Fuminori Abe Signs With BASARA

January 2, 2018

DDT “NEW YEAR’S SPECIAL! 2018”, 03/01/2018
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

0. Under Match: Hoshitango & Rekka Vs Mizuki Watase & Daiki Shimomura
1. Akito Vs Yuki Ueno
2. Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo Vs Colt Cabana & Antonio Honda
3. New Year Kakizome Rumble: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Super Sasadango Machine Vs Keisuke Ishii Vs Nobuhiro Shimatani Vs Mad Paulie Vs Hoshitango Vs Gorgeous Matsuno Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga Vs Gota Ihashi Vs Joey Ryan (Calligrapher: Nachu)
4. Infomercial Match – “LADY NINJA: A Blue Shadow” Movie: KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Saki Akai Vs Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata & Veda Scott (Special Guest: Mai Hakase)
5. NωA, If You Lose Immediately Withdraw Your Dissolution Special: Danshoku Dino, Brahman Shu & Brahman Kei Vs Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata & MAO
6. Road To D-King GP Special Special Single Match: Soma Takao Vs Masahiro Takanashi
7. Road To D-King GP Special 6-Man Tag Match: Konosuke Takeshita, Mike Bailey & Shuji Ishikawa Vs HARASHIMA, Kazusada Higuchi & Jiro Kuroshio

Let’s start off the new year with this crazy show.

BASARA “VAJRA 56 ~OSAKA WINTER TEAM AND PEOPLE~”, 08/01/2018
Osaka Hirano Community Hall

1. Daichi Kazato & Takato Nakano Vs Akiyori Takizara & Yuki Aoki
2. Reversal Pro Wrestling Trial: Gouma Ryu Vs Atsushi Maruyama Vs Kuishinbo Kamen
3. Takumi Tsukamoto & Yasu Urano Vs Naoki Tanizaki & Shoichi Uchida
4. SAGAT Vs Manabu Hara
5. Metal Family Vs Cavalry!: Trans-Am ★ Ryuichi, Yusuke Kubo & HUB Vs Ryuichi Sekine, Ryota Nakatsu & Fuminori Abe
6. Union MAX Title: Isami Kodaka (c) Vs FUMA

FUMA wants to start off 2018 the same way he began 2017. That is beat Isami Kodaka for the Union MAX Title!

As of 1st January, 2018 Fuminori Abe is now a full time member of the BASARA roster. It looks like he is joining the Cavalry unit too which would be a big boost for that side.

News is coming in that Atsushi Maruyama is joining All Japan as a full time wrestler. Does this mean the end of the Reversal Pro Wrestling trials? You can’t have these kind of trials without a prosecutor, can you?

GANBARE☆WRESTLING “TRY ME 2018”, 20/01/2018
Tokyo BASEMENT MON☆STAR

1. Shuhei Washida Debut Match: Shuhei Washida Vs X
2. Dramatic Ganbare: Yukihiro Abe Vs Gota Ihashi
3. America Vs India! Ganpuro Special International In Ōji: Shota Vs Baliyan Akki
4. New Spring Special Mixed Tag Match ~ Ganpuro Vs Last Jedi: Shinichiro Tominaga & HARUKAZE Vs Chikara & Kaori Kobayashi
5. Ganbare☆Wrestling Vs Katsumura-gun: Ken Ohka & Yumehito Imanari Vs Shuichiro Katsumura & Takeshi Okada

Play time is over for Shuichiro Katsumura. He now wants to be in real fights and isn’t happy with the people Ganbare☆Wrestling has thrown his way lately. Ken Ohka put this main event together to test just how serious Katsumura’s demand is.

Shuhei Washida is one of the auditions that passed the Ganbare Tryouts held back in February last year. The only information I have for now is he was 25 years old at the time of the tryout.


“NEW YEAR’S EVE WRESTLING 2017” Results

January 1, 2018

“NEW YEAR’S EVE WRESTLING 2017”, 31/12/2017
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,411 Fans

1. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Daisuke Sekimoto & Kazusada Higuchi defeated Ryota Hama & Soma Takao when Sekimoto pinned Takao after a missed Okido Press from Hama (6:06).
2. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Kazuki Hashimoto & Akito defeated Kota Sekifuda & Ryota Nakatsu when Akito submitted Nakatsu with the Perfect Figure 4 Leg Lock (4:32).
3. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Brahman Kei & Daisuke Sasaki (w/ Brahman Shu) defeated Antonio Honda & Takuya Nomura (w/ Jaki Numazawa) when Sasaki pinned Honda after the Syachihoko Clutch (7:21).
4. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Danshoku Dino & Daichi Hashimoto defeated Keisuke Ishii & Takayuki Ueki when Dino pinned Ueki with the Danshoku Screwdriver (9:53).
5. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: HARASHIMA & Yuko Miyamoto defeated Yukio Sakaguchi & Yuya Aoki when Miyamoto pinned Aoki with the Fire Thunder (3:28).
6. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Isami Kodaka & Yoshihisa Uto defeated Masahiro Takanashi & Tatsuhiko Yoshino when Uto pinned Yoshino with the Axis Fall (6:34).
7. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Abdullah Kobayashi & Colt Cabana defeated Minoru Fujita & Shunma Katsumata when Kobayashi submitted Katsumata with a Crab Hold (4:21).
8. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Great Kojika & Tetsuya Koda Vs Hideki Suzuki & Konosuke Takeshita ended in a Time Limit Draw (10:00).
8a. Sudden Death – 1 Count Fall: Hideki Suzuki & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Great Kojika & Tetsuya Koda when Takeshita pinned Kojika with a Rope Assisted School Boy (1:38).
9. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Daisuke Sekimoto & Kazusada Higuchi defeated Kazuki Hashimoto & Akito when Higuchi pinned Akito with a Japanese Leg Roll Clutch (1:52).
10. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Brahman Shu & Daisuke Sasaki (w/ Brahman Kei) defeated Danshoku Dino & Daichi Hashimoto when Shu pinned Dino with a School Boy (8:09).
11. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: HARASHIMA & Yuko Miyamoto defeated Isami Kodaka & Yoshihisa Uto when HARASHIMA pinned Uto with the Somato (9:57).
12. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Hideki The Brody & Jimmy Takeshita Vs Stan Kobayashi & Colt “Boom Boom” Butcher ended in a No Contest after a Referee Assault (2:17).
12a. Sudden Death – 1 Count Fall: Hideki The Brodie & Jimmy Takeshita defeated Stan Kobayashi & Colt “Boom Boom” Butcher by Countout (2:50).
13. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi Final: Daisuke Sekimoto & Kazusada Higuchi defeated HARASHIMA & Yuko Miyamoto when Sekimoto pinned Miyamoto with the Roll Through German Suplex (9:47).
14. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi Final: Hideki The Brody & Jimmy Takeshita defeated Brahman Kei & Daisuke Sasaki (w/ Brahman Shu) when Takeshita pinned Kei with the Superfly Splash (7:02).
15. TAKA Michinoku 25th Anniversary Match: Kotaro Yoshino, Dinosaur Takuma, Kazumi Kikuta & MAO defeated TAKA Michinoku, Dick Togo, Ryuji Ito & Sanshiro Takagi when MAO pinned Michinoku with a School Boy (13:16).
16. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Final: Hideki Suzuki & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Daisuke Sekimoto & Kazusada Higuchi when Suzuki pinned Higuchi with the Double Arm Suplex (12:44).

DDT and Big Japan ended 2017 and begun 2018 with what they usually do at this time every year, a big pro wrestling get together at Korakuen Hall! This year’s tag team tournament was themed around one wrestler from each company joining forces. Every pairing also had their own custom team name too.

Round 1

Sekiguchi-gumi Vs Hamamatsu. The show kicked off with Daisuke Sekimoto & Kazusada Higuchi entering the ring both wearing sunglasses and carrying samurai swords. They won over Ryota Hama & Soma Takao in a match where Hama made the most impact. First he squashed Higuchi with a Hip Attack in the corner. But then he squashed Takao by accident when he missed the Okido Press. Sekimoto pinned a lifeless Takao to win. Hama tried to apologise to Takao afterwards but Takao was too afraid to approach him.

Team Hitomishiri Vs Team 14. Pretty simple first round win for Kazuki Hashimoto & Akito. Although Kota Sekifuda dove onto Hashimoto, he was nowhere to be found when Akito locked Ryota Nakatsu into the Perfect Figure 4 Leg Lock. Sekifuda & Nakatsu didn’t get much time in the ring together but they would like to team up again someday, maybe in next year’s tournament.

Charming Dolls Vs Charisma Brahman. Throughout the night the Brahman Brothers switched back and forth to team with Daisuke Sasaki in their matches. For the first match, Brahman Kei was the legal participant. Sasaki gleefully joined in with their act of throwing water at the audience during their entrance. Meanwhile Takuya Nomura wore identical wrestling gear to Antonio Honda and they were accompanied by Jaki Numzawa in their corner. The match broke down into a 6 Way at one point when Brahman Shu and Numazawa got involved in the fighting. Kei accidentally blinded Sasaki with the black ink. Nomura grabbed the Brahmans’ bucket of water and threw it at them in the corner. But Sasaki & Kei rallied to pin Honda with the Crucifix And Jackknife pinning combination. As the Brahmans walked off they had an idea. For the next match they should become Charisma like Sasaki!

Hakai Kyodai Vs With Love And Enthrallment And Reassurance. Keisuke Ishii & Takayuki Ueki came out dressed as Ryu and Zangief from Street Fighter. At first they acted like the characters but Ueki then got so frustrated by Danshoku Dino & Daichi Hashimoto that he pulled out his gun. Ueki held Dino hostage and demanded that they switch tights so he could possess Dino’s Danshoku skills. Unfortunately Ueki slipped off the top rope and crotched himself. Dino, now wearing the Zangief tights, gave Ueki a Zangief style Spinning Piledriver to advance his team to the next round.

Smile Yankee Vs Team Yokohama. The match begun quickly when Yukio Sakaguchi & Yuya Aoki attacked HARASHIMA & Yuko Miyamoto. But once Smile Yankee isolated Aoki it didn’t take long for them to put him down. Sakaguchi apologised to Aoki for coming up with the reckless plan but Aoki apologised too for being weak.

Yoshino-ka Vs Jikujion. Masahiro Takanashi joined in with Tatsuhiko Yoshino’s local boy gimmick. Yoshihisa Uto carried Isami Kodaka on his shoulders for their entrance but accidentally whacked Kodaka’s head off of the stage. This would happen for all of their matches tonight. Kodaka trusted Uto to carry both him and his victim of a Superplex but Uto struggled to pull it off. He finally succeeded but Kodaka was hurt in the process as if he was given a German Suplex. The move worked well enough to pin Yoshino though.

Shunma To Minoru Vs KobaCabana. Minoru Fujita wanted to sing along with Shunma Katsumata during their entrance but his microphone was switched off for a lot of it. He also wore a strand of barbwire disguised as a headband around his forehead. Sadly their idol behaviour didn’t work and they both submitted to Abdullah Kobayashi & Colt Cabana.

Great To Mago Vs Most Strongest Combi. In a rare occurrence for this tournament, only one match in the entire show went to a time limit draw. The combined skills of Hideki Suzuki & Konosuke Takeshita were not enough to figure out The Great Kojika in under 10 minutes. Tetsuya Endo tried his best to beat Takeshita for the second time in two days but the time ran out during their skirmish. 1 Count Pinfalls were activated for overtime and Kojika surprisingly came close to pinning Takeshita with the Iron Claw. Shockingly, Suzuki pulled the referee away to stop him from counting. Takeshita then used the distraction to School Boy Kojika and Suzuki held down his feet onto the ropes for leverage. Yes, it took that much cheating to pin The Great Kojika for one second!

Round 2

Sekiguchi-gumi Vs Team Hitomishiri. The first bout of Round 2 ended in quick fashion when Higuchi of all people pinned Akito with a Rolling Leg Clutch. Akito & Hashimoto tried to tap out their opponents with Scorpion Locks and Ankle Locks but it wasn’t enough. Akito promised to keep in touch with Hashumoto through LINE.

Charisma Brahman Vs Hakai Kyodai. This time Brahman Shu was teaming with Sasaki. Also this time the Brahmans dressed like Sasaki and were also armed with plates filled with…well…some sort of foul substance I don’t want to think about. Sasaki accidentally got a face full of it. At one point Dino suddenly started grabbing around his partner and pulled out Ueki’s gun from his pants! Sasaki and the Brahmans stopped him with a traffic sign attack then made him sit onto a chair with the plate of dirt placed on it. Sasaki took out toilet roll to wipe the substance off of Dino’s backside and then rub it into his face. Shu then pinned Dino with a School Boy to end the madness. The Brahmans praised Sasaki for his technique in using the plate.

Smile Yankee Vs Jikujion. Uto again carried Kodaka head first into the entrance stage. Their double team Suplex attempt off the top rope failed when Miyamoto held onto HARASHIMA to keep him on the corner. Uto ended up just giving Kodaka a German Suplex instead. Miyamoto dropped Uto with a Fire Thunder then narrowly rolled out of the way of HARASHIMA’s Somato. That was it for Uto & Kodaka’s run in the tournament.

KobaCabana? Vs Most Strongest Combi?. Due to earlier injuries dealt to everyone involved in this match, both teams had to be replaced. Luckily a bunch of “legends” happened to be in the building and stepped in to fill the gap. Suzuki & Takeshita were replaced by Hideki The Brody & Jimmy Takeshita while Kobayashi & Cabana were replaced by Stan Kobayashi & Colt “Boom Boom” Butcher. The two teams brawled with each other around the ring and then all threatened to attack Yukinori Matsui with their weapons. The match ended in a Double DQ because of the threats and had to be restarted. The four then brawled up towards the crowd and Brodie wrapped his chain around both Kobayashi & Cabana. He held them back while Takeshita crawled back to the ring to win the match by countout. When the match was over they all re-entered the ring and attacked a ringside assistant with their finishing moves.

Japan Indie Grand Prize Awards

Samurai TV and Occupation Of The Indies held their annual Japan Indie Grand Prize awards after Round 2. The MVP Award went to Hideki Suzuki. The Best Bout Award went to the Big Japan match between Masashi Takeda Vs Masaya Takahashi from 17th December. Best Unit went to DAMNATION. Best Show went to Big Japan for their 17th November outdoor event in Ueno Park. Best Newcomer went to Andre The Giant Panda. The Special Achievement Award was given to the late Mr. Pogo.

Semi Finals

Sekiguchi-gumi Vs Smile Yankee. A random drawing put together the semi final matchups. Lariats from Sekimoto & Higuchi were the difference maker. Miyamoto also wasn’t prepared for Sekimoto to roll him into the German Suplex from the ropes.

Charisma Brahman Vs Most Strongest Combi. Remember when I said the madness was over? It came back. Suzuki & Takeshita were still in their legend gimmicks and this time they had Kobayashi & Cabana on their side to combat Sasaki & The Brahmans’ tricks. Kei was isolated from his teammates and was put through the Western Lariat, the King Kong Knee Drop, the Poisoned Elbow Drop and finally the Superfly Splash to lose the match. Sasaki and The Brahmans still threw water at the audience afterwards.

TAKA Michinoku 25th Anniversary Match

The final pro wrestling match of 2017 in Japan was TAKA Michinoku’s 25th Anniversary match. He led a veteran team of K-DOJO, Big Japan and DDT wrestlers to face some of the new generation coming from those companies. MAO became a butt of a joke by being the victim of a never ending Corner Train Attack featuring everyone else in the match, loads of wrestlers who weren’t in the match and even one of the Samurai TV cameramen! Cabana was involved too but he just wanted to take a selfie with MAO. This went on for so long that the countdown to the new year began. In the final seconds Michinoku charged in but MAO rolled him over with a School Boy to pin him right as the clock struck zero! Happy new year!

Final

Sekiguchi-gumi Vs Most Strongest Combi. The tournament final is the first wrestling match in Japan of 2018. Suzuki & Takeshita were now back to normal. Both teams threw all that they had left at each other. It all came down to Higuchi and Suzuki fighting each other. Higuchi hit the Doctor Bomb but it wasn’t enough. Takeshita gave Higuchi a Dragon Suplex and Suzuki followed it up with a Dragon Suplex of his own. Higuchi kicked out! Suzuki then used the Double Arm Suplex and that wasn enough to beat Higuchi. The Most Strongest Combi are the Shuffle Tag Tournament winners! When they were given the rewards Takeshita joked that they only wrestled twice in the tournament this year and still won. Suzuki said he was honoured to fight Sekimoto & Higuchi. He also bragged that he wasn’t feeling tired at all. Sekimoto grabbed the microphone and swore into it.


DDT “DAMNATION ILLEGAL GATHERING VOL. 2” Results

December 30, 2017

DDT “DAMNATION ILLEGAL GATHERING VOL. 2”, 30/12/2017
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,050 Fans

1. Costume Change Battle Royal: HARASHIMA defeated Takayuki Ueki with the Somato (14:04).
Order Of Elimination: Man Man Kai Kind, Soma Takao, Ken Ohka, Yuki Ueno, Saki Akia, Ryuichi Sekine, Takayuki Ueki.
2. Dick Togo & Guanchulo defeated Colt Cabana & Antonio Honda when Guanchulo pinned Honda with a Sunset Flip (13:40).
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Dick Togo defeated Guanchulo (c) with a School Boy (12:43 pm).
*Dick Togo becomes the 1,280th champion.
3. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi (c) defeated Mad Paulie, Mad Paulie (Ryota Hama) & Mad Paulie (Nobuhiro Shimatani) when Sakaguchi pinned Paulie (Shimatani) with the Right Knee Of God (9:36).
*V1 for Shuten-dōji.
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Colt Cabana defeated Dick Togo (c) with a Backslide Pin (1:12 pm).
*Colt Cabana becomes the 1,281st champion.
4. Runaway Gigantic Combination V Baka Brothers! Special Tag Match: Shuji Ishikawa & Suwama defeated Brahman Shu & Brahman Kei when Suwama pinned Ke with the Last Ride (10:03).
5. Special Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo & Masashi Takeda defeated Konosuke Takeshita & Masato Tanaka when Endo pinned Takeshita with the Shooting Star Press (15:35).
6. DDT Extreme Title – 2 Out Of 3 Falls Hardcore Match: Yuko Miyamoto defeated Daisuke Sasaki (c) (29:43).
6a. Daisuke Sasaki defeated Yuko Miyamoto with La Mistica Cross Facelock (12:40).
6b. Yuko Miyamoto defeated Daisuke Sasaki with a Backslide Pin (15:41).
6c. Yuko Miyamoto defeated Daisuke Sasaki with the Moonsault (29:43).
*Daisuke Sasaki fails in V9. Yuko Miyamoto becomes the 40th DDT Extreme Champion!

DAMNATION got to take over Korakuen Hall as their prize for winning the Dramatic General Election earlier this year. In the main event Daisuke Sasaki put his DDT Extreme Title on the line against Yuko Miyamoto in a 2 out of 3 falls Hardcore Match. In Fall #1, Sasaki submitted Miyamoto with La Mistica Cross Facelock after doing an Avalanche Power Bomb onto chairs. In Fall #2, Sasaki went high risk with a Diving Elbow onto a ladder. But Miyamoto moved out of the way and used several pinning moves on Sasaki until a Backslide got him the 3 count. Both men went all out in the final fall but Sasaki had a dirty trick up his sleeve. He invited Suguru Miyatake into the ring to hit Miyamoto with a guitar. Miyatake missed and hit Sasaki by accident instead! Despite that, Sasaki kicked out of the pin when Miyamoto hit the Fire Thunder through a table followed by the Moonsault. He hit back with the Pedigree onto chairs and a Diving Elbow but Miyamoto kicked out of that too. Miyamoto kicked out of the flash Hurricanrana and dropped Sasaki with a Tombstone. That seemed to take all that was left away from Sasaki because he could not counter the Springboard Overhead Kick or the Fire Thunder afterwards. One more Moonsault from Miyamoto sealed the deal and we now have a new Extreme Champion! Miyamoto told “Dai-chan” after the match that it was fun but he now proved he was the most Extreme wrestler. What’s extreme to other people is normal to him. He has plenty of Extreme left in him for DDT.

When he left the other DAMNATION wrestlers checked on Sasaki. Tetsuya Endo said that in a short period of time, Sasaki lost the Independent World Jr. Heavyweight Title and the DDT Extreme Title. He also failed to win the KO-D Tag Team Title. What if Sasaki no longer deserves to be called Charisma? Sasaki agreed. Shuji Ishikawa tried to cheer Sasaki up by telling him to continue working hard. He then sang the SMAP song “The Only Flower In The World”. Sasaki told him to stop. He lost everything going into 2018 but he is still Charisma! In fact, in 2018 Sasaki will become a brand new Charisma!

One week before the D-King Grand Prix begins and Tetsuya Endo is already making a statement by beating Konosuke Takeshita! The result happened when Takeshita’s partner Masato Tanaka went for the Sliding D on Endo as the target. Endo moved out of the way and Takeshita took the blow instead. Masashi Takeda got rid of Tanaka and Endo hit the Shooting Star Press for the three count. Takeshita and Endo will face off one on one in the Grand Prix on 7th January. Endo gained a lot of confidence with this result. He also hopes to wrestle Tanaka one on one someday.

The Violent Giants Vs Brahman Brothers match was interrupted by Dick Togo being chased into the ring by Colt Cabana. Togo was the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion at the time. He crawled underneath Suwama when Suwama was about to give one of the Brahmans the Last Ride. But Cabana caught up to Togo and pinned him to become the new champion. Back to the match and the Brahmans pulled out their usual tricks like Brahman Shu spitting black ink into Suwama’s face. Shuji Ishikawa & Suwama fired back with a Sandwich Lariat. Suwama then grabbed the bottle of black ink and spat it back at the Brahmans. He then pinned Brahman Kei with the Last Ride.

Mad Paulie’s two partners for the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles match were Ryota Hama & Nobuhiro Shimatani both wearing Paulie facepaint. They came close to winning but Paulie & Hama were wiped out with dives. Yukio Sakaguchi then kicked lumps out of Shimatani until he got the three count. Masahiro Takanashi said that the original Paulie and the chubby Paulie were a strong team but the third Paulie was stupid.

Dick Togo’s mystery partner was his student Diego… No wait, it was Guanchulo! Meanwhile Colt Cabana wore identical gear to Antonio Honda. Honda stopped the match so he could talk about Star Wars, specifically Chewbacca. Togo assisted Guanchulo with a Sunset Flip to win the match then Togo rolled up Guanchulo to win the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title. Togo was chased out of the ring by the other wrestlers afterwards.

Everybody in the Battle Royal wrestled in another wrestler’s costume. Yuki Ueno was dressed as Soma Takao. Man Man Kai Kind was dressed as Yuki Ueno. Soma Takao was dressed as Man Man Kai Kind. Saki Akai was dressed as Ken Ohka. HARASHIMA was dressed as Gota Ihashi. Ken Ohka was dressed as HARASHIMA. Takayuki Ueki was dressed as Saki Akai. Ryuichi Sekine was dressed as Stone Cold Steve Austin. Ueki still acted as himself and pulled out a gun to intimidate HARASHIMA. However Ueki then slipped off the top rope and crotched himself, leading to HARASHIMA to win the match with the Somato.

Suguru Miyatake sang a song called “Golden Lion” to the audience before the show began. He couldn’t remember the words so he had the lyric sheet taped to the back of his guitar.


Last Minute Changes To DAMNATION And New Year Shows

December 29, 2017

DDT “DAMNATION ILLEGAL GATHERING VOL. 2”, 30/12/2017
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Dick Togo & X Vs Colt Cabana & Antonio Honda
2. Costume Change Battle Royal: HARASHIMA Vs Soma Takao Vs Saki Akai Vs Yuki Ueno Vs Ryuichi Sekine Vs Man Man Kai Kind Vs Ken Ohka Vs Takayuki Ueki
3. Special Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo & Masashi Takeda Vs Konosuke Takeshita & Masato Tanaka
4. Runaway Gigantic Combination V Baka Brothers! Special Tag Match: Shuji Ishikawa & Suwama Vs Brahman Shu & Brahman Kei
5. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi Vs Paulies
6. DDT Extreme Title – 2 Out Of 3 Falls Hardcore Match: Daisuke Sasaki (c) Vs Yuko Miyamoto

The main event is now a 2 Out Of 3 Falls Hardcore Match. Daisuke Sasaki originally wanted an Explosion Death Match of some sort but agreed to come up with this instead.

Takayuki Ueki from Big Japan is added to the Costume Change Battle Royal.

DDT “NEW YEAR’S SPECIAL! 2018”, 03/01/2018
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

0. Dark Match: Hoshitango & Rekka Vs Mizuki Watase & Daiki Shimomura
1. Akito Vs Yuki Ueno
2. Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo Vs Colt Cabana & Antonio Honda
3. New Year’s Beginning Rumble: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Super Sasadango Machine Vs Keisuke Ishii Vs Nobuhiro Shimatani Vs Mad Paulie Vs Hoshitango Vs Gorgeous Matsuno Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga Vs Gota Ihashi Vs Joey Ryan
4. Infomercial Match – “LADY NINJA: A Blue Shadow” Movie: KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Saki Akai Vs Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata & Veda Scott (Special Guest: Mai Hakase)
5. NωA, If You Lose Immediately Withdraw Your Dissolution Special: Danshoku Dino, Brahman Shu & Brahman Kei Vs Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata & MAO
6. Road To D-King GP Special Special Single Match: Soma Takao Vs Masahiro Takanashi
7. Road To D-King GP Special 6-Man Tag Match: Konosuke Takeshita, Mike Bailey & Shuji Ishikawa Vs HARASHIMA, Kazusada Higuchi & Jiro Kuroshio

Kouki Iwasaki is sick with the flu and cannot wrestle this week. Hoshitango replaces him in the pre-show match.


BASARA “ISAMI KODAKA PRO WRESTLING ~ THE THIRD SHINJUKU STRONGEST GROUND BUDOKAI” Results

December 28, 2017

BASARA “ISAMI KODAKA PRO WRESTLING ~ THE THIRD SHINJUKU STRONGEST GROUND BUDOKAI”, 28/12/2017
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
629 Fans

1. Shinjuku Strongest Ground Budokai – Round 1: Isami Kodaka defeated Naoki Tanizaki by Ring Out (2:44).
2. Shinjuku Strongest Ground Budokai – Round 1: Yuko Miyamoto defeated Colt Cabana by Ring Out (5:06).
3. Shinjuku Strongest Ground Budokai – Round 1: Fuminori Abe defeated Akito by Ring Out (5:31).
4. Shinjuku Strongest Ground Budokai – Round 1: Riho defeated Yasu Urano by Ring Out (9:47).
5. Shinjuku Strongest Ground Budokai – Round 2: Isami Kodaka defeated Ayako Hamada by Ring Out (4:24).
6. Shinjuku Strongest Ground Budokai – Round 2: Hideki Suzuki defeated Yuko Miyamoto by Ring Out (9:33).
7. Shinjuku Strongest Ground Budokai – Semi Final: Fuminori Abe defeated Isami Kodaka by Knockout with a Rabbit Punch (7:12).
8. Shinjuku Strongest Ground Budokai – Semi Final: Hideki Suzuki defeated Riho by Ring Out (2:51).
9. BASARA Offer Match: Trans-Am ★ Ryuchi, SAGAT, FUMA, Yusuke Kubo & Hagane defeated Takumi Tsukamoto, Ryuichi Sekine, Ryota Nakatsu, Daichi Kazato & Takato Nakano when FUMA pinned Sekine with the Jawbreaker (10:44).
10. Shinjuku Strongest Ground Budokai – Final: Hideki Suzuki defeated Fuminori Abe with the Double Arm Suplex (12:58).

The ruleset for the Shinjuku Strongest Ground Budokai tournament led to some unique finishes in the early rounds. With no ropes attached and Ring Outs in effect, seven of the nine matches in the tournament ended with a wrestler losing by falling out of the ring one way or another. Isami Kodaka beat Naoki Tanizaki with a Knee Strike knocking Tanizaki out of the ring. Colt Cabana was eliminated when Yuko Miyamoto kicked out of the Superman Dive. Whether intentional or not, the kickout pushed Cabana out of the ring. Fuminori Abe was put in a Figure Four Leg Lock by Akito but Abe shifted both of them over the apron and grabbed on to the corner post so Akito would hit the floor first. Riho used her tricky spinning cradles to roll Yasu Urano to the edge so when he kicked out of the move he fell out of the ring in the process.

In Round 2 Ayako Hamada and Hideki Suzuki took part in their first matches of the day. Hamada faced Kodaka and they ended up fighting by the corner post. After some switching back and forth, Kodaka finally got to kick out Hamada to advance to the next round. Suzuki was able to throw out Miyamoto but Miyamoto grabbed on to Suzuki’s tights and struggled to avoid the floor. Miyamoto lost his grip but was able to pull down Suzuki’s tights. Still, in the end the bare-bottomed Suzuki was declared the winner.

In the semi-finals Kodaka fell to Abe in the first non-Ring Out finish of the show. This time the ring ropes were attached so it was more difficult to be forced out of the ring. Instead both Kodaka and Abe aimed to win by knockout. It led to dueling Rabbit Punches between the two until Kodaka could not take anymore and failed to answer the 10 count after a knockdown. Riho got to face Suzuki who is the wrestler she wanted to fight the most in the tournament. Suzuki was left dizzy by Riho’s quick attacks but countered a 619 to knock her out of the ring.

Any questions about whether or not the Metal Family could get along were seemingly answered in the BASARA Offer Match. IRON PRIEST and the Trans-Am ★ Family worked together to beat the combined Cavalry & BASARA-gun side. FUMA got the pin and is now so confident that he wants to fight Kodaka for the Union MAX Title on 8th January. His reason for the date is because FUMA last won the MAX Title from Kodaka on 6th January, 2017. FUMA wants history to repeat itself.

The Ring Out rules were taken away for the Budokai final. Fuminori Abe and Hideki Suzuki got to wrestle each other in a normal match to see who was better. The Double Arm Suplex was the difference maker. Suzuki used the move to counter Abe’s Rabbit Punch to win the tournament. Suzuki thanked the fans for coming and told a story about first meeting Abe ten years ago. Abe was just an elementary school student who joined the UWF Snake Pit Gym in Koenji. The first thing Abe told Suzuki when he signed up was “Mr. Suzuki, I’m going to WWE!” Years went by until they met again and this time Suzuki found out Abe became a monk. Suzuki was really happy to wrestle with Abe today.

Kodaka approached Abe during the commemorative group photo at the end of the show. He thought Abe did pretty good today. Kodaka doesn’t know if Abe still wants to join WWE but he would like Abe to join BASARA instead. Kodaka offered him a BASARA T-shirt. Abe was happy to accept it. How could he say no? Kodaka told Abe they can get stronger together. Abe promised he will do his best to help make BASARA bigger.


2017 Ends, 2018 Begins!

December 27, 2017

BASARA “ISAMI KODAKA PRO WRESTLING ~ THE THIRD SHINJUKU STRONGEST GROUND BUDOKAI”, 28/12/2017
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Shinjuku Strongest Ground Budokai – Round 1: Naoki Tanizaki Vs Isami Kodaka
2. Shinjuku Strongest Ground Budokai – Round 1: Yuko Miyamoto Vs Colt Cabana
3. Shinjuku Strongest Ground Budokai – Round 1: Akito Vs Fuminori Abe
4. Shinjuku Strongest Ground Budokai – Round 1: Yasu Urano Vs Riho
5. Shinjuku Strongest Ground Budokai – Round 2: Ayako Hamada Vs Winner Of Match #1
6. Shinjuku Strongest Ground Budokai – Round 2: Hideki Suzuki Vs Winner Of Match #2
7. Shinjuku Strongest Ground Budokai – Semi Final: Winner Of Match #3 Vs Winner Of Match #5
8. Shinjuku Strongest Ground Budokai – Semi Final: Winner Of Match #4 Vs Winner Of Match #6
9. BASARA Offer Match: Trans-Am ★ Ryuchi, SAGAT, FUMA, Yusuke Kubo & Hagane Vs Takumi Tsukamoto, Ryuichi Sekine, Ryota Nakatsu, Daichi Kazato & Takato Nakano
10. Shinjuku Strongest Ground Budokai – Final: X Vs X

Only a few days remain for 2017 but the Japanese wrestling scene still has a lot to offer, even during the final countdown.

BASARA runs Korakuen Hall for the latest Shinjuku Strongest Ground Budokai tournament, a concept Isami Kodaka must have came up with after binging on Dragon Ball.

There will be no ring ropes attached for all the matches in Rounds 1 & 2. Pins, submissions and ring outs are the valid ways to win. The ropes come back on for the semi finals and final. The Ring Out rule is still active for that. The final will be a normal match but with no countouts.

DDT “DAMNATION ILLEGAL GATHERING VOL. 2”, 30/12/2017
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Dick Togo & X Vs Colt Cabana & Antonio Honda
2. Costume Change Battle Royal: HARASHIMA Vs Soma Takao Vs Saki Akai Vs Yuki Ueno Vs Ryuichi Sekine Vs Man Man Kai Kind Vs Ken Ohka
3. Special Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo & Masashi Takeda Vs Konosuke Takeshita & Masato Tanaka
4. Runaway Gigantic Combination V Baka Brothers! Special Tag Match: Shuji Ishikawa & Suwama Vs Brahman Shu & Brahman Kei
5. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi Vs Paulies
6. DDT Extreme Title ~Something Other Than Current Blast Rules~: Daisuke Sasaki (c) Vs Yuko Miyamoto

DAMNATION made Nobuhiro Shimatani reveal the full card backstage at last week’s Ganbare☆Wrestling show. He couldn’t believe half the matches that were on the list.

Daisuke Sasaki wanted to defend the DDT Extreme Title in some sort of Explosion Death Match. He wants this because the challenger Yuko Miyamoto is the current (pun not intended) Blast King Champion. The demand was declined by Danshoku Dino because the use of fire and explosions in wrestling matches are banned in Korakuen Hall. Sasaki threatened to cancel the entire show over this but he and Dino agreed to come up with another stipulation.

An entire team of Mad Paulies will challenge for the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles.

A DAMNATION Festival event will be held before the show starts. The injured DNA wrestler Suguru Miyatake is only announced guest for the event so far.

“NEW YEAR’S EVE WRESTLING 2017”, 31/12/2017
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1A: Daisuke Sekimoto & Kazusada Higuchi Vs Ryota Hama & Soma Takao
2. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1B: Kazuki Hashimoto & Akito Vs Kota Sekifuda & Ryota Nakatsu
3. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1C: Antonio Honda & Takuya Nomura Vs Brahman Shu or Brahman Kei & Daisuke Sasaki
4. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1D: Danshoku Dino & Daichi Hashimoto Vs Keisuke Ishii & Takayuki Ueki
5. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1E: HARASHIMA & Yuko Miyamoto Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Yuya Aoki
6. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1F: Masahiro Takanashi & Tatsuhiko Yoshino Vs Isami Kodaka & Yoshihisa Uto
7. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1G: Minoru Fujita & Shunma Katsumata Vs Abdullah Kobayashi & Colt Cabana
8. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1H: Great Kojika & Tetsuya Koda Vs Hideki Suzuki & Konosuke Takeshita
9. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Winners Of Match 1A Vs Winners Of Match 1B
10. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Winners Of Match 1C Vs Winners Of Match 1D
11. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Winners Of Match 1E Vs Winners Of Match 1F
12. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Winners Of Match 1G Vs Winners Of Match 1H
13. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi Final: BJW X & DDT X Vs BJW X & DDT X
14. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi Final: BJW X & DDT X Vs BJW X & DDT X
15. TAKA Michinoku 25th Anniversary Match: TAKA Michinoku, Dick Togo, Ryuji Ito & Sanshiro Takagi Vs Kotaro Yoshino, Dinosaur Takuma, Kazumi Kikuta & MAO
16. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Final: BJW X & DDT X Vs BJW X & DDT X

DDT and Big Japan celebrate the new year with the final matches of 2017 and first matches of 2018. The first two rounds have 10 minute time limits and the semi-finals have 15 minute time limits. Matches that ended in a time limit draw go into sudden death overtime where a 1 count pin is all that is needed to win the match. The final has no time limit.

DDT “NEW YEAR’S SPECIAL! 2018”, 03/01/2018
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

0. Dark Match: Kouki Iwasaki & Rekka Vs Mizuki Watase & Daiki Shimomura
1. Akito Vs Yuki Ueno
2. Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo Vs Colt Cabana & Antonio Honda
3. New Year’s Beginning Rumble: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Super Sasadango Machine Vs Keisuke Ishii Vs Nobuhiro Shimatani Vs Mad Paulie Vs Hoshitango Vs Gorgeous Matsuno Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga Vs Gota Ihashi Vs Joey Ryan
4. Infomercial Match – “LADY NINJA: A Blue Shadow” Movie: KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Saki Akai Vs Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata & Veda Scott (Special Guset: Mai Hakase)
5. NωA, If You Lose Immediately Withdraw Your Dissolution Special: Danshoku Dino, Brahman Shu & Brahman Kei Vs Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata & MAO
6. Road To D-King GP Special Special Single Match: Soma Takao Vs Masahiro Takanashi
7. Road To D-King GP Special 6-Man Tag Match: Konosuke Takeshita, Mike Bailey & Shuji Ishikawa Vs HARASHIMA, Kazusada Higuchi & Jiro Kuroshio

The last previews for the D-King Grand Prix tournament take place here.

Danshoku Dino is refusing to let NωA split up and leave their idol careers behind. This time he is bringing in the Brahman Brothers to help him do his dirty work. NωA needs to beat them so they can earn Dino’s permission to break up.

Yukio Sakaguchi and Saki Akai have cameos in the new Lady Ninja movie so DDT is promoting the film in their latest Infomercial Match. The star of the movie Mai Hakase will be at ringside for the match.

As part of the new year celebrations, a calligrapher named Nachu will paint different messages on the backs of the wrestlers entering the New Year’s Rumble. What the wrestlers don’t know is the messages will be instructions of what they cannot do during the match. If they get caught doing whatever they are not supposed to do they will be eliminated.

Shigehiro Irie is not on the show because he is leaving for another overseas excursion that day. There is no set time for how long he will be gone for.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TOKYO JOSHI PRO ’18”, 04/01/2018
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Up Up Girls (Pro Wrestling) Debut Fight Tag Match: Raku & Hikari Vs Hinano & Miu
2. Yuu, Nodoka-oneesan & Marika Kobashi Vs Rika Tatsumi, Hyper Misao & Yuki Kamifuku
3. Maho Kurone Vs Veda Scott
4. NEO Biishiki-gun Vs Super Milk Combination!: Saki-sama & Azusa Christie Vs Nonoko & Yuna Manase (w/ Haruka Nishimoto)
5. Special Single Match: Maki Ito Vs Danshoku Dino
6. TOKYO Princess Tag Team Titles: Yuka Sakazaki & Shoko Nakajima (c) Vs Mizuki & Riho
7. TOKYO Princess Of Princess Title: Reika Saiki (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita (c)

The Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title is no longer held by Miyu Yamashita so the main event’s focus is back on the TOKYO Princess Title.

Musician Hidekazu Tanaka will be the special guest ring announcer for the show. Basically his works appear on a whole bunch of idol video games and anime shows.

BASARA “VAJRA 55 ~FEAST~”, 06/01/2018
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Takato Nakano Vs Akiyori Takizawa
2. Reversal Pro Wrestling Trial: Gouma Ryu Vs Hercules Senga Vs Tsutomu Oosugi
3. Ryota Nakatsu & Daichi Kazato Vs Manabu Hara & Daiki Shimomura
4. Ryuichi Sekine Vs Fuminori Abe
5. New Year Elimination 8-Man Tag Match: Isami Kodaka, Tank Nagai, Takumi Tsukamoto & Yasu Urano Vs Trans-Am ★ Ryuichi, FUMA, Yusuke Kubo & SAGAT

One of the longest running storielines happening in BASARA this year is the relationship between the Speed Of Sounds tag team. When Hercules Senga went out of action with an injury, his partner Tsutomu Oosugi decided to team up with Best Stretchman V3. When Senga came back he thought Oosugi was being forced to team with Stretchman against his will and did whatever he could to beat the team and split them up. It’s now gotten so awkward that the wrestling lawyer Gouma Ryu is getting involved and the situation has to go to court!

BASARA “VAJRA 56 ~OSAKA WINTER TEAM AND PEOPLE~”, 08/01/2018
Osaka Hirano Community Hall

1. Reversal Pro Wrestling Trial: Gouma Ryu Vs Atsushi Maruyama Vs Kuishinbo Kamen

Trans-Am ★ Ryuichi, Yasu Urano, HUB, Naoki Tanizaki, Manabu Hara and Fuminori Abe will all be on the show.

BASARA “VAJRA 57 ~OSHU KAIMICHI~”, 14/01/2018
Sendai City Miyagino Ward Cultural Center

1. Isami Kodaka, Ryuichi Sekine & Ryota Nakatsu Vs FUMA, Yusuke Kubo & SAGAT
2. Special Single Match: Takumi Tsukamoto Vs Yasu Urano

Masamune, Tsutomu Oosugi, Hercules Senga and Fuminori Abe will all be on the show.

GANBARE☆WRESTLING “TRY ME 2018”, 20/01/2018
Tokyo BASEMENT MON☆STAR

1. Shuhei Washida Debut Match: Shuhei Washida Vs X
2. America Vs India! Ganpuro Special International In Ōji: Shota Vs Baliyan Akki
3. New Spring Special Mixed Tag Match ~ Ganpuro Vs Last Jedi: Ken Ohka & HARUKAZE Vs Chikara & Kaori Kobayashi

Baliyan Akki returns to Ganpuro after impressing everyone with his match back in November. This time he isn’t auditioning for Ganbare The Great so he should be free to be more like himself.

DDT “JUDGEMENT 2018 ~DDT 21ST ANNIVERSARY~”, 25/03/2018
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

The latest cast of guests appearing on the show are Naomichi Marufuji, Daisuke Sekimoto, Jiro Kuroshio, Shuji Ishikawa, Mike Bailey, Joey Ryan, Colt Cabana and LiLiCo.


DDT “NEVER MIND 2017” Results

December 24, 2017

DDT “NEVER MIND 2017”, 24/12/2017
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
2,017 Fans – No Vacancy

0. Dark Match: Mad Paulie defeated Gota Ihashi with the Reverse Splash (5:08).
1. Shigehiro Irie & Keisuke Okuda defeated Soma Takao & Daiki Shimomura when Okuda submitted Shimomura with a Grounded Manjigatame (8:58).
2. T2HiJoshi Vs Tokyo Joshi Pro Fight!: Miyu Yamashita, Yuka Sakazaki & Yuna Manase defeated Francoise☆Takagi, Margaret★Owashi & Kazuko Hirata when Yamashita pinned Hirata with the Crash Rabbit Heat (9:07).
2a. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Ichiko Hirata defeated Miyu Yamashita (c) with a Stunner (12:36).
*Ichiko Hirata becomes the 1,277th champion.
3. KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi, Masahiro Takanashi & Saki Akai defeated Keisuke Ishii, Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Tomoya & Nobuhiro Shimatani when Sakaguchi pinned Shimatani with the Purgatory (5:47).
4. NωA, If You Lose Immediately Withdraw Dissolution Special: Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata & MAO defeated Danshoku Dino, Super Sasadango Machine & Antonio Honda when Oishi submitted Honda with a Triangle Choke (10:30).
5. Hasta La Vista, Diego! Special 6-Man Tag Match: Diego, Akito & Kazusada Higuchi defeated Kouki Iwasaki, Mizuki Watase & Rekka when Diego pinned Rekka with the V.H.S (11:59).
5a. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Diego defeated Ichiko Hirata (c) with the V.H.S (1:31 pm).
*Diego becomes the 1,278th champion.
6. KO-D Tag Team Titles: HARASHIMA & Naomichi Marufuji (c) defeated Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo when HARASHIMA pinned Sasaki with the Somato (18:47).
*V5 for HarashiMarufuji.
7. KO-D Openweight Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) defeated Colt Cabana with the Roll Through German Suplex (22:23).
*V10 for Konosuke Takeshita.

On Christmas Eve Konosuke Takeshita was given a tricky challenger for his final KO-D Openweignt Title defence of 2017. Colt Cabana made a brief visit to DDT back in February but impressed the company enough to be granted a championship match for his return. Cabana played mind games early on by loosening up leaving the ring to play around with a photographer, loosening a turnbuckle pad and calling for the audience to be quiet so he could yell in Takeshita’s face. Takeshita kicked out of the Superman Dive clutch that Cabana used to win his other DDT matches. The finish came when Cabana missed a Moonsault from the top rope. Takeshita grabbed Cabana from behind and pushed him into the loose turnbuckle. Cabana tried to hang on to the turnbuckle but it slipped from his hands. Takeshita then rolled him into the German Suplex to get the three count. After the match the two thanked each other. Cabana said he hopes to win the title next time DDT gives him a shot but he knows that won’t happen until he is in his fifties.

Before the show was over Takeshita asked Producer Danshoku Dino a few questions about the D-King Grand Prix next month. The prize is a KO-D Title shot at “JUDGEMENT 2018” in Sumo Hall on 25th March. Since Takeshita will be the champion for the entire tournament he wants to know what he gets if he wins. Does he nominate his challenger? Dino said yes but the grand prize is not just about a title match. Dino’s vision for the Grand Prix is the winner will be cast in DDT’s leading role for all of 2018. That’s why there are so many wrestlers entering the tournament aiming to take Takeshita down.

HarashiMarufuji survived a close call against DAMNATION to keep the KO-D Tag Team Titles. A Thrust Kick from Naomichi Marufuji caught HARASHIMA by mistake. Daisuke Sasaki capitalised with a Hurricanrana but only got a nearfall out of it. Sasaki went for La Mistica Cross Facelock but HARASHIMA did his best to resist it. The struggle lasted long enough for Marufuji to get back in and this time find his target with another Thrust Kick. He then got rid of Tetsuya Endo with the Shiranui. Sasaki still showed signs of life by kicking out of a High Kick/Thrust Kick combo but HARASHIMA put him down for good with the Somato. Backstage Marufuji told HARASHIMA afterwards he will be at Sumo Hall in March for “JUDGEMENT 2018”. He will cheer for HARASHIMA to win the D-King Grand Prix. Sasaki’s post-match comments were that he never believed in God until now. After the match he just had he feels like he was called up to Heaven. He then snapped out of this realisation and shouted at everyone.

For Diego’s last match in DDT for now, he got to pick up the win. The final moments in the 6-Man Tag bout came down to him and Rekka. Diego got the better of Rekka with the V.H.S. Afterwards the entire roster filled the ring to say goodbye to Diego. Akito asked him not to cry because he wanted him to leave DDT with a smile. He said everyone was suspicious of who Diego was when he came to Japan five years ago but since then he has grown into a fine pro wrestler with plenty of cheering fans. Akito wants Diego to wrestle forever no matter where he goes. Then maybe someday Akito will go to Chile to wrestle him. Diego said after five years in Japan he made loads of friends and he thanks all of them for taking care of him.

During the goodbyes the new Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion, Kazuko Hirata approached Diego to get a handshake. Diego instead gave Hirata the V.H.S and pinned him. Diego is now going back to Chile with the Iron Man Title!

Makoto Oishi started celebrating Christmas early by drinking champagne before the NωA’s vital match against Danshoku Dino and his cronies. It didn’t matter to Oishi that the bottle had a skull and bones warning on it. That is until a video of Dino looking for the bottle played on the screen. It turns out the drink was actually a laxative! Whoever drinks it gets cramps for 10 minutes then their stomach explodes. Dino and his team’s entrance took 2 minutes to complete so by the time the match began Oishi had 8 minutes to wrestle and then find a toilet. It didn’t help that Dino’s team all wasted time and targeted Oishi’s stomach throughout the match. Oh and Super Sasadango Machine was dressed as Santa Claus the whole time. When Oishi finally tagged out he fled ringside in search of the nearest restroom. He heroically returned with toilet roll and directed the rest of NωA to fight back. Unfortunately a Double Dropkick from Shunma Katsumata & MAO missed Antonio Honda and hit Oishi in the stomach instead. Time slowed down, the room went dark and “Ave Maria” played over the speakers. The worst had happened. Oishi waved to the audience and tried to leave but no one would let him. However this turned out to be an advantage because the bad smell coming from Oishi repulsed everyone into unconsciousness. Oishi then put Honda in a Triangle Choke (this is still happening in slow motion) to make him tap out from the smell. Dino wouldn’t accept the result and challenged NωA to another high stakes match on 3rd January. If NωA loses then their idol group must stay together. This time Dino has found two high class warriors who hate idols to team with him. It’s the Brahman Brothers!

Shuten-dōji all wore Santa outfits for their match. Tomomitsu Matsunaga didn’t like Saki Akai’s outfit and said she didn’t look cute at all in it.

T2HiJoshi, the “female relatives” of T2Hide were brought in to challenge Tokyo Joshi Pro mainly so they could beat Miyu Yamashita and take the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title. Yuka Sakazaki embarrassed Margaret★Owashi by pulling down her dress. Yuna Manase grabbed Francoise☆Takagi by the hair for a Snapmare but accidentally pulled the wig off. Kazuko Hirata made everyone wear Hirata GO! glasses for a dance but was pinned by Yamashita. After the match Hirata admitted Yamashita was superior and asked for a handshake. It was a ruse and Hirata gave Yamashita a Stunner to win the Iron Man Title. He later lost it to Diego.

At intermission both teams held separate meet and greet for fans next to each other. According to DDT both of them were sold out.

When Keisuke Okuda was done stretching Daiki Shimomura with the Manjigatame to win the opening match, he swiftly kicked him on the ground afterwards and gave him the middle finger. Shigehiro Irie ignored Okuda’s behaviour and bowed to the audience. This is because Irie will be taking another overseas excursion in January and will be gone from DDT for a while.

Gota Ihashi thought he had the size to stand up to Mad Paulie. He didn’t. Paulie hammered him with blows and pinned him with the Reverse Splash.

Earlier in the year, Saki Akai won a match that gave her the power to be DDT General Manager for one day. Since then nothing had come from it but today Akai finally announced her plan. She is using the power to run a self-produce show in Shinjuku FACE on 14th March. Hisaya Imabayashi handed over his old Amon Tsumuri afro which in this situation is the symbol of the old GM role in DDT. Akai begrudgingly wore it to pose for photos then threw it away.

At the end of the show a bunch of wrestlers commented on the year they had in DDT. HARASHIMA only won one championship this year. However he starts 2018 with the KO-D Tag Titles so he is already on track to make his 2018 better than his 2017. Marufuji said his time in DDT was normal and good. He is disappointed that HarashiMarufuji did not win the Tokyo Sports Best Tag Team Award. Winning that award will be his DDT goal in 2018. Cabana wanted to say something but his microphone was cut off. KUDO wants to welcome the new year with a successful KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles defence. Nobuhiro Shimatani interrupted Sanshiro Takagi to say he will win every tournament and championship next year. Kazuki Hirata kicked Shimatani away and called him annoying. Hirata said he wants 2018 to be the year of Hirata. He was then stomped on by everybody else. Takagi finally got to speak and reflected on DDT’s shows in Saitama Super Arena and Sumo Hall. He then brought up their sale to CyberAgent. But there were no major changes in December. He promised DDT will walk with the fans all over the next year. Takeshita gave the final word. DDT won’t change even under new ownership. They will continue to entertain the fans as much as possible and he will be the champion as they do so.


BASARA Ends The Year, DDT X Ring Dream, Burnin’ X’mas

December 8, 2017

BASARA “VAJRA 54 ~FEAST~”, 14/12/2017
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Reversal Pro Wrestling Trial: Gouma Ryu Vs Atsushi Maruyama Vs X
2. Continuation, Senga’s Oosugi Recapture Strategy: Best Stretchman V3 & Tsutomu Oosugi Vs Hercules Senga & Takato Nakano
3. Yusuke Kubo Vs Daiki Shimomura
4. Ryuichi Sekine, Ryota Nakatsu & Koji Iwamoto Vs Trans-Am ★ Ryuichi, FUMA & SAGAT
5. Hardcore Tag Match: Takumi Tsukamoto & Yasu Urano Vs Ryuji Ito & Tatsuhiko Yoshino
6. Union MAX Title: Isami Kodaka (c) Vs Fuminori Abe

Daichi Kazato is switching back to his Best Stretchman V3 persona after a few weeks of being himself. Hercules Senga is still annoyed that Tsutomu Oosugi is teaming with him.

DDT X RING DREAM “LOVE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN MEET ~ 3RD ANNIVERSARY, BUT LIFE GOES ON”, 16/12/2017
Tokyo Toshimaen

1. Sanshiro Takagi & Nobuhiro Shimatani Vs Keisuke Ishii & Diego
2. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Shoko Nakajima & Nodoka-oneesan Vs Rika Tatsumi & Maho Kurone
3. Battle Royal For Pretty Girlfriend: Toru Owashi Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Kazusada Higuchi Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga Vs Rekka Vs Mizuki Watase Vs Mad Paulie
4. Saki-sama & Yukio Saint Laurent Vs Antonio Honda & Cherry
5. Danshoku Dino, Ken Ohka & Yoshihiko Vs Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata & MAO
6. Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo Vs Shigehiro Irie & Kouki Iwasaki
7. Konosuke Takeshita, HARASHIMA & KUDO (w/ Orange Jelly) Vs Akito, Soma Takao & Masahiro Takanashi (w/ Orange Jelly)

DDT’s collaboration with the Ring Dream browser game series continues. Maybe even more DDT wrestlers will get their own gender switched character announced during the show.

Orange Jelly is an artist who works on the Ring Dream game.

GANBARE☆WRESTLING “BURNIN’ X’MAS 2017”, 20/12/2017
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Mao Hoshino Debut And Retirement Match: Mao Hoshino Vs Cherry
2. Defeat The Shabby Thick Makeup!: HARUKAZE Vs Sumire Natsu
3. Burnin’ X’mas Special 3 Way Match: Shuichiro Katsumura Vs Yukihiro Abe Vs Chikara
4. Ganbare☆Wrestling Vs DAMNATION Full Battle PART 1 ~Suyama Suyama Indies Dream~: Shota & Yumehito Imanari Vs Shuji Ishikawa & Mad Paulie
5. Ganbare☆Wrestling Vs DAMNATION Full Battle PART 2 ~Strongest Amateur Vs Jetty Whirlwind~: Shinichiro Tominaga Vs Tetsuya Endo
6. Independent World Jr. Heavyweight Title – Ganbare☆Wrestling Vs DAMNATION Full Battle PART 3 ~Bet On All~: Daisuke Sasaki (c) Vs Ken Ohka

Daisuke Sasaki Vs Ken Ohka will happen with or without the Independent World Jr. Heavyweight Title. Sasaki is defending the title against TAKA Michinoku in K-DOJO on 17th December. If Sasaki wins, the match with Ohka will be for the championship. If Sasaki loses, he has nothing else to put on the line against Ohka other than the possessions he previously won from him.

BASARA “ISAMI KODAKA PRO WRESTLING ~ THE THIRD SHINJUKU STRONGEST GROUND BUDOKAI”, 28/09/2017
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Shinjuku Strongest Ground Budokai – Round 1: Naoki Tanizaki Vs Isami Kodaka
2. Shinjuku Strongest Ground Budokai – Round 1: Yuko Miyamoto Vs Colt Cabana
3. Shinjuku Strongest Ground Budokai – Round 1: Akito Vs Fuminori Abe
4. Shinjuku Strongest Ground Budokai – Round 1: Yasu Urano Vs Riho
5. Shinjuku Strongest Ground Budokai – Round 2: Ayako Hamada Vs Winner Of Match #1
6. Shinjuku Strongest Ground Budokai – Round 2: Hideki Suzuki Vs Winner Of Match #2
7. Shinjuku Strongest Ground Budokai – Semi Final: Winner Of Match #3 Vs Winner Of Match #5
8. Shinjuku Strongest Ground Budokai – Semi Final: Winner Of Match #4 Vs Winner Of Match #6
9. BASARA Offer Match: Trans-Am ★ Ryuchi, SAGAT, FUMA, Yusuke Kubo & Hagane Vs Takumi Tsukamoto, Ryuichi Sekine, Ryota Nakatsu, Daichi Kazato & Takato Nakano
10. Shinjuku Strongest Ground Budokai – Final: X Vs X

Isami Kodaka had a few more surprises left for the Shinjuku Strongest Ground Budokai. Colt Cabana and Ayako Hamada are late additions to the tournament. Hamada accepted the invitation so late that she never knew about the tournament’s gimmick until she visited Kodaka to confirm her involvement. She’s disappointed that she won’t be able to wrestle a normal match unless she reaches the final.

What are those rules? There will be no ring ropes attached for the matches in Rounds 1 and 2. Victory can be achieved by pinfall, submission or ring out. The ropes will be attached for the semi-finals but the ring out rule will still be in effect. The final will be a regular match with no countouts.


FUMA FEST Line Up, Yoshimura-gun, Jet Returns, T2HiJoshi, New Year Tag

December 6, 2017

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

1. Nakatsu Dickinson Vs Takato Nakano
2. Jinbeizamen Vs Yngwie Malmsteen
3. Ricky Fuji Vs Ryuselmo Sekine
4. Yusuke Kubo & Hagane Vs Isami Kodaka & Yuko Miyamoto
5. Goregrind Match: FUMA Vs Jun Kasai

The “FUMA FEST” is an all day event with concert performances taking place in between the matches. Dragon’s Den and Hell Dump will open the show, Crucified is on after Match #1 and will perform for Jinbeizamen’s entrance, Nihonto is on after Match #2, Self Deconstruction and Thorn after Match #3 then Abigail and Hammerhead after Match #4 but before the main event. Hammerhead will perform for FUMA’s entrance.

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

1. MAO & Rekka Vs Yuki Ueno & Koju Takeda
2. Daiki Shimomura & Nobuhiro Shimatani Vs Toru Sugiura & Tomoya Hirata
3. Dai Suzuki Retirement Match ~Farewell Inexperienced Person~: Dai Suzuki Vs Ken Ohka
4. DNA Vs Yoshimura-gun: Kota Umeda & Kouki Iwasaki Vs Naomi Yoshimura & Akira Jo
5. DNA Vs IGF!: Mizuki Watase Vs Keisuke Okuda
6. Diego DNA Last Match!: Diego Vs Shunma Katsumata

Naomi Yoshimura’s group hasn’t been given a name yet so they are going by Yoshimura-gun for the time being.

DDT “DRAMATIC IS IT NOT? 2017”, 14/12/2017
Nagoya City Mid-Sports Center

1. Crazy Gold Wolf And Gay And Dancer Slightly Special 3 Way Match: Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Danshoku Dino Vs Kazuki Hirata
2. The Legendary Man, Jet, Finally His Last Match Of The Year!: Sanshiro Takagi, Toru Owashi & Shogo Takagi Vs KUDO, Masahiro Takanashi & Kouki Iwasaki
3. Naomi Yoshimura & Keisuke Okuda Vs Shunma Katsumata & Nobuhiro Shimatani
4. Nagoya Specialty! Stir-fried Miso Special 6-Man Tag Match: HARASHIMA, Soma Takao & Antonio Honda Vs Daisuke Sasaki, Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie
5. Road To D-King GP Special Single Match: Keisuke Ishii Vs Akito

Shogo “Jet” Takagi makes another appearance for DDT in Nagoya after his September match turned out to be a success.

DDT “TAISHIDO SHOPPING DISTRICT YEAR END WRESTLING”, 17/12/2017
Tokyo Taishido Shopping District Pedestrian Paradise

1. HARASHIMA & Soma Takao Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Mizuki Watase
2. 4 Way Match: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Danshoku Dino Vs MAO Vs Got Ihashi
3. Miyu Yamashita & Maho Kurone Vs Yuka Sakazaki & Yuu

DDT is bringing out the mats for a free outdoor show in Taishido’s shopping district.

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

0. Dark Match: Mad Paulie Vs Gota Ihashi
1. KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi, Masahiro Takanashi & Saki Akai Vs Keisuke Ishii, Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Tomoya & Nobuhiro Shimatani
2. Hasta La Vista, Diego! Special 6-Man Tag Match: Diego, Akito & Kazusada Higuchi Vs Kouki Iwasaki, Mizuki Watase & Rekka
3. T2HiJoshi Vs Tokyo Joshi Pro Fight!: Francoise☆Takagi, Margaret★Owashi & Ichiko Hirata Vs Miyu Yamashita, Yuka Sakazaki & Yuna Manase
4. KO-D Tag Team Titles: HARASHIMA & Naomichi Marufuji (c) Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo
5. KO-D Openweight Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Colt Cabana

Sanshiro Takagi and Toru Owashi are the latest wrestlers chasing after the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title. However the current champion Miyu Yamashita has been told not to wrestle men until after Tokyo Joshi Pro’s big Korakuen Hall show on 4th January. She’s in the main event so she cannot risk getting injured. Takagi respects the request and hatched a new plan to get the belt. Takagi, Owashi & Kazuki Hirata are apparently inviting their female relatives Francoise☆Takagi, Margaret★Owashi & Ichiko Hirata to challenge the Tokyo Joshi team in their place.

“NEW YEAR’S EVE WRESTLING 2017”, 31/12/2017
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1A: Daisuke Sekimoto & Kazusada Higuchi Vs Ryota Hama & Soma Takao
2. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1B: Kazuki Hashimoto & Akito Vs Kota Sekifuda & Ryota Nakatsu
3. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1C: Antonio Honda & Takuya Nomura Vs Brahman Shu or Brahman Kei & Daisuke Sasaki
4. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1D: Danshoku Dino & Daichi Hashimoto Vs Keisuke Ishii & Takayuki Ueki
5. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1E: HARASHIMA & Yuko Miyamoto Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Yuya Aoki
6. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1F: Masahiro Takanashi & Tatsuhiko Yoshino Vs Isami Kodaka & Yoshihisa Uto
7. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1G: Minoru Fujita & Shunma Katsumata Vs Abdullah Kobayashi & Colt Cabana
8. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1H: Great Kojika & Tetsuya Koda Vs Hideki Suzuki & Konosuke Takeshita
9. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Winners Of Match 1A Vs Winners Of Match 1B
10. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Winners Of Match 1C Vs Winners Of Match 1D
11. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Winners Of Match 1E Vs Winners Of Match 1F
12. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Winners Of Match 1G Vs Winners Of Match 1H
13. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi Final: BJW X & DDT X Vs BJW X & DDT X
14. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi Final: BJW X & DDT X Vs BJW X & DDT X
15. TAKA Michinoku 25th Anniversary Match: TAKA Michinoku, Dick Togo, Ryuji Ito & Sanshiro Takagi Vs Kotaro Yoshino, Dinosaur Takuma, Kazumi Kikuta & MAO
16. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Final: BJW X & DDT X Vs BJW X & DDT X

Round 1 and Round 2 matches have a 10 minute time limit. Semi finals have a 15 minute time limit and the final has no time limit. Sudden death overtime involves 1 count pinfalls. The semi-final match ups will be determined by a lottery.


D-King Grand Prix 2018 Schedule

December 4, 2017

DDT is trying out a round robin tournament to set up the main event of their next Sumo Hall show in March. The D-King Grand Prix will have two blocks both consisting of seven wrestlers. The winners of each block face each other in the final and the tournament champion gets added to the main event of “JUDGEMENT 2018 ~DDT 21ST ANNIVERSARY~”. This is the first round robin DDT has done since the 2010 Young Drama Cup and I think the first on DDT’s main shows since the 2005 KO-D Tag League. Every block match has a 30 minute time limit, I assume the final will have no time limit. Every show during the group stage will have one or two non-tournament matches as well.

A Block

Konosuke Takeshita
HARASHIMA
Keisuke Ishii
Tetsuya Endo
Masahiro Takanashi
Joey Ryan
Jiro Kuroshio

B Block

Daisuke Sasaki
Yukio Sakaguchi
Soma Takao
Akito
Kazusada Higuchi
Mike Bailey
Shuji Ishikawa

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DDT “D-KING GRAND PRIX 2017 IN SHINJUKU”, 05/01/2018
Shinjuku FACE

1. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Jiro Kuroshio
2. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: HARASHIMA Vs Keisuke Ishii
3. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Tetsuya Endo Vs Masahiro Takanashi
4. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Akito
5. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Kazusada Higuchi
6. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Mike Bailey Vs Shuji Ishikawa

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DDT “D-KING GRAND PRIX 2017 IN OSAKA 2 DAYS”, 07/01/2018
Osaka Hirano Community Hall

1. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Tetsuya Endo
2. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: HARASHIMA Vs Joey Ryan
3. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Masahiro Takanashi Vs Jiro Kuroshio
4. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Yukio Sakaguchi
5. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Soma Takao Vs Kazusada Higuchi
6. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Akito Vs Mike Bailey

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DDT “D-KING GRAND PRIX 2017 IN OSAKA 2 DAYS”, 08/01/2018
Osaka Hirano Community Hall

1. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Joey Ryan
2. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: HARASHIMA Vs Jiro Kuroshio
3. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Keisuke Ishii Vs Masahiro Takanashi
4. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Kazusada Higuchi
5. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Soma Takao Vs Mike Bailey
6. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Akito Vs Shuji Ishikawa

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DDT “D-KING GRAND PRIX 2017 IN NERIMA”, 10/01/2018
Tokyo Nerima Coconeri Hall

1. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Konosuke Takeshita Vs HARASHIMA
2. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Keisuke Ishii Vs Joey Ryan
3. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Tetsuya Endo Vs Jiro Kuroshio
4. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Soma Takao
5. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Shuji Ishikawa
6. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Akito Vs Kazusada Higuchi

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DDT “D-KING GRAND PRIX 2017 IN YOKOHAMA”, 11/01/2018
Yokohama Radiant Hall

1. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Masahiro Takanashi
2. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Keisuke Ishii Vs Jiro Kuroshio
3. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Tetsuya Endo Vs Joey Ryan
4. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Shuji Ishikawa
5. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Mike Bailey
6. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Soma Takao Vs Akito

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DDT “D-KING GRAND PRIX 2017 IN SHIMIZU”, 13/01/2018
Shizuoka Shimizu Marine Bill

1. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: HARASHIMA Vs Masahiro Takanashi
2. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Keisuke Ishii Vs Tetsuya Endo
3. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Joey Ryan Vs Jiro Kuroshio
4. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Akito
5. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Kazusada Higuchi Vs Mike Bailey
6. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Soma Takao Vs Shuji Ishikawa

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DDT “D-KING GRAND PRIX 2017 IN SHINKIBA”, 14/01/2018
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Keisuke Ishii
2. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: HARASHIMA Vs Tetsuya Endo
3. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Masahiro Takanashi Vs Joey Ryan
4. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Mike Bailey
5. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Soma Takao
6. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Kazusada Higuchi Vs Shuji Ishikawa

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DDT “D-KING GRAND PRIX 2017 THE FINAL!!”, 28/01/2018
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. D-King Grand Prix – Final: Winner Of A Block Vs Winner Of B Block