The Yoshihiko Awards

December 20, 2012

With 2012 coming to a close, Yoshihiko took to the DDT website to reflect over an eventful past 12 months. The doll has now become a part-time wrestler and will start up a regular article on DDT’s website. Yoshihiko’s first article is all about handing out awards to celebrate the accomplishments of DDT and its wrestlers.

Best Match Award: Kota Ibushi Vs Kenny Omega – “BUDOKAN PETER PAN 2012 ~ DDT 15TH ANNIVERSARY” (18/08/2012)

Yoshihiko believes that the best fights should take place at the biggest events and nothing was bigger than this. Kota Ibushi Vs Kenny Omega for the KO-D Openweight Title in the main event of Budokan Hall. Yoshihiko thinks this is a controversial choice and admits it preferred Kota Ibushi Vs Yuji Hino (24/06/2012) and Kota Ibushi Vs El Generico (21/10/2012) when it comes to its own personal favorite matches of the year (for the record it also thought Kota Ibushi Vs DJ Nira (29/07/2012) was exceptional).

MVP Award: Masa Takanashi

Much like the Best Match Award, Yoshihiko does not think the MVP Award means it is for the absolute best wrestler. Yoshihiko saw fit to pick Masa Takanashi because this year he finally became a big player in DDT. Masa winning the Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Contract and cashing it in later that same night to beat Sanshiro Takagi in two minutes and become the unlikeliest KO-D Champion ever is one of the most memorable DDT moments in 2012.

Best Event Award: “APRIL FOOL 2012” (01/04/2012)

Despite the Budokan show being the largest milestone DDT has ever reached, Yoshihiko picked the April Korakuen Hall show as the most memorable because of the events leading to Masa Takanashi becoming the KO-D Champion.

Best Faction Award: nWj

new World Japan was short lived yet Yoshihiko believed they made the most impact in DDT this year and had the potential to do even more. One thing for sure is the emergence of the nWJ led to shoot fighter Yukio Sakaguchi becoming a regular in DDT shows and quickly rise up the ranks. Sakaguchi will be one to watch for 2013.

Best Foreigner Award: El Generico

He impressed in 2011 and he dominated in 2012. El Generico won over everybody in DDT and Union with his world class performances. He became so reliable that DDT saw him as the perfect opponent for almost anybody on their roster, whether it was the return match of Kota Ibushi, a crazy brawl with Isami Kodaka or the debut match of a young lion. As the current KO-D Champion, Generico has vanquished Ibushi from title contention and can do the same to Kenny Omega next week. Yoshihiko believes that Generico is not just the best foreigner in DDT, but the best foreign wrestler in the entire Japanese wrestling industry.

Best Rookie Award: Konosuke Takeshita

DDT has high hopes for this kid. It was pretty clear from the beginning when DDT decided to have the 17 year old’s debut match be held at the Budokan against El Generico. Since then he has teamed with DDT’s top talents, quickly established his Touchdown (RKO) finishing move, begun scoring wins and pinned Poison Sawada JULIE in his retirement match. If he avoids the injury curse that has plagued so many DDT rookies in the past, Takeshita might very well become the next breakout star for DDT. Yoshihiko itself wonders if it will cross paths with the rookie in 2013.


BJW/Union, First Budokan Matches Revealed

July 9, 2012

BJW/UNION, 18/07/2012
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. The Talent Of The Old Brilliant Young Man: Great Kojika & Cherry Vs Masashi Otani & Hiroshi Fukuda
2. Bottom Line Is To Whether Or Not To Give Up Life: Jaki Numazawa & Big Rude Vs Yuji Okabayashi & Hoshitango
3. Takagi To Isami Yes Or No: Abdullah Kobayashi & Isami Kodaka Vs Daisuke Sekimoto & Kengo Ohka (Special Guest Ref: Sanshiro Takagi)
4. Intersection Of The Dump Truck With A Broken Brake: Yoshihito Sasaki Vs Shigehiro Irie
5. Lead The Rogue Dragon? – Hardcore Match: Ryuji Ito Vs Ken Ohka
6. Who Is Noticeable? Who Is Barking? Who Will Win? I Was Right!: Shinya Ishikawa, Kazuki Hashimoto & Hideyoshi Kamitani Vs Isami Kodaka, Hiro Tsumaki & Taichi Kazato
7. DDT Extreme Title: Yuko Miyamoto (c) Vs Shuji Ishikawa

A lot of bizarre names are being used as match titles. I’m sure that I mistranslated a bunch of them but the Engrish is quite fitting I think.

The gimmick match for the main event hasn’t been confirmed yet. However, there are rumours it will be a death match involving vipers, scorpions, lighttubes and roses.

DDT “ROAD TO BUDOKAN 2012”, 22/07/2012
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. MIKAMI Return Match: MIKAMI Vs Tatsumi Fujinami
2. Sanshiro Takagi, Takao Soma & Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Hikaru Sato, Michael Nakazawa & Tanomusaku Toba
3. KO-D Tag Team Title: KUDO & Makoto Oishi (c) Vs Shigehiro Irie & Keisuke Ishii
4. Kota Ibushi & Kenny Omega Vs Danshoku Dino & YOSHIHIKO

YOSHIHIKO has been waken from his slumber and will be dusted off in preparation for a major main event rematch in Korakuen Hall. Over three years since their last epic battle, Hell’s Grave Digger Doll teams up with Danshoku Dino to collide with the Golden Lovers once more.

DDT “BUDOKAN PETER PAN 2012 ~ DDT 15TH ANNIVERSARY”, 18/08/2012
Tokyo Nippon Budokan

0. Special Dark Match: Muscle Sakai Vs X
1. Konosuke Takeshita Debut Match: Konosuke Takeshita Vs El Generico
2. Special Singles Match: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Minoru Suzuki
3. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Battle Royal: Choun-Shiryu (c) Vs X
4. 5 Vs 5 Soccer Match: X, X, X, X & X Vs X, X, X, X & X
5. KO-D Openweight Title: Kota Ibushi (c) Vs Kenny Omega

The 5 Vs 5 Soccer match is taking place because of the Captain Tsubasa involvement Sanshiro Takagi set up earlier this month. DDT held a game of football back in April 2009 between the Italian Four Horsemen and Louis Takanashi XIV’s French side. The game was played in the ring with a beach ball and ended in a 5-5 draw after extra time.

Konosuke Takeshita is the newest addition to the DDT roster. He will be making his debut against the world renowned El Generico.

Tatsumi Fujinami and Yuzuki Aikawa are also expected to compete at the show.


Frantic Card Reshuffling, Ibushi’s Replacements

September 12, 2011

DDT “NON-FIX 9.18”, 18/09/2011
Chiba Blue Field

1. 3 Way: Darkside HERO! Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Masa Takanashi
2. Poison JULIE Sawada & Keisuke Ishii Vs MIKAMI & Daisuke Sasaki
3. Yasu Urano Vs Hiro Tonai
4. HARASHIMA Vs HERO!
5. Shigehiro Irie & Takao Soma Vs Yuji Hino & Ryuichi Sekine
6. Danshoku Dino & YOSHIHIKO Vs Antonio Honda & Michael Nakazawa
7. KUDO Vs Makoto Oishi

With Kota Ibushi now out of action for the forseeable future, DDT has a big hole to fill on their cards. Well, desperate times call for desperate measures and DDT went searching for the only man they knew they could rely on to replace Ibushi. Luckily for them, he has accepted their offer and has come to the rescue. YOSHIHIKO will now be replacing Ibushi on the “NON-FIX 9.18” card in Chiba Blue Field. Like I said, desperate times, desperate measures.

DDT “DDT48 Election”, 25/09/2011
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Gorgeous Matsuno Vs YOSHIHIKO
2. Kazuki Hirata Vs Hiro Tsumaki
3. Isami Kodaka Vs Yasu Urano
4. Keisuke Ishii Vs Shigehiro Irie
5. Danshoku Dino & Makoto Oishi Vs El Generico & Hiroya Fukuda
6. DDT Vs Union: KUDO, HARASHIMA & MIKAMI Vs Shuji Ishikawa, Sanshiro Takagi & Kengo Ohka

However, DDT went and found another replacement for Ibushi this time at the “DDT48 Election” show in Korakuen Hall. El Generico comes back to DDT to team with Hiroya Fukuda from Union to fight Danshoku Dino & Makoto Oishi. That’s right, the dream match of Danshoku Dino Vs El Generico will now come true! I mean sure, it’s the kind of dream you get when you eat a lot of cheese at night before going to sleep, but it’s a dream match none the less!

The teams have been chosen for the DDT Vs Union 6-Man Tag Team main event. DDT will be represented by the Caps Lock squad of KUDO, HARASHIMA & MIKAMI. Union has a mix of three seperate factions, Union ace Shuji Ishikawa, Sanshiro Takagi of the TKG48 and Kengo Ohka from the Susan Guard.

Another match to watch out for is Keisuke Ishii Vs Shigehiro Irie. I have become a big fan of both wrestlers over the year. Their matches against each other has lead to an entertaining generation rivalry between the two. Ishii is coming off of a loss to KUDO over the KO-D Openweight Title, but has grown into a confident wrestler who still has a bright future ahead of him. Irie is the lovable big brute of both DDT and Union. With a KO-D Tag Team Title reign and pinfalls over Kota Ibushi and Shuji Ishikawa listed under his recent accomplishments, Irie is quickly climbing the ranks of both brands. He will be looking to avenge his defeat to Ishii at “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2011”.

There are plenty more matches to come for this show. This is because every wrestler involved in this year’s DDT48 Election (except for Ibushi) will compete and get one last chance to campaign for votes from the fans. In order to fit everyone in, every match except the main event will have a ten minute time limit.

DDT “CAMPING-GROUND PRO-WRESTLING OM”, 26/09/2011
Yamanashi Natureland Om

1. Kazuki Hirata Vs Hiroshi Fukuda
2. 4 Way: HARASHIMA & KUDO Vs Sanshiro Takagi & Munenori Sawa Vs Hikaru Sato & Michael Nakazawa Vs Isami Kodaka & Ken Ohka

HARASHIMA will now take Ibushi’s place on the Campsite show.

DDT “PRO WRESTLING FESTIVAL IN SAPPORO”, 10/10/2011
Sapporo Teisen Hall

1. MIKAMI Vs Masa Takanashi
2. KUDO & Hikaru Sato Vs Sanshiro Takagi & Munenori Sawa
3. KO-D Tag Team Title Decision Match: Danshoku Dino & Makoto Oishi Vs X & X

The KO-D Tag Team Championship has now been vacated. Danshoku Dino will have a chance to win back the belts with his other Homoiro Clover Z partner Makoto Oishi in Sapporo. Their opponents will be determined in a mini tournament to be held before then.


Dino Vs Sapp – The Contract Signing

July 16, 2011

DDT held a press conference yesterday for Danshoku Dino and Bob Sapp to publicly sign the contract for the long-awaited (???) grudge match at Sumo Hall on 24th July. Sapp clearly sees his opponent as a big joke and is treating the match as nothing more than a “easy payday”. However, Dino got under Sapp’s skin when he snuck up and placed a wig on his head. When the contract was signed, Sapp took a big bite out of the piece of paper. Dino meanwhile crumpled up the contract and rubbed it against his crotch and also Sapp’s crotch. Sapp’s final message to Dino was a grim one: “I am far from gay. But I’ll tell you what, I may go to jail…for killing one!”

YOSHIHIKO appeared before the conference began as it was announced he was taking part in the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Battle Royal at the show. He stayed in the room to watch over the Dino Vs Sapp contract signing.


Ibushi & YOSHIHIKO Go Hardcore, Togo Homecoming Card

April 30, 2011

K-DOJO “GWSP6”, 29/04/2011
Chiba Blue Field
161 Fans

WEW Hardcore Tag Team Title: Kengo Mashimo & Ryuichi Sekine (c) defeated Kota Ibushi & YOSHIHIKO when Sekine pinned YOSHIHIKO with a Hardcore Body Press (24:40).
*V2 for Mashimo & Sekine.

Kota Ibushi & YOSHIHIKO joined forces and traveled down to Chiba Blue Field to take part in yesterday’s K-DOJO show (No confirmation on whether YOSHIHIKO got a window seat or was stored as luggage on the train ride over). They battled with Kengo Mashimo & Ryuichi Sekine over the WEW Hardcore Tag Team Championships. As you can see by the name of the title, it was defended under Hardcore rules. YOSHIHIKO stole the spotlight with a balcony dive onto the champions. He also joined Ibushi up on top of a vending machine for a double dive when everyone brawled out of the arena. However, the challengers just couldn’t do enough to grab the win. Mashimo & Sekine turned the tables thanks to a ladder. The ending came when Sekine buried YOSHIHIKO under a pile of chairs, climbed the top turnbuckle and splashed onto his opponent.

DDT “WRESTLING MASTER FINAL COUNTDOWN ~ DICK TOGO LOCAL TRIUMPHANT RETURN MATCH”, 22/05/2011
Odate Citizen Gymnasium

1. MIKAMI VS DJ Nira
2. Hikaru Sato Vs Kazuki Hirata
3. HARASHIMA & Michael Nakazawa Vs Takao Soma & Tomomitsu Matsunaga
4. KUDO & Makoto Oishi Vs Antonio Honda & Daisuke Sasaki
5. The Great Sasuke & Kesen Numajiro Vs Sanshiro Takagi & Danshoku Dino
6. Dick Togo, GENTARO & Yasu Urano Vs Kota Ibushi, Kenny Omega & Keisuke Ishii

Hikaru Sato’s tournament run for the year continues to struggle. He and Kikutaro finished sixth out of seven teams in the AJPW Jr. Tag League. Their only victories in the tournament were over the teams of Super Crazy & BUSHI, and MAZADA & Super Hate. Hikaru claimed the wins in both matches, submitting Super Crazy with the Flying Cross Armbreaker and pinning Hate with a High Kick. Sato’s next tournament will be the King Of DDT where a shot for the KO-D Title at Sumo Hall will be on the line.


“CAMPSITE PRO-WRESTLING” Results

September 13, 2010

DDT “CAMPING-GROUND PRO-WRESTLING 2010 ~ THANK YOU DRAMATIC DREAM TEAM FAREWELL CAMPGROUND”
12/09/2010
Yamanashi Natureland Om

1. 4 Way Tag Match: Keisuke Ishii & YOSHIHIKO defeated Dick Togo & Kota Ibushi, Michael Nakazawa & Mammoth Handa and Sanshiro Takagi & Muscle Sakai when YOSHIHIKO pinned Ibushi with the YOSHIHIKO Destroyer (59:08).

When the two buses arrived at the Yamanashi Natureland this morning, the visitors entering the site were not there for a camping trip. Instead, they travelled to see the third and final DDT “Camping-Ground Pro-Wrestling” show. In recent times, Yamanashi played home to one of DDT’s most famous shows that were filled with epic matches that spanned the entire parkland. Rocks were thrown, fireworks were let loose and people did Moonsaults into ponds. Every time a show took place here, more and more wrestlers have been added to the headline (and usually only) match. This time the fans were treated to a 4 Way Tag match with some unusual pairings. Kota Ibushi returned from injury and teamed with Dick Togo, Keisuke Ishii brought YOSHIHIKO along, Michael Nakazawa found Mammoth Handa from the depths of mediocrity and Sanshiro Takagi sided with Muscle Sakai as Sakai’s career goes through its final days. The head official for the match was Yukinori Matsui and he was joined by Tomomitsu Matsunaga as the back-up ref for when the action splits apart. Before the match could begin, the special guest announcers used an ocarina to call in a fairy to introduce the teams. Sanshiro brought out his trusty guitar, Ibushi made his entrance setting off fireworks, YOSHIHIKO came out sporting a shirt and shorts instead of impersonating another wrestler and nobody gave a damn about Handa. So far, so normal. Then the match began.

It started off pretty basic with the eight participants staying in the one place, tagging in and out when needed. But when Ibushi dominated Nakazawa with his arsenal of strikes and a Standing Moonsault, the fighting begun to move to another area of the campsite. Nakazawa was sent rolling down the sloping path by Togo, Sakai Body Slammed Ishii onto his partner, Sanshiro and Kota almost threw each other off the bridge and then wound up fighting on top of a cottage, which Ibushi dove off of onto Takagi. He didn’t stop there as he Moonsaulted off of a hill onto Nakazawa while YOSHIHIKO was tossed down another hill and was almost pinned by Sakai. Nakazawa and Togo brawled over to and inside the restrooms. From there, some of the wrestlers fetched out the artillary. Sanshiro brought out a leafblower, Handa rode on an inflatable whale and Ibushi carried a basket filled with fireworks on his back with an umbrella to shield himself. He let loose the fireworks on everyone, even his partner Togo was not safe from them. Takagi grabbed the guitar and tried to stop Ibushi with an anti-war song. But that just made Ibushi chase after him with even more fireworks. Togo caught up with Takagi and broke the guitar over his back. They then made it to a nearby shelter where they both sat down beside each other and begun a chop battle.

Meanwhile Ibushi found the swings and used them to fend off Nakazawa and Handa. YOSHIHIKO followed suit and swung into Takagi. Togo then applied the Crippler Crossface onto Mammoth Handa on the nearby stage, but Nakazawa was there to break it up. At this point a now nearly naked Nakazawa was given a German Suplex by Ibushi onto the wooden stage. The match moved into the rocky end of the river where YOSHIHIKO dove off the bridge onto everyone underneath. There were several nearfalls over at the pond. Ishii dove off the rocks and struck Handa with the Kneel Kick, Takagi gave Ishii the Sunflower Bomb into the water, Ibushi Moonsaulted onto Takagi and Nakazawa’s Back Drop attempt was prevented by a Dick Togo Missile Dropkick followed by a Pedigree into the water. Back in dry land, Muscle Sakai lit up a campfire with YOSHIHIKO. He was then run over by a truck driven by Nakazawa, who then grabbed YOSHIHIKO and threw him head first into the fire! Ishii stamped out the fire but YOSHIHIKO was then dragged onto the top of the van by Ibushi and Power Bombed onto the roof! YOSHIHIKO kicked out so he was then given a Brainbuster form the van onto the ground by Ibushi! Ishii stopped the count and hit Ibushi with the Kneel Kick, allowing YOSHIHIKO to recover and deliver the YOSHIHIKO Destroyer on Ibushi to win the match at just over 59 minutes!

After the match, everyone got together as it begun to rain over the campsite. Takagi said that this was the final event of its kind. It is a bit sad to see it go. It was an annual event that showed the imagination and craziness of DDT in one single hour. However, someone was overheard to have said “Next year, raising an army to a professional wrestling camp om!” I wonder what this could mean…


YOSHIHIKO Manga Incoming!

July 23, 2010

For a place as crazy as DDT, you’d think the place would be a great setting for a manga. Well, it turns out that there is one. Over the last year, a series of comics about several DDT wrestlers have been created to sell at shows. The comics are drawn by Kuni Harada, who was behind a popular manga series in the 1980s called Wrestling Superstar Retsuden. Now the latest volume of the DDT Retsuden series is unveiled. The subject for this comic is the blow-up doll sensation, YOSHIHIKO!  The comic is priced at 1,000円 and will be available this Sunday at DDT’s Sumo Hall show. Previous volumes have been about Kota Ibushi, HARAHSIMA, Poison Sawada JULIE and Danshoku Dino, who had two volumes dedicated to him.