I’m probably going to be posting a lot of stuff over the next week and a half. Probably an unhealthy amount of writing about this stuff.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “WRESTLE UNIVERSE MEMBERS ONLY SHOW – PURE TOKYO JOSHI PRO WRESTLING 9”, 13/04/2025 Tokyo Kitazawa Town Hall
1. Costume Change Match: Mizuki, Suzume, Pom Harajuku & Yoshiko Hasegawa Vs Wakana Uehara, HIMAWARI, Toga & Haru Kazashiro
This week’s Tokyo Joshi Pro fan club show will feature six matches and the first one announced is the return of the Costume Change Match. Everyone is going to be wrestling in someone else’s gear.
Mifu Ashida will not be at the show due to a scheduling conflict.
BAKA GAIJIN + FRIENDS “VOL. 21: THE BEGINNING OF THE END”, 15/04/2025 Tokyo ARENA Shimokitazawa
1. Special Single Match ~Goodbye Keigo~: MAO Vs Keigo Nakamura
2. BK-G Openweight Title – Triple Threat Match: Chris Brookes (c) Vs Mr. Bueno Vs Mr. Malo
You know Keigo Nakamura is going to be missed if Baka Gaijin + Friends are putting together a farewell match for him.
1. Gouma Ryu Vs Minoru Fujita
2. SAGAT Vs Shota Kofuji
3. Takumi Tsukamoto & Judomaster Vs KUBITO & Daichi Kazato
4. Isami Kodaka & Tomoki Hatano Vs Daiki Shimomura & Lil’ Kraken
5. Ryota Nakatsu, Kazusada Higuchi, Naomi Yoshimura & Yuki Ishida Vs Ryuichi Sekine, FUMA, Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino
With the returns of Kazusada Higuchi & Naomi Yoshimura now completed, Harimao are back to full strength. The unit wants to keep making appearances in BASARA as well as DDT so they’re getting a big 8-Man Tag main event against the current Iron Fist Tag Team Champions as well as Aijin Tag.
Tomoki Hatano is coming over from HEAT-UP.
DDT “DDT GOES LAS VEGAS!”, 18/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Nick Wayne, Shunma Katsumata & Kazuma Sumi Vs Gringo Loco, Marcus Mathers & Tyler Bateman
2. Special Single Match: Antonio Honda Vs Santana Jackson
3. Special Single Match: Shinya Aoki Vs Timothy Thatcher
4. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs MAO
5. wXw Unified World Wrestling Title: 1 Called Manders (c) Vs Yukio Naya
6. DDT Universal Title: Minoru Suzuki (c) Vs Yoshihiko
Last week 1 Called Manders made news in the European scene by winning the vacant wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship in Germany. He isn’t wasting any time in putting the belt on the line including a few matches taking place in America this week. If he is still the champion heading into DDT’s Las Vegas show he will defend the title against Yukio Naya.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “KANDA MYOJON CULTURAL EXCHANGE CENTER PRESENTS THIS IS JAPAN”, 19/04/2025 Tokyo Kanda Myojin Hall
1. Kaya Toribami Vs Tabata
2. Yoshiko Hasegawa Vs Kakeru Sekiguchi
3. Ryo Mizunami & Moka Miyamoto Vs Mahiro Kiryu & Haruna Neko
4. International Princess Title Next Challenger Tournament: HIMAWARI Vs Toga Vs Haru Kazashiro Vs Mifu Ashida Vs Kira Summer Vs Chika Nanase Vs Uta Takami Vs Ivy Steele
4a. Round 1: X, X, X & X Vs X, X, X & X
4b. Round 2: X & X Vs X & X
4c. Final: X Vs X
This is the full card for the TJPW show that is happening in Japan while the Las Vegas trip is going on. Four matches that are really six when you count all rounds of the main event. Ryo Mizunami and Kakeru Sekiguchi are being called in from the reserves while the CMLL luchadora Tabata makes her TJPW debut. Tabata is the daughter of Lluvia and the stepdaughter of Ultimo Guerrero. She has been touring Japan with Stardom for an entire month while also appearing in a few Japanese indies here and there.
DDT/TOKYO JOSHI PRO/GCW “DDT VS TJPW VS GCW”, 19/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Rika Tatsumi & Antonio Honda Vs Kidd Bandit & Shota
2. 3 Way Match: MAO & Yoshihiko Vs Jimmy Lloyd & Alec Price Vs Jack Cartwheel & Kazuma Sumi
3. Special Tag Match: Mance Warner & Shunma Katsumata Vs John Wayne Murdoch & Matt Tremont
4. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki, Ilusion & Dark Sheik Vs Super Crazy, Marcus Mathers & Shoko Nakajima
5. Special Tag Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA & Masha Slamovich Vs Shinya Aoki & Miyu Yamashita
What in the hell is this card, man? There’s still more matches to be added too! Dark Sheik siding with DAMNATION T.A to face the Fire Pro random button trio of Super Crazy, Marcus Mathers & Shoko Nakajima. One time opponents Mance Warner and Shunma Katsumata now teaming up to face the deathmatch duo of John Wayne Murdoch & Matt Tremont. Mathers isn’t the only WWE ID talent involved because Jack Cartwheel is booked too. Also Kidd Bandit is there before heading over to Japan for a tour with ZERO1.
DDT “DDT HARU NO KEN FESTIVAL ~STILL GOING ON IN UENO~”, 23/04/2025 Tokyo Ueno Park Outdoor Stage
1. Keigo Nakamura Send Off Match ~ Special Single Match: Yuki Ueno Vs Keigo Nakamura
Soon Keigo Nakamura will be travelling overseas to go on an indefinite excursion. His final match in Japan with DDT will be against Yuki Ueno.
DDT “SAPPORO NIGHT CRUSH”, 26/04/2025 Hokkaido Sapporo Sun Plaza
1. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Noriyuki Yoshida & Daichi Sato Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Tomoya & Yuki Ishida
2. Sapporo’s Famous Trial Singles Best Of Two Matches – First Round!!: Akito Vs Kazuki Hirata
3. Special Single Match: HARASHIMA Vs Danshoku Dieno
DDT returning to Sapporo means Tomoya and Noriyuki Yoshida get their annual bookings with the company.
DDT “MENKOI DAY SMASH”, 27/04/2025 Hokkaido Sapporo Sun Plaza
1. Special 6-Man Tag Match: HARASHIMA, Tomoya & Noriyuki Yoshida Vs Danshoku Dieno, Yuya Koroku & Kazuma Sumi
2. Sapporo’s Famous Trial Singles Best Of Two Matches – Second Round!!: Akito Vs Kazuki Hirata
3. Special Tag Match: MAO & KANON Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida
DDT is also putting on a two match series between Akito and Kazuki Hirata during the weekend in Sapporo.
DDT “D GENERATIONS 2 ~THERE’S NO LIMIT TO GROWING PAINS~”, 14/05/2025 Tokyo Ueno Park Outdoor Stage
1. Special Single Match: To-y Vs Daichi Sato
2. Special Single Match: Keisuke Ishii Vs Yuki Ishida
3. Special Tag Match: Shigehiro Irie & Shota Vs Takeshi Masada & Yuya Koroku
The first D GENERATIONS show ended with a declaration of war between DDT’s current youth movement against the Young Communication generation, a previous iteration of then DDT rookies wanting to prove themselves.
1. Special Single Match: Suwama Vs Muscle Sakai
2. Special Single Match: Yuji Nagata Vs Ken Ohka
Ken Ohka has always looked up to Yuji Nagata for being “Mr. IWGP”. He can never make his dream come true of becoming a great wrestler like Nagata is but he wants to test his unorthodox wrestling abilities against his wrestling hero.
What kind of wheeling and dealing might Sanshiro Takagi get out of booking Suwama for his next MatchMake & Agent show? Maybe Muscle Sakai can give Suwama some savvy business tips for managing Pro Wrestling Evolution.
The end of the summer turned out to not go as planned for a few people. Maki Itoh suffered a hand injury that cut short her latest GCW tour. Yuna Manase had some travel problems get in the way of her first time visit to America but at least her story ended happily for her. She ended up winning a championship over there! Things went smoother for Tokyo Joshi Pro as their co-promoted show with EVE in England was a big success. The EVE promoters have their own stories to tell about searching for venues, dealing with the ticket operators and having last minute changes with their production team but once the show began it could not have gone any better in the venue s far as I could tell. Miyu Yamashita also had time to wrestle in a few other places before she heads back to Japan.
The end of the month also had Konosuke Takeshita return to AEW. After his performance in the G1 Climax reminded everyone of his talents (not that we should need any reminding), there is understandably a lack of enthusiasm online to see him go back to AEW where his main role is to stand behind Don Callis’ shoulder week after week. That his first match back happened on Rampage doesn’t do much to quell those worries. With that said though it was a cracking match anyway. If the second Continental Classic happens this year we’re probably still over a month or to away from it.
Heading into September we’re going to see Itoh go back to America. It does not sound like she’s at 100% but she isn’t going to say no to making some more money over there if she’s in any way able to. Some TJPW wrestlers will be spreading their wings around Asia with championships there for the taking. There is a new company opening up in Canada that Takeshita and Yamashita will appear in. Wrestling fans in general might do well to pay attention to that place in regards to whether or not it will effect TNA in the long run given who has been associated with it so far. But if you don’t care about that and want to keep talk to just DDT and TJPW, there is the road to Seattle coming up. We’ll be there before you know it!
AEW “RAMPAGE”, 28/08/2024 (Aired 30/08/2024) State Farm Arena, Champaign, Illinois, USA
1. 4 Way Match: Konosuke Takeshita Vs The Beast Mortos Vs Komander Vs Lio Rush
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Results
GCW “NOW AND FOREVER”, 02/08/2024 TempleLive Cleveland Masonic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
1. GCW Extreme Title: Maki Itoh (c) defeated John Wayne Murdoch with a School Boy (5:51). *V2 for Maki Itoh.
Itoh’s first GCW appearance of her tour was against one of the promotion’s death match specialists John Wayne Murdoch. It was also made into a GCW Extreme Title defence. Murdoch got under Itoh’s skin early when he grabbed a “Respect Maki Itoh Or Die” sign and stomped on it in the ring. He then tried to win her over by allowing Itoh to sing for the fans but that was only so he could attack her from behind. Murdhoch brought in a steel chair and tried to Suplex Itoh onto it. Itoh avoided the move and gave Murdoch a Stunner, making him land back and head first into the chair. She then rolled him up with a School Boy to win the match and retain the Extreme Title.
GCW “CAN I TRUST YOU?”, 04/08/2024 House Of Independents, Asbury Park, New Jersey, USA
1. GCW Extreme Title: Maki Itoh (c) defeated Allie Katch with a Mouse Trap (8:32). *V3 for Maki Itoh.
Later in the weekend Itoh had another Extreme Title defence, this time against Allie Katch. The two get along and have teamed together in the past so their match was all trying to outdo each other. Itoh tried to trick Katch with crocodile tears so Katch decided to lie down and let Itoh do a Kokeshi Headbutt. Except Katch got back up and cut her off to take control of the match. Itoh fired up when her head hit the turnbuckle and she hit a Draping DDT onto the ring apron. The fight came down to duelling strikes and then Itoh trying several different pinning combinations. She finally got the three count on Katch by giving her the Mouse Trap cradle.
SPW “HARDCORE ISLAND 2: A FINE CITY”, 16/08/2024 Foo Chow Building, Singapore
1. 3 Way Match: Alexis Lee defeated Miyu Yamashita and Kaya Toribami when Lee pinned Toribami after the Skull Kick from Yamashita (?:??).
Over in Singapore both Yamashita and Kaya Toribami were flying the flag for TJPW in a 3 Way Match against Alexis Lee. It was every woman for herself and Lee took advantage of that. Yamashita knocked down Toribami with the Skull Kick only for Lee to steal the pin.
KITSUNE “YABAI!”, 18/08/2024 1110 Bates Ave, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. Kitsune World Title: Yuna Manase defeated Megan Bayne and J-Rod when Manase pinned J-Rod with a Lariat (10:11). *Yuna Manase becomes the 2nd Kitsune World Champion!
It was a long journey for Manase to get to America (more details at the end of the report) but she finally got there and ended up winning a championship! Due to circumstances with her visa, Sayaka Unagi couldn’t make the show and had to vacate the Kitsune World Title. It was now up for grabs in the 3 Way Match that Manase was booked in against J-Rod and Megan Bayne. At one point Manase and Bayne worked together and gave J-Rod the Doomsday Device. Bayne was then taken out of play by J-Rod’s Spear. J-Rod went for the same move on Manase but missed and hit the corner. Manase knocked her down with the Lariat and got the three count to win the title! She celebrated by getting the fans to shout “We are Ganbare!” along with her.
EVE/TOKYO JOSHI PRO “EVE X TJPW: JAPAN & UK WRESTLING UNITE!”, 24/08/2024 Conway Hall, London, England ??? Fans – Unannounced
0. Triple Threat Match: Skye Smitson defeated Anita Vaughan and Kasey when Smitson pinned Vaughan with the Smitson Effect (7:49)
1. Mahiro Kiryu defeated HIMAWARI with the Spinebuster (11:15).
2. Alex Windsor defeated Lena Kross with a Sharpshooter (11:46).
3. Raku defeated Session Moth Martina with the Hurricane Turn (6:18).
4. Zizi & Safire Reed Vs Aja Kong & Max The Impaler defeated Zizi & Safire Reed when Kong pinned Reed with the 2nd Rope Diving Elbow Drop (11:06).
5. EVE Title: Nina Samuels (c) defeated Miyu Yamashita with the Starstruck (19:39). *V5 for Nina Samuels.
AEW “RAMPAGE”, 28/08/2024 (Aired 30/08/2024) State Farm Arena, Champaign, Illinois, USA
1. 4 Way Match: Konosuke Takeshita defeated The Beast Mortos, Komander (w/ Alex Abrahantes) and Lio Rush when Takeshita pinned Komander with the Raging Fire (13:53).
Takeshita’s first appearance in AEW since returning from the G1 was for a wild 4 Way Match against The Beast Mortos, Komander and Lio Rush. He was back to using his actual AEW theme and Callis kept himself to the commentary table. The match was wild as you had the power and speed of Takeshita and Mortos along with the speed and agility of Komander and Rush all mixing up together. Mortos soon wiped out Rush with a Spear and broke Komander over his knee. Takeshita then hit Mortos with the Powerdrive Knee to get rid of him. Komander tried to roll up Takeshita but got a nearfall. Takeshita spun him into the Blue Thunder Bomb and used the Raging Fire to get the win.
MLW “SUMMER OF THE BEASTS”, 29/08/2024 Melrose Ballroom, New York City, New York, USA
1. Delmi Exo defeated Miyu Yamashita with the Delmi Driver (6:15).
In an MLW rematch from last December, Delmi Exo got her win back from Yamashita. By winning the match Exo declared herself the No. 1 contender for the MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title.
GCW “LIVE FAST DIE YOUNG”, 31/08/2024 Thalia Hall, Chicago, Illinois, USA
1. Megan Bayne defeated Miyu Yamashita by Disqualification when Broski Jimmy attacked Bayne with a Chair (15:38).
The rematch between Yamashita and Bayne from DREAMWAVE earlier this year took place in GCW but was ruined by outside interference. Bayne gave Yamashita a Choke Slam and was about to use the Tombstone Piledriver when Broski Jimmy ran into the ring with a chair and hit Bayne with it. Yamashita stopped the attack and gave Jimmy the Skull Kick. Bayne got her hands on him too with a Choke Slam and Yamashita followed up by hitting Jimmy over the head with the chair! Bayne then finished him off with the Tombstone. After that was done the two women had a stare down before deciding to shake each other’s hands.
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Upcoming Appearances
F1RST “SATURDAY NIGHT NITRO”, 07/09/2024 Mall Of America, Bloomington, Minnesota, USA
1. Allie Katch & Effy Vs Danhausen & Maki Itoh
The second half of Itoh’s American tour is going ahead despite her injury. One of her next matches will be to team with Danhausen to take on Bussy. That does not sound like the most physically demanding of matchups so even if her hand is not at 100% she’ll be find going out there. The F1RST show is also noteworthy because it is their annual visit to the Mall Of America were the first episode of WCW Nitro was famously taped. This is the third year in a row F1RST are running a show there.
MKW “CHAMPIONSHIP SUPERCARD FROM SHANGHAI”, 14/09/2024 Bandai Namco Shanghai Base, Shanghai, China
1. Queen Of Asia Title: Yuki Kamifuku (c) Vs Crystal
The next Queen Of Asia Title defence is taking place in China next month. Crystal believes Yuki Kamifuku is not ready to take on an opponent with her kind of wrath, tenacity and power.
GCW “BAD ONE”, 14/09/2024 Harpos Concert Center, Detroit, Michigan, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs Kylie Rae
Even after Itoh pulled out of her August dates, GCW continued to promote her September appearances so they already knew how long her recovery would take. Her match with Kyle Rae that was meant to happen on 31st August will now take place on 14th September.
GCW “THA G-CODE”, 15/09/2024 Water Street Music Hall, Rochester, New York, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs X
This will be the weekend before “WRESTLE PRINCESS V” back in Japan so she will at least get some ring rust off her before heading back to TJPW.
DPW “CAROLINA CLASSIC”, 15/09/2024 Durham Convention Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA
1. Battle Of The Best – Round 2: Shoko Nakajima Vs Trish Adora
Another visit to Deadlock Pro for Shoko Nakajima as she continues the inaugural Battle Of The Best tournament. She faces Trish Adora in Round 2 and the winner advances to the final scheduled for 13th October.
SETUP “CHAOPHRAYA VOYAGE: 12TH ANNIVERSARY OF THAI WRESTLING”, 28/09/2024 The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand
1. SETUP All Asia Women’s Title – 3 Way Match: Matcha (c) Vs Raku Vs Pom Harajuku
Fresh back from visiting England, Raku is going to travel again this time to Thailand and with Pom Harajuku following her. The travel buddies will be opponents though as they both take on Matcha for the SETUP All Asia Women’s Title in a 3 Way free for all.
MAPLE LEAF PRO “FORGED IN EXCELLENCE – NIGHT 1”, 19/10/2024 St. Clair College, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. Josh Alexander Vs Konosuke Takeshita?
Some interesting news coming out of the Canadian scene. Scott D’Amore was fired as president of TNA back in February and in the meantime went about establishing a new venture called Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling. Takeshita will be there for the debut weekend of shows. The first match announced for the weekend is Takeshita against Josh Alexander in a rematch of their 20 minute draw from Garden State Pro Wrestling back in July 2022. Maple Leaf Pro haven’t made clear yet if the match is happening on Night 1 or Night 2.
MAPLE LEAF PRO “FORGED IN EXCELLENCE – NIGHT 2”, 20/10/2024 St. Clair College, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. Josh Alexander Vs Konosuke Takeshita?
Yamashita will also be booked for both shows that weekend.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO/DEFY “BRIGHT EYES”, 09/11/2024 Washington Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA
The twelve wrestlers from TJPW making the trip are Miu Watanabe, Suzume, Arisu Endo, Yuki Kamifuku, Miyu Yamashita, Shoko Nakajima, Rika Tatsumi, Mizuki, Maki Itoh, Yuki Aino, Moka Miyamoto and Wakana Uehara. There will be around 6-8 local or American wrestlers also on the card for a total of 6 or 7 matches.
DDT/DEFY “DDT IN UTERO”, 09/11/2024 Washington Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA
Takeshita is the first DDT wrestler announced to be on the show.
DDT/TOKYO JOSHI PRO/DEFY “TRIANGLER DTD”, 10/11/2024 Washington Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA
Both Takeshita and the dozen TJPW wrestlers will also be at the weekend finale.
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Cancelled Appearances
KITSUNE “LOVE MY SHOW!”, 17/08/2024 Brick X Brick, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. Aspyn Rose & Yuna Manase Vs Aria Perkins & Delmi Exo
As mentioned above Manase had a hell of an ordeal to go through just to make it to America. Travel from Japan was heavily effected by an incoming typhoon that week and her flight was delayed by many hours. So her first match for Kitsune the day before her title match had to be changed into something without her. Then when she finally made it to America it still took a few more hours to get through immigration customs.
GCW “NO SIGNAL IN THE HILLS PT. 4”, 17/08/2024 Ukrainian Culture Center, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. Nick Gage & Maki Itoh Vs Mance Warner & Broski Jimmy
Itoh’s injury cancelled not one but two matches against Mance Warner this month. She would have faced him for the GCW World Title in Japan and then a tag match in America a few days later.
GCW “SAVE ME”, 18/08/2024 Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs X
No appearance at Salt Lake City for Itoh either.
GCW “HOMECOMING – NIGHT 1”, 24/08/2024 The Showboat, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs Kerry Morton
I think Kerry Morton lost his booking because he didn’t wrestle on the show from what I could find.
GCW “HOMECOMING – NIGHT 2”, 25/08/2024 The Showboat, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs X
Itoh probably missed out on a few extra Extreme Title defences because of her injury. She is still the champion as far as I’m aware.
GCW “LIVE FAST DIE YOUNG”, 31/08/2024 Thalia Hall, Chicago, Illinois, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs Kylie Rae
Kylie Rae ended up facing Brooke Havok instead.
INSPIRE A.D. “MAY THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN”, 01/09/2024 Empire Control Room, Austin, Texas, USA
The GCW tour of Japan continued after their joint show with DDT. They ran two more shows this week both taking place in Shinjuku FACE. The shows also had presence from DDT and Tokyo Joshi Pro. The fact that DDT were promoting the cards and posted the results on their website pretty much tells us they had a hand behind the scenes too. I’m just going to focus on the matches relating to both DDT and TJPW in this post.
GCW “THE SKY IS THE LIMIT”, 13/08/2024 Shinjuku FACE 326 Fans
1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Broski Jimmy by TKO with the Skull Kick (7:17).
2. GCW Extreme Title: Maki Itoh (c) defeated The Great Sasuke with a Cast Strike (11:49). *V3 for Maki Itoh.
3. Joey Janella defeated Marcus Mathers with the Package Piledriver (19:37).
4. Effy, Allie Katch & Dark Sheik defeated Aja Kong, Masashi Takeda & MAO when Sheik pinned Kong with the Diving Leg Drop (10:17).
5. Danhausen defeated Kikutaro with a Roll Up (10:43).
6. Rina Yamashita & Masha Slamovich defeated Gringo Loco & Violento Jack when Yamashita pinned Jack after the Super Power Bomb (18:39).
7. GCW World Title: Mance Warner (c) defeated 1 Called Manders with the Impaler DDT (22:47). *V9 for Mance Warner.
MAO was part of a wild trio put together to take on Thrussy. He teamed with both Masashi Takeda and Aja Kong! Thrussy needed some artillery to even the odds so Allie Katch brought out a water pistol. MAO countered that by finding two bananas and using them to point at everyone like they were guns. That plan backfired when Effy grabbed MAO and forced him to point the bananas on himself. Thrussy were able to gang up on Kong and Dark Sheik hit the Diving Leg Drop on her for the victory. It still took all three members of Thrussy to pile on top of Kong to get the pinfall.
Maki Itoh went into her match against The Great Sasuke with a hand injury, adding more danger since it was also a GCW Extreme Title defence. Sasuke wanted it to be a fair fight so he tried using his spiritual abilities to heal Itoh’s injury. He then targeted her injured hand anyway. Itoh got revenge by attacking Sasuke with a pizza cutter and then striking him with her cast after a ref bump. It dazed Sasuke long enough for the referee to recover and count Itoh’s pin on him.
It is well known by now just how deadly Miyu Yamashita’s Skull Kick is. Today she won her match by Referee Stoppage because the move knocked out Broski Jimmy!
GCW “YOU ONLY DIE ONCE”, 14/08/2024 Shinjuku FACE 375 Fans
1. JCW Title: Masha Slamovich (c) defeated Marcus Mathers with the Half Package Piledriver (15:20). *V8 for Masha Slamovich.
2. Allie Katch & Dark Sheik defeated Shoko Nakajima & Kaya Toribami when Sheik pinned Toribami with the Welcome to Die (10:14).
3. Tetsuya Endo defeated Gringo Loco with a Tornado Clutch (14:53).
4. GCW Ultraviolent Title: Rina Yamashita (c) defeated 1 Called Manders with the Splash Mountain onto the Chair (13:23). *V19 for Rina Yamashita.
5. 6-Way Match: Andreza Giant Panda defeated Joey Janela, Broski Jimmy, Kikutaro, Danhausen and Effy when Andreza pinned Janela & Jimmy with the Andreza Press (9:29).
6. GCW World Title: Mance Warner (c) defeated Takayuki Ueki with the Avalanche Impaler DDT onto the Chair (21:03). *V10 for Mance Warner.
The third and final show of the tour had a few changes to the lineup because of injuries. The big one was Itoh being unable to finish the tour. Her hand injury involves a broken bone so she couldn’t compete in the GCW World Title Match with Mance Warner. Her spot was taken by Takayuki Ueki but Itoh still made an appearance during the match to attack both wrestlers with her pizza cutter.
MAO was thrown into a 6 Way Scramble with a colorful collection of characters. Broski Jimmy recovered from his knockout from the night before, Joey Janela and Effy both wanted to party, Danhausen and Kikutaro had unfinished business but the one who dominated the match more than anyone else was Andreza Giant Panda! Andreza crushed the opposition and pinned both Janela and Jimmy to become the winner.
Zayne was among the injuries that changed the card around. DDT sent in Tetsuya Endo to be his replacement. His match on the show was against Gringo Loco and it turned into a game of one-upmanship. Variations of the One Man Spanish Fly in particular became the point of contention between them. Endo used the Tetsuya In The Sky while Gringo pulled out a Backwards Spanish Fly from the top rope. Soon the aerial attacks were being blocked so Endo pulled out a Tornado Clutch to grab the win in a close contest.
TJPW were also represented on the show by the team of Shoko Nakajima & Kaya Toribami. The two of them fought against The Mothership of Katch & Sheik. The speed and agility of the TJPW duo wasn’t enough to beat the GCW team. Instead Sheik pinned Toribami with the Welcome To Die.
DDT/GCW “NEVER ENDING NOISY SUMMER”, 12/08/2024 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 999 Fans – No Vacancy
1. Special 8-Man Tag Match: Maki Itoh, Chris Brookes, Takeshi Masada & Marcus Mathers defeated Yuki Ueno, Masha Slamovich, Yuni & Ilusion when Itoh pinned Ilusion after the 450 Splash from Mathers (15:02).
2. DDT Variety Team Vs The Mothership: Allie Katch & Dark Sheik defeated Kazuki Hirata & Antonio Honda when Sheik pinned Hirata with the Diving Leg Drop (10:30).
3. DDT Vs GCW Special Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & KANON defeated Rina Yamashita & Broski Jimmy when Sasaki pinned Jimmy after the Freedom Call (12:36).
4. DDT Vs GCW Special Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino defeated Gringo Loco & 1 Called Manders when Endo pinned Loco with the Burning Star Press (14:47).
5. DDT Vs GCW Special Single Match: Danshoku Dieno Vs Effy ended in a No Contest (9:48).
6. GCW World Title – 3 Way Hardcore Match: Mance Warner (c) defeated Shunma Katsumata and Joey Janela when Warner pinned Katsumata with the Impaler DDT (18:26). *V8 for Mance Warner.
7. DDT Universal Title: MAO (c) defeated Alex Zayne by Referee Stoppage (8:17). *V10 for MAO.
As part of this year’s tour of Japan, GCW teamed up with DDT to put everything together. This includes the opening night where both promotions held a joint show at Korakuen Hall mixing their two rosters together. The main event would have been MAO’s crowning moment of his DDT Universal Title reign because he reached his 10th successful defence. Unfortunately no one was happy with how it went. Alex Zayne injured his ankle during a spot outside the ring where he did a backflip off of the stage and landed on his feet. The landing seemed to have jacked in his ankle and despite making the effort to get back into the ring, Yukinori Matsui made the call to end the match and reward MAO the victory by TKO. In an update since the show ended, Zayne got an X-ray and the results showed no serious damage was done. MAO promised to give him a rematch. He is under the impression that DDT and GCW will do a show like this again next year.
Shunma Katsumata was inserted into the big fed over the GCW World Title. The champion Mance Warner and top contender Joey Janela are in the middle of several fights over the belt and the latest battle was a 3 Way Hardcore Match with Katsumata as the third wheel. Tables, ladders, chairs and toy blocks were all used in the match. Warner also used handcuffs on Katsumata before attacking him with a stapler, a wrench and a screwdriver to bust him open. Katsumata was still able to fight while handcuffed and eventually the key was found to free him. He put Janela through the table with the Totonou Splash but Warner stole the win by giving Katsumata the Impaler DDT right afterwards. Janela promised to one day beat Warner for the GCW Title and also beat Katsumata so he can be the DDT Extreme Champion again. Katsumata wants to wrestle at GCW shows in America more often and defend the Extreme Title over there. He thinks it wouldn’t be any fun if these matches only happened in Japan.
People were warned in advance about the Danshoku Dieno Vs Effy match and those expectations were met. Before the match even began the audience were told to raise their hands if they wanted to be kissed by Dieno. GCW’s ring announcer Emil Jay was among the volunteers. Effy offered Dieno a bracelet when the match began but Dieno was too shy to take it. The actual wrestling quickly turned intimate causing Hisaya Imabayashi to enter the ring and demand them to take the match seriously. The two wrestlers obliged but it didn’t take long for the mood to get sensual again. A missed Lip Lock from Dieno knocked out Matsui so Daisuke Kiso became the replacement ref. He was then taken out of action by a Lip Lock from Effy. GCW sent out their referee Dan Perch to sort things out but Dieno & Effy joined forces to give him a Doomsday Lip Lock! One of GCW’s other referees on site Scarlette Donovan then ran in hoping to be part of the fun but neither Dieno nor Effy were interested. They gave her a Double Brainbuster instead. Referee vengeance finally happened when Adam Gault avoided the attack and gave Effy a Stunner followed by a Standing Moonsault. Dieno caught him in the Lip Lock though and formed the Hell Gate with Makoto Oishi. Imabayashi had enough because they are on a live broadcast but Effy threw him into the Hell Gate. By this point Matsui had no choice but to call off the match. Dieno and Effy celebrated together anyway. They also asked DDT to turn the 4 Way Match they are both in on 15th August into a tag match so they can be partners in more ways than one.
BURNING bounced back from losing the KO-D Tag Team Titles over the weekend by winning their DDT Vs GCW match. Gringo Loco & 1 Called Manders shared a similar tag team dynamic of agility and strength working together. Loco gave Tetsuya Endo a One Man Spanish Fly from the top rope. Manders followed up with a Moonsault but Endo rolled out of the way. Yuki Iino took down Manders with a Spear, leaving Endo to give Loco the Swivel Torture Rack Bomb and then the Burning Star Press for the win.
DDT also beat GCW when DAMNATION T.A were victorious against the unusual pairing of Rina Yamashita & Broski Jimmy. There was some help from MJ Paul along the way but KANON found himself in danger when the other team attacked him with chairs. Daisuke Sasaki got some momentum back by putting Lloyd in La Mistica Crossface Lock but Yamashita broke the hold. KANON returned and with Sasaki left Lloyd beaten with the Freedom Call. KANON is relieved because he didn’t want to lose his Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Shield or risk having it go overseas. Sasaki just hated everything about today. His post-match comments? “Fuck Jimmy! Fuck Yamashita! Fuck GCW! Fuck DDT! Fuck off everything!”
Together Allie Katch & Dark Sheik are known as The Mothership and they have experienced a lot that makes pro wrestling weird and wonderful. Even so they hadn’t met a team quite like Antonio Honda & Kazuki Hirata. Honda got their attention by telling his Gongitsune joke in English. Gon wants to enter the Olympics and play table tennis but when he found a place to train he found out it was “Table Penis” instead! Hirata tried to power up with the Hirata GO! glasses but The Mothership stopped him and put the glasses on themselves. All four wrestlers danced and continued fighting to the music. It ended with Sheik pinning Hirata with the Diving Leg Drop.
Normally when Maki Itoh wrestles in Japan it is for Tokyo Joshi Pro but today she was here as a GCW wrestler and leader of the NEO Itoh Respect Army. She got upset when Yuki Ueno tried to act cuter than her. It caused a chain reaction where the rest of Itoh’s team and even referee Gault sulked with her until Ueno tagged out. Yuni tagged in and tried to cheer them all up but it was all a trap so they could take control of the match. Ueno got back in and did well against both Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada but he found a tough challenge in Marcus Mathers. Itoh also spent a lot of the match fighting with Masha Slamovich. Yuni, Slamovich & Ilusion all hit dives to the outside. Itoh considered joining in but had cold feet so Brookes gave her a Military Press out of the ring onto everyone outside. Poor Ilusion then got ganged up on. He was given the Triangle Enzui from Masada, the Praying Mantis Bomb from Brookes, the I.S.D from Itoh and then the 450 Splash from Mathers. Itoh took the spoils by pinning Ilusion after all of that.
Summer is here and everyone has either gone travelling or are getting their all their plans in order. Funny thing is the people usually being covered for their overseas matches spent most of July wrestling back in Japan. Konosuke Takeshita had a few AEW matches over and done with before he got ready for the G1 Climax. Then Maki Itoh was wrestling in Tokyo Joshi Pro finishing off her latest dates with them before she goes on another GCW tour. So most of the results below are filled up by Miyu Yamashita, Shoko Nakajima and CDK related matches.
It’s the rest of the summer that’s going to get busy. A lot of Itoh matches in GCW with Yamashita popping up here and there along the way. Also some TJPW appearances in Southeast Asia and the USA debut of Yuna Manase are all coming up soon. Then there is the matter of DDT and TJPW holding shows abroad with local promotions in places like London and Seattle. Grab some water and stay hydrated because it’s going to be a busy summer of wrestling everywhere.
Video starts at 2:27:50 for Match #1. Go to 2:52:58 for Match #2. IWA JAPAN “HARDCORE FOREVER”, 27/07/2024 The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand
1. IWA Japan SETUP World Tag Team Titles – 3 Way Hardcore Match: Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi (c) Vs Mister Suchart & Anont Alonzo Vs Ultramantis Black & Dr. Gore Black (w/ Kappa Kozo & Kappa Jr.)
2. IWA Japan SETUP World Title: Ultramantis Black (c) (w/ Dr. Gore Black, Kappa Kozo & Kappa Jr.) Vs Chris Brookes (w/ Masahiro Takanashi)
GCW “JOSH BARNETT’S BLOODSPORT XI”, 28/07/2024 Roulette Intermedium, New York City, New York, USA
1. Shayna Baszler Vs Miyu Yamashita
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Results
AEW “RAMPAGE”, 03/07/2024 (Aired 05/07/2024) Wintrust Arena, Chicago, Illinois, USA
1. Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher defeated Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen when Fletcher pinned Quen with the Kneeling Piledriver (10:10).
Takeshita had bigger stuff to prepare for this month but still got some ring time in AEW before heading back to Japan. He and Kyle Fletcher fought against Private Party, surviving a close call against them. Isiah Kassidy joked around to promote Shark Week and then landed the Swanton Bomb on Fletcher. Marq Quen’s 450 Splash afterwards though was blocked by Fletcher’s knees and Takeshita came in to German Suplex him away. Private Party fought back with a Top Rope Frankensteiner into the Cutter to Takeshita followed by the Silly String to Fletcher. Takeshita kicked out of Quen’s 450 Splash, took out both members with Lariats and then gave Kassidy the Blue Thunder Bomb. Fletcher then got to finish off Kassidy with the Kneeling Piledriver.
DPW “DPW LIVE 7”, 06/07/2024 NC State Fairgrounds, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
1. Battle Of The Best – Round 1: Shoko Nakajima defeated Masha Slamovich with the Diving Senton (16:16).
Shoko Nakajima touched down on DPW and left North Carolina with a big victory against Masha Slamovich despite taking some heavy hits from her. Slamovich used a Sit Down Power Bomb and also countered the Unmanned Local Train Hold into a Running Air Raid Crash that landed right into a bottom turnbuckle. But Nakajima used the top ropes against Slamovich in order to use a Power Bomb of her own. Slamovich tried using the Power Bomb again but Nakajima slipped down and pulled her into the Double Arm DDT. After that it took a Diving Senton to finish her off and make Nakajima advance to the next round of Battle Of The Best.
1. Konosuke Takeshita defeated Tommy Billington with the Powerdrive Knee (13:29).
Takeshita’s last AEW appearance for the month was a noteworthy one because his opponent was Tommy Billington, the nephew of the late Dynamite Kid! The new generation Dynamite Kid gave Takeshita a good challenge but fell to the Powerdrive Knee. Don Callis then attempted to recruit Billington to The Don Callis Family by bringing up his family’s heritage. But that was just a trap for Takeshita and the rest of The Family to attack Billington from behind until FTR ran down to save him.
NORTH WRESTLING “THUNDER STRUCK 2”, 13/07/2024 Walker Dome, Newcastle, England
1. Lizzy Evo defeated Miyu Yamashita with an Inside Cradle (13:45).
This was a case of defeat being snatched from the jaws of victory here. Yamashita seemed to have a lot of the match under control until Lizzy Evo saw an opening to hit her with a Knee Strike to the face and then roll her into a Small Package for the three count out of nowhere. For Evo the result is payback for Yamashita beating her in EVE last year.
IWA JAPAN “HARDCORE FOREVER”, 27/07/2024 The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand
1. IWA Japan SETUP World Tag Team Titles – 3 Way Hardcore Match: Mister Suchart & Anont Alonzo defeated Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi (c) and Ultramantis Black & Dr. Gore Black (w/ Kappa Kozo & Kappa Jr.) when Alonzo pinned Gore after a Choke Slam/Power Bomb Combo through the Table (?:??). *CDK fails in V2. THE GOOD DEAL becomes the 2nd IWA Japan SETUP World Tag Team Champions!
2. IWA Japan SETUP World Title: Ultramantis Black (c) (w/ Dr. Gore Black, Kappa Kozo & Kappa Jr.) defeated Chris Brookes (w/ Masahiro Takanashi) with a School Boy (?:??). *V1 for Ultramantis Black.
Whenever CDK goes over to Thailand for SETUP Pro Wrestling that’s enough trouble to handle by itself. This however was not just a SETUP show. It was an event using the IWA Japan banner to celebrate 30 years of the promotion’s existance. CDK came over to defend the IWA Japan SETUP World Tag Team Titles in a Hardcore 3 Way Match. They had to fight the previous champions THE GOOD DEAL as well as the UMA Corps pairing of Ultramantis Black and Dr. Gore Black. Things went crazy as everybody fought outside the ring. Mister Suchart even got on a motor scooter and crashed it into everyone at ringside! A stapler gun was brought into the ring for Brookes and Ultramantis to staple each other with. Ultramantis then took advantage of miscommunication between CDK to put Brookes through a mini ironing board with a Back Drop. Masahiro Takanashi was also taken out by Dr. Gore attacking him with a toilet seat. From that point on CDK were too hurt to do anything and THE GOOD DEAL put Gore through a table. Anont Alonzo pinned him afterwards to win the belts.
It did not end there though. Earlier in the show the brand new IWA Japan SETUP World Title was introduced to the world. However Ultramantis and the UMA Corps launched an attack to steal the belt. Brookes was so mad to lose the tag titles in the main event without being pinned that he challenged Ultramantis for a World Title match straight away! Ultramantis refused but then attacked Brookes with the belt, causing the impromptu match to begin. Brookes fought back from the disadvantage and Takanashi was still there to cut off interference from the UMA Corps. But Dr. Gore threw a chair into Brookes’ face at ringside allowing Ultramantis to roll him up and escape with his first successful title defence. The UMA Corps continued to attack CDK until THE GOOD DEAL returned to save the day.
GCW “JOSH BARNETT’S BLOODSPORT XI”, 28/07/2024 Roulette Intermedium, New York City, New York, USA
1. Shayna Baszler defeated Miyu Yamashita by TKO (8:37).
If there is any big story to talk about in this month’s article it is this one. Yamashita taking part in GCW’s Bloodsport event is notable in itself. She gave shoot boxing a go pretty early into her pro wrestling career and has the kind of martial arts cred that would get you booked for a show like this. The big news though was who they chose to be her opponent. In the main event she took on Shayna Baszler from WWE! It’s the latest move from WWE to open themselves up and show they are willing to work with other wrestling companies. It’s been noted online that the Bloodsport show featured talent from WWE/NXT, TNA, AEW/ROH, NJPW’s American arm, MLW and TJPW. Baszler ended up beating Yamashita by catching her Skull Kick, turning it into a Tombstone and then beginning to ground and pound her until the referee stepped in to stop the fight.
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Upcoming Appearances
GCW “NOW AND FOREVER”, 02/08/2024 TempleLive Cleveland Masonic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs John Wayne Murdoch
August is going to be a GCW month for Maki Itoh both in America and Japan. Her next tour begins with an unexpected opponent. She’s taking on one of their most violent wrestlers John Wayne Murdoch. He won the Tournament Of Survival back in June but his win-loss record in the company since then hasn’t been great.
GCW “CAN I TRUST YOU?”, 04/08/2024 House Of Independents, Asbury Park, New Jersey, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs X
Itoh does not have a match announced for the show yet. This date was on her list of advertised bookings last month. The full card seems to have been shown since then and Blake Christian just so happens to have a “Pick Your Poison” style mystery opponent to be announced that day… I don’t see where else she will fit if she is still going to be there.
GCW “THE SKY IS THE LIMIT”, 13/08/2024 Shinjuku FACE, Tokyo, Japan
1. Broski Jimmy Vs Miyu Yamashita
2. The Great Sasuke Vs Maki Itoh
Itoh is also representing GCW for their Japan tour that is going on with some help from DDT. In a matchup that only sounds more mind bending the more I think of it, Itoh is going to fight The Great Sasuke! Yamashita will be on one of the shows too facing Broski Jimmy. That’s another match that I would never expect but more for head scratchy reasons.
GCW “YOU ONLY DIE ONCE”, 14/08/2024 Shinjuku FACE, Tokyo, Japan
1. Allie Katch & Dark Sheik Vs Kaya Toribami & Shoko Nakajima
2. GCW World Title: Mance Warner (c) Vs Maki Itoh
I made a prediction for this year that Itoh is going to win the GCW World Title. If it ever comes true then this will be the show to do it! It won’t though because GCW are all in on Mance Warner as their top champion while Itoh already holds the GCW Extreme Title but just imagine if they did.
Also added is a GCW Vs TJPW tag match. The visitors (or are they the home team because it’s GCW?) Allie Katch & Dark Sheik take on Kaya Toribami & Shoko Nakajima. I’ll probably make a separate post for the GCW Japan results since those matches are happening in Japan and DDT is involved with promoting the whole tour.
SPW “HARDCORE ISLAND 2: A FINE CITY”, 16/08/2024 Foo Chow Building, Singapore
1. 3 Way Match: Alexis Lee Vs Miyu Yamashita Vs Kaya Toribami
Now that Alexis Lee got to wrestle in Japan and fully integrate herself into TJPW it’s time to send more people back over to Singapore Pro Wrestling. This time Lee will be in a 3 Way Match against two TJPW wrestlers. Yamashita and Toribami are on board to go face her in her home country.
KITSUNE “LOVE MY SHOW!”, 17/08/2024 Brick X Brick, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. Yuna Manase Vs X
I was wondering how long it was going to take until I get to write about more of the American “Joshi” promotions that are currently around. Kitsune emerged around the same time period as SPARK Joshi and Sukeban. This one though has actually been able to run a show in Japan thanks to a lot of help from Marvelous. Their next shows in California is where Yuna Manase will be making her American wrestling debut.
GCW “NO SIGNAL IN THE HILLS PT. 4”, 17/08/2024 Ukrainian Culture Center, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs X
Itoh will be following GCW back to America after the Japan tour ends.
GCW “SAVE ME”, 18/08/2024 Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs X
More Itoh in GCW here.
KITSUNE “YABAI!”, 18/08/2024 1110 Bates Ave, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. Kitsune World Title: Yuna Manase Vs Megan Bayne Vs J-Rod
The original plan was for Manase to be in a 3 Way Match with Sayaka Unagi and J-Rod for the Kitsune World Title. However Unagi is unable to get her visa approved in time and won’t be able to travel to America anytime soon. Since she was the champion, Kitsune made the decision to vacate the belt. It will now go to the winner of a new 3 Way Match between Manase, J-Rod and Megan Bayne.
EVE/TOKYO JOSHI PRO “EVE X TJPW: JAPAN & UK WRESTLING UNITE!”, 24/08/2024
Conway Hall, London, England
Finally we got a venue for the show. Yamashita, Raku, Mahiro Kiryu and HIMAWARI along with Aja Kong are the Japanese talent coming over to TJPW’s joint show with EVE. The EVE wrestlers being promoted for the show so far include Alex Windsor, Nina Samuels, Lena Cross and Session Moth Martina.
GCW “HOMECOMING – NIGHT 1”, 24/08/2024 The Showboat, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs Kerry Morton
The match is in GCW but Itoh gets a little taste of NWA with Kerry Morton as her opponent here. Kerry is the son of Ricky Morton and has been spending a lot of time in NWA as part of The Southern Six. He was even on the winning team at The Crockett Cup a few months ago.
GCW “HOMECOMING – NIGHT 2”, 25/08/2024 The Showboat, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs X
None of her GCW matches next month have been announced as Extreme Title defences yet.
MLW “SUMMER OF THE BEASTS”, 29/08/2024 Melrose Ballroom, New York City, New York, USA
1. Delmi Exo Vs Miyu Yamashita
MLW wrote a really long passage about this match on their Twitter page but we don’t need to go through all that. Yamashita beat Delmi Exo last December, next month is time for the rematch. The difference here is Exo now has the support of MLW’s main authority figure Cesar Duran by her side.
GCW “LIVE FAST DIE YOUNG”, 31/08/2024 Thalia Hall, Chicago, Illinois, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Megan Bayne
2. Maki Itoh Vs Kylie Rae
Prepare for cute smiles everywhere when Itoh is in the ring with Kylie Rae. Things might get ugly though if Itoh ends up feeling threatened by Rae’s cheerfulness. Yamashita getting another match with Megan Bayne is something she might not want to smile about either. They wrestled each other at a DREAMWAVE show back in April. Bayne won clean and Yamashita was in a pretty bad mood about it afterwards, rejecting her post-match handshake.
INSPIRE A.D. “MAY THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN”, 01/09/2024 Empire Control Room, Austin, Texas, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs Devin Carter
One of the non-GCW bookings Itoh is taking after the summer is over at Inspire A.D. in Texas. “The Fashionista” Devin Carter is her opponent. They have only been wrestling for a couple of years, mostly around the Texas scene.
MKW “CHAMPIONSHIP SUPERCARD FROM SHANGHAI”, 14/09/2024 Bandai Namco Shanghai Base, Shanghai, China
1. Queen Of Asia Title: Yuki Kamifuku (c) Vs Crystal
Still another while until Yuki Kamifuku defends the Queen Of Asia Title against Crystal. Kamifuku has been stepping her game up over the last twelve months and it’s really been paying off for her lately.
GCW “BAD ONE”, 14/09/2024 Harpos Concert Center, Detroit, Michigan, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs X
This will be the last weekend of Itoh’s current tour.
GCW “THA G-CODE”, 15/09/2024 Water Street Music Hall, Rochester, New York, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs X
And Itoh’s last American booking as of now is here.
SETUP “CHAOPHRAYA VOYAGE: 12TH ANNIVERSARY OF THAI WRESTLING”, 28/09/2024 The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand
1. SETUP All Asia Women’s Title – 3 Way Match: Matcha (c) Vs Raku Vs Pom Harajuku
TJPW sent a video message to SETUP announcing the next opponents for Matcha and the SETUP All Asia Women’s Title she currently holds. Both Raku and Pom Harajuku are coming to Thailand to wrestle there for the first time!
TOKYO JOSHI PRO/DEFY “BRIGHT EYES”, 09/11/2024 Washington Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA
A big weekend is going down in Seattle during November. TJPW is teaming up with DEFY for a show. Expect around 10-12 TJPW talent to be coming over. That was already announced a while ago…
DDT/DEFY “DDT IN UTERO”, 09/11/2024 Washington Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA
What turned out to be new news about the event is DEFY will be bringing over DDT for an evening show too! DDT has not said yet how many people they are going to bring over.
DDT/TOKYO JOSHI PRO/DEFY “TRIANGLER DTD”, 10/11/2024 Washington Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA
The weekend ends with DDT, TJPW and DEFY all joining forces for a triple promotion show.
GANBARE☆PRO “GANPRO MEN’S ASSOCIATION EVENT VOL. 1”, 27/07/2024 Tokyo Oji BASEMENT MON☆STAR
1. 80’s Vs Heisei Tag Match: Hartley Jackson & Tyson Maeguchi Vs Daisuke®️ & Shota Kawakami
2. 70’s Vs Heisei Tag Match: Takuya Wada & Choun-Shiryu Vs Munetatsu Nakamura & Gaia Hox
3. 70’s Vs 80’s Tag Match: Ken Ohka & Minoru Fujita Vs Keisuke Ishii & Isami Kodaka
4. 70’s Vs 80’s Vs Heisei 3 Way Match: Shuichiro Katsumura Vs Yumehito Imanari Vs Mizuki Watase
Born In The 70’s: Ken Ohka, Shuichiro Katsumura, Takuya Wada, Choun-Shiryu & Minoru Fujita
Born In The 80’s: Keisuke Ishii, Yumehito Imanari, Isami Kodaka, Hartley Jackson and Tyson Maeguchi
Born In The Heisei Era: Mizuki Watase, Gaia Hox, Munetatsu Nakamura, Shota Kawakami and Daisuke®️
The battle of the Ganbare☆Pro generations is going on as I type this.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “GARAFES DASH!! ~SCORCHING SUMMER SPLASH~”, 27/07/2024 Tokyo Ueno Park Outdoor Stage
1. Raku Vs Uta Takami
2. Miu Watanabe & Suzume Vs Pom Harajuku & Shino Suzuki
And probably so is the latest Tokyo Joshi Pro appearance at the Garafes.
GANBARE☆JOSHI/666 “DOKI! ALL JOSHI PRO WRESTLING BOX OFFICE ~THE VIRGIN SUICIDES~”, 27/07/2024 Tokyo Oji BASEMENT MON☆STAR
1. Rina Yamashita & Sumire Natsu Vs Rina Yamada & Banny Oikawa
2. Yuna Manase & Maika Ozaki Vs HARUKAZE & Droog-K
3. Ram Kaichow, Maya Yukihi & YuuRI Vs Maya Yukipe, Mayumi Ozawa & X
Who is the 666 X going to be?
DDT “AFTER PETER PAN 2024 IN NAGOYA – DAY 1”, 27/07/2024 Aichi Nagoya Imaike Gas Hall
1. 3 Way Match: Makoto Oishi Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Yuni
2. MAO & To-y Vs Takeshi Masada & Kazuma Sumi
3. Jun Akiyama & Keigo Nakamura Vs Toru Owashi & Yuki Iino
4. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki, Ryuichi “Fire” Kawakami & KANON Vs Tetsuya Endo, Yukio Naya & Yuya Koroku
5. Special Tag Match: Yuki Ueno & Shunma Katsumata Vs HARASHIMA & Akito
6. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Danshoku Dieno (c) Vs Antonio Honda
Since Danshoku Dieno versus Antonio Honda is in the main event they have a 60 minute time limit!
DDT “AFTER PETER PAN 2024 IN NAGOYA – DAY 2”, 28/07/2024 Aichi Nagoya Imaike Gas Hall
1. KANON Vs Kazuma Sumi
2. 3 Way Match: Antonio Honda Vs To-y Vs Yuni
3. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi Vs HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata
4. The 37KAMIINA Vs BURNING!: Yuki Ueno, MAO & Shunma Katsumata Vs Tetsuya Endo, Yuki Iino & Yuya Koroku
5. Special Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & Ryuichi “Fire” Kawakami Vs Yukio Naya & Keigo Nakamura
6. Special Single Match: Akito Vs Takeshi Masada
So far Ryuichi “Fire” Kawakami keeps thinking DAMNATION T.A should be called FIRE DAMNATION. Perhaps Daisuke Sasaki and the rest should be careful hanging out with him for too long.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TOKYO PRINCESS CUP”, 28/07/2024 Tokyo Ryogoku KFC Hall
1. 3 Way Match: Rika Tatsumi Vs Maki Itoh Vs Mahiro Kiryu
2. Shoko Nakajima, Raku, HIMAWARI, Haru Kazashiro & Uta Takami Vs Zara Zakher, Wakana Uehara, Toga, Kira Summer & Chika Nanase
3. Tokyo Princess Cup – Round 2A: Shino Suzuki Vs Suzume
4. Tokyo Princess Cup – Round 2E: Pom Harajuku Vs Yuki Kamifuku
5. Tokyo Princess Cup – Round 2C: Mizuki Vs Moka Miyamoto
6. Tokyo Princess Cup – Round 1C: Runa Okubo Vs Yuki Aino
7. Tokyo Princess Cup – Round 1A: Yuki Arai Vs Kaya Toribami
8. Tokyo Princess Cup – Round 1B: Arisu Endo Vs Miu Watanabe
The Tokyo Princess Cup begins tomorrow.
DDT “OSAKA VS TOKYO ~DREAM EAST-WEST PRO WRESTLING BATTLE 2024~”, 10/08/2024 Osaka Edion Arena #2
1. Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul Vs Toru Owashi, Yukio Naya & Ilusion
2. East Vs West All-Out Competition: Keigo Nakamura (Iwate) & Yuya Koroku (Chiba) Vs Yuki Ishida (Kumamoto) & Kazuma Sumi (Mie)
3. East Vs West All-Out Competition: Makoto Oishi (Shizuoka) & Akito (Aichi) Vs Danshoku Dieno (Hiroshima) & Yuni (Osaka)
4. East Vs West All-Out Competition ~ Special Tag Match: Yoshiko Hasegawa (Saitama) & Riara (Miyagi) Vs Sayaka Unagi (Osaka) & Momoka Hanazono (Osaka)
5. East Vs West All-Out Competition ~ Special 4 Way Match: MAO (Miyagi) Vs Tsutenkakka (Osaka) Vs The Great Koji (Osakananko) Vs A.YAZAWA (Hiroshima)
6. KO-D Tag Team Titles – East Vs West All-Out Competition ~ Takeshi Masada Debut 2nd Anniversary Match: Tetsuya Endo (Miyagi) & Yuki Iino (Tokyo) (c) Vs Chris Brookes (England) & Takeshi Masada (Osaka)
7. East Vs West All-Out Competition ~ Tokyo Vs Osaka Special Tag Match: HARASHIMA (Tokyo) & Kazuki Hirata (Tokyo) Vs Yuki Ueno (Osaka) & Jun Akiyama (Osaka)
8. DDT Extreme Title ~ East Vs West All-Out Competition: Shunma Katsumata (c) (Chiba) Vs Kohei Kinoshita (Osaka)
West Army: Kohei Kinoshita (Osaka), Yuki Ueno (Osaka), Jun Akiyama (Osaka), Chris Brookes (England), Takeshi Masada (Osaka), Danshoku Dieno (Hiroshima), Yuki Ishida (Kumamoto), Yuni (Osaka), Kazuma Sumi (Mie), Tsutenkakka (Osaka), The Great Koji (Osakananko), A.YAZAWA (Hiroshima), Sayaka Unagi (Osaka) and Momoka Hanazono (Osaka)
Place Of Unknown Origin: MJ Paul, Ilusion
The KO-D Tag Team Champions want to increase their number of defences. BURNING already has a tag match coming up against Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada so they want the titles to be on the line for it.
DDT/GCW “NEVER ENDING NOISY SUMMER”, 12/08/2024 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. DDT Vs GCW Special Single Match: Danshoku Dieno Vs Effy
2. GCW World Title – 3 Way Hardcore Match: Mance Warner (c) Vs Shunma Katsumata Vs Joey Janela
3. DDT Universal Title: MAO (c) Vs Alex Zayne
Two championship matches built around DDT Vs GCW have been added to the show. MAO is going to defend the DDT Universal Title against Alex Zayne. Meanwhile Shunma Katsumata is getting himself in the middle of Mance Warner and Joey Janella’s grudge over the GCW World Title. A Hardcore 3 Way Match is going to add fuel to that fire.
DDT “FIGHTING BEER GARDEN 2024 IN SHINJUKU – DAY 1”, 15/08/2024 Shinjuku FACE
1. Blindfold Hidden Breast 4 Way Match: Chris Brookes Vs Antonio Honda Vs Super Sasadango Machine Vs Kazuma Sumi
2. Drunk Match: HARASHIMA Vs Masahiro Takanashi
The two wrestlers who are considered the biggest drinkers in DDT will face off in a drunk match. HARASHIMA and Masahiro Takanashi are going to drink each other under the table rather than put each other through one.
Danhausen, Joey Janela and Effy will all be part of the Beer Garden show since they will already be in Japan for the GCW tour. I hear Danhausen is still under AEW contract but both parties have become sick of each other so he gets to do stuff like this away from AEW until his deal runs out.
The GCW only shows on their tour are still going to have DDT and Tokyo Joshi Pro talent involved but I’ll save writing about them until the shows take place. I don’t know why they think Broski Jimmy Vs Miyu Yamashita is a good idea but it’s happening.
DDT “WEDDING VENUE PRO WRESTLING SUMMER FESTIVAL IN SENTIR LA SAISON GIFU”, 31/08/2024 Gifu Sentir la Saison
1. X Vs X
2. X Vs X
3. X Vs X
4. X Vs X
The demand for DDT’s offer to hold wrestling matches at weddings is so much that they will be doing two events at Sentir la Saison on the day. The afternoon event will be an outdoor show consisting of four matches held inside a wrestling ring
DDT “WEDDING ROJO PRO WRESTLING”, 31/08/2024 Gifu Sentir la Saison
1. Falls Count Anywhere Match: X Vs X
Then in the evening DDT will hold a Falls Count Anywhere match in the wedding venue!
DDT “FRIENDSHIP, EFFORT, VICTORY IN NAGOYA 2024”, 08/09/2024 Nagoya International Conference Center Event Hall
1. Special Single Match: Ryuichi “Fire” Kawakami Vs Yukio Naya
There are still a few tag matches between Kawakami and Yukio Naya leading up to this match. But Naya knows the only way he is going to deal with Kawakami is to beat him one on one.
DDT/GCW “GCW VS DDT”, 31/03/2023 Ukrainian Cultural Center, Los Angeles, California, USA 551 Fans
1. Gringo Loco, Marcus Mathers, Dyln McKay & Jack Cartwheel defeated Sanshiro Takagi, Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & Takeshi Masada when Cartwheel pinned Masada with the Jack Arrow (10:42).
2. Dark Sheik defeated Saki Akai with a Wrist-Clutch Inside Cradle (7:20).
3. Jordan Oliver & Nick Wayne defeated MAO & Mike Bailey when Oliver pinned Bailey after the Combined Springboard Cutter (16:18).
4. Kazusada Higuchi defeated Starboy Charlie with the Brain Claw Slam (11:40).
5. Yuki Ueno defeated Joey Janela with the Rolling Guillotine Ace Crusher (10:21).
6. Tetsuya Endo & Jun Akiyama defeated Homicide & Tony Deppen when Endo pinned Deppen with the Burning Star Press (12:18).
7. Matthew Justice, Mance Warner & 1 Called Manders defeated Chris Brookes, Shunma Katsumata & Mizuki Watase when Warner pinned Katsumata with a DDT (15:19).
8. Effy & Allie Katch Vs Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno ended in a No Contest (13:37).
9. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Cole Radrick defeated Yoshihiko (c) with the Lil Sebastian’s Curse onto a Chair (14:49). *Cole Radrick becomes the 1,570th champion.
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Yoshihiko defeated Cole Radrick with a Cradle (5:47 pm). *Yoshihiko becomes the 1,571st champion.
An unlikely main event of the GCW Vs DDT show had Cole Radrick winning the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title from Yoshihiko in a brawl that went all around ringside. Radrick’s hard earned win was then rendered meaningless when Yoshihiko kicked him between the legs after the match. Yoshihiko then rolled Radrick up in a Small Package to reclaim the championship.
Counting through the match results, GCW ended the show with more wins than DDT. But if you ask Effy, everyone was a winner today! Why? Because Pheromones got to show that they are the sexiest and now they can also be part of Bussy too! The proof of that could be seen in their match. It had to be called off when Danshoku Dieno, Allie Katch and Yuki Iino caught the referee in a human centipede over in the corner of the ring.
The trio of Chris Brookes, Shunma Katsumata & Mizuki Watase were all ready to fight The Second Gear Crew in a brawl. Katsumata appeared in his Super Hardcore Katsumata form while Watase psyched himself up by bringing the Spirit Of Ganbare Title belt with him to the ring. That Ganbare spirit allowed him to absorb chairshots to the head for a while. Lego, plastic boxes, staplers, doors and more were used as weapons. The ring was left in a mess by the time 1 Called Manders threw his own partner Matthew Justice onto everyone outside the ring. That allowed Mance Warner to pin Katsumata with the DDT for the victory.
Jun Akiyama enjoyed his weekend with GCW and said he would work with them again if given the chance. Homicide showed him a similar amount of respect as Eddie Kingston did previously. Tetsuya Endo used the Burning Star Press to pin Tony Deppen and thinks he has proved he is good enough to take on the world.
Both of Joey Janela’s matches on the DDT shows this week were rematches from the D-Ou Grand Prix. Both of them ended in defeat. Yuki Ueno beat him for the second time in a row using his new Rolling Guillotine Ace Crusher. It makes Ueno want to spread DDT’s name as well as his own even further than Konosuke Takeshita did.
The card had a few changes for reasons that were not disclosed. Kazusada Higuchi was meant to face Blake Christian but instead got Starboy Charlie and his dungarees. Higuchi won the new match and was impressed with Charlie’s performance. It made Higuchi feel like he received the spirit of a young American and he will now carry it along with his own Yamato Spirit.
The Moonlight Express reunion was spoiled by The East West Express. It was a banner day for the young GCW team because Jordan Oliver & Nick Wayne later went on to win the GCW Tag Team Titles later in the night. MAO & Mike Bailey still had fun teaming together for the first time in 3 years. Speedball must have been exhausted from his schedule by this point.
For many years the Quetzalcoatl has been a reliable move for Saki Akai. But today the move was countered by Dark Sheik in a way Akai has never seen before. When Akai was in position to pull off her finisher, Sheik dropped down while grabbing Akai’s wrist, slid through her legs to get behind her and then rolled her up in a Cradle for the flash three count. Akai took the loss but doesn’t want to it end like that. She hopes Sheik will come over to Japan so they can continue their fight.
Another changes to the card happened for the opening match. The GCW team led by Gringo Loco replaced Alec Price and Los Macizos with Jack Cartwheel and the tag team called Wasted Youth. They all gave Takeshi Masada a beating with big high flying moves until he was pinned with Cartwheel’s Jack Arrow finisher. Daisuke Sasaki & KANON blamed both Masada & Sanshiro Takagi backstage for having DDT lose to GCW. When they left the room Takagi then blamed Masada for taking the fall after all of this build up for him finally earning a spot on the Hollywood shows.
DDT “JUDGEMENT 2023 ~LONGEST 5 HOUR SPECIAL IN KORAKUEN HISTORY~”, 21/03/2023 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
0. Ilusion & El Unicorn DDTeeeen!! Graduation Match: Ilusion & Munetatsu Nakamura Vs El Unicorn & Raimu Imai
1. Yuya Koroku & Yuki Ishida Vs Toi Kojima & Kazuma Sumi
2. Kazuki Hirata Debut 13th Anniversary Match: Kazuki Hirata & Yoshihiko Vs Keisuke Ishii & Soma Takao
3. O-40 Title – 3 Way Match: Makoto Oishi Vs Gorgeous Matsuno Vs Shinichiro Kawamatsu
4. Pheromones Vs Pheromones Subjugation Army All Out Battle: Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno, Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari & Koju “Shining Ball” Takeda Vs Akito, Toru Owashi, Hiroshi Yamato & Yusuke Okada
5. Special Tag Match: Super Sasadango Machine & Antonio Honda Vs Super Powerhouse Tag Team
6. Saki Akai Debut 10th Anniversary Match Vol 1.: Masahiro Takanashi Vs Saki Akai
7. HARASHIMA & Keigo Nakamura Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani
8. Special Single Match: Hikaru Machida Vs Takeshi Masada
9. Special 6-Man Tag Match ~ CHARISMA RETURNS!: Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON Vs Chris Brookes, Drew Parker & Hagane Shinno
10. DDT Extreme Title – Regular Pro Wrestling Rules: Jun Akiyama (c) Vs Kotaro Suzuki
11. DDT 26th Anniversary Special Single Match: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Konosuke Takeshita
12. International Special Single Match: Samuray Del Sol Vs Yuki Ueno
13. DDT Universal Title: Naruki Doi (c) Vs Tetsuya Endo
14. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Falls Count Anywhere Match: MAO & Shunma Katsumata (c) Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Ryota Nakatsu
15. KO-D Openweight Title: Yuji Hino (c) Vs Yukio Naya
A chance to win the DDT Universal Title something Tetsuya Endo thinks is a fresh change in direction for him. While he will always want to fight for the KO-D Openweight Title, Endo has felt the need to go after the other singles championships in DDT. Plus if he beats Naruki Doi then that means he is also beating the AJPW Jr. Heavyweight Champion! Endo likes the idea of defending the Universal Title in America, the same country where he won the KO-D Title for the first time.
A meeting yesterday between Shinichiro Kawamatsu and House of Councilors member Eriko Imai (who is also the mother of pro wrestler Raimu Imai) was suddenly interrupted by Gorgeous Matsuno when he overheard them talking about the O-40 Title match. Kawamatsu was telling Imai about his plan to wrestle both Makoto Oishi and Matsuno in a 3 Way Match. When he brought up that Matsuno is about to turn 62 years old next month, Matsuno burst into the room and threatened him! Matsuno said the O-40 Title is not for a kid like Kawamatsu and then he got dragged out of the room by the politician’s aide. When everything settled down Imai gave Kawamatsu her support.
DDT “KENGAN ASHURA X DDT PRO WRESTLING COLLABORATION MATCH”, 26/03/2023 Tokyo Big Sight East Exhibition Hall ADK Emotions Booth
1. Kengan Ashura x DDT Pro Wrestling Collaboration Match I: Keigo Nakamura & Takeshi Masada Vs Toi Kojima & Kazuma Sumi
2. Kengan Ashura x DDT Pro Wrestling Collaboration Match II: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yuya Koroku Vs HARASHIMA, Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida
3. Kengan Ashura x DDT Pro Wrestling Collaboration Match III: Konosuke Takeshita & MAO Vs Yukio Naya & Hideki Okatani
DDT will be at the AnimeJapan 2023 convention in Tokyo Big Sight for a collaboration with the Kengan Ashura anime on Netflix. The series is all about corporations using an underground fighting tournament to settle their problems. The artists behind the manga have done merchandise artwork with Big Japan before and have referenced pro wrestling in their work, including this series. Kengan Ashura has an in-universe pro wrestling company in it called Super Japan Pro Wrestling. Coincidence or not that name also just happens to be a rejected suggestion to call DDT back when that company was launched in 1997. So in a weird way this is sort of a full circle moment.
DDT “DDT GOES HOLLYWOOD”, 30/03/2023 Ukrainian Cultural Center, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. Saki Akai Vs Vert Vixen
2. Pheromones Vs Takagi Army All Out Battle In HOLLYWOOD: Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Sanshiro Takagi & Michael Nakazawa
3. Special Tag Match: MAO & Shunma Katsumata Vs Chris Brookes & Yoshihiko
4. Special Tag Match: Kazusada Higuchi & Takeshi Masada Vs Andrew “The Giant” Everett & Nick Wayne
5. Special Single Match: Tetsuya Endo Vs Joey Janela
6. Dramatic Dream Tag Match: Jun Akiyama & Eddie Kingston Vs Daisuke Sasaki & KANON
7. Special Single Match: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Yuki Ueno
The Hollywood card is complete and now we now what Kazusada Higuchi and Takeshi Masada will be getting up to. They’re not opponents but tag team partners instead! Higuchi’s size will be tested because one of their opponents is Andrew Everett, who is making his return to DDT. The other opponent will feel like a kindred spirit to Masada. The super rookie gets to be in the ring with the young supernova Nick Wayne!
DDT/GCW “GCW VS DDT”, 31/03/2023 Ukrainian Cultural Center, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. Cole Radrick Vs Yoshihiko
2. EFFY & Allie Katch Vs Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno
3. Blake Christian Vs Kazusada Higuchi
4. Dark Sheik Vs Saki Akai
5. Matthew Justice, Mance Warner & Manders Vs Chris Brookes, Shunma Katsumata & Mizuki Watase
6. Jordan Oliver & Nick Wayne Vs MAO & Mike Bailey
7. Homicide & Tony Deppen Vs Jun Akiyama & Tetsuya Endo
8. Joey Janela Vs Yuki Ueno
Rounding out the GCW Vs DDT card is what’s certain to be a car crash of a trios match. The Second Gear Crew are the people to count on in GCW if you want to watch room sprawling brawls with plenty of plunder getting broken. Chris Brookes & Shunma Katsumata have found themselves as unlikely tag partners to take on these guys. They’re getting unexpected help from Mizuki Watase too, kicking off Watase’s planned excursion to America.
Posted by JamieOD 
Dramatic DDT 