Ibushi Fails To Dethrone The Prince

January 4, 2011

NJPW “WRESTLE KINGDOM V IN TOKYO DOME”, 4/1/11
Tokyo Dome
42,000 Fans – No Vacancy

0. World Wrestling Invitation Match: Koji Kanemoto & Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Kenny Omega & Taichi when Taguchi pinned Taichi (8:04).
6. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: Prince Devitt (c) defeated Kota Ibushi with the Avalanche Bloody Sunday (16:22).
*V4 for Devitt.

Kota Ibushi and Kenny Omega both came out in the losing end of New Japan’s biggest show of the year. Early word for Ibushi Vs Prince Devitt has it being a very exciting match with a hot crowd. Both Ibushi & Omega have now failed to win the IWGP Jr. Title from Devitt, but they can be happy with the fact that they are still the IWGP Jr. Tag Team Champions.

In other news, former DDT referee Megumi Grace Asano stepped out of retirement for one night only on New Year’s Eve to officiate the final match in NEO history as the promotion unfortunately closed its doors for good.

I’ve done a little updating to the Rosters page and the Title History. The Union page now includes wrestlers who appear on a regular basis but are not under contract to either DDT or Union. Plus I will include all of the members of the TKG48 as they are revealed, even if it becomes a one time only kind of thing. The Title History for the KO-D Tag Team Championships will be added soon. I just need to figure out how many title defences both the Nuru Nuru Brothers and Sanshiro Takagi & Munenori Sawa had during their respective reigns.

One more thing, a more in depth report on  “NEVER MIND 2010” is now uploaded. It includes a very detailed run through of the Danshoku Dino Vs Makoto Oishi match, which turned out to be one of the crazier matches DDT has had in a while. Seriously, the stuff I typed really did happen.

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Posted by JamieOD

Omega Out Of HP, Ibushi & Co Join Kana

December 16, 2010

Kenny Omega suffered a dislocated ankle while training during the week. The injury will put him off this weekend’s big Ring Of Honor iPPV event and may also remove him from the last DDT show of the year on 26th December. He and Kota Ibushi are supposed to defend the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Titles against Jado & Gedo on that show. The match might have to be delayed until 2011 to allow Omega to properly recover. This means he may also have to miss wrestling at the Tokyo Dome for New Japan on 4th January aswell.

I don’t follow that much of the joshi scene but I do know there is a split of opinion when it comes to the wrestler Kana. Some joshi enthusiasts are fans of her only because they fancy the woman. Others criticise her for wrestling a wreckless Bati style and having little regard for the safety of her opponents in matches, among other things. I’m not ashamed to admit I am part of the former. Hey, I’m a sucker for an Asian girl with short hair and a cute face.

Anyway, the reason I bring this up is because the lovely Kana will be holding her next produce show in January and it will have some DDT and Union alumni involved. Kota Ibushi and Hikaru Sato are no slouches when it comes to the Bati Bati style of fighting which I am sure the show will be built around while Isami Kodaka will take part in another Hardcore match. He’s used to them by now. At least he should be.

Kana Produce “KANA PRO 2”, 10/01/2011
Shinjuku FACE

1. Big Murakami, Kota Ibushi & Keita Yano Vs Tatsuhito Takaiwa, Kengo Mashimo & Shigehiro Irie
2. Hardcore Match: Katsumi Usuda Vs Isami Kodaka
3. Hikaru Sato Vs GAMI
4. TAJIRI & Io Shirai Vs Mineo Fujita & Mio Shirai
5. Submission Only Match: Yuki Ishikawa & Kana Vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Carlos Amano

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Posted by JamieOD

Ibushi Vs Devitt At The Dome!

December 14, 2010

Kota Ibushi will cross paths with Prince Devitt once more, this time on the biggest stage of the Japanese wrestling scene the Tokyo Dome! Ibushi will get a chance to win Devitt’s IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title to go along with his IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, which he also won from the Irishman. When the two last met in singles action it was Devitt who grabbed the win while Ibushi was left with a dislocated shoulder. Since then, Ibushi has bounced back into contention in New Japan’s Junior Division. Now it all comes to a head at the Tokyo Dome.

Kenny Omega will also be taking part on the day in a pre-show tag match. The Golden Lovers Vs Apollo 55 feud will also happen here as Ryusuke Taguchi will be on the opposing team. If both Ibushi & Omega win their matches then the Golden Lovers will continue their recent dominance over “Moon☆Child” & “The Funky Weapon”.

NJPW “ROAD TO KINGDOM ~BATTLE XMAS!~”, 12/23/10
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

Special Tag Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi & Prince Devitt Vs Satoshi Kojima & Kota Ibushi

NJPW “WRESTLE KINGDOM V IN TOKYO DOME”, 04/01/2011
Tokyo Dome

0. World Pro Wrestling Invitation Match: Koji Kanemoto & Ryusuke Taguchi Vs Kenny Omega & Taichi
6. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: Prince Devitt (c) Vs Kota Ibushi

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Union Schedule & Other News

December 11, 2010

Union, 03/01/11
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Ken Ohka Comeback Match: Ken Ohka Vs Tsuyoshi Kikuchi
2. Sanshiro Takagi & Munenori Sawa Vs Kengo Ohka & Madoka
3. Shinichiro Tominaga Debut Match: Shinichiro Tominaga Vs El Generico
4. DDT Extreme Title – Captain’s Fall Six Man Tag: Kim Nun Pun (c), Chou-un Shiryu & Cao Zhang (with Princess Makoto) Vs Isami Kodaka (c), Yano K Data & Survival Tobita
5. Shuji Ishikawa Vs Manabu Nakanishi

A big challenge for Shuji Ishikawa in the main event but one that could send shockwaves over the Japanese wrestling scene if he defeats Manabu Nakanishi.

The Captain’s Fall Six Man Tag will be Kim Nun Pun’s first defence of the DDT Extreme Championship. I’m not entirely sure if the title is awarded to whoever gets the fall over Pun or if it is just captain Isami Kodaka who becomes champion if his team wins. Yano K Data is Keita Yano in Joker make up for those of you who need reminding.

Cao Zhang and Princess Makoto are the Chinese wrestlers who requested to compete in Union after meeting Chou-un Shiryu. Cao is said to have trained at a wrestling dojo that has been in existence since the Han Dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE) and is also said to be a descendant of the warlord Cao Cao. Princess Makoto is part of New Beijing’s Diva division.

Let’s see how El Generico fares with the Union fanbase. A win against the debuting Shinichiro Tominaga is certain. Either way it will be great to see El Generico wrestling in Japan again.

TKG48 began its rampage of Union during the week but the next line of defence put up against them is a tough one. Should be a great match between Sanshiro Takagi & Munenori Sawa against Kengo Mashimo & Madoka.

Ken Ohka will return after a seven month absence nursing a fractured left knee. There to meet him in his first match back will be former NOAH wrestler Tsuyoshi Kikuchi who has had brief appearances for DDT and Union the last couple of months.

Union “NEW YEAR DRAGON”, 16/01/11
Nagoya Kanayama

1. Isami Kodaka & Yano K Data Vs Yasu Kubota & Hide Kubota
2. Sanshiro Takagi Vs Nori da Funky Shibire-sasu
3. Shuji Ishikawa Vs Shigehiro Irie

Nori da Funky Shibire-sasu (Real name Satoru Takahashi) is a member of the Hip Hop group nobodyknows+. He has been in a wrestling match before, making his debut on 5th May, 2010.

Congratulations go out to the Golden Lovers for winning the Best Bout category in the 2010 Tokyo Sports Awards. Their match with Apollo 55 at NJPW “DESTRUCTION ’10” won by a pretty big margin and caps off a Dramatic year for the BFFs Kota Ibushi & Kenny Omega. Next they will look forward to clashing with Gedo & Jado on the day after Christmas (Boxing Day, St. Stephen’s Day, etc) in order to survive 2010 as IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions.

Hikaru Sato is set to pack his bags and head off to Germany in January to compete in the WXW “AMBITION 2” tournament. The first “AMBITION” tournament, won by Bryan Danielson (or as he is now known in another Universe, Daniel Bryan), caught attention from wrestling fans for featuring a more hybrid shoot fighting style of wrestling in its matches. It is a style that Sato is more than familiar with and he will surely become one of the favourites to win the tournament when the entire lineup is announced.

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Golden Lovers Unlock Mega Man, Union Prepares For The New Year

November 8, 2010

Kota Ibushi & Kenny Omega (and Micheal Nakazawa too) visited the Capcom office this week to do an interview for the Rockman Unity blog and take some pictures with Mega Man and Servbot. Kenny is known to be quite the video game fanatic and it shows in his work in the ring. His connection to Mega Man is the remix of the Dr. Wily stage music he uses for his entrance music. He also has the “Flash Man Time Stopper” move where he yells “Stop!” to freeze his opponent and leave him vulnerable for an Enzuigiri. The interview also brings up Omega’s use of the Hadouken in matches.

DDT “OSAKA BAY BLUES SPECIAL”, 14/11/2010
Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium #2

1. Dick Togo, GENTARO & Yasu Urano vs KUDO, Shoichi Uchida & Keisuke Ishii
2. Sanshiro Takagi & Yoshiaki Yago Vs MIKAMI & Tanomusaku Toba, Michael Nakazawa & Tomimitsu Matsunaga and Toru Owashi & Hideki Shiota
3. Young Drama Cup: Takao Soma Vs Shigehiro Irie
4. Young Drama Cup: Yukihiro Abe Vs Kazuki Hirata
5. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title: Kota Ibushi & Kenny Omega (c) Vs Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi
6. KO-D Tag Team Title: Shiro Koshinaka & Danshoku Dino (c) Vs Antonio Honda & Daisuke Sasaki
7. KO-D Openweight Title: HARASHIMA (c) Vs Hikaru Sato

Union will make their return to Korakuen Hall on the 3rd January, 2011. Two matches are already set, the debut of Union’s newest signee Shinichiro Tominaga and the return of Ken Ohka from injury. Ken Ohka fractured his left knee back in June but recently kept himself busy by trying to pick a fight with the SMASH promotion.

Union, 03/01/2011
Korakuen Hall

1. Shinichiro Tominaga Debut: Shinichiro Tominaga Vs X
2. Ken Ohka Return: Ken Ohka Vs Tsuyoshi Kikuchi

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Posted by JamieOD

Golden Lovers Sign IWGP Title Match

November 5, 2010

The IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title match set for DDT on 14th November has been signed and made official. New Japan officials joined Kota Ibushi & Kenny Omega at a river for the contract signing. The reason was Ibushi wanted to defend the titles on the riverfront. When that was denied, Omega suggested having the title defence take place inside NJPW HQ. That was denied too. The officials had the Golden Lovers sign the contract before they could suggest having the match take place in a field covered in snow. Can’t blame the champs for trying to be creative.

DDT “OSAKA BAY BLUES SPECIAL”, 14/11/2010
Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium #2

1. Young Drama Cup: Yukihiro Abe vs. Kazuki Hirata
2. Young Drama Cup: Takao Soma vs. Shigehiro Irie
3. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title: Kota Ibushi & Kenny Omega (c) vs. Prince Devitt  & Ryusuke Taguchi
4. KO-D Openweight Title: HARASHIMA (c) vs. Hikaru Sato

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Golden Lovers Vs Apollo 55 Rematch Confirmed! Some Other News Too

October 25, 2010

DDT already has its top two matches booked for their return to the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium next month and they are both something to really look forward too. The big one sees those two Golden Lovers, Kota Ibushi & Kenny Omega defend their newly won IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Titles against the very team they won them from Apollo 55! The New Japan duo are heading into Dramatic territory in a bid to win those belts back. (Speaking of Golden Lovers Vs Apollo 55, we’re still waiting on that NJPW Sumo Hall show to come online. Come on Japan, what’s taking so long?)

Sticking closer to home is the other big match signed, HARASHIMA defending the KO-D Openweight Title against Hikaru Sato. The neko maid shoot fighter has seen his profile raise significantly over the past year and his recent win over Kota Ibushi was enough to earn him his chance at the title. If HARASHIMA defeats Sato, he will match his personal best of KO-D Title defences at 3 wins.

DDT “OSAKA BAY BLUES SPECIAL”, 14/11/2010
Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium #2

1. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title: Kota Ibushi & Kenny Omega (c) Vs Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi
2. KO-D Openweight Title: HARASHIMA (c) Vs Hikaru Sato

In a surprising turn of events, DDT founder Sanshiro Takagi will be moving over to the UNION brand after his defeat to Toru Owashi. But before he leaves DDT for the time being he will have one more match at the next Korakuen Hall show. Takagi and a partner of his choice will take on puro legend Genichiro Tenryu! Oh, and Masao Orihara too but nobody cares about him (I know I don’t).

DDT, 28/11/2010
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Sanshiro Takagi & X Vs Genichiro Tenryu & Masao Orihara

In business news, one of DDT’s restaurants will be getting a new name and new management. The Mitsuboshi Curry restaurant will have Cherry taking over as its manager and the new name will be introduced in two weeks. DDT currently runs three food and drink establishments in Tokyo, the Dropkick Bar and Ebisuku Bar & Grill which are both in Shinjuku and Mitsuboshi Curry in Mitaka. Many DDT wrestlers work in these places while pursuing their wrestling careers and the success of these businesses makes DDT is one of the more finacially healthy wrestling promotions in Japan today.

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Golden Lovers Win IWGP Jr. Tag Titles!

October 11, 2010

(Note: Above image is only a placeholder until pics from the show come out. Still adorable though, eh?)

Kota Ibushi & Kenny Omega have done it! They went over to New Japan for today’s big “DESTRUCTION ‘10” event in Sumo Hall and defeated Apollo 55 to become the new IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champions when Ibushi pinned Prince Devitt with the Firebird Splash, avenging his loss to the Irishman back at the Best Of Super Juniors final. This gives DDT possession of its highest profile championship yet and arguably crowns the Golden Lovers as the best Jr. Heavy Tag Team in Japan today.

NJPW “DESTRUCTION ‘10”, 10/11/10
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
8,800 Fans – No Vacancy

5. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title: Kota Ibushi & Kenny Omega defeated Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi (c) when Ibushi pinned Devitt with the Firebird Splash (15:05).
*Apollo 55 fail in V2. Golden Lovers become the 27th Champions.

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Sapporo Card, Golden Lovers Vs Apollo 55, Togo & Urano To NOAH, Ohka In SMASH

September 28, 2010

DDT “SAPPORO PRO-WRESTLING FESTIVAL”
10/10/2010
Sapporo Teisen Hall

1. Nunchucks & Nunchucks Board Death Match: Hiroki Vs Chiharu
2. Antonio Honda Vs Tomoya
3. Dick Togo & GENTARO Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Takao Soma
4. 3 Way Match: Yasu Urano Vs Keisuke Ishii Vs DJ Nira
5. Kota Ibushi, Kenny Omega & Futoshi Miwa Vs Sanshiro Takagi, KUDO & Yukihiro Abe
6. HARASHIMA & Toru Owashi Vs Michael Nakazawa & Hikaru Sato
7. KO-D Tag Team Title: Shiro Koshinaka & Danshoku Dino (c) Vs MIKAMI & Tanomusaku Toba

It’s official, the Golden Lovers will take on Apollo 55 for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Titles over in New Japan. The match I have been waiting for the entire year will finally take place in Sumo Hall for NJPW’s “DESTRUCTION ‘10” card in October. This match pits the two top Jr Heavyweight teams in Japan today and the four men have crossed paths several times over the last two years. Prince Devitt and Kota Ibushi fought each other three times with Devitt leading 2-1 in that series of matches. Ryusuke Taguchi also beat Ibushi back in the 2009 Best Of The Super Juniors. Devitt recently beat Kenny Omega in a recent IWGP Jr. Title defence but Omega has been undefeated against Taguchi.

DDT will be represented in NOAH’s upcoming NTV Cup Jr. Tag League. Dick Togo & Yasu Urano have been paired together for the tournament.

Ken Ohka made an appearance at SMASH.8 to say he will be wrestling there soon. Akira Shoji confronted him during the show, possibly to set up a match between the two in the future.

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Omega Loses To Devitt, But Golden Lovers Get Title Shot

September 3, 2010

NJPW “KOTETSU YAMAMOTO MEMORIAL SHOW”, 9/3/10 (Samurai! TV)
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
7. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: Prince Devitt (c) defeated Kenny Omega with the Bloody Sunday (17:29).

DDT’s involvement in New Japan led to the main event of today’s NJPW show dedicated to Kotetsu Yamamoto. The rare Gaijin Vs Gaijin main event had Prince Devitt successfully defend his IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title over Kenny Omega. While this was a setback for DDT, they have another chance to take away some New Japan gold in the future. On the 11th October in Sumo Hall, the Golden Lovers team of Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi will get a shot at the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championships against either Apollo 55 or Gedo & Jado. Both teams have history with the DDT duo. Omega has already beaten Ryusuke Taguchi twice while Ibushi has faced off with Devitt a couple of times in Best Of The Super Junior tournaments, the most high profile bout being from this year’s grand final. Meanwhile, Jado was injured by dives from Ibushi & Omega the last time they fought each other, while Gedo has been a thorn in Ibushi’s side ever since last year’s Super J Cup. No matter who winds up as the champions, either team against the Golden Lovers will create a very exciting IWGP Jr. Tag Title match.

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