DDT “OSAKA 24 DISTRICT TOUR ~TAISHO WARD~” Results

March 2, 2019

DDT “OSAKA 24 DISTRICT TOUR ~TAISHO WARD~”, 02/03/2019
Osaka Okinawa Hall
201 Fans – Super No Vacancy

1. Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata defeated Makoto Oishi & Yuni when Hirata pinned Oishi after an Inverted Hurricanrana from Yuni (8:13).
*Kazuki Hirata wins Makoto Oishi’s Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Gauntlet.
2. Yukio Sakaguchi, Masahiro Takanashi & Kazusada Higuchi defeated Keisuke Okuda, Kota Umeda & Shunma Katsumata when Takanashi pinned Katsumata with (9:17).
3. Bull James defeated Tomomitsu Matsunaga with the Doink Drop (7:57).
4. Gongitsune Vs Yellow Devil In Tokushima!: Antonio Honda Vs Maku Donaruto ended in a No Contest (8:33).
5. Soma Takao, Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie defeated MAO, Asuka & Mizuki Watase when Takao pinned Watase with the Gin And Tonic (10:37).
6. As Always I Like It! Osaka Specialty Special Single Match: Mike Bailey defeated Daisuke Sasaki with the Flamingo Driver (15:41).
7. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Konosuke Takeshita, Akito & Yuki Iino (c) defeated HARASHIMA, Yuki Ueno & Naomi Yoshimura when Takeshita pinned Ueno with a Crushed Casadora (23:47).
*V2 for ALL OUT.

The show began with ALL OUT giving the opening speech until DISASTER BOX interrupted them. Yuki Ueno said that he and Naomi Yoshimura went to a time limit draw with Konosuke Takeshita & Akito in Shinjuku last week. HARASHIMA is also the DDT Extreme Champion. That means the three of them deserve a KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles match today. Akito asked what would happen to ALL OUT’s match with the Sendai Girls if they lose. Ueno told him he doesn’t care. Akito refused the challenge but Takeshita reminded him of his goal to defend his championships outside of Tokyo more often. Hisaya Imabayashi told the teams that title matches need to be endorsed by the GM Tetsuya Koda but he is currently travelling on one of the company coaches with the Tokyo Joshi Pro roster. Suddenly Koda appeared and he told everyone he changed his travel plans and will take a late night bus home. He also agreed to changing the main event into a title match.

It was a close match but ALL OUT squeaked by with the win when Takeshita blocked Ueno’s Casadora and pressed him down with the pin. After the match, Yuki Iino told Takeshita he isn’t going to cash in his Right To Challenge Gauntlet today. He then performed a Haka victory dance for the fans.

It’s all going downhill for Daisuke Sasaki. He lost his match again today this time to Mike Bailey. Sasaki was on the top rope while Mad Paulie distracted Bailey. But Bailey stopped Sasaki and hit the Flamingo Driver to win. All Sasaki can think about nowadays is losing. Even when he sleeps he is losing in his dreams. He thinks he is old as a grandpa too. Soma Takao tried to get him to focus on their KO-D Tag Team Titles match but nothing seems to get him out of his current state.

Antonio Honda Vs Maku Donaruto went the way of your typical Danshoku Dieno match. Honda accidentally blinded Daisuke Kiso with the Gongitsune poke. Donaruto hit the McFly Swanton Bomb but Kiso couldn’t count because of his eyesight. Donaruto grabbed Kiso and decided that dry humping him would somehow solve the problem. Honda grabbed Donaruto and tried to stop him but it only made the situation worse. The match had to be called off because of this.

Bull James is happy to wrestle in Japan for the first time and wants to be in a bunch of matches with a variety of styles. For his DDT debut things started off a little rusty when James needed to sit down on a chair after being tricked to run the ropes over and over. Tomomitsu Matsunaga tried to take advantage but James was able to Hip Toss him as he stood up off the chair. Matsunaga used his strength to Body Slam and Lariat the American but James fired up, hit a Corner Splash and then the Doink Drop to win.

The first Right To Challenge Gauntlet transfer took place in the opener. Kazuki Hirata used Yuni to give Makoto Oishi a Hurricanrana then he piled on top of them to get the pin.

Yukinori Matsui made some announcements for his 25th Anniversary show on 26th May. Kikutaro Vs Kuishinbo Kamen will take place with Matsui as the referee. He said this is the first time in five years that match will happen with him involved. Shigehiro Irie will also be wrestling on the show.


DDT “ALL RIGHT IN IBARAKI 2019” Results

February 24, 2019

DDT “ALL RIGHT IN IBARAKI 2019”, 24/02/2019
Ibaraki Kasumigaura Cultural Sports Center
144 Fans

1. Northern Hemisphere Ikemen No. 1 Decision Battle: Mike Bailey defeated Mizuki Watase with a Left High Kick (9:09).
2. Toru Owashi & Naomi Yoshimura defeated Jason Kincaid & Antonio Honda when Owashi pinned Honda with La Magistral Cradle (12:07).
3. HARASHIMA, Kazuki Hirata & Yuki Uemo defeated MAO, Shunma Katsumata & Space Monkey when Hirata pinned Monkey with the Miracle One Shot Cradle (9:01).
4. Soma Takao, Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie defeated Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Kota Umeda & Keisuke Okuda when Takao pinned Matsunaga with the Official Endless Waltz (13:26).
5. Everyone’s Makorin Is 40 Years Old! Kasumigaura Specialty Special Single Match: Makoto Oishi defeated Daisuke Sasaki with the Grand Cross 200 (13:31).
6. Konosuke Takeshita, Akito & Yuki Iino defeated Yukio Sakaguchi, Masahiro Takanashi & Kazusada Higuchi when Akito submitted Takanashi with the Perfect Figure F4 Leg Lock (21:43).

What an upset, Makoto Oishi beats Daisuke Sasaki! Oishi targeted Sasaki’s legs and that proved to be very effective. When Oishi put Sasaki in the Jikiden Tornado Clutch he transitioned the hold into a Grand Cross 200 knee submission and to everyone’s surprise Sasaki gave up! Sasaki admitted backstage that he gave up because his knees hurt. It’s essential in life to know when to give up and today Sasaki thought it was best to do just that. He has become very pessimistic lately and believes he will be a loser forever.

Oishi however is now as confident as he’s ever been. He was worried that Sasaki would beat him today and take his Right To Challenge Gauntlet. Instead Oishi tapped out the former KO-D Openweight Champion! With a new sense of pride surrounding him, Oishi entered the ring after the main event and approached Konosuke Takeshita. He then walked past Takeshita and left the ring, acting like he wasn’t going to do anything. Now that the Right To Challenge Gauntlets are active the mind games have begun.

Akito closed out the show since he is the most familiar with Kasumigaura. He was born in Nagoya but went to high school in Kasumigaura for three years. He said he is happy to be in DDT and he is happy to be in ALL OUT with Konosuke Takeshita, Yuki Iino, Shunma Katsumata, Space Monkey (heading home after today) and Diego (wrestling over in Chile). He came here today as one third of the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions. He hopes to come back next time with a singles belt too.

The rest of DAMNATION are doing ok. At least they won their match. Tetsuya Endo was going to speak after they won but he passed the microphone to Soma Takao. Takao didn’t want to say anything so he handed the microphone back to Tetsuya Endo. Endo then gave it to Mad Paulie and left the ring. Paulie thought for a moment and just said “Cue Case”.


DDT “DRAMATIC 2019 FEBRUARY SPECIAL” Results

February 23, 2019

DDT “DRAMATIC 2019 FEBRUARY SPECIAL”, 23/02/2019
Shinjuku FACE
351 Fans – No Vacancy

1. Jason Kincaid & Antonio Honda defeated Toru Owashi & Space Monkey when Kincid pinned Monkey with a Piledriver (9:14).
2. Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi defeated Keisuke Okuda & Gota Ihashi when Sakaguchi pinned Ihashi with the God’s Right Knee (7:49).
3. Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere 4 Way Match: Makoto Oishi defeated Shunma Katsumata, Kazuki Hitata and Asuka when Oishi pinned Katsumata with a Modern Times (7:12).
*Makoto Oishi wins the Blue Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Gauntlet.
4. Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Single Match: Yuki Iino defeated Kota Umeda with the Spear (10:58).
*Yuki Iino wins the Yellow Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Gauntlet.
5. Mike Bailey, MAO & Mizuki Watase defeated Daisuke Sasaki, Soma Takao & Mad Paulie when MAO pinned Sasaki with the Michinoku Driver I (16:47).
6. Konosuke Takeshita & Akito Vs Yuki Ueno & Naomi Yoshimura ended in a Time Limit Draw (30:00).
7. Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere 3 Way Match – Over The Top Rope Rules: Tetsuya Endo defeated HARASHIMA and Kazusada Higuchi (18:33).
7a. Tetsuya Endo eliminated HARASHIMA by Ring Out (13:08).
7b. Tetsuya Endo eliminated Kazusada Higuchi with the Shooting Star Press (18:33).
*Tetsuya Endo wins the Red Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Gauntlet.

The Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Gauntlets were reintroduced today for their annual run. Three Gauntlets were on the line in three matches each with different stipulations. Tetsuya Endo won his in a 3 Way Battle Royal against HARASHIMA and Kazusada Higuchi. Endo eliminated both of them by himself. Yuki Iino won a Gauntlet by beating Kota Umeda in a regular match. Makoto Oishi won the third one by winning a 4 Way. This year the Gauntlets can only be cashed in for a KO-D Openweight Title shot on the spot. They also will not become active until tomorrow. Endo and Oishi weren’t aware of that and they both wanted to get their title match today. Hisaya Imabayashi had to tell them they couldn’t a bunch of times. The usual rule where if the Gauntlet holder is beaten in a match they must give the Gauntlet to the winner still stands. Oishi wanted to cash in today because he isn’t convinced he can beat Daisuke Sasaki tomorrow.

The new team of Yuki Ueno & Naomi Yoshimura have today showed they mean business. They weren’t able to beat Konosuke Takeshita & Akito but taking them to a 30 minute draw is no small task that’s for sure. Takeshita told Ueno & Yoshimura that some day maybe he will fight one of them in a Sumo Hall main event. Maybe Ueno and Yoshimura will be fighting each other in that main event instead. Whatever it is, Takeshita will look forward to it. Ueno said he isn’t feeling proud over the draw. Both he and Yoshimura became pro wrestlers so they could beat Takeshita. They will be a challenge for him from now on!

When they left, Takeshita was joined by the rest of ALL OUT in the ring. He said that what just happened will probably lead to them defending the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles against Disaster Box. He was interrupted when the room lights switched off and a video played on the screen. It was Meiko Satomura! She hasn’t forgotten when Takeshita humiliated her when the Sendai Girls failed to win the KO-D 6-Man Titles from ALL OUT last year. She wants to challenge them again with DASH Chisako and one other person. The room lights switched back on and standing in the ring behind Takeshita was Chihiro Hashimoto! She grabbed Takeshita and gave him a German Suplex. She introduced herself to the audience then repeated Satomura’s challenge. She has never seen Satomura look so angry over something so Hashimoto will never forgive Takeshita for it! The Sendai Girls team will get their title shot at Korakuen Hall on 21st March. When she left the ring, Makoto Oishi walked down to cash in his Gauntlet only to be told he can’t do it until tomorrow. Yuki Iino then performed a Haka inside the ring as a warning to Hashimoto.

The descent of Daisuke Sasaki is getting noticeable. First he loses the KO-D Title then on the next show he gets pinned by MAO. Sasaki now fears that his career his approaching its end. But before it’s time to call it a day and flee the country he asked MAO for a favour. “Uncle Sasaki” asked MAO & Mike Bailey for a KO-D Tag Team Titles Match so he could have one last happy memory in Japan before he quits wrestling. Soma Takao will be Sasaki’s partner. The Moonlight Express accepted and the match will happen on 21/3.

Jason Kincaid finishes his latest tour with DDT with a win. Antonio Honda hopes Gon Gift can continue to team together if Kincaid ever returns. This tour was a chance for the team to develop together. Next time they can aim for higher targets like matching red and white gear, a tag team championship shot and forming a folk duo musical act together.

Before the show began, Shuten-dōji held a press conference to give a few announcements about their future. On the 17th April at the end of their self-produced show in Shinjuku FACE, Shuten-dōji will be coming to an end. KUDO is planning to take a break from pro wrestling in order to give his body much needed rest. This month will mark be KUDO’s twentieth year in combat sports, he begun with kickboxing before transitioning over to pro wrestling. He does not know how long he will stay out of action for. With KUDO taking a break, Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi agreed that Shuten-dōji could only work with the three of them together so the unit will go away. at least for now. To mark their last show together, the 17/4 main event will feature Sakaguchi Vs Takanashi as the main event. KUDO will team with HARASHIMA to face The Suicide Boyz of MIKAMI & Tanomusaku Toba in a special throwback match for longtime DDT fans.

Nobuhiro Shimatani will return to action on 21st March.

DDT will be holding a Falls Count Anywhere match inside AbemaTV headquarters on 29th March.


Ganbare Show Tomorrow, Mahiro Kiryu Debut, Oishi’s 40th Birthday, Kubo Vs Masaoka

February 20, 2019

GANBARE☆WRESTLING “DON’T STOP ME NOW 2019”, 21/02/2019
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Kicking The Soul: Hiroshi Yamato & Nobuhiko Tsurumaki Vs Kouki Iwasaki & Shuhei Washida
2. Ganpro Special Dream Match!: Chikara Vs Naoshi Sano
3. There Are Evil Spaces In the Middle Of Ganjo!: Moeka Haruhi Vs Andras Miyagi
4. Are You In A Wrestling Textbook? Yumehito Imanari’s Believe S-Road: Yumehito Imanari Vs Shinjiro Otani
5. Ganbare☆Wrestling Vs Sento Minzoku ~Fate Reunion! Ohka & Isami!~: Ken Ohka & Shuichiro Katsumura Vs Isami Kodaka & Ryuichi Sekine
6. Ganbare☆Wrestling Vs Sento Minzoku ~Fort Of Ganpro~: Keisuke Ishii Vs Minoru Fujita

Keisuke Ishii is the next Ganpro wrestler ready to face off with Minoru Fujita.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “BE UPDATED TO THE FUTURE, THE FUTURE, THE FUTURE”, 23/02/2019
Shinjuku FACE

1. Mahiro Kiryu Debut Match: Shoko Nakajima & Mina Shirakawa Vs Himawari Unagi & Mahiro Kiryu
2. Yuki Kamifuku & Pinano Pipipipi Vs Yuki Aino & Raku
3. 2 Vs 3 Handicap Match: Yuna Manase & Hikari Noa Vs Haruna Neko, Pom Harajuku & YUMI
4. Sakisama Vs Miu Watanabe
5. Rika Tatsumi Return Battle: Rika Tatsumi Vs Hyper Misao
6. Maki Ito Vs Natsumi Maki
7. TOKYO Princess Tag Team Titles: Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki (c) Vs Reika Saiki & Marika Kobashi
8. TOKYO Princess Of Princess Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) Vs Nodoka Tenma

After nine months of training, Mahiro Kiryu will have her first match. This makes her the last of the current rookie generation to debut (after Haruna Neko, Pom Harajuku, YUMI and Himawari Unagi). Kiryu is from Gunma, her birthday is 13th July and she is 166cm tall.

DDT “ALL RIGHT IN IBARAKI 2019”, 24/02/2019
Ibaraki Kasumigaura Cultural Sports Center

1. Northern Hemisphere Ikemen No. 1 Decision Battle: Mike Bailey Vs Mizuki Watase
2. HARASHIMA, Kazuki Hirata & Yuki Uemo Vs MAO, Shunma Katsumata & Space Monkey
3. Soma Takao, Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Kota Umeda & Keisuke Okuda
4. Toru Owashi & Naomi Yoshimura Vs Jason Kincaid & Antonio Honda
5. Konosuke Takeshita, Akito & Yuki Iino Vs Yukio Sakaguchi, Masahiro Takanashi & Kazusada Higuchi
6. Everyone’s Makorin Is 40 Years Old! Kasumigaura Specialty Special Single Match: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Makoto Oishi

Makoto Oishi celebrated his 40th birthday on the 16th February. His present from DDT is a singles match against the now former KO-D Openweight Champion, Daisuke Sasaki!

This show will be the last time Gon Gift are teaming together before Jason Kincaid finishes his current tour for DDT.

Danshoku Dieno is bringing Pokotan to the show. Hopefully it won’t lose its head this time.

BASARA “BASARA 90 ~FEAST~”, 26/02/2019
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Ryuichi Sekine Vs Masato Kamino
2. FUMA, SAGAT & Trans-Am ★ Ryuji Vs Takumi Tsukamoto, Takato Nakano & Yasu Urano
3. Turnabout Pro Wrestling Trial: Gouma Ryu Vs Banana Senga Vs Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi
4. Aiseki Tag Vs Stretchmen!: Fuminori Abe & Ikuto Hidaka Vs Best Stretchman V3 & Best Stretchman Amazon
5. Yusuke Kubo Vs Jun Masaoka
6. Sparky Vs Sento Minzoku!: Ryota Nakatsu, Naoki Tanizaki & Akiyori Takizara Vs Isami Kodaka, Minoru Fujita & Daiki Shimomura

The last couple of BASARA shows have seen Yusuke Kubo and Jun Masaoka getting into fights with each other. Masaoka has also been trying to unmask Kubo in these fights.


DDT “JUDGEMENT 2019 ~DDT RAISING AN ARMY 22ND ANNIVERSARY~” Results

February 17, 2019

DDT “JUDGEMENT 2019 ~DDT RAISING AN ARMY 22ND ANNIVERSARY~”, 17/02/2019
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
4,177 Fans – No Vacancy

0. Pro Wrestling BASARA Offer Match: Ryuichi Sekine & Daiki Shimomura defeated Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino when Sekine submitted Nakano with the Let’s Combine (6:14).
0. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Yuna Manase, Nodoka Tenma & Yuki Aino defeated Natsumi Maki, Hikari Noa & Miu Watanabe when Tenma pinned Noa with the Killswitch (11:49).
1. Shunma Katsumata Return Match: Shunma Katsumata, Yuki Ueno & Space Monkey defeated Antonio Honda, Jason Kincaid & Naomi Yoshimura when Ueno pinned Yoshimura with a Frankensteiner (12:55).
2. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Time Difference Battle Royal: Saki Akai defeated Asuka (c), Super Sasadango Machine, Makoto Oishi, Keisuke Okuda, Kazuki Hirata, Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Gorgeous Matsuno, Hoshitango, Gota Ihashi, Yuni, Yasu Urano, El Lindaman, Scorpio X2, Yuka Sakazaki, Mina Shirakawa, Chinsuke Nakamura and Maku Donaruto (20:23).
2a. Makoto Oishi eliminated Yuri with a Hurricanrana Cutback (2:14).
2b. Hoshitango eliminated Gota Ihashi and Tomomitsu Matsunaga with a Body Press (3:28).
2c. Makoto Oishi eliminated Super Sasadango Machine by Ring Out (4:25).
2d. El Lindaman eliminated Hoshitango by Ring Out (5:18).
2e. Everyone eliminated Scorpio X2 by Ring Out (5:25).
2f. Makoto Oishi eliminated Keisuke Okuda by Ring Out (6:40).
2g. Maku Donaruto eliminated Makoto Oishi with the McShake Bomb (10:17).
2h. Yasu Urano eliminated Maku Donaruto and Gorgeous Matsuno by Ring Out (12:00).
2i. Yuka Sakazaki eliminated Mina Shirakawa with the Koromogawa (12:52).
2j. Chinsuke Nakamura eliminated El Lindaman by Ring Out (14:51).
2k. Asuka (c) eliminated Yasu Urano by Ring Out (15:39).
*V? for Asuka.
2l. Asuka (c) eliminated Chinsuke Nakamura with a School Boy (18:82).
*V? for Asuka.
2m. Saki Akai eliminated Yuka Sakazaki by Ring Out (19:03).
2n. Kazuki Hirata eliminated Asuka (c) with the Miracle One Shot Cradle (19:30).
*Kazuki Hirata becomes the 1,349th champion.
2o. Saki Akai eliminated Kazki Hirata (c) with the Quetzalcoatl (20:23).
*Saki Akai becomes the 1,350th champion.
3. Taiho Koki’s Grandson Yukio Naya Ryogoku Kokugikan First Participation!: Go Shiozaki, Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Naya defeated Daisuke Sekimoto, Toru Owashi & Yuki Iino when Higuchi pinned Iino with the Doctor Bomb (13:09).
4. Special Single Match: T-Hawk defeated Akito with the Night Ride (13:50).
5. Danshoku Dieno Produce Yuru-chara “Pokotan” Debut Match: Keisuke Ishii, Kota Umeda & Mizuki Watase defeated Danshoku Dieno, Pokotan & KUDO when Ishii pinned Pokotan with the igh Angle Double Arm DDT (11:28).
6. Special Hardcore 6-Person Tag Match: Soma Takao, Mad Paulie & Takumi Iroha defeated Sanshiro Takagi, Chigusa Nagayo & Ryuji Ito when Takao pinned Takagi with the Diving Foot Stomp from the Ladder (19:54).
7. KO-D Tag Team Titles – 3 Way Match: Mike Bailey & MAO (c) defeated Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi and CIMA & Seiki Yoshioka when MAO pinned Takanashi with the Cannonball 450 (13:06).
*V3 for The Moonlight Express.
8. DDT Extreme Title – Souken Holdings Presents – Each Other’s Pride Rules: HARASHIMA defeated Shinya Aoki (c) with the Somato (12:11).
*Shinya Aoki fails in V2. HARASHIMA becomes the 43rd DDT Extreme Champion!
9. Dramatic Dream Match: Naomichi Marufuji defeated Tetsuya Endo with the Pole Shift Emerald Flowsion (18:08).
10. KO-D Openweight Title – RAGE Presents: Konosuke Takeshita defeated Daisuke Sasaki (c) with the Cross-Arm German Suplex (32:08).
*Daisuke Sasaki fails in V2. Konosuke Takeshita becomes the 69th KO-D Openweight Champion!

Konosuke Takeshita has completed his comeback to the top of DDT! He survived the Super Elbow Drop, a Spear through a table, a Canadian Destroyer and several attempts at chair attacks to beat Daisuke Sasaki and become the new KO-D Openweight Champion. Victory was in Takeshita’s sight when he prevented Sasaki from doing an Avalanche Pedigree. Instead it was turned into the Brainbustaaaaahhhhh!!!!! But the top turnbuckle was removed earlier in the match so instead of landing on that, Sasaki instead fell even further and took the impact on the ring canvas! Takeshita followed it up with the Fable but Sasaki still tried to get back up. Sasaki was finished off with the Cross-Arm German Suplex, ending his title reign.

When DAMNATION took Sasaki back to the locker room, Takeshita rubbed it in by pointing out how fast Sasaki was leaving after being defeated. It was a year ago when Takeshita last headlined Sumo Hall. Since then he’s suffered injuries and had what he considers some of the most disappointing moments in his career. But with the support of ALL OUT he was confident he would become the KO-D Champion again. He received 2,000,000 yen in prize money today and will use some of that to pay off the bill DAMNATION left at his mother’s restaurant. As champion Takeshita now wants to have more defences take place outside Tokyo so the fans who cannot go to Korakuen Hall will get to see such matches in their own towns. He also wants to defend the title against wrestlers from all over the wrestling scene. That is how he will make the KO-D Title become more valuable.

Tetsuya Endo and Naomichi Marufuji took part in a battle of wills and Thrust Kicks. Marufuji was able to get one step ahead when Endo missed a Shooting Star Press. Endo landed on his feet but Marufuji’s dodge put him in perfect position to hit the Ko-oh knee kick. Endo thought he stunned Marufuji with a Thrust Kick but Marufuji responded with his around the back Thrust Kick then hit another Ko-oh this time to the back of Endo’s head. From there Marufuji hit the Pole Shift Emerald Flowsion to win the match. Marufuji applauded Endo after the match. In the backstage interview, Marufuji joked that the results means Endo has to go to NOAH. But seriously, Marufuji doesn’t understand why Endo isn’t a championship contender right now. Endo was a lot harder on himself and he called himself a loser. His entire career from his debut to teaming with Takeshita to joining DAMNATION was all leading up to this match and he lost.

Pride and the DDT Extreme Title were both on the line when Shinya Aoki and HARASHIMA had a rematch of their October meeting. HARASHIMA was in trouble early thanks to Aoki’s ground game. When a rope break was called for Aoki reaching over while in HARASHIMA’s Cross Armbreaker that was when everyone realised the match was held under normal wrestling moves. Aoki never explained it to anyone beforehand. That was when HARASHIMA got into his groove despite being on defence against Aoki’s submission holds. He countered a Front Neck Lock into a Falcon Arrow only for Aoki to apply a Cross Armbreaker. But when Aoki went for a Back Drop, HARASHIMA countered it into a Piledriver and then hit the Somato to win the title! Aoki was in good spirits after the match despite losing. He gave the new champion a fist bump with a smile.

Super Sasadango Machine entered the ring and congratulated HARASHIMA. He asked for a title match but Hisaya Imabayashi refused to grant it. Sasadango’s PowerPoint presentations are usually longer than his matches so he does not deserve a shot. After hearing this, Sasadango took off his mask and said that Muscle Sakai was now asking for a title match! Sakai successfully promoted a Muscle show in Sumo Hall yesterday and he thinks that is more than enough to earn a championship match. Tetsuya Koda pushed Imabayashi away and granted Sakai’s request. HARASHIMA Vs Sakai for the Extreme Title will take place on 21st March at Korakuen.

The 3 Way Match for the KO-D Tag Team Titles saw The Moonlight Express go against teams representing Shuten-dōji and #STRONGHEARTS. A Michinoku Tornado Driver from the champions got rid of CIMA but Shuten-dōji were there to stop the pin. Yukio Sakaguchi took out Seiki Yoshioka with the God’s Right Knee but he too was put to the side. MAO used a Screw Kick to cut off Masahiro Takanashi’s Takatonic to Mike Bailey. From there the Express kept Takanashi down with the Ultima Weapon and then the Cannonball 450. With a third defence completed, the Express now want to defend the KO-D Tag Titles against foreign teams in countries like Germany and England.

DAMNATION’s only high point on the show came from the Hardcore 6-Man Tag. Soma Takao, Mad Paulie & Takumi Iroha spoiled the reunion of Sanshiro Takagi, Chigusa Nagayo & Ryuji Ito in the craziest looking match of the night. Yes even crazier than the Battle Royal. This one had Takagi’s entire body painted to look like a Gundam for instance. Plastic boxes were smashed to pieces, Ito brought out a barbed wire baseball bat, Iroha used a Marvelous flag to defend herself, Nagayo’s team applied a trio of Scorpion Deathlocks, Paulie was put through a table and the Dream Go fell to its demise once again. Takao won the match for DAMNATION when he placed chairs on top of Takagi and hit a Double Foot Stomp from the top of a ladder. Takao isn’t satisfied with the win though.

Nagayo told Takao he should be persistent like she is. She also praised Iroha for how painful her kicks felt. Her wish after today is to see Takao carry DDT and Iroha carry Marvelous. Nagayo then held hands with Mad Paulie which sparked Takao to swear he will take over DDT so he can take Paulie back from Nagayo!

There were concerns that the Pokotan costume would not be finished before the show took place. I don’t know how he did it but Danshoku Dieno’s creation was completed and ready to go on the day. Pokotan has hidden feature where it pulls up part of its costume to reveal Danshoku underwear! That means it is able to do the Danshoku Nightmare. It did pretty well in the ring, doing a Flying Cross Body and a Shining Wizard. But it all went to Hell when Keisuke Ishii knocked Pokotan’s head off with the Kneel Kick, revealing it was Makoto Oishi wearing the costume. Ishii then hit the High Angle Double Arm DDT to win for his team.

Hisaya Imabayashi was beside himself after the match. He wanted to see Pokotan, not some forty year old man beneath the costume! Dieno promised there will be a change and somebody more suitable will be used to make Pokotan come to life. Oishi put Pokotan’s head back on and Pokotan told everyone (through Dieno’s voice) he will try his best next time so please support him.

#STRONGHEARTS finally have their win over Akito and it is all thanks to T-Hawk. His Chops were an effective way to break out of Akito’s Figure 4 Leg Lock. When T-Hawk gained control of the match he had Akito beaten with the BT Bomb followed by the Night Ride. Akito offered a handshake after the match but T-Hawk rejected him.

Yukio Naya’s first match in Sumo Hall was a successful one. He was on the winning side with Go Shiozaki & Kazusada Higuchi against Daisuke Sekimoto, Toru Owashi & Yuki Iino in a bout that was filled with big lads Chopping and Lariating each other. Iino took the brunt of the offence at the end. Naya gave him a Choke Slam and Higuchi followed with a Diving Body Press but Iino kicked out. Higuchi then put him away with the Doctor Bomb.

The Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title looked like it was staying with Asuka during the Battle Royal. She eliminated Yasu Urano and Chinsuke Nakamura from the match then made it to the final three with Kazuki Hirata and Saki Akai. Asuka’s momentum was cut short when Hirata pinned her with the Miracle One Shot Cradle to win the title. Asuka got revenge by Choke Slamming Hirata afterwards. Hirata almost escaped with the win when he used the Miracle One Shot Cradle on Saki Akai. But Akai kicked out and gave Hirata her new finisher the Quetzalcoatl to become Iron Man Champion for the 9th time. Other things of note were Yuka Sakazaki hoping to win so she could bring the belt with her to America, Hirata having not one but two group dance spots, Maku Donaruto being… well, Maku Donaruto and Sasadango Machine using his PowerPoint Presentation to reflect on yesterday’s “MUSCLE MANIA” show. Apparently he did a lot of things without getting permission.

The main show kicked off with the return of Shunma Katsumata. He has a new wild looking appearance that includes facepaint surrounding the part of his orbital area that was injured. He gelled well with his new ALL OUT teammate Space Monkey. He never wrestled with a monkey before. Together they did a Buzzsaw Kick/Tail Whip combo. Antonio Honda & Jason Kincaid fought back with Bionic Elbows while Naomi Yoshimura took care of Yuki Ueno. He couldn’t hit the Throwaway Power Bomb then got rolled up in a Frankensteiner by Ueno for the surprise three count.

Ueno got Yoshimura’s attention again after the match. He wondered why was Yoshimura ignoring his request to team with him? Ueno asked him one more time. Yoshimura smiled and shook Ueno’s hand. He’s in! He might also be joining DISASTER BOX too because of this. Ueno wants to change his costume to something as bright as Yoshimura’s orange hair.

In the Tokyo Joshi Pro pre-show match, Nodoka Tenma continues to build up momentum for her TOKYO Princess Title Match next week. She won the match for her team by pinning Hikari Noa with the Killswitch.

Sento Minzoku were victorious in the BASARA pre-show match. Ryuichi Sekine made Takato Nakano tap out while Daiki Shimomura wiped out Masato Kamino with a Plancha.

A special 6-Man Tag Match was announced for the 21st March show. Riki Choshu, Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ueno Vs KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Gota Ihashi is the match. It will be the first time Choshu and Ihashi will be in the same ring since their infamous trios match from January 2018 when Choshu straight up said Ihashi should not be a pro wrestler.


MUSCLE “MUSCLE MANIA 2019 IN RYOGOKU ~ OUR SECOND CAREER” Results

February 16, 2019

MUSCLE “MUSCLE MANIA 2019 IN RYOGOKU ~ OUR SECOND CAREER”, 16/02/2019
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
4,115 Fans – No Vacancy

1. Pedro Takaishi Retirement Match: Pedro Takaishi, Choun-Shiryu & Great Kojika defeated Yasu Urano, Makoto Oishi & Ken Ohka when Kojika pinned Oishi with the Nodowa Otoshi (10:30).
1a. Pedro Takaishi Retirement Match: Shinya Aoki defeated Pedro Takaishi with a Sleeper Hold (8:44).
2. Junretsu New Member Audition 2019 Time Difference Battle Royal: Andreza Giant Panda defeated Kazuyoshi Sakai with the Andreza Press (26:23).
Order Of Elimination: Gorgeous Matsuno, Yuki Ueno, Ken Ohka, Yukio Sakaguchi, Konosuke Takeshita, Makoto Oishi, Saki Akai, Kazusada Higuchi, Antonio Honda, Akito, Tetsu Watanabe, Choun-Shiryu and Kazuyoshi Sakai.
3. Captain’s Fall Anal Explosion Time Difference Web News Posting Tag Death Match: Danshoku Dieno & Ryota Yamazato defeated Muscle Sakai & Kurochan when Dieno pinned Sakai with the Danshoku Driver (16:14).
4. Antonio Honda Vs DJ Nira ended in a Double TKO (23:50).

Where oh where do we begin? Well yeah, from the beginning.

The show began with an introduction from Utamaru. He came out to the theme song from Rocky and talked about how similar Muscle is with the movie series. He asked if Muscle should have come back? When Rocky Balboa’s career ended it was soon replaced by Adonis Creed. Tonight a courageous man named Muscle Sakai is going to prove that Muscle still has life left in it.

After the opening credits the Muscle roster gathered together backstage. Amon Tsurumi announced he has taken office in the Japan Pro Wrestling Committee and with this responsibility he is launching the 2020 Tokyo Wrestlympics! Because the physical burden carried by pro wrestlers is so great, the Wrestlympics can only be held once every 40 years which is why a lot of people have never heard of it. Tokyo will be busy hosting some other sports event in the summer of 2020 so Tsurumi wants to hold the Wrestlympics in January. Tsurumi cannot say where it will take place but he did hint that the Tokyo Dome is booked for two days in January. He didn’t say it was booked by him but the gossip was enough to motivate all of the wrestlers.

Tsurumi wanted the opening match to be a qualifying round for the Wrestlympics. The problem it was also originally planned to be Pedro Takaishi’s retirement match. Takaishi suggested postponing his retirement but Tsurumi rejected the idea. According to Tsurumi pro wrestling retirements must be taken seriously! Muscle Sakai shrugged his shoulders and quietly put on a Super Sasadango Machine mask in response. The retirement match went ahead with Takaishi teaming with Choun-Shiryu & The Great Kojika to take on Yasu Urano, Makoto Oishi & Ken Ohka. Takaishi wanted to go out with a bang and surprised everyone by doing a Flying Hurricanrana to Urano and then a Lionsault onto Oishi. Kojika pinned Ohka with a Choke Slam to win the match.

Takaishi’s retirement ceremony then began. He was presented with a bouquet from Mr. Magic. Next a video message from Choun-Shiryu was shown on the screen. “Wild Thing” played over the speakers but instead of Atsushi Onita coming out we got Naoshi Sano instead. Sano read a letter from Onita specially written for Takaishi. In it Onita said life is a journey and so is retirement. No matter what difficulties lie ahead, Takaishi should overcome it with his capoeira spirit so they can wrestle together!

The ceremony continued until it was interrupted by Amon Tsurumi. He felt Takaishi didn’t do enough in the match to earn his retirement. This is supposed to be serious! But yoy know what, Tsurumi had a back up plan in place for Takaishi to have a proper retirement match. Out came Shinya Aoki! The match began and Takaishi used his capoeira to fight against Aoki’s MMA. Takaishi busted out another Moonsault, this time from the corner to the outside. Aoki pulled out something new as well when he used a Gotch-Style Piledriver. Takaishi was almost counted out but he got back to his feet by nine. Aoki applied a Sleeper Hold and held on until Takaishi was left powerless. Aoki then pinned him for a three count. Takaishi was given a second retirement ceremony with more of his friends and family giving him farewells. One of his friends only came to plug a theatre show he is a part of. When that was done, Tsurumi revealed that Aoki has qualified to represent Japan in the Wrestlympics.

Next up was a contest to qualify for the New TOKYO Rumble that will be held on the Wrestlympics pre-show. The four teams competing were Danshoku Dieno & Ryota Yamazato, Super Sasadango Machine & Kurochan, Kazuyoshi Sakai & Antonio Honda and the trio of Yasu Urano, Makoto Oishi & Ken Ohka.

For Round 1 everyone had to taste two glasses of red wine mixed with protein powder. One glass consists of fresh protein powder belonging to Konosuke Takeshita. The other glass consists of old, stale powder. It was up to the teams to taste both and figure out which was which. Urano, Oishi & Ohka was the only team to pick the wrong answer so they were eliminated.

In Round 2 the contestants were blindfolded and had to guess if the Chops they heard were being done by a first class pro wrestler in his early twenties or a weak former idol in her early twenties. Yamazato, Kurochan and Sakai were held in place by Yuki Iino with their chests bare while Takeshita and Maki Itoh took turns throwing Chops at them. Honda & Sakai got their answer wrong so they were eliminated. Itoh actually screwed up by saying “Here I go” out loud before one of her chops but Honda thought it was a trick so he picked the opposite answer.

For the final round the two teams had to figure out who was responsible for creating the intro video but both teams got the answer right. It was Akinaga Toyomoto. Since there were no tiebreakers ready, Tsurumi decided a wrestling match was needed to determine a winner. However his phone suddenly rang with news that the musical act he booked to perform at the Wrestlympics opening ceremony have split up.

The contest had to be put on hold while Tsurumi solved this problem. Luckily for him Kazuyoshi Sakai is part of a pop band called Junretsu and they were already booked to appear on this show. The group came out on stage, performed a song then asked if they can do the opening ceremony. That’s the good news. The bad news is one of their members left the group last month after it was found out he was involved in a domestic scandal, so they’re one man short. Tsurumi had a solution already prepared and announced that the Junretsu New Member Audition 2019 Battle Royal will begin right now!

A bizarre collection of people entered the match. There was Makoto Oishi, Yuki Ueno, Akito, Gorgeous Matsuno, Kazusada Higuchi, Ken Ohka, Yukio Sakaguchi (he decided to eliminate himself when he was told his tattoos were not suitable for pop idols), Saki Akai, Konosuke Takeshita, Antonio Honda, Andreza Giant Panda, Tetsu Watanabe (dressed as Antonio Honda) and Choun-Shiryu all taking part. Even Kazuyoshi Sakai got in on the action by bringing back his old HG parody gimmick. The match came down to Andreza and Sakai so Sakai got the rest of Junretsu to come in and attack the panda. Andreza had the wind knocked out of him by the train of Lariats but he recovered. Sakai got knocked silly by a Headbutt and was pinned with the Andreza Press.

Andreza is now a member of Junretsu! The group performed another song know that they are a complete act again.

Here is where things went out of control. Tsurumi wants this show to get coverage on popular news sites like YAHOO!, AbemaTimes, and Battle News. So he came up with a bunch of attention grabbing headlines for the sites to post. The websites went ahead and posted these headlines before the described events actually happened on the show itself. Nobody involved in the show wanted to come off as liars so they had to go along with the headlines as they were updated. The first headline? Yamazato and Kurochan were about to take part in an Anal Explosion Match!

Tsurumi decided the match was going to be Dieno & Yamazato against Muscle Sakai (replacing Sasadango) & Kurochan in a Captain’s Fall Anal Explosion Match. Since Yamazato and Kurochan were picked to be the captains that meant only one of them would take the Anal Explosion if their team lost. More headlines were posted online as the match went on. The first headline said Yamazato fainted in the ring in a situation similar to Antonio Inoki swallowing his tongue! Yamazato had to go along with it so he allowed Sakai to choke him out with a Sleeper Hold.

The next headline said Kurochan assaulted an idol and had to be contained by a police officer. Dieno carried a protesting Maki Itoh down to the ring for Kurochan to fight. Shinya Aoki then came down dressed as a cop and he stopped Kurochan with a Triangle Choke.

Headline #3 was breaking news involving suspicious people breaking into Kurochan’s home. Live footage was shown on screen of HARASHIMA and MAO wrestling each other inside Kurochan’s bedroom! It was live because whatever moves were happening inside the wrestling ring were then done inside the bedroom. HARASHIMA gave MAO a Piledriver onto the bed while Dieno gave Sakai the Danshoku Driver in the ring. Dieno pinned Sakai which means Kurochan has to get the Anal Explosion!

Yamazato felt bad for Kurochan. His house is getting wrecked and his ass is about to get wrecked too. The others asked Yamazato if he would take Kurochan’s place. Kurochan said no. That’s when the final headline appeared. It said that Yamazato was so moved by the tearful reactions of the thousands of people in attendance that he volunteered to take the Anal Explosion instead of Kurochan! Yamazato resigned himself to walk up stage and take the blast. Dieno set off the explosion and cried for Yamazato afterwards.

Still with me? Good because it’s time for the main event. Except no main event was planned in advance. Muscle Sakai held a PowerPoint presentation explaining that he brought Muscle back because he has unfinished business with the brand before he inherits his family business. He then talked about how he decided what the main event will be. Sakai wants Antonio Honda to headline a Sumo Hall show so he’s in. They wanted someone Honda could beat so they decided his opponent is DJ Nira!

Nira appeared in the ring accompanied by Rocky Kawamura who was dressed as Rocky Balboa from the movie Creed. Honda had Tetsu Watanabe in his corner. For over twenty minutes Honda and Nira fought their hearts out as dramatically as possible. The Creed soundtrack played as the two fighters threw their final punches in slow motion. The punches struck hit the targets and both men slumped into each other, possibly for a hug as Honda and Nira lost their consciousness. Kawamura and Watanabe had no other choice but to throw in their towels at the same time, meaning the main event was a double knockout.

The Muscle roster revived Honda and Nira so they could celebrate the end of a successful show. Honda introduced Tetsu Watanabe (father of Shoichiro Honda) to Muscle Sakai (“father” of Antonio Honda) and described how much fun his life was today. Sakai thanked everyone in the audience for coming to see the show despite there being no card or special guests advertised in advance.

Everyone went up to the stage to say their goodbyes when Norikazu Fujioka stopped everything with breaking news. This one is for real this time. Tokyo Sports just posted an exposé about Andreza Giant Panda being kissed by Tsukasa Fujimoto at the Tokyo Sports Awards ceremony! Andreza is married and has a kid so this is a big scandal! So big that he is now fired from Junretsu!


DDT “JUDGEMENT 2019 ~DDT RAISING AN ARMY 22ND ANNIVERSARY~” Preview

February 15, 2019

DDT “JUDGEMENT 2019 ~DDT RAISING AN ARMY 22ND ANNIVERSARY~”, 17/02/2019
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

0. Pro Wrestling BASARA Offer Match: Ryuichi Sekine & Daiki Shimomura Vs Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino
0. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Yuna Manase, Nodoka Tenma & Yuki Aino Vs Natsumi Maki, Hikari Noa & Miu Watanabe
1. Shunma Katsumata Return Match: Shunma Katsumata, Yuki Ueno & Space Monkey Vs Antonio Honda, Jason Kincaid & Naomi Yoshimura
2. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Time Difference Battle Royal: Asuka (c) Vs Super Sasadango Machine Vs Makoto Oishi Vs Keisuke Okuda Vs Saki Akai Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga Vs Gorgeous Matsuno Vs Hoshitango Vs Gota Ihashi Vs Yuni Vs Yasu Urano Vs El Lindaman Vs Scorpio X2 Vs Yuka Sakazaki Vs Mina Shirakawa Vs Chinsuke Nakamura Vs Maku Donaruto
3. Taiho Koki’s Grandson Yukio Naya Ryogoku Kokugikan First Participation!: Go Shiozaki, Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Naya Vs Daisuke Sekimoto, Toru Owashi & Yuki Iino
4. Special Single Match: Akito Vs T-Hawk
5. Danshoku Dieno Produce Yuru-chara “Pokotan” Debut Match: Danshoku Dieno, Pokotan & KUDO Vs Keisuke Ishii, Kota Umeda & Mizuki Watase
6. Special Hardcore 6-Person Tag Match: Sanshiro Takagi, Chigusa Nagayo & Ryuji Ito Vs Soma Takao, Mad Paulie & Takumi Iroha
7. KO-D Tag Team Titles – 3 Way Match: Mike Bailey & MAO (c) Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi Vs CIMA & Seiki Yoshioka
8. DDT Extreme Title – Souken Holdings Presents – Each Other’s Pride Rules: Shinya Aoki (c) Vs HARASHIMA
9. Dramatic Dream Match: Naomichi Marufuji Vs Tetsuya Endo
10. KO-D Openweight Title – RAGE Presents: Daisuke Sasaki (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita

The first pre-show match will begin at around 12:10pm JST/3:10am GMT. The main show begins at 1:00pm JST/4:00am GMT. For America that means the show begins at 11:00pm EST/8:00pm PST on Saturday.

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Hey there. Back again to see what DDT is up to at Sumo Hall this time? Cool. The time between Ryogoku visits has been short for this one. Usually DDT books the venue every six or seven months. “JUDGEMENT 2019” is taking place only four months after “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2018” so it kind of feels like this weekend has snuck up on me. As I’ve written in a previous blog post I see this period of the entire wrestling scene as the final chapter of this current era. You can thank Kenny and his buddies for some of the reasons why. The landscape is changing, DDT is establishing new relationships around the world and there’s bound to be more surprising twists to come in the future.

But let’s not worry any further about that stuff. Ryogoku is set for a double header weekend from the DDT family. On Saturday the Muscle brand is back from the dead. What it has come back to do exactly I have no idea. Then on Sunday DDT is bringing together a packed card of matches that only they can provide.

0. Pro Wrestling BASARA Offer Match: Ryuichi Sekine & Daiki Shimomura Vs Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino

One of the big movements happening in BASARA lately is several wrestlers banding together to form the Sento Minzoku unit. Formed by Isami Kodaka and taking inspiration from Dragon Ball Z, each member has grown a monkey’s tail to represent their power. Ryuichi Sekine & Daiki Shimomura are the two guys from BASARA’s main roster to join Kodaka and Minoru Fujita in the group. Facing them are the two freshest faces on the BASARA roster Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino. Nakano has mostly been improving his skills while staying out of trouble. Kamino joined BASARA in December after DNA closed down. Injuries kept him out of action for almost the entirety of DNA’s run so his jump to BASARA so his career has more or less started all over again.

0. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Yuna Manase, Nodoka Tenma & Yuki Aino Vs Natsumi Maki, Hikari Noa & Miu Watanabe

Some new girls from Tokyo Joshi Pro get to wrestle in Sumo Hall for the first time. Yuna Manase, Nodoka Tenma and Natsumi Maki have wrestled there before. Manase and Tenma were there for a Battle Royal during “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2017”. Maki wrestled there for All Japan’s 45th Anniversary show only one week later. Yuki Aino, Hikari Noa and Miu Watanabe however are all wrestling their first Ryogoku match.

Manase has quietly been one of the more protected wrestlers in Tokyo Joshi, regularly winning her matches with the Neck Screw Hold. Nodoka Tenma is weeks away from challenging for the TOKYO Princess Title and has a recent pinfall win over the champion Miyu Yamashita. Aino is there supporting her sister as always. Over on the other side Noa and Watanabe have shown the most progression out of the Up Up Girls (Pro Wrestling) unit. Their recent name and costume changes have allowed them to express their personalities more. Watanabe has added a Laser Beam baseball swing into her chops while Noa has become more enthusiastic in the ring. She took the most out of the opportunity to train with Shinjiro Otani when the Up Up Girls visited the ZERO1 dojo in December. Noa also happens to be wrestling the day before her 21st birthday. Last but certainly not least there is Maki. Her arrival in Tokyo Joshi was surrounded in controversy thanks to a burned bridge with Yumiko Hotta and Actwres girl’Z. But once she started wrestling it became clear that she has moved on. Maki has yet to be pinned or submitted in Tokyo Joshi and she currently finds herself in a feud with Maki Ito over who is cuter. The match hasn’t happened yet but if Hotta is still pissed off with Maki she might spoil the result of that too.

1. Shunma Katsumata Return Match: Shunma Katsumata, Yuki Ueno & Space Monkey Vs Antonio Honda, Jason Kincaid & Naomi Yoshimura

A right orbital and cheek bone fracture has kept Shunma Katsumata out of action for almost three months. When he went under surgery in December his goal was to come back in February and here he is. While he was gone ALL OUT went out of this world to find a new member. They found one with Space Monkey who has been winning everyone in DDT over with his antics, bananas and all. Yuki Ueno has been stepping his game up as a member of DISASTER BOX. He’s also been scouting one of his opponents here in the hopes of forming a new tag team. Antonio Honda & Jason Kincaid are already teaming together as Gon Gift so that leaves Naomi Yoshimura. When he unexpectedly returned to DDT in December he was aiming straight for the top and gunning after the championship. In a scary moment right near the end of 2018, Yoshimura took a Pedigree wrong and was left needing medical attention inside the ring. He ended up getting a cervical sprain and made a full recovery, returning to the ring two months later. With his chance at the main event now far away from his reach he is beginning the climb all over again. Maybe Ueno’s idea for them to team up will get him back on track. Or how about Power Bombing him instead? Yoshimura usually likes to do that given their history together.

2. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Time Difference Battle Royal: Asuka (c) Vs Super Sasadango Machine Vs Makoto Oishi Vs Keisuke Okuda Vs Saki Akai Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga Vs Gorgeous Matsuno Vs Hoshitango Vs Gota Ihashi Vs Yuni Vs Yasu Urano Vs El Lindaman Vs Scorpio X2 Vs Yuka Sakazaki Vs Mina Shirakawa Vs Chinsuke Nakamura Vs Maku Donaruto

DDT has spent the last few months searching for fresh blood and obscure talent from across Japan to diversify their roster. Heading the pack is Asuka. No not the one who hasn’t been booked on TV since the Royal Rumble despite being a champion and tapping out the current big star of the company. I mean the one that’s been blazing through the puroresu scene over the last twelve months as “Japan’s First Genderless Wrestler”. When Asuka left WAVE to go freelance, DDT jumped at the chance to bring her back and promote her as a next generation star. Since then Asuka has won the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title and became so attached to it she now calls it her boyfriend. So far the relationship has worked out better than the last one she had in DDT, even though it’s made her a target for jealous eyes down in Roppongi.

(Sidenote: Most English speaking fans write down ASUKA in all caps to differentiate her from the other Asuka. Out of preference I only do this when the wrestler also spells their name in all caps. Asuka’s name in Japanese is written as 朱崇花 so that’s why I prefer writing it in the lower case).

There is a full field of different faces out to take the title from Asuka. Saki Akai has a new finishing move inspired from her current role in the Fate/Grand Order stage play. The move is called Quetzalcoatl and it is a Twisting Crucifix Bomb similar to Kaji Tomato’s Red Eye finisher. Keisuke Okuda has been settling into DDT by fighting at an outdoor sauna and hate-teaming with Makoto Oishi. Who knows what Super Sasadango Machine will be up to the day after his latest Muscle show takes place. OWE is represented by both El Lindaman and Scorpio X2. Tokyo Joshi are sending in Yuka Sakazaki and Mina Shirakawa. Sakazaki in particular will have a lot of eyes on her after it was announced she will be appearing at All Elite Wrestling soon. Chinsuke Nakamura will no doubt be all up to date on whatever his inspiration is currently doing. And then there’s the rest of the usual low card DDT roster. That’s it. Nobody else. I’m not missing anybody…

… Sigh… Okay there’s one more. You know who I’m talking about. Behold the Twitch chat come to life, the one creation that makes Arby “The Meathead” McDonald look pure and wholesome, he’s ruined seven Valentine’s Days but saved two, it’s Maku Donaruto! This walking cease and desist waiting to happen was found in UDON Pro Wrestling and made an impression on DDT management. However his lewd wrestling style and obscene personality is making DDT a little unsure how often they want to continue booking him after Sumo Hall. A lot? A little? A seven match series with Kazuki Hirata? Here’s his biggest chance to leave an impression on everyone.

3. Taiho Koki’s Grandson Yukio Naya Ryogoku Kokugikan First Participation!: Go Shiozaki, Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Naya Vs Daisuke Sekimoto, Toru Owashi & Yuki Iino

Let’s move on to some history, some legacy that is attached to Sumo Hall. Yukio Naya is only around a year into his wrestling career. He is getting attention because his late grandfather was a legendary sumo wrestler named Taiho Koki. Naya’s grandfather was one of the youngest wrestlers to become a yokozuna and he also earned many accomplishments throughout his distinguished career. Naya has said he is proud to wrestle in the same building where his grandfather achieved much of his success. Teaming with him is DDT’s sumo turned pro Kazusada Higuchi as well as D-Ou Grand Prix finalist Go Shiozaki. Facing them are a trio of big beefy boys! Daisuke Sekimoto, Toru Owashi and Yuki Iino are the opposition in a match that I bet will have many, many chops. And probably a Haka dance from Iino too.

4. Special Single Match: Akito Vs T-Hawk

The #STRONGHEARTS love to cause some commotion wherever they go but what do they do when somebody successfully stands up to them? During their feud with ALL OUT, they were able to get pinfall wins over every member except one. The one guy they haven’t been able to beat is Akito. In order to right this wrong T-Hawk is set to face Akito one on one. As the current WRESTLE-1 Champion, T-Hawk feels on top of the world. It would be nice to see Akito pull him down. Akito is confident wrestling on his own and is convinced that T-Hawk hasn’t watched any of his singles matches. Akito has a reason of his own to win other than keeping #STRONGHEARTS at bay again. He is looking into the idea of wrestling in other companies on behalf of DDT. A win over the WRESTLE-1 Champion can open some doors for him.

5. Danshoku Dieno Produce Yuru-chara “Pokotan” Debut Match: Danshoku Dieno, Pokotan & KUDO Vs Keisuke Ishii, Kota Umeda & Mizuki Watase

You know what’s big these days? Mascots. Put somebody in a big wacky costume, make them do stupid shit, put it online and watch those social media numbers shoot up. Most likely inspired by the popularity of such characters like Chiitan, Nyango Star and you can also include Andreza Giant Panda in that list, Danshoku Dieno now wants a piece of the pie. So he has created his own mascot and went through several names before picking something suitable for everyone. Or at least I assume it’s suitable. It’s probably not but whatever. Anyway the mascot is called Pokotan and it looks like a seal. Dieno himself was planning to be under the costume during the build up to the show. Unfortunately the costume has not been finished as of a week ago. Dieno only has the head ready and he is very upset over it. Will Pokotan be complete in time for his grand reveal?

6. Special Hardcore 6-Person Tag Match: Sanshiro Takagi, Chigusa Nagayo & Ryuji Ito Vs Soma Takao, Mad Paulie & Takumi Iroha
Around 14 years ago Sanshiro Takagi, Chigusa Nagayo & Ryuji Ito teamed up for a 1,000m Barbed Wire And 100 Fluorescent Lighttube Death Match in Differ Ariake. They’re back together again to fight DAMNATION! Nagayo’s involvement in the show was already announced when the story of her saving a woman from an assault made the news in November so yay good publicity! What’s even more interesting is Nagayo’s protege Takumi Iroha is against her on the DAMNATION side. Since she is the Ikemen Joshi she might be there to take up the handsome looking role in the trio. Then again Mad Paulie is still on the team so that’s probably not the reason. Iroha is thrilled to face her mentor but is a little nervous that it’s in a Hardcore Match.

On a more serious note, Soma Takao is going into this match holding a grudge. For weeks leading into the show, Takagi has been poking Takao and questioning the current state of his career. Years ago Takao had the potential to become one of DDT’s best and yet he has never really attempted to take the torch. Maybe he’s gotten too comfortable being the mid-level guy in DAMNATION. Takagi wants to light a fire under Takao and see if he has any real ambition. Takao acts like he is angry at the world and everything around it. Now is his time to prove it.

7. KO-D Tag Team Titles – 3 Way Match: Mike Bailey & MAO (c) Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi Vs CIMA & Seiki Yoshioka

#STRONGHEARTS have a reason for sticking around in DDT despite losing their feud to ALL OUT. After they lost the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles, CIMA and his crew admitted defeat and wanted to head home to the OWE headquarters in Shanghai. OWE told them not to come back until they get revenge on DDT. The best way to do that is to win one of the DDT championships again. This time CIMA is setting his sights on the KO-D Tag Team Titles and he is bringing along one of his newer partners Seiki Yoshioka to get them.

They aren’t the only ones who want the belts. Shuten-dōji challenged for the belts before #STRONGHEARTS did. The solution was to give both of them a shot in a 3 Way Match. Yukio Sakaguchi doesn’t care as long as he fights somebody strong (and El Lindaman provoking him with spitting and insults only resulted in Sakaguchi kicking him half to death). Masahiro Takanashi is interested though since he’s been able to cross paths with CIMA again. The two are linked through the Toryumon system but split off into two completely different paths. Takanashi wants to show CIMA that his unpolished way of wrestling is just as effective as CIMA’s state of the art abilities.

The scenario leaves the champions looking like a third wheel. But maybe that gives The Moonlight Express the advantage. MAO & Mike Bailey are currently ruling the tag team divisions in DDT and K-DOJO, holding both the KO-D Tag Titles and STRONGEST-K TAG Titles. MAO is as comfortable as ever in chaotic situations and Bailey always looks happy to go along for the ride, the crazier the better. MAO also feels the need to beat Shuten-dōji because they have beaten him so many times back when he was a part of NωA. He wants to move on from that part of his life but can’t if Shuten-dōji beats him again. The 3 Way stipulation being used is only one fall so a title change can happen without the Express being directly involved.

8. DDT Extreme Title – Souken Holdings Presents – Each Other’s Pride Rules: Shinya Aoki (c) Vs HARASHIMA

The rematch for the DDT Extreme Title sees HARASHIMA trying to win the belt back from Shinya Aoki. During his brief time in DDT, Aoki has defended the title in a Boxing Glove match and also got challenged into a fight at an outdoor sauna. This is what bad financial decisions can do to some people. But at least Aoki still has his pride. HARASHIMA has pride too so the two of them agreed to let their prides bring the best out of both of them. So that’s it. Nothing complicated, just a battle to see who is the best. Unless DDT decides to pipe in the Pride FC music during the match as a joke there isn’t much else that needs explaining. Well there is that one thing where HARASHIMA isn’t entirely sure what the exact ruleset for the match is. Aoki just keeps talking about pride and he hasn’t been the best at understanding the general pro wrestling rules. Is there even a three count?

9. Dramatic Dream Match: Naomichi Marufuji Vs Tetsuya Endo

Here we go! DDT usually has a dream match saved for Sumo Hall and they picked a good one this time round. Naomichi Marufuji returns to DDT and Tetsuya Endo is there waiting for him. You’d think Endo would see this as an opportunity to make a huge statement to the wrestling world but he’s a little distracted by his diet. No matter where he is or what he is doing Endo has been eating his handmade meals and drinking his protein shakes on a very strict timetable. This has interrupted several press conferences that were meant to promote this match. Marufuji doesn’t mind. There’s no bad blood between the two and Marufuji is looking forward to discovering Endo’s current potential. The match is also happening so soon after Marufuji’s return from injury so he gets to figure out what his own condition is like. We should get a nice, clean and competitive match out of this right. I mean it’s Marufuji in a DDT dream match. Nothing has ever gone wrong in a situation like that before. Right, Kenny?

10. KO-D Openweight Title – RAGE Presents: Daisuke Sasaki (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita

After vanquishing Dieno at “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2018” in October, Daisuke Sasaki is headlining Sumo Hall for the second time in a row. This time he is going in as the KO-D Openweight Champion rather than the challenger. That role goes to Konosuke Takeshita for winning the 2019 D-Ou Grand Prix. In the build up to the match something strange happened. Sasaki started acting friendly, wrestled clean and prohibited the other DAMNATION wrestlers from cheating. He even shook his opponent’s hand after matches. Takeshita wasn’t convinced by this new attitude at first but Sasaki behaved for long enough that Takeshita eventually bought into it. Of course it was at this point when Sasaki could not resist temptation any longer and went back to his usual dirty tactics.

That’s not all. While they wrestled their matches, some of the other DAMNATION members went to the restaurant owned by Takeshita’s mother Keiko. She was happy to serve them until they dined and dashed! That right there was the boiling point that turns Sasaki Vs Takeshita into a blood feud. Over the last few days Sasaki and Takeshita have gotten into fights wherever they find each other. Sasaki attacked Takeshita outside Sumo Hall during an interview and with a Hurricanrana threw Takeshita down a stairway. Takeshita got revenge on another night when he attacked Sasaki at a bar and gave him a Brainbuster onto a sofa. Things escalated even further when Sasaki vandalised Takeshita’s car with anime decals and then gave Takeshita a Pedigree onto the car roof! The match hasn’t even happened yet and both men are already trying to end each other’s careers before they even get to Sunday! Sasaki has said that he will not allow Takeshita win the KO-D title, otherwise DDT will be sent to the dark ages.


MUSCLE “MUSCLE MANIA 2019 IN RYOGOKU ~ OUR SECOND CAREER” Preview

February 15, 2019

MUSCLE “MUSCLE MANIA 2019 IN RYOGOKU ~ OUR SECOND CAREER”, 16/02/2019
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

1. Pedro Takaishi Retirement Match: Pedro Takaishi Vs X

Wrestlers advertised to appear include Muscle Sakai, Danshoku Dieno, Antonio Honda, Pedro Takaishi, Choun-Shiryu, Yasu Urano, Makoto Oishi, Ken Ohka, Norikazu Fujioka, Amon Tsurumi and Andreza Giant Panda. Over on Twitter Akito has talked about wanting to be on the show. Sasadango publicly said he is welcome to come over as long as he keeps it a secret so he does not spoil the surprise…

Other guests include comedian Ryota Yamasato, actor Kurochan, pop band Junretsu and rapper Utamaru.

Here’s my preview: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Heck if I know what’s going to happen! Muscle shows in the past have been held under many sorts of formats. It might be a wrestling card, it might be a talk show, it might be a talent contest, it might be a school exam, it might be a tag team tournament gone horribly off the rails, it might be the first NXT Japan TakeOver in disguise, it might be anything. What I can say for sure is it will be ridiculous. Also don’t be surprised if a big name or two makes a cameo appearance somewhere. In the past such famous wrestlers as Masahiro Chono, Minoru Suzuki, Yoshihiro Takayama, Atsushi Onita, Shinjiro Otani, The Great Sasuke and a lot of the Big Japan roster among others have joined in the fun in one way or another.


DDT “WRESTLING OKEHAZAMA 2019” Results

February 3, 2019

DDT “WRESTLING OKEHAZAMA 2019”, 03/02/2019
Nagoya City Mid-Sports Center
226 Fans – No Vacancy

1. Kota Umeda defeated Mizuki Watase with the PK (10:25).
2. 3 Way Match: Tetsuya Endo defeated Naomi Yoshimura and Kazuki Hirata when Endo pinned Hirata with the Swandive Firebird Splash (6:22).
3. Keisuke Okuda & Makoto Oishi defeated Toru Owashi & Antonio Honda when Oishi pinned Honda with a Cradle (9:57).
4. MAO & Jason Kincaid defeated Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi when MAO pinned Takanashi with a Jackknife Pin (12:38).
5. DISASTER BOX Vs Ganbare☆Wrestling: Keisuke Ishii & Kouki Iwasaki defeated HARASHIMA & Yuki Ueno when Ishii pinned Ueno with the High Angle Double Arm DDT (12:13).
6. Nagoya Specialty! Where Are You Single Match: Kazusada Higuchi defeated Yuki Iino with the Doctor Bomb (13:37).
7. DAMNATION Vs ALL OUT!: Konosuke Takeshita, Akito & Space Monkey defeated Daisuke Sasaki, Soma Takao & Mad Paulie when Akito submitted Paulie with the Perfect Figure Four Leg Lock (19:38).

Remember yesterday when Daisuke Sasaki made a promise to Konosuke Takeshita that he would fight clean and never cheat again? Well believe it or not so far he is sticking to his word. When a ref bump happened in the main event, Tetsuya Endo threw a chair into the ring for Sasaki to use. Sasaki however got rid of it. Soma Takao brought the chair back in but Sasaki again threw it out. After the match Takeshita praised Sasaki for turning over a new leaf. Sasaki said he has now learned how to have fun in wrestling and today’s match made him feel good. The two then shook hands again.

Since the show was in Akito’s hometown of Nagoya, he decided to say some words about his upcoming match with T-Hawk. He calls it a match between champions of two different organisations. Akito hopes to wrestle in various places throughout 2019.

Kazusada Higuchi was hurt by Yuki Iino’s Spear but toughed it out to beat the ALL OUT wrestler. Iino is strong but Higuchi is more driven.

The visiting Ganbare☆Wrestling team were victorious over DISASTER BOX. For Keisuke Ishii and Kouki Iwasaki it was the first time in a while since they’ve wrestled in DDT. They were accompanied by Yumehito Imanari who was waving the Ganpro flag for their entrance. Today’s win removes some of the disappointment the team has from earlier in the week when they challenged for the GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Titles in NOAH and lost.

MAO continues to squeak by Shuten-dōji wrestlers. Yesterday he pinned Yukio Sakaguchi with a Cradle, today he pinned Masahiro Takanashi with a Jackknife. MAO still has a headache from the High Kick Sakaguchi gave him yesterday.

Makoto Oishi and Keisuke Okuda have an unusual double team move where Oishi sits in front of his opponent, Okuda charges in to do a Penalty Kick and Oishi moves out of the way so the opponent gets hit instead. Today Oishi and one of his opponents Antonio Honda were in opposite positions and Okuda ended up hitting the Penalty Kick on his own partner. However Oishi was able to fluke cradle Honda into a Gedo Clutch style pin to win the match.


DDT “DRAMATIC AKASONAE! 2019” Results

January 13, 2019

DDT “DRAMATIC AKASONAE! 2019”, 13/01/2019
Osaka Hirano Community Hall
302 Fans – Super No Vacancy

1. Antonio Honda & Jason Kincaid defeated Tetsuya Endo & Nobuhiro Shimatani when Kincaid pinned Shimatani with the Philosopher’s Stomp (10:10).
2. Toru Owashi, Makoto Oishi & Keisuke Okuda defeated Akito, Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Mizuki Watase when Okuda pinned Watase with the PK (13:10).
3. Naniwa 3 Big Single Match: Mad Paulie defeated Yuki Iino with the Reverse Splash (8:37).
4. Naniwa 3 Big Single Match: Maku Donaruto (w/ Phoenix Haru) defeated Kazuki Hirata with the Swanton Bomb (10:31).
5. Naniwa 3 Big Single Match: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Yuni ended in a Double Countout (3:51).
5a. Rematch: Konosuke Takeshita defeated Yuni with a Hurricanrana Cutback (8:56).
6. Masahiro Takanashi & Sammy Guevara defeated Kazusada Higuchi & Kota Umeda when Guevara pinned Umeda with a Running Knee to the back of the head (12:07).
7. Tomorrow Is Good! Osaka Specialty Special Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & Soma Takao defeated HARASHIMA & Yuki Ueno when Sasaki submitted Ueno with the Cross Facelock (18:57).
8. Special Single Match: MAO defeated Mike Bailey with a Jackknife Pin (15:30).

Last minute changes were made to the card because MAO & Mike Bailey were stuck on a bullet train after wrestling for K-DOJO in Korakuen Hall earlier in the day. The big change was the new main event being a singles match between both members of The Moonlight Express! The two were evenly matched as they fought and tried to force the other to loudly apologise for their lateness. Bailey hit the Green Tea Plunge but only got a nearfall. MAO hit the Screw High Kick then rolled over Bailey with a Jackknife to get the win. After the match both of them apologised to the fans and explained that after they successfully defended the STRONGEST-K TAG Titles in Korakuen, they immediately went to go get the bullet train. However during the journey they realised they got on the longer train route from Tokyo to Osaka. They tried to figure out how they could still make the show in time. When they couldn’t find an answer MAO phoned Yukinori Matsui to send the message they would be late.

Soma Takao gave Yuki Ueno a Low Blow to set up the finish to Match #7. Daisuke Sasaki provoked Ueno into a confrontation after the match and Takao gave Ueno another Low Blow.

Some bullying took place at the start of the show when Yuni was supposed to give the opening speech. Konosuke Takeshita interrupted the speech and attacked his opponent! When the match happened later on Takeshita underestimated Yuni so much that they took the match outside the ring and Takeshita somehow got thrown into the ringside chairs. The match ended in a double countout. Takeshita wanted no more and began to leave when Yuki demanded a restart. This time Yuni threw everything at him. There was an Asai Moonsault, the 2nd Rope Sky Twister Press and even the Kamigoye. Takeshita was able to kick out of them though and narrowly scored the win when he cut off Yuni’s Hurricanrana and pressed him down for the pin. Takeshita praised Yuni for the match and promised a rematch in 13 years time when Yuni is the age Takeshita is now. Yuni promised to train a lot so he can become stronger than Takeshita!

The debuting Maku Donaruto impressed some and bothered others with his performance against Kazuki Hirata. His lewd movements reminded Hirata of Danshoku Dieno. With Phoenix Haru helping out from outside the ring, Donaruto was able to Moonsault onto Hirata. The Hirata GO! glasses weren’t enough to stop him and he pinned Hirata with a Swanton Bomb.

Keisuke Okuda complained about having to team up with Makoto Oishi again. At least Oishi was nice enough to promote Okuda’s homecoming show in Mie on 10th February. Okuda was pleased with that until he found out Oishi would be there.

The team of Antonio Honda & Jason Kincaid are now going by the name Gon Gift. Honda credited their win today by recently seeing Creed 2 in the cinema. Creed 2 taught him to always crawl no matter how low he falls. He promises to carry the Russian boxing world forward into the future! Kincaid hasn’t seen either Creed movie yet.

Naomi Yoshimura came out to tell everyone he is feeling quite well now. After he has his return match on 2nd February he promises to wrestle in Osaka again when DDT returns later in the year.