DDT “MAO TRIUMPHANT RETURN! DRAMATIC DREAM TAISEIKAN ~THE VILLAGE IS WHERE THE SCHOOL IS~ 2024”, 17/11/2024 Miyagi Osaki City Matsuyama B&G Marine Center 523 Fans – Super No Vacancy
1. Makoto Oishi defeated Kazuma Sumi with the Fujiyama Knee Lock (4:20).
2. Danshoku Dieno & Kazuki Hirata defeated Toru Owashi & Antonio Honda when Hirata pinned Honda with the Miracle One Shot Cradle (9:06).
3. Special Tag Match: MJ Paul & Demus defeated Yukio Naya & Diego when Paul pinned Diego with the Death Valley Bomb (8:34).
4. Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & Ilusion defeated Takeshi Masada, Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Yuni when Sasaki submitted Matsunaga with the Crossface Lock (9:24).
5. Jun Akiyama & HARASHIMA defeated Keigo Nakamura & Yuki Ishida when HARASHIMA pinned Ishida with the Somato (10:22).
6. The 37KAMIINA Vs BURNING!: Tetsuya Endo & Yuya Koroku defeated Akito & To-y when Koroku submitted To-y with the Modified Triangle Lancer (11:45).
7. Special Tag Match: MAO & Yuki Ueno Vs Minoru Suzuki & Chris Brookes ended in a Time Limit Draw (30:00).
For MAO’s homecoming show he went to DDT management and requested a match against Minoru Suzuki. His reason was he wanted to show his hometown how much his style of pro wrestling has changed over the years. So DDT decided to put together MAO & Yuki Ueno against Suzuki & Chris Brookes. The match went ahead today and was made even more special when the mayor of Osaki City appointed MAO as a tourist ambassador for the area. MAO got to show his pro wrestling by attacking Suzuki with plastic boxes while Suzuki got into the swing of things by beating up Ueno and doing the tower pose spot with Brookes and Antonio Honda. The match lasted the full 30 minute time limit and in the final minute MAO escaped from the Gotch-Style Piledriver then hit Suzuki with the Iai Kick. The bell rang before MAO could pin him so the match ended in a draw. In a rare show of public respect, Suzuki hugged MAO after the match. He also called MAO & Ueno the best wrestlers in DDT and made it known he would like to wrestle them again. MAO said if today’s match took place in Tokyo he would have lost but because it was his hometown he had to do his absolute best. Nowadays MAO gets to wrestle around the world but he is glad he still has a home to come back to with friends he can trust. He also wants DDT to hold a show in Osaki City once every two years from now on.
Shunma Katsumata suffered a minor left knee injury during yesterday’s show and was pulled from today’s event. Akito took his place in Match #6 and Tomomitsu Matsunaga took Akito’s original spot in Match #4. Katsumata is expected to recover in time for next week’s KO-D Tag Team Titles match.
DDT “GET ALIVE 2024 TOUR IN YOKOHAMA”, 16/11/2024 Yokohama Radiant Hall 287 Fans – Super No Vacancy
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Kazuma Sumi defeated Yoshihiko (c) with a Standing Moonsault Press (5:04 pm). *Kazuma Sumi becomes the 1,694th champion.
1. Yuki Ueno, To-y & Diego defeated HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi & Yuki Ishida when Diego pinned Ishida with the V.H.S (9:38).
2. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Danshoku Dieno & Kazuki Hirata defeated Soma Takao & Kazuma Sumi (c) when Hirata pinned Sumi with the Miracle One Shot Cradle (10:50). *Kazuki Hirata becomes the 1,695th champion.
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Yuki Ueno defeated Kazuki Hirata (c) with a Sleeper Hold (5:38 pm). *Yuki Ueno becomes the 1,696th champion.
3. Special Tag Match: Jun Akiyama & Shinya Aoki defeated Yukio Naya & Keigo Nakamura when Aoki pinned Nakamura with the Full Nelson Hold (10:00).
4. Special Single Match: Tetsuya Endo defeated Shunma Katsumata with the Burning Star Press (11:16).
5. Special Single Match: MAO defeated Yuya Koroku with the Iai Kick (16:34).
6. SCHADENFREUDE International Vs DAMNATION T.A!: Chris Brookes, Masahiro Takanashi, Antonio Honda & Takeshi Masada defeated Daisuke Sasaki, KANON, Demus & Ilusion when Takanashi pinned KANON with the Uwabami (20:05).
The feud between SCHADENFREUDE International Vs DAMNATION T.A is only going to raise more stakes from here on out. Today’s main event had its focus on Chris Brookes against Daisuke Sasaki and Takeshi Masada against Ilusion but it was Masahiro Takanashi who won the match for SCHADENFREUDE by pinning KANON out of nowhere. Afterwards Takanashi reminded everyone that he, Brookes & Masada will be facing Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul at Korakuen Hall on 23rd November. Since that trio are also the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions, Takanashi challenged them to put the belts on the line in that match! Sasaki blamed today’s loss on the jetlag he got after travelling back from Seattle. He accepted the challenged and promised to tear SCHADENFREUDE apart.
The ShunMAO Vs BURNING singles matches ended in a 1-1 draw. MAO defeated Yuya Koroku while Tetsuya Endo beat Shunma Katsumata. Even though the results were mixed, ShunMao are still confident they will retain the KO-D Tag Team Titles against Endo & Koroku on 23rd November because there is no other team in DDT that can match them. Endo is motivating Koroku by calling him second to none. He is getting stronger and just needs that one chance to prove it. That chance will be at the KO-D Tag Title match.
The amount of time Jun Akiyama and Yukio Naya have had in the ring together lately now has a destination in sight. Naya challenged Akiyama to a singles match at “ULTIMATE PARTY 2024” on 28th December! He made the challenge now because he now has the belief he can beat Akiyama and rise to the top of DDT. Akiyama turned 55 years old last month and joked that this match will be Naya’s present for him.
There were several Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title changes throughout the day. Kazuma Sumi brought Yoshihiko into the ring at the start of the show and pinned the doll with a Standing Moonsault to win the title. Then is Sumi’s actual match on the show he lost the belt to Kazuki Hirata. When that match ended Yuki Ueno attacked Hirata near the entrance and won the belt from him. Hirata tried to ambush him backstage but Ueno fought him off. Then hours after the show ended Hirata held To-y hostage with a hammer and used him to sneak into Ueno’s dressing room with Yukinori Matsui nearby. Hirata knocked out both To-y and Ueno with the hammer and then pinned Ueno to be the champion again.
Two contract signings took place before the show. One was for the ShunMao Vs BURNING KO-D Tag Titles match where Koroku kept trying to pump himself up in front of the champions. The other signing was for the DDT Extreme Title match between Danshoku Dieno and Yuni. Dieno was in attendance but Yuni was absent due to a school event. Dieno agreed with DDT to have a normal pro wrestling match that will also use “Cinderella Time”. Whenever “Cinderella Time” is active during the match Dieno is prohibited from using his Danshoku moveset on Yuni and will be instantly disqualified if he breaks the rule. But when “Cinderella Time” ends Dieno is allowed to use those moves like he normally does.
BASARA “BASARA 261 ~SOUEN~”, 08/11/2024 Shin-Kiba 1st RING
1. Lil’ Kraken Vs Takeru Inoue
2. Basara Jacket 4 Way Match: KUBITO Vs Gouma Ryu Vs Banana Senga Vs Daisuke Sekimoto
3. SAGAT & Antonio Honda Vs Yasu Urano & Masahiro Takanashi
4. Daiki Shimomura Vs Tsutomu Oosugi
5. Isami Kodaka & Minoru Fujita Vs Daichi Kazato & Ayato Yoshida
The Basara Jacket world rankings has KUBITO at 12th, Gouma Ryu at 3rd and Banana Senga being no longer ranked. Daisuke Sekimoto is also unranked but that’s because he hasn’t done a match like this yet.
DDT/DEFY “DDT IN UTERO”, 09/11/2024 Washington Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA
1. Marina Shafir Vs X
2. Danshoku Dieno Vs Randy Myers
3. 3 Way Tag Match: Cody Chhun & Guillermo Rosas Vs Bryan Keith & Shota Vs Eddie Pearl & Ricky Gibson
4. Gringo Loco Vs Yuni
5. Nick Wayne Vs Jack Cartwheel
6. Special Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & Artemis Spencer Vs Gurv Shira & Harv Shira
7. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs Kohei Kinoshita
8. DDT Universal Title – 3 Way Match: MAO (c) Vs Mike Bailey Vs Miyu Yamashita
The card is now pretty much complete. Nick Wayne is getting a match against Jack Cartwheel while Marina Shafir is only being advertised as “in action”. So it’s possible she might show just up to beat the crap out of somebody and then leave.
Right now Yuni is the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion so odds are good the title will be brought over to Seattle for the weekend.
DDT “GET ALIVE 2024”, 23/11/2024 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. Demus & Ilusion Vs To-y & Kazuma Sumi
2. Kazuki Hirata 37th Birthday Special 1 Vs 7 Handicap Match: Kazuki Hirata Vs Yuki Ueno, Toru Owashi, Antonio Honda, Soma Takao, Yuki Iino, Diego & Yuki Ishida
3. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Shinya Aoki & Keigo Nakamura Vs HARASHIMA, Yukio Naya & Tomomitsu Matsunaga
4. Akito 15th Anniversary Debut Special Single Match: Isami Kodaka Vs Akito
5. SCHADENFREUDE International Vs DAMNATION T.A!: Chris Brookes, Masahiro Takanashi & Takeshi Masada Vs Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul
6. KO-D Tag Team Titles: MAO & Shunma Katsumata (c) Vs Tetsuya Endo & Yuya Koroku
7. DDT Extreme Title & Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Danshoku Dieno (E/c) Vs Yuni (I/c)
Speaking of the Iron Man Title, Yuni is expected to have it with him when he faces Danshoku Dieno for the DDT Extreme Title match, which means it should be a double championship match.
Kazuki Hirata will have turned 37 a few days before this show. DDT is celebrating it by making him fight seven wrestlers at the same time.
DDT “GORGEOUS NIGHT”, 24/11/2024 Fukushima Toyota Crown Arena (Fukushima National Athletic Meet Memorial Gymnasium) Sub-Arena
1. SCHADENFREUDE International Vs DAMNATION T.A!: Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Demus
2. Fukushima Specialty 6-Man Tag Match: Gorgeous Matsuno, Jun Akiyama & HARASHIMA Vs Yuki Ueno, MAO & Kazuma Sumi
A special night for Gorgeous Matsuno has him teaming up with Jun Akiyama & HARASHIMA.
The SCHADENFREUDE International Vs DAMNATION T.A feud continues with CDK facing Daisuke Sasaki and his latest amigo Demus.
Makoto Oishi and Moeka Haruhi will both be on the show.
DNA “DNA 10TH ANNIVERSARY”, 28/11/2024 Shinjuku FACE
1. Kota Umeda, Ryota Nakatsu & Kouki Iwasaki Vs Keigo Nakamura, To-y & Yuya Koroku
2. Banana Senga & Tsutomu Oosugi Vs Daiki Shimomura & Check Shimatani
3. Shunma Katsumata Vs Yuki Ueno
The DNA reunion is shaping up. Shunma Katsumata Vs Yuki Ueno is put together because those two wrestlers were a vital part of what was considered DNA’s second chapter.
The reunion also sees the return of Gran MilliMeters teaming up against their own rivals Speed Of Sounds. Gran Millimeters were Daiki Shimomura & Nobuhiro Shimatani but these days Nobuhiro is going by the name Check Shimatani.
The post-DNA generation are part of the show to test themselves against DDT’s previous developmental project. Kota Umeda, Ryota Nakatsu & Kouki Iwasaki are representing DNA while Keigo Nakamura, To-y & Yuya Koroku represent D GENERATIONS.
Suguru Miyatake will be in attendance. His three year wrestling career was plagued with injuries and he eventually retired years after it was clear he wouldn’t be able to return to the ring.
DDT “SUMIDA DRAMATIC DREAM! ~FREE SEATING PRO WRESTLING SHOW~”, 04/11/2024 Tokyo Higashin Arena (Sumida City Gymnasium) 2,200 Fans – Super No Vacancy
1. Maruto Potori Foods Presents Tag Match: Yuni & Kazuma Sumi defeated Keigo Nakamura & Yuki Ishida when Sumi pinned Ishida with a School Boy (8:25).
2. Special Tag Match ~ Touchi-kun & Oshinari-kun & Higapyon Pro Wrestling Debut Match: Oshinari-kun & Higapyon defeated Touchi-kun & Pokotan when Oshinari-kun pinned Pokotan with the Diving Hip Drop (5:19).
3. Daisuke Sasaki, KANON, MJ Paul & Demus defeated Tetsuya Endo, Yuki Iino, Masahiro Takanashi & Yuya Koroku when Sasaki submitted Takanashi with La Mistica Crossface Lock (11:31).
4. STOMPING Presents Tag Match: Soma Takao & Makoto Oishi defeated Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata when Takao pinned Hirata with a School Boy (11:06).
5. Special Single Match: Ilusion defeated Takeshi Masada with the Swanton Bomb (10:11).
6. Tokyo Higashi Shinkin Bank Presents Special 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Yukio Naya & Shinichiro Kawamatsu defeated Satoshi Kojima, Akito & Antonio Honda when Kawamatsu pinned Honda with the Shitamachi Rocket (13:13).
7. Toho Kogyo Presents Special 6-Man Tag Match – Reiwa Meiji Restoration: Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & To-y (2) defeated HARASHIMA, Danshoku Dieno & Super Sasadango Machine (0).
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Super Sasadango Machine defeated Yuki Ueno (c) with a School Boy (3:26 pm). *Super Sasadango Machine becomes the 1,687th champion.
7a. To-y pinned Danshoku Dieno after the Shunkoji Wonderland (2:51).
7b. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Shunma Katsumata pinned Super Sasadango Machine (c) with the Totonou Splash (11:44). *Shunma Katsumata becomes the 1,688th champion.
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Yuni defeated Shunma Katsumata (c) with a School Boy (3:43 pm). *Yuni becomes the 1,689th champion.
8. KO-D Openweight Title – Houset Co., Ltd Presents: Chris Brookes defeated Shinya Aoki (c) with the House Piano Death (21:44). *Shinya Aoki fails in V4. Chris Brookes becomes the 84th KO-D Openweight Champion!
A free to attend show was put together by DDT and sponsors at Higashin Arena to kick off the road to Sumo Hall happening at the end of the year. It featured a major title change in the main event with Chris Brookes defeating Shinya Aoki to become the new KO-D Openweight Champion almost a year after his first reign ended! While the match started off in a calm manner with a lot of mat work, it soon went out of the ring where Brookes put Aoki through a table with a Piledriver. Back in the ring Aoki relied on limb holds to counter Brookes, escaping the Praying Mantis Bomb by using a Side Hammerlock to take control and trap Brookes in the Manjigatame. He used the Full Nelson Hold to try and get a pinfall but Brookes kicked out of two. In return Brookes hit the Somato but Aoki kicked out for a nearfall as well. Brookes was able to put Aoki in the Octopus Hold and switched it over to the House Piano Death, keeping Aoki locked in until the champion had to give up.
Aoki took the loss well and presented Brookes with the KO-D Title belt after the match. Brookes was then told by Hisaya Imabayashi he will defend the title at “ULTIMATE PARTY 2024” on 28th December. Daisuke Sasaki entered the ring with a chair but sat down on it and congratulated Brookes instead of attacking him. Sasaki said Brookes talks a lot about love, romance, dreams and other things like that. The ring doesn’t need any of that stuff so Sasaki will win the title and bring DDT back to being the mess that it should be! He wants to fight Brookes on the biggest stage and challenged him for Sumo Hall. Brookes accepted and even shook Sasaki’s hand without incident.
Backstage Brookes praised Aoki for being incredibly strong. But Brookes had a dream of winning the title again and today it came true. Over the last year he dislocated his shoulder and recovered from a tumor but he was able to overcome all of that to become the champion again. His outlook on life and death has changed because of the last year. He also thinks DAMNATION T.A is just a bunch of B and C class wrestlers so he doesn’t think Sasaki can beat him for the title. Aoki is proud of how his title reign went. The belt is a championship, not a medal so he knew the hard work wasn’t over when he won it. Sasaki however is sick to his stomach of all the love and dreams stuff going on in DDT right now. He isn’t actually interested in becoming KO-D Champion again but he wants to mess up Brookes. His threat is Brookes will have Christmas but he won’t make it to New Year’s!
At some point in the day before the venue doors were open to the public, Yuki Ueno won the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title from Danshoku Dieno. Then at the start of the show Dieno and his team declared they are the Reiwa Meiji Restoration that will overthrow the “government” that is The 37KAMIINA! He demanded that their match in the semi-main event should be Best 2 Out Of 3 Falls so nobody can blame losing twice on a fluke. The first fall ended with a double pin on both sides at the same time. To-y pinned Dieno after doing an assisted Kojima Wonderland with Shunma Katsumata while Super Sasadango Machine was pinning Ueno with a School Boy. Daisuke Kiso ruled The 37KAMIINA as the winners of the fall because To-y and Dieno were the legal wrestlers. Sasadango pinning Ueno didn’t count towards the match but was still accepted as an Iron Man Title change, making Sasadango the new champ! The second fall had Katsumata take the Somato from HARASHIMA, the Danshoku Driver from Dieno and the Lehman Shock from Sasadango but his partner made the save. Katsumata fought back on Sasadango and pinned him with the Totonou Splash to give The 37KAMIINA a clean sweep and become Iron Man Champ in the process. All it cost the team was To-y being sacrificed to Dieno’s antics. Yuni then surprised Katsumata with a Roll Up after the match to take the title from him.
Satoshi Kojima was one of the guest attractions for the show and he was advertised in advance so there was no need to call him “X” beforehand. His presence brought memories back to Antonio Honda of the TenKoji Police arresting the Monster Army back in 2012. This time they were teaming up but Honda was still missing some courage. He wanted to quit the match from the moment he had to square off against Jun Akiyama. A stark difference to Shinichiro Kawamatsu wanting to fight Kojima. Yukio Naya stopped Kojima’s momentum with a Choke Slam so Honda tried to summon Gongitsune. Akiyama blocked Honda but that caused Kojima to do the Gongitsune Eye Poke to him instead! He then intercepted Kawamatu’s Axe Bomber with the Lariat but Naya came back to cut him off. Akiyama got his hands on Honda to give him the Exploder Suplex and Kawamatsu recovered to hit Honda with the Shitamachi Rocket and pin him.
This new version of Ilusion is being described by Sasaki as the little demon who sold his soul to the Devil. He tried to avoid fighting Takeshi Masada early in their match and intentionally Dropkicked the referee from behind so the rest of DAMNATION T.A could run interference. Masahiro Takanashi was already in Masada’s corner for the match so he was there to run counter-interference. However DAMNATION T.A had the numbers advantage and KANON distracted the ref long enough for Ilusion to give Masada a Low Blow, Sasaki to give him the Pedigree and Ilusion to hit him over the head with a chair. The ref was let go in time to see Ilusion do the Swanton Bomb onto Masada and get the three count. Ilusion taunted the fans for being quiet and attacked Masada even more to make them boo him. He then said SCHADENFREUDE International are going to live in a dark future from now on and Masada should never show his annoying face to him ever again!
A lot of the matches on the show had different sponsors which is how DDT was able to have free attendance. Match #4 was sponsored by a wrestling themed social networking app called STOMPING. A masked representative from the company named Stomping Mask introduced the match and watched on to see Makoto Oishi & Soma Takao beat Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata. Oishi admitted during the match he was in a bad mood so Hirata convinced him to wear a pair of Hirata GO! glasses to get rid of his stress. They both danced until Takao rolled up Hirata from behind to pin him. Backstage Stomping Mask complained to Hirata for not doing a good job to promote the app. Hirata attacked and unmasked him to reveal it was Hisaya Imabayashi all along!
DAMNATION T.A also won their 8-Man Tag Match earlier in the show. With Demus added to their lineup they had someone who could go toe to toe with Tetsuya Endo with lucha while KANON & MJ Paul were able to handled Takanashi & Yuya Koroku. Sasaki finished things off for Takanashi by dropping him with the Pedigree and submitting him with the Crossface Lock.
Three mascots made their pro wrestling debut in Match #2. On one side, DDT’s own mascot Pokotan teamed up with Touchi-kun from the Japan Self-Defence Force. Their opponents were Oshinari-kun from the Oshinari Shopping District and Higapyon from the Tokyo Higashi Shinkin Bank. Pokotan had no problem fighting Oshinari-kun but didn’t want to attack the cute rabbit Higapyon. Touchi-kun didn’t approve of how violent Pokotan was acting anyway so the three mascots all stood up to Pokotan. They knocked his head off and Oshinari-kun pinned Pokotan with the Diving Hip Drop. Pokotan saw the error of his ways after the match and the four of them all posed for the audience.
Kazuma Sumi is learning new ways to use the School Boy on his opponents. He was able to spin Yuki Ishida into the cradle to take the three count from him in the opening match. Sumi said he will continue to polish this move even more so he can pin his seniors with it from now on. Yuni was happy with his performance because today is his last match before he wrestles in America for DDT’s tour in Seattle next week. He wants to make a name for himself when he wrestles Gringo Loco and Konosuke Takeshita in his two matches over there. Ishida admitted he underestimated Sumi and Keigo Nakamura also said they have no excuses for losing today.
It was announced that Yuki Iino will face New Japan wrestler Tomohiro Ishii at Korakuen Hall on 22nd December! Iino said he is really looking forward to the heavyweight fight and wants everyone to come see it. He wants to end the year by beating Ishii and then win at Sumo Hall so he can keep on BURNING.
There was an intermission performance by members of the idol group KLP48. They are a sister group of AKB48 based in Kuala Lumpur and today was their first ever performance in Japan.
Akito spoke to the wrestling media after the show. He revealed Sanshiro Takagi saw companies like Kyushu Pro running sponsored shows in their own regions which inspired him to try it out with DDT in Tokyo. Akito thinks there were mistakes made but they are able to learn from them. He will give it some thought before deciding if DDT will hold this event again next year. The goal is to get people excited for DDT’s shows at Korakuen and Sumo Hall at the end of the year. The attendance number above isn’t accurate because people were allowed to come and go from the venue as the show went on. Akito said 1,600 seats were set up and the room could take 1,800 people in total at all times. So the extra 400 to make it 2,200 are considered to be people who came in during the show after other people left (the DDT site briefly had the number at 1,800 as the match results were coming in before quickly changing it to 2,200 after the show had ended).
DDT “ADULT RESORT PRO WRESTLING IN KIRANAH GARDEN TOYOSU”, 30/10/2024 Tokyo Kiranah Garden Toyosu 191 Fans – No Vacancy
1. Yuki Iino defeated Tomomitsu Matsunaga with the BURNING Elbow Drop (10:00).
2. Danshoku Dieno, Soma Takao & Kazuki Hirata defeated Akito, Keigo Nakamura & Yuki Ishida when Hirata pinned Ishida with the Miracle One Shot Cradle (14:48).
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Kazuki Hirata defeated Danshoku Dieno (c) with a Hammer Attack (6:07 pm). *Kazuki Hirata becomes the 1,684th champion.
3. Special Single Match: Demus defeated Kazuma Sumi with La Valagueza (8:14).
4. No Tag Rules: Daisuke Sasaki, KANON, MJ Paul & Ilusion defeated Toru Owashi, Masahiro Takanashi, Antonio Honda & Yukio Naya when Sasaki submitted Honda with the Crossface Lock (13:53).
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Danshoku Dieno defeated Kazuki Hirata (c) with a Sleeper Hod (6:54 pm). *Danshoku Dieno becomes the 1,685th champion.
5. The 37KAMIINA Vs BURNING!: Tetsuya Endo & Yuya Koroku defeated Yuki Ueno & Shunma Katsumata when Koroku pinned Katsumata with a Crucifix Pin (14:14).
6. Kiranah Garden Toyosu First Opening Commemoration! Special Tag Match: Shinya Aoki & MAO defeated Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA when Aoki submitted Brookes with the Manjigatame (18:26).
The stage is getting set for next week’s KO-D Openweight Title match. Before today’s show began Shinya Aoki and Chris Brookes held a contract signing ceremony and talked about the upcoming title bout. Brookes called Aoki the strongest wrestler in the world but Brookes’s love for DDT is stronger. Aoki on the other hand said he will crush Brookes with all of his might and without any emotion just to show there is a clear difference of skill between them. Then in today’s main event Aoki gave an example by using the Manjigatame to make Brookes submit. Afterwards he said he is two steps stronger than him and if he keeps this up he will be fine on 4th November. Brookes praised Aoki for having dangerous Elbow Strikes to go along with his strong submissions. He isn’t letting today’s result put him down.
The undercard had to be changed around because To-y picked up a virus and couldn’t wrestle. Yuki Ueno stepped up to team with Shunma Katsumata and take on the BURNING team of Tetsuya Endo & Yuya Koroku. BURNING pulled off the win against the stronger team thanks to Koroku catching Katsumata off guard with a Crucifix Pin for the three count. Koroku then challenged ShunMAO for the KO-D Tag Team Titles on 23rd November with Endo going to be his partner again. Katsumata refused because he thinks Endo is too strong. MAO however got on a microphone away from the ring and said he finds it interesting that Koroku beat Katsumata. But according to MAO, Katsumata is the weakest member of ShunMao. MAO wants to see if Koroku can beat him too so he accepted the challenge. He also explained to Katsumata later that they should be giving DDT’s younger wrestlers more chances to win championships if they want to lead the company.
The Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title changed hands twice during the show. The first change happened after the second match when Kazuki Hirata knocked out Danshoku Dieno with the ring bell hammer and pinned him. Dieno got his revenge during intermission by sneaking up to Hirata at the autograph table and choking him out with a Sleeper Hold.
Yesterday there was a discovery on Twitter over Kota Ibushi’s recent return to DDT that suddenly came to an abrupt end. The discovery was his two DDT matches from 25th August and 8th September have both been scrubbed off Wrestle Universe and can no longer be watched on the service.* When you go to watch the 25th August show on Wrestle Universe his match is still talked about on the pre-show and the match graphic still appears in the opening video. The match itself though has been edited off the stream and it goes straight from the end of Match #5 to the video package of the main event. The card lineups on each video both have “Some matches have been cut due to circumstances” written on the bottom of the page. That’s not all, DDT also pulled some of their recent Youtube videos of Ibushi’s past matches that they originally uploaded to promote his return. This follows the news at the start of the month of Ibushi’s two October dates with DDT being cancelled with no explanation given by anyone.
*Update: A day after this post was written, Wrestle Universe also removed the Weapon Rumble match from 21st July which featured Ibushi’s actual return to DDT.
I thought that news sounded weird when it happened. Ibushi wasn’t injured and even had a match in GLEAT the next day. There was some guessing online that maybe he was being called upon by AEW and couldn’t be available for the DDT dates anymore. I didn’t want to rule it out because those kind of short notice bookings have happened with DDT and Tokyo Joshi Pro talent in the past. But looking at the AEW schedule at the time it didn’t make much sense to me. He’d miss one booking but had plenty of time to make it back to Japan for the second booking. So when those dates came and went without Ibushi showing up anywhere, I didn’t think about it again until the Wrestle Universe thing was discovered.
So if Ibushi’s absence was not because of injury and was not because of other obligations getting in the way, then that suggests there could have been a falling out between Ibushi and DDT. That’s when I remembered what happened at the very end of the 25th August show. As the crowd was making their way to the exit MAO & Shunma Katsumata announced their intentions to challenge for DDT’s tag team championships. Nothing unusual about that. They continued talking about theirs goals backstage during their post-show interview until MAO changed the subject and brought up “Golden Star Syndrome”. That was the phrase he used to describe Ibushi’s fanbase and the lapsed DDT fans who came to the show just to see him chase old glories again. MAO’s point was the fans should not take the current generation for granted because they are the ones who kept DDT going after Ibushi left and the company went downhill from their peak of popularity.
They were not the only wrestlers who made comments about Ibushi’s return to DDT. Yuki Ueno also spoke about it backstage after his defeat in the main event. Ueno said DDT became what it is today thanks to Ibushi and everyone should be grateful for that. Sanshiro Takagi loves him like family which means Ueno also treats him like family. However, Ueno also questioned Ibushi’s motive for returning to DDT and revealed there are other people in the company who are not happy he came back. Ueno wants to make DDT better but he couldn’t tell if Ibushi’s intentions are the same.
When Ibushi found out about those comments he tweeted out his response. He wonders if the wrestlers were criticizing him out of jealousy? He isn’t interested enough to get involved any further and decided to ignore them. He also asked if those wrestlers are DDT’s current aces and suggested if this deal isn’t working out he still has AEW to go to. At the time of writing those comments are still the most recent tweets on his X account.
A few days later Michael Nakazawa posted a blog to give his thoughts on the matter. He wrote them to be as neutral as possible but admits they will likely come off as defending his close friend Ibushi anyway. He understands there are people who support DDT’s current era that are annoyed to see all of the fan and media attention go to Ibushi for his sudden return to the company. He points out that cutting a promo built around real emotions can sometimes go in an unexpected direction. That happened here when Ibushi did not react the way Ueno, MAO & Katsumata supposedly wanted him to. Nakazawa said if there is anyone who didn’t like the company’s decision to book Ibushi then they should have spoken to someone in the company instead of making the matter public. He also thinks it would not have done Ibushi any good if he picked up on the promo because Ibushi just wants to have fun matches. Nakazawa also compared Ibushi to Kaisei Takechi when it comes to drawing in fans from outside of DDT’s current audience to their shows. However Nakazawa admits Ibushi could have handled the situation in a more mature manner.
The next part of the story takes a surprising turn. While our attention was on the Wrestle Universe story, Marvelous played a video at their show of Ibushi standing around in their dojo. It was a teaser to promote that Ibushi will be in attendance for the promotion’s next Korakuen Hall event on 1st December. Even though Marvelous is a joshi promotion first and foremost, there is often a men’s match booked on the undercard of their shows. Ibushi went to his Instagram to talk about it and wondered if this video will be on their Youtube channel (I can’t tell if this was meant to be a joke about his DDT videos being pulled down).
Ibushi then turned his attention to his situation with DDT. I tried translating it and the comments come out sounding negative. It sounds like Ibushi is accusing DDT of caring more about money than their 20 years of working together. His post also includes hashtags referring to Sanshiro Takagi, DDT collapsing as a company and decisions being made to make up for a deficit. Whatever it is that Ibushi has a problem with, he would like to get an apology over it. Now his focus is going to be on the upcoming Marvelous show.
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So that’s what I’ve been able to gather together so far. Kota Ibushi and DDT have had a falling out and it seems to stem from the comments made by Yuki Ueno & MAO. Whether that was just meant to be a promo to build up a future match and it blew up in everyone’s face isn’t fully clear to me. The few matches Ibushi had in DDT this year had nothing to do with The 37KAMIINA. There was a trios match where Ibushi got to fight Tetsuya Endo again, a nostalgia match where Ibushi reunited with other DDT figures from his generation and the cancelled bout was a freak show kickboxing comedy match where he would have treated his best friend Gota Ihashi as a human crash test dummy like he always does. Maybe something would have been set up for the end of year Sumo Hall show but I guess we will never know now.
It sounds like it was DDT’s decision to remove the videos. I remember early in NJPW World’s existence when Naoya Ogawa successfully requested to have videos of his matches removed but Ibushi’s behavior doesn’t come off like he made any demands like that. But his decision to talk up rumours of DDT’s business decline isn’t going to help things one bit. It’s a bridge burner if I ever heard one and kind of not that far off from how he talked about New Japan when that relationship went sour. At least he hasn’t said anything as extreme as who he suggested some pro wrestling companies were in bed with back then.
I hope what I’ve written helps clear up even a little bit of what’s going on. I wanted to shine a light on the situation after the videos go scrubbed from Wrestle Universe. It makes what happened above way more notable in hindsight than I thought they were at the time. There is still so much we don’t know about behind the scenes but at least this is something to work with if people out there want to talk about it. If there are any mistakes, contradictions or other comments about what I wrote please tell me because the last thing I want to happen is this post causing trouble because of wrong information (causing trouble because of correct information is A-OK though).
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UPDATE: The 4th November issue of the Wrestling Observer newsletter had a write up on the situation based on this post. Dave Meltzer also had additional information from a source close to the matter. The new info was written like this:
“Another person with knowledge of the situation wrote to us saying, “There were comments backstage from the younger guys towards Ibushi that he felt were disrespectful and I guess when the president (Takagi) asked them to apologize and squash the beef, most of the talent didn’t really want to, so Ibushi chose not to work for DDT anymore.” The person also said he felt that this was blown out of proportion”
DDT “FUKUSHIMA ADATARA ONSEN HOTEL PARADISE HILLS BOX OFFICE”, 27/10/2024 Fukushima Adatara Onsen Hotel Paradise Hills Sakura Campground Special Venue 208 Fans
1. Yukio Naya defeated Keigo Nakamura with a Choke Slam (8:30).
2. MJ Paul defeated Yuki Ishida with the Reverse Splash (7:05).
3. Diswear Rule: Danshoku Dieno & Kazuki Hirata defeated To-y & Kazuma Sumi when Hirata pushed Sumi out of the ring (10:44).
4. Daisuke Sasaki, KANON, Demus & Ilusion defeated Yuki Iino, Akito, Yuni & Yuya Koroku when Sasaki pinned Akito with the Sasaki Hurricanrana (11:01).
5. Special Tag Match: Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada defeated Tetsuya Endo & Makoto Oishi when Brookes pinned Oishi with the Praying Mantis Bomb (13:55).
6. Sakura Campground Will Be Used In Its Entirety! Paradise-Style Falls Count Anywhere 6-Man Tag Match: Yuki Ueno, MAO & Shunma Katsumata defeated Jun Akiyama, HARASHIMA & Antonio Honda when MAO pinned Honda after the Our Mad Max onto the pile of Chairs (22:41).
The Falls Count Anywhere Match used a van as an important weapon. MAO drove it towards the ring but Antonio Honda stood in its path to make MAO step on the brakes. Honda approached the driver’s seat, poke MAO in the eyes with Gongitsune, got him out of the van and then drove it into Shunma Katsumata! However The 37KAMIINA were able to recover and together they slammed Honda onto a pile of chairs with the Our Mad Max as performed from the roof of the van for the win. MAO said that’s the kind of match he wants to defend the KO-D Tag Team Titles in. Yuki Ueno however would prefer doing Falls Count Anywhere matches in a sauna. Honda has a similar idea in mind because he would like to bring HARASHIMA & Jun Akiyama with him to a hot spring some day.
Gorgeous Matsuno was in attendance to promote his “GORGEOUS NIGHT” show in Fukushima on 24th November. He sang a song for the audience and also got involved in a few SCHADENFREUDE International spots during Match #5.
The Diswear Rule in Match #3 is simply to knock one of your opponents out of the ring to win.
The mayor of Nihonmatsu City gave a speech at the start of the show and was even encouraged to participate in the opening match when Keigo Nakamura held Yukio Naya in place for him to throw Sumo Slaps at. When he was done and returned to his front row seat Naya Body Slammed Nakamura to the ground right in front of him.
DDT “GOD BLESS DDT 2024”, 20/10/2024 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 1,124 Fans – No Vacancy
1. Yuki Ueno, MAO, Shunma Katsumata & To-y defeated Soma Takao, Yukio Naya, Keigo Nakamura & Yuya Koroku when MAO pinned Takao after the Our Mad Max (10:42). *MAO wins Soma Takao’s Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Shield.
2. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Yuni & Kazuma Sumi defeated Super Sasadango Machine & Kazuki Hirata (c) when Yuni pinned Hirata with an Inside Cradle (10:53). *Yuni becomes the 1,682nd champion.
3. DAMNATION T.A Vs SCHADENFREUDE International!: Daisuke Sasaki, KANON, MJ Paul & Ilusion defeated Chris Brookes, Masahiro Takanashi, Antonio Honda & Takeshi Masada when Ilusion pinned Takanashi with the Swanton Bomb (12:35).
4. Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino defeated Jun Akiyama & Yuki Ishida when Iino pinned Ishida with the Spear (8:56).
-. DDT Universal Title: MAO defeated Yuki Iino (c) with the Iai Kick (5:24). *Yuki Iino fails in V3. MAO cashes in his Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Shield. MAO becomes the 14th DDT Universal Champion!
5. DDT Extreme Title – nobodyknows+ Rules: Danshoku Dieno defeated Akito (c) when Akito broke the “No English” rule (12:26). *Akito fails in V1. Danshoku Dieno becomes the 61st DDT Extreme Champion!
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Danshoku Dieno defeated Yuni (c) with a School Boy (1:19 pm). *Danshoku Dieno becomes the 1,683rd champion.
6. KO-D Openweight Title: Shinya Aoki (c) defeated HARASHIMA with a Full Nelson Hold (14:07). *V2 for Shinya Aoki.
-. KO-D Openweight Title: Shinya Aoki (c) defeated Shunma Katsumata with a Full Nelson Hold (7:56). *V3 for Shinya Aoki. Shunma Katsumata cashes in his Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Shield.
The “Baka Survivor” is living up to his nickname after defending his KO-D Openweight Title not once but twice today. First up, Shinya Aoki fought HARASHIMA in the advertised main event of the show to continue their friendly but competitive rivalry. The contest featured plenty of grappling although Aoki went full pro wrestler a few times by doing a Topé Suicida and also a Piledriver. HARASHIMA broke out of Aoki’s submission attempts and seemed to score a big hit with the Somato. But Aoki grabbed victory from the jaws of defeat by catching HARASHIMA in a Full Nelson and then pinning his shoulders to the mat for the three count. He didn’t get a moment to celebrate though because a new challenger quickly appeared.
Shunma Katsumata approached Aoki after the match and cashed in his Right To Challenge Shield to get a KO-D Title shot right there on the spot! He was on the attack from the start, scoring a two count from the Totonou Splash. Katsumata then tried to bring in a box of toy blocks but Yukinori Matsui stopped him. He solved that problem by Dropkicking Aoki into Matsui to knock the ref out. Matsui would get knocked out again later in the match when Katsumata tried attacking Aoki with a chair. Katsumata then placed Aoki onto a table out of the ring and wrapped tape around him to make sure he couldn’t get off it. Katsumata then climbed a ladder in the ring and hit the Sauna Trance Splash to put Aoki through the table. Back in the ring Katsumata then hit the Firebird Splash but that wasn’t enough to beat Aoki. Instead Aoki caught Katsumata in the Full Nelson Hold and for the second time in a row the move got him the win out of nowhere.
Things had finally calmed down for Aoki when Chris Brookes was next to get into the ring. Brookes praised Aoki for defending the title twice in one day, proving he really is the strongest in DDT. He can see Aoki has love for DDT but nobody loves DDT more than Brookes. Even though Brookes hasn’t been winning many matches lately he wants the next KO-D Title match to be “Baka Survivor” Vs “Baka Gaijin”! Aoki accepted the challenge and it will happen at Tokyo Higashin Arena show on 4th November. He later said love and affection is what Brookes brings to the table which makes him stand out from previous challengers.
Only one person knew how to win the nobodyknows+ Rules and that was the ref Daisuke Kiso. Nine victory conditions and prohibited actions were put on the screen but only one of them was needed to end the match. It was up to Akito and Danshoku Dieno to make these conditions happen in the hopes it would make them the winner. The nine rules were One Count Pinfall, No English, Shake Hands With Haku, No Rope Escape, defeat one of the seconds at ringside, Corner Post Removal, Three Count Pinfall outside the ring, Confession after a three count and No Stripping. One by one the rules that weren’t used would get stricken off the board. Dieno got his pet dog Haku to shake his hand but that wasn’t the rule. He tried to fight To-y and Kazuma Sumi but that wasn’t the rule either. Akito pinned Dieno with a Gedo Clutch and began to confess, thinking that was the winning rule. He told Dieno they did this match a decade ago and a lot has changed since then. In those ten years they developed trust with each other and while Akito felt like questioning himself at times, Dieno was always true to himself. Akito doesn’t care what Dieno wants to do as long as he is trying to make DDT better just like him. The bell then rang to signal the end of the match. Akito thought he won because of the confession but instead he lost because he broke the “No English” rule by saying DDT out loud!
Dieno is now the DDT Extreme Champion so after the match Hisaya Imabayashi asked him who he wants his first challenger to be? Dieno picked Yuni. Oh boy… Imabayashi refused because having a 16 year old high school student fight Dieno would cause nothing but problems for DDT. It’s why DDT rarely puts Dieno and Yuni in the same match together. Dieno told the GM that if Yuni wants to win the Extreme Title then he should be allowed to have a say in the decision. Yuni got down to the ring carrying the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title he won earlier in the show. He said he wants to be a champion so he has no reason to refuse the match. Imabayashi reluctantly agreed to book the match for 23rd November. Dieno then rolled up Yuni from behind and pinned him to win the Iron Man Title. Imabayashi then told Dieno he will have to defend both titles against Yuni.
Today saw both remaining Right To Challenge Shields be used up. BURNING had just won their tag match against Jun Akiyama & Yuki Ishida when MAO got into the ring. He had won a Shield earlier in the show and wasn’t going to wait for a chance to win back the DDT Universal Title that Iino took from him a month ago! Iino was able to hit the Spear but MAO kicked out at two. When Iino ran the ropes to charge up another Spear, MAO cut him off and landed the Michinoku Driver II before hitting the Iai Kick for a suprise title change. MAO joked afterwards that he rescued his beloved princess to continue their on and off relationship. He’s now ready to do so much as the Universal Champion both in Japan and around the world. Iino is upset his belt is now gone and promised to get revenge. His BURNING will not end like this!
DAMNATION T.A is growing even stronger thanks to its newest allies making themselves heard. Ilusion added more salt to SCHADENFREUDE International’s wounds by showing up in a new costume and acting more heelish with his new buddies. He attacked Antonio Honda with a chair so Honda couldn’t tell his Gongitsune spot. Brookes tried getting his hands to Ilusion but a missed attack his Masahiro Takanashi by mistake. Daisuke Sasaki gave Takanashi the Pedigree and Ilusion used the Swanton Bomb to pin him. After the match Ilusion hurled insults at SCHADENFREUDE and targeted Takeshi Masada in particular. He said he will destroy Masada’s annoying face! Masada later challenged Ilusion to a singles match on 4th November.
Ilusion is not the only person who is attracted to the darkside of DAMNATION T.A. The group interrupted Haruto Sakuraba’s segment in the ring and gave him an offer. Sasaki can see Sakuraba has talent and that talent is to be a villain! The offer is for Sakuraba to join DAMNATION T.A for his debut match at Sumo Hall on 28th December. Imabayashi tried to tell Sasaki that won’t be happening but Sakuraba suddenly cut him off and shook Sasaki’s hand! He then posed in the ring with Sasaki & KANON. Backstage Sakuraba explained it would be boring if his wrestling debut was just an ordinary one. He wants to surpass his hero The Rock and he plans on doing it by turning heel before his very first match!
Yuni won the Iron Man Title in the second match of the show. He & Kazuma Sumi wanted to run wild on their opponents but Super Sasadango Machine wasn’t having any of it. He got on the microphone and told the young team they can’t just go win a match without caring about the feelings of their opponents or the fans. They should be trying more to make the fans happy. They all agreed that dancing with Kazuki Hirata was the answer but it was a setup for the veterans to launch an ambush. However Yuni countered Hirata’s Miracle One Shot Cradle and got the pin with his own Inside Cradle to win the Iron Man Title. Sumi then tried to roll up Yuni after the match but failed. While the two of them argued, Hirata charged them with the bell hammer in his hand but missed and hit himself with the hammer after it bounced off the rope.
MAO got his hands on a Right To Challenge Shield by winning the opening match with the rest of The 37KAMIINA. Thanks to some teamwork with Yuki Ueno, Katsumata & To-y they fought off Yukio Naya, Keigo Nakamura & Yuya Koroku. Then ShunMao gave Soma Takao the Our Mad Max to give MAO the pinfall. The result set up a busy night for ShunMao with their cash in moves later in the show. Katsumata even said the reason why he cashed in for the KO-D Title after the main event was because he saw MAO successfulyy use his shield to win back the Universal Title.
DDT “CAMPSITE PRO WRESTLING 2019 ~THE PROMISED NATURE LAND~”, 19/09/2019 Yamanashi Natureland Om 80 Fans
1. Falls Count Anywhere 5 Way 6-Man Tag Match: Konosuke Takeshita, MAO & Yuki Ueno Vs HARASHIMA, Antonio Honda & Makoto Oishi Vs Isami Kodaka, FUMA & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi Vs Ken Ohka, Keisuke Ishii & Yumehito Imanari Vs Yuna Manase, Yuki Kamifuku & Mina Shirakawa
DDT “THE LAST BEER GARDEN PRO WRESTLING OF 2024”, 17/10/2024 Tokyo Ueno Park Outdoor Stage 536 Fans
1. Shunma Katsumata & To-y defeated Yukio Naya & Kazuma Sumi when Katsumata pinned Sumi with the Totonou Splash (9:02).
2. Loser Retirement Death Match ~ No Tag Rules: Toru Owashi, Yuya Koroku & Yuki Ishida defeated KANON, MJ Paul & Mataro Suzuki when Ishida pinned Suzuki after a Missed People’s Elbow (w/ Daisuke Sasaki)
3. Street Kickboxing 6-Man Tag Match: HARASHIMA, Yukimitsu Takahashi & Keigo Nakamura defeated Thanomsak Toba, Takeshi Masada & Gota Ihashi by Referee Stoppage when HARASHIMA knocked out Ihashi with the Somato (8:41).
4. Special Single Match – Tiger Cub Rope Death Match: Jun Akiyama defeated Antonio Honda with the Exploder Suplex (9:45).
5. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Danshoku Dieno defeated Kazuki Hirata (c) with the Gaydo Clutch (0:18). *Danshoku Dieno becomes the 1,678th champion.
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – DDT New Generation Vs DDT Veteran Showdown! 6 Vs 7 Handicap Match: Kazuki Hirata, HARASHIMA, To-y, Yuya Koroku, Yuki Ishida & Kazuma Sumi defeated Danshoku Dieno (c), Akito, Shunma Katsumata, Toru Owashi, Thanomsak Toba, Yukio Naya & Gota Ihashi when Hirata pinned Dieno with the Miracle One Shot Cradle (9:19). *Kazuki Hirata becomes the 1,679th champion.
6. The Final Match Of Beer Garden Pro Wrestling 2024! Special Drunk 3 Way Tag Match: Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi defeated Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino and Yuki Ueno & MAO when Takanashi pinned Endo after the H.O.D (24:01).
For the final time this year DDT held a Beer Garden show at Ueno Park. The main event was advertised as a Drunk 3 Way Tag Match where the wrestlers took a drink of tequila after every two count kickout. Chris Brookes wanted it to just be beer but accepted the tequila. Yuki Iino tried to refuse the drinks because he had to got work his other job at a private gym after the show. However he had to follow the rules and soon got drunk along with everyone else in the match. He also started acting like Yuki “Sexy” Iino again when his old Pheromones song played over the speakers. Yukinori Matsui wound up getting involved more than a referee is expected to so all of the wrestlers made him drink with them. Soon everyone was so drunk they all missed their attacks. Tetsuya Endo couldn’t do handsprings any more, CDK couldn’t hit their signature holds while Yuki Ueno & MAO kept missing their jumping kick moves. Endo got Iino to sober up by telling him Kenta Kobashi will be mad at him for getting drunk. Endo then lifted up MAO for the Swivel Torture Rack Bomb but had to stop spinning to maintain his composure. CDK took advantage by using their double team move called the Hair Of The Dog to pile themselves on top of Endo and MAO. Endo’s shoulders were pinned down by Masahiro Takanashi and he couldn’t kick out, making CDK the winners.
Danshoku Dieno immediately beat Kazuki Hirata to regain the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title and then insulted him for being a lazy wrestler. They were in the semi-main event and the way Hirata treated it means he will never escape the opening match. Hirata stood up not just for himself but also on behalf of all the wrestlers who wrestled in the early portion of today’s show. He called out some of those wrestlers to get in the ring and soon a brawl broke out between the group. Two sides formed against each other and an impromptu 6 Vs 7 Handicap Match began. Even the referees started turning against each other during the match as Yukinori Matsui and Daisuke Kiso fought each other in the ring while everyone else was brawling outside. Eventully Hirata’s team won when he pinned Dieno with the Miracle One Shot Cradle, taking the Iron Man Title back in the process. He wanted to celebrate but his own team then tried to pin him to win the title for themselves, forcing Hirata to flee with the belt.
A cute tiger cub toy was attached to the middle of a tiger rope. The same rope was also used to connect Jun Akiyama and Antonio Honda while they fought each other. Akiyama also brought out a cane but Honda convinced him to not to use it because it is an illegal weapon. Akiyama accepted the explanation but Honda then grabbed the cane. He tried to attack Akiyama with it but Akiyama ducked, the cane bounced off the ropes and Honda hit himself with it instead. Honda was able to trip Akiyama face first into a chair set up in the ring. He climbed the ropes for the Diving Fist Drop but Akiyama lifted up the tiger cub as a shield. Honda redirected his landing and missed on purpose so he wouldn’t harm the cub. Honda then tried to do the Bionic Elbow but ended up tangling himself with the rope while he was winding up the move. Akiyama took advantage and used the Exploder Suplex to win the match. He said he didn’t understand the rules but the tiger is cute so he knew it needed to be protected. The rule was Honda’s idea and he admitted it blew up in his face today.
The Street Kickboxing match no longer had Kota Ibushi involved but one of his protégés Yukimitsu Takahashi still appeared for the bout. He and Takeshi Masada spent a lot of the match fighting each other in and out of the ring. Keigo Nakamura tried fighting with Karate instead of kickboxing. HARASHIMA had trouble dealing with Thanomsak Toba but when it came down to him against Gota Ihashi, HARASHIMA knocked his opponent out with the Somato.
An unlikely fan favourite emerged from this year’s Beer Garden shows. Mataro Suzuki from the DDT Video Team was often dragged into DAMNATION T.A’s matches, usually because Daisuke Sasaki was too hungover to wrestle. It happened again today but this time the match suddenly had the added stipulation that whoever got pinned must retire from pro wrestling immediately! Sadly for Suzuki he lost the match by missing the People’s Elbow and getting pinned afterward. He was given an impromptu retirement ceremony after the match that included a 10 bell salute while the wrestlers all cried at ringside.
The show began with Akito and Dieno deciding on the rules for their DDT Extreme Title match on 20th October. Akito decided it will be a nobodyknows+ Rules Match. There will be nine victory conditions and prohibited actions decided on before the match. The referee will secretly select pick one of the conditions and it will be up to the wrestlers to discover for themselves how they can win or lose the match. Akito and Dieno did this match once before back in 2014 but Dieno has no memory of it. The options are all supposed to be randomised but as champion Akito will get to choose the 9 conditions. However he allowed Dieno to come up with one condition. Dieno’s idea if picked is you can win by bringing his pet dog Haku into the ring and make him hold his paw onto your hand.
Posted by JamieOD 
Dramatic DDT 