Takayama Update, Urano’s Right To Challenge, Tokyo Dome

May 5, 2017

DDT “IBARAKI IS THE BEST 2017”, 06/05/2017
Ibaraki Tsukuba Capio

1. Toru Owashi & Hirata Collection A.T. Vs Keisuke Ishii & Masahiro Takanashi
2. KUDO & Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Soma Takao & Kouki Iwasaki
3. 3 Way Match: Tetsuya Endo Vs Mike Bailey Vs Makoto Oishi
4. Hell Gate Of The Idol Challenge: Danshoku Dino Vs Shunma Katsumata
5. Daisuke Sasaki & Mad Paulie Vs Antonio Honda & Shigehiro Irie
6. Tsukuba Specialty! Gama Oil Selling Special 3 Way Tag Match: Konosuke Takeshita & Akito Vs HARASHIMA & Yasu Urano Vs Kazusada Higuchi & MAO

DDT has provided an update on Yoshihiro Takayama after his injury during yesterday’s show. Takayama suffered a cervical spinal cord injury and was diagnosed with degenerative cervical spondylosis. However he is still going under examinations so the diagnosis could change. With that said, Takayama will be out of action for a while and there is no date yet for his return.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “GIRL’S FIGHT OUT #4”, 07/05/2017
Tokyo BASEMENT MON☆STAR

1. Mizuki Vs Azusa Takigawa
2. 3 Way Match: Nonoko Vs Yuna Manase Vs Marika Kobashi
3. SIN Biishiki-gun Vs Dragon Bombers: Saki-nami & Martha Vs Rika Tatsumi & Maho Kurone
4. Mil Clown Goodbye Match: Yuu, Shoko Nakajima & Nodoka-oneesan Vs Mil Clown, Miyu Yamashita & Reika Saiki

A loaded match for Mil Clown’s farewell.

GANBARE☆WRESTLING “DANCE POPOCHOLINE 2017”, 07/05/2017
Tokyo BASEMENT MON☆STAR

1. Decisive Battle! Osaka’s Tiger Vs Chiba’s Queen: Atsushi Maruyama Vs Bambi
2. Yumehito Vs “X”: Yumehito Imanari Vs X
3. Mixed Martial Arts Warfare ~ Kickboxing Vs Karate Chop: Tanomusaku Toba Vs Chikara
4. Great COSMOS 2017: Shuichiro Katsumura & Yukihiro Abe Vs Ganbare The Great & Takafumi Ito
5. GANPRO SUPERSTAR WAR!!: Ken Ohka & Shinichiro Tominaga Vs Kenso Ohka & KAZMA SAKAMOTO

Atsushi Maruyama Vs Bambi is added to the card.

DNA “FIGHTING GIG DNA EP.33 ~KILL THE KING~”, 10/05/2017
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Conflict Settlement! Thoroughbred Vs Mad Dog: LEONA Vs Mizuki Watase
2. 1st DNA Spring Character Festival: Yuji Okabayashi, Daiki Shimomura & Nobuhiro Shimatani Vs Royce Isaacs, Rekka & Naomi Yoshimura
3. Awake Your Eyes, Dai Suzuki! Seven Match Trial 3rd Battle: Dai Suzuki Vs Go Shiozaki
4. Space Plancha Confrontation: TAKA Michinoku Vs MAO
5. Osaka City Blooming Flower High School Classmate Confrontation: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Yuki Ueno
6. Third Degree Honesty: Kazushi Sakuraba Vs Kouki Iwasaki
7. PREMIUM GIG – I Will Get The DNA Of Junior: Kotaro Suzuki Vs Shunma Katsumata
8. MAIN GIG – DNA Strongest Decision: Mike Bailey Vs Kazusada Higuchi

A bunch of titles have been given to the matches again. This is going to be a regular part of the presentation.

DDT “ROAD TO RYOGOKU 2017 ~DRAMATIC DREAM CLOCK TOWER~”, 21/05/2017
Sapporo Susukino Mars Gym

1. DDT Extreme Title Match: Daisuke Sasaki (c) Vs Antonio Honda

The KO-D Tag Team Titles were supposed to be defended on this show but Takayama’s injury has put it into doubt. We’ll find out soon what DDT will do with the belts.

DDT “AUDIENCE 2017”, 28/05/2017
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Super Sasadango Machine Return: Sanshiro Takagi & Super Sasadango Machine Vs Minoru Suzuki & Rocky Kawamura
2. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata & MAO (c) Vs Danshoku Dino, Keisuke Ishii & Royce Isaacs
3. KO-D Openweight Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Yasu Urano
*Yasu Urano will cash in his Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Contract.

Takayama was originally going to cash in his Right To Challenge Contract for a KO-D Openweight Title shot on this show. But his injury resulted in him losing to Yasu Urano by TKO. Urano was given the RTC contract because of this. I’m probably jumping the gun but Urano did give a big hint that he will cash in on the show instead of Takayama.

DDT “STREET WRESTLING IN TOKYO DOME”, 01/06/2017
Tokyo Dome

No People Street Wrestling Match: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Minoru Suzuki

The Street Wrestling match in the Tokyo Dome is going ahead! For security reasons there will be no spectators for the match between Sanshiro Takagi and Minoru Suzuki. It will just be them and the cameraman filming the match live for DDT UNIVERSE. The entire Tokyo Dome will be available for them to fight through.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “AT THIS TIME, GET EXCITED IN SHINJUKU!”, 04/06/2017
Shinjuku FACE

1. Now, Fighting Idol Vs Underground Idol Announcer! Special Single Match: Itoh Maki Vs Azusa Takigawa
2. Special Single Match: Shoko Nakajima Vs Reika Saiki
3. TOKYO Princess Of Princess Title: Yuu (c) Vs Yuka Sakazaki

Even though she has a poor win/loss record, Azusa Takigawa wants to put Itoh Maki in her place. Maki isn’t the only idol wrestler around here.

DDT “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2017 ~PETER PAN 20 YEARS OLD PETER PAN~”, 20/08/2017
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

1. KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles: X, X, X, X & X Vs X, X, X, X & X
2. KO-D Openweight Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs King Of DDT 2017 Winner

More championships! More wrestlers! More teams! More! More! More!


DDT “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2016 ~MOST HOT SUMMER IN THE WORLD~” Preview

August 25, 2016

ddt-ryogoku2016

DDT “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2016 ~MOST HOT SUMMER IN THE WORLD~”, 28/08/2016
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

0. King Of Dark Title – 6:30 Man Is Now A 1:30 Family: Chikara (c), Mitsuo Momota & Nobuhiro Shimatani Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Hoshitango & Rekka
0. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Miyu Yamashita, Yuka Sakazaki & Akane Miura Vs Shoko Nakajima, Hyper Misao & Yuu
1. DNA FIGHTS ~BATTLE OF LAST SUMMER~: Kazusada Higuchi & Daiki Shimomura Vs Kouki Iwasaki & Mizuki Watase
2. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Battle Royal: Joey Ryan (c) Vs Reika Saiki Vs Toru Owashi Vs Keisuke Ishii Vs Saki Akai Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Cherry Vs Guanchulo Vs Mad Paulie Vs KENSO Vs Gota Ihashi Vs Jun Kasai Vs Yoshihiko
3. KUDO Comeback ~YELLOW DRAGON COME BACK!!~: KUDO & Masahiro Takanashi Vs Akito & Yasu Urano
4. NωA Road To DDT Fes 2016 ~ Sasadango Teaches The Way To Survive Showbiz: Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata, MAO & Super Sasadango Machine Vs Antonio Honda, Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi, Lady Beard & Gorgeous Matsuno
5. AJPW World Jr. Heavyweight Title: Hikaru Sato (c) Vs Soma Takao
6. DDT Extreme Title – Watase Contra Watase: LiLiCo (c) Vs Danshoku Dino
7. Special 6-Man Tag Team Match: Sanshiro Takagi, Shiro Koshinaka & NOSAWA Rongai Vs Great Kabuki, Yukio Sakaguchi & Kota Umeda
8. Special Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo Vs Dick Togo & Mike Bailey
9. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Uchikomi! Presents: Ken Ohka & KAI (c) Vs HARASHIMA & Yuko Miyamoto
10. KO-D Openweight Title – Good Com Asset Presents: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Shuji Ishikawa

Bloody right it’s been a hot summer. DDT is back in Sumo Hall for the ninth time in the the company’s existence. It is also the eighth “PETER PAN” show and the seventh “PETER PAN” held in this building. Throughout 2016 DDT was focused on the rivalry between Happy Motels and DAMNATION. The main event and the road leading to it reflects this as the youngest ever KO-D Openweight Champion takes on The Big Dawg~! of DAMNATION. The KO-D Tag Team Titles are on the line in a match where Bad Communication is fatal. The Wrestling Master teams up with a Speedball to fight a charismatic protege and a young man who feels robbed of his future. A samurai steps in when a planned foreign exchange with Funk University was cancelled. Title matches, idols, injury comebacks and plenty more are also planned for DDT’s biggest show of the summer.

0. King Of Dark Title – 6:30 Man Is Now A 1:30 Family: Chikara (c), Mitsuo Momota & Nobuhiro Shimatani Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Hoshitango & Rekka

The day starts off with the King Of Dark Championship, DDT’s “Misfortune Title” that punishes the champion by forcing them to only wrestle in dark matches until they win. The title currently belongs to Chikara. No, not that one. I mean the grandson of Rikidozan and the person who finds more joy out of Chopping people than anyone else in the world. It’s all he’s good at and that’s me being veeeerrrrrrrrrry generous. Sadly for Chikara his first match in Sumo Hall involves defending this championship at 1:30pm. An upside to this is his father Mitsuo Momota wants to help him out. The three times Momota has wrestled in the building for All Japan have all been in the opening match so it’s fitting he gets to do it again this time with his son.

0. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Miyu Yamashita, Yuka Sakazaki & Akane Miura Vs Shoko Nakajima, Hyper Misao & Yuu

Tokyo Joshi Pro is still going along four years into its existence. This year they introduced their first championship, the TOKYO Princess Of Princess Title. The first and only champion is Miyu Yamashita who won the belt when the promotion held its first Korakuen Hall show in January. She hasn’t been impossible to defeat but her wins come when they count. Her big challenge coming up is Yuu. This woman debuted at the Korakuan show and has been undefeated ever since. Her experience level in Judo helped her progress quicker than most if not all of the other girls who have wrestled for the promotion since its inception. This match here will give a little preview of their title match in September. Also keep an eye on Hyper Misao. She’s a super hero but this year has resorted to cheating and fighting dirty to win her matches.

1. DNA FIGHTS ~BATTLE OF LAST SUMMER~: Kazusada Higuchi & Daiki Shimomura Vs Kouki Iwasaki & Mizuki Watase

DDT’s development brand opens up the show proper. The match sees a step down for Kazusada Higuchi. He won the Right To Challenge Battle Royal in March but lost his the KO-D Title match a month later. Since then he’s been up and down the card teaming with other wrestlers who have similar sumo backgrounds. In DNA he is still unbeatable and is the early favourite for the DNA Grand Prix scheduled for October. Daiki Shimomura had a bad debut in March, getting injured and missing three months of ring time. He has some catching up to do but we at least found out during Beer Garden week that he can do a Shinsuke Nakamura impression. Maybe that can rub off on him. Kouki Iwasaki found some success in the DNA team that won the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles and he’s developing into a competent wrestler. Meanwhile Mizuki Watase found love and the dangers that comes with it. But that’s another story for another part of this preview.

2. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Battle Royal: Joey Ryan (c) Vs Reika Saiki Vs Toru Owashi Vs Keisuke Ishii Vs Saki Akai Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Cherry Vs Guanchulo Vs Mad Paulie Vs KENSO Vs Gota Ihashi Vs Jun Kasai Vs Yoshihiko

If you notice the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title now has a tan that’s because it spent the summer travelling across the United States, mainly California. Joey Ryan left Japan as the champion back in June and since then the belt has had quite an adventure, capturing a lot of attention along the way. Let’s look at what the list of champions during this period: a WWE Hall Of Famer, half of the Lucha Underground roster, Spider-Man, the Beyond Wrestling fanbase, Joey Ryan’s fiance, their pet cat, Vince McMahon’s star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame, three entrants from this year’s WWE Cruiserweight Classic, a man with a box of cereal for a head and comedian Ron Funches. And this does not include all of the wrestlers who have previously held championships in WWE, TNA, ROH, ECW, EVOLVE, SHIMMER, PWG, CZW, PROGRESS and God knows where else. Sadly it’s time for the belt to come home to Japan where Joey Ryan is expected to defend it in the usual Battle Royal. It’s fitting for this championship that I treat its return to Japan as a chance to calm the gimmick down.

Anyway the usual cast of misfits fill up the match. KENSO who exists to annoy me has spent all summer fighting Sanshiro Takagi for a spot on this show, Mad Paulie is one of DAMNATION’s “pets”, the “Muscle Idol” Reika Saiki is this year’s eye candy and Jun Kasai is back after causing havoc at DDT’s last visit to Sumo Hall.

3. KUDO Comeback ~YELLOW DRAGON COME BACK!!~: KUDO & Masahiro Takanashi Vs Akito & Yasu Urano

KUDO finally makes his return after a bad injury to his right ACL discovered in September 2015 put him out of action. While he was gone Shuten-dōji added Kota Umeda to take his place. Masa Takanashi also changed his ring name to Masahiro Takanashi because he felt it was time to start a new chapter of his career. KUDO’s first match back is against familiar opponents. Smile Squash and Shuten-dōji wrestle against each other often so he should feel at home here.

4. NωA Road To DDT Fes 2016 ~ Sasadango Teaches The Way To Survive Showbiz: Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata, MAO & Super Sasadango Machine Vs Antonio Honda, Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi, Lady Beard & Gorgeous Matsuno

DDT is working with a music festival in November and to capitalise on the event they created New Wrestling Aidoru (Idol) or NωA for short. Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata and MAO were selected for the wrestling idol group and quickly recorded their first record “Never Give Up☆I LOVE YOU”. Their goal is to be good enough for a spot on the music festival but the only way they will qualify is if they get over 50,000 followers on Twitter. They thought things were going well when they forced Dick Togo to join NωA but it only took a few hours for him to graduate from the group. Some good news happened though. Masked wrestler, marketing genius and PowerPoint extraordinaire Super Sasadango Machine offered to be their manager. His latest idea is to pit NωA against another team of wrestling idols and singers. Antonio Honda and Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi were both members of a band called DPG (Dramatic Perfect Group), pro wrestling is just a side project for Lady Beard outside of his music career and Gorgeous Matsuno is an old crooner. Expect musical numbers.

5. AJPW World Jr. Heavyweight Title: Hikaru Sato (c) Vs Soma Takao

When Team Dream Futures decided to split up in May all three members went their separate ways. Two of them have struggled and since gone to do very different things. Shigehiro Irie is currently on an excursion in America to develop as both a wrestler and a grown up. Keisuke Ishii formed Fantastic Memories with Danshoku Dino hoping to recapture their success back when they were part of Belt Hunter X Hunter. The one who avoided the post-Drift slump is Soma Takao. He has beaten both of his former teammates in singles matches and has an impressive win-loss record throughout DDT. With this success came an opportunity to get what he wants most: the AJPW World Jr. Heavyweight Title. The challenge was sent to All Japan and it was accepted. After all, the champion has some history with the challenger.

Hikaru Sato has done well for himself since leaving DDT in 2014. A short stay in Union Pro saw him dominate as a big fish in a small pond. Then he went on to All Japan where he is a regular contender in the Jr. Heavyweight division. He won the Jr. Title in June and is going into Sumo Hall for his second defence but there is more to this than just a title match. In February 2011 Takao beat Sato in a No DQ Hair Vs Hair Match and shaved him bald in the middle of the ring. Soma thinks history gives him the edge over Sato. The champion is happy to wrestle at Sumo Hall for DDT again. He has fond memories of the first “PETER PAN” from 2009. Even though he wrestled in the dark match, Sato remembers being excited because everyone worked so hard to put the show together. He is reminded of that everytime he wrestles in Sumo Hall.

One last thing. Soma Takao is 7-0 at “PETER PAN” shows. Slowly but surely this is approaching an Undertaker at WrestleMania level of winning streak.

6. DDT Extreme Title – Watase Contra Watase: LiLiCo (c) Vs Danshoku Dino

Love’s precious, isn’t it? Who would have guessed when LiLiCo found a few DNA wrestlers to be her bodyguard earlier this year she would hit it off with one of them. Mizuki Watase and LiLiCo fell in love and became an item. They sought inspiration from Titanic to help LiLiCo win the DDT Extreme Title and since then the power of their love has kept the title in their possession. But now comes a man who is a big threat to LiLiCo. Not just for her championship but for her boyfriend too! Danshoku Dino is the No. 1 Contender and he thinks Watase is only in a relationship with LiLiCo to hide the fact that he’s gay. To prove it the match will be Watase Contra Watase, the winner gets Watase, the loser can never touch him again! If that’s not enough Watase is freely allowed to get involved in the match. So he can prove his love with LiLiCo is real by helping her win… Or he can prove Dino is right by helping him win? Is Dino’s claims about Watase true? Is Watase’s romance with LiLiCo nothing more than a sham? Is this a better love story than the Overwatch shipping of Pharah and Mercy I found on NeoGAF? We’ll soon find out.

7. Special 6-Man Tag Team Match: Sanshiro Takagi, Shiro Koshinaka & NOSAWA Rongai Vs Great Kabuki, Yukio Sakaguchi & Kota Umeda

Well this match fell apart. It was all supposed to be about Terry Funk. Unfortunately a hernia prevented ol’ Funker from travelling to Japan and he had to cancel his appearance. Shiro Koshinaka is bring brought in on short notice to be his replacement. Koshinaka has history in DDT by being a former KO-D Tag Team Champion with Danshoku Dino under the team name Butt Samurai. Koshinaka gets to be in the ring again with his old Heisei Ishingun stablemate The Great Kabuki. He says he is also looking forward to wrestling Yukio Sakaguchi for the first time.

8. Special Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo Vs Dick Togo & Mike Bailey

There is one man I can point to as the centrepiece of DDT’s storylines this year and that man is Daisuke Sasaki. He played a role in many of the main event angles that have gone on and developed into a dangerous competitor in the process. And to think it all began with a crush. 2016 began with Sasaki all alone. The Golden☆Storm Riders had to break up when Kota Ibushi quit DDT and Suguru Miyatake blew out his shoulder. It was around this time that Candice LeRae had her first tour with DDT and Sasaki was instantly smitten with her. Like a lovesick puppy Sasaki proposed to her several times, mostly to be his tag team partner but it eventually became an offer of marriage. LeRae’s rejection left him feeling devastated but the real shock came when news of LeRae’s engagement to Johnny Gargano reached Japan. This is where you can pinpoint Sasaki’s tragic origin story if he was a supervillain. Sasaki snapped and went into a jealous rage, constantly demanding to fight Gargano at DDT shows even though Gargano was never going to get booked. He also wanted tag team title shots despite having no tag partner. Eventually Sasaki solved his problems by getting a pet dog and it is a very big dog. When “Adrian” was introduced it turned out to be Shuji Ishikawa in a giant mascot dog outfit. While the imagery of a big dog beating up wrestlers is funny (and it was) the new team were no joke and they quickly became tag team champions. Sasaki grew a mean streak and got his hands on a Right To Challenge Anytime Anywhere Contract. He used it to win the KO-D Title from HARASHIMA in April and became king of the DDT world until Konosuke Takeshita knocked him off his perch. Sasaki got a small measure of revenge though when he convinced Takeshita’s best friend to switch sides.

Tetsuya Endo saw himself as the bridesmaid of Happy Motels. This time last year he returned from an injury to face his best friend and tag team partner Takeshita at Sumo Hall. Endo lost that match but no matter, most wrestlers lose their first bout back from injury. He and his buddy soon became the KO-D Tag Team Champions and everything was great until Sasaki & Ishikawa came along. Sasaki made Takeshita pass out to the Cross Facelock at the 19th Anniversary Show but no matter, they were caught unprepared and they could get their rematch a month later. Sasaki made Takeshita pass out again in the but no matter, now Endo can chase after Sasaki’s KO-D Title. Takeshita gets the title shot first and goes on to finally beat Sasaki, becoming the youngest KO-D Champion ever. No matter, Endo got a Right To Challenge Contract around the same time. He cashes in for a fair and square title match against his best friend to prove who is truly better. Takeshita won. That’s when Endo cracks and has enough of being in his friend’s shadow. Seeing an opportunity, Sasaki crashes Takeshita’s post-match victory speech and offers Endo to join his new unit DAMNATION. Endo shocked everyone when he pushed his best friend aside and accepted the DAMNATION T-shirt! Since then Endo has found new success by embracing his dark side. Can there be anybody out there to stop DAMNATION? How about somebody from Sasaki’s past?

Four years ago Dick Togo called time on his legendary career. After saying his goodbyes in Japan he spent his final 12 months wrestling around South America in countries like Chile and Bolivia. They were his second homes and he wanted to help establish their wrestling scenes. Fast forward to 2016 and Togo is back in Japan with a burning desire to return to the ring. He still has plenty left in him and he wants to fight the new generation of wrestlers that have appeared during his absence. Everybody was happy to have him back. Everybody that is except for Sasaki. Togo’s protege was pissed off that this old man is back on the scene when it should be known to everyone that the student has surpassed his master. A welcoming hug became a low blow. Sasaki made his intentions known, he is better than Togo and will prove it. Endo also thinks that Togo should stay out of DAMNATION’s way. Togo disagrees and wants to put both of these punks back in their place. But he needs help. Togo demanded a tag team match but foolishly did so without having anyone to back him up. Luckily there was a new Canadian sensation brought in to save the day.

“Speedball” Mike Bailey has only been wrestling in Japan for a month but he is quickly winning over fans with his rapid strikes and agility. So we currently have a Canadian wrestler making waves in DDT in short time? Sounds familiar. Sounds doubly familiar actually. Anyway, Bailey was picked as Togo’s partner and he could not be more excited to wrestle with such a legend. While he holds no grudge with DAMNATION you can be sure Sasaki & Endo aren’t going to let him steal their spotlight. Sparks will fly in this one.

9. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Uchikomi! Presents: Ken Ohka & KAI (c) Vs HARASHIMA & Yuko Miyamoto

Mandatory listening for this part of the preview.

I see this as two pairs of brothers from other mothers fighting over the KO-D Tag Team Titles. Ken Ohka had a stressful year over in his home base Ganbare☆Wrestling. He had been betrayed so often that it must felt crushing to him. Thankfully a kindred spirit came along and they caught on like a house on fire. KAI from Wrestle-1 offered to help his problems. They wrestled in identical vests and jeans which in pro wrestling terms is the closest bond two people could ever make. They also like B’z which is another thing a lot of Japanese wrestler seem to bond over. So they named their team Bad Comi after the song “Bad Communication” (Did the song above end? Keep playing it) After their one match together they somehow convinced DDT to give them a title shot. An injury scare put their chances in doubt but they surprised everyone by winning the belts from DAMNATION.

Their challengers are HARASHIMA & Yuko Miyamoto, together known as Smile Yankee. The two originally tagged together for the 2015 New Year’s Eve tournament and they reached the final. A few more appearances in the summer convinced them to team more. Miyamoto even decided to join Smile Squash for the upcoming DDT Dramatic General Election. Much like their opponents, Smile Yankee have a habit of wearing identical gear during their matches. They swap between HARASHIMA’s gear and Miyamoto’s gear. Ohka doesn’t care that Yankee Smile has only ever lost once, Bad Comi are the hottest tag team in the world!

10. KO-D Openweight Title – Good Com Asset Presents: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Shuji Ishikawa

This makes up the other part of the Happy Motels Vs DAMNATION feud. Since his debut at 17 years old, Konosuke Takeshita was first labelled as DDT’s Rookie Supernova and later simply “The Future”. It only took four years for him to reach the top and become the KO-D Openweight Champion, the youngest wrestler to ever do so. Losing over and over to Daisuke Sasaki in the tag team division was a tough hurdle to overcome but in May he finally did it. Since then he defended the belt against a veteran outsider (Yuko Miyamoto), a former KO-D Champion with one last golden opportunity to get the belt (Toru Owashi) and his best friend (Tetsuya Endo). Now he has to fight The Big Dog.

Forget the part about Shuji Ishikawa being Daisuke Sasaki’s “pet”. This is still a big lad and former champion who smashed through the King Of DDT tournament to get this title match. Takeshita does have a 4 minute victory over Ishikawa that happened in May but don’t expect the same thing to happen here. Ishikawa has been wrestling in several different companies this year and has taken Chops, Lariats and German Suplexes from the best of them. He also has previous experience wrestling in the main event of “PETER PAN” when he headlined the 2011 show. Takeshita thinks he can summon the fighting spirit necessary for such a special show. Ishikawa doesn’t care, he’ll just crush that spirit while providing a great match for the crowd. Then when he wins the title he will hug Sasaki in the ring to celebrate.


Speedball In DNA, DAMNATION & NωA Meet Again, New Peter Pan Bouts

July 26, 2016

DDT “DNA 19”, 06/08/2016
Saitama Kasukabe Hall

1. Daiki Shimomura Vs Nobuhiro Shimatani
2. MAO & Rekka Vs Keisuke Ishii & Kazuki Hirata
3. Shunma Katsumata & Guanchulo Vs Mike Bailey & Kouki Iwasaki
4. Kazusada Higuchi Vs Kota Umeda

Mike Bailey’s tour of Japan now includes a stop in DNA.

DDT “SAITAMA SLAM! VOL. 13”, 06/08/2016
Saitama Kasukabe Hall

1. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles Tournament – Semi Final: Daisuke Sasaki, Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie Vs Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata & MAO
2. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles Tournament – Semi Final: Winners Of Match C Vs Winners Of Match D
3. Infomercial Match – Shosen: X Vs X
4. Single Match To Assess If KENSO Can Wrestle At Ryogoku On 28th August: Sanshiro Takagi Vs KENSO
5. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles Tournament – Final: Winners Of Semi Final 1 Vs Winners Of Semi Final 2

If T2Hide make it to the Semi-Finals then Sanshiro Takagi will have to wrestle twice on this show.

DDT “PETER PAN 2016 ~MOST HOT SUMMER IN THE WORLD~”, 28/08/2016
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

0. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Miyu Yamashita, Yuka Sakazaki & Akane Miura Vs Shoko Nakajima, Hyper Misao & Yuu
1. NωA Road To DDT Fes 2016 ~ Sasadango Teaches How To Survive Showbiz: Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata, MAO & Super Sasadango Machine Vs Antonio Honda, Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi, Lady Beard & Gorgeous Matsuno
2. KUDO Comeback ~YELLOW DRAGON COME BACK!!~: KUDO & Masahiro Takanashi Vs Akito & Yasu Urano
3. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Battle Royal: ??? (c) Vs Reika Saiki Vs X
4. Special 6-Man Tag Team Match: Terry Funk, Sanshiro Takagi & NOSAWA Rongai Vs Great Kabuki, Yukio Sakaguchi & Kota Umeda
5. Special Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo Vs Dick Togo & Mike Bailey
6. AJPW World Jr. Heavyweight Title: Hikaru Sato (c) Vs Soma Takao
7. DDT Extreme Title – Watase Contra Watase: LiLiCo (c) Vs Danshoku Dino
8. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Uchikomi! Presents: Ken Ohka & KAI (c) Vs HARASHIMA & Yuko Miyamoto
9. KO-D Openweight Title – Good Com Asset Presents: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Shuji Ishikawa

Dick Togo wants revenge on Daisuke Sasaki for attacking him at Korakuen Hall last week. He also wants to teach Tetsuya Endo a lesson after he tried to get in the way of Togo’s confrontation with Sasaki in Yokohama this past weekend. He challenged both of them to a Tag Team match but didn’t realise he needed a partner. Amon Tsurumi solved that problem by pairing him with Bailey.


KO-D 6-Man Tag Tournament, Owashi Readies For Title Match, Peter Pan Card Grows

July 20, 2016

DDT “YOKOHAMA TWILIGHT 2016 ~SUMMER~”, 23/07/2016
Yokohama Radiant Hall

1. Masahiro Takanashi Vs Gota Ihashi
2. Yukio Sakaguchi & Kota Umeda Vs Soma Takao & Tomomitsu Matsunaga
3. Shuji Ishikawa Vs Guanchulo
4. Ken Ohka, KAI & Shota Vs HARASHIMA, Akito & Yasu Urano
5. Konosuke Takeshita & Antonio Honda Vs Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata
6. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles Tournament – Round 1A: Danshoku Dino, Keisuke Ishii & Super Sasadango Machine Vs Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata & MAO
7. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles Tournament – Round 1B: Daisuke Sasaki, Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Kouki Iwasaki & Mizuki Watase

The KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Title tournament is now filled and ready to go. DAMNATION changed their line-up by subbing out Shuji Ishikawa with their new member Tetsuya Endo.

Danshoku Dino & Keisuke Ishii have named their new unit Fantastic Memories and invited Super Sasadango Machine to join them. So far the group is made up of former members of Belt Hunter X Hunter.

DDT “DRAMATIC KATSURAGI 2016”, 30/07/2016
Nara Katsuragi City Taima Sports Center

1. Yasu Urano Vs MAO
2. Tetsuya Endo Vs Kouki Iwasaki
3. Sanshiro Takagi, Kazuki Hirata & Maholova Vs Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata & Gran Naniwa
4. Yukio Sakaguchi & Kota Umeda Vs Danshoku Dino & Keisuke Ishii
5. Dick Togo & Guanchulo Vs Masahiro Takanashi & Soma Takao
6. HARASHIMA & Akito Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Mad Paulie
7. Most Of DDT Katsuragi Place Tie! Katsuragi Specialty Special 6 Man Tag Team Match: Konosuke Takeshita, Antonio Honda & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi Vs Toru Owashi, Kazusada Higuchi & Hoshitango

Before the next KO-D Openweight Title takes place, Toru Owashi leads his sumo team against Happy Motels.

DDT “ROAD TO RYOGOKU 2016 IN KOBE ~DRAMATIC DREAM TAKARAZUKA REVUE~”, 31/07/2016
Kobe Sambo Hall

1. Wrestling Master Vs 37 Year Old Idol Wrestler! Rokko Wholesaler Fukimakuru Kobe Specialty Special Single Match: Dick Togo Vs Makoto Oishi
2. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles Tournament – Round 1C: Konosuke Takeshita, Antonio Honda & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi Vs HARASHIMA, Akito & Yasu Urano
3. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles Tournament – Round 1D: Yukio Sakaguchi, Masahiro Takanashi & Kota Umeda Vs Sanshiro Takagi, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata

Happy Motels are still shaken over Endo’s jump to DAMNATION. They lost to Smile Squash the day after Endo left and they will have to face them again in the trios tournament.

DDT “SAITAMA SLAM! VOL. 13”, 06/08/2016
Saitama Kasukabe Hall

1. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles Tournament – Semi Final: Winners Of Match A Vs Winners Of Match B
2. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles Tournament – Semi Final: Winners Of Match C Vs Winners Of Match D
3. Infomercial Match – Shosen: X Vs X
4. Single Match To Assess If KENSO Can Wrestle At Ryogoku On 28th August: Sanshiro Takagi Vs KENSO
5. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles Tournament – Final: Winners Of Semi Final 1 Vs Winners Of Semi Final 2

KENSO has to prove to DDT management that he deserves to wrestle at “PETER PAN 2016”. Sanshiro Takagi has to prove he is a good wrestler and just going through a temporary slump. No matter who wins we lose.

DDT “BEER GARDEN FIGHT 2016 ~DDT DAY~”, 08/08/2016
Shinjuku FACE

1. KO-D Openweight Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Toru Owashi
*Toru Owashi will cash in his Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Contract.

Owashi has waited four months to cash in his Right To Challenge contract. He cashes in on the first day of Beer Garden Week.

DDT “PETER PAN 2016 ~MOST HOT SUMMER IN THE WORLD~”, 28/08/2016
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

0. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: X Vs X
1. NωA Road To DDT Fes 2016 ~ Sasadango Teaches How To Survive Showbiz: Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata, MAO & Super Sasadango Machine Vs Antonio Honda, Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi, Lady Beard & Gorgeous Matsuno
2. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Battle Royal: ??? (c) Vs Reika Saiki Vs X
3. KUDO Comeback ~YELLOW DRAGON COME BACK!!~: KUDO & Masahiro Takanashi Vs Akito & Yasu Urano
4. DDT Extreme Title – Watase Contra Watase: LiLiCo (c) Vs Danshoku Dino
5. Special 6-Man Tag Team Match: Terry Funk, Sanshiro Takagi & NOSAWA Rongai Vs Great Kabuki, Yukio Sakaguchi & Kota Umeda
6. AJPW World Jr. Heavyweight Title: Hikaru Sato (c) Vs Soma Takao
7. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Uchikomi! Presents: Ken Ohka & KAI (c) Vs HARASHIMA & Yuko Miyamoto
8. KO-D Openweight Title – Good Com Asset Presents: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Shuji Ishikawa

The Tag Team Titles will be fought over by two pairs of brothers from other mothers. Ken Ohka & KAI aren’t the first wrestlers from separate promotions to bond together in DDT. HARASHIMA & Yuko Miyamoto have been good buddies for a while and have teamed together at the last New Year’s Eve show.

Soma Takao is still undefeated at “PETER PAN” with a 7-0 record on the show. He can make it 8-0 and win the AJPW Jr. Title too if he beats Hikaru Sato.

The Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title is scheduled to return home next month. However its current trip around the world might make a return difficult. DDT is limited by who they can bring in for the Battle Royal. It is impossible for them to bring in any of the wrestlers who recently won the title overseas.

Super Sasadango Machine is now managing NωA and handling their efforts to enter the music industry. He organised a match against other wrestlers who have or had some sort of music career away from wrestling.


Takeshita Vs Endo, DDT Shilling Stuff, Takagi & KENSO Team (What Could Go Wrong?)

July 5, 2016

DDT “SAITAMA SLAM! VOL. 12”, 09/07/2016
Saitama Kasukabe Hall

1. When Case Take Anywhere! Owashi Siege Encirclement! 4 Way Match: Toru Owashi Vs Masa Takanashi Vs Yasu Urano Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga
2. Danshoku Dino, Keisuke Ishii & Gota Ihashi Vs Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata & MAO
3. DAMNATION’s First Trio Match Stomping!: Daisuke Sasaki, Shuji Ishikawa & Mad Paulie Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Kouki Iwasaki & Guanchulo
4. Shigehiro Irie Vs Soma Takao
5. Infomercial Match – Dramatic Exercise Series: Super Sasadango Machine & Mizuki Watase Vs Kazuki Hirata & Saki Akai
6. Akito Comeback Match: HARASHIMA & Akito Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Kota Umeda
7. Konosuke Takeshita & Antonio Honda Vs Tetsuya Endo & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi

The emergence of Tetsuya Endo challenging Konosuke Takeshita for the KO-D Openweight Title has created a small rift in Happy Motels for now. Antonio Honda is siding with Takeshita while Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi is siding with Endo. This leads to a tag team match between the two teams in Saitama.

DDT is using the Infomercial Match to shill their own exercise equipment. Kazuki Hirata & Saka Akai are two of the faces of the Dramatic Exercise Series brand.

With only two Right To Challenge Contracts left in play and one of them soon to be cashed in, Toru Owashi is now a targeted man. He’s been very patient when it comes to getting his title shot but with every upcoming match he risks losing that chance.

DDT “ROAD TO RYOGOKU 2016 IN MAEBASHI ~DRAMATIC DREAM TONTON~”, 10/07/2016
Maebashi Green Dome Sub Arena

1. 3 Way Tag Match: Toru Owashi & Soma Takao Vs Makoto Oishi & Shunma Katsumata Vs Akito & Nobuhiro Shimatani
2. Danshoku Dino, Kazusada Higuchi & Gota Ihashi Vs Yukio Sakaguchi, Masa Takanashi & Kota Umeda
3. Tetsuya Endo & Kouki Iwasaki Vs Keisuke Ishii & Guanchulo
4. Shigehiro Irie & Mizuki Watase Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Mad Paulie
5. Grudge Settlement! Avenge Kawaguchi In Maebashi! Maebashi Specialty Special Single Match: KENSO Vs Kazuki Hirata
6. Konosuke Takeshita & Antonio Honda Vs HARASHIMA & Yasu Urano

KENSO still has beef with Sanshiro Takagi and that will be sorted out later. But he also has Kazuki Hirata bothering him. Will he swat him aside or fall under Hirata’s dancing spell?

DDT “ROAD TO RYOGOKU 2016”, 17/07/2016
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Soma Takao & Akito Vs Masa Takanashi & Kota Umeda
2. Danshoku Dino, Super Sasadango Machine, Antonio Honda, Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi & Saki Akai Vs Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata, Gota Ihashi, Guanchulo & Cherry
3. DAMNATION Vs NωA: Daisuke Sasaki, Shuji Ishikawa & Mad Paulie Vs Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata & MAO
4. That’s Breaking The Rut! Saihai Of Super Talented GM Amon Tsurumi! Special Tag Match: Sanshiro Takagi & KENSO Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Mizuki Watase
5. Shigehiro Irie Send-off Match: Shigehiro Irie & Yukio Sakaguchi Vs HARASHIMA & Keisuke Ishii
6. Dick Togo Return Second Leg! Special Tag Match: Dick Togo & Yasu Urano Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Kouki Iwasaki
7. KO-D Openweight Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Tetsuya Endo
*Tetsuya Endo will cash in his Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Contract.

Amon Tsurumi has kept an eye over the feud between Sanshiro Takagi and KENSO this year and decided to do something about it. Both wrestlers have been on a rut in DDT so Tsurumi came up with the bright idea of making them team together to break that rut.

DDT “DNA 19”, 06/08/2016
Saitama Kasukabe Hall

1. Kazusada Higuchi Vs Kota Umeda

The fight is on to determine who the top wrestler of DNA really is. Kota Umeda has gained a new fire ever since he came back from his recent absence.

DDT “PETER PAN 2016 ~MOST HOT SUMMER IN THE WORLD~”, 28/08/2016
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

1. Special 6-Man Tag Team Match: Terry Funk, Sanshiro Takagi & NOSAWA Rongai Vs Great Kabuki, Yukio Sakaguchi & Kota Umeda
2. DDT Extreme Title: LiLiCo (c) Vs Danshoku Dino
3. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Ken Ohka & KAI (c) Vs X & X
4. KO-D Openweight Title – Watase Contra Watase: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Shuji Ishikawa

The winner of LiLiCo Vs Danshoku Dino not only gets the DDT Extreme Title but also Mizuki Watase. The loser can never touch Watase ever again. That would put a dent on his relationship with LiLiCo for sure!


Iron Man Updates, DNA 18, Super Star Lane, Road To Ryogoku

June 30, 2016

If you’ve lost track of the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title’s tour of America, here’s the list of champions since it left Japan up until 25th June. Joey Ryan, Rey Mysterio Jr., Ryan again (Rey fell asleep), Chuck Taylor (won it in a proper wrestling match), Scott Hall (won Rock-Paper-Scissors for the right to pin Chuck), Colt Cabana (officially with the dreaded Trapezius Nerve Hold), Ryan once more, Kikutaro (shitty weight spotter), Laura James (via seduction), Bunny (Laura’s pet cat), Ryan Nemeth (bribed the cat), Taya Valkyrie, John Morrison and now as of 25th June Ricochet. Title changes have been happening daily and videos are uploaded to Joey Ryan’s Twitter account and Youtube page. There are certainly more to come.

DDT “DNA 18”, 01/07/2016
Kitasenju Theatre 1010

1. Rekka Vs Nobuhiro Shimatani
2. Guanchulo Vs Masa Takanashi
3. There Is Heart In Your Character! Let This Be Assessed! This Is Not A Special Single Match: Rainbow Kawamura Vs Kikutaro
4. Kazusada Higuchi & Daiki Shimomura Vs Shunma Katsumata & Kouki Iwasaki
5. Kota Umeda Vs KENSO
6. MAO & Mizuki Watase Vs Konosuke Takeshita & Tetsuya Endo

Rainbow Kawamura is approaching four months under his current colorful gimmick. He will be assessed by Kikutaro who has been doing weird shit in wrestling for the last 17 years.

BASARA “VAJRA 15 ~50 HUMAN YEARS~”, 03/07/2016
Chikusa Culture Small Theater

1. Daichi Kazato Vs Kazuhiro Tamura
2. Best Phantom Consultation!: Ryu Gouma Vs Konaka = Pehlwan
3. Michio Kageyama, Makoto Hasuka & hi69 Vs Ryuichi Sekine, Ryota Nakatsu & Koji Iwamoto
4. Tsukasaga Army Vs Kotetsu Gundan: Takumi Tsukamoto & SAGAT Vs FUMA & Yusuke Kubo
5. Isami Kodaka & Masamune Vs Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi & Shinya Ishida

Michio Kageyama and Makoto Hasuka are both from Daiwa Entertainment Pro Wrestling.

DDT “SUPER STAR LANE 2016”, 03/07/2016
Hakata Star Lane

1. Miyu Yamashita Triumph Match!: Miyu Yamashita & Shoko Nakajima Vs Saki Akai & Yuka Sakazaki
2. Sanshiro Takagi, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Danshoku Dino, Shigehiro Irie & Yuto Aijima
3. HARASHIMA, Soma Takao & Azul Dragon Vs Yukio Sakaguchi, Masa Takanashi & Kota Umeda
4. Hakata Specialty Special! Wonderful! Survival! 4 Way Match: Tetsuya Endo Vs Keisuke Ishii Vs Kazusada Higuchi Vs Mad Paulie
5. DDT Extreme Title – Stockholm Style Kiss Kiss Bang Bang Death Match: LiLiCo (c) (w/ Mizuki Watase) Vs Makoto Oishi (w/ Batten Burabura)
6. Dick Togo Active Duty Comeback! Special Tag Match: Dick Togo & Antonio Honda Vs Yasu Urano & Guanchulo
7. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Daisuke Sasaki & Shuji Ishikawa (c) Vs Ken Ohka & KAI
8. KO-D Openweight Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Yuko Miyamoto
*Yuko Miyamoto will cash in his Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Contract.

Once Yuko Miyamoto gets his title shot there will be two remaining Right To Challenge contracts in play. Toru Owashi and Kouki Iwasaki currently have them. Owashi has impressively kept hold of his ever since he earned it back in March. He’s just waiting for the right time to use it.

LiLiCo and Mizuki Watase have been training hard for the Kiss Kiss Bang Bang Death Match. And by training hard I mean making out in the DDT dojo.

TAVERN WRESTLING “DON’T THE HANGOVER 2016”, 06/07/2016
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Miyu Yamashita & Azusa Takigawa Vs Yuka Sakazaki & Yuu
2. Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi Vs Makoto Oishi
3. Obi-chan Close Call! 3 Way Match: Antonio Honda Vs Shunma Katsumata Vs Obihiro Sayaka
4. Drop Kick Vs Ebisuko Tavern Entire Surface Of Strife Extra Chapter!: Isami Kodaka & Tetsuya Endo Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Kouki Iwasaki
5. New Beijing Vs Cavalry Special Tag Match: Somato & Yasuura No (w/ Cao Zhang) Vs Ryuichi Sekine & Ryota Nakatsu

Side note, I keep resisting myself from typing Calvary whenever I have to type out Cavalry.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “KASUKABE LOVE RIN”, 09/07/2016
Saitama Kasukabe Hall

1. Reika Saiki & Azusa Takigawa Vs Shoko Nakajima & KANNA
2. Tokyo Princess Cup – Round 1A: Nonoko Vs Akane Miura
3. Tokyo Princess Cup – Round 1B: Yuka Sakazaki Vs Marika Kobashi
4. Tokyo Princess Cup – Round 1C: Yuu Vs Nodoka Onee-san
5. Tokyo Princess Cup – Round 1D: Miyu Yamashita Vs Hyper Misao

Opponents have now become tag partners in the opener. Reika Saiki faced Azusa Takigawa in her Tokyo Joshi debut.

DDT “ROAD TO RYOGOKU 2016”, 17/07/2016
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Dick Togo Return Second Leg! Special Tag Match: Dick Togo & Yasu Urano Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Kouki Iwasaki
2. Shigehiro Irie Send-off Match: Shigehiro Irie & Yukio Sakaguchi Vs HARASHIMA & Keisuke Ishii

Shigehiro Irie’s final DDT match for now involves his closest allies and rivals. He’s teaming with Yukio Sakaguchi because they rarely if not ever wrestled together on the same side. He’s fighting HARASHIMA because he ultimately wants to surpass him. Keisuke Ishii is also there because of their close ties together in Team Drift. They were champions together but now go their separate ways.

As one of the few remaining Right To Challenge holders, Kouki Iwasaki is in a dangerous position going up against a fresh out of retirement Dick Togo.

DDT “PETER PAN 2016 ~MOST HOT SUMMER IN THE WORLD~”, 28/08/2016
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

1. Special 6-Man Tag Team Match: Terry Funk, Sanshiro Takagi & NOSAWA Rongai Vs Great Kabuki, Yukio Sakaguchi & Kota Umeda
2. KO-D Openweight Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Shuji Ishikawa

Shuji Ishikawa’s spot in the main event is guaranteed. However the KO-D Champion could change between now and then. Konosuke Takeshita has other title defences to worry about including any possible Right To Challenge cash ins.

Dick Togo and Reika Saiki are scheduled to wrestle on the show. Shigehiro Irie will not due to his excursion to America.


DDT “JUDGEMENT 2016 ~DDT 19th ANNIVERSARY~” Results

March 21, 2016

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DDT “JUDGEMENT 2016 ~DDT 19th ANNIVERSARY~”, 21/03/2016
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
6,938 Fans – No Vacancy

0. King Of Dark Title: DJ Nira & Dai Suzuki defeated Seiya Morohashi (c) & Hoshitango when Nira pinned Morohashi with the Ravioli (3:31).
*D1 for Seiya Morohashi.
0. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Battle Royal: Yuka Sakazaki defeated Shoko Nakajima with the Osaekomi Backslide (8:37).
Order Of Elimination: Poison Miura, Yuu, Hyper Misao, Nodoka-onesan, Ai Shimizu and Rika Tatsumi, Marika Kobashi, Nonoko, Azusa Takigawa, KANNA, Miyu Yamashita.
0. DNA Offer Match – Mao Inoue Comeback: Shunma Katsumata, Guanchulo & Mao Inoue defeated Kouki Iwasaki, Rainbow Kawamura & Nobuhiro Shimatani when Katsumata pinned Shimatani with the Lightning Spiral (6:53).
0. Pro Wrestling BASARA Offer Match: FUMA, Yusuke Kubo & SAGAT defeated Takumi Tsukamoto, Daichi Kazato & Ryu Gouma when FUMA pinned Kazato with the HEAVY METAL ANTHEM (5:28).
1. Ryogoku First Appearance! Next KO-D Openweight Title Challenger Decision And Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Battle Royal: Kazusada Higuchi defeated Soma Takao with the Goten (16:53).
1a. Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Blue: Ken Ohka (6:26).
1b. Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Yellow: Tomomitsu Matsunaga (8:27).
1c. Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Red: Toru Owashi (10:43).
1d. Right To Date Aja Kong: Kazuki Hirata (13:19).
Order Of Elimination: Gorgeous Matsuno, Cherry, Ryuichi Sekine, Masa Takanshi, Yoshihiko, Ryota Nakatsu.
2. 3 Way Tag Match: Keisuke Ishii & Shigehiro Irie defeated Joey Ryan & Candice LeRae and Akito & Yasu Urano when Irie pinned Akito with the Beast Bomber (9:57).
3. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Special 6-Man Tag Team Match: LiLiCo (c), Kota Umeda & Mizuki Watase defeated Saki Akai, Makoto Oishi & Lady Beard when LiLiCo submitted Oishi with a Manjigatame (9:38).
*V1 for LiLiCo.
4. Special Tag Match: Tatsumi Fujinami & LEONA defeated Antonio Honda & Hiroshi Fukuda when Fujinami submitted Fukuda with the Dragon Sleeper (12:10).
5. DDT Extreme Title – Ultimate Royal Barbed Wire PowerPoint No Power Blast PWF Rules: Super Sasadango Machine defeated Kendo Kashin (c) with a Cross Armbreaker Crush (7:07).
*Kendo Kashin fails in V4. Super Sasadango Machine becomes the 35th DDT Extreme Champion!
6. Kota Ibushi Comeback & Ibushi Wrestling Institute 1st Leg – East & West Toward The Front Over The Entire Surface Falls Count Anywhere Weapon Treasure Hunt Match: Kota Ibushi & Gota Ihashi defeated Sanshiro Takagi & Jun Kasai and KENSO & Michael Nakazawa when Ibushi pinned Nakazawa with the Phoenix Splash (23:12).
7. Dramatic Dream Match: Minoru Suzuki defeated Yukio Sakaguchi by TKO with the Sleeper Hold (16:15).
8. Dramatic Dream Match: Akebono defeated Danshoku Dino with the Danshoku Yokozuna Impact (10:20).
9. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Uchicomi! Presents: Daisuke Sasaki & Shuji Ishikawa defeated Konosuke Takeshita & Tetsuya Endo (c) when Sasaki submitted Takeshita with La Mistica Cross Facelock (17:22).
*New Generation Combination fails in V2. Daisuke Sasaki & Shuji Ishikawa become the 54th KO-D Tag Team Champions!
10. KO-D Openweight Title – Good Com Asset Presents: HARASHIMA defeated Isami Kodaka (c) with the Swan Dive Somato (18:15).
*Isami Kodaka fails in V4. HARASHIMA becomes the 56th KO-D Openweight Champion!

judgement2016-2

A lot happened at DDT’s 19th Anniversary show. I mean a lot. Three title changes, a mental Falls Count Anywhere match, bare asses, new challengers determined and a few announcements for DDT’s future too. DDT also had an entire seating setup of Sumo Hall available to them instead of having one side blocked off for the entrance stage like in previous years.

judgement2016-kodmain

In the main event HARASHIMA took the KO-D Openweight Title from Isami Kodaka to become an 8-time KO-D Champion. No amount of Isamuashi Zan kicks and Zeyyari knee strikes could keep the challenger down. Once again the Somato was the difference maker. During an intense back and forth HARASHIMA hit a short range Somato and followed up with a Swan Dive version to put Kodaka away. HARASHIMA said that little difference between him and Kodaka was needed to win and he will keep on winning. He said the scenery around him in Sumo Hall was amazing and when DDT returns in the summer he’ll be ready for whoever is thrown in front of him.

When HARASHIMA’s victory speech was over a message was shown on the video screen. On 20th March, 2017 DDT will hold its 20th Anniversary show in Saitama Super Arena! Previously DDT ran the Community Hub area of the building but this time the show takes place inside the main hall! Sanshiro Takagi said he wants to chase the dream with everyone and the show ended with the ring showered in cherry blossoms raining from the sky.

judgement2016-kodtag

The KO-D Tag Team Titles changed hands when Daisuke Sasaki & Shuji Ishikawa dethroned the New Generation Combination. The former champions went down fighting though. Ishikawa took out Tetsuya Endo with the Fire Thunder but Konosuke Takeshita never tapped out to Sasaki’s La Mistica Cross Facelock. Instead the referee had to call for the bell when Takeshita went motionless. After the match Sasaki said if the New Gen Combo can hear him then they should know the future is now in his and Ishikawa’s hands. In the post-match interview the former champions said they will go back to the drawing board but they also don’t know what their next step will be. Sasaki was quick to nominated The World’s Cutest Tag Team as the No. 1 Contenders. He still wants revenge on Candice LeRae for rejecting his marriage proposal earlier this year.

judgement2016-akebono-dino

We finally got to see what Danshoku Dino wanted to do with the collection of asses he gathered for Akebono. Dino had the turnbuckle pads removed from all corner posts and in their place was the bare asses of the DDT roster! Four corners and three asses per corner meant twelve asses surrounding the ring. However Akebono had his own trick up his sleeve. He put Dino in a Lip Lock then put on a pair of Danshoku tights. He used the power of Danshoku to deliver the Danshoku Yokozuna Impact to Dino and that was the end of that.

judgement2016-suzuki-sakaguchi

Minoru Suzuki didn’t care where he was or what company he is fighting in. It could be DDT or NOAH or some joshi promotion, as long as there was a squared circle to stand in Suzuki was ready for his match. It didn’t matter that his opponent Yukio Sakaguchi is a former KO-D Champion and somebody he never faced before. He was ready regardless. Sakaguchi had the rest of Shuten-dōji in his corner and tried to go hold for hold. His attempts to hit the Right Knee Of God were foiled but he was able to lock on the Modified Cobra Clutch. The big turning point came when Suzuki hit Sakaguchi with a Dropkick. By this point Sakaguchi barely had enough energy to fight off the Sleeper Hold and Gotch-Style Piledriver. But Suzuki was quick to catch him in another Sleeper Hold and choke him out to earn the victory. Suzuki showed good sportsmanship after the match and hugged Sakaguchi. Despite the loss Sakaguchi thinks he has grown stronger because of that match.

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Before Kota Ibushi’s comeback match began a teaser trailer played for DDT’s next movie called Dai Kaiju Mono, directed by Minoru Kawasaki. He is behind such films as Calamari Wrestler, Executive Koala, Kabuto-O Beetle, Everyone But Japan Sinks and Crab Goalkeeper. The Treasure Hunt Match began with Sanshiro Takagi & Jun Kasai carrying a locker and barbed wire board to the ring before everybody walked out of Sumo Hall to the outdoor starting area. When the bell rang there was chaos. Takagi and KENSO went straight for each other, Kasai threw Ibushi into the crowd of people watching them, everybody went over to cardboard cutouts of sumo wrestlers so they could takes pictures then Ibushi kicked Michael Nakazawa down a flight of stairs. Nakazawa was then dragged indoors to a restroom and Ibushi gave him a Piledriver into a toilet! Back in the arena everyone fought throughout the crowd and a giant hammer was brought out. KENSO and Takagi fought in the lobby and eventually found their way down to ringside. They both got on bicycles and cycled around the ring until they crashed into each other. Meanwhile Ibushi did a Moonsault from an entrance onto Nakazawa and Gota Ihashi below. Kasai brought Ibushi over to a table and climbed the top rope. He put Ibushi through the table with the Pearl Harbour Splash but he only got a two count. Back in the ring Takagi got the better of KENSO and wanted to throw him into the locker. He opened the longer and inside was former DDT wrestler Tanomusaku Toba! The kickboxer popped out and attacked whoever got in his way. Ihashi entered the ring with boxing gloves and got immediately knocked out. Ibushi entered with gloves and faired much better. Ihashi was somehow knocked out again during this by Toba and then Ibushi. In fact Ibushi lost track of what was happening and decided to beat up his partner until Toba regained his attention. Toba knocked out Ibushi and decided to leave. KENSO hit a Diving Elbow on Ibushi but his pin was interrupted by Takagi spraying him with a fire extinguisher. Nakazawa tried to clear the ring but was stopped by Kasai and a piece of the broken table. Nakazawa was then thrown into the barbed wire board. Kasai climbed the locker and hit the Pearl Harbour Splash on KENSO but Ibushi stopped the pin. With encouragement from Ibushi, Ihashi hit a Running Body Press onto both Takagi & Kasai outside the ring. Ibushi prevented Nakazawa from doing the Ultimate Venom Arm and knocked him out with a straight right hand punch. Ibushi paid tribute to Hayabusa by doing his pose before climbing the turnbuckles and then hit the match winning Phoenix Splash.

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After the match Takagi and Ibushi shared an emotional moment in the ring. Takagi congratulated Ibushi for his return, called him crazy and said he can now do whatever he wants to do. He hopes the Ibushi Wrestling Institute will discover new and interesting ways to do pro wrestling. Ibushi thanked him and said he would like to come back to DDT in the future. He did some backflips for the fans and then left. But KENSO was still there and he wanted to talk to Takagi. He said he came to DDT to chase after Takagi but then discovered DDT is the best and their fans are the best. So he wants to join DDT! Takagi instantly refused and demanded his music to cut off KENSO’s mic. KENSO asked again and Takagi instantly refused again. KENSO asked one more time and this time Kasai stepped in to offer his opinion. Kasai thinks a psychopath like KENSO joining DDT wouldn’t be a bad idea. Takagi thought about it but said no and left the ring to his music while KENSO fainted.

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The Ultimate Royal Barbed Wire PowerPoint No Power Blast PWF Rules match began with Super Sasadango Machine doing a PowerPoint presentation on a laptop that was surrounded in barbed wire and rigged to explode in 5 minutes. Thankfully there was no explosion because Sasadango got to explain the rules of the match within the time limit. He was joined by four men wearing Machine masks and he called them the Sasadango Machine Army. During the match a wrestler can pull out one of three Ultimate Royal cards. Doing so would activate Ultimate Royale Mode and the Machine Army will attack their opponent to the music of Chocoball Mukai’s entrance theme. Oh and the cards have a drawing of The Ultimate Warrior on them. Sasadango pulled out a card while Kendo Kashin had him in an Indian Deathlock. Kashin stole the second card and used it to turn the Army against Sasadango. This time they and also Yukinori Matsui wore Kashin masks. Kashin tried to lock in the Cross Armbreaker when Sasadango pulled out the final card. Matsui switched the Kashin mask with a Machine mask and fast counted the pin to make Sasadango the new DDT Extreme Champion!

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There was really nothing that Antonio Honda & Hiroshi Fukuda could do to beat Tatsumi Fujinami & LEONA. Even Fukuda singing “Macho Dragon” to distract Fujinami so Honda could sneak attack him didn’t do much in the long run. Fujinami said wrestling in Sumo Hall again for the first time in years made him feel nostalgic. LEONA admitted to being nervous by teaming with his father in such an important building. LEONA was asked in an interview if he would like to wrestle in DDT again in the future and he answered “By all means, please.” Fujinami thinks it will be good experience for him to do it.

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LiLiCo now stands triumphant over the Kawaii Connection. She escaped from Makoto Oishi’s Miracle Ecstasy and locked on a Manjigatame after Kota Umeda softened Oishi up with a Back Spin Kick. LiLiCo bragged about her success and credited it to being beautiful and eating good meat because she will forever be a carnivore. Saki Akai snuck up and gave her a School Boy to try and win the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title but LiLiCo kicked out. Umeda & Mizuki Watase then blocked off Akai from any further attacks. LiLiCo demanded revenge and said she will keep her schedule open for the 24th April Korakuen Hall show.

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Team Drift came out on top in the 3 Way Tag match. Joey Ryan’s penis got to do the voodoo that you do so well and Candice Lerae delivered a double Ball Plex as part of a Tower Of Doom spot but she was then taken out with a Black Hole Slam from Shigehiro Irie. Akito tried his best to stop Irie but the Beast Bomber put an end to him and the match. The World’s Cutest Tag Team were still happy to wrestle in Sumo Hall and noted that although they didn’t win, they didn’t take the fall either. Keisuke Ishii felt confident about the win and revealed his goal is to now main event Sumo Hall. Irie is also disappointed that he went from headlining Sumo Hall a few years ago to wrestling in an undercard tag bout although he is happy he won with his friend Ishii.

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The show began with the first Right To Challenge Rumble to take place inside Sumo Hall. Kazuki Hirata entered at No. 1 hoping to grab a contract before anyone else could but someone was always there do stop him. Ken Ohka easily grabbed the first contract when he headbutted Hirata off of the ladder. Tomomitsu Matsunaga grabbed the second when he spat Lotion Mist at Hirata and he fell. Hirata was able to pull down the third contract when Soma Takao Dropkicked him off the ladder but the contract slipped out of his hands and Toru Owashi picked it up to win possession. One more was left and Hirata fought his heart out to claim it, escaping Kazusada Higuchi’s Canadian Backbreaker to step up the ladder and grab his prize. The Rumble part of the match continued and Higuchi outlasted both Takao and Ryota Nakatsu to win. Higuchi now has a KO-D Title shot on 24th April in Korakuen Hall. The contract holders returned to reveal their prize. Ohka, Matsunaga and Owashi all got Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Contracts as expected. Hirata however got something different. His prize is a date with Aja Kong! She came out wearing HIRATA GO! glasses and she told Hirata they will go out dancing together. Hirata ran away and Kong chased after him. When that was done Ohka announced he will not wait long to cash in his contract. He wants his title match to take place on 26th March in Shinjuku FACE! Matsunaga and Owashi declined to say when they will cash in their contracts.

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Sumo Hall got a taste of heavy metal when FUMA’s team won the BASARA match. Although SAGAT is not a part of Kotetsu Gundan he fit in pretty well with his aggressive wrestling style. His GOREGRIND followed by Yusuke Kubo’s Goro Suplex left Daichi Kazato as an easy picking for FUMA’s HEAVY METAL ANTHEM Diving Elbow finisher.

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Mao Inoue’s return to action in the DNA match ended with him on the winning team. He wiped out Kouki Iwasaki and Rainbow Kawamura with the Alien Plancha allowing Guanchulo to set up Nobuhiro Shimatani for Shunma Katsumata’s Lightning Spiral.

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Poison Sawada JULIE appeared in the Tokyo Joshi Pro Battle Royal with his protege Poison Miura. He tried to eliminate everyone with his snake magic but Hyper Misao stopped him and eliminated Miura. When the match came down to three girls the Fighting Comedians double-teamed Miyu Yamashita to eliminate the TOKYO Princess Of Princess Champion. Yuka Sakazaki then pinned her teammate with a Leg Clutch Backslide to score the biggest win of her career.

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DJ Nira won a match in Sumo Hall. This is the first sign of the apocalypse. Seiya Morohashi was pretty lackadaisical with a pin attempt and Nira capitalized by shifting his dead weight on Morohashi’s shoulders.

DDT announced plans of an overseas expansion for later this year. They will hold a show in Taipai, Taiwan this November at the ATT SHOW BOX. The show is being sponsored by Nitori, a brand of furniture stores.

After the dark matches were over Amon Tsurumi and Mita Sayoko announced the winners of this year’s Dramatic Awards.

MVP: HARASHIMA
Best Bout: HARASHIMA & Ken Ohka Vs Hiroshi Tanahashi & Yohei Komatsu (DDT “#OHKAEMPIRE BOX OFFICE ~MUSCLE MATES 2015~”, 17/11/2015)
Best Tag: Danshoku Dino & Super Sasadango Machine
Best Microphone: Minoru Fujita (GANBARE☆WRESTLING “WOW WAR TONIGHT 2015”, 16/05/2015)
Worst Bout: All Japan Hand Sumo Championship Final: Kazunori Huzioka Vs Ryota Yamazato (DDT “#OHKAEMPIRE BOX OFFICE ~MUSCLE MATES 2015~”, 17/11/2015)
Best Sexy: Shigeru Matsuzaki singing “Obsession” (DDT “SAITAMA SUPER DDT 2015”, 15/02/2015)
Best Shot: Ayano Fujiwara for Sanshiro Takagi 20th Anniversary Falls Count Anywhere Match: Sanshiro Takagi & Jun Kasai Vs Kota Ibushi & Suguru Miyatake (DDT “JUDGEMENT 2015”, 29/03/2015)
Best SNS: Sanshiro Takagi
Best Hype Video: HARASHIMA Vs Hiroshi Tanahashi (DDT “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2015 ~FROM DDT WITH LOVE~”, 23/08/2015)
Best Tonpachi: Kota Ibushi
Best Joshi: Saki Akai
Best Performance: Kazuki Hirata


DDT “JUDGEMENT 2016 ~DDT 19th ANNIVERSARY~” Preview

March 19, 2016

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DDT “JUDGEMENT 2016 ~DDT 19th ANNIVERSARY~”, 21/03/2016
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

0. King Of Dark Title: Seiya Morohashi (c) & Hoshitango Vs DJ Nira & Dai Suzuki
0. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Battle Royal: Miyu Yamashita Vs Shoko Nakajima Vs Yuka Sakazaki Vs Nonoko Vs Rika Tatsumi Vs Hyper Misao Vs Azusa Takigawa Vs Yuu Vs Nodoka-onesan Vs Marika Kobashi Vs Ai Shimizu Vs Poison Miura Vs KANNA
0. DNA Offer Match – Mao Inoue Comeback: Shunma Katsumata, Guanchulo & Mao Inoue Vs Kouki Iwasaki, Rainbow Kawamura & Nobuhiro Shimatani
0. Pro Wrestling BASARA Offer Match: Takumi Tsukamoto, Daichi Kazato & Ryu Gouma Vs FUMA, Yusuke Kubo & SAGAT
1. Ryogoku First Appearance! Next KO-D Openweight Title Challenger Decision And Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Battle Royal: Toru Owashi Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Masa Takanshi Vs Soma Takao Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga Vs Kazusada Higuchi Vs Gorgeous Matsuno Vs Cherry Vs Ryuichi Sekine Vs Ryota Nakatsu Vs Yoshihiko Vs Ken Ohka
2. 3 Way Tag Match: Joey Ryan & Candice LeRae Vs Keisuke Ishii & Shigehiro Irie Vs Akito & Yasu Urano
3. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Special 6-Man Tag Team Match: Saki Akai, Makoto Oishi & Lady Beard Vs LiLiCo (c), Kota Umeda & Mizuki Watase
4. Special Tag Match: Antonio Honda & Hiroshi Fukuda Vs Tatsumi Fujinami & LEONA
5. DDT Extreme Title – Ultimate Royal Barbed Wire PowerPoint No Power Blast PWF Rules: Kendo Kashin (c) Vs Super Sasadango Machine
6. Kota Ibushi Comeback & Ibushi Wrestling Institute 1st Leg – East & West Toward The Front Over The Entire Surface Falls Count Anywhere Weapon Treasure Hunt Match: Sanshiro Takagi & Jun Kasai Vs KENSO & Michael Nakazawa Vs Kota Ibushi & Gota Ihashi
7. Dramatic Dream Match: Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Minoru Suzuki
8. Dramatic Dream Match: Danshoku Dino Vs Akebono
9. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Uchicomi! Presents: Konosuke Takeshita & Tetsuya Endo (c) Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Shuji Ishikawa
10. KO-D Openweight Title – Good Com Asset Presents: Isami Kodaka (c) Vs HARASHIMA

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DDT celebrates the 19th year of its existence with the first of two visits to Sumo Hall in 2016. After drawing a disappointing number back in August, they have packed this card with everything they have in their arsenal. Spin offs BASARA, DNA and Tokyo Joshi Pro all have spots on the pre-show so there is a sense of DDT getting everybody they can on their rosters onto the show in a WrestleMania kind of manner. Things to look forward to this year are the aces of DDT and BASARA facing off, one man and his dog chasing after tag team gold, sumo being challenged by the power of asses, two grumpy fighters being grumpy to each other, the return of a Golden Star to shine over the least wanted feud in wrestling, the presence of a Dragon and his son and the most extreme PowerPoint presentation known to mankind.

0. King Of Dark Title: Seiya Morohashi (c) & Hoshitango Vs DJ Nira & Dai Suzuki

Seiya Morohashi has the unwanted honour of defending the King Of Dark Title at one of DDT’s biggest shows of the year. The belt has been in existence for over a year now and has been a nightmare for everyone who held it. Morohashi needs to pin either DJ Nira or Dai Suzuki to transfer the belt to them and escape from dark match hell.

0. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Battle Royal: Miyu Yamashita Vs Shoko Nakajima Vs Yuka Sakazaki Vs Nonoko Vs Rika Tatsumi Vs Hyper Misao Vs Azusa Takigawa Vs Yuu Vs Nodoka-onesan Vs Marika Kobashi Vs Ai Shimizu Vs Poison Miura Vs KANNA

The girls from Tokyo Joshi Pro take the stage with a Battle Royal. Miyu Yamashita is currently leading the brand as the first and only TOKYO Princess Of Princess Champion. She doesn’t have a No. 1 Contender at the moment so the winner here might grab that spot.

0. DNA Offer Match – Mao Inoue Comeback: Shunma Katsumata, Guanchulo & Mao Inoue Vs Kouki Iwasaki, Rainbow Kawamura & Nobuhiro Shimatani

The rookie brand DDT New Attitude has been a highlight for DDT throughout the year. The shows are uploaded to DDT’s official Youtube channel and are a great showcase for the younger and newer talent. In fact two thirds of the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions are captaining the two teams in this match. Shunma Katsumata is teaming with his Chilean amigo Guanchulo and the returning Mao Inoue. Inoue debuted at “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2015” and is one of the more flashier wrestlers in DNA. But a jaw injury at “OSAKA OCTOPUS 2015” in November put him on the shelf. On the other side, one-third champ Kouki Iwasaki has the now more colourful Rainbow Kawamura and recently debuting Nobuhiro Shimatani to partner with.

0. Pro Wrestling BASARA Offer Match: Takumi Tsukamoto, Daichi Kazato & Ryu Gouma Vs FUMA, Yusuke Kubo & SAGAT

It’s been go, go, go for Pro Wrestling BASARA since its first show earlier this year. As a replacement for Union, BASARA put together a much busier schedule than its predecessor and the shows held so far have been a success. One of the main storylines going on right now is FUMA’s obsession for heavy metal music resulting in the creation of Kotetsu Gundan. FUMA wants to spread around his love of heavy metal and convinced the now masked Yusuke Kubo and a slightly confused Madoka to join his cause. FUMA won’t shut up and it’s starting to annoy the rest of BASARA. Takumi Tsukamoto has a massive hammer to smash FUMA’s mouth shut, Daichi Kazato has a megaphone to drown out the noise and Ryu Gouma has his lawbook so surely he can find something to declare FUMA’s antics as noise pollution.

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1. Ryogoku First Appearance! Next KO-D Openweight Title Challenger Decision And Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Battle Royal: Toru Owashi Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Masa Takanshi Vs Soma Takao Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga Vs Kazusada Higuchi Vs Gorgeous Matsuno Vs Cherry Vs Ryuichi Sekine Vs Ryota Nakatsu Vs Yoshihiko Vs Ken Ohka

The show starts off proper with the annual Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere match appearing in Sumo Hall for the first time. It is a combination of a Money In The Bank Ladder Match and the Royal Rumble. The winner of the Rumble itself gets a guaranteed KO-D Openweight Title shot at Korakuen Hall on 24th April. However the competitors can instead try and claim one of several contracts held high above the ring. Those who grab a contract then leave the match with a prize. This year the prize is a MITB style title shot for any show from 26th March to 28th August, the date of the next Sumo Hall event. But this being DDT things are not always that simple. Rules can change but based on previous years the contract holder is forced to defend the contract in every single match they appear in until the contract is cashed in. This way the contract holder cannot just rest on their laurels and accept defeat after defeat knowing that they can claim an easy title shot whenever they want (see WWE booking). Plus it’s a bit unfair for the champion to have up to 4 or 5 people waiting to ambush him at any time so this concept keeps the roster scrambling amongst themselves for a few months.

After a string of wins including a Battle Royal victory, Kazuki Hirata offered to take the No. 1 entry spot in the match. He originally demanded to enter last but was convinced all of the contracts would be gone by the time he enters. So he’s entering first to grab a contract as soon as possible. He also has new heart shaped HIRATA GO! glasses on sale at the event. The rest of DDT’s misfits fill up the field. Masa Takanashi is aiming to win a title shot so he can become a double champion, one in Japan and one in Singapore. Toru Owashi is currently battling a flu but he also wants to snap every pair of HIRATA GO! glasses he sees. He also wants to flush Hirata down a toilet in the sumo locker room. Kazusada Higuchi held one of the contracts last year during his impressive rookie unbeaten streak. This time he wants to get a successful cash in. Tomomitsu Matsunaga and Cherry both want to finally achieve their goal of becoming KO-D Champion. Cherry wants to defend the title 41 times, one for every year she’s been alive. She believes this will end with her becoming reborn into an even more beautiful woman. Ryota Nakatsu is ready to get into a baseball dugout brawl if he has to. Ryuichi Sekine calls himself the best orthodox wrestler in BASARA and him getting a title shot will guarantee the belt either stays or comes back to his home company. Ken Ohka who briefly became KO-D Champion last year thanks to the Right To Challenge concept, sees himself as the outsider of the match due to being a representative of Ganbare☆Wrestling. At the press conference he challenged everybody to fight him one on one. Higuchi then gave him a Headbutt and he backed off, instead complimenting everybody for being so enthusiastic for the match. The other wild card is Yoshihiko. It probably just wants to watch the world burn.

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2. 3 Way Tag Match: Joey Ryan & Candice LeRae Vs Keisuke Ishii & Shigehiro Irie Vs Akito & Yasu Urano

It’s safe to say DDT has fallen in love with The World’s Cutest Tag Team. Last year’s video of Joey Ryan overpowering Danshoku Dino with his dick made him famous and the DDT roster fell head over heels for Candice LeRae, one of them even going so far to propose to her almost immediately. For their return to Japan they have two mainstay tag teams thrown in their way. Keisuke Ishii & Shigehiro Irie are former KO-D Tag Team and All Asia Tag Team Champions. Yasu Urano & Akito are busy working their strategy for the match. They understand that communication is key to winning and both of their opposing teams have strong bonds. However the one thing Ryan & LeRae have over Ishii & Irie is the language barrier. Ishii & Irie are terrible at English! Urano & Akito however understand English and can work out what Ryan & LeRae will be saying to each other. They don’t speak it themselves but they still understand it. Ishii tried to prove them wrong at the press conference by having Irie translate his message to both teams in English.

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3. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Special 6-Man Tag Team Match: Saki Akai, Makoto Oishi & Lady Beard Vs LiLiCo (c), Kota Umeda & Mizuki Watase

The Kawaii Connection reunite to deliver their cuteness to the entire world. Cute model Saki Akai, cute wrestler Makoto Oishi and cute crossdresser Lady Beard are ready to get revenge on LiLiCo for what she did to Akai. Back in December Akai finally achieved her goal and won the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title for the second time in her career. But a few weeks later LiLiCo made a surprise return to choke out Akai with a steel chain and win the title. Now they will finally meet in the ring properly but LiLiCo has some back up. She recruited DNA wrestlers Kota Umeda & Mizuki Watase. mostly based on their looks, to protect her and her championship. They’ve been living a lavish lifestyle in the run up to the show. LiLiCo’s been bragging about eating delicious meat with her handsome men. Umeda thinks the full stomach he has from the meat puts him in peak physical condition. Meanwhile a war of words has erupted between Akai and Watase over each other’s appearances. It’s gotten so bad that the two had to be pulled apart from each other during the press conference.

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4. Special Tag Match: Antonio Honda & Hiroshi Fukuda Vs Tatsumi Fujinami & LEONA

The latest puroresu legend to step into DDT’s ring is WWE Hall Of Famer Tatsumi Fujinami! He’s been looking for a new challenge for himself and his son LEONA to overcome so DDT gave them a call and here they are. Antonio Honda spent the last few months chasing after the DDT Extreme Title and trying to get Kendo Kashin to notice him. The experience left him in a bad state of mind so when he heard he will be teaming with Hiroshi Fukuda it cheered him up. He said he always had fun when he’s in the ring with Fukuda. That it’s against Fujinami & LEONA is icing on the cake for both. Fukuda claims he recently received a WWE tryout and he wonders if Fujinami gets a Legends discount for the WWE Network because he’s in their Hall Of Fame.

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5. DDT Extreme Title – Ultimate Royal Barbed Wire PowerPoint No Power Blast PWF Rules: Kendo Kashin (c) Vs Super Sasadango Machine

And now we go to whatever the hell this is. Kendo Kashin’s DDT Extreme Title run has been complicated in ways that should not be so. He created rulesets for his title defences that turn out to be exactly like normal match stipulations. Instead of a normal match it is an Amateur rules bout with 3 count pins, submissions allowed and 20 count ring outs. Instead of a tag team match it is a single match but both wrestlers have partners they can swap places with. Instead of a Triple Threat it is a singles match but with three wrestlers involved. And so on and so forth. Add in Super Sasadango Machine who is a master of bizarre match stipulations and you have a recipe for a beautiful disaster.

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So what exactly is an Ultimate Royal Barbed Wire PowerPoint No Power Blast PWF Rules match? Does it have anything to do with that stupid 4 Way MMA Gauntlet match New Japan did for its 2005 Tokyo Dome show? Actually yes it does but there’s only two wrestlers involved this time. Also Kashin has never seen the match so he’s not entirely sure what the rules for that are. Does it have anything to do with the Barbed Wire Explosion matches FMW was famous for? Again yes it does but explosions of that size are banned in Sumo Hall so they won’t be included. Instead barbed wire will be wrapped around the laptop Sasadango uses for his PowerPoint presentations and it will be rigged to explode after 5 minutes.

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6. Kota Ibushi Comeback & Ibushi Wrestling Institute 1st Leg – East & West Toward The Front Over The Entire Surface Falls Count Anywhere Weapon Treasure Hunt Match: Sanshiro Takagi & Jun Kasai Vs KENSO & Michael Nakazawa Vs Kota Ibushi & Gota Ihashi

There are two stories surrounding this match. First is the feud that no one wanted resurfaced last year and has lingered in DDT ever since. Sanshiro Takagi and KENSO had a feud in 2006 that ended with a No Rope Exploding Barbed Wire Match on a show where everything just fell apart. How bad was it? There were power outages during the match caused by the barbed wire ruining the explosions. KENSO showed up in DDT last year wanting to rekindle the feud. It was the most alive he ever felt and he wanted to experience it again. It turned smarky on social media with Takagi tweeting about KENSO’s failures in wrestling including losing to an actor when he wrestled in HUSTLE. KENSO’s response was usually just linking a picture of Takagi’s election poster, an embarrassing part of his past. A dark match 60 minute Ironman Match couldn’t decide a winner of the feud so it’s off to Sumo Hall for another final battle. Jun Kasai is coming to bring back his Crazy & President tag team with Takagi. KENSO has to rely on Michael Nakazawa who is returning from Singapore just to do this match. The stage is set for an out of control Falls Count Anywhere Match that will spread all over Sumo Hall. What could possibly take the spotlight from that?

Oh hey there, Kota Ibushi. How’s it going?

So get this. Last October Ibushi starts dropping out of shows including him missing a KO-D Title Match. Turns out he was diagnosed with a herniated cervical disc. So that’s him gone for God knows how long. Months pass and he’s all quiet until all of a sudden videos appear on Twitter of Ibushi working out and taking bumps with a training dummy. The herniated disc wasn’t as bad as expected and he was getting close to a full recovery. DDT and New Japan fans get excited for what will surely be his inevitable glorious comeback for both companies. Then in February he drops a bombshell. Ibushi decided to quit both DDT and New Japan. The double schedule took its toll on his body and he also felt he wouldn’t be able to do the kind of pro wrestling he wants to do while tied down to both companies. So he “graduates” from DDT and New Japan and then creates the Ibushi Wrestling Institute. What that is we still don’t know. What we do know is Ibushi’s first match back will be in this clusterfuck. He gets to wrestle Takagi and Nakazawa again, two men he has the deepest respect for and he gets to do a Falls Count Anywhere Match in Sumo Hall, which he has never done before.

What he does after the next few weeks is anyone’s guess. Maybe the WWE fans get their wish and he enters the Global Cruiserweight Series. Maybe NJPW fans can still get their wish of Ibushi Vs Kenny Omega at the Tokyo Dome next year. Or maybe he’s just going to do what he thinks is fun even if it means hardcore fans tearing out their hair because his big goal is to fight in Kaiju Big Battel. I mean fair play to EVOLVE and all but it has to be a bit embarrassing when everyone hears that the main reason a big star took your booking is because he wants to fight a devil monkey, a dust bunny, a murderous can of soup and a giant waffle in the same town that weekend.

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7. Dramatic Dream Match: Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Minoru Suzuki

The last time Yukio Sakaguchi was in Sumo Hall for DDT he won the KO-D Championship. The last time Minoru Suzuki was in Sumo Hall for DDT he was part of some nonsense with Takagi, Kasai and Nakazawa. Both are grumpy hybrid wrestlers so it’s only natural for a showdown between the two. Sakaguchi isn’t in the mood to talk about the match. Suzuki cares a little more but he’s rather enjoying teasing Sakaguchi over his public reputation for being a bad guy. Expect this match to get physical.

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8. Dramatic Dream Match: Danshoku Dino Vs Akebono

Danshoku Dino is an ass man. This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. What could be a surprise is Dino might not be able to handle the next ass he’s in the ring with. Akebono was last in DDT for “SAITAMA SUPER DDT” at the Saitama Super Arena. Since then he’s won some titles, created his own wrestling company Odo and got punched in the back of the head by Bop Sapp. You know, the usual stuff Akebono likes to do. For this match Dino has been trying to hunt down the asses of various wrestlers as some sort of power up but the plan hasn’t been a success. He’ll need to pull out every trick he can think of to win but it’s possible. Dino once defeated Bob Sapp. He can do the same to Akebono!

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9. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Uchicomi! Presents: Konosuke Takeshita & Tetsuya Endo (c) Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Shuji Ishikawa

The New Generation Combination are currently DDT’s top tag team. Konosuke Takeshita & Tetsuya Endo are the leading examples that DDT’s future is in good hands. But for the last month they’ve had a duo barking up their tree and snapping at their heels. Daisuke Sasaki is a crafty veteran who has had success in the past. However his luck changed when he fell in love with Candice LeRae. After teaming with her he bent down on one knee and proposed. She turned him down and he had a mental breakdown when he found out she got engaged to someone else immediately afterwards. Unable to handle rejection Sasaki started bringing a dog leash with him. When he demanded a tag team title shot without having any tag partners he went out and got a dog named Adrien. The “dog” then showed up and attacked the New Gen Combo. He unmasked and was revealed to be Shuji Ishikawa! Sasaki now has a partner and together they want the tag titles. Takeshita & Endo believe they are the future of pro wrestling and they’re not going to drop the titles to a dumped man and his pet dog.

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10. KO-D Openweight Title – Good Com Asset Presents: Isami Kodaka (c) Vs HARASHIMA

The KO-D Openweight Championship has been around Isami Kodaka’s waist since November. Things have been great for him. His new promotion BASARA is doing well, he’s a tag team champion in All Japan and he’s been unbeatable in DDT. If there is anyone who has the best shot at winning the title from him it’s good old Mr. Reliable himself, HARASHIMA. For the 5th time in his career HARASHIMA is in the headline match for DDT at Sumo Hall. The last time was in 2014 in a 3 Way Match with Kodaka and Kenny Omega. HARASHIMA got the pin on Kodaka to keep the title. This time he’s going in as challenger and he aims to leave with the belt. Kodaka equates this match to the rivalry between Kenshiro and Raoh in Fist Of The North Star. Isami is Kenshiro, HARASHIMA is Raoh. Isami is desperate to win and he’ll even use the Muso Tensei if he has to!


Kawamura Comeback, BASARA Vs Smile Squash, Keep Onesan Away From Alcohol (Not An AV Title, I Checked)

March 3, 2016

DDT “DNA 14”, 05/03/2016
Saitama Kasukabe Hall

1. Tsunehiro Shimatani Debut Match: Tsunehiro Shimatani Vs Kouki Iwasaki
2. Daiki Shimomura Debut Match: Daiki Shimomura Vs Kota Umeda
3. Tomoya Kawamura Comeback Match: Tomoya Kawamura & Daichi Kazato Vs Shunma Katsumata & Guanchulo
4. Bear The Same Fate If They Take The Same Road! Brothers Take Different Paths!: Dai Suzuki & Ken Ohka Vs Tigger Bedscene & Shiori Asahi
5. Kazusada Higuchi Vs Mizuki Watase
6. Kota Umeda Vs Kouki Iwasaki

Tomoya Kawamura is back in action after a long absence from injury. His last match was in April 2015 and he went under shoulder surgury since then.

DDT “SAITAMA SLAM! VOL. 9”, 05/03/2016
Saitama Kasukabe Hall

0. King Of Dark Title: Guanchulo (c) & DJ Nira Vs Seiya Morohashi & Hoshitango
1. Keisuke Ishii & Shigehiro Irie Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Kota Umeda
2. Makoto Oishi & Saki Akai Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Mizuki Watase
3. Danshoku Dino, Super Sasadango Machine & X Vs Antonio Honda, Tetsuya Endo & Kouki Iwasaki
4. 3 Way Match: KENSO Vs Jun Kasai Vs Gota Ihashi
5. Road To Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Battle Royal: Toru Owashi Vs Kazusada Higuchi Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Soma Takao Vs Masa Takanashi Vs Cherry Vs Ryuichi Sekine
6. Konosuke Takeshita & Hiroshi Fukuda Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Shuji Ishikawa
7. Isami Kodaka, Takumi Tsukamoto & Ryota Nakatsu Vs HARASHIMA, Akito & Yasu Urano

With the DDT 19th Anniversary main event set we now get a preview match pitting BASARA against Smile Squash.

TAVERN WRESTLING “ALCOHOL MANIA”, 08/03/2016
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Ryota Nakatsu Vs X
2. Ryuichi Sekine & Gota Ihashi Vs Jinbeizamen & Iriomote Wild Cat
3. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Miyu Yamashita & Nodoka-onesan Vs Shoko Nakajima & Yuka Sakazaki
4. Konosuke Takeshita & Tetsuya Endo Vs Hiroshi Fukuda & SAGAT
5. Isami Kodaka Vs Akito

Are you sure a show built around alcohol is a suitable location for Nodoka-onesan, a gimmick that looks like she stepped right out of a children’s TV show?

DDT “JUDGEMENT 2016 ~DDT 19th ANNIVERSARY~”, 21/03/2016
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

0. Dark Match: Seiya Morohashi & Hoshitango Vs DJ Nira & Dai Suzuki
0. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Battle Royal: Miyu Yamashita Vs Shoko Nakajima Vs Yuka Sakazaki Vs Nonoko Vs Rika Tatsumi Vs Hyper Misao Vs Azusa Takigawa Vs Yuu Vs Nodoka-onesan Vs Marika Kobashi Vs Ai Shimizu Vs Poison Miura Vs Poison KANNA
0. King Of Dark Title – DNA Offer Match: Shunma Katsumata, Guanchulo (c) & Daiki Shimomura Vs Kouki Iwasaki, Tomoya Kawamura & Tsunehiro Shimatani
0. Pro Wrestling BASARA Offer Match: Takumi Tsukamoto, Daichi Kazato & Ryu Gouma Vs FUMA, Yusuke Kubo & SAGAT
1. Ryogoku First Appearance! Next KO-D Openweight Title Challenger Decision And Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Battle Royal: Toru Owashi Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Masa Takanshi Vs Soma Takao Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga Vs Kazusada Higuchi Vs Gorgeous Matsuno Vs Cherry Vs Ryuichi Sekine Vs Ryota Nakatsu Vs Yoshihiko Vs Ken Ohka
2. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Special 6-Man Tag Team Match: Saki Akai, Makoto Oishi & Lady Beard Vs LiLiCo (c), Kota Umeda & Mizuki Watase
3. 3 Way Tag Match: Joey Ryan & Candice LeRae Vs Keisuke Ishii & Shigehiro Irie Vs Akito & Yasu Urano
4. DDT Extreme Title: Kendo Kashin (c) Vs Super Sasadango Machine
5. Special Tag Match: Antonio Honda & Hiroshi Fukuda Vs Tatsumi Fujinami & LEONA
6. Dramatic Dream Match: Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Minoru Suzuki
7. Dramatic Dream Match: Danshoku Dino Vs Akebono
8. Kota Ibushi Comeback & Ibushi Wrestling Institute 1st Leg – Falls Count Anywhere Weapon Treasure Hunt Match: Sanshiro Takagi & Jun Kasai Vs KENSO & Michael Nakazawa Vs Kota Ibushi & Gota Ihashi
9. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Uchicomi! Presents: Konosuke Takeshita & Tetsuya Endo (c) Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Shuji Ishikawa
10. KO-D Openweight Title – Good Com Asset Presents: Isami Kodaka (c) Vs HARASHIMA

I’ll get to writing up the big preview for the show soon. Definitely looks like a stronger card than the previous Sumo Hall show.

The Dramatic Award winners will be announced during the show. There are 13 categories in total: MVP, Best Bout, Best Tag, Best Joshi, Worst Bout, Best Shot, Best Special Move, Best Performance, Best Microphone, Best Sexy, Best SNS, Best Hype Video and Best Department (Best Brand?).


Snake World Threatens, Ibushi In His Element, Phantom Rumble

February 24, 2016

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “HOP! STEP! OSAKA, JUMP!!”, 06/03/2016
Osaka World Pavilion

1. Yuu Vs Nodoka-onesan
2. Rika Tatsumi Vs Marika Kobashi
3. Yuka Sakizaki Vs Azusa Takigawa
4. Miyu Yamashita & Shoko Nakajima Vs Nonoko & Ai Shimizu
5. Saki Akamiya & Hyper Misao Vs Poison KANNA & Poison Miura

Things are looking bleak for Saki Akamiya & Hyper Misao after they both lost to Snake World Joshi wrestlers at the last show. Snake World Joshi also gained a member when Mitsuya Nagai was brainwashed by Poison Sawada JULIE.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “HOP! STEP! KITAZAWA, JUMP!!”, 13/03/2016
Kitazawa Town Hall

1. Yuu Vs Marika Kobashi
2. Yuka Sakazaki & Nodoka-onesan Vs Rika Tatsumi & Azusa Takigawa
3. Shoko Nakajima Vs Ai Shimizu
4. TOKYO Princess Of Princess Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) Vs Nonoko
5. Sukeban-gun Vs Snake World: Saki Akamiya & Hyper Misao (w/ Koda Tetsuya) Vs Poison KANNA & Poison Miura (w/ Poison Sawada JULIE)

Tokyo Joshi GM Koda Tetsuya is being put in Sukeban-gun’s corner because Sanshiro Takagi will be busy working at a separate DDT show that day.

DDT “JUDGEMENT 2016 ~DDT 19th ANNIVERSARY~”, 21/03/2016
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

1. DNA Offer Match: X Vs X
2. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Battle Royal: Miyu Yamashita Vs Shoko Nakajima Vs Yuka Sakazaki Vs Nonoko Vs Rika Tatsumi Vs Hyper Misao Vs Azusa Takigawa Vs Yuu Vs Nodoka Onesan Vs Ai Shimizu Vs Hyper Misao Vs Hyper KANNA
3. Pro Wrestling BASARA Offer 8-Man Tag Team Match: Takumi Tsukamoto, Ryuichi Sekine, FUMA, Daichi Kazato, Yusuke Kubo, Ryota Nakatsu, SAGAT, Ryu Gouma
4. Ryogoku First Appearance! Next KO-D Openweight Title Challenger Decision And Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Battle Royal: X Vs X
5. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Saki Akai, Makoto Oishi & Lady Beard Vs LiLiCo, X & X
6. Falls Count Anywhere Weapon Treasure Hunt Match: Sanshiro Takagi & Jun Kasai Vs KENSO & Michael Nakazawa Vs Kota Ibushi & Gota Ihashi
7. Dramatic Dream Match: Danshoku Dino Vs Akebono
8. Dramatic Dream Match: Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Minoru Suzuki
9. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Konosuke Takeshita & Tetsuya Endo (c) Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Shuji Ishikawa
10. KO-D Openweight Title – Good Com Asset Presents: Isami Kodaka (c) Vs HARASHIMA or Shigehiro Irie

Kota Ibushi’s return sees him added to the Falls Count Anywhere Match. This is the first time Ibushi will do such a match inside Sumo Hall. God only knows what ideas he’ll have in that environment.

GANBARE☆WRESTLING “POKEBERU GA NARANAKUTE 2016”, 29/03/2016
Tokyo BASEMENT MON☆STAR

1. Eating Log 4.25 Class Of Love Calls: Yumehito Imanari Vs Bambi
2. World’s Strongest Phantom Rumble ~Bracken Of The Living Dead~: J-Soul Pandita III IV Vs Dr. Kirico Vs Potato Head Sera Vs Hong Kong International Police Man Vs Hong Kong Domestic Police Man Vs Hong Kong International Women’s Police Man Vs Atsushi Maruyama Vs Choun-Shiryu
3. Ganpuro Vs Tomodachi-gun: Ken Ohka, Shota & Shinichiro Tominaga Vs Minoru Fujita, Madoka & Yukihiro Abe

If the Ganpuro team win the main event they get to take back Yukihiro Abe from Tomodachi-gun and rehabilitate him back to normal. Abe has been listening only to Minoru Fujita ever since he joined his group and Fujita tells him he can become stronger if he beats Ken Ohka.

The Phantom Rumble sounds like a nightmare in more ways than one.