Updates From Across Golden Week 2026

May 7, 2026

NOAH “LINE YAHOO PRESENTS SPRING MAYHEM RYOGOKU 2026”, 02/05/2026
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
4,539 Fans

1. KENTA, Tetsuya Endo & HAYATA defeated Mohammed Yone, Kazuyuki Fujita & Daiki Odashima when KENTA pinned Odashima with the Go 2 Sleep (8:38).
3. 6-Man Tag 3 Way Match: Manabu Soya, Saxon Huxley & Yuki Iino defeated Kaito Kiyomiya, Harutoki & Alejandro and Masa Kitamiya, Takashi Sugiura & Tadasuke when Soya pinned Alejandro with the Passion IS (5:32).

The unit now known as Passion RATEL’S has hit a rough patch lately with some of their members being put on the shelf. They’ve been reduced to just two men but Manabu Soya claimed to have found a new member, someone who is just as filled with passion as he is. The new member is Yuki Iino and he now looks identical to Soya! How the hell did Iino find an even weirder group of people to wrestle with than the Strange Love Connection?

So far this year Tetsuya Endo has been working in NOAH as part of the White Raven Sqwad. The assumption was his excursion to the company from DDT was only for 2025 but he remained in NOAH without ever giving an update. Fans didn’t have to wait much longer because Endo teased an announcement he was going to give at the next day’s show.

NJPW “NUTS RV PRESENTS WRESTLING DONTAKU 2026”, 03/05/2026
Fukuoka International Center
2,477 Fans

5. KONOSUKE TAKESHITA & Shota Umino defeated Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi when Umino pinned Takahashi with the Second Chapter (11:43).

Over in New Japan the time has come for Konosuke Takeshita to start making new alliances. He recently fought Shota Umino to a draw over the NJPW World TV Title so there was some clear unfinished business for them to get to. They teamed up on night one of “WRESTLING DONTAKU 2026” and while they won the match, Takeshita rejected Umino’s handshake offer afterwards.

NOAH “AFTER MAYHEM 2026”, 03/05/2026
Shinjuku FACE
468 Fans – Super No Vacancy

5. Manabu Soya & Yuki Iino defeated Atsushi Kotoga & Hi69 when Soya pinned Hi69 with the Passion IS (3:56).
8. KENTA & Tetsuya Endo defeated Shane Haste & HAYATA when Endo pinned HAYATA with the Shooting Star Press (18:42).

Endo gave his announcement the next day. He is not leaving DDT to fully join NOAH but he is not about to go back to his home promotion anytime soon either. Endo wants to leave his mark in NOAH by winning as many of their championships and tournaments as he can so his name will be etched into the history of the GHC Championships. He will not return to DDT until he achieves the results that he wants!

NJPW “NUTS RV PRESENTS WRESTLING DONTAKU 2026”, 04/05/2026
Fukuoka International Center
3,603 Fans – No Vacancy

1. NJPW World TV Title: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA (c) defeated Chase Owens with the Raging Fire (11:32).
*V3 for KONOSUKE TAKESHITA.

Back in New Japan, Takeshita successfully defended the NJPW World TV Title against Chase Owens, surviving a C-Trigger that probably made someone’s life flash before their eyes and having Umino plus others come out to help him fight off the House Of Torture. A masked man attacked Takeshita after the match and revealed himself to be SANADA returning from injury. Takeshita is willing to defend the TV Title against him since he thinks SANADA must by dying to fight him. He then met with several wrestlers from the Hontai unit and asked if he could fight alongside them from now on. Umino said he does not intend to become friends with Takeshita because they are rivals but since Takeshita is choosing to be with New Japan, he is happy to welcome him into the unit.

NOAH “LEGACY RISE 2026”, 05/05/2026
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,302 Fans – Super No Vacancy

3. Manabu Soya, Yuki Iino, Daiki Odashima & Super Crazy defeated Kazuyuki Fujita, Mohammed Yone, Atsushi Kotoge & Hajime Ohara when Soya pinned Ohara with the Passion IS (8:32).
5. Shane Haste & Tetsuya Endo defeated KENTA & Katsumi Inahata when Haste pinned Inahata with a Lariat (10:51).

Soya & Iino are quickly proving how much “Passion~!” they have together as a team. They are also currently sharing only one brain cell between them. I can’t argue with the results so far.

MARVELOUS “10TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION”, 05/05/2026
Kanagawa Yokohama BUNTAI
3,492 Fans

3. Miyu Yamashita defeated Senka Akatsuki with the Skull Kick (10:14).

We end with a sight of something that is very rare. Miyu Yamashita wrestling in another joshi company! She will wrestle for women’s companies all across the world but when it comes to Japan, it’s Tokyo Joshi Pro or bust for her. However she had a noteworthy appearance in Marvelous for their big 10th Anniversary show, taking on the promotion’s next big hope Senka Akatsuki. To say she was impressed with her opponent was an understatement. She loved fighting Akatsuki! She’s somebody almost custom built in a lab to take Yamashita’s kicks and keep on fighting. The match ended up meaning so much that Yamashita instinctively shook Akatsuki with her left hand instead of her right. There are different meanings to that (longtime readers of this blog may remember Shigehiro Irie doing this because your left hand is closer to your heart) but Yamashita thinks it represents the start of a new rivalry.


Lil’ Army Vs Inoue Army, The Spark Gets A Title Shot, Moeka 20th Anniversary Card

January 22, 2025

BASARA “BASARA 268 ~OJI NI KITSUNE 25~”, 01/02/2025
Tokyo Oji BASEMENT MONSTAR

1. Isami Kodaka Vs Shota Kofuji
2. Daichi Kazato Vs Ryota Nakatsu
3. Takumi Tsukamoto Vs Antonio Honda
4. Ryuichi Sekine & FUMA Vs Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi & Ayumu Honda
5. Masato Kamino & Yasu Urano Vs Daiki Shimomura & Takato Nakano

The main event is a preview for the next Union MAX Title match. Masato Kamino and Takato Nakano usually team together as Aijin Tag but for February they are going to be opponents.

Shota Kofuji is a brand new wrestler who was trained by Osaka Style Wrestling. He only just had his pro debut last month.

BASARA “BASARA 269 ~OJI NI KITSUNE 26~”, 01/02/2025
Tokyo Oji BASEMENT MONSTAR

1. Lil’ Army Vs Inoue Army

Lil’ Army: Lil’ Kraken, Takato Nakano, Ryota Nakatsu, FUMA, KUBITO, Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi & Daiki Shimomura

Inoue Army: Masato Kamino, Isami Kodaka, Takumi Tsukamoto, SAGAT, Ryuichi Sekine, Daichi Kazato & Yasu Urano

The evening show splits the BASARA roster into two teams, one captained by Lil’ Kraken and the other captained by the injured Takeru Inoue. The match card will have a pre-determined format and both captains will choose which match their wrestlers will be in. Whichever team wins the most matches will be the overall winner.

“SANSHIRO TAKAGI 30TH ANNIVERSARY COMMEMERATION EVENT ~ NEVER SAY NEVER”, 03/02/2025
Shinjuku FACE

1. Special Single Match: Fumihito Kihara Vs Shota
2. Special Single Match: Muscle Sakai Vs Hyper Misao
3. Special Tag Match: Yumiko Hotta & Shinya Aoki Vs Fuminori Abe & Ippanjin Munenori Sawa
4. Special Tag Match: Dump Matsumoto & Toru Owashi Vs Brahman Shu & Brahman Kei
5. Special Single Match: Yuji Nagata Vs Kuroshio TOKYO Japan
6. Special Single Match: Meiko Satomura Vs X (w/ Sanshiro Takagi)

Even the referees working on the show will not belong to DDT. The three officials Sanshiro Takagi have chosen are Shuichi Nishinaga, MIO (aka Mio Shirai) and a mystery ref going by the name Sanshiro Abe

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “THE 5TH “FUTARI WA PRINCESS” MAX HEART TOURNAMENT”, 08/02/2025
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. International Princess Title: Suzume (c) Vs Jada Stone
2. “Futari wa Princess” Max Heart Tournament – Final: X & X Vs X & X

When Jada Stone returns to Japan next month she will be getting a shot at the International Princess Title. She earned the match after beating Suzume in a recent 6-Woman Tag match.

Around eight more matches will be scheduled for the show.

GANBARE☆PRO “LADY BIRD 2025 ~ MOEKA HARUHI 20TH ANNIVERSARY DEBUT”, 11/02/2025
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Keisuke Ishii’s 40th Birthday Commemorative Match: Ken Ohka & Shota Kawakami Vs Keisuke Ishii & Hajime Enshu
2. Takuya Wada Vs Yoshihiro Horaguchi
3. Yumehito Imanari & Shigehiro Irie Vs Tyson Maeguchi & Munetatsu Nakamura
4. Shuichiro Katsumura & Rekka Vs Yasu Urano & PSYCHO
5. HARUKAZE, Yuna Manase & YuuRI Vs Takumi Iroha, Riko Kawahata & Ai Houzan
6. Presented By Kintaro Sushi Shinobazu Branch – Moeka Haruhi Debut 20th Anniversary Match: Moeka Haruhi Vs Hanako Nakamori

All of a sudden the Ganbare☆Joshi division find themselves defending home turf against a trio from Marvelous!

Yoshihiro Horaguchi is a long time freelancer from Aichi. This will be his first time wrestling in Ganbare☆Pro.

A person from Keisuke Ishii’s past has reappeared for his 40th birthday. Hajime Enshu was part of the same All Japan dojo class Ishii was in almost two decades ago. Ishii quit the dojo and took a new path with DDT but Enshu got to debut and wrestle in AJPW for around half of 2008. He went by the name Hajime Suruga at the time before he vanished from wrestling.

DDT “REMBRANDT HIGHWAY SERIES 2025 ICHIGO BOUT IN EBINA”, 16/02/2025
Kanagawa Rembrandt Hotel Ebina

1. 3 Way Match: Toru Owashi Vs Yuki Iino Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga
2. Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi Vs Yuni & Kazuma Sumi
3. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yuki Ueno, MAO & To-y Vs Jun Akiyama, HARASHIMA & Akito

It’s time for Makoto Oishi to check up on how the new generation that is NωA Jr. are doing.


What Is Going On With DDT And Kota Ibushi?

October 29, 2024

Yesterday there was a discovery on Twitter over Kota Ibushi’s recent return to DDT that suddenly came to an abrupt end. The discovery was his two DDT matches from 25th August and 8th September have both been scrubbed off Wrestle Universe and can no longer be watched on the service.* When you go to watch the 25th August show on Wrestle Universe his match is still talked about on the pre-show and the match graphic still appears in the opening video. The match itself though has been edited off the stream and it goes straight from the end of Match #5 to the video package of the main event. The card lineups on each video both have “Some matches have been cut due to circumstances” written on the bottom of the page. That’s not all, DDT also pulled some of their recent Youtube videos of Ibushi’s past matches that they originally uploaded to promote his return. This follows the news at the start of the month of Ibushi’s two October dates with DDT being cancelled with no explanation given by anyone.

*Update: A day after this post was written, Wrestle Universe also removed the Weapon Rumble match from 21st July which featured Ibushi’s actual return to DDT.

I thought that news sounded weird when it happened. Ibushi wasn’t injured and even had a match in GLEAT the next day. There was some guessing online that maybe he was being called upon by AEW and couldn’t be available for the DDT dates anymore. I didn’t want to rule it out because those kind of short notice bookings have happened with DDT and Tokyo Joshi Pro talent in the past. But looking at the AEW schedule at the time it didn’t make much sense to me. He’d miss one booking but had plenty of time to make it back to Japan for the second booking. So when those dates came and went without Ibushi showing up anywhere, I didn’t think about it again until the Wrestle Universe thing was discovered.

So if Ibushi’s absence was not because of injury and was not because of other obligations getting in the way, then that suggests there could have been a falling out between Ibushi and DDT. That’s when I remembered what happened at the very end of the 25th August show. As the crowd was making their way to the exit MAO & Shunma Katsumata announced their intentions to challenge for DDT’s tag team championships. Nothing unusual about that. They continued talking about theirs goals backstage during their post-show interview until MAO changed the subject and brought up “Golden Star Syndrome”. That was the phrase he used to describe Ibushi’s fanbase and the lapsed DDT fans who came to the show just to see him chase old glories again. MAO’s point was the fans should not take the current generation for granted because they are the ones who kept DDT going after Ibushi left and the company went downhill from their peak of popularity.

They were not the only wrestlers who made comments about Ibushi’s return to DDT. Yuki Ueno also spoke about it backstage after his defeat in the main event. Ueno said DDT became what it is today thanks to Ibushi and everyone should be grateful for that. Sanshiro Takagi loves him like family which means Ueno also treats him like family. However, Ueno also questioned Ibushi’s motive for returning to DDT and revealed there are other people in the company who are not happy he came back. Ueno wants to make DDT better but he couldn’t tell if Ibushi’s intentions are the same.

When Ibushi found out about those comments he tweeted out his response. He wonders if the wrestlers were criticizing him out of jealousy? He isn’t interested enough to get involved any further and decided to ignore them. He also asked if those wrestlers are DDT’s current aces and suggested if this deal isn’t working out he still has AEW to go to. At the time of writing those comments are still the most recent tweets on his X account.

A few days later Michael Nakazawa posted a blog to give his thoughts on the matter. He wrote them to be as neutral as possible but admits they will likely come off as defending his close friend Ibushi anyway. He understands there are people who support DDT’s current era that are annoyed to see all of the fan and media attention go to Ibushi for his sudden return to the company. He points out that cutting a promo built around real emotions can sometimes go in an unexpected direction. That happened here when Ibushi did not react the way Ueno, MAO & Katsumata supposedly wanted him to. Nakazawa said if there is anyone who didn’t like the company’s decision to book Ibushi then they should have spoken to someone in the company instead of making the matter public. He also thinks it would not have done Ibushi any good if he picked up on the promo because Ibushi just wants to have fun matches. Nakazawa also compared Ibushi to Kaisei Takechi when it comes to drawing in fans from outside of DDT’s current audience to their shows. However Nakazawa admits Ibushi could have handled the situation in a more mature manner.

The next part of the story takes a surprising turn. While our attention was on the Wrestle Universe story, Marvelous played a video at their show of Ibushi standing around in their dojo. It was a teaser to promote that Ibushi will be in attendance for the promotion’s next Korakuen Hall event on 1st December. Even though Marvelous is a joshi promotion first and foremost, there is often a men’s match booked on the undercard of their shows. Ibushi went to his Instagram to talk about it and wondered if this video will be on their Youtube channel (I can’t tell if this was meant to be a joke about his DDT videos being pulled down).

Ibushi then turned his attention to his situation with DDT. I tried translating it and the comments come out sounding negative. It sounds like Ibushi is accusing DDT of caring more about money than their 20 years of working together. His post also includes hashtags referring to Sanshiro Takagi, DDT collapsing as a company and decisions being made to make up for a deficit. Whatever it is that Ibushi has a problem with, he would like to get an apology over it. Now his focus is going to be on the upcoming Marvelous show.

———————————————————————–

So that’s what I’ve been able to gather together so far. Kota Ibushi and DDT have had a falling out and it seems to stem from the comments made by Yuki Ueno & MAO. Whether that was just meant to be a promo to build up a future match and it blew up in everyone’s face isn’t fully clear to me. The few matches Ibushi had in DDT this year had nothing to do with The 37KAMIINA. There was a trios match where Ibushi got to fight Tetsuya Endo again, a nostalgia match where Ibushi reunited with other DDT figures from his generation and the cancelled bout was a freak show kickboxing comedy match where he would have treated his best friend Gota Ihashi as a human crash test dummy like he always does. Maybe something would have been set up for the end of year Sumo Hall show but I guess we will never know now.

It sounds like it was DDT’s decision to remove the videos. I remember early in NJPW World’s existence when Naoya Ogawa successfully requested to have videos of his matches removed but Ibushi’s behavior doesn’t come off like he made any demands like that. But his decision to talk up rumours of DDT’s business decline isn’t going to help things one bit. It’s a bridge burner if I ever heard one and kind of not that far off from how he talked about New Japan when that relationship went sour. At least he hasn’t said anything as extreme as who he suggested some pro wrestling companies were in bed with back then.

I hope what I’ve written helps clear up even a little bit of what’s going on. I wanted to shine a light on the situation after the videos go scrubbed from Wrestle Universe. It makes what happened above way more notable in hindsight than I thought they were at the time. There is still so much we don’t know about behind the scenes but at least this is something to work with if people out there want to talk about it. If there are any mistakes, contradictions or other comments about what I wrote please tell me because the last thing I want to happen is this post causing trouble because of wrong information (causing trouble because of correct information is A-OK though).

———————————————————————–

UPDATE: The 4th November issue of the Wrestling Observer newsletter had a write up on the situation based on this post. Dave Meltzer also had additional information from a source close to the matter. The new info was written like this:

“Another person with knowledge of the situation wrote to us saying, “There were comments backstage from the younger guys towards Ibushi that he felt were disrespectful and I guess when the president (Takagi) asked them to apologize and squash the beef, most of the talent didn’t really want to, so Ibushi chose not to work for DDT anymore.” The person also said he felt that this was blown out of proportion”


GANBARE☆JOSHI “GANJO SUPER DARIUS ’24” Results

March 9, 2024

GANBARE☆JOSHI “GANJO SUPER DARIUS ’24”, 09/03/2024
Tokyo Takashimadaira Kumin Center
111 Fans

1. Kaho Kobayashi defeated Banny Oikawa with the 120% School Boy (9:53).
2. Mixed Tag Match: Alex Lee & Tyson Maeguchi defeated Riara & Shota when Lee pinned Riara with the Vinco Plex (16:40).
3. Sumire Natsu defeated Yoshiko Hasegawa with the Yoran (12:54).
4. GanJo Vs Marvelous: Takumi Iroha & Mio Momono defeated Yuna Manase & YuuRI when Momono pinned YuuRI with the German Suplex (19:48).

An inter-promotional rivaly between Ganbare☆Joshi and Marvelous appears to be growing. At the previous GanJo show Mio Momono beat YuuRI. Since then Momono has been going around claiming she is the main representative of GanJo. Both YuuRI & the returning Yuna Manase weren’t going to take the disrespect lying down and agreed to team up as Nippon Ganbare☆Union again to get revenge. Momono called in Takumi Iroha to make it a two on two battle. The Marvelous team ended up standing tall again with Iroha taking Manase out of the ring so Momono could put YuuRI down for the second show in a row.

After the match Momono again called herself the representative of GanJo and claimed she successfully defended that title today. She put aside the jokes in order to thank Manase & YuuRI for the invitation to wrestle on today’s show. Iroha then teased YuuRI for all of the mistakes she made during the match. She does her best but also hasn’t been training hard enough, which hasn’t changed from when the two of them practiced together as rookies. Manase accepts that Momono now calls herself a GanJo wrestler because the title does not have to belong to just a select few wrestlers. However YuuRI promised to beat Momono to reclaim that spot and also replace her as the top Marvelous representative! Iroha said she will be waiting for GanJo and Ganbare☆Pro to come visit Marvelous in the future.

Sumire Natsu gave Yoshiko Hasegawa advice after their match on how to handle life as a freelance pro wrestler. When Natsu became a freelancer seven years ago she was anxious about whether she could survive in the industry. When Hasegawa turns freelance in April that means they will become business rivals! They will be fighting for the same small seat at the table so they have to do their best to beat the crap out of each other. As long as Hasegawa does not steal that seat from Natsu she will be happy to work together with her. She told Hasegawa she is now responsible for managing her own schedule and merchandise. She also told her the secret about what to do whenever a promoter she does not know puts on a show but that was for Yoppy’s ears only.

The mixed tag match begun with a tribute to the late Akira Toriyama when both teams got into a Kamehameha duel across the ring. The match almost came to a quick end after Riara took Low Kicks from Tyson Maeguchi and was almost counted out for a KO. She recovered and gave Alex Lee a Dropkick to continue fighting. Shota started using Riara as a weapon by Body Slamming her onto Maeguchi. He then tried to repeat the spot with a Suplex but this time Maeguchi rolled out of the way. The other team had their own problems when Lee accidentally hit Maeguchi with a Missile Dropkick. However she got her hands on Riara again and pinned her with the Vinco Plex for the win.

Banny Oikawa almost got to beat Kaho Kobayashi with a European Clutch. Kobayashi kicked out and then stunned her opponent with a Right High Kick. From there she used the 120% School Boy for the three count.


Shoki On Tomorrow’s BASARA Show, GanJo Vs Marvelous, A New Miracle Power Combination?

February 19, 2024

BASARA “BASARA 242 ~UTAGE~”, 20/02/2024
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. FUMA, KUBITO & Yasu Urano Vs SAGAT, Masato Kamino & Gouma Ryu
2. Daichi Kazato & Chicharito Shoki Vs Tsutomu Oosugi & Banana Senga
3. Lil’ Kraken Vs Kengo Mashimo
4. Isami Kodaka & Ryota Nakatsu Vs Takumi Tsukamoto & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi
5. Union MAX Title: Minoru Fujita (c) Vs Takato Nakano

The mystery tag partner for Daichi Kazato is Chicharito Shoki.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE TOUR 2024 SPRING”, 03/03/2024
Shinjuku FACE

1. Kirra Debut Match: Kirra Vs X
2. Uta Debut Match: Uta Vs X

The debuts of Kirra and Uta will happen here in separate matches.

Ryo Mizunami will be on the show.

GANBARE☆JOSHI “GANJO SUPER DARIUS ’24”, 09/03/2024
Tokyo Takashimadaira Kumin Center

1. Banny Oikawa Vs Kaho Kobayashi
2. Yoshiko Hasegawa Vs Sumire Natsu
3. Mixed Tag Match: Riara & Shota Vs Alex Lee & Tyson Maeguchi
4. GanJo Vs Marvelous: Yuna Manase & YuuRI Vs Takumi Iroha & Mio Momono

There is more to the main event than just Yuna Manase’s return to the ring. It is also an inter-promotional bout pitting Ganbare☆Joshi against Marvelous. Manase steps in the ring with Takumi Iroha again plus YuuRI gets a chance to avenge her recent loss to Mio Momono.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “GRAND PRINCESS ’24”, 31/03/2024
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

1. Aja Kong & Max The Impaler Vs Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao
2. International Princess Title: Yuki Arai (c) Vs Yuki Kamifuku
3. Princess Tag Team Titles: Ryo Mizunami & Yuki Aino (c) Vs Suzume & Arisu Endo
4. Princess Of Princess Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) Vs Miu Watanabe

A Great Kaiju War has been added to “GRAND PRINCESS ’24” and it might be too much for Kyoraku Kyomei to handle. It will be up to Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao to withstand the combined threat of Aja Kong & Max The Impaler. That’s right, Kong & Max are teaming up! Tokyo Joshi Pro describes the pairing as “Super Miracle Beast Power Combination” of the Reiwa era! Are they going to be as uncontrollable a tag team as Stan Hansen & Bruiser Brody were?


GANBARE☆PRO “ICE SMILE 2022” Results

February 13, 2022

GANBARE☆PRO “ICE SMILE 2022”, 13/02/2022
Osaka City Suminoe Maikon Hall
121 Fans

1. Tiger Vs Dragon In Osaka: Mizuki Watase defeated Ryuya Matsufusa with the Back Drop (10:09).
2. Ganjo Special Single Match: Yuna Manase defeated YuuRI with the Suzuki Dynamic (8:10).
3. Koshi Enjo Vs Harukatsu Shoot: Shuichiro Katsumura & Moeka Haruhi defeated Yumehito Imanari & HARUKAZE when Haruhi pinned HARUKAZE with the Ojosama Clutch (13:10).
4. Ganpro Special Tag Match: Keisuke Ishii & Nobuhiro Shimatani defeated Tsuyoshi Okada & Tyson Maeguchi when Ishii pinned Maeguchi with the Double-Armed Driver (13:35).
5. Ganpro Osaka Winter Team: Ken Ohka, Kouki Iwasaki & Katsumi Oribe defeated Shota, Soma Takao & Rapid when Iwasaki pinned Shota with the Vertical Drop Reverse DDT (21:20).

A win in the main event should have cheered up Kouki Iwasaki but he was apologetic to the Osaka crowd after the match instead. He was sorry he doesn’t have the Spirit Of Ganbare World Title belt in his possession to show off for everyone. He made it his goal to win the title from Tatsuhito Takaiwa and wear it all over the country for all the Ganbare☆Pro fans to see.

At the end of the show Katsumi Oribe invited Ken Ohka, Rapid and Ryuya Matsufusa to join his LINE group called Oribe Gundan.

Keisuke Ishii and Tyson Maeguchi both expressed an interest in having a singles match against each other. Maeguchi really likes Ishii’s wrestling style and wants to learn it from him in the ring. Ishii has teamed with him before and welcomes the idea of a one on one match between them.

Today is the 17th Anniversary of Moeka Haruhi’s debut match! She used an earlier move from her career (or at least a move I haven’t seen her use in Ganpro before), the Ojosama Clutch to pin HARUKAZE.

Even though Yuna Manase and YuuRI were opponents today, they are also forming a tag team to enter a tournament in Marvelous later this month. After discussions with Ohka they decided their team name will be Nippon Ganbare Union!


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.