Dieno’s Plan Succeeds, Korakuen Double Header, Imanari Everywhere

August 17, 2018

Still a lot to unpack over the last few days. Danshoku Dieno is the new KO-D Openweight Champion after pulling off a plan that was months in the making. Super Sasadango Machine gave Dieno his Right To Challenge Gauntlet so Dieno could cash it in and win the title from a beaten up Shigehiro Irie after the main event of this week’s “DDT LIVE! MAJI MANJI” episode. According to Dieno’s interview after the show, he’s been planning this ever since the ending of “JUDGEMENT 2018” back in March! That Irie was the champion when he pulled this off is a little bit of a coincidence. Sure, Irie holds a grudge with Dieno over the current state of DDT and Dieno got in a panic when Irie briefly lost the title in America but Dieno’s motivation in this is purely to get himself into the main event of “JUDGEMENT 2018” in October. He also didn’t break any rules to achieve this. Gauntlet owners are allowed to transfer their prize to another person, which has happened before and his cash in was not at all unusual for that kind of gimmick. To insure that he makes it there with as few road blocks as possible, Dieno will only defend the title against those with a Right To Challenge Gauntlet. That there is only one left active in Japan right now means in theory he only has to make one successful defence and it is smooth sailing from there. If only it was that easy…

DDT “ROAD TO RYOGOKU 2018 ~DRAMATIC DREAM TENMUSU~”, 18/08/2018
Nagoya City East Sports Centre No. 2

1. Keisuke Okuda Vs Yuki Iino
2. Keisuke Ishii & Yuki Ueno Vs Soma Takao & Mad Paulie
3. Makoto Oishi, Akito & Cherry Vs Masahiro Takanashi, Kazusada Higuchi & Mizuki
4. Shigehiro Irie, Jason Kincaid & Ryan Davidson Vs HARASHIMA, Yukio Sakaguchi & Kouki Iwasaki
5. T2Hide Goodbye Series: Sanshiro Takagi, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs KUDO, Alex Ace & Nobuhiro Shimatani
6. Antonio Vs Pale One For The First Time In 42 Years! Nagoya Specialty Special Single Match: Antonio Honda Vs Konaka = Pale One
7. King Of DDT 2018 Best 8 Special Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo Vs Mike Bailey & MAO

The bad news for Dieno coming out of his win is he injured his right shoulder on the show. It isn’t clear if he was hurt by Irie’s Beast Bomber during the title match or if Dieno got hurt by the scheduled match he participated in earlier in the show. Dieno is taking the situation seriously and has taken himself off of this weekend’s shows.

DDT “ROAD TO RYOGOKU 2018 ~DRAMATIC DREAM TONDOYAKI~”, 19/08/2018
Osaka Nishi Kumin Center

1. Keisuke Okuda Vs Yuki Ueno
2. My Study Of Toughness ~ Yuni’s Study Of Freedom: Sanshiro Takagi, Toru Owashi & Yuni Vs Antonio Honda & Masahiro Takanashi
3. DAMNATION Vs ALL OUT!: Tetsuya Endo & Nobuhiro Shimatani Vs Akito & Yuki Iino
4. Mike Bailey & MAO Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Kouki Iwasaki
5. Makorin Dangerous Affair Once A Year 2018: KUDO Vs Makoto Oishi
6. RENEGADES Vs DAMNATION!: Shigehiro Irie, Mizuki Watase & Jason Kincaid Vs Daisuke Sasaki, Soma Takao & Mad Paulie
7. King Of DDT 2018 Best 8 Special Tag Match: HARASHIMA & Kazuki Hirata Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Keisuke Ishii

Mizuki Watase sprained his ankle at Maji Manji so he too will be out of action this weekend. Both Dieno and Watase are expected to return in time for the 25th August Korakuen Hall show.

DDT “KING OF DDT 2018 3RD ROUND”, 25/08/2018
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Toru Owashi, Yuki Ueno, Akito & Yuki Iino Vs Sanshiro Takagi, Kouki Iwasaki, Daiki Shimomura & Rekka
2. Danshoku Dieno, Makoto Oishi & Super Sasadango Machine Vs KUDO, Masahiro Takanashi & Gorgeous Matsuno
3. DAMNATION Vs RENEGADES!: Soma Takao, Mad Paulie & Nobuhiro Shimatani Vs Mizuki Watase, Jason Kincaid & Ryan Davidson
4. Special Tag Match: Shigehiro Irie & Taiyo Kea Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Antonio Honda
5. King Of DDT 2018 – Quarter Final 1: Mike Bailey Vs MAO
6. King Of DDT 2018 – Quarter Final 2: Tetsuya Endo Vs Kazuki Hirata
7. King Of DDT 2018 – Quarter Final 3: HARASHIMA Vs Yukio Sakaguchi
8. King Of DDT 2018 – Quarter Final 4: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Keisuke Ishii

Some of the recent roster changes have come into effect. Kouki Iwasaki, Daiki Shimomura and Rekka will have their chance to say goodbye to DDT. For Rekka it will be goodbye to Japan. I assume Iwasaki and Shimomura will be back here and there whenever DDT needs a undercard spot to fill.

DDT “BLACK OUT PRESENTS KING OF DDT 2018 FINAL ROUND”, 26/08/2018
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

0. Under Match: Kouki Iwasaki Vs Nobuhiro Shimatani
1. King Of DDT 2018 – Semi Final: Winner Of Quarter Final 1 Vs Winner Of Quarter Final 2
2. King Of DDT 2018 – Semi Final: Winner Of Quarter Final 3 Vs Winner Of Quarter Final 4
3. 3 Way Tag Match: Brahman Shu & Brahman Kei Vs Soma Takao & Mad Paulie Vs KUDO & Masahiro Takanashi
4. Special Tag Match: Tatsumi Fujinami & Antonio Honda Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ueno
5. Danshoku Dieno, Makoto Oishi & Super Sasadango Machine Vs Shigehiro Irie, Mizuki Watase & Jason Kincaid
6. King Of DDT 2018 – Final: X Vs X

Dieno better pray he makes it out of Korakuen in one piece if Irie gets his hands on him. But I wouldn’t be giving him enough credit to think he doesn’t have a plan in place to protect himself.

DDT “DDT LIVE! MAJI MANJI #15”, 28/08/2018
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Special Single Match: Shinya Aoki Vs Gota Ihashi
2. Right To Date 2nd Generation Bachelor Rintaro Oyaizu 4 Way Match: Cherry Vs Yuna Manase Vs Maki Ito Vs Yuki Kamifuku
3. KO-D Openweight Title: Danshoku Dieno (c) Vs Meiko Satomura
*Meiko Satomura will cash in her Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Gauntlet.

Meiko Satomura currently has the last remaining Gauntlet in Japan and she intends to get her title match on 28th August. If she wins and becomes the champion her first action will be to grant Irie a title shot. She originally wanted her championship match to be against Irie before Dieno got involved.

Rintaro Oyaizu is the star of Japan’s version of The Bachelor season 2. He appeared on Maji Manji this week and had several women wrestlers pushing each other out of the way to get his attention. The solution is to have a match where the winner gets to date him. It’s kind of odd because three of the participants are banned by their company from dating men but hey, a blind eye can be turned if it gets some mainstream attention I guess.

Good news about Gota Ihashi. He looks in better shape every time I’ve seen him this year. Bad news about Ihashi, he has to fight MMA star Shinya Aoki. I’m not even sure if this is part of his trial series.

GANBARE☆WRESTLING “KIDS RETURN 2018”, 13/09/2018
Ichigaya Nankai Memorial Clinic

1. Rain With Fists In Ichigaya In Fine Weather! Summer Punching Fever In Ichigaya!!: Yumehito Imanari Vs Tanomusaku Toba
2. From Commando To Tomb Raider! The Soul Was Handed Over! Rain Of Slaughter Falls In Ichigaya In Fine Weather!!! Tomb Raider Haruhi Is Born!!!: Moeka Haruhi Vs Shin Mokujin Ken (Special Referee: Yumehito Imanari)
3. Kouki Iwasaki Belongs To Ganbare 1st Round Special Tag Match: Yumehito Imanari & Kouki Iwasaki Vs Keisuke Ishii & Shota

Ken Ohka has gone AWOL from Ganbare☆Wrestling which means Yumehito Imanari is taking over the main event and then some. Imanari is going to be all over this show and is already featured in every match announced so far. He’s welcoming Kouki Iwasaki to Ganpro, passing over his heroic attributes to Moeka Haruhi and getting into a kickboxing scrap with Tanomusaku Toba.


DDT “DDT LIVE! MAJI MANJI #14” Results

August 14, 2018

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


DDT Plans For The Rest Of August

August 13, 2018

DDT “DDT LIVE! MAJI MANJI #14”, 14/08/2018
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

0. NO TV Match: Soma Takao Vs Mizuki Watase
0. NO TV Match: Toru Owashi & Nobuhiro Shimatani Vs Ryan Davidson & Facade
1. Akito & Gota Ihashi Vs Yuki Ueno & Yuki Iino
2. Kazusada Higuchi, Kouki Iwasaki & Meiko Satomura Vs Sanshiro Takagi, Makoto Oishi & Cherry
3. KUDO & Masahiro Takanashi Vs Danshoku Dieno & Antonio Honda
4. Road to King Of DDT 2018 3rd Round 4 Way Tag Match: HARASHIMA & Mike Bailey Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & MAO Vs Keisuke Ishii & Kazuki Hirata
5. RENEGADES Vs DAMNATION!: Shigehiro Irie & Jason Kincaid Vs Shuji Ishikawa & Mad Paulie

Shigehiro Irie returns to DDT after a let’s say, minor setback during his latest tour of America. He has the KO-D Openweight Title back but I don’t think everyone will be happy enough to forget about what happened.

Shunma Katsumata was supposed to be on the show teaming with Akito but he is out of action with an orbital fracture. Katsumata is expected to miss one or two months before he is cleared to return. Gota Ihashi takes his place in the tag match.

DDT “ROAD TO RYOGOKU 2018 ~DRAMATIC DREAM TENMUSU~”, 18/08/2018
Nagoya City East Sports Centre No. 2

1. Keisuke Okuda Vs Yuki Iino
2. Danshoku Dieno, Makoto Oishi & Cherry Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Akito & Mizuki
3. KUDO & Masahiro Takanashi Vs Keisuke Ishii & Yuki Ueno
4. Sanshiro Takagi, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Soma Takao, Mad Paulie & Nobuhiro Shimatani
5. Antonio Vs Pale One For The First Time In 42 Years! Nagoya Specialty Special Single Match: Antonio Honda Vs Konaka = Pale One
6. Shigehiro Irie, Mizuki Watase & Jason Kincaid Vs HARASHIMA, Yukio Sakaguchi & Kouki Iwasaki
7. King Of DDT 2018 Best 8 Special Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo Vs Mike Bailey & MAO

With the King Of DDT Quarter Finals near DDT is putting the final eight in a variety of tag matches to build up anticipation for the big finale. First up are the two tag team pairings left in the tournament.

DDT “ROAD TO RYOGOKU 2018 ~DRAMATIC DREAM TONDOYAKI~”, 19/08/2018
Osaka Nishi Kumin Center

1. Keisuke Okuda Vs Yuki Ueno
2. Akito Vs Kouki Iwasaki
3. My Study Of Toughness ~ Yuni’s Study Of Freedom: Sanshiro Takagi, Toru Owashi & Yuni Vs Antonio Honda & Masahiro Takanashi
4. The Heartfelt Woman’s Compassion Is The Greatest Humiliation For A Man! Osaka Specialty Special Single Match: Danshoku Dieno Vs Makoto Oishi
5. 3 Way Tag Match: Mike Bailey & MAO Vs Tetsuya Endo & Nobuhiro Shimatani Vs KUDO & Kazusada Higuchi
6. RENEGADES Vs DAMNATION!: Shigehiro Irie, Mizuki Watase & Jason Kincaid Vs Daisuke Sasaki, Soma Takao & Mad Paulie
7. King Of DDT 2018 Best 8 Special Tag Match: HARASHIMA & Kazuki Hirata Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Keisuke Ishii

The second part mixes up the four singles participants.

BASARA “BASARA 76 ~FEAST~”, 20/08/2018
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. FUMA & SAGAT Vs Takato Nakano & Daiki Shimomura
2. Best Stretchman V3, Best Stretchman Amazon & Third Best Stretchman? Vs Takumi Tsukamoto, Gouma Ryu & Yasu Urano
3. Isami Kodaka & Minoru Fujita Vs Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi & Yusuke Kubo
4. Official Tag No. 1 Decision Battle: Fuminori Abe Vs Ikuto Hidaka
5. Naoki Tanizaki & Manabu Hara Vs Ryota Nakatsu & Ryuichi Sekine

Daiki Shimomura is the newest full time member of BASARA.

Banana Senga is meant to transform into a Best Stretchman at some point so I guess he is the third man here.

DDT “KING OF DDT 2018 3RD ROUND”, 25/08/2018
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. King Of DDT 2018 – Quarter Final: Mike Bailey Vs MAO
2. King Of DDT 2018 – Quarter Final: Tetsuya Endo Vs Kazusada Higuchi
3. King Of DDT 2018 – Quarter Final: HARASHIMA Vs Yukio Sakaguchi
4. King Of DDT 2018 – Quarter Final: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Keisuke Ishii
5. Special Tag Match: Shigehiro Irie & Taiyo Kea Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Antonio Honda

Say what you want about the Irie situation but DDT isn’t punishing him for it. He gets to team up with Taiyo Kea for the first of two Korakuen Hall shows later this month.

DDT “BLACK OUT PRESENTS KING OF DDT 2018 FINAL ROUND”, 26/08/2018
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. King Of DDT 2018 – Semi Final: Winner Of Quarter Final 1 Vs Winner Of Quarter Final 2
2. King Of DDT 2018 – Semi Final: Winner Of Quarter Final 3 Vs Winner Of Quarter Final 4
3. Special Tag Match: Tatsumi Fujinami & Antonio Honda Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ueno
4. King Of DDT 2018 – Final: X Vs X

Meanwhile on Night 2, Antonio Honda gets to team with Tatsumi Fujinami. Will we get a Gongitsune Dragon Screw for the occasion?

GANBARE☆WRESTLING “CAN YOU CELEBRATE? 2018”, 29/09/2018
Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall

1. Shuichiro Katsumura Vs Kouki Iwasaki

Kouki Iwasaki has decided to join Ganbare☆Wrestling and he already has a list of things to do. First up is to get his match with Shuichiro Katsumura. They were originally supposed to face off on New Year’s Eve when Ganpro was in Saitama Super Arena but Iwasaki pulled out with the flu.


Irie Wins Back KO-D Title!

August 9, 2018

ROCKSTAR PRO “AMPED”, 08/08/2018
Rockstar Pro Arena, Dayton, Ohio
??? Fans

KO-D Openweight Title: Shigehiro Irie defeated Sami Callihan (c) with the Beast Bomber (??:??).
*Sami Callihan fails in V1. Shigehiro Irie becomes the 64th KO-D Openweight Champion!

Now don’t let that happen again!


Video Of KO-D Title Change In America

August 8, 2018


KO-D Title Fallout

August 3, 2018

A day has passed and I should write a bit more about yesterday’s news than just a proverbial slap on the forehead. Shigehiro Irie began his latest USA tour by losing the KO-D Openweight Title to Sami Callihan. Originally Irie was scheduled to defend the title in a 3 Way Match against Jake Crist and Trey Miguel. Crist pulled out of the match a day before the show due to injury and Callihan took his spot. As you know by now the match happened and Callihan pinned Irie to become the new KO-D Champion. It is the first time the title has changed hands outside of Japan. It was also the first time the belt was officially defended overseas. El Generico put the belt on the line when he was touring the UK a few years ago but DDT never acknowledged those matches as title defences.

The immediate reaction to the title change has been negative on a couple of fronts. For the storyline side, everybody in DDT is shocked by the result. Sanshiro Takagi and Danshoku Dieno are scrambling to sort out what to do to get the title back whether it’s by negotiating with Callihan to come over to Japan for a tour, hoping Irie gets a title rematch before he travels home or figuring out how to get another DDT wrestler out to America to chase after the champion. Takagi himself has volunteered to travel if that last option is chosen. His attempts at researching online who Callihan is immediately brought up pictures of Callihan kissing New Japan wrestlers in the ring back when he toured with that company last year. The wrestlers are also not happy with Irie. Those who remember Akito being the loudest critic of Irie’s behavior for the last year will not be surprised to learn that he accused Irie of embarrassing the company and damaging its reputation. This tour was supposed to show the strength of DDT to the world. Instead Irie loses their top prize to a complete outsider in his first match. And let’s not forget that this scenario was exactly the reason why Dieno and DDT were always hesitant to allow Irie to defend the championship overseas.

On the international front this is already becoming the most unpopular decision by DDT among the foreign fanbase for as long as I have run this site. Given the scale of the audience now the immediate response might even be the most negative in the entire company’s existence (Kenny Omega Vs Haruka happened in Stardom so go annoy them if you’re still angry over it). Callihan is not liked by sections of the wrestling fanbase for a bunch of reasons both privately and professionally. The tonal whiplash between the different reasons makes it difficult for me to talk about this without coming off as insensitive so I apologise if that’s the case. The most serious opinions about Callihan involves past accusations of domestic abuse from his ex-wife. In regards to his wrestling career, his involvement in accidentally injuring Eddie Edwards’s eye with a botched baseball bat spot along with his behavior online in response to criticisms of that incident earned him a lot of scorn too. On the other hand Callihan’s supporters believe his actions and attitude at events since then is exactly what his gimmick is supposed to be. After all a heel is supposed to be hated and unlikable. For those who aren’t bothered by his behavior and see it as him playing the heel there are still parts of that audience who just think he’s not talented enough to warrant the influence he currently holds in America’s wrestling scene. Like it or not, if there’s one thing Callihan can do right it’s capitalize on his controversies and come out of it as a more larger than life figure. And pro wrestling is made for larger than life figures.

With that out of the way, I believe the intention here without a doubt was to serve the storyline between Irie and Dieno back in Japan. Irie believes Dieno in his current role as Producer represents everything that he now hates about DDT. The failed pushes, the change in wrestling styles, a perceived failure in evolving the entertainment side of the product and the promises that never came to fruition. Promises like Irie going abroad to defend the championship. When Irie finally got what he wanted Dieno was the person warning him to protect the KO-D Title and not to get in over his head. It could be that Irie will be more bothered by Dieno being proved right than he is with losing the championship. Even if Irie wins back the title soon he will still return to Japan with a lot of angry eyes on him.

Here are the directions I guess the story can go from here:

1. Irie still has several bookings in America before he returns to Japan. It’s possible that somewhere he can get a rematch with Callihan and win back the title. Irie returns to Japan with the belt but the damage has been done and he faces a lot of conflict with Dieno/DDT over the incident. This begins the push for whatever Irie does at Sumo Hall in October, either a KO-D Title defence against the King Of DDT winner or a grudge match with Dieno. I reckon this is the most likely option, a short-term international title switch to add a spark to what’s been quite frankly a poor main event storyline this year.

2. Irie returns to Japan without the belt. DDT brings in Callihan to defend the title for however long it’s going to last. I do think it’s likely DDT will book Callihan with or without the title this year because of how close Irie is with the Ohio Versus Everything crew in real life.

3. Irie returns without the belt but Callihan stays in America. DDT chooses the plan to send someone over to chase after Callihan and get the belt back. I don’t think this will happen. Only reason I mention it is because Takagi tweeted the idea yesterday and won a Right To Challenge Gauntlet today.

4. I joked on Twitter about Meiko Satomura cashing in her Right To Challenge Gauntlet on Callihan while she is over in America for the Mae Young Classic tapings. This is absolutely not happening. While the global wrestling scene this year is crazy enough that an idea like this can become a reality, it will not be where the story is going. The RTC gimmick is supposed to be Japan only anyway so don’t worry when Satomura loses to Taynara Conti in the 1st Round. Also those results won’t become canon until the Autumn when the Gauntlet will certainly be cashed in by then unless we get some sort of time paradox like Progress and the NXT Tag Team Titles. I’m rambling so long story short, everything in general is Progress’s fault because their WWE association allowed them to be dicks and mess with time travel………………… It’s too warm today.


Sami Callihan Wins The KO-D Title!

August 2, 2018

ROCKSTAR PRO “AMPED”, 01/08/2018
Rockstar Pro Arena, Dayton, Ohio
??? Fans

KO-D Openweight Title – 3 Way Match: Sami Callihan defeated Shigehiro Irie (c) and Trey Miguel when Callihan pinned Irie with a Backslide (??:??).
*Shigehiro Irie fails in V5. Sami Callihan becomes the 63rd KO-D Openweight Champions!

God damn it Irie! Dieno warned you about this!

After receiving this result DDT has begun negotiations with Sami Callihan.


DDT “SHIGEHIRO IRIE DEBUT 10TH ANNIVERSARY MEMORIAL TACHIMUKAU” Results

July 29, 2018

DDT “SHIGEHIRO IRIE DEBUT 10TH ANNIVERSARY MEMORIAL TACHIMUKAU ~PROOF OF MAD BLOOMING HUMAN~”, 29/07/2018
Osaka Taisho Hall
370 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

0. Under Match: Mad Paulie & Alex Ace defeated Kouki Iwasaki & Nobuhiro Shimatani when Ace pinned Shimatani with the Swinging Ace Crusher (7:00).
1. Danshoku Dieno defeated Naomi Yoshimura by Disqualification after a Weapon Attack (6:05).
2. Antonio Honda, Akito & Makoto Oishi defeated Sanshiro Takagi, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata when Oishi pinned Hirata with the Jikiden Tornado Clutch (6:52).
*Makoto Oishi wins Kazuki Hirata’s Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Gauntlet.
3. Kengo Takai defeated Mizuki Watase with the Dera Hof Bomb (8:35).
4. KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi defeated HARASHIMA, Gurukun Mask & Rekka when Sakaguchi pinned Rekka with the God’s Right Knee (12:15).
5. 4 Way Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo defeated Mike Bailey & MAO, Kazusada Higuchi & Shunma Katsumata and Jason Kincaid & Facade when Sasaki pinned Katsumata with the Vietnam Driver II (8:25).
6. Daisuke Harada & Kazuaki Mihara defeated HUB & Yuki Ueno when Harada pinned Ueno with the Katayama German Suplex (18:13).
7. Shigehiro Irie 10th Anniversary Memorial Match: Shigehiro Irie defeated Keisuke Ishii and Soma Takao when Irie pinned Takao with the Beast Bomber (17:11).
-. Emergency Decision Match: Shigehiro Irie defeated Kengo Takai with the Beast Bomber (11:59).

From humble beginnings in Dera Nagoya Pro Wrestling all the way to becoming the KO-D Openweight Champion in DDT, it’s been a crazy ten years of wrestling for Shigehiro Irie. Today in Osaka he got to celebrate his 10th anniversary with a match against both Keisuke Ishii and Soma Takao in a Team Dream Futures reunion. At first Takao kept his distance and allowed Irie and Ishii to fight each other but he soon got into the mix. Irie stopped Takao from giving Ishii the Gin And Tonic. Ishii struck Irie with a Thrust Kick but Irie hit back with the Beast Bomber. Ishii was knocked into the corner and Irie hit a Running Cannonball followed by another Beast Bomber for the win.

Irie thanked his opponents for the special match and he also thanked everyone for coming despite the horrible weather in the region. Irie told Ishii and Takao to continue their ways to revolutionize pro wrestling. During the celebration ceremony, Irie’s mentor Kengo Takai asked Irie if they could have a match together for Irie’s 15th anniversary because it will also be Takai’s 25th anniversary when it happens. Irie told him they could do the match right now! The ring cleared and the two collided to start an impromptu match between student and teacher. Takai hit Irie with a chair and Splashed him through a table at ringside. Irie kicked out of the Dera Hof Bomb and crushed Takai with the Cannonball Drop before winning with the Beast Bomber. Irie admitted afterwards that it wasn’t a good idea for him to have another match. Takai agreed. Irie thanked Takai for teaching him because it was him who raised Irie to become a pro wrestler.

Daisuke Harada expressed regret that he wasn’t able to wrestle against Konosuke Takeshita today. Takeshita was pulled from the show with a shoulder injury and was replaced by Yuki Ueno in their tag match. Harada praised Ueno for stepping in and would be happy to wrestle him again.

Due to Takeshita’s injury, an announcement about his removal from this year’s King Of DDT tournament took place during intermission. Sanshiro Takagi then invited Kazuki Hirata to the ring. Since Hirata lost his Right To Challenge Gauntlet earlier in the show, he was now eligible to enter the King Of DDT. However Hisaya Imabayashi stepped in and explained that he already decided to give Takeshita’s 1st Round opponent Naomi Yoshimura a bye into the next round. Yoshimura came out and said a bye or a match against Hirata doesn’t make any difference to him. Hirata said he doesn’t mind when people laugh at him but he won’t stand for it when people think he’s a small fish. He’ll be the small fish who puts Yoshimura to shame when he knocks him out of the 1st Round! Hirata accepted the open spot and his match with Yoshimura will be the main event on 31st July!

Daisuke Sasaki didn’t want to say too many kind words about Irie today because DAMNATION hates RENEGADES. Instead Sasaki told everyone that somebody from DAMNATION will win King Of DDT, win the KO-D Title and end Irie’s career in the next 10 years!


12 Shows In 11 Days

July 26, 2018

DDT “ROAD TO RYOGOKU 2018 ~DRAMATIC DREAM TOMONOURA~”, 28/07/2018
Fukuyama Big Rose

1. 3 Way Match: Naomi Yoshimura Vs Antonio Honda Vs Facade
2. Yukio Sakaguchi & Kazusada Higuchi Vs Shunma Katsumata & Kouki Iwasaki
3. KUDO, Masahiro Takanashi & Lowther Vs Sanshiro Takagi, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata
4. Danshoku Dieno, Makoto Oishi & Yuki Ueno Vs Tetsuya Endo, Mad Paulie & Nobuhiro Shimatani
5. Shigehiro Irie, Jason Kincaid & Mizuki Watase Vs HARASHIMA, Mike Bailey & MAO
6. Keisuke Ishii Vs Yuki Iino
7. ALL OUT Vs DAMNATION!: Konosuke Takeshita & Akito Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Soma Takao

Injuries to Kota Umeda and Daiki Shimomura leads to some changes on the undercard.

DDT “SHIGEHIRO IRIE DEBUT 10TH ANNIVERSARY MEMORIAL TACHIMUKAU ~PROOF OF MAD BLOOMING HUMAN~”, 29/07/2018
Osaka Taisho Hall

0. Under Match: Mad Paulie & Alex Ace Vs Kouki Iwasaki & Nobuhiro Shimatani
1. Sanshiro Takagi, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Antonio Honda, Akito & Makoto Oishi
2. 3 Way Match: Danshoku Dieno Vs Kazusada Higuchi Vs Naomi Yoshimura
3. KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi Vs HARASHIMA, Gurukun Mask & Rekka
4. 4 Way Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo Vs Mike Bailey & MAO Vs Shunma Katsumata & Yuki Ueno Vs Jason Kincaid & Facade
5. Mizuki Watase Vs Kengo Takai
6. Konosuke Takeshita & HUB Vs Daisuke Harada & Kazuaki Mihara
7. Shigehiro Irie 10th Anniversary Memorial Match: Shigehiro Irie Vs Keisuke Ishii Vs Soma Takao

Shigehiro Irie is getting his wish to defend the KO-D Openweight Title in America. Next week he is travelling to Dayton, Ohio to compete in Rockstar Pro Wrestling. On 1st August, Irie is putting the title on the line in a 3 Way Match against Trey Miguel and Jake Crist. Due to this tour, Irie will miss the entire Beer Garden series happening back in Japan.

DDT “FIGHTING BEER GARDEN 2018 ~DAMNATION DAY~”, 30/07/2018
Shinjuku FACE

0. Under Match ~ Crocodile Death Match: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Masahiro Takanashi
1. Soma Takao Produce DAMNATION New Member Assessment Match: Soma Takao & Shota Vs PSYCHO & CHANGO
2. DAMNATION Vs Metal Family!: Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie Vs Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi & SAGAT
3. Shuji Ishikawa & Kohei Sato Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Iino
4. DAMNATION Vs NOBUNATION! – Scramble Bunkhouse 10-Man Tornado Tag Death Match: Daisuke Sasaki, Shuji Ishikawa, Soma Takao, Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie Vs Nobuhiro Shimatani, X, X, X & X

All five members of DAMNATION are ready to step up to whatever the rebellious Nobuhiro Shimatani will throw at them.

DDT “FIGHTING BEER GARDEN 2018 ~ KING OF DDT 2018 1ST ROUND”, 31/07/2018
Shinjuku FACE

1. King Of DDT 2018 – Round 1A: KUDO Vs Akito
2. King Of DDT 2018 – Round 1B: Gota Ihashi Vs Keisuke Ishii
3. King Of DDT 2018 – Round 1C: Mike Bailey Vs Nobuhiro Shimatani
4. King Of DDT 2018 – Round 1D: Shunma Katsumata Vs Alex Ace
5. King Of DDT 2018 – Round 1E: Hoshitango Vs Yukio Sakaguchi
6. King Of DDT 2018 – Round 1F: Yuki Iino Vs Some Takao
7. King Of DDT 2018 – Round 1G: Toru Owashi Vs Mizuki Watase
8. King Of DDT 2018 – Round 1H: Mad Paulie Vs HARASHIMA
9. King Of DDT 2018 – Round 1I: Sanshiro Takagi Vs MAO
10. King Of DDT 2018 – Round 1J: Saki Akai Vs Masahiro Takanashi
11. King Of DDT 2018 – Round 1K: Tetsuya Endo Vs Gorgeous Matsuno
12. King Of DDT 2018 – Round 1L: Tomomitsu Matsunaga Vs Kazusada Higuchi
13. King Of DDT 2018 – Round 1M: Kouki Iwasaki Vs Antonio Honda
14. King Of DDT 2018 – Round 1N: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Jason Kincaid
15. King Of DDT 2018 – Round 1O: Yuki Ueno Vs Tanomusaku Toba
16. King Of DDT 2018 – Round 1P: Naomi Yoshimura Vs Konosuke Takeshita

Shimomura injured his left MCL and will be out of action for a while. Saki Akai replaces him in the King Of DDT tournament.

DDT “FIGHTING BEER GARDEN 2018 ~SHUTEN-DOJI & HARASHIMA DAY~”, 01/08/2018
Shinjuku FACE

1. NEO Biishiki-gun Vs Gatoh Move: Sakisama, Martha & Yoshikosama Vs Emi Sakura, Riho & Mei Suruga
2. Shuten-dōji Vs Hebikai Tensai!: KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi Vs JARASHIMA, Hoshihebi & Kazusada Jaguchi (w/ Poison Sawada JULIE)
3. HARASHIMA, KUDO & Danshoku Dieno Vs Brahman Shu, Brahman Kei & Gorgeous Matsuno

Former KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions return to DDT. The Brahman Brothers always make a mess and Gorgeous Matsuno likes to join in.

DDT “FIGHTING BEER GARDEN 2018 ~DANSHOKU DIENO & SUPER SASADANGO MACHINE DAY~”, 02/08/2018
Shinjuku FACE

0. Today’s Gruelling Under Match ~ Terrible Gruesomeness: Hisaya Imabayashi Vs Tetsuya Koda
1. Warming Up Muscle: Super Sasadango Machine Vs Antonio Honda Vs Choun-Shiryu Vs Pedro Takashi Vs Yasu Urano Vs X
2. Our Lariat Pro Wrestling ’18: Keisuke Ishii, Antonio Honda & Rekka Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Yumehito Imanari
3. The Usual Sandman Match: X Vs X

DDT is warning all visitors to bring towels and a change of clothes because a lot of food and beer will be thrown around during The Sandman match.

Almost one year ago Hisaya Imabayashi (then Amon Tsurumi) and Tetsuya Koda had a match to determine if Imabayashi could keep his job as the DDT General Manager. Koda won that battle but Imabayashi was able to stick around. No is time for the rematch! Imabayashi is representing his local theatre group. Koda is representing the Hello Project Official Fan Club (his membership number is 022-058729).

DDT “FIGHTING BEER GARDEN 2018 ~ALL OUT DAY~”, 03/08/2018
Shinjuku FACE

0. Under Match ~ Trans-Am ★ Yoga Classroom: Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi Vs X
1. Matsunaga Formula Drunk Match: Tomomitsu Matsunaga Vs KUDO Vs Keisuke Ishii Vs X
2. Triple Main Event – ??? Rules: Shunma Katsumata Vs Violento Jack
3. Triple Main Event: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Kuishinbo Kamen
4. Triple Main Event: Akito Vs Isami Kodaka

An excellent choice by Akito.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “FIGHTING BEER GARDEN 2018 ~TOKYO JOSHI PRO DAY~”, 04/08/2018
Shinjuku FACE

1. Yeah! Metcha Tag Tournament 2018 Summer – Round 1A: Reika Saiki & Miu Vs Yuu & Yuki Kamifuku
2. Yeah! Metcha Tag Tournament 2018 Summer – Round 1B: Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki Vs Nodoka-oneesan & Raku
3. Yeah! Metcha Tag Tournament 2018 Summer – Round 1C: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao Vs Yuna Manase & Hinano
4. Yeah! Metcha Tag Tournament 2018 Summer – Round 1D: Hikari & Yuki Aino Vs Miyu Yamashita & Maki Ito
5. Yeah! Metcha Tag Tournament 2018 Summer – Semi-Final: Winners Of Match 1A Vs Winners Of Match 1B
6. Yeah! Metcha Tag Tournament 2018 Summer – Semi-Final: Winners Of Match 1C Vs Winners Of Match 1D
7. Sakisama & Martha Vs Azusa Christie & Yukio Saint Laurent
8. Yeah! Metcha Tag Tournament 2018 Summer – Final: X & X Vs X & X

Every tournament match in the 1st Round and semi-finals have a 10 minute time limit. If a match ends in a draw then sudden death will be determined by a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors. The winning team will be rewarded with a one night trip to Karuizawa in Nagano.

DDT “FIGHTING BEER GARDEN 2018 ~ KING OF DDT 2018 2ND ROUND”, 04/08/2018
Shinjuku FACE

1. King Of DDT 2018 – Round 2: Winner Of Match 1A Vs Winner Of Match 1B
2. King Of DDT 2018 – Round 2: Winner Of Match 1C Vs Winner Of Match 1D
3. King Of DDT 2018 – Round 2: Winner Of Match 1E Vs Winner Of Match 1F
4. King Of DDT 2018 – Round 2: Winner Of Match 1G Vs Winner Of Match 1H
5. King Of DDT 2018 – Round 2: Winner Of Match 1I Vs Winner Of Match 1J
6. King Of DDT 2018 – Round 2: Winner Of Match 1K Vs Winner Of Match 1L
7. King Of DDT 2018 – Round 2: Winner Of Match 1M Vs Winner Of Match 1N
8. King Of DDT 2018 – Round 2: Winner Of Match 1O Vs Winner Of Match 1P

The bracket will be reshuffled after this round.

BASARA “FIGHTING BEER GARDEN 2018 ~BASARA DAY~”, 05/08/2018
Shinjuku FACE

1. Crash! BASARA x DOVE Battle: FUMA, Takumi Tsukamoto, Yusuke Kubo & Takato Nakano Vs “brother” YASSHI, Kenshin Chikano, Yuki Aoki & Kohei Kinoshita
2. Rey Paloma Management “Acapulco” Ownership Acquisition Anomaly Battle Royale: Rey Paloma Vs Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi Vs SAGAT Vs Gouma Ryu Vs Best Stretchman V3
3. Crash! BASARA x DOVE Battle ~ Drunkers Match: Isami Kodaka Vs Shoichi Uchida
4. Crash! BASARA x DOVE Battle ~ Hardcore Tag Match: Ryota Nakatsu & Ryuichi Sekine Vs Gunso & Kabuki Kid
5. DOVE World Title – Crash! BASARA x DOVE Battle: Naoki Tanizaki (c) vs Fuminori Abe

Isami Kodaka has really enjoyed doing beer bashes lately.

DDT “FIGHTING BEER GARDEN 2018 ~DDT~”, 05/08/2018
Shinjuku FACE

1. X Vs X

Nothing is announced yet. Past years have featured a fan lottery 6-Man Tag Match involving the main eventers.

DDT “DDT LIVE! MAJI MANJI #13”, 07/08/2018
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Konosuke Takeshita, Akito & Shunma Katsumata (c) Vs Kendo Kashin, NOSAWA Rongai & Keisuke Okuda

Kendo Kashin is bringing in a team of IGF wrestlers to challenge for the KO-D 6-Man Tag Titles. However even he is convinced that they cannot win the championships after watching ALL OUT successfully defend them on Tuesday. He wants a golf style handicap put in place to make up for the skills mismatch. Kashin has requested for the IGF team to also include Sanshiro Takagi, Ken Ohka and Yukinori Matsui to make it a 6 Vs 3 match.


DDT “DDT LIVE! MAJI MANJI #12” Results

July 24, 2018

DDT “DDT LIVE! MAJI MANJI #12”, 24/07/2018
Shin-Kiba 1st RING
240 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

0. NO TV Match: Mad Paulie defeated Mizuki Watase with a Crushed La Magistral Cradle (6:07).
0. NO TV Match: Naomi Yoshimura defeated Facade with the Shonenba (7:25).
1. Soma Takao & Tetsuya Endo defeated Daiki Shimomura & Nobuhiro Shimatani when Takao pinned Shimatani with the Sorarina (5:01).
2. Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata defeated Antonio Honda & Kazusada Higuchi when Hirata pinned Hona with the Miracle One Shot Cradle (11:16).
3. 4 Way Tag Match: Mike Bailey & MAO defeated HARASHIMA & Masahiro Takanashi, Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi and Keisuke Ishii & Yuki Ueno when Bailey pinned Oishi with the Ultima Weapon (6:35).
4. Loser Loses By Crying Rules: Tenshin Nasukawa defeated Ken Ohka when Nasukawa made Ohka cry.
5. Special Hardcore Tag Match: Shigehiro Irie & Jason Kincaid defeated Jun Kasai & Daisuke Sasaki when Irie pinned Sasaki with the Beast Bomber (16:02).
6. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Konosuke Takeshita, Akito & Shunma Katsumata (c) defeated Meiko Satomura, DASH Chisako & Cassandra Miyagi when Takeshita pinned Miyagi with the German Suplex (17:33).
*V1 for ALL OUT.

The Sendai Girls brought it to ALL OUT today with a difficult title defence for the champions to overcome. DASH Chisako climbed the entrance gate at the stage and dove onto ALL OUT below. The champions were rattled but recovered enough to fight back. Konosuke Takeshita got to clash with Meiko Satomura yet the finish came down to Takeshita pinning Cassandra Miyagi with the German Suplex.

After the match Takeshita thanked the Sendai Girls for the match. He then told Satomura that he wants to fight the strongest wrestlers be they man or woman. That means he wants to fight her in a singles match some day. When the Girls left, “Sky Walk” suddenly played over the speakers and Kendo Kashin came out. He invited Sanshiro Takagi, Ken Ohka and even Yukinori Matsui to join him in the ring and stand across from ALL OUT. Takeshita asked if this was the next team to challenge them for the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles. Kashin said he will be one of the challengers along with NOSAWA Rongai and Keisuke Okuda. There was no reason for the others to be there. Everyone was confused but Kashin handed everyone a beer and asked for a toast. He then threw the beer at ALL OUT and announced their title match will take place on 7th August.

A fan vote was made to determine a special weapon for the Hardcore Tag Match. The AbemaTV audience overwhelmingly voted for Option D: Nobuhiro Shimatani wrapped in barbed wire. He didn’t enjoy it. Meanwhile it looked like the past problems between Daisuke Sasaki & Jun Kasai were water under the bridge. They gelled together as a team as they brawled with Shigehiro Irie & Jason Kincaid. Cracks began to form when Kasai tried to stab Irie in the head with bamboo skewers but hit Sasaki instead. Later Kasai and Sasaki brought in a board with knife blades sticking out of it. Sasaki placed it on Irie and Kasai went for the Pearl Harbour Splash. Sasaki then thought it would be funny to flip the board over so Kasai landed on the knives! An angry Kasai attacked Sasaki and gave him the Reverse Tiger Driver. Irie grabbed Sasaki and gave him a Fire Thunder through a ladder at ringside. Kincaid hit the Philosopher’s Stomp and Irie hit the Beast Bomber to win the match.

The time finally came for Ken Ohka to get his ass kicked. Tenshin Nasukawa was healthy enough to come in and literally kick Ohka in the ass. But first he wanted a warm up. A dummy with Ken Ohka’s face was brought out and Nasukawa kicked its head off. The challenge for Ohka was to take the kick up the backside and go ten seconds without crying. Nasukawa kicked Ohka, Ohka tried to tough it out but was quickly reduced to tears. Ohka accepted defeat and realises it is another painful lesson for him to learn in order to make pro wrestling a major sport.

With Kota Umeda missing the show due to injury, Makoto Oishi claimed he was now the most exciting person on “DDT LIVE! MAJI MANJI” and the undisputed Mr. Maji Manji. He challenged the other wrestlers in the 4 Way Tag to bring their best to impress him. That backfired when Mike Bailey & MAO did their work to beat him. Oishi’s partner Danshoku Dieno was too busy chasing after Yuki Ueno to stop the pin. MAO credited Oishi’s hard work and Ueno’s support for the victory. Bailey & MAO have a lot of momentum after winning the KO-D Tag Team Titles on Sunday. MAO just wants everyone to ignore the fact they don’t have a team name yet.

Today was Kazuki Hirata’s first proper appearance on Maji Manji so it was the first time the show got to experience the “TOKYO GO” shenanigans.

Nobuhiro Shimatani didn’t want to get covered in barbed wire for the Hardcore Match so he wanted that role to be given to the loser of the opening match he was in. He became that loser anyway.

A draft to determine where the DNA wrestlers will move to when DNA closes down will take place on 14th August.