Dramatic DDT

GANBARE☆PRO “BAD COMMUNICATION 2023”, 27/12/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
603 Fans

1. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Shota & Soma Takao (c) defeated Keisuke Ishii & Shigehiro Irie when Shota pinned Ishii with the Gannosuke Clutch (10:00).
*V3 for ROMANCE DAWN.
2. Makoto, HARUKAZE & Banny Oikawa defeated Sumire Natsu, YuuRI & Riara when HARUKAZE pinned Riara with the Flame Spear (11:59).
3. Special Single Match: Yoshiko Hasegawa defeated Arisu Endo with the Diving Double Knee Attack (6:50).
4. Yuko Miyamoto defeated Munetatsu Nakamura with the Moonsault Press (10:02).
5. GanPro Vs GLEAT All Out Battle ~ GanPro’s Famous Elimination 10-Man Tag Match: Yumehito Imanari, Takuya Wada, Mizuki Watase, Shinichiro Tominaga & Tyson Maeguchi defeated Kaz Hayashi, Minoru Tanaka, Takanori Ito, Check Shimatani & Jun Tonsho (20:13).
5a. Kaz Hayashi eliminated Shinichiro Tominaga with the Final Cut (5:17).
5b. Mizuki Watase eliminated Jun Tonsho with the Venetian (10:00).
5c. Takanori Ito eliminated Tyson Maeguchi by Over The Top Rope (11:55).
5d. Yumehito Imanari & Mizuki Watase eliminated Takanori Ito by Over The Top Rope (12:09).
5e. Minoru Tanaka eliminated Mizuki Watase with HEAT Clutch (15:37).
5f. Minoru Tanaka and Takuya Wada eliminated each other by Double Over The Top Rope (17:25).
5g. Yumehito Imanari eliminated Check Shimatani with the Lou Thesz Press (19:36).
5h. Yumehito Imanari eliminated Kaz Hayashi with the Lariat (20:13).
6. Special Single Match: Ken Ohka defeated Kuma Arashi with the Shin Flame Spear (14:03).
7. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Shuichiro Katsumura defeated Isami Kodaka (c) with a Moonsault Press (19:47).
*Isami Kodaka fails in V5. Shuichiro Katsumura becomes the 6th Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Champion!

The year closes on Ganbare☆Pro with a brand new Spirit Of Ganbare Champion! After clearing through most of the GanPro roster in his reign, Isami Kodaka finally fell and made Shuichiro Katsumura the promotion’s new hero. Katsumura went into the match knowing he would have to do something new to beat Kodaka. When different submission holds to the arm couldn’t get the job done, Katsumura climbed the top turnbuckle and did a Moonsault onto Kodaka to beat him! According to the new champion, he used his own form of pro wrestling to defeat Kodaka’s pro wrestling.

Katsumura didn’t want to shake Kodaka’s hand after the match because he’s not going to do that pretend friendship stuff from the Shonen Jump comics Kodaka likes. By taking the SOG Title away from him he also takes away the BASARA wrestler’s “passport” to enter GanPro. The result also means Katsumura is a double champion in GanPro and that should give him some power to make decisions. So as long as he is champion, Kodaka’s passport will be automatically renewed. However Kodaka refused the gesture and dared Katsumura to raise the SOG Title even higher than he did because Kodaka’s Shonen Jump story is not done yet!

When Kodaka left, Katsumura called down the GanPro roster to the ring so they could all finish the show together. Ken Ohka was given the microphone and he praised everyone in GanPro for working so hard. He then challenged Katsumura for the SOG Title because he wanted to strike while the iron is hot! Katsumura agreed to do a title match against Ohka at Itabashi on 4th January. However Ohka then also challenged him for the Spirit Of Ganbare Tag Team Titles in Osaka on 6th January with HARASHIMA as his partner! Katsumura accepted on behalf of Ground Absolute so GanPro’s 2024 will start off with two title matches in a three day period!

The reason why Ohka wants these title shots as soon as possible is because he is on a wave of momentum after finally beating Kuma Arashi in a grudge match. Arashi had Koji Doi helping with interference at ringside until Shota pulled him away. With no more trouble in his way, Ohka hit Arashi with the Flame Spear followed by the new and improved Shin Flame Spear to get the three count.

Despite the bad blood between them, Ohka thanked Arashi because every awful thing he did to him over the last six months helped Ohka grow as a 46 year old pro wrestler. Arashi didn’t want to speak but Doi stopped him from leaving. DoiKuma fully accepts defeat today but they enjoyed the atmosphere of GanPro fans booing them and cheering for Ohka. This may be the last time DoiKuma are in a GanPro ring so they asked if they could dance to “Bad Communication” with Ohka one last time? Ohka said of course they could! He also told them that everyone who is exposed to GanPro even once will always become a GanPro fan. The three of them then celebrated while “Bad Communication” played.

The good times for GanPro could be found even further down the card because the home team were victorious against GLEAT in the 10-Man Elimination Match! GLEAT dealt the first blow when Kaz Hayashi pinned Shinichiro Tominaga but Mizuki Watase evened the score by taking out Jun Tonsho. GLEAT went ahead again thanks to Takanori Ito getting Tyson Maeguchi over the top rope and then kicking him to the floor for an elimination. Seeing Ito as the big threat, both Watase & Yumehito Imanari worked together to get him out of the ring. Minoru Tanaka used his old finisher from his HEAT days to pin Watase. Takuya Wada wanted to make Tanaka submit but their struggle send both of them over the ropes to the apron. Check Shimatani then decided to sacrifice Tanaka to eliminate Wada and Dropkicked the both of them to the floor. That left Imanari in a 2-on-1 disadvantage but he pulled off the upset by pinning both Shimatani and then Hayashi to win the match for GanPro! Imanari later said GanPro and GLEAT should do a GxG collaboration again somewhere. That might happen because Hayashi does not want his interactions with Imanari to end like this! Things between Watase and Shimatani were a bit friendlier given their past together in DDT.

Munetatsu Nakamura looks up to Yuko Miyamoto a lot so he decided to wear a purple yankee costume for his match against him. Nakamura hit some big dives and used the Michinoku Driver II for a nearfall. Miyamoto turned the tables by blocking a German Suplex and then throwing his opponent head first over him to the canvas. Miyamoto won the match with the Moonsault Press but was left impressed by Nakamura. He said looking at Nakamura is like looking at a young Isami Kodaka. He wants to see more of him and what he can grow into. Nakamura said if he had beaten Miyamoto at Korakuen Hall on the 1st anniversary of his debut it would have created a great memory for him. Instead he has some regrets over losing. But he wants to continue fighting Miyamoto and even team up with him so he can get stronger.

After so many tries and close calls, Yoshiko Hasegawa has finally won a match by herself! She took on the visiting Arisu Endo from Tokyo Joshi Pro and they had a back and forth match. The difference maker was Hasegawa using a Diving Double Knee Attack from the turnbuckles to pin Endo for the 3 count. Hasegawa said it took her one year and 4 months to finally win a match but she now has a 1-1 record against Endo so they still need to figure out who is stronger. She eventually wants to fight for a championship someday so this result finally puts her on the starting line. The move she used was her first time using it so she hasn’t come up with a name for it yet.

There was more Ganbare☆Joshi action before that with a 6-Woman Tag Match. Makoto led HARUKAZE & Banny Oikawa to victory against the hedonistic team of Sumire Natsu, YuuRI & Riara. HARUKAZE scored the pin on Riara with the Flame Spear.

For the second time this year ROMANCE DAWN defended the KO-D Tag Team Titles in the opening match of a show. Here in GanPro the champions took on Keisuke Ishii & Shigehiro Irie in a match that connected Team Drift and the Young Communication generation together. Ishii aimed big by giving Shota the Double Arm Driver from the top rope but Soma Takao came to his partner’s rescue. Shota was then able to trap Ishii in the Gannosuke Clutch to win the match. Takao said it meant a lot for him and Shota to defend the titles against friends and former champions Ishii & Irie. Shota thinks all four of them are still rivals for each other to chase after. Irie said he does not know how many more chances he will get to team with Ishii so he appreciates the times when he does. He will always want to team with him one more time.

Yuna Manase announced she will have her first match back from injury on 23rd February! She told the fans about the frustrations she felt throughout the past year by being on the sidelines but those frustrations will soon disappear. She will be spending the next two months getting ready for her return. She already came up with ideas for a new costume and has decided on who she wants her opponent to be. That will be revealed on GanPro’s social media accounts soon.

Moeka Haruhi made an appearance during the opening announcements to greet the fans and joke around with ring announced Michiko Nonaka.