DDT “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2023” Results

July 23, 2023

DDT “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2023”, 23/07/2023
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
3,465 Fans – No Vacancy

1. Takeshi Masada defeated Kazuma Sumi with the Masada Power KOBU Mukimuki (6:48).
2. Sanshiro Takagi, Shinichiro Kawamatsu & Yuni defeated Masahiro Takanashi, Toy Kojima & Rukiya when Kawamatsu pinned Rukiya with the Shitamachi Rocket (8:30).
3. 3 Way 6-Man Tag Match: Minoru Fujita, MJ Paul & KANON defeated Naruki Doi, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata and Kotaro Suzuki, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku when KANON pinned Koroku with the Vietnam Driver II (11:45).
4. Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari (w/ Kachikire Hisaya) defeated Akito, Soma Takao & Yoshitomo Shimohigashi (w/ Buchigire Ujihara) when Iino pinned Akito after the Sexy Cannon (9:42).
5. Special Tag Match: Chiitan☆ & Pokotan defeated Andreza Giant Panda & Super Sasadango Machine when Chiitan☆ pinned Sasadango after the ChiiPoko☆Trigger (11:50).
6. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani defeated Kazusada Higuchi, Ryota Nakatsu & Yuki Ishida (c) when Okatani pinned Ishida with the Double Arm Suplex (9:27).
*Harimao fails in V1. Eruption becomes the 52nd KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions!
7. Special Single Match: MAO defeated TAKA Michinoku with the Phoenix Splash (13:11).
8. Special Tag Match ~ Yukio Naya Return Match: Jun Akiyama & Shigehiro Irie defeated HARASHIMA & Yukio Naya when Irie pinned Naya with the Beast Bomber (13:25).
9. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA defeated Yuki Ueno with the Brainbuster onto the corner turnbuckle (12:53).
10. DDT Universal Title: Matt Cardona (w/ Steph De Lander) defeated Tetsuya Endo (c) with the Radio Silence (15:43).
*Tetsuya Endo fails in V2. Matt Cardona becomes the 11th DDT Universal Champion!
11. Mexico Kanko Presents Dramatic Dream Match: El Desperado defeated Daisuke Sasaki with the Numero Dos (20:32).
12. KO-D Openweight Title – Good Com Asset Presents: Chris Brookes defeated Yuji Hino (c) with the Praying Mantis Bomb (21:04).
*Yuji Hino fails in V3. Chris Brookes becomes the 81st KO-D Openweight Champion!

In 2019 Chris Brookes came over from the British indepedents to DDT, taking to Japan’s wrestling scene like a duck to water. As his stay laster longer and longer he ticked off the most hardcore of bucket lists you can come up with in wrestling. He wasn’t just here to step inside Korakuen Hall, grab a Ribera jacket and have an excuse to start writing his name in Japanese for merchandise reasons. He ingrained himself into different pockets of all sizes in the wrestling industry. All the desire and hard work paid off with different accomplishments being added to his name over the years. The biggest one happened today when Brookes headlined “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2023” in Sumo Hall and became the new KO-D Openweight Champion! His challenge against the champion Yuji Hino was a big one but Brookes had a secret weapon ready for the ocassion.

The pre-match hype video revealed Brookes had spent time training with KUDO in order to add the High Kick to his moveset. KUDO won his first KO-D Title in Sumo Hall in 2011 and that inspired Brookes to get in touch and learn from him. Not only did he take the High Kick from training, he also used KUDO’s Diving Double Knee Drop on Hino. However Hino took that move as well as the Praying Mantis Bomb and shook off the attack. He fought back with a Lariat and Exploder Suplex. Then Hino made a mistake of putting his hands behind his back and daring Brookes to strike him. Brookes hit a few Flying Knee Strikes that Hino brushed off but it was the High Kick that rocked the champion. Then Brookes pulled out another secret weapon, hitting HARASHIMA’s finisher the Somato! Brookes then dropped Hino with a second Praying Mantis Bomb to become the new champion.

After the match Brookes was given the KO-D Title by special guest Kenta Kobashi. Brookes said Hino was really strong and he thanked him for the match today. He then wasted no time and asked if there was somebody out there to be his first challenger. Shigehiro Irie walked down to the ring. He congratulated Brookes and the two of them talked about the times they wrestled together in Europe. Irie also pointed out that he too has gone to foreign countries and won championships there. They haven’t had a match against each other in Japan yet so Irie wants to challenge Brookes for the belt. It was accepted and will take place at Ota Ward Gymnasium on 9th September. Irie warned that he’s come to take the KO-D Title and he’s the one who will bring it over to Europe. After he left, Brookes called out the DDT roster and paid his thanks to every one of them for their support. He reminded everyone that DDT stands for Dramatic Dream Team and everyone here is part of a team. He also went into the crowd to celebrate with the fans.

According to El Desperado, he is one of Daisuke Sasaki’s few friends and he offered him a bouquet of roses before their match as proof. Sasaki repaid Desperado by attacking him with the bouquet while they brawled outside. Sasaki also laid out Desperado on the front row of chairs and hit a Diving Elbow Drop from the top rope into him. Back in the ring Sasaki pulled off a Destroyer counter for Desperado’s Tombstone Piledriver. But La Mistica Crossface Lock was countered and Desperado stuck up his middle finger to Sasaki before trapping him in the Numero Dos to make him submit.

Desperado called the match fun but he now has a year’s worth of tequila that he won’t be able to drink all by himself. Sasaki confessed he is now feeling emotional about the match they just had and might start crying. Maybe they can have a rematch someday but this time in New Japan? Desperado joked that he has a spare key for the NJPW office so he might be able to sneak Sasaki in for something down the line. Backstage he told reporters he is going to split the tequila prize in half with Sasaki. Also if the sponsor allows it he wants to autograph the empty bottles with Sasaki and sell them with all of the proceeds going towards Yoshihiro Takayama and Shinjiro Otani.

The second of three title changes took place in Match #10 when Tetsuya Endo lost the DDT Universal Title to Matt Cardona thanks to the interference of Steph De Lander. Cardona & De Lander entered the ring carrying all of their championships, including Cardona wearing a replica of the WWE Women’s Tag Team Title that currently belongs to his wife Chelsea Green. De Lander’s constant interference backfired at one point when Cardona’s belt shot aimed for Endo hit her instead. Endo took control and had Cardona all set up for the Burning Star Press when De Lander recovered and distracted him again. This time she started flirting with Endo and gave him a bunch of kisses! Meanwhile Cardona turned the ref’s back to them so De Lander could kick Endo below the belt. Cardona then pinned Endo with the Radio Silence to add a new championship to his collection.

Cardona & De Lander’s celebration was quickly interrupted by the video screen. A live message from Maki Itoh started playing where she challenged Cardona for the Universal Title! She promised to take the championship and leave her GCW enemy covered in blood! The title match was later approved for the 24th September Korakuen Hall show. Backstage Cardona bragged about his title win and said he came here to conquer the world. It’s his first time in DDT and he already made the company and Endo his bitch. He’s not going back to WWE or AEW but when he leaves DDT he will be bringing the Universal Title with him!

Can the version of Konosuke Takeshita that showed up in Sumo Hall today be called new and improved? He was different than the Takeshita of old from before his AEW run that’s for sure. Yuki Ueno found that out up front during the latest match in their rivalry. Takeshita removed his own elbow pad to deliver raw Elbow Strikes and later dropped Ueno with an Implant Driver on the entrance ramp. Ueno fought back but his BME attempt was blocked with him getting kicked in midair. Takeshita then hit the Zahi into the corner and deadlifted Ueno up into a top rope Brainbuster onto the turnbuckle! Ueno had no answer for that and took the fall, losing again to his friend. Or is that now former friend?

Tension could be felt after the match when Ueno refused to shake Takeshita’s hand after the match. Then Toy Kojima decided to step in between them and push Takeshita away! Backstage Takeshita’s message towards Ueno was a blunt one. If Ueno ever wants to win the KO-D Title he should keep quiet and follow Takeshita! Elsewhere, Ueno said he needs to get stronger and increasing DDT’s audience is a way to do that. But after losing again today he doesn’t know what he should do next.

Yukio Naya went straight into the thick of things with his return match from injury. He started off the match with Shigehiro Irie and was just as eager to face off with Jun Akiyama. HARASHIMA was happy to fight Irie for the first time in a while although his opinion might have changed after Irie gave him a Piledriver on top of Naya. The Beat Bomber was blocked with a Knee Strike by Naya but Akiyama came in and threw Naya with the Exploder Suplex. Irie got a nearfall with a Running Cannonball into the corner and then got the three count after he hit the Beast Bomber. Both Akiyama & Irie spoke of their surprise by how powerful Naya was in his first match back. But Irie is on a mission to take everything in the world that he can, as shown by his appearance at the end of the show.

Start paying attention because MAO is back on track with a massive victory over TAKA Michinoku! MAO used his own versions of his influence’s moveset, using the Alien Plancha with an added midair twist and then two versions of the Michinoku Driver including one from the top rope. He then finished TAKA off with a Phoenix Splash. MAO said he was really happy to have this match because he’s been losing confidence in himself as a singles wrestler lately. He always admires TAKA so to beat him inside Sumo Hall using his own techniques means so much to him. However TAKA said in beating him in this day and age is not worth even a medal. MAO should be beating him and he should also be aiming for the top!

Just because Saki Akai is retiring later this year doesn’t mean she’s done winning championships. She achieved her goal of winning the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles with Eruption one more time! Eruption defeated Harimao, the team led by their former “brother” Kazusada Higuchi to claim the belts. Akai herself went head to head with Higuchi and took his best shot. She held her ground and performed the Quetzalcoatl with some help from Yukio Sakaguchi hitting Higuchi with the God’s Right Knee. Akai then dived onto Higuchi & Ryota Nakatsu outside the ring, leaving Hideki Okatani to face off with Yuki Ishida. Okatani kicked out of the Dosukoi Hold and pinned Ishida with the Double Arm Suplex to cause the title change. Both teams shook hands after the match to show there is no bad blood between them.

Afterwards Akai said her retirement match will be at Sumo Hall later this year so she’s going at full speed for her remaining months as a pro wrestler. She wanted to win the titles with Sakaguchi & Okatani in this building and is glad to have done so. She is especially happy for Okatani because this is his first championship win. Okatani then revealed Eruption’s next big plan. If they have the power to challenge anybody then they want to go to All Japan and win the AJPW TV 6-Man Tag Team Titles! They are even willing to put the KO-D 6-Man Tag Titles on the line in a double championship match to get what they want. Akai is already booked for AJPW’s show in Nagoya on 27th August and she heard that their trios champions put out an open challenge regardless of company or gender. So she’s bringing the rest of Eruption with her!

There was a reason why Andreza Giant Panda & Super Sasadango Machine were given the tag team name Food Chain. Sasadango wrestled the match wrapped together in giant bamboo leaves, just like a real sasadango. The reason why was shown when Andreza started to deflate with hunger. Sasadango made himself bait to be sacrificed to the panda! The venue went dark and in the darkness Andreza swallowed Sasadango whole, leaving only his mask behind for a horrified Yukinori Matsui to discover. Now fully fed and powered up, Andreza went on a rampage of Headbutts against the ChiiPoko☆Ultra Cute Alliance. However Chiitan pulled out a samurai sword and stabbed Andreza in the stomach with it. The venue went dark again sparing the audience from seeing a giant panda throw up. The lights came back on and Sasadango was back in the ring in one piece, covered in bits of vomit. Pokotan took advantage by giving Sasadango the Swanton Bomb. Then the two mascots joined forces and did the ChiiPoko☆Trigger together on Sasadango to score the win. Backstage Sasadango explained what it was like being eaten by Andreza. He said Andreza’s stomach was bigger than he thought and would make for a comfortable living space in Tokyo.

The comedian Buchigire Ujihara was given the full Pheromones experience, something that the former Hisaya Imabayashi was happy to see because it wasn’t him getting humiliated for once. However he overstepped his bounds when he tried to interfere and attack Akito with a chair. Akito dodged it and the chair hit both Yuki Iino & Danshoku Dieno instead. Yumehito Imanari then caused a mess using a fire extinguisher on Akito, Soma Takao & Yoshitomo Shimohigashi. Dieno then launched Iino across the ring with a hip thrust, causing Iino to pin Akito with the Spear.

A victorious Hisaya celebrated Pheromones winning the match but didn’t expect them to turn on him. Imanari suddenly grabbed him and gave him a DDT inbetween Iino & Dieno’s backsides, leaving him vertically jammed upside down in the gap! Ujihara gave them a nod of approval, coming around to understand what Pheromones is like. Backstage Akito approached Pheromones asking for one more match. If Akito wins then Pheromones will disband but if Pheromones win then Akito will stop trying to destroy them. Dieno demanded that Akito crawl between Iino’s legs and then press his own face into Iino’s backside to prove he is being sincere. Akito did so and said he wanted the match to happen on 9th September at Ota Ward Gym.

DAMNATION T.A won the 3 Way Trios match against BURNING and the Dragon Gene team. KANON pulled out the Vietnam Driver II, a move previously used by Daisuke Sasaki to beat Yuya Koroku for the finish. KANON was of mixed emotions backstage afterwards. He was so happy that Minoru Fujita made it to the show on time and also that MJ Paul did his best. But then he got mad that the three of them were thrown into a nothing 3 Way Tag Match! Fujita had to calm him down. The BURNING team took the loss in good grace. Kotaro Suzuki was happy to wrestle in DDT again while Yusuke Okada was thankful to wrestle inside Sumo Hall again. Koroku said he will take the loss as another learning experience. Neither Naruki Doi, Toru Owashi or Kazuki Hirata gave any comments after the match.

Being born and raised in Ryogoku was enough motivation for Shinichiro Kawamatsu to go out there and win. With Sanshiro Takagi & Yuni on his team the three of them were able to beat Masahiro Takanashi, Toy Kojima & Rukiya. Takagi stacked Takanashi and Kojima on top of him to deliver a Double Samoan Drop. Yuni followed up with a Moonsault out of the ring. Kawamatsu then targeted Rukiya’s mid-section with the Shitamachi Rocket Spear to get the three count. Yuni called it a memorable experience because it is the first time he won a match inside Sumo Hall. His effort didn’t go unnoticed by Kojima because Kojima blames Yuni for his team losing! Takagi told Kawamatsu DDT will be back here in November so he’ll find a great opponent for him if he wants to wrestle then.

The opening match of the show saw Takeshi Masada use the Samurai Driver ’01 to beat Kazuma Sumi. However here the move was called the Masada Power KOBU Mukimuki. It’s been almost a year since Masada debuted and he feels like he has regressed since the end of the D GENERATIONS CUP. Today’s win against his classmate Sumi is a good step forward towards DDT’s next major shows in Ota Ward and Sumo Hall happening later this year. Sumi is frustrated to lose but he promises to do his best until he can win, no matter how many more times he loses.

When the show finally ended and all the wrestlers left ringside, the credits began to roll. And then it stopped for a sudden post-credits sequence. A fallen Sasaki was seen sitting on a hallway floor when he is approached by Takeshita. The scene ends with Takeshita offering his hand and Sasaki shaking it! To add more to the confusing scene, it was reported that Takeshita’s post-show meet and greet took place at the DAMNATION T.A merch table. What made things even more confusing is Takeshita afterwards said he has no intention of joining DAMNATION T.A. Instead he is doing this to position himself against The 37KAMIINA because he thinks the unit no longer needs him.


DDT “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2023” Preview

July 21, 2023

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

1. Takeshi Masada Vs Kazuma Sumi
2. Sanshiro Takagi, Shinichiro Kawamatsu & Yuni Vs Masahiro Takanashi, Toy Kojima & Rukiya
3. 3 Way 6-Man Tag Match: Naruki Doi, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Minoru Fujita, MJ Paul & KANON Vs Kotaro Suzuki, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku
4. Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari (w/ Kachikire Hisaya) Vs Akito, Soma Takao & Yoshitomo Shimohigashi (w/ Buchigire Ujihara)
5. Special Tag Match: Chiitan☆ & Pokotan Vs Andreza Giant Panda & Super Sasadango Machine
6. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Kazusada Higuchi, Ryota Nakatsu & Yuki Ishida (c) Vs Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani
7. Special Single Match: TAKA Michinoku Vs MAO
8. Special Tag Match ~ Yukio Naya Return Match: HARASHIMA & Yukio Naya Vs Jun Akiyama & Shigehiro Irie
9. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs Yuki Ueno
10. DDT Universal Title: Tetsuya Endo (c) Vs Matt Cardona (w/ Steph De Lander)
11. Mexico Kanko Presents Dramatic Dream Match: Daisuke Sasaki Vs El Desperado
12. KO-D Openweight Title – Good Com Asset Presents: Yuji Hino (c) Vs Chris Brookes

Welcome to the 15th annual “WRESTLE PETER PAN”! This year DDT is bringing their flagpole supercard back to Sumo Hall for the first time sine 2018. There is a lot to go through. It’s a twelve match card and all of it is included on the main card. No dark matches, pre-show exhibitions or whatever you want to call them. DDT needs to put their best foot forward on Sunday as they struggle to regain the ground they lost over the pandemic years. A few matches on the card looks like they’re throwing different ideas to the wall and seeing what sticks. It hasn’t reached the depths of desperation yet but they could really do with this show becoming a hit.

I’ll go through each topic in more detail below when it applies to the match but DDT has been hampered by a few things this year. There is a little bit of an identity crisis in there, perhaps the wrong people were chosen to hold a few of the championships and an injury bug keeps getting in the way of every attempt to elevate people. There is also a staleness to the humour and the fresh blood are not being given enough opportunities to come up with their own jokes. I will listen to any arguments that CyberFight should stop being scared of mixing DDT and NOAH together for more inter-promotional matches. Keiji Muto’s retirement show was a great demonstration what DDT and Tokyo Joshi Pro wrestlers would look like under NOAH’s top notch presentation. The problem there is the people in charge are determined not to make any of the same mistakes SWS did in the early 90s when it comes to to managing multiple companies in a “room-by-room” manner. It’s a delicate task having to juggle several different rosters with their own differing views on what kind of wrestling show to put on.

1. Takeshi Masada Vs Kazuma Sumi

The day kicks off with a match between two wrestlers from the current crop of rookies that have been at times referred to as D GENERATIONS. The name came from the D GENERATIONS CUP tournament that was held in the Spring to give DDT’s fresh blood the chance to earn the last spot on the company’s trip to Los Angeles for their DDT USA shows. The winner of the tournament was Takeshi Masada who was already being marketed as the highest prospect to come out of DDT’s dojo in years. Getting to debut after only three months of training will give you that kind of hype. He was the first from a group of five to debut. The second is his opponent here Kazuma Sumi. Officially it took him half a year of training before debut but in reality Sumi was previously attached to Dragongate’s dojo and dropped out. If there is more to the story about how, when and why he jumped to DDT, it hasn’t been told to anyone publicly so I doubt there is anything unusual or controversial behind it. So much of DDT’s talent development throughout its history is built around taking in dropouts from other dojos anyway. They’re not a picky company and if they are I can’t imagine what kind of trainees they’ve turned down for reasons involving quality.

The current state of DDT’s training system is sort of displayed with this matchup. The rookies they’ve been debuting over the last twelve to eighteen months are all functionally good. Masada’s been the best of the bunch and has clearly been positioned as such. Sumi gets to display his athleticism but not much else in the form of character. While I enjoy seeing fresh faces coming in and have fun following the careers that last, the underlying problem so far is the lack of creativity given to their roles. I can tell they get to have fun doing what they do and are willing to join in whatever silliness is thrown their way. It’s just that so far none of it is by their own creation. DDT needs to come up with new jokes and gimmicks. Keigo Nakamura is an example of somebody who is standing out as his own character and personality but unfortunately he’s become injury prone and I fear his wrestling career has been shortened for that reason. It’s fine that the company is able to attract new trainees on a regular basis but I would like to see them become more than just extra bodies to drop falls to the veterans.

2. Sanshiro Takagi, Shinichiro Kawamatsu & Yuni Vs Masahiro Takanashi, Toy Kojima & Rukiya

A battle between generations young and old with a few returns from injury added too. Sanshiro Takagi has been rehabbing a torn calf in his left leg in order to make this show. He is also the current Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion at the time of writing. You’d think he’d be tempting fate by telling the other wrestlers not to take advantage of his weakened state but everyone followed the order and left him be. The politician Shinichiro Kawamatsu had a failed attempt at becoming the new O-40 Champion back in March but made up for it a month later by directly winning a match for the first time. Yuni has been the most active out of anyone from the team. The youngster unmasked himself to end his El Unicorn gimmick and graduated from child pro wrestler to teenage pro wrestler. The other team has Masahiro Takanashi as the veteran captaining two young prospects. Toy Kojima is finding his place in the world as part of The 37KAMIINA. He recently lost a feud to DAMNATION T.A but showed a lot of fire standing up for himself and his friends. Rukiya is at the time of writing still recovering from a cracked sternum. He only debuted in April so hopefully it’s just a minor setback. Still though, I always say rookies break easily. DDT is only just coming out of an injury bug too.

3. 3 Way 6-Man Tag Match: Naruki Doi, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Minoru Fujita, MJ Paul & KANON Vs Kotaro Suzuki, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku

Long story short this is three wrestlers who all carry the Toryumon gene in some form taking on both DAMNATION T.A and the lower ranked wrestlers in BURNING. Ever since he went freelance Naruki Doi has been on a tear by winning championships in both DDT and All Japan. His brightest moment in DDT was short lived but he still shows up from time to time where he is stuck with Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata due to their shared wrestling heritage. Yes, even including Hirata. DAMNATION T.A have sort of been inconsistent this year. KANON got injured with a dislocated shoulder and just came back to the ring recently. Minoru Fujita was busy wrestling elsewhere so DDT was not a priority for him. MJ Paul is the same as always but at least he gets a KO-D Tag Team Title reign out of it. BURNING’s two youngest wrestlers have spent a lot of time on the undercard. That’s fair for Yuya Koroku given how young his career is but Yusuke Okada never progresses anywhere and I’m not sure why. Kotaro Suzuki leads the team into the match and remains involved with BURNING as an extra guiding hand whenever they need it.

4. Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari (w/ Kachikire Hisaya) Vs Akito, Soma Takao & Yoshitomo Shimohigashi (w/ Buchigire Ujihara)

DDT was spared from having the main event scene successfully taken over by Pheromones after “MEGA MAX BUMP 2023” back in May. Yuki Iino has brushed aside his short lived “Strong” persona to become “Sexy” again and is back to pushing the envelope with Danshoku Dieno & Yumehito Imanari. The boss Takagi has long since passed the responsibility of suppressing Pheromones down to his Vice President Akito. It’s a thankless task but Akito keeps agreeing to the job in the hopes it will take him right to the top of CyberFight management whenever Takagi calls it a day. Soma Takao is dragged into the mission as the man in charge of the Dropkick Bar. That makes him a vital employee in the eyes of Akito so he must take part whether he wants to or not. Filling out the team is Akito’s secret weapon. One with a origin that goes back to Kota Ibushi. It’s not Ibushi himself though. He was busy this week.

Remember the Ibushi Wrestling Institute? It’s that project Ibushi put together after he ended his double contract with DDT and New Japan. It turned out there actually was somebody who debuted as a pro wrestler under that banner in 2018. Meet Yoshitomo Shimohigashi, aka “Golden Stardust” the first man to carry on Ibushi’s pro wrestling legacy. His background is in pro bowling, his wife is a competitive eater and he’s barely wrestled much in the 5 years since. Boy, Ibushi sure knows how to pick them. Shimohigashi’s most high profile matches have been with Tokyo Gurentai and I haven’t been able to find anywhere else he’s been. He is a figure more known inside the pro wrestling business than out and Akito is attached to him through having an advisory role in the Institute.

One last addition to the match is the involvement of Buchigire Ujihara, a comedian on Youtube who was just a bystander at a restaurant where Pheromones and Akito’s team got into a fight. He got caught in the crossfire along with the DDT GM Hisaya Imabayashi. When Imabayashi found out who Ujihara is, he flipped his lid. Ujihara gets to make a living off of playing pranks and acting a fool on Youtube while Imabayashi has to work several different part time jobs along with his subcontracted DDT role in order to get a decent salary. The jealousy caused Imabayashi to unexpectedly side with Pheromones because he no longer sees the point of defending DDT against them when he is not a full time employee. Now going by the name Kachikire Hisaya, this time he’ll get to join in with the Pheromones abuse after years of having to take it.

5. Special Tag Match: Chiitan☆ & Pokotan Vs Andreza Giant Panda & Super Sasadango Machine

What can I say? Mascots are big in Japan. Chiitan’s crazy debut in May lured DDT’s own mascot Pokotan back to the ring out of jealousy. They settled their differences in a tag match and discovered they can work quite well together as a team. They also already came up with their own tag team finisher called the Chi☆Poco Trigger. All that was left needed is a tag team name. DDT fans did the job for them, coming up with ChiiPoko☆Ultra Cute Alliance as the name. Everything’s ready so let’s see what their opponents get up to. Andreza Giant Panda & Super Sasadango Machine have prior history with each other. In 2018 Sasadango made it his mission to put a stop to Andreza because the panda’s gigantic appitite was a danger to the local environment. He failed but ended up on Andreza’s good side afterward. Almost four years later and they are back in the ring together going against two violent mascots. Andreza defeated Pokotan in a preview singles match that saw Andreza take off Pokotan’s head with an uppercut! Will Chiitan be given the same fate? Normally Sasadango would come up with a big plan and happily tell the audience what he means to achieve, slide by slide. He won’t have to do that with something as powerful as Andreza by his side Headbutting mascots left, right and centre.

6. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Kazusada Higuchi, Ryota Nakatsu & Yuki Ishida (c) Vs Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani

Aw man, we’re getting closer towards saying goodbye to Saki Akai. I don’t want to do that yet. She is set to retire from pro wrestling on 12th November, ending a decade long career on her own terms without injury and away from life changing circumstances (she has since called out the double standard in the industry where men always assume a female wrestler’s decision to retire is because of marriage or pregnancy). Until that day comes, Akai has one goal in mind and that is to win the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles with Eruption one more time. It is a belt she has held just once before with the original Eruption trio. That is what makes this match a little more spicy because this time Akai & Yukio Sakaguchi are teaming with Hideki Okatani while Kazusada Higuchi is now on the other side defending the championship against them!

We are well past Higuchi’s reign at the top of the mountain sadly enough. Harimao wanted to blow a new wind across DDT but that plan hit a massive wall when Naomi Yoshimura took time off to deal with a herniated disc. Higuchi did his best to rebuild the unit to make up for Yoshimura’s absence. He called in his DNA generation rival Ryota Nakatsu from BASARA not to replace Yoshimura but to add more firepower for when he returns. The decision worked out as Harimao went on to win the KO-D 6-Man Tag Titles, giving the third man Yuki Ishida plenty of experience to gain. Ishida himself is gradually levelling up by relying heavily on having Dosukoi spirit. It inspired a new pinning hold he uses that has scored the three count on both Sakaguchi and Akai. Those results have left Sakaguchi in a bad mood. So not only does Eruption want to win the titles one more time, Sakaguchi wants Ishida’s head on a plate too!

7. Special Single Match: TAKA Michinoku Vs MAO

MAO has spent the month in America and is coming back ready for an important match against one of his inspirations. Growing up in the Tohoku region as a wrestling fan means it is obvious that MAO would look up to somebody like TAKA Michinoku. The Spaceman Plancha and use of the Michinoku Driver are as clear nods as you can get. This is not the first time MAO and TAKA have fought each other though. Back in 2017 TAKA defeated MAO on a DNA event. TAKA was complimentary towards him then. A few months later MAO avenged the loss a little bit by pinning TAKA at the annual New Year’s Eve Korakuen Hall show. What’s noteworthy about that is it happened right when the countdown reached zero so it was both the last pro wrestling result in Japan of 2017 as well as the first pro wrestling result of 2018! The two have not fought each other since then and a lot has changed. TAKA is a key part of Just 5 Guys in New Japan while 2023 became the year MAO started getting noticed on the American indies for his nutty antics inside and out of the ring.

This singles match will be a good test to see where MAO fits in from this point forward. His strongest work in DDT is as a tag team wrestler. His run with the KO-D Tag Titles as part of ShunMao is a highlight of DDT’s 2023 that sadly had to end when Shunma Katsumata fractured his ankle. That point I made for the first match about DDT giving the younger wrestlers more chances to be creative? MAO is a good example of letting that happen, especially when he used the recent USA excursion to spread his wings. Who ever thought we would see him cosplay as Don Callis for example? His feud with Yoshihiko and Kazuki Hirata over the vacant DDT Extreme Title was a fun way to shine a bigger spotlight over that part of the roster too. I hope to see that sort of energy going into the match with TAKA. Would his opponent be up for it though?

8. Special Tag Match ~ Yukio Naya Return Match: HARASHIMA & Yukio Naya Vs Jun Akiyama & Shigehiro Irie

The injury bug has been a regular problem for DDT this year. Several times they try to build up wrestlers and then bam! They go down with an injury. Yukio Naya is probably the biggest example of that given his main event push. After years of trying, the big lug finally started to click things together and had a strong run in the D-Ou Grand Prix, beating Higuchi in an upset to reach the final. He didn’t win the tournament but the push continued into Spring where he main evented DDT’s Korakuen shows two more times, including the 26th Anniversary show. Then his ankle went kaput and he’s been out of action ever since. Four months later and he finally gets to return and start climbing the ranks again. The question now is if the injury was disruptive enough to wipe away the progress he made since the winter? Before he got hurt he had improved a bunch but boy did it take a long time for that to happen. DDT wants to build their main events around heavyweights which is why they are determined to get a guy like Naya over. Him being part of a famous sumo family is a reason too.

So if Naya is back to being able to give and take a lot of big impact moves, DDT have found the right people to put him in the ring with. HARASHIMA was one of the wrestlers who lost to Naya as part of Naya’s rise up to the main event spot in the first half of the year. So it makes sense to have those two teaming up. Jun Akiyama is always there for Naya’s generation to chase after. There will be a day where Naya scores a fall on Akiyama but it won’t be here. Shigehiro Irie running into people at full speed is always as fun as it is dangerous. I’ll be sweating bullets thought if Irie does the Running Cannonball spot against the ropes to Naya. A guy Naya’s size will take the move better than Yumehito Imanari ever could but that injury bug is still hanging around.

9. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs Yuki Ueno

I don’t know how many more times I’ll get to write about Konosuke Takeshita in these kind of show previews so enjoy them while we can. A heel turn in AEW has him firmly placed in a storyline with The Elite over on the Dynamite half of the company. With that heel turn comes questions about how Takeshita will behave when he is back in DDT wrestling against his longtime friend Yuki Ueno. The hint is in how his name is now spelt. He has ditched the hiragana writing to go completely romanized in the upper case, becoming KONOSUKE TAKESHITA! Shout it as loud as that one Wakana Uehara fan for full effect. So how will Takeshita treat Ueno? Is he still a sauna loving member of The 37KAMIINA? Did Don Callis tell him to ditch the Cinnabon takeouts and go on a diet? Will he become Chris Jericho’s next clout victim? So many questions to answer and only some will be given at this match.

Takeshita and Ueno have had two previous singles matches this year. The first was only a ten minute long draw that was done as a new year bonus for the fans. The second took place in Los Angeles as the main event for DDT’s USA show with Takeshita coming out on top. While he’s been sorting out things in AEW, Ueno’s been advancing up the ranks in DDT by winning the D-Ou Grand Prix and working towards becoming the guy to carry the company on his back. The results so far have not matched his ambition. As much as I think the guy is talented in the ring, a bland personality continues to hold him back. I don’t know if the solution is to make him find a rotten side by turning heel or take some comedy classes to develop a wackier character but what he is right now does not connect. Something he has been up to recently is getting an acting role for a children’s TV show on NHK. So maybe the next step is booking him into becoming a hero to children? Ueno has always been in Takeshita’s shadow though. If the Takeshita that turns up is nothing like the one Ueno knows then there could be a harsh lesson to learn there.

10. DDT Universal Title: Tetsuya Endo (c) Vs Matt Cardona (w/ Steph De Lander)

2022 turned into a year to forget for Tetsuya Endo and not by choice either. There is no denying the diamond’s shine has been diminished ever since Katsuhiko Nakajima knocked him out and he hasn’t come close to reclaiming it. 2023 has been better. He has bounced back somewhat by holding the KO-D 6-Man Tag Titles with BURNING and then went on to win the DDT Universal Title. He is now being positioned in an important match of the card against a big international name. Not bad but given the high hopes I’ve always held for they guy I’m always going to think he should be doing better. How much that should be blamed on him is a bitter pill for me to swallow. That slap is going to keep haunting him for quite a while yet and it doesn’t look like he’ll a chance to exorcise that ghost anytime soon.

Next question to ask, is Endo’s opponent a good fit for DDT? Matt Cardona was the success story of the American indies in 2021 with his heel run in GCW reinventing himself into something way more newsworthy than just another ex-WWE superstar. He’s gone on to win championships across America and now sets his sights on winning the DDT Universal Title with a big pay day to go along with it. That last piece of info touched a nerve with the champion. He was told to expect a former WWE wrestler to come challenge him. But he didn’t know DDT was allegedly paying the challenger 30 million yen to do the match! That Cardona is the person chosen to fight him after so much hype does not impress Endo one bit. He doesn’t think of him as a strong opponent if it’s being based on how many social media followers he has. If that much money is being spent then Endo thinks it should have been given to himself instead! One thing to watch out for is Cardona’s partner in crime Steph De Lander. The former NXT wrestler has benefited greatly from working with Cardona as his Sensational Sherri equivalent. She won’t be afraid to do some nasty things to Endo in the ring if the opportunity presents itself. She said it herself in the hype video “When the Indy God and the Baddest Bitch come to DDT, you’re all fucked!”

11. Mexico Kanko Presents Dramatic Dream Match: Daisuke Sasaki Vs El Desperado

It’s not often that Daisuke Sasaki springs up a surprise for DDT fans that everyone approves of. So everyone was thrilled when he pulled some strings and got this as the first match announcement for the show. For somebody who always threatens to quit and go home every time he suffers a setback, the match has been keeping Sasaki focused for the last few months. That it’s being sponsored by a tourism company willing to reward the winner with a year’s worth of tequila probably helps. The company has already been warned that one year’s worth for Sasaki is equal to five year’s worth for anyone else. Sasaki is already promising to drink through three bottles a day if he wins. Can you blame the guy when he’s had to spend the last couple of weeks feuding with somebody as persistent as Toy Kojima? All that chair swinging is thirsty work you know.

Who right now is living a happier wrestling life than El Desperado? The masked man has been ticking off a bucket list of goals this year while somehow championing the independents as a New Japan wrestler. He’s been repping Junior Heavyweight wrestling, getting into death matches with Jon Moxley, fighting in the GCW Tournament Of Survival, popping through the Forbidden Door, getting a tour with CMLL that includes a visit to Arena Mexico and even found a way to get Jun Kasai inside the NJPW ring for the first time ever. The man loves the indies so much he wrestled Evil Uno on a Mystery Wrestling show for God’s sake! So when he got challenged by Sasaki, who is he to say no? In a wrestling world where it feels like every important match needs something on the line, both Sasaki and Desperado are happy to just have it be for the tequila. They don’t see the need for a championship to be on the line or for masks and hair to be wagered. Just the two of them as they are will be enough to promise an intense fight in the ring.

12. KO-D Openweight Title – Good Com Asset Presents: Yuji Hino (c) Vs Chris Brookes

The running storyline that carried DDT’s main event scene across 2022 was whoever was KO-D Openweight Champion became the man to carry DDT on their back from that point forward. In Higuchi’s case he was literally turned into the company’s flag bearer. The rest of the year was spent having Higuchi defend the title against the likes of Endo, Takeshita, Shinya Aoki, Sakaguchi and Ueno. Unfortunately he didn’t become much of a difference maker for DDT. As much as the foreign fanbase approves of Higuchi, he doesn’t have the same hold on the home audience. That’s why in 2023 the value of the KO-D Title has felt a little off. Yuji Hino defeated Higuchi to take the title in January and has held onto it ever since. What has felt off the entire time is Hino himself. He hasn’t been the big nasty heel that longtime fans remember from K-DOJO. In fact he’s been pretty supportive of DDT as their champion. He does his part to promote the company as the place to be, it just hasn’t been working out that way despite his efforts. DDT also really wants to get more heavyweights going in the main event position, as shown by having Hino’s defences so far be against Naya and Iino. It’s been a criticism towards DDT for quite a while now. Why fight to compete against the heavyweight divisions of the bigger companies when your appeal was always supposed to be something entirely different?

So if they story for DDT is the search for the right person to carry the company, they may have had him in the background the entire time. Chris Brookes from the moment he stepped foot in the company got what DDT is. Not just from a fanboy level by getting to relive everything he ever downloaded from Megaupload but also understanding a company spirit that is all parts open minded, anarchic and most of all daft. The dedication was also there when he chose to stay in Japan during the pandemic. Ever since then he’s been an integral part of DDT as well as Gatoh Move and a few other indies. He also went ahead and crafted his own little hub in the Japanese wrestling scene with the Baka Gaijin + Friends shows. At a time when DDT is trying to develop something that’s as prestigious as whatever NOAH or All Japan are doing, Brookes is busy digging up Mecha Mummy and putting together events that capture the warm vibes of DDT’s Beer Garden shows. The company always has a high ambition of where they want to go but perhaps how they get there is all wrong. It’s time to switch things up and Brookes looks like the guy to lead the pack.

That’s all easier said then done though. Brookes dislocated his shoulder two months ago and was out of action for a lot of the build up to this main event. He even admits he might have come back to wrestle too soon with his shoulder being anywhere from 70% to 90% recovered. His injury time has left Hino feeling annoyed for several reasons. Hino goes into his matches hurt too but he never takes time off. He argued why does Brookes get to stay home and rest while he has to keep wrestling on shows? Then Hino’s attitude towards Brookes changed into something more mocking. He started cracking jokes and treating Brookes like a rookie making his debut instead of an established wrestler coming back from injury. It was up to the challenger’s friends to step up and fight Hino on his behalf. Even when Brookes started wrestling again and won a tag match, Hino would still make fun of him for only beating Makoto Oishi. Brookes will have to work real hard to prove Hino wrong. He has taken big guys down with the Octopus Stretch in the past but Hino has been winning matches with the King Kong Sleeper. The champion also has the Fuckin’ BOMB, one of the most devastating moves in DDT. Does Brookes have the strength to lift up Hino with the Praying Mantis Bomb to combat this? The result of this match can lead to a different looking DDT for the rest of the year.


Video – DDT “IZU GRANPAL PARK ROJO PRO WRESTLING”

July 20, 2023


DDT “IZU GRANPAL PARK ROJO PRO WRESTLING”, 15/04/2015
Shizuoka Izu Granpal Park
500 Fans – Super No Vacancy

1. 4 Way Tag Match: Sanshiro Takagi & Jun Kasai Vs Kota Ibushi & Daisuke Sasaki Vs Danshoku Dieno & Saki Akai Vs Gota Ihashi & Suguru Miyatake


DDT “60TH BIRTHDAY AND 20TH ANNIVERSARY ALL TOGETHER! ~ GORGEOUS NIGHT” Results

July 16, 2023

DDT “60TH BIRTHDAY & 20TH ANNIVERSARY ALL TOGETHER! ~ GORGEOUS NIGHT”, 16/07/2023
Fukushima Toyota Crown Arena Sub Arena
830 Fans – Super No Vacancy

1. Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani defeated Kazuki Hirata & Yuni when Okatani pinned Yuni with a Northern Lights Suplex (8:02).
2. 4 Way Match: Yuki “Sexy” Iino defeated Yuki Ueno, Akito and Kazuma Sumi when Iino submitted Sumi with the Full Nelson Giant Swing Bubba Bomb Reverse Daisy Hold (8:41).
3. Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON defeated Yusuke Okada, Toy Kojima & Yuya Koroku when Sasaki submitted Koroku with La Mistica Crossface Lock (10:11).
4. BURNING Vs Harimao!: Tetsuya Endo & Jun Akiyama defeated Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida when Koroku pinned Ishida with the Rotating Torture Rack Bomb (10:46).
5. Special Tag Match: Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi defeated Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada when Hino pinned Masada with the Fuckin’ BOMB (11:31).
6. Fukushima Specialty Special 6-Man Tag Match: Gorgeous Matsuno, HARASHIMA & Yukio Sakaguchi defeated Toru Owashi, Danshoku Dieno & Antonio Honda when Matsuno pinned Honda with the Gorgeous Superstar Elbow (19:44).

At 62 years old Gorgeous Matsuno’s wrestling career has somehow just as fruitful as ever. This year he got to wrestle in All Japan for the first time and footage of his attempts to do the Gorgeous Superstar Elbow have gone viral on TikTok. Yet going into today’s show he was wondering if it was time to finally call an end to his wrestling career and make this show the final “GORGEOUS NIGHT”. Instead after winning the main event with his finisher he decided to postpone any retirement plans while he is still able to go in the ring. His partner Junko Tashiro encouraged him to keep doing his best until he dies. The two sang a duet together in the ring to end the show.

Just when Chris Brookes felt he was building up momentum, Yuji Hino send him crashing down to Earth with today’s result. The dreaded Fuckin’ BOMB led to Hino pinning Brookes and he warns he will do that move 100 times at the KO-D Openweight Title match on 23rd July! Brookes admits he may have come back from injury too early. He said his shoulder was at 90% but really he thinks it is at 70%. However, Brookes thinks it is his destiny to win the KO-D Title and will work hard every day until “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2023”!

Matsuno gifted Saki Akai with a bouquet of flowers before her match to commemorate her 10 years in wrestling.


Princess Cup Undercard, Sakaguchi’s 50th Birthday Coming Up

July 12, 2023

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TOKYO PRINCESS CUP”, 15/07/2023
Tokyo Ryogoku KFC Hall

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

The Tokyo Princess Cup begins this weekend. The plan for the undercard on these shows is to put wrestlers from upcoming tournament matches in preview tag matches. So for example Rika Tatsumi and Raku are on opposite teams in the same match, Suzume and Shoko Nakajima are on opposite teams, so on and so forth. Hikari Noa and Yuki Arai are the exception because Arai isn’t available to wrestle until their tournament match on 22nd July.

DDT “SUMMER VACATION 2023”, 30/07/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Yukio Sakaguchi 50th Birthday Match ~ Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani Vs Shuji Ishikawa, Thanomsak Toba & Masahiro Takanashi
2. DDT Extreme Title: Kazuki Hirata (c) Vs HARASHIMA

Yukio Sakaguchi is turning 50 years old on 26th July! So to celebrate it DDT is putting together a special match for him. Eruption are going to take on a team made up of wrestlers with some sort of connection to him. Shuji Ishikawa has been a rival of his in the past, Thanomsak Toba is a training buddy and Masahiro Takanashi is his little brother equivalent from Shuten-dōji.

Konosuke Takeshita will be on the show.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “GARAFES ~DAIHONMEI!! TOTSUGEKI! SOMERSAULT DROP~”, 30/07/2023
Tokyo Ueno Park Outdoor Stage

1. Hikari Noa & Toga Vs Raku & Moka Miyamoto
2. Miu Watanabe Vs HIMAWARI

Earlier this year Tokyo Joshi Pro held a couple of matches at an idol festival. They are doing it again at the end of this month. The two matches will take place on a mat placed on the concert stage instead of a wrestling ring.

DDT “SAKI AKAI 10TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR IN KORAKUEN!!”, 13/08/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Battle Royal: Sanshiro Takagi (c) Vs X
2. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Chris Brookes, Masahiro Takanashi & Sakura Hirota Vs Yuki Ueno, MAO & Toy Kojima
3. Saki Akai Debut 10th Anniversary Match Vol. 2 ~ Special 6-Woman Tag Match: Saki Akai, Maya Yukihi & Asuka Vs Takumi Iroha, Rina Yamashita & X

Sakura Hirota is invited to celebrate Saki Akai’s 10th Anniversary. Will she bust out the Akai cosplay again?

While Sanshiro Takagi has been recovering from injury he had been tempting fate on Twitter, talking about how vulnerable he is while as the current Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion. Stuff like asking the wrestlers not to even think about Low Kicking his injured leg when they meet up for example. Nobody has taken advantage of his perdicament and he remains the champion at the moment.


DDT “DDT TANABATA SPECIAL 2023 IN SHINJUKU” Results

July 7, 2023

DDT “DDT TANABATA SPECIAL 2023 IN SHINJUKU”, 07/07/2023
Shin-Kiba 1st RING
305 Fans – No Vacancy

1. Toru Owashi & Kazuma Sumi defeated Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno when Sumi pinned Dieno after the Kamigoye from Yoshitomo Shimohigashi (9:38).
2. DISASTER BOX Vs BURNING!: HARASHIMA & Kazuki Hirata defeated Jun Akiyama & Yusuke Okada when HARASHIMA pinned Okada with the Somato (8:15).
3. Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani defeated Kazusada Higuchi, Yuki Ishida & Ilusion when Okatani pinned Ishida with a Running Elbow Butt (9:20).
4. KANON Debut 4th Anniversary Match ~ Special Tag Match: TAKA Michinoku & KANON defeated Tetsuya Endo & Yuya Koroku when KANON submitted Koroku with the Ground Cobra Twist (11:12).
5. International Special Single Match: Yuki Ueno defeated Nick Wayne with the WR (14:29).
6. Special Single Match: Daisuke Sasaki defeated Toy Kojima with the Crossface Lock (10:26).
7. Road To PETER PAN 2023! Special Tag Match: Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi defeated Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi when Hino submitted Brookes with the King Kong Sleeper (10:43).

Today saw the return of Chris Brookes to the ring after spending over a month recovering from a dislocated shoulder. He only has a little over two weeks now to get into his best condition for “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2023”. The start of his “Champion’s Road” could not have gotten off to a rockier start when CDK took on Ω. Brookes showed some some threat to Yuji Hino by countering the Fuckin’ BOMB into an Octopus Stretch. But Hino powered his way out of the move and submitted Brookes with the King Kong Sleeper. Hino taunted Brookes after the match by pretending his opponent was an amateur making his debut today. Makoto Oishi had to remind him it’s his challenger for Sumo Hall. Backstage Brookes admitted he is lacking confidence but he will get it back and win the KO-D Openweight Title from Hino. A lot can change in two weeks.

After weeks and weeks of cheating and dirty fighting from Daisuke Sasaki towards Toy Kojima, their grudge match today went by mostly without incident. Sasaki was by himself and fought clean the entire match. Kojima almsot beat him with the Kojima In Wonderland but then missed a Totonou Splash. That allowed Sasaki to take over and submit him with the Crossface Lock. Sasaki then gave Kojima an offer to join DAMNATION T.A after the match! Kojima refused and left the ring.

Sasaki changed the subject by promising a big surprise for the fans in attendance. El Desperado’s music suddenly played but nobody came out. Sasaki then stopped the music and made fun of everyone for thinking he was going to invite him here. Desperado’s music then played again and this time he really did appear! He asked Sasaki what was going to be at stake for their match at “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2023”? Neither of them have any championships but the match sponsor will reward the winner with a year’s supply of tequila. That’s good enough for them! On 23rd July Sasaki and Desperado will fight not for championships, not for hair, not for masks and it will not be a No DQ Match. The two of them are just going to enjoy an intense fight against each other.

A big week is coming up for Nick Wayne. His official debut for AEW back in America was announced for next week but first he had to finish off his tour with DDT today. He lost to Yuki Ueno but left a good impression on his opponent. Ueno said in his post-match comments that Wayne’s potential is not his physcial ability but his love for pro wrestling. It’s on the same level as Brookes and Konosuke Takeshita and will take him wherever he wants to go. Wayne said he learned a lot from the wrestlers on this tour professionally, physically and mentally. He thinks being able to learn stuff like that right before his AEW debut will benefit him.

KANON got to celebrate the 4th Anniversary of his debut match by teaming with his mentor TAKA Michinoku. They defeated Tetsuya Endo & Yuya Koroku with KANON submitting Koroku. Endo doesn’t mind the result because he got to hit the Sasuke Special on Michinoku. Apparantely that was all that mattered to him today because he didn’t care it was KANON’s anniversary. Michinoku will be back in DDT on 23rd July to face MAO so he feels like he is currently standing in the eye of a hurricane. He also hopes to be brought back for KANON’s 5th anniversay. KANON suggests maybe then they can fight each other for that occasion.

The boost of momentum Yuki Ishida has gotten against Eruption lately was brushed aside by Hideki Okatani. The Dosukoi Hold Ishida’s been using to be Yukio Sakaguchi & Saki Akai did not work here and instead Okatani pinned him with a Running Elbow Butt. Sakaguchi asked Harimao after the match what is the point of “Dosukoi”? If they care that much about it they can go eat yakitori in Ryogoku and leave the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles to them. This attitude was in contrast to the start of the show when the two teams signed the contract for their title match at “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2023”. During that Eruption said this is their last chance to win the 6-Man Tag Titles because of Akai’s retirement at the end of the year.

Kazuki Hirata would have lost his tag match several times over if it wasn’t for HARASHIMA running in to break the pin every time. Everything Jun Akiyama did to Hirata would have been a one hit kill otherwise. HARASHIMA kept his team in the game and scored the win over Yusuke Okada with the Somato. His performance today got Hirata to ask if HARASHIMA has any weaknesses at all? It’s becoming very difficult for Hirata to think of a stipulation that will give him any chance of beating HARASHIMA when their DDT Extreme Title match takes place on 30th July.

Akito was at ringside for the entrances in the opening match with the intention of ambushing Pheromones. His goal was to eliminate them before they could reach the ring so their match would be cancelled. Toru Owashi & Kazuma Sumi agreed to look the other way and let Akito go ahead with his plan. It didn’t work. Yuki Iino & Danshoku Dieno survived Akito’s ambush and gave him a face full of Iino’s backside in front of the fans. The match went ahead as usual until all of a sudden Yoshitomo Shimohigashi interfered! He knocked out Dieno with a Bowling Uppercut followed by the Kamigoye, allowing Sumi to pin Dieno for the first time. Akito said Shimohigashi and Soma Takao are part of his Pheromones Subjugation Squad and they are going to drive Pheromones out of Sumo Hall!


Ota Ward Title Match Talk, BASARA On The Road Back To Korakuen, Akai’s Rivals Vs Akai’s Classmates

July 4, 2023

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “SUMMER SUN PRINCESS ’23”, 08/07/2023
Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium

1. Juria Nagano Comeback Match: Suzume & Arisu Endo Vs Moka Miyamoto Vs Juria Nagano
2. Mahiro Kiryu, Haruna Neko, HIMAWARI & Shino Suzuki Vs Kaya Toribami, Toga, Haru Kazashiro & Runa Okubo
3. Ryo Mizunami & Nao Kakuta Vs Yuki Kamifuku & Asuka
4. DEFY Women’s Title: Vert Vixen (c) Vs Hikari Noa
5. 3 Way Tag Match: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao Vs Aja Kong & Raku Vs Max The Impaler & Pom Harajuku
6. Nyla Rose Vs Miu Watanabe
7. EVE Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) Vs Sawyer Wreck
8. Sakisama & Mei Saint-Michel Vs Yuki Arai & Wakana Uehara
9. International Princess Title: Rika Tatsumi (c) Vs Yuki Arai
10. Princess Of Princess Title: Mizuki (c) Vs Maki Itoh

Miyu Yamashita was in London this past weekend wrestling in EVE. She successfully defended the EVE Title against “The Unbreakable” Rhio (filling in for Yamashita’s original opponent Emersyn Jayne). After the show Yamashita recorded a video message telling Sawyer Wreck she wants to put the EVE Title on the line for their match at “SUMMER SUN PRINCESS ’23”.

GANBARE☆PRO “WRESTLE SEKIGAHARA II”, 09/07/2023
Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium

1. Munetatsu Nakamura Vs Masahiro Takanashi
2. YuuRI & Tomoka Inaba Vs Takumi Iroha & Mio Momono
3. Riara Vs Sayaka Unagi
4. Yoshiko Hasegawa Vs Miyuki Takase
5. Keisuke Ishii, Shigehiro Irie & Soma Takao Vs Akito, Shota & Shinichiro Tominaga
6. Spirit Of Ganbare World Tag Team Titles Next Challengers Decision Survival 4 Way Tag Match: Ken Ohka & Kuma Arashi Vs Hartley Jackson & HARUKAZE Vs Minoru Fujita & Daiki Shimomura Vs Tsuyoshi Okada & Yuki Kanzaki
7. Special Single Match: Yumehito Imanari Vs El Lindaman
8. Spirit Of Ganbare World Tag Team Titles: Hikaru Sato & Tyson Maeguchi (c) Vs Shuichiro Katsumura & Takuya Wada
9. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Mizuki Watase (c) Vs Isami Kodaka

The contracts for the two championship matches have been signed. Isami Kodaka said he wants to win the Spirit Of Ganbare Title so he can keep wrestling in Ganbare☆Pro. He respects Mizuki Watase for carrying GanPro after Ken Ohka’s position on top faded away. Watase said he can win any battle because of the support from the fans. If this match really is about GanPro Vs BASARA then Watase urges the BASARA fans to hurry up and buy tickets to the show.

Last year at the first “WRESTLE SEKIGAHARA” there was a match between Shuichiro Katsumura and Minoru Suzuki. GanPro interviewed Takuya Wada as part of the promotion for the match and he went along to watch it. One year later and Wada cannot believe he is now wrestling on the show! Tyson Maeguchi is in a similar mindset because he only won his first match at last year’s show and now he is going into this year’s event as a champion. Meanwhile Hikaru Sato is wondering will the actual Spirit Of Ganbare Tag Team Title belts ever arrive? He is fine with carrying around the tournament trophies instead because he cannot imagine what Hentai Punch Drunkers would look like wearing championship belts.

There is history that already exists between Yumehito Imanari and El Lindaman. They both entered the 2020 Tenkaichi Jr. Tournament in ZERO1 and faced each other in a couple of tag matches in the same company a year later. Lindaman also invited Imanari to train with him in 2022 while Imanari was the SOG Champion preparing for the title defence against Shigehiro Irie. The two know each other’s feelings and Imanari knew he was destined to wrestle Imanari in a singles match some day. He does not know if there is anybody in wrestling as sincere as Lindaman so he promises to wrestle at 120% for him. Lindaman said the Imanari Vs Irie match changed his perception of pro wrestling and he’s been trying to rediscover it ever since. He does not know if this match with Imanari will give him the answer he’s looking for but it will bring him one step closer.

BASARA “BASARA 224 ~TAKAGARI 18~”, 17/07/2023
Tokyo Takashimadaira Kumin Center

1. Daiki Shimomura & Minoru Fujita Vs Lil’ Kraken & Leo Isaka
2. Takato Nakano Vs Fuminori Abe
3. FUMA & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi Vs Tsutomu Oosugi & Banana Senga
4. Isami Kodaka Vs Daichi Kazato
5. Takumi Tsukamoto & Yasu Urano Vs Ryota Nakatsu & SAGAT

There is one more BASARA show taking place before they return to Korakuen Hall. A few of the matches here builds up to what’s going to happen later in the month.

DDT “SOYOKAZE PRO WRESTLING”, 17/07/2023
Tokyo Sumida Park Breeze Square

1. X Vs X
2. X Vs X
3. X Vs X

DDT is holding a free outdoor show at the 14th annual Soyokaze Tsunagu Festival. There will be three matches held with Tetsuya Endo, Danshoku Dieno, HARASHIMA, Chris Brookes and Shinichiro Kawamatsu as the wrestlers advertised so far.

GANBARE☆PRO “MACHIDA KANSAI PRO WRESTLING FESTIVAL”, 22/07/2023
Tokyo Machida GION Stadium

1. Shuichiro Katsumura Vs Munetatsu Nakamura
2. Cherry & Riara Vs HARUKAZE & Yoshiko Hasegawa
3. Ken Ohka, Seiya Morohashi & HIROYA Vs Keisuke Ishii, Shota & Shinichiro Tominaga

GanPro gets to continue CyberFight’s relationship with FC Machida Zelvia. A wrestling ring will be set up outside the stadium on the day of Zelvia’s home game against JEF United Chiba. Matches will be held for free in front of spectators going to see the football match.

BASARA “BASARA 225 ~SENGUNBANBA~”, 23/07/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. FUMA & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi Vs Lil’ Kraken & Akira Jo
2. 3 Way Match: Daichi Kazato Vs Gouma Ryu Vs Yasu Urano
3. IRON FIST Tag Team Titles Next Challengers 3 Way Match: Ryuichi Sekine & Ryota Nakatsu Vs Fuminori Abe & Takuya Nomura Vs Tsutomu Oosugi & Banana Senga
4. Isami Kodaka Vs SHO
5. IRON FIST Tag Team Titles Unification Match: Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino (c) Vs Daiki Shimomura & Minoru Fujita (i/c)
6. Union MAX Title & CCW Canadian Heavyweight Title: Takumi Tsukamoto (M/c) Vs SAGAT (C/c)

Ryuichi Sekine accepted Ryota Nakatsu’s request to team up again. What sounded like a one time idea may end up lasting longer though because they are entering a No. 1 Contenders match for the IRON FIST Tag Team Titles. They have to take on two former champion teams Astronauts and Speed Of Sounds at the same time.

I haven’t paid attention to what Akira Jo has been doing since his days in DNA. That was seven years ago? Time sure does fly by.

DDT “SAKI AKAI 10TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR IN KORAKUEN!!”, 13/08/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Saki Akai Debut 10th Anniversary Match Vol. 2 ~ Special 6-Woman Tag Match: Saki Akai, Maya Yukihi & Asuka Vs Takumi Iroha, Rina Yamashita & X

There are several big matches planned for Saki Akai to celebrate her 10 years in wrestling. This one in August has Akai teaming with two of her most recent important opponents Maya Yukihi and Asuka. She spent 2022 in rivalries with both women in DDT. The other team consists of Takumi Iroha and Rina Yamashita along with a third partner yet to be revealed. Iroha and Yamashita’s connection to Akai is they all debuted in the same year. That might provide a clue as to who the third wrestler is going to be.

DDT “OSAKA BAYS BLUES SPECIAL 2023”, 20/08/2023
Osaka Edion Arena #2

1. Current Blast Death Match: Atsushi Onita Vs X

Last week Yukio Sakaguchi challenged Atsushi Onita to give him a shot at the All Asia Tag Team Titles. Onita would only agree if it took place in the exploding death match being planned for Osaka on 20th August. Makes sense because the other champion Yoshitatsu is advertised for the show. However the next day everyone found out that Onita broke his wrist during the Hardcore Tag Match after taking a kick from Sakaguchi. He is about to get surgery for the injury and intends not to miss next month’s Osaka show.

Shigehiro Irie, Kotaro Suzuki and Tsutenkakuka will also be on the show.


DDT “DRAMATIC DREAMS! VOL. 10 ~I WILL NOT SPARE YOUR LIFE OR YOUR REPUTATION~” Results

July 2, 2023

DDT “DRAMATIC DREAMS! VOL. 10 ~I WILL NOT SPARE YOUR LIFE OR YOUR REPUTATION~”, 02/07/2023
Osaka Komikyo Higashinari Civic Center
438 Fans – Super No Vacancy

1. Dosukoi Thank You Vs DDT’s Most Green Boy Combo: Yusuke Okada & Yuki Ishida defeated Kazuma Sumi & Ilusion when Ishida pinned Ilusion with the Flame Palm (9:30).
2. Pheromones Vs ROMANCE DAWN Vs Yoga Sumo ~Between Compliance And The Taste Of Pheromones~: Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno defeated Soma Takao & Shota and Toru Owashi & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi when Iino submitted Hiroshi after the Sexy Peeler (9:28).
3. Diabolical DAMNATION T.A Vs Men With A Thousand Skills: Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul defeated Tsubasa & Makoto Oishi when Sasaki submitted Oishi with the Crossface Lock (8:47).
4. “Did You Hear That? I Heard That Guy’s A Prick” Special Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo & Kuishinbo Kamen defeated Kikutaro & Antonio Honda when Endo pinned Honda with the Burning Star Press (14:11).
5. Special 6-Man Tag Match – Japan-US Young Wrestling Summit!: Nick Wayne, Kohei Kinoshita & Yuya Koroku defeated MAO, Toy Kojima & Yuni when Wayne pinned Kojima with the Wayne’s World (12:25).
6. Special Tag Match – One Hundred Tales Of Osaka ~Saki Akai, Her Biggest Crisis Before Retirement~: Yukio Sakaguchi & Saki Akai defeated Kazuki Hirata & No Name when Sakaguchi pinned Hirata with the PK (10:10).
7. Magnitude Kishiwada 30th Anniversary Match ~You Guys Will Know When You See It~: Dick Togo, Magnitude Kishiwada & Black Buffalo defeated Shigehiro Irie, Yuto Kikuchi & Takeshi Masada when Kishiwada pinned Masada with the Last Ride (14:58).
8. Right Before Ryogoku! Road To KOKUGIKAN Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yuji Hino, Jun Akiyama & Hideki Okatani defeated HARASHIMA, Kazusada Higuchi & Akito when Hino submitted Akito with the King Kong Sleeper (14:02).
9. Special Single Match – WR ~Wrestling & Respect~: Yuki Ueno defeated HUB with the WR (27:55).

The annual Yukinori Matsui produced show in Osaka was this year headlined with a match between Yuki Ueno and HUB. It is a matchup Matsui put together because one year ago Ueno asked HUB to do the match on this show. HUB spent the bout targeting Ueno’s leg and also used the WR, his original version of the finishing move. He tried to finish his opponent off with the Avalanche Viper Strike but Ueno gave him a Frankensteiner to the canvas instead and used his own WR to win the match.

Afterwards HUB took off his mask in the ring but kept his face covered using a shirt. He said today’s match was the best in his 24 year career. He heard Ueno keeps talking about Konosuke Takeshita. That reminded HUB of the time he fought Takeshita as Zero back in 2016 and how he gave the Zero mask to Takeshita as a gift. Today he is giving Ueno an even better gift, the HUB mask he just took off! If Ueno wants to carry DDT on his back then HUB wants him to stand tall. Ueno said HUB is the wrestler he admires most. He may never become as cool as him but Ueno will make it his goal to be just as good looking!

The show also held the 30th Anniversary match for Magnitude Kishiwada. The special occasion saw the masked wrestler team up with Dick Togo & Black Buffalo to beat Shigehiro Irie, Yuto Kikuchi & Takeshi Masada. After pinning Masada with the Last Ride, Kishiwada declared that his career is only at the halfway point! After all there is no such thing as an actual pro wrestling retirement. Kishiwada’s going to wrestle for the rest of his life if he gets his way. The next thing he wants to do is fight Irie in a singles match.

You never see the wrestlers in Eruption get intimidated by anybody but that was before they had to fight No Name. The horror wrestler was such a scary presence that Eruption and even No Name’s partner Kazuki Hirata all tried to hide away from her. Their fear was warranted when after the match No Name trapped Saki Akai in a strangling submission and choked her unconscious. Yukio Sakaguchi ran away carrying Akai in his arms while No Name decided to chase Hirata around the venue.

After Match #4 Kikutaro told the audience that Matsui lost his wallet a few days ago. The wallet was found and returned to him but it was missing 50,000 yen. Kikutaro proposed the formation of Matsui AID to collect donations from the audience.

Yasu Urano was unable to wrestle on the show due to illness. Shota took his place in Match #2 which meant teaming with Soma Takao as ROMANCE DAWN again.

At the end of the show Matsui said he wants to hold the event again next October. This one is going to be more important than usual because he will be celebrating his 30th Anniversary in wrestling!


DDT “DDT YOKOHAMA UNLIMITED SPECIAL” Results

July 1, 2023

DDT “DDT YOKOHAMA UNLIMITED SPECIAL”, 01/07/2023
Yokohama Radiant Hall
219 Fans – Super No Vacancy

1. Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul defeated Yusuke Okada & Kazuma Sumi when Sasaki pinned Sumi with the Diving Elbow Drop (7:37).
2. Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari defeated Akito, MAO & Antonio Honda when Iino pinned Akito after the Fight Ippatsu Spear (10:07).
3. Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida defeated Saki Akai & Yuya Koroku when Ishida pinned Akai with the Dosukoi Hold (9:36).
4. BURNING Vs DISASTER BOX!: Tetsuya Endo & Jun Akiyama defeated Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata when Akiyama pinned Hirata with the Jumping Knee Butt (0:06).
4a. Rematch: Tetsuya Endo & Jun Akiyama defeated Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata when Endo pinned Hirata with a Cradle (8:46).
5. Special Hardcore Tag Match: Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani defeated Atsushi Onita & Toy Kojima when Sakaguchi pinned Kojima with the God’s Right Knee with the Chair (12:02).
6. Special Tag Match: Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi defeated HARASHIMA & Soma Takao when Hino pinned Takao with the Fuckin’ BOMB (14:16).
7. International Special Tag Match: Nick Wayne & Takeshi Masada defeated Yuki Ueno & Yuni when Wayne pinned Yuni with the Wayne’s World (15:55).

Nick Wayne has touched down in DDT and was given the spotlight in the main event along with other young wrestlers in the company. The average age in today’s main event was 20 years old (Yuki Ueno is 27, Yuni is 15, Wayne is 17 and Takeshi Masada is 21). Wayne beat Yuni with his version of the Springboard Cutter called the Wayne’s World. He now hopes to do the same to Ueno in their singles match next week.

Chris Brookes approached the ring after Match #6 to have a stare down with Yuji Hino. Nothing physical took place because according to Hino a tall, handsome amateur like Brookes is not even worth throwing a Chop at. He previously called the tag match on 7th July Brookes’ retirement match but today he joked it is going to be more like Brookes’ professional debut. Hino’s behaviour has reached the point where Makoto Oishi can’t tell if he is praising Brookes or trying to humiliate him.

A Hardcore Tag Match pitting Eruption against Atsushi Onita & Toy Kojima brought a more firey side out of Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani. Onita was thrown into a barbed wire board in the corner and Okatani attacked Kojima with chairs. Onita blinded fought back giving Sakaguchi the Poison Mist followed by a Piledriver through a table. Sakaguchi recovered and used a chair assisted God’s Right Knee to pin Kojima for the three count.

After the match Onita asked Sanshiro Takagi if Jun Akiyama will answer his challenge for an exploding death match at Ota Ward Gymnasium on 9th September. Takagi told him he never got a response from Akiyama. Sakaguchi then told Onita that the All Asia Tag Team Title belt once belonged to his father Seiji Sakaguchi. He can’t continue letting Onita carry it around. Onita agreed to give Sakaguchi a title shot as long as it is in an exploding death match! Takagi endorsed the idea and is now trying to get permission to do the title match in Osaka on 20th August.

Becoming a champion has not changed Kazuki Hirata one bit. He was immediately pinned by Akiyama in his tag match and also dropped the fall to Tetsuya Endo in an immediate rematch. Hirata is trying to convince himself he is in perfect condition because how else would you suffer a perfect defeat like that?

The Dosukoi Hold used by Yuki Ishida has claimed another Eruption victim. This time Saki Akai was pinned with the move. Ishida thinks the hold is now creating the Dosukoi Movement, granting Harimao enough momentum for their upcoming KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles defence against Eruption to make them unstoppable.

Akito placed a bounty on each member of Pheromones for today’s match. Beating Yuki Iino is worth 100,000 yen, beating Yumehito Imanari is worth 50,000 yen and beating Danshoku Dieno is worth 10,000 yen. The reward motiviated MAO at first but he was quickly driven to ignore fighting Dieno because he literally wasn’t worth it. Pheromones took advantage by trying to brainwash MAO to join their side but Akito snapped him out of it by shouting “Money!” at him over and over. His plan ended up failing anyway because Pheromones picked up the win over him.


Damn Injury Bug, SHO Coming To BASARA, Miyu And Shoko 10th Anniversary

June 28, 2023

DDT “DDT YOKOHAMA UNLIMITED SPECIAL”, 01/07/2023
Yokohama Radiant Hall

1. Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul Vs Yusuke Okada & Kazuma Sumi
2. Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari Vs Akito, MAO & Antonio Honda
3. Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida Vs Saki Akai & Yuya Koroku
4. BURNING Vs DISASTER BOX!: Tetsuya Endo & Jun Akiyama Vs Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata
5. Special Tag Match: Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi Vs HARASHIMA & Soma Takao
6. Special Hardcore Tag Match: Atsushi Onita & Toy Kojima Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani
7. International Special Tag Match: Yuki Ueno & Yuni Vs Nick Wayne & Takeshi Masada

Two injuries are forcing changes to a few DDT cards in July. Sanshiro Takagi tore his left calf and will be out of action until “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2023” on 23rd July. Rukiya suffered a cracked sternum over the weekend and has no expected date to return yet.

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

1. Dosukoi Thank You Vs DDT’s Most Green Boy Combo: Yusuke Okada & Yuki Ishida Vs Kazuma Sumi & Ilusion
2. Pheromones Vs Former Smile Squash Vs Yoga Sumo ~Between Compliance And The Taste Of Pheromones~: Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Yasu Urano & Soma Takao Vs Toru Owashi & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi
3. Diabolical DAMNATION T.A Vs Men With A Thousand Skills: Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul Vs Tsubasa & Makoto Oishi
4. “Did You Hear That? I Heard That Guy’s A Prick” Special Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo & Kuishinbo Kamen Vs Kikutaro & Antonio Honda
5. Special 6-Man Tag Match – Japan-US Young Wrestling Summit!: MAO, Toy Kojima & Yuni Vs Nick Wayne, Kohei Kinoshita & Yuya Koroku
6. Special Tag Match – One Hundred Tales Of Osaka ~Saki Akai, Her Biggest Crisis Before Retirement~: Yukio Sakaguchi & Saki Akai Vs Kazuki Hirata & No Name
7. Right Before Ryogoku! Road To KOKUGIKAN Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yuji Hino, Jun Akiyama & Hideki Okatani Vs HARASHIMA, Kazusada Higuchi & Akito
8. Magnitude Kishiwada 30th Anniversary Match ~You Guys Will Know When You See It~: Dick Togo, Magnitude Kishiwada & Black Buffalo Vs Shigehiro Irie, Yuto Kikuchi & Takeshi Masada
9. Special Single Match – WR ~Wrestling & Respect~: Yuki Ueno Vs HUB

Takagi’s injury means he has to pull out of Yukinori Matsui’s big show this weekend. Yuto Kikuchi from Dotonbori Pro is coming in as a last minute replacement for him.

Ilusion replaces Rukiya in the opening match.

DDT “DDT TANABATA SPECIAL 2023 IN SHINJUKU”, 07/07/2023
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Toru Owashi & Kazuma Sumi
2. Kazusada Higuchi, Yuki Ishida & Ilusion Vs Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani
3. DISASTER BOX Vs BURNING!: HARASHIMA & Kazuki Hirata Vs Jun Akiyama & Yusuke Okada
4. Special Single Match: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Toy Kojima
5. KANON Debut 4th Anniversary Match ~ Special Tag Match: TAKA Michinoku & KANON Vs Tetsuya Endo & Yuya Koroku
6. International Special Single Match: Yuki Ueno Vs Nick Wayne
7. Road To PETER PAN 2023! Special Tag Match: Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi Vs Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi

The aftermath of the KO-D Tag Team Titles match over the weekend sees Toy Kojima looking for revenge against DAMNATION T.A. He is aiming right for the leader by challenging Daisuke Sasaki to a singles match! Does he have something in store because charging straight towards Sasaki and his gang hasn’t worked out for him much lately. There’s only so many chairshots his body can take.

GANBARE☆PRO “WRESTLE SEKIGAHARA II”, 09/07/2023
Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium

1. Munetatsu Nakamura Vs Masahiro Takanashi
2. YuuRI & Tomoka Inaba Vs Takumi Iroha & Mio Momono
3. Riara Vs Sayaka Unagi
4. Yoshiko Hasegawa Vs Miyuki Takase
5. Keisuke Ishii, Shigehiro Irie & Soma Takao Vs Akito, Shota & Shinichiro Tominaga
6. Spirit Of Ganbare World Tag Team Titles Next Challengers Decision Survival 4 Way Tag Match: Ken Ohka & Kuma Arashi Vs Hartley Jackson & HARUKAZE Vs Minoru Fujita & Daiki Shimomura Vs Tsuyoshi Okada & Yuki Kanzaki
7. Special Single Match: Yumehito Imanari Vs El Lindaman
8. Spirit Of Ganbare World Tag Team Titles: Hikaru Sato & Tyson Maeguchi (c) Vs Shuichiro Katsumura & Takuya Wada
9. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Mizuki Watase (c) Vs Isami Kodaka

The announced match order for “WRESTLE SEKIGAHARA II”.

English commentary for the show on Wrestle Universe will be provided by Chris Brookes and Mr. HAKU.

DDT “ROAD TO PETER PAN 2023 IN AOMORI”, 15/07/2023
Aomori Hamanasu Hall

1. Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Yusuke Okada & Yuni
2. 3 Way Match: Yuki “Sexy” Iino Vs Akito Vs Antonio Honda
3. Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON Vs Yuki Ueno, Toy Kojima & Takeshi Masada
4. Special Single Match: Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Yuki Ishida
5. Falls Count Anywhere Special 6-Man Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yuya Koroku Vs HARASHIMA, Hideki Okatani & Kazuma Sumi
6. Special Tag Match: Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi Vs Chris Brookes & Kazusada Higuchi

Hideki Okatani has gradually been finding his footing in hardcore matches so he is a suitable replacement for Takagi in the Falls Count Anywhere match.

An upset that saw Yuki Ishida pin Yukio Sakaguchi results in a singles match between the two getting booked. Ishida used his new Dokusoi Hold to score a three count on the veteran. Is Sakaguchi going to be prepared for it the next time?

DDT “60TH BIRTHDAY & 20TH ANNIVERSARY ALL TOGETHER! ~ GORGEOUS NIGHT”, 16/07/2023
Fukushima Toyota Crown Arena Sub Arena

1. Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON Vs Yusuke Okada, Toy Kojima & Yuya Koroku
2. 3 Way Match: Yuki “Sexy” Iino Vs Akito Vs Kazuma Sumi
3. Kazuki Hirata & Yuni Vs Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani
4. BURNING Vs Harimao!: Tetsuya Endo & Jun Akiyama Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida
5. Special Tag Match: Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi Vs Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada
6. Fukushima Specialty Special 6-Man Tag Match: Gorgeous Matsuno, HARASHIMA & Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Toru Owashi, Danshoku Dieno & Antonio Honda

This is unexpected. Takagi’s replacement in the Fukushima main event is Danshoku Dieno! Since it is an important match for Gorgeous Matsuno, Dieno is not going to be “Dandy” on the day. Granted there’s not much difference between regular Dieno and Pheromones Dieno but it’s still a nice gesture from the guy.

BASARA “BASARA 225 ~SENGUNBANBA~”, 23/07/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Isami Kodaka Vs SHO
2. IRON FIST Tag Team Titles Unification Match: Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino (c) Vs Daiki Shimomura & Minoru Fujita (i/c)
3. Union MAX Title & CCW Canadian Heavyweight Title: Takumi Tsukamoto (M/c) Vs SAGAT (C/c)

A double championship match headlines BASARA’s return to Korakuen Hall next month. SAGAT won the Chouten ~Itadaki~ and challenged Takumi Tsukamoto for the Union MAX Title afterwards. That’s not all because SAGAT also offered to defend the CCW Canadian Heavyweight Title he won from Tsukamoto back in March.

Masato Kamino is fit for return from his knee injury so he & Takato Nakano can go reclaim the IRON FIST Tag Team Titles. They are still technically the champions but Kamino’s injury caused an interim title to be created in his absence. Daiki Shimomura & Minoru Fujita from Sento Minzoku won that prize but would prefer to be acknowledged as the actual champions. That all leads to the unification match happening at Korakuen.

BASARA takes on New Japan when Isami Kodaka faces SHO! Interactions between the two at “ALL STAR JR FESTIVAL 2023” earlier this year weren’t forgotten by either wrestler so the challenge was thrown out for a singles match. Kodaka even told SHO he would be happy to fight under normal rules instead of Hardcore or a death match. His reason for that decision is to prove he does not need to use weapons to beat SHO. Can SHO truthfully say the same given his reputation as a House Of Torture member? A lot of pride is on the line because Kodaka sees himself as a big figure on the independent scene facing the challenge of New Japan head on.

Nothing has been decided on this yet but Ryota Nakatsu said he wants to team with Ryuichi Sekine again on the show. They used to be together in BASARA as Cavalry. However Nakatsu just wants this to be a one time reunion. He is still a member of Sparky, although that unit is about to begin winding down. Nakatsu eventually wants all four members of Sparky to get together again so they can send it off and go their seperate ways. That won’t be happening anytime soon because of Naoki Tanizaki and Akiyori Takizawa’s schedules so that gives Nakatsu the chance to reunite with Sekine in the meantime.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW INSPIRATION”, 17/08/2023
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Pom Harajuku Vs Mahiro Kiryu
2. Saki Akai, Haru Kazashiro & Runa Okubo Vs HIMAWARI, Toga & Shino Suzuki
3. Mizuki Vs Aiger
4. Debut 10th Anniversary Memorial Match: Miyu Yamashita Vs Shoko Nakajima

17th August, 2013 was the date when Miyu Yamashita and Shoko Nakajima had their professional debut match on the pre-show of a DDT Sumo Hall show. They teamed together in a losing effort against the two other first generation TJPW wrestlers Chikage Kiba & KANNA. It’s perfect timing that the next “TJPW INSPIRATION” show is booked on the 10 year anniversary of that match. The main event will be Yamashita against Nakajima one on one for the first time since “GRAND PRINCESS ’22”.

Saki Akai will also be on the show because the 10th anniversary of her own debut pro wrestling match is one day off. Her first DDT bout happened the next day. Now there’s a bit of trivia that will catch people off guard. Miyu Yamashita, Shoko Nakajima and Saki Akai all debuted on the same weekend. And Akai debuted AFTER the other two.