Daisuke Sasaki’s BOSJ Adventure

June 14, 2026

Last year DDT regained a presence in New Japan’s annual Best Of The Super Jr. tournament by sending MAO over to compete. Things worked out very well for him and he narrowly missed out on qualifying into the final rounds outside of the group stage. I had expectations that MAO would compete again this year but it turns out his focus on becoming the most square shaped wrestler to ever live had the side effect of him growing too big to be eligible for the tournament. Instead, DDT decided to enter Daisuke Sasaki 14 years after his last appearance in BOSJ. He’s done this twice before to poor results. In 2011 he only got one win and in 2012 he only got two. He’s mostly a different wrestler in 2026 and he was able to have his best results ever. Too bad he peaked very early in the tour and just kept falling until the end. The moral of this story is MAO needs to go on a diet.

B Block

1. Robbie Eagles (12)
-. YOH (12)
-. El Desperado (12)
-. SHO (12)
-. Taiji Ishimori (12)
6. Daisuke Sasaki (6)
-. Yoshinobu Kanemaru (6)
-. Hyo (6)
-. Jakob Austin Young (6)
-. KUSHIDA (6)


NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33”, 14/05/2026
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,445 Fans (No Vacancy)

8. BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33 – B Block: Daisuke Sasaki (2) defeated El Desperado (0) with La Mistica Crossface Lock (16:10).

Sasaki jumped out of the starting blocks very well on opening day. His first match in the B Block was against his good old friend El Desperado. Things got off to a friendly start with some polite hand kissing but they decided to turn up the aggression by fighting outside over to the commentary table. Back in the ring the match went back and forth until Sasaki shoved the referee into Despy’s way, allowing him to catch Despy with a Low Blow kick by the corner. Sasaki then used La Mistica Crossface Lock to make his friend submit. Obviously due to the way Sasaki won the match, Desperado didn’t want to shake his hand afterwards. He flipped him off instead. In the leadup to the tournament, Sasaki bragged that he was going to win it but secretly doubted himself. But after beating Desperado he is now 100% see himself going all the way!


NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33”, 16/05/2026
Tokyo Esforta Arena Hachioji
1,076 Fans

5. BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33 – B Block: Daisuke Sasaki (4) defeated KUSHIDA (2) with La Mistica Crossface Lock (7:17).

Sasaki fought KUSHIDA in the BOSJ once before, losing to him in 2011. KUSHIDA is making a habit of wrestling barefoot nowadays so Sasaki dared him into doing it for this match and he would join in. The plan was to target KUSHIDA’s left leg because it wasn’t 100% and he hit it with a chair against the ring post. When KUSHIDA kept making comebacks, Sasaki would fight dirty to cut him off so KUSHIDA used a trick of his own and tried to shove his sock into Sasaki’s mouth. Sasaki went one step further by grabbing KUSHIDA’s foot and taking a bite out of it! He then applied the Cross Facelock while smothering KUSHIDA with the sock to make him give up. Sasaki complained about how awful KUSHIDA’s feet taste like but at least he got revenge from their first match 15 years ago. Now that he has beaten Despy, KUSHIDA and Hiromu Takahashi in BOSJ matches Sasaki called himself the next symbol of New Japan’s junior heavyweight division.


NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33”, 17/05/2026
Tokyo National Yoyogi Stadium Gymnsium #2
1,664 Fans

6. BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33 – B Block: Daisuke Sasaki (6) defeated Hyo (2) with the Crossover Face Lock (9:34).

The good times kept on rolling for Sasaki when he got his third win in a row. Hyo from Dragon Gate was his next opponent and this guy had a tendency of using a stuffed leopard named Myonmyon to gather fan support. Sasaki took advantage by grabbing Myonmyon and throwing it away so Hyo would be too distracted to defend himself from getting a chair thrown at him. Hyo did have the awareness to avoid a Low Blow after the referee distraction but he still got caught with Sasaki’s finisher. Sasaki then switched it over to the Crossover Face Lock for the victory. He said Hyo was so fast he couldn’t see him but he got out of the match unscathed. He is now confident he will go undefeated without a scratch. Instead the opposite happened and he wouldn’t win a block match again for the rest of the tournament.


NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33”, 20/05/2026
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,257 Fans

5. BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33 – B Block: Taiji Ishimori (4) defeated Daisuke Sasaki (6) with a Gedo Clutch (11:36).

The match against Taiji Ishimori turned into more of a DDT Vs NJPW battle than expected. The two promotions had an inter-promotional show coming up after BOSJ and Sasaki made it known to everyone that the commentator Haruo Murata was a DDT guy first and foremost. He then tried to use Murata as a shield when the match broke out of the ring. Ishimori responded by threatening to use Milano Collection A.T. as his human shield. Sasaki soon got a taste of his own medicine when Ishimori used the ref push spot against him and did a Low Blow of his own. Sasaki was in too much pain to kick out of the Gedo Clutch after that and complained that Ishimori didn’t fight fair and square. He then got paranoid thinking that by losing the match he was already eliminated from the tournament. He’ll get revenge by kicking every New Japan wrestler in the dick!


NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33”, 22/05/2026
Osaka Municipal Central Gymnasium Sub-Arena (Asue Arena Osaka)
1,192 Fans – No Vacancy

2. Jakob Austin Young & Zane Jay defeated Daisuke Sasaki & Masatora Yasuda when Young pinned Yasuda with the Jakob’s Ladder (6:33).

A couple of the shows gave Sasaki warmup matches for some of his upcoming opponents. He was given the young lion Masatora Yasuda as his main tag partner for these matches. First up they took on a pair of American wrestlers from United Empire. Sasaki’s focus was on Jakob Austin Young while Yasuda got scrappy with Zane Jay. The pairings swapped over and Young ended up beating Yasuda with his finisher. He then taunted Sasaki by taking his chair and sitting on it in the ring. Sasaki showed some sympathy towards Yasuda and warned Young he will end up getting beaten up like Yasuda in their block match.


NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33”, 23/05/2026
Hyogo Arcrea Himeji
1,153 Fans

6. BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33 – B Block: Jakob Austin Young (4) defeated Daisuke Sasaki (6) with a BITES THE DUST onto a chair (6:58).

Once again Sasaki now knows what it is like when the cheating happens against him. Young had Zay in his corner for the match and relied on him to interfere or distract the referee when necessary. Sasaki evened the odds by grabbing a chair from the commentary table (and was angry to find another announcer there instead of Murata). Sasaki would then make Young tap out to the Crossface Lock but Jay prevented the ref from seeing it. Sasaki tried to hit Young with the chair during the distraction but Young Dropkicked him in the leg instead, making Sasaki fall face first onto the chair. Young then gave him a Wrist Clutch DDT onto the chair and got rid of the evidence before the ref could turn back around and count the pinfall. With two block losses in a row, Sasaki was now getting paranoid he was falling out of contention.


NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33”, 24/05/2026
Kyoto KBS Hall
767 Fans

1. Daisuke Sasaki & Masatora Yasuda defeated Toru Yano & Tatsuya Matsumoto when Sasaki submitted Matsumoto with the Crossface Lock (5:43).

Speaking of cheating, Sasaki took on a master of it in a non-tournament tag bout next. Toru Yano was there to look over the young lion Tatsuya Matsumoto but then raced with Sasaki to remove the turnbuckle pads from the opposite corners. Sasaki pushed Matsumoto into one of the exposed buckles and then did a Diving Elbow Drop for a nearfall. Matsumoto showing guts by kicking out only meant Sasaki had to make him submit instead. Sasaki again stood up for Yasuda then started acting like he is from DDT. Yasuda got nervous and started apologizing when Sasaki ordered him to start talking.


NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33”, 27/05/2026
Shizuoka Kira Messe Numazu
777 Fans

4. BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33 – B Block: Yoshinobu Kanemaru (6) defeated Daisuke Sasaki (6) with a Figure 4 Leg Lock (6:47).

By this point of the tour, Sasaki figured out the cheating that worked out so well for him at the start had now become ineffective. The solution to this is to cheat even more! Learning from his match with Young, Sasaki was now bringing in his DAMNATION T.A stablemate Ilusion to be his ringside attendant for the match against Yoshinobu Kanemaru. Ilusion’s interference worked up to a point but backfired when Sasaki took a drink of Kanemaru’s whiskey. Sasaki spat out Whiskey Mist but Kanemaru ducked and Ilusion got blinded with it instead. Kanemaru then gave Sasaki a series of Knee Crushers before putting him in a Figure 4 Leg Lock to make him submit. He said the result showed the difference between brains and skill. Sasaki tried to shrug off the loss because he got to drink some of Kanemaru’s whiskey.


NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33”, 29/05/2026
Niigata Tsubame City Gymnasium
825 Fans

2. Robbie Eagles, Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson defeated Daisuke Sasaki, Toru Yano & Masatora Yasuda when Jackson pinned Yasuda with a Senton (6:51).

This time Sasaki & Yasuda had Yano teaming up with them as the three faced off against TMDK. For Sasaki it would give him a taste of wrestling Robbie Eagles before their block match the next day. He got to wrestle Ryohei Oiwa a little bit too but that meant poor Yasuda had to fight off the big boy Hartley Jackson. He got crushed with a Senton for his troubles. Yano started arguing with Sasaki over it because he didn’t want to team up with a DDT wrestler in the first place. Sasaki later tried to convince Yasuda they should go challenge for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Titles.


NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33”, 30/05/2026
Toyama Takaoka Techno Dome
957 Fans

7. BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33 – B Block: Robbie Eagles (8) defeated Daisuke Sasaki (6) with the Ron Miller Special (13:17).

Although Sasaki did take Murata’s chair and used it as a weapon on Eagles, he was polite enough to give it back to the commentator and fought the rest of the match only by bending a few rules instead of breaking them. Other than that the match came down to a test of skill. Sasaki almost got the win using the Sasaki-Style Hurricanrana but Eagles outdid him by kicking out and then wrapping Sasaki up in the Ron Miller Special to make him give up. Eagles said backstage that he and Sasaki share a closer connection than people may realize. Eagles has trained under Ikuto Hidaka in the TAKESHIBA Colosseum so that means he learned from the tag partner of Sasaki’s mentor Dick Togo.


NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33”, 02/06/2026
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,310 Fans

4. BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33 – B Block: SHO (10) defeated Daisuke Sasaki (6) with the Shock Arrow (6:43).

With only two block matches remaining and having been stuck in the mud with 6 points, Sasaki was now on his last legs in the block. He needed to beat SHO from House Of Torture just to stay in the running even if his hopes of reaching the playoff rounds were slim. Sasaki was led down to the ring by Hideki Okatani while wearing a full entrance costume until SHO ambushed the two of them. But as SHO stomped on “Sasaki” in the ring, the real Sasaki showed up behind him and launched a counter attack. The first one was just Ilusion in disguise! Yujiro Takahashi got involved to help SHO but a ref bump allowed Okatani to attack them with his bamboo sword. Sasaki then pulled out a stun gun but SHO distracted him by holding up a metal plate with a picture of Dick Togo on it. Sasaki hesitated to risk besmirching his mentor but closed in to use the stun gun. SHO blocked him with the plate, used the plate to hit Sasaki over the head with and then pinned him with the Shock Arrow. SHO explained he was able to block the stun gun with a metal plate because there was a layer of cardboard behind the picture of Togo that absorbed the electricity.


NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33”, 03/06/2026
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,255 Fans

4. BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33 – B Block: YOH (12) defeated Daisuke Sasaki (6) with the Five Star Clutch (9:42).

No result would send Sasaki into the semi finals so all he could do on the final day of block matches was play spoiler against YOH. As you all know by now that did not happen and YOH went on to win the whole tournament. YOH was in a DDT kind of mood because he kept flashing Gongitsune hand signs during the match. He also grabbed Milano’s chair to match with Sasaki taking Murata’s chair at ringside. Both sides stared each other down until they rushed back into the ring to avoid getting counted out. Sasaki got out of an Anaconda Vice by poking the ref in the eye and then poking YOH. He also avoided the Direct Drive but a scramble for cradling pins led to YOH catching Sasaki in the Five Star Clutch for the three count. While Sasaki was lamenting over only gaining one extra BOSJ win than his previous attempts 14 years ago, El Desperado barged in complaining about Sasaki’s defeat knocking himself out of the tournament. Despy cannot believe he lost to Sasaki but Sasaki couldn’t beat YOH! Sasaki promised he will do better when he comes back to BOSJ in another 14 years time.


NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33”, 05/06/2026
G-Messe Gunma
1,102 Fans

5. El Desperado & Hyo defeated Daisuke Sasaki & Dick Togo when Desperado submitted Togo with the Numero Dos (6:20).

All that was left to do for Sasaki’s final tour dates were take part in non-tournament tag matches. Desperado wanted to team up with Hyo so the two of them took on Sasaki and his mentor Togo. It was then revealed that Togo had kidnapped Myonmyon at some point before the show. Hyo was able to rescue his little buddy while Despy got Togo to submit to the Numero Dos. Togo quickly got revenge by kidnapping Myonmyon again while Sasaki used a stun gun to keep Hyo at a distance.


NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33”, 07/06/2026
Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium (EBARA WAVE Arena Ota)
3,969 Fans (No Vacancy)

3. Master Wato, Ryusuke Taguchi, Daisuke Sasaki, Nick Wayne & Valiente Jr. defeated Taiji Ishimori, Robbie X, Titán, Gedo & Daiki Nagai when Taguchi submitted Gedo with the Oh My & Garankle (10:25).

Sasaki’s last match on the final night was a complete smorgasbord of wrestlers from all over including some from AEW and CMLL. Gedo was the odd man out because he was the only person in the 10-Man Tag Match to have not competed in BOSJ this year. Sasaki wasn’t enthusiastic to team with Ryusuke Taguchi but did seem to get along with Master Wato. After the match Sasaki told New Japan when he comes back in 14 years he doesn’t want to team with wrestlers like those two again.


DDT/NJPW “ONE-ON-ONE CONFRONTATION PART 2” Results

June 8, 2026

DDT/NJPW “ONE-ON-ONE CONFRONTATION PART 2 ~SASADANGO-GUN VS YANO-GUN 5-ON-5 ELIMINATION TAG BATTLE~”, 08/06/2025
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
??? Fans – Unannounced

0. Special Exhibition Match: Hinata Kasai Vs Tatsuya Matsumoto ended in a Time Limit Draw (3:00).
0a. Overtime: Tatsuya Matsumoto defeated Hinata Kasai with a Crab Hold (3:32).
1. Fluorescent Lighttube IPPON Hell: MAO & Akito defeated El Desperado & KUSHIDA by IPPON when Desperado broke the Lighttube (8:46).
2. Blindfold Butt-Finding Hell: YOH & Ryusuke Taguchi defeated MAO & Akito when MAO & Akito had their bare butts exposed (6:51).
3. Give UP A Hellish Situation Where Only Submission Is Possible: Kazuki Hirata & Antonio Honda Vs YOH & Ryusuke Taguchi ended in a Draw when they all submitted to Milano Collection A.T.’s Paradise Lock (11:08).
4. If Your Junior Laughs, You Lose! A Junior Role Model Death Match: Hirooki Goto defeated Super Sasadango Machine by Submission with the GTR (8:50).
5. Danshoku Dieno Vs Hirooki Goto ended in a No Contest (7:55).
6. Weapon Rumble Hell: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Toru Yano ended in a No Contest when the match gets cancelled (23:31).
7. Special Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA defeated Toru Yano & Super Sasadango Machine when TAKESHITA pinned Sasadango with the Raging Fire (2:01).
8. Special Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA, Toru Yano, Hirooki Goto, El Desperado, Ryusuke Taguchi, KUSHIDA, YOH, Masatora Yasuda, Tatsuya Matsumoto, Taisei Nakahara, Super Sasadango Machine, Danshoku Dieno, MAO, KANON, Kazuki Hirata, Akito, Antonio Honda & Hinata Kasai defeated Sanshiro Takagi when TAKESHITA pinned Takagi with a Stunner (1:38).

One year ago a rivalry between Super Sasadango Machine and Toru Yano brought DDT and New Japan together, mending a decade long broken relationship in the process. The event was such a success that both parties agreed to do it again, this time under more friendlier circumstances. With a hot summer of sport about to begin, an agreement was made by both sides to provide the best sportsmanship and keep things fair throughout the day. But as the show hit its stride, the trust between DDT and NJPW would be taken advantage of by some for the sake of getting the competitive advantage.

For an inter-promotional show such as this it was necessary that everything would be presented 50/50. It aired as a PPV on both NJPW World and Wrestle Universe with each streaming service providing their own full scale broadcast on separate screens side-by-side. That meant separate commentary teams with their own special guests, separate ring announcers, alternating referees, etc. Korakuen Hall even tried to split itself in half with the green DDT side having a security fence installed while the red NJPW side was barrier free. The NJPW World commentators were Yohei Onishi, Milano Collection A.T. and special guest Hiroshi Tanahashi. The Wrestle Universe commentators were Haruo Murata, Ken Suzuki.txt and special guest Yuki Ueno. Murata wants to be neutral because he works with both companies but his interactions with Daisuke Sasaki during the Best Of The Super Jr. meant he was DDT through and through no matter what he says.

A signing ceremony was planned to take place but first Yano had an announcement to make regarding his team. Tomoaki Honma was unable to appear at the show today because of illness so a substitute was called in at the last minute. His replacement is KUSHIDA! With that news out of the way, Sasadango and Yano signed the contract and started to hype up the fans to chant for their favorite side.

The chants turned into a cheering contest with Yano ordering Tatsuya Matsumoto to encourage even louder chants for New Japan. Hinata Kasai tried to do the same with the DDT fans, leading the two young wrestlers to get in each other’s way and then begin arguing. The arguing turned into a staredown and the staredown was going to turn into a fight!

All of a sudden a three minute long wrestling exhibition broke out between Matsumoto and Kasai. The two fought back and forth until the time expired but both kept trying to fight so they were allowed another five minutes to settle their differences. Kasai locked in an STF but Matsumoto broke free and got a nearfall with a Body Slam. As the match hit the 3 minute mark, Matsumoto put Kasai in a Crab Hold and got him to give up.

Everything was now calm again after that fired up display so it was time for the show to begin proper. DDT and New Japan would face each other in a gauntlet of singles matches with mystery lineups made out of five participants on each team. However a match could be turned into a tag team bout if both sides agree to the change beforehand. Sasadango and Yano together gave an oath promising to uphold good sportsmanship in every match… but it was all a trick! A video played on the two screens showing an unmasked Sasadango dressed up as the famous fortune teller Kazuko Hosoki. Here, “Kazuko Sasaki” informed Yano that DDT had just invited NJPW into taking part in a special tour… The DDT Hell Tour!

Sasadango admits he was foolish to think his team could beat New Japan in five regular pro wrestling matches so he hatched a plan. The DDT GM Hisaya Imabayashi then showed Yano the contract he signed included an extra sentence written in English that was not included in the Japanese print. “All match rules must be accepted as decided by DDT.” Yano was tricked into letting DDT decide the rules for every match tonight!

DDT used the surprise to their immediate advantage by making the first match an IPPON Lighttube Tag Death Match! In this match there is only one lighttube and the loser is the person whose body breaks it. DDT sent the master of the match Akito out there to team with MAO while NJPW were represented by KUSHIDA & El Desperado. The sudden rule change made things more dangerous for KUSHIDA because lately he likes to wrestle barefoot. Akito made fun of that by shoving a sock into KUSHIDA’s mouth near the end of the match. However as everyone fought over the lighttube or tried to avoid touching it, MAO and Desperado formed their own alliance because of their friendship and agreed to break the lighttube together. They both climbed up the same turnbuckle, counted down together and… only Desperado went ahead with the trust fall. He smashed landed on the lighttube while MAO remained on the turnbuckles to celebrate winning the match. Desperado was so furious over the betrayal he abducted Viento Maligno at ringside and threatened to harm him with the remains of the broken lighttube unless MAO apologizes.

Akito & MAO remained in the ring to take part in the second match. This one showed everybody how DDT’s plan could backfire on them in a spectacular manner. It was a Blindfold Butt-Finding Hell Match where every wrestler had to fight blindfolded in their underwear and the first one to have their backside exposed would lose. NJPW sent out the two wrestlers that were guaranteed to thrive under such a ruleset, YOH & Ryusuke Taguchi! Both men walked out wearing an extra pair of underwear over their heads along with slingkinis and stockings. Keep in mind this show is taking place exactly one day after YOH won BOSJ! The blindness led to Akito & MAO almost fighting each other until they recognized each other by their body shape. The two of them as well as YOH all ended up wandering outside the ring while back inside Taguchi was trying to do Hip Attacks into thin air. When everyone got back into the ring MAO slid up from underneath Taguchi only to bump into YOH and accidentally Lip Lock him. The four wrestlers then formed a chain by all reaching out to the person in front of them to grab their tights. The NJPW team won the duel and exposed the DDT wrestlers’ butts to win the match. According to MAO, the lesson he learned from this match is everybody from Miyagi is weird. YOH proved it later by telling reporters backstage that the experience he went through today feels so good.

Match #3 had DDT send out reinforcements in the form of Antonio Honda & Kazuki Hirata because the only way to win the match was to make your opponents give up. The DDT team jumped YOH & Taguchi but the NJPW duo would taunt them on the microphone whenever they were asked to give up. Honda told Hirata to put them in the Paradise Lock but Hirata confessed he does not know how to do the move. Honda went outside to bring Milano Collection A.T. into the ring so they could learn it from him. But Honda tripped over the ropes on the way back in. He had injured himself and decided it was time to give up but first he needed to tell his latest Gongitsune joke. It turned into an attack that led to everyone brawling. As the dust settled, only Milano was left standing. He noticed a pair of Hirata GO! glasses had fallen onto the canvas so he put them on and “Tokyo GO!” began to play. He tried to ignore it until he couldn’t help but dance to the music belonging to an old foe. As this was happening, Honda and Taguchi were doing Gongitsune attacks and they both wound up pinching Milano by the nipples. Milano’s response was to put the both of them in Paradise Locks and then continue dancing on top of them. Both Honda and Taguchi gave up at the same time, causing the match to end in a tie.

The series was reaching its halfway point so Sasadango decided now was a good time to do a PowerPoint Presentation… From Hell! He explained to the audience that the ideal way of doing inter-promotional matches is to help develop the next generation. His presentation was suddenly interrupted when his laptop decided to reset itself for updates. While the fans started chanting for the laptop to restart, Sasadango handed his microphone to Hiroshi Tanahashi and asked him to talk for a bit. Tanahashi spoke about the repaired relationship between New Japan and DDT, entirely crediting himself for making it happen. Sasadango then gave up on the laptop and tried to continue his presentation without PowerPoint. He and Yano then broke out into an argument until they noticed Rukiya and Tatsuya Matsumoto both laughing at them nearby. Sasadango and Yano agreed they need to set a good example to their juniors or they would lose their respect. So for the next match the wrestlers involved would lose if their junior laughs at them!

Sasadango would step into the ring to finally be part of the action but his opponent was Hirooki Goto! Rukiya and Matsumoto were made to sit down near the ring with instructions to fill their mouths with water. Every time one of them laughed and spat the water out, their respective wrestler would lose a point. The first to lose three points would lose the match. Both of them laughed at the same time when Goto accidentally unmasked Sasadango during a Headlock off of the ropes. Rukiya then laughed a second time when Sasadango took a Lariat, apologized to Goto and then retreated from the ring. When Sasadango returned, he all of a sudden looked like a completely different person with a ripped physique. Goto was able to unmask him, revealing it was KANON under the mask. That made Matsumoto laugh. The real Sasadango returned to launch a sneak attack on Goto but that failed. He then challenged Goto to a sumo match and encouraged the fans to chant “Edmond” at Goto (because he plays E. Honda in the upcoming Street Fighter movie). Sasadango tricked Goto into taking a Dropkick but Goto got back up and grabbed his opponent. Just when Goto was in position to do the GTR, Sasadango instantly gave up so he wouldn’t take the move. Rukiya laughed at this, taking away Sasadango’s last point. Goto gave him th GTR anyway and pinned him for the three count so he ended up having three different ways to claim victory for the match.

Sasadango was beaten but DDT was not. He still had one more card to play. For many weeks leading up to this show, Sasadango has been trying to recruit one wrestler more than any other but his advances were rejected every time. Well it turns out this person finally agreed to show up because Danshoku Dieno made a big entrance to have a match with Goto! It didn’t take long for the match to get out of hand because the referees Yumehito Imanari, Marty Asami and Daisuke Kiso were all knocked out with Lip Locks that were intended for Goto. Akito ran into the ring to help put Dieno into the Hell Gate position over the top turnbuckle. Chaos then broke out with many wrestlers from both teams all running down to the ring to fight each other and then get their heads shoved into Dieno’s backside. Everything was so out of control that the match had to be called off.

By this point the DDT had run out of all of their players while the NJPW team still had only Toru Yano remaining. Yano thought this meant the series was over and his team had won without him even having to do anything. However Sasadango had one more trick up his sleeve. As much as he works hard for DDT, he does not have a contract with them and in fact wrestles as a freelancer. He is not really a DDT wrestler so that means the result of his match against Goto does not count towards the contest! Yano was furious over the revelation and demanded whoever is in charge of DDT to come out and face him. Sanshiro Takagi did just that and introduced himself to Yano as the supreme commander of DDT. For one more twist of the knife, Takagi and Yano would now face off in a Weapon Rumble!

The rules are a new weapon would be brought down to the ring Royal Rumble style and each weapon was decided upon by either DDT or New Japan. Yano complained that his team didn’t prepare any weapons but Sasadango revealed that he surveyed YOH about it beforehand and was able to get the weapons he suggested. The weapons included a blonde wig, a fire extinguisher, a “Yano Set” of a chair and sake, Mecha Mummy armed with the Mecha Drill, Daisuke Sasaki drinking tequila and El Desperado drinking tequila. The big surprise of all came when Takagi brought out his greatest weapon, Konosuke Takeshita! He had travelled to Japan just to be at this show and he attacked Yano on Takagi’s behalf. But just as Takeshita was about to give Yano the Raging Fire, the countdown for Yano’s next weapon fell to zero and it was revealed to be… Konosuke Takeshita?!? He played along with the rules and switched to attacking Takagi until Takagi started protesting. He said Takeshita belongs to DDT while Yano argued he also belongs to New Japan. Sasadango then stepped into the ring with Tanahashi as everyone agreed this was an issue that needed to be sorted out immediately.

Sasadango pointed out to Takeshita that this is the drawback to having contracts with three different wrestling companies. Two of them are here today so he needed to make a choice between them. Takagi spoke about Takeshita contacting him at 15 years old asking to become a pro wrestler because he was so confident he could reach to the top. Takagi always believes Takeshita will come back to DDT even when he is winning championships in AEW and New Japan. Tanahashi reminded Takeshita of the singles match they had in Sumo Hall back in 2014. He could feel Takeshita’s potential all the way back then and he still has high expectations for him going forward.

Sasadango handed Takeshita a “Final Rose” for him to give to the person he wants to be with (exactly like what Yuma Anzai experienced in Japan’s version of The Bachelorette recently). Takeshita said when he watched NJPW as a kid it gave him dreams and DDT made those dreams come true. He belongs to both companies solely out of gratitude with a desire to repay their kindness. He told Tanahashi he will do his best to protect NJPW from now on. He also made a promise to Takagi he will work hard to help him bring DDT to the Tokyo Dome!

Takeshita was about to hand the Final Rose to both Tanahashi and Takagi when Yano angrily cut him off. Yano complained he cannot choose both and Sasadango agreed that nobody would be satisfied with this ending. Sasadango then said if DDT carelessly goes into the Tokyo Dome and fails miserably then DDT will be finished and everyone will be left out on the streets! All of a sudden Yano & Sasadango now wanted to fight Takeshita in a Handicap match. It didn’t take long for Takeshita to dispatch both of them before pinning Sasadango with the Raging Fire.

After the impromptu match, Takeshita felt it was time he explained himself. He couldn’t find the way to properly convey his feelings up to this point so he got Muscle Sakai to help him out by creating a PowerPoint Presentation for him. It is titled “Why I Belong To Three Pro Wrestling Organizations” He introduced himself as a 31 year old wrestler currently living in Orlando with two special skills: working out and pro wrestling. He won the KO-D Openweight Title in DDT at a young age and still holds the record for most title defences. In New Japan he won the G1 Climax and then held the IWGP World Heavyweight Title. Recently in AEW he defeated Kazuchika Okada (the crowd popped at the mention of this) to become the new AEW International Champion. He is confident he is one of the busiest wrestlers in the world.

He gets all sorts of requests from the companies he works for. NJPW wants him on more domestic tours, DDT wants him to bring them to the Tokyo Dome and AEW doesn’t want any other company taking him away from them. The reason he is signed to all three companies is a simple one. He wants to share his world of pro wrestling to more people. He felt left out when he was not a part of last year’s DDT Vs New Japan show and it is one of his biggest regrets because he belongs to both companies. An all star show like this is supposed to be the most entertaining showdown but there are many ways for people to entertain themselves these days. Takeshita has other hobbies to keep himself occupied but pro wrestling will always be the most interesting.

So Takeshita has come up with three ideas that will prove his point. The first idea is he wants to hold the world’s largest pro wrestling league consisting of 365 wrestlers all fighting each other in a gigantic year long round robin tournament! He watches so much wrestling in his off time that he is subscribed to all of the different streaming services. That means he’s been able to carefully select a list of 365 wrestlers from all over the world he wants to compete and has also created a tentative schedule of matches to be held across Japan so there will be tournament events every single day from the opening bouts on 1st January all the way to the final night on 31st December! He understands the schedule might be difficult to pull off which is why he thinks the league should only be held once every four years likes the Olympics.

 

Takeshita’s second idea is to revise pro wrestling’s rules so they are more in line to modern times. He recognizes that violence doesn’t solve anything and disputes can be resolved through discussion. A suggestion he has is to introduce AI judging and a scoring system based on technical points, artistic points, and compositional skills. His example of a scoring system that works is the annual M-1 Grand Prix comedy show that is always a huge hit at the end of the year. His third idea is to ultimately unify the world of pro wrestling. Today the polar opposites that are New Japan and DDT fought each other in exciting ways because of their completely different styles. If doing this with two companies is exciting then imagine adding countless more into the mix. In order to achieve that goal, Takeshita believes he must first become the world’s No. 1 pro wrestler! He asked for everyone’s support so they can all create the perfect world where pro wrestling is the best.

The presentation touched the hearts of everyone who listened… Well, almost everyone. Takagi was still in a fired up competitive mood and wasn’t going to stand there letting the action go to waste. He tried to rally the other wrestlers around him but everyone went over to the other side of the ring and all stared him down. It was time for the final match where Takagi had to fight everyone else all by himself! He got pummeled by everyone one after the other until Takeshita finished him off with a Stunner.

The show was now reaching its end and a few wrestlers wanted to give their final words. Sasadango asked all of the NJPW fans watching to continue supporting Takeshita. That request goes to the wrestlers in Hontai too. Yano announced that Takeshita was the winner of today’s series and Takagi told him to liven up the wrestling world even more. Tanahashi then led everyone to say the same catchphrase that was used to end last year’s show: “3, 2, 1, Love Muscle! Muscle!”

Wait, wait, wait, hang on. There’s one more thing. After everyone left the ring, Sasadango and Akito both suddenly remembered something and ran out of the room. They rushed through a hallway to find a closed out locker room featuring the final secret weapon that they completely forgot to use during the show. They opened up the door and there inside was the furious NOAH wrestler Kenoh! He demanded to know where Toru Yano was while Sasadango & Akito both desperately apologized to him. It turns out that even though DDT is the last place Kenoh ever wants to be, he has been trying to pick a fight with Yano for ages and agreed to be part of Sasadango’s plan if it meant he could finally get his hands on Yano. That didn’t happen so Kenoh stormed out of Korakuen Hall and went down to the NJPW store in near Suidobashi in search of Yano. The shop was closed and Yano was nowhere to be found so Kenoh decided to start a livestream on his YouTube channel and complain about the whole thing.


Video – NJPW/DDT Alliance Vs World Pro Wrestling Union Peacekeeping Force

June 5, 2026


DDT/NJPW “ONE-ON-ONE CONFRONTATION ~SUPER SASADANGO MACHINE VS TORU YANO~”, 09/06/2025
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
??? Fans – Unannounced

-. New Japan Pro Wrestling & DDT Pro Wrestling Alliance Vs World Pro Wrestling Union Peacekeeping Force: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Toru Yano, YOH, Super Sasadango Machine, Akito & Antonio Honda Vs Sanshiro Takagi, HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi, Shuji Ishikawa, Ken Ohka & MAO


Housekeeping Notes, Thoughts On The NJPW Sale

June 5, 2026

I now got a proper domain for the blog simply because I am very close to maxing out the free tier image limit WordPress has. That’s right folks, it’s taken me almost 17 years but I’m finally about to hit the ceiling as a freeloader. I admit doing the DDT Around The World articles helped speed up the decision. So I opened up the wallet and https://dramaticddt.com/ has now become active along with https://dramaticddt.wordpress.com/ which should still work. Kind of surprised the domain was available all this time. Dramatic DDT is a name I put one minute of thought into back when I started because I couldn’t think of any clever DDT related phrase at the time. There was a precursor blog in the 2000s called Dramatic Fantasia (named after the Samurai! TV show) that existed back on the old PuroresuFan group of fansites so I wasn’t going to copy that. Dramatic DDT is also somehow distinct enough that DDT themselves never had a problem with me using it. And that’s more or less the only change to the site I have in mind. I’m happy with the basic website layout. I also think adding pictures to the show reports, title histories and overseas excursions does so much to paint pictures of everything that I cover on this site so the increase of the image limit was necessary. I have an idea for setting up an archive site for Tokyo Joshi Pro in order to have a cleaner written history of the company available so you can read about its past without having to dig through the DDT content but that’s way down on my list of priorities in life right now. And given how much thought I put into the name Dramatic DDT, it would probably be called something like Tokyo TJPW or Princess TJPW. I’ll let you know if it ever comes to pass.

It’s been a week since BushiRoad sold New Japan to TV Asahi & CyberAgent. I never wrote about the news on here because the more I thought about it, the less it seemed relevant to DDT and TJPW. The evidence is how quiet CyberAgent has been over the story and that the name CyberFight appears nowhere in any of the official reports about the sale. So if DDT and NOAH became step-siblings then this makes NJPW a cousin by marriage, I guess? Stardom remaining with BushiRoad through the deal is odd but makes sense after listening to others give their opinion about it. BushiRoad likely figured the time had come to cash in on NJPW while there is still a lot of potential growth in the Stardom brand. The relationship between NJPW and Stardom still remains although I get the sense the NJPW side would be happy if they never do the “HISTORIC X-OVER” shows ever again. If you want to know why it can be so difficult to put these kind of inter-promotional events together, you just need to look at how much of the NJPW roster would distance themselves from having to wrestle the Stardom talent. Now imagine the same thing trying to juggle a NOAH roster, a DDT roster and a TJPW roster all under the one umbrella. There are reasons why SWS collapsed trying to manage multiple locker rooms and their conflicting egos all at once!

There is something of a monopoly slowly developing around Japanese wrestling lately but these companies were already circling the wagons with the creation of United Japan Pro Wrestling two years ago. Shinya Aoki wrote on his blog that he heard rumours that WWE were interested in acquiring New Japan raised my eyebrow but he’s the only person so far to bring up that idea. And since I brought up UJPW, keep in mind that Sanshiro Takagi’s term as the organisation’s head of the board will be finishing by the end of the year. I would be surprised if the second president is anyone other than a New Japan representative but that’s been my prediction even before this sale took place.

Also, hey CyberAgent! You have a video games division. You also now have full access to at least four different wrestling promotions. Can we get a new pro wrestling game? If it has to be gacha I at least have the confidence it will still turn out better than MyFaction in the WWE 2K series…


Sumi Injured, Aoki Vs Ueno For KO-D Title, Sasaki’s Deflating Summer

June 2, 2026

DDT “DDT MY LOVE 2026”, 03/06/2026
Shinjuku FACE

1. Special Tag Match: Yuki Ueno & Shunma Katsumata Vs Sanshiro Takagi & Akito
2. 3 Way 6-Man Tag Match: Takeshi Masada, Yuya Koroku & Munetatsu Nakamura Vs Hideki Okatani, MJ Paul & Ilusion Vs Danshoku Dieno, Naomi Yoshimura & KANON
3. Junta Miyawaki Three Match Trial – Match 2: Junta Miyawaki Vs Kazuki Hirata
4. MAO & Yukio Naya (w/ KIMIHIRO) Vs Jun Akiyama & Tomomitsu Matsunaga
5. Special Single Match: Shinya Aoki Vs Viento Maligno
6. Special 8-Man Tag Match: Chris Brookes, HARASHIMA, Antonio Honda & Hinata Kasai Vs Daichi Sato, To-y, Yuni & Yuki Ishida

You can add Kazuma Sumi to the injury list along with Rukiya. He suffered an eye injury while wrestling in France last month but worked through it up to this past weekend. He was then diagnosed with a fractured medial wall in his right orbit and told not to wrestle for a month. He will be back after the 27th June show but until then DDT has to shuffle around their upcoming cards for his absence as well as Rukiya being hurt too. Tomorrow’s show had a couple of changes to its matchmaking from the main event right down to the opener.

Something is up with Viento Maligno and Shinya Aoki has figured it out. Well he had to go do something else when he couldn’t find Keigo Nakamura anywhere. Whatever it is he wants Maligno to admit in front of everybody, he has a chance to stretch it out of him tomorrow.

DDT “DRAMATIC DREAM TAKASHIMAYA VOL. 4”, 06/06/2025
Tokyo Shinjuku Takashimaya 1st Floor JR Exit Special Venue

0. Surprise Match – Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Haru Kazashiro & Chika Nanase Vs Ren Konatsu & Shion Kanzaki
1. Shinjuku Takashimaya Half-Day Promotional Ambassador Time-Lag Entry Battle Royal: Kazuma Sumi Vs Junta Miyawaki Vs Yukio Naya Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Yuni Vs Yuki Ishida Vs Rukiya Vs Hyper Misao Vs Yuki Kamifuku Vs Pokotan
2. paleyouth Vs FANTÔMES DRAMATIC!: Takeshi Masada, Yuya Koroku & Daichi Sato Vs Chris Brookes, HARASHIMA & Hinata Kasai
3. The 37KAMIINA Vs STRANGE LOVE CONNECTION!: Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & To-y Vs MAO, KANON & Viento Maligno (w/ KIMIHIRO)

A bonus Tokyo Joshi Pro tag match is happening before DDT’s day at Shinjuku Takashimaya officially begins. For Shion Kanzaki she will be returning to the scene of the crime where she witnessed Sumire Uesaka assault her boss Tetsuya Koda in the lead up to “GRAND PRINCESS ’26” earlier this year.

DDT/NJPW “ONE-ON-ONE CONFRONTATION PART 2 ~SASADANGO-GUN VS YANO-GUN 5-ON-5 ELIMINATION TAG BATTLE~”, 08/06/2025
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Sasadango-gun Vs Yano-gun: X Vs X
2. Sasadango-gun Vs Yano-gun: X Vs X
3. Sasadango-gun Vs Yano-gun: X Vs X
4. Sasadango-gun Vs Yano-gun: X Vs X
5. Sasadango-gun Vs Yano-gun: X Vs X

Sasadango-gun: Super Sasadango Machine, MAO, Kazuki Hirata, Akito, Antonio Honda

Yano-gun: Toru Yano, El Desperado, Ryusuke Taguchi, Tomoaki Honma, Hirooki Goto

On paper this looks like the final lineup because it’s five versus five but who knows what other surprises are in store. Toru Yano has added a strong wrestler to his team with Hirooki Goto as the fifth man. Super Sasadango Machine had to do with just picking Antonio Honda because Danshoku Dieno keeps finding excuses not to take part. The latest is he wants to balance his sleeping schedule in order to watch World Cup matches live in the middle of the night.

The show is going for more of a sports feel by having Yano’s team be in red while Sasadango’s team will be in green. Fans are being encouraged to show up wearing the colour of the team they want to support.

GANBARE☆PRO “STENDHAL SYNDROME 2026”, 14/06/2026
Tokyo Takashimadaira Kumin Center

1. Shuichiro Katsumura 50th Birthday Match: Shuichiro Katsumura, Yuya Susumu & Kikujiro Umezawa Vs Yumehito Imanari, Takuya Wada & Moeka Haruhi
2. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Mizuki Watase (c) Vs Tyson Maeguchi

It will be champion versus champion for the next Spirit Of Ganbare Title Match. Tyson Maeguchi currently holds one of the tag titles but he wants to fight Mizuki Watase for the singles championship. In return Watase will get to face The Deadlock for the tag titles somewhere down the line.

A party match is being thrown for Shuichiro Katsumura just a few days before he turns fifty. Some familiar faces will be there like Moeka Haruhi who Katsumura used to team with as part of THE HALFEE. The new face showing up is a wrestler from Tokyo named Kikujiro Umezawa. Katsumura used to wrestle him often on the smaller indies over a decade ago.

DDT “KING OF KINGS ~TENKA TAIRAN~”, 28/06/2026
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Soma Takao Comeback Match: Soma Takao Vs X
2. KO-D Openweight Title: Yuki Ueno (c) Vs Shinya Aoki

This year’s King Of DDT winner Shinya Aoki is ready to fight his friend Yuki Ueno for DDT’s top prize once again. They fought over the KO-D Openweight Title once before back in August 2024 and Aoki won that encounter. How much they hold each other in high esteem promises both will be fighting their very best to be the KO-D Champion once again.

After being away from six months to deal with a knee injury, Soma Takao is ready to make his comeback. He thinks he has been away for so long that there’s since been a turnover in the DDT audience and the new fans don’t know him as anything other than the Dropkick Bar manager.

DDT “CHARISMANIA IV”, 02/07/2026
Shinjuku FACE

1. O-40 Title: Daisuke Sasaki (c) Vs X

Well, the Best Of The Super Jr. isn’t working out the way Daisuke Sasaki would have liked it to. He still has the O-40 Title though and wants to defend it at his next “CHARISMANIA” show.

DDT “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2026”, 11/08/2026
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

1. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Time Delayed Entry Battle Royal: Sumire Uesaka (c) Vs X
2. Special Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & X Vs Antonio Honda & X
3. Dramatic Dream Match: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Kaisei Takechi

If that news doesn’t float your boat then how about Antonio Honda as one of his opponents for Sumo Hall this summer, huh? Huh? DDT doesn’t even want to put in the effort of booking their tag team partners so they told Sasaki and Honda to go find their own. There is still the competition attached to this where fans can predict what the match is going to be. Honda wants to find a partner that no one could ever guess. Sasaki is thinking the opposite and might go with his most obvious option available. Even then that leaves a big gap for guessing. Is it someone from DAMNATION T.A? How about Dick Togo, Shuji Ishikawa, El Desperado or AMAKUSA? See, it’s not be as obvious as it sounds.

GANBARE☆PRO “IT’S A SUMMER FILM 2026”, 15/08/2026
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Munetatsu Nakamura Vs Chris Brookes

There might have been a chance Munetatsu Nakamura would be Watase’s next title challenger but it turns out the youngster already had a different idea he asked Ganbare☆Pro to set up for him. He wants a singles match against Chris Brookes as his way of saying thanks for everything Brookes has done for him up until now. This goes all the way back to Nakamura being a fan of Brookes to Brookes taking him under his wing as a wrestler and even helping pay for some of his medical treatment when he was out with a neck injury. The best way for Nakamura to pay him back is to beat him in a wrestling match!


King Of DDT Final, Ring Removal Death Match, Super Japan Unlocks More WCW Lore

May 29, 2026

DDT “KING OF DDT 2026 FINAL!!”, 31/05/2026
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

0. Dark Match: Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Yuki Ishida Vs Rukiya & Hinata Kasai
1. King Of DDT – Semi Final: Minoru Suzuki Vs Shinya Aoki
2. King Of DDT – Semi Final: MAO Vs Danshoku Dieno
3. Hideki Okatani, MJ Paul & Ilusion Vs Jun Akiyama, Naomi Yoshimura & Junta Miyawaki
4. Special Tag Match ~ Kaisei Takechi Return Match: Yuki Ueno & Kaisei Takechi Vs Kazuki Hirata & To-y
5. FANTÔMES DRAMATIC Vs STRANGE LOVE CONNECTION!: Chris Brookes, HARASHIMA & Antonio Honda Vs KANON, Yukio Naya & Viento Maligno (w/ KIMIHIRO & YUZUKI)
6. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Takeshi Masada, Yuya Koroku & Daichi Sato (c) Vs Shunma Katsumata, Yuni & Kazuma Sumi
7. King Of DDT – Final: X Vs X

The match order for this weekend’s King Of DDT final has been determined. The final of course will be the main event and the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles match is put in the semi-headliner spot.

DDT/NJPW “ONE-ON-ONE CONFRONTATION PART 2 ~SASADANGO-GUN VS YANO-GUN 5-ON-5 ELIMINATION TAG BATTLE~”, 08/06/2025
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Sasadango-gun Vs Yano-gun: X Vs X
2. Sasadango-gun Vs Yano-gun: X Vs X
3. Sasadango-gun Vs Yano-gun: X Vs X
4. Sasadango-gun Vs Yano-gun: X Vs X
5. Sasadango-gun Vs Yano-gun: X Vs X

Sasadango-gun: Super Sasadango Machine, MAO, Kazuki Hirata, Akito

Yano-gun: Toru Yano, El Desperado, Ryusuke Taguchi, Tomoaki Honma

Something fishy is going on with the latest additions to the DDT Vs New Japan show. Both Yuki Ueno and Aaron Wolf will be there but as guests for an autograph session rather than participants in the five match series. I mean what are the chances that something will happen during the show that will draw both wrestlers into the ring for some action?

DDT “YOKOHAMA NIGHT SPLASH 2026”, 13/06/2026
Yokohama Radiant Hall

1. Ilusion Vs Kazuki Hirata
2. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki, Hideki Okatani & MJ Paul Vs Junta Miyawaki, KANON & Yuki Ishida
3. Special 3 Way 6-Man Tag Match: Takeshi Masada, Yuya Koroku & Daichi Sato Vs Yuki Ueni, Naomi Yoshimura & Rukiya Vs Danshoku Dieno, Kazuki Hirata & Akito

There will be some time for Hideki Okatani and Junta Miyawaki to wrestle each other before they fight for the DDT Extreme Title next month.

DDT “THAT’S RIGHT! LET’S GO TO BEER GARDEN PRO WRESTLING 2026”, 17/06/2026
Tokyo Ueno Park Outdoor Stage

1. Special Single Match: Yuya Koroku Vs Kazuki Hirata
2. Special Single Match: Shunma Katsumata Vs Junta Miyawaki
3. Falls Count Anywhere 4 Way Tag Match: Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA Vs Yuki Ueno & To-y Vs Sanshiro Takagi & Jun Akiyama Vs MAO & KANON (w/ KIMIHIRO)

DDT are expecting the appearance of Jun Akiyama on a Beer Garden show to result in more chaos than usual.

DDT “LET’S GO! BEER GARDEN PRO WRESTLING 2026”, 18/06/2026
Tokyo Ueno Park Outdoor Stage

1. Yuki Ueno Vs Hinata Kasai
2. Crocodile Death Match BEYOND: Daisuke Sasaki, Hideki Okatani & Ilusion Vs MAO, Yukio Naya & Viento Maligno (w/ KIMIHIRO)
3. Ring Removal Death Match: HARASHIMA, Danshoku Dieno & Kazuki Hirata Vs Shunma Katsumata, Yuni & Kazuma Sumi

Okay so whenever Michinoku Pro does their Great Space War what usually happens is the ring gets deconstructed as the match progresses. There’s also been a couple of times when Big Japan have done a death match where the ring is stripped bare of all its padding so the ring is pretty much close to dismantled anyway. I think this is going to be the first time DDT is trying out the gimmick for a match and it’s going to be during a time when a lot people will be drunk. What could go wrong?

SUPER JAPAN “BEER GARDEN PRO WRESTLING”, 06/07/2026
Shinjuku FACE

1. Unpaid Rumble RETURNS!: X Vs X
2. Special Single Match: Ken Ohka Vs Hayabusa
3. Special Single Match: Yuji Nagata Vs CIMA

Welcome to 2026 where a Japanese company can book a rematch from a virtually unknown WCW bout that was held in Oakland 29 years ago. CIMA got to team up with Yuji Nagata at the last Super Japan show so now he wants to face him one on one for the first time since they met in WCW almost three decades ago.

The goal of Ken Ohka ever since he launched Ganbare☆Pro was to do his part in turning pro wrestling into a major sport. That includes livening up the wrestling scene whatever way he can. He currently thinks a lot of the other indies are not doing the same so he threw out a challenge to Hayabusa from ZERO1 to help create a spark.


UJPW “FACE THE NEXT” Results

May 12, 2026

UJPW “FACE THE NEXT”, 12/05/2026
Shinjuku FACE
460 Fans – Super No Vacancy

1. Tatsuya Matsumoto Vs Yuto Koyanagi ended in a Time Limit draw (10:00).
2. Sentaro Motoshima, Hinata Kasai & Jiro Shinbashi defeated @KEY, Koyo Ume & Midori Takahashi when Motoshima submitted Ume with a Crab Hold (10:05).
3. Katsumi Inahata, Shota Kawakami, Masatora Yasuda & Ryuma Sekimo defeated GuC, Rukiya, Reiya Igarashi & Taisei Nakahara when Yasuda submitted Nakahara with a Crab Hold (7:12).
4. Kazumasa Yoshida, Daichi Sato & Kazuma Kimura defeated Yuki Ishida, Koshiro Asakura & Hiroto Tsuruya when Sato pinned Asakura with the Mad Splash (9:16).
5. Yuya Koroku defeated Homare with the Modified Triangle Lancer (8:33).
6. Kazuma Sumi, Munetatsu Nakamura & Ryoya Tanaka defeated Ilusion, Daiki Nagai & Daiki Odashima when Tanaka pinned Ilusion with the Stardust Press Joker Strizer (12:26).

Two years after the ill-fated “ALL TOGETHER” revival, United Japan held its third show built on a much, much smaller scale. This event was focused solely on the next generation of wrestlers provided by eight of the promotions that are members of the federation. DDT and Ganbare☆Pro were well represented on the show especially in the main event. DDT had Kazuma Sumi and Ilusion involved while Munetatsu Nakamura was there on behalf of GanPro. Ilusion didn’t get along with his tag partners and turned on them when Daiki Nagai complained about him using a Low Blow. Ilusion went to Low Blow him too but Nagai blocked it and knocked him away. Sumi & Nakamura then wiped out Nagai & Daiki Odashima with dives while Ryoya Tanaka pinned Ilusion with his own version of the Stardust Press. Sumi was happy to main event the show with the DDT Universal Title over his shoulder. Nakamura was worried about the match because it was first announced while he was recovering from his neck injury. That he made it to the match and was on the winning team means he has recovered perfectly. If there is another event like this in the future, Nakamura said he would like to either challenge Sumi for the Universal Title or challenge Tanaka for the Open The Brave Gate Title. Ilusion called the whole event incomprehensible and blamed the two Daikis, although he thinks the “Red Daiki” treated him more kindly than the “Black Daiki”. Ilusion now hopes that Daisuke Sasaki and Daiki Nagai both reach the final of the Best Of The Super Jr in New Japan so it will be a match between DAMNATION T.A and Unbound Co.!

Yuya Koroku had a lot to handle by taking on an opponent who recently lost his hair in a cage match. Homare from Dragongate took him by surprise with a Topé con Hilo and he then dragged Koroku around ringside to throw into the front rows. Homare also found Bunbun in Koroku’s corner and stomped on it. Koroku tried to make comebacks but Homare would use eye pokes to stop him. He made a mistake by going for the 450 Splash, missing it so Koroku could find his opening to take control. Homare kickedo out of the Modified Northern Lights Bomb but was forced to give up when Koroku locked him into the Triangle Lancer. Koroku said it is insane that Homare has already accomplished so much with just a year and a half of experience under his belt. Homare found Koroku interesting enough to make him think he should maybe check out DDT sometime.

There was a second trios match that had DDT wrestlers on both teams. Match #4 saw Daichi Sato pick up the win for his side while Yuki Ishida was among those heading back to lick their wounds. Sato asked his teammates if they saw the strength of DDT today? Kazumasa Yoshida won the BJW World Strong Heavyweight Title last month and is looking for challengers, so he’d like Sato or Kazuma Kimura to challenge him. Sato said of course he would take on the challenge! Kimura had to stand between the two and explain to them that he just came back from an injury that kept him out of action for eight months. He would like to wrestle both of them someday so they can start building towards that for now. That calmed Yoshida and Sato down enough for them to get along again.

Shota Kawakami found himself on the winners side of his match while DDT’s Rukiya ended up on the opposite end. Neither of them were involved in the finish though. Backstage Ryuma Sekimo encouraged Kawakami to shout out his feelings, so he did. Kawakami said the match shows that the split between major wrestling companies and indie wrestling companies doesn’t matter. He is glad that the indie wrestlers got to show the major league wrestlers what they are made of. Sekimo agreed and pointed out he may be the only person on the show to have bowled inside Ueno Park. Rukiya did not feel fulfilled after the match. He wants to do more in order to find out what is missing. Maybe it’s all of the different wrestlers from different promotions that have gathered together. He wants to fight so many of them!

GanPro comes out of the show with three wins out of three matches. Not only was Nakamura victorious in the main event but Sentaro Motoshima scored his first ever direct victory in Match #2 by making the Kyushu Pro wrestler Koyo Ume tap out! The result may be something of an upset given his tag team partners were Hinata Kasai and the Dragongate salaryman Jiro Shinbashi. Motoshima said this win is a big deal for him and he will work even harder to be a GanPro wrestler.

NJPW’s Aaron Wolf was in the corner of Tatsuya Matsumoto for the young lion’s match against Yuto Koyanagi from NOAH.

The event also featured a talk show held in the ring by Kosei Fujita and Takeshi Masada. Fujita was looking forward to seeing Ilusion wrestle in the main event while Masada hyped up Hinata Kasai for stepping in as a last minute replacement for the injured Masami Inahata. One of the questions they unexpectedly got was from Hiroshi Tanahashi asking them what their type is? As the interview segment reached its close, Fujita and Masada were asked if they would ever wrestle each other one on one? They don’t expect it to ever happen but they would like to do it.


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.


King Of DDT Round 2, Kamifuku’s Long Awaited Title Shot, Sasadango Vs Yano Update

May 5, 2026

DDT “KING OF DDT 2026 2ND ROUND”, 09/05/2026
Shinjuku FACE

1. Yuya Koroku, Daichi Sato & Yuki Ishida Vs Kazuki Hirata, Akito & Antonio Honda
2. Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & Ilusion V Kumadori, Masami Inahata & Hinata Kasai
3. 3 Way 6-Man Tag Match: Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & To-y Vs Kazuma Sumi, Junta Miyawaki & Rukiya Vs KANON, Yukio Naya & Viento Maligno
4. King Of DDT – Round 2: Danshoku Dieno Vs Takeshi Masada
5. King Of DDT – Round 2: Minoru Suzuki Vs Chris Brookes
6. King Of DDT – Round 2: HARASHIMA Vs Shinya Aoki
7. King Of DDT – Round 2: Hideki Okatani Vs MAO

One round down, the Quarter Finals are next. In just a few short days the King Of DDT will be reduced down to the final four.

Ilusion returns from injury and gets to rekindle his feud with Kumadori on the undercard.

DDT “DRAMATIC DREAMS! VOL. 13 ~MY SPIRIT GUARDS MY LORD IN THE EAST~”, 17/05/2026
Osaka City Sumiyoshi Community Center

0. Special Dark Match ~ Young Warrior Wrestling Summit: Takahiro Hirakimoto, Sora Fujikawa & Koki Fujimoto Vs Tetsuya Goto, Masaya Ishikawa & Hinata Kasai
1. Mixed Martial Arts Match – Irregular 2 Round System: Bushimasa Vs Tyson Maeguchi
2. Black Eagle In Danger! Against The Four Heavenly Kings Of DDT Comedy, 1 Vs 4 Handicap Match: Yuto Kikuchi Vs Danshoku Dieno, Kazuki Hirata, Antonio Honda & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi
3. Kansai Vs DDT, A Battle For Freedom!: HUB, Tsubasa & Billy Ben Kid Vs Junta Miyawaki, Viento Maligno & Yuni
4. A 6-Man Tag Match That Tests How Far A Young Heel With 4 Years And 9 Months Of Experience Can Assert Himself When Surrounded By Seasoned Veterans: Magnitude Kishiwada, MJ Paul & Ilusion Vs CIMA, Akito & Yasu Urano
5. Special 6-Man Tag Match ~STARTING NOW!~: Kazuma Sumi, Takeshi Masada & Yuya Koroku Vs To-y, Yuki Ishida & Rukiya
6. Special 6-Man Tag Match ~Crush The Super Heavyweights!~: Naomi Yoshimura, Yukio Naya & Daichi Sato Vs Shigehiro Irie, Kazuaki Mihara & Masami Inahata
7. Special Tag Match ~ Laughter Brings Fortune: MAO & KANON (w/ KIMIHIRO) Vs Kuishinbo Kamen & Kikutaro
8. Special Tag Match ~ Encounter With A Wrestling Master: Dick Togo & Hideki Okatani Vs Shunma Katsumata & Kohei Kinoshita
9. Double Main Event I – Special Tag Match ~ Infinite Stimulation Anniversary: Zack Sabre Jr. & Chris Brookes Vs HARASHIMA & Shinya Aoki
10. Double Main Event II – Special Tag Match ~ A Ruthless Giant That Blocks The World Guide Us To Our Dreams Blooming Flower: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA & Yuki Ueno Vs Jun Akiyama & Shuji Ishikawa

Two more matches are added to Yukinori Matsui’s special show. They do normally tend to balloon out to this size.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “STAND ALONE ’26”, 07/06/2026
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Princess Tag Team Titles: Miu Watanabe & Rika Tatsumi (c) Vs Mizuki & Uta Takami
2. Princess Of Princess Title: Yuki Arai (c) Vs Yuki Kamifuku

It’s taken almost nine years for Yuki Kamifuku to challenge for the Princess Of Princess Title. It’s not because of a lack of merit or anything like that. She just doesn’t like taking part in important singles matches or cares that much about winning championships. But she’s not getting any younger and discovering her first signs of aging has kicked Kamifuku into finally fighting Yuki Arai for Tokyo Joshi Pro’s most important title. After all, winning wrestling championships is the greatest anti-aging technique you can find.

Daydream once again hold the Princess Tag Team Titles. Their first challengers are going to be the losing finalists from this year’s Max Heart Tournament. When Rika Tatsumi discovered that Mizuki found a new tag partner in Uta Takami, she wasn’t happy about it. She thinks beating them can bring that team to an end so she can keep Mizuki all to herself. Mizuki however wants to live in the present and continue her team with Takami. Maybe if they win the titles they can get an official tag team name. Miu Watanabe probably doesn’t have much of an opinion on the matter.

DDT/NJPW “ONE-ON-ONE CONFRONTATION PART 2 ~SASADANGO-GUN VS YANO-GUN 5-ON-5 ELIMINATION TAG BATTLE~”, 08/06/2025
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Sasadango-gun Vs Yano-gun: X Vs X
2. Sasadango-gun Vs Yano-gun: X Vs X
3. Sasadango-gun Vs Yano-gun: X Vs X
4. Sasadango-gun Vs Yano-gun: X Vs X
5. Sasadango-gun Vs Yano-gun: X Vs X

Sasadango-gun: Super Sasadango Machine, MAO, Kazuki Hirata

Yano-gun: Toru Yano, El Desperado, Ryusuke Taguchi

Both Kazuki Hirata and Ryusuke Taguchi have been drafted into the DDT Vs New Japan battle. Super Sasadango Machine is trying to recruit Danshoku Dieno for the show but Dieno keeps turning him down in order to focus on his King Of DDT run.

Now here’s an interesting thought. Konosuke Takeshita over the weekend decided to join the Hontai unit in NJPW. Since Sasadango is under the assumption that Toru Yano is only going to pick wrestlers from Hontai, does that mean there’s a possibility of Takeshita joining Yano’s team?


UJPW Is Facing The Next Generation

May 3, 2026

UJPW “FACE THE NEXT”, 12/05/2026
Shinjuku FACE

1. Tatsuya Matsumoto Vs Yuto Koyanagi
2. Masami Inahata, Sentaro Motoshima & Jiro Shinbashi Vs @KEY, Koyo Ume & Midori Takahashi
3. Katsumi Inahata, Shota Kawakami, Masatora Yasuda & Ryuma Sekimo Vs GuC, Rukiya, Reiya Igarashi & Taisei Nakahara
4. Kazumasa Yoshida, Daichi Sato & Kazuma Kimura Vs Yuki Ishida, Koshiro Asakura & Hiroto Tsuruya
5. Yuya Koroku Vs Homare
6. Kazuma Sumi, Munetatsu Nakamura & Ryoya Tanaka Vs Ilusion, Daiki Nagai & Daiki Odashima

Hang on. United Japan is running shows again and actually doing something interesting for their next card? Well okay then. Eight members of UJPW are sending their youngest and brightest wrestlers to Shinjuku FACE for a future generation showcase. We have wrestlers from New Japan, NOAH, DDT, Ganbare☆Pro, Dragongate, Kyushu Pro, Big Japan and FREEDOMS all getting involved. Not only are there matches taking place but there will also be a talk show happening with Kosei Fujita and Takeshi Masada as the guests.