DDT “D-OH GRAND PRIX 2023 THE FINAL” Results

January 3, 2024

DDT “D-OH GRAND PRIX 2023 THE FINAL”, 03/01/2024
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,194 Fans – Super No Vacancy

1. Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul defeated Soma Takao, Yuki Iino & Yuni when KANON submitted Takao with the Cobra Twist 2.0 (8:15).
2. Jun Akiyama & Makoto Oishi defeated Yusuke Okada & Kazuma Sumi when Oishi submitted Sumi with the Fujiyama Knee Lock (7:42).
3. Special Tag Match ~ Shunma Katsumata Return Match: Shunma Katsumata & Toy Kojima defeated Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani when Kojima pinned Okatani with a Modified Facebuster (9:37).
4. HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata defeated Sanshiro Takagi, Akito & Antonio Honda when Hirata pinned Honda with the Miracle One Shot Cradle (12:05).
5. Special Tag Match ~ DDT Vs AJPW: Jun Saito & Rei Saito defeated Kazusada Higuchi & Rukiya when Rei pinned Rukiya with the Saito Iginari Smash (11:40).
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Kuroshio TOKYO Japan defeated Christmas Tree (c) by Pinfall (8:11 pm).
*Kuroshio TOKYO Japan becomes the 1,600th champion.
6. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Kuroshio TOKYO Japan defeated Danshoku Dieno with the Ikemenrana (12:31).
*V1 for Kuroshio TOKYO Japan.
7. The 37KAMIINA Vs SCHADENFREUDE International!: Yuki Ueno & Yuki Iino defeated Masahiro Takanashi & Takeshi Masada when Ueno pinned Masada with the Jul.2 (10:28).
8. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – Final: Yukio Naya defeated Tetsuya Endo with The World’s Best Back Drop (26:59).

At the end of 2022 Yukio Naya made it all the way to the D-Ou Grand Prix final but could not win the tournament. He made it his goal to do one better in the 2023 Grand Prix and right here at the start of 2024 he achieved it! Tetsuya Endo was also determined to win today’s final but he couldn’t defeat Naya even with Exploder Suplexes, Spinning Torture Rack Bombs and Burning Star Presses. The last move in particular was blocked by Naya and served him the opening to take over the match. Endo relied on Rolling Chops to try and get back into it but Naya cut him off with Knee Lifts and a Choke Slam for a nearfall. Naya then overpowered Endo with The World’s Best Back Drop to put him away and win the Grand Prix!

Naya burst into tears after the match when Kenta Kobashi presented him with the trophy and posed with him for a photo. Naya thanked everyone for supporting him from his family to everyone in DDT. This means so much to him because a few years ago nobody ever thought he could compete at this level. He still has one dream that hasn’t come true yet and that is to win the KO-D Openweight Title! He called Yuki Ueno down to the ring and challenged him for the championship so everyone will see who really is the strongest in DDT. Ueno accepted but told him the title should be held by the most interesting guy in DDT. The title match will take place at Korakuen Hall on 28th January.

As for Endo, he thought 2024 was going to start out well for him because he was on the winning team of the Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament on New Year’s Eve. But after losing to Naya today he now feels like he fell to the bottom of DDT and has to climb out of Hell. Then suddenly backstage Daisuke Sasaki approached Endo after his post-match interview with the media. Sasaki explained the reason why Endo lost today is because he did not have Jun Akiyama next to him. But that also means there is nothing tying down Endo anymore either. Sasaki suggested that Endo does not need BURNING anymore and they should go change the world together. But before Endo could respond, Sasaki told him to relax and think about what he just said because they will see each other again soon.

Ueno was meant to team with MAO in the semi-main event but MAO had fever symptoms and was pulled from the show. Parts of the card were changed around and Ueno got to team with Yuki Iino instead. Masahiro Takanashi & Takeshi Masada jumped them early but Ueno & Iino quickly rallied together. Things went pair shaped when Iino’s Lariat missed Masada and hit Ueno by mistake. Masada tried to capitalise but Ueno held on until he could counter attack and pin Masada with the Jul.2. The result left SCHADENFREUDE International feeling disappointed because Chris Brookes was in attendance for the first time since getting his surgery. Brookes suggested they disband right away but everyone else convinced him not to. Instead they figured out Masada can get revenge on Ueno beating him today by pinning him for the KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles in two days time!

After Danshoku Dieno made his entrance to the ring for his match, footage was shown of Kuroshio TOKYO Japan and Seigo Tachibana hanging out backstage. They opened a nearby locker and out fell the Christmas Tree that won the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title on Christmas Eve! Tachibana decided to pin the tree but Kuroshio stopped him and stole the pin to become the champion instead. Kuroshio then forced Tachibana to get into the ring with Dieno while he completed his long and elaborate entrance. Dieno kept Tachibana in the Lip Lock while Kuroshio pranced around the audience until his theme song looped back to the beginning. He finally attacked Dieno to start the match and they brawled through the crowd with the back of their tights all pulled down. The fight went up to the commentary table where Kenta Kobashi was seated. Dieno tried to stumble over for a kiss but Kobashi sent him away with a Chop. The match returned to the ring where Tachibana tried to get involved again. He ended up getting a water bottle shoved up his rear by Dieno that Kuroshio then had to pull out. Makoto Oishi forcibly filled Dieno’s mouth with wasabi but the Lip Lock missed Kuroshio and landed on Tachibana instead. Kuroshio then rubbed the wasabi onto his crotch and pinned Dieno with a Hurricanrana to retain the Iron Man Title. Backstage he admitted he doesn’t even know what this championship is. He likes it but wants to win a proper title as well as compete in DDT more often in 2024.

If DDT thought they were now safe from The Saito Brothers bringing them doom then they are sorely mistaken. Rei Saito had one more appearance left for them and this time he brought along his brother Jun Saito. The two of them fought Kazuasada Higuchi & Rukiya. Higuchi did a good job handling them in the ring but it was a more difficult challenge for Rukiya. In the end they just couldn’t handle so much doom. Jun used a Lariat to take out Higuchi and then The Saito Brothers together threw down Rukiya with a Double Choke Slam for the win. Rei said next time he is going to beat up Rukiya even more! Jun however showed interest in seeing Higuchi show up in All Japan some day. Apparently Higuchi and The Saito Brothers already have a history together going back to their sumo days over a decade ago.

For the final time the three main members of DISASTER BOX all teamed together and they finished the occasion with a win. Toru Owashi brought along the lucha to fight Akito while HARASHIMA suddenly had bad flashbacks when Sanshiro Takagi started using Hiroshi Tanahashi’s moves on him to celebrate the New Japan wrestler’s promotion to company president. Antonio Honda relied on Gongitsune like he always does but Kazuki Hirata’s eyes were protected by his Hirata GO! glasses. The deflected attack allowed Hirata to pin Honda with the Miracle One Shot Cradle.

After the match HARASHIMA told the others DISASTER BOX is going away but it will always feel like the unit is still around whenever they are together. They all left the ring together when Shunma Katsumata suddenly ran out and dragged Hirata back into the ring. Without taking any breaths Katsumata challenged Hirata for the DDT Extreme Title. He was the previous champion who had to vacate the title due to injury but admitted Hirata has become the kind of Extreme Champion he always wanted to be. They agreed to have the title match on 28th January.

Katsumata’s challenge came shorty after his return match from injury. He teamed with Toy Kojima to take on Eruption. He made sure to start off the match against Hideki Okatani and even thanked him for waiting all this time for him to return. But it was Kojima who stole the spotlight by using a new Spinning Flapjack move to pin Okatani for the 3 count. After a brief staredown with Yukio Sakaguchi, Kojima told Eruption this will be the same when they fight in the exploding death match on 14th January! Katsumata said now that he’s back, The 37KAMIINA will make DDT more hotter than ever!

Jun Akiyama & Makoto Oishi gave Kazuma Sumi a tough night in the ring. Yusuke Okada was there to help out until he missed a Diving Headbutt aimed for Akiyama. Sumi found his second wind and used Oishi as a footstep to Dropkick Akiyama off the ring apron. However Oishi dodged the Mickey Boomerang and planed Sumi with the Miracle Ecstasy. That would have been the end but Akiyama pushed Oishi away during the pin and gave Sumi an Exploder Suplex as payback for the Dropkick. Oishi then made Sumi tap out to the Fujiyama Knee Lock.

DAMNATION T.A now find themselves in the midst of a KO-D Tag Team Titles shot after they won the opening match. Sasaki took out Yuni with a Spear and then tricked the referee into distracting Shota because he was holding a chair. While that was going on Sasaki hit Soma Takao with another chair and KANON applied the Cobra Twist 2.0 for the submission win. Afterwards KANON wished ROMANCE DAWN to have a miserable new year and declared himself and Sasaki as their next challengers. The two sides agreed to have the match on 21st January. Sasaki insulted Shota for claiming he is a part of the Young Communication generation. According to Sasaki, Shota was only a supporting role and that name should only be used for the likes of Shigehiro Irie and Keisuke Ishii!

The first DDT show of the year means a lot of big announcements to get through along with other major news stories. First, the DDT Vs All Japan rivalry will continue throughout 2024. Ryuki Honda and Yuma Anzai will be at the 7th February DDT show in Shinjuku. Then on 17th March at DDT’s 27th Anniversary show Konosuke Takeshita will face Yuma Aoyagi one on one! Aoyagi was in attendance to greet the fans after the announcement. He hoped Takeshita would be here too but he has to wait until 17th March to show Takeshita his own Dramatic Dream. Later backstage Aoyagi told reporters he would also like to face Yuki Ueno for the KO-D Title too!

Kaisei Takechi sent in a video to promote his pro wrestling debut on 25th February. The celebrity who is part of THE RAMPAGE from EXILE TRIBE told fans he worked with DDT wrestlers during the filming of Fukumen D and felt indebted to them. He is very happy to repay them by doing this match. This is just his first step into the pro wrestling world and he is honored to do it on such a wonderful stage.

Student pro wrestler Tsubasa Suzuki has applied to DDT as an intern wrestler. He will debut on the 27th Anniversary show on 17th March. Suzuki comes from Hitotsubashi University World Pro Wrestling Alliance and previously appeared on DDT shows a year ago under the ring name “Mother’s Child” Mazakon Kid. The point of an internship is so students can get work experience before starting their careers so he will wrestle on DDT shows for a certain amount of time. At the end DDT will talk with Suzuki and decide if he can join the company. Suzuki told the fans he is the world’s first intern wrestler and promises to do his best to become a beloved member of DDT. He likes high flying wrestling and has a lot of respect for Kota Ibushi and Naomichi Marufuji (bad timing to bring those two names up) so he thinks it will be great if he could become like them (hopefully not in their present forms).

Miu Watanabe appeared in the ring to promote tomorrow’s annual Ittenyon show for Tokyo Joshi Pro. She will be part of the 3 Way Tag Match to determine the new Princess Tag Team Champions.

During the show’s opening ceremony Yoshitatsu appeared and announced he will become a regular part of DDT shows starting on 5th January. The wrestler had just left All Japan over the new year. He said when he fought in DDT a couple of times in 2023 it reminded him of the fun side of pro wrestling that he had forgotten. One match he had with Jun Akiyama in particular stood out for him and he would like to have more tough battles against him. Also DDT working with Chris Jericho and Matt Cardona who he both knew from WWE made it an appealing place for him to look for an opportunity.

Chris Brookes told the fans he would like to come back from his surgery as soon as possible. He feels fine physically but does not know when he can return to wrestling again yet.

The last piece of news came after the show had ended. Sanshiro Takagi announced to reporters he will be taking an indefinite break as a pro wrestler after DDT’s Sumo Hall show on 21st July. He is doing this for several reasons from taking care of his health to concentrating more on managing Cyberfight. He also said he will soon need to begin the process of finding his successor because he believes current management across Japan’s pro wrestling industry is aging out. This is not intended to be him retiring from the ring because he will start wrestling again when his health improves. However he does not know when that will happen which is why he saved this announcement for the media after the show. He may go into more details later this week.

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Posted by JamieOD

DDT Around The World – December 2023

January 1, 2024

Happy new year! December featured plenty of CyberFight related appearances in North America. Tokyo Joshi Pro held its second show in USA. They also had two seperate championship matches happening within minutes from each other in two different countries. Konosuke Takeshita remains stuck in AEW limbo, Maki Itoh wrapped up the latest leg of her US bookings, Shota paid a visit to California and MAO partied hard as the end of 2023 counted down to midnight.

So what is there new to expect in 2024 when it comes to international stuff for DDT and its family? I think the focus will be what Yuka Sakazaki will get up to. I will continue following her career using these articles. If she sticks within AEW/ROH then it won’t be much work to see what she gets up to every month. But I want to see her spread out to some of the indies. At least go to Deadlock Pro every now and then. She owes them a match anyway.

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Videos

Konosuke Takeshita In AEW Playlist


Video starts at 11:02.
MPW “THE LONG NIGHT”, 08/12/2023
MPW Academy, Chatsworth, California, USA

1. Miggy Rose & Michael Hopkins Vs Shota & J2 Mattioli


AEW “RAMPAGE”, 08/12/2023
Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

1. Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal Vs Powerhouse Hobbs & Konosuke Takeshita


DREAMWAVE “GOOD AS GOLD”, 09/12/2023
Knights of Columbus, LaSalle, Illinois, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita & Emi Sakura Vs Zayda Steel & Maggie Lee


SKYFIRE PRO “NAVIDAD NIGHTMARE”, 10/12/2023
Bay City Brewing Co., San Diego, California, USA

1. Rebel Storm Vs Shota


TOKYO JOSHI PRO/PRESTIGE “COMBAT PRINCESS USA”, 14/12/2023
The Vermont Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA
400 Fans – Super No Vacancy

7. Special Tag Match: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh Vs Masha Slamovich & Killer Kelly


Video starts at 16:20.
MPW “NAUGHTY OR NICE 2023”, 15/12/2023
MPW Academy, Chatsworth, California, USA

1. Shota Vs Jr Mattioli


PANDEMONIUM PRO “HOLIDAY IN LA”, 17/12/2023
Don Quixote, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Mike Bailey Vs Miyu Yamashita


CIRCLE 6 “BARROOM BLITZ”, 31/12/2023
Knucklehead Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. DDT Universal Title: MAO (c) Vs Nate Webb

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Results


BLACK LABEL PRO “SLAMILTON”, 02/12/2023
Berwyn Eagles Club, Berwyn, Illinois, USA

1. Maki Itoh defeated Rachel Armstrong with the Itoh Deluxe (11:22).

Let’s begin with a show that has become an annual event for Black Label Pro. Six months ago Rachel Armstrong had a match here against Miyu Yamashita so now it was Itoh’s turn to see what the fuss is all about. A naïve Armstrong fell for Itoh’s crocodile tears act but took control using her speed and agility. A Northern Lights Suplex in particular came very close to getting her the win. But Itoh had control for most of the match, trapping Armstrong in the Itoh Special and then building her way up to the Itoh Deluxe to make her tap out.


GCW “WHAT IS YOUR CHOICE?”, 03/12/2023
Roulette Intermedium, Brooklyn, New York, USA

1. Maki Itoh defeated Mike Bailey with a Cradle (16:14).

Is this the upset of the year? Mike Bailey learned the hard way not to kick Itoh in the head because it is as hard as iron! When the shock of that wore out, Bailey took her seriously, even pulling out the Flamingo Driver that Itoh kicked out of. His frustration led to his undoing because when he grabbed Itoh’s legs to do a Boston Crab, Itoh twisted over and cradled Bailey for the flash pin! Itoh had to console Bailey after the match because he burst into tears over the result.


AEW “RAMPAGE”, 06/12/2023 (Aired 08/12/2023)
Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

1. Powerhouse Hobbs & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal when Hobbs pinned Daniels with The World’s Most Dangerous Slam (8:38).

What was looking to be Takeshita’s only match of the month was teaming up with Powerhouse Hobbs to beat Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal after the latter tried standing up to The Don Callis Family. During the month Don Callis announced that his unit will now be using “Family Rules” for their tag team matches against Chris Jericho & Kenny Omega going forward, which is just their name for Freebird Rules. The storyline they’re doing is falling apart though because Omega is now out of action indefinitely with diverticulitis.


MYSTERY WRESTLING “MYSTERY WRESTLING 5”, 07/12/2023
Centre Aydelu, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada

1. International Princess Title: Max The Impaler (c) defeated Jody Threat (?:??).
*V3 for Max The Impaler.

There was a surprise International Princess Title match for the fans at this month’s Mystery Wrestling show. Evil Uno runs these events every couple of months, airs them live on his Twitch channel and keeps the VOD on his Patreon. Max The Impaler was brought in for a match against Jody Threat and agreed to put the championship on the line. TJPW gave their authorization and recognizes the result as an official title defence.


MLW “ONE-SHOT”, 07/12/2023
Melrose Ballroom, Queens, New York, USA

1. Princess Of Princess Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) defeated Delmi Exo with the Skull Kick (9:13).
*V2 for Miyu Yamashita.
2. MLW World Featherweight Title: Janai Kai (c) (w/ Salina de la Renta & Jesus Rodriguez) defeated Maki Itoh with the Modified Dragon Sleeper (7:27).
*V2 for Janai Kai.

Both Itoh and Yamashita were at MLW’s final show of the year, each in a championship match. Itoh was given a big title match against Janai Kai for the MLW World Featherweight Title. She had an unfair disadvantage though because Kai had both Salina de la Renta and Jesus Rodriguez (the former Ricardo Rodriguez from WWE) in her corner to interfere when needed. There was also an unexpected run-in from the masked wrestler Ichiban that distracted Itoh long enough for her to miss a Diving Headbutt. If that wasn’t bad enough, Matt Striker on commentary completely did not understand Itoh’s gimmick. Maybe he had good intentions by trying to put Itoh over as a fighter to be taken seriously but he’s been so bad as a colour commentator for so long he should not get the benefit of the doubt.

Yamashita was at the show to defend the Princess Of Princess Title against Delmi Exo. Her opponent is a former MLW Featherweight Champion and brought her best fight to the match. Yamashita kicked out of the Ocean Cyclone Suplex and got Exo up to the top rope for an Avalanche Attitude Adjustment. Yamashita kept the pressure up and Exo was helpless by the time she was beaten with the Skull Kick. The result helps establish Yamashita’s current title reign being about taking on opponents from around the world. Her next challenger will be back in TJPW on 4th January against Masha Slamovich.


DREAMWAVE “UPRISING”, 08/12/2023
Knights of Columbus, LaSalle, Illinois, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Shazza McKenzie with the Skull Kick (10:59).

Over to DREAMWAVE where Yamashita appeared on a weekend of shows for them. The first one was an all women’s event where Yamashita beat Shazza McKenzie in a rematch from their ROH bout from earlier this year. DREAMWAVE later announced they will be spinning off a new all women’s wrestling promotion called Uprising: Women’s Athletes so don’t be surprised to see Yamashita show up there in 2024.


MPW “THE LONG NIGHT”, 08/12/2023
MPW Academy, Chatsworth, California, USA

1. Miggy Rose & Michael Hopkins defeated Shota & J2 Mattioli when Rose & Hopkins pinned Mattioli with a Sunset Flip & Body Press (?:??).

Shota spent the month of December travelling over to America again for a short tour. Just like last year, Shota found went to the obscure end of the US indies including Millennium Pro Wrestling who welcomed him back with open arms. Shota teamed with one of his opponents from the last excursion, J2 Mattioli to take on a team called 24K. Sadly the team lost when Miggy Rose & Michael Hopkins used a double team Sunset Flip to pin Mattioli. Afterwards Mattioli apologised to Shota for losing and then challenged him to a singles match for the following week. Shota accepted and shook his hand.


DREAMWAVE “GOOD AS GOLD”, 09/12/2023
Knights of Columbus, LaSalle, Illinois, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita & Emi Sakura defeated Zayda Steel & Maggie Lee when Sakura pinned Steel with the Double Arm Backbreaker (8:02).

There was a small change to the match when one of the original opponents Zamaya was bumped up to the semi-main event for the DREAMWAVE Women’s Title. So Yamashita & Emi Sakura instead found themselves teaming up against Zayda Steel and Zamaya’s replacement Maggie Lee. A lot of the match was Steel & Lee working on Yamashita so Sakura can get the hot tag. Still it’s not everyday you get to see Sakura & Yamashita teaming together. They won when Sakura gave Steel the Double Arm Backbreaker and Yamashita gave Lee the Attitude Adjustment, leading to a double pin.


EWF “PRO WRESTLING LUCHA LIBRE”, 09/12/2023
VFW Post 8737, San Bernardino, California, USA

1. EWF Vs The World: Kid Noah defeated Shota (?:??).

An outdoor show held in December doesn’t sound that pleasant even if it’s in California. Shota wrestled twice outdoors during the tour. The first one was at Empire Wrestling Federation where he lost to Kid Noah.


GCW “HIGHEST IN THE ROOM 2”, 09/12/2023
Ukrainian Cultural Center, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Johnny Game Changer & Taya Valkyrie defeated Nick Gage & Maki Itoh (17:42).

Itoh’s last GCW appearance of the year had Maki Death Kill back together to take on the husband and wife team of Johnny Game Changer & Taya Valkyrie. The match went from a normal two vs two tag into a brawl with chairs and doors being used as weapons. Valkyrie put Nick Gage through one of the doors and then tried giving Itoh the Road To Valhalla. Itoh countered it into a Roll Up but Valkyrie then blocked the counter and grabbed onto Itoh’s tights to pin her for the three count. Itoh demanded a singles match against Valkyrie afterwards.


SKYFIRE PRO “NAVIDAD NIGHTMARE”, 10/12/2023
Bay City Brewing Co., San Diego, California, USA

1. Rebel Storm defeated Shota with the Thunderstruck (?:??).

Shota’s second outdoor match of the month was for Skyfire Pro Lucha Libre. He tried his best to outwrestle his opponent but Rebel Storm stopped him in his tracks with a Headbutt followed by the Twist Of Fate that he calls Thunderstruck.


TOKYO JOSHI PRO/PRESTIGE “COMBAT PRINCESS USA”, 14/12/2023
The Vermont Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA
400 Fans – Super No Vacancy

1. Max The Impaler & Pom Harajuku defeated Rika Tatsumi & Amira when Harajuku pinned Amira after the Wasteland War Justice with Max (10:20).
2. Trish Adora defeated Moka Miyamoto with the Lariat (8:42).
3. Mizuki defeated Sandra Moone with the Cutie Special (10:21).
4. Miu Watanabe defeated Hyan with the Tear Drop (8:33).
5. Princess Tag Team Titles: Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta (c) defeated Janai Kai & Shazza McKenzie when Noa pinned McKenzie with the Blizzard Suplex (9:42).
*V3 for Free WiFi.
6. Taya Valkyrie defeated Shoko Nakajima with the Road To Valhalla (10:47).
7. Special Tag Match: Masha Slamovich & Killer Kelly defeated Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh when Slamovich pinned Yamashita with the White Knight Driver (18:00).

The show report can be found here.


MPW “NAUGHTY OR NICE 2023”, 15/12/2023
MPW Academy, Chatsworth, California, USA

1. J2 Mattioli defeated Shota with the Playmaker Lariat (?:??).

The match between Shota and Mattioli was a mostly friendly back and forth match between the two. Mattioli ended up using his Playmaker Lariat to win, capping off a year he was really happy with.


PANDEMONIUM PRO “HOLIDAY IN LA”, 17/12/2023
Don Quixote, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Keita defeated Shota (?:??).
2. Miyu Yamashita defeated Mike Bailey with the Skull Kick (?:??).

Okay so this month we found out that Bailey’s weakness is Tokyo Joshi Pro wrestlers. He lost to Itoh in GCW and here in Pandemonium Pro he lost clean to Yamashita! There were no tears in this one, instead these two tried to kick the tar out of each other!

Shota completed his USA tour by making Pandemonium Pro his final stop. Originally he was going to face Vinnie Massaro but that guy is busy living it up on a NOAH tour right now. So Shota was given the newcomer Keita as a replacement opponent. Keita made the most of this opportunity and beat the more experienced Shota.


AEW “WORLDS END”, 30/12/2023
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, New York, USA

1. Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara, Sting & Darby Allin defeated Ricky Starks, Big Bill, Powerhouse Hobbs & Konosuke Takeshita when Guevara pinned Starks with a Shooting Star Press (15:42).

What a mess this storyline has turned out to be. Omega falling ill meant that he and Jericho couldn’t go ahead with challenging Ricky Starks & Big Bill for the AEW World Tag Team Titles so they had to throw in The Don Callis Family, Sting, Darby Allin and the return of Sammy Guevara to make it an 8-Man Tag Match. Takeshita was not part of the lineup when the match was made but then a day later AEW swapped him into the match and took Kyle Fletcher out. Then on the day of the show allegations of Jericho’s past behavior resurfaced online from Nick Hausman as part of Jericho’s online spat with a lawyer with a that could not have been handled any more uglier than it did. Almost everybody except the alleged victim is coming out of it as a bunch of massive scumbags. So come to the part of the show when the match happened and there was an uncomfortable atmosphere that could be felt through the screen as the match went on. I wish I could instead focus on Takeshita getting to wrestle Sting and throw Allin around like he’s Yoshihiko but everyone watching was in a bad mood over what emerged throughout the day.


CIRCLE 6 “KING OF THE DEATHMATCHES”, 30/12/2023
Don Quixote, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. King Of The Deathmatches – Round 1 – Ultraviolent Baptism: Bobby Beverly defeated MAO with the Fisherman DDT (?:??).

How about taking part in a deathmatch tournament to bring out the end of the year? MAO entered the King Of The Deathmatches that was being held by Circle 6 and faced Bobby Beverly in the 1st Round. MAO brought along chairs and plastic boxes but soon smashed lighttubes over his opponent. He also put Beverly through a bunch of chairs with a Double Arm Piledriver and used high flying moves but couldn’t get the win. A triple Low Blow spot that also included the referee brought the match back to an even fight. Wooden skewers were stabbed into each other’s heads and Beverly smashed MAO with lighttubes before pinning him with the Fisherman DDT.


CIRCLE 6 “BARROOM BLITZ”, 31/12/2023
Knucklehead Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. DDT Universal Title: MAO (c) defeated Nate Webb with the Diving Radio Silence from the Bar Counter (?:??).
*V3 for MAO.

MAO stuck around in Circle 6 on New Year’s Eve so he could defend the DDT Universal Title against Spyder Nate Webb. The match went outside to Santa Monica Blvd so they could fight on the street as traffic drove by.

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Upcoming Appearances


MLW “KINGS OF COLOSSEUM”, 06/01/2024
2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1. Moka Miyamoto Vs Nao Kakuta
2. MLW World Featherweight Title: Janai Kai (c) Vs Hyper Misao

TJPW’s working relationship with MLW continues into the new year. Hyper Misao has been selected to be Kai’s next challenger for the MLW Featherweight Title.

Also happening on the show is a TJPW offer match between Moka Miyamoto and Nao Kakuta. Miyamoto is only just now starting to wrestle abroad while Kakuta has already done it a few times in 2023. The two matches here are a little glimpse of what TJPW in Philadelphia will look like next April.


GCW “NO COMPADRE”, 12/01/2024
Thalia Hall, Chicago, Illinois, USA

1. Maki Itoh, Effy & Allie Katch Vs Matt Cardona, Steph de Lander & Broski Jimmy

Itoh and Bussy all share grudges with Matt Cardona & Steph de Lander so it was inevitable that Maki Death Bussy would join forces to take on Deathmatch Royalty. The latest development in the story is Cardona forced Jimmy Lloyd to become his new disciple in GCW, turning Lloyd into Broski Jimmy.


GCW “56 BIRDZ”, 13/01/2024
Valley Dale Ballroom, Columbus, Ohio, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs Tony Deppen

The day after that Itoh will take on Tony Deppen in a first time match. GCW at times have promoted Deppen as their gatekeeper. A win for Itoh here could be a sign of things to come for her in GCW.


F1RST “WRESTLEPALOOZA – NIGHT 2”, 14/01/2024
First Avenue, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

No match announced yet for Itoh’s appearance at F1RST.


SPW “CHAMPIONS NEVER YIELD 2”, 19/01/2024
Foo Chow Building, Singapore

1. Mizuki Vs Alexis Lee
2. SPW Southeast Asia Tag Team Titles: Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi (c) Vs Da Butcherman & Dr. Gore

In November 2022 CDK defeated The Horrors to win the SPW Southeast Asia Tag Team Titles. Now after more than a year later comes the rematch. Dr. Gore got to wrestle in Japan for a little while and gain some experience while Da Butcherman kept himself busy in Singapore. There is a chance the match might not go ahead because Chris Brookes had surgery this month to remove a tumor from his abdomen. At the time of writing there is no decision made yet on when he can start wrestling again. But even if he can’t make the trip, Masahiro Takanashi still will.

SPW’s own Alexis Lee continues to be the opponent of choice for joshi coming into Singapore. She lost the Queen Of Asia Title to Yuki Kamifuku last month but is looking to bounce right back with a win against Mizuki.


SETUP “BANGKOK SHOWDOWN”, 20/01/2024
The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand

1. IWA Japan SETUP World Tag Team Titles: Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi (c) Vs Kevin Weng & Pondhub Vs Anont Alonzo & Mister Suchart

If CDK can go ahead with travelling together in January then they have a tough challenge waiting for them in Thailand. SETUP is making them defend the IWA Japan SETUP World Tag Team Titles in a 3 Way Match against St. John Innocent College and THE GOOD DEAL. CDK won the titles from THE GOOD DEAL in an impromptu match bck in October. But even though the former champions are getting a rematch, they have to share it with St. John Innocent College. That kind of multi-man chaos is an environment that CDK benefits from.


GCW “LOOK AT ME”, 26/01/2024
Egypt Shrine Center, Tampa, Florida, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

What will await Itoh in Florida next month?


BZW “X”, 03/02/2024
Salle Jacques Brel, Faches-Thumesnil, France

1. Yoshihiko Vs X
2. MAO Vs X

MAO is coming to France and he’s brining Yoshihiko with him! Also Minoru Suzuki and KUSHIDA are booked for the show too. Banger Zone Wrestling won’t know what hit them.


TNT EXTREME “MERSEYSIDE MASSACRE”, 04/02/2024
Hanger34, Liverpool, England

1. Yoshihiko Vs X

Yoshihiko heads over to Liverpool the next day for TNT Extreme. Surely not by itself though.


DDT “DDT GOES PHILADELPHIA!”, 04/04/2024
Penns Landing Caterers Auditorium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

DDT won’t be the only CyberFight presence in Philly that week…


TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN PHILLY”, 05/04/2024
Penns Landing Caterers Auditorium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

… because TJPW is going there too! They will also be part of The Collective which is interesting to note because last time TJPW were with WrestleCon.

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Posted by JamieOD

DramaticDDT’s Predictions For 2024

December 24, 2023

Merry Christmas! I’m giving this another go despite how bad my predictions for 2023 went. What do I think is in store for DDT, Tokyo Joshi Pro, Ganbare☆Pro, BASARA and maybe even CyberFight as a whole? It’s a tricky challenge this time because whenever I try guessing how 2024 will turn out, all I see is murkiness. There’s a weird contradiction in my thoughts about where wrestling is right now. On the one hand there is a status quo where all the companies around the world are positioned that I do not see changing anytime soon. But then there are changes within the companies themselves, some that are so unexpected that I have no idea what the entire scene will look like this time next year. Like of course WWE will be the top company on the planet but what does it turn into next as it finally moves away from Vince McMahon’s ideas and has the most fan goodwill it has probably ever had? AEW badly fell apart this year but the Continental Classic tournament is providing a nice set of building blocks to rebuild the company with. The problem is will Tony Khan want to use those blocks? It doesn’t help that the loudest podcasters in the room are constantly telling everyone that AEW should be more like WWE in the storyline department. That is my biggest pet peeve with wrestling at the moment, by the way. Whenever I hear people say every wrestling show should be a three ringed circus with something for everybody they’re really just saying “go be like WWE”. It’s the same voices that reject other companies for doing things differently.

And then there is Japan’s wrestling scene still trying to re-establish themselves post-pandemic. It’s mostly alright with some brief moments of greatness but there’s not a lot that has really caught my imagination this year compared to the 2010s. Show attendances week to week isn’t inspiring much hope in me either. It seems like homecoming shows and retirement matches can bring in crowds but outside of that a lot of companies are getting dwindling crowd numbers which has me worried. New Japan and Stardom will be fine as long as they can manage themselves properly. 2023 definitely gave Stardom a lot of lessons about show scheduling and injuries but they seem to be learning from it. All Japan discovering success again should also be a sign that there is still an audience out there in Japan that pro wrestling can appeal to. Now let’s see if this United Japan Pro Wrestling alliance is actually going to mean anything substantial.

Before I give you my predictions for 2024, here is how my 2023’s predictions went. Not very good it turns out.

DDT

✓. Mike Bailey wrestles a match in DDT again.
X. KANON outperforms Daisuke Sasaki.
X. Yuya Koroku becomes the next wrestler from DDT’s new generation (debuted 2020 onwards) to win a championship.
✓. Tetsuya Endo struggles to reclaim the top position in DDT.
X. Dramatic Dream Gate is revived.

The first one was by far the easiest prediction to make. It is basically the free spot on a bingo card. DDT going to America guaranteed that Mike Bailey would be on one of their shows. Although I do think the New Japan appearances he also made this year means he’s fully done with DDT in Japan. KANON is slowly getting pushed but I wouldn’t put his work above Daisuke Sasaki’s in 2023. Hideki Okatani was the breakout in the new generation, not Yuya Koroku like I expected. Tetsuya Endo is definitely struggling and I’ll get back to that point later. No Dramatic Dream Gate revival because DDT worked with All Japan instead of Dragongate.

Tokyo Joshi Pro

X. At least 3 women who originally came from Actwres girl’Z will appear in TJPW and at least 1 of them becomes a regular roster member.
X. An outsider wins the Princess Of Princess Title.
X. Maki Itoh gets to No. 1 on a iTunes or Spotify chart somewhere in the world.
X. A woman from Sakisama’s past comes back to haunt her.
X. Sasha Banks appears at Grand Princess ’23.

Oh so now Actwres girl’Z gets their act together and stops leaking talent left, right and centre! TJPW’s roster growth all came from training their own rookies and bringing in foreign wrestlers. An outsider did become champion but it was Max The Impaler winning the International Princess Title, not the Princess Of Princess Title. No idea how to look up music chart data but if Maki Itoh got No. 1 somewhere we would have heard about it. My Sakisama fantasy booking was inspired by the rumour of CyberFight wanting to sign Maya Yukihi. If Mercedes Moné does end up going back to WWE then the hype surrounding her for an entire year was an absolute waste of time for everyone else involved.

Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling

✓. Some of the wrestlers Shota worked with in America get booked for Ganpro.
X. Keisuke Ishii wins the Spirit Of Ganbare Title.
1/2✓. Ganpro creates a tag team championship and builds it around mixed tag wrestling.
X. Ganbare☆Joshi runs their own show in Korakuen Hall.
X. Kota Ibushi wrestles a match in Ganpro.

Shota’s American excursion got the likes of Dan The Dad and Kody Lane booked in Japan. Keisuke Ishii did get a Spirit Of Ganbare Title but lost that match to Mizuki Watase in one of Ganpro’s best matches of the year. We did get the Spirit Of Ganbare World Tag Team Titles created and it does allow intergender teams. However it has not been the focal point of the title’s existence yet so I only got it half right. No standalone Ganbare☆Joshi show in Korakuen Hall yet but I think it is only a matter of time before it happens. Who on earth would have guessed Kota Ibushi’s first match back would be in GCW?

Miscellaneous

X. Gake no Fuchi Joshi crosses over with Baka Gaijin + Friends.
X. AEW will host another event in Japan with DDT & TJPW involvement.
X. CyberFight adds another promotion to their portfolio.
X. A brand new puroresu console game gets announced.
✓. BASARA does something new and different.

I’m kind of surprised Miyako Matsumoto hasn’t shown up in Baka Gaijin + Friends yet. It seems like her kind of wrestling but I can’t tell what goes through her mind on most days. AEW seems to have developed less interest in the Japanese scene while they go through something of an identity crisis heading into the fifth year of their existence. No new wrestling brand for CyberFight but there is the United Japan Pro Wrestling brand attaching the big wrestling companies together. No new puroresu game which makes me sad. AEW: Fight Forever is fine and I bet has a good base to create a better sequel. Will that happen though? The last prediction is also the best one for me. BASARA made Banana Senga their champion! That was definitely something new and different.

———————————————————————–

So yeah, let’s ignore all that and get on to next year’s predictions. I came up with 20 predictions for 2024 spread across four categories. Five for DDT, five for Tokyo Joshi Pro, five for Ganbare☆Pro and five guesses that apply to anything attached to BASARA and the CyberFight promotions. I’m also listing them in order from easy to hard, likely to unlikely, mild to spicy, etc. I came up with these predictions using booking patterns, reading tea leaves and coming up with ideas that are just as creative as they are plausible.

DDT

Prediction: Naomi Yoshimura returns from injury and gets a singles push.

It’s been over a year since Naomi Yoshimura last wrestled a match. What’s promising though is his regular appearances seconding the other wrestlers in Harimao. There’s also glimpses on his social media of him training in the DDT dojo again. It at least suggests he will be back in the ring sooner or later. When Yoshimura took time off to recover from a herniated disc he said he wanted to reclaim the KO-D Tag Team Titles for Harimao when he returns. I think too much time has past for that to be his only goal. He should instead focus on catching up with Yuki Ueno. My fingers are crossed he is able to come back, stay healthy and win some accomplishments by himself.

Prediction: Kento Miyahara will be at “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2024”.

At no point this year did I expect DDT and All Japan to be doing inter-promotional matches with each other. What a great thing that turned out to be though. Adding a few DDT Vs AJPW matches on shows here and there spiced up the midcard for both companies. It had history to play off of because of Jun Akiyama’s involvement. It is helping Yukio Naya develop into the heavyweight DDT wants him to be thanks to the feud with The Saito Brothers that will likely continue in AJPW. Eruption got to start their new chapter without Saki Akai by winning the All Asia Tag Team Titles and giving Yukio Sakaguchi an achievement he can now share with his father. Eruption also entered the Real World Tag League which gave Hideki Okatani some valuable experience. I want this working relationship to continue in 2024 and I know the best place where it can reach its climax. DDT will likely have a big guest for their Sumo Hall show in July. Bring on over AJPW’s biggest star Kento Miyahara to liven up the place! He would be a great singles match opponent for somebody like Yuki Ueno or Kazusada Higuchi. He’s definitely someone who Ueno should learn from about how to be a showman in the ring.

Prediction: Sanshiro Takagi fights Hiroshi Tanahashi in a battle of the presidents!

This week New Japan announced Hiroshi Tanahashi has become the new president of the company. Now he has a lot more in common with Sanshiro Takagi. Now Tanahashi has an awkward history with DDT but that was years ago and I’m sure it’s all water under the bridge. But just in case there’s still some bad blood there is always the wrestling ring right there for them to settle their differences. Two presidents of different wrestling companies having a match against each other is the kind of idea Takagi would jump on and I think Tanahashi would be game for it. United Japan Pro Wrestling is going to need something a little bit novel to put on their Budokan Hall card in the summer. Why not this in the midcard?

Prediction: Somebody (or something) from WWE wins the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title.

WWE looking to carve out their place in Japan is a topic that gets brought up a lot online. This year finally saw the company make their move when they signed a broadcasting deal with ABEMA and also got increased presence in Shukan Puroresu magazine. There were also points throughout the year when Shinsuke Nakamura would pop up. He headlined a big show for NOAH as the final opponent for The Great Muta. He also filmed a special message for Saki Akai that was shown to her during her retirement ceremony. If that’s not enough, on the day I am writing this paragraph All Japan are teasing that the mystery challenger for a Triple Crown title match on 3rd January could be coming from NXT. So if WWE in Japan really is happening, we might as well have some fun with it before everything gets ruined again. DDT will be in Philadelphia during Wrestlemania week and that usually means the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title will be going along for the ride. It’s only a matter of time before somebody in the WWE gets to win the championship for even the briefest of moments. Now I’m not expecting Cody Rhodes to win it in front of 50,000 people to finish the story. But somebody involved with the company hanging out at WrestleCon and taking their chance to win a 24/7 title just to amuse themselves? That sounds more likely. This prediction also applies to any item, prop or official piece of merchandise tied to WWE. If a Jey Uso “Yeet” shirt becomes champion then it counts!

Prediction: Tetsuya Endo should go on an overseas excursion.

This is not so much of a prediction but more a piece of advice. After thinking of ways for Tetsuya Endo to get out of the current position he is in, the best idea I can come up with is for him to go wrestle overseas for a while. Whether that is a several month stay in America or going on weekend trips to Europe every couple of months, he badly needs a change of pace in a new surrounding. Get him in there with Gringo Loco in GCW, have Shigehiro Irie show him the (lack of) sights in Oberhausen during a wXw tournament weekend, book him on ROH so he can travel around with the AEW crew, seat him in the front row behind the commentary table at an NXT taping. He should go broaden his horizons because the direction DDT put him in as Kenta Kobashi’s protégé is not working.

Tokyo Joshi Pro

Prediction: Somebody from the 2023 Class scores a pinfall on a TJPW veteran.

We got six rookies in 2023 and they have all been fun to watch as they learn on the job and figure out who they want to be. Wakana Uehara winning the New Generation Tournament shows that TJPW have faith in her becoming an important part of the roster if she sticks with them. HIMAWARI had her character down flat from day one and her match against Uehara in the final is a great example of how to create a dramatic match with limited movesets. Toga is capturing everyone’s hearts one big Elbow Smash at a time (although really you should thank Hikari Noa for selling that move like a champ), Shino Suzuki has the bonus advantage of being in The Up Up Girls and we might end up with a future generational rivalry between Haru Kazashiro & Runa Okubo as they learn different wrestling styles separate from each other. Talent development for TJPW needs to be coming quick and fast if there is a need to replace the likes of Yuka Sakazaki. Young blood needs to be beating veterans eventually and it is more likely to happen than you think. Remember, TJPW holds a couple of one day tournaments throughout the year with matches that end in 2 Count pinfalls. That’s where you can see Uehara suddenly beat Mahiro Kiryu or Toga only needing to roll up Kaya Toribami for two seconds to get her hand raised. I don’t expect it to be on the level of Arisu Endo pinning Shoko Nakajima out of nowhere but somebody from the 2023 class is going to get a moment in the spotlight her senpai’s expense in 2024.

Prediction: Mizuki Vs Rika Tatsumi finally happens… in the Tokyo Princess Cup.

When Mizuki’s reign as the Princess Champion ended there was one thing that left me completely baffled. Why was there never a title defence against Rika Tatsumi? One of the longest running pieces of character lore in TJPW is Tatsumi’s crush on Mizuki going all the way back to 2018 when Tatsumi wanted to banish the Forbidden Three rules the in-house roster had to follow because nobody was sure if “No Boyfriends” also meant “No Girlfriends”. Fast forward to 2023 and we got a very good 2-Vs-1 Handicap Match between Daydream and Mizuki where Tatsumi battled those feelings in order to beat her crush. Nothing ever came out of it and to be fair it never intended to be more than an emergency replacement match due to Sakazaki getting injured. TJPW also has an odd thing where some of their big singles matches only ever happen in the Tokyo Princess Cup, either as a 1st Round match to eliminate a top contender early or as a random drawing in the final stages of the tournament. So I think if we ever do get Mizuki Vs Tatsumi, it will be at the Princess Cup instead of a big singles title bout.

Prediction: Maki Itoh wins the GCW World Heavyweight Championship.

I think odds are really good for Maki Itoh to win one of GCW’s championships next year given she is one of the bigger attractions for the group nowadays. Her winning the tag team titles with Nick Gage is an obvious direction to go. But I want to go all in for this prediction. GCW has Blake Christian as their long term heel world champion and groundwork has been laid down for a Blake Vs Gage title match down the road. But we’ve been there, done that with Gage as the top babyface champion for GCW. This is a company that doesn’t mind doing wacky novelty booking with their titles. So how about Itoh unexpectedly gets a title match with Blake, maybe Money In The Bank style and she shockingly beats him for the GCW Title? It would be the peak of her run with the company, that’s for sure.

Prediction: Aja Kong takes on a regular role in TJPW.

Just like how Jun Akiyama became a coach in DDT, I’d like to see Aja Kong do something similar in TJPW. She has been a guest for so many shows at this point it’s not like she would be a stranger to everyone there. Whether it is coaching the youngsters, becoming a matchmaker or just keeping a stern eye on Tetsuya Koda so he won’t lose focus Kong would have a wealth of knowledge to offer the company. And maybe then we get a payoff for her rivalry with Max The Impaler.

Prediction: Miyu Yamashita and Maki Itoh remain with TJPW for the year.

I’m testing fate with this one, aren’t I? Miyu Yamashita has done almost everything there is to do in TJPW and Maki Itoh spends so much time in America she’s currently divorced from what’s going on in her home promotion. And yet I just don’t believe both of them are ready to graduate from TJPW like Yuka Sakazaki did. At least not in the next 12 months. Yamashita and Itoh will definitely have plenty of American bookings for everyone to look forward to in 2024. But leaving TJPW to focus on that entirely? I don’t think so. They will still have TJPW as their home base.

Ganbare☆Pro

Prediction: Ken Ohka Wins The Spirit Of Ganbare Title From Isami Kodaka

The ways that Ken Ohka and Isami Kodaka have been booked in GanPro this year makes this in my opinion the likeliest prediction to come true. Kodaka is cleaving through the roster with title defence after title defence while Ohka, the main guy behind all of GanPro, has been kept away from the title picture for over a year and a half. Ohka is always fighting from the bottom as the underdog so him never winning the Spirit Of Ganbare Title would fit how he books himself. However that’s not how pro wrestling works and there is bound to be a day when he finally gets his hands on his own promotion’s championship.

Prediction: The Ganbare☆Climax returns.

The last time GanPro held a tournament called the Ganbare☆Climax was in 2021 and that was to crown their first SOG Champion. It would be nice to see it come back to determine a No. 1 Contender during the year. GanPro held tournaments for the Young Ganbare Cup and the Spirit Of Ganbare Tag Team Titles this year but they both felt like one-offs. That clears up the schedule for a single elimination tournament to happen whenever they want.

Prediction: Yuna Manase returns from injury and feuds with YuuRI.

One of the key additions to GanPro this year was the relaunch of the Ganbare☆Joshi division built around YuuRI, Yoshiko Hasegawa and Riara. Sadly Yuna Manase was relegated to a GM role while she recovers from her ACL injury. YuuRI in particular put in the work to become the face of the GanJo division in her absence. So let’s say that Manase is able to wrestle again in 2024. Would she be willing to play second fiddle to YuuRI? Or will history continue to be a circle and Manase now finds herself as the veteran unwilling to let the new generation surpass her? Wouldn’t that be interesting given Manase’s feud with Yuu Yamagata a few years ago was over the same idea? YuuRI still has a lot to prove and the dynamic could make Hasegawa and Riara choose sides until the matter is resolved. Build it up to one big singles match and it could end up being a lot of fun to follow.

Prediction: A mixed gender tag team wins the Spirit Of Ganbare Tag Titles.

I admit this is just a repackaged prediction I made last year about the SOG Tag Titles being built around intergender wrestling. There’s only been one title defence so far featuring a mixed gender team and that was when Lethal Weapon (Hartley Jackson & HARUKAZE) were the challengers. I like seeing them team together but I fear that match in August was their only chance, at least while Ground Absolute hold the belts/trophies. There are always other people in GanPro for HARUKAZE to team with and also Banny Oikawa is now with GanPro mostly to do mixed tags. I bet it is only a matter of time before it happens.

Prediction: A Stardom wrestler appears on a Ganbare☆Joshi show.

Another factor of GanJo’s return this year was seeing that roster interact with wrestlers from TJPW, Ice Ribbon, Marvelous, Diana and more. YuuRI even brought over Ice Ribbon’s main championship for a title defence on a GanJo show. Now let’s add Stardom to the list through the UJNW connection. Stardom and TJPW will probably stay being icy towards each other but Yuna Manase and YuuRI both got to wrestle on a Stardom show in 2022. I see talk online about how cool it would be if all the joshi companies get together in 2024 for a major arena show to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of “BIG EGG UNIVERSE”. Something like that was kind of done in 2022 to celebrate 60 years of Korakuen Hall and even then that had some bruised egos coming out of it when Shukan Puroresu only put Starlight Kid on the front cover at the expense of everyone else involved who were not associated with Stardom. Also TJPW stayed away from the show too which again, some icy relationships are probably going on there. So let’s keep this prediction on a much smaller level and just say a Stardom wrestler shows up at a GanJo event.

Miscellaneous

Prediction: A DDT wrestler makes a full time jump over to BASARA.

Appearances from Kazusada Higuchi during the last quarter of 2023 helped freshen up BASARA a little bit. They’re not a company I expect much change from going forward but they could do with adding another full timer to their roster. Even though they are independent there is history with a DDT wrestler deciding they are better off jumping over to BASARA (or Union Pro before that) so they can play a bigger role at shows. It could be a veteran who already wrestles in BASARA and no longer seeing themselves being relevant in DDT (*cough*Soma Takao*cough*) or maybe one of the younger, less experienced wrestlers are looking for a change of pace. Ilusion for example seems to get along with that group well. Someone from that age group would turn into a rival for Munetatsu Nakamura too if that were to happen.

Prediction: Konosuke Takeshita wrestles in the main event of an AEW PPV.

It is really annoying to see Konosuke Takeshita being wasted in The Don Callis Family storyline. It is also annoying that the next step of the angle is the group using Freebird rules that will obviously set up Sammy Guevara’s return to TV rather than giving more focus to Takeshita or Powerhouse Hobbs for that matter. So what is it that has me thinking Takeshita can be in a PPV main event next year? Just the numbers game, really. AEW are adding more PPVs to their schedule so that should be more opportunities for new title challengers. Also if this storyline continues without Kenny Omega and just becomes the Family feuding with Chris Jericho there is can be something like a new Anarchy In The Arena happening to close out one of the PPVs.

Prediction: Yuka Sakazaki becomes the first ROH Women’s TV Champion.

Sakazaki is getting ready for the next chapter in her pro wrestling life. Given how AEW presents their women’s division, she is probably going to get more time in ROH instead. She already had her shot at Athena and the regular ROH Women’s Title but the group now has something new to fight for. A brand new ROH Women’s TV Title was recently revealed and Sakazaki would make a great choice to be its first champion.

Prediction: Baka Gaijin + Friends runs a show at Shin-Kiba 1st RING.

When I wrote a preview for the “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2023” main event I compared the Baka Gaijin + Friends shows to DDT’s Beer Garden shows. There’s a warm vibe and fun atmosphere to these matches that take place in such a small venue. I think the series has become popular enough that Chris Brookes can go from 50 fans in ARENA Shimokitazawa to a triple digit attendance in Shin-Kiba 1st RING, the place where DDT hosted Beer Garden for many years. See it like Gatoh Move running ChocoPro in Ichigaya on the regular and then every once in a while they move up to a place where a full scale wrestling ring can be set up. As long as the drinks still flow the crowd will be with them all the way.

Prediction: The 2024 New Year’s Eve Shuffle Tag Tournament lasts past midnight again.

It used to be that the final show of the year in Korakuen Hall goes beyond midnight into the early hours of the new year. It hasn’t been that way for a while because of restrictions coming out of the pandemic. Unfortunately I think a reason why this year’s edition still has an early evening start is because the show is not much of a draw anymore. But I want to be proven wrong so Korakuen fans get to count down the new year in the middle of a semi-final tag team match again.

Prediction: Yuka Sakazaki gets arrested for assaulting Mickey Mouse at Disney World.

She’s your problem now, Tony!

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Posted by JamieOD

TJPW Lottery Line Up, New Year’s Eve 1st Round Matches, Ittenyon Updates, Bryan Keith Heading To DDT

December 7, 2023

TOKYO JOSHI PRO/PRESTIGE “COMBAT PRINCESS USA”, 14/12/2023
The Vermont Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Rika Tatsumi & Amira Vs Max The Impaler & Pom Harajuku
2. Moka Miyamoto Vs Trish Adora
3. Mizuki Vs Sandra Moone
4. Shoko Nakajima Vs Taya Valkyrie
5. Miu Watanabe Vs Hyan
6. Princess Tag Team Titles: Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta (c) Vs Janai Kai & Shazza McKenzie
7. Special Tag Match: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh Vs Masha Slamovich & Killer Kelly

Ok so now The Globe Theater actually is closed down. For real this time. Prestige announced the event is now taking place at The Vermont Hollywood. The show will airing as a PPV on Wrestle Universe with English commentary from Jordan Castle and Veda Scott.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW CITY CIRCUIT ’23 ~KASUKABE PERFORMANCE~”, 17/12/2023
Saitama Kasukabe Fureai Cube

1. 3 Way Match: Yuki Kamifuku Vs Shino Suzuki Vs Runa Okubo
2. Arisu Endo Vs Haru Kazashiro
3. Hyper Misao Vs Kaya Toribami
4. Mahiro Kiryu Vs Wakana Uehara
5. Suzume Vs HIMAWARI
6. Shoko Nakajima Vs Toga
7. Raku Vs Juria Nagano
8. Yuki Aino Vs Pom Harajuku
9. Miu Watanabe Vs Moka Miyamoto
10. Maki Itoh Vs Hikari Noa

The fan lottery was held yesterday to determine the matchups. Maki Itoh Vs Hikari Noa main events the show but the other match to take note of is Yuki Aino Vs Pom Harajuku. The two of them have spent the last year closely linked together along with Raku so that friendship needs to be pushed aside for up to seven minutes.

“NEW YEAR’S EVE PRO WRESTLING 2023 ~TOSHIWASURE! SHUFFLE 6-MAN TAG TOURNAMENT~”, 31/12/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1A: HARASHIMA, Kota Sekifuda & Yuji Hino Vs Takeshi Masada, Yuya Aoki & Koji Iwamoto
2. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1B: Kazusada Higuchi, Yasufumi Nakanoue & Kohei Kinoshita Vs Chris Brookes, Kazumasa Yoshida & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi
3. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1C: Yukio Naya, Hideyoshi Kamitani & Minoru Suzuki Vs Danshoku Dieno, Daichi Hashimoto & Ikuto Hidaka
4. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1D: Hideki Okatani, Yuki Ishikawa & Brahman Shu (w/ Brahman Kei) Vs Tetsuya Endo, Daisuke Sekimoto & Fuminori Abe
5. So Daimonji, Ender Kara, Leyton Buzzard & Tempesta Vs Kazumi Kikuta, Kazuki Hashimoto, Kazuma Sumi & Rukiya
6. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Semi Final: Winners Of Match 1A Vs Winners Of Match 1B
7. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Semi Final: Winners Of Match 1C Vs Winners Of Match 1D
8. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yuki Ueno, Kazuki Hirata & Antonio Honda Vs Takuya Nomura, Abdullah Kobayashi & Kankuro Hoshino
9. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Final: X, X & X Vs X, X & X

Bati Bati F’N In The Sky: Tetsuya Endo, Daisuke Sekimoto & Fuminori Abe
Big Bombers Kai: Yukio Naya, Hideyoshi Kamitani & Minoru Suzuki
Team Katagi Returns: Kazusada Higuchi, Yasufumi Nakanoue & Kohei Kinoshita
Anal Destruction Hidaka: Danshoku Dieno, Daichi Hashimoto & Ikuto Hidaka
The Kind People: Chris Brookes, Kazumasa Yoshida & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi
Lonely Hot College Students: Takeshi Masada, Yuya Aoki & Koji Iwamoto
Smile Lizard King Kong: HARASHIMA, Kota Sekifuda & Yuji Hino
Go For It! The Three Inokori Brothers: Hideki Okatani, Yuki Ishikawa & Brahman Shu (w/ Brahman Kei)

The Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament is out. Round 1 has Smile Lizard King Kong versus Lonely Hot College Students first, Team Katagi Returns versus The Kind People second, Big Bombers Kai versus Anal Destruction Hidaka third and Go For It! The Three Inokori Brothers versus Bati Bati F’N In The Sky last.

There are two non-tournament matches. The big one is the DDT team of Yuki Ueno, Kazuki Hirata & Antonio Honda against the Big Japan trio of Takuya Nomura, Abdullah Kobayashi & Kankuro Hoshino. The other match has DDT and Big Japan joining forces to fight the international unit PROJECT: HAVOC. That group has been a thorn in Big Japan’s side for a couple of months now.

DDT “D-OH GRAND PRIX 2023 THE FINAL”, 03/01/2024
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. New Year’s GiFt Special Single Match: Kuroshio TOKYO Japan Vs Danshoku Dieno
2. Special Tag Match ~ Shunma Katsumata Return Match: Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani Vs Shunma Katsumata & Toy Kojima
3. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – Final: Winner Of A Block Vs Winner Of B Block

DDT’s gift for their fans to open up 2024 is a match between Kuroshio TOKYO Japan and Danshoku Dieno… Did they keep the receipt?

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TOKYO JOSHI PRO ’24”, 04/01/2024
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Aja Kong Vs Wakana Uehara
2. Rina Yamashita Vs Maki Itoh
3. International Princess Title: Max The Impaler (c) Vs Yuki Arai
4. Princess Of Princess Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) Vs Masha Slamovich

The two new matches announced for the Tokyo Joshi Pro Ittenyon show can all be traced back to this year’s Ittenyon show. Max The Impaler will defend the International Princess Title against Yuki Arai. This past January Max took the Princess Tag Team Titles from Arai. But now one year later the roles will be reversed and Arai has a chance to beat Max to take away their championship.

On the first anniversary of her pro debut, Wakana Uehara gets to fight Aja Kong! This is the Uehara’s reward for winning the Next Generation Tournament. The two have a little bit of history going back to before Uehara’s debut. When she was on the Youtube series Yume Pro Wrestling -dream on the ring- there was an episode with Kong as the special guest trainer. Then at “WRESTLE PRINCESS IV” in October Kong beat Uehara in a 6-Woman Tag match. Uehara is still excited for the match though and wants to show Kong how much she has grown as a wrestler.

DDT “SWEET DREAMS! 2024”, 28/01/2024
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs Naruki Doi

DDT announced the first two dates for Konosuke Takeshita’s return in 2024. The first is a big singles match against Naruki Doi on DDT’s second Korakuen Hall show of the year. The second date is for “JUDGEMENT 2024” at Korakuen on 17th March.

Bryan Keith is coming to DDT in January! “The Bounty Hunter” will be at shows on 20th, 21st and 28th January. The announcement of his appearance immediately got MAO’s attention. They fought each other at West Coast Pro in America back in July with Keith coming out as the winner. MAO wants to avenge that loss and might use the DDT Universal Title as the reward to convince Keith into taking a rematch.

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Posted by JamieOD

DDT Around The World – November 2023

December 1, 2023

Okay so where did things stand during November? Konosuke Takeshita’s work in America was still as a background player in the Don Callis storyline. The rivalry between him and Chris Jericho was mostly focused in Japan for DDT. But with that said there was still the rest of the month for AEW to give him stuff to do and there was nothing to show for it. Shoko Nakajima got to stomp her way to America briefly but just like every American monster movie it was only for a little while. Maki Itoh seems to be booked stronger and stronger in GCW as the months go by. She won all of her matches in America this month! I think there’s going to be some gold on her way in the future. Speaking of gold there is plenty of championship news to talk about for this month.

Sadly for Miyu Yamashita she lost some of her gold after her latest appearance in England. The global triple crown she held a few months back is now long gone and she’s back to just being a champion in Japan. The International Princess Title got to be defended overseas and even made a cameo on NWA programming. The belt was also handled by James Mitchell a lot which makes me hope it got a deep clean before it was transported back to Japan. Yuki Kamifuku has always behaved like a queen and now she gets to be called one thanks to the title she won in Singapore.

So with all of this now out of the way let’s hope December ends the year with a few high notes. Tokyo Joshi Pro has their show with Prestige coming up, Shota is doing a winter excursion and MAO is spending New Year’s with the dodgy bunch of friends you’d wish your kid wouldn’t hang out with.

———————————————————————–

Videos

Konosuke Takeshita In AEW Playlist


DAIKAIJU PRO “VOL. 1 – THE KAPPAS WALK AMONG US”, 04/11/2023
White Eagle, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA

1. Shoko Nakajima Vs VENY


AEW “DYNAMITE”, 15/11/2023
Toyota Arena, Ontario, California, USA

1. Like A Dragon Street Fight: Chris Jericho, Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi & Paul Wight Vs Konosuke Takeshita, Kyle Fletcher, Powerhouse Hobbs & Brian Cage


EVE “WRESTLE QUEENDOM – SHOW 2”, 19/11/2023
The Dome, Tufnell Park, London, England

1. EVE Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) Vs Safire Reed


SPW “VIVA LA LUCHA!”, 24/11/2023
Foo Chow Building, Singapore

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

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Results


GCW “PLEASE, BUDDY”, 03/11/2023
Pop’s Nightclub, Sauget, Illinois, USA

1. Maki Itoh defeated Shazza McKenzie with the Itoh Deluxe (8:37).

Itoh can sing, she can dance, she can even carve open human skulls with a pizza cutter. But she cannot do the splits like Shazza McKenzie. The Australian used the splits as a defensive maneuver and then challenged Itoh to match it. Itoh struggled but it didn’t matter because McKenzie then kicked her aside and took control of the match. Itoh recovered and locked in the Itoh Deluxe to make her opponent tap out.


DAIKAIJU PRO “VOL. 1 – THE KAPPAS WALK AMONG US”, 04/11/2023
White Eagle, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA

1. VENY defeated Shoko Nakajima with the Moonsault Press onto the pile of Kaiju Toys (12:04).

When you have a promotion called Daikaiju Pro who else is more fitting to headline their first show than the girl nicknamed Big Kaiju? Nakajima brought out a bag filled with kaiju toys that she wanted to use in her match against VENY but the referee wouldn’t allow her to use them. At least he was polite enough to stand up one of the toys on the apron. VENY wasn’t there to play games either. She spat water in Nakajima’s face while beating her down and later hit a big Moonsault onto her outside the ring. A second Moonsault missed its target allowing Nakajima to get her second wind. Things went haywire after VENY accidentally knocked out the ref with a slap. Nakajima had her beaten with the Northern Lights Suplex but no ref was there to count it. Nakajima took advantage by bringing in the bag of kaiju toys and throwing VENY onto them with a Top Rope Hurricanrana. The ref recovered but VENY kicked out of the pin. Nakajima then got a taste of her own medicine by being slammed onto the pile of toys with a Hurricane Driver. She kicked out of a Michinoku Driver but VENY finished her off with the Moonsault Press on top of the toys.


GCW “¿SI OR NO?”, 04/11/2023
Center Stage, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

1. Maki Itoh, Effy & Allie Katch defeated Jordan Oliver, Davey Bang & August Matthews when Itoh, Effy & Katch all pinned Matthews with a Triple Kokeshi Headbutt (11:29).

The trio known as Maki Death Bussy won again in their second outing as a team. Their opponents Young, Dumb & Bros tried to used fast paced team moves to their advantage until Allie Katch cleared house with her power. Effy then tagged in Itoh so the three of them could hit a Kokeshi Headbutt all at the same time for the win.


EVE “FRIDAY NIGHT’S ALRIGHT FOR FIGHTING”, 10/11/2023
Big Penny Social, Walthamstow, London, England

1. International Princess Title: Max The Impaler (c) defeated Kasey (10:36).
*V1 for Max The Impaler.

The International Princess Title was defended in England for the first time in over a year when Max The Impaler stepped foot into EVE once more. EVE got permission from TJPW to have Max put the title on the line against the “Monster Of Chaos” Kasey. It was a risk to do this title defence when there was already one scheduled for Max when they returned to Japan. But it turned out not to be a problem for the champion and they left EVE with the title still over their shoulder.


AEW “DYNAMITE”, 15/11/2023
Toyota Arena, Ontario, California, USA

1. Like A Dragon Street Fight: Chris Jericho, Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi & Paul Wight defeated Konosuke Takeshita, Kyle Fletcher, Powerhouse Hobbs & Brian Cage when Omega pinned Cage with the One-Winged Angel (21:01).

Takeshita went full Goro Majima for AEW’s sponsorship with Sega and the new Lika A Dragon game. All that was missing was him calling Kenny Omega “Kenny-chan” while stalking him from every nook and cranny inside the building. The Street Fight was a full tribute to the street fights you get in the game including attacks involving bicycles, people getting slammed onto cars and shop signs getting smashed to bits. This was the kind of natural environments The Golden Lovers developed in and is a recommended throwback to the crazy Falls Count Anywhere Matches they used to get up to in DDT. Kota Ibushi cycling around ringside hitting people with a pipe until Brian Cage decapitated him with a Lariat is something wrestling will always need. Also Powerhouse Hobbs seemed to have killed Paul Wight in the parking lot and it didn’t matter towards the result. AEW really needs to fix that kind of story telling. Anyway, Omega dropped Kyle Fletcher with the One-Winged Angel to deliver a happy ending for this substory.


GCW “GOING AND GOING”, 17/11/2023
Washington Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA

1. Maki Itoh defeated Nicole Matthews with the I.S.D. (9:19).

A first time meeting between Itoh and Nicole Matthews meant it was time for Matthews to discover first hand just how hard Itoh’s head is. She based her attacks around Cravates and Knee Strikes to the head. When that didn’t work she pushed the referee into the ropes to knock Itoh off balance from the top turnbuckle. However Itoh kicked out of a Northern Lights Suplex and lured Matthews back over to the corner. She gave her a Draping DDT onto the ring apron, a Tornado DDT on the floor outside the ring and then the I.S.D back in the ring for the victory.


HOODSLAM “RED”, 18/11/2023
Continental Club, Oakland, California, USA

1. Sawyer Wreck & Maki Itoh defeated Dark Sheik & Vipress when Itoh pinned Sheik with the I.S.D. (17:02).

When Itoh was last in Hoodslam she lost a match to Vipress thanks to interference from Dark Sheik. Itoh got her revenge this month by bringing along Sawyer Wreck so they could beat the two of them together. The match transformed into a chicken fight with Itoh sitting on Wreck’s shoulders and Vipress sitting on Sheik’s. Itoh toppled down the opposing tower with her Headbutts. Communication between Sheik & Vipress broke down and the two turned on each other. From that point they were easily picked off with Itoh hitting Sheik with the I.S.D. and Wreck Choke Slamming Vipress for the double pin.


EVE “WRESTLE QUEENDOM – SHOW 1”, 19/11/2023
The Dome, Tufnell Park, London, England

1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Chantal Jordan with the Skull Kick (12:27).

Two matches in one day awaited Yamashita for EVE’s last major event of the year. The afternoon match was pretty rudimentary. She beat Chantal Jordan with the Skull Kick, no questions asked.


EVE “WRESTLE QUEENDOM – SHOW 2”, 19/11/2023
The Dome, Tufnell Park, London, England

1. EVE Title: Safire Reed defeated Miyu Yamashita (c) with a Rolling Cradle (15:35).
*Miyu Yamashita fails in V9. Safire Reed becomes the 21st EVE Champion!

The second show at night however brought an end to Yamashita’s year long reign as EVE Champion. The up and comer Safire Reed beat her in a big upset to win the title! Yamashita’s title run ends as the fifth longest in EVE’s history and also has the most successful title defences on record in a single reign. I can’t imagine this will be the last time we’ll see her in EVE too so what she and maybe more from TJPW will do with them in the future is something to watch out for.


LLL “DEEP HURTING”, 22/11/2023
The Oriental Theater, Denver, Colorado, USA

1. 3 Way Match: Maki Itoh defeated Lilith Grimm and Stormi Renee (?:??).

Itoh was back in Lucha Libre & Laughs, beating Lilith Grimm and Stormi Renee in a 3 Way Match.


SPW “VIVA LA LUCHA!”, 24/11/2023
Foo Chow Building, Singapore

1. Queen Of Asia Title: Yuki Kamifuku defeated Alexis Lee (c) with the Diving Famouser (?:??).
*Alexis Lee fails in V5. Yuki Kamifuku becomes the 5th Queen Of Asia Champion!

In a rematch from January of this year, Kamifuku had a second chance of taking the Queen Of Asia Title from Alexis Lee. This time she succeeded and has brought the title championship back to Japan! The belt is managed by Singapore Pro Wrestling so they will need to sign off on any title defences Kamifuku will want to do in TJPW.


GCW “WRESTLECADE WEEKEND”, 24/11/2023
Benton Convention Center, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA

1. Maki Itoh defeated Kylie Alexa with the I.S.D. (5:08).

There was no Kenzie Paige on the show. Instead Itoh had to take on Paige’s sister Kylie Alexa. No matter. Itoh beat her anyway.


AEW “RAMPAGE”, 29/11/2023 (Aired 01/12/2023)
Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

1. Powerhouse Hobbs, Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher defeated Jah-C. Kit Sackett & Renny D (?:??).

Takeshita ended his month winning a squash match with the rest of The Don Callis Family.

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Upcoming Appearances


BLACK LABEL PRO “SLAMILTON”, 02/12/2023
Berwyn Eagles Club, Berwyn, Illinois, USA

1. Rachel Armstrong Vs Maki Itoh

Itoh will still be in America while TJPW celebrates their 10th anniversary. December for her begins with Itoh taking on Rachel Armstrong in Black Label Pro.


GCW “WHAT IS YOUR CHOICE?”, 03/12/2023
Roulette Intermedium, Brooklyn, New York, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs Mike Bailey

Here’s a matchup so nutty it has to be done a week sooner! GCW originally booked a match between Itoh and Mike Bailey for their show in LA on 9th December. It had to be cancelled because Bailey had a scheduling conflict. So rather than wait until next year to do the match it’s been pushed forward to the Brooklyn show on the 3rd instead.


MLW “ONE-SHOT”, 07/12/2023
Melrose Ballroom, Queens, New York, USA

1. Princess Of Princess Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) Vs Delmi Exo
2. MLW World Featherweight Title: Janai Kai (c) Vs Maki Itoh

When Yamashita was announced for MLW a war of words broke out online between her and Delmi Exo. This year Exo held the women’s titles from both MLW and wXw at the same time. She no longer has either so she now has her sights set on the Princess Of Princess Title. Yamashita appreciated the challenge but turned it down because she already has her next defence scheduled for 4th January. Exo wasn’t happy with the response and sent insulting messages to Yamashita until the champion decided to accept the challenge and put Exo in her place. It all sounds well and good for a storyline but I’m a little worried MLW will pull off some bullshit when nobody is looking. They’ve done a phantom title change before with one of the AAA championships during the pandemic and tried to play it off as a misunderstanding over wires getting crossed. Call me skeptical but you should only ever trust Court Bauer as far as you can throw him.

In September Itoh lost a No. 1 Contender match to B3CCA so you may be wondering why she is still getting an MLW World Featherweight Title shot against Janai Kai? It’s because B3CCA has since gotten a knee injury and will be on the shelf for a few months. Can Itoh make the most of this unexpected opportunity?


DREAMWAVE “UPRISING”, 08/12/2023
Knights of Columbus, LaSalle, Illinois, USA

1. Shazza McKenzie Vs Miyu Yamashita

Please don’t let Sean Ross Sapp interfere in this match.


MPW “THE LONG NIGHT”, 08/12/2023
Knights of Columbus, LaSalle, Illinois, USA

1. Miggy Rose & Michael Hopkins Vs Shota & J2

Shota is adding dates for his winter tour of America. The earliest match scheduled for him now is at Millenium Pro Wrestling. He will team with a former opponent from last year’s excursion, J2 Mattioli. Their opponents are a team called 24K.


DREAMWAVE “GOOD AS GOLD”, 09/12/2023
Knights of Columbus, LaSalle, Illinois, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita & Emi Sakura Vs Zayda Steel & Zamaya

Well, well, well, what do we have here? Yamashita and Emi Sakura in the same ring on the same team at the same time? They were on opposite sides once before and that was on a DPW show during the summer. Now we get to see how they will fare when they on the same page. Zayda Steel & Zamaya could be in for a rough night if their opponents gel together really well.


EWF “PRO WRESTLING LUCHA LIBRE”, 09/12/2023
VFW Post 8737, San Bernardino, California, USA

1. EWF Vs The World: Shota Vs Noah

Just like last year Shota’s trip to America has him showing up in some real obscure places on the independents. Empire Wrestling Federation is one of them and they have a wrestler called Noah ready to fight him.


GCW “HIGHEST IN THE ROOM 2”, 09/12/2023
Ukrainian Cultural Center, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Nick Gage & Maki Itoh Vs Johnny Game Changer & Taya Valkyrie

GCW has gone full blown wacky over what they’re replacing Itoh Vs Bailey in LA with. That show is now getting Maki Death Kill against Johnny Game Changer & Taya Valkyrie!


SKYFIRE PRO “NAVIDAD NIGHTMARE”, 10/12/2023
Bay City Brewing Co., San Diego, California, USA

1. Rebel Storm Vs Shota

Shota’s opponent when he comes over to Skyfire Pro is Rebel Storm.


TOKYO JOSHI PRO/PRESTIGE “COMBAT PRINCESS USA”, 14/12/2023
Globe Theatre, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Rika Tatsumi & Amira Vs Max The Impaler & Pom Harajuku
2. Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta Vs Janai Kai & Shazza McKenzie
3. Moka Miyamoto Vs Trish Adora
4. Mizuki Vs Sandra Moone
5. Shoko Nakajima Vs Taya Valkyrie
6. Miu Watanabe Vs Hyan
7. Special Tag Match: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh Vs Masha Slamovich & Killer Kelly

The full card for “COMBAT PRINCESS USA” is here. Prestige have gathered together Masha Slamovich, Killer Kelly, Hyan, Taya Valkyrie, Sandra Moone, Trish Adora, Janai Kai, Shazza McKenzie (replacing an injured Johnnie Robbie) and Amira to represent their side in a bunch of inter-promotional matches against TJPW.


PANDEMONIUM PRO “HOLIDAY IN LA”, 17/12/2023
Don Quixote, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Vinnie Massaro Vs Shota
2. Mike Bailey Vs Miyu Yamashita

It’s neat to see Vinnine Massaro get to wrestle in NOAH earlier this week. I bet that was a big thrill for him.


CIRCLE 6 “KING OF THE DEATHMATCHES”, 30/12/2023
Don Quixote, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. MAO Vs X

I’m not sure if MAO is entering the actual King Of The Deathmatch tournament or if he’s there in a separate attraction match.


GCW “NO COMPADRE”, 12/01/2024
Thalia Hall, Chicago, Illinois, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

Itoh has her first 2024 dates with GCW ready to go.


GCW “56 BIRDZ”, 13/01/2024
Valley Dale Ballroom, Columbus, Ohio, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

So far Itoh has Maki Death Kill and Maki Death Bussy under her list of alliances in GCW. Where does she go next?


DDT “DDT GOES PHILADELPHIA!”, 04/04/2024
Penns Landing Caterers Auditorium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

DDT returns to America next year as part of The Collective in Philadelphia during Wrestlemania week. Sanshiro Takagi said on Twitter he would also like to do a Falls Count Anywhere match at the Philadelphia Museum Of Arts stairway from the Rocky movie if he is part of the crew travelling over.

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Posted by JamieOD

DDT “ULTIMATE PARTY 2023” Results

November 12, 2023

DDT “ULTIMATE PARTY 2023”, 12/11/2023
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
4,785 Fans – No Vacancy

1. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Soma Takao & Shota (c) defeated Masahiro Takanashi & Antonio Honda when Takao pinned Honda with the Gin And Tonic (7:46).
*V1 for ROMANCE DAWN.
2. Staggered Entry Tag Rumble: Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku defeated KANON & MJ Paul, Naruki Doi & Kazuma Sumi, Toy Kojima & Yuki Ishida and Yuni & Rukiya (9:32).
2a. Naruki Doi & Kazuma Sumi eliminated Yuni & Rukiya when Doi pinned Yuni with the Bakatare Sliding Kick (4:18).
2b. KANON & MJ Paul eliminated Naruki Doi & Kazuma Sumi when Paul pinned Kojima with a Running Body Press (6:38).
2c. Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku eliminated Naruki Doi & Kazuma Sumi by Ring Out when Okada threw Doi over the top rope (7:53).
2d. Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku eliminated KANON & MJ Paul when Koroku pinned Paul with a Cradle (9:32).
3. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer 6-Woman Tag Match: Yuki Arai, Moka Miyamoto & Shino Suzuki defeated Suzume, Arisu Endo & Wakana Uehara when Arai pinned Uehara with the Finally (11:15).
4. Special 8-Man Tag Match – Japanese Dogeza Match: Yoshitatsu, Yoshihiko, Danshoku Dieno & Super Sasadango Machine defeated Sanshiro Takagi, Akito, Makoto Oishi & Shinichiro Kawamatsu when Takagi apologized to Sasadango (8:20).
5. Special Single Match: Kuroshio TOKYO Japan defeated Takeshi Masada with a Crucifix Pin (13:14).
6. Special 6-Man Tag Match ~ DDT Vs VOODOO-MURDERS: Jun Akiyama, HARASHIMA & Yukio Naya defeated Jun Saito, Rei Saito & Toshizo when Naya pinned Toshizo with the World’s Best Back Drop (10:11).
7. Special Single Match: Daisuke Sasaki defeated Tetsuya Endo by Referee Stoppage with the Crossover Face Lock (14:50).
8. Goodcom Presents Saki Akai Retirement Match ~Strong, Noble, Beautiful~: Naomichi Marufuji, Kazusada Higuchi & Miyu Yamashita defeated Saki Akai, Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani when Yamashita pinned Akai with the Skull Kick (20:30).
9. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Nivea Cream Care Body Wash Presents ~ Dramatic Dream Round “Let’s Have Fun!!” What Will Happen!? Fun Death Match: Hiromu Takahashi (c) defeated Kazuki Hirata with a Fisherman Suplex (R5 3:53).
*V? for Hiromu Takahashi.
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Belt defeated Hiromu Takahashi (c) by Pinfall (5:36 pm).
*IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Belt becomes the 1,590th champion.
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Kazuki Hirata defeated IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Belt (c) by Pinfall (5:37 pm).
*Kazuki Hirata becomes the 1,591st champion.
10. DDT Universal Title – No DQ Match: MAO defeated Matt Cardona (c) (w/ Steph De Lander) with the Radio Silence onto a Plastic Case (16:50).
*Matt Cardona fails in V2. MAO becomes the 12th DDT Universal Champion!
11. Double Main Event I: Chris Jericho defeated KONOSUKE TAKESHITA with the Walls Of Jericho (23:35).
12. KO-D Openweight Title – Double Main Event II: Yuki Ueno defeated Chris Brookes (c) with the WR (29:39).
*Chris Brookes fails in V3. Yuki Ueno becomes the 82nd KO-D Openweight Champion!

A new KO-D Openweight Champion has been crowned! For the last couple of years Yuki Ueno set himself a hefty goal of becoming the guy to carry all of DDT on his back. There were setbacks and big walls to climb over along the way but it all lead to his crowning moment at Sumo Hall today. On a show filled with other matches taking up the spotlight, it was Ueno’s match with Chris Brookes that ended the day with DDT’s biggest prize on the line. The two close friends fighting each other on such a big occasion brought out their reckless sides. It didn’t take long for the fight to make its way outside the ring where Ueno did a Moonsault from the entrance arch and later Brookes put him through a table with a Piledriver. Back in the ring the two almost took each other to a double knockout and then a double countout but they kept showing life to continue. Brookes hit the Praying Mantis Bomb twice with the second being an elevated version of the finisher. But Ueno kicked out of both of them and fired back with doing the BME twice. Brookes kicked out of them so Ueno then used the WR. This time Brookes had no answer for it and Ueno pinned him to become the new KO-D Champion!

Brookes was the one to wrap the belt around Ueno’s waist and then hug him before leaving the ring. Ueno said on the microphone that when Brookes came to DDT they became friends right away. He told Brookes to stay in Japan so they can fight each other in DDT even more. Ueno then told the fans he discovered DDT in his second year of high school thanks to his classmate Konosuke Takeshita. Ueno took the path to becoming a pro wrestler, grew little by little and has now become the champion he never thought he would become. His dream now is to fill every venue and live up to the high expectations a champion should have. He also showed support for the rest of The 37KAMIINA for all of their hard work and success. Meanwhile backstage Brookes spoke to reporters about having more motivation than ever. He thinks a key to Ueno’s victory is being part of a unit that supports each other. Brookes has Masahiro Takanashi and Antonio Honda to rely on but they’ve never been an actual stable together. That is until now. Brookes remembers being part of a group in England called SCHADENFREUDE. This new unit will carry the same name and can be called SCHADENFREUDE International! Brookes then noticed Takeshi Masada was nearby and invited him to join to make it a group of four people. Masada happily accepted the offer to fight for his “wrestling dad” from now on.

The show promoted two main events and the one placed second to last on the card had the most international interest going into it. Chris Jericho wrestled in DDT for the first time to face Takeshita in a match that carries over their current storyline from AEW. There was no sign of Don Callis anywhere so the match went ahead without any threat of outside interference to worry about. Jericho entered to his “Judas” theme song and the audience knew to sing along with the chorus. He and Takeshita fought around ringside where Jericho stole a photographer’s camera to take pictures of his opponent while beating him up. In the ring Takeshita blocked the Judas Effect and tried to win using the Walls Of Takeshita, his version of Jericho’s submission hold. He also used the Super Blue which is the top rope Blue Thunder Bomb for a nearfall. Takeshita followed up with Jumping Knee Strikes and then pulled down his kneepad in order to deliver one final strike. But Jericho cut Takeshita off and trapped him in the Walls Of Jericho. No matter how hard Takeshita tried to escape, it was usless and he had to tap out.

After the match Jericho stuck out his hand to Takeshita. To everyone’s surprise Takeshita shook Jericho’s hand. He then got on the microphone and told the fans his big dream is not going to end yet! Backstage he said the Walls Of Jericho he tried to climb over was much higher than he anticipated. His feud with Jericho is not over and they will continue to fight each other in America. He then made it clear that in Japan he will continue to be Konosuke Takeshita of DDT. In the United States he will become the world’s number one as KONOSUKE TAKESHITA. Today is not the end but the beginning of his dramatic dream. Jericho in his post-match interview said he wanted to do this match in DDT instead of AEW. He is full of praise for Takeshita and thinks the only reason he didn’t win today is because his opponent was Chris Jericho. He would accept an offer to fight Takeshita again 100 times out of 100. He also said he would like to wrestle Tetsuya Endo, Kota Ibushi and Minoru Suzuki. The last one in particular Jericho wants to take place in Japan at a venue the size of Sumo Hall or bigger. He enjoyed his time here in DDT and would come back as long as they can find the right important opponent for him.

Two people who did not enjoy as much of their time with DDT this weekend were Matt Cardona and Steph De Lander. They returned to Japan so Cardona could defend the DDT Universal Title again but his challenger MAO was a major annoyance for them. First Cardona and MAO got into a fight at yesterday’s press conference and that resulted in the title match turning into a No DQ bout. Cardona tried to win straight away by immediately doing the Radio Silence to MAO for a two count. De Lander quickly intervened too which caused the injured Shunma Katsumata to get involved at ringside so the playing field was back to being even. Yukinori Matsui got knocked out during the chaos so there was no referee around. The solution was to bring in Yoshihiko as the substitute ref! Both Cardona and MAO had to grab Yoshihiko and guide it to counting their pinfalls until De Lander threw it out of the ring. Luckily Matsui recovered and was able to continue doing his job while Cardona and MAO smashed plastic cases over each other. Cardona stacked up a pile of cases but went through them himself thanks MAO giving him a top rope Radio Silence. When the dust settled, MAO pinned Cardona on top of the wreckage to win the Universal Title!

Cardona & De Lander stormed off blaming the result on screwjobs while MAO celebrated with the title. MAO said it’s been a long time since he last held the Universal Title and he was able to win today because he worked hard in front of a large crowd. He then announced his first challenger for the belt will be Demus. There is already a singles match between the two booked for 19th November so it will now have the title on the line. Backstage MAO said he couldn’t do what he wanted with the title the first time around because of the pandemic. He has a lot of regrets but today is his happy ending and he can now start a new story. Meanwhile Cardona compared what happened here to the Montreal Screwjob and complained about interference from Katsumata and Toy Kojima. This was the Tokyo Screwjob! He promised when he returns to DDT he will be coming for the KO-D Openweight Title!

Nobody was prepared for what Hiromu Takahashi and Kazuki Hirata had in store for everyone. Not even those two! Takahashi entered Sumo Hall as the defending Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion and agreed to take part in a match filled with match stipulations normally reserved for the DDT Extreme Title. Every round lasted two minutes and began with a roulette wheel on the screen picking a new stipulation. This would go on until a winner was determined. Round 1 was a Musical Sitatuon Death Match where everyone had to do moves that were fitting for the song being played. Takahashi ignored the rule until Hisaya Imabayashi yelled at him on the microphone. When Sengoku era music played Takahashi and Hirata fought each other like samurai. Then romantic music began playing and the two slowly embraced each other. The round ended right before they were about to kiss. Round 2 was a Handicap Match allowing Hirata to team up with Yoshihiko. They had the early advantage until Takahashi got rid of Hirata so he could fight Yoshihiko one on one. Takahashi did the Time Bomb but Yoshihiko kicked out at one. Takahashi then did the Time Bomb II but Yoshihiko kicked out of that as well! It was then onto Round 3, the Blindfold Hidden Breat Death Match! Takahashi and Hirata had to wear blindfolds and bras. The goal was to strip off the opponent’s bra without being able to see. The two eventually found each other and Hirata had a grip of Takahashi’s bra. But the round ended before he could pull it off. Round 4 was a Dancing Death Match but Takahashi did everything he could to prevent Hirata from dancing, leaving the crowd very upset. For Round 5 the roulette wheel was about to land on Normal Rules but instead stopped at the Dancing Death Match again. This time the round was given a 55 minute time limit. Takahashi knocked down his opponent and picked up the Hirata GO! glasses. He admitted he’s been prepared to dance ever since this match was announced! He put the glasses on, “Tokyo GO!” began to play and Takahashi danced with Hirata. The dance turned into a fight with Hirata using the Miracle One Shot Cradle for a nearfall. Takahashi fought back and used the Fisherman Suplex to pin Hirata for a three count. It is the same move Takahashi used to beat Hirata in their first match together back in 2011.

That wasn’t the end of it by a long shot. Takahashi had just defended the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title and laid down next to Hirata with the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title belt resting on his chest. Big mistake. Yukinori Matsui, as sharp-eyed as always, noticed the belt on top of Takahashi and suddenly gave a three count. A confused Takahashi looked up as it was announced that the actual IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Belt itself was now the Iron Man Champion! Hirata quickly grabbed the belt and pinned it on the canvas. Matsui counted along and then declared Hirata was now the Iron Man Champion! When Takahashi finally figured out what had happened he shook Hirata’s hand and tried to roll him up to win the belt back but failed. Hirata escaped from ringside, leaving Takahashi by himself in the ring. Then when Takahashi walked away, Danshoku Dieno crept up from behind and gave him a big kiss when he turned around. Backstage Takahashi said this is the end of his story with Hirata and they may never see each other again. He suggests his next story could be with Keisuke Ishii because he’s never beaten him in their three singles matches. He had more to say but Dieno reappeared and chased him off.

Saki Akai’s pro wrestling career in the ring has now come to an end. After spending a decade in the ring, Akai announced in the summer her choice to step away at her peak of performance, feeling it is better to end her career as a beautiful rose instead of a wilting flower. By doing this she gets to be a rare case of a pro wrestler getting to retire on their own terms without ever suffering a serious injury. For her final match Akai teamed up with the rest of Eruption one last time. Their opponents were also all of her choosing. There was Naomichi Marufuji from NOAH because Akai felt she was strong enough to face him in the ring. They also knew each other from before Akai got into wrestling. Kazusada Higuchi was picked because he is a former member of Eruption who founded the unit with Akai and Yukio Sakaguchi. And third was Miyu Yamashita from Tokyo Joshi Pro because they are friends in private who helped with each other’s wrestling careers a lot. Akai got to get time in the ring against all three opponents while Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani were there for backup. Akai kept fighting despite taking a Thrust Kick from Marufuji and a Headbutt from Higuchi. The match came down to her against Yamashita with Akai trying to last as long as she could before finally falling to the Skull Kick to end her last match.

With the match complete everybody got their chance to shake Akai’s hand before the retirement ceremony began. Akai was sent video messages from several notable pro wrestlers. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe and Genichiro Tenryu all wishing her the best. Next Akai received bouquets of flowers from Eruption, her friends Takumi Iroha and Rina Yamashita and also Sanshiro Takagi. Akai was praised by Takagi for becoming a truly fine pro wrestler who made it without suffering any major injuries. There were many ideas Takagi came up with when he scouted her that Akai never complained about. He now has one more idea. Akai is now finished with wrestling but DDT still needs her so would she like to continue working with DDT behind the scenes? Akai thanked Takagi for the offer and said she will help make everyone in DDT shine. Akai was then shown an unexpected video message from Shinsuke Nakamura! He was the person Akai watched that made her hooked on wrestling. He told Akai her wrestling has touched people’s lives and she should use that inspiration to become the person she wants to be in her next stage of life. Akai then gave a speech to the fans. She had her debut match here in Sumo Hall 10 years ago but her view back then and her view now is completely different. She has come to think of DDT and their fans as family. Once she steps out of the ring she will no longer be a wrestler but those family ties will never be broken. Her pro wrestling life was a dream that made her happy and she loves everyone from the bottom of her heart. The ceremony ended with the ten bell salute, her final ring announcement and the ring being filled with streamers.

There were some more comments from everyone during their post-match interviews. Yamashita didn’t feel the impact of it being Akai’s final match until she saw Akai stepping into the ring. She is thankful to be chosen for the match and said it is a great honour to team with Marufuji. In fact, she would like to fight Marufuji herself one day! Marufuji approved of the idea and would like to have a singles match against her if all of the promotions involved agree to it. Higuchi struggled to find the words to say about Akai’s retirement. All he could do is thank her for her hard work. Sakaguchi and Okatani also felt too emotional about the match to talk about it. Akai said she doesn’t know what is going to happen next but if she believes Takagi’s offer is real then she is staying attached to DDT. She heard her mother was in attendance so she wants to go show her she is safe and sound after the match.

Two former friends met in the ring when Tetsuya Endo took on Daisuke Sasaki to see if either of them really have moved on from DAMNATION. Sasaki did his Diving Elbow Drop out of the ring onto Endo in the front row. Endo hit back by putting Sasaki through a table at ringside with the Firebird Splash. Sasaki tried to play mind games by giving Endo a hug but he was pushed away. Endo got a nearfall with the Canadian Destroyer and then went for the Burning Star Press. Sasaki blocked it with his knees and put Endo in the Crossover Face Lock, keeping the pressure up until Endo lost consciousness and the match was stopped. Sasaki swears he heard Endo say “Thank you” to him and that was Endo’s true feelings. Endo said he blanked out until he heard Sasaki’s music playing. He lost but like a phoenix he will come back and start from scratch. Endo has turned negative emotions into energy before and he will do it again to reach the top of DDT.

The DDT Vs All Japan rivalry was on display in Match #6. Jun Akiyama grouped himself with HARASHIMA & Yukio Naya to defend home turf from the Voodoo Murders. It was a chance for Naya to size himself up against Rei Saito before the D-Ou Grand Prix begins. Rei’s brother Jun Saito missed a Lariat aimed for Naya, hitting Toshizo instead by mistake. Naya took over and hit Toshizo with a Knee Lift before pinning him with the World’s Best Back Drop. Naya warned Rei Saito he will show the difference of power between them in the D-Ou Grand Prix.

The return of an ikeman to DDT inspired Takeshi Masada to wear new trunks for his match. He better have felt comfortable in them because Kuroshio TOKYO Japan is back to stretching out his ring entrance for as long as he possibly can. Kuroshio already had several matches back in Japan since leaving WWE but hasn’t won any of them. So he was looking for his first win in a long time against an opponent recommended to him by Takeshita. It was a back and forth match that saw Kuroshio grab victory from the jaws of defeat by pinning Masada with a Crucifix Pin. His advice to Masada is to brush up on the basics. However Kuroshio admits that Masada is better at this stage of his career than he was. He would like to fight him again. Masada was disappointed to go through all this effort to get a new ring costume only to lose.

Takagi made a last minute decision to turn his 8-Man Tag Match into a Japanese Dogeza Match. The goal is to make your opponent kneel down and apologize on the microphone. Takagi tried to force Dieno to make an apology but he refused because he is putting his life on the line. Akito then bribed Dieno with a year’s worth of dog food for his beloved pet dog Haku. Dieno agreed to it until Yoshitatsu stopped him. Yoshitatsu then pulled down the back of Akito’s tights to break up his Ankle Lock on Dieno. Yoshihiko wiped out Makoto Oishi while Dieno put Shinichiro Kawamatsu in the Lip Lock. Super Sasadango Machine instructed the cameraman at ringside to film a close up of Kawamatsu with Dieno in order to cause a massive scandal that will harm Kawamatsu’s political career. In order to protect DDT’s reputation, Takagi got on his knees and apologized to end the match in defeat. Backstage Dieno, Sasadango and Yoshitatsu spoke to each other about their age. They are all 46 years old so they came up with an idea to call themselves Just Same Age. Meanwhile Akito said there are not enough apologies in pro wrestling. He can say that again.

TJPW had more representation on the show with their own 6-Woman Tag Match on the undercard. Yuki Arai scored the pinfall for her team after hitting Wakana Uehara with the Finally axe kick. Arai said she was happy to take part and get to see Akai’s retirement with her own eyes. Shino Suzuki admitted she was nervous because it is her first time wrestling in Sumo Hall. It makes her want to do her best knowing that TJPW will be running their own Sumo Hall show next year. Moka Miyamoto is pleased she was able to show her style to people who have never seen TJPW before. Suzume praised Uehara for her effort and talked about what it was like when she got to wrestle in Sumo Hall so shortly after her debut. Arisu Endo was disappointed to lose but liked that the fans were cheering for her more than she expected.

The next challengers for the All Asia Tag Team Titles proved their worth by winning a Tag Team Rumble. Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku outlasted four other teams with KANON & MJ Paul being their biggest threat. By winning this match Okada is confident he and Okada are ready to bring the belts back to BURNING. Koroku said it proves they are serious about winning the All Asia Tag Titles. They don’t have a track record as a team but it’s all about their feelings. They will put their hearts into beating Eruption for the belts next month.

The ROMANCE DAWN continues for Shota & Soma Takao. They successfully defended the KO-D Tag Team Titles against Takanashi & Honda in the opener. Honda gave Takao the Tenzan Tombstone Driver but missed the Diving Fist Drop afterward. Takao recovered to pin Honda with the Gin And Tonic. Shota said Sumo Hall is where Takao made his pro wrestling debut which makes him jealous. They are from different promotions but that means there are many possibilities for where they can defend the KO-D Tag Titles next. Takao said that being able to beat two veterans who debuted before them is another accomplishment for ROMANCE DAWN. Honda revealed he is embarrased to lose to the Gin And Tonic because he is non-alcoholic. Takanashi suggested they should next go after the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles with Brookes.

Yuki Iino appeared midway through the show to explain his recent whereabouts. When Pheromones disbanded he was sent to a facility to remove every trace of Pheromones and sexiness from his body. The treatment was a success and he is now ready to win the D-Ou Grand Prix. He hopes everyone will look forward to seeing the new Yuki Iino.

At the very end of the show, once the credits finished rolling Ueno went into the locker room to celebrate with the rest of the roster. He went over to Akai and gave her a retirement gift and everyone got together for a group message. That got interrupted when wrestlers started going after Hirata for the Iron Man Title. Hirata was chased out of the room by mostly everybody, leaving Ueno behind on his own. Takeshita then walked into the room and stood in front of Ueno. The two had a staredown and then hugged with Takeshita congratulating his friend for finally making it to the top of DDT. Meanwhile Hirata was chased back to ringside where he hid under the ring until the other wrestlers went away. He whispered into the microphone to say goodbye to the audience while Toru Owashi watched him from nearby.

It was announced that “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2024” will be held in Sumo Hall on 21st July, 2024.

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Posted by JamieOD

Ultimate Party 2023 Press Conference

November 11, 2023

Sorry everyone, I wasn’t able to get a preview for the show written out in time. This week has been busy for me and I already made plans for today. I only have enough time to write out what happened in today’s press conference below. I’m good to do the show report as normal tomorrow night. I’m kicking myself over it though because there is a lot of the matches below I should have written more about.

DDT “ULTIMATE PARTY 2023”, 12/11/2023
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

1. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Soma Takao & Shota (c) Vs Masahiro Takanashi & Antonio Honda
2. Staggered Entry Tag Rumble: KANON & MJ Paul Vs Naruki Doi & Kazuma Sumi Vs Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku Vs Toy Kojima & Yuki Ishida Vs Yuni & Rukiya
3. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer 6-Woman Tag Match: Yuki Arai, Moka Miyamoto & Shino Suzuki Vs Suzume, Arisu Endo & Wakana Uehara
4. Special 8-Man Tag Match: Sanshiro Takagi, Akito, Makoto Oishi & Shinichiro Kawamatsu Vs Yoshitatsu, Yoshihiko, Danshoku Dieno & Super Sasadango Machine
5. Special Single Match: Kuroshio TOKYO Japan Vs Takeshi Masada
6. Special 6-Man Tag Match ~ DDT Vs VOODOO-MURDERS: Jun Akiyama, HARASHIMA & Yukio Naya Vs Jun Saito, Rei Saito & Toshizo
7. Special Single Match: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Tetsuya Endo
8. Goodcom Presents Saki Akai Retirement Match ~Strong, Noble, Beautiful~: Saki Akai, Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani Vs Naomichi Marufuji, Kazusada Higuchi & Miyu Yamashita
9. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Nivea Cream Care Body Wash Presents ~ Dramatic Dream Round “Let’s Have Fun!!” What Will Happen!? Fun Death Match: Hiromu Takahashi (c) Vs Kazuki Hirata
10. DDT Universal Title – No DQ Match: Matt Cardona (c) (w/ Steph De Lander) Vs MAO
11. Double Main Event I: Chris Jericho Vs KONOSUKE TAKESHITA
12. KO-D Openweight Title – Double Main Event II: Chris Brookes (c) Vs Yuki Ueno

A public press conference was held in Shinagawa Prince Hotel today and it begun with the contract signing for the KO-D Openweight Title match. Both Chris Brookes and Yuki Ueno were there to give their final comments before tomorrow’s show. Ueno said fans will see more wrestling than normal from the DDT roster along with wrestlers from other companies and countries. His match with Brookes will show the fans what lies ahead for DDT. When it is over Ueno will get to show off a little of what his image of DDT will look like when he becomes the champion. Brookes calls Ueno his rival and best friend. Many things have changed in DDT and they will put on a match that only they can do together. But when it ends Brookes will be the last man standing.

Chris Jericho makes his first appearance in Japanese wrestling in over three years so he could see Konosuke Takeshita face to face. Takeshita said the “Dramatic Dream” taking place here is not Jericho in DDT but Jericho versus Takeshita in DDT. And it will not be a real Dramatic Dream unless Takeshita wins. He is calling himself “The Alpha” now because he is on top of today’s wrestling world. He will prove it when he defeats the former Alpha tomorrow. Jericho explained to everyone that he created the Alpha nickname when he fought Kenny Omega at the Tokyo Dome 2018. If Takeshita wants his old nickname then he can take it. He calls Takeshita one of the best wrestlers in the world today but he is not Chris Jericho and he never will be.

Jericho then listed all of the Japanese companies and cities he worked over the last three decades. Fighting Jericho will put Takeshita up to a different level but he is not on Jericho’s level. Takeshita said he was born in 1995, the same year Jericho took part in the Super J Cup. For his entire life he’s seen Jericho wrestling on top. But if any other Japanese wrestler in his twenties fought Jericho today, would they win? Tomorrow will be the day when everyone will see a turning point into a new era of pro wrestling. He then talked to Jericho in English and called him an asshole. Jericho flipped over his table in response and the two had a staredown. Jericho said something that’s just between himself and Takeshita. He flipped over more pieces of furniture and then left through the crowd in anger.

In between the two headline matches there was also the contract signing for the DDT Universal Title. The meeting between Matt Cardona and MAO ended up going out of control too. MAO said it was a very long road to get to this point. He held the title once before but couldn’t do what he wanted with it because of the global pandemic. This time he is free to bring the title with him to America or anywhere else in the world if he can get win it back. Cardona bragged about being the champion and having many other titles in his collection. He is the Indie God and Deathmatch King, Steph De Lander is the Indie Goddess and Deathmatch Queen and MAO is just a bitch! De Lander called MAO a little boy while Cardona is a real man. There’s a better chance of Yoshihiko beating Cardona for the title than MAO doing it!

MAO said he knows how much of a piece of shit Cardona is. He’s going to show him how scary Japanese boys are. The two stood next to each other for a group photo and Cardona offered to shake MAO’s hand. That was just a trap for Cardona and De Lander to attack MAO with their title belts! MAO recovered and said in English if they want to wrestle right now? Cardona said he would beat him in three minutes. MAO then put on a ring announcer voice and said a three minute time limit match begins right now! They started fighting while Hisaya Imabayashi stood by in a panic demanding them to stop. Yukinori Matsui however did his job as a referee and actually officiated the fight. Cardona and MAO brawled around the room. MAO got the upper hand and tried to do a high risk move from the top of a table when Imabayashi grabbed him and ordered everybody to stop. MAO then got on the microphone and in English demanded tomorrow’s match be a No DQ Match! He also called Cardona a pussy.

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Posted by JamieOD

Let’s Have Fun Death Match, A Great Koji Appears, Eruption’s AJPW Plans

November 6, 2023

DDT “ULTIMATE PARTY 2023”, 12/11/2023
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

1. Staggered Entry Tag Rumble: KANON & MJ Paul Vs Naruki Doi & Kazuma Sumi Vs Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku Vs Toy Kojima & Yuki Ishida Vs Yuni & Rukiya
2. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer 6-Woman Tag Match: Yuki Arai, Moka Miyamoto & Shino Suzuki Vs Suzume, Arisu Endo & Wakana Uehara
3. Special 8-Man Tag Match: Sanshiro Takagi, Akito, Makoto Oishi & Shinichiro Kawamatsu Vs Yoshitatsu, Yoshihiko, Danshoku Dieno & Super Sasadango Machine
4. Special 6-Man Tag Match ~ DDT Vs VOODOO-MURDERS: Jun Akiyama, HARASHIMA & Yukio Naya Vs Jun Saito, Rei Saito & Toshizo
5. Special Single Match: Kuroshio TOKYO Japan Vs Takeshi Masada
6. Special Single Match: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Tetsuya Endo
7. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Soma Takao & Shota (c) Vs Masahiro Takanashi & Antonio Honda
8. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Nivea Cream Care Body Wash Presents ~ Dramatic Dream Round “Let’s Have Fun!!” What Will Happen!? Fun Death Match: Hiromu Takahashi (c) Vs Kazuki Hirata
9. DDT Universal Title: Matt Cardona (c) (w/ Steph De Lander) Vs MAO
10. Goodcom Presents Saki Akai Retirement Match ~Strong, Noble, Beautiful~: Saki Akai, Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani Vs Naomichi Marufuji, Kazusada Higuchi & Miyu Yamashita
11. Dramatic Dream Match: Chris Jericho Vs KONOSUKE TAKESHITA
12. KO-D Openweight Title: Chris Brookes (c) Vs Yuki Ueno

First thing’s first, Hiromu Takahashi won back the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title from Taiji Ishimori at New Japan over the weekend. So his match with Kazuki Hirata is back to being a title match unless he loses it again before then. The two met each other today for a Youtube broadcast to decide the rules for their match. But before that, Hirata tried to pin Takahashi to win the belt right there and then. Takahashi kicked out so Hirata immediately announced the match rules he came up with. It will consist of multiple rounds and each round will use a stipulation created by past DDT Extreme Champions along with new stipulations that are being kept secret until the show. A roulette wheel containing all of the stipulations will be used to determine what gets used every round. Hirata then tried to pin Takahashi with another School Boy but failed again, causing Hirata to leave. By the way, the match is also now being sponsored by Nivea.

A public press conference will be held the day before the show featuring several wrestlers involved with the big matches. That means Chris Brookes, Yuki Ueno, Chris Jericho, Konosuke Takeshita, Matt Cardona, Steph de Lander and MAO will all be there.

DDT “ULTIMATE PARTY 2023 OFFICIAL AFTER EVENT IN RYOGOKU”, 13/11/2023
Tokyo Ryogoku Pier

1. X Vs X

The previously announced special guest Katsuji Nagashima has to pull out of the aftershow due to concerns that his health is deteriorating.

DDT “GET ALIVE 2023 TOUR IN SHINJUKU”, 16/11/2023
Shinjuku FACE

1. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles 1-DAY Tournament – Round 1: Chris Brookes, Masahiro Takanashi & Antonio Honda Vs Jun Akiyama, Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi
2. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles 1-DAY Tournament – Round 1: Yuki Ueno, MAO & Toy Kojima Vs Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul
3. Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku Vs Noriyuki Yoshida & Rukiya
4. Soma Takao, Shota, Tetsuya Endo & Yukio Naya Vs Sanshiro Takagi, HARASHIMA, Kazusada Higuchi & Akito
5. Special Single Match: Demus Vs Kazuma Sumi
6. DDT Extreme Title: Kazuki Hirata (c) Vs MIKAMI
7. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles 1-DAY Tournament – Final: X, X & X Vs X, X & X

The “Big Luchador” Demus begins his DDT tour with a match against Kazuma Sumi.

DDT “GET ALIVE 2023 IN OSAKA”, 19/11/2023
Osaka Edion Arena #2

1. Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku Vs Kazuma Sumi & Yuni
2. KANON & MJ Paul Vs Akito & Rukiya
3. Osaka Specialty Special Tag Match: Sanshiro Takagi & Tsutenkakka Vs Danshoku Dieno & Ilusion
4. Special Single Match: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Takeshi Masada
5. International Special Single Match: Demus Vs MAO
6. Special Hardcore 6-Man Tag Match: The Great Nita, The Great Koji & HARASHIMA Vs Jun Akiyama, Bodyguard & Makoto Oishi
7. Road To D-Ou Grand Prix Special 6-Man Tag Match: Chris Brookes, Yuki Ueno & Kazusada Higuchi Vs Tetsuya Endo, Yukio Naya & Kazuki Hirata

There’s been an emergency change in plans over the Hardcore 6-Man Tag Match. Both Atsushi Onita and Toy Kojima are unable to be at the show but two replacements have been found. Onita will be replaced with The Great Nita! Joining him is The Great Koji… but not the one from 2002 All Japan. DDT is pretty clear this Great Koji is Toy Kojima’s alter ego, so don’t confuse him for Satoshi Kojima’s one-off gimmick.

Sanshiro Takagi and Tsutenkakka are teaming up again after the last time went so well for them.

DDT “DRAMATIC DREAM TOUR 2023 IN MIYAGI”, 23/11/2023
Miyagi Yume Messe West Building Hall

1. Miyagi Specialty Special 6-Man Tag Match: Sanshiro Takagi, Kazuki Hirata & Aizawa No.1 Vs HARASHIMA, Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi
2. Special Single Match: Tetsuya Endo Vs MJ Paul
3. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Chris Brookes, Akito & Yukio Naya Vs Yuki Ueno, MAO & Toy Kojima

The next time Brookes and Ueno face each other after their KO-D Openweight Title match will be later this month in Miyagi.

Aw man, Tetsuya Endo and MJ Paul will have to fight each other. I know it’s MJ Paul and not Mad Paulie but the match can still turn out to be an emotional one for Endo. It’s like being told to fight your pet labrador because you don’t hang out anymore.

A new face appears in DDT. Aizawa No.1 got his name from his days working at a host club in Kabukicho. He wrestled for Michinoku Pro in the late 2000s, retired for a few years and then returned 2015 bouncing around the wrestling scene ever since.

Demus will be on the show.

DDT “D-OU GRAND PRIX 2023 IN OSAKA”, 09/12/2023
Osaka Azalea Taisho Hall

1. D-Ou Grand Prix 2023 – A Block: Yuki Ueno Vs Tetsuya Endo
2. D-Ou Grand Prix 2023 – A Block: Kazusada Higuchi Vs HARASHIMA
3. D-Ou Grand Prix 2023 – B Block: Yukio Naya Vs KANON
4. D-Ou Grand Prix 2023 – B Block: Kazuki Hirata Vs Rei Saito
5. All Asia Tag Team Titles: Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani (c) Vs Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku

Yukio Sakaguchi has already gone to see his father Seiji Sakaguchi and brought along his half of the All Asia Tag Team Titles to proudly show off his achievement. Now the challenge is for him and Hideki Okatani to keep hold of the titles with defence after defence. Eruption are using their champion status to enter the Real World Tag League in All Japan as representatives of DDT. In the meantime they will put the All Asia Tag Titles on the line against Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku in DDT. Okada & Koroku have been teaming up a lot lately and want to win the belts so that they belong to BURNING again. Koroku is also fueled with jealousy over his rival Okatani’s success lately.

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Posted by JamieOD

DDT Around The World – October 2023

November 1, 2023

A messy edition this time around because I wrote most of this up a week ago before going on holiday. Then in the last seven days came the usual landslide of upcoming bookings and match announcements for the following month that I tried to catch up on. That is why some of the graphics below are outdated.

Anyway, this month Konosuke Takeshita is in the same position as he was last month in the whole Don Callis storyline. AEW has really taken a beating with reviews and criticism for their TV shows lately and rightfully so. Thankfully Takeshita got to have a few matches on the indies so he can do his thing more often. Maki Itoh was part of GCW’s visit to Japan so while this article is supposed to be everything DDT related that happens outside of Japan, this still finds a way to be included here. Miyu Yamashita did another group of bookings in America and Miu Watanabe got to join her for a bit. Yamashita also unintentionally made her on-screen WWE debut when she was seen sitting behind the commentary desk on an episode of NXT. May God have mercy on her for having to hear Booker T’s commentary that close in person. Closing out the month was CDK getting to torment the wrestling community in Thailand again.

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Videos

Konosuke Takeshita In AEW Playlist


AEW “DYNAMITE ANNIVERSARY”, 04/10/2023
Stockton Arena, Stockton, California, USA

1. Kenny Omega & Chris Jericho Vs Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher (w/ Don Callis)


LLL “THE HANDS OF FATE”, 20/10/2023
The Oriental Theater, Denver, Colorado, USA

1. Lilith Grimm Vs Miyu Yamashita


AEW “RAMPAGE”, 27/10/2023
Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1. Kyle Fletcher Vs Konosuke Takeshita

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Results


AEW “WRESTLEDREAM”, 01/10/2023
Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, Washington, USA

1. Sammy Guevara, Will Ospreay & Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Don Callis) defeated Chris Jericho, Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi when Guevara pinned Jericho (22:10).

The month kicked off with AEW’s latest PPV being a put together as a tribute to the late Antonio Inoki. For Takeshita, his part on the show was to team up with Sammy Guevara & Will Ospreay to defeat Chris Jericho and The Golden Lovers. Takeshita hit a wall when he went face to face with Kota Ibushi and the two more or less cancelled each other out. The result instead went to Guevara who pinned Jericho after Callis struck Jericho with a baseball bat behind the referee’s back.


AEW “DYNAMITE – ANNIVERSARY”, 04/10/2023
Stockton Arena, Stockton, California, USA

1. Kenny Omega & Chris Jericho defeated Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher (w/ Don Callis) when Omega pinned Fletcher with the One-Winged Angel (15:15).

A few days later Takeshita and Guevara were meant to team up again to fight Jericho & Kenny Omega. However Guevara was not medically cleared to compete so Takeshita teamed up with Kyle Fletcher instead. Omega got Takeshita out of the way with a Snap Dragon Suplex, leaving everything open for The Golden Jets to finish off Fletcher.


WARRIOR “WARRIOR WRESTLING 31”, 06/10/2023
Bendix Arena, South Bend, Indiana, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita defeated Storm Grayson (w/ Frank The Clown) with the Powerdrive Knee (16:09).

Takeshita was back to being a babyface when he returned to Warrior Wrestling. Anybody going against a wrestler accompanied by Frank The Clown would be a babyface no matter what. Storm Grayson needed Frank’s interference to have a chance of winning. Frank pulled the referee out of the ring, got Takeshita to chase him around the venue and grabbed Takeshita’s leg back in the ring to stop his momentum. Grayson followed up by relying an exposed turnbuckle to damage Takeshita’s groin thanks to a missed Helluva Kick and then follow up with a kick between the legs. Takeshita however blocked a second Low Blow, threw Grayson away with the Rollover German Suplex and then pin him with the Powerdrive Knee. Given the way Takeshita was selling the low blow after the match, it does make me wonder if he got an injury that kept him away from the ring for pretty much the rest of the month.


GCW “TO LIVE AND DIE IN TOKYO”, 10/10/2023
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Maki Itoh defeated Jimmy Lloyd with the I.S.D. (9:36).

GCW returned to Japan and Itoh was along for the ride. On night one she took on Jimmy Lloyd by herself and took every big move he threw at her. She kicked out of Piledrivers and even a One-Winged Angel. She fought back violently by using a pizza cutter and also smashing a lighttube over Lloyd’s head. Itoh pulled off the upset by dropping Lloyd with the Itoh Suicide DDT.


SPARK “RISING HEAT WEST”, 11/10/2023
LA Dojo, Carson, California, USA

1. Spark Joshi World Title: Billie Starkz defeated Miyu Yamashita (c) with a Title Belt Attack (15:36).
*Miyu Yamashita fails in V2. Billie Starkz becomes the 2nd Spark Joshi World Champion!

Yamashita’s reign as Spark Joshi World Champion came to an end not that long after she became an international triple crown holder. Xtinguish leader Billie Starkz relied on Sumie Sakai’s interference to hit Yamashita with the title belt and become champion.


GCW “THE WRLD ON GCW”, 12/10/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Effy, Allie Katch & Maki Itoh defeated Kikutaro, Kikutaro (Abdullah Kobayashi) & Kikutaro (Jimmy Lloyd) when Effy, Katch & Itoh all pinned Kikutaro with a Triple Kokeshi Headbutt (8:20).

Night two of GCW’s Japan tour brought them right into Korakuen Hall. Itoh’s match here was a more lighthearted affair because she teamed up with Bussy to take on not one, not two but three Kikutaros! Itoh did a full Nick Gage style entrance with the crowd. She then used a bull rope with Effy to crotch all three Kikutaros with some added rope burn for extra damage. Itoh attacked the original Kikutaro with a pizza cutter until she realised she couldn’t cut through his mask. She and Bussy then unmasked the other two revealing they were Jimmy Lloyd and Abdullah Kobayashi! The original Kikutaro was then triple teamed with Effy, Allie Katch & Itoh all hitting Kokeshi Headbutts on him at the same time for the finish.


SPARK “RISING HEAT EAST”, 14/10/2023
Engelwood Neighborhood Center, Orlando, Florida, USA

1. Miu Watanabe defeated KiLynn King with the Tear Drop (14:09).
2. Miyu Yamashita defeated Jessie with the Skull Kick (13:13).

Things went off better for the Tokyo Joshi Pro side at SPARK’s next show. Jessie tried to match Yamashita kick to kick but fell to the Skull Kick like so many others.

Miu Watanabe scored a big win over KiLynn King, spinning her powerful opponent around with the Giant Swing in the process. She just about kicked out of the King’s Curse, stunned King with the Laserbeam and pinned her with the Tear Drop.


LLL “THE HANDS OF FATE”, 20/10/2023
The Oriental Theater, Denver, Colorado, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Lilith Grimm with the Skull Kick (?:??).

Yamashita didn’t have to worry about Heidi Howitzer in Lucha Libre & Laughs this time around. Her opponent instead was Lilith Grimm.


AEW “RAMPAGE”, 25/10/2023 (Aired 27/10/2023)
Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita defeated Kyle Fletcher with the Wagamama (11:17).

From tag partners to opponents. Takeshita and Fletcher last fought each other one on one in Manchester almost four years ago. Now they fight again this time on American TV. Takeshita used the Wagamama version of his Powerdrive Knee that involves pulling down his kneepad and striking the opponent with the exposed knee. After the match Fletcher attacked Takeshita with a chair in an act of frustration but was stopped by Powerhouse Hobbs and Don Callis. Callis then convinced Fletcher to join his side.


SETUP “SETUP EP.16”, 28/10/2023
The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand

1. SPW Champion Of Singapore & Gatoh Move One And Only Title & SETUP Thailand Openweight Title Unification Match: Shivam (S/c) defeated Masahiro Takanashi (T/c) and Kappa Rockstar (?:??).
*???
2. Dramatic Dream Match: Chris Brookes defeated Monomoth with the Praying Mantis Bomb (?:??).
3. IWA Japan SETUP World Tag Team Titles: Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi defeated Anont Alonzo & Mister Suchart when Brookes pinned Alonzo after the Thrust Kick & Praying Mantis Bomb with Takanashi (?:??)
*THE GOOD DEAL fail in V?. CDK become the 11th IWA Japan SETUP World Tag Team Champions!

CDK went and caused a lot of havoc in Thailand at the end of the month. Chris Brookes defeated Monomoth in what was advertised as the main event Dramatic Dream Match but cheated to do so. He gave Monomoth a Low Blow before finishing him off with the Praying Mantis Bomb. CDK then demanded an impromptu tag title match against SETUP’s tag champions THE GOOD DEAL. They beat the champs to win the IWA Japan SETUP World Tag Team Titles.

Earlier in the show Masahiro Takanashi lost his SETUP Thailand Openweight Title in a 3 Way Match. His original match against Paksa was changed on short notice to a 3 Way Match with Shivam and Kappa Rockstar. Shivam ended up winning the match and all of the championships involved in it.


REPUBLIC OF LUCHA “ROL VI VI VI: LA NOCHE DE WALPURGIS”, 30/10/2023
Republic Of Lucha, South Pasadena, California, USA

1. Penta el Zero Miedo & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Sami Callihan & Shun Skywalker when Penta pinned Skywalker with the Fear Factor onto a stack of chairs (?:??).

This match was originally meant to be Takeshita and The Lucha Brothers teaming up against Shun Skywalker and La Rebellion. Well that didn’t happen. For a variety of reasons from Rey Fenix being injured and La Rebellion recently splitting up (I think? All I heard about the NWA PPV was it included a comedy scene where a bunch of wrestlers did cocaine on camera which is both the least NWA thing ever and also the most NWA thing ever), the match was changed to Takeshita & Penta el Zero Miedo taking on Skywalker & Sami Callihan. The match featured the unexpected inclusion of actor Jason Segel when Callihan found him in the crowd, threw Penta onto his lap and then Super Kicked them. Takeshita and Penta used some good teamwork together on Skywalker, leading to Penta crashing him through a bunch of chairs with a Package Piledriver for the win.

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Iron Man Title In USA


But wait, there’s more. The Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title was taken to America this month too thanks to Hiromu Takahashi. The New Japan wrestler won the belt just before his company’s return to the USA so he was obligated to bring it with him. He was targeted by Danny Limelight during the show but made it out safe and sound as champion. It wasn’t until Takahashi was back at his hotel room when he was completely defenceless. Sumie Sakai snuck into his room with a referee and they found Takahashi sleeping on his bed. However the ref noticed that Takahashi’s iPhone was lying on his chest so he treated it as a pin, counted to three and declared Yellow iPhone 14 as the new champion! Sakai immediately grabbed the phone and pinned it on the floor to win the title. Her celebration was quickly cut off when Takahashi rolled her over with a School Boy to get the belt back and send everyone out of his room. At the time of writing Takahashi is back in Japan with the title but is still getting ambushed backstage at New Japan shows by other wrestlers who want to be the Iron Man Champion.

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Upcoming Appearances


GCW “PLEASE, BUDDY”, 03/11/2023
Pop’s Nightclub, Sauget, Illinois, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs Shazza McKenzie

This was a match originally booked by GCW back in May but was changed into a multiple woman free for all. Itoh and Shazza McKenzie have only wrestled each other in those kind of scramble matches so if plans don’t change again then there first singles match will take place here.


DAIKAIJU PRO “VOL. 1 – THE KAPPAS WALK AMONG US”, 04/11/2023
White Eagle, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA

1. Shoko Nakajima Vs VENY

America gets the first time ever Shoko Nakajima Vs VENY match. The two met in the ring for the first time earlier this year in DDT for one of Saki Akai’s 10th Anniversary celebration matches. Their next meeting is in somewhere very different, the new Daikaiju Pro group.


GCW “¿SI OR NO?”, 04/11/2023
Center Stage, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

1. Maki Itoh, Effy & Allie Katch Vs Jordan Oliver, Davey Bang & August Matthews

The match in Japan worked out for them so Itoh is now teaming up with Effy & Allie Katch to form the unbeatable force known as… Maki Death Bussy! Their opponents is also a trio of teams mashed up together. Jordan Oliver, Davey Bang & August Matthews are going by the name Young, Dumb & Bros.


EVE “FRIDAY NIGHT’S ALRIGHT FOR FIGHTING”, 10/11/2023
Big Penny Social, Walthamstow, London, England

1. International Princess Title: Max The Impaler (c) Vs Kasey

The relationship between TJPW and EVE extends even further with Max The Impaler’s arrival in England. EVE has been given permission to have Max defend the International Princess Title against their upcoming opponent Kasey. The winner will next have a title defence in Japan against Shoko Nakajima.


GCW “GOING AND GOING”, 17/11/2023
Washington Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA

1. Maki Itoh & Nick Gage Vs X

Not a guarantee that Maki Death Kill are teaming up just because they get advertised together.


HOODSLAM “RED”, 18/11/2023
Continental Club, Oakland, California, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

Itoh returns to Hoodslam. I hear things in their shows are getting a bit out of control over there lately.


EVE “WRESTLE QUEENDOM”, 19/11/2023
The Dome, Tufnell Park, London, England

1. EVE Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) Vs Safire Reed

Yamashita will have become a year long EVE Champion by the time her next appearance and title defence on their shows takes place. The next big challenger being built up for her is Safire Reed, the winner of this year’s SHE-1 tournament. Reed got to beat two of Yamashita’s previous EVE opponents to get here too. She has wins over Emersyn Jayne and Alex Windsor.


LLL “DEEP HURTING”, 22/11/2023
The Oriental Theater, Denver, Colorado, USA

1. 3 Way Match: Lilith Grimm Vs Maki Itoh Vs Stormi Renee

Grimm gets another crack at a TJPW talent in Lucha Libre & Laughs, this time against Itoh. It’s a Triple Threat match though with Stormi Renee also in the mix.


SPW “VIVA LA LUCHA!”, 24/11/2023
Foo Chow Building, Singapore

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

A second chance for Yuki Kamifuku. She fought Alexis Lee in Singapore Pro Wrestling for the Queen Of Asia Title back in January this year but lost. Since then Lee also successfully defended the title against Saki Akai.


GCW “WRESTLECADE WEEKEND”, 24/11/2023
Benton Convention Center, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs Kenzie Paige

Now here’s something interesting. Kenzie Paige is currently the NWA World Women’s Champion. Does that play into this match against Itoh in any way shape or form? Or does GCW just ignore that and tell her that Itoh is going over, sister!


BLACK LABEL PRO “SLAMILTON”, 02/12/2023
Berwyn Eagles Club, Berwyn, Illinois, USA

1. Rachel Armstrong Vs Maki Itoh

In another era that image above would be a King Of Trios team. Instead Itoh’s appearance in Black Label Pro is fighting against Rachel Armstrong.


GCW “WHAT IS YOUR CHOICE?”, 03/12/2023
Roulette Intermedium, Brooklyn, New York, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

You know what would be a fun idea? Sayaka Unagi is booked on GCW’s other show that weekend. Put her and Itoh in a match together for old time’s sake.


DREAMWAVE “UPRISING”, 08/12/2023
Knights of Columbus, LaSalle, Illinois, USA

1. Shazza McKenzie Vs Miyu Yamashita

A rematch from ROH earlier this year. Fingers crossed we get the same result.


DREAMWAVE “GOOD AS GOLD”, 09/12/2023
Knights of Columbus, LaSalle, Illinois, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita & Emi Sakura Vs Zayda Steel & Zamaya

Well, well, well, what do we have here? Yamashita and Emi Sakura in the same ring on the same team at the same time? They were on opposite sides once before and that was on a DPW show during the summer. Now we get to see how they will fare when they on the same page. Zayda Steel & Zamaya could be in for a rough night if their opponents gel together really well.


SKYFIRE PRO “NAVIDAD NIGHTMARE”, 10/12/2023
Bay City Brewing Co., San Diego, California, USA

1. Shota Vs X

Shota is heading back to America for an end of year tour. First stop for him is at Skyfire Pro Lucha Libre in San Diego.


TOKYO JOSHI PRO/PRESTIGE “COMBAT PRINCESS USA”, 14/12/2023
Globe Theatre, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh Vs Masha Slamovich & Killer Kelly

Free WiFi and Pom Harajuku have been added to the show.


PANDEMONIUM PRO “HOLIDAY IN LA”, 17/12/2023
Don Quixote, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Vinnie Massaro Vs Shota
2. Mike Bailey Vs Miyu Yamashita

Shota will also be on the same Pandemonium Pro show that’s hosting Yamashita versus Mike Bailey. He takes on indy journeyman Vinnie Massaro.


CIRCLE 6 “KING OF THE DEATHMATCHES”, 30/12/2023
Don Quixote, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. MAO Vs X

Circle 6 is one of the messier deathmatch promotions going on in the scene right now but MAO likes wrestling there so he’s going back to party with them for New Year’s.

Comments Off on DDT Around The World – October 2023 | Around The World | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by JamieOD

DDT “GOD BLESS DDT 2023” Results

October 22, 2023

DDT “GOD BLESS DDT 2023”, 22/10/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
800 Fans

0. Dark Match: Masahiro Takanashi & Antonio Honda defeated Soma Takao & Yuni when Honda pinned Yuni with a Modified Leg Clutch Hold (7:53).
1. Special Single Match: MIKAMI defeated Kazuma Sumi with the Swanton Bomb (5:57).
2. Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul defeated Tetsuya Endo, Toy Kojima & Rukiya when KANON pinned Rukiya with the Sleepy Hollow (9:25).
3. Yukio Naya Vs Yuya Koroku ended in a No Contest when The Saito Brothers attacked Naya (5:17).
4. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi defeated defeated Kazusada Higuchi, Akito & Yusuke Okada when Dieno pinned Akito with the Danshoku Driver (7:52).
5. Saki Akai Debut 10th Anniversary Match Vol. 4 ~ Special Tag Match: Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani defeated Saki Akai & Chihiro Hashimoto when Sakaguchi pinned Akai with the God’s Right Knee (12:19).
6. DDT Extreme Title & Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Let’s Enjoy! Everyone Will Have A Great Time Death Match: Kazuki Hirata (E/c) defeated Takeshi Masada (I/c) by Countout (15:27).
*V4 for Kazuki Hirata. V? For Takeshi Masada.
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Kazuki Hirata defeated Takeshi Masada (c) with the Miracle One Shot Cradle (1:30 pm).
*Kazuki Hirata becomes the 1,583rd champion.
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Hiromu Takahashi defeated Kazuki Hirata (c) with a School Boy (1:32 pm).
*Hiromu Takahashi becomes the 1,584th champion.
7. Road To Ultimate Party 2023! Special Tag Match: Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA defeated Yuki Ueno & MAO when Brookes pinned Ueno with the Praying Mantis Bomb (22:11).

The upcoming Sumo Hall main event was previewed at today’s Korakuen Hall show. Chris Brookes and Yuki Ueno showed respect to each other but neither wants to lose. The competitive atmosphere carried over to the other wrestlers in the match. Brookes was teaming with HARASHIMA while Ueno teamed with MAO. This pairing of The 37KAMIINA hit their unique version of the MADMAX to Brookes but HARASHIMA broke up the pin by hitting Ueno with the Somato. Brookes then dodged the BME and gave Ueno a Piledriver only for MAO to break the pin. HARASHIMA got rid of MAO allowing Brookes to finish off his upcoming challenger. He hit a Buzzsaw Kick, the Diving Double Knee Drop and then the Praying Mantis Bomb to score the win over Ueno.

After the match Brookes said he and Ueno are both friends and rivals wanting to show their ideal vision of DDT. They can have a great match in the main event of “ULTIMATE PARTY 2023” on 12th November but Brookes thinks he is going to win at Sumo Hall. Backstage both HARASHIMA and MAO spoke about how happy they were to see Brookes and Ueno wrestle each other before Sumo Hall because recently one would get sick and the other would get injured. Ueno knows how strong Brookes is but that will not stop him on his mission to become the best in DDT!

When Takeshi Masada’s lack of a social life was discovered by DDT it was all up to Kazuki Hirata to find a way to fix it. Their double title match would use a stipulation that can teach Masada how to open up and have fun with people. The match started off normally until a few minutes in when music began to play and a group of masked people entered the ring. They assisted Hirata in teaching Masada by playing games of Jenga and basketball as well as putting together a drinking party in the ring. Masada enjoyed the experience and was having fun until Hirata and the masked men attacked him! He fought them off and was then chased around the venue. Masada soon realised he was being counted out and he rushed back to the ring. But just when he made it to the apron at the 19 count Hirata knocked him to the floor. Masada was counted out and Hirata recorded a successful DDT Extreme Title defence.

However the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title held by Masada cannot be won by a countout so the result counted as a successful title defence for Masada as well. The two shook hands until Hirata rolled Masada into the Miracle One Shot Cradle. The masked men piled on top helping Hirata get the three count and win the Iron Man Title after all! The masked men dragged Masada away from ringside while Hirata explained he needed to become a double champion to make his Sumo Hall match with Hiromu Takahashi next month an even bigger deal. But while he was saying this, Takahashi suddenly ran into the ring and pinned him with a School Boy to become the new Iron Man Champion! He celebrated the championship now belonging to a New Japan wrestler and admitted he doesn’t even want the belt. He just took a shot at winning it because the opportunity was there. The actual reason he showed up today was to ask Hirata what the rules for their match on 12th November is going to be? Hirata said he cannot decide now but promised it will be something fun for them and the fans. Hirata then tried to win back the Iron Man Title and chased Takahashi around ringside.

Saki Akai’s road to retirement hit a rough patch this weekend. Yesterday Eruption lost the AJPW TV 6-Man Tag Team Titles in All Japan with Akai dropping the fall. Today in DDT Akai had a special tag match where she faced against the other two members of Eruption. Backing her up though was Chihiro Hashimoto from Sendai Girls. The power of Hashimoto was on show when she used German Suplexes to throw around Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani. Akai had Sakaguchi on the ropes by hitting the Rookie Award and she tried to finish him off with the Quetzalcoatl. But Sakaguchi blocked the move and came off better in a High Kick exchange. Akai kicked out from a Right High Kick at 2 but was put away with the God’s Right Knee.

After the match Sakaguchi and Hashimoto exchanged words to let everyone know they want to fight each other again. Hashimoto also praised Akai for being strong, cool and beautiful. She asked her to continue being like this until she reties. Sakaguchi asked Akai not to cry because it would make everyone else sad too, even himself and Okatani. Today is the last time Akai wrestled in Korakuen for DDT so she should get to talk about it. Akai said Okatani’s growth has been her purpose in life lately. She thanked him for joining Eruption. She also thanked Sakaguchi for teaching her so much from her fighting spirit to her wrestling techniques. She hopes he will continue being everyone’s big brother. Until Akai’s wrestling career ends she will continue to represent Eruption.

The teams in Match #4 were slightly switched around by Danshoku Dieno’s request. Makoto Oishi and Yusuke Okada swapped sides based on Okada’s recent interactions with Dieno and his weakened state. The result of this was Dieno, Oishi & Jun Akiyama working unexpectedly well together as a trio. They won the match against Okada, Kazusada Higuchi & Akito. Oishi thought things worked so well that they should team up more often. Dieno disagreed so Oishi tried to convince him that a person like Akiyama who has had many ups and downs in his career can help Dieno get out of his current slump. Oishi already decided on a team name. Take the D from Danshoku, the O from Oishi and the A from Akiyama and you get D.O.A which also stands for Dead Or Alive! Oishi wants D.O.A to fight for the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles once Eruption vacates them. Akiyama agreed to take part but only if the D.O.A splits up if they fail. Dieno doesn’t like the idea but he’s now stuck with it.

The Yukio Naya Vs Yuya Koroku match was interrupted by the sudden appearance of The Saito Brothers! The Voodoo Murders team from All Japan entered the ring and attacked Naya, causing the match to get thrown out. Koroku and Toy Kojima were attacked too until HARASHIMA ran down for the save. Rei Saito grabbed the microphone and complained about Naya disrespecting him and his brother lately. They are going to spend the next few months destroying him! They will be fighting Naya in a tag match at Sumo Hall next month and Rei Saito is taking part in the D-Ou Grand Prix this year, entering in the same block as Naya! Jun Saito warned everyone the D in D-Ou is the same D you will find in “DOOM!”

Daisuke Sasaki is taking his upcoming singles match with Tetsuya Endo very personally. DAMNATION T.A beat Endo today with KANON pinning Rukiya but Sasaki was focused on Endo’s fallen body outside the ring when the match ended. Sasaki told Endo what’s going on now has nothing to do with DAMNATION or BURNING. It is all about their match at Sumo Hall on 12th November. He will not let anybody get in the way of it. Endo agreed with the comments backstage, saying the match will be a pure fight between two people. He doesn’t want anything else to get mixed up in it.

One of DDT’s legends returned to the promotion today to wrestle one of the company’s prospects. MIKAMI defeated Kazuma Sumi by hitting the Mickey Boomerang (the 619 before Rey Mysterio even used it as an offensive maneuver, that’s how long MIKAMI has been around) and following it up with the Swanton Bomb. MIKAMI said Sumi has a long way to go but he’s got something good to work with. They can team up next time so Sumi can learn some MIKAMI-ism skills to his repertoire. MIKAMI then threw his name out as the next challenger for the DDT Extreme Title. He was the very first Extreme Champion when the title was created in 2006. He later approached Hirata backstage to challenge him in person. Their title match will take place on 16th November.

The dark match gave Masahiro Takanashi & Antonio Honda some prep time for their KO-D Tag Team Titles challenge at Sumo Hall. One-half of the champions Soma Takao was on the opposing team with Yuni. The other half Shota was there at ringside and even got lured in by Honda’s Gongitsune joke. Yuni took over with an RKO to Honda but he missed a Moonsault. Honda then rolled him up with a Rolling Leg Clutch for the victory.

There was a lot of newsworthy stuff on the show away from the matches in-ring. Chris Jericho sent in a video message for Konosuke Takeshita. He showered praise towards Takeshita for already creating a great pro wrestling legacy in DDT and AEW. Jericho admits he should be angry over Takeshita’s constant attacks on him but instead he wants to give him a gift. He promised he will give Takeshita the best match of his career at Sumo Hall. On that night Takeshita will learn that Jericho is the greatest wrestler of all time and he is just an idiot!

Hisaya Imabayashi revealed a new addition to “ULTIMATE PARTY 2023”. It’s the DDT return of the man formerly known as Jiro “Ikemen” Kuroshio! After announcing his return to the Japanese wrestling scene this month, this person is now being called Kuroshio TOKYO Japan! He is still the same old Kuroshio though, taking his sweet time entering the ring while “HELLO” played in the background. When he finally did speak he said Takeshita recommended he challenge Masada to a match. Masada was surprised to hear this and accepted. He was already booked for a Tag Gauntlet on the show but Imabayashi agreed to change the card so this match can go ahead.

The D-Ou Grand Prix 2023 blocks were announced at the beginning of the show. Block A contains Yuki Ueno, Tetsuya Endo, Kazusada Higuchi, Daisuke Sasaki, HARASHIMA and Yuki Iino. Block B has Chris Brookes, MAO, Yukio Naya, KANON, Kazuki Hirata and Rei Saito. The tournament will be Iino’s return to DDT after Pheromones broke up. He is currently away getting rehabilitated to remove whatever Pheromones was left inside him.

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