DDT “ULTIMATE PARTY 2025” Results

November 3, 2025

DDT “ULTIMATE PARTY 2025”, 03/11/2025
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
??? Fans – Unannounced

1. Sanshiro Takagi Return Match – Special Single Match: Sanshiro Takagi defeated Hinata Kasai with the Texas Cloverleaf (7:07).
2. HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi & Naomi Yoshimura defeated Soma Takao, Shinichiro Kawamatsu & Rukiya when HARASHIMA pinned Rukiya with the Somato (10:05).
3. Special 8-Man Tag Match: Hideki Okatani, MJ Paul, Demus & Ilusion defeated Daichi Sato, Yuki Ishida, Kazuma Sumi & Kumadori when Ilusion pinned Sumi with the Swanton Bomb (11:03).
4. DDT Extreme Title – 5 Way Blindfold Death Match: To-y (c) defeated Akito, Super Sasadango Machine, Kazuki Hirata and Antonio Honda when To-y pinned Hirata with a Crucifix Pin (14:13).
*V4 for To-y.
5. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Shinya Aoki & Yuya Koroku defeated Tetsuya Endo, HAYATA & Junta Miyawaki when Akiyama pinned Miyawaki with the Exploder Suplex (14:53).
6. Special Single Match: AMAKUSA defeated Daisuke Sasaki with the Kaikoku (16:23).
7. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Survival 3 Way Match: MAO & KANON (w/ KIMIHIRO) defeated Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya (c) and Chihiro Hashimoto & Yuu (17:48).
7a. Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya (c) eliminated Chihiro Hashimoto & Yuu when Iino pinned Yuu with the Spear (11:14).
7b. MAO & KANON eliminated Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya (c) when MAO pinned Naya with the Cannonball 450 (17:48).
*The Apex fails in V6. Strange Love Connection become the 88th KO-D Tag Team Champions!
8. Dramatic Dream Match: Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Chris Brookes with the European Clutch (26:03).
9. Special Tag Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA & Kaisei Takechi defeated Kazusada Higuchi & Takeshi Masada when TAKESHITA pinned Masada with the Raging Fire (24:14).
10. KO-D Openweight Title & DDT Universal Title: Yuki Ueno (K/c) defeated Minoru Suzuki (U/c) with the Frog Splash (34:30).
*V2 for Yuki Ueno. Minoru Suzuki fails at V6. Yuki Ueno becomes the 19th DDT Universal Champion!

Everyone in DDT can now breath a sigh of relief. Yuki Ueno was able to clean up the mess he caused in the first place as promised and for that he now stands on top of the company as both the KO-D Openweight Champion and now the DDT Universal Champion! That now makes him the first person to hold both of those belts at the same time. Minoru Suzuki made him fight for it and nearly took his leg off in the process. He targeted Ueno’s left leg throughout the match including attacking it with a chair and using an extended chain of submissions to try and make him kick. Ueno brought out moves like the Blizzard Suplex and the Bastard Driver but couldn’t go for the pin after using the WR. Suzuki wanted to take advantage of it but Ueno planted Dropkick right to his face before slamming him down with another WR. Suzuki kicked out but Ueno then jumped off the top rope with the Frog Splash and that was the end of it.

As Suzuki was leaving the ring in defeat, Ueno got on the microphone and thanked him because despite being different from each other, Suzuki still always treated Ueno like a pro wrestler. Suzuki will be welcomed back into DDT so they can fight again whenever he wants. Ueno is also looking forward with new goals in mind. First he wants to inspire everyone with his wrestling because watching wrestling will always make your day better. The other goal is he wants to bring DDT to the Tokyo Dome with all of his friends and colleagues from the company involved! Until that day comes DDT will always have their monthly Korakuen Hall shows and yearly visits to Sumo Hall where everyone will continue working hard and having fun.

Ueno then asked if there was anyone out there who wants to be next to challenge him? Suddenly Super Sasadango Machine appeared with an unexpected PowerPoint Presentation to show everyone. He admitted it was a good thing Ueno won his match because if he didn’t then Sasadango wasted his time making it. During the presentation Sasadango talked about Ueno being a respectable public figure in both wrestling and the entertainment industry but it is all a lie! His proof is when Sasadango fought Ueno nearly one year ago, Sasadango used thumbtacks that ended up leaving an L-shaped scar on Ueno’s stomach. Ueno won the match and promised that if he ever became KO-D Champion again he would nominate Sasadango as his challenger and get revenge for the scar. Well now the L stands for Lie because Ueno became KO-D Champion twice in 2025 and he never once gave Sasadango the title shot he promised him! Ueno understood his complaint and accepted his challenge for a KO-D Title match. He also offered to put the Universal Title on the line because Sasadango’s other gimmick Muscle Sakai originally retired after wrestling Minoru Suzuki. Sasadango said he is ready to win both championships except he doesn’t have the energy right now so they can do the match at Korakuen on 30th November.

The show finished with the big ending where Ueno reunited with The 37KAMIINA at the entrance and then passed by many wrestlers in the hallway. Suzuki was among them and he told Ueno this isn’t the end between them. He then entered the dressing room but it was empty. Konosuke Takeshita followed him inside and the two talked about maybe doing a champion versus champion match with each other some day. The rest of the DDT roster started filling in, including Danshoku Dieno and they all ended the show with a big group farewell to the camera.

Takeshita made his big return to DDT as the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion fresh off of defending the belt on a New Japan show. Here he was teaming up with DDT’s next big superstar hope Kaisei Takechi facing a team of wrestlers they consider their respective rivals. Takeshita wanted to wrestle Kazusada Higuchi again while Takechi wanted to measure up with Takeshi Masada. While those two pairings were the focus of the match, there was a crossover of opponents that took place too. Takechi cut off a charge from Higuchi with the Swan Dive Forearm while Masada got a nearfall on Takeshita with the Masada No Chikara KOBU Mukimuki. Masada tried to weaken further with Middle Kicks but Takeshita blew him back with an Elbow Strike and stunned him with the Wagamama. Takechi was then able to keep Higuchi away while Takeshita pinned Masada with the Raging Fire.

Both sides showed respect to each other after the match but when Takeshita offered to shake hands with his own partner, Takechi slapped away his hand instead and the two had a stare down in the ring. Takeshita then walked off by himself. Backstage he said he felt how much his opponents have grown and he wanted this match to send a message to Higuchi that he still has a lot more to offer. He’s been keeping an eye on Takechi since he debut and thinks his behavior after the match was his way of saying he wants to fight him. Takechi pretty much confirmed it and said he will work hard everyday so they can stand in the same ring together again. Higuchi said the other team are getting a lot of attention but fans should not overlook Harimao or SCHADENFREUDE International too for that matter. Masada admitted to feeling jealous of Takechi but he will take this loss as a positive one for his wrestling career. He’ll look forward to the day he can get revenge.

There is no bond in wrestling closer than the one shared between Chris Brookes and Zack Sabre Jr… Ok, yeah that’s a lie. The two are pretty close friends and today was their first singles match against each other in eight years but something felt a little off. Yukinori Matsui was ever so slightly acting lenient towards Brookes while being ever so slightly harsh towards Sabre. It then turned scandalous when Sabre had Brookes pinned for certain victory yet Matsui suffered a crisis of conscience during the pinfall and couldn’t count to three. The lights dimmed and Matsui’s heart revealed tender moments spent with Brookes up on the arena screen. Things went south after a ref bump and Brookes summoned Munetatsu Nakamura to come in and attack Sabre. Antonio Honda followed with a chair but he too hesitated to take action. More scandal broke out when Honda’s heart revealed tender moments he has shared with Sabre on the screen! Honda then tried to attack Brookes with Gongitsune but missed and hit Sabre instead. The match continued and Brookes tried to use the Praying Mantis Bomb. Sabre flipped out of it and tangled his opponent into the European Clutch to get the three count. Afterwards the two of them kissed, made up and walked off back up the ramp hand in hand. They said they should do this again in another eight years time. Sabre questioned Brookes over the ethics of a wrestler romancing the referee while Brookes called Sabre being with Honda a forbidden love between NJPW and DDT. They suggested maybe the two couples fight each other in a tag match next time.

The last team standing in the Survival 3 Way would be going home with the KO-D Tag Team Titles. No tags were needed so the match was chaos when all three teams were involved. The Apex grabbed KIMIHIRO and threw him out of the ring onto the rest of Strange Love Connection. They were then targeted by Team 200kg particularly so Yuki Iino and Chihiro Hashimoto could fight each other again. Iino was able to knock down both Team 200kg wrestlers and went on to pin Yuu with the Spear for the first elimination. SLC had to find the power needed to beat The Apex and MAO found it in order to give Yukio Naya the Michinoku Driver II. Naya was also accidentally drilled with the Spear from Iino and KANON cause more damage by giving him the LONELY DEZIRES. MAO followed up with the Cannonball 450 for the win, earning SLC the KO-D Tag Titles for the first time in the team’s existence. KANON said he wants the team to become historic champions so the DDT fans will always remember them. MAO brought up being tag champions with Mike Bailey and VENY in the past. He wants KANON to keep climbing so he can stand shoulder to shoulder with those two. He also wants the team to cause a big stir so they can make more money! Yuu felt regret over not being able to win a DDT championship for Team 200kg’s only appearance on a DDT Ryogoku show. Hashimoto enjoyed the experience but noticed Iino became quiet whenever they were in the ring together. She might continue showing up in DDT just so she can beat him again.

Daisuke Sasaki’s important match of the show went from one end of the spectrum all the way to the other because of Dasnhoku Dieno’s health problems. With Dieno unable to wrestle, Sasaki instead face AMAKUSA, the current persona of his SUPER CREW classmate from 20 years ago Yuki Sato. However AMAKUSA was all in on his current gimmick and had no memory of who Sasaki was. Sasaki tried cheating to win but when that wasn’t getting him the results he wanted, he then took a page out of Dieno’s book and gave AMAKUSA the Lip Lock! He then teased a set up of the Danshoku Driver but instead used his old NOW OR NEVER finisher for a nearfall. AMAKUSA survived taking La Mistica Crossface Lock and used an Elevated Magistral Driver followed by the Pedigree. That was all to put Sasaki in position for AMAKUSA’s Spiral Tap style finisher, the Kaikoku for the victory.

After the match AMAKUSA got on the microphone to remind everyone he has no past but the match he just had rekindled a memory of fighting Sasaki in a small venue twenty years ago. It was both their first match and now twenty years later they got to have a match together in Ryogoku! AMAKUSA has never felt more grateful for pro wrestling than he does today. The two shook hands and hugged while Sasaki told “Sato” not to cry. He said it doesn’t matter if the person in front of him is Yuki Sato or AMAKUSA but his kiss definitely tasted like Sato. AMAKUSA said he doesn’t remember that part of the match. What he does hope to remember though is meeting Sasaki again 25 years from now. Sasaki brought up all the different times they wrestled anniversary matches with each other, the previous being six years ago. He admits the things AMAKUSA has done in NOAH since then means AMAKUSA has surpassed him but he will always have battles with Yuki Sato.

After spending the last 10 months in NOAH, Tetsuya Endo returned to DDT for a day for the other DDT Vs NOAH match of the show. He teamed up with NOAH wrestlers HAYATA & Junta Miyawaki to take on his former allies from BURNING along with Shinya Aoki. There was a little extra BURNING energy on display when Yuya Koroku use Yusuke Okada’s Intercept DDT on Endo. Aoki then did a dive out of the ring to wipe out Endo & HAYATA. Miyawaki tried to tough it out against Jun Akiyama but he eventually fell to the Knee Lift and Exploder Suplex. Endo said the buds he is nurturing in NOAH this year haven’t blossomed yet. He is going to spend a little more time in NOAH so he can bring back the best gift possible for DDT, the GHC Heavyweight Title! However Koroku felt disappointed that Endo wouldn’t even look at him during the match because at last year’s “ULTIMATE PARTY” they were challenging for the KO-D Tag Titles. He wants to get better so Endo will set his sights on him the next time they are in the ring together.

Swerve! We all thought the Blindfold Death Match meant all five wrestlers involved would fight each other while blindfolded. However none of them actually wanted to go through with the stipulation so it was decided that the referee would be blindfolded instead! Yukinori Matsui had no vision whatsoever so he missed out of different finishes as well as weapon usage and other blatant cheating. To-y fought off his four challengers and even had Kazuki Hirata beat when suddenly two masked men that turned out to be Hirata’s hired goons interfered. Matsui tripped over Hirata which then caused Antonio Honda to trip over him. Matsui later walked right into a bear trap which caused Daisuke Kiso to come down as the replacement. He too was blindfolded and had to be led down to the ring by HARASHIMA. Sasadango hit him over the back with a giant mace to stop him counting Akito’s pin on To-y. Honda unmasked Sasadango so he could poke him in the eyes with Gongitsune. He then missed the Diving Fist Drop, landing fist first into the bear trap. Hirata knocked down To-y with a Mecha Fist and pinned him in a relaxed manner. To-y rolled him back in a Crucifix Pin mid-count and Matsui continued counting to three. To-y guided him into raising his hand as the winner so he was officially declared the winner and still the DDT Extreme Champion.

After the match To-y told everyone the Extreme Title belt must love him because it won’t leave his side. He then said anyone can challenge him whenever they want. Then during his celebration, Sanshiro Takagi walked up to him and gave him the Stunner. Takagi told To-y he is the one who created the Extreme Title in the first place so he is going to be the next challenger! To-y promised that as champion he will do something so chaotic it will make Takagi go crazy. It was later decided that their title match will happen on 30th November.

“ULTIMATE PARTY” is where Kumadori made his pro wrestling debut last year so he was back for this year’s event alongside the rest of O-MENZ for a big ring entrance. DAMNATION T.A ruined the vibe by attacking the other team from the get go. Demus tortured Kazuma Sumi while Hideki Okatani paired off with Yuki Ishida. That left the two big boys MJ Paul and Daichi Sato fighting each other to a stalemate. Ilusion got one over on Kumadori once more by giving him a Low Blow. He also set up some teamwork with Demus to put Sumi away for the finish.

Three former members of DISASTER BOX teamed up for Match #2. While HARASHIMA was happy to shake hands with his opponents, Naomi Yoshimura had a faceoff with Rukiya before the match even started. Toru Owashi and Soma Takao started off instead and when Rukiya tagged in, he quickly targeted Yoshimura and went to fight him instead. Shinichiro Kawamatsu got Yoshimura with the Shitamachi Rocket and hit HARASHIMA with the Somato. But HARASHIMA turned things around on Rukiya and pinned him with the Somato despite a spirited effort from the rookie.

Sanshiro Takagi officially returned to the ring after taking a year and four months off for company management and also health reasons. He chose the rookie Hinata Kasai to be his first opponent because there is something about him that draws him in for reasons other than being Jun Kasai’s son. Takagi was happy to be back while Kasai couldn’t help but show his excitement whenever it looked like he was about to get his first win. Takagi broke him down using the Spicolli Driver followed by the McEnroe Lariat to the leg. He then applied the Texas Cloverleaf to make Kasai give up. After the match Kasai refused to shake Takagi’s hand but backstage he took back all of the times he made fun of his boss for gassing out so easily. Kasai has been watching wrestling since he was a kid though so he knows how this thing works. The wrestling ring isn’t the only place where DDT holds matches so he will one day get a win over Takagi no matter where it literally takes place! Takagi talked about how this match was actually his proper 30th anniversary match but nobody hyped it up that way. He knows how much Kasai loves DDT and that is what he chose him to be in the match. Takagi still has issues over his own conditioning and even mentally wanted to give up halfway through the match. But a pro wrestler keeps going as long as they have the will to. He doesn’t know how often he will be wrestling from this point forward but he is going to treat it with an independent wrestler’s mindset and find his place in life from now on.

Both Shunma Katsumata and Kazuma Sumi kicked off the show with an NωA Jr. performance.

Akito gave reporters an overview of the show at the very end of the evening. He praised AMAKUSA for stepping in on short notice to be Dieno’s replacement for Sasaki. He is grateful to everyone in NOAH for being so accommodating about it. In regards to Ueno’s comments about bringing DDT to the Tokyo Dome, Akito said the great thing about DDT is they allow wrestlers to make their dreams come true. They could only book Sumo Hall once this year because of venue renovations giving them limited scheduling options but next year DDT wants to book the arena twice to build up to the company’s 20th anniversary in 2027. Akito doesn’t know if the Tokyo Dome will ever become part of those place but DDT will do its best to make dreams come true for its fans.


DDT “ULTIMATE PARTY 2025” Preview

November 3, 2025

DDT “ULTIMATE PARTY 2025”, 03/11/2025
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

1. Sanshiro Takagi Return Match – Special Single Match: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Hinata Kasai
2. HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi & Naomi Yoshimura Vs Soma Takao, Shinichiro Kawamatsu & Rukiya
3. Special 8-Man Tag Match: Hideki Okatani, MJ Paul, Demus & Ilusion Vs Daichi Sato, Yuki Ishida, Kazuma Sumi & Kumadori
4. DDT Extreme Title – 5 Way Blindfold Death Match: To-y (c) Vs Akito Vs Super Sasadango Machine Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Antonio Honda
5. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo, HAYATA & Junta Miyawaki Vs Jun Akiyama, Shinya Aoki & Yuya Koroku
6. Special Single Match: Daisuke Sasaki Vs AMAKUSA
7. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Survival 3 Way Match: Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya (c) Vs MAO & KANON (w/ KIMIHIRO) Vs Chihiro Hashimoto & Yuu
8. Dramatic Dream Match: Zack Sabre Jr. Vs Chris Brookes
9. Special Tag Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA & Kaisei Takechi Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Takeshi Masada
10. KO-D Openweight Title & DDT Universal Title: Yuki Ueno (K/c) Vs Minoru Suzuki (U/c)

I waited way too long to get this done in time. So long that I’m too tired to write up a proper introduction. It’s DDT back at Sumo Hall. There you go, I’m off to bed.


1. Sanshiro Takagi Return Match – Special Single Match: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Hinata Kasai

Welcome back, boss. Things just haven’t been the same without you. This year has felt like Sanshiro Takagi’s influence around DDT as a whole wasn’t entirely there, and for good reason. He had taken a leave of absence as a wrestler July 2024 to focus on his behind the scenes role with CyberFight while also taking better care of his health. He kept it quiet until announcing his return but the health problem he had was angina. He still found ways to stay busy in the public eye because 2025 is his 30th year in wrestling. He celebrated it by launching more DDT spin off brands, the first being MatchMake & Agent which was then turned into Super Japan, an alternate look of the company if it went by that name instead of DDT. These shows captured the island of misfit toys vibe from DDT’s past that just doesn’t exist today while also giving Takagi some sneaky ways to get physical again on his journey back to the ring.

For his return match, Takagi has put himself in the opening bout of the show. His logic is the first match on the card is the second most important match after the main event because it sets the stage for the rest of the show. He needed the right opponent, someone he has never fought before yet still have some sort of connection with so fans will care. Luckily he has just the rookie to fit that bill. Earlier this year one of DDT’s new rookies drew some attention by revealing his name is Hinata Kasai, the son of Jun Kasai! He made the decision to follow in his father’s footsteps and was guided towards joining DDT to become a pro wrestler. So far his skills in the ring aren’t anything to write home about but he got the crowd on his side from the get go and is able to draw sympathy from getting beaten down. He’s looking forward to his Sumo Hall debut and thinks he will make easy work of Takagi. He shouldn’t be underestimating him like that. After all, Takagi was the man who once flushed Hinata’s father fully down the toilet during a Falls Count Anywhere match inside this very building!


2. HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi & Naomi Yoshimura Vs Soma Takao, Shinichiro Kawamatsu & Rukiya

Not much to write about for this match. The highlight of HARASHIMA’s 2025 was getting to share the ring with Hiroshi Tanahashi again and fully patch over an unpleasant memory from ten years ago. Toru Owashi was around to see his little friend win DDT’s biggest championship and Naomi Yoshimura is rightfully taking his time with getting comfortable in the ring again coming back from injury. Soma Takao still exists to shill the Dropkick Bar while I guess Shinichiro Kawamatsu will continue getting booked so he can do the Axe Bomber in tribute to the late Hulk Hogan. Back in August, Rukiya was able to wrestle matches again after spending over a year on the shelf with a cervical sprain. Given how short his career has been so far, having to start all over again from scratch isn’t as much of a setback as it sounds in his case. He is catching up to the other wrestlers in the D GENERATIONS class and knock on wood should get a moment in the spotlight next year much like the others have gotten in 2025.


3. Special 8-Man Tag Match: Hideki Okatani, MJ Paul, Demus & Ilusion Vs Daichi Sato, Yuki Ishida, Kazuma Sumi & Kumadori

The leader of DAMNATION T.A has a big match later down the card so the rest of the unit are stuck in an 8-Man Tag. Hideki Okatani came back from injury during the first quarter of the year with a chip on his shoulder and immediately joined DAMNATION T.A so he can get violent about it. MJ Paul continues to be around as the low card heavy muscle while the unit now has the grimy luchador Demus reuniting with them for a while (I heard a rumour he was minding an egg back in Mexico). Ilusion has gotten a lot of screen time this year by getting to speak on the microphone while everybody else in the unit just stands around brooding and being quiet. They were also fine with him carrying all of the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Title belts whenever they held those titles. Sometimes it pays off to be the little shit of the group.

Facing them are a bunch of wrestlers from DDT’s current young generation. Although they do not have an official unit affiliation, DDT has collectively branded them the D GENERATIONS and they’ve gotten to run their own shows under the name throughout the year. Daichi Sato is the teenage heavyweight that joined DDT from HEAT-UP during the Springtime. The ways things are going for him so far are looking promising and he is already winning matches against other undercard wrestlers. Yuki Ishida can’t help but feel he is the weakest member of Harimao and is trying to fight through that mental block. Kazuma Sumi has been figuring out his place on the roster as the speedy high flyer. MIKAMI’s guidance has inspired him to use the 619 as a set up for the School Boy as an effective way to win matches. The odd one out is Kumadori who only wrestles a handful of matches due to his commitment with the O-MENZ dance group. He has the athleticism to become a good wrestler but I don’t know long he wants to do this for.


4. DDT Extreme Title – 5 Way Blindfold Death Match: To-y (c) Vs Akito Vs Super Sasadango Machine Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Antonio Honda

It’s fitting that Halloween just passed because lately To-y has had the enthusiasm of a kid running around playing with fireworks. His run as the DDT Extreme Champion for the second half of the year has been spent finding ways to build up his online presence with match gimmicks built around social media impressions and streamer behavior. To prove he is the modern champion that the title deserves, he wanted his match at Sumo Hall to be against someone from the older generation who most represents DDT’s brand of Extreme wrestling. He didn’t expect there would be a lot of options.

The first person to answer the call was Akito but pretty soon after that Super Sasadango Machine and Kazuki Hirata put out messages on social media demanding to be added as well. Antonio Honda then joined in and at least had the good manners to tell everyone in person at a DDT show. Now all that was left to do is to pick a match stipulation. To-y has gotten into gambling recently so rather than pick the match as he would be expected to as champion, he held played a dice game called Chinchiro with everyone. Sasadango ended up winning and announced the 5 Way will be a Blindfold Death Match! Being blindfolded means everyone’s training will be for nothing if they cannot see while Sasadango never trains anyway so all of his opponents are now on his level. To-y is willing to bet that he can see through his heart and prove he deserves the Extreme Title more than anyone else!


5. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo, HAYATA & Junta Miyawaki Vs Jun Akiyama, Shinya Aoki & Yuya Koroku

The original point of “ULTIMATE PARTY” was to get all of the different promotions connected to DDT involved on the card. It’s not really about that anymore but at least we get to enjoy a DDT Vs NOAH 6-Man Tag match. Shinya Aoki isn’t causing a stir this time around by challenging Kenoh for matches that don’t exist like he did last time. Yuya Koroku is working hard but seems kind of aimless when he isn’t part of a title program. Jun Akiyama is there as a link between both companies. Same with Tetsuya Endo and we’ll likely find out in two months if his excursion will become permanent or not. He played his part in the TEAM 2000X story this year so I don’t know what is left in store for him over there as things currently stand. HAYATA has had the latest season of “MONDAY MAGIC” built around him as the GHC Hardcore Openweight Champion. While I had been following that series, I don’t watch enough of normal NOAH to know what Junta Miyawaki has been up to. As far as I know the only NOAH storylines going on is somebody joins TEAM 2000X, NOSAWA Rongai books something random or somebody gets mad at Naomichi Marufuji and burns a bridge.


6. Special Single Match: Daisuke Sasaki Vs AMAKUSA

Breath a sigh of relief because the original plan for this match was going to be very different. DDT had wanted to do Danshoku Dieno against Daisuke Sasaki in a rematch of the infamous “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2018” main event where Dieno wrestled part of the bout completely butt fucking naked. Dieno had just gotten out of surgery from acute appendicitis and claimed to have had every last drop of toxicity taken out of his body so this match was going to be the most clean match ever. Sadly for Dieno he developed an intra-abdominal abscess after his surgery and is unable to wrestle for the time being. So that’s him off the Sumo Hall card and Sasaki is now in need of a new opponent.

DDT then decided to go in a completely different direction for the replacement match. Sasaki is now going to face AMAKUSA, the junior heavyweight missionary from NOAH. On the surface this looks like a random pairing but if you delve into the history of both wrestlers you will see they are closely linked. For you see, AMAKUSA is the former Yuki Sato and he debuted in the same SUPER CREW class as Sasaki that was mentored by Dick Togo. Not only that but the two of them faced each other in their debut match! Sasaki was the winner and they would continue to cross each other’s paths for many years until Sato disappeared from the wrestling scene in 2019. That was around the time when Sato joined NOAH under the name Hao and then a few years later transformed into AMAKUSA. His current persona has no memory of ever knowing Sasaki and believes this match will be their first time meeting each other.


7. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Survival 3 Way Match: Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya (c) Vs MAO & KANON (w/ KIMIHIRO) Vs Chihiro Hashimoto & Yuu

A match of truly heavyweight proportions coming from all sides. Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya have become a united force known as The Apex and are currently the tag team to beat in DDT. They won the KO-D Tag Team Titles from Astronauts back in June and have had five successful defences so far against teams of all sizes. However it seems like if there is a team out there that are capable of beating them, it must be a pair of heavyweights. The Strange Love Connection believe they are that team of heavyweights. KANON has blown up in size over the last year and now weighs around 103kg while MAO is claiming he has also bulked up to about 100kg thanks to his square-shaped lifestyle. Meanwhile the only heavy hitting that KIMIHIRO can do is entrance introductions and victory speeches because SLC’s microphone work without him always fall apart.

Just when the match was ready to be booked for Sumo Hall, a third team entered into the picture. Team 200kg from Sendai Girls sent in a video demanding that they be the ones to get a title shot because Chihiro Hashimoto has unfinished business with Iino. The two had clashed several times back when ALL OUT and Sendai Girls feuded in 2019 and Hashimoto had her hand raised in victory in most of those battles. Simply the thought of Hashimoto being nearby has now driven Iino to lose his temper and go searching for her around venues so they can fight again. While all of that is going on, the soon to retire Yuu wants to test her might against Naya thinking she will be too much for him to handle. The solution to this three way dilemma is to make the match Survival rules so the last team standing gets to keep the belts for themselves. MAO promises a match chaotic enough to destroy Sumo Hall itself, although he wants it to only reach the level where SLC destroy their opponents instead.


8. Dramatic Dream Match: Zack Sabre Jr. Vs Chris Brookes

Oh the bittersweet memories of BritWres at its peak. It is what helped get these two to where they are today yet getting out of it at the time they did was probably the smartest decisions they ever made. It sent Zack Sabre Jr. on a journey all the way to the top of New Japan. It also showed the world that Chris Brookes was the perfect fit for DDT as he became that company’s top wrestler too. They were able to reunite here and there in Japan over the last couple of years. There were a few DDT appearances for Sabre and also some sneaky cameos on a couple of Baka Gaijin + Friends related events. But a singles match between the two hasn’t happened since 2017 over on the other side of the world.

Since this is happening on a DDT show you can expect the early part of the match to be a bit relaxed and light hearted. Maybe Brookes will do the rubber band spot. I bet Sabre remembers the days of Brian Conley punching his sidekick and telling the audience “It’s just a puppet!” so he can use Bunbun to recreate that gag and have it fly over the entire audience. Once they get all of that stuff out of the way then they can show us what can happen when things get heated in the ring between close friends. Anyone wanting this to be a proper technical masterclass should probably wait for Sabre’s match with KEITA in THE House to take place and hope that makes tape.


9. Special Tag Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA & Kaisei Takechi Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Takeshi Masada

Want to see what happens when the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion works more shows for DDT than New Japan in the month of November? Hey, I’m not going to complain about it. Konosuke Takeshita made his dramatic dream come true this year by winning the G1 Climax and then the IWGP Title. He is coming fresh off of a successful title defence against Hirooki Goto as well. DDT are capitalizing on this by having him team up with their newest draw, Kaisei Takechi. The handsome entertainer has now joined DDT to wrestle for them on a more regular basis and recently won his first championship, the KO-D 6-Man Tag Titles. Given how important this match is meant to be, Takeshita wanted Kazusada Higuchi to be one of their opponents. He still considers his match with Higuchi from September 2022 as one of his favorites. Takechi then decided he should pick Higuchi’s partner and chose Takeshi Masada because Masada was part of his debut match. It gives Takechi the chance to find out just how much he has grown against someone who can likely become a career long rival.

I’m excited to see Takeshita and Higuchi face off again after so long. DDT’s main event storytelling kind of pulled the rug from under Higuchi this summer as his King Of DDT victory and two month reign on top was brushed aside for a different direction. It probably isn’t something to worry about because as long as he stay healthy he will always be someone they can rely on, maybe not on the level as HARASHIMA but you can count on him staying loyal to them. Masada has become more comfortable as a wrestler by being part of SCHADENFREUDE International. He doesn’t have to worry about being the supernova rookie as first advertised but I hope he doesn’t lose his ambition as time goes by. He had a little taste of New Japan before on a dark match but that was pretty much played for laughs at the time because he had the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title. Maybe seeing Takeshita with the IWGP Title up close can stoke the flames a bit more for him.


10. KO-D Openweight Title & DDT Universal Title: Yuki Ueno (K/c) Vs Minoru Suzuki (U/c)

This entire situation was all Yuki Ueno’s fault and he’s opened the door to making it worse. Back in January Ueno won the DDT Universal Title from Gringo Loco and came up with a grand plan to increase the championship’s value without needing to travel around the world. A couple of months earlier Ueno fought Minoru Suzuki in a tag match that ended in a draw. He wanted to face him again so what better way to lure the “Pirate King” back to DDT than to wave some treasure around to get his attention. A title match was put together at “JUDGEMENT 2025” and Ueno proceeded to balls it all up by losing to Suzuki. So after years of one-off appearances in DDT where Suzuki only showed up to torture Sanshiro Takagi, he had now become one of their champions and decided to stick around to wreck anyone else who dared challenge him. Various challengers of all shapes and sizes stepped up to him just to fall at his feet one after the other. With every victory Suzuki felt more at home in DDT until eventually the time came for him to start looking for the one prize in DDT that is worth even more than the Universal Title.

Ueno was left to regret his decision to bring Suzuki into DDT this way but he got over it in order to come up with another plan to raise his company’s profile. One day he would like to fight Konosuke Takeshita once more and he wants it to happen when both of them are at the height of their powers. Takeshita had the G1 win and later the IWGP Title so Ueno set forth to win back the KO-D Openweight Title. He achieved that at “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2025” in August then suffered another massive blunder when Kazuki Hirata of all people won the belt off him thanks to an impeccably timed Right To Challenge cash in. Ueno got revenge for that one month later with his own deviously planned RTC cash in and now with the belt back around his waist he is ready to lead DDT again. That is until Suzuki showed up wanting to challenge Ueno for the title in order to dominate DDT once and for all. Ueno saw this as his chance to redeem himself by getting Suzuki to put the Universal Title on the line too so we are now going Title Vs Title at Sumo Hall.

While the fate of DDT’s two main championships hang in the balance for the main event, there is not much actual hatred shared between Ueno and Suzuki. Ueno respects Suzuki for the freedom he has achieved as a pro wrestler and how it strengthens him. It inspires Ueno to believe in his own ideas to become stronger. Meanwhile Suzuki is enjoying the time he has spent conquering DDT this year, describing the experience as a new beginning for him. As we’ve seen over the last two decades, Suzuki likes to make himself at home in a company for a couple of years before eventually jumping over to another for a while and then again onto the next place. With that being said, he still took the opportunity at a press conference to attack Ueno in an attempt to injure him before their match. Even if he likes fighting the guy, he’s going to remind Ueno that pro wrestling should be a ruthless business.


DDT “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2025 – DAY 1” Results

August 30, 2025

DDT “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2025 – DAY 1”, 30/08/2025
Tokyo Higashin Arena Main Arena
??? Fans – Unannounced

1. Hinata Kasai Debut Match: HARASHIMA defeated Hinata Kasai with the Somato (10:24).
2. Shinichiro Kawamatsu & Yuki Ishida defeated Soma Takao & Rukiya when Ishida pinned Rukiya with the Flame Palm (6:32).
3. 3 Way Match: Danshoku Dieno defeated Kazuki Hirata and Antonio Honda when Dieno pinned Honda with the Danshoku Driver (9:19).
4. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Ilusion, MJ Paul & Haruto Sakuraba defeated Akito, Naomi Yoshimura & Daichi Sato when Ilusion pinned Akito with the Swanton Bomb (12:21).
5. Special 6-Man Tag Match: MAO, KANON & Kumadori (w/ KIMIHIRO) defeated Yuki Ueno, Shinya Aoki & Kazuma Sumi when MAO pinned Sumi with the Ultra Big Tone (12:11)
6. DDT Extreme Title – Earn Your Own Life!! Pro Wrestling Life Or Death Death Match!: To-y (c) defeated Yuya Koroku by TKO (9:20).
*V2 for To-y.
7. Muscle Sakai 15th Anniversary Of Retirement Match ~ Special Single Match: Minoru Suzuki defeated Muscle Sakai with the Gotch-Style Piledriver (7:42).
8. Dramatic Dream Tag Match: Zack Sabre Jr. & Kosei Fujita defeated Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada when Sabre submitted Masada with the I’ve Mistakely Run To Windsor (19:49).
9. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya (c) defeated Daisuke Sasaki & Hideki Okatani when Naya pinned Sasaki (16:01).
*V2 for The Apex.
10. KO-D Openweight Title: Kazusada Higuchi (c) defeated Jun Akiyama with the Claw Pin (17:41).
*V2 for Kazusada Higuchi.

Two days of “WRESTLE PETER PAN” has begun and with it comes the biggest challenge of Kazuzada Higuchi’s reign as KO-D Openweight Champion. There are two title defences scheduled for this weekend, the first of which saw Higuchi face Jun Akiyama in a title rematch from 2021. Akiyama was the defending champion back then and Higuchi had the chance to get revenge on the legend for that match. Akiyama took a page out of Naomi Yoshimura’s book by using the Harai-goshi to break out of the Wrist-Clutch Exploder Suplex. Akiyama got a big blow in with the Jumping Knee Strike but Higuchi kept kicking out of the Exploder Suplex, including the Wrist-Clutch variation. When Higuchi kicked out of the Wrist-Clutch Exploder, he immediately grabbed Akiyama in the Claw and gave him the Claw Slam. Akiyama kicked out of that but Higuchi put him back in the Claw and used all his strength to pin Akiyama to the mat for the three count.

After the match Higuchi thanked Akiyama for the match. He said Akiyama is as strong and fearsome as ever no matter how old he gets. Akiyama told Higuchi not to call him old because he is a role model to everyone out there in their mid-50s. He encouraged Higuchi to do his best in tomorrow’s defence and if he wins, Akiyama will wrap the KO-D Title belt around his waist. Higuchi then called for tomorrow’s challenger Yuki Ueno to come out to the ring. Ueno apologized for being late and talked about the first time he met Higuchi ten years ago. He called Higuchi an incredible champion that DDT can be proud of. Ueno wants to carry the dreams of everyone in DDT along with everyone who loves DDT so he will go all out to win the KO-D Title tomorrow.

A rough KO-D Tag Team Titles match took its toll on one of the competitors. The Apex and DAMNATION T.A took the fight out of the ring where chairs were used as weapons. MJ Paul then brought the chairs into the ring to attack the champions with. Daisuke Sasaki pulled off one of the corner pads but that proved to be a costly mistake when Yuki Iino drove Sasaki back first into the exposed buckle. Sasaki held onto his side after impact and couldn’t get back up. So when Yukio Naya Choke Slammed Hideki Okatani and snapped his bamboo sword in half, he noticed Sasaki was injured and simply pinned him to win the match. DDT later confirmed that Sasaki suffered an injury to his side and will not be wrestling on tomorrow’s show. Paul will take his place in the 3 Way Tag Match. Meanwhile The Apex will now defend the KO-D Tag Titles again tomorrow because their match with HARASHIMA & Shinya Aoki now has the belts on the line.

Some New Japan involvement is taking place on both nights of “WRESTLE PETER PAN”. The first show had Zack Sabre Jr. & Kosei Fujita from TMDK coming over to face Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada from SCHADENFREUDE International. It was a chance for one pair of friends Sabre and Brookes to wrestle each other for the first time in years while the other pair of friends Masada and Fujita got to wrestle each other for the first time ever. Antonio Honda and Bunbun both got in the way when Honda climbed to the top of the Schadenfreude Tower spot while Bunbun gave Sabre a Headbutt! Sabre got revenge by turning the rubber band spot against Brookes (but only when Yukinori Matsui ordered him to let go of the band) and kicking Bunbun out of the ring! Brookes and Sabre later faced off while putting each other’s partner in Octopus Holds next to each other. Later Fujita took out Brookes with a Suicide Dive while Sabre locked Masada in the I’ve Mistakely Run To Windsor submission hold to win the match.

Brookes thanked Sabre for coming to DDT but brought up how Sabre has always been stronger than him in the 18 years they’ve known each other. Sabre mentioned the last time they had a singles match together was seven years ago in Revolution Pro and they haven’t fought one on one in Japan yet. Brookes then brought up the idea of finally doing that match at Sumo Hall for “ULTIMATE PARTY 2025” on 3rd November! Hisaya Imabayashi asked Sabre if New Japan would be okay with that and he assured them both the company and its president Hiroshi Tanahashi will be fine with the idea. Backstage Sabre said today was so much fun and he’s looking forward to the match featuring the best foreign wrestler in DDT against the best foreign wrestler in NJPW. Fujita said he could feel the pride that DDT wrestlers have for their company. He’d love to fight Masada again in either a New Japan or DDT ring. Masada said if Brookes is going to get a singles match with Sabre, then he would like to get a singles match with Fujita!

Before Muscle Sakai could go out and fight Minoru Suzuki, he decided first to do a PowerPoint Presentation as Super Sasadango Machine to explain why the match was taking place. Sakai originally retired in 2010 to go run the family business in Niigata and his final match was with Suzuki. But in 2012 he got the bug to wrestle again and created the Sasadango gimmick to do it on a local level. The gimmick caught on which led him to working with DDT again more and more then before he knew it, it was like he was a regular again. He heard Suzuki was upset over him breaking his retirement so this match was put together on the 15th anniversary in the hopes that he could clear the air with Suzuki. With that said, the plan to win to the match is for Sakai to hit Minoru Suzuki in the groin.

He also relied on Danshoku Dieno interfering in the match but that only made Suzuki mad. It was all part of the plan though because soon several wrestlers wearing Sasadango masks all entered the ring so Sakai could hide among them. Except they all wore different clothes and Suzuki could easily tell which one was Sakai. He put Sakai in the Sleeper Hold but intentionally stopped him from giving up. Sakai briefly turned the tables with a Low Blow and a few nearfalls but Suzuki blocked the Lehmann Shock, twisted the mask over Sakai’s head backwards to blind him and then gave him the Gotch-Style Piledriver for the win. Suzuki continued to attack him after the match, chasing him backstage with a chair. Suzuki then told reporters he accepts Sakai’s return to wrestling on the condition that Sakai fights him in 100 consecutive matches! He then mocked DDT fans for expecting MAO to beat him for the DDT Universal Title tomorrow. Sakai tried to save face by acting like he was able to push Suzuki to his breaking point today and he is the only one in DDT who was ever able to do so. He also said that since Sasadango debuted in 2012 that means he is part of Konosuke Takeshita’s generation. That generation will lead the pro wrestling industry and he will be part of it!

Life Points were the name of the game for this DDT Extreme Title defence. In the weeks leading up to the match To-y and Yuya Koroku went to social media to try and go viral. For every post they made that made at least 10,000 impressions they would receive one Life Point. Then when they wrestled today the goal was to reduce the opponent’s LP to zero. Points were lost for every pin count, rope break, giving up to a submission hold and getting thrown out of the ring. Leaving the ring also counted towards this as proven when Koroku threw money to the floor and To-y ran out to get it, losing a point. When the match began To-y had 23 LP while Koroku had 20 LP. Koroku quickly used some Cradles to whittle down To-y’s LP so To-y resorted to constantly throwing Koroku in and out of the ring from the floor to do the same. More cradles led to points getting lost until To-y won by using the Kojima Impact for a two count, removing Koroku’s two final points.

It turned out both wrestlers enjoyed the match and had fun fighting each other. To-y said he was glad he didn’t give up because he knows lots of fun still awaits for him in the future. But when he was about to praise Koroku, he was suddenly attacked from behind by Ilusion! He quickly declared himself the next challenger and To-y has no reason to turn him down. If he does decline then Ilusion will beat him up and the footage will be seen all over the world! To-y said there was no reason for Ilusion to ambush him, he could have just challenged normally and To-y would have accepted. Imabayashi confirmed the title match will happen in Sapporo on 14th September. Backstage To-y and Koroku talked about how they are always there for each other to solve their problems together so maybe the time is now for them to start teaming up? Meanwhile Ilsuion talked about how belt collecting became his recent hobby and the purple Extreme Title belt will suit him. He is going to save the title after he found out To-y went gambling with it!

Kumadori and the Strange Love Connection had big entrances for their match. Kumadori performed a dance along with the rest of O-MENZ while MAO & KANON had KIMIHIRO rap them down to the ring. The trio proved to be in sync with each other because they went on to beat Ueno, Aoki & Kazuma Sumi. Kumadori landed a Tornillo Press on Sumi while MAO followed it up with the Hollywood Star Press. Ueno broke the pin and took out KANON with a Plancha but the match returned to MAO against Sumi. MAO ended up using his AI finisher the Ultra Big Tone to pin Sumi. KANON said everyone on their team had the same vibe today because SLC became a little more street style to match with O-MENZ. Well, MAO said he was his usual self but he didn’t like wearing Calvin Klein underwear because that’s not a street brand. KANON promised to get a different brand next time. MAO also said Kumadori might start wrestling on a regular basis soon and could be appearing on DDT’s regional shows as well as the big events. Ueno told Sumi that he should start acting braver so Sumi said he is willing to fight Kumadori more and more to prove he is better and more popular than him!

DAMNATION T.A brought “The Monster” back to DDT and he was again a force to be reckoned with. Haruto Sakuraba proved to be a big challenge for Naomi Yoshimura to try and overcome. Chops and Lariats couldn’t knock Sakuraba off his feet but Yoshimura was able to throw him down with the Harai-goshi. However Ilusion did damage to Akito & Daichi Sato by giving them Low Blows and Sakuraba came back to cause more pain for the opponents. It resulted in DAMNATION T.A picking up the win with Ilusion claiming that nobody can stand a chance against Sakuraba! He’ll be back anytime he is called upon which is good because Sato wants to fight him!

Dieno has a very important match against Tanahashi coming up tomorrow so the last thing DDT needs was for him to get hurt somehow. Imabayashi told the participants of the 3 Way Match to take things likely in order to ensure Dieno will be 100% for tomorrow’s match. He even told Dieno he didn’t have to do anything and should just let the other two fight each other as if it was a singles bout. Dieno wanted to take part in the match but Imabayashi kept trying to stop him. He eventually got fed up and grabbed the microphone to say even if he got injured right now and the Tanahashi match got cancelled, he would not regret it because he lives for today! Imabayashi understood and allowed the match to continue as a 3 Way. He stayed involved anyway and gave Kazuki Hirata a Stunner. Honda used Dieno’s Hell Gate to charge up Gongitsune and poked Imabayashi in the eyes with it. But Dieno blocked the Shining Gongitsune and gave Honda the Danshoku Driver for the win. Afterwards Dieno said that unless he has an accident while taking his pet dog Haku out on a walk, his match with Tanahashi will absolutely happen tomorrow. This will be his last chance to beat Tanahashi before Tanahashi retires and he is going to grab the opportunity!

In Match #2 Shinichiro Kawamatsu got to hit Soma Takao with the Axe Bomber that was passed down to him by the late Hulk Hogan. After that Yuki Ishida hit Rukiya with the Flame Palm to win the match for his team.

The first match of the show was Hinata Kasai’s debut match. He is the son of Jun Kasai and was pitted against HARASHIMA for his first bout. Kasai got off the blocks early with an Arm Lock, Chops and a Missile Dropkick. HARASHIMA took control with Middle Kicks and the Falcon Arrow but Kasai caught one of the kicks and knocked HARASHIMA back with a punch. HARASHIMA held him down with a Crab Hold after that and then pinned him with the Somato. Backstage Kasai said there were times he considered quitting during his training but he is glad he didn’t. The thoughts of his first win, his first championship or when he achieves his dreams all excite him so he wants to continue being a pro wrestler. HARASHIMA said one of the things that makes him happy to have wrestled for so long is he gets to have matches with people he has known since they were a child. He noticed Kasai does not have much skill but he does have passion so he looks forward to seeing what he does in the future.

The show began with two members of NωA Jr. performing a song for everyone. Shunma Katsumata and Kazuma Sumi went out there to sing “Going my ωay!!!!! ~You Are Not Alone~” to welcome the fans to the big weekend of shows.


DDT “HARASHIMA RETURNS HOME! ~WE’RE HOLDING A SHOW IN OME! WHY? BECAUSE IT’S MY HOMETOWN!~” Results

July 27, 2025

DDT “SANKO MANUFACTURING CO., LTD. OME PRESENTS HARASHIMA RETURNS HOME! ~WE’RE HOLDING A SHOW IN OME! WHY? BECAUSE IT’S MY HOMETOWN!~”, 27/07/2025
Sumitomo Metal Mine Arena Ome Sports Hall 1
??? Fans – Unannounced

1. Team Ome Presents: Kazuma Sumi defeated Ilusion with the School Boy (5:41).
2. Cockpit Ome Co., Ltd. Presents: Naomi Yoshimura & Soma Takao defeated Makoto Oishi & Shinichiro Kawamatsu when Yoshimura pinned Oishi with the Hara-goshi (6:27).
3. Special Single Match: Danshoku Dieno defeated Kazuki Hirata with the Gaydo Clutch (8:12).
4. Ome Shinkin Bank Presents: Daisuke Sasaki, Hideki Okatani & MJ Paul defeated Antonio Honda, Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Yuya Koroku when Sasaki submitted Matsunaga with the Crossface Lock (10:51).
5. Enoki Kougyou Presents Harimao Vs STRANGE LOVE CONNECTION!: MAO & KANON (w/ KIMIHIRO) defeated Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida when MAO pinned Ishida with a Japanese Leg Roll Clutch (10:25).
6. JA Nishitokyo Presents Falls Count Anywhere Match: Yuki Ueno & To-y defeated Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada when To-y pinned Brookes with the To-y Who Travels Through Time (15:50).
7. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Seiwa Shoji Co., Ltd. Presents: Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya (c) defeated Jun Akiyama & Daichi Sato when Naya pins Sato with The World’s Best Back Drop (19:27).
*V1 for The Apex.
8. Toyota S&D Nishitokyo Co., Ltd. Presents HARASHIMA Debut 24th Anniversary Match – Special 6-Man Tag Match: HARASHIMA, Togi Makabe & Yasu Urano defeated Shinya Aoki, Shuji Ishikawa & Akito when HARASHIMA pinned Akito with the Swan Dive Somato (17:41).

It was a glorious homecoming for HARASHIMA as DDT held a show in his home city of Ome in Tokyo. He invited his old buddy Togi Makabe from the Teikyo University Pro Wrestling Club to team with him and Yasu Urano in the main event. HARASHIMA started the match off with Shinya Aoki while Makabe traded Lariats with Shuji Ishikawa. Urano took a beating from the other team but HARASHIMA avoided taking the Splash Mountain from Ishikawa. Makabe Clotheslined him out of the ring to allow HARASHIMA to pin Akito with the Swan Dive Somato. HARASHIMA thanked Makabe after the match for making memories with him. Backstage Makabe said he is overwhelmed with emotion because he sees how hard HARASHIMA is working to promote DDT. HARASHIMA talked about the times they trained together in the wrestling club 30 years ago and now here they are standing in the same ring together as pro wrestlers. He always wanted to wrestle in his hometown and it took everyone’s help to finally make it happen.

The Apex got past Jun Akiyama & Daichi Sato for their first defence of the KO-D Tag Team Titles but the next pair of challengers quickly revealed themselves. Akiyama & Sato came close to winning the belts when Akiyama gave Yukio Naya a Superplex and Sato followed up with the Mad Splash. But Yuki Iino broke the count and Naya regained his footing by hitting Sato with Knee Lifts before finishing him off with The World’s Best Back Drop. As soon as Iino tried to speak on the microphone, Ilusion came out and distracted The Apex so Daisuke Sasaki & Hideki Okatani could attack them from behind with chairs and Low Blows. They then said DAMNATION T.A are the next challengers because they want the belts and The Apex do not deserve them. The champions accepted the challenge and will do the match on 30th August. Backstage Iino & Naya praised Sato for his performance and look forward to fighting him even more in the future. Akiyama also told Sato they can keep challenging the champions as many times as it will take to beat them. Then even later Iino confronted DAMNATION T.A demanding a KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles shot. Sasaki refused because The Apex don’t have a third man to team with. Iino quickly found Kazuma Sumi nearby and told him he’s the perfect “heavyweight” to team with him and Naya. That title match will happen on 9th August.

The tag match between The 37KAMIINA and SCHADENFREUDE International was turned into a Falls Count Anywhere Match on a few days notice but everyone involved took to the idea like a duck to water. There was a lot of action that took place outside the ring, a castle of chairs that everyone crashed into and a lot of dives that happened over by the entrance stage. Takeshi Masada Power Bombed To-y into a stack of chairs and he tried to pin To-y on top of them but Yuki Ueno broke the count by diving into them. Chris Brookes then added extra damage to everyone by doing a Senton onto the pile of bodies. Even Bunbun got caught up in the carnage when Ueno gave him a Backbreaker and threw his mangled body high into the air for SCHADENFREUDE International to catch. Ueno then followed with a dive onto them. After that he placed Masada onto a table for To-y to do a Diving Body Press from the stage to get the three count.

The Danshoku Dieno Vs Kazuki Hirata bout was the only match on the card that did not have any sponsorship attached to it. For that reason Hisaya Imabayashi ordered Hirata to stop Dieno from doing anything vulgar so DDT can run a show in Ome again next year. The GM also did his part by staying at ringside to block Dieno from approaching any fans. It became too difficult for them to stop Dieno from being, well, Dieno so Imabayashi brought in a chair to attack him with. However Hirata stopped him and gave a speech about how a pro wrestler is as good as dead if they ever lose their individuality. Imabayashi didn’t agree and tried to attack Hirata with the chair. Hirata deflected him right into Dieno’s Hell Gate, knocking Imabayashi out. Hirata hugged Dieno but then tried to hit him with an Axe Bomber. Dieno dodged it, put Hirata in the Lip Lock and then pinned him with the Gaydo Clutch.

Shinichiro Kawamatsu wanted to win his match with the Axe Bomber he inherited from the late Hulk Hogan and even hit the move on Soma Takao. However Naomi Yoshimura knocked him out of the ring afterwards and pinned Makoto Oishi with the Hara-goshi. Kawamatsu revealed backstage he had tried several times in the past to set up a Hogan appearance for DDT but was never able to make it happen. He promised to continue working hard while thinking about what Hogan would want to tell the Japanese fans.


DDT “ULTIMATE PARTY 2024” Results

December 28, 2024

DDT “ULTIMATE PARTY 2024”, 28/12/2024
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
3,579 Fans – No Vacancy

1. Yuni & Kazuma Sumi defeated Demus & Ilusion when Sumi pinned Demus with the School Boy (9:05).
2. Shuji Ishikawa, Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Shinichiro Kawamatsu defeated Masahiro Takanashi, Daichi Sato & Yuki Ishida when Ishikawa pinned Ishida with the Fire Thunder (8:59).
3. Special Tag Match ~ O-MENZ Kumadori Debut Match: Makoto Oishi & Akito defeated Kazuki Hirata & Kumadori when Oishi pinned Hirata with a Northern Lights Bomb (0:06).
3a. Rematch: Kazuki Hirata & Kumadori defeated Makoto Oishi & Akito when Hirata pinned Oishi after the Air Double Helio from Kumadori (10:44).
4. TJPW Vs DDT Full-Scale 6-Man Tag Match: Rika Tatsumi, Hyper Misao & Pom Harajuku defeated Toru Owashi, Super Sasadango Machine & Antonio Honda when Tatsumi pinned Honda with the Missile Hip (12:17).
5. Special 6-Man Tag Match ~ Haruto Sakuraba Debut Match: KANON, MJ Paul & Haruto Sakuraba defeated HARASHIMA, Yuki Iino & Soma Takao when KANON pinned Takao with the Vietnam Driver II (12:52).
6. Special Single Match: Jun Akiyama defeated Yukio Naya with the Front Neck Lock (13:24).
7. Special Tag Match: Kenoh & Yu Owada defeated Shinya Aoki & Keigo Nakamura when Kenoh submitted Nakamura with the Kenoh Special (11:41).
8. Special Single Match: Invisible Man defeated Danshoku Dieno (w/ Tetsu Inada) with a Danshoku Driver Counter (11:13).
9. Special Single Match: Yuki Ueno defeated Takeshi Masada with the WR (16:23).
10. 85th KO-D Tag Team Titles Decision Match: MAO & To-y defeated Tetsuya Endo & Yuya Koroku when To-y pinned Koroku with the Kojima Impact (24:17)
*The 37KAMIINA becomes the 85th KO-D Tag Team Champions!
11. KO-D Openweight Title: Chris Brookes (c) defeated Daisuke Sasaki with the Praying Mantis Bomb II (36:55).
*V1 for Chris Brookes.
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Kazuki Hirata defeated HARASHIMA (c) by TKO with the Tegatana (6:35 pm).
*Kazuki Hirata becomes the 1,703rd champion.
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Sanshiro Takagi defeated HARASHIMA with the Stone Cold Stunner (6:36 pm).
*Sanshiro Takagi becomes the 1,704th champion.

There’s still a few days left before the new year but DDT’s 2024 came to a close at Sumo Hall today. Daisuke Sasaki came over here looking to end Chris Brookes’s reign as the KO-D Openweight Title and bring DDT back to a more grimy atmosphere. However the feud between SCHADENFREUDE International and DAMNATION T.A coming up to this match showed Brookes is just as capable of fighting that way as he is with having a fair fight. So too was Yukinori Matsui of all people. The referee reached his breaking point from the constant interference from both sides that he grabbed a chair at ringside and was willing to attack any of them with it! Both units took his warning to heart and left ringside so the match could continue one on one. The violence still escalated with Brookes Piledriving Sasaki through a table at ringside. Sasaki fought back by seating Brookes onto a chair in the first row and hitting the Super Diving Elbow. DAMNATION T.A returned to pull Matsui out of the ring right when Brookes had Sasaki beaten with the Praying Mantis Bomb. SCHADENFREUDE also came back to cause another all out fight between the two sides. Brookes and Sasaki then attacked each other with staplers until Sasaki threw Brookes into the ref so he could Low Blow him and then hit a chair shot. But nothing he did could put Brookes away, not even El Es Culero which he took from El Desperado. Instead Brookes was able to slap Sasaki down, give him a Penalty Kick and pin him with an elevated version of the Praying Mantis Bomb.

With the battle finally over, Brookes offered to shake Sasaki’s hand after the match and Sasaki actually went through with it. Brookes told Sumo Hall he was able to win with love but he knows pro wrestling needs bad people like Sasaki to fight the good people like himself. Brookes then invited the DDT roster down to the ring to close out the show and comment on how the year went for them. Brookes told the fans he thought last year would be the final time he headlined Sumo Hall so he is happy to have done it again today. In 2025 he wants to achieve more dreams as the KO-D Champion. Backstage Sasaki told reporters he is going to take an extended break from wrestling for a while. He was asked when he plans to return and he said he’ll definitely be back on… 3rd January 2025.

The vacant KO-D Tag Team Titles were on the line in a match pitting two members of The 37KAMIINA against two wrestlers from BURNING. Due to Shunma Katsumata’s injury, the story turned into the growing rivalry between To-y and Yuya Koroku. The rivalry continued to be the focus here with Tetsuya Endo kept trying to fire Koroku up. Endo and MAO took each other out late in the match so it came down to the young pair. To-y avoided Koroku’s gameplan to target the arm and used a misdirection from running the ropes to catch Koroku off guard. His plan worked and after he pinned Koroku with the Kojima Impact, MAO & To-y became the new champions!

To-y said he is never going to forget the day he won this title. MAO also praised him because just when MAO thought he has done it all with The 37KAMIINA, along comes To-y to give him new things to do. MAO has experienced big victories in Sumo Hall before and he wanted To-y to experience the same to show how you get rewarded for your hard work. They were then approached backstage by Yuni & Kazuma Sumi. The two of them want a title shot on behalf of NωA Jr. To-y accepted the challenge but MAO had to be convinced because he doesn’t want to be associated with idols again. The title match will happen on 18th January.

A big change came from the losing side as a result of this match. BURNING is now splitting up! Endo made the decision but not for any negative reasons. While he was standing in the ring after the match he realized how much Koroku has grown as a wrestler and came to the conclusion that he does not need BURNING anymore. Koroku has fully become a pro wrestler and Yuki Iino has also reestablished himself as a strong fighter. Endo wants to keep growing to reach his own potential so the time is now for them to take their own separate paths. Koroku said the unit helped him grow a lot and he will no longer look down on himself anymore. Endo’s last piece of advice to him was it is ok to feel frustration.

Yuki Ueno took it upon himself to teach Takeshi Masada a lesson in wrestling. Masada always has high expectations to reach and pulled out a top rope version of his finisher to try and win. But Ueno couldn’t be beat and found an opening to twist Masada into the Body Choke Sleeper to wear him down. Masada started to crumble from there and Ueno kept up the attack until he could pin him with the WR. Ueno wants Masada to know he is here for him in DDT. He shouldn’t be listening to the people who give him high expectations about his future. Instead Masada should believe in himself in the present. He should get be more selfish, get even weirder and gradually he will round out his game more and more. In 2025 Yuki Ueno will enjoy being himself because only those who can express themselves will have a future.

Okay we didn’t realize just how cursed of an idea Danshoku Dieno Vs Great-O-Khan was going to be. First O-Khan gets pulled from the show by New Japan due to injury, then the only opponent DDT could find on short notice was The Invisible Man and now on the day of the show one of the special guests for the match Kentaro Kumagai could no longer make it due to illness. So it was all up to Dieno and Tetsu Inada to carry the match by themselves (with The Invisible Man of course). The referee and the commentary team all wore special glasses that would let them see The Invisible Man while Dieno wore special contact lenses that did the same thing. The match turned into a brawl up the entrance ramp that ended with The Invisible Man doing a dive off of the stage. Back in the ring he hit a Triple Moonsault and was shocked when Dieno kicked out of it. He tried hitting Dieno with multiple Axe Bombers but Dieno fired himself up by stripping off his costume piece by piece. But when he made his comeback, five other Invisible Men interfered! Then an Invisible Woman named See-Through came to Dieno’s rescue and fought them off for him. Dieno went back to give The Invisible Man the Danshoku Driver but it was countered into a sudden cradle for the three count.

After the match The Invisible Man gave Dieno credit for pushing him this far. He told Dieno that someday the ruler of the human world who should have fought him in the first place will reappear along with his loyal follower. He told Dieno to call their names out loud enough for them to hear. Inada apologized for not being to help Dieno more because he got caught up fighting the other Invisible Men. He promised to be by his side again whenever the match with O-Khan takes place. Dieno assured him they haven’t lost the battle because O-Khan and Kumagai are not here. The four of them will have their fated fight one day. Until then everyone should continue to go out and live their lives to the fullest.

It was a battle of pride between DDT and NOAH. The home team of Shinya Aoki & Keigo Nakamura certainly felt it when they fought Kenoh & Yu Owada. They fought around ringside and beat lumps out of each other. Nakamura tried to do his own attempt at Aoki’s Full Nelson Hold to pin Kenoh but the NOAH wrestler kicked out of it and made him tap out to the Kenoh Special. Aoki and Kenoh then kept fighting after the bell until they were kept apart. Aoki’s in a good mood about it though. He thinks DDT got the moral victory today because of Nakamura’s performance. He also thinks Kenoh secretly had a lot of fun out there. Aoki would love to have a rematch or even a singles match with Kenoh. He says it is up to the fans to decide if it will happen. Kenoh spent his post-match interview backstage promoting NOAH’s Budokan Hall show on 1st January.

Over on the heavyweight side of the roster Jun Akiyama showed everyone that Yukio Naya still hasn’t met his potential yet. Naya Choke Slammed him onto the ring apron and hit other big moves like the Diving Elbow and The World’s Best Back Drop. But Akiyama kept kicking out and fought back with Knee Strikes and Exploder Suplexes. He went to finish him off with the Wrist-Clutch Exploder but Naya blocked it. So Akiyama switched over to the Front Neck Lock and made him give up. Akiyama admits that Naya is better than him at everything now but the difference is 33 years of determination. He will wait for Naya to come fight him again. Naya is now worried about a comment Konosuke Takeshita recently made. If this generation carries on like they are now then they will become the generation that left nothing behind. Naya swears he will get a rematch with Akiyama in 2025 and finally beat him.

The debut of “THE MONSTER” Haruto Sakuraba gave DAMNATION T.A their only victory of the show. His size and power left Yuki Iino shaken when they charged each other in the ring. With that taken care of, KANON & MJ Paul were able to pick off the rest of the other team ending with KANON using the Vietnam Driver II to pin Soma Takao. He praised Sakuraba’a overwhelming size and power while Sakuraba called out for more people to fight him. While HARASHIMA agrees with Sakuraba’a strengths, he pointed out that as a rookie he still has a long way to go. He hopes to see Sakuraba work even harder from now on and will be happy to fight him more anytime.

DDT lost their other inter-promotional match, this time to Tokyo Joshi Pro. Good thing they are all under the same CyberFight umbrella. The TJPW team actually met with the DDT team before the match offering a box of treats. But when Toru Owashi was about to accept it, Pom Harajuku hit all of the DDT wrestler over the head with the box. The match itself got so heated up that management even got involved! Hisaya Imabayashi and Tetsuya Koda fought each other in the ring at different points in the match. Super Sasadango Machine tried to give Hyper Misao the Vertical Drop Lehman Shock but Misao fought him off with her spray can. Antonio Honda tried telling a dirty Gongitsune joked but Koda stopped him for the sake of the TJPW wrestlers. Imabayashi ran in and hit Koda with the Uraken but fell over in the process, giving Koda the chance to hit him with the Finally kick before he collapsed. Misao brought in the Hyper Mobile and crashed it into Honda. The match slowed down and even included a flashback from Honda. The Hyper Mobile returned but Owashi & Sasadango accidentally crashed it into Honda. Rika Tatsumi then hit the Missile Hip to Honda for the victory.

Later backstage Imabayashi told the DDT team that as a result of this match, TJPW will get all of the profits made from today’s show. The wrestlers came up with the excuse that they are all freelancers so none of them are really effected by that. Honda promised to get revenge by winning the Princess Rumble tomorrow. Sasadango then confronted the TJPW team wanting to talk to Misao. He challenged her to a singles match but this time Sasadango will ditch the mask and wrestle as Muscle Sakai! Not only that but he wants the match to happen at Sanshiro Takagi’s 30th Anniversary show on 3rd February. Misao accepted so we are going to get a battle of who has the better sense of humour!

The other celebrity debut was over before it could even begin. Kumadori got to do his entrance with the rest of O-MENZ but seconds into the match Akito attacked him while he was posing while Makoto Oishi immediately pinned Kazuki Hirata. Kumadori complained by telling Akito he shouldn’t be ambushing him like that and Hirata should have practiced more. He didn’t have anything to say about Oishi because he doesn’t care about him. The teams agreed to an instant rematch and this time Kumadori got to put in a performance he was happy with. He landed a Cancun Torndao on Oishi and Hirata jumped on top to get the pinfall. Hirata and O-MENZ then celebrated all together with a victory dance. Kumadori thanked Hirata because the Hirata GO! glasses really were helpful when he needed them.

Shuji Ishikawa got his preparation in for the upcoming 4 Way No. 1 Contender match. He went toe to toe with Daichi Sato while Tomomitsu Matsunaga and Yuki Ishida were trying to sumo wrestle each other. Masahiro Takanashi and Shinichiro Kawamatsu got some ring time against each other too but the match was won by Ishikawa beating Ishida with the Fire Thunder.

The show opened with NωA Jr. performing their debut single “New! Wrestling! Idol!” before two of them went on to wrestle in the first match. Yuni & Sumi’s big day was close to being ruined because DAMNATION T.A almost beat them. But after Ilusion hit the Swanton Bomb on Yuni, Sumi finally found a way to counter Demus’s finisher. He turned La Valagueza into a School Boy to get the three count from out of nowhere. Sumi was so happy with the win he promised to work hard as an idol while also doing his best as a pro wrestler. He also wants to have another singles match with Demus in Mexico or DDT because he knows today’s win was just a fluke.

There were a couple of Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title changes that happened throughout the day. Before the show began Yuki Ishida attacked the champion Yoshihiko in a hallway. Yoshihiko fended him off but Makoto Oishi jumped in and pinned the doll to become the new champion. HARASHIMA saw it happen in the distance so he joined in the fight. Oishi did not want to take the Somato before his match so he gave up and forfeited the belt to HARASHIMA. There was no further title changes until the very end when after the credits, Hirata ambushed HARASHIMA and knocked him out with the Tegatana chop to the neck. Matsui couldn’t revive HARASHIMA so he declared Hirata the new champion.

Hirata then fled with the title but found himself in a dead end inside the shower room. There he found Sanshiro Takagi taking a bath by himself. The two started arguing over Takagi taking a bath while the show was still going on and it turned into a fight. Takagi gave Hirata the Stunner and pinned him in the bath water to end the show as the new Iron Man Champion!

There will be a merchandise collaboration between DDT and the anime “Brave Bang Bravern!” coming soon. DDT will announce more details on the 26th January Korakuen Hall show.


DDT “ULTIMATE PARTY 2024” Preview

December 26, 2024

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. Special Single Match: Danshoku Dieno (w/ Tetsu Inada) Vs Invisible Man (w/ Kentaro Kumagai)
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

The final DDT show of 2024 is winding up somewhere bigger than usual. In past years DDT ends their calendar in Korakuen Hall but this time they are heading straight over to Sumo Hall. The “ULTIMATE PARTY” name is used when DDT brings in a little bit of everything in CyberFight’s orbit. We have guests from New Japan (edit: not anymore!), NOAH and Tokyo Joshi Pro coming over but none of their matches against DDT wrestlers can be described as friendly. If that doesn’t catch your attention then maybe the debut matches of two celebrities will tickle your fancy. Celebrity usage has been a success story for DDT this year. The one they caught lightning in a bottle with isn’t here though so let’s see if the formula can be repeated with other performers.

The upper end of the card has two official championship matches and would have had a third title taking place without DDT’s authorization. I’ll explain that one when we get to it. The main event is not something I saw coming when this show was announced back in July. However it’s also between two wrestlers who DDT can always rely on. The penultimate match of the evening also shines the spotlight on two of DDT’s fresh faces who have been locking horns with each other for weeks leading up to this. It’s a well balanced card the company was able to put together.

Before we begin here’s a little piece of trivia. Did you know the announcement for this show was almost leaked by Rossy Ogawa? During an interview he did back in July he talked about having a plan to book Marigold’s second Sumo Hall show on 28th December to compete against a Stardom show he knew would be happening in the same venue the next day (Stardom’s show also wasn’t announced yet at the time). However another company, which we now know is DDT, beat him to the punch and already had the date booked. So DDT unintentionally prevented a Sumo Hall joshi war from happening this weekend! I know some of you out there would have preferred the joshi war but you’re stuck with us until 3rd January.


1. Demus & Ilusion Vs Yuni & Kazuma Sumi

The spotlight is shining on the youngsters for more than just a wrestling match here. Yuni & Kazuma Sumi are also going to make their idol singing debuts as part of NωA Jr. with Shunma Katsumata. The original NωA (New Wrestling Aidoru/Idol) was an idol unit that Katsumata was a part of from 2016 to 2018. The time has come for him to lead a new generation and the two young wrestlers were handpicked to join him. Yuni has that kind of performance in his blood because his mother was a dancer for Osaka Performance Doll in the 1990s*. Sumi however does not have much of a musical bone in his body. He did recently get an acting gig for the TV adaptation of the MMA manga Red Blue though.

The debut performance could be ruined by DAMNATION T.A if the heels get their way. Demus is a challenge that Yuni and Sumi both have trouble trying to beat. Sumi in particular has been beaten by Demus and his finishing move La Valagueza a lot. I’d almost call it an exclusive finish between the two if it wasn’t for Yuni recently getting pinned with the move too. Ilusion has also elevated himself after a nasty heel turn where he tricked SCHADENFREUDE International into accepting him as their newest member only for him to stab them all in the back and defect to DAMNATION T.A. He has a grudge with SCHADENFREUDE that’s only going to get worse. But when he’s away from that he just wants to go ruin other people’s plans.

*Yeah so long story short, the reason why DDT got away with signing Yuni to a pro wrestling contract at eight years old is because of nepotism. The story of him and his mom approaching Sanshiro Takagi asking for a tryout makes a lot more sense when you find out the mom has been in showbiz before.


2. Shuji Ishikawa, Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Shinichiro Kawamatsu Vs Masahiro Takanashi, Daichi Sato & Yuki Ishida

It’s an undercard trios match with nothing going into it but perhaps something it will light a match for somebody’s 2025. Shuji Ishikawa had an eventful 2024. At the start of the year he ended his deal with All Japan to wrestle as a freelancer and also take on a general manager role within Evolution Joshi. That group will soon upgrade into a bigger company called Pro Wrestling Evolution in the new year so the timing of Ishikawa working with DDT again sure is interesting. Tomomitsu Matsunaga unexpectedly got a day in the sun when Jun Akiyama asked him to be his tag partner for a KO-D Tag Team Titles shot in April as a show of appreciation for his work ethic over the years. That opened up the doors for him to get some NOAH bookings at their “LIMIT BREAK” shows too. The politician Shinichiro Kawamatsu continues to wrestle every once in a while for DDT. He told everyone that Hulk Hogan passed down the Axe Bomber to him and proved it was true with a video of them hanging out together! Does that mean he’s to blame for Hogan getting into the US political scene with Donald Trump? Kawamatsu also played a part in getting Yuriko Koike, the governor of Tokyo to appear at DDT’s “TODEN PRO WRESTLING” match during her election campaign. Her appearance turned the match into controversy because it came off like DDT was being used to endorse a political figure (Sanshiro Takagi denies the claim and remains defensive over the matter).

The other team also seemed to be thrown together just for the sake of it. Masahiro Takanashi has been splitting his time between SCHADENFREUDE International and ChocoPro. It’s probably good he doesn’t have a heavy load to worry about on this day if he’s needed to be at ringside for the main event. Daichi Sato is a kid to keep an eye on. The 16 year old from HEAT-UP has appeared in DDT in the past under the short lived DDTeeeen!! sub-brand. He’s a big boy with a billed weight of 120kg and DDT recently started booking him again. Since young heavyweight wrestlers are few and far between in Japan nowadays he’ll be getting chances as long as he keeps up his end of the deal. A good showing here will raise his stock. Yuki Ishida took a different career route this year. He reduced his pro wrestling schedule so he could move to Osaka to  work for a sumo entertainment company. Whatever happened over there did not work out so he returned to DDT and is back wrestling full time with them again.


3. Special Tag Match ~ O-MENZ Kumadori Debut Match: Kazuki Hirata & Kumadori Vs Makoto Oishi & Akito

Brining in a celebrity heartthrob worked wonders for DDT’s business this year so they are going to try the idea a few more times. Two performers in the world of entertainment will be making their pro wrestling debuts at this show. The first one is Kumadori, a member of the flashy masked dance group called O-MENZ. They are described as a “Dance Terrorist Group” and Kumadori is considered to be their most muscular member. He met Sanshiro Takagi through an acquaintance and told him he wanted to give pro wrestling a go by using his breakdancing skills. Not long after the deal was made, Kumadori confronted Kazuki Hirata at a DDT show and demanded a dance battle between them. Hirata easily lost but offered to become Kumadori’s tag partner, knowing he’s probably not going to beat him in a wrestling match either. The rest of O-MENZ will also be in their corner because the group will provide a dance performance as part of Kumadori’s ring entrance.

Two of DDT’s most reliable hands will be on the opposing team. Makoto Oishi finished up his contract with DDT in October because his family relocated to Miyagi and he also wants to spend more time with them. He continues to take DDT bookings as a freelancer but everyone in the company briefly acted like he was retiring. Oishi also found the time to get a taxi driver license so he’s trying to become the personal driver for The Saito Brothers over in All Japan. Oishi is quite the wrestling trainer behind the scenes and played a big part in getting Kaisei Takechi ready for his matches. So he is the perfect kind of first opponent for Kumadori. Akito is no slouch either but he is trying to balance his matches along with his growing responsibilities as Sanshiro Takagi’s eventual successor in DDT management. While Takagi has moved further behind the scenes while he rehabs his injuries, Akito has taken his place this year as the person taking any post-show interviews about the state of the company.


4. TJPW Vs DDT Full-Scale 6-Man Tag Match: Rika Tatsumi, Hyper Misao & Pom Harajuku Vs Toru Owashi, Super Sasadango Machine & Antonio Honda

The first inter-promotional match of the show pits DDT against its sister Tokyo Joshi Pro. There wasn’t anything to the match when it was first put together other than a few connecting threads to the past. Antonio Honda and Rika Tatsumi were once part of a band called DPG. That was how Tatsumi got into wrestling and started training with TJPW. Super Sasadango Machine helped set up Hyper Misao’s memorable “retirement match” that turned out to be the surprise announcement of her engagement and marriage. Tatsumi was part of that match too. As far as I know, Toru Owashi and Pom Harajuku have absolutely nothing in common. Although if this was a sitcom Owashi is the kind of guy who gets forced to babysit a three year old for an episode.

That changed when Sasadango visited a recent TJPW show with gifts for his upcoming opponents. As a proud citizen of Niigata, he supported local business by buying some luxury chocolate for Misao. They were all hers if she would agree to call off the match because Sasadango believes nobody in Sumo Hall wants to watch the DDT team violently destroy the TJPW team. While Misao was being tempted by the bribe, Tatsumi got into the ring and started strangling Sasadango, which in this case is her way of saying no. Misao joined in once she realized that bribery in public is a violation of the company rules (they kept the chocolate anyway). Sasadango got a measure of revenge by attacking TJPW GM Tetsuya Koda for not taking responsibility of his locker room’s actions. That turned this match from a friendly little intergender tag match to a company versus company battle!

Before we move on let’s quickly put the spotlight on Harajuku for a big weekend she’s going to have. She recently won the SETUP All Asia Women’s Title in Thailand (in a No DQ Match to boot) and will be having her first title defence in TJPW the day after this show. As much as it’s joked about her acting like an eternal three year old she has levelled up as a wrestler this year. The title reign is made even more special because she considers Thailand her second home because her parents used to work there and she often visited the country to see them. In fact the first time she watched wrestling was in Thailand when Michinoku Pro held some matches at an expo held over there. When she went back to Japan she started following DDT and TJPW, eventually signing up with them to become a wrestler herself. What a lovely story. One that Honda will definitely ruin once he starts telling a dirty joke via Gongitsune.


5. Special 6-Man Tag Match ~ Haruto Sakuraba Debut Match: KANON, MJ Paul & Haruto Sakuraba Vs HARASHIMA, Yuki Iino & Soma Takao

Here is hot celebrity making his debut #2 and he’s even bigger than the first guy! Haruto Sakuraba has been called “The Muscular Actor” for being cast in stage adaptations for Haikyu!!, Tokyo Revengers, Grappler Baki, Final Fantasy Brave and more. The Final Fantasy show in particular is how he got here because Saki Akai was also part of the cast and she introduced him to Sanshiro Takagi. As I said earlier, new heavyweights are in short supply so when Takagi saw that Sakuraba is a 187cm tall weightlifter it was love at first sight. Sakuraba is giving wrestling a go because he is a big fan of The Rock and wants to become his Japanese equivalent. To do that he’s done his homework because what worked for The Rock is a heel turn so he too will turn heel for his debut match!

Sakuraba was given an offer by DAMNATION T.A to join their side because they see he has potential to be a villain. Sakuraba knew what they were putting down and accepted the offer. He doesn’t just want to be the Japanese version of The Rock, he wants to surpass his role model! Now nicknamed “MONSTER”, Sakuraba will be teaming with KANON & MJ Paul to take on a team of DDT faces. I don’t need to write much about HARASHIMA to tell you how important he’s been for DDT throughout most of the company’s history. Soma Takao on the other hand… well he’s more known for managing the Dropkick Bar whenever he isn’t wrestling on the DDT undercard. He doesn’t really have anything else going for himself nowadays. Not even ROMANCE DAWN is a thing anymore.

Yuki Iino is the man for Sakuraba to watch out for most of all. Iino has now fully moved on from his Pheromones gimmick, instead embracing everything that makes him a member of BURNING. He held the KO-D Tag Team Titles for around six months and also won the DDT Universal Title this year too. Sakuraba isn’t impressed though. Not when Iino is smaller in person than he thought. The two had a brief fight where Sakuraba claimed Iino is so weak it makes his own muscles cry! Iino recently fought Tomohiro Ishii and even though he lost, it should be enough preparation for Iino to fight a “MONSTER” like Sakuraba.


6. Special Single Match: Jun Akiyama Vs Yukio Naya

2024 could have been the year Yukio Naya finally showed his potential to become a big player for DDT. He won the D-Ou Grand Prix in January, got a KO-D Openweight Title shot less than a month later and that was kind of it for him getting any new career defining highlights. He got knocked out in the first round of the King Of DDT and then had the kind of feud with Ryuichi “Fire” Kawakami where he kept getting the short end of the stick until he won in the end. Not sure what went wrong for him this year other than DDT deciding to move their main event scene away from the heavyweights.

If there is a way for him to make up for any progress he lost in the last year then beating Jun Akiyama in a singles match should do it. Akiyama’s main event years in DDT are now behind him but he is still accomplishing a lot in the ring. He won the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles as part of D.O.A, made appearances in NOAH, New Japan and AEW again and joins in with DDT’s sillier matches whenever he is in the mood to do so. Maybe fighting Naya one on one will light a fire beneath him to climb back up the mountain again one more time. Naya left a mark on him after one match by Choke Slamming him through a table. All Akiyama wants from him is to fight as strong as he can when they meet inside Sumo Hall.


7. Special Tag Match: Shinya Aoki & Keigo Nakamura Vs Kenoh & Yu Owada

Thanks to the “LIMIT BREAK” shows we finally got some DDT Vs NOAH interactions this year. However this match has absolutely nothing to do with that. Instead it is about an unlikely MMA fighter who made DDT his pro wrestling home. DDT has been good to Shinya Aoki whenever he wrestles for them and it was not made any clearer this year than when he won the KO-D Title! His title reign saw him transform the humble Full Nelson Hold into a nigh on unbreakable pinning maneuver. He has since been rewarded for his skill by winning the Best Technique category in this year’s Tokyo Sports Awards. It’s a prize he compares to receiving a black belt because he now feels he has been accepted into the pro wrestling world. Except somebody in NOAH isn’t willing to do that yet. Okay Kenoh what’s your problem this time? He likes Aoki as an MMA fighter, but as a pro wrestler? No way! Not when he’s alligned with DDT.

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again. If Kenoh is Frank Grimes then DDT is his Homer Simpson. He never liked that NOAH became associated with DDT because of the CyberFight takeover and only fights DDT wrestlers when there is a grudge involved. He would have been happy to never step foot inside a DDT ring again if it wasn’t for Aoki consantly trying to get his attention. You see, Aoki has this bad habit of telling media his upcoming plans in wrestling. The problem is he reveals these plans before any other party supposedly involved is aware of them. For example he keeps trying to challenge Katsuhiko Nakajima to a UWF Rules fight in GLEAT. After repeatedly getting no response over there, Aoki changed his plan and decided he will fight Kenoh at NOAH’s Budokan Hall show on New Year’s Day. Again, nobody in NOAH let alone Kenoh has any expectation of Aoki being booked for the show (Kenoh will be fighting KENTA on that show instead).

Kenoh had to take matters in his own hands by crashing a DDT show along with NOAH rookie Yu Owada. He told Aoki to his face there will not be a match happening between them at Budokan Hall. Unfazed, Aoki then suggested they have a match at Sumo Hall for DDT instead. Kenoh ordered Owada to fight Aoki in a match then and there but Aoki pinned him in seconds with the Full Nelson Hold. Then one of DDT’s bright and baldest youngsters Keigo Nakamura stood up to defend his company in front of the NOAH pair. The four of them got into a fight and once they were kept apart, the match was made! Aoki & Nakamura are defending home turf, Kenoh is pissed he has to show up in DDT again and Owada is mad at being treated like a third wheel in this situation.


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.

You want pro wrestling for sickos? You’re getting pro wrestling for sickos. No take backsies. In one corner we have Danshoku Dieno. He is currently the DDT Extreme Champion and he is also the reason 90% of the time I see people who try out DDT decide to never come back. In the other corner is Great-O-Khan. He is New Japan’s King Of Pro Wrestling for 2024 and also a waifu loving pervert with a heart of gold (let me quote Sayaka Unagi who once asked him “Could you truly love a three-dimensional woman?”). Both men in their own bizarre ways have become pro wrestling savants who are able to come up with outside the box ideas for the industry they love so much. Whoever came up with this idea might be trying to get DDT banned from Sumo Hall. Both Dieno and O-Khan are aiming to have a match that will guarantee it.

At first it looked like the match will only have pride on the line. Dieno does not want this to be seen as a DDT Vs New Japan affair. It is about far more than that. Instead he decided to defend his Extreme Title against the man who won the New Japan equivalent this year. Unfortunately this match is enough of a political nightmare to begin with that DDT refuses to authorize it as a title match. Dieno does not care though and will still put the belt on the line in an unofficial manner. Whether that means he will vacate the title if he loses or O-Khan wins possession of the physical belt remains to be seen.

An extra factor coming into the match are the two special guests who will be at ringside. Two voice actors have found themselves becoming important parts of the story. When preparing for the match O-Khan discovered that the voice actor Kentaro Kumagai was once given the Lip Lock by Dieno and has wanted payback ever since. O-Khan made Kumagai pledge loyalty to the United Empire and in return will bring him to Sumo Hall to get his revenge. Luckily for Dieno there is another voice actor who is looking out for him. Tetsu Inada is a die hard DDT fan who has provided voice work for the company many times over the years from narrating videos to providing match commentary. He thinks the lewd pranks he suffered at the hands of Pheromones were way worse than what Kumagai went through. That means he isn’t going to stand by and let Dieno fight this battle by himself! Both Inada and Kumagai will be at ringside for the match. Knowing what the wrestlers involved are both capable of, the most disgusting things that take place in the ring will probably happen to the voice actors!


8. Special Single Match: Danshoku Dieno (w/ Tetsu Inada) Vs Invisible Man (w/ Kentaro Kumagai)

So pretty much everything I wrote in the last three paragraphs can be thrown away. Except for the last part. The voice actors are still going to get violated somehow. O-Khan suffered a lower back injury during his most recent NJPW match so he’s been pulled from the show. He has an important IWGP Tag Team Titles match going on at the Tokyo Dome soon so New Japan wants to make sure he’ll have enough recovery time to do it. DDT scrambled for a replacement and came up with an old foe of Dieno’s… The Invisible Man! As far as I can tell the Extreme Title aspect of the match has been binned. It will be up to Dieno and the voice actors to craft a story worthy to be told at Sumo Hall.


9. Special Single Match: Yuki Ueno Vs Takeshi Masada

The year that Yukio Naya could have had instead went to Yuki Ueno. He spent the first half of 2024 as DDT’s ace champion, even getting in a successful KO-D Title defence inside Sumo Hall. The second half of his year slowed down after he lost the title to Shinya Aoki but it seems that DDT finally found a place for him as the company’s prince. His final match of the year is against the supposed star of the new generation who is still finding his feet while dealing with the high expectations. It’s a match that kind of came out of nowhere and there might have been a reason for that. Did plans fall through when Kota Ibushi took offence to the “Golden Star Syndrome” promos The 37KAMIINA cut about him and he decided to stop working with DDT?

Ueno is not taking his opponent lightly. As a recent former champion he knows how much of a big deal it will be if he loses to Takeshi Masada. He sees how well Masada fits into SCHADENFREUDE International but maybe that could be a bad thing. Masada is so comfortable with his current lot in life that he might have abandoned his goals as a result. Masada telling him that his goal is to make the fans go home happy kind of proves his point. That kind of attitude might be why Masada only held the KO-D Tag Titles for a month earlier this year and lost them in his first defence. There also won’t be any rematch or follow up for Masada if Ueno beats him here. Just like with Akiyama versus Naya, Ueno wants to know if Masada is going to take his best shot at him.


10. KO-D Tag Team Titles: MAO & To-y Vs Tetsuya Endo & Yuya Koroku

This should have been the next title defence for ShunMao’s second run as champions. But sadly just like their first run it was cut off thanks to an injury suffered by Shunma Katsumata. There is a bright side we can look at though and that is what DDT went with for Plan B. The original match was meant to ShunMao against Tetsuya Endo & Yuya Koroku from BURNING. MAO, Endo and Koroku are still part of the match, this time to crown new champions. Replacing Katsumata is To-y, the pluckiest member of The 37KAMIINA. And boy is he fired up for this opportunity!

Once To-y entered the picture he immediately made a statement by pinning Koroku clean with his Kojima Impact finisher. He then added insult to injury by claiming he has more of a reason to fight for the KO-D Tag Titles than Koroku does. Even Endo agreed with him, pointing out that To-y was able to clearly explain he wants this match for himself just as much as as he does for Katsumata while Koroku struggles to get his own points across on the microphone. Since then To-y was able to rack up several pinfall wins over Koroku, leaving the latter scratching his head trying to figure out what he’s doing wrong. It was only just recently he figured out he hasn’t been acting selfish enough. He reached that breakthrough by beating To-y via referee stoppage through the use of the Chickenwing Arm Lock. Now that he knows what to do, he is willing to break To-y’s arm for the championships if he has to!

Let’s not forget MAO and Endo in this match. MAO found his calling for most of the year as the DDT Universal Champion and also the King Of DDT winner. It provided a lot of fresh matches with different finishes that showed how much MAO has matured as a wrestler in his own way. Endo seems to have fitted into this roster best by changing his focus to tag team wrestling. It paid off with him and Yuki Iino getting a KO-D Tag Titles reign that rehabilitated both of their positions in the company. He also got probably the most closure he is ever going to get from the Nakajima slap incident with the KO-D Title match he had with Shinya Aoki in September. The story is focused on To-y Vs Koroku but watch out if MAO or Endo decide they want to steal the show.


11. KO-D Openweight Title: Chris Brookes (c) Vs Daisuke Sasaki

It’s a story that goes from the lowest of lows to the highest of highs. This time last year Chris Brookes had gone through surgery to remove a tumor from his abdomen. Thankfully the tumor was not malignant and he recovered to wrestle in top shape again. Once year later and he finds himself as the two time KO-D Champion back on top of DDT. Who can hate a feel good story like that? Oh right, Daisuke Sasaki can. Brookes had only just gotten the title back when Sasaki came out to complain about love, romance and dreams. Wrestling doesn’t need any of that stuff! DDT should always be a dirty mess and Sasaki is the only person who can make that happen on the biggest stage DDT can get.

With the Sumo Hall main event set, DDT spent the winter indulging in several different stipulation tag matches between SCHADENFREUDE International and DAMNATION T.A. There was already bad blood between the two groups when Ilusion went undercover for DAMNATION T.A by joining SCHADENFREUDE and betraying them during a heated KO-D 6-Man Tag Titles match in October (it was an illusion!). The two sides went to battle in many multi-man matches including a Best Of 5 Singles Series, a 10-Man Elimination Tag and a Best 2 Out Of 3 Falls Match. Sasaki got Brookes to submit to the Crossover Face Lock but a few weeks later Brookes was able to pin Sasaki with the Praying Mantis Bomb. With no clear lead coming up to what could be the end of the feud the only thing to be sure of is the match on a stage as big as this is sure to become violent.

There’s even a risk this match might end up becoming loser leaves town one way or the other. Sasaki keeps saying he is going to beat Brookes so bad he’ll pack his bags and go home to England. Sasaki can feel how much the KO-D Title wants to come back to him. If he wins the championship then he will turn every DDT show at Korakuen Hall next year into a “CHARISMANIA” show! Brookes knows how much Sasaki likes punk music so he says he’ll get a one way plane ticket back to England but it will be under Sasaki’s name! That way he can go visit all of the famous punk music spots England is known for. Then once Sasaki has been dealt with, Brookes promises to defend the KO-D Title regularly at his monthly Baka Gaijin + Friends shows, even if DDT won’t give him their permission.


DDT “SUMIDA DRAMATIC DREAM!” Results

November 4, 2024

DDT “SUMIDA DRAMATIC DREAM! ~FREE SEATING PRO WRESTLING SHOW~”, 04/11/2024
Tokyo Higashin Arena (Sumida City Gymnasium)
2,200 Fans – Super No Vacancy

1. Maruto Potori Foods Presents Tag Match: Yuni & Kazuma Sumi defeated Keigo Nakamura & Yuki Ishida when Sumi pinned Ishida with a School Boy (8:25).
2. Special Tag Match ~ Touchi-kun & Oshinari-kun & Higapyon Pro Wrestling Debut Match: Oshinari-kun & Higapyon defeated Touchi-kun & Pokotan when Oshinari-kun pinned Pokotan with the Diving Hip Drop (5:19).
3. Daisuke Sasaki, KANON, MJ Paul & Demus defeated Tetsuya Endo, Yuki Iino, Masahiro Takanashi & Yuya Koroku when Sasaki submitted Takanashi with La Mistica Crossface Lock (11:31).
4. STOMPING Presents Tag Match: Soma Takao & Makoto Oishi defeated Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata when Takao pinned Hirata with a School Boy (11:06).
5. Special Single Match: Ilusion defeated Takeshi Masada with the Swanton Bomb (10:11).
6. Tokyo Higashi Shinkin Bank Presents Special 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Yukio Naya & Shinichiro Kawamatsu defeated Satoshi Kojima, Akito & Antonio Honda when Kawamatsu pinned Honda with the Shitamachi Rocket (13:13).
7. Toho Kogyo Presents Special 6-Man Tag Match – Reiwa Meiji Restoration: Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & To-y (2) defeated HARASHIMA, Danshoku Dieno & Super Sasadango Machine (0).
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Super Sasadango Machine defeated Yuki Ueno (c) with a School Boy (3:26 pm).
*Super Sasadango Machine becomes the 1,687th champion.
7a. To-y pinned Danshoku Dieno after the Shunkoji Wonderland (2:51).
7b. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Shunma Katsumata pinned Super Sasadango Machine (c) with the Totonou Splash (11:44).
*Shunma Katsumata becomes the 1,688th champion.
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Yuni defeated Shunma Katsumata (c) with a School Boy (3:43 pm).
*Yuni becomes the 1,689th champion.
8. KO-D Openweight Title – Houset Co., Ltd Presents: Chris Brookes defeated Shinya Aoki (c) with the House Piano Death (21:44).
*Shinya Aoki fails in V4. Chris Brookes becomes the 84th KO-D Openweight Champion!

A free to attend show was put together by DDT and sponsors at Higashin Arena to kick off the road to Sumo Hall happening at the end of the year. It featured a major title change in the main event with Chris Brookes defeating Shinya Aoki to become the new KO-D Openweight Champion almost a year after his first reign ended! While the match started off in a calm manner with a lot of mat work, it soon went out of the ring where Brookes put Aoki through a table with a Piledriver. Back in the ring Aoki relied on limb holds to counter Brookes, escaping the Praying Mantis Bomb by using a Side Hammerlock to take control and trap Brookes in the Manjigatame. He used the Full Nelson Hold to try and get a pinfall but Brookes kicked out of two. In return Brookes hit the Somato but Aoki kicked out for a nearfall as well. Brookes was able to put Aoki in the Octopus Hold and switched it over to the House Piano Death, keeping Aoki locked in until the champion had to give up.

Aoki took the loss well and presented Brookes with the KO-D Title belt after the match. Brookes was then told by Hisaya Imabayashi he will defend the title at “ULTIMATE PARTY 2024” on 28th December. Daisuke Sasaki entered the ring with a chair but sat down on it and congratulated Brookes instead of attacking him. Sasaki said Brookes talks a lot about love, romance, dreams and other things like that. The ring doesn’t need any of that stuff so Sasaki will win the title and bring DDT back to being the mess that it should be! He wants to fight Brookes on the biggest stage and challenged him for Sumo Hall. Brookes accepted and even shook Sasaki’s hand without incident.

Backstage Brookes praised Aoki for being incredibly strong. But Brookes had a dream of winning the title again and today it came true. Over the last year he dislocated his shoulder and recovered from a tumor but he was able to overcome all of that to become the champion again. His outlook on life and death has changed because of the last year. He also thinks DAMNATION T.A is just a bunch of B and C class wrestlers so he doesn’t think Sasaki can beat him for the title. Aoki is proud of how his title reign went. The belt is a championship, not a medal so he knew the hard work wasn’t over when he won it. Sasaki however is sick to his stomach of all the love and dreams stuff going on in DDT right now. He isn’t actually interested in becoming KO-D Champion again but he wants to mess up Brookes. His threat is Brookes will have Christmas but he won’t make it to New Year’s!

At some point in the day before the venue doors were open to the public, Yuki Ueno won the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title from Danshoku Dieno. Then at the start of the show Dieno and his team declared they are the Reiwa Meiji Restoration that will overthrow the “government” that is The 37KAMIINA! He demanded that their match in the semi-main event should be Best 2 Out Of 3 Falls so nobody can blame losing twice on a fluke. The first fall ended with a double pin on both sides at the same time. To-y pinned Dieno after doing an assisted Kojima Wonderland with Shunma Katsumata while Super Sasadango Machine was pinning Ueno with a School Boy. Daisuke Kiso ruled The 37KAMIINA as the winners of the fall because To-y and Dieno were the legal wrestlers. Sasadango pinning Ueno didn’t count towards the match but was still accepted as an Iron Man Title change, making Sasadango the new champ! The second fall had Katsumata take the Somato from HARASHIMA, the Danshoku Driver from Dieno and the Lehman Shock from Sasadango but his partner made the save. Katsumata fought back on Sasadango and pinned him with the Totonou Splash to give The 37KAMIINA a clean sweep and become Iron Man Champ in the process. All it cost the team was To-y being sacrificed to Dieno’s antics. Yuni then surprised Katsumata with a Roll Up after the match to take the title from him.

Satoshi Kojima was one of the guest attractions for the show and he was advertised in advance so there was no need to call him “X” beforehand. His presence brought memories back to Antonio Honda of the TenKoji Police arresting the Monster Army back in 2012. This time they were teaming up but Honda was still missing some courage. He wanted to quit the match from the moment he had to square off against Jun Akiyama. A stark difference to Shinichiro Kawamatsu wanting to fight Kojima. Yukio Naya stopped Kojima’s momentum with a Choke Slam so Honda tried to summon Gongitsune. Akiyama blocked Honda but that caused Kojima to do the Gongitsune Eye Poke to him instead! He then intercepted Kawamatu’s Axe Bomber with the Lariat but Naya came back to cut him off. Akiyama got his hands on Honda to give him the Exploder Suplex and Kawamatsu recovered to hit Honda with the Shitamachi Rocket and pin him.

This new version of Ilusion is being described by Sasaki as the little demon who sold his soul to the Devil. He tried to avoid fighting Takeshi Masada early in their match and intentionally Dropkicked the referee from behind so the rest of DAMNATION T.A could run interference. Masahiro Takanashi was already in Masada’s corner for the match so he was there to run counter-interference. However DAMNATION T.A had the numbers advantage and KANON distracted the ref long enough for Ilusion to give Masada a Low Blow, Sasaki to give him the Pedigree and Ilusion to hit him over the head with a chair. The ref was let go in time to see Ilusion do the Swanton Bomb onto Masada and get the three count. Ilusion taunted the fans for being quiet and attacked Masada even more to make them boo him. He then said SCHADENFREUDE International are going to live in a dark future from now on and Masada should never show his annoying face to him ever again!

A lot of the matches on the show had different sponsors which is how DDT was able to have free attendance. Match #4 was sponsored by a wrestling themed social networking app called STOMPING. A masked representative from the company named Stomping Mask introduced the match and watched on to see Makoto Oishi & Soma Takao beat Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata. Oishi admitted during the match he was in a bad mood so Hirata convinced him to wear a pair of Hirata GO! glasses to get rid of his stress. They both danced until Takao rolled up Hirata from behind to pin him. Backstage Stomping Mask complained to Hirata for not doing a good job to promote the app. Hirata attacked and unmasked him to reveal it was Hisaya Imabayashi all along!

DAMNATION T.A also won their 8-Man Tag Match earlier in the show. With Demus added to their lineup they had someone who could go toe to toe with Tetsuya Endo with lucha while KANON & MJ Paul were able to handled Takanashi & Yuya Koroku. Sasaki finished things off for Takanashi by dropping him with the Pedigree and submitting him with the Crossface Lock.

Three mascots made their pro wrestling debut in Match #2. On one side, DDT’s own mascot Pokotan teamed up with Touchi-kun from the Japan Self-Defence Force. Their opponents were Oshinari-kun from the Oshinari Shopping District and Higapyon from the Tokyo Higashi Shinkin Bank. Pokotan had no problem fighting Oshinari-kun but didn’t want to attack the cute rabbit Higapyon. Touchi-kun didn’t approve of how violent Pokotan was acting anyway so the three mascots all stood up to Pokotan. They knocked his head off and Oshinari-kun pinned Pokotan with the Diving Hip Drop. Pokotan saw the error of his ways after the match and the four of them all posed for the audience.

Kazuma Sumi is learning new ways to use the School Boy on his opponents. He was able to spin Yuki Ishida into the cradle to take the three count from him in the opening match. Sumi said he will continue to polish this move even more so he can pin his seniors with it from now on. Yuni was happy with his performance because today is his last match before he wrestles in America for DDT’s tour in Seattle next week. He wants to make a name for himself when he wrestles Gringo Loco and Konosuke Takeshita in his two matches over there. Ishida admitted he underestimated Sumi and Keigo Nakamura also said they have no excuses for losing today.

It was announced that Yuki Iino will face New Japan wrestler Tomohiro Ishii at Korakuen Hall on 22nd December! Iino said he is really looking forward to the heavyweight fight and wants everyone to come see it. He wants to end the year by beating Ishii and then win at Sumo Hall so he can keep on BURNING.

There was an intermission performance by members of the idol group KLP48. They are a sister group of AKB48 based in Kuala Lumpur and today was their first ever performance in Japan.

Akito spoke to the wrestling media after the show. He revealed Sanshiro Takagi saw companies like Kyushu Pro running sponsored shows in their own regions which inspired him to try it out with DDT in Tokyo. Akito thinks there were mistakes made but they are able to learn from them. He will give it some thought before deciding if DDT will hold this event again next year. The goal is to get people excited for DDT’s shows at Korakuen and Sumo Hall at the end of the year. The attendance number above isn’t accurate because people were allowed to come and go from the venue as the show went on. Akito said 1,600 seats were set up and the room could take 1,800 people in total at all times. So the extra 400 to make it 2,200 are considered to be people who came in during the show after other people left (the DDT site briefly had the number at 1,800 as the match results were coming in before quickly changing it to 2,200 after the show had ended).


Okubo Taking A Break, Shimomura’s Suspension Ends, Pokotan Picks A Fight With More Mascots

October 21, 2024

BASARA “BASARA 259 ~HIEN~”, 22/10/2024
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Ryota Nakatsu & Takeru Inoue Vs Tsutomu Oosugi & Banana Senga
2. Lil’ Kraken Vs Chicharito Shoki
3. Takumi Tsukamoto & SAGAT Vs Yumehito Imanari & Tyson Maeguchi
4. Ryuichi Sekine Vs Guts Ishijima
5. UWA World Tag Team Titles: Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino (c) Vs Isami Kodaka & Hideyoshi Kamitani

This is tomorrow’s match order for the BASARA show.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE TOUR 2024 AUTUMN”, 27/10/2024
Tokyo Ryogoku KFC Hall

1. Arisu Endo & Toga Vs Kira Summer & Chika Nanase
2. Shoko Nakajima & Yoshiko Hasegawa Vs Moka Miyamoto & Kaya Toribami
3. Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh Vs Rika Tatsumi & HIMAWARI
4. Yuki Kamifuku Vs Runa Okubo
5. Miu Watanabe & Wakana Uehara Vs Mizuki & Shino Suzuki
6. Next Generation Tournament ’24 – Round 1C: Haru Kazashiro Vs Uta Takami
7. Yuki Aino, Raku & Pom Harajuku Vs Haruna Neko, Suzume & Mahiro Kiryu

It was announced yesterday that Runa Okubo will be taking an indefinite hiatus from pro wrestling at the end of the month to focus on her education. She is currently in high school and told Tokyo Joshi Pro she’s been having difficulties with balancing pro wrestling with her studies so a decision was made by the company and her guardians to put her wrestling career on hold for the time being. Okubo’s final match for now will be against Yuki Kamifuku. Her opponent is not going to take it easy on her though. Kamifuku said she is going to pluck out Okubo’s eyes and sell them off like jewelry!

BASARA “BASARA 260 ~KOO~”, 30/10/2024
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Isami Kodaka & Ryuichi Sekine Vs Daiki Shimomura & Minoru Fujita

Over the weekend BASARA announced that Daiki Shimomura’s one year suspension had come to an end and he will be returning to wrestling at the end of this month. Shimomura was suspended from all BASARA related activities last October over an incident that was only reported as inappropriate behavior from his private life. To this day I still haven’t heard anything to even suggest what the incident was. But it was enough that BASARA had to make a public apology afterward while Shimomura had to disappear from wrestling for a year. His return match has him in the ring with the other members of Sento Minzoku.

GANBARE☆PRO “HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER 2024”, 03/11/2024
Osaka 176BOX

1. Munetatsu Nakamura Vs Harutoki
2. Moeka Haruhi & Yuna Manase Vs HARUKAZE & YuuRI
3. Ken Ohka, Yumehito Imanari & Tsuyoshi Okada Vs Shuichiro Katsumura, Shota Kawakami & Hiroaki Moriya
4. Spirit Of Ganbare World Tag Team Titles: Shigehiro Irie & Mizuki Watase (c) Vs Naoki Tanizaki & Kohei Kinoshita
5. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Keisuke Ishii (c) Vs Hartley Jackson

Two Osaka wrestlers from Dove Pro are going to challenge Shigehiro Irie & Mizuki Watase for the Spirit Of Ganbare Tag Team Titles. It’s a chance for Naoki Tanizaki to win even more championships while Kohei Kinoshita continues to show how busy his wrestling schedule is.

DDT “SUMIDA DRAMATIC DREAM! ~FREE SEATING PRO WRESTLING SHOW~”, 04/11/2024
Tokyo Higashin Arena (Sumida City Gymnasium)

1. Daisuke Sasaki, KANON, MJ Paul & Demus Vs Tetsuya Endo, Yuki Iino, Masahiro Takanashi & Yuya Koroku
2. Maruto Potori Foods Presents Tag Match: Keigo Nakamura & Yuki Ishida Vs Yuni & Kazuma Sumi
3. STOMPING Presents Tag Match: Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Makoto Oishi & Soma Takao
4. Special Tag Match ~ Touchi-kun & Oshinari-kun & Higapyon Pro Wrestling Debut Match: Touchi-kun & Pokotan Vs Oshinari-kun & Higapyon
5. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & To-y Vs HARASHIMA, Danshoku Dieno & Super Sasadango Machine
6. Special Single Match: Takeshi Masada Vs Ilusion
7. Tokyo Higashi Shinkin Bank Presents Special 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Yukio Naya & Shinichiro Kawamatsu Vs Satoshi Kojima, Akito & Antonio Honda
8. KO-D Openweight Title: Shinya Aoki (c) Vs Chris Brookes

All of the Right To Challenge Shields have been used up so now its back to traditional ways to get title matches. Chris Brookes challenged Shinya Aoki for the KO-D Openweight Title to see which one of them loves DDT more.

The feud between SCHADENFREUDE International and DAMNATION T.A continues with Takeshi Masada and Ilusion facing each other one on one. Ilusion wants to destroy Masada’s pretty face!

An all mascot showdown is taking place thanks to Pokotan and Touchi-kun. Originally Pokotan wanted to fight the Japan Self-Defence Force mascot but changed his tune after watching Touchi-kun’s training for the match. Now Pokotan wants to team up with Touchi-kun to take on another tag team. DDT held a press conference today annnouncing that the other team will also be made up of mascots. Oshinari-kun is the mascot for the Oshinari Shopping District and Higapyon is the mascot of Tokyo Higashi Shinkin Bank, the business that owns the naming rights for the venue. Shinichiro Kawamatsu brought the two mascots to a shrine for the announcement but didn’t expect Pokotan to show up and attack Oshinari-kun with a steel basin! However he held back from attacking Higapyon because he thinks that mascot is cute.

Tickets for the show are free so there are a lot of sponsorships up and down the card to fund the event.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “THE MOUNTAIN TOP 2024”, 16/11/2024
Osaka Edion Arena #2

1. Next Generation Tournament ’24 – Semi Final: Toga Vs Kira Summer
2. Next Generation Tournament ’24 – Semi Final: Winner Of Match 1C Vs Winner Of Match 1D
3. Princess Of Princess Title: Miu Watanabe (c) Vs Zara Zakher

One of the semi-finals is set for the Next Generation Tournament. Either Toga or Kira Summer will reach the final.

DDT “GET ALIVE 2024”, 23/11/2024
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. DDT Extreme Title & Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Danshoku Dieno (c/c) Vs Yuni

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. DDT is finally doing the forbidden match between Danshoku Dieno and Yuni. The DDT Extreme Title will definitely be on the line. The Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title will be too if Dieno or Yuni holds it by the time the match takes place.


ShunMao Fears Umeda, Street Kickboxing, Ilusion’s Betrayal Sparks A War

October 4, 2024

DDT “GOD BLESS DDT 2024 TOUR IN FUKUOKA”, 13/10/2024
Acros Fukuoka

1. Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul Vs Akito, Yukio Naya & Kazuma Sumi
2. Chris Brookes & Yuki Ishida Vs Soma Takao & Kazuki Hirata
3. Jun Akiyama & Keigo Nakamura Vs Tetsuya Endo & Yuya Koroku
4. Special Tag Match: Shinya Aoki & Yuki Ueno Vs HARASHIMA & Takeshi Masada
5. O-40 Title – 3 Way Match: Azul Dragon (c) Vs Toru Owashi Vs Danshoku Dieno
6. KO-D Tag Team Titles: MAO & Shunma Katsumata (c) Vs Kota Umeda & Tomomitsu Matsunaga
7. DDT Universal Title: Yuki Iino (c) Vs To-y

After successfully defending the KO-D Tag Team Titles yesterday, ShunMao have been informed that their match against Kota Umeda & Tomomitsu Matsunaga later this month is now a title match. Both MAO & Shunma Katsumata have scary memories of Umeda from back in their DNA days so they are not looking forward to seeing him again. Tomomitsu Matsunaga is getting his second shot at the KO-D Tag Titles this year. He previously challenged for them with Jun Akiyama back in April.

DDT “YUKI ISHIDA TRIUMPHANT RETURN! GOD BLESS DDT 2024 TOUR IN KUMAMOTO”, 14/10/2024
Kumamoto L’celmo Yatsushiro

1. Tomomitsu Matsunaga Vs To-y
2. Danshoku Dieno & Soma Takao Vs Shunma Katsumata & Keigo Nakamura
3. Special Tag Match: Jun Akiyama & HARASHIMA Vs Chris Brookes & Kazuma Sumi
4. The 37KAMIINA Vs BURNING!: Yuki Ueno & MAO Vs Tetsuya Endo & Yuya Koroku
5. Special Single Match: Yuki Iino Vs Kazuki Hirata
6. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul (c) Vs Akito, Yukio Naya & Yuki Ishida

Kumamoto is Yuki Ishida country so he is getting a title match for his homecoming. He chose to team with Yukio Naya & Akito so they can fight for the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles.

DDT “THE LAST BEER GARDEN PRO WRESTLING OF 2024”, 17/10/2024
Tokyo Ueno Park Outdoor Stage

1. Special Single Match: Jun Akiyama Vs Antonio Honda
2. Special Single Match: Danshoku Dieno Vs Kazuki Hirata
3. Street Kickboxing 6-Man Tag Match: Kota Ibushi, HARASHIMA & Yukimitsu Takahashi Vs Thanomsak Toba, Takeshi Masada & Gota Ihashi

Now this is the environment I want to see Kota Ibushi flourish in again! A 6-Man Tag Match with Kickboxing rules that I guess can be described as Falls Count Anywhere? I mean the person who gets beaten will be falling over after getting knocked out so that counts, right? The match mixes together several fighting disciplines too. Yukimitsu Takahashi is a pro kickboxer who has been learning from the Ibushi Wrestling Institute since last summer. He will also be fresh off of a kickboxing bout that is happening a few days before this show. Thanomsak Toba is there to represent Muay Thai. Takeshi Masada has a background in Shorinji Kempo. HARASHIMA is going to use “HERO! Martial Arts” That just leaves Gota Ihashi as the human punching bag.

DDT “GOD BLESS DDT 2024”, 20/10/2024
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. DAMNATION T.A Vs SCHADENFREUDE International!: Daisuke Sasaki, KANON, MJ Paul & Ilusion Vs Chris Brookes, Masahiro Takanashi, Antonio Honda & Takeshi Masada
2. DDT Extreme Title: Akito (c) Vs Danshoku Dieno
3. KO-D Openweight Title: Shinya Aoki (c) Vs HARASHIMA

War is breaking out between SCHADENFREUDE International and DAMNATION T.A! You can blame Ilusion for that after he betrayed SCHADENFREUDE and stabbed them all in the back to join DAMNATION T.A. It was a plan that Ilusion and DAMNATION have been in cahoots with together from the very beginning. An 8-Man Tag Match in Korakuen Hall might steal the show if the angle created enough heat for it.

DDT “SUMIDA DRAMATIC DREAM! ~FREE SEATING PRO WRESTLING SHOW~”, 04/11/2024
Tokyo Higashin Arena (Sumida City Gymnasium)

1. Touchi-kun Pro Wrestling Debut Match: Touchi-kun Vs X
2. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Yukio Naya & Shinichiro Kawamatsu Vs Satoshi Kojima, Akito & Antonio Honda
3. KO-D Openweight Title: Shinya Aoki (c) Vs X

It’s been so long since Satoshi Kojima last broke bread with DDT. Not counting “CYBERFIGHT FESTIVAL 2022”, he hasn’t wrestled in DDT since the end of 2012. His mighty Lariat might meet its match though. Shinichiro Kawamatsu is on the other team and he now has the Axe Bomber that was passed down to him from Hulk Hogan!

More war is breaking out but in mascot form! Touchi-kun is the mascot of the Japan Self-Defence Force’s Tokyo headquarters but his appearance in DDT yesterday made Pokotan very jealous. Jealous enough to make Pokotan attack the other mascot and get into a fight! The solution is to settle it in the ring, meaning Touchi-kun is going to make his pro wrestling debut.


DDT “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2024” Results

July 21, 2024

DDT “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2024”, 21/07/2024
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
4,131 Fans – Super No Vacancy

1. Keigo Nakamura, Yuki Ishida & Kazuma Sumi defeated Yuni, Yuya Koroku & Ilusion when Nakamura pinned Yuni with the Running Diving Headbutt (7:37).
2. 6-Man Tag Match Featuring People Connected To Sanshiro Takagi: Toru Owashi, Hisamaru Tajima & Shinichiro Kawamatsu defeated Makoto Oishi, Soma Takao & Ippanjin Munenori Sawa when Kawamatsu pinned Oishi with the Axe Bomber (6:28).
3. Special Single Match: Super Sasadango Machine defeated Kazuki Hirata with a School Boy (11:53).
4. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Yukio Naya & Tomomitsu Matsunaga defeated Minoru Suzuki, Shuji Ishikawa & Hikaru Sato when Naya pinned Sato with the Wrist-Clutch Back Drop (12:18).
5. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Sanshiro Takagi Indefinite Rest Road FINAL ~ Weapon Rumble: Danshoku Dieno (c) defeated Sanshiro Takagi with the Gotch-Style Piledriver (20:54).
*V? for Danshoku Dieno.
6. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles – Survival 4 Way 6-Man Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul defeated HARASHIMA, Akito & Yasu Urano (c), Aja Kong, Shunma Katsumata & To-y and Masahiro Takanashi, Antonio Honda & Takeshi Masada (17:30).
6a. HARASHIMA, Akito & Yasu Urano (c) eliminated Aja Kong, Shunma Katsumata & To-y when Akito pinned Katsumata with a Step Over Toe Hold (8:40).
6b. Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul eliminated HARASHIMA, Akito & Yasu Urano (c) when KANON pinned Akito after the Freedom Call (15:28).
6c. Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul eliminated Masahiro Takanashi, Antonio Honda & Takeshi Masada when Paul Sasaki submitted Masada with La Mistica Crossface Lock (17:30).
*Smile Squash fails in V1. DAMNATION T.A becomes the 56th KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions!
7. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA defeated Masato Tanaka with an Elbow Butt (14:42).
8. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino (c) defeated Go Shiozaki & Atsushi Kotoge when Endo pinned Kotoge with the Burning Star Press (20:37).
*V3 for BURNING.
9. Dramatic Dream Match – No DQ Match: El Desperado defeated Chris Brookes with the Pinche Loco on the Barbed Wire Board (22:12).
10. KO-D Openweight Title – Goodcom Assets Presents: Yuki Ueno (c) defeated MAO with the WR (29:44).
*V6 for Yuki Ueno.

The story of MAO running away from The 37KAMIINA has come to an end. He wasn’t able to win the KO-D Openweight Title from Yuki Ueno after all but it still became a happy ending for everyone involved with the group. The two went all out against each other both inside and out of the ring. Over on the ramp Ueno gave MAO the Canadian Destroyer only for MAO to fire back with the same move. Ueno rolled off the ramp afterwards so MAO reached out and helped him back to the ring so the match wouldn’t end by countout. Ueno dodged the Phoenix Splash and used the Jul.2 for a nearfall. Then there was a trade off between Ueno’s Blackout Sleeper and MAO’s Just Face Lock. There was then a battle of Dropkicks with both wrestlers using the move on each other again and again. MAO used the Iai Kick but only got a two count. Instead Ueno got him in the WR to pin him and retain the championship.

After the match Ueno gave MAO a hug. He said that whenever he feels exhausted or loses his confidence, he will look at MAO to become an even better man. He is sure MAO feels the same way about him. Today he is glad he put his life on the line in Sumo Hall to fight MAO for DDT’s greatest championship. However MAO declined to shake Ueno’s hand and he left the ring. Ueno still praised him for being a free spirit and if he can beat somebody like him then he can beat anybody. Ueno then called Shinya Aoki to the ring and nominated him as his next challenger for the KO-D Title. Aoki said that ever since his fight against Kazushi Sakuraba in 2015, the next opponent and place he wanted to get the most is Yuki Ueno in DDT. Hisaya Imabayashi endorsed the challenge and announced the title match will take place on 25th August.

Ueno closed out the day by telling the fans he and DDT will continue to show everyone their dreams in the ring. Ueno left the ring and walked up the ramp where he was suddenly greeted by MAO again. MAO has decided he is no longer running away from home and has returned to The 37KAMIINA! Shunma Katsumata and To-y also appeared alongside them and the four went backstage together. In the hallway they found Konosuke Takeshita waiting for them. He simply gave them a thumbs up and walked away.

Yesterday at a public press conference Chris Brookes and El Desperado agreed that their match today should be held under No DQ Rules. The ring was already armed with a barbed wire board, a fork board and a bunch of plastic cases lying around waiting for the chaos to start. It began with Desperado bringing out two bouquets of flowers and handing one over to Brookes. They then both attacked each other with the bouquets. As the fighting got more intense Desperado busted open Brookes and in return Brookes took out a pair of scissors to cut up his opponent’s mask. Desperado then decided to pull it off and wrestle the rest of the match fully unmasked! A stapler gun was brought in and the two of them stapled each other back and forth all over their bodies. The envelope used for the “DESPE-INVITACIONAL” was also stapled onto them. SCHADENFREUDE International interfered in the match to gang up on Desperado but he fought them off by spraying them with a fire extinguisher. Brookes did the Praying Mantis Bomb but only got a two count while Desperado hit the Mad Splash on top of the barbed wire board for a nearfall. The end came when Desperado gave Brookes the Lip Lock and then dropped him on top of the barbed wire with the Pinche Loco. Brookes said he is frustrated over losing but also happy because he feels so alive after the match. Desperado said he got a great taste of DDT. He does not know if he will ever get another taste but he hopes to do it again some day. However not long after the show New Japan announced that Desperado is taking a leave of absence to recover from injuries. Desperado made it clear on social media that Brookes and the match they had are not at fault for it.

The last few months have seen Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino from BURNING feud with Go Shiozaki across DDT and NOAH. It was all building up to the KO-D Tag Team Titles defence here with Shiozaki teaming with Atsushi Kotoge. Since both Endo & Iino were focused on solely beating Shiozaki, Kotoge became frustrated at being ignored. It was on full show here because Kotoge busted himself open from Headbutting Endo too much! Shiozaki was taken out by Iino’s Lariat leaving Endo to fight Kotoge. Endo gave him a Headbutt of his own before doing the Swivel Torture Rack Bomb for a nearfall. He then finished him off with the Burning Star Press for the victory. Iino said he knew how good Shiozaki’s Chops are with those big arms of his but that doesn’t matter because BURNING won in the end. Endo said they won today because of the support from their fans. He is now considering how interesting it would be if BURNING and TEAM NOAH would team up in the future. Iino wants to fight more opponents from more companies to increase the value of the KO-D Tag Titles.

The busy summer Takeshita is taking part in has gone off to a hot start. Yesterday he beat Yota Tsuji in the opening day of the G1 Climax and today he defeated Masato Tanaka in a battle of the Elbow Smashes. It was a rematch of their KO-D Title bout from March 2020 and this time it was Takeshita who was left standing tall. After duelling Elbow Smashes, Takeshita’s ones were the more powerful. He ended up using the move to break down Tanaka and pin him for the three count. With this result Takeshita will now bring this power with him for the rest of the G1. He wants DDT fans to follow him in the tournament with pride and confidence. Tanaka admitted that Takeshita now has the best elbow strikes in the world but he will take that title back from him soon!

After Smile Squash went through all the effort of rescuing the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles from DAMNATION T.A, they’ve only gone and lost the belts back to them! The belts were on the line in a Survival 4 Way Match with other teams of three looking to win the titles for themselves. The 37KAMIINA & Aja Kong beat up Yasu Urano but were the first eliminated thanks to Akito dodging their attacks and pinning To-y with a Stepover Toe Hold. The champions Smile Squash were then surprisingly next to go. HARASHIMA had MJ Paul pinned with the Somato when KANON pulled the referee out of the ring mid-count. Daisuke Sasaki then attacked everyone with a chair then used the Freedom Call with KANON to pin Akito. Antonio Honda had his working boots on today because he successfully performed a Suicide Dive onto everyone out of the ring. He & Masahiro Takanashi also aided Takeshi Masada until he had to go it alone against Sasaki. Paul gave Masada a German Suplex so Sasaki could pin him for a nearfall. Sasaki then used La Mistica Crossface Lock to make Masada give up.

While DAMNATION T.A were celebrating in the ring, Ryuichi “Fire” Kawakami appeared at ringside and climbed in to meet them. He had already caused trouble backstage earlier in the day by attacking Yukio Naya after his match. But Kawakami got into the ring to give Sasaki a hug because he is now joining forces with DAMNATION T.A! Kawakami is ready to bring “FIRE DAMNATION” to DDT and Naya is his first target. Sasaki thinks “FIRE DAMNATION” sounds a little lame but he’s happy to have Kawakami on his side.

After spending so many decades fighting for DDT inside and out of the ring, Sanshiro Takagi is finally ready to take an indefinite break so he can focus on his management duties within CyberFight while taking better care of his health. But first he had one more battle with Danshoku Dieno to get through. During the week he pinned Dieno to take the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title away from him but Dieno won it not too long afterwards. Their match here was a Weapon Rumble. One by one weapons selected by the two wrestlers would be brought down to the ring. Takagi’s first weapon was product placement for Yanekabe Shokunin Goods. Dieno countered that with Yoshihiko along with Muscle Sakai as its handler. Takagi then brought out the Dramatic Dream bike. Dieno shocked Takagi by setting up a retirement ceremony for him. Saki Akai came down to the ring and presented him with gifts as well as a heartfelt speech. Takagi was so touched by the gesture he considered to go ahead with retirement but interrupted the ten bell salute so the match would continue. MIKAMI and Poison Sawada JULIE then ran down to be Takagi’s latest weapons. Dieno had allies of his own in the form of Tokyo Joshi Pro! The group of Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh, Mizuki and Yuki Kamifuku all attacked Takagi with some of their signature moves. But when TJPW GM Tetsuya Koda wanted to get his digs in, Hisaya Imabayashi got mad and attacked him! With them out of the way Takagi brought out his golden ace up his sleeve. He brought in a big star from AEWMichael Nakazawa! He came out with his body painted completely gold. Who could Dieno have picked in response to this? It was the actual “Golden Star”, the return of Kota Ibushi to DDT! Ibushi gave Takagi the Kamigoye and Dieno waited for Takagi to get back up so he could finish him off with the Lip Lock and Gotch-Style Danshoku Driver.

After the match Dieno told Takagi that it does not matter if he takes a permanent break or is able to come back and wrestle again. DDT will be fine because Dieno will always be here. Takagi thanked Dieno because without him this dramatic situation would have never taken place today. He thought he would never meet Ibushi inside a DDT ring ever again! DDT went through some tough times after Ibushi left them in 2016 but Ibushi was able to rise higher and higher. Takagi believes if he can still get chances to be in the ring with Ibushi then he will never retire! His wish is to fight Ibushi in a singles match again. Ibushi has a request too. Can he come back to DDT some day? Takagi and Dieno both burst into tears and told him yes because he is family. Backstage Takagi told reporters he really wants Kenny Omega to get recover from his health problems too so he can call him again too.

As mentioned above, Naya’s day at Sumo Hall was ruined by a backstage attack by Kawakami after his match. Before that happened things were going great for Naya. He teamed with Jun Akiyama & Tomomitsu Matsunaga to beat the big name outsider trio of Minoru Suzuki, Shuji Ishikawa & Hikaru Sato. Naya also got the pinfall after he gave Sato the Wrist-Clutch Back Drop. The backstage attack happened during the post-match interview. Naya’s partners had already left the room and he was in the middle of talking about how it is up to him to carry DDT’s heavyweight division due to a number of injuries on the roster. That was when Kawakami burst out from behind the interview curtain and attacked Naya with a chair. He demanded to be booked for more DDT shows or else he will blow more people up!

With so much happening up and down the card, Kazuki Hirata and Super Sasadango Machine were determined to make their match stand out and become the most newsworthy. Sasadango used his PowerPoint presentation to tell everyone about how much social media coverage his recent tag match with Hirata, Takagi and Dieno got because so many shocking incidents took place during it. So he begged the audience to retweet everything that happened here and even made a competition where one lucky fan will win a sirloin steak, shrimp and red snow crab that he all bought with his own money! There were many “shocking incidents” that happened during the match. First there was a Thumb War that was won by Sasadango. Then there was a new finishing move that Hirata created called the Ryogoku Bomber except he couldn’t do it right because of a lack of practice. Sasadango also decided to give away Edameme he brought from Niigata because he wants everyone to know how delicious it is. After that, Hirata tried to turn heel and adopt Masahiro Chono’s theme song as his own. However he didn’t have the heart to attack Sasadango with a barbed wire bat along with some unknown masked lackeys so he went back to being a babyface. Sasadango then suggested they both turn heel together and form an nWo style faction. He pulled off his mask to reveal he had already shaved his head and painted on a beard plus forehead scars to look like Keiji Muto! He went to do the Shining Wizard but Hirata dodged it and pinned Sasadango with a School Boy. Backstage Hirata said he wants to continue doing things in pro wrestling that are unprecedented. Sasadango was angry over Hirata “betraying” him but admitted it felt so good to have a packed Sumo Hall chanting Muto’s name at him. He also credited Minoru Suzuki for giving him the haircut before the match.

During the same week where Hulk Hogan made a show of himself in America’s political landscape, his presence was also felt on a smaller scale in Japan thanks to Shinichiro Kawamatsu. The Japanese politician had the Axe Bomber passed down to him by Hogan earlier this year and today he used the move to win his match. Toru Owashi claimed this was the power of the impromptu tag team of himself, Kawamatsu and Hisamaru Tajima. It may not look like it but there is actually a deep bound between the three of them according to Owashi. He was Tajima’s opponent for Tajima’s debut match back in Toryumon. He has also spent a lot of his life living in Sumida Ward which is also the district Kawamatsu is elected in. The point of the match though is that they along with Makoto Oishi, Soma Takao & Munenori Sawa are all connected to Sanshiro Takagi.

The show kicked off with most of the D GENERATIONS class pitted against each other in a 6-Man Tag Match. It came down to Yuni almost beating Keigo Nakamura with a Moonsault. Nakamura recovered to hit Yuni with a German Suplex, John Woo Dropkick and then the Running Diving Headbutt to win the match for his team. Yuki Ishida & Kazuma Sumi both felt that they did their best to make the show start off on the right foot. Nakamura was also happy to win a match by himself in Sumo Hall for the first time. Yuya Koroku feels the need to start aiming higher since it is almost six months since he returned from injury. Ilusion thinks they should all be showing more energy because they are the future of DDT. Yuni said he wants to main event Sumo Hall one day so he will work hard to achieve that.

DDT returns to Sumo Hall on 28th December for “ULTIMATE PARTY 2024”. In previous years DDT’s last supershow on the calendar would take place in November. However the company wants to take a shot at holding a big arena show at the end of the year.

It was announced that Kaisei Takechi will be returning to DDT for his second pro wrestling match on 29th September. The star from THE RAMPAGE made his debut to much fanfare back in February. He sent a video message explaining his decision to compete in another match is because he believes he has the ability to do more in the ring the second time round. He would also like to continue participating more in wrestling after this match takes place.