DDT “SHINSU CHASHU MINA NO SHU 2016” Results

November 3, 2016

owashi-stuff

DDT “SHINSU CHASHU MINA NO SHU 2016”, 03/11/2016
Nagano Saku Innovation Center
455 Fans – Super No Vacancy

0. King Of Dark Title: Daiki Shimomura defeated Nobuhiro Shimatani (c) with the Asai DDT (3:16).
*D3 for Nobuhiro Shimatani.
1. Makoto Oishi & MAO defeated Guanchulo & Gota Ihashi when MAO pinned Ihashi after the Never Give Up☆Guillotine Drop (8:07).
2. Masahiro Takanashi & Saki Akai defeated Sanshiro Takagi & Kazuki Hirata when Takanashi pinned Hirata with a School Boy (8:59).
3. Mizuki Watase’s Second Time In Nagano Triumph!: Akito & Yasu Urano defeated Kazusada Higuchi & Mizuki Watase when Akito pinned Watase with the Hanamasa (11:02).
4. After The Large Giant Festival 2016 in SAKU: Shuji Ishikawa defeated Hoshitango with the Running Knee Lift (5:33).
5. Danshoku Dino & Keisuke Ishii defeated Soma Takao & Kouki Iwasaki when Ishii pinned Iwasaki with the Tiger Suplex (10:27).
6. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo (c) defeated KUDO & Yukio Sakaguchi when Sasaki pinned KUDO with the Sasaki Hurricanrana (18:12).
*V1 for DAMNATION.
7. Saku Specialty! Chikuma River Summer Time Special 6-Man Tag Team Match: Toru Owashi, HARASHIMA & Yoshihiro Takayama defeated Konosuke Takeshita, Antonio Honda & Shiro Koshinaka when Owashi pinned Honda with the Diving Body Press (17:51).

This was DDT’s second show in Nagano since Toru Owashi was hired as the company’s sale manager for the region. His team were rewarded with boxes of apples, chocolate and chanko-nabe from Owashi’s family restaurant for winning the main event. Owashi wondered if the prizes were just a variety of stuff taken from his home. He got the win with his old finishing move the Diving Body Press.

DAMNATION survived a close call against Shuten-dōji but they escaped with the KO-D Tag Team Titles still in their grasps. Daisuke Sasaki’s Swandive Elbow hit Tetsuya Endo instead of their opponents. KUDO would have then won with a Sandwich PK followed by the Diving Double Knee Drop to Sasaki but Endo stopped the referee from counting to three. Yukio Sakaguchi hit Endo with the Right Knee Of God while KUDO readied Sasaki for a Buzzsaw Kick. Sasaki ducked the kick and caught KUDO with the Sasaki Hurricanrana for the flash pin. DAMNATION were rewarded with liquor for winning but Sasaki cut off the ceremony to make a demand. He refused to do anymore Tag Title defences and wants DAMNATION to be declared the permanent champions! Konosuke Takeshita & Antonio Honda came forth to throw out a challenge. Takeshita wants a tag title shot but it won’t be with Honda. It will be with “Speedball” Mike Bailey! Sasaki refused but GM Amon Tsurumi confirmed the match will got ahead in Osaka on 4th December. Takeshita warned the champions that both him and Bailey are coming for revenge on DAMNATION!

The last time Danshoku Dino wrestled in Saku he successfully transformed the area into a Gay Town. This time he wanted to rename the chanko-nabe recipe created by Toru Owashi’s family into something too lewd for me to understand. Kouki Iwasaki objected to this and vowed to protect the restaurant from Dino. Unfortunately for Iwasaki he got his face smushed into Dino’s backside and was then pinned by Keisuke Ishii. Dino proudly called out the recipe’s new lewd name after the match.

Today’s show was a special occasion for Mizuki Watase because he got to wrestle in his hometown. Watase almost pinned Akito with some help from Kazusada Higuchi but Yasu Urano pulled the referee out of the ring mid-count. The distraction allowed Akito to recover and beat Watase with the Hanamasa, spoiling the hometown hero’s return.

Nobuhiro Shimatani continues his losing streak against Daiki Shimomura. Even worse he is still the King Of Dark Champion.


DDT “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2016 ~MOST HOT SUMMER IN THE WORLD~” Results

August 28, 2016

peterpan2016-damnation

DDT “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2016 ~MOST HOT SUMMER IN THE WORLD~”, 28/08/2016
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
5,394 Fans – Super No Vacancy

0. King Of Dark Title – 6:30 Man Is Now A 1:30 Family: Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Hoshitango & Rekka defeated Chikara (c), Mitsuo Momota & Nobuhiro Shimatani when Matsunaga pinned Chikara with a Backslide Pin (7:05).
*D2 for Chikara.
0. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Miyu Yamashita, Yuka Sakazaki & Akane Miura defeated Shoko Nakajima, Hyper Misao & Yuu when Yamashita pinned Misao with the Attitude Adjustment (8:56).
1. DNA FIGHTS ~BATTLE OF LAST SUMMER~: Kazusada Higuchi & Daiki Shimomura defeated Kouki Iwasaki & Mizuki Watase when Higuchi pinned Iwasaki with the Goten (6:56).
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Yakitori defeated Toru Owashi by Pinfall (2:23pm).
*Yakitori becomes the 1,163rd champion.
2. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Battle Royal: Toru Owashi defeated Yakitori (c), Joey Ryan, Reika Saiki, Keisuke Ishii, Saki Akai, Kazuki Hirata, Cherry, Guanchulo, Mad Polley, KENSO, Gota Ihashi, Jun Kasai and Yoshihiko (17:38).
2a. Cherry eliminated Yakitori (c) by eating it (4:03).
*Cherry becomes the 1,164th champion.
2b. Keisuke Ishii eliminated Cherry (c) with a Single Leg Crab (6:13).
*Keisuke Ishii becomes the 1,165th champion.
2c. Gota Ihashi eliminated Reika Saiki by Ring Out (7:50).
2d. Mad Polley eliminated Joey Ryan by Ring Out (9:29).
2e. Mad Polley eliminated Gota Ihashi with a Reverse Splash (9:57).
2f. Yoshihiko eliminated KENSO by Ring Out (14:06).
2g. Yoshihiko eliminated Keisuke Ishii (c) with a Rear Naked Choke (14:43).
*Yoshihiko becomes the 1,166th champion.
2h. Kazuki Hirata eliminated Guanchulo by Ring Out (16:27).
2i. Jun Kasai eliminated Saki Akai by Ring Out (16:29).
2j. Kazuki Hirata eliminated Mad Polley by Ring Out (16:32).
2k. Yoshihiko (c) eliminated Jun Kasai with the Reincarnation (17:10).
*V1 for Yoshihiko.
2l. Toru Owashi eliminated both Yoshihiko (c) and Kazuki Hirata with La Magistral Cradle (17:38).
*Toru Owashi becomes the 1,167 champion.
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Joey Ryan defeated Toru Owashi (c) with a School Boy (2:44pm).
*Joey Ryan becomes the 1,168th champion.
3. KUDO Comeback ~YELLOW DRAGON COME BACK!!~: KUDO & Masahiro Takanashi defeated Akito & Yasu Urano when KUDO pinned Urano with the Diving Double Knee Drop (10:51).
4. NωA Road To DDT Fes 2016 ~ Sasadango Teaches The Way To Survive Showbiz: Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata, MAO & Super Sasadango Machine defeated Antonio Honda, Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi, Lady Beard & Gorgeous Matsuno when MAO pinned Honda with the Cannonball 450 (10:20).
5. AJPW World Jr. Heavyweight Title: Soma Takao defeated Hikaru Sato (c) with the Gin And Tonic (17:07).
*Hikaru Sato fails in V2. Soma Takao becomes the 41st AJPW World Jr. Heavyweight Champion!
6. DDT Extreme Title – Watase Contra Watase: Danshoku Dino defeated LiLiCo (c) with the Danshoku Driver (10:07).
*LiLiCo fails in V2. Danshoku Dino becomes the 37th DDT Extreme Champion!
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Yakitori defeated Joey Ryan (c) by submission when Ryan choked on it (4:56pm).
*Yakitori becomes the 1,169th champion.
7. Special 6-Man Tag Team Match: Sanshiro Takagi, Shiro Koshinaka & NOSAWA Rongai defeated Great Kabuki, Yukio Sakaguchi & Kota Umeda when Takagi pinned Umeda with the Sit Down Himawari Bomb (11:23).
8. Special Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo defeated Dick Togo & Mike Bailey when Endo pinned Bailey with the Sky Twister Press (21:53).
9. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Uchikomi! Presents: HARASHIMA & Yuko Miyamoto defeated Ken Ohka & KAI (c) when HARASHIMA pinned Ohka with the Somato (13:37).
*Bad Comi fail in V1. Smile Yankee become the 56th KO-D Tag Team Champions!
10. KO-D Openweight Title – Good Com Asset Presents: Shuji Ishikawa defeated Konosuke Takeshita (c) with the Giant Slam (20:05).
*Konosuke Takeshita fails in V4. Shuji Ishikawa becomes the 59th KO-D Openweight Champion!
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Ryota Yamasato defeated Yakitori (c) by eating it (7:02pm).
*Ryota Yamasato becomes the 1,170th champion.

peterpan2016-kodtitle

In the main event Konosuke Takeshita put his KO-D Openweight Title on the line against DAMNATION’s big dog, Shuji Ishikawa. Takeshita quickly knocked his opponent outside the ring with a Lariat and followed up with a Plancha. The tables turned when Ishikawa Power Bombed Takeshita onto the ring apron. He was badly hurt but managed to break the countout in time. Ishikawa continued the attack by standing on him, applying a Bearhug and hitting a Knee Lift. There was also a Double Stomp from the second rope. Takeshita avoided the Fire Thunder and fired back with a Dropkick to get some time to recover. However Shuji Ishikawa brought out a big Missile Dropkick when he stopped a Superplex attempt. Takeshita did a Missile Dropkick of his own after a Dragon Suplex. The Blue Thunder Bomb only got a two count. Takeshita couldn’t lift Ishikawa for the Deadlift German Suplex so Ishikawa got to do a Back Drop into a Backstabber instead. The two soon traded Lariats and Headbutts until Takeshita caught Ishikawa with a German Suplex for a nearfall. Ishikawa avoided the Cross Arm German Suplex by blindly Headbutting Takeshita behind him. He then hit the Fire Thunder that left both men down on the canvas. When they got up Takeshita went for a Lariat but was blocked with a Knee Lift. Ishikawa hit the Splash Mountain but Takeshita kicked out! Unfortunately that was the last of his fighting spirit spent as Ishikawa then hit the Giant Slam to become the new KO-D Champion! Ishikawa acknowledged Takeshita’s strength in his victory promo but he is even stronger. Ishikawa welcomes another challenge in the future. He then said his heyday isn’t now but tomorrow. Daisuke Sasaki took the mic and demanded applause for the new champion. He said this was the happy ending and Takeshita is only a B grade wrestler who should study in school. From now on it’s the era of the Large Giant! So who should challenge him? The ringside area filled up with the DDT roster but Sasaki wasn’t impressed. He called all of them B grade garbage wrestlers. At the next show DAMNATION themselves will decide who the No. 1 Contender should be. Ishikawa tried to thank the crowd for their support but Sasaki cut him off. Sasaki introduced every member of DAMNATION and said they are the best, they are not married and they are DAMNATION!

peterpan2016-kodtag

Bad times have come for Bad Comi. Their first defence of the KO-D Tag Team Titles was a failure, losing out to Smile Yankee. Things went south pretty quickly when a Plancha from KAI only hit Ken Ohka and Shota but not their opponents. A brawl around the arena followed and KAI took the time to do some commentary on the Samurai! TV broadcast. HARASHIMA & Yuko Miyamoto took control back in the ring until a Double Spear from the champions laid them out. Ohka gave HARASHIMA a Dragon Suplex for a two count but Miyamoto blocked his Spear Of Flame afterwards. The distraction allowed HARASHIMA to hit the Somato from out of nowhere. KAI Buckle Bombed HARASHIMA and Ohka stood in place ready to Spear Miyamoto. That’s where it all fell apart. Miyamoto leap frogged out of the way and Ohka accidentally Speared KAI instead! Miyamoto hit the Fire Thunder on Ohka and HARASHIMA followed with another Somato to crown new tag team champions!

peterpan2016-damnation-togo-bailey

Poor Mike Bailey got busted open in his match and by his own partner no less. Dick Togo stopped Tetsuya Endo from pinning Bailey by whacking Endo over the back with a chair. Unfortunately a part of the chair caught Bailey in the temple and cut him open. Bailey valiantly fought on but missed the Shooting Star Double Knee Drop. He was struck again with the chair, this time by Endo and a Sky Twister Press ended the match. An angry Togo threw the chair out of the ring at DAMNATION and he ranted about Sasaki backstage. This isn’t over by a long shot. Bailey meanwhile had to get six stitches over his eyebrow. Next for Sasaki & Endo is a chase for the KO-D Tag Team Titles.

peterpan2016-yukio-koshinaka

Unfortunately there was no Terry Funk for Match #7. Shiro Koshinaka took his place to help Sanshiro Takagi & NOSAWA Rongai take on Shuten-dōji & The Great Kabuki. “Battle Without Honor or Humanity” began playing but it was suddenly switched with “Yankee Station”. Both Yukio Sakaguchi & Kota Umeda entered the arena with half of their faces covered in Great Kabuki facepaint. Takagi and NOSAWA both had sudden knee problems late in the match but gutted through them to win. The Shuten-dōji wrestlers apologised to Kabuki for their “bastard performance” after the match. They hope to team with him again one more time. Takagi and NOSAWA spent their interview reminiscing over DDT’s early years. Memories of the late Super Uchu Power were brought up.

peterpan2016-extreme

Two important things were on the line for LiLiCo and Danshoku Dino. The DDT Extreme Title and love. Maybe love is more important. That’s up for debate. But hey, a shiny championship is a shiny championship. Oh and there’s also the fate of Mizuki Watase who would either end the match as LiLiCo’s boyfriend or getting pulled out of the closet (allegedly) by Dino. Watase did what he could to help LiLiCo, he was legally allowed to. LiLiCo even played effective mind games by mocking the size of Dino’s manhood. They delivered a Double DDT of love to down Dino but an unconscious referee meant the pin didn’t count. Dino recovered, gave LiLiCo a face full of his backside and drove her into despair by giving Watase a Lip Lock. A furious LiLiCo charged right into a Brainbuster and she was then pinned with the Danshoku Driver. Dino told LiLiCo to accept the stipulation, give him Watase and leave the ring. However Watase pushed Dino away and wouldn’t leave his girlfriend’s side. Dino couldn’t understand it. Is Watase really in love with LiLiCo? It’s not like they’re getting married on 25th September… That’s when Watase went down on one knee and pulled out a little box. Watase was ready to propose right there in the ring when Suguru Miyatake suddenly appeared. Miyatake was originally LiLiCo’s bodyguard before he got injured. He wanted to be the one in newspaper photos with her. He wanted to go on the trip to Sweden to meet her parents. He wants the recognition of being her boyfriend so he too will propose to her! “Wait a minute!” Bernard Ackah (where the hell has he been?) approached the ring. He said he was LiLiCo’s very first bodyguard and he wants the fame of being LiLiCo’s boyfriend. He also proposed. Makoto Oishi then joined in. If he is going to be a major idol then being married to LiLiCo will help him greatly. If there weren’t already enough proposals Super Sasadango Machine showed up and proposed too. Dino had an idea. Everyone except Miyatake (because he’s injured) should wrestle in a match and the winner gets to be LiLiCo’s fiance. Everyone agreed, Miyatake broke down into tears. Dino finished the segment by telling everyone that as long as DDT is around, so is he.

peterpan2016-ajpwjr

Soma Takao is now 8-0 in “PETER PAN” matches and he won the AJPW Jr. Heavyweight Championship too! Takao went into the match with new red wrestling gear. His opponent Hikaru Sato came out to “Electro World” by Perfume, the same song he used when he won the KO-D Title back in 2010. All Soma needed to do was hit the Gin And Tonic but Sato made it difficult. However Takao hit Thrust Kick after Thrust Kick to weaken the champion. By the end Sato couldn’t avoid the Gin And Tonic anymore and that was all she wrote. Takao thanked Sato for the match and welcomed him to a rematch down the line. Kazuki Hirata interrupted the victory speech and challenged Takao for a title shot. Fans may think he is useless but his desire to win the title is genuine. Amon Tsurumi tried to give an answer but Hirata cut him off, wanting to hear only from Takao. The champion wants to defend the belt in DDT but isn’t sure Hirata is prepared. He will give him a shot if Hirata’s desire is true. Takao offered a handshake but slapped Hirata afterwards. Hirata slapped back and the two stood off forehead to forehead. In the post-match interview Takao said he wants to defend the title against Atsushi Aoki. He thinks Aoki is the current symbol of All Japan’s Jr. Division and he won’t be satisfied with his reign until he can beat him.

peterpan2016-nwa

Class was in session for NωA. Before their match could take place Super Sasadango Machine set up a PowerPoint presentation to explain today’s mission. NωA need to get 50,000 Twitter followers in order to qualify for a spot in “DDT FES 2016” in November. They only have 1,200 followers. Sasadango came up with PDCA: Plan, Do, Check and Action. He had four steps for NωA tofay. 1) Perform live. 2) Wrestle the match 3) Use your opponent’s technique to trick them. 4) After winning the match go sell CDs at the merch table. So NωA performed “Never Give Up☆I LOVE YOU” live, wrestled the match and tried to attack Antonio Honda with the Bionic Elbow. Honda’s partners kept getting in the way and powered up Honda by singing “We Are The World”. They got so engrossed in singing that they forgot about Honda and allowed him to get overwhelmed by his opponents. MAO hit the Cannonball 450 and got the win for NωA. After the match there was the reveal of all the talent confirmed for “DDT FES 2016”. NωA were not announced but Kota Ibushi was! Backstage Sasadango told NωA not to worry about it and just focus on selling CDs. Honda meanwhile accused his teammates of poor singing because it did not power him up as much as they thought it would. Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi cheered him up by saying the four of them should go out and have sex with everyone.

peterpan2016-kudo

KUDO’s return was a triumphant one. He picked up the win and celebrated afterwards with some drinks. Masahiro Takanashi said the wine tasted great because he got to drink with his “big brother” again. KUDO said he felt anxious having his first match in so long but his confidence helped him. He also said this was just the start of his big return. With important shows in Osaka and Saitama happening in the next 8 months, KUDO is aiming to win a championship.

peterpan2016-ironman

Joey Ryan was barely back in Japan for ten minutes before he lost the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title at the airport. Guanchulo tricked him into tapping out to win the title. The belt switched a few more times between them, Toru Owashi and Sanshiro Takagi’s daughter Rei Takagi until the day of the show. Owashi went into Sumo Hall carrying the title tired from fighting off attackers. He ate some Yakitori chicken and fell asleep. Unfortunately he dropped the chicken on his chest and it counted as a pin. So a piece of chicken went into the Battle Royal as the defending champion. Ryan, Kazuki Hirata and Cherry fought over the chicken and Cherry became the champion by eating it. Gota Ihashi’s crush on Saki Akai briefly ended when he saw Reika Saiki for the first time. She eliminated herself to avoid being in the ring with him. Keisuke Ishii won the title when he violently submitted Cherry with a stomp assisted Half Crab Hold. Mad Polley (Polly? Paulie? Help me out here DDT!) went on a rampage and was very difficult to eliminate. Yoshihiko was the last entrant and locked on a Rear Naked Choke to Ishii, making him tap out. Jun Kasai was all set to do the Pearl Harbour Splash when Hirata stole his goggles. Kasai instead put on a pair of HIRATA GO! glasses but the power of the music was too much to resist. Kasai and Hirata danced together and eliminated several wrestlers while doing so. Yoshihiko pinned Kasai with the Reincarnation and went to fight Hirata. Owashi caught both of them with La Magistral Cradle to win the match and leave as champion. That is until Ryan snuck in a School Boy on the entrance ramp. Ryan thought he was safe until Guanchulo shoved another Yakitori chicken down his mouth backstage. Ryan tapped out from the choking and the chicken was declared champion. The chicken survived the rest of the show until the very end when comedian Ryota Yamasato ate it, blissfully unaware of what it went through. So Yamasato is now champion.

peterpan2016-dna

In preparation for the DNA Grand Prix in October four of the wrestlers entering the tournament were put into a tag team match to open the show proper. Daiki Shimomura was meant to wipe out Mizuki Watase with a Quebrada but almost crippled himself with a bad landing. Thankfully he was okay. Back in the ring Kazusada Higuchi got the win over Kouki Iwasaki. Higuchi said the match was a good opportunity to measure everyone’s strength. He even warned Shimomura that they will be rivals in the Grand Prix. Shimomura thanked him for the warning.

peterpan2016-joshi

Tokyo Joshi Pro provided one of the two pre-show matches. Miyu Yamashita, Yuka Sakazaki & Akane Miura worked well together. While Yamashita took care of Hyper Misao, Miura held Shoko Nakajima in a Torture Rack and Yamashita tightrope walked over to do the Magical Girl Kick. Yamashita then pinned Misao with the Attitude Adjustment. Yamashita now has a TOKYO Princess Of Princess Title match with Yuu to worry about.

peterpan2016-dark

The day began with father and son teaming up in the dark match. Chikara had a King Of Dark Title defence lined up and his dad Mitsuo Momota was there to help get rid of the cursed championship. Nobuhiro Shimatani was also teaming with them but it didn’t matter. Chikara got pinned by Tomomitsu Matsunaga after Momota accidentally Clotheslined his pride and joy. Still, Chikara was amazed he got to wrestle in Sumo Hall. Momota wants to wrestle a proper match in DDT and hopes Chikara will work hard to lose the title.

peterpan2016-takayama-yuni

During intermission there was news for DDT’s next major show in December, “OSAKA OCTOPUS 2016”. First there is the debut match of Yuni, an eight year old child. Yuni hopes to win the KO-D Title. In even bigger news it was announced that from September onwards Yoshihiro Takayama will be regularly wrestling for DDT! Takayama said he is coming in for DDT’s 20th anniversary to destroy everyone on the roster. He is No. 1, No Fear! Both Yuni and Takayama want to face Konosuke Takeshita.

DDT had a few announcements for their Taiwan debut this November. They will be sponsored by a bed company called Nitori. As part of this sponsorship a masked superhuman named Mask De Nitori will make his debut. Also Antonio Honda and Super Sasadango Machine will face off in a Sleep Deprivation Death Match!

DDT returns to Sumo Hall on 20th August, 2017 for “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2017”! There is also a special deal in place for the 20th Anniversary show in Saitama Super Arena next year. There will be 20 VIP seats available for 200,000 yen. There will also be another 20 VIP seats available for only 20 yen.

Muscle Sakai and director Tetsuaki Matsue are making DDT’s third movie called “Our Culture Of Pro Wrestling DDT”.


DDT “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2016 ~MOST HOT SUMMER IN THE WORLD~” Preview

August 25, 2016

ddt-ryogoku2016

DDT “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2016 ~MOST HOT SUMMER IN THE WORLD~”, 28/08/2016
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

0. King Of Dark Title – 6:30 Man Is Now A 1:30 Family: Chikara (c), Mitsuo Momota & Nobuhiro Shimatani Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Hoshitango & Rekka
0. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Miyu Yamashita, Yuka Sakazaki & Akane Miura Vs Shoko Nakajima, Hyper Misao & Yuu
1. DNA FIGHTS ~BATTLE OF LAST SUMMER~: Kazusada Higuchi & Daiki Shimomura Vs Kouki Iwasaki & Mizuki Watase
2. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Battle Royal: Joey Ryan (c) Vs Reika Saiki Vs Toru Owashi Vs Keisuke Ishii Vs Saki Akai Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Cherry Vs Guanchulo Vs Mad Paulie Vs KENSO Vs Gota Ihashi Vs Jun Kasai Vs Yoshihiko
3. KUDO Comeback ~YELLOW DRAGON COME BACK!!~: KUDO & Masahiro Takanashi Vs Akito & Yasu Urano
4. NωA Road To DDT Fes 2016 ~ Sasadango Teaches The Way To Survive Showbiz: Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata, MAO & Super Sasadango Machine Vs Antonio Honda, Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi, Lady Beard & Gorgeous Matsuno
5. AJPW World Jr. Heavyweight Title: Hikaru Sato (c) Vs Soma Takao
6. DDT Extreme Title – Watase Contra Watase: LiLiCo (c) Vs Danshoku Dino
7. Special 6-Man Tag Team Match: Sanshiro Takagi, Shiro Koshinaka & NOSAWA Rongai Vs Great Kabuki, Yukio Sakaguchi & Kota Umeda
8. Special Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo Vs Dick Togo & Mike Bailey
9. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Uchikomi! Presents: Ken Ohka & KAI (c) Vs HARASHIMA & Yuko Miyamoto
10. KO-D Openweight Title – Good Com Asset Presents: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Shuji Ishikawa

Bloody right it’s been a hot summer. DDT is back in Sumo Hall for the ninth time in the the company’s existence. It is also the eighth “PETER PAN” show and the seventh “PETER PAN” held in this building. Throughout 2016 DDT was focused on the rivalry between Happy Motels and DAMNATION. The main event and the road leading to it reflects this as the youngest ever KO-D Openweight Champion takes on The Big Dawg~! of DAMNATION. The KO-D Tag Team Titles are on the line in a match where Bad Communication is fatal. The Wrestling Master teams up with a Speedball to fight a charismatic protege and a young man who feels robbed of his future. A samurai steps in when a planned foreign exchange with Funk University was cancelled. Title matches, idols, injury comebacks and plenty more are also planned for DDT’s biggest show of the summer.

0. King Of Dark Title – 6:30 Man Is Now A 1:30 Family: Chikara (c), Mitsuo Momota & Nobuhiro Shimatani Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Hoshitango & Rekka

The day starts off with the King Of Dark Championship, DDT’s “Misfortune Title” that punishes the champion by forcing them to only wrestle in dark matches until they win. The title currently belongs to Chikara. No, not that one. I mean the grandson of Rikidozan and the person who finds more joy out of Chopping people than anyone else in the world. It’s all he’s good at and that’s me being veeeerrrrrrrrrry generous. Sadly for Chikara his first match in Sumo Hall involves defending this championship at 1:30pm. An upside to this is his father Mitsuo Momota wants to help him out. The three times Momota has wrestled in the building for All Japan have all been in the opening match so it’s fitting he gets to do it again this time with his son.

0. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Miyu Yamashita, Yuka Sakazaki & Akane Miura Vs Shoko Nakajima, Hyper Misao & Yuu

Tokyo Joshi Pro is still going along four years into its existence. This year they introduced their first championship, the TOKYO Princess Of Princess Title. The first and only champion is Miyu Yamashita who won the belt when the promotion held its first Korakuen Hall show in January. She hasn’t been impossible to defeat but her wins come when they count. Her big challenge coming up is Yuu. This woman debuted at the Korakuan show and has been undefeated ever since. Her experience level in Judo helped her progress quicker than most if not all of the other girls who have wrestled for the promotion since its inception. This match here will give a little preview of their title match in September. Also keep an eye on Hyper Misao. She’s a super hero but this year has resorted to cheating and fighting dirty to win her matches.

1. DNA FIGHTS ~BATTLE OF LAST SUMMER~: Kazusada Higuchi & Daiki Shimomura Vs Kouki Iwasaki & Mizuki Watase

DDT’s development brand opens up the show proper. The match sees a step down for Kazusada Higuchi. He won the Right To Challenge Battle Royal in March but lost his the KO-D Title match a month later. Since then he’s been up and down the card teaming with other wrestlers who have similar sumo backgrounds. In DNA he is still unbeatable and is the early favourite for the DNA Grand Prix scheduled for October. Daiki Shimomura had a bad debut in March, getting injured and missing three months of ring time. He has some catching up to do but we at least found out during Beer Garden week that he can do a Shinsuke Nakamura impression. Maybe that can rub off on him. Kouki Iwasaki found some success in the DNA team that won the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles and he’s developing into a competent wrestler. Meanwhile Mizuki Watase found love and the dangers that comes with it. But that’s another story for another part of this preview.

2. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Battle Royal: Joey Ryan (c) Vs Reika Saiki Vs Toru Owashi Vs Keisuke Ishii Vs Saki Akai Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Cherry Vs Guanchulo Vs Mad Paulie Vs KENSO Vs Gota Ihashi Vs Jun Kasai Vs Yoshihiko

If you notice the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title now has a tan that’s because it spent the summer travelling across the United States, mainly California. Joey Ryan left Japan as the champion back in June and since then the belt has had quite an adventure, capturing a lot of attention along the way. Let’s look at what the list of champions during this period: a WWE Hall Of Famer, half of the Lucha Underground roster, Spider-Man, the Beyond Wrestling fanbase, Joey Ryan’s fiance, their pet cat, Vince McMahon’s star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame, three entrants from this year’s WWE Cruiserweight Classic, a man with a box of cereal for a head and comedian Ron Funches. And this does not include all of the wrestlers who have previously held championships in WWE, TNA, ROH, ECW, EVOLVE, SHIMMER, PWG, CZW, PROGRESS and God knows where else. Sadly it’s time for the belt to come home to Japan where Joey Ryan is expected to defend it in the usual Battle Royal. It’s fitting for this championship that I treat its return to Japan as a chance to calm the gimmick down.

Anyway the usual cast of misfits fill up the match. KENSO who exists to annoy me has spent all summer fighting Sanshiro Takagi for a spot on this show, Mad Paulie is one of DAMNATION’s “pets”, the “Muscle Idol” Reika Saiki is this year’s eye candy and Jun Kasai is back after causing havoc at DDT’s last visit to Sumo Hall.

3. KUDO Comeback ~YELLOW DRAGON COME BACK!!~: KUDO & Masahiro Takanashi Vs Akito & Yasu Urano

KUDO finally makes his return after a bad injury to his right ACL discovered in September 2015 put him out of action. While he was gone Shuten-dōji added Kota Umeda to take his place. Masa Takanashi also changed his ring name to Masahiro Takanashi because he felt it was time to start a new chapter of his career. KUDO’s first match back is against familiar opponents. Smile Squash and Shuten-dōji wrestle against each other often so he should feel at home here.

4. NωA Road To DDT Fes 2016 ~ Sasadango Teaches The Way To Survive Showbiz: Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata, MAO & Super Sasadango Machine Vs Antonio Honda, Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi, Lady Beard & Gorgeous Matsuno

DDT is working with a music festival in November and to capitalise on the event they created New Wrestling Aidoru (Idol) or NωA for short. Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata and MAO were selected for the wrestling idol group and quickly recorded their first record “Never Give Up☆I LOVE YOU”. Their goal is to be good enough for a spot on the music festival but the only way they will qualify is if they get over 50,000 followers on Twitter. They thought things were going well when they forced Dick Togo to join NωA but it only took a few hours for him to graduate from the group. Some good news happened though. Masked wrestler, marketing genius and PowerPoint extraordinaire Super Sasadango Machine offered to be their manager. His latest idea is to pit NωA against another team of wrestling idols and singers. Antonio Honda and Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi were both members of a band called DPG (Dramatic Perfect Group), pro wrestling is just a side project for Lady Beard outside of his music career and Gorgeous Matsuno is an old crooner. Expect musical numbers.

5. AJPW World Jr. Heavyweight Title: Hikaru Sato (c) Vs Soma Takao

When Team Dream Futures decided to split up in May all three members went their separate ways. Two of them have struggled and since gone to do very different things. Shigehiro Irie is currently on an excursion in America to develop as both a wrestler and a grown up. Keisuke Ishii formed Fantastic Memories with Danshoku Dino hoping to recapture their success back when they were part of Belt Hunter X Hunter. The one who avoided the post-Drift slump is Soma Takao. He has beaten both of his former teammates in singles matches and has an impressive win-loss record throughout DDT. With this success came an opportunity to get what he wants most: the AJPW World Jr. Heavyweight Title. The challenge was sent to All Japan and it was accepted. After all, the champion has some history with the challenger.

Hikaru Sato has done well for himself since leaving DDT in 2014. A short stay in Union Pro saw him dominate as a big fish in a small pond. Then he went on to All Japan where he is a regular contender in the Jr. Heavyweight division. He won the Jr. Title in June and is going into Sumo Hall for his second defence but there is more to this than just a title match. In February 2011 Takao beat Sato in a No DQ Hair Vs Hair Match and shaved him bald in the middle of the ring. Soma thinks history gives him the edge over Sato. The champion is happy to wrestle at Sumo Hall for DDT again. He has fond memories of the first “PETER PAN” from 2009. Even though he wrestled in the dark match, Sato remembers being excited because everyone worked so hard to put the show together. He is reminded of that everytime he wrestles in Sumo Hall.

One last thing. Soma Takao is 7-0 at “PETER PAN” shows. Slowly but surely this is approaching an Undertaker at WrestleMania level of winning streak.

6. DDT Extreme Title – Watase Contra Watase: LiLiCo (c) Vs Danshoku Dino

Love’s precious, isn’t it? Who would have guessed when LiLiCo found a few DNA wrestlers to be her bodyguard earlier this year she would hit it off with one of them. Mizuki Watase and LiLiCo fell in love and became an item. They sought inspiration from Titanic to help LiLiCo win the DDT Extreme Title and since then the power of their love has kept the title in their possession. But now comes a man who is a big threat to LiLiCo. Not just for her championship but for her boyfriend too! Danshoku Dino is the No. 1 Contender and he thinks Watase is only in a relationship with LiLiCo to hide the fact that he’s gay. To prove it the match will be Watase Contra Watase, the winner gets Watase, the loser can never touch him again! If that’s not enough Watase is freely allowed to get involved in the match. So he can prove his love with LiLiCo is real by helping her win… Or he can prove Dino is right by helping him win? Is Dino’s claims about Watase true? Is Watase’s romance with LiLiCo nothing more than a sham? Is this a better love story than the Overwatch shipping of Pharah and Mercy I found on NeoGAF? We’ll soon find out.

7. Special 6-Man Tag Team Match: Sanshiro Takagi, Shiro Koshinaka & NOSAWA Rongai Vs Great Kabuki, Yukio Sakaguchi & Kota Umeda

Well this match fell apart. It was all supposed to be about Terry Funk. Unfortunately a hernia prevented ol’ Funker from travelling to Japan and he had to cancel his appearance. Shiro Koshinaka is bring brought in on short notice to be his replacement. Koshinaka has history in DDT by being a former KO-D Tag Team Champion with Danshoku Dino under the team name Butt Samurai. Koshinaka gets to be in the ring again with his old Heisei Ishingun stablemate The Great Kabuki. He says he is also looking forward to wrestling Yukio Sakaguchi for the first time.

8. Special Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo Vs Dick Togo & Mike Bailey

There is one man I can point to as the centrepiece of DDT’s storylines this year and that man is Daisuke Sasaki. He played a role in many of the main event angles that have gone on and developed into a dangerous competitor in the process. And to think it all began with a crush. 2016 began with Sasaki all alone. The Golden☆Storm Riders had to break up when Kota Ibushi quit DDT and Suguru Miyatake blew out his shoulder. It was around this time that Candice LeRae had her first tour with DDT and Sasaki was instantly smitten with her. Like a lovesick puppy Sasaki proposed to her several times, mostly to be his tag team partner but it eventually became an offer of marriage. LeRae’s rejection left him feeling devastated but the real shock came when news of LeRae’s engagement to Johnny Gargano reached Japan. This is where you can pinpoint Sasaki’s tragic origin story if he was a supervillain. Sasaki snapped and went into a jealous rage, constantly demanding to fight Gargano at DDT shows even though Gargano was never going to get booked. He also wanted tag team title shots despite having no tag partner. Eventually Sasaki solved his problems by getting a pet dog and it is a very big dog. When “Adrian” was introduced it turned out to be Shuji Ishikawa in a giant mascot dog outfit. While the imagery of a big dog beating up wrestlers is funny (and it was) the new team were no joke and they quickly became tag team champions. Sasaki grew a mean streak and got his hands on a Right To Challenge Anytime Anywhere Contract. He used it to win the KO-D Title from HARASHIMA in April and became king of the DDT world until Konosuke Takeshita knocked him off his perch. Sasaki got a small measure of revenge though when he convinced Takeshita’s best friend to switch sides.

Tetsuya Endo saw himself as the bridesmaid of Happy Motels. This time last year he returned from an injury to face his best friend and tag team partner Takeshita at Sumo Hall. Endo lost that match but no matter, most wrestlers lose their first bout back from injury. He and his buddy soon became the KO-D Tag Team Champions and everything was great until Sasaki & Ishikawa came along. Sasaki made Takeshita pass out to the Cross Facelock at the 19th Anniversary Show but no matter, they were caught unprepared and they could get their rematch a month later. Sasaki made Takeshita pass out again in the but no matter, now Endo can chase after Sasaki’s KO-D Title. Takeshita gets the title shot first and goes on to finally beat Sasaki, becoming the youngest KO-D Champion ever. No matter, Endo got a Right To Challenge Contract around the same time. He cashes in for a fair and square title match against his best friend to prove who is truly better. Takeshita won. That’s when Endo cracks and has enough of being in his friend’s shadow. Seeing an opportunity, Sasaki crashes Takeshita’s post-match victory speech and offers Endo to join his new unit DAMNATION. Endo shocked everyone when he pushed his best friend aside and accepted the DAMNATION T-shirt! Since then Endo has found new success by embracing his dark side. Can there be anybody out there to stop DAMNATION? How about somebody from Sasaki’s past?

Four years ago Dick Togo called time on his legendary career. After saying his goodbyes in Japan he spent his final 12 months wrestling around South America in countries like Chile and Bolivia. They were his second homes and he wanted to help establish their wrestling scenes. Fast forward to 2016 and Togo is back in Japan with a burning desire to return to the ring. He still has plenty left in him and he wants to fight the new generation of wrestlers that have appeared during his absence. Everybody was happy to have him back. Everybody that is except for Sasaki. Togo’s protege was pissed off that this old man is back on the scene when it should be known to everyone that the student has surpassed his master. A welcoming hug became a low blow. Sasaki made his intentions known, he is better than Togo and will prove it. Endo also thinks that Togo should stay out of DAMNATION’s way. Togo disagrees and wants to put both of these punks back in their place. But he needs help. Togo demanded a tag team match but foolishly did so without having anyone to back him up. Luckily there was a new Canadian sensation brought in to save the day.

“Speedball” Mike Bailey has only been wrestling in Japan for a month but he is quickly winning over fans with his rapid strikes and agility. So we currently have a Canadian wrestler making waves in DDT in short time? Sounds familiar. Sounds doubly familiar actually. Anyway, Bailey was picked as Togo’s partner and he could not be more excited to wrestle with such a legend. While he holds no grudge with DAMNATION you can be sure Sasaki & Endo aren’t going to let him steal their spotlight. Sparks will fly in this one.

9. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Uchikomi! Presents: Ken Ohka & KAI (c) Vs HARASHIMA & Yuko Miyamoto

Mandatory listening for this part of the preview.

I see this as two pairs of brothers from other mothers fighting over the KO-D Tag Team Titles. Ken Ohka had a stressful year over in his home base Ganbare☆Wrestling. He had been betrayed so often that it must felt crushing to him. Thankfully a kindred spirit came along and they caught on like a house on fire. KAI from Wrestle-1 offered to help his problems. They wrestled in identical vests and jeans which in pro wrestling terms is the closest bond two people could ever make. They also like B’z which is another thing a lot of Japanese wrestler seem to bond over. So they named their team Bad Comi after the song “Bad Communication” (Did the song above end? Keep playing it) After their one match together they somehow convinced DDT to give them a title shot. An injury scare put their chances in doubt but they surprised everyone by winning the belts from DAMNATION.

Their challengers are HARASHIMA & Yuko Miyamoto, together known as Smile Yankee. The two originally tagged together for the 2015 New Year’s Eve tournament and they reached the final. A few more appearances in the summer convinced them to team more. Miyamoto even decided to join Smile Squash for the upcoming DDT Dramatic General Election. Much like their opponents, Smile Yankee have a habit of wearing identical gear during their matches. They swap between HARASHIMA’s gear and Miyamoto’s gear. Ohka doesn’t care that Yankee Smile has only ever lost once, Bad Comi are the hottest tag team in the world!

10. KO-D Openweight Title – Good Com Asset Presents: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Shuji Ishikawa

This makes up the other part of the Happy Motels Vs DAMNATION feud. Since his debut at 17 years old, Konosuke Takeshita was first labelled as DDT’s Rookie Supernova and later simply “The Future”. It only took four years for him to reach the top and become the KO-D Openweight Champion, the youngest wrestler to ever do so. Losing over and over to Daisuke Sasaki in the tag team division was a tough hurdle to overcome but in May he finally did it. Since then he defended the belt against a veteran outsider (Yuko Miyamoto), a former KO-D Champion with one last golden opportunity to get the belt (Toru Owashi) and his best friend (Tetsuya Endo). Now he has to fight The Big Dog.

Forget the part about Shuji Ishikawa being Daisuke Sasaki’s “pet”. This is still a big lad and former champion who smashed through the King Of DDT tournament to get this title match. Takeshita does have a 4 minute victory over Ishikawa that happened in May but don’t expect the same thing to happen here. Ishikawa has been wrestling in several different companies this year and has taken Chops, Lariats and German Suplexes from the best of them. He also has previous experience wrestling in the main event of “PETER PAN” when he headlined the 2011 show. Takeshita thinks he can summon the fighting spirit necessary for such a special show. Ishikawa doesn’t care, he’ll just crush that spirit while providing a great match for the crowd. Then when he wins the title he will hug Sasaki in the ring to celebrate.


DDT “BEER GARDEN FIGHT 2016 ~SHUTEN-DOJI DAY~” Results

August 9, 2016

umeda-bailey

DDT “BEER GARDEN FIGHT 2016 ~SHUTEN-DOJI DAY~”, 09/08/2016
Shinjuku FACE
600 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

1. Glove Match: Saki Akai defeated Gota Ihashi by Disqualification when Ihashi took off his tights (R3 3:00) (Special Referee: KUDO)
2. Gatoh Move Rules: Emi Sakura & “Kotori” defeated Masako Takanashi & Cherry when “Kotori” pinned Takanashi with the Morning Star (15:59).
3. Scary Story That Surrounds Yukio Sakaguchi: Yukio Sakaguchi defeated Kouki Iwasaki with the Cobra Clutch (15:45).
Scary Story Order: DJ Nira, Kouki Iwasaki, Soma Takao, Danshoku Dino, Daisuke Kiso, Makoto Oishi.
4. Mike Bailey defeated Kota Umeda with the Shooting Star Double Knee Drop (19:58).

Kota Umeda found it difficult to face his Shuten-dōji brethren after his loss to Mike Bailey. Umeda was frustrated that he lost the main event of his unit’s show. However he will look back on this failure to draw strength and become stronger. The closing call was interrupted by Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Gota Ihashi and Kouki Iwasaki. It was on this day one year ago that the three formed a unit called Booing 2015 for the DDT Dramatic General Election. The unit came last in the election and was forced to split up as a result. All three members secretly held a grudge ever since and it was now time for revenge! They attacked KUDO and soaked him with water but KUDO hit back with Middle Kicks and Spin Kicks. This was the first time this year that KUDO got to kick people in the ring again and to him it was like he was never gone. Yukio Sakaguchi then knocked out Ihashi with the Right Knee Of God. It was announced afterwards that Booing 2015 was splitting up again.

One of the highlights of Beer Garden every year is at some point we get a ghost story. This year the goal was to scare Yukio Sakaguchi with a spooky tale. Sakaguchi refused to be involved but was forced by the others to enter the ring. The lights went out and Danshoku Dino took out a flashlight. He shined it over his face and explained the challenge to Sakaguchi. Different wrestlers will enter the ring Royal Rumble style and it’s up to them to scare Sakaguchi with their tales of horror. Sakaguchi will have to pin or submit someone to stop the stories and end the match. DJ Nira snuck up to Sakaguchi and gave him a fright to start the contest. Nira began his story about a summer beach camp but Sakaguchi jumped on him. Kouki Iwasaki was next but his story about the old inn next to the old high school was also cut short. Soma Takao wanted to tell his tale based on a real life experience with a futon but Sakaguchi wanted none of it. At this point Sakaguchi was so scared he was lying down flat on the canvas. Dino then produced pictures of Keisuke Ishii’s parents onto the screen behind them followed by a loud scream. Sakaguchi flipped out and attacked everyone in the ring until Dino caught him in a Lip Lock. Daisuke Kiso was going to count Sakaguchi out but stopped himself because it was his turn to tell a story. His story involved an apartment dweller watching a policeman drag a woman smeared with blood into his car. It ended up scaring everybody in the room. Makoto Oishi was the final entrant but his story was actually just him gossiping about a wrestling buddy who went on a date that ended with a night in a hotel last Christmas Eve. Dino asked what made that a scary story? Oishi said it’s because the woman lied about liking his friend and that’s scary. Sakaguchi finally had enough and put Iwasaki in the Cobra Clutch so he could end the damn contest. Sakaguchi said he probably felt okay after that. He held a toast for the fans but was interrupted by a blackout followed by a distorted video on the screen of a creepy woman saying “Cheers”.

Saki Akai taunted Gota Ihashi before their Glove Match by saying she likes a strong man, so that’s why she asked KUDO to be there as the referee. Despite the size and weight difference, Akai wiped the floor with Ihashi for most of the match. Maybe Ihashi was too enamoured to do anything or maybe it’s his Homer Simpson Syndrome kicking in but he was knocked down over and over. Ihashi tried to clinch Akai when he could. Not to slow down the match but just so he could hug her. He even knocked down KUDO with a punch when he tried to seperate them. Ihashi then Body Slammed Akai and hit a Body Press when KUDO wasn’t looking. He took off his tights but KUDO saw this and disqualified him for his lewd antics. Ihashi knocked him down with another punch but that caused Sakaguchi to come in and hit Ihashi with the Right Knee Of God.


DDT “ROAD TO RYOGOKU 2016” Results

July 17, 2016

endo-joins-damnation

DDT “ROAD TO RYOGOKU 2016”, 17/07/2016
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,536 Fans – No Vacancy

1. That’s Breaking The Rut! Saihai Of Super Talented GM Amon Tsurumi! Special Tag Match: Sanshiro Takagi & KENSO defeated Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Mizuki Watase when KENSO pinned Watase with an Inside Cradle (6:50).
2. Soma Takao & Akito defeated Masahiro Takanashi & Kota Umeda when Takao pinned Umeda with the Gin And Tonic (6:35).
3. Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata, Gota Ihashi, Guanchulo & Cherry defeated Danshoku Dino, Super Sasadango Machine, Antonio Honda, Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi & Saki Akai when Owashi pinned Machine with La Magistral Cradle (4:47).
4. DAMNATION Vs NωA: Daisuke Sasaki, Shuji Ishikawa & Mad Paulie defeated Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata & MAO when Ishikawa pinned Katsumata with the Fire Thunder (8:06).
5. Dick Togo Return Second Leg! Special Tag Match: Dick Togo & Yasu Urano defeated Kazusada Higuchi & Kouki Iwasaki when Togo pinned Iwasaki with the Diving Senton (13:42).
6. Shigehiro Irie Send-off Match: Shigehiro Irie & Yukio Sakaguchi defeated HARASHIMA & Keisuke Ishii when Irie pinned Ishii with the Beast Bomber (13:55).
7. KO-D Openweight Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) defeated Tetsuya Endo with the German Suplex (24:08).
*V2 for Konosuke Takeshita. Tetsuya Endo cashes in his Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Contract.

takeshita-beats-endo

Konosuke Takeshita is still the KO-D Openweight Champion but it came at the cost of losing his best friend and tag team partner. Tetsuya Endo was the latest Right To Challenge holder to get his title shot and threw everything out there. He hit a No Touch Tope and a Swan Dive Elbow but Takeshita yelled at him to attack more. Endo went for the Torture Rack Bomb but it was countered with a Headlock. The Sky Twister Press missed and the two were soon both on their knees trading Elbow Smashes. Endo hit a Flip Piledriver for a nearfall. He later did an Avalanche Hurricanrana but Takeshita used the momentum to roll Endo into a pin for a two count. Takeshita then countered another Hurricanra into a Power Bomb. It finally took two German Suplexes to put Endo away.

this-is-the-endo

Takeshita praised the match they just had and said he wants their generation to liven up DDT. He offered a handshake but was suddenly interrupted by DAMNATION. Unit leader Daisuke Sasaki looked at Endo and asked him if he was tired of being a second class wrestler underneath his friend? He held up a DAMNATION T-shirt and asked if Endo wants to join them. Endo shocked everyone by pushing Takeshita away and accepting the shirt! Sasaki introduced everyone to DAMNATION’s 4th member, Tetsuya Endo!

owashi-rtc-challenge

When DAMNATION left ringside Takeshita was crushed. Ever since Endo won the contract in Hakata, Takeshita wanted nothing more than to have this title match with his friend in Korakuen Hall. If that wasn’t bad enough, “Sandstorm” played over the music system and Toru Owashi came out . The holder of the last active Right To Challenge contract finally decided on the date for his KO-D Title match. Amon Tsurumi stepped in and guessed the date. 23rd July in Yokohama? No, Owashi said that was too soon. How about 13th August in Shinjuku FACE for the last show of Beer Garden week? No, instead Owashi will cash in at the beginning of Beer Garden week on 8th August! Owashi said he waited four months for his title shot because it made him strong and the timing of it means he is guaranteed to go into Sumo Hall as the champion if he wins. And in Sumo Hall he will be so strong it’s scary! Takeshita’s response was that he will beat Owashi with the German Suplex and go on to face Shuji Ishikawa.

irie-farewell

Shigehiro Irie bid farewell to DDT and Japan with his final match before his American excursion. Irie couldn’t hold back the tears as he was showered with green tape from the fans. But he still had a match with Yukio Sakaguchi, HARASHIMA and Keisuke Ishii to go through. He hit the Beast Bomber twice on Ishii to win the match for himself & Sakaguchi. Irie bowed to all four sides of the arena to a thunderous applause.

sasaki-betrays-togo

Daisuke Sasaki isn’t happy to see his mentor Dick Togo back in action. Togo won his Korakuen return match and offered to shake hands with Kazusada Higuchi afterwards. Sasaki came out and went to hug Togo but instead gave him a Low Blow. Sasaki called Togo a dickhead and said that his disciple has gotten stronger during his four year absence. Togo tackled Sasaki and punched him over and over until wrestlers and referees came out to stop him. Sasaki gave one of the referees the Michinoku Driver II before leaving the ring. Togo was furious at Sasaki’s actions.

sasadango-nwa-manager

NωA continues to struggle, this time losing to DAMNATION. However help came afterwards in the form of Super Sasadango Machine. Sasadango complimented their musical and dancing talents but noticed a big flaw in their performance. They have no strong business relationships. Their strength in pro wrestling is tied to the strength of their business relationships. Sasadango offered to be their manager and handle all of NωA’s behind the scenes business. He also promised to get them booked on the “DDT FES 2016” show in November.

owashi-rtc-defence

Toru Owashi successfully defended his Right To Challenge Contract once again, this time in a 10-Person Tag Match. Owashi unmasked Super Sasadango Machine and pinned him with La Magistral Cradle. Danshoku Dino told Owashi after the match that today was the last DDT show in Korakuen Hall before “PETER PAN 2016” so maybe he can finally cash in his title shot. Sanshiro Takagi also pushed for Owashi to do it. Or maybe he could have the contract instead. Owashi slapped Takagi and said he already decided when he will get his title match. Owashi then had to flee from ringside when he was chased by wrestlers begging for the contract.

takao-sato-ajpw

Masa Takanashi is now wrestling under his real name Masahiro Takanashi plus he got a new entrance song to boot. But his moment in the spotlight was stolen by Soma Takao when Takao pinned Kota Umeda to continue his string of victories. His victory was interrupted by the return of Hikaru Sato! The Hard Hit fighter and former DDT wrestler is now currently the AJPW Jr. Heavyweight Champion and he was recently challenged by Takao to a title match. Sato’s appearance was to announce the date and location of the match. All Japan has allowed the match to take place at “PETER PAN 2016”!

sunflower-bomb-kenso

Amon Tsurumi’s bright idea of pairing Sanshiro Takagi & KENSO together as a team caused as much trouble as expected yet still produced results. Before their match began Takagi and KENSO argued over whose entrance song they should use. Daisuke Kiso came up with the solution to use both songs at the same time. During the match Takagi & KENSO collided with missed attacks several times. Takagi decided he had enough to he gave KENSO the Sunflower Bomb onto Mizuki Watase. KENSO stayed on top of Watase so that counted as a pin. After the match KENSO rallied the fans to convince DDT that he should be get a match at “PETER PAN 2016”. The fans booed him and Takagi refused. Tsurumi decided to give KENSO one more opportunity. He’ll fight Takagi at Kasukabe Hall on 6th August and if his performance is good enough he’ll get added to the “PETER PAN 2016” card. Tsurumi then told Takagi to please somehow become a better wrestler!

kudo-returns

KUDO gave an important update at the start of the show about his recovery process. He thanked the fans for waiting because he will return to action at “PETER PAN 2016”! He will team with Masahiro Takanashi to take on Yasu Urano & Akito. KUDO told everyone his goal is to start from zero and climb all the way back up to the KO-D Championship!

A big title match for “PETER PAN 2016” on 28th August was announced. Ken Ohka & KAI will defend the KO-D Tag Team Titles against HARASHIMA & Yuko Miyamoto, aka Yankee Smile!

Some new DDT merch is in production. NωA is getting an EVERLAST T-shirt, Saki Akai is getting a GLAM JAM bag and Danshoku Dino is getting a new DVD currently titled “DVD To Change The Friends Of Danshoku Dino To Like Professional Wrestling”.


February’s Already Full

February 2, 2016

Congratulations goes out to KUDO for becoming a father for the first time! Not many details are public yet apart from a tweet he sent out earlier today. He says he now has a new commitment to grow both as a father and a professional wrestler.

DDT “SAITAMA SLAM! VOL. 8”, 07/02/2016
Saitama Kawaguchi City Industrial Science and Technology Center

0. King Of Dark Title: Mizuki Watase (c) Vs Yasu Urano
1. 3 Way Match: Makoto Oishi Vs Guanchulo Vs DJ Nira
2. Masa Takanashi & Hoshitango Vs Keisuke Ishii & Tomomitsu Matsunaga
3. Yukio Sakaguchi, Kota Umeda & Saki Akai Vs Seiya Morohashi, Cherry & Gota Ihashi
4. Konosuke Takeshita & Hiroshi Fukuda Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Kouki Iwasaki
5. Antonio Honda & Tetsuya Endo Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Shuji Ishikawa
6. 3 Way Tag Match: Isami Kodaka & Ryota Nakatsu Vs HARASHIMA & Akito Vs Shigehiro Irie & Soma Takao
7. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles – Elimination Match: Danshoku Dino, Super Sasadango Machine & KENSO (c) Vs Sanshiro Takagi, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata

As the feud between Sanshiro Takagi and KENSO nears its end so too does the rivalry between T2Hide and #OhkaEmpire. If an Elimination Tag Match can determine which team is better then what is it they are truly fighting for? Oh right, the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles.

Daisuke Sasaki surprised everyone by bringing in Shuji Ishikawa to be his new tag partner. They begin their journey to Sumo Hall in Saitama.

DDT “IKAPPE YOKAPPE IN IBARAKI 2016”, 11/02/2016
Ibaraki Mito Aoyagi Park Citizen Gymnasium Sub Stadium

1. MAX LUCHA LIBRE Title: Daisuke Sasaki (c) Vs Guanchulo
2. Yukio Sakaguchi & Kota Umeda Vs Antonio Honda & Hiroshi Fukuda
3. Konosuke Takeshita & Tetsuya Endo Vs Danshoku Dino & Makoto Oishi
4. HARASHIMA, Akito & Yasu Urano Vs Keisuke Ishii, Shigehiro Irie & Soma Takao

A King Of Dark Title match is planned for the show. If any of the wrestlers in the announced card is the champion then their match is relegated to the pre-show. Yasu Urano I’m looking in your direction.

DDT “WRESTLING OKEHAZAMA 2016”, 14/02/2016
Aichi Nagoya Naka Sports Center

1. Konosuke Takeshita, Tetsuya Endo & Hiroshi Fukuda Vs Yukio Sakaguchi, Masa Takanashi & Gota Ihashi
2. Daisuke Sasaki Vs Makoto Oishi
3. Antonio Honda Vs Yasu Urano
4. Isami Kodaka Vs Kota Umeda

Kota Umeda is the last person Isami Kodaka needs to beat to get a full sweep on all active members of Shuten-dōji. Unless you also count Saki Akai who is a part time member of the group.

DDT “DRAMATIC SWAN MAIDEN 2016”, 20/02/2016
Shizuoka Shimizu Marine Building

1. Daisuke Sasaki Vs Hiroshi Fukuda
2. Danshoku Dino & Makoto Oishi Vs Shunma Katsumata & Guanchulo
3. HARASHIMA & Yasu Urano Vs Keisuke Ishii & Shigehiro Irie

HARASHIMA and Shigehiro Irie have a few skirmishes lined up before their No. 1 Contender’s match at the end of the month.

BASARA “VAJRA 3 ~OSAKA WINTER CAMP DEPARTURE~”, 21/02/2016
Osaka Oyodo Community Center

1. Ryu Gouma Vs X
2. Hiroshi Fukuda & SAGAT Vs Kazuaki Mihara & Koji Iwamoto
3. Daichi Kazato & Hi69 Vs Atsushi Maruyama & Tsutomu Oosugi
4. FUMA & HAYATA Vs Takumi Tsukamoto & Yusuke Kubo
5. Ryota Nakatsu Vs HUB
6. Isami Kodaka Vs Ryuichi Sekine

The match order will be determined on the day of the show. Isami Kodaka Vs Ryuichi Sekine is guaranteed to be the main event.

GANBARE☆WRESTLING “MACHINE GUN O BUPPANASE 2016”, 21/02/2016
Tokyo BASEMENT MON☆STAR

1. Ganpuro Terrace House 3 Way Match -Public And Private Confusion-: Yumehito Imanari Vs Bambi Vs Manami Kanda
2. Wrestle Counselling: Shinichiro Tominaga Vs GENTARO
3. Ganpuro-gun Vs Tomodachi-gun ~Declaration Of War~: Ken Ohka, Shuichiro Katsumura & Osamu Namiguchi Vs Minoru Fujita, Madoka & Yukihiro Abe

The rules of the Terrace House 3 Way Match will be revealed at a later date.

BASARA “VAJRA 4 ~POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE~”, 26/02/2016
Yokohama Radiant Hall

1. FUMA & Madoka Vs Hiroshi Fukuda & SAGAT
2. Ryuichi Sekine & Ryota Nakatsu Vs Hercules Senga & Tsutomu Oosugi
3. Isami Kodaka Vs Takumi Tsukamoto

Speed Of Sounds are coming over to BASARA.

DDT “INTO THE FIGHT 2016”, 28/02/2016
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Special Single Match: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Daisuke Sasaki
2. Special Single Match: Tetsuya Endo Vs Shuji Ishikawa
3. DDT Extreme Title – Single Match With 3 People: Kendo Kashin (c) Vs Antonio Honda Vs Yoshihiko
4. KO-D Openweight Title Next Challenger Final: HARASHIMA Vs Shigehiro Irie

Kendo Kashin has come up with another revolutionary match stipulation. He will put the DDT Extreme Title on the line in a One On One Match with three wrestlers competing in it.


DDT “WHO’S GONNA TOP? ~DDT DRAMATIC GENERAL ELECTION 2015~” Results

September 27, 2015

sakaguchi-v1

DDT “WHO’S GONNA TOP? ~DDT DRAMATIC GENERAL ELECTION 2015~”, 27/09/2015
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,750 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

0. King Of Dark Title: Gota Ihashi (c) defeated Sanshiro Takagi with the Moonsault (4:03).
*Gota Ihashi passes D14. Sanshiro Takagi becomes the 4th King Of Dark Champion.
1. Gota Ihashi, Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Kouki Iwasaki defeated Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata & Saki Akai when Ihashi pinned Katsumata with the Moonsault (2:47).
2. Toru Owashi defeated Kazuki Hirata with a School Boy (7:02).
3. Joey Ryan & Hiroshi Fukuda defeated Masa Takanashi & Kota Umeda when Ryan pinned Umeda with the Sweet Tooth Music (9:12).
4. Kota Ibushi & Suguru Miyatake defeated Kazusada Higuchi & Ryota Nakatsu when Ibushi pinned Nakatsu with the Sit Down Last Ride (12:50).
5. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Danshoku Dino, Super Sasadango Machine & Ken Ohka defeated Keisuke Ishii, Shigehiro Irie & Soma Takao (c) when Ohka pinned Irie with the Spear Of Flame (15:20).
*Team Dream Futures fail in V6. #OhkaEmpire become the 20th KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions!
6. Antonio Honda, Konosuke Takeshita & Tetsuya Endo defeated HARASHIMA, Akito & Yasu Urano when Endo pinned Urano with the Torture Rack Bomb (15:22).
7. KO-D Openweight Title: Yukio Sakaguchi (c) defeated Daisuke Sasaki with the Right Knee Of God (23:34).
*V1 for Yukio Sakaguchi.

sakaguchi-vs-sasaki

KUDO was in attendance to watch his Shuten-dōji brother Yukio Sakaguchi defend the KO-D Openweight Title. The champion hugged KUDO before the match started. Meanwhile Daisuke Sasaki was pushed down to the ring on a trolley by his Golden☆Storm Rider team mates. Sasaki only attempted to do the Vietnam Driver II once in the match but Sakaguchi slipped out of the hold and trapped Sasaki in a Sleeper Hold. Sasaki did catch Sakaguchi with a flash Hurricanrana but it wasn’t enough to get the three count. Sasaki aimed big by setting up an Avalanche Pedigree but Sakaguchi stopped him with some Elbow Strikes that left Sasaki hanging upside down from the turnbuckles by his legs. Sakaguchi climbed the turnbuckles and hit KUDO’s Diving Double Knee Drop! Sasaki somehow kicked out but was put into another Sleeper Hold. Sasaki showed some life when he stuck up his middle finger but Sakaguchi put him away with a Knee Strike to the face, a Jumping Knee to the back and finally the Right Knee Of God in the corner. Sakaguchi celebrated his title defence with KUDO and Masa Takanashi in the ring. His next title defence will be on 28th October against the runner up of the DDT Dramatic General Election.

kod6-ohkaempire

It was a long, rocky hill to climb but #OhkaEmpire are the new KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions! They were the underdogs against Team Drift but Ken Ohka was able to lead his team to victory. Danshoku Dino came out with his hair dyed blonde for the occasion. The title change looked like it wouldn’t happen. Although #OhkaEmpire jumped Drift when the bell rang and Super Sasadango Machine tried to hit the Vertical Drop Lehman Shock three times, Drift stood their ground. Shigehiro Irie looked to be too strong for Ohka but Ohka ducked the Beast Bomber and hit the Spear Of Flame for the upset victory. Later on the new champions confronted Happy Motels to congratulate them on becoming the No. 1 Contenders. Ohka said #OhkaEmpire are a major sports group and they will train hard to defend the titles. Antonio Honda interrupted him with a Stunner. Dino ignored what was going on in the ring so he could have his way with Mao Inoue at ringside.

ibushi-miyatake

Kota Ibushi & Suguru Miyatake both entered the ring for their match carrying a drink that was described as Ibushi’s medicine. He consumed it during the match to get an ability boost.

joeyryan-lollipop

Joey Ryan leaves Japan for now undefeated. He made a friend in Hiroshi Fukuda during his stay. Fukuda told Ryan he is going to be lonely without him and he wrote him a love letter that is also a song that is 16 bars long. Ryan told Fukuda he is his best friend in Japan and they will team again because he will be back in November. When Ryan comes back he wants to face a variety of different wrestlers but none more so than Danshoku Dino.

momowashi-hirata

Toru Owashi did not want any nonsense from Kazuki Hirata today. No goofy glasses, no entrance robe or anything of that sort. Hirata had to go get other gear. Later on Owashi’s own wrestling gear went missing. The only clothing he could find in his locker was a peach costume he used to wrestle in. He had no other choice but to become “Momowashi” once more. It turned out Hirata stole Owashi’s gear and he wore it for the match! At one point Hirata put Owashi in a Stretch Plum just for the sake of making the pun. They later danced to “Tokyo GO!” until Owashi pinned Hirata with a School Boy out of nowhere. Owashi asked afterwards why Hirata stole his gear. Hirata said he found out this month is Owashi’s 15th anniversary in pro wrestling and his 10th anniversary in DDT. Owashi must have forgotten about it. To celebrate Hirata decided to wear Owashi’s gear so he could be more like him. Hirata said Owashi’s bullying has been painful but he still wants them to work hard together going into Owashi’s 11th year in DDT. He gave Owashi his peach helmet back, put on his Hirata GO! glasses and they danced.

ihashi-takagi-dark

Gota Ihashi is free from dark match purgatory once more! Thanks to some help from his Pigging 2015 team mates, Ihashi was able to beat Sanshiro Takagi in the dark match, making Takagi the new King Of Dark Champion! Ihashi threw the belt at Takagi and was so happy that he added himself to the opening match. He then invited Saki Akai to participate in the match to even out the numbers. Akai did not want to take part until Matsunaga revealed that he has her toothbrush. He placed it in Ihashi’s mouth and Akai stormed the ring to kick Ihashi in the face. She went for a Diving Cross Body but Matsunaga dodged and she landed on Makoto Oishi instead. Shunma Katsumata was blinded by blue mist and Ihashi pinned him with a Moonsault to give him a rare two match winning streak. He celebrated by filling his mouth with toothpaste and brushing his teeth with Akai’s toothbrush. He said he was satisfied by the strawberry taste.


KUDO Out With ACL Injury

September 17, 2015

Really bad news for KUDO this week as he has severely damaged his right ACL and is expected to be out of action for around one year. He has said that although some wrestlers are able to continue competing without an ACL, he cannot do the same due to his fighting style so he will have surgery to reconstruct his ACL. KUDO has removed himself from the DDT Dramatic General Election and encourages his fans to vote for the other members of Shuten-dōji instead. The following cards have been changed due to KUDO’s absence.

DDT “CAREER DAIMYO DRAMATIC-KUN 2015”, 20/09/2015
Shizuoka Hamamatsu Create

1. Antonio Honda & Konosuke Takeshita Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Kouki Iwasaki
2. Danshoku Dino Vs Keisuke Ishii
3. Joey Ryan Vs Makoto Oishi
4. Yukio Sakaguchi & Ryota Nakatsu Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Suguru Miyatake
5. Masa Takanashi Vs Tetsuya Endo
6. Kota Ibushi & Kota Umeda Vs Shigehiro Irie & Soma Takao
7. Sanshiro Takagi, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs HARASHIMA, Akito & Yasu Urano

DDT “DRAMATIC SCAN NIIGATA! 2015”, 21/09/2015
Niigata Toriyano Gymnasium

1. Akito Vs Kota Umeda
2. Sanshiro Takagi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Makoto Oishi & Shunma Katsumata
3. Kazusada Higuchi & Hoshitango Vs Joey Ryan & Hiroshi Fukuda
4. Yukio Sakaguchi & Masa Takanashi Vs Kota Ibushi & Daisuke Sasaki
5. Tomomitsu Matsunaga Vs Suguru Miyatake
6. Keisuke Ishii, Shigehiro Irie & Soma Takao Vs Antonio Honda, Konosuke Takeshita & Tetsuya Endo
7. Danshoku Dino & Super Sasadango Machine Vs HARASHIMA & Yasu Urano

BOYZ “MOON VIEWING SPECIAL ~WOMAN FESTIVAL 8~”, 23/09/2015
Shinjuku FACE

1. Keisuke Ishii Vs Mizuki Watase
2. Kazuki Hirata Vs Kouki Iwasaki
3. Makoto Oishi Vs Shunma Katsumata
4. Tetsuya Endo & Kota Umeda Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Masa Takanashi
5. Yukio Sakaguchi, HARASHIMA & Isami Kodaka Vs Soma Takao, Akito & Konosuke Takeshita

DDT “WHO’S GONNA TOP? ~DDT DRAMATIC GENERAL ELECTION 2015~”, 27/09/2015
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

0. King Of Dark Title: Gota Ihashi (c) Vs Sanshiro Takagi
1. Toru Owashi Vs Kazuki Hirata
2. Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Kouki Iwasaki Vs Makoto Oishi & Shunma Katsumata
3. Masa Takanashi & Kota Umeda Vs Joey Ryan & Hiroshi Fukuda
4. Kota Ibushi & Suguru Miyatake Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Ryota Nakatsu
5. HARASHIMA, Akito & Yasu Urano Vs Antonio Honda, Konosuke Takeshita & Tetsuya Endo
6. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Keisuke Ishii, Shigehiro Irie & Soma Takao (c) Vs Danshoku Dino, Super Sasadango Machine & Ken Ohka
7. KO-D Openweight Title: Yukio Sakaguchi (c) Vs Daisuke Sasaki


DDT “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2015 ~FROM DDT WITH LOVE~” Results

August 23, 2015

ryogoku-toast

DDT “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2015 ~FROM DDT WITH LOVE~”, 23/08/2015
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
6,670 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

0. King Of Dark Title: “Hollywood” Stalker Ichikawa defeated Gota Ihashi (c) with a School Boy (5:15).
*D8 for Gota Ihashi.
1. Mao Inoue & Mizuki Watase Debut Match: Yasu Urano, Akito & Ryota Nakatsu defeated Kota Umeda, Mao Inoue & Mizuki Watase defeated when Akito submitted Watase with the Scorpion Lock (10:07).
2. Time Difference Tag Battle Royal: Aja Kong & Makoto Oishi defeated LiLiCo & Suguru Miyatake when Kong pinned Miyatake with the Vertical Drop Brainbuster (16:41).
Order Of Elimination: MIKAMI & Shunma Katsumata, Gorgeous Matsuno & Great Kojika, Hoshitango & Mio Shirai, Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Kouki Iwasaki, Hiroshi Fukuda & Yoshihiko and Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata.
3. DDT Extreme Title – Uchikami! Presents Blindfold Bra Stripping Tiger Trap Death Match: Antonio Honda (c) defeated Masa Takanashi when Honda stripped Takanashi of his bra (15:10).
*V1 for Antonio Honda.
4. Tetsuya Endo Comeback Match: Konosuke Takeshita defeated Tetsuya Endo with the German Suplex (13:32).
5. Genichiro Tenryu Retirement Road Round 15: Genichiro Tenryu, Sanshiro Takagi & Saki Akai defeated Shuji Ishikawa, Kazusada Higuchi & Meiko Satomura when Takagi pinned Higuchi with the Sit Down Himawaro Bomb (13:109.
6. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Keisuke Ishii, Shigehiro Irie & Soma Takao (c) defeated Danshoku Dino, Super Sasadango Machine & Ken Ohka when Takao pinned Ohka with the Gin And Tonic (12:35).
*V4 for Team Dream Futures.
7. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Kota Ibushi & Daisuke Sasaki defeated Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi (c) when Ibushi pinned Sekimoto with the Phoenix Splash (21:33).
*Strong BJ fail in V5. The Golden☆Storm Riders become the 52nd KO-D Tag Team Champions!
8. Dramatic Dream Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated HARASHIMA with the High Fly Flow (17:00).
9. KO-D Openweight Title – Good Com Asset Presents: Yukio Sakaguchi defeated KUDO (c) with the Right Knee Of God (21:20).
*KUDO fails in V1. Yukio Sakaguchi becomes the 54th KO-D Openweight Champion!

ryogoku-2015

The biggest DDT show on the calander has come and gone for another year. Sumo Hall was host to the seventh “PETER PAN” supershow, so called because everybody in DDT are adults who refuse to grow up. However long time followers of the company should notice something odd about the attendence. This was the seventh straight Super No Vacancy Full House for “PETER PAN” but DDT only announced a crowd of 6,670 fans in attendance. That is around 2,000-2,500 less than their previous announced attendances in the building. Even weirder is how the show has been advertised as being sold out for weeks until more seats near the entrance (which was a lot bigger this year) were made available days before the show. Either DDT booked less seats in the building this year or maybe they are being more honest about their crowd numbers. DDT will have two shows in Sumo Hall next year on 21st March and 28th August. It will be interesting to see what they draw for both events. Also this was a really long show. The dark match began at 13:45 local time and ended at around 19:00.

sakaguchi-rightknee

 

The main event was between two good friends turned rivals. KUDO put the KO-D Openweight Title on the line against Yukio Sakaguchi in the battle of Shuten-dōji. Sakaguchi went into the match with his hair, beard and eyebrows dyed gold for the occassion. The third member of the stable Masa Takanashi spent the match standing at a neutral corner, refusing to pick a side. The match was as kick heavy as expected. Sakaguchi kicked out of the Diving Double Knee Drop while KUDO survived the Cobra Clutch. Sakaguchi ran to the ropes for the Penalty Kick but KUDO met him on the rebound with a Backspin Kick. KUDO went for the Diving Double Knee Drop again but Sakaguchi met him with the Flying Knee Strike followed by the Right Knee Of God in the corner for the three count.

sakaguchi-celebrates

KUDO was stunned by the result but accepted defeat and wrapped the belt around Sakaguchi’s waist. After the two hugged each other Sakaguchi was handed the giant cheque of 2 million yen from Good Com Assets. All of Shuten-dōji agreed to literally split the cheque three ways and share it with each other. Sakaguchi spoke on the mic and said he lived a life well worn. Today he arrived at this wonderful ring after wrestling for three years. He said he achieved his dream ambition of winning the KO-D Title and he did so on the big stage along with his “big brother” KUDO. Sakaguchi said tomorrow will be the beginning of his second chapter and he challenged anyone to take the belt from him. The show ended with all three approaching a shrine placed by the ring entrance. Sakaguchi stood in the shrine and was lifted up by the DDT wrestlers. He was paraded around ringside to celebrate his championship victory before reuniting with KUDO & Takanashi for a toast that involved banging a festival drum and drinking sake.

highflyflow-ryogoku

Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated HARASHIMA in the Dramatic Dream Match between two aces. HARASHIMA had the crowd support in his favour but Tanahashi took control by targeting his opponent’s left knee. The crowd booed but Tanahashi ignored it to focus on the match. However he did take time to play the air guitar while working the knee for more heel heat. HARASHIMA turned the tables when he sent Tanahashi into the turnbuckles with the John Woo Dropkick. Foot Stomps and a Superplex couldn’t put the New Japan superstar away and he regained control with the Dragon Screw followed by a Texas Cloverleaf. HARASHIMA fought back with a High Kick but his Somato attempt was countered into the Sling Blade. HARASHIMA eventually hit the Somato but was in too much pain to get the pin in time. He went for the Swan Dive Somato but Tanahashi avoided it. HARASHIMA hit a stiff punch out of desperation but Tanahashi gave him the Dharma Suplex and won with the the High Fly Flow. After the match HARASHIMA offered to shake hands but Tanahashi refused. Tanahashi recently said in a podcast that he hates shaking hands after a match and he doesn’t understand why some wrestlers do it immediately after a heated fight. Tanahashi vented his frustrations in the post-match interview.

ryogoku-kodtag

Finally one of the strongest teams in Japan was defeated to bring the KO-D Tag Team Titles back to DDT. The Golden☆Storm Riders beat Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi when Kota Ibushi pinned Sekimoto for the first time in his career. Ibushi & Daisuke Sasaki had some help with a trolley at ringside to wheel the champions down the entrance ramp to the ringside floor. Sasaki did a high risk dive off the top rope to a seated Okabayashi at ringside. The champions powered their way into control and German Suplexed Sasaki into oblivion. The Riders came back when Sasaki lifted up Sasaki in the Electric Chair position on the ring apron. Ibushi jumped onto the top rope behind them, grabbed Sekimoto and German Suplexed him into the ring! Sasaki wiped out Okabayashi with a Suicide Dive allowing Ibushi to pin Sekimoto with the Phoenix Splash.

ohka-bom-ba-ye

Ken Ohka is the most important part of the Gunma Wrestle Dream Factory, at least according to Super Sasadango Machine’s PowerPoint presentation. The presentations is title “How Ken Ohka is the 6-Man Tag Team Champion” and it contained a secret Sasadango discovered about Ohka. Aparrantly on 8th April, 1977 Ohka’s parents visited Tokyo to watch Antonio Inoki fight Muhammad Ali. That was also the night when Ken Ohka was conceived which means Inoki’s fighting spirit is indirectly tied to Ohka’s genes! Illustrations of Ohka doing Inoki’s grounded leg kicks were shown on the screen. The plan was fot Ohka to cut down Team Drift with the Leg Kicks then shove their faces into Danshoku Dino’s backside. The parasites in Dino’s rear end will fill the victim’s nasal cavity and render him light headed, allowing Sasadango to finish the job. The plan didn’t work as intended. Team Drift weren’t going to lose the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles when they were debuting new outfits. Soma Takao was hit with Ohka’s Leg Kicks, Dino’s Danshoku Driver and then Sasadango’s Vertical Drop Lehmann Shock but he was saved by his partners from getting pinned. Ohka went for the Spear Of Flame but Keisuke Ishii stopped him dead with the Kneel Kick. Takao then hit the Gin And Tonic to score a successful title defence and remain undefeated in “PETER PAN”. After the match Dino, Sasadango & Ohka regrouped and decided on a new permanent unit name. Taking inspiration on Ohka’s growth from young lion to champion they chose the name #OhkaEmpire (#大家帝国). They asked for a title rematch to take place at Korakuen Hall on 27th September but Ishii refused and the champs walked out.

takagi-tenryu-akai

“Thunder Storm” played over the speakers to mark the one time appearance of Genichiro Tenryu in DDT! Saki Akai wore a new all white costume to mark the occasion while Meiko Satomura tried her best to keep Tenryu and Shuji Ishikawa from going at it before the bell. Tenryu punched her in the face. He did it again to counter a Short Range Lariat. Satomura got some measure of revenge with a few Low Kicks. She had a much easier time in the ring with Akai. Tenryu did more of his punches but this time to Kazusada Higuchi. The match broke down with all six fighting in the ring until Sanshiro Takagi slammed Higuchi with the Spiccoli Driver and then joined Tenryu in giving Higuchi a Lariat Sandwich. One Sit Down Himawari Bomb later and it was all over.

takeshita-endo-german

Tetsuya Endo is back and Konosuke Takeshita got new wrestling gear to celebrate. They also had a match together. Both men wanted to steal the show and went full blast. Endo was surely trying to make up for lost time. He went for the Sky Twister Press but missed, allowing Takeshita to hit a Lariat and then the German Suplex to win. This was Takeshita’s first win in a “PETER PAN” show as well as in Sumo Hall.

blindfold-bra-tigertrap

I write up a paragraph about how today could be Antonio Honda’s time in the spotlight. Then Honda picks a wacky stipulation for his DDT Extreme Title defence involving bras, blindfolds and a gigantic claw trap. I really should have seen this coming. Honda wanted a match based on fear and decided a Blindfold Bra Stripping Tiger Trap Death Match was most suitable. Both himself and Masa Takanashi had to wear a blindfold and a bra. Meanwhile a large tiger trap was placed in the ring for them to avoid. The match could be won by usual means or by stripping the opponent of his bra. Late in the match, Honda found a mic and told the audience to give him their bras so he could power up just like how Goku can gather energy from other living beings! Cameraman Norikazu Fujioka answered the call and took his shirt off to reveal his bra. Honda said needed more. Suddenly Michael Nakazawa appears wearing a bra! Nakazawa said he took a flight from Singapore this morning to be at the show and he wants to help his friend Honda. Honda was given the bras and he wrapped them around his fist. He climbed the ropes and delivered the Diving Fist Drop… right into the tiger trap! Takanashi got his hands on Honda and tried to capitalise with the Takatonic but he himself then stepped onto the tiger trap! Honda ripped off Takanashi’s bra and was declared the winner! Takanashi had to drag along the tiger trap stuck to his leg as he walked backstage.

lilico-debut

LiLiCo made her official pro wrestling debut despite winning the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title at last year’s “PETER PAN” show. She was in a Tag Team Battle Royal with Suguru Miyatake as her partner and wore an eye-catching black outfit with wings and face paint over her eyes. She & Miyatake were one of the final two teams along with Aja Kong & Makoto Oishi. Kong was holding the Iron Man Title LiLiCo wanted but Kong was too powerful for both her and Miyatake. Kong pinned Miyatake but after the match raised LiLiCo’s hand as a show of respect. LiLiCo snuck behind Kong and School Boyed her to try and win the Iron Man Title but Kong kicked out. Kong angrily told LiLiCo “Welcome to professional wrestling!” and challenged LiLiCo to try and take the belt from her anytime, anyplace.

inoue-debut watase-debut

Mao Inoue & Mizuki Watase both made their debuts in the opening match. Inoue wore black and purple camouflage shorts while Watase’s ring gear was in black and gold. They were put through the grind by Yasu Urano, Akito & Ryota Nakatsu. Akito even dared them to do their best Dropkicks on him. The rookies showed some spirit but Akito put an end to it when he tapped out Watase with the Scorpion Lock.

ihashi-stalker

“Hollywood” Stalker Ichikawa didn’t understand the rules of the King Of Dark Championship and before the match began said he will win the title. Gota Ihashi convinced the ref to do fast counts but it backfired when Ichikawa pinned him and got a fast three count. Afterwards Ichikawa was confused because he wasn’t given the championship for winning the match. Ihashi tried to retire the belt but Amon Tsurumi refused to let it happen. Stalker demanded to have the belt. Tsurumi told him to go back to Kobe.

Kota Ibushi will release his autobiography on 28th October. There will be two versions available: “The Strongest Edition” and “The Most Mad Edition”.

Two guest names were announced for “OSAKA OCTOPUS 2015” on 28th November. Comedians RG and Ryota Yamasato will both wrestle at the show. Yamasato was sitting by the commentary table during the announcement and he was surprised to learn he will be wrestling.

Muscle Sakai will film DDT’s second movie “DDT Liberal Arts Pro Wrestling” later this year. The first movie “DDT Wrestling Cannonball 2014” was released on DVD today and available at the show.

This was already announced back in February but as a reminder DDT will hold two shows in Sumo Hall next year. The dates are 21st March and 28th August. A Falls Count Anywhere Street Wrestling Treasure Hunt match was confirmed for the 21st March show.


DDT “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2015” Preview

August 20, 2015

ryogoku-peterpan-2015

DDT “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2015 ~FROM DDT WITH LOVE~”, 23/08/2015
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

0. King Of Dark Title: Gota Ihashi (c) Vs “Hollywood” Stalker Ichikawa
1. Mao Inoue & Mizuki Watase Debut Match: Yasu Urano, Akito & Ryota Nakatsu defeated Kota Umeda, Mao Inoue & Mizuki Watase
2. Time Difference Tag Battle Royal: Aja Kong & Makoto Oishi Vs LiLiCo & Suguru Miyatake Vs Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs MIKAMI & Shunma Katsumata Vs Gorgeous Matsuno & Great Kojika Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Kouki Iwasaki Vs Hiroshi Fukuda & Yoshihiko Vs Hoshitango & Mio Shirai
3. DDT Extreme Title – Uchikami! Presents: Antonio Honda (c) Vs Masa Takanashi
4. Tetsuya Endo Comeback Match: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Tetsuya Endo
5. Genichiro Tenryu Retirement Road Round 15: Genichiro Tenryu, Sanshiro Takagi & Saki Akai Vs Shuji Ishikawa, Kazusada Higuchi & Meiko Satomura
6. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Keisuke Ishii, Shigehiro Irie & Soma Takao (c) Vs Danshoku Dino, Super Sasadango Machine & Ken Ohka
7. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi (c) Vs Kota Ibushi & Daisuke Sasaki
8. Dramatic Dream Match: HARASHIMA Vs Hiroshi Tanahashi
9. KO-D Openweight Title – Good Com Asset Presents: KUDO (c) Vs Yukio Sakaguchi

In just a few short days DDT will be in Sumo Hall for the seventh annual “PETER PAN” extravaganza! You’d think the area would be sick of pro wrestling after last week but ticket sales suggest otherwise. The show is almost entirely sold out and DDT had to open up extra seats next to the stage to meet demand. The big stories surrounding the show are a dream match between a once in a lifetime talent and the indie world’s strongest warrior, a battle between two brothers in arms over DDT’s greatest prize, two Storm Riders attempting to take gold from some strong style golems, a trio of lifelong companions getting the band back together in search of glory, a grumpy old sumo’s short stay during his journey to retirement, the return of a future main eventer in the making, a day in the limelight for one of DDT’s longest serving wrestlers and some new blood making their debut.

ryogoku-kingofdark

 

0. King Of Dark Title: Gota Ihashi (c) Vs “Hollywood” Stalker Ichikawa

But before we get to all that we have to get through the pre-show. Created back in February, the King Of Dark Title has been an albatross for some of the worst and unluckiest wrestlers in DDT. Those who hold the championship are banished to wrestle in dark matches until they win. Still, it’s more valuable than the King Of The Mountain TitleGota Ihashi has been the face of the championship for it’s short history, racking up a total of 18 defeats/defences during his two reigns. Ihashi has done everything he could to get rid of the belt but every plan has ended in failure. His embarrassment continues when he goes against one of the most legendary losers in pro wrestling, “Hollywood” Stalker Ichikawa! Ihashi is confident in his ability to win but he should underestimate Stalker at his peril! I’m pretty sure Stalker has won more matches than Ihashi ever did.

ryogoku-debut

1. Mao Inoue & Mizuki Watase Debut Match: Yasu Urano, Akito & Ryota Nakatsu defeated Kota Umeda, Mao Inoue & Mizuki Watase

The opener features the debut of two new wrestlers. Mao Inoue is an 18 year old Youtube wrestler from Miyagi who was scouted by Sanshiro Takagi. Mizuki Watase is a 24 year old comedian from Nagano and is most known for his work in Tenori Tiger. They were both surprised to learn their debut match is taking place so soon in Sumo Hall. They will be placed in the ring with DNA wrestlers Ryota Nakatsu and Kota Umeda as well as veterans Yasu Urano & Akito. Akito’s inclusion here is pretty disappointing to be honest. He was on fire with his DDT Extreme Title run throughout the year. Him in the opening match centred around the rookies is a step down. However DDT has a knack for discovering talented new wrestlers lately. The DNA shows have been proof of that and Nakatsu is one of the stand outs. Akito might be just the guy needed to help break in the rookies.

ryogoku-tagbattleroyal

2. Time Difference Tag Battle Royal: Aja Kong & Makoto Oishi Vs LiLiCo & Suguru Miyatake Vs Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs MIKAMI & Shunma Katsumata Vs Gorgeous Matsuno & Great Kojika Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Kouki Iwasaki Vs Hiroshi Fukuda & Yoshihiko Vs Hoshitango & Mio Shirai

Usually the Battle Royal match in these shows are for the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title. However this year is a little bit different. We’re getting a Tag Team Battle Royal and all of the attention is on the official pro wrestling debut of LiLiCo. The half Swedish, half Japanese celebrity was a guest on last year’s show and she ended up winning the Iron Man Title. This time she’s back to give pro wrestling a proper go. She picked Suguru Miyatake as her partner after he impressed her with his physique. Unfortunately for LiLiCo, the current Iron Man champion Aja Kong demanded to be in the match and is forcing Makoto Oishi to team with her. Kong is setting her sights on LiLiCo and looking to end her wrestling career before it even begins.

The rest of the field is made up of DDT regulars and a few guests. MIKAMI left DDT a few months ago to become a freelancer but he returns to team with the promising rookie Shunma Katsumata. Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Kouki Iwasaki recently formed Pigging 2015 with Gota Ihashi much to the annoyance of everyone else. Gorgeous Matsuno & The Great Kojika are here to be the classy old gentlemen who puts the young whipper-snappers in their place. Kazuki Hirata wants to dance while Toru Owashi has to tolerate him. Hiroshi Fukuda combines his American sports entertainment style with the power of Yoshihiko to form a force of unbelievable strength. Last but not least Hoshitango & Mio Shirai make up the team of random character selects from a custom Fire Pro Wrestling save. Shirai will be retiring on 20th September and said she is happy to be in a crazy DDT battle royal one last time.

ryogoku-extreme

3. DDT Extreme Title – Uchikami! Presents: Antonio Honda (c) Vs Masa Takanashi

Antonio Honda has had quite the career in DDT. He’s been a Cuban manager with Tourette’s, an Italian drug lord, a Hawaiian Ricky Steamboat knock off and a kleptomaniac soldier. He introduced Hulk Hogan Gymnastics to the world and just recently had the honour of fighting an invisible Mel Gibson. But the spotlight has never really been on him for long. There was that one night at the end of 2010 when he became the Interim KO-D Openweight Champion but that was short lived. Honda accepts that he is approaching his twilight years in the ring but he’s not giving up just yet. Every dog has his day and Honda could get his inside Sumo Hall. An upset victory over Akito in July earned Honda the DDT Extreme Title. Unfortunately since then his feel good story has been interrupted by Masa Takanashi. Honda lost a few non-title matches to Takanashi, who later became the No. 1 Contender for the Extreme Title.

Takanashi remembers when he fought Danshoku Dino for the Extreme Title at the very first “RYOGOKU PETER PAN” back in 2009. He lost then but he intends to win the belt this time. Honda is keeping the stipulation for the match a secret until the day of the show. All he will say is the match will use fear as a theme and it is inspired by a previous match the two had together. Honda says the rules scare even himself and he must overcome that fear to defend his title.

ryogoku-endo-takeshita

4. Tetsuya Endo Comeback Match: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Tetsuya Endo

Tetsuya Endo has been out of action for four months when he broke his third metatarsal in his left foot. For his return, Endo will face his Happy Motels tag team partner Konosuke Takeshita in a battle between two of DDT’s future main eventers. Endo is believes this match is as important to him as a championship match and he will treat it as such. He’s been working backstage and at ringside during DDT’s shows while he recovered and has seen in person the improvement in Takeshita’s Dropkick. Takeshita said he will go full force from the beginning and he thinks this match will be fighting against the two main events for the best bout of the show.

ryogoku-higuchi-akai-takagi

5. Genichiro Tenryu Retirement Road Round 15: Genichiro Tenryu, Sanshiro Takagi & Saki Akai Vs Shuji Ishikawa, Kazusada Higuchi & Meiko Satomura

The legendary Genichiro Tenryu will wrestle in DDT for the first and only time this Sunday. This won’t be the weirdest thing he’s ever done in wrestling, that would be dressing up as HG in HUSTLE. Tenryu sent in some words about the other wrestlers in his match. He noted Sanshiro Takagi’s dexterity and how nothing ever worries him. He is quite pleased to team with Saki Akai and knows her father’s history in boxing. Akai is hoping she will inherit Tenryu’s patented Goo Punch. That is a lot better for her than the original idea of Tenryu Vs Akai in a singles match. Tenryu calls Shuji Ishikawa a natural wrestler and acknowledges the physical fitness of his fellow sumo Kazusada Higuchi. Due to their sumo backgrounds Higuchi has a few similar qualities with Tenryu and some of Higuchi’s movements does remind me of Tenryu. Higuchi admits he is nervous to be in the same ring as Tenryu but he wants Tenryu to fight him with all of his body and soul. Meanwhile Akai is preparing for Meiko Satomura and remembers when they fought last November. Satomura submitted her with a Sleeper Hold and she’s been frustrated over the results ever since.

ryogoku-kod6tag

6. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Keisuke Ishii, Shigehiro Irie & Soma Takao (c) Vs Danshoku Dino, Super Sasadango Machine & Ken Ohka

Last year Team Dream Futures were the challengers, this year they are the champions. Team Drift currently have the most successful KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Title run in the belts’ history with three successful defences (it’s a hot potato championship). Facing them is a trio reunited by the power of friendship. Danshoku Dino, Super Sasadango Machine and Ken Ohka consider each other close friends from the same generation of DDT wrestlers. However Ohka has been missing from this group for years. He’s been busy forming a new identity as the leader of Ganbare☆Wrestling. Ohka even did the unthinkable and very briefly became the KO-D Openweight Champion back in June. It took some convincing but Ohka is back in DDT as a new man. Together with Dino & Sasadango they are the Gamba Wrestle Dream Factory.

Happy reunions aside the challengers have a big challenge ahead of them. Team Drift are one of the longest running stables in DDT. Also Soma Takao is still undefeated at “PETER PAN” with a 6-0 record. Tensions flared at the press conference when Keisuke Ishii gave a lot of praise to Dino and Sasadango but gave Ohka a backhanded compliment. Ohka took offence and dared Ishii to slap him. He did. Ohka then dared Takao to slap him. He did. Ohka then dared Shigehiro Irie to hit him. Irie sent him reeling with a headbutt. The challengers left to get Ohka some treatment but he returned and dared Irie to headbutt him again! Irie did so and Ohka was left in tears from the pain.

ryogoku-kodtag

7. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi (c) Vs Kota Ibushi & Daisuke Sasaki

The unfortunately named Strong BJ have been unstoppable in DDT ever since they won the KO-D Tag Team Titles in Saitama Super Arena back in February. It seems like there is no one in DDT capable of beating Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi. Right now it seems like DDT’s last hope of ever reclaiming the belts lie with Kota Ibushi & Daisuke Sasaki. However Ibushi is no doubt tired after the G1 Climax and Sasaki has had no luck with trying to beat Okabayashi in the meantime. The flash Hurricanrana Sasaki has used to great effect all year did not work on Big Japan’s golem. He is still confident that himself & Ibushi are the strongest team on Earth and will take down the champs. He gave himself & Ibushi a 65% chance of winning. Okabayashi’s response is he & Sekimoto will crush the challengers with 120% of their strength. While Sasaki and Okabayashi are arguing over percentages, Sekimoto was probably just thinking “Not this shit again” to himself.

ryogoku-harashima

8. Dramatic Dream Match: HARASHIMA Vs Hiroshi Tanahashi

It’s not closing out the show but this is the marquee match. The ace of DDT versus the ace of New Japan. Or if you want to be cynical, the John Cena of DDT versus the John Cena of New Japan. Either way “___WinsLOL” can apply to either result. But why be negative about this? We’re going to get a great match. HARASHIMA has been on top of his game this year and if anyone deserves a shot against this year’s G1 winner, it’s him. Hiroshi Tanahashi previously wrestled in DDT at last year’s “PETER PAN” against Konosuke Takeshita. He sent a message to DDT saying HARASHIMA is a refreshing challenger and he expects HARASHIMA to bring his A-game. HARASHIMA called Tanahashi “the most delicious opponent” now that he is coming into the show as the G1 winner.

kod-ryogoku

9. KO-D Openweight Title – Good Com Asset Presents: KUDO (c) Vs Yukio Sakaguchi

The semi-main event has the most attention but the main event is the most dramatic match on this card. To sweeten the deal a 2 million yen cash prize will be awarded to the winner courtesy of the match’s sponsor Good Com Asset. The KO-D Openweight Title is also on the line between two wrestlers who consider each other as brothers. They share a bond over fine liquor but the high tension of main eventing DDT’s biggest show of the year nearly split them apart. KUDO has been champion for most of the summer and did not flinch when Yukio Sakaguchi won the King Of DDT tournament to earn this title shot. However a series of defeats created a rift between the two and KUDO started to question whether or not Sakaguchi deserved to have the title shot. Sakaguchi himself had doubts and at one point even requested to be removed from the match! However fortunes turned around and Sakaguchi found his way back to a winning streak. Sakaguchi regained his confidence and warned KUDO that he was coming for him and the title! Their friendship was still frosty as they fought each other in tag matches up until the end of Beer Garden week. The two were full of mutual respect for each other and fist bumped to signal a recovery of their friendship. With all of the bad blood out now of the way there is nothing stopping them from going all out to prove who is more deserving to be champion. KUDO calls this match a clash of souls and promises to drink the most delicious alcohol in his life when he wins.