Dramatic DDT

Still a lot to unpack over the last few days. Danshoku Dieno is the new KO-D Openweight Champion after pulling off a plan that was months in the making. Super Sasadango Machine gave Dieno his Right To Challenge Gauntlet so Dieno could cash it in and win the title from a beaten up Shigehiro Irie after the main event of this week’s “DDT LIVE! MAJI MANJI” episode. According to Dieno’s interview after the show, he’s been planning this ever since the ending of “JUDGEMENT 2018” back in March! That Irie was the champion when he pulled this off is a little bit of a coincidence. Sure, Irie holds a grudge with Dieno over the current state of DDT and Dieno got in a panic when Irie briefly lost the title in America but Dieno’s motivation in this is purely to get himself into the main event of “JUDGEMENT 2018” in October. He also didn’t break any rules to achieve this. Gauntlet owners are allowed to transfer their prize to another person, which has happened before and his cash in was not at all unusual for that kind of gimmick. To insure that he makes it there with as few road blocks as possible, Dieno will only defend the title against those with a Right To Challenge Gauntlet. That there is only one left active in Japan right now means in theory he only has to make one successful defence and it is smooth sailing from there. If only it was that easy…

DDT “ROAD TO RYOGOKU 2018 ~DRAMATIC DREAM TENMUSU~”, 18/08/2018
Nagoya City East Sports Centre No. 2

1. Keisuke Okuda Vs Yuki Iino
2. Keisuke Ishii & Yuki Ueno Vs Soma Takao & Mad Paulie
3. Makoto Oishi, Akito & Cherry Vs Masahiro Takanashi, Kazusada Higuchi & Mizuki
4. Shigehiro Irie, Jason Kincaid & Ryan Davidson Vs HARASHIMA, Yukio Sakaguchi & Kouki Iwasaki
5. T2Hide Goodbye Series: Sanshiro Takagi, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs KUDO, Alex Ace & Nobuhiro Shimatani
6. Antonio Vs Pale One For The First Time In 42 Years! Nagoya Specialty Special Single Match: Antonio Honda Vs Konaka = Pale One
7. King Of DDT 2018 Best 8 Special Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo Vs Mike Bailey & MAO

The bad news for Dieno coming out of his win is he injured his right shoulder on the show. It isn’t clear if he was hurt by Irie’s Beast Bomber during the title match or if Dieno got hurt by the scheduled match he participated in earlier in the show. Dieno is taking the situation seriously and has taken himself off of this weekend’s shows.

DDT “ROAD TO RYOGOKU 2018 ~DRAMATIC DREAM TONDOYAKI~”, 19/08/2018
Osaka Nishi Kumin Center

1. Keisuke Okuda Vs Yuki Ueno
2. My Study Of Toughness ~ Yuni’s Study Of Freedom: Sanshiro Takagi, Toru Owashi & Yuni Vs Antonio Honda & Masahiro Takanashi
3. DAMNATION Vs ALL OUT!: Tetsuya Endo & Nobuhiro Shimatani Vs Akito & Yuki Iino
4. Mike Bailey & MAO Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Kouki Iwasaki
5. Makorin Dangerous Affair Once A Year 2018: KUDO Vs Makoto Oishi
6. RENEGADES Vs DAMNATION!: Shigehiro Irie, Mizuki Watase & Jason Kincaid Vs Daisuke Sasaki, Soma Takao & Mad Paulie
7. King Of DDT 2018 Best 8 Special Tag Match: HARASHIMA & Kazuki Hirata Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Keisuke Ishii

Mizuki Watase sprained his ankle at Maji Manji so he too will be out of action this weekend. Both Dieno and Watase are expected to return in time for the 25th August Korakuen Hall show.

DDT “KING OF DDT 2018 3RD ROUND”, 25/08/2018
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Toru Owashi, Yuki Ueno, Akito & Yuki Iino Vs Sanshiro Takagi, Kouki Iwasaki, Daiki Shimomura & Rekka
2. Danshoku Dieno, Makoto Oishi & Super Sasadango Machine Vs KUDO, Masahiro Takanashi & Gorgeous Matsuno
3. DAMNATION Vs RENEGADES!: Soma Takao, Mad Paulie & Nobuhiro Shimatani Vs Mizuki Watase, Jason Kincaid & Ryan Davidson
4. Special Tag Match: Shigehiro Irie & Taiyo Kea Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Antonio Honda
5. King Of DDT 2018 – Quarter Final 1: Mike Bailey Vs MAO
6. King Of DDT 2018 – Quarter Final 2: Tetsuya Endo Vs Kazuki Hirata
7. King Of DDT 2018 – Quarter Final 3: HARASHIMA Vs Yukio Sakaguchi
8. King Of DDT 2018 – Quarter Final 4: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Keisuke Ishii

Some of the recent roster changes have come into effect. Kouki Iwasaki, Daiki Shimomura and Rekka will have their chance to say goodbye to DDT. For Rekka it will be goodbye to Japan. I assume Iwasaki and Shimomura will be back here and there whenever DDT needs a undercard spot to fill.

DDT “BLACK OUT PRESENTS KING OF DDT 2018 FINAL ROUND”, 26/08/2018
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

0. Under Match: Kouki Iwasaki Vs Nobuhiro Shimatani
1. King Of DDT 2018 – Semi Final: Winner Of Quarter Final 1 Vs Winner Of Quarter Final 2
2. King Of DDT 2018 – Semi Final: Winner Of Quarter Final 3 Vs Winner Of Quarter Final 4
3. 3 Way Tag Match: Brahman Shu & Brahman Kei Vs Soma Takao & Mad Paulie Vs KUDO & Masahiro Takanashi
4. Special Tag Match: Tatsumi Fujinami & Antonio Honda Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ueno
5. Danshoku Dieno, Makoto Oishi & Super Sasadango Machine Vs Shigehiro Irie, Mizuki Watase & Jason Kincaid
6. King Of DDT 2018 – Final: X Vs X

Dieno better pray he makes it out of Korakuen in one piece if Irie gets his hands on him. But I wouldn’t be giving him enough credit to think he doesn’t have a plan in place to protect himself.

DDT “DDT LIVE! MAJI MANJI #15”, 28/08/2018
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Special Single Match: Shinya Aoki Vs Gota Ihashi
2. Right To Date 2nd Generation Bachelor Rintaro Oyaizu 4 Way Match: Cherry Vs Yuna Manase Vs Maki Ito Vs Yuki Kamifuku
3. KO-D Openweight Title: Danshoku Dieno (c) Vs Meiko Satomura
*Meiko Satomura will cash in her Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Gauntlet.

Meiko Satomura currently has the last remaining Gauntlet in Japan and she intends to get her title match on 28th August. If she wins and becomes the champion her first action will be to grant Irie a title shot. She originally wanted her championship match to be against Irie before Dieno got involved.

Rintaro Oyaizu is the star of Japan’s version of The Bachelor season 2. He appeared on Maji Manji this week and had several women wrestlers pushing each other out of the way to get his attention. The solution is to have a match where the winner gets to date him. It’s kind of odd because three of the participants are banned by their company from dating men but hey, a blind eye can be turned if it gets some mainstream attention I guess.

Good news about Gota Ihashi. He looks in better shape every time I’ve seen him this year. Bad news about Ihashi, he has to fight MMA star Shinya Aoki. I’m not even sure if this is part of his trial series.

GANBARE☆WRESTLING “KIDS RETURN 2018”, 13/09/2018
Ichigaya Nankai Memorial Clinic

1. Rain With Fists In Ichigaya In Fine Weather! Summer Punching Fever In Ichigaya!!: Yumehito Imanari Vs Tanomusaku Toba
2. From Commando To Tomb Raider! The Soul Was Handed Over! Rain Of Slaughter Falls In Ichigaya In Fine Weather!!! Tomb Raider Haruhi Is Born!!!: Moeka Haruhi Vs Shin Mokujin Ken (Special Referee: Yumehito Imanari)
3. Kouki Iwasaki Belongs To Ganbare 1st Round Special Tag Match: Yumehito Imanari & Kouki Iwasaki Vs Keisuke Ishii & Shota

Ken Ohka has gone AWOL from Ganbare☆Wrestling which means Yumehito Imanari is taking over the main event and then some. Imanari is going to be all over this show and is already featured in every match announced so far. He’s welcoming Kouki Iwasaki to Ganpro, passing over his heroic attributes to Moeka Haruhi and getting into a kickboxing scrap with Tanomusaku Toba.