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…
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.
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.
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.
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.
1. The 1st UNIVERSE CUP – Semi Final: Naomichi Marufuji defeated Hayabusa with the Perfect Neck Lock (14:52).
2. The 1st UNIVERSE CUP – Semi Final: Sanshiro Takagi defeated The Great Sasuke with the Stunner (14:47).
3. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Miyu Yamashita defeated Shino Suzuki with the Skull Kick (7:44).
4. UNIVERSE MIX MAGIC 8-Man Tag Match: Kaito Kiyomiya, Kuroshio TOKYO Japan, Takeshi Masada & Yumehito Imanari defeated Masato Tanaka, Isami Kodaka, Taro Nohashi & Great Mummy when Imanari pinned Mummy with the Lariat (9:15).
5. 10-WOMAN MAGIC RUMBLE: YUNA defeated Senka Akatsuki by Ring Out (26:41). *Order Of Elimination: Megaton, Manami, Sora Ayame, YuuRI, The Great Sayaka, Yuki Mashiro, Seri Yamaoka, Momoka Hanazono, Senka Akatsuki.
6. The 1st UNIVERSE CUP – Final: Naomichi Marufuji defeated Sanshiro Takagi with the Perfect Neck Lock (17:33).
The winner of the first ever Universe Cup tournament belongs to NOAH! It was a tough road for Naomichi Marufuji to walk through because he first had to fight Hayabusa in the semi final. After taking big blows from dives and Falcon Arrows, Marufuji dodged the Firebird Splash and relied on using Tiger King knee strikes to wear down Hayabusa until he was weak enough to be submitted with the Perfect Cradle. Sanshiro Takagi fought past The Great Sasuke in a rematch many years in the making (Sasuke blamed the slightly different ring size on his defeat) to reach Marufuji in the final. In the battle between the CyberFight Vice Presidents, Takagi was taken to the brink with Marufuji ordering a delay in countouts so Takagi could bring out the Dramatic Dream bike for them to fight with. Marufuji won that duel and Takagi barely made it back to the ring in time just to get put in the Perfect Neck Lock for Marufuji to win the match.
Takagi got injured during the match so only Hayabusa and Sasuke joined Marufuji for his trophy presentation. Marufuji praised all of the wrestlers and promotions involved for doing their best to liven up pro wrestling. Sasuke believes the Universe Cup will continue on for many years which will somehow help Michinoku Pro become invincible! On cue his company’s theme song began to play until Marufuji stopped it so Hayabusa could have the last word. Hayabusa told everyone that the fun is just beginning.
The rest of the show featured random and unexpected wrestlers showing up since that is the whole point of Monday Magic. Multiple promotions were represented including DDT, Ganbare☆Pro and BASARA. There was an 8-Man Tag Match featuring DDT’s Takeshi Masada, GanPro’s Yumehito Imanari and BASARA’s Isami Kodaka. GanPro also had a participant in the women’s Magic Rumble match. YuuRI took part in it but was among the first half of eliminated wrestlers.
Tokyo Joshi Pro also showed up at a Monday Magic event for the first time. TJPW presented a singles match where Miyu Yamashita beat Shino Suzuki. Because they were in front of a new audience, Yamashita was more fired up than usual while Suzuki was able to overcome her anxiety when the fans started calling her name during the match.
1. Takeru Inoue & Sentaro Motoshima defeated Yuki Toki & Nobuhiko Kimura when Inoue submitted Toki with a Crab Hold (8:56).
2. The 1st UNIVERSE CUP – Round 1: Sanshiro Takagi defeated Great Mummy with the Stunner (8:23).
3. The 1st UNIVERSE CUP – Round 1: Naomichi Marufuji defeated Kuroshio TOKYO Japan with the Perfect Neck Lock (9:12).
4. Takumi Iroha, Utami Hayashishita & Miyuki Takase Vs Mayu Iwatani, Mika Iwata & Mio Momono ended in a Time Limit Draw (20:00).
5. The 1st UNIVERSE CUP – Round 1: The Great Sasuke defeated Isami Kodaka with La Magistral Cradle (12:24).
6. The 1st UNIVERSE CUP – Round 1: Hayabusa defeated Yumehito Imanari with the Firebird Splash (14:06).
The first round of the inaugural UNIVERSE CUP took place, pitting eight wrestlers from eight different promotions against each other. The common ground linking almost all of the promotions together is that they are a part of the Wrestle Universe streaming service. Add in the randomness of Monday Magic and the result is a bunch of unexpected surprises in store both in and out of the tournament.
Hayabusa from ZERO1 defeated Yumehito Imanari from Ganbare☆Pro in the main event. Imanari was crushed over the loss because he was originally part of Wrestle Universe from the very beginning when it was called DDT Universe. Hayabusa will meet Naomichi Marufuji from NOAH in the semi-final. Marufuji had to deal with Kuroshio TOKYO Japan’s antics today. Even thought Kuroshio lost, he doesn’t want to go away. The Uptown wrestler asked Marufuji backstage if he can come over to NOAH? Marufuji simply told him no.
The Great Sasuke and Isami Kodaka went wild for their 1st Round match. The Michinoku Pro legend gave Kodaka a Piledriver onto the entrance ramp and also slammed him onto a pile of chairs at ringside. Kodaka almost got him back with a Brainbuster but Sasuke pinned the BASARA wrestler with La Magistral Cradle for the victory. Kodaka hopes he can come back to Monday Magic and maybe get some NOAH bookings too. Sanshiro Takagi had an adventure of his own when he had to fight not just one mummy, but two! While he fought The Great Mummy in the ring, NOSAWA Rongai brought down a second Great Mummy to add some confusion to the mix. Luckily for Takagi, Mecha Mummy showed up to help him and Takagi went on to win the match for DDT. NOSAWA swears he will get revenge on Takagi by sending his mummy wrestlers over to invade Super Japan!
MONDAY MAGIC “UNIVERSE MAGIC 2026”, 06/04/2026 Shinjuku FACE
1. The 1st UNIVERSE CUP – Semi Final: Sanshiro Takagi Vs The Great Sasuke
2. The 1st UNIVERSE CUP – Semi Final: Hayabusa Vs Naomichi Marufuji
3. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: X Vs X
4. 10-WOMAN MAGIC RUMBLE: X Vs X Vs X Vs X Vs X Vs X Vs X Vs X Vs X Vs X
3. The 1st UNIVERSE CUP – Final: X Vs X
There’s been one CyberFight promotion that has stayed away from Monday Magic but that’s all going to change next month. Tokyo Joshi Pro will finally have some involvement in the show, although it is going to be for a match they are putting together by themselves. There will also be a small Royal Rumble style match for the joshi wrestlers so maybe TJPW will start to mix in with the rest of the scene after all.
Looks like I now have to start talking about MONDAY MAGIC a bit more often. This thing started off in 2023 as an idea by NOSAWA Rongai to host live weekly NOAH shows on ABEMA built around mystery lineups and surprise matches. After the debut season, the series was then added to Wrestle Universe and last year it was quietly spun off into becoming its own brand, although it is still NOAH adjacent. I personally like the idea of treating Monday Magic as its own thing but you’d still be right to label it a NOAH show.
During the most recent season titled “RISING SUN”, it was announced that two upcoming spin-off episodes called “UNIVERSE MAGIC” will host the first ever Universe Cup tournament. It will be an eight man tournament featuring a representative from many different wrestling promotions that can be seen on Wrestle Universe. The wrestlers taking part are:
Naomichi Marufuji (Pro Wrestling NOAH)
Sanshiro Takagi (DDT Pro Wrestling)
The Great Sasuke (Michinoku Pro Wrestling)
Hayabusa (ZERO1 Pro Wrestling)
Isami Kodaka (Pro Wrestling BASARA)
Yumehito Imanari (Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling)
Kuroshio TOKYO Japan (Pro Wrestling Uptown)
Great Mummy (MONDAY MAGIC)
MONDAY MAGIC “UNIVERSE MAGIC 2026”, 09/03/2026 Shinjuku FACE
1. UNIVERSE CUP – Round 1: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Great Mummy
2. UNIVERSE CUP – Round 1: Naomichi Marufuji Vs Kuroshio TOKYO Japan
3. UNIVERSE CUP – Round 1: Isami Kodaka Vs The Great Sasuke
4. UNIVERSE CUP – Round 1: Hayabusa Vs Yumehito Imanari
Alright I get to talk about the new Hayabusa! Actually Bahu did a great job explaining the whole situation with him and ZERO1 recently so I recommend you give his video a watch. The inclusion of ZERO1 to this tournament comes from their repaired relationship with NOAH after the Go Shiozaki fiasco (I knew something was up with him a while back) and that led to Hayabusa recently appearing on Monday Magic so his addition has not come out of nowhere.
One of NOSAWA’s running jokes in Monday Magic is to often book one of the wrestlers to disguise themselves as Great Mummy, a throwback to the mummy gimmicks that were a regular presence around Japan’s sleazier indies decades ago. It’s only fitting that Sanshiro Takagi was chosen to be Great Mummy’s opponent in the first round.
MONDAY MAGIC “UNIVERSE MAGIC 2026”, 06/04/2026 Shinjuku FACE
1. UNIVERSE CUP – Semi Final: X Vs X
2. UNIVERSE CUP – Semi Final: X Vs X
3. UNIVERSE CUP – Final: X Vs X
The match announcement video included an image of a playoff bracket that makes it look like the winners of Matches #1 and #3 will meet in one semi final and the winners of Matches #2 and #4 will face off in the other. However I’m feeling suspicious about something. To put it kindly, NOSAWA is a trickster at heart. Don’t be surprised if he suddenly throws in a swerve or two that could completely change the face of the Universe Cup going into the final rounds.
Almost ten years after my last visit to Japan, I’m a day away from flying back out there. Spending the new year in Tokyo and attending Wrestle Kingdom at the Tokyo Dome has been something I’ve wanted to do for over a decade but real life obligations prevented me from ever going through with it. Luckily for me, this time around everything has fallen into place for me to actually do it and the timing of it means I’m going to the biggest Wrestle Kingdom to happen in years. Not only that but the itinerary I’ve put together for this trip has become the mother of all wrestling holidays. Stardom at Sumo Hall? I’m going to that. NOAH in Budokan Hall? I’ll be there. DDT and Tokyo Joshi Pro having their year opening events in Korakuen Hall? You bet I wouldn’t miss that for the world! Add in shows at Shinjuku FACE, Shin-Kiba 1st RING, TOKYO SQUARE In Itabashi and even Ichigaya Chocolate Hall it all ends up with me pretty much speed running all of the famous and infamous Tokyo wrestling venues within a fortnight.
As for what will get posted on this blog while I am gone? I honestly don’t know at the moment. I’m bringing my laptop with me and will at least post the match results when I can but show reports, up to date news and other stuff will likely be put on the wayside until I return home and get some rest. I did a small one for the DDT show I went to in Saitama back in 2016 (which you can read here). Same goes for any end of trip report where I talk about what the experience is like. Worrying about that sort of stuff would only get in the way while I’m trying to enjoy my holiday. What I’ll likely do is tweet about all the shows I’m going to so you might get not non-DDT and non-TJPW related stuff from me on your feeds for the next two weeks.
What I have done in preparation for this trip is take part in a podcast about it. I was invited onto Wrestling Omakase for a massive roundtable covering as many of the shows happening around Wrestle Kingdom and the New Year’s period as we could. My lion’s share of the recording is in Part 1 for the men’s companies where I talk about DDT, NJPW, NOAH and BASARA. Then I pop up for half an hour in Part 2 as part of the TJPW section. Links to the episodes can be found below:
Wrestling Omakase #276: Wrestle Kingdom Week 2025-26 Preview Part 1 (NJPW, NOAH, AJPW, DDT, BASARA, Ganbare, BJW & GLEAT)