Can KANON Steal The Block? GanPro Ready For The New Year, 5th Annual Shoko Vs Misao Match

December 14, 2023

TOKYO JOSHI PRO/PRESTIGE “COMBAT PRINCESS USA”, 14/12/2023
The Vermont Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Rika Tatsumi & Amira Vs Max The Impaler & Pom Harajuku
2. Moka Miyamoto Vs Trish Adora
3. Mizuki Vs Sandra Moone
4. Shoko Nakajima Vs Taya Valkyrie
5. Miu Watanabe Vs Hyan
6. Princess Tag Team Titles: Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta (c) Vs Janai Kai & Shazza McKenzie
7. Special Tag Match: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh Vs Masha Slamovich & Killer Kelly

There were a few speed bumps along the way but tonight is the night Tokyo Joshi Pro is back in America thanks to Prestige!

GANBARE☆JOSHI “GANJO BINARY LAND ’23”, 15/12/2023
Tokyo Narimasu Act Hall

1. GanJo Vs Evo Joshi: Riara Vs ZONES
2. GanJo Vs Evo Joshi: YuuRI Vs Chi Chi
3. Ram Kaichow & Alex Lee Vs Sumire Natsu & Marika Kobashi
4. Tae Honma & Yoshiko Hasegawa Vs Yuu & Banny Oikawa

Yoshiko Hasegawa gets to main event the final Ganbare☆Joshi show of 2023.

DDT “D-OH GRAND PRIX 2023 IN FUKUOKA”, 16/12/2023
Fukuoka Nishitetsu Hall

0. Dark Match – Kyushu Sangyo University Pro Wrestling Research Department Offer Match: Ionazun Shirai & Tiger Nishiya Mask Vs Great Tamu & Occult Daimao
1. Special 6-Man Tag Match: MAO, Toy Kojima & Van Vert Jack Vs Azul Dragon, Akito & Kazuma Sumi
2. Yukio Sakaguchi & Soma Takao Vs Yukio Naya & Yusuke Okada
3. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi Vs Hideki Okatani, Yuki Ishida & Takeshi Masada
4. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – A Block: Yuki Ueno (2) Vs HARASHIMA (2)
5. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – A Block: Tetsuya Endo (4) Vs Daisuke Sasaki (1)
6. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – A Block: Kazusada Higuchi (4) Vs Yuki Iino (3)
7. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – B Block: Chris Brookes (2) Vs Kazuki Hirata (0)
8. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – B Block: KANON (4) Vs Rei Saito (4)

It’s still a close race in the A Block but if KANON pulls off a second upset in a row he will suddenly find himself on top of the B Block! Rei Saito needs to win this or he will not be able to qualify for the final.

Kazuki Hirata’s last block match is against Chris Brookes. Lost this and Hirata ends the tournament with the wooden spoon award. A win though will save him some face, even if it’s just by a little bit.

BASARA “BASARA 238 ~UTAGE~”, 19/12/2023
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Takumi Tsukamoto & SAGAT Vs Yasu Urano & Masahiro Takanashi
2. 3 Way Match: Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi Vs Gouma Ryu Vs A.YAZAWA
3. Ryota Nakatsu & Kazusada Higuchi Vs Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino
4. FUMA, KUBITO & Daichi Kazato Vs Lil’ Kraken, Tsutomu Oosugi & Banana Senga
5. Isami Kodaka & Minoru Fujita Vs Shuichiro Katsumura & Munetatsu Nakamura

This is the last BASARA show of the year. The main event sees Sento Minzoku’s top two facing the visitors from Ganbare☆Pro. Just over a week later Isami Kodaka and Shuichiro Katsumura will fight at the main event of GanPro’s end of year Korakuen Hall show.

DDT “D-OH GRAND PRIX 2023 IN KORAKUEN HALL”, 24/12/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Battle Royal ~ Toru Owashi Return Match: The Great Koji (c) Vs Toru Owashi Vs Sanshiro Takagi Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Akito Vs Yusuke Okada Vs Yuki Ishida Va Kazuma Sumi Vs Rukiya Vs Open Recruitment X
2. Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani Vs KANON & MJ Paul
3. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Jun Akiyama, Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi (c) Vs Masahiro Takanashi, Antonio Honda & Takeshi Masada
4. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – A Block: Yuki Ueno Vs Yuki Iino
5. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – A Block: Tetsuya Endo Vs Kazusada Higuchi
6. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – A Block: Daisuke Sasaki Vs HARASHIMA
7. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – B Block: Chris Brookes Vs Rei Saito
8. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – B Block: MAO Vs Yukio Naya

Toru Owashi admits he is more worried about the mental stress of being in the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title Battle Royal for his return match rather than the physical stress. He knows his best skill is managing traffic during chaotic matches but the appearance of this new guy called The Great Koji has him a little concerned the pressure will be too much to handle. Owashi thinks he can beat Koji to win the Iron Man Title but to be honest, he doesn’t really want it.

GANBARE☆PRO “BAD COMMUNICATION 2023”, 27/12/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Yuko Miyamoto Vs Munetatsu Nakamura
2. Sumire Natsu, YuuRI & Riara Vs HARUKAZE, Makoto & Banny Oikawa
3. Special Single Match: Yoshiko Hasegawa Vs Arisu Endo
4. Special Single Match: Ken Ohka Vs Kuma Arashi
5. GanPro Vs GLEAT All Out Battle ~ GanPro’s Famous Elimination 10-Man Tag Match: Yumehito Imanari, Takuya Wada, Mizuki Watase, Shinichiro Tominaga & Tyson Maeguchi Vs Kaz Hayashi, Minoru Tanaka, Takanori Ito, Check Shimatani & Jun Tonsho
6. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Shota & Soma Takao (c) Vs Keisuke Ishii & Shigehiro Irie
7. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Isami Kodaka (c) Vs Shuichiro Katsumura

During the week Ken Ohka & Keisuke Ishii travelled to the All Japan dojo in Yokohama so they could train for a few hours with Shuji Ishikawa. The three of them have ties going back to Union Pro. Ishii invaded the promotion and kicked Ohka out of Union by winning a Loser Leaves Town match. Ohka went on to form GanPro and started a war with Union and Ishikawa. A lot of time has passed since then and Ohka is proud to see how far all three of them have advanced since then. The training session included Ishikawa coming up with ideas to improve Ohka’s finisher the Fire Spear. The move has been countered a lot by Ohka’s current enemy Kuma Arashi in their recent matches. Ishikawa and Ishii instructed Ohka new ways to use the Spear so there will be less opportunities for it to be countered. By the end of the session Ohka can now hit the Spear with more accuracy, less momentum and also from a shorter range.

DDT “D-OH GRAND PRIX 2023 THE FINAL”, 03/01/2024
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. New Year’s GiFt Special Single Match: Kuroshio TOKYO Japan Vs Danshoku Dieno
2. Special Tag Match ~ Shunma Katsumata Return Match: Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani Vs Shunma Katsumata & Toy Kojima
3. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – Final: Winner Of A Block Vs Winner Of B Block

Shunma Katsumata revealed the reason why he wanted Eruption to be his opponents for his return match. 2024 is going to be Katsumata’s 10th year in wrestling and Yukio Sakaguchi was one of his opponents in his debut match. So Katsumata wants to kick off his tenth year by fighting his very first pro opponent again. He is impressed by how well Hideki Okatani performed in the Real World Tag League. And finally Katsumata appreciates all the hard work Toy Kojima did to protect The 37KAMIINA while he was recovering at home. Katsumata also has his eyes on winning back the DDT Extreme Title and KO-D Tag Team Titles in 2024.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TOKYO JOSHI PRO ’24”, 04/01/2024
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Aja Kong Vs Wakana Uehara
2. Shoko Nakajima Vs Hyper Misao
3. Rina Yamashita Vs Maki Itoh
4. International Princess Title: Max The Impaler (c) Vs Yuki Arai
5. Princess Of Princess Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) Vs Masha Slamovich

The Ittenyon tradition continues with the fifth annual Shoko Nakajima Vs Hyper Misao singles match! Nothing extra has been announced yet but there is always a wacky stipulation attached to these matches. The first two matches also had the winner change the loser’s name for a month but they stopped doing that for the third and fourth matches in order to keep the harmony within Kyoraku Kyomei for the upcoming Max Heart Tournament. Giving one of them an identity crisis right before the big tag team tournament is not a good idea.

Ryo Mizunami will be on the show.

GANBARE☆PRO “2024 GANBARE☆THE FIGHT BEGINS”, 04/01/2024
Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall

1. YuuRI & Riara Vs Yoshiko Hasegawa & Kaho Matsushita
2. Hartley Jackson & HARUKAZE Vs Shigehiro Irie & Banny Oikawa
3. New Year Special 3 Way Match: Munetatsu Nakamura Vs Yuni Vs Ilusion
4. GanPro New Year Special Tag Match: Keisuke Ishii & Yumehito Imanari Vs Shuichiro Katsumura & Soma Takao
5. GanPro New Year Special Tag Match: Ken Ohka & Mizuki Watase Vs Shota & Shinichiro Tominaga

The first GanPro show of 2024 features a new generation 3 Way Match reuniting several members of DDTeeeen!! It’s time for Munetatsu Nakamura, Yuni and Ilusion to all show each other how much they have learned since they were last in the ring with each other.

Also on the show is the return of Lethal Weapon! The duo of Hartley Jackson & HARUKAZE have arguably been the top mixed tag team in GanPro. That makes them the perfect opponents for Banny Oikawa who is continuing down her path of intergender tag wrestling. She teams with Shigehiro Irie.

Kaho Matsushita is from Ice Ribbon. That company just announced a restructure with new investments attached to them so it might be an interesting story to see what they can do in 2024.

GANBARE☆PRO “GANPRO 2024 ROSIER”, 06/01/2024
Osaka 176BOX

1. Legendary Hostess Vs The Toughest Girl In Osaka: Riara Vs Momoka Hanazono
2. Banny Oikawa & YuuRI Vs HARUKAZE & Yoshiko Hasegawa
3. Yumehito Imanari & Tyson Maeguchi Vs Soma Takao & Mizuki Watase
4. Keisuke Ishii & Shota Vs Ilusion & Munetatsu Nakamura
5. GanPro New Year Special 6-Man Tag Match: HARASHIMA, Ken Ohka & Shinichiro Tominaga Vs Shuichiro Katsumura, Takuya Wada & Tsuyoshi Okada

HARASHIMA joins in with GanPro’s new year celebrations.

Warning, everybody involved in Match #3 all like to drink a lot of alcohol.


TJPW Title Defences In North America, Something By DISASTER BOX, An Unpaid Debt Between MAO & Keith

December 8, 2023

DDT “D-OH GRAND PRIX 2023 IN OSAKA”, 09/12/2023
Osaka Azalea Taisho Hall

1. Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul Vs Yuki Iino & Rukiya
2. Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi Vs Akito & Kazuma Sumi
3. Chris Brookes, Antonio Honda & Takeshi Masada Vs MAO, Toy Kojima & Ilusion
4. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – B Block: Kazuki Hirata (0) Vs Rei Saito (2)
5. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – B Block: Yukio Naya (6) Vs KANON (2)
6. All Asia Tag Team Titles: Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani (c) Vs Jun Akiyama & Yusuke Okada
7. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – A Block: Kazusada Higuchi (2) Vs HARASHIMA (2)
8. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – A Block: Yuki Ueno (3) Vs Tetsuya Endo (2)

The D-Oh Grand Prix continues tomorrow. A Block still has everyone in the race so it’s only fair to have Yuki Ueno Vs Tetsuya Endo and Kazusada Higuchi Vs HARASHIMA be the top two matches of the show. But over in B Block Yukio Naya is one more step towards cleaning up the entire group if he beats KANON. The Kazuki Hirata Vs Rei Saito match is pretty much just for pride at this point. Not that Hirata has that much pride to begin with but you know what I mean.

Eruption are also back from the Real World Tag League looking to shake off their middle of the table finish. They might have a long line of challengers forming up in front of them so they need to retain the All Asia Tag Team Titles against BURNING if they have any intention of dealing with that.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TOKYO JOSHI PRO ’24”, 04/01/2024
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Aja Kong Vs Wakana Uehara
2. Rina Yamashita Vs Maki Itoh
3. International Princess Title: Max The Impaler (c) Vs Yuki Arai
4. Princess Of Princess Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) Vs Masha Slamovich

Last night in the space of about half an hour there were two Tokyo Joshi Pro title matches taking place in North America. Over in Quebec, Canada Max The Impaler had a surprise International Princess Title defence at the Mystery Wrestling show put together by Evil Uno. Max defeated Jody Threat in the semi-main event. Word of the match reached back to TJPW and they officially recognize it as Max’s third successful title defence. That now means if Max beats Yuki Arai on 4th January they will tie the current record for most IP Title defences in a single reign at four wins.

Then as soon as that match had finished Miyu Yamashita was entering the ring in New York, USA to defend the Princess Of Princess Title against Delmi Exo at an MLW show. She won that match to earn her second defence in this latest title run. Maki Itoh was also on the show but she lost to Janai Kai in a match for the MLW World Featherweight Title. I’ll write more about the matches on the next DDT Around The World article at the start of next month.

DDT “SWEET DREAMS! 2024 TOUR IN SHINJUKU”, 05/01/2024
Shinjuku FACE

1. Something by HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata, etc.: X Vs X
2. KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles: Yuki Ueno, MAO, Shunma Katsumata, Toy Kojima & Yoshihiko (c) Vs Chris Brookes, Masahiro Takanashi, Antonio Honda, Takeshi Masada & Mecha Mummy

The three main members of DISASTER BOX are all putting their heads together to book something for DDT’s first visit to Shinjuku FACE in 2024. Whatever it is the three of them will be involved along with others.

GANBARE☆PRO “GANPRO 2024 ROSIER”, 06/01/2024
Osaka 176BOX

1. Legendary Hostess Vs The Toughest Girl In Osaka: Riara Vs Momoka Hanazono

When Ganbare☆Pro heads to Osaka in the new year Riara takes on Momoka Hanazono. This joshi wrestler’s nickname may not match with all of the flowers and bubbles she surrounds herself with but it is still accurate. Hanazono has a background in rugby before becoming a pro wrestler.

HARASHIMA, Soma Takao, Ilusion, Tyson Maeguchi and Banny Oikawa will all be on the show.

DDT “NEW YEAR FAN APPRECIATION DAY!”, 20/01/2024
Tokyo Shinagawa Prince Hotel Club eX

1. Special 6-Man Tag Match: MAO, Shunma Katsumata & Toi Kojima Vs Bryan Keith, Soma Takao & Shota

Three days of DDT appearances await for Bryan Keith in the new year. He makes his Japanese wrestling debut here by teaming with ROMANCE DAWN against The 37KAMIINA. Keith was an opponent for Shota during Shota’s US excursion last year.

DDT “SWEET DREAMS! 2024 TOUR IN SHINAGAWA”, 21/01/2024
Tokyo Shinagawa Prince Hotel Club eX

1. DDT Universal Title: MAO (c) Vs Bryan Keith

The next day Keith gets the match MAO has been demanding. The DDT Universal Title is on the line for this rematch from West Coast Pro during the summer. Keith won the first battle and MAO wants revenge! What happens to a bounty hunter when it’s time for them to repay a debt?

DDT “SWEET DREAMS! 2024”, 28/01/2024
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs Naruki Doi

Keith’s third and last appearance on this tour will be at Korakuen Hall near the end of the month.


TJPW Lottery Line Up, New Year’s Eve 1st Round Matches, Ittenyon Updates, Bryan Keith Heading To DDT

December 7, 2023

TOKYO JOSHI PRO/PRESTIGE “COMBAT PRINCESS USA”, 14/12/2023
The Vermont Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Rika Tatsumi & Amira Vs Max The Impaler & Pom Harajuku
2. Moka Miyamoto Vs Trish Adora
3. Mizuki Vs Sandra Moone
4. Shoko Nakajima Vs Taya Valkyrie
5. Miu Watanabe Vs Hyan
6. Princess Tag Team Titles: Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta (c) Vs Janai Kai & Shazza McKenzie
7. Special Tag Match: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh Vs Masha Slamovich & Killer Kelly

Ok so now The Globe Theater actually is closed down. For real this time. Prestige announced the event is now taking place at The Vermont Hollywood. The show will airing as a PPV on Wrestle Universe with English commentary from Jordan Castle and Veda Scott.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW CITY CIRCUIT ’23 ~KASUKABE PERFORMANCE~”, 17/12/2023
Saitama Kasukabe Fureai Cube

1. 3 Way Match: Yuki Kamifuku Vs Shino Suzuki Vs Runa Okubo
2. Arisu Endo Vs Haru Kazashiro
3. Hyper Misao Vs Kaya Toribami
4. Mahiro Kiryu Vs Wakana Uehara
5. Suzume Vs HIMAWARI
6. Shoko Nakajima Vs Toga
7. Raku Vs Juria Nagano
8. Yuki Aino Vs Pom Harajuku
9. Miu Watanabe Vs Moka Miyamoto
10. Maki Itoh Vs Hikari Noa

The fan lottery was held yesterday to determine the matchups. Maki Itoh Vs Hikari Noa main events the show but the other match to take note of is Yuki Aino Vs Pom Harajuku. The two of them have spent the last year closely linked together along with Raku so that friendship needs to be pushed aside for up to seven minutes.

“NEW YEAR’S EVE PRO WRESTLING 2023 ~TOSHIWASURE! SHUFFLE 6-MAN TAG TOURNAMENT~”, 31/12/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1A: HARASHIMA, Kota Sekifuda & Yuji Hino Vs Takeshi Masada, Yuya Aoki & Koji Iwamoto
2. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1B: Kazusada Higuchi, Yasufumi Nakanoue & Kohei Kinoshita Vs Chris Brookes, Kazumasa Yoshida & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi
3. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1C: Yukio Naya, Hideyoshi Kamitani & Minoru Suzuki Vs Danshoku Dieno, Daichi Hashimoto & Ikuto Hidaka
4. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1D: Hideki Okatani, Yuki Ishikawa & Brahman Shu (w/ Brahman Kei) Vs Tetsuya Endo, Daisuke Sekimoto & Fuminori Abe
5. So Daimonji, Ender Kara, Leyton Buzzard & Tempesta Vs Kazumi Kikuta, Kazuki Hashimoto, Kazuma Sumi & Rukiya
6. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Semi Final: Winners Of Match 1A Vs Winners Of Match 1B
7. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Semi Final: Winners Of Match 1C Vs Winners Of Match 1D
8. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yuki Ueno, Kazuki Hirata & Antonio Honda Vs Takuya Nomura, Abdullah Kobayashi & Kankuro Hoshino
9. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Final: X, X & X Vs X, X & X

Bati Bati F’N In The Sky: Tetsuya Endo, Daisuke Sekimoto & Fuminori Abe
Big Bombers Kai: Yukio Naya, Hideyoshi Kamitani & Minoru Suzuki
Team Katagi Returns: Kazusada Higuchi, Yasufumi Nakanoue & Kohei Kinoshita
Anal Destruction Hidaka: Danshoku Dieno, Daichi Hashimoto & Ikuto Hidaka
The Kind People: Chris Brookes, Kazumasa Yoshida & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi
Lonely Hot College Students: Takeshi Masada, Yuya Aoki & Koji Iwamoto
Smile Lizard King Kong: HARASHIMA, Kota Sekifuda & Yuji Hino
Go For It! The Three Inokori Brothers: Hideki Okatani, Yuki Ishikawa & Brahman Shu (w/ Brahman Kei)

The Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament is out. Round 1 has Smile Lizard King Kong versus Lonely Hot College Students first, Team Katagi Returns versus The Kind People second, Big Bombers Kai versus Anal Destruction Hidaka third and Go For It! The Three Inokori Brothers versus Bati Bati F’N In The Sky last.

There are two non-tournament matches. The big one is the DDT team of Yuki Ueno, Kazuki Hirata & Antonio Honda against the Big Japan trio of Takuya Nomura, Abdullah Kobayashi & Kankuro Hoshino. The other match has DDT and Big Japan joining forces to fight the international unit PROJECT: HAVOC. That group has been a thorn in Big Japan’s side for a couple of months now.

DDT “D-OH GRAND PRIX 2023 THE FINAL”, 03/01/2024
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. New Year’s GiFt Special Single Match: Kuroshio TOKYO Japan Vs Danshoku Dieno
2. Special Tag Match ~ Shunma Katsumata Return Match: Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani Vs Shunma Katsumata & Toy Kojima
3. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – Final: Winner Of A Block Vs Winner Of B Block

DDT’s gift for their fans to open up 2024 is a match between Kuroshio TOKYO Japan and Danshoku Dieno… Did they keep the receipt?

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TOKYO JOSHI PRO ’24”, 04/01/2024
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Aja Kong Vs Wakana Uehara
2. Rina Yamashita Vs Maki Itoh
3. International Princess Title: Max The Impaler (c) Vs Yuki Arai
4. Princess Of Princess Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) Vs Masha Slamovich

The two new matches announced for the Tokyo Joshi Pro Ittenyon show can all be traced back to this year’s Ittenyon show. Max The Impaler will defend the International Princess Title against Yuki Arai. This past January Max took the Princess Tag Team Titles from Arai. But now one year later the roles will be reversed and Arai has a chance to beat Max to take away their championship.

On the first anniversary of her pro debut, Wakana Uehara gets to fight Aja Kong! This is the Uehara’s reward for winning the Next Generation Tournament. The two have a little bit of history going back to before Uehara’s debut. When she was on the Youtube series Yume Pro Wrestling -dream on the ring- there was an episode with Kong as the special guest trainer. Then at “WRESTLE PRINCESS IV” in October Kong beat Uehara in a 6-Woman Tag match. Uehara is still excited for the match though and wants to show Kong how much she has grown as a wrestler.

DDT “SWEET DREAMS! 2024”, 28/01/2024
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs Naruki Doi

DDT announced the first two dates for Konosuke Takeshita’s return in 2024. The first is a big singles match against Naruki Doi on DDT’s second Korakuen Hall show of the year. The second date is for “JUDGEMENT 2024” at Korakuen on 17th March.

Bryan Keith is coming to DDT in January! “The Bounty Hunter” will be at shows on 20th, 21st and 28th January. The announcement of his appearance immediately got MAO’s attention. They fought each other at West Coast Pro in America back in July with Keith coming out as the winner. MAO wants to avenge that loss and might use the DDT Universal Title as the reward to convince Keith into taking a rematch.


DDT “D-OH GRAND PRIX 2023 IN SHINJUKU DAY 2” Results

December 3, 2023

DDT “D-OH GRAND PRIX 2023 IN SHINJUKU DAY 2”, 03/12/2023
Shinjuku FACE
266 Fans

1. Special Tag Match: KANON & Demus defeated MIKAMI & Kazuma Sumi when Demus pinned Sumi with La Valagueza (10:36).
2. HARASHIMA, Akito, Toy Kojima & Takeshi Masada defeated Jun Akiyama, Makoto Oishi, Yusuke Okada & Rukiya when Masada pinned Rukiya with the Masada Power KOBU Mukimuki (8:58).
3. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – B Block: Yukio Naya (6) defeated Kazuki Hirata (0) with The World’s Best Back Drop (11:39).
4. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – A Block: Tetsuya Endo (2) defeated Yuki Iino (0) with the Burning Star Press (13:36).
5. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – A Block: Yuki Ueno (3) Vs Daisuke Sasaki (1) ended in a Time Limit Draw (30:00).
6. DDT Universal Title – D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – B Block: MAO (c) (4) defeated Chris Brookes (2) by Countout (21:34).
*V2 for MAO.

A Block

1. Yuki Ueno (3)
2. HARASHIMA (2)
-. Tetsuya Endo (2)
-. Yuki Iino (2)
-. Kazusada Higuchi (2)
6. Daisuke Sasaki (1)

B Block

1. Yukio Naya (6)
2. MAO (4)
3. Rei Saito (2)
-. Chris Brookes (2)
-. KANON (2)
6. Kazuki Hirata (0)

In an unusual turn of events MAO came out before any of the D-Oh Grand Prix matches began and demanded his bout with Chris Brookes be for the DDT Universal Title and also be moved to the main event. What prompted this was the announcement of American independent wrestler Bryan Keith coming to DDT in January. Hisaya Imabayashi was confused by MAO’s actions but when Brookes agreed to it he went through the proper channels to make it happen. The main event itself played off of last year’s D-Oh match between MAO and Brookes where they both purposely fought to win by countout. They took the action all over the room. Brookes used tape to stick MAO flat onto a table but Shunma Katsumata & Toy Kojima lifted him back to the ring. SCHADENFREUDE International then interfered after a ref bump and had to be fought off by The 37KAMIINA. Outside the ring Brookes gave MAO the Praying Mantis Bomb onto a counter but couldn’t crawl back to the ring in time because his legs were all taped together. MAO however recovered and jumped off the counter across the aisle onto the ring apron to beat the 20 count and win! It is a successful title defence and MAO now wants to have a Universal Title match against Keith when he shows up next month.

Yuki Ueno now leads the B Block in the early going but only just. He scraped a point by going to a 30 minute draw against Daisuke Sasaki. The match was a struggle for Ueno to get going because MJ Paul was there to help Sasaki when needed. He could have won when he hit the Jul.2 but Paul pulled away the ref during the pin. Sasaki got his second wind to go back and forth with Ueno. By the time Sasaki took him down with a Spear, the bell rang and the match ended without a winner. Ueno said whenever he has momentum, Sasaki is always there to get in his way and today’s result is not good enough. He wonders if the next time he fights him will the KO-D Openweight Title be on the line? Sasaki’s hopes of winning the tournament have gone the complete opposite from yesterday. He thinks if he can’t beat Tetsuya Endo in the next match it will be all over for him. So therefore Sasaki claims if he loses to Endo then that will be his retirement match! Nobody believes him so he made sure the reporters wrote that down.

It was time to see how the new and improved Yuki Iino could fare against Endo. He was fired up from the start but Endo used that eagerness against him. Iino charged around ringside but kept missing his target, instead running over Yusuke Okada or crashing into a row of seats. Back inside the ring the smaller space meant Iino was able to hit Endo with Spears and other tackles until Endo caught him with the Tetsuya In The Sky. Iino withstood the attacks for as long as he could but he was pinned with the Burning Star Press to end the match. The two shook hands afterwards. Endo credited the win to Iino’s lack of stamina being his weak point. He is sympathetic to him because they were both part of units that were forced to split up. Where the reborn Iino will end up is anyone’s guess.

The B Block is currently being ruled by Yukio Naya. With three wins out of three matches last year’s runner up must be having a good time out there. He got to party during today’s match because his opponent was Kazuki Hirata and that meant Hirata GO! glasses being used to set up a dance battle! The two danced together then started fighting along to the music. It ended with Naya pulling off his glasses and giving Hirata The World’s Best Back Drop to win. Naya said he loves this part of DDT and knew what to expect. He was one step ahead of Hirata the entire time. Hirata’s next match is with Rei Saito and he is not looking forward to that. He asks Saito to please be considerate towards him. Hirata also believes it would be impossible for him to dance in All Japan because the heels there will crush him if he makes any mistake.


DDT “D-OH GRAND PRIX 2023 IN SHINJUKU DAY 1” Results

December 2, 2023

DDT “D-OH GRAND PRIX 2023 IN SHINJUKU DAY 1”, 02/12/2023
Shinjuku FACE
334 Fans – No Vacancy

1. Special 8-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Yuki Iino, Yusuke Okada & Rukiya defeated Yuki Ueno, Toy Kojima, Takeshi Masada & Kazuma Sumi when Okada pinned Sumi with the Sudden Death (9:57).
2. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – B Block: Chris Brookes (2) defeated KANON (2) with the Praying Mantis Bomb (9:27).
3. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – B Block: MAO (2) defeated Kazuki Hirata (0) with the Hurricane Kick (10:06).
4. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Soma Takao & Shota (c) defeated Toru Sugiura & Akito when Shota pinned Akito with the Gannosuke Clutch (10:46).
*V2 for ROMANCE DAWN.
5. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – A Block: Kazusada Higuchi (2) defeated Daisuke Sasaki (0) with the Brain Claw (13:55).
6. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – B Block: Yukio Naya (4) defeated Rei Saito (2) with The World’s Best Back Drop (15:10).
7. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – A Block: HARASHIMA (2) defeated Tetsuya Endo (0) with the Tsurube Otoshi (17:13).

A Block

1. Yuki Ueno (2)
-. Yuki Iino (2)
-. HARASHIMA (2)
-. Kazusada Higuchi (2)
5. Tetsuya Endo (0)
-. Daisuke Sasaki (0)

B Block

1. Yukio Naya (4)
2. Rei Saito (2)
-. MAO (2)
-. Chris Brookes (2)
-. KANON (2)
6. Kazuki Hirata (0)

HARASHIMA is making sure his run in this year’s D-Oh Grand Prix is going to be better than the last time he was in the tournament. He didn’t win a single match in the 2021 (Part 2) edition of the Grand Prix. By beating Tetsuya Endo today he is already guaranteed to finish better off this year. It wasn’t as easy as it sounds though. HARASHIMA had to pull out the rare Tsurube Otoshi head drop finish to pin Endo for the three count when the Somato couldn’t get the job done. It was only Endo’s first match in the block but the pressure is getting to him. With Jun Akiyama leaving BURNING soon and Yuya Koroku recently getting injured, it’s more important now than ever for Endo to do his best and get results.

Is that it? Did Yukio Naya win his feud against The Saito Brothers already? The interactions between the two sides built up to Naya taking on Rei Saito in the tournament and Naya beat him clean. He also kicked out of the Drill-A-Hole Piledriver while Saito couldn’t survive taking The World’s Best Back Drop. But according to Naya the fighting isn’t done yet. He wants more matches against the Saitos and knows there are other wrestlers from All Japan who won’t stay silent as the growing rivalry between DDT and AJPW continues. While Naya waits for their response he is going to focus on winning the Grand Prix. Saito accepted defeat and told Naya to come over to All Japan next year where there are plenty of other monsters looking to fight him.

Kazusada Higuchi bounced back from losing his first match by beating Daisuke Sasaki with the overpowered Brain Claw. Sasaki tried to wear down Higuchi’s limbs while taking short cuts outside the ring in the hopes that Higuchi would get weaker and weaker. When that didn’t work MJ Paul distracted the referee so Sasaki could Low Blow Higuchi. He then used La Mistica to set up the Crossover Face Lock but Higuchi broke out of it by grabbing Sasaki’s head with the Brain Claw. Higuchi then gave Sasaki a Headbutt before reapplying the Brain Claw to make him give up. Higuchi has no tournament match tomorrow. Instead he will be at BASARA defending the IRON FIST Tag Team Titles with Ryota Nakatsu. Sasaki pointed out that wrestlers who often lose their first match in a tournament go on to reach the finals and win so he is not worried over today’s result.

An early exchange between MAO and Kazuki Hirata ended with Yukinori Matsui taking strikes from both of them, rendering him unconscious. They kept fighting while music played over the speakers. They spent the match trying to hit each other with a killing blow and MAO seemed to have found when he used the Hurricane Kick. Hirata tried to endure the blow but collapsed to the mat, leaving him to get pinned. MAO came up with a theory that if Shunma Katsumata never had to vacate the DDT Extreme Title then Hirata would never have become champion and get chosen to enter the Grand Prix. That means this match was fate all along. However MAO does not know where fate will bring him next in this tournament. He knows he is facing Chris Brookes tomorrow and sent out an advance warning he wants to beat him by countout just like last year!

Brookes is in a comfortable place to think about that stuff tomorrow because he beat KANON on this show. KANON tried ambushing him from the start but Brookes came out of that exchange the better man by giving KANON a ring apron assisted Twisting Neckbreaker onto the floor. It was a reminder that when it comes to fighting dirty, Brookes has more up his sleeve than KANON does. He sees potential from KANON though and wants him to get in touch if he ever gets bored of being with DAMNATION T.A.

Akito’s hopes of becoming champions with a dear friend and creating a strong bond with them were dashed by ROMANCE DAWN. Akito has grown jealous of Shota & Soma Takao’s friendship leading them to new heights while he is left behind so he brought along Toru Sugiura to fight them for the KO-D Tag Team Titles. Things were looking good for the challengers until Shota used the Gannosuke Clutch on Akito for the flash pinfall. Akito blamed Sugiura for the loss however and left the ring without shaking his hand. They did make up backstage though. Takao was relieved the lighttubes Sugiura brought to the ring with him were never used. Shota told the fans he wants to defend the KO-D Tag Titles against another team from their generation and it will be in Korakuen Hall at the end of the year. He is talking about ROMANCE DAWN’s upcoming match against Keisuke Ishii & Shigehiro Irie at Ganbare☆Pro on 27th December.

Akiyama said he and Yusuke Okada need to improve as a team even more because Eruption have been busy working hard in the Real World Tag League. Okada describes his relationship with Akiyama as an inseparable bond even though they have done nothing as a tag team. He wants them to win the All Asia Tag Team Titles as equals instead of teacher and student.

There was a notable guest in the audience for today’s show. Politician Ayaka Shiomura recently got a lot of attention when she used pro wrestling as a negative comparison to spreading false rumours to make news stories sound more entertaining. She took back the comments and apologized but still received criticism from Bushiroad through New Japan and Stardom. Jun Akiyama however had a friendlier (and more politically savvy) solution and invited Shiomura to this show so she could see for herself what pro wrestling is like live. She accepted and tweeted positive comments about her experience at the show. She also apologised to him in person for her comments.


DDT “D-OH GRAND PRIX 2023 OPENING ROUND” Results

November 26, 2023

DDT “D-OH GRAND PRIX 2023 OPENING ROUND”, 26/11/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
678 Fans

0. Dark Match: Yuni & Yuya Koroku defeated Kazuma Sumi & Rukiya when Koroku submitted Rukiya with the Modified Triangle Lancer (8:40).
1. Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yusuke Okada defeated Daisuke Sasaki, Demus & MJ Paul when Endo pinned Demus with the Burning Star Press (10:47).
2. Masahiro Takanashi, Antonio Honda & Takeshi Masada defeated Danshoku Dieno, Makoto Oishi & Toy Kojima when Masada pinned Oishi with the Masada Power KOBU Mukimuki (8:46).
3. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – B Block: Rei Saito (2) defeated MAO (0) with the Drill-A-Hole Piledriver (10:22).
4. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – B Block: KANON (2) defeated Kazuki Hirata (0) with the Crucifixion Cobra Twist (8:27).
5. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – A Block: Yuki Iino (2) defeated HARASHIMA (0) with the Low Altitude Spear (5:31).
6. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – B Block: Yukio Naya (2) defeated Chris Brookes (0) with the World’s Best Back Drop (16:10).
7. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – A Block: Yuki Ueno (2) defeated Kazusada Higuchi (0) with the WR (17:46).

A Block

1. Yuki Ueno (2)
-. Yuki Iino (2)
3. Tetsuya Endo (0)
-. Daisuke Sasaki (0)
-. Kazusada Higuchi (0)
-. HARASHIMA (0)

B Block

1. Yukio Naya (2)
-. KANON (2)
-. Rei Saito (2)
4. Chris Brookes (0)
-. Kazuki Hirata (0)
-. MAO (0)

The campaign to become the first consecutive winner of the D-Oh Grand Prix has gone off to a good start for Yuki Ueno. Day one of the tournament ended with Ueno beating Kazusada Higuchi, avenging his King Of DDT semi-final loss to him from earlier this year. The difference this time was Ueno flipping out of the Brain Claw Slam that beat him last time. Higuchi reacted by running the ropes but Ueno flipped over him again, putting himself in position to hit the WR and win the match. Ueno knows the tournament is just beginning and his intention to fight Konosuke Takeshita again is waiting for him beyond that. Higuchi described Ueno as becoming more tenacious than the last time they fought each other.

Last year’s runner up Yukio Naya dealt an early big blow to Chris Brookes, making the previous top champion of DDT lose his first block match. Naya used his own knees to block a Diving Double Knee Drop and then hit several Knee Strikes to Brookes, some with the kneepad pulled down. Brookes wasn’t able to stop the World’s Best Back Drop after taking all of those blows. Now Naya’s confidence in winning the Grand Prix is really high. Meanwhile Brookes can’t figure out why he’s been on the losing side so much lately.

There’s no twist with Yuki Iino’s return match after having all Pheromones influence removed from him. He says we are now going to see the real Iino and he is proving it by beating HARASHIMA in his first block match. He used his old Spear finisher to cut off the Somato and then hit a Low Altitude Spear for the three count. HARASHIMA said Iino showed so much more power than he had from his pre-Pheromones days and that caught him off guard.

So how does Kazuki Hirata fare in a tournament setting? Early signs say not so good. He decided to go full power from the start by immediately putting on the Hirata GO! glasses and attacking KANON. His attacks did nothing and KANON pulled the glasses off. Hirata got the glasses back and crawled beneath the ring to put them back on but KANON chased after him, took the glasses again and stomped on it back in the ring. Hirata made a comeback and with some triumphant music backing him revealed he had a spare in his trunks! Unfortunately for him, KANON also had his own pair hidden this entire time and wore them while making Hirata tap to the Crucifixion Cobra Twist in tune to the music. KANON had fun in the match. He got to dance and also shatter Hirata’s heart the same way he shattered the glasses. Hirata asked for the fans to support him because if they lower their guard then he’ll be crushed by his opponents even more.

Rei Saito’s cries of bringing doom to the D-Oh GP began by beating MAO in the first tournament match of the day. The difference in size and power between the two meant MAO had to hit quick and fast to make up for Saito’s heavy hitting offence. MAO couldn’t catch up and he was put away with a Headbutt followed by the Drill-A-Hole Piledriver. Saito now can’t wait for his next match because it is against Naya. The two of them have been picking fights with each other for a while leading into this. MAO said the only people he is focusing on from this point is Hirata and Brookes.

In non-tournament action SCHADENFREUDE International got their first win as a group since its formation. Two members of D.O.A were put with Toy Kojima in a match where no tags were needed to switch partners. Makoto Oishi filled up Danshoku Dieno’s mouth with wasabi again but Dieno’s Lip Lock was given to him by mistake. Takeshi Masada then pinned Oishi with his finisher. After the match Masada said SCHADENFREUDE should get a KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles shot for beating two thirds of D.O.A. Oishi accepted the challenge and said the match will happen at Korakuen Hall on 24th December. This is happening before D.O.A’s scheduled title defence against Bodyguard’s team on 6th January. Later backstage Jun Akiyama scolded Oishi for accepting the challenge without anyone else’s input. Dieno then cried because nobody in D.O.A is getting along. Oishi assured both of them everything is ok and revealed he will have a match with Bodyguard at some point over the new year.

 

The only two D-Oh wrestlers who didn’t have a tournament match today were Tetsuya Endo and Daisuke Sasaki in the A Block. They instead faced each other in a BURNING Vs DAMNATION T.A 6-Man Tag bout. Endo unveiled the Rolling Chop that Kenta Kobashi had apparently taught him during the week and made Sasaki the first victim of it. Demus stepped in and proved to be a tricky opponent for Endo. But Endo avoided La Valagueza, dropped Demus with the Torture Rack Bomb and pinned him with the Burning Star Press. Endo said he practiced using the Rolling Chop a lot until he was satisfied with it. After today’s successful use of it he intends to use it more from now on. Sasaki said the Endo today was a different person than the Endo he fought in Sumo Hall a few weeks ago.

The opening match had no connection to the Grand Prix. Instead it was Yuni & Yuya Koroku teaming up to beat Kazuma Sumi & Rukiya. Yuni wiped out Sumi with a Quebrada so Koroku could put Rukiya in the Triangle Lancer for the win.

During the end of show victory speech, Ueno told the fans there was important news but it isn’t about him. It is from Shunma Katsumuata who announced his comeback match will be at Korakuen on 3rd January! Katsumata has been out of action with an ankle injury since May.

Also announcing his return today was Toru Owashi. He hasn’t wrestled since June because of a cervical spine injury. His comeback match will take place on 24th December, the same day as his birthday! He has been storing up his strength during recovery and will explode with all of that energy in his return match.

In the middle of Owashi’s announcement, The Great Koji made an unexpected appearance attacking Hisaya Imabayashi and spitting Mist in his face. Kojika then approached Kenta Kobashi at the commentary table and threatened to do the same to him. However Kobashi was unphased by Koji and started removing his headset. Koji backed off and ran away screeching.

Next April DDT will return to America as part of The Collective series of shows being held during Wrestlemania week. “DDT GOES PHILADELPHIA!” will take place in Penns Landing Caterers Auditorium in Pennsylvania on 4th April, 2024.


D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 Begins Tomorrow

November 25, 2023

DDT “D-OH GRAND PRIX 2023 OPENING ROUND”, 26/11/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

0. Dark Match: Yuni & Yuya Koroku Vs Kazuma Sumi & Rukiya
1. Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yusuke Okada Vs Daisuke Sasaki, Demus & MJ Paul
2. Danshoku Dieno, Makoto Oishi & Toy Kojima Vs Masahiro Takanashi, Antonio Honda & Takeshi Masada
3. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – B Block: MAO Vs Rei Saito
4. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – B Block: KANON Vs Kazuki Hirata
5. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – A Block: HARASHIMA Vs Yuki Iino
6. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – B Block: Chris Brookes Vs Yukio Naya
7. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – A Block: Yuki Ueno Vs Kazusada Higuchi

Tomorrow is the beginning of D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 and some of the wrestlers gave more comments about their plans going into the tournament. Yuki Ueno is aiming to become the first person to win the D-Oh two years in a row. Daisuke Sasaki claims he has given up drinking to prepare for the tournament and feels like a brand new person in good condition. However Ueno then gave him a can of his favorite beer as a birthday present and Sasaki drank it. Ueno then revealed it was a trick to prove Sasaki hasn’t changed at all. Yukio Naya wants to bring in as many fans as he can to see him win the GP. He also thinks if he beats Rei Saito it will attract the attention of more wrestlers from other companies towards DDT. Saito wants to show off his abilities by himself so people won’t just think he’s just a tag team wrestler. He has no intention of representing All Japan, he is here on his own terms to become the DOOM King! Tetsuya Endo said if he can’t win the tournament then it will make him question his position as the leader of BURNING. He may end up thinking he does not belong in DDT at all.

Kazusada Higuchi is keeping his focus tight and show the power of Harimao. Last year’s rule of cutting off wrestlers over the age of 40 meant HARASHIMA could not compete. He wants to win so he can prove it is wrong to divide the roster by age when it comes to determining who is the strongest. He also wants to win for his newborn son. Yuki Iino is going to show off a new side of himself. He is taking his tournament run one match at a time. Chris Brookes wants to win the GP to cap off what’s been a great year for him. MAO is only thinking about getting in everybody’s way. Everything else going on is none of his concern. He also said it doesn’t make sense that Iino turned back into a normal wrestler so easily. KANON brought up winning a few tag team titles since last year’s tournament but admittedly hasn’t done anything as a singles in that time. He wants to eliminate the other contenders one by one. Last but not least, Kazuki Hirata promises to disrupt the tournament atmosphere with his dancing. He isn’t thinking about who else is in his group because it will only make him cry with fear.

The D-Oh GP sees the return of Kenta Kobashi as the tournament chairman for the third year in a row. He had to take a meeting with Endo in order for Endo to tell him about Jun Akiyama’s intention to leave BURNING at the end of the year. Endo admitted to him that BURNING has not been able to get the results they wanted in the two years since Kobashi gave them permission to use the unit name. Kobashi understands the situation and said Akiyama’s absence means Endo will have to take on more responsibility. That is not a bad thing though and Kobashi told Endo he looks forward to seeing him take on the challenge. He also encouraged Endo to win the D-Oh GP. Endo promised he will in order to help rebuild BURNING from scratch.

Kobashi gave other comments about the tournament field. In A Block he predicts Ueno will be the winner based on his growth over the last year. When they stood beside each other at the press conference Kobashi thought that Ueno looked like a champion. He also criticized Endo for not showing more anger in his matches. He needs to learn more ways to show his anger. Kobashi also revealed he recently taught Endo how to use the Rolling Chop but does not know if Endo had enough time to practice it. Higuchi was brought up as someone who struggles to win important matches. He needs to focus on winning. HARASHIMA is a possible winner as long as his isn’t having problems with his physical strength due to his age. Kobashi was disappointed with Iino back in May when Iino’s big title match main event was filled with Pheromones nonsense. He hopes Iino will live up to expectations this time and be the dark horse in his block.

Over in B Block Kobashi said he watched Brookes’ matches as champion and saw how much confidence he has. He thinks it is tremendous whenever a wrestler has the confidence of a champion. MAO is unpredictable. He should have a hard time against heavyweights but Kobashi is aware he recently beat Matt Cardona to win the DDT Universal Title. Kobashi is surprised by how much Naya improved his stamina since last year’s GP. He is also impressed by Saito’s improvements as a tag wrestler. He can grow even more if it turns out he is more suited to singles wrestling. KANON is the one wrestler out of all others that Kobashi is most interested in seeing but it’s not because he’s a potential winner. He wants to see KANON focus on what he does inside the ring no matter if it’s as a heel or face. He should give it his all, one match at a time. Finally, he admits Hirata does what he does because he has a strong sense of who he is.


DDT “GET ALIVE 2023 IN OSAKA” Results

November 19, 2023

DDT “GET ALIVE 2023 IN OSAKA”, 19/11/2023
Osaka Edion Arena #2
354 Fans – No Vacancy

1. Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku defeated Kazuma Sumi & Yuni when Okada pinned Sumi with the Sudden Death (8:58).
2. Osaka Specialty Special Tag Match: Sanshiro Takagi & Tsutenkakka defeated Danshoku Dieno & Ilusion when Tsutenkakka pinned Ilusion after the Stunner from Takagi (8:32).
3. KANON & MJ Paul defeated Akito & Rukiya when KANON pinned Rukiya with the Vietnam Driver II (9:30).
4. Special Single Match: Daisuke Sasaki defeated Takeshi Masada with the Crossface Lock (11:10).
5. Special Hardcore 6-Man Tag Match: The Great Nita, The Great Koji & HARASHIMA defeated Jun Akiyama, Bodyguard & Makoto Oishi when Nita submitted Oishi with the Chain Hanging (9:23).
6. DDT Universal Title: MAO (c) defeated Demus with the Cannonball 450 (14:38).
*V1 for MAO.
7. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Road To D-Oh Grand Prix Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yuki Ueno, Chris Brookes, & Kazusada Higuchi defeated Tetsuya Endo, Yukio Naya & Kazuki Hirata (c) when Ueno pinned Hirata with the WR (23:38).
*Yuki Ueno becomes the 1,594th champion.
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: MAO defeated Yuki Ueno (c) with a School Boy (8:18 pm).
*MAO becomes the 1,595th champion.
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: The Great Koji defeated MAO (c) with a Cradle (8:19 pm).
*The Great Koji becomes the 1,596th champion.

Several of the participants in the D-Oh Grand Prix faced off in a 6-Man Tag main event. Yuki Ueno got the win for his team, pinning Kazuki Hirata to become the new Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion in the process. That didn’t last long because after his victory speech MAO rolled him up to win the title and then he lost it to The Great Koji. But more on that later. The wrestlers in the main event all gave their comments for the upcoming tournament after the show. Ueno said what happened to him today is a reminder not to make any stupid mistakes. His goal is to win the D-Oh so he can nominate Konosuke Takeshita as his next challenger. Kazusada Higuchi is taking part not only as a representative of Harimao but also as one half of the IRON FIST Tag Team Champions in BASARA so he is tightening up his game. Yukio Naya wants to make up for last year’s disappointment of finishing as the runner up. His first opponent is Chris Brookes and Naya is confident he will beat him. Brookes said he won the King Of DDT and KO-D Openweight Title this year so he is going to win the D-Oh and make it a “Perfect Three”. Tetsuya Endo said four of the wrestlers in the main event are champions but he isn’t one of them. He not only wants to become a champion again, he also wants to see how much of an impression he can leave on fans. Last but not least, Kazuki Hirata announced he is now graduating from the main event scene! He’s tired of it and it’s starting to dawn on him just how difficult the D-Oh is going to be. He still wants to win it though no matter how dramatic it will get.

MAO found himself a tricky first challenger for the DDT Universal Title but he figured him out by the end. Demus mixed together some lucha submissions with a few dirty tactics and his Kinniku Buster finisher, La Valagueza. However MAO kicked out of it and when Demus used the referee as a shield, MAO leapt over him to catch Demus with a Stunner. MAO eventually hit the Cannonball 450 to win and keep the title. He praised Demus for being an interesting opponent the likes of which he never fought before. MAO wants this title reign to show fans different worlds of pro wrestling. He has not decided on his next challenger yet. Instead his focus is on the D-Oh. Demus, using Daisuke Sasaki as his interpreter, said MAO’s style of Lucha Libre is the Tohoku style while his own lucha is world class. He thinks the next challenger should be his wife Hiroka because she is more stronger than he is!

Today DDT got to experience The Great Nita and a new tag partner very similar to him. Atsushi Onita’s alter ego now has an ally in the form of The Great Koji, a new alter ego for Toy Kojima. Together with HARASHIMA they had a chaotic fight against Jun Akiyama, Bodyguard & Makoto Oishi. It ended with Nita & Koji both using a chain to hang Oishi by the neck over the ring apron until Oishi gave up. Backstage Nita & Koji gave a hint that they next want to fight for the All Asia Tag Team Titles. Koji reappeared at the end of the show to win the Iron Man Title. In the aftermath DDT determined that Toy Kojima and The Great Koji are completely different people. That means the Iron Man Title will change hands again only when Koji loses to somebody, not Kojima.

Bodyguard is sticking around a little bit longer because he has a problem with D.O.A. His theme song is called “DEAD OR ALIVE” so it is unacceptable that somebody else in wrestling is using the phrase! He challenged D.O.A to a KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles match. If D.O.A wins then they get his blessing to continue using the name. But if Bodyguard wins he gets the titles and the team name! He wants his team to be completely made up of wrestlers from Osaka. Tsutenkakka volunteered to be part of the team and was accepted. Bodyguard said he will decide on the other member when the date of the title match is determined.

In the lead up to the show Daisuke Sasaki teased his match with Takeshi Masada was going to be Hair Vs Hair. He even took out a pair of scissors during the match and tried to cut off Masada’s locks. Masada fought back to take the scissors off him and he tried to cut Sasaki’s hair too. The rest of the match went on without incident.

Danshoku Dieno continues to fill his mouth with wasabi paste to power up the Lip Lock.


DDT “GET ALIVE 2023 TOUR IN SHINJUKU” Results

November 16, 2023

DDT “GET ALIVE 2023 TOUR IN SHINJUKU”, 16/11/2023
Shinjuku FACE
181 Fans

1. Special Single Match: Demus defeated Kazuma Sumi with La Valagueza (2:21).
2. 53rd KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions 1-DAY Tournament – Round 1: Jun Akiyama, Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi defeated Chris Brookes, Masahiro Takanashi & Antonio Honda when Dieno pinned Honda with the Danshoku Driver (9:27).
3. 53rd KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions 1-DAY Tournament – Round 1: Yuki Ueno, MAO & Toy Kojima defeated Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul when Ueno pinned Paul with the BME (14:10).
4. Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku defeated Noriyuki Yoshida & Rukiya when Okada pinned Rukiya with the Sudden Death (9:40).
5. DDT Extreme Title & Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Did you Know!? Past → Present DDT Trivia King Death Match: Kazuki Hirata (c/c) defeated MIKAMI when Hirata answered the trivia question correctly (11:08).
5a. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: MIKAMI defeated Kazuki Hirata (c) with the School Boy (0:54).
*MIKAMI becomes the 1,592nd champion. MIKAMI answered the trivia question incorrectly.
5b. MIKAMI defeated Kazuki Hirata with the School Boy (2:38).
*MIKAMI answered the trivia question incorrectly.
5c. MIKAMI defeated Kazuki Hirata with the Swanton Bomb (6:53).
*MIKAMI answered the trivia question incorrectly.
5d. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Kazuki Hirata defeated MIKAMI (c) with the Miracle One Shot Cradle (11:08).
*Kazuki Hirata becomes the 1,593rd champion. Kazuki Hirata answered the trivia question correctly. V5 for Kazuki Hirata.
6. Sanshiro Takagi, HARASHIMA, Kazusada Higuchi & Akito defeated Soma Takao, Shota, Tetsuya Endo & Yukio Naya when Akito pinned Takao with the Tariki Hongan Style Figure 4 Leg Lock (10:13).
7. 53rd KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions 1-DAY Tournament – Final: Jun Akiyama, Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi defeated Yuki Ueno, MAO & Toy Kojima when Dieno pinned Kojima with the Danshoku Driver (16:56).
*D.O.A become the 53rd KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions!

Looks like D.O.A are sticking around for a while. The trio of Jun Akiyama, Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi all agreed to enter today’s tournament where the prize was the newly vacant KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles. The one condition was that if D.O.A failed to win, the team would immediately disband. Well they ended up winning the whole thing. D.O.A beat SCHADENFREUDE International in Round 1 after Dieno put wasabi in his mouth and put Antonio Honda in the Lip Lock. Then in the final D.O.A defeated The 37KAMIINA using the same tactic to become the new champions. Akiyama actually threw away the wasabi when Dieno took it out again but Shunma Katsumata retrieved it. Oishi told Akiyama & Dieno afterwards that the team is a success. Dieno is now convinced. He and Akiyama didn’t want to team together but the results speak for themselves. It also reassures him that DDT’s older wrestlers can still compete with the younger generation that’s been taking over the top end of DDT’s shows.

Backstage D.O.A all joked that the MVP of their team today was Shunma Katsumata and he was the reason why they became the new champions. Maybe they can ask him to join their unit? Dieno & Oishi then left Akiyama by himself so he can make an important decision. He announced he will leave BURNING at the end of this year. The time feels right for Tetsuya Endo to lead the group by himself while Akiyama goes in search of a new path to walk down. He makes it clear it is not because of D.O.A. Endo showed up next to Akiyama and explained to reporters that ever since BURNING’s formation they do not have many accomplishments to show for it. Endo takes blame for being a naïve leader and after consulting with Akiyama, they agreed with this idea. Endo said it will now be up to himself, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku to make BURNING bigger without Akiyama’s help. Top of the list for them is Endo winning the D-Oh Grand Prix while Okada & Koroku win the All Asia Tag Team Titles. But first Endo has to pass this news on to Kenta Kobashi. He promised to send him a LINE message about it.

Akito came up with a clever way to beat ROMANCE DAWN in the 8-Man Tag Match. He manipulated Shota into giving Soma Takao a Figure 4 Leg Lock to tie them up. He then pinned down Shota’s shoulders for the three count. After the match Akito said he is happy to see the younger generation succeed but it’s a different story when wrestlers from his same generation are now surpassing him. He challenged ROMANCE DAWN for the KO-D Tag Team Titles and has knows just the guy to team with him. His partner is Toru Sugiura from FREEDOMS! Sugiura is currently the King Of FREEDOM World Champion and also part of the same Young Communication generation that Akito, Takao and Shota are from. The title match will take place on 2nd December.

DDT trivia was the name of the game when Kazuki Hirata had to defend both of his championships against MIKAMI. The rules of the DDT Trivia King Death Match was after every fall the winner needed to correctly answer a question about DDT to end the match. The match itself was just for the DDT Extreme Title but when MIKAMI pinned Hirata in the first fall, he became the new Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion even though he answered his question wrong and the match had to continue. The question was what is Yuki Ishida’s favorite food? MIKAMI said chanko but that was wrong. Hirata said it is probably donuts and was correct. MIKAMI won the second fall but didn’t know what was the last thing Hideki Okatani said to Hirata during his introductory exam. Hirata knew it was “I’m not going to dance today.” MIKAMI then accused Hirata of coming up with the questions. He pinned him again just to get asked what does Toy Kojima worry about during his matches? MIKAMI said he worries about losing but that is wrong. Hirata said Kojima is scared of soiling himself, which is correct. Hirata finally scored a pinfall on MIKAMI, winning back the Iron Man Title in the process. He was given a quote about something and was asked who said it? Hirata said it was from himself… That’s correct! The match ended and it counts as another successful defence for Hirata on his quest to make the most Extreme Title defences. He denies coming up with the questions himself and they were all sourced from a committee of 1,000 people. MIKAMI hopes to get another chance some day but next time he wants the stipulation to be hardcore like a Ladder Match.

Former CMLL wrestler Demus left an impression on his first day with DDT. Before the first match took place he and MAO participated in a contract signing for their DDT Universal Title match on 19th November. Demus had Daisuke Sasaki as his interpreter and called MAO a country bumpkin from Miyagi. He then bragged about having a wife from Fukushima and being more universal than MAO could ever be. MAO said he chose Demus as his first challenger because he wants to experience Mexican wrestling as his first step into a world he’s never been in before. Then in the opener Demus made quick work of Kazuma Sumi before interfering in The 37KAMIINA Vs DAMNATION T.A match to attack MAO at ringside. Even though DAMNATION T.A lost, Sasaki warned MAO that Demus is going to destroy him!


Trivia King Death Match, MAO Ready For Demus, Max And Pom Chase The Champs

November 14, 2023

DDT “GET ALIVE 2023 TOUR IN SHINJUKU”, 16/11/2023
Shinjuku FACE

1. Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku Vs Noriyuki Yoshida & Rukiya
2. Soma Takao, Shota, Tetsuya Endo & Yukio Naya Vs Sanshiro Takagi, HARASHIMA, Kazusada Higuchi & Akito
3. Special Single Match: Demus Vs Kazuma Sumi
4. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles 1-DAY Tournament – Round 1: Chris Brookes, Masahiro Takanashi & Antonio Honda Vs Jun Akiyama, Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi
5. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles 1-DAY Tournament – Round 1: Yuki Ueno, MAO & Toy Kojima Vs Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul
6. DDT Extreme Title & Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Did you Know!? Past → Present DDT Trivia King Death Match: Kazuki Hirata (c/c) Vs MIKAMI
7. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles 1-DAY Tournament – Final: X, X & X Vs X, X & X

The DDT Extreme Title match is being built entirely around the history of DDT. The title will be defended in a Trivia King Death Match! Kazuki Hirata and MIKAMI will wrestle as normal but when a fall is won, the winner must answer a trivia question about DDT. If they get it correct then they win the match. If they get it wrong then the loser gets to answer and if the loser gets it right, the match will continue. If the loser also answers incorrectly then a new question will be asked to the winner. This continues until one of them gives a right answer. The questions will be determined by a panel of 100 people selected from the DDT Legend Executive Committee which consists of 1000 members. The Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title is also on the line but as always there is a risk Hirata could lose it to someone else before the match takes place.

MIKAMI is confident he will win and show off the history of DDT while doing it. He still vividly remembers the day when the championship was created and Sanshiro Takagi rewarded it to him. MIKAMI said when he is champion he wants to have matches as intense as those from his first reign and he will nominate Takagi as a challenger. Hirata believes if he can successfully defend the title against MIKAMI then he is good enough to break the record for most Extreme Title defences. Hisaya Imabayashi gave MIKAMI an example question to test him out. Who was the first KO-D Openweight Champion? MIKAMI struggled to come up with an answer while Hirata calmly said he knew. MIKAMI eventually figured it out and correctly said it was Masao Orihara.

With the retirement of Saki Akai having taken place, the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles are now vacated. The tournament to crown the next champions will be between The 37KAMIINA, DAMNATION T.A, the one-off trio called D.O.A and the newly established SCHADENFREUDE International.

DDT “GET ALIVE 2023 IN OSAKA”, 19/11/2023
Osaka Edion Arena #2

1. Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku Vs Kazuma Sumi & Yuni
2. KANON & MJ Paul Vs Akito & Rukiya
3. Osaka Specialty Special Tag Match: Sanshiro Takagi & Tsutenkakka Vs Danshoku Dieno & Ilusion
4. Special Single Match: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Takeshi Masada
5. Special Hardcore 6-Man Tag Match: The Great Nita, The Great Koji & HARASHIMA Vs Jun Akiyama, Bodyguard & Makoto Oishi
6. Road To D-Oh Grand Prix Special 6-Man Tag Match: Chris Brookes, Yuki Ueno & Kazusada Higuchi Vs Tetsuya Endo, Yukio Naya & Kazuki Hirata
7. DDT Universal Title: MAO (c) Vs Demus

The new DDT Universal Champion isn’t waiting to have his first title defence. Right after MAO won the title he nominated his upcoming opponent Demus as his first challenger. MAO was pulled from yesterday’s Houseboat Pro Wrestling match to recover after Sunday’s match with Matt Cardona. A check up showed no injuries and he is cleared to wrestle again this week.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TOKYO JOSHI PRO WRESTLING 10TH ANNIVERSARY PERFORMANCE ~WE ARE TJPW~”, 01/12/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Next Generation Tournament ’23 – Final: X Vs X
2. Princess Tag Team Titles: Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta (c) Vs Max The Impaler & Pom Harajuku
3. 10th Anniversary Special 10-Woman Tag Match: Miyu Yamashita, Shoko Nakajima, Yuka Sakazaki, Rika Tatsumi & Mizuki Vs Miu Watanabe, Yuki Arai, Suzume, Moka Miyamoto & Arisu Endo

The power of unlikely friendship brings Max The Impaler & Pom Harajuku back together again! The two of them are teaming up to challenge Free WiFi for the Princess Tag Team Titles. It is a big chance to turn Max into a Tokyo Joshi Pro double crown champion. What can Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta do to stop them?

TOKYO JOSHI PRO/PRESTIGE “COMBAT PRINCESS USA”, 14/12/2023
Globe Theatre, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Miu Watanabe Vs Hyan
2. Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh Vs Masha Slamovich & Killer Kelly

The second match for TJPW’s return to America pits Miu Watanabe against Hyan in an international singles match. Hyan’s previous encounters with TJPW were matches with Miyu Yamashita. She was also meant to be part of a Princess Tag Title match held in Deadlock Pro at one point but had to miss it.

Max The Impaler, Trish Adora and Janai Kai have all been added to the show lineup.