DDT “DDT IS COMING TO AMERICA” Results

April 5, 2019

DDT “DDT IS COMING TO AMERICA”, 04/04/2019
La Boom, Queens, New York
650 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Makoto Oishi defeated Saki Akai (c) with an Inside Cradle (8:07 pm)
*Makoto Oishi becomes the 1,351st champion.
1. Soma Takao & Tetsuya Endo defeated Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi when Endo submitted Takanashi with the Modified Yurikamome Hold (9:27).
2. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Battle Royal: Kazuki Hirata defeated defeated Makoto Oishi (c), Saki Akai, Yoshihiko, Kikutaro, Colt Cabana, Mizuki Watase and Yuu (11:36).
2a. Kikutaro was eliminated by Doctor’s Orders (2:24).
2b. Kazuki Hirata eliminated Colt Cabana by Ring Out (5:32).
2c. Yuu eliminated Mizuki Watase by Ring Out (6:40).
2d. Makoto Oishi (c) eliminated Saki Akai with an Inside Cradle (6:55).
*V1 for Makoto Oishi.
2e. Makoto Oishi (c) eliminated Yuu by Ring Out (6:55).
*V2 for Makoto Oishi.
2f. Yoshihiko eliminated Makoto Oishi (c) with a Single Leg Crab Hold (8:44).
*Yoshihiko becomes the 1,352nd champion.
2g. Kazuki Hirata eliminated Yoshihiko (c) with a Cradle (8:39 pm).
*Kazuki Hirata becomes the 1,353rd champion. Kazuki Hirata wins Yoshihiko’s Right To Challenge Anyime, Anywhere Gauntlet.
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Saki Akai defeated Kazuki Hirata (c) with the Quetzalcoatl (8:40 pm).
*Saki Akai becomes the 1,354th champion.
3. 3 Way Tag Match: HARASHIMA & Kazusada Higuchi defeated Akito & Ethan Page and Shigehiro Irie & Jason Kincaid when HARASHIMA pinned Akito with the Somato (8:54).
4. Weapon Rumble In U.S.A.: Sanshiro Takagi defeated MAO with the Sit Down Himawari Bomb onto Plastic Cases (12:26).
5. Miyu Yamashita defeated Maki Itoh with the Crash Rabbit Heat (6:49).
6. Joey Ryan & Royce Isaacs defeated Danshoku Dieno & Antonio Honda when Ryan pinned Honda with the Super Kick (13:19).
7. KO-D Openweight Title: Daisuke Sasaki defeated Konosuke Takeshita (c) with the Sasaki Hurricanrana (19:00).
*Konosuke Takeshita fails in V2. Daisuke Sasaki becomes the 70th KO-D Openweight Champion!
-. KO-D Openweight Title: Tetsuya Endo defeated Daisuke Sasaki (c) with the Shooting Star Press (4:03).
*Daisuke Sasaki fails in V1. Tetsuya Endo cashes in his Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Gauntlet. Tetsuya Endo becomes the 71st KO-D Openweight Champion!
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Makoto Oishi defeated Saki Akai (c) with an Inside Cradle (10:26 pm)
*Makoto Oishi becomes the 1,355th champion.
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Kazuki Hirata defeated Makoto Oishi (c) with a School Boy (22:27 pm).
*Kazuki Hirata becomes the 1,356th champion.
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Maki Itoh defeated Kazuki Hirata (c) with a Cradle (22:28 pm).
*Maki Itoh becomes the 1,357th champion.
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Danshoku Dieno defeated Maki Itoh (c) with the Danshoku Driver (22:29 pm).
*Danshoku Dieno becomes the 1,358th champion.

DDT promised an authentic show for their visit to New York this week. They delivered on all ends and then some. In the main event Daisuke Sasaki avenged his defeat to Konosuke Takeshita at Sumo Hall by beating him to win back the KO-D Openweight Title! It went back and forth with Takeshita catching a dive outside the ring and turning it into a Brainbuster. In return Sasaki did a Diving Elbow Drop out of the ring onto Takeshita in the front row. Takeshita almost won with the Fable but Sasaki grabbed Yukinori Matsui to disrupt the flow. Takeshita leap frogged over the ref but Sasaki kicked him in between the legs as he landed. Sasaki hit another low blow and used the Sasaki Hurricanrana to grab the victory.

Sasaki celebrated the title win with Tetsuya Endo and Soma Takao in his company. He said “This is my championship!” But then something happened. Sasaki noticed that Endo was busy playing with his Right To Challenge Gauntlet during his speech so he knocked it out of Endo’s hands. Endo picked it back up and suddenly hit Sasaki with a Lariat. He grabbed the microphone, held up the Gauntlet and said “This is now.” Endo cashed in the Gauntlet to get his title match! Sasaki had some fight left in him but after four minutes, Endo hit the Shooting Star Press and shockingly became the new KO-D Champion! When the dust settled, Endo had something important to tell Sasaki… “Charisma, I’m sorry!” He explained that with so many fans here to see the show and some of them being pretty blonde haired women he couldn’t resist taking this chance to win the title. This belt is the symbol of DDT and Endo feels proud to win it for the first time. Sasaki accepted Endo’s apology. Endo wants New York to become his second home and promised everyone they will come back. “Remember us!”

DDT came up with a solution to any possible trouble Danshoku Dieno was going to cause with his behaviour. It was so genius in its simplicity. The announcer simply told fans to raise their hands if they wanted Dieno to kiss them during his entrance and many people did. Antonio Honda got to tell his Gon The Fox story in English. It was about Gon visiting the Empire State Building only to discover it was the Empire Big Dick. Dieno got “We Want Ass” chants as he fought off Joey Ryan & Royce Isaacs while the back of his tights were pulled down. It led to the big battle between Ryan’s dick and Dieno’s ass. Honda stuck his Gongitsune fingers into Dieno’s backside to charge them up but Dieno forced those fingers into Honda’s eyes. Ryan then stuck a lollipop into Dieno’s ass, placed it in Honda’s mouth and Super Kicked him for the win.

Both Miyu Yamashita and Maki Itoh were popular with the fans in their match. Yamashita beat Itoh after hitting a Back Spin Kick and the Crash Rabbit Heat. She wanted to shake Itoh’s hand after the match but Itoh gave her the middle finger.

The weapons for the Weapon Rumble included Antonio Honda doing his Hulk Hogan impersonation (which got booed to hell and back), plastic cases, a trash can, a bicycle, a box of “educational toy blocks” (we can’t say the brand name for legal reasons), a toilet and Chinsuke Nakamura. The ending came when Sanshiro Takagi put MAO through the plastic cases with the Sit Down Himawari Bomb.

Shigehiro Irie made his first appearance for DDT in six months to be part of the 3 Way Tag Match. He and Jason Kincaid reunited RENEGADES for the match. Ethan Page threw his weight around too. But amongst the chaos HARASHIMA hit Akito with the Buzzsaw Kick and finished him off with the Somato to win the match for himself & Kazusada Higuchi.

The Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title had a very busy night. During the show opening introductions Mr. HAKU brought out Saki Akai to explain the concept of the title to any new fans in attendance. Makoto Oishi ran out and cradled Akai to win the belt. Later the Rumble happened with Oishi now as the defending champion. Kikutaro was stopped from entering the match by the ring doctor because he had too high blood pressure. Colt Cabana was more interested in getting a kiss from Akai than wrestling her. Mizuki Watase piled several wrestlers into the corner and hit the Coast To Coast Dropkick on them. Yuu was the surprise entrant and she threw around everyone with her judo throws. Oishi eliminated Akai and Yuu but his momentum was cut short when Yoshihiko grappled him into a Half Crab to submit him. Kazuki Hirata countered Yoshihiko’s Reincarnation into a cradle to win the match. The result meant Hirata won both the Iron Man Title and Yoshihiko’s Right To Challenge Gauntlet. However Saki Akai got back into the ring and gave Hirata the Quetzalcoatl to win back the Iron Man Title. Hirata still holds the Gauntlet. At the end of the show Akai was chased back out to the ring by a bunch of wrestlers. The title changed hands to Oishi then Hirata then Itoh then finally Dieno to close out the show.

In the opener DAMNATION were victorious over Shuten-dōji with Endo getting Masahiro Takanashi to give up to the Modified Yurikamome Hold.


Guide To DDT In New York

April 1, 2019

DDT “DDT IS COMING TO AMERICA”, 04/04/2019
La Boom, Queens, New York

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Maki Itoh
2. Danshoku Dieno & Antonio Honda Vs Joey Ryan & Royce Isaacs
3. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Battle Royal: Saki Akai (c) Vs Makoto Oishi Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Yoshihiko Vs Kikutaro Vs Colt Cabana Vs Mizuki Watase Vs X
4. Soma Takao & Tetsuya Endo Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi
5. 3 Way Tag Match: HARASHIMA & Kazusada Higuchi Vs Akito & Ethan Page Vs Shigehiro Irie & Jason Kincaid
6. Weapon Rumble In U.S.A.: MAO Vs Sanshiro Takagi
7. KO-D Openweight Title: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Daisuke Sasaki

So you got a ticket for DDT’s first show in America but you’d like some guidance over what to expect. Maybe you’ve only seen the gifs or read about the crazy angles online or by some chance this just happens to be the wrestling show you get to see while in New York and you’re going in blind. Well step on board and welcome to the Dramatic Dream Team! There are many shows at Wrestlemania week this year that is following the trend of wacky, over the top action (thanks Spring Break) but even so, what DDT is offering to everyone at La Boom in Brooklyn will be unlike anything else going on.

When the New York show was announced DDT promised they will be doing an authentic show just like the ones they do in Japan. I can confidently say they are staying true to their word. Even the non-Japanese wrestlers they are using have regularly toured with DDT in Japan in recent years. This is the type of line-up they would put together for their regular monthly shows in Korakuen Hall which is their regular spot for advancing stories, putting together angles and announcing their important events. The card also resembles a “Best Of” theme for the past year of DDT. So for newcomers and fairweather fans you get to see DDT at its most, well, DDT while the hardcore fans will get some rather big rematches to look forward to.

Where Can I Watch It Online?

There are two streaming sites offering the show on iPPV. Both are airing it live and will add it to their Video On Demand services within 24 hours after the show is over. The show will not air live on DDT Universe. The plan is to add the show to the archives later in April but nothing has been confirmed yet.

It is available on FITE for $14.99. FITE is also offering a More Than Mania event bundle with this show included for $69.99.

It is also available on WWN Live for $19.99.

The matches are listed in order as found on DDT’s official website. However that is not a guarantee it will be the official match order on the night.

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Maki Itoh

This is a rematch of Tokyo Joshi Pro’s Korakuen main event from 4th January. Miyu Yamashita and Maki Itoh are usually friendly to each other but that goes out the window when they face each other in the ring. This is being advertised as a non-title match.

Miyu Yamashita: The ace of Tokyo Joshi since Day 1. The “Pink Striker” has a karate background and is the girl most associated with the TOKYO Princess Of Princess Title. She is the current champion with the most defences under her belt. At one point she was notoriously bad at speaking English but she’s been studying and has apparently improved. Yamashita previously wrestled in America at the 2018 Chikara King Of Trios tournament where she made it to the final as part of the Tokyo Joshi Freedom Fighters.
Moves To Watch Out For: Crash Rabbit Heat (Penalty Kick style Knee Strike), Attitude Adjustment, Modified Cobra Clutch, Brazilian Kick

Maki Itoh: A former singer from the pop group LinQ who turned to pro wrestling when her idol career fell apart. Has a big ego over her cute appearance yet isn’t shy with her opinions of others. When she’s about to punch her opponent in the corner she yells out “Who is the cutest in the world?” and the audience respond with “Ito-chan!” Loves to give the middle fingers to her opponents. Despite her bad attitude during matches, Itoh garnered a big fanbase for her un-idol like behaviour which includes being open about her mental health on social media.
Moves To Watch Out For: Itoh Special (Texas Cloverleaf that was NOT stolen from Hiroshi Tanahashi), Jumping DDT, Flying Big Head (Diving Headbutt), The World’s Most Cutest Knuckle Punch

2. Danshoku Dieno & Antonio Honda Vs Joey Ryan & Royce Isaacs

Here is the match that can cause the most controversy since it is guaranteed to be filled with very lewd comedy. Joey Ryan is the famous dick wrestler, Danshoku Dieno is the gay wrestling gimmick who was the other half of the viral video that shot Ryan into fame, Royce Isaacs has an ass that can break bones yet create miracles and Antonio Honda has a filthy sense of humour whenever he gets to speak English.

Danshoku Dieno: Dieno is DDT’s most infamous gimmick, starting out as a hyper aggressive gay wrestler who wanted to grope his opponents while fighting them. Maybe it’s refuge in audacity or maybe it’s the grandfather clause from lasting this long but over the years Dieno developed his character and turned it into one of DDT’s most beloved creations. The big question is will Dieno be able to act like himself in New York? He has wrestled in America before and was able to hold himself back a bit when he was in family friendly promotions like Chikara. I reckon at this point the people in the crowd know what they’re getting into and Dieno will be Dieno.
Moves To Watch Out For: Danshoku Driver (Piledriver with the victim’s head stuffed into Dieno’s tights), Lip Lock (a paralysing kiss) Danshoku Nightmare (Dieno pulls down his tights and teabags his opponent)

Antonio Honda: The man of many international backgrounds. He’s been Cuban, he’s been Hawaiian, he’s been Italian, at times he probably wouldn’t feel out of place inside Memphis. But nowadays Honda is the man who loves go talk about a children’s story called Gon, The Little Fox (or Gongitsune depending on the translation). Sometimes accident prone, Honda tells himself the story of Gon to cheer himself up when he gets hurt. This is all so his opponent drops their guard and Honda can poke them in the eyes with “Gon” (imagine the Too Sweet handsign).
Moves To Watch Out For: Diving Fist Drop, Octopus Hold, Bionic Elbow, Gongitsune Eye Pokes

Joey Ryan: Famous dick wrestler Joey Ryan has a busy week ahead of him. He has his own Penis Party happening the day after DDT but he shouldn’t look past this match. If it was up to him he would be called the craziest gaijin in DDT but that is a contested claim. Maybe he can earn that accomplishment and prove all his doubters wrong.
Moves To Watch Out For: YouPorn Plex (Ryan’s penis flips the opponent onto their back), Lollipop Assisted Super Kick

Royce Isaacs: Behold the man with the Miracle Ass! When Isaacs toured with DDT he discovered with Dieno’s help that the strength of his backside was powerful enough to break limbs and pop open even the most jammed of jars. It’s been two years since Isaacs wrestled in a DDT show but he still represented the promotion when he guided Naomi Yoshimura and Rekka around the US indies during their overseas excursions.
Moves To Watch Out For: The Zenith (German Suplex lift into a Uranage), Hush Money (Dragon Suplex lift into a German Suplex)

3. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Battle Royal: Saki Akai (c) Vs Makoto Oishi Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Yoshihiko Vs Kikutaro Vs Colt Cabana Vs Mizuki Watase Vs X

The WWF Hardcore Championship taken to it’s most logical extreme. The Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title is always being defended 24/7. If there is a referee or anything resembling a referee nearby then they must officiate what is happening to the champion. Due to the ref’s discretion, pretty much everything is eligible to win the belt. Every wrestler, every person, every living creature, every inanimate object, every concept of existence the human mind can think of, you get the drill.

The current champion going into the show is Saki Akai, a supermodel who became a wrestler thanks to DDT. The physical belt has seen better days so Akai has been fixing it by filling the empty studs with pretty stars and bonbons. Makoto Oishi is a 17 year veteran and usually the butt of the joke during comedy spots. Kazuki Hirata loves to imitate an old gimmick from Dragon Gate called Magnum TOKYO. He wears a special pair of Hirata Go! glasses that forces the room to play the “TOKYO GO!” song for him to dance to. Yoshihiko is the wrestling sex doll. Kikutaro and Colt Cabana are both masters of comedy wrestling. Mizuki Watase wasn’t originally meant to be on this show but he spent his own money to fly over so he could meet up with his buddy Shigehiro Irie.

And then there is the mysterious X. DDT often adds the X label for an unadvertised wrestler to appear in these kinds of Battle Royals. It doesn’t always mean just one extra wrestler, there might be more. I think a few of the wrestlers around for the other shows in La Boom this week could make their appearance in this match even if they have no prior history with DDT. But there are some guesses going around online and it’s fun to talk about them so let’s mention it. Kenny Omega is the popular wish of course. Nobody would be happier to see him show up than me but I doubt it’s happening. Jiro “Ikemen” Kuroshio would be a welcome appearance especially since his entrance is perfect comedy for a Rumble match. My prediction however is someone I haven’t seen mentioned elsewhere. I think X will be Chunsuke Nakamura, the Shinsuke Nakamura impersonator! He usually travels to America to see his muse at Wrestlemania and he often works with DDT whenever they want to cash in on Shinsuke’s popularity.

You can never predict what the Iron Man Title can get up to. If it gets unleashed on New York during a wrestling week as busy as this then there will be untold mayhem all over the place!

4. Soma Takao & Tetsuya Endo Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi

A tag team match between members of DAMNATION against Shuten-dōji. The DAMNATION side features the No. 2 & No. 3 regular members of the unit Soma Takao & Tetsuya Endo. Shuten-dōji will be splitting up later in April so this will be one of Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi’s last matches together as a team.

Soma Takao: A homegrown wrestler who DDT had big hopes for but never reached that potential. Instead he fell in with the rough crowd in DAMNATION. Prefers not to speak much. Usually low blows his opponents en route to victory. He is currently one half of the KO-D Tag Team Champions with Daisuke Sasaki.
Moves To Watch Out For: Gin And Tonic (Axe Guillotine Driver), Official Endless Waltz (countless number of cradled and crucifix pins), Sorarina (Wrist Clutch Inside Cradle), Diving Foot Stomp

Tetsuya Endo: A high flying prodigy and generational rival to Konosuke Takeshita. Endo is in a similar boat to Takao in that he hasn’t quite reached the level of success to match his abilities. Tries to tell everyone he is a rotten person but deep down he is very tidy and carefully follows a diet that gives him one of the best physiques in the company.
Moves To Watch Out For: Shooting Star Press, Spinning Torture Rack Bomb, Tetsuya In The Sky (Spanish Fly), Tetsuya In The Sky With Diamonds (Top Rope Spanish Fly)

Yukio Sakaguchi: A former MMA fighter and son of retired wrestler Seiji Sakaguchi. He switched to pro wrestling in 2012 and has been with DDT for seven years now. Usually a serious figure, he would fight to the death if the situation ever calls for it!
Moves To Watch Out For: God’s Right Knee (Charging right knee strike into the turnbuckle), Purgatory (Double High Kick) Penalty Kick, Cobra Clutch

Masahiro Takanashi: If Shuten-dōji is a family then Takanashi is the little brother who knows the best ways to sneak cans of beer into the home without anyone noticing. Due to his small size, Takanashi has to rely on his smarts and ring presence which can make him a crafty wrestler when he wants to be. Underestimate him at your peril.
Moves To Watch Out For: Takatonic (Yoshitonic), Bacchus (Modified Gannosuke Clutch), Lightning Leg Lariat, Laphroaig (Modified Leg Roll Clutch)

5. 3 Way Tag Match: HARASHIMA & Kazusada Higuchi Vs Akito & Ethan Page Vs Shigehiro Irie & Jason Kincaid

A 3 Way tag sprint mixing together a bunch of wrestlers. HARASHIMA & Kazusada Higuchi have been rivals over the KO-D Openweight Title in the past but team together here. Ethan Page had no strong alliance with any unit during his tours in Japan last year but he is being put with Akito from ALL OUT. The only unit being properly represented here is RENEGADES and they don’t really exist in DDT anymore!

HARASHIMA: The backbone of DDT for the last 13 years if not longer. There are others to come from the company who have reach bigger heights in bigger places but HARASHIMA will always be there for DDT. Usually a straightforward wrestler but always up to get involved in the wackier stuff if he has to, HARASHIMA is a jack of all trades. Being the current DDT Extreme Champion should tell you that. If he wins a match, 999 times out of 1000 it is with the Somato.
Moves To Watch Out For: Somato (Double knee strike to a seated opponent), Double Knee Gutbuster, Reverse Frankensteiner, Falcon Arrow

Kazusada Higuchi: A former sumo who was an unbeaten powerhouse in his rookie years. Has since mellowed out and fits in with the sillier side of the roster despite still being difficult to beat. Maybe he can feel a little out of place in that position but hey, you’d rather be with him than against him. I assure you of that.
Moves To Watch Out For: Goten (Canadian Backbreaker into a Choke Slam), Doctor Bomb, Canadian Backbreaker, Oklahoma Stampede

Akito: The “Submission Freak” has an amateur wrestling background and is one of the original members of ALL OUT. Likes to take submission moves and add “perfect” modifications to them.
Moves To Watch Out For: Scorpion Deathlock, Kinniku Big Move (Muscle Buster lift into a Power Bomb), Hanamasa (Lifting Reverse DDT), Perfect Figure Four Leg Lock (Figure Four Leg Lock with Akito grabbing onto both of his opponent’s arms)

Ethan Page: “All Ego” toured with DDT twice in 2018 and is always working a busy schedule around the North American scene. Like with Joey Ryan, Page’s week in New York is filled to the brim with many matches in different places.
Moves To Watch Out For: Spinning Dwayne (Spinning Rock Bottom), Head Shot (Slingshot RKO)

Shigehiro Irie: Returning to DDT for the first time since October 2018. Irie has spent a lot of his time since then wrestling freelance in America and Europe. He will be heading back to Japan soon and will be wrestling on a DDT show there so this isn’t the last we will see of him.
Moves To Watch Out For: Beast Bomber (Lariat), Tazzmission, Final Impact (Arm Trapped Piledriver), Cannonball into corner

Jason Kincaid: Brought into DDT as a “Gift” from Irie, Kincaid has made the company his home away from home. When Irie left DDT and the RENEGADES unit they were a part of split up, Watase stuck around and became friends with Antonio Honda. Now that Irie is back, so is RENEGADES even if it’s just for a day.
Moves To Watch Out For: Philosopher’s Stomp (Diving Double Stomp from the ring post)

6. Weapon Rumble In U.S.A.: MAO Vs Sanshiro Takagi

A rematch of a very crazy DDT stipulation (yes I know Hustle did it before them, shush) from last October’s visit to Sumo Hall. The Weapon Rumble is a Royal Rumble but for weapons! Every time the buzzer goes off a new “weapon” is introduced to the match for the wrestlers to fight over. Just like with the Iron Man Title, anything can constitute as a weapon. Expect a lot of wacky items, unusual mind games and even a cameo or two.

MAO: “Fucked up wrestling for a fucked up world!” That is the motto MAO lives by. The high flyer has taken the mantle as DDT’s new leader of the Falls Count Anywhere match. He established this by beating Takagi in last October’s Weapon Rumble. He won the match but still holds a grudge with Takagi because one of Takagi’s weapons was telling everyone MAO’s phone number. Part of The Moonlight Express tag team, sadly his partner “Speedball” Mike Bailey will not be on the show for visa reasons.
Moves To Watch Out For: Cannonball 450 (450 Splash), Michinoku Driver (I & II), Screw High Kick, Spaceman Plancha

Sanshiro Takagi: The big boss of DDT. I don’t mean he’s the final challenge, I mean he is the company president! That’s right, Sanshiro Takagi is the one ultimately responsible for all this nonsense. He always enters to a remix of “FIRE” by Scooter and encourages the fans to chant along until the song goes “1…2…3. FIRE!” Has a habit of either copying famous wrestlers or dressing up as a Gundam for important matches. Also likes to decided he will retire after every major achievement only to immediately tell everyone he was lying.
Moves To Watch Out For: Sitdown Sunflower/Himawari Bomb (Electric Chair spun into a Sitdown Power Bomb), Stone Cold Stunner, Spicolli Driver (Power Slam lift into a Death Valler Driver)

7. KO-D Openweight Title: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Daisuke Sasaki

The biggest rematch of them all on the show. This was the main event of DDT’s 22nd Anniversary show in Sumo Hall from February. However this time the roles are reversed. Takeshita is the KO-D Champion and Sasaki is going in as the challenger. The match was originally announced as a non-title bout but last weekend Sasaki demanded the belt be put on the line in New York.

Konosuke Takeshita: The current top dog in DDT, Takeshita is only 23 years old but he has been wrestling for DDT since 2012. The leader of ALL OUT has faced some of the biggest names in Japan when he was a rookie supernova and nowadays he still wants to face the best wrestlers outside of DDT. Some of his influences have rubbed off on him as he built his moveset. He uses Kenny Omega’s knee strikes, added the Chicago Skyline from Colt Cabana and most dangerously of all, on rare occasions he busts out the El Generico Brainbustaaaaahhhhh!!!!! It’s only just recently that Takeshita has opened his horizons and wrestled outside of Japan. He is one to follow during Mania week.
Moves To Watch Out For: German Suplex (includes Deadlift and Cross-Arm variations), Surprise Rose (Wrist Clutch Fisherman Suplex) Fable (Springboard Swanton Bomb onto a seated opponent), V Trigger Knee Strikes

Daisuke Sasaki: The leader of DAMNATION and simply known to his lackeys as “Charisma”. Sasaki is as talented as he is always depressed. He was the previous KO-D Champion until Takeshita won it off him at Sumo Hall in February. Was so down in the dumps over the loss that he considered throwing his entire career away until he won the KO-D Tag Titles with Takao. He better hope Takeshita doesn’t give him the Brainbustaaaaahhhhh!!!!! again because last time they missed the turnbuckle! Also don’t let him know he’ll be staying in the same state as Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae during the week. Sasaki fell in love with LeRae when they teamed together for a tour then his life fell apart when he found out she married Gargano. So if the TakeOver: New York main event gets ruined by a Japanese man dressed in dirty clothes, it will probably be Sasaki.
Moves To Watch Out For: Cross Facelock (includes La Mistica and Gargano Escape variations), Sasaki Hurricanrana, Now Or Never (Power Slam lift twisted into a Reverse DDT), Vietnam Driver II (Reverse Michinoku Driver), Diving Elbow Drop onto a chair

Anything else we should know?

Oh, yes! I almost forgot. Currently in DDT there is something called the Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Gauntlet. It is DDT’s version of the Money In The Bank Contract. However there are three of them in existence and they are defended in every match the gauntlet holders are in until they get cashed in for an instant KO-D Title match. Two of the Gauntlet holders are Tetsuya Endo and Yoshihiko, who are both on this show. Will the gauntlet rules be in effect while they are in America? Well if it’s meant to be an authentic DDT event then it should. Maybe we’ll get a surprise title match after the main event!

Is that everything?

No! DDT will be present at several other shows being held in La Boom throughout Mania week. They are tied in with the WWN Live More Than Mania series so if you want to see more of DDT you will find them there. Here is the rundown of DDT related talent appearing on other shows.

EVOLVE “EVOLVE 125”, 04/04/2019
La Boom, Queens, New York

1. Special Attraction Match: Kazusada Higuchi Vs Curt Stallion
2. EVOLVE Tag Team Titles: Eddie Kingston & Joe Gacy (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita & MAO

There are two shows taking place in La Boom before DDT takes the stage. First up is EVOLVE at noon. Takeshita & MAO are teaming together to go after the EVOLVE Tag Team Championship. The current champions are Eddie Kingston & Joe Gacy, two members of a unit in called The Unwanted. Higuchi has some things lined up for later in the week so for now he gets a warm up match against Curt Stallion.

WXW “AMERIKA IST WUNDERBAR”, 04/04/2019
La Boom, Queens, New York

1. Yuu Vs LuFisto
2. wXw Unified World Title: Bobby Gunns (c) Vs Shigehiro Irie

Next up, Germany’s wXw will run a show in the afternoon. Irie and Yuu are both freelancers now but I want to include their matches here since it felt so good to see and hear what they’ve been up to in Europe the last few months. Irie gets a shot at the wXw Unified World Title when he faces Bobby Gunns, aka the reason why chants are now done to the tune of “Robot Rock” at some European wrestling shows. Meanwhile Yuu faces indy wrestling legend LuFisto.

WWN LIVE “WWN SUPERSHOW 2019 – MERCURY RISING”, 05/04/2019
La Boom, Queens, New York

1. SHINE Title: Allysin Kay (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita
2. WWN Title: JD Drake (c) Vs Kazusada Higuchi
3. The Six Man Tag Team Tradition Continues: AR Fox, Leon Ruff & Adrian Alanis (w/ Ayla) Vs Daisuke Sasaki, Tetsuya Endo & Soma Takao

The entire WWN Live lineup of promotions get together for the annual Mercury Rising supershow. The event likes to hype up their 6-Man Tag Matches and one of them features DAMNATION against The Skulk. Higuchi gets his big match of the week by facing JD Drake for the WWN Championship. Finally Yamashita has challenged Allysin Kay to a match for the SHINE Title.

BLACK LABEL PRO “ADVENTURES IN WRESTLING”, 05/04/2019
White Eagle Hall, New Jersey

1. Jonathan Gresham Vs Shigehiro Irie

The Beast gets to tangle with The Octopus over in Black Label Pro.

WWN LIVE “MORETHANMANIA.COM 2019 WRAP UP PARTY”, 06/04/2019
The Bell House, Brooklyn, New York

1. Falls Count Anywhere Match: Konosuke Takeshita & Sanshiro Takagi Vs Dr. Cube’s Posse

DDT’s week ends in the most wackiest way possible. They get to work with Kaiju Big Battel! At this show, DDT stands for Double Danger Tandems. Takeshita & Takagi are going in together to find the most danger. They are supposedly going to face two kaiju from Dr. Cube’s Posse.

And then that’s it. Unless there are any unadvertised or last minute appearances on other shows, that’s the complete DDT schedule for their trip to New York. Any last questions?

Will the Steiner Brothers be at the DDT show?

No.


A Whole Lot Of News For March

February 25, 2019

BASARA “BASARA 90 ~FEAST~”, 26/02/2019
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Ryuichi Sekine Vs Masato Kamino
2. FUMA, SAGAT & Trans-Am ★ Ryuji Vs Takumi Tsukamoto, Takato Nakano & Yasu Urano
3. Turnabout Pro Wrestling Trial: Gouma Ryu Vs Banana Senga Vs Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi
4. Aiseki Tag Vs Stretchmen!: Fuminori Abe & Ikuto Hidaka Vs Best Stretchman V3 & Best Stretchman Amazon
5. Yusuke Kubo Vs Jun Masaoka
6. Sparky Vs Sento Minzoku!: Ryota Nakatsu, Naoki Tanizaki & Akiyori Takizara Vs Isami Kodaka, Minoru Fujita & Daiki Shimomura

This is the last BASARA show currently on schedule before their Korakuen Hall return on 21st March.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “SPRING TOUR ’19 ~ READY SET, GO!”, 02/03/2019
Osaka Okinawa Hall

1. Rika Tatsumi Vs Himawari Unagi
2. Maki Itoh & Raku Vs Marika Kobashi & Mina Shirakawa
3. Nodoka Tenma & Yuki Aino Vs Yuna Manase & Yuki Kamifuku
4. Shoko Nakajima, Haruna Neko & Mahiro Kiryu Vs Natsumi Maki, Pinano Pipipipi & Pom Harajuku
5. Mizuki Vs YUMI
6. Miyu Yamashita & Hikari Noa Vs Yuka Sakazaki & Miu Watanabe

No sign of Sakisama or the former Hyper Misao anywhere since Masao’s unexpected actions over the weekend. She has abandoned her entire persona to join Sakisama’s side and become stronger.

DDT “OSAKA 24 DISTRICT TOUR ~TAISHO WARD~”, 02/03/2019
Osaka Okinawa Hall

1. Bull James Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga
2. Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Makoto Oishi & Yuni
3. Yukio Sakaguchi, Masahiro Takanashi & Kazusada Higuchi Vs Keisuke Okuda, Kota Umeda & Shunma Katsumata
4. Gongitsune Vs Yellow Devil In Tokushima!: Antonio Honda Vs Maku Donaruto
5. Soma Takao, Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie Vs MAO, Asuka & Mizuki Watase
6. Konosuke Takeshita, Akito & Yuki Iino Vs HARASHIMA, Yuki Ueno & Naomi Yoshimura
7. As Always I Like It! Osaka Specialty Special Single Match: Mike Bailey Vs Daisuke Sasaki

Former NXT wrestler Bull James will be touring with DDT throughout March. He’s been busy wrestling in the New York indy scene over the last few years.

DDT “THREE DREAMS 2019”, 03/03/2019
Hiroshima Aster Plaza Multipurpose Hall

1. Yukio Sakaguchi, Masahiro Takanashi & Rey Paloma Vs Asuka, Kenshin Chikano & Lowther
2. HARASHIMA & Takeshi Okada Vs Keisuke Okuda & Makoto Oishi
3. Raw Oysters, Grilled Oysters, Steamed Oysters 3 Way Match: Antonio Honda Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Yoshihiko
4. Soma Takao Vs Akito
5. Hiroshima Specialty! Jingi Naki Special Tag Match: Konosuke Takeshita & Shunma Katsumata Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Bull James

The three Right To Challenge Gauntlets are now in effect. Tetsuya Endo, Makoto Oishi and Yuki Iino currently possess them.

DDT “INTO THE FIGHT 2019”, 21/03/2019
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Riki Choshu, Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Yeno Vs KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Gota Ihashi
2. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Konosuke Takeshita, Akito & Yuki Iino (c) Vs Meiko Satomura, DASH Chisako & Chihiro Hashimoto
3. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Mike Bailey & MAO (c) Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Soma Takao
4. DDT Extreme Title – #ExtremeRuleThoughts: HARASHIMA (c) Vs Muscle Sakai

The DDT fans have been asked to tweet ideas for rules and match stipulations for the DDT Extreme Title bout between HARASHIMA and Muscle Sakai under the hashtag #エクストリームのルール考えました. HARASHIMA will pick his favourite idea on 11th March. Sakai apologises for the current state of the pro wrestling world because a man like him can qualify for a championship match without having any skills or previous achievements. But when he watched HARASHIMA wrestle Shinya Aoki in Sumo Hall he was inspired by what he saw and became determined to challenge the winner no matter what.

Daisuke Sasaki is falling down the well and falling hard since he lost the KO-D Openweight Title. He just lost a match clean to Makoto Oishi for cripes’ sake! He is now so down in the dumps that he believes his wrestling career is coming to an end and he will have no choice but to leave Japan in shame. But before he goes he wants to make some final happy memories to keep him company so he and Soma Takao are challenging The Moonlight Express for the KO-D Tag Team Titles.

The Sendai Girls are coming back for a shot at redemption and also the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles. They failed to beat ALL OUT for the belts last July and the result has been festering inside Meiko Satomura all this time. She wants to take out her frustration on Konosuke Takeshita most of all. DASH Chisako is along for the ride again but this time the third member of the team is Chihiro Hashimoto! She too is holding a grudge with Takeshita because an enemy of Satomura is an enemy of hers too!

Speaking of redemption, finally Gota Ihashi will face Riki Choshu again inside the ring! For over a year Ihashi has worked tirelessly on his fitness and his pro wrestling to make up for an embarrassing performance he had while teaming with the legendary Choshu. All his hard work is leading up to this match.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “GIRLS SHINING, I WILL FLY TO HAKATA”, 31/03/2019
Hakata Star Lanes

1. TOKYO Princess Of Princess Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) Vs Yuka Sakazaki

Yuka Sakazaki has been chosen by Miyu Yamashita to be her next challenger for the TOKYO Princess Title. Yamashita’s goal is to get at least 10 title defences in her current reign. She is currently on 8. She also wants this match to happen before Sakazaki travels to America for her AEW debut.

Aja Kong, Mika Iwata and Rina Shingaki will all be on the show.

DDT “GOODBYE HAKATA STAR LANES”, 31/03/2019
Hakata Star Lanes

1. KO-D Openweight Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Jiro Kuroshio

It’s about bloody time they’re doing this match! In January 2018, Jiro Kuroshio defeated Takeshita in a non-title match as part of the first D-Ou Grand Prix tournament. Normal wrestling etiquette suggests that a rematch with the KO-D Title on the line would come out of it. That never happened. Well a year has passed, Takeshita is the champion again and now the match is happening as part of Takeshita’s plan to defend the KO-D Title against a wider variety of wrestlers. But there is something that could happen to make the match even more interesting. Kuroshio is challenging T-Hawk for the WRESTLE-1 Title on 21st March. If Kuroshio wins and becomes champion then the match with Takeshita may become a double title match!

Isami Kodaka and Takumi Tsukamoto will be on the show so BASARA can be a part of DDT’s final event in Hakata Star Lanes.

DDT “DDT IS COMING TO AMERICA”, 04/04/2019
La Boom, Queens, New York

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Maki Itoh
2. Danshoku Dieno & Antonio Honda Vs Joey Ryan & Royce Isaacs
3. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Battle Royal: Saki Akai (c) Vs Makoto Oishi Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Yoshihiko Vs Kikutaro Vs Colt Cabana Vs X
4. Soma Takao & Tetsuya Endo Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi
5. 3 Way Tag Match: HARASHIMA & Kazusada Higuchi Vs Akito & Ethan Page Vs Shigehiro Irie & Jason Kincaid
6. Weapon Rumble In U.S.A.: MAO Vs Sanshiro Takagi
7. Daisuke Sasaki Vs Konosuke Takeshita

That’s an authentic looking DDT card for sure. The “JUDGEMENT 2019” main event rematch, the Weapon Rumble rematch, Tokyo Joshi Pro representation, a Rumble for the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title and Danshoku Dieno crosses paths with Joey Ryan again. There’s even a RENEGADES reunion with Shigehiro Irie & Jason Kincaid. The North American talent announced so far have all been established in DDT too.

DDT “SHUTEN-DOJI 5TH ANNIVERSARY ~DRINKING TURNS YOUR LIFE AROUND~”, 17/04/2019
Shinjuku FACE

1. KUDO & HARASHIMA Vs MIKAMI & Tanomusaku Toba
2. Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Masahiro Takanashi

The Shuten-dōji unit will be taking a break from each other after this show. KUDO is taking an indefinite leave of absence from pro wrestling so he can recover from a list of different injuries he’s been living with. He has nerve paralysis in his left eye, a lumbar hernia and suffers from dizziness from time to time. His doctor told him the best treatment is to take rest. KUDO promises he will return to the ring eventually and even apologises if this only turns out to be a short break and he quickly returns.

With KUDO out of action, the rest of Shuten-dōji agreed to call it a day as a group. Yukio Sakaguchi and Masahiro Takanashi will be going their separate ways as wrestlers. They will face each other one on one to celebrate the end of Shuten-dōji for now. KUDO meanwhile will team with his old partner HARASHIMA to take on the reunited Suicide Boyz for this special occasion. This will be MIKAMI’s first match for DDT in over three and a half years.


Shigehiro Irie To Go Freelance

September 25, 2018

A press conference was held by DDT today to announce that Shigehiro Irie will not be renewing his contract at the end of September. He will become a freelancer from October onward. Irie’s final match under contract will be on 30th September, however he does have dates with DDT booked for October including “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2018” on the 21st. Irie will be teaming with Keisuke Ishii on that show to take on HARASHIMA & Yukio Sakaguchi in a special tag match involving Irie’s friend and his two favorite opponents.

The decision to go freelance was considered by Irie for a while and he made his mind up after this past Saturday’s main event in Korakuen Hall. He had formed deep bonds with the wrestlers he met on his overseas excursions and he wants to discover more various experiences as a pro wrestler while his body is still moving. He wants to take on new hard challenges and not just the ones he can find abroad. He appreciates everything he learned in DDT and also from Sanshiro Takagi who he has known all the way back to his start in Dera Nagoya Pro Wrestling. Takagi notes that pro wrestling is rising all around the world not just in Japan and North America but Europe, South America and China too. He encourages Irie to succeed and become a big name overseas as a graduate from DDT. Takagi wants to give Irie the chance to grab that opportunity knowing that Irie has pride in his DDT origins. He is welcome to continue wrestling in DDT whenever the timing allows him to.

Irie’s resignation means the future of his RENEGADES unit will not last long. Irie’s focus on wrestling overseas means that RENEGADES will be no more with him no longer around. Irie apologises to Mizuki Watase and Jason Kincaid for the decision but says that the rest time before he goes will be short. Irie wants to see Watase in particular absorb more and more as a person, not just for DDT. He looks forward to seeing how Watase will turn into a winner without him.

Irie’s past criticisms of DDT is now behind him and he is leaving with good, if sometimes painful, memories of his time here. It was fun but he wants to do more than just have fun. He explained his fascination with wrestling abroad. Irie always saw wrestling presented on a bigger scale overseas, even bigger than he can imagine. He has a strong desire to experience more and more new things so that’s why he loves going to America to wrestle. His final words to the rest of the DDT roster is to have dreams in wrestling. He wants all of them to have a dream they can believe in and then push towards it. The press conference ended with Irie and Takagi shaking with their left hands, because the left hand is close to their hearts.


DDT “ROAD TO RYOGOKU 2018” Results

September 23, 2018

DDT “ROAD TO RYOGOKU 2018”, 23/09/2018
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,279 Fans – Super No Vacancy

0. Under Match: Makoto Oishi & Antonio Honda defeated Saki Akai & Yuni when Oishi pinned Yuni with a Sunset Flip (6:17).
0. Under Match ~ Booing 2018 New Member Audition: Mizuhime Saijo defeated Sanshiro Takagi & Tomomitsu Matsunaga by Ring Out (13:04).
Order Of Elimination: Movie Star, Eririn Takagi, Henchin, ONAKIN, ZIMA Yoshida, Pulp Bonjin, Gundan Hitori & Kim Yocchan, 5th Tiger Mask (Self-Named), Big Bear, Monster Halloween, Momo Ne, Lingerie Muto, Sanshiro Takagi & Tomomitsu Matsunaga.
*Everybody passed the audition.
1. Jason Kincaid & Mizuki Watase defeated Keisuke Ishii & Yuki Iino when Watase pinned Iino with the Back Drop (5:22).
2. KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi defeated Tanomusaku Toba, Keisuke Okuda & Yumehito Imanari when Takanashi pinned Toba with a Cradle (6:03).
3. Ethan Page defeated Kazusada Higuchi with an Avalanche Power Slam (7:48).
4. Road To Ryogoku! 10-Man Elimination Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki, Soma Takao, Tetsuya Endo, Mad Paulie & Nobuhiro Shimatani defeated HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata, Yuki Ueno & Super Sasadango Machine (12:38).
4a. Daisuke Sasaki & Soma Takao eliminated HARASHIMA & Toru Owashi by Double Ring Out (3:58).
4b. Mad Paulie, Nobuhiro Shimatani and Super Sasadango Machine eliminated each other by Triple Ring Out (6:09).
4c. Kazuki Hirata eliminated Soma Takao by Ring Out (9:18).
4d. Tetsuya Endo eliminated Yuki Ueno with the Swivel Torture Rack Bomb (10:07).
4e. Kazuki Hirata eliminated Tetsuya Endo with the Miracle One Shot Cradle (10:07).
4f. Daisuke Sasaki eliminated Kazuki Hirata with the Cross Facelock (12:38).
5. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Mike Bailey & MAO (c) defeated Brahman Shu & Brahman Kei when MAO pinned Kei with the Cannonball 450 (9:00).
*V1 for The Moonlight Express.
6. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Konosuke Takeshita, Akito & Shunma Katsumata defeated Jun Kasai, Sabu (w/ Super Genie) & Kikutaro when Takeshita pinned Kikutaro with the German Suplex (12:33).
7. KO-D Openweight Title – Survival 3 Way Match: Danshoku Dieno defeated Meiko Satomura (c) and Shigehiro Irie (20:01).
7a. Danshoku Dieno eliminated Shigehiro Irie with the Gaydo Clutch (16:09).
7b. Danshoku Dieno eliminated Meiko Satomura with the Danshoku Driver (20:01).
*Meiko Satomura fails in V1. Danshoku Dieno becomes the 67th KO-D Openweight Champion!

The bumpy road towards Sumo Hall took another crazy turn today when Danshoku Dieno reclaimed the KO-D Openweight Title! Dieno used all of his wits to pin both champion Meiko Satomura and enemy Shigehiro Irie in a Survival 3 Way Match to win the belt. Irie was eliminated first when Dieno stopped his Beast Bomber with the Lip Lock. That left Irie defenceless for Satomura to hit the Scorpio Rising. Dieno then rolled Irie over with the Gaydo Clutch to pin him for the three count. Satomura took control of the match until Dieno blocked the Scorpio Rising and hit his own Death Valley Bomb on the champion. From there the Danshoku Driver put Satomura down and out leading to the new champion crowned.

In all his honesty, Dieno never thought he could do it but now he gets to be in the “PETER PAN” main event for the first time in his career! But first he needed to settle his grudge with Irie. He knows that Irie was never the best with words but Dieno understands what Irie wanted ever since his return earlier this year. He knows Irie didn’t like what DDT has changed into and he fought to make his vision of DDT. Irie is a part of DDT and Dieno promises to carry Irie’s vision on his back as champion. Dieno is grateful for what Irie has done so rather than apologise, he wants to thank him instead. Dieno offered out a handshake. At first Irie refused but only because Dieno stuck out his right hand. Irie wanted to shake Dieno’s left hand because it is closer to his heart.

Dieno then called over to Satomura to bury the hatchet with her. He understands what Satomura was fighting for. The KO-D Title is not exclusive to men or women, it is indiscriminate. After today Satomura has a win over Dieno and Dieno has a win over Satomura. Now he wants to shake hands with the rival who he is tied with. Satomura shook Dieno’s left hand then shook hands with Irie as well. All of Dieno’s problems are over. Well, except for the “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2018” main event…

The Sumo Hall main event is now confirmed to be Danshoku Dieno Vs Daisuke Sasaki with the KO-D Title on the line. When Irie and Satomura left the ring, Sasaki entered to confront the new champion. This is what Sasaki hates about Dieno. He hates how Dieno unexpectedly achieved his dream of main eventing Sumo Hall. Sasaki hates people who talk about their dreams. He is also sick of Dieno being the symbol of DDT. At Sumo Hall, Sasaki wants to make Dieno cry instead. Dieno told Sasaki that the main event of Sumo Hall will exceed his imagination. So if Sasaki wants to take the title from Dieno and replace him as the symbol, he better be prepared!

Hardcore action was promised in the semi-main event. Kikutaro was ready for it because he had both Sabu and Jun Kasai on his team. All he asked was for ALL OUT to avoid touching the right side of his head because he legit just had ear surgery. Konosuke Takeshita chopped the ear and knocked Kikutaro out. Kikutaro had to be carried away from ringside but he eventually returned with his bandages wrapped around his mask. There were a lot of chairs used in the match thanks to Sabu’s valet Super Genie throwing them into the ring whenever Sabu requested one. Sabu put Takeshita through a table with a Top Rope Leg Drop and Kasai hit the Pearl Harbor Splash but Akito & Shunma Katsumata stopped the pin in time to continue the match. Kikutaro set Takeshita up for a Brainbuster but wasted time giving his usual match ending speech to the audience. Takeshita later put Kikutaro in position for the Deadlift German Suplex and he also wasted time speaking to the fans. Kikutaro rolled him over with a Samson Clutch for a nearfall. He then tried the Brainbuster but his back gave out. Takeshita was then able to hit the Deadlift German Suplex for the win.

With that match out of the way, the entire ALL OUT unit stood in the ring to discuss their current form. Yuki Iino says he is ALL OUT but hasn’t gotten used to teaming with the others yet. Takeshita said ALL OUT is now fully resurrected but they have no place on the “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2018” card with one month to go. If DDT isn’t going to give them a match then maybe they should go on the next episode of “DDT LIVE! MAJI MANJI” and do something about it. Takeshita was then cut off by the surprise appearance of the STRONG HEARTS! Out came CIMA, T-Hawk, El Lindaman & Duan Yingnan down to the ring. CIMA told Takeshita he watched the match he just had and felt there wasn’t enough fever in the ring. CIMA wants to know if Takeshita is still on a high level. Does he know what real pro wrestling is? The STRONG HEARTS took a midnight flight from Shanghai just to come here today and this is what they had to watch? Well CIMA has news for them. The STRONG HEARTS have their schedule free on 21st October, the same day DDT goes to Sumo Hall. What is ALL OUT going to do about it?

Takeshita sees where this is going. ALL OUT Vs STRONG HEARTS at Sumo Hall. A tag match would be fun but Takeshita wants something else. He wants to fight CIMA one on one! CIMA couldn’t believe the nerve of this kid calling him out. CIMA has been living in this ring for 21 years. Is Takeshita really prepared to wrestle him? We’ll find out because CIMA accepted the challenge! T-Hawk then took the microphone and demanded the remaining wrestlers in the two units face off in a 6-Man Tag Match. Three versus three is the perfect amount for him. Akito said there was no reason to refuse so that match is on too. Interim GM Tetsuya Koda announced both matches for 21st October in Sumo Hall. Takeshita then pointed out the next episode of Maji Manji is being held in Shibuya in two days time and he wants a special match there. El Lindaman suggested a full ALL OUT Vs STRONG HEARTS 8-Man Tag Match so that every DDT fan and STRONG HEARTS fan could enjoy it. That match was agreed to. Takeshita noticed how STRONG HEARTS are going around the Japanese wrestling scene doing whatever they want. When they come to DDT, ALL OUT will be there to face them!

The Moonlight Express were lulled into a false sense of security when The Brahman Brothers started off their match offering handshakes. The Brahmans then spat water at the Express and attacked them to start the match. Buckets of water were placed around ringside and the two teams threw the buckets at each other and the audience. Mainly the audience. The Brahmans did their bowling ball suitcase spot but Mike Bailey & MAO recovered to do the Skylab Hurricane on Brahman Kei. They attempted the Michinoku Tornado Driver but it was stopped when Brahman Shu blinded both of them with black ink mist. The Brahmans took out a stop sign and tried to hit MAO with it but Kei ended up hitting Shu. MAO then popped a balloon in front of Kei’s face. The balloon turned out to be filled with powder and it blinded Kei! MAO & Bailey climbed the same top rope and together jumped off in different directions. Bailey Moonsaulted outside onto Shu while MAO jumped into the ring to hit the Cannoball 450 on Kei, pinning him to earn a successful defence of the KO-D Tag Team Titles. After the match as the Brahmans were leaving they said they gained new memories today. They also called the Midnight Express crazy! That means a lot coming from them.

Super Sasadango Machine had to reveal a secret to explain why he was teaming with DISASTER BOX today. He lifted up his mask to reveal he is Muscle Sakai! Sakai was a member of the original DISASTER BOX back in 2006 so that’s why he was out here teaming with the modern version. The eliminations in the 5 Vs 5 match mostly consisted of ring outs. Soma Takao blinded HARASHIMA with red mist. That allowed DAMNATION to easily eliminate HARASHIMA and also Toru Owashi at the same time. Sasadango sacrificed himself to eliminate Mad Paulie & Nobuhiro Shimatani with him when all three were Dropkicked off the ring apron. Kazuki Hirata then evened the teams down to two each when he snuck onto the apron and knocked Takao to the floor with a Sliding Kick. Tetsuya Endo put DAMNATION back in the lead by pinning Yuki Ueno with the Swivel Torture Rack Bomb. Hirata surprised Endo by pinning him with the Miracle One Shot Cradle, bringing the match down to Hirata and Sasaki. Hirata did what he could to pin Sasaki including attempting the Mad Splash. Sasaki blocked the splash with his knees and put Hirata in the Cross Facelock to make him submit. Sasaki wins the match as the sole survivor for DAMNATION! Backstage Sasadango told DISASTER BOX he will continue to support them because they are no good at studying their opponents.

Ethan Page made a statement in his return to Japan by beating Kazusada Higuchi. The power versus power match ended when Page gave Higuchi an over shoulder Power Slam from the top rope for the pin.

Keisuke Okuda announced at the beginning of the show that he is now a a full time member of the DDT roster starting today. He had his excuses for being on the losing team against Shuten-dōji. He’s fine teaming with Tanomusaku Toba because he knows how good he is with gloves on. It was Yumehito Imanari that was the weak link according to Okuda. Looking ahead to his new status, Okuda wants to face Yukio Sakaguchi in more matches.

The Philosopher’s Stomp from Jason Kincaid followed by the Back Drop from Mizuki Watase gave RENEGADES the victory in the show opener.

The New Member Audition for Booing 2018 gave a spotlight to many low level pro wrestlers from across the independent wrestling scene. Sanshiro Takagi and Tomomitsu Matsunaga took part in the match both as participants and as judges. We had Movie Star using a rubber swimming ring to trap his opponents, Gundan Hitori walking around Korakuen singing into a Coke bottle, Monster Halloween carrying a chainsaw down to the ring and even a surprise appearance from Lingerie Muto. The final four were Takagi, Matsunaga, Muto and Ehime Pro joshi wrestler Mizuhime Saijo. Muto climbed the ropes to do the Moonsault but he slipped and bounced out of the ring. Takagi and Matsunaga ended up on the ring apron when they missed an attack on Saijo against the ropes. Saijo then grabbed her water gun and sprayed the two Booing wrestlers until they fell down to the floor. Saijo was declared the winner!

With the Battle Royal portion of the competition over, Sanshiro Takagi announced the judging results. Everyone passed! Their prize is a spot on “ALL DOIN”, a special event for indie wrestlers taking place at Shin-Kiba 1st RING on 9th November. Takagi then introduced the executive chairperson for the show. He is the student wrestling legend MEN’S Teioh! His role is to help everyone prepare for the show. Teioh was dismayed over the amount of shit being given to him but he knows he can find a diamond in there somewhere.

Yuni had Makoto Oishi pinned with a Hurricanrana but Antonio Honda poked him in the eyes with a Double Gongitsune Strike. Oishi then flipped Yuni over to pin him for the three count.

DDT “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2018 ~FALL WRESTLING CULTURE FESTIVAL~”, 21/10/2018
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

0. Mina Shirakawa DDT First Participation War! Tokyo Joshi Pro 6-Woman Tag Match: Miyu Yamashita, Yuki Kamifuku & Mina Shirakawa Vs Yuka Sakazaki, Mizuki & Shoko Nakajima
0. Time Difference Battle Royal: Gorgeous Matsuno Vs X
1. Gauntlet Tag Match: KUDO & Masahiro Takanashi Vs Tanomusaku Toba & Keisuke Okuda Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Michael Nakazawa Vs X
2. The World’s Crazy Couple Battle: Makoto Oishi & Misaki Ohata Vs Joey Ryan & Laura James
3. ALL OUT Vs STRONG HEARTS! Special 6-Man Tag Match: Akito, Shunma Katsumata & Yuki Iino Vs T-Hawk, El Lindaman & Tian Yunan
4. The Difference In 27 Years Of Age! Representative Director And President (48 Years Old) And Belonging Wrestler (21 Years Old) Waste Blood Washing Conflict Play – Final Settlement Weapon Rumble!: Sanshiro Takagi Vs MAO
5. Will You Eat Or Be Eaten!? Giant Special Single Match: Super Sasadango Machine Vs Andreza Giant Panda
6. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Soma Takao, Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie (c) Vs Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata & Yuki Ueno
7. Dramatic Dream Match: Konosuke Takeshita Vs CIMA
8. KO-D Openweight Title: Danshoku Dieno (c) Vs Daisuke Sasaki

Meiko Satomura and Maki Ito will be on the card. Guys like HARASHIMA, Kasai and the RENEGADES are currently missing too.


DDT “DDT LIVE! MAJI MANJI #17” Results

September 11, 2018

DDT “DDT LIVE! MAJI MANJI #17”, 11/09/2018
Shin-Kiba 1st RING
165 Fans – No Vacancy

0. NO TV Match I: Keisuke Ishii defeated Nobuhiro Shimatani with a Running Knee Attack (5:59).
0. NO TV Match II ~ “Self-Proclaimed” Interim Mr. Maji Manji Appears In His 4th NO TV Match!: Soma Takao defeated Makoto Oishi with the Gin And Tonic (9:56).
1. MAO defeated Ryan Davidson with the Peach☆Clutch (7:13).
2. HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi & Yuki Ueno defeated KUDO, Masahiro Takanashi & Kazusada Higuchi when Owashi pinned Takanashi with a Collapsed La Magistral Cradle (8:43).
3. 3 Way Match: Jun Kasai defeated Antonio Honda and Kazuki Hirata when Kasai pinned Honda with the Pearl Harbour Splash (10:20).
4. DAMNATION Vs ALL OUT!: Akito & Yuki Iino defeated Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie when Nobuhiro Shimatani attacked the referee (2:26).
4a. Rematch: Konosuke Takeshita, Akito & Yuki Iino defeated Tetsuya Endo, Mad Paulie & Nobuhiro Shimatani when Takeshita pinned Shimatani with a Crucifix Pin (11:01).
5. Kota Umeda “Mad Dog” 7 Match Series – 5th Match: Shinya Aoki defeated Kota Umeda with a Foot Choke (6:42).
6. Shigehiro Irie & Mizuki Watase defeated Meiko Satomura & Daisuke Sasaki when Irie pinned Satomura with the Beast Bomber (14:15).

The unusual pairing of Meiko Satomura and Daisuke Sasaki could not put aside their differences against RENEGADES. Sasaki kept trying to avoid being tagged in whenever he could. Satomura hit him hard when she was able to tag him. Sasaki did wrestle seriously against Shigehiro Irie & Mizuki Watase but when the moment was right for him to betray Satomura, he took it. Sasaki hit Satomura with a Thrust Kick and left her for dead so Irie could hit her with the Beast Bomber. Satomura still had strength left in her and she proved it by kicking out of the Missile Kick Piledriver combo from RENEGADES. But another Beast Bomber from Irie put her down for the count. Irie told Satomura that there is a difference in power between men and women. She will be destroyed in Korakuen Hall to the point that she won’t get back up.

When Satomura left ringside, Irie’s promo was interrupted by a video message from Danshoku Dieno. In the message Dieno said he will get revenge on Irie for attacking him but he won’t be a coward. He will fight Irie face to face! Dieno’s music hit and RENEGADES faced the entrance waiting for Dieno to come out. Dieno snuck into the ring from a different angle and blinded everyone with Milk Mist! He then gave Irie the Danshoku Driver. Dieno got on the microphone and acted like he did what he promised. He attacked Irie head on. Now they have to wait until 23rd September for the Survival 3 Way Match. Dieno wonders if Satomura will survive today’s defeat and continue fighting? Will Irie rip apart two people in the ring? Whatever will happen, Dieno will come out of it as the KO-D Openweight Champion!

Kota Umeda kicked away Shinya Aoki’s hand when he was offered a handshake. Bad move! Aoki took Umeda’s kicks and grappled him down to the canvas. Umeda gained momentum with a Dragon Suplex, a Brainbuster and a PK but as soon as Aoki trapped him in a Foot Choke it was all over for Umeda.

Aoki thanked Umeda for the match then talked about the other reason why he stepped into the DDT ring today. Aoki wants to challenge HARASHIMA for the DDT Extreme Title! Aoki is aware that HARASHIMA will get to choose the match stipulation so he asked for the match rules to be sent to him within a week. He will accept either a hand written message or a PDF document. Tetsuya Koda and Hisaya Imabayashi argued over when to book the match and agreed to have it at the 21st October Korakuen show. HARASHIMA welcomed Aoki to the harsh world of EXTREME!

The DAMNATION Vs ALL OUT match was called off when Nobuhiro Shimatani interfered and struck Yukinori Matsui with the DAMNATION placard from the DNA Draft. Konosuke Takeshita stood up from the commentary table and confronted Shimatani. It’s not time for Takeshita’s official return from injury but he asked Koda if the match could restart as a 6-Man Tag with him and Shimatani both included. The match restarted and while Takeshita got his hands on Shimatani, DAMNATION quickly targeted his injured shoulder. It was clear that Takeshita wasn’t ready to return but he was still able to pin Shimatani with a Crucifix to get ALL OUT the win. Takeshita told Akito & Yuki Iino about his frustrations while he was out of action. Now that he is back he wants to wrestle at the rest of this week’s DDT shows.

Jun Kasai used his goggles to protect his eyes from Antonio Honda’s Shining Gongitsune attack. After he won the 3 Way Match, Kasai again got in trouble for talking about the Dramatic General Election while standing inside the ring.

You don’t use La Magistral Cradle on Toru Owashi. You just don’t! Masahiro Takanashi learned that the hard way. The return of DISASTER BOX is getting Owashi his groove back.

Ryan Davidson’s final match on his first tour of DDT ended in defeat to MAO. He got time to say goodbye to the crowd and promised he will be back.

Soma Takao ignored Makoto Oishi’s handshake after their match.

Keisuke Ishii won his match with a Running Knee Strike instead of the usual Kneel Kick.

DDT gave its first update for the Dramatic Election standings. DAMNATION are leading the Unit Election with 261 votes, Shuten-dōji are second with 185 votes and The Compliance are third with 128 votes. Over on the individual side, Maki Itoh has stormed ahead of everyone else with 244 votes! The rest of the field making up the current Top 20 have between 68 down to 14 votes.


DDT “DDT LIVE! MAJI MANJI #15” Results

August 28, 2018

DDT “DDT LIVE! MAJI MANJI #15”, 28/08/2018
Shin-Kiba 1st RING
220 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

0. NO TV Match I ~ “Self-Proclaimed” Interim Mr. Maji Manji Appears In His 2nd NO TV Match!: Makoto Oishi defeated Antonio Honda with a Reverse Cradle (4:39).
0. NO TV Match II ~ DAMNATION Vs ALL OUT!: Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie defeated Akito & Yuki Iino when Paulie pinned Iino with the Reverse Splash (8:51).
1. Mike Bailey & MAO defeated Kazusada Higuchi & Kazuki Hirata when Bailey pinned Hirata with a Buzzsaw Kick (7:50).
2. Shigehiro Irie, Mizuki Watase & Ryan Davidson defeated KUDO, Masahiro Takanashi & Keisuke Ishii when Irie pinned Takanashi with the Beast Bomber (8:46).
3. 2nd Generation Bachelor Rintaro Oyaizu Dating Rights 4 Way Match: Cherry defeated Yuna Manase, Maki Itoh and Yuki Kamifuku when Cherry pinned Kamifuku with the Spring Night Love (7:20).
4. Special Single Match: Shinya Aoki defeated Gota Ihashi with a Foot Choke (4:22).
5. DAMNATION Vs DISASTER BOX!: HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi & Yuki Ueno defeated Daisuke Sasaki, Soma Takao & Nobuhiro Shimatani when HARASHIMA pinned Shimatani with the Somato (9:22).
6. KO-D Openweight Title: Meiko Satomura defeated Danshoku Dieno (c) with the Scorpio Rising (11:56).
*Danshoku Dieno fails in V1. Meiko Satomura cashes in her Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Gauntlet. Meiko Satomura becomes the 66th KO-D Openweight Champion!

The entire direction of DDT on the road towards Sumo Hall took a massive shift today when Meiko Satomura defeated Danshoku Dieno to become the first ever female KO-D Openweight Champion! There were no games or tricks up Dieno’s sleeve for this match, he took the fight to Satomura as hard as he ever did. Even the Danshoku Nightmare used during the match was performed more like a heavy Sit Down Splash rather than just the usual humiliating squats. Satomura targeted Dieno’s shoulder but struggled when Dieno’s size advantage came into play, allowing him to absorb her kicks. The one thing Dieno didn’t count on was Satomura’s determination. She kicked out of three different Danshoku Drivers: the standard version, the Gotch-Style version and a Screwdriver version. A Vertical Drop Brainbuster did big damage to Satomura’s neck but Dieno didn’t go for the cover. Instead he went to puch Satomura into the corner with his Ippatsu move. Normally that would be a hip thrust but since his opponent was a woman, he kicked her into the corner instead. That had no effect and Satomura backed into him with an Overhead Kick. The critical moment came when Satomura did the Scorpio Rising and hit Dieno’s injured shoulder. With Dieno to hurt to defend himself, Satomura used all her power to give him a Death Valley Driver then hit one more Scorpio Rising direct to Dieno’s head for the three count.

Satomura celebrated becoming the first woman to hold the KO-D Title. Dieno requested a rematch but Satomura told him there is already somebody else she wants to defend the belt against. Shigehiro Irie! Satomura had wanted that match to be for the belt before Dieno pulled off his plan. Irie however cannot accept it. There is one thing he wants more than to win back the KO-D Title and main event Sumo Hall. He wants a singles match with Dieno, the man he blames for changing the DDT that he loved into something else! Satomura took offence to this and asked if Irie is running away from her challenge. The arguing continued until Sanshiro Takagi came down to the ring to sort it out. After congratulating Satomura for her accomplishment today, he looked at the story unfurling in front of him. Satomura wants to fight Irie, Irie wants to fight Dieno and Dieno wants to main event Sumo Hall as the champion. Takagi’s solution is a 3 Way Elimination Match with the championship on the line at the 23rd September Korakuen Hall show! The winner will without any doubt go on to main event “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2018” in October.

With the match agreed upon by all parties, Satomura was left to close out the show with her victory speech. She will soon become the centerpiece of Sumo Hall. She told the women of the world that the time to endure is already over. She will rise to fight the strongest men and women as the first ever female KO-D Champion!

The return of DISASTER BOX is off to a good start. HARASHIMA has an idea to improve the group and that’s to invite Kazuki Hirata to join them! Toru Owashi didn’t approve of the idea because he thought he would never have to deal with Hirata ever again. HARASHIMA cited Hirata’s performance in the King Of DDT tournament as well as a recent pinfall victory over Yukio Sakaguchi as the reasons to give him a chance. That success also got Hirata coverage in the latest issue of Shukan Puroresu so he has to be a good wrestler now. Yuki Ueno was neutral about the idea but Owashi was against it. Everyone agreed to a tag team match on next week’s episode of “DDT LIVE! MAJI MANJI” to determine if Hirata can join. It will be HARASHIMA & Hirata Vs Owashi & Ueno.

At first the size difference between Gota Ihashi and Shinya Aoki worked in Ihashi’s favour. He was able to stay standing from a Sleeper Hold and then squash Aoki with a Splash. It all went wrong when Ihashi missed a Moonsault and was open for Aoki to tap him out with a Foot Choke. When the two were finished thanking each other for the match, Kota Umeda entered the ring and challenged Aoki to a match as part of Umeda’s “Mad Dog” series. Aoki asked if Umeda had recovered from his injury and the two agreed to a bout for the 17th September episode of Maji Manji. Umeda promises it will be a way more serious match compared to what Aoki experienced today.

Cherry won the 4 Way Match but was surprised to find out it didn’t mean she would get to date Rintaro Oyaizu from The Bachelor. When Hisaya Imabayashi put the match together he never agreed to the stipulation that the winner automatically gets Oyaizu. Instead Oyaizu would get to choose whoever impressed him the most. In a shocking twist, Oyaizu apologised to all of the women in the ring because there is another attractive woman he saw today working as the lighting assistant at ringside. The assistant revealed herself to be Aja Kong! She got the lighting assistant job because DDT stopped booking her to wrestle. When Kong and Oyaizu left to go out on their date to any place that has meat, the four women in the ring all attacked Imabayashi for wasting their time.

The combined firepower of the RENEGADES were too much for KUDO, Masahiro Takanashi & Keisuke Ishii to handle. Mizuki Watase has added the Koji Cutter to his moveset and he shouts “Kojikoji-kun” during the move. Takanashi was pummeled with a Lariat from Ryan Davidson, a corner to corner Dropkick from Watase and then the Beast Bomber from Irie for the finish.

Kazusada Higuchi encouraged Hirata to wear the Hirata GO! glasses during their tag match because he wanted to see him dance. Hirata didn’t want to do it because he was going to win without them. So Higuchi knocked him out of the way and wore the glasses himself. Higuchi’s dancing was very different but was fun enough to get Mike Bailey & MAO also involved. The weird dancing annoyed Hirata and distracted him enough to get rolled into a School Boy. Hirata kicked out but then got pinned by a Buzzsaw Kick from Bailey. After the match Bailey & MAO announced their new team name. They are now the Moonlight Express! The name came about because both of them would like to go to the moon where there is less gravity. They can then jump very high like they do on trampolines.

Yuki Iino was building up momentum when he hit Mad Paulie with the Spear. He went to repeat the move but the second Spear was blocked by Paulie’s Lou Thesz Press. A Backflip and the Reverse Splash got DAMNATION the win over ALL OUT.

Antonio Honda’s Gongitsune went badly wrong to the point where his hand got stuck pinching his own nipple. Honda had to go out into the audience to get help letting go.

Some unit organisations were made for the Dramatic General Election. Dieno formed The Compliance with Makoto Oishi, Antonio Honda, Kazusada Higuchi and Super Sasadango Machine as the other members. Each member has a different role in the group all with the goal of keeping DDT under control and out of trouble. Oishi’s job is to crack down on wrestlers’ romantic relationships with women, Honda is cracking down on animal cruelty, Higuchi is cracking down on anti-social behaviour and Sasadango is cracking down on internet flame wars.

Tomomitsu Matsunaga announced that he and the currently absent Michael Nakazawa are bringing back Booing for their annual election run. This time around Ihashi will not be a part of the group. Instead Matsunaga promises a super big mystery wrestler will join himself and Nakazawa to form Booing 2018. Nakazawa is also a last second entry in the singles portion of the election. He just missed the cutoff date but DDT decided to let him in because they think he isn’t going to get many votes anyway.


DDT “DDT LIVE! MAJI MANJI #14” Results

August 14, 2018

DDT “DDT LIVE! MAJI MANJI #14”, 14/08/2018
Shin-Kiba 1st RING
240 Fans – Super No Vacancy

0. NO TV Match: Soma Takao defeated Mizuki Watase with the Sorarina (7:22).
0. NO TV Match: Ryan Davidson & Facade defeated Toru Owashi & Nobuhiro Shimatani when Davidson pinned Shimatani with the Davidson Driver (8:25).
1. Akito & Gota Ihashi defeated Yuki Ueno & Yuki Iino when Akito submitted Iino with a Modified Leg Lock (7:23).
2. Kazusada Higuchi, Kouki Iwasaki & Meiko Satomura defeated Sanshiro Takagi, Makoto Oishi & Cherry when Satomura pinned Oishi with the Scorpio Rising (7:05).
*Meiko Satomura wins Makoto Oishi’s Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Gauntlet.
3. KUDO & Masahiro Takanashi defeated Danshoku Dieno & Antonio Honda when KUDO pinned Honda with the Diving Double Knee Drop (9:07).
4. Road to King Of DDT 2018 3rd Round 4 Way Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo defeated HARASHIMA & Mike Bailey, Yukio Sakaguchi & MAO and Keisuke Ishii & Kazuki Hirata when Endo pinned Hirata with a Swan Dive 450 Splash (10:20).
5. RENEGADES Vs DAMNATION!: Shigehiro Irie & Jason Kincaid defeated Shuji Ishikawa & Mad Paulie when Irie pinned Paulie with the Beast Bomber (19:20).
6. KO-D Openweight Title: Danshoku Dieno defeated Shigehiro Irie (c) with the Gaydo Clutch (1:37).
*Super Sasadango Machine gives his Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Contract to Danshoku Dieno. Shigehiro Irie fails in V1. Danshoku Dieno cashes in his Right To Challenge Gauntlet. Danshoku Dieno becomes the 65th KO-D Openweight Champion!

Today’s episode sparked plenty of changes in the DDT landscape. There was the planned roster switch-up freshening up some of the units but some added surprises completely changed the course of as we head towards the King Of DDT finale. Things seemed normal during the main event. Shigehiro Irie made his first appearance in DDT since his latest US tour and after the title loss incident in Ohio he had the KO-D Openweight Title with him safe and sound. He and Jason Kincaid were victorious over Shuji Ishikawa & Mad Paulie but it was a close call. Irie kicked out of a Double Choke Slam and the Reverse Splash. It was only when he hit a desperate Beast Bomber to Paulie that he was able to win the match. Ishikawa said he got to have a strong match after spending time away from DDT. He told everyone when he is the Triple Crown Champion he would like to face Irie again.

When DAMNATION left the ring, Meiko Satomura came out with her eyes set on Irie. With the yellow Right To Challenge Gauntlet in her possession, Satomura challenged Irie to a title match on the 28th August episode of “DDT LIVE! MAJI MANJI”! An exhausted Irie got up and accepted the challenge. But when they were about to shake hands, Danshoku Dieno interrupted them with important news. Producer Dieno will not accept Irie Vs Satomura as the next KO-D Title match because the next title match will happen right now! Dieno then suddenly pulled out the blue Gauntlet belonging to Super Sasadango Machine. A video played on the screen of Sasadango announcing that he is giving his Gauntlet to Dieno as a gift. It now belongs to Dieno and he is cashing it in straight away!

The match began and Dieno immediately gave Irie the Danshoku Driver several times. Irie kicked out of them and fought back. He hit the Beast Bomber but when Irie went for the pin, Dieno caught him in the Gaydo Clutch and pinned him! Danshoku Dieno is the new KO-D Champion! A furious Irie had to be held back by the rest of RENEGADES until they finally got him to leave the ring. He still tossed a chair from the front row at Dieno as he was leaving. Dieno taunted Irie by telling him what he did today was all in the rules. Dieno waited so long and played the good boss all this time so he could pull this off. This plan was why Dieno did not enter King Of DDT this year. He may be the weakest champion of any wrestling company right now but that doesn’t matter. He is going straight to the main event of “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2018” as the champion! Just one problem. Meiko Satomura is still here with the last Right To Challenge Gauntlet (more about that below) and her intention to challenge the champion on 28th August still stands. She told Dieno she will win the KO-D Title, defend it against Irie and then defend it at the main event of Sumo Hall!

The DNA Draft and resulting roster reshuffle took place at the start of the episode. It was already decided that Daiki Shimomura would join BASARA and Kouki Iwasaki would join Ganbare☆Wrestling. Rekka also announced he will be leaving Japan for a while so he will not be transferring to another brand. The remaining DNA wrestlers were given the chance to nominate the group or unit they wished to join and it would be up to those groups to accept them or not. Some of the obvious moves were made first. Mizuki Watase chose RENEGADES (side note: Ryan Davidson has also joined the unit) and Shunma Katsumata picked ALL OUT. No surprises there. MAO wants to continue teaming with Mike Bailey so he picked the default DDT Sekigun group. Yuki Ueno also picked DDT. Naomi Yoshimura didn’t pick anybody. Instead he will go wherever he wants, whenever he wants. Konosuke Takeshita of all people asked him to join ALL OUT instead. Yoshimura declined because he has no motivation to fight with them. He’d rather fight against them. Yuki Iino asked if he could join ALL OUT. Akito wasn’t convinced so he would use their match later as an audition. Kota Umeda chose to stick with DDT. He will be on the same side as his old unit Shuten-dōji and he wants to set a fire under his former older brothers. Nobuhiro Shimatani declared himself the leader of DAMNATION but Daisuke Sasaki said the unit doesn’t need him. Shimatani then nominated Tokyo Joshi Pro but their producer Tetsuya Koda outright refused him. Shimatani went back to DAMNATION and promised to find a beautiful blonde woman for Sasaki, cook delicious meat for Mad Paulie, handcraft a new ring costume for Soma Takao, give Tetsuya Endo a better haircut than the one he currently has and teach new songs to Shuji Ishikawa. Sasaki finally gave in and inducted Shimatani into DAMNATION, but only as a temporary manager. Good enough!

In the middle of the draft, T2Hide announced they are splitting up. Kazuki Hirata is doing well without them although he protested the decision. HARASHIMA approached Toru Owashi and asked him to reform Disaster BOX, their old unit from the 2000s. Owashi liked the idea but they needed a third member to make them a unit. They nominated Yuki Ueno. He has no idea what Disaster BOX is or how important they are in DDT’s history but ok, he’ll join them instead of the default DDT side.

Now all of that craziness has been touched upon, let’s get into the rest of the show. The eight remaining King Of DDT participants met in an 4-Way Tag Match. Some of the pairings were unusual and led to a mix up. MAO & Mike Bailey were on two different teams but in the heat of the action they worked together to wipe out a few of the other wrestlers with a Double Moonsault to the outside. Kazuki Hirata tried to continue his miracle run by going straight at Tetsuya Endo with Cradles but in the end he was pinned by Endo with a Swan Dive 450 Splash. Despite winning the match, Endo says he does not feel any momentum from today’s result. That stuff means nothing when you’re only in the Quarter Finals.

Judging from his earlier performance on the episode you wouldn’t have thought Dieno would end up as champion by the end of it. He got into his usual shenanigans with Antonio Honda against KUDO & Masahiro Takanashi. Honda’s double Gongistune backfired when KUDO & Takanashi grabbed both of his hands and made Honda poke himself in both eyes. They then finised him off with the Takatonic followed by the Diving Double Knee Drop.

It turns out the Right To Challenge Gauntlet rules do apply overseas. Meiko Satomura apologised to the fans for losing the red Gauntlet during her recent visit to America for the Mae Young Classic. I’d go into more detail about the possible consequences for that but it veers into spoiler territory and I’m not in the mood to get into arguments about that right now. To make up for it Satomura made it her goal today to win another Gauntlet so she can challenge for the KO-D Title. Good thing she was in a match against the holder of the yellow Gauntlet Makoto Oishi. Satomura pinned Oishi with the Scorpio Rising and now holds the last remaining Right To Challenge Gauntlet in Japan. Before this match Sanshiro Takagi said if his team won then he would set up the Meiko Young Classic, a tournament for all women wrestlers over the age of 40. Meiko Satomura is 38.

Iino impressed ALL OUT enough in his match to be accepted into their unit. He hit Akito with the Spear but Akito grabbed onto Iino’s leg and pulled him down into a Leg Lock to make him submit.

There was an extra special guest appearing on the show this week. Rintaro Oyaizu from Season 2 of The Bachelor Japan greeted everyone and very quickly attracted attention from several wrestlers. Cherry, Yuna Manase, Yuki Kamifuku and Maki Itoh all entered the ring wanting to woo Oyaizu. They all agreed to fight each other in a 4 Way Match on 28th August with the winner getting a date with The Bachelor.


DDT “SUMMER VACATION 2018” Results

July 22, 2018

DDT “SUMMER VACATION 2018”, 22/07/2018
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,026 Fans – No Vacancy

0. Under Match: Tomomitsu Matsunaga defeated Yuki Ueno with a Samson Clutch (6:42).
1. Sammy Guevara, Jason Kincaid, Facade & Mizuki Watase defeated Yukio Sakaguchi, Masahiro Takanashi, Keisuke Ishii & Kazusada Higuchi when Guevara pinned Sakaguchi with a Running Knee to the back of the head (7:46).
*Sammy Guevara wins Yukio Sakaguchi’s Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Gauntlet.
2. T2HiJoshi Vs ALL OUT Joshi ~Korakuen Super Hot Whirlpool!~: Keiko Takeshita Jr., Akiko & Carousel❤Shun defeated Francoise☆Takagi, Margaret★Owashi & Kazuko Hirata when Takeshita pinned Takagi with a Leg Drop (9:58).
3. Uchicomi! Openweight Ultimate Title – Belt Scramble Tag Rumble: Ken Ohka defeated Gota Ihashi with the Fire Spear (14:23).
3a. Super Sasadango Machine & Yuki Iino eliminated Kouki Iwasaki & Rekka when Sasadango pinned Iwasaki with the Vertical Drop Lehmann Shock (4:14).
*Super Sasadango Machine wins Kouki Iwasaki’s Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Gauntlet.
3b. KUDO & Saki Akai eliminated Super Sasadango Machine & Yuki Iino when KUDO pinned Iino with the Diving Double Knee Drop (7:02).
3c. Antonio Honda & Alex Ace eliminated Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi by Double Ring Out (8:25).
3d. Antonio Honda & Alex Ace eliminated KUDO & Saki Akai by Ring Out (8:25).
3e. Soma Takao & Nobuhiro Shimatani eliminated Antonio Honda & Alex Ace by Ring Out (10:59).
3f. Ken Ohka & Gota Ihashi eliminated Soma Takao & Nobuhiro Shimatani when Ihashi pinned Shimatani with a Running Body Press (12:53).
3g. Uchikomi! Openweight Ultimate Title Decision Match: Ken Ohka defeated Gota Ihashi with the Fire Spear (14:23).
*Ken Ohka becomes the 1st Uchikomi! Openweight Ultimate Champion.
4. Big Love! Special Single Match: Daisuke Sasaki defeated Asuka with the Crossover Facelock (8:23).
5. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Mike Bailey & MAO defeated Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie (c) when MAO pinned Endo with the Cannonball 450 (17:53).
*DAMNATION fails in V1. Mike Bailey & MAO become the 65t KO-D Tag Team Champions!
6. KO-D Openweight Title: Shigehiro Irie (c) defeated HARASHIMA with the Beast Bomber (25:28).
*V3 for Shigehiro Irie. HARASHIMA cashes in his Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Gauntlet.
-. KO-D Openweight Title: Shigehiro Irie (c) defeated Sammy Guevara with the Beast Bomber (7:54).
*V4 for Shigehiro Irie. Sammy Guevara cashes in his Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Gauntlet.

Finally, finally, finally! Seven years since on from their first meeting and on his 10th attempt, Shigehiro Irie has beaten HARASHIMA one on one! HARASHIMA hit him with the Somato several times from different directions throughout the match. In return Irie hit the Beast Bomber enough times to put HARASHIMA down and out. Even though Irie’s attitude towards DDT has turned sour, there wasn’t any hatred shown towards HARASHIMA after the match. The two showed respect to each other and Irie thanked HARASHIMA for the match.

With the once impossible task now passed, Irie can now move on to his next goal as KO-D Openweight Champion. He wants to go abroad and defend the title against foreign wrestlers. Hisaya Imabayashi told Irie that DDT needs to know in advance who Irie will be fighting so they can authorise any title defences. Irie brought up the one way ticket to New York that Kazusada Higuchi was given after the 2016 DNA Grand Prix that he never used. Maybe Irie will take it for his travels. That like the overseas title defences is another thing DDT once promised that they never followed up on. Danshoku Dieno said if this is what Irie wants then it is Dieno’s duty as DDT Producer to endorse it. Irie said he already decided it will happen and Dieno will not get any say on the matter. Dieno tried to tell Irie that he hopes Irie will not lose the title but he was suddenly interrupted by Irie’s buddy Sammy Guevara.

The opening match today ended Sammy Guevara winning a Right To Challenge Gauntlet and he decided he will cash it in right now! Dieno was happy to tell Irie that the match was happening right now too. Guevara started quick with a Topé out of the ring but his high risk moves went against him later when Irie threw him over the corner post onto the rest of Irie-gun outside! Guevara recovered to hit the Cannonball 630 but that only got a nearfall. Irie put a stop to Guevara’s sprint by hitting him with the Traffic Accident Tackle and getting the pin with the Beast Bomber. After the match Irie called Guevara stupid, but he likes how crazy he is. If a fool like Guevara is brave enough to pick a fight with Irie then that’s the kind of guy Irie wants on his team. When the show was over, Irie decided on the official name for his unit. From now on they are RENEGADES. They are traitors to DDT and will rebel against the company!

Today was a sad day for DAMNATION with plenty of despair to go around. Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie lost the KO-D Tag Team Titles to Mike Bailey & MAO. It took Bailey and MAO to jump off the same turnbuckle at the same time onto the champions to win. MAO hit the Cannonball 450 on Endo to pin him in the ring while Bailey landed a Moonsault onto Paulie outside the ring. MAO was even more satisfied because it is the first time he has decisively beaten one of his seniors and also because he and Bailey won the titles on their first attempt.

If losing championships were bad, having your heart broken was worse. Daisuke Sasaki shared the ring with Asuka but not for a wrestling match. Instead he wants to show the world all of the BIG LOVE they have for each other. Unfortunately Asuka admitted she was never seriously into him. Sasaki isn’t her type and he’s also too old for her anyway. The revelation sent Sasaki into a frenzy and he was no longer going to hold back. Asuka hit a Choke Slam but her Moonsault was blocked. Sasaki got a nearfall with the Diving Elbow Drop. He knew Asuka was beaten but he gave her one last chance to change her mind. All he wanted was for her to say “BIG LOVE”. Instead Asuka gave Sasaki the middle finger and shouted “Fuck you!” Sasaki put Asuka in the Crossover Facelock to make her tapout. BIG LOVE is dead. Now Sasaki is reborn with feelings stronger than hatred. He swears he will kill everyone!

The Uchicomi! company wanted a new spokesperson when Ken Ohka turned out to be a failure for them. Ohka won the match to become the first ever Uchikomi! Openweight Ultimate Champion so they are back to square one. However the Uchikomi! director Michiaki Nakano was impressed by Ohka’s performance in the match and is willing to give Ohka another chance. In the Battle Royal portion of the match, Alex Ace’s size allowed him to dominate the ring and eliminate several wrestlers by Ring Out. It was only miscommunication from Antonio Honda that led to them getting eliminated. Super Sasadango Machine was also able to win a Right To Challenge Gauntlet from Kouki Iwasaki when Rekka accidentally struck his partner, costing them the match.

The ALL OUT boys are busy preparing for their match against the Sendai Girls on Tuesday. To help them figure out what wrestling against joshi is like, they sent their cousins Keiko Takeshita Jr., Akiko & Carousel❤Shun to wrestle in their place against another “joshi” team of Francoise☆Takagi, Margaret★Owashi & Kazuko Hirata. Actually Keiko Jr. might be Konosuke Takeshita’s aunt rather than cousin judging by her appearance and behaviour. Takeshita Jr. hulked up and ripped off her clothes before pinning Takagi with the Leg Drop. They won’t be around on Tuesday to see their relatives defend the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles.

Sammy Guevara won his Right To Challenge Gauntlet from Yukio Sakaguchi in the opener. Mizuki Watase, Jason Kincaid & Facade all hit Coast To Coast Dropkicks on Sakaguchi but Guevara’s pin was stopped by Sakaguchi’s teammates. Sakaguchi applied a Sleeper Hold but Guevara slipped out of it and hit a Running Knee to the back of Sakaguchi’s head for the surprise three count.

Tomomitsu Matsunaga grabbed Yuki Ueno’s tights during the Samson Clutch to beat him.

Former Tokyo Joshi Pro wrestler Nonoko has been appointed as the food producer for Beer Garden week. She promises to stimulate all five senses of the customers with her menu.

Kota Umeda will be out of action for the rest of the month because of his left knee injury.

The 2018 Dramatic General Election will begin on 4th September and end on 28th October. The 28/10 Korakuen Hall show will be a “DDT LIVE! MAJI MANJI” special!