Tetsuya Endo’s NOAH Appearance At Budokan Hall

January 1, 2025

NOAH “THE NEW YEAR 2025”, 01/01/2025
Tokyo Nippon Budokan
5,088 Fans

2. NEW YEAR LIMIT BREAK: Go Shiozaki, Mohammed Yone, Atsushi Kotoge & Hajima Ohara defeated Kazuyuki Fujita, Shuji Ishikawa, Tetsuya Endo & Black Menso-re when Shiozaki pinned Menso-re with the Gowan Lariat (8:25).

One of the first wrestling shows of 2025 was NOAH holding a big event at Budokan Hall for New Year’s Day. Tetsuya Endo got to be on the undercard as part of the Limit Break branded match. He was part of a team made up of outsiders going against four members of TEAM NOAH. Endo got to look good by hitting a Sasuke Special onto a bunch out wrestlers outside the ring. After that he didn’t play a part in the finish where Go Shiozaki pinned Black Menso-re with his Lariat. However Endo got involved in something after the match when Atsushi Kotoge Headbutted him and then slapped him across the face! Kotoge wanted to provoke Endo into fighting him more but Endo ignored him and went back to the locker room.

Backstage Kotoge told reporters he is trying to repay a debt to Endo over their feud from last July. He thought he was lighting a fire under Endo today but if Endo wants to act cool and arrogant then Kotoge will crush him in an instant! Endo in his post-match interview said their grudge from last summer ended when he beat Kotoge and they shook each other’s hands. He thinks what Kotoge did today was just lame.

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Posted by JamieOD

DramaticDDT’s Questions For 2025

December 31, 2024

So instead of doing predictions for 2025 I am instead going to ask a few questions about the year ahead. What should we as fans of DDT, Tokyo Joshi Pro, Ganbare☆Pro or BASARA be paying attention to? How is the wrestling scene in Japan going to change in the next twelve months, if there is change at all? There are even stories happening elsewhere that could eventually relate to the CyberFight bubble in big or small ways. I have eleven questions to talk about and I want you to read them!


What will a new year of Akito’s DDT look like?

DDT is always going to be Sanshiro Takagi’s baby but a search for his successor is already under way. Akito is that guy and he has stepped up to the plate this year so Takagi could take a step back for health reasons. It looks like this will continue for a while next year and there are already signs of change in the air. A lot of the events on the 2025 schedule so far are using new naming conventions. Gone are the “SWEET DREAMS!” and “INTO THE FIGHT” tour names that have been used for over a decade. There is also no sign yet of the D-Oh Grand Prix returning after it skipped this year.

If there are new event concepts happening alongside the name changes then I wonder how many ideas are coming from Akito instead of Takagi? If Takagi’s 2025 is focused on management behind the scenes then how much of Akito’s influence will get to rise to the surface? Maybe it’s already happening and it’s not much of a difference. The winter feud between SCHADENFREUDE International and DAMNATION T.A being built around different multi-man stipulation matches was a nice change of pace to buildup a Sumo Hall main event. Definitely different from the last couple of big match programs DDT have booked.


Who is coming back from injury next year?

I’ve lost track of who is currently out of action so let’s remind ourselves. Shunma Katsumata got a torn ACL in November. Kazusada Higuchi took time off back in June to recover from a cervical hernia among other injuries. Naomi Yoshimura hasn’t wrestled since November 2022 because of a herniated disc. Sanshiro Takagi stopped wrestling in July to deal with general health problems. Hideki Okatani tore his ACL in April. Rukiya has been out of action since May because of a cervical sprain.

TJPW and BASARA are currently injury free. Runa Okubo is on an indefinite absence from TJPW to focus on her education and it kind of sounds like she has another career in mind for her future so who knows if she will ever come back. Over in GanPro, Mizuki Watase ruptured his Achilles tendon earlier this month. Shinichiro Tominaga also ruptured an Achilles tendon in May but he recently announced his return to the ring will happen on 13th January.


How much further is the ice wall surrounding TJPW going to melt?

TJPW has isolated themselves from other joshi promotions for the vast majority of its history. There was the time during the pre-launch days when NOZOMI flew the flag on Stardom and Ice Ribbon shows. Also Mizuki and Shoko Nakajima would make rare appearances in ChocoPro once in a blue moon. But actual inter-promotional programs between TJPW and another joshi company? Barely anywhere to be seen. They’ll work with companies overseas like EVE, GCW and DEFY but domestically Tetsuya Koda does not see much value or reward from interacting with other promotions.

But this year saw a little bit of change going on. Ryo Mizunami was a super sub for the company and reaped the benefits by winning the Princess Tag Team Titles along with the Tokyo Princess Cup. Also in that tournament Zara Zakher went on a strong run after coming in as a virtual unknown beforehand. Raku and Pom Harajuku paid a visit to 666 (although that’s because of a marriage thing Raku has going on with Ram Kaichow). And of course there was the big one during the summer. Nao Kakuta produced a show that included some Stardom talent, one of whom I thought would never want to step foot into a TJPW ring ever again.

Now there were clever decisions being made behind the scenes for that show in particular. For Stardom it was a positive attention grabbing news story happening at a time when they were reorganizing themselves from the Marigold split. Their president told media he is open for more cooperation between Stardom and TJPW if there’s a big enough demand for it. Koda is way more sheepish on the idea but at least admitted it wouldn’t be impossible. It lasted for a brief moment but this year was the first sign of the ice wall surrounding TJPW beginning to melt. It’s not much so far but that it even happened at all is noteworthy.

Oh yeah and there’s that whole UJPW thing. TJPW is a part of that along with Stardom and I think DIANA. The two UJPW shows bombed bad enough that I doubt we’re going to hear about them running a third one. I think it still exists as a behind the scenes alliance to have a unified voice whenever they want to communicate with government groups. Just don’t expect it to be the thing that will ever get TJPW and Stardom working together properly.


Have we hit the peak of Konosuke Takeshita’s AEW run?

Hang on, let me check if I can make some blue tick money off of this take. *click* Okay, let’s go. What a frustrating year it’s been to follow AEW. While Konosuke Takeshita’s matches for the company have been great, there’s been too much time in between where he’s either stuck standing next to Don Callis or not on TV at all. He beat Kenny Omega which on paper should result in a rocket-strapped push up the card but it felt like there’s been no follow up to it. Then he won his first championship in the company by winning the AEW International Title from Will Ospreay but the finish of that match was all about Kyle Fletcher’s heel turn. Since then Takeshita has taken on the travelling champion role defending the belt in other companies. It’s not a bad role for watching good matches but it’s also not a good sign that he currently doesn’t really matter as a major TV character. That the International Title is booked as one of several interchangeable midcard championships in AEW doesn’t help matters either. If anything the title reign is making Takeshita look more appealing as a New Japan wrestler than an AEW one.

Now maybe I should hold my horses and think this over. Of course someone like me wants Takeshita to be part of the AEW World Title picture more than anything else on the show. It’s been two years since Takeshita got the “All Elite” graphic and he’s been associated with the company for around three. He’s been in the ring with everybody who is currently considered a main eventer in AEW. And yet when I watch how the booking plays out over time I just worry we’re going to end up with wasted potential when all is said and done. Unless that potential gets picked up by another place if the time has come to move on… But that all depends on how long he’s going to be here for.


Will Wrestle Universe add even more promotions to their service?

This was the year that Wrestle Universe cemented itself as one of the best value streaming services in pro wrestling thanks to several different groups being added to the deal. Joining the service was Michinoku Pro, Sendai Girls, the REAL ZERO1 splinter group (which I think is now turning into ZERO1 HARD CORE), Marigold in its debut year and even Deadlock Pro on a delayed schedule. There were also sporadic uploads related to AEW, Osaka Pro, TAKAYAMANIA, Kakuto Tanteidan (the “Fighting Detectives” pair) and the CMLL shows in Japan promoted by LADY’S RING. It’s a lot of stuff with some variety among them if you’re ever looking for something outside of the CyberFight promotions.

As someone with an insatiable appetite for wrestling I would love the convenience of Wrestle Universe expanding its archive by adding even more promotions. However it seems like all of the main players in Japan are currently accounted for with their own services or third party dealings. I don’t think Big Japan wants to ditch their platform anytime soon for example. This is also where I have to admit I have no idea what the deals are like and how much they financially benefit the companies. Would it be worth it for BASARA or any of the other indies on the NicoNico Pro Wrestling Channel to jump over to Wrestle Universe? It would for me!


Are celebrities the answer for DDT to draw bigger crowds?

If there is an idol out there who wants to find a new path in life, Sanshiro Takagi wants to meet them. DDT stuck box office gold this year with the pro wrestling debut of Kaisei Takechi and their Korakuen Hall attendances since then have been pretty good. Plus we just had the debuts of the muscle actor Haruto Sakuraba and dancer Kumadori too. Sakuraba’s debut in particular is going down a treat on social media with women going gaga over his looks. And don’t get me started with TJPW. Throw a dart in that locker room and odds are good you will hit somebody who already had a taste of showbiz before they stepped foot into the wrestling ring. Whether it’s for DDT or TJPW, Takagi is one heck of a talent scout when it comes to celebrities becoming pro wrestlers in Japan.

There are a few ways this plan has worked out in the past. The famous people coming in stick around and become beloved members of the workforce like Saki Akai did. They do great business for DDT in the short term like Takechi (if he doesn’t ever come back). There’s also the likes of LiLiCo who was part of a few fun storylines during her time here and Shinichiro Kawamatsu whose current political position has definitely aided DDT recently in putting some of their more ambitious events together. And at worst it’s still a neat one time thing to see, like with Ami Yumoto when she teamed with Nao Kakuta for a match. If DDT it looking for more draws from outside the wrestling sphere, then training celebrities seems to be the answer. They better hope Makoto Oishi isn’t busy if that’s the case then.

(If anyone remembers the tweet where someone posted Kurt Angle’s entrance video from TNA to explain how good DDT & TJPW are at training idols, that’s what inspired this question. I can’t find it anymore.)


Is Yuki Arai ready to take over TJPW?

We are going to find out in 2025 if Yuki Arai’s commitment to SKE48 held her back from achieving even more in TJPW. When March comes to an end she will have graduated from the idol unit after spending over a decade of her life with them. From that point on pro wrestling will be her main priority. If you thought she was pushed before, get ready to see what they’ll do now she’s going to be on almost every show! She is in the midst of a record breaking International Princess Title reign. If it ends in a few days time then she would have lasted as champ for exactly one year. So if the reign finally comes to a close, what is next for her? Whether it’s in singles or tags TJPW will be ready to make her even more of a centerpiece than she was before. But is she going to be ready for it at her current level?

She already had a big tag team run with Saki Akai in 2022. She also usually performs well with other partners in the Max Heart Tournament. The 2025 tournament is happening before her graduation though so I don’t think the timing works out for her big push to happen there. The Tokyo Princess Cup however sounds like the perfect time for her to go on a big singles run, perhaps even all the way to the Princess Of Princess Title itself. She will have to step up for this scenario to work out. A lot of her matches especially those in her title reign feel samey to me. It’s fine with the IP Title but the Princess Title is held to a higher standard. With her star power (should it not vanish after she leaves SKE48) I can easily see her become the next first time Princess Champion, even within the next 12 months. It will be up to her to evolve into a better wrestler along the way.


What is going on with NOAH’s soft brand split?

We had some changes with CyberFight behind the scenes this year. In May there was a new company structure put in place that relegated Takagi from the President managing all of CyberFight to a Vice President in charge of just DDT and TJPW. Those two promotions remained the same but NOAH in particular went in some unexpected directions. The big one is establishing a working relationship with WWE. So far the pay offs have been Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ Styles wrestling on NOAH’s biggest shows with Omos about to get involved too. There was also a talent swap that saw the likes of Yoshiki Inamura, Josh Briggs and Tavion Heights crossing companies. Oh and it’s probably no coincidence that The Great Muta benefitted from this as well. It’s not a coincidence his WWE Hall Of Fame induction took place this year. So for the big picture, things are going well for them.

However even before the management change took place, NOAH has had something of an identity crisis this year that I think has gone under the radar a little bit. The “MONDAY MAGIC” spin off series presented by NOSAWA Rongai ran for another two seasons and provided a lot of the company’s long term storylines. Meanwhile Go Shiozaki and the old guard called TEAM NOAH ran their own series called “LIMIT BREAK” that seems to exist as far away as it can from NOSAWA’s antics. That also became the place where NOAH and DDT finally crossed over on a semi-regular basis. I thought MONDAY MAGIC would have made more sense because NOSAWA booked the 2nd season like it was DDT’s ABEMA show “MAJI MANJI” anyway but nope! Limit Break wanted Jun Akiyama and saw that DDT has other heavyweights to butt heads with so the DDT guys went over there.

The whole thing comes off like there’s been a soft brand split in NOAH whenever these shows are on the schedule. MONDAY MAGIC carries on with NOAH’s main story continuity while showcasing a variety of different wrestlers from around the world, women included. Limit Break shows have been no nonsense affairs that is closer to traditional NOAH while also interacting with DDT heavyweights and the remains of ZERO1 that Tochigi Pro does not have control over. Is everyone over in NOAH happy with the roster being divided like this or are we going to be in for a shock when contract season rolls around?


Will TJPW dive into this year’s joshi free agency?

As a football fan the January and summer transfer windows are always something to follow even when they are not all its hyped up to be. Same goes for college football whenever I look over there and wonder what the Transfer Portal is all about. Even right now WWE sees how much of a useful tool the concept is to promote interest for their brand split. For wrestling in Japan these kind of dealings get noticed in January and then calms down for the rest of the year, save for one or two names. Joshi however is way more unstable, especially coming into 2025. A couple of renowned veterans are getting ready to retire, one company in particular has hit an iceberg and the landscape is as tumultuous as ever which means some women are off looking for greener pastures.

Stardom usually gets the pick of the litter when it comes to star power. TJPW will find a few freelancers to work with but prefers to rely on their homegrown talent. Marigold hasn’t lived up to expectations of becoming the joshi version of the original NOAH exodus but they did take a big chunk out of Actwres girl’Z on its very first day of existence. As the calendar turns over though the crosshairs are this time aimed squarely at Ice Ribbon. The company is in turmoil over ownership issues leaving talent with little pay for their hard work. Several wrestlers have already announced their intentions to leave when their contracts end while the company’s top champion Yuuki Mashiro is now hanging around there as a freelancer. But how long will that last for? Marigold management is not even pretending to hide their intention to hire a few of them alongside other potential signings throughout 2025. Pro Wrestling Evolution is suddenly popping up as another new place for women to wrestle in too.

Let’s get back to TJPW. As already mentioned they’ve become a regular stop for the likes of Aja Kong, Mizunami, SAKI and Kaichow (who is now married into the family of course). With Nao Kakuta leaving wrestling, Yoshiko Hasegawa was brought in to take her place in the midcard. TJPW also opened their doors for Kakeru Sekiguchi this year too (although it may be because everybody keeps mistaking her for Mahiro Kiryu). They’re not hurting for numbers in the locker room at the minute and there’s at least one debut on the horizon with Kana from The Up Up Girls still undergoing training. Still, I can’t help but get excited at the thought of seeing who will jump where and if TJPW will benefit from it. I should include Ganbare☆Joshi a lot more into this conversation too because of how much Yuna Manase and YuuRI have been booked by Ice Ribbon over the last three years. Hopefully Ice Ribbon won’t fall apart completely so that working relationship can continue.


Are visa problems going to rear their ugly head again when it comes to American bookings?

Oh dear, America voted Donald Trump to be their president again. If his second term is going to be as much of a shit show as his first then it’s going to effect everything, pro wrestling included. If you remember the US government shutdown back in 2019, New Japan was one of the companies affected by it because their Japanese roster was unable to get visas to wrestle in America. Dragongate also had visa disputes for some of their roster that year which cancelled a big planned appearance at WrestleCon. What’s also largely forgotten about was when OWE’s alliance with the newly launched AEW didn’t turn out the way they envisioned because the Chinese wrestlers couldn’t get their visas approved either. That’s why OWE’s only presence in AEW was from #STRONGHEARTS going over in their place.

DDT and TJPW have been doing well with holding international shows in America two or three times a year. Their plans for WrestleCon in Las Vegas in April are going to be their biggest shows yet if all things work out for them. Since their rosters have already been travelling to America on the regular they should be ok but who knows what is going to happen once Trump takes office again. Maki Itoh and Miyu Yamashita in particular better have everything already in place to continue travelling safely because those US excursions are regular money makers they won’t want to lose out on.


Does Hikari Noa come back to wrestling?

By the time this is posted it will be over a full year since Hikari Noa wrestled her last match in TJPW and vacated the Princess Tag Titles over “poor health”. Her absence at the time continued under “personal reasons” until she graduated from TJPW and The Up Up Girls in May. Those “personal reasons” were allegedly Noa becoming friends with a superfan and letting her in on private information as well as industry secrets. The two then had a falling out which resulted in the fan airing their dirty laundry on social media. Since then there’s been no sign of Noa in the wrestling world. Whether or not she will ever return is a question I’m wondering about because of how her situation went down.

The announcement of her graduation happened around the 6 month mark of her absence. With a full year now gone by could there have been a no-compete clause of some sort that’s ready to run out? It’s wishful thinking to hope at some point in 2025 the woman formerly known as Hikari Noa returns to wrestle again. Doesn’t matter for who. If not though then this is probably the last time I’m ever going to write about her as a topical person on this blog.

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Questions Submitted From Twitter

I wanted to write more than the ten topics above but ran out of ideas. So I went to Twitter asking if anyone out there had questions of their own. I only meant for questions to be about the CyberFight groups I cover but this article is already an excuse for me to ramble about AEW, NOAH and the joshi scene at large. So let’s take the chance to spread out the topics further. I also wrote most of these answers before Christmas so the first answer is not just me jumping on a bandwagon after it already left the station.

With the surge of younger stars in recent years, who do you think has the most upside coming into 2025?
– meepmeepmooper

It’s a two horse race between Keigo Nakamura and To-y. I’m giving To-y the lead only because of Nakamura’s injury history. Nakamura is more skillful than To-y in the ring but I worry that him getting two serious knee injuries within four years has reduced how long his career is actually going to be. To-y is just as likeable, benefits from being part of DDT’s top babyface unit, is coming off of a high profile Sumo Hall match and has the extra local hometown hero factor. Now if Hideki Okatani comes back from injury soon and still has an Eruption sized chip on his shoulder I’m going to change my pick.

Related to above, given a more active presence in South East Asia, which SEA stars do you think have a good chance of making an impression on DDT / Cyberfight?
– meepmeepmooper

We’re already seeing Alexis Lee and Matcha fitting in with TJPW during their brief tours in Japan even if it’s just going to be for a handful of appearances a year. Monomoth and Dr. Gore got a few bookings in Japan this year but haven’t surfaced above the level of Baka Gaijin + Friends and ChocoPro yet. Monomoth in particular was getting hyped up in the first half of the year but I haven’t heard the name as much in the second half. Andruew Tang is someone I’d like to see coming in as a DDT Universal Title challenger. If he doesn’t have the status for that then getting a shot in a place like GanPro or BASARA would be good enough. Might depend on if Masahiro Takanashi would be guiding him with the bookings. If I can include Taiwanese wrestlers in the answer then Gaia Hox’s stock on the indies is going to rise the longer he wrestles in Japan. That is somebody who would fit in with NOAH but probably not with the rest of F-SWAG.

Was Takeshita a loss for DDT in terms of business, and will he bring any value with his infrequent returns to DDT?
– Monkey_Buckles

You know I’m actually not sure because DDT’s Korakuen numbers rebounded pretty well this year without him. If anything, ever since the G1 happened Takeshita became more valuable to New Japan than to AEW or DDT. He will always be a good addition to any Korakuen or big arena show DDT puts on but what can DDT do with him at this point? His status means they won’t make him put over one of their own so he’s kind of in his own bubble whenever he shows up. But the special one-off matches he got against outsiders in 2024 were all really good so I won’t complain if DDT continues to book him that way. Unless this is the year his DDT contract finally ends and he decides to leave for good. That’ll make me sad.

Do DDT ever pull the trigger on MAO, or is his a permanent midcarder?
– Monkey_Buckles

He’s never getting the Yuki Ueno push, that’s for sure. A short lived KO-D Openweight Title run is always going to be on the table because DDT usually gives every main player in a generation their turn with the belt. I think he got his big chance with the “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2024” main event and his performance wasn’t good enough to convince DDT he is the answer to their problems. The Universal Title scene was perfect for him. His long title run helped mature him as a performer and he had the most confidence I’ve ever seen from him as a result. Problem now is he’s been there and done that. The thing with MAO as a singles act is he’s probably just best off being a small room wrestler rather than a company’s main eventer. You can always rely on him as a tag team wrestler though.

Who will be the future of njpw, and will Zack Sabre Jr and David Finlay carry the company until they create more stars?
– Cleop4tr4hla

Here’s the problem that I think is currently haunting the “Reiwa Musketeers” era of NJPW. This generation has not gotten enough big wins over veteran stars yet. Shota Umino is about to main event the Tokyo Dome but what are the tentpole victories that got him here? Zack Sabre Jr. at the G1 before Sabre became the champ and a lukewarm SANADA after that? Yota Tsuji at least got to win the New Japan Cup and he beat Hirooki Goto to do it. But that was before Goto caught on fire as the sentimental favourite of the fans for being a family guy. The timing of that meant David Finlay got more out of beating Goto than Tsuji did. Ren Narita to me still feels out of place as a House Of Torture heel. At least he has something that makes him more of an individual than being a Katsuyori Shibata clone but I enjoyed watching him more when he was the Shibata clone.

Sabre is in a good position and I’d like to see him stay there for a while. His wrestling style stands out in New Japan and that makes the times he shows up in other companies more appealing. Finlay is winning people over but as long as the Gedo heel finish follows him around it’s going to handicap him. I’m sorry but that stuff continues to come off like New Japan just copy and pasted the Jay White playbook into him. Gabe Kidd I think is a year or two away from jumping to one of the big American companies. The injury to Jake Lee happened at a bad time because his Mad Bastards team with Kidd was going to get over in the World Tag League. I like Ryohei Oiwa but don’t see him leap frogging over the “Musketeers” anytime soon. Young Blood might be fun for the tag division once they return but that part of New Japan relies too much on hot potato booking to get anyone ready for a singles push.

There is a wild card in the form of Oleg Boltin. He had a good G1 debut and he’s been booked strong in the Tag League with Toru Yano of all people as his tag partner. He is a unique homegrown wrestler that I think will stay under the radar from WWE or AEW for another while. But until he’s ready I can’t confidently pick who the next ace is. Hiroshi Tanahashi going on a year long journey to retirement might be what carries the company throughout 2025.

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Posted by JamieOD

DDT “ULTIMATE PARTY 2024” Results

December 28, 2024

DDT “ULTIMATE PARTY 2024”, 28/12/2024
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
3,579 Fans – No Vacancy

1. Yuni & Kazuma Sumi defeated Demus & Ilusion when Sumi pinned Demus with the School Boy (9:05).
2. Shuji Ishikawa, Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Shinichiro Kawamatsu defeated Masahiro Takanashi, Daichi Sato & Yuki Ishida when Ishikawa pinned Ishida with the Fire Thunder (8:59).
3. Special Tag Match ~ O-MENZ Kumadori Debut Match: Makoto Oishi & Akito defeated Kazuki Hirata & Kumadori when Oishi pinned Hirata with a Northern Lights Bomb (0:06).
3a. Rematch: Kazuki Hirata & Kumadori defeated Makoto Oishi & Akito when Hirata pinned Oishi after the Air Double Helio from Kumadori (10:44).
4. TJPW Vs DDT Full-Scale 6-Man Tag Match: Rika Tatsumi, Hyper Misao & Pom Harajuku defeated Toru Owashi, Super Sasadango Machine & Antonio Honda when Tatsumi pinned Honda with the Missile Hip (12:17).
5. Special 6-Man Tag Match ~ Haruto Sakuraba Debut Match: KANON, MJ Paul & Haruto Sakuraba defeated HARASHIMA, Yuki Iino & Soma Takao when KANON pinned Takao with the Vietnam Driver II (12:52).
6. Special Single Match: Jun Akiyama defeated Yukio Naya with the Front Neck Lock (13:24).
7. Special Tag Match: Kenoh & Yu Owada defeated Shinya Aoki & Keigo Nakamura when Kenoh submitted Nakamura with the Kenoh Special (11:41).
8. Special Single Match: Invisible Man defeated Danshoku Dieno (w/ Tetsu Inada) with a Danshoku Driver Counter (11:13).
9. Special Single Match: Yuki Ueno defeated Takeshi Masada with the WR (16:23).
10. 85th KO-D Tag Team Titles Decision Match: MAO & To-y defeated Tetsuya Endo & Yuya Koroku when To-y pinned Koroku with the Kojima Impact (24:17)
*The 37KAMIINA becomes the 85th KO-D Tag Team Champions!
11. KO-D Openweight Title: Chris Brookes (c) defeated Daisuke Sasaki with the Praying Mantis Bomb II (36:55).
*V1 for Chris Brookes.
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Kazuki Hirata defeated HARASHIMA (c) by TKO with the Tegatana (6:35 pm).
*Kazuki Hirata becomes the 1,703rd champion.
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Sanshiro Takagi defeated HARASHIMA with the Stone Cold Stunner (6:36 pm).
*Sanshiro Takagi becomes the 1,704th champion.

There’s still a few days left before the new year but DDT’s 2024 came to a close at Sumo Hall today. Daisuke Sasaki came over here looking to end Chris Brookes’s reign as the KO-D Openweight Title and bring DDT back to a more grimy atmosphere. However the feud between SCHADENFREUDE International and DAMNATION T.A coming up to this match showed Brookes is just as capable of fighting that way as he is with having a fair fight. So too was Yukinori Matsui of all people. The referee reached his breaking point from the constant interference from both sides that he grabbed a chair at ringside and was willing to attack any of them with it! Both units took his warning to heart and left ringside so the match could continue one on one. The violence still escalated with Brookes Piledriving Sasaki through a table at ringside. Sasaki fought back by seating Brookes onto a chair in the first row and hitting the Super Diving Elbow. DAMNATION T.A returned to pull Matsui out of the ring right when Brookes had Sasaki beaten with the Praying Mantis Bomb. SCHADENFREUDE also came back to cause another all out fight between the two sides. Brookes and Sasaki then attacked each other with staplers until Sasaki threw Brookes into the ref so he could Low Blow him and then hit a chair shot. But nothing he did could put Brookes away, not even El Es Culero which he took from El Desperado. Instead Brookes was able to slap Sasaki down, give him a Penalty Kick and pin him with an elevated version of the Praying Mantis Bomb.

With the battle finally over, Brookes offered to shake Sasaki’s hand after the match and Sasaki actually went through with it. Brookes told Sumo Hall he was able to win with love but he knows pro wrestling needs bad people like Sasaki to fight the good people like himself. Brookes then invited the DDT roster down to the ring to close out the show and comment on how the year went for them. Brookes told the fans he thought last year would be the final time he headlined Sumo Hall so he is happy to have done it again today. In 2025 he wants to achieve more dreams as the KO-D Champion. Backstage Sasaki told reporters he is going to take an extended break from wrestling for a while. He was asked when he plans to return and he said he’ll definitely be back on… 3rd January 2025.

The vacant KO-D Tag Team Titles were on the line in a match pitting two members of The 37KAMIINA against two wrestlers from BURNING. Due to Shunma Katsumata’s injury, the story turned into the growing rivalry between To-y and Yuya Koroku. The rivalry continued to be the focus here with Tetsuya Endo kept trying to fire Koroku up. Endo and MAO took each other out late in the match so it came down to the young pair. To-y avoided Koroku’s gameplan to target the arm and used a misdirection from running the ropes to catch Koroku off guard. His plan worked and after he pinned Koroku with the Kojima Impact, MAO & To-y became the new champions!

To-y said he is never going to forget the day he won this title. MAO also praised him because just when MAO thought he has done it all with The 37KAMIINA, along comes To-y to give him new things to do. MAO has experienced big victories in Sumo Hall before and he wanted To-y to experience the same to show how you get rewarded for your hard work. They were then approached backstage by Yuni & Kazuma Sumi. The two of them want a title shot on behalf of NωA Jr. To-y accepted the challenge but MAO had to be convinced because he doesn’t want to be associated with idols again. The title match will happen on 18th January.

A big change came from the losing side as a result of this match. BURNING is now splitting up! Endo made the decision but not for any negative reasons. While he was standing in the ring after the match he realized how much Koroku has grown as a wrestler and came to the conclusion that he does not need BURNING anymore. Koroku has fully become a pro wrestler and Yuki Iino has also reestablished himself as a strong fighter. Endo wants to keep growing to reach his own potential so the time is now for them to take their own separate paths. Koroku said the unit helped him grow a lot and he will no longer look down on himself anymore. Endo’s last piece of advice to him was it is ok to feel frustration.

Yuki Ueno took it upon himself to teach Takeshi Masada a lesson in wrestling. Masada always has high expectations to reach and pulled out a top rope version of his finisher to try and win. But Ueno couldn’t be beat and found an opening to twist Masada into the Body Choke Sleeper to wear him down. Masada started to crumble from there and Ueno kept up the attack until he could pin him with the WR. Ueno wants Masada to know he is here for him in DDT. He shouldn’t be listening to the people who give him high expectations about his future. Instead Masada should believe in himself in the present. He should get be more selfish, get even weirder and gradually he will round out his game more and more. In 2025 Yuki Ueno will enjoy being himself because only those who can express themselves will have a future.

Okay we didn’t realize just how cursed of an idea Danshoku Dieno Vs Great-O-Khan was going to be. First O-Khan gets pulled from the show by New Japan due to injury, then the only opponent DDT could find on short notice was The Invisible Man and now on the day of the show one of the special guests for the match Kentaro Kumagai could no longer make it due to illness. So it was all up to Dieno and Tetsu Inada to carry the match by themselves (with The Invisible Man of course). The referee and the commentary team all wore special glasses that would let them see The Invisible Man while Dieno wore special contact lenses that did the same thing. The match turned into a brawl up the entrance ramp that ended with The Invisible Man doing a dive off of the stage. Back in the ring he hit a Triple Moonsault and was shocked when Dieno kicked out of it. He tried hitting Dieno with multiple Axe Bombers but Dieno fired himself up by stripping off his costume piece by piece. But when he made his comeback, five other Invisible Men interfered! Then an Invisible Woman named See-Through came to Dieno’s rescue and fought them off for him. Dieno went back to give The Invisible Man the Danshoku Driver but it was countered into a sudden cradle for the three count.

After the match The Invisible Man gave Dieno credit for pushing him this far. He told Dieno that someday the ruler of the human world who should have fought him in the first place will reappear along with his loyal follower. He told Dieno to call their names out loud enough for them to hear. Inada apologized for not being to help Dieno more because he got caught up fighting the other Invisible Men. He promised to be by his side again whenever the match with O-Khan takes place. Dieno assured him they haven’t lost the battle because O-Khan and Kumagai are not here. The four of them will have their fated fight one day. Until then everyone should continue to go out and live their lives to the fullest.

It was a battle of pride between DDT and NOAH. The home team of Shinya Aoki & Keigo Nakamura certainly felt it when they fought Kenoh & Yu Owada. They fought around ringside and beat lumps out of each other. Nakamura tried to do his own attempt at Aoki’s Full Nelson Hold to pin Kenoh but the NOAH wrestler kicked out of it and made him tap out to the Kenoh Special. Aoki and Kenoh then kept fighting after the bell until they were kept apart. Aoki’s in a good mood about it though. He thinks DDT got the moral victory today because of Nakamura’s performance. He also thinks Kenoh secretly had a lot of fun out there. Aoki would love to have a rematch or even a singles match with Kenoh. He says it is up to the fans to decide if it will happen. Kenoh spent his post-match interview backstage promoting NOAH’s Budokan Hall show on 1st January.

Over on the heavyweight side of the roster Jun Akiyama showed everyone that Yukio Naya still hasn’t met his potential yet. Naya Choke Slammed him onto the ring apron and hit other big moves like the Diving Elbow and The World’s Best Back Drop. But Akiyama kept kicking out and fought back with Knee Strikes and Exploder Suplexes. He went to finish him off with the Wrist-Clutch Exploder but Naya blocked it. So Akiyama switched over to the Front Neck Lock and made him give up. Akiyama admits that Naya is better than him at everything now but the difference is 33 years of determination. He will wait for Naya to come fight him again. Naya is now worried about a comment Konosuke Takeshita recently made. If this generation carries on like they are now then they will become the generation that left nothing behind. Naya swears he will get a rematch with Akiyama in 2025 and finally beat him.

The debut of “THE MONSTER” Haruto Sakuraba gave DAMNATION T.A their only victory of the show. His size and power left Yuki Iino shaken when they charged each other in the ring. With that taken care of, KANON & MJ Paul were able to pick off the rest of the other team ending with KANON using the Vietnam Driver II to pin Soma Takao. He praised Sakuraba’a overwhelming size and power while Sakuraba called out for more people to fight him. While HARASHIMA agrees with Sakuraba’a strengths, he pointed out that as a rookie he still has a long way to go. He hopes to see Sakuraba work even harder from now on and will be happy to fight him more anytime.

DDT lost their other inter-promotional match, this time to Tokyo Joshi Pro. Good thing they are all under the same CyberFight umbrella. The TJPW team actually met with the DDT team before the match offering a box of treats. But when Toru Owashi was about to accept it, Pom Harajuku hit all of the DDT wrestler over the head with the box. The match itself got so heated up that management even got involved! Hisaya Imabayashi and Tetsuya Koda fought each other in the ring at different points in the match. Super Sasadango Machine tried to give Hyper Misao the Vertical Drop Lehman Shock but Misao fought him off with her spray can. Antonio Honda tried telling a dirty Gongitsune joked but Koda stopped him for the sake of the TJPW wrestlers. Imabayashi ran in and hit Koda with the Uraken but fell over in the process, giving Koda the chance to hit him with the Finally kick before he collapsed. Misao brought in the Hyper Mobile and crashed it into Honda. The match slowed down and even included a flashback from Honda. The Hyper Mobile returned but Owashi & Sasadango accidentally crashed it into Honda. Rika Tatsumi then hit the Missile Hip to Honda for the victory.

Later backstage Imabayashi told the DDT team that as a result of this match, TJPW will get all of the profits made from today’s show. The wrestlers came up with the excuse that they are all freelancers so none of them are really effected by that. Honda promised to get revenge by winning the Princess Rumble tomorrow. Sasadango then confronted the TJPW team wanting to talk to Misao. He challenged her to a singles match but this time Sasadango will ditch the mask and wrestle as Muscle Sakai! Not only that but he wants the match to happen at Sanshiro Takagi’s 30th Anniversary show on 3rd February. Misao accepted so we are going to get a battle of who has the better sense of humour!

The other celebrity debut was over before it could even begin. Kumadori got to do his entrance with the rest of O-MENZ but seconds into the match Akito attacked him while he was posing while Makoto Oishi immediately pinned Kazuki Hirata. Kumadori complained by telling Akito he shouldn’t be ambushing him like that and Hirata should have practiced more. He didn’t have anything to say about Oishi because he doesn’t care about him. The teams agreed to an instant rematch and this time Kumadori got to put in a performance he was happy with. He landed a Cancun Torndao on Oishi and Hirata jumped on top to get the pinfall. Hirata and O-MENZ then celebrated all together with a victory dance. Kumadori thanked Hirata because the Hirata GO! glasses really were helpful when he needed them.

Shuji Ishikawa got his preparation in for the upcoming 4 Way No. 1 Contender match. He went toe to toe with Daichi Sato while Tomomitsu Matsunaga and Yuki Ishida were trying to sumo wrestle each other. Masahiro Takanashi and Shinichiro Kawamatsu got some ring time against each other too but the match was won by Ishikawa beating Ishida with the Fire Thunder.

The show opened with NωA Jr. performing their debut single “New! Wrestling! Idol!” before two of them went on to wrestle in the first match. Yuni & Sumi’s big day was close to being ruined because DAMNATION T.A almost beat them. But after Ilusion hit the Swanton Bomb on Yuni, Sumi finally found a way to counter Demus’s finisher. He turned La Valagueza into a School Boy to get the three count from out of nowhere. Sumi was so happy with the win he promised to work hard as an idol while also doing his best as a pro wrestler. He also wants to have another singles match with Demus in Mexico or DDT because he knows today’s win was just a fluke.

There were a couple of Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title changes that happened throughout the day. Before the show began Yuki Ishida attacked the champion Yoshihiko in a hallway. Yoshihiko fended him off but Makoto Oishi jumped in and pinned the doll to become the new champion. HARASHIMA saw it happen in the distance so he joined in the fight. Oishi did not want to take the Somato before his match so he gave up and forfeited the belt to HARASHIMA. There was no further title changes until the very end when after the credits, Hirata ambushed HARASHIMA and knocked him out with the Tegatana chop to the neck. Matsui couldn’t revive HARASHIMA so he declared Hirata the new champion.

Hirata then fled with the title but found himself in a dead end inside the shower room. There he found Sanshiro Takagi taking a bath by himself. The two started arguing over Takagi taking a bath while the show was still going on and it turned into a fight. Takagi gave Hirata the Stunner and pinned him in the bath water to end the show as the new Iron Man Champion!

There will be a merchandise collaboration between DDT and the anime “Brave Bang Bravern!” coming soon. DDT will announce more details on the 26th January Korakuen Hall show.

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DDT At NOAH Limit Break 4 Results

October 21, 2024

NOAH “THE LEAVE PRESENTS LIMIT BREAK .4”, 20/10/2024
Tokyo Shinagawa Prince Hotel Club eX
344 Fans

2. The Leave Mask & Yuki Iino defeated Black Menso-re & Tomomitsu Matsunaga when Mask pinned Menso-re with a Jackknife Pin (12:23).
3. Tetsuya Endo & Yukio Naya defeated Mohammed Yone & Kohei Kinoshita when Endo pinned Kinoshita with the Burning Star Press (14:46).
6. Akitoshi Saito LIMIT BREAK Last Match: Akitoshi Saito & Jun Akiyama defeated Satoshi Kojima & Yu Owada when Saito pinned Owada with the Sickle Death (15:56).

A couple of DDT wrestlers had more to do than just the Korakuen Hall show yesterday. Some of them popped over to NOAH afterward to wrestle on the latest “LIMIT BREAK” show. It was a special appearance for Jun Akiyama because he teamed with Akitoshi Saito for Saito’s final appearance in LIMIT BREAK on his road to retirement. Their opponents was another visitor Satoshi Kojima along with the NOAH rookie Yu Owada. The Sternness pair won the match when Akiyama gave Owada the Exploder Suplex and Saito pinned him with the Sickle Death. After the match Saito said he will never forget the first time he met Akiyama back in 2000 and he learned a lot of different wrestling styles from him. He tried to stay sharp in today’s match but couldn’t help but loosen up because he was with Akiyama again. Akiyama called Saito his best partner and the easiest wrestler to work with. Akiyama also gave Owada advice on showing more fire and emotion. He wants to see someone carry on the legacy that went from All Japan to NOAH.

Tetsuya Endo & Yukio Naya teamed up for a match against Mohammed Yone & Kohei Kinoshita. The pair was feeling in good condition despite already wrestling earlier in the day. Endo scored the win for the DDT team by pinning Kinoshita with the Burning Star Press. Endo told Kinoshita to tell a certain somebody in Seattle next month that he’s wishing him the best. Naya said in his backstage comment that he would like to have a singles match against Yone some day.

Maybe Yuki Iino can work his way into getting a sponsorship with THE LEAVE. He teamed with the company’s masked luchador The Leave Mask to defeat Black Menso-re & Tomomitsu Matsunaga. Iino asked Mask afterward if it would be ok if he can star in the company’s next commercial?

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DDT At NOAH Limit Break Ex. Results

September 28, 2024

NOAH “THE LEAVE PRESENTS LIMIT BREAK EX.”, 28/09/2024
Yokohama Radiant Hall
290 Fans

1. Hajime Ohara defeated Yuya Koroku with the Mui Bien (8:48).
3. Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino defeated Kai Fujimura & Kohei Kinoshita when Endo pinned Fujimura with the Torture Rack Bomb (17:33).
5. Best 2 Out Of 3 Falls: Go Shiozaki, Akitoshi Saito, Mohammed Yone & Atsushi Kotoge (2) defeated Jun Akiyama, Yukio Naya, Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Harutoki (1).
5a. Harutoki pinned Go Shiozaki with El Momento de Muerte (23:26).
5b. Go Shiozaki pinned Harutoki with the Strong Arm Lariat (2:10).
5c. Akitoshi Saito pinned Tomomitsu Matsunaga with the Sickle Death (9:28).

It’s been a while since I wrote about the “LIMIT BREAK” shows over at NOAH. The last one took place back in July and I skipped over it. The only DDT related matches on it were Jun Akiyama and Tomomitsu Matsunaga in the opening two bouts so there wasn’t much to write about. Today though was different because those two along with Yukio Naya were in a big main event against TEAM NOAH. The three of them along with Harutoki fought TEAM NOAH in a Best 2 Out Of 3 Falls match. The first two falls were both decided by Go Shiozaki and Harutoki. The visiting team unexpectedly won the first fall when Harutoki blocked Shiozaki’s Lariat with a High Kick and then used a Cross-Arm Falcon Arrow to get the pinfall. The second fall didn’t last long because Harutoki went for the quick win only to get cut down by Shiozaki’s Lariat for the three count. The final fall began with Atsushi Kotoge facing off against Naya before switching over to Akitoshi Saito against Akiyama. Matsunaga tagged in but got caught by the teamwork of Saito & Mohammed Yone. That led to Saito pinning Matsunaga with the Sickle Death to end the match. Later Saito said he would like to team up with Akiyama once last time before he retires.

BURNING fared better in their match against Kai Fujimura & Kohei Kinoshita. Late in the match Tetsuya Endo went after Fujimura with Swan Dive attacks and Yuki Iino took out Kinoshita with the Spear. Endo then caught Fujimura with the Tetsuya In The Sky before pinning him with the Torture Rack Bomb. Endo & Iino promised to keep on burning while the other team wants to have more matches against them.

Well, most of BURNING fared better. Yuya Koroku was in the opening match and lost to Hajime Ohara. He targeted Ohara’s left arm but his plan didn’t work out. Instead Ohara trapped him in the Muy Bien submission and made him tap out. Ohara would later become the newest member of TEAM NOAH at the end of the show.

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Video – NOAH Vs DDT Battle From “CYBERFIGHT FESTIVAL 2022”

September 6, 2024


“CYBERFIGHT FESTIVAL 2022”, 12/06/2022
Saitama Super Arena
4,891 Fans

8. NOAH Vs DDT Battle: Katsuhiko Nakajima, Atsushi Kotoge & Yoshiki Inamura Vs Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Kazusada Higuchi

Yeah this is the match where Katsuhiko Nakajima knocked out Tetsuya Endo with a slap across the face that left him with a concussion. The injury caused Endo to vacate the KO-D Openweight Title at the time. DDT is really leaning into this story to build up Endo’s title match with Shinya Aoki this weekend.

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DDT At NOAH Limit Break 3 Results

June 19, 2024

NOAH “THE LEAVE PRESENTS LIMIT BREAK. 3 GO! ~GO SHIOZAKI 20TH ANNIVERSARY TOURNAMENT~”, 19/06/2024
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,220 Fans

4. Tetsuya Endo, Yuki Iino & Yuya Koroku defeated Atsushi Kotoge, Black Menso-re & Yuto Kikuchi when Endo pinned Menso-re with the Swivel Torture Rack Bomb (11:49).
5. Beast Vs Harimao: Kazuyuki Fujita defeated Kazusada Higuchi with the Kick To The Face (9:13).
7. Go Shiozaki 20th Anniversary Match -DEPARTURE 2024-: Go Shiozaki & Jun Akiyama Vs Naomichi Marufuji & Takashi Sugiura ended in a Time Limit Draw (30:00).

Some of the DDT related storylines over at the NOAH “LIMIT BREAK” shows came to an end today while one in particular is continuing on up until DDT’s next Sumo Hall show. The main event was Go Shiozaki’s 20th anniversary match and he picked Jun Akiyama as one of the other particpants. Akiyama was in Shiozaki’s debut match and the two have been an integral part of each other’s careers since then. Together they faced Naomichi Marufuji & Takashi Sugiura while special guest Kenta Kobashi watched from the commentary booth. The match lasted the entire thirty minute time limit without a winner. Akiyama said he was glad to be invited to Shiozaki’s big day and he’ll see him again somewhere down the line.

The battle between two hard headed brutes from NOAH and DDT was built up on previous Limit Break shows. Today Kazusada Higuchi finally got to fight Kazuyuki Fujita one on one. When the dust settled it was Fujita who hit harder. He countered the Buchikamashi sumo charge with a Lariat and then kicked Higuchi in the face twice for the pinfall. Fujita said the match was not about winning or losing. It was about himself and Higuchi hitting each other with all of their might. Higuchi admitted he was completely defeated today. He will have to start from scratch build himself back up from here.

Shiozaki will be teaming with Atsushi Kotoge at DDT’s Sumo Hall show next month to challenge BURNING for the KO-D Tag Team Titles. On today’s show Kotoge got a preview of what to expect from the champions in the form of a 6-Man Tag Match against them. He & Yuto Kikuchi had Tetsuya Endo on the ropes and left it up to Black Menso-re to finish him off. Endo turned the tables using the Tetsuya In The Sky and pinned Menso-re with the Torture Rack Bomb. Endo asked Kotoge if this match has fired him up. It might not matter because Endo thinks at this rate the title match has already been decided. He likes Kikuchi though and wouldn’t mind coming over to Dotonbori Pro sometime to wrestle him again. Yuki Iino swears Shiozaki’s Chops won’t hurt him when they fight each other again. Yuya Koroku was happy to be booked on the show and would like to take part in more Limit Break events in the future.

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DDT At “ALL TOGETHER IN SAPPORO” Results

June 15, 2024

UJPW “ALL TOGETHER IN SAPPORO”, 15/06/2024
Sapporo Hokkai Kitayell
2,156 Fans

0. Dark Match: Toru Yano & Tomoaki Honma defeated Tomoya & Andreza Giant Panda when Yano pinned Tomoya with a School Boy (6:26).
1. Zack Sabre Jr., Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita defeated Ulka Sasaki, HAYATA & Yu Owada when Sabre submitted Owada with an Arm Bar (8:37).
2. AZM Vs Starlight Kid ended in a Time Limit Draw (15:00).
3. Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI defeated Daisuke Sekimoto & Daichi Hashimoto when Goto pinned Hashimoto after the Lights Out (10:24).
4. Jeff Cobb, Great-O-Khan & Kazusada Higuchi defeated Oleg Boltin, Ryohei Oiwa & Tetsuya Endo when Cobb pinned Oiwa with the Tour Of The Islands (9:53).
5. SANADA, Taichi & Yuya Uemura defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Naomichi Marufuji & Kento Miyahara when SANADA pinned Tanahashi with an O’Connor Bridge (13:25).
6. Masa Kitamiya defeated Tomohiro Ishii with the Saito Suplex (13:42).
7. Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji, Hiromu Takahashi, BUSHI & Titan defeated Jack Morris, Anthony Greene, LJ Cleary, Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney when Tsuji pinned Cleary with the Gene Blaster (10:30).
8. Gabe Kidd, David Finley & YO-HEY defeated Kaito Kiyomiya, Kenoh & Alejandro by Referee Stoppage when Kidd knocked out Kiyomiya the Leg Trap Piledriver (12:16).
9. Tetsuya Naito defeated Jake Lee with the Destino (26:32).

Not much to talk about this show in regards to DDT’s involvement with it. The show was also a bigger drawing disappointment than the first one so who knows if UJPW will hold another event like this anytime soon? Tetsuya Endo and Kazusada Higuchi were in the same match representing DDT on both teams. Endo & Ryohei Oiwa were originally meant to team with Shota Umino but Umino pulled out of the show after injuring his back during practice earlier in the day. New Japan replaced him with Oleg Boltin. Higuchi was on the same team as United Empire members Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan. While the DDT wrestlers did get to mix with the NJPW guys, the result came down to Cobb pinning Oiwa. Endo regretted missing the previous “ALL TOGETHER” show because of injury and went into the match hoping to make up for it. He is sorry he still couldn’t win with that kind of extra motivation.

I’ll talk about the dark match too because one team in it should be familiar to the regular readers here. Tomoya & Andreza Giant Panda were the local wrestlers competing in the dark match against New Japan’s Toru Yano & Tomoaki Honma. None of Yano’s usual tactics could work against Andreza so he grabbed some bamboo and gave it to Honma so he could get Andreza’s attention. The distraction worked and Yano gave Andreza a Low Blow. Honma followed up with a Kokeshi Rocket, almost knocking the panda out. Andreza just about answered the 10 count by standing back up at 9. However a mistimed Headbutt hit Tomoya by accident and Yano gave him a Low Blow followed by a School Boy to steal the win.

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DDT In NOAH Limit Break 2 Results

May 29, 2024

NOAH “THE LEAVE PRESENTS LIMIT BREAK. 2”, 29/05/2024
Shinjuku FACE
403 Fans

3. Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino defeated Hi69 & Harutoki when Endo pinned Harutoki with the Burning Star Press (12:38).
4. Jun Akiyama defeated Atsushi Kotoge with the Wrist-Clutch Exploder (18:14).
5. Kazuyuki Fujita, Yoshitatsu & Genta Yubari defeated Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Naya & Tomomitsu Matsunaga when Fujita pinned Matsunaga with a Kick To The Face (21:42).

More DDT involvement happened in NOAH this month with the latest “LIMIT BREAK” show. NOAH has developed two separate sub-brands this year. There is “MONDAY MAGIC”, an episodic series of wrestling events that is put together by NOSAWA Rongai. There is also “LIMIT BREAK” which is attached to Go Shiozaki and his Team NOAH unit. The unusual thing is DDT find themselves in the serious and straightforward Limit Break shows rather than the wacky Monday Magic events that are full of surprises. One of the big matches Limit Break has been building up with this turn of events is NOAH’s Kazuyuki Fujita against DDT’s Kazusada Higuchi. They have a singles match taking place next month so today they had a preview 6-Man Tag. Higuchi had Yukio Naya & Tomomitsu Matsunaga on his side and they put up a good fight. But Fujita cut off Matsunaga with a Lariat and taunted Higuchi before kicking Matsunaga in the face for the finish. Yoshitatsu praised Genta Yubari for putting in a passionate effort. Higuchi apologised to Matsunaga for not being able to help him. He knows he won’t get any help himself against Fujita on 19th June so he his fired up to fight him one on one. Naya said he came to this show looking for something that does not exist in DDT. He wants to keep wrestling on these shows.

An important singles match had Jun Akiyama taking on the underdog Atsushi Kotoge based on negative comments Kotoge made about him at the last show. Akiyama kept control for most of the match but when Kotoge got the upper hand he made sure his opponent knew about it. Things went south when Akiyama lured him out of the ring to beat him up in a ringside brawl. Back in the ring Akiyama kept hitting Knee Strikes with his kneepad pulled down. Kotoge countered the Exploder Suplex but ended up taking more Knee Strikes. He kicked out at two so Akiyama gave him the Wrist-Clutch Exploder, finishing him off. Akiyama had a message for Kotoge backstage after the match. There is no one place where a wrestler can develop everything. Instead there are many places to go wrestle in and DDT is one of them. If Kotoge wants to learn what he is lacking, he should come over to DDT and maybe Akiyama can teach him a little of what he is missing. Kotoge must have accepted the invitiation because a few hours later DDT announced he will be on their 5th June show in Shinjuku FACE teaming with Akiyama & Matsunaga.

DDT’s version of BURNING is becoming a regular part of the Limit Break shows. Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino were on the card and won their match against Hi69 and Osaka wrestler Harutoki. Iino hit Hi69 with the Spear allowing Endo to give Harutoki the Swivel Torture Rack Bomb and Burning Star Press combo for the victory. Endo bragged about winning three matches in a row at Limit Break now. He is again demanding a singles match against Shiozaki. Iino wants to fight Shiozaki again too.

NOAH “THE LEAVE PRESENTS LIMIT BREAK. 3 GO! ~GO SHIOZAKI 20TH ANNIVERSARY TOURNAMENT~”, 19/06/2024
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

4. Atsushi Kotoge, Black Menso-re & Yuto Kikuchi Vs Tetsuya Endo, Yuki Iino & Yuya Koroku
5. Beast Vs Harimao: Kazuyuki Fujita Vs Kazusada Higuchi
7. Go Shiozaki 20th Anniversary Match -DEPARTURE 2024-: Go Shiozaki & Jun Akiyama Vs Naomichi Marufuji & Takashi Sugiura

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Posted by JamieOD

CyberFight Announces New Organisational Structure

May 16, 2024

A press conference was held today by CyberFight to announce an upcoming change in company structure along with other news regarding their wrestling promotions. The big announcement is the appointment of Yasuo Okamoto as CyberFight’s new president from 1st June onwards. Okamoto began working for CyberAgent in 2000 and is currently an Executive Vice President, a role he’s had since 2020. Sanshiro Takagi will be moving down to EVP under his real name Tadashi Takagi (he is also slightly changing the spelling of his wrestling name from 高木三四郎 to 髙木三四郎) Takagi said he will be taking a break as a pro wrestler in July in order to focus on management as well as to take care of his own health. He will continue to be in charge of DDT and Tokyo Joshi Pro under this direction. On the NOAH side Naomichi Marufuji and Akihiro Takeda remain in their roles as EVP and Director respectively. Akito Nishigaki (aka Akito) will also now serve as a director. Takagi assures fans that the in-ring products for each company is not going to change.

Okamoto joked that when he received the offer for this role he was happy because he now gets to call pro wrestling his job. He already watches the different CyberFight promotions on ABEMA and Wrestle Universe. He also thanked Takagi for all of his hard work in running all three companies up to now. His goal is for everyone to work together in order to make CyberFight the number one wrestling organisation in the industry. His first target is to strengthen the relationship between NOAH and WWE. At the moment WWE shows air in Japan on ABEMA along with NOAH. There is nothing official to announce yet but they are working on having one in the near future. CyberFight is also currently finalizing deals for new corporate sponsors and would like to increase the number of sponsors from time to time. ABEMA streams NOAH programming and there is hope for DDT and TJPW to return to the service with broadcasts of their own big events.

NOAH have signed Ulka Sasaki and EITA to the company. Sasaki is a former MMA fighter who began wrestling for NOAH this past January. His goal is to become the GHC Heavyweight Champion. Takeda made a phone call to EITA at the press conference to announce the news of his signing. EITA told fans through the phone that he will continue to stir up NOAH as the ace of their Jr. Heavyweight division. NOAH also announced they have hired Keiji Muto as their new scouting advisor. Until now he was working as a Pro Wrestling Ambassador for ABEMA. Muto said every company right now is out there looking for new talented people and if any young people are interested they should get in contact with NOAH. Salaries are increasing and Muto heard stories about how Kazuchika Okada could be earning up to 2 billion yen over the next three years. He told Okamoto he would like to see him create a budget for the company that will look three to five years into the future. Muto also mentioned an idea to recruit new trainees from other countries, not just Japan.

Later this month DDT will be holding auditions for male teenagers aged 15 to 19 years old looking to become wrestling trainees. DDT is also setting up a new community project with Masahiro Chono called Safety Task Force (STF, get it?). Together they will hold small scale wrestling events to raise awareness for health disaster prevention and other lifesaving countermeasures. Chono sent in a video message telling DDT he does not want this project to be done half-heartedly.

Tokyo Joshi Pro will be increasing their international schedule over the next year in a bid to go global. On 24th August they will be in England holding an inter-promotional event with EVE. That is happening the same weekend as AEW’s return to Wembley in London. Then in November TJPW is planning to have a show in Seattle, USA. Finally, TJPW confirmed they will be in Las Vegas next April for their annual appearance at WrestleMania Week.

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The WWE part of that news sent a chill down the spine, didn’t it? There is already a little connection between them and NOAH through ABEMA. Looks like it’s about to grow. That has me concerned over just how far that direction can go and if it causes any side effects elsewhere. Takagi moving down a management tier isn’t getting me hopeful either but some of that is just time doing its thing. He’s spoken before about it being time for him to start looking for potential successors and getting them ready for the job. Is that going to be Akito because I think he has just been demoted from EVP to director, unless I missed that happening somewhere already a while ago. I don’t have any feelings towards Okamoto being the new president. Not thrilled with the WWE idea but I’m not going to immediately bash the guy over it.

Muto was never really gone from NOAH so his reappearance in the company is no surprise. He’s the one you have to watch out for when it comes to serving personal goals over company goals. The DDT news I’m indifferent too. They’re happy with how they get rookies and will continue down that path. The international TJPW shows are all good news. I’ll be in London for AEW so will go to the EVE x TJPW show the night before (unless Revolution Pro put out an unbelievable lineup). I’m also going to Vegas for Mania next year just to experience what the strip will look like swarmed by 60,000+ wrestling fans so you’ll be sure to see me at the TJPW show too. It’s a little odd they did not announce anything for DDT at the same time but I think it’s just because they wanted to include a TJPW announcement here and this schedule was all they had.

So yeah let’s hope the WWE stuff becomes minimal. If not then please look forward to “Main Event” Jey Uso fighting Yoshitatsu in Match #4 on a Shinjuku FACE card while The Up Up Girls get the Def Rebel remix treatment. Yeet.

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