DDT “KEISUKE OKUDA TRIUMPH! DRAMATIC ISEMAIRI! 2019”, 10/02/2019 Mie Boat Race Tsu Dome 321 Fans – Super No Vacancy
1. Soma Takao defeated Mizuki Watase with the Gin And Tonic (10:28).
2. Sanshiro Takagi & Saki Akai defeated Makoto Oishi & Kazuki Hirata when Akai pinned Hirata with a Modified Reverse Strike (8:08).
3. Akito defeated Akira Jo with the Scorpion Lock (7:13).
4. Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi defeated MAO & Yuki Ueno when Sakaguchi pinned Ueno with the God’s Right Knee (12:40).
5. DISASTER BOX Vs Gon Gift!: HARASHIMA & Toru Owashi defeated Jason Kincaid & Antonio Honda when HARASHIMA pinned Honda with the Somato (12:35).
6. DAMNATION Vs ALL OUT!: Konosuke Takeshita, Yuki Iino & Space Monkey defeated Daisuke Sasaki, Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie when Takeshita pinned Paulie with the Fable (17:55).
7. Keisuke Okuda Local Triumph! Tsu Specialty Special Tag Match: Keisuke Okuda & Naomi Yoshimura defeated Kazusada Higuchi & Kota Umeda when Okuda pinned Umeda with a German Suplex (16:24).
The go home show for “JUDGEMENT 2019” was also a show for Keisuke Okuda to go home to. In front of his home crowd, Okuda got the win in the main event along with Naomi Yoshimura. Okuda just wanted to get the match over with and was leaving the ring when Yoshimura called him back in to address the crowd. Okuda didn’t want to get all mushy but he thanked everyone for coming to see the show today. He felt like he was going to die after taking chops from Kazusada Higuchi and kicks from Kota Umeda. The last time he wrestled in Tsu, he promised to come back with something like a championship. He wasn’t able to do that today but now that he is a part of DDT he will definitely come back to Tsu next time as a champion.
ALL OUT were victorious over DAMNATION in their final skirmish before Sumo Hall. Now all that is left is for the big matches to happen. Daisuke Sasaki warns that if he loses to Konosuke Takeshita he will have to retire and dissolve DAMNATION. He claims to never lie either.
The Naomi Kingdom reunion was completed with the presence of Akira Jo for a match but he lost to Akito.
Saki Akai debuted a new finishing move inspired by the work she is doing for a stage play based on Fate/Grand Order (she is playing the role of Quetzalcoatl in the show and in one scene does a Diving Cross Body off of a stage prop onto a group of people below). The move starts off with her putting the opponent in an Abdominal Stretch like hold then she jumps over and twists it into a Crucifix Driver. She used the move to pin Kazuki Hirata in their tag match.
This week All Elite Wrestling announced they will be bringing Yuka Sakazaki to Las Vegas for their “DOUBLE OR NOTHING” show on 25th May. Tokyo Joshi Pro have a show at Kitazawa Town Hall taking place the same day and confirmed that Sakazaki will not be there. Both DDT Universe and their official Youtube channel have uploaded a bunch of Sakazaki matches for everyone to watch, which I recommend you do if you haven’t seen much of her yet. It’s a good choice as she is essentially Tokyo Joshi’s number two wrestler after Miyu Yamashita. What Sakazaki has over Yamashita in this instance is a bit more flexibility with the AEW women’s roster announced so far. For example I think AEW could team Sakazaki with Kylie Rae for a match against Aja Kong and Nyla Rose. Based onn personality alone the pairing of Sakazaki and Rae would mesh well although the combination might be so sugary sweet it would give everybody sitting in the first three rows diabetes.
Here’s where we can have fun making speculations over the news. A couple of days before this announcement, Sanshiro Takagi recorded a Q&A session on DDT Universe. One of the questions asked about DDT working with AEW and (going by @ddtpro_eng’s translation) Takagi flat out said “yup”. Gossip online about the two groups forming an alliance has been around since the days of AEW’s launch too. Meanwhile this is going around while talk of WWE entering the Japan market and teaming up with a Japanese company for a hypothetical NXT Japan is heating up. Add DDT’s new relationship with Fight Club: PRO and their association with WWN for Wrestlemania week this year along with companies all around the world deciding who to buddy up with and we can make a relationship chart that is nigh on impossible to comprehend at a time when lines are supposedly being drawn for a new wrestling war that is about to begin.
Wrestlemania week this year really feels like it’s going to be the climactic final chapter in this current era of the wrestling industry. Between this being the last Wrestlemania before WWE’s gigantic TV deal kicks in, the New Japan & ROH alliance hitting its peak in Madison Square Garden, the shadow of AEW looming over everyone and a ton of promotions from North America, Europe AND Japan charging head first into the state of New York praying to hit a jackpot for their efforts the aftermath is going to be crazy even if nothing about our own wrestling following habits change.
Oh right, this is meant to be a DDT blog. Let’s go back to talking about them again then.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TOKYO JOSHI 2019 WINTER ~HIGH SCORE~”, 10/02/2019 Tokyo Seijo Hall
1. Pom Harajuku Vs YUMI
2. Shoko Nakajima & Natsumi Maki Vs Yuki Kamifuku & Mina Shirakawa
3. Yuka Sakazaki, Haruna Neko & Himawari Unagi Vs Maki Ito, Yuna Manase & Pinano Pipipipi
4. Mizuki & Raku Vs Reika Saiki & Marika Kobashi
5. Hyper Misao Vs Yuki Aino
6. Nodoka Tenma Vs Miu Watanabe
7. Miyu Yamashita Vs Hikari Noa
A contract signing ceremony for the two championship matches scheduled for 23rd February will take place before this show.
1. Soma Takao Vs Mizuki Watase
2. Akito Vs Akira Jo
3. Sanshiro Takagi & Saki Akai Vs Makoto Oishi & Kazusada Higuchi
4. MAO & Yuki Ueno Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi
5. DISASTER BOX Vs Gon Gift!: HARASHIMA & Toru Owashi Vs Jason Kincaid & Antonio Honda
6. DAMNATION Vs ALL OUT!: Daisuke Sasaki, Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie Vs Konosuke Takeshita, Yuki Iino & Space Monkey
7. Keisuke Okuda Local Triumph! Tsu Specialty Special Tag Match: Keisuke Okuda & Naomi Kingdom Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Kota Umeda
Keisuke Okuda is back home and doesn’t have to team with Makoto Oishi. It will be a good day for him.
BASARA “BASARA 88 ~LIKE A ROSE~”, 10/02/2019 Tokyo Seijo Hall
1. Takumi Tsukamoto, Yasu Urano & Jun Masaoka Vs Fuminori Abe, Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino
2. Ryuichi Sekine Vs Yusuke Kubo
3. Sparky Vs Sento Minzoku!: Ryota Nakatsu & Akiyori Takizawa Vs Isami Kodaka & Daiki Shimomura
4. Sakigake!! Iron Family Vs Best Stretchmen Full Scale Single Match: SAGAT Vs Stretchman Man
5. Sakigake!! Iron Family Vs Best Stretchmen Full Scale Single Match: FUMA Vs Best Stretchman Amazon
6. Sakigake!! Iron Family Vs Best Stretchmen Full Scale Single Match: Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi Vs Best Stretchman V3
The fate of the Best Stretch shop is so important that the second half of the show is entirely dedicated to it!
DDT “JUDGEMENT 2019 ~DDT 22ND ANNIVERSARY~”, 17/02/2019 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
0. Pro Wrestling BASARA Offer Match: Ryuichi Sekine & Daiki Shimomura Vs Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino
0. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Yuna Manase, Nodoka Tenma & Yuki Aino Vs Natsumi Maki, Hikari Noa & Miu Watanabe
1. Shunma Katsumata Return Match: Shunma Katsumata, Yuki Ueno & Space Monkey Vs Antonio Honda, Jason Kincaid & Naomi Yoshimura
2. Special Single Match: Akito Vs T-Hawk
3. Taiho Koki’s Grandson Yukio Naya Ryogoku Kokugikan First Participation!: Go Shiozaki, Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Naya Vs Daisuke Sekimoto, Toru Owashi & Yuki Iino
4. Danshoku Dieno Produce Yuru-chara “Pokotan” Debut Match: Danshoku Dieno, Pokotan & KUDO Vs Keisuke Ishii, Kota Umeda & Mizuki Watase
5. Special Hardcore 6-Person Tag Match: Sanshiro Takagi, Chigusa Nagayo & Ryuji Ito Vs Soma Takao, Mad Paulie & Takumi Iroha
6. Dramatic Dream Match: Naomichi Marufuji Vs Tetsuya Endo
7. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Time Difference Battle Royal: Asuka (c) Vs Super Sasadango Machine Vs Makoto Oishi Vs Keisuke Okuda Vs Saki Akai Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga Vs Gorgeous Matsuno Vs Hoshitango Vs Gota Ihashi Vs Yuni Vs Yasu Urano Vs El Lindaman Vs Scorpio X2 Vs Yuka Sakazaki Vs Mina Shirakawa Vs Chinsuke Nakamura Vs Maku Donaruto
8. KO-D Tag Team Titles – 3 Way Match: Mike Bailey & MAO (c) Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi Vs CIMA & Seiki Yoshioka
9. DDT Extreme Title – Souken Holdings Presents – Our Pride Rules: Shinya Aoki (c) Vs HARASHIMA
10. KO-D Openweight Title – RAGE Presents: Daisuke Sasaki (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita
CyberAgent’s major esports festival RAGE is sponsoring the main event and awarding 2 million yen to the winner.
I’ll have a preview for the show written a few days before the show. Feels like it has snuck up on me so fast.
GANBARE☆WRESTLING “DON’T STOP ME NOW 2019”, 21/02/2019 Shin-Kiba 1st RING
1. Kicking The Soul: Hiroshi Yamato & Nobuhiko Tsurumaki Vs Kouki Iwasaki & Shuhei Washida
2. Ganpro Special Dream Match!: Chikara Vs Naoshi Sano
3. There Are Evil Spaces In the Middle Of Ganjo!: Moeka Haruhi Vs Andras Miyagi
4. Ganbare☆Wrestling Vs Sento Minzoku ~Fate Reunion! Ohka & Isami!~: Ken Ohka & Shuichiro Katsumura Vs Isami Kodaka & Ryuichi Sekine
5. Ganbare☆Wrestling Vs Sento Minzoku ~Fort Of Ganpro~: Keisuke Ishii Vs Minoru Fujita
6. Are You In A Wrestling Textbook? Yumehito Imanari’s Believe S-Road: Yumehito Imanari Vs Shinjiro Otani
Andras Miyagi (formerly known as Cassandra Miyagi) is coming back to Ganbare☆Wrestling now that she is a freelancer. She previously had a match here back in February 2017.
DDT “WRESTLING OKEHAZAMA 2019”, 03/02/2019 Nagoya City Mid-Sports Center 226 Fans – No Vacancy
1. Kota Umeda defeated Mizuki Watase with the PK (10:25).
2. 3 Way Match: Tetsuya Endo defeated Naomi Yoshimura and Kazuki Hirata when Endo pinned Hirata with the Swandive Firebird Splash (6:22).
3. Keisuke Okuda & Makoto Oishi defeated Toru Owashi & Antonio Honda when Oishi pinned Honda with a Cradle (9:57).
4. MAO & Jason Kincaid defeated Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi when MAO pinned Takanashi with a Jackknife Pin (12:38).
5. DISASTER BOX Vs Ganbare☆Wrestling: Keisuke Ishii & Kouki Iwasaki defeated HARASHIMA & Yuki Ueno when Ishii pinned Ueno with the High Angle Double Arm DDT (12:13).
6. Nagoya Specialty! Where Are You Single Match: Kazusada Higuchi defeated Yuki Iino with the Doctor Bomb (13:37).
7. DAMNATION Vs ALL OUT!: Konosuke Takeshita, Akito & Space Monkey defeated Daisuke Sasaki, Soma Takao & Mad Paulie when Akito submitted Paulie with the Perfect Figure Four Leg Lock (19:38).
Remember yesterday when Daisuke Sasaki made a promise to Konosuke Takeshita that he would fight clean and never cheat again? Well believe it or not so far he is sticking to his word. When a ref bump happened in the main event, Tetsuya Endo threw a chair into the ring for Sasaki to use. Sasaki however got rid of it. Soma Takao brought the chair back in but Sasaki again threw it out. After the match Takeshita praised Sasaki for turning over a new leaf. Sasaki said he has now learned how to have fun in wrestling and today’s match made him feel good. The two then shook hands again.
Since the show was in Akito’s hometown of Nagoya, he decided to say some words about his upcoming match with T-Hawk. He calls it a match between champions of two different organisations. Akito hopes to wrestle in various places throughout 2019.
Kazusada Higuchi was hurt by Yuki Iino’s Spear but toughed it out to beat the ALL OUT wrestler. Iino is strong but Higuchi is more driven.
The visiting Ganbare☆Wrestling team were victorious over DISASTER BOX. For Keisuke Ishii and Kouki Iwasaki it was the first time in a while since they’ve wrestled in DDT. They were accompanied by Yumehito Imanari who was waving the Ganpro flag for their entrance. Today’s win removes some of the disappointment the team has from earlier in the week when they challenged for the GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Titles in NOAH and lost.
MAO continues to squeak by Shuten-dōji wrestlers. Yesterday he pinned Yukio Sakaguchi with a Cradle, today he pinned Masahiro Takanashi with a Jackknife. MAO still has a headache from the High Kick Sakaguchi gave him yesterday.
Makoto Oishi and Keisuke Okuda have an unusual double team move where Oishi sits in front of his opponent, Okuda charges in to do a Penalty Kick and Oishi moves out of the way so the opponent gets hit instead. Today Oishi and one of his opponents Antonio Honda were in opposite positions and Okuda ended up hitting the Penalty Kick on his own partner. However Oishi was able to fluke cradle Honda into a Gedo Clutch style pin to win the match.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TOKYO JOSHI 2019 WINTER ~HIGH SCORE~”, 02/02/2019 Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall
1. Shoko Nakajima Vs Himawari Unagi
2. Yuki Kamifuku Vs Pom Harajuku
3. Maki Ito & Raku Vs Natsumi Maki & Hikari Noa
4. Yuna Manase Vs YUMI
5. Yuka Sakazaki, Mizuki & Pinano Pipipipi Vs Reika Saiki, Marika Kobashi & Mina Shirakawa
6. Miyu Yamashita & Miu Watanabe Vs Nodoka Tenma & Yuki Aino
A few preview of the upcoming TOKYO Princess Title matches happening on the 23rd February.
DDT “ORETACHI, DDT! 2019”, 02/02/2019 Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall
1. 4 Way Match: Masahiro Takanashi Vs Soma Takao Vs Makoto Oishi Vs Asuka
2. Toru Owashi & Mizuki Watase Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Tomomitsu Matsunaga
3. HARASHIMA & Kota Umeda Vs Jason Kincaid & Antonio Honda
4. Kazuki Hirata Vs Space Monkey
5. Yuki Ueno Vs Naomi Yoshimura
6. MAO Vs Yukio Sakaguchi
7. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Konosuke Takeshita, Akito & Yuki Iino (c) Vs Daisuke Sasaki, Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie
It’s been a little quiet for news over in DDT land this week. I’d call it the calm before the storm with the next Sumo Hall shows being just over a fortnight away.
The feud between ALL OUT and DAMNATION now has the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles involved. ALL OUT have their first defence while Konosuke Takeshita and Daisuke Sasaki get a chance to scout each other even further.
DDT “WRESTLING OKEHAZAMA 2019”, 03/02/2019 Nagoya City Mid-Sports Center
1. Kota Umeda Vs Mizuki Watase
2. 3 Way Match: Tetsuya Endo Vs Naomi Yoshimura Vs Kazuki Hirata
3. Keisuke Okuda & Makoto Oishi Vs Toru Owashi & Antonio Honda
4. Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi Vs MAO & Jason Kincaid
5. Nagoya Specialty! Where Are You Single Match: Yuki Iino Vs Kazusada Higuchi
6. DISASTER BOX Vs Ganbare☆Wrestling: HARASHIMA & Yuki Ueno Vs Keisuke Ishii & Kouki Iwasaki
7. DAMNATION Vs ALL OUT!: Daisuke Sasaki, Soma Takao & Mad Paulie Vs Konosuke Takeshita, Akito & Space Monkey
Space Monkey is now a part of ALL OUT. How will he and Mad Paulie react to each other when they face off?
1. Soma Takao Vs Mizuki Watase
2. Akito Vs Akira Jo
3. Sanshiro Takagi & Saki Akai Vs Makoto Oishi & Kazusada Higuchi
4. MAO & Yuki Ueno Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi
5. DISASTER BOX Vs Gon Gift!: HARASHIMA & Toru Owashi Vs Jason Kincaid & Antonio Honda
6. DAMNATION Vs ALL OUT!: Daisuke Sasaki, Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie Vs Konosuke Takeshita, Yuki Iino & Space Monkey
7. Keisuke Okuda Local Triumph! Tsu Specialty Special Tag Match: Keisuke Okuda & Naomi Kingdom Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Kota Umeda
The homecoming show for Keisuke Okuda will also be a reunion for the Naomi Kingdom. Okuda and Naomi Yoshimura team up in the main event while Akira Jo is back for a match lower down in the card.
BASARA “BASARA 88 ~LIKE A ROSE~”, 10/02/2019 Tokyo Seijo Hall
1. Takumi Tsukamoto, Yasu Urano & Jun Masaoka Vs Fuminori Abe, Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino
2. Ryuichi Sekine Vs Yusuke Kubo
3. Sakigake!! Iron Family Vs Best Stretchmen Full Scale Single Match: SAGAT Vs Stretchman Man
4. Sakigake!! Iron Family Vs Best Stretchmen Full Scale Single Match: FUMA Vs Best Stretchman Amazon
5. Sakigake!! Iron Family Vs Best Stretchmen Full Scale Single Match: Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi Vs Best Stretchman V3
6. Sparky Vs Sento Minzoku!: Ryota Nakatsu & Akiyori Takizawa Vs Isami Kodaka & Daiki Shimomura
The fate of the Best Stretch store is still on the line. Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi won the rights to transform the store into a yoga centre but Best Stretchman V3 is fighting with everything he’s got to prevent it. This situation leads to a three match challenge between the Iron Family and the Best Stretchmen. Whichever side wins the most matches gets the store.
DDT “SWEET DREAMS! 2019”, 27/01/2019 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 1,040 Fans – No Vacancy
1. Akito & Space Monkey defeated Antonio Honda & Jason Kincaid when Monkey pinned Honda with the Tail Whip (10:07).
2. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Battle Royal: Asuka defeated Chinsuke Nakamura (c), Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata, Kazusada Higuchi, Keisuke Okuda, Yuki Iino and Kikutaro (9:53).
2a. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Kikutaro eliminated Chinsuke Nakamura (c) after a Big Boot from Toru Owashi (0:04). *Kikutaro becomes the 1,346th champion.
2b. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Kazuki Hirata eliminated Kikutaro (c) with a School Boy (4:16). *Kazuki Hirata becomes the 1,347th champion.
2c. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Asuka, Keisuke Okuda & Kazuki Hirata (c) eliminated Toru Owashi, Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Iino by Ring Out (6:32). *V1 for Kazuki Hirata.
2d. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Asuka & Kazuki Hirata (c) eliminated Keisuke Okuda with a Roll Up (7:40). *V2 for Kazuki Hirata.
2e. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Asuka eliminated Kazuki Hirata (c) with the Moonsault (9:53). *Asuka becomes the 1,348th champion.
3. Heisei’s Last Grudge Match Check: Yukio Sakaguchi defeated El Lindaman with the God’s Right Knee (8:42).
4. Soma Takao, Tetsuya Endo, Mad Paulie & Takumi Iroha defeated Sanshiro Takagi, Makoto Oishi, Mizuki Watase & Yuki Ueno when Takao pinned Oishi with the Gin And Tonic (11:22).
5. Special 3 Way Match: Masahiro Takanashi defeated MAO and CIMA when Takanashi pinned MAO with the Laphroaig (10:41).
6. Kota Umeda “Mad Dog” 7 Match Series – Final Match: Shuji Ishikawa defeated Kota Umeda with the Splash Mountain (13:02).
7. Special Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & HARASHIMA defeated Konosuke Takeshita & Shinya Aoki when Sasaki submitted Takeshita with the Crossover Facelock (22:43).
In a preview for next month’s Sumo Hall show, the two big title matches were mashed together for a special wild card tag match. Daisuke Sasaki had to team up with one of his rivals HARASHIMA to take on their competition Konosuke Takeshita & Shinya Aoki. Tensions between the two sides went out of control after a flash Hurricanrana bumped into Yukinori Matsui and knocked him out. Sasaki brought out a chair and chaos happened when a “missed” swing hit his partner with it! Takeshita grabbed the chair but he too missed his target and hit Aoki by accident. Sasaki finally found his mark with a chairshot to Takeshita. However a German Suplex only got him a one count. Victory looked to have slipped away for Sasaki when Takeshita got his hands on him but HARASHIMA suddenly saved the day with the Somato. Sasaki quickly reacted by using La Mistica to put Takeshita in position for the Crossover Facelock. Takeshita was at his limit and had to give up.
HARASHIMA wasted no time after the match asking Aoki what the stipulation will be for their DDT Extreme Title bout. Aoki said their prides will be on the line so it will be a match where both champion and challenger are determined to do their best. They both left the ring so Sasaki and Takeshita could take over. Sasaki doesn’t have pride so the KO-D Openweight Title match won’t be about that. Instead he showed a video of Tetsuya Endo and Mad Paulie having a meal at the restaurant owned by Takeshita’s parents! They left without paying so Konosuke’s mother Keiko Takeshita chased after them yelling into the camera. A slightly embarrassed Takeshita swore revenge on Sasaki for bringing his family into this.
Kota Umeda’s seven match trial series comes to an end with no victories and a defeat to Shuji Ishikawa. Umeda threw many kicks but he was stopped in his tracks with a Running Knee Lift and the Splash Mountain. Ishikawa feels honored to be the final opponent for Umeda’s trial. He thinks Umeda can fill a hole DDT has been missing for a while because there are not many who fight like him. Although Umeda lost every match, he believes he gained something from every one so the trial was worth it. He agrees with Ishikawa that his style is rare in DDT so he wants to continue it.
DDT is a weird place but even with that knowledge CIMA wasn’t prepared for the antics MAO and Masahiro Takanashi had in store. Takanashi stole the win when CIMA went for the Meteora but MAO moved out of the way. MAO hit CIMA with the Screw High Kick but Takanashi then snuck in and pinned MAO with the Laphroaig. He told CIMA that this kind of wrestling is different than what they learned in the Dragon System. They argued about their past until turning their attentions to MAO. CIMA said the 3 Way Match for the KO-D Tag Team Titles will be fought in #STRONGHEARTS favour this time. He also boasted that despite being outsiders, #STRONGHEARTS are popular with the DDT fans. When he left the ring Takanashi told everyone a story about how bad CIMA’s cooking was back when they were in the Toryumon dojo with the Brahman Brothers.
Chigusa Nagayo was in the audience to watch the 8-Person Tag featuring Sanshiro Takagi fighting DAMNATION and Takumi Iroha. When things went wrong for Takagi’s team he yelled out to staff to summon his secret weapon, the Dream Go! Staff went to carry the plastic case mecha only to drop it down the stairs of Korakuen Hall’s lobby. Takagi used the remains as best he could but in the end Soma Takao won the match for DAMNATION.
After the match Takagi asked Takao if he is satisfied being in DAMNATION. What position is he in the group? Number one? Two? Three? Four? When they were part of an anti-establishment unit years ago Takao aimed to reach a much higher level back then than he does now. Takagi doesn’t want to wait until Sumo Hall to fight him. He wants a singles match on 6th February so Takao can finally wake up! Takao said he always hated Takagi. The people he is with in DAMNATION are his friends. He’s going to defeat Takagi on his way to the top. Takao then looked over at Nagayo in the audience and provoked her into standing up. Takagi went over to Nagayo and raised her hands. Takao took back what he said. He’s not going to just beat Takagi to reach the top. He’s going to beat Takagi and Nagayo to reach the top!
El Lindaman made a grave mistake. He spat at Yukio Sakaguchi. You don’t do that without suffering the consequences! Sakaguchi responded with a Rock Punch, a High Kick and the God’s Right Knee to win. Sakaguchi is confident that he and Takanashi can win the KO-D Tag Titles at Sumo Hall. Lindaman said it’s been a long time since he was kicked like this.
Throughout the week Chinsuke Nakamura has been spending his day to day life defending the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title against a bunch of different parody and comedy characters. Being on guard 24/7 must have taken his toll because he was eliminated four seconds into the Battle Royal. Toru Owashi kicked him and everyone piled on top for the pin. Kikutaro was on top of Chinsuke so he was declared the new champion. Kikutaro was chased away from ringside. When everyone returned, Yukinori Matsui was wearing Kikutaro’s mask and holding the title belt. Everyone attacked him until they realised it wasn’t the real deal. Kikutaro used the distraction to attack Keisuke Okuda. He was about to set up the Shining Wizard when Kazuki Hirata gave him a School Boy to win the title. With six wrestlers left they split off into two sides of three. The trio of Hirata, Okuda and Asuka all Dropkicked Owashi, Kazusada Higuchi and Yuki Iino out of the ring to eliminate them. Hirata and Asuka then rolled up Okuda to pin him. With the match down to two, Hirata and Asuka put on Hirata Go! glasses and danced. That ended when Asuka gave Hirata a Choke Bomb and pinned him with the Moonsault to become the new champion! Asuka called it a perfect victory.
The debuting Space Monkey is already getting along with ALL OUT. He was given a banana by Akito before the match started. Jason Kincaid demanded the jokes to stop so they can wrestle. Monkey threw the banana away and gave Kincaid a Monkey Flip. When Antonio Honda got in the ring he slipped on the banana peel and hurt his knee, setting up the latest Gongitsune gag. Honda targeted Monkey’s tail believing it to be his weak point. Monkey toughened up and hit a Lionsault to both members of Gon Gift. He then won the match by hitting Honda across the face with his tail. Akito praised Space Monkey and told him he’s already winning over the DDT fans.
Danshoku Dieno has come up with a final name for his mascot. He finally realised it needed to be family friendly so he is naming his creation Pokotan.
Riki Choshu makes his DDT debut on the 21st March Korakuen show.
Makoto Oishi, Antonio Honda, Colt Cabana, Joey Ryan, Jason Kincaid and Ethan Page are the latest names added to “DDT IS COMING TO AMERICA” in New York on 4th April.
It was already announced that DDT’s next show at Sumo Hall after “JUDGEMENT 2019” will be on 3rd November. The new news today is the show will be called “ULTIMATE PARTY 2019” and will feature big matches from DDT, BASARA, Tokyo Joshi Pro and Ganbare☆Wrestling.
Both Naomi Yoshimura and Shunma Katsumata made appearances at the start of the show to promote their return matches next month.
The Muscle show taking place the day before “JUDGEMENT 2019” in Sumo Hall will feature a retirement match. Pedro Takaishi will have his final match on the show. He is considered one of the four pillars of Muscle. That doesn’t really mean anything but hey, whatever sells tickets. They really need to sell tickets…
DDT “SAUNA PRO WRESTLING 2019 ~SHINYA AOKI VS KEISUKE OKUDA~”, 23/01/2019 Tokyo Corona Winter Sauna Shimokitazawa 0 Fans
1. Falls Count Anywhere Match: Shinya Aoki defeated Keisuke Okuda with a Sleeper Hold inside the Cool Bath (3:51).
Over the last week Shinya Aoki and Keisuke Okuda have been arguing with each other over Twitter and agreed to have a Falls Count Anywhere Match at an outdoor sauna in Shimokitazawa, Tokyo. That area was chosen because Aoki was already planning to go there and Sanshiro Takagi liked the idea of a Sauna Pro Wrestling match. However one of the terms was to not advertise a date or time for the match to take place because the attention it would cause would only get in the way of the fight. On 23rd January, Okuda grabbed Daisuke Kiso and the DDT video crew then went to the Corona Winter Sauna to have the match with Aoki.
Okuda entered the sauna area and called for Aoki to come out and face him. Aoki popped his head out of his tent and told Okuda to wait a moment so he could put his gear on. When Aoki stepped out ready to fight, Okuda attacked him with a bucket and the match began.
Okuda applied a Choke to Aoki and dragged him out to the street where they traded Middle Kicks. Okuda knocked Aoki down near and fence and stepped on his face against it. Aoki got out and put Okuda in a Sleeper Hold until Okuda grabbed the fence. That counted as a rope break and Aoki had to let go.
Aoki dragged Okuda back into the sauna area where he held him underneath a cold shower. Aoki then pulled Okuda over to the cool bath where the water was 5 degrees cold. Aoki stepped in because he could handle it but Okuda fought to avoid it. Aoki threw Okuda into the cold water and tried to pin him but only got a two count. Aoki then applied a Sleeper Hold in the water and Okuda had to tap out. The cold eventually got to Aoki and he quickly went back into his sauna tent to relax after his victory.
DDT “DRAMATIC ROKUMONSEN! 2019”, 14/01/2019 Osaka Hirano Community Hall 262 Fans – No Vacancy
1. Kota Umeda defeated Nobuhiro Shimatani with the Umeda Driver (7:02).
2. New Year’s Special Rumble: Kazusada Higuchi defeated Maku Donaruto (w/ Phoenix Haru) with a Crucifix Pin (14:10). Order Of Elimination: Keisuke Okuda, Toru Owashi, Yuni & Kikutaro & Antonio Honda, Maku Donaruto.
3. Mike Bailey, MAO & Veda Scott defeated Makoto Oishi, Kazuki Hirata & Mizuki Watase when Bailey pinned Hirata with a Buzzsaw Kick (10:15).
4. Soma Takao defeated Yuki Ueno with the Gin And Tonic (11:56).
5. Masahiro Takanashi defeated Sammy Guevara by Countout (9:12).
6. Humanity Is A Game Blooming In The Big Ring Of Naniwa! Osaka Specialty Special Single Match: HARASHIMA defeated Jason Kincaid with the Somato (11:41).
7. DAMNATION Vs ALL OUT!: Daisuke Sasaki, Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie defeated Konosuke Takeshita, Akito & Yuki Iino when Endo pinned Iino with the Shooting Star Press (16:31).
The first of several ALL OUT Vs DAMNATION match ups on the road to Sumo Hall ended in victory for DAMNATION. At first Daisuke Sasaki was in trouble when he was in the ring with Konosuke Takeshita. Things changed thanks to Sasaki’s partners. Tetsuya Endo gave Takeshita the Tetsuya In The Sky onto Yuki Iino! Then Mad Paulie took out Akito with a Lariat. The end came with Endo hitting the Shooting Star Press onto Iino. Nobuhiro Shimatani made fun of ALL OUT afterwards because the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions just lost so easily! Takeshita told DAMNATION they can have a title shot whenever they wanted. When ALL OUT left the ring, Sasaki said they could have the title match now. Takeshita asked Iino if he could go for another match but Iino was in too much pain to take the request. Sasaki told ALL OUT to go home. This is just getting started. Sasaki says he will get everything he wants in 2019.
HARASHIMA called Jason Kincaid a peculiar and unique wrestler. He had fun fighting him today. He is now waiting for Shinya Aoki to choose the match stipulation for their DDT Extreme Title bout next month.
Masahiro Takanashi rolled Sammy Guevara up in the ring apron to win by countout. Guevara tried to chase him afterwards.
Yesterday Soma Takao kicked Yuki Ueno below the belt not once but twice. Ueno didn’t waste any time waiting to attack when Takao came out for their match today. They brawled around the ring and later Ueno saw Takao’s Low Blow coming so he could block it. Ueno tried to avoid the Gin And Tonic but a Thrust Kick left him stunned long enough for Takao to hit his finisher and win.
In the Battle Royal Yuni couldn’t be punched by Kikutaro and Antonio Honda because he was too short for them. Keisuke Okuda wasn’t so friendly and attacked Yuni with no problem until Kazusada Higuchi and the others eliminated him. When Toru Owashi was eliminated, Honda and Kikutaro lifted Yuni onto their shoulders to celebrate. All three of them ended up falling over the top rope and out of the ring. That left Higuchi with Maku Donaruto. The clown dry humped Higuchi and hit the Swanton Bomb. However Higuchi then hooked Donaruto into a Crucifix Pin to steal the three count. Donaruto decided to dry hump Higuchi again while Sanshiro Takagi entered the ring. Takagi asked Donaruto if he enjoyed wrestling in DDT this week. Donaruto called it fun. Well Takagi now wants to see him wrestle on a bigger stage so Maku Donrauto is booked for Sumo Hall in February!
DDT and Yukinori Matsui will put on a special show at Osaka Edion Arena #2 on 26th May. The show celebrates Matsui’s 25th anniversary in wrestling. Kikutaro snuck up on Matsui and sent him to sleep with a chop to the neck. Kikutaro took over the segment and told everyone it will be his 25th anniversary in May too. He promoted his own stuff before reviving Matsui so the show could start.
DDT “DRAMATIC AKASONAE! 2019”, 13/01/2019 Osaka Hirano Community Hall 302 Fans – Super No Vacancy
1. Antonio Honda & Jason Kincaid defeated Tetsuya Endo & Nobuhiro Shimatani when Kincaid pinned Shimatani with the Philosopher’s Stomp (10:10).
2. Toru Owashi, Makoto Oishi & Keisuke Okuda defeated Akito, Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Mizuki Watase when Okuda pinned Watase with the PK (13:10).
3. Naniwa 3 Big Single Match: Mad Paulie defeated Yuki Iino with the Reverse Splash (8:37).
4. Naniwa 3 Big Single Match: Maku Donaruto (w/ Phoenix Haru) defeated Kazuki Hirata with the Swanton Bomb (10:31).
5. Naniwa 3 Big Single Match: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Yuni ended in a Double Countout (3:51).
5a. Rematch: Konosuke Takeshita defeated Yuni with a Hurricanrana Cutback (8:56).
6. Masahiro Takanashi & Sammy Guevara defeated Kazusada Higuchi & Kota Umeda when Guevara pinned Umeda with a Running Knee to the back of the head (12:07).
7. Tomorrow Is Good! Osaka Specialty Special Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & Soma Takao defeated HARASHIMA & Yuki Ueno when Sasaki submitted Ueno with the Cross Facelock (18:57).
8. Special Single Match: MAO defeated Mike Bailey with a Jackknife Pin (15:30).
Last minute changes were made to the card because MAO & Mike Bailey were stuck on a bullet train after wrestling for K-DOJO in Korakuen Hall earlier in the day. The big change was the new main event being a singles match between both members of The Moonlight Express! The two were evenly matched as they fought and tried to force the other to loudly apologise for their lateness. Bailey hit the Green Tea Plunge but only got a nearfall. MAO hit the Screw High Kick then rolled over Bailey with a Jackknife to get the win. After the match both of them apologised to the fans and explained that after they successfully defended the STRONGEST-K TAG Titles in Korakuen, they immediately went to go get the bullet train. However during the journey they realised they got on the longer train route from Tokyo to Osaka. They tried to figure out how they could still make the show in time. When they couldn’t find an answer MAO phoned Yukinori Matsui to send the message they would be late.
Soma Takao gave Yuki Ueno a Low Blow to set up the finish to Match #7. Daisuke Sasaki provoked Ueno into a confrontation after the match and Takao gave Ueno another Low Blow.
Some bullying took place at the start of the show when Yuni was supposed to give the opening speech. Konosuke Takeshita interrupted the speech and attacked his opponent! When the match happened later on Takeshita underestimated Yuni so much that they took the match outside the ring and Takeshita somehow got thrown into the ringside chairs. The match ended in a double countout. Takeshita wanted no more and began to leave when Yuki demanded a restart. This time Yuni threw everything at him. There was an Asai Moonsault, the 2nd Rope Sky Twister Press and even the Kamigoye. Takeshita was able to kick out of them though and narrowly scored the win when he cut off Yuni’s Hurricanrana and pressed him down for the pin. Takeshita praised Yuni for the match and promised a rematch in 13 years time when Yuni is the age Takeshita is now. Yuni promised to train a lot so he can become stronger than Takeshita!
The debuting Maku Donaruto impressed some and bothered others with his performance against Kazuki Hirata. His lewd movements reminded Hirata of Danshoku Dieno. With Phoenix Haru helping out from outside the ring, Donaruto was able to Moonsault onto Hirata. The Hirata GO! glasses weren’t enough to stop him and he pinned Hirata with a Swanton Bomb.
Keisuke Okuda complained about having to team up with Makoto Oishi again. At least Oishi was nice enough to promote Okuda’s homecoming show in Mie on 10th February. Okuda was pleased with that until he found out Oishi would be there.
The team of Antonio Honda & Jason Kincaid are now going by the name Gon Gift. Honda credited their win today by recently seeing Creed 2 in the cinema. Creed 2 taught him to always crawl no matter how low he falls. He promises to carry the Russian boxing world forward into the future! Kincaid hasn’t seen either Creed movie yet.
Naomi Yoshimura came out to tell everyone he is feeling quite well now. After he has his return match on 2nd February he promises to wrestle in Osaka again when DDT returns later in the year.
DDT “D-OU GRAND PRIX 2019 THE FINAL!!”, 30/12/2018 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 2,018 Fans – Super No Vacancy
0. Under Match: Mizuki Watase Vs Yuki Ueno ended in a Time Limit Draw (10:00).
1. Mike Bailey, MAO, HARASHIMA & Kazusada Higuchi defeated Soma Takao, Tetsuya Endo, Mad Paulie & Nobuhiro Shimatani when MAO pinned Shimatani with the Cannonball 450 (11:40).
2. Muscle Offer Match ~ M-Ou GRAND PRIX 2018 Total Victory Decision Battle Royal: Antonio Honda defeated Choun-Shiryu with a School Boy (7:10). Order Of Elimination: Yasu Urano and Makoto Oishi, Pedro Takaishi, Super Sasadango Machine, Choun-Shiryu.
3. Yukio Sakaguchi, Masahiro Takanashi & Saki Akai defeated Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata & Meiko Satomura when Sakaguchi pinned Hirata with the PK (9:49).
4. Shinya Aoki & Keisuke Okuda (w/ Hideki Suzuki) Vs Keisuke Ishii & Tanomusaku Toba (w/ Hayato Sakurai) ended in a No Contest (5:08).
5. CIMA, El Lindaman & Seiki Yoshioka defeated Akito, Yuki Iino & Kota Umeda when CIMA pinned Iino with the Meteora (13:06).
6. Daisuke Sasaki & Puma King defeated Naomi Yoshimura & Sammy Guevara by TKO when Sasaki knocked out Yoshimura with the Pedigree (13:02).
7. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – D-Ou Grand Prix 2019 – Final: Konosuke Takeshita (c) defeated Go Shiozaki with the German Suplex (23:07). *V? for Konosuke Takeshita.
Konosuke Takeshita has booked his ticket for Sumo Hall next February because he is the 2019 D-Ou Grand Prix winner! There was an uncomfortable vibe inside Korakuen Hall before the main event because of what happened to Naomi Yoshimura in the previous match (more on that below). Takeshita encouraged everyone to cheer for Yoshimura while he was on his way to the hospital. When they were done he then told Go Shiozaki not to hesitate fighting him at full force because of what happened earlier. Shiozaki didn’t hold back with his Chops and Lariats, leaving their mark on his opponent. Takeshita kicked out of the Go Flasher and did what he could to combat the Strong Arm Lariat. Takeshita successfully used the Fable then followed with a German Suplex to win the match and the Grand Prix. Since he is also the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion that also means a successful defence but that’s kind of a low priority from the list of accomplishments today. Takeshita now gets a KO-D Openweight Title shot at “JUDGEMENT 2019” on 17th February.
After the match Takeshita said he never imagined he would ever wrestle against Shiozaki. But today near the end of Heisei era, Takeshita got to fight a member of the strongest class of pro wrestlers. He has never felt such pain or suffering before but he wants to go through it again. Takeshita’s pecs will always be ready to take Shiozaki’s Chops. The show ended with the people who made the most impact in DDT this year talking about their summaries of 2018. MAO said he did a lot of weird things this year and wants to do more next year. Meiko Satomura talked about winning the KO-D Title. HARASHIMA said 2018 was a good year because he is still smiling at the end of it. Takeshita gave the last word. He promises to bring fun and exciting pro wrestling with all of DDT in 2019!
The semi-main event was stopped after Naomi Yoshimura spiked his head against the canvas from Daisuke Sasaki’s Pedigree. Yoshimura was knocked out from the move and Yukinori Matsui called off the match so he could get stretchered out. Sasaki got on the microphone, called Yoshimura a waste of scrap that should be sent back home and left the ring. Hisaya Imabayashi later gave everyone the update that Yoshimura could move his legs and was regaining his grip strength. Hours after the show was over it was announced that Yoshimura was diagnosed with a cervical sprain. There is no timetable yet for his return. The KO-D Title match scheduled for 3rd January has been cancelled and will be replaced with a DISASTER BOX Vs DAMNATION 10-Man Tag Match. Sasaki is annoyed because he was thought he now had free time to take a vacation to Hawaii.
#STRONGHEARTS have the upper hand over ALL OUT with today’s win. Yuki Iino was cut off by El Lindaman’s German Suplex. That allowed CIMA to hit the Schwein and the Meteora for the three count. Outside the ring Kota Umeda and Seiki Yoshioka had a face off after the match. CIMA noticed this and said that the difference between Umeda and Yoshioka is the same as the difference between Shunjuku and Ikebukuro. CIMA talked about the upcoming KO-D 6-Man Tag Titles defence on 3rd January. He has now beaten Takeshita and Iino. All that’s left for him to beat is Akito! Although he thinks T-Hawk can do that for him. Or maybe Duan Yingnan can leave his mark in DDT history by beating Takeshita?
When #STRONGHEARTS left the ring one by one, El Lindaman was the last to move until he was suddenly attacked by Nobuhiro Shimatani! They faced off then stood back to back in a height measuring contest. Both men declared themselves the winner.
Shinya Aoki & Keisuke Okuda brought along Hideki Suzuki to be their cornerman to even the odds against Keisuke Ishii & Tanomusaku Toba with Hayato “Mach” Sakurai by their side. This led to chaos when Okuda provoked Sakurai leading to a fight with his own partner Aoki! Okuda, Aoki and Suzuki fought each other among the audience until they found their way back into the ring. Things calmed down and Hisaya Imabayashi asked Aoki to pick the stipulation for his DDT Extreme Title match against Toba on 3rd January. Aoki told Okuda to pick for him and another fight broke out. When that brawl ended Aoki told Toba that they will have a Boxing Gloves Match!
It was an exciting day for Kazuki Hirata because he had a brand new pair of Hirata Go! glasses to show off to everyone. Yukio Sakaguchi didn’t care and tried to break the glasses by placing them on a chair and asking the other wrestlers to sit on it. They survived Saki Akai sitting on them but were crushed underneath Gota Ihashi. Hirata was devastated because if the glasses break then so too does his music. Hirata broke down into tears until Toru Owashi & Meiko Satomura put on their own pairs of glasses and sang “TOKYO GO” to him. Hirata danced along to it until Sakaguchi kicked him to oblivion. Sakaguchi then placed a fresh pair of glasses on Hirata’s body and imitated a line from the Hazuki Glasses commercial.
The D-Ou Grand Prix wasn’t the only big event on the show today. The return of Muscle to promote the sub-brand’s Sumo Hall show on 16th February led to a Battle Royal to determine who gets to be in the main event. The goal of the match is for a wrestler to phone the opponent they wish to face while pinning another wrestler. The winner would get that match as well as up to 1,000,000 yen to book that wrestler and 30% of that to be taken in as a booking fee. Antonio Honda wanted to book his father Tetsu Watanabe, Choun-Shiryu wanted to book Jackie Chan “of the Hong Kong International Police Department”, Pedro Takaishi wanted to book Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Yasu Urano wanted to book the comedian Kuro-chan. We didn’t hear who Makoto Oishi wanted because when he said he was going to book someone from K-DOJO he was cut off by the return of Amon Tsurumi! Tsurumi said he’s been gone for so long because he was busy producing movies. While doing this he discovered that ultra low budget movies can make good profits due to word of mouth. That means you don’t need to blow out your budget getting a big name in order to create a big success. He cancelled the Battle Royal and announced the start of the M-Ou Grand Prix round robin tournament! Urano complained that they don’t have time to do that. Everyone agreed on doing a normal Battle Royal after Tsurumi poked everyone in the eyes. Honda ended up winning the match. His prize was a briefcase representing his right to main event the Muscle show in February. Honda noticed it was heavy so he opened it up. Inside was a pile of unsold tickets for the show! Tsurumi said because Honda is main eventing the show it is now his responsibility to sell the remaining tickets. Only 780 tickets have been sold so far!
The Moonlight Express now have the perfect momentum for their Double Titles match on 5th January. They along with HARASHIMA & Kazusada Higuchi were victorious over DAMNATION in the opener. The Express want to be the best tag team of 2019 so they are already planning appearances inside and outside of DDT. They will be at Fight Club: PRO’s Japan debut on 7th January and also K-DOJO’s next Korakuen show on the 13th no matter the result of the Double Titles match.
Ten minutes wasn’t enough to determine a winner between Yuki Ueno and Mizuki Watase in the pre-show bout.
The big summer show in Ota Ward Gymnasium on 15th July will be called “WRESTLE PETER PAN”. DDT is asking fans to choose the Twitter hashtag for the show. The options are either #PeterPanDDT, #DDTPeterPan, #DDTWPP or #WrestlePeterPan.
Shuten-dōji’s self-produced show that they won from the Dramatic Election will be held in Shinjuku FACE on 17th April. They will bring in a lot of wrestlers associated with the unit and promise to deliver a ridiculous show. KUDO wasn’t there for the announcement so Shota took his place dressed just like Masahiro Takanashi. It was enough to make Sakaguchi laugh.
Shunma Katsumata is planning to return from his orbital injury this February. He had successful eye surgery on 11th December.
Jason “The Gift” Kincaid returns to DDT on 13th January. Space Monkey makes his debut on the 27th.
Posted by JamieOD 
Dramatic DDT 