TOKYO JOSHI PRO “GO GIRL 4 ~1ST TIME IN A YEAR, LIMITED TO FEMALE FANS~”, 15/10/2023 Tokyo Shinagawa Prince Hotel Club eX 149 Fans
1. Suzume defeated Haru Kazashiro with the Ring A Bell (7:02).
2. Mahiro Kiryu defeated Wakana Uehara with the Spinebuster (6:38).
3. Hyper Misao & Kaya Toribami defeated Yuki Aino & Runa Okubo when Misao submitted Okubo with the Chickenwing Face Lock (7:42).
4. Hikari Noa defeated Toga with the Blizzard Suplex (7:29).
5. Max The Impaler, Raku & Pom Harajuku defeated Nao Kakuta, HIMAWARI & Shino Suzuki when Max pinned Suzuki with the Short-Range Lariat (10:35).
6. Mizuki & Yuki Arai defeated Moka Miyamoto & Arisu Endo when Mizuki pinned Endo with the Cutie Special (10:34).
7. Nivea Angel Skin Body Wash Presents Go Girl 4 Special Tag Match: Maki Itoh & Yuki Kamifuku defeated Shoko Nakajima & Rika Tatsumi when Kamifuku pinned Nakajima with the Famouser (16:02).
Maki Itoh & Yuki Kamifuku were rewarded with a year’s supply of Nivea Angel Skin Body Wash for winning the sponsored main event. After the match Itoh said she’s not usually that popular in places like this but she is whenever Tokyo Joshi Pro hold events in front of a women only audience. Kamifuku is also grateful for the audience because the roster get more compliments on how cute their costumes and make-up are. It gives the wrestlers a different kind of courage and enthusiasim. Shoko Nakajima & Rika Tatsumi were disappointed they couldn’t win the Nivea prize. Tatsumi said she was more fired up than usual because she was surrounded by cute girls.
Uta took Miu Watanabe’s place in show opening song performance with The Up Up Girls (Pro Wrestling).
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “WRESTLE PRINCESS IV”, 09/10/2023 Tokyo Tama Mirai Messe 868 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House
1. Runa Okubo defeated Haru Kazashiro with a Half Crab Hold (5:16).
2. Arisu Endo, Kaya Toribami & HIMAWARI defeated HARUKAZE, Yoshiko Hasegawa & Riara when Endo submitted Hasegawa with the Camel Clutch (12:07).
3. Moka Miyamoto defeated Juria Nagano with the Korokan (6:28).
4. Aja Kong, Raku & Shino Suzuki defeated Hyper Misao, Wakana Uehara & Toga when Kong pinned Uehara with a Back Drop (11:04).
5. Miu Watanabe & Yuki Arai defeated Ryo Mizunami & Yuki Aino when Arai pinned Aino with the Finally (13:10).
6. Sakisama, Mei Saint-Michel, Martha & Yukio Saint Laurent defeated Shoko Nakajima, Suzume, Pom Harajuku & Antonio Honda when Sakisama pinned Harajuku with the Academy Award (14:45).
7. Special Single Match: Nyla Rose defeated Maki Itoh with the Beast Bomb (12:20).
8. Princess Tag Team Titles: Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta defeated Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu when Kakuta pinned Kiryu with the Shiden Kai (13:37). *Free WiFi becomes the 14th Princess Tag Team Champions!
9. International Princess Title & NWA World Women’s Television Title: Max The Impaler (N/c) defeated Rika Tatsumi (I/c) with the Short-Range Lariat (15:19). *V3 for Max The Impaler. Rika Tatsumi fails in V5. Max The Impaler becomes the 11th International Princess Champion!
10. Princess Of Princess Title: Miyu Yamashita defeated Mizuki (c) with the Crash Rabbit Heat (21:24). *Mizuki fails in V4. Miyu Yamashita becomes the 13th Princess Of Princess Champion!
For the fourth time Miyu Yamashita has become the Princess Of Princess Champion! She was able to toughen out Mizuki’s Face Lock, Cutie Special and also the Whirling Candy as well as several Diving Foot Stomps. Mizuki also showed her determination by kicking out of the Skull Kick. Yamashita kept focus and landed a High Kick before finishing Mizuki off with the Crash Rabbit Heat. Yamashita wanted to shake Mizuki’s hand after the match but Mizuki hugged her instead. The title win makes Yamashita a worldwide triple crown champion! She now holds singles championships from Japan, Britain (EVE) and America (SPARK). Yamashita got on the microphone and said the belt still feels as extremely heavy as it did the previous times she won it. The reason she’s been able to have this success for the last decade is because she is strong but Mizuki is why the belt shines as bright as it does right now. She closed out the show by telling the fans not to set their own limits.
Backstage she repeated her praise for Mizuki, saying this match was the motivation that kept Yamashita going while she was wrestling in America for three months. She wants to defend the Princess Title overseas but also anticipates defending against wrestlers from around the world within Tokyo Joshi Pro. Mizuki said she couldn’t help but feel scared when she lost the match but so many fans in the audience and wrestlers backstage showed their support for her when it was over. It was another reminder of how blessed she is and it gives her another reason to become stronger. If she gets a chance she wants to win the title back but she realises there are more things she can do than just win belts. She’ll continue to be herself because she wants to become everyone’s princess forever.
A double championship match was in the semi-main event position, marking the first time in 8 and a half years an NWA championship was defended in Japan. Max The Impaler defeated Rika Tatsumi not only to retain the NWA Women’s TV Title but win the International Princess Title too! Max threw Tatsumi around the ring a lot early so Tatsumi came up with a plan. When they were both outside the ring Tatsumi threw some of the other wrestlers at Max! Miu Watanabe was easily knocked aside, Pom Harajuku was safely stopped in her place and Wakana Uehara was thrown right back at Tatsumi. Back in the ring Tatsumi changed tactics to target Max’s knee. It seemed to have paid off when Max favoured the knee after giving her opponent a Backbreaker. Tatsumi wore down Max and applied the Dragon Sleeper but it was power countered into a Fire Thunder Driver. Max then fired Lariats at Tatsumi until they got the 3 count. Max showed enough respect to shake Tatsumi’s hand after the match. Tatsumi is speechless by the result because she will now have to start her defence road all over again. She wants Max to hold onto the title so she can get revenge by winning it back from them.
The alleged curses that’s been following Free WiFi have now been extinguished because they are the new Princess Tag Team Champions! The vacant titles were on the line when Free WiFi took on Toyo Mates with both sides fighting to win the belts for the first time. Mahiro Kiryu tried to apologise for “disconnecting” Free WiFi but her opponents cut her off. Hikari Noa avoided the Famouser from Yuki Kamifuku and got rid of her with the Blizzard Suplex. Free WiFi then gave Kiryu the 5G and Nao Kakuta tried to use the Shiden Kai. Kiryu struggled to break out but Kakuta eventually hit the move for the victory. The title win means Kakuta can finally get rid of her “Uncrowned Queen” nickname while Noa is rewarded for being in a tag team that has not split up over time. Kamifuku said she hates that Toyo Mates have not been able to get good results despite being together for so long. She thinks if they take seperate paths she will be able to beat Aja Kong while Kiryu can go on to beat Miyu Yamashita. They can then reunite and use their massively increased salary to fund different improvements for Toyo University.
A little bit of AEW action was in the undercard when Maki Itoh faced off against Nyla Rose. Itoh was in trouble after taking a Power Bomb but she dodged Rose’s Diving Guillotine Knee Drop and stunned her with the Kokeshi Headbutt. Itoh caused more damage with a Swinging DDT but made the mistake of missing the Flying Big Head. Rose quickly took advantage and used the Beast Bomb to put Itoh away. Rose said Itoh has a hard head and thinks the expression “hard-headed” came from her. She sees similarities between herself and Itoh but admits Itoh is cuter. Itoh said she will do her best to beat Rose next time and this is to be continued.
Speculation over NEO Biishiki-gun’s future in TJPW spread across the fanbase leading into the show. The main four figureheads of the group gathered together once more to battle a ragtag bunch of misfits led by Shoko Nakajima. One of those misfits was Antonio Honda and he took the weirdest punishment by taking an injection in the backside from Yukio Saint Laurent. That injection turned out to be an unintentional energy boost, sending NEO Biishiki-gun packing until he tripped on the ropes before a dive. NEO Biishiki-gun regrouped to one by one take out the opposition. Sakisama & Mei Saint-Michel gave Nakajima the Tarte Tatin, Martha used her mop to stretch out Suzume and Saint Laurent tortured Honda some more. All that was left to do was for Sakisama to pin Pom Harajuku with the Academy Award.
After the match Sakisama spoke about NEO Biishiki-gun’s victory. She said she is done shining a light in TJPW and it is time for her to shine the light somewhere else. She is always travelling around the world but this time she is bringing the rest of NEO Biishiki-gun along with her. She told the audience that whenever they see a red rose, she wants them to think of her. All four members bowed and left the ring, perhaps for the final time.
Yuki Arai’s pro wrestling career has now introduced her to Ryo Mizunami. The two of them started off their tag match against each other with Arai taking the full brunt of the veteran’s attacks. Miu Watanabe kept things level by matching her power with Mizunami’s. That meant Arai now had to focus on Yuki Aino who has become a regular opponent of her’s. The Venus DDT only got Aino a 2 count and Arai slipped out of the UBV. She hit Aino from behind with the Finally to the back of the head. Arai then hit another Finally from the front to win the match. Watanabe praised her tag partner’s performance, describing her like a flower blooming from another flower. Mizunami also recognised the passion coming from Arai just for taking her Chops alone.
Hyper Misao has not forgotten about Aja Kong destroying the Hyper Cycle back at “SUMMER SUN PRINCESS ’23” in July. She declared she would get revenge today by defeating Kong directly. Although Misao was able to blind Kong with spray at the beginning, she wasn’t able to achieve her goal. Instead Kong performed the Oyasumi Express with Raku on top of poor Toga and then turn her attention to Wakana Uehara. Misao had brought up Uehara’s harsh experience of training with Kong on the Yume Pro Wrestling show last year. Today was Uehara’s chance to show her worth. She wore down Kong with the Sleeper Hold and avoided the Vertical Drop Brainbuster but Kong grabbed her in the Back Drop and that was all she needed to win. She then encouraged Uehara to slap her across the face after the match. Uehara did so and Kong pushed her back down.
In a match between two karate fighters, Moka Miyamoto came out on top against Juria Nagano. During the match Nagano got to show off a little bit of submission work by countering the Rashomon into an Arm Lock. When it came to strikes though, Miyamoto got the winning exchange by dodging the Hurricane Kick and hitting the Zero-Sen Kick in return. She then pinned Nagano with the Korokan. Miyamoto said she thinks she knows Nagano the best and could sense how much she has grown. For that reason she wants to continue teaming with Nagano and together fight for the Princess Tag Team Titles. Nagano likes the idea and agreed to go that direction next. Free WiFi accepted the challenge when they found out about it.
The last time TJPW fought against Ganbare☆Joshi in a multi-woman tag match was at “GRAND PRINCESS ’22” where they lost to the visiting team. This time however the TJPW team were victorious. Riara dealt the first blow by putting Arisu Endo in the Paradise Lock and getting the rest of the team to pose a toast over her. HIMAWARI reversed fortunes and Kaya Toribami did a number on Riara until HARUKAZE came in with the Spear Of Fire. Yoshiko Hasegawa tried her best to finish off Endo but Endo turned the tables and made Hasegawa submit to the Camel Clutch.
The first match of the day was between the two youngest members of TJPW’s active roster, both only six months into their wrestling careers. Runa Okubo scored the first win in her career by making Haru Kazashiro submit to a Half Crab Hold. Okubo said she doesn’t want anybody looking down on her. It will make her happy if she wins and make people think she is strong. Although Kazashiro was upset to lose she is still happy she got to wrestle Okubo in a singles match today because they train together. She has no choice but to look ahead and do her best so she can beat Okubo some day.
The first couple of big events for 2024 were announced during the show. The 9th annual Ittenyon is at Korakuen Hall on 4th January. The “Futari wa Princess” Max Heart Tournament begins in January and the final is taking place at Korakuen on 10th February. “GRAND PRINCESS ’24” will be held in Sumo Hall on 31st March. It will be the second time the event takes place there.
“The Nordic Monster” Regina will make her TJPW debut later this month. Regina is from Fight Club Finland and is currently the FCF Finnish Heavyweight Champion over there. She is wrestling in Aizuwakamatsu on the 20th, Sendai on the 21st and Korakuen on the 27th.
Yuki Arai, Moka Miyamoto & Shino Suzuki Vs Suzume, Arisu Endo & Wakana Uehara is the TJPW Offer Match booked for DDT “ULTIMATE PARTY 2023” at Sumo Hall on 12th November.
September was looking to be more of a quiet month for looking at the overseas adventures of the DDT extended family until the last week showed up like an avalanche. You can always get a lot of news to cover during tournament weekends. It’s a shame that the current state of the independent scene means those tentpole super weekend events don’t get as much coverage like they used to. Can’t blame them when WWE and AEW dominates everybody’s attention. It’s only going to get tougher when those two companies increase their schedules and reach out even further. This week’s news of WWE getting an ABEMA deal and having NOAH promote it on social media does not thrill me. I’ve seen how this story goes before. Even if some kind of big crossover does happen with WWE it is never worth it for the other company in the long run. And any pundit who says a project like NXT Japan will work as a gateway for getting WWE fans into Japanese wrestling is only fooling themselves. The appetite that audience has for non-WWE wrestling is just not there anymore.
Heading into October we have Konosuke Takeshita deep into a feud with The Golden Lovers. The lack of actual wrestling from Takeshita last month annoyed me. I get holding some wrestlers back for PPV but his standard of ring work has been missing from AEW TV recently. His storyline is also pulling in other wrestlers who are never hurting for screentime which makes me worry he is getting pushed to the side. Maki Itoh has finished up her latest North American tour, Shoko Nakajima had a quick trip to the USA and Miyu Yamashita was in the middle of wrestling in UK and Ireland when the month began. The big chunk of news that completely passed me by until it happened was Mizuki Watase going over to wXw in Germany with Shigehiro Irie. Oh and Tokyo Joshi Pro squeezed in a visit to China right at the deadline.
A few years ago the idea of Yamashita wrestling in OTT would have had me overjoyed but nowadays I don’t want to give the company much of my attention because of how people attached to them handled and disregarded Speaking Out. Her Irish wrestling debut had a slight change in plan thanks to the other team. Debbie Keitel was advertised to team with Anita Vaughan but she instead surprised everyone by bringing along Emersyn Jayne to be her partner instead.
MLW “FURY ROAD”, 03/09/2023 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
1. MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title No. 1 Contendership: B3CCA defeated Maki Itoh with the World Tour (7:42).
A singer showdown took place when Itoh made her first appearance in MLW. Itoh and B3CCA both love to be the centre of attention and literally fought over the microphone during their match. Itoh won that exchange and told B3CCA to “kiss my ass, bitch!” She also found a Singapore cane to beat up B3CCA with outside the ring. But Itoh made the grave mistake of missing the Flying Big Head, allowing B3CCA to give her a Death Valley Driver to the corner and then pin her with the World Tour 450 Splash.
AEW “ALL OUT”, 03/09/2023 United Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA
1. Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Don Callis) defeated Kenny Omega with the Powerdrive Knee (22:30).
A few days after Takeshita pinned Kenny Omega in England, he did it again back in America this time in a singles match. The match carried history over from Omega’s time in DDT, wearing new green and yellows tights based on what he wore in the early 2010s. Don Callis got involved though and brought the dreaded screwdriver into the match for Takeshita to use. However this time the referee stopped it from being used. It turned out Takeshita wouldn’t have needed it because he went on to beat Omega anyway, pulling down his kneepad to hit a raw Powerdrive Knee for the victory. The match even got ***** from Dave Meltzer! Okay, that doesn’t mean as much as it used to but it’s still a good accomplishment to have. Also let’s face it, when the wrestlers who complain about star ratings actually do get ***** from Meltzer they all of a sudden do a 180 and become grateful for it.
MYSTERY WRESTLING “MYSTERY WRESTLING 3”, 08/09/2023 Centre Aydelu, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada
1. Emi Sakura defeated Maki Itoh with La Magistral Cradle (?:??).
This year over in Canada Evil Uno has been running a Mystery Wrestling show on his Twitch channel every couple of months. The surprise headline match for the most recent event was a first time singles bout between Itoh and Emi Sakura. Itoh played a trick to escape from Sakura’s attacks by beginning to cry and then walking out of the match back to the locker room. She then reappeared from the opposite side of the room to attack a confused Sakura from behind. Sakura’s not someone you can beat with just one trick though. She ended up rolling Itoh into La Magistral Cradle to win the match.
GCW “CRUSHED UP”, 10/09/2023 Roulette Intermedium, New York City, New York, USA
1. Maki Itoh defeated Killer Kelly with a Tornado DDT (10:43).
Itoh’s current run with GCW ended here with a match against Killer Kelly. She’ll be back again later this year but what will be in store for her next? Her feud with Matt Cardona & Steph De Lander can be never ending but there has to be other stuff she wants to do in GCW next. Maybe she already found a new arch nemesis as you will see at the bottom of this post.
WXW “INNER CIRCLE”, 21/09/2023 wXw Wrestling Academy, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
1. Mizuki Watase defeated Danny Fray with a Diving Foot Stomp (7:23).
2. Shigehiro Irie defeated 1 Called Manders with a Roaring Elbow (8:57).
This was already announced earlier in the summer and I completely missed it. Irie & Watase reunited as RENEGADES to enter the annual World Tag Team Festival in Germany! But first the wrestlers took part in separate warmup matches the night before the tournament began. Watase’s first match ever in Germany was a win against Danny Fray. Irie also won his match by beating 1 Called Manders in a hoss fight.
WXW “WORLD TAG TEAM FESTIVAL 2023 – NIGHT 1”, 22/09/2023 Turbinenhalle 2, Oberhausen, Germany
1. World Tag Team Festival 2023 – Round 1: Shigehiro Irie & Mizuki Watase defeated Aigle Blanc & Senza Volto when Irie pinned Blanc with the Beast Bomber (16:41).
Irie won wXw’s other premium tournament the 16 Carat Gold back in March so he had his heart set on winning WTTF with Watase. They eliminated The Frenchadors in the opening round. Aigle Blanc & Senza Volto are former wXw World Tag Team Champions so RENEGADES could not have gotten off to a better start.
1. Shigehiro Irie defeated Arez with the Beast Bomber (9:20).
The WTTF weekend also featured shows promoted by GCW as part of their September European tour. Only Irie was on the first of two GCW shows that weekend where he beat the luchador Arez. Normally I wouldn’t include entries for Irie by himself but since he was RENEGADES affiliated for the weekend, I’m adding it here.
FREELANCE “ONCE UPON A TIME IN FREELANCE”, 22/09/2023 Avondale Music Hall, Chicago, Illinois, USA
1. Shoko Nakajima defeated Shazza McKenzie with the Diving Senton (12:19).
Nakajima did a quick trip to the United States near the end of the month. Her first stop was at Freelance where she got over big with the crowd during her win against Shazza McKenzie. Nakajima’s quickness and ability to hit the 619 from any height near the ropes were the key to victory here.
WXW “WORLD TAG TEAM FESTIVAL 2023 – NIGHT 2”, 23/09/2023 Turbinenhalle 2, Oberhausen, Germany
1. World Tag Team Festival 2023 – Round 2: Shigehiro Irie & Mizuki Watase defeated Takuya Nomura & Fuminori Abe when Irie pinned Abe with a Roaring Elbow (16:14).
RENEGADES weren’t the only Japanese team taking part in WTTF weekend. Takuya Nomura & Fuminori Abe from Astronauts were there too! The two team crossed paths in Night 2 where the winners would advance to Sunday’s final.
GCW “GCW VS THE WORLD”, 23/09/2023 Turbinenhalle 2, Oberhausen, Germany
1. Scramble Match: Gringo Loco defeated Mizuki Watase, The Rotation, Arez, Jimmy Lloyd and Aigle Blanc when Loco pinned Blanc with the Base Bomb (11:46).
2. Joey Janela defeated Shigehiro Irie with the Diving Foot Stomp (17:19).
Irie was in GCW again for their other show in Germany, losing to Joey Janela in the main event. Watase also showed up by taking part in one of GCW’s staples, the Scramble Match. Watase hit a big dive and also the Coast To Coast Dropkick but otherwise got lost in the action and did not factor into the finish.
WXW “WORLD TAG TEAM FESTIVAL 2023 – NIGHT 3”, 24/09/2023 Turbinenhalle 2, Oberhausen, Germany
1. wXw World Tag Team Titles – World Tag Team Festival 2023 Final 3 Way Match: Hektor Invictus & Dennis Dullnig defeated Robert Dreissker & Laurance Roman (c) and Shigehiro Irie & Mizuki Watase (23:13). *Amboss fails in V1. Hektor Invictus & Dennis Dullnig become the 64th wXw World Tag Team Champions!
RENEGADES made it all the way to the final. Had Irie & Watase won the match and the tournament they would have become the new wXw Tag Champions. Sadly for them they couldn’t pull it off. Instead Hektor Invictus & Dennis Dullnig were the winners, taking the titles away from the defending champions Amboss.
PRESTIGE “THE RESPECT ISSUE”, 24/09/2023 Globe Theatre, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. Trish Adora defeated Shoko Nakajima with the Lariat Tubman (9:51).
Nakajima’s other US booking this month was with Prestige at the Globe Theatre, the same location TJPW will return to this December. Trish Adora was a tougher opponent for her and kicked out of the Northern Lights Suplex. Just when Nakajima thought he had another shot, she was caught off guard and pinned with the Lariat Tubman.
JFC “JINGWU TAN JFC EXOTIC FIGHTING EXHIBITION 2”, 30/09/2023 Rucker Park, Chaoyang, Shanghai, China
1. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Maki Itoh defeated Yuki Aino with the Itoh Deluxe (?:??).
2. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Mizuki defeated Nao Kakuta with the Cutie Special (?:??).
TJPW sent four of their wrestlers over to China for a martial arts expo taking place in Shanghai. They would be presenting two women’s pro wrestling matches to go along with a bunch of other martial art bouts provided by other groups. It is not the first time joshi wrestling has been part of the event. The same organizers had Sareee and Nanae Takahashi wrestle for them during the first expo in the summer. After a lot of searching through Chinese social media I was able to find a clip of Mizuki beating Nao Kakuta and Itoh locking in the Itoh Deluxe on Yuki Aino.
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Upcoming Appearances
AEW “WRESTLEDREAM”, 01/10/2023 Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, Washington, USA
1. Chris Jericho, Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi Vs Sammy Guevara, Will Ospreay & Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Don Callis)
Takeshita has spent the rest of the month either standing to the side Don Callis or wrestling back in Japan for DDT. Oh and he also invaded Kota Ibushi’s gym, attacking him with a kettlebell (and also getting Yumehito Imanari caught in the crossfire) because Callis understands how much Ibushi means to Omega. The big payoff it is leading to will happen later today when The Golden Lovers & Chris Jericho join forces to get revenge on The Don Callis Family. Takeshita is part of that family teaming with Sammy Guevara (newest member) and Will Ospreay (not a member). It is annoying to see what looked like a big push for Takeshita turn into him getting pushed aside so Jericho, Guevara and Ospreay can all squeeze into the spotlight instead.
WARRIOR “WARRIOR WRESTLING 31”, 06/10/2023 Bendix Arena, South Bend, Indiana, USA
1. Konosuke Takeshita Vs Storm Grayson (w/ Frank The Clown)
One of the few American indies Takeshita wrestles for when he’s not busy with AEW is Warrior Wrestling. The next time he shows up there he takes on one of Frank The Clown’s clients, Storm Grayson.
SPARK “RISING HEAT WEST”, 11/10/2023 LA Dojo, Carson, California, USA
1. Spark Joshi World Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) Vs Billie Starkz
A familiar opponent challenges Yamashita for the Spark Joshi Title. She has a 1-1 singles record against Billi Starkz so this championship bout can also end up becoming a rubber match between the two.
SPARK “RISING HEAT EAST”, 14/10/2023 Engelwood Neighborhood Center, Orlando, Florida, USA
1. Miu Watanabe Vs KiLynn King
2. Miyu Yamashita Vs Jessie
A few days later Yamashita takes on Jessie, the former Jessi Kamea from NXT. That’s an interesting matchup because since leaving WWE, Jessie wound up doing a tour in Stardom. So we have a TJPW Vs Stardom match on a Spark show.
But Yamashita won’t be the only Tokyo Joshi there. Miu Watanabe is along for the ride too! She is getting to fight KiLynn King from Impact in what is sure to be a hoss fight. Or a hossette fight? Whatever, two strong women are going to fight each other. What more do you want?
LLL “THE HANDS OF FATE”, 20/10/2023 The Oriental Theater, Denver, Colorado, USA
1. Lilith Grimm Vs Miyu Yamashita
Are there Lucha Libra & Laughs to be found when Yamashita pays another visit to Denver? Her opponent Lilith Grimm is nicknamed “The War Hammer” and does an entrance where she sets off sparks with a grinder.
SETUP “SETUP EP.16”, 28/10/2023 The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand
1. Gatoh Move One And Only Title & SETUP Thailand Openweight Title: Paksa (G/c) Vs Masahiro Takanashi (S/c)
2. Dramatic Dream Match: Chris Brookes Vs Monomoth
Whenever CDK goes over to Thailand and shows up in SETUP they tend to take over the place. One of the local faces Monomoth tries his best to defend his home but Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi find ways to get the better of him. Monomoth now gets to fight Brookes in a big singles match the next time Brookes heads over.
Meanwhile Takanashi has been ruling the roost in SETUP as the SETUP Openweight Champion. He can increase his domination when he has a double title match against Paksa. Takanashi puts his SETUP Title on the line while Paksa is defending a Gatoh Move branded championship called the One And Only Title.
REPUBLIC OF LUCHA “ROL VI VI VI: LA NOCHE DE WALPURGIS”, 30/10/2023 Republic Of Lucha, South Pasadena, California, USA
1. Konosuke Takeshita, Penta el Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix Vs Shun Skywalker, Bestia 666 & Mecha Wolf
I’m keeping my fingers crossed that nobody in The Lucha Brothers gets injured, company politics do not keep Takeshita and Shun Skywalker away from each other and Vampiro does not show up with La Rebelion.
DAIKAIJU PRO “VOL. 1 – THE KAPPAS WALK AMONG US”, 04/11/2023 White Eagle, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
1. Shoko Nakajima Vs X
Something new and monstrous is coming out of Massachusetts. Daikaiju Pro is holding their debut show and seems to have deep ties with SETUP and also the UMA Corps. The new promotion is promising a mixture of talent coming in to mix around with monsters and other strange creatures. A show like these requires a Big Kaiju so Nakajima will be there.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO/PRESTIGE “COMBAT PRINCESS USA”, 14/12/2023 Globe Theatre, Los Angeles, California, USA
Miu Watanabe has been added to the lineup.
PANDEMONIUM PRO “HOLIDAY IN LA”, 17/12/2023 Don Quixote, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. Mike Bailey Vs Miyu Yamashita
Yeah this do quite nicely. Pandemonium Pro is doing Yamashita against Mike Bailey in a first time ever matchup.
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Other Appearances
GCW “SAY YOU WILL”, 01/09/2023 Grand Sports Arena, Hoffman Estates, Illinois, USA
Itoh did not wrestle on the first GCW show of the month. Instead she showed up to attack Frank The Clown with a pizza cutter much to everyone’s delight.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW CITY CIRCUIT ’23 ~YOKOHAMA PERFORMANCE~”, 23/09/2023 Yokohama Radiant Hall
1. 3 Way Match: Hyper Misao Vs Pom Harajuku Vs HIMAWARI
2. Yuki Aino Vs Runa Okubo
3. Raku, Suzume & Arisu Endo Vs Moka Miyamoto, Wakana Uehara & Toga
4. Kaya Toribami Vs Haru Kazashiro
5. Mizuki, Rika Tatsumi, Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta Vs Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh, Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu
6. Sakisama & Mei Saint-Michel Vs Miu Watanabe & Shino Suzuki
Shoko Nakajima isn’t at the show this weekend because she will be wrestling in America for Prestige instead.
1. Takumi Tsukamoto Vs Daichi Kazato
2. 3 Way Match: KUBITO Vs Lil’ Kraken Vs Yasu Urano
3. Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi & Kohei Kinoshita Vs Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino
4. Sparky Final Match ~Final Battle At The Place Of Formation~ Elimination 8-Man Tag Match: Ryota Nakatsu, SAGAT, Naoki Tanizaki & Akiyori Takizawa Vs Isami Kodaka, Ryuichi Sekine, Daiki Shimomura & Minoru Fujita
5. Union MAX Title: FUMA (c) Vs Eisa8
Also on Saturday BASARA will be heading over to Osaka. Kohei Kinoshita is one of the guest wrestlers there.
DDT “WHO’S GONNA TOP? 2023”, 24/09/2023 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
0. Dark Match: Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku Vs Kazuma Sumi & Rukiya
1. Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul Vs Hideki Okatani, Yuni & Takeshi Masada
2. Pheromones Final Countdown In Korakuen ~ 3 Way Tag Match: Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Kazuki Hirata & Naruki Doi Vs Akito & Antonio Honda
3. Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama, Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Naya Vs Yuji Hino, Makoto Oishi, HARASHIMA & Yukio Sakaguchi
4. Special Tag Match ~ DDT Vs AJPW: Yuki Ueno & Toy Kojima Vs Atsuki Aoyagi & Dan Tamura
5. DDT Universal Title: Matt Cardona (c) (w/ Steph De Lander) Vs Maki Itoh
6. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs MAO
7. KO-D Openweight Title: Chris Brookes (c) Vs Saki Akai
The contract for the KO-D Openweight Title match was signed by champion and challenger a few days ago. With two months to go until her retirement, Saki Akai never thought she would get a KO-D Title shot during this period when she never fought for the belt in her decade long career. She wants her fans who supported her for so long to see the KO-D Title wrapped around her waist. Chris Brookes said she showed a strong heart in their last singles match from 2021 but nobody was around to see it. He wants her to show that strong heart one more time.
DDT “SAKI AKAI 10TH ANNIVERSARY & FINAL COUNT DOWN IN KYOTO!!”, 30/09/2023 Kyoto KBS Hall
1. Kazusada Higuchi & Rukiya Vs Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku
2. Sanshiro Takagi & Shinichiro Kawamatsu Vs Makoto Oishi & Yukio Naya
3. Pheromones Final Countdown In Kyoto: Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Toy Kojima & Kazuma Sumi
4. Special Single Match: KANON Vs Takeshi Masada
5. DISASTER BOX Vs The 37KAMIINA!: HARASHIMA & Kazuki Hirata Vs Yuki Ueno & MAO
6. BURNING Vs DAMNATION T.A!: Tetsuya Endo & Jun Akiyama Vs Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul
7. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani (c) Vs Chris Brookes, Masahiro Takanashi & Mei Suruga
A week later Brookes and Akai will face each other in another title match, this time with Eruption defending the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles in Akai’s hometown.
Takeshi Masada has begun a campaign to get himself into this year’s D-Ou Grand Prix. He asked DDT to put him in a few singles matches to prove he is worthy of taking part in the tournament. First up is KANON, a wrestler who had a poor time in last year’s D-Ou GP. That was KANON’s first time in the tournament and he only scored 2 points.
GANBARE☆PRO “GIRI GIRI CHOP! 2023”, 01/10/2023 Shin-Kiba 1st RING
1. Riara Vs SAKI
2. GanPro’s Famous Mixed 6-Man Tag Match: Keisuke Ishii, Munetatsu Nakamura & HARUKAZE Vs Soma Takao, Shinichiro Tominaga & Kaho Kobayashi
3. GanJo x TJPW Special Tag Match: Yuki Kamifuku & YuuRI Vs Suzume & Yoshiko Hasegawa
4. Loser Haircut Tag Match: Ken Ohka & Shota Vs Koji Doi & Kuma Arashi
5. Spirit Of Ganbare World Tag Team Titles: Shuichiro Katsumura & Takuya Wada (c) Vs Hikaru Sato & Tyson Maeguchi
6. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Isami Kodaka (c) Vs Yumehito Imanari
At the end of last year Ganbare☆Pro held a tag match mixing together Ganbare☆Joshi with Tokyo Joshi Pro. Next month they are doing the rematch. Yuki Kamifuku & YuuRI defeated Suzume & Yoshiko Hasegawa the first time round, will they do it again? It is also a second chance for YuuRI to impress Kamifuku, who she looks up to so much.
Kaho Kobayashi and SAKI are popping up here too for some extra GanJo related matches.
DDT “GOD BLESS DDT 2023 TOUR IN OSAKA”, 01/10/2023 Osaka City Minato Ward Citizens Center
1. Special Single Match: Yukio Naya Vs Takeshi Masada
2. Osaka Specialty Special Tag Match: “brother” YASSHI & Akito Vs Kazuki Hirata & Kazuma Sumi
A little bit of Dragon System flavour for “brother” YASSHI’s return to DDT. Both Kazuki Hirata & Kazuma Sumi have a loose connection with him through where they all trained at one time or another. Akito is the odd man out here because of that.
Masada’s next singles match on his road to the D-Ou GP is against last year’s finalist, Yukio Naya. That’s quite a big leap for Masada to fight one of the weakest performers from last year and then one of the strongest.
DDT “GOD BLESS DDT 2023 TOUR IN SANJO”, 07/10/2023 Niigata Sanjo City Welfare And Welfare Center
1. All Asia Tag Team Titles: Jun Akiyama & Kotaro Suzuki (c) Vs Takao Omori & Yoshitatsu
The All Asia Tag Team Titles are now safe from the dirty hands of Atsushi Onita thanks to BURNING. The new champions are Jun Akiyama & Kotaro Suzuki. If you ask Akiyama that means the belts are now under DDT’s control instead of All Japan. But not if Yoshitatsu has anything to say about it. He is getting a chance to win back the titles and he chose Takao Omori to be his tag partner this time instead on Onita. Since Akiyama wants to defend the title in serious matches instead of death matches, the bout will be contested under PWF rules, which is pretty much the same as standard rules but with a 10 count outside the ring and the title can change hands on a DQ.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “WRESTLE PRINCESS IV”, 09/10/2023 Tokyo Tama Mirai Messe
1. Sakisama, Mei Saint-Michel, Martha & Yukio Saint Laurent Vs X, X, X & X
2. Special Single Match: Nyla Rose Vs Maki Itoh
3. International Princess Title & NWA World Women’s Television Title: Rika Tatsumi (I/c) Vs Max The Impaler (N/c)
4. Princess Tag Team Titles: Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu Vs Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta
5. Princess Of Princess Title: Mizuki (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita
Word was already going around that Rika Tatsumi wanted to defend the International Princess Title at this show. Max The Impaler being her next challenger makes sense. The big surprise is Max will be defending the NWA World Women’s Television Title too, making it a double championship match! The bout will have a 30 minute time limit. The NWA Women’s TV Title normally has a 6:05 time limit because as the name suggests, it was made with a TV show format in mind. God damn it I’m going to have to watch NWA Power again if either Tatsumi wins or Max brings the IP Title over there.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “ALL RISE ’23”, 27/10/2023 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. Saki Akai Vs Yuki Arai
Reiwa AA Cannon is no more so all that’s left for Akai and Yuki Arai to do is fight each other. This will be the first and only time the two are having a singles match against each other.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW CITY CIRCUIT ’23 ~SAKI AKAI TJPW LAST PARTICIPATION~”, 03/11/2023 Shinjuku FACE
1. Saki Akai TJPW Last Match: Saki Akai & Yuki Kamifuku Vs Rika Tatsumi & Hyper Misao
Akai’s last match in TJPW puts her with wrestlers that have been close to her for a lot of her time here. Kamifuku looked up to her, Hyper Misao was involved in a lot of past adventures with Akai’s alter egos. Like for example the sukeban gimmick (no, not that Sukeban) of Saki Akamiya. Tatsumi was also a key part of Misao’s history that connects with Akai but I’m too tired to try and write around kayfabe right now.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW CITY CIRCUIT ’23 ~FIRST ATTACK ON HIROSHIMA~”, 09/09/2023 Hiroshima Industrial Hall West Exhibition Hall 2nd Exhibition Hall 223 Fans
1. Yuki Aino defeated HIMAWARI with the Venus DDT (8:14).
2. Mahiro Kiryu defeated Kaya Toribami with the Spinebuster (7:09).
3. Yuki Kamifuku defeated Toga with the Famouser (7:24).
4. Yuki Arai, Suzume & Arisu Endo defeated Mizuki, Wakana Uehara & Shino Suzuki when Arai submitted Suzuki with the Scorpion Deathlock (10:57).
5. Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe defeated Miyu Yamashita & Moka Miyamoto when Watanabe pinned Miyamoto after the Daydream Eternity (13:34).
6. Princess Tag Team Titles 1st Qualifier ~ 3 Way Tag Match: Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta defeated Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao and Raku & Pom Harajuku when Kakuta pinned Nakajima with the Shiden Kai (12:28).
One team has booked their place on the “WRESTLE PRINCESS IV” card by qualifying for the vacant Princess Tag Team Titles match. Free WiFi defeated two other teams in a 3 Way match where it was first fall to a finish. No tags were needed in the match so it became a free for all of double team moves and mixed combinations. RakuPom used their new move La La La Pop~♪ ♪ on Nao Kakuta but they were taken out by Kyoraku Kyomei. Things were looking good for Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao until Kakuta caught Nakajima’s 619 and carried her into the Shiden Kai while Hikari Noa blocked Misao from breaking it up. The win for Free WiFi means they are now one step away from winning the vacant titles.
Kakuta admitted she pushed herself hard because if her team lost today who knows when they would get another chance? Noa pointed out that because the roster size in Tokyo Joshi Pro is increasing rapidly there are actually fewer opportunities to fight for championships. She knows she can rely on Kakuta to take advantage of the opportunities when they do come by. Nakajima echoed those opinions, saying this could have been her last chance to become tag champions with Misao which is something she wanted to achieve for a long time. Misao told her it wasn’t their last chance and they’ll continue to move forward together their own way. Raku said when she was travelling to Hiroshima for the show she had a dream where she won this match. When she woke up she felt satisfied and already thought it was time to go home. Meanwhile Pom Harajuku was just being loud because she was upset she didn’t win.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW CITY CIRCUIT ’23 ~AUTUMN TOUR OPENING ROUND~”, 03/09/2023 Tokyo Otemachi Mitsui Hall 295 Fans
1. Toga defeated Shino Suzuki with the Rock Bottom (6:13).
2. Yuki Aino defeated Haru Kazashiro with the Venus DDT (7:21).
3. Moka Miyamoto, HIMAWARI & Wakana Uehara defeated Haruna Neko, Kaya Toribami & Runa Okubo when Miyamoto submitted Okubo with the Rashomon (11:09).
4. Hikari Noa defeated Yoshiko Hasegawa with the Blizzard Suplex (7:45).
5. Mizuki defeated Juria Nagano with the Diving Foot Stomp (9:35).
6. 8-Woman Tag Match: Shoko Nakajima, Hyper Misao, Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu defeated Rika Tatsumi, Miu Watanabe, Raku & Pom Harajuku when Nakajima pinned Harajuku with the Diving Senton (21:01).
Four of the teams involved in the Princess Tag Team Titles mini-tournament were thrown into an 8-Woman Tag Match. It wasn’t until the show itself when Daydream found out they were teaming with RakuPom while Kyoraku Kyomei were with Toyo Mates. Both sides had trouble teaming with each other either by arguing over what moves to use or missing their double team moves altogether. Raku & Pom Harajuku did show off their new move the La La La Pop~♪ ♪ which is a Cross-Arm Double Facecrusher. However Hyper Misao caught Harajuku and set her up for Shoko Nakajima to hit the Diving Senton for the win.
Nakajima thinks Kyoraku Kyomei are in perfect condition to become the next Princess Tag Champions. Misao said it’s time for them to move forward because she doesn’t want to miss any more opportunities at winning the title. Yuki Kamifuku remembers it was a year ago when she and Mahiro Kiryu got a title shot and she is still proud of that match. She doesn’t want to team with anyone else but Kiryu and whenever she did she never thought they were as good a tag partner as her. Miu Watanabe wants to win the tag titles and wait for The Magical Sugar Rabbits to return, otherwise she and Rika Tatsumi will go beat up Tetsuya Koda. Raku & Harajuku think they need more power to succeed so they are going to eat more grilled meat.
A new documentary series starting this month on Tokyo Joshi Pro’s Youtube channel will be focused on five of TJPW’s younger wrestlers. “Next Generation” is being produced by the same crew behind Yume Pro Wrestling. It will run for five weeks with episodes dedicated to Arisu Endo, Wakana Uehara, Haru Kazashiro, Shino Suzuki and Moka Miyamoto. All five were chosen because none of them have won a championship yet.
As always with this article I start off thinking it is going to be a lighter month than the last until it grows and grows. There are always extra bookings on the horizons whenever the boys and girls from DDT and Tokyo Joshi Pro go abroad. August was dominated by two stories in my mind. Konosuke Takeshita wrestling The Golden Lovers in Wembley and Maki Itoh being all over GCW even more so than usual. Other things of note include TJPW announcing its return to America while dipping its toe into China, MAO becoming fast friends with El Desperado and Miyu Yamashita finding herself in ChocoPro territory by virtue of being EVE’s champion. Maybe next month’s article will be the one that finally slows down a little bit.
AEW “DYNAMITE 200”, 02/08/2023 Yuengling Center, Tampa, Florida, USA
1. Chris Jericho & Konosuke Takeshita Vs Sammy Guevara & Daniel Garcia
WRESTLING REVOLVER “HEAT EM UP”, 03/08/2023 Calumet Center, Dayton, Ohio, USA
1. Lucha Street Fight: Gringo Loco Vs Konosuke Takeshita
Video starts at 39:54. MDRN NMD/GATOH MOVE “CHOCO NIGHT GRAPS!”, 29/08/2023 The Bread Shed, Grosvenor St., Manchester, England
1. Masahiro Takanashi Vs Kid Lykos
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Results
AEW “DYNAMITE 200”, 02/08/2023 Yuengling Center, Tampa, Florida, USA
1. Chris Jericho & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Sammy Guevara & Daniel Garcia when Jericho pinned Garcia after a Bat Attack from Don Callis (12:21).
As I feared, Takeshita’s storyline with Don Callis was pretty much hijacked by Chris Jericho to set up his own angle with Takeshita’s manager. Takeshita & Jericho teamed up under Callis’s recommendation against two people close to Jericho, Sammy Guevara & Daniel Garcia. Callis knocked out Garcia with a baseball bat behind the ref’s back and Jericho made the choice to pin him for the victory.
WRESTLING REVOLVER “HEAT EM UP”, 03/08/2023 Calumet Center, Dayton, Ohio, USA
1. Lucha Street Fight: Konosuke Takeshita defeated Gringo Loco with the Diving Senton (14:39).
Takeshita showed up in Wrestling REVOLVER as a short notice replacement for Jon Moxley. His appearance made up for Takeshita’s own cancelled booking with the promotion back in June. Here Takeshita faced Gringo Loco in a Lucha Street Fight. By coincidence one of Loco’s big moves is the Himawari Bomb that Sanshiro Takagi also uses. Takeshita kicked out of the move and then countered a top rope version into a Poison Rana. Loco kicked out of the Powerdrive Knee so Takeshita then took a page out of Moxley’s book by giving Loco the Paradigm Shift. From there Takeshita won with the Diving Senton.
DREAMWAVE “SUMMER SPECTACULAR 2023”, 04/08/2023 Knights of Columbus, LaSalle, Illinois, USA
1. Dreamwave Women’s Title Qualifying Scramble: Zayda Steele defeated Brittnie Brooks, Maki Itoh, B3CCA, Kaia McKenna and Shazza McKenzie when Steele pinned McKenzie after the It’s Brittnie Bitch from Brooks (8:08).
Itoh entered Dreamwave’s 6-Woman Scramble in the hopes of qualifying for their new Women’s Championship. It was first fall to a finish but the ring soon emptied when some of the women, Itoh included got thrown out. She didn’t factor into the finish but would soon find out she had another chance.
DREAMWAVE “THOSE SUMMER NIGHTS”, 05/08/2023 Knights of Columbus, LaSalle, Illinois, USA
1. Dreamwave Women’s Title Qualifying Scramble: Brittnie Brooks defeated Maki Itoh, B3CCA, Kaia McKenna, Maggie Lee and Shelly Benson when Brookes pinned Lee with the It’s Brittnie Bitch (8:08).
The second chance didn’t work out any better for her. Another 6-Woman Scramble was held the next night with some of the same women involved. Itoh tried to submit two opponents at once by giving them a Double Half Crab but it left her vulnerable to a Super Kick. She went to recover outside the ring and couldn’t climb back in time to break the pin.
GCW “NO SIGNAL IN THE HILLS”, 11/08/2023 Ukrainian Cultural Center, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. 4 Way Match: Steph De Lander defeated Allie Katch, Maki Itoh and Masha Slamovich when De Lander pinned Itoh with the Fireman’s Carry Facebuster (11:53).
Okay maybe multi-person free for alls are not Itoh’s forte. This one was a bit crazy though. Masha Slamovich had Allie Katch beaten when all of a sudden Blake Christian jumped into the ring and attacked her. Itoh took exception and threw punches at Christian, opening herself up to Steph De Lander giving her an F5-like move to win.
PWG “MYSTERY VORTEX”, 13/08/2023 Globe Theatre, Los Angeles, California, USA
Here’s something I never thought I’d write. Maki Itoh did a balcony dive at a PWG show! It’s been rare to see PWG holding shows nowadays but last month they held one of their signature events “MYSTERY VORTEX” where nothing is advertised before hand and fans only know what the matches are when they happen. Itoh was involved in a bizarre mixture of wrestlers in a 6-Person Tag Match. She teamed with Evil Uno & Aramis to beat Masha Slamovich, Peter Avalon & Látigo in a match mixing together AEW, lucha libre and women’s wrestling talent.
Takeshita was also on the show too, beating Rey Horus. I’d call him a PWG regular at this point if they ran shows more often.
KOPW “THE NEW ERA OF CHINESE PRO WRESTLING III”, 19/08/2023 Tianyue Sports City, Nanhai Foshan, Guangdong, China
1. Mizuki defeated Nao Kakuta with the Cutie Special (?:??).
TJPW made their first steps into China when Mizuki and Nao Kakuta were invited to take part in King Of Pro Wrestling. They faced each other in a non-title match and won over the crowd with their back and forth action.
NJPW “LEC PRESENTS ALL STAR JR FESTIVAL USA 2023”, 19/08/2023 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
1. El Desperado & MAO defeated Nick Wayne & Jordan Oliver when Desperado pinned Oliver with the Pinche Loco (19:14).
The All Star Jr. Festival proved to be such a good idea in Japan that they brought the show over to America. MAO was invited along and got to team with El Desperado. The two of them bonded by playing Dragon Quest V on the flight to America so their team name was DQV. They fought a tag team MAO lost to earlier this year, The East West Express. Both Nick Wayne & Jordan Oliver performed Stereo Springboard Cutters to their opponents but both only got a two count. MAO got rid of Wayne by spiking him onto the canvas with a Spinning Headscissors and Desperado pinned Oliver with the Pinche Loco.
GCW “HOMECOMING – PART 1”, 19/08/2023
The Showboat, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA
1. Nick Gage & Maki Itoh defeated Matt Cardona & Steph De Lander when Gage & Itoh pinned Cardona & De Lander each with the Kokeshi (11:57).
Months of fights between Maki Death Kill and Deathmatch Royalty led to a climactic battle between them finally happening. Itoh & Nick Gage were finally going to get their hands on Matt Cardona & De Lander with nothing in their way to stop them. Cardona & De Lander made a big entrance out of it, arriving at the venue in the Ecto-1 and wearing Ghostbusters outfits. For you see tonight they were the Deathmatch Busters! The joke blew up in their faces because Maki Death Kill sliced the two of them apart with pizza cutters! Cardona & De Lander tried to Pedigree Gage & Itoh onto thumbtacks but they were both Back Body Dropped onto the pile instead. Gage & Itoh then delivered stereo Kokeshi Headbutts to win the match and possibly put an end to the feud.
IMPACT/NJPW “MULTIVERSE UNITED”, 20/08/2023 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
1. Scramble Match: Chris Sabin defeated Kevin Knight, Frankie Kazarian, BUSHI, YOH, Rich Swann, MAO and El Desperado when Sabin pinned YOH with the Cradle Shock (8:06).
MAO was involved even further with the international Jr. Heavyweight Division action the next night. Impact and New Japan held a co-promoted event and MAO was thrown into an 8-Man Scramble match to open the show. He tried joining forces with Desperado again but the numbers game still proved to be too much for the two of them. Instead Chris Sabin ended up being the last man standing. Well, at least until BUSHI blinded him with Poison Mist after the match.
GCW “HOMECOMING – PART 2”, 20/08/2023 The Showboat, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA
1. Maki Itoh defeated B3CCA with the Itoh Deluxe (9:21).
In the first of two singles matches they have coming up together, Itoh beat B3CCA in GCW. Will the result be the same when they have a rematch at MLW next month?
ROW/GCW “GCW VS RENEGADES OF WRESTLING”, 25/08/2023 Roundhouse, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
1. Maki Itoh defeated Charli Evans with the Itoh Deluxe (18:03).
Itoh’s next focus in GCW was their tour of Australia with the Renegades Of Wrestling promotion. On Night 1 Itoh defeated Charli Evans and revealed a new word she learned that Aussies like to call other people. I’m not going to type it out here. It’s difficult enough trying to keep this blog from getting caught in web filters.
ROW/GCW “GCW VS RENEGADES OF WRESTLING”, 26/08/2023
Melbourne Pavilion, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
1. ROW Women’s Title: Aysha (c) defeated Maki Itoh with a Double Arm DDT (12:58). *V3 for Aysha.
The second night featured Itoh challenged Aysha for the ROW Women’s Title. Itoh had the champion beat when she made her tap out to the Itoh Deluxe but Aysha’s cronies at ringside kept distracting the referee so it wouldn’t be seen. Itoh let go of the hold to chase them off but turned around into a Double Arm DDT, stealing the win for Aysha.
GATOH MOVE “CHOCOPRO”, 26/08/2023 The Yard Theatre, London, England
Just including this result because Masahiro Takanashi is a DDT guy as well as a ChocoPro regular. I have more to talk about the second show of the double header.
EVE/GATOH MOVE “CHOCOPRO X EVE SUPER SHOW”, 26/08/2023 The Dome, Tufnell Park, London, England
1. EVE Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) defeated Emersyn Jayne with the Crash Rabbit Heat (19:39). *V8 for Miyu Yamashita.
2. Mei Suruga & Masahiro Takanashi defeated Kanji & Kid Lykos when Suruga pinned Kanji with the Maple Model (11:25).
Being the EVE Champion got Miyu Yamashita to appear on a ChocoPro branded show for the first time. She opened up the show with a title defence against Emersyn Jayne. That match was supposed to happen in July but travel problems for the challenger prevented that from happening. It finally went ahead here and the match turned out to be a violent one. Yamashita was slammed onto the front row of chairs outside the ring and Jayne ended up getting busted open. Jayne did kick out of the Skull Kick, being one of the few people to do so. But Yamashita followed it up with the Crash Rabbit Heat to remain the champion.
One of ChocoPro’s victories on the show against EVE happened when Masahiro Takanashi & Mei Suruga defeated Kid Lykos & Kanji. It was one of the rare times men got to wrestle on an EVE show too.
The show also left with a question of what could have been because Marika Kobashi was planned to compete as an EVE representative. She is currently staying in Scotland but her flight to London was cancelled and she was unable to make it to the show. Part of her apology included regret over not being able to see Yamashita again so I wonder if she was meant to wrestle her instead of Jayne?
I was at this show by the way. Although I admit leaving during the main event in order to catch my train back to the hotel so I missed Emi Sakura’s surprise induction into EVE’s Hall Of Fame at the end.
ROW/GCW “GCW VS RENEGADES OF WRESTLING”, 27/08/2023 Eatons Hill Hotel, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
1. Maki Itoh defeated Allie Katch with the I.S.D. (11:03).
Itoh bounced back from her failure to win a title by taking on GCW’s own Allie Katch on the final night of the Australian tour. It was another clean victory for Itoh. She seems to have Katch’s number every time they face each other.
AEW “ALL IN LONDON”, 27/08/2023 Wembley Stadium, London, England
1. Jay White, Juice Robinson & Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Austin Gunn & Colten Gunn) defeated The Golden Elite Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi & Adam Page when Takeshita pinned Omega with a School Boy (20:28).
I was at this show too! Getting to see Takeshita live in front of 80,000+ people in Wembley was great especially since my first time seeing him was in front of 330 people somewhere in Saitama back in 2016. That I got to see him mix it up with The Golden Lovers was a bonus. Even the result went Takeshita’s way. He countered Kota Ibushi’s Kamigoye with a sick looking Jumping Knee Strike of his own. Then when Kenny Omega was dealing with Bullet Club Gold, Takeshita rolled him up with a School Boy to steal the win.
MDRN NMD/GATOH MOVE “CHOCO NIGHT GRAPS!”, 29/08/2023 The Bread Shed, Grosvenor St., Manchester, England
1. Masahiro Takanashi defeated Kid Lykos with the Takatonic (?:??).
ChocoPro’s trip to England ended with a collaboration show alongside Modern Nomad Pro Wrestling. Takanashi took on Lykos again, this time in a singles match and at a venue where there was no wrestling ring. It was a mat wrestling show similar to ChocoPro’s own events in Ichigaya.
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Upcoming Appearances
GCW “SAY YOU WILL”, 01/09/2023 Grand Sports Arena, Hoffman Estates, Illinois, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs X
GCW advertised Maki Death Kill as showing up in the show but they won’t be wrestling together. Gage is facing El Hijo del Vikingo while Itoh’s match on the show has not been announced yet.
OTT “WRESTLERAMA”, 02/09/2023 The Warehouse Red Cow, Dublin, Ireland
1. Session Moth Martina & Miyu Yamashita Vs Debbie Keitel & Anita Vaughan
Yamashita is heading over to my neck of the woods in Ireland for OTT. She’s looking forward to it and I bet Itoh told her stories about what Session Moth Martina is like. Debbie Keitel & Anita Vaughan will be there to stop the party though.
MLW “FURY ROAD”, 03/09/2023 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
1. B3CCA Vs Maki Itoh
Funny stuff that MLW announced this match first then GCW went and did it anyway.
AEW “ALL OUT”, 03/09/2023 United Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA
1. Kenny Omega Vs Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Don Callis)
It was announced during the “ALL IN” post-show scrum that Omega and Takeshita will face each other this weekend in Chicago at “ALL OUT”.
GCW “CRUSHED UP”, 10/09/2023 Roulette Intermedium, New York City, New York, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs Killer Kelly
Itoh’s last match of her current tour is a one on one meeting against Killer Kelly.
PRESTIGE “THE RESPECT ISSUE”, 24/09/2023 Globe Theatre, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. Trish Adora Vs Shoko Nakajima
When Itoh is back in Japan, Shoko Nakajima tags out to be the next one going over to America. It’s all to build up TJPW’s big plan with Prestige as you will see at the bottom of this post.
REPUBLIC OF LUCHA “ROL VI VI VI: LA NOCHE DE WALPURGIS”, 30/10/2023 Republic Of Lucha, South Pasadena, California, USA
1. Konosuke Takeshita, Penta el Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix Vs Shun Skywalker, Bestia 666 & Mecha Wolf
Now isn’t this quite interesting? Takeshita from DDT and Shun Skywalker from Dragongate being pitted against each other. We also have the Lucha Brothers and La Rebelion involved in the match too.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO/PRESTIGE “COMBAT PRINCESS USA”, 14/12/2023 Globe Theatre, Los Angeles, California, USA
TJPW with the help of Prestige is coming back to Los Angeles this December! Announced for the show so far are Itoh, Yamashita, Rika Tatsumi, Mizuki, Taya Valkyrie, Masha Slamovich, Killer Kelly and Sandra Moone.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “HAPPY SUMMER VACATION! ~TJPW SUMMER VACATION 2023~”, 26/08/2023 Osaka Hanamizuki Hall 237 Fans
1. Kaya Toribami defeated Runa Okubo with the Bird Cage (5:46)
2. 3 Way Match: Mahiro Kiryu defeated Haruna Neko and Shino Suzuki when Kiryu pinned Suzuki with the Spinebuster (5:37).
3. Hikari Noa & Toga defeated Hyper Misao & Haru Kazashiro when Noa pinned Kazashiro with the Running Neckbreaker Drop (10:40).
4. Special Single Match: Rika Tatsumi defeated Demonio Dos with the Missile Hip (10:06).
5. Chu! Summer Party Death Match 2023: Mizuki & HIMAWARI defeated Shoko Nakajima & Pom Harajuku when Mizuki pinned Harajuku with the Diving Foot Stomp into the Pool (14:36).
6. Yuki Aino, Raku & Moka Miyamoto defeated Miu Watanabe, Suzume & Wakana Uehara when Aino pinned Uehara with the Venus DDT (15:40).
The summer theme led to a crazier show than usual. Everybody in the main event were too busy warming up to see what happened in the Summer Party Death Match so they were confused to find themselves stepping into a soaking wet wrestling ring. After the match Yuki Aino said today feels like the last day of summer and thanked the fans to coming to see them. Meanwhile Moka Miyamoto was still trying to figure out what happened before their match. Backstage Miu Watanabe told everyone she had a nice summer but she feels like she is now tired of it. She warned the audience not to get heatstroke while Suzume & Wakana Uehara were busy wishing everyone a happy summer. Raku said now that summer is over she wants to go eat ice cream.
The messy ring was caused by the Summer Party Death Match where all items related to summer were allowed. Everyone was dressed for the summer and armed with buckets of water, water balloons, firework sparklers and more. Shoko Nakajima also gathered together a pile of kaiju toys in the ring for everyone to get slammed into (she explained she used to watch kaiju movies in the cinema during her summer vacations so that meant the toys counted as legal weapons). Rika Tatsumi and Demonio Dos ended up getting involved in the match when everyone brawled out of the ring. That led to Mizuki diving onto everyone from the top of a truck. Back in the ring HIMAWARI smashed a watermelon over Nakajima’s head. A kiddie pool filled with water was then put in the ring. Mizuki knocked Pom Harajuku into the pool, placed a piece of watermelon over her head, climbed the top turnbuckle and hit the Diving Foot Stomp into the pool for the win. Mizuki & HIMAWARI ate the remaining pieces of watermelon to celebrate. HIMAWARI said she was happy to be part of a fun match like this because she’s only been here for over half a year. She wants to do it more. Nakajima complained that you shouldn’t hit people over the head with watermelons.
Tatsumi was given an opponent as crazy as her so she could really unleash herself without putting the rest of Tokyo Joshi Pro in danger. She’s fought Demonio Uno before so this time she took on Demonio Dos. The two quickly took their match out of the ring where Tatsumi found the company bus parked next to them. Tatsumi took the chance to get into the driver’s seat and try to run Dos over! However she does not understand how to drive stick and couldn’t get the bus started. Dos dragged Tatsumi out of the bus and back to the ring where they fought even more. A ref bump led to one of the turnbuckle pads being removed. Tatsumi hit Dos with the pad and then followed up with the Missile Hip, pinning the monster for the three count once the referee recoved. After the match Tatsumi offered a handshake, believing this whole ordeal was just her way of trying to make a new friend. Dos kicked her instead and the two started fighting again. Which explains why they reappeared during the Summer Party Death Match. Backstage Tatsumi claimed this was also an International Princess Title match and should count as her 5th successful defence. TJPW have not confirmed that.
Hyper Misao tried to attack her opponents with fireworks because she wanted it to be her last memory of this summer. Hikari Noa stopped her by swinging a chair at the fireworks. Noa then tried to use the fireworks herself but the referee prevented her from doing so.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW INSPIRATION”, 17/08/2023 Shin-Kiba 1st RING 222 Fans – No Vacancy
1. Mahiro Kiryu defeated Pom Harajuku with the Spinebuster (7:12).
2. Saki Akai, Haru Kazashiro & Runa Okubo defeated HIMAWARI, Toga & Shino Suzuki when Akai pinned HIMAWARI with the Rookie Award (12:07).
3. Mizuki defeated Aiger with the Aquamarine (9:47).
4. Debut 10th Anniversary Memorial Match: Miyu Yamashita defeated Shoko Nakajima with the Skull Kick (19:53).
Today is the 10th anniversary of Miyu Yamashita and Shoko Nakajima’s pro wrestling debut. The two of them had done a handful of exhibition matches in Tokyo Joshi Pro’s early preview events before their “flag raising” show in 2013 but their official debut happened in Sumo Hall for DDT on this date ten years ago. In that debut match they teamed together and lost to Chikage Kiba & KANNA, the two other women from TJPW’s first class who have long since graduated from wrestling. To celebrate the 10th anniversary Yamashita and Nakajima faced each other in the latest “TJPW INSPIRATION” show.
Given the short nature of the show’s length their main event had a 20 minute time limit. With seven seconds left to go, Yamashita pinned Nakajima with the Skull Kick. Nakajima said she wanted to cherish her 10 years in TJPW because Yamashita and Maki Itoh both travel often while Yuka Sakazaki will be graduating soon. Nakajima thought everyone would stay together forever but knew if she didn’t fight Yamashita again she would regret it. Now that they’ve had the match she doesn’t want to do it again for another 10 years. Yamashita said there’s been times they hadn’t gotten along but Nakajima is like family to her. All of TJPW is like that to her. No matter where she goes or what she does, that will never change.
There were some more comments to take note of. During the show closing speech Yamashita made a mistake regarding the date of their debuts (she thought it was on 13th August) which the audience caught. Backstage she said she currently holds championships from England (EVE) and America (Spark Joshi) so she wants to add the Princess Of Princess Title and fight in even more places. Nakajima brought up Saki Akai’s quote about deciding to retire as a flower that still blooms beautifully. Nakajima wants to be the opposite and keep wrestling until she dries up and returns to the soil as mulch.
For the first time in about 8 years Mizuki had to step into the ring and fight Aiger. The joshi ghost was a terrifying threat not just to Mizuki but also the wrestlers seconding at ringside (which included SAKI) and the referee Daisuke Kiso. Aiger brought out a chain to use as a weapon but Mizuki used it against her, setting up the Aquamarine for the finish. Mizuki was relieved with the result and thinks it proves how much she has grown in the last 8 years. She used the Aquamarine because the first time she won a match was with that move. As for Aiger, the story is she will soon disappear in September alongside Mizuki Endo’s retirement.
One of the things Akai wanted to accomplish before she retires is to spend time in the ring with TJPW’s new generation of wrestlers. She ticked that off today by teaming with the teenagers Haru Kazashiro & Runa Okubo against HIMAWARI, Toga & Shino Suzuki. Arai praised her two partners and thinks if she wasn’t already holding the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles with Eruption, she could have gone after the belts with these two instead. Their three opponents today all cried with tears of joy backstage for getting to wrestle with Akai.
For once somebody was apologizing to Mahiro Kiryu instead of the other way around. One day Pom Harajuku broke the key to the dojo and blamed it on Kiryu. In search of forgiveness, Harajuku brought a package into the ring and said it is for Kiryu. But when she handed it over to her, Harajuku launched an ambush to start the match with the upper hand. Kiryu took control and kneeled on top of Harajuku. But instead of her usual apology, Kiryu instead opened the package to reveal rice crackers inside. She got to eat one of the crackers while wrestling and went on to win the match. She thanked Harajuku for the crackers afterward.
None of The Up Up Girls were at the show today so Sayuri Namba brought Moka Miyamoto into the ring to hype up the card at the beginning of the show.
DDT “SAKI AKAI 10TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR IN KORAKUEN!!”, 13/08/2023 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 816 Fans
0. Dark Match: Yuya Koroku defeated Rukiya with the Modified Triangle Lancer (7:14).
1. Special Single Match: KANON defeated Hideki Okatani with the Vietnam Driver II (8:04).
2. Diya Diamond Presents 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Yukio Naya & Yusuke Okada defeated Kazusada Higuchi, Yuki Ishida & Takeshi Masada when Naya pinned Masada with the World’s Best Back Drop (9:19).
3. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – marcheur Presents Battle Royal: Naruki Doi defeated Sanshiro Takagi (c), HARASHIMA, Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno, Antonio Honda, Akito and Kazuma Sumi (14:37).
3a. Naruki Doi eliminated Sanshiro Takagi (c) with a Cradle (6:58). *Naruki Doi becomes the 1,573rd champion.
3b. Antonio Honda eliminated Kazuma Sumi by Ring Out (11:41).
3c. Naruki Doi (c) eliminated Antonio Honda by Ring Out (11:59). *V1 for Naruki Doi.
3d. HARASHIMA eliminated Yuki “Sexy” Iino and Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno by Double Ring Out (13:24).
3e. Naruki Doi (c) eliminated HARASHIMA by Ring Out (13:54). *V2 for Naruki Doi.
3f. Naruki Doi (c) eliminated Akito with the Bakatare Sliding Kick (14:37). *V3 for Naruki Doi.
4. Jemile Fran Presents Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yuki Ueno, MAO & Toy Kojima defeated Kyusei Sakisama, Chris Saint Laurent & Martha when Ueno pinned Sakisama with a Cradle (9:58).
5. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi defeated Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul (c) when Oishi pinned Paul with the Jikiden Tornado Clutch (11:13). *DAMNATION T.A fails in V1. Ω becomes the 78th KO-D Tag Team Champions!
6. DDT Extreme Title – Weakness Explosion!! Activation Conditions Are Up To You! Fall & Escape = Ghost & Balloon Explosion Death Match: Kazuki Hirata (c) defeated Yukio Sakaguchi with the Miracle One Shot Cradle from a huge balloon explosion (14:27). *V2 for Kazuki Hirata.
7. Nivea Body Wash Presents Saki Akai Debut 10th Anniversary Match Vol. 2 ~ Special 6-Woman Tag Match: Saki Akai, Maya Yukihi & Asuka defeated Takumi Iroha, Rina Yamashita & Shoko Nakajima when Akai pinned Nakajima with the Quetzalcoatl (19:01).
It came a couple of days early but Saki Akai celebrated the 10th anniversary of her debut pro wrestling match in DDT. With her retirement coming up later this year, Akai is getting several matches dedicated to her decade in the business and today gathered together a lot of women she has attachments with. In the main event Akai teamed up with Maya Yukihi & Asuka, two women who have been her biggest opponents in DDT over the last two years. Their opponents were a trio of wrestlers who all debuted in the same year as Akai. It was the first time Takumi Iroha, Rina Yamashita & Shoko Nakajima all teamed together. Iroha & Yamashita quickly thought up a move where they gave Nakajima a Double Splash Mountain onto Akai. Asuka Moonsaulted onto Iroha & Yamashita outside the ring and Akai rolled out of the way from Nakajima’s Diving Senton. Akai then hit the Rookie Award and pinned Nakajima with the Quetzalcoatl.
Akai thanked the other wrestlers for accepting her invitation, knowing how busy all of their schedules are. She wanted to show the fans all of the wonderful friends she made outside of DDT over the years. She knows they will all continue to shine a light on pro wrestling when she’s gone so everyone should keep watching them. She isn’t sure how many more matches she has left until her retirement but she is going to hone her strength and run all the way to the end. Asuka said she wished the three of them had teamed together sooner and wonders if they could have chased after one of the KO-D championships together. Yamashita overheard that idea and told them they should do it anyway, even if it’s for the KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles. Her advice to Akai is to be greedy from this point until the end because she isn’t finished yet. Yukihi feels lucky she got to do her rivalry with Akai in DDT because she didn’t expect Akai’s retirement announcement to come when it did. Akai described all of the women are a fun loving group of people with good hearts.
Kazuki Hirata’s bizarre ideas to even the playing field against his opponents are working for him. The DDT Extreme Champion is normally scared of having to fight Yukio Sakaguchi but this time he got to turn the tables against him. Hirata’s stipulation for the match was to add ghosts and balloons whenever there was a kickout or rope break. Sakaguchi hates the sound of balloons bursting and also fears ghosts so we got the unlikely sight of Sakaguchi being submissive to Hirata and fleeing in fear whenever a ghost chased after him! Sakaguchi tried to fight his fears and found his spots to kick the hell out of Hirata. But by this point there were three ghosts in the ring haunting him with one popping a gigantic balloon right in his face. The fright made Sakaguchi walk right into the Miracle One Shot Cradle and Hirata got the win.
Once all of the ghosts vanished, Sakaguchi calmed down and handed the Extreme Title over to Hirata. He then attacked him a little bit and walked off. Hirata got on the microphone, said he was feeling mentally exhausted and now wants to know who his next challenger is. Naruki Doi walked out carrying the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title he won earlier in the show. Doi said his title win makes him feel more absorbed into DDT and he now wants to win the Extreme Title to become fully immersed in the company. He especially wants to beat Hirata for the belt because Hirata is the DDT wrestler who best expresses what the company is all about. Hirata refused but Hisaya Imabayashi ignored him. A double title match between Hirata and Doi will take place on 9th September. If Doi loses the Iron Man Title before that date then the match will just be for the Extreme Title. Hirata then tried to pin Doi to win the Iron Man Title but only got a two count. Doi chased him back to the locker room.
The KO-D Tag Team Titles aren’t ready to settle down with a team yet. DAMNATION T.A’s reign ended in their first defence, losing the belts to Ω. The champions tried to isolate Makoto Oishi and also get KANON involved to interfere for them. Yuji Hino came in to make a difference but his attempt to Fuckin’ BOMB MJ Paul was cut off by Daisuke Sasaki. That left Oishi to deal with Paul by himself. Paul threw Lariats at him but Oishi caught him with the Jikiden Tornado Clutch for the flash pinfall and title change. Hino praised Oishi for winning the KO-D Tag Titles under his own strength, calling it a miracle. Oishi was too exhausted to respond so Hino encouraged the audience to give him a round of applause.
KANON then entered the ring demanding a title shot but not as a member of DAMNATION T.A. There is another wrestler out there he considers a mentor. Hino thought he meant TAKA Michinoku but KANON said it is actually someone else because TAKA is busy. KANON’s partner is going to be Minoru Fujita! Imabayashi granted the request and booked the title match for 9th September. KANON helped Oishi back up to his feet, shook his hand… and then gave him a Clothesline before leaving.
Before Match #4 could begin it was announced that Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi were not at the show because they were both too hungover to wrestle. Then “The Rose Of Versailles” began to play and what appeared to be NEO Biishiki-gun walked out. Martha was there but instead of Yukio Saint Laurent we got Chris Saint Laurent instead. Also Sakura Hirota was nowhere to be seen, seemingly replaced in the match by Kyusei Sakisama. Despite their appearance looking weirder than usual, they were still NEO Biishiki-gun through and through. The 37KAMIINA had to deal with the unit’s antics. “Saint Laurent” jabbed an injection needle into Yuki Ueno’s neck, Martha was a nuisance towards MAO and Toy Kojima ended up suffering a Kancho attack involving Martha’s mop. “Sakisama” used the Academy Award finisher on Ueno but her glamorous pin was reversed and Ueno posed on top of her for the three count instead. The 37KAMIINA celebrated with their sponsored prize after the match until all of NEO Biishiki-gun gave them Kancho attacks and took the prizes for themselves.
Doi won the Iron Man Title pretty early in the Battle Royal. In fact him pinning Sanshiro Takagi to become champion was the first elimination in the match. Doi then had to fight through the rest of the field to survive. He still got caught up in the Pheromones experience with Kazuma Sumi, fell for Antonio Honda’s Gongitsune joke and outsmarted HARASHIMA. All that was left for him was a battle with Akito that ended with the DOI 555 and the Bakatare Sliding Kick. Doi promised to raise the value of the Iron Man Title then immediately had to fight off Sumi. That was when he realised the title is defended 24/7. He will stick to his promise anyway even if there’s a risk of him losing it in another company. Rukiya then tried to pin him so Doi kicked him away.
The 2nd match was overshadowed by the appearance of Evolution from All Japan. During the week Suwama told Tokyo Sports he had tickets for this show and was going in order to confront Jun Akiyama over a grudge held going back to Akiyama’s time as AJPW president. Suwama sat in his seat along with other Evolution members Hikaru Sato & Dan Tamura to see Akiyama’s team beat Kazusada Higuchi, Yuki Ishida & Takeshi Masada. Then after the match Evolution approached the ring, throwing aside Yuya Koroku and Rukiya who were trying to block them. Naya then wanted to stand in Suwama’s way but Suwama said he isn’t here for him. Suwama asked “useless former president” Akiyama why he is going to do an Exploding Death Match soon when he hated the idea of Suwama doing one six years ago? He then challenged Akiyama to come to Yoyogi on 8th September when AJPW is running a show there. He can even bring along Takagi so they can do a big Evolution Vs DDT match! Akiyama called the idea crazy but agreed to do it. He then told Suwama to stop making decisions without the AJPW president’s approval! Backstage Sato told DDT to send their icons like Dieno or HARASHIMA because as a former KO-D Openweight Champion and winner of a DDT General Election himself, he thinks he should be a DDT icon too. Tamura said he wants Yusuke Okada to come over because they have unfinished business from Okada’s time in AJPW.
KANON is sticking with the Vietnam Driver II as his new finisher, using it to beat Hideki Okatani in their first singles match against each other. KANON said the match left him more tired than he expected but that’s probably because of the summer heat. Okatani didn’t like the result and warned KANON he will beat him the next time they meet.
Koroku and Rukiya probably thought their dark match was the only physicality they would both experience today. Then Evolution came along and beat them up later in the show. In the match itself Rukiya tried to win with a Running Elbow Strike but Koroku took him down into a Modified Triangle Lancer to win by submission.
Chris Brookes has been appointed as the sales manager for “DDT BIG BANG 2023” at Ota Ward Gymnasium on 9th September. Also announced was Mei Suruga being at the 30h September show in Kyoto KBS Hall. That show is part of Akai’s countdown towards her retirement.
Posted by JamieOD 
Dramatic DDT 