Catching Up On What I Missed

April 11, 2013

DDT “APRIL FOOL 2013”, 13/04/2013
Shinjuku FACE

0. Dark Match – 3 Way Match: Hoshitango Vs Tetsuya Endo Vs Hiroshi Fukuda
1. Yasu Urano & FUMA Vs Michael Nakazawa & Gota Ihashi
2. Sanshiro Takagi & Toru Owashi New Unit Audition: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Toru Owashi Vs Masa Takanashi Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga Vs Takao Soma Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Akito Vs DJ Nira
3. HARASHIMA & KUDO Vs MIKAMI & Hikaru Sato
4. Special Single Match: Kota Ibushi Vs Keisuke Ishii
5. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Antonio Honda, Daisuke Sasaki & Yuji Hino (c) Vs Danshoku Dino, Makoto Oishi & Alpha Female
6. KO-D Openweight Title: Shigehiro Irie (c) Vs Yukio Sakaguchi

Alpha Female, the current World of Stardom Champion, is the third person in the team challenging for the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Title match. She’s been pretty unstoppable ever since she stepped foot in Japan.

Sanshiro Takagi & Toru Owashi are forming their own unit and will be holding auditions at the show. They are still taking applications from wrestlers until the morning before the show.

DDT “NEBULA CHAIN IN NAGOYA 2013”, 14/04/2013
Nagoya Telepia Hall

1. DJ Nira Vs El Samurai
2. Keisuke Ishii Vs Tetsuya Endo
3. KUDO & FUMA Vs Hikaru Sato & Michael Nakazawa
4. KO-D Tag Team Titles: HARASHIMA & Yasu Urano (c) Vs Kengo Takai & Akito

DJ Nira Vs El Samurai was originally booked with the intention of Nira defending his Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Contract. However, Nira lost the contract to Sanshiro Takagi a few days after this match was booked.

GANBARE☆WRESTLING “NO CRY, NO WRESTLE”, 17/04/2013
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Fumihito Kihara Vs Shota
2. Ganbare Tamgawa & Nana Kawasa Vs Commndo Bolshoi & Rabbit Miu
3. Shinichiro Tominaga Vs Tomohiro Otani
4. Yumehito Imanari Vs Osamu Namiguchi
5. Gachinko Cement Match: Ken Ohka Vs Brian Cannon

Brian Cannon confronted Ken Ohka again to demand a rematch from the first Ganbare☆Wrestling event. However the stakes have been raised by making the rematch a Gachinko Cement Match. The two will fight on a mat placed on top of cement blocks. Cannon’s fandom of Jushin Liger is getting stronger as he now wears a homemade Liger costume underneath his suit.

Ganbare☆Wrestling is beginning to look like an island of misfit toys. Two failed trainees from other promotions have come into Ken Ohka’s promotion. Shinichiro Tominaga, the promising Union rookie from 2011 who quit the promotion after suffering a fractured forearm is back. His opponent Tomohiro Otani was invited to wrestle here by his friend Yumehito Imanari. Otani was a trainee for SMASH but never got anywhere due to “feeling broken.” Ganbare☆Wrestling is offering the two wrestlers a chance to redeem themselves.

DDT “ROAD TO RYOGOKU 2 DAYS IN SHIMIZU ~DRAMATIC DREAM TUNA~”, 21/04/2013
Shimizu Marine Bill

1. Antonio Honda Vs Takao Soma
2. Yasu Urano Vs Daisuke Sasaki
3. HARASHIMA & KUDO VS MIKAMI & Masa Takanashi

Antonio Honda Vs Takao Soma is a first time Singles match between the two.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “THE SECOND MEETING”, 26/04/2013
Shibuya Deseo

1. Karate Exhibition: Miyu Yamashita Vs Hikaru Nakajima
2. KANNA Vs Chikage Kiba

Chikage Kiba gets to compete in her first wrestling bout.

Hikaru Nakajima is a 170cm high karate fighter from the Nishiyama Dojo born in Chiba on 26th April, 1993. Hikaru brags about having brains, beauty and Bunbu Ryodo. From 2009 onwards she has had success in the Chiba Championships, Japan Cup Junior Championships, All Japan Karate Championships and Kanto Practice Championships.

UNION “GOLDEN UNION 2013”, 03/05/2013
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Ryu Gouma & SAGAT Vs Choun-Shiryu & Cao Zhang
2. Union Fly To Everywhere World Title – 3 Way Match: Kaori Yoneyama (c) Vs Cherry Vs Nako Fukumen B
3. DDT Extreme Title: Kenny Omega (c) Vs Isami Kodaka

Jun Kasai, Kengo Ohka, Madoka and Menso~re Oyaji will also be on the show.


Dino & Oishi’s Blind Date, Akito’s Hometown Title Match

April 3, 2013

DDT “APRIL FOOL 2013”, 13/04/2013
Shinjuku FACE

1. HARASHIMA & KUDO Vs MIKAMI & Hikaru Sato
2. Special Single Match: Kota Ibushi Vs Keisuke Ishii
3. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Antonio Honda, Daisuke Sasaki & Yuji Hino (c) Vs Danshoku Dino, Makoto Oishi & X
4. KO-D Openweight Title: Shigehiro Irie (c) Vs Yukio Sakaguchi

Danshoku Dino & Makoto Oishi’s partner for the KO-D 6-Man Tag Title match will be revealed in Sapporo on 7th April. According to both men there was a demand from many wrestlers to team with them.

DDT “NEBULA CHAIN IN NAGOYA 2013”, 14/04/2013
Nagoya Telepia Hall

1. Keisuke Ishii Vs Tetsuya Endo
2. KUDO & FUMA Vs Hikaru Sato & Michael Nakazawa
3. KO-D Tag Team Titles: HARASHIMA & Yasu Urano (c) Vs Kengo Takai & Akito

Akito was granted a KO-D Tag Team Title shot after pinning Yasu Urano in Toyama at the end of March. He and Kengo Takai will challenge for the title in his hometown of Nagoya.


BJW/UNION “BIG JAPAN X UNION MAY OR MAY NOT BE AT WAR” Results

March 29, 2012

BJW/UNION “BIG JAPAN X UNION MAY OR MAY NOT BE AT WAR”, 29/03/2012
Shinjuku FACE
329 Fans – No Vacancy

1. Cherry & Great Kojika defeated Mio Shirai & Takumi Tsukamoto when Cherry pinned Shirai with the Cherryton Bomb (8:11).
2. Give Courage To Men Suffering From Battle: Jaki Numazawa defeated Big Rude by making him say “Propia” (5:55).
3. Sanshiro Takagi Battle Royal: Big Buddy Sanshiro Takagi (Yuji Okabayashi) defeated Sanshiro Takagi X (Batten Tamagawa) with the Golem Splash (9:16)
Other Participants: Sanshiro Takagi, New Sanshiro Takagi, Secret Sanshiro Takagi (Mototsugu Shimizu) and Love Sanshiro Takagi (Abdullah Kobayashi).
4. Daisuke Sekimoto defeated Hiroshi Fukuda with a Crab Hold (6:57).
5. Hardcore Tag Team Match: Ken Ohka & Kengo Ohka defeated Ryuji Ito & Kankuro Hoshino when Ken Ohka pinned Hoshino with the Spear Of The Flame onto a Ladder (12:22).
6. Shuji Ishikawa & Shigehiro Irie defeated Yoshihito Sasaki & Shinobu when Ishikawa pinned Shinobu with the Splash Mountain (12:17).
7. DDT Extreme Title – Fluorescent Lighttubes Death Match: Yuko Miyamoto defeated Isami Kodaka (c) with the Swivel Fire Thunder (15:12).
*Isami Kodaka fails in V2. Yuko Miyamoto becomes the 18th DDT Extreme Champion!

Union and Big Japan Wrestling may or may not be at war with each other but their relationship has gotten to the point where a DDT championship is now in the hands of Big Japan. Yuko Miyamoto defeated his long time friend Isami Kodaka to win the DDT Extreme Championship in the main event of Union and BJW’s cross-promoted show in Shinjuku FACE. Both men fought in a Fluorescent Lighttubes Death Match, the first time such a match took place in the building. There were no hard feelings after the match, after all Miyamoto & Kodaka currently hold the BJW Tag Team Championship together. In fact, after the match Miyamoto kept on saying how much fun he had at the show and he asked Naomi Susan if Union and Big Japan could hold more joint shows in the future. Susan spoke to Big Japan rep Eiji Tosaka after the show and admitted she was frustrated to see Union lose a championship to Big Japan. However, she also thought the joint show was an interesting experiment.

BIG “G” BANG built some momentum going into their seperate championship bouts next month by defeating a tag team that featured the winner of Big Japan’s recent Ikkitousen tournament. Shuji Ishikawa & Shigehiro Irie continued their winning ways with a victory over Yoshihito Sasaki & Shinobu, a team that lives by the tagline “Good Friends, Better Enemies.” The action did not stop at the end when the bell rang and a brawl broke out between the two sides.

Look at the result for Match #5. Yes, you read that right. Ken Ohka won a Hardcore match against Big Japan death match wrestlers! It all happened when Kankuro Hoshino placed Ohka on top of a ladder and climbed up top for the Diving Senton. Ohka rolled out of the way and after Hoshino landed on top of the ladder, Ohka hit his patented Spear Of The Flame to get the three count. Ken now thinks that he and Kengo Ohka make for a natural tag team together.

If you think that Sanshiro Takagi does not appear in Union enough then the Sanshiro Takagi Battle Royal is just the match for you! There were not enough Sanshiro Takagi taking part in the Sanshiro Takagi Battle Royal, so one more Sanshiro Takagi was added to the line up. Big Buddy Sanshiro Takagi (Yuji Okabayashi) was the last Takagi standing, defeating the original Sanshiro Takagi and four other dopplegangers. The Secret Sanshiro Takagi was Mototsugu Shimizu. The Secret in that name stood for Secret Base, Shimizu’s home promotion.

Big Rude and Jaki Numazawa fought each other in an I Quit Match with a difference. Rather than forcing the opponent to say “I quit”, the aim of the match was for each wrestler to force his opponent to say their own sponsor’s name. Both Big Rude and Numazawa are spokesmen for seperate products and have sponsorships from the companies when they wrestle. Big Rude is sponsored by Svenson, a company that specialises in hair restoration products. Numazawa meanwhile is sponsored by Propia, who make shampoo, make up and, I’m not making this up, fake facial hair. Numazawa won the match when he placed Rude in a Camel Clutch and forced him to shout “Propia!”

The official show report on DDT’s website says the Great Kojika and Cherry “graced the opening match in the wisdom of age”. I bet Cherry will be offended when she reads that line.


HARD HIT “MEN OF THE MONTH” Results

March 22, 2012

HARD HIT “MEN OF THE MONTH”, 22/03/2012
Shinjuku FACE
367 Fans – No Vacancy

1. KEI Yamamiya (0-D/0-E/0-P) defeated Ryuichi Sekine (0-D/0-E/0-P) by Referee Stoppage due to excessive bleeding (1:09).
2. Hayato Mashita (0-D/1-E/0-P) Vs Kenji Takeshima (1-D/0-E/0-P) ended in a Time Limit Draw (10:00).
3. Isami Kodaka (2-D/0-E/0-P) defeated Tanomusaku Toba (0-D/2-E/0-P) with a Single Leg Crab Hold (7:20).
4. Kosei Kubota (0-D/0-E/0-P) defeated Shotaro Nasu (0-D/0-E/0-P) with a Heel Hold (2:50).
5. Yukio Sakaguchi (0-D/1-E/0-P) defeated Michael Nakazawa (1-D/1-E/0-P) with a Cross Armbreaker (4:16).
6. HARASHIMA (1-D/2-E/0-P) Vs Daisuke Nakamura (2-D/1-E/0-P) ended in a Time Limit Draw (15:00).
7. Ryo Kawamura (0-D/1-E/0-P) defeated Hikaru Sato (0-D/1-E/0-P) by Referee Stoppage with Grounded Palm Strikes (4:07).

The opener was cut short when KEI Yamamiya busted Ryuichi Sekine nose with a Palm Strike.


Team Ohka Forms, Cherry’s Passport Problem

March 19, 2012

BJW/UNION “BIG JAPAN X UNION MAY OR MAY NOT BE AT WAR”, 29/03/2012
Shinjuku FACE

1. Shuji Ishikawa & Shigehiro Irie Vs Yoshihito Sasaki & Shinobu
2. Sanshiro Takagi Battle Royal: New Sanshiro Takagi Vs Sanshiro Takagi X Vs Secret Sanshiro Takagi Vs Sanshiro Takagi Vs Love Sanshiro Takagi
3. Cherry & Great Kojika Vs Mio Shirai & Takumi Tsukamoto
4. Give Courage To Men Suffering From Battle: Big Rude Vs Jaki Numazawa
5. Daisuke Sekimoto Vs Hiroshi Fukuda
6. Hardcore Tag Team Match: Ken Ohka & Kengo Ohka Vs Ryuji Ito & Kankuro Hoshino
7. DDT Extreme Title – Fluorescent Lighttubes Death Match: Isami Kodaka (c) Vs Yuko Miyamoto

After earning each other’s repsect in a hard fought match at “MARCH OF THE UNION 2012”, the two Ohkas will now team together to represent Union against two of Big Japan’s toughest death match fighters.

UNION “SCHOOL ENTRANCE CEREMONY 2012”, 08/04/2012
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. If Cherry Loses, Her Age Becomes Public – Continued: Cherry Vs GAMI

Just when she thought her secret was safe, Cherry finds her private information at risk once from being revealed once again. Pro Wrestling WAVE founder GAMI has stolen Cherry’s passport and will only give it back if Cherry defeats her in a match.

UNION “GOLDEN UNION 2012”, 04/05/2012
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. New Sanshiro Takagi Vs New Keizo Matsuda

El Generico will compete at this show, as will Kurokumo Clutch from Northern Outlaw Wrestling and Kyushu Pro Wrestling.


GM Ibushi, Hard Hit Workout, Union X BJW Card

March 16, 2012

DDT “NON-FIX 3.18 SPECIAL”, 18/03/2012
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Takao Soma Vs Gota Ihashi
2. Hikaru Sato & Michael Nakazawa Vs DJ Nira & Hoshitango
3. Try To Guess The Meaning Of This Card?: HARASHIMA & Guts Ishijima Vs GENTARO & Tomomitsu Matsunaga
4. Danshoku Dino, KUDO, Makoto Oishi & Hiroshi Fukuda Vs Yasu Urano, Yuji Hino, Antonio Honda & Keita Yano
5. Kenny Omega & Daisuke Sasaki Vs Shigehiro Irie & Keisuke Ishii
6. Next KO-D Title Challenger: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Masa Takanashi

As part of his role as interim General Manager for the night, Kota Ibushi will appear wearing an afro and glasses so he will look like Tsurumi Amon. A lottery will take place for fans with the winner getting a chance to take photos of Ibushi wearing the costume. Other than that, fans in attendance will not be allowed take photos of Ibushi while he is in “GM” mode.

UNION “MARCH OF THE UNION 2012”, 18/03/2012
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

0. Union League Experiment: Madoka Vs Taichi Kazato
1. Hiroshi Fukuda (w/ Rumi Kazama) Vs Rion Mizuki
2. New Sanshiro Takagi & Big Rude Vs New Keizo Matsuda & Yoshiya Yamashita
3. If Cherry Loses, Her Real Age Becomes Public: Cherry Vs Mio Shirai
4. BEST OF THE SUPER Ohka: Ken Ohka Vs Kengo Ohka
5. 1,000 Roses Death Match: Shuji Ishikawa & Shigehiro Irie Vs Isami Kodaka & Ryuichi Sekine

Fans have been encouraged to bring their own roses to add to the 1,000 that will be used in the match. Also due to so many roses being placed into the ring, fans will not be allowed throw streamers into the ring during the introductions.

Hiroshi Fukuda is determined to beat Rion Mizuki with the Perfect Plex so he can impress Rumi Kazama.

Yoshiya Yamashita is from K-DOJO. Taichi Mazato is from nkw and was a part of the New Axe Bombers group that was involved in last year’s dark matches for Union.

HARD HIT “ATLANTIS”, 22/03/2012
Shinjuku FACE

1. KEI Yamamiya Vs Ryuichi Sekine
2. Hayato Mashita Vs Kenji Takeshima
3. Isami Kodaka Vs Tanomusaku Toba
4. Kosei Kubota Vs Shotaro Nasu
5. Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Michael Nakazawa
6. HARASHIMA Vs Daisuke Nakamura
7. Hikaru Sato Vs Ryo Kawamura

A public workout session featuring several of the Hard Hit fighters took place yesterday in Yokohama. Hikaru Sato, HARASHIMA, Yukio Sakaguchi from Sakaguchi Dojo, Michael Nakazawa and Ryuichi Sekine all took part in the session held in P’s LAB Gym to get ready for their fights.

BJW/UNION “BIG JAPAN X UNION MAY OR MAY NOT BE AT WAR”, 29/03/2012
Shinjuku FACE

1. Shuji Ishikawa & Shigehiro Irie Vs Yoshihito Sasaki & Shinobu
2. Sanshiro Takagi Battle Royal: New Sanshiro Takagi Vs Sanshiro Takagi X Vs Secret Sanshiro Takagi Vs Sanshiro Takagi Vs Love Sanshiro Takagi
3. Cherry & Great Kojika Vs Mio Shirai & Takumi Tsukamoto
4. Give Courage To Men Suffering From Battle: Big Rude Vs Jaki Numazawa
5. Daisuke Sekimoto Vs Hiroshi Fukuda
6. Hardcore Tag Team Match: Ken Ohka & X Vs Ryuji Ito & Kankuro Hoshino
7. DDT Extreme Title – Fluorescent Lighttubes Death Match: Isami Kodaka (c) Vs Yuko Miyamoto

Ken Ohka mentioned Atsushi Ohashi a lot during the press conference for this show but he has not been confirmed as Ohka’s partner for the Hardcore Tag Team match.

Two of the three extra Sanshiro Takagi competing in the Battle Royal have been revealed. Sanshiro Takagi X is Batten Tamagawa, the X stands for Batten’s cross arm pose. Sanshiro Takagi Love is the current BJW Death Match Champion, Abdullah Kobayashi.


New Hard Hit Rules

March 12, 2012

HARD HIT “ATLANTIS”, 22/03/2012
Shinjuku FACE

1. KEI Yamamiya Vs Ryuichi Sekine
2. Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Michael Nakazawa
3. Isami Kodaka Vs Tanomusaku Toba
4. HARASHIMA Vs Daisuke Nakamura
5. Hikaru Sato Vs Ryo Kawamura

Hikaru Sato has announced a new rule set to be used in Hard Hit going forward. The following changes have been made:

– Hard Hit matches will now have either a 10 or 15 minute time limit.

– Pinfalls are not in use.

– 10 minute fights will use a three point loss system. 15 minute fights will use a 5 point loss system.

– Closed fist strikes to the face, shins and knees are not allowed. However, strikes to the shins and knees will be allowed if the opponent wears padding on the affected area.

– Headbutts are banned.

– When on the ground, fighters are considered to be in a grounded state until they are standing on the soles of both feet.

– When fighting in a grounded state, the only strikes that are allowed to be used are open palm strikes.

– Leaving the ring during the fight, using weapons and attacking the referee are all grounds for immediate disqualifiction.

Everything else will be kept as usual. The last two matches will have a 15 minute time limit, the rest will be 10 minutes. There have been some comments that Sato is using the Hard Hit relaunch to prepare for a possible revival in the shoot-fighting style made famous by UWF and RINGS. Sato’s response is he does not know what is happening and he just wants to appeal to the fans of that style.


Two New Matches For Hard Hit

March 9, 2012

HARD HIT “ATLANTIS”, 22/03/2012
Shinjuku FACE

1. KEI Yamamiya Vs Ryuichi Sekine
2. Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Michael Nakazawa
3. Isami Kodaka Vs Tanomusaku Toba
4. HARASHIMA Vs Daisuke Nakamura
5. Hikaru Sato Vs Ryo Kawamura

Daisuke Nakamura comes from the U-FILE camp.

Tanomusaku Toba reappears to continue his streak of fighting on every Hard Hit show to date. Hikaru Sato has fought on every show except the first one.


“JUDGEMENT 2012” And Hart Hit Matches

March 5, 2012

DDT “JUDGEMENT 2012”, 11/03/2012
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Gota Ihashi Return Match: KUDO Vs Gota Ihashi
2. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Battle Royal: Antonio Honda (c) Vs Michael Nakazawa Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga Vs Poison JULIE Sawada Vs Gorgeous Matsuno Vs Tigers Mask Vs Kana Vs Keita Yano
3. A Major Explosion!? Rocket Punch: Masao Inoue Vs DJ Nira
4. Shigehiro Irie & Keisuke Ishii Vs Shuji Kondo & Kaz Hayashi
5. KO-D Tag Team Title: Yasu Urano & Yuji Hino (c) Vs Sanshiro Takagi & Takao Soma
6. KO-D Openweight Title: Danshoku Dino (c) Vs Hikaru Sato

DDT confirmed the challengers for the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title Battle Royal. Antonio Honda was the one who brought the title back from the clutches of the Osaka Pro wrestlers. Now he will be chased after by the usual crew plus guests like Tigers Mask, Kana and Keita Yano.

HARD HIT “ATLANTIS”, 22/03/2012
Shinjuku FACE

1. Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Michael Nakazawa
2. KEI Yamamiya Vs Ryuichi Sekine
3. Hikaru Sato Vs Ryo Kawamura

Some information has come in for the next Hard Hit show. The main event of Hikaru Sato versus Ryo Kawamura of Pancrase-ism fame will have a fifteen minute time limit. The other two fights will each have a ten minute time limit. More matches will be announced soon. Keiichiro “KEI” Yamamiya represents the GRABAKA gym located in Nakano while Yukio Sakaguchi comes from the Sakaguchi Dojo in Yokohama.


Union With BJW, DDT With BJW Too

February 2, 2012

DDT “INTO THE FIGHT 2012”, 19/02/2012
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. School System Vs Dissidents: Sanshiro Takagi, Takao Soma, Shiro Koshinaka & Masashi Aoyagi Vs X, X, X & X
2. Special Tag Match: Kenny Omega & KUDO Vs El Generico & HARASHIMA
3. KO-D Tag Team Title: Yasu Urano & Yuji Hino (c) Vs Makoto Oishi & Masao Inoue
4. KO-D Openweight Title: Danshoku Dino (c) Vs Antonio Honda

Several names have been added to this event. They are Daisuke Sasaki (not sure if this effects his trip to Mexico), Hikaru Sato, Hiroshi Fukuda, Akito, Hikari Minami, Tsukasa Fujimoto and Sexxxy Eddy.

DDT/BJW “TBA”, 20/03/2012
Hakata Star Lane

Union isn’t the only brand holding a joint show with Big Japan during March. DDT will be joining in the fun too with a show in Hakata Star Lane produced by both Antonio Honda & Jaki Numazawa.

BJW/UNION “TBA”, 29/03/2012
Shinjuku FACE

1. Fluorescent Lighttubes Death Match: Isami Kodaka Vs Yuko Miyamoto

The first match of the BJW/Union show has been announced. The current co-holders of the BJW Tag Team Championship will battle each other in a Fluorescent Lighttubes Death Match. This will be the first time a death match will be held in Shinjuku FACE. Union had to got through a lot of negotiations with the building’s owners to allow the match to happen. They came to a compromise that only lighttubes will be used in the match and not the more extreme items Big Japan is associated with.