DDT “ULTIMATE PARTY 2024”, 28/12/2024 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
1. Demus & Ilusion Vs Yuni & Kazuma Sumi
2. Shuji Ishikawa, Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Shinichiro Kawamatsu Vs Masahiro Takanashi, Daichi Sato & Yuki Ishida
3. Special Tag Match ~ O-MENZ Kumadori Debut Match: Kazuki Hirata & Kumadori Vs Makoto Oishi & Akito
4. TJPW Vs DDT Full-Scale 6-Man Tag Match: Rika Tatsumi, Hyper Misao & Pom Harajuku Vs Toru Owashi, Super Sasadango Machine & Antonio Honda
5. Special 6-Man Tag Match ~ Haruto Sakuraba Debut Match: KANON, MJ Paul & Haruto Sakuraba Vs HARASHIMA, Yuki Iino & Soma Takao
6. Special Single Match: Jun Akiyama Vs Yukio Naya
7. Special Tag Match: Shinya Aoki & Keigo Nakamura Vs Kenoh & Yu Owada
8. “Unofficial” DDT Extreme Title ~ A Dramatic Fight Where People Fight With Their Hearts: Danshoku Dieno (c) (w/ Tetsu Inada) Vs Great-O-Khan (w/ Kentaro Kumagai) *No title change or successful defence will be recognized.
9. Special Single Match: Yuki Ueno Vs Takeshi Masada
10. KO-D Tag Team Titles: MAO & To-y Vs Tetsuya Endo & Yuya Koroku
11. KO-D Openweight Title: Chris Brookes (c) Vs Daisuke Sasaki
Expect a preview for the show to be posted tomorrow. Maybe Friday at the latest.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW YEAR-END PARTY 2024”, 29/12/2024 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. Ivy Steele Vs Chika Nanase
2. Dot Money Presents TJPW RUSH! Year End Special Red And White Team 5 Vs 5 Knockout Match: Shoko Nakajima, Arisu Endo, Moka Miyamoto, Haru Kazashiro & Toga Vs Mizuki, Suzume, Yoshiko Hasegawa, Shino Suzuki & Uta Takami
3. SETUP All Asia Women’s Title: Pom Harajuku (c) Vs Matcha
4. Queen Of Asia Title & VPW Women’s Title: Yuki Kamifuku (c/c) Vs Lei Ying Lee
5. WINTICKET Presents I Hope There Will Be Lots Of Fun And Exciting Things Next Year! New Year’s Japanese Pro Wrestling! 20 Wrestler PRINCESS RUMBLE 2024: Miu Watanabe Vs Miyu Yamashita Vs Maki Itoh Vs Yuki Arai Vs Rika Tatsumi Vs Hyper Misao Vs Yuki Aino Vs Raku Vs Mahiro Kiryu Vs Haruna Neko Vs Kaya Toribami Vs Wakana Uehara Vs HIMAWARI Vs Kira Summer Vs Yuna Manase Vs Antonio Honda Vs Pokotan Vs Poison Sawada JULIE X Vs XX
One more name to add to the Princess Rumble. Poison Sawada JULIE returns to Tokyo Joshi Pro! Remember back in 2016 when he brainwashed a couple of the girls into becoming his soldiers and tried to take over the company? Well bygones will be bygones and it is Christmas after all so TJPW is letting him back in as long as he behaves.
“SANSHIRO TAKAGI 30TH ANNIVERSARY COMMEMERATION EVENT ~ NEVER SAY NEVER”, 03/02/2025 Shinjuku FACE
1. Special Tag Match: Dump Matsumoto & Toru Owashi Vs Brahman Shu & Brahman Kei
2. Special Single Match: Yuji Nagata Vs Kuroshio TOKYO Japan
If Yuji Nagata Vs Kuroshio TOKYO Japan is Sanshiro Takagi’s Christmas present for his fans I hope he kept the receipt.
DDT “ULTIMATE PARTY 2024”, 28/12/2024 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
1. Demus & Ilusion Vs Yuni & Kazuma Sumi
2. Shuji Ishikawa, Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Shinichiro Kawamatsu Vs Masahiro Takanashi, Daichi Sato & Yuki Ishida
3. DDT Vs TJPW Full-Scale 6-Man Tag Match: Toru Owashi, Super Sasadango Machine & Antonio Honda Vs Rika Tatsumi, Hyper Misao & Pom Harajuku
4. Special Tag Match ~ O-MENZ Kumadori Debut Match: Kazuki Hirata & Kumadori Vs Makoto Oishi & Akito
5. Special 6-Man Tag Match ~ Haruto Sakuraba Debut Match: KANON, MJ Paul & Haruto Sakuraba Vs HARASHIMA, Yuki Iino & Soma Takao.
6. Special Tag Match: Shinya Aoki & Keigo Nakamura Vs Kenoh & Yu Owada
7. Special Single Match: Yuki Ueno Vs Takeshi Masada
8. Special Single Match: Jun Akiyama Vs Yukio Naya
9. Special Single Match: Great-O-Khan Vs Danshoku Dieno
10. KO-D Tag Team Titles: MAO & To-y Vs Tetsuya Endo & Yuya Koroku
11. KO-D Openweight Title: Chris Brookes Vs Daisuke Sasaki
The rest of O-MENZ will be joining Kumadori for a special dance performance as part of his ring entrance.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW YEAR-END PARTY 2024”, 29/12/2024 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. Ivy Steele Vs Chika Nanase
2. Dot Money Presents TJPW RUSH! Year End Special Red And White Team 5 Vs 5 Knockout Match: Shoko Nakajima, Arisu Endo, Moka Miyamoto, Haru Kazashiro & Toga Vs Mizuki, Suzume, Yoshiko Hasegawa, Shino Suzuki & Uta Takami
3. SETUP All Asia Women’s Title: Pom Harajuku (c) Vs Matcha
4. Queen Of Asia Title & VPW Women’s Title: Yuki Kamifuku (c/c) Vs Lei Ying Lee
5. WINTICKET Presents I Hope There Will Be Lots Of Fun And Exciting Things Next Year! New Year’s Japanese Pro Wrestling! 20 Wrestler PRINCESS RUMBLE 2024: Miu Watanabe Vs Miyu Yamashita Vs Maki Itoh Vs Yuki Arai Vs Rika Tatsumi Vs Hyper Misao Vs Yuki Aino Vs Raku Vs Mahiro Kiryu Vs Haruna Neko Vs Kaya Toribami Vs Wakana Uehara Vs HIMAWARI Vs Kira Summer Vs Yuna Manase Vs Antonio Honda Vs X Vs XX Vs XXX Vs XXXX
The Red and White teams have been decided for the TJPW RUSH match. Now it is up to the captains Shoko Nakajima and Mizuki to come up with their team orders based on how Kendo handles team competitions. From start to end the positions are Senpo, Jiho, Chuken, Fukusho and Taisho. Since this is a Gauntlet match there is a chance that it can end with some wrestlers on the winning team not even getting to take part. If that happens then the wrestlers who did not get to enter will be added into the Princess Rumble. Tokyo Joshi Pro wants to ensure that everybody booked on the show will get to wrestle on it.
Antonio Honda is the latest unexpected entry into the Princess Rumble. There are four spots remaining but they may be kept open for whoever gets potentially left out of the TJPW RUSH match. You never know if the match ends up with only one wrestler going on a clean sweep leaving the other four on the team waiting on the sidelines for nothing.
DDT “NEW YEAR☆DRAMATIC PARADE 2025 ~ANSWERS WILL BE REVEALED ONE YEAR LATER~”, 03/01/2025 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. BZW Tag Team Titles: MAO & Yoshihiko (c) Vs Kazuki Hirata & Antonio Honda
2. Special Tag Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA & Jun Akiyama Vs Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya
3. KO-D Openweight Title Next Challenger 4 Way Match: Danshoku Dieno Vs Shuji Ishikawa Vs HARASHIMA Vs KANON
A few days ago I mentioned Shuji Ishikawa’s appearance here could be a hint towards big things on the horizon for the Evolution Joshi group that he helps manages with Suwama. Yesterday it was announced that the group will soon become a fully fledged pro wrestling company called Pro Wrestling Evolution. They will mainly focus on their home grown roster of joshi wrestlers but Ishikawa and Suwama will also be providing men’s matches on their shows. Could Ishikawa be on a path to win the KO-D Openweight Title to bring some prestige into his new venture? He did that before with Union Pro so history might get a chance to repeat itself.
Last month in France MAO & Yoshihiko turned Banger Zone Wrestling upside down by winning the BZW Tag Team Titles. They don’t have a return date set in stone yet so for the time being they are going to defend the titles at DDT shows in Japan. Kazuki Hirata & Antonio Honda are joining forces to be their first challengers.
“SANSHIRO TAKAGI 30TH ANNIVERSARY COMMEMERATION EVENT ~ NEVER SAY NEVER”, 03/02/2025 Shinjuku FACE
1. Special Tag Match: Dump Matsumoto & Toru Owashi Vs Brahman Shu & Brahman Kei
The next guest appearing at Sanshiro Takagi’s anniversary show is Fumihito Kihara. He was originally a ring announcer for All Japan goin back to the 1980s and ended up becoming a pro wrestler himself decades later. He wrestled in Ganbare☆Pro several times during the promotion’s early years. Here he will be pulling double duty because Takagi is booking him both as a wrestler and as the ring announcer!
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “AEX32 SANTIAGO 2025”, 09/02/2025 Estación Mapocho Cultural Center, Santiago, Chile
1. Moka Miyamoto Vs Pandora
2. Aja Kong Vs Roma
3. Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh Vs Zatara & Sara Phoenix
Three matches have been announced for TJPW’s convention show in Chile for AEX Santiago. They are sending over Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh, Moka Miyamoto and also Aja Kong as a bonus. Their opponents are all local luchadoras from the Chile wrestling scene. Zatara & Sara Phoenix are familiar with each other both as opponents and teammates. Roma has been in wrestling for just as long as those two. Pandora is the same age as Miyamoto and has a similar level of experience as her so on paper they should be on an equal footing.
DDT “GET ALIVE 2024”, 23/11/2024 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 984 Fans – No Vacancy
1. Demus & Ilusion defeated Munetatsu Nakamura & Kazuma Sumi when Demus pinned Sumi with La Valagueza (5:50).
2. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Kazuki Hirata 37th Birthday Special 1 Vs 6 Handicap No DQ Match: Toru Owashi, Antonio Honda, Soma Takao, Diego, Yuki Ishida & Yoshihiko defeated Kazuki Hirata (c) when Yoshihiko pinned Hirata with the Reincarnation (7:41). *Yoshihiko becomes the 1,700th champion.
3. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Shinya Aoki & Keigo Nakamura defeated HARASHIMA, Yukio Naya & Tomomitsu Matsunaga when Aoki pinned Matsunaga with the Full Nelson Hold (8:14).
-. Emergency Match: Shinya Aoki defeated Yu Owada with the Full Nelson Hold (0:11).
4. Akito 15th Anniversary Debut Special Single Match: Isami Kodaka defeated Akito with a Cradle (9:12).
5. The 37KAMIINA Vs BURNING!: Yuki Ueno, MAO & To-y defeated Tetsuya Endo, Yuki Iino & Yuya Koroku when To-y pinned Koroku with the Kojima Impact (11:50).
6. DDT Extreme Title – You’re Still A Cinderella As You Climb The Ladder To Adulthood Rules: Danshoku Dieno (c) defeated Yuni with the Cinderella Sleeper (9:18). *V1 for Danshoku Dieno.
7. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul (c) defeated Chris Brookes, Masahiro Takanashi & Takeshi Masada when Sasaki submitted Takanashi with the Crossover Face Lock (13:57). *V4 for DAMNATION T.A.
With Sumo Hall coming up at the end of the year, Chris Brookes and Daisuke Sasaki have a long war ahead of them that’s bringing in almost everybody with attachment to either SCHADENFREUDE International or DAMNATION T.A. Today’s battle was over the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles and quickly turned into a brawl around ringside. Sasaki and Brookes attacked each other with chairs while MJ Paul fell victim to a balcony length rubber band attack. KANON bested Takeshi Masada in their face off and left the match to the two unit leaders. Brookes had Sasaki beaten with the Praying Mantis Bomb but the pin was interrupted by DAMNATION T.A pulling the ref out of the ring. Ilusion then interfered but Munetatsu Nakamura came after him to even the odds. More chaos broke out with Demus and Antonio Honda getting in on the action. When things finally calmed down, DAMNATION T.A isolated Masahiro Takanashi and picked him apart. Sasaki countered the Takatonic with the Implant and then he gave Brookes a Low Blow. Sasaki & KANON then did the Freedom Call to Takanashi and he was then choked out by Sasaki’s Crossover Face Lock to give the champions the win.
After the match Sasaki told Brookes he and SCHADENFREUDE are nothing special. Love, romance and dreams are powerless before Sasaki! He only works for championships and the KO-D Openweight Title will definitely be his. Sasaki will be the last man standing in Sumo Hall on 28th December. He then said backstage there is a reason why he hasn’t challenged for the KO-D Title in four years but he won’t reveal it today. Instead he wants everyone to know he will be the one to bring the KO-D Title to Las Vegas next April. Brookes said there are plenty more matches to come in the next month and he will defend the title at Sumo Hall.
The DDT Extreme Title was on the line in a “Forbidden Battle” between Danshoku Dieno and Yuni. For five minutes of the match Yuni benefitted from “Cinderella Time” that meant Dieno would be immediately disqualified if he used any of his lewd moveset against him. However once that time ran out, the ban was lifted and the match would continue with no DQs whatsoever. Yuni wanted to win quickly so he went for high risk moves from the get-go while Dieno kept stopping himself from using his typical attacks. Time ran out though and Dieno instantly took over the match. Yuni eventually fought fire with fire by giving Dieno the Lip Lock and then hit two Moonsaults followed by the Fireball Splash. Dieno was still in the match so Yuni went for a Phoenix Splash. Dieno rolled out of the way, applied the Lip Lock, did the Danshoku Driver and then used a Triangle Choke to win.
Yuni refused to shake Dieno’s hand after the match. Backstage Dieno called him a rival and warned him not to get tripped up by everyone who just treats him as a high school student. That’s not just in pro wrestling but in life too. Yuni is only going to get stronger from here so Dieno doesn’t want to see him get spoiled and pampered just because he is in high school. Yuni understands that and appreciates that Dieno treated him like a pro wrestler. He thinks today was a rite of passage for him on the way to winning the Extreme Title and also the KO-D Title while he is still in high school. Next up for Dieno is an unexpected opponent for 28th December. It was announced after the show he will face Great-O-Khan at Sumo Hall!
Thanks to Shunma Katsumata’s ACL injury the KO-D Tag Team Titles were vacated earlier this week and today’s title match was cancelled. The replacement match was still The 37KAMIINA Vs BURNING but as a 6-Man Tag Match instead. Yuya Koroku was frustrated to have his title shot taken away from him so he wanted to make an example out of To-y. That ended up being a mistake. Thanks to some teamwork from Yuki Ueno & MAO, To-y ended up pinning Koroku with the Kojima Impact! Koroku couldn’t believe it but still said after the match he will not give up on chasing after the KO-D Tag Titles. To-y said he has just as many frustrations as Koroku because he was fighting for Katsumata when he really wants to win the KO-D Tag Title himself. The two argued about having a rematch until Hisaya Imabayashi came up with an idea. Tetsuya Endo & Koroku will face MAO & To-y at Sumo Hall with the vacant KO-D Tag Titles on the line! Endo talked down to Koroku backstage because he thought every point To-y made was right and he outperformed Koroku on the microphone. Of course wrestlers perform for the fans but they still need to have an ego because a pro wrestler in an embodiment of their ego. Meanwhile Yuki Iino talked about his upcoming match with Tomohiro Ishii on the 22nd December Korakuen show. He thinks Sumo Hall is where all of BURNING can regain their momentum going into the new year.
Akito wanted to have a match with Isami Kodaka for his 15th Anniversary because Kodaka was one of his seniors who helped him so much throughout his career. The two had a back and forth match that included a little trick from Akito where he used the ref as a shield. However Kodaka got the better of him by doing a Brainbuster and then pinning him down legs over shoulders to get the three count. Akito thanked him for the match and suggested they wrestle again for his 20th Anniversary. Kodaka said he would be on his 27th Anniversary by then so they should make the match the main event instead of putting it in the middle of the card.
There was a 6-Man Tag Match that was there to put the focus on Jun Akiyama Vs Yukio Naya but its attention was stolen away by the end of it. HARASHIMA & Tomomitsu Matsunaga did well to control Shinya Aoki until Aoki trapped Matsunaga in the Full Nelson Hold to get the three count. When the dust was settling, Akiyama and Naya had a staredown outside the ring, getting themselves ready for Sumo Hall. However Aoki then got on the microphone to talk about something completely different…
One of the many matches Aoki has been trying make happen this year is a bout against Kenoh from NOAH. Aoki told the fans in Korakuen Hall that on 1st January he will go to NOAH’s Budokan Hall show to have a match with Kenoh! That claim brought the actual Kenoh down to ringside where he angrily denied the match is going to happen. Aoki then asked him if they should have a match at DDT’s Sumo Hall show instead? Kenoh told him he would never climb back into DDT’s cheap and dirty ring. He respects the MMA version of Aoki but not the DDT version. He then ordered the NOAH rookie Yu Owada to have a match with Aoki right now! Aoki pinned Owada in seconds with the Full Nelson Hold. Then Keigo Nakamura got on the microphone asking to fight Kenoh for insulting the DDT fans. A brawl broke out between the four wrestlers and ended with Kenoh agreeing to a match at Sumo Hall. It will be Aoki & Nakamura against Kenoh & Owada!
Earlier in the day before the show began, Kazuki Hirata assaulted Yuki Ueno with a ring bell hammer to win back the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title. He then brought the hammer with him to fight off his six opponents in the Handicap match put together to celebrate his 37th birthday. Since it was his birthday he said the match was No DQ so he was allowed to bash everyone over the head with the hammer. Ueno then returned and pleaded Hirata to stop because this isn’t how is usually behaves. To try and win Hirata back, Ueno put on the Hirata GO! glasses and got the other wrestlers to dance with him. Hirata saw the light and joined in… until Ueno put him in a Sleeper Hold and Yoshihiko pinned him with the Reincarnation to become the champion.
Hirata was still in the ring when the O-MENZ dancer Kumadori entered the ring to talk to him. He thinks Hirata is a good dancer so they should have a dance battle. But when it began Kumadori pushed Hirata down and showed off his breakdance moves. Hirata praised his skill and admitted he cannot beat him in either dancing or wrestling. He then offered to team up with Kumadori for the dancer’s debut at Sumo Hall. The two agreed and their match will be against Makoto Oishi & Akito.
DAMNATION T.A had a good day at Korakuen. There was the title defence in the main event and also a tag victory in the opener. Demus & Ilusion didn’t take long to beat Nakamura & Kazuma Sumi. It fell apart for the losing team when Nakamura aimed a Super Kick for Ilusion that was ducked and hit Sumi instead. Demus took the opportunity to pin Sumi with La Valagueza after that.
DDT usually makes their news announcements at the start of the show but today they waited until two matches were completed first. Sanshiro Takagi gave an update that he is not ready to return to the ring yet. However he still has a special idea to celebrate his 30th Anniversary in wrestling next year. He will be producing his own show at Shinjuku FACE called “NEVER SAY NEVER” but the catch is nobody under DDT contract will be booked for it. Instead he will rely on his connections with freelancers and wrestlers from other companies to fill up the card. The first match announced for the show is Toru Owashi & Dump Matsumoto Vs The Brahman Brothers! Takagi’s goal is to come up with an unbelievable card of matches.
The NωA idol project is back with Oishi’s handpicked members deciding on their new group name. Katsumata, Yuni & Sumi will now be called NωA Jr. whenever they perform together as idols. Their debut song and CD will be unveiled at Sumo Hall. Sumi admitted he hasn’t practiced the song yet but he’s still all set for the debut.
Yesterday came the sad news that Yusuke Okada was going to retire from pro wrestling. He is still recovering from his cancer and is unable to get back to the condition needed to start wrestling again. Today is officially the date of his retirement and he got to give a speech to the fans during the show. He told the fans his treatment is going well and he is feeling fine but he thought about this decision a lot. He wrestled for 8 years and 4 of them were with DDT. He has met the best teammates and fans and will support DDT as a fan himself from now on. Takagi and Akiyama presented him with bouquets of flowers and Okada met with many wrestlers outside the ring for his exit. Included among them were Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai, Kazusada Higuchi and Naomi Yoshimura. Backstage Okada said he would like to still be involved with DDT in some way.
DDT announced they will be part of two shows at Las Vegas next April for The Collective during Wrestlemania Week. “DDT GOES LAS VEGAS!” will be held on 18th April (same day as the Tokyo Joshi Pro show) and “DDT VS TJPW VS GCW” will be on the 19th.
DDT “STREET WRESTLING IN IZU OCEANIC PARK”, 02/07/2015 Shizuoka Izu Oceanic Park 300 Fans
1. 4 Way Tag Team Match: Sanshiro Takagi & Kazuki Hirata Vs HARASHIMA & Yasu Urano Vs Shigehiro Irie & Soma Takao Vs Konosuke Takeshita & Hiroshi Fukuda
Yesterday there was a discovery on Twitter over Kota Ibushi’s recent return to DDT that suddenly came to an abrupt end. The discovery was his two DDT matches from 25th August and 8th September have both been scrubbed off Wrestle Universe and can no longer be watched on the service.* When you go to watch the 25th August show on Wrestle Universe his match is still talked about on the pre-show and the match graphic still appears in the opening video. The match itself though has been edited off the stream and it goes straight from the end of Match #5 to the video package of the main event. The card lineups on each video both have “Some matches have been cut due to circumstances” written on the bottom of the page. That’s not all, DDT also pulled some of their recent Youtube videos of Ibushi’s past matches that they originally uploaded to promote his return. This follows the news at the start of the month of Ibushi’s two October dates with DDT being cancelled with no explanation given by anyone.
*Update: A day after this post was written, Wrestle Universe also removed the Weapon Rumble match from 21st July which featured Ibushi’s actual return to DDT.
I thought that news sounded weird when it happened. Ibushi wasn’t injured and even had a match in GLEAT the next day. There was some guessing online that maybe he was being called upon by AEW and couldn’t be available for the DDT dates anymore. I didn’t want to rule it out because those kind of short notice bookings have happened with DDT and Tokyo Joshi Pro talent in the past. But looking at the AEW schedule at the time it didn’t make much sense to me. He’d miss one booking but had plenty of time to make it back to Japan for the second booking. So when those dates came and went without Ibushi showing up anywhere, I didn’t think about it again until the Wrestle Universe thing was discovered.
So if Ibushi’s absence was not because of injury and was not because of other obligations getting in the way, then that suggests there could have been a falling out between Ibushi and DDT. That’s when I remembered what happened at the very end of the 25th August show. As the crowd was making their way to the exit MAO & Shunma Katsumata announced their intentions to challenge for DDT’s tag team championships. Nothing unusual about that. They continued talking about theirs goals backstage during their post-show interview until MAO changed the subject and brought up “Golden Star Syndrome”. That was the phrase he used to describe Ibushi’s fanbase and the lapsed DDT fans who came to the show just to see him chase old glories again. MAO’s point was the fans should not take the current generation for granted because they are the ones who kept DDT going after Ibushi left and the company went downhill from their peak of popularity.
They were not the only wrestlers who made comments about Ibushi’s return to DDT. Yuki Ueno also spoke about it backstage after his defeat in the main event. Ueno said DDT became what it is today thanks to Ibushi and everyone should be grateful for that. Sanshiro Takagi loves him like family which means Ueno also treats him like family. However, Ueno also questioned Ibushi’s motive for returning to DDT and revealed there are other people in the company who are not happy he came back. Ueno wants to make DDT better but he couldn’t tell if Ibushi’s intentions are the same.
When Ibushi found out about those comments he tweeted out his response. He wonders if the wrestlers were criticizing him out of jealousy? He isn’t interested enough to get involved any further and decided to ignore them. He also asked if those wrestlers are DDT’s current aces and suggested if this deal isn’t working out he still has AEW to go to. At the time of writing those comments are still the most recent tweets on his X account.
A few days later Michael Nakazawa posted a blog to give his thoughts on the matter. He wrote them to be as neutral as possible but admits they will likely come off as defending his close friend Ibushi anyway. He understands there are people who support DDT’s current era that are annoyed to see all of the fan and media attention go to Ibushi for his sudden return to the company. He points out that cutting a promo built around real emotions can sometimes go in an unexpected direction. That happened here when Ibushi did not react the way Ueno, MAO & Katsumata supposedly wanted him to. Nakazawa said if there is anyone who didn’t like the company’s decision to book Ibushi then they should have spoken to someone in the company instead of making the matter public. He also thinks it would not have done Ibushi any good if he picked up on the promo because Ibushi just wants to have fun matches. Nakazawa also compared Ibushi to Kaisei Takechi when it comes to drawing in fans from outside of DDT’s current audience to their shows. However Nakazawa admits Ibushi could have handled the situation in a more mature manner.
The next part of the story takes a surprising turn. While our attention was on the Wrestle Universe story, Marvelous played a video at their show of Ibushi standing around in their dojo. It was a teaser to promote that Ibushi will be in attendance for the promotion’s next Korakuen Hall event on 1st December. Even though Marvelous is a joshi promotion first and foremost, there is often a men’s match booked on the undercard of their shows. Ibushi went to his Instagram to talk about it and wondered if this video will be on their Youtube channel (I can’t tell if this was meant to be a joke about his DDT videos being pulled down).
Ibushi then turned his attention to his situation with DDT. I tried translating it and the comments come out sounding negative. It sounds like Ibushi is accusing DDT of caring more about money than their 20 years of working together. His post also includes hashtags referring to Sanshiro Takagi, DDT collapsing as a company and decisions being made to make up for a deficit. Whatever it is that Ibushi has a problem with, he would like to get an apology over it. Now his focus is going to be on the upcoming Marvelous show.
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So that’s what I’ve been able to gather together so far. Kota Ibushi and DDT have had a falling out and it seems to stem from the comments made by Yuki Ueno & MAO. Whether that was just meant to be a promo to build up a future match and it blew up in everyone’s face isn’t fully clear to me. The few matches Ibushi had in DDT this year had nothing to do with The 37KAMIINA. There was a trios match where Ibushi got to fight Tetsuya Endo again, a nostalgia match where Ibushi reunited with other DDT figures from his generation and the cancelled bout was a freak show kickboxing comedy match where he would have treated his best friend Gota Ihashi as a human crash test dummy like he always does. Maybe something would have been set up for the end of year Sumo Hall show but I guess we will never know now.
It sounds like it was DDT’s decision to remove the videos. I remember early in NJPW World’s existence when Naoya Ogawa successfully requested to have videos of his matches removed but Ibushi’s behavior doesn’t come off like he made any demands like that. But his decision to talk up rumours of DDT’s business decline isn’t going to help things one bit. It’s a bridge burner if I ever heard one and kind of not that far off from how he talked about New Japan when that relationship went sour. At least he hasn’t said anything as extreme as who he suggested some pro wrestling companies were in bed with back then.
I hope what I’ve written helps clear up even a little bit of what’s going on. I wanted to shine a light on the situation after the videos go scrubbed from Wrestle Universe. It makes what happened above way more notable in hindsight than I thought they were at the time. There is still so much we don’t know about behind the scenes but at least this is something to work with if people out there want to talk about it. If there are any mistakes, contradictions or other comments about what I wrote please tell me because the last thing I want to happen is this post causing trouble because of wrong information (causing trouble because of correct information is A-OK though).
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UPDATE: The 4th November issue of the Wrestling Observer newsletter had a write up on the situation based on this post. Dave Meltzer also had additional information from a source close to the matter. The new info was written like this:
“Another person with knowledge of the situation wrote to us saying, “There were comments backstage from the younger guys towards Ibushi that he felt were disrespectful and I guess when the president (Takagi) asked them to apologize and squash the beef, most of the talent didn’t really want to, so Ibushi chose not to work for DDT anymore.” The person also said he felt that this was blown out of proportion”
DDT “ULTIMATE PARTY 2024”, 28/12/2024 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
1. Haruto Sakuraba Debut Match: Haruto Sakuraba Vs X
A press conference was held by DDT in Shibuya today featuring the first announcement for “ULTIMATE PARTY 2024” taking place in Sumo Hall on 28th December. The show will feature the debut pro wrestling match of “The Muscular Actor” Haruto Sakuraba! The actor has appeared on stage shows for Haikyu, Tokyo Revengers, Grappler Baki and Final Fantasy Brave. In fact this deal with DDT came to existence because Saki Akai also starred in the Final Fantasy show and she introduced Sakuraba to Sanshiro Takagi after one of the performances!
Sakuraba was born in Oita on 21st February, 1996. He is 187cm tall and has an athletic background in weight training and also basketball. Takagi described his first time meeting Sakuraba as love at first sight because of his looks and size. He invited Sakuraba to try out pro wrestling and the actor accepted the offer. Akito explains that most people who enter pro wrestling do so as a nobody trying to become a somebody. But when it comes to people from the entertainment industry they already come in as a somebody and usually have a special talent that gives them an advantage over regular wrestlers. He thinks Sakuraba’s advantage is his height and physique. However when watching Sakuraba train, Akito was able to see he has some weaknesses. On the positive side, when Sakuraba is not good at something he will try it over and over until he suceeds.
Sakuraba says he is a big fan of The Rock and became interested in pro wrestling because of him. When he first watched DDT he thought every wrestler there is like a manga character filled with rich personalities. He also saw the promotion does many cool and interesting matches that makes him wonder if he’s watching martial arts or he’s been teleported to another world. His main career is still with acting but he would like to wrestle regularly alongside it so he can become Japan’s answer to The Rock.
Before he has his debut match at Sumo Hall, Sakuraba will appear at DDT’s next Korakuen Hall show on 20th October to greet the fans.
DDT “GOD BLESS DDT 2024 TOUR IN ASAKUSA”, 09/10/2024 Tokyo Asakusa Hanayashi Theater 240 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House
0. Dark Match ~ Sponsored By Nariagari: KAKARU & Tawaramachi Kid Jr. defeated Shosaku Inoue & Tataki Torino when KAKARU pinned Inoue with the Fly! Nitoyaro (11:54).
1. Special Single Match: Yukio Naya defeated Antonio Honda with a Crab Hold (7:21).
2. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Moka Miyamoto defeated Haru Kazashiro with the Rashomon (6:54).
3. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Danshoku Dieno & Yoshihiko defeated Shunma Katsumata, Soma Takao & Kazuki Hirata when Dieno pinned Takao with the Danshoku Driver (12:42). *Danshoku Dieno wins Soma Takao’s Blue Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Shield.
4. Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul defeated Chris Brookes, Akito & Kazuma Sumi when Paul pinned Sumi with the Reverse Splash (10:51).
5. Special Tag Match: Ryota Nakatsu & Yuki Ishida defeated HARASHIMA & Keigo Nakamura when Nakatsu pinned Nakamura with the V Slider (13:15).
6. The 37KAMIINA Vs BURNING!: Yuki Ueno, MAO & To-y defeated Tetsuya Endo, Yuki Iino & Yuya Koroku when To-y pinned Koroku with the Kojima Impact (19:53).
The Spear was the turning point in the main event. Yuki Iino was able to hit To-y with the move like he usually does but he used it again when the match broke down and this time tackled Yuya Koroku by accident. To-y then got the upper hand by giving Iino a Brainbuster and he pinned Koroku with the Kojima Impact. A triumphant To-y told Iino after the match that no matter how many times he is knocked down, he will always get back up. It will keep happening until To-y finally breaks Iino and wins the DDT Universal Title! Backstage MAO says he and To-y keep having to encourage each other for their upcoming matches. MAO lost the Universal Title to Iino so he is cheering on To-y to win it for him. To-y is encouraging MAO to be brave and fight Kota Umeda again because MAO was always scared of him back in DNA.
Most of Harimao were back together. Ryota Nakatsu & Yuki Ishida were teaming up while Naomi Yoshimura was present for the match. However Yoshimura is still not cleared to return to wrestling yet and Nakatsu claims he is banned from entering Kyushu so that’s why Ishida has chosen wrestlers from outside Harimao to challenge for the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles next week. Ishida will instead team with Akito & Yukio Naya. He is calling the team the Dosukoi Three Musketeers.
Chris Brookes is now focused on getting revenge on DAMNATION T.A. He didn’t team with anyone else from SCHADENFREUDE International today but that didn’t stop him from attacking his enemies before the match began. Daisuke Sasaki later complained about Brookes fighting dirty and asked if it’s because he’s mad that Ilusion belongs to DAMNATION T.A now? Brookes promised SCHADENFREUDE will kill DAMNATION T.A at Korakuen Hall later this month. Meanwhile KANON mocked Akito for only challenging for the KO-D 6-Man Tag Titles because Ishida told him to join his team. Sasaki suggested that KANON should fight Akito for the DDT Extreme Title instead.
Today’s show was taking place on Jun Akiyama’s birthday but it is Danshoku Dieno who left with a present. He pinned Soma Takao to take one of his Right To Challenge Shields. Dieno already has an idea of what to do with the Shield but isn’t telling anyone what it is. Also in the match Kazuki Hirata complained he is always being booked against Yoshihiko so he attacked the doll with skewers and his team injured the doll with a Super Piledriver. However later in the match the room went dark and Yoshihiko made a dramatic reappearance from the rafters. Shunma Katsumata accused Yoshihiko of copying Sting so Yoshihiko attacked him with the skewers.
The show had several comedians booked to perform in-between some of the matches. Sanshiro Takagi took part in one of the skits dressed as Kenshiro from Fist Of The North Star.
DDT “STF PROJECT – IBARAKI INTERNATIONAL FISHING FESTIVAL”, 01/09/2024 Ibaraki Oarai Port Pier No. 4 ??? Fans – Unannounced
1. HARASHIMA & Keigo Nakamura defeated Yukio Naya & Tomomitsu Matsunaga when HARASHIMA pinned Matsunaga with the Somato (7:28).
2. Special Tag Match: Kaijin Warrior Oarider & Antonio Honda defeated Makoto Oishi & Soma Takao when Rider pinned Oishi with the Fisherman Suplex (11:13).
The STF Project is an initiative DDT is hosting with Masahiro Chono at local public events to raise awareness for lifesaving countermeasures. Chono and Sanshiro Takagi held a public talk, wrestlers interacted with the fans and two matches were held at a ring built outdoors. Kaijin Warrior Oarider is a local wrestler in the Ibaraki scene and he teamed with Antonio Honda to win in the main event.
Posted by JamieOD 
Dramatic DDT 