DDT “ULTIMATE PARTY 2019!” Preview

November 1, 2019

DDT “ULTIMATE PARTY 2019! DDT GROUP BIG GATHERING!”, 03/11/2019
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

0. Under Match: Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Mizuki Watase & Keigo Nakamura Vs Daichi Kazato, Masato Kamino & Shuhei Washida
0. Under Match – Tokyo Joshi Pro 8-Woman Tag Match: Hikari Noa, YUMI, Mahiro Kiryu & Suzume Vs Raku, Pom Harajuku, Haruna Neko & Mirai Maiumi
0. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Time Difference Battle Royal: Shota (c) Vs Toru Owashi Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Gorgeous Matsuno Vs HARUKAZE Vs SAGAT Vs Yuki Kamifuku Vs Mina Shirakawa Vs Pokotan Vs Yoshihiko
1. 100 Plastic Cases Match: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Isami Kodaka
2. KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles: Danshoku Dieno, Asuka, Yuki Iino, Mizuki & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi Vs Super Sasadango Machine, Yuna Manase, Jiro Kuroshio, Hiroshi Yamato & Makoto Oishi
3. Gauntlet Tag Match: Yukio Naya & Cody Hall Vs Yuki Ueno & Naomi Yoshimura Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Ryota Nakatsu Vs Shuichiro Katsumura & Kouki Iwasaki Vs Maki Itoh & Chris Brookes Vs Nodoka Tenma & Yuki Aino
4. Independent World Jr. Heavyweight Title: Keisuke Ishii (c) Vs Fuminori Abe
5. UWA World 6-Man Tag Team Titles – 3 Way Match: Takumi Tsukamoto, Yasu Urano & Takato Nakano (c) Vs Tetsuya Endo, Mad Paulie & Nobuhiro Shimatani Vs Ken Ohka, Yumehito Imanari & Miss Mongol
6. Princess Tag Team Titles: Sakisama & Misao (c) Vs Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe
7. KO-D Tag Team Titles – 4 Way Hardcore Match: Daisuke Sasaki & Soma Takao (c) Vs Akito & Shunma Katsumata Vs FUMA & Yusuke Kubo Vs Minoru Fujita & Daiki Shimomura
8. Union MAX Title: Ryuichi Sekine (c) Vs Masahiro Takanashi
9. Princess Of Princess Title: Shoko Nakajima (c) Vs Yuka Sakazaki
10. Souken Holdings Presents Dramatic Dream Match: Kenny Omega & Riho Vs Antonio Honda & Miyu Yamashita
11. BLACK OUT Presents KO-D Openweight Title & DDT Extreme Title: Konosuke Takeshita (K/c) Vs HARASHIMA (E/c)

100 plastic cases, 81 wrestlers, 53 men, 26 women, 14 matches, 9 championships, 4 promotions (maybe make it 5), 2 non-human wrestlers and 1 Ultimate Party to hold it all inside Sumo Hall! Welcome to one of the largest shows DDT has ever put together. There are so many people booked that they could hold it in an empty arena and still outdraw ROH. Thanks to a lot of help from BASARA, Tokyo Joshi Pro and Ganbare☆Wrestling this show will have tons and tons of variety. It will probably last an eternity too so you should get comfortable.

The big family reunion is a little bittersweet. On the bright side we get a big star return. But BASARA will become a completely independent company from DDT at the end of the year and they have already begun the transition process. The BASARA wrestlers all have the same goal in mind for this show. Win and steal as many championships as they can from DDT before they leave! Tokyo Joshi and Ganpro have their own spots on the card where they will aim to steal the show.

0. Under Match: Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Mizuki Watase & Keigo Nakamura Vs Daichi Kazato, Masato Kamino & Shuhei Washida

It’s always fun to see a trainee come in and grow from show to show. The abandoned DNA brand was great for that. The first newcomer to appear in DDT since DNA’s disappearance is Keigo Nakamura. For months before his debut Nakamura was made visible on shows by being dragged into the wacky antics DDT is known for. From the swimming pool to the campsite Nakamura always had a side role to play so he became a familiar face when he finally began wrestling in matches. For his first bout in Sumo Hall he is tagging with Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Mizuki Watase to form a DDT team against a combined BASARA & Ganpro team. Daichi Kazato leads that side with the young bloods Masato Kamino & Shuhei Washida. Kazato may still be carrying the spirit of Best Stretchman V3 inside him.

0. Under Match – Tokyo Joshi Pro 8-Woman Tag Match: Hikari Noa, YUMI, Mahiro Kiryu & Suzume Vs Raku, Pom Harajuku, Haruna Neko & Mirai Maiumi

The new generation of Tokyo Joshi is in full effect here. The most experienced women are Hikari Noa and Raku and they only debuted back in January 2018! Then you get the HiSPC class of YUMI, Mahiro Kiryu, Pom Harajuku and Haruna Neko who all debuted over the last twelve months or so (poor Himawari Unagi is left out because of injury). Mirai Maiumi and Suzume are bringing up the rear as the newest girls on the roster.

0. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Time Difference Battle Royal: Shota (c) Vs Toru Owashi Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Gorgeous Matsuno Vs HARUKAZE Vs SAGAT Vs Yuki Kamifuku Vs Mina Shirakawa Vs Pokotan Vs Yoshihiko

The promise of an Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title defence has been fulfilled. The belt made its way across the world to Mexico and the United States thanks to Puma King. Luckily for DDT, Kikutaro now lives in America and was able to bring the title back to Japan. Unfortunately Kikutaro already has a booking that conflicts with the date of “ULTIMATE PARTY 2019!” He can only make it to Sumo Hall in time if his match is placed in the semi-main event! Thankfully Hisaya Imabayashi came up with a solution. He knocked out Kikutaro and told Shota to pin him and become the new Iron Man champion. Problem solved. Now Shota has to defend the title in a Battle Royal and Kikutaro isn’t getting booked at all. Everyone who matters wins!

Let’s look at the rest of the field that Shota has to deal with. Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata have been doing the usual stuff in DISASTER BOX. Gorgeous Matsuno’s wrestling career gained a new lease of life when he won the O-40 Championship, a belt exclusively fought for between wrestlers over the age of 40. HARUKAZE has been a staple of Ganpro’s joshi division. SAGAT is the violent yet at times plucky BASARA brawler. Yuki Kamifuku has found her groove in the wrestling ring and is now capable of racking up wins on a consistent basis. Her Pink Ready team with Mina Shirakawa is a big reason for that and Shirakawa herself won a championship in a wresting group ran by Best Body Japan. She also discovered a talent for rap. Then we are left with the mascots of DDT. Pokotan does its best to spread cheer until the head comes off and it violently malfunctions. And never underestimate Yoshihiko.

1. 100 Plastic Cases Match: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Isami Kodaka

Big Boss against BASARA Boss! The very first match announced for this show pits Sanshiro Takagi against Isami Kodaka in a rare singles bout between the two. This was placed in the proper opening spot because Takagi believes the curtain jerker is the second most important match after the main event. Kodaka wanted a crazy match to mark his goodbye from DDT so they decided on placing 100 plastic cases around ringside. Takagi has grown really fond of using them as weapons lately and they make satisfying noises when they break (take note American indies once the inevitable door shortage happens).

2. KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles: Danshoku Dieno, Asuka, Yuki Iino, Mizuki & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi Vs Super Sasadango Machine, Yuna Manase, Jiro Kuroshio, Hiroshi Yamato & Makoto Oishi

Bloody Hell they brought back the KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles. Why? Back in 2017 the first champions were crowned right here in Sumo Hall. DDT immediately discovered how difficult it was to book all members of the champion team on a regular basis so the belts quietly disappeared after the first defence. Two years later DDT stripped the champions of the belts under what I will now call the 770 Day Rule. So now we need new champions. I don’t know why but let’s go along with it. Two of the former champs Danshoku Dieno and Super Sasadango Machine were given the task of drafting separate teams to fight for the vacant titles. Dieno chose the fearless Asuka, the rugby fueled Yuki Iino, the Sugar Rabbit Mizuki and the weirdest advertisement for yoga Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi. Sasadango’s choices are the face (and body) of the Pocchari Joshi spin-off Yuna Manase, the soon to be co-opted by the Yanks Jiro Kuroshio, the always first at karaoke Hiroshi Yamato and the left until last Makoto Oishi. With the talent on offer the belts have a second chance at life no matter which team wins. Or maybe it will fall into obscurity until the 770 Day Rule kicks in again.

3. Gauntlet Tag Match: Yukio Naya & Cody Hall Vs Yuki Ueno & Naomi Yoshimura Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Ryota Nakatsu Vs Shuichiro Katsumura & Kouki Iwasaki Vs Maki Itoh & Chris Brookes Vs Nodoka Tenma & Yuki Aino

When DDT is in Sumo Hall you can always expect a Tag Team Gauntlet match in the undercard. Some newly established teams have filled out the ranks along with a couple of power duos. Yukio Naya & Cody Hall have spent several weeks feuding with each other. When Naya defeated Hall in a singles match the two put their differences behind them and formed a team together. Their thought process is nobody can stop their heavyweight size and power when it gets combined together. Yuki Ueno & Naomi Yoshimura begun teaming together when Yoshimura joined DISASTER BOX but took a step to the next level when they named their team Nautilus in September. Yukio Sakaguchi & Ryota Nakatsu are the two premier strikers in DDT and BASARA joining forces. Ganpro are represented by Shuichiro Katsumura & Kouki Iwasaki. The big wild card is the NEO Itoh Respect Army of Maki Itoh & Chris Brookes. Itoh is at a career high as the reigning International Princess Champion and Brookes is back in DDT for a run in both the tag team division and the upcoming D-ou Grand Prix. Last but certainly not least is the Tokyo Joshi team. Year after year DDT has told fans that The Steiner Brothers are not booked for their major shows. Well The Bakuretsu Sisters are sick of it! The Steiners won’t bother showing up so Nodoka Tenma & Yuki Aino have taken their place!

4. Independent World Jr. Heavyweight Title: Keisuke Ishii (c) Vs Fuminori Abe

I feel bad for Shuichiro Katsumura. When he held the Independent World Jr. Heavyweight Title it was he who established the goal of defending it in Sumo Hall. He held onto the belt one match after another until Keisuke Ishii killed his dream just over a month before the show. So instead it is Ishii in the champion’s spot for Ganpro’s featured match on the card. When Ishii declared his intentions to make Ganpro more appealing than the other brands, Fuminori Abe answered his challenge. He also revealed a sinister plan the entire BASARA roster has put together for this show. Since BASARA is becoming independent, they want to win as many championships as they can from the DDT family and claim them as their own once they have completed the split! The Independent Jr. Title has called Ganpro its home for the last two years. Will it make the jump over to BASARA?

5. UWA World 6-Man Tag Team Titles – 3 Way Match: Takumi Tsukamoto, Yasu Urano & Takato Nakano (c) Vs Tetsuya Endo, Mad Paulie & Nobuhiro Shimatani Vs Ken Ohka, Yumehito Imanari & Miss Mongol

The UWA World 6-Man Tag Team Titles have been in DDT before. Around 9 years ago in fact. I even have an incomplete title history page written up back when it was abandoned. WRESTLE-1 revived the belts in 2015 only to give up on them in 2018. Then Big Japan brought them back and they quickly jumped over to BASARA. So now we have a mishmash of teams fighting for the titles. Takumi Tsukamoto, Yasu Urano & Takato Nakano are the current champions going for their second defence. DAMANTION are one of the two challenger teams. Tetsuya Endo has noticeably fallen down the pecking order ever since his failure to claim the headline spot on this show. He at least has Mad Paulie & Nobuhiro Shimatani keeping him company. The third team is the alliance of Ken Ohka’s Ganpro and the pervy Pocchari Joshi sub-brand ran by Yumehito Imanari. Former FMW women’s wrestler Miss Mongol has been teaming regularly with those two throughout the year.

6. Princess Tag Team Titles: Sakisama & Misao (c) Vs Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe

Friendship. Betrayal. Strength. Beauty. Championships. Roses. This match has it all. One of the biggest stories to watch in Tokyo Joshi this year was the transformation of Hyper Misao from a superhero to the Royal Guardswoman for Sakisama. Sick of failure and feeling weak, Misao gave up the mask so she could learn to become strong under Sakisama. Say what you want about her mysterious methods, Sakisama has gotten results from every woman who joined her side. Since Misao’s transformation in March, her personality completely changed along with her win-loss record. The NEO Biishiki-gun team have been nigh on unbeatable and have held the Princess Tag Team Titles for almost 5 months. Along the way they picked on those they feel are below them. Sure that’s everybody but the two most who have received the brunt of it are Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe. In fact this whole storyline began when Misao betrayed Tatsumi during a failed attempt to rescue Watanabe from Sakisama’s attacks. It all comes full circle with Tatsumi & Watanabe joining forces. Tatsumi believes that deep, deep down Hyper Misao is still alive and the evil version of Misao is only a cover. Misao has resisted all attempts to bring back the hero but maybe losing the tag titles could make her snap out of it.

7. KO-D Tag Team Titles – 4 Way Hardcore Match: Daisuke Sasaki & Soma Takao (c) Vs Akito & Shunma Katsumata Vs FUMA & Yusuke Kubo Vs Minoru Fujita & Daiki Shimomura

Four teams charging into a chaotic Hardcore Match for the KO-D Tag Team Titles. The DAMNATION duo of Daisuke Sasaki & Soma Takao are currently having the most successful KO-D Tag Title run in years. They are one win away from tying the record for the second most title defences. They most recently defended the belts against ALL OUT so they already have a win over Akito. The difference here is this time Akito is teaming with Shunma Katsumata and he is the closest thing to a hardcore wrestler in the group. BASARA provides the two other teams. The IRON PRIEST team of FUMA & Yusuke Kubo are possibly the biggest threat to the champs. They regularly wrestle the hardcore style and also hold the brand new IRON FIST TAG Titles. A double crown tag championship is in their sights. Minoru Fujita & Daiki Shimomura are also into hardcore wrestling and want to win the belts for Sento Minzoku. The winners won’t have much time to recover. The next KO-D Tag Title defence will be in a week when the champions take on The Calamari Drunken Kings.

8. Union MAX Title: Ryuichi Sekine (c) Vs Masahiro Takanashi

On paper this looks like a match between BASARA and DDT but it is anything but. Ryuichi Sekine has been confidently holding his own as the Union MAX Champion ever since he won it back in May. He has earned the respect of the BASARA roster so who could he defend the belt against next? Out comes Masahiro Takanashi. The DDT wrestler said he wanted to take a different direction when he turned down the offer to compete in the D-Ou Grand Prix again. It turns out he wants to fight a strong champion in a match where both men are wrestling for themselves, not their companies. Takanashi will be on his own and Sekine won’t have the other members of Sento Minzoku getting involved. Only the strongest will leave Sumo Hall with the MAX Title.

9. Princess Of Princess Title: Shoko Nakajima (c) Vs Yuka Sakazaki

Two of the most important figures in Tokyo Joshi’s existence face off for the big prize. The third one is a bit busy but we’ll get to her later. When Shoko Nakajima won the (TOKYO) Princess Of Princess Title in May, it begun the reign of the BIG KAIJU! With the belt getting redesigned, every defence has felt to her like she won the title again for the first time. Thunder Rosa compacting her spine on the ring apron couldn’t stop her, Mizuki’s Double Stomps coulddn’t stop her and Misao’s newfound strength couldn’t stop her. It might take a miracle to beat her. Or a comedian. How about a Miraclian? Well we’ll find out because Nakajima chose Yuka Sakazaki to be her opponent at Sumo Hall!

Sakazaki has gone through some highs and lows during the summer. She lost the Princess Tag Titles but charmed a brand new audience overseas with her appearances in All Elite Wrestling. Her and Nakajima have been testing just how much they have both leveled up in tag matches over the last month. Evenly matched, the champion and the challenger are ready to show everybody the best of Tokyo Joshi!

10. Souken Holdings Presents Dramatic Dream Match: Kenny Omega & Riho Vs Antonio Honda & Miyu Yamashita

And now we get to the big draw of the show. It’s the DDT return of Riho!

(featuring Kenny Omega)

It’s been five years since Omega said his goodbyes and left DDT for greener pastures. A new generation grew up in DDT while he worked his magic in New Japan and turned the wrestling world upside down. Now representing AEW, the doors opened for a return to his original Japanese home. A match at Sumo Hall was certain but Omega had requests for the other participants. He wanted Riho to be his tag team partner. Riho was the first person Omega ever established a tag team with in Japan (before “Him”). The opposition picked were Antonio Honda because Omega thinks of him as one of his biggest rivals and Miyu Yamashita because he wants to see for himself how talented she is. I’m not saying AEW is in her future but I find it hard to believe she will be left out after Nakajima and Sakazaki wrestled there. Both teams have had practice matches away from each other. Omega & Riho reconnected fine but Honda & Yamashita took a few tries. Yamashita couldn’t understand Honda’s Gongitsune trick and kept believing his fake injuries. Eventually they found their groove but will it be enough to beat the AEW side?

11. BLACK OUT Presents KO-D Openweight Title & DDT Extreme Title: Konosuke Takeshita (K/c) Vs HARASHIMA (E/c)

And after all of that we reach the main event. The current ace of DDT against the previous ace with two championships on the line. Konosuke Takeshita had a rollercoaster run with the KO-D Openweight Title this year. He won it at Sumo Hall in February, lost it in New York two months later then regained it at Ota Ward Gymnasium in July. Since then he has had successful defences against Chris Brookes and Shinya Aoki to show that his style is the one that best represents DDT. The only way he can prove this further is to win the DDT Extreme Title.

HARASHIMA came into play when he, Tetsuya Endo and Jiro Kuroshio got into a 3 Way feud over that championship in the autumn. HARASHIMA pinned both of his opponents in a Survival 3 Way Match to win the title and cement his spot in the Sumo Hall main event. He still feels the sting of Takeshita beating him for the KO-D Title in Saitama Super Arena two years ago. Even worse is he still feels the sting in his back that Takeshita’s been giving him all month long. The Walls Of Takeshita has been used plenty of times to weaken and defeat HARASHIMA. He has lost matches both by having DISASTER BOX throw in the towel as well as outright tapping out to the hold. Takeshita meanwhile feels like he is in perfect condition going into the match. But despite his opponent being hurt, Takeshita knows that HARASHIMA is at his best after he has been defeated. Training doesn’t make him stronger, in fact it is losing. Whoever the strongest really is they will be leaving Sumo Hall a double champion!


6-Man Titles Rematch, Road To Ultimate Party, 10-Man Title Teams Picked

October 9, 2019

DDT “LEGEND THE DDT PRO WRESTLING”, 12/10/2019
Aichi Nagoya Legend Hall

1. MAO Vs Kazuki Hirata
2. Cody Hall & Antonio Honda Vs Makoto Oishi & Yukio Naya
3. Soma Takao, Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie Vs Toru Owashi, Masahiro Takanashi & Mizuki Watase
4. Nobuhiro Shimatani Marunage Match ~ Drop Kick Bar One Day Store Manager 3 Way Match: Nobuhiro Shimatani Vs Akito Vs Asuka
5. Nagoya Specialty! Miso Stew Special Single Match: Daisuke Sasaki Vs FUMA
6. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Konosuke Takeshita, Shunma Katsumata & Yuki Iino (c) Vs HARASHIMA, Yuki Ueno & Naomi Yoshimura

The recent KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles match between ALL OUT and DISASTER BOX was such a good warm up for Sumo Hall that the two teams agreed to have a rematch with the belts on the line again. Konosuke Takeshita and HARASHIMA get to prepare for their Sumo Hall main event while a rivalry between Yuki Iino and Naomi Yoshimura begins to grow. Maybe something will spark off between Shunma Katsumata and Yuki Ueno too.

DDT “DDT IN BIWAKO PART 3 ~BOAT RACING IS MARTIAL ARTS ON WATER!~”, 14/10/2019
Shiga Boat Race Biwako

1. Yukio Naya & Hiroshi Yamato Vs Mizuki Watase & Yuki Iino
2. 3 Way Tag Match: Soma Takao & Mad Paulie Vs Cody Hall & Antonio Honda Vs Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata
3. HARASHIMA, Yuki Ueno & Naomi Yoshimura Vs MAO, Asuka & Tomomitsu Matsunaga
4. Boat Race Biwako Special 6-Man Tag Match: Konosuke Takeshita, Akito & Shunma Katsumata Vs Daisuke Sasaki, Tetsuya Endo & Nobuhiro Shimatani

DDT will be hosting matches at the venue in between some boat races.

DDT “RYOGOKU COLONEL SANDERS 2019”, 19/10/2019
Tokyo Ryogoku KFC Hall

1. Keigo Nakamura Debut Match: Naomi Yoshimura Vs Keigo Nakamura
2. DDT Megatonweight Single Match: Cody Hall Vs Yukio Naya
3. Isami Kodaka Vs Nobuhiro Shimatani
4. Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Jiro Kuroshio
5. Road To Ultimate Party 2019! Antono & Yamashita 3 Match Trial: Antonio Honda & Miyu Yamashita Vs Danshoku Dieno & Mizuki Watase, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata and Masahiro Takanashi & Makoto Oishi
6. Road To Ultimate Party 2019! Special 8-Man Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki, Soma Takao, Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie Vs Akito, Shunma Katsumata, MAO & Asuka
7. Road To Ultimate Party 2019! Special Tag Match: Konosuke Takeshita & Yuki Iino Vs HARASHIMA & Yuki Ueno

Antonio Honda & Miyu Yamashita are being put through a gauntlet to prepare for their match with Kenny Omega & Riho. They must face all three teams in the gauntlet no matter the result of each match.

Keigo Nakamura has already achieved his goal of shifting his weight up to 75kg. His debut match is going ahead.

DDT “PRE ULTIMATE PARTY 2019 ~ READY TO GO! ~RYOGOKU BIG EVE FESTIVAL!!~”, 27/10/2019
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

0. Under Match: Nobuhiro Shimatani Vs Keigo Nakamura
1. Soma Takao & Mad Paulie Vs Cody Hall & Antonio Honda
2. Road To Ultimate Party 2019! Special 10-Man Tag Match: Danshoku Dieno, Super Sasadango Machine, Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata, Makoto Oishi, Yukio Naya, Shunma Katsumata, Yuki Iino, Asuka, Saki Akai
3. Special Single Match: Tetsuya Endo Vs Jiro Kuroshio
4. Yukio Sakaguchi & Mizuki Watase Vs Shuichiro Katsumura & Hiroshi Yamato
5. Next KO-D Tag Team Titles Challenger Battle: Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi Vs Yuki Ueno & Naomi Yoshimura
6. Road To Ultimate Party 2019! Special 4 Way Match: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Akito Vs FUMA Vs Daiki Shimomura
7. Road To Ultimate Party 2019! Special 6-Man Tag Match: Konosuke Takeshita, Ken Ohka & Shoko Nakajima Vs HARASHIMA, Isami Kodaka & Yuka Sakazaki

Cram everything in there!

At the end of Chris Brookes’s first tour with DDT he formed a tag team with Masahiro Takanashi called Calamari Drunken Kings. With Brookes coming in for a new tour the team are immediately setting their sights on the KO-D Tag Team Titles. Another new team have also wanted a title shot. That team is the Nautilus duo of Ueno & Yoshimura. The solution is a No. 1 Contenders match! The winners get whatever remains of the 4 Way Tag Title match from Sumo Hall.

There is unfinished business between Jiro Kuroshio and Tetsuya Endo. Part of the reason Kuroshio lost the DDT Extreme Title to HARASHIMA was because he focused too much on Endo in the 3 Way Match. Kuroshio then pinned Endo at last weekend’s show in Sapporo. Endo said that result doesn’t matter because it was in a tag match. They will get a singles match to settle the matter.

DDT “ULTIMATE PARTY 2019! DDT GROUP BIG SET!”, 03/11/2019
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

0. Under Match: Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Mizuki Watase & Keigo Nakamura Vs Daichi Kazato, Masato Kamino & Shuhei Washida
0. Under Match – Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: X Vs X
0. Under Match – Time Difference Battle Royal: Toru Owashi Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Gorgeous Matsuno Vs Yukio Naya Vs Cody Hall Vs Shota Vs HARUKAZE Vs SAGAT Vs Pokotan Vs Yoshihiko Vs X
1. Gauntlet Tag Match: Yuki Ueno & Naomi Yoshimura Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Ryota Nakatsu Vs Shuichiro Katsumura & Kouki Iwasaki Vs Maki Itoh & Chris Brookes
2. Special Single Match: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Isami Kodaka
3. Dramatic Dream Match: Kenny Omega & Riho Vs Antonio Honda & Miyu Yamashita
4. UWA World 6-Man Tag Team Titles – 3 Way Match: Takumi Tsukamoto, Yasu Urano & Takato Nakano (c) Vs Tetsuya Endo, Mad Paulie & Nobuhiro Shimatani Vs Ken Ohka, Yumehito Imanari & Miss Mongol
5. Independent World Jr. Heavyweight Title: Keisuke Ishii (c) Vs Fuminori Abe
6. Union MAX Title: Ryuichi Sekine (c) Vs Masahiro Takanashi
7. Princess Tag Team Titles: Sakisama & Misao (c) Vs X & X
8. Princess Of Princess Title: Shoko Nakajima (c) Vs Yuka Sakazaki
9. KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles: Danshoku Dieno, Asuka, Yuki Iino, Mizuki & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi Vs Super Sasadango Machine, Yuna Manase, Jiro Kuroshio, Hiroshi Yamato & Makoto Oishi
10. KO-D Tag Team Titles – 4 Way Hardcore Match: Daisuke Sasaki & Soma Takao (c) Vs Akito & Shunma Katsumata Vs FUMA & Yusuke Kubo Vs Minoru Fujita & Daiki Shimomura
11. KO-D Openweight Title & DDT Extreme Title: Konosuke Takeshita (K/c) Vs HARASHIMA (E/c)

Danshoku Dieno and Super Sasadango Machine have drafted their teams for the vacant KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles match. Dieno has picked Asuka, Yuki Iino, Mizuki & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi. Sasadango chose Yuna Manase, Jiro Kuroshio, Hiroshi Yamato & Makoto Oishi.


DDT “WHO’S GONNA TOP 2019” Results

September 29, 2019

DDT “WHO’S GONNA TOP 2019”, 29/09/2019
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
931 Fans

0. Under Match: Nobuhiro Shimatani defeated Takato Nakano with a Midified Camel Clutch (7:06).
1. Danshoku Dieno, Hoshitango & Gota Ihashi Vs Toru Owashi, Yukio Sakaguchi & Kazuki Hirata ended in a No Contest when Saki interfered (6:48).
2. Masahiro Takanashi & MAO defeated Shunma Katsumata & Mizuki Watase when Takanashi pinned Watase with a Leg Lock Cradle (5:35).
3. 4 Way Tag Match: Cody Hall & Antonio Honda defeated Makoto Oishi & Yukio Naya, Hiroshi Yamato & Mad Paulie and Yuki Ueno & Naomi Yoshimura when Hall pinned Ueno with the Thunder Buster (7:40).
4. O-40 Title: Gorgeous Matsuno defeated Sanshiro Takagi (c) with a School Boy (8:33).
*Sanshiro Takagi fails in V2. Gorgeous Matsuno becomes the 2nd O-40 Champion!
5. Special Single Match: Konosuke Takeshita defeated Asuka with a Rotating Prawn Hold (11:25).
6. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Daisuke Sasaki & Soma Takao (c) defeated Akito & Yuki Iino when Sasaki submitted Iino with the Cross Facelock (14:35).
*V7 for DAMNATION.
7. DDT Extreme Title – Survival 3 Way Match: HARASHIMA defeated Jiro Kuroshio (c) and Tetsuya Endo (20:01).
7a. HARASHIMA eliminated Jiro Kuroshio with the Somato (15:10).
7b. HARASHIMA eliminated Tetsuya Endo with the Somato (20:01).
*Jiro Kuroshio fails in V2. HARASHIMA becomes the 47th DDT Extreme Champion!

The stage is now set for DDT’s Ultimate Party in Sumo Hall this November. HARASHIMA was the last man standing in the Survival 3 Way match, eliminating both Jiro Kuroshio and Tetsuya Endo to win the DDT Extreme Title! Kuroshio was the first man eliminated when the numbers game overwhelmed him. He blocked Endo’s Shooting Star Press and dropped him with the Implant. But when he pinned Endo it left him vulnerable for HARASHIMA to hit him with the Somato. Everyone was surprised to see the champion eliminated first! Endo went into full on attack mode against HARASHIMA but after weeks of insults, HARASHIMA finally proved he can still beat Endo when he pinned him with the Somato.

HARASHIMA thanked the fans for their support because they are the reason he won today. He told Kuroshio it is okay if he is going to America or if he is staying in Japan. He’ll always be waiting to see him again. Konosuke Takeshita was then brought down from the broadcast table to confirm the main event for “ULTIMATE PARTY 2019!” is between him and HARASHIMA for both the KO-D Openweight Title and the DDT Extreme Title. Takeshita said he is surprised to face HARASHIMA again. He beat him for the KO-D Title in Saitama Super Arena two years ago which was when the previous era of DDT moved towards the current era. HARASHIMA told Takeshita that he has never forgotten that match. He knows Takeshita is both young and in perfect physical condition but he can still stand against him! He ended by saying all of the DDT brands will gather together at Sumo Hall to deliver a great show.

The power of rugby was on ALL OUT’s side especially since this show was happening the day after Japan defeated Ireland in the Rugby World Cup (Editor’s note: boo!). Yuki Iino entered the ring in almost full rugby gear taken from the No Side Game TV drama he worked on. But Daisuke Sasaki was in the same mindset and when the bell rang he rugby tackled Iino! Sasaki attacked him with chairs until Iino stopped him with his own rugby tackle Spear. However Iino’s rugby tactics backfired when he missed another Spear and tackled Daisuke Kiso by accident. Soma Takao blinded Iino with red Mist and sent him Spearing Akito out of the match. Takao dropped Iino with the Gin And Tonic then Sasaki applied the Cross Facelock. Iino tried to fight out by summoning power from his rugby ball but he eventually tapped out.

Sasaki yelled that just because Japan defeated Ireland in rugby doesn’t mean that Iino could beat DAMNATION in pro wrestling! He called out for any new team to challenge them. FUMA & Yusuke Kubo from BASARA came out. Sasaki asked if they were at the show. FUMA said that the BASARA roster has a plan to win all of DDT’s championships before BASARA splits off and becomes independent. FUMA challenged DAMNATION and also demanded it to be a Hardcore Match! Before Sasaki could answer, two men walked out wearing bags over their heads. They pulled the bags off to reveal it was Minoru Fujita & Daiki Shimomura! They like the idea of a Hardcore Match and asked to make it a 3 Way Tag. Shunma Katsumata then got in the ring and said he should be in the match because he is DDT’s hardcore wrestler! Akito agreed to be his tag partner because he wants to wrestle the BASARA guys. Sasaki accepted all of the challenges so the KO-D Tag Team Titles are being defended in a Hardcore 4 Way Tag Match at Sumo Hall!

Takeshita went into his match against Asuka with his lower back heavily taped up. Two days before the show he suffered a back injury from weightlifting. It effected his performance with limited movement after leap frogs and back pain preventing him from doing the German Suplex. Asuka took advantage but couldn’t beat Takeshita with the Swinging Choke Slam. Takeshita blocked the Moonsault with his knees and countered a cradle with one of his own for a flash three count on Asuka. The result left Asuka annoyed because she went into the match without any injuries and couldn’t beat a less than 100% Takeshita.

You’re never too old to succeed. Just ask Gorgeous Matsuno. At first things were going badly for him against Sanshiro Takagi. He missed the Gorgeous Superstar Elbow and had his left arm targeted from there. Matsuno would have chances to turn the tables but kept missing his signature Elbow Drop. Desperate, Matsuno took out powder and threw it. Unfortunately he didn’t realise that Daisuke Kiso was standing in front of him, not Takagi. With the ref blind, Takagi brought in chairs and plastic boxes to use as weapons. He lifted Matsuno up for the Himawari Bomb but something unexpected happened. Matsuno countered it into a Frankensteiner that sent Takagi crashing into the cases. Matsuno then rolled up Takagi into the School Boy and won the match! The new O-40 Champion told everyone he never gave up on his dream even at 58 years old. But today is not the end of his story. Matsuno’s dream will continue and he wants to share his dreams, courage and energy with everybody!

Cody Hall and Yukio Naya continue to be at each other’s throats, targeting each other in the 4 Way Tag. There was no such problems between Hiroshi Yamato & Mad Paulie. Paulie watched on while Yamato sang his way down to the ring. Antonio Honda tricked Naomi Yoshimura into hitting Yuki Ueno with a Lariat. Hall then picked up the pieces and beat Ueno with the Thunder Buster. Naya tried to get back in the ring to continue fighting Hall but Makoto Oishi held him back on the apron.

Masahiro Takanashi pinned Mizuki Watase to win his tag match with MAO but his thoughts are entirely on Sumo Hall. He challenges Ryuichi Sekine for the Union MAX Title at “ULTIMATE PARTY 2019!” and he isn’t happy that Sekine referred to him under his old ring name Masa Takanashi. Takanashi thinks that means Sekine has only seen him in DDT and is not aware of his work on the independent scene. He will teach Sekine who Masahiro Takanashi really is!

The mysterious letter that was sent to the DDT office during the week left some of the roster spooked. The wrestlers in the opening match gathered together in the locker room before the show to receive amulets that would protect them from any supernatural threats. Everyone except for Kazuki Hirata. He didn’t believe there was anything to worry about. But when the first match took place and Hirata wore his Hirata GO! glasses, his music was replaced with cries of “Help me…” The demon Saki emerged and entered the ring. She bit Hirata on the shoulder causing the match to get called off. Saki then chased everyone out of the ring and a message appeared on the screen saying “Let’s play a game…”

There was no waiting until Sumo Hall to get an inter-brand match. Nobuhiro Shimatani defeated Takato Nakano in a DDT Vs BASARA pre-show match. Nakano was angry he lost after recently becoming one third of the UWA World 6-Man Tag Team Champions. Shimatani on the other hand is now so confident, he wants to fight Isami Kodaka!

Trainee Keigo Nakamura was given exciting news to start the show. He will have his official debut match on 19th October! Naomi Yoshimura will be his opponent but Yoshimura wasn’t impressed by Nakamura’s size. He thinks Nakamura can’t fight him with such a skinny body. Yoshimura placed down a weighing scale and got Nakamura to weigh himself. He weighs 72kg. Actually it was 71.1kg and that was with Nakamura wearing clothes. Yoshimura told Nakamura to reach 75kg before their match.

Kazusada Higuchi gave an update on his PCL injury. He is out of action for the rest of the year and will do his best to rehabilitate and return next year.

The final part of the show was a video message from Kenny Omega promoting his match with Riho against Antonio Honda & Miyu Yamashita at Sumo Hall. Omega said he is nervous about the match but also looking forward to it.

The D-Ou Grand Prix 2020 competitors are Konosuke Takeshita, HARASHIMA, Daisuke Sasaki, Tetsuya Endo, Some Takao, Yukio Sakaguchi, Yuki Ueno, Naomi Yoshimura, Yuki Iino, Keisuke Ishii, Bull James, Chris Brookes, Masato Tanaka and Chihiro Hashimoto!

The KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles (remember them?) have been vacated because the champions have not defended the belts since November 2017. New champions will be crowned at Sumo Hall in a match between teams captained by Danshoku Dieno and Super Sasadango Machine.

DDT “ULTIMATE PARTY 2019! DDT GROUP BIG SET!”, 03/11/2019
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

0. Under Match – Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: X Vs X
0. Under Match – Time Difference Battle Royal: X Vs X
0. Under Match: Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Mizuki Watase & Keigo Nakamura Vs Daichi Kazato, Masato Kamino & Shuhei Washida
1. Gauntlet Tag Match: Yuki Ueno & Naomi Yoshimura Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Ryota Nakatsu Vs Shuichiro Katsumura & Kouki Iwasaki Vs Maki Itoh & Chris Brookes
2. KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles: Danshoku Dieno Army Vs Super Sasadango Machine Army
3. Princess Tag Team Titles: Sakisama & Misao (c) Vs X & X
4. KO-D Tag Team Titles – 4 Way Hardcore Match: Daisuke Sasaki & Soma Takao (c) Vs Akito & Shunma Katsumata Vs FUMA & Yusuke Kubo Vs Minoru Fujita & Daiki Shimomura
5. Independent World Jr. Heavyweight Title: Keisuke Ishii (c) Vs Fuminori Abe
6. Union MAX Title: Ryuichi Sekine (c) Vs Masahiro Takanashi
7. Princess Of Princess Title: Shoko Nakajima (c) Vs Yuka Sakazaki
8. Special Single Match: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Isami Kodaka
9. Dramatic Dream Match: Kenny Omega & Riho Vs Antonio Honda & Miyu Yamashita
10. KO-D Openweight Title & DDT Extreme Title: Konosuke Takeshita (K/c) Vs HARASHIMA (E/c)

DDT: Tetsuya Endo, Yuki Iino, Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata, Mad Paulie, Nobuhiro Shimatani, Makoto Oishi, Yukio Naya, Gorgeous Matsuno, Pokotan, Yoshihiko

Tokyo Joshi Pro: Rika Tatsumi, Nodoka Tenma, Yuki Aino, Pom Harajuku, YUMI, Himawari Unagi, Mahiro Kiryu, Mirai Maiumi, Suzumi, Miu Watanabe, Hikari Noa, Raku, Yuna Manase, Yuki Kamifuku, Mina Shirakawa, Mizuki

BASARA: Takumi Tsukamoto, Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi, SAGAT, Takato Nakano

Ganbare☆Wrestling: Ken Ohka, Yumehito Imanari, Shota, HARUKAZE

Other: Jiro Kuroshio, Asuka, Hiroshi Yamato, Yasu Urano, Miss Mongol


DDT “UCHIKOMI! PRESENTS GOD BLESS DDT 2017” Results

November 23, 2017

DDT “UCHIKOMI! PRESENTS GOD BLESS DDT 2017”, 23/11/2017
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,271 Fans – No Vacancy

0. Dark Match: Mad Paulie defeated Daiki Shimomura with the Paulie Buster (3:04).
1. DNA Generation Struggle! ~NOW Leader Vs NEW Leader~: Kota Umeda defeated Yuki Ueno with the Umeda Driver (5:06).
2. King’s Game The Animation Infomercial Match – Irregular Battle Royal: Kazuki Hirata defeated Danshoku Dino by Mission Failure (7:35).
2a. Mizuki Watase was eliminated by Mission Failure – Slap Hirata (3:53).
2b. Nobuhiro Shimatani and Saki Akai were eliminated by Mission Failure – Kiss Me (5:02).
2c. Koji Yoshida was eliminated by Mission Failure – Strike With Lariat (6:05).
2d. Danshoku Dino was eliminated by Mission Failure – Do Not Show Your Ass (7:35).
3. 3 Way 6-Man Tag Match: KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi defeated Shunma Katsumata, MAO & Diego and Kazusada Higuchi, Kouki Iwasaki & Rekka when Sakaguchi submitted Rekka with the Cobra Clutch (6:01).
4. KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles: LiLiCo, Makoto Oishi, Super Sasadango Machine, Ken Ohka & Keisuke Ishii (c) defeated Shiro Koshinaka, Sanshiro Takagi, Toru Owashi, Shigehiro Irie & Antonio Honda when LiLiCo pinned Honda after the Fire Spear from Ohka (8:06).
*V1 for Makoto Oishi, LiLiCo, Lady Beard, Super Sasadango Machine & Ken Ohka.
5. Do You Fly? Are You Flying? Special Single Match!: Tetsuya Endo defeated Mike Bailey with a Green Tea Plunge Switchback (10:02).
6. DDT Extreme Title – No DQ Match: Daisuke Sasaki (c) defeated Soma Takao by Referee Stoppage with the Crossover Facelock (18:24).
*V8 for Daisuke Sasaki.
7. KO-D Tag Team Titles: HARASHIMA & Naomichi Marufuji (c) defeated Konosuke Takeshita & Akito when HARASHIMA pinned Akito with the Somato (24:01).
*V4 for HarashiMarufuji.

There were two stories to keep an eye on in the main event. One was the first meeting between Konosuke Takeshita and Naomichi Marufuji. But the other that led to the match result was HARASHIMA getting a measure of revenge on Akito after losing to him earlier this month. Takeshita and Marufuji took each other out of the match late. Takeshita hit the Knee Strike but Marufuji fired back with the Tiger King. Akito locked HARASHIMA in a European Clutch again but this time HARASHIMA kicked out. Akito kicked him afterwards but all it did was made HARASHIMA angry. In response HARASHIKA kicked Akito until Akito was knocked out. From there HARASHIMA hit the Somato and that was it. Marufuji praised the challengers afterwards for providing them with a highly tense match. He called Akito a wonderful wrestler and told Takeshita he would like to fight him again.

When ALL OUT left the ring, DAMNATION appeared to declare themselves as the next challengers for the KO-D Tag Team Titles. Tetsuya Endo told the champions there are two geniuses in pro wrestling: himself and Daisuke Sasaki! HARASHIMA accepted the challenge and told Marufuji the next DDT show in Korakuen Hall is on Christmas Eve. It took some discussion for Marufuji to accept because he already has plans that day but he agreed to be there.

Chairs, steel basins and plastic boxes were all used in violent fashion during the No DQ Match. Soma Takao broke the plastic box over Sasaki’s head then hit a Diving Double Stomp while Sasaki was buried beneath a pile of chairs. Sasaki brought in handcuffs but he ended up wearing them instead. Tetsuya Endo and Mad Paulie eventually freed him but they took some chair shots from Takao during the process. Sasaki gave Takao the Vietnam Driver II onto the basin for a nearfall. Sasaki then locked in the Crossover Facelock until Takao lost consciousness. The referee called for the bell and rewarded the match to Sasaki. With this result Sasaki has now tied the record for most DDT Extreme Title defences in a single reign.

Dodgy translations aside, Mike Bailey had a clear plan put in place against Tetsuya Endo. Bailey thinks he is the calmer of the two so if he could make Endo mad, he can then use it to his advantage. Bailey intentionally left his guard open at the start by bowing to Endo. Endo didn’t fall for the trap. Instead he bowed back. Endo’s ability to match Bailey’s calmness with his own was the deciding factor. Bailey kicked out of the Tetsuya In The Sky and dodged away from the Shooting Star Press. But when it was his turn to fire back, Endo used Bailey’s momentum from the Green Tea Plunge to roll on top of him for the sudden three count. Whatever tension that existed between the two seems to have vanished after the match because they bowed to each other again. Bailey is taking the loss in his stride. He was hoping to win and go into his upcoming Impact X Division Title match against Taiji Ishimori at the Differ Cup with a lot of momentum. Instead he is going into the match as the clear underdog.

Super Sasadango Machine laid out his plans to beat the YaroZ in the KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles match. He singled out Shiro Koshinaka as the biggest threat on the challenger team. In order to beat YaroZ, the champions will have to destroy Koshinaka’s greatest weapon. His ass! So a special rule was put in place. If anybody laughs during the match, they must take a baseball bat swing to the ass. The goal is to make Koshinaka laugh. Kota Umeda, Yuki Ueno and Daiki Shimomura appeared dressed in black bodysuits carrying bats to attack any wrestler who laughed. Some of the others had some surprises in store to make Koshinaka laugh. Sasadango swapped places and costumes with the referee, LiLiCo was very aggressive with her shouting and everyone piled onto Sanshiro Takagi to stop him from doing the Spiccoli Driver. Takagi collapsed with back pain so Antonio Honda called for a doctor. Ultraman Robin appeared wearing a medical coat and he helped bring Takagi back to the locker room. He was interrupted by Yuki Iino dressed as a nurse. Iino decided that Takagi needed mouth to mouth resuscitation. It worked, Takagi regained consciousness and yelled at Iino not to use his tongue. Back in the ring the batsmen continued to attacked those who laughed but everyone noticed there was now a fourth batsman. It was Shinjiro Otani! He even used his bat the same way he does his Facewash Kicks in the corner. Honda stopped the match so he could talk about Gon, The Little Fox but he mixed it up with Fist Of The North Star. This made Koshinaka smirk and that was enough for him to get attacked. However Koshinaka shrugged off the bat shots and attacked the batmen and the others with Hip Attacks. Honda held LiLiCo in place for Koshinaka to hit the Super Hip Attack but LiLiCo moved out of the way. Honda got hit instead and he was then hit by Ken Ohka’s Fire Spear. LiLiCo climbed on top of Honda for the three count and a first successful defence of the 10-Man Titles. In the post-match interview Sasadango opened up a challenge for any fivesome in Japan to come over and face them. Big Japan, K-DOJO, WRESTLE-1, even All Japan or NOAH. Come on over!

A wild mix of teams were put together into a 3 Way Trios match. Diego was put with NωA and he filmed their entrance on his phone. Shunma Katsumata & MAO wiped out most of the field with stereo Suicide Dives but Shuten-dōji got away from them unscathed. That gave Yukio Sakaguchi the chance to pick apart Rekka and win the match for Shuten-dōji.

The King’s Game match featured plenty of surprises and suspense for the wrestlers involved. The match was overlooked by four of the voice actresses from the show. They spoke in-character and announced missions for the wrestlers to complete during the match. If anyone failed a mission they would be eliminated by death! The first twist came when the match was changed from a 5-on-1 Handicap Match into an all against each other Battle Royal. The first mission was to perform a throwing technique within 30 seconds. Everyone passed. Kazuki Hirata was about to dance when he was told dancing was prohibited by one of the other missions. The next mission was to slap Hirata within 30 seconds. Everyone did it except for Mizuki Watase. When the time expired the lights went out for a moment. When they came back on Watase spat blood out of his mouth and collapsed dead. He was out. The next mission was for the wrestlers to kiss each other. Danshoku Dino gladly kissed Koji Yoshida but Saki Akai hesitated to do the same with Nobuhiro Shimatani. They almost went through with it but Akai instead slapped him at the last second. The time expired, both of them spat out blood and they died. The next mission was to hit a Lariat. Yoshida failed and died. Lastly, Dino was instructed not to expose his ass. Hirata pulled down Dino’s tights and that was enough for Dino to fail the mission. He died and Hirata was declared the winner! Hirata danced to celebrate only to discover that his No Dancing mission was still active. Blood burst out of his mouth and he died to end the segment.

In his first singles match back from injury, Kota Umeda was victorious over Yuki Ueno. A Brainbuster, a Penalty Kick and the Umeda Driver scored him the win.

Mad Paulie made easy work of Daiki Shimomura in the dark match. The only time he was threatened with defeat was from a Missile Dropkick and a School Boy. After that Paulie lifted Shimomura up for an Argentine Backbreaker then put him away with the Paulie Buster.

Shuten-dōji are the subjects of the new DDT PREMIUM PHOTO book released at the show. Masahiro Takanashi was embarrassed when one of his sexy photos was shown on the screen and asked for the segment to be clipped out of the broadcast. KUDO’s picture was of him taking a batch and Sakaguchi’s was of him wearing only a fundoshi. He hopes those who buy the book will enjoy it “with a sense of comfort”.

The two block entries for the D-King Grand Prix were released. Block A contains Konosuke Takeshita, HARASHIMA, Tetsuya Endo, Keisuke Ishii, Masahiro Takanashi, Joey Ryan and Jiro Kuroshio. Block B contains Daisuke Sasaki, Yukio Sakaguchi, Soma Takao, Akito, Kazusada Higuchi, Mike Bailey and Shuji Ishikawa.

Shuji Ishikawa & Suwama will team up to face the Brahman Brothers at “DAMNATION ILLEGAL GATHERING VOL. 2” in Korakuen Hall on 30th December.

Diego’s farewell match will be against Dick Togo on 1st December.

“RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2018” is scheduled for 21st October next year.


King’s Game Handicap Match, More Ganbare News, Dai Suzuki Retirement

November 14, 2017

DDT “UTSUKOMI! PRESENTS GOD BLESS DDT 2017”, 23/11/2017
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

0. Dark Match: Mad Paulie Vs Daiki Shimomura
1. DNA Generation Struggle! ~NOW Leader Vs NEW Leader~: Kota Umeda Vs Yuki Ueno
2. 3 Way 6-Man Tag Match: KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi Vs Shunma Katsumata, MAO & Diego Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Kouki Iwasaki & Rekka
3. King’s Game The Animation Infomercial Match – 1 Vs 5 Handicap Match: Danshoku Dino Vs Kazuki Hirata, Koji Yoshida, Mizuki Watase, Nobuhiro Shimatani & Saki Akai
4. Do You Fly? Are You Flying? Special Single Match!: Tetsuya Endo Vs Mike Bailey
5. KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles: LiLiCo, Makoto Oishi, Super Sasadango Machine, Ken Ohka & Keisuke Ishii (c) Vs Shiro Koshinaka, Sanshiro Takagi, Toru Owashi, Shigehiro Irie & Antonio Honda
6. DDT Extreme Title: Daisuke Sasaki (c) Vs Soma Takao
7. KO-D Tag Team Titles: HARASHIMA & Naomichi Marufuji (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita & Akito

Sanshiro Takagi accidentally spoiled the reveal of his team’s mystery captain for the KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles match. It is Shiro Koshinaka.

Danshoku Dino’s latest attention grabbing idea is to put himself into a Handicap match against 5 other wrestlers and have it sponsored by King’s Game The Animation. King’s Game is a horror anime based on a popular visual novel. Several voice actors from the show will also be involved in the match somehow.

DDT “BIG HOUSE ARROW HOMETOWN 2017”, 25/11/2017
Toyama Takaoka Coeur

1. Akito Vs Shunma Katsumata
2. Shigehiro Irie & Mike Bailey Vs Danshoku Dino & Keisuke Ishii
3. Tale Of Toyama – Ken Ohka’s Triumphant Return! Takaoka Specialty 6-Man Tag Match: HARASHIMA, Soma Takao & Ken Ohka Vs Daisuke Sasaki, Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie

DDT is back in Ken Ohka’s hometown so he will be teaming with Smile Squash to face DAMNATION.

BASARA “VAJRA 53 ~LIFE LOVE LIFE~”, 26/11/2017
Tokyo Seijo Hall

1. Takato Nakano Vs Akiyori Takizawa
2. Takumi Tsukamoto, Daichi Kazato & Yasu Urano Vs Kazuhiro Tamura, Daisuke Kanehira & Fuminori Abe
3. Reversal Pro Wrestling Trial: Gouma Ryu Vs Atsushi Maruyama Vs Defendant X
4. Trans-Am ★ Family Vs IRON PRIEST: Trans-Am ★ Ryuichi & SAGAT Vs FUMA & Yusuke Kubo
5. Special Single Match: Ryota Nakatsu Vs Minoru Tanaka
6. Union MAX Title: Isami Kodaka (c) Vs Ryuichi Sekine

Minoru Tanaka returns to BASARA this time as himself instead of his Trans-Am alter ego.

DDT “I WANT TO SPREAD THE WINGS AND FLY 2017”, 26/11/2017
Yamagata Big Wing

1. HARASHIMA & Soma Takao Vs Mike Bailey & MAO
2. Gorgeous Matsuno Debut In Yamagata 15th Anniversary Special Single Match: Gorgeous Matsuno Vs Masahiro Takanashi
3. The Yaro Full Of YaroZ Full Conflict!: Toru Owashi & Kazusada Higuchi Vs Shigehiro Irie & Antonio Honda

The celebration of Gorgeous Matsuno’s 15 year long wrestling career continues.

GANBARE☆WRESTLING “I LOVE YOU MUSCAT 2017”, 26/11/2017
Tokyo Seijo Hall

1. Ganjo’s Symbol Vs Shabby Thick Makeup!: HARUKAZE Vs Sumire Natsu
2. Ganpuro “Kotori” Farewell Rumble!: “Kotori” Vs X
3. Ganbare The Tryout Season 2: Ganbare The Great & Ganbare The Shooter Vs Ganbare The Akihabara & Ganbare The Power
4. Ken Ohka Debut 16th Anniversary Memorial Match ~Toryumon 7th Graders Vs Sayama Sayama~: Ken Ohka & “brother” YASSHI Vs Shota & Yumehito Imanari
5. Independent World Jr. Heavyweight Title: Daisuke Sasaki (c) Vs Shinichiro Tominaga

Daisuke Sasaki wants to defend his title against TAKA Michinoku but DDT’s schedule is currently preventing that from happening. Until that gets sorted, Sasaki has to put his belt on the line against Shinichiro Tominaga instead. Tominaga wants to prove that his low tier status will not hold him back from beating Sasaki and becoming a champion.

The Ganbare masked man tryouts are moving on to a second audition after the first failed horribly. Yukihiro Abe is getting a second chance as Ganbare The Akihabara. Joining him is Ganbare The Power, presumably Chikara.

DNA “DNA 39”, 13/12/2017
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. DNA Vs IGF!: Mizuki Watase Vs Keisuke Okuda
2. Diego DNA Last Match!: Diego Vs Shunma Katsumata
3. Dai Suzuki Retirement Match ~Farewell Inexperienced Person~: Dai Suzuki Vs Ken Ohka

In sad DNA news Dai Suzuki has announced he will retire from pro wrestling on 13th December. Away from wrestling, Suzuki has been working in an after school day service for children. While he enjoyed wrestling, Suzuki feels a stronger desire to work for social services and decided to put his focus on that as his career. Suzuki wants his retirement match to be against Ken Ohka because he is an inspiration to him. There was a time before Suzuki debuted in DNA where he got injured and by coincidence met Ohka in the same hospital. Ohka gave him the following advice: “I do not know how hard I can go, but I will still work hard.” Those words stuck with Suzuki and has motivated him ever since.


DDT In November 2017

November 1, 2017

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “SMILE YES SHINKIBA”, 03/11/2017
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Shoko Nakajima Vs Yuki Kamifuku
2. Miyu Yamashita & Maki Ito Vs Yuu & Marika Kobashi
3. Azusa Takigawa Vs Nodoka-oneesan
4. Yuka Sakazaki & Maho Kurone Vs Nonoko & Yuna Manase
5. Saki-sama Vs Mizuki
6. TOKYO Princess Of Princess Title: Reika Saiki (c) Vs Rika Tatsumi

Thanks to some meddling by Saki-sama we are getting a match between the two weakest wrestlers in Tokyo Joshi Pro. Both Azusa Takigawa and Nodoka-oneesan don’t want to be seen as the worst of the bunch.

DDT “DRAMATIC COUNTRY STEALING STORY! 2017”, 03/11/2017
Gifu City Jiroku Plaza Hall

1. Mike Bailey Vs Rekka
2. Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Masahiro Takanashi & Kouki Iwasaki
3. Danshoku Dino & Antonio Honda Vs Makoto Oishi & MAO
4. Yukio Sakaguchi & Daiki Shimomura Vs Keisuke Ishii & Keisuke Okuda
5. Konosuke Takeshita & Akito Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Shunma Katsumata
6. Rocky Kawamura Local Gifu Triumph! Okuhida Love Special 6-Man Tag Match: HARASHIMA, Soma Takao & Rocky Kawamura Vs Daisuke Sasaki, Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie

Break out the trumpets, Rocky Kawamura is running home! Keisuke Okuda is also making the jump from DNA to DDT. Finally Mike Bailey is back for his current stay in Japan.

GANBARE☆WRESTLING “BLUE INAZUMA 2017”, 03/11/2017
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Ganjo Super Battle: Ami Kanda & HARUKAZE Vs Sumire Natsu & Saki
2. 3rd Generation Vs 3rd Generation Vs 2nd Generation! ~I Am The Grandson Panda! I Do Not Need Two Pandas In The Pro Wrestling World~: Chikara Vs J-Soul Pandita III IV Vs Yumehito Imanari
3. G-POP! Ganpuro New Generation Tryout!: Shinichiro Tominaga Vs Shota
4. Ganbare The Tryout: Ganbare The Great & Ganbare The Shooter Vs Ganbare The Akihabara & Ganbare The Robin
5. Meet The Assassin X From Daisuke Sasaki!: Ken Ohka Vs X

Yumehito Imanari is inserting himself into the Chikara Vs J-Soul Pandita III IV match with something to prove. He describes Pandita as a creature coming from a wonderful bloodline that stretches back 32 years. But Imanari’s father recently established a new spiritual venture called Rainbow House to heal people’s souls. Imanari finds it a bit odd. He has since visited his father and it felt to him like he was a complete stranger. However he was also impressed by his dad’s newly found vitality. So Imanari wants to spread his dad’s message of posterity and prove how strong the family bloodline is against others. Chikara and Pandita are just the kind of opponents he was looking for.

DDT “GORGEOUS MATSUNO 15TH ANNIVERSARY – GORGEOUS NIGHT”, 04/11/2017
Fukushima City National Memorial Gymnasium Sub-Arena

1. HARASHIMA Vs MAO
2. DDT Megaton 4 Way Match: Toru Owashi Vs Mad Paulie Vs Kazusada Higuchi Vs Antonio Honda
3. Soma Takao & Yuki Ueno Vs Makoto Oishi & Shunma Katsumata
4. Danshoku Dino, Keisuke Ishii & Cherry Vs Sanshiro Takagi, Kazuki Hirata & Saki Akai
5. Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo Vs Mike Bailey & Diego
6. Gorgeous Matsuno 15th Anniversary Wrestler Debut Commemoration! Fukushima Specialty Special 6-Man Tag Match: Konosuke Takeshita, Akito & Gorgeous Matsuno Vs Yukio Sakaguchi, Masahiro Takanashi & Kouki Iwasaki

Gorgeous Matsuno’s wrestling career began in IWA Japan back in 2002. He spent the year before in the promotion as the manager for Tiger Jeet Singh then had his debut on 1st October, 2002. It wasn’t until 2004 when he began showing up in DDT.

DDT “DRAMATIC NIIGATA! 2017”, 05/11/2017
Niigata City Nishikawa Multi-Purpose Hall

1. Soma Takao Vs Daiki Shimomura
2. Toru Owashi, Kouki Iwasaki & Cherry Vs Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata & Saki Akai
3. Shuten-dōji Vs T2Hide!: Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi Vs Sanshiro Takagi & Kazuki Hirata
4. Danshoku Dino & Keisuke Ishii Vs Antonio Honda & Diego
5. Daisuke Sasaki, Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie Vs Mike Bailey, MAO & Kazusada Higuchi
6. Niigata Specialty Special Bishamonten Tag Match: Konosuke Takeshita & Akito Vs HARASHIMA & Super Sasadango Machine

This show is in Super Sasadango Machine’s hometown. Bishamonten is the goddess of fortune so Sasadango will hope she will be smiling over him.

DDT “DRAMATIC DOKUGANRYU! 2017”, 12/11/2017
Miyagi Yume Messe West Wing Hall

1. KUDO & Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Danshoku Dino & Nobuhiro Shimatani
2. Memory Of Wonderful Wrestler Vs Gongitsune!: Keisuke Ishii Vs Antonio Honda
3. The Best One Is Shiroishi City! No, It Is Osaki City! Miyagi Specialty Special Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo Vs Mike Bailey & MAO

Tetsuya Endo and MAO are fighting both fighting on behalf of their own home cities to see which is better. Endo is from Shiroishi and MAO is from Osaki.

DDT “HEISEI DAIMYO DRAMATIC-KUN 2017”, 18/11/2017
Shizuoka Create Hamamatsu

1. Hungry Black Trout Vs Tentative Fierce Fighter: Akito Vs Mizuki Watase
2. Shuten-dōji Vs NωA!: KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Kota Umeda Vs Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata & MAO
3. Daisuke Sasaki, Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie Vs Soma Takao, Kazusada Higuchi & Mike Bailey

After a long wait Kota Umeda is getting back on to the DDT cards.

DDT “DRAMATIC FLOWER FAIR 2017”, 19/11/2017
Osaka City Tsurumi Greenland Hanamizuki Hall

1. Ref. DNA Naniwa War ~Osaka City Vs Yaoshi City~: Naomi Yoshimura Vs Yuki Ueno
2. P Playful Series: Danshoku Dino Vs Kazuki Hirata
3. DAMNATION Vs Team OsaCanada: Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo Vs Shigehiro Irie & Mike Bailey

By the powers of Osaka and Canada combined, Shigehiro Irie & Mike Bailey join forces to take on DAMNATION.

Another city versus city battle has Naomi Yoshimura and Yuki Ueno duking it out.

DDT “CARP IN THE KOI! 2017”, 20/11/2017
Hiroshima Aster Plaza Multi-Purpose Hall

1. MAO Vs Yuki Ueno
2. Local Hiroshima Born Danshoku Dino Wants To Make A Triumphant Return As A Producer 6-Man Tag Match: Shigehiro Irie, Antonio Honda & Rey Paloma Vs Danshoku Dino, Makoto Oishi & Keisuke Ishii
3. Hiroshima Specialty! Special Honorable 6-Man Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki, Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie Vs HARASHIMA, Soma Takao & Mike Bailey

Takeshi Okada and Kenshin Chikano will be on the show.

DDT “BOAT RACE BIWAKO”, 21/11/2017
Shiga Boat Race Biwako 1F Central Multi-Purpose Hall

1. Daisuke Sasaki, Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie Vs Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata & MAO
2. Shigehiro Irie & Mike Bailey Vs Masahiro Takanashi & Kota Umeda
3. Battle Royal: Danshoku Dino Vs Keisuke Ishii Vs Toru Owashi Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Saki Akai Vs Antonio Honda Vs Kazusada Higuchi
4. Konosuke Takeshita, Akito & Diego Vs HARASHIMA, Soma Takao & Mizuki Watase

This show is taking place at a boat racing event. Each match is taking place inbetween the later races.

DDT “UTSUKOMI! PRESENTS GOD BLESS DDT 2017”, 23/11/2017
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Do You Fly? Are You Flying? Special Single Match!: Tetsuya Endo Vs Mike Bailey
2. KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles: LiLiCo, Makoto Oishi, Super Sasadango Machine, Ken Ohka & Keisuke Ishii (c) Vs YaroZ-gun Leader X, Sanshiro Takagi, Toru Owashi, Shigehiro Irie & Antonio Honda
3. DDT Extreme Title: Daisuke Sasaki (c) Vs Soma Takao

The YaroZ are the first group chosen to challenge for the KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles. The only unknown from them is who the team captain will be. On the champion side, Keisuke Ishii is the substitute for Lady Beard.

Koji Yoshida will be on the show.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “SMILE YES SHINJUKU”, 23/11/2017
Shinjuku FACE

1. TOKYO Princess Tag Team Titles: Yuka Sakazaki & Shoko Nakajima (c) Vs Nonoko & Yuna Manase

Former rivals turned allies, the Super Milk Combination of Nonoko & Yuna Manase are going after the TOKYO Princess Tag Team Titles.

“DIFFER CUP MEMORIAL 2017”, 28/11/2017
Differ Ariake

1. Differ Cup 2017 – Round 1: Katsuhiko Nakajima & Hitoshi Kumano Vs Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Sean Guinness
2. Differ Cup 2017 – Round 1: Konosuke Takeshita & Yuki Ueno Vs Jun Kasai & FREEDOMS X
3. Differ Cup Memorial Special 6-Man Tag Match: Danshoku Dino, Go Shiozaki & Mitomi Masayuki Vs Ryuichi Kawakami, Masa Kitamiya & KAZMA SAKAMOTO
4. Differ Cup Memorial Special Single Match: Taiji Ishimori Vs Mike Bailey
5. Differ Cup Memorial Special 6-Man Tag Match: Naomichi Marufuji, HARASHIMA & Kappa Kozo Vs Ryota Hama, Minoru Tanaka & Ikuto Hidaka
5. Differ Cup 2017 – Final: Winners Of Match #1 Vs Winners Of Match #2

Some more names are added to the show. Ryota Hama, Minoru Tanaka & Ikuto Hidaka are the opponents for the NOAH/DDT/UMA Corps super team. Jun Kasai is entering the Differ Cup tournament as part of the FREEDOMS team.

BASARA “FUMA FEST VOL.1 ~WRESTLE ’EM ALL~」”, 09/12/2017
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Jinbeizamen Vs Yngwie Malmsteen
2. Yusuke Kubo & Hagane Vs Isami Kodaka & Yuko Miyamoto
3. FUMA Vs Jun Kasai

FUMA is bringing back his old Okinawa Pro gimmick for a match against a Swedish heavy metal musician. I think. This one came out of left field.


What’s Up In November?

October 25, 2017

DDT “PEANUTS, YOU CAN TAKE PROTEIN FOR IT! IN CHIBA 2017”, 28/10/2017
Chiba Blue Field

1. Danshoku Dino & Keisuke Ishi Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Kouki Iwasaki
2. 3 Way Tag Match: Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Makoto Oishi & MAO Vs Akito & Rekka
3. Antonio Honda Vs Yuki Ueno
4. Tetsuya Endo Vs Shunma Katsumata
5. Konosuke Takeshita & Diego Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Mad Paulie
6. Inner Chamber, Outer Chamber, Big Runaway! Chiba Specialty Special Tag Match: HARASHIMA & Soma Takao Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi

The effects of this year’s Dramatic Election are now gone so it’s time to look forward to the remainder of 2017.

DDT “SHINSHU CHASHU MINANOSHU 2017”, 29/10/2017
Nagano City Art Center Act Park

1. Mad Paulie Vs Diego
2. HARASHIMA & Kouki Iwasaki Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi
3. Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo Vs Soma Takao & Shunma Katsumata
4. Keisuke Ishii Vs MAO
5. DDT Nagano Sales Manager Tori Owashi (Free) Local Triumph! “Owashi And Funny Friends Part 2” Special 6-Man Tag Match: Sanshiro Takagi, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Danshoku Dino, Makoto Oishi & Antonio Honda
6. Nagano Specialty! Shinshu Shinano Special Tag Match: Konosuke Takeshita & Akito Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Mizuki Watase

Toru Owashi is in charge of this show.

BASARA “HIROSHI AID”, 29/10/2017
Tokyo BASEMENT MON☆STAR

1. Takumi Tsukamoto Vs Daichi Kazato
2. Yasu Urano & Gouma Ryu Vs Shinya Ishida & Takato Nakano
3. Trans-Am ★ Shinya & SAGAT Vs FUMA & Yusuke Kubo
4. Isami Kodaka & Tank Nagai Vs Ryuichi Sekine & Ryota Nakatsu
5. Find The Next Generation Trans-Am! Hiroshi Birth! Rumble: X Vs X

Everyone in BASARA is helping out with raising money for Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi while he recovers from his injury. “HIROSHI AID” is a benefit show for him headlined with a Battle Royal to find the next Trans-Am ★ Superstar.

DDT “SHIN-KIBA, I CAME BACK!”, 02/11/2017
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Mike Bailey & MAO Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Antonio Honda
2. Danshoku Commandment ~Something Not To Do By Danshoku Producer~: Danshoku Dino Vs Keisuke Ishii Vs Tetsuya Endo Vs Soma Takao Vs Makoto Oishi Vs Shunma Katsumata Vs Toru Owashi Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Kouki Iwasaki Vs Nobuhiro Shimatani
3. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles Decision Match: Konosuke Takeshita, Akito & Diego Vs Daisuke Sasaki, Shuji Ishikawa & Mad Paulie
4. KO-D Tag Team Titles: HARASHIMA & Naomichi Marufuji (c) Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi

DAMNATION has put their team together. Shuji Ishikawa is back.

Not sure what Danshoku Dino is up to here with his Commandment match.

BASARA “VAJRA 51 ~FEAST~”, 03/11/2017
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Takato Nakano Vs Akiyori Takizara
2. Reversal Pro Wrestling Trial: Gouma Ryu Vs Kuishinbo Kamen Vs Atsushi Matsuyama
3. Takumi Tsukamoto & Yasu Urano Vs Masamune & Daichi Kazato
4. Hardcore Match: SAGAT Vs Masaya Takahashi
5. Ryuichi Sekine, Ryota Nakatsu & Koji Iwamoto Vs FUMA, Yusuke Kubo & Hagane
6. Daisuke Retirement Road: Isami Kodaka Vs Daisuke

Akiyori Takizara is an indie wrestler who recently appeared in K-DOJO.

DNA “DNA 38”, 09/11/2017
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Rekka Vs Masato Kamino
2. Yuki Ueno & Koju Takeda Vs Kouki Iwasaki & Daiki Shimomura
3. Nobuhiro Shimatani Vs Keisuke Okuda
4. Mizuki Watase Vs Akira Jo
5. Shunma Katsumata & Diego Vs Isami Kodaka & Yuko Miyamoto
6. Kota Umeda Return Match: Kota Umeda & MAO Vs Naomi Yoshimura & Kengo

Yuki Iino will miss the show because of a right elbow injury. It is an old injury from his time playing rugby that came back so he is under examination to see how serious it is.

DDT “KEISUKE ISHII BOX OFFICE PINK KNEEL KICK 2017 ~GOOD DAY’S TRAVEL~”, 11/11/2017
Tokorozawa Citizen Gymnasium Sub-Arena

1. Fresh Ariyama Greengrocer Cup Rumble: X Vs X
2. HARASHIMA, Soma Takao, Mike Bailey & Mizuki Watase Vs KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi, Masahiro Takanashi & Kota Umeda
3. Independent World Jr. Heavyweight Title: Daisuke Sasaki (c) Vs X
4. Konosuke Takeshita & Yasu Urano Vs Keisuke Ishii & Shigehiro Irie

Keisuke Ishii is producing the show but Yasu Urano will be the hometown hero in the main event. Shigehiro Irie also returns from his latest USA excursion.

With KUDO and Kota Umeda both returning, the complete Shuten-dōji are wrestling together for the first time since I don’t even know how long.

DDT “UTSUKOMI! PRESENTS GOD BLESS DDT 2017”, 23/11/2017
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles: LiLiCo, Makoto Oishi, Super Sasadango Machine, Ken Ohka & X (c) Vs X, X, X, X & X
2. DDT Extreme Title: Daisuke Sasaki (c) Vs Soma Takao

The KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles are finally getting defended for the first time. Lady Beard is unable to appear on the show because of conflicting schedules so the champion team will have to find their first substitute.

BASARA “VAJRA 53 ~LIFE LOVE LIFE~”, 26/11/2017
Tokyo Seijo Hall

1. Union MAX Title: Isami Kodaka (c) Vs Ryuichi Sekine

Ryuichi Sekine is proud of his recent accomplishments. In the last month he has made FUMA, Yasu Urano and Takumi Tsukamoto all tap out to the Let’s Combine. Now he is the No. 1 Contender for the Union MAX Title. All that is left is for him to do is make Isami Kodaka tap out and take the title.

DDT “NEVER MIND 2017”, 24/12/2017
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. KO-D Openweight Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Colt Cabana

It will be two months before the KO-D Openweight Title will be defended again. Producer Dino made this decision and even abolished the annual Rock Paper Scissors tournament to determine the usual title challenger for November. Dino’s reason is DDT has so many championships now that they need to give time for other the other titles to be defended. Colt Cabana sent a message at “DDT SPECIAL 2017” challenging the winner of Konosuke Takeshita Vs Dino to put the belt on the line against him. Cabana gets his shot against Takeshita on Christmas Eve.


Producer Dino In Charge, Kodaka 15 Years, DDT Nostalgia, Ohka Gambles Big

August 22, 2017

DDT “DDT DRAMATIC GENERAL ELECTION 2017 ~FIRST REQUEST SPECIAL!~”, 25/08/2017
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

0. Match To Determine If Amon Tsurumi Can Return As GM: Amon Tsurumi Vs X

With “RYOGOKU PETER PAN” done for another year it’s time for a fresh start in DDT, especially since we now have Danshoku Dino as the Producer. The card for DDT’s next show will be determined through “Danshoku Interviews” Dino will hold with the roster. Also he is giving Amon Tsurumi an opportunity to return to his role as General Manager but Tsurumi has to wrestle for it. Tsurumi does not need to win to get his job back, he only has to do a good enough job convincing Producer Dino that he deserves it.

DDT “DRAMATIC ARMOR ATTACK! 2017”, 27/08/2017
Kanagawa Odawara Arena

0. King Of Dark Title: Dai Suzuki (c) Vs Kouki Iwasaki
1. Sanshiro Takagi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Shunma Katsumata & MAO
2. Big Single Match At Late Summer ~ 41 Year Old Chubby Wrestler Vs 38 Year Old Idol Wrestler!: Toru Owashi Vs Makoto Oishi
3. Shigehiro Irie & Kazusada Higuchi Vs KUDO & Masahiro Takanashi
4. HARASHIMA & Soma Takao Vs Danshoku Dino & Keisuke Ishii
5. Big Single Match At Late Summer ~ Crazy Gold Wolf Vs Crazy D●ck Throw!: Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Joey Ryan
6. Odawara Specialty! Kanagawa Special 6-Man Tag Match: Konosuke Takeshita, Akito & Diego Vs Daisuke Sasaki, Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie

Some extra rules have been established for the brand new KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles. After the first champions were crowned Dino quickly realised how difficult it will be to schedule all five members of the team to appear at the same shows on a regular basis. In this situation, only Makoto Oishi & Ken Ohka can be relied on for regular DDT bookings at this moment in time. LiLiCo, Lady Beard and Super Sasadango Machine all have conflicting schedules. So the plan is title defences will be endorsed if at least 3 members of the defending team including the team captain are available. The remaining spots on the team can be filled by temporary replacements. However the replacements will not be recognised as champions themselves. Any successful defences will be credited to the original champions even when they are absent.

BASARA “VAJRA 45 ~OSHU BATTLE~”, 02/09/2017
Sendai City Miyagino Ward Cultural Center

1. Single Match With Beef Tongue As Ingredients: Gouma Ryu Vs Atsushi Maruyama
2. Isami Kodaka 15th Anniversary Memorial Match ~Miyagino Ward~: Isami Kodaka & Ryuichi Sekine Vs Minoru Fujita & Masamune

Isami Kodaka is setting up a few special matches in the build up to his 15th Anniversary show this October.

DDT “NON-FIX ~ 9.13 ~ DDT 20TH ANNIVERSARY MEMORIAL EXTRA EDITION VOL. 2”, 13/09/2017
Shibuya Club ATOM

1. 4 Way Match: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Danshoku Dino Vs Muscle Sakai Vs Ken Ohka
2. KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi Vs HERO!, MIKAMI & Tanomusaku Toba
3. Konosuke Takeshita, Akito & Poison Sawada JULIE Vs Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata & MAO

DDT returns to Shibuya Club ATOM for the first time since I think 2004 for a nostalgia show. Poison Sawada JULIE comes out of retirement to team with ALL OUT. Other returns include HERO!, MIKAMI, Tanomusaku Toba and Muscle Saki.

DDT “FACTORY WRESTLING IN MIYAJI IRON WORKS 2017”, 20/09/2017
Miyagi Iron Works

KO-D Tag Team Titles: HARASHIMA & Naomichi Marufuji (c) Vs Sanshiro Takagi & Danshoku Dino

When the working day is done, DDT will take over the Miyaji Iron Works for a special Factory Pro Wrestling match. The KO-D Tag Team Titles are on the line! Naomichi Marufuji is hesitant about wrestling a Falls Count Anywhere Match inside a factory but his boss over in NOAH gave him permission to take part.

GANBARE☆WRESTLING “BAD COMMUNICATION 2017”, 21/09/2017
Shinjuku FACE

1. “Kamen Women” Nanaka Kawamura Debut Match: HARUKAZE & Nanaka Kawamura Vs Emi Sakura & Riho
2. Independent World Jr. Heavyweight Title: Ken Ohka (c) Vs “brother” YASSHI

Days before Ken Ohka puts his Independent World Jr. Heavyweight Title on the line in the special 3 Way Match, he will first have to go through a title defence in Ganbare☆Wrestling. The good news for Okha is if he loses the title to “brother” YASSHI, he will still be part of the 3 Way Titles Match in DDT. The bad news is he will have to put something else on the line to replace the title. More on that below.

DDT “WHO’S GONNA TOP? ~DDT DRAMATIC GENERAL ELECTION 2017 ~LAST REQUEST SPECIAL!~”, 24/09/2017
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. KO-D Openweight Title, DDT Extreme Title & Independent World Jr. Heavyweight Title – 3 Way Match: Konosuke Takeshita (c/K) Vs Daisuke Sasaki (c/E) Vs Ken Ohka (c/I)

Producer Dino ended “RYOGOKU PETER PAN” with a major announcement concerning the main event for DDT’s next show in Korakuen Hall. It is a 3 Way Match with the KO-D Openweight Title, DDT Extreme Title and Independent World Jr. Title all on the line! The winner will become a double champion, taking the title from whoever he pins or submits. The odd man out will escape the match with their respective championship still in their grasp. In the case that Ohka loses his championship in Ganpuro a few days before this show, he agrees to put his entire life savings of 664,111 yen on the line instead.


DDT “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2017 ~PETER PAN EVEN IF YOU BECOME 20 YEARS OLD PETER PAN~” Results

August 20, 2017

DDT “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2017 ~PETER PAN EVEN IF YOU BECOME 20 YEARS OLD PETER PAN~”, 20/08/2017
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
5,900 Fans – Super No Vacancy

0. Street Pro Wrestling Extra Edition! Gota Ihashi Ryogoku 5 Game Series: Gota Ihashi (c) Vs Mad Paulie, Gorgeous Matsuno, Dai Suzuki, Rocky Kawamura & Lingerie Muto ended 2-3.
0a. King Of Dark Title: Gota Ihashi (c) defeated Dai Suzuki with a Body Press (0:36).
*Gota Ihashi passes D3. Dai Suzuki becomes the 20th King Of Dark Champion.
0b. Gota Ihashi defeated Gorgeous Matsuno with a Body Press (3:31).
0c. Mad Paulie defeated Gota Ihashi with a Lou Thesz Press (4:35).
0d. Rocky Kawamura defeated Gota Ihashi with the Balboa Blow (1:23).
0e. Lingerie Muto defeated Gota Ihashi with the Shining Wizard (1:36).
0. Dark Match: Mizuki Watase, Rekka, Diego & Daiki Shimomura defeated Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Hoshitango, Nobuhiro Shimatani & Masato Kamino when Watase pinned Kamino with the Back Drop (6:23).
0. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Battle Royal: Yuu defeated Tetsuya Koda (c), Miyu Yamashita, Shoko Nakajima, Yuka Sakazaki, Nonoko, Rika Tatsumi, Azusa Takigawa, Nodoka-oneesan, Maho Kurone, Marika Kobashi, Yuna Manase, Mizuki and Cherry (16:46).
0a. Nodoka-oneesan and Nonoko eliminated Cherry by Pinfall when Cherry tripped over Tetsuya Koda (3:17).
0b. Nodoka-oneesan eliminated Tetsuya Koda (c) by Pinfall (4:52).
*Nodoka-oneesan becomes the 1,625th champion.
0c. Yuka Sakazaki and eliminated Nonoko and Yuna Manase by Ring Out (5:01).
0d. Mizuki eliminated Nodoka-oneesan (c) with the Cutie Special (6:47).
*Mizuki becomes the 1,626th champion.
0e. Maho Kurone eliminated Marika Kobashi by Ring Out (10:04).
0f. Rika Tatsumi eliminated Maho Kurone by Ring Out (10:43).
0g. Yuka Sakazaki and Shoko Nakajima eliminated Rika Tatsumi with a Sunset Flip & Jackknife Pin Combo (11:40).
0h. Yuu eliminated Miyu Yamashita by Ring Out (13:04).
0i. Mizuki (c) eliminated Yuka Sakazaki and Shoko Nakajima by Ring Out (13:28).
*V1 and V2 for Mizuki.
0j. Yuu eliminated Azusa Takigawa with a Sidewalk Slam (14:53).
0k. Yuu eliminated Mizuki (c) with the Katahajime (16:46).
*Yuu becomes the 1,267th champion.
1. Yuki Ino Debut Match: Naomi Yoshimura & Yuki Ueno defeated Kouki Iwasaki & Yuki Ino when Yoshimura pinned Ino with the Shonenba (10:49).
2. KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles: Makoto Oishi, LiLiCo, Lady Beard, Super Sasadango Machine & Ken Ohka defeated Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata, Joey Ryan, Saki Akai & Yoshihiko when Ohka pinned Hirata with the Fire Spear (10:23).
*Makoto Oishi, LiLiCo, Lady Beard, Super Sasadango Machine & Ken Ohka become the 1st KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Champions!
3. Ikemen Vs Idol! Handsome Humanity Battle: Jiro Kuroshio defeated Shunma Katsumata with the Ikemen Clutch (12:00).
4. Special 4 Way Tag Match: Kotaro Suzuki & Soma Takao defeated Kaz Hayashi & Keisuke Ishii, Isami Kodaka & Yuko Miyamoto and Mike Bailey & MAO when Takao pinned MAO with the Endless Waltz (10:30).
5. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi (c) defeated Dick Togo, Yasu Urano & Antonio Honda when KUDO pinned Honda with the Diving Double Knee Drop (13:52).
*V1 for Shuten-dōji.
6. DDT 20th Anniversary Weapons Rumble – All Rights Contra Marriage: Danshoku Dino defeated Sanshiro Takagi with the Gotch-Style Danshoku Driver (17:16).
-. Weapon Match: Kendo Kashin Vs Mitsuo Momota (w/ Momota Family) ended in a No Contest (2:36).
7. DDT Extreme Title – Cabellera Contra Cabellera: Daisuke Sasaki (c) defeated Akito with the Chair Assisted La Mistica Cross Facelock (21:14).
*V5 for Daisuke Sasaki.
8. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Uchikomi! Presents: HARASHIMA & Naomichi Marufuji defeated Shigehiro Irie & Kazusada Higuchi (c) when HARASHIMA pinned Irie with the Somato (16:14).
*YaroZ fail in V4. HARASHIMA & Naomichi Marufuji become the 62nd KO-D Tag Team Champions!
9. KO-D Openweight Title – Good Com Asset Presents: Konosuke Takeshita (c) defeated Tetsuya Endo with the Cross Arm German Suplex (29:02).
*V7 for Konosuke Takeshita.

Konosuke Takeshita overcame his toughest challenge yet to achieve his 7th defence of the KO-D Openweight Title! The grudge match against Tetsuya Endo was the headline attraction for DDT’s return to Sumo Hall. Last time the two fought to an hour long draw but this time, Takeshita was able to defeat Endo in just under 30 minutes. Endo did hit the Torture Rack Bomb, the Shooting Star Press and both versions of Tetsuya In The Sky but Takeshita kicked out of all of them. Endo also reversed a Tombstone Piledriver on the ramp during an outside attack. In return, Takeshita hit Lariats, Big Boots, Pump Up Knee Strikes, German Suplexes and the Blue Thunder Bomb but Endo kicked out of them. Finally, Takeshita crossed Endo’s arms over for one last German Suplex and that one brought an end to the match. Takeshita wanted to show good sportsmanship to Endo after the match but Endo spat in his face and was carried away from the ring by DAMNATION.

Takeshita thanked the fans for coming to Sumo Hall and supporting him. His victory speech was interrupted by the new DDT Producer, Danshoku Dino. Coming out wearing a peach colored suit jacket over his wrestling gear, Dino congratulated Takeshita and said that part of his new job is to come up with new challenges for the champion. Dino told Takeshita he will defend the KO-D Title on 24th September against another champion. Out came Ken Ohka with his Independent World Jr. Heavyweight Title! Takeshita accepted the challenge and wanted Ohka to put his title on the line too in a unification match, one on one. Dino looked surprised. He never said Takeshita and Ohka would be in a singles match. It’s going to be a 3 Way Match with a third champion involved. Daisuke Sasaki entered the ring with his DDT Extreme Title. He wasn’t happy with the idea but if it means getting revenge on Takeshita for beating Endo, then so be it. With that decided, everyone left Takeshita alone in the ring to finish the show closing speech. Five years ago, 17 year old Takeshita had his debut match in Budokan Hall. Fast forward to today and 22 year old Takeshita is making DDT grow bigger in both mind and body!

It was a new song but the same old story for Shigehiro Irie. He just can’t beat HARASHIMA. Irie and Kazusada Higuchi came out to Irie’s new entrance music “T2” (“Tachimukau Ver.2”) by Kinniku Shojo Tai. He even had the support of the band’s main vocalist Kenji Otsuki sitting at ringside for the match. But HARASHIMA had Naomichi Marufuji on his team and Marufuji kept Higuchi at bay with their Chop Battles. Irie did what he could to put away HARASHIMA but nothing worked. Irie readied himself for one last Beast Bomber but was cut off by Marufuji. Irie was then pinned after the Shiranui from Marufuji followed by the Somato by HARASHIMA. As the new KO-D Tag Team Champions celebrated, Irie went over to Otsuki and cried for forgiveness. Higuchi also apologised to Irie but Irie wouldn’t let him take the blame.

HARASHIMA & Marufuji’s celebration was then cut short by Dino, who introduced himself to Marufuji. Dino said he wants to provide a dream match for the next Tag Title defence and it will involve the two wrestlers who best represent DDT. Himself and Sanshiro Takagi! Dino also wants Marufuji to experience the kind of match only DDT can provide. So on 20th September, HARASHIMA & Marufuji will defend the KO-D Tag Team Titles against Dino & Takagi inside the Miyagi Iron Works for a Factory Pro Wrestling Match! Marufuji was taken aback by the announcement and referred to the NOAH president Masayuki Uchida at ringside for his opinion. “No problem!”, Uchida said. Welcome to DDT, Marufuji.

Daisuke Sasaki and Akito fought in a crazy Hardcore Submission Hair Vs Hair Match for the DDT Extreme Title. Akito came out with new wrestling gear but focused all of his attention to the task at hand. Sasaki meanwhile lived it up by walking to the ring with two blonde haired foreign women for his entrance. The match became dangerous in between the submissions when a table, ladder and chairs were all brought into the ring. Akito used the chairs to attack Sasaki by the legs. Sasaki hit back with a major move, placing Akito sitting on a chair outside the ring then jumping off the ladder from inside the ring for the Super Diving Elbow! Back in the ring Sasaki laid Akito down inside the ladder and hit a chair-assisted Diving Elbow from the top rope. Akito returned fire by putting Sasaki through the table from the ladder. He put Sasaki in the Scorpion Lock but let it go when Mad Paulie jumped onto the apron for a distraction. Sasaki swung a chair at Akito but he ducked and Paulie took the shot instead. Akito tried to give Sasaki the Double Knee Buster but it was countered into a DDT onto the chair. Sasaki then found a guitar and smashed it over Akito’s head. Finally, Sasaki made Akito submit to La Mistica Cross Facelock with a chair wrapped around Akito’s head pulling back for extra damage.

Sasaki took joy from slowly cutting off pieces of Akito’s hair with clippers until Akito grabbed an electric shaver and shaved off the remaining hair himself.

Company power versus romantic freedom were on the line when Sanshiro Takagi and Danshoku Dino fought in a Weapons Rumble. If Dino won he would be given complete control of booking DDT shows. If Takagi won then Dino would have to go find a romantic partner and get married. The early weapons brought into the match included a barbed wire baseball bat, a vibrating massager also wrapped in barbed wire which Dino stuffed behind Takagi’s shorts, a gigantic marriage document which Takagi forced Dino to sign and Takagi’s Rolex watch which Dino smashed to pieces with the baseball bat. The next “weapon” turned out to be Kendo Kashin but he was immediately attacked by Mitsuo Momota with Chikara accompanying him. Their planned match at 6:30am never took place so DDT decided to begin the match here and now. It was called off when Dino and his friends assaulted the referee assigned to the Kashin Vs Momota match. Kashin promoted the next All Japan show in Sumo Hall to be held on 27th August and then left. Dino’s friends were then distracted by the appearance of the Macho 29 dance troupe so that got rid of them. Dino then had an old video of a drunk Takagi stripping naked during a fan event play over the arena screen. Takagi had a mental breakdown until his secret weapon appeared. It was Dino’s mother, Yaeko! She entered the ring and gave Dino the Lip Lock! Takagi then hit Dino with a Lariat and the Sit Down Himawari Bomb but Dino kicked out. Then it was time for Dino’s secret weapon, Takagi’s wife Kayoko Takagi! She hit a Moonsault on Takagi. The end finally came when Dino delivered the Lip Lock and the Danshoku Driver, a Gotch-Style variation for extra insult. Dino is now in charge of DDT!

Dino celebrated winning what must now be the most important match of his career. Takagi tried to convince Dino to go and get married anyway. Marriage can be nice, just look at him and Kayoko. After he said this Kayoko gave him the cold shoulder and left the ring. Takagi then changed his mind and said it’s probably alright for Dino to stay single for a little while longer. He also thanked Yaeko for appearing. She received cheers from the audience as she left the ring. Moving on to other business, Takagi asked Dino if he realises how much power he now holds in DDT. Dino said he was prepared otherwise he would never have asked for it. Takagi accepted the answer and promoted Dino into the DDT Producer. Takagi then announced he was going to retire but quickly admitted he was lying. Amon Tsurumi came in to congratulate Dino for becoming the Producer. With Takagi, Amon and Dino all working together DDT will become a more interesting place. Takagi then fired Tsurumi! DDT only needs two people to captain the ship so Tsurumi’s position as General Manager is no longer needed. Dino agreed and said in English “You are fired!” Tsurumi tried to complain but was pulled out of the ring by a bunch of DDT wrestlers and carried away from ringside.

The combined powers of Dick Togo, Yasu Urano and Antonio Honda telling his bedtime story were not enough to take the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles from Shuten-dōji. Honda was put away with the combo of Yukio Sakaguchi’s Right Knee Of God, Masahiro Takanashi’s Takatonic and KUDO’s Diving Double Knee Drop. The champions declared they will drink until the morning to celebrate. Sakaguchi also sent a message to Togo. If Togo wants a match anytime, Sakaguchi will be there to kill him!

The 4 Way Tag Team match turned into a free for all. Kaz Hayashi & Keisuke Ishii hit stereo Planchas onto Yankee Two Kenju. Then Mike Bailey & MAO jumped off of the same top corner together to hit Moonsaults onto everyone outside the ring. Bailey & MAO then singled out Soma Takao but couldn’t catch the guy. Takao rolled away from Bailey’s Shooting Star Double Knee Drop then avoided MAO’s Cannonball 450. Kotaro Suzuki then grabbed MAO and did Takao’s Endless Waltz for a few nearfalls. Takao then took over the Endless Waltz for some more nearfalls until he finally pinned down MAO long enough to get a three count. Suzuki revealed that he got permission from Takao before the match to use the move so it is now officially part of his moveset. Takao hopes he and Suzuki will tag together more in the future. Bailey & MAO also expressed a desire to team up more often in DDT. On a sidenote, Takao is now 9-0 at “PETER PAN” events.

Shunma Katsumata and Jiro Kuroshiro provided a handsome looking change of pace with their singles match. Katsumata made his entrance on a stage gondola with the rest of NωA throwing autographed balls into the audience. Kuroshio then spent the entirety of his entrance frolicking through the crowd. His big move of the match was a Lionsault out of the ring onto Katsumata standing on the ramp. Katsumata got a nearfall with the Firebird Splash and also used his own version of the Ikemen Clutch for a nearfall. But Kuroshio got the victory by locking in the real Ikemen Clutch for the three count. Katsumata and Kuroshio embraced after the match. Katsumata said he regrets not being able to grasp his big opportunity today but he has no hard feelings over the result. Kuroshio said he felt lucky to get the match today and he thanked DDT for giving him their support.

In order to win the brand new KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles, a special battle plan was necessary to succeed. Super Sasadango Machine had such a plan ready for his team. First he held his PowerPoint presentation, “Reasons Why We Cannot Stop Wrestling”. Short answers, it’s because wrestlers feel a sense of accomplishment when they win. But wrestling is mostly an individual competition and when you are not the champion it is not as fun. When Tag Team Titles are introduced it increases the variety of ingredients to make tastier dishes. So he approves of a 10-Man Tag Title being created. for his battle plan, Kazuki Hirata is the target. Sasadango wants the audience to applaud Hirata so much that he will become deliriously happy. Then LiLiCo can sneak in and pin him with a School Boy. The plan didn’t work and Hirata kicked out of the School Boy. Later, Joey Ryan overpowered almost the entire opposition with his dick strength, flipping everybody away except for LiLiCo. She held on, forced Ryan to grab her crotch and used her power to flip him over. Hirata came back in to dance to his cover of “TOKYO GO!” until Ken Ohka hit him with the Fire Spear to win the match. So the first champions are Makoto Oishi, LiLiCo, Lady Beard, Super Sasadango Machine & Ken Ohka! Sasadango said backstage that the team are open to challenges from anybody as long as they come to DDT.

DDT’s new big lad Yuki Ino was the focus in the opening match for the main show. His power overwhelmed Yuki Ueno and he also went toe to toe with Naomi Yoshimura. He had no problem teaming with Kouki Iwasaki while Ueno & Yoshimura had a moment of miscommunication that almost cost them the match. Ueno’s Dropkick hit Yoshimura by mistake and Ino capitalised with a Spear to Ueno and a Back Drop to Yoshimura. Ino went for another Spear but Yoshimura sut him off with a Lariat and pinned the new rookie with the Shonenba. Ueno was impressed by Ino’s strength but Yoshimura wasn’t. He doesn’t see what the big deal with Ino is and why he was given the spotlight.

The Tokyo Joshi Pro GM Tetsuya Koda has the face the wrath of his entire roster because he had to enter their Battle Royal as the defending Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion. He tried to act tough but was easily beaten up by Cherry. When Nodoka-oneesan came out and Cherry fought her, Koda backed off to the corner and tried to stay out of the way. That backfired when Nonoko was thrown into the corner and she squashed him. Nodoka-oneesan then pinned Koda to become the champion. Her reign was ended by Mizuki with the Cutie Special. Mizuki held on to the belt until she was in the final two with Yuu. Fifteen years ago when Yuu was a kid, she tried to win the title as part of a fan contest and failed. But today, Yuu accomplished her goal and tapped out Mizuki to become the Iron Man Champion!

The All DNA team were victorious in the pre-show 8-Man Tag. The veterans Tomomitsu Matsunaga and Hoshitango came close to winning it for their side but their pins kept getting cut off. Rekka, Diego & Daiki Shimomura wiped out the opposition with Planchas then Mizuki Watase pinned Masato Kamino with the Back Drop.

When the doors opened at 2:00pm that afternoon, the first match of the day began. Gota Ihashi was put into a special 5-match Gauntlet series to be held all around the building. Plus he would be defending the King Of Dark Title so there he had many opportunities ahead to pass the cursed title to someone else. In fact he did it immediately outside Sumo Hall to his first opponent Dai Suzuki. Ihashi pinned Suzuki in 36 seconds and Suzuki rolled down the stairway with the title belt. Even though Ihashi is now free from dark match hell, he still had to complete his series so he move into a restroom for match number two against Gorgeous Matsuno. They fought over to a balcony where Matsuno used a tarp rope to attempt the Gorgeous Superstar Elbow. That obviously didn’t work and Ihashi leapt on top of him for the three count. Ihashi had to go down to the lobby and interrupt a DAMNATION autograph session for Match #3 against Mad Paulie. They moved over to the ring where Ihashi ran the length of ringside to do a Lariat. Paulie countered it with a Lou Thesz Press, got the three count and went back to the autograph table. An exhausted Ihashi looked around the halls for his first of two mystery opponents and found Rocky Kawamura. He put on a pair of boxing gloves and sparred with Kawamura until he got knocked out and pinned. Possibly dazed and confused or just by being a pervert, Ihashi found the women’s locker room and entered it. Saki Akai and Cherry ran out screaming but one person walked out of the shower and stayed. It was Lingerie Muto! He attacked Ihashi with shampoo, gave him a Dragon Screw and hit the Shining Wizard to end the match. Ihashi finishes the series with two wins and three losses.

During the ending credits, Akito sadly showed off his new bald head, Takagi was slapped down by Kayoko then their two daughters did standing Moonsaults onto him and Amon Tsurumi was seen pleading for his job back.

Suwama, Ultimo Dragon, Hideki Suzuki and Abdullah Kobayashi will all compete at the 22nd October show in Korakuen Hall. This is the same event where the Top 20 wrestlers in the Dramatic General Election will be booked.

One of the trends DDT is following as part of its 20th Anniversary is to return to venues that housed their events as they grew. One of the venues is Shibuya Club ATOM where DDT will have a special nostalgia show on 13th September. Three matches are announced so far. Takeshita, Akito & Poison Sawada JULIE take on NωA. Takagi, Dino, Muscle Sakai and Ohka will fight in a 4 Way Match. Lastly, Shuten-dōji face HERO!, MIKAMI & Tanomusaku Toba.


DDT “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2017 ~PETER PAN EVEN IF YOU BECOME 20 YEARS OLD PETER PAN~” Preview

August 17, 2017

DDT “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2017 ~PETER PAN EVEN IF YOU BECOME 20 YEARS OLD PETER PAN~”, 20/08/2017
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

0. King Of Dark Title – Street Pro Wrestling Extra Edition! Gota Ihashi Ryogoku 5 Game Series: Gota Ihashi (c) Vs Mad Paulie, Gorgeous Matsuno, Dai Suzuki, X & X
0. Dark Match: Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Hoshitango, Nobuhiro Shimatani & Masato Kamino Vs Mizuki Watase, Rekka, Diego & Daiki Shimomura
0. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Battle Royal: Tetsuya Koda (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita Vs Shoko Nakajima Vs Yuka Sakazaki Vs Nonoko Vs Rika Tatsumi Vs Azusa Takigawa Vs Yuu Vs Nodoka-oneesan Vs Maho Kurone Vs Marika Kobashi Vs Yuna Manase Vs Mizuki Vs Cherry
1. Yuki Ino Debut Match: Kouki Iwasaki & Yuki Ino Vs Naomi Yoshimura & Yuki Ueno
2. KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles: Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata, Joey Ryan, Saki Akai & Yoshihiko Vs Makoto Oishi, LiLiCo, Lady Beard, Super Sasadango Machine & Ken Ohka
3. Ikemen Vs Idol! Handsome Humanity Battle: Jiro Kuroshio Vs Shunma Katsumata
4. Special 4 Way Tag Match: Kaz Hayashi & Keisuke Ishii Vs Isami Kodaka & Yuko Miyamoto Vs Mike Bailey & MAO Vs Kotaro Suzuki & Soma Takao
5. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi (c) Vs Dick Togo, Yasu Urano & Antonio Honda
6. DDT 20th Anniversary Weapons Rumble – All Rights Contra Marriage: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Danshoku Dino
7. DDT Extreme Title – Cabellera Contra Cabellera: Daisuke Sasaki (c) Vs Akito
8. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Uchikomi! Presents: Shigehiro Irie & Kazusada Higuchi (c) Vs HARASHIMA & Naomichi Marufuji
9. KO-D Openweight Title – Good Com Asset Presents: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Tetsuya Endo

The main show airs live on DDT UNIVERSE on Sunday 20th August at 3:00pm JST, 7:00am GMT, 2:00am ET and Saturday 11:00pm PT.

I was a guest on the Burning Spirits podcast this week to preview the show. The episode can be heard here.

Now that the 20 year celebrations are mostly done with it’s time to return to Neverland for DDT “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2017”! A lot has happened since Saitama Super Arena. DDT went viral for their portrayal of Donald Trump (even getting featured on @midnight), for having a Battle Royal on a moving train and for booking the Tokyo Dome for an Empty Arena Match. We’ve had the new generation establishing themselves in the main event and even got one to reveal his entire tragic life story because he believed it was all the champion’s fault.

So what’s in store for Sumo Hall this time? The show is headlined by the definitive rivalry of modern DDT, the previous ace teams with the ace of NOAH for tag team glory, hair will be chopped off, the company is put on the line against a wrestler’s romantic life (or lack thereof), two handsome men face off, multiple championships are on the line including a brand new 10-Man Tag Team Title, a new strong lad debuts and there will be some free for all brawls spread around the building.

?. Maybe A Dark Match: Kendo Kashin Vs Mitsuo Momota or Chikara

We’re going to start off with something weird that has been developing over the last week but has been simmering in the background for months. Kendo Kashin is an ideas guy and he never lets something like common sense or reality limit his plans. For his appearances in DNA and Ganbare☆Wrestling during the year, Kashin often threw out challenges for a 5 Vs 5 Elimination match to be held on this event’s pre-show with Kashin’s team representing IGF NEW. Nobody took the challenges seriously. Then this past week at the Ganbare☆Climax, Kashin got into confrontations with Mitsuo Momota. The tension between them raised so high that Kashin is now claiming he got permission from DDT to fight Momota inside Sumo Hall on the morning of “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2017”, at 6:30am to be precise. DDT denies this and also revealed that they do not get access to the building until 7:00am. But DDT is interested in doing some sort of dark match featuring Kashin and Momota. They are, as of this writing, negotiating with both wrestlers to organise a match to take place outside the venue at 6:30am. Momota thinks it is a difficult task for him to commit to but his son Chikara has offered to take his spot. Kashin has also demanded Bomber Saito to be the referee. Momota is against that idea because he knows Kashin and Saito went to the same high school together so there is no guarantee Saito will be neutral. If this match goes ahead does this mean the bout will be a Dawn Match instead of a Dark Match?

0. King Of Dark Title – Street Pro Wrestling Extra Edition! Gota Ihashi Ryogoku 5 Game Series: Gota Ihashi Vs Mad Paulie, Gorgeous Matsuno, Dai Suzuki, X & X

Whenever DDT runs in Sumo Hall they can’t help but take the action out of the ring and even out of the building. Gota Ihashi is still cursed to fight for DDT only on the pre-shows because of his status as the King Of Dark Champion. At least DDT is giving him a bunch of opportunities to get rid of it. The rules for his upcoming challenge have not been explained yet but it looks to be a 5 match Gauntlet series, all of them being Falls Count Anywhwere. Mad Paulie, Gorgeous Matsuno and Dai Suzuki are the only opponents revealed so far but the remaining two entries have been kept secret. I have predictions for who they will be. Maybe one of them can be Jun Kasai because he has a habit of showing up for these kind of matches whenever DDT produces them, either as a participant or by getting in the way while working another job. And what if the other was Kota Ibushi? The DDT Falls Count Anywhere matches are right up his alley. Also Ibushi’s first wrestling match after the G1 Climax being a Falls Count Anywhere dark match for DDT in Sumo Hall is the most Kota Ibushi decision he could ever make. I mean yeah, the drama surrounding his relationship with Kenny Omega is captivating and all but you know his desire to Moonsault off of the Ryogoku balcony again is too strong to resist.

Now watch me be wrong and the two mystery wrestlers turn out to be Kendo Kashin and Mitsuo Momota making another appearance.

0. Dark Match: Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Hoshitango, Nobuhiro Shimatani & Masato Kamino Vs Mizuki Watase, Rekka, Diego & Daiki Shimomura

Not much to go on for this mixture of veteran lowcard and DNA wrestlers. Masato Kamino is the freshest face in the match after only debuting on 5th August. He’s trying to grab attention immediately by wearing a lavish entrance jacket that is allegedly worth 100,000 yen. Tomomitsu Matsunaga reclaimed his Sumo King throne during Beer Garden week. Nobuhiro Shimatani has been the butt of many jokes throughout the year. It remains to be seen if this is just rookie hazing or if this will be his role in DDT from now on. Hoshitango has had a quiet year, sticking to appearances for the more significant shows on the calendar. On the other side Mizuki Watase, Rekka, Diego & Daiki Shimomura have all been hard at work in building up DNA. Diego has the highest profile of all four by being a part of the ALL OUT stable. Watase has shown that when you remove him from last year’s romantic soap opera he has solidly improved in the ring. Rekka sadly missed an opportunity to grab the spotlight when his DDT show in Taiwan had to be cancelled. Shimomura has been able to climb a small step above his generational counterpart Shimatani.

0. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Battle Royal: Tetsuya Koda (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita Vs Shoko Nakajima Vs Yuka Sakazaki Vs Nonoko Vs Rika Tatsumi Vs Azusa Takigawa Vs Yuu Vs Nodoka-oneesan Vs Maho Kurone Vs Marika Kobashi Vs Yuna Manase Vs Mizuki Vs Cherry

The Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title found its way to Tokyo Joshi Pro when the zombie girl Maho Kurone ended Joey Ryan’s international title reigns. Since then the belt did its thing and made its way through the roster until Cherry surprisingly got involved and won the title. Until now Cherry has had little to nothing to do with Tokyo Joshi, at least publicly as far as I know. But her determination to be the Iron Man Champion led her to show up and win the belt. So when it looked like Cherry would be the defending champion going into this Battle Royal she lost the belt to the brand’s general manager Tetsuya Koda at a fan club event. Koda claims that he wanted to guarantee the title would be staying in Tokyo Joshi and he would have passed the belt over to one of the girls. However he thinks all of them are equally cute so he couldn’t decide who deserves it most. His solution is to keep the belt for himself! It later turns out that Koda is going to a handshaking event starring singer Maria Makino later this month and he wants to impress her with a nice, shiny championship belt wrapped around him. Unfortunately for Koda, him being the champion means that he now qualifies as an active wrestler and he must enter the Battle Royal to defend the title! Further more, the joshi are pissed that he looked past all of them for a hopeless attempt at impressing some singer.

1. Yuki Ino Debut Match: Kouki Iwasaki & Yuki Ino Vs Naomi Yoshimura & Yuki Ueno

Yuki Ino is the latest in the growing line of DDT rookies to debut on the big stage. The 22 year old university rugby player had several opportunities from other sports on offer but he chose instead to go with pro wrestling. He is pretty strong with reports that he can bench press 205kg, dead lift 300kg and leg press 560kg. He bragged about smashing past the opposition on the rugby pitch and he will do the same in the ring. The kind of attitude might not mesh with another big ego standing on the other side, like say Naomi Yoshimura. The young brute is throwing bodies aside so he can claim to be the new ace of DNA. Now that somebody else of his size has entered the fray things will get interesting indeed.

2. KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles: Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata, Joey Ryan, Saki Akai & Yoshihiko Vs Makoto Oishi, LiLiCo, Lady Beard, Super Sasadango Machine & Ken Ohka

I have one word for this: Overkill. You noticed how many wrestling promotions have established 6-Man Tag Team Titles recently? New Japan, DDT, Big Japan, Ring of Honor and Lucha Underground have all established such championships in the last couple of years. Dragon Gate has always had them so they can get away with it. Then the zombie corpse of FMW decided to come up with an 8-Man Tag Team Championship last year that has since vanished because, well, what do you expect from Atsushi Onita (Not a singles match that’s for sure)? Well, DDT decided to up the ante once more and create the KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles! This probably came about after watching too much Super Sentai because the title belts follow a similar colour scheme. Red, blue, yellow, green and pink belts are on the line for the winners. And what a line-up of insanity DDT has decided to bring in for the two teams!

Toru Owashi is the captain of the side featuring Kazuki Hirata, Joey Ryan, Saki Akai & Yoshihiko. Hirata has spent the year in muted limbo because his entrance song could not be used on DDT UNIVERSE. He was also deported from Japan and replaced by his Italian cousin Hirata Collection A.T. The cousin’s entrance song was also muted so he was no improvement. When Hirata returned he was told to record his own version of “TOKYO GO!”. Lo and behold he pulled it off! Joey Ryan is coming off of a heated feud with Daisuke Sasaki over pictures of his wife Laura James. Saki Akai’s been making allies with foreigners, learning English to team with them and serving beer inside an empty Tokyo Dome. She also has the right to be DDT general manager for a day. Yoshihiko has just been laying around doing its own thing.

The other team is being led by Makoto Oishi and mostly have a flair for live performances. LiLiCo returns to DDT after her romantic life within the company last year went haywire. Lady Beard hasn’t wrestled in DDT much this year but is always ready to sing his heart out. Super Sasadango Machine will undoubtedly have a PowerPoint presentation ready. Ken Ohka is coming in fresh off of winning the Ganbare☆Climax in his home promotion Ganbare☆Wrestling. There are so many questions to ask. Who will win? Will either team get along? Does Ken Ohka still have his “FUCK” hat? Can the belts combine to form a Megazord? Will this championship have a longer shelf life than the WWE UK Title? Who knows?

3. Ikemen Vs Idol! Handsome Humanity Battle: Jiro Kuroshio Vs Shunma Katsumata

We have two charmers here. The kind of people who light up any room they enter. Even though Shunma Katsumata got his start in DDT he first trained to wrestle in the dojo ran by the SMASH promotion. He never got to debut for them and he left before the company fell apart. Juro Kuroshio was also in that dojo and he did get his debut match. From their the two youngsters split apart. Kuroshio stayed with SMASH as it transformed into Wrestling New Classic, then when that went bust he jumped to WRESTLE-1 and became the lovable Ikemen he is today. Katsumata went to DDT where he was among the first generation of DNA wrestlers for the brand’s launch. He then became a pop idol as part of NωA. Now fate has brought them back together in a battle of handsome men. Kuroshio’s jacket Vs Katsumata’s singing. It’s possible Kuroshio’s entrance could last longer than the match. He likes to milk the chants by running through the audience and Sumo Hall is a big building.

4. Special 4 Way Tag Match: Kaz Hayashi & Keisuke Ishii Vs Isami Kodaka & Yuko Miyamoto Vs Mike Bailey & MAO Vs Kotaro Suzuki & Soma Takao

Four teams are thrown together, maybe we’ll get some No. 1 Contenders out of it. Keisuke Ishii removed a ghost from his past by going back to the All Japan Dojo he left many years ago to train with Kaz Hayashi. He was taught how to properly use Hayashi’s finisher the Final Cut but he has yet to use it in DDT. Isami Kodaka has been busy running Pro Wrestling BASARA but he is stopping by with his usual Yankii Ni Cho Kenji partner Yuko Miyamoto. Miyamoto is here as part of Smile Squash for the upcoming Dramatic General Election so he’ll be looking for fan votes. Mike Bailey became cocky when he won a Right To Challenge Contract but has been a bit aimless when his cash in left him empty handed. He teamed with MAO once in July and are teaming again here. Kotaro Suzuki & Soma Takao seems to be a random pairing. Takao is still undefeated at “PETER PAN” with an 8-0 record. But given the number of teams in this match it is the biggest threat yet to his streak. Like I said earlier, I expect the winners will be chasing after a tag team championship afterwards.

5. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi (c) Vs Dick Togo, Yasu Urano & Antonio Honda

Maybe I shouldn’t have trashed the idea of trios championships earlier. Then I look at the title history and see that Shuten-dōji became 6 time champions in the space of 3 years. If it wasn’t for the Iron Man Title, this right here would be the hot potato of DDT. Still, a championship is worth fighting for (King Of Dark excluded) and the challenging team are no slouches. Dick Togo is back for a special appearance with two of his guys. Yasu Urano is no longer affiliated with DDT but still shows up for shows like these. Antonio Honda is here to talk about Gon, The Little Fox. What is Gon’s story anyway? Maybe I can fill out the rest of this preview with the tale and hope that nobody would notice.



You know what, I just looked it up and it’s best that I don’t tell it. Poor Gon, he only wanted to help…

6. DDT 20th Anniversary Weapons Rumble – All Rights Contra Marriage: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Danshoku Dino

Something drastic needed to be done for this special celebration of DDT’s 20 years of existence. Two of DDT’s most important figures will clash and the stakes are as high as they could be for both of them. Sanshiro Takagi has done it all. He created DDT and over two decades built it up to where they now run buildings the size of Sumo Hall on an annual basis. He even got to headline the Tokyo Dome this year… in an empty arena match. Anyway despite his hard work paying off, somebody out there thinks a better job can be done. Danshoku Dino believes Takagi has taken DDT as far as he can and it’s time for a new leader to take over. Dino should be that leader. So his stipulation is simple. If Dino beats Takagi, Dino takes over DDT! In order for this to go ahead, Takagi had to think of something for Dino to do if he lost. Inspiration struck when Takagi had a private conversation with Dino’s mother. Dino turned 40 years old this year he is still single. His mother is worried that he will live the rest of his life alone because there are not that many gay wrestlers available for him to date. A lightbulb went off inside Takagi’s head and he promised to help her. If Takagi beats Dino then Dino must go and get married!

So those are the stakes. One man’s wrestling empire against another man’s bachelorhood. Such an important match needs important rules so DDT is bringing back the Weapon Rumble. Takagi is a veteran of the match facing The Great Sasuke in 2009, Minoru Suzuki in 2012 and Michael Nakazawa in 2014. Every few minutes a weapon is introduced to the match. What it is could be anything. Bicycles, a castle of chairs, boiling hot stew, giant mechanical fists and most importantly of all, famous wrestlers from outside of DDT could appear. Expect a couple of unpredictable cameos in this match.

DDT are already coming up with ideas if Dino loses and has to get married. Top of the pile is “Danshoku Terrace House”, a reality show where Dino is forced to live in a house with a bunch of other people from all around the world until he picks a partner. Another idea is “Danshoku Bachelor” where 25 men and women compete for Dino’s affections. Both DDT UNIVERSE and Samurai TV! are interested in getting the rights to the show.

7. DDT Extreme Title – Cabellera Contra Cabellera: Daisuke Sasaki (c) Vs Akito

Somebody’s going to get a haircut. Daisuke Sasaki has been a scrappy DDT Extreme Champion ever since he won it from Jun Kasai inside Saitama Super Arena. He fought Dick Togo to a 30 minute draw in an Ultimate Submission Match, beat Antonio Honda in a No DQ Match and had two defences against Joey Ryan, one being a Last Man Standing draw and the second being a Ladder Match which Sasaki won. His record as champion hasn’t been 100% but he’ll admit when he’s beaten. Akito has beaten him plenty this year including a singles win during the King Of DDT. Everytime Sasaki lost to Akito he would hand over the DDT Extreme Title to him and walk out of the ring. Akito would be happy to accept the championship if it was an authorised title transfer but a ring attendant would always take the belt away and give it back to Sasaki. It led to a brief period where Akito couldn’t figure out how the concept of championships in wrestling worked.

When the time came for Sasaki to nominate his challenger at Sumo Hall, his usual request for Candice LeRae was declined. Again. Akito came out to challenge him. Sasaki would accept but only if it was Cabellera Contra Cabellera. Hair Vs Hair! Akito agreed because he is willing to sacrifice anything to become a champion again. Sasaki is fine with that. He claims he doesn’t care about his own hair so he’s willing to risk it too. It led to a weird situation during last week’s press conference where both Sasaki and Akito tried to cut off their own hair to prove how much or little it meant to them. Amon Tsurumi had to stop both of them from ruining the stipulation.

The match itself will have No Disqualifications and can only end by either submission, knockout or TKO. Sasaki has more experience in Hardcore Matches but Akito realises he can now use objects to cause even more limb damage for his submission holds.

8. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Uchikomi! Presents: Shigehiro Irie & Kazusada Higuchi (c) Vs HARASHIMA & Naomichi Marufuji

Shigehiro Irie & Kazusada Higuchi will be the first to tell you they are not pretty boy ikemen wrestlers. They are bastards, guys, lads, YaroZ. The two have found success in the tag division since teaming together to represent the unconventional YaroZ sub-brand. Now as the KO-D Tag Team Champions they are challenged by the most powerful ikemen alliance of all. When Naomichi Marufuji was announced to wrestle on this show back in March I knew that he would be doing something with HARASHIMA. I though it was the perfect fit for him as an opponent. But they thought of a different idea and are instead teaming together. When HARASHIMA lost all of his remaining chances to headline Sumo Hall this year he told the wrestling media it was time for him to do something selfish. In previous years he did what was best for DDT but this year he wanted to do something for himself. Turns out it was to join forces with Marufuji and go after the Tag Titles. Plus there looks to be a business relationship being formed between DDT and NOAH. I mean DDT sent two thirds of NωA over for the NOAH Jr. Tag League. That’s kind of like giving your crush a mixtape.

While Marufuji’s appearance in the match would be interesting on its own, the other factor in the match is the rivalry between Irie and HARASHIMA. Poor Irie no matter how hard he tries just cannot beat HARASHIMA. Time after time, HARASHIMA has come out on top. It’s almost a certainty at this point. In their last meeting in June, HARASHIMA pinned Irie in under 3 minutes and Irie’s only reaction was to storm out straight back to the locker room. That has to be stuck in the back of Irie’s mind. Higuchi’s record against HARASHIMA is only a little better with a pinfall tag team victory earned back in April. History is in the challengers’ favour too. Whenever a high level DDT wrestler teams with a famous outside they usually win the KO-D Tag Team Titles. Examples include Shiro Koshinaka & Danshoku Dino, Daisuke Sekimoto & Masa Takanashi, MIKAMI & Tatsumi Fujinami and Yoshihiro Takayama & Danshoku Dino. The odds are against the champions but they wouldn’t be YaroZ if it were easy.

9. KO-D Openweight Title – Good Com Asset Presents: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Tetsuya Endo

This is going to be the definitive match of DDT’s current era. So much history to delve into here. Former friends, former tag team champions together, both have been built up for the last 3 years to be the next generation of stars to lead DDT into the future. Konosuke Takeshita has been described as a supernova ever since his debut match in 2012. You can hardly dream of a better road to the top. When you get a significant debut match held inside Budokan Hall you know there are high aspirations for your career. From there you get special one on one matches with Tatsumi Fujinami, Kenny Omega, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Kota Ibushi, Hiroshi Tanahashi, HARASHIMA, Isami Kodaka and Shuji Ishikawa all before he reaches 21 years of age. Then when he does turn 21 he wins the KO-D Openweight Title on his birthday. Like I said, it’s a dream come true. But while Takeshita has been positioned front and centre, his friend turned rival Tetsuya Endo took a different direction in his rise up to the main event spot.

While Endo and Takeshita were on a successful tag team run as the New Generation Combination, they fought each other several times with the KO-D Title as the reason. Whether it was a No. 1 Contender’s Match or a Championship Bout itself, the two were put in enough situations to find out who was better. And more often than not, Takeshita would win. As it currently stands Takeshita and Endo have had 9 single matches against each other in DDT. Takeshita won 6 of them (1 match was stopped when Endo dislocated his elbow), Endo won 2 and their last match was a draw. To make it even more frustrating for Endo, he couldn’t win the KO-D Title after two attempts while Takeshita achieved the goal with the same amount of opportunities. Endo ended up looking like the bridesmaid to Takeshita. So in July 2016 when Endo lost to Takeshita again, this time in a KO-D Title match, he was immediately approached by Daisuke Sasaki to join DAMNATION. When tempted with the promise that he would no longer be seen as a second class wrestler next to Takeshita, it didn’t take Endo long to make his decision and he willingly abandoned his friends to go down a darker path. Since then Endo has built on success while discarding his emotions. Although he’s been accused of faking his new nihilistic attitude to look cool, Endo can back up his actions with the success he’s earned since joining DAMNATION. The latest achievement was winning the 2017 King Of DDT tournament which leads us to the climactic main event at Sumo Hall.

So much has developed between Takeshita and Endo during the last year. Back in April we learned that 60 minutes was not enough to determine a winner between the two. Takeshita had been using the Cross Arm German Suplex for his most dramatic victories but he also developed a new Wrist Clutch Fisherman Buster called the Surprise Rose to put away his more recent challengers. If that’s not enough, Takeshita has one other big match move in his arsenal. He recently used the top turnbuckle Brainbustaaaaahhhhh!!!!! in tribute to his first opponent and inspiration El Generico. Endo meanwhile has turned the Shooting Star Press and Spanish Fly into killer moves. Endo won the King Of DDT with the Shooting Star Press. The grounded version of the Spanish Fly is called Tetsuya In The Sky and it has given him some unexpected quick victories. Then there is his top rope version the Tetsuya In The Sky With Diamonds to look out for. Is it now Endo’s time to shine or will Takeshita continue to shape the future of DDT? We won’t have to wait long to find out!