“NEW YEAR’S EVE PRO WRESTLING 2022 ~TOSHIWASURE! SHUFFLE 6-MAN TAG TOURNAMENT~” Results

December 31, 2022

“NEW YEAR’S EVE PRO WRESTLING 2022 ~TOSHIWASURE! SHUFFLE 6-MAN TAG TOURNAMENT~”, 31/12/2022
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
615 Fans – No Vacancy

1. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1: MAO, Yuya Aoki & Yuko Miyamoto defeated Yukio Naya, Hideyoshi Kamitani & Kikutaro when MAO pinned Kikutaro after a Double Choke Slam from Naya & Kamitani (8:06).
2. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1: Kazusada Higuchi, Kota Sekifuda & MUSASHI Vs Chris Brookes, Daisuke Sekimoto & Isami Kodaka ended in a Time Limit Draw (10:00).
2a. Overtime – 1 Count Fall Rule: Kazusada Higuchi, Kota Sekifuda & MUSASHI defeated Chris Brookes, Daisuke Sekimoto & Isami Kodaka when Higuchi pinned Brookes with a Cradle Turnback (1:03).
3. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1: Yuki Ueno, Daichi Hashimoto & Yuma Aoyagi defeated Tetsuya Endo, Yasufumi Nakanoue & Brahman Shu (w/ Brahman Kei) when Aoyagi pinned Kei with a School Boy (7:58).
4. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1: HARASHIMA, Yuki Ishikawa & Masashi Takeda defeated Takeshi Masada, Takuya Nomura & Masato Tanaka when Takeda pinned Masada with the Reverse U Crash (8:31).
5. Ryuji Ito, Abdullah Kobayashi, Jaki Numazawa & Kankuro Hoshino defeated Danshoku Dieno, Antonio Honda, Kazuki Hirata & Shunma Katsumata when Ito pinned Hirata with the Biribiri Dragon Splash (14:27).
6. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Semi Final: MAO, Yuya Aoki & Yuko Miyamoto defeated Kazusada Higuchi, Kota Sekifuda & MUSASHI when Aoki pinned Sekifuda with the Blue Storm (10:15).
7. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Semi Final: Yuki Ueno, Daichi Hashimoto & Yuma Aoyagi defeated HARASHIMA, Yuki Ishikawa & Masashi Takeda when Ueno pinned Ishikawa with the Rolling Guillotine Ace Crusher (11:16).
8. Special 8-Man Tag Match: Konosuke Takeshita, Drew Parker, Cara Noir & RSP defeated Yuji Okabayashi, Kazumi Kikuta, Takuho Kato & Kazumasa Yoshida when Takeshita pinned Yoshida with the Zahi (15:23).
9. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Final: Yuki Ueno, Daichi Hashimoto & Yuma Aoyagi defeated MAO, Yuya Aoki & Yuko Miyamoto when Hashimoto pinned MAO with the Rising DDT (19:21).

Last year’s tournament being built around trios matches was kept around for this year’s edition. Each team featured one DDT wrestler, one Big Japan wrestler and one wild card all of which were random combinations. For everyone involved it was their last chance to grab some glory in the ring before the new year begins.

Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1

Ika Ra Takeshi Ki Asu Manji Hai (Driver’s High) Vs Big Bombers

The atmosphere of the show was set early by the team called Big Bombers. Their entrance included a video of MAO, Yuya Aoki & Yuko Miyamoto all travelling together for a road trip on motorbikes. Their opponents attempted to use a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors to determine who starts but Kikutaro misunderstood. He thought it was just a charade to jump Big Bombers while they weren’t looking so he charged them on his own and got beaten up for it. Kikutaro had even more bad luck, the worse of which involved MAO manipulating Yukio Naya & Hideyoshi Kamitani into Double Choke Slamming their own partner. MAO slipped in for the pin afterward to keep his team’s road trip going.

Team 2023 Vs Super J Cups

The only time limit draw on the show took place in the second match. The Super J Cups are called that because it is a trio of junior heavyweight champions. Supposedly. Kazusada Higuchi’s weight was announced in the venue as 99.999999kg so he was really pushing it. Higuchi spent the end of the match fighting with Daisuke Sekimoto too so nobody was complaining about getting to see that heavyweight battle. It built up to Sekimoto leading Chris Brookes & Isami Kodaka into a Triple Topé Suicida aimed at Higuchi, Kota Sekifuda & MUSASHI. The time limit was reached right when Sekimoto gave Higuchi the German Suplex. When overtime began Sekimoto went straight for the pin but Higuchi kicked out immediately. Brookes tagged in and caught Higuchi in a Prawn Hold. However Higuchi reversed the move and rolled himself on top of Brookes to steal the 1 Count pin needed to win.

Zero Hyaku Vs BraNoue In The Sky With Diamonds

If there is one thing everyone knows about The Brahman Brothers its that they like to stay clean, am I right? Tetsuya Endo & Yasufumi Nakanoue shared their concerns and carried around disinfectant spray. Oh, the two of them were also Brahman-ised and happy to take part in their cheating during the match. Yuma Aoyagi fought back by covering his arms with the metal hoses and Lariating both Brahmans but he ended up pinning Brahman Kei by mistake so the match continued. Nakanoue placed a stake up to Yuki Ueno’s butt (after disinfecting the butt first of course) and Brahman Shu hit it with a chairshot. The gameplan then fell apart due to miscommunication. Endo accidentally hit Kei over the head with a steel tray and then the suitcase thrown by Nakanoue hit Shu instead of Aoyagi. It ended up costing them the match and Zero Hyaku advanced at their expense.

Emi Chichichi (Wara Chichichi) Vs Team Kansai

Round 1 almost closed out with a little bit of death match flavour. Masashi Takeda brought out a pair of scissors which annoyed the referee Yukinori Matsui. When that was taken away we were left with a match on the regular level of danger. I mean Takeda and Masato Tanaka were still on opposite sides of the ring here. We also had HARASHIMA and Takuya Nomura trading kicks against each other. Takeshi Masada though ended up getting the worst of everything. He took a Swan Dive Body Press from HARASHIMA, a Double Stomp from Yuki Ishikawa and was finished off with the Takeda’s Reverse U Crash.

Non-Tournament 8-Man Tag Match

DDT and Big Japan got threw some of their veterans together for an inter-promotional 8-Man Tag. Danshoku Dieno was back to his old self looking for men in the audience to kiss during his entrance. Shunma Katsumata took to taunting Ryuji Ito when the opportunity presented itself. Antonio Honda tried to tell a Gongitsune joke but Jaki Numazawa cut him off so he could tell his own jokes. Gongitsune groaned after every punchline. Kazuki Hirata put on the Hirata GO! glasses and danced until Kankuro Hoshino placed fox ears over his head. The music changed to “What Does The Fox Say” and the two danced until Hirata realised what was going on and fainted. Dieno set himself up in the Hell Gate position in the corner to charge up his teammate’s attacks. Abdullah Kobayashi then revealed he has the same ability, it only works once every four years. Kobayashi then formed his own Hell Gate. Ito placed a steel plate over his chest, used Kobayashi to charge it up and then did the Dragon Splash onto Hirata to give Big Japan the win. Ito declared Big Japan as the winners of the feud against DDT but Dieno refused to accept defeat. Ito and Dieno threw challenges at each other and both left the ring in a huff.

Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Semi Final

Ika Ra Takeshi Ki Asu Manji Hai (Driver’s High) Vs Super J Cups

People still didn’t believe that Higuchi is a junior heavyweight so he tried vaulting the top rope along with his tag partners. The whole thing didn’t work because Sekifuda & MUSASHI were both pulled down and Higuchi tripped. The Driver’s High team capitalised and all three hit Handspring Back Elbows to the opposition. Sekifuda recovered and keep trying to go for the win until Aoki cut him off and stole the win with the Blue Storm.

Zero Hyaku Vs Emi Chichichi (Wara Chichichi)

The death match flavour did show up in this match. Takeda took out his scissors again but put them away, promising to fight fair. Zero Hyaku had a lot of communication problems when Ueno tried to direct Hashimoto & Aoyagi into setting up a Triple Power Bomb properly. The match then broke down when chairs were brought into the ring. Ishikawa and even HARASHIMA threw chairshots at their opponents. Ueno took the chair and hit HARASHIMA with it. Takeda then pulled out a stapler and stapled a show poster onto Ueno’s chest! Ueno got his revenge by stapling the poster onto Ishikawa’s forehead and then pinning him with the Rolling Guillotine Ace Crusher.

Special 8-Man Tag Match

Before the final could take place there was another non-tournament match to get through. Konosuke Takeshita led a team of foreign wrestlers against Yuji Okabayashi and his band of Strong BJ fighters. The DDT related side won this one. Everything was built up to Takeshita, Drew Parker and RSP doing stereo Swanton Bombs along with the Fable on Kazumi Kikuta, Takuho Kato & Kazumasa Yoshida. Takeshita then pinned Yoshida with the Zahi. After the match backstage RSP said he first wrestled in Japan for Big Japan but now he considers himself part if DDT. Takeshita thinks 2023 will see the full return of wrestlers travelling everywhere around the world. Cara Noir did not say anything. Okabayashi is impressed by how much Takeshita has improved since the last time they fought. However he is also happy with the knowledge that his Chops are still effective against Takeshita. Kikuta told the DDT team not to get carried away just because they won. Kato spoke about Parker’s success since leaving Big Japan. He considers himself close to Parker because they are the same age and their birthdays are only a few days apart. Yoshida was happy to get to fight Takeshita.

Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Final

Ika Ra Takeshi Ki Asu Manji Hai (Driver’s High) Vs Zero Hyaku

The final came down to this. The Driver’s High team came out all wearing gear matching with Miyamoto’s. Late in the match MAO & Aoki focused on Missile attacks to Hashimoto until the tables turned. Ueno caught MAO with the Dropkick, Aoyagi hit the Rockstar Buster and Hashimoto hit the Shining Wizard. MAO kicked out of both at one so Hashimoto had to drop him with the Rising DDT, crowning Zero Hyaku as the tournament winners!

The winners received their prize from Sayoko Mita. Aoyagi was happy to win because this was his first New Year’s Eve show. Hashimoto said the team went from Zero to Hyaku! Ueno admitted he never expected Hashimoto to be so mischievous and Aoyagi to be so nice. He doesn’t know what to expect in 2023 but the three of them will continue to change pro wrestling. Aoyagi wants the three of them to reunite for next year’s tournament but he was told it can only happen if the random lottery somehow pairs the three of them together again.

Japan Indie Grand Prix Awards 2022

MVP

1. Kazusada Higuchi
2. Drew Parker
3. Fujita Jr. Hayato
4. Konosuke Takeshita
5. Yumehito Imanari

Best Bout

1. MUSASHI Vs Fujita Jr. Hayato (Michinoku Pro, 1st July)
2. Jun Kasai Vs El Desperado (JUST TAP OUT, 12th September)
3. Hartley Jackson Vs Mizuki Watase (Ganbare☆Pro, th )
4. Drew Parker Vs Masashi Takeda (FREEDOMS, 16th November)
5. Konosuke Takeshita Vs Tetsuya Endo (DDT, 20th March)

Best Unit

1. Pheromones
2. The 37KAMIINA
3. Astronauts
4. CDK
5. Speed Of Sounds

Best Box Office

1. Big Japan @ Yokohama Budokan, 5th May
2. Ganbare☆Pro @ Ota Ward Gymnasium, 10th July
3. Michinoku Pro @ Korakuen Hall, 1st July
4. FREEDOMS @ Yokohama Budokan, 3rd May
5. DDT @ Ryogoku Kokugikan, 20th March

Best Newcomer

1. Daiju Wakamatsu
2. Yukio Naya
3. Takeshi Masada
4. HARUKAZE
5. Jun Masaoka


“NEW YEAR’S WRESTLING 2021 ~TOSHIKOSHI! SHUFFLE 6-MAN TAG TOURNAMENT” Results

December 31, 2021

“NEW YEAR’S WRESTLING 2021 ~TOSHIKOSHI! SHUFFLE 6-MAN TAG TOURNAMENT”, 31/12/2021
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
655 Fans – No Vacancy

1. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1: Kazusada Higuchi, Ryuji Ito & Shiro Koshinaka Vs Chris Brookes, Takuya Nomura & Minoru Fujita ended in a Time Limit Draw (10:00).
1a. Overtime – 1 Count Fall Rule: Chris Brookes, Takuya Nomura & Minoru Fujita defeated Kazusada Higuchi, Ryuji Ito & Shiro Koshinaka when Fujita pinned Ito with the Modified Samson Clutch (0:52).
2. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1: HARASHIMA, Daichi Hashimoto & Kengo Mashimo defeated Soma Takao, Yuya Aoki & Shuji Ishikawa when Hashimoto submitted Aoki with the STF (9:06).
3. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1: Konosuke Takeshita, Yuji Okabayashi & Kuishinbo Kamen defeated Naomi Yoshimura, Kota Sekifuda & Brahman Kei (w/ Brahman Shu) when Takeshita pinned Kei with a Cradle (5:17).
4. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1: MAO, Yasufumi Nakanoue & Shigehiro Irie defeated Akito, Daisuke Sekimoto & Jun Kasai when MAO pinned Akito with the Cannonball 450 (8:50).
5. MUSASHI, Daisuke Kanehira, Takafumi & Tatsuya Hanami defeated Takuho Kato, Kosuke Sato, Hideki Okatani & Yuki Ishida when MUSASHI submitted Ishida with the Modified Sasorikatame (13:40).
6. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Semi Final: HARASHIMA, Daichi Hashimoto & Kengo Mashimo defeated Chris Brookes, Takuya Nomura & Minoru Fujita when Mashimo pinned Fujita with the Vertical Drop Brainbuster (11:41).
7. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Semi Final: Konosuke Takeshita, Yuji Okabayashi & Kuishinbo Kamen Vs MAO, Yasufumi Nakanoue & Shigehiro Irie ended in a Time Limit Draw (15:00).
7a. Overtime – 1 Count Fall Rule: Konosuke Takeshita, Yuji Okabayashi & Kuishinbo Kamen defeated MAO, Yasufumi Nakanoue & Shigehiro Irie when Kamen pinned MAO with a Crushed La Magistral Cradle (0:44).
8. 3 Way Tag Match: Stan Kobayashi & Kazuki Hirata defeated Jaki Numazawa & Antonio Honda Vs Danshoku Dieno & Kankuro Hoshino when Kobayashi pinned Hona with the Bakachinga Anal Elbow (14:21).
9. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Final: HARASHIMA, Daichi Hashimoto & Kengo Mashimo defeated Konosuke Takeshita, Yuji Okabayashi & Kuishinbo Kamen when HARASHIMA pinned Kamen with the Somato (16:19).

The annual New Year’s Eve Shuffle Tag Tournament switched over to a trios format for the end of 2021. Each team consisted of a DDT wrestler, a Big Japan wrestler and a “Dream Slot” wrestler from another company or batch of freelancers.

Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1

I’ll Do It!! Vs Three Brothers Kawaii

Fans didn’t have to wait long for the reveal of Chris Brookes & Takuya Nomura’s mystery partner. It was Minoru Fujita! Their combined cuteness went to a 10 minute stalemate against the rugged trio of Kazusada Higuchi, Ryuji Ito & Shiro Koshinaka. In the final seconds Fujita hit Ito with the SAYONARA but time ran out before the pin. Sudden death overtime meant One Count Fall rules to win. Koshinaka misfired the Hip Attack and hit Ito by accident, allowing Fujita to get the 1 Count to win.

Ikemen’s Vs LEFTOVERS

Next up the team of Soma Takao, Yuya Aoki & Shuji Ishikawa all walked out dressed and posing like Masahiro Chono. They continued the Chono tribute by locking in a Triple STF to HARASHIMA, Daichi Hashimoto & Kengo Mashimo. They got a taste of their own medicine at the end when Hashimoto locked Aoki into his own version of the STF to win. He then encouraged his own team to do Chono’s pose.

Deadlifters Vs I Dream Of Twins, Lizards And Naomi

Things got weirder because next up was The Brahman Brothers entering the ring with Naomi Yoshimura & Kota Sekifuda behind them carrying stuffed toy lizards. Konosuke Takeshita and Yuji Okabayashi brought out chairs looking ready for a fight until they had powder thrown in their faces. Kuishinbo Kamen tried to help but couldn’t do much. Takeshita was given a Low Blow but found a way in his doubled over state to block a Sunset Flip and press down to get the three count.

Ugo Association Vs Team Saiyuki

Before this match began Shigehiro Irie and MAO shook hands to show that their problems are in the past and they can work together. Jun Kasai announced he created a new move and it is punching MAO a lot. MAO took a beating from Akito, Daisuke Sekimoto & Kasai but toughed it out so Yasufumi Nakanoue & Irie could come for the rescue. Akito then got singled out and fell to the trademark moves of his opponents.

Non-Tournament 8-Man Tag Match

The buffer match after Round 1 brought together a mixture of wrestlers from across the indies. DDT & Big Japan were represented by their young generation of Takuho Kato, Kosuke Sato, Hideki Okatani & Yuki Ishida. Their opponents were MUSASHI from Michinoku Pro, Daisuke Kanehira from HEAT-UP, Takafumi from ZERO1 & Tatsuya Hanami from 2AW. In the end MUSASHI picked up the win by making Ishida submit.

Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Semi Final

Three Brothers Kawaii Vs LEFTOVERS

The semi-finals had a tense start when Hashimoto and HARASHIMA declined to shake the other team’s hands. Fujita and Mashimo had a back and forth that ended with Fujita asking for a handshake only to get attacked. HARAHSIMA and Nomura got into a spirited kick-off and Fujita almost pinned Mashimo with the SAYONARA. The tables were turned when Fujita was hit with a Triple Super Kick and Mashimo pinned him with the Vertical Drop Brainbuster.

Deadlifters Vs Ugo Association

Kamen was targeted as the weak link in this match. While Takeshita & Okabayashi cancelled out Nakanoue & Irie the dying moments of the match fell down to Kamen and MAO. Kamen was caught in the Clothespin submission but held out for the last 30 seconds so the match could end in a draw. When Sudden Death began Kamen was quickly given more big blows but when MAO attempted La Magistral Cradle, Kamen blocked it and stole the win with the 1 Count fall.

3 Way Tag Match

The other non-tournament match brought the show back to weird territory. Danshoku Dieno jumped into the Hell Gate position, Kazuki Hirata started dancing, Kankuro Hoshino vanished to be replaced by Kenshiro Hoshino, then Abdullah Kobayashi disappeared and Stan Kobayashi took his place. To cap it all off, Jaki Numazawa left and returned as RoboCop! Antonio Honda was ready to finish the match but tripped and injured his knee. Kobayashi ended up using Dieno’s backside to charge up his Lariat arm and pin Honda with the Bakachinga Elbow.

Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Final

LEFTOVERS Vs Deadlifters

Poor old Kuishinbo Kamen has never won a tournament in his career. His run of luck in these things is so bad that back in Osaka Pro it was a known flaw that he would get eliminated early in their annual tournaments. By making it to the final, today could have finally been his day. Sadly it just wasn’t to be. He brought out some fun antics at the beginning but was there to win with his partners as the match heated up. Okabayashi floored HARASHIMA with a Lariat and Takeshita wiped out Hashimoto & Mashimo with a Topé. But HARASHIMA regained control of the match against Kamen and pinned him with the Somato to win the final.

The tournament winners celebrated and HARASHIMA said he felt good fortunes with his team this year. They were all the last people picked in the lottery draft which is why they called themselves LEFTOVERS in the first place. Hashimoto agreed and thinks it is a sign that the new year will be good to them. He’d like LEFTOVERS to team together for next year’s Shuffle Tag show but doesn’t know if that will happen. Mashimo credited all of the wrestlers involved for making today and exciting tournament and he invited all of them out for a group photo to end the show.

Japan Indie Grand Prix Awards 2021

MVP

1. Konosuke Takeshita
2. Takuya Nomura
3. Drew Parker
4. Takumi Tsukamoto
5. Jun Kasai

Best Bout

1. Takuya Nomura Vs Daisuke Sekimoto (Big Japan, 18th October)
2. The Great Sasuke Vs Jinsei Shinzaki (Michinoku Pro, 4th June)
3. Jun Akiyama Vs Konosuke Takeshita (DDT, 21st August)
4. HARASHIMA Vs Yuji Okabayashi (DDT, 21st November)
5. Tetsu Inada Vs Shota Okamura (Hiragana Muscle, 1st September)

Best Unit

1. Pheromones
2. Astronauts
3. Speed Of Sounds
4. The 37KAMIINA
5. E.R.E

Best Box Office

1. Hiragana Muscle @ Korakuen Hall, 1st September
2. DDT @ Fujitsu Stadium Kawasaki, 21st August
3. CyberFight Festival @ Saitama Super Arena, 6th June
4. Big Japan @ Sapporo Chateraise Gateaux Kingdom, 20th September
5. Masahiro Takanashi Produce @ Shinjuku FACE, 1st August

Best Newcomer

1. Drew Parker
2. Tomoya Hirata
3. Yumehito Imanari
4. Tetsu Inada
5. Kosuke Sato


“NEW YEAR’S EVE WRESTLING 2020 ~TOSHIWASHURE! SHUFFLE TAG TOURNAMENT” Results

December 31, 2020

“NEW YEAR’S EVE WRESTLING 2020 ~TOSHIWASHURE! SHUFFLE TAG TOURNAMENT”, 31/12/2020
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
520 Fans

1. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Yuji Okabayashi & HARASHIMA defeated Yuya Aoki & Yukio Naya when Okabayashi submitted Naya with the Argentine Backbreaker (8:53).
2. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Akira Hyodo & Makoto Oishi Vs Takuya Nomura & Konosuke Takeshita ended in a Time Limit Draw (10:00).
2a. Overtime – 1 Count Fall Rules: Takuya Nomura & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Akira Hyodo & Makoto Oishi when Nomura pinned Hyodo with a Rollover Inverted Cross Armbreaker (2:32).
3. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Yasufumi Nakanoue & Yuki Ueno defeated Drew Parker & Danshoku Dieno when Ueno pinned Dieno with a School Boy (7:35).
4. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Daisuke Sekimoto & Tetsuya Endo defeated Hideyoshi Kamitani & Chris Brookes when Sekimoto pinned Kamitani with the German Suplex (7:04).
5. Fluorescent Lighttube Death Match: Ryuji Ito defeated Shunma Katsumata with the Dragon Splash (11:01).
6. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi Final: Yuji Okabayashi & HARASHIMA Vs Takuya Nomura & Konosuke Takeshita ended in a Time Limit Draw (15:00).
6a. Overtime – 1 Count Fall Rules: Yuji Okabayashi & HARASHIMA defeated Takuya Nomura & Konosuke Takeshita when HARASHIMA pinned Takeshita with a Jackknife Pin (0:26).
7. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi Final: Yasufumi Nakanoue & Yuki Ueno defeated Daisuke Sekimoto & Tetsuya Endo when Nakanoue pinned Sekimoto with the Lariat (8:10).
8. New Year’s Wrestling 2020 Special 8-Man Tag Match: Yukio Sakaguchi, Kazuki Hashimoto, Daichi Hashimoto & Kazusada Higuchi defeated Takuho Kato, Yuki Ishikawa, Keigo Nakamura & Hideki Okatani when Hashimoto pinned Okatani with the Falcon Arrow (13:35).
9. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Final: Yuji Okabayashi & HARASHIMA defeated Yasufumi Nakanoue & Yuki Ueno when Okabayashi pinned Nakanoue with the Golem Splash (17:50).

The annual New Year’s Eve show was a much smaller affair in 2020. Safety precautions meant the show took place earlier in the day and would not roll over into the end of year countdown. The Shuffle Tag Tournament between DDT and Big Japan was also reduced to 8 teams instead of the usual 16.

Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1

Smile Pissari Vs HOT Real JAPAN

Two super heavyweights collided when Yuji Okabayashi and Yukio Naya stood face to face from each other. HARASHIMA kept Yuya Aoki away so Naya spent most of the match in the ring. He got some good shots in with Knee Strikes but Okabayashi cut him off with a Lariat and made him submit to the Argentine Backbreaker. Naya said he wants to fight Okabayashi again. Aoki was apologetic for not getting to help his tag partner more.

170cm Vs Nomutake

It only took until the second match for overtime sudden death rules to kick in. Konosuke Takeshita and Makoto Oishi were scrambling over each other in the dying seconds of the match. When time expired, One Count Fall rules came into play for the restart. Takuya Nomura put Akira Hyodo in a Cross Armbreaker and rolled him onto his shoulders to get the pin. At least Hyodo thought he and Oishi worked well as a team given their age difference.

Nakanoueno Vs Sodomy & Scars

Things got cheeky in Match #3. Danshoku Dieno accidentally put Drew Parker in the Lip Lock. Parker later accidentally pulled down Dieno’s tights to reveal he was wearing a diaper underneath because he still has not recovered from the CO2 attack to his rear end last week. Still he went into the Hell Gate position but Yuki Ueno Dropkicked him in the butt. Yasufumi Nakanoue rushed over to give Parker the Lip Lock while Ueno pinned Dieno with a School Boy. Dieno said afterward there are two kinds of butts in the world. Those that are for entertainment and those that are not.

Daisuke In The Sky Vs LINE Tomodachi

Round 1 ended with Daisuke Sekimoto & Tetsuya Endo defeating Hideyoshi Kamitani & Chris Brookes. It went back and forth until Endo gave Brookes the Tetsuya In The Sky and Sekimoto pinned Kamitani with the German Suplex. Brookes threatened to remove Kamitani from their LINE group backstage but Kamitani convinced him to give him one more chance.

Fluorescent Lighttube Death Match

The first of two non-tournament matches was the long awaited lighttube death match between Ryuji Ito and Shunma Katsumata. Lighttubes, thumbtacks, Lego, a barbed wire bat and even sauna stones were used as weapons. Ito came out on top in the end but he praised Katsumata for keeping up with death matches, especially this week’s schedule. He doesn’t likes saunas though because they are too hot. Katsumata tells him everyone says that at first but they always end up liking it.

Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi Final

Smile Pissari Vs Nomutake

The semi finals began and one of them went into extra time. Okabayashi came out wearing a similar entrance robe as HARASHIMA. Nomura wanted to get into a kick battle with HARASHIMA so that is what he got. In the final minutes, Okabayashi and Takeshita both went down from a Lariat but only Okabayashi got to tag out. HARASHIMA went for the Somato and Takeshita avoided it before the bell rang for a time limit draw. At the restart, HARASHIMA kicked Takeshita’s injured arm, followed with a Thrust Kick to the face and pinned him for the one count with a Jackknife. Nomura would like to team with Takeshita again but he doesn’t know if his regular tag partner Fuminori Abe would approve of it. Takeshita then suggested he could fight against Nomura & Abe.

Nakanoueno Vs Daisuke In The Sky

The tag synergy continued with Sekimoto & Endo wearing each other’s entrance robes. After a Double Torture Rack spot, Endo encouraged Sekimoto to German Suplex him and Ueno together. Ueno slipped out and landed on his feet while Endo took the full brunt of the move. Ueno hit Sekimoto with a Frog Splash and Nakanoue won with a big Lariat. Sekimoto apologised to Endo over and over backstage. He admits his wife tells him he is too careless all the time. Endo promised to improve his fingertip strength so his clutch will get stronger.

New Year’s Wrestling 2020 Special 8-Man Tag Match

The young boys were fed to the grizzly old veterans but they didn’t go down without a fight. Yuki Ishikawa stepped in as a last minute replacement for Kosuke Sato because of injury. Takuho Kato set Keigo Nakamura up to do the Exquisite Moonsault on Kazuki Hashimoto. A nearfall then came when Hideki Okatani gave Kazuki the Northern Lights Suplex. Eruption cut them off and Daichi Hashimoto took over. He resisted Okatani’s chops and pinned him with the Falcon Arrow.

Shuffle Tag Tournament – Final

Smile Pissari Vs Nakanoueno

The final turned out to be a preview of Big Japan’s 2nd January main event with Okabayashi and Nakanoue squaring off. The match started off with them and ended with them. Ueno wiped out HARASHIMA with a Tornillo leading to the Big Japan pair to take it home. Nakanoue hit the Diving Elbow but HARASHIMA broke the pin and hit a Somato into the corner. Okabayashi got a nearfall with a Power Bomb. He then had to use the Golem Splash to get the three count and win the tournament with HARASHIMA! He thanked HARASHIMA for teaming with him and also for the entrance robe. HARASHIMA hopes to keep up with Okabayashi in 2021. Nakanoue & Ueno were happy with their performances considering they never teamed together before today. Maybe they have Osaka Power of love and friendship.

Japan Indie Grand Prix Awards 2020

MVP
1. Minoru Fujita
2. Tetsuya Endo
3. Toru Sugiura
4. Fuminori Abe
5. Daichi Hashimoto

Best Bout
1. Tetsuya Endo Vs Daisuke Sasaki (DDT, 3rd November)
2. Ryuji Ito Vs Minoru Fujita (Big Japan, 29th August)
3. Yuji Okabayashi Vs Daisuke Sekimoto (Big Japan, 23rd November)
4. Onryo Vs Yuko Miyamoto (666, 27th June)
5. Masashi Takeda Vs Daisuke Masaoka (FREEDOMS, 10th November)

Best Unit
1. Astronauts
2. Eruption
3. unchain
4. DAMNATION
5. Wataridori Rengo

Best Box Office
1. Big Japan at Yokohama Bunka Gymnasium, 29th August
2. Hiragana Muscle at Tokyo Korakuen Hall, 9th November
3. DDT at Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium, 3rd November
4. Big Japan at Yokohama Bunka Gymnasium, 30th August
5. Hiragan Muscle at Tokyo Shinagawa The Grand Hall, 21st September

Best Newcomer
1. Rina Yamashita
2. Shunma Katsumata
3. Jun Akiyama
4. Yuki Ishikawa
5. Hideki Okatani


CyberFight Is In Business, BASARA Matches, MagiRabbi Main Events Wrestle Princess

September 1, 2020

Today is the first day of CyberFight being in business. Everyone look busy.

DDT “GET ALIVE 2020”, 07/09/2020
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Akito & Yukio Naya Vs Makoto Oishi & Mizuki Watase
2. Super Sasadango Machine & Antonio Honda Vs Kazuki Hirata & Keigo Nakamura
3. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Sakaguchi & Saki Akai (c) Vs Danshoku Dieno, Seigo Tachibana & Yoshiko
4. Team Big Boomers Vs ALL OUT!: Jun Akiyama & Sanshiro Takagi Vs Konosuke Takeshita & Shunma Katsumata
5. DDT UNIVERSAL Title – No DQ Match: Chris Brookes (c) Vs Drew Parker
6. DAMNATION Vs DISASTER BOX Full Scale Battle! Elimination 10-Man Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki, Tetsuya Endo, Soma Takao, Mad Paulie & Nobuhiro Shimatani Vs HARASHIMA, Naomichi Marufuji, Yuki Ueno, Naomi Yoshimura & Toru Owashi

The DAMNATION Vs DISASTER BOX Elimination Match gets the main event over the DDT UNIVERSAL Title bout. It has CyberFight VP Naomichi Marufuji in it. Curse that preferential treatment!

BASARA “BASARA 132 ~BANQUET~”, 08/09/2020
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Ryuichi Sekine & Daiki Shimomura Vs Tetsuo Usui & Leo Isaka
2. Isami Kodaka Vs Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi (Special Referee: Gouma Ryu)
3. FUMA & SAGAT Vs Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino
4. Fuminori Abe & Daichi Kazato Vs Ryota Nakatsu & Akiyori Takizawa
5. Minoru Fujita Vs Yusuke Kubo
6. IRON FIST TAG Titles: Tsutomu Oosugi & Banana Senga (c) Vs Takumi Tsukamoto & Yasu Urano

Minoru Fujita recently won the BJW Death Match Title. Good for him.

BASARA “BASARA 134 ~THE VICISSITUDES OF LIFE~”, 22/09/2020
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Tetsuo Usui Vs Takuho Kato
2. Isami Kodaka Vs Takuya Nomura
3. Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi & Osamu Nishimura Vs Brahman Shu & Brahman Kei
4. Union MAX Title: Fuminori Abe (c) Vs Ryota Nakatsu

The combined yoga powers of Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi & Osamu Nishimura take on The Brahman Brothers in a rescheduled tag match from the previous Korakuen Hall show last December. Brahman Kei was unable to wrestle at the time so the match was changed into a 3 Way at the last minute.

Two BASARA Vs Big Japan matches are added to the undercard. Isami Kodaka and Takuya Nomura will have their first singles match against each other. The two rookies Tetsuo Usui and Takuho Kato are also going to face off.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “WRESTLE PRINCESS”, 07/11/2020
Tokyo Dome City Hall

1. Princess Of Princess Title: Yuka Sakazaki (c) Vs Mizuki

The biggest match Tokyo Joshi Pro can offer is happening at the biggest stage on their horizon. Mizuki won the Tokyo Princess Cup two years in a row but still sees herself positioned behind Yuka Sakazaki. There are two reasons for this. One, Sakazaki is the Princess Of Princess Champion and two, Mizuki has never beaten her. Tokyo Dome City Hall is where The Magical Sugar Rabbits will pop at their loudest!


DDT “SUMMER VACATION 2020” Results

July 23, 2020

DDT “SUMMER VACATION 2020”, 23/07/2020
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
435 Fans – Super No Vacancy

1. Soma Takao & Mad Paulie defeated Yukio Naya & Keigo Nakamura when Takao pinned Nakamura with the Running Elbow Butt (3:53).
2. Danshoku Dieno, Super Sasadango Machine & Seigo Tachibana defeated Toru Owashi, Naomi Yoshimura & Kazuki Hirata when Tachibana pinned Hirata with the Ikemen Otoshi (8:45).
3. DDT Extreme Title – Special Rules: Shinya Aoki (c) defeated Maku Donaruto with the European Clutch (9:49).
*V4 for Shinya Aoki.
4. Chris Brookes & Drew Parker defeated Daisuke Sasaki & Nobuhiro Shimatani when Parker pinned Shimatani with the Swanton Bomb (11:07).
5. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Sakaguchi & Saki Akai (c) defeated HARASHIMA, Antonio Honda & Riho when Sakaguchi submitted Honda with the Triangle Choke (12:34).
*V1 for Eruption.
6. Junretsu Vs ALL OUT All Out Battle!: Jun Akiyama, Makoto Oishi, Mizuki Watase & Hideki Okatani defeated Konosuke Takeshita, Akito, Shunma Katsumata & Yuki Iino when Akiyama pinned Takeshita with the Wrist Clutch Exploder (17:21).
7. KO-D Openweight Title: Tetsuya Endo (c) defeated Yuki Ueno with the Shooting Star Press (21:45).
*V2 for Tetsuya Endo.

During the week, Tetsuya Endo attempted to use a new dangerous looking move on Yuki Ueno but wasn’t able to pull it off. Today in the Korakuen Hall main event, he was able to do the move. Before that happened, Ueno was ready to hit the WR but Endo grabbed Yukinori Matsui to block it and then he Headbutted his way out of it. Endo threw Ueno over with the Tetsuya In The Sky but Ueno quickly rolled him into a pin for a nearfall. Endo did the move again, going for the pin afterwards but Ueno kicked out at 1. It is here where Endo used his new move, a Wrist Clutch Muscular Bomb. Somehow Ueno kicked out of that too but he was down for good when Endo did the Shooting Star Press.

After the match Endo told Ueno it will be a long time before he wins the KO-D Openweight Title. If he can’t accept that fact then he can try again as many times as he wants. No matter what Ueno does, he is far away from where Endo is at. When Ueno left, Endo asks Hisaya Imabayashi who his next challenger will be. Imabayashi told him it will be the winner of the KING OF DDT tournament and that match will take place at “ULTIMATE PARTY 2020” on 3rd November. Here’s the fun part. If Endo wins the tournament he gets to nominate whoever he wants to be his challenger. He named his top 3 choices, all celebrities but there is one other person he’s thinking of. Kenny Omega!

After weeks of skirmishes the full force clash between ALL OUT and Junretsu went ahead. The match began with Konosuke Takeshita and Jun Akiyama in the ring. It also ended with those two in the ring. Hideki Okatani was in danger early but used a Neckbreaker Drop on Yuki Iino to get out of trouble. Mizuki Watase used a Double Stomp to counter Iino’s Spear. Things for him got more difficult when Akito tagged in and targeted his legs. Makoto Oishi used his wits to make Shunma Katsumata DDT Akito by mistake. Takeshita and Akiyama both tagged in to set up the final minutes of the bout. Takeshita had his opponent in position for a German Suplex when Oishi cut him off with a Swinging Complete Shot. Akiyama got up first and hit Takeshita with Running Knee Butts. He gave a couple of Exploder Suplexes but Takeshita wouldn’t stay down. Akiyama had to use the Wrist Clutch Exploder to put away his new rival.

If you can’t beat them, make them laugh. That’s the usual plan with Antonio Honda yet today it was particularly effective against Yukio Sakaguchi. He couldn’t help himself when Honda brought out the old Gongitsune bit even when the rest of Eruption interrupted it. Riho and Saki Akai had an even fight. Riho stayed on to test herself against Kazusada Higuchi but she needed HARASHIMA’s help to escape from a Canadian Backbreaker. It took the combined effort of the three challengers to take down Higuchi. Honda did the Gongitsune joke in full this time and Sakaguchi burst into laughter. He then made his own Gongitsune hand signs to combat Honda. Riho used Honda as a launching pad to hit Higuchi with the Somato. Akai hit Riho with the Rookie Award kick. Honda got rid of Akai with the Shining Gongitsune. Sakaguchi then trapped Honda in the Triangle Choke to make him submit.

When Eruption won their match, Danshoku Dieno & Seigo Tachibana entered the ring. Both of them want to challenge for the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles. They even have a third friend who agreed to team with them. A video played on the screen showing Yoshiko! The video was Yoshiko explaining what she will do in the ring as if she was baking a cake. First she will squint at her opponents. Then she will throw in 75kg of Elbow Drops. After that she mixes her opponents into one big mess that she will throw onto the canvas. Add in a Diving Senton to finish it off and voila! New KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions fresh out of the oven. Akai is eager to fight Yoshiko again so she accepted the challenge. Sakaguchi looked at Tachibana and wanted to know who the bald guy was standing next to Dieno. Tachibana got mad that Sakaguchi didn’t recognise him after they just wrestled each other two weeks ago. He got even more mad when Higuchi pretended he was going to slice off his little finger. The title match was agreed to take place on 7th September.

Nobuhiro Shimatani proudly showed off a brand new black DAMNATION signboard. Chris Brookes broke it over Daisuke Sasaki’s head. Easy come, easy go. Drew Parker ended up pinning Shimatani with the Swanton Bomb. Parker said in Japanese that the next time he comes to DDT he wants to fight for a championship. He doesn’t want the KO-D Tag Team Titles though. He wants to wrestle Brookes for the DDT UNIVERSAL Title! Brookes also spoke in Japanese, asking if Parker was serious. Hisaya Imabayashi came in to confirm the match but Brookes told him in English that he doesn’t understand Japanese. The title match will happen on the 7th September Korakuen show.

The DDT Extreme Title match was a normal pro wrestling match where wrestlers were allowed to remove their clothes. Maku Donaruto wrestled in grappling gear and wanted to mat wrestle with Shinya Aoki. Things got explicit as tights got pulled down and the wrestlers got into compromising positions. Aoki got his backside exposed while Donaruto was stripped down to his thong. Aoki ended up doing something Donaruto would do and it led him to getting the pin with a European Clutch. Donaruto may have lost but Aoki won a place in his heart after today.

Tachibana is now bald after he lost a Hair Vs Hair match in All Japan during the week. Danshoku Dieno & Super Sasadango Machine knew something looked different about him but couldn’t figure it out. Tachibana was introduced in the ring as a thug, but a harmless one. Kazuki Hirata stood up to him because he’s not as scary as Sakaguchi is. Tachibana put on the Hirata GO! glasses and “Tsuppari High School Rock’n Roll” played instead of “TOKYO GO!” He pinned Hirata with the Ikemen Drop, securing Tachibana’s first win in DDT. Backstage after the match, Naomi Yoshimura said he wants a match with Takuho Kato from Big Japan. Doesn’t matter if it is a singles or for the KO-D Tag Titles.

There wasn’t much chemistry between Yukio Naya & Keigo Nakamura as a tag team. Their big idea for a team move was Naya Choke Slamming Nakamura onto Soma Takao. Takao rolled out of the way and Nakamura was slammed onto the canvas. Mad Paulie got rid of Naya and Takao easily finished off Nakamura.

The 5 Way DISASTER BOX match on the 31st July Beer Garden-Like show will have special rules. The match will continue after every fall with the winners being removed until there is one man left. Hirata protested the rules knowing he will likely be the loser. He asked for Over The Top Rope rules to be included. Toru Owashi agreed but only if the loser of the match takes a punishment afterwards. HARASHIMA thinks that is a great idea and made it official despite Hirata’s complaints.

Some of the spinoffs will return after a lengthy absence. BOYZ will be back on 16th August. The Muscle revival holds its third show “HIRAGANA MUSCLE 3 ~SPECIAL MOVES OUTBREAK~” on 9th November. There will be an open rehearsal show first on 21st September.


“NEW YEAR’S EVE WRESTLING 2019 ~TOSHIWASHURE! SHUFFLE TAG TOURNAMENT” Results

December 31, 2019

“NEW YEAR’S EVE WRESTLING 2019 ~TOSHIWASHURE! SHUFFLE TAG TOURNAMENT”, 31/12/2019
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,232 Fans – No Vacancy

1. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Konosuke Takeshita & Hideyoshi Kamitani defeated Daichi Hashimoto & Akito when Kamitani pinned Akito with the Loyly Diving Elbow Drop (9:36).
2. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Yasufumi Nakanoue & Yuki Iino defeated Yukio Sakaguchi & Kazuki Hashimoto when Nakanoue pinned Hashimoto with a Lariat (6:27).
3. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: HARASHIMA & Yuya Aoki defeated El Lindaman & Yukio Naya when Aoki pinned Lindaman with a Tiger Suplex (9:08).
4. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Daisuke Sekimoto & Chris Brookes defeated Yuji Okabayashi & Antonio Honda when Brookes submitted Honda with the Octopus Stretch (8:48).
5. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Ryuichi Kawakami & T-Hawk Vs Soma Takao & Kota Sekifuda ended in a Time Limit Draw (10:00).
5a. Overtime – 1 Count Fall Rules: Ryuichi Kawakami & T-Hawk defeated Soma Takao & Kota Sekifuda when T-Hawk pinned Sekifuda with the Cerberus (1:02).
6. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Tetsuya Endo & Takuya Nomura defeated Brahman Kei & Naomi Yoshimura when Endo pinned Kei with the Puma Toke de Espaldas (7:07).
7. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Yuko Miyamoto & Daisuke Sasaki defeated Yuki Ueno & Takuho Kato when Sasaki submitted Ueno with the Cross Facelock (7:07).
8. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1 – Lighttube Death Match: Takumi Tsukamoto & Kankuro Hoshino defeated Toshiyuki Sakuda & Shunma Katsumata when Tsukamoto pinned Katsumata with the Suffocation Zudon (7:45).
9. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Yasufumi Nakanoue & Yuki Iino defeated Konosuke Takeshita & Hideyoshi Kamitani when Iino pinned Kamitani with the Spear (8:31).
10. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Daisuke Sekimoto & Chris Brookes defeated HARASHIMA & Yuya Aoki when Sekimoto pinned Aoki with a Lariat (9:03).
11. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Tetsuya Endo & Takuya Nomura defeated Ryuichi Kawakami & T-Hawk when Nomura pinned Kawakami with a Cross Legged Cradle (7:44).
12. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Yuko Miyamoto & Daisuke Sasaki defeated Takumi Tsukamoto & Kankuro Hoshino when Sasaki submitted Hoshino with the Cross Facelock (6:33).
13. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi Final: Tetsuya Endo & Takuya Nomura defeated Yasufumi Nakanoue & Yuki Iino when Endo pinned Iino with the Shooting Star Press (8:01).
14. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi Final: Daisuke Sekimoto & Chris Brookes defeated Yuko Miyamoto & Daisuke Sasaki when Sekimoto pinned Sasaki with the German Suplex (6:45).
15. New Year’s Eve! Defeat Hunger! Very Funny! Special 6-Man Tag Match: Abdullah Kobayashi, Danshoku Dieno & Super Sasadango Machine defeated Tatsuhiko Yoshino, Drew Parker & Mizuki Watase when Kobayashi pinned Watase with the Bakachinga Elbow Drop (8:50).
16. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Final: Tetsuya Endo & Takuya Nomura defeated Daisuke Sekimoto & Chris Brookes when Nomura pinned Sekimoto with the Dragon Suplex (17:19).

A flu pandemic didn’t stop Big Japan from joining up with DDT for the annual New Year’s Eve Wrestling party. In the runup to the show six wrestlers fell ill and had to pull out of the show. While it was a shame that they couldn’t be here it did open up slots for some different faces to take their place.

Round 1

The opening match turned out to be an unusual tribute to Shinjiro Otani. The pairing of Daichi Hashimoto & Akito named themselves Team Shinjiro Otani due to his influence over them. Their opponents Konosuke Takeshita & Hideyoshi Kamitani responded by paying tribute to Masato Tanaka. They both did Tanaka’s pose together while Hashimoto & Akito did Otani’s Fire Sword pose. The Otani team both did the Facewash spot and all looked to be over when Akito punt Takeshita in a Figure 4 Leglock. That was until Kamitani climbed the top rope and hit a Diving Elbow Drop on Akito to get the pin. The losers decided they could no longer call themselves Team Shinjiro Otani so they renamed themselves The Shinjiro Otani Victims Association. They hope Otani will be a member some day.

The next match was all about brute strength against kicking power. Yuki Iino was about to do the Haka Elbow on Yukio Sakaguchi when Kazuki Hashimoto kicked him away. The kickers gave Yasufumi Nakanoue a PK Sandwich but Iino hit both of them with a Double Spear afterwards. Nakanoue & Iino then used their combined strength to Choke Slam Hashimoto. A Lariat from Nakanoue ended the match.

At first it looked like El Lindaman & Yukio Naya were going to get along great. Then they figured out the harsh truth that they are not the same size. They tried doing double team moves together but the 40cm height difference between them made it difficult. Meanwhile HARASHIMA & Yuya Aoki had no such trouble working together. The Lindaman & Naya team fell apart when Naya accidentally hit Lindaman with a Diving Shoulder Block. Lindaman snapped and said some unpleasant things to his partner. An angry Naya Choke Slammed Lindaman and left him to get pinned by Aoki’s Tiger Suplex.

The next match had wrestlers wearing matching gear in their teams. Yuji Okabayashi came out dressed like Antonio Honda while Chris Brookes wore Daisuke Sekimoto’s entrance robe. Honda unleashed Gongitsune after a hot tag. He got Sekimoto in the eyes but Brookes then grabbed both Gon hands and made Honda pinch Okabayashi’s nipples. Brookes locked Honda in an Octopus Stretch for the win. Honda hopes everyone will at least remember Okabayashi’s strawberry costume.

The only match on the show to last the full time limit was Ryuichi Kawakami & T-Hawk Vs Soma Takao & Kota Sekifuda. A lot of the match featured a cuddly toy cobra that Takao brought down to the ring. Unfortunately the cobra ripped in half when Takao & Sekifuda used it to Clothesline on T-Hawk. The time ran out while Sekifuda and T-Hawk had a tug of war over the cobra. Overtime began and Soma swung the cobra at T-Hawk. He ducked and Sekifuda took the hit as the cobra’s remans exploded. T-Hawk gave Sekifuda the Nightride and then the Cerberus knee strike for the one count victory.

We got a rare sighting of a single Brahman Brother wrestling. Brahman Shu was out sing so Brahman Kei was by himself. Good thing Naomi Yoshimura got in the Brahman spirit of things and joined in with Shu’s antics. So did Tetsuya Endo & Takuya Nomura. They stole the buckets of water and threw them at their opponents. Shu placed a suitcase against Endo & Nomura for Yoshimura to throw a bowling ball at. Kei threw the briefcase but Endo ducked and Yoshimura got hit. Nomura blinded Kei with the black India Ink and Endo pinned him with the Puma Toke de Espaldas. Kei blamed the loss on the flu.

The team bonding continued with Daisuke Sasaki wearing similar yankee gear as Yuko Miyamoto. The team of Yuki Ueno & Takuho Kato gelled well together too. Kato held Ueno up on seated on his shoulders and threw him on top of Sasaki for a nearfall. Miyamoto hit Yeno with a Handspring Kneel Kick and then dropped him with the Fire Thunder. The match ended when Sasaki submitted Ueno with the Cross Facelock.

The 1st Round ended with a Lighttube Death Match. Shunma Katsumata has been wanting to do more violent matches so this was his chance. He brought along his own lighttube with Lego attached to it. Takumi Tsukamoto & Kankuro Hoshino gave Katsumata a death match baptism by smashing lighttubes over him. They had control early until Katsumata did some violent spots of his own with the help of Toshiyuki Sakuda. He broke a bundle of lighttubes taped together and revealed there were even more Lego blocks hidden inside it! He gave Hoshino the ¡Hasta la vista! onto the pile but Tsukamoto broke it up. Tsukamoto placed a plastic bag over Katsumata to suffocate him then hit the Zudon for the win. They shook hands after the match and Katsumata smashed the last remaining lighttube over his own head.

Round 2

Round 2 began with a bit of an upset. Nakanoue & Iino defeated Takeshita & Kamitani, ending Takeshita’s streak of reaching the final! The Double Choke Slam was the difference maker again, this time with Iino hitting the Spear on Kamitani to in the match.

As the tournament progressed, the team bonds were getting stronger. Aoki came out wearing matching HARASHIMA gear. Meanwhile Sekimoto joined Brookes in given Aoki a wet willy while he was in a Camel Clutch. HARASHIMA went for the Somato but Brookes dodged it and caught him in the Octopus Stretch. With HARASHIMA held in place, nobody could stop Sekimoto from pinning Aoki with a Lariat.

There was no nonsense in the Endo & Nomura versus Kawakami & T-Hawk match. Nomura was double teamed on while Endo was cut off from rescuing him. But Nomura escaped from the Nightraide and put Kawakami in a Cross Armbreaker. Kawakami tried to roll out but Nomura clasped his legs into a Cradle to pin him for the flash three count.

The last match in the 2n Round turned weird. Miyamoto came out dressed like Shinobu Kandori. Then Hoshino came out looking like Kenshiro from Fist Of The North Star. He used many of Kenshiro’s attacks but when he told Sasaki “You are already dead” Miyamoto hit him in the back with a chair. Sasaki then made Hoshino quickly tap to the Cross Facelock.

Semi Finals

The tournament was now down to four teams. Nakanoue & Iino threw Endo off the top rope then set Nomura up for the Haka Elbow. Iino went for the Spear but Nomura blocked it with a High Kick. Endo came in to hit a Handspring Overhead Kick before pinning Iino with the Shooting Star Press.

Miyamoto decided to return the favour to Sasaki by wearing a leather jacket and carrying around the DAMNATION signboard. Their run came to an end here when Brookes caught Sasaki by surprise with a Cutter and Sekimoto capitalised with the German Suplex.

Special 6-Man Tag Match

Before the final took place there was a non-tournament 6-Man Tag to get through. At this point in the show it was almost midnight. The countdown appeared on the screen while Danshoku Dieno was up to his usual behavior in the ring. As the final seconds counted down, the locker room emptied out and everybody celebrated the new year. When they left we discovered that the wrestlers in the match were all trampled during the celebration. They recovered and slowly wrestled the rest of the match while the song “SEVEN DAYS WAR” by TM Network played over the speakers.

Final

The first complete pro wrestling match of the new decade saw Endo & Nomura defeated Sekimoto & Brookes. Sekimoto tried to German Suplex Nomura but Endo cut him off with the Springboard Overhead Kick. Nomura then tried to German Suplex Sekimoto but Brookes cut him off with a Diving Foot Stomp. Endo had to wipe out Brookes with the Sasuke Special so Nomura could hit the Dragon Suplex on Sekimoto to win the tournment!

Japan Indie Grand Prix Awards

MVP
1. Isami Kodaka
2. Konosuke Takeshita
3. Daisuke Sekimoto
4. HARASHIMA
5. Minoru Fujita

Best Bout
1. Daisuke Sekimoto Vs Michael Elgin (Big Japan, 24th August)
2. Konosuke Takeshita Vs HARASHIMA (DDT, 3rd November)
3. Isami Kodaka Vs Yuko Miyamoto (Big Japan, 4th November)
4. Daisuke Sekimoto & Walter Vs Yuji Okabayashi & Yuji Hino (Big Japan, 4th November)
5. Jun Kasai Vs Toru Sugiura (FREEDOMS, 1st October)

Best Unit
1. #STRONGHEARTS
2. Kobayashi-gun
3. DAMNATION
4. Yuji Okabayashi & Shigehiro Irie
5. Sento Minzoku

Best Box Office
Tied 1. DDT at Sumo Hall, 3rd November & Big Japan at Sumo Hall, 4th November
3. Muscle at Sumo Hall, 16th February
4. Shin Nemuro Pro Wrestling at Shin-Kiba 1st RING, 13th October
5. Michinoku Pro at Shinjuku FACE, 27th November

Best Newcomer
1. Keigo Nakamura
2. Toshiyuki Sakuda
3. Maku Donaruto
4. Chris Brookes
5. Asuka


New Year’s Tag Changes, January Updates, Great Nita Returns, Tanaka Gets Title Shot

December 30, 2019

“NEW YEAR’S EVE WRESTLING 2019 ~TOSHIWASHURE! SHUFFLE TAG TOURNAMENT”, 31/12/2019
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1A: Daichi Hashimoto & Akito Vs Konosuke Takeshita & Hideyoshi Kamitani
2. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1B: Yasufumi Nakanoue & Yuki Iino Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Kazuki Hashimoto
3. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1C: HARASHIMA & Yuya Aoki Vs El Lindaman & Yukio Naya
4. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1D: Yuji Okabayashi & Antonio Honda Vs Daisuke Sekimoto & Chris Brookes
5. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1E: Ryuichi Kawakami & T-Hawk Vs Soma Takao & Kota Sekifuda
6. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1F: Brahman Kei & Naomi Yoshimura Vs Tetsuya Endo & Takuya Nomura
7. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1G: Yuko Miyamoto & Daisuke Sasaki Vs Yuki Ueno & Takuho Kato
8. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1H: Takumi Tsukamoto & Kankuro Hoshino Vs Toshiyuki Sakuda & Shunma Katsumata
9. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Winners Of Match 1A Vs Winners Of Match 1B
10. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Winners Of Match 1C Vs Winners Of Match 1D
11. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Winners Of Match 1E Vs Winners Of Match 1F
12. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Winners Of Match 1G Vs Winners Of Match 1H
13. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi Final: X & X Vs X & X
14. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi Final: X & X Vs X & X
15. New Year’s Eve! Defeat Hunger! Very Funny! Special 6-Man Tag Match: Abdullah Kobayashi, Danshoku Dieno & Super Sasadango Machine Vs Tatsuhiko Yoshino, Drew Parker & Mizuki Watase
16. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Final: X & X Vs X & X

There is a flu going around this week and it hit the Big Japan roster pretty hard. A number of wrestlers had to pull out of shows this week either due to the flu or high fevers. Ryuji Ito, Isami Kodaka, Ryota Hama, Brahman Shu, Orca Uto and Yuki Ishikawa are all out of the New Year’s Eve show. This means five teams had to be changed with one team entirely getting replaced. The changes are as follows:

Konosuke Takeshita & Orca Uto -> Konosuke Takeshita & Hideyoshi Kamitani
Ryota Hama & Yuki Ueno -> Yuki Ueno & Takuho Kato
Brahman Brothers & Naomi Yoshimura -> Brahman Kei & Naomi Yoshimura
Isami Kodaka & Yuki Ishikawa -> Takumi Tsukamoto & Kankuro Hoshino
Ryuji Ito & Shunma Katsumata -> Toshiyuki Sakuda & Shunma Katsumata

DDT “NEW YEAR SPECIAL GIFT! ALL SEATS 2,000 YEN BOX OFFICE!! 2020”, 03/01/2020
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Time Difference Battle Royal: Toru Owashi (c) Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Yuki Iino Vs Antonio Honda Vs Saki Akai Vs Gorgeous Matsuno Vs Mizuki Watase Vs Yukio Naya Vs Keigo Nakamura
2. Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Mad Paulie & Hiroshi Yamato
3. New Year! Special 3 Way Match: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Danshoku Dieno Vs Super Sasadango Machine
4. HARASHIMA & Shinya Aoki Vs Masahiro Takanashi & Makoto Oishi
5. MAO Triumph Match: MAO Vs Shunma Katsumata
6. New Year! Special Worldwide Match: Masato Tanaka Vs Chris Brookes
7. Tetsuya Endo & X Vs Konosuke Takeshita & Akito
8. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Daisuke Sasaki & Soma Takao (c) Vs Yuki Ueno & Naomi Yoshimura

This is the match order for the first DDT show of 2020.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TOKYO JOSHI PRO ’20”, 04/01/2020
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Sena Shiori Debut Match: Sena Shiori & Makoto Kiryu Vs Haruna Neko & Mina Shirakawa
2. Shoko Nakajima Vs Hyper Misao
3. Saki Akai Vs Yuki Kamifuku
4. Aja Kong, Raku & Pom Harajuku Vs Yuna Manase, Mina Shirakawa & Mirai Maiumi
5. Natsumi Maki Return Match: Natsumi Maki Vs Sareee
6. Mizuki Vs Thunder Rosa
7. International Princess Title: Maki Itoh (c) Vs Hikari Noa
8. Princess Tag Team Titles: Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe (c) Vs Nodoka Tenma & Yuki Aino
9. Princess Of Princess Title: Yuka Sakazaki (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita

And this is the match order for the first Tokyo Joshi Pro show of 2020.

DDT “NEW YEAR DRAMATIC ITABASHI SERIES 2020”, 05/01/2020
Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall

1. Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Hiroshi Yamato & Keigo Nakamura
2. MAO Vs Makoto Oishi
3. O-40 Title: Gorgeous Matsuno (c) Vs Danshoku Dieno
4. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Daisuke Sasaki & Soma Takao (c) Vs Keisuke Ishii & Kazuki Hirata

The newly established team of Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Sakaguchi are ready to cause havoc in DDT. Higuchi thinks the place just hasn’t been the same without him.

DDT “ROJO PRO WRESTLING IN HANDMADE IN JAPAN FES WINTER (2020)”, 11/01/2020
Tokyo Big Sight West 1.2 Hall

1. Falls Count Anywhere 4 Way Tag Match: Shunma Katsumata & Yuki Iino Vs Yuki Ueno & Naomi Yoshimura Vs Makoto Oishi & Yukio Naya Vs MAO & Keigo Nakamura

A new year and a new chance to take up a visit to the arts & crafts festival.

DDT “WRESTLE SHIOKONBU! 2020”, 12/01/2020
Osaka City Suminoe Maikon Hall

1. Akito Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga
2. Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya
3. Saki Akai “Okibariyasu” 7 Match Series – 3rd Match: Saki Akai Vs Rina Yamashita
4. DDT Extreme Title: HARASHIMA (c) Vs Pokotan (w/ Danshoku Dieno)
5. Yuni Kid Wrestler Graduation Countdown! Osaka Specialty 6-Man Tag Match: Konosuke Takeshita, Shunma Katsumata & Makoto Oishi Vs Yuki Ueno, Naomi Yoshimura & Yuni

Yuni will say farewell to his childhood as he gets ready for full-fledged pro wrestling training.

The 3rd opponent in Saki Akai’s series is Rina Yamashita. She has been making waves lately as a death match wrestler.

DDT “WRESTLE TOROROKOBU! 2020”, 13/01/2020
Osaka City Suminoe Maikon Hall

1. Saki Akai Vs Makoto Oishi
2. Hiroshi Yamato Vs Akito
3. Yuni Kid Wrestler Graduation Countdown! Special Tag Match In Osaka: Tetsuya Endo & Yuni Vs Toru Owashi & Yuki Ueno
4. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Konosuke Takeshita, Shunma Katsumata & Yuki Iino (c) Vs Kuishinbo Kamen, Antonio Honda & Kazuki Hirata
5. DISASTER BOX Vs DAMNATION!: HARASHIMA & Naomi Yoshimura Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Mad Paulie

Oh shit what if Yuni joins DAMNATION when he’s old enough?

GANBARE☆WRESTLING “GANBARE☆ONITA OYA☆PRO WRESTLING RAISING A FLAG”, 13/01/2020
Osaka City Suminoe Maikon Hall

1. Special 3 Way Match: Miss Mongol Vs Ultimate Spider Jr. Vs Shuhei Washida
2. Special Single Match: Thunder Rosa Vs Itsuki Aoki
3. Special Single Match: Chris Brookes Vs Shinichiro Tominaga
4. Ganpro Special Tag Match: Keisuke Ishii & Yumehito Imanari Vs Shuichiro Katsumura & Kouki Iwasaki
5. Scramble Bunkhouse Street Fight 6-Man Tag Death Match: The Great Nita, Ken Ohka & Hiroaki Moriya Vs Kenichiro Arai, Guts Ishijima & Shota

Due to other commitments of the legal kind, Atsushi Onita is unable to wrestle on this show. However he already went and gotten his replacement. He found The Great Nita wandering around the Indian Ocean and heard Nita wanted to celebrate the new year in Japan. So Onita invited him to visit and take his place in the main event. This will be the first wrestling match for The Great Nita since August 2017.

Yukio Naya met with Onita and asked if he could be part of the next Bakuha Koshien show on 28th March. Onita will consider it if Naya renames himself Taiho III after his grandfather Taiho Koki.

DDT “SWEET DREAMS! 2020”, 26/01/2020
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. KO-D Openweight Title: HARASHIMA (c) Vs Masato Tanaka

In the D-Ou Grand Prix, the final block match between HARASHIMA and Masato Tanaka ended in a time limit draw. Out of this result Tanaka qualified for the final and ended up winning the tournament. But he will not consider DDT fully conquered until he can beat HARASHIMA. The KO-D Openweight Champion feels the same and is putting the title on the line for the chance to beat Tanaka.

GANBARE☆WRESTLING “GANBARE☆JOSHI PRO WRESTLING 2020”, 02/02/2020
Tokyo Oji BASEMENT MON☆STAR

1. GanJo Vs DDT Wrestling Classroom Full Battle – Count-Up Fall Match: X Vs Cherry
2. Special Singles Match – Jacket Match: HARUKAZE Vs Yuu
3. GanJo Vs DDT Wrestling Classroom Full Battle – 2 Count Fall Match: Moeka Haruhi Vs Banny Oikawa
4. GanJo Type Lariat Pro Wrestling: KEIKO, Beauty Suzuki & Eagle Washida Vs Shigeko Deluxe, Miss Mongol & Kokoro Suzuki
5. GanJo Vs DDT Wrestling Classroom Full Battle 6-Woman Tag Team Elimination Match: Moeka Haruhi, HARUKAZE & X Vs Cherry, Yuu & Banny Oikawa

Daisuke Kiso wanted the main event to definitively decided which team is better so he made it an Elimination Tag Match.

The 2 Count match was made to even the playing field between Moeka Haruhi and the less experienced Banny Oikawa.

Both HARUKAZE and Yuu will be wrestling in judo jackets because HARUKAZE wants the match to be entirely about grappling and groundwork.

The Count-Up Fall Match adds up the pinfall counts a wrestler makes. The first to reach their total count up to a predetermined number wins. Cherry’s opponent will be revealed on the day of the show. The mystery wrestler is hinted to be very beautiful and will also be a regular for Ganbare☆Wrestling in 2020.

Keisuke Ishii, Shigehiro Irie, Shota, Shuhei Washida and Shin Suzuki were all meant to be on the show but now they will not be there. Luckily a bunch of “joshi” replacements were quickly found.