GANBARE☆PRO “BAKURETSU TOSHI BURST CITY 2022”, 17/07/2022 Tokyo Oji BASEMENT MON☆STAR 78 Fans – Super No Vacancy
1. GanPro Summer Festival! MakoHaruka Vs YuriMoeka Full-Scale Battle: Makoto & HARUKAZE defeated Moeka Haruhi & YuuRI when Makoto pinned YuuRI with the Seien no Uneri (14:11).
2. GanPro Summer Festival! Lari Pro Army Vs Knee Pro Army Full-Scale Battle: Shuichiro Katsumura & Shinichiro Tominaga Vs Keisuke Ishii & Shota ended in a Quadruple Knockout (16:40).
3. GanPro Summer Festival! GanPro Survival 8-Man Tag Match ~Ohka Army Vs Imanari Army Full-Scale Battle~: Ken Ohka, Kouki Iwasaki, Mizuki Watase & Sayaka Obihiro (3) defeated Yumehito Imanari, Soma Takao, Tyson Maguchi & Sayaka (2) (49:56).
3a. Mizuki Watase & Sayaka Obihiro defeated Yumehito Imanari & Soma Takao when Obihiro knocked Takao out of the ring (18:56).
3b. Mizuki Watase & Sayaka Obihiro defeated Yumehito Imanari & Sayaka when Obihiro pinned Sayaka with the Obihiro Magic (10:29).
3c. Yumehito Imanari & Tyson Maguchi defeated Mizuki Watase & Sayaka Obihiro when Imanari pinned Obihiro with a Gedo Clutch (3:56).
3d. Yumehito Imanari & Tyson Maguchi defeated Kouki Iwasaki & Mizuki Watase when Maeguchi knocked Iwasaki out of the ring (4:05).
3e. Ken Ohka & Mizuki Watase defeated Yumehito Imanari & Tyson Maguchi when Watase pinned Maeguchi with a Vertical Drop Brainbuster (12:30).
During the beginning of the show, Yumehito Imanari nominated his next challenger for the Spirit Of Ganbare Title. He told everyone about something that somebody said to him on 6th October 2020. It was for the main event at Korakuen Hall when this person said Imanari was the only person who did not deserve to be in that spot. Imanari has never forgotten those words or who said it to him. He wants to defend the title in a Korakuen main event against Shigehiro Irie! The next Ganbare☆Pro show in Korakuen is scheduled for 13th August so now Imanari must wait to hear Irie’s response.
The spotlight at the end of the show was shining on someone else. Mizuki Watase came off his momentous win against Eruption at Ota Ward last week to be the deciding factor in today’s Survival Tag Match. Ken Ohka praised him afterward and Watase said he can feel the momentum surrounding Ganpro. He noticed however that Ohka isn’t speaking as much as he normally does and could tell he has a lot he wants to say. Ohka explained he is saving those words for when he wins the Spirit Of Ganbare Title from Imanari.
The Lariat Pro Wrestling Vs Knee Pro Wrestling match featured a montage of songs from famous wrestlers synonymous with Lariats and Knee Striking moves. The action became too much to handle for Shuichiro Katsumura, Shinichiro Tominaga, Keisuke Ishii and Shota because all four were left knocked out by the end of the match resulting in a draw.
Backstage Shota announced he is going on excursion to America this September with no timeframe on when he will return to Japan. While he already knows where he can go looking for bookings over there, nothing is set in stone and there is no guarantee he will be successful. But he is willing to put his life as a pro wrestler on the line for a few months. So for that reason he is taking a one way flight to the USA with the goal of wrestling there until he is exhausted. Until then he will spend August wrestling his remaining matches in Ganpro before going off to chase his dream in America.
Everyone got to learn about HARUKAZE’s history with Makoto when HARUKAZE got on the microphone after their match. She told a story about how she became a recluse after getting injured and leaving Stardom. Then suddenly one day Makoto, who she had never met previously, got in touch and invited her to take part in a show she was on. HARUKAZE said that was the beginning of her rehabiliation and the match she had on that show felt like she was making her debut all over again. Makoto is why HARUKAZE is still a pro wrestler so she asked Makoto to have a singles match together. Makoto admitted she didn’t expect to hear this story and called it a great honour for another wrestler to want a match with her. She accepted the challenge and the match will happen on 13th August. However Makoto warned that she is stronger than HARUKAZE thinks.
GANBARE☆PRO “WRESTLE SEKIGAHARA”, 10/07/2022 Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium 804 Fans
1. Four Beasts Of Fate Gathered In Sekigahara ~Special Tag Match~: Keisuke Ishii & Shigehiro Irie Vs Isami Kodaka & Shuji Ishikawa
2. Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling Vs Takaiwa Army: Kouki Iwasaki & Tyson Maeguchi Vs Tatsuhito Takaiwa & 5th Black Tiger
3. Ganpro Specialty 6-Man Tag Match Match: Ganbare Tamagawa, Nobuhiro Shimatani & HARUKAZE Vs Onryo, YuuRI & Lingerie Muto
4. Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling Vs Eruption: Mizuki Watase, Moeka Haruhi & Shinichiro Tominaga Vs Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani
5. Special Single Match: Yuna Manase Vs Sayaka Unagi
6. Special Single Match: Shuichiro Katsumura Vs Minoru Suzuki
7. Special Tag Match ~ CDK Vs ROMANCE DAWN: Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi Vs Shota & Soma Takao
8. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Yumehito Imanari (c) Vs Ken Ohka
GANBARE☆PRO “WRESTLE SEKIGAHARA”, 10/07/2022 Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium 804 Fans
1. Four Beasts Of Fate Gathered In Sekigahara ~Special Tag Match~: Isami Kodaka & Shuji Ishikawa defeated Keisuke Ishii & Shigehiro Irie when Ishii pinned Kodaka with the Isamiashi Zan (13:42).
2. Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling Vs Takaiwa Army: Kouki Iwasaki & Tyson Maeguchi defeated Tatsuhito Takaiwa & 5th Black Tiger when Maeguchi pinned Tiger with the Tyson Splash (14:00).
3. Ganpro Specialty 6-Man Tag Match Match: Ganbare Tamagawa, Nobuhiro Shimatani & HARUKAZE defeated Onryo, YuuRI & Lingerie Muto when HARUKAZE pinned YuuRI with the Flame Spear (9:13).
4. Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling Vs Eruption: Mizuki Watase, Moeka Haruhi & Shinichiro Tominaga defeated Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani when Watase pinned Sakaguchi with an Elbow Butt (15:22).
5. Special Single Match: Sayaka Unagi defeated Yuna Manase with the Jomon Toppa (12:59).
6. Special Single Match: Minoru Suzuki defeated Shuichiro Katsumura with the Gotch-Style Piledriver (21:45).
7. Special Tag Match ~ CDK Vs ROMANCE DAWN: Shota & Soma Takao defeated Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi when Shota pinned Brookes with the Gannosuke Clutch (23:09).
8. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Yumehito Imanari (c) defeated Ken Ohka with the Lariat (19:25). *V1 for Yumehito Imanari.
Today Ganbare☆Pro reached Ota Ward Gymnasium to hold the biggest event in its nine year history. The two men most important to the promotion faced off in the main event. On the one side is Ganpro’s founder Ken Ohka, the man who created the company in the hopes of making his own major sports league. His opponent is the first person to stand by him during Ganpro’s creation. Yumehito Imanari was just a member of DDT’s video team who wrestled on a part time basis. Today he was headlining Ota Ward Gym as the defending Spirit Of Ganbare Champion. The two fought each other knowing it was the most important match of their lives. Ohka relied on the Flame Spear but it was Imanari’s use of the Lariat that ended the match with his arm raised in the air and a successful first title defence.
After the match Imanari said when he became a pro wrestler he embarrassed himself a lot. But it is that shame that led him to the treasure he has now. He said Ganpro is necessary in the wrestling world because there is nowhere else where you can put your life on the line in such a muddy atmosphere. If you ever have a hard time, look at Ganpro! Ohka didn’t cry when he lost. He laughed instead. He doesn’t understand why because it should be the opposite. At 45 years of age he believes he still has room to grow. He wants to work hard with the younger wrestlers and continue his work to make pro wrestling into a major sport. The attendance of 804 fans today is considered a success and is going to inspire Ganpro when they decide on their next big goal.
The other important matches on the show were built around matches where Ganpro wrestlers fought outsiders. The tag team battle between ROMANCE DAWN and CDK was Ganpro’s top tag team taking on the notorious duo found in DDT and ChocoPro. CDK did some cheating throughout the match. Early on Chris Brookes taped Soma Takao to a dolly and rolled him away from ringside, leaving Shota fighting in a 2 on 1 disadvantage. Takao was able to get freed and return to the ring. Brookes also grabbed HARUKAZE and Gorilla Pressed her out of the ring onto everyone below. Later Masahiro Takanashi pulled the referee out of the ring to break up Shota’s Frog Splash on Brookes. Shota was then hit over the head with the Asia Dream Tag Team Title belt but he kicked out of the pin. ROMANCE DAWN was able to get the win out of nowhere when Shota countered the Praying Mantis Bomb into the Gannosuke Clutch, pinning Brookes for the victory. Shota said he is ready to go for a rematch while Takao was happy to win in his hometown with his friend. Brookes is making demands for a singles match. He wants to go one on one. But not against Shota, he is demanding a match against HARUKAZE! Takanashi backs up the idea and suggested they do a tag match if HARUKAZE has a tag partner.
Fans were allowed to cheer which meant everyone got to shout “Kaze Ni Nare!” during Minoru Suzuki’s entrance. But when it was time for his match to begin, the cheers and chants were for Ganpro’s own Shuichiro Katsumura. The match was filled with strikes and submission holds with a little bit of chair usage from Suzuki. He broke out of the Ninja Choke and dropped Katsumura with the Gotch-Style Piledriver to win the match. In a rare act of sportsmanship, Suzuki shook Katsumura’s hand and left to ring to give his opponent the spotlight. He even later admitted to enjoying the match! Katsumura said getting the match he always wanted is no big deal and he will continue to wrestle for Ganpro.
Emotions ran high for Yuna Manase’s match against Sayaka Unagi. The two have history together that recently mutated into Unagi holding a grudge. Their only previous singles match happened early in Unagi’s career and the loss to Manase has haunted her ever since. She showed erratic behavior at a press conference for the match by biting Manase’s chest. She did the same here when the match began. The match continued to heat up with Manase throwing Lariats. But Unagi broke through her defences and got the three count after hitting the Jomon Toppa. After the match Unagi confessed that she does not hate Ganpro and she does not believe Manase is on her last run. She learned about the fun and freedom of pro wrestling from Manase so she’s not going to let her quit so easily. They also now have a 1-1 record against each other. Unagi believes she will one day become the top wrestler in Stardom and the world of pro wrestling. When she does she will look for Manase so they can have the rubber match.
Ganpro’s previous experiences with Eruption have ended with the DDT unit bullying them. Yukio Sakaguchi in particular has been a pain in the back for Mizuki Watase to deal with. It ended up causing Watase to shave his own head after he dropped the fall to Sakaguchi in a Ganpro Vs Eruption match at “CYBERFIGHT FESTIVAL 2022”. Today was Watase’s shot at redemption when he teamed with Moeka Haruhi & Shinichiro Tominaga against the same trio of Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani. He finally got his day in the sun when he pinned Sakaguchi with an Elbow Butt to the face. Once Sakaguchi got over the shock of defeat, he gave Watase a congratulatory pat to the body and left him to celebrate with his team.
The advertised 3 Vs 2 Handicap Match turned into a 6-Man Tag Match on short notice. Munenori Sawa wasn’t around so in his place was Lingerie Muto as an active participant in the match! Ganbare Tamagawa thought he was going to get a hero’s welcome for his first Ganpro appearance in years. He even created a new move for the occassion called the Ganbare☆Pro Elbow. Instead he got booed. YuuRI on the other hand got loads of streamers thrown at her, leaving her in tears of joy because she debuted during the pandemic and never experienced an audience response like this. The ring was also filled with ecto dust whenever Onryo did something with Nobuhiro Shimatani. In the end, HARUKAZE was the one to win the match when she pinned YuuRI with the Flame Spear.
After nine months wrestling for Ganpro, Tyson Maeguchi finally gets his first direct win! The opportunity came when Tatsuhito Takaiwa accidentally hit 5th Black Tiger with a Lariat. Kouki Iwasaki then gave Tiger a Vertical Drop Brainbuster and left him for Maeguchi to finish off. Maeguchi did so with a Diving Body Press taught to him by Kota Ibushi. He now believes this is the end of Taison Maeguchi: the weak pro wrestler. From this day forth he is Taison Maeguchi: the strong pro wrestler! Next up he would like to aim for a championship. Takaiwa said this is not the end of him or his Takaiwa Army because he is still looking to understand the Ganbare Spirit.
The show opened with a barnburner between four wrestlers linked together through a time before Ganpro even existed. Keisuke Ishii, Shigehiro Irie, Isami Kodaka and Shuji Ishikawa smashed each other to pieces until somebody reached their breaking point. That came when Kodaka hit Ishii with the Isamiashi Zan. Even when the match was over tempers were flaring. Kodaka said he is the top wrestler of BASARA and Ishikawa is the top wrestler of All Japan. He thinks Ishii and Ganpro haven’t grown at all in the decade that passed since Union Pro closed down. Ishikawa was in a happier mood and congratulated Kodaka on his 20th anniversary in wrestling. He explained he can’t be at Kodaka’s 20th Anniversary show because he has a booking with AJPW on the same day.
The new Ganbare☆Joshi signing is Yoshiko Hasegawa! The former Actwres girl’Z wrestler left the business at the end of last year after dealing with a neck injury. However after a year and seven months since her last match, she will re-debut for Ganpro on 13th August. She calls it her re-debut because she is starting again from scratch. Part of the reason is because Ganpro does mixed gender matches and she wants to take part in them to get stronger. She is also currently still getting treatment on her neck but assures everyone she will be ready to wrestle again on 13th August.
DDT “DDT FREE -LET’S ALL SPEAK UP!-”, 07/07/2022 Shinjuku FACE
1. KANON Vs Yuya Koroku
2. Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Akito & Kazuki Hirata
3. Jun Akiyama, Yuji Hino, Yukio Naya & Yuki Ishida Vs HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi, Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani
4. Masahiro Takanashi & Shunma Katsumata Vs Asuka & Yusuke Okada
5. DAMNATION T.A Vs The Iyasareru!: Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul Vs Chris Brookes & Antonio Honda
6. Special Single Match: MAO Vs Andrew “The Giant” Everett
7. Special Tag Match: Kazusada Higuchi & Naomi Yoshimura Vs Yuki Ueno & Toi Kojima
A press conference was held today for Kazusada Higuchi to address the King Of DDT aftermath. The new KO-D Openweight Champion thanked the fans for their support because he doesn’t think he won the tournament by himself. He praised both of his recent opponents Jun Akiyama and Naomi Yoshimura. He would be fine with Akiyama being one of his title challengers. He also suggested teaming with Yoshimura in a tag match because they did not interact often in DNA and it would be something new. DDT accepted his request for the tag match. They chose Yuki Ueno & Toi Kojima for their opponents because Ueno was also in the semi-finals and Kojima is from after the DNA generation.
Questions have been asked about Andrew Everett’s true size ever since his DDT debut took place. He was given a surprise height measurement during today’s press conference after he was told he would face MAO in a singles match this Thursday. Hisaya Imabayashi tried to measure him but Everett kept trying to cheat. He jumped in the air, stood on a chair and then accidentally pulled the measuring tape off the wall before Choke Slamming it. Imabayashi finally got to measure him when he wasn’t looking and discovered he is really only 170cm tall! Everett has been exposed as a fraud! However his high flying abilities during yesterday’s match was so impressive that DDT still wants to book him. So his match with MAO will go ahead.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “SUMMER SUN PRINCESS ’22”, 09/07/2022 Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium
1. Moka Miyamoto Vs Juria Nagano
2. Aja Kong, Yuki Aino, Raku & Pom Harajuku Vs Hyper Misao, Nao Kakuta, Haruna Neko & Kaya Toribami
3. Ryo Mizunami Vs Miu Watanabe
4. Hikaru Shida & Hikari Noa Vs Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu
5. International Princess Title: Maki Itoh (c) Vs Alex Windsor
6. Riho & Arisu Endo Vs Mei Suruga & Suzume
7. Special Single Match: Thunder Rosa Vs Miyu Yamashita
8. Princess Tag Team Titles: Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki (c) Vs Saki Akai & Yuki Arai
9. Princess Of Princess Title: Shoko Nakajima (c) Vs Rika Tatsumi
Unfortunately Willow Nightingale is unable to get her visa in time to travel to Japan for the show. Tokyo Joshi Pro are trying to arrange a new schedule for her to wrestle in Japan as soon as possible. Miu Watanabe’s new opponent is Ryo Mizunami making her first appearance in TJPW!
GANBARE☆PRO “WRESTLE SEKIGAHARA”, 10/07/2022 Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium
1. Ganpro Specialty 3 Vs 2 Handicap Match: Ganbare Tamagawa, Nobuhiro Shimatani & HARUKAZE Vs Onryo & YuuRI (w/ Ippanjin Munenori Sawa)
2. Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling Vs Takaiwa Army: Kouki Iwasaki & Tyson Maeguchi Vs Tatsuhito Takaiwa & 5th Black Tiger
3. Four Beasts Of Fate Gathered In Sekigahara ~Special Tag Match~: Keisuke Ishii & Shigehiro Irie Vs Isami Kodaka & Shuji Ishikawa
4. Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling Vs Eruption: Mizuki Watase, Moeka Haruhi & Shinichiro Tominaga Vs Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani
5. Special Single Match: Yuna Manase Vs Sayaka Unagi
6. Special Tag Match ~ CDK Vs ROMANCE DAWN: Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi Vs Shota & Soma Takao
7. Special Single Match: Shuichiro Katsumura Vs Minoru Suzuki
8. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Yumehito Imanari (c) Vs Ken Ohka
An autograph session for Ken Ohka and Shota was held at the Champion shop in Suidobashi yesterday. Yumehito Imanari crashed the event and taunted Ohka by offering him a choice of chicken salad or sweetbread. Ohka chose the salad and took a bite out of it to prove he is taking his diet for the match seriously. Imanari approved and said he can see the shine in Ohka’s face returning. But then he tried to stuff the sweetbread into Ohka’s mouth. Ohka resisted and said he wouldn’t break his promise to be the best Ken Ohka he can be. Imanari backed off and again gave approval to Ohka’s serious attitude toward their match.
BASARA “BASARA 196 ~ITCHI DANKETSU~”, 10/07/2022 Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall
1. Lil’ Kraken Vs Banana Senga
2. Daichi Kazato & Tsutomu Oosugi Vs Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino
3. Daiki Shimomura Vs Yasu Urano
4. FUMA, KUBITO & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi Vs Ryota Nakatsu, SAGAT & Akiyori Takizawa
5. Isami Kodaka 20th Anniversary Special Tag Match: Isami Kodaka & Takumi Tsukamoto Vs Fuminori Abe & Ikuto Hidaka
This is KUBITO’s first match under his new ring name.
“SUPER HARDCORE GIRLS BOX OFFICE ~ SUPER HARDCORE GIRLS VS PROMINENCE”, 14/07/2022 Shin-Kiba 1st RING
1. DDT Offer? Match: Yuki Ueno & Sakura Hirota Vs Akito & Kazuki Hirata
2. Special TLC Match: DASH Chisako Vs Hideki Okatani
3. Super Hardcore Girls Vs Prominence ~ Falls Count Anywhere Match: SenoSister Mao Inoue Vs Mochi Natsumi
4. Super Hardcore Girls Vs Prominence ~ Bring In 1 Item Hardcore Match: Elizabeth❤️Toy & Sylvania❤️Catherine Vs Risa Sera & Akane Fujite
5. Super Hardcore Girls Vs Prominence ~ Special Hardcore Match: Carousel❤️Shun Vs Suzu Suzuki
All matches for the one-off Super Hardcore Girls Vs Prominence show have been decided. Carousel❤️Shun & Elizabeth❤️Toy aren’t the only members of Super Hardcore Girls, there are two more coming in. SenoSister Mao Inoue is a familiar face on Gake no Fuchi Joshi shows. Sylvania❤️Catherine is apparently related to indie wrestler Takahiro Katori.
DDT “SUMMER VACATION 2022 TOUR IN NAGOYA”, 16/07/2022 Aichi Nippon Gaishi Sports Plaza 3rd Stadium
1. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON (c) Vs Masahiro Takanashi, Chris Brookes & Antonio Honda
2. DDT Extreme Title – 3 Vs 1 Handicap Rule: Yuki “Sexy” Iino (c), Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari Vs Akito
The match stipulations for DDT Extreme Title defences are usually decided by the champion so it is a little odd how little those rules get abused. This is one of those times. Yuki Iino is teaming with Danshoku Dieno AND Yumehito Imanari to face Akito in a 3 Vs 1 Handicap Match. However the rule may backfire because it is a one fall match and Akito will become the champion if he beats any member of Pheromones.
DDT “SUMMER VACATION 2022”, 24/07/2022 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. Makoto Oishi Return Match: Makoto Oishi Vs X
2. Tetsuya Endo Return Match: Tetsuya Endo Vs X
3. DDT Universal Title: Masahiro Takanashi (c) Vs Yusuke Okada
Yusuke Okada is tired sitting on the sidelines while the rest of BURNING gets to do their thing. He is finally taking initiative for himself and challenging Masahiro Takanashi for the DDT Universal Title. Takanashi is fighting to keep the title so he can bring it with him when he begins wrestling around the world after the summer.
42 days after his concussion, Tetsuya Endo will be cleared to wrestle again. He accepts the result of the DDT Vs NOAH match from “CYBERFIGHT FESTIVAL 2022” and wants to move on with a fresh start. Whether or not he quickly returns to the title picture remains to be seen but the path to take it would begin here.
DDT “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2022”, 20/08/2022 Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium
1. Shinichiro Kawamatsu Debut Match ~ Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly Member Vs Bunkyo Ward Assembly Member: Shinichiro Kawamatsu, Sanshiro Takagi & Soma Takao Vs Osamu Nishimura, Makoto Oishi & Akito
2. International Special Hardcore Match: Joey Janela Vs Shunma Katsumata
3. DDT Universal Title: Masahiro Takanashi (c) Vs X
4. KO-D Openweight Title: Kazusada Higuchi (c) Vs X
Higuchi wants to nominate Endo as his opponent for “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2022”. It will all depend on how well Endo does in his return match on 27th July. If DDT or Endo himself does not think he is up to the task then Higuchi may have to nominate someone else.
The debut match of Shinichiro Kawamatsu is going to be more political than he anticipated. One of his opponents is Osamu Nishimura! The legendary wrestler is currently a Councilor on the Bunkyo Ward Council.
Konosuke Takeshita will be on the show. He is coming back to Japan for a little while before continuing his international excursion.
DDT “DRAMATIC EXPLOSION 2022”, 04/09/2022 Aichi Nagoya Congress Center Event Hall
1. Current Blast Death Match: Atsushi Onita Vs X
It’s the return of Atsushi Onita and the Explosion Death Match to DDT!
DDT “JAPAN BAKERY MARKETING PRESENTS KONOSUKE TAKESHITA 10TH ANNIVERSARY ~NISHINARI BAY BLUES~”, 10/09/2022 Osaka Nishinari Kumin Center
1. Japan Bakery Marketing Co., Ltd. Presents Special Single Match: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Daisuke Sasaki
Takeshita will also be in his hometown to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of his debut match. He was asked to choose his opponent and he picked Daisuke Sasaki. He decided nobody else can bring out all of himself in the ring like Sasaki can. He also doesn’t know how many more times they will have singles matches against each other so now is the time to do it again.
DDT “KING OF DDT 2022 FINAL!!”, 03/07/2022 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 703 Fans
0. Dark Match: Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani defeated Toru Owashi, Soma Takao & Toi Kojima when Okatani pinned Kojima with the Double Arm Suplex (7:55).
0. Dark Match: Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON defeated Yuji Hino, Yukio Naya & Yuki Ishida when KANON pinned Ishida with the Sleepy Hollow (6:51).
1. Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari defeated Akito, Antonio Honda & Kazuki Hirata by TKO when Iino used the Pheromone Judgement on Akito (7:16).
2. King Of DDT 2022 – Semi Final: Naomi Yoshimura defeated Yuki Ueno with the Osaka Pride (10:46).
3. King Of DDT 2022 – Semi Final: Kazusada Higuchi defeated Jun Akiyama with the Brain Claw Slam (14:28).
4. Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku defeated Masahiro Takanashi & HARASHIMA when Okada pinned Takanashi with the Sudden Death (10:09).
5. Special Tag Match: Chris Brookes & Andrew “The Giant” Everett defeated MAO & Shunma Katsumata when Everett pinned Katsumata with the Choke Slam Spanish Fly (14:59).
6. KO-D Openweight Title – King Of DDT 2022 – Final: Kazusada Higuchi defeated Naomi Yoshimura with the Brain Claw Slam (18:55). *Kazusada Higuchi becomes the 79th KO-D Openweight Champion!
There is a word that has been following around Kazusada Higuchi, particularly recently. “Kuronin” (苦労人). It’s a word that describes a person who works hard because they struggle so much in their life. For Higuchi that struggle was his failure to win the KO-D Openweight Title throughout his 8 year career. Five chances that spread across from his super rookie days in DNA up to his current standing in Eruption all ended in failure. Today he finally reached the top and claimed the belt by winning King Of DDT! The vacant KO-D Title was on the line in the final when Higuchi faced a red hot Naomi Yoshimura. The two heavyweights had an even battle of strength with Yoshimura using a Choke Slam to counter Higuchi’s Brain Claw. Lariats were thrown back and forth. Yoshimura’s key moves the Harai Goshi and Osaka Pride were both blocked so he reverted to his original finisher, the Throwaway Power Bomb. Higuchi grabbed him in the Brain Claw once more and this time hit the Brain Claw Slam, pinning him for the victory.
Higuchi is now the champion and he needed to have his belt. Suddenly, Jun Akiyama entered the ring and volunteered to wrap the title around Higuchi’s waist. It was over a year ago when Akiyama established his authority in DDT by ordering a rebellious Higuchi to wrap the belt around his waist after beating him in a title match. To see Akiyama now present the title to Higuchi shows how much respect has been earned. Sanshiro Takagi then brought out the DDT flag that Higuchi carried to the ring at “CYBERFIGHT FESTIVAL 2022”. He told Higuchi he is now entrusting the flag to him as a symbol of DDT’s strength for him to lead the company with. Higuchi thanked the other members of Eruption as well as Akiyama for their support. He went through a lot to reach this point and is now putting a lot of thought into who he wants his first challenger to be. He wants to defend the title against Tetsuya Endo! He will wait for him at Ota Ward Gymnasium on 20th August.
Endo himself confirmed his return to the ring by announcing 24th July as his comeback date. He apologised to the fans causing worry with his absence while he recovered from his concussion. He was also sorry for showing a side at Saitama Super Arena that no champion should ever show. He received permission from his doctor to resume his in-ring training again last week and no longer feels any discomfort from moving around. He and DDT agreed to set 24th July as the target for his return. He is half excited, half anxious over it but will push himself hard over the next 3 weeks to regain any trust he lost from the fans. In his backstage comments, Endo said he lost to Katsuhiko Nakajima because he could not withstand his slap even if it was an accidental knockout. Everything that happens in the ring is reality and Endo accepts that reality. He will move on with his wrestling life on 24th July.
DDT’s latest foreign attraction has arrived but has the company been sold a bill of goods? Andrew “The Giant” Everett built hype to his DDT debut by claiming to be 223cm tall while weighing 190.5kg. When he finally showed up, people became skeptical because he looked to be around 175cm tall. Not even Chris Brookes kneeling down next to him could make “The Giant” look any taller. Everett also struggled to give MAO a Choke Slam. However as the match started speeding up, Everett’s aerial skills begun to be highlighted. A Shooting Star Press to MAO out of the ring wowed everyone. He then placed Shunma Katsumata up on the top rope and delivered the Choke Slam Spanish Fly to get the win. MAO is now a believer. He thinks Everett will become a tourist attraction in Japan once he stabs a spike onto his head and turns him into a second Sky Tree. Backstage, Everett mocked ShunMao for being small opponents and said he wants to fight the biggest guy in DDT… Yoshihiko?!?
The tricky wrestling style of Masahiro Takanashi has its benefits but the weakness is what happens once his opponents finally catch up to him. That was what happened today. Some wacky redirections from Takanashi caused Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku to bundle up together so HARASHIMA could hit a Swan Dive Body Press to the both of them. However Okada got his breath back and avoided the Takatonic. Instead he got to do the Intercept DDT and Diving Headbutt on Takanashi. Some cradle attempts were used from Takanashi but it couldn’t stop Okada’s momentum. In the end Okada got Takanashi’s shoulders on the mat for three with the Sudden Death. After the match Okada challenged him for the DDT Universal Title. He had to miss “CYBERFIGHT FESTIVAL 2022” and King Of DDT. He also couldn’t do anything but watch the rest of BURNING to their thing during that period. It’s driving him crazy so he wants the title match. Takanashi accepted the challenge and the match will take place on 24th July. Takanashi also said he is the one about to travel the world so the Universal Title rightfully belongs to himself.
Higuchi and Yoshimura bought went through important opponents in their King Of DDT semi-final bouts. As mentioned already, Higuchi’s history with Akiyama is one with plenty of disrespect and trust issues. Even putting that aside you are always in a fight for your life against Akiyama. Higuchi was almost counted out when he was given an Exploder Suplex on the floor. He was also almost pinned with exposed Knee Strikes from Akiyama. Higuchi almost got his big win earlier in the match with an Avalanche Brain Claw Slam but he took too long to go for the pin. Akiyama also tried a rate top rope attack but his Flying Knee Strike was countered in mid-air with a Lariat. Higuchi got to apply the Brain Claw again and turned it into the Brain Claw Slam to advance to the final.
Yoshimura continues to be unbeaten against Yuki Ueno in singles matches but don’t let that fool you into thinking it was an easy match. Some well timed Dropkicks kept giving Ueno an advantage but he could just not get his big moves to count when it mattered. Yoshimura blocked the BME and avoided the WR. Ueno however couldn’t stop the Throwaway Power Bomb and was done for when he was given the Osaka Pride. Ueno is obviously disappointed he lost but the experience made him excited to spread the word of how fun and strong DDT is.
Akito’s desire to regain the DDT Extreme Title is taking him through Pheromones hell. Before their match today began, Danshoku Dieno warned that he was lifting a banned torture technique that was handed down from generation to generation since the Edo Period. This was Pheromones way of judging Akito for the Extreme Title shot on 16th July. The torture move was eventually shown to be Akito getting his head sandwiched between Yuki Iino’s backside and Dieno’s crotch. Any rescue attempt from Antonio Honda & Kazuki Hirata was cut off by Yumehito Imanari. Akito was stuck in the hold for such a long time that the match was eventually stopped for his safety and Pheromones were declared the winners. After the match Dieno said Akito was not going to fight Iino on his own for the Extreme Title. The match will be a 3 Vs 1 Handicap match where Akito has to fight all of Pheromones by himself! Dieno reminded everyone the rule of the Extreme Title is the champion gets to pick the stipulation so Akito has to accept it.
A new referee named Yusho Nakata (son of the late NOAH executive and ring announcer Ryu Nakata) debuted on this show by working the opener and the dark match. That meant the poor guy had to deal with DAMNATION T.A. He tried to show control by warning Daisuke Sasaki over illegal usage of the ropes. But when Yuji Hino & Yukio Naya looked to be on the road to victory Nakata was pulled down and held back by MJ Paul. That gave KANON the chance to regroup and give Yuki Ishida a Modified Brainbuster that is now called the Sleepy Hollow for the win.
The dark match saw the other three members of Eruption beat the trio of Toru Owashi, Soma Takao & Toi Kojima. There was an exchange between Saki Akai and Takao where Akai tried applying a Triangle Choke only to get slammed out of it. Kojima almost pinned Hideki Okatani with the Full Nelson Buster but Yukio Sakaguchi broke the count. Eruption took control with Sakaguchi & Akai giving Kojima a Sandwich PK. Kojima had enough strength to kick out of Okatani’s Northern Lights Suplex but the follow up Double Arm Suplex couldn’t be beaten.
Konosuke Takeshita is temporarily returning to Japan in August. He sent a video announcing he will be part of “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2022” on the 20th.
Also revealed for the show was news of Shinichiro Kawamatsu’s debut match. He will team with Sanshiro Takagi & Soma Takao in a 6-Man Tag Match. Their opponents are Makoto Oishi, Akito and another pro wrestling politician Osamu Nishimura! Takagi wants to answer the question of who will win a fight between Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly and the Bunkyo City Council! Kawamatsu thought he wouldn’t be bringing politics into the ring for his match but he looks forward for the chance to wrestle Councilor Nishimura.
At the beginning of the show several wrestlers promoted a bunch of upcoming events. Katsumata promoted the upcoming Super Hardcore Girls Vs Prominence event taking place on 14th July.
Akiyama will be holding his 30th Anniversary show on 18th September. Two special guests were announced for it today. They are Yuji Nagata and Yoshinobu Kanemaru from New Japan! Akiyama has a deep history with both wrestlers so it was important for them to be involved in the show.
Ken Ohka was at the show promoting Ganbare☆Pro’s biggest show in their history “WRESTLE SEKIGAHARA” at Ota Ward Gym on 10th July. He was joined by Yuki Aino & Raku who both promoted Tokyo Joshi Pro’s event in the same venue, “SUMMER SUN PRINCESS ’22” on the 9th.
Last but not least, Atsushi Onita returns to DDT on 4th September for a Current Blast Death Match in Nagoya.
DDT “KING OF DDT 2022 FINAL!!”, 03/07/2022 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
0. Dark Match: Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani Vs Toru Owashi, Soma Takao & Toi Kojima
0. Dark Match: Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON Vs Yuji Hino, Yukio Naya & Yuki Ishida
1. Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari Vs Akito, Antonio Honda & Kazuki Hirata
2. King Of DDT 2022 – Semi Final: Yuki Ueno Vs Naomi Yoshimura
3. King Of DDT 2022 – Semi Final: Kazusada Higuchi Vs Jun Akiyama
4. Masahiro Takanashi & HARASHIMA Vs Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku
5. Special Tag Match: MAO & Shunma Katsumata Vs Chris Brookes & Andrew “The Giant” Everett
6. KO-D Openweight Title – King Of DDT 2022 – Final: X Vs X
Another prize is on the line in the main event. The King Of DDT winner will not just get the KO-D Openweight Title but also 1,000,000 from the match sponsor BLACK OUT.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “SUMMER SUN PRINCESS ’22”, 09/07/2022 Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium
1. Moka Miyamoto Vs Juria Nagano
2. Aja Kong, Yuki Aino, Raku & Pom Harajuku Vs Hyper Misao, Nao Kakuta, Haruna Neko & Kaya Toribami
3. Miu Watanabe Vs Willow Nightingale
4. Hikaru Shida & Hikari Noa Vs Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu
5. International Princess Title: Maki Itoh (c) Vs Alex Windsor
6. Riho & Arisu Endo Vs Mei Suruga & Suzume
7. Special Single Match: Thunder Rosa Vs Miyu Yamashita
8. Princess Tag Team Titles: Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki (c) Vs Saki Akai & Yuki Arai
9. Princess Of Princess Title: Shoko Nakajima (c) Vs Rika Tatsumi
The Magical Sugar Rabbits went skydiving in Tochigi as part of their preparations for the Princess Tag Team Titles match. Mizuki said afterwards she now feels invincible. Yuka Sakazaki agreed and is certain they will successfully defend the titles at Ota Ward Gymnasium next month. Sakazaki is now currently in America, appearing at AEW last night and scheduled for PWG this weekend.
Mei Suruga & Suzume have decided on what to call their tag team. Their name is MeiBee Surprise!
GANBARE☆PRO “WRESTLE SEKIGAHARA”, 10/07/2022 Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium
1. Ganpro Specialty 3 Vs 2 Handicap Match: Ganbare Tamagawa, Nobuhiro Shimatani & HARUKAZE Vs Onryo & YuuRI (w/ Ippanjin Munenori Sawa)
2. Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling Vs Takaiwa Army: Kouki Iwasaki & Tyson Maeguchi Vs Tatsuhito Takaiwa & 5th Black Tiger
3. Four Beasts Of Fate Gathered In Sekigahara ~Special Tag Match~: Keisuke Ishii & Shigehiro Irie Vs Isami Kodaka & Shuji Ishikawa
4. Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling Vs Eruption: Mizuki Watase, Moeka Haruhi & Shinichiro Tominaga Vs Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani
5. Special Single Match: Yuna Manase Vs Sayaka Unagi
6. Special Tag Match ~ CDK Vs ROMANCE DAWN: Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi Vs Shota & Soma Takao
7. Special Single Match: Shuichiro Katsumura Vs Minoru Suzuki
8. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Yumehito Imanari (c) Vs Ken Ohka
Nine years ago Ganbare☆Pro was created by Ken Ohka. Standing next to him was Yumehito Imanari, who wasn’t even a full fledged pro wrestler at the time. Now Imanari has become a strong wrestler and also a champion. Ohka knows his friend has already surpassed him but he really, really wants to win the Spirit Of Ganbare Title. Imanari says neither of them make a living from pro wrestling alone but he does not feel guilty about it. This has been his way of life for a decade and he will put everything into it at Ota Ward. He also remembers their last singles match against each other 4 years ago. There was no winner then because of outside interference so he wants the result to be clear on 10th July.
Shuichiro Katsumura met face to face with Minoru Suzuki for the first time since their brawl earlier this month. Since then Katsumura changed his attitude over the match. At first he was excited to finally wrestle Suzuki but after meeting him he is now determined to beat him. He’s been studying Suzuki trying to find any weaknesses he can take advantage of. Suzuki accused Katsumura of holding onto past glories from his MMA career which makes him want to smash Katsumura to pieces! He also told Katsumura not to disappoint him.
The war of words between Yuna Manase and Sayaka Unagi took a bizarre turn during the press conference. Manase talked about having no regrets in her career that brought her from Stardom to Actwres girl’Z to Tokyo Joshi Pro to Ganpro. So she knows Unagi but is unsure if her behavior now is out of confidence or insecurity. However she will not underestimate her opponent because she wants to prove Ganpro is amazing. Unagi said her problem is when she lost the singles match against Manase in 2019 she lost to a woman who is in the late stages of her wrestling career. Unagi needs to get her win back so she can move on to working her way up in Stardom and collect all of their championships. The bizarre moment was when the two stood next to each other for the photo op. Unagi suddenly attacked Manase and bit her on the chest! Unagi told her she is sick of seeing Manase acting so kind hearted. She wants to see Manase fighting for her life and go crazy in the ring!
“SUPER HARDCORE GIRLS BOX OFFICE ~ SUPER HARDCORE GIRLS VS PROMINENCE”, 14/07/2022 Shin-Kiba 1st RING
1. Super Hardcore Girls Vs Prominence ~ Special Hardcore Match: Carousel❤️Shun Vs Suzu Suzuki
The grudge between Shunma Katsumata and Suzu Suzuki from Prominence isn’t over yet. Katsumata’s little idea of introducing Super Hardcore Girls to the feud has taken a life of its own. Now we’re getting a stand alone show pitting the two sides against each other! Carousel❤️Shun returns to the ring by taking on Suzuki in a Hardcore Match. Shun’s BFF Elizabeth❤️Toy is expected to return too while more members of Prominence are yet to be announced. Katsumata & Toi Kojima are selling tickets to the show on behalf of Super Hardcore Girls.
BASARA “ISAMI KODAKA 20TH ANNIVERSARY”, 18/07/2022 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. Lil’ Kraken Vs Raimu Imai
2. 3 Way Jacket Match: Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi Vs Gouma Vs Shiori Asahi
3. Takumi Tsukamoto, Yasu Urano & Kengo Mashimo Vs FUMA, Yusuke Kubo & Daichi Kazato
4. Daiki Shimomura, Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino Vs Tsutomu Oosugi, Banana Senga & Masahiro Takanashi
5. Elimination 8-Man Tag Match: Ryota Nakatsu, SAGAT, Naoki Tanizaki & Akiyori Takizawa Vs Fuminori Abe, Takuya Nomura, Hideyoshi Kamitani & Daichi Hashimoto
6. Isami Kodaka Vs Yuko Miyamoto
Kosuke Sato is out of action for a month to recover from injury. Daichi Hashimoto takes his place in the Elimination Tag Match.
GANBARE☆PRO “KINDERGARTEN COP 2022”, 29/06/2022 Shin-Kiba 1st RING 112 Fans
1. Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling Vs Dotonbori Pro Wrestling: Kouki Iwasaki defeated Ryuya Matsufusa with a Texas Cloverleaf (10:15).
2. Ganpro Special Mixed 6-Man Tag Match: Mizuki Watase, Moeka Haruhi & HARUKAZE defeated Shuichiro Katsumura, Yuna Manase & YuuRI when Haruhi submitted YuuRI with the 19.5MHz (11:47).
3. Spirit World Drunkers Vs Dragon Beast Bombers: Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Shigehiro Irie defeated Onryo & Tyson Maeguchi when Takaiwa pinned Maeguchi with the Death Valley Bomb (11:34).
4. Ishii-gun Vs Pro Wrestling BASARA: Keisuke Ishii & Nobuhiro Shimatani defeated Isami Kodaka & Daiki Shimomura when Ishii pinned Shimomura with the Kneel Kick (16:52).
5. Road To SEKIGAHARA Special 6-Man Tag Match: Ken Ohka, Masahiro Takanashi & Chris Brookes defeated Yumehito Imanari, Shota & Soma Takao when Ohka pinned Imanari with the Flame Spear (20:32).
The third and final preview match for “WRESTLE SEKIGAHARA” saw Ken Ohka finally pick up a win against Yumehito Imanari. The same match also had CDK leave ROMANCE DAWN frazzled with their tag team moves. However Ohka credited himself for winning the match because he was able to beat such a strong opponent. He not only wants to win the Spirit Of Ganbare Title but also make sure the biggest show in Ganbare☆Pro history will be a success. He gathered round the Ganpro roster after the show and gave a motivating speech promoting the Ota Ward Gymnasium show on 10th July.
Later backstage Ohka said in an interview he has caused unthinkable miracles throughout his life. He has wrestled Jushin Liger, won a tag team match against Hiroshi Tanahashi, very briefly became the KO-D Openweight Champion. Meanwhile Imanari has in the last couple of years won matches against Shinjiro Otani and Tatsuhito Takaiwa. On 10th July there will be another miracle no matter who wins the main event!
Another preview of Ota Ward had Keisuke Ishii on the winning team against Isami Kodaka. An attack from Ishii early in the match resulted in Kodaka getting his forehead busted open. Ishii pinned Daiki Shimomura to win the match but continued brawling with Kodaka after the match was over. Later Ishii talked about memories good and bad from his short time wrestling in Union Pro with Kodaka and Shuji Ishikawa. He expects to have a great match when he & Shigehiro Irie face Kodaka & Ishikawa. Kodaka promises to give it his all in the match despite also having another important match in BASARA that same day.
Some of the other Ganpro wrestlers are now ready and waiting for “WRESTLE SEKIGAHARA” to begin. Yuna Manase wrestles to be happy and wants Sayaka Unagi to be honest with her in the ring when their match takes place. Shuichiro Katsumura is feeling in good condition from all of the matches he’s done lately and has confidence he can beat Minoru Suzuki. He is ready to fight him in any style whether it is brawling, ground work or trading submission holds. Moeka Haruhi sees how aggressive Mizuki Watase has become and promises to stand with him against Eruption. She will improve her skills and cherish every minute before then.
This week it was announced that the “big match” events CyberFight are holding at Ota Ward Gymnasium this summer will be lifting several restrictions related to the covid pandemic. Fans attending “SUMMER SUN PRINCESS ’22”, “WRESTLE SEKIGAHARA” and “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2022” will be allowed to cheer while wearing masks, throw streamers into the ring and hang banners around the venue. The decision was made after CyberFight management held discussions with the venue in response to fan demand to lift the restrictions. Each show will still be set up for 50% capacity for social distancing and mask wearing will be mandatory. There is a chance the rules about cheering could change if new safety measures to prevent the spread of covid are announced before the shows take place.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “SUMMER SUN PRINCESS ’22”, 09/07/2022 Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium
1. Moka Miyamoto Vs Juria Nagano
2. Aja Kong, Yuki Aino, Raku & Pom Harajuku Vs Hyper Misao, Nao Kakuta, Haruna Neko & Kaya Toribami
3. Miu Watanabe Vs Willow Nightingale
4. Hikaru Shida & Hikari Noa Vs Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu
5. International Princess Title: Maki Itoh (c) Vs Alex Windsor
6. Riho & Arisu Endo Vs Mei Suruga & Suzume
7. Special Single Match: Thunder Rosa Vs Miyu Yamashita
8. Princess Tag Team Titles: Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki (c) Vs Saki Akai & Yuki Arai
9. Princess Of Princess Title: Shoko Nakajima (c) Vs Rika Tatsumi
Tokyo Joshi Pro GM Tetsuya Koda said there were a lot of opinions between the three promotions over what to do. He wanted all three to use the same rules so there would be no confusion between the shows over what is allowed or not. He also said the decision to use 50% capacity was done in accordance to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government guidelines over indoor events. Koda noted that several wrestlers like Moka Miyamoto, Arisu Endo, Kaya Toribami, Juria Nagano and Yuki Arai all debuted during the pandemic and have never gotten cheers from fans or streamers thrown at them. Miu Watanabe said as a pro wrestling idol she gets a lot of strength from getting cheers.
GANBARE☆PRO “WRESTLE SEKIGAHARA”, 10/07/2022 Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium
1. Ganpro Specialty 3 Vs 2 Handicap Match: Ganbare Tamagawa, Nobuhiro Shimatani & HARUKAZE Vs Onryo & YuuRI (w/ Ippanjin Munenori Sawa)
2. Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling Vs Takaiwa Army: Kouki Iwasaki & Tyson Maeguchi Vs Tatsuhito Takaiwa & 5th Black Tiger
3. Four Beasts Of Fate Gathered In Sekigahara ~Special Tag Match~: Keisuke Ishii & Shigehiro Irie Vs Isami Kodaka & Shuji Ishikawa
4. Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling Vs Eruption: Mizuki Watase, Moeka Haruhi & Shinichiro Tominaga Vs Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani
5. Special Single Match: Yuna Manase Vs Sayaka Unagi
6. Special Tag Match ~ CDK Vs ROMANCE DAWN: Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi Vs Shota & Soma Takao
7. Special Single Match: Shuichiro Katsumura Vs Minoru Suzuki
8. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Yumehito Imanari (c) Vs Ken Ohka
Naturally, Ken Ohka was the most excited and emotional over the news. On his own he is not strong but the cheers of the fans helps him become strong.
DDT “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2022”, 20/08/2022 Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium
1. Shinichiro Kawamatsu Debut Match: Shinichiro Kawamatsu Vs X
2. International Special Hardcore Match: Joey Janela Vs Shunma Katsumata
3. DDT Universal Title: Masahiro Takanashi (c) Vs X
4. KO-D Openweight Title: KO-D Champion (c) Vs X
HARASHIMA is happy to find out cheers will return for DDT’s big show of the summer. He admits he didn’t know how to take in clap crowds at first but figured out how to listen to the audience’s hearts. When he hears cheering again he will become several times stronger. In response to this, Ohka said cheers will make himself a hundred or even a thousand times stronger!
“CYBERFIGHT FESTIVAL 2022”, 12/06/2022 Saitama Super Arena 4,891 Fans
0. STARTING BATTLE KICKOFF ~ DDT Provided Tag Match: Muscle Sakai & Yukio Naya defeated Soma Takao & Kazuki Hirata when Naya pinned Hirata with the Back Drop (9:02).
0. STARTING BATTLE 2 ~ TJPW Provided 10-Woman Tag Match: Nao Kakuta, Mahiro Kiryu, Moka Miyamoto, Arisu Endo & Kaya Toribami defeated Hyper Misao, Yuki Aino, Pom Harajuku, Haruna Neko & YuuRI when Kiryu pinned Harajuku with the Spinebuster (9:10).
0. STARTING BATTLE 3 ~ DDT Vs Ganbare☆Pro Battle: Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani defeated Ken Ohka, Yuna Manase & Mizuki Watase by TKO when Sakaguchi used the Sleeper Hold on Watase (10:20).
1. NOAH Vs DDT Battle: Kinya Okada & Kai Fujimura defeated Toi Kojima & Yuya Koroku when Okada pinned Kojima with a Crab Hold (11:45).
2. TJPW Provided 6-Woman Tag Match: Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh & Juria Nagano defeated Hikari Noa, Suzume & Yuki Arai when Yamashita pinned Suzume with the Skull Kick (10:54).
3. DDT Provided 8-Man Tag Match: Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno, Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari & Akito “Cochin” Nishigaki defeated Sanshiro Takagi, Kendo Kashin, Shinya Aoki & Yumiko Hotta when Nishigaki submitted Takagi with the Chicken Okotta Hold (13:21).
4. Princess Of Princess Title Next Challenger Decision 4 Way Match: Rika Tatsumi defeated Mizuki, Yuki Kamifuku and Miu Watanabe when Tatsumi pinned Watanabe with the Missile Hip (9:37).
5. NOAH Provided 10-Man Tag Match: Michael Elgin, El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr., Rene Dupree, Simon Gotch & Timothy Thatcher defeated Takashi Sugiura, Kazuyuki Fujita, Masa Kitamiya, Daiki Inaba & Shuhei Taniguchi when Elgin pinned Inaba with the Elgin Bomb (14:01).
6. DDT Provided 8-Man Tag Match: HARASHIMA, Naomi Yoshimura, Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi defeated Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata, MAO & Asuka when HARASHIMA pinned Katsumata with the Somato (14:29).
7. NOAH Provided 6-Man Tag Match: Rob Van Dam, Yoshinari Ogawa & HAYATA defeated Kaito Kiyomiya, Daisuke Harada & YO-HEY when Van Dam pinned Harada with the Five Star Frog Splash (12:03).
8. NOAH Vs DDT Battle: Katsuhiko Nakajima, Atsushi Kotoge & Yoshiki Inamura defeated Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Kazusada Higuchi by TKO when Nakajima knocked out Endo (6:20).
9. NOAH Vs DDT Battle ~ Hardcore Match – No DQ Rules: Kenoh defeated Daisuke Sasaki with the P.F.S. from the Ladder (21:28).
10. Princess Of Princess Title: Shoko Nakajima (c) defeated Yuka Sakazaki with the Diving Senton (14:57). *V3 for Shoko Nakajima.
11. GHC Heavyweight Title: Satoshi Kojima defeated Go Shiozaki (c) with the Lariat (21:11). *Go Shiozaki fails in V1. Satoshi Kojima becomes the 39th GHC Heavyweight Champion!
The 2nd annual “CYBERFIGHT FESTIVAL” brought together all of the wrestling promotions owned by CyberAgent for a massive show inside Super Saitama Arena. There was plenty of news coming out of it and you can argue it was a better showing for NOAH and Tokyo Joshi Pro than it was for DDT, especially when it came to the inter-promotional matches.
Or maybe it’s New Japan that came out the winner because one of their guys now holds NOAH’s top championship! Satoshi Kojima defeated Go Shiozaki in the main event to win the GHC Heavyweight Title. He is now the fourth wrestler to achieve the biggest grand slam in Japanese pro wrestling. Only he, Kensuke Sasaki, Yoshihiro Takayama and Keiji Muto are the only wrestlers to win the GHC Title, the IWGP Heavyweight Title and the Triple Crown. Shiozaki threw everything at him including Lariats, the Go Flasher and even the Emerald Flowsion. Kojima survived all of it and put his power into three Lariats to dethrone the champion down in his first defence.
Kojima’s big celebration was cut short when Kenoh walked down to the ring. He told Kojima that NOAH is not the destination for New Japan wrestlers. He’s been of the opinion for the last few years because of Muto and Kazuyuki Fujita too. Kenoh promised to open up the future because right now NOAH and CyberFight has none! He challenged Kojima to a title match and Kojima accepted. He later said he doesn’t want anyone to think NOAH is at a low level because he is now their champion. He assures the fans that Shiozaki and the rest of the NOAH roster are not inferior to New Japan. The big title match will take place at Nippon Budokan on 16th July.
TJPW got their spotlight as the semi-main event match. Shoko Nakajima achieved her third straight Princess Of Princess Title defence by beating her long time friend and rival Yuka Sakazaki. Both were given major entrances fitting for the big occasion. Sakazaki got an army of dancing magical girls while Nakajima led a pack of dinosaurs down to the ring. Sakazaki almost won the match by hitting the Magical Merry-Go-Round but her odds vanished after Nakajima blocked the Magical Girl Niwatori Yaro with her knees. The champion then took over with a DDT and pinned Sakazaki with the Diving Senton. Nakajima is happy to see so many people watch her match against somebody as special to her as Sakazaki. Her opponent feels the same even though she lost.
The night had three DDT Vs NOAH matches and NOAH ended up with a clean sweep of victories. The big one was Kenoh defeating Daisuke Sasaki in a No DQ Match. It was a wild affair featuring interference from both DAMNATION T.A and Kongo, including Masakatsu Funaki cycling down the ramp and crashing into the wrong target. Even Yoshihiko showed up defending DDT’s honour only to get thrown out of the ring by Kenoh. Sasaki used a stun gun to prevent Kenoh from doing his Flame Kick. He then brought out a casket with thumbtacks sprinkled inside only to get slammed into it himself. Sasaki also missed a Diving Elbow Drop from the top of the ladder which cost him dearly. Kenoh had no such trouble and hit the P.F.S. Diving Stomp from the ladder to win. Afterwards backstage Kenoh explained his thoughts over DDT. He’s been calling DDT “School Wrestling” and wonders why they should feel ashamed of it? Why does DDT want to turn into a conservative mainstream wrestling company? They were built on being “Cultural Pro Wrestling” so they should have pride and confidence in being that. DDT was at its brightest when they understood it and that was how they could compete against New Japan, NOAH and All Japan. Kenoh thinks Sanshiro Takagi does not understand that and should be lucky to have a guy like Daisuke Sasaki who gets it. Sasaki blamed his loss on having to carry DDT on his back. If he fought selfishly for himself today’s result would have been very different. He says he will carry this shameful loss for the rest of his life, just like how Tetsuya Endo will carry his…
The second big DDT Vs NOAH match was the 6-Man Tag and it ended up becoming the most controversial story of the show. It was meant to be a big match with flashy entrances for everyone involved. Stories were built up pitting Kazusada Higuchi and Yoshiki Inamura against each other along with Jun Akiyama against Atsushi Kotoge. Then five minutes in we get to Tetsuya Endo against Katsuhiko Nakajima. There was an awkward looking moment when Nakajima held himself back against the ropes when Endo tried to drag him away from there. Endo threw a big kick to make him move then some Elbow Strikes. Nakajima responded with a big slap across the face, knocking Endo out and stopping the match! While Endo was getting medical assistance, Akiyama gave Nakajima a stern talking to with the other wrestlers looking on. Endo was still conscious but was helped carried to the back and diagnosed with a concussion. Akiyama criticised Nakajima in his post-match interview without naming him. He explained it doesn’t matter if you can take a strike to the temple if your opponent cannot. He was once told by Giant Baba that no matter what happens, in the end all wrestlers are friends in the same business. He doesn’t think that was the case here. He finished by saying let’s wrestle properly and do it right. I personally do not think it was Nakajima’s intention to knock out Endo but they were clearly not on the same page in the brief time they were in the ring together. I hope it was just a bad misread by Nakajima by trying to add tension to the match. Akiyama was the right person in the right place at the right time to prevent things from escalating further.
The big international guest for the show was Rob Van Dam. Today was his first time wrestling in Japan since 2014. He was on the winning team with Yoshinari Ogawa & HAYATA beating Kaito Kiyomiya, Daisuke Harada & YO-HEY in a 6-Man Tag Match. RVD even picked up the win by pinning Harada with the Five Star Frog Splash. Backstage RVD promised to come back next month. NOSAWA Rongai heard that and challenged him to a Hardcore Match with some of his friends at the Budokan show.
The main core of DDT’s tag team division provided an 8-Man Tag Match. DISASTER BOX & CDK joined forces to take on The 37KAMIINA plus Asuka. There was a massive pile on of Yuki Ueno on top of Asuka on top of Masahiro Takanashi on top of MAO on top of Naomi Yoshimura. The entire thing was then broken up by a Somato from HARASHIMA. MAO & Asuka took care of Chris Brookes with their Doomsday Shiranui double team. Shunma Katsumata tried to finish things off but HARASHIMA got him in the end with the Somato. Takanashi found it weird that wrestlers they feuded with not so long ago are here smiling with them today. Just goes to show when situations change so can certain alliances. The 37KAMIINA also agree they had a fun time and hoped the fans did too.
NOAH’s offer match was a 10-Man Tag Team bout pitting Japan against the world. The foreign team won when Michael Elgin pinned Daiki Inaba with the Elgin Bomb. Timothy Thatcher said if the match took place tomorrow the result may have been different. But today NOAH’s international team were blessed with good teamwork. Simon Gotch said NOAH has always had great foreign wrestlers and this team are part of the new history that will continue to bring in even more. Rene Dupree bragged about North America beating Japan today. The NOAH home team did not provide any post-match comments.
Shoko Nakajima’s next challenger for the Princess Title was determined in a 4 Way Match. Any idea of Daydream joining forces to wipe out the competition did not last long and the match quickly turned into every woman for herself. Miu Watanabe gave both Rika Tatsumi and Mizuki the Giant Swing together. Yuki Kamifuku later tried killing two birds with one stone by hitting the Famouser onto both Tatsumi & Mizuki at the same time. Watanabe jumped in and was ready to give Kamifuku the Tear Drop when Tatsumi broke it up with a Hip Attack. The match came down to the two Daydream wrestlers and Tatsumi came out on top with the Missile Hip to her partner. Tatsumi will now face Nakajima for the Princess Title at Ota Ward Gymnasium on 9th July. Kamifuku said she doesn’t need a championship for now. Instead she wants to fight the Cyber Japan Dancers who performed during intermission!
Pheromones are looking unstoppable once more thanks to their newest member Akito “Cochin” Nishigaki. He is all in on the gimmick, proving it is not an attempt to infiltrate the unit and destroy it from the inside. However their opponents had their own tricks to deal with, such as Kendo Kashin using a body double so he could attack from another angle. Yumiko Hotta got more than she bargained for and was sprayed with a fire extinguisher. Takagi gave Akito a Stunner but Akito stripped out of his costume to toughen up. He put Takagi in a Figure 4 Leg Lock and Yuki Iino sat on Takagi’s face for added damage, making him give up. Backstage Kashin asked for a rematch which Hotta & Shinya Aoki both agreed to. Takagi said maybe next year because his shoulder is bothering him. Kashin said it has to be this year. The four of them then crashed the Pheromones post-match interview to attack Yumehito Imanari and pull his pants down in front of the media.
Nivea sponsored the TJPW 6-Woman Tag Match and rewarded the winners with 10 years supply of their products. Hikari Noa, Suzume & Yuki Arai entered to the brand new TJPW theme song “Princess March” by Masayoshi Soken. Then Maki Itoh performed her theme song with 6 members of IQ Project before Miyu Yamashita & Juria Nagano made their entrance together. The experience of 121000000 was the deciding factor. Yamashita & Itoh took out Noa & Arai with a High Kick/Headbutt Sandwich. Yamashita then wiped out Suzume with the Skull Kick to get the three count. It is Nagano’s first win as a wrestler and Itoh joked about her getting rewarded with gifts from Nivea.
The opening match of the main show was the first DDT Vs NOAH bout of the event. It was between two teams of young wrestlers with Kinya Okada & Kai Fujimura from NOAH beating Toi Kojima & Yuya Koroku from DDT. Kojima & Koroku are both frustrated by the loss but still believe their form of training is not inferior to NOAH’s.
The STARTING BATTLE pre-show provided three dark matches involving DDT, TJPW and Ganbare☆Pro. The Ganpro team went to battle against Eruption but quickly got off on the wrong foot when Ken Ohka got rolled up in tape by his enemies once again. Yuna Manase tried to even the score by getting the better of Saki Akai with a Lariat. Mizuki Watase fought with Hideki Okatani but then turned his attention to Yukio Sakaguchi once Ohka got back into the action. Unfortunately for them, Eruption ended up with the numbers advantage and Sakaguchi choked out Watase with the Sleeper Hold to end the match. When Watase recovered he told Eruption he can continue fighting and began cutting his hair to prove it. Backstage Eruption said they will think about having more matches against Ganpro at Ganpro’s big show in Ota Ward on 10th July. Watase confronted them again and continued cutting off his hair to show how determined he is to fight them. Sakaguchi was convinced an agreed for Eruption to have another match against Ganpro at Ota Ward.
Mahiro Kiryu finally got her day in the sun by getting the win for her team in the TJPW 10-Woman Tag Match. It was an important match for some of the other women too. Kaya Toribami is celebrating finishing her first year as a pro wrestler. Raku was absent and missed by everyone, even by the opposing team. Her replacement YuuRI was disappointed to lose but would be happy to fight with the TJPW wrestlers again. Hyper Misao wanted to win before challenging for the Princess Tag Team Titles soon but still enjoyed her team today. She’d like the 5 of them to do something together again, like have a 5 Way Match! Pom Harajuku was just upset her summer is ending already because she took the fall.
DDT provided the very first match of the day inside the venue when Muscle Sakai & Yukio Naya took on Soma Takao & Kazuki Hirata. Sakai took Kenoh’s criticisms of DDT to heart and wanted to wrestle seriously. He declined a dance battle with Hirata until he was given the Hirata GO! glasses. Takao cut the dancing short so he could continue the match with Naya. Hirata almost pinned Naya with an Inside Cradle but Naya kicked out. He then delivered a Back Drop to Hirata and pinned him Yuji Hino style to get the win. Hirata said he didn’t expect Muscle Sakai of all people to come in wanting to do an exciting match.
Perhaps the biggest news of all to come out of the show was Keiji Muto’s announcement. He once called pro wrestling a marathon without a finishing line but the time has finally come for him to finish. He is going to retire next spring and is planning to wrestle only a few more matches before his career is over. His doctor told him the condition of his left hip is becoming bad and he may need to replace it with an artificial joint. Should he need a hip replacement he will no longer be able to wrestle even though he still wants to. Muto is still thinking of where and when his retirement will take place along with exactly how many more matches he will do before then. He also said The Great Muta may reappear once or twice more but when the Demon Gate to his world closes, it will this time close for good.
The entire event was not just about the pro wrestling show. There was a festival set up around the venue for fans to experience everything about the different CyberFight promotions. I could not find many details but apparently Gake no Fuchi Pro had a stall set up where Miyako Matsumoto held a meet and greet but it was taken over by Prominence.
“CYBERFIGHT FESTIVAL 2022”, 12/06/2022 Saitama Super Arena
0. STARTING BATTLE KICKOFF ~ DDT Provided Tag Match: Muscle Sakai & Yukio Naya Vs Soma Takao & Kazuki Hirata
0. STARTING BATTLE 2 ~ TJPW Provided 10-Woman Tag Match: Hyper Misao, Yuki Aino, Pom Harajuku, Haruna Neko & YuuRI Vs Nao Kakuta, Mahiro Kiryu, Moka Miyamoto, Arisu Endo & Kaya Toribami
0. STARTING BATTLE 3 ~ DDT Vs Ganbare☆Pro Battle: Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani Vs Ken Ohka, Yuna Manase & Mizuki Watase
1. NOAH Vs DDT Battle: Kinya Okada & Kai Fujimura Vs Toi Kojima & Yuya Koroku
2. TJPW Provided 6-Woman Tag Match: Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh & Juria Nagano Vs Hikari Noa, Suzume & Yuki Arai
3. DDT Provided 8-Man Tag Match: Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno, Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari & Akito “Cochin” Nishigaki Vs Sanshiro Takagi, Kendo Kashin, Shinya Aoki & Yumiko Hotta
4. Princess Of Princess Title Next Challenger Decision 4 Way Match: Rika Tatsumi Vs Mizuki Vs Yuki Kamifuku Vs Miu Watanabe
5. NOAH Provided 10-Man Tag Match: Takashi Sugiura, Kazuyuki Fujita, Masa Kitamiya, Daiki Inaba & Shuhei Taniguchi Vs Michael Elgin, El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr., Rene Dupree, Simon Gotch & Timothy Thatcher
6. DDT Provided 8-Man Tag Match: HARASHIMA, Naomi Yoshimura, Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi Vs Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata, MAO & Asuka
7. NOAH Provided 6-Man Tag Match: Rob Van Dam, Yoshinari Ogawa & HAYATA Vs Kaito Kiyomiya, Daisuke Harada & YO-HEY
8. NOAH Vs DDT Battle: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Kazusada Higuchi Vs Katsuhiko Nakajima, Atsushi Kotoge & Yoshiki Inamura
9. NOAH Vs DDT Battle ~ Special Single Match: Kenoh Vs Daisuke Sasaki
10. Princess Of Princess Title: Shoko Nakajima (c) Vs Yuka Sakazaki
11. GHC Heavyweight Title: Go Shiozaki (c) Vs Satoshi Kojima
The Hardcore Match between Kenoh and Daisuke Sasaki is confirmed to be no holds barred, no countouts and no rope breaks. Sasaki took over Kenoh’s video stream this week to bury NOAH. Meanwhile Kenoh is using his weekly article in ShuPro magazine demanding that DDT be disbanded and Sanshiro Takagi be banished from the industry after Kenoh beats Sasaki. Takagi has not accepted those stipulations because he always skips over Kenoh’s articles.
Rob Van Dam is in the country and ready to wrestle his first match in Japan since 2014. He wants to show everyone he is still RVD and is happy to be in the ring with Yoshinari Ogawa again. The two wrestled together in All Japan during the mid 1990s.
Six members from the Kyushu idol group IQ Project will be part of Maki Itoh’s entrance. IQ Project is connected to Itoh’s former group LinQ.
The final press conference for the show included a confrontation between Eruption and Ganbare☆Pro. Everyone noticed that Ken Ohka was missing until he showed up once again all rolled up in tape. He said he was the first person to show up today and when he went to the restroom, somebody attacked him from behind and rolled him up in tape. Yukio Sakaguchi denied doing it but later posted a picture of himself and Hideki Okatani holding Ohka hostage in said restroom. Saki Akai also joked that Ohka should avoid going to the toilet in Saitama Super Arena or else it will happen to him again. Despite the attempt to wind up Ganpro, Ohka prevented Mizuki Watase and Yuna Manase from starting a fight with Eruption right there.
Raku is off the show due to being in poor physical condition this week. YuuRI from Ganpro takes her place in the Tokyo Joshi Pro 10-Woman Tag Match on the pre-show.
There will be an announcement from Keiji Muto before the main show begins.
NOAH is putting out an unusual call for foreign wrestlers, offering up to $300,000 for “bounty hunters” to come over to them and increase membership for WRESTLE UNIVERSE. NOAH’s director Arihiro Takeda wants wrestlers around the world to watch “CYBERFIGHT FESTIVAL 2022” and to get in contact if they like what they see. How much money they will get from the $300,000 pool will depend on a case-by-case basis. Takeda said NOAH is the first promotion in CyberFight to make this offer but it can also apply to the other companies. So if any wrestlers who do not fit with them still want to take part they could be accepted by DDT, Tokyo Joshi Pro or Ganpro instead.
Posted by JamieOD 
Dramatic DDT 