DDT Around The World – June 2025

July 1, 2025

Okay where do we start when it comes to July? Do we go with Konosuke Takeshita’s adventures in Mexico, Miyu Yamashita falling foul to the Missouri athletic commission or Maki Itoh voicing a character in Punch Punch Forever? Or how about Tokyo Joshi Pro being used to prop up Major League Wrestling’s shrinking women’s division? Yuka Sakazaki is starting to get more than one booking a month so more of that would be appreciated. Also is Takeshita’s team with Kyle Fletcher only called Protoshita because it makes everyone smirk when they say it out loud?

Oh, and we’re finally starting to find out what sort of deal Yamashita is on over in America. On the surface she’s going around the country like a freelancer and some media back in Japan highlights that is what makes her US work different from the joshi who work full time with WWE or AEW. Except we’re now seeing Yamashita pop up in Ring Of Honor again and her being pulled from one of TJPW’s Texas shows just so happens to line up with the ROH PPV taking place that same day.

Speaking of the Texas tour, that will be the big story for next month. TJPW’s decisions when it comes to the American market are going to pay off well by the sounds of it. Two of the Texas shows have sold out and according to the promoters the third will become the promotion’s highest selling USA show in their history. If the Wrestle Universe live streams go off without a hitch then even more American tours will be planned for the future so TJPW can make some dollars while the fans back in Japan still get to watch it on a reliable service. Given how much the scene suddenly exploded with joshi influenced companies over the last few years, nothing beats the real thing in the end.

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Videos

Konosuke Takeshita In AEW Playlist


MLW “WAR CHAMBER”, 07/06/2025
Cicero Stadium, Chicago, Illinois, USA

1. MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title: Shoko Nakajima (c) Vs Delmi Exo


AEW “COLLISION – SUMMER BLOCKBUSTER”, 11/06/2025
Theater Of The Clouds At Moda Center, Portland, Oregon, USA

1. Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, Kyle O’Reilly & Daniel Garcia Vs Konosuke Takeshita, Josh Alexander, Lance Archer & Hechicero

Video starts at 1:20:06 for the match
JCW “REC.SPORTS.PRO.WRESTLING”, 12/06/2025
The Hall, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Jordan Blade


LLL “BUY THE TICKET, TAKE THE RIDE – NIGHT 1”, 13/06/2025
The Oriental Theater, Denver, Colorado, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Stormi Renee


CMLL “MARTES POPULARES – CMLL Vs AEW Y ROH”, 17/06/2025
Arena Mexico, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

1. Ultimo Guerrero, Gran Guerrero, Averno & Euforia Vs Konosuke Takeshita, Kyle Fletcher, Rocky Romero & Hechicero


AEW “DYNAMITE – GRAND SLAM MEXICO”, 18/06/2025
Arena Mexico, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

1. Bandido, Templario, Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Adam Cole, Brody King & Daniel Garcia Vs Volador Jr., Hechicero, Kyle Fletcher, Konosuke Takeshita, Josh Alexander, Lance Archer & Dax Harwood


AEW “COLLISION”, 21/06/2025
accesso ShoWare Center, Kent, Washington, USA

1. Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, Daniel Garcia & Bandido Vs Dax Harwood, Cash Wheeler, Kyle Fletcher & Konosuke Takeshita


AEW “DYNAMITE”, 25/06/2025
accesso ShoWare Center, Kent, Washington, USA

1. 4 Way For The #1 Spot In The Casino Gauntlet At All In Texas: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Mark Briscoe Vs Roderick Strong Vs Bandido

Video starts at 28:22 for the match
MLW “SUMMER OF THE BEASTS”, 26/06/2025
Melrose Ballroom, New York City, New York, USA

1. Wakana Uehara Vs Yuki Kamifuku

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Results


NEW TEXAS PRO “BAT CITY”, 01/06/2025
Empire Control Room, Austin, Texas, USA

1. VertVixen & Yuka Sakazaki defeated Charity King & AQA when Sakazaki pinned King with the Magical Girl Splash (16:55).

It’s been around four months since Sakazaki last wrestled and even then it was on a cruise ship. It wasn’t until this month she was back wrestling on land. She showed up to New Texas Pro wearing an all new black outfit to to team up with VertVixen. She needed to shake off the ring rust fast because she started the match fighting against the much larger Charity King. But King quickly learned that Sakazaki is no weakling. AQA, who was returning to wrestling after a three and a half year absence helped King wear down Vixen until Sakazaki hot tagged herself in to even the odds. AQA stopped her momentum in a sort of unintentional way when she jumped up for a Hurricanrana and Sakazaki collapsed beneath her. The match broke down to where Vixen gave AQA the Blue Thunder Bomb and Sakazaki went on to pin King with the Magical Girl Splash.


AEW “COLLISION – FYTER FEST 2025”, 04/06/2025
Mission Ballroom, Denver, Colorado, USA

1. Kyle Fletcher, Konosuke Takeshita & Hechicero defeated Bandido, Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd when Fletcher pinned Magnum with the Vertical Drop Brainbuster (14:16).

The lucha flavour was strong in AEW this month even before they made it over to Mexico. Don Callis has had it up to here with both Bandido and The Outrunners so he challenged them to fight The Don Callis Family but with a twist. Protoshita would be involved but so too would the Family’s newest member, the CMLL luchador Hechicero! Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd tried to play mind games by coming out wearing their own pink luchador masks and being introduced as Los Outrunners. The plan didn’t work and Protoshita dealt them the killing blows to win the match.


KITSUNE “GOING BACK TO SAN DIEGO”, 07/06/2025
Primal Compound, San Diego, California, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Zara Zakher with the Skull Kick (10:39).
2. Vipress & Hudson Envy defeated Nagisa Nozaki & Yuna Manase when Envy pinned Manased with a Rolling Koppo Kick (18:07).

If Yuna Manase was expecting a warm welcome back to Kitsune by everybody there she was in for a rude surprise. Vipress & Hudson Envy have gold in their sights and saw Manase as a target to get into the promotion’s title picture. Also it turned out Nagisa Nozaki wasn’t exactly on Manase’s side either because she attack her with a chair during the main event! However she also attacked Vipress with the same chair and seemingly only wanted to join forces with Envy. Dark Sheik ran in to chase after Nozaki while Tae Honma wanted to help Manase out. However her Missile Dropkick missed Envy and hit Manase instead. Envy then hit Manase with the Rolling Koppo Kick to get the win for her team. Honma checked on Manase afterwards and handed her over the Kitsune World Title. There’s still trust between the two but they have a title match coming up the next day.

Yamashita was also involved for both of Kitsune’s shows that weekend. Zara Zakher wanted to out-strike her late in their match but Yamashita shrugged off her chops and knocked her down with an Elbow Strike. Zakher got a second wind using a German Suplex and a Clothesline. She even backflipped out of the way from the Skull Kick to give her a Stunner for the nearfall. Yamashita got her back with a Knee Strike to the back of the head and put her down for the count with the Skull Kick. Yamashita pulled back her handshake to Zakher after the match, telling her instead she wants another singles match with her.


KITSUNE “8888”, 08/06/2025
South Gate, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Kidd Bandit with the Skull Kick (16:31).
2. Kitsune World Title – Triple Threat Match: Yuna Manase (c) defeated Tae Honma and Hudson Envy when Manase pinned Honma with the Suzuki Dynamic (17:07).
*V1 for Yuna Manase.

The next night’s main event was thrown for a loop when Envy added herself into the Manase Vs Honma match midway through it! Earlier in the show Envy won a Nine Tails Rumble which granted her a Kitsune Title shot whenever she wanted. So she pulled out the ref while he was counting Manase pinning Honma and cashed in to try and steal the title for herself. However Honma kicked out of her pin to keep the now Triple Threat going. Manase survived to the end and used the Suzuki Dynamic to pin Honma for a successful title defence. She purposely used that move to win as her way of contributing to Honma’s retirement from pro wrestling happening later this year.

Yamashita ended her Kitsune weekend going two for two. She seemed to enjoy picking Kidd Bandit apart but didn’t expect to be hit with a Leaf Hurricane Kick. Just like with Zakher the day before, Bandit wanted to get into a striking duel with Yamashita but it led to her doom when she missed a second Leaf Hurricane and was blown away with the Skull Kick.


ROH “ROH ON HONORCLUB”, 11/06/2025 (Aired 19/06/2025)
Adrian Phillips Theater At Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Brooke Havoc with the Skull Kick (3:33).

Now it’s starting to become clearer. Yamashita made an unexpected return to ROH for a quick victory over Brooke Havoc. Her opponent got cocky with a Dropkick and wasn’t aware that Yamashita stood back up behind her to deliver some kicks. Havoc got some chances back with a Superman Elbow Strike as well as a Sunset Flip counter to the Attitude Adjustment. But Yamashita caught her handstand, kicked her down and pinned her with the Skull Kick.


AEW “COLLISION – SUMMER BLOCKBUSTER”, 11/06/2025
Theater Of The Clouds At Moda Center, Portland, Oregon, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita, Josh Alexander, Lance Archer & Hechicero defeated Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, Kyle O’Reilly & Daniel Garcia when Alexander pinned Strong with a German Suplex (11:56).

Bloody hell it’s like The Don Callis Family is gaining new members every week! They had an 8-Man Tag Match against Paragon & Daniel Garcia but RPG Vice were hanging around at ringside to make it more like 6 Vs 4. Things broke down as they tend to do with Paragon & Garcia all locking in submission holds. Lance Archer powered out of Kyle O’Reilly’s Guillotine Choke by charging him into Garcia’s Sharpshooter on Josh Alexander and then stomping on Adam Cole to break Takeshita free from a Figure 4 Leg Lock. Takeshita also got a cheap shot in by hitting Roderick Strong with an Elbow Strike, allowing Alexander to pin him with a German Suplex.


JCW “REC.SPORTS.PRO.WRESTLING”, 12/06/2025
The Hall, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Jordan Blade with the Skull Kick (11:13).

A fired up Jordan Blade offered Yamashita something different from her previous opponents this month. Blade is a grappler with a focused ground game that put Yamashita on defence a lot more than usual. She also had some impact with using a Saito Suplex and also countering a Front Neck Lock into a Fisherman Suplex. But the temptation to get into a strike battle got into Blade’s head and led to Yamashita turning the tables on her. Blade got her head straight and went back to using grounded submissions. By this point it became a fight of endurance with both wrestlers getting groggy and throwing sloppy strikes. Blade tried to hit a Spinning Back Fist but she got hit back with the Skull Kick for the finish.


LLL “BUY THE TICKET, TAKE THE RIDE – NIGHT 1”, 13/06/2025
The Oriental Theater, Denver, Colorado, USA

1. Abadon defeated Maki Itoh (11:00).
2. Miyu Yamashita defeated Stormi Renee with the Crash Rabbit Heat (?:??).

Oh hey we got a match finish that wasn’t the Skull Kick. Yamashita instead used the Crash Rabbit Heat to put away Stormi Renee.

Fans at Lucha Libre & Laughs got some bonus TJPW representation when Maki Itoh showed up unannounced for the weekend! She lost to Abadon on the first night but things went better on Night 2.


LLL “BUY THE TICKET, TAKE THE RIDE – NIGHT 2”, 14/06/2025
The Oriental Theater, Denver, Colorado, USA

1. Maki Itoh defeated Mo Magee with the Itoh Deluxe (?:??).
2. Dark Sheik defeated Miyu Yamashita (?:??).

The next night Dark Sheik powered herself up by fighting Yamashita while dressed as Vertigo from the X-Men. Turns out that wasn’t a bad plan because she got to beat Yamashita. Itoh meanwhile made sure she would leave Denver as a winner when she beat Mo Magee.


CMLL “MARTES POPULARES – CMLL Vs AEW Y ROH”, 17/06/2025
Arena Mexico, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

1. Ultimo Guerrero, Gran Guerrero, Averno & Euforia defeated Konosuke Takeshita, Kyle Fletcher, Rocky Romero & Hechicero when Gran pinned Romero with an Avalanche Landslide (17:11).

AEW’s stay in Arena Mexico started a day early when Takeshita was among the AEW wrestlers booked for CMLL’s Tuesday show at the venue. You know maybe this was all meant to be. Even though this was Takeshita’s CMLL debut, he had a very thin attachment to the company already because he had held the KO-D Tag Team Titles multiple times back when it was also a certified CMLL championship. Does that actually mean anything? No but it’s nice to find even the slightest of reasons to connect things. The Don Callis Family fitted in nicely as the rudos for the match while Team CMLL the tecnicos by default even though Ultimo Guerrero, Gran Guerrero, Averno & Euforia usually all tend to be on the rudo side. The match was also only set for one fall instead of CMLL’s traditional Best 2 Out Of 3 rules. So there were a lot more pinfall breakups than you would expect in a CMLL match, although everyone still figured out how to pace it like the latter. Takeshita landed face first from Ultimo Guerrero’s Super Gourdbuster and Gran Guerrero used his own top rope move to pin Rocky Romero.


AEW “DYNAMITE – GRAND SLAM MEXICO”, 18/06/2025
Arena Mexico, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

1. Bandido, Templario, Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Adam Cole, Brody King & Daniel Garcia defeated Volador Jr., Hechicero, Kyle Fletcher, Konosuke Takeshita, Josh Alexander, Lance Archer & Dax Harwood (w/ Stokely) when Atlantis pinned Harwood with an Inside Cradle (15:47).

Things got even crazier the next night when AEW hosted “DYNAMITE” in Arena Mexico. A planned 12-Man Tag Match was changed into a 14-Man Tag Match mixing CMLL and AEW wrestlers all together. Plus the world got to learn just how much the hardcore CMLL fans do not like Atlantis Jr., which gets his father Atlantis caught in the crossfire too. Takeshita was taken out by a Templario dive late in the match, Bandido did the same to wipe out Volador Jr. and Brody King saved the biggest dive of them all for the end which Takeshita took alongside Hechicero. The match then came down to Atlantis fighting Dax Harwood and taking the victory with an Inside Cradle, much to the annoyance of the hardcores in attendance.


GCW “BANGIN’ IN LITTLE ROCK”, 20/06/2025
The Hall, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Blake Christian with the Skull Kick (15:04).

I wonder if this was another sign that Yamashita has an AEW/ROH deal under wraps. Blake Christian is a regular over in that circle and while he’s not protected over there, he is placed on a high pedestal over in GCW. Plus Yamashita likes to do new things over in that company. Like pull out a door from under the ring and have Christian dive into it, crushing her beneath it! Christian then threw everything he had at her including a Springboard 450 and also a Handspring Ace Crusher. However Yamashita stumbled back up and took a lucky swing, knocking her opponent out with the Skull Kick. Christian crumbled to the mat and Yamashita rolled on top of him for the pin. Yamashita offered a handshake afterwards but Christian gave her the middle finger and walked out. However he reconsidered and went back into the ring to shake her hand after all.


AEW “COLLISION”, 21/06/2025
accesso ShoWare Center, Kent, Washington, USA

1. Dax Harwood, Cash Wheeler, Kyle Fletcher & Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Stokely) defeated Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, Daniel Garcia & Bandido when Harwood pinned Strong after the Shatter Machine (11:52).

The aftermath of Arena Mexico brought Protoshita back in the sights of Paragon, Garcia & Bandido. At least this time they had both members of FTR fighting alongside them. FTR scored the win for the team and everyone decided to beat down the faces afterwards until The Outrunners arrived to chase them off.


AEW “DYNAMITE”, 25/06/2025
accesso ShoWare Center, Kent, Washington, USA

1. 4 Way For The #1 Spot In The Casino Gauntlet At All In Texas: Mark Briscoe defeated Konosuke Takeshita, Roderick Strong and Bandido when Briscoe pinned Strong with the Froggy Bow (11:05).

Now that the road towards “ALL IN TEXAS” is getting clearer, Takeshita starting making his plans to enter the much lauded Casino Gauntlet Match. Mark Briscoe was now added to the mix as four men battled to become the No. 1 entrant in the match. The Casino Gauntlet is an Aztec Warfare/Thunderbastard style match that only lasts for one fall so entering early gives you the advantage to win rather than entering late because you get the chance to win before many of the other participants show up. The danger of having a one fall match was shown here when Bandido threw away Takeshita with the 21 Plex, Strong gave Bandido the End Of Heartache and Briscoe surprised Strong from the top rope with the Froggy Bow to get the win.


MLW “SUMMER OF THE BEASTS”, 26/06/2025
Melrose Ballroom, New York City, New York, USA

1. Yuki Kamifuku defeated Wakana Uehara with an Inverted Famouser (7:24).

TJPW’s working relationship with MLW grew with the American group hosting “The Battle Of The Idols” between Yuki Kamifuku and Wakana Uehara. The two Ober Eats partners had a standard match with each other. The only unusual thing was Kamifuku winning the match with an Inverted version of the Famouser instead of the regular one, possibly because Uehara couldn’t get herself in the right position. Kamifuku’s win was enough to get the attention of Shotzi Blackheart who walked to the ring after the match for her first appearance in the promotion. The two women even threw out the idea of them having a match together somewhere down the road.


REAPER “REAPER RISING – A KING’S CORONATION”, 27/06/2025
The Pit, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada

1. Janai Kai defeated Miyu Yamashita by Pinfall (?:??).

How’s this for a match finish over at Reaper Wrestling. Yamashita and Janai Kai keep kicking the hell out of each other, Kai hits the Hurricane Kick, Yamashita hits back with the Skull Kick and Kai falls on top of her to get the pin.


METALMANIA “2 YEAR ANNIVERSARY”, 28/06/2025
Stage 722, Portland, Oregon, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Janai Kai

Yamashita and Kai faced each other again the next night at METALMANIA. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to find the result of the match. The only thing I could see online is a clip of the two kicking each other. They didn’t just do the same match from the day before again, did they?


SPARK “IGNITE TEXAS”, 29/06/2025
Baytown Community Center, Houston, Texas, USA

1. Yuka Sakazaki & Raychell Rose defeated SAKI & Kaia McKenna when Sakazaki pinned McKenna with the Magical Merry-Go-Round (11:25).
2. SPARK Joshi Pacific Title – 3 Way Match: Airica Demia defeated VertVixen (c) and Miyu Yamashita when Demia pinned Vixen after the Skull Kick from Yamashita (13:37)
*VertVixen fails in V1. Airica Demina becomes the 3rd SPARK Joshi Pacific Champion!

We finally get to the end of the month with SPARK Joshi holding its latest show in Texas. I haven’t seen the show yet so I don’t have much info on the matches other than how they finished. Yamashita came close to winning the SPARK Joshi Pacific Title when she used the Skull Kick on the champion Vert Vixen. However the third person in the match Airica Demina took Yamashita out of the way to steal the pin and win the championship instead.

Elsewhere on the card Sakazaki had her second match of the month by teaming with Raychell Rose to beat SAKI & Kaia McKenna. Sakazaki even scored the pin on McKenna by doing the Magical Merry-Go-Round on her.

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Upcoming Appearances


BZW “LES JEUX SONT FAITS”, 05/07/2025
Casino Barrière de Lille, Lille, France

1. BZW Tag Team Titles: MAO & Yoshihiko (c) Vs Danny Black & Joe Lando

Texas will be the main point of interest next month but first we have something going on in France to pay attention to. MAO & Yoshihiko are heading back to Banger Zone Wrestling to defence the BZW Tag Team Titles. The CPF team of Danny Black & Joe Lando are their latest challengers.


GCW “THE TOP PLAY”, 05/07/2025
The Webster Theatre, Hartford, Connecticut, USA

1. Alec Price, Jordan Oliver & Marcus Mathers Vs Miyu Yamashita, Megan Bayne & Billie Starkz

The GCW Tag Team Titles match didn’t go ahead this month for reasons I will cover at the end of this article. However Yamashita & Billie Starkz will get their hands on YDNP next month for an intergender trios match. Megan Bayne adds firepower to their team while Marcus Mathers comes to the aid of the champions.

This weekend looks to be the end of Yamashita’s latest tour. Her tweet schedule also mentions a booked in New Jersey on 6th July. JCW will be holding a show there on that date but they haven’t promoted Yamashita for it yet and I don’t see where she can fit on such a packed card that’s currently being advertised. I also haven’t been able to find any other shows taking place in the area that day so we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.


TOKYO JOSHI PRO “QUERI PRESENTS TJPW LIVE IN HOUSTON – NIGHT 1”, 10/07/2025
POST, Houston, Texas, USA

1. 3 Way Match: Yuki Kamifuku Vs Raku Vs Vert Vixen
2. Yuki Arai Vs Kaylia Capri
3. Miu Watanabe Vs Wakana Uehara
4. Suzume & Arisu Endo Vs Moka Miyamoto & Shino Suzuki
5. Special Single Match: Miyu Yamashita Vs Maki Itoh
6. Mizuki & Pom Harajuku Vs Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao

The word coming from TJPW and their American promotors is this Texas tour will be a big success.


ROH “SUPERCARD OF HONOR”, 11/07/2025
Esports Stadium Arlington, Arlington, Texas, USA

1. ROH World Title: Bandido (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita

I have high hopes this will be one of the matches of the weekend. Don’t even have to call it a sleeper. The last month of matches where Bandido went to battle with The Don Callis Family has all led to Takeshita challenging him for the ROH World Title! Can Takeshita become the second Japanese wrestler after Takeshi Morishima to hold the belt?


TOKYO JOSHI PRO “QUERI PRESENTS TJPW LIVE IN HOUSTON – NIGHT 2”, 11/07/2025
POST, Houston, Texas, USA

1. Wakana Uehara Vs Shino Suzuki
2. Arisu Endo Vs Kaylia Capri
3. Yuki Kamifuku Vs Pom Harajuku
4. Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao Vs Miu Watanabe & Vert Vixen
5. Maki Itoh Vs Raku
6. Mizuki & Suzume Vs Yuki Arai & Moka Miyamoto

The first two shows in Houston have both sold out.


TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN DALLAS PRESENTED BY NEXTSHARK & QUERI”, 13/07/2025
The OC, Forney, Texas, USA

1. Hyper Misao & Shino Suzuki Vs Raku & Pom Harajuku
2. Moka Miyamoto Vs Alejandra Quintanilla
3. Yuki Arai Vs Maya World
4. Suzume & Arisu Endo Vs Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara
5. Shoko Nakajima Vs Miu Watanabe
6. Yuka Sakazaki & Billie Starkz Vs Miyu Yamashita & Vert Vixen
7. Special Single Match: Mizuki Vs Maki Itoh

And the “Dallas” show is apparently going to end up becoming TJPW’s biggest drawing show in America ever!


SETUP “UNDER PRESSURE”, 26/07/2025
The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand

1. Chris Brookes Vs X

Some late summer travelling for Chris Brookes. First he’ll be going back to Thailand for a SETUP show. Ram Kaichow will be there too.


BAKA GAIJIN + FRIENDS “VOL. MNL”, 22/08/2025
The Social House, Makati, Philippines

1. Takeshi Masada Vs X
2. Chris Brookes Vs X

Then a month later Brookes is going over to the Philippines and he’s bringing Takeshi Masada with him. Dexcon will be holding a weekend tripleshot of shows, the first of which will be Baka Gaijin + Friends!


DXCN “???”, 23/08/2025
Philippines

1. Takeshi Masada Vs X
2. Chris Brookes Vs X

I can’t find any info on what the second Dexcon show of the weekend will be other than Brookes and Masada should both be on it.


GCW “HOMECOMING – NIGHT 1”, 23/08/2025
Showboat Hotel Atlantic City, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

Itoh returns to GCW in August for a doubleshot weekend.


DXCN “PEKSMAN”, 24/08/2025
Brawl Pit Bulusan, Quezon City, Philippines

1. Takeshi Masada Vs X
2. Chris Brookes Vs X

The third Dexcon show will be built around local wrestlers taking on the international guests.


GCW “HOMECOMING – NIGHT 2”, 24/08/2025
Showboat Hotel Atlantic City, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

There will likely be a lot more GCW bookings coming for Itoh as usual.

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Cancelled Appearances


WAFFLE HOUSE “GOOD FOOD FAST”, 15/06/2025
Waffle House, Colorado, USA

While Itoh was in Colorado for Lucha Libre & Laughs, she went to a Waffle House fully expecting the place to live up to its online reputation. Unfortunately for her no fights or other bad doings took place while she was there. Instead she got to experience the kind of Waffle House that the late Anthony Bourdain once waxed lyrically about.


GCW “TAKE A PICTURE”, 22/06/2025
The Truman, Kansas City, Missouri, USA

1. GCW Tag Team Titles: Jordan Oliver & Alec Price (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita & Billie Starkz

Yamashita found herself in the centre of controversy during the month when GCW were running a show in Missouri. The state’s athletic commission refused to give Yamashita a license to wrestle on the show because she has no social security number. GCW argued that she has all of the required documents as well as a valid working visa needed to qualify for a license. They also pointed out that Yamashita has wrestled in Missouri several times previously without any trouble. I can back up that claim because this very series of articles has records of her wrestling in St. Louis, Missouri twice in 2023: once for ROH in March and then for Glory Pro in May. Unfortunately this couldn’t change the commission’s mind and Yamashita wasn’t allowed to wrestle that evening.


DDT Around The World – May 2025

June 1, 2025

Can’t say this month has been a quiet one. Konosuke Takeshita had a lot of TV time with AEW and we even got the lovely announcement that he’s married to Yuka Sakazaki. All of Takeshita’s work this month revolves around The Don Callis Family, yes even the American New Japan appearance. The group in its current form is nailing it at the moment with good tag matches week to week and the presence of Don Callis himself is not as overwhelming as it was before. I bet over the coming months Takeshita’s schedule will gradually switch from AEW over to New Japan as we walk through the Forbidden Door and approach the G1 season.

May saw Maki Itoh finish up her remaining dates in America before she travelled back home to rejoin Tokyo Joshi Pro. She has another tour lined up during the Tokyo Princess Cup so the Americans won’t be missing her for long. Miyu Yamashita is entering the second half of her excursion and her schedule is definitely keeping her busy. She’s bouncing back and forth from America to Canada and even found time to visit Italy. Her matches in the Upcoming Appearances section below are not all of the bookings she has left. She included a few unlabeled dates in her schedule on Twitter and it’s pretty easy to find online that they are for GCW’s sister promotion JCW. However JCW themselves haven’t announced her for anything yet so I left them off this post. As you’ll see at the very end, there is always a possible booking cancellation that could happen at any time.

TJPW’s grip on the Southeast Asian scene took something of a hit because Yuki Kamifuku and Raku both lost all of the SEA championships this month. It’s likely not the end of TJPW working with companies from Thailand and Singapore but for now the focus looks to be moving towards the new relationship with Major League Wrestling in America. MLW is currently going through a roster shuffle too with a good amount of contracts not being renewed and some new talent coming in to fill those emptying spots. TJPW may just be used as a temporary solution to fill in the gap but they’ll benefit from it for as long as it lasts.

The thing to watch for in the next month or two is how often Sakazaki will get to wrestle, whether it’s on the indies or if she can get booked in AEW/ROH again. I hear rumours every now and then that there’s an injury clearance issue going on with her. But it wouldn’t make sense if AEW uses that as a reason to keep her on the shelf only to let her go wrestle somewhere else. They haven’t like it in the past when their wrestlers got injured on another promotion’s show.

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Videos

Konosuke Takeshita In AEW Playlist


AEW “COLLISION”, 08/05/2025
Masonic Temple Theatre, Detroit, Michigan, USA

1. Evil Uno & Alex Reynolds Vs Konosuke Takeshita & Josh Alexander (w/ Don Callis)


HOG “WAGING WAR”, 09/05/2025
Logan Square Auditorium, Chicago, Illinois, USA

1. HOG Women’s Title: Indi Hartwell Vs Miyu Yamashita


AEW “DYNAMITE – BEACH BREAK”, 14/05/2025
NOW Arena, Hoffman Estates, Illinois, USA

1. Will Ospreay & Hangman Page Vs Konosuke Takeshita & Josh Alexander


AEW “COLLISION”, 22/05/2025
Rio Rancho Events Center, Rio Rancho, New Mexico, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita, Trent Beretta & Rocky Romero (w/ Lance Archer) Vs Bandido, Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd


AEW “COLLISION”, 31/05/2025
El Paso County Coliseum, El Paso, Texas, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita, Trent Beretta & Rocky Romero Vs Roderick Strong, Kyle O’Reilly & Tomohiro Ishii

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Results


TOP TALENT “LIVE AT MIDWAY MUSIC HALL”, 02/05/2025
Midway Music Hall, Edmonton, Canada

1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Ava Lawless (?:??).

We start off over in Canada where Yamashita headlined a Top Talent Wrestling show against Ava Lawless. The Canadian knew it was going to be a big test for her and she embraced it but Yamashita came out on top.


HOODSLAM “PHANTASMAGORIA”, 02/05/2025
Continental Club, Oakland, California, USA

1. GLAMpionship: MacDaddy MYLO (c) (w/KEiTA) defeated Maki Itoh with a School Boy (?:??).
*V6 for MacDaddy MYLO.

On the same night one country away, Itoh was main eventing a show of her own with her return to Hoodslam. She was getting a shot at the GLAMpionship, a title that was originally created for the promotion’s sub-brand GLAM but made its way over to the regular shows. MacDaddy MYLO attacked her before she could finish her entrance but made the mistake of slamming her head into the turnbuckles which had no effect. Itoh’s momentum was cut off when MYLO pulled the ref into her way and then jumped in to do a Cutter. Itoh made another comeback only for KEiTA to interfere on the champion’s behalf. Itoh fought them both off and put MYLO in the Itoh Deluxe but KEiTA distracted the ref so she wouldn’t see MYLO tap out. Itoh got rid of KEiTA again but MYLO rolled her up in a School Boy to steal the win.


GCW “CRAZY SCARY SPOOKY HILARIOUS”, 03/05/2025
Ukrainian Culture Center, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Maki Itoh with the Skull Kick (13:23).

The day after that Yamashita and Itoh’s paths crossed over in GCW. The two of them were heading into a big weekend where they both had title matches to prepare for. But before any of that could happen the two would meet in the ring against each other! Did anyone on GCW commentary know about their history together as 121000000 beyond just them being tag champions a few times? Fucking of course not! At least the fans were super into it. The was the first time Yamashita would face Itoh in a place where Itoh has the home field advantage and while she didn’t go into MDK mode, she was able to put up her biggest fight against Yamashita yet. Even Yamashita seemed to be aware of it because when he knocked down Itoh with the Skull Kick, she ordered the ref to check her for a knockout. The ref dropped Itoh’s arm three times but on the third Itoh kept her hand up and raised a middle finger to the air! She got a second wind and almost scored the victory she waited so long for by countering the Attitude Adjustment into a Small Package. But Yamashita kicked out and nailed another Skull Kick to increase her singles match record with Itoh to 10-0. There was no hard feelings over the result and 121000000 shook hands afterwards.


GCW “WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU”, 04/05/2025
Hawthorne Theatre, Portland, Oregon, USA

1. JCW World Title: Masha Slamovich (c) defeated Miyu Yamashita with the White Knight Driver (10:13).
*V36 for Masha Slamovich.
2. GCW World Title: Effy (c) defeated Maki Itoh with a Spinning Tombstone Piledriver (12:08).
*V16 for Effy.

Well if plan of having iron sharpen iron was to result in championship wins it didn’t work out here. Itoh finished up her latest excursion by getting a shot at the GCW World Title held by Effy before she went home. Effy lightened the mood by singing “Mandy” on the microphone but changed the lyrics to be about Maki. She didn’t like it and told him to stop but that made Effy start to cry. It was all a trap to for Effy to get the one up on Itoh but she quickly escaped and turned the tables. She did a Diving Cross Body from the top rope to Effy outside the ring. Effy brought in chairs and ended up getting Choke Slammed onto one by Itoh! She also kicked out of a Spear at one and sliced Effy’s forehead open with her pizza cutter. Despite all that Effy countered the I.S.D by catching her in mid-air. He then spun it around into a Tombstone Piledriver to get the win.

Also on the show Yamashita challenged Masha Slamovich for the JCW Title in a continuation of their international rivalry. It was an even matchup but just like in Las Vegas last month, Slamovich got Yamashita in the White Knight Driver for the three count. Yamashita slapped away the champion’s hand after the match but immediately offered a handshake of her own, which Slamovich accepted.


AEW “COLLISION”, 08/05/2025
Masonic Temple Theatre, Detroit, Michigan, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita & Josh Alexander (w/ Don Callis) defeated Evil Uno & Alex Reynolds when Alexander pinned Reynolds with the C4 Spike (2:30).

Even though Takeshita was already eliminated from the Owen Hart Cup last month, this month he was still in orbit of the tournament. His new tag team with Josh Alexander in The Don Callis Family were set up for a match against the two wrestlers who reached the final. So for a warm up match they went and destroyed two members of The Dark Order in quick fashion on Collision. Alexander picked up Evil Uno and with Takeshita did a Doomsday Jumping Knee to the masked man. Then they smashed Alex Reynolds with a Double Elbow Strike to the head before Alexander pinned him with the C4 Spike.


HOG “WAGING WAR”, 09/05/2025
Logan Square Auditorium, Chicago, Illinois, USA

1. HOG Women’s Title: Indi Hartwell defeated Miyu Yamashita with a Full Nelson Facebuster (12:13).
*Indi Hartwell becomes the 8th HOG Women’s Champion!

The stakes were raised for Yamashita’s return to House Of Glory. Right before her match with Indi Hartwell began the HOG commissioner Jason Solomon walked out and announced that the HOG Women’s Title held by Megan Bayne had been vacated. He then announced that this match would determine the new champ! Yamashita had the end of the match under control until Hartwell ducked the Skull Kick and planted her with a Full Nelson Facebuster to win the match out of nowhere and become champion.


NJPW “RESURGENCE”, 09/05/2025
Toyota Arena, Ontario, California, USA

1. NEVER Openweight Title: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA (c) (w/ Rocky Romero) defeated El Phantasmo with the Raging Fire (17:48).
*V6 for KONOSUKE TAKESHITA.

Rocky Romero’s involvement with Takeshita in the NJPW USA shows have become a little more clearer now that Romero is part of The Don Callis Family. He accompanied Takeshita for his NEVER Openweight Title defence against El Phantasmo. It couldn’t reach the heights of last year’s G1 match but ELP still did a massive Thunderkiss ’86 dive to Takeshita into the front row, landed a Cutthroat Driver for a nearfall and also gave Takeshita a Piledriver on the ring apron. ELP had the win in his grasp when Romero pulled the referee out of the ring during a pinfall. ELP got some measure of revenge on Romero by Power Bombing him through a table but that gave Takeshita time to recover and pin ELP with the Raging Fire. There is growing respect between the two because they shook hands after the match.


MAPLE LEAF PRO “NORTHERN RISING”, 10/05/2025
Mattamy Athletic Centre, Toronto, Canada

1. Serena Deeb defeated Miyu Yamashita with the Detox (12:55).

Yamashita travelled back up to Canada for another appearance in Maple Leaf Pro. There she faced Serena Deeb who was making her third appearance in a row for the promotion. Yamashita hit the Skull Kick but Deeb made sure to topple out of the ring to avoid getting pinned. When she was put back in the ring, Deeb pushed Yamashita into the ref and then hit her from behind with a Chop Block. She then pinned her with the Detox, which is Deeb’s arm trapped Styles Clash kind of finisher.


MLW “AZTECA LUCHA”, 10/05/2025
Cicero Stadium, Chicago, Illinois, USA

1. MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title: Shoko Nakajima (c) defeated Delmi Exo (?:??).
*V1 for Shoko Nakajima.

Right, here’s the funny thing about MLW. Their shows nowadays are one half live iPPV and the other half TV tapings for the upcoming month. That’s not unusual for wrestling but barely anyone who goes to MLW shows cares about spoiling the tapings part. Shoko Nakajima’s appearance on the live PPV was just to be seen sitting in the front row to hype up her next MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title defence. That match is a rematch with Delmi Exo that will air on MLW’s TV show in June. I couldn’t find any result or talk of the rematch online anywhere and the only reason we know Nakajima is still the champion is because she brought the belt back to Japan with her. Once the match airs I’ll come back and write this with any necessary corrections included. Like I don’t know, maybe they went to a 60 minute draw. I can’t prove they did but you can’t prove they didn’t either.


AEW “DYNAMITE – BEACH BREAK”, 14/05/2025
NOW Arena, Hoffman Estates, Illinois, USA

1. Will Ospreay & Hangman Page defeated Konosuke Takeshita & Josh Alexander (w/ Don Callis) when Page pinned Alexander after the Buckshot Hidden Blade (18:34).

The two Owen Hart Cup finalists Will Ospreay & Hangman Page had to team up before their big PPV match. They needed to be on the same page because Takeshita & Alexander were coming after them like a well oiled machine. There was some communication between them to set things up but it still led to moments where Page almost hit Ospreay with the Buckshot Lariat and Ospreay almost hit Page with the Hidden Blade. But something eventually clicked between the two and they combined their finishers Kinnikuman style on Alexander to get the victory.


GCW “BIG TIME”, 17/05/2025
RJ Meyer Arena, Joppa, Maryland, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Marcus Mathers with the Crash Rabbit Heat (21:02).

Plans changed for Yamashita’s next match in GCW. She was supposed to face Tony Deppen but instead her opponent was Marcus Mathers. The match featured quite a bit of mat work with Mathers looking for spots to take Yamashita into an Ankle Lock. Yamashita also found herself getting thrown around more often than she would back in TJPW. Mathers press dropped her onto the ring apron and tried to do a Power Bomb but it was countered into a Sunset Flip. When Mathers went more high risk he paid for it by springboarding into a glancing Skull Kick for a nearfall. By that point Yamashita knew she had Mathers where she wanted him and wore him down with kicks before pinning him with the Crash Rabbit Heat.


GCW “RUN FOR IT”, 18/05/2025
Water Street Music Hall, Rochester, New York, USA

1. Billie Starkz defeated Miyu Yamashita with a Victory Roll Reversal (10:34).

Yamashita’s final GCW appearance for the month (probably because it was also the last GCW show of the month) was also the fourth singles meeting with Billie Starkz. It turns out Starkz has become a very slippery opponent for Yamashita to beat nowadays because this match was her third defeat in a row to her. Yamashita got a nearfall with an Avalanche Attitude Adjustment and continued the pressure after that but Starkz ended up reversing a Victory Roll to get the three count out of nowhere.


AEW “COLLISION”, 21/05/2025 (Aired 22/05/2025)
Rio Rancho Events Center, Rio Rancho, New Mexico, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita, Trent Beretta & Rocky Romero (w/ Lance Archer) defeated Bandido, Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd when Takeshita pinned Floyd with the Bastard Driver (9:35).

More shuffling going around within The Don Callis Family yet things look so similar. Trent Beretta is back from injury and has reunited with Rocky Romero. Their Roppongi Vice team in New Japan is now conveniently renamed RPG Vice in AEW. They and Takeshita were put together for a trios match against the wild combination of Bandido and The Outrunners. During the madness Takeshita used a well timed Jumping Knee Strike to make Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd clash into each other. Then at ringside Lance Archer wiped out Bandido so the rest of The Family had the coast clear to finish things off.


MKW “BATTLE OF THE DECADE”, 24/05/2025
Dongxin Plaza, Beijing, China

1. Yuki Kamifuku & Chen Wenbin defeated Alexis Lee & Big Sam when Kamifuku pinned Lee with the Diving Famouser (?:??).

Now let’s head over to Asia to see what some of the other TJPW wrestlers have been up to. Middle Kingdom Wrestling in China brought in Yuki Kamifuku for a mixed tag match with Alexis Lee on the other team, making it a preview for their big title match happening in Singapore one week later. Kamifuku was teaming up with Chinese wrestler Chen Wenbin while Lee had a big British brute named Big Sam as her tag partner. Sam was too strong to a fault because he ended up missing Wenbin and Clotheslining Lee off the ring apron by mistake. Kamifuku by herself couldn’t hurt Big Sam but Wenbin was there to help her out when needed. Things also went wrong for Sam when his manager messed up a pin break and stomped on him, allowing the other team to charge in and Double Big Boot Sam out of the ring. Lee tried to get her hands on Kamifuku afterwards but Kamifuku got the better of her, winning the match with the Diving Famouser.


SAJ “HUNTER’S NET”, 24/05/2025
Via Dante 72, Sporting Cesate, Milan, Italy

1. 3 Way Match: Miyu Yamashita defeated Irene and Session Moth Martina (?:??).

Yamashita can now scratch Italy off her growing list of countries she’s wrestled in. SAJ Wrestling brought her in for a 3 Way Match against Italy’s own Irene and the Irish wrestler Session Moth Martina. The latter was really looking forward to this because she was meant to face Yamashita at EVE earlier in the year but she had to cancel it due to illness. Yamashita also tweeted that her first time in Italy was an incredible experience.


AEW “DOUBLE OR NOTHING”, 25/05/2025
Desert Diamond Arena, Glendale, Arizona, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita, Kyle Fletcher & Josh Alexander defeated Adam Cole, Roderick Strong & Kyle O’Reilly when Fletcher pinned O’Reilly with (12:48).

Takeshita and co. were put in the unenviable position of following the annual Anarchy In The Arena match. They all did alright given the circumstances. Takeshita has crossed paths with Adam Cole, Roderick Strong & Kyle O’Reilly before but not when all three have been together as Paragon. In fact the previous times Takeshita has been in the ring with Strong was as tag partners. The Don Callis Family ended up isolating O’Reilly and left it to Kyle Fletcher to finish him off. The Family continued the attack after the match until an unlikely trio of wrestlers came to the rescue. Hiroshi Tanahashi made a suprise appearance leading Tomohiro Ishii & Brody King to the ring to chase off The Family. It’s all to set up the next “FORBIDDEN DOOR” that will be held in England this year. It’s since been confirmed that the show will feature Tanahashi’s final wrestling match in the UK before he retires. Could Takeshita become a part of it just like he was for Tanahashi’s last USA match?


AEW “COLLISION”, 28/05/2025 (Aired 31/05/2025)
El Paso County Coliseum, El Paso, Texas, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita, Trent Beretta & Rocky Romero defeated Roderick Strong, Kyle O’Reilly & Tomohiro Ishii when Takeshita pinned Ishii with the Raging Fire (10:18).

Chaos broke out from the get go when The Don Callis Family attacked their opponents from behind only for Paragon & Ishii to bring the fight to them outside the ring. Don Callis also briefly got away from the commentary table to deliver a cheap shot. Takeshita and Ishii threw bombs at each other until Takeshita pushed Ishii into the ref. That allowed Romero to Low Blow Ishii from behind so Takeshita could pin him with the Raging Fire.


SPW “MAYHEM”, 30/05/2025
Foo Chow Building, Singapore

1. Queen Of Asia Title: Alexis Lee defeated Yuki Kamifuku (c) (?:??).
*Yuki Kamifuku fails in V7. Alexis Lee becomes the 6th Queen Of Asia Champion!

The Queen Of Asia has been defeated. Long live the new Queen Of Asian Champion! Lee wanted one more shot at Kamifuku’s title in SPW and was willing to put up the biggest gamble of her life to do it. She promised to put her career on the line and retire from wrestling if she couldn’t take the title from Kamifuku! The bet paid off because Lee was able to get the win and become a two time Queen Of Asia Champion. Thing along with Kamifuku losing the VPW Women’s Title in TJPW earlier in the month brings her Southeast Asian dominance to an end, maybe just for the time being.


SETUP “THE FALLEN KINGDOM”, 31/05/2025
The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand

1. SETUP All Asia Women’s Title: Matcha defeated Raku (c) with the Stunner (?:??).
*Raku fails in V2. Matcha becomes the 4th SETUP All Asia Women’s Champion!

The good folks at SETUP have kept me up to date on Raku’s return to Thailand this month which I appreciate greatly. Matcha wanted a chance to win back the SETUP All Asia Women’s Title she lost to TJPW and would get it with Raku coming over to defend it. But Raku had a devious plan put in place to give her the advantage. When Matcha was in Japan for a TJPW tour, Raku purposely sang “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” to her her backstage to send her to sleep. Raku then sent a recording of the song over to the SETUP dojo, making everyone over there who played it fall asleep on the spot. SETUP staff also told me that Raku played the same prank on a delivery driver on Matcha’s birthday so her birthday cake would never arrive! So Matcha tried to fight fire with fire by bringing along a certain kind of pillow and mat used in Thailand for Raku to lie on. Raku almost fell asleep but had the awareness to roll up Matcha when she tried to pin her. The two proceeded to wrestle the match using the mat as a weapon on each other, mostly by one bundling up the other in the mat to try and immobilize them. When it came down to the final moments of the match, Matcha countered Raku’s Doctor Yellow into the Last Rights. After that she hit the Stunner to win and regain her championship! Raku was upset to lose the title but Matcha made it up to her after the match by giving her the pillow to bring home as a keepsake. Raku may have also got to sing Zack Sabre Jr. to sleep at the merch table as the main photo at the top of the article suggests.

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Upcoming Appearances


NEW TEXAS PRO “BAT CITY”, 01/06/2025
Empire Control Room, Austin, Texas, USA

1. Charity King & AQA Vs VertVixen & Yuka Sakazaki

There was only one previous time when VertVixen & Yuka Sakazaki were in the ring together and it was for an AEW Dark match. They meet again for Sakazaki’s return to the American indies, this time teaming together over at New Texas Pro. Someone in this match who is also getting attention is AQA. She was seen as an exciting prospect on the indies a few years ago and even signed a deal with AEW (she got the graphic and everything) but unexpectedly quit the business only a few months later. All of a sudden New Texas Pro announced her return and this is going to be her first match back in three years. Charity King will be there to lend her a helping hand for the comeback.


KITSUNE “GOING BACK TO SAN DIEGO”, 07/06/2025
Primal Compound, San Diego, California, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Zara Zakher
2. Vipress & Hudson Envy Vs Nagisa Nozaki & Yuna Manase

Not long to go now until Yuna Manase returns for the next weekend of Kitsune shows. Yamashita will be there too.


KITSUNE “8888”, 08/06/2025
South Gate, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. Kitsune World Title: Yuna Manase (c) Vs Tae Honma

Manase has a Kitsune World Title defence against Tae Honma lined up while Yamashita won’t know who she faces until the day of the show.


LLL “BUY THE TICKET, TAKE THE RIDE – NIGHT 1”, 13/06/2025
The Oriental Theater, Denver, Colorado, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X

Yamashita’s first opponent for her weekend at Lucha Libre & Laughs has not been announced yet.


LLL “BUY THE TICKET, TAKE THE RIDE – NIGHT 2”, 14/06/2025
The Oriental Theater, Denver, Colorado, USA

1. Dark Sheik Vs Miyu Yamashita

But her opponent on the second night is already known. It’s Dark Sheik!


GCW “BANGIN’ IN LITTLE ROCK”, 20/06/2025
The Hall, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X

It won’t be until them middle of the month when Yamashita jumps back into GCW. There will be a couple of both new and familiar faces showing up by then, giving Yamashita a few potentially fresh opponents.


GCW “TAKE A PICTURE”, 22/06/2025
The Truman, Kansas City, Missouri, USA

1. GCW Tag Team Titles: Jordan Oliver & Alec Price (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita & Billie Starkz

If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em! Yamashita and Starkz are teaming up for a crack at the GCW Tag Team Titles currently held by Jordan Oliver & Alec Price. This could be Yamashita’s last chance on this tour to win some gold.


MLW “SUMMER OF THE BEASTS”, 26/06/2025
Melrose Ballroom, New York City, New York, USA

1. Wakana Uehara Vs Yuki Kamifuku

The relationship between TJPW and Major League Wrestling will continue with more TJPW wrestlers crossing over to the world that never stops! While Nakajima is defending MLW’s Women’s Title in Japan, TJPW will be sending over Yuki Kamifuku and Wakana Uehara to compete against each other in the MLW ring. Cesar Duran says this is part of a new era for MLW’s women’s division being helmed by Salina de la Renta.


REAPER “REAPER RISING – A KING’S CORONATION”, 27/06/2025
The Pit, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Janai Kai

This is one of those times when the wrestling promotion in question is so far out of my reach I half consider if it’s someone’s eFed because the info is so sparse. However I can confirm Reaper Wrestling is a real company in Canada. Yamashita will get to face Janai Kai again and she sent a video warning Kai that nothing has changed since the last time they fought each other.


METALMANIA “2 YEAR ANNIVERSARY”, 28/06/2025
Stage 722, Portland, Oregon, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X

And the award for the most unlikely place to book Yamashita during her excursion goes to METALMANIA! It’s where you go in Portland to see lucha mix with death metal music. Never would have thought Yamashita to be a headbanger.


SPARK “IGNITE TEXAS”, 29/06/2025
Baytown Community Center, Houston, Texas, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. Yuka Sakazaki Vs X

When was the last time Yamashita and Sakazaki were on the same show together? It wasn’t when Sakazaki graduated from TJPW a year and a half ago, was it? As you can see in the pic above, there’s also some Stardom talent appearing on the show. If SPARK has the pull to put together the tag match I’m thinking of then good job to them.


BZW “LES JEUX SONT FAITS”, 05/07/2025
Casino Barrière de Lille, Lille, France

1. BZW Tag Team Titles: MAO & Yoshihiko (c) Vs Danny Black & Joe Lando

It’s back to France for a quick summer break. Or maybe not because MAO & Yoshihiko have some business to attend to for their return to Banger Zone Wrestling. British wrestlers Danny Black & Joe Lando have challenged them for the BZW Tag Team Titles. The pair from the CPF (Close Personal Friends) stable held the titles before and are getting this match at the same venue where they lost them.


TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN HOUSTON – NIGHT 1”, 10/07/2025
POST, Houston, Texas, USA

The current lineup “confirmed” for the Texas tour is Maki Itoh, Miyu Yamashita, Miu Watanabe, Suzume, Yuki Arai, Mizuki, Shoko Nakajima, Pom Harajuku, Moka Miyamoto, Arisu Endo, Raku, Shino Suzuki and Yuki Kamifuku.


TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN HOUSTON – NIGHT 2”, 11/07/2025
POST, Houston, Texas, USA

The only one not “confirmed” yet but still included in the promotional material is Hyper Misao. That might depend on if she recovers from her elbow injury in time.


TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN DALLAS”, 13/07/2025
The OC, Forney, Texas, USA

The only other thing known about the show lineups right now is each night will have different matches.

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Cancelled Appearances


MPX “METROPLEX WRESTLING”, 31/05/2025
Harwood Road, Bedford, Texas, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Maya World

A cancelled flight prevented Yamashita from travelling to Texas for her first appearance at Metroplex Wrestling. She was meant to fight Maya World at the show and called in a favour to Athena to be her replacement.


PRESTIGE “UNIT3D”, 01/06/2025
Vermont Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X

Not much to say about this other than I’m including it just for the sake of record. When Yamashita first posted her list of USA bookings she included one for Prestige on 1st June. She later had an update saying the booking was cancelled and she was available for other dates on the weekend. Nothing was said on Prestige’s end but that’s also because they hadn’t at any point promoted she would appear on the show.


DDT Around The World – Late April 2025

May 1, 2025

What a month. Felt like the moment WrestleMania Week ended the wrestling world just kept going. Konosuke Takeshita was involved with the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament in AEW and when that came to an end he very quickly established a new tag team with Josh Alexander. Then in Japan some DDT and Tokyo Joshi Pro wrestlers took part in Deadlock Pro’s weekend in the country’s capital. There was also some lucha libre action happening in Tokyo a few days later. Back in America Maki Itoh got her face painted again in a very nice and very evil manner. Then the very busy month came to an end with Miyu Yamashita stepping foot back inside AEW after a two or three year absence.

Yamashita is going to have a packed schedule in May. Itoh has a few things coming up but she will be back in TJPW in the middle of the month. Yamashita though has plenty on her plate and the AEW appearance came about at a good time to replenish some interest in her. What’s included below is not the complete schedule she posted on her Twitter account. There are plenty more dates coming up over the next few months but some haven’t been announced by the promotions yet so I left them out just to save some space. Our old pal Yuka Sakazaki got her first booking on the indies in quite a while too. Another thing to keep an eye on is just where will Keigo Nakamura land for his indefinite overseas excursion. Apparently wherever he’s going he is has gone travelling over there already. If he is indeed still going to wrestle I’ll do my best to keep track of it in these articles.

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Videos

Konosuke Takeshita In AEW Playlist


AEW “DYNAMITE – SPRING BREAKTHRU”, 16/04/2025
MGM Music Hall At Fenway, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

1. Owen Hart Foundation 2025 Men’s Tournament – Semi Final: Will Ospreay Vs Konosuke Takeshita


AEW “COLLISION – SPRING BREAKTHRU”, 17/04/2025
MGM Music Hall At Fenway, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

1. Josh Alexander & Konosuke Takeshita Vs Rocky Romero & Tomohiro Ishii


AEW “DYNAMITE”, 23/04/2025
Lakefront Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

1. Will Ospreay & Brody King Vs Josh Alexander & Konosuke Takeshita


AEW “DYNAMITE”, 30/04/2025
Chartway Arena, Norfolk, Virginia, USA

1. AEW Women’s World Title Eliminator Match: Toni Storm (w/ Luther) Vs Miyu Yamashita

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Results


AEW “DYNAMITE – SPRING BREAKTHRU”, 16/04/2025
MGM Music Hall At Fenway, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

1. Owen Hart Foundation 2025 Men’s Tournament – Semi Final: Will Ospreay defeated Konosuke Takeshita with the Stormbreaker (21:43).

A highly anticipated rematch in the Owen Hart Cup saw Takeshita clash with Will Ospreay once again. Ospreay looked to have had Takeshita’s number until Takeshita purposely collapsed to avoid taking the Hidden Blade. Takeshita even caught Ospreay in mid-air with an Elbow Strike only for Ospreay to kick out at one and hit the Hidden Blade from out of nowhere. Takeshita kicked out at one as well leading to a role reversal where Ospreay used the Bastard Driver into the German Suplex and Takeshita responded with a Hidden Blade of his own. More counters came with Ospreay turning the Raging Fire into a Hurricanrana that then switched into the Styles Clash. Takeshita countered another Hidden Blade with a Backslide into a Powerdrive Knee but Ospreay flipped over a Lariat and lifted Takeshita into the Stormbreaker, winning a hard fought match that booked his spot in the final.


AEW “COLLISION – SPRING BREAKTHRU”, 17/04/2025
MGM Music Hall At Fenway, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

1. Josh Alexander & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Rocky Romero & Tomohiro Ishii when Alexander pinned Ishii with a Power Bomb (10:18).

There wasn’t much time for Takeshita to lick his wounds but The Don Callis Family are already regrouping with a new addition to the unit. AEW’s newest signing Josh Alexander has taken on Don Callis’s management services and made to team with Takeshita. They won their first match as a tag team but one of the reasons it happened was because Rocky Romero ended up abandoning Tomohiro Ishii and left him to the wolves. Alexander & Takeshita rocked Ishii with a Double Roaring Elbow then Alexander finished him off with a Power Bomb. There was then more drama when Trent Beretta made his return after the match and attacked Ishii with Romero. Callis gave a wrench to Beretta and he used it to knock Ishii out.


AEW “DYNAMITE”, 23/04/2025
Lakefront Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

1. Josh Alexander & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Will Ospreay & Brody King when Alexander pinned King after the Assisted C4 Spike (13:08).

Winning ways continued for The Don Callis Family when they took on Takeshita’s two opponents from the Owen Hart Cup. It was a heck of a task getting there though. Brody King ran through them like a tank while Ospreay and Takeshita had unfinished business from their match last week. The Family needed Lance Archer to distract the ref in order to turn the tables. Even then it took a lot fo Alexander & Takeshita to put King away. It eventually took Takeshita helping Alexander lift King up for the C4 Spike to finally put the big boy away.


DPW “SPIRIT RISING – NIGHT 1”, 24/04/2025
Shinjuku FACE

1. Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA Vs LaBron Kozone & Calvin Tankman ended in a Draw (?:??).
2. DPW Women’s World Title: Dani Luna (c) defeated Rika Tatsumi (?:??).
*V3 for Dani Luna.

I couldn’t get any proper results from DPW’s two shows in Japan since they’re usually pretty good at keeping things under wraps until the matches get uploaded to their streaming service. But some scraping through Twitter I was able to piece together some things. Rika Tatsumi failed in her bid to win the DPW Women’s Title from Dani Luna. Also the DPW Vs DDT match went to a draw, I assume of the time limit kind. One of the big spots was HARASHIMA going to do the Somato on LaBron Kozone only to get ran over in midair with the Pounce from Calvin Tankman.


DPW “SPIRIT RISING – NIGHT 2”, 25/04/2025
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Calvin Tankman & Kazuma Sumi defeated Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida (?:??).
2. Emi Sakura, Chris Brookes, Mei Suruga & Baliyan Akki defeated Miyuki Takase, Kevin Ku, Dominic Garrini & Ryo Mizunami (?:??).

On Night 2 Chris Brookes was part of a ChocoPro team against a USA/Japan alliance representing DPW. Meanwhile Tankman got thrown in with some DDT wrestlers for a tag match between two pairs of big man and little man. Tankman is remaining in Japan for a ZERO1 tour but who knows, maybe DDT will come calling while he’s there.


HOG “ISOLATION”, 25/04/2025
NYC Arena, New York City, New York, USA

1. HOG Heavyweight Title: Mike Santana (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita ended in a No Contest when Charles Mason interfered (15:57).
*V14 for Mike Santana.

Well that kind of felt like a waste of time. The HOG Heavyweight Title was on the line and neither Mike Santana nor Takeshita were in a position to take a loss. So Charles Mason came out and ruined the whole thing. Santana had Takeshita pinned with the Spin The Block Roaring Lariat but Santana pulled the ref out of the ring mid-count and attacked Santana to stop the match. Takeshita tried to come to the rescue but Mason fled the ring unharmed. Santana and Takeshita raised each other’s hands to everyone afterward.


BLACK LABEL PRO “BLP AT SCX III”, 25/04/2025
The Wyndham, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Leyla Hirsch with the Skull Kick (?:??).
2. Danhausen & Maki Itoh defeated Davey Bang & August Matthews when Danhausen pinned Matthews and Itoh pinned Bang with the Double Kokeshi (?:??).

The latest American tours for Itoh & Yamashita kicked off over in Black Label Pro. Itoh joined forces with Danhausen once again to reunite Very Cute, Very Evil Makihausen. Itoh had the face fully painted to match her tag partner and be battle ready to go against Bang And Matthews. Itoh was in grave danger when Davey Bang & August Matthews combined to hit the Spears Tower on her but Danhausen broke the pin. When they tried the same move on Danhausen he paused them with a Curse that resulted in Itoh tripping them over. The two then filled their opponents’ mouths with jars of teeth before kicking them in their faces. Itoh & Danhausen then finished them off with Stereo Kokeshi Headbutts.

This month saw Leyla Hirsch return to action, now as a freelancer. Yamashita got to be one her of first opponents back and didn’t show much ring rust with her performance. She tried wearing down Yamashita with an Ankle Lock but Yamashita fired back with strikes that took a lot out of her opponent. Hirsch then missed a Moonsault and charged right into the Skull Kick for the finish.


MEXICO KANKO “LUCHA FIESTA ESPECIAL”, 27/04/2025
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
2,714 Fans

1. Mexican Tourist Belt – The Road To Studying In Mexico 6 Way Match: Yuki Mashiro defeated Honoka, YuuRI, SONYA, CoCo and Yoshiko Hasegawa when Mashiro pinned Hasegawa with a Modified Suplex Hold (?:??).
Order Of Elimination: SONYA, CoCo, Honoka, YuuRI, Yoshiko Hasegawa.
2. Octagon & El Hijo del Octagon Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Pantera Jr. ended in a Draw when El Hijo del Octagon and Pantera Jr. pinned each other from a Romero Special (?:??).

The warm vibes of lucha libre were in the air surrounding Sumo Hall for a sponsored show put together by the Mexico Kanko tourism company. Daisuke Sasaki was thrown in with some luchadors for a tag match. Naturally Sasaki was on the rudo side teaming with Pantera Jr. to take on the supposedly family pair of Octagon & El Hijo del Octagon. Sasaki stepped in to stop Octagon from doing dive from the top turnbuckle. But the match ended up going to a draw when Pantera put El Hijo del Octagon in the Romero Special. The move leaned both luchadors back onto their shoulders resulting in a double pinfall. After some arguing over the finish, all four wrestlers raised each others hands in the ring.

A sixth woman was added to the Mexican Tourist Belt match. Yoshiko Hasegawa may be retiring from wrestling soon but she didn’t want to miss a chance to win a holiday to Mexico! She came close to winning too, eliminating YuuRI and making it to the final two with Yuki Mashiro. She tried to win using the Fisherman Buster but Mashiro got the better of her and won the match with a Modified Suplex.


AEW “DYNAMITE”, 30/04/2025
Chartway Arena, Norfolk, Virginia, USA

1. AEW Women’s World Title Eliminator Match: Toni Storm (w/ Luther) Vs Miyu Yamashita

Right at the end of the month Yamashita wound up in a familiar place. She came back to AEW for the first time since 2022 (or maybe 2023 if you want to count ROH). She was here to repeat what she did back then and that was to fight the AEW Women’s World Champion and beat her to get a title shot. We’re far past the days of Thunder Rosa though. It’s Toni Storm’s time now, which also happens to rewind the clock back one century thanks to her Timeless gimmick. Yamashita got into the swing of things by literally kicking Storm’s ass around the ring as well as kicking away the loyal butler Luther. She also hit the Skull Kick but was too fatigued to make the pin in time. I couldn’t tell if she broke the pin herself or if Storm kicked out of it because both looked like they happened at the same time. Storm made a comeback and avoided the Crash Rabbit Heat to throw Yamashita over to the corner with a German Suplex. She then landed the Running Hip Attack and pinned Yamashita with the Storm Zero. The booking sounds like it was a one time thing for Yamashita during this latest stay in the States. But she promised if she ever comes back to AEW she will kick someone else’s head in!

———————————————————————–

Upcoming Appearances


TOP TALENT “LIVE AT MIDWAY MUSIC HALL”, 02/05/2025
Midway Music Hall, Edmonton, Canada

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Ava Lawless

May starts off with Yamashita and Itoh going in separate directions for a while. Yamashita will be in Canada to face Ava Lawless in her Top Talent Wrestling debut.


HOODSLAM “PHANTASMAGORIA”, 02/05/2025
Continental Club, Oakland, California, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

Meanwhile Itoh returns to a Hoodslam that is currently in chaos. But when is it ever quiet over there?


GCW “CRAZY SCARY SPOOKY HILARIOUS”, 03/05/2025
Ukrainian Culture Center, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs Miyu Yamashita

The next day 121000000 are back together but this time as opponents. Can Itoh finally beat Yamashita one on one for the first time ever?


GCW “WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU”, 04/05/2025
Hawthorne Theatre, Portland, Oregon, USA

1. JCW World Title: Masha Slamovich (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita
2. GCW World Title: Effy (c) Vs Maki Itoh

Then soon after that the two of them have the chance to both become champions in the GCW sphere on the same night. While Itoh faces Effy for the GCW World Title, Yamashita gets in the ring again with Masha Slamovich in a bid to take away her JCW World Title. Slamovich just recently pinned Yamashita at the “DDT VS TJPW VS GCW” show which seems to be what set this title match up. At the moment this looks to be Itoh’s last booking before she goes back to Japan. Her TJPW return will be on 11th May.


HOG “WAGING WAR”, 09/05/2025
Logan Square Auditorium, Chicago, Illinois, USA

1. Indi Hartwell Vs Miyu Yamashita

Yamashita gets another match with someone who knows what it’s like to wrestle in WWE. This time it is the Indi Hartwell, the former NXT Women’s Champion (bet some of you forgot she held that title for a month) turned TNA’s latest signing.


NJPW “RESURGENCE”, 09/05/2025
Toyota Arena, Ontario, California, USA

1. NEVER Openweight Title: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA (c) Vs El Phantasmo

It’s now been confirmed that Takeshita will defend the NEVER Openweight Title against El Phantasmo at New Japan’s next USA show. This is also happening a week after they face each other in Japan with the NJPW World TV Title on the line. Does Rocky Romero get involved after the ambush he committed on ELP last month?


MAPLE LEAF PRO “NORTHERN RISING”, 10/05/2025
Mattamy Athletic Centre, Toronto, Canada

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Serena Deeb

Yamashita is just bouncing back and forth between Canada and America during this trip. Serena Deeb will want to be the road block that stops her.


MLW “AZTECA LUCHA”, 10/05/2025
Cicero Stadium, Chicago, Illinois USA

1. Shoko Nakajima Vs X

After winning the MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title earlier this month, Shoko Nakajima is set to return to MLW for their next “AZTECA LUCHA” taping. Nothing has been announced yet for what her match is going to be. Could it be a title defence against a luchadora from CMLL?


GCW “BIG TIME”, 17/05/2025
RJ Meyer Arena, Joppa, Maryland, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Tony Deppen

Itoh will be long gone home by this time so GCW could become Yamashita’s for the taking in her absence. Beating the promotion’s gatekeeper Tony Deppen would send her in the right direction.


GCW “RUN FOR IT”, 18/05/2025
Water Street Music Hall, Rochester, New York, USA

1. Billie Starkz Vs Miyu Yamashita

What kind of momentum will be following Yamashita by the time she fights Billie Starkz again?


MKW “BATTLE OF THE DECADE”, 24/05/2025
Dongxin Plaza, Beijing, China

1. Yuki Kamifuku & Chen Wenbin Vs Alexis Lee & Big Sam

Could this be the penultimate chapter of the rivalry between Yuki Kamifuku and Alexis Lee?


SAJ “HUNTER’S NET”, 24/05/2025
Via Dante 72, Sporting Cesate, Milan, Italy

1. Irene Vs Miyu Yamashita Vs Session Moth Martina

A change of venue for Yamashita’s debut in Italy due to an electrical problem in the original building. She is also finally going to face Session Moth Martina after their scheduled match in EVE back in March got cancelled. One week later Martina got to team with Italian wrestler Irene at the most recent SAJ Wrestling show. I haven’t seen it so I don’t know if anything happened as a reason to make them opponents here or if this is just three wrestlers who want to have some fun in the ring.


SPW “MAYHEM”, 30/05/2025
Foo Chow Building, Singapore

1. Queen Of Asia Title: Yuki Kamifuku (c) Vs Alexis Lee

If all goes wrong for Kamifuku in May she could end up losing both the VPW Women’s Title and the Queen Of Asia Title!


NEW TEXAS PRO “BAT CITY”, 01/06/2025
Empire Control Room, Austin, Texas, USA

1. Yuka Sakazaki Vs X

Finally Sakazaki gets to wrestle somewhere again! I don’t know if her lack of ring time lately is AEW/ROH not wanting to book her or if there’s an undisclosed injury of some sort holding her back but she’s making a reappearance on the American indies with New Texas Pro as her first stop.


KITSUNE “GOING BACK TO SAN DIEGO”, 07/06/2025
Primal Compound, San Diego, California, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Zara Zakher
2. Vipress & Hudson Envy Vs Nagisa Nozaki & Yuna Manase

The first singles meeting between Yamashita and Zara Zakher. They fought each other once before in a Princess Tag Team Titles match back in January. Yamashita pinned Zakher in that match. Will she do it again?


KITSUNE “8888”, 08/06/2025
South Gate, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. Kitsune World Title: Yuna Manase (c) Vs Tae Honma

This October Tae Honma is going to retire from pro wrestling. One of her last big singles matches will be in America when Yuna Manase defends the Kitsune World Title against her.


LLL “BUT THE TICKET, TAKE THE RIDE NIGHT 2”, 14/06/2025
The Oriental Theater, Denver, Colorado, USA

1. Dark Sheik Vs Miyu Yamashita

Yamashita returns to Lucha, Libre & Laughs for two nights but only one of them has a match announced so far. She faces Dark Sheik on Night 2. Nothing yet on what match she will get on Night 1.


TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN HOUSTON – NIGHT 1”, 10/07/2025
POST, Houston, Texas, USA

Four wrestlers are currently confirmed for TJPW’s big tripleshot in Texas.


TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN HOUSTON – NIGHT 2”, 11/07/2025
POST, Houston, Texas, USA

Yamashita and Itoh will be there as will Miu Watanabe and Suzume. So far that’s all of the official announcements.


TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN DALLAS”, 13/07/2025
The OC, Forney, Texas, USA

Psst… the English website promoting the show also lists Yuki Arai, Mizuki, Hyper Misao, Shoko Nakajima, Pom Harajuku, Moka Miyamoto, Shino Suzuki, Raku and Arisu Endo as all “awaiting confirmation” to be on the show. I guess they could go and confirm them all but as we saw with Harajuku this month they might be making sure everything is absolutely ready for them all to travel first.


GANBARE☆JOSHI/KITSUNE “GANJO X KITSUNE” Results

January 28, 2025

GANBARE☆JOSHI/KITSUNE “GANJO X KITSUNE”, 28/01/2025
Shin-Kiba 1st RING
104 Fans

1. Kitsune World Title: Yuna Manase defeated MICHIKO (c) with the Lariat (8:01).
*MICHIKO fails in V1. Yuna Manase becomes the 4th Kitsube World Champion!
2. Mixed Tag Match: Yumehito Imanari & Chanyota defeated Keisuke Ishii & Echika Miyabi when Chanyota submitted Miyabi with the Nagata Lock I (11:26).
3. Moeka Haruhi defeated Arisa Shinose with the Diving Foot Stomp (9:25).
4. Tae Honma, AKARI & Yappy defeated Mochi Natsumi, Yuki Mashiro & Grizzly Fujitaki when Honda pinned Fujitaki with a School Boy (11:58).
5. YuuRI & Ayame Sasamura Vs Kohaku & Nanami ended in a Time Limit Draw (20:00).

This year sees the return of Ganbare☆Joshi running their own shows again, this one here was being done as part of a working relationship with the American “joshi” promotion Kitsune Women’s Wrestling. A championship match for the guest promotion’s title took place but it was placed in the opening match rather than the main event. Yuna Manase decided a while ago that GanJo should be built around YuuRI and the next generation instead of herself so YuuRI’s match went on last. YuuRI teamed with Ayame Sasamura and fought with Kohaku & Nanami to a 20 minute draw. While she was frustrated that she couldn’t win, she is still thankful for everyone’s support to let GanJo run shows again. She said GanJo is burning red just like the nosebleed she suffered during the match. Manase then got the last word in by telling everyone the future of GanJo is bright.

Yumehito Imanari & Chanyota both took separate pages from Yuji Nagata to win their match. Chanyota made Echika Miyabi tap out to the Nagata Lock I and while she was doing that, Imanari held Keisuke Ishii in the Nagata Lock II. Both Imanari & Chanyota did the Nagata salute pose afterwards to celebrate.

In a rematch from the end of December, Manase defeated MICHIKO to win back the Kitsune World Title. MICHIKO gave her the Tombstone Piledriver on the floor, trying to get a countout win. But Manase made it back in at 11 and then kicked out of a pin. Manase blocked another Tombstone and used Lariats to weaken MICHIKO until the champion could no longer kick out. She said she had the desire to win the belt back but this is not the end of her rivalry with MICHIKO because they now have one win each. But she also wants to defend the title against anyone else who was on today’s show. MICHIKO said she would like to have another match with Manase, with or without the title.


Next Step Game, Card For Max Heart Final, Judgement 2025 Update

January 27, 2025

GANBARE☆JOSHI/KITSUNE “GANJO X KITSUNE”, 28/01/2025
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. YuuRI & Ayame Sasamura Vs Kohaku & Nanami
2. Tae Honma, AKARI & Yappy Vs Mochi Natsumi, Yuki Mashiro & Grizzly Fujitaki
3. Moeka Haruhi Vs Arisa Shinose
4. Mixed Tag Match: Yumehito Imanari & Chanyota Vs Keisuke Ishii & Echika Miyabi
5. Kitsune World Title: MICHIKO (c) Vs Yuna Manase

Tomorrow is Yuna Manase’s chance to win the Kitsune World Title back from MICHIKO.

DDT “NEXT STEP GAME 2025”, 05/02/2025
Shinjuku FACE

1. Akito & Yuki Iino Vs Yukio Naya & Daichi Sato
2. Special Single Match: Danshoku Dieno Vs Soma Takao
3. Special Tag Match: Takeshi Masada & Yuya Koroku Vs Ilusion & Yuni
4. D GENERATIONS CUP 2025 – B Block: To-y Vs Kazuma Sumi
5. D GENERATIONS CUP 2025 – A Block: Keigo Nakamura Vs Yuki Ishida
6. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Chris Brookes, Masahiro Takanashi & Antonio Honda Vs Shinya Aoki, Yuki Ueno & MAO
7. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul (c) Vs Jun Akiyama, HARASHIMA & Tomomitsu Matsunaga

A non-title victory at yesterday’s show has resulted in Jun Akiyama, HARASHIMA & Tomomitsu Matsunaga becoming the No. 1 Contenders for the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles. Matsunaga has promised to turn the world upside down by beating DAMNATION T.A again this time when the titles are on the line.

After fighting each other in the ring a few times already, Yukio Naya & Daichi Sato are now going to try out teaming together.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “THE 5TH “FUTARI WA PRINCESS” MAX HEART TOURNAMENT”, 08/02/2025
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Yoshiko Hasegawa, Kaya Toribami & Chika Nanase Vs Shino Suzuki, Ivy Steele & Kira Summer
2. Yuki Kamifuku Vs Mifu Ashida
3. Raku & Ram Kaichow Vs Mahiro Kiryu & Haruna Neko
4. Arisu Endo Vs Wakana Uehara
5. Miu Watanabe Vs Uta Takami
6. Yuki Aino Vs Haru Kazashiro
7. Mizuki & HIMAWARI Vs Rika Tatsumi & Toga
8. International Princess Title: Suzume (c) Vs Jada Stone
9. “Futari wa Princess” Max Heart Tournament – Final: Max The Impaler & Pom Harajuku Vs Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao

The Max Heart Tournament is coming down to Pompaler versus Kyoraku Kyomei. Can Pom Harajuku’s recent run of success continue thanks to the sharp aim of Max The Impaler or will Max Heart glory finally find its way towards Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao.

We’re getting a preview of what Mizuki against Rika Tatsumi is going to be like.

It’s another lunch date for Raku & Ram Kaichow.

Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh and Moka Miyamoto will not be at the show because they will be wrestling over in Chile that weekend.

DDT “JUST BEFORE JUDGEMENT 2025! BIG SALES AND PRESS CONFERENCE FESTIVAL IN OTA WARD INDUSTRIAL PLAZA”, 16/03/2025
Ota Ward Industrial Plaza (PiO) 4th Floor Convention Hall

1. Falls Count Anywhere Tag Match: Yuki Ueno & HARASHIMA Vs Danshoku Dieno & Keigo Nakamura

A few days before DDT’s 28th Anniversary show there will be a public event featuring press conferences, contract signings, autograph sessions and also a Falls Count Anywhere match.

DDT “JUDGEMENT 2025 ~28TH ANNIVERSARY 5 HOUR SPECIAL~”, 20/03/2025
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Kazusada Higuchi Return Match: Kazusada Higuchi Vs X
2. DDT Extreme Title: Danshoku Dieno (c) Vs Yuki Iino
3. DDT Universal Title: Yuki Ueno (c) Vs X
4. KO-D Openweight Title: Chris Brookes (c) Vs X

According to Chris Brookes there are around ten people he would like to defend the KO-D Openweight Title against and he needs time to whittle the list down to one challenger. He has until 23rd February to make his decision.

The new DDT Universal Champion already has his first challenger in mind but it might take a while for it to happen. Yuki Ueno fought Minoru Suzuki for the first time last year in a tag match and he wants nothing more than to face him one on one. The Universal Title is now his treasure so he is going to use it to get “Pirate King” Suzuki’s attention. However Suzuki has his own schedule to deal with so if he takes up the challenge it might not be able to happen at DDT’s 28th Anniversary show. So if Suzuki cannot make that date, Ueno will still have a title defence on the show.

I thought Yuni was the only opponent Danshoku Dieno was forbidden to fight but it turns out there is someone else. DDT avoided booking Dieno against Yuki Iino for so long because of their history together as part of Pheromones. However Akito felt now is the time to do the match and Iino himself also wants it to happen. Dieno isn’t pleased to have the match happen against his wishes but he will allow it to happen as long as Hisaya Imabayashi is forced to be part of the match somehow. We’ll have to wait and see what role the DDT GM will have to play.

Nine months after his last wrestling match, Kazusada Higuchi will return from his injuries ready to give it his all in the ring again.


Title Matches Added To DDT Korakuen, GanJo X Kitsune, Grand Princess Main Event

January 14, 2025

BASARA “BASARA 267 ~HIEN~”, 21/01/2025
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Inaugural Rumble: Isami Kodaka Vs Takumi Tsukamoto Vs Ryuichi Sekine Vs FUMA Vs KUBITO Vs Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi Vs Daichi Kazato Vs SAGAT Vs Gouma Ryu Vs Tsutomu Oosugi
2. Daiki Shimomura Vs Takeru Inoue
3. Takato Nakano & Lil’ Kraken Vs Yasu Urano & Banana Senga
4. Ryota Nakatsu & Masato Kamino Vs Daisuke Sekimoto & Kuma Arashi

There are two strong opponents who Masato Kamino lost to in singles matches last year that he wants to fight again. They are Daisuke Sekimoto & Kuma Arashi. Kamino wants to settle the score in one match so he asked BASARA to bring them back together as a tag team for him to fight. Kamino also decided he won’t team with Takato Nakano because they will soon fight each other for the Union MAX Title. Instead, Ryota Nakatsu will be Kamino’s partner for this match.

It’s Royal Rumble season so add BASARA to the growing list of companies that are doing their own version of the match this year.

BAKA GAIJIN + FRIENDS “VOL. 19: INVESTIGATION OF A CITIZEN ABOVE SUSPICION”, 21/01/2025
Tokyo ARENA Shimokitazawa

1. Special Tag Team Match: MAO & Masahiro Takanashi Vs Mr. Bueno & Munetatsu Nakamura
2. Special Single Match: Ram Kaichow Vs Chris Brookes

Trust Baka Gaijin + Friends to still come up with first time matchups with a limited size roster. Chris Brookes and Ram Kaichow have fought each other plenty of times before in multi-person matches. This will be their first one on one matchup together.

DDT “NEW YEAR, NEW HERO. 2025 ~A NEW STORY BEGINS~”, 26/01/2025
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. DDT Extreme Title: Danshoku Dieno (c) Vs Gorgeous Matsuno
2. DDT Universal Title: Gringo Loco (c) Vs Yuki Ueno
3. KO-D Openweight Title: Chris Brookes (c) Vs Shuji Ishikawa

According to both DDT and Gringo Loco he has defended the DDT Universal Title twice in North America. One was in Canada for Demand Lucha and I cannot for the life of me find where or when the second one took place. For his third defence he is nominating Yuki Ueno because he stands out the most to Loco. It will be Loco’s first time defending the title in Japan.

Danshoku Dieno made the decision to defend the DDT Extreme Title against Gorgeous Matsuno because he does not know if they will ever get another chance to do the match. Matsuno is still known to the public for a public divorce he went through in the 1990s where he was accused by his wife at the time of abuse. The divorce was finalised but it was also ruled by the court that there was no evidence to support the accusation. Dieno only knows Matsuno through his wrestling career and feels the need to have a heart to heart match while he still holds the Extreme Title. Dieno also wants a contract signed that says no one will be responsible for anything that happens in the ring during the match.

GANBARE☆JOSHI/KITSUNE “GANJO X KITSUNE”, 28/01/2025
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. YuuRI & Ayame Sasamura Vs Kohaku & Nanami
2. Tae Honma, AKARI & Yappy Vs Mochi Natsumi, Yuki Mashiro & Grizzly Fujitaki
3. Moeka Haruhi Vs Arisa Shinose
4. Mixed Tag Match: Yumehito Imanari & Chanyota Vs Keisuke Ishii & Echika Miyabi
5. Kitsune World Title: MICHIKO (c) Vs Yuna Manase

It’s the return of the Ganbare☆Joshi branded shows for the first time since Ganbare☆Pro went independent. It is a co-branded show with Kitsune and will feature wrestlers from several different joshi promotions like WAVE, DIANA, Ice Ribbon, PURE-J and Prominence. There are also joshi wrestlers from the mixed companies like GLEAT, P.P.P. TOKYO, 2AW and Asuka Pro. In the main event Yuna Manase gets her rematch with MICHIKO with the Kitsune World Title once again on the line.

HARUKAZE will not be wrestling at the show because of her busy schedule. However she will try to get there by rushing to the venue as soon as her other scheduled event is over.

“SANSHIRO TAKAGI 30TH ANNIVERSARY COMMEMERATION EVENT ~ NEVER SAY NEVER”, 03/02/2025
Shinjuku FACE

1. Special Single Match: Fumihito Kihara Vs Shota
2. Special Single Match: Muscle Sakai Vs Hyper Misao
3. Special Tag Match: Yumiko Hotta & Shinya Aoki Vs Fuminori Abe & Ippanjin Munenori Sawa
4. Special Tag Match: Dump Matsumoto & Toru Owashi Vs Brahman Shu & Brahman Kei
5. Special Single Match: Yuji Nagata Vs Kuroshio TOKYO Japan
6. Special Single Match: Meiko Satomura Vs X (w/ Sanshiro Takagi)

This is the complete card for Sanshiro Takagi’s 30th Anniversary show. He will be accompanying a mystery wrestler who is scheduled to fight Meiko Satomura in the main event.

BASARA “BASARA 270 ~SOUEN~”, 10/02/2025
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Union MAX Title: Masato Kamino (c) Vs Takato Nakano

The MAX Title is up for grabs between the two members of Aijin Tag. Kamino has so far purposely avoided teaming with Nakano in the lead up to this match.

GANBARE☆PRO “LADY BIRD 2025 ~ MOEKA HARUHI 20TH ANNIVERSARY DEBUT”, 11/02/2025
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Moeka Haruhi 20th Anniversary Match: Moeka Haruhi Vs Hanako Nakamori

For the 20th Anniversary of Moeka Haruhi’s debut match she will be facing Hanako Nakamori from PURE-J.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “GRAND PRINCESS ’25”, 16/03/2025
Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium

1. Princess Of Princess Title: Mizuki (c) Vs Rika Tatsumi

It must be fate. “GRAND PRINCESS ’25” is taking place on Mizuki’s birthday and she will be defending the Princess Of Princess Title against a person who has adored her since probably the first day they met. Rika Tatsumi was the last woman standing in the Battle Royal to win this shot so she could finally make this fantasy come true.


GANBARE☆PRO “NEW YEAR’S BLUES 2025” Results

January 13, 2025

GANBARE☆PRO “NEW YEAR’S BLUES 2025”, 13/01/2025
Shin-Kiba 1st RING
186 Fans

1. Munetatsu Nakamura defeated Shota Kawakami with a Dropkick (9:08).
2. Shigehiro Irie, Rekka & Moeka Haruhi defeated Hartley Jackson, Choun-Shiryu & HARUKAZE when Haruhi submitted HARUKAZE with the 79.5MHz. 2.0 (12:27).
3. Fuminori Abe defeated Tyson Maeguchi with a Cradle (10:50).
4. Kitsune World Title Next Challenger Decision Match: Yuna Manase defeated YuuRI with the Lariat (10:48).
5. Shinichiro Tomingaga Return Match: Keisuke Ishii, Shinichiro Tominaga & Daisuke®️ defeated Ken Ohka, Shuichiro Katsumura & Takuya Wada when Tominaga pinned Ohka with an Inside Cradle (14:25).
6. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Yumehito Imanari (c) defeated Yasu Urano with the Crossface Lock (19:39).
*V1 for Yumehito Imanari.
6a. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title – Emergency Match: Yumehito Imanari (c) defeated Yasu Urano with the Lariat (8:05).
*V2 for Yumehito Imanari.

In the weeks coming up to this show Yumehito Imanari not only wanted a match with Yasu Urano to get revenge for losing to him via Headlock years ago, he also wanted to put the Spirit Of Ganbare Title on the line. After a hard fought fight, Imanari countered a Tombstone into a roll up for a nearfall and then grabbed Urano into a Crossface Lock to get the win. Imanari then told Urano he would be happy to give him a rematch sometime with the title again on the line. Urano told Imanari he is worthy of being the champion for a company as wonderful as Ganbare☆Pro but if he is serious about the rematch then they can have one right away!

After hearing the crowd respond positively to the idea, Imanari convinced Michiyoshi Mishima to grant them an immediate rematch starting right away! The rematch was given a 15 minute time limit but Imanari only needed eight to beat Urano again this time with a Lariat. Imanari said afterwards he has kicked out of injustices so many times in life that nothing is too unreasonable for him. He can give Urano another rematch but this time they should wait about six months from now. His message to the fans is when he gets treated unfairly he should stand up every time because injustice makes him stronger!

Yuna Manase has won her chance to win the Kitsune World Title back from MICHIKO after beating YuuRI in a No. 1 Contender’s match. While Manase was happy to see YuuRI want to get the title shot, Manase wants to win the belt back even more. She said it would have been the end of her wrestling career if she handed the chance over to YuuRI. There was no handshake after the match and Manase thinks it is because YuuRI was thinking about beating her just as much as she thinks about the championship. Manase will get her title rematch against MICHIKO at the Ganbare☆Joshi x Kitsune show on 28th January.


GANBARE☆PRO “SOME DAY THE SUN WILL SHINE 2024” Results

December 27, 2024

GANBARE☆PRO “SOME DAY THE SUN WILL SHINE 2024”, 27/12/2024
Shinjuku FACE
380 Fans – No Vacancy

1. Yuki Kanzaki & Daisuke®️ defeated Tyson Maeguchi & Shota Kawakami when Kanzaki pinned Kawakami with the Fisherman Buster (12:37).
2. PSYCHO, YuuRI & Banny Oikawa defeated Choun-Shiryu, Moeka Haruhi & HARUKAZE when YuuRI pinned HARUKAZE with the Swanton Bomb (10:18).
3. Munetatsu Nakamura Debut 2nd Anniverary Match – Special Tag Match: Minoru Fujita & Isami Kodaka defeated Ken Ohka & Munetatsu Nakamura when Kodaka pinned Nakamura with the Vertical Drop Brainbuster (10:30).
4. Kitsune World Title: MICHIKO defeated Yuna Manase (c) with the Tombstone Piledriver (12:24).
*Yuna Manase fails in V1. MICHIKO becomes the 3rd Kitsune World Champion!
5. Tatsuhito Takaiwa, Shigehiro Irie & Takuya Wada defeated Hartley Jackson, Kouki Iwasaki & Rekka when Wada pinned Rekka with the Assault Point (17:54).
6. Special Single Match: Dick Togo defeated Shuichiro Katsumura with a Jackknife Pin (16:44).
7. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Yumehito Imanari defeated Keisuke Ishii (c) with the Lariat (18:13).
*Keisuke Ishii fails in V5. Yumehito Imanari becomes the 8th Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Champion!

For the third year in a row a new Spirit Of Ganbare World Champion has been crowned at the promotion’s final show of the year! Keisuke Ishii had carried the title from the start of Ganbare☆Pro’s independence but today it finally ended by the hands of Yumehito Imanari. Or arms to be exact because Imanari kept hitting Lariat after Lariat until Ishii could no longer fight back. Eventually Imanari hit the move enough times to pin the champion and win the belt. Imanari couldn’t help but cry tears of joy and be thankful for what happened after such a challenging year for the company. GanPro will keep working hard on the road to their Korakuen Hall show celebrating their 12th anniversary on 11th April next year. Backstage Imanari named Yasu Urano as someone he wants to defend the title against. He wants to get revenge for Urano beating him with a Headlock back in 2017.

Dick Togo wasn’t here to pal around with anyone. When his match with Shuichiro Katsumura began he gave him the middle finger instead of a handshake. This wasn’t the House Of Torture version of Togo though. He and Katsumura gave everyone a wrestling match that went back and forth. Katsumura thought he got the upper hand when he rolled on top of a Crossface to pin Togo for a nearfall. But Togo kicked out, went on the counter attack and pinned his opponent with a Jackknife Pin. Katsumura was feeling both frustration and happiness after the match because he wrestled someone he looks up to. He didn’t win but he did feel like he returned to his route today. His goal now is to become the kind of wrestler young fighters will want to challenge. He also accepts that he can’t reach the same level of the main event anymore but he can be happy being a semi-main event wrestler from now on.

Yuna Manase had a grand vision in mind for her Kitsune World Title reign but sadly MICHIKO stopped it before it could even get off the ground. Manase ran in for a Lariat only to get knocked off her feet with an Elbow Strike. MICHIKO then dropped her with the Tombstone Piledriver to become the new champion. But before MICHIKO could leave the ring to celebrate, YuuRI approached her and signaled to everyone that she wants a title shot. MICHIKO told reporters that this is her first ever singles championship and she is happy to win it for GLEAT. She already knows Ganbare☆Joshi and Kitsune will be co-promoting a show in Shin-Kiba 1st RING on 13th January. She wants Manase to know they can have a rematch with or without the title sometime but she’s not sure if she will be available on that date yet. The result gave Manase bad memories because she also lost the International Princess Title in Tokyo Joshi Pro on her first defence. She promises to get the Kitsune Title back and won’t be happy if YuuRI wins it first!

Both Mizuki Watase and Shinichiro Tominaga greeted the fans at the start of the show. The two of them are currently out of action with the same injury but at opposite ends of recovery. Tominaga is almost healed from his ruptured Achilles tendon and will have his return match on 13th January. Watase only just recently suffered the same injury but according to his doctor he is recovering four times faster than a patient normally would.


Diego Steps Up, Katsumura’s Fated Match With Togo, Takagi Says Never Say Never

November 25, 2024

DNA “DNA 10TH ANNIVERSARY”, 28/11/2024
Shinjuku FACE

1. Yuni Vs Munetatsu Nakamura
2. Choun-Shiryu & Rekka Vs Akira Jo & Yuki Ishida
3. Kota Umeda, Ryota Nakatsu & Kouki Iwasaki Vs Keigo Nakamura, To-y & Yuya Koroku
4. Banana Senga & Tsutomu Oosugi Vs Daiki Shimomura & Check Shimatani
5. MAO & Mizuki Watase Vs Yuki Iino & Masato Kamino
6. Yuki Ueno Vs Diego

With Shunma Katsumata out injured, Diego has offered to step in to help his amigo out. Diego will now be Yuki Ueno’s opponent at the DNA 10th Anniversary show! Choun-Shiryu pops up to take Diego’s previous spot on the card. He will feel right at home teaming with Rekka in DNA again.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW 11TH BIRTHDAY”, 01/12/2024
Tokyo Shinagawa Prince Hotel Club eX

1. 3 Way Match: Rika Tatsumi Vs Kaya Toribami Vs Chika Nanase
2. Moka Miyamoto Vs Kira Summer
3. Hyper Misao & Haruna Neko Vs Mahiro Kiryu & HIMAWARI
4. Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara Vs Shoko Nakajima & Yuki Aino
5. Miu Watanabe, Raku, Shino Suzuki & Uta Takami Vs Mizuki, Suzume, Arisu Endo & Yoshiko Hasegawa
6. Princess Tag Team Titles: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh (c) Vs Haru Kazashiro & Toga

This is the second time in a row the two finalists of the Next Generation Tournament are teaming up for a Princess Tag Team Titles shot. This time it’s the tournament prize for the winner. Haru Kazashiro beat Toga in the final to earn a title shot of her choice. She picked the Tag Titles because Maki Itoh is who she looks up to most and she’s aiming to take the title from her. She then asked Toga to be her partner for the match. Funnily enough, Toga was going to make the same choice for a similar reason because she wants to fight Miyu Yamashita for a championship. So it all conveniently works out for everyone!

Pom Harajuku is not on the show because she will be wrestling in Thailand that weekend.

BASARA “BASARA 264 ~KOO~”, 13/12/2024
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Daichi Kazato & Lil’ Kraken Vs Ayato Yoshida & Kazumasa Yoshida

Once again Ayato Yoshida comes to BASARA and finds himself dealing with Daichi Kazato whether he wants to or not. His teammate here Kazumasa Yoshida is from Big Japan.

DDT “NEVER MIND 2024”, 22/12/2024
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Special Single Match: Yuki Ueno Vs Super Sasadango Machine
2. Special Single Match: Tomohiro Ishii Vs Yuki Iino

Apparently Ueno has been wanting a singles match with Super Sasadango Machine for a while.

GANBARE☆PRO “SOME DAY THE SUN WILL SHINE 2024”, 27/12/2024
Shinjuku FACE

1. Kitsune World Title: Yuna Manase (c) Vs MICHIKO
2. Special Single Match: Shuichiro Katsumura Vs Dick Togo
3. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Keisuke Ishii (c) Vs Yumehito Imanari

An impromptu No. 1 Contenders match on the last Ganbare☆Pro show is what leads to Yumehito Imanari getting his chance to fight Keisuke Ishii for the Spirit Of Ganbare World Title. He beat Shuichiro Katsumura to do it. But while Katsumura is out of the title picture for now he is still getting an important match at the end of the year. Ishii encouraged him to go challenge Dick Togo to a match! Katsumura’s link to Togo is a very minor one but it is a story he told Ishii over drinks one night. Back when Katsumura was in high school he visited the Universal Lucha Libre dojo wanting to join it. He didn’t have the courage to go through with the plan but he remembers seeing a trainee walk past him into the building. That trainee was Togo! So this match 30 years in the making must be fate for Katsumura.

Over the weekend at a GLEAT show, MICHIKO pinned Yuna Manase in a 6-Man Tag Match and challenged her afterwards for the Kitsune World Title. Manase accepted the challenge and convinced Kitsune to let the title match take place in GanPro.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TOKYO JOSHI PRO ’25”, 04/01/2025
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. International Princess Title: Yuki Arai (c) Vs Suzume

The first match for Ittenyon 2025 has been announced. Suzume has learned to appreciate the worldwide appeal of pro wrestling after her recent trip to America so she is challenging Yuki Arai for the International Princess Title!

The complete card with consist of around 9 or 10 matches.

“SANSHIRO TAKAGI 30TH ANNIVERSARY COMMEMERATION EVENT ~ NEVER SAY NEVER”, 03/02/2025
Shinjuku FACE

1. Special Tag Match: Dump Matsumoto & Toru Owashi Vs Brahman Shu & Brahman Kei

In an odd move Sanshiro Takagi is deciding not to use DDT for his 30th Anniversary show next year. Instead he wants to rely solely on his decades worth of connections across the Japanese scene to come up with a wrestling show filled with matches you won’t believe. Matches like Dump Matsumoto & Toru Owashi Vs The Brahman Brothers. Nobody under a full contract with DDT will be booked for the show. Takagi himself is unlikely to wrestle either unless he unexpectedly gets medically cleared in time.


DDT Around The World – August 2024

September 1, 2024

The end of the summer turned out to not go as planned for a few people. Maki Itoh suffered a hand injury that cut short her latest GCW tour. Yuna Manase had some travel problems get in the way of her first time visit to America but at least her story ended happily for her. She ended up winning a championship over there! Things went smoother for Tokyo Joshi Pro as their co-promoted show with EVE in England was a big success. The EVE promoters have their own stories to tell about searching for venues, dealing with the ticket operators and having last minute changes with their production team but once the show began it could not have gone any better in the venue s far as I could tell. Miyu Yamashita also had time to wrestle in a few other places before she heads back to Japan.

The end of the month also had Konosuke Takeshita return to AEW. After his performance in the G1 Climax reminded everyone of his talents (not that we should need any reminding), there is understandably a lack of enthusiasm online to see him go back to AEW where his main role is to stand behind Don Callis’ shoulder week after week. That his first match back happened on Rampage doesn’t do much to quell those worries. With that said though it was a cracking match anyway. If the second Continental Classic happens this year we’re probably still over a month or to away from it.

Heading into September we’re going to see Itoh go back to America. It does not sound like she’s at 100% but she isn’t going to say no to making some more money over there if she’s in any way able to. Some TJPW wrestlers will be spreading their wings around Asia with championships there for the taking. There is a new company opening up in Canada that Takeshita and Yamashita will appear in. Wrestling fans in general might do well to pay attention to that place in regards to whether or not it will effect TNA in the long run given who has been associated with it so far. But if you don’t care about that and want to keep talk to just DDT and TJPW, there is the road to Seattle coming up. We’ll be there before you know it!

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Videos

Konosuke Takeshita In AEW Playlist


AEW “RAMPAGE”, 28/08/2024 (Aired 30/08/2024)
State Farm Arena, Champaign, Illinois, USA

1. 4 Way Match: Konosuke Takeshita Vs The Beast Mortos Vs Komander Vs Lio Rush

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Results


GCW “NOW AND FOREVER”, 02/08/2024
TempleLive Cleveland Masonic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

1. GCW Extreme Title: Maki Itoh (c) defeated John Wayne Murdoch with a School Boy (5:51).
*V2 for Maki Itoh.

Itoh’s first GCW appearance of her tour was against one of the promotion’s death match specialists John Wayne Murdoch. It was also made into a GCW Extreme Title defence. Murdoch got under Itoh’s skin early when he grabbed a “Respect Maki Itoh Or Die” sign and stomped on it in the ring. He then tried to win her over by allowing Itoh to sing for the fans but that was only so he could attack her from behind. Murdhoch brought in a steel chair and tried to Suplex Itoh onto it. Itoh avoided the move and gave Murdoch a Stunner, making him land back and head first into the chair. She then rolled him up with a School Boy to win the match and retain the Extreme Title.


GCW “CAN I TRUST YOU?”, 04/08/2024
House Of Independents, Asbury Park, New Jersey, USA

1. GCW Extreme Title: Maki Itoh (c) defeated Allie Katch with a Mouse Trap (8:32).
*V3 for Maki Itoh.

Later in the weekend Itoh had another Extreme Title defence, this time against Allie Katch. The two get along and have teamed together in the past so their match was all trying to outdo each other. Itoh tried to trick Katch with crocodile tears so Katch decided to lie down and let Itoh do a Kokeshi Headbutt. Except Katch got back up and cut her off to take control of the match. Itoh fired up when her head hit the turnbuckle and she hit a Draping DDT onto the ring apron. The fight came down to duelling strikes and then Itoh trying several different pinning combinations. She finally got the three count on Katch by giving her the Mouse Trap cradle.


SPW “HARDCORE ISLAND 2: A FINE CITY”, 16/08/2024
Foo Chow Building, Singapore

1. 3 Way Match: Alexis Lee defeated Miyu Yamashita and Kaya Toribami when Lee pinned Toribami after the Skull Kick from Yamashita (?:??).

Over in Singapore both Yamashita and Kaya Toribami were flying the flag for TJPW in a 3 Way Match against Alexis Lee. It was every woman for herself and Lee took advantage of that. Yamashita knocked down Toribami with the Skull Kick only for Lee to steal the pin.


KITSUNE “YABAI!”, 18/08/2024
1110 Bates Ave, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Kitsune World Title: Yuna Manase defeated Megan Bayne and J-Rod when Manase pinned J-Rod with a Lariat (10:11).
*Yuna Manase becomes the 2nd Kitsune World Champion!

It was a long journey for Manase to get to America (more details at the end of the report) but she finally got there and ended up winning a championship! Due to circumstances with her visa, Sayaka Unagi couldn’t make the show and had to vacate the Kitsune World Title. It was now up for grabs in the 3 Way Match that Manase was booked in against J-Rod and Megan Bayne. At one point Manase and Bayne worked together and gave J-Rod the Doomsday Device. Bayne was then taken out of play by J-Rod’s Spear. J-Rod went for the same move on Manase but missed and hit the corner. Manase knocked her down with the Lariat and got the three count to win the title! She celebrated by getting the fans to shout “We are Ganbare!” along with her.


EVE/TOKYO JOSHI PRO “EVE X TJPW: JAPAN & UK WRESTLING UNITE!”, 24/08/2024
Conway Hall, London, England
??? Fans – Unannounced

0. Triple Threat Match: Skye Smitson defeated Anita Vaughan and Kasey when Smitson pinned Vaughan with the Smitson Effect (7:49)
1. Mahiro Kiryu defeated HIMAWARI with the Spinebuster (11:15).
2. Alex Windsor defeated Lena Kross with a Sharpshooter (11:46).
3. Raku defeated Session Moth Martina with the Hurricane Turn (6:18).
4. Zizi & Safire Reed Vs Aja Kong & Max The Impaler defeated Zizi & Safire Reed when Kong pinned Reed with the 2nd Rope Diving Elbow Drop (11:06).
5. EVE Title: Nina Samuels (c) defeated Miyu Yamashita with the Starstruck (19:39).
*V5 for Nina Samuels.

The report for this show can be found here.


AEW “RAMPAGE”, 28/08/2024 (Aired 30/08/2024)
State Farm Arena, Champaign, Illinois, USA

1. 4 Way Match: Konosuke Takeshita defeated The Beast Mortos, Komander (w/ Alex Abrahantes) and Lio Rush when Takeshita pinned Komander with the Raging Fire (13:53).

Takeshita’s first appearance in AEW since returning from the G1 was for a wild 4 Way Match against The Beast Mortos, Komander and Lio Rush. He was back to using his actual AEW theme and Callis kept himself to the commentary table. The match was wild as you had the power and speed of Takeshita and Mortos along with the speed and agility of Komander and Rush all mixing up together. Mortos soon wiped out Rush with a Spear and broke Komander over his knee. Takeshita then hit Mortos with the Powerdrive Knee to get rid of him. Komander tried to roll up Takeshita but got a nearfall. Takeshita spun him into the Blue Thunder Bomb and used the Raging Fire to get the win.


MLW “SUMMER OF THE BEASTS”, 29/08/2024
Melrose Ballroom, New York City, New York, USA

1. Delmi Exo defeated Miyu Yamashita with the Delmi Driver (6:15).

In an MLW rematch from last December, Delmi Exo got her win back from Yamashita. By winning the match Exo declared herself the No. 1 contender for the MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title.


GCW “LIVE FAST DIE YOUNG”, 31/08/2024
Thalia Hall, Chicago, Illinois, USA

1. Megan Bayne defeated Miyu Yamashita by Disqualification when Broski Jimmy attacked Bayne with a Chair (15:38).

The rematch between Yamashita and Bayne from DREAMWAVE earlier this year took place in GCW but was ruined by outside interference. Bayne gave Yamashita a Choke Slam and was about to use the Tombstone Piledriver when Broski Jimmy ran into the ring with a chair and hit Bayne with it. Yamashita stopped the attack and gave Jimmy the Skull Kick. Bayne got her hands on him too with a Choke Slam and Yamashita followed up by hitting Jimmy over the head with the chair! Bayne then finished him off with the Tombstone. After that was done the two women had a stare down before deciding to shake each other’s hands.

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Upcoming Appearances


F1RST “SATURDAY NIGHT NITRO”, 07/09/2024
Mall Of America, Bloomington, Minnesota, USA

1. Allie Katch & Effy Vs Danhausen & Maki Itoh

The second half of Itoh’s American tour is going ahead despite her injury. One of her next matches will be to team with Danhausen to take on Bussy. That does not sound like the most physically demanding of matchups so even if her hand is not at 100% she’ll be find going out there. The F1RST show is also noteworthy because it is their annual visit to the Mall Of America were the first episode of WCW Nitro was famously taped. This is the third year in a row F1RST are running a show there.


MKW “CHAMPIONSHIP SUPERCARD FROM SHANGHAI”, 14/09/2024
Bandai Namco Shanghai Base, Shanghai, China

1. Queen Of Asia Title: Yuki Kamifuku (c) Vs Crystal

The next Queen Of Asia Title defence is taking place in China next month. Crystal believes Yuki Kamifuku is not ready to take on an opponent with her kind of wrath, tenacity and power.


GCW “BAD ONE”, 14/09/2024
Harpos Concert Center, Detroit, Michigan, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs Kylie Rae

Even after Itoh pulled out of her August dates, GCW continued to promote her September appearances so they already knew how long her recovery would take. Her match with Kyle Rae that was meant to happen on 31st August will now take place on 14th September.


GCW “THA G-CODE”, 15/09/2024
Water Street Music Hall, Rochester, New York, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

This will be the weekend before “WRESTLE PRINCESS V” back in Japan so she will at least get some ring rust off her before heading back to TJPW.


DPW “CAROLINA CLASSIC”, 15/09/2024
Durham Convention Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA

1. Battle Of The Best – Round 2: Shoko Nakajima Vs Trish Adora

Another visit to Deadlock Pro for Shoko Nakajima as she continues the inaugural Battle Of The Best tournament. She faces Trish Adora in Round 2 and the winner advances to the final scheduled for 13th October.


SETUP “CHAOPHRAYA VOYAGE: 12TH ANNIVERSARY OF THAI WRESTLING”, 28/09/2024
The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand

1. SETUP All Asia Women’s Title – 3 Way Match: Matcha (c) Vs Raku Vs Pom Harajuku

Fresh back from visiting England, Raku is going to travel again this time to Thailand and with Pom Harajuku following her. The travel buddies will be opponents though as they both take on Matcha for the SETUP All Asia Women’s Title in a 3 Way free for all.


MAPLE LEAF PRO “FORGED IN EXCELLENCE – NIGHT 1”, 19/10/2024
St. Clair College, Windsor, Ontario, Canada

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. Josh Alexander Vs Konosuke Takeshita?

Some interesting news coming out of the Canadian scene. Scott D’Amore was fired as president of TNA back in February and in the meantime went about establishing a new venture called Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling. Takeshita will be there for the debut weekend of shows. The first match announced for the weekend is Takeshita against Josh Alexander in a rematch of their 20 minute draw from Garden State Pro Wrestling back in July 2022. Maple Leaf Pro haven’t made clear yet if the match is happening on Night 1 or Night 2.


MAPLE LEAF PRO “FORGED IN EXCELLENCE – NIGHT 2”, 20/10/2024
St. Clair College, Windsor, Ontario, Canada

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. Josh Alexander Vs Konosuke Takeshita?

Yamashita will also be booked for both shows that weekend.


TOKYO JOSHI PRO/DEFY “BRIGHT EYES”, 09/11/2024
Washington Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA

The twelve wrestlers from TJPW making the trip are Miu Watanabe, Suzume, Arisu Endo, Yuki Kamifuku, Miyu Yamashita, Shoko Nakajima, Rika Tatsumi, Mizuki, Maki Itoh, Yuki Aino, Moka Miyamoto and Wakana Uehara. There will be around 6-8 local or American wrestlers also on the card for a total of 6 or 7 matches.


DDT/DEFY “DDT IN UTERO”, 09/11/2024
Washington Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA

Takeshita is the first DDT wrestler announced to be on the show.


DDT/TOKYO JOSHI PRO/DEFY “TRIANGLER DTD”, 10/11/2024
Washington Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA

Both Takeshita and the dozen TJPW wrestlers will also be at the weekend finale.

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Cancelled Appearances


KITSUNE “LOVE MY SHOW!”, 17/08/2024
Brick X Brick, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Aspyn Rose & Yuna Manase Vs Aria Perkins & Delmi Exo

As mentioned above Manase had a hell of an ordeal to go through just to make it to America. Travel from Japan was heavily effected by an incoming typhoon that week and her flight was delayed by many hours. So her first match for Kitsune the day before her title match had to be changed into something without her. Then when she finally made it to America it still took a few more hours to get through immigration customs.


GCW “NO SIGNAL IN THE HILLS PT. 4”, 17/08/2024
Ukrainian Culture Center, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Nick Gage & Maki Itoh Vs Mance Warner & Broski Jimmy

Itoh’s injury cancelled not one but two matches against Mance Warner this month. She would have faced him for the GCW World Title in Japan and then a tag match in America a few days later.


GCW “SAVE ME”, 18/08/2024
Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

No appearance at Salt Lake City for Itoh either.


GCW “HOMECOMING – NIGHT 1”, 24/08/2024
The Showboat, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs Kerry Morton

I think Kerry Morton lost his booking because he didn’t wrestle on the show from what I could find.


GCW “HOMECOMING – NIGHT 2”, 25/08/2024
The Showboat, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

Itoh probably missed out on a few extra Extreme Title defences because of her injury. She is still the champion as far as I’m aware.


GCW “LIVE FAST DIE YOUNG”, 31/08/2024
Thalia Hall, Chicago, Illinois, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs Kylie Rae

Kylie Rae ended up facing Brooke Havok instead.


INSPIRE A.D. “MAY THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN”, 01/09/2024
Empire Control Room, Austin, Texas, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs Devin Carter

Itoh’s getting replaced by Effy on this show.