DDT “JUDGEMENT 2022 ~DDT 25TH ANNIVERSARY~” Preview

March 18, 2022

DDT “JUDGEMENT 2022 ~DDT 25TH ANNIVERSARY~”, 20/03/2022
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

0. Dark Match: Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Toui Kojima, Yuki Ishida Vs Yusuke Okada, Yuya Koroku & Ilusion
0. Dark Match – Time Admission Tag Battle Royal: Tomohiko Hashimoto & Seiya Morohashi Vs Soma Takao & Shota Vs Minoru Fujita & MJ Paul Vs Yuji Hino & Yukio Naya Vs Gorgeous Matsuno & Gota Ihashi Vs Andreza Giant Panda & Super Sasadango Machine
1. KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles: Toru Owashi, Antonio Honda, Kazuki Hirata & Yoshihiko (c) Vs Poison Sawada JULIE, Takashi Sasaki, GENTARO, MIKAMI & Thanomsak Toba (w/ Naomi Susan)
2. Special Single Match: Saki Akai Vs Maya Yukihi
3. DDT 25th Anniversary Special Single Match – No DQ “I’m Sorry” Match: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Michael Nakazawa
4. Special Tag Match: Isami Kodaka & Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Yuki Ueno & Shunma Katsumata
5. LiLiCo Retirement Match: LiLiCo, Ryohei Odai & Akito (w/ Junretsu) Vs Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno, Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari
6. Jun Akiyama 30th Anniversary Match: Jun Akiyama & Takao Omori Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Hideki Okatani
7. DDT Universal Title – Hardcore 3 Way Match: Daisuke Sasaki (c) Vs Jun Kasai Vs MAO
8. KO-D Tag Team Titles: HARASHIMA & Naomi Yoshimura (c) Vs Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi
9. KO-D Openweight Title – Japan Bakery Marketing Presents: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Tetsuya Endo

Bloody hell this thing lasted 25 years. TWENTY FIVE YEARS! DDT is a company that was put together by a promoter named Shintaro Muto* along with three wrestlers who exited Pro Wrestling Crusaders with him in 1996. Those three wrestlers are known today by the names Sanshiro Takagi, MIKAMI and NOSAWA Rongai. Fast forward to 2022. DDT is now celebrating its silver anniversary and is a key part of the second most powerful wrestling conglomerate in Japan. Its very first show in March 1997, one that was held even before the name Dramatic Dream Team was decided on, was called “JUDGEMENT” because the audience was asked to vote on whether or not the actual launch in May should go ahead. 154 people voted for the launch to proceed and 24 people voted to cancel it. Thank God nobody listened to those 24 people.

There is plenty on show to celebrate the 25th Anniversary. Many figures from the company’s past are flocking into Sumo Hall to join with the present and perhaps future of DDT. Four championships are on the line, career milestones are being acknowledged, grudges will be settled, a retirement will take place and the headline match features the two wrestlers DDT spent the last decade building up to be their star players.

*It is very difficult to find information about Muto online. He was a part of PWC behind the scenes but other than that I don’t know what his background is. There’s an old blog post from 2007 where Takagi jokes about Muto always finding newly opened club venues for DDT to hold shows at. There’s also a picture Takagi tweeted of him from his wedding party in 2009 if you want to see what he actually looked like back then.

0. Dark Match: Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Toui Kojima, Yuki Ishida Vs Yusuke Okada, Yuya Koroku & Ilusion

This one had a last minute change of plans. El Unicorn was supposed to be in this match but tested positive for covid a few days before the show. Tomomitsu Matsunaga is taking his place. He in-ring time for much of the year was as a opening match substitute for anyone who is suddenly out of action. The other DDTeeeen!! wrestler Ilusion has wrestled twice so far this year as the heel representation of the brand. Yusuke Okada also had some covid setbacks that set him back but he has since found his place in the BURNING unit. Yuki Ishida has been a bright spark in the ring so far. He can turn into a little sumo firecracker if he keeps it up.

The fun part of this match is the growing feud between the rookies Toui Kojima and Yuya Koroku. These two have been at each other’s throats in a lot of The 37KAMIINA Vs BURNING matches and Koroku has gotten Kojima’s number every time. At first the losses got to Kojima and made him cry. But he swore the next time he cries it will be from tears of joy when he finally beats Koroku! Even if it happens on the first match of the pre-show, it will still mean the world to him if he pulls it off here.

0. Dark Match – Time Admission Tag Battle Royal: Tomohiko Hashimoto & Seiya Morohashi Vs Soma Takao & Shota Vs Minoru Fujita & MJ Paul Vs Yuji Hino & Yukio Naya Vs Gorgeous Matsuno & Gota Ihashi Vs Andreza Giant Panda & Super Sasadango Machine

Some DDT nostalgia fills up the Dark Match Tag Team Rumble. The Double Bridge team of Tomohiko Hashimoto & Seiya Morohashi returns for this match. Hashimoto was a regular part of DDT shows in the 2000s while Morohashi stuck around the DDT family up until 2016. Soma Takao & Shota have been bouncing around Ganbare☆Pro as ROMANCE DAWN and having fun doing so. Not so fun is the DAMNATION T.A pair of Minoru Fujita & MJ Paul. The big boys Yuji Hino & Yukio Naya are still together despite a lack of success as a team. Gorgeous Matsuno will be there to serenade the fans while Gota Ihashi will hopefully try a fat boy Moonsault. That leaves Super Sasadango Machine joining forces with an old opponent. It’s the return of Andreza Giant Panda! It is the first time Andreza has been in Sumo Hall since Muscle ran there in 2019. Sadly his master Samson Miyamoto passed away during September 2020 but Andreza continues to make sporadic appearances in wrestling shows around the country.

1. KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles: Toru Owashi, Antonio Honda, Kazuki Hirata & Yoshihiko (c) Vs Poison Sawada JULIE, Takashi Sasaki, GENTARO, MIKAMI & Thanomsak Toba (w/ Naomi Susan)

More nostalgia will be found in the opener. The rules for the KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles are a little muddled up at the moment. It was turned into the KO-D 8-Man Tag Team Titles during the pandemic to reduce spreading covid through the roster. However when it was changed back into a 10-Man Tag Championship, the DDT Variety Team were told to keep defending the belts as a team of four. So the current champions have to take part in 4 Vs 5 Handicap matches until they lose the titles. It’s a tough challenge but the foursome have lasted this long. Toru Owashi spent the year winning a small collection of obscure championships, Antonio Honda keeps finding ways to talk about Gongitsune, Kazuki Hirata is trying to find a new direction but always reverts back to his dancing and Yoshihiko is as dangerous as ever.

A cast of DDT Legends have come to challenge for the title. Poison Sawada JULIE leads the charge with his valet Naomi Susan ready to rattle along to his snake magic. Takashi Sasaki is nowadays known for running FREEDOMS but he was also the fourth wrestler in DDT when it launched. His Aka Rangers tag team partner GENTARO is along for the ride too. MIKAMI is also a DDT original from the very start. If his inspiration Jeff Hardy can still go strong then why can’t he? Plus if MIKAMI is here then you need to get Thanomsak Toba to complete The Suicide Boyz. On behalf of the 2000s message board era of puroresu fans, I apologise for spelling his name Tanomusaku Toba for all these years. It took this long for me to get the Thanomsak Sithbaobay influence.

2. Special Single Match: Saki Akai Vs Maya Yukihi

If you like the free agency/transfer window period in sports then joshi wrestling for the last five months was a blast to follow. Women jumping ship to other promotions, contracts going haywire and promotions turning on their heads meant there was never a dull moment behind the scenes. One of the key figures during this time is Maya Yukihi. For seven years she called Ice Ribbon her home promotion until last December when she was among the wave of talent announcing their intentions to leave the company. Everyone else in the group went on to form Prominence but Yukihi decided to go freelance instead. It makes sense when you see that she already has established roles in OZ Academy along with the Rebel & Enemy faction on the indies. But once she turned freelance, the first place she went to was DDT. Then things got interesting. She hadn’t even worked her first date with DDT yet when Tokyo Sports reported that CyberFight really wanted Yukihi to sign a contract with them.

When Yukihi did have her first match in DDT, she stood across the ring from Saki Akai. Their interactions were respectful during the match and polite afterwards but Yukihi couldn’t help but think Akai was a little bit jealous now she was sharing her DDT spotlight with another woman. As the two continued wrestling each other Yukihi revealed that eight years ago she approached DDT wanting to become a pro wrestler but was turned down. Around that same time period she found out Akai debuted for DDT and essential ended up getting the career she wanted. The positive side to this story is Yukihi found another path to becoming a pro wrestler and it is one she is proud of. Now she wanted to prove that her style of joshi wrestling is better than Akai’s style! A women’s match with a story as powerful as this deserves to take place on an event as important as DDT’s 25th Anniversary so Takagi decided to put it right here in Sumo Hall!

Ever since the match was announced, the tag matches between Akai and Yukihi have become more heated as one would accuse the other of being jealous. Akai would blatantly pin Yukihi with her Rookie Award finisher to rub in the fact she won that category in the Tokyo Sports Awards. Yukihi got her own back by making Akai submit in a later match, figuring out that using her arsenal of moves that nobody from DDT have seen before will be the key to victory. Akai wants to prove that she made it to where she is today through hard work and that she is capable of carrying DDT on her back. But she also can’t help but dig deeper into the insults. She recently gave Yukihi a bouquet of yellow roses because yellow roses represent jealousy. Yukihi promised to give them back to Akai when she beats her!

3. DDT 25th Anniversary Special Single Match – No DQ “I’m Sorry” Match: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Michael Nakazawa

Apologizing to your boss for doing something wrong is a humbling experience that can bruise your ego. However when the tables are turned and your boss apologizes to you it can lift your spirits a lot. So I can kind of relate to what Michael Nakazawa is going through. His first couple of years in DDT were alright but the cracks in his working relationship with Sanshiro Takagi first began in 2008. Nakazawa’s contract with DDT wasn’t renewed despite his intentions to stay with the company. He fought and clawed his way back into DDT later that year but the same situation repeated a year later. Takagi just wanted to get rid of him but somehow Nakazawa would always find a way to get back in! So Takagi decided to do whatever he could think of to embarrass Nakazawa on shows event though he had support from wrestlers like Kota Ibushi and Kenny Omega. Poor Nakazawa had fireworks shot at him, was beaten around like a crash test dummy, got into mismatches against the likes of Minoru Suzuki and even took part in the first Anal Explosion opening ceremony when DDT held their Ryogoku debut. It’s now wonder he held a grudge with Takagi for all these years.

So when Nakazawa was picked up by AEW to work in America it looked like a massive reward for all the crap Nakazawa had to eat in DDT. Finally he was going to be a big star around the world. Unfortunately the matches he has on AEW Dark all reach a level low enough to make Excalibur and Taz consider retirement from broadcasting. However wrestling overseas always makes a wrestler improve no matter who they are and Nakazawa is ready to unload on his old boss. His finishing move the Ultimate Venom Arm has been upgraded to include the AEW initials in the name. Earlier this week he beat Takagi in an impromptu Falls Count Anywhere match held outside of a bookstore. The taste of victory was sweet but not enough. Nakazawa needs something more and that is for Takagi to apologize to him for everything he put him through in his life. Their match at Sumo Hall is No Holds Barred and can take place anywhere inside or out of the building. The only way to win is to make your opponent say “I’m Sorry!” on the microphone. What will it take for either of them to finally admit they were wrong?

4. Special Tag Match: Isami Kodaka & Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Yuki Ueno & Shunma Katsumata

A good mix of wrestlers here. Isami Kodaka was never really a proper member of the DDT roster. He came in through Union Pro and took the indies path that led him to forming BASARA. His absolute peak in DDT was around that time period when he also beat Yukio Sakaguchi to become the company’s top champion. That was seven years ago so there should be no problem with the two teaming together this weekend. But if there is some tension between the two then maybe a visit to the sauna will calm them down.

That’s where The 37KAMIINA come in. Shunma Katsumata’s love for the sauna is so strong he now runs a hut in Tateyama, Chiba called Sea Sauna Shack. In the ring he shows a more violent side that somehow matches his joyful behavior. Maybe it’s the Lego weapons that keeps him from never losing his temper. Yuki Ueno however is making big strides up the ladder, reaching the D-Ou Grand Prix final at the end of last year. It is only a matter of time before he reaches the top of the DDT mountain. Only problem is right now he is stuck in the shadow of his high school classmate. But we’ll eventually cross that bridge when we get to it. Not that it will be anytime soon.

5. LiLiCo Retirement Match: LiLiCo, Ryohei Odai & Akito (w/ Junretsu) Vs Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno, Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari

DDT has held many matches involving celebrities before and LiLiCo is the one who stood out the most. The half Swedish, half Japanese TV personality wrestled several times for DDT between 2014 and 2017. During her time here she won the DDT Extreme Title, the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title and the KO-D 10-Man Tag Titles. She hasn’t wrestled since then but a knee injury suffered two years ago made her want to have one more match so she could have a proper pro wrestling retirement. To make this match even more special, LiLiCo asked for many handsome men to be involved. DDT made it so by including Akito and also her husband Ryohei Odai to be on her team. Odai is an actor who has starred in Kamen Rider shows and was also a part of the pop band Junretsu (whose name inspired the identical sounding DDT unit). Despite that pedigree he does not have the physical tools needed to wrestle. Even running the ropes gives him a bad back ache. When asked for an opponent, LiLiCo suggested one of them be Danshoku Dieno because they had a risky rivalry together. She may end up regretting that because… *sighs* well let’s just get straight into it with Pheromones.

For the last year DDT has been surrounded by Pheromones. Dieno, Yuki Iino & Yumehito Imanari became obsessed over their lusty attitudes and succumbed to their lewd behaviour. Dieno became “Dandy”, Iino became “Sexy” and Imanari became “Fantastic”. They don’t care about winning or losing often. Instead they want to do what they want without any limitation or censorship. Unfortunately their actions often go beyond the line of good taste and decency so many of their matches end before the finish so DDT doesn’t get kicked off Samurai! TV or banned from Youtube. The GM Hisaya Imabayashi often tries to stop them just to end up getting “publicly executed” by Pheromones for getting in their way. You’d be surprised how many ways Dieno and his mates can come up with giving their opponents the Stinkface. Just when I think I’ve seen them all, poof, there’s a new angle one person’s face can be shoved into another person’s backside. It’s kind of impressive actually.

So that is what LiLiCo and her handsome men have to deal with. She’s up for the challenge and is threatening to cut off Dieno’s you know what if she has to. Akito has this match to worry about alongside his CyberFight VP duties. And Odai still needs to learn how he can fight in the ring when he gets blisters just from pointing at stuff. As retirement matches go it’s not quite on the level of Genichiro Tenryu but I think it can get close enough.

6. Jun Akiyama 30th Anniversary Match: Jun Akiyama & Takao Omori Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Hideki Okatani

There’s an alternate timeline where Jun Akiyama was able to travel in America in 2020 and coach at the WWE Performance Center. What a gift DDT would have missed out on if that went ahead as planned. Instead he was offered a guest coaching spot in, slowly made the transition over from All Japan to join the company full time and the rest is history. And that history is important because Akiyama is celebrating 30 years in pro wrestling this year. All Japan gave permission for Takao Omori to come on over and bring back the Burning Wild tag team for one night only. However their opponents are not in the mood to wish them well for their accomplishment.

Eruption added a new member this year and it is somebody Akiyama knows well. The young wrestler Hideki Okatani learned from him as part of the Junretsu stable but now he is on a new path to become the Red Fighting Spirit. Kazusada Higuchi tested the kid before accepting him into Eruption and now the unit has renewed energy flowing through it. The two of them would love nothing more than to beat Akiyama and surpass him. When Omori heard about the disrespect coming from his opponents he threatened to crush them in the ring! What was meant to be an honorable tag team match may turn into a war between generations!

7. DDT Universal Title – Hardcore 3 Way Match: Daisuke Sasaki (c) Vs Jun Kasai Vs MAO

There’s a bunch of stories going on in this match but you can ignore the MAO stuff. That’s what the other two are doing. MAO pinned Daisuke Sasaki during the Ultimate Tag League and demanded a shot at his DDT Universal Title. Sasaki refused and continued doing so when MAO kept demanding the match. Then Jun Kasai returned to DDT wanting Sasaki to do a rematch of their Hardcore war at Saitama Super Arena five years ago. Sasaki is the only wrestler in DDT that excites Kasai because he couldn’t beat him back then. Sasaki agreed to the rematch but still had MAO following him claiming to have the next title shot. The solution was to do a 3 Way Hardcore match. That way Sasaki gets to fight Kasai again and MAO will finally leave him alone. The latter hasn’t happened yet, MAO still follows him around trying to get his attention. Sasaki had to go deep into the Nerima mountains for special training to finally escape from him. Even then MAO eventually figured out there are no mountains in Nerima.

The situation going into this match is Sasaki and Kasai are only focused on each other. Kasai’s goal is to maim and embarrass Sasaki. Taking the Universal Title from him will naturally happen as part of the process. The champion wants to make Kasai vomit blood and cry in despair that he will never beat Sasaki. MAO would just like his opponents to notice him for once.

8. KO-D Tag Team Titles: HARASHIMA & Naomi Yoshimura (c) Vs Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi

HARASHIMA & Naomi Yoshimura pulled off an unusual gambit for this year’s Ultimate Tag League. They were the reigning KO-D Tag Team Champions but decided to vacate the belts before the tournament so they would be rewarded to the League winners. Their logic was by entering the League without the championship, they were on an even playing field to everyone else. Therefore winning the tournament will be undeniable proof that DISASTER BOX is the strongest tag team in DDT. Their plan worked and their pay off was having the KO-D Tag Titles returned to them. Things may have turned out different though because the Tag League was pretty much cursed from the get go.

Learn this lesson. Never run a round robin tournament during a pandemic. The Tag League this year was riddled with forfeits because wrestlers kept catching covid or had to stay home because they were close contacts. CDK only wrestled two matches and won both of them but had to forfeit the rest of their matches because Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi both had separate positive cases. They had no chance of reaching the finals despite winning matches when they were able to compete. Plus one of those wins was against DISASTER BOX!

The champions did not forget about that. Their only loss in the Tag League was against CDK in the group stage so minutes after the final was over and they received their prizes, the call out was made. DISASTER BOX wanted the rematch and would put the KO-D Tag Titles on the line! CDK accepted the challenge, believing the belts should belong to them anyway. They’ve been using every trick in their book to get the upper hand in recent matches and they also won the Asia Dream Tag Team Titles in ChocoPro. Meanwhile HARASHIMA has his trusty old Somato while Yoshimura now has a new F5 style finisher called the Osaka Dream. It is the strongest tag team in DDT taking on the most dramatic and dreamiest tag team!

9. KO-D Openweight Title – Japan Bakery Marketing Presents: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Tetsuya Endo

The main event of the 25th Anniversary show cannot fit in all 25 years of DDT’s history into one match but it will complete the decade long story of Konosuke Takeshita and Tetsuya Endo. Last year was the most impressive yet from Takeshita. He overcame a bad period of results by going overseas to AEW and coming back as a complete pro wrestler who was finally comfortable in his own skin. He regained the KO-D Openweight Title and has swept through everyone who stood in his way. All that is left to challenge him is an opponent who probably knows him more than anyone else.

Endo needed to find a new direction and control his own fate after the original DAMNATION was forced to split up. He was happy being the right hand man back then but the time had come for him to have a new unit he could call his own. He had some wise men guiding him along the process. Kenta Kobashi had been supporting Endo and decided to pair him with Jun Akiyama to start off. Endo then decided to add in Yusuke Okada and Yuya Koroku to complete the group. All that was needed was a name. Endo took inspiration from his two mentors and revived the name BURNING with their permission. A name with that much history would motivate Endo to work his hardest to live up to it. Everything was set up and Endo now only needs one last piece to complete the puzzle. The KO-D Openweight Title. When Takeshita asked for a challenger to face him for DDT’s 25th Anniversary, Endo came out and said he was the only one who can face him at Sumo Hall.

It was said before that this is not a rivalry because rivals are meant to motivate each other to do their best. These two are enemies. The proof can be seen from the last four months of DDT shows where The 37KAMIINA Vs BURNING has dominated the main events and upper parts of the cards. Endo has upgraded the Shooting Star Press. First he changed the name to the Burning Star Press and now it is The Best Burning Star Press In The Universe. It is a move Endo was able to pin Takeshita with in response to Takeshita submitting him with the Plus Ultra a few days earlier. It has been a tight conflict and the only thing for certain is whoever wins will lead DDT into its 26th year and beyond!

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Posted by JamieOD

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “GRAND PRINCESS ’22” Preview

March 17, 2022

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “GRAND PRINCESS ’22”, 19/03/2022
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

1. Juria Nagano Debut Match: Suzume & Arisu Endo Vs Moka Miyamoto & Juria Nagano
2. Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling Vs Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling: Nao Kakuta, Mahiro Kiryu, Haruna Neko & Kaya Toribami Vs Yuna Manase, Moeka Haruhi, HARUKAZE & YuuRI
3. Sanshiro Takagi Vs Hyper Misao
4. Yuki Kamifuku Vs Asuka
5. Nodoka Tenma Vs Yuki Aino
6. Sakisama, Mei Saint-Michel, Martha & Yukio Saint Laurent Vs Marika Kobashi, Raku, Pom Harajuku & Ram Kaichow
7. Special Single Match: Hikaru Shida Vs Hikari Noa
8. International Princess Title: Maki Itoh (c) Vs Yuki Arai
9. Princess Tag Team Titles: Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki (c) Vs Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe
10. Princess Of Princess Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) Vs Shoko Nakajima

It took nine years for Tokyo Joshi Pro to start from a tiny little idol stage in Akihabara and make it all the way to running grand old Sumo Hall by themselves. It’s a show bigger than the “WRESTLE PRINCESS” name and is part of a stacked Ryogoku weekend with DDT celebrating its 25th Anniversary the next day. All three Princess Championships will be defended, there are some inter-promotional matches, some emotional backstories, a final call for two beloved roster members before they go away and an anticipated debut so let’s have a look at what’s in store for us.

1. Juria Nagano Debut Match: Suzume & Arisu Endo Vs Moka Miyamoto & Juria Nagano

The big debut TJPW has been building up since the start of the year is Juria Nagano. She is a woman of many talents being a former children’s world champion karate fighter, actress and nurse with 900,000 TikTok followers. Her 2nd dan black belt in Shito-ryu makes Nagano a suitable tag partner for Moka Miyamoto and her Shotokan background. Nagano was moved to tears when she first discovered the deep bonds the TJPW roster has with each other and is looking forward to forming her own. Even her opponents are excited to be in the ring for her debut match. Suzume said she wants to crush Nagano in the ring with her love and Arisu Endo believes it will be an exciting match showcasing the future of TJPW. Arisuzu are a team to watch out for and the most likely from this new generation to jump up a level together later this year.

2. Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling Vs Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling: Nao Kakuta, Mahiro Kiryu, Haruna Neko & Kaya Toribami Vs Yuna Manase, Moeka Haruhi, HARUKAZE & YuuRI

A former TJPW wrestler returns looking for a passionate fight. Yuna Manase was with the promotion from 2017 to 2020 until she found a new home in Ganbare☆Pro. She kept a good relationship with TJPW since then but suddenly called out the company in a fiery speech demanding an opponent who wants to fight her instead of being told to by management. Nao Kakuta answered the call, fueled by memories of working with Manase in Actwres girl’Z before either of their TJPW days. The response is also the first time Kakuta felt like a proper member of Tokyo Joshi by defending the promotion’s honour. However Manase immediately got backup with everyone from the Ganbare☆Joshi division wanting to join in the challenge and take part. The challenge became big enough to suck in more people for an inter-promotional 8-Women Tag Match.

Kakuta gathered together Mahiro Kiryu, Haruna Neko & Kaya Toribami to be on her team. Kiryu was recently in the news for alerting everyone on social media to a convincing looking email scam she almost fell for. Neko continues to live life as a catgirl scratching every person who gets in her way. Toribami hasn’t lost a step in the ring since coming back from a European vacation over the winter but is still at risk of being the team’s weak link. Manase is flanked by the rest of Ganjo, a group of women who became tight from constantly teaming with and fighting against each other. HARUKAZE is the biggest example of that, reinventing herself from one of Japan’s weakest wrestlers to a reliable combatant under the tutelage of Yuu Yamagata. The weathergirl wrestler Moeka Haruhi understands Manase is the sun that everyone else in the match will gravitate around, but she wants to be the rainbow that catches everybody’s attention. The least experienced member is YuuRI. She made a surprise jump from JTO to Ganjo at a time when other joshi were transferring to higher profile companies. For her to wrestle in Sumo Hall is a big deal because that was where she discovered pro wrestling in the first place. Ganpro’s bread and butter is having wrestlers who wear their hearts on their sleeves and giving it their all in the ring despite their limitations. Win or lose, the TJPW team can learn a valuable lesson coming out of this match.

3. Sanshiro Takagi Vs Hyper Misao

At first this match was just thrown out as an announcement promoted as an attraction match with no build attached to it. Still the match by itself makes sense on paper. Hyper Misao is always the most creative woman in TJPW when it comes to making up match structures and stipulations and Sanshiro Takagi will literally do anything in the ring to make DDT and everything surrounding it successful. But Misao was bothered by the idea of this match going ahead. Takagi as he is now isn’t the crazy wrestler she saw when she attended her first wrestling match eight years ago. He’s too much of a boring corporate president these days to inspire Misao on a match as important as this. It’s understandable. Takagi is older and his body isn’t what it used to be. He also has a lot on his plate behind the scenes along with a grudge match happening in DDT the next day. But he is still the crazy pro wrestler Misao saw eight years ago. As the poster says above, this won’t be a normal match!

As time has gone by Misao has become more publicly open about her past life before discovering pro wrestling. To go from feeling lost and empty to becoming a big driving force in TJPW is inspirational to see. Thanks to pro wrestling the “29 year old”* has become a stronger person, gotten married and continues to protect love and peace the only way she can. Meanwhile Takagi got stuck fighting with Pheromones and Michael Nakazawa. Who really has more going for them here?

*Misao became self-conscious over her real age during her last birthday and decided to break up from her year of birth.

4. Yuki Kamifuku Vs Asuka

The speed this friendship is going is really fast. Yuki Kamifuku and Asuka have been close friends outside of wrestling since 2017 but only went public with it last year when they started teaming together as VENYU. The team did well in TJPW this year, reaching the semi-finals of the “Futari wa Princess” Max Heart Tournament. But with no chance of winning accolades happening anytime soon the two drinking buddies have nobody to fight but themselves. There have been a few little swipes made in good nature between the two but for Kamifuku it is a chance to climb up to Asuka’s level on the big stage. Asuka feels honored having an important match like this take place while she is a freelancer. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t looking to have fun either. The VENYU entrance is already flashy. What will they be like when Kamifuku and Asuka are trying to out-do one another?

5. Nodoka Tenma Vs Yuki Aino

One of the women leaving pro wrestling soon is Nodoka Tenma. She has been with TJPW since 2016 starting off using a children’s TV character gimmick called Nodoka-oneesan. The time has come for her to retire after she decided to get into food production and agriculture in her hometown. She decided her retirement from pro wrestling will happen on 26th March because she does not want to miss this show. When Tenma & Yuki Aino failed to win the Max Heart Tournament final, Tenma came up with an idea for them to do at Sumo Hall. They should wrestle each other! The Bakuretsu Sisters have never had a singles match by themselves and Tenma does not want to end her wrestling career without doing one. It was an idea that has come up before but Aino always turned it down. This time the match is so important that Tenma will not take no for an answer. Aino has shown flashes of breaking out as a singles wrestler in the past. She seems to be sticking around after her older sister leaves so it is a path she will probably have to take as we head into the summer.

6. Sakisama, Mei Saint-Michel, Martha & Yukio Saint Laurent Vs Marika Kobashi, Raku, Pom Harajuku & Ram Kaichow

The mighty NEO Biishiki-gun returns once more to be a thorn in everyone’s side. This time they are coming nearly at full force. Sakisama & Mei Saint-Michel are already established as a nearly unbeatable tag team but we also get the reappearance of Sakisama’s first loyal maid Martha. There is also the dark and foreboding presence of Yukio Saint Laurent to deal with too. The TJPW side put together to fight them are made up of a mixture of cute and sugary personalities but something is a little bit different this time. Ram Kaichow is part of the team and I bet she is something the likes of which NEO Biishiki-gun have never dealt with before. Kaichow has no problem acting like she owns the place whenever she shows up in TJPW so how will a woman as proud as Sakisama react to that? Kaichow recently celebrated 17 years in the wrestling industry and remember most of that was spent in Triple Six. NEO Biishiki-gun is nowhere near the weirdest thing she has seen before.

But what about the rest of the team? Marika Kobashi is the other wrestler who will be leaving TJPW soon. She wants to spend her final years in university living the full college life. However she also made it sound like it will not be the end of her pro wrestling career so it may only be goodbye for now (unless she shows up somewhere else). Raku is still big into trains and now calls her fanbase her “Passengers”. While not performing with The Up Up Girls she has been teaming with Pom Harajuku. That one continues to run around causing mischief like an out of control three year old. Raku & Harajuku are getting used to teaming with each other but they are regular cannon fodder for NEO Biishiki-gun. Chances of an underdog upset here are slim.

7. Special Single Match: Hikaru Shida Vs Hikari Noa

Now we’re getting into the main course. The top four matches on the card are what I’m all hyped for and it begins with the TJPW debut of Hikaru Shida. Signs of a working relationship between AEW and TJPW were made clear last year and now that it’s become a little easier to travel overseas, that means Shida gets to wrestle in her home country again. TJPW gave her the offer to wrestle in Sumo Hall and here we are. The former AEW Women’s Champion looked a little lost in the shuffle at times but a high quality feud against Serena Deeb means she is coming to Sumo Hall riding a fresh wave of interest. This is the perfect test for her opponent, someone who spent the last few years coming out of her shell by making bloodlust look cute.

As time goes by Hikari Noa pushes TJPW closer inch by inch towards a more violent style of wrestling. He dream is to become the Queen of Deathmatch wrestling and she has jumped into the deep end whenever the opportunity presents itself. Now Shida is not a deathmatch wrestler per se but she has no problem getting dragged into the hardcore style. I mean, this is a woman we recently discovered will threaten decapitation if she hates somebody enough. Like I said, a perfect test for Noa. There are high expectations though and from studying footage Shida thinks Noa has been struggling to meet those expectations. She can tell Noa enjoys wrestling and is hungry to win but does she have the mental and emotional state to succeed?

This may not be the end of Shida in TJPW too. She wasn’t aware of the promotion until she went to America and the interactions she’s had with TJPW wrestlers since then have impressed her. Maybe there will be more interactions between them in AEW or Japan. She performed on stage with Arisu Endo before and Shida hasn’t seen any of her matches other than her debut. Plus there is a certain unbeatable champion in the main event that Shida has been thinking about. But now is not the time to talk about that…

8. International Princess Title: Maki Itoh (c) Vs Yuki Arai

If there is a result on this show that will cause a shockwave throughout TJPW is will be Yuki Arai beating Maki Itoh for the International Princess Title. Itoh became a two time IP Champion on 4th January, ending Hikari Noa’s deathmatch title dreams. With the belt back in her hands, Itoh’s goal is to reestablish the championship as a global prize to be defended overseas. She isn’t shy (when is she ever?) about going back to AEW and defending the title against former champion Thunder Rosa to finally complete a thread that’s been left hanging ever since the pandemic began. She has a trip to America coming up in May and the title could be a necessary accessory for her plans. The worst thing that could happen now is if a far more popular idol steals her glory, her thunder and her championship. How typical would that be?

Momentum is such an overused word in pro wrestling but it really does apply here for Arai. The SKE48 idol has been a big boost for TJPW’s business and the wrestling media in Japan is throwing every Best Rookie achievement they can find in her direction. And she isn’t slumming it in the ring. The hard work is on show even when the match layout every now and then is a bit obvious in highlighting her strengths while hiding her flaws. I shouldn’t knock it when it works though, especially if it gets applied to a rivalry like this.

Whether Arai wanted it to happen or not, she was destined to be Itoh’s enemy. It’s only natural when it is an idol as successful as her to rub Itoh the wrong way. Even more so when the one place Itoh can feel superior is inside the wrestling ring. Itoh tapped out Arai in her debut match and encouraged her to keep coming back fo as long as it will take for Arai to finally beat her. A full year hasn’t even been passed since then but Arai is already confident she now has what she needs to beat Itoh. It would be an unusual result but these are two unusual idols.

9. Princess Tag Team Titles: Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki (c) Vs Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe

We now reach the point where the remaining title matches are between the two strongest opponents. The Princess Tag Team Titles are what helped form The Magical Sugar Rabbits together in the first place. Their first reign holds the current record for the most title defences. In second place is the reign held by Daydream, who are their opponents here. The Max Heart Tournament is what sets up this match. Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki were shockingly eliminated in the opening round, preventing them from facing Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe in Round 2. Daydream then went on to win the entire tournament. The two teams weren’t anywhere near each other in the bracket but MagiRabi know it is their duty as champions to beat the Max Heart winners.

The challengers have a lot on their plate. Tatsumi’s crush on Mizuki is well known but winning back the Princess Tag Titles is now more important. She doesn’t care about that anymore and accepts that Mizuki will hate her for taking the belts away from MagiRabi. Mizuki isn’t worried about a problem like that because she thinks her team is not going to lose anyway. Watanabe sees the champions as a wall she hasn’t been able to climb over until now. Sakazaki’s only concern is defending the belts so MagiRabi can continue bringing fans into their happy, sparkling world!

10. Princess Of Princess Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) Vs Shoko Nakajima

Let’s finish this one strong. The two longest serving members of TJPW headline the promotion’s biggest show yet in Sumo Hall. It is the very same building where Miyu Yamashita and Shoko Nakajima had their official pro wrestling debuts on 17th August 2013. Funny thing is they were both on the same team back then and lost to two wrestlers who are since long gone from the company. In the nine years since then Miyu Yamashita has been the constant ace in TJPW, growing up with the most dominant Princess Of Princess Title reigns in the championship’s history. She has been the female face of CyberFight’s expansion, sharing centre stage with the likes of Jun Akiyama and Naomichi Marufuji. Ever since her debut in Ryogoku, Yamashita has dreamed of Tokyo Joshi holding their own show there. This won’t mean much to her if she cannot beat her biggest opponent on TJPW’s biggest show.

Shoko Nakajima has beaten her for the Princess Title once before, back in 2019. It was how Yamashita’s 10 defence title reign was finally brought to an end. In fact, Yamashita and Nakajima are currently 1-1 in Princess Title matches against each other. Yet the Big Kaiju has always felt small around her rival. No matter how many times Nakajima won matches against her, Yamashita would easily shrug them off and return to winning ways. It can get disheartening. With this match taking place in Sumo Hall, Nakajima doesn’t know if she will ever get a title shot as important as this ever again. This is the Big Kaiju’s best chance to take down an even bigger monster and finally become the superior champion. Whatever the result is, the future of Tokyo Joshi Pro will be made clear when the dust is settled.

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Posted by JamieOD

El Unicorn Pulled From 25th Anniversary Show

March 17, 2022

DDT “JUDGEMENT 2022 ~DDT 25TH ANNIVERSARY~”, 20/03/2022
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

0. Dark Match: Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Toui Kojima, Yuki Ishida Vs Yusuke Okada, Yuya Koroku & Ilusion
0. Dark Match – Time Admission Tag Battle Royal: Tomohiko Hashimoto & Seiya Morohashi Vs Soma Takao & Shota Vs Minoru Fujita & MJ Paul Vs Yuji Hino & Yukio Naya Vs Gorgeous Matsuno & Gota Ihashi Vs Andreza Giant Panda & Super Sasadango Machine
1. KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles: Toru Owashi, Antonio Honda, Kazuki Hirata & Yoshihiko (c) Vs Poison Sawada JULIE, Takashi Sasaki, GENTARO, MIKAMI & Tanomusaku Toba (w/ Naomi Susan)
2. Special Single Match: Saki Akai Vs Maya Yukihi
3. DDT 25th Anniversary Special Single Match – No DQ “I’m Sorry” Match: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Michael Nakazawa
4. Special Tag Match: Isami Kodaka & Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Yuki Ueno & Shunma Katsumata
5. LiLiCo Retirement Match: LiLiCo, Ryohei Odai & Akito (w/ Junretsu) Vs Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno, Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari
6. Jun Akiyama 30th Anniversary Match: Jun Akiyama & Takao Omori Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Hideki Okatani
7. DDT Universal Title – Hardcore 3 Way Match: Daisuke Sasaki (c) Vs Jun Kasai Vs MAO
8. KO-D Tag Team Titles: HARASHIMA & Naomi Yoshimura (c) Vs Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi
9. KO-D Openweight Title – Japan Bakery Marketing Presents: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Tetsuya Endo

El Unicorn has been pulled off the show after he tested positive for covid. Tomomitsu Matsunaga takes his place in the first pre-show match.

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I’m Sorry Match, Aijin Tag, From 2 Count To 3 Count

March 16, 2022

DDT “JUDGEMENT 2022 ~DDT 25TH ANNIVERSARY~”, 20/03/2022
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

0. Dark Match: Yusuke Okada, Yuya Koroku & Ilusion Vs Toui Kojima, Yuki Ishida & El Unicorn
0. Dark Match – Time Admission Tag Battle Royal: Tomohiko Hashimoto & Seiya Morohashi Vs Soma Takao & Shota Vs Minoru Fujita & MJ Paul Vs Yuji Hino & Yukio Naya Vs Gorgeous Matsuno & Gota Ihashi Vs Andreza Giant Panda & Super Sasadango Machine
1. KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles: Toru Owashi, Antonio Honda, Kazuki Hirata & Yoshihiko (c) Vs Poison Sawada JULIE, Takashi Sasaki, GENTARO, MIKAMI & Tanomusaku Toba (w/ Naomi Susan)
2. LiLiCo Retirement Match: LiLiCo, Ryohei Odai & Akito (w/ Junretsu) Vs Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno, Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari
3. Special Tag Match: Isami Kodaka & Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Yuki Ueno & Shunma Katsumata
4. Special Single Match: Saki Akai Vs Maya Yukihi
5. Jun Akiyama 30th Anniversary Match: Jun Akiyama & Takao Omori Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Hideki Okatani
6. DDT 25th Anniversary Special Single Match – No DQ “I’m Sorry” Match: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Michael Nakazawa
7. KO-D Tag Team Titles: HARASHIMA & Naomi Yoshimura (c) Vs Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi
8. DDT Universal Title – Hardcore 3 Way Match: Daisuke Sasaki (c) Vs Jun Kasai Vs MAO
9. KO-D Openweight Title – Japan Bakery Marketing Presents: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Tetsuya Endo

Michael Nakazawa holds a grudge with Sanshiro Takagi for all of the times Takagi has embarrassed him inside and out of the ring. The only way this problem can be settled is with an I’m Sorry Match. It is no holds barred, no countouts and the match will only end when one wrestler says “I’m Sorry” to his opponent on a microphone.

The WRESTLE UNIVERSE broadcast of the show will include English commentary from Baliyan Akki, Hiroshi Arai and Christelle Ciari.

BASARA “BASARA 187 ~THE 18TH FOX PRINCE~”, 26/03/2022
Tokyo Oji BASEMENT MONSTAR

1. Nakano Army Vs Kamino Army

The second of two BASARA shows on 26th March will be a team challenge with Takato Nakano and Masato Kamino as the two captains. A lottery held on 22nd March will determine who on the BASARA roster will be drafted to which team. Once that is decided, the matches will be put together.

DDT “DAY DREAM BELIEVER 2022”, 27/03/2022
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Antonio Honda Vs Pokotan
2. Jun Akiyama Vs Kazuki Hirata
3. Pheromones Vs DAMNATION T.A!: Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Minoru Fujita (w/ MJ Paul)
4. DDT Extreme Title: Yuki “Sexy” Iino (c) Vs Shunma Katsumata
5. After Judgement 2022 Special 6-Man Tag Match: Konosuke Takeshita, Yuki Ueno & Toui Kojima Vs Tetsuya Endo, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku

You thought we were done with The 37KAMIINA Vs BURNING tag matches? Ha, fat chance!

It’s time for Pheromones and DAMNATION T.A to cross each other’s paths. They have a regular tag match here to build up to the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles match two weeks later.

BASARA “BASARA 188 ~GLITTER~”, 12/04/2022
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. IRON FIST Tag Titles: Tsutomu Oosugi & Banana Senga (c) Vs Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino

The Aijin Tag of Nakano & Kamino already lost a non-title match to Speed Of Sounds. However they were given praise and told they were welcome for a rematch sometime. Aijin Tag took the compliments to heart and challenged SOS for the IRON FIST Tag Titles because if they have even a tiny chance of winning the belts, they will go for it. Did SOS accidentally talk themselves into losing their championship?

BASARA “BASARA 189 ~GLITTER~”, 28/04/2022
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Union MAX Title: Ryota Nakatsu (c) Vs Daiki Shimomura

The youngest member of Sento Minzoku has fought for the Union MAX Title twice before. The first of which was even against Ryota Nakatsu during Nakatsu’s first reign. Daiki Shimomura beat Nakatsu the last time they fought each other but it was in a 2 Count Rules match. He is confident he can pin Nakatsu for a 3 Count and take the MAX Title from him.

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Abe Still In Quarantine, Aja Kong Showing Up At Grand Princess, Ohka And Akki Teaming Together

March 14, 2022

BASARA “BASARA 185 ~GLITTER~”, 15/03/2022
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Isami Kodaka, Daiki Shimomura & Minoru Fujita Vs Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi, Yusuke Kubo & Daichi Kazato
2. 3 Way Match: SAGAT Vs Gouma Vs Lil Kraken
3. Takumi Tsukamoto & Yasu Urano Vs Masahiro Takanashi & Chris Brookes
4. Tsutomu Oosugi & Banana Senga Vs Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino
5. Union MAX Title: Ryota Nakatsu (c) Vs FUMA

Fuminori Abe is still under quarantine and is unable to be at tomorrow’s show. Chris Brookes will replace him. This will be Brookes’ debut in BASARA and he gets to team with Masahiro Takanashi as CDK.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “GRAND PRINCESS ’22”, 19/03/2022
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

1. Juria Nagano Debut Match: Suzume & Arisu Endo Vs Moka Miyamoto & Juria Nagano
2. Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling Vs Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling: Nao Kakuta, Mahiro Kiryu, Haruna Neko & Kaya Toribami Vs Yuna Manase, Moeka Haruhi, HARUKAZE & YuuRI
3. Sanshiro Takagi Vs Hyper Misao
4. Yuki Kamifuku Vs Asuka
5. Nodoka Tenma Vs Yuki Aino
6. Sakisama, Mei Saint-Michel, Martha & Yukio Saint Laurent Vs Marika Kobashi, Raku, Pom Harajuku & Ram Kaichow
7. Special Single Match: Hikaru Shida Vs Hikari Noa
8. International Princess Title: Maki Itoh (c) Vs Yuki Arai
9. Princess Tag Team Titles: Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki (c) Vs Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe
10. Princess Of Princess Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) Vs Shoko Nakajima

Aja Kong will be a guest on commentary for some of the matches.

GANBARE☆PRO “FIFTH ELEMENT 2022”, 26/03/2022
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Ganjo Special 6-Woman Tag Match: Yuna Manase, HARUKAZE & YuuRI Vs Moeka Haruhi, Maya Yukihi & Ann Cham
2. Special Tag Match: Shuichiro Katsumura & Yumehito Imanari Vs Shigehiro Irie & Nobuhiro Shimatani
3. Ganpro & ChocoPro Union Vs Power Of Tiger: Ken Ohka & Baliyan Akki Vs Kouki Iwasaki & Mizuki Watase
4. ROMANCE DAWN Vs Wrestle Drunkers: Shota & Soma Takao Vs Keisuke Ishii & Tyson Maeguchi
5. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Tatsuhito Takaiwa (c) Vs Shinichiro Tominaga

Ken Ohka failed to win the Super Asia Title from Baliyan Akki at ChocoPro during the weekend. However the two of them earned each other’s respect and agreed to team up for a match.

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Sasaki Doing Hardcore Training, Emergency Falls Count Anywhere Match, Bakuretsu Power, Muscle K-I Grand Prix

March 11, 2022

DDT “DDT FREE -MARCH-”, 12/03/2022
Osaka Suminoe Maikon Hall

1. Yusuke Okada Vs Yuki Ishida
2. Yukio Sakaguchi & Saki Akai Vs Kazuki Hirata & Yukio Naya
3. Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno & Yuki “Sexy” Iino Vs Sanshiro Takagi & Antonio Honda
4. HARASHIMA, Naomi Yoshimura & Toru Owashi Vs Chris Brookes, Kazusada Higuchi & Hideki Okatani
5. DAMNATION T.A Vs The 37KAMIINA!: Minoru Fujita & MJ Paul Vs MAO & Shunma Katsumata
6. Maikon no Kohara Presents Osaka Specialty Special 6-Man Tag Match: Konosuke Takeshita, Yuki Ueno & Toui Kojima Vs Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yuya Koroku

Daisuke Sasaki told DDT he will not be at this weekend’s shows because he is busy preparing for Jun Kasai by doing “Hardcore” training in the Nerima mountains. His other opponent MAO will be at the show ready to deal with the rest of DAMNATION T.A while Sasaki is gone.

DDT “JUDGEMENT 2022 TOUR IN OSAKA”, 13/03/2022
Osaka Suminoe Maikon Hall

1. MAO Vs Yuki Ishida
2. 3 Way Tag Match: Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno & Yuki “Sexy” Iino Vs HARASHIMA & Toru Owashi Vs Antonio Honda & Saki Akai
3. Minoru Fujita (w/ MJ Paul) Vs Hideki Okatani
4. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Sakaguchi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Yuji Hino, Bodyguard & Yukio Naya
5. Osaka Specialty Special Single Match: Naomi Yoshimura Vs Chris Brookes
6. Maikon no Kohara Presents Special Survival Tag Match: Konosuke Takeshita, Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & Toui Kojima Vs Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku

We get to see Hideki Okatani pick a fight with Minoru Fujita.

DDT “SANSHIRO TAKAGI VS MICHAEL NAKAZAWA ROJO SPECIAL ONE MATCH BOX OFFICE”, 15/03/2022
Tokyo

1. Falls Count Anywhere Match: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Michael Nakazawa

The ambush Michael Nakazawa pulled on Sanshiro Takagi during the week has left the DDT boss fuming. They are still going to have their match at Sumo Hall but before that they will now have a Falls Count Anywhere match! It is a special one match event taking place somewhere in Tokyo that will be recorded for Youtube.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “GRAND PRINCESS ’22”, 19/03/2022
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

1. Juria Nagano Debut Match: Suzume & Arisu Endo Vs Moka Miyamoto & Juria Nagano
2. Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling Vs Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling: Nao Kakuta, Mahiro Kiryu, Haruna Neko & Kaya Toribami Vs Yuna Manase, Moeka Haruhi, HARUKAZE & YuuRI
3. Sanshiro Takagi Vs Hyper Misao
4. Yuki Kamifuku Vs Asuka
5. Nodoka Tenma Vs Yuki Aino
6. Sakisama, Mei Saint-Michel, Martha & Yukio Saint Laurent Vs Marika Kobashi, Raku, Pom Harajuku & Ram Kaichow
7. Special Single Match: Hikaru Shida Vs Hikari Noa
8. International Princess Title: Maki Itoh (c) Vs Yuki Arai
9. Princess Tag Team Titles: Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki (c) Vs Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe
10. Princess Of Princess Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) Vs Shoko Nakajima

The pop music duo angela will give a live performance of The Bakuretsu Sisters entrance song “BAKURETSU POWER” at the show. They will also be on commentary for two matches afterwards. Both Nodoka Tenma & Yuki Aino are big fans of the group.

MUSCLE “HIRAGANA MUSCLE 6 -SHIMOKITA ONE PLUS ONE-”, 29/03/2021
Tokyo Kitazawa Town Hall

The next Hiragana Muscle event is a series of five shows taking place across three days starting on 29th March. These shows are celebrating the 18th Anniversary of the original MUSCLE event from 2004. That’s not all. The K-I (Kai) Grand Prix will be brought back for the first time in 17 years with a total of 48 contestants taking part in a one day tournament. Since every Muscle show is a virtually identical performance per episode that means Muscle is running an entire 48-Man tournament five times in three days. But since this is Muscle that also means a lot of nonsense and shenanigans will be going on to derail everything. Nothing ever goes right when this promotion organizes a tournament. They still haven’t finished their New Year Tag Festival from 2009.

DDT “MEGA MAX BUMP 2022 TOUR IN YOKOHAMA”, 01/05/2022
Yokohama Budokan

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

Pro wrestler and actor AKIRA will be at the show wrestling in DDT for the first time in his 37 year career (he did MUSCLE before but not DDT proper). He doesn’t do as many standard pro wrestling appearances as he used to but is still active in the ring as part of the MAKAI musicals.

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Judgement 2022 Press Conference

March 10, 2022

DDT “JUDGEMENT 2022 ~DDT 25TH ANNIVERSARY~”, 20/03/2022
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

0. Dark Match: Yusuke Okada, Yuya Koroku & Ilusion Vs Toui Kojima, Yuki Ishida & El Unicorn
0. Dark Match – Time Admission Tag Battle Royal: Tomohiko Hashimoto & Seiya Morohashi Vs Soma Takao & Shota Vs Minoru Fujita & MJ Paul Vs Yuji Hino & Yukio Naya Vs Gorgeous Matsuno & Gota Ihashi Vs Andreza Giant Panda & Super Sasadango Machine
1. KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles: Toru Owashi, Antonio Honda, Kazuki Hirata & Yoshihiko (c) Vs Poison Sawada JULIE, Takashi Sasaki, GENTARO, MIKAMI & Tanomusaku Toba (w/ Naomi Susan)
2. LiLiCo Retirement Match: LiLiCo, Ryohei Odai & Akito (w/ Junretsu) Vs Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno, Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari
3. Special Tag Match: Isami Kodaka & Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Yuki Ueno & Shunma Katsumata
4. Special Single Match: Saki Akai Vs Maya Yukihi
5. Jun Akiyama 30th Anniversary Match: Jun Akiyama & Takao Omori Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Hideki Okatani
6. DDT 25th Anniversary Special Single Match: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Michael Nakazawa
7. KO-D Tag Team Titles: HARASHIMA & Naomi Yoshimura (c) Vs Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi
8. DDT Universal Title – Hardcore 3 Way Match: Daisuke Sasaki (c) Vs Jun Kasai Vs MAO
9. KO-D Openweight Title – Japan Bakery Marketing Presents: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Tetsuya Endo

Yesterday DDT held a press conference in Tokyo to promote several of the big matches taking place at the company’s 25th Anniversary show. Tetsuya Endo feels he has achieved so much in DDT from debuting during the promotion’s 15th year, winning the KO-D Openweight Title in America, winning the same championship without an audience and getting his leg broken by his boss three weeks before a big show in Ota Ward Gymnasium. The one thing he has not accomplished is winning the main event of a Sumo Hall show. On 20th March he will get the last piece of the puzzle and become the most complete version of Tetsuya Endo that nobody can take their eyes off of. Konosuke Takeshita doesn’t think he and Endo can show the full 25 year history of DDT in one match. But they can show everyone the path they both took DDT in the last ten years. He believes the match will have a perfect finish so there will be no excuses no matter who wins or loses. For Endo the perfect finish is pinning Takeshita with the Best Burning Star Press In The Universe. Kenta Kobashi will be in attendance to present the KO-D Title to the winner.

MAO showed up to the conference dressed head to toe in tinfoil hoping to get the attention of his opponents. He is fed up of Daisuke Sasaki only talking about Jun Kasai and Kasai ignoring him entirely. Today’s costume is MAO’s way of saying he will be an overwhelming presence at Sumo Hall when he wins the DDT Universal Title! Unfortunately both Sasaki and Kasai continued to ignore him, which made MAO think he made his presence too big. Kasai still feels embarrassed over losing to Sasaki at Saitama Super Arena five years ago. His goal to get revenge is not to win the title but to embarrass Sasaki. Winning the championship will naturally find its way to him in the process. Sasaki threatened to make Kasai vomit blood and leave him crying “I cannot beat Daisuke Sasaki!” to the world.

 

All of a sudden the KO-D Tag Team Title match has turned into one champion team defending against another champion team. CDK recently won the Asia Dream Tag Team Titles in ChocoPro so they are now even more determined to beat DISASTER BOX, even though just the KO-D Tag Titles are on the line. Masahiro Takanashi wants to hold the Asia Dream belts up to the same standard and doesn’t understand why Naomi Yoshimura is annoyed by the challenge. Yoshimura explained that he thinks the KO-D Tag Titles have not been treated as well as DDT’s other championships. He actually is happy to defend the titles against Takanashi & Chris Brookes because they are showing respect to the belts. HARASHIMA said he and Yoshimura have already proven they are the strongest tag team in DDT and they will prove it again.

Sanshiro Takagi set up a video call with Michael Nakazawa to talk about their match because he was told Nakazawa is still in America working for AEW. Takagi made the match because it will be sentimental for Nakazawa who will be wrestling in Japan for the first time in three years. However since it is DDT’s 25th Anniversary, Takagi said he will win the match in 25 seconds! Nakazawa on the video call said he still holds a grudge with Takagi and is looking forward to humiliating him. The two got into an arguement and Takagi said he will beat Nakazawa into a pulp. Nakazawa wondered if he would say that to his face. Suddenly, Nakazawa entered the room. He’s in Japan after all! Takagi challenged him to make their match Falls Count Anywhere and the two started brawling. Nakazawa ended up winning the fight using an upgraded version of his finisher, the Ultimate Venom AEW Arm. He told the knocked out Takagi “Goodbye and good night!” before leaving.

Not everyone is excited for Jun Akiyama’s 30th Anniversary in pro wrestling. Kazusada Higuchi & Hideki Okatani from Eruption do not care what the occasion is to have this match. Higuchi still has frustration about Akiyama despite Akiyama beating the respect into him one year ago. The only celebrating he will do involves using his head to bash Akiyama. Okatani says he is not the same person who was teaming with Akiyama in Junretsu. He wants to stand out and win. At first Takao Omori was honored to take part in the show and be part of this match. But the disrespect on show here is pissing him off and now he won’t hold back in crushing his opponents! Akiyama calmed things down and said he is grateful to All Japan for letting Omori team with him again.

More disrespect was shown when it was time for Saki Akai and Maya Yukihi to appear. Both of them are honored to have a match like this in Sumo Hall but it is still a match built around jealousy. Yukihi does have a direct win over Akai but she thinks she will have to do something new to win at Ryogoku, or at least use something DDT fans have not seen before. Akai said whenever she is feeling frustrated or uncomfortable she likes to look at beautiful things. So today she brought along a bouquet of yellow roses. She explained yellow roses are perfect for Yukihi because they represent her jealousy and then passed them over to her. Yukihi held back from attacking Akai with the roses. Instead she will keep them in perfect condition so she can give them back to Akai after she beats her!

Comedian Ryota Yamasato will be at the show with a very special task. He has to take part in the Anal Explosion opening ceremony to kick off the show. It is traditionally how DDT starts of their most important shows with a bang. Yamasato is not looking forward to it.

There will be a full preview of the show posted next week.

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Posted by JamieOD

Grand Princess Press Conference

March 10, 2022

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “GRAND PRINCESS ’22”, 19/03/2022
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

1. Juria Nagano Debut Match: Suzume & Arisu Endo Vs Moka Miyamoto & Juria Nagano
2. Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling Vs Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling: Nao Kakuta, Mahiro Kiryu, Haruna Neko & Kaya Toribami Vs Yuna Manase, Moeka Haruhi, HARUKAZE & YuuRI
3. Sanshiro Takagi Vs Hyper Misao
4. Yuki Kamifuku Vs Asuka
5. Nodoka Tenma Vs Yuki Aino
6. Sakisama, Mei Saint-Michel, Martha & Yukio Saint Laurent Vs Marika Kobashi, Raku, Pom Harajuku & Ram Kaichow
7. Special Single Match: Hikaru Shida Vs Hikari Noa
8. International Princess Title: Maki Itoh (c) Vs Yuki Arai
9. Princess Tag Team Titles: Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki (c) Vs Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe
10. Princess Of Princess Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) Vs Shoko Nakajima

During the week Tokyo Joshi Pro held another press conference to promote “GRAND PRINCESS ’22” featuring the wrestlers involved from four of the matches on the card. For Miyu Yamashita and Shoko Nakajima they will be headlining Sumo Hall, the same venue where they both had their official debuts in a dark match back in 2013. Nakajima always thought of Yamashita as the strongest wall in TJPW and a bigger kaiju than she is. No matter how many times Nakajima won against her, Yamashita would easily overturn her setbacks and go back to the top. But if Nakajima can win the Princess Of Princess Title from her in the main event of Sumo Hall, she can finally believe she has surpassed her. It is her best chance and maybe her last chance to become a bigger kaiju than Yamashita. The champion has dreamed of TJPW reaching Sumo Hall since her debut and thinks it will all be meaningless if she cannot beat her strongest challenger. She also thinks they will show everyone the future of Tokyo Joshi and beyond.

Miu Watanabe calls The Magical Sugar Rabbits her biggest obstacles given how often she has lost to them. She feels the confidence she lacked against them finally came to her when Daydream won the Max Heart Tournament. With Rika Tatsumi by her side she believes she can now break through any wall and win. Tatsumi thinks they can be even better champions now than they were during their first reign. She understands that Mizuki will hate her if she takes away the Princess Tag Team Titles from MagiRabi but she doesn’t care about that anymore. Tatsumi is prepared to be hated by Mizuki in order to become a champion again! Mizuki told her not to worry about that because MagiRabi won’t lose. Instead they will have a match that will make all of Mizuki’s fans smile. Yuka Sakazaki realizes that her friends and the supporters have brought TJPW to Ryogoku. She wants to defend the Tag Titles so they can shine even more and bring everyone a into a happy, sparkling world!

The words Maki Itoh spoke to Yuki Arai last May after Arai’s debut is what brought her to this point. Back then Itoh challenged Arai to crush her no matter how long it will take. It hasn’t even been a year but Arai thinks the time is now right for her to do that and win the International Princess Title! However she just wants to crush Itoh while Itoh wants to crush every superstar around the world! Arai has been watching her tapes and Itoh admits her opponent has the size advantage but experience wise, Itoh is confident she can deal with whatever Arai throws at her.

When the debuting Juria Nagano began training for TJPW, she was moved to tears after discovering the deep bonds the entire roster has with each other. Everyone does their best to raise each other’s spirits. She has been training in karate since she was 5 years old and looks forward to teaming with Moka Miyamoto because they are linked by traditional karate. Miyamoto promised to do her best to help Nagano win her debut match. Suzume is happy to spend precious time with Nagano and crush her with all her love. Arisu Endo believes there is no way the match won’t be exciting and Arisuzu will win.

I’ll have a full preview of the show written up next week.

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Posted by JamieOD

TJPW Vs Ganjo, LiLiCo And Odai Train Hard, Amateur challenges Dragon

March 8, 2022

BASARA “BASARA 185 ~GLITTER~”, 15/03/2022
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Isami Kodaka, Daiki Shimomura & Minoru Fujita Vs Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi, Yusuke Kubo & Daichi Kazato
2. 3 Way Match: SAGAT Vs Gouma Vs Lil Kraken
3. Takumi Tsukamoto & Yasu Urano Vs Fuminori Abe & Masahiro Takanashi
4. Tsutomu Oosugi & Banana Senga Vs Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino
5. Union MAX Title: Ryota Nakatsu (c) Vs FUMA

Shigehiro Irie was originally advertised to be on the show. However today he tested positive for covid and he cannot be cleared in time for next week. Masahiro Takanashi will take his place instead. Fuminori Abe is a close contact with Irie but tested negative. As long as he continues testing negative during his quarantine he will be on the show.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “GRAND PRINCESS ’22”, 19/03/2022
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

1. Juria Nagano Debut Match: Suzume & Arisu Endo Vs Moka Miyamoto & Juria Nagano
2. Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling Vs Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling: Nao Kakuta, Mahiro Kiryu, Haruna Neko & Kaya Toribami Vs Yuna Manase, Moeka Haruhi, HARUKAZE & YuuRI
3. Sanshiro Takagi Vs Hyper Misao
4. Yuki Kamifuku Vs Asuka
5. Nodoka Tenma Vs Yuki Aino
6. Sakisama, Mei Saint-Michel, Martha & Yukio Saint Laurent Vs Marika Kobashi, Raku, Pom Harajuku & Ram Kaichow
7. Special Single Match: Hikaru Shida Vs Hikari Noa
8. International Princess Title: Maki Itoh (c) Vs Yuki Arai
9. Princess Tag Team Titles: Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki (c) Vs Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe
10. Princess Of Princess Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) Vs Shoko Nakajima

A press conference was held between the wrestlers participating in the inter-promotional match between Tokyo Joshi Pro and Ganbare☆Pro. Both Nao Kakuta and Yuna Manase want their teams to put on an exciting match fitting for Sumo Hall. It is the first time Kakuta really feels like she is part of TJPW and she wants to show Manase she is not the same person she was back in Actwres girl’Z. The other members of Team TJPW shared their thoughts. Mahiro Kiryu is keeping her eyes open at the rest of Team Ganpro because she doesn’t know much about them. She does like mahjong though so she wants to win with a high score. Haruna Neko wants to do everything she can as a cat and will scratch everyone. Kaya Toribami admits to being the least experienced girl on the team but reminds everyone that her mask is based on the most ferocious bird in the world, the cassowary. She will learn from her opponents to become strong and deserving of wearing the mask.

The members of Ganbare☆Joshi then spoke. YuuRI is glad to wrestle in Sumo Hall where she discovered pro wrestling in the first place. HARUKAZE described how Ganpro picked her up and gave her friends so the company is an important family to her. She wants to make the name of Ganpro known to everyone. Moeka Haruhi called Manase the Sun of Ganpro while she is the Rainbow. When Manase challenged TJPW in the first place, everyone in Ganjo decided to join her. Just don’t miss the rainbow while you’re busy looking at the sun. Manase wanted her team to show more energy so they started chanting “Ganjo!” over and over. Kakuta told them the blue flame is hotter than the red flame which is why Team TJPW are staying calm in response to them. Manase then gave a passionate rant about wanting their match to have so much heat behind it. The conference ended with a fist bump between the team captains.

Two special guest ring announcers will be at the show. The “Anime Idol Chick” Minami Momochi was Tokyo Joshi’s ring announcer for the first four years of the promotion. Kero Tanaka is the famous ring announcer from the 1980s and 1990s who has worked with TJPW before at some of their previous Ittenyon shows. They will each announce one or two matches on the day.

DDT “JUDGEMENT 2022 ~DDT 25TH ANNIVERSARY~”, 20/03/2022
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

0. Dark Match: Yusuke Okada, Yuya Koroku & Ilusion Vs Toui Kojima, Yuki Ishida & El Unicorn
0. Dark Match – Time Admission Tag Battle Royal: Tomohiko Hashimoto & Seiya Morohashi Vs Soma Takao & Shota Vs Minoru Fujita & MJ Paul Vs Yuji Hino & Yukio Naya Vs Gorgeous Matsuno & Gota Ihashi Vs Andreza Giant Panda & Super Sasadango Machine
1. KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles: Toru Owashi, Antonio Honda, Kazuki Hirata & Yoshihiko (c) Vs Poison Sawada JULIE, Takashi Sasaki, GENTARO, MIKAMI & Tanomusaku Toba (w/ Naomi Susan)
2. LiLiCo Retirement Match: LiLiCo, Ryohei Odai & Akito (w/ Junretsu) Vs Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno, Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari
3. Special Tag Match: Isami Kodaka & Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Yuki Ueno & Shunma Katsumata
4. Special Single Match: Saki Akai Vs Maya Yukihi
5. Jun Akiyama 30th Anniversary Match: Jun Akiyama & Takao Omori Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Hideki Okatani
6. DDT 25th Anniversary Special Single Match: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Michael Nakazawa
7. KO-D Tag Team Titles: HARASHIMA & Naomi Yoshimura (c) Vs Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi
8. DDT Universal Title – Hardcore 3 Way Match: Daisuke Sasaki (c) Vs Jun Kasai Vs MAO
9. KO-D Openweight Title – Japan Bakery Marketing Presents: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Tetsuya Endo

Yesterday the celebrity couple of LiLiCo & Ryohei Odai were hard at work training with Akito for LiLiCo’s retirement match. Odai isn’t in shape and had trouble even stretching during the warmups. He then got back pain from running the ropes. Meanwhile LiLiCo had no trouble training for wrestling again and worked out how to move around the ring without putting stress on her injured knees. Akito then put together some double team moves with LiLiCo before setting up an extreme training exercise. He stripped down to his O-back and went into the Hell Gate position on the corner. He explained they need to get used to having their faces thrown into another person’s ass because that is what Pheromones like to do. Suddenly Pheromones themselves appeared and attacked Akito, stripping him naked! Odai couldn’t help because of his back pain and he collapsed with LiLiCo when they tried the double team attack they learned. Pheromones left after a confrontation with LiLiCo where they said they will see her at Sumo Hall. Akito told Odai to train his hips more while LiLiCo promised to win using the love between a husband and wife!

GANBARE☆PRO “FIFTH ELEMENT 2022”, 26/03/2022
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Ganjo Special 6-Woman Tag Match: Yuna Manase, HARUKAZE & YuuRI Vs Moeka Haruhi, Maya Yukihi & Ann Cham
2. ROMANCE DAWN Vs Wrestle Drunkers: Shota & Soma Takao Vs Keisuke Ishii & Tyson Maeguchi
3. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Tatsuhito Takaiwa (c) Vs Shinichiro Tominaga

The so-called strongest amateur pro wrestler in Japan Shinichiro Tominaga is the one who is challenging Tatsuhito Takaiwa next. Takaiwa is trying to raise the Spirit Of Ganbare World Title‘s prestige up to the highest level in Japan and fighting somebody on the level on Tominaga will not help him. However he sees potential in the guy and if Tominaga can live up to that potential it may not be a waste of time after all.

The bond between Keisuke Ishii & Tyson Maeguchi has grown stronger after they fought each other. They want to continue wrestling together as tag partners and opponents so it looks like Wrestle Drunkers are here to stay!

Irie is booked for the show but it will depend on how quickly he recovers from covid. Nobuhiro Shimatani is also advertised to appear.

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Posted by JamieOD

Judgment Requires A Captain’s Fall, Rygoku Doubleheader Lineup, DAMNATION T.A Challenge Pheromones

March 1, 2022

DDT “JUDGEMENT 2022 -LIMITED-”, 02/03/2022
Shinjuku FACE

1. Saki Akai, Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Maya Yukihi, Naomi Yoshimura & Yuya Koroku
2. Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno & Yuki “Sexy” Iino Vs Akito & Yuki Ishida
3. Daisuke Sasaki & Minoru Fujita Vs MAO & Yukio Naya
4. Road To Judgement 2022! Special Single Match: HARASHIMA Vs Chris Brookes
5. Road To Judgement 2022! Captain’s Fall Elimination 6-Man Tag Match: Konosuke Takeshita (C), Yuki Ueno & Shunma Katsumata Vs Tetsuya Endo (C), Jun Akiyama & Yusuke Okada

Nothing like a Captain’s Fall Tag match to really spice up a rivalry between units. The match has elimination rules but will end once either captain is pinned or submitted. There is no over the top rope rule in effect for this match. Tag Team Elimination matches in Japan usually include that rule.

Yuya Koroku has recovered from covid and is cleared to return.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TOKYO JOSHI 2022 WINTER”, 05/03/2022
Tokyo Ryogoku KFC Hall

1. Nao Kakuta & Kaya Toribami Vs Mahiro Kiryu & Haruna Neko
2. 3 Way Match: Hyper Misao Vs Yuki Aino Vs Arisu Endo
3. Yuki Kamifuku & Hikari Noa Vs Raku & Pom Harajuku
4. Nodoka Tenma Vs Marika Kobashi
5. Miyu Yamashita, Yuka Sakazaki, Mizuki, Maki Itoh & Suzume Vs Shoko Nakajima, Rika Tatsumi, Miu Watanabe, Yuki Arai & Moka Miyamoto

Champions and challengers for Sumo Hall are on opposite sides of the main event. Suzume and Moka Miyamoto are added in for fun too.

Since both Nodoka Tenma and Marika Kobashi are leaving soon it’s only fair to pit them against each other and find out who is better once and for all.

GANBARE☆PRO “MERCURY RISING 2022”, 06/03/2022
Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall

1. Ganpro Mixed Tag Match: Ken Ohka & Moeka Haruhi Vs Yumehito Imanari & HARUKAZE
2. Tiger & Tiger Vs Power Of Nobu: Shuichiro Katsumura & Mizuki Watase Vs Kouki Iwasaki & Nobuhiro Shimatani
3. Japan Ganbare Union To Become AAAW Tag Team Champions: Yuna Manase & YuuRI Vs Cherry & Sayaka
4. Special Single Match – Wrestle Drunker Vs Punch Drunker: Keisuke Ishii Vs Tyson Maeguchi
5. Takaiwa Army Vs Ganpro Full-Scale Battle: Tatsuhito Takaiwa, 5th Black Tiger & Kenya Maeda Vs Shota, Soma Takao & Shinichiro Tominaga

Right now there is no challenger for Spirit Of Ganbare World Title so Tatsuhito Takaiwa is putting himself out there for anyone to challenge him. Maybe somebody from ROMANCE DAWN will step up? Shinichiro Tominaga is there too looking to bounce back from his defeat at the recent Korakuen Hall show.

Yuna Manase & YuuRI have entered a tag league in Marvelous for the vacant AAAW Tag Team Titles. Their team name is Nippon Ganbare Union and they are getting a warm-up bout a day after their first block match takes place.

The “Real Tiger Mask” and “Tenori Tiger” are joining forces which is why Shuichiro Katsumura & Mizuki Watase are called Tiger & Tiger. Their opponents Kouki Iwasaki & Nobuhiro Shimatani combine the “Power Of Dreams” with “Nobu” to become Power Of Nobu.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “GRAND PRINCESS ’22”, 19/03/2022
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

1. Juria Nagano Debut Match: Suzume & Arisu Endo Vs Moka Miyamoto & Juria Nagano
2. Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling Vs Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling: Nao Kakuta, Mahiro Kiryu, Haruna Neko & Kaya Toribami Vs Yuna Manase, Moeka Haruhi, HARUKAZE & YuuRI
3. Sanshiro Takagi Vs Hyper Misao
4. Yuki Kamifuku Vs Asuka
5. Nodoka Tenma Vs Yuki Aino
6. Sakisama, Mei Saint-Michel, Martha & Yukio Saint Laurent Vs Marika Kobashi, Raku, Pom Harajuku & Ram Kaichow
7. Special Single Match: Hikaru Shida Vs Hikari Noa
8. International Princess Title: Maki Itoh (c) Vs Yuki Arai
9. Princess Tag Team Titles: Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki (c) Vs Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe
10. Princess Of Princess Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) Vs Shoko Nakajima

Both Tokyo Joshi Pro and DDT announced their full cards for Ryogoku weekend. An almost complete NEO Biishiki-gun reunion has been added but what would Sakisama make of Ram Kaichow when they meet in the ring? The Bakuretsu Sisters are not the only tag team fighting each other because Yuki Kamifuku and Asuka are having a match too. Nao Kakuta and Yuna Manase have gathered together wrestlers from their respective promotions for a big TJPW Vs Ganbare☆Pro tag match. Finally Juria Nagano gets to debut by teaming with another karate fighter, Moka Miyamoto. She will be put to the test against Arisuzu.

DDT “JUDGEMENT 2022 ~DDT 25TH ANNIVERSARY~”, 20/03/2022
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

0. Dark Match: Yusuke Okada, Yuya Koroku & Ilusion Vs Toui Kojima, Yuki Ishida & El Unicorn
0. Dark Match – Time Admission Tag Battle Royal: Tomohiko Hashimoto & Seiya Morohashi Vs Soma Takao & Shota Vs Minoru Fujita & MJ Paul Vs Yuji Hino & Yukio Naya Vs Gorgeous Matsuno & Gota Ihashi Vs Andreza Giant Panda & Super Sasadango Machine
1. KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles: Toru Owashi, Antonio Honda, Kazuki Hirata & Yoshihiko (c) Vs Poison Sawada JULIE, Takashi Sasaki, GENTARO, MIKAMI & Tanomusaku Toba (w/ Naomi Susan)
2. LiLiCo Retirement Match: LiLiCo, Ryohei Odai & Akito (w/ Junretsu) Vs Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno, Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari
3. Special Tag Match: Isami Kodaka & Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Yuki Ueno & Shunma Katsumata
4. Special Single Match: Saki Akai Vs Maya Yukihi
5. Jun Akiyama 30th Anniversary Match: Jun Akiyama & Takao Omori Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Hideki Okatani
6. DDT 25th Anniversary Special Single Match: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Michael Nakazawa
7. KO-D Tag Team Titles: HARASHIMA & Naomi Yoshimura (c) Vs Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi
8. DDT Universal Title – Hardcore 3 Way Match: Daisuke Sasaki (c) Vs Jun Kasai Vs MAO
9. KO-D Openweight Title – Japan Bakery Marketing Presents: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Tetsuya Endo

DDT has eleven matches in total for their big anniversary event. DISASTER BOX regained the KO-D Tag Team Titles that they gave up but CDK believes that they should be the champions instead because they are more dramatic and dreamy.

Eruption has a busy day in the building. Saki Akai’s match with Maya Yukihi is turning into a bigger grudge every time they are in the ring together. Kazusada Higuchi & Hideki Okatani were chosen to be the opponents for Jun Akiyama & Takao Omori. That would leave Yukio Sakaguchi on his own but he was invited by Isami Kodaka to team up and take on Yuki Ueno & Shunma Katsumata.

A Tag Team Battle Royal featuring names from the past, present and future of DDT is part of the pre-show. One past team to keep an eye on in the match is Double Bridge. That is the name given to the pair of former KO-D Tag Champions Tomohiko Hashimoto & Seiya Morohashi. They held the titles together all the way back in 2003.

DDT “APRIL FOOL 22”, 10/04/2022
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno, Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari (c) Vs Daisuke Sasaki, Minoru Fujita & MJ Paul

New challengers have emerged for the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles although the match won’t be for another month. DAMNATION T.A want the belts but I’m not sure if they know what they are getting into when Pheromones are the champions.

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Posted by JamieOD

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