DDT “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2026” Results

August 11, 2026

DDT “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2026”, 11/08/2026
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
??? Fans – Unannounced

1. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: KANON, Yukio Naya & Viento Levante (w/ KIMIHIRO & YUZUKI) defeated Takeshi Masada, Yuya Koroku & Daichi Sato (c) when Levante pinned Masada (11:55).
*paleyouth fails in V7. STRANGE LOVE CONNECTION become the 61st KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions!
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Super Sasadango Machine defeated Ilusion (c) with a Belt Strike (2:29 pm).
*Super Sasadango Machine becomes the 1,885th champion.
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Yuki Ishida defeated Super Sasadango Machine (c) with a School Boy (2:30 pm).
*Yuki Ishida becomes the 1,886th champion.
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Yuni defeated Yuki Ishida (c) with a Body Slam (2:31 pm).
*Yuni becomes the 1,887th champion.
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Kazuki Hirata defeated Yuni (c) with the Tegatana (2:32 pm).
*Kazuki Hirata becomes the 1,888th champion.
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Akito defeated Kazuki Hirata (c) with an Ankle Hold (2:34 pm).
*Akito becomes the 1,889th champion.
2. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Time Delayed Entry Battle Royal: Ilusion defeated Akito (c), Yuki Ishida, Soma Takao, Naomi Yoshimura, Fuminori Abe, Yuki Iino, Toru Owashi, Yuni, Masami Inahata, MJ Paul, Super Sasadango Machine and Yoshihiko (18:16).
2a. Yuni eliminated Yuki Ishida with an Inverted Hurricanrana (7:05).
2b. Naomi Yoshimura eliminated Yuni by Ring Out (9:20).
2c. Yuki Iino eliminated Naomi Yoshimura with The Apex Elbow Drop (10:11).
2d. Masami Inahata eliminated Akito (c) with the Argentine Backbreaker (11:19).
*Masami Inahata becomes the 1,890th champion.
2e. Ilusion & MJ Paul eliminated Soma Takao with the Combined Body Press (12:50).
2f. Yoshihiko eliminated Toru Owashi by Ring Out (16:13).
2g. Yoshihiko eliminated Yuki Iino by Ring Out (16:14).
2h. Yoshihiko eliminated Masami Inahata (c) by Ring Out (16:15).
*Yoshihiko becomes the 1,891st champion.
2i. Yoshihiko eliminated Super Sasadango Machine by Ring Out (16:16).
2j. Yoshihiko eliminated MJ Paul by Ring Out (16:17).
2k. Yoshihiko eliminated Fuminori Abe with the Reincarnation (16:20).
2l. Ilusion eliminated Yoshihiko (c) by Ring Out (18:46).
*Ilusion becomes the 1,892nd champion.
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Kazuki Hirata defeated Ilusion (c) with the Hammer Attack (2:52 pm).
*Kazuki Hirata becomes the 1,893rd champion.
3. Special Tag Match: Minoru Suzuki & Sanshiro Takagi defeated Kazuki Hirata & To-y when Takagi pinned To-y with the Stone Cold Stunner (10:36).
*Sanshiro Takagi wins To-y’s Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Gauntlet.
4. Hinata Kasai 1st Anniversary Debut Match ~ Special Tag Match: Jun Akiyama & Rukiya defeated Jun Kasai & Hinata Kasai when Rukiya pinned Hinata with the R. Fisherman Buster (11:19).
5. DDT Extreme Title – Barbed Wire Death Match: Shunma Katsumata defeated Hideki Okatani (c) with the Totonou Splash with Barbed Wire (13:52).
*Hideki Okatani fails in V5. Shunma Katsumata becomes the 65th DDT Extreme Champion! Shunma Katsumata wins Hideki Okatani’s Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Gauntlet.
6. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Shinya Aoki & Junta Miyawaki defeated Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA (c) when Miyawaki pinned HARASHIMA with the Sunshine Clutch (12:21).
*FANTÔMES DRAMATIC fail in V4. Shinya Aoki & Junta Miyawaki become the 90th KO-D Tag Team Champions!
7. Special Single Match: YAMATO defeated Danshoku Dieno (w/ Yosuke♡Santa Maria) with the CBV (12:07).
8. Special Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & DOUKI defeated Antonio Honda & Tetsuya Endo when Sasaki submitted Honda with La Mistica Crossface Lock (16:00).
9. DDT Universal Title: Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Kazuma Sumi (c) with the Dodon (18:02).
*Kazuma Sumi fails in V3. Ryusuke Taguchi becomes the 22nd DDT Universal Champion!
10. Dramatic Dream Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA defeated Kaisei Takechi with the Raging Fire (17:26).
11. KO-D Openweight Title – Goodcom Asset Presents: MAO defeated Yuki Ueno (c) with the Cannonball 450° (33:47).
*Yuki Ueno fails in V9. MAO becomes the 89th KO-D Openweight Champion!
-. KO-D Openweight Title: MAO (c) defeated Sanshiro Takagi with an Inside Cradle (4:29).
*V1 for MAO. Sanshiro Takagi cashes in his Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Gauntlet.
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Shogo Yamamoto defeated Kazuki Hirata (c) with the Hammer Attack (7:21 pm).
*Shogo Yamamoto becomes the 1,894th champion.

The world is more fucked up than ever before so the time has finally come for MAO to be its champion! In a rematch from two years ago MAO stepped into Sumo Hall to face Yuki Ueno for the KO-D Openweight Title once more. Time will tell if this turns out to be DDT’s defining matchup for this generation but I can at least come out of it thinking this match came out better than the first one. Ueno got a nearfall with the Frog Splash and later dodged the Cannonball 450° so he could squeeze MAO with the Blackout Sleeper. MAO fought from beneath to kick out of the Jul.2 and also avoid the BME. Then in a flash of inspiration, MAO took a page out of his Moonlight Express days by doing the Ultima Weapon, the Shooting Star Knee Drop belonging to Speedball Mike Bailey. MAO switched over to using Palm Strikes while Ueno tried to combat them with Dropkicks. MAO got the better of the exchange and used the Michinoku Driver II to put Ueno in position for the match ending Cannonball 450°. With this win MAO has now become the KO-D Champion!

After the match MAO talked about coming so far ever since he watched DDT’s first Sumo Hall show back in 2009. During the time he’s been a pro wrestler he met Ueno who became his friend, his greatest rival and even his idol that he looks up to. Now he can finally put his own name next to Ueno’s. He thanked his friends in Strange Love Connection for being the reason he was able to beat Ueno today and finished by saying they won’t be stopping yet. MAO exited the ring and the show looked to have ended with him walking past everyone and receiving congratulations backstage. He then walked into the locker room to find Sanshiro Takagi standing in front of him. Takagi thanked him… then said just kidding, we’re getting a bonus title match!

Earlier in the show Takagi won his tag match and claimed one of the Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Gauntlets that allowed him to get a KO-D Title shot whenever he wants. He started attacking MAO backstage and dragged him back down to the ring because he was cashing in his shot right now! If the main event was too serious for DDT, this was the swerve back in the other direction. Takagi attacked MAO on the entrance ramp with a fire extinguisher and also the Dramatic Dream bike. Then in the ring he bribed Masami Inahata 10,000 yen to bring in plastic boxes to use as weapons. Takagi broke one over MAO’s head but MAO got revenge by Power Bombing Takagi through one of the others. Takagi fired back by doing the Sit Down Sunflower Bomb and then climbed the top rope carryinh another box. He tried to do a Diving Body Press with the box but MAO blocked it with his knees and in the wreckage cradled Takagi with a Small Package to pin him for the three count. The night ends with MAO not just winning the KO-D Title but scoring his first defence too!

MAO got on the microphone to yell at Takagi for the stunt he just pulled. He’s always been a bad influence to MAO going back to that first Sumo Hall show in 2009. It’s bad enough that Takagi sent MAO down a terrible path to ruin his life but he also goes and does this to him? Takagi said MAO has some nerve to make that accusation given that MAO has run over Takagi with a vehicle four separate times. Takagi was going to congratulate him but then got pissed off and thought this was the perfect chance to get things his way. MAO criticized Takagi for being childish but Takagi said it’s not like MAO to despise that kind of behavior. This kind of childishness and absurdity is what makes DDT and its Dramatic Dream the way it is. The show then had its proper ending with the curtain call and Ueno wrapping the KO-D Title around MAO’s waist. Backstage MAO said he will be turning 30 during the year DDT celebrates its 30th anniversary so his goal is to remain champion throughout next year. Ueno is looking forward to seeing what MAO’s DDT will look like but this does not mean he is starting again from zero. He promises to always be at the front of DDT.

There was a time when Konosuke Takeshita was called “The Future” and now he finds himself standing across the ring from the next person who can take that moniker. Kaisei Takechi was taking part in only his 18th pro wrestling match to step up against one of the best in the world. He hasn’t come out of it in one piece as Takechi was favouring his left knee after hitting a Swan Dive Elbow Strike. He gutted through the injury to give Takeshita a Canadian Destroyer and also the BREAK IT DOWN. When that couldn’t beat Takeshita, Takechi switched to a Sleeper Hold and almost choked him out with it. But Takeshita kept hitting Takechi in the hurt knee with his elbow to break out of the hold. He then took a Dropkick only to fire back with the Wagamama for a nearfall. Takechi tried one more attack but Takeshita easily brushed him off and used the Raging Fire to win the match. Backstage Takechi said he believed Takeshita could’ve still beaten him if he held back but instead he fought with all of his might today. He promised to get even stronger and cooler so he can fight Takeshita again some day. Takeshita said today is the beginning of his story with Takechi and it is also the beginning of Takechi as a pro wrestler. His advice is for Takechi to think about what it means to stand in the ring inside Sumo Hall and also think about what he wants to do with DDT in the future.

This was a shocker. Kazuma Sumi should have taken Ryusuke Taguchi’s warning to heart. He spent too much time thinking about using Taguchi as a stepping stone that he ended up becoming the stepping stone instead! That’s right, Taguchi is now the DDT Universal Champion! Sumi relied heavily on high risk moves including a Reverse 450° Splash that missed. Taguchi on the other hand paced himself by targeting Sumi’s legs and repeatedly using the Oh My & Garankle Lock. Sumi then trusted on using the School Boy to try and pin the New Japan wrestler, especially as a counter for the Hip Attack. But the Ankle Lock plan paid off and Taguchi and he hit the Dodon. Sumi kicked out of it but Taguchi immediately used his finisher again to win the title. He then got to do his dance in the ring to celebrate.

On the way back to the locker room, Taguchi was suddenly met by Daisuke Sasaki on the entrance ramp. The two went back to the ring where Sasaki grabbed the microphone and said he didn’t expect Taguchi could be this serious. If this is the way Taguchi is going to be in DDT then Sasaki wants to challenge him for the Universal Title. Taguchi responded by impersonating Masahiro Chono and describing Sasaki as a charismatic challenger (“Black Charisma” was one of Chono’s nicknames). Hisaya Imabayashi decided the title match will take place in Korakuen Hall on 30th August. However Taguchi said he is supposed to attend a boat race in Shimonoseki that day. He’ll be able to do the match but he advised DDT to go ask New Japan first. NJPW would later give their permission for the match to go ahead. Backstage Sumi said there is so much he wanted to do with the Universal Title so he definitely wants to win it back. He then brought up Taguchi’s idea for the two of them to team up at the upcoming Super Jr. Tag League. He would like to take up that offer if there is a chance it can happen. His goal is to become the top junior heavyweight and he wants to seize any opportunity to take part in the Best Of The Super Jr. some day in the future.

Sasaki got to build up momentum to make the title challenge one match earlier. He teamed up with a different NJPW wrestler, DOUKI and showed up wearing a similar entrance mask as his partner’s. DOUKI made it clear to Tetsuya Endo what to expect by immediately poking him in the eye. Endo recovered and showed up his skills so DOUKI switched to stopping Antonio Honda from using Gongitsune when he could. Honda summoned the power of Hiroyoshi Tenzan by hitting DOUKI with Mongolian Chops and then planting him with the Tenzan Tombstone Driver. A Gongitsune misfire hit Endo by mistake but Honda was finally able to hit DOUKI with it. Endo got in on the fun too by doing a Swan Dive Gongitsune to Sasaki. Honda could have won when he hit the Diving Fist Drop to DOUKI but Ilusion pulled Daisuke Kiso out of the ring during the pinfall. DAMNATION T.A tried to replicate House Of Torture by setting up a signboard attack but Honda redirected Sasaki into knocking DOUKI off the ring apron. Honda then had a second chance of winning by using the Japanese Leg Roll Clutch to pin Sasaki but Kiso took too long to get back into the ring and Sasaki had enough time to kick out. DOUKI took out Endo with a Slingshot DDT and then hit Honda with the signboard while Kiso was distracted. That allowed Sasaki to use La Mistica Crossface Lock to make Honda submit.

The match between Danshoku Dieno and YAMATO revealed to an apparent rift that formed within the DDT Variety Team. Before the match took place Super Sasadango Machine, Toru Owashi and Akito all reminded Dieno of the rivalry between DDT and Dragon Gate. However Owashi then revealed that his allegiance is with Dragon Gate so he wouldn’t be in Dieno’s corner for the match! Dieno relied on Akito & Sasadango to interfere after Yukinori Matsui got knocked out with the Lip Lock. Dieno got into the Hell Gate position by shouting “Open The Dream Gate” out loud while his seconds tried to shove YAMATO face first into his rear. Owashi ran down to the ring to rescue YAMATO but ended up running face first into the Hell Gate instead. Then suddenly the DG wrestler Yosuke♡Santa Maria ran down to fight off Akito and Sasadango before turning on YAMATO so she could give him the Lip Lock! Maria helped Dieno give YAMATO the Danshoku Driver but it only got them a nearfall when Matsui recovered. Maria then gave Matsui the Lip Lock to knock him out again. YAMATO tried to make a comeback against the numbers disadvantage. An Enzuigiri to Dieno caused Dieno to fall forward with his backside fully exposed. YAMATO then knocked Maria face first into it with another Enzuigiri. By the time Matsui regained consciousness, he saw Dieno tapping out to YAMATO’s CBV submission hold and called for the end in YAMATO’s favour. Dieno later asked Maria backstage if there was something in the past between her and YAMATO because their interactions in the ring was like a lovers’ guarrel. Maria said there were a lot of things that happened in the past but wouldn’t go into detail. Dieno said Dragon Gate shouldn’t be allowing such an unusual relationship to happen in the workplace and threatened to go investigate if there are any other compliance violations.

New KO-D Tag Team Champions were crowned when Shinya Aoki & Junta Miyawaki defeated FANTÔMES DRAMATIC. Aoki’s training that Miyawaki went through along with having some toughness of his own paid off. Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA tried to pick apart Miyawaki before switching over to Aoki. HARASHIMA went back to targeting Miyawaki and almost pinned him with the Somato but Aoki barely broke the pin in time. HARASHIMA then missed the Swan Dive Somato and Miyawaki suddenly tangled him into the Sunshine Clutch to get the three count out of nowhere for the title change! Miyawaki said it was a huge hurdle for him to finally win a championship in DDT and he achieved it because of Aoki. They now look forward to defending the title not just in DDT but in other places too so they can both reach the next level.

Their first challenge is coming up 30th August. Right after they won the titles, Aoki & Miyawaki were confronted by Jun Akiyama & Rukiya. The latter is feeling fired up because earlier in the show he won for the first time in Ryogoku. He now wants a title shot with Akiyama by his side. Miyawaki considered it because Aoki needs to train for his RIZIN fight coming up next month but Aoki accused Rukiya of only acting so brash because Akiyama is with him. Rukiya convinced him he’s doing this because he really wants the tag titles so the match is booked for Korakuen at the end of the month.

Hideki Okatani’s goal of finally beating Shunma Katsumata in a hardcore environment remains out of reach. The DDT Extreme Title was put on the line in a Barbed Wire Death Match that featured several weapons wrapped in the stuff. Chairs, a kendo stick, a barbed wire board and even a barbed wire turnbuckle were all used during the match. Okatani also wrapped some wire around Katsumata’s arm to hurt him that way. But Katsumata caused more damage giving Okatani a German Suplex onto a board. He then wrapped barbed wire around his waist and hit the Totonou Splash to win the match and take more than one prize from Okatani. Katsumata ended up winning both the Extreme Title and a Right To Challenge Gauntlet! He knows Okatani had a lot on his mind going into the match. Injuries derailed his career and Katsumata is sure he still thinks about Kazusada Higuchi. Katsumata understands how it feels and wants Okatani to know that as long as their bodies still move, they can liven up DDT. Okatani’s thoughts on the result is he is lacking something if he still cannot beat Katsumata in an Extreme Title match.

I’m not a father but I imagine some of the proudest moments a dad can have are hearing their kid’s first word, seeing their kid’s first steps and setting up their kid’s first death match skewer spot. Jun Kasai unexpectedly dug a bundle of them into Rukiya’s head while Hinata Kasai held him in a Headlock during their tag match. If that wasn’t enough, Jun pulled out a syringe and stuck it onto his own head before giving Rukiya a Lariat! Hinata didn’t go that far in copying his father but he did grab Jun’s goggles to tease doing the Pearl Harbor Splash. Jun Akiyama blocked him from doing the move and Rukiya took back control to win the match with the R. Fisherman Buster. The adrenaline rush he got from the match caused him to go challenge for the KO-D Tag Titles later in the show.

Things didn’t end there for the father and son tag team. Jun said he’s lived with Hinata for 22 years and has never seen the expressions on his face he made today. Today was fun but Jun needs more stimulation so he is challenging Hinata to a singles match as soon as possible! He would even do it right now but Imabayashi stepped in to tell him the result would be too predictable. So instead DDT will book the match for “ULTIMATE PARTY 2026” at Sumo Hall on 3rd November. Backstage Hinata said he learned pro wrestling doesn’t end with happy endings like a fairy tale. This match was to celebrate the 1st Anniversary of his debut and he still lost. But teaming with his father who introduced him to pro wrestling may finally open the door for this skinny, unathletic nobody to turn into something special! He promises to give his dad the ultimate excitement on 3rd November!

It turns out the tag team of Minoru Suzuki & Sanshiro Takagi is actually kind of viable. Suzuki’s presence intimidated Kazuki Hirata to the point where Hirata almost couldn’t do anything but To-y had no such fear of fighting him. Hirata tried to encourage Suzuki into wearing the Hirata GO! glasses but he snapped them in half instead, causing Hirata to faint in shock. To-y was convinced that Hirata died so he fought to avenge him. However he jumped into thin air and hit the canvas while Takagi & Suzuki were arguing with each other. Hirata recovered from his near-death experience and caused Suzuki to knock To-y on top of Suzuki for a nearfall. Suzuki chased Hirata all around Sumo Hall while back in the ring Takagi caught To-y in mid-air with a Sunner and then pinned him with another Stunner. Because of this result, Takagi had won a Right To Challenge Gauntlet and he ended up using it to cash in the title shot at the end of the show.

A big prize was on the line for the Battle Royal. No, it was not the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title for whoever won the match. Whoever was the champion entering the ring would be rewarded with a year long bullet train pass to be used whenever DDT runs shows outside of Tokyo. At some point before the show Yuki Ishida lost the title to Ilusion. Then moments before the match began a string of title changes in a hallway had the belt move from Ilusion to Super Sasadango Machine to Ishida to Yuni to Kazuki Hirata, who was not booked for the match. But as Hirata made his entrance, he was suddenly grabbed from behind by Akito and put in an Ankle Lock on the stage. Hirata tapped out and Akito made it to the ring as the champion to win the train pass!

The Rumble match then went ahead with wrestlers like Yuki Iino and Naomi Yoshimura scoring eliminations. Akito lost the title during the match when he submitted to Masami Inahata’s Argentine Backbreaker. Sasadango entered the match by handing SSM masks to everyone in the ring. MJ Paul refused so the Sasadango group all ganged up on him, forced him to wear the mask and join their side much to Ilusion’s chagrin. The final entrant Yoshihiko cleared the ring, winning the Iron Man Title in the process. It last eliminated Fuminori Abe but Ilusion was still there to give Yoshihiko a fight. Ilusion survived taking the Infinity Destroyer and blocked the Reincarnation to throw Yoshihiko out of the ring and into the crowd a few rows deep. Ilusion’s title win was short lived though. Kazuki Hirata snuck up on him in his Hammer Hirata form and knocked out Ilusion to win the title for himself. Hirata then had to revert back to his normal self because his tag match was next.

The record for most KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Title defences has not been broken after paleyouth failed to beat Strange Love Connection in the opening match. The match came down to Takeshi Masada facing off with Viento Levante with everyone else coming in to assist when needed. KANON & Yukio Naya held Yuya Koroku & Daichi Sato in place for Levante to Moonsault onto them outside the ring. Levante then hit the Diving Headbutt on Masada for a nearfall. Koroku hit the other SLC members with a dive but paleyouth couldn’t capitalise on it. Levante instead tackled Masada to the mat and kept pinning him down until he somehow got a three count out of it! paleyouth weren’t happy with losing the titles that way and challenged SLC backstage to a rematch for the belts on 17th August. If paleyouth are going to be beaten, they want to be beaten to a pulp! KANON warned that next time SLC aren’t just going to leave it to Levante to win the match. He and Naya want to get the win for themselves too.

There was a little bit extra that happened after the show. DDT brought in another member of THE RAMPAGE to take part in the show. Shogo Yamamoto spoke to reporters about how it went afterwards when Kazuki Hirata and To-y suddenly broke into the room fighting over the Iron Man Title. The two of them knocked each other out so Yamamoto decided to pin Hirata and win the Iron Man Title. Then later in the evening MAO unintentionally tricked Yamamoto into giving up the title over to him when Yukinori Matsui overheard their conversation and misunderstood what was said.

It was announced during the show DDT will hold their 30th Anniversary show “JUDGEMENT 2027” at Sumo Hall on 22nd March next year. Akito later said the 29th Anniversary this year was put together to show everything DDT has to offer. Careful decisions will have to be made for the 30th Anniversary. According to Akito it is unclear if the Tokyo Dome will be a realistic target next year but they hope it can become one in the future.


DDT “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2026” Preview

August 10, 2026

DDT “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2026”, 11/08/2026
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

1. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Takeshi Masada, Yuya Koroku & Daichi Sato (c) Vs KANON, Yukio Naya & Viento Levante (w/ KIMIHIRO & YUZUKI)
2. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Time Delayed Entry Battle Royal: Yuki Ishida (c) Vs Yuki Iino Vs Toru Owashi Vs Akito Vs Soma Takao Vs Fuminori Abe Vs Naomi Yoshimura Vs Super Sasadango Machine Vs MJ Paul Vs Ilusion Vs Yuni Vs Masami Inahata
3. Special Tag Match: Minoru Suzuki & Sanshiro Takagi Vs Kazuki Hirata & To-y
4. Hinata Kasai 1st Anniversary Debut Match ~ Special Tag Match: Jun Kasai & Hinata Kasai Vs Jun Akiyama & Rukiya
5. DDT Extreme Title – Barbed Wire Death Match: Hideki Okatani (c) Vs Shunma Katsumata
6. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA (c) Vs Shinya Aoki & Junta Miyawaki
7. Special Single Match: YAMATO Vs Danshoku Dieno
8. Special Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & DOUKI Vs Antonio Honda & Tetsuya Endo
9. DDT Universal Title: Kazuma Sumi (c) Vs Ryusuke Taguchi
10. Dramatic Dream Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs Kaisei Takechi
11. KO-D Openweight Title – Goodcom Asset Presents: Yuki Ueno (c) Vs MAO

The show is named after Peter Pan because DDT is the company that never wants to grow up. However the story of the main event asks if the challenger has matured enough to finally dethrone the champion? The latest visit to Sumo Hall isn’t packed with the star power I would usually expect from its guests. There are crossovers with New Japan and Dragon Gate on the card though. The buildup has kind of felt lacking too because a lot of the outsider names weren’t around to interact with their DDT opponents. It all hangs on the main event for the KO-D Openweight Title. It’s a rematch from “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2024” in the same venue that never left as much of an impact as it hoped it would back then. This is the second chance to get that performance right, not necessarily the result. If this is supposed to be the crowning of a new champion, I’m not exactly feeling it the night before the show.

Before we begin, let me remind everyone there are currently three Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Gauntlets that are active. Two of them (Red and Blue) can be used to cash in a KO-D Title shot on a DDT show whenever the holder wants as long as the champion is around. The third one (Purple) is a trap Gauntlet that can be cashed in on anyone who holds one of the other Gauntlets. So yeah, imagine a Money In The Bank that you cash in on another Money In The Bank before that gets cashed in. That’s what we’re working with here.


1. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Takeshi Masada, Yuya Koroku & Daichi Sato (c) Vs KANON, Yukio Naya & Viento Levante (w/ KIMIHIRO & YUZUKI)

Someone must have told Takeshi Masada that the second most important match on a wrestling card is the opener and he’s taken that theory to heart. One of the highlights of DDT this year has been paleyouth’s tag matches, especially the ones involving the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles. While this unit of youngsters do not have as heavy of a chip on their shoulders as Team Dream Futures had years ago, their performances in the ring have been something I look forward to seeing on every DDT show. Daichi Sato really has something if he can grow into a proper heavyweight down the line. Character work needs some work between them (Yuya Koroku’s personality in particular could do with being slightly less dry) but you won’t find a more reliable trio elsewhere in DDT this year.

paleyouth currently ties the record for most KO-D 6-Man Tag Titles defences and winning this match will break the record. Masada believes such an achievement will need a lot of attention which is why he asked for the match to be put in the opening spot. One person in Strange Love Connection wants to stop them and has the opportunity to do so. KANON was part of the DAMNATION T.A trio that shares the most defences record with paleyouth. Even though that title reign ended when KANON was betrayed and kicked out of the unit, he is still proud of what he achieved back then and does not want to see the accomplishment get written out of the record books. His partners for the match have different levels of motivation going into the match. SLC introduced everyone to Viento Maligno six months ago but it didn’t take long for everyone to realised it was Keigo Nakamura under the mask, returning incognito from an excursion to Mexico that didn’t work out how he hoped. His performances were underwhelming and his true identity was revealed a few months later but Nakamura is sticking with it in an attempt to make this alter ego work. Demus gave him the name Viento Maligno (Evil Wind) but being a rudo is not in Nakamura’s nature so it has since been changed to Viento Levante (named after the Mediterranean wind). Yukio Naya has spent this time being Levante’s supportive big buddy and has promised to help Levante score the winning pinfall in this match.

There is an added wild card for this match, the Right To Challenge Anytime Anywhere Anytime Anywhere Gauntlet. This purple version of the prize was created to be cashed in against other Gauntlet holders instead of any champions. So anyone who has a regular RTC Gauntlet need to watch their back just as much as the champion does! KANON has possession of the Purple AAAA Gauntlet heading into this match and will likely keep it unless he directly takes the losing fall. That means he can cause some chaos later in the show if he decides to cash in on either the Red Gauntlet holder or the Blue Gauntlet holder.


2. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Time Delayed Entry Battle Royal: Yuki Ishida (c) Vs Yuki Iino Vs Toru Owashi Vs Akito Vs Soma Takao Vs Fuminori Abe Vs Naomi Yoshimura Vs Super Sasadango Machine Vs MJ Paul Vs Ilusion Vs Yuni Vs Masami Inahata

Sometimes you just need to add a little extra incentive to encourage people. DDT usually puts in a Royal Rumble style match on the undercard for the most unstable championship in pro wrestling the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title. What also often happens is the champion going into the match might get beaten and lost the belt to someone else on their way to the ring thanks to the 24/7 rules. It can sometimes make one wonder why wrestlers would even bother trying to be the champion going into the match. DDT decided to fix this problem by adding a special prize to this year’s Iron Man Battle Royal. Whoever enters the match as the reigning champion will receive a one year long travel pass for the Shinkansen bullet train to be used whenever DDT books them for shows held outside of Tokyo. That’s going to come in handy in the coming months when DDT make their Autumn trips to Osaka, Hokkaido and Yokohama. I bet those tours alone will pay off the pass by themselves unless DDT starts managing how their wrestlers are booked by using a bucket system.

At the time of writing Yuki Ishida is the reigning champion as he continues his journey into rediscovering himself. He’s kind of in the same position that Nakamura was in but it’s a lot more shallow. Ever since Kazusada Higuchi retired and Harimao went their separate ways, Ishida has struggled to keep up with the other wrestlers from his generation. Lately he believes he needs to change himself to finally make the progress he wants. All he’s been doing though is tell people over and over he wants to change and also take part in a photoshoot trying out different outfits. The one of him in a suit makes him look like a young Jaki Numazawa if Numazawa never took part in death matches so maybe there’s something to be found there. He really needs to put more thought into the idea though because right now it just comes off as him being superficial.

The usual bunch of undercard wrestlers are filling up the ranks. Yuki Iino is taking on double the bookings between DDT and NOAH. It’s working out great for him on the NOAH front with Iino getting a passionate makeover and winning the GHC Tag Team Titles with Manabu Soya. He has to hide his wild looking haircut back in DDT and his presence on shows has mostly been reduced to being another body in SLC multi-man tag matches. Soma Takao recently came back from injury and wants to remind everyone he is not just the guy who works at the Dropkick Bar. Yes, he’s been gone long enough for the newer DDT fans to be unaware that he is a wrestler. Naomi Yoshimura remains low on the card due to his physical limits but he has talked about having a special opponent in mind for his homecoming show later this year. Ilusion continues to be a trollish dick to everyone outside of DAMNATION T.A. He often gets away with it because MJ Paul is always nearby to have his back no matter what trouble he causes. Some of the other young guns like Yuni and Masami Inahata have briefly won the Iron Man Title in the leadup to the show. That leaves the likes of Toru Owashi, Akito, Fuminori Abe and Super Sasadango Machine to fill up the rest of the field. Sasadango’s been trying to join different stables as a Nagoya-only based member but those kind of alliances mean nothing in Tokyo!


3. Special Tag Match: Minoru Suzuki & Sanshiro Takagi Vs Kazuki Hirata & To-y

No matter how many enemies Sanshiro Takagi makes in the ring throughout his career, at some point he’ll try teaming up with them. Minoru Suzuki is the latest foe turned tag partner as it was the only way Suzuki could find a spot on the show. The two have caught attention in Japan and around the world for their feud built around Falls Count Anywhere matches in the unusual environments. They’ve fought inside an empty Tokyo Dome, they’ve fought along a tramline and most famously of all they’ve fought inside a moving bullet train. They must know each other inside and out by now so let’s see how they will get along as a tag team.

I would consider the opposition to be an Easy Mode option if it wasn’t for the risk of Suzuki & Takagi’s team becoming to volatile to last. We are approaching one year since the wonderful Summer Of Kazuki Hirata and he’s back in the 2nd match of the card where he himself would admit he belongs. He also continues to lose matches as soon as they begin which has been disastrous for Hisaya Imabayashi’s heart rate. To-y has been doing better than Hirata when it comes to win-loss records but his somewhat manical personality can lead him towards making some costful mistakes. He is the holder of the Blue RTC Gauntlet and the stage can be set for him to make a big splash later in the show if he decides to cash it in. Or he could make a foolish mistake like a certain stablemate of his from The 37KAMIINA did once before and let Suzuki open up a pathway towards becoming a DDT champion again.


4. Hinata Kasai 1st Anniversary Debut Match ~ Special Tag Match: Jun Kasai & Hinata Kasai Vs Jun Akiyama & Rukiya

What if the cat’s in the cradle and the cradle is also filled with lighttubes? Thankfully Hinata Kasai has not taken to following in his father’s footsteps the exact same way. Instead his pro wrestling career is with DDT where he’s been working as the fourth member of FANTÔMES DRAMATIC. It’s been apparent from his debut a year ago that he is lacking in physical skills but he’s been making up for it by looking sympathetic every time he takes a beating. When DDT announced that Hinata would team up with his dad Jun Kasai inside Sumo Hall to celebrate the one year anniversary of his debut, Hinata made it his goal to earn his first victory by then. That hasn’t happened yet so his self-imposed challenge is going straight to the wire. Jun Akiyama & Rukiya will be making up the wall Hinata has to try and climb over. This will be the first time Jun and Akiyama will have a proper match against each other (they were both part of a wacky Taiji Ishimori gauntlet match in New Japan last year). This is different from Hinata and Rukiya who have been regularly teaming up or fighting against each other on DDT shows ever since Hinata’s debut. Rukiya was even Hinata’s first singles opponent so if there’s anyone most suitable for Hinata to score his first victory against, it’s Rukiya.

Quick sidenote before I move onto the next match. I should really take the time to watch the Jun Kasai “KYO-EN” documentary that was made a few years ago to see what presence Hinata has in that. That kind of info would have been really helpful in hindsight. If it’s good enough for Hideo Kojima then it’s good enough for me.


5. DDT Extreme Title – Barbed Wire Death Match: Hideki Okatani (c) Vs Shunma Katsumata

The show was missing some kind of spectacle but I didn’t expect DDT would go the violence route to fill in that spot late in the buildup. Hideki Okatani has gone on a mean streak as DDT Extreme Champion to prove his superiority over other wrestlers from his generation. It’s all so he can come face to face with one wrestler in particular, the one who welcomed him into Hardcore wrestling in the first place and he could never beat in two previous attempts. But simply making this a Hardcore Match feels underwhelming to Okatani. He wants to use the most exciting rule he can think of so he decided he will defend the title in a Barbed Wire Death Match!

Shunma Katsumata is no stranger to the Extreme Title and has twice defended the championship against Okatani. The first in 2023 ended badly when Katsumata suffered a leg injury that forced him to vacate the title despite winning the match. The second in 2024 worked out better for him as he won the match without getting injured this time. This past Katsumata has with Okatani feels kind of special to him because he keeps being involved in Okatani’s first experiences. He must be an important person in Okatani’s life because he seems to be the only one who can motivate Okatani into making these really violent kind of matches.

There’s an extra prize on the line too. Okatani is going into the match holding the Blue Right To Challenge Gauntlet that he recently won from Katsumata. Whoever wins this bloody battle will walk out with both the Extreme Title and a Gauntlet. But will the winner be in any state to cash it in later in the night or could they end up becoming a sitting duck for the holder of the Anytime Anywhere Gauntlet to ambush once the ring gets cleared of all the sharp barbed wire?


6. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA (c) Vs Shinya Aoki & Junta Miyawaki

I don’t think I will ever be able to imagine DDT without HARASHIMA. Even without changing anything about himself he continues to stay relevant with the company as one of the most reliable wrestlers you can ever count on. He continues to show it here as a backbone member of FANTÔMES DRAMATIC and a 12-time holder of the KO-D Tag Team Titles. Whatever it is that keeps him feeling young is probably being provided by Chris Brookes because that guys keeps finding ways to stay busy. Whenever he’s not wrestling in Fandora tag matches, he’s off causing mayhem with the Baka Gaijin + Friends. It will take a pair of wrestlers as “Baka” as the two of them to take the KO-D Titles away.

Here’s where Shinya Aoki comes in as a challenger who both Brookes & HARASHIMA are very familiar with. Joining him is the sunlight of NOAH who came to DDT looking for new experiences. Junta Miyawaki is on a year long loan from The Ark and spends some of his time here taking part in every DDT comedy gimmick he can think of. The rest of the time Miyawaki has attached himself to Aoki, having been taken under the MMA fighter’s wing after spending years being influenced by Aoki’s skills. This new mentor/student dynamic can make Miyawaki’s stay here even more worthwhile if it can win him his first DDT championship.

What might get in the way of this promising new tag team is Aoki’s plans for the rest of the year. He recently ended his MMA contract with ONE Championship and quickly made the jump over to RIZIN. Aoki now has a big fight coming up in September against Mikuru Asakura. If Aoki & Miyawaki can win the tag titles, Miyawaki has promised to carry the belts down to the ring for Aoki’s fight next month!


7. Special Single Match: YAMATO Vs Danshoku Dieno

Alas poor Dragon Gate, the company where you sometimes have to remind yourself it’s no longer the promotion it was from 15 years ago. Shun Skywalker has buggered off and the new units being created all sound like a half completed title of a Kingdom Hearts spinoff that was generated by AI. But you can always count on YAMATO to be a flagbearer for the company and take the lead whenever others fail to do. Working relationships between DDT and Dragon Gate have a tricky history together. There were times when they joined forces to put on “DRAMATIC DREAM GATE” events and then there were the times when DDT took in the runaways who couldn’t cut it at the dojo in Kobe. Things seem to be okay between the two companies right now (maybe thanks to UJPW?) so YAMATO is coming to DDT looking for a suitable opponent for an inter-promotional bout.

YAMATO’s request is a grand one. He is looking for somebody of comparable stature to his own. Somebody whose collection of work could create or even carry a company by itself just like how YAMATO has done it for Dragon Gate. Even if you didn’t know the match already you knew the opponent was going to be Danshoku Dieno, right? YAMATO tried to get the match changed because in his opinion nobody wants to see him grappling with Dieno in the ring. The DDT fanbase, or at least those who were inside Korakuen Hall when the match was announced, tend to disagree. YAMATO now claims that he is immune to Dieno’s antics but we’ll all discover together how truthful he is being at Sumo Hall.


8. Special Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & DOUKI Vs Antonio Honda & Tetsuya Endo

The cheek of DDT to hold a contest asking fans to predict what match Daisuke Sasaki was going to be in and this is the answer. The spots began to fill when DDT announced Antonio Honda was going to be on the other team. It would then be up to Sasaki and Honda to choose their own tag team partners. Sasaki made the first move and contacted DOUKI from the House Of Torture to join forces with him. It’s a perfect fit. Sasaki has known DOUKI for many years, it’s a fellow heel who wouldn’t look out of place standing next to DAMNATION T.A and he’s coming off one of the most dominant runs the NJPW Junior Heavyweight division has seen in years. Honda was rightfully worried about who he is going up against and was motivated to choose a tag team partner that would feel just as unfair towards Sasaki.

A call was made to repair a broken bridge. Honda was part of a unit from a decade ago called Happy Motel and another member of that group left them behind to join DAMNATION. Honda has never teamed with this person ever since but the time had come to let bygones be bygones. Honda’s partner is Tetsuya Endo! Even though Endo is now a full time wrestler with NOAH he has a plan to come back to DDT once he wins the GHC Heavyweight Title. He failed to become champion back in June but decided to briefly return to DDT when he saw how lazy Sasaki has become lately. The Sasaki he sees now who has been standing to the side and letting others in DAMNATION T.A claim leadership of the group is nothing like the Sasaki that Endo knew from the original DAMNATION. Honda claims he only asked Endo to team with him because it would make for a more exciting match. Endo says he is taking part to remind Sasaki what his true colours should look like.


9. DDT Universal Title: Kazuma Sumi (c) Vs Ryusuke Taguchi

This is an odd one although that’s to be expected with Ryusuke Taguchi being involved. The stalwart of NJPW’s Jr. division was one of the first guests to be booked for the show so when Kazuma Sumi asked if he could defend the DDT Universal Title against a New Japan wrestler, Taguchi got the spot. Sumi has felt annoyed over missing out on the recent DDT Vs NJPW matches especially since NJPW have been on the winning end more often than not. But putting any ill feelings on the matter aside, he is also happy to fight Taguchi and use him as a stepping stone to the top of the Junior Heavyweight scene. The odd thing is Taguchi seems to be accepting his fate. He’s been the stepping stone before for Kota Ibushi and Kenny Omega so this scenario is nothing new to him. All he can do is teach Sumi a lesson. If Sumi isn’t careful then he could end up becoming used as a stepping stone for somebody else!

When it comes to star power, this is not the match I would have booked for Sumi. However that isn’t the goal DDT has in mind here. They want a solid hand to help Sumi take the next step and Taguchi still has those kind of performances in him once every blue moon. You can always count on him to have that one particularly good match every Best Of The Super Jr. and I bet the goal is for him to give Sumi the same match here. Some rumours over NJPW replenishing their Jr. division earlier this year have not come to pass but I think something is coming up over the horizon after the company recently changed ownership. Taguchi had suggested during the contract signing that he and Sumi could team up together for an upcoming tag tournament in New Japan. He even suggested they both shave their heads so they can be called The Buzz Cut Brothers. Sumi is indecisive over the idea (the last time he shaved his head everyone thought he was being punished for something but it was for a TV role) but who knows? This might end up becoming an audition for something bigger down the line.


10. Dramatic Dream Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs Kaisei Takechi

DDT’s new gravy train goes up against the company’s pride and joy. You know I would really appreciate it if DDT announced their attendance numbers again so we could find out how much of a draw this match is but we’re going to be left in the dark. Konosuke Takeshita is taking a time out from the G1 CLIMAX to semi-main a Sumo Hall show. He has one more A Block match to get through a day later but the odds are in his favour he can make it to the playoff stage (knock on wood). Don’t expect him to act like he’s taking the night off. He’s promised to go all out given who his opponent is here.

Just like the rise of Yuki Arai in Tokyo Joshi Pro, I reckon it is only a matter of time before Kaisei Takechi takes to pro wrestling on a full time basis and becomes DDT’s top pushed act. We’re still a while away from that happening though. His schedule had slowed down after the early part of the year due to him suffering from a case of pink eye than having priorities elsewhere by the time it cleared up. He’s going into this Dramatic Dream match understanding that 99% of his fans expect him to lose. That just means he’s going to fight his heart out for the 1% who do believe in him. Surviving against one of the best in the world is the goal here but the closer he gets to achieving that, the more he can figure out if Takeshita isn’t as fresh as he claims to be thanks to the G1.


11. KO-D Openweight Title – Goodcom Asset Presents: Yuki Ueno (c) Vs MAO

We’re back here for a second try. Two years ago Yuki Ueno and MAO fought in the main event of “WRESTLE PETER PAN” in Sumo Hall with the KO-D Openweight Title on the line. It was a match determined to establish the two as DDT’s big rivalry of the era much like Takeshita Vs Endo or Ibushi Vs Omega both were in times past. It didn’t hit the mark. So what has changed two years later that DDT is giving the match another go? For one, Ueno has finally grown into the confident ace the company has been looking for post Takeshita and Higuchi. Even though this is his third reign as champion, it’s really his second because of a fun detour that Kazuki Hirata sent everyone on last year. Once the title returned to Ueno he has looked the most comfortable he’s ever been when taking the reins and setting a long path towards the dream destination that is the Tokyo Dome. That’s one half of the problem sorted. Has the opponent matured just as much?

According to MAO he’s taking the steps towards deserving a KO-D Title run. He left The 37KAMIINA to form his own team turned unit Strange Love Connection. This was all so he could stand across the ring from Ueno and eventually catch up to him, raising their rivalry to the same level as Takeshita/Endo, Ibushi/Omega and even further back to HARASHIMA/KUDO. Ueno and MAO always like fighting each other, it’s just that their friendliness towards each other was one of the reasons why their previous Peter Pan main event didn’t land the way they thought it would.

MAO is the question mark I’m having trouble with because two years ago showed his wrestling style is not suited for the big arenas. Sure he has the crazy spirit I want from a DDT superstar but I don’t see him eagerly Moonsaulting off of a balcony like Ibushi did. MAO is at his best the smaller the room is. His antics go down a treat in Shinjuku FACE (I’m going to miss that place) and his appearances in Baka Gaijin + Friends are often my favorite part of those shows. He also likes to take out of the box chances as shown from his Universal Title run but that’s a role I can’t see being done with the KO-D Title, at least at this point in time. There is a way MAO can positively stand out as a KO-D Champion. That way is not by having a forced 30+ minute epic main event in Ryogoku. Should MAO win the title and leave Sumo Hall as champion, DDT will have to go in a completely different direction than where they’ve been heading with Ueno on top. Can that direction also take them to the Tokyo Dome or is it time to put that dream to rest after bringing it up so often for the last year or two? I hate to end this preview with that question but it’s the mystery that’s swirling around in my head.


DDT “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2026 PRESS CONFERENCE AND PRE-EVENT PARTY IN IKEBUKURO” Results

August 7, 2026

DDT “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2026 PRESS CONFERENCE & PRE-EVENT PARTY IN IKEBUKURO”, 07/08/2026
Tokyo Ikebukuro West Exit Park Global Ring Theater
??? Fans – Unannounced

1. Rukiya defeated Hinata Kasai with the Proto Bomb (10:06).
2. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – DAMNATION T.A Vs NωA Jr.!: Shunma Katsumata & Yuni defeated Hideki Okatani & Ilusion when Yuni pinned Ilusion (c) with the Messiah DDT (7:42).
*Yuni becomes the 1,879th champion.
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Ilusion defeated Yuni (c) with a Title Belt Strike (2:57 pm).
*Ilusion becomes the 1,880th champion.
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Masami Inahata defeated Ilusion (c) with an Argentine Backbreaker (5:10 pm).
*Masami Inahata becomes the 1,881st champion.
3. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Special 6-Man Tag Match: Takeshi Masada, Yuya Koroku & Daichi Sato defeated Kazuma Sumi, To-y & Masami Inahata when Masada pinned Inahata (c) with the Masada No Chikara KOBU Mukimuki (15:14).
*Takeshi Masada becomes the 1,882nd champion.
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Yuki Ishida defeated Takeshi Masada (c) with an Ichizorigatame (7:10 pm).
*Yuki Ishida becomes the 1,883rd champion.

It is a couple of days before “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2026” and DDT went to Ikebukuro for an outdoor day of matches and contract signings. At first it looked like the matches held on the day would not have much circumstances to until the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title got dragged into things. First the title changed hands multiple times going from Ilusion to Yuni then back to Ilusion. He mocked the fans afterward for spending their free time on a Friday to be at this show and claimed to have hired 60 guards to protect him from losing the title before next week’s Sumo Hall show. However a brawl later broke out between a group of wrestlers all wanting to fight Ilusion. Masami Inahata put him in an Argentine Backbreaker to win the title but he would end up losing it in the main event to Takeshi Masada. After all of that, Yuki Ishida sneakily pinned Masada after the match to win the title and still have it by the night’s end.

Contract signings were held throughout the day for the big matches happening at Sumo Hall. MAO talked about getting to fight Yuki Ueno for the KO-D Openweight Title again. In the past DDT was defined by the HARASHIMA/KUDO era, the Kota Ibushi/Kenny Omega era and the Konosuke Takeshita/Tetsuya Endo era. Right now it’s just the Yuki Ueno era so by winning this match MAO gets to add his name next to Ueno and everyone will know which two wrestlers were leading this era of DDT. MAO also wants to be at his most dazzling for the match so he has changed his hair back to an old hairstyle and is confident he can unleash 200% of his pro wrestling because Ueno is his opponent. Ueno said he enjoyed the matches he’s had with MAO in the last month and it’s hard to put into words how much joy it’s given him. If MAO is that motivated to reach the level Ueno is at now it only motivates Ueno to beat him and climb even higher. It’s all so he can help bring DDT to the Tokyo Dome.

Konosuke Takeshita had taken time away from the G1 CLIMAX to appear at this event and hype up his match with Kaisei Takechi. According to Takechi, 99% of his fans are expecting Takeshita to win but he is going to put his whole life on the line for the 1% that believe he will win. Hearing that, Takeshita promised to put everything he’s learned in his 14 year career into his match against Takechi. He also ensures he will be at 100% and he isn’t feeling fatigue from fighting in the G1.

Perhaps there is a future in store for Kazuma Sumi and Ryusuke Taguchi as tag team partners after their DDT Universal Title match. Taguchi wanted to study his opponent in the lead up to the show and thankfully he discovered Wrestle Universe offers a week long free trial. He still hasn’t gotten around to using it yet but he encourages everyone go use the offer to watch Sumi use him as a stepping stone. Taguchi hasn’t found a tag partner for the upcoming Super Jr. Tag League so he suggests maybe Sumi can team up with him and get the same haircut so they can become The Buzz Cut Brothers. Sumi did subscribe to NJPW World so he could study Taguchi but he can’t grasp what his weaknesses are yet. He also doesn’t want to shave his head to a buzz cut again because he did it once before for a drama role and everyone around him at the time thought he did something wrong and got his head shaved to apologise for it. He will consider Taguchi’s idea to team up though. After they signed the contract Taguchi hit Sumi with a Hip Attack but Sumi got him back by giving him a Kancho butt poke.

The DDT Extreme Title match now has a stipulation and it is a dangerous one. Hideki Okatani believes simply having a Hardcore match with Shunma Katsumata again would be underwhelming so he decided they are going to have a Barbed Wire Death Match! Katsumata ran down the history of Hardcore matches he previously had with Okatani and said he feels incredibly happy to be such a special person in Okatani’s heart. He thinks he is the only who can motivate Okatani to bring out his real self and will beat the real Okatani to win the Extreme Title. Even though Okatani is the champion, he is treating this match like he is the challenger and he thinks the fans will see something amazing at Sumo Hall.

HARASHIMA announced he will become a PR ambassador to promote Ome City later this year. It shouldn’t be much of a surprise, the name Ome has been in FANTÔMES DRAMATIC all along!


Barbed Wire Board Crash, Right To Challenge Gauntlets Are Back, New Wrestle Peter Pan Matches

July 1, 2026

DDT “CHARISMANIA IV”, 02/07/2026
Shinjuku FACE

1. Yasu Urano & Sangre Azteca Jr. Vs Naohiro Katsumi & Yunicaras Jr. (w/ Sumicaras)
2. Special Single Match: MJ Paul Vs Ryunosuke Nagai
3. Fake Brahman Army Vs Mataro Army All-Out Confrontation: Fake Brahman Yuki, Fake Brahman Yuki & Fake Brahman Yuki Vs Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi, Takayuki Ueki & Takeshi Masada (w/ Mataro)
4. Special Tag Match: Minoru Fujita & Ilusion Vs Ayato Ishida & Gabai Ji-chan
5. DDT Extreme Title – Barbed Wire Board Crash Match: Hideki Okatani (c) Vs Yuko Miyamoto
6. O-40 Title – 3 Way Match: Daisuke Sasaki (c) Vs Shuji Ishikawa Vs Keisuke Ishii

Members of the rock band HEAD PHONES PRESIDENT will present a prize to the winner of the O-40 Title main event.

The DDT Extreme Title match between Hideki Okatani and Yuko Miyamoto will now be a Barbed Wire Board Crash match. The first person to put their opponent through a Barbed Wire Board or make their opponent break it another way will be the winner.

DDT “ASAKUSA ROX NAKAMISE FIGHTING 2026”, 08/07/2026
Tokyo Asakusa ROX 3G Super Multi Court

0. Dark Match – Nariagari Showcase: X Vs X
1. Shunma Katsumata & Viento Levante Vs Akito & Hinata Kasai
2. Yuya Koroku, Daichi Sato & MBM Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Rukiya & Masami Inahata
3. Sanshiro Takagi & Yukio Naya Vs Jun Akiyama & Junta Miyawaki
4. FANTÔMES DRAMATIC Vs DAMNATION T.A!: Chris Brookes, HARASHIMA & Antonio Honda Vs Daisuke Sasaki, Hideki Okatani & Ilusion
5. Special 6-Man Tag Match: MAO, KANON (w/ KIMIHIRO) & Kazuma Sumi Vs Danshoku Dieno, Kazuki Hirata & Yoshihiko
6. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yuki Ueno, Ryota Nakatsu & Naomi Yoshimura Vs Takeshi Masada, To-y & Yuki Ishida

The Nariagari amateur group gets to provide their annual dark match before the show begins.

DDT “ROJO PRO WRESTLING IN HANDMADE IN JAPAN FES’ 2026”, 11/07/2026
Tokyo Big Sight West Halls 1 & 2, Music & Play Area

1. Falls Count Anywhere 4 Way Tag Match: Kazuma Sumi & Rukiya Vs Takeshi Masada & Yuya Koroku Vs To-y & Hinata Kasai Vs Yuki Ishida & Masami Inahata

An entirely D GENERATIONS based lineup will be part of the Falls Count Anywhere Match at this year’s Handmade In Japan Fes.

DDT “CHECK OUT DDT AT GRANSHIP”, 12/07/2026
Shizuoka Granship Exchange Hall

1. Danshoku Dieno & Antonio Honda Vs Kazuki Hirata & Akito
2. Jun Akiyama & Rukiya Vs MJ Paul & Ilusion
3. Daichi Sato Vs Masami Inahata
4. Daisuke Sasaki & Hideki Okatani Vs Junta Miyawaki & Yuki Ishida
5. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Chris Brookes, HARASHIMA & Hinata Kasai Vs Kazuma Sumi, Takeshi Masada & Yuya Koroku
6. Special 8-Man Tag Match: Yuki Ueno, Shinya Aoki, Shunma Katsumata & To-y Vs MAO, KANON, Yukio Naya & Viento Levante (w/ KIMIHIRO)

From opponents fighting over a championship to allies teaming up together. Yuki Ueno & Shinya Aoki are now back on the same side after their grueling KO-D Openweight Title match over the weekend. Aoki will now help out The 37KAMIINA for a tag match against Strange Love Connection.

DDT “FIGHTING BEER GARDEN 2026 IN SHINJUKU 【FINAL COUNTDOWN 1】”, 15/07/2026
Shinjuku FACE

1. Danshoku Dieno & Antonio Honda Vs Junta Miyawaki & Masami Inahata
2. Jun Akiyama & Soma Takao Vs Naomi Yoshimura & Rukiya
3. Takeshi Masada, Yuya Koroku & Daichi Sato Vs HARASHIMA, Yuki Ishida & Hinata Kasai
4. Invisible Man Rumble: Kazuki Hirata Vs Lengendary Invisible Man Fighters
5. Special Tag Match: Hideki Okatani & Ilusion Vs Yuni & Kumadori
6. Special 8-Man Tag Match: Yuki Ueno, Shinya Aoki, To-y & Kaisei Takechi Vs KANON, Yuki Iino, Yukio Naya & Viento Levante (w/ KIMIHIRO & YUZUKI)
7. Summer Fun KING OF DRUNK 2026 ~ Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Gauntlet: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Kazuma Sumi Vs Chris Brookes Vs MAO Vs Shunma Katsumata

This summer there will be two Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Gauntlets available to fight for. Whoever wins them will get a KO-D Title shot whenever they want from the time they win them up until 27th September. However the longer they wait to cash in their shot, the bigger the risk of them losing it to somebody else because the Gauntlets must always be defended in every matches the holder is booked for.

DDT “FIGHTING BEER GARDEN 2026 IN SHINJUKU 【FINAL COUNTDOWN 2】”, 16/07/2026
Shinjuku FACE

1. Kazuma Sumi & Yuni Vs Soma Takao & Yuki Ishida
2. DAMNATION T.A Vs STRANGE LOVE CONNECTION!: Hideki Okatani, Ilusion & MJ Paul Vs Yuki Iino, Yukio Naya & Viento Levante (w/ KIMIHIRO & YUZUKI)
3. Special Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & Mikiya Sasaki Vs Shunma Katsumata & To-y
4. Kaidan Shin-Numabukuro Royale: Kaisei Takechi Vs Jun Akiyama Vs Danshoku Dieno Vs MAO Vs KANON Vs Naomi Yoshimura Vs Rukiya Vs Hinata Kasai
*Kaidan Reading Artist: Hisaya Imabayashi
5. Blindfold Nipple Covered 4 Way Death Match ~ Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Gauntlet: Yuki Ueno Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Junta Miyawaki Vs Masami Inahata
6. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Takeshi Masada, Yuya Koroku & Daichi Sato (c) Vs Chris Brookes, HARASHIMA & Antonio Honda

There will be one Gauntlet up for grabs on each Beer Garden show. This time it will be the sillier matches on the card that are getting what are supposed to be big prizes.

DDT “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2026”, 11/08/2026
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

1. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Time Delayed Entry Battle Royal: KIMIHIRO (c) Vs X
2. Hinata Kasai 1st Anniversary Debut Match ~ Special Tag Match: Jun Kasai & Hinata Kasai Vs X & X
3. Special Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & DOUKI Vs Antonio Honda & X
4. Special Single Match: YAMATO Vs Danshoku Dieno
5. DDT Universal Title: Kazuma Sumi (c) Vs Ryusuke Taguchi
6. Dramatic Dream Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs Kaisei Takechi
7. KO-D Openweight Title: Yuki Ueno (c) Vs MAO

The card is starting to fill up. Yuki Ueno and MAO will be in the KO-D Title match in Sumo Hall again for the second time in the hopes of carrying DDT on the ultimate path towards the Tokyo Dome. There are also some inter-promotional bouts to look forward to with Kazuma Sumi defending the DDT Universal Title against Ryusuke Taguchi in a continuation of the DDT Vs New Japan rivalry. There is still some friendliness between the two companies because Daisuke Sasaki has picked DOUKI to be his tag partner for the mystery match against Antonio Honda and whoever he is going to pick (the popular guess online so far seems to be YOH). Dragon Gate is also taking part in the fun by sending YAMATO over for a match. Unfortunately for him he’s getting Danshoku Dieno as his opponent.


DDT “KING OF KINGS 2026 ~TENKA TAIRAN~” Results

June 28, 2026

DDT “KING OF KINGS 2026 ~TENKA TAIRAN~”, 28/06/2026
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
??? Fans – Unannounced

0. Dark Match: Junta Miyawaki & Viento Levante defeated Akito & Miles Karu when Miyawaki pinned Karu with the Sunshine Driver (7:26).
1. Soma Takao Comeback Match: Yukio Naya & Yuki Ishida defeated Soma Takao & Naomi Yoshimura when Naya pinned Takao with The World’s Best Back Drop (7:10).
2. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Rukiya & Masami Inahata defeated Minoru Suzuki, Danshoku Dieno & Kazuki Hirata when Akiyama pinned Hirata with a Lariat (0:09).
2a. Hirata Cannot Lose Until He Loses Three Times: Jun Akiyama, Rukiya & Masami Inahata defeated Minoru Suzuki, Danshoku Dieno & Kazuki Hirata (8:05).
2a1. Jun Akiyama pinned Kazuki Hirata with a Lariat (0:18).
2ab. Masami Inahata submitted Kazuki Hirata with a Crab Hold (0:43).
2a3. Rukiya submitted Kazuki Hirata with an Anal Hand Camel Clutch (8:05).
3. STRANGE LOVE CONNECTION Vs The 37KAMIINA!: KANON & Yuki Iino (w/ KIMIHIRO & YUZUKI) defeated Shunma Katsumata & To-y when Iino pinned To-y with a Lariat (7:49).
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: KIMIHIRO defeated Shunma Katsumata (c) by Submission (12:24 pm).
*KIMIHIRO becomes the 1,836th champion.
4. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Takeshi Masada, Yuya Koroku & Daichi Sato defeated Kazuma Sumi, Yuni & Kumadori when Sato pinned Yuni with a Rolling Elbow Butt (9:44).
5. No Referee Match: MAO defeated Sanshiro Takagi with the Cannonball 450° through the Plastic Case (12:31).
6. FANTÔMES DRAMATIC Vs DAMNATION T.A!: Daisuke Sasaki, Hideki Okatani, MJ Paul & Ilusion defeated Chris Brookes, HARASHIMA, Antonio Honda & Hinata Kasai when Sasaki submitted Kasai with the Crossface Lock (10:24).
7. KO-D Openweight Title: Yuki Ueno (c) defeated Shinya Aoki with the Sleeper Hold (21:48).
*V8 for Yuki Ueno.

There was no repeat from what happened back in 2024. This time Yuki Ueno was able to put Shinya Aoki away and remain the KO-D Openweight Champion. It was a complete swap of results from two years ago as this time Ueno was able to make Aoki submit instead of the other way around. He had to go that direction because Aoki avoided the WR and used the Aoki Clutch to try and win. Ueno kicked out of the move and got to use his finisher except Aoki still had enough movement left in him to avoid getting pinned. Ueno had to instead stick Aoki in a grounded Sleeper Hold and make him tap out to finally win. After the match Ueno thanked Aoki for becoming part of the DDT family and said how much he respects him from the bottom of his heart.

There is still some time to go until “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2026” takes place in Sumo Hall on 11th August. It’s enough time for a surprise title defence or two to happen before then but Ueno was given the nod by Hisaya Imabayashi to choose his Ryogoku challenger. Ueno brought up his goal to bring DDT to the Tokyo Dome and in order to do that he feels he must come up with a match that can sell out Sumo Hall first. The opponent he wants to fight in front of a packed Sumo Hall is MAO! This will also be a title rematch from 2024 in the same building. MAO calls himself a realist because he wonders if he can really make it to the Tokyo Dome. He thinks he can because he has become stronger that he was two years ago and is carrying none of the burdans from back then. He accepts the challenge to determine who will win between DDT’s Prince and DDT’s square shaped devil!

The 8-Man Tag between FANTÔMES DRAMATIC and DAMNATION T.A was a little preview for the mystery tag match at Sumo Hall that Daisuke Sasaki and Antonio Honda are both involved with. It was also an opportunity for Hinata Kasai to earn his first win. His partners helped out by weakening Sasaki using Chris Brookes’s Penalty Kick, HARASHIMA’s Swan Dive Body Press and Honda’s Fist Drop. Kasai then applied the STF for the finish but Sasaki got out of it by biting Kasai’s hand. After that MJ Paul hit Kasai with a chairshot from ringside and Hideki Okatani followed it up with the Claymore Kick. Ilusion wiped out the other Fandora wrestlers with a Trust Fall dive out of the ring while Sasaki made Kasai give up to the Crossface Lock.

Sasaki then had an announcement to make after the match. Both he and Honda need to find their own tag partners for their Sumo Hall match. Sasaki revealed he has found a suitable partner and played a video of him recruiting DOUKI from New Japan! The addition of the House Of Torture wrestler had Honda beginning to worry about the match. He told Sasaki when it will be time for him to reveal his tag partner, Sasaki’s going to act like it is an unfair choice too. Backstage Sasaki said he’s known DOUKI going back to before he was even DOUKI. Sasaki also recently just came back from Thailand where he claimed to have learned Muay Thai during his stay so he thinks he will take Honda down in seconds.

No referee? No problem! It was up to the audience to count the pinfall during the grudge match between MAO and Sanshiro Takagi. Not even the most stringent wrestling official could get in the way of MAO and Takagi’s crazy ideas for the match. Takagi made his entrance through the Korakuen Hall seating only to get run over by MAO riding the Dramatic Dream bike. He then crashed a scooter into Takagi along with a cart with KIMIHIRO sitting on it at ringside. Takagi fought back by bringing a toilet into the ring so he could DDT MAO into it. The fans were aided with on-screen instructions to count either fast or slow much to the wrestlers’ chagrin. The fan count would only register when it was determined the majority of them reached to three. MAO then played mind games by showing video footage of him running over Takagi in different vehicles over the past six years. The trauma effected Takagi so much that when MAO pulled out a small remote control van it caused Takagi more mental damage. Takagi was able to fight back using Stunners but the crowd only made it to a collective 2.9 before MAO kicked out. MAO got his own nearfall using the Michinoku Driver II so he placed a plastic box on top of his opponent and hit the Cannonball 450° through it for the three count. He then added insult to injury by driving the toy van into Takagi’s beaten body. With this win, MAO now considers himself to be Takagi’s successor so he encourages everyone else to DDT to become as crazy as he is and carry the weight of DDT with pride!

Kazuma Sumi came back from his eye injury with something in particular being stuck in his mind. But first he had a 6-Man Tag Match against paleyouth to get through. He got to show he didn’t lose a step in his brief absence by going toe to toe with Takeshi Masada. His partners Yuni & Kumadori pulled off some big dives late in the match. But when it came down to Yuni, he became overwhelmed by Yuya Koroku and then Daichi Sato who put him away with a Rolling Elbow.

After the match Sumi talked about how frustrating it was he had to miss the recent DDT Vs New Japan show due to his injury. He was annoyed in particular by seeing the NJPW young lion Tatsuya Matsumoto beat Hinata Kasai. Sumi can’t stand seeing DDT lose to NJPW like this so he made a demand to defend his DDT Universal Title against a wrestler from New Japan. Suddenly the lights in the room went out and when they switched back on, Ryusuke Taguchi was standing right behind Sumi! Akito was there too in his CyberFight Director form to announce he just so happened to have already booked Taguchi for Sumo Hall so Sumi can give him a title shot on that show. Sumi said it is a dream for him to reach the top of the Junior Heavyweight scene and asked Taguchi if he could be his stepping stone? Taguchi responded that Kota Ibushi and Kenny Omega have used him as such to help them spread their wings to the world so he will do his best to do the same for Sumi. However after they shook hands, Taguchi suddenly hit Sumi with the Hip Attack and warned him to be careful otherwise he will be used as a stepping stone by somebody else!

By wrestling back and forth between DDT and NOAH recently, Yuki Iino is developing a balancing act between his DDT form and his Jonetsu MAX form. The Iino that wrestled today isn’t quite the same persona as the one that just won the GHC Tag Team Titles. Still, he and KANON worked as a well oiled duo in order to beat Shunma Katsumata & To-y. Iino even pulled off his cap at the end to show everyone his Jonetsu double mohawk before pinning To-y with a Lariat.

With Strange Love Connection getting the victory, KIMIHRIO did a rap for Iino to reintroduce him to the fans. Iino didn’t quite get what he was doing while Katsumata also felt provoked by it. He felt so provoked that he suddenly started a rap battle against KIMIHIRO in the ring! Katsumata quickly realised the mistake he made and said he gave up. But as Katsumata left the ring, Yukinori Matsui took the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title from him and handed it over to KIMIHIRO because KIMIHIRO just technically beat the champion by submission! Katsumata tried to take the belt back but the rest of SLC were there to stop him and make sure KIMIHIRO would leave the show as the new champ.

Rules had to be changed for Match #2 thanks to Kazuki Hirata. He ended up fighting the other team all on his own and quickly lost the match before Minoru Suzuki or Danshoku Dieno could even make their entrance. Imabayashi decided to restart the match with the added rule that Hirata could only lose the match if he gets beaten three times. Jun Akiyama immediately pinned Hirata before Dieno made it to the ring. Masami Inahata then made Hirata tap out before Suzuki’s music even hit. Inahata almost did it again but Suzuki got there in time to physically stop Hirata from tapping out. The match went on as normal from there. Except the normality went away when Rukiya rubbed his hands against Dieno’s bare backside and then grabbed Hirata in a Camel Clutch to make him give up and lose the match for good.

Today was Soma Takao’s first match since January. He’s been on the shelf since then dealing with an old knee injury and used his comeback to show off a new ring costume to go along with his trusty Dropkick Bar shirt. Yuki Ishida also had something new to show with a slightly changed hairstyle but nobody really noticed his attempt at changing himself into something new. He still played his part at keeping Naomi Yoshimura away so Yukio Naya could play spoiler and end Takao’s comeback match with a loss. Takao said he was happy to be in the ring with other members of the Dropkick Bar and also wrestle in front of the newer DDT fans who may never seen any of his matches before.

DDT welcomed back Miles Karu for another appearance during his excursion to Japan. He brought along his MYPW Southeast Asia Title to the ring for his pre-show match teaming with Akito. Does this mean Junta Miyawaki can now lay claim for a title shot because he & Viento Levante won the match when Miyawaki pinned Karu with the Sunshine Driver.

Another special guest from another wrestling promotion will appear at “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2026” this August. YAMATO from Dragon Gate attended the show so he could step into the DDT ring for the first time (not counting the “DRAMATIC DREAM GATE” joint show from 2012). He was relieved to find out the DDT fans know who he is and he wants to be given a suitable opponent comparable to his stature as a wrestler who built an era in his own company. Guess what? His opponent is going to be Danshoku Dieno. YAMATO argued the match is happening ten years too late because nobody wants to see two old men like them getting it on. The DDT fans disagree and started chanting for the match to happen. YAMATO reluctantly accepted the challenge but warned Dieno his Danshoku tactics won’t work on him.

Even though the KO-D Title match is now set for Sumo Hall, it may not be Ueno going into it as champion. The Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Gauntlets are back for another year! There will be only two Gauntlets this time and possessing one will give the holder a KO-D Title shot whenever they want from the period between 15th July to 27th September. The matches to determine the holders will take place at the Beer Garden shows taking place on 15th and 16th July.


Daisuke Sasaki’s BOSJ Adventure

June 14, 2026

Last year DDT regained a presence in New Japan’s annual Best Of The Super Jr. tournament by sending MAO over to compete. Things worked out very well for him and he narrowly missed out on qualifying into the final rounds outside of the group stage. I had expectations that MAO would compete again this year but it turns out his focus on becoming the most square shaped wrestler to ever live had the side effect of him growing too big to be eligible for the tournament. Instead, DDT decided to enter Daisuke Sasaki 14 years after his last appearance in BOSJ. He’s done this twice before to poor results. In 2011 he only got one win and in 2012 he only got two. He’s mostly a different wrestler in 2026 and he was able to have his best results ever. Too bad he peaked very early in the tour and just kept falling until the end. The moral of this story is MAO needs to go on a diet.

B Block

1. Robbie Eagles (12)
-. YOH (12)
-. El Desperado (12)
-. SHO (12)
-. Taiji Ishimori (12)
6. Daisuke Sasaki (6)
-. Yoshinobu Kanemaru (6)
-. Hyo (6)
-. Jakob Austin Young (6)
-. KUSHIDA (6)


NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33”, 14/05/2026
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,445 Fans (No Vacancy)

8. BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33 – B Block: Daisuke Sasaki (2) defeated El Desperado (0) with La Mistica Crossface Lock (16:10).

Sasaki jumped out of the starting blocks very well on opening day. His first match in the B Block was against his good old friend El Desperado. Things got off to a friendly start with some polite hand kissing but they decided to turn up the aggression by fighting outside over to the commentary table. Back in the ring the match went back and forth until Sasaki shoved the referee into Despy’s way, allowing him to catch Despy with a Low Blow kick by the corner. Sasaki then used La Mistica Crossface Lock to make his friend submit. Obviously due to the way Sasaki won the match, Desperado didn’t want to shake his hand afterwards. He flipped him off instead. In the leadup to the tournament, Sasaki bragged that he was going to win it but secretly doubted himself. But after beating Desperado he is now 100% see himself going all the way!


NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33”, 16/05/2026
Tokyo Esforta Arena Hachioji
1,076 Fans

5. BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33 – B Block: Daisuke Sasaki (4) defeated KUSHIDA (2) with La Mistica Crossface Lock (7:17).

Sasaki fought KUSHIDA in the BOSJ once before, losing to him in 2011. KUSHIDA is making a habit of wrestling barefoot nowadays so Sasaki dared him into doing it for this match and he would join in. The plan was to target KUSHIDA’s left leg because it wasn’t 100% and he hit it with a chair against the ring post. When KUSHIDA kept making comebacks, Sasaki would fight dirty to cut him off so KUSHIDA used a trick of his own and tried to shove his sock into Sasaki’s mouth. Sasaki went one step further by grabbing KUSHIDA’s foot and taking a bite out of it! He then applied the Cross Facelock while smothering KUSHIDA with the sock to make him give up. Sasaki complained about how awful KUSHIDA’s feet taste like but at least he got revenge from their first match 15 years ago. Now that he has beaten Despy, KUSHIDA and Hiromu Takahashi in BOSJ matches Sasaki called himself the next symbol of New Japan’s junior heavyweight division.


NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33”, 17/05/2026
Tokyo National Yoyogi Stadium Gymnsium #2
1,664 Fans

6. BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33 – B Block: Daisuke Sasaki (6) defeated Hyo (2) with the Crossover Face Lock (9:34).

The good times kept on rolling for Sasaki when he got his third win in a row. Hyo from Dragon Gate was his next opponent and this guy had a tendency of using a stuffed leopard named Myonmyon to gather fan support. Sasaki took advantage by grabbing Myonmyon and throwing it away so Hyo would be too distracted to defend himself from getting a chair thrown at him. Hyo did have the awareness to avoid a Low Blow after the referee distraction but he still got caught with Sasaki’s finisher. Sasaki then switched it over to the Crossover Face Lock for the victory. He said Hyo was so fast he couldn’t see him but he got out of the match unscathed. He is now confident he will go undefeated without a scratch. Instead the opposite happened and he wouldn’t win a block match again for the rest of the tournament.


NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33”, 20/05/2026
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,257 Fans

5. BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33 – B Block: Taiji Ishimori (4) defeated Daisuke Sasaki (6) with a Gedo Clutch (11:36).

The match against Taiji Ishimori turned into more of a DDT Vs NJPW battle than expected. The two promotions had an inter-promotional show coming up after BOSJ and Sasaki made it known to everyone that the commentator Haruo Murata was a DDT guy first and foremost. He then tried to use Murata as a shield when the match broke out of the ring. Ishimori responded by threatening to use Milano Collection A.T. as his human shield. Sasaki soon got a taste of his own medicine when Ishimori used the ref push spot against him and did a Low Blow of his own. Sasaki was in too much pain to kick out of the Gedo Clutch after that and complained that Ishimori didn’t fight fair and square. He then got paranoid thinking that by losing the match he was already eliminated from the tournament. He’ll get revenge by kicking every New Japan wrestler in the dick!


NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33”, 22/05/2026
Osaka Municipal Central Gymnasium Sub-Arena (Asue Arena Osaka)
1,192 Fans – No Vacancy

2. Jakob Austin Young & Zane Jay defeated Daisuke Sasaki & Masatora Yasuda when Young pinned Yasuda with the Jakob’s Ladder (6:33).

A couple of the shows gave Sasaki warmup matches for some of his upcoming opponents. He was given the young lion Masatora Yasuda as his main tag partner for these matches. First up they took on a pair of American wrestlers from United Empire. Sasaki’s focus was on Jakob Austin Young while Yasuda got scrappy with Zane Jay. The pairings swapped over and Young ended up beating Yasuda with his finisher. He then taunted Sasaki by taking his chair and sitting on it in the ring. Sasaki showed some sympathy towards Yasuda and warned Young he will end up getting beaten up like Yasuda in their block match.


NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33”, 23/05/2026
Hyogo Arcrea Himeji
1,153 Fans

6. BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33 – B Block: Jakob Austin Young (4) defeated Daisuke Sasaki (6) with a BITES THE DUST onto a chair (6:58).

Once again Sasaki now knows what it is like when the cheating happens against him. Young had Zay in his corner for the match and relied on him to interfere or distract the referee when necessary. Sasaki evened the odds by grabbing a chair from the commentary table (and was angry to find another announcer there instead of Murata). Sasaki would then make Young tap out to the Crossface Lock but Jay prevented the ref from seeing it. Sasaki tried to hit Young with the chair during the distraction but Young Dropkicked him in the leg instead, making Sasaki fall face first onto the chair. Young then gave him a Wrist Clutch DDT onto the chair and got rid of the evidence before the ref could turn back around and count the pinfall. With two block losses in a row, Sasaki was now getting paranoid he was falling out of contention.


NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33”, 24/05/2026
Kyoto KBS Hall
767 Fans

1. Daisuke Sasaki & Masatora Yasuda defeated Toru Yano & Tatsuya Matsumoto when Sasaki submitted Matsumoto with the Crossface Lock (5:43).

Speaking of cheating, Sasaki took on a master of it in a non-tournament tag bout next. Toru Yano was there to look over the young lion Tatsuya Matsumoto but then raced with Sasaki to remove the turnbuckle pads from the opposite corners. Sasaki pushed Matsumoto into one of the exposed buckles and then did a Diving Elbow Drop for a nearfall. Matsumoto showing guts by kicking out only meant Sasaki had to make him submit instead. Sasaki again stood up for Yasuda then started acting like he is from DDT. Yasuda got nervous and started apologizing when Sasaki ordered him to start talking.


NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33”, 27/05/2026
Shizuoka Kira Messe Numazu
777 Fans

4. BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33 – B Block: Yoshinobu Kanemaru (6) defeated Daisuke Sasaki (6) with a Figure 4 Leg Lock (6:47).

By this point of the tour, Sasaki figured out the cheating that worked out so well for him at the start had now become ineffective. The solution to this is to cheat even more! Learning from his match with Young, Sasaki was now bringing in his DAMNATION T.A stablemate Ilusion to be his ringside attendant for the match against Yoshinobu Kanemaru. Ilusion’s interference worked up to a point but backfired when Sasaki took a drink of Kanemaru’s whiskey. Sasaki spat out Whiskey Mist but Kanemaru ducked and Ilusion got blinded with it instead. Kanemaru then gave Sasaki a series of Knee Crushers before putting him in a Figure 4 Leg Lock to make him submit. He said the result showed the difference between brains and skill. Sasaki tried to shrug off the loss because he got to drink some of Kanemaru’s whiskey.


NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33”, 29/05/2026
Niigata Tsubame City Gymnasium
825 Fans

2. Robbie Eagles, Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson defeated Daisuke Sasaki, Toru Yano & Masatora Yasuda when Jackson pinned Yasuda with a Senton (6:51).

This time Sasaki & Yasuda had Yano teaming up with them as the three faced off against TMDK. For Sasaki it would give him a taste of wrestling Robbie Eagles before their block match the next day. He got to wrestle Ryohei Oiwa a little bit too but that meant poor Yasuda had to fight off the big boy Hartley Jackson. He got crushed with a Senton for his troubles. Yano started arguing with Sasaki over it because he didn’t want to team up with a DDT wrestler in the first place. Sasaki later tried to convince Yasuda they should go challenge for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Titles.


NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33”, 30/05/2026
Toyama Takaoka Techno Dome
957 Fans

7. BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33 – B Block: Robbie Eagles (8) defeated Daisuke Sasaki (6) with the Ron Miller Special (13:17).

Although Sasaki did take Murata’s chair and used it as a weapon on Eagles, he was polite enough to give it back to the commentator and fought the rest of the match only by bending a few rules instead of breaking them. Other than that the match came down to a test of skill. Sasaki almost got the win using the Sasaki-Style Hurricanrana but Eagles outdid him by kicking out and then wrapping Sasaki up in the Ron Miller Special to make him give up. Eagles said backstage that he and Sasaki share a closer connection than people may realize. Eagles has trained under Ikuto Hidaka in the TAKESHIBA Colosseum so that means he learned from the tag partner of Sasaki’s mentor Dick Togo.


NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33”, 02/06/2026
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,310 Fans

4. BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33 – B Block: SHO (10) defeated Daisuke Sasaki (6) with the Shock Arrow (6:43).

With only two block matches remaining and having been stuck in the mud with 6 points, Sasaki was now on his last legs in the block. He needed to beat SHO from House Of Torture just to stay in the running even if his hopes of reaching the playoff rounds were slim. Sasaki was led down to the ring by Hideki Okatani while wearing a full entrance costume until SHO ambushed the two of them. But as SHO stomped on “Sasaki” in the ring, the real Sasaki showed up behind him and launched a counter attack. The first one was just Ilusion in disguise! Yujiro Takahashi got involved to help SHO but a ref bump allowed Okatani to attack them with his bamboo sword. Sasaki then pulled out a stun gun but SHO distracted him by holding up a metal plate with a picture of Dick Togo on it. Sasaki hesitated to risk besmirching his mentor but closed in to use the stun gun. SHO blocked him with the plate, used the plate to hit Sasaki over the head with and then pinned him with the Shock Arrow. SHO explained he was able to block the stun gun with a metal plate because there was a layer of cardboard behind the picture of Togo that absorbed the electricity.


NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33”, 03/06/2026
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,255 Fans

4. BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33 – B Block: YOH (12) defeated Daisuke Sasaki (6) with the Five Star Clutch (9:42).

No result would send Sasaki into the semi finals so all he could do on the final day of block matches was play spoiler against YOH. As you all know by now that did not happen and YOH went on to win the whole tournament. YOH was in a DDT kind of mood because he kept flashing Gongitsune hand signs during the match. He also grabbed Milano’s chair to match with Sasaki taking Murata’s chair at ringside. Both sides stared each other down until they rushed back into the ring to avoid getting counted out. Sasaki got out of an Anaconda Vice by poking the ref in the eye and then poking YOH. He also avoided the Direct Drive but a scramble for cradling pins led to YOH catching Sasaki in the Five Star Clutch for the three count. While Sasaki was lamenting over only gaining one extra BOSJ win than his previous attempts 14 years ago, El Desperado barged in complaining about Sasaki’s defeat knocking himself out of the tournament. Despy cannot believe he lost to Sasaki but Sasaki couldn’t beat YOH! Sasaki promised he will do better when he comes back to BOSJ in another 14 years time.


NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33”, 05/06/2026
G-Messe Gunma
1,102 Fans

5. El Desperado & Hyo defeated Daisuke Sasaki & Dick Togo when Desperado submitted Togo with the Numero Dos (6:20).

All that was left to do for Sasaki’s final tour dates were take part in non-tournament tag matches. Desperado wanted to team up with Hyo so the two of them took on Sasaki and his mentor Togo. It was then revealed that Togo had kidnapped Myonmyon at some point before the show. Hyo was able to rescue his little buddy while Despy got Togo to submit to the Numero Dos. Togo quickly got revenge by kidnapping Myonmyon again while Sasaki used a stun gun to keep Hyo at a distance.


NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33”, 07/06/2026
Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium (EBARA WAVE Arena Ota)
3,969 Fans (No Vacancy)

3. Master Wato, Ryusuke Taguchi, Daisuke Sasaki, Nick Wayne & Valiente Jr. defeated Taiji Ishimori, Robbie X, Titán, Gedo & Daiki Nagai when Taguchi submitted Gedo with the Oh My & Garankle (10:25).

Sasaki’s last match on the final night was a complete smorgasbord of wrestlers from all over including some from AEW and CMLL. Gedo was the odd man out because he was the only person in the 10-Man Tag Match to have not competed in BOSJ this year. Sasaki wasn’t enthusiastic to team with Ryusuke Taguchi but did seem to get along with Master Wato. After the match Sasaki told New Japan when he comes back in 14 years he doesn’t want to team with wrestlers like those two again.


DDT/NJPW “ONE-ON-ONE CONFRONTATION PART 2” Results

June 8, 2026

DDT/NJPW “ONE-ON-ONE CONFRONTATION PART 2 ~SASADANGO-GUN VS YANO-GUN 5-ON-5 ELIMINATION TAG BATTLE~”, 08/06/2025
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
??? Fans – Unannounced

0. Special Exhibition Match: Hinata Kasai Vs Tatsuya Matsumoto ended in a Time Limit Draw (3:00).
0a. Overtime: Tatsuya Matsumoto defeated Hinata Kasai with a Crab Hold (3:32).
1. Fluorescent Lighttube IPPON Hell: MAO & Akito defeated El Desperado & KUSHIDA by IPPON when Desperado broke the Lighttube (8:46).
2. Blindfold Butt-Finding Hell: YOH & Ryusuke Taguchi defeated MAO & Akito when MAO & Akito had their bare butts exposed (6:51).
3. Give UP A Hellish Situation Where Only Submission Is Possible: Kazuki Hirata & Antonio Honda Vs YOH & Ryusuke Taguchi ended in a Draw when they all submitted to Milano Collection A.T.’s Paradise Lock (11:08).
4. If Your Junior Laughs, You Lose! A Junior Role Model Death Match: Hirooki Goto defeated Super Sasadango Machine by Submission with the GTR (8:50).
5. Danshoku Dieno Vs Hirooki Goto ended in a No Contest (7:55).
6. Weapon Rumble Hell: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Toru Yano ended in a No Contest when the match gets cancelled (23:31).
7. Special Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA defeated Toru Yano & Super Sasadango Machine when TAKESHITA pinned Sasadango with the Raging Fire (2:01).
8. Special Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA, Toru Yano, Hirooki Goto, El Desperado, Ryusuke Taguchi, KUSHIDA, YOH, Masatora Yasuda, Tatsuya Matsumoto, Taisei Nakahara, Super Sasadango Machine, Danshoku Dieno, MAO, KANON, Kazuki Hirata, Akito, Antonio Honda & Hinata Kasai defeated Sanshiro Takagi when TAKESHITA pinned Takagi with a Stunner (1:38).

One year ago a rivalry between Super Sasadango Machine and Toru Yano brought DDT and New Japan together, mending a decade long broken relationship in the process. The event was such a success that both parties agreed to do it again, this time under more friendlier circumstances. With a hot summer of sport about to begin, an agreement was made by both sides to provide the best sportsmanship and keep things fair throughout the day. But as the show hit its stride, the trust between DDT and NJPW would be taken advantage of by some for the sake of getting the competitive advantage.

For an inter-promotional show such as this it was necessary that everything would be presented 50/50. It aired as a PPV on both NJPW World and Wrestle Universe with each streaming service providing their own full scale broadcast on separate screens side-by-side. That meant separate commentary teams with their own special guests, separate ring announcers, alternating referees, etc. Korakuen Hall even tried to split itself in half with the green DDT side having a security fence installed while the red NJPW side was barrier free. The NJPW World commentators were Yohei Onishi, Milano Collection A.T. and special guest Hiroshi Tanahashi. The Wrestle Universe commentators were Haruo Murata, Ken Suzuki.txt and special guest Yuki Ueno. Murata wants to be neutral because he works with both companies but his interactions with Daisuke Sasaki during the Best Of The Super Jr. meant he was DDT through and through no matter what he says.

A signing ceremony was planned to take place but first Yano had an announcement to make regarding his team. Tomoaki Honma was unable to appear at the show today because of illness so a substitute was called in at the last minute. His replacement is KUSHIDA! With that news out of the way, Sasadango and Yano signed the contract and started to hype up the fans to chant for their favorite side.

The chants turned into a cheering contest with Yano ordering Tatsuya Matsumoto to encourage even louder chants for New Japan. Hinata Kasai tried to do the same with the DDT fans, leading the two young wrestlers to get in each other’s way and then begin arguing. The arguing turned into a staredown and the staredown was going to turn into a fight!

All of a sudden a three minute long wrestling exhibition broke out between Matsumoto and Kasai. The two fought back and forth until the time expired but both kept trying to fight so they were allowed another five minutes to settle their differences. Kasai locked in an STF but Matsumoto broke free and got a nearfall with a Body Slam. As the match hit the 3 minute mark, Matsumoto put Kasai in a Crab Hold and got him to give up.

Everything was now calm again after that fired up display so it was time for the show to begin proper. DDT and New Japan would face each other in a gauntlet of singles matches with mystery lineups made out of five participants on each team. However a match could be turned into a tag team bout if both sides agree to the change beforehand. Sasadango and Yano together gave an oath promising to uphold good sportsmanship in every match… but it was all a trick! A video played on the two screens showing an unmasked Sasadango dressed up as the famous fortune teller Kazuko Hosoki. Here, “Kazuko Sasaki” informed Yano that DDT had just invited NJPW into taking part in a special tour… The DDT Hell Tour!

Sasadango admits he was foolish to think his team could beat New Japan in five regular pro wrestling matches so he hatched a plan. The DDT GM Hisaya Imabayashi then showed Yano the contract he signed included an extra sentence written in English that was not included in the Japanese print. “All match rules must be accepted as decided by DDT.” Yano was tricked into letting DDT decide the rules for every match tonight!

DDT used the surprise to their immediate advantage by making the first match an IPPON Lighttube Tag Death Match! In this match there is only one lighttube and the loser is the person whose body breaks it. DDT sent the master of the match Akito out there to team with MAO while NJPW were represented by KUSHIDA & El Desperado. The sudden rule change made things more dangerous for KUSHIDA because lately he likes to wrestle barefoot. Akito made fun of that by shoving a sock into KUSHIDA’s mouth near the end of the match. However as everyone fought over the lighttube or tried to avoid touching it, MAO and Desperado formed their own alliance because of their friendship and agreed to break the lighttube together. They both climbed up the same turnbuckle, counted down together and… only Desperado went ahead with the trust fall. He smashed landed on the lighttube while MAO remained on the turnbuckles to celebrate winning the match. Desperado was so furious over the betrayal he abducted Viento Maligno at ringside and threatened to harm him with the remains of the broken lighttube unless MAO apologizes.

Akito & MAO remained in the ring to take part in the second match. This one showed everybody how DDT’s plan could backfire on them in a spectacular manner. It was a Blindfold Butt-Finding Hell Match where every wrestler had to fight blindfolded in their underwear and the first one to have their backside exposed would lose. NJPW sent out the two wrestlers that were guaranteed to thrive under such a ruleset, YOH & Ryusuke Taguchi! Both men walked out wearing an extra pair of underwear over their heads along with slingkinis and stockings. Keep in mind this show is taking place exactly one day after YOH won BOSJ! The blindness led to Akito & MAO almost fighting each other until they recognized each other by their body shape. The two of them as well as YOH all ended up wandering outside the ring while back inside Taguchi was trying to do Hip Attacks into thin air. When everyone got back into the ring MAO slid up from underneath Taguchi only to bump into YOH and accidentally Lip Lock him. The four wrestlers then formed a chain by all reaching out to the person in front of them to grab their tights. The NJPW team won the duel and exposed the DDT wrestlers’ butts to win the match. According to MAO, the lesson he learned from this match is everybody from Miyagi is weird. YOH proved it later by telling reporters backstage that the experience he went through today feels so good.

Match #3 had DDT send out reinforcements in the form of Antonio Honda & Kazuki Hirata because the only way to win the match was to make your opponents give up. The DDT team jumped YOH & Taguchi but the NJPW duo would taunt them on the microphone whenever they were asked to give up. Honda told Hirata to put them in the Paradise Lock but Hirata confessed he does not know how to do the move. Honda went outside to bring Milano Collection A.T. into the ring so they could learn it from him. But Honda tripped over the ropes on the way back in. He had injured himself and decided it was time to give up but first he needed to tell his latest Gongitsune joke. It turned into an attack that led to everyone brawling. As the dust settled, only Milano was left standing. He noticed a pair of Hirata GO! glasses had fallen onto the canvas so he put them on and “Tokyo GO!” began to play. He tried to ignore it until he couldn’t help but dance to the music belonging to an old foe. As this was happening, Honda and Taguchi were doing Gongitsune attacks and they both wound up pinching Milano by the nipples. Milano’s response was to put the both of them in Paradise Locks and then continue dancing on top of them. Both Honda and Taguchi gave up at the same time, causing the match to end in a tie.

The series was reaching its halfway point so Sasadango decided now was a good time to do a PowerPoint Presentation… From Hell! He explained to the audience that the ideal way of doing inter-promotional matches is to help develop the next generation. His presentation was suddenly interrupted when his laptop decided to reset itself for updates. While the fans started chanting for the laptop to restart, Sasadango handed his microphone to Hiroshi Tanahashi and asked him to talk for a bit. Tanahashi spoke about the repaired relationship between New Japan and DDT, entirely crediting himself for making it happen. Sasadango then gave up on the laptop and tried to continue his presentation without PowerPoint. He and Yano then broke out into an argument until they noticed Rukiya and Tatsuya Matsumoto both laughing at them nearby. Sasadango and Yano agreed they need to set a good example to their juniors or they would lose their respect. So for the next match the wrestlers involved would lose if their junior laughs at them!

Sasadango would step into the ring to finally be part of the action but his opponent was Hirooki Goto! Rukiya and Matsumoto were made to sit down near the ring with instructions to fill their mouths with water. Every time one of them laughed and spat the water out, their respective wrestler would lose a point. The first to lose three points would lose the match. Both of them laughed at the same time when Goto accidentally unmasked Sasadango during a Headlock off of the ropes. Rukiya then laughed a second time when Sasadango took a Lariat, apologized to Goto and then retreated from the ring. When Sasadango returned, he all of a sudden looked like a completely different person with a ripped physique. Goto was able to unmask him, revealing it was KANON under the mask. That made Matsumoto laugh. The real Sasadango returned to launch a sneak attack on Goto but that failed. He then challenged Goto to a sumo match and encouraged the fans to chant “Edmond” at Goto (because he plays E. Honda in the upcoming Street Fighter movie). Sasadango tricked Goto into taking a Dropkick but Goto got back up and grabbed his opponent. Just when Goto was in position to do the GTR, Sasadango instantly gave up so he wouldn’t take the move. Rukiya laughed at this, taking away Sasadango’s last point. Goto gave him th GTR anyway and pinned him for the three count so he ended up having three different ways to claim victory for the match.

Sasadango was beaten but DDT was not. He still had one more card to play. For many weeks leading up to this show, Sasadango has been trying to recruit one wrestler more than any other but his advances were rejected every time. Well it turns out this person finally agreed to show up because Danshoku Dieno made a big entrance to have a match with Goto! It didn’t take long for the match to get out of hand because the referees Yumehito Imanari, Marty Asami and Daisuke Kiso were all knocked out with Lip Locks that were intended for Goto. Akito ran into the ring to help put Dieno into the Hell Gate position over the top turnbuckle. Chaos then broke out with many wrestlers from both teams all running down to the ring to fight each other and then get their heads shoved into Dieno’s backside. Everything was so out of control that the match had to be called off.

By this point the DDT had run out of all of their players while the NJPW team still had only Toru Yano remaining. Yano thought this meant the series was over and his team had won without him even having to do anything. However Sasadango had one more trick up his sleeve. As much as he works hard for DDT, he does not have a contract with them and in fact wrestles as a freelancer. He is not really a DDT wrestler so that means the result of his match against Goto does not count towards the contest! Yano was furious over the revelation and demanded whoever is in charge of DDT to come out and face him. Sanshiro Takagi did just that and introduced himself to Yano as the supreme commander of DDT. For one more twist of the knife, Takagi and Yano would now face off in a Weapon Rumble!

The rules are a new weapon would be brought down to the ring Royal Rumble style and each weapon was decided upon by either DDT or New Japan. Yano complained that his team didn’t prepare any weapons but Sasadango revealed that he surveyed YOH about it beforehand and was able to get the weapons he suggested. The weapons included a blonde wig, a fire extinguisher, a “Yano Set” of a chair and sake, Mecha Mummy armed with the Mecha Drill, Daisuke Sasaki drinking tequila and El Desperado drinking tequila. The big surprise of all came when Takagi brought out his greatest weapon, Konosuke Takeshita! He had travelled to Japan just to be at this show and he attacked Yano on Takagi’s behalf. But just as Takeshita was about to give Yano the Raging Fire, the countdown for Yano’s next weapon fell to zero and it was revealed to be… Konosuke Takeshita?!? He played along with the rules and switched to attacking Takagi until Takagi started protesting. He said Takeshita belongs to DDT while Yano argued he also belongs to New Japan. Sasadango then stepped into the ring with Tanahashi as everyone agreed this was an issue that needed to be sorted out immediately.

Sasadango pointed out to Takeshita that this is the drawback to having contracts with three different wrestling companies. Two of them are here today so he needed to make a choice between them. Takagi spoke about Takeshita contacting him at 15 years old asking to become a pro wrestler because he was so confident he could reach to the top. Takagi always believes Takeshita will come back to DDT even when he is winning championships in AEW and New Japan. Tanahashi reminded Takeshita of the singles match they had in Sumo Hall back in 2014. He could feel Takeshita’s potential all the way back then and he still has high expectations for him going forward.

Sasadango handed Takeshita a “Final Rose” for him to give to the person he wants to be with (exactly like what Yuma Anzai experienced in Japan’s version of The Bachelorette recently). Takeshita said when he watched NJPW as a kid it gave him dreams and DDT made those dreams come true. He belongs to both companies solely out of gratitude with a desire to repay their kindness. He told Tanahashi he will do his best to protect NJPW from now on. He also made a promise to Takagi he will work hard to help him bring DDT to the Tokyo Dome!

Takeshita was about to hand the Final Rose to both Tanahashi and Takagi when Yano angrily cut him off. Yano complained he cannot choose both and Sasadango agreed that nobody would be satisfied with this ending. Sasadango then said if DDT carelessly goes into the Tokyo Dome and fails miserably then DDT will be finished and everyone will be left out on the streets! All of a sudden Yano & Sasadango now wanted to fight Takeshita in a Handicap match. It didn’t take long for Takeshita to dispatch both of them before pinning Sasadango with the Raging Fire.

After the impromptu match, Takeshita felt it was time he explained himself. He couldn’t find the way to properly convey his feelings up to this point so he got Muscle Sakai to help him out by creating a PowerPoint Presentation for him. It is titled “Why I Belong To Three Pro Wrestling Organizations” He introduced himself as a 31 year old wrestler currently living in Orlando with two special skills: working out and pro wrestling. He won the KO-D Openweight Title in DDT at a young age and still holds the record for most title defences. In New Japan he won the G1 Climax and then held the IWGP World Heavyweight Title. Recently in AEW he defeated Kazuchika Okada (the crowd popped at the mention of this) to become the new AEW International Champion. He is confident he is one of the busiest wrestlers in the world.

He gets all sorts of requests from the companies he works for. NJPW wants him on more domestic tours, DDT wants him to bring them to the Tokyo Dome and AEW doesn’t want any other company taking him away from them. The reason he is signed to all three companies is a simple one. He wants to share his world of pro wrestling to more people. He felt left out when he was not a part of last year’s DDT Vs New Japan show and it is one of his biggest regrets because he belongs to both companies. An all star show like this is supposed to be the most entertaining showdown but there are many ways for people to entertain themselves these days. Takeshita has other hobbies to keep himself occupied but pro wrestling will always be the most interesting.

So Takeshita has come up with three ideas that will prove his point. The first idea is he wants to hold the world’s largest pro wrestling league consisting of 365 wrestlers all fighting each other in a gigantic year long round robin tournament! He watches so much wrestling in his off time that he is subscribed to all of the different streaming services. That means he’s been able to carefully select a list of 365 wrestlers from all over the world he wants to compete and has also created a tentative schedule of matches to be held across Japan so there will be tournament events every single day from the opening bouts on 1st January all the way to the final night on 31st December! He understands the schedule might be difficult to pull off which is why he thinks the league should only be held once every four years likes the Olympics.

 

Takeshita’s second idea is to revise pro wrestling’s rules so they are more in line to modern times. He recognizes that violence doesn’t solve anything and disputes can be resolved through discussion. A suggestion he has is to introduce AI judging and a scoring system based on technical points, artistic points, and compositional skills. His example of a scoring system that works is the annual M-1 Grand Prix comedy show that is always a huge hit at the end of the year. His third idea is to ultimately unify the world of pro wrestling. Today the polar opposites that are New Japan and DDT fought each other in exciting ways because of their completely different styles. If doing this with two companies is exciting then imagine adding countless more into the mix. In order to achieve that goal, Takeshita believes he must first become the world’s No. 1 pro wrestler! He asked for everyone’s support so they can all create the perfect world where pro wrestling is the best.

The presentation touched the hearts of everyone who listened… Well, almost everyone. Takagi was still in a fired up competitive mood and wasn’t going to stand there letting the action go to waste. He tried to rally the other wrestlers around him but everyone went over to the other side of the ring and all stared him down. It was time for the final match where Takagi had to fight everyone else all by himself! He got pummeled by everyone one after the other until Takeshita finished him off with a Stunner.

The show was now reaching its end and a few wrestlers wanted to give their final words. Sasadango asked all of the NJPW fans watching to continue supporting Takeshita. That request goes to the wrestlers in Hontai too. Yano announced that Takeshita was the winner of today’s series and Takagi told him to liven up the wrestling world even more. Tanahashi then led everyone to say the same catchphrase that was used to end last year’s show: “3, 2, 1, Love Muscle! Muscle!”

Wait, wait, wait, hang on. There’s one more thing. After everyone left the ring, Sasadango and Akito both suddenly remembered something and ran out of the room. They rushed through a hallway to find a closed out locker room featuring the final secret weapon that they completely forgot to use during the show. They opened up the door and there inside was the furious NOAH wrestler Kenoh! He demanded to know where Toru Yano was while Sasadango & Akito both desperately apologized to him. It turns out that even though DDT is the last place Kenoh ever wants to be, he has been trying to pick a fight with Yano for ages and agreed to be part of Sasadango’s plan if it meant he could finally get his hands on Yano. That didn’t happen so Kenoh stormed out of Korakuen Hall and went down to the NJPW store in near Suidobashi in search of Yano. The shop was closed and Yano was nowhere to be found so Kenoh decided to start a livestream on his YouTube channel and complain about the whole thing.


King Of DDT Round 2, Kamifuku’s Long Awaited Title Shot, Sasadango Vs Yano Update

May 5, 2026

DDT “KING OF DDT 2026 2ND ROUND”, 09/05/2026
Shinjuku FACE

1. Yuya Koroku, Daichi Sato & Yuki Ishida Vs Kazuki Hirata, Akito & Antonio Honda
2. Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & Ilusion V Kumadori, Masami Inahata & Hinata Kasai
3. 3 Way 6-Man Tag Match: Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & To-y Vs Kazuma Sumi, Junta Miyawaki & Rukiya Vs KANON, Yukio Naya & Viento Maligno
4. King Of DDT – Round 2: Danshoku Dieno Vs Takeshi Masada
5. King Of DDT – Round 2: Minoru Suzuki Vs Chris Brookes
6. King Of DDT – Round 2: HARASHIMA Vs Shinya Aoki
7. King Of DDT – Round 2: Hideki Okatani Vs MAO

One round down, the Quarter Finals are next. In just a few short days the King Of DDT will be reduced down to the final four.

Ilusion returns from injury and gets to rekindle his feud with Kumadori on the undercard.

DDT “DRAMATIC DREAMS! VOL. 13 ~MY SPIRIT GUARDS MY LORD IN THE EAST~”, 17/05/2026
Osaka City Sumiyoshi Community Center

0. Special Dark Match ~ Young Warrior Wrestling Summit: Takahiro Hirakimoto, Sora Fujikawa & Koki Fujimoto Vs Tetsuya Goto, Masaya Ishikawa & Hinata Kasai
1. Mixed Martial Arts Match – Irregular 2 Round System: Bushimasa Vs Tyson Maeguchi
2. Black Eagle In Danger! Against The Four Heavenly Kings Of DDT Comedy, 1 Vs 4 Handicap Match: Yuto Kikuchi Vs Danshoku Dieno, Kazuki Hirata, Antonio Honda & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi
3. Kansai Vs DDT, A Battle For Freedom!: HUB, Tsubasa & Billy Ben Kid Vs Junta Miyawaki, Viento Maligno & Yuni
4. A 6-Man Tag Match That Tests How Far A Young Heel With 4 Years And 9 Months Of Experience Can Assert Himself When Surrounded By Seasoned Veterans: Magnitude Kishiwada, MJ Paul & Ilusion Vs CIMA, Akito & Yasu Urano
5. Special 6-Man Tag Match ~STARTING NOW!~: Kazuma Sumi, Takeshi Masada & Yuya Koroku Vs To-y, Yuki Ishida & Rukiya
6. Special 6-Man Tag Match ~Crush The Super Heavyweights!~: Naomi Yoshimura, Yukio Naya & Daichi Sato Vs Shigehiro Irie, Kazuaki Mihara & Masami Inahata
7. Special Tag Match ~ Laughter Brings Fortune: MAO & KANON (w/ KIMIHIRO) Vs Kuishinbo Kamen & Kikutaro
8. Special Tag Match ~ Encounter With A Wrestling Master: Dick Togo & Hideki Okatani Vs Shunma Katsumata & Kohei Kinoshita
9. Double Main Event I – Special Tag Match ~ Infinite Stimulation Anniversary: Zack Sabre Jr. & Chris Brookes Vs HARASHIMA & Shinya Aoki
10. Double Main Event II – Special Tag Match ~ A Ruthless Giant That Blocks The World Guide Us To Our Dreams Blooming Flower: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA & Yuki Ueno Vs Jun Akiyama & Shuji Ishikawa

Two more matches are added to Yukinori Matsui’s special show. They do normally tend to balloon out to this size.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “STAND ALONE ’26”, 07/06/2026
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Princess Tag Team Titles: Miu Watanabe & Rika Tatsumi (c) Vs Mizuki & Uta Takami
2. Princess Of Princess Title: Yuki Arai (c) Vs Yuki Kamifuku

It’s taken almost nine years for Yuki Kamifuku to challenge for the Princess Of Princess Title. It’s not because of a lack of merit or anything like that. She just doesn’t like taking part in important singles matches or cares that much about winning championships. But she’s not getting any younger and discovering her first signs of aging has kicked Kamifuku into finally fighting Yuki Arai for Tokyo Joshi Pro’s most important title. After all, winning wrestling championships is the greatest anti-aging technique you can find.

Daydream once again hold the Princess Tag Team Titles. Their first challengers are going to be the losing finalists from this year’s Max Heart Tournament. When Rika Tatsumi discovered that Mizuki found a new tag partner in Uta Takami, she wasn’t happy about it. She thinks beating them can bring that team to an end so she can keep Mizuki all to herself. Mizuki however wants to live in the present and continue her team with Takami. Maybe if they win the titles they can get an official tag team name. Miu Watanabe probably doesn’t have much of an opinion on the matter.

DDT/NJPW “ONE-ON-ONE CONFRONTATION PART 2 ~SASADANGO-GUN VS YANO-GUN 5-ON-5 ELIMINATION TAG BATTLE~”, 08/06/2025
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Sasadango-gun Vs Yano-gun: X Vs X
2. Sasadango-gun Vs Yano-gun: X Vs X
3. Sasadango-gun Vs Yano-gun: X Vs X
4. Sasadango-gun Vs Yano-gun: X Vs X
5. Sasadango-gun Vs Yano-gun: X Vs X

Sasadango-gun: Super Sasadango Machine, MAO, Kazuki Hirata

Yano-gun: Toru Yano, El Desperado, Ryusuke Taguchi

Both Kazuki Hirata and Ryusuke Taguchi have been drafted into the DDT Vs New Japan battle. Super Sasadango Machine is trying to recruit Danshoku Dieno for the show but Dieno keeps turning him down in order to focus on his King Of DDT run.

Now here’s an interesting thought. Konosuke Takeshita over the weekend decided to join the Hontai unit in NJPW. Since Sasadango is under the assumption that Toru Yano is only going to pick wrestlers from Hontai, does that mean there’s a possibility of Takeshita joining Yano’s team?


MAO’s BOSJ Adventure

June 3, 2025

It’s been so long since a DDT wrestler last made an appearance in New Japan’s premier tournament for junior heavyweights. The Best Of The Super Jr. was historically the showcase that introduced Kota Ibushi and Kenny Omega to the wider wrestling world back when they were with DDT. Daisuke Sasaki also competed in two of the tournaments and his appearance in 2012 was the last time a DDT wrestler was involved… until this year! MAO got the invite to take part in the 2025 edition of BOSJ, no doubt influenced by a certain current IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion who has been molding the division in his vision whenever he can for a while now. When MAO got to wrestle on a NJPW show in April, he gave a tease that fans would see more of him in May. The very next day he was included in the announced field for the BOSJ! His goal was to bring the DDT style into New Japan like a square block fitting into a round hole and hopefully convince some of their fans to give his home promotion a try.

B Block

1. YOH (12)
-. El Desperado (12)
-. MAO (12)
4. Nick Wayne (8)
-. Taiji Ishimori (8)
-. Robbie Eagles (8)
-. SHO (8)
-. Titán (8)
-. Kevin Knight (8)
10. Ryusuke Taguchi (6)


NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 32”, 10/05/2025
Chiba YohaS Arena (Chiba Park General Gymnasium)
1,000 Fans

2. Kevin Knight, Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato defeated MAO, Tiger Mask & Shoma Kato when Wato pinned Kato with the Tsutenkaku German Suplex (7:38).

MAO was placed in the B Block but his first match on the opening show of the tour was a non-tournament 6-Man Tag. He was happy with that because it lets him casually fit in with New Japan. Two of his opponents were in his block so he got to get some ring time against his first opponent Kevin Knight. Meanwhile Tiger Mask took out Ryusuke Taguchi with a Topé Suicida leaving Shoma Kato to deal with Master Wato. Kato had just returned from a leg injury and was ready to wipe the ring rust off but Wato ended up beating him with the Tsutenkaku German Suplex. Backstage Knight said this match was the first time he got to properly introduce himself to MAO. He likes his style but wants to know if MAO can match him in the ring? After getting to share the ring with Wato, MAO mentioned he would have liked to wrestle him, Hiromu Takahashi or Kosei Fujita from the A Block. But he’s looking forward to face Knight first.


NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 32”, 11/05/2025
Miyagi Iwanuma City General Gymnasium (Big Arena)
1,369 Fans

5. BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 32 – B Block: MAO (2) defeated Kevin Knight (0) with the Iai Kick (9:34).

24 hours later MAO started his tournament off with a win. The “Michinoku Tornado” as NJPW nicknamed him had the home town advantage because the show was held in Miyagi. He also started forming a square shape with his chest which would become a recurring spot of his for the rest of the tour. After a back and forth match, MAO scored a nearfall with the Michinoku Driver II and then finished Knight off with the Iai Kick to score his first two points. MAO spoke of his goal to win BOSJ so he could then win the IWGP Jr. Title and bring it back to DDT where he was born and raised into the strange wrestler he is today. Why would he do this? So a new good era for DDT would begin!


NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 32”, 14/05/2025
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,470 Fans – Super No Vacancy

5. BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 32 – B Block: MAO (4) defeated Taiji Ishimori (0) with the Osaka Rinkai Upper (9:45).

Things kept rolling in the right direction because MAO then defeated Taiji Ishimori, a multiple time Jr. Heavyweight champion in both NJPW, NOAH and also the TNA X Division. Ishimori is also from the Miyagi prefecture which made the match became that little bit more meaningful. MAO had KANON in his corner but he had to stand and watch the two fight out of the ring where MAO did a stage dive onto Ishimori. Back in the ring Ishimori countered the Michinoku Driver II with a Reverse Frankensteiner but his 450° Splash missed when MAO moved out of the way. MAO pushed the ref into Ishimori’s way and then leapt over the ref to give Ishimori a Cutter. He then hit the Iai Kick but Ishimori found the power to stay on his feet. So MAO hit him with the Osaka Rinkai Upper palm strike to make the pin and get the three count. MAO said Ishimori is the first Miyagi wrestler he’s hunted down in the tournament and there are two more he is after. Ishimori has a square shape but MAO is becoming a pretty big square too. He is going to turn BOSJ into Best Of The Square Jr.!


NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 32”, 15/05/2025
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,365 Fans – No Vacancy

7. BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 32 – B Block: Titán (4) defeated MAO (4) with the Llave Immortal (9:20).

Any chance of MAO going three for three were put to a halt by Titán, the luchador from CMLL. MAO wanted to fight fire with fire by doing a high risk La Quebrada out of the ring as well as an upside down Llave submission. But Titán started hitting the ropes himself doing a Swan Dive Boy Press and a Topé Suicida. Their match turned into a striking battle with athletic dodges including one where Titán passed through the Hurricane Kick and trapped MAO in his Llave Immortal submission finisher. When he applied it deeper by crossing MAO’s arms over MAO had to give up. Titán paid his respect by describing MAO as one of the strongest opponents he has ever faced. MAO said that submission move is why he never wants to go to Mexico. He’s wrestled in seven different countries but he doesn’t want to make Mexico number eight because the lucha libre over there scares him.


NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 32”, 17/05/2025
Tokyo National Yoyogi Stadium Gymnsium #2
1,857 Fans

10. BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 32 – B Block: El Desperado (4) defeated MAO (4) with the Pinche Loco (23:31).

When MAO realised his match with El Desperado was main eventing the show he made a promise to make it a DDT style match. Apparently Desperado felt the same way because he went along with MAO’s idea. The two fought up the aisle to the entrance while a confused Red Shoes Unno started counting them out. When he was about to reach 20, MAO gave Desperado a Cutter onto one of the security barriers. That scared the ref so much he stopped counting to go check on them. Both were physically able to continue and they went back to the ring to keep the match going. The DDT-ness only got stronger when MAO tried to use Unno as a launchpad to do the Stunner and Despy instead pushed Unno in the way to take the move! MAO got the fans to chant “It’s not MAO” while Despy wondered what could they do now without a ref? MAO decided to pull out a load of plastic boxes from beneath the ring and break one over Desperado’s head. Desperado then responded in kind and the two proceeded to do more plastic box spots, ignoring the protests of the replacement ref Marty Asami. When they got the box bumps out of their system they started wrestling to win and went for their signature moves. Desperado used the Reverse Tiger Driver and then did the Pinche Loco but MAO kicked out at two. Desperado used the pair of moves again, this time with a Vertical Drop version of the Reverse Tiger Driver. MAO tried his best to resist a second Pinche Loco but he was pinned clean in the end.

Despy suggested that next time they should do this in MAO’s promotion although he’s worried that vehicles would be involved over there. He doesn’t want to get run over like Sanshiro Takagi often does. MAO talked about this match being his way of thanking Desperado for inviting him to the “DESPE-INVITACIONAL” last year. He never liked the period when different wrestling companies were talking trash about each other. If Evangelion could finally get a happy ending then why should pro wrestling finish with a bad ending? That’s why he thinks the likes of Despy and Hiromu are different. They have the motivation that drives the wrestling world and it’s why MAO came here to help make BOSJ a true festival that spreads Japanese wrestling across the world.


NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 32”, 18/05/2025
Tokyo Esforta Arena Hachioji
1,231 Fans

5. BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 32 – B Block: YOH (4) defeated MAO (4) with a Dragon Suplex (8:11).

While MAO was feeling spiritually good about how his experience has been so far, he was also hitting a slump results wise. YOH, the second Miyagi wrestler he was chasing after, beat MAO make it three losses in a row. To add insult to injury that cheeky git YOH used the Somato en route to winning the match! Oh he hasn’t forgotten about that match he had with Hiroshi Tanahashi against HARASHIMA & Ken Ohka ten years ago. MAO avoided the move the first time and gave YOH a similar taste of medicine by doing the Sling Blade and the High Fly Flow. But YOH kicked out of it and used the Reverse Frankensteiner to successfully set up the Somato the second time. MAO at least kicked out of it but YOH put him away with a Dragon Suplex afterwards. MAO couldn’t believe what YOH did. He likes New Japan and doesn’t want to kick off a promotional war with DDT but that’s still crossing a line. MAO decided that YOH should attend the Toru Yano Vs Super Sasadango Machine match that’s happening on 9th June. MAO will be there and they can settle their differences together. All YOH had to say is he and MAO are not on the same level. I think I heard something like that from someone else before…


NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 32”, 20/05/2025
G-Messe Gunma
842 Fans

2. YOH, Ryusuke Taguchi, Tiger Mask & Katsuya Murashima defeated El Desperado, MAO, Shoma Kato & Masatora Yasuda when Murashima submitted Yasuda with a Crab Hold (8:48).

The schedule gave MAO a non-tournament match in the middle of the tour to let him and a few others catch their breath a little bit. Despite his slump in form at this point his block was fairly tight across the board so nobody was out of the running yet. The 8-Man Tag match even ended with the Young Lions instead of any of the BOSJ wrestlers. Katsuya Murashima submitted Masatora Yasuda while MAO and Taguchi were doing lewd spots to each other that involved the back of Taguchi’s tights being pulled down. Taguchi is well aware that MAO has Danshoku Dieno supporting him. However Taguchi is not following the Hirooki Goto Revolution nor is he fighting on behalf of New Japan or even Miyagi. He is going to fight MAO by himself. MAO said he’s not shocked by seeing a little bit of butt. He didn’t expect it but now he has a plan to combat it.


NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 32”, 22/05/2025
Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium #2 (Osaka Edion Arena)
967 Fans

5. BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 32 – B Block: MAO (6) defeated Ryusuke Taguchi (6) with the Iwanuma City Styles Clash (8:33).

Things could only go up from here but oh man did MAO have to go through some things to get there. In his final match of the “Miyagi Derby”, MAO fought Taguchi and the ever slipping back of his wrestling tights. Not only was his crack exposed but Taguchi eventually stuffed MAO’s head into his tights! That turned out to be the wrong move because MAO was somehow able to keep fighting and a roll up battle resulted in him giving Taguchi the Styles Clash with his head still stuck in the tights! Taguchi admitted defeat because a fake pervert like him could never beat a real pervert like MAO. He only plays a pervert so he will go back to his true self for the rest of the tournament. MAO said he was suffocating in there and just when he was about to lose consciousness he got a flashback to all of the times something like this happened to him in DDT. It makes him glad he was raised in a wrestling company where that sort of stuff was a daily occurrence. This match was fate because MAO was a big fan of Apollo 55. He also now has to leave the Miyagi Derby up to the winner of Taiji Ishimori against YOH.


NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 32”, 24/05/2025
Hyogo Arcrea Himeji
1,136 Fans

4. BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 32 – B Block: MAO (8) defeated Robbie Eagles (6) with the Ultra Big Tone (9:26).

Can you believe that Taguchi match was exactly what MAO needed to get his mojo back? Next up for him was Robbie Eagles and he came up with his own version of the “Robbie! Robbie! Robbie!” chant. He chanted “MAO! MAO! MAO!” and got the fans to shout “Shikaku!” (“Square!”) in response. Eagles would target MAO’s knee to cut off his momentum but the match would instead make its way up to the top turnbuckle. MAO grabbed Eagles in a Dragon Sleeper and used that to set up his AI created finisher the Ultra Big Tone to get the win. MAO pointed out that he is never going to have the same kind of match no matter who he is fighting. Eagles was in shock because he thought MAO was just some fun and chill square guy and instead he tried to kill him! If MAO ever wants a rematch then Eagles wants it to happen in DDT. He’ll even put the Soul Of PWA Title on the line even though MAO has never once stepped foot in Australia.


NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 32”, 25/05/2025
Aichi Port Messe Nagoya Exhibition Hall #2
1,404 Fans

5. BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 32 – B Block: MAO (10) defeated Nick Wayne (8) with the Dick Killer (7:41).

MAO was building up momentum heading into the final stretch and his next opponent was a familiar one. He’s already wrestled with Nick Wayne several times before and wasted no time in continuing their rivalry. MAO tried to rally the fans behind him with “Shikaku” chants but Wayne wasn’t deterred by them. He seemed to have an answer for everything MAO threw at him but he never could has guessed what MAO would do to throw him in a loop. Wayne appeared to hit the Wayne’s World except MAO blocked it with a handstand and cartwheeled out of it! He then went and did his own version of the Wayne’s World, giving Wayne a taste of his own finisher. It only got a two count but MAO quickly applied a Crossface Lock, turning it into the Dick Killer variation to make Wayne tap out. MAO said he’s known Wayne for a long time now and the great thing about being a wrestler is you can enjoy your youth no matter how old you are. With one more match left MAO was still in the running for first place but it was necessary for him to win his last bout.


NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 32”, 27/05/2025
Shizuoka Kira Messe Numazu
668 Fans

2. SHO & Yujiro Takahashi defeated MAO & Shoma Kato when Takahashi pinned Kato with the Pimp Juice (4:18).

But before that happens there was one more non-tournament match to get through. It just happened to feature MAO’s last opponent in Block B, SHO from the House Of Torture. SHO attacked him during the entrance and when Kato tried to rescue him, Yujiro Takahashi came over to fight him off. The four brawled around the room where MAO held SHO in a Piledriver position while standing on a dolly. Kato pushed the dolly around until Takahashi found a second dolly nearby. It led to Kato pushing MAO on one dolly and Takahashi pushing MAO on the other until SHO wanted to leave because he had enough. MAO & Kato ended up putting the House Of Torture on both dollies and crashed them into each other. The match finally began in an official manner when everyone returned to the ring. MAO and SHO soon went back to fighting outside the ring but that left Kato in the ring to be beaten by Takahashi’s Pimp Juice. SHO complained about people from Miyagi and he then complained about Niigata where his match with MAO would take place. MAO however promised to show SHO just what DDT is really like. Oh boy, did he…


NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 32”, 29/05/2025
Niigata Region Plaza Joetsu
1,027 Fans

7. BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 32 – B Block: MAO (12) defeated SHO (8) with the Cannonball 450° (11:57).

This time MAO jumped SHO during his entrance. Well, not jumped, more like ran over with the Dramatic Dream bike! Takahashi and Ren Narita helped SHO attack MAO but KANON & Kazuma Sumi ran over to even the odds and take the fight out of the building! Not only did MAO clear House Of Torture with a dive out from the doorway but he climbed into a nearby van and knocked over SHO with it! The match hadn’t started yet so MAO was allowed wheel SHO back to the ring on a dolly and throw him into the ring. SHO somehow kicked out of a pin and had House Of Torture attack the Dramatic Dream bike. He then picked apart MAO’s arm until MAO made his comeback. Takahashi & Narita tried to interfere again but KANON & Sumi were there to keep them at bay. During the chaos the DDT wrestlers got the upper hand with Strange Love Connection even getting to hit SHOT with a Lariat/McEnroe style Total Elimination. Yoshinobu Kanemaru then suddenly appeared, spat Whiskey Mist into KANON’s face and hit MAO with the bottle. MAO kicked out of SHO’s Cross Arm Piledriver so SHO distracted the ref by bringing his NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Title belt into the ring. The ref took the belt off him but didn’t notice SHO was hiding a wrench behind his back. But when SHO went to attack MAO with it, he found out MAO was suddenly armed with Mecha Mummy’s Mecha Fist! MAO knocked the wrench out of his hands, ducked the Whiskey Mist from Kanemaru that blinded SHO instead and then MAO knocked SHO down with a Rocket Punch followed by the Iai Kick. SHO still kicked out of the pin so MAO did the Cannonball 450° from the top rope and that got him the win.

Sadly for MAO the result was not enough to reach the final. He was able to finish Block B on 12 points, enough to tie with YOH and El Desperado for first place. But by losing to both of them earlier in the tournament, the head-to-head tiebreakers were not in his favor and he had no way of reaching the final. MAO looks back on his matches with YOH and Desperado thinking what could have been if they ended differently but he is still happy they turned out to be some exciting matches they created. He gave it his all and he thinks he is the only person to have done so well in BOSJ using the DDT style. He’d like to come back to New Japan and when he does maybe he’ll become a bit more square.


NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 32”, 01/06/2025
Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium
3,044 Fans

3. Shota Umino, El Phantasmo, MAO & Nick Wayne defeated Zack Sabre Jr., Ryohei Oiwa, Hartley Jackson & Robbie Eagles when Phantasmo pinned Jackson with the CR II (10:38).

It turns out MAO had one more appearance lined up to close out the tour. For the final night of BOSJ he got to team with Shota Umino, El Phantasmo & Nick Wayne to take on TMDK in an 8-Man Tag Match. Before it began all four of them posed together as squares in front of their opponents. MAO spent most of his time in the match facing off with Ryohei Oiwa but he had some time in there with Zack Sabre Jr. too. MAO & Wayne also co-operated with each other pretty well, much to Eagles’s chagrin. They were smashed aside by Hartley Jackson though but Umino & ELP were there to put the big guy down and win the match. MAO told the others after the match he’d like to return to NJPW in a casual manner like Jackson does. If there is another Jackson or TAKA Michinoku like spot on the roster he’d like to take it. He also got to reminisce with Umino about the time they met each other in England back in 2019. Maybe the four of them can continue to be together as Team Square Hearts somewhere down the line?


DDT In All Japan And New Japan October Results

October 23, 2023

AJPW “NEW AGE CHRONICLE‐Z ~JUMP OVER~”, 05/10/2023
Shin-Kiba 1st RING
332 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

1. Atsuki Aoyagi & Rising HAYATO defeated MAO & Rukiya when HAYATO pinned Rukiya with the Sid Vicious (16:36).

There were DDT wrestlers on three All Japan shows this month for various reasons. The sudden rivalry between the two companies led to more crossovers happening. First was MAO & Rukiya showing up on a show put together by Rising HAYATO to gather together young and cool wrestlers just like him. HAYATO & Atsuki Aoyagi won in the main event thanks to HAYATO’s top rope Lionsault that is named after Sid Vicious.

NJPW “DESTRUCTION IN RYOGOKU”, 09/10/2023
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
5,002 Fans

0. Frontier Zone: YOSHI-HASHI, Toru Yano, Tiger Mask, Ryusuke Taguchi & Oskar Leube defeated Takeshi Masada, Kazuma Sumi, Kengo, Jun Masaoka & Takahiro Katori when Taguchi submitted Katori with the Oh My & Garankle (8:14).

In between all of the All Japan stuff was two DDT wrestlers showing up in New Japan. NJPW put together the Frontier Zone as a pre-show exhibition for outside wrestlers to interact with New Japan’s regulars. Kazuma Sumi got a unique experience by fighting the big young lion Oskar Leube, who was a last minute replacement for YOH. Meanwhile Takeshi Masada was more concerned over not losing the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title to anybody from New Japan. He outright told the English commentary team he would get fired if he lost the belt to a New Japan wrestler.

AJPW “HATAAGE COMMEMORATIVE SERIES 2023”, 12/10/2023
Shin-Kiba 1st RING
266 Fans

1. AJPW Vs DDT Tag Match: Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani defeated Takao Omori & Yoshitatsu when Sakaguchi pinned Omori with a Running Knee Butt (7:26).

A few days after Takao Omori & Yoshitatsu failed to take the All Asia Tag Team Titles back from DDT, they faced the next challengers Eruption. Omori almost beat Yukio Sakaguchi with the Ax Guillotine Driver but Hideki Okatani broke the count. Sakaguchi came back and rocked Omori with the God’s Right Knee before hitting another Running Knee Butt as Omori was getting back up for the finish.

AJPW “HATAAGE COMMEMORATIVE SERIES 2023”, 21/10/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,340 Fans

1. AJPW Vs DDT: Sanshiro Takagi, HARASHIMA & Yukio Naya defeated Shuji Ishikawa, Ren Ayabe & Black Menso~re when Takagi pinned Menso~re with the Sit Down Himawari Bomb (10:23).
2. AJPW TV 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Suwama, Mayumi Ozaki & Maya Yukihi defeated Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani (c) when Suwama submitted Akai with a Vise Sleeper (12:14).
*Eruption fails in V2. Suwama, Mayumi Ozaki & Maya Yukihi become the 7th AJPW TV 6-Man Tag Team Champions!

Eruption can no longer call themselves Double Crown Champions. They dropped the AJPW TV 6-Man Tag Team Titles to the unlikely trio of Suwama, Mayumi Ozaki & Maya Yukihi over the weekend. Suwama was too strong for Akai and used his power to block the Quetzalcoatl. He instead put Akai in a tight Sleeper Hold until she passed out. The result means the AJPW 6-Man Tag Titles are now back home with All Japan for the most part. Unless Ozaki & Yukihi manipulate Suwama into giving power of the belts over to OZ Academy.

DDT did score a win against AJPW earlier in the show though. Sanshiro Takagi led his team into battle against former ally Shuji Ishikawa and even scored the winning pinfall. There was some friendly fire when Takagi rode in on the Dramatic Dream bike but crashed it into Rukiya by mistake. After the match Takagi cycled off but HARASHIMA & Yukio Naya were left behind to be ambushed by The Saito Brothers! They all brawled to the back.