Housekeeping Notes, Thoughts On The NJPW Sale

June 5, 2026

I now got a proper domain for the blog simply because I am very close to maxing out the free tier image limit WordPress has. That’s right folks, it’s taken me almost 17 years but I’m finally about to hit the ceiling as a freeloader. I admit doing the DDT Around The World articles helped speed up the decision. So I opened up the wallet and https://dramaticddt.com/ has now become active along with https://dramaticddt.wordpress.com/ which should still work. Kind of surprised the domain was available all this time. Dramatic DDT is a name I put one minute of thought into back when I started because I couldn’t think of any clever DDT related phrase at the time. There was a precursor blog in the 2000s called Dramatic Fantasia (named after the Samurai! TV show) that existed back on the old PuroresuFan group of fansites so I wasn’t going to copy that. Dramatic DDT is also somehow distinct enough that DDT themselves never had a problem with me using it. And that’s more or less the only change to the site I have in mind. I’m happy with the basic website layout. I also think adding pictures to the show reports, title histories and overseas excursions does so much to paint pictures of everything that I cover on this site so the increase of the image limit was necessary. I have an idea for setting up an archive site for Tokyo Joshi Pro in order to have a cleaner written history of the company available so you can read about its past without having to dig through the DDT content but that’s way down on my list of priorities in life right now. And given how much thought I put into the name Dramatic DDT, it would probably be called something like Tokyo TJPW or Princess TJPW. I’ll let you know if it ever comes to pass.

It’s been a week since BushiRoad sold New Japan to TV Asahi & CyberAgent. I never wrote about the news on here because the more I thought about it, the less it seemed relevant to DDT and TJPW. The evidence is how quiet CyberAgent has been over the story and that the name CyberFight appears nowhere in any of the official reports about the sale. So if DDT and NOAH became step-siblings then this makes NJPW a cousin by marriage, I guess? Stardom remaining with BushiRoad through the deal is odd but makes sense after listening to others give their opinion about it. BushiRoad likely figured the time had come to cash in on NJPW while there is still a lot of potential growth in the Stardom brand. The relationship between NJPW and Stardom still remains although I get the sense the NJPW side would be happy if they never do the “HISTORIC X-OVER” shows ever again. If you want to know why it can be so difficult to put these kind of inter-promotional events together, you just need to look at how much of the NJPW roster would distance themselves from having to wrestle the Stardom talent. Now imagine the same thing trying to juggle a NOAH roster, a DDT roster and a TJPW roster all under the one umbrella. There are reasons why SWS collapsed trying to manage multiple locker rooms and their conflicting egos all at once!

There is something of a monopoly slowly developing around Japanese wrestling lately but these companies were already circling the wagons with the creation of United Japan Pro Wrestling two years ago. Shinya Aoki wrote on his blog that he heard rumours that WWE were interested in acquiring New Japan raised my eyebrow but he’s the only person so far to bring up that idea. And since I brought up UJPW, keep in mind that Sanshiro Takagi’s term as the organisation’s head of the board will be finishing by the end of the year. I would be surprised if the second president is anyone other than a New Japan representative but that’s been my prediction even before this sale took place.

Also, hey CyberAgent! You have a video games division. You also now have full access to at least four different wrestling promotions. Can we get a new pro wrestling game? If it has to be gacha I at least have the confidence it will still turn out better than MyFaction in the WWE 2K series…


UJPW “FACE THE NEXT” Results

May 12, 2026

UJPW “FACE THE NEXT”, 12/05/2026
Shinjuku FACE
460 Fans – Super No Vacancy

1. Tatsuya Matsumoto Vs Yuto Koyanagi ended in a Time Limit draw (10:00).
2. Sentaro Motoshima, Hinata Kasai & Jiro Shinbashi defeated @KEY, Koyo Ume & Midori Takahashi when Motoshima submitted Ume with a Crab Hold (10:05).
3. Katsumi Inahata, Shota Kawakami, Masatora Yasuda & Ryuma Sekimo defeated GuC, Rukiya, Reiya Igarashi & Taisei Nakahara when Yasuda submitted Nakahara with a Crab Hold (7:12).
4. Kazumasa Yoshida, Daichi Sato & Kazuma Kimura defeated Yuki Ishida, Koshiro Asakura & Hiroto Tsuruya when Sato pinned Asakura with the Mad Splash (9:16).
5. Yuya Koroku defeated Homare with the Modified Triangle Lancer (8:33).
6. Kazuma Sumi, Munetatsu Nakamura & Ryoya Tanaka defeated Ilusion, Daiki Nagai & Daiki Odashima when Tanaka pinned Ilusion with the Stardust Press Joker Strizer (12:26).

Two years after the ill-fated “ALL TOGETHER” revival, United Japan held its third show built on a much, much smaller scale. This event was focused solely on the next generation of wrestlers provided by eight of the promotions that are members of the federation. DDT and Ganbare☆Pro were well represented on the show especially in the main event. DDT had Kazuma Sumi and Ilusion involved while Munetatsu Nakamura was there on behalf of GanPro. Ilusion didn’t get along with his tag partners and turned on them when Daiki Nagai complained about him using a Low Blow. Ilusion went to Low Blow him too but Nagai blocked it and knocked him away. Sumi & Nakamura then wiped out Nagai & Daiki Odashima with dives while Ryoya Tanaka pinned Ilusion with his own version of the Stardust Press. Sumi was happy to main event the show with the DDT Universal Title over his shoulder. Nakamura was worried about the match because it was first announced while he was recovering from his neck injury. That he made it to the match and was on the winning team means he has recovered perfectly. If there is another event like this in the future, Nakamura said he would like to either challenge Sumi for the Universal Title or challenge Tanaka for the Open The Brave Gate Title. Ilusion called the whole event incomprehensible and blamed the two Daikis, although he thinks the “Red Daiki” treated him more kindly than the “Black Daiki”. Ilusion now hopes that Daisuke Sasaki and Daiki Nagai both reach the final of the Best Of The Super Jr in New Japan so it will be a match between DAMNATION T.A and Unbound Co.!

Yuya Koroku had a lot to handle by taking on an opponent who recently lost his hair in a cage match. Homare from Dragongate took him by surprise with a Topé con Hilo and he then dragged Koroku around ringside to throw into the front rows. Homare also found Bunbun in Koroku’s corner and stomped on it. Koroku tried to make comebacks but Homare would use eye pokes to stop him. He made a mistake by going for the 450 Splash, missing it so Koroku could find his opening to take control. Homare kickedo out of the Modified Northern Lights Bomb but was forced to give up when Koroku locked him into the Triangle Lancer. Koroku said it is insane that Homare has already accomplished so much with just a year and a half of experience under his belt. Homare found Koroku interesting enough to make him think he should maybe check out DDT sometime.

There was a second trios match that had DDT wrestlers on both teams. Match #4 saw Daichi Sato pick up the win for his side while Yuki Ishida was among those heading back to lick their wounds. Sato asked his teammates if they saw the strength of DDT today? Kazumasa Yoshida won the BJW World Strong Heavyweight Title last month and is looking for challengers, so he’d like Sato or Kazuma Kimura to challenge him. Sato said of course he would take on the challenge! Kimura had to stand between the two and explain to them that he just came back from an injury that kept him out of action for eight months. He would like to wrestle both of them someday so they can start building towards that for now. That calmed Yoshida and Sato down enough for them to get along again.

Shota Kawakami found himself on the winners side of his match while DDT’s Rukiya ended up on the opposite end. Neither of them were involved in the finish though. Backstage Ryuma Sekimo encouraged Kawakami to shout out his feelings, so he did. Kawakami said the match shows that the split between major wrestling companies and indie wrestling companies doesn’t matter. He is glad that the indie wrestlers got to show the major league wrestlers what they are made of. Sekimo agreed and pointed out he may be the only person on the show to have bowled inside Ueno Park. Rukiya did not feel fulfilled after the match. He wants to do more in order to find out what is missing. Maybe it’s all of the different wrestlers from different promotions that have gathered together. He wants to fight so many of them!

GanPro comes out of the show with three wins out of three matches. Not only was Nakamura victorious in the main event but Sentaro Motoshima scored his first ever direct victory in Match #2 by making the Kyushu Pro wrestler Koyo Ume tap out! The result may be something of an upset given his tag team partners were Hinata Kasai and the Dragongate salaryman Jiro Shinbashi. Motoshima said this win is a big deal for him and he will work even harder to be a GanPro wrestler.

NJPW’s Aaron Wolf was in the corner of Tatsuya Matsumoto for the young lion’s match against Yuto Koyanagi from NOAH.

The event also featured a talk show held in the ring by Kosei Fujita and Takeshi Masada. Fujita was looking forward to seeing Ilusion wrestle in the main event while Masada hyped up Hinata Kasai for stepping in as a last minute replacement for the injured Masami Inahata. One of the questions they unexpectedly got was from Hiroshi Tanahashi asking them what their type is? As the interview segment reached its close, Fujita and Masada were asked if they would ever wrestle each other one on one? They don’t expect it to ever happen but they would like to do it.


Inahata Injured, TJPW Double 8-Woman Tag Matches, King Of DDT Final Four

May 11, 2026

UJPW “FACE THE NEXT”, 12/05/2026
Shinjuku FACE

1. Tatsuya Matsumoto Vs Yuto Koyanagi
2. Sentaro Motoshima, Hinata Kasai & Jiro Shinbashi Vs @KEY, Koyo Ume & Midori Takahashi
3. Katsumi Inahata, Shota Kawakami, Masatora Yasuda & Ryuma Sekimo Vs GuC, Rukiya, Reiya Igarashi & Taisei Nakahara
4. Kazumasa Yoshida, Daichi Sato & Kazuma Kimura Vs Yuki Ishida, Koshiro Asakura & Hiroto Tsuruya
5. Yuya Koroku Vs Homare
6. Kazuma Sumi, Munetatsu Nakamura & Ryoya Tanaka Vs Ilusion, Daiki Nagai & Daiki Odashima

Masami Inahata suffered a minor back injury over the weekend and will be taking the next week off as a precaution. Hinata Kasai is taking his place on tomorrow’s UJPW show.

DDT “HELLO☆DRAMATIC DREAMS FESTIVAL 2026”, 16/05/2026
Yokohama Radiant Hall

1. Jun Akiyama & Junta Miyawaki Vs Yuki Ishida & Rukiya
2. Takeshi Masada, Yuya Koroku & Yuni Vs Chris Brookes, Antonio Honda & Hinata Kasai
3. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Kazuma Sumi, Daichi Sato & Akito Vs Yukio Naya, Masami Inahata & Miles Karu
4. The 37KAMIINA Vs DAMNATION T.A!: Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & To-y Vs Hideki Okatani, MJ Paul & Ilusion
5. Special Single Match: HARASHIMA Vs Viento Maligno
6. Special Tag Match: MAO & KANON (w/ KIMIHIRO) Vs Danshoku Dieno & Kazuki Hirata

For the semi-main event HARASHIMA is going to face Viento Maligno in a singles match. I a certain this was put together for reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with Shinya Aoki or any acquaintance of his that is currently out of sight and out of mind.

Match #4 is going to be changed because of Inahata’s injury. That match will also be the Japanese debut of Miles Karu in DDT. He is a Malaysian wrestler who previously appeared in DDT on their “LOVE & PEACE” show that was held in his country last November.

GANBARE☆PRO “TODA SPECIAL MATCH”, 16/05/2026
Saitama Boat Race Toda Event Hall

1. Tyson Maeguchi & Takuya Wada Vs Sentaro Motoshima & Yoshihiro Horaguchi
2. Andy Wu, Choun Shiryu & Taiwan Ramenman Vs Shinichiro Tominaga, Yumehito Imanari & Akira Shoji
3. Yuko Sakurai, YuuRI & Chanyota Vs Kaho Kobayashi, Moeka Haruhi & Arisa Shinose
4. Munetatsu Nakamura Vs Gabai Ji-chan
5. Shuichiro Katsumura, Ken Ohka & Minoru Suzuki Vs Keisuke Ishii, Mizuki Watase & Shota Kawakami

For the second time this year, Ganbare☆Pro is holding a few wrestling matches at the boat races in Saitama. This is coming just a week after DDT did the same over in Tamagawa.

DDT “DRAMATIC DREAMS! VOL. 13 ~MY SPIRIT GUARDS MY LORD IN THE EAST~”, 17/05/2026
Osaka City Sumiyoshi Community Center

0. Special Dark Match ~ Young Warrior Wrestling Summit: Takahiro Hirakimoto, Sora Fujikawa & Koki Fujimoto Vs Tetsuya Goto, Masaya Ishikawa & Hinata Kasai
1. ACF & Koyo Daiichi Consultants Presents Mixed Martial Arts Match – Irregular 2 Round System: Bushimasa Vs Tyson Maeguchi
2. Black Eagle In Danger! Against The Four Heavenly Kings Of DDT Comedy, 1 Vs 4 Handicap Match: Yuto Kikuchi Vs Danshoku Dieno, Kazuki Hirata, Antonio Honda & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi
3. Kansai Vs DDT, A Battle For Freedom!: HUB, Tsubasa & Billy Ben Kid Vs Junta Miyawaki, Viento Maligno & Yuni
4. A 6-Man Tag Match That Tests How Far A Young Heel With 4 Years And 9 Months Of Experience Can Assert Himself When Surrounded By Seasoned Veterans: Magnitude Kishiwada, MJ Paul & Ilusion Vs CIMA, Akito & Yasu Urano
5. Special 6-Man Tag Match ~STARTING NOW!~: Kazuma Sumi, Takeshi Masada & Yuya Koroku Vs To-y, Yuki Ishida & Rukiya
6. Special 6-Man Tag Match ~Crush The Super Heavyweights!~: Naomi Yoshimura, Yukio Naya & Daichi Sato Vs Shigehiro Irie, Kazuaki Mihara & Masami Inahata
7. Special Tag Match ~ Laughter Brings Fortune: MAO & KANON (w/ KIMIHIRO) Vs Kuishinbo Kamen & Kikutaro
8. Special Tag Match ~ Encounter With A Wrestling Master: Dick Togo & Hideki Okatani Vs Shunma Katsumata & Kohei Kinoshita
9. Double Main Event I – Shosho Kogyo Presents Special Tag Match ~ Infinite Stimulation Anniversary: Zack Sabre Jr. & Chris Brookes Vs HARASHIMA & Shinya Aoki
10. Double Main Event II – Special Tag Match ~ A Ruthless Giant That Blocks The World Guide Us To Our Dreams Blooming Flower: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA & Yuki Ueno Vs Jun Akiyama & Shuji Ishikawa

A few of the matches are getting sponsored by local companies. The match order for the show has not been decided yet outside of the dark match and the double main event.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW SPRING TOUR 2026 ~NEXT DOOR~ IN SHINJUKU”, 22/05/2026
Shinjuku FACE

1. Yuki Arai, Miu Watanabe, Rika Tatsumi & Suzume Vs Yuki Kamifuku, Mizuki, Uta Takami & Mahiro Kiryu

Tokyo Joshi Pro are getting a little experimental for their usual champions versus challengers tag match. Since they have shows taking place in Tokyo and Osaka in the next couple of weeks they are booking the same match twice so fans on the west side of Japan and the east side can all go see it! Tokyo gets the match first.

Wakana Uehara will not be at the show due to a scheduling conflict.

BASARA “BASARA 307 ~KOO~”, 29/05/2026
Shinjuku FACE

1. Daiki Shimomura & Takeru Inoue Vs Lil’ Kraken & Fuminori Abe
2. Ryota Nakatsu, Daichi Kazato & Ayato Yoshida Vs Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi, Tsutomu Oosugi & Banana Senga
3. Grace Project Sponsored Match: Toru Sugiura, Yuya Susumu & Captain Grace Vs Isami Kodaka, Takumi Tsukamoto & Gouma Ryu
4. FUMA Vs Seiya Morohashi
5. Iron Fist Tag Team Titles: Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino (c) Vs Minoru Fujita & Yasu Urano
6. Union MAX Title: Shuji Ishikawa (c) Vs SAGAT

Captain Grace and his company are back to give BASARA a sponsored match again.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW SPRING TOUR 2026 ~NEXT DOOR~ IN OSAKA”, 30/05/2026
Osaka Azalea Taisho Hall

1. Yuki Arai, Miu Watanabe, Rika Tatsumi & Suzume Vs Yuki Kamifuku, Mizuki, Uta Takami & Mahiro Kiryu

Osaka gets the rematch and Uehara will be there too.

DDT “KING OF DDT 2026 FINAL!!”, 31/05/2026
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. King Of DDT – Semi Final: Minoru Suzuki Vs Shinya Aoki
2. King Of DDT – Semi Final: MAO Vs Danshoku Dieno
3. King Of DDT – Final: X Vs X

With four wrestlers left in the King Of DDT, only one of them is a previous winner. That’s MAO and his next opponent Danshoku Dieno last made it to the final in 2012, losing to Kenny Omega. The semi final stage is now the furthest that Shinya Aoki has ever progressed to. Minoru Suzuki is one step away from equaling the likes of T-Hawk and Yuji Hino as outsiders who reached the final in their first tournament entry.

DDT “OWARI WARS 2026”, 21/06/2026
Aichi Chunichi Hall & Conference

1. DDT Extreme Title: Hideki Okatani (c) Vs Junta Miyawaki
2. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA (c) Vs Yuki Ueno & To-y

The alleged future “Prince Of Nagoya” To-y wants to challenge for the KO-D Tag Team Titles and got the shot when he promised Yuki Ueno would be his tag partner. Chris Brookes is pretty confident that To-y won’t be able to beat him or HARASHIMA for the belts.

As part of Junta Miyawaki’s journey through DDT he wants to try and win the championship that bests represents DDT as a one of a kind company. That means he is going after the DDT Extreme Title. He also now has to prove to Hideki Okatani that he wants to be here and he wasn’t kicked out of NOAH.


UJPW Is Facing The Next Generation

May 3, 2026

UJPW “FACE THE NEXT”, 12/05/2026
Shinjuku FACE

1. Tatsuya Matsumoto Vs Yuto Koyanagi
2. Masami Inahata, Sentaro Motoshima & Jiro Shinbashi Vs @KEY, Koyo Ume & Midori Takahashi
3. Katsumi Inahata, Shota Kawakami, Masatora Yasuda & Ryuma Sekimo Vs GuC, Rukiya, Reiya Igarashi & Taisei Nakahara
4. Kazumasa Yoshida, Daichi Sato & Kazuma Kimura Vs Yuki Ishida, Koshiro Asakura & Hiroto Tsuruya
5. Yuya Koroku Vs Homare
6. Kazuma Sumi, Munetatsu Nakamura & Ryoya Tanaka Vs Ilusion, Daiki Nagai & Daiki Odashima

Hang on. United Japan is running shows again and actually doing something interesting for their next card? Well okay then. Eight members of UJPW are sending their youngest and brightest wrestlers to Shinjuku FACE for a future generation showcase. We have wrestlers from New Japan, NOAH, DDT, Ganbare☆Pro, Dragongate, Kyushu Pro, Big Japan and FREEDOMS all getting involved. Not only are there matches taking place but there will also be a talk show happening with Kosei Fujita and Takeshi Masada as the guests.


UJPW Adds Sasaki And Satomura As Directors

February 18, 2026

A second United Japan Pro Wrestling update for the year already? They’re spoiling us.

Yesterday representatives from the UJPW met for a general meeting where two new directors were appointed. Takashi Sasaki from Pro Wrestling FREEDOMS and Meiko Satomura from Sendai Girls received unanimous approval to take on the roles after going through rigorous screening. Satomura’s appointment is notable because she has now become UJPW’s first female director since the federation was founded in 2023.

When the meeting was over everyone stayed around for a social gathering that included speeches from Ryo Saito, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Ryota Chikuzen. In the upcoming year UJPW will hold safety seminars for its members and may come up with something to better explain to wrestling fans what kind of activities the federation exists to deal with.

As of 17th February there are now twelve Regular Members and three Supporting Members in UJPW to make up fifteen members in total. They are as follows.

Regular Members: New Japan, All Japan, Big Japan, NOAH, DDT, Dragon Gate, Kyushu Pro, Stardom, Tokyo Joshi Pro, Ganbare☆Pro, FREEDOMS, Sendai Girls

Supporting Members: Dradition, Diana, WAVE

Representative Director: Sanshiro Takagi (CyberFight Vice President)
Executive Director: Naoki Sugabayashi (New Japan Pro Wrestling Chairman)
Executive Director: Ryo Saito (DRAGONGATE Director)
Executive Director: Ryota Chikuzen (Kyushu Pro Wrestling Chairman)
Director: Takeshi Fukuda (All Japan Pro Wrestling President)
Director: Yasuo Okamoto (CyberFight President)
Director: Narihiro Takeda (CyberFight Director)
Director: Eiji Tosaka (Yotsuba Kogei President)
Director: Michiyoshi Mishima (Ganpro Entertainment President)
Director: Takaaki Kidani (Bushiroad President)
Director: Hiroshi Tanahashi (New Japan Pro Wrestling President)
Director: Taro Okada (Stardom President)
Director: Hitoshi Matsumoto (New Japan Pro Wrestling Director)
Director: Yukito Nagaoka (TMI Associates)
Director: Takashi Sasaki (Pro Wrestling FREEDOMS President)
Director: Meiko Satomura (Sendai Girls Pro Wrestling President)
Auditor: Shinya Yamada (New Japan Pro Wrestling Auditor)


Sendai Girls Joins UJPW

January 30, 2026

It’s been a while since we heard from the United Japan Pro Wrestling federation. Get used to it because the way they do things is now far more focused on behind the scenes logistics rather than inter-promotional dream matches. It means we only publicly hear about UJPW two or three times a year because the directors usually meet once every six months. The last meeting they had was for a safety measures seminar in November to teach the members how to respond to accidents that happen during and after wrestling matches.

Today it was revealed that UJPW held its third annual Board Of Directors meeting on 22nd January where the federation welcomed its newest addition to the fold. Sendai Girls has now joined UJPW as a full fledged member with Meiko Satomura and Chihiro Hashimoto commenting on their goals to strengthen the development of women’s pro wrestling in Japan.

As of 22nd January there are now twelve Regular Members and three Supporting Members in UJPW. They are as follows.

Regular Members: New Japan, All Japan, Big Japan, NOAH, DDT, Dragongate, Kyushu Pro, Stardom, Tokyo Joshi Pro, Ganbare☆Pro, FREEDOMS, Sendai Girls

Supporting Members: Dradition, Diana, WAVE


UJPW Approves Of New Members

June 13, 2025

Two days ago the second Board Of Directors meeting for United Japan Pro Wrestling took place. Representatives including Sanshiro Takagi, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Ryo Saito got together to review proposals from other pro wrestling companies wishing to join the alliance. After rigorous screening, Pro Wrestling FREEDOMS have been accepted as the newest regular member of UJPW. Not only that but Pro Wrestling Dradition, World Women’s Pro Wrestling Diana and Pro Wrestling WAVE were all unanimously approved to join UJPW in the supporting members tier.

Proposals for the establishment of UJPW’s Human Rights Policy as well as Safety Guidelines were taken care off during the meeting too. There was also a seminar held to teach everyone how to utilize their federation for the development of pro wrestling.

As of this week the members of UJPW are now as follows.

Regular Members: New Japan, All Japan, Big Japan, NOAH, DDT, Dragongate, Kyushu Pro, Stardom, Tokyo Joshi Pro, Ganbare☆Pro, FREEDOMS

Supporting Members: Dradition, Diana, WAVE


UJPW Becomes Incorporated

January 20, 2025

Last July members of the United Japan Pro Wrestling association had met to discuss what their next movements should be with the concept. It was decided that UJPW would go from a voluntary organization to an incorporated group. After going quiet for the rest of the year, representatives from all of the member promotions gathered today to announce that UJPW went through with the plan and has now become incorporated as a non-profit organization. With this move UJPW aims to strengthen its governance in Japan’s pro wrestling scene, become more transparent with its management and improve wrestling’s social credibility. They also came up with a slogan: “Pro Wrestling will always be a driving force for the people of Japan.”

The move gives UJPW greater legal options with the example the Japanese press have given being to open up accounts and hold business assets under the corporate name. Sanshiro Takagi has taken on the role as the Representative Director even though the UJPW office will be located inside New Japan’s HQ. Takagi along with the other directors on the board will all serve two year terms. They were all chosen based on the number of voting rights they have in their respective companies. The board of directors will meet twice a year within the fiscal calendar.

Takagi said it is possible for more UJPW events to be held in the future but it is not the goal of the organization and there are no plans to run another event like “ALL TOGETHER” at this time. However there could still be more interactions coming between the promotions. For example, Hiroshi Tanahashi said he would like to appear in the other companies as part of his year long road to retirement.

There are currently ten members of UJPW. They are New Japan, All Japan, NOAH, DDT, Ganbare☆Pro, Big Japan, Dragongate, Stardom, Tokyo Joshi Pro & Kyushu Pro. Seven requirements have been laid out for future members to meet if they would like to join UJPW. They include needing a regular event schedule, being a legally recognized company, having at least one wrestler under a full time contract, having an annual revenue of over 50 million yen, been active for at least two years, have a corporate compliance system and want to improve the wrestling scene even when competing against other members. There will also in the future be a lower tier created place for supporting members to join that involve less demanding requirements. When I posted about these plans last July I mentioned DIANA had representatives at the meeting in an observing capacity. There has been no mention of them being involved since then but I imagine they can end up becoming one such example of a supporting member.

Wrestlers and staff from each of the member promotions were in attendance to give speeches about the news. I’m just going to focus on the companies I usually cover (although I’d like to point out that Takaaki Kidani put his foot in his mouth again). Takagi wants UJPW to also cooperate with as many of the different indies across Japan as possible. Michiyoshi Mishima said GanPro is the smallest member of the group but thinks they can set an example for other promotions of the same size. Chris Brookes spoke about wrestling being something that can unite people. Utami Hayashishita Miyu Yamashita talked about the respect that wrestling fans around the world has for Japan. Haru Kazashiro said she loved wrestling ever since she joined TJPW and wants to see more children drawn to the industry if UJPW can establish the safety and medical standards needed. Ken Ohka believes this attempt at bringing pro wrestling together will take the industry to new heights. Yuna Manase is happy to be able to exchange ideas with wrestlers from other companies that will bring more happiness to the fans.


Oishi Leaving DDT, Takagi Becoming UJPW Spokesman, International Updates

July 25, 2024

Yesterday DDT and Makoto Oishi held a press conference on short notice to talk about Oishi’s future. He announced that on 3rd October he will be leaving DDT when his contract ends and will be wrestling as a freelancer from that point onwards. He explained that his father-in-law recently passed away so he and his wife Misaki Ohata decided to move their home to Miyagi so Ohata could live closer to her family. During this time Oishi has lived alone in Tokyo while taking trips to see his family once or twice a month. With his children growing up he decided he wants to spend more time raising them in Miyagi. Akito revealed that Oishi has also been working behind the scenes jobs in DDT on a contract basis so it is a big deal for the company that he is leaving. One of Oishi’s jobs was to drive the company bus. It allowed him to get a driver’s license that allows him to work as a taxi driver if he wants to. He joked about possibly becoming the taxi driver for The Saito Brothers.

Oishi will continue to wrestle as a freelancer but he is aware he will be getting less bookings because of his age and location. DDT will still book him for shows they want him on, especially those that take place in Sendai as well as big arena events. Oishi would like to continue teaming with Danshoku Dieno & Jun Akiyama as part of D.O.A. He also wants to wrestle against people like Shunma Katsumata, MAO and Tetsuya Endo before his contract runs out.

Oishi has already contacted Chihiro Hashimoto asking her to let him train at the Sendai Girls dojo. Since Oishi was responsible for training many of the celebrities and entertainers that wrestled in DDT, Sanshiro Takagi suggested he can send them over to Oishi and that dojo in Sendai from now on.

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Over a week ago the members of United Japan Pro Wrestling all had a meeting to discuss the next steps for the alliance between many of Japan’s pro wrestling companies. The decision was made to have UJPW to become incorporated in order to strengthen their communication with the Japanese government as well as improve the guidelines for their wrestlers. When this move is completed Sanshiro Takagi will serve UJPW as their main Spokesman.

UJPW currently represents 11 wrestling promotions across 9 companies. The 11 promotions are New Japan, Stardom, All Japan, Big Japan, DDT, DIANA, Dragongate, Ganbare☆Pro, Kyushu Pro, NOAH and Tokyo Joshi Pro. DIANA and Kyushu Pro are new additions but I do not know when they signed up to join UJPW. Although it should be noted that DIANA’s representatives were only at the meeting “in an observing capacity”, whatever that means.

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EVE/TOKYO JOSHI PRO “EVE X TJPW: JAPAN & UK WRESTLING UNITE!”, 24/08/2024
Conway Hall, London, England

Last but not least there are a few updates on the international shows taking place later this year. Over in England TJPW’s collaboration with EVE has finally found a venue. Their show in London this August will take place at Conway Hall.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO/DEFY “BRIGHT EYES”, 09/11/2024
Washington Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA

DDT/DEFY “DDT IN UTERO”, 09/11/2024
Washington Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA

DDT/TOKYO JOSHI PRO/DEFY “TRIANGLER DTD”, 10/11/2024
Washington Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA

Then in November DDT and TJPW will be working with DEFY to hold a weekend’s worth of shows in Seattle, USA. On the first day there will be two DEFY shows, one with TJPW in the afternoon and one with DDT in the evening. Then the next day all three promotions will be working together for a supeshow finale. TJPW will be sending around 10 to 12 wrestlers for the show. DDT has not given a number for how many wrestlers they will be bringing.


DDT At “ALL TOGETHER IN SAPPORO” Results

June 15, 2024

UJPW “ALL TOGETHER IN SAPPORO”, 15/06/2024
Sapporo Hokkai Kitayell
2,156 Fans

0. Dark Match: Toru Yano & Tomoaki Honma defeated Tomoya & Andreza Giant Panda when Yano pinned Tomoya with a School Boy (6:26).
1. Zack Sabre Jr., Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita defeated Ulka Sasaki, HAYATA & Yu Owada when Sabre submitted Owada with an Arm Bar (8:37).
2. AZM Vs Starlight Kid ended in a Time Limit Draw (15:00).
3. Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI defeated Daisuke Sekimoto & Daichi Hashimoto when Goto pinned Hashimoto after the Lights Out (10:24).
4. Jeff Cobb, Great-O-Khan & Kazusada Higuchi defeated Oleg Boltin, Ryohei Oiwa & Tetsuya Endo when Cobb pinned Oiwa with the Tour Of The Islands (9:53).
5. SANADA, Taichi & Yuya Uemura defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Naomichi Marufuji & Kento Miyahara when SANADA pinned Tanahashi with an O’Connor Bridge (13:25).
6. Masa Kitamiya defeated Tomohiro Ishii with the Saito Suplex (13:42).
7. Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji, Hiromu Takahashi, BUSHI & Titan defeated Jack Morris, Anthony Greene, LJ Cleary, Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney when Tsuji pinned Cleary with the Gene Blaster (10:30).
8. Gabe Kidd, David Finley & YO-HEY defeated Kaito Kiyomiya, Kenoh & Alejandro by Referee Stoppage when Kidd knocked out Kiyomiya the Leg Trap Piledriver (12:16).
9. Tetsuya Naito defeated Jake Lee with the Destino (26:32).

Not much to talk about this show in regards to DDT’s involvement with it. The show was also a bigger drawing disappointment than the first one so who knows if UJPW will hold another event like this anytime soon? Tetsuya Endo and Kazusada Higuchi were in the same match representing DDT on both teams. Endo & Ryohei Oiwa were originally meant to team with Shota Umino but Umino pulled out of the show after injuring his back during practice earlier in the day. New Japan replaced him with Oleg Boltin. Higuchi was on the same team as United Empire members Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan. While the DDT wrestlers did get to mix with the NJPW guys, the result came down to Cobb pinning Oiwa. Endo regretted missing the previous “ALL TOGETHER” show because of injury and went into the match hoping to make up for it. He is sorry he still couldn’t win with that kind of extra motivation.

I’ll talk about the dark match too because one team in it should be familiar to the regular readers here. Tomoya & Andreza Giant Panda were the local wrestlers competing in the dark match against New Japan’s Toru Yano & Tomoaki Honma. None of Yano’s usual tactics could work against Andreza so he grabbed some bamboo and gave it to Honma so he could get Andreza’s attention. The distraction worked and Yano gave Andreza a Low Blow. Honma followed up with a Kokeshi Rocket, almost knocking the panda out. Andreza just about answered the 10 count by standing back up at 9. However a mistimed Headbutt hit Tomoya by accident and Yano gave him a Low Blow followed by a School Boy to steal the win.