DDT “JUDGEMENT 2019 ~DDT RAISING AN ARMY 22ND ANNIVERSARY~” Preview

February 15, 2019

DDT “JUDGEMENT 2019 ~DDT RAISING AN ARMY 22ND ANNIVERSARY~”, 17/02/2019
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

0. Pro Wrestling BASARA Offer Match: Ryuichi Sekine & Daiki Shimomura Vs Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino
0. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Yuna Manase, Nodoka Tenma & Yuki Aino Vs Natsumi Maki, Hikari Noa & Miu Watanabe
1. Shunma Katsumata Return Match: Shunma Katsumata, Yuki Ueno & Space Monkey Vs Antonio Honda, Jason Kincaid & Naomi Yoshimura
2. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Time Difference Battle Royal: Asuka (c) Vs Super Sasadango Machine Vs Makoto Oishi Vs Keisuke Okuda Vs Saki Akai Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga Vs Gorgeous Matsuno Vs Hoshitango Vs Gota Ihashi Vs Yuni Vs Yasu Urano Vs El Lindaman Vs Scorpio X2 Vs Yuka Sakazaki Vs Mina Shirakawa Vs Chinsuke Nakamura Vs Maku Donaruto
3. Taiho Koki’s Grandson Yukio Naya Ryogoku Kokugikan First Participation!: Go Shiozaki, Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Naya Vs Daisuke Sekimoto, Toru Owashi & Yuki Iino
4. Special Single Match: Akito Vs T-Hawk
5. Danshoku Dieno Produce Yuru-chara “Pokotan” Debut Match: Danshoku Dieno, Pokotan & KUDO Vs Keisuke Ishii, Kota Umeda & Mizuki Watase
6. Special Hardcore 6-Person Tag Match: Sanshiro Takagi, Chigusa Nagayo & Ryuji Ito Vs Soma Takao, Mad Paulie & Takumi Iroha
7. KO-D Tag Team Titles – 3 Way Match: Mike Bailey & MAO (c) Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi Vs CIMA & Seiki Yoshioka
8. DDT Extreme Title – Souken Holdings Presents – Each Other’s Pride Rules: Shinya Aoki (c) Vs HARASHIMA
9. Dramatic Dream Match: Naomichi Marufuji Vs Tetsuya Endo
10. KO-D Openweight Title – RAGE Presents: Daisuke Sasaki (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita

The first pre-show match will begin at around 12:10pm JST/3:10am GMT. The main show begins at 1:00pm JST/4:00am GMT. For America that means the show begins at 11:00pm EST/8:00pm PST on Saturday.

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Hey there. Back again to see what DDT is up to at Sumo Hall this time? Cool. The time between Ryogoku visits has been short for this one. Usually DDT books the venue every six or seven months. “JUDGEMENT 2019” is taking place only four months after “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2018” so it kind of feels like this weekend has snuck up on me. As I’ve written in a previous blog post I see this period of the entire wrestling scene as the final chapter of this current era. You can thank Kenny and his buddies for some of the reasons why. The landscape is changing, DDT is establishing new relationships around the world and there’s bound to be more surprising twists to come in the future.

But let’s not worry any further about that stuff. Ryogoku is set for a double header weekend from the DDT family. On Saturday the Muscle brand is back from the dead. What it has come back to do exactly I have no idea. Then on Sunday DDT is bringing together a packed card of matches that only they can provide.

0. Pro Wrestling BASARA Offer Match: Ryuichi Sekine & Daiki Shimomura Vs Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino

One of the big movements happening in BASARA lately is several wrestlers banding together to form the Sento Minzoku unit. Formed by Isami Kodaka and taking inspiration from Dragon Ball Z, each member has grown a monkey’s tail to represent their power. Ryuichi Sekine & Daiki Shimomura are the two guys from BASARA’s main roster to join Kodaka and Minoru Fujita in the group. Facing them are the two freshest faces on the BASARA roster Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino. Nakano has mostly been improving his skills while staying out of trouble. Kamino joined BASARA in December after DNA closed down. Injuries kept him out of action for almost the entirety of DNA’s run so his jump to BASARA so his career has more or less started all over again.

0. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Yuna Manase, Nodoka Tenma & Yuki Aino Vs Natsumi Maki, Hikari Noa & Miu Watanabe

Some new girls from Tokyo Joshi Pro get to wrestle in Sumo Hall for the first time. Yuna Manase, Nodoka Tenma and Natsumi Maki have wrestled there before. Manase and Tenma were there for a Battle Royal during “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2017”. Maki wrestled there for All Japan’s 45th Anniversary show only one week later. Yuki Aino, Hikari Noa and Miu Watanabe however are all wrestling their first Ryogoku match.

Manase has quietly been one of the more protected wrestlers in Tokyo Joshi, regularly winning her matches with the Neck Screw Hold. Nodoka Tenma is weeks away from challenging for the TOKYO Princess Title and has a recent pinfall win over the champion Miyu Yamashita. Aino is there supporting her sister as always. Over on the other side Noa and Watanabe have shown the most progression out of the Up Up Girls (Pro Wrestling) unit. Their recent name and costume changes have allowed them to express their personalities more. Watanabe has added a Laser Beam baseball swing into her chops while Noa has become more enthusiastic in the ring. She took the most out of the opportunity to train with Shinjiro Otani when the Up Up Girls visited the ZERO1 dojo in December. Noa also happens to be wrestling the day before her 21st birthday. Last but certainly not least there is Maki. Her arrival in Tokyo Joshi was surrounded in controversy thanks to a burned bridge with Yumiko Hotta and Actwres girl’Z. But once she started wrestling it became clear that she has moved on. Maki has yet to be pinned or submitted in Tokyo Joshi and she currently finds herself in a feud with Maki Ito over who is cuter. The match hasn’t happened yet but if Hotta is still pissed off with Maki she might spoil the result of that too.

1. Shunma Katsumata Return Match: Shunma Katsumata, Yuki Ueno & Space Monkey Vs Antonio Honda, Jason Kincaid & Naomi Yoshimura

A right orbital and cheek bone fracture has kept Shunma Katsumata out of action for almost three months. When he went under surgery in December his goal was to come back in February and here he is. While he was gone ALL OUT went out of this world to find a new member. They found one with Space Monkey who has been winning everyone in DDT over with his antics, bananas and all. Yuki Ueno has been stepping his game up as a member of DISASTER BOX. He’s also been scouting one of his opponents here in the hopes of forming a new tag team. Antonio Honda & Jason Kincaid are already teaming together as Gon Gift so that leaves Naomi Yoshimura. When he unexpectedly returned to DDT in December he was aiming straight for the top and gunning after the championship. In a scary moment right near the end of 2018, Yoshimura took a Pedigree wrong and was left needing medical attention inside the ring. He ended up getting a cervical sprain and made a full recovery, returning to the ring two months later. With his chance at the main event now far away from his reach he is beginning the climb all over again. Maybe Ueno’s idea for them to team up will get him back on track. Or how about Power Bombing him instead? Yoshimura usually likes to do that given their history together.

2. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Time Difference Battle Royal: Asuka (c) Vs Super Sasadango Machine Vs Makoto Oishi Vs Keisuke Okuda Vs Saki Akai Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga Vs Gorgeous Matsuno Vs Hoshitango Vs Gota Ihashi Vs Yuni Vs Yasu Urano Vs El Lindaman Vs Scorpio X2 Vs Yuka Sakazaki Vs Mina Shirakawa Vs Chinsuke Nakamura Vs Maku Donaruto

DDT has spent the last few months searching for fresh blood and obscure talent from across Japan to diversify their roster. Heading the pack is Asuka. No not the one who hasn’t been booked on TV since the Royal Rumble despite being a champion and tapping out the current big star of the company. I mean the one that’s been blazing through the puroresu scene over the last twelve months as “Japan’s First Genderless Wrestler”. When Asuka left WAVE to go freelance, DDT jumped at the chance to bring her back and promote her as a next generation star. Since then Asuka has won the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title and became so attached to it she now calls it her boyfriend. So far the relationship has worked out better than the last one she had in DDT, even though it’s made her a target for jealous eyes down in Roppongi.

(Sidenote: Most English speaking fans write down ASUKA in all caps to differentiate her from the other Asuka. Out of preference I only do this when the wrestler also spells their name in all caps. Asuka’s name in Japanese is written as 朱崇花 so that’s why I prefer writing it in the lower case).

There is a full field of different faces out to take the title from Asuka. Saki Akai has a new finishing move inspired from her current role in the Fate/Grand Order stage play. The move is called Quetzalcoatl and it is a Twisting Crucifix Bomb similar to Kaji Tomato’s Red Eye finisher. Keisuke Okuda has been settling into DDT by fighting at an outdoor sauna and hate-teaming with Makoto Oishi. Who knows what Super Sasadango Machine will be up to the day after his latest Muscle show takes place. OWE is represented by both El Lindaman and Scorpio X2. Tokyo Joshi are sending in Yuka Sakazaki and Mina Shirakawa. Sakazaki in particular will have a lot of eyes on her after it was announced she will be appearing at All Elite Wrestling soon. Chinsuke Nakamura will no doubt be all up to date on whatever his inspiration is currently doing. And then there’s the rest of the usual low card DDT roster. That’s it. Nobody else. I’m not missing anybody…

… Sigh… Okay there’s one more. You know who I’m talking about. Behold the Twitch chat come to life, the one creation that makes Arby “The Meathead” McDonald look pure and wholesome, he’s ruined seven Valentine’s Days but saved two, it’s Maku Donaruto! This walking cease and desist waiting to happen was found in UDON Pro Wrestling and made an impression on DDT management. However his lewd wrestling style and obscene personality is making DDT a little unsure how often they want to continue booking him after Sumo Hall. A lot? A little? A seven match series with Kazuki Hirata? Here’s his biggest chance to leave an impression on everyone.

3. Taiho Koki’s Grandson Yukio Naya Ryogoku Kokugikan First Participation!: Go Shiozaki, Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Naya Vs Daisuke Sekimoto, Toru Owashi & Yuki Iino

Let’s move on to some history, some legacy that is attached to Sumo Hall. Yukio Naya is only around a year into his wrestling career. He is getting attention because his late grandfather was a legendary sumo wrestler named Taiho Koki. Naya’s grandfather was one of the youngest wrestlers to become a yokozuna and he also earned many accomplishments throughout his distinguished career. Naya has said he is proud to wrestle in the same building where his grandfather achieved much of his success. Teaming with him is DDT’s sumo turned pro Kazusada Higuchi as well as D-Ou Grand Prix finalist Go Shiozaki. Facing them are a trio of big beefy boys! Daisuke Sekimoto, Toru Owashi and Yuki Iino are the opposition in a match that I bet will have many, many chops. And probably a Haka dance from Iino too.

4. Special Single Match: Akito Vs T-Hawk

The #STRONGHEARTS love to cause some commotion wherever they go but what do they do when somebody successfully stands up to them? During their feud with ALL OUT, they were able to get pinfall wins over every member except one. The one guy they haven’t been able to beat is Akito. In order to right this wrong T-Hawk is set to face Akito one on one. As the current WRESTLE-1 Champion, T-Hawk feels on top of the world. It would be nice to see Akito pull him down. Akito is confident wrestling on his own and is convinced that T-Hawk hasn’t watched any of his singles matches. Akito has a reason of his own to win other than keeping #STRONGHEARTS at bay again. He is looking into the idea of wrestling in other companies on behalf of DDT. A win over the WRESTLE-1 Champion can open some doors for him.

5. Danshoku Dieno Produce Yuru-chara “Pokotan” Debut Match: Danshoku Dieno, Pokotan & KUDO Vs Keisuke Ishii, Kota Umeda & Mizuki Watase

You know what’s big these days? Mascots. Put somebody in a big wacky costume, make them do stupid shit, put it online and watch those social media numbers shoot up. Most likely inspired by the popularity of such characters like Chiitan, Nyango Star and you can also include Andreza Giant Panda in that list, Danshoku Dieno now wants a piece of the pie. So he has created his own mascot and went through several names before picking something suitable for everyone. Or at least I assume it’s suitable. It’s probably not but whatever. Anyway the mascot is called Pokotan and it looks like a seal. Dieno himself was planning to be under the costume during the build up to the show. Unfortunately the costume has not been finished as of a week ago. Dieno only has the head ready and he is very upset over it. Will Pokotan be complete in time for his grand reveal?

6. Special Hardcore 6-Person Tag Match: Sanshiro Takagi, Chigusa Nagayo & Ryuji Ito Vs Soma Takao, Mad Paulie & Takumi Iroha
Around 14 years ago Sanshiro Takagi, Chigusa Nagayo & Ryuji Ito teamed up for a 1,000m Barbed Wire And 100 Fluorescent Lighttube Death Match in Differ Ariake. They’re back together again to fight DAMNATION! Nagayo’s involvement in the show was already announced when the story of her saving a woman from an assault made the news in November so yay good publicity! What’s even more interesting is Nagayo’s protege Takumi Iroha is against her on the DAMNATION side. Since she is the Ikemen Joshi she might be there to take up the handsome looking role in the trio. Then again Mad Paulie is still on the team so that’s probably not the reason. Iroha is thrilled to face her mentor but is a little nervous that it’s in a Hardcore Match.

On a more serious note, Soma Takao is going into this match holding a grudge. For weeks leading into the show, Takagi has been poking Takao and questioning the current state of his career. Years ago Takao had the potential to become one of DDT’s best and yet he has never really attempted to take the torch. Maybe he’s gotten too comfortable being the mid-level guy in DAMNATION. Takagi wants to light a fire under Takao and see if he has any real ambition. Takao acts like he is angry at the world and everything around it. Now is his time to prove it.

7. KO-D Tag Team Titles – 3 Way Match: Mike Bailey & MAO (c) Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi Vs CIMA & Seiki Yoshioka

#STRONGHEARTS have a reason for sticking around in DDT despite losing their feud to ALL OUT. After they lost the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles, CIMA and his crew admitted defeat and wanted to head home to the OWE headquarters in Shanghai. OWE told them not to come back until they get revenge on DDT. The best way to do that is to win one of the DDT championships again. This time CIMA is setting his sights on the KO-D Tag Team Titles and he is bringing along one of his newer partners Seiki Yoshioka to get them.

They aren’t the only ones who want the belts. Shuten-dōji challenged for the belts before #STRONGHEARTS did. The solution was to give both of them a shot in a 3 Way Match. Yukio Sakaguchi doesn’t care as long as he fights somebody strong (and El Lindaman provoking him with spitting and insults only resulted in Sakaguchi kicking him half to death). Masahiro Takanashi is interested though since he’s been able to cross paths with CIMA again. The two are linked through the Toryumon system but split off into two completely different paths. Takanashi wants to show CIMA that his unpolished way of wrestling is just as effective as CIMA’s state of the art abilities.

The scenario leaves the champions looking like a third wheel. But maybe that gives The Moonlight Express the advantage. MAO & Mike Bailey are currently ruling the tag team divisions in DDT and K-DOJO, holding both the KO-D Tag Titles and STRONGEST-K TAG Titles. MAO is as comfortable as ever in chaotic situations and Bailey always looks happy to go along for the ride, the crazier the better. MAO also feels the need to beat Shuten-dōji because they have beaten him so many times back when he was a part of NωA. He wants to move on from that part of his life but can’t if Shuten-dōji beats him again. The 3 Way stipulation being used is only one fall so a title change can happen without the Express being directly involved.

8. DDT Extreme Title – Souken Holdings Presents – Each Other’s Pride Rules: Shinya Aoki (c) Vs HARASHIMA

The rematch for the DDT Extreme Title sees HARASHIMA trying to win the belt back from Shinya Aoki. During his brief time in DDT, Aoki has defended the title in a Boxing Glove match and also got challenged into a fight at an outdoor sauna. This is what bad financial decisions can do to some people. But at least Aoki still has his pride. HARASHIMA has pride too so the two of them agreed to let their prides bring the best out of both of them. So that’s it. Nothing complicated, just a battle to see who is the best. Unless DDT decides to pipe in the Pride FC music during the match as a joke there isn’t much else that needs explaining. Well there is that one thing where HARASHIMA isn’t entirely sure what the exact ruleset for the match is. Aoki just keeps talking about pride and he hasn’t been the best at understanding the general pro wrestling rules. Is there even a three count?

9. Dramatic Dream Match: Naomichi Marufuji Vs Tetsuya Endo

Here we go! DDT usually has a dream match saved for Sumo Hall and they picked a good one this time round. Naomichi Marufuji returns to DDT and Tetsuya Endo is there waiting for him. You’d think Endo would see this as an opportunity to make a huge statement to the wrestling world but he’s a little distracted by his diet. No matter where he is or what he is doing Endo has been eating his handmade meals and drinking his protein shakes on a very strict timetable. This has interrupted several press conferences that were meant to promote this match. Marufuji doesn’t mind. There’s no bad blood between the two and Marufuji is looking forward to discovering Endo’s current potential. The match is also happening so soon after Marufuji’s return from injury so he gets to figure out what his own condition is like. We should get a nice, clean and competitive match out of this right. I mean it’s Marufuji in a DDT dream match. Nothing has ever gone wrong in a situation like that before. Right, Kenny?

10. KO-D Openweight Title – RAGE Presents: Daisuke Sasaki (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita

After vanquishing Dieno at “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2018” in October, Daisuke Sasaki is headlining Sumo Hall for the second time in a row. This time he is going in as the KO-D Openweight Champion rather than the challenger. That role goes to Konosuke Takeshita for winning the 2019 D-Ou Grand Prix. In the build up to the match something strange happened. Sasaki started acting friendly, wrestled clean and prohibited the other DAMNATION wrestlers from cheating. He even shook his opponent’s hand after matches. Takeshita wasn’t convinced by this new attitude at first but Sasaki behaved for long enough that Takeshita eventually bought into it. Of course it was at this point when Sasaki could not resist temptation any longer and went back to his usual dirty tactics.

That’s not all. While they wrestled their matches, some of the other DAMNATION members went to the restaurant owned by Takeshita’s mother Keiko. She was happy to serve them until they dined and dashed! That right there was the boiling point that turns Sasaki Vs Takeshita into a blood feud. Over the last few days Sasaki and Takeshita have gotten into fights wherever they find each other. Sasaki attacked Takeshita outside Sumo Hall during an interview and with a Hurricanrana threw Takeshita down a stairway. Takeshita got revenge on another night when he attacked Sasaki at a bar and gave him a Brainbuster onto a sofa. Things escalated even further when Sasaki vandalised Takeshita’s car with anime decals and then gave Takeshita a Pedigree onto the car roof! The match hasn’t even happened yet and both men are already trying to end each other’s careers before they even get to Sunday! Sasaki has said that he will not allow Takeshita win the KO-D title, otherwise DDT will be sent to the dark ages.


BASARA “OSAKA BEER GARDEN WRESTLING 2018” Results

July 23, 2018

BASARA “OSAKA BEER GARDEN WRESTLING 2018”, 22/07/2018
Osaka Okinawa Hall
141 Fans

1. Daichi Kazato, Akiyori Takizawa & Daiki Shimomura defeated SAGAT, Gouma Ryu & Jun Masaoka when Shimomura pinned Ryu with the Swanton Bomb (11:22).
2. Takumi Tsukamoto & Fuminori Abe defeated Yuki Aoki & Kohei Kinoshita when Abe submitted Kinoshita with the Manjigatame (9:43).
3. Heaven Summit ~Itadaki~ – 3rd Place Playoff: Yasu Urano defeated Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi with the Tombstone Piledriver (14:49).
4. Naoki Tanizaki defeated Takato Nakano with the Implant (12:39).
5. Isami Kodaka, Ryuichi Sekine & Ryota Nakatsu defeated FUMA, Yusuke Kubo & HUB when Nakatsu pinned Kubo with the V Slider (18:02).

Ryota Nakatsu told everyone after the main event that as the winner of this year’s Heaven Summit ~Itadaki~ he has become the strongest wrestler in BASARA. He was warned by Isami Kodaka that it is tough to stay at the top. It’s not always comfortable up there but it is worth it. Nakatsu looked out across the room and found Naoki Tanizaki was standing by the curtains looking at him. Nakatsu asked Tanizaki how he felt wrestling Takato Nakano today. Nakatsu gave him the X signal with his arms and left the room.

Tanizaki also had his mind on Fuminori Abe during the show. Tanizaki was standing in the corner of the Dove Pro team in Match #2 and watched Abe submit Kohei Kinoshita. Later when Tanizaki beat Nakano, Abe confronted Tanizaki in the ring and they had a stand off over the DOVE World Title.


BASARA “VAJRA 73 ~REIGN SUPREME~” Results

July 12, 2018

BASARA “VAJRA 73 ~REIGN SUPREME~”, 12/07/2018
Shinjuku FACE
360 Fans – No Vacancy

1. Takumi Tsukamoto & Yasu Urano defeated Takato Nakano & Akiyori Takizawa when Tsukamoto submitted Nakano with a Crab Hold (10:44).
2. Shit Boss, Remember To Hurry!: Yoshihisa Uto defeated Gouma Ryu with the Reverse Tiger Driver (5:41).
3. Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi, SAGAT & Yusuke Kubo defeated Fuminori Abe, Manabu Hara & Takuya Nomura when SAGAT pinned Abe with the Goregrind (12:57).
4. Two Major Renaming Matches – Name Contra Name: Ryuichi Sekine defeated Trans-Am ★ Ryuichi with the Dragon Kick (8:54). (Special Referee: Tsutomu Oosugi)
*Trans-Am ★ Ryuichi must now be renamed Trans-Am ★ Ryuji.
5. Two Major Renaming Matches – Name Contra Name: Best Stretchman V3 defeated Banana Senga with the Explosive Axe Bomber (12:26). (Special Referee: Tsutomu Oosugi)
*Hercules Senga is supposed to be renamed Banana Senga for the rest of his life. Instead he will become a Best Stretchman.
6. Isami Kodaka Debut 16th Anniversary Memorial Match: Ikuto Hidaka & Minoru Fujita defeated Isami Kodaka & Naomichi Marufuji when Hidaka pinned Kodaka with the Iwami Ginzan (15:10).
7. Heaven Summit ~Itadaki~ – Final: Ryota Nakatsu defeated FUMA with the V Slider (17:56).

Ryota Nakatsu defeated FUMA in a wild match to win this year’s Heaven Summit ~Itadaki~! The match found its way outside the ring a couple of time with FUMA Double Stomping Nakatsu along one of the rows. FUMA later climbed one of the nearby counters and jumped off so he could do the Heavy Metal Anthem. Nakatsu moved out of the way and FUMA landed on the floor. Both of them narrowly returned to the ring in time to continue fighting. Nakatsu avoided FUMA’s Jawbreaker Kick and blocked a Wrist Clutch Exploder to gain control of the match. Nakatsu then hit several Buzzsaw Kicks, a German Suplex and finished FUMA off with the V Slider to win. He thanked FUMA for the match and told him they will face each other again someday. Nakatsu received the 500,000 yen prize money and passed it over to Ryuichi Sekine. He then told everyone his next plan. He wants to challenge for the Union MAX Title at Korakuen Hall on 21st September! He knows Naoki Tanizaki is out there somewhere listening. He better be ready for him!

Isami Kodaka & Naomichi Marufuji did well teaming together but ultimately couldn’t overcome Ikuto Hidaka & Minoru Fujita. Kodaka & Marufuji did sandwich Knee Strikes to their opponents and Kodaka even did a Shirauni. Hidaka recovered to stun Kodaka with a High Kick and got the three count with the Iwami Ginzan Gutbuster. All four wrestlers shook hands after the match. Kodaka also appealed for a singles match with Marufuji. Backstage Kodaka and Marufuji joked about the idea. Marufuji said he doesn’t want to do it. Kodaka’s response was he won’t book Marufuji for his 20th Anniversary show. Marufuji said he will buy a ticket and come anyway. In all seriousness, Marufuji was honored to be chosen by Kodaka to be his partner for this big occasion. He doesn’t know if he will come back but Kodaka can always get in contact with him.

There were two gigantic matches with everything on the line today. Never mind the Heaven Summit Final or Kodaka’s Anniversary, there were wrestling names on the line! Tsutomu Oosugi had a busy day by being the referee for both matches. First up, Ryuichi Sekine got the upset victory over Trans-Am ★ Ryuichi. It took some effort but Sekine kept the former MAX Champion down with the Dragon Kick. The result means that Trans-Am ★ Ryuichi must now be renamed Trans-Am ★ Ryuji. He describes today as Armageddon but accepts his fate. He is already teaching the fans how to pronounce his new name.

The 2nd Name Contra Name bout had the stakes reversed. This time the loser between Best Stretchman V3 and Banana Senga would be forced to keep their name for the rest of their life! At first Oosugi didn’t know what side to take. Both wrestlers tried to make him pose with them only for the other guy to cut them off. When Senga pinned Stretchman with his feet on the ropes for leverage, Oosugi refused to count and told Senga he is judging this match fairly. Stretchman began taking the match so seriously that he stripped out of his costume and fought with even more spirit. He put Senga away with the Explosive Axe Bomber. Hercules Senga must now stay as Banana Senga forever! Senga accepted his fate until Stretchman changed his mind. Senga is no longer going to be a banana. Senga is now going to become a Stretchman! Senga protested but V3 knocked him out with the Trigger Point and carried him out of the ring laughing maniacly. Next month will see the debut of a third Best Stretchman! Backstage Gouma Ryu tried to stop them because without Hercules Senga around, the Pro Wrestling Trials no longer have a prosecutor.

Takuya Nomura’s first visit to BASARA saw him pitted against three of the more colorful characters in the Metal Family. He didn’t know what to think of Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi shrugging off his kicks with the power of yoga. Nomura & Manabu Hara’s kicks were able to leave a mark eventually but their reliance on doing them allowed both Hiroshi & Yusuke Kubo to vitally counter them with Dragon Screws. SAGAT withstood Fuminori Abe’s Octopus Hold and he hit the Goregrind to win one for the Metal Family.

Gouma Ryu relied heavily on Isami Kodaka distracting the referee to have even a slight chance of beating Yoshihisa Uto. The distractions meant the ref missed Ryu tapping out to a Crab Hold. He also missed Ryu hitting Uto with his law book. Ryu thought he had something when he successfully gave Uto the Running Neckbreaker Drop. It all came crashing down though when Uto cut him off with a Lariat. From there Uto picked up the win with the Reverse Tiger Driver.

The opener saw Takato Nakano & Akiyori Takizawa being fired up to take on the veteran team of Takumi Tsukamoto & Yasu Urano. The fire was there, the experience was not. Tsukamoto trapped Nakano in a nasty looking Crab Hold to end the match.


BASARA “TAKATO NAKANO LOCAL TRIUMPH BOX OFFICE ~PUSHING FORWARD~” Results

June 24, 2018

BASARA “TAKATO NAKANO LOCAL TRIUMPH BOX OFFICE ~PUSHING FORWARD~”, 24/06/2018
Okayama Saint Inn Kurashiki
333 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

1. Daichi Kazato defeated Yuki Aoki with the Explosive Axe Bomber (8:44).
2. Takumi Tsukamoto, Akiyori Takizawa & Daiki Shimomura defeated Gouma Ryu, Minoru Fujita & Yasu Urano when Tsukamoto pinned Ryu with a Dragon Kick (13:55).
3. Manabu Hara defeated Fuminori Abe with the Jumping Cross Armbreaker (8:50).
4. Gunso & Kabuki Kid defeated FUMA & Yusuke Kubo when Gunso pinned Kubo with a Vertical Drop Brainbuster (13:05).
5. Ryuichi Sekine & Ryota Nakatsu defeated Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi & SAGAT when Sekine submitted SAGAT with the Let’s Combine (12:43).
6. Isami Kodaka defeated Takato Nakano with the Zeyyari (13:00).
7. Hotel Saint Inn Kurashiki Cup Struggle Battle Royal: Takato Nakano defeated Takumi Tsukamoto and FUMA by Ring Out (10:50).
Order Of Elimination: Fuminori Abe, Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi, Ryuichi Sekine, Gouma Ryu, SAGAT, Isami Kodaka & Ryota Nakatsu, Daichi Kazato, Yusuke Kubo and Takumi Tsukamoto & FUMA.

Takato Nakano’s hometown show was a bit of a rollercoaster for him. He lost a hard fought match to Isami Kodaka where he was able to block the Isamuashi Zan but was put away with the Zeyyari strike that followed it. When the match was over Kodaka pushed Nakano out of the ring because there was one more match left to do and they needed to hurry. The crowd booed Kodaka for not letting Nakano have his moment. However Nakano outlasted all of the other wrestlers to win the main event Battle Royal! This time Kodaka congratulated Nakano and gave him his moment. Kodaka told him the story of when he started training to be a pro wrestler. He was always small but he never ran away from his training no matter how hard it got and how many other trainees progressed ahead of him. Now he’s been a successful pro wrestler for 16 years! He told Nakano that everyone in BASARA are there to help each other grow. He then thanked Nakano for bringing BASARA over to Okayama. Nakano said he gets lots of advice but pro wrestling is tough. But he got to where is today thanks to Kodaka. He loves Kodaka and promises to do his best for BASARA.

The semi-main event may turn out to be a preview of the Heaven Summit ~Itadaki~ final if things go a certain way. Semi-finalists Ryota Nakatsu and Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi were on opposite sides of the tag match and got to test each other out. Hiroshi sat down to meditate and invited Nakatsu to kick him. Nakatsu’s partner Ryuichi Sekine won the match by making SAGAT submit.

Today’s matches between BASARA and Dove Pro ended in a 1-1 draw. BASARA got the first win when Daichi Kazato beat Yuki Aoki. Later in the show the Dove team of Gunso & Kabuki Kid were victorious over IRON PRIEST.


Not A Lazy Sunday, What Are You Doing Sammy Guevara, TAKAYAMANIA EMPIRE

June 15, 2018

DDT “ROAD TO RYOGOKU 2018 ~DRAMATIC DREAM TOKASAN~”, 16/06/2018
Hiroshima Aster Plaza Multipurpose Hall

1. Hiratimo Dragon & Toru Owashi Vs Yuki Ueno & Saki Akai
2. Mike Bailey, MAO & Nobuhiro Shimatani Vs Naomi Yoshimura, Kenshin Chikano & Takeshi Okada
3. Akito & Shunma Katsumata Vs Kota Umeda & Kouki Iwasaki
4. Soma Takao Vs Makoto Oishi
5. HARASHIMA, Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi Vs Daisuke Sasaki, Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie
6. Local Hiroshima Born Danshoku Dieno Wants To Make A Triumphant Return As A Producer 3 Way Match: Danshoku Dieno Vs Konosuke Takeshita Vs Rey Paloma
7. Hiroshima Specialty! Special Tag Match Without Humanity: Shigehiro Irie & Mizuki Watase Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Antonio Honda

The current Right To Challenge Gauntlet holders are Meiko Satomura (Red), Tetsuya Endo (Yellow), Mad Paulie (Green) and Hiratimo Dragon (Blue and Black).

DDT “DAY & NIGHT SAME DAY BOX OFFICE FESTIVAL IN MATSUYAMA 2018”, 17/06/2018
Matsuyama City Community Center Planning Exhibition Hall

1. Takatimo Dragon, Hiratimo Dragon & Toru Owashi Vs Danshoku Dieno, Makoto Oishi & Saki Akai
2. 4 Way Match: Naomi Yoshimura Vs Kazusada Higuchi Vs MAO Vs Antonio Honda
3. Akito & Shunma Katsumata Vs Kouki Iwasaki & Yuki Ueno
4. Shigehiro Irie & Mizuki Watase Vs Kota Umeda & Yuki Iino
5. Konosuke Takeshita Vs Mike Bailey
6. Ryutaro Watanabe Debut Match: Tetsuya Endo Vs Ryutaro Watanbe
7. If You Wrestle, Do Something Like This! Matsuyama Specialty 6-Man Tag Match: HARASHIMA, Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi Vs Daisuke Sasaki, Soma Takao & Mad Paulie

Sunday begins an incredibly busy day because FOUR shows from the DDT family in three different venues are taking place across Japan!

BASARA “VAJRA 71 ~SENDAI SHISHIN~”, 17/06/2018
Miyagi Ward Cultural Center

1. Best Stretchman V3 Final Chapter? “A Story That Does Not End”: Best Stretchman V3 & Best Stretchman Amazon Vs Banana Senga & Akiyori Takizawa
2. Yusuke Kubo & Takato Nakano Vs Yasutaka Osera & Daiki Shimomura
3. Isami Kodaka, Ryuichi Sekine & Ryota Nakatsu Vs Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi, SAGAT & GAINA
4. Heaven Summit ~Itadaki~ – Round 2: Fuminori Abe Vs Yasu Urano
5. Heaven Summit ~Itadaki~ – Round 2: FUMA Vs Takumi Tsukamoto

Three of the shows are taking place at the same time. DDT, BASARA and Tokyo Joshi Pro are all starting at 1:00pm local time.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “THE 5TH TOKYO PRINCESS CUP”, 17/06/2018
Tokyo Narimasu Act Hall

1. Mizuki & Raku Vs Miu & Hinano
2. Reika Saiki Vs Yuki Aino
3. Maki Ito Vs Yuki Kamifuku
4. Tokyo Princess Cup – Round 2: Miyu Yamashita Vs Nodoka-oneesan
5. Tokyo Princess Cup – Round 2: Yuu Vs Hyper Misao
6. Tokyo Princess Cup – Round 2: Yuka Sakazaki Vs Hikari
7. Tokyo Princess Cup – Round 2: Rika Tatsumi Vs Shoko Nakajima

The bracket goes out the window after this round. Semi final matches will be determined by a lottery.

Yuna Manase is still unable to wrestle because she is recovering from an illness.

GANBARE☆WRESTLING “PARADISE TRAIN 2018”, 17/06/2018
Tokyo Narimasu Act Hall

1. Fresh Confrontation! Sweet Spring Cucumbers!: HARUKAZE Vs Kyuri
2. The Scent Of Ryukyu Blown By Ganpro ~Abandon Small Differences~: Shota & Rekka Vs Aaron Anders & Black Ribera
3. Ganbare☆Wrestling Ideological Struggle ~The Enemy Of Yesterday Is The Friend Of Today~: Ken Ohka & Baliyan Akki Vs Yumehito Imanari & Takeshi Okada
4. Ganbare☆Wrestling Vs Chinko Pro Wrestling – First And Last Sexual Battle!?: Shinichiro Tominaga Vs Mineo Fujita
5. Independent World Jr. Heavyweight Title: Keisuke Ishii (c) Vs Shuichiro Katsumura

Ganbare☆Wrestling is all by itself in the evening. Between writing up these shows and watching the World Cup I’m going to be knackered come Monday.

BASARA “TAKATO NAKANO LOCAL TRIUMPH BOX OFFICE ~PUSHING FORWARD~”, 24/06/2018
Okayama Saint Inn Kurashiki

1. Daichi Kazato Vs Yuki Aoki
2. FUMA & Yusuke Kubo Vs Gunso & Kabuki Kid
3. Takumi Tsukamoto, Akiyori Takizawa & Daiki Shimomura Vs Gouma Ryu, Minoru Fujita & Yasu Urano
4. Fuminori Abe Vs Manabu Hara
5. Ryuichi Sekine & Ryota Nakatsu Vs Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi & SAGAT
6. Isami Kodaka Vs Takato Nakano
7. Hotel Saint Inn Kurashiki Cup Struggle Battle Royal: X Vs X

Takato Nakano gets a big singles match against Isami Kodaka when BASARA travels to his hometown of Kurashiki City.

DDT “WHAT ARE YOU DOING 2018”, 24/06/2018
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

0. Under Match: Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Kouki Iwasaki Vs Mizuki Watase & Aaron Anders
1. 3 Way 6-Man Tag Match: Takatimo Dragon, Hiratimo Dragon & Toru Owashi Vs Keisuke Ishii, Antonio Honda & MAO Vs Tetsuya Endo, Mad Paulie & Nobuhiro Shimatani
2. KUDO 15th Anniversary Memorial Match: KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi Vs Danshoku Dieno, Makoto Oishi & Super Sasadango Machine
3. Worldwide Match: Mike Bailey Vs Sammy Guevara
4. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Kota Umeda, Yuki Ueno & Koji Takeda (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita, Akito & Shunma Katsumata
5. DDT Extreme Title – 3 Way Match: HARASHIMA (c) Vs Soma Takao Vs Daisuke Sasaki
6. KO-D Openweight Title: Shigehiro Irie (c) Vs Kazusada Higuchi

Texas high flyer Sammy Guevara makes his DDT debut. The kid has been tearing it up all over the place for the last two years so putting him against Mike Bailey is sure to result in a very exciting match.

DDT “DDT LIVE! MAJI MANJI #9”, 26/06/2018
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Mr. Maji Manji Battle: Makoto Oishi Vs Kota Umeda
2. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Daisuke Sekimoto & Kazusada Higuchi (c) Vs Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie

Kota Umeda has been one of the most featured wrestlers on “DDT LIVE! MAJI MANJI” since the first episode. However Makoto Oishi feels that he should be the star of the show. The two of them will fight over the claim. It’s a bigger deal for Oishi than Umeda though. Umeda has bigger fish to fry.

Kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa will be in attendance so he can kick Ken Ohka’s ass. This is not supposed to be a wrestling match, it is literally going to be Nasukawa kicking Ohka up the ass.

DDT “DDT LIVE! MAJI MANJI #11”, 10/07/2018
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Kota Umeda “Mad Dog” 7 Match Series – 4th Match: Dick Togo Vs Kota Umeda

Here is who Umeda is now focused on. Dick Togo is his next big challenge.

BASARA “VAJRA 73 ~REIGN SUPREME~”, 12/07/2018
Shinjuku FACE

1. Shit Boss, Remember To Hurry!: Gouma Ryu Vs Yoshihisa Uto
2. Trans-Am ★ Ryuichi Vs Ryuichi Sekine
3. Isami Kodaka Debut 16th Anniversary Memorial Match: Isami Kodaka & Naomichi Marufuji Vs Ikuto Hidaka & Minoru Fujita
4. Heaven Summit ~Itadaki~ – Final: X Vs X

Also appearing on the show are Manabu Hara, Yasu Urano, Tsutomu Oosugi (possibly not in Best Stretchman Amazon form), Hercules Senga (possibly not in banana form), Akiyori Takizawa and Takuya Nomura.

DNA “DNA 46 ~OSAKA’S FIRST EXPANSION! WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE DNA?~”, 16/07/2018
Osaka Konohana Community Hall

1. Irie-gun Vs Naomi Kingdom!: Shigehiro Irie & Mizuki Watase Vs Keisuke Okuda & Akira Jo
2. DNA Naniwa Summit Decisive Battle!: Yuki Ueno Vs Naomi Yoshimura

Also appearing on the show are Konosuke Takeshita, Koju Takeda, Tomoya Hirata, TORU, Katsumi Oribe, Yuma Kikuchi, Rising HAYATO, Yuki Aoki and Baliyan Akki.

“TAKAYAMANIA EMPIRE”, 31/08/2018
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Takao Omori & Danshoku Dieno Vs Jun Akiyama & Dick Togo
2. Suwama, Ryota Hama & Kazusada Higuchi Vs Shuji Ishikawa, Yuji Hino & Konosuke Takeshita

DDT will be participating in a special benefit show for Yoshihiro Takayama.


BASARA “VAJRA 66 ~COMMEMORATING THE HEAVENLY HEART~” Results

May 3, 2018

BASARA “VAJRA 66 ~COMMEMORATING THE HEAVENLY HEART~”, 03/05/2018
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
863 Fans

1. Manabu Hara defeated Takato Nakano with a Cross Armbreaker (7:07).
2. Elimination 8-Man Tag Match: Takumi Tsukamoto, Yasu Urano, Daichi Kazato & Gouma Ryu defeated Trans-Am ★ Ryuichi, Trans-Am ★ Tanaka, Trans-Am ★ Shinya & Yusuke Kubo (13:57).
2a. Trans-Am ★ Shinya eliminated Daichi Kazato with the Kusui Drive (7:54).
2b. Yasu Urano eliminated Trans-Am ★ Shinya by Ring Out (8:24).
2c. Yasu Urano eliminated Yusuke Kubo with the Modern Times (9:18).
2d. Trans-Am ★ Tanaka eliminated Yasu Urano with the B“D”F (10:22).
2e. Gouma Ryu and Trans-Am ★ Tanaka eliminated each other by Double Ring Out (13:36).
2f. Takumi Tsukamoto eliminated Trans-Am ★ Ryuichi by Ring Out (13:57).
3. Masato Tanaka defeated Fuminori Abe with the Sliding D (13:04).
4. Count Down To Extinction ~ Hardcore Tag Match: Jun Kasai & Gunso defeated FUMA & SAGAT when Kasai pinned FUMA after the Pearl Harbor Splash & Diving Guillotine Drop Combo (13:03).
5. Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi Return Match: Osamu Nishimura defeated Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi with a Ground Cobra Twist (8:22).
6. Cavalry Vs Aikata Tag!: Ikuto Hidaka & Minoru Fujita defeated Ryuichi Sekine & Ryota Nakatsu when Hidaka pinned Nakatsu with the Iwami Ginzan (13:07).
7. Union MAX Title & DOVE World Title: Naoki Tanizaki (D/c) defeated Isami Kodaka (U/c) with the Libido (16:27).
*Isami Kodaka fails in V6. Naoki Tanizaki becomes the 10th Union MAX Champion! V1 for Naoki Tanizaki.

Dove Pro Wrestling is back with a vengeance and they now have BASARA’s championship! Naoki Tanizaki went into the Double Title main event with Gunso in his corner representing Dove Pro. Isami Kodaka came out by himself with the Union MAX Title around his waist. Tanizaki kicked out of the Diving Double Knee Drop as well as the European Clutch. He dropped Kodaka with the Implant several times throughout the match and they eventually took their toll on Kodaka. Tanizaki finally had him beat with the Casanova knee strike followed by the Libido knee lift for the three count. Tanizaki said the title win was for all of the Dove Pro believers who cheered for him today. He feels confident that he has beaten the best that BASARA has to offer. When he said this, Takumi Tsukamoto came out and challenged him to a MAX Title match. When Tanizaki and Gunso left, Kodaka called all of the BASARA home wrestlers to join him in the ring. He thinks Tsukamoto can bring the Union MAX Title back to BASARA but Kodaka still wants to fight Tanizaki one on one again some day. The show is over and BASARA is starting over. They may have lost today but they will come out of this stronger than they were before!

There is something about Ryota Nakatsu that Ikuto Hidaka seems to like. He feels like he is now Nakatsu’s 45 year old uncle and they will still be wrestling each other until Nakatsu can outkick his uncle. Hidaka admits that if today wasn’t a tag match, he would have lost to Nakatsu after he took his V Slider finisher. Minoru Fujita was also impressed by Nakatsu & Ryuichi Sekine today.

Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi returned from a long absence as a changed man. He took up yoga to recover from his dislocated shoulder and travelled to India to learn more about the practice. For his first match back Hiroshi went face to face with Osamu Nishimura. Quite a big opponent for him but he stayed calm throughout. Hiroshi meditated while he was put in submission holds to withstand the pain. Soon Nishimura meditated too and they were both inactive for so long that the referee began to count them towards a double knockout. Both stirred and went back to wrestling until Nishimura locked in a Sleeper Hold. Hiroshi tried to meditate again but ended up losing consciousness. Nishimura then easily rolled him into a Cobra Twist to pin him. He told Hiroshi afterwards that he too has visited India many times to learn yoga. The most important lesson is even if the body is destroyed, the soul will continue to live many lives. Hiroshi said he was happy to learn from a guru today. They then sang a song together.

The return of the BASARA Vs Dove Pro rivalry means the return of SAGAT and Gunso fighting each other in Hardcore Matches. SAGAT lost like he tends to but this time it was FUMA who got pinned. SAGAT gave Jun Kasai a Brainbuster from the ladder but Gunso immediately cut him off with the Diving Guillotine Drop. FUMA fought off his opponents until Gunso took him down with a chair shot. Kasai gave FUMA the Reverse Tiger Driver then Kasai & Gunso hit the Pearl Harbour Splash and Diving Guillotine Drop to FUMA at the same time for the win. Kasai ripped off FUMA’s heavy metal shirt after the match and threw it into the crowd.

Fuminori Abe had a spirited fight against Minoru Tanaka. During their early exchanges Abe told Tanaka “I believe the B in BASARA stands for Batibati!” then he hit him with strikes. Abe later kicked out of the Superfly at one but was quickly put down with the Sliding D. Tanaka shook Abe’s hand after the match but Abe slapped Tanaka across the face in response. Tanaka didn’t mind it. He said that it was a cheerful match and he likes to face wrestlers with Abe’s style of fighting. He didn’t know what to expect because he never saw anything from Abe before today. It was fun though and if the wrestlers have fun with what they are doing then the fans will have fun watching them.

The rest of the BASARA wrestlers were pitted against the Metal Family in a 4 Vs 4 Elimination Match. The weakest of the BASARA team Gouma Ryu took a beating but Yasu Urano was there to keep the numbers even. Ryu was able to eliminate Trans-Am ★ Tanaka by gutsy luck. Tanaka kicked him from the apron but as Ryu fell he tripped Tanaka and pulled him to the floor with him. That left Takumi Tsukamoto and Trans-Am ★ Ryuichi as the final two. They fought on the apron until Tsukamoto knocked Ryuichi to the floor with the Thrust Kick to win the match for BASARA!

Takato Nakano tried to pin Manabu Hara with several different Cradles but a Cross Armbreaker ended the match in Hara’s favour.


BASARA “VAJRA 65 ~FEAST~” Results

April 20, 2018

BASARA “VAJRA 65 ~FEAST~”, 20/04/2018
Shin-Kiba 1st RING
214 Fans

1. Trans-Am ★ Ryuichi defeated Daichi Kazato with the Perfect Five (7:53).
2. Reversal Pro Wrestling Trial: Best Stretchman Amazon defeated Gouma Ryu and Hercules Senga when Amazon pinned Ryu and Senga with the Stretch Kick (11:15).
3. Takumi Tsukamoto, Yasu Urano & Akiyori Takizawa defeated FUMA, SAGAT & Yusuke Kubo when Tsukamoto pinned Kubo with the Zudon (10:55).
4. Special Single Match: Minoru Fujita defeated Ryuichi Sekine with a Rolling Cradle (10:55).
5. Fuminori Abe Vs Tanomusaku Toba ended in a Double KO (11:15).
6. Isami Kodaka, Ryota Nakatsu & Takato Nakano defeated Naoki Tanizaki, Yuki Aoki & Manabu Hara when Nakano pinned Aoki with a Jumping Rolling Cradle (15:10).

Today was Takato Nakano’s day to win for the first time! He capitalised on Yuki Aoki bumping into a kick from Isami Kodaka by the ropes and pinned Aoki with a Jumping Rolling Cradle. Naoki Tanizaki briefly confronted Kodaka after the match but he left so Nakano could celebrate. Both Kodaka and Ryota Nakatsu congratulated Nakano on his achievement and told him it was a big deal. Nakano said he will start running from here to Korakuen Hall for the big show there on 3rd May.

Both Fuminori Abe and Tanomusaku Toba punched each other to their heart’s content. They eventually ran out of that stuff and knocked each other out for a draw. When they both recovered Abe smiled and asked for a rematch.

Minoru Fujita mocked Ryuichi Sekine throughout their match. After the opening back and forth, Fujita asked who was it that trained Sekine. He then called him an “Eternal Trainee” while kicking him. Fujita’s experience was the difference maker and he caught Sekine in a Rolling Cradle for the win. After the match Fujita told Sekine that they have a big tag team match against each other coming up on 3rd May. He asked Sekine & Nakatsu not to miss this opportunity to beat himself and Ikuto Hidaka. Fujita claims that he and Hidaka were nominated for the Best Tag Team category during last year’s Tokyo Sports Awards. He does not want Cavalry to damage this honour.

Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi asked for the 8-Man Tag Team Match on 3rd May between BASARA and the Metal Family to be held under Elimination Rules. Takumi Tsukamoto and Yasu Urano were confused by Hiroshi’s new spiritual behaviour but they accepted the request.

Best Stretchman Amazon was on trial accused of sexual harassment towards a female customer in the Best Stretch store. It was difficult to get an explanation from Amazon because he just yelled out his name whenever he was asked a question. Hercules Senga provided a hidden recording of Amazon asking a customer if he could touch her breasts. However the voice in the recording was lower than how Amazon usually speaks. Gouma Ryu asked both Amazon and Daichi Kazato to demonstrate their massage techniques on Senga to see if they are legitimate. No matter where they touched him, Senga claimed he was being sexually harassed. Gouma then made the grave mistake of claiming that the customer might have enjoyed the massage from a BASARA wrestler because she is a BASARA fan. All the women in the audience booed him. Amazon also didn’t like the statement so he knocked out both Ryu and Senga with Stretch Kicks. The judge declared that Senga was not guilty.

Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi stood outside the ring for the opening match and distracted Daichi Kazato with his yoga poses. Trans-Am ★ Ryuichi took advantage and hit the Perfect Five on Kazato to win the match.

The first round matches of the Heaven Summit ~Itadaki~ were determined in an odd fashion. Each wrestler threw a numbered ball into the audience. The fans that caught a ball each picked a different spot on the playoff bracket. Afterwards the wrestlers were told which numbers represented them and who they would paired up with. The opening round matches are FUMA Vs Daichi Kazato, Yusuke Kubo Vs Takumi Tsukamoto, Manabu Hara Vs Takato Nakano, Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi Vs Akiyori Takizawa, Isami Kodaka Vs Ryuichi Sekine, Ryota Nakatsu Vs Minoru Fujita, Gouma Ryu Vs Fuminori Abe and Yasu Urano Vs SAGAT.


DDT “JUDGEMENT 2018 ~DDT 21ST ANNIVERSARY~” Preview

March 24, 2018

DDT “JUDGEMENT 2018 ~DDT 21ST ANNIVERSARY~”, 25/03/2018
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

0. Under Match: Mizuki Watase, Rekka, Daiki Shimomura, Nobuhiro Shimatani & Takato Nakano Vs Mad Paulie, Hoshitango, Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Gota Ihashi & Cherry
0. Under Match: Kouki Iwasaki & Shinichiro Tominaga Vs Kenshin Chikano & Akira Jo
0. Under Match – Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Yuka Sakazaki & Shoko Nakajima Va Rika Tatsumi & Maho Kurone
1. Gauntlet Tag Match: LiLiCo & Makoto Oishi Vs Reika Saiki & Lady Beard Vs Akito & Shunma Katsumata Vs Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Antonio Honda & Ethan Page Vs Naomi Yoshimura & Keisuke Okuda
2. World Crazy Wrestler No. 1 Decision Battle In DDT: Joey Ryan Vs Colt Cabana
3. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match – Special 6-Woman Tag Match: Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh & Mizuki Vs Saki-sama, Yoshiko-sama & Azusa Christie
4. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Super Sasadango Machine (c) Vs Jiro Kuroshio
5. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi (c) Vs Kota Umeda, Yuki Ueno & Koji Takeda
6. Weapon Rumble 5 Way Tag Loser Gets Anal Blast Match: Sanshiro Takagi & Ippanjin Munenori Sawa Vs Mike Bailey & MAO Vs Yuko Miyamoto & Soma Takao Vs Isami Kodaka & Fuminori Abe Vs Michael Nakazawa & Chinsuke Nakamura
7. Dramatic Dream Match: Danshoku Dino, Keisuke Ishii & Ken Ohka Vs Great Muta, Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo
8. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Uchikomi! Presents: HARASHIMA & Naomichi Marufuji (c) Vs Daisuke Sekimoto & Kazusada Higuchi
9. KO-D Openweight Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Shuji Ishikawa

For an audio preview I appeared on an episode of the Wrestling Omakase podcast to talk about the show. We also review the “SAKI AKAI PRODUCE ~ DDT COLLECTION” show on the same episode. You can listen to it here.

The DDT UNIVERSE live broadcast begins on 1:30pm JST with the first pre-show match beginning at 2:00pm JST and the main show beginning at 3:00pm JST. So for other time zones the main show begins at 7:00am GMT (remember the clocks will have gone forward one hour in this time zone), 2:00am ET and (Saturday) 11:00pm PT. For those with access to AbemaTV the event will also air live for free on the DDT channel (VPN needed for those outside Japan). There will be either muted audio or replacement music for the entrances and video packages because of this.

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DDT is back in Sumo Hall once again for its biggest event of the year. “JUDGEMENT 2018” is being held to mark DDT’s 21st anniversary and is providing a stacked card to celebrate. The headline match is a rematch of a 2016 Sumo Hall main event but there is plenty to talk about from top to bottom. We have grudge matches, we have generational battles, we have wrestling demons, we have anal explosions, we have title matches, we have joshi, we have crazy foreign wrestlers and we have the other sub-brands jumping in to get involved. The only way this show gets any more insane is if DDT goes the Pop Team Epic route and holds an identical 5 hour show immediately after this 5 hour show ends but with different a commentary team.

0. Under Match: Mizuki Watase, Rekka, Daiki Shimomura, Nobuhiro Shimatani & Takato Nakano Vs Mad Paulie, Hoshitango, Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Gota Ihashi & Cherry

The first match of the day is between rookies and veterans. The rookie team consists of DNA and BASARA wrestlers. Mizuki Watase’s big matches in DNA for the last few months have been against wrestlers like Koji Kanemoto & Minoru Tanaka. Taiwanese wrestler Rekka recently formed a short lived team with Chinese wrestler Choun-Shiryu that fell apart over their national differences. Daiki Shimomura has been bottom of the pile and taking loss after loss on most shows. His Gran MilliMeters partner Nobuhiro Shimatani has been the same except he has spent his time trying to win over DAMNATION so he can join their group. BASARA’s Takato Nakano is approaching the first anniversary of his debut match in April.

On the veteran team Mad Paulie has become a little bit calmer ever since he discovered dancing. He loves to dance along to Shuji Ishikawa’s karaoke. Because of this he acts a little bit nicer to his opponents but he is still dangerous to wrestle. Gota Ihashi embarrassed himself on the big stage when he got to team with Kota Ibushi and Riki Choshu on a show produced by Choshu. They won their match but Choshu ripped apart Ihashi with criticism during a post show interview. Ever since then Ihashi has been trying to regain his confidence and even wants to discover if the power of Choshu is inside of him. It isn’t. The real power is the friends you make along the way and Choshu has been friends with Ibushi for years so the entire journey is a waste of time in the first place. Hoshitango, Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Cherry have been filling up the DDT pre-show matches throughout the year.

0. Under Match: Kouki Iwasaki & Shinichiro Tominaga Vs Kenshin Chikano & Akira Jo

The focus of this match is between Kouki Iwasaki and Akira Jo. The two are feuding against each other in DNA where the homegrown wrestlers are defending themselves against the Naomi Kingdom, which Jo is a part of. Shinichiro Tominaga comes over from Ganbare☆Wrestling as a proud “amateur” pro wrestling card carrier. Kenshin Chikano has a DDT appearance here and there. He had a little more of a presence in BASARA last year when BASARA had a summer long rivalry with Dove Pro Wrestling.

0. Under Match – Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Yuka Sakazaki & Shoko Nakajima Va Rika Tatsumi & Maho Kurone

Tokyo Joshi Pro gets fully represented with two matches this time around. The pre-show match is between two of their long standing tag teams the Miraclians and the Dragon Bombers. The Apricots have been teaming together for as long as Yuka Sakazaki & Shoko Nakajima have been around. They have a few achievements between them but the one they share together is becoming the first ever TOKYO Princess Tag Team Champions. On the surface the Dragon Bombers look like an odd pairing but Rika Tatsumi and Maho Kurone have won over fans with their personalities. Kurone’s entire zombie character is immediately eye catching and her behaviour at shows is often fun to follow. Tatsumi got some media attention when she admitted to fancying another Tokyo Joshi wrestler Mizuki and openly questioned the No Relationships rule used by the promotion because it only refers to having boyfriends and not girlfriends. She is currently preparing for the biggest match of her life in May when she main events Korakuen Hall. She recently pinned Nakajima to build up her momentum. Either repeating it or pinning Sakazaki would only increase it further.

1. Gauntlet Tag Match: LiLiCo & Makoto Oishi Vs Reika Saiki & Lady Beard Vs Akito & Shunma Katsumata Vs Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Antonio Honda & Ethan Page Vs Naomi Yoshimura & Keisuke Okuda

The show kicks off proper with a wacky Gauntlet Match for Tag Teams. When LiLiCo was last in DDT she was defending the now forgotten KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles with Makoto Oishi and three others. That was in November. Now she’s back in training with Oishi to enter the gauntlet. Oishi has planning his next steps ever since NωA split up. He demanded to join T2Hide so he could take over the group and even won the right to be a member. But he instead turned it down so he could go do literally anything else. Reika Saiki & Lady Beard are connected together outside of wrestling as the idol duo DEADLIFT LOLITA. This is their first time teaming together for a wrestling match. Shunma Katsumata became the breakout wrestler from NωA when he joined ALL OUT and went through a crazy Hardcore Match where he used thumbtacks. Akito has been by Katsumata’s side during this encouraging him to come out of his shell. Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata are still the same except for the times when Hirata gets deported and replaced by a suspiciously similar looking foreign substitute. They might still be feeling burned by Oishi rejecting them. Ethan Page has been loving his stay in Japan which probably explains why he acts different here compared to how he normally elsewhere. DDT brought him in with big hopes that he will be their next big Canadian star. Antonio Honda is with him to make sure that happens. Finally, Naomi Yoshimura & Keisuke Okuda have been terrorising DNA with their Naomi Kingdom unit. Their troublemaking is now spreading to DDT and they are very interested to be in the same ring as LiLiCo and Saiki.

2. World Crazy Wrestler No. 1 Decision Battle In DDT: Joey Ryan Vs Colt Cabana

Everything about this match is a little funny. Two of America’s most known and successful comedy wrestlers will face off one on one inside one of Japan’s most prestigious wrestling arenas… and there’s been zero build up for it. That’s not to say either of them have done nothing in DDT at all. In January Joey Ryan competed at the D-Oh Grand Prix. He seemed to be more concerned about convincing the audience to throw paper tape at him for his entrances than he was with winning matches. Colt “Boom Boom” Cabana challenged for the KO-D Openweight Title on Christmas Day but failed to win it. He then spent New Year’s Eve pretending to be Abdullah The Butcher. Both are fighting for the right to be called the DDT’s craziest gaijin wrestler.

3. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match – Special 6-Woman Tag Match: Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh & Mizuki Vs Saki-sama, Yoshiko-sama & Azusa Christie

For the first time Tokyo Joshi gets a main card spot on a Sumo Hall show. Miyu Yamashita has regained her position as the ace of the promotion when she won back the TOKYO Princess Of Princess Title on 4th January. Since then she has been fighting off challengers like Veda Scott, Yuna Manase and Maho Kurone. Teaming with her is one of the scariest egos ever to grace a DDT ring. Pop idol turned pro wrestler Maki Itoh often becomes intense when she wrestles. Her petite figure doesn’t stop her from throwing headbutts and giving her opponents the middle finger. She also formed her own team/fan club called the Itoh Respect Army and brought in Mizuki as Member #001. Mizuki doesn’t mind and is happy to make a friend. They even recorded a music video together. It’s just that this friend can act like a psychopath when she doesn’t get her way.

Their opponents are NEO Biishiki-gun, the snooty aristocratic unit led by the snootier and even more aristocratic Saki-sama. Her biggest move over the last year was abducting one of the weakest wrestlers in Tokyo Joshi, Azusa Takigawa and brainwashing her into becoming Azusa Christie. Azusa is now a devoted nun who worships Saki-sama as if she was God. This change has seen her gain more success than she ever had previously and she along with Saki now holds the TOKYO Princess Tag Team Championships. Ever since her inclusion, NEO Biishiki-gun have been the dominant force in Tokyo Joshi and now they have a new girl joining them for this show. In February Saki-sama brought out a shy woman who was hiding her face behind a teddy bear and introduced her as an old friend from her childhood. Maki Itoh confronted this girl and threatened her until the bear was lowered and the face was revealed. The girl is Yoshiko-sama and she isn’t afraid to fight back! Her teddy bear is named Charlotte by the way.

4. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Super Sasadango Machine (c) Vs Jiro Kuroshio

I’ve had trouble trying to keep up with the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title this year. Super Sasadango Machine won it the first week of January and asked to defend the belt against Jiro Kuroshio at Sumo Hall. His wish was granted but on one condition. Sasadango would need to defend the title at least twice a week every week up until the show takes place. Sasadango quickly found a solution to this problem. He set up an office in Nagoya and invited celebrities, spokesmen and other various business people to try and win the belt from him. In return they would get to promote their projects on DDT’s social media. It worked for the most part but there were some title changes I missed from people I don’t know and from there I lost track. As of writing I think he is still the champion and his title match with Kuroshio is all set.

But things are never just normal with this championship. There are always people hunting after the belt and I’ll be shocked if this match just stays between Sasadango and Kuroshio. Heck I’ll be shocked if a title change does not happen right before the match takes place! Also I don’t think Kuroshio would be just satisfied with doing just this match. Remember, he has a pinfall victory over Konosuke Takeshita from the D-Oh Grand Prix. There has to be some sort of follow up to that.

5. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi (c) Vs Kota Umeda, Yuki Ueno & Koji Takeda

On the one hand Shuten-dōji finds themselves in the familiar position of the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles match on DDT’s big supercard. On the other hand their opponents this time includes what used to be one of their own! Kota Umeda returned from a long injury absence last November and is making up for lost time in both DDT and DNA. He built up a quick but intense rivalry with another rookie Yuki Ueno. He also joined the rest of DNA in their feud with the Naomi Kingdom. It was during this time that Umeda started to figure something out. As the fourth member of Shuten-dōji he was often left out of their 6-Man Tag Title matches. The only times he got to step in was to cover for one of the other wrestlers if they were hurt. This had to change.

Shuten-dōji reached the point where they were disappointed by their current position. They wanted to face the best trios DDT could throw at them but in the end it is they who are the best trio. That was when Umeda stepped up to them. He wanted to challenge his brothers for the titles and to do so he is teaming with his rival Ueno as well as another rookie Koji Takeda. The response from Shuten-dōji was mixed. Masahiro Takanashi found it funny. He thought Umeda’s new unit looks so bad that they should be called Pigging 2018 after the consistently worst unit to compete in the DDT General Elections year after year. But KUDO & Yukio Sakaguchi took this seriously. They would allow Umeda to challenge them but he would no longer be a part of Shuten-dōji if he does so. Umeda was willing to pay that price. Now Umeda is leading his generation team against his former family and in the process became a fierce enemy to Sakaguchi in particular. It might get worse when the title match takes place.

6. Weapon Rumble 5 Way Tag Loser Gets Anal Blast Match: Sanshiro Takagi & Ippanjin Munenori Sawa Vs Mike Bailey & MAO Vs Yuko Miyamoto & Soma Takao Vs Isami Kodaka & Fuminori Abe Vs Michael Nakazawa & Chinsuke Nakamura

Well this has been crazy. Originally DDT was going to hold its Falls Count Anywhere specialty match but Sumo Hall management and the Japan Sumo Association finally put their foot down and told them no. The potential risk of audience injuries and building damage is too high for them to accept. Unfortunately for them they weren’t prepared for DDT’s Plan B. Sure DDT will keep it in the ring but now there are explosives involved. At least it’s still safer than Sami Callihan playing with a pinata.

It all begun when Sanshiro Takagi was reunited with an old friend. In a moment that they absolutely swear was not like anything else that happened that same week involving former DDT talent, Munenori Sawa returned to DDT to save Takagi from a beatdown. They embraced, tears were shed and one of DDT’s wackiest tag teams from the last decade were back in business. Although Sawa had retired from pro wrestling to become a salaryman, he would still show up near a wrestling ring every now and then. Takagi threw out a challenge. He and Sawa would face anyone in a Falls Count Anywhere Match at Sumo Hall. They attracted a lot of offers. Yuko Miyamoto wanted to get involved and as the current DDT Extreme Champion he surely qualifies. Soma Takao joins Miyamoto as part of Smile Squash. The call was also answered by Isami Kodaka & Fuminori Abe from BASARA. Kodaka is a hardcore wrestler and Abe is pretty much Munenori Sawa Jr. so the stipulation suits them fine.

The challenge led to an old enemy of Takagi’s resurfacing. Michael Nakazawa sent a video saying he would enter with a friend from “New York”. That friend is Chinsuke Nakamura! The Pauper Of Strong Style made his presence felt when he threw Takagi over the top rope and out of the ring. He celebrated this accomplishment by pointing to the RyogokuMania sign held above Korakuen Hall. The loudest response of all was from MAO fresh off of his split from NωA. MAO thinks now is the time DDT gets a new face for Street Wrestling and it should be him. He’s bringing Speedball Mike Bailey back to team with him. However MAO may be too crazy judging by that time he ran over Takagi with a van to win a Falls Count Anywhere match. He then threatened to blow up Shin-Kiba 1st RING with fireworks.

So the match was set and tensions grew to a dangerous level between Takagi and MAO. Takagi’s response to getting hit by a vehicle was to start shoving fireworks into other wrestlers’ butts to give them an Anal Explosion. MAO responded in kind until it was the major focus by everyone involved in the upcoming match. That was when the ban came and the match had to be cancelled. During that announcement all of the teams came together and threw together a replacement match. The BASARA team wanted to use weapons. MAO demanded that someone should get an Anal Blast. Everyone agreed to a Weapons Rumble match. As the match progresses, new weapons would be brought out Royal Rumble style. Plus whoever loses the match must subject themselves to an Anal Explosion! This means everybody is happy except for the Japan Sumo Association. Serves them right.

7. Dramatic Dream Match: Danshoku Dino, Keisuke Ishii & Ken Ohka Vs Great Muta, Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo

One of the first announcements for this show made back in January was the involvement of The Great Muta. DDT eventually announced that he would be teaming with DAMNATION to take on Danshoku Dino and his friends. Daisuke Sasaki would use the news to announce that he is in charge and Muta would be fighting under his leadership. There was no response from Muta about this. Sasaki then started taunting Dino by spitting cola and coffee at him Poison Mist style. Again there was no response from Muta. But Sasaki’s actions did bring Dino to his breaking point. The attacks made Dino transform into The Great Homo! Under his own Muta-style personality, Dino would constantly attack Sasaki and Tetsuya Endo. Endo moreso than Sasaki. He would spit Poison Milk Mist at them and attack their backsides with a spike. The only way he could be stopped was when Sasaki transformed into Nerima Sting to combat him. This finally made Muta stir. The demon was not pleased by this nonsense especially from Dino.

A threatening message was sent to DDT HQ. Dino has been given the Poison Curse! No matter where Dino goes, Muta would possess everyone around him and make them spit the Poison Mist in Dino’s face. Nowhere was Dino safe. Employees, trainees, referees, wrestlers, fans, models, TV hosts. All of them spat the Mist at Dino under Muta’s power. Dino would get attacked again and again and again and again and again! Has Muta’s plan brought Dino back to the brink enough to summon The Great Homo? Keisuke Ishii and Ken Ohka are there to help Dino but the three of them are clearly outmatched. The only thing they don’t have to worry about is Muta doing a Moonsault but that’s what Endo is there for.

8. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Uchikomi! Presents: HARASHIMA & Naomichi Marufuji (c) Vs Daisuke Sekimoto & Kazusada Higuchi

For many in DDT there is one task that seems impossible and that is beating HARASHIMA. The backbone of DDT is often the biggest mountain to climb and some wrestlers have become obsessed with doing it. The latest wrestler in this position is Kazusada Higuchi. HARASHIMA has been a thorn in his side ever since Higuchi’s first year in DDT. HARASHIMA gave Higuchi his first loss, beat him twice in KO-D Title matches and also won the KO-D Tag Team Titles from him with Naomichi Marufuji. The team known as HarashiMarufuji have held the titles ever since. They even survived a title defence held inside a factory! If they were ever to be beaten, Higuchi would have to find somebody really strong to team with him.

Oh crap. Daisuke Sekimoto wants to get involved.

Sekimoto & Higuchi joined forces for the annual New Year’s Eve cross promotion Tag Team Tournament and made it all the way to the final. They made such a good impression together that they are reuniting to go after HARASHIMA & Marufuji. Sekimoto and HARASHIMA have a history together but there is respect between them. HARASHIMA and Higuchi however do not like each other ever since HARASHIMA knocked out Higuchi during a singles match earlier this month. When Higuchi came to he went on a rampage chasing after HARASHIMA. A defeat to Marufuji too in the run-up to this match hasn’t helped. Higuchi will have to keep his emotions in check against these two.

9. KO-D Openweight Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Shuji Ishikawa

This is the rematch 19 months in the making. Konosuke Takeshita and Shuji Ishikawa main evented “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2016” with the KO-D Openweight Title on the line. Ishikawa came out on top that night and held onto the belt for almost the rest of 2016. HARASHIMA won the title from him in December that year but the championship made its way back to Takeshita at “JUDGEMENT 2017” just over one year ago. Since then Takeshita has firmly kept the belt in his grasp and fought all-comers, breaking the DDT record for most title defences in a single reign with 10 successful defences at this time. Freshly graduated from college, Takeshita has been having a great year as the champion. It’s getting tough though. A lower back injury has plagued Takeshita throughout February and gave him a big target that can be exploited. So it’s been a tough year but a great year none the less.

However you can argue Shuji Ishikawa’s last 12 months have been just as good if not better. He goes on a tear in All Japan and wins the Champion Carnival, then the Triple Crown, then the Real World Tag League with Suwama and then AJPW World Tag Team Titles also with Suwama. When he refocused his efforts in DDT at the beginning of 2018, Ishikawa ends up winning the first ever D-Oh Grand Prix tournament almost unbeaten. His only loss in the competition was against his DAMNATION leader Daisuke Sasaki. The goal of the Grand Prix was to establish DDT’s leading star for the rest of the year and Ishikawa proved there is no one more deserving of it than him.

Ishikawa has gone out to prove he has a range of other talents too. Ever since he won the Grand Prix, Ishikawa has performed karaoke in the ring to celebrate his big victories in DDT. Mad Paulie has joined in the fun by dancing along to his songs. Sasaki & Endo aren’t as eager to join in so they just grin and bare it while he sings. With the big title match on the horizon, Sasaki gave Ishikawa a serious order. Ishikawa cannot sing karaoke and Paulie cannot dance again until Ishikawa beats Takeshita at Sumo Hall to become the KO-D Champion. This gave Ishikawa an idea. Takeshita is injured. If he gets so injured that he cannot defend the title at Sumo Hall then Ishikawa will become the champion by default. Then for the main event Ishikawa can sing karaoke inside the ring all night long! So for the last month Ishikawa has intentionally tried to injure Takeshita in their preview matches. It briefly worked when Takeshita had to miss a show to recover but he came back and in their most recent match together pinned Ishikawa.

So there you have it. The strongest champion in DDT’s history is hurt but still capable of beating whatever is being thrown at him. DDT’s strongest challenger is almost unstoppable and is powered by the desire to show off his vocal talents. Their 2016 match is well worth the watch in preparation for this.


BASARA “VAJRA 59 ~ONE MINDLESS BODY~” Results

February 11, 2018

BASARA “VAJRA 59 ~ONE MINDLESS BODY~”, 11/02/2018
Tokyo BASEMENT MON☆STAR
160 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

1. Hercules Senga defeated Daiki Shimomura with the Yellow Dragon (9:05).
2. IRON FIST TAG TOURNAMENT – Round 1: FUMA & SAGAT defeated Takato Nakano & Akiyori Takizawa when FUMA pinned Nakano with the Heavy Metal Anthem (11:55).
3. IRON FIST TAG TOURNAMENT – Round 1: Best Stretchman V3 & Tsutomu Oosugi defeated Isami Kodaka & Yoshihisa Uto when Oosugi pinned Kodaka with the Tsukinoishi (13:16).
4. IRON FIST TAG TOURNAMENT – Round 1: Manabu Hara & Fuminori Abe defeated Trans-Am ★ Ryuichi & Yusuke Kubo when Hara submitted Kubo with a Chickenwing Armlock (16:01).
5. IRON FIST TAG TOURNAMENT – Round 1: Ryuichi Sekine & Ryota Nakatsu defeated Takumi Tsukamoto & Yasu Urano when Sekine submitted Urano with the Let’s Combine (27:41).

In a big surprise, the two wrestlers from last year’s winning team were both eliminated in the first round this year. Isami Kodaka’s first problem was his partner Yoshihisa Uto was disturbed by Best Stretchman V3 and didn’t know what to do with him. Kodaka’s other problem was Tsutomu Oosugi being completely ready for him. Oosugi got the upset pin over Kodaka to advance the Best Stretch team to the semi-final. Oosugi said he is now a trainer with a cause and he challenges Kodaka to put the Union MAX Title on the line against him. Kodaka agreed to it and the match will happen on 3rd March. All Kodaka asks is for Oosugi to come in his regular wrestling gear instead of the Best Stretch uniform he wore for today’s match.

Takumi Tsukamoto also had a bad go in his 1st Round match. He was taken out by Ryuichi Sekine & Ryota Nakatsu. That left Yasu Urano alone to be picked apart by Cavalry at the end. Sekine struggled to stand after the match because of damage to his left knee but he and Nakatsu were able to brag about their recent good match record in the venue.

The Metal Family had mixed results in the two remaining 1st Round Matches. FUMA & SAGAT were able to beat the rookie team of Takato Nakano & Akiyori Takizawa. However Trans-Am ★ Ryuichi & Yusuke Kubo lost to Manabu Hara & Fuminori Abe. Ryuichi gave his condolences to Kubo backstage and acted like Kubo died in the ring. Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi complained about how much he hates shoot style wrestling. Everyone should be doing powerful American style wrestling instead. They will leave it up to FUMA & SAGAT to win the rest of the tournament for them.

The IRON FIST TAG TOURNAMENT semi-final match-ups are Ryuichi Sekine & Ryota Nakatsu Vs Manabu Hara & Fuminori Abe and FUMA & SAGAT Vs Best Stretchman V3 & Tsutomu Oosugi. The semi-finals and final will happen on 19th February.

Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi announced his first match back from injury will take place on the 3rd May Korakuen Hall show. He’s been recovering from a separated shoulder since last summer.


BASARA “VAJRA 58 ~FOX PRINCE~” Results

January 21, 2018

BASARA “VAJRA 58 ~FOX PRINCE~”, 21/01/2018
Tokyo BASEMENT MON☆STAR
133 Fans – No Vacancy

1. Tsutomu Oosugi defeated SAGAT with a Sunset Flip (8:09).
2. Reversal Pro Wrestling Trial: Guts Ishijima defeated Gouma Ryu and Hercules Senga when Ishijima pinned both Ryu and Senga with a Double Lariat (6:19).
3. Isami Kodaka defeated Takato Nakano with the Diving Double Knee Drop (10:32).
4. FUMA, Trans-Am ★ Ryuichi & Yusuke Kubo defeated Takumi Tsukamoto, Yasu Urano & Daichi Kazato when FUMA pinned Kazato with the Heavy Metal Anthem (14:56).
5. Ryuichi Sekine Debut 10th Anniversary Memorial Match – 60 Minute Iron Man Match: Ryuichi Sekine (3) defeated Ryota Nakatsu (2) (60:00).
5a. Ryota Nakatsu (1) defeated Ryuichi Sekine (0) with the Cross Armbreaker (19:07).
5b. Ryuichi Sekine (1) defeated Ryota Nakatsu (1) with the Let’s Combine (23:18).
5c. Ryota Nakatsu (2) defeated Ryuichi Sekine (1) by Countout (29:40).
5d. Ryuichi Sekine (2) defeated Ryota Nakatsu (2) with the Let’s Combine (37:08).
5e. Ryuichi Sekine (3) defeated Ryota Nakatsu (2) with the Let’s Combine (40:00).

To celebrate 10 years in pro wrestling Ryuichi Sekine took on his Cavalry buddy Ryota Nakatsu in a 60 minute Ironman match. Sekine came out on top thanks to the Let’s Combine crab hold. The submission hold was used to make Nakatsu submit three times throughout the match. Nakatsu was only able to beat Sekine twice, once by countout after beating him up too much outside the ring. Both wrestlers were exhausted by the end and collapsed when the time expired. Sekine told Nakatsu he had nothing left after that. Nakatsu asked Sekine if he was still alive then congratulated him on his anniversary. Sekine pointed out that it wasn’t just his 10th anniversary. Today is also the 2nd anniversary of BASARA’s debut show! It irks him that BASARA is seen as Isami Kodaka’s promotion. Sekine just main evented the 2nd anniversary show in an hour long match. It should be him standing at the head of BASARA!

Since Takumi Tsukamoto is teaming with Yasu Urano for this year’s IRON FIST TAG TOURNAMENT, Isami Kodaka had to find another partner in order to enter the competition. After beating Takato Nakano, Kodaka decided that Nakano is just the guy he is looking for. But before he could confirm it, Yoshihisa Uto from Big Japan entered the ring. Uto teamed with Kodaka at the New Year’s Eve tag tournament, an experience Kodaka would like to forget. Kodaka & Uto will be entering the tournament. Nakano felt left out and asked what would happen to him. Kodaka told him that he will be teaming with Akiyori Takizawa in the tournament.

Last November Guts Ishijima went to pro wrestling court accused of breaking the Labour Standards Act. Today he was back in court accused of perjury in regards to comments he made from the previous case. Ishijima previously said that he was doing what he could to keep GUTS World alive. Hercules Senga claims this is false and Ishijima had talked to him about folding the company months before it happened. Senga also accused a bunch of GUTS World wrestlers of assaulting him and others when they all got drunk one time. Ishijima denied having memory of either situation and demanded proof. SAGAT was called in and he said he suffered a head injury during the brawl. Gouma Ryu objected and said SAGAT got that injury from a wrestling match he took part in that same day. Takumi Tsukamoto came out claiming the same injury. Senga then accused Ishijima of kissing women when he was drunk but Ishijima denied taking part in any kind of masochistic behaviour. Ryu openly regretted representing the same client twice and started a fight with Senga to progress the segment. Ishijima gave both of them a Double Lariat and pinned them. He was declared innocent as a result. Again.