BASARA “BASARA 248 ~TAKAGARI 24~” Results

May 11, 2024

BASARA “BASARA 248 ~TAKAGARI 24~”, 11/05/2024
Tokyo Takashimadaira Kumin Center
??? Fans – Unannounced

1. Chicharito Shoki & Daiju Wakamatsu defeated Masato Kamino & Yasu Urano when Shoki pinned Kamino with a Side School Boy (12:47).
2. Minoru Fujita defeated SAGAT with a Rope Assisted Cradle (12:42).
3. Lil’ Kraken, Leo Isaka & Takahiro Katori defeated FUMA, KUBITO & Jet Bar when Kraken pinned KUBITO with the High Angle Jumping Knee Butt (16:12).
4. Ryuichi Sekine & Ryota Nakatsu defeated Takumi Tsukamoto & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi when Sekine submitted Hiroshi with the Let’s Combine (14:00).
5. Union MAX Title Next Challenger Match: Daichi Kazato defeated Isami Kodaka with the Firebird Splash (17:46).

Could this be the breakthrough match for Daichi Kazato? He pulled out a Firebird Splash to beat Isami Kodaka and become No. 1 Contender for the Union MAX Title. He told fans he still has a long way to go but he wants to have more intense matches to make BASARA the most fun place in the world! Minoru Fujita told him the title match on 28th May will be a battle to break either Kazato’s heart or his own!

In a confusing turn of events, Judo Master has suddenly gone missing and cannot be found. Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi just so happens to live near the venue so he was able to fill in on short notice. Ryota Nakatsu insulted him during the match by telling everyone that Master’s techniques are better. Takumi Tsukamoto even yelled at Hiroshi to do better during the grappling exchanges. Hiroshi ended up tapping out to Ryuichi Sekine which only made Tsukamoto even madder. He then lost his temper and attacked Hiroshi after the match.

Fujita played a lot of mind games with SAGAT from calling him a cat so fans would chant “SAGA-nyan” to forcing him to wear his old mask. He also asked SAGAT to take it easy on him because tomorrow is Mother’s Day in Japan and he just wants to see his mom again. SAGAT agreed to wear the mask and even tried to hide his face when Fujita later pulled the mask off. The confusion worked and SAGAT was able to pin SAGAT with a School Boy while placing one of his foots on the rope for leverage.

After the show Kodaka told reporters that he wants BASARA to start holding two “~UTAGE~” events a month beginning in August. The roster has grown big enough that he had to start leaving regulars off of recent shows. On the other hand there has also been a freshness to recent events because of the young wrestlers from elsewhere working on the undercard. He does not want to cut down on either so his solution is to increase the schedule. That way whoever misses the first “~UTAGE~” event of the month can be booked for the second. The “~UTAGE~” brand will be split into Red shows and Blue shows but BASARA is not doing a brand split. Some wrestlers will be appearing on both and if anyone only ever gets booked for one particular side it will be a coincidence.


BASARA “BASARA 247 ~AKATSUKA ROKKAMURA 2~” Results

May 5, 2024

BASARA “BASARA 247 ~AKATSUKA ROKKAMURA 2~”, 05/05/2024
Tokyo Narimasu Act Hall
??? Fans – Unannounced

1. Ryuichi Sekine & Chicharito Shoki defeated Takumi Tsukamoto & Judo Master when Sekine submitted Tsukamoto with the Let’s Combine (9:33).
2. 3 Way Match: Ryota Nakatsu defeated FUMA and SAGAT when Nakatsu pinned SAGAT with a Back Roll Clutch (11:11).
3. Lil’ Kraken & Gaia Hox defeated Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino when Kraken pinned Nakano with a School Boy (11:05).
4. Fuminori Abe defeated Daichi Kazato with a Cradle Cutback (12:56).
5. Isami Kodaka & Minoru Fujita defeated KUBITO & Yasu Urano when Kodaka pinned KUBITO with the Long Flight Vertical Drop Brainbuster (22:05).

It was confirmed after the main event that Isami Kodaka and Daichi Kazato will have a No. 1 Contender’s match for the Union MAX Title on 11th May. Kazato had a setback today after he lost to Fuminori Abe after a careless mistake ended with him getting cradled for the three count. But he assured everyone he stepped up by two or three levels despite the result. Kodaka told him it doesn’t matter how high he levels up if he doesn’t win in the end. Kazato assured everyone he has no intentions of losing the match against Kodaka.

Earlier, Abe told Kazato after their match that if he can beat Kodaka then he will have all the momentum to win the MAX Title from Minoru Fujita. When that happens Abe will challenge him for a title shot because he now considers himself the next No. 1 Contender after Kazato or Kodaka!

Things are getting uneasy between Takumi Tsukamoto & Judo Master. They lost their tag match in the opener and got into an argument afterwards that needed them to be separated. In unrelated news this weekend is the 13th anniversary of Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi’s debut.

Today’s show had free tickets for everyone under 18 year’s old because it is Children’s Day in Japan.


Catching Up On The News I Missed

April 12, 2024

I’m back from holiday. The week both flew by while also feeling like a ton of news items happened while I was gone. I’ll be spending this weekend writing up last week’s show reports so you’ll be getting them eventually. But first I want to get the upcoming lineups out of the way. I’ll leave the King Of DDT and Ganbare☆Pro stuff for their own posts because I want to write about them separately.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE TOUR 2024 SPRING”, 13/04/2024
Tokyo Kitazawa Town Hall

1. Yuki Kamifuku Vs Uta Takami
2. Mizuki & Nao Kakuta Vs Runa Okubo & Haru Kazashiro
3. Rika Tatsumi, Raku & Chika Nanase Vs Mahiro Kiryu, Toga & Kira Summer
4. Miu Watanabe, Suzume & Arisu Endo Vs Shoko Nakajima, Wakana Uehara & HIMAWARI
5. Moka Miyamoto Vs Juria Nagano
6. Moka Miyamoto, Juria Nagano & Kaya Toribami Vs Yuki Aino, Pom Harajuku & Shino Suzuki

The final matches of Juria Nagano’s career happens tomorrow. For her graduation she will be wrestling twice with her Shinken Kusho partner Moka Miyamoto. One match will be a singles match against each other while the second match is a 6-Woman Tag. Is that going to be the right match order though?

Hyper Misao is out of action with a right ankle fracture. It looked like she suffered the injury during her match against Steph De Lander at last week’s “GCW VS TJPW” show. Her return will be decided based on her doctor’s diagnosis and recovery time. The injury means she will miss her Daikaiju Pro match back in America later this month.

DDT “DRAMATIC DREAM TOUR 2024 IN FUKUOKA”, 13/04/2024
Fukuoka Nishitetsu Hall

1. Sanshiro Takagi & Toru Owashi Vs Danshoku Dieno & Kazuma Sumi
2. Yukio Naya & To-y Vs Kazuki Hirata & Soma Takao
3. O-40 Title – 5th O-40 Champion Decision Match: Makoto Oishi Vs Azul Dragon
4. Tetsuya Endo, Yuki Iino & Yuya Koroku Vs Chris Brookes, Takeshi Masada & Tomomitsu Matsunaga
5. Daisuke Sasaki & KANON Vs Jun Akiyama & Rukiya
6. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yuki Ueno, MAO & Shunma Katsumata Vs Akito, HARASHIMA & Kota Umeda

As always whenever I see Kota Umeda added to a DDT card it makes me wish he never left wrestling as a full time career.

BASARA “GAISEN SAKURA PRO WRESTLING”, 14/04/2024
Okayama Shinjo Village Outdoor Ring

1. Ryota Nakatsu Vs Lil’ Kraken
2. FUMA & Daichi Kazato Vs Tsutomu Oosugi & Banana Senga
3. Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi & Yasu Urano Vs Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino
4. Isami Kodaka Vs Ryuichi Sekine

This is the BASARA half of the first Gaisen Sakura Pro Wrestling show.

DDT “YAMADA SUISAN CO., LTD. PRESENTS – 4.14 SHIBUSHI MEAT AND FISH BATTLE @ UNAGI STATION”, 14/04/2024
Kagoshima Shibushi City “Unagi Station” Special Venue

1. Daisuke Sasaki & KANON Vs Kazuki Hirata & Yukio Naya
2. Danshoku Dieno Vs Kazuma Sumi
3. Jun Akiyama & Sanshiro Takagi Vs Takeshi Masada & Rukiya
4. The 37KAMIINA Vs BURNING!: Yuki Ueno, MAO & To-y Vs Tetsuya Endo, Yuki Iino & Yuya Koroku
5. Yamada Suisan Fish Army Vs Maruto Poultry Chicken Army Final Showdown! Special 6-Man Tag Match: Shishamo Power, Unagi Mask & Super Unagi Mask Vs Makoto “Mr. CHICKEN” Oishi, Chris “THE FALCON” Brookes & Shunma “EL TURKEY” Katsumata

This will be the match order for the show.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “GAISEN SAKURA PRO WRESTLING”, 14/04/2024
Okayama Shinjo Village Outdoor Ring

1. Miu Watanabe Vs Haru Kazashiro
2. Mizuki Vs Pom Harajuku
3. Rika Tatsumi & Nao Kakuta Vs Arisu Endo & Mahiro Kiryu
4. Aja Kong & Raku Vs Shoko Nakajima & Yuki Aino

And here is the Tokyo Joshi Pro half of Gaisen Sakura Pro. The card had to be changed around a little bit due to Misao’s injury.

DDT “DDT X ZEEKSTAR TOKYO SPECIAL PERFORMANCE ~ DDZT”, 26/04/2024
Tokyo Sumida Ward General Gymnasium

1. 3 Way Match: Yuni Vs Ilusion Vs Kazuma Sumi
2. Kazusada Higuchi & Yuya Koroku Vs Yukio Naya & Rukiya
3. BURNING Vs The 37KAMIINA!: Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino Vs Shunma Katsumata & To-y
4. Keigo Nakamura Return Match: MAO Vs Keigo Nakamura
5. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Sayaka Unagi (c) Vs Sanshiro Takagi
6. KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles: Chris Brookes, Masahiro Takanashi, Antonio Honda, Takeshi Masada & Mecha Mummy (c) Vs Toru Owashi, Hiroshi Yamato, Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Soma Takao & Shinichiro Kawamatsu
7. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Jun Akiyama, Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi (c) Vs Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul
8. KO-D Openweight Title: Yuki Ueno (c) Vs Akito

Due to the request of Toru Owashi we are getting a ground breaking second defence by the reigning KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Champions! None of the previous champion teams have ever stuck together long enough to take part in a second title defence. SCHADENFREUDE International can now become the most successfuly 10-Man Tag Champs ever if they can beat Owashi’s team of scrappy challengers.

Some controversy happened over the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title while Sayaka Unagi was on her tour of America. She unexpectedly lost and then won back the title against an unknown wrestler at some point. No video footage of the title changes exist and Unagi does not know the name of the person who beat her. After having discussions with the DDT GM Hisaya Imabayashi it was agreed that “Strange Foreigner” will be recognised as the 1,620th champion and when Unagi won it back she became the 1,621st champion. The incident has motivated Sanshiro Takagi even more to reclaim the title for DDT in order to remove any risk of the championship being lost overseas forever.

Keigo Nakamura returns from injury and is immediately being put in the ring against MAO.

DDT “DRAMATIC DREAM TOUR 2024 IN SAPPORO – DAY 1”, 28/04/2024
Hokkaido Sapporo Sun Plaza Kanaeda

1. Takeshi Masada Vs Kazuma Sumi
2. Yuki Iino, Keigo Nakamura & To-y Vs Makoto Oishi, Tomoya & Tomomitsu Matsunaga
3. Jun Akiyama & HARASHIMA Vs Sanshiro Takagi & Rukiya
4. BURNING Vs DAMNATION T.A!: Tetsuya Endo & Yuya Koroku Vs Daisuke Sasaki & KANON
5. Sapporo Specialty Special Single Match: Kazuki Hirata Vs Noriyuki Yoshida
6. Special Single Match: Yoshitatsu Vs Danshoku Dieno
7. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yuki Ueno, MAO & Shunma Katsumata Vs Akito, Chris Brookes & Yukio Naya

Two days after their KO-D Openweight Title match, Yuki Ueno and Akito will still be wrestling each other in a 6-Man Tag Match.

DDT “DRAMATIC DREAM TOUR 2024 IN SAPPORO – DAY 2”, 29/04/2024
Hokkaido Sapporo Sun Plaza Kanaeda

1. Danshoku Dieno & Kazuki Hirata Vs Sanshiro Takagi & Akito
2. Daisuke Sasaki & KANON Vs Noriyuki Yoshida & Rukiya
3. Makoto Oishi & Yoshitatsu Vs Tomoya & To-y
4. Jun Akiyama & Tomomitsu Matsunaga Vs Chris Brookes & Kazuma Sumi
5. Yuki Ueno Vs Keigo Nakamura
6. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo, Yuki Iino & Yuya Koroku Vs HARASHIMA, Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Naya
7. Shunma Katsumata 10th Anniversary Match: Shunma Katsumata Vs MAO

Nakamura is not wasting anytime for his return. A few days after he comes back he will be fighting Ueno one on one!

DDT “EARLY SUMMER BEER GARDEN PRO WRESTLING – DAY 1”, 16/05/2024
Tokyo Ueno Park Outdoor Stage

1. Yuki Ishida Return Match: Yuki Ishida Vs X

Coming up in May’s Beer Garden show, Yuki Ishida returns from injury too.

DDT “DRAMATIC DREAMS! VOL. 11 ~ YUKINORI MATSUI REFEREE 30TH ANNIVERSARY BOX OFFICE ~ MAKING THE SQUARE WORLD INTERESTING”, 19/05/2024
Osaka City Sumiyoshi Civic Center

1. ACF & Koyo Daiichi Consultants Co., Ltd. Presents Single Match: Bushimasa Vs Thanomsak Toba
2. Battle Between Generations! Legends Vs Next Generation Special 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Jinsei Shinzaki & Sanshiro Takagi Vs Takeshi Masada, To-y & Yuya Korku
3. Special 6-Man Tag Match ~Everyone Is Superhuman!~: HARASHIMA, Yuji Hino & Chris Brookes Vs Shuji Ishikawa, Shigehiro Irie & Yukio Naya
4. Special Tag Match Wrestling Masters Vs Let’s Go 40’s ~With The Bolivian Wind~: Dick Togo & Daisuke Sasaki Vs Yasu Urano & Antonio Honda
5. Triple Main Event – Special Single Match Kuishinbo Kamen & Kikutaro & Yukinori Matsui, Everyone’s 30th Anniversary, Add Them To Get 90th Anniversary(!) Commemorative Match ~Laughing Fukuraimon~: Kuishinbo Kamen Vs Kikutaro
6. Triple Main Event – Special Tag Match ~DDT PRIDE~: Yuki Ueno & Kazusada Higuchi Vs MAO & Tetsuya Endo
7. Triple Main Event – From All Over The World, Arriving In Osaka. Special Singles Match ~THE ALPHA Vs King Of Pro Wrestling~: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs Minoru Suzuki

The next match Yukinori Matsui is adding to his show is all about Dick Togo and the wrestlers who look up to him. Daisuke Sasaki, Yasu Urano and Antonio Honda have all been taken under Togo’s wing at some point during their careers.

So the first match on the lineup caught my attention. Thanomsak Toba will be taking on another martial artist called Bushimasa. The match is sponsored by A-Toys Challenge Fight, or ACF for short. I went looking for clips of Bushimasa and found some not so impressive looking fights of his. He has taken part in a match type called Tire Fights where a tyre is placed in the middle of the ring, both fighters stick a foot into the gap and have to box each other while keeping their foot in the tyre. Most of his fights I could find had him lose and convincingly so. I guess he exists to be a human punching bag?

Some of the other guests on the show include Jinsei Shinzaki, Yuji Hino and Shigehiro Irie. Also Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi has been added to the show lineup but does not have a match yet.


VP Akito Gets The Next Title Shot, DDT USA Full Card, April Shaping Up

March 18, 2024

BASARA “BASARA 244 ~UTAGE~”, 19/03/2024
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Lil’ Kraken Vs Fuminori Abe
2. 3 Way Tag Match: Ryuichi Sekine & Gouma Ryu Vs Takato Nakano & Yasu Urano Vs Tsutomu Oosugi & Banana Senga
3. Takumi Tsukamoto, SAGAT & Judo Master Vs FUMA, KUBITO & Daichi Kazato
4. Isami Kosaka Vs Kazusada Higuchi
5. Union MAX Title: Minoru Fujita (c) Vs Masato Kamino

It looks like Judo Master is here to stay for as long as Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi is suffering from that dreaded love sickness. Curse that illness!

DDT “SPRING BEER GARDEN PRO WRESTLING – DAY 1”, 21/03/2024
Tokyo Ueno Park Outdoor Stage

1. Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino Vs Makoto Oishi & Yoshitatsu
2. Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul Vs HARASHIMA, Yukio Naya & Hideki Okatani
3. D GENERATIONS CUP 2024 – Round 1D: Yuya Koroku Vs Rukiya
4. D GENERATIONS CUP 2024 – Round 1C: Munetatsu Nakamura Vs Kazuma Sumi
5. D GENERATIONS CUP 2024 – Round 1B: To-y Vs Tsubasa Suzuki
6. D GENERATIONS CUP 2024 – Round 1A: Yuni Vs Ilusion
7. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Chris Brookes, Antonio Honda & Takeshi Masada Vs Danshoku Dieno, Yoshihiko & Pokotan
8. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yuki Ueno, MAO & Shunma Katsumata Vs Akito, Kazusada Higuchi & Kazuki Hirata

We begin the preview tag matches between Yuki Ueno and Akito and also start this year’s D GENERATIONS CUP.

DDT “DDT GOES PHILADELPHIA!”, 04/04/2024
Penn’s Landing Caterers Auditorium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1. Special Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & KANON Vs Nick Wayne & Takeshi Masada
2. Special Tag Match: Chris Brookes & Kid Lykos Vs Bryan Keith & Shota
3. Special Single Match: Kazuki Hirata Vs Yoshihiko
4. Special Single Match: Tetsuya Endo Vs Andrew “The Giant” Everett
5. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs Shunma Katsumata
6. Special Single Match: Yuki Ueno Vs Mike Bailey
7. DDT Universal Title – No Rules Match: MAO (c) Vs Billie Starkz

The headline match for Philadelphia is definitely the craziest one on the list. MAO’s current DDT Universal Title reign is inspiring him to go out and set the world ablaze. Billie Starkz will be waiting for him at Wrestlemania Week and might be tempted to outdo whatever MAO comes up with.

Andrew Everett is already saying what the selling point of his match against Tetsuya Endo will be. Who has the better Shooting Star Press?

Last year we got to see Nick Wayne and Takeshi Masada gel together whenever Wayne appeared in DDT. That relationship started in America as opponents and will continue in America this time as a team against DAMNATION T.A.

DDT “APRIL FOOL 2024”, 07/04/2024
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

0. No Gamble FINAL!: Sanshiro Takagi, Akito & Toru Owashi Vs X
1. D GENERATIONS CUP 2024 – Final: X Vs X
2. Special Single Match: Shinya Aoki Vs Chihiro Hashimoto
3. DDT Extreme Title – Hardcore Match: Shunma Katsumata (c) Vs Hi69
4. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino (c) Vs Jun Akiyama & X
5. Dramatic Dream Tag Match: Yuki Ueno & MAO Vs Zack Sabre Jr. & Chris Brookes

BURNING is now a few months into life without Jun Akiyama guiding them. According to Endo the time is now for he and Yuki Iino to face Akiyama head on. They want to defend the KO-D Tag Team Titles against him and anyone else. Akiyama isn’t going to team with anyone else from D.O.A so who could it be? Another wrestler from BURNING’s history? Somebody Akiyama knows from AEW?

At last NOAH is crossing over into DDT a little bit more. Hi69 from the TEAM NOAH unit is interested in challenging for the DDT Extreme Title and will go through a Hardcore Match in order to win it. Shunma Katsumata is a little annoyed at how little Hi69 knows what the championship is all about. It’s more than just your typical Hardcore Title. Also it’s up to the champion to choose the match stipulation. Katsumata is willing to fight on Hi69’s terms to prove his point.

DDT “DDT X ZEEKSTAR TOKYO SPECIAL PERFORMANCE ~ DDZT”, 26/04/2024
Tokyo Sumida Ward General Gymnasium

1. Keigo Nakamura Return Match: Keigo Nakamura Vs X
2. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Jun Akiyama, Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi (c) Vs Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul
3. KO-D Openweight Title: Yuki Ueno (c) Vs Akito

There’s been a specific list of wrestlers Yuki Ueno wanted to defend the KO-D Openweight Title against in order to establish himself as the new ace of the company. He has just one more name to tick off and that is Akito. While the match does not sound like a major contest on paper, Akito is somebody who eats, sleeps and breathes DDT 24/7 while working as the company’s vice president. If beating Ueno for the KO-D Title is what it takes for Akito to prove how much he loves the company more than anyone else then so be it.

D.O.A ended the existence of Zuncha♪Muscle Survivor over the weekend and now find themselves under threat by DAMNATION T.A. Remember, the current KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions made a deal with each other to disband once they lose the titles. It could happen here.

After being out of action with injury for almost a year, Keigo Nakamura will return to the ring a the end of April. Hopefully he got his right knee sorted this time because it’s an injury that has hampered his wrestling career right when it started to pick up.

DDT “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2024”, 21/07/2024
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

1. KO-D Openweight Title: Yuki Ueno (c) Vs X

There will be a couple more KO-D Title defences going on between April and July so who knows who will be the defending champion when DDT returns to Sumo Hall.

Both Konosuke Takeshita and El Desperado will be on the show.


BASARA “BASARA 243 ~TAKAGARI 23~” Results

March 9, 2024

BASARA “BASARA 243 ~TAKAGARI 23~”, 09/03/2024
Tokyo Takashimadaira Kumin Center
??? Fans – Unannounced

1. SAGAT defeated Munetatsu Nakamura with the Goregrind (8:27).
2. KUBITO & Yasu Urano defeated Gouma Ryu & Banana Senga when KUBITO submitted Ryu with a Crossface Lock (7:24).
3. Tsutomu Oosugi defeated Daichi Kazato with the Tsuki no Ishi (12:42).
4. Masato Kamino & Chicharito Shoki defeated Takumi Tsukamoto & Judo Master when Kamino pinned Master with the Lariat (14:54).
5. Isami Kodaka, Ryuichi Sekine & Minoru Fujita defeated FUMA, Ryota Nakatsu & Fuminori Abe when Kodaka pinned Nakatsu with a Vertical Drop Brainbuster (18:52).

2024 could be the year Sento Minzoku is back on top of the BASARA mountain. Minoru Fujita is currently the Union MAX Champion and the result of today’s main event could lead to the Iron Fist Tag Team Titles coming back to him too. Isami Kodaka pinned Ryota Nakatsu to win the match and told Fujita he wants the two of them to challenge Harimao for the titles. Nakatsu complained that Fujita shouldn’t have to be Kodaka’s partner and Ryuichi Sekine should do it instead. However he eventually agreed to put the belts on the line against Fujita & Kodaka. Kazusada Higuchi’s next BASARA appearance is on 19th March but Fujita is already defending the Union MAX Title on 19th March on that show. He refuses to wrestle twice, especially if it is in two championship matches back to back. They all think Higuchi will be available to wrestle in BASARA again on 20th April so they will do the title match there unless they got Higuchi’s schedule wrong.

Sekine announced he will be back to wrestling on a regular schedule with BASARA starting from next month. He made it a goal to work his way into becoming a champion again.

Yesterday BASARA reported that Takato Nakano had a fever but tested negative for covid. They decided to pull him from the show as a precaution and brought in Chicharito Shoki to replace him. If that wasn’t enough, it was announced that the love sickness Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi is suffering from has gotten worse so he couldn’t wrestle today either. The masked Judo Master was suspiciously in the venue again to take his place for the second show in a row. He seemed to have a better understanding of pro wrestling this time but still lost to Masato Kamino.

Today is the first time Gouma Ryu wrestled in Takashimadaira Kumin Center for a BASARA show. He thought he was taking part in another Pro Wrestling Trial but Banana Senga forgot to bring his outfit. They held a court session arguing whether or not injuring your opponent in a pro wrestling match should be a crime. They told KUBITO and Yasu Urano to wrestle each other in order to provide evidence. None of their actions injured either of them so the referee/judge declared them Not Guilty. Ryu did not accept the result and convinced Senga to fight the other two. KUBITO & Urano quickly beat them.


BASARA “BASARA 242 ~UTAGE~” Results

February 20, 2024

BASARA “BASARA 242 ~UTAGE~”, 20/02/2024
Shin-Kiba 1st RING
??? Fans – Unannounced

1. FUMA, KUBITO & Yasu Urano defeated SAGAT, Masato Kamino & Gouma Ryu when FUMA pinned Ryu with a Middle Kick (0:14).
1a. Rematch: FUMA, KUBITO & Yasu Urano defeated SAGAT, Masato Kamino & Gouma Ryu when FUMA pinned Ryu with a Middle Kick (0:24).
1b. Rematch: FUMA, KUBITO & Yasu Urano defeated SAGAT, Masato Kamino & Gouma Ryu when FUMA pinned Ryu with a Middle Kick (5:58).
2. Tsutomu Oosugi & Banana Senga defeated Daichi Kazato & Chicharito Shoki when Senga pinned Kazato with the Koryu (8:56).
3. Kengo Mashimo defeated Lil’ Kraken by Countout (10:27).
4. Isami Kodaka & Ryota Nakatsu defeated Takumi Tsukamoto & Judo Master when Nakatsu pinned Master with a Brainbuster (0:28).
4a. Rematch: Isami Kodaka & Ryota Nakatsu defeated Takumi Tsukamoto & Judo Master when Kodaka pinned Master with a Vertical Drop Brainbuster (8:53).
5. Union MAX Title: Minoru Fujita (c) defeated Takato Nakano with the Modified Tombstone Piledriver (18:04).
*V1 for Minoru Fujita.

Takato Nakano had his own cheering section led by Kaori Yoneyama, Cherry, Matsuzawa-san and other people related to the YMZ wrestling promotion during the main event. He was able to kick out of the Samson Clutch but Minoru Fujita eventually pinned him with the Modified Tombstone. After the match Masato Kamino challenged Fujita to a title match. Fujita asked if Kamino can drum up the same level of support as Takano did? Are Yoneyama, Cherry or Matsuzawa-san going to come back and cheer him on too? Fujita has never gotten to lead BASARA until now so he wants to fill up Shin-Kiba 1st RING with people no matter if they support him or his challengers. He agreed to the match for next month.

There was a sudden announcement that Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi missed the show due to a bout of love sickness. His replacement was a masked fighter going by the name Judo Master. He was quickly pinned by Ryota Nakatsu and admitted to Takumi Tsukamoto afterward he does not understand the rules of pro wrestling. The two teams agreed to restart the match and this time Master got the hang of things. He lost again though, this time to Isami Kodaka.

The opening match also had to restart a couple of times because Gouma Ryu kept getting pinned quickly. He kept pleading on the microphone to do rematches and got the fans to side with him.


“NEW YEAR’S EVE PRO WRESTLING 2023 ~TOSHIWASURE! SHUFFLE 6-MAN TAG TOURNAMENT~” Results

December 31, 2023

“NEW YEAR’S EVE PRO WRESTLING 2023 ~TOSHIWASURE! SHUFFLE 6-MAN TAG TOURNAMENT~”, 31/12/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
778 Fans

1. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1: HARASHIMA, Kota Sekifuda & Yuji Hino defeated Takeshi Masada, Akira & Koji Iwamoto when HARASHIMA pinned Masada with the Somato (7:06).
2. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1: Kazusada Higuchi, Yasufumi Nakanoue & Kohei Kinoshita defeated Soma Takao, Kazumasa Yoshida & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi when Kinoshita pinned Hiroshi with the Blockbuster Hold (6:51).
3. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1: Yukio Naya, Hideyoshi Kamitani & Minoru Suzuki Vs Danshoku Dieno, Daichi Hashimoto & Ikuto Hidaka ended in a Time Limit Draw (10:00).
3a. Overtime – 1 Count Fall Rules: Yukio Naya, Hideyoshi Kamitani & Minoru Suzuki defeated Danshoku Dieno, Daichi Hashimoto & Ikuto Hidaka when Suzuki submitted Dieno with the Sleeper Hold (4:45).
4. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1: Tetsuya Endo, Daisuke Sekimoto & Fuminori Abe defeated Hideki Okatani, Yuki Ishikawa & Brahman Shu (w/ Brahman Kei) when Abe submitted Shu with the Manjigatame (6:03).
5. So Daimonji, Ender Kara, Leyton Buzzard & Tempesta defeated Kazumi Kikuta, Kazuki Hashimoto, Kazuma Sumi & Rukiya when Buzzard pinned Rukiya with the Firebird Splash (8:37).
6. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Semi Final: HARASHIMA, Kota Sekifuda & Yuji Hino defeated Kazusada Higuchi, Yasufumi Nakanoue & Kohei Kinoshita when Sekifuda pinned Kinoshita with the Ironman (5:48).
7. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Semi Final: Yukio Naya, Hideyoshi Kamitani & Minoru Suzuki Vs Tetsuya Endo, Daisuke Sekimoto & Fuminori Abe ended in a Time Limit Draw (10:00).
7a. Overtime – 1 Count Fall Rules: Tetsuya Endo, Daisuke Sekimoto & Fuminori Abe defeated Yukio Naya, Hideyoshi Kamitani & Minoru Suzuki when Sekimoto pinned Kamitani with a Lariat (1:20).
8. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Takuya Nomura, Abdullah Kobayashi & Kankuro Hoshino defeated Yuki Ueno, Kazuki Hirata & Antonio Honda when Kobayashi pinned Honda with a Modified School Boy (13:32).
9. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Final: Tetsuya Endo, Daisuke Sekimoto & Fuminori Abe defeated HARASHIMA, Kota Sekifuda & Yuji Hino when Endo pinned Sekifuda with the Burning Star Press (13:33).

On the final day of 2023 DDT, Big Japan and a scoop of the indies all joined together at Korakuen Hall to take part in the annual New Year’s Eve Shuffle Tag Team Tournament. This year was the third year in a row the tournament consisted of 6-Man Tag matches. Every team taking part consisted of a DDT wrestler, a BJW wrestler and a wild card independent wrestler. But before any of the matches began, Samurai TV presented the Japan Indie Grand Prix Awards for 2023. The full results for those can be found at the bottom of this report.

Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1

Smile Lizard King Kong Vs Lonely Hot College Students

The opening round began with HARASHIMA, Kota Sekifuda & Yuji Hino all joining forces to fight a team that no longer had an accurate team name. Yuya Aoki pulled out sick and had to be replaced with Akira who is not single like Takeshi Masada & Koji Iwamoto are. Although you could still argue he might have been feeling lonely anyway without being near his new friends anyway. They isolated HARASHIMA but Masada could not get the job done. Instead the tables were turned on him and HARASHIMA scored the pin with the Somato.

Team Katagi Returns Vs The Kind People

Style was the name of the game here. Team Katagi Returns all showed up wrestling in sunglasses and flashy shirts looking to boss around their opponents. Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi tried to settle them down with some karaoke, buying Soma Takao & Kazumasa Yoshida some time to regroup. Hiroshi tried it again to distract Kohei Kinoshita but ended up getting pinned with the Blockbuster Hold for his troubles.

Big Bombers Kai Vs Anal Destruction Hidaka

The big draw for this year’s tournament made his appearance in the third match. Minoru Suzuki showed up with no concern that Danshoku Dieno, Daichi Hashimoto & Ikuto Hidaka were all plotting to defeat him one way or another. It didn’t matter because whatever they threw at Suzuki, he just countered it and twisted them into submission holds. The match ended in a time limit draw so it went to 1 Count sudden death rules. Hidaka was convinced to settle himself on the top turnbuckle with his tights pulled down so Dieno & Hashimoto could throw their opponents face first into his rear end. The plan worked until it was Suzuki’s turn. He simply stopped in front of Hidaka and spanked him! Hashimoto then force fed Dieno the wasabi paste but the Lip Lock aimed for Suzuki was sent to Hashimoto instead! Suzuki used the Sleeper Hold on Dieno to squeeze the wasabi out of him until he gave up.

Go For It! The Three Inokori Brothers Vs Bati Bati F’N In The Sky

You can always count on The Brahman Brothers to come into this tournament with their partners already brainwashed into acting like them. It happened here with Hideki Okatani & Yuki Ishikawa. Together their obscene fighting styles left the opponents doubled over in pain due to where the attacks were targeted. However Fuminori Abe was able to trap Brahman Shu in the Manjigatame so his team could escape to the next round with enough of their collective dignity still intact.

Non-Tournament 8-Man Tag Match

There were two matches outside of the tournament. The first of which focused on PROJECT: HAVOC, the unit of wrestlers currently invading Big Japan led by So Daimonji. Facing them were the collective team of mostly young DDT and BJW wrestlers. Despite the best efforts of the combined home team, HAVOC overwhelmed them and won out in the end.

Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Semi Final

Smile Lizard King Kong Vs Team Katagi Returns

Over to the semi finals now where Smile Lizard King Kong continued to show their combined strength. The normally powerful Kazusada Higuchi & Yasufumi Nakanoue were instead powerless to save Kinoshita from getting flattened with Flying Body Press after Flying Body Press from their opponents, ending with Sekifuda folding him over with the Ironman pin for the 3 count.

Big Bombers Kai Vs Bati Bati F’N In The Sky

The other semi finals treated fans to a couple of important matchups. First was a preview of Tetsuya Endo against Yukio Naya in the D-Oh Grand Prix final happening on 3rd January. The other was Suzuki and Daisuke Sekimoto getting the rare chance to fight each other! Their battle ended in a stalemate because the time ran out. When sudden death began the match scrambled into Hideyoshi Kamitani trying to pin Sekimoto only to get defeated instead with Sekimoto’s Lariat. Endo and Naya had a staredown in the middle of the ring after the match.

Non-Tournament Special 6-Man Tag Match

The second non-tournament match was a straightforward DDT Vs Big Japan 6-Man Tag. Well I say straightforward but the match involved Antonio Honda and Abdullah Kobayashi both getting rope burn between their legs, the DDT team all dancing to “What Does The Fox Say”, then the Big Japan team dancing to “Tokyo GO!” until Takuya Nomura stopped them. But that was only because he wanted to lead the dance and use that power to overpower his opponents. Kobayashi ended up using Honda’s Gongitsune against him and rolled him up with a School Boy to get Big Japan the victory.

Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Final

Smile Lizard King Kong Vs Bati Bati F’N In The Sky

Sadly the show has not yet returned to running long enough that it reaches up to the clock striking midnight to bring in the new year. But the finalists were still able to take each other on without having to worry about a time limit. Sekimoto and Hino got into a big chop battle while HARASHIMA took out Abe with the Somato. Sekifuda almost pinned Endo with the Ironman but was then flipped upside down with the Tetsuya In the Sky. It was all there for Endo to take it and he finished Sekifuda off with the Burning Star Press, making Bati Bati F’N In The Sky the winners of this year’s tournament!

Japan Indie Grand Prix Awards 2023

MVP

1. Kazuki Hirata (DDT)
2. Fujita “Jr.” Hayato (Michinoku Pro)
3. Fuminori Abe (Freelance)
4. Chris Brookes (DDT)
5. HARUKAZE (Ganbare☆Pro)

Best Bout

1. Fujita “Jr.” Hayato Vs Hiromu Takahashi (Michinoku Pro, 15th October)
2. Fuminori Abe Vs Takuya Nomura (Kakuto Tanteidan, 12th October)
3. Yuji Okabayashi Vs Yuya Aoki (Big Japan, 4th May)
4. Hiromu Takahashi Vs Kazuki Hirata (DDT, 12th November)
5. Chris Brookes Vs Yuki Ueno (DDT, 12th November)

Best Unit

1. Astronauts (Freelance/Big Japan)
2. Pheromones (DDT)
3. Lethal Weapon (Ganbare☆Pro)
4. Eruption (DDT)
5. The 37KAMIINA (DDT)

Best Show

1. DDT @ Ryogoku Kokugikan, 12th November
2. Kakuto Tanteidan @ Shinjuku FACE, 12th October
3. Big Japan @ Yokohama Budokan, 4th May
4. Michinoku Pro @ Yahaba Townsmen Gymnasium, 15th October
5. 666 @ Korakuen Hall, 2nd, August

Best Newcomer

1. Munetatsu Nakamura (Ganbare☆Pro)
2. Kazumasa Yoshida (Big Japan)
3. Takeshi Masada (DDT)
4. Yusaki Ito (Dove Pro)
5. Yuki Kanzaki (TTT)


TOKYO JOSHI PRO “~YUKA SAKAZAKI GRADUATION SPECIAL~” Results

December 6, 2023

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TOKYO JOSHI PRO WRESTLING 10TH ANNIVERSARY PERFORMANCE ~YUKA SAKAZAKI GRADUATION SPECIAL~”, 06/12/2023
Tokyo Kitazawa Town Hall
294 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

1. Japanese I Quit Match: Yuka Sakazaki & Rika Tatsumi defeated Antonio Honda & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi when Sakazaki made Honda say “I Give Up” (9:23).
2. Wakana Uehara, Shino Suzuki & Runa Okubo defeated HIMAWARI, Toga & Haru Kazashiro when Uehara submitted Kazashiro with the Sleeper Hold (9:57).
3. Miu Watanabe, Suzume & Arisu Endo defeated Yuki Kamifuku, Mahiro Kiryu & Kaya Toribami when Watanabe pinned Toribami with the Tear Drop (10:37).
4. Hikari Noa, Nao Kakuta, Mizuki & Moka Miyamoto defeated Hyper Misao. Yuki Aino, Raku & Pom Harajuku when Mizuki pinned Harajuku with the Cutie Special (11:15).
5. Yuka Sakazaki Graduation Special 3 Way Match: Yuka Sakazaki defeated Miyu Yamashita and Shoko Nakajima when Sakazaki pinned Nakajima with an Elbow Butt (17:45).
6. Special Match: Yuka Sakazaki Vs Mizuki ended in a Time Limit Draw (3:00).

Today Yuka Sakazaki said goodbye to Tokyo Joshi Pro, ending her decade long attachment to the promotion that grew up with her. Her debut match was held inside Kitazawa Town Hall so it was only fitting that her graduation from TJPW took place there as well. She had a busy day that began with a unique tag team match. Rika Tatsumi teamed up with Sakazaki against male wrestlers Antonio Honda and Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi. All four have history together as part of a music group called DPG (Dramatic Perfect Group) that opened up the doors for both Sakazaki and Tatsumi to join TJPW and become pro wrestlers.

Honda got on the microphone before the match began and introduced everyone to the final showdown of DPG. It was going to be a Japanese I Quit Match where the match would only end when a wrestler gives up while speaking Japanese. Honda kept teasing he would give up when he was put in a hold only to change the subject and say something else. Hiroshi did the same but swerved into singing. Sakazaki ended up putting Honda in a Heel Hold while Tatsumi applied the Figure 4 Leg Lock to Hiroshi. Honda kept yelling at Hiroshi over and over not to give up. Honda himself then gave up. After the match Sakazaki said it is thanks to Honda and Hiroshi that she and Tatsumi were able to become who they are today. Tatsumi said she is glad she became a pro wrestler. Honda and Hiroshi agreed because pro wrestling is the best!

Sakazaki’s second match of the show was her graduation match in the main event. It was a 3 Way Match between the three longest serving members of TJPW: Sakazaki, Miyu Yamashita and Shoko Nakajima. It could be the last time Sakazaki fought both Yamashita and Nakajima so there was plenty of time shared in the ring against each of them. Yamashita rolled out of the way from the Magical Girl Chicken Dude but immediately became the target of Nakajima’s Diving Senton. Yamashita was a non-factor from that point on. Sakazaki and Nakajima fought their hearts out against each other until they were spent. The match ended with a hug between the two, Sakazaki saying “Thank you” and then knocking out Nakajima with an Elbow Strike. She hugged her again while pinning her for the three count.

After the match Sakazaki said when she was putting her final TJPW match together her first thought was to do a singles bout with Nakajima. But she wanted Yamashita to be part of it too so it became a 3 Way instead. Nakajima said she never wanted to lose to Sakazaki which is why she worked so hard. Sakazaki is leaving but Nakajima still lost to her today so now she gets to keep that motivation to always become a better wrestler. She also warned Sakazaki not to catch a cold in America. Yamashita described Sakazaki like an older sister or mother figure to her. She would always get mad when Yamashita does badly but she was also always there when Yamashita got sad or depressed. They always feel linked together so even if Yamashita leaves her alone from now on she still feels like she can help her. If things ever get tough for Sakazaki, Yamashita can always fly over to support her.

Sakazaki then invited one more special person to join her in the ring. Mizuki has been holding in her emotions for as long as she could but still is not happy to see Sakazaki leave TJPW. She wants the two of them to continue teaming together and being in the same ring. Sakazaki said the schedule meant they couldn’t have one more match against each other but they could do it today even if it was just for one minute. Tetsuya Koda then announced over the speakers they have enough time for a three minute match!

The two shook hands and did everything they could against each other within three minutes. Mizuki hit the Diving Foot Stomp while Sakazaki gave her the Magical Merry-Go-Round off of the top rope. They spent the final seconds of their short match hitting each other with Elbow Strikes until Mizuki landed the Whirling Candy and went for the pin. She was at a 2 count when the bell rang, ending the match in a draw. Yamashita, Nakajima and Tatsumi all got in the ring to join the hug Sakazaki and Mizuki were giving each other.

The graduation ceremony began and Sakazaki received gifts from the entire TJPW roster. Everyone then gathered together for a final group photo with her. Sakazaki told them today made her realize how lucky she is to come from TJPW. She hopes everyone will continue to support her and in return wants everyone to continue supporting TJPW for many years to come. She shook hands and hugged every member of the roster one by one as they left the ring until she was the last one left. Also after the show Sakazaki stood at the exit and high fived everyone in the audience as they left the venue.

Backstage Sakazaki had a few more comments when interviewed by the wrestling media. She wanted to thank Sanshiro Takagi for accepting her into TJPW. As already mentioned, she was originally just going to do a match with Nakajima but wanted to include Yamashita. She also couldn’t leave Mizuki out of her final match no matter how short it was. She is proud of everyone in TJPW and thinks each woman is a treasue who should continue to live their lives believing in themselves. The only regret she had during the road to graduation was never getting to defend the Princess Tag Team Titles against Mickey Mouse at DisneyLand. But as long as she is a wrestler that dream may still someday come true.

Two new matches were revealed for the Ittenyon show at Korakuen Hall on 4th January. Max The Impaler’s opponent for the International Princess Title match was revealed to be Yuki Arai! This match is happening exactly one year after Max pinned Arai to win the Princess Tag Titles from her. Now one year later and Arai has the chance to get revenge by taking the IP Title away from Max.

The other match is Wakana Uehara’s reward for winning the Next Generation Tournament. She is going one on one against Aja Kong! It sounds like a daunting task but since the match is happening on the anniversary of Uehara’s debut, she wants to show everything she’s learned over the last year to Kong in the ring. The two already have a history together because Kong was a guest trainer on the Yume Pro Wrestling series that set up Uehara’s entry into wrestling and TJPW.


Pompaler Get Good Fortune, Sakazaki’s Graduation Match, Akito Jealous Of ROMANCE DAWN

November 30, 2023

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TOKYO JOSHI PRO WRESTLING 10TH ANNIVERSARY PERFORMANCE ~WE ARE TJPW~”, 01/12/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Juria Nagano, Shino Suzuki & Haru Kazashiro Vs Kaya Toribami, Toga & Runa Okubo
2. Hyper Misao & Mahiro Kiryu Vs Yuki Aino & Raku
3. Next Generation Tournament ’23 – Final: HIMAWARI Vs Wakana Uehara
4. Queen Of Asia Title: Yuki Kamifuku (c) Vs Viva Van
5. Princess Tag Team Titles: Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta (c) Vs Max The Impaler & Pom Harajuku
6. 10th Anniversary Special 10-Woman Tag Match: Miyu Yamashita, Shoko Nakajima, Yuka Sakazaki, Rika Tatsumi & Mizuki Vs Miu Watanabe, Yuki Arai, Suzume, Moka Miyamoto & Arisu Endo

A press conference was held today for the two title matches taking place tomorrow. There was a contract signing for the Princess Tag Team Titles but Max The Impaler did not show up on time. Free WiFi and Pom Harajuku went ahead with signing the contract and giving their opinions about the match. Harajuku said this is her second time challenging for the title and she wanted to be stronger this time. She came up with an idea to buy an expensive pair of high heeled shoes to make her taller and feel bigger. At this point Max arrived at the building and stormed into the room looking to fight Nao Kakuta. Max then smeared ink onto the contract with their thumb (that counts as a signature) and left with Harajuku. Hikari Noa talked about her idea of taming Max the same way she tames her big pet dog at home. Kakuta thinks they shouldn’t leave their guard down against Harajuku so their plan should be to keep Pompaler apart from each other. Free WiFi are feeling the pressure of being the defending champions at the 10th Anniversary show. Meanwhile Pompaler went to the Kanda Myojin Shrine to get their fortune told. The fortune they got was a great one, predicting they will win easily tomorrow.

Yuki Kamifuku and Viva Van were also at the press conference to talk about the Queen Of Asia Title Match. Van spoke about being a Vietnamese-American wrestler coming to Japan to make history. While she is proud to be a part of Tokyo Joshi Pro’s 10th Anniversary show and got along with Kamifuku when they teamed together last weekend, she is also a belt collector and here to win. Kamifuku talked about wrestling in other Asian countries this year. She is steadily becoming fulfilled about what she wants to do as a wrestler. Her goal now is defending the Queen Of Asia Title as a proper champion in order to raise its value while spreading the word of TJPW across the continent. She thinks Van is gorgeous and is looking forward to the match because it will be between two beautiful Asian women. She is worried about damaging her nails though.

The 10-Woman Tag main event is Best 2-Out-3 Falls with a 60 minute time limit.

DDT “D-OH GRAND PRIX 2023 IN SHINJUKU DAY 1”, 02/12/2023
Shinjuku FACE

1. Special 8-Man Tag Match: Yuki Ueno, Toy Kojima, Takeshi Masada & Kazuma Sumi Vs Jun Akiyama, Yuki Iino, Yusuke Okada & Rukiya
2. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – A Block: Tetsuya Endo (0) Vs HARASHIMA (0)
3. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – A Block: Kazusada Higuchi (0) Vs Daisuke Sasaki (0)
4. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – B Block: Chris Brookes (0) Vs KANON (2)
5. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – B Block: MAO (2) Vs Kazuki Hirata (0)
6. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – B Block: Yukio Naya (2) Vs Rei Saito (2)
7. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Soma Takao & Shota (c) Vs Toru Sugiura & Akito

The KO-D Tag Team Titles have never been held by Akito and he wants to change that fact. Toru Sugiura is one of his longest known friends going back to their days in Nagoya where they got their starts at separate wrestling groups in the area. Seeing ROMANCE DAWN win the tag titles made Akito jealous because he is currently not in a unit or teaming with a close friend. That’s why he chose Sugiura to be his partner for the title match. If they become champions then Akito wants to do a tag title defence in a similar style to a DDT Extreme Title defence.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TOKYO JOSHI PRO WRESTLING 10TH ANNIVERSARY PERFORMANCE ~YUKA SAKAZAKI GRADUATION SPECIAL~”, 06/12/2023
Tokyo Kitazawa Town Hall

1. Wakana Uehara, Shino Suzuki & Runa Okubo Vs HIMAWARI, Toga & Haru Kazashiro
2. Miu Watanabe, Suzume & Arisu Endo Vs Yuki Kamifuku, Mahiro Kiryu & Kaya Toribami
3. Hikari Noa, Nao Kakuta, Mizuki & Moka Miyamoto Vs Hyper Misao. Yuki Aino, Raku & Pom Harajuku
4. Yuka Sakazaki & Rika Tatsumi Vs Antonio Honda & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi
5. Yuka Sakazaki Graduation Special 3 Way Match: Yuka Sakazaki Vs Miyu Yamashita Vs Shoko Nakajima

TJPW will be saying goodbye to Yuka Sakazaki with not one but two matches on her graduation day. First Sakazaki teams with Rika Tatsumi for a tag match against Antonio Honda & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi. All four people used to be together in an entertainment group called DPG (Dramatic Perfect Group). The group were also involved with the TJPW launch show ten years ago so it is a fitting way to send Sakazaki off. However she will have a second match in the main event against the other two longest serving members of TJPW. It’s a 3 Way Match against Miyu Yamashita and Shoko Nakajima!

TOKYO JOSHI PRO/PRESTIGE “COMBAT PRINCESS USA”, 14/12/2023
Globe Theatre, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Rika Tatsumi & Amira Vs Max The Impaler & Pom Harajuku
2. Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta Vs Janai Kai & Shazza McKenzie
3. Moka Miyamoto Vs Trish Adora
4. Mizuki Vs Sandra Moone
5. Shoko Nakajima Vs Taya Valkyrie
6. Miu Watanabe Vs Hyan
7. Special Tag Match: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh Vs Masha Slamovich & Killer Kelly

Johnnie Robbie is out injured and has to miss the show next month. Shazza McKenzie is coming in as Janai Kai’s new tag partner against Free WiFi.

DDT “D-OH GRAND PRIX 2023 THE FINAL”, 03/01/2024
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Special Tag Match ~ Shunma Katsumata Return Match: Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani Vs Shunma Katsumata & Toy Kojima
2. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – Final: Winner Of A Block Vs Winner Of B Block

The last time Shunma Katsumata wrestled was in May when he defended the Extreme Title against Hideki Okatani. That was the match where he injured his ankle and was out of action for eight months. When Katsumata returns on 3rd January Okatani will be there waiting for him so they can continue where they left off. It’s a tag match though so Katsumata will be with The 37KAMIINA teammate Toy Kojima while Okatani is there as part of Eruption with Yukio Sakaguchi.

Rei Saito is guaranteed to be on the show whether he makes it to the D-Oh Grand Prix final or not.


GANBARE☆PRO “ELEVATOR TO THE GALLOWS ’23” Results

November 23, 2023

GANBARE☆PRO “ELEVATOR TO THE GALLOWS ’23”, 23/11/2023
Tokyo Takashimadaira Kumin Center
220 Fans – No Vacancy

1. SAKI & Yoshiko Hasegawa defeated YuuRI & Riara when SAKI submitted Riara with the Sasori-katame (9:28).
2. Yumehito Imanari defeated Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi with a Crab Hold (11:30).
3. Dan The Dad, Tyson Maeguchi & Banny Oikawa defeated Soma Takao, Shinichiro Tominaga & HARUKAZE when Dan pinned Tominaga with the You’re Grounded (12:51).
4. Koji Doi & Kuma Arashi defeated Ken Ohka & Mizuki Watase when Doi pinned Watase with a Lariat (14:31).
5. Spirit Of Ganbare World Tag Team Titles: Shuichiro Katsumura & Takuya Wada (c) defeated Keisuke Ishii & Munetatsu Nakamura when Katsumura submitted Nakamura with the Triple Three 3 Lock (14:34).
*V3 for Ground Absolute.
6. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Isami Kodaka (c) defeated Shota with a Cradle Cutback (22:17).
*V4 for Isami Kodaka.

There seems to be no stopping Isami Kodaka’s run through the Ganbare☆Pro roster. His latest challenger for the Spirit Of Ganbare Title today was Shota. The challenger came into this match promising fans he would win the title and become the new protagonist of GanPro. In a match that saw Kodaka kick out of the Gannosuke Clutch and the Frog Splash, Shota was still finding ways to win. Kodaka landed on his back with the Diving Double Knee Drop and turned it into a Bow And Arrow Lock when Shota wriggled his way out of it and laid on top for a pin. However Kodaka rolled Shota over and pinned him down for the three count to retain the title.

Shota accepted the result. His own career feels like it has reached over 100 volumes just like One Piece but he still hasn’t become strong enough to beat Kodaka. It’s a bit unfair but Shota cannot deny that Kodaka is still the protagonist. Kodaka said that is the number one reason why people hate him. Shuichiro Katsumura entered the ring and told Kodaka it doesn’t matter who the protagonist of this story is. He is here to take the SOG Title back to GanPro! He cannot stay quiet any longer after seeing his friends lose to Kodaka one by one. He is the only one left so he wants to face Kodaka in a title match at Korakuen Hall on 27th December. Kodaka accepted, knowing that if he wins that match he is guaranteed to stick around in GanPro next year. After all, the SOG Title is his passport to remain in GanPro whether he is wanted here or not.

Katsumura now has a chance of becoming a double champion by the end of the year. He & Takuya Wada are still the Spirit Of Ganbare Team Team Champions after the defeated Keisuke Ishii & Munetatsu Nakamura. The challengers were fired up, Nakamura in particular. But the youngest wrestler on the GanPro roster was too eager and he accidentally kicked Ishii in the head when he aimed for Katsumura. He then got taken down and pulled apart into submission. Later on Katsumura apologised to Wada for going ahead and challenging Kodaka because that means there will not be a SOG Tag Title match on 27th December. Wada told him not to worry because he already has an idea of what else he can do on the show and it involves a particular challenge from another promotion. More will be explained below.

Ken Ohka had two months to start growing his hair back but he was still looking to get revenge on DoiKuma. He had another brawl against the team this time with Mizuki Watase as his partner. Unfortunately it ended in defeat again with Koji Doi pinning Watase while Kuma Arashi threw Ohka into rows of chairs outside the ring. Ohka still wanted to fight Arashi after the match and challenged him to a singles bout on the 27th December Korakuen show. Arashi wasn’t interested because it would just be another easy win for him. He eventually changed his mind but only if the match is done on his terms. If Arashi wins then he gets title shots for both the SOG Title and SOG Tag Titles. Ohka instantly accepted, only just realising what he agreed to when he calmed down. Doi then promoted an independent show he and Arashi are running together on 4th December. He wants Wrestle Universe to promote it too because it is being financed with DoiKuma’s own money and they don’t want to go bankrupt if it flops.

The mixed tag match was Banny Oikawa’s entry into GanPro that’s been promised to her all year while she wrestled on Ganbare☆Joshi shows. It was also Dan The Dad’s return match in Japan. He communicated with Oikawa & Tyson Maeguchi by taking out a pen and telling them “This is a pen”. It is a common basic phrase Japanese people learn when taking English lessons. The friendly gesture took a life of its own when HARUKAZE stole the pen and soon had everyone fighting over it. When that was done with, Oikawa took out Soma Takao and Dan pinned Shinichiro Tominaga with a Backpack Stunner that is also called “You’re Grounded”.

During the opening speeches it was announced that GanPro has invited GLEAT to take part in an inter-promotional challenge on 27th December at Korakuen. When Yumehito Imanari won his match against Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi, he threw his name into the hat because he has already wrestled on several GLEAT shows this year. If there is anyone who is responsible for inspiring the “GxG Collaboration” it is him! He then called out Kaz Hayashi to come to the show because he’ll be waiting for him. Later on, Takuya Wada said he wanted to take part in any GanPro Vs GLEAT match too.

Also during the show Michiyoshi Mishima announced that Yoshiko Hasegawa Vs Arisu Endo will take place on 27th December. Hasegawa submitted to Endo at “WRESTLE PRINCESS IV” in October and hasn’t forgot about it. She said GanPro wrestlers always get back up after losing and she wants to show Endo that kind of spirit in her home promotion. She is looking to get a complete victory against Endo when they meet again.