Golden Lovers Defeated, Next Up For Union

April 3, 2011

It was not a successful appearance for the Golden Lovers in New Japan today. They teamed up with Manabu Nakanishi but were defeated by Shinsuke Nakamura, Jado & Gedo.

NJPW “NEW DIMENSION ~PRAY, HOPE, POWER~”, 4/3/11
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
2,025 Fans

4. CMLL World Welterweight Title: Ryusuke Taguchi (c) defeated Madoka with the Dodon (12:17).
*V1 for Taguchi.
5. Shinsuke Nakamura, Jado & Gedo defeated Manabu Nakanishi, Kota Ibushi & Kenny Omega when Nakamura pinned Nakanishi with the Boma Ye (16:31).

Some new matches have been revealed for Union’s second show in Korakuen Hall this year. The main event of “GOLDEN UNION 2011” will be the clash between the face of Union and the former face of DDT. Shuji Ishikawa battles Sanshiro Takagi with plenty of pride on the line. Takagi’s TKG48 has been getting the better of Union during their feud, with Takagi pinning Shuji in a 6-Man Tag at today’s Union show. Now they finally face each other one-on-one.

Meanwhile, Seiya Morohashi has been tasked with dealing with the Susan Guard. After losing to Yoshiaki Yago today, he called in the big guns to help him fight Yago & Kengo Ohka at Korakuen Hall. Seiya will team with “Big” Kazunari Murakami, a man who permanently looks at you as if you just stepped on his dog and for that he will kill you.

Ken Ohka will face New Japan Jr. Heavyweight star Koji Kanemoto in what looks to be a regular series of Best Of The Super Junior themed challenges for Ohka.

Isami Kodaka and Yano K Data are being sent to Monkey School. Their opponents are MIKAMI and the “Crazy Monkey” Jun Kasai. Either one of these wrestlers could be Kodaka’s next challenger for the DDT Extreme Championship.

UNION “GOLDEN UNION 2011”, 04/05/2011
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Cherry Vs Bambi
2. Isami Kodaka & Yano K Data Vs MIKAMI & Jun Kasai
3. Ken Ohka Vs Koji Kanemoto
4. Seiya Morohashi & Kazunari Murakami Vs Yoshiaki Yago & Kengo Ohka
5. Shuji Ishikawa Vs Sanshiro Takagi

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More DDT & Union Goodness in NJPW

March 23, 2011

The Golden Lovers have been added to the 3rd April New Japan show at Korakuen Hall. Kota Ibushi & Kenny Omega will be part of a tantalising Six Man Tag Team bout that could steal the show. Their exciting speed and teamwork is complimented by the Muscle Orchestra strength of Manabu Nakanashi. Will this combination be enough to defeat the Subconscious Strong Style of Shinsuke Nakamura and his CHAOS teammates Jado & Gedo?

NJPW “NEW DIMENSION ~PRAY, HOPE, POWER~”, 03/04/2011
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

Special 6 Man Tag Match: Manabu Nakanishi, Kota Ibushi & Kenny Omega Vs Shinsuke Nakamura, Jado & Gedo

Meanwhile lesser established DDT and Union talent are getting ready to take part in NJPW’s NEVER tournament in April. The first round matches have been announced and the DDT/Union related matches are as follows:

NJPW “NEVER.6 ~ROAD TO THE SUPER JR. 2DAYS TOURNAMENT~”, 07/04/2011
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. ROAD TO THE SUPER JR. 2DAYS TOURNAMENT – Round 1: Hiromu Takahashi Vs Keisuke Ishii
5. ROAD TO THE SUPER JR. 2DAYS TOURNAMENT – Round 1: Madoka Vs Kazuki Hirata
6. ROAD TO THE SUPER JR. 2DAYS TOURNAMENT – Round 1: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Shinichiro Tominaga
7. ROAD TO THE SUPER JR. 2DAYS TOURNAMENT – Round 1: Tsuyoshi Kikuchi Vs Ken Ohka

Remember, a New Japan staff member half-heartedly-sort-of-kind-of-but-not-really-although-you-never-know promised Ken Ohka that Union talent will be allowed to take part in the undercards of this year’s Best Of The Super Jr Tour. A string of wins and great performances from the wrestlers during this tournament could mean New Japan will hold their end of the bargain. If they do then I expect Ken Ohka’s part of the deal will be to never talk to the New Japan staff ever again.

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“MONTHLY YOUNG COMMUNICATIONS” Card, HARASHIMA Vs Honda

March 18, 2011

DDT “MONTHLY YOUNG COMMUNICATIONS MARCH EDITION”, 18/03/2011
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Rion Mizuki Vs Ryuichi Sekine
2. Shota Vs Satoshi Hiroshi Kazato
3. Shigehiro Irie Vs Jun Nishikawa
4. Kazuki Hirata Vs Hiromu Takahashi
5. Keisuke Ishii & Hiro Tsumaki Vs Hiro Tonai & Akito

Kazuki Hirata Vs Hiromu Takahashi is a rematch from the 24/02 NEVER.5 show. Takahashi won that match with a Fisherman Suplex. This time Hirata has the home promotion advantage in DDT.

DDT “JUDGEMENT 2011 ~DDT 14TH ANNIVERSARY~”, 27/03/2011
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Danshoku Dino Vs Bob Sapp’s Assassin
2. HARASHIMA Vs Antonio Honda
3. KO-D Openweight Title Challenge Right Fight +α Anytime and Anywhere Battle Royal: KUDO, Makoto Oishi Vs Daisuke Sasaki Vs Keisuke Ishii Vs Shigehiro Irie Vs Takao Soma Vs Super Shit Machine Vs Tomimitsu Matsunaga Vs Kenny Omega Vs Michael Nakazawa Vs GENTARO Vs Yasu Urano Vs Shuji Ishikawa Vs Seiya Morohashi Vs Ken Ohka
4. KO-D Openweight Title: Dick Togo (c) Vs Kota Ibushi

HARASHIMA Vs Antonio Honda has been added to the 14th Anniversary show. A year ago, the result would be obvious but now I am not so sure. Honda has recently held both the Interim KO-D Championship and the KO-D Tag Team Championship with Daisuke Sasaki. He has shown that he is capable of putting up a fight against anyone from Dick Togo to Hiroyoshi Tenzan. The match may prove to be more challenging for HARASHIMA than I would think. This is a chance for Honda to prove that he is at HARASHIMA’s level and start the road to becoming a fully fledged KO-D Openweight Champion.

The event will also feature the return of at least two names from DDT’s past, Rojo Del Sol and Tsunehito Naito. Rojo Del Sol showed up in DDT during the year 2000 and is a two time Ironman Heavymetalweight Champion. Former UWF fighter Tsunehito Naito wrestled for DDT in 1999 and went through the Malenko Dojo over in Florida.

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DDT And Union In NEVER Tournament

March 5, 2011

Looks like Ken Ohka’s begging paid off. The NEVER brand from New Japan Pro Wrestling will be hosting a 16-Man Tournament on the 7th & 8th of April. Both DDT and Union will be represented in the tournament. DDT will enter Keisuke Ishii & Kazuki Hirata, both of whom have already wrestled in NEVER. Union will have Ken Ohka & Shinichiro Tominaga representing them. Other wrestlers involved here who also regularly appear in DDT and Union include Daisuke Sasaki, Tsuyoshi Kikuchi and Madoka. We are not far away from the annual Best Of The Super Juniors tournament and a great, breakout performance by any of these wrestlers could potentially pave the way for an invitation to take part in the competition.

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Ohka OK, Then Not OK

February 26, 2011

Ken Ohka knows how to keep himself busy when it comes to promoting for Union. He showed up at yesterday’s NEVER.5 show at New Japan to sell tickets for the upcoming DDT and Union shows. He approached an NJPW staff member and passionately begged him for New Japan to use some Union wrestlers for their future shows. He also talked to the person about Tsuyoshi Kikuchi’s campaign to enter this year’s Best Of The Super Juniors tournament. Meanwhile, DDT and Union affiliated wrestlers were part of the NEVER show. Kazuki Hirata, Shigehiro Irie and Daisuke Sasaki all lost their matches but Madoka grabbed a win in the semi-main event.

NEVER.5, 24/02/2011
Shin-Kiba 1st RING
350 Fans

1. Hiromu Takahashi defeated Kazuki Hirata with the Fisherman’s Suplex (6:48).
3. Tomoaki Honma defeated Shigehiro Irie with a Crab Hold (9:37).
4. Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Daisuke Sasaki with the Dodon (13:28).
6. Madoka defeated Taichi with a Crucific Hold (9:44).

That isn’t all that Ohka has been up to. He acts as Yoshiaki Yago’s spokesman in SMASH, speaking for him outside of the shows and standing at ringside during his matches. In the lead up to SMASH.14, TAJIRI asked Yago to help him out in dealing with the Triple Tails joshi group of Kana, Mio Shirai & Io Shirai in a 2 On 3 Handicap match. Ohka got himself involved to make it an even Six-Person Tag. Well, that turned out to be a mistake as Ohka lost the match for his team after Kana kicked him full force in the unmentionables and rolled him up for the pin.

SMASH.14, 25/02/2011
Shinjuku FACE
600 Fans

Kana, Mio Shirai & Io Shirai defeated TAJIRI, Yoshiaki Yago & Ken Ohka when Kana pinned Ohka with an Inside Cradle (8:47).

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Ibushi In NJPW, TKG48 & Honda In FREEDOMS

February 15, 2011

Kota Ibushi isn’t done with New Japan Pro Wrestling yet. He competed on today’s NJPW event at Korakuen Hall, teaming with KUSHIDA to defeat Jado & Gedo.

NJPW “THE NEW BEGINNING”, 2/15/11
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,500 Fans

Kota Ibushi & KUSHIDA defeated Jado & Gedo when KUSHIDA pinned Gedo with the Midnight Express (12:24).

There will be some DDT talent appearing at New Japan’s upcoming NEVER event on 24th February. Shigehiro Irie and Kazuki Hirata will be there along with KO-D Tag Team Champion and freelancer, Daisuke Sasaki. Also there will be Union regular and SS Susan member Madoka.

NJPW “NEVER.5”, 2/24/11
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Hiromu Takahashi Vs Kazuki Hirata
3. Tomoaki Honma Vs Shigehiro Irie
4. Ryusuke Taguchi Vs Daisuke Sasaki
6. Taichi Vs Madoka

It’s only just today that I noticed that FREEDOMS often uses DDT talent for their shows. I shouldn’t be surprised by it as the promotion is run by Takashi Sasaki, who was a DDT wrestler from the company’s very first show until he got the deathmatch bug and joined Big Japan Wrestling somewhere between 2004 and 2005. I often forget when the company holds their shows so I’ll try to keep an eye on them from now on.

Sanshiro Takagi’s stable, the TKG48 entered the promotion in December and started a conflict with the Kojika Army. Last month a match between The Great Kojika & GENTARO against TKG48’s Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Shigehiro Irie had to be constantly restarted because the matches kept on ending in Double DQs. This led to TKG48’s main guns of Takagi & Munenori Sawa coming in to fight Kojika & GENTARO on yesterday’s FREEDOMS show. The stakes were high as a stipulation was added where the wrestler who dropped the fall on the losing team would be banned from ever wrestling in FREEDOMS again. Takagi got the win with a Sanshiro Stunner on the Great Kojika, forcing the veteran out of the company.

Antonio Honda is also a regular participant in FREEDOMS shows and was part of the winning team on yesterday’s show, siding with the devious Brahman Brothers to defeat Ricky Fuji, Keita Yano and a third wrestler who has a name that no one among the puro fansites have been able to figure out yet. I forgot to mention this during the annual contract signings but Antonio Honda let his DDT contract run out a couple of years ago to become a freelancer. As you can see, this didn’t affect his relationship with DDT one bit as he is still a regular name for the company.

Freedoms, 14/02/2011
Shin-Kiba 1st RING
187 Fans – No Vacancy

2. Antonio Honda, Brahman Shu & Brahman Kei defeated Ricky Fuji, Keita Yano & ??? when Honda pinned ??? with a School Boy (12:29).
3. Kojika Army Vs TKG48: Sanshiro Takagi & Munenori Sawa defeated Great Kojika & GENTARO when Takagi pinned Kojika with a Sanshiro Stunner (15:36).

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Golden Lovers Lose IWGP Jr Tag Titles

January 23, 2011

NJPW “NJPW PRESENTS CMLL FANTASTICA MANIA 2011”, 23/01/2011
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
2,005 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

1. Jado & Gedo defeated Máximo & Danshoku Dino when Jado submitted Dino with the Crossface Of Jado (10:39).
6. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title: Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Kota Ibushi & Kenny Omega (c) when Taguchi pinned Omega after the Black Sunday (16:32).
*Golden Lovers fail in V3. Apollo 55 become the 28th Champions.

A bad day of results for DDT in New Japan. After a period of dominating their rivals in both promotions, Kota Ibushi & Kenny Omega lost the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Titles to the previous champions Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi in the main event.

Meanwhile, Danshoku Dino found a kindred spirit in the form of CMLL luchador Máximo. Unfortunately they fell to Jado & Gedo in the opener, with Jado getting revenge for his Super J Cup 1st Round loss to Dino back in 2009.

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Golden Lovers & Dino Return To NJPW

January 5, 2011

NJPW/CMLL “NJPW PRESENTS CMLL FANTASTICA MANIA 2011”, 1/23/11
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Danshoku Dino & Maximo Vs Jado & Gedo
6. Double Main Event II – IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title: Kota Ibushi & Kenny Omega (c) Vs Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi

DDT will have three wrestlers sent over to New Japan for the company’s co-promoted shows with Mexico’s CMLL. Kota Ibushi, Kenny Omega and Danshoku Dino will appear on Night 2 of “FANTASTICA MANIA 2011” in Korakuen Hall.

Can the Golden Lovers make it three for three over Apollo 55? With the IWGP Jr. Tag Title victory taking place in New Japan and victory in the rematch over at DDT, Kota Ibushi & Kenny Omega will face Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi for the belts one more time. Both teams are usually really over with the Korakuen fans, so expect a really hot crowd for this match.

The idea of Danshoku Dino and Maximo teaming together is not that odd now that I think of it. I mean, if Maximo can handle teaming with Mr. Niebla then hanging out with Dino should be no problem for the exotico. Plus Dino will be reunited with Jado, who he had a wonderful time with at the 2009 Super J Cup. Gedo might be pissed off with Dino for using his patented move the Gedo Clutch and renaming it the Gay-do Clutch. But then again Gedo is always pissed off, so never mind that.

DDT and CMLL do have a previous connection. The KO-D Tag Team Championship was originally created in CMLL where Takashi Sasaki & NOSAWA became the first champions. To this day DDT still includes “CMLL” in their title’s name even though they haven’t been defended in the Lucha Libre promotion ever since.

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Ibushi Fails To Dethrone The Prince

January 4, 2011

NJPW “WRESTLE KINGDOM V IN TOKYO DOME”, 4/1/11
Tokyo Dome
42,000 Fans – No Vacancy

0. World Wrestling Invitation Match: Koji Kanemoto & Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Kenny Omega & Taichi when Taguchi pinned Taichi (8:04).
6. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: Prince Devitt (c) defeated Kota Ibushi with the Avalanche Bloody Sunday (16:22).
*V4 for Devitt.

Kota Ibushi and Kenny Omega both came out in the losing end of New Japan’s biggest show of the year. Early word for Ibushi Vs Prince Devitt has it being a very exciting match with a hot crowd. Both Ibushi & Omega have now failed to win the IWGP Jr. Title from Devitt, but they can be happy with the fact that they are still the IWGP Jr. Tag Team Champions.

In other news, former DDT referee Megumi Grace Asano stepped out of retirement for one night only on New Year’s Eve to officiate the final match in NEO history as the promotion unfortunately closed its doors for good.

I’ve done a little updating to the Rosters page and the Title History. The Union page now includes wrestlers who appear on a regular basis but are not under contract to either DDT or Union. Plus I will include all of the members of the TKG48 as they are revealed, even if it becomes a one time only kind of thing. The Title History for the KO-D Tag Team Championships will be added soon. I just need to figure out how many title defences both the Nuru Nuru Brothers and Sanshiro Takagi & Munenori Sawa had during their respective reigns.

One more thing, a more in depth report on  “NEVER MIND 2010” is now uploaded. It includes a very detailed run through of the Danshoku Dino Vs Makoto Oishi match, which turned out to be one of the crazier matches DDT has had in a while. Seriously, the stuff I typed really did happen.

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Ibushi Vs Devitt At The Dome!

December 14, 2010

Kota Ibushi will cross paths with Prince Devitt once more, this time on the biggest stage of the Japanese wrestling scene the Tokyo Dome! Ibushi will get a chance to win Devitt’s IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title to go along with his IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, which he also won from the Irishman. When the two last met in singles action it was Devitt who grabbed the win while Ibushi was left with a dislocated shoulder. Since then, Ibushi has bounced back into contention in New Japan’s Junior Division. Now it all comes to a head at the Tokyo Dome.

Kenny Omega will also be taking part on the day in a pre-show tag match. The Golden Lovers Vs Apollo 55 feud will also happen here as Ryusuke Taguchi will be on the opposing team. If both Ibushi & Omega win their matches then the Golden Lovers will continue their recent dominance over “Moon☆Child” & “The Funky Weapon”.

NJPW “ROAD TO KINGDOM ~BATTLE XMAS!~”, 12/23/10
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

Special Tag Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi & Prince Devitt Vs Satoshi Kojima & Kota Ibushi

NJPW “WRESTLE KINGDOM V IN TOKYO DOME”, 04/01/2011
Tokyo Dome

0. World Pro Wrestling Invitation Match: Koji Kanemoto & Ryusuke Taguchi Vs Kenny Omega & Taichi
6. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: Prince Devitt (c) Vs Kota Ibushi

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