2. Kobayashi-gun
3. DAMNATION
4. Yuji Okabayashi & Shigehiro Irie
5. Sento Minzoku

Best Box Office
Tied 1. DDT at Sumo Hall, 3rd November & Big Japan at Sumo Hall, 4th November
3. Muscle at Sumo Hall, 16th February
4. Shin Nemuro Pro Wrestling at Shin-Kiba 1st RING, 13th October
5. Michinoku Pro at Shinjuku FACE, 27th November

Best Newcomer
1. Keigo Nakamura
2. Toshiyuki Sakuda
3. Maku Donaruto
4. Chris Brookes
5. Asuka


New Year’s Tag Changes, January Updates, Great Nita Returns, Tanaka Gets Title Shot

December 30, 2019

“NEW YEAR’S EVE WRESTLING 2019 ~TOSHIWASHURE! SHUFFLE TAG TOURNAMENT”, 31/12/2019
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1A: Daichi Hashimoto & Akito Vs Konosuke Takeshita & Hideyoshi Kamitani
2. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1B: Yasufumi Nakanoue & Yuki Iino Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Kazuki Hashimoto
3. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1C: HARASHIMA & Yuya Aoki Vs El Lindaman & Yukio Naya
4. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1D: Yuji Okabayashi & Antonio Honda Vs Daisuke Sekimoto & Chris Brookes
5. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1E: Ryuichi Kawakami & T-Hawk Vs Soma Takao & Kota Sekifuda
6. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1F: Brahman Kei & Naomi Yoshimura Vs Tetsuya Endo & Takuya Nomura
7. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1G: Yuko Miyamoto & Daisuke Sasaki Vs Yuki Ueno & Takuho Kato
8. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1H: Takumi Tsukamoto & Kankuro Hoshino Vs Toshiyuki Sakuda & Shunma Katsumata
9. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Winners Of Match 1A Vs Winners Of Match 1B
10. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Winners Of Match 1C Vs Winners Of Match 1D
11. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Winners Of Match 1E Vs Winners Of Match 1F
12. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Winners Of Match 1G Vs Winners Of Match 1H
13. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi Final: X & X Vs X & X
14. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi Final: X & X Vs X & X
15. New Year’s Eve! Defeat Hunger! Very Funny! Special 6-Man Tag Match: Abdullah Kobayashi, Danshoku Dieno & Super Sasadango Machine Vs Tatsuhiko Yoshino, Drew Parker & Mizuki Watase
16. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Final: X & X Vs X & X

There is a flu going around this week and it hit the Big Japan roster pretty hard. A number of wrestlers had to pull out of shows this week either due to the flu or high fevers. Ryuji Ito, Isami Kodaka, Ryota Hama, Brahman Shu, Orca Uto and Yuki Ishikawa are all out of the New Year’s Eve show. This means five teams had to be changed with one team entirely getting replaced. The changes are as follows:

Konosuke Takeshita & Orca Uto -> Konosuke Takeshita & Hideyoshi Kamitani
Ryota Hama & Yuki Ueno -> Yuki Ueno & Takuho Kato
Brahman Brothers & Naomi Yoshimura -> Brahman Kei & Naomi Yoshimura
Isami Kodaka & Yuki Ishikawa -> Takumi Tsukamoto & Kankuro Hoshino
Ryuji Ito & Shunma Katsumata -> Toshiyuki Sakuda & Shunma Katsumata

DDT “NEW YEAR SPECIAL GIFT! ALL SEATS 2,000 YEN BOX OFFICE!! 2020”, 03/01/2020
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Time Difference Battle Royal: Toru Owashi (c) Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Yuki Iino Vs Antonio Honda Vs Saki Akai Vs Gorgeous Matsuno Vs Mizuki Watase Vs Yukio Naya Vs Keigo Nakamura
2. Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Mad Paulie & Hiroshi Yamato
3. New Year! Special 3 Way Match: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Danshoku Dieno Vs Super Sasadango Machine
4. HARASHIMA & Shinya Aoki Vs Masahiro Takanashi & Makoto Oishi
5. MAO Triumph Match: MAO Vs Shunma Katsumata
6. New Year! Special Worldwide Match: Masato Tanaka Vs Chris Brookes
7. Tetsuya Endo & X Vs Konosuke Takeshita & Akito
8. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Daisuke Sasaki & Soma Takao (c) Vs Yuki Ueno & Naomi Yoshimura

This is the match order for the first DDT show of 2020.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TOKYO JOSHI PRO ’20”, 04/01/2020
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Sena Shiori Debut Match: Sena Shiori & Makoto Kiryu Vs Haruna Neko & Mina Shirakawa
2. Shoko Nakajima Vs Hyper Misao
3. Saki Akai Vs Yuki Kamifuku
4. Aja Kong, Raku & Pom Harajuku Vs Yuna Manase, Mina Shirakawa & Mirai Maiumi
5. Natsumi Maki Return Match: Natsumi Maki Vs Sareee
6. Mizuki Vs Thunder Rosa
7. International Princess Title: Maki Itoh (c) Vs Hikari Noa
8. Princess Tag Team Titles: Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe (c) Vs Nodoka Tenma & Yuki Aino
9. Princess Of Princess Title: Yuka Sakazaki (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita

And this is the match order for the first Tokyo Joshi Pro show of 2020.

DDT “NEW YEAR DRAMATIC ITABASHI SERIES 2020”, 05/01/2020
Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall

1. Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Hiroshi Yamato & Keigo Nakamura
2. MAO Vs Makoto Oishi
3. O-40 Title: Gorgeous Matsuno (c) Vs Danshoku Dieno
4. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Daisuke Sasaki & Soma Takao (c) Vs Keisuke Ishii & Kazuki Hirata

The newly established team of Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Sakaguchi are ready to cause havoc in DDT. Higuchi thinks the place just hasn’t been the same without him.

DDT “ROJO PRO WRESTLING IN HANDMADE IN JAPAN FES WINTER (2020)”, 11/01/2020
Tokyo Big Sight West 1.2 Hall

1. Falls Count Anywhere 4 Way Tag Match: Shunma Katsumata & Yuki Iino Vs Yuki Ueno & Naomi Yoshimura Vs Makoto Oishi & Yukio Naya Vs MAO & Keigo Nakamura

A new year and a new chance to take up a visit to the arts & crafts festival.

DDT “WRESTLE SHIOKONBU! 2020”, 12/01/2020
Osaka City Suminoe Maikon Hall

1. Akito Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga
2. Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya
3. Saki Akai “Okibariyasu” 7 Match Series – 3rd Match: Saki Akai Vs Rina Yamashita
4. DDT Extreme Title: HARASHIMA (c) Vs Pokotan (w/ Danshoku Dieno)
5. Yuni Kid Wrestler Graduation Countdown! Osaka Specialty 6-Man Tag Match: Konosuke Takeshita, Shunma Katsumata & Makoto Oishi Vs Yuki Ueno, Naomi Yoshimura & Yuni

Yuni will say farewell to his childhood as he gets ready for full-fledged pro wrestling training.

The 3rd opponent in Saki Akai’s series is Rina Yamashita. She has been making waves lately as a death match wrestler.

DDT “WRESTLE TOROROKOBU! 2020”, 13/01/2020
Osaka City Suminoe Maikon Hall

1. Saki Akai Vs Makoto Oishi
2. Hiroshi Yamato Vs Akito
3. Yuni Kid Wrestler Graduation Countdown! Special Tag Match In Osaka: Tetsuya Endo & Yuni Vs Toru Owashi & Yuki Ueno
4. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Konosuke Takeshita, Shunma Katsumata & Yuki Iino (c) Vs Kuishinbo Kamen, Antonio Honda & Kazuki Hirata
5. DISASTER BOX Vs DAMNATION!: HARASHIMA & Naomi Yoshimura Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Mad Paulie

Oh shit what if Yuni joins DAMNATION when he’s old enough?

GANBARE☆WRESTLING “GANBARE☆ONITA OYA☆PRO WRESTLING RAISING A FLAG”, 13/01/2020
Osaka City Suminoe Maikon Hall

1. Special 3 Way Match: Miss Mongol Vs Ultimate Spider Jr. Vs Shuhei Washida
2. Special Single Match: Thunder Rosa Vs Itsuki Aoki
3. Special Single Match: Chris Brookes Vs Shinichiro Tominaga
4. Ganpro Special Tag Match: Keisuke Ishii & Yumehito Imanari Vs Shuichiro Katsumura & Kouki Iwasaki
5. Scramble Bunkhouse Street Fight 6-Man Tag Death Match: The Great Nita, Ken Ohka & Hiroaki Moriya Vs Kenichiro Arai, Guts Ishijima & Shota

Due to other commitments of the legal kind, Atsushi Onita is unable to wrestle on this show. However he already went and gotten his replacement. He found The Great Nita wandering around the Indian Ocean and heard Nita wanted to celebrate the new year in Japan. So Onita invited him to visit and take his place in the main event. This will be the first wrestling match for The Great Nita since August 2017.

Yukio Naya met with Onita and asked if he could be part of the next Bakuha Koshien show on 28th March. Onita will consider it if Naya renames himself Taiho III after his grandfather Taiho Koki.

DDT “SWEET DREAMS! 2020”, 26/01/2020
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. KO-D Openweight Title: HARASHIMA (c) Vs Masato Tanaka

In the D-Ou Grand Prix, the final block match between HARASHIMA and Masato Tanaka ended in a time limit draw. Out of this result Tanaka qualified for the final and ended up winning the tournament. But he will not consider DDT fully conquered until he can beat HARASHIMA. The KO-D Openweight Champion feels the same and is putting the title on the line for the chance to beat Tanaka.

GANBARE☆WRESTLING “GANBARE☆JOSHI PRO WRESTLING 2020”, 02/02/2020
Tokyo Oji BASEMENT MON☆STAR

1. GanJo Vs DDT Wrestling Classroom Full Battle – Count-Up Fall Match: X Vs Cherry
2. Special Singles Match – Jacket Match: HARUKAZE Vs Yuu
3. GanJo Vs DDT Wrestling Classroom Full Battle – 2 Count Fall Match: Moeka Haruhi Vs Banny Oikawa
4. GanJo Type Lariat Pro Wrestling: KEIKO, Beauty Suzuki & Eagle Washida Vs Shigeko Deluxe, Miss Mongol & Kokoro Suzuki
5. GanJo Vs DDT Wrestling Classroom Full Battle 6-Woman Tag Team Elimination Match: Moeka Haruhi, HARUKAZE & X Vs Cherry, Yuu & Banny Oikawa

Daisuke Kiso wanted the main event to definitively decided which team is better so he made it an Elimination Tag Match.

The 2 Count match was made to even the playing field between Moeka Haruhi and the less experienced Banny Oikawa.

Both HARUKAZE and Yuu will be wrestling in judo jackets because HARUKAZE wants the match to be entirely about grappling and groundwork.

The Count-Up Fall Match adds up the pinfall counts a wrestler makes. The first to reach their total count up to a predetermined number wins. Cherry’s opponent will be revealed on the day of the show. The mystery wrestler is hinted to be very beautiful and will also be a regular for Ganbare☆Wrestling in 2020.

Keisuke Ishii, Shigehiro Irie, Shota, Shuhei Washida and Shin Suzuki were all meant to be on the show but now they will not be there. Luckily a bunch of “joshi” replacements were quickly found.


“NEW YEAR’S EVE WRESTLING 2016” Results

December 31, 2016

newyear2016winners

“NEW YEAR’S EVE WRESTLING 2016”, 31/12/2016
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,510 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

1. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Yukio Sakaguchi & Daichi Hashimoto defeated Brahman Shu & Brahman Kei when Hashimoto pinned Kei with the Shining Wizard (8:03).
2. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Kengo Mashimo & Shigehiro Irie defeated Naoya Nomura & Kouki Iwasaki when Irie pinned Iwasaki with the Beast Bomber (8:30).
3. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Isami Kodaka & Yuko Miyamoto defeated Great Kojika & Joey Ryan when Miyamoto pinned Ryan (7:12).
4. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Yuji Okabayashi & Jiro Kuroshio defeated Ayato Yoshida & Takuya Nomura when Okabayashi submitted Nomura with the Argentine Backbreaker (8:42)
5. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Daisuke Sekimoto & HARASHIMA Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Yoshihisa Uto ended in a Time Limit Draw (10:00).
5a. Overtime – 1 Count Fall: Kazusada Higuchi & Yoshihisa Uto defeated Daisuke Sekimoto & HARASHIMA when Uto pinned Sekimoto with a Lateral Cradle (1:30).
6. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Manabu Soya & Takayuki Ueki defeated Sanshiro Takagi & Abdullah Kobayashi when Soya pinned Takagi with a Horizontal Cradle (4:11).
7. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Daisuke Sasaki & Yuki Sato Vs Atsushi Aoki & Kazuki Hashimoto ended in a Time Limit Draw (10:00).
7a. Overtime – 1 Count Fall: Atsushi Aoki & Kazuki Hashimoto defeated Daisuke Sasaki & Yuki Sato when Aoki submitted Sato with the Cross Armbreaker (0:32).
8. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Hideyoshi Kamitani & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Kaz Hayashi & Danshoku Dino when Takeshita pinned Dino with the German Suplex (9:38).
9. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Yukio Sakaguchi & Daichi Hashimoto defeated Kengo Mashimo & Shigehiro Irie when Sakaguchi pinned Irie with the Right Knee Of God (6:16).
10. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Isami Kodaka & Yuko Miyamoto Vs Yuji Okabayashi & Jiro Kuroshio ended in a Time Limit Draw (10:00).
10a. Overtime – 1 Count Fall: Isami Kodaka & Yuko Miyamoto defeated Yuji Okabayashi & Jiro Kuroshio when Kodaka pinned Kuroshio with a European Clutch (0:51).
11. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Kazusada Higuchi & Yoshihisa Uto defeated Manabu Soya & Takayuki Ueki when Higuchi pinned Ueki with the Doctor Bomb (5:13).
12. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Hideyoshi Kamitani & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Atsushi Aoki & Kazuki Hashimoto when Kamitani pinned Hashimoto with the Back Drop (8:48).
13. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi-Final: Hideyoshi Kamitani & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Yukio Sakaguchi & Daichi Hashimoto when Kamitani pinned Hashimoto with the Back Drop (8:47).
14. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi-Final: Kazusada Higuchi & Yoshihisa Uto defeated Isami Kodaka & Yuko Miyamoto when Uto pinned Kodaka with the Lariat (10:15).
15. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Final: Kazusada Higuchi & Yoshihisa Uto defeated Hideyoshi Kamitani & Konosuke Takeshita when Higuchi pinned Takeshita with the Goten (20:37).

newyear2016

Korakuen Hall spent its final hours of 2016 hosting the annual New Year’s Supershow co-hosted by Big Japan, DDT, K-DOJO, WRESTLE-1 and All Japan. The entire show was built around a Shuffle Tag Team Tournament, mixing most of the wrestlers together into odd pairings. Some teams got along with each other, some didn’t but hey it’s the holidays so let’s just have fun.

newyear2016-a

The opening match saw Yukio Sakaguchi & Daichi Hashimoto barely working together to beat the Brahman Brothers. Even the evil twins suggested that their opponents would have a better chance of winning if they got along. That came back to haunt them when a stop sign attack backfired and Brahman Shu hit Brahman Kei by accident. Hashimoto then drank the Brahman’s black ink and spat it in Kei’s face, leading to the Shining Wizard to finish him off.

newyear2016-b

Kengo Mashimo & Shigehiro Irie beat Naoya Nomura & Kouki Iwasaki. The latter worked well together but they weren’t able to outlast their more experienced opponents. Irie isolated Iwasaki while Mashimo threw Nomura out of the ring. Iwasaki said he felt tense having to wrestle on the final night of the year.

newyear2016-c

The 3rd match ended in a sleazy manner thanks to Joey Ryan and Laura James. Ryan kept trying to make Yuko Miyamoto touch his groin. Referee Frank Atsushi was slammed into the turnbuckles so James ran in to interfere. This somehow led to a situation where Great Kojika was knocked onto his back, James fell down on top of him sitting on his face, Atsushi stood over her holding his groin in pain and Ryan was knocked down head first onto Kojika’s crotch. If that wasn’t enough, a dazed Miyamoto was holding a Samurai! TV camera standing over them like he was filming a porn scene. Miyamoto eventually fell on top of them for the winning pin.

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The next odd couple team to come along was Yuji Okabayashi & Jiro Kuroshio. Okabayashi had not time for Kuroshio’s antics and just wanted to wrestle. Kuroshio however wanted to know if Okabayashi had a fancy jacket to match his own. He found one and offered it to Okabayashi after they beat Ayato Yoshida & Takuya Nomura but it was refused.

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Daisuke Sekimoto & HARASHIMA Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Yoshihisa Uto was the first match of the night to end in a Time Limit Draw. From there the match went into sudden death 1 count fall rules. HARASHIMA and Higuchi sprinted to pin each other for just one second but neither could. It took Uto to get the upset pin on Sekimoto to win the match and knock out one-half of last year’s tournament winners in the first round.

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The pairing of Sanshiro Takagi & Abdullah Kobayashi were going by the team name GET MILD. They both came out dressed in Takayuki Ueki’s old wrestling costumes with a guiding stick poking out of Takagi’s crotch. Everybody including Manabu Soya pulled out a gun during the match and dared each other to a Western showdown. But it was all a trick, Soya & Ueki both rolled over GET MILD when they turned their backs and got the three count.

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Daisuke Sasaki & Yuki Sato Vs Atsushi Aoki & Kazuki Hashimoto was the next match to go into overtime. It was part of Sasaki & Sato’s plan to waste time by bringing out selfie sticks and playing around with them. Aoki jammed the stick into Sasaki’s groin then tapped out Sato with the Cross Armbreaker.

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The final first round match featured Danshoku Dino trying to woo his Kaz Hayashi into being his partner in more ways than one. Hayashi eventually reciprocated and revealed he was wearing Danshoku tights under his own. Unfortunately the power of love wasn’t enough to beat Hideyoshi Kamitani & Konosuke Takeshita.

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Round 2 began with Sakaguchi & Hashimoto on better terms. They needed to be if they wanted to beat Mashimo & Irie. They hit a Penalty Kick/Shining Wizard combo to Irie then Sakaguchi hit the Right Knee Of God for the three count. A handshake at the end cemented that they were now on the right page together.

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The other disgruntled pairing of the tournament also finally got along. Kuroshio convinced Okabayashi to wear his fancy jacket along with a sun visor with a wig attached to it. He got into the spirit of things and did some Ikemen poses while wrestling. Their match with Yankee Two Kenju went into overtime and sadly the Ikemen dream ended badly. Isami Kodaka caught Kuroshio in a European Clutch for the one count.

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Ueki had a crazy plan to beat Higuchi & Uto. It involved drinking out of a 1.5 litre bottle of Coca-Cola then tightrope walking across the top rope. What he was supposed to achieve I don’t know but he wound up slipping and crotching himself on the rope. Higuchi then pinned him with the Doctor Bomb.

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Kamitani & Takeshita were the last team to qualify for the semi-final with a win over Aoki & Hashimoto. Aoki took out Takeshita with a Topé but in the ring Hashimoto was pinned by Kamitani’s Back Drop.

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With the 2nd Round completed it was time for the 2016 Occupation Of The Indies Awards. Best Newcomer was given to Takuya Nomura from Big Japan. Nomura said he debuted in April and will do his best to meet everyone’s expectations. Best Show went to Ganbare☆Wrestling for “BAD COMMUNICATION 2016” held on 2nd October. Ken Ohka was there to accept the award but had to leave early to participate at “SHOTA AID” in Shin-Kiba later that night. Ohka said he eventually wants to book a show at the Tokyo Dome. Best Unit went to DAMNATION from DDT. Shuji Ishikawa celebrated by singing “Only One Flower In The World” by SMAP. He then got angry at the rest of DAMNATION for not joining in. Best Bout went to the Scaffold G Shock Death Match between Ryuji Ito Vs Kokuro Hoshino from Big Japan’s “RYOGOKUTAN” show on 24th July. Ito wasn’t happy that he lost the match but would take the award as commiseration. Finally the MVP Award went to Shuji Ishikawa. At 41 years old he would like to fight new wrestlers and win new championships.

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A lottery was held to determine the semi-final match ups. First up was Kamitani & Takeshita Vs Sakaguchi & Hashimoto. Once again Kamitani’s Back Drop was the difference maker. Sakaguchi admitted he misunderstood Hashimoto at first but got to know him throughout the night in their matches. He thinks they will meet again some day.

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2016 ended and 2017 begun during the Higuchi & Uto Vs Yankee Two Kenju match. Kodaka & Miyamoto both celebrated by diving out of the ring onto their opponents at the stroke of midnight. Uto claimed the first victory of the new year but giving Kodaka a Double Arm Facebuster followed by a Lariat. Miyamoto coped with defeat by grabbing the Samurai! TV camera again.

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So the final was Kamitani & Takeshita Vs Higuchi & Uto in a Big Japan/DDT Vs DNA/Big Japan final. With no time limit a winner would be determined under normal circumstances. Late in the match Higuchi hit Takeshita with a Lariat but only got a one count. Kamitani blocked Higuchi from doing the Doctor Bomb but Uto got rid of him. That allowed Higuchi to give Takeshita the Goten to pin last year’s co-champion and win the tournament! Higuchi & Uto praised their opponents but they were the strongest tonight. Takeshita said he is the one who will lead DDT and he then stood up to Higuchi. In reply Higuchi said he will not lose. Kamitani said he he will lead the entire pro wrestling landscape. Uto calmed everyone down and encouraged everyone to lead pro wrestling in Japan together. The four congratulated one another and posed for the show ending photographs.