DDT “JUDGEMENT 2022 ~DDT 25TH ANNIVERSARY~” Preview

March 18, 2022

DDT “JUDGEMENT 2022 ~DDT 25TH ANNIVERSARY~”, 20/03/2022
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

0. Dark Match: Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Toui Kojima, Yuki Ishida Vs Yusuke Okada, Yuya Koroku & Ilusion
0. Dark Match – Time Admission Tag Battle Royal: Tomohiko Hashimoto & Seiya Morohashi Vs Soma Takao & Shota Vs Minoru Fujita & MJ Paul Vs Yuji Hino & Yukio Naya Vs Gorgeous Matsuno & Gota Ihashi Vs Andreza Giant Panda & Super Sasadango Machine
1. KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles: Toru Owashi, Antonio Honda, Kazuki Hirata & Yoshihiko (c) Vs Poison Sawada JULIE, Takashi Sasaki, GENTARO, MIKAMI & Thanomsak Toba (w/ Naomi Susan)
2. Special Single Match: Saki Akai Vs Maya Yukihi
3. DDT 25th Anniversary Special Single Match – No DQ “I’m Sorry” Match: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Michael Nakazawa
4. Special Tag Match: Isami Kodaka & Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Yuki Ueno & Shunma Katsumata
5. LiLiCo Retirement Match: LiLiCo, Ryohei Odai & Akito (w/ Junretsu) Vs Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno, Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari
6. Jun Akiyama 30th Anniversary Match: Jun Akiyama & Takao Omori Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Hideki Okatani
7. DDT Universal Title – Hardcore 3 Way Match: Daisuke Sasaki (c) Vs Jun Kasai Vs MAO
8. KO-D Tag Team Titles: HARASHIMA & Naomi Yoshimura (c) Vs Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi
9. KO-D Openweight Title – Japan Bakery Marketing Presents: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Tetsuya Endo

Bloody hell this thing lasted 25 years. TWENTY FIVE YEARS! DDT is a company that was put together by a promoter named Shintaro Muto* along with three wrestlers who exited Pro Wrestling Crusaders with him in 1996. Those three wrestlers are known today by the names Sanshiro Takagi, MIKAMI and NOSAWA Rongai. Fast forward to 2022. DDT is now celebrating its silver anniversary and is a key part of the second most powerful wrestling conglomerate in Japan. Its very first show in March 1997, one that was held even before the name Dramatic Dream Team was decided on, was called “JUDGEMENT” because the audience was asked to vote on whether or not the actual launch in May should go ahead. 154 people voted for the launch to proceed and 24 people voted to cancel it. Thank God nobody listened to those 24 people.

There is plenty on show to celebrate the 25th Anniversary. Many figures from the company’s past are flocking into Sumo Hall to join with the present and perhaps future of DDT. Four championships are on the line, career milestones are being acknowledged, grudges will be settled, a retirement will take place and the headline match features the two wrestlers DDT spent the last decade building up to be their star players.

*It is very difficult to find information about Muto online. He was a part of PWC behind the scenes but other than that I don’t know what his background is. There’s an old blog post from 2007 where Takagi jokes about Muto always finding newly opened club venues for DDT to hold shows at. There’s also a picture Takagi tweeted of him from his wedding party in 2009 if you want to see what he actually looked like back then.

0. Dark Match: Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Toui Kojima, Yuki Ishida Vs Yusuke Okada, Yuya Koroku & Ilusion

This one had a last minute change of plans. El Unicorn was supposed to be in this match but tested positive for covid a few days before the show. Tomomitsu Matsunaga is taking his place. He in-ring time for much of the year was as a opening match substitute for anyone who is suddenly out of action. The other DDTeeeen!! wrestler Ilusion has wrestled twice so far this year as the heel representation of the brand. Yusuke Okada also had some covid setbacks that set him back but he has since found his place in the BURNING unit. Yuki Ishida has been a bright spark in the ring so far. He can turn into a little sumo firecracker if he keeps it up.

The fun part of this match is the growing feud between the rookies Toui Kojima and Yuya Koroku. These two have been at each other’s throats in a lot of The 37KAMIINA Vs BURNING matches and Koroku has gotten Kojima’s number every time. At first the losses got to Kojima and made him cry. But he swore the next time he cries it will be from tears of joy when he finally beats Koroku! Even if it happens on the first match of the pre-show, it will still mean the world to him if he pulls it off here.

0. Dark Match – Time Admission Tag Battle Royal: Tomohiko Hashimoto & Seiya Morohashi Vs Soma Takao & Shota Vs Minoru Fujita & MJ Paul Vs Yuji Hino & Yukio Naya Vs Gorgeous Matsuno & Gota Ihashi Vs Andreza Giant Panda & Super Sasadango Machine

Some DDT nostalgia fills up the Dark Match Tag Team Rumble. The Double Bridge team of Tomohiko Hashimoto & Seiya Morohashi returns for this match. Hashimoto was a regular part of DDT shows in the 2000s while Morohashi stuck around the DDT family up until 2016. Soma Takao & Shota have been bouncing around Ganbare☆Pro as ROMANCE DAWN and having fun doing so. Not so fun is the DAMNATION T.A pair of Minoru Fujita & MJ Paul. The big boys Yuji Hino & Yukio Naya are still together despite a lack of success as a team. Gorgeous Matsuno will be there to serenade the fans while Gota Ihashi will hopefully try a fat boy Moonsault. That leaves Super Sasadango Machine joining forces with an old opponent. It’s the return of Andreza Giant Panda! It is the first time Andreza has been in Sumo Hall since Muscle ran there in 2019. Sadly his master Samson Miyamoto passed away during September 2020 but Andreza continues to make sporadic appearances in wrestling shows around the country.

1. KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles: Toru Owashi, Antonio Honda, Kazuki Hirata & Yoshihiko (c) Vs Poison Sawada JULIE, Takashi Sasaki, GENTARO, MIKAMI & Thanomsak Toba (w/ Naomi Susan)

More nostalgia will be found in the opener. The rules for the KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles are a little muddled up at the moment. It was turned into the KO-D 8-Man Tag Team Titles during the pandemic to reduce spreading covid through the roster. However when it was changed back into a 10-Man Tag Championship, the DDT Variety Team were told to keep defending the belts as a team of four. So the current champions have to take part in 4 Vs 5 Handicap matches until they lose the titles. It’s a tough challenge but the foursome have lasted this long. Toru Owashi spent the year winning a small collection of obscure championships, Antonio Honda keeps finding ways to talk about Gongitsune, Kazuki Hirata is trying to find a new direction but always reverts back to his dancing and Yoshihiko is as dangerous as ever.

A cast of DDT Legends have come to challenge for the title. Poison Sawada JULIE leads the charge with his valet Naomi Susan ready to rattle along to his snake magic. Takashi Sasaki is nowadays known for running FREEDOMS but he was also the fourth wrestler in DDT when it launched. His Aka Rangers tag team partner GENTARO is along for the ride too. MIKAMI is also a DDT original from the very start. If his inspiration Jeff Hardy can still go strong then why can’t he? Plus if MIKAMI is here then you need to get Thanomsak Toba to complete The Suicide Boyz. On behalf of the 2000s message board era of puroresu fans, I apologise for spelling his name Tanomusaku Toba for all these years. It took this long for me to get the Thanomsak Sithbaobay influence.

2. Special Single Match: Saki Akai Vs Maya Yukihi

If you like the free agency/transfer window period in sports then joshi wrestling for the last five months was a blast to follow. Women jumping ship to other promotions, contracts going haywire and promotions turning on their heads meant there was never a dull moment behind the scenes. One of the key figures during this time is Maya Yukihi. For seven years she called Ice Ribbon her home promotion until last December when she was among the wave of talent announcing their intentions to leave the company. Everyone else in the group went on to form Prominence but Yukihi decided to go freelance instead. It makes sense when you see that she already has established roles in OZ Academy along with the Rebel & Enemy faction on the indies. But once she turned freelance, the first place she went to was DDT. Then things got interesting. She hadn’t even worked her first date with DDT yet when Tokyo Sports reported that CyberFight really wanted Yukihi to sign a contract with them.

When Yukihi did have her first match in DDT, she stood across the ring from Saki Akai. Their interactions were respectful during the match and polite afterwards but Yukihi couldn’t help but think Akai was a little bit jealous now she was sharing her DDT spotlight with another woman. As the two continued wrestling each other Yukihi revealed that eight years ago she approached DDT wanting to become a pro wrestler but was turned down. Around that same time period she found out Akai debuted for DDT and essential ended up getting the career she wanted. The positive side to this story is Yukihi found another path to becoming a pro wrestler and it is one she is proud of. Now she wanted to prove that her style of joshi wrestling is better than Akai’s style! A women’s match with a story as powerful as this deserves to take place on an event as important as DDT’s 25th Anniversary so Takagi decided to put it right here in Sumo Hall!

Ever since the match was announced, the tag matches between Akai and Yukihi have become more heated as one would accuse the other of being jealous. Akai would blatantly pin Yukihi with her Rookie Award finisher to rub in the fact she won that category in the Tokyo Sports Awards. Yukihi got her own back by making Akai submit in a later match, figuring out that using her arsenal of moves that nobody from DDT have seen before will be the key to victory. Akai wants to prove that she made it to where she is today through hard work and that she is capable of carrying DDT on her back. But she also can’t help but dig deeper into the insults. She recently gave Yukihi a bouquet of yellow roses because yellow roses represent jealousy. Yukihi promised to give them back to Akai when she beats her!

3. DDT 25th Anniversary Special Single Match – No DQ “I’m Sorry” Match: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Michael Nakazawa

Apologizing to your boss for doing something wrong is a humbling experience that can bruise your ego. However when the tables are turned and your boss apologizes to you it can lift your spirits a lot. So I can kind of relate to what Michael Nakazawa is going through. His first couple of years in DDT were alright but the cracks in his working relationship with Sanshiro Takagi first began in 2008. Nakazawa’s contract with DDT wasn’t renewed despite his intentions to stay with the company. He fought and clawed his way back into DDT later that year but the same situation repeated a year later. Takagi just wanted to get rid of him but somehow Nakazawa would always find a way to get back in! So Takagi decided to do whatever he could think of to embarrass Nakazawa on shows event though he had support from wrestlers like Kota Ibushi and Kenny Omega. Poor Nakazawa had fireworks shot at him, was beaten around like a crash test dummy, got into mismatches against the likes of Minoru Suzuki and even took part in the first Anal Explosion opening ceremony when DDT held their Ryogoku debut. It’s now wonder he held a grudge with Takagi for all these years.

So when Nakazawa was picked up by AEW to work in America it looked like a massive reward for all the crap Nakazawa had to eat in DDT. Finally he was going to be a big star around the world. Unfortunately the matches he has on AEW Dark all reach a level low enough to make Excalibur and Taz consider retirement from broadcasting. However wrestling overseas always makes a wrestler improve no matter who they are and Nakazawa is ready to unload on his old boss. His finishing move the Ultimate Venom Arm has been upgraded to include the AEW initials in the name. Earlier this week he beat Takagi in an impromptu Falls Count Anywhere match held outside of a bookstore. The taste of victory was sweet but not enough. Nakazawa needs something more and that is for Takagi to apologize to him for everything he put him through in his life. Their match at Sumo Hall is No Holds Barred and can take place anywhere inside or out of the building. The only way to win is to make your opponent say “I’m Sorry!” on the microphone. What will it take for either of them to finally admit they were wrong?

4. Special Tag Match: Isami Kodaka & Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Yuki Ueno & Shunma Katsumata

A good mix of wrestlers here. Isami Kodaka was never really a proper member of the DDT roster. He came in through Union Pro and took the indies path that led him to forming BASARA. His absolute peak in DDT was around that time period when he also beat Yukio Sakaguchi to become the company’s top champion. That was seven years ago so there should be no problem with the two teaming together this weekend. But if there is some tension between the two then maybe a visit to the sauna will calm them down.

That’s where The 37KAMIINA come in. Shunma Katsumata’s love for the sauna is so strong he now runs a hut in Tateyama, Chiba called Sea Sauna Shack. In the ring he shows a more violent side that somehow matches his joyful behavior. Maybe it’s the Lego weapons that keeps him from never losing his temper. Yuki Ueno however is making big strides up the ladder, reaching the D-Ou Grand Prix final at the end of last year. It is only a matter of time before he reaches the top of the DDT mountain. Only problem is right now he is stuck in the shadow of his high school classmate. But we’ll eventually cross that bridge when we get to it. Not that it will be anytime soon.

5. LiLiCo Retirement Match: LiLiCo, Ryohei Odai & Akito (w/ Junretsu) Vs Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno, Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari

DDT has held many matches involving celebrities before and LiLiCo is the one who stood out the most. The half Swedish, half Japanese TV personality wrestled several times for DDT between 2014 and 2017. During her time here she won the DDT Extreme Title, the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title and the KO-D 10-Man Tag Titles. She hasn’t wrestled since then but a knee injury suffered two years ago made her want to have one more match so she could have a proper pro wrestling retirement. To make this match even more special, LiLiCo asked for many handsome men to be involved. DDT made it so by including Akito and also her husband Ryohei Odai to be on her team. Odai is an actor who has starred in Kamen Rider shows and was also a part of the pop band Junretsu (whose name inspired the identical sounding DDT unit). Despite that pedigree he does not have the physical tools needed to wrestle. Even running the ropes gives him a bad back ache. When asked for an opponent, LiLiCo suggested one of them be Danshoku Dieno because they had a risky rivalry together. She may end up regretting that because… *sighs* well let’s just get straight into it with Pheromones.

For the last year DDT has been surrounded by Pheromones. Dieno, Yuki Iino & Yumehito Imanari became obsessed over their lusty attitudes and succumbed to their lewd behaviour. Dieno became “Dandy”, Iino became “Sexy” and Imanari became “Fantastic”. They don’t care about winning or losing often. Instead they want to do what they want without any limitation or censorship. Unfortunately their actions often go beyond the line of good taste and decency so many of their matches end before the finish so DDT doesn’t get kicked off Samurai! TV or banned from Youtube. The GM Hisaya Imabayashi often tries to stop them just to end up getting “publicly executed” by Pheromones for getting in their way. You’d be surprised how many ways Dieno and his mates can come up with giving their opponents the Stinkface. Just when I think I’ve seen them all, poof, there’s a new angle one person’s face can be shoved into another person’s backside. It’s kind of impressive actually.

So that is what LiLiCo and her handsome men have to deal with. She’s up for the challenge and is threatening to cut off Dieno’s you know what if she has to. Akito has this match to worry about alongside his CyberFight VP duties. And Odai still needs to learn how he can fight in the ring when he gets blisters just from pointing at stuff. As retirement matches go it’s not quite on the level of Genichiro Tenryu but I think it can get close enough.

6. Jun Akiyama 30th Anniversary Match: Jun Akiyama & Takao Omori Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Hideki Okatani

There’s an alternate timeline where Jun Akiyama was able to travel in America in 2020 and coach at the WWE Performance Center. What a gift DDT would have missed out on if that went ahead as planned. Instead he was offered a guest coaching spot in, slowly made the transition over from All Japan to join the company full time and the rest is history. And that history is important because Akiyama is celebrating 30 years in pro wrestling this year. All Japan gave permission for Takao Omori to come on over and bring back the Burning Wild tag team for one night only. However their opponents are not in the mood to wish them well for their accomplishment.

Eruption added a new member this year and it is somebody Akiyama knows well. The young wrestler Hideki Okatani learned from him as part of the Junretsu stable but now he is on a new path to become the Red Fighting Spirit. Kazusada Higuchi tested the kid before accepting him into Eruption and now the unit has renewed energy flowing through it. The two of them would love nothing more than to beat Akiyama and surpass him. When Omori heard about the disrespect coming from his opponents he threatened to crush them in the ring! What was meant to be an honorable tag team match may turn into a war between generations!

7. DDT Universal Title – Hardcore 3 Way Match: Daisuke Sasaki (c) Vs Jun Kasai Vs MAO

There’s a bunch of stories going on in this match but you can ignore the MAO stuff. That’s what the other two are doing. MAO pinned Daisuke Sasaki during the Ultimate Tag League and demanded a shot at his DDT Universal Title. Sasaki refused and continued doing so when MAO kept demanding the match. Then Jun Kasai returned to DDT wanting Sasaki to do a rematch of their Hardcore war at Saitama Super Arena five years ago. Sasaki is the only wrestler in DDT that excites Kasai because he couldn’t beat him back then. Sasaki agreed to the rematch but still had MAO following him claiming to have the next title shot. The solution was to do a 3 Way Hardcore match. That way Sasaki gets to fight Kasai again and MAO will finally leave him alone. The latter hasn’t happened yet, MAO still follows him around trying to get his attention. Sasaki had to go deep into the Nerima mountains for special training to finally escape from him. Even then MAO eventually figured out there are no mountains in Nerima.

The situation going into this match is Sasaki and Kasai are only focused on each other. Kasai’s goal is to maim and embarrass Sasaki. Taking the Universal Title from him will naturally happen as part of the process. The champion wants to make Kasai vomit blood and cry in despair that he will never beat Sasaki. MAO would just like his opponents to notice him for once.

8. KO-D Tag Team Titles: HARASHIMA & Naomi Yoshimura (c) Vs Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi

HARASHIMA & Naomi Yoshimura pulled off an unusual gambit for this year’s Ultimate Tag League. They were the reigning KO-D Tag Team Champions but decided to vacate the belts before the tournament so they would be rewarded to the League winners. Their logic was by entering the League without the championship, they were on an even playing field to everyone else. Therefore winning the tournament will be undeniable proof that DISASTER BOX is the strongest tag team in DDT. Their plan worked and their pay off was having the KO-D Tag Titles returned to them. Things may have turned out different though because the Tag League was pretty much cursed from the get go.

Learn this lesson. Never run a round robin tournament during a pandemic. The Tag League this year was riddled with forfeits because wrestlers kept catching covid or had to stay home because they were close contacts. CDK only wrestled two matches and won both of them but had to forfeit the rest of their matches because Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi both had separate positive cases. They had no chance of reaching the finals despite winning matches when they were able to compete. Plus one of those wins was against DISASTER BOX!

The champions did not forget about that. Their only loss in the Tag League was against CDK in the group stage so minutes after the final was over and they received their prizes, the call out was made. DISASTER BOX wanted the rematch and would put the KO-D Tag Titles on the line! CDK accepted the challenge, believing the belts should belong to them anyway. They’ve been using every trick in their book to get the upper hand in recent matches and they also won the Asia Dream Tag Team Titles in ChocoPro. Meanwhile HARASHIMA has his trusty old Somato while Yoshimura now has a new F5 style finisher called the Osaka Dream. It is the strongest tag team in DDT taking on the most dramatic and dreamiest tag team!

9. KO-D Openweight Title – Japan Bakery Marketing Presents: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Tetsuya Endo

The main event of the 25th Anniversary show cannot fit in all 25 years of DDT’s history into one match but it will complete the decade long story of Konosuke Takeshita and Tetsuya Endo. Last year was the most impressive yet from Takeshita. He overcame a bad period of results by going overseas to AEW and coming back as a complete pro wrestler who was finally comfortable in his own skin. He regained the KO-D Openweight Title and has swept through everyone who stood in his way. All that is left to challenge him is an opponent who probably knows him more than anyone else.

Endo needed to find a new direction and control his own fate after the original DAMNATION was forced to split up. He was happy being the right hand man back then but the time had come for him to have a new unit he could call his own. He had some wise men guiding him along the process. Kenta Kobashi had been supporting Endo and decided to pair him with Jun Akiyama to start off. Endo then decided to add in Yusuke Okada and Yuya Koroku to complete the group. All that was needed was a name. Endo took inspiration from his two mentors and revived the name BURNING with their permission. A name with that much history would motivate Endo to work his hardest to live up to it. Everything was set up and Endo now only needs one last piece to complete the puzzle. The KO-D Openweight Title. When Takeshita asked for a challenger to face him for DDT’s 25th Anniversary, Endo came out and said he was the only one who can face him at Sumo Hall.

It was said before that this is not a rivalry because rivals are meant to motivate each other to do their best. These two are enemies. The proof can be seen from the last four months of DDT shows where The 37KAMIINA Vs BURNING has dominated the main events and upper parts of the cards. Endo has upgraded the Shooting Star Press. First he changed the name to the Burning Star Press and now it is The Best Burning Star Press In The Universe. It is a move Endo was able to pin Takeshita with in response to Takeshita submitting him with the Plus Ultra a few days earlier. It has been a tight conflict and the only thing for certain is whoever wins will lead DDT into its 26th year and beyond!


El Unicorn Pulled From 25th Anniversary Show

March 17, 2022

DDT “JUDGEMENT 2022 ~DDT 25TH ANNIVERSARY~”, 20/03/2022
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

0. Dark Match: Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Toui Kojima, Yuki Ishida Vs Yusuke Okada, Yuya Koroku & Ilusion
0. Dark Match – Time Admission Tag Battle Royal: Tomohiko Hashimoto & Seiya Morohashi Vs Soma Takao & Shota Vs Minoru Fujita & MJ Paul Vs Yuji Hino & Yukio Naya Vs Gorgeous Matsuno & Gota Ihashi Vs Andreza Giant Panda & Super Sasadango Machine
1. KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles: Toru Owashi, Antonio Honda, Kazuki Hirata & Yoshihiko (c) Vs Poison Sawada JULIE, Takashi Sasaki, GENTARO, MIKAMI & Tanomusaku Toba (w/ Naomi Susan)
2. Special Single Match: Saki Akai Vs Maya Yukihi
3. DDT 25th Anniversary Special Single Match – No DQ “I’m Sorry” Match: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Michael Nakazawa
4. Special Tag Match: Isami Kodaka & Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Yuki Ueno & Shunma Katsumata
5. LiLiCo Retirement Match: LiLiCo, Ryohei Odai & Akito (w/ Junretsu) Vs Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno, Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari
6. Jun Akiyama 30th Anniversary Match: Jun Akiyama & Takao Omori Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Hideki Okatani
7. DDT Universal Title – Hardcore 3 Way Match: Daisuke Sasaki (c) Vs Jun Kasai Vs MAO
8. KO-D Tag Team Titles: HARASHIMA & Naomi Yoshimura (c) Vs Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi
9. KO-D Openweight Title – Japan Bakery Marketing Presents: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Tetsuya Endo

El Unicorn has been pulled off the show after he tested positive for covid. Tomomitsu Matsunaga takes his place in the first pre-show match.


Video – LiLiCo’s Debut Match

February 25, 2022

DDT “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2015 ~FROM DDT WITH LOVE~”, 23/08/2015
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
6,670 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

Time Difference Tag Battle Royal: MIKAMI & Shunma Katsumata Vs Gorgeous Matsuno & Great Kojika Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Kouki Iwasaki Vs Hoshitango & Mio Shirai Vs Hiroshi Fukuda & Yoshihiko Vs Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Aja Kong & Makoto Oishi Vs LiLiCo & Suguru Miyatake


DDT “SWEET DREAMS! 2022 ~ULTIMATE TAG LEAGUE 2022 OPENING ROUND~” Results

January 30, 2022

DDT “SWEET DREAMS! 2022 ~ULTIMATE TAG LEAGUE 2022 OPENING ROUND~”, 30/01/2022
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
516 Fans – No Vacancy

0. Dark Match – 3 Vs 2 Handicap Match: Antonio Honda & Yusuke Okada defeated Toru Owashi, Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Yuki Ishida when Okada pinned Ishida with the Sudden Death (6:46).
1. Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani defeated Akito, Soma Takao, Toui Kojima & Yuya Koroku when Okatani pinned Kojima with the Diving Knee Drop (10:32).
2. Ultimate Tag League 2022 – B Block: Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari (2) defeated Shunma Katsumata & MAO (0) when Imanari pinned MAO with the Pheromone Clutch (9:35).
3. Ultimate Tag League 2022 – A Block: Konosuke Takeshita & Yuki Ueno (2) defeated Shuji Kondo & Kazuki Hirata (0) when Ueno pinned Hirata with the BME (14:10).
4. Ultimate Tag League 2022 – A Block: Tetsuya Endo & Jun Akiyama (2) defeated Yuji Hino & Yukio Naya (0) when Endo pinned Naya with the Shooting Star Press (14:40).
5. Ultimate Tag League 2022 – B Block: Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi (2) defeated HARASHIMA & Naomi Yoshimura (0) when Takanashi pinned HARASHIMA with a Pedal-Style Uwabami (19:13).
6. DDT Universal Title: Daisuke Sasaki (c) defeated Minoru Fujita with La Mistica Crossface Lock (19:27).
*V4 for Daisuke Sasaki.

A Block

1. Tetsuya Endo & Jun Akiyama (2)
-. Konosuke Takeshita & Yuki Ueno (2)
3. Kazusada Higuchi & Hideki Okatani (0)
-. Shuji Kondo & Kazuki Hirata (0)
-. Yuji Hino & Yukio Naya (0)

B Block

1. Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi (2)
-. Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari (2)
3. Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul (0)
-. Shunma Katsumata & MAO (0)
-. HARASHIMA & Naomi Yoshimura (0)

The main event saw two rule-breakers try to be dirtier than the other in the ring. Daisuke Sasaki called upon MJ Paul to get in and help him but Fujita had backup from his friends from ChocoPro. Sasaki hit a Low Blow on Fujita and also a chairshot but Fujita got even with a supposedly inadvertent Low Blow to Sasaki as he fell to the canvas. Fujita did an Avalanche SAYONARA Tombstone but Sasaki kicked out at two. The champion then overcame Fujita’s Cradles and trapped him in La Mistica Crossface Lock for the submission win.

In a surprising moment after the match, Fujita went to shake Sasaki’s hand despite protests from the ChocoPro wrestlers. Fujita then offered to shake Baaliyan Akki’s hand but instead kicked him low and gave him an Implant DDT. Fujita told his friends their kindness will make them lose at the most crucial moments and they should wake up! If they don’t win then there is no justice. Fujita was about to leave when Sasaki called him over and asked him to join DAMNATION T.A. Fujita accepted and said he will give all of him to the unit. They then attacked the ChocoPro wrestlers and Sasaki told them to go back to Ichigaya. The show ended with Sasaki saying finally DAMNATION T.A is ready to bring destruction and chaos to DDT!

The bulk of the show was dedicated to the opening matches of the Ultimate Tag League 2022. The big match saw CDK scoring an upset win over DISASATER BOX, causing an immediate dent to the former KO-D Tag Team Champions plan to regain the belts. Some clever maneuvers from Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi included putting the ref on top of HARASHIMA and flipping them over into an unintentional Takatonic. When that misfired, HARASHIMA used Naomi Yoshimura as a stepping stone to hit a Flying Double Knee to Takanashi. Brookes was wiped out with the Somato but Takanashi caught HARASHIMA in a roll up to snatch the win out of nowhere. Brookes called DISASTER BOX their strongest opponents in the group, everybody else is all B teams.

BURNING started their campaign with a good win against the heavyweight duo of Yuji Hino & Yukio Naya. Near the end Jun Akiyama threw his Exploder Suplexes but Hino fired his own back at him. Naya’s big move on Tetsuya Endo was an Avalanche Brainbuster but Akiyama caught him with a Running Knee to the face and then another Exploder. Endo dropped him with the Swivel Torture Rack Bomb and picked up the win with the Shooting Star Press. Akiyama thinks Naya is beginning to develop into a better wrestler but BURNING was not going to lose to anyone today. Hino encouraged Naya to explode even more at their next match.

It was a mixed start for the two teams representing The 37KAMIINA. The Osaka duo of Konosuke Takeshita & Yuki Ueno won their match against the odd couple of Shuji Kondo & Kazuki Hirata. There were times when Hirata was reminded not to start dancing because Kondo wants him to get serious. When they were put in Double Crab Holds, Kondo had to physically stop Hirata from tapping out by grabbing his arm before he could tap out. Kondo got his chance to square up against Takeshita but the match came down to Ueno and Hirata. Ueno blocked the Mad Splash and pinned Hirata with the Best Moonsault Ever. Takeshita admitted to being 1% afraid his team would lose the match. He is also interested in wrestling Kondo again. He thinks it would be fun if The 37KAMIINA goes over to the place where Kondo regularly wrestles and fight him there.

Things did not go as well for Shunma Katsumata & MAO when they took on Pheromones. They surprised their opponents with immediate Dropkicks and dives for an attempted quick win. But Yuki Iino & Yumehito Imanari got their chance to do Pheromone things. MAO got a face full of Iino’s backside while Imanari rolled up Katsumata in the Pheromone Clutch to steal the win. Imanari said that even when Danshoku Dieno isn’t here, they are still Pheromones! He didn’t think they could win but the inherited Dandy spirit of Dieno helped them push through with their goal to explore the true DDT essence of DDT.

Now Eruption is complete. A fresh start for Hideki Okatani means a fresh look too. Elsewhere in that generation, Yuya Koroku & Toui Kojima had a tense moment tagging each other in. Akito & Soma Takao tried working together to take out Kazusada Higuchi but Yukio Sakaguchi & Saki Akai were there to even the odds. Eruption all got together to pick apart the opposing team and Okatani used a Diving Knee Drop to pin Kojima. Afterwards backstage, Okatani said he will absolutely beat Akiyama when Eruption has their first Tag League match on 5th February.

Sanshiro Takagi was pulled from the show due to a fever. There was no replacement for him so the dark match was turned into a Handicap Match. The trio of Toru Owashi, Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Yuki Ishida were all unified by their sumo backgrounds. However Yusuke Okada avoided their Sumo Illusion triple team and Antonio Honda launched a Bionic Elbow counter attack. Okada ended up pinning Ishida with the Sudden Death.

A string of announcements were made for DDT’s 25th Anniversary show at Sumo Hall on 20th March. LiLiCo announced she be retiring from pro wrestling. She has knee problems that prevent her from wrestling but would like to have one more match. Hisaya Imabayashi decided she will get a retirement match at Sumo Hall. LiLiCo requested her match to be against men, handsome ones in particular.

Several wrestlers from DDT’s past are being gathered together by Poison Sawada JULIE to challenge for the KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles at Sumo Hall. JULIE will lead the DDT Legend Army consisting of himself, Takashi Sasaki, GENTARO, MIKAMI & Tanomusaku Toba with Naomi Susan also in their corner.

A wrestler from AEW was heavily teased to be announced for Sumo Hall so there was a lot of excitement when a video was sent to DDT. It turned out to be from Michael Nakazawa. He wants to challenge Sanshiro Takagi to a Special Singles Match to celebrate the 25th Anniversary.

Two more big arena shows were added to the 2022 schedule. “MEGA MAX BUMP 2022” will be held at the Yokohama Budokan on 1st May. “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2022” is happened at Ota Ward Gymnasium on 20th August.


Koroku Off Tomorrow’s Show, Chihiro Returns At Sendai Show

August 8, 2021

DDT “SUMMER VACATION 2021 TOUR IN IWATE”, 09/08/2021
Iwate Education Center Multipurpose Hall (Morioka City)

1. Chris Brookes Vs Tomomitsu Matsunaga
2. 3 Way Match: Toru Owashi Vs Antonio Honda Vs Saki Akai
3. HARASHIMA, Naomi Yoshimura & Kazuki Hirata Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Danshoku Dieno & Akito
4. Soma Takao & Yuji Hino Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Yukio Naya
5. The 37KAMIINA Vs DAMNATION!: Yuki Ueno & MAO Vs Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie
6. Morioka Specialty Special 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Yusuke Okada & Hideki Okatani Vs Konosuke Takeshita, Shunma Katsumata & Keigo Nakamura

Yuya Koroku has been pulled from tomorrow’s show because he is in poor physical condition. His opponent Toru Owashi will now be in the 3 Way Match. Chris Brookes is taken out of the 3 Way and will instead face Tomomitsu Matsunaga in a first time match up.

BASARA X DOVE “R.E.S.P.E.C.T”, 18/08/2021
Shinjuku FACE

1. Takumi Tsukamoto, Yusuke Kubo, Daichi Kazato & Kenshin Chikano Vs Ryota Nakatsu, Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino & Kabuki Kid
2. Fuminori Abe & Shoichi Uchida Vs Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi & Rey Paloma
3. FUMA Vs “brother” YASSHI
4. Hardcore Tag Match: Isami Kodaka & Gunso Vs SAGAT & Naoki Tanizaki
5. Daiki Shimomura Vs Kohei Kinoshita

The annual BASARA Vs Dove Pro summer feud will be a lot more cooperative this year. The BASARA show will have a lot of matches featuring BASARA and Dove wrestlers teaming together. The Dove show will be in Osaka at the end of the month but no matches have been announced yet.

Gouma will be taking part in a rap battle at the start of the show. His opponent to to be determined.

DDT “WHO’S GONNA TOP? 2021 TOUR IN SENDAI”, 29/08/2021
Miyagi Sendai PIT

1. Soma Takao, Yuji Hino & Hiroshi Yamato Vs Danshoku Dieno, Yuki Iino & Kazuki Hirata
2. Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani Vs Akito & Yuna Manase
3. DDT Teenage Project Special Single Match: El Unicorn Vs Ilusion
4. Sendai Specialty Special Tag Match: HARASHIMA & Chihiro Hashimoto Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Yukio Naya

For the first time ever HARASHIMA and Chihiro Hashimoto will team together. This might even be the first time they’re in the same match. The previous Sendai Girls interactions with DDT never involved HARASHIMA from what I remember.

The second DDT Teenage Project match has El Unicorn and Ilusion face each other one on one.

Saki Akai and Yuna Manase get a piece of each other on the road to their September singles match.


This Weekend’s Match Orders, Ganjo Bonus Show, Wrestle Peter Pan Exploding Pre-Show Match Gets Its Teams

July 9, 2021

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “DON’T MISS THE SIGNS”, 10/07/2021
Tokyo Ryogoku KFC Hall

1. Moka Miyamoto Vs Yuki Arai
2. Nodoka Tenma Vs Mahiro Kiryu
3. Suzume & Arisu Endo Vs Haruna Neko & Kaya Toribami
4. Ameba Presents 8th Tokyo Princess Cup Pre-Battle Special 10-Woman Tag Match: Shoko Nakajima, Hyper Misao, Mizuki, Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe Vs Maki Itoh, Yuki Kamifuku, Nao Kakuta, Marika Kobashi & Mirai Maiumi
5. International Princess Title: Hikari Noa (c) Vs Raku

Nothing said yet about the card for “GO GIRL 2” on Sunday being changed. They’re probably going to work from whatever results come out of tomorrow’s show.

DDT “SUMMER VACATION 2021 TOUR IN YOKOHAMA”, 10/07/2021
Yokohama Radiant Hall

1. Toru Owashi & Yusuke Okada Vs Danshoku Dieno & Yuki Iino
2. Yokohama Two Major Singles Match: Akito Vs Kazuki Hirata
3. Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Shunma Katsumata & Yuya Koroku
4. Yokohama Two Major Singles Match: Antonio Honda Vs Mad Paulie
5. Daisuke Sasaki, Tetsuya Endo, Soma Takao & Yuji Hino Vs HARASHIMA, Chris Brookes, Naomi Yoshimura & Yukio Naya
6. Junretsu Vs The 37KAMIINA!: Jun Akiyama, Makoto Oishi & Hideki Okatani Vs Konosuke Takeshita, Yuki Ueno & MAO

Here’s the match order DDT is going with.

GANBARE☆PRO “LOST HIGHWAY 2021”, 11/07/2021
Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall

1. Ken Ohka, Shinichiro Tominaga & HARUKAZE Vs Yuna Manase, Shu Sakurai & SAGAT
2. Special Tag Match To Celebrate Katsumura & Haruhi’s Tournament Victory: Shuichiro Katsumura & Moeka Haruhi Vs Tanomusaku Toba & Miyako Matsumoto
3. Ganpro’s Three Major Singles Match: Keisuke Ishii Vs Takahiro Katori
4. Ganpro’s Three Major Singles Match: Shota Vs Shigehiro Irie
5. Ganpro’s Three Major Singles Match: Yumehito Imanari Vs Kouki Iwasaki

Yumehito Imanari Vs Kouki Iwasaki gets the nod for the main event.

DDT “SUMMER VACATION 2021 TOUR IN SHINJUKU”, 15/07/2021
Shinjuku FACE

0. Under Match: Tomomitsu Matsunaga Vs Hideki Okatani
1. DDT Variety Group Summer Greeting Tag Match: Danshoku Dieno & Kazuki Hirata Vs Toru Owashi & Antonio Honda
2. Tetsuya Endo, Yuji Hino & Mad Paulie Cs Akito, Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya
3. Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Sakaguchi & Saki Akai Vs HARASHIMA, Naomi Yoshimura & Keigo Nakamura
4. Yuki Ueno & Yuya Koroku Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Soma Takao
5. DDT Extreme Title & Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – No DQ, No Submission Rules: Chris Brookes (E/c) Vs Shinya Aoki (I/c)
6. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Makoto Oishi & Yusuke Okada Vs Konosuke Takeshita, Shunma Katsumata & MAO

In a correction from the last time I posted about this show, Tomomitsu Matsunaga Vs Hideki Okatani is a pre-show match and not on the main card.

GANBARE☆PRO “GANBARE☆JOSHI PRO WRESTLING ~UTAGOE YO OKORE 2021~”, 20/07/2021
Saitama Wrestle Butokan

1. Special Single Match: Moeka Haruhi Vs Shota
2. Ganpro Mixed Tag Tournament Ranking Battle & LariPro Outpost Battle: Keisuke Ishii & HARUKAZE Vs Yumehito Imanari & Yuna Manase
3. Ganjo Special 3 Way Match: Yuna Manase Vs HARUKAZE Vs Moeka Haruhi

Ganbare☆Joshi is something Yuna Manase wants to push more of. The next show wasn’t supposed to be happening for a while. Manase convinced Ken Ohka to add an extra small show to the schedule this month to keep the brand active until then. There are only three matches but Manase, HARUKAZE and Moeka Haruhi will have a lot to do. They will be involved with non-wrestling activities inbetween the matches. Even Shota and Imanari will provide some similar entertainment with their SayamaSayama stand up routine.

DDT “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2021”, 21/08/2021
Fujitsu Stadium Kawasaki

0. Electric Current Explosion 8-Man Tag Death Match: Atsushi Onita, Sanshiro Takagi, Akito & Maki Itoh Vs Kuro-chan, Super Sasadango Machine, Tetsuhiro Kuroda & Hikari Noa
1. Special Hardcore Tag Match: Shunma Katsumata & MAO Vs Chris Brookes & Jun Kasai
2. KO-D Openweight Title: Jun Akiyama (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita

Ever since Kuro-chan pinned Atsushi Onita in a Current Explosion Death Match last December, he has avoided all of Onita’s calls for a rematch. Sanshiro Takagi needed to find wrestlers for the “WRESTLE PETER PAN” pre-show explosion match and felt it is the perfect time and place for that rematch to happen. Kuro-chan himself doesn’t want to do it but his manager signed the agreement for him along with Super Sasadango Machine to do the match. Sasadango told Kuro-chan that Hikari Noa thinks he is cute and wants to team with him so he agreed to take part. The truth is Noa wants to fight in a deathmatch and will team with anybody to do so. She also threatened to blow up Takagi. Kuro-chan also gets Tetsuhiro Kuroda on his team. Onita’s partners will be Takagi, Akito & Maki Itoh. Everyone is also being warned that the amount of gunpowder being used for the explosions will be 3 to 5 times higher than usual.


YAROZ “YAROZ PART 9 ~THE SAME DAY AND SAME VENUE DECISIVE BATTLE WITH THE FATEFUL BOYZ!~” Results

April 4, 2021

YAROZ “YAROZ PART 9 ~THE SAME DAY AND SAME VENUE DECISIVE BATTLE WITH THE FATEFUL BOYZ! NEVER LOSE TO THOSE WHO ARE POPULAR! RAISE UP THE YAROS! SHOW OFF A MAN’S STORY OF BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS!~”, 04/04/2021
Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall 1st Floor
100 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

1. Yusuke Okada “YaroZ” Welcome Match: Antonio Honda & Yusuke Okada defeated Yuki Iino & Keigo Nakamura when Honda pinned Nakamura with a Sunset Flip (8:11).
2. Yukio Naya “YaroZ Tradition” Trial 5th Match Round 1: Danshoku Dieno Vs Yukio Naya ended in a Double Countout (10:37).
3. Round System Mixed Martial Arts Rules: Shinya Aoki (2) defeated Gota Ihashi (0).
3a. Shinya Aoki defeated Gota Ihashi with a Choke Sleeper (R1 0:08).
3b. Shinya Aoki defeated Gota Ihashi with a School Boy (R4 0:40).
4. FFF (Fundoshi For Future) Match: Yukio Sakaguchi and Hoshitango defeated Nobuhiro Shimatani after the Birthday Double Press (4:27).
5. YaroZ-gun Vs BOYZ-gun Full Scale Battle!: Kazusada Higuchi, Toru Owashi & Ken Ohka defeated Makoto Oishi, Kazuki Hirata & Yuki Ueno when Ohka pinned Hirata with the Flame Spear (11:26).

Today in Itabashi Green Hall there were two competing shows taking place at the same time. The 1st Floor was the location of the YaroZ show for men. In the regular room on the 2nd Floor where the pro wrestling shows are held was the BOYZ show for women. There would be invasions from both sides on both shows taking place throughout the day.

Midway through the show the special guest Tsukasa Wachi was kidnapped by a squad of BOYZ wearing bath towels led by Makoto Oishi. It was up to Kazusada Higuchi, Toru Owashi & Ken Ohka to rescue her in the main event. Oishi tried to lure Higuchi and Owashi over to the BOYZ side with the promise of Higuchi looking cool in front of Wachi and Higuchi getting booked in the BOYZ main event. When Owashi realized he was getting tricked, he lost his temper and used lucha to get rid of Kazuki Hirata & Yuki Ueno. All of the BOYZ ganged up on Ohka but an opportunity opened up for the YaroZ to do a train attack. Hirata was singled out and was beaten with Ohka’s Flame Spear.

Oishi refused to let Wachi go after the match when an unlikely figure came to the rescue. Yusuke Okada attacked Oishi with a Back Elbow and freed Wachi! He learned how important the YaroZ fans are and finally accepts he is YaroZ both physically and mentally. Yukio Naya invited Wachi to come over to the post-show party at his family’s restaurant. She declined with the made up excuse that she has a photoshoot to attend at 4am. Tetsuya Endo then walked by ready to leave the venue and Wachi ran over to join him. She told him it’s time to go and they made their exit. Ohka had to remind everyone they are not doing pro wrestling to be popular but because they are YaroZ!

The 3 Way match involved Yukio Sakaguchi, Hoshitango and Nobuhiro Shimatani all wrestling in fundoshi. Shimatani had his fundoshi pulled off so he was left defenceless in order to hide his shame. Sakaguchi and Hoshitango ganged up on him until they got the double pin to both be declared the winners. Shimatani complained that he might get fired because of this so Sakaguchi and Hoshitango both agreed to take off their fundoshi as a show of solidarity. The three of them had to be forcibly removed from ringside.

Wachi’s original role on the show was to be the ring girl for the MMA match. She wanted to take off a piece of clothing after every round so everyone wanted the match to take as long as possible. However Brother Mon was told by CyberAgent’s compliance officer before the show warning him he’ll be fired if things get out of control. So Mon told Yukinori Matsui to do a proper officiating job. Instead Matsui complained when Shinya Aoki immediately tapped out Gota Ihashi and forced the match to restart. Matsui allowed Aoki to beat up Ihashi for four rounds so Wachi could take off more clothes but that ended when Brother Mon counted Aoki pinning Ihashi to end the match. Matsui attacked Mon and chaos was about to break out when Wachi stripped down to her swimsuit to stop everyone from fighting. The BOYZ then broke into the show to kidnap her and set up the main event.

Yukio Naya was introduced as Reiwa YaroZ because his father is Heisei Yaroz and his grandfather was Showa YaroZ. Danshoku Dieno saw this as strong preparation for his upcoming match with Jun Akiyama. Their match was interrupted by the Keisuke Ishii Vs MAO match from BOYZ that somehow made its way downstairs. Dieno and Naya then brawled there way upstairs to BOYZ show. While they were gone the ring announcer tried to keep everyone occupied by guessing who X was going to be at today’s New Japan show. Dieno and Naya reappeared with Yuki Iino behind them wearing Dieno’s wrestling gear. Dieno and Iino kept giving each other Lip Locks and everyone was counted out before Naya could make it back to the ring. The hosts Brother Mon and Brother Tommy at least thought it was revolutionary to have two wrestling matches interact with each other at the same time.

The beginning of the show was delayed for three minutes because Yusuke Okada and Toru Owashi both snuck off to try and join the BOYZ show. They were dragged back and Okada had to wrestle his opening match with Antonio Honda, Yuki Iino and Keigo Nakamura. He stormed off afterwards but saw the light later in the show. Meanwhile Honda, Iino & Nakamura had to prepare for wrestling in the BOYZ main event.


DDT “GO TO DDT! VOL. 1” Results

January 9, 2021

DDT “GO TO DDT! VOL. 1”, 09/01/2021
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
484 Fans

0. Under Match: Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Hideki Okatani defeated Keigo Nakamura & Toui Kojima when Okatani pinned Kojima with the Northern Lights Suplex (6:50).
1. Written By Hajime Takahashi & Masaki Inoue “Does Momotaro’s Kibidango Recognize As An Expense?” Infomercial Match: Akito, Kazuki Hirata, Antonio Honda & Super Sasadango Machine (3D Avatar) defeated Sanshiro Takagi, Danshoku Dieno, Toru Owashi & Saki Akai when Hirata pinned Takagi with a School Boy (?:??).
2. Mad Paulie & Yuji Hino defeated Chris Brookes & Shunma Katsumura when Hino pinned Katsumura with the Fucking BOMB (8:18).
3. Konosuke Takeshita & MAO defeated HARASHIMA & Yukio Naya when MAO pinned Naya with the Cannonball 450° (10:02).
4. DAMNATION Vs Junretsu!: Makoto Oishi, Mizuki Watase & Yusuke Okada defeated Tetsuya Endo, Daisuke Sasaki & Nobuhiro Shimatani when Oishi submitted Shimatani with the Fujiyama Knee Lock (12:14).
5. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Sakaguchi (c) defeated CIMA & Soma Takao by TKO when Sakaguchi choked out Takao with the Sleeper Hold (16:26).
*V1 for Eruption.
6. DDT UNIVERSAL Title: Yuki Ueno (c) defeated Shota with the WR (16:53).
*V2 for Yuki Ueno.

DDT’s second visit to Korakuen Hall this year was headlined with a DDT UNIVERSAL Title defence. Yuki Ueno got a measure of revenge when he pinned Shota in a 6-Man Tag last week and firmly got the rest of it by beating him again today. Shota was over reliant on the Gannosuke Clutch and when that couldn’t get him a win he tried cheating instead. He used ropes for leverage on pins and gave Ueno a Low Blow when the referee was knocked away. But Shota went back to the Gannosuke Clutch which Ueno had figured out by then. Ueno avoided the move, stunned Shota with a Dropkick and pinned him with the WR for the successful title defence.

Ueno wanted to give Shota microphone time after the match but he declined and left the ring. Ueno joked that he would have to talk by himself for five minutes, then said he learned so much from Shota over the 5 years he’s known him. He was happy to face Shota in his first match of 2021 and he is both the most annoying and most entertaining opponent. Hisaya Imabayashi asked Ueno who he would like to defend the UNIVERSAL Title against next. Ueno said Yukio Sakaguchi! He learned a lot from Sakaguchi last year such as what it’s like to get choked out and why you always see worried faces above you when you regain consciousness. Sakaguchi accepted the match and asked to look at the title belt. When he held it he posed with it and told Ueno that is where the title should be. He handed it back to Ueno but warned nominating him was the biggest mistake he could make. Imabayashi decided the title match will happen at “KAWASAKI STRONG 2021” on 14th February.

In the backstage interviews, Sakaguchi said there are no grand slam champions in DDT since the creation of the UNIVERSAL Title. He is aiming to be the first new grand slam champion in DDT and to do that he has to go after both the UNIVERSAL Title and the DDT Extreme Title. When Ueno did his interview, Sakaguchi snuck up behind him and choked him out with the Sleeper Hold.

Sakaguchi still holds the KO-D Tag Team Titles with Kazusada Higuchi. The Eruption pair held on against a CimaSoma team with a lot of momentum behind them. CIMA & Soma Takao wore the same matching outfits from “ULTIMATE PARTY 2020” and had the same effort of teamwork from back then. There was also high risk like CIMA using the Meteora to break up Sakaguchi’s Sleeper Hold on Takao. However Sakaguchi clasped the Sleeper Hold back onto Takao and CIMA couldn’t rescue him again. Takao went motionless and the match was stopped, making Eruption the winners.

Shunma Katsumata, Konosuke Takeshita & MAO from the DDT Sauna Club approached Eruption after the match. Katsumata challenged them to put the KO-D Tag Titles on the line against all three of them. Sakaguchi called him stupid and Imabayashi told them it can’t happen that way. Takeshita & MAO tried to leave but Katsumata then said those two could face Eruption instead. Sakaguchi knocked out Katsumata with an Elbow Strike and accepted the challenge. Kazusada Higuchi & Sakaguchi Vs Takeshita & MAO for the titles will happen at the 23rd February Nagoya show and it will be the main event!

The #DAMNHEARTS group received major news when CimaSoma got back to the locker room. Daisuke Sasaki had apparently talked to #STRONGHEARTS before the match and agreed if CimaSoma didn’t win the tag titles then the business alliance will be dissolved. #DAMNHEARTS is splitting up! Takao said he heard nothing about this and CIMA doesn’t remember making this decision although he agreed it has been a while since DAMNATION and #STRONGHEARTS worked together. Sasaki promised both sides will do something together again when the pandemic is over.

With Jun Akiyama out of action for the rest of this month, the newcomer Yusuke Okada took his place and wasted no time in getting to wrestle Tetsuya Endo. There was still Junretsu representation in the match with Makoto Oishi & Mizuki Watase involved. Oishi overcame danger when he kicked out of a Standing Moonsault from Endo followed by a Standing Shooting Star Press from Nobuhiro Shimatani. Oishi pulled Shimatani to the mat and made him tap to the Fujiyama Knee Lock. Endo grabbed the microphone out of Oishi’s hands and said he is going to crush Akiyama on 14th February. As he was leaving, Oishi responded that he might crush Endo before Endo gets to face Akiyama! Backstage Sasaki revealed what he learned during his time off with injury. Pro wrestling is about love and romance, just like the movie Titanic. What’s missing in the ring right now is romance. He found it and will show it to everyone soon.

MAO dusted off the Cannonball 450° to win DDT Sauna Club’s tag match. First he got rid of HARASHIMA with a Plancha, then Takeshita took care of Yukio Naya with a Vertical Drop Brainbuster to set up the 450° finish.

 

Katsumata is an eager fellow but it got him into a lot of painful situations today. He tried jumping Yuji Hino & Mad Paulie at the start of their tag match but did so without Chris Brookes joining him. Brookes instead stayed in the corner and did “NeppoWER!!” chants with no other intention of fighting the heavyweight opponents. Hino caught Katsumata in mid-air and Brookes did a Missile Dropkick to them to get his partner a nearfall. There were blocks for both the ¡Hasta la vista! and Fucking BOMB but Hino ended up winning out in the end.

 

Heavy snow in Niigata prevented Super Sasadango Machine from travelling to Tokyo for today’s show. He was replaced by a “3D Avatar” of himself. In other words it was Keigo Nakamura in a Sasadango mask. Sasadango also provided a PowerPoint presentation on Zoom before the opening match explaining the importance of filing tax returns. His example was getting the wrestlers in his match to all wrestle in their own expensive clothing because they can treat it as tax deductible ring gear. This made a few people like Saki Akai uncomfortable because they did not want their personal belongings used in the match. She was proven right when Kazuki Hirata tried to steal her handbag and it got knocked out of the ring. Toru Owashi revealed he was wearing the O-40 Title underneath his hoodie. Danshoku Dieno pulled off Akito’s rare sneakers and shoved one of them into Akito’s mouth. He then threw them away causing Akito to chase after them. Sanshiro Takagi wore a watch that costs 1.1 million yen and used it to stop Antonio Honda’s Gongitsune joke. Hirata took the watch, grabbed a chair and tried to smash it. Takagi took the chair swung it at Hirata but missed and smashed the watch instead! He was in so much shock that Hirata easily pinned Takagi with a School Boy.

Nakamura was also in the pre-show match. He and Toi Kojima lost to Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Hideki Okatani. The match came down to Kojima and Okatani. A Running Neckbreaker was used to set up the Northern Lights Suplex for Okatani to win.


DDT “NEW YEAR’S DAY GIFT SPECIAL! ALL SEATS 3,000 YEN SPECIAL BOX OFFICE!! 2021” Results

January 3, 2021

DDT “NEW YEAR’S DAY GIFT SPECIAL! ALL SEATS 3,000 YEN SPECIAL BOX OFFICE!! 2021”, 03/01/2021
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
713 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

1. Keigo Nakamura defeated Hideki Okatani with a Cradle (7:42).
2. Antonio Honda 43rd Birthday & 16th Anniversary Debut Match: Antonio Honda defeated Choun-Shiryu with the Diving Fist Drop (9:14).
3. Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Gota Ihashi defeated Toru Owashi, Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Toui Kojima when Sakaguchi pinned Kojima with the PK (9:37).
4. Mad Paulie, Nobuhiro Shimatani & Hiroshi Yamato defeated Makoto Oishi, Mizuki Watase & Yukio Naya when Paulie pinned Watase with the Reverse Splash (12:19).
5. 1 Vs 3 Handicap Match: Shinya Aoki, Danshoku Dieno & Super Sasadango Machine defeated Sanshiro Takagi when Aoki pinned Takagi with a Jackknife Pin (10:00).
6. Konosuke Takeshita, Shunma Katsumata, MAO & Yuki Ueno defeated Akito, Kazuki Hirata, Shota & Keisuke Ishii when Ueno pinned Shota with the BME (14:34).
7. Tetsuya Endo, Soma Takao & Yuji Hino (w/ Daisuke Sasaki) defeated HARASHIMA, Kazusada Higuchi & Chris Brookes when Endo pinned Brookes with the Shooting Star Press (17:18).

The first DDT show of 2021 was almost entirely a surprise card. The audience only knew what the matches were once they were ready to begin. For the main event HARASHIMA, Kazusada Higuchi & Chris Brookes joined forces to fight DAMNATION. While all of DAMNATION were at ringside, Daisuke Sasaki got directly involved by grabbing Brookes by the leg. Yuji Hino brought it to both HARASHIMA & Higuchi. Soma Takao overheard Higuchi insult CIMA which spurred him on to fight through the Brain Claw. Tetsuya Endo got the win in the end by hitting Brookes with Tetsuya In The Sky, the Swivel Torture Rack Bomb and finally the Shooting Star Press. Endo looked over to Jun Akiyama at the commentary table while the pin was counted.

Shouting was heard over by the entrance after the match. It was Yuki Iino calling for Hino’s attention while the rest of ALL OUT tried to hold him back. Iino pushed his teammates back, entered the ring and demanded to face Hino in an arm wrestling contest on the canvas. Hino was confused but he accepted the challenge and won. Iino got mad over losing and had to be held back again while Konosuke Takeshita introduced him to Hino. He then explained that Iino’s return match from injury will be at “KAWASAKI STRONG 2021” on 14th February when ALL OUT takes on DAMNATION. He then suggested that Iino and Hino have a singles match at the next big event after that. Hisaya Imabayashi agreed to book Iino Vs Hino in Nagoya on 23rd February. ALL OUT dragged Iino away while Endo took the microphone and warned Akiyama that he is always ready. Endo closed out the show by saying this year he is aiming for more than just the Tokyo Sports MVP Award. He wants to make scandalous news stories with glamourous women in the tabloids too!

Another 8-Man Tag pitted the two new units that have unexpectedly taken over DDT in the last few months. All four members of the DDT Sauna Club came out first, followed by the Young Communication Generation. The latter team then surprised everyone by bringing out Keisuke Ishii! Akito warned him about the Sauna Club’s “Heat Wave WER!!” pose but he didn’t understand it. Kazuki Hirata did a Plancha to the outside while Ishii did his work. The Sauna Club isolated Shota and piled on the top rope moves to him. Shunma Katsumata, MAO & Yuki Ueno hit Diving Body Presses one after the other but Ueno’s pin was broken up. Shota caught Ueno in the Gannosuke Clutch but MAO was there to break that pin up. Ueno got to recover and beat Shota with the BME. Backstage Ishii said it was the first time in a long while he wrestled in DDT (not counting BOYZ) and he would like to appear more in 2021 to be with his friends in Young Communication again. Shota wants to make it a year where Ganbare☆Pro doesn’t lose to DDT. Meanwhile Katsumata wants to make 2021 the year of the Sauna Club!

One of the matches was supposed to be Sanshiro Takagi & Danshoku Dieno Vs Shinya Aoki & Super Sasadango Machine. But backstage before the match Dieno, Aoki & Sasadango were all complaining about Takagi’s tweets including one that where Takagi was showing off his calves. The three of them instead decided to gang up on Takagi in a Handicap Match and purposely target his calf. Aoki put him in a Jail Hold while Dieno & Sasadango brought out a bag containing some of Takagi’s personal belongings. Sasadango found Takagi’s wallet, pulled out 29,000 yen in cash and raffled it off to three fans in the audience. Dieno eventually thought things went overboard and he felt sorry for Takagi. It is thanks to Takagi that they get to wrestle this year so the best New Year’s gift is to give Takagi his first win of 2021. Sasadango agreed and with Dieno they both attacked Aoki. Dieno is still recovering from the fire extinguisher attack to his rear but Takagi forced to go into the Hell Gate position. That lost him Sasadango’s support and Takagi was thrown face first into the Hell Gate. Aoki kicked Takagi in the calf, Sasadango did the Vertical Drop Lehmann Shock and Aoki pinned him with a Jackknife. Backstage Sasadango offered to be on Aoki’s team at “KAWASAKI STRONG 2021” because they should be fighting for a better goal than satisfying Takagi’s desires. They like Takagi but will not be used by him anymore!

As Takagi was leaving the ring after his match, he was suddenly approached at ringside by Yusuke Okada! The former All Japan wrestler introduced himself to the audience and told them he wants to experience a new world of pro wrestling now that he became freelance. He asked Takagi if he could have a match in DDT. Takagi questioned his interest in DDT after seeing the match that just happened. He then passed the request over to Imabayashi, who wasn’t expecting that. Imabayashi told Okada he will book him on next week’s Korakuen Hall show on 9th January.

DAMNATION’s good run begun earlier in the show when Mad Paulie, Nobuhiro Shimatani & Hiroshi Yamato beat Makoto Oishi, Mizuki Watase & Yukio Naya. Paulie threw Yamato onto Watase with an X-Style Iconoclasm. Shimatani then hopped onto Paulie’s back and they jumped on top of Watase for a nearfall when Oishi & Naya broke it up. Paulie then hit Watase with a Lariat and won with the Reverse Splash.

Gota Ihashi didn’t get to wrestle in Korakuen Hall last year so he wanted to make up for lost time. This year he wants to join a unit and rampage all over DDT. There is only one unit he wants to join and that’s Eruption! He came out with his own custom entrance video wearing an Eruption coat made out of posters. He even drew his own version of the Eruption logo calling it Ihaption. Yukio Sakaguchi & Saki Akai were bemused over this but it kind of worked out in the end. Akai gave Toru Owashi a Brainbuster and Ihashi went toe to toe with Tomomitsu Matsunaga. Eruption(?) then focused their attacks on Toui Kojima. Ihashi almost lost the match when he missed the Moonsault. Akai kicked Ihashi out of frustration and Sakaguchi tagged himself in to finish Kojima off. Sakaguchi & Akai had enough of Ihashi and walked off on him backstage. However he believes he can continue teaming with Eruption and together they can all go after the KO-D 8-Man Tag Team Titles.

Antonio Honda’s big day was almost ruined when he tripped on the ropes and hurt his knee. Choun-Shiryu knew what was coming and attacked Honda before he could tell his latest Gongitsune joke. Honda lived up to the big occasion though and hit a Topé Suicida and the Tenzan Tombstone Driver on route to victory.

The first DDT match of 2021 was Keigo Nakamura’s first ever singles victory! He defeated his generation rival Hideki Okatani by cradling his way out of the Double Arm Suplex. Nakamura currently has a 1-3 record against Okatani so he wants to reverse the numbers this year.

Some more matches were booked for “KAWASAKI STRONG 2021”. Akai will be teaming with Maya Yukihi from Ice Ribbon to take on Saori Anou & Miyako Matsumoto. Yukihi said she discovered DDT more than 10 years ago so she is deeply moved to be wrestling a match for them. She thought she was going to fight against Akai but Imabayashi corrected her. Akai always wanted to team with her because she is beautiful and strong. She is also excited to face Anou again. When Imabayashi asked Akai & Yukihi about Matsumoto, they both declined to answer. They were asked again backstage and Yukihi finally had something to say. “In terms of strength, beauty and glamour, Miyako-san will never the best.”

The New Year’s Shuffle Tag Tournament winners Smile Pissari will team again at the Culttz Kawasaki show. HARASHIMA & Yuji Okabayashi will face a team yet to be determined.

Takagi will return to the battlefield for his next DDT Extreme Title defence. He takes on Nabe Yakan from Best Body Pro Wrestling on 10th January. The match was made when earlier in the day Yakan led a bunch of soldiers armed with air guns into the locker room to steal the Extreme Title belt.


DDT “D-OU GRAND PRIX 2021 THE FINAL!!” Results

December 27, 2020

DDT “D-OU GRAND PRIX 2021 THE FINAL!!”, 27/12/2020
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
??? Fans – Withheld

1. Toui Kojima Debut Match: Hideki Okatani defeated Toui Kojima with a Crab Hold (5:59).
2. 3 Way Match: Antonio Honda defeated Toru Owashi and Nobuhiro Shimatani when Honda pinned Shimatani with the Diving Fist Drop (8:15).
3. Hold Your Stomach! Forget The Year Special Tag Match: Sanshiro Takagi & Danshoku Dieno defeated Nayashiro Nayagi & Super Sasadango Machine when Takagi pinned Nayagi with the Stone Cold Stunner (7:40).
4. Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Sakaguchi & Saki Akai defeated Makoto Oishi, Mizuki Watase & Tomomitsu Matsunaga when Higuchi submitted Watase with the Brain Claw (7:35).
5. Tetsuya Endo, Soma Takao, Mad Paulie & Yuji Hino (w/ Daisuke Sasaki) defeated HARASHIMA, Chris Brookes, Shinya Aoki & Keigo Nakamura when Hino pinned Nakamura with the Diving Body Press (12:56).
6. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Akito, Kazuki Hirata & Shota (c) defeated Shunma Katsumata, MAO & Yuki Ueno when Shota pinned Ueno with the Gannosuke Clutch (12:53).
*V1 for Young Communicaton Generation.
7. D-Ou Grand Prix 2021 – Final: Jun Akiyama defeated Konosuke Takeshita by TKO with a Modified Armlock (23:29).

You can now add a former Champion Carnival winner to the short list of D-Ou Grand Prix champions. Jun Akiyama overcame an injured leg to defeat his foe Konosuke Takeshita in the final. The leg injury came when Takeshita caught a Stomp and gave Akiyama a Dragon Screw. From there Takeshita targeted the leg with attacks against the ring post as well as wrestling holds to that limb. What evened the score was Takeshita going into the match with an injured arm that Akiyama could focus on. German and Exploder Suplexes were exchanged and Akiyama Headbutted his way out of a Cross-Arm German Suplex. Seeing his chance, Akiyama applied a Chickenwing Armlock and rolled Takeshita into the centre of the ring. Takeshita struggled to move and soon became lifeless. That caused Yukinori Matsui to end the match and award Akiyama the tournament!

Akiyama received his trophy and praised the field of wrestlers who competed in the Grand Prix this year. He faced a lot of great DDT wrestlers. In fact he lost to two of them in the tournament. But he is the one standing on top in the end. There are only three singles champions in Japan he recognises today: Tetsuya Naito with the IWGP Heavyweight Title, Go Shiozaki with the GHC Heavyweight Title and Tetsuya Endo with the KO-D Openweight Title. (Akiyama later explained he only recognises those championships because Naito, Shiozaki and Endo all won Tokyo Sports Awards this year. All Japan was shut out of the awards so he unfortunately no longer sees the Triple Crown as a major championship. If AJPW can win over the community and the pro wrestling media in 2021, then he will change his tune.) Akiyama now gets to face Endo in a rematch on 14th February in Culttz Kawasaki, this time for the KO-D Title. Akiyama thanked Sanshiro Takagi for inviting him to coach in DDT back in May. He also thanked the wrestlers, staff and fans for accepting him. Lastly, he thanked the All Japan fans too.

From the get go, the DDT Sauna Club did their “Heat Wave WER!!” pose to the Young Communication Generation. In response, Kazuki Hirata & Shota did the post back to their opponents while Akito looked on embarrassed by the situation. Shunma Katsumata hit the Stuka Splash on Hirata. MAO & Yuki Ueno then both leapt across the ring with Frog Splashes on Shota & Hirata. Ueno tried to hit Shota with the WR but Shota maneuvered his way into the Gannosuke Clutch to steal the win. The two teams were satisfied with their match and Akito now understands the power of the sauna.

Shota then turned his attention to Ueno and challenged him for the DDT UNIVERSAL Title. Shota wants to become a leader of the independent scene in 2021 and he is already on his way with two championshps. That’s not enough, he wants a third title that can let him travel around the world. Ueno accepted and the match will happen on 9th January as the Korakuen Hall main event! Akito then asked if his team can next defend the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles in his hometown of Nagoya when DDT goes there on 23rd February. He wants to defend the belts against DDT’s top wrestlers: Sanshiro Takagi, HARASHIMA & Danshoku Dieno! Young Communication want to beat the guys they looked up to when they were young. Then in 2021 they will all become main eventers of the indie world!

DAMNATION are looking unstoppable with the addition of Yuji Hino to their ranks. The heavyweight freelancer crushed Keigo Nakamura with a Diving Body Press to win the 8-Man Tag. He also overpowered HARASHIMA in a Chop Battle. Endo went through a few exchanges with Chris Brookes that ultimately ended with Endo hitting the Sasuke Special onto Brookes and a bunch of other wrestlers outside the ring. Shinya Aoki was the one who posed a big threat when he took down Soma Takao but DAMNATION all ganged up on him. Still, Aoki kicked out after taking a string of diving moves Endo and Takao did off of Mad Paulie’s back. After the match Daisuke Sasaki reintroduced Hino to the DDT fans. He said DAMNATION will mess up DDT’s ring in 2021! Hino told him he would like to go wild and have fun with his new friends. Backstage he also said he would like to win the KO-D Title because he thinks he held it before (he did). Endo doesn’t seem too enthused about that.

2020 ends on a strong note for Eruption. The finish to their match saw Yukio Sakaguchi & Saki Akai run opposite ways on the apron to do Penalty Kicks to Makoto Oishi & Tomomitsu Matsunaga. Akai then dove on top of them while Kazusada Higuchi applied a Lifted Brain Claw to Mizuki Watase for the victory.

Let’s be frank, Yukio Naya doesn’t know how to be Sanshiro Takagi. He needed Super Sasadango Machine to teach him when to do the “FIRE!” pose in time with the entrance music. The real Takagi demanded Danshoku Dieno to go into the Hell Gate position but he declined. Sasadango had to explain that Dieno’s backside was burned after he was sprayed with a CO2 fire extinguisher during this week’s Street Wrestling match. Takagi eventually made Dieno climb the turnbuckle and bend over, no matter how much it hurt him. Sasadango revealed he is now a shareholder of CyberAgent and attacked Takagi with his stock certificate to prove it. Sasadango’s mask slipped up when he took an Atomic Drop and he fell face first into Dieno’s backside. Takagi then stuck his fingers into Dieno’s butt, stuck them up to Naya’s nose and gave him the Stunner for the win.

The 3 Way Match briefly became two on one with Antonio Honda & Nobuhiro Shimatani joining forces to fight Toru Owashi. Gongitusune was turned into a heart shape that attracted Honda and Owashi to each other. Shimatani kept them apart but then found himself moving towards Yukinori Matsui for a possible tender embrace. Owashi & Honda both gave Shimatani a School Boy but no count happened because Matsui had his eye closed waiting to be kissed. Matsui was brought back down to Earth and Honda pinned Shimatani with the Diving Fist Drop.

The debuting Toui Kojima was put to the test against Hideki Okatani. Kojima used a Diving Body Attack from the middle rope and also a Running Double Chop. His big move of the match was a Full Nelson Buster for a 2 count. Okatani hit back with a Vertical Chop and the Northern Lights Suplex. Kojima kicked out but was put in a Crab Hold to make him submit. In his post-match interview Kojima said he wants to be a cool wrestler just by standing, like Randy Orton. He was also nervous about today’s debut. Last night he received a message of encouragement from Satoshi Kojima which only made him even more nervous. Satoshi supports him because he always likes seeing another Kojima in wrestling.

Honda’s 16th Anniversary match will be against Choun-Shiryu on 3rd January. The rest of the card for that Korakuen show will be kept secret until the show starts.