DDT “MEGA MAX BUMP 2023 IN YOKOHAMA” Results

May 3, 2023

DDT “MEGA MAX BUMP 2023 IN YOKOHAMA”, 03/05/2023
Yokohama Budokan
1,160 Fans

0. Dark Match – Pheromones Vs D GENERATIONS Army Best Of 3 Singles Matches: Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari defeated Rukiya with the Tiger Driver (4:07).
0. Dark Match – Pheromones Vs D GENERATIONS Army Best Of 3 Singles Matches: Ilusion defeated Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno with a Japanese Leg Roll Clutch Hold (5:21).
0. Dark Match – Pheromones Vs D GENERATIONS Army Best Of 3 Singles Matches: Koju “Shining Ball” Takeda defeated Yuki Ishida with the Shining Katame (4:54).
1. Yuya Koroku & Munetatsu Nakamura defeated Toy Kojima & Kazuma Sumi when Koroku submitted Sumi with the Modified Triangle Lancer (8:36).
2. International Special Single Match: Saki Akai defeated Rayne Leverkusen with the Quetzalcoatl (5:51).
3. Daisuke Sasaki, Minoru Fujita & MJ Paul defeated Soma Takao, Yusuke Okada & Diego when Sasaki submitted Diego with the Crossface Lock (11:09).
4. Dance Vs Kickboxing Mixed Martial Arts Challenge: Hikaru Machida defeated Kazuki Hirata by TKO with a Right Straight (R1 0:07). (Round Girl: Sayuri Namba)
4a. Rematch: Kazuki Hirata defeated Hikaru Machida with the Miracle One Shot Cradle (R4 3:32). (Round Girl: Sayuri Namba)
5. Chiitan☆ Debut Match ~ Special 6-Man Tag Match: Chiitan☆, Toru Owashi & Akito defeated Chris Brookes, Masahito Takanashi & Antonio Honda when Chiitan☆ pinned Honda with the Shining Wizard (10:26).
6. Special Tag Match: Yuki Ueno & Yuni defeated Vent Vert Jack & Takeshi Masada when Ueno pinned Masada with the Rolling Guillotine Ace Crusher (12:03).
7. DDT Extreme Title – TLC (Toys, Ladders & Chairs) Match: Shunma Katsumata defeated Jun Akiyama (c) with a School Boy (17:03).
*Jun Akiyama fails in V5. Shunma Katsumata becomes the 57th DDT Extreme Champion!
8. Road To King Of DDT 2023 Special 8-Man Tag Match: Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Sakaguchi, Naruki Doi & KANON defeated Sanshiro Takagi, HARASHIMA, Kotaro Suzuki & Hideki Okatani when Sakaguchi pinned Okatani with the God’s Right Knee (10:40).
9. DDT Universal Title: Tetsuya Endo (c) defeated MAO with the Tetsuya In The Sky (19:17).
*V1 for Tetsuya Endo.
10. KO-D Openweight Title: Yuji Hino (c) defeated Yuki “Super Sexy” Iino with the Fuckin’ BOMB (22:28).
*V2 for Yuji Hino.

All throughout the build up for the Yokohama Budokan Golden Week show, Yuki Iino had promised to seal away his “Sexy” persona in order to get a KO-D Openweight Title shot. It led to him evolving a “Strong” persona that pleased Yuji Hino and left the champion thinking they would deliver a strong style match for the ages. Oh boy was he wrong. A referee bump led to Pheromones interfering and Makoto Oishi jumping in to try and stop them. Hino wanted nothing to do with the nonsense and ran off backstage with everyone chasing after him. Danshoku Dieno took the microphone, said he held Iino back for too long and it was time to give fans a title match only DDT can deliver! Pheromones returned with Hino all gagged up and behind them was the first appearance of Yuki “Super Sexy” Iino! Pheromones did their spots but Oishi was there once again to get in their way and revive Yukinori Matsui. From there the match went back to normal. Iino hit his new Strong Splash finisher but only got a two count. Hino came back throwing Lariats to combat Iino’s Spear. The momentum flipped all the way to the champion and he got the three count with the Fuckin’ BOMB.

Hino was presented with the KO-D Title by Kenta Kobashi after the match (apparently Kobashi did not sound the least bit amused by the main event on commentary). Hino told Iino that he is a strong wrestler when they fight each other and he should be choosing his friends more carefully. Dieno defended Iino by telling Hino he dares to be “Sexy” and chose to be that way. When times are tough everyone should look to Pheromones for inspiration. Dieno also warned that the Pheromones way of life will lead him to meet Hino in the ring again some day. Hino gave Iino credit for showing off his real ability today and reminded fans that DDT is the place where amazing wrestlers gather together to have amazing matches.

The war of words between Tetsuya Endo and MAO has come to an end for now after Endo was put down his arch rival. For weeks the two have sent harsh words to each other over who suits the DDT Universal Title more. When it came down to the match itself both tried to outdo each other with big moves. Endo kicked out of the Avalanche Michinoku Driver II and the Cannonball 450 but when Endo hit the Tetsuya In The Sky it was all over. MAO was left beaten but he said afterwards the result did not change his mind. He still intends to win the Universal Title he just has to start from scratch all over again. As long as he behaves how he thinks the Universal Champion should behave then the belt will eventually gravitate towards him by itself. Meanwhile Endo said MAO was just all talk and no better than Daisuke Sasaki’s snot! If MAO wants to get revenge and beat him, he should go home and become his town’s toursim ambassador first!

With MAO now out of the way, Endo has a new mystery challenger on the horizon. As he walked up the ramp to leave ringside, a video played with the message “I have won many titles. Next target is DDT Universal Title. On July 23, Ryogoku. I will go to steal the belt.” The video also mentioned the message was sent from a former WWE wrestler and their identity will be revealed on 21st May. Who could it be? Well maybe it’s the guy who tweeted out a similar vague message a few hours later and then posted the video itself? Endo said a WWE wrestler is the best choice for his next defence. However Endo is about to take part in the King Of DDT tournament and the winner of that will most likely get a KO-D Title match at “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2023” on 23rd July. Endo wants to win the tournament and then win the KO-D Title while still holding the Universal Title. If he gets that opportunity then he won’t be able to do two title matches at the Sumo Hall show. It would just be too difficult for him!

A preview for the King Of DDT was on display in an 8-Man Tag Match. Given the amount of people in the match chomping at the bit to wrestle, the match went ahead with No Tag Rules. It led to some of the 1st Round pairings squaring up to each other. Sanshiro Takagi and Yukio Sakaguchi fought each other while Kotaro Suzuki and KANON went back and forth. Hideki Okatani tried cutting off his Eruption stablemate but was pinned with the God’s Right Knee for his troubles. Sakaguchi helped Okatani to the back after the match, showing there was no ill intention over the result. Everyone also gave out comments about King Of DDT. Takagi is now trying to figure out how to prepare for his 1st Round match in three days. Sakaguchi wants Takagi to put his phone away and be ready for him. Suzuki wants to win King Of DDT at all costs. Naruki Doi sees everyone as his enemy because he knows it only takes one loss to get eliminated from the bracket. HARASHIMA wanted his side to win as a team today but their teamwork wasn’t good enough. Kazusada Higuchi was reminded of how tough the competition is going to be so he will tighten his resolve for the early rounds. KANON promised to give Suzuki a nightmare he deserves. Okatani was excited by the match and wants to win no matter what it takes.

The TLC Match was all about Toys, Ladders and Chairs! The idea was put together by Shunma Katsumata to ensure Jun Akiyama would experience a true DDT Extreme Title defence. However the in the build up to the match the plan seemed to have backfired when Akiyama got the bright idea to get Toy Kojima involved because he counts as a “Toy”! The match went ahead with chaos being caused around the ring. Akiyama crashed into a castle of chairs but he also used Kojima as a weapon against Katsumata. One Exploder Suplex was not enough to get the win so Akiyama set up another. However Kojima suddenly showed he had enough of being treated like a toy and he hit Akiyama with a Leg Lariat. That caused Katsumata to roll up Akiyama from behind and get the pin to win the Extreme Title! After the match Kojima yelled at Akiyama, telling him to stop treating people like toys and how Katsumata has always treated him as a friend. His comments got Akiyama to go to management and demand a singles match with him somewhere down the line. Meanwhile Katsumata wants to take the Extreme Title and KO-D Tag Team Titles with MAO worldwide. He also wants to turn the belt strap back from white to purple but that might take some time.

DDT’s young portion of their roster was put on display for Match #6. Yuki Ueno teamed up with Yuni originally expecting to face some international competition. However visa issues prevented Nick Wayne from being able to travel to Japan so Takeshi Masada instead had to team with Vent Vert Jack from Yokohama’s MY WAY promotion. It was the first time Yuni and Jack were in the ring together since the end of the DDTeeeen!! project. Yuni pulled out a Firebird Splash on Masada to give Ueno a nearfall. Jack tried to keep breaking the pins but Ueno scored the win in the end by giving Masada the Rolling Guillotine Ace Crusher. Ueno said everyone in the match was amazing and makes him wonder how good he himself will be when Wayne does finally come to DDT? His upcoming singles match with HUB is giving him an explosion of motivation and he wants to also face Wayne in a singles match. Yuni also threw his name into the hat to have a match with Wayne. Jack said he would like to come back to DDT for more matches with Yuni and Ilusion. Masada said he was able to see the difference in his career to those of Yuni and Jack. He’s older than both of them but they have far more experience than he does. He sees he has to catch up to them first before he can catch up to Ueno.

The pro wrestling debut of Chiitan saw the mascot get outclassed by its opponents at first. But Toru Owashi & Akito were there to provide backup against CDK & Antonio Honda. Chiitan got into a punch exchange with Chris Brookes until Honda paused the match to give his latest Gongitsune joke. When the match resumed Brookes set Chiitan up for the Praying Mantis Bomb when music suddenly began to play. DDT’s own oversized mascot Pokotan ran down to the ring to the rescue! It instead got attacked and had its head stomped in by Brookes. But unknown to him, Chiitan had climbed the top rope and went on to hit a Diving Cross Body onto Brookes, Honda & Masahiro Takanashi. With the ring cleared, Chiitan then hit the Shining Wizard on Honda to win the match.

The two mascots gathered together afterwards and seemed to be on the same page. Until suddenly Chiitan attacked Pokotan with a baseball bat! The two got into a brawl that Akito tried to break up. Things briefly calmed down long enough for Akito to announce Chiitan and Pokotan will have a match against each other on 13th May but that just caused the mascots to get into another fight. Backstage Akito tried to explain what was going on to the reporters. Pokotan thinks he is DDT’s No. 1 mascot while Chiitan thinks it is Japan’s No. 1 mascot. The two are now determined to end each other!

The long awaited MMA fight between Dance and Kickboxing only lasted 7 seconds when Hikaru Machida immediately knocked out Kazuki Hirata. One person in particular took more offence to the result than anyone else in the building. The round girl Sayuri Namba was furious! She didn’t put all this effort into becoming a round girl again only to see she wasn’t needed. She even handmade her own costume for the match! She took her anger out on Hirata, Machida and the ref Matsui by slapping them all to the canvas. Everyone agreed to restart the match to further avoid her wrath. Namba became a lot more cheerful now she was able to do her job.

In the 3rd Round, Hirata feared he was about to get knocked out again so he got on the microphone and read a letter he wrote about wanting to put smiles on children’s faces. He thinks Machida’s own child would have the biggest smile if Hirata and Machida danced together. In the 4th Round Machida held back his Iai Punch and tearfully told Hirata he will always be a father before a fighter. The two danced to Hirata’s music but Hirata then cradled Machida for a nearfall. Machida hit the Iai Punch but that also got a two count. Hirata then locked in the Miracle One Shot Cradle from out of nowhere to take the win. Namba raised both of their hands and the three of them all danced to close out the match. Backstage Machida said this was the first time he ever lost a fight because his opponent exploited his love for his son. He also never danced in front of so many people before. His cornerman Thanomsak Toba told him that this is pro wrestling and everything is a learning experience. Namba said she would love to do more round girl work but only if the fighters are stronger so the audience can enjoy the fight more.

Diego’s first match with DDT in six years came about when Keigo Nakamura got injured. Diego was already in Japan and had attended a DDT show as Katsumata’s guest so when a spot on this show opened up it was only natural to bring him in. Unfortunately DAMNATION T.A spoiled his return and left him with a loss on his record. Daisuke Sasaki gave him a Low Blow, Minoru Fujita followed up with the Sayonara Tombstone and Sasaki landed a Diving Elbow. Diego kicked out of the pin but was put into the Crossface Lock for the submission ending. Soma Takao & Yusuke Okada still thanked Diego for joining their team on short notice. Sasaki complained about Diego coming back and demanded to fight him one on one in Diego’s home country of Chile. The flights are expensive though so he wants Diego to pay for it.

Rayne Leverkusen’s goal to “Make It Rayne” in Japan was taken down a notch after she lost to Saki Akai. She tried using a Rolling Elbow, German Suplex and Spinebuster to win. Akai fired back with a High Kick, the Rookie Award and then the Quetzalcoatl to get her hand raised in the end. For Akai she didn’t take it for granted that she got a singles match on one of DDT’s big shows of the year. She could tell that Rayne only has a year and a half of experience. She also doesn’t know anything about Iron Maiden so she was able to treat Leverkusen as an opponent and nothing else. Leverkusen said she respects Akai and she also won’t run away whenever her opponents brings up her family’s fame. She will continue to wrestle for her family and is proud to get a big singles match in Japan today. She wants to come back and if she is still a champion when she does, she thinks she will have to give Akai a title match.

The opening match ended with Yuya Koroku cutting off Kazuma Sumi’s Lionsault and then submitting him with the Triangle Lancer. However Koroku is not satisfied with that after failing to win the D GENERATIONS CUP and failing to qualify for King Of DDT. He wants to get even stronger so he can move out of the opening match spot as soon as possible. Munetatsu Nakamura from Ganbare☆Pro was happy to be on the winning team and hopes the next time he comes to DDT he will get to team with Keigo Nakamura as was originally planned. This was the fourth time Kojima & Sumi teamed up together. Kojima figures he has to protect Sumi even more after today’s loss. Sumi meanwhile is getting frustrated because he cannot figure out how to break out of Koroku’s Triangle Lancer.

Most of Pheromones were banished to the pre-show to take part in three dark matches. They pulled out a 2-1 score against a trio of rookies in singles matches. First, Yumehito Imanari beat Rukiya by using the Lariat and then the Tiger Driver. Then there was an upset when Ilusion defeated Danshoku Dieno! Ilusion got unmasked by Dieno during the match but the other rookies had the bright idea to place Dieno’s discarded tights over his head as a replacement. Ilusion then caught Dieno with a Japanese Leg Roll Clutch Hold to get the surprise three count and even the score. The third match was the decider with Yuki Ishida facing Koju Takeda. Ishida using an Emerald Flowsion for a nearfall and went for the Flame Palm. But Takeda countered it with his Shining Katame submission to make Pheromones win the series. Dieno used the result to declare today was going to be Pheromones Day!

A few guest names were announced for “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2023” on 23rd July. First, Andreza Giant Panda will be coming back to DDT. The other was a person that nobody would have predicted, a wrestler by the name of Yoshitomo Shimohigashi. He is considered the first graduate of the Ibushi Wrestling Institute, having debuted in wrestling back in 2018. He also has an athletic background in bowling. Given his connection to Kota Ibushi, Shimohigashi is nicknamed “Golden Stardust” and he now carries on Kota Ibushi’s lineage in pro wrestling. Akito explained he has a hand in the Institute as an advisor and that even though Shimohigashi is unknown to the vast majority of wrestling fans, he is well known within the wrestling industry. Shimohigashi told the fans he wants to make an explosion inside the very ring that Ibushi created.

DDT will go to Sumo Hall for a second time this year on 12th November for “ULTIMATE PARTY 2023”.


DDT “MAX BUMP 2023 TOUR IN HAMAMATSU” Results

April 30, 2023

DDT “MAX BUMP 2023 TOUR IN HAMAMATSU”, 30/04/2023
Shizuoka Create Hamamatsu Hall
172 Fans – No Vacancy

1. Yusuke Okada defeated Kazuma Sumi with a Half Crab Hold (6:53).
2. Daisuke Sasaki & KANON defeated Hideki Okatani & Rukiya when KANON submitted Rukiya with the Cobra Twist (9:15).
3. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Antonio Honda, Takeshi Masada & Rayne Leverkusen defeated Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata & Mari Manji when Leverkusen submitted Hirata with the Scala Special (10:47).
4. Hamamatsu Specialty Special 6-Man Tag Match: HARASHIMA, Yukio Sakaguchi & Hiroshi Yamato defeated Kazusada Higuchi, Chris Brookes & Yuki Ishida when Sakaguchi pinned Ishida with the God’s Right Knee (11:24).
5. Ω Vs Pheromones!: Yuki “Strong” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno defeated Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi when Iino pinned Oishi with the Strong Splash (9:37).
6. BURNING Vs The 37KAMIINA!: MAO, Shunma Katsumata & Yuki Ueno defeated Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yuya Koroku when Katsumata pinned Koroku with the Totonou Splash (18:26).

This was the last DDT show before they go to Yokohama Budokan for their big Golden Week show on Wednesday. Shunma Katsumata got a little bit of momentum back from Jun Akiyama by getting the winning fall in the main event. The fued between Tetsuya Endo and MAO though is still at a deadlock. The four of them now have their sights set on Wednesday.

Yuki “Strong” Iino used the Splash Mountain, or the Strong Splash as he calls it, to win his match today. Now that all of the prelim matches are out of the way, Iino is all clear to face Yuji Hino for the KO-D Openweight Title and he no longer has to be judged by Makoto Oishi. That makes Oishi a little worried that Iino’s “Sexy” form may come back to life. Hino disagrees. He was promised a “Strong” match against Iino and he expects it to go ahead. Danshoku Dieno said all that is left to do now is for Iino to win the KO-D Title!

Rayne Leverkusen got her team to rock out as a way to combat Kazuki Hirata’s team from dancing. The plan worked out so and she ended up tapping out Hirata to score her first victory in DDT.


DDT “MAX BUMP 2023 TOUR IN OSAKA” Results

April 29, 2023

DDT “MAX BUMP 2023 TOUR IN OSAKA”, 29/04/2023
Osaka 176BOX
286 Fans – Super No Vacancy

1. Hideki Okatani defeated Rukiya with the Double Arm Suplex (7:32).
2. Yuki “Strong” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno defeated Makoto Oishi & Kazuma Sumi when Iino submitted Sumi with an Argentine Backbreaker (12:27).
3. Osaka Specialty Special 6-Man Tag Match: Chris Brookes, Saki Akai & Tsutenkakka defeated Toru Owashi, Rayne Leverkusen & Kazuki Hirata when Brookes pinned Hirata with the Praying Mantis Bomb (11:51).
4. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON defeated Naruki Doi, Yuni & Takeshi Masada when Sasaki submitted Yuni with the Crossface Lock (13:21).
5. Special Tag Match: Jun Akiyama & Yusuke Okada defeated Shunma Katsumata & Kazusada Higuchi when Akiyama pinned Katsumata with the Exploder Suplex (8:55).
6. Yuji Hino & Yukio Sakaguchi defeated HARASHIMA & Yuki Ishida when Hino submitted Ishida with the King Kong Sleeper (13:23).
7. BURNING Vs The 37KAMIINA!: MAO & Yuki Ueno defeated Tetsuya Endo & Yuya Koroku when MAO pinned Koroki with the Avalanche Michinoku Driver II (21:26).

Some of the main event spent time outside the ring where Tetsuya Endo knocked MAO onto the others below and then did a Moonsault onto everybody. Back in the ring MAO took the victory by pinning Yuya Koroku with the Avalanche Michinoku Driver II. Backstage Yuki Ueno described a title match as a clash of beliefs and convictions. There is no need for an answer, just for MAO to show what he thinks and Endo to show what he thinks. For The 37KAMIINA they are going their own way to make DDT and themselves more exciting.

Makoto Oishi promised to protect Yuji Hino from Pheromones on tomorrow’s show because it will be their last match before the KO-D Openweight Title bout next Wednesday. However Hino thinks he is taking on Yuki “Strong” Iino and believes it will be an interesting match next week. Danshoku Dieno said Iino is now ready to be champion and when he does, Yuki “Sexy” Iino will be unleashed again! Hino agrees that Iino is strong but Hino is super strong!

Today was one of mixed feelings for Shunma Katsumata. On the bright side today is the 9th Anniversary of Katsumata’s debut match. On the down side he was beaten by Jun Akiyama. The fighting between the two got intense with the both of them attacking each other with chairs outside the ring. Akiyama then sent his message loud and clear by pinning Katsumata clean with the Exploder Suplex. He called today’s a perfect result and wants to remind everyone he is going to use Toy Kojima as a weapon in the TLC Match. Katsumata knows he is going to face an even scarier version of Akiyama at that match but he will still give him a proper DDT Extreme Title bout.

Rayne Leverkusen is starting to admit she is feeling nervous for her match against Saki Akai next week because she hasn’t beaten her yet in any of their tag matches. She is hoping to give Akai a heavy metal fight and dispel the notion she is only in DDT because she has a famous uncle.


Golden Week And Then Some

April 28, 2023

DDT “MAX BUMP 2023 TOUR IN OSAKA”, 29/04/2023
Osaka 176BOX

1. Hideki Okatani Vs Rukiya
2. Yuki “Not Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Makoto Oishi & Kazuma Sumi
3. Osaka Specialty Special 6-Man Tag Match: Chris Brookes, Saki Akai & Tsutenkakka Vs Toru Owashi, Rayne Leverkusen & Kazuki Hirata
4. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON Vs Naruki Doi, Yuni & Takeshi Masada
5. Special Tag Match: Jun Akiyama & Yusuke Okada Vs Shunma Katsumata & Kazusada Higuchi
6. Yuji Hino & Yukio Sakaguchi Vs HARASHIMA & Yuki Ishida
7. BURNING Vs The 37KAMIINA!: Tetsuya Endo & Yuya Koroku Vs MAO & Yuki Ueno

The feud between Tetsuya Endo and MAO will be headlining the remaining DDT shows until Yokohama Budokan.

This will be the first time Rukiya is wrestling in front of his hometown crowd.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “PRECIOUS TIME”, 29/04/2023
Tokyo Shinagawa Prince Hotel Club eX

-. Nivea Presents Shinagawa 3-Woman Festival – Round 1: Suzume, Arisu Endo & Haruna Neko defeated Hikari Noa, Nao Kakuta & Wakana Uehara by Forfeit.
1. Nivea Presents Shinagawa 3-Woman Festival – Round 1A: Maki Itoh, Haru Kazashiro & Runa Okubo Vs Yuki Aino, Raku & Pom Harajuku
2. Nivea Presents Shinagawa 3-Woman Festival – Round 1B: Rika Tatsumi, Miu Watanabe & HIMAWARI Vs Mizuki, Yuka Sakazaki & Shino Suzuki
3. Nivea Presents Shinagawa 3-Woman Festival – Round 1C: Shoko Nakajima, Hyper Misao & Kaya Toribami Vs Yuki Kamifuku, Mahiro Kiryu & Toga
4. Hikari Noa Vs Wakana Uehara
5. Nivea Presents Shinagawa 3-Woman Festival – Semi-Final: Winners Of Match 1A Vs Winners Of Match 1B
6. Nivea Presents Shinagawa 3-Woman Festival – Semi-Final: Winners Of Match 1C Vs Suzume, Arisu Endo & Haruna Neko
7. Sawyer Wreck Vs Moka Miyamoto
8. Nivea Presents Shinagawa 3-Woman Festival – Final: X, X & X Vs X, X & X

Nao Kakuta will not be on tomorrow’s show because of family circumstances. Her team are forfeiting their 1st Round match in the trios tournament for this reason. Hikari Noa and Wakana Uehana will instead face each other in a non-tournament match.

GANBARE☆PRO “RUN LOLA RUN 2023”, 29/04/2023
Osaka 176BOX

1. GanPro Specialty Mixed Tag Match: Shota & HARUKAZE Vs Soma Takao & YuuRI
2. Yoshiko Hasegawa Vs Marika Kobashi
3. Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling Vs The 37KAMIINA: Keisuke Ishii & Munetatsu Nakamura Vs Yuki Ueno & MAO
4. Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Yumehito Imanari Vs Minoru Fujita & Takahiro Katori
5. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Mizuki Watase, Ken Ohka & Hartley Jackson Vs Shuichiro Katsumura, Shinichiro Tominaga & Tyson Maeguchi

A few days before Ganbare☆Pro make it back to Korakuen Hall, they are paying a visit to Osaka.

BASARA “BASARA 217 ~TAKAGARI 16~”, 30/04/2023
Takashimadaira Ward Community Center

1. Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino Vs Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi & Daichi Kazato
2. KUBITO Vs Masahiro Takanashi
3. Isami Kodaka & Daiki Shimomura Vs Lil’ Kraken & Leo Isaka
4. FUMA Vs X
5. Elimination 6-Man Tag Match: Takumi Tsukamoto, Yasu Urano & Fuminori Abe Vs Ryota Nakatsu, SAGAT & Akiyori Takizawa

It looks like FUMA’s opponent will not be revealed until the match takes place. He’s been getting into hunting lately and said as soon as he knows who the opponent is he will treat them like a game animal.

DDT “MAX BUMP 2023 TOUR IN HAMAMATSU”, 30/04/2023
Shizuoka Create Hamamatsu Hall

1. Yusuke Okada Vs Kazuma Sumi
2. Daisuke Sasaki & KANON Vs Hideki Okatani & Rukiya
3. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata & Mari Manji Vs Antonio Honda, Takeshi Masada & Rayne Leverkusen
4. Hamamatsu Specialty Special 6-Man Tag Match: HARASHIMA, Yukio Sakaguchi & Hiroshi Yamato Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Chris Brookes & Yuki Ishida
5. Ω Vs Pheromones!: Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi Vs Yuki “Not Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno
6. BURNING Vs The 37KAMIINA!: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yuya Koroku Vs MAO, Shunma Katsumata & Yuki Ueno

This is the final chance for Makoto Oishi to judge if Yuki Iino has been acting sexy. Iino cannot slip up now right when the KO-D Openweight Title shot is about to be in his grasp.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW INSPIRATION”, 01/05/2022
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Mahiro Kiryu Vs Gabai Ji-chan
2. HIMAWARI Vs Toga
3. Suzume & Arisu Endo Vs Moka Miyamoto & Kaya Toribami
4. Fluorescent Lighttube Death Match: Sawyer Wreck Vs Hikari Noa

Both Mizuki and Hikari Noa were guests on today’s Battle☆Men news show on Samurai TV. During their interview, Noa revealed that her death match against Sawyer Wreck is going to be a Fluorescent Lighttube Death Match! Mizuki also said she would like to face Mercedes Moné someday. I don’t think that comment is leading to anything anytime soon but hey, might as well mention it.

GANBARE☆JOSHI “GANJO FIRE EMBLEM ’23”, 02/05/2023
Takashimadaira Ward Community Center

0. 5 Minute Exhibition Match: Riara Vs Moeka Haruhi
1. Gatoh Move Offer Match: Chie Koishikawa Vs Tokiko Kirihara
2. Special Single Match: Ami Manase Vs Marika Kobashi
3. Special Tag Match: Moeka Haruhi & YuuRI Vs Tomoka Inaba & HisokA
4. Special Single Match: Yoshiko Hasegawa Vs Tae Honma

It only just occurred to me that this Ganbare☆Joshi show is happening by itself and not beneath a GanPro show happening later in the day.

DDT “MEGA MAX BUMP 2023 IN YOKOHAMA”, 03/05/2023
Yokohama Budokan

0. Dark Match – Pheromones Vs D GENERATIONS Army Best Of 3 Singles Matches: Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno, Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari & Koju “Shining Ball” Takeda Vs Yuki Ishida, Ilusion & Rukiya
1. Toy Kojima & Kazuma Sumi Vs Yuya Koroku & Munetatsu Nakamura
2. Daisuke Sasaki, Minoru Fujita & MJ Paul Vs Soma Takao, Yusuke Okada & Diego
3. Dance Vs Kickboxing Mixed Martial Arts Challenge: Kazuki Hirata Vs Hikaru Machida (Round Girl: Sayuri Namba)
4. Chiitan☆ Debut Match ~ Special 6-Man Tag Match: Chiitan☆, Toru Owashi & Akito Vs Chris Brookes, Masahito Takanashi & Antonio Honda
5. International Special Single Match: Saki Akai Vs Rayne Leverkusen
6. International Special Tag Match: Yuki Ueno & Yuni Vs Van Vert Jack & Takeshi Masada
7. Road To King Of DDT 2023 Special 8-Man Tag Match: Sanshiro Takagi, HARASHIMA, Kotaro Suzuki & Hideki Okatani Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Sakaguchi, Naruki Doi & KANON
8. DDT Extreme Title – TLC (Toys, Ladders & Chairs) Match: Jun Akiyama (c) Vs Shunma Katsumata
9. DDT Universal Title: Tetsuya Endo (c) Vs MAO
10. KO-D Openweight Title: Yuji Hino (c) Vs Yuki “Not Sexy” Iino

MAO believes he has spoken no lies in his war of words with Endo. He gets frustrated whenever he sees Endo carrying the DDT Universal Title because he thinks he is more worthy of being the champion. Endo can see some of the points MAO has made over the last few weeks but does not understand why MAO thinks he is a better fit to be Universal Champion. He thinks the only way MAO can prove his point is if he beats him for the title.

Shunma Katsumata has already received a lot of toys from DDT fans to use in the TLC Match, including a box of Beyblades from the GM Hisaya Imabayashi.

The arrival of Rayne Leverkusen in DDT has Saki Akai feeling a little confused over what her opponent’s goal is. She understands her situation of trying to make your own path while being related to a famous celebrity but other than that she does not know what legacy Leverkusen will leave behind in DDT once she goes home. Leverkusen’s response is she is very passionate about pro wrestling and quit her job to do this tour of Japan and make a name for herself. Her wrestling career isn’t even two years old yet but she already holds three different championships. She brought up that if Akai beats her then she will have to defend one of those titles against her in a rematch.

The first two matches on the main card have been changed a little bit because of Keigo Nakamura’s injury. Yuya Koroku is moving down a match to take Nakamura’s place in the opener. Koroku’s original spot is now being taken by Diego! He is already in Japan and was invited to a recent DDT show by Katsumata. It will be his first match for DDT in almost six years!

During a press conference Chiitan used a baseball bat to destroy an 18-liter can to show its intention to beat Chris Brookes. Suddenly Brookes entered the room and attacked the mascot along with Akito. Brookes put Akito through a table with a Piledriver but Chiitan fought him off with the Shining Wizard and Tornado DDT. Akito was able to get back up and keep the two apart.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “YES! WONDERLAND ’23”, 05/05/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. HIMAWARI Vs Shino Suzuki
2. Hyper Misao, Haru Kazashiro & Runa Okubo Vs Raku, Pom Harajuku & Haruna Neko
3. Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara Vs Mahiro Kiryu & Toga
4. Ryo Mizunami, Moka Miyamoto & Kaya Toribami Vs Hikari Noa, Nao Kakuta & Yuki Aino
5. Miu Watanabe Vs Arisu Endo
6. Yuki Arai Debut 2nd Anniversary Match: Yuki Arai & Maki Itoh Vs Yuka Sakazaki & Shoko Nakajima
7. International Princess Title: Rika Tatsumi (c) Vs Suzume
8. Princess Of Princess Title: Mizuki (c) Vs Sawyer Wreck

Fingers crossed that neither Wreck or Noa get torn too much to shreds with broken glass before the Korakuen show.

GANBARE☆PRO “LOVE PHANTOM 2023”, 05/05/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Riara Debut Match: YuuRI Vs Riara
2. Shuichiro Katsumura & Moeka Haruhi Vs Hartley Jackson & HARUKAZE
3. Ganbare☆Pro Vs Sento Minzoku: Ken Ohka, Shinichiro Tominaga & Munetatsu Nakamura Vs Isami Kodaka, Minoru Fujita & Daiki Shimomura
4. Special Tag Match: Shota & Soma Takao Vs Dan The Dad & Kody Lane
5. Yoshiko Hasegawa Vs Nao Kakuta
6. Spirit Of Ganbare World Tag Team Titles Tournament – Final: Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Yumehito Imanari Vs Hikaru Sato & Tyson Maeguchi
7. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Mizuki Watase (c) Vs Keisuke Ishii

Is Mizuki Watase’s new finisher going to be the difference between winning and losing against Keisuke Ishii?

DDT “WHAT ARE YOU DOING 2023 TOUR IN OSAKA”, 10/06/2023
Osaka Suminoe Maikon Hall

1. Special Tag Match: Toru Owashi & “brother” YASSHI Vs Naruki Doi & Kazuki Hirata

The Dragon Gene flows strong in this match. Naruki Doi and “brother” YASSHI both return to DDT for a tag match also involving Toru Owashi and Kazuki Hirata. The pairings are different than usual too.

DDT “DRAMATIC DREAMS! VOL. 10 ~SPARE MYSELF AND SPARE MY NAME~”, 02/07/2023
Osaka Komikyo Higashinari Civic Center

1. Magnitude Kishiwada 30th Anniversary Match ~You Guys Will Know When You See It~: Magnitude Kishiwada Vs X
2. Special Single Match WR ~Wrestling & Respect~: Yuki Ueno Vs HUB

The annual Osaka show put together by Yukinori Matsui will this time be headlined with Yuki Ueno Vs HUB. The story that ties these two together is the WR finishing move used by Ueno. It originally belonged to HUB back when he wrestled under the Super Dolphin gimmick (not Super Delphin but Delphin’s kayfabe brother). Also on the show is Magnitude Kishiwada’s 30th Anniversary match.

Also appearing on the show are Dick Togo, Shigehiro Irie, Kuishinbo Kamen, Kikutaro, No Name (Hibiscus Mii’s spooky nurse gimmick), Tsubasa, Black Buffalo, Yasu Urano and Kohei Kinoshita.


DDT “MAX BUMP 2023 TOUR IN FUKUOKA” Results

April 22, 2023

DDT “MAX BUMP 2023 TOUR IN FUKUOKA”, 22/04/2023
Fukuoka Kasuga General Sports Center
196 Fans

1. Fukuoka Specialty Special Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & KANON defeated Azul Dragon & Rukiya when Sasaki submitted Rukiya with a Crab Hold (8:45).
2. Akito & Takeshi Masada defeated Sanshiro Takagi & Kazuki Hirata when Akito pinned Hirata with a Gedo Clutch (0:11).
2a. Rematch: Akito & Takeshi Masada defeated Sanshiro Takagi & Kazuki Hirata when Masada pinned Hirata with the Samurai Driver ’01 (9:44).
3. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani defeated Yusuke Okada, Rayne Leverkusen & Kazuma Sumi when Okatani pinned Sumi with the Double Arm Suplex (9:25).
4. Pheromones Vs DISASTER BOX!: Yuki “Not Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs HARASHIMA & Toru Owashi ended in a No Contest (12:57).
5. Ω Vs Harimao!: Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi defeated Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida when Hino submitted Ishida with the King Kong Sleeper (15:06).
6. BURNING Vs The 37KAMIINA!: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yuya Koroku defeated MAO, Shunma Katsumata & Toy Kojima when Endo pinned Kojima with the Burning Star Press (21:21).

The war of words between Tetsuya Endo and MAO continued after the main event. Endo admitted to feeling a little lost lately but knew his answer today was to hit MAO with his core as the DDT Universal Champion. MAO didn’t respond in the ring but backstage said nothing has changed because Endo is still exposing his weak side. Meanwhile Shunma Katsumata & Toy Kojima had trouble working together as a team. That’s something that did not go unnoticed by Jun Akiyama. Kojima admitted that Akiyama recently bought him a steak meal and he appreciates it. But he promises he will be fair and square if he gets dragged into the TLC Match between Akiyama and Katsumata on 3rd May.

Makoto Oishi wanted to focus on his own match late in the show so he appointed Hisaya Imabayashi to be a second Sexy Judge for the Pheromones match. Yuki Iino wore his old wrestling gear and resisted turning “Sexy” until Imabayashi took a bump and was left knocked out at ringside. From there Pheromones went wild on everyone including the referee and got the match thrown out. They got their costumes back on in time to see Oishi rush down to the ring and wake up Imabayashi. Oishi asked the GM to judge Iino’s behavior. Imabayashi couldn’t remember anything except seeing Iino wrestle Strong Style. Oishi took him at his word and sounded impressed with Iino’s improvement in behavior. He passed the info on to Yuji Hino and if what Hino heard was true, then he has high expectations for his KO-D Openweight Title defence against Iino on 3rd May. Danshoku Dieno claims that Iino has now evolved into Yuki “Strong” Iino!

The DDT debut of Rayne Leverkusen saw her be on the losing side against Eruption. She had to be kept away from Saki Akai after the match otherwise they would have kept on fighting. Leverkusen thinks if she was tagged in more then her team probably would have won today. Akai said she doesn’t care who Leverkusen is related to because she has famous relatives too and they’re not in the ring fighting with her. They’ll see each other again tomorrow.

Sanshiro Takagi got pissed that his match only last about 10 seconds because he wants to keep motivated for the King Of DDT tournament. The tag match restarted and was now built around Takeshi Masada putting on the Hirata GO! glasses to dance with and fight against Kazuki Hirata.


Seven Shows This Weekend! What The Hell!

April 21, 2023

GANBARE☆PRO “BLOODY SUNDAY 2023”, 22/04/2023
Tokyo Oji BASEMENT MON☆STAR

1. Moeka Haruhi Vs Yoshiko Hasegawa
2. Grappling Tag Match: Shuichiro Katsumura & Munetatsu Nakamura Vs Takuya Wada & Tsuyoshi Okada
3. Secret Captain’s Fall Elimination 6-Man Tag Match: Hartley Jackson, Yumehito Imanari & HARUKAZE Vs Ken Ohka, Soma Takao & YuuRI
4. Mizuki Watase & Shota Vs Keisuke Ishii & Shinichiro Tominaga

Five shows to follow on Saturday, three of them coming from Ganbare☆Pro. The morning show includes a Secret Captain’s Fall Tag Match.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “CLIMB OVER ’23”, 22/04/2023
Osaka Edion Arena #2

1. Shoko Nakajima, Haruna Neko & Kaya Toribami Vs Mahiro Kiryu, Wakana Uehara & Toga
2. 3 Way Match: Hyper Misao Vs Raku Vs HIMAWARI
3. Vert Vixen Vs Moka Miyamoto
4. Yuki Kamifuku, Yuki Aino & Yuki Arai Vs Maki Itoh, Hikari Noa & Shino Suzuki
5. Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe Vs Suzume & Arisu Endo
6. Princess Tag Team Titles: Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki (c) Vs Max The Impaler & Pom Harajuku

Not long after that, there will be a Princess Tag Team Titles defence over at Tokyo Joshi Pro.

GANBARE☆PRO “SHOTA DEBUT 15TH ANNIVERSARY PRODUCE SHOW 2023”, 22/04/2023
Tokyo Oji BASEMENT MON☆STAR

1. Munetatsu Nakamura Vs Tyson Maeguchi
2. Shinichiro Tominaga Vs Ilusion
3. Gauntlet Mixed Tag Match: Mizuki Watase & HARUKAZE Vs Yumehito Imanari & Miss Mongol Vs Shuichiro Katsumura & Moeka Haruhi Vs Soma Takao & YuuRI Vs Kabuto Mitomi & Echika Miyabi
4. Shota Debut 15th Anniversary Special Single Match: Shota Vs Isami Kodaka

Then it’s back to Ganpro for their second show of the day celebrating Shota’s 15th Anniversary.

DDT “MAX BUMP 2023 TOUR IN FUKUOKA”, 22/04/2023
Fukuoka Kasuga General Sports Center

1. Fukuoka Specialty Special Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & KANON Vs Azul Dragon & Rukiya
2. Sanshiro Takagi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Akito & Takeshi Masada
3. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani Vs Yusuke Okada, Rayne Leverkusen & Kazuma Sumi
4. Pheromones Vs DISASTER BOX!: Yuki “Not Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs HARASHIMA & Toru Owashi
5. Ω Vs Harimao!: Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida
6. BURNING Vs The 37KAMIINA!: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yuya Koroku Vs MAO, Shunma Katsumata & Toy Kojima

DDT’s first show of the weekend features the debut of Rayne Leverkusen.

GANBARE☆PRO “THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM 2023”, 22/04/2023
Tokyo Oji BASEMENT MON☆STAR

1. 3 Way Match: Shota Vs Munetatsu Nakamura Vs KOJIO
2. YuuRI Vs Ancham
3. Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling Vs Sento Minzoku!: Ken Ohka & Shinichiro Tominaga Vs Isami Kodaka & Minoru Fujita
4. Mizuki Watase, Yumehito Imanari & Shuichiro Katsumura Vs Keisuke Ishii, Tyson Maeguchi & Takuya Wada

Ganpro closes out the day with their third and final show in a 7 hour period. It will be the last prelim match between Mizuki Watase and Keisuke Ishii before the Korakuen Hall show.

DDT “YAMADA FISHERIES PRESENTS 4.23 SHIBUSHI FISH MEAT DECISIVE BATTLE @ UNAGI STATION”, 23/04/2023
Kagoshima Shibushi City Unagi Station

1. Yusuke Okada Vs Takeshi Masada
2. Shunma Katsumata, Rayne Leverkusen & Kazuki Hirata Vs Makoto Oishi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani
3. The 37KAMIINA Vs DAMNATION T.A!: MAO & Toy Kojima Vs Daisuke Sasaki & KANON
4. Special Tag Match: Yuji Hino & Kazuma Sumi Vs Yuki “Not Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno
5. Shibushi Specialty Special 6-Man Tag Match: Shiro Koshinaka, Toru Owashi & Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Sanshiro Takagi, Tetsuya Endo & Yuya Koroku
6. Fish Vs Meat Full-Scale Battle! Special 6-Man Tag Match: Shishamo Power, Unagi Mask & Super Unagi Mask Vs Jun Akiyama, Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida

Then it’s onto Sunday where DDT holds the next chapter of the seafood versus meat feud.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “WRESTLE UNIVERSE MEMBERS ONLY SHOW – PURE TOKYO JOSHI PRO WRESTLING 8”, 23/04/2023
Tokyo Ryogoku KFC Hall

1. Maki Itoh & Toga Vs Vert Vixen & Hikari Noa
2. Kaya Toribami Vs Max The Impaler
3. Shoko Nakajima, Yuki Aino & Haru Kazashiro Vs Raku, Shino Suzuki & Runa Okubo
4. Special Rules 5 Way Match: Rika Tatsumi Vs Miu Watanabe Vs Hyper Misao Vs Arisu Endo Vs HIMAWARI
5. Special Rules Match: Yuka Sakazaki Vs Moka Miyamoto
6. Costume Change Match: Mizuki, Yuki Kamifuku & Pom Harajuku Vs Suzume, Mahiro Kiryu & Haruna Neko

And we finish off the weekend with a TJPW Fan Club show. I’m going to need another holiday after this is all done.


Yuki “Not Sexy” Iino, Mega Max Bump Full Card

April 11, 2023

Not even halfway through my holiday and look at all the stuff I already missed! I’m splitting the news post in half, starting with all the DDT updates.

DDT “MAX BUMP 2023 TOUR IN SHINJUKU”, 15/04/2023
Shinjuku FACE

0. Dark Match: Kazuma Sumi Vs Rukiya
1. MJ Paul & KANON Vs Chris Brookes & Ilusion
2. Yuji Hino & Toru Owashi Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida
3. Yuki “Not Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs HARASHIMA & Keigo Nakamura
4. Special Single Match: Kazuki Hirata Vs Yuni
5. Elimination 8-Man Tag Match ~BURNING Vs The 37KAMIINA!~: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku Vs MAO, Shunma Katsumata, Yuki Ueno & Toy Kojima
6. Falls Count Anywhere Scramble Bunkhouse Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team Death Match: Sanshiro Takagi, Joey Janela & Takeshi Masada Vs Yukio Sakaguchi, Antonio Honda & Hideki Okatani

A deal was made between Pheromones and Yuji Hino in order to get Yuki Iino a KO-D Openweight Title match. Iino must seal away his “Sexy” persona from now until May. If he lives up to that promise then he will get a title match on 3rd May. However he will still have to be Yuki “Not Sexy” Iino for that match. Makoto Oishi has sworn to be at ringside for all of Iino’s matches until then to make sure he is still living up to his side of the deal.

DDT “DRAMATIC EXPLOSION IN NIIGATA”, 16/04/2023
Niigata Bandaijima Multi-Purpose Plaza

1. KANON Vs Keigo Nakamura
2. Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida Vs Chris Brookes & Kazumi Sumi
3. Yuki “Not Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Toru Owashi & Akito
4. Special Single Match: MAO Vs Kazuki Hirata
5. Special Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo & HARASHIMA Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani
6. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Shinya Aoki, Yuki Ueno & Super Sasadango Machine (c) Vs Jun Akiyama, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku
7. Current Blast Bat 6-Man Tag Death Match: Atsushi Onita, Shunma Katsumata & Toy Kojima Vs Joey Janela, Sanshiro Takagi & Takeshi Masada

I think you have to go back years to find the last time Tetsuya Endo & HARASHIMA teamed together.

DDT “MAX BUMP 2023 TOUR IN FUKUOKA”, 22/04/2023
Fukuoka Kasuga General Sports Center

1. Sanshiro Takagi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Akito & Takeshi Masada
2. Fukuoka Specialty Special Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & KANON Vs Azul Dragon & Keigo Nakamura
3. Pheromones Vs DISASTER BOX!: Yuki “Not Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs HARASHIMA & Toru Owashi
4. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani Vs Yusuke Okada, Rayne Leverkusen & Kazuma Sumi
5. Ω Vs Harimao!: Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida
6. BURNING Vs The 37KAMIINA!: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yuya Koroku Vs MAO, Shunma Katsumata & Toy Kojima

The visiting Rayne Leverkusen gets a few warm up matches before she goes one on one against Saki Akai.

DDT “YAMADA FISHERIES PRESENTS 4.23 SHIBUSHI FISH MEAT DECISIVE BATTLE @ UNAGI STATION”, 23/04/2023
Kagoshima Shibushi City Unagi Station

1. Yusuke Okada & Rukiya Vs Takeshi Masada & Kazuma Sumi
2. Shunma Katsumata, Rayne Leverkusen & Kazuki Hirata Vs Makoto Oishi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani
3. The 37KAMIINA Vs DAMNATION T.A!: MAO & Toy Kojima Vs Daisuke Sasaki & KANON
4. Special Tag Match: Yuji Hino & Keigo Nakamura Vs Yuki “Not Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno
5. Shibushi Specialty Special 6-Man Tag Match: Shiro Koshinaka, Toru Owashi & Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Sanshiro Takagi, Tetsuya Endo & Yuya Koroku
6. Fish Vs Meat Full-Scale Battle! Special 6-Man Tag Match: Shishamo Power, Unagi Mask & Super Unagi Mask Vs Jun Akiyama, Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida

The reason why Iino has to seal away his Pheromones gimmick is because Hino refuses to defend the title against that version of him. Their tag match here will let Iino show just how much he wants the belt without the need for his alter ego. Or maybe he falls for temptation and the whole journey blows up in everyone’s faces before it ever reaches the Yokohama Budokan.

DDT “MAX BUMP 2023 TOUR IN OSAKA”, 29/04/2023
Osaka 176BOX

1. Hideki Okatani Vs Rukiya
2. Yuki “Not Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Keigo Nakamura & Kazuma Sumi
3. Yuji Hino & Yukio Sakaguchi Vs HARASHIMA & Yuki Ishida
4. Osaka Specialty Special 6-Man Tag Match: Chris Brookes, Saki Akai & Tsutenkakka Vs Toru Owashi, Rayne Leverkusen & Kazuki Hirata
5. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON Vs Naruki Doi, Yuni & Takeshi Masada
6. Special Tag Match: Jun Akiyama & Yusuke Okada Vs Shunma Katsumata & Kazusada Higuchi
7. BURNING Vs The 37KAMIINA!: Tetsuya Endo Vs Yuya Koroku Vs MAO & Yuki Ueno

An odd looking trio of Naruki Doi, Yuni & Takeshi Masada are getting together to face DAMNATION T.A with a returning Minoru Fujita also included.

The new rookie Rukiya is already getting a homecoming match. It only took him 20 days to get here!

DDT “MAX BUMP 2023 TOUR IN HAMAMATSU”, 30/04/2023
Shizuoka Create Hamamatsu Hall

1. Yusuke Okada Vs Kazuma Sumi
2. Daisuke Sasaki & KANON Vs Hideki Okatani & Keigo Nakamura
3. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata & Mari Manji Vs Antonio Honda, Takeshi Masada & Rayne Leverkusen
4. BURNING Vs The 37KAMIINA!: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yuya Koroku Vs MAO, Shunma Katsumata & Yuki Ueno
5. Ω Vs Pheromones!: Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi Vs Yuki “Not Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno
6. Hamamatsu Specialty Special 6-Man Tag Match: HARASHIMA, Yukio Sakaguchi & Hiroshi Yamato Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Chris Brookes & Yuki Ishida

The last stop before Yokohama sees Hino and Iino in the ring one more time.

DDT “MEGA MAX BUMP 2023 IN YOKOHAMA”, 03/05/2023
Yokohama Budokan

0. Dark Match – Pheromones Vs D GENERATIONS Army Best Of 3 Singles Matches: Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno, Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari & Koju “Shining Ball” Takeda Vs Yuki Ishida, Ilusion & Rukiya
1. Keigo Nakamura & Munetatsu Nakamura Vs Toy Kojima & Kazuma Sumi
2. Daisuke Sasaki, Minoru Fujita & MJ Paul Vs Soma Takao, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku
3. Dance Vs Kickboxing Mixed Martial Arts Challenge: Kazuki Hirata Vs Hikaru Machida
4. Chiitan☆ Debut Match ~ Special 6-Man Tag Match: Chiitan☆, Toru Owashi & Akito Vs Chris Brookes, Masahito Takanashi & Antonio Honda
5. International Special Single Match: Saki Akai Vs Rayne Leverkusen
6. International Special Tag Match: Yuki Ueno & Yuni Vs Nick Wayne & Takeshi Masada
7. Road To King Of DDT 2023 Special 8-Man Tag Match: Sanshiro Takagi, HARASHIMA, Kotaro Suzuki & Hideki Okatani Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Sakaguchi, Naruki Doi & KANON
8. DDT Extreme Title – TLC (Toys, Ladders & Chairs) Match: Jun Akiyama (c) Vs Shunma Katsumata
9. DDT Universal Title: Tetsuya Endo (c) Vs MAO
10. KO-D Openweight Title: Yuji Hino (c) Vs Yuki “Not Sexy” Iino

The full card for the Yokohama Budokan show is here. The main event will become invalid if Iino breaks his promise and becomes “Sexy” again. Whether that means it becomes just a non-title match or gets cancelled completely hasn’t been explained yet.

MAO had a lot of harsh words to say about Endo after last weekend’s show. MAO complained about Endo’s lack of effort to break out into the international scene. He only wrestled the matches in America DDT already booked for him during his recent trip there. Meanwhile MAO went out of his way to get more bookings, including a recent appearance on AEW Dark Elevation with other members of The 37KAMIINA. The point MAO is making is how can Endo call himself the DDT Universal Champion when his attitude and behaviour towards wrestling overseas has no universal appeal at all?

According to Shunma Katsumata, the DDT Extreme Title hasn’t been that extreme during Jun Akiyama’s title reign. His solution is to fight Akiyama in a TLC Match. However in this case the T in TLC stands for Toys. The Ladders and Chairs will still be there, don’t worry about that. But you know how much wrestling fans love their tables.

When Nick Wayne touches down in Japan he will be thrown into the mix with the present and future of DDT. Takeshi Masada is teaming with Wayne to take on Yuki Ueno & Yuni.

After what happened between Chiitan☆ and Chris Brookes the last time the mascot showed up here, it only makes sense they are opponents for Chiitan’s debut match.

The Dance Vs Kickboxing MMA fight between Kazuki Hirata and Hikaru Machida will be contested under 15 rounds all lasting two minutes long.

The rest of Pheromones will be in the dark match taking part in a Best of 3 singles challenge against Yuki Ishida, Ilusion & Rukiya. That class of rookies are now called the D GENERATIONS Army.


Hot Shirt Coming Through, Janela’s Violent Vacation, BURNING Vs The 37KAMIINA All Month

April 4, 2023

A few things I want to mention before going into the updates. First, I was a guest on Alan4L’s ProWres Paradise over at PWTorch this week. The show is behind their VIP subscription and it is the latest episode in Alan’s “30 4L 30” series that is dedicated to talking about significant wrestling careers over the last 30 years. What if I told you our subject was the life and times of Kota Ibushi? We cover everything from his DDT days right up to his comeback in GCW last weekend with some extra trivia in between. I even try to clear up some misconceptions about his life that people have wondered about the last few years (mainly I really doubt he comes from a rich family). So for any PWTorch subscribers reading this, you can go listen to the episode here.

(Also fun little note, while we were recording this the news of WWE’s business merger with UFC broke online. However we did not find out about it until after we finished recording. Talking about Ibushi for 150 minutes needed the absolute focus he deserves, you know.)

Second, I will be going on holiday to Canada soon and will be away for two weeks. There will be a news post on Thursday before I go. I’m bringing my laptop so if I comfortably have the time to posts results, news and other stuff I will do so. Otherwise things might be kept to the Twitter account while I’m busy going on a loop around all the different Toronto sports teams. I have tickets for the the Impact PPV happening there too so I get to add Canada to the list of countries I’ve seen wrestling in.

And lastly, speaking of travelling. It looks like most of the DDT wrestlers have returned safely to Japan. Daisuke Sasaki took a detour to Texas though where he wrestled and hung out with Sam Adonis & Hernandez. I’ll find out more for the next DDT Around The World article. The Tokyo Joshi Pro roster though had their flight cancelled and their tweets suggest they are waiting a long time at the airport for the next plane ride home.

Now onto the news.

DDT “APRIL FOOL 2023”, 09/04/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. MJ Paul & KANON Vs Antonio Honda & Kazuma Sumi
2. Rukiya Debut Match: Yuya Koroku Vs Rukiya
3. Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata & Gota Ihashi Vs Akito, Shinichiro Kawamatsu & Toy Kojima
4. Harimao Vs Eruption!: Kazusada Higuchi, Ryota Nakatsu & Yuki Ishida Vs Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani
5. Special Single Match: Yuki Ueno Vs Yuni
6. Special 8-Man Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama, Kotaro Suzuki & Yusuke Okada Vs Naruki Doi, Chris Brookes, Joey Janela & Takeshi Masada
7. WORLD HINO CLASSIC ~Finals~: Yuji Hino, “brother” YASSHI & Makoto Oishi Vs Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari
8. KO-D Tag Team Titles: MAO & Shunma Katsumata (c) Vs HARASHIMA & Keigo Nakamura

An unusual training practice was held by HARASHIMA for Keigo Nakamura during the week. A pot of boiling water was in the room and HARASHIMA left a shirt to soak inside it. He instructed Nakamura to put the boiling hot shirt on as fast as he can. If he succeeded then he will be prepared to handle ShunMao’s sauna heat. Nakamura understood and was able to put the shirt on despite scalding himself. He then told HARASHIMA it was his turn to do it next but HARASHIMA said he came here to train, not put on a shirt! They went on to complete their practice session as normal.

Gota Ihashi replaces the injured Yukio Naya in Match #3. If I were DISASTER BOX I’d be asking if there’s another replacement available.

The trainee Rukiya Ikeda has decided on his official ring name. He will officially be simply known as Rukiya when he has his debut match.

DDT “MAX BUMP 2023 TOUR IN SHINJUKU”, 15/04/2023
Shinjuku FACE

1. Special Single Match: Kazuki Hirata Vs Yuni
2. Elimination 8-Man Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku Vs MAO, Shunma Katsumata, Yuki Ueno & Toy Kojima
3. Falls Count Anywhere Scramble Bunkhouse Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team Death Match: Sanshiro Takagi, Joey Janela & Takeshi Masada Vs Yukio Sakaguchi, Antonio Honda & Hideki Okatani

A busy weekend awaits for Joey Janela when he comes back to Japan. His first match back in the country for DDT will be a Scramble Bunkhouse Street Fight. The match is happening to prepare Janela, Sanshiro Takagi & Takeshi Masada for the Current Blast Death Match they are having against Atsushi Onita the following day. Since the first match is going to be a Street Fight, every wrestler has been told to go find an outfit different from their wrestling gear to fight in.

A lot of BURNING versus The 37KAMIINA matches to look forward to this month. It kicks off with a big Elimination Tag Match between the two groups.

Yuni’s wrestling career hasn’t been around for long but in the days before he became El Unicorn he already developed a rivalry with Kazuki Hirata. That rivalry is now being brought back for the next chapter of Yuni’s career.

DDT “MAX BUMP 2023 TOUR IN FUKUOKA”, 22/04/2023
Fukuoka Kasuga General Sports Center

1. BURNING Vs The 37KAMIINA!: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yuya Koroku Vs MAO, Shunma Katsumata & Toy Kojima

More clashes between the two units. These are being done to promote the upcoming DDT Universal and DDT Extreme Title matches. Yuki Ueno will be missing this show due to the stage show he’s a part of.

Azul Dragon and Rayne Leverkusen will both be on the show.

DDT “MAX BUMP 2023 TOUR IN OSAKA”, 29/04/2023
Osaka 176BOX

1. BURNING Vs The 37KAMIINA!: Tetsuya Endo Vs Yuya Koroku Vs MAO & Yuki Ueno

Dragon and Leverkusen will also be on this show along with Naruki Doi and an Osaka masked wrestler called Tsutenkakka. He is named after the local Tsutenkaku Tower and is apparantely authorised by the tower’s management to fight on behalf of the landmark. He was part of the No Fee Rumble DDT held back in February.

DDT “MAX BUMP 2023 TOUR IN HAMAMATSU”, 30/04/2023
Shizuoka Create Hamamatsu Hall

1. Hamamatsu Specialty Special 6-Man Tag Match: HARASHIMA, Yukio Sakaguchi & Hiroshi Yamato Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Chris Brookes & Yuki Ishida

Leverkusen will be on the show along with Mari Manji from Yanagase Pro Wrestling. She was originally from PURE-J.


World Hino Classic, El Unicorn Is Yuni Again, Super Unagi Mask, Sasaki’s Dream Match With Despy

March 23, 2023

DDT “DRAMATIC DREAM TOUR IN SHINJUKU 2023”, 24/03/2023
Shinjuku FACE

1. HARASHIMA & Keigo Nakamura Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida
2. WORLD HINO CLASSIC ~Opening Match~: Makoto Oishi & Bambi Vs Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno
3. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Akito (c) Vs Yusuke Okada
4. Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON Vs Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata & Kazuma Sumi
5. BURNING Vs The 37KAMIINA!: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yuya Koroku Vs MAO, Shunma Katsumata & Toy Kojima
6. Yuji Hino & Yukio Naya Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani
7. International Special Tag Match: Konosuke Takeshita & Samuray Del Sol Vs Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada

Coming out of the anniversary show, Pheromones are demanding that Yuki Iino be chosen as the No. 1 Contender for the KO-D Openweight Title. It has been refused by Hisaya Imabayashi and Yuji Hino agrees with the decision. Hino knows Iino is a strong man but he wants nothing to do with that character. At first he said he will only consider giving Iino a title shot if he becomes a serious heavyweight again. Then Makoto Oishi came up with an idea called the World Hino Classic. Pheromones will go through a couple of trial matches and if they win them all then Iino gets his title match. The opening match is being called the Group Of Death because Iino & Danshoku Dieno have to fight the Ω team of Oishi and Bambi. All Pheromones need to do is win this match and they will go straight to the WHC final. What the final is will be revealed if Pheromones make it out of the Group Of Death.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE TOUR IN SPRING ’23”, 26/03/2023
Tokyo Ryogoku KFC Hall

1. Wakana Uehara Vs Toga
2. Raku Vs Shino Suzuki
3. Yuka Sakazaki, Moka Miyamoto & Kaya Toribami Vs Yuki Kamifuku, Haru Kazashiro & Runa Okubo
4. Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe Vs Pom Harajuku & HIMAWARI
5. Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao Vs Yuki Aino & Haruna Neko
6. Mizuki, Suzume & Arisu Endo Vs Hikari Noa, Nao Kakuta & Mahiro Kiryu

The recently debuted Haru Kazashiro is about to graduate from junior high school so this will be her final match as a junior high student.

Both Miyu Yamashita and Maki Itoh are missing the show to wrestle in Canada this weekend.

DDT “APRIL FOOL 2023”, 09/04/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Rukiya Ikeda Debut Match: Yuya Koroku Vs Rukiya Ikeda
2. Special Single Match: Yuki Ueno Vs Yuni
3. KO-D Tag Team Titles: MAO & Shunma Katsumata (c) Vs HARASHIMA & Keigo Nakamura

A new tag team of HARASHIMA & Keigo Nakamura are next to challenge ShunMao for the KO-D Tag Team Titles. It is the addition of Nakamura to the match that excites MAO & Shunma Katsumata. The two of them have fought HARASHIMA a lot so he’s nothing new. But Nakamura is from the new generation of DDT wrestlers who are all hungry to climb up the ladder. It was Nakamura who wanted to challenge the champions. That took HARASHIMA off guard but he quickly came around on the idea when he realised it is making Nakamura want to work hard.

The elementary school wrestler Yuni finally revealed he was El Unicorn all along and has ditched the mask to start a new chapter in his career. Now in high school, Yuni wants to make a fresh start in wrestling and thinks showing his real face is the best way to go about it. He is back to using the name Yuni but it is now written in katakana instead of hiragana. He is training to grow bigger and stronger for his goal to win the KO-D Title while still in high school. He sees his match against Yuki Ueno as a huge opportunity he does not want to miss.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “STAND ALONE ’23”, 15/04/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao Vs Yuki Arai & HIMAWARI (Special Referee: Shiori Aoki)
2. Princess Of Princess Title: Mizuki (c) Vs Nao Kakuta

Last December Mizuki chose Nao Kakuta to be part of her 10th Anniversary match. This week Kakuta returned the favour by telling Mizuki she wants to fight her for the Princess Of Princess Title. It is a challenge Mizuki says she cannot refuse.

SKE48 idol Shiori Aoki gets to be a pro wrestling referee. There’s a conflict of interest though because Yuki Arai will be wrestling in the match. Does Aoki go on to play favorites or even go the complete opposite way and screw over her fellow idol? Even if she calls everything fair and square, having to officiate a Kyoraku Kyomei match sounds way too much for a rookie referee to handle.

DDT “YAMADA FISHERIES PRESENTS 4.23 SHIBUSHI FISH MEAT DECISIVE BATTLE @ UNAGI STATION”, 23/04/2023
Kagoshima Shibushi City Unagi Station

1. Fish Vs Meat Full-Scale Battle! Special 6-Man Tag Match: Shishamo Power, Unagi Mask & Super Unagi Mask Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Naya & Yuki Ishida

The war between fish eaters and meat eaters went lopsided after Kazusada Higuchi betrayed Shishamo Power & Unagi Mask last month. Higuchi revealed he prefers meat over seafood so jumped over to side with Yukio Naya & Yuki Ishida for the next match in the feud. The seafood team looked to be in trouble until the president of Yamada Suisan revealed the company has been developing another Unagi Mask wrestler to even the odds. According to the president, Super Unagi Mask is more well-trained than the regular Unagi Mask. He thinks the two of them would work well together in a seafood wrestling Tag League. Sanshiro Takagi likes the idea and will consider launching Yamada Suisan Pro Wrestling if the seafood team wins their battle against the meat eaters.

Shiro Koshinaka and Rayne Leverkusen will both be on the show.

DDT “MEGA MAX BUMP 2023 IN YOKOHAMA”, 03/05/2023
Yokohama Budokan

1. Chiitan☆Debut Match: Chiitan Vs X
2. International Special Single Match: Saki Akai Vs Rayne Leverkusen
3. DDT Extreme Title: Jun Akiyama (c) Vs Shunma Katsumata
4. DDT Universal Title: Tetsuya Endo (c) Vs MAO
5. KO-D Openweight Title: Yuji Hino (c) Vs X

So at the moment Hino will be defending the KO-D Title at Yokohama Budokan. He just does not have an official opponent yet. It might be Iino if Pheromones win the World Hino Classic.

Things are going well again for Tetsuya Endo now he is the new DDT Universal Champion. He considers Naruki Doi a friend and wants to see him sticking around in DDT. What Endo does not like is having MAO as his first defence. However the pride of the Miyagi prefecture is on the line with Endo representing Shiroishi City and MAO representing Osaki City. This side will determine which city is the best!

Both ShunMao wrestlers have a chance of becoming double champions at the same time. Shunma Katsumata challenges Jun Akiyama for the DDT Extreme Title. It will be back to the crazy stuff for Akiyama after having such a nice, normal and relaxing match with Kotaro Suzuki.

Rayne Leverkusen is debuting for DDT in April but her only match announced so far is a singles bout against Saki Akai in May.

The insane mascot Chiitan makes its pro wrestling debut. Its presence has already driven Chris Brookes into a murderous rage so he’ll probably be involved in the match. Maybe Pokotan can be a part of it too.

Nick Wayne will be on the show making his first appearance in Japan for DDT.

DDT “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2023”, 23/07/2023
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

1. Dramatic Dream Match: Daisuke Sasaki Vs El Desperado

Turns out Daisuke Sasaki kept himself busy while he was out from injury. Instead of staying around in bed he went out, did the work and signed up a dream match for himself against El Desperado from New Japan! Desperado is an interesting figure, constantly referring to the wider pro wrestling scene in Japan on his social media. At times it looked like that was the only interactions with other wrestlers that the public would get to see. But as the scene opens up more in order to get fans back into the arenas Desperado is at the forefront of getting into matches with wrestlers outside of NJPW. In a past life he’s had a little bit of involvement in DDT related shows. He’s been part of a few Monthly Young Communication shows that happened back in 2011. Only recently Sasaki and Desperado fought each other in a tag match that ended in a DQ so there is some bad blood between the two going into this dream bout.


DDT “JUDGEMENT 2023 ~LONGEST 5 HOUR SPECIAL IN KORAKUEN HISTORY~” Results

March 21, 2023

DDT “JUDGEMENT 2023 ~LONGEST 5 HOUR SPECIAL IN KORAKUEN HISTORY~”, 21/03/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,138 Fans – No Vacancy

0. Ilusion & El Unicorn DDTeeeen!! Graduation Match: Ilusion & Munetatsu Nakamura defeated El Unicorn & Raimu Imai when Ilusion pinned Unicorn with the RE:VISION1 (8:15).
1. Yuya Koroku & Yuki Ishida defeated Toy Kojima & Kazuma Sumi when Koroku submitted Sumi with the Modified Triangle Lancer (9:02).
2. Kazuki Hirata Debut 13th Anniversary Match: Keisuke Ishii & Soma Takao defeated Kazuki Hirata & Yoshihiko when Ishii pinned Hirata with the Running Double Arm Driver (10:39).
3. O-40 Title – 3 Way Match: Makoto Oishi defeated Gorgeous Matsuno and Shinichiro Kawamatsu when Oishi pinned Matsuno with a Cradle (4:54).
*Makoto Oishi becomes the 4th O-40 Champion!
4. Pheromones Vs Pheromones Subjugation Army All Out Battle: Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno, Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari & Koju “Shining Ball” Takeda Vs Akito, Toru Owashi, Hiroshi Yamato & Yusuke Okada ended in a No Contest (11:21).
5. Special Tag Match: Max The Impaler & Heidi Howitzer defeated Super Sasadango Machine & Antonio Honda when Howitzer pinned Honda after the Master Blaster (7:46).
6. Saki Akai Debut 10th Anniversary Match Vol 1.: Saki Akai defeated Masahiro Takanashi with the Quetzalcoatl (9:19).
7. HARASHIMA & Keigo Nakamura defeated Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani when HARASHIMA pinned Okatani with the Somato (12:26).
8. Special Single Match: Takeshi Masada defeated Hikaru Machida with the Samurai Driver ’01 (6:31).
9. Special 6-Man Tag Match ~ CHARISMA RETURNS!: Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON defeated Chris Brookes, Drew Parker & Hagane Shinno when Sasaki submitted Shinno with La Mistica Crossface Lock (11:55).
10. DDT Extreme Title – Regular Pro Wrestling Rules: Jun Akiyama (c) defeated Kotaro Suzuki with a Wrist-Clutch Cradle (10:48).
*V4 for Jun Akiyama.
11. DDT 26th Anniversary Special Single Match: Konosuke Takeshita defeated Sanshiro Takagi by Knockout (13:17).
12. International Special Single Match: Yuki Ueno defeated Samuray Del Sol with the WR (13:28).
13. DDT Universal Title: Tetsuya Endo defeated Naruki Doi (c) with the Burning Star Press (20:49).
*Naruki Doi fails in V2. Tetsuya Endo becomes the 10th DDT Universal Champion!
14. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Falls Count Anywhere Match: MAO & Shunma Katsumata (c) defeated Kazusada Higuchi & Ryota Nakatsu when MAO pinned Nakatsu after the Oretachi no Madmax (18:15).
*V4 for ShunMao.
15. KO-D Openweight Title: Yuji Hino (c) defeated Yukio Naya with the Fuckin’ BOMB (22:23).
*V1 for Yuji Hino.

Settle in folks because this is going to be a long one. DDT produced 16 matches across over almost 6 hours in Korakuen Hall to celebrate their 26th Anniversary. The spotlight at the end was given to Yuji Hino defending the KO-D Openweight Title against Yukio Naya. Hino had become something of a mentor to Naya over the last two years and today was a chance for the young heavyweight project to try and take the company’s top spot. With Kenta Kobashi watching from the commentary table, the two wrestlers threw heavy strikes and slam to each other. Naya eventually became flustered by the challenge, yelling this wasn’t going the way it was supposed to be while getting into another strike exchange late into the match. Hino took Naya’s best shots but the same could not be said vice versa. Naya looked to be down for the count until Hino stopped the referee and demanded his opponent to return back to his feet under his own strength. When Naya did Hino took him down with a Lariat but only got a two count out of it. He then finished off Naya with the Fuckin’ BOMB to successfully defend the KO-D Title.

After the match Kobashi presented Hino with the KO-D Title and Hino shook Naya’s hand. Hisaya Imabayashi informed the champion that his next defence will be at Yokohama Budokan on 3rd May. Before Naya could comment on that they were suddenly interrupted by Pheromones! According to Danshoku Dieno, Hino’s next challenger is going to be Yuki “Sexy” Iino! Earlier in the show Pheromones made a promise to Imabayashi not to get naked during their match and in return Iino should get a KO-D Title shot. Imabayashi refused because he thinks Pheromones did not live up to their promise. Hino agreed with the GM and told Iino to come back once he starts behaving like a more serious wrestler. Dieno said Hino is a big, heavy and strong man but is missing something. DDT needs a champion who is big, heavy, strong and naughty. The only man who fulfills those requirements is Iino! Imabayashi put off making a decision since everybody is feeling tired after such a long show. Hino said DDT is the only place that can do that kind of overkill. He praised the roster for putting on amazing matches today and told the fans if you want to see amazing matches then come see DDT where he the amazing champion!

It was time for MAO to get over his negative memories of DNA and Ryota Nakatsu by finally standing up to him. ShunMao put the KO-D Tag Team Titles on the line against Harimao in a Falls Count Anywhere match. Nakatsu brought out the plastic baseball bat he carried around in DNA and bullied MAO into doing a dance he used to do to make others laugh. MAO did what he was told despite Shunma Katsumata’s protests. Kazusada Higuchi then attacked Katsumata and brought him up to the balcony while Nakatsu dragged MAO over to the spot on the floor beneath it. Higuchi tried to throw Katsumata over the balcony with a Power Bomb but Katsumata escaped. So Higuchi found a nearby turnbuckle pad in the balcony and threw it at MAO down below. The brawl moved over to the lobby where Higuchi put Katsumata through a table near the staircase by jumping off a vending machine. Katsumata got one back in the aisle towards ringside by doing the Stuka Splash off of the entrance onto Higuchi. ShunMao brought out ring boards used for the canvas and bridged them over the front row barricade. They slammed Nakatsu onto the boards with the Oretachi no Madmax to get the 3 count and finally but MAO’s bad memories to bed.

ShunMao met with Imabayashi in the ring afterwards to find out where their next title defence would be. Suddenly Keigo Nakamura entered the ring, saying he and HARASHIMA should be the next challengers. Nakamura acted the same after his match earlier in the show. HARASHIMA went along with the idea because he wants to see Nakamura work hard and take advantage of his momentum. MAO isn’t interested in fighting HARASHIMA but Nakamura has caught his attention from out of nowhere. The title challenge was accepted and will take place in Korakuen on 9th April. When that was settled, all members of The 37KAMIINA got together in the ring and did their group pose.

That period of the show turned out to be a busy one for MAO. He was involved in the aftermath of the DDT Universal Title match. Tetsuya Endo won that championship for the first time by dethroning Naruki Doi. Endo’s knee was targeted and some of his high risk moves missed, like the Swan Dive Firebird Splash. But he also kicked out of the Bakatare Sliding Kick and blocked the Noshigami. Doi got stunned with an Overhead Kick and was thrown to the canvas with the Tetsuya In The Ski With Diamonds. Endo got the win when he did the Burning Star Press, taking the Universal Title away from Doi. After the match Endo apologised to Doi for calling him an enemy outsider. Doi carried DDT on his back by bringing the Universal Title with him to his matches for other companies and for that reason Endo now accepts him as one of us. Backstage Doi said he was planning on withdrawing from DDT after the loss but he cannot end his run here like this. He’ll be back to win more championships and other achievements!

MAO then entered the ring to challenge Endo to a title match. Endo got annoyed because he wants to fight challengers from around the world, not a neighbor from Miyagi! MAO brought up that he is currently one half of the KO-D Tag Champions and is also a former Universal Champion so he is qualified for a shot. Endo reluctantly agreed and brought up that MAO is probably more famous than him overseas. Endo is also still the tourism ambassador of Shiriashi City so he has the power to ban MAO from Miyagi if given the chance! The match will take place on 3rd May.

An international showdown saw Yuki Ueno defeat the visiting Samuray Del Sol. The match had dives back and forth from both as they tried to out-do each other. Ueno avoided the Soledo Del Sol but got caught with a Reverse Frankensteiner that’s called the Rising Sun for a nearfall. Ueno got his bearings back though and picked up the win once he put Del Sol in the WR. Backstage Del Sol said Ueno’s name sounds like “bueno” and it was a great honour to fight a great wrestler like him. Ueno said he is still carrying DDT on his back even though he no longer has the Universal Title. Even without the championship he wants to let the world know about DDT.

The relationship between Sanshiro Takagi and Konosuke Takeshita is similar to one between a father and son. Takeshita has grown up in DDT to become the wrestler he is today. It means a lot to Tagaki, so much so that preview video of the match revealed Takagi’s original dream plan for the company’s 25th Anniversary show. His dream was to hold that show in the Tokyo Dome and headline it with Takeshita Vs Kota Ibushi. Takeshita also means so much to Takagi that he felt if there was ever going to be a singles match between them it would be Takagi’s retirement match. Today the match finally happened and Takagi put everything he had into it. He did Avalanche Brainbusters only for Takeshita to return with his own, including one that went through a table outside the ring. Takagi had to rely on using the Stunner and he gave the move to Takeshita over and over and over. Takeshita was tough enough to take those Stunners and fire back with the Zahi twice. A beaten Takagi told Takeshita to finish him off with one more Zahi. Tears came down Takeshita’s face but he did the move one more time. Takagi suddenly popped back up to give Takeshita one more Stunner but that was it. Takeshita got back to his feet while Takagi couldn’t, ending the match with a knockout. Afterwards Takeshita told everyone he will win a singles championship in AEW as a DDT wrestler no matter what it takes. In exchange for this, he wants to see Takagi win the KO-D Title one more time before he decides to retire! He doesn’t care how long it takes because one day both Takeshita and Takagi will both fulfill this promise and then they can face each other one more time.

Jun Akiyama fought his favourite disciple Kotaro Suzuki in the fourth defence of his DDT Extreme Title reign. In a change of pace for the championship, there were no special rules attached to the match. It was a regular pro wrestling match between two of the best to do it. Suzuki got a nearfall with the Tiger Driver and held his ground to stop Akiyama from doing the Wrist-Clutch Exploder Suplex. But Akiyama kept his grip on Suzuki’s wrist and rolled him over into a cradle to get the win. Suzuki was happy with how the match went despite losing. He sees the result as a kick up the pants for him to continue fighting for his goals.

Akiyama appreciated the subdued nature of the match compared to the rest of the card. He was sent crashing back into the DDT world afterwards though when his next challenger appeared. Shunma Katsumata quickly got into the ring, asked for a title match and left so he could prepare for the KO-D Tag Title bout. Akiyama told Imabayashi he accepts the challenge and the match will take place on 3rd May. He also wants a message to be sent back to Katsumata telling him he has no chance of winning.

DAMNATION T.A were back to good strength with Daisuke Sasaki’s return to the ring after recovering from a left eye injury. There was a little bit of rustiness, particularly the part where Sasaki’s chair attacks hit MJ Paul & KANON by accident. That gave Chris Brookes, Drew Parker & Hagane Shinno to take control of the match. However Sasaki used a ref bump to give Shinno a Low Blow. He then got him in La Mistica Crossface Lock for the submission win.

Sasaki got on the microphone after the match. First he told Parker they should do a singles match sometime. Then he called Imabayashi incompetent because Sasaki got up to something while he was gone. Sasaki didn’t spend the last two months away from the ring by lying around in a hospital. He went on day trips to get a deal done for “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2023” that Imabayashi did not know about. Sasaki has put himself in a big match for Sumo Hall on 23rd July. The video screen then revealed Sasaki’s opponent will be El Desperado! The two wrestlers have been angling for a match for a long time now. Sasaki’s message to Desperado is the DDT ring will be where he will beat him up first! Until then, Sasaki might decide to disappear again until the match takes place.

Takeshi Masada scored a big win by beating Hikaru Machida in a strike heavy battle. Machida had Tanomusaku Toba in his corner giving the kickboxer advice. Masada found himself taking big shots from Machida but once the rookie got to do the Samurai Driver ’01, it was all over. Machida admitted it was a complete defeat and he has to start over if he wants to survive in pro wrestling. Masada is happy with the result but is also concerned over how beat up he is getting in these matchups, even when he wins. He knows he has to continue working hard to make up for that difference.

HARASHIMA & Nakamura’s path to the KO-D Tag Title shot came from them beating Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani. HARASHIMA scored the fall but it was Nakamura who suddenly got on the microphone and declared the two of them will use this momentum to get a title shot. The comments got a good response from the fans so HARASHIMA told him they would talk about it backstage. As mentioned above, they came back out after the KO-D Tag Title match and made their challenge official. Meanwhile Okatani said he now won’t be in good shape going into the 3 Way Qualifying Battle for the King Of DDT taking place on 1st April. Sakaguchi told him he will have to fight through the pain.

Saki Akai kicked off her 10th anniversary celebration with a massive win over Masahiro Takanashi, the man she teamed with for her debut match a decade ago. The special ocassion was almost spoiled thanks to interference from Chris Brookes. He gave Akai a Diving Senton outside the ring, taking out Okatani with a Dropkick in the process. That got all of Eruption more involved in reaction to this with Sakaguchi giving Brookes a PK and sticking around to stop Takanashi from cheating again. Akai got her second wind by wiping all of those people out with a Cross Body outside the ring. She caught up to Takanashi by stunning him with the Rookie Award and then hit the Quetzalcoatl to score the upset win. Akai said she was able to win by showing everyone she has learned a lot more than just what Takanashi had taught her.

PowerPoint Presentations are not going to stop The Wasteland War Party from doing what they want. Super Sasadango Machine made one to show how he and Antonio Honda would beat their opponents today. He reckoned Max The Impaler & Heidi Howitzer were not on the same page after losing the Princess Tag Team Titles in Tokyo Joshi Pro a few days ago. So the plan was to act friendly towards Max so they will fall out with Howitzer and split the team apart. Then they can coax Max over to their side by promising gifts like food and Mad Max DVDs. It looked to be working at first. Max accepted the food and began eating it while Howitzer complained. But Sasadango & Honda couldn’t capitalize and soon the War Party became a reunited force. Max & Howitzer solved their problems and went on to win the match. Sasadango & Honda called it a scary experience. However Sasadango also ended up taking a liking to Howitzer and wonders if maybe something nice could happen between them under different circumstances. He also noticed Max looks like they enjoy being in Japan. It makes him hope more foreign wrestlers will visit and fall in love with the country. He knows foreign wrestlers like the hard hitting power fighters like Kenta Kobashi and Kensuke Sasaki but he hopes today’s match will let those people know there are wrestlers like Sasadango & Honda in Japan too.

I mentioned earlier that Pheromones made a promise to Imabayashi as part of their plan to get Iino a KO-D Title shot. That promise was they would keep their clothes on for their match and if they broke that rule they would be disqualified. Toru Owashi taunted Iino by claiming to be sexier than he is. Iino submitted to his urges and tried to strip out of his costume anyway. When Imabayashi got on the microphone to warn Iino, all of Pheromones gave Yukinori Matsui a Low Blow. Imabayashi then had to be rescued by the other wrestlers causing Akito, Owashi, Hiroshi Yamato & Yusuke Okada to all get knocked out by very lewd moves. By the time Pheromones got their hands on Imanari and did their thing, Matsui recovered and threw the match out. Dieno claimed his side kept their promise because the match ended in a No Contest instead of a DQ.

Makoto Oishi used his tricky wrestling style to tangle up both of his opponents to win the vacant O-40 Title. He had a small alliance with Gorgeous Matsuno that broke down when Matsuno saw his chance to win. Matsuno got Shinichiro Kawamatsu with the Gorgeous Star Elbow only for Oishi to pounce on top of him to steal the three count and win the belt. Oishi said the title is seen as a comedy championship but he wants it to be something for every wrestler around the world over the age of 40 will want to fight him for. Matsuno swears he will get revenge and take back what belongs to him. Kawamatsu has heard stories about wrestlers backstabbing each other so he wasn’t surprise to find out that happened with his two opponents.

Kazuki Hirata got to celebrate 13 years in the business by teaming with Yoshihiko. He warned Keisuke Ishii & Soma Takao not to treat Yoshihiko like a doll then proceeded to use Yoshihiko as a weapon against both of them. Takao got Yosihiko trapped in the Official Endless Waltz but he wasn’t able to get a three count out of it. Hirata threw some Clotheslines that he called the 13th Anniversary Bomber. Yoshihiko gave Takao the Reincarnation but Ishii broke the pin. Takao used the Gin And Tonic on Yoshihiko to take the doll out of the match so Ishii could beat Hirata with the Running Double Arm Driver. It’s been a while since Hirata fought Ishii. He has nothing but good things to say about Ishii, calling him the same old monster with the great wrestling mind. Ishii said Hirata was a very good wrestler when he began 13 years ago and he was even better than that today.

The opening match of the main show saw Yuya Koroku & Yuki Ishida defeating Toy Kojima & Kazuma Sumi. Koroku blocked a Moonsault from Sumi with his knees and then submitted him with the Modified Triangle Lancer. He has unfinished business with Kojima along with Okatani going into the King Of DDT 3 Way Qualifying Battle on 1st April. Koroku has beaten both Kojima and Okatani in singles matches before so he is confident he will do that again in back to back falls.

The pre-show match was a graduation for the DDTeeeen!! wrestlers. Ilusion and El Unicorn have both grown out of their positions as teenager pro wrestlers and are moving on up to the proper DDT roster. The match also included Raimu Imai who has been on the sub-brand previously and Munetatsu Nakamura who wasn’t. Ilusion scored the win by pinning Unicorn with his Modified Pedigree. That version of the move he uses is now called the RE:VISION1.

After the match Takagi congratulated both Ilusion and Unicorn on their graduation. He explained that the two of them had to wrestle in masks the entire time because they were underage. Today they can choose if they want to keep the masks or remove them and reveal their identities. Unicorn said he has recently graduated from middle school as well as DDTeeeen!! and will about to enter high school. For that reason he will unmask. He took the mask off and revealed he is Yuni, the young pro wrestler who’s been with DDT since 2016 when he started training at 8 years old. Ilusion teased taking off his mask but decided against it. He said he has more work to do as Ilusion and wants to keep the mask on for the time being.

A variety of different names and faces will be coming to DDT over in the not too distant future. The most bizarre of which is Chiitan, the infamous mascot who often goes viral on Twitter for doing crazy stunts. The “otter fairy” mascot has dabbled with pro wrestling and will have its official debut match on 3rd May. Chiitan’s announcement was interrupted by Chris Brookes, who attacked Chiitan in the ring while it was greeting the fans. Brookes threatened to kill Chiitan there and then with a Diving Double Stomp but Imabayashi stopped him from doing it. Chiitan then got some measure of revenge by Dropkicking Brookes out of the ring.

British wrestler Rayne Leverkusen will be coming to DDT in April. She often wrestles for EVE and is also the niece of the late Clive Burr from Iron Maiden. Her big match on the tour will be a singles bout against Saki Akai on 3rd May.

Last but certainly not least, American wrestler Nick Wayne will bet at the Yokohama Budokan show on 3rd May. The youngster has been called a supernova on the US indies and gained attention for signing a deal with AEW at the age of 16. Takeshita recommended DDT to bring him over to Japan for a tour.