DDT “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2018 ~FALL WRESTLING CULTURE FESTIVAL~” Preview

October 19, 2018

DDT “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2018 ~FALL WRESTLING CULTURE FESTIVAL~”, 21/10/2018
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

0. Time Difference Battle Royal: Gorgeous Matsuno Vs Hoshitango Vs Gota Ihashi Vs Nobuhiro Shimatani Vs Yumehito Imanari Vs Shota Vs Michael Wolf Vs Tiger Mask V (Self-Proclaimed) Vs Monster Halloween Vs Gundan Hitori
0. Mina Shirakawa DDT First Participation War! Tokyo Joshi Pro 6-Woman Tag Match: Miyu Yamashita, Yuki Kamifuku & Mina Shirakawa Vs Yuka Sakazaki, Mizuki & Shoko Nakajima
1. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Soma Takao, Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie (c) Vs Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata & Yuki Ueno
2. Gauntlet Tag Match: Mike Bailey & Antonio Honda Vs Mizuki Watase & Jason Kincaid Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Kota Umeda Vs KUDO & Masahiro Takanashi Vs Tanomusaku Toba & Keisuke Okuda Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Michael Nakazawa
3. Super Joshi Pro Wars 2018: Saki Akai & Maki Itoh Vs Meiko Satomura & Cassandra Miyagi
4. ALL OUT Vs STRONG HEARTS! Special 6-Man Tag Match: Akito, Shunma Katsumata & Yuki Iino Vs T-Hawk, El Lindaman & Duan Yingnan
5. The World’s Crazy Couple Battle: Makoto Oishi & Misaki Ohata Vs Joey Ryan & Laura James
6. Soken Holdings Present – Will You Eat Or Be Eaten!? Giant Special Single Match: Super Sasadango Machine Vs Andreza Giant Panda
7. The Difference In 27 Years Of Age! Representative Director And President (48 Years Old) And Belonging Wrestler (21 Years Old) Waste Blood Washing Conflict Play – Final Settlement Weapon Rumble!: Sanshiro Takagi Vs MAO
8. Shigehiro Irie’s Grand Fight: Shigehiro Irie & Keisuke Ishii Vs HARASHIMA & Yukio Sakaguchi
9. Dramatic Dream Match: Konosuke Takeshita Vs CIMA
10. KO-D Openweight Title: Danshoku Dieno (c) Vs Daisuke Sasaki

The pre-show matches will begin at 2:00pm JST and the main show begins at 3:00pm JST. That’s 6:00am/7:00am for GMT, 1:00am/2:00am for EST and 10:00pm/11:00pm the night before for PST.

For the first time DDT will be streaming parts of the show live on their Youtube channel. The two pre-show matches and the first three matches of the main card will be aired. The link to the Youtube page is here (https://bit.ly/2q1KIOK).

The entire show will aire live on DDT Universe. Here is the link (https://bit.ly/2yxkxnV).

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The seven months since DDT’s last appearance in Sumo Hall has been a lot to take in. Sometimes hectic, sometimes confusing and for me sometimes exhausting. The number of events grew thanks to the launch of a brand new weekly show called “DDT LIVE! MAJI MANJI” airing live on AbemaTV. The other brands also increased their schedules with more shows in more locations. DDT’s rookie brand DNA was put to bed when the roster was considered too advanced to be a developmental. The lack of rookies ready to debut was also a reason to end the concept for now. Then there was the chaos in the main event scene. DDT’s longest and most dominant title reign ended when the company’s estranged son returned to defeat their golden boy. The new rebellious champion went on to make some unwise decisions leading to a rash of unexpected title changes, some beyond the control of those in charge of DDT and some coming directly from the people with power. With injuries putting some of DDT’s best and brightest on the shelf it was a time for new blood to step up. One in particular took things too far towards his boss. Or maybe he took it far enough and needs to go further? New invaders entered the company. One group wants to prove they are the better than DDT’s best while another gigantic figure arrived looking to kick ass and chew bamboo, and it’s all out of bamboo. There is plenty to talk about so let’s get started.

0. Time Difference Battle Royal: Gorgeous Matsuno Vs Hoshitango Vs Gota Ihashi Vs Nobuhiro Shimatani Vs Yumehito Imanari Vs Shota Vs Michael Wolf Vs Tiger Mask V (Self-Self-Proclaimed) Vs Monster Halloween Vs Gundan Hitori

Normally the Battle Royal on this kind of show will be for a big prize, like the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title. Not this time. The championship found its way into the pop idol group SKE48 back in July and has been passed around between some of the girls ever since. The current champion Yuki Arai promised to show up with the title at Korakuen Hall a week after this show so nobody is anticipating any shenanigans here. Instead the appeal is going to be from the “ALL DOIN” wrestlers. The self-proclaimed Tiger Mask V, the W*ING gimmick that came 25 years too late Monster Halloween and masked man in a fancy shirt Gundan Hitori are all representing the “ALL DOIN” super indy show that is scheduled for November. Most of the DDT regulars have developed a little since “JUDGEMENT 2018” back in March. Gorgeous Matsuno became the self-appointed gatekeeper of DDT against gigantic animals. That didn’t end well for him. Gota Ihashi has been getting into shape with the ultimate goal of earning Riki Choshu’s respect. He’s making enough progress that Choshu’s eternal rival Tatsumi Fujinami has offered to help out. Nobuhiro Shimatani finally achieved his dream of joining DAMNATION. “Nobu” has been full of confidence ever since even if it hasn’t translated into results. Yumehito Imanari has probably advanced the most out of anyone. He launched the Imanari Revolution in Ganbare☆Wrestling to push himself into Ganpro’s main event scene and he hasn’t looked back. The other Ganpro rep is Shota who joined the brand full time in May. Michael Wolf recently entered DDT all the way from Oklahoma’s Compound Pro Wrestling. The only person here who is the same as always is Hoshitango.

0. Mina Shirakawa DDT First Participation War! Tokyo Joshi Pro 6-Woman Tag Match: Miyu Yamashita, Yuki Kamifuku & Mina Shirakawa Vs Yuka Sakazaki, Mizuki & Shoko Nakajima

The spot dedicated entirely to Tokyo Joshi Pro is focusing on their newest signing. Mina Shirakawa is a gravure idol who is a massive pro wrestling fan, so much so that she began training to wrestle in April as part of a collaborated project between DDT and Best Body Japan. She had her debut match in August teaming with one of her opponents here Shoko Nakajima. In September, Shirakawa jumped at the chance to visit Mexico so she could participate in a lucha libre expo. The first thing she did when she arrived was travel to the ZEUS GYM in Naucalpan to train! So far Shirakawa has only wrestled three matches in her career, twice for Big Body Japan and once in Mexico. She has committed herself to Tokyo Joshi full time beginning this November. She has performed at a Tokyo Joshi show before though. Four years ago she was in a Brazilian themed idol duo called Oh P Samba that performed a song and dance at a Tokyo Joshi show. For now this will be her introduction to everyone in DDT.

But that’s enough about the new girl. Can’t let her overshadow the others this easily. Miyu Yamashita is currently on the most successful TOKYO Princess Title run in the championship’s history, winning the belt on 4th January and defending the title a record six times. She, Yuka Sakazaki and Shoko Nakajima also made their American debut competing in the Chikara King Of Trios tournament, making it all the way to the semi finals. Sakazaki has been most successful in tag team action, forming the Magical Sugar Rabbits with Mizuki and winning the TOKYO Tag Team Titles together. Yuki Kamifuku recently won a match for the first ever time after 14 months of wrestling. Everything will be going up from there for her.

1. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Soma Takao, Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie (c) Vs Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata & Yuki Ueno

DAMNATION’s numbers increased back in May when Soma Takao betrayed what was left of Smile Squash to join the heel unit. Since then Takao has been low blowing his way to victory while saying little in between the matches. He is still quietly undefeated at “PETER PAN” with a 9-0 record. Can he make it 10 for 10 and go a full decade of (not so much) destruction? Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie have spent the last half year teaming together, briefly holding the KO-D Tag Team Titles. Not much has changed other than that period when Endo wanted to talk about his pet beetle. He is still a top notch wrestler when he wants to be. That was proven when he made it to the King Of DDT final again.

The team challenging for the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles are the newly relaunched DISASTER BOX. The original unit was formed by Toru Owashi as a heel unit way back in 2006. The unit played a major part in establishing HARASHIMA after he dropped the HERO! gimmick. The unit had another run in 2008 but went away at the start of this decade, with the exception of a one show reunion with original member Shogo “Jet” Takagi in 2017. HARASHIMA and Owashi decided to reform DISASTER BOX this year during the DNA draft and allowed the promising youngster Yuki Ueno to join them. Nobody else. Anyone who said otherwise was ignored. Well, at least until he couldn’t be ignored anymore.

Kazuki Hirata wanted to join in so he could continue teaming with Owashi. He was declined but a miracle run in the King Of DDT tournament convinced HARASHIMA to bring Hirata into the group. To prove he is good enough, Hirata has sometimes tried to wrestle without the aid of his musical Hirata GO! glasses. He has since gone back on that plan now he is an accepted member. When Takao, Endo & Paulie won the vacant titles, they tried to nominate the rest of their unit as the challengers. DISASTER BOX instead got the nod and the two sides have been duking it out for months, waiting for this day to come.

2. Gauntlet Tag Match: Mike Bailey & Antonio Honda Vs Mizuki Watase & Jason Kincaid Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Kota Umeda Vs KUDO & Masahiro Takanashi Vs Tanomusaku Toba & Keisuke Okuda Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Michael Nakazawa

One half of the KO-D Tag Champions is already occupied on the card so Mike Bailey has to get mixed up in the Gauntlet Tag Match. Antonio Honda is by his side as they face a mixture of DDT talent. Mizuki Watase & Jason Kincaid have formed a well run team during their time in the RENEGADES unit. Kincaid was brought into DDT in mere weeks after “JUDGEMENT 2018” as RENEGADES’s gift to the company. Watase has wrestled in a snazzy suit and never really explained why. The Maji Manji show has been mostly built around Kazusada Higuchi & Kota Umeda. Higuchi made it his goal to put somebody through a table on every episode while Umeda became “Mr. Maji Manji” when he won a tournament early in the show to earn a big push by the company. Unfortunately knee injuries have constantly paused his momentum. KUDO & Masahiro Takanashi have been doing their usual thing in Shuten-dōji. Their usual thing is drinking. Tanomusaku Toba returned to DDT first take part in a few Street Wrestling matches. He then appeared on Maji Manji, wrestling to impress his step-son who refuses to call him Dad. That didn’t end up being his proudest moment but he’s gotten more DDT appearances since then, usually whenever they wanted a strike heavy match-up. Keisuke Okuda became DDT’s newest signing in September. Until then he was causing terror in DNA as part of the Naomi Kingdom. So far his biggest move was picking a fight with HARASHIMA. Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Michael Nakazawa reformed Booing 2018 for the Dramatic General Election but kicked out their longtime ally Gota Ihashi. Normally I’d say the winners of this match will go after the KO-D Tag Titles but that didn’t happen the last time.

3. Super Joshi Pro Wars 2018: Saki Akai & Maki Itoh Vs Meiko Satomura & Cassandra Miyagi

What a year it’s been for Meiko Satomura. The Sendai Girls leader has had accomplished years before but 2018 has been an international breakthrough for her. From Fight Club: PRO in England to the WWE Mae Young Classic in America to wXw in Germany, Satomura has been making waves in Europe and America this year. Back in Japan she made her mark in DDT by becoming the first ever woman to win the KO-D Openweight Title! While her reign was short it was the highlight of a turbulent time in the championship’s history. Cassandra Miyagi made two DDT appearances during this time. One as part of an adventure through a secret martial arts factory (it’s a long story) and the other challenging for the KO-D 6-Man Tag Titles. The two Sendai Girls return to DDT to face without a doubt the two most popular women in the DDT family.

Saki Akai has been motivated by Satomura’s success to become more than just the token woman on the DDT roster. This year Akai became the first woman to enter the King Of DDT tournament. Sadly she didn’t make it past the 1st Round. She also got into a situation where she was stalked by the monsters of the UWA Corps. She also returned to Tokyo Joshi for a few matches after so many fans pointed out that she looks identical to the Sakisama. Speaking of Sakisama, the aristocrat returned home to Paris in August after her personal nun became too rebellious (it’s another long story).

But all of the attention goes to Maki Itoh. All of the attention must go to Itoh! She’s been finding ways to constantly stay in the sights of the Tokyo Joshi fanbase and it’s been paying off big for her. After a big match against Riho in May, Itoh considered splitting up the Itoh Respect Army after her alliance with Mizuki hit a rough patch. Their relationship got even rockier when they ended up in opposite sides of a TOKYO Princess Tag Titles match. Itoh took the loss in both that and a singles match with Mizuki afterwards but in those matches she was able to show her growth as a wrestler. While she hasn’t been able to win big in the ring, outside it Itoh’s getting more and more popular. The big evidence for this is her current lead in the Dramatic General Election. Early on in the competition Ito moved miles past the rest of the field. Others have since gained ground but a strong performance at Sumo Hall might be what she needs to seal the deal.

Except that won’t be enough to satisfy Itoh. In a reverse of last year’s match between Satomura and Miyu Yamashita, Itoh has no respect for Satomura. Not after Satomura lost the KO-D Title after Itoh promised to win the Election and challenge her for the belt. This attitude is causing Akai to distrust Itoh. She really shouldn’t be underestimating Satomura. The rift got even worse when Akai & Itoh got into a little scuffle at the press conference for this show. If they can’t get along, they’re screwed. If they can get along… they’re still screwed.

4. ALL OUT Vs STRONG HEARTS! Special 6-Man Tag Match: Akito, Shunma Katsumata & Yuki Iino Vs T-Hawk, El Lindaman & Duan Yingnan

ALL OUT has gone through a bumpy road since “JUDGEMENT 2018”. Things went went south after April when Konosuke Takeshita lost the KO-D Title and Akito briefly went down with an injury. Shunma Katsumata was then called out for his poor performances and had to go in search of himself to improve. Part of it involved signing up to a Gold’s Gym membership. His efforts rewarded ALL OUT with a KO-D 6-Man Tag Title reign that was sadly cut short when Takeshita suffered an injury. With Takeshita out of action it was up to Akito & Katsumata to continue on without him. Katsumata in particular decided go down the road of hardcore wrestling a little more often. He already had a taste of hardcore back in February when he fought Yuko Miyamoto but since then he had matches with table spots against Kazusada Higuchi and went one on one with Violento Jack in a Fans Bring The Weapons Death Match. Things seemed to be looking up when Takeshita returned and the powerful rugby rookie Yuki Iino joined the unit. That’s when a new conflict emerged to challenge them.

One of the big wrestling stories of the year coming out of Japan is the STRONG HEARTS exodus from Dragon Gate. During the springtime, CIMA spent time away from the company teaching pro wrestling in China for a promotion called Oriental Wrestling Entertainment. In May, CIMA along with some of his Japanese proteges more or less left Dragon Gate. Now, the public reason for this was so this group of wrestlers could focus exclusively on OWE in Shanghai. Obviously, everyone was surprised when instead the newly named STRONG HEARTS showed up in Wrestle-1 looking to cause some trouble. When that conflict ended over the summer, STRONG HEARTS found their next target, ALL OUT and DDT. When Takeshita was shared his disappointment with ALL OUT having no plans for “RYOGOKU PETER PAN” this year, STRONG HEARTS immediately sent them the challenge.

Two matches between the two sides will happen at Sumo Hall. First up is the 6-Man Tag. Akito, Katsumata & Iino are there for ALL OUT. STRONG HEARTS will be represented by T-Hawk, El Lindaman and Chinese newcomer Duan Yingnan. They want to show ALL OUT what real fire and fever in the ring is like!

5. The World’s Crazy Couple Battle: Makoto Oishi & Misaki Ohata Vs Joey Ryan & Laura James

The battle of the married couples! Makoto Oishi surprised everyone during a street wrestling event in May when he suddenly proposed to Misaki Ohata during their match. It was a heartwarming story in the middle of a wacky situation. Honestly, who could get upset by that?

Oh, huh… Alright then.

There isn’t much in wrestling that annoys Joey Ryan. Usually it’s him doing the annoying stuff. But somebody doing a marriage proposal during a wrestling match when he and Laura James already did it? Copycats! Ryan & James have challenged Oishi & Ohata to a match to see which marriage deserves to be called crazier. Oishi & Ohata say that their proposal was original and to be fair it is very different to what Ryan & James did. For one thing it involved Yukio Sakaguchi trying to run Ohata over with a truck and Oishi jumped in front of it to save her. How romantic.

 

6. Soken Holdings Present – Will You Eat Or Be Eaten!? Giant Special Single Match: Super Sasadango Machine Vs Andreza Giant Panda

Behold! The greatest discovery in Japanese wrestling over the last two years isn’t one of the New Japan young lions, nor is it a company ace like Kento Miyahara or Shotaro Ashino. Sure, Masashi Takeda is rad and Hana Kimura has star power written all over her. But nobody has captured attention the same way Andreza Giant Panda has. The “Big Beast Of The North” burst onto the scene from Hokkaido’s New Nemuro Pro Wrestling (N2W) in 2017, a promotion that they themselves admit is filled with out of shape, middle-aged amateur wrestlers with no fighting experience or any physical strengths. But how did Andreza get here? Originally named Shin Shin, he was born in China with a gigantism disease on 1st January 2016. The amount of growth a normal panda goes through in one year, Andreza went through in one month. As a cub he had the appetite of three pandas. Tragically he was abandoned by his parents and was bullied by the other pandas in China. He was found by a Chinese king and was sent to live in his fishing processing company in Nemuro city under the care of New Nemuro’s president Samson Miyamoto. Due to his massive size of 300cm in height and 500kg in weight, Miyamoto knew that this panda was made for pro wrestling. Now renamed Andreza Giant Panda, the animal dominated New Nemuro and quickly became the promotion’s top star. Andreza won the Best Newcomer award in the 2017 Samurai! TV Japan Indie Grand Prize. He also found a mate and became a father. Andreza’s ultimate goal is to appear in WWE after becoming famous. For the moment, a match for DDT in Sumo Hall will be his highest profile wrestling appearance yet. The fate of nature may very well be at stake!

When Super Sasadango Machine was chosen to be Andreza’s opponent he quickly established his motivation for the match. Andreza eats 40kg of bamboo on a daily basis and that is enough to make him a danger to the environment. The problem is Andreza is nigh on unbeatable. Sasadango thought he discovered a weakness. Andreza is supposedly helpless without his master Miyamoto. Sasadango kidnapped Miyamoto and thought it would give him the advantage on Andreza. That was proven wrong when Andreza somehow figured out how to travel from Nemuro to Sapporo by himself to rescue his master. Sasadango has since experienced how powerful Andreza’s Lightspeed Headbutt is and nobody has kicked out of the Andreza Press. A simulated fight with Sanshiro Takagi dressed as a panda gave Sasadango some valuable information. Also DDT is certain this match won’t get them sued for animal mistreatment so Sasadango has the all clear to do whatever he wants to take the air out of the Giant Panda!

7. The Difference In 27 Years Of Age! Representative Director And President (48 Years Old) And Belonging Wrestler (21 Years Old) Waste Blood Washing Conflict Play – Final Settlement Weapon Rumble!: Sanshiro Takagi Vs MAO

Enthusiasm is a characteristic that is usually appreciated but some people tend to take things too far. This year MAO reached that point. When DDT returned to focusing to its Falls Count Anywhere matches, MAO felt now was his time to step up and take the mantle of Street Wrestling king. The days of Sanshiro Takagi doing the crazy stuff is over. MAO wants to replace it with fucked up wrestling for a fucked up world! The over-enthusiasm came when MAO drove a van into Takagi during a match then threatened to blow up Shin-Kiba 1st RING with bottle rockets. MAO’s conflict with Takagi continued after “JUDGEMENT 2018” when the two were paired together in the King Of DDT 1st Round. Their match went crazy with bicycle crashes and the destruction of plastic boxes. They took it even further at Campsite Pro Wrestling when MAO and Takagi chased each other around in cars! The situation has gotten so out of control that both men agreed to have the ultimate DDT match to settle their score… The Weapon Rumble! New weapons will be added to the match Royal Rumble style and they can be anything. Weapons, humiliating mind games, wrestler cameos, family members. Anything is fair game. The two cannot be kept apart now. Even at the press conference they fought each other in a 3 minute wrestling match that ended in a time limit draw. At this point it will take divine intervention for a winner to be determined…

Thank God pro wrestling is so convenient.

Just days before the show, MAO went training in the Arakawa river bed with his Moonlight Express partner Mike Bailey. The training was focused on improving MAO’s accuracy with a pico pico hammer. Things turned south when MAO swung so hard that he lost grip of the hammer and threw it far away. When MAO went searching through the grass, he unexpectedly found the God Of Arakawa. Maybe he took the form of Jason Kincaid wearing a Casper jumper so he wouldn’t scare MAO away. Or maybe that’s just a coincidence and the God always looks like that. Anyway, the God Of Arakawa spoke to MAO and held two hammers, one gold, one silver. He asked if either of them belonged to MAO. MAO said neither were his. The God appreciated MAO’s honesty and awarded him a bag of 100 empty cans as a gift. The God then got mixed up and also gave him the Legendary Pico Pico Hammer. Then he gave him the gold and silver hammers anyway because at this point why not? So now MAO has the power of a God by his side!

8. Shigehiro Irie’s Grand Fight: Shigehiro Irie & Keisuke Ishii Vs HARASHIMA & Yukio Sakaguchi

What in the hell happened these last seven months? What in the hell happened this last year? Shigehiro Irie has been the key figure of confusion throughout DDT from March to October. After spending the early part of the year quiet and entirely absent from the company, he made a surprise return at the end of the previous Sumo Hall show as a different person. Gone was the happy go lucky Irie, in his place was a bitter man watching DDT change into something he no longer loved. His solution was to become KO-D Champion again so he could tear down DDT and rebuild it in his image. A month later he defeated Takeshita to win the title. Slowly but surely he found allies for his cause. Mizuki Watase was the only member of the main roster to join him. The rest of Irie’s followers consisted of wrestlers from overseas like Jason Kincaid, Facade, Sammy Guevara, Baliyan Akki and Ryan Davidson. The group was named RENEGADES because Irie wanted to do things his way rather than management’s.

The sticking point for Irie was DDT’s failure to deliver their promises. Irie loves going on his excursions to America wrestling new people and making new friends. DDT’s ideas to do more international work was never followed up on. It reached the point where Irie wanted to defend the KO-D Title in America and he was going to do it whether DDT allowed it or not. The Director of DDT at the time was Danshoku Dieno and he reluctantly gave Irie permission to go ahead. However he warned Irie not to act reckless and lose the championship. It was Irie’s responsibility alone to be the defending champion overseas.

1st August, 2018. The date will live on as the starting point for the most chaotic period in the history of the KO-D Title. Irie gets pinned by Sami Callihan at a Rockstar Pro show in Ohio, losing the championship in his first defence outside of Japan. When news made its way back to DDT, everybody scrambled to save face. The wrestlers were in shock and blamed Irie for damaging DDT’s reputation abroad. Takagi and Dieno went to work trying to figure out how to get the title back on a DDT wrestler. Irie saved face by winning the championship back a week later and he was able to return to Japan with the belt. Crisis averted but Irie’s pride was scarred. Not so much by the title loss but by Dieno being proven right. Irie grew to resent Dieno even more, blaming him for everything he finds wrong with DDT. The feud led to more chaos in the title scene when Dieno used a Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Gauntlet to win the KO-D Title from Irie on an episode of Maji Manji. Another Gauntlet was used two weeks later by Meiko Satomura that led to her winning the title. Irie had one chance left to win back the belt in a 3 Way Elimination Match but Dieno surprised him with the Gaydo Clutch and Irie became the first person eliminated from the match. Beaten and outsmarted, Irie accepted defeat and admitted it was time to move on. He shook Dieno by the left hand because the left hand is closer to your heart.

When the dust was settled, Irie had a new direction and it is one that relies less on DDT. Late in September Irie announced he will not renew his contract and will become a freelancer in October. He will still be accepting bookings with DDT but his priority will be going abroad with dates already confirmed for America and Germany. His last match before he heads away is here in Sumo Hall with his favourite partner and opponents. HARASHIMA, the man Irie could not beat until this past July. Yukio Sakaguchi, the man who he had violent clashes with in the past. Keisuke Ishii, the man he grew up with in wrestling and shared plenty of time with as part of Team Dream Futures. Already gone from his contract, Irie has shown signs of his old self recently. The big goofy smile is returning. Maybe he will show it to everyone in DDT one more time at Sumo Hall.

I swear if Irie shows up at New Japan in a few months time calling himself “Dramatic” there is going to be Hell to pay.

9. Dramatic Dream Match: Konosuke Takeshita Vs CIMA

The other ALL OUT Vs STRONG HEARTS match is focused on the two big names of the groups. Takeshita Vs CIMA! Sumo Hall has been home to some of Takeshita’s biggest matches in his career. Kenny Omega, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Hiroshi Tanahashi and his battles with both Tetsuya Endo and Shuji Ishikawa all took place in the building for DDT’s biggest events in recent years. CIMA on the other hand? The 2000 Super J Cup and two Dragon Gate shows from almost a decade ago were the only Sumo Hall appearances I can find for him. If home field advantages and venue familiarity count in this situation, Takeshita has it by the bucket load.

Of course the worst thing someone can do in this match is underestimate CIMA. This dude has been wrestling almost as long as Takeshita has been alive. Takeshita wasn’t even three years old when CIMA made his WCW debut. CIMA can be very sly in the ring when he wants to be. Any chance Takeshita has of making this a spot heavy blow for blow banger can be stopped in its tracks when CIMA decides to twist his body a dozen different painful ways instead. The result of this paints an interesting future for DDT’s immediate future. The STRONG HEARTS are already confirmed to appear on the next Korakuen Hall show a week after this show. If CIMA beats Takeshita, what next will be on his mind for DDT? I mean obviously we know what he’ll want. The Iron Man Title of course! STRONG HEARTS Vs SKE48 will be the next big invasion feud, mark my words!!!

10. KO-D Openweight Title: Danshoku Dieno (c) Vs Daisuke Sasaki

And so we finally make it to the finale. Two major figures in DDT that plotted and scrapped their way into the Sumo Hall main event. This is the first “PETER PAN” main event appearance for both Danshoku Dieno and Daisuke Sasaki. Dieno has main evented Sumo Hall for DDT once before back in 2013 but that was the first half of a weekend double header in the building and the lesser of the two shows. This year is what counts for Dieno and he did everything he could do to make it here.

Dieno was the DDT Director for most of the year. When it came to the KO-D Title, he publicly showed no desire for it and was the neutral party when deciding challengers and title defences. He avoided any tournaments or matches to determine the No. 1 contenders and played no part in the annual scramble for the Right To Challenge Gauntlets. But in the background, Dieno had a goal he needed to accomplish. The one thing that’s alluded him in his long DDT career is the main event match at “PETER PAN”. The best way to do that is be the champion and the title holder Shigehiro Irie just happened to be a thorn in his side during this period. Calling in a favour from Super Sasadango Machine, Dieno was gifted a Right To Challenge Gauntlet and he cashed it in on an exhausted Irie, easily beating him to become the new champion. He then immediately quit as the Director so he wouldn’t have to grant Irie a rematch. The one grave mistake he made was forgetting that there was one more Gauntlet in play and it was being held by a disgruntled Meiko Satomura. Dieno loses the title to Satomura in his first defence and his dreams start falling apart. The only saving grace was hearing that Irie wanted revenge. Dieno was able to wiggle his way into a 3 Way Elimination Match for the title and he ended up pinning both opponents to become champion once again. In the end, everything worked out perfectly for Dieno. His dream is finally coming true!

Daisuke Sasaki lived the dream once. He found something too good to be true. He found love. Big Love. A fling with “Japan’s First Genderless Wrestler” Asuka over the summer turned into something more, at least in Sasaki’s mind. They teamed together on Maji Manji shows until they were booked into a singles match against each other at July’s Korakuen show. Sasaki didn’t worry about it until Asuka broke the news to him in the ring. She was never really interested in him. He’s too old for her and also wasn’t her type. This was the point where Sasaki’s 2018 changed. Gone was Big Love and in its place was a hatred for everything. Sasaki defeated Asuka then went on to win the King Of DDT in August. With a broken heart and no desire to fix it, Sasaki’s focus was now on becoming the KO-D Champion at Sumo Hall. Also the 2,000,000 yen cash prize from the main event sponsor.

Dieno talking about his dreams only pisses Sasaki off even more. Sasaki called Dieno the symbol of DDT and a relic of the past. Mind games developed in the last couple of weeks as Sasaki tried to withstand Dieno’s lewd moveset. He now believes he is invincible against Dieno’s erotic wrestling style. Dieno warns that he will go beyond Sasaki’s imagination to win and if that means pulling out the ultimate versions of his signature moves, so be it. This Sunday, the symbol of DDT will be decided!


Enter The Washitimo Dragon, Irie Vs HARASHIMA, Crazy Couple Battle

June 25, 2018

DDT “DDT LIVE! MAJI MANJI #9”, 26/06/2018
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

0. NO TV Match: Mizuki Watase Vs Daiki Shimomura
1. Takatimo Dragon, Washitimo Dragon & Hiratimo Dragon Vs Daisuke Sasaki, Soma Takao & Nobuhiro Shimatani
2. Mr. Maji Manji Battle: Makoto Oishi Vs Kota Umeda
3. 41 Year Old Danshoku Dieno Is A Senior Who Follows Two Young People Aged 25 And 22 And Is Fighting Three People Tag Match: Danshoku Dieno, Shunma Katsumata & Yuki Ueno Vs Yukio Sakaguchi, Tanomusaku Toba & MAO
4. Konosuke Takeshita, Akito & Meiko Satomura Vs Keisuke Ishii, Masahiro Takanashi & Saki Akai
5. 3 Way Tag Match: Shigehiro Irie & Sammy Guevara Vs HARASHIMA & Kouki Iwasaki Vs Antonio Honda & Aaron Anders
6. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Daisuke Sekimoto & Kazusada Higuchi (c) Vs Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie

Not much time for Kazusada Higuchi to rest. He still has the KO-D Tag Team Titles to defend with Daisuke Sekimoto tomorrow.

Toru Owashi has been banished from Japan so DDT is bringing in yet another luchador to replaced him. I’m not sure if Washitimo Dragon will be pleased to be here.

DDT “ROAD TO RYOGOKU 2018 ~DRAMATIC DREAM TOGETSU BRIDGE~”, 30/06/2018
Kyoto KBS Hall

1. Takatimo Dragon, Washitimo Dragon & Hiratimo Dragon Vs Konosuke Takeshita, Akito & Shunma Katsumata
2. P Playful Series: Danshoku Dieno Vs Nobuhiro Shimatani
3. Keisuke Ishii Vs Kouki Iwasaki
4. 4 Way Match: KUDO Vs Mad Paulie Vs Naomi Yoshimura Vs Mizuki Watase
5. Daisuke Sasaki, Soma Takao & Tetsuya Endo Vs Kota Umeda, MAO & Yuki Ueno
6. Saki Akai Local Triumph! Kyoto Specialty 6-Man Tag Match: Yukio Sakaguchi, Masahiro Takanashi & Saki Akai Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Antonio Honda & Yoshiko
7. Shigehiro Irie & Sammy Guevara Vs HARASHIMA & Makoto Oishi

Sammy Guevara is siding with Irie-gun during his stay.

DDT “ROAD TO RYOGOKU 2018 ~DRAMATIC DREAM DEBASAKI~”, 01/07/2018
Nagoya City Rokushima Sports Center

1. Takatimo Dragon, Washitimo Dragon & Hiratimo Dragon Vs Antonio Honda, Kouki Iwasaki & Saki Akai
2. Soma Takao Vs Masahiro Takanashi
3. Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi Vs Akito & Shunma Katsumata
4. KUDO & Keisuke Ishii Vs Yuki Ueno & Yuki Iino
5. 3 Way Match: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Sammy Guevara Vs Daiki Shimomura
6. Daisuke Sasaki, Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Kota Umeda & MAO
7. Nagoya Specialty! Doerya Special Tag Match: Shigehiro Irie & Mizuki Watase Vs HARASHIMA & Yukio Sakaguchi

No changes in the group of Right To Challenge Gauntlet holders over the weekend. Unless something happened in Sendai Girls that I don’t know about.

DDT “HANDMADE IN JAPAN FES 2018”, 07/07/2018
Tokyo Big Sight

Falls Count Anywhere 3 Way Tag Match: Sanshiro Takagi & Kazusada Higuchi Vs HARASHIMA & Keisuke Ishii Vs Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi

This is going to be DDT’s 6th year of participating in the HandMade In Japan Fes event.

GANBARE☆WRESTLING “TAIYO NO SEASON 2018”, 14/07/2018
Tokyo Seijo Hall

1. GanJo Spring No. 1!: HARUKAZE Vs Moeka Haruhi
2. Road To Independent World Jr!? Hitori Shiten Pro Wrestling Vs Silent Arm Cross: Keisuke Ishii & Chikara Vs Ayumu Honda & Kyu Mogami
3. Prince Of Uguisudani Vs Prince Of Taiwan: Shinichiro Tominaga Vs Rekka
4. Ganbare☆Wrestling Vs Katsumura-gun: Shota & Katsumi Oribe Vs Shuichiro Katsumura & Black Ribera
5. This Is Ganbare☆Wrestling! ~Charisma Vs Revolutionary~: Ken Ohka Vs Yumehito Imanari

Rekka returns to Ganbare☆Wrestling for a match against Shinichiro Tominaga. The “Uguisudani” in Tominaga’s nickname for the match refers to a district in Tokyo where there are a lot of love hotels.

DDT “SUMMER VACATION 2018”, 22/07/2018
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. KO-D Openweight Title: Shigehiro Irie (c) Vs HARASHIMA
*HARASHIMA will cash in his Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Gauntlet.

Next up for Shigehiro Irie is HARASHIMA. That is as long as HARASHIMA has a Right To Challenge Gauntlet. This is the match Irie wants more than anything when it comes to defending the KO-D Openweight Title. HARASHIMA is the one man in DDT that Irie cannot beat one on one. It is this impassible mountain that has sent Irie on international excursions over and over so he could get stronger. If Irie truly has a vision for what DDT should be then beating HARASHIMA may finally see it come to light.

GANBARE☆WRESTLING “GANBARE☆CLIMAX 2018 1ST ROUND”, 11/08/2018
Tokyo Narimasu Act Hall

1. Independent World Jr. Heavyweight Title Next Challenger Battle Royal: X Vs X
2. Independent World Jr. Heavyweight Title: Keisuke Ishii (c) Vs X

While the Ganbare☆Climax is taking place, Keisuke Ishii intends to make two defences of the Independent World Jr. Heavyweight Title.

GANBARE☆WRESTLING “GANBARE☆CLIMAX 2018 FINAL ROUND”, 12/08/2018
Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall

1. Independent World Jr. Heavyweight Title: Keisuke Ishii (c) Vs Winner of 11/8 Battle Royal

A Battle Royal the day before determines one of Ishii’s challengers.

DDT “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2018 ~FALL WRESTLING CULTURE FESTIVAL~”, 21/10/2018
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

1. The World’s Crazy Couple Battle: Makoto Oishi & Misaki Ohata Vs Joey Ryan & Laura James

When it comes to going viral, Joey Ryan doesn’t like copycats. So when he found out that Makoto Oishi proposed to Misaki Ohata in the middle of a pro wrestling match, he wasn’t happy about it. Ryan proposed to Laura James during a match first! Clearly there’s only one place to settle this. Sumo Hall! The first match announced for “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2018” will be couple versus couple. You see, this is the kind of fun that John Cena and Nikki Bella are missing out on.


DDT “WHAT ARE YOU DOING 2018” Results

June 24, 2018

DDT “WHAT ARE YOU DOING 2018”, 24/06/2018
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,159 Fans – Super No Vacancy

0. Under Match: Mizuki Watase & Aaron Anders defeated Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Kouki Iwasaki when Anders pinned Iwasaki with the Twisting Flapjack (8:42).
1. Loser Expulsion 3 Way 6-Man Tag Match: Keisuke Ishii, Antonio Honda & MAO and Tetsuya Endo, Mad Paulie & Nobuhiro Shimatani defeated Takatimo Dragon, Hiratimo Dragon & Toru Owashi by Disqualification when Owashi was Disqualified for everything (6:51).
*Toru Owashi is banished from Japan.
2. Worldwide Match: Mike Bailey defeated Sammy Guevara with the Green Tea Plunge (11:40).
3. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – “KUDO” 15th Anniversary Memorial Match: KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi defeated Danshoku Dieno, Makoto Oishi (c) & Super Sasadango Machine when KUDO pinned Oishi with the Diving Double Knee Drop (9:43).
*KUDO becomes the 1,321st champion.
4. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Konosuke Takeshita, Akito & Shunma Katsumata defeated Kota Umeda, Yuki Ueno & Koju Takeda (c) when Katsumata pinned Ueno with the ¡Hasta La Vista! (11:16).
*Umeda-gumi fails in V2. ALL OUT becomes the 34th KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions!
5. DDT Extreme Title – 3 Way Match: HARASHIMA (c) defeated Soma Takao and Daisuke Sasaki when HARASHIMA pinned Takao with the Somato (15:58).
*V2 for HARASHIMA.
6. KO-D Openweight Title: Shigehiro Irie (c) defeated Kazusada Higuchi with the Beast Bomber (20:58).
*V2 for Shigehiro Irie.

Two heavyweights smashed each other to bits in the main event and when the dust was settled, Shigehiro Irie stood over Kazusada Higuchi, still the KO-D Openweight Champion. Higuchi brought his table smashing antics over from “DDT LIVE! MAJI MANJI” by Power Slamming Irie onto one from the ring apron. Irie got violent too by doing a Slingshot Senton Bomb to Higuchi underneath a pile of chairs outside the ring. Most of Higuchi’s big moves like the Doctor Bomb and Leg Roll Clutch were kicked out of. Irie bounced back from Higuchi’s Lariats with his Cannonball attacks then when Higuchi was weakened enough, the Beast Bomber put him down for the count.

Irie gave Higuchi a brief thank you after the match and it didn’t take long for his next title defence to be put together. Hisaya Imabayashi announced Irie will defend the title in Korakuen Hall on 22d July. He then asked if any of the Right To Challenge Gauntlet holders would like to use their title shot on that date. HARASHIMA entered the ring and said he will do it! He would have liked to do it right now but he wants to fight Irie when he is in his perfect state. Imabayashi asked HARASHIMA if he also wants to put his DDT Extreme Title on the line. HARASHIMA declined because he wants to defend it against Antonio Honda next, maybe in a Blindfold & Bra Death Match like they did back in 2013. HARASHIMA told Irie he’s become a strong champion but he does not like what he is doing to DDT. HARASHIMA doesn’t want people with an attitude like Irie’s to be champion because it can be damaging to DDT. Irie said he is glad that HARASHIMA is his next challenger. He’s been waiting for this match most of all out of the Gauntlet holders. He dismissed HARASHIMA’a claim that his title reign and attitude is making DDT rotten.

Imabayashi reminded HARASHIMA that should he lose his Gauntlet before 22nd July, his spot in the title match will become vacant. He must have his Gauntlet on the day to guarantee his position. Irie yelled at Imabayashi for interrupting him and said he doesn’t care if HARASHIMA has a Gauntlet or not. He wants the match to happen regardless. Imabayashi called over to Producer Danshoku Dieno and they asked if Irie understands the rules of the Gauntlets. Irie blasted insults at Dieno for his role as DDT’s Producer. Dieno tried to calm him down but Irie continued to yell at him until Irie had enough and left the ring.

Remember how the 3 Way Match was supposed to have no cheating and no interference for the sake of good sportsmanship? Yeah, that didn’t happen. Daisuke Sasaki and Soma Takao didn’t wait long to get help from Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie. Together DAMNATION tore apart HARASHIMA until Shuten-dōji came to rescue him. With the interference gone the match turned into 2-on-1 with Sasaki and Takao helping each other. That blew up when Sasaki was trying to put HARASHIMA in the Cross Facelock. Takao went in for a Thrust Kick but struck Sasaki by accident! HARASHIMA got rid of Sasaki with the Somato then countered Takao’s Gin And Tonic into the Yama-ori head drop. Another Somato put away Takao and meant HARASHIMA is still the Extreme Champion! HARASHIMA thanked Shuten-dōji for helping him. They were still presumably fighting with DAMNATION backstage but if they could hear HARASHIMA, he invited them out to go drinking later.

All the hard work Shunma Katsumata has put into his training has finally paid off. ALL OUT are now the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions! He with the help of his partners whittled the champions down to just Yuki Ueno in the ring. While Kota Umeda & Koju Takeda did what they could to keep the match alive, Konosuke Takeshita & Akito held them back long enough for Katsumata to finish the job. Takeshita told Katsumata backstage that his efforts in training was finally rewarded. Akito also reminded Katsumata that ALL OUT is not just the three of them. There’s Diego as well and it feels like he was with them in spirit supporting their title win. Over at the losing side, Ueno is worried that his team won’t be able to bounce back from this because they aren’t a proper unit. All they can do is work hard but today they learned that individual power by itself is not enough.

KUDO never thought his wrestling career would last 15 years. He was able to do it with all of the support from his friends, his seniors and his juniors. His anniversary match ended with him pinning Makoto Oishi to win the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title and to cap it all off, he was even given flowers from HARASHIMA. KUDO is happy but now feels a little worried about having the Iron Man Title on him.

Sammy Guevara didn’t come to DDT to make friends, at least that’s judging by the middle finger he gave Mike Bailey at the start of their match. At first Bailey was one step ahead of of the newcomer. Some surprise pop-up Knee Strikes and dives put Guevara in control until the Green Tea Plunge came out of nowhere to give Bailey the victory. Backstage Bailey said he will be spending a month in England. When he comes back he wants himself and MAO to go after the KO-D Tag Team Titles. Guevara called Bailey a terrible high flyer and demanded a rematch. He also wants everyone to go look at his Youtube channel. Guevara was later seen standing with Mizuki Watase in Irie’s corner for the main event.

Let’s look at all of the reasons why Toru Owashi was disqualified in the opener. Unmasking two wrestlers and allegedly attacking everybody with three chairs, a broom, a basin, a bottle of oil and a ladder. He had so many items attached to him that he ended up looking like a game of Buckaroo! The last minute loser leaves town stipulation meant that Owashi is now banished from Japan. DDT immediately announced that Washitimo Dragon will make his debut on 26th June. Yuki Iino came down wearing an Ultimo Dragon mask to carry Owashi away from ringside with a few other wrestlers. Then there was another announcement. The real Ultimo Dragon is coming back to DDT on 3rd July!

Aaron Anders was able to give Kouki Iwasaki the Twisting Flapjack after Mizuki Watase tripped Iwasaki by the ropes.

Joey Ryan & Laura James have challenged Makoto Oishi & Misaki Ohata to a match at “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2018” on 21st October. Ryan & James accuse Oishi & Ohata of stealing their idea of having a marriage proposal during a wrestling match. Oishi admitted he needed to do a couple of takes for the match announcement video because he kept saying his partner was Shiori Asahi instead of Ohata out of habit.

Taiyo Kea makes his DDT debut on the 25th August Korakuen Hall show.

The Up Up Girls (Fake) wanted to perform a dance routine at the start of the show but Imabayashi mercifully stopped them.

DDT’s return to the Handmade In Japan Fes on 7th July will feature one match. It will be Sanshiro Takagi & Kazusada Higuchi Vs HARASHIMA & Keisuke Ishii Vs Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi in a 3 Way Tag Match.

Kazuki Hirata and Toru Owashi are the latest DDT wrestlers to get gender-swapped characters for the Ring☆Dream online game. Their characters will be added during the summer.


DDT “APRIL FOOL 2018” Results

April 1, 2018

DDT “APRIL FOOL 2018”, 01/04/2018
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
972 Fans

0. Under Match: Tomomitsu Matsunaga defeated Rekka with the Backdrop (6:22).
1. Kota Umeda, Yuki Ueno & Koju Takeda defeated Kazusada Higuchi, Kouki Iwasaki & Mizuki Watase when Umeda pinned Watase with the Umeda Driver (8:37).
2. Gota Ihashi 5 Match Series – 1st Battle: Koji Kanemoto defeated Gota Ihashi with the Anklelock (11:42).
3. Loser Expulsion Match: Tetsuya Endo, Mad Paulie, Keisuke Ishii, Masahiro Takanashi, Saki Akai, MAO and Antonio Honda defeated Kazuki Hirata (8:01).
3a1. Mad Paulie defeated Kazuki Hirata with a Body Press (2:37).
3a2. Tetsuya Endo defeated Kazuki Hirata with a Standing Moonsault Senton (2:50).
3a3. Keisuke Ishii defeated Kazuki Hirata with a Fisherman Buster (3:16).
3a4. MAO defeated Kazuki Hirata with a Hollywood Star Rolling Senton (3:29).
3a5. Antonio Honda defeated Masahiro Takanashi, Kazuki Hirata and Saki Akai with the Gongitsune (5:46).
3a6. Masahiro Takanashi defeated Saki Akai with a School Boy (6:21).
3a7. Saki Akai defeated Kazuki Hirata with a School Boy (6:58).
3b. 2 Vs 1 Handicap Match: Kazuki Hirata defeated Sanshiro Takagi & Toru Owashi when Hirata pinned Takagi with a Backslide Pine (8:01).
*Sanshiro Takagi is banished from DDT.
4. Japan-US Gay Wrestling Summit! 2018: Colt Cabana, Joey Ryan & Ethan Page defeated Danshoku Dino, Super Sasadango Machine & Makoto Oishi when Cabana pinned Oishi with the Superman Dive (12:18).
5. 4 Way Tag Match: KUDO & Yukio Sakaguchi defeated Konosuke Takeshita & Shunma Katsumata, HARASHIMA & Soma Takao and Daisuke Sasaki & Shuji Ishikawa when Sakaguchi submitted Katsumata with an Arm Triangle Hold (11:06).
6. DDT Extreme Title – Ladder Match: Yuko Miyamoto (c) defeated Mike Bailey when Miyamoto grabbed the title belt (15:11).
*V3 for Yuko Miyamoto.
7. Special Single Match: Shigehiro Irie defeated Akito with the Beast Bomber (14:20).

After disappearing off the face of the earth for a few months, Shigehiro Irie is back in DDT to win the KO-D Openweight Title. Standing in his way was Akito who was determined not to let Irie get what he wants after he abandoned the company. Irie overpowered Akito’s submissions and crushed him with a Diving Cannonball before getting the win with the Beast Bomber.

After the match Irie spotted Konosuke Takeshita sitting at the commentary table and demanded he get in the ring. Irie then challenged Takeshita to a KO-D Title match. Takeshita reminded Irie about the dark match they had in Korakuen Hall together in 2015. Takeshita has never forgotten about it and he will continue to be the champion. Producer Danshoku Dino showed up and gave his opinion about Irie. He does not care if Irie wants to break up DDT. All that matters is if Irie creates something new to take its place if he becomes the champion. Whether it is Takeshita or Irie on top, either future is something that Dino wants to see. The title match will take place on 29th April.

The DDT Extreme Title was hung above the ring for a Ladder match between Yuko Miyamoto and Mike Bailey. The ladder wasn’t the only dangerous object used in the match. A pile of chairs were stacked up as a creative substitute when a ladder wasn’t available but it just collapsed beneath them. When the ladder was brought in Miyamoto and Bailey went to town with crazy bumps. Miyamoto knocked Bailey off the ladder onto another one suspended against the ropes and was free to pull down the title belt. Miyamoto called Bailey a crazy wrestler then nominated his buddy HARASHIMA as the next challenger on 29th April. Their last singles match against each other happened 13 years ago in Triple Six.

Shuten-dōji bounced back from their Sumo Hall defeat by winning the 4 Way Tag Match. It got a bit crazy in the finishing stretch. Takeshita gave KUDO the German Suplex, Daisuke Sasaki gave Takeshita the Hurricanrana, Soma Takao hit Sasaki with a Thrust Kick, Shuji Ishikawa gave Takao the Fire Thunder, Yukio Sakaguchi hit Ishikawa with the Right Knee Of God then Shunma Katsumata caught a High Kick and gave Sakaguchi a Sit Down Power Bomb. Sakaguchi moved out of the way from Katsumata’s Moonsault and locked him into a Triangle Choke with a Kimura also applied to win. Masahiro Takanashi said that everyone in Shuten-dōji are starving for a drink and KUDO called today an exciting start for their next story.

Not sure how much I can write about the North America Vs Japan 6-Man Tag without getting this site blocked by web filters. Colt Cabana & Joey Ryan tricked Ethan Page into starting the match with Dino. Cabana got the crowd to chant “Okama Ichiban!” after they won.

Sanshiro Takagi & Toru Owashi were given the task of banishing a wrestler from DDT to keep the roster from overflowing. For weeks DDT wrestlers were selected based on negative and questionable qualities and today it was up to them to fight for their survival. Takagi & Owashi sat by a desk in the ring while everyone wrestled around them. Anyone who could pin an opponent or impress the judges would be spared and could leave the match. One by one the ring whittled down until Kazuki Hirata was the last wrestler left. The match turned into a 2 Vs 1 Handicap Match between Takagi & Owashi against Hirata. Takagi gave Hirata the Sit Down Himawari Bomb but from out of nowhere all of the other wrestlers rolled Hirata onto him and all piled up on top for the pin! Per the rules of the match, Takagi is now banished from DDT!

Takagi protested and tried to convince everyone it was only an April Fool’s joke. Owashi wouldn’t have any of it. He told Takagi he had to accept the stipulation. Takagi refused to leave and clung on to the bottom turnbuckle. Yuki Iino came out dressed as a sexy policeman and he lifted Takagi over to other wrestlers so they could carry him towards his banishment. DDT then announced that Francoise☆Takagi from T2HiJoshi will return on 29th April.

In the first match of his five match series, Gota Ihashi lost to Koji Kanemoto. Ihashi had the chance to win with the Moonsault but he missed and Kanemoto tapped him out with the Anklelock. Kanemoto motivated Ihashi to stand back up and cheered him up. It turns out Kanemoto also hates Riki Choshu! He encouraged Ihashi to continue the trial and if he needs to get stronger, Kanemoto will be there for him.

The new KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions went up against former champions and all of them came from DNA. The finish to that match came with Yuki Ueno hitting Mizuki Watase with a Missile Dropkick, Koju Takeda did the Hurricane Driver and Kota Umeda got the pin with the Umeda Driver. The champions haven’t decided when to hold their first defence yet.

Rekka focused his gameplan around an Elbow Stike move called the Taiwan Elbow. However it wasn’t enough to beat Tomomitsu Matsunaga.

DDT provided a few April Fool announcements at the start of the show. Their new logo is the inspiration for a brand new mascot, a wrestler who wears the logo as a mask. The second joke is DDT’s video team is busy doing nothing in regards to their “BETAMANIA” show on 23rd April. The final joke was a special Gota Ihashi brochure going on sale that costs 150,000 yen.

DDT is working with C.A.MOBILE to redesign DDT’s official websites and services. The plan is to merge the website, the fan club and DDT UNIVERSE into one service with different pricing tiers.


DDT “JUDGEMENT 2018 ~DDT 21ST ANNIVERSARY~” Results

March 25, 2018

DDT “JUDGEMENT 2018 ~DDT 21ST ANNIVERSARY~”, 25/03/2018
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
5,796 Fans – Super No Vacancy

0. Under Match: Mad Paulie, Hoshitango, Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Gota Ihashi & Cherry defeated Mizuki Watase, Rekka, Daiki Shimomura, Nobuhiro Shimatani & Takato Nakano when Paulie pinned Shimatani with the Paulie Buster (7:26).
0. Under Match: Kenshin Chikano & Akira Jo defeated Kouki Iwasaki & Shinichiro Tominaga when Chikano pinned Tominaga with the Leg Lariat (8:10).
0. Under Match – Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Yuka Sakazaki & Shoko Nakajima defeated Rika Tatsumi & Maho Kurone when Sakazaki pinned Kurone with the Magical Girl Splash (8:45).
1. Gauntlet Tag Match: Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata defeated LiLiCo & Makoto Oishi, Reika Saiki & Lady Beard, Akito & Shunma Katsumata, Antonio Honda & Ethan Page and Naomi Yoshimura & Keisuke Okuda.
1a. Antonio Honda & Ethan Page eliminated Reika Saiki & Lady Beard by Ring Out when Beard was knocked out by a Missed Saiki Attack (3:26).
1b. Antonio Honda & Ethan Page eliminated Naomi Yoshimura & Keisuke Okuda by Ring Out when Page knocked Yoshimura out of the ring with a Big Boot (5:01).
1c. Akito & Shunma Katsumata eliminated Antonio Honda & Ethan Page when Katsumata pinned Honda with the Katsumata Guillotine (1:00).
1d. Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata eliminated Akito & Shunma Katsumata when Hirata pinned Katsumata with the One Shot Miracle Cradle (2:04).
1e. Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata eliminated LiLiCo & Makoto Oishi when Hirata pinned LiLiCo with the One Shot Miracle Cradle (3:20).
2. World Crazy Wrestler No. 1 Decision Battle In DDT: Colt Cabana defeated Joey Ryan with the Billy Goat’s Curse (10:11).
3. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match – Special 6-Woman Tag Match: Saki-sama, Yoshiko-sama & Azusa Christie defeated Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh & Mizuki when Saki-sama pinned Mizuki with the Academy Award (11:55).
4. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Super Sasadango Machine (c) defeated Jiro Kuroshio with a School Boy (9:12).
*V? for Super Sasadango Machine.
5. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Kota Umeda, Yuki Ueno & Koji Takeda defeated KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi (c) when Umeda pinned Sakaguchi with the Umeda Driver (12:28).
*Shuten-dōji fails in V3. Kota Umeda, Yuki Ueno & Koji Takeda become the 33rd KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions!
6. Weapon Rumble 5 Way Tag Loser Gets Anal Blast Match: Mike Bailey & MAO defeated Sanshiro Takagi & Ippanjin Munenori Sawa, Yuko Miyamoto & Soma Takao, Isami Kodaka & Fuminori Abe and Michael Nakazawa & Chinsuke Nakamura when MAO pinned Nakazawa with the Cannonball 450 (17:43).
7. Dramatic Dream Match: Great Muta, Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo defeated Danshoku Dino, Keisuke Ishii & Ken Ohka when Muta pinned Ishii with the Moonsault (20:09).
8. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Uchikomi! Presents: Daisuke Sekimoto & Kazusada Higuchi defeated HARASHIMA & Naomichi Marufuji (c) when Higuchi pinned HARASHIMA with the Goten (17:49).
*HarashiMarufuji fails in V6. Sekiguchi becomes the 63rd KO-D Tag Team Champions!
9. KO-D Openweight Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) defeated Shuji Ishikawa with the German Suplex (23:31).
*V11 for Konosuke Takeshita.

In the main event Konosuke Takeshita defeated Shuji Ishikawa once and for all to continue his dominant KO-D Openweight Title reign. Takeshita took everything that Ishikawa threw at him from the Knee Lifts to the Fire Thunders to the Splash Mountain and survived. He was even put through a table outside the ring with the Fire Thunder from the apron. In return Takeshita fired back with Lariats and German Suplexes until his big rival couldn’t take any more. Takeshita gave him the Cross Arm German Suplex but couldn’t keep his grip for the pin. He was able to reposition himself to give Ishikawa another German Suplex and this time pin him to win.

Takeshita thanked the fans for coming to Sumo Hall. A year and a half ago he defended his title against Ishikawa in this building and lost. Since then the support from the fans kept him going while he grew as a wrestler and a person. Time passes by so quickly but day after day he is still the champion. He loves that DDT is growing while he is becoming stronger. Takeshita then went to climb the turnbuckle and celebrate but he slipped and fell. Everyone laughed including him and the show was over…

…except that wasn’t the ending. When the ring was emptied and the ending music was playing, Shigehiro Irie appeared and climbed into the ring! Irie had disappeared from DDT right at the end of 2017 and was allegedly on another one of his overseas expeditions. This was his first appearance in a DDT ring for 2018. He called for Takeshita to come back out and face him. He congratulated him for the victory then challenged him to a title match. Takeshita said he always knew Irie would come back but is he ready for such a match? Takeshita carried DDT while Irie was gone. Akito entered the stand off and was full of criticism towards Irie. Everyone in DDT has responsibilities and Irie runs away whenever he doesn’t get what he wants. Akito does not accept Irie just coming back and demanding a title match. Irie threatened to shut up Akito and left the ring. Takeshita apologised for letting the argument happen. However his final words were about how he would like to see Akito and Irie settle their differences in the ring.

At last Kazusada Higuchi has taken down HARASHIMA! The KO-D Tag Team Titles changed hands after a back and forth match. Naomichi Marufuji used his strike combos to cut down the opposition as much as he could. HARASHIMA kept Higuchi & Daisuke Sekimoto on edge with the Somato. The final moments of the match were down to HARASHIMA and Higuchi. HARASHIMA hit a Buzzsaw Kick but Higuchi woke up out of it and Headbutted his rival. Higuchi had the win in his sights when he hit the Doctor Bomb but Marufuji broke the pin. Sekimoto German Suplexed Marufuji away and Higuchi finished off HARASHIMA with the Goten to win the titles. Higuchi thanked Sekimoto backstage and said he felt amazing after he finally defeated HARASHIMA. On the other side, Marufuji took the blame for his team’s loss. HARASHIMA said he enjoyed teaming with Marufuji for the last several months. They don’t need the titles to team again but they will stick to messaging each other on LINE for the time being.

The Great Muta entered DDT in an alien looking form to take part in his most bizarre wrestling match since the first time he was in HUSTLE. You know the one I’m talking about. Daisuke Sasaki, Tetsuya Endo, Ken Ohka and Keisuke Ishii were all there to play second fiddle to Muta and Danshoku Dino locking horns. Dino’s typical moves didn’t work on Muta at first. It wasn’t until Muta accidentally struck his partners with a chair when Dino grabbed him by the crotch again and the action slowly took its effect on the demon. Seeing his chance, Dino set himself up for the Hell Gate on the turnbuckle. Muta was thrown into Dino’s ass but Muta stopped himself and sprayed the Poison Mist into Dino’s ass! However much to everyone’s shock, Dino’s ass sprayed the Mist back into Muta’s face! Ohka hit the Fire Spear on Muta but it wasn’t enough to win. Ohka hit Sasaki & Endo with the Double Fire Spear but Muta was back up giving everyone Dragon Screws. Dino gave Muta and DAMNATION the Lip Lock but Muta stopped him and gave him the Lip Lock right back. Then all three of them spat red Poison Mist at Dino. Endo hit Dino with the Handspring Leg Lariat, Sasaki followed up with a Pedigree and Muta ended the match with the Moonsault. Quite possibly the final Moonsault Muta will ever do. The match was over but Dino had the last word. Dino wants Muta to tell Keiji Muto that this isn’t the end. Dino wants a singles match against either The Great Muta or Keiji Muto!

After intermission Sanshiro Takagi and Hisaya Imabayashi came out for a few big announcements. First, DDT will return to Sumo Hall later this year on 21st October for “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2018”. Second, there will be two Sumo Hall shows during the same weekend next February. The shows, nicknamed “2 DAYS Of Hell”, will be held on the 16th and 17th February, 2019. However, only the second show is a DDT show. The first show will be a MUSCLE show hosted by Super Sasadango Machine! The show is called “MUSCLE MANIA 2018 ~I CANNOT WAIT UNTIL 2030 SP~” referencing the humorous return date in the year 2030 for the MUSCLE spin off brand. Sasadango wants the official return show in 2030 to be held in the Tokyo Dome.

The Weapons Rumble was the crazy spectacle it promised to be. Chinsuke Nakamura was accompanied by a violin player for his entrance. He and Michael Nakazawa were attacked while they finished their ring entrance. The first weapon to enter was Soma Takao’s steel basin. He whacked Takagi over the head with it. Next was Nakamura’s surfboard. He swung it down at Takao. Takao tried to block it with his basin but it only made the impact worse. Takagi & Munenori Sawa wanted to do the Golden Shower but they were cut off. The dreaded locker was brought into the match by MAO & Mike Bailey. They trapped Takagi inside and kicked the sides of the locker. The next weapon were the T2HiJoshi girls: Margaret★Owashi, Kazuko Hirata & Gorgeous Matsuko. MAO got rid of them by snapping the back of Matsuko’s bra, knocking her out of the ring. Fuminori Abe knocked out Sawa with a Rabbit Punch which brought out the next weapon, three monks. Abe and the monks prayed for Sawa to wake up and it worked. The next weapon was a special rule. No laughing allowed. Takagi then came out with his Combat Bicycle and cycled over to his opponents to Lariat them. MAO & Bailey countered the bicycle by bringing in a Dramatic Road Roller. MAO and Takagi crashed into each other, wrecking the Roller. A massive barbed wire board was thrown into the ring by Takao & Yuko Miyamoto, taking out everyone else. Isami Kodaka’s weapon was next, the Giga Ladder. Isami struck Miyamoto with the ladder and sent him crashing through the barbed wire board outside the ring. The final weapon was Shinjiro Otani dressed in a black bodysuit! Every laughed, breaking the No Laughing rule from earlier. The punishment was Otani hitting everyone in the ass with a baseball bat. When Otani was finished, he did the Fire Festival Sword pose with the bat. The match reached its end when Bailey gave Nakazawa the Ultima Weapon and MAO got the pin with the Cannonball 450.

As part of the match stipulation, Nakazawa must now take an Anal Explosion. However Nakazawa couldn’t take another explosion after taking so many over the years. He shouted about going back to Thailand and ran away from ringside. This left the others with a problem. An explosion was promised and DDT cannot continue the show without doing it. One by one, different wrestlers volunteered to sacrifice themselves until Takagi offered to do it. Everyone else immediately accepted his request. “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” by Aerosmith played over the speakers as Takagi walked up to the stage, stripped down to his underwear and prepared to take the explosion which was 100 times more powerful than he thought when it was prepared. Takagi hesitated to push the button next to him. The tension was so unbearable that Sawa couldn’t take it any more. He approached Takagi and told him that they will take the explosion together. Sawa leapt on top of Takagi, they joined hands and they both pressed the button, causing a tremendous explosion inside Sumo Hall and also their backsides.

Youth beat liquor in the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles match. But it almost didn’t end that way. Yukio Sakaguchi hit Kota Umeda with the Right Knee Of God and tried to choke him out with a Sleeper Hold. Umeda was only saved by Yuki Ueno & Koji Takeda hitting double Missile Dropkicks to Sakaguchi. The DNA team kept KUDO & Masahiro Takanashi away while Umeda and Sakaguchi slugged it out with a kickfest. Umeda got the upper hand and dropped Sakaguchi with the Umeda Driver for the victory. Sakaguchi handed the titles over to Umeda and told him “Well done”. The new champions bowed when Shuten-dōji left the ring.

Super Sasadango Machine got his wish and successfully defended the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title against Jiro Kuroshio. Sasadango began with his PowerPoint presentation and promised it wouldn’t take longer than 20 minutes, the same amount of time as Kuroshio’s entrance. Sasadango’s plan was to make Makoto Oishi lay a bear trap around Sumo Hall for Kuroshio to fall into during his long entrance. The first trap was placed on the ring apron. The second trap was planted near a group of women in the audience. They were given custom Kuroshio signs to lure Kuroshio over to the trap. The signs were hand made by Kazusada Higuchi. The third and final trap was placed beneath the balcony next to Kuroshio’s father where two other Sasadango Machines would hold him hostage. This trap was delayed because Oishi and the Machines were looking for him on the wrong side of the arena.

Kuroshio came out and nonchalantly avoided most of the traps. He vaulted over the first one, cartwheeled over the second and easily stepped over the third. The plan looked to be ruined until Sasadango grabbed the trap and placed it into the ring at the right moment. Kuroshio somersaulted over the ropes and landed head first into the trap! Sasadango hit the Vertical Drop Lehmann Shock for the quick finish but Kuroshio barely kicked out! Kuroshio retreated outside to get his bearings then sent Sasadango flying outside with a Hurricanrana. He then followed up with a big Moonsault off the top rope to Sasadango and Oishi outside. Sasadango tried to defend himself with the trap but Kuroshio kicked it away. He applied the Ikemen Clutch for the pin but time slowed down to a halt and a video of both wrestlers’ inner monologues played while they fought in slow motion. Ikemen grabbed the trap and threw it out of the ring (still in slow motion). He knocked down Sasadango and was ready to finish him off when another video played. This time it was his father’s inner monologue. It turns out his father is actually an omnipatent god here to offer his son a choice. He can choose either a Gold Trap or a Silver Trap. Kuroshio chose the Gold Trap. Oishi came out and placed the Gold Trap on top of Sasadango. Kuroshio didn’t noticed and Moonsaulted onto the trap! Sasadango got back up and pinned Kuroshio with a School Boy to win the match. Backstage Kuroshio was shocked to learn he is a son of a god. He then snapped back into reality and talked about wanting to challenge Konosuke Takeshita for the KO-D Title if Takeshita wins in the main event.

Maki Itoh made the grave mistake of throwing down Yoshiko-sama’s teddy bear in the Tokyo Joshi Pro match. This made Yoshiko-sama so angry that she beat up Itoh with the bear. Miyu Yamashita went toe to toe with Yoshiko-sama and Azusa Christie until she and Itoh were taken out with a Double Lariat. An outnumbered Mizuki was then picked apart by NEO Biishiki-gun with Saki-sama winning with her finisher. The Two Step Face Kick she uses is now called the Academy Award.

In the battle of the crazy gaijin, Colt Cabana outwitted Joey Ryan. Cabana blocked Ryan’s attempt to stick a lollipop into his mouth by redirecting it into Yukinori Matsui’s mouth. Ryan pulled out more lollipops and every time the lollipop ended up in Matsui’s mouth. Ryan’s plan finally worked when he pulled the lollipop out of Matsui’s mouth and into Cabana’s. Colt grabbed one of the lollipops from Matsui and shoved it into Ryan’s mouth. Cabana then forced Ryan to grab his own crotch and make him flip himself over. Ryan was helpless and tapped out to the Billy Goat’s Curse afterwards. Cabana tried to give a celebratory speech but the microphone cut out from him. When it finally worked he called himself the craziest gaijin in DDT.

An over the top rope rule was added to the Tag Gauntlet at the last minute. It was this addition that led to the eliminations of DEADLIFT LOLITA and Naomi Kingdom. The pace of the match changed when ALL OUT eliminated Antonio Honda & Ethan Page. The last two eliminations were caused by Kazuki Hirata. First he pinned Shunma Katsumata with the Miracle Cradle. LiLiCo & Makoto Oishi caused him some problems but Hirata caught LiLiCo in another Miracle Cradle to win the match. Toru Owashi handed him a pair of Hirata GO! glasses and he got to do his full dance celebration.

The Miraclians beat the Dragon Bombers in the Tokyo Joshi pre-show match. Rika Tatsumi did her best with her Hip Attacks and Maho Kurone tried to eat Shoko Nakajima’s tail. The Apricots hit Kurone with a Double 619 and Yuka Sakazaki landed the Magical Girl Splash for the three count.

Kenshin Chikano & Akira Jo were victorious over Kouki Iwasaki & Shinichiro Tominaga in the second pre-show match. Yep.

The very first match of the day saw the DDT Veteran team defeat Team DNA. Poor little Nobuhiro Shimatani was given the Cherryton Bomb from Cherry, the Midnight Buenos Aires from Hoshitango and the Reverse Splash from Mad Paulie all in a row. The pin was cut off but Paulie just gave Shimatani the Paulie Buster to end it.

DDT unveiled a brand new logo designed by NIGO, the creator of the A Bathing Ape fashion line. The logo resembles a wrestling ring on top of a cube. The intention was to create something that was not your typical pro wrestling logo but still has an element of pro wrestling associated with it.


DDT “JUDGEMENT 2018 ~DDT 21ST ANNIVERSARY~” Preview

March 24, 2018

DDT “JUDGEMENT 2018 ~DDT 21ST ANNIVERSARY~”, 25/03/2018
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

0. Under Match: Mizuki Watase, Rekka, Daiki Shimomura, Nobuhiro Shimatani & Takato Nakano Vs Mad Paulie, Hoshitango, Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Gota Ihashi & Cherry
0. Under Match: Kouki Iwasaki & Shinichiro Tominaga Vs Kenshin Chikano & Akira Jo
0. Under Match – Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Yuka Sakazaki & Shoko Nakajima Va Rika Tatsumi & Maho Kurone
1. Gauntlet Tag Match: LiLiCo & Makoto Oishi Vs Reika Saiki & Lady Beard Vs Akito & Shunma Katsumata Vs Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Antonio Honda & Ethan Page Vs Naomi Yoshimura & Keisuke Okuda
2. World Crazy Wrestler No. 1 Decision Battle In DDT: Joey Ryan Vs Colt Cabana
3. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match – Special 6-Woman Tag Match: Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh & Mizuki Vs Saki-sama, Yoshiko-sama & Azusa Christie
4. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Super Sasadango Machine (c) Vs Jiro Kuroshio
5. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi (c) Vs Kota Umeda, Yuki Ueno & Koji Takeda
6. Weapon Rumble 5 Way Tag Loser Gets Anal Blast Match: Sanshiro Takagi & Ippanjin Munenori Sawa Vs Mike Bailey & MAO Vs Yuko Miyamoto & Soma Takao Vs Isami Kodaka & Fuminori Abe Vs Michael Nakazawa & Chinsuke Nakamura
7. Dramatic Dream Match: Danshoku Dino, Keisuke Ishii & Ken Ohka Vs Great Muta, Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo
8. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Uchikomi! Presents: HARASHIMA & Naomichi Marufuji (c) Vs Daisuke Sekimoto & Kazusada Higuchi
9. KO-D Openweight Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Shuji Ishikawa

For an audio preview I appeared on an episode of the Wrestling Omakase podcast to talk about the show. We also review the “SAKI AKAI PRODUCE ~ DDT COLLECTION” show on the same episode. You can listen to it here.

The DDT UNIVERSE live broadcast begins on 1:30pm JST with the first pre-show match beginning at 2:00pm JST and the main show beginning at 3:00pm JST. So for other time zones the main show begins at 7:00am GMT (remember the clocks will have gone forward one hour in this time zone), 2:00am ET and (Saturday) 11:00pm PT. For those with access to AbemaTV the event will also air live for free on the DDT channel (VPN needed for those outside Japan). There will be either muted audio or replacement music for the entrances and video packages because of this.

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DDT is back in Sumo Hall once again for its biggest event of the year. “JUDGEMENT 2018” is being held to mark DDT’s 21st anniversary and is providing a stacked card to celebrate. The headline match is a rematch of a 2016 Sumo Hall main event but there is plenty to talk about from top to bottom. We have grudge matches, we have generational battles, we have wrestling demons, we have anal explosions, we have title matches, we have joshi, we have crazy foreign wrestlers and we have the other sub-brands jumping in to get involved. The only way this show gets any more insane is if DDT goes the Pop Team Epic route and holds an identical 5 hour show immediately after this 5 hour show ends but with different a commentary team.

0. Under Match: Mizuki Watase, Rekka, Daiki Shimomura, Nobuhiro Shimatani & Takato Nakano Vs Mad Paulie, Hoshitango, Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Gota Ihashi & Cherry

The first match of the day is between rookies and veterans. The rookie team consists of DNA and BASARA wrestlers. Mizuki Watase’s big matches in DNA for the last few months have been against wrestlers like Koji Kanemoto & Minoru Tanaka. Taiwanese wrestler Rekka recently formed a short lived team with Chinese wrestler Choun-Shiryu that fell apart over their national differences. Daiki Shimomura has been bottom of the pile and taking loss after loss on most shows. His Gran MilliMeters partner Nobuhiro Shimatani has been the same except he has spent his time trying to win over DAMNATION so he can join their group. BASARA’s Takato Nakano is approaching the first anniversary of his debut match in April.

On the veteran team Mad Paulie has become a little bit calmer ever since he discovered dancing. He loves to dance along to Shuji Ishikawa’s karaoke. Because of this he acts a little bit nicer to his opponents but he is still dangerous to wrestle. Gota Ihashi embarrassed himself on the big stage when he got to team with Kota Ibushi and Riki Choshu on a show produced by Choshu. They won their match but Choshu ripped apart Ihashi with criticism during a post show interview. Ever since then Ihashi has been trying to regain his confidence and even wants to discover if the power of Choshu is inside of him. It isn’t. The real power is the friends you make along the way and Choshu has been friends with Ibushi for years so the entire journey is a waste of time in the first place. Hoshitango, Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Cherry have been filling up the DDT pre-show matches throughout the year.

0. Under Match: Kouki Iwasaki & Shinichiro Tominaga Vs Kenshin Chikano & Akira Jo

The focus of this match is between Kouki Iwasaki and Akira Jo. The two are feuding against each other in DNA where the homegrown wrestlers are defending themselves against the Naomi Kingdom, which Jo is a part of. Shinichiro Tominaga comes over from Ganbare☆Wrestling as a proud “amateur” pro wrestling card carrier. Kenshin Chikano has a DDT appearance here and there. He had a little more of a presence in BASARA last year when BASARA had a summer long rivalry with Dove Pro Wrestling.

0. Under Match – Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Yuka Sakazaki & Shoko Nakajima Va Rika Tatsumi & Maho Kurone

Tokyo Joshi Pro gets fully represented with two matches this time around. The pre-show match is between two of their long standing tag teams the Miraclians and the Dragon Bombers. The Apricots have been teaming together for as long as Yuka Sakazaki & Shoko Nakajima have been around. They have a few achievements between them but the one they share together is becoming the first ever TOKYO Princess Tag Team Champions. On the surface the Dragon Bombers look like an odd pairing but Rika Tatsumi and Maho Kurone have won over fans with their personalities. Kurone’s entire zombie character is immediately eye catching and her behaviour at shows is often fun to follow. Tatsumi got some media attention when she admitted to fancying another Tokyo Joshi wrestler Mizuki and openly questioned the No Relationships rule used by the promotion because it only refers to having boyfriends and not girlfriends. She is currently preparing for the biggest match of her life in May when she main events Korakuen Hall. She recently pinned Nakajima to build up her momentum. Either repeating it or pinning Sakazaki would only increase it further.

1. Gauntlet Tag Match: LiLiCo & Makoto Oishi Vs Reika Saiki & Lady Beard Vs Akito & Shunma Katsumata Vs Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Antonio Honda & Ethan Page Vs Naomi Yoshimura & Keisuke Okuda

The show kicks off proper with a wacky Gauntlet Match for Tag Teams. When LiLiCo was last in DDT she was defending the now forgotten KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles with Makoto Oishi and three others. That was in November. Now she’s back in training with Oishi to enter the gauntlet. Oishi has planning his next steps ever since NωA split up. He demanded to join T2Hide so he could take over the group and even won the right to be a member. But he instead turned it down so he could go do literally anything else. Reika Saiki & Lady Beard are connected together outside of wrestling as the idol duo DEADLIFT LOLITA. This is their first time teaming together for a wrestling match. Shunma Katsumata became the breakout wrestler from NωA when he joined ALL OUT and went through a crazy Hardcore Match where he used thumbtacks. Akito has been by Katsumata’s side during this encouraging him to come out of his shell. Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata are still the same except for the times when Hirata gets deported and replaced by a suspiciously similar looking foreign substitute. They might still be feeling burned by Oishi rejecting them. Ethan Page has been loving his stay in Japan which probably explains why he acts different here compared to how he normally elsewhere. DDT brought him in with big hopes that he will be their next big Canadian star. Antonio Honda is with him to make sure that happens. Finally, Naomi Yoshimura & Keisuke Okuda have been terrorising DNA with their Naomi Kingdom unit. Their troublemaking is now spreading to DDT and they are very interested to be in the same ring as LiLiCo and Saiki.

2. World Crazy Wrestler No. 1 Decision Battle In DDT: Joey Ryan Vs Colt Cabana

Everything about this match is a little funny. Two of America’s most known and successful comedy wrestlers will face off one on one inside one of Japan’s most prestigious wrestling arenas… and there’s been zero build up for it. That’s not to say either of them have done nothing in DDT at all. In January Joey Ryan competed at the D-Oh Grand Prix. He seemed to be more concerned about convincing the audience to throw paper tape at him for his entrances than he was with winning matches. Colt “Boom Boom” Cabana challenged for the KO-D Openweight Title on Christmas Day but failed to win it. He then spent New Year’s Eve pretending to be Abdullah The Butcher. Both are fighting for the right to be called the DDT’s craziest gaijin wrestler.

3. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match – Special 6-Woman Tag Match: Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh & Mizuki Vs Saki-sama, Yoshiko-sama & Azusa Christie

For the first time Tokyo Joshi gets a main card spot on a Sumo Hall show. Miyu Yamashita has regained her position as the ace of the promotion when she won back the TOKYO Princess Of Princess Title on 4th January. Since then she has been fighting off challengers like Veda Scott, Yuna Manase and Maho Kurone. Teaming with her is one of the scariest egos ever to grace a DDT ring. Pop idol turned pro wrestler Maki Itoh often becomes intense when she wrestles. Her petite figure doesn’t stop her from throwing headbutts and giving her opponents the middle finger. She also formed her own team/fan club called the Itoh Respect Army and brought in Mizuki as Member #001. Mizuki doesn’t mind and is happy to make a friend. They even recorded a music video together. It’s just that this friend can act like a psychopath when she doesn’t get her way.

Their opponents are NEO Biishiki-gun, the snooty aristocratic unit led by the snootier and even more aristocratic Saki-sama. Her biggest move over the last year was abducting one of the weakest wrestlers in Tokyo Joshi, Azusa Takigawa and brainwashing her into becoming Azusa Christie. Azusa is now a devoted nun who worships Saki-sama as if she was God. This change has seen her gain more success than she ever had previously and she along with Saki now holds the TOKYO Princess Tag Team Championships. Ever since her inclusion, NEO Biishiki-gun have been the dominant force in Tokyo Joshi and now they have a new girl joining them for this show. In February Saki-sama brought out a shy woman who was hiding her face behind a teddy bear and introduced her as an old friend from her childhood. Maki Itoh confronted this girl and threatened her until the bear was lowered and the face was revealed. The girl is Yoshiko-sama and she isn’t afraid to fight back! Her teddy bear is named Charlotte by the way.

4. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Super Sasadango Machine (c) Vs Jiro Kuroshio

I’ve had trouble trying to keep up with the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title this year. Super Sasadango Machine won it the first week of January and asked to defend the belt against Jiro Kuroshio at Sumo Hall. His wish was granted but on one condition. Sasadango would need to defend the title at least twice a week every week up until the show takes place. Sasadango quickly found a solution to this problem. He set up an office in Nagoya and invited celebrities, spokesmen and other various business people to try and win the belt from him. In return they would get to promote their projects on DDT’s social media. It worked for the most part but there were some title changes I missed from people I don’t know and from there I lost track. As of writing I think he is still the champion and his title match with Kuroshio is all set.

But things are never just normal with this championship. There are always people hunting after the belt and I’ll be shocked if this match just stays between Sasadango and Kuroshio. Heck I’ll be shocked if a title change does not happen right before the match takes place! Also I don’t think Kuroshio would be just satisfied with doing just this match. Remember, he has a pinfall victory over Konosuke Takeshita from the D-Oh Grand Prix. There has to be some sort of follow up to that.

5. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi (c) Vs Kota Umeda, Yuki Ueno & Koji Takeda

On the one hand Shuten-dōji finds themselves in the familiar position of the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles match on DDT’s big supercard. On the other hand their opponents this time includes what used to be one of their own! Kota Umeda returned from a long injury absence last November and is making up for lost time in both DDT and DNA. He built up a quick but intense rivalry with another rookie Yuki Ueno. He also joined the rest of DNA in their feud with the Naomi Kingdom. It was during this time that Umeda started to figure something out. As the fourth member of Shuten-dōji he was often left out of their 6-Man Tag Title matches. The only times he got to step in was to cover for one of the other wrestlers if they were hurt. This had to change.

Shuten-dōji reached the point where they were disappointed by their current position. They wanted to face the best trios DDT could throw at them but in the end it is they who are the best trio. That was when Umeda stepped up to them. He wanted to challenge his brothers for the titles and to do so he is teaming with his rival Ueno as well as another rookie Koji Takeda. The response from Shuten-dōji was mixed. Masahiro Takanashi found it funny. He thought Umeda’s new unit looks so bad that they should be called Pigging 2018 after the consistently worst unit to compete in the DDT General Elections year after year. But KUDO & Yukio Sakaguchi took this seriously. They would allow Umeda to challenge them but he would no longer be a part of Shuten-dōji if he does so. Umeda was willing to pay that price. Now Umeda is leading his generation team against his former family and in the process became a fierce enemy to Sakaguchi in particular. It might get worse when the title match takes place.

6. Weapon Rumble 5 Way Tag Loser Gets Anal Blast Match: Sanshiro Takagi & Ippanjin Munenori Sawa Vs Mike Bailey & MAO Vs Yuko Miyamoto & Soma Takao Vs Isami Kodaka & Fuminori Abe Vs Michael Nakazawa & Chinsuke Nakamura

Well this has been crazy. Originally DDT was going to hold its Falls Count Anywhere specialty match but Sumo Hall management and the Japan Sumo Association finally put their foot down and told them no. The potential risk of audience injuries and building damage is too high for them to accept. Unfortunately for them they weren’t prepared for DDT’s Plan B. Sure DDT will keep it in the ring but now there are explosives involved. At least it’s still safer than Sami Callihan playing with a pinata.

It all begun when Sanshiro Takagi was reunited with an old friend. In a moment that they absolutely swear was not like anything else that happened that same week involving former DDT talent, Munenori Sawa returned to DDT to save Takagi from a beatdown. They embraced, tears were shed and one of DDT’s wackiest tag teams from the last decade were back in business. Although Sawa had retired from pro wrestling to become a salaryman, he would still show up near a wrestling ring every now and then. Takagi threw out a challenge. He and Sawa would face anyone in a Falls Count Anywhere Match at Sumo Hall. They attracted a lot of offers. Yuko Miyamoto wanted to get involved and as the current DDT Extreme Champion he surely qualifies. Soma Takao joins Miyamoto as part of Smile Squash. The call was also answered by Isami Kodaka & Fuminori Abe from BASARA. Kodaka is a hardcore wrestler and Abe is pretty much Munenori Sawa Jr. so the stipulation suits them fine.

The challenge led to an old enemy of Takagi’s resurfacing. Michael Nakazawa sent a video saying he would enter with a friend from “New York”. That friend is Chinsuke Nakamura! The Pauper Of Strong Style made his presence felt when he threw Takagi over the top rope and out of the ring. He celebrated this accomplishment by pointing to the RyogokuMania sign held above Korakuen Hall. The loudest response of all was from MAO fresh off of his split from NωA. MAO thinks now is the time DDT gets a new face for Street Wrestling and it should be him. He’s bringing Speedball Mike Bailey back to team with him. However MAO may be too crazy judging by that time he ran over Takagi with a van to win a Falls Count Anywhere match. He then threatened to blow up Shin-Kiba 1st RING with fireworks.

So the match was set and tensions grew to a dangerous level between Takagi and MAO. Takagi’s response to getting hit by a vehicle was to start shoving fireworks into other wrestlers’ butts to give them an Anal Explosion. MAO responded in kind until it was the major focus by everyone involved in the upcoming match. That was when the ban came and the match had to be cancelled. During that announcement all of the teams came together and threw together a replacement match. The BASARA team wanted to use weapons. MAO demanded that someone should get an Anal Blast. Everyone agreed to a Weapons Rumble match. As the match progresses, new weapons would be brought out Royal Rumble style. Plus whoever loses the match must subject themselves to an Anal Explosion! This means everybody is happy except for the Japan Sumo Association. Serves them right.

7. Dramatic Dream Match: Danshoku Dino, Keisuke Ishii & Ken Ohka Vs Great Muta, Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo

One of the first announcements for this show made back in January was the involvement of The Great Muta. DDT eventually announced that he would be teaming with DAMNATION to take on Danshoku Dino and his friends. Daisuke Sasaki would use the news to announce that he is in charge and Muta would be fighting under his leadership. There was no response from Muta about this. Sasaki then started taunting Dino by spitting cola and coffee at him Poison Mist style. Again there was no response from Muta. But Sasaki’s actions did bring Dino to his breaking point. The attacks made Dino transform into The Great Homo! Under his own Muta-style personality, Dino would constantly attack Sasaki and Tetsuya Endo. Endo moreso than Sasaki. He would spit Poison Milk Mist at them and attack their backsides with a spike. The only way he could be stopped was when Sasaki transformed into Nerima Sting to combat him. This finally made Muta stir. The demon was not pleased by this nonsense especially from Dino.

A threatening message was sent to DDT HQ. Dino has been given the Poison Curse! No matter where Dino goes, Muta would possess everyone around him and make them spit the Poison Mist in Dino’s face. Nowhere was Dino safe. Employees, trainees, referees, wrestlers, fans, models, TV hosts. All of them spat the Mist at Dino under Muta’s power. Dino would get attacked again and again and again and again and again! Has Muta’s plan brought Dino back to the brink enough to summon The Great Homo? Keisuke Ishii and Ken Ohka are there to help Dino but the three of them are clearly outmatched. The only thing they don’t have to worry about is Muta doing a Moonsault but that’s what Endo is there for.

8. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Uchikomi! Presents: HARASHIMA & Naomichi Marufuji (c) Vs Daisuke Sekimoto & Kazusada Higuchi

For many in DDT there is one task that seems impossible and that is beating HARASHIMA. The backbone of DDT is often the biggest mountain to climb and some wrestlers have become obsessed with doing it. The latest wrestler in this position is Kazusada Higuchi. HARASHIMA has been a thorn in his side ever since Higuchi’s first year in DDT. HARASHIMA gave Higuchi his first loss, beat him twice in KO-D Title matches and also won the KO-D Tag Team Titles from him with Naomichi Marufuji. The team known as HarashiMarufuji have held the titles ever since. They even survived a title defence held inside a factory! If they were ever to be beaten, Higuchi would have to find somebody really strong to team with him.

Oh crap. Daisuke Sekimoto wants to get involved.

Sekimoto & Higuchi joined forces for the annual New Year’s Eve cross promotion Tag Team Tournament and made it all the way to the final. They made such a good impression together that they are reuniting to go after HARASHIMA & Marufuji. Sekimoto and HARASHIMA have a history together but there is respect between them. HARASHIMA and Higuchi however do not like each other ever since HARASHIMA knocked out Higuchi during a singles match earlier this month. When Higuchi came to he went on a rampage chasing after HARASHIMA. A defeat to Marufuji too in the run-up to this match hasn’t helped. Higuchi will have to keep his emotions in check against these two.

9. KO-D Openweight Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Shuji Ishikawa

This is the rematch 19 months in the making. Konosuke Takeshita and Shuji Ishikawa main evented “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2016” with the KO-D Openweight Title on the line. Ishikawa came out on top that night and held onto the belt for almost the rest of 2016. HARASHIMA won the title from him in December that year but the championship made its way back to Takeshita at “JUDGEMENT 2017” just over one year ago. Since then Takeshita has firmly kept the belt in his grasp and fought all-comers, breaking the DDT record for most title defences in a single reign with 10 successful defences at this time. Freshly graduated from college, Takeshita has been having a great year as the champion. It’s getting tough though. A lower back injury has plagued Takeshita throughout February and gave him a big target that can be exploited. So it’s been a tough year but a great year none the less.

However you can argue Shuji Ishikawa’s last 12 months have been just as good if not better. He goes on a tear in All Japan and wins the Champion Carnival, then the Triple Crown, then the Real World Tag League with Suwama and then AJPW World Tag Team Titles also with Suwama. When he refocused his efforts in DDT at the beginning of 2018, Ishikawa ends up winning the first ever D-Oh Grand Prix tournament almost unbeaten. His only loss in the competition was against his DAMNATION leader Daisuke Sasaki. The goal of the Grand Prix was to establish DDT’s leading star for the rest of the year and Ishikawa proved there is no one more deserving of it than him.

Ishikawa has gone out to prove he has a range of other talents too. Ever since he won the Grand Prix, Ishikawa has performed karaoke in the ring to celebrate his big victories in DDT. Mad Paulie has joined in the fun by dancing along to his songs. Sasaki & Endo aren’t as eager to join in so they just grin and bare it while he sings. With the big title match on the horizon, Sasaki gave Ishikawa a serious order. Ishikawa cannot sing karaoke and Paulie cannot dance again until Ishikawa beats Takeshita at Sumo Hall to become the KO-D Champion. This gave Ishikawa an idea. Takeshita is injured. If he gets so injured that he cannot defend the title at Sumo Hall then Ishikawa will become the champion by default. Then for the main event Ishikawa can sing karaoke inside the ring all night long! So for the last month Ishikawa has intentionally tried to injure Takeshita in their preview matches. It briefly worked when Takeshita had to miss a show to recover but he came back and in their most recent match together pinned Ishikawa.

So there you have it. The strongest champion in DDT’s history is hurt but still capable of beating whatever is being thrown at him. DDT’s strongest challenger is almost unstoppable and is powered by the desire to show off his vocal talents. Their 2016 match is well worth the watch in preparation for this.


DDT “DRAMATIC NERIMA THE FIGHTER 2018” Results

February 4, 2018

DDT “DRAMATIC NERIMA THE FIGHTER 2018”, 03/02/2018
Tokyo Nerima Coconeri Hall
358 Fans – Super No Vacancy

1. Joey Ryan & Samara defeated Antonio Honda & Kazuki Hirata when Ryan pinned Hirata with the Super Kick (8:38).
2. Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie defeated Kouki Iwasaki & Mizuki Watase when Paulie pinned Watase with the Paulie Buster (8:32).
3. Yukio Sakaguchi, Masahiro Takanashi & Kota Umeda defeated Yuki Ueno, Koju Takeda & Daiki Shimomura when Sakaguchi submitted Shimomura with the Modified Cobra Clutch (10:49).
4. Ken Ohka defeated Gota Ihashi with the Fire Spear (7:11).
5. Konosuke Takeshita, Akito & Shunma Katsumata defeated Toru Owashi, Keisuke Ishii & Makoto Oishi when Katsumata pinned Oishi with the ¡Hasta la vista! (9:57).
6. HARASHIMA & Soma Takao defeated Kazusada Higuchi & MAO when HARASHIMA pinned MAO with the Somato (11:41).
7. Hero Of Nerima! Triumph In Nerima! Nerima Specialty Special Single Match: Danshoku Dino defeated Daisuke Sasaki with the Danshoku Killer (0:20).
7a. Rematch: Daisuke Sasaki defeated Danshoku Dino with the Cross Facelock (10:17).
8. DDT Extreme Title – Hardcore Match: Yuko Miyamoto (c) defeated KUDO with the Moonsault (16:22).
*V1 for Yuko Miyamoto.

KUDO found himself in an unusal setting today. He fought Yuko Miyamoto in a Hardcore match featuring chairs, tables, ladders, pots and a barbed wire nunchucks that he brought himself. KUDO kicked out of the Fire Thunder through a table and was still in the match after another Fire Thunder but the Moonsault put his challenge to an end. Miyamoto thanked KUDO for letting him be involved in KUDO’s first ever Hardcore Match. He then said he will defend the DDT Extreme Title against anyone who wants to fight him. Shunma Katsumata answered the call. Miyamoto recognised him as that idol wrestler but Katsumata cut him off and said he has moved on to become an ALL OUT member. He asked if he could get the next title shot. Miyamoto accepted and the match will take place in Korakuen Hall on 25th February.

Before the main event took place, Joey Ryan and Antonio Honda came out promising to give the announcement of the century. They demanded Sanshiro Takagi to come out for his demand. Ryan asked Takagi if he could join T2Hide. Takagi thought about it until Ryan said he would become the leader of T2Hide and also the president of DDT. Takagi turned him down. He doesn’t care about the T2Hide leadership but taking the role of DDT president away from him is crossing the line. A fight was ready to break out until Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata calmed everyone down. When everyone was leaving the ring, Ryan grabbed Takagi and used his dong strength to flip him over. Honda gave Ryan and chair and held on to Takagi for the chairshot. Suddenly, Munenori Sawa came to the rescue! Sawa chased away Ryan & Honda until it was only himself and Takagi left in the ring. After a tense moment alone, Sawa offered a handshake to Takagi but Takagi refused. As the emotions between them built up, they finally hugged and paper crackers popped around ringside to celebrate the reunion of Takagi & Sawa! The two left the ring crying shoulder to shoulder. Backstage Sawa told Takagi he will be there for him at Sumo Hall on 25th March. They will team together for a Falls Count Anywhere match against any team that wants to face them. The interviewer asked them if their reunion reminded them of the Golden ☆ Lovers reunion that happened last week. Takagi said what happened today is completely original. Sawa said he had never seen anything like this before. They called the interviewer rude for asking such a silly question.

Daisuke Sasaki’s homecoming was ruined by Danshoku Dino but he eventually got his revenge. Dino tackled Sasaki to the mat and tried to do Danshoku things to him. Sasaki tapped out to get away from him. They agreed to an immediate rematch and Sasaki spat coffee mist into Dino’s eyes. He then made Dino submit to the Cross Facelock.

Today was a good first outing for Katsumata in his first match for ALL OUT. He wore new gear and got the winning pinfall too. Katsumata gave a standard victory speech but Akito interrupted and asked him to get back on the microphone. He has to say more than the usual to win over the audience. Katsumata promised everyone that he will make it to the top of DDT. Akito pushed him to continue and be more clear with his goals. Katsumata said that he will win a DDT championship! Now Akito was satisfied with the promo.

Ken Ohka wrestled Gota Ihashi to motivate Ihashi after comments by Riki Choshu gave him an identity crisis. Ohka won the match but gave Ihashi a captivating speech afterwards. Ohka offered Ihashi the chance to team with him and Kazusada Higuchi in the main event of next Tuesday’s YaroZ show. Ihashi promised to do his best for Ohka.

Kota Umeda and Yuki Ueno continued to fight each other after Match #3 ended. When they were pulled apart Umeda challenged Ueno to a singles match.

Nobuhiro Shimatani is suffering from appendicitis and had to be replaced by Daiki Shimomura in Match #3.


DDT “D-KING GRAND PRIX 2018 THE FINAL!!” Results

January 28, 2018

DDT “D-KING GRAND PRIX 2018 THE FINAL!!”, 28/01/2018
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,214 Fans – No Vacancy

0. Under Match: Naomi Yoshimura defeated Nobuhiro Shimatani with a Short Range Lariat (4:28).
1. Yukio Sakaguchi & Kota Umeda defeated Mizuki Watase & Yuki Ueno when Umeda pinned Ueno with the Umeda Driver (4:25).
2. Infomercial Match – Takahashi Tax Accounting Office: Super Sasadango Machine & Saki Akai defeated Antonio Honda & Tanomusaku Toba when Sasadango pinned Toba with the Flying Body Attack (6:33).
3. 3 Way Tag Match: KUDO & Masahiro Takanashi defeated Soma Takao & Kouki Iwasaki and Kazusada Higuchi & Daiki Shimomura when KUDO pinned Shimomura with the Diving Double Knee Drop (6:33).
4. Danshoku Dino & Keisuke Ishii Vs Jiro Kuroshio & Joey Ryan ended in a No Contest (9:47).
5. NωA FINAL CONCERT In Korakuen Hall ~ T2Hide This Is The Real Last Time! Final!! Final Battle!!: Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata & MAO defeated Sanshiro Takagi, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata when Katsumata pinned Hirata with the ¡Hasta La Vista! (8:36).
6. Daisuke Sasaki, Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie defeated Konosuke Takeshita, Akito & Mike Bailey when Endo pinned Bailey with the Tetsuya In The Sky With Diamonds (15:07).
7. D-King Grand Prix – Final: Shuji Ishikawa defeated HARASHIMA with the Giant Slam (19:12).

After an intense month of round robin matches it was now time for the first ever D-King Grand Prix grand final! The two group winners HARASHIMA and Shuji Ishikawa faced off with a lot of important prizes on the line for the winner. HARASHIMA used short ranged Somatos to counter Ishikawa’s biggest moves but was too beaten down to fully capitalise on them. The tables turned when Ishikawa caught the Somato and countered it into the Fire Thunder Driver. HARASHIMA kicked out at one! Ishikawa quickly hit a Knee Lift but HARASHIMA kicked out at two. Ishikawa then did the Splash Mountain but somehow HARASHIMA kicked out again. He tried to kick his way back into the fight but Ishikawa stopped him with a Trapped Headbutt followed by the Kamigoe and another Knee Lift. HARASHIMA was still kicking out but the Giant Slam put him away once and for all. Shuji Ishikawa wins the 2018 D-King Grand Prix!

Ishikawa’s prize is 2,000,000 yen in prize money (he is considering a bitcoin investment) and the guaranteed KO-D Openweight Title main event match at Sumo Hall on 25th March. Konosuke Takeshita entered the ring and stood across from his next challenger. Ishikawa told him that when he had the belt, it shined more. He has to give it more light again. Takeshita praised Ishikawa for his contributions to pro wrestling in Japan. He is one of the best. But Takeshita will have held the belt for over a year when their match takes place. He told Ishikawa they will destroy the ring together in Sumo Hall!

When Takeshita left, Daisuke Sasaki congratulated Ishikawa for crushing their hated enemy HARASHIMA. He was then distracted by Tetsuya Endo’s new hairstyle. Endo tried to change the subject by encouraging Ishikawa to sing a victory song. Ishikawa sang “Love” by Hoshino Genki while Mad Paulie tried to dance along to the music. When the song was over Ishikawa told everyone on 25th March he wants to win the KO-D Title then sing with Mad Paulie at Sumo Hall!

DAMNATION attacked ALL OUT with chairs after beating them in the semi-main event. Shunma Katsumata ran in to rescue the group but was outnumbered. DAMNATION gave him a Super Power Bomb, leaving the entire ALL OUT unit in pieces.

Today for the last time NωA went out to perform their greatest hits. They begun with “ωe are the HERO!!” then moved on to “Never Give Up☆I LOVE YOU”. However their second song was interrupted by T2Hide. Sanshiro Takagi believed the performance was being treated by the audience as a toilet break. Takagi also complained the concert was going so long that there was no time for Kazuki Hirata to do his entrance. The match devolved into a musical duel between NωA and “Never Give Up☆I LOVE YOU” against T2Hide and “Tokyo GO!” until Katsumata gave Hirata the Lightning Spiral to win the match. After the match each NωA member spoke of their future plans and goals. MAO wants to team more with Mike Bailey and cause a full rampage in DDT together. Makoto Oishi wants to achieve the DDT Grand Slam by winning every championship in the company. In the meantime he will go back to his old tag team with Danshoku Dino. Katsumata said there is another unit he would like to join. Konosuke Takeshita & Akito then appeared and stood next to Katsumata. He is joining ALL OUT!

A match featuring Dino, Joey Ryan and Jiro Kuroshio was as perverted as expected. Kuroshio had the back of his tights pulled down but he still did a bare-assed Quebrada out of the ring. Yukinori Matsui was accidentally knocked out by Dino’s Lip Lock. Ryan tried to put a lollipop into Keisuke Ishii’s mouth but he pushed it away into Dino’s backside. The lollipop was then stuffed into Kuroshio’s mouth. Dino got his hands on Kuroshio. Ryan took out the lollipop and tried to put it in Ishii’s mouth again. Ishii again pushed it away back into Dino’s backside and then into Matsui’s mouth. Matsui woke up, disqualified everyone and fainted again. When everything calmed down, Ryan called for Producer Dino’s attention. He called Dino the No. 1 crazy wrestler in DDT but Ryan is the No. 1 Crazy Gaijin. To prove it Ryan wants to face Colt Cabana at “JUDGEMENT 2018”! Dino was busy with Kuroshio and said okay. Super Sasadango Machine then asked Dino if he could defend the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title against Kuroshio on the same show. Kuroshio accepted the challenge. However Dino wants Sasadango to defend the title at least two times a week until the match takes place otherwise the title will not be on the line. The reason for this is Dino wants the Ironman Title to get more attention and no one in DDT is better at marketing than Sasadango.

That wasn’t the end for Dino on this show as he had the important decision to make in regards to his 6-Man Tag match against The Great Muta at “JUDGEMENT 2018” in March. Ken Ohka is his obvious first pick. Ishii then asked to be Dino’s pick. He argued that their record as a tag team stands at 25 wins and 10 losses. Good enough! Suddenly they were ambushed by Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo! The DAMNATION wrestlers spat liquid into Dino & Ishii’s eyes and it was sold like the Poison Mist. Sasaki told them it was only cola. He then revealed he visited The Great Muta earlier and Muta agreed to become DAMNATION’s pet! Dino’s team will now have to fight Muta, Sasaki & Endo at Sumo Hall!

KUDO continues to be in good form as he prepares for his DDT Extreme Title match on 3rd February. The champion Yuko Miyamoto hasn’t chosen a stipulation yet but KUDO wants it to be a Hardcore Match of some kind. Masahiro Takanashi said the purple belt will look good on him along with the white KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Title belts they already have. Takanashi also called out for any potential challengers to step forward whether they are from DDT, BASARA or even Tokyo Joshi Pro.

Today’s PowerPoint presentation by Super Sasadango Machine was titled “How to Finalize Declaration of Final Procedure and Taxation” with supervision provided by the match sponsor Professor Takahashi. Sasadango stressed that it is better for people to file a final tax return when they want a lot of refund money. To increase their refund, it is better to increase their expenses. So Sasadango bought some new items for the wrestlers in this match to use as weapons. Sasadango bought himself a 256GB iPhone X, Saki Akai a Goyard tote bag, Antonio Honda a vintage stuffed tiger doll and Tanomusaku Toba a bunch of Tenga Egg sex toys. Sasadango took selfies with Honda and the tiger. Akai attacked Toba with the tote bag. Sasadango and Honda then opened the contents of Toba’s egg and played with them until Honda called over to Professor Takahashi. Honda accused Takahashi of tax evasion and ordered Inoue Mic to arrest him! Mic pulled out handcuffs and followed Honda’s orders. Honda then accused Sasadango of tax evasion, Toba of taking drugs and Akai of stealing his heart. Toba said he may have taken drugs but he isn’t sure. Sasadango, Akai and Toba then joined forces to beat Toba with Sasadango getting the pin. The lesson of this match? For correct knowledge of tax returns please visit the Takahashi Tax Accounting Office.

Kota Umeda is getting back into the swing of things since returning from injury. He got the pin in the opening match.

In the dark match Nobuhiro Shimatani tried to get the upper hand by attacking Naomi Yoshimura from behind but he was beaten with a Lariat. Shimatani’s bad luck doesn’t end there. He found out afterwards that on the 6th February YaroZ show he will face Kohei Sato in a Kickboxing Match! On the bright side at least Shihomi Yoshino will be the ring girl.

In other YaroZ news, the DDT staff realised during the announcement that the card was one match short from being completed. In an unexpected move, Yumehito Imanari and DT-YUTA from the DDT Video team stood up and volunteered to wrestle against Sanshiro Takagi & Toru Owashi at the show. DT-YUTA was a Union Pro wrestler many years ago.

Lady Beard, Reika Saiki, Keisuke Okuda and Yoshiko are all scheduled to appear at Sumo Hall. Also coming to DDT this March is “All Ego” Ethan Page! DDT promoted Page as the next big Canadian star to enter the company. In a video message Page said he is ready to take over DDT.


DDT “D-KING GRAND PRIX 2018 IN SHINKIBA” Results

January 14, 2018

DDT “D-KING GRAND PRIX 2018 IN SHINKIBA”, 14/01/2018
Shin-Kiba 1st RING
328 Fans – Super No Vacancy

0. Under Match: Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata & MAO defeated Kouki Iwasaki, Mizuki Watase & Yuki Ueno when MAO pinned Ueno with the Michinoku Driver I (5:58).
1. P-King Grand Prix: KUDO defeats Akito, Mad Paulie, Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata and Antonio Honda (Special Referee: Danshoku Dino).
1a. A Block ~ 2 Count Rules: Mad Paulie defeated Kazuki Hirata after a Bionic Elbow from Honda and Owashi (2:34).
1b. B Block ~ 2 Count Rules: Akito defeated Antonio Honda with a School Boy (2:34).
1c. C Block ~ 2 Count Rules: KUDO defeated Toru Owashi with a School Boy (2:34).
1d. Final Survival 3 Way Match ~ 1 Count Rules: Mad Paulie eliminated Akito with a Cradle (1:21).
1e. Final Survival 3 Way Match ~ 1 Count Rules: KUDO eliminated Mad Paulie with a Jackknife Pin (2:05).
2. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Soma Takao (6) defeated Yukio Sakaguchi (4) with the Official Endless Waltz (7:56).
3. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Joey Ryan (6) defeated Masahiro Takanashi (2) with the Super Kick (10:10).
4. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Mike Bailey (6) defeated Daisuke Sasaki (6) with the Buzzsaw Kick (14:54).
5. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Shuji Ishikawa (10) defeated Kazusada Higuchi (6) with the Giant Slam (16:40).
6. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Konosuke Takeshita (7) defeated Keisuke Ishii (6) with a Modified Armbar (18:47).
7. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: HARASHIMA (8) defeated Tetsuya Endo (7) with the Somato (19:28).

A Block

1. HARASHIMA (8)
2. Konosuke Takeshita (7)
-. Tetsuya Endo (7)
4. Keisuke Ishii (6)
-. Joey Ryan (6)
-. Jiro Kuroshio (6)
7. Masahiro Takanashi (2)

B Block

1. Shuji Ishikawa (8)
2. Kazusada Higuchi (6)
-. Mike Bailey (6)
-. Daisuke Sasaki (6)
-. Soma Takao (6)
6. Akito (4)
-. Yukio Sakaguchi (4)

The final is now set. HARASHIMA Vs Shuji Ishikawa will face off to be the first D-King Grand Prix winner! The last match in Block A was the main event. HARASHIMA and Tetsuya Endo fought in a winner takes all bout. Endo missed the Shooting Star Press and HARASHIMA hit the Somato to win. In the last Block B match, Ishikawa had to fight off Kazusada Higuchi with all of his power. Ishikawa kicked out of the Doctor Bomb but needed more than the Fire Thunder to win. He had to bust out the Giant Slam to put Higuchi away.

The show ended with the two finalists facing off in the ring. Ishikawa said the Grand Prix was a fulfilling experience. He and HARASHIMA are from the same generation so it is kind of fitting that the final is down to them. HARASHIMA said everyone knows Ishikawa is strong. This match will be the heyday of their generation so let’s do their best.

The only threat to the top spot left in Block A was Keisuke Ishii but Konosuke Takeshita shut him down. Takeshita countered the Double Arm DDT into a Koji MAX Hold to make Ishii submit. Takeshita said his lack of ability is what prevented him from reaching the final. Ishii may have lost but he may have finally found the motivation that he’s been lacking for so long. Fighting a champion like Takeshita has fired him up and next time, he will beat Takeshita!

Daisuke Sasaki’s chance of reaching the final was dashed by Mike Bailey. Speedball was willing to put his grudge with DAMNATION aside but Sasaki rejected his handshake. Sasaki brought in chairs but Bailey kicked them into his face and pinned him with a Buzzsaw Kick. Sasaki didn’t take the loss well. He said the 2018 of Daisuke Sasaki was now over and everyone now has to wait for the 2019 of Daisuke Sasaki. The interviewer tried to tell him 2018 has only begun but Sasaki wouldn’t listen. Bailey called Sasaki a smart wrestler but he came prepared. Bailey was able to win because he thought over and over what Sasaki was going to do to him and planned around it.

The remaining group matches only had pride left on the line. Joey Ryan used an unconscious Daisuke Kiso to aid him in beating Masahiro Takanashi. Ryan placed Kiso’s limp body on top of Takanashi’s back, placed Kiso’s hand next to his crotch and used his dong strength to make Kiso give Takanashi the Yoshi Tonic. Joey then Super Kicked Takanashi for the three count. Takanashi promised that next year KUDO will enter the tournament to make up for his poor record.

Soma Takao used the newly renamed Official Endless Waltz as a counter to Yukio Sakaguchi’s Cross Armbreaker. Takao did okay in this tournament and he has another round robin tournament coming up in All Japan to look forward to. He hopes to do well over there too. Sakaguchi does not have an excuse for his overall performance other than he admits he is weak. He will write more about it on his blog so everybody better read it or else!

Producer Danshoku Dino changed the plans for the opening match. Instead of a 7 Way Match, it was now a one night tournament called the P-King Grand Prix featuring the other 6 wrestlers while he gets to be the referee. The Round 1 match ups were Kazuki Hirata Vs Mad Paulie, Akito Vs Antonio Honda and KUDO Vs Toru Owashi. The catch was all three matches took place at the same time and all held under two count rules. Paulie, Akito and KUDO all won at the same time. They advanced to the 3 Way Elimination Final that used 1 count rules. Paulie pinned Akito and KUDO pinned Paulie afterwards. Afterwards KUDO said he regrets not entering the D-King Grand Prix but he now found something else he wants. KUDO wants to challenge Yuko Miyamoto for the DDT Extreme Title! Dino granted his request.

MAO promises that the NωA will perform their best hits for their final match together on 28th January.


DDT “D-KING GRAND PRIX 2018 IN NERIMA” Results

January 10, 2018

DDT “D-KING GRAND PRIX 2018 IN NERIMA”, 10/01/2018
Tokyo Nerima Coconeri Hall
356 Fans – Super No Vacancy

0. Under Match: Mike Bailey, Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata & MAO defeated KUDO, Masahiro Takanashi, Kouki Iwasaki & Nobuhiro Shimatani when Bailey pinned Shimatani with the Ultima Weapon (5:48).
1. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Kazusada Higuchi (4) defeated Akito (2) with the Doctor Bomb (9:30).
2. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Joey Ryan (2) defeated Keisuke Ishii (4) with the Super Kick (8:06).
3. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Daisuke Sasaki (4) defeated Soma Takao (2) with the Vietnam Driver II (11:02).
4. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Tetsuya Endo (5) defeated Jiro Kuroshio (4) with the Shooting Star Press (14:04).
5. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Shuji Ishikawa (6) defeated Yukio Sakaguchi (4) with the Splash Mountain (15:25).
6. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Konosuke Takeshita (5) defeated HARASHIMA (4) with the Takeshita Special No. 1 (15:50).

A Block

1. Tetsuya Endo (5)
-. Konosuke Takeshita (5)
3. Keisuke Ishii (4)
-. HARASHIMA (4)
-. Jiro Kuroshio (4)
6. Joey Ryan (2)
7. Masahiro Takanashi (0)

B Block

1. Shuji Ishikawa (6)
2. Yukio Sakaguchi (4)
-. Daisuke Sasaki (4)
-. Kazusada Higuchi (4)
5. Soma Takao (2)
-. Mike Bailey (2)
-. Akito (2)

Konosuke Takeshita and HARASHIMA headlined today’s show with their rematch from their Saitama Super Arena bout at “JUDGEMENT 2017”. HARASHIMA was ruthless in targeting Takeshita’s left knee. Takeshita was difficult to pin down though and he tried to avoid the Somato when he could. HARASHIMA did hit the move from behind a few times. But HARAHSIMA went for one more and Takeshita dodged it. Takeshita hit the German Suplex and added a Bridging Pin to the move afterwards to get the three count. And with that the Takeshita Special No. 1 is born! Takeshita commented that he feels like he is currently in a paradox. He is certain that his leg is injured, possibly a damaged ligament or a meniscus but the constant adrenaline rush he gets from the D-King Grand Prix makes him ignore the pain and keep going. HARASHIMA is unhappy with the result but if the referee counted to three, he has to accept it. He defended his tactics of targeting Takeshita’s knee. The referee never stopped him and the match continued so he feels it was right to keep attacking like that. The fact that Takeshita beat him with damaged knees means that Takeshita is growing stronger. But next time HARASHIMA believes he will grab the opportunity and definitely beat Takeshita!

The two leading wrestlers in Block B clashed for the top spot. Shuji Ishikawa survived Yukio Sakaguchi’s Right Knee Of God and the Cobra Clutch to win. Sakaguchi didn’t go down easily though. He kicked out of the Running Knee Lift at one so Ishikawa had to hit him with it again, this time Sakaguchi barely kicked out at two. Sakaguchi finally stayed down after the Splash Mountain. Ishikawa was happy to see Sakaguchi bring the fight to him. His opponents so far have all been wonderful so he feels honoured to have the six points he amassed so far. Next up is his good buddy Daisuke Sasaki. Ishikawa said he may have to become the new leader of DAMNATION if he beats Sasaki. Sakaguchi doesn’t know if he can redeem this loss but thinks he can win his remaining matches.

Tetsuya Endo continues his unbeaten run in Block A with a win over Jiro Kuroshio. He wasn’t happy to see Kuroshio prance around and seemed to have a chip on his shoulder for the entire match. Afterwards we found out why. According to Endo, Kuroshio’s annual income is 5 million yen. Since Endo beat him today that means his own annual salary should be raised. Endo is now demanding to be paid 100 million yen a year! Kuroshio said his eyes aren’t crazy and that Endo really is as great a wrestler as he looks.

Daisuke Sasaki came to his hometown as the “Hero Of Nerima” so he wanted to fight clean and fair against Soma Takao. Given their recent history, Takao didn’t believe him and went on the offensive pretty quickly. They fought outside where Sasaki grabbed Yuki Ueno nearby and threw him towards Takao. Takao stopped Ueno and knocked him out of the way with an Elbow Strike. Back in the ring Sasaki took off one of the turnbuckle pads and threw Takao into the exposed corner. Sasaki even used his own attempt at the Gin And Tonic but Takao kicked out at one. Sasaki then hit an Avalanche Pedigree but Takao kicked out of that too. Sasaki had to use the Vietnam Driver II to finally put Takao away. He offered Takao a handshake and a DAMNATION shirt after the match but Takao refused and threw the shirt away. Takao said backstage he is annoyed that Sasaki used the Gin And Tonic against him. He is also insulted by Sasaki offering him the handshake and DAMNATION shirt. Sasaki said that tens of thousands of Nerima’s residents came out to welcome the Hero Of Nerima. He only offered Takao the shirt to look good in front of the locals. When he was reminded that his next opponent is Shuji Ishikawa, he said three seconds is enough to beat his friend.

After spending his first few days asking for it, Joey Ryan finally got paper streamers thrown at him for his ring introduction today. Maybe that gave him a major boost in motivation because he went on to beat Keisuke Ishii to earn his first points. Ryan escaped the Tiger Suplex, stuck a lollipop into Ishii’s mouth and Super Kicked him for the win. Ryan celebrated by hugging the paper tape afterwards. Ishii said he didn’t expect his calculations to go so wrong but Ryan used “the most disgusting techniques” to beat him.

Kazusada Higuchi countered Akito’s Cross Armbreaker into a Sit Down Power Bomb to set up his victory. Higuchi isn’t satisfied by that though. He felt it should have taken him less than 5 minutes to beat Akito and he went 48 seconds over that limit. Akito meanwhile is coming to terms that he virtually cannot win the tournament now after his third loss. All he can offer now to close out his group run with some fun fights.