Dramatic Dreams And Wrestle Princess This Weekend, Yume Pro Wrestling Exhibitions, Whole Bunch Of Anniversary Matches Coming Up

October 7, 2022

DDT/ONLY WE “GET ALIVE 2022 TOUR IN CHIBA”, 08/10/2022
Chiba TKP Garden City

1. DDT x ONLY WE Special Tag Match I: Saki Akai & Shunma Katsumata Vs Kaji Tomato & Soma Takao
2. HARASHIMA & Toru Owashi Vs Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada
3. Special Single Match: Shinya Aoki Vs Hiroshi Yamato
4. DDT x ONLY WE Special Tag Match II: Quiet Storm & Yukio Naya Vs Akira Raijin & Hoshitango
5. The 37KAMIINA Vs Pheromones!: Yuki Ueno, MAO & Toi Kojima Vs Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno & Koju “Shining Ball” Takeda
6. Kazusada Higuchi, Naomi Yoshimura, Yuki Ishida & Akito Vs Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku
7. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON (c) Vs Yuji Hino, Makoto Oishi & Shiori Asahi

There are two changes to the show that were made during the week. Shogun Okamoto found out he might be a close contact to a covid case so he was taken off the show just to be safe. Hoshitango takes his place in the ONLY WE Vs PERON GRANDES match.

Hibiscus Mii is off the show due to a family situation. Soma Takao takes her place in the opening match.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “WRESTLE PRINCESS III”, 09/10/2022
Tokyo Dome City Hall

1. Moka Miyamoto & Juria Nagano Vs Arisu Endo & Kaya Toribami
2. Yuki Kamifuku, Mahiro Kiryu & Haruna Neko Vs Nao Kakuta, Yuna Manase & Yoshiko Hasegawa
3. Suzume Vs Ryo Mizunami
4. Mizuki Vs Hyper Misao
5. Aja Kong, Raku & Pom Harajuku Vs Rika Tatsumi, Yuki Aino & Max The Impaler
6. Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh Vs Riho & Hikari Noa
7. International Princess Title: Alex Windsor (c) Vs Miu Watanabe
8. Princess Tag Team Titles: Saki Akai & Yuki Arai (c) Vs Rhia O’Reilly & Nightshade
9. Princess Of Princess Title: Shoko Nakajima (c) Vs Yuka Sakazaki

I couldn’t find the time this week to write up a preview for Tokyo Joshi Pro’s big show in Tokyo Dome City Hall.

DDT “DRAMATIC DREAMS! VOL. 9 ~NO CLOUDS OVER THE MOON~”, 10/10/2022
Osaka Higashinari Ward Community Center

0. The Man Called Supernova & The Man Who Was Once Called Supernova Vs The Men Who Were Never Called Supernova: Soma Takao & Takeshi Masada Vs Yusuke Okada & Yuki Ishida
1. Special 6-Man Tag Match ~Smile Squash Vs DAMNATION T.A~: HARASHIMA, Yasu Urano & Akito Vs Minoru Fujita, MJ Paul & KANON
2. A Song Of Geniuses! Special 4 Way Tag Match: Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Sanshiro Takagi & Makoto Oishi Vs Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi & Yoshihiko
3. DDT Dotonbori THE NEXT!: Toi Kojima & Harutoki Vs Hideki Okatani & Yuya Koroku
4. Naniwa Earthquake! Super Special 6-Man Tag Match: Magnitude Kishiwada, Yuji Hino & Yukio Naya Vs Shuji Ishikawa, Yukio Sakaguchi & Chris Brookes
5. Special Tag Match Sterness Siege ~Men Of Ice Vs Men Of Melting Ice~: Jun Akiyama & Antonio Honda Vs Kuishinbo Kamen & Kikutaro
6. Special Single Match ~Road Of Former Champions~: Tetsuya Endo Vs Masahiro Takanashi
7. Double Main Event I Special Tag Match ~Wrestling Master Jrs Vs The 37KAMIINA~: Daisuke Sasaki & HUB Vs Yuki Ueno & Shunma Katsumata:
8. Double Main Event II Special Tag Match Osaka Monogatari ~ Destruction Demon King Vs The “It Was The Power Of Wrestling That Resolved The Worst Of Their Relationship To The Point Where They Didn’t Even See Eye To Eye. Their Belief Is That There Is Never A Normal Good Match And The Common Denominator Is An Unusual wrestling Head”z~: Kazusada Higuchi & Naomi Yoshimura Vs Shigehiro Irie & MAO

The final match on the show is something Yukinori Matsui had wanted to do for a long time. He believes if Shigehiro Irie & MAO can get along and be on the same page it could result in an amazing tag team. Irie & MAO had a falling out several years ago when Irie left DDT but their icy relationship began to thaw at the last New Year’s Eve show. Matsui has the happiest of all to see the two repair their friendship and has high hopes the two will work great together. Irie is also close with Kazusada Higuchi & Naomi Yoshimura. He held the KO-D Tag Team Titles one time with Higuchi and spent time with Yoshimura when the two wrestled in Canada together back in 2018.

Yuki Ueno said he is looking forward to facing HUB because he admires him so much. Ueno got into wrestling when his high school classmate Konosuke Takeshita became a wrestler. He quickly discovered Osaka Pro and HUB/Super Dolphin was the person who stood out to him the most. It is why Ueno uses the WR as his finisher because it was originally HUB’s move first.

The last time Tetsuya Endo Vs Masahiro Takanashi was supposed to happen both wrestlers held the top two singles titles in DDT. Things have changed a lot since then and now the match is happening under different circumstances. Endo is still hoping to gain something from the match that will help him in the future. Takanashi still represents the older years of DDT that are different to the era Tetsuya Endo broke in with. The match is just as much a clash of two different DDT ideologies as it is two former champions facing off.

DDT “GET ALIVE 2022”, 12/10/2022
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. 4 Way Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul Vs Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari Vs Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku Vs Yukio Naya & Hideki Okatani
2. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yuji Hino Vs HARASHIMA, Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi
3. Get Alive 4 Major Single Match! Yuki Ishida 1st Anniversary Match ~ Playfulness Series Act 4: Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Yuki Ishida
4. Get Alive 4 Major Single Match!: Koju “Shining Ball” Takeda Vs Toi Kojima
5. Get Alive 4 Major Single Match!: Toru Owashi Vs Kazuki Hirata
6. Get Alive 4 Major Single Match!: Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Takeshi Masada
7. Makoto Oishi 20th Anniversary Match ~ Men’s Club Vs The 37KAMIINA: Makoto Oishi, MEN’S Teioh & Shiori Asahi Vs Yuki Ueno, MAO & Shunma Katsumata
8. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Kazusada Higuchi & Naomi Yoshimura (c) Vs Daisuke Sasaki & KANON

Daisuke Sasaki is spreading lies about Harimao being bad for DDT. He claimed at a press conference Hisaya Imabayashi is expecting the company to decline because Higuchi & Yoshimura are the KO-D Tag Champions so he is begging Sasaki & KANON to win the belts for DDT’s sake. KANON wants to add another title belt to the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles and thinks the red tag belts will look better on DAMNATION T.A. The matches building up to the title shot saw Sasaki & KANON target Higuchi’s right hand.

The Men’s Club reunion is supposed to be a one time get together to celebrate Makoto Oishi’s 20th Anniversary. However there’s been a little bit of speculation that if they win against The 37KAMIINA then Oishi & Shiori Asahi might try and convince MEN’S Teioh to revive the unit for a new generation.

Takeshi Masada has been training with a former K-1 World Champion to prepare for his match with Yukio Sakaguchi. Masada approached Hideaki Yamazaki for advice against Sakaguchi’s kicks. Yamazaki inspected Masada’s Roundhouse Kick and agreed to teach him his signature Hanging Kick to use against Sakaguchi.

There was more trickery in the press conference during Yuki Ishida’s interview. Danshoku Dieno showed up disguised as a reporter and kept asking him shameful questions. When Ishida and Imabayashi figured out it was Dieno, he attacked the both of them and left them in a beaten state with their backsides both exposed. Dieno then took over the interview and complained about having another “Final Battle” against Sanshiro Takagi on 23rd October. It wasn’t until he finished and left the room when Matsui revived both Ishida and Imabayashi.

TJPW “YUME PRO WRESTLING -DREAM ON THE RING-”, 14/10/2022
Shinjuku FACE

1. Exhibition Match: Risako Vs Rika Tatsumi
2. Exhibition Match: Wakana Uehara Vs Shoko Nakajima
3. Exhibition Match: Himari Manaka Vs Miyu Yamashita

This week’s episode of Yume Pro Wrestling -dream on the ring- on TJPW’s Youtube channel revealed the exhibition matches that Risako, Wakana Uehara and Himari Manaka have spent month training for. Risako takes on Rika Tatsumi, Uehara faces Shoko Nakajima and Manaka goes against Miyu Yamashita. The matches were determined by a random draw.

GANBARE☆PRO “PUNCH DRUNK LOVE 2022”, 22/10/2022
Tokyo Oji BASEMENT MON☆STAR

1. GanPro Oji Specialty Secret Captain’s Fall 8-Man Tag Match: Soma Takao, Yuna Manase, Moeka Haruhi & YuuRI Vs Shinichiro Tominaga, Harukaze, Yuna Mizumori & Yoshiko Hasegawa
2. Just Before 11.3! Special Tag Match: Hartley Jackson & Seiya Morohashi Vs Shuichiro Katsumura & Kouki Iwasaki
3. GanPro Specialty Three Great Singles Match: Yumehito Imanari Vs Yuki Kanzaki
4. GanPro Specialty Three Great Singles Match: Mizuki Watase Vs Tyson Maeguchi
5. GanPro Specialty Three Great Singles Match ~Ken Ohka Debut 21st Anniversary Match~: Ken Ohka Vs Keisuke Ishii

Ken Ohka celebrates 21 years in the business, Hartley Jackson and Shuichiro Katsumura get a preview tag match for their Spirit Of Ganbare Title match and newly freelance Yuna Mizumori joins in the party that is the Secret Captain’s Fall match.

DDT “HIROSHI YAMATO 15TH ANNIVERSARY DEBUT ~ KIMI NO WA PRO WRESTLING FESTA”, 30/10/2022
Chiba Kimitsu Shiritsu Shuto Junior High School Gymnasium

1. Hideki Okatani Vs Takeshi Masada
2. Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Naoshi Sano & Kazuki Hirata
3. Kuishinbo Kamen & Makoto Oishi Vs Chris Brookes & Yuya Koroku
4. HARASHIMA & Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Yuji Hino & Yusuke Okada
5. Kimitsu Specialty Special Tag Match: Saki Akai & Antonio Honda Vs SAKI & Shunma Katsumata
6. DAMNATION T.A Vs The 37KAMIINA!: Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON Vs Yuki Ueno, MAO & Toi Kojima
7. Hiroshi Yamato Debut 15th Anniversary Special 6-Man Tag Match: Hiroshi Yamato, Tetsuya Endo & Jun Akiyama Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Naomi Yoshimura & Yuki Ishida

Another celebration show, this time for Hiroshi Yamato. He teams with BURNING to take on Harimao. There are also special guests like Kuishinbo Kamen, SAKI and Naoshi Sano involved.

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Posted by JamieOD

D-Ou Grand Prix 2022

October 5, 2022

The annual D-Ou Grand Prix has been date corrected back to its proper year so the 2022 edition is in fact taking place in the year 2022. A new direction has been given to this year’s tournament. Every entrant is under the age of 40 because DDT is currently building up their younger roster. The format is a two block round robin with the winners of each group meeting in the final. Both blocks contain 6 wrestlers so everybody will compete in 5 matches, each with a 30 minute time limit. The final itself has no time limit. Wins are worth 2 points and draws (time limit or double knockout) are worth 1 point. 0 points will go toward losses, double countouts and any match that is ruled a No Contest or gets cancelled because both wrestlers are unable to compete. In the case of ties for first place, the match result between the wrestlers involved will be used as the tiebreaker. Kenta Kobashi remains in his role as the chairman of the tournament committee.

A Block

Tetsuya Endo (6th Appearance)
Daisuke Sasaki (5th Appearance)
Yuki Ueno (4th Appearance)
Naomi Yoshimura (3rd Appearance)
Joey Janela (1st Appearance)
RSP (1st Appearance)

B Block

Kazusada Higuchi (5th Appearance)
Chris Brookes (4th Appearance)
MAO (4th Appearance)
Yuji Hino (2nd Appearance)
Yukio Naya (1st Appearance)
KANON (1st Appearance)

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DDT “D-OU GRAND PRIX 2022 OPENING ROUND”, 01/11/2022
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 – A Block: Tetsuya Endo Vs Yuki Ueno
2. D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 – A Block: Naomi Yoshimura Vs RSP
3. D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 – B Block: Kazusada Higuchi Vs KANON
4. D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 – B Block: Yuji Hino Vs Yukio Naya
5. D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 – B Block: Chris Brookes Vs MAO

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DDT “D-OU GRAND PRIX 2022 IN YOKOHAMA DAY 1”, 03/11/2022
Yokohama Radiant Hall

1. D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 – A Block: Yuki Ueno Vs Joey Janela
2. D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 – A Block: Tetsuya Endo Vs Daisuke Sasaki
3. D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 – B Block: Yuji Hino Vs KANON
4. D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 – B Block: MAO Vs Yukio Naya

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DDT “DDT FREE -NOVEMBER- D-OU GRAND PRIX 2022 IN YOKOHAMA”, 05/11/2022
Yokohama Radiant Hall

1. D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 – A Block: Daisuke Sasaki Vs RSP
2. D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 – A Block: Naomi Yoshimura Vs Joey Janela
3. D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 – B Block: MAO Vs KANON

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DDT “D-OU GRAND PRIX 2022 IN YOKOHAMA DAY 2”, 05/11/2022
Yokohama Radiant Hall

1. D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 – A Block: Tetsuya Endo Vs Joey Janela
2. D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 – A Block: Yuki Ueno Vs RSP
3. D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 – B Block: Kazusada Higuchi Vs Yuji Hino
4. D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 – B Block: Chris Brookes Vs KANON

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DDT “D-OU GRAND PRIX 2022 IN OSAKA”, 12/11/2022
Osaka Edion Arena #2

1. D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 – A Block: Yuki Ueno Vs Naomi Yoshimura
2. D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 – A Block: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Joey Janela
3. D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 – A Block: Tetsuya Endo Vs RSP
4. D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 – B Block: Kazusada Higuchi Vs MAO
5. D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 – B Block: Chris Brookes Vs Yukio Naya

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DDT “D-OU GRAND PRIX 2022 IN KYOTO”, 13/11/2022
Kyoto KBS Hall

1. D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 – A Block: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Naomi Yoshimura
2. D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 – B Block: Kazusada Higuchi Vs Chris Brookes
3. D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 – B Block: Yukio Naya Vs KANON
4. D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 – B Block: Yuji Hino Vs MAO

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DDT “D-OU GRAND PRIX 2022 IN KORAKUEN HALL”, 18/11/2022
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 – A Block: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Yuki Ueno
2. D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 – A Block: Joey Janela Vs RSP
3. D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 – A Block: Tetsuya Endo Vs Naomi Yoshimura
4. D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 – B Block: Kazusada Higuchi Vs Yukio Naya
5. D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 – B Block: Chris Brookes Vs Yuji Hino

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DDT “D-OU GRAND PRIX 2022 THE FINAL”, 04/12/2022
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 – Final: Winner Of A Block Vs Winner Of B Block

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Power Of Dream, Itoh & Arai Duet, Sumi Debut Match

September 26, 2022

GANBARE☆PRO “NERAWARETA GAKUEN 2022”, 02/10/2022
Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall

1. Toyama & India Vs Ota Ward & Nakano All-Out Battle!: Shinichiro Tominaga & Baliyan Akki Vs Soma Takao & Mizuki Watase
2. Union Alumni Assocation In Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling: Ken Ohka Vs Daichi Kazato
3. Nerawareta Gakuen 2022 Special Tag Match: Shuichiro Katsumura & Thanomsak Toba Vs Keisuke Ishii & Yumehito Imanari
4. Power Of Dream Class Reunion In Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling: Kouki Iwasaki Vs Yuki Kanzaki
5. England x Makai x GanJo! Special 6-Woman Tag Match: Nightshade, Moeka Haruhi & HARUKAZE Vs Ram Kaichow, YuuRI & Yoshiko Hasegawa
6. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Hartley Jackson (c) Vs Yuna Manase

Makai wrestler Yuki Kanzaki wants to stick around in Ganbare☆Pro and compete more often on their shows. He is linked to Kouki Iwasaki because they both train at the same gym called Power Of Dream.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “WRESTLE PRINCESS III”, 09/10/2022
Tokyo Dome City Hall

1. Aja Kong, Raku & Pom Harajuku Vs Rika Tatsumi, Yuki Aino & Max The Impaler
2. Mizuki Vs Hyper Misao
3. International Princess Title: Alex Windsor (c) Vs Miu Watanabe
4. Princess Tag Team Titles: Saki Akai & Yuki Arai (c) Vs Rhia O’Reilly & Nightshade
5. Princess Of Princess Title: Shoko Nakajima (c) Vs Yuka Sakazaki

The show will be set up for 50% capacity to allow fans to cheer.

Maki Itoh was a guest performer at the SKE48 14th Anniversary concert in Nagoya yesterday. She did a duet with Yuki Arai on stage, singing “Ookami To Pride” together. At the end of the song Itoh Headbutted Arai and gave the crowd a thumbs up.

DDT “GOD BLESS DDT 2022”, 23/10/2022
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

0. Dark Match – Pheromones Vs Takagi-gun Complete Showdown FINAL ~ 2 Vs 5 Handicap Match: Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno (w/ Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari) Vs Sanshiro Takagi, Toru Owashi, Makoto Oishi, Antonio Honda & Akito
1. Kazuma Sumi Debut Match: Kazuki Hirata Vs Kazuma Sumi
2. Daisuke Sasaki, Minoru Fujita, MJ Paul & KANON Vs Shunma Katsumata, Toi Kojima, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani
3. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku Vs Osamu Nishimura, Shinichiro Kawamatsu & Yuki Ishida
4. Special Tag Match: HARASHIMA & Takeshi Masada Vs Soma Takao & Hikaru Machida
5. Road To D-Ou GP Special 6-Man Tag Match: Naomi Yoshimura, Yuji Hino & Chris Brookes Vs Tetsuya Endo, MAO & Yukio Naya
6. DDT Universal Title: Yuki Ueno (c) Vs Koju “Shining Ball” Takeda
7. KO-D Openweight Title: Kazusada Higuchi (c) Vs Yukio Sakaguchi

There is more confidence surrounding Kazusada Higuchi as the KO-D Openweight Champion after yesterday’s result. He defeated Konosuke Takeshita and now has his “big brother” Yukio Sakaguchi waiting for him next. Sakaguchi knows Higuchi inside and out from their days together in Eruption. Higuchi admits that Sakaguchi probably knows his weaknesses but he still wants to face him head on. He is also waiting on Shinya Aoki to make his move with the Right To Challenge NFT.

Yuki Ueno is still feeling the love from his match with Cara Noir yesterday. He has a lot of respect for the English wrestler to come over and fight him. It’s motivating him to do his best and become more confident. The next challenger for the DDT Universal Title is Koju Takeda. The newest member of Pheromones used to team with Ueno when they were both in DNA together. Their peak was winning the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles together with Kota Umeda. Ueno is happy to take on the challenge but is a bit worried about Takeda’s new “Shining Ball” persona.

19 year old Kazuma Sumi is the second wrestler from this year’s trainee class to make his debut. He was born in Tsu City, Mie on 27th March, 2003. He is 163cm tall and weighs 65kg. His background is in karate and gymnastics.

The final dramatic must-see battle between Sanshiro Takagi and Pheromones is relegated to the dark match. Takagi has the advantage because he made it a 5 Vs 2 Handicap match. However Pheromones will still have Yumehito Imanari in their corner and you deserve what you get for relying on Kazuki Hirata & Antonio Honda in this day and age so it’s an evenly matched contest once you think about it.

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DDT “WHO’S GONNA TOP? 2022” Results

September 25, 2022

DDT “WHO’S GONNA TOP? 2022”, 25/09/2022
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
701 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

0. Dark Match: Hideki Okatani & Toi Kojima defeated Yuya Koroku & Yuki Ishida when Okatani pinned Ishida with the Double Arm Suplex (6:37).
1. MAO, Asuka & Saki Akai defeated Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata & Antonio Honda when Akai pinned Honda with the Rookie Award (6:44).
2. Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere 3 Way Match: Shinya Aoki defeated Shunma Katsumata and Yuki “Sexy” Iino (w/ Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno) when Aoki pinned Katsumata with the European Clutch (6:58).
3. Special Tag Match: Akito & Yukio Naya defeated Osamu Nishimura & Shinichiro Kawamatsu when Naya submitted Kawamatsu with the Torture Cobra Twist (11:41).
4. Daisuke Sasaki, Minoru Fujita & KANON (w/ MJ Paul) defeated Naomi Yoshimura, Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi when Sasaki submitted Oishi with the Crossface Lock (11:21).
5. Sanshiro Takagi, HARASHIMA, Yukio Sakaguchi & Soma Takao defeated Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama, Yusuke Okada & Takeshi Masada when Sakaguchi pinned Okada with the God’s Right Knee (11:18).
6. DDT Universal Title: Yuki Ueno (c) defeated Cara Noir with the WR (13:01).
*V1 for Yuki Ueno.
7. KO-D Openweight Title: Kazusada Higuchi (c) defeated Konosuke Takeshita with the Buchikamashi (18:57).
*V2 for Kazusada Higuchi.

A hard headed effort from Kazusada Higuchi withstood the challenge of Konosuke Takeshita, preventing the KO-D Openweight Title from leaving Japan once Takeshita goes back to America. Higuchi’s iron toughness was on show when Takeshita pulled him by the arms, driving him head first into the steel ring post. Higuchi took a second long pause to register what happened and calmly fired back with a Headbutt that drew some blood from Takeshita’s forehead. Higuchi later attempted a big Choke Slam from the top rope but it was countered into a Frankensteiner followed by the Zahi. Higuhci kicked out of that and also the German Suplex before catching the Jumping Knee. More big bombs were thrown between the two and Takeshita finally hit the Jumping Knee. What he didn’t see coming was Higuchi standing firm and then charging in with the Buchikamashi sumo tackle. That put Takeshita down for the three count and Higuchi remains the champion.

After the match Takeshita gave his approval to Higuchi for being the champion and told him to do his best. He will be in America for around two and a half months before coming back for a DDT booking at the end of the year. Shinya Aoki then came down to ringside but rather than tease cashing in his title shot, he reached through the ropes to give Higuchi a fist bump instead and left. Yukio Sakaguchi then came out during Higuchi’s victory speech. He said Higuchi understands why he came out and he still does not understand true fear the likes of which Sakaguchi is capable of. Higuchi accepted his challenge and the two former “brothers” will fight for the KO-D Title on 23rd October.

You ever hear when wrestling commentators joke about how “it ain’t ballet”? Isn’t that in reality an insult backfire when you think about it? I’ve watched footage of ballet training and that stuff looks like hell on Earth even when compared to pro wrestling drills. Okay, okay, I’m getting distracted because I don’t want to make the usual theatre puns when writing about Cara Noir. The English wrestler performed his big entrance for the fans and then jumped Yuki Ueno with a John Woo Dropkick. Ueno was able to defend himself and escape from the Blackout Sleeper. He then returned with a Dropkick of his own, hitting Noir right in his face. The WR afterwards got Ueno the win and a successful DDT Universal Title defence under his belt.

There is a language barrier between the two but Ueno thanked Noir for coming to Japan after their match. It is a difficult time for Ueno to do what he wants and defend the Universal Title abroad, so he appreciates foreign opponents coming to DDT to challenge him. The three main members of Pheromones then entered the ring. Yuki Iino stepped over to Ueno and then turned around, revealing Ueno’s iPhone sticking out of his butt. Ueno pulled out his phone and found out he got a message from Koju Takeda. He read the message containing accusations that he does not have enough Pheromones. Takeda wants to measure their hormone levels together and so challenges Ueno for the Universal Title on 23rd October. Ueno accepts and wants to see how much Takeda has changed since their days in DNA together.

Sakaguchi cemented his claim for a KO-D Title shot by grabbing the win in Match #5. He was part of a DDT all veteran team against three members of BURNING along with the rookie Takeshi Masada. For some reason Sanshiro Takagi was a target for the opposing team. Tetsuya Endo got some ring time with HARASHIMA but Masada in particular wanted to beat Takagi. Jun Akiyama explained to the reporters backstage it’s because pro wrestling is the only place where it is acceptable to beat up the company president. It’s also acceptable to kick the heck out of Yusuke Okada like Sakaguchi did to win the match. Soma Takao was just kind of there. Even he noticed that he isn’t in any of the match pictures on DDT’s website.

DAMNATION T.A gave some of their next KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles opponents a taste of what’s to come. Minoru Fujita & KANON had their hands full with Naomi Yoshimura & Yuji Hino until MJ Paul got into a brawl with Hino out of the ring and up towards the balcony. Daisuke Sasaki had Makoto Oishi right where he wanted him from there. DAMNATION T.A benefited from the numbers game and Sasaki ended up tapping out Oishi with the Crossface Lock. Sasaki mocked Oishi for being so weak and wanted to injure him with a chair. Suddenly Shiori Asahi’s music began playing and he ran out to rescue his friend, fighting off Sasaki with a skateboard. Together, Oishi & Asahi then gave KANON the Cactus Flower. Asahi said it’s been a long time since he showed up as X on DDT shows. Hino said Ω is getting closer to a complete recovery. They will show DAMNATION T.A what real evil looks like when they take the KO-D 6-Man Tag Titles from them!

The politician tag team of Osamu Nishimura & Shinichiro Kawamatsu were back at it again, this time wrestling against Akito & Yukio Naya. Two two are becoming more cohesive by doing double team moves together. However Naya was able to break them apart and submit Kawamatsu with the Cobra Twist. Nishimura gave advice to Kawamatsu by comparing a wrestling career to an election. Elections are the accumulation of everything politicians do day by day. Kawamatsu admits that every time he steps into the ring to wrestle his head goes blank and everything happens at a blink of an eye. Akito thinks this won’t be the last we see of Kawamatsu. Naya meanwhile has more important matters to get ready for.

Aoki had no choice but to put his Right To Challenge NFT on the line against Shunma Katsumata and Yuki Iino in a 3 Way Match. Katsumata dealt with Iino by sticking party poppers into his backside and setting them off. What he couldn’t have anticipated was Aoki turning into a Pheromones gimmick! He reappeared wearing very little and pinned Katsumata with the European Clutch. He still hasn’t publicly told people when he wants to cash in the NFT for a KO-D Title shot. The only hint he gives is it will happen soon.

Romance was unexpectedly in the air during the opening bout. Toru Owashi and Antonio Honda’s grappling gradually turned into them slowly embracing each other for a kiss. That was interrupted by the others but soon some unintentional hugging led to Saki Akai wanting to kiss Asuka and MAO wanting to kiss Kazuki Hirata. Before they could almost all of them snapped back to normal and Akai pinned Honda with the Rookie Award. Asuka was left in a frozen state with her eyes closed, still waiting for Akai to kiss her. Yukinori Matsui woke her up causing Asuka to scream at the sight of him and leave.

The dark match saw Hideki Okatani & Toi Kojima beat Yuya Koroku & Yuki Ishida in a tag battle between the young generation. Ishida kicked out of Okatani’s Northern Lights Suplex so Okatani had to pull out the Double Arm Suplex for the win.

19 year old trainee Kazuma Sumi will make his debut against Kazuki Hirata on 23rd October. He spoke to the crowd and called Hirata a very talented person so he will do his best. Sumi has a background in karate and gymnastics. He is the second of the trainee class introduced in May to make his debut, the first being Takeshi Masada.

Danshoku Dieno has written a book to celebrate his 20th Anniversary in pro wrestling. He said he lied to the publisher about making a self-help book to convince them to sell it. However he will be covering topics about the pro wrestling business from his point of view based on his two decades of experience. It will be available in December and Dieno is hosting a special event at Korakuen Hall on the 21st to commemorate the release. Attendees will receive a copy of the book but the cost of it will be added on top of the ticket price.

The D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 lineup was revealed. The A Block consists of Yuki Ueno, Naomi Yoshimura, Joey Janela, Tetsuya Endo, Daisuke Sasaki and Rickey Shane Page. The B Block consists of Kazusada Higuchi, Chris Brookes, MAO, Yuji Hino, KANON and Yukio Naya.

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Takeshita Heading Back To USA Next Month, El Unicorn Taking Time Off To Study

September 22, 2022

GANBARE☆PRO “TWIN PEAKS 2022”, 23/09/2022
Tokyo Oji BASEMENT MON☆STAR

1. GanPro Three Major Singles Match: Shuichiro Katsumura Vs Yuki Ishida
2. GanPro Specialty! Mixed 6-Man Tag Match: Ken Ohka, Moeka Haruhi & HARUKAZE Vs Yumehito Imanari, Yuna Manase & YuuRI
3. GanPro Three Major Singles Match: Soma Takao Vs Yuki Kanzaki
4. GanPro Three Major Singles Match: Shinichiro Tominaga Vs Jun Masaoka
5. Twin Peaks 2022 Special Tag Match: Keisuke Ishii & Tyson Maeguchi Vs Kouki Iwasaki & Mizuki Watase

Here’s the match order for the first Ganbare☆Pro show of the day. They are a few ticket sales away from a sell out.

GANBARE☆PRO “ENEMY OF AMERICA 2022”, 23/09/2022
Tokyo Oji BASEMENT MON☆STAR

1. Young Drama Generation Vs Reiwa Dramatic Generation: Keisuke Ishii Vs Toi Kojima
2. GanPro Three Major Tag Match: Moeka Haruhi & HARUKAZE Vs Miyuki Takase & Yoshiko Hasegawa
3. YuuRI GanPro 1st Anniversary Match: Yuna Manase Vs YuuRI
4. GanPro Three Major Tag Match: Shuichiro Katsumura & Shinichiro Tominaga Vs Kouki Iwasaki & Yuki Kanzaki
5. GanPro Three Major Tag Match: Ken Ohka & Yumehito Imanari Vs Soma Takao & Mizuki Watase

And here’s the match order for the evening. This show is sold out.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW AUTUMN TOUR ’22”, 24/09/2022
Tokyo Ryogoku KFC Hall

1. 3 Way Match: Hikari Noa Vs Suzume Vs Moka Miyamoto
2. Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh Vs Miu Watanabe & Arisu Endo
3. Yuki Kamifuku Vs Kaya Toribami
4. Nao Kakuta Vs Haruna Neko
5. Shoko Nakajima, Hyper Misao & Rika Tatsumi & Yuki Aino Vs Yuka Sakazaki, Mizuki, Raku & Pom Harajuku

A contract signing with Shoko Nakajima and Yuka Sakazaki for the main event of “WRESTLE PRINCESS III” will be held during the show.

Both Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh are back from their American bookings. They are together as 121000000 for their first match back.

Mahiro Kiryu will miss the show due to a shoulder injury.

BASARA “BASARA 200 ~TAKAGARI 12~”, 24/09/2022
Takashimadaira Ward Community Center

1. Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi & Antonio Honda Vs Fuminori Abe & Yasu Urano
2. 3 Way Match: Ryota Nakatsu Vs SAGAT Vs Akiyori Takizawa
3. Takumi Tsukamoto Vs Jun Masaoka
4. Elimination 6-Man Tag Match: Isami Kodaka, Daiki Shimomura & Minoru Fujita Vs Lil’ Kraken, Tsutomu Oosugi & Banana Senga
5. IRON FIST Tag Titles: Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino (c) Vs FUMA & Daichi Kazato

A big jump up the card for Lil’ Kraken. The “mystery” masked wrestler teams with Speed Of Sounds to take on Sento Minzoku in an Elimination Tag Match.

The three regular members of Sparky are going all against each other in a 3 Way Match.

DDT “WHO’S GONNA TOP? 2022”, 25/09/2022
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

0. Dark Match: Hideki Okatani & Toi Kojima Vs Yuya Koroku & Yuki Ishida
1. MAO, Asuka & Saki Akai Vs Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata & Antonio Honda
2. Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere 3 Way Match: Shinya Aoki Vs Shunma Katsumata Vs Yuki “Sexy” Iino (w/ Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno)
3. Special Tag Match: Osamu Nishimura & Shinichiro Kawamatsu Vs Akito & Yukio Naya
4. Daisuke Sasaki, Minoru Fujita & KANON (w/ MJ Paul) Vs Naomi Yoshimura, Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi
5. Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama, Yusuke Okada & Takeshi Masada Vs Sanshiro Takagi, HARASHIMA, Yukio Sakaguchi & Soma Takao
6. DDT Universal Title: Yuki Ueno (c) Vs Cara Noir
7. KO-D Openweight Title: Kazusada Higuchi (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita

A press conference was held earlier today featuring the participants of the two title matches. Konosuke Takeshita announced he is returning to America in October so his goal for Sunday is to win the KO-D Openweight Title and bring it with him to AEW. He does not believe Kazusada Higuchi’s claim that a new wind is blowing through DDT. Higuchi disagrees and thinks the KO-D Title has already taken a new form that will not change back if Takeshita wins it off him and takes it abroad. Win or lose, this is the match Higuchi has been looking for.

Nobody was able to get a word out of Cara Noir during the press conference. Even Yuki Ueno tried to make him speak by asking him questions in English but Noir stayed silent throughout. However his physical gestures made it clear he wants to beat Ueno and become the new DDT Universal Champion. Ueno hopes that if he can successfully defend the title it will open the door to him having a title defence in the United Kingdom. He also wants to defend the belt in Thailand to live up to a promise that Masahiro Takanashi made when he was the champion.

The full line-up of this year’s D-Ou Grand Prix tournament will be revealed during the show.

DDT “YUBUN PRESENTS DDT PRO WRESTLING IN IKEBUKURO FULL MOON FESTIVAL”, 01/10/2022
Ikebukuro Nishiguchi Park Outdoor Theater Global Ring Theater

1. Yukio Naya Vs Yuya Koroku
2. Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Sanshiro Takagi & Kazuki Hirata
3. DDTeeeen!! Special Single Match: Ilusion Vs El Unicorn
4. Toru Owashi & Makoto Oishi Vs Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani
5. Daisuke Sasaki & KANON Vs Yuji Hino & Takeshi Masada
6. Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yusuke Okada Vs HARASHIMA, MAO & Antonio Honda
7. Harimao Vs The 37KAMIINA!: Kazusada Higuchi, Naomi Yoshimura & Yuki Ishida Vs Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & Toi Kojima

El Unicorn will be taking time off from pro wrestling to prepare for his upcoming high school entrance exams. Before he leaves he will get one more singles match against his DDTeeeen!! rival Ilusion. El Unicorn said he is sad he won’t be able to wrestle for a while but he also understands this will be good for the future of his pro wrestling career.

GANBARE☆PRO “NERAWARETA GAKUEN 2022”, 02/10/2022
Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall

1. Union Alumni Assocation In Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling: Ken Ohka Vs Daichi Kazato
2. Toyama & India Vs Ota Ward & Nakano All-Out Battle!: Shinichiro Tominaga & Baliyan Akki Vs Soma Takao & Mizuki Watase
3. England x Makai x GanJo! Special 6-Woman Tag Match: Nightshade, Moeka Haruhi & HARUKAZE Vs Ram Kaichow, YuuRI & Yoshiko Hasegawa
4. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Hartley Jackson (c) Vs Yuna Manase

We haven’t seen Baliyan Akki around Ganpro since April. He’s been doing well since then, just coming back from wrestling across America including a couple of AEW appearances.

Daichi Kazato from BASARA is coming over for a Union Pro reunion with Ken Okha. Both of them have changed a lot since they were last in the ring together.

Tyson Maeguchi and Yuki Kanzaki will also be on the show.

DDT “DRAMATIC DREAMS! VOL. 9 ~NO CLOUDS OVER THE MOON~”, 10/10/2022
Osaka Higashinari Ward Community Center

1. The Man Called Supernova & The Man Who Was Once Called Supernova Vs The Men Who Were Never Called Supernova: Soma Takao & Takeshi Masada Vs Yusuke Okada & Yuki Ishida
2. A Song Of Geniuses! Special 4 Way Tag Match: Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Sanshiro Takagi & Makoto Oishi Vs Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi & Yoshihiko
3. DDT Dotonbori THE NEXT!: Toi Kojima & Harutoki Vs Hideki Okatani & Yuya Koroku
4. Special 6-Man Tag Match ~Smile Squash Vs DAMNATION T.A~: HARASHIMA, Yasu Urano & Akito Vs Minoru Fujita, MJ Paul & KANON
5. Special Tag Match Sterness Siege ~Men Of Ice Vs Men Of Melting Ice~: Jun Akiyama & Antonio Honda Vs Kuishinbo Kamen & Kikutaro
6. Special Single Match ~Road Of Former Champions~: Tetsuya Endo Vs Masahiro Takanashi
7. Special Tag Match ~Wrestling Master Jrs Vs The 37KAMIINA~: Daisuke Sasaki & HUB Vs Yuki Ueno & Shunma Katsumata
8. Naniwa Earthquake! Super Special 6-Man Tag Match: Magnitude Kishiwada, Yuji Hino & Yukio Naya Vs Shuji Ishikawa, Yukio Sakaguchi & Chris Brookes
9. Special Tag Match Osaka Monogatari ~ Destruction Demon King Vs The “It Was The Power Of Wrestling That Resolved The Worst Of Their Relationship To The Point Where They Didn’t Even See Eye To Eye. Their Belief Is That There Is Never A Normal Good Match And The Common Denominator Is An Unusual wrestling Head”z~: Kazusada Higuchi & Naomi Yoshimura Vs Shigehiro Irie & MAO

Harutoki is been wrestling for three years with Dotonbori Pro.

DDT “GOD BLESS DDT 2022 TOUR IN SAPPORO – DAY 1”, 15/10/2022
Hokkaido Sapporo ii-one Stadium

1. Kazuki Hirata & Saki Akai Vs Shunma Katsumata & Manami Kanda
2. Special Single Match: Kouki Iwasaki Vs Hideki Okatani
3. Sapporo Specialty Special Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo & Jun Akiyama Vs Noriyuki Yoshida & Yuya Koroku

Several guests have been booked for the show. On this very day one year ago Noriyuki Yoshida fought Jun Akiyama in an emotional match to celebrate his 15th wrestling anniversary. They meet again this time in a tag match with other members of BURNING. Also on the show are Kouki Iwasaki, Manami Kanda and Tomoya.

DDT “GOD BLESS DDT 2022 TOUR IN SAPPORO – DAY 2”, 16/10/2022
Hokkaido Sapporo ii-one Stadium

1. HARASHIMA & Makoto Oishi Vs Tomoya & Takeshi Masada
2. Special Single Match: Saki Akai Vs Manami Kanda
3. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & Chris Brookes Vs Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Noriyuki Yoshida

The next day will see Akiyama and Yoshida teaming together.

Kanda’s weekend in DDT is built around matches against Saki Akai.

DDT “GOD BLESS DDT 2022”, 23/10/2022
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku Vs Osamu Nishimura, Shinichiro Kawamatsu & Yuki Ishida
2. Special Tag Match: HARASHIMA & Takeshi Masada Vs Soma Takao & Hikaru Machida
3. Pheromones Vs Takagi-gun Complete Settlement Battle FINAL: X Vs X

Kickboxer Hikaru Machida is coming back to DDT and HARASHIMA will be there waiting for him. The big matches are also piling up for the rookie Takeshi Masada. He’s getting some ring time with Soma Takao both as teammates and opponents in October.

Osamu Nishimura & Shinichiro Kawamatsu are sticking around in DDT. They have a battle alongside Yuki Ishida against BURNING coming up next month.

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AEW “TOKYO GAME SHOW 2022 EXHIBITION MATCH” Results

September 18, 2022

While AEW was over in Japan for the Tokyo Game Show, they put together several exhibition matches at the convention with DDT and Tokyo Joshi Pro providing some extra talent. It was the first time AEW held public matches in Japan (their 2021 women’s tournament was behind closed doors). Before all of this happened, Christopher Daniels held a talk panel in the ring where he explained AEW to the audience and played a few single player matches of AEW Fight Forever. In the first game he played as Hikaru Shida and lost to Adam Cole. He apologised to Shida because he knows she would be watching the footage. He then played a second game as Thunder Rosa and lost to Shida. There was a mention that the game is aiming to launch next Spring.

For anyone wondering where Kenny Omega was, he had no involvement (at least publicly that I know of) with the promotion for AEW Fight Forever this weekend. However he was on a Capcom Youtube stream playing Resident Evil and Street Fighter games. Maki Itoh was also advertised to wrestle but she was in North America for indie bookings that were already set up ages ago. I have no idea how that double booking happened.

AEW “TOKYO GAME SHOW 2022 EXHIBITION MATCH”, 16/09/2022
Chiba Makuhari Messe Hall
27,614 Fans – Total Number Of TGS Visitors

1. AEW Fight Forever Exhibition Match: Christopher Daniels defeated Chris Brookes with the Best Moonsault Ever (10:17).
2. AEW Fight Forever Exhibition Match: Ryo Mizunami defeated Hikari Noa with the Hot Limit (8:47).
3. AEW Fight Forever Exhibition Match: Konosuke Takeshita defeated Christopher Daniels with the Jumping Knee (9:39).

On Day 1 Daniels defeated Chris Brookes in the afternoon portion of the show to advance on to the evening match where Konosuke Takeshita was waiting for him. Daniels threw the referee in the way to get a cheap shot in, leading to him pinning Brookes with the Best Moonsault Ever. Michael Nakazawa held a post-match interview with Daniels that ended with Daniels attacking him, causing Takeshita to chase him off.

Whether it counts towards her official AEW record or not, Hikari Noa had her debut match for the promotion against Ryo Mizunami. Noa focused on her Thrust Kicks to find openings and saw the chance to go for the Blizzard Suplex. Mizunami blocked the move and rocked Noa with a Spear, setting her up for the Hot Limit finish. Mizunami said afterwards she has a hot passion to return to America.

The evening match saw Takeshita get his revenge on Daniels. He kicked out of the Angels Wings at one and also the BME at two. Looking for another way to win, Daniels put Takeshita on the top rope thinking about doing a Frankensteiner. Takeshita pushed him off and followed with a Jumping Knee from the top rope. He then hit another Jumping Knee for the win. After the match Takeshita talked about how happy he was to wrestle the person he remembers as Curry Man from Michinoku Pro two decades ago. Nakazawa joked he probably wasn’t supposed to say that out loud. Takeshita hopes to do a rematch in America.

AEW “TOKYO GAME SHOW 2022 EXHIBITION MATCH”, 17/09/2022
Chiba Makuhari Messe Hall
Approximately 47,000 Fans – Total Number Of TGS Visitors

1. AEW Fight Forever Exhibition Match: Konosuke Takeshita defeated Chris Brookes with the Jumping Knee (10:46).
2. AEW Fight Forever Exhibition Match: Riho defeated Hikari Noa with the Somato (8:19).
3. AEW Fight Forever Exhibition Match: Yuki Ueno defeated Michael Nakazawa with a Half Nelson Suplex (10:29).
4. AEW Fight Forever Exhibition Match: Konosuke Takeshita & Yuka Sakazaki defeated Christopher Daniels & Ryo Mizunami when Sakazaki pinned Mizunami with the Magical Magical Girl Splash (10:26).

Day 2 began with a singles match between Takeshita and Brookes. The match almost became dangerous for the audience at ringside when Brookes considered trying to Suplex Takeshita out of the ring. Instead Takeshita blocked it and ran the ropes only for Brookes to slingshot himself back into the ring to hit a Cutter. Brookes hit his own version of the Jumping Knee Strike but Takeshita bounced back with the strong version of the Jumping Knee to get the win.

Match 2 was Riho’s first match in an AEW ring since May. Noa gave her a fight that included the two exchanging Elbow Strikes up on the top turnbuckles. Riho threw her off with a Superplex and followed with the Diving Stomp for a close nearfall. Once she hit the Somato though it was all over.

The matches so far were all of the normal variety so the TGS crowd were caught off guard by Michael Nakazawa. They got to see his perverted wrestling style that built up to him pulling off his underwear without removing his tights. If that wasn’t wild enough, Yuki Ueno took the match outside the ring with a Plancha followed by a DDT onto one of the raised floor sections of the venue. Ueno then saw fit to end the match with a Half Nelson Suplex instead of one of his regular finishers.

The day ended with a mixed tag match. On one side was Takeshita and Yuka Sakazaki forming a team called The Magical Cinnabon Monsters. Their opponents were Daniels and Mizunami with Daniels looking to avenge his loss to Takeshita from the previous day. Perhaps in something of an upset The Magical Cinnabon Monsters won! Sakazaki hit the Magical Magical Girl Splash on Mizunami and Takeshita hit the Jumping Knee on Daniels. The two pins happened at the same time but the match result from both DDT and TJPW record it as Sakazaki getting the pinfall.

AEW “TOKYO GAME SHOW 2022 EXHIBITION MATCH”, 18/09/2022
Chiba Makuhari Messe Hall
40,291 Fans – Total Number Of TGS Visitors

1. AEW Fight Forever Exhibition Match: Yuka Sakazaki defeated Hikari Noa with the Magical Merry-Go-Round (12:07).
2. AEW Fight Forever Exhibition Match: Hagane Shinno defeated Michael Nakazawa with the Ranhei (7:59)

The third and final day was smaller in scale because DDT had a show in Korakuen Hall happening around the same time while Daniels had a booking with All Japan at Budokan Hall. The afternoon match pitted Sakazaki against Noa, making Noa the ironwoman of the weekend by being the only person to have a match on all three days as well as compete at a TJPW show. They fought outside around the other THQ Nordic booths where Sakazaki found Crypto 137 from Destroy All Humans! She got the alien to distract Noa so she could hit her opponent over the head with the Zap-O-Matic. Sakazaki happily gave the gun back to Crypto, telling him it was now broken. She later won the match with the Magical Merry-Go-Round to end her weekend undefeated at TGS. Sakazaki admitted she wasn’t sure if they were allowed to fight near the other booths. Nakazawa told her they weren’t and he expects they will be scolded later. He also heard that Sakazaki is planning to return to America soon and asked if it’s true? She said she wants to go back as soon as possible and joked it might not be tomorrow.

The very last match to close out the event was Nakazawa taking on Hagane Shinno. Nakazawa thought he was only coming out to do commentary and hastily stripped down into his wrestling gear. He asked Shinno to help him put on his kneepads but it was a trick to ambush him with a microphone shot to the head. Hagane fought back but missed a Moonsault giving Nakazawa the opening to set up the Ultimate Venom Arm. Shinno cut him off with a Kicking Combination and then climbed the top rope. Nakazawa grabbed him with the Ultimate Venom Arm and climbed up after him. However Shinno knocked him over to where Nakazawa was left hanging upside down. Shinno then hit a Diving Stomp off the corner followed by the Ranhei for the victory. Nakazawa complained that he should have won because he is an AEW employee while Shinno was never even associated with the promotion before today. However Shinno said if things go to plan he will be having an American expedition in mid-October so he may show up in AEW proper after all. He’d like to have a rematch with Nakazawa in America if they can do it.

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DDT “STERNNESS 30TH ANNIVERSARY ~JUN AKIYAMA 30TH ANNIVERSARY~” Results

September 18, 2022

DDT “STERNNESS 30TH ANNIVERSARY ~JUN AKIYAMA 30TH ANNIVERSARY~”, 18/09/2022
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
715 Fans – Super No Vacancy

1. Yusuke Okada defeated Yuya Koroku with the Sudden Death (7:01).
2. Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno, Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari & Koju “Shining Ball” Takeda Vs Sanshiro Takagi, Toru Owashi, Antonio Honda & Kazuki Hirata ended in a No Contest (7:16).
3. Akito, Soma Takao & Yukio Naya defeated HARASHIMA & Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani when Naya submitted Okatani with the Torture Cobra Twist (10:36).
4. Daisuke Sasaki, Minoru Fujita, MJ Paul & KANON defeated Kazusada Higuchi, Yuki Ishida, Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi when KANON pinned Ishida with the Sleepy Hollow (12:40).
5. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Cara Noir, Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi defeated Yuki Ueno, MAO & Toi Kojima when Noir submitted Kojima with the Blackout Sleeper (12:47).
6. Naomi Yoshimura defeated Takeshi Masada with the Lariat (10:14).
7. Jun Akiyama Debut 30th Anniversary Match – Special 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Tetsuya Endo & Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated Yuji Nagata, Konosuke Takeshita & Shunma Katsumata when Akiyama pinned Katsumata with the Wrist-Clutch Exploder Suplex (20:34).

On 17th September, 1992 Jun Akiyama made his pro wrestling debut against Kenta Kobashi inside an All Japan ring. Over the next 30 years he fought for both AJPW and NOAH back and forth until he found an unlikely new home in DDT. So it was DDT who got to host his milestone celebration. But there is also some crossover with New Japan on the show with Akiyama inviting both Yuji Nagata and Yoshinobu Kanemaru to compete. Akiyama has close ties with both of them, Nagata was his rival from the enemy company while Kanemaru was his long time tag partner. The DDT involvement in the match included Tetsuya Endo and Konosuke Takeshita, who Akiyama have both taken under his wing in certain ways, as well as Shunma Katsumata. He is here because he reminds Akiyama so much of Kanemaru. Akiyama also received congratulations from Kobashi and President Kitai from the K.O. Gym.

It was only fitting for Akiyama and Nagata to start off the match together. They had a back and forth battle until Kanemaru and Katsumata got involved. Kanemaru went to spit liquor at his opponent but Katsumata ducked and Akiyama got sprayed with it instead. Endo and Takeshita cancelled each other out, particularly when Endo did a Canadian Destroyer and Takeshita hit back with the Zahi for a double down. Katsumata tried to take matters into his own hands but he missed the Totonou Splash aimed for Akiyama. That led to a string of finishers with Kanemaru giving Katsumata the Deep Impact, Endo hitting an Exploder Suplex and Akiyama charging in with a Running Knee Strike. The end came with Akiyama pulling out the Wrist-Clutch Exploder for the pinfall.

After the match Akiyama talked about when he was scouted by Giant Baba to become a pro wrestler. He also learned so much from Jumbo Tsuruta and Mitsuharu Misawa. Sadly they have all since passed away so he told Kobashi to please stay healthy for a long time! He then talked about DDT and how Sanshiro Takagi is their Baba-like figure. He then named Endo, Takeshita, Kazusada Higuchi and Naomi Yoshimura as DDT’s Four Pillars/Heavenly Kings. Akiyama is happy and grateful to be a part of DDT and the company feels like family to him. He ended the show by telling a story about Baba. During Baba’s later years he once said he is no longer in a fight against other wrestlers, but with himself. He will not lost to himself and instead will make the most of each and every day. Akiyama promises to do the same from here on out. Backstage Nagata praised Endo for being competitive and having a good slap.

Akiyama purposely chose Yoshimura versus Takeshi Masada to be in the semi-main event position. The reason is Akiyama’s debut match 30 years ago was in the same spot. Masada is getting so much attention as the rookie with a high ceiling that Akiyama felt he should be given the same opportunity. The result was expected, Yoshimura was dominant for the most part and took Masada’s offence before pinning him with the Lariat. Masada was able to show toughness by kicking out of one of the earlier Lariats. Backstage Yoshimura admitted to feeling nervous over the match because Akiyama put it together. However he wants Akiyama to know that he never looks down on any of the younger wrestlers. He praised Masada for the strength of his strikes, saying he hasn’t felt kicks that hard from a younger wrestler since Keigo Nakamura in his debut match. But Yoshimura is still stronger than him so Masada will have to think of another way to try and beat him. Masada said getting the chance to fight Yoshimura at the peak of his power will definitely help his pro wrestling career in the future.

The ballet wrestler Cara Noir made his DDT debut, performing his dramatic Swan Lake entrance in Japan for the first time. He has a DDT Universal Title shot against Yuki Ueno coming up on 25th September so the two faced off in a 6-Man Tag Match here. Ueno had his usual buddies in The 37KAMIINA on his side while Noir teamed with CDK. Just because those two were the focus of the match didn’t mean the others stepped aside. MAO got a cheap shot Straight Punch in on Noir, CDK got Noir to join in on a human pyramid style group taunt at their opponents’ expense. Toi Kojima tried firing up on the newcomer but once Noir spun into him to apply the Blackout Sleeper, it was all over. Ueno welcomed Noir after the match but told him he won’t give over the Universal Title to him next week. Noir didn’t say anything, instead he just gently stroked the title belt on Ueno’s shoulder and did a dramatic pose.

The confidence surrounding DAMNATION T.A is growing at a rapid rate after today’s result. All four members of the unit were together to win an 8-Man Tag Match against a combination of Harimao and Ω wrestlers. KANON grabbed the victory by pinning Yuki Ishida. Then Daisuke Sasaki started complaining about how much he doesn’t care about Akiyama’s 30th Anniversary. He continues to get Ω confused with Kenny Omega and warned everyone that all of the tag team championships in DDT should belong to DAMNATION T.A! Backstage Sasaki said the unit is now at full strength with Minoru Fujita back from injury and the entire company will be finished thanks to them. KANON then threw his name into the hat for the D-Ou Grand Prix, saying he expects to see a few people in the tournament who owe him favours. Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi are now licking their wounds over today’s defeat. But they know they have so many options in Ω for backup when they and Shiori Asahi challenge DAMNATION T.A for the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles on 8th October. Higuchi also warned DAMNATION T.A not to act so arrogant when they face Harimao for the KO-D Tag Team Titles four days later.

Yukio Naya also made a strong appeal to be included in the D-Ou Grand Prix. He got the victory in Match #3 by making Hideki Okatani submit. This was after he took all the kicks he could from HARASHIMA & Yukio Sakaguchi. When Akito & Soma Takao was able to clear them out of the ring, Naya took control and won the match for his team. Naya said he learned a lot from Akiyama and Hino over the last year when he was feeling so helpless. He is not only determined to be part of the tournament but also win it too!

Another day another Pheromones match getting cancelled midway through because of, well, Pheromones stuff. You have Koju Takeda attacking Kazuki Hirata with his bare backside while a clean shaven Yumehito Imanari watches on. Takagi tried leading his side in unison which went well until Antonio Honda’s Gongitsune went out of control and wiped the entire team out. Danshoku Dieno then called for the lights to switch off so Yuki Iino could strip completely naked. Hisaya Imabayashi called off the match so he and the ringside attendants could cover up Iino’s waist. Takagi was furious to see Pheromones pull off this stunt during Akiyama’s 30th Anniversary. He demanded an immediate rematch but Imabayashi refused. Instead there will be one final showdown between Takagi and Pheromones on 23rd October. Takagi told Honda & Toru Owashi to join him so they can all get revenge for Hirata. Dieno pointed out this will be their fourth “final battle” in two months. If that is not enough, Takeda later backstage called out Yuki Ueno for not having enough Pheromones in him!

The opening match was given to Yusuke Okada and Yuya Koroku, the two remaining members of BURNING. Akiyama chose them because he wanted the first match to be an exciting start for the show. The more experienced Okada got the win with the Sudden Death shortly after Koroku missed a Moonsault. The two of them congratulated Akiyama on his Anniversary. Okada said he’s been working with Akiyama for the last 6 years so he is proud to be involved today. Koroku promised to keep training hard so he can become as great and strong as Akiyama.

A second show celebrating Akiyama’s 30th Anniversary will be held in his hometown of Izumi, Osaka on 10th December.

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TGS Exhibition Matches, Abadon Off TJPW Show, This Is Not Meant To Be An AEW Blog I Swear

September 15, 2022

AEW “TOKYO GAME SHOW 2022 EXHIBITION MATCH”, 16/09/2022
Chiba Makuhari Messe Hall

1. AEW: Fight Forever Exhibition Match: Christopher Daniels Vs Chris Brookes
2. AEW: Fight Forever Exhibition Match: Ryo Mizunami Vs Hikari Noa
3. AEW: Fight Forever Exhibition Match: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Winner Of Match #1

There’s the confirmation over what I was talking about from yesterday’s post. AEW are holding exhibition matches at the Tokyo Game Show with DDT and Tokyo Joshi Pro also involved. There will be matches held over three days with a variety of wrestlers from the promotions already mentioned plus a few more names in store. On Day 1 the first two matches will be held at 1:00 pm. Match #3 will be at 3:00 pm.

Other names advertised to appear during the weekend are Riho, Michael Nakazawa, Yuka Sakazaki, Maki Itoh, Hagane Shinno and Yuki Ueno. Itoh I’m surprised by because she has a match in Canada on Friday and a match in America on Saturday. Does the time difference work out for her to make it back on Sunday? There are also a few big name omissions given who is also in the country this weekend. Earlier today Hikaru Shida starred in the latest Makai performance and Emi Sakura was running a Gatoh Move event. And of course there is all the talk surrounding Kenny Omega. He is currently suspended from AEW related business due to investigations over the incident that is now referred to online as “Brawl Out”.

The latest gossip is Omega will not be involved with the promotion for AEW’s video game at TGS. News has since come out that both Nakazawa and Christopher Daniels have been cleared of any wrongdoing so their suspensions have been lifted and they can go ahead with their duties. Omega however is over in Japan on his own volition working on personal projects with Sega and Capcom. He visited Sega’s office and posted pictures of himself getting scanned, presumably to become a character for one of the upcoming Yakuza/Like A Dragon games in production. The Capcom connection is an upcoming panel appearance to talk about Street Fighter 6. Oh yeah and he reunited with Kota Ibushi too. As much as that tugs on my heartstrings I won’t go any further with that unless The Golden Lovers reunion makes its way over to DDT. Don’t hold your breath with that one.

Once every match from all three days is completed I will gather them all together for a results post along with video links should they be filmed on any of THQ Nordic’s social channels. Normally I would save AEW results for my Around The World posts but this is all happening in Japan with more direct involvement from DDT and TJPW than usual. So I may as well give the results their own post.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW AUTUMN TOUR ’22”, 16/09/2022
Shinjuku FACE

1. 3 Way Match: Hyper Misao Vs Yuki Kamifuku Vs Haruna Neko
2. Moka Miyamoto Vs Mei Suruga
3. Rika Tatsumi Vs Mahiro Kiryu
4. Hikari Noa, Nao Kakuta & Kaya Toribami Vs Yuki Aino, Raku & Pom Harajuku
5. Shoko Nakajima & Arisu Endo Vs Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki
6. International Princess Title Next Challenger Match: Miu Watanabe Vs Suzume

Sadly Abadon could not get a visa ready in time to travel and cannot be in Japan this weekend. Their appearance at tomorrow’s TJPW show has been cancelled and Mei Suruga is being called in to be Moka Miyamoto’s new opponent. Abadon was meant to be at TGS first and foremost. The TJPW booking was made after the fact but visa troubles with the “event organiser” happened shortly afterwards. Attempts were made to solve the problem but the booking was cancelled in the end. This is not a problem exclusive to AEW contracted wrestlers (see Timothy Thatcher and NOAH last month) but I’m worried this happening so close to Willow Nightingale’s cancelled booking is revealing a trend.

DDT “STERNNESS 30TH ANNIVERSARY ~JUN AKIYAMA 30TH ANNIVERSARY~”, 18/09/2022
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Yusuke Okada Vs Yuya Koroku
2. Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno, Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari & Koju “Shining Ball” Takeda Vs Sanshiro Takagi, Toru Owashi, Antonio Honda & Kazuki Hirata
3. HARASHIMA & Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani & Soma Takao & Yukio Naya
4. Kazusada Higuchi, Yuki Ishida, Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi Vs Daisuke Sasaki, Minoru Fujita, MJ Paul & KANON
5. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yuki Ueno, MAO & Toi Kojima Vs Cara Noir, Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi
6. Naomi Yoshimura Vs Takeshi Masada
7. Jun Akiyama Debut 30th Anniversary Match – Special 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Tetsuya Endo & Yoshinobu Kanemaru Vs Yuji Nagata, Konosuke Takeshita & Shunma Katsumata

Jun Akiyama gave a few comments on the card for DDT’s website. He made some DDT to All Japan comparisons, saying Sanshiro Takagi is DDT’s Giant Baba. He also named Konosuke Takeshita, Tetsuya Endo, Kazusada Higuchi and Naomi Yoshimura as DDT’s Four Pillars. Because Takagi is like Baba, Akiyama describes Takagi’s tag match against Pheromones as something like the Family Gundan Vs Akuyaku Shokai comedy bouts that AJPW held throughout the 90s. Does that make Antonio Honda this generation’s Rusher Kimura?

Kenta Kobashi will be a special guest commentator on the show. He was Akiyama’s debut opponent.

GANBARE☆PRO “NERAWARETA GAKUEN 2022”, 02/10/2022
Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall

1. England x Makai x GanJo! Special 6-Woman Tag Match: Nightshade, Moeka Haruhi & HARUKAZE Vs Ram Kaichow, YuuRI & Yoshiko Hasegawa
2. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Hartley Jackson (c) Vs Yuna Manase

A big shift in Ganbare☆Pro’s main event scene was made after Hartley Jackson won the Spirit Of Ganbare Title from Yumehito Imanari. The first person to challenge him for the belt is Yuna Manase! The two have been in the ring together before over at ZERO1. Manase thinks Jackson does not know the meaning of Ganbare so she won’t let him extinguish its flame.

Nightshade won’t just be working with TJPW when she returns to Japan next month. She will be at Ganpro for the first time in 3 years too. Her match is a chaotic mix of joshi talent including the Ganpro debut of Ram Kaichow!

DDT “GET ALIVE 2022”, 12/10/2022
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. 4 Way Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul Vs Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari Vs Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku Vs Yukio Naya & Hideki Okatani
2. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yuji Hino Vs HARASHIMA, Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi
3. Get Alive 4 Major Single Match! Yuki Ishida 1st Anniversary Match ~ Playfulness Series Act 4: Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Yuki Ishida
4. Get Alive 4 Major Single Match!: Koju “Shining Ball” Takeda Vs Toi Kojima
5. Get Alive 4 Major Single Match!: Toru Owashi Vs Kazuki Hirata
6. Get Alive 4 Major Single Match!: Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Takeshi Masada
7. Makoto Oishi 20th Anniversary Match ~ Men’s Club Vs The 37KAMIINA: Makoto Oishi, MEN’S Teoih & Shiori Asahi Vs Yuki Ueno, MAO & Shunma Katsumata
8. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Kazusada Higuchi & Naomi Yoshimura (c) Vs Daisuke Sasaki & KANON

The midcard is filled up with four significant singles matches. Yukio Sakaguchi is the latest veteran to put the super rookie Takeshi Masada to the test, Toru Owashi and Kazuki Hirata are finally facing each other in a regular one on one match, Koju Takeda has his first singles bout in DDT since joining Pheromones and Yuki Ishida celebrates his 1 year anniversary.

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DDT “KONOSUKE TAKESHITA 10TH ANNIVERSARY ~NISHINARI BAY BLUES~” Results

September 10, 2022

DDT “JAPAN BAKERY MARKETING PRESENTS KONOSUKE TAKESHITA 10TH ANNIVERSARY ~NISHINARI BAY BLUES~”, 10/09/2022
Osaka Nishinari Kumin Center
487 Fans – Super No Vacancy

0. Dark Match: MJ Paul & KANON defeated Hideki Okatani & Takeshi Masada when KANON pinned Masada with the Sleepy Hollow (6:52).
0. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Staggered Entry Battle Royal: Toru Owashi defeated Kazuki Hirata with a Crushed Body Slam (13:55).
Order Of Elimination: Makoto Oishi, Yuya Koroku, Yuki Ishida, Saki Akai, Soma Takao, Ilusion, Akito, Yusuke Okada, Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari, Yuki “Sexy” Iino, El Unicorn, Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno and Toru Owashi.
*Kazuki Hirata becomes the 1,551st Champion.
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Kazuki Hirata defeated Toru Owashi (c) with a Cradle (4:58 pm).
*Kazuki Hirata becomes the 1,552nd champion.
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Keiko Takeshita defeated Kazuki Hirata (c) with the Rainmaker (4:59 pm).
*Keiko Takeshita becomes the 1,553rd champion.
1. Special Tag Match ~ Sakuya Konohana Tag Vs CCK!: Konosuke Takeshita & Yuki Ueno defeated Chris Brookes & Kid Lykos when Ueno pinned Lykos with the BME (16:55).
2. The 37KAMIINA Vs Brahmin Brothers: MAO, Shunma Katsumata & Toi Kojima defeated Brahman Shu, Brahman Kei & Brahman Sanshiro when Kojima pinned Takagi after an Accidental Explosion Of Mysterious Powder (11:10).
3. Tokyo Joshi Pro 3 Way Tag Offer Match: Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki defeated Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao and Miu Watanabe & Arisu Endo when Sakazaki pinned Endo with the Magical Merry-Go-Round (9:17).
4. Yasu Urano, Antonio Honda & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi defeated Masahiro Takanashi, Super Sasadango Machine & DJ Nira when Hiroshi pinned Sasadango with the Seiken Zuki (11:59).
5. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yuji Hino defeated Kazusada Higuchi, Naomi Yoshimura & Yukio Naya when Hino pinned Naya with the Fuckin’ BOMB (13:26).
6. Nobuyuki Onizawa’s Ochakan Radio Presents Special Tag Match: Minoru Suzuki & Yukio Sakaguchi defeated HARASHIMA & Shinya Aoki when Sakaguchi pinned HARASHIMA with the God’s Right Knee (15:57).
7. Japan Bakery Marketing Co., Ltd. Presents Special Single Match: Konosuke Takeshita defeated Daisuke Sasaki with the German Suplex (22:19).

Konosuke Takeshita has now been wrestling for decade. His goal from the 11th onwards is to take over the world! His 10 year anniversary show was built around two matches. The main event was a singles match against Daisuke Sasaki, one of Takeshita’s toughest opponents. Sasaki could have ruined the entire party but there was support for Takeshita coming from all corners. Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi tried singing to him from ringside for motivation until Sasaki whacked him over the back with a chairshot. Sasaki used the chair again without the ref seeing it and tried latching in the Crossface Lock by using La Mistica to set it up. Takeshita was able to fight back and hit the Jumping Knee, opening Sasaki up for the German Suplex to end the match. Takeshita thanked Sasaki for being the person who helped him polish his wrestling skills and made it evolve. Sasaki may have still been dizzy from the match because he complimented his opponent. He said if Takeshita is good enough to beat him then Takeshita is world class. He then said they should meet up again for a rematch in ten years time.

Takeshita’s other match of the day was a tag match featuring wrestlers who are close to him. Yuki Ueno has been his classmate in both a high school and pro wrestling sense. Chris Brookes is somebody Takeshita has become best friends with through what they’ve been through inside the ring. The wild card was Kid Lykos, Brookes tag team partner from England who was making his DDT debut. CCK’s M.O. is “sick fucking tag moves” and they got to display it here. But the hometown team got the better of them and Ueno pinned Lykos with the BME.

The semi-main event pitted four dangerous fighters against each other in a tag match. It was a rare chance to see Shinya Aoki and Minoru Suzuki face each other. Their fight was pretty much a stalemate and Yukio Sakaguchi proved to be the difference maker by pinning HARASHIMA with the God’s Right Knee. Aoki and Suzuki were still at each other’s throats outside the ring when the match ended. Aoki said afterwards he is interested in another match with him. Sakaguchi however does has another match with Suzuki coming up at a festival next month in Yokohama called WILD ONE. His feelings to beat up Suzuki are growing stronger and stronger.

The mystery wrestler in Match #4 was DJ Nira. Yay… Antonio Honda disappeared midway through the match. There was a sudden announcement of a new life being born and Honda reappeared in the ring wearing diapers. Super Sasadango Machine cut him off but Honda got his revenge by hitting the Diving Fist Drop to him right after Yasu Urano did a Diving Body Press. Hiroshi had easy pickings and pinned Sasadango with a closed fist punch for the win.

In the pre-show Battle Royal, Pheromones dominated the field with their antics. They set up their Hell Gate and threw everyone they could into it one by one to eliminate them. However when they did it to El Unicorn they unintentionally unmasked him. That was deemed and illegal move so both Yuki Iino and Yumehito Imanari were Disqualified. Unicorn also eliminated himself by leaving the ring while trying to keep his face hidden. The match came down to Toru Owashi and Kazuki Hirata. An attempted Body Slam from Hirata backfired when Owashi fell on top of him and he was pinned by his weight.

Owashi’s win means he regains the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title that he previously vacated to prove he is a serious wrestler. Keiko Takeshita, the mother of Konosuke entered the ring to present Owashi with a prize of 551 pork buns. Hirata suddenly rolled up Owashi to win the title and then tried grabbing the buns from Keiko. In response to this Keiko grabbed Hirata from behind and gave him the Rainmaker! She placed her foot on him and gave him a scolding while the referee counted to three. Keiko Takeshita is now the Iron Man Champion! She’s happy with that because it means she could be on the front cover of the next Weekly Pro-Wrestling magazine.

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MUSCLE “HIRAGANA MUSCLE 7 ~IT’S STILL SUMMER ON THE KOSHU KAIDO~” Results

September 7, 2022

MUSCLE “HIRAGANA MUSCLE 7 ~IT’S STILL SUMMER ON THE KOSHU KAIDO~”, 07/09/2022
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
544 Fans

1. UP & DOWN CLIMAX FIGHT ~ SWOUD Special Rules: Totaro Omoiki, Takaku Karahiko, Knee Cross Kinya, Baseball Bat Swing, Marume Komimatsu, Hisamitsu Chikuhisa, Sasadango, Yukidango, Yasudango & Surprise-san defeated Herman Miller Mao, Kazusada Kokuyo, AK Racing Yoshimura, Eames Watase, Human Chair Imanari, Itoki Oyoshi, One-Eyed Iron Naya, Daigouin Inada, Dee Jay & South River when Chikuhisa pinned Mao with the Amonken (37:31).

The final chapter of Hiragana Muscle began with a PowerPoint presentation from Super Sasadango Machine. He explained to the audience that his task for today is to figure out how to make the last episode an all round success. Ticket sales and merchandise are important but the biggest factor was how much they audience could get excited. Cheers and shouting were not permitted for the show due to restrictions but laughter and gasps of shock were allowed. So Sasadango got the crowd to give a standing ovation to kick off the show. There was also a montage video that ended with a tribute to Tsurutimo Dragon, aka the late Goro Tsurumi.

Amon Tsurumi is leaving DDT at the end of the year so he was the hero of today’s story. He was seen in the ring training with Konosuke Takeshita & Yuki Ueno when Yuki Rock interrupted them. Tsurumi revealed he wants to end his career as an idol wrestler and asked Takeshita to reform The Finisher Boys for a limited time so he can perform with them. Takeshita & Ueno agreed. Meanwhile up in the balcony, the former members of The Steel Chair Boys watched on. Since Shota is now in America he was replaced with Tetsu Unada and Yukio Naya in the group. Inada in particular set his sights on Tsurumi and declared war!

There was an introduction of all the characters followed by the title reveal for this episode, “UP & DOWN”. In the ring Takeshita talked to the others about his time training in Venice Beach when DJ Nira & Minamikawa confronted him. They came to warn that Naya High School, an elite group of badasses are trying to disrupt the balance of power and need to be stopped. Tsurumi asked if he can help but Nira turned him down. However The Finisher Boys saw the need to bolster their forces and decided to form the Finish Federation with their allies. Meanwhile the Naya High School were doing harsh knee training using chairs. Inada & Naya agreed to launch a conflict on all groups standing in their way!

Suddenly, Kazusada Higuchi collapsed holding his knee in pain. He was meant to be the gang leader but now he can’t go through with it. Luckily for them, MAO stepped into the spotlight introducing himself as Naya High School’s newest transfer student. He is a bad guy who loves fighting and offered to take Higuchi’s spot. A video then played of Tsurumi visiting the SWAN DIVE bar for a drink and also to look for info. Inada & Naya arrived shortly afterward looking for Sasadango. They want him to create a weapon to defeat the Finish Federation but he refused. MIC the bartender tried to intervene but got his arm broken by Inada & Naya instead. Tsurumi couldn’t do anything but stay hidden in the corner and watch innocent people get hurt.

Tsurumi had to move on with his investigation and found the information he wanted. He learned that Naya is the leader of the Naya Zaibatsu criminal organization and Naya High School is just a cover up. His goal is to redevelop the city into his own sumo arena and turn all martial arts into gambling events. Tsurumi vowed to protect the city from them and will not run away. However most members of The Finisher Boys wanted nothing to do with the war and walked out on Tsurumi, Takeshita & Ueno. They would have to take on this fight on their own. Tsurumi then went through a training montage that included video clips of Hisaya Imabayashi fighting Pheromones.

While all of this was going on, Sasadango met with his family for their monthly meeting. They looked over all of the movements going on and had to decide which side to take. There is Naya High School declaring war on everyone, the remains of the Finish Federation getting ready to defend themselves and a third party called NUDE BOYS on the fringes that could get involved too. Haruo Murata then got a phone call over at the commentary table. The caller asked if he thinks a fight was about to begin? Murata answered he’s been sitting at his table for 1 hour 40 minutes. The atmosphere feels like a fight is going to break out but none has happened yet. MIC then appeared with his broken arm and rang the ring bell. Murata excitedly said “The fight is about to begin!” The Sasadango Family called a cab and had 10 minutes to decide which side they will fight for.

Next we saw Tsurumi, Takeshita & Ueno outnumbered in the ring against eight members of Naya High School. The numbers game was difficult to fight against but a misfire from Yumehito Imanari led to him hitting Inada by mistake and the comeback was on. Tsurumi even did a big dive, jumping off the ring apron into everyone on the floor. Higuchi then grabbed him and threatened to finish him off when the Sasadango Family arrived in time for the rescue. The Finish Federation also returned to their aid. Tsurumi struck Higuchi with the Amonken Backfist but his pin was suddenly broken up by the NUDE BOYS! There was fighting and musical numbers happening everywhere. There was even Tetsuya Endo’s mandatory run in. Higuchi ordered MAO to attack Tsurumi with a chair when everything suddenly slowed down and “Etupirka” began playing. MAO slowly blocked the Amonken with his chair but Tsurumi fought through the pain and slowly threw another Amonken, nailing his target for the three count.

Tsurumi declared victory but Keigo Nakamura & Toi Kojima along with a badly beaten Yuki Ishida told him there was still fighting on the streets. Higuchi also said the war wasn’t over yet and he was ready go go another round. The fighting will continue. Tsurumi looked to the audience and apologised for being unable to save the city from the chaos happening around him. That was the end of this story.

In his closing speech Tsurumi said he thought he had a second chance at youth with the original MUSCLE but thanks to Hiragana Muscle he got a third chance. He learned that as long as you are alive you are young. Muscle Sakai said he’s been doing these shows since 2004 and today was the first time he was able to keep an event to under two hours. They have three more performances this week and told the others to keep up with making them fun and exciting. MAO complained the chair is too heavy to do slow motion spots with but promised to give it his all.

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