GLEAT/DDT “GLEAT VER. & – GLEAT X DDT PRO WRESTLING”, 06/06/2024 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 725 Fans
1. 3 Way Tag Match: Shunma Katsumata, Takanori Ito & Issei Onitsuka defeated Densha MICHIo, Jitensha KEIgo & Yu Iizuka and Danshoku Dieno, Makoto Oishi & Jun Tonsho when Katsumata pinned Oishi with the Totonou Splash (7:32).
2. Minoru Tanaka defeated Kazuki Hirata with the B”D”F (8:44).
3. CIMA & HARASHIMA defeated Soma Watanabe & Soma Takao when HARASHIMA pinned Takao with the Somato (7:15).
4. Tetsuya Endo defeated Tetsuya Izuchi with the Tetsuya In The Sky (9:34).
5. SBK & TAKUMA defeated To-y & Kazuma Sumi when TAKUMA pinned Sumi with the 630° (11:32).
6. Yuki Ueno, El Lindaman & MAO defeated Sanshiro Takagi, Kaz Hayashi & Akito when MAO pinned Akito with the Iai Kick (11:39).
7. Elimination Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki, Kaito Ishida, KANON, Hartley Jackson & Kotaro Suzuki defeated T-Hawk, Chris Brookes, Takehiro Yamamura, Seiki Yoshioka & Takeshi Masada (22:43).
7a. Kotaro Suzuki eliminated Takehiro Yamamura with the Blue Destiny (8:18).
7b. Daisuke Sasaki eliminated Seiki Yoshioka by Ring Out (9:20).
7c. T-Hawk eliminated Kotaro Suzuki with a Low Blow (10:06).
7d. Hartley Jackson accidentally eliminated KANON by Ring Out (13:33).
7e. Chris Brookes eliminated Hartley Jackson by Ring Out (13:58).
7f. Daisuke Sasaki eliminated Chris Brookes with El Es Culero (14:50).
7g. Daisuke Sasaki eliminated T-Hawk with the Crossover Face Lock (18:36).
7h. Takeshi Masada eliminated Daisuke Sasaki by Ring Out (21:07).
7i. Kaito Ishida eliminated Takeshi Masada with the Half Tiger Suplex (22:43).
8. Kazusada Higuchi, Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya defeated Hayato Tamura, Ryuichi Kawakami & KAZMA SAKAMOTO when Iino pinned Tamura with the Spear (20:46).
The latest GLEAT show at Korakuen Hall was a joint show with DDT, mashing the two rosters together for a bunch of inter-promotional matches. In the main event it was DDT’s heavyweight team that defeated BULK Orchestra. Even more newsworthy is Yuki Iino pinned Hayato Tamura with the Spear, scoring the win over the G-REX Champion! Iino rubbed it in his opponents’ faces after the match, saying GLEAT is weak and comparing them to the brass band club in elementary school. When Tamura went to respond, Iino tackled him with another Spear and then posed with the G-REX Title. After the DDT team left the ring Tamura promised he will get revenge. He also encouraged GLEAT fans to support DDT and DDT fans to support GLEAT. Backstage Yukio Naya talked about the times he wrestled with KAZMA SAKAMOTO in Real Japan and then challenged him to a singles match. Ryuichi Kawakami lost his temper at his partners for making GLEAT look weak.
A 10-Man Elimination Tag match mixed the two rosters together. One side was an alliance between SCHADENFREUDE International and #STRONGHEARTS that took on the name SCHADENHEARTS. The other side paired together DAMNATION T.A with Black Generation International. BGI’s Kaito Ishida ended up being the last man standing.
El Lindaman didn’t hear the news about Sanshiro Takagi’s recent demotion. He declared he was going to take over the President role from Takagi while attacking him. When Takagi fought back he sadly explained to Lindaman he is the Vice President now. Takagi also crashed the Dramatic Dream bike into Yuki Ueno. Lindaman then brought out a bouquet as a gift for Takagi but tried to hit him with it. The match came down to MAO beating Akito with the Iai Kick. Afterwards he called out Kaz Hayashi and said he is his hero who has been a big influence. Hayashi is retiring soon but MAO wants to defend the DDT Universal Title against him before he retires. Or to be more exact, MAO wants to defend the title against Shiryu, Hayashi’s masked gimmick from Michinoku Pro! Hayashi said he can tell MAO has been influenced by him and he promised he will tell Shiryu to accept the challenge. The title match will go ahead in DDT on 16th June.
GLEAT did get a straight tag team win against DDT when SBK & TAKUMA defeated To-y & Kazuma Sumi. The DDT side did well enough. To-y hit the Kojima Wonderland while Sumi did a Lionsault. But SBK & TAKUMA isolated Sumi with tag moves and TAKUMA finished him off with the 630°. SBK joked that Sumi seems to already know them from somewhere else but he doesn’t remember. Sumi took the blame for losing and couldn’t shake the feeling there was something else other than GLEAT and DDT that connected him and his opponents today…
Several of the matches on the show seemed to be booked because the wrestlers involved had similar names. For example Tetsuya Endo from DDT fought Tetsuya Izuchi from GLEAT. Endo got the win out of nowhere by giving Izuchi the Tetsuya In The Sky. He thought they would get along afterwards because of their names but Izuchi bit Endo’s hand after the match.
There were times before when CIMA & HARASHIMA were in the same match but today was the first time they teamed up together. CIMA also got to meet up with Soma Takao again but this time Takao was teaming with Soma Watanabe. That made it HARACIMA Vs Soma-Soma! Backstage after the match Watanabe told Takao that when he was in high school he sent a resume to DDT hoping to wrestle for them but never received an answer. His Dramatic Dream to be in DDT finally came true today.
Kazuki Hirata tried to get Minoru Tanaka to wear the Hirata GO! glasses and dance with him. Tanaka kept on refusing until finally the temptation was too much to ignore. The extra power of the dance led to Tanaka pinning Hirata with the B”D”F. He ended up enjoying it so much he told Hirata they should go clubbing together!
The opening match was already changed when MICHIKO opted out so her otaku alter ego Densha MICHIo could take her place. Keigo Nakamura decided to do something similar by showing as Jitensha KEIgo. That left Yu Iizuka as the odd man out on the team because he wanted to wrestle seriously. Jun Tonsho got dragged into doing the Hell Gate with Danshoku Dieno but that left Makoto Oishi along to fight off everyone else. Shunma Katsumata, Takanori Ito & Issei Onitsuka took advantage of that to win the 3 Way Trios Match.
DDT “WHAT ARE YOU DOING 2024 TOUR IN SHINJUKU”, 05/06/2024 Shinjuku FACE
1. Kazusada Higuchi & Yuya Koroku Vs Yukio Naya & Keigo Nakamura
2. Special Tag Match: MAO & Shunma Katsumata Vs Danshoku Dieno & Kazuki Hirata
3. Tetsuya Endo, Yuki Iino & Yuya Koroku Vs Jun Akiyama, Atsushi Kotoge & Tomomitsu Matsunaga
4. Daisuke Kiso Referee 14th Anniversary Match ~ Special Tag Match: Keisuke Ishii & Shigehiro Irie Vs To-y & Yuni
5. CDK 5th Anniversary Match ~ Special Tag Match: Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi Vs Makoto Oishi & Shiori Asahi
6. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul (c) Vs HARASHIMA, Akito & Yasu Urano
7. KO-D Openweight Title: Yuki Ueno (c) Vs Sanshiro Takagi
Tomorrow will see a version of Sanshiro Takagi free of responsibility gunning after Yuki Ueno in what could be the last time he challenges for the KO-D Openweight Title.
GLEAT/DDT “GLEAT VER. & – GLEAT X DDT PRO WRESTLING”, 06/06/2024 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. 3 Way Tag Match: Shunma Katsumata, Takanori Ito & Issei Onitsuka Vs Densha MICHIo, Keigo Nakamura & Yu Iizuka Vs Danshoku Dieno, Makoto Oishi & Jun Tonsho
2. Minoru Tanaka Vs Kazuki Hirata
3. CIMA & HARASHIMA Vs Soma Watanabe & Soma Takao
4. Tetsuya Izuchi Vs Tetsuya Endo
5. SBK & TAKUMA Vs To-y & Kazuma Sumi
6. Yuki Ueno, El Lindaman & MAO Vs Sanshiro Takagi, Kaz Hayashi & Akito
7. Elimination Tag Match: T-Hawk, Chris Brookes, Takehiro Yamamura, Seiki Yoshioka & Takeshi Masada Vs Daisuke Sasaki, Kaito Ishida, KANON, Hartley Jackson & Kotaro Suzuki
8. Hayato Tamura, Ryuichi Kawakami & KAZMA SAKAMOTO Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya
The opening match was originally supposed to have MICHIKO involved but she decided to step aside so her alter ego Densha MICHIo can take part instead. The gimmick is a trainspotting hobbyist from Akihabara that MICHIKO created for a comedy match back in April.
DDT “WHAT ARE YOU DOING 2024 TOUR IN KYOTO”, 08/06/2024 Kyoto KBS Hall
1. Daisuke Sasaki & KANON Vs Toru Owashi & Ilusion
2. Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino Vs Takeshi Masada & Keigo Nakamura
3. MAO Vs Yuya Koroku
4. Sanshiro Takagi, Akito & Shinichiro Kawamatsu Vs HARASHIMA, Kazusada Higuchi & Kazuma Sumi
5. Special Single Match: Yukio Naya Vs Hirakata Nii-san
6. Special Single Match: Chris Brookes Vs Kazuki Hirata
7. The 37KAMIINA Vs D.O.A!: Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & To-y Vs Jun Akiyama, Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi
This weekend Yukio Naya is taking on opponents from the regional wrestling scenes. First on Saturday he takes on Hirakata Nii-san from Dotonbori Pro.
DDT “WHAT ARE YOU DOING 2024 TOUR IN MATSUYAMA”, 09/06/2024 Ehime Matsuyama City General Community Center Special Exhibition Hall
1. Daisuke Sasaki & KANON Vs Yuya Koroku & Ilusion
2. Shunma Katsumata, Makoto Oishi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Sanshiro Takagi (w/ Cutie Elly The Ehime), Akito & Tsuruhimeka
3. Special Tag Match: Jun Akiyama & Santaro Ishizuchi Vs HARASHIMA & Takeshi Masada
4. Special Single Match: Yukio Naya Vs Matsuyama Warrior
5. Matsuyama Specialty Special Single Match: Danshoku Dieno Vs Bonjin Pulp
6. Special Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo & Imabari Taoru Mascaras Vs Chris Brookes & Kazuma Sumi
7. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yuki Ueno, MAO & To-y Vs Yuki Iino, Kazusada Higuchi & Keigo Nakamura
The next day Naya takes on Matsuyama Warrior from Ehime Pro.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW CITY CIRCUIT ’24”, 15/06/2024 Kobe Art Center
1. Yuna Manase Vs Nao Kakuta
Only a few more matches left for Nao Kakuta so she will be getting some significant opponents for her final singles bouts. Yuna Manase returns to Tokyo Joshi Pro to be one of them.
UJPW “ALL TOGETHER IN SAPPORO”, 15/06/2024 Sapporo Hokkai Kitayell
1. Zack Sabre Jr., Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita Vs Ulka Sasaki, HAYATA & Yu Owada
2. AZM Vs Starlight Kid
3. Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI Vs Daisuke Sekimoto & Daichi Hashimoto
4. Shota Umino, Ryohei Oiwa & Tetsuya Endo Vs Jeff Cobb, Great-O-Khan & Kazusada Higuchi
5. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Naomichi Marufuji & Kento Miyahara Vs SANADA, Taichi & Yuya Uemura
6. Tomohiro Ishii Vs Masa Kitamiya
7. Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji, Hiromu Takahashi, BUSHI & Titan Vs Jack Morris, Anthony Greene, LJ Cleary, Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney
8. Kaito Kiyomita, Kenoh & Alejandro Vs Gabe Kidd, David Finley & YO-HEY
9. Tetsuya Naito Vs Jake Lee
Only updating this because Kento Miyahara and Taichi have been added to Match #5.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW CITY CIRCUIT ’24”, 16/06/2024 Acros Fukuoka
1. Nao Kakuta Vs HIMAWARI
Kakuta also has a single match with HIMAWARI coming up.
DDT “DRAMATIC DREAM BATTLE”, 16/06/2024 TOKYO FM Hall
1. Chris Brookes, Takeshi Masada & Kazuma Sumi Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Naya & Yuni
2. Shunma Katsumata & To-y Vs Toru Owashi & Akito
3. DAMNATION T.A Vs BURNING!: Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul Vs Tetsuya Endo, Yuki Iino & Yuya Koroku
4. Special Single Match: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Kazuki Hirata
5. Special Single Match: Danshoku Dieno Vs Makoto Oishi
6. Special Tag Match: Yuki Ueno & Fuminori Abe Vs HARASHIMA & Keigo Nakamura
7. DDT Universal Title: MAO (c) Vs X
One of the most watched videos on DDT’s Youtube channel is a match between Danshoku Dieno and Makoto Oishi from five years ago. The two have decided to have a rematch of that fateful battle!
BASARA “BASARA 251 ~UTAGE~”, 21/06/2024 Shin-Kiba 1st RING
1. Iron Fist Tag Team Titles: Ryota Nakatsu & Kazusada Higuchi (c) Vs Fuminori Abe & Takuya Nomura
Just when it looked like Harimao have run out of opponents for their Iron Fist Tag Team Titles reign, along comes Astronauts to challenge them!
BASARA “BASARA 252 ~TAKAGARI 26~”, 15/07/2024 Tokyo Takashimadaira Kumin Center
1. Union MAX Title: Minoru Fujita (c) Vs Takumi Tsukamoto
The next Union MAX Title match will be held in Takashimadaira Kumin Center for the first time. The venue has been host to BASARA’s B-shows over the last five years with a more relaxed and (more importantly) sober atmosphere compared to the events held in Shin-Kiba 1st RING. It adds another element to Minoru Fujita’s title reign because he has made it his mission to have emotional matches that can only be found in BASARA. Takumi Tsukamoto shares the same vision for his upcoming title challenge here.
GANBARE☆PRO “DISASTER ARTIST 2024”, 15/07/2024 Tokyo Takashimadaira Kumin Center
1. Moeka Haruhi Return Match: Shuichiro Katsumura & YuuRI Vs Yusaku Ito & Moeka Haruhi
2. Fire Festival – A Block: Yumehito Imanari Vs Satsuki Nagao
3. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Keisuke Ishii (c) Vs Hong Kong International Police Man
One of the most unexpected people you can think of will be the next Spirit Of Ganbare Title challenger coming up in July. Hong Kong International Police Man and his co-workers has always shown up at Ganbare☆Pro events whenever a particular wrestler booked for the show goes missing. In fact he has never interacted with Keisuke Ishii before so this is a brand new match-up for both of them.
This year Yumehito Imanari will be entering the annual Fire Festival tournament held by ZERO1. As part of the deal one of his block matches will be taking place in a GanPro show. Satsuki Nagao will be his opponent for that match.
What was already a touching story surrounding Moeka Haruhi’s return match is now even more so because of who she is teaming with. Haruhi recently donated one of her kidneys while years ago Yusaku Ito was the recipient of a kidney transplant.
NOAH “THE LEAVE PRESENTS LIMIT BREAK. 2”, 29/05/2024 Shinjuku FACE 403 Fans
3. Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino defeated Hi69 & Harutoki when Endo pinned Harutoki with the Burning Star Press (12:38).
4. Jun Akiyama defeated Atsushi Kotoge with the Wrist-Clutch Exploder (18:14).
5. Kazuyuki Fujita, Yoshitatsu & Genta Yubari defeated Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Naya & Tomomitsu Matsunaga when Fujita pinned Matsunaga with a Kick To The Face (21:42).
More DDT involvement happened in NOAH this month with the latest “LIMIT BREAK” show. NOAH has developed two separate sub-brands this year. There is “MONDAY MAGIC”, an episodic series of wrestling events that is put together by NOSAWA Rongai. There is also “LIMIT BREAK” which is attached to Go Shiozaki and his Team NOAH unit. The unusual thing is DDT find themselves in the serious and straightforward Limit Break shows rather than the wacky Monday Magic events that are full of surprises. One of the big matches Limit Break has been building up with this turn of events is NOAH’s Kazuyuki Fujita against DDT’s Kazusada Higuchi. They have a singles match taking place next month so today they had a preview 6-Man Tag. Higuchi had Yukio Naya & Tomomitsu Matsunaga on his side and they put up a good fight. But Fujita cut off Matsunaga with a Lariat and taunted Higuchi before kicking Matsunaga in the face for the finish. Yoshitatsu praised Genta Yubari for putting in a passionate effort. Higuchi apologised to Matsunaga for not being able to help him. He knows he won’t get any help himself against Fujita on 19th June so he his fired up to fight him one on one. Naya said he came to this show looking for something that does not exist in DDT. He wants to keep wrestling on these shows.
An important singles match had Jun Akiyama taking on the underdog Atsushi Kotoge based on negative comments Kotoge made about him at the last show. Akiyama kept control for most of the match but when Kotoge got the upper hand he made sure his opponent knew about it. Things went south when Akiyama lured him out of the ring to beat him up in a ringside brawl. Back in the ring Akiyama kept hitting Knee Strikes with his kneepad pulled down. Kotoge countered the Exploder Suplex but ended up taking more Knee Strikes. He kicked out at two so Akiyama gave him the Wrist-Clutch Exploder, finishing him off. Akiyama had a message for Kotoge backstage after the match. There is no one place where a wrestler can develop everything. Instead there are many places to go wrestle in and DDT is one of them. If Kotoge wants to learn what he is lacking, he should come over to DDT and maybe Akiyama can teach him a little of what he is missing. Kotoge must have accepted the invitiation because a few hours later DDT announced he will be on their 5th June show in Shinjuku FACE teaming with Akiyama & Matsunaga.
DDT’s version of BURNING is becoming a regular part of the Limit Break shows. Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino were on the card and won their match against Hi69 and Osaka wrestler Harutoki. Iino hit Hi69 with the Spear allowing Endo to give Harutoki the Swivel Torture Rack Bomb and Burning Star Press combo for the victory. Endo bragged about winning three matches in a row at Limit Break now. He is again demanding a singles match against Shiozaki. Iino wants to fight Shiozaki again too.
NOAH “THE LEAVE PRESENTS LIMIT BREAK. 3 GO! ~GO SHIOZAKI 20TH ANNIVERSARY TOURNAMENT~”, 19/06/2024 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
4. Atsushi Kotoge, Black Menso-re & Yuto Kikuchi Vs Tetsuya Endo, Yuki Iino & Yuya Koroku
5. Beast Vs Harimao: Kazuyuki Fujita Vs Kazusada Higuchi
7. Go Shiozaki 20th Anniversary Match -DEPARTURE 2024-: Go Shiozaki & Jun Akiyama Vs Naomichi Marufuji & Takashi Sugiura
DDT “KING OF DDT ~20TH ANNIVERSARY~ FINAL!!”, 26/05/2024 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 1,005 Fans – No Vacancy
0. Dark Match: Yuni & Keigo Nakamura defeated Ilusion & Kazuma Sumi when Nakamura pinned Sumi with the Diving Headbutt (8:51).
1. KANON & MJ Paul defeated HARASHIMA & Akito when KANON pinned Akito with the Ground Cobra Twist (7:59).
2. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Semi Final: MAO defeated Kazusada Higuchi with the Iai Kick (11:43).
3. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Semi Final – No DQ Match: Daisuke Sasaki defeated Chris Brookes with the El Es Culero (13:48).
4. 3 Way Tag Match: Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi defeated Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata and Yukio Naya & Takeshi Masada when Oishi pinned Hirata with a Rock Bottom (0:05).
4a. Rematch: Yukio Naya & Takeshi Masada defeated Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi and Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata when Naya pinned Hirata and Oishi with the Double Choke Slam (6:42).
5. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Shuji Ishikawa, Masahiro Takanashi & Yuya Koroku defeated Poison Sawada JULIE, Tetsumamushi Endo & Yuki “Anaconda” Iino when Koroku pinned JULIE with a Moonsault Press (9:01).
6. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & To-y defeated Sanshiro Takagi, Jun Akiyama & Tomomitsu Matsunaga when Ueno pinned Matsunaga with the WR (11:45).
7. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Final: MAO defeated Daisuke Sasaki with the 450 Cannonball (23:45).
On the 20th Anniversary a new King Of DDT has been crowned and it is MAO! He reached all the way to the final where Daisuke Sasaki was there standing in his way. MAO wanted to win quickly and busted out the Hollywood Star Press for a nearfall. Sasaki then started targeting MAO’s knees before taking him outside to do a Super Diving Elbow Drop while MAO was sitting in the front row. MAO fought back by biting his way out of the Crossface Lock, turning Sasaki over with the Michinoku Driver I and then applying the Just Face Lock. Sasaki took a big risk to get back into the fight by giving MAO a Superplex out of the ring onto members of The 37KAMIINA and DAMNATION T.A below. He then tried using flash pins including the Hurricanrana but MAO wore him down with Palm Strikes, the Iai Kick and the Cannonball 450 to win.
With this victory MAO thinks he now has a spot in the main event of “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2024” on 21st July. He called Yuki Ueno into the ring to tell him it could be those two fighting for the KO-D Openweight Title at Sumo Hall. However Ueno told everyone that he has to beat Sanshiro Takagi first on 5th June. Takagi entered the ring to congratulate MAO and tell him that he too is fighting to achieve his dream of being in a KO-D Title match at Sumo Hall. The closest he’s been to that position was the King Of DDT 2009 final but he lost to Kota Ibushi. MAO reminded Takagi he still had the Weapon Rumble match against The Great Sasuke that year and that match captured MAO’s heart. So much so that if Takagi becomes his opponent at Sumo Hall then they should have a Weapon Rumble match! But if he faces Ueno the match will just be held under normal rules. Ueno was relieved to hear that. The three of them all agreed by sharing a toast together in the ring.
Sasaki went through a war with Chris Brookes in the semi-finals. The two agreed to have a No DQ Match over expectations that both could cheat against each other. Instead it became a full blown hardcore match with tables, plastic boxes, chairs, a ladder, a stapler and even a fork board laid against the corner with “Fuck You Sasaki” painted on it. Brookes also had backup in the form of Mecha Mummy but Sasaki used a taser to make it short circuit and play no further part in the match. Sasaki was thrown from the ladder through a table and Brookes followed up by hitting a Diving Double Knee Drop onto the remains. Sasaki kicked out and then countered the Praying Mantis Bomb into El Es Culero cradle to steal the win from out of nowhere. A bloody Brookes threw everything he could get his hands on around the ring out of anger after the match.
The other semi-final had MAO beating a previous King Of DDT winner Kazusada Higuchi. He had to use Middle Kicks and Palm Strikes to try and match Higuchi’s Chops and Headbutt. The Doctor Bomb Higuchi used was kicked out of but so was the Green Tea Plunge that MAO pulled out. The match came down to duel between the two. Higuchi charged in looking to do the Buchikamashi but MAO blocked it with a Thrust Kick, stunned Higuchi with a Palm Strike, cut off a Lariat with a Hurricane Kick and finally put his opponent down with the Iai Kick. Higuchi had no problem admitting backstage that MAO is a really, really strong wrestler.
Ueno and Takagi used their 6-Man Tag as a preview for what to expect in the KO-D Title bout by brawling with each other in the crowd with the Dramatic Dream bike involved before taking the fight up to the balcony. They had more to offer back in the ring with Ueno doing a Dropkick and Takagi firing back with the Stunner. Tomomitsu Matsunaga used the opening to hit Ueno with the Tommy Bomber for a nearfall. Ueno recovered and Dropkicked Matsunaga in the face before pinning him with the WR. After the match Takagi said he does not care if Ueno is ready or not for the title match. Takagi is now free from responsibility and will be at his most immature on 5th June! Meanwhile To-y told Shunma Katsumata they will be enemies on 21st June because he wants to win the DDT Extreme Title from him in the 5 Way Sauna match. In fact, To-y accused Katsumata of not helping him during today’s match so they may already be enemies!
Plans for Match #4 changed when before the match Poison Sawada JULIE looking for his teammates to brainwash them with his Snake Magic. While this was going on, Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino asked Yuya Koroku in a nearby locker room to go find them something to drink. Koroku found some cans labelled “Modification Drink” in the room where JULIE was just in and gave them to his BURNING partners. What happened when they drank it scared Koroku out of the room while a returning JULIE was pleased with the results. It all became clear what happened when JULIE entered the ring with Endo & Iino both brainwashed into becoming Tetsumamushi Endo & Yuki “Anaconda” Iino! Koroku now had to team with JULIE’s original partners Shuji Ishikawa & Masahiro Takanashi in order to win the antidotes that would turn Endo & Iino back to normal. It was a tough challenge but a well timed dodge from Kuroku caused Iino to Spear Endo by accident. Koroku then gave JULIE a Back Drop and pinned him with the Moonsault Press. He then quickly fed his friends the cans of antidote to free them from JULIE’s snake magic. Whenever JULIE returns to DDT he promises to get revenge on Koroku for stopping him from turning BURNING into his new Snake Magic army.
The 3 Way Tag Match ended too quickly thanks to Makoto Oishi immediately pinning Kazuki Hirata with a Rock Bottom before one of the other teams even made it to the ring. It required a restart and the same result almost happened. Yukio Naya made it in time to break it up so the match could continue. A noticable trend then happened where Takeshi Masada became left out of all of the multi-man spots. Somehow Yukinori Matsui took his place! When Masada became upset over it, Hisaya Imabayashi paused the match and ordered everyone to let Masada be more involved because he is already a lonely college student. Most of them although Danshoku Dieno wasn’t really interested. Naya instructed Masada to climb the top turnbuckle and wait for the opportunity to do a big move while Naya took care of Dieno and Toru Owashi. Oishi and Hirata tried to give Naya the Double Miracle Ecstasy but it was countered into a Double Choke Slam. Naya decided to pin the both of them while Masada was still waiting on the top turnbuckle. The match ended with them as the winners but a sad and lonely Masada took his time to leave the ring.
DAMNATION T.A halted some of Smile Squash’s momentum in the opening match. HARASHIMA & Akito were doing well against KANON & MJ Paul until KANON caught Akito in the Cobra Twist. He then grounded the move and rolled Akito over to pin his shoulders to the mat for a 3 count. KANON bragged about beating Akito with a roll up style move, something that Akito is meant to be a master of. Fans like it when teams from the past reunite but he hates it and for that reason hates Smile Squash too. HARASHIMA & Yasu Urano weren’t angry over the result. They assured Akito that they now all learned KANON is capable of winning that way and they will have to be careful of it in the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles match.
In the dark match Yuni hit Ilusion & Kazuma Sumi with a top rope Moonsault out of the ring. He then gave Sumi a Spinning DDT in the ring and Keigo Nakamura followed up with the John Woo Dropkick for a nearfall. Nakamura didn’t waste anytime and landed the Diving Headbutt to get the win.
A new singles match was announced for “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2024”. Konosuke Takeshita will face Masato Tanaka in a rematch from March 2020!
There was an announcement during the show that DDT and GCW will be co-promoting a show together in Korakuen Hall on 12th August as part of GCW’s next tour of Japan. The show is called “NEVER ENDING NOISY SUMMER” and Effy sent in a video message to promote it. GCW talent currently announced for the show include Joey Janela, Effy, Allie Katch, Masha Slamovich, Mance Warner, Jordan Oliver, Dark Sheik, Alex Zayne and Rina Yamashita.
Before any of the matches began there was a special presentation held by Saki Akai. One of her first projects with DDT since retiring from pro wrestling last year was to set up a crowdfunding campaign to buy new training equipment for the company. The campaign succeeded and today Akai donated the new equipment to Takagi and DDT.
DDT will be launching a new photobook with Leslie Kee on 21st July. They previously worked together for a photobook called “Super DDT” back in 2013.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE TOUR 2024 SPRING”, 25/05/2024 Kanagawa Fujisawa City Shonandai Cultural Center
1. Nao Kakuta Vs Haru Kazashiro
2. Mahiro Kiryu & Uta Takami Vs Toga & Runa Okubo
3. Suzume, Arisu Endo & Chika Nanase Vs Raku, Pom Harajuku & Kira Summer
4. Shoko Nakajima & HIMAWARI Vs Alexis Lee & Kaya Toribami
5. Miu Watanabe & Shino Suzuki Vs Maki Itoh & Wakana Uehara
6. Aja Kong & Yuki Kamifuku Vs Rika Tatsumi & Moka Miyamoto
Alexis Lee failed to win the championships she wanted but she has another appearance in Tokyo Joshi Pro lined up this weekend.
Yuki Aino is unable to be at the show.
DDT “KING OF DDT ~20TH ANNIVERSARY~ FINAL!!”, 26/05/2024 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
0. Dark Match: Yuni & Keigo Nakamura Vs Ilusion & Kazuma Sumi
1. 3 Way Tag Match: Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi Vs Yukio Naya & Takeshi Masada
2. KANON & MJ Paul Vs HARASHIMA & Akito
3. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo, Yuki Iino & Yuya Koroku Vs Poison Sawada JULIE, Shuji Ishikawa & Masahiro Takanashi
4. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & To-y Vs Sanshiro Takagi, Jun Akiyama & Tomomitsu Matsunaga
5. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Semi Final: MAO Vs Kazusada Higuchi
6. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Semi Final – No DQ Match: Chris Brookes Vs Daisuke Sasaki
7. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Final: X Vs X
A request was made by Chris Brookes to have his King Of DDT semi-final against Daisuke Sasaki be held under No Disqualification rules. He expects Sasaki to cheat during the match and wants to fight fire with fire without putting his path to the final at risk.
GANBARE☆PRO “WILD GAMBLE 2024”, 02/06/2024 Tokyo Takashimadaira Kumin Center
1. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title Next Challenger Time Staggered Battle Royal: Ken Ohka Vs Yuna Manase Vs Choun-Shiryu Vs Gabai Ji-chan Vs Baliyan Akki Vs Daisuke®️
2. Spirit Of Ganbare World Tag Team Titles: Shuichiro Katsumura & Takuya Wada (c) Vs Shigehiro Irie & Mizuki Watase
A successful RENEGADES reunion over the weekend is going to continue. When GROUND ABSOLUTE asked if there was any team better than them out there, Shigehiro Irie & Mizuki Watase answered the challenge. They don’t get to team up as often as they used to but after reaching the final of a tag tournament in Germany last September, RENEGADES believe they have what it takes to become champions together. They don’t want to waste this opportunity to win the Spirit Of Ganbare World Tag Team Titles.
The winner of the Battle Royal will get a Spirit Of Ganbare World Title shot on 15th July.
It’s been confirmed by Ganbare☆Pro that Shinichiro Tominaga suffered an injury during Saturday’s show. He ruptured his left Achilles tendon during his match and will be out of action for a while.
DDT “WHAT ARE YOU DOING 2024 TOUR IN SHINJUKU”, 05/06/2024 Shinjuku FACE
1. Daisuke Kiso Referee 14th Anniversary Match ~ Special Tag Match: Keisuke Ishii & Shigehiro Irie Vs To-y & Yuni
2. CDK 5th Anniversary Match ~ Special Tag Match: Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi Vs Makoto Oishi & Shiori Asahi
3. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul (c) Vs HARASHIMA, Akito & Yasu Urano
4. KO-D Openweight Title: Yuki Ueno (c) Vs Sanshiro Takagi
Both Yuki Ueno and Sanshiro Takagi spent a lot of time talking about having a KO-D Openweight Title match after Takagi eliminated Ueno in the King Of DDT 1st Round. They finally got around to sign a contract and have the match take place next month. It will take place a few days after Takagi moves down from CyberFight president to vice president. With less responsibilities under his new position, Takagi feels like he has no restrictions over how he can win the KO-D Title for one last time.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW PRISM ’24”, 09/06/2024 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. Special Single Match: Hikaru Shida Vs Moka Miyamoto
2. International Princess Title: Yuki Arai (c) Vs LA Taylor
3. Princess Of Princess Title: Miu Watanabe (c) Vs Vert Vixen
The last time Hikaru Shida wrestled in TJPW was at “SUMMER SUN PRINCESS ’22” back in June 2022. Two years later the AEW wrestler returns and her match will be against Moka Miyamoto. The two of them have teamed up before in TJPW. This will be their first match together as opponents.
DDT “SPA & POOL AQUA YUKARI – SAUNA ROJO PRO WRESTLING”, 21/06/2024 Chiba Aqua Yukari
1. DDT Extreme Title – Falls Count Anywhere Survival 4 Way Match: Shunma Katsumata (c) Vs Yukio Naya Vs To-y Vs Ilusion
A hot evening in the summer is getting even hotter because Shunma Katsumata is defending the DDT Extreme Title against three other wrestlers inside a sauna! Yukio Naya, To-y and Ilusion all wanted a title shot so Katsumata came up with that idea as his solution. It will be Falls Count Anywhere in front of an audience at the sauna.
GANBARE☆PRO “DISASTER ARTIST 2024”, 15/07/2024 Tokyo Takashimadaira Kumin Center
1. Moeka Haruhi Comeback Match: Moeka Haruhi Vs X
2. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Keisuke Ishii (c) Vs 02/06 Battle Royal Winner
Keisuke Ishii defends the SOG Title against the Battle Royal winner here.
DDT “EARLY SUMMER BEER GARDEN PRO WRESTLING – DAY 2”, 17/05/2024 Tokyo Ueno Park Outdoor Stage 346 Fans
1. HARASHIMA & Keigo Nakamura defeated Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida when Nakamura pinned Ishida with the Diving Headbutt (11:47).
2. Shinobazu Pond Elimination Match: Toru Owashi & Akito defeated MAO & To-y when Akito eliminated MAO & To-y by Ring Out (7:57).
3. Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul defeated Jun Akiyama, Yukio Naya & Makoto Oishi when Sasaki submitted Oishi with the Crossface Lock (8:42).
4. Chris Brookes defeated Yuya Koroku with a Heel Hook (12:00).
5. Special Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino defeated Yuki Ueno & Kazuki Hirata when Iino pinned Hirata with the Spear (12:37).
6. Danshoku Dieno Birthday Eve Commemorative Match ~ Danshoku Dieno Succession Match: Kazuma Sumi defeated Takeshi Masada after the Danshoku Driver from Danshoku Dieno (12:02). (Special Referee: Danshoku Dieno)
7. DDT Extreme Title – Leave History Behind!! 3 Round Pokkiri Strategy Match: Shunma Katsumata (c) (2) defeated Antonio Honda (1).
7a. 1 Count Fall Wasabi Cream Puff Death Match: Antonio Honda defeated Shunma Katsumata (5:17).
7b. Scramble Bunkhouse Bra Hunt Match: Shunma Katsumata defeated Antonio Honda when Katsumata put on the Bra (6:49).
7c. 2 Count Fall Only Match: Shunma Katsumata defeated Antonio Honda with a Backward Rolling Cradle (5:00). *V3 for Shunma Katsumata.
The early summer edition of DDT’s beer garden shows ended with Yuki Ueno calling out Sanshiro Takagi and telling him he wants to defend the KO-D Openweight Title against him. Takagi wants the same and already had a contract for the match written up so it can take place as soon as possible. The title match will take place in Shinjuku FACE on 5th June. That is a few days after Takagi is no longer the president of CyberFight so he will be free to fight Ueno with less responsibilities to worry about. The two shared a toast to celebrate until Takagi gave Ueno the Stunner. Ueno said he is looking forward to the match because even though DDT is changing, he is still here.
Three falls consisting of random rules determined who was leaving today as the DDT Extreme Champion. The 1st fall was a Wasabi Cream Puff Death Match. When you pinned your opponent for a 1 Count, the opponent’s second at ringside would have to pick a cream puff and eat it. If the puff contained wasabi then the round would end. Antonio Honda ended up winning the fall when To-y ate the wasabi puff. The 2nd Fall was a Scramble Bunkhouse Bra Hunt Match. Honda and Shunma Katsumata had to race down to the ring and be the first one to put on a bra. Honda used Gongitsune to slow down Katsumata. He got his hands on a bra first but struggled for too long. Katsumata got his own bra and wore it before Honda could to even the score. The final deciding fall could only be won with a 2 Count Pinfall. Katsumata came out on top and used a Backwards Rolling Cradle to win the match and defend his championship.
Katsumata already knows where he will defend the title next. It will be at the Aqua Yukari sauna in Chiba on 21st June. He called out for anyone to challenge him on the date. He ended up getting three challengers. Yukio Naya, To-y and Illusion all entered the ring demanding to be in the match. Katsumata agreed to defend the title against all of them in a Falls Count Anywhere Survival 4 Way match at the sauna.
Since tomorrow is Danshoku Dieno’s birthday he felt it is time for him to find a successor. He officiated a match between Takeshi Masada and Kazuma Sumi with the intention to pass down his gimmick to the winner. He encouraged and then later forced the two participants to wrestle like he does. Neither Masada nor Sumi wanted to win and both tried to throw the match to each other. Eventually Sumi decided to go along with the idea when he gave Masada the Danshoku Driver for a nearfall. He then gave Masada the Lip Lock and left him for Dieno to do the real Danshoku Driver. Sumi pinned him afterward and Dieno counted the fall. The match was immediately followed by a press conference where Dieno announced Sumi will now be called Danshoku Dieno II! He changed into Dieno’s wrestling tights and ran around giving everyone Lip Locks to celebrate. However a couple of hours after the show DDT announced that Dieno II had changed his mind and will go back to being Kazuma Sumi.
The stage in Ueno Park’s theater features a small pool area in front of it. For Match #2 the wrestlers agreed to have a Pond Elimination match where the first team to get both of their opponents out of the pond at the same time would win. Toru Owashi got close to eliminating both MAO & To-y with a Double Headscissors Takeover. He was able to go through with it when Akito pushed all three of them out of the pool to win.
A press conference was held at the start of the show featuring the four semi-finalists of this year’s King Of DDT. MAO said he is two wins away from winning the tournament and therefore three wins away from becoming the KO-D Champion. He not only has momentum but also a mysterious power that will make him win the whole thing. Kazusada Higuchi simply reminded everyone he is taking things one match at a time and wants to focus on beating MAO. Chris Brookes said he can beat Daisuke Sasaki in a fair fight but Sasaki likes to cheat. Brookes knows how to cheat too so he requested their bout be turned into a No DQ Match. Sasaki agreed to it and called for Hisaya Imabayashi to make it happen.
DDT “EARLY SUMMER BEER GARDEN PRO WRESTLING – DAY 1”, 16/05/2024 Tokyo Ueno Park Outdoor Stage
1. 3 Way Match: Soma Takao Vs Keigo Nakamura Vs Ilusion
2. Sanshiro Takagi & Jun Akiyama Vs Yukio Naya & Kazuma Sumi
3. Early Summer Beer Garden Specialty NG Behaviour Penalty Match: Tetsuya Endo, Yuki Iino & Yuya Koroku Vs Shunma Katsumata, Toru Owashi & Makoto Oishi
4. Early Summer Beer Garden Specialty Doki Doki! Special Rules Match: Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi Vs Danshoku Dieno & Kazuki Hirata
5. Smile Squash Vs DAMNATION T.A!: HARASHIMA, Yasu Urano & Akito Vs Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul
6. Yuki Ishida Return Match ~ The 37KAMIINA Vs Harimao!: Yuki Ueno, MAO & To-y Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Ryota Nakatsu & Yuki Ishida
The first two matches have been changed around. Yukio Naya is now teaming with Kazuma Sumi instead of Keigo Nakamura and Nakamura has been pushed down to the opener.
DDT “EARLY SUMMER BEER GARDEN PRO WRESTLING – DAY 2”, 17/05/2024 Tokyo Ueno Park Outdoor Stage
1. Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida Vs HARASHIMA & Keigo Nakamura
2. MAO & To-y Vs Toru Owashi & Akito
3. Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul Vs Jun Akiyama, Yukio Naya & Makoto Oishi
4. Chris Brookes Vs Yuya Koroku
5. Special Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino Vs Yuki Ueno & Kazuki Hirata
6. Danshoku Dieno Birthday Eve Commemorative Match ~ Special 3 Way Match: Takeshi Masada Vs Kazuma Sumi (Special Referee: Danshoku Dieno)
7. DDT Extreme Title – Leave History Behind!! 3 Round Pokkiri Strategy Match: Shunma Katsumata (c) Vs Antonio Honda
DDT is selling their own champagne at both Beer Garden shows this weekend.
DDT “WHAT ARE YOU DOING 2024 TOUR IN KYOTO”, 08/06/2024 Kyoto KBS Hall
1. Sanshiro Takagi, Akito & Shinichiro Kawamatsu Vs HARASHIMA, Kazusada Higuchi & Kazuma Sumi
2. MAO Vs Yuya Koroku
3. The 37KAMIINA Vs D.O.A!: Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & To-y Vs Jun Akiyama, Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi
Here comes D.O.A’s biggest match since losing the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles. They’re going to face The 37KAMIINA in Kyoto.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW PRISM ’24”, 09/06/2024 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. International Princess Title: Yuki Arai (c) Vs LA Taylor
2. Princess Of Princess Title: Miu Watanabe (c) Vs Vert Vixen
The third International Princess Title for Yuki Arai will be her first against a foreign opponent. LA Taylor is from Cornwall, England and is a powerhouse standing at 183cm tall. She has been wrestling for almost five years and will be touring with Tokyo Joshi Pro for a few shows in June. TJPW says the moves to watch out from her are the Cravate, the Spinebuster and the Liontamer.
DDT “WHAT ARE YOU DOING 2024 TOUR IN MATSUYAMA”, 09/06/2024 Ehime Matsuyama City General Community Center Special Exhibition Hall
1. Shunma Katsumata, Makoto Oishi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Sanshiro Takagi, Akito & Tsuruhimeka
2. Special Tag Match: Jun Akiyama & Santaro Ishizuchi Vs HARASHIMA & Takeshi Masada
3. Matsuyama Specialty Special Single Match: Danshoku Dieno Vs Bonjin Pulp
4. Special Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo & Imabari Taoru Mascaras Vs Chris Brookes & Kazuma Sumi
DDT is getting a helping hand with Ehime Pro Wrestling again for their next show in Matsuyama City. Several Ehime Pro wrestlers are booked across the show. The main event has “The Man Of 1,000 Towels” Imabari Taoru Mascaras involved. Next is Bonjin Pulp, a masked wrestler who has a bundle of tissues sticking out of his mask because his hometown has a reputation for shipping a wide variety of products made out of paper. Santaro Ishizuchi is said to be Ehime Pro’s strongest wrestler but he gets easily distracted whenever he sees a woman he likes. Rounding up the group is female wrestler Tsuruhimeka. She is a former local idol who became a wrestler with Ehime Pro. She already wrestled on last year’s DDT show in the area.
GLEAT/DDT “GLEAT VER. & – GLEAT X DDT PRO WRESTLING”, 06/06/2024 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. 3 Way Tag Match: Shunma Katsumata, Takanori Ito & Issei Onitsuka Vs MICHIKO, Keigo Nakamura & Yu Iizuka Vs Danshoku Dieno, Makoto Oishi & Jun Tonsho
2. Minoru Tanaka Vs Kazuki Hirata
3. CIMA & HARASHIMA Vs Soma Watanabe & Soma Takao
4. Tetsuya Izuchi Vs Tetsuya Endo
5. SBK & TAKUMA Vs To-y & Kazuma Sumi
6. Yuki Ueno, El Lindaman & MAO Vs Sanshiro Takagi, Kaz Hayashi & Akito
7. Elimination Tag Match: T-Hawk, Chris Brookes, Takehiro Yamamura, Seiki Yoshioka & Takeshi Masada Vs Daisuke Sasaki, Kaito Ishida, KANON, Hartley Jackson & Kotaro Suzuki
8. Hayato Tamura, Ryuichi Kawakami & KAZMA SAKAMOTO Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya
Wrestlers from GLEAT and DDT gathered together for a press conference in Yurakucho, Tokyo yesterday. The two promotions will be holding a show together at Korakuen Hall on 6th June (although by the looks of it everything so far suggests this is a GLEAT produced show with DDT mostly just providing talent). CIMA at the conference said he once told the president of GLEAT that he wants to do something interesting, fierce, stylish, fast and crazy in pro wrestling. He recently bumped into Sanshiro Takagi at a restaurant and the two got talking. CIMA wanted to work with DDT again because he felt like the story of #STRONGHEARTS in DDT ended at the halfway point and he would like to continue the story. He was also frustrated over GLEAT not getting to participate at “ALL TOGETHER” last week.
Takagi said DDT never had much contact with GLEAT in the past. DDT and #STRONGHEARTS worked hard together but their relationship faded away when #STRONGHEARTS joined with GLEAT. But he liked CIMA’s idea and wanted to work on something interesting with him. He believes something that DDT and GLEAT has in common is both companies have a young generation of wrestlers with a lot of momentum behind them. He hopes this show will bring something exciting out of that generation. Takagi also sees this as an opportunity to work with Kaz Hayashi one more time before Hayashi retires from wrestling later this year.
GLEAT’s current top unit BULK ORCHESTRA will face DDT’s three top heavyweight wrestlers in the main event. KAZMA SAKAMOTO remembers Yukio Naya as the pathetic little rookie from Real Japan but admits he ended up in a good place with DDT. He is more interested in fighting Kazusada Higuchi. Naya reminded SAKAMOTO he is not the same person as he was back then and he looks forward to repaying his debt to him. Both Higuchi and Ryuichi Kawakami are excited to be part of a super megaton match between teams exceeding over hundreds and hundreds of kilograms in combined weight. Hayato Tamura is the current G-REX Champion and is eager to fight all three of his opponents. Out of the three wrestlers on the DDT team, Yuki Iino has the biggest problem with the GLEAT side. They’re called BULK ORCHESTRA but they can’t sing and have arms as thin as recorders! His harsh words caused a fight to break out and end the press conference.
Some of the matches on the card will be GLEAT Vs DDT and some will mix the two promotions together. One of the matches taking the latter approach has El Lindaman teaming with Yuki Ueno & MAO to face the combined management trio of Takagi, Hayashi & Akito. Lindaman already teamed with Ueno once before at last year’s “ALL STAR JR FESTIVAL”. Ueno has also heard stories about GLEAT from Shinya Aoki in the past. MAO thinks he will fit in with GLEAT because it is a universal company and he is the DDT Universal Champion. Lindaman feels a little out of place because he is the only one on his team who is currently not a champion. So to make up for it he wants to take over the position of whichever wrestler from the other team he beats! Akito pointed out that even though this July Takagi will be taking a break from wrestling and Hayashi will be retiring, both of them are still finding success this late in the game. Hayashi said he’s been booked in a lot of nostalgic matches recently but this match is against first time opponents in Ueno & MAO. He wants to show them how he wants to see them fight and also have a match so exciting everyone will want to see it again.
DDT “KING OF DDT ~20TH ANNIVERSARY~ 1ST ROUND”, 05/05/2024 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 1,025 Fans – No Vacancy
0. Dark Match: Soma Takao, Keigo Nakamura & Yuya Koroku defeated Yuni, Ilusion & Kazuma Sumi when Nakamura pinned Sumi with the Diving Headbutt (9:25).
0. Dark Match: Jun Akiyama, Makoto Oishi & Tomomitsu Matsunaga defeated Shunma Katsumata, Akito & Kazuki Hirata when Oishi pinned Hirata with the Jikiden Tornado Clutch (0:09).
0a. Rematch: Jun Akiyama, Makoto Oishi & Tomomitsu Matsunaga defeated Shunma Katsumata, Akito & Kazuki Hirata when Oishi pinned Hirata with the Jikiden Tornado Clutch (4:43).
1. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 1: MAO defeated Poison Sawada JULIE with the Iai Kick (9:16).
2. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 1: To-y defeated KANON with a Frankensteiner (11:09).
3. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 1: Sanshiro Takagi defeated Yuki Ueno with the Stone Cold Stunner (11:09).
4. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 1: Daisuke Sasaki defeated Yuki Iino with the Standing Crossover Face Lock (11:15).
5. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 1: Kazusada Higuchi defeated Yukio Naya with the Buchikamashi (14:12).
6. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 1: Shuji Ishikawa defeated HARASHIMA with the Giant Slam (13:58).
7. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 1: Tetsuya Endo defeated Danshoku Dieno with the Burning Tanetsuke Press (18:26).
8. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 1: Chris Brookes defeated Takeshi Masada with the Praying Mantis Bomb (15:53).
2004 was the year when DDT held its first King Of DDT tournament. It was not held on an annual basis until 2009 but the history of the tournament is filled with winners who have gone on to accomplish many things in DDT and pro wrestling as a whole. This year is the 20th anniversary of the first King Of DDT and the 18th edition of the event. The main show began with all of the 16 participants lining up in the ring for the opening ceremony.
The main event was all about SCHADENFREUDE International as two of its members faced off in the last of the Round 1 matches. Brookes had a special guest with him because Zack Sabre Jr. was there to be in his corner. Takeshi Masada wanted to win badly and tried using the Takatonic and the KOBU Mukimuki. He even tried to withstand the pain from taking an Avalanche Tiger Suplex but at that point Brookes just had to keep up the attack until he won. Masada had one last chance left when he countered the Praying Mantis Bomb but Brookes countered the Mukimuki, hit two Somatos and pinned Masada with the Praying Mantis Bomb. After the match Brookes told Masada that any bad things he said about him at the press conference was lies and he really wanted him to do his best today. Backstage Brookes and Sabre talked up the tag match they are having at “ALL TOGETHER” tomorrow.
Meeting Brookes in the next round is Tetsuya Endo. He had to dig in deep to beat Danshoku Dieno because Dieno was ready to avoid the Burning Star Press at any opportunity. One of the counters Dieno pulled off was a top rope Frankensteiner! He also had Makoto Oishi interfering when the two of them gave Endo the 3D after the referee was knocked out with a Lip Lock. Dieno went into the Hell Gate position over the turnbuckles but it was Oishi who got a face full of the Gate. Endo then grabbed Dieno by the crotch and Headbutted his butt! When Endo climbed the top rope to finally hit the Burning Star Press, Dieno had one last idea to defend himself. He rolled over and stuck his butt into the air daring Endo to jump in. Endo did exactly what Dieno wanted except first he pulled off Dieno’s tights and then hit the Burning Star Press! He was able to turn Dieno over and pin him without exposing anything further to the crowd.
After the match El Desperado unexpectedly entered the ring while Oishi was getting Dieno’s trunks back on him. He has a lot to look forward to this summer but he isn’t here to talk about the Best Of The Super Juniors or his next DDT appearance at “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2024”. Instead he pulled out two invitations for the “DESPE-INVITACIONAL” event he is holding at Korakuen Hall on 10th June. The two invitations are for Dieno and a wrestler of his choice. If it was up entirely to Desperado he would have wanted his main event to be Pheromones Vs House Of Torture just so he could see Dieno chase EVIL around the ring. Dieno confirmed to him that Pheromones have disbanded and cannot be brought back. Desperado will give him the invitations anyway and trusts Dieno to find a suitable partner so they can do something similar to Pheromones at the show. Dieno asked if that means his partner does not have to be anybody from DDT? Desperado said yes, the choice is all up to Dieno and no one else.
One of the former King Of DDT winners Shuji Ishikawa returned with a bang by eliminating HARASHIMA in Round 1. HARASHIMA was able to kick out of the Splash Mountain, Running Knee Lift, Fire Thunder and also the Kamigoye. But he was a beaten man at that point and was finally put away with the Giant Slam. He will be facing Kazusada Higuchi in the next round and Higuchi met him in the ring after the match to give him a Headbutt! Backstage Ishikawa admitted he needs to improve his own conditioning. When he fights Higuchi he will either strike out or hit a home run. If the latter happens then nothing will stop Ishikawa from winning the tournament and then the KO-D Openweight Title!
Higuchi already got rid of one big boy to advance into Round 2. He beat Yukio Naya by wearing him down with the Brain Claw inbetween the moments of high impact moves between them. Naya finally went down to a series of Headbutts and struggled to get back to his feet to beat the 10 count. When he did stand back up, Higuchi was already in position to run him over with the Buchikamashi for the victory. As mentioned above, Higuchi is eager to face Ishikawa next.
Yuki Iino was almost unstoppable against Daisuke Sasaki but “Charisma” found a way to beat him eventually. Chair shots over the head and interference from MJ Paul didn’t work. Even trying to Spear Iino just had Sasaki bounce off of him. What did work was countering the Spear into a Pedigree in midair. It wasn’t enough to pin Iino but Sasaki was able to give him La Mistica Crossover Face Lock from there. Iino used his power to stand back up but Sasaki would not let go of the hold, keeping it on tight so Iino had no choice but to give up from the pain he was feeling in his shoulder. Sasaki bragged about showing off his power as the strongest wrestler in DDT.
There were a couple of upsets in Round 1. The biggest of perhaps the entire tournament is the KO-D Champion Yuki Ueno losing to Sanshiro Takagi! This year’s King Of DDT looks to be Takagi’s last stand before he takes a break from being a wrestler and he could not have sent out a louder message for everyone to hear. They fought in the crowd so Takagi could knock Ueno down the stairs. Ueno fought back with a Moonsault out of the ring and also a Frog Splash in the ring. But he missed the BME, landing on his feet right there for Takagi to give him the Stunner for the shock three count! Takagi later said if he wins the tournament then he will challenge Ueno for the KO-D Title. Ueno does not want to end this with a loss and thinks Takagi must come challenge him for the title eventually.
The other big upset in the opening round is To-y advancing past KANON. He kept on getting hit with K-Spikes but fought back using the Kojima Wonderland. KANON avoided the Kojima Impace but got caught with a Frankensteiner for the upset loss. He heard KANON’s comments about Hideki Okatani during the week and is sure Okatani was supporting him rather than KANON. All he needs is a 1% chance of winning to turn it into a 100% chance! Meanwhile KANON can’t believe he lost in the first round again. After three years of trying he has never gotten past Round 1 in the King Of DDT.
It was a battle of magic and danger when MAO took on the very first King Of DDT winner Poison Sawada JULIE. The dreaded Snake Magic is Sawada’s main weapon. Using it causes the victim to raise their rattling hand in the air to show that Sawada can then make them do whatever he wants. However it turns out MAO has been learning the same dark magic and used his own version to fight back. The spells ended up knocking out Yukinori Matsui after they were deflected into his direction. MAO then summoned invisible baseball bats rigged with explosives that had its own warning siren to go with it. He and Sawada both hit each other with the bats, causing an invisible explosion every time. Sawada then blinded MAO with Poison Mist but couldn’t get the three count with the Choke Slam or the Maoi Of Easter. MAO had to defend himself from the magic and did so by spitting his own Mist in Sawada’s face. Sawada was then powerless to block the Iai Kick, ending the match and eliminating him from the tournament.
The King Of DDT Round 2 matches on 11th May will be MAO Vs To-y, Sanshiro Takagi Vs Daisuke Sasaki, Kazusada Higuchi Vs Shuji Ishikawa and Tetsuya Endo Vs Chris Brookes.
One of the dark matches ended before Jun Akiyama could even enter the ring so they had to restart it on his orders. His team did their entrance again and the same thing almost happened a second time. However Akiyama was there to stop Oishi from quickly pinning Kazuki Hirata again so everyone could get a chance to wrestle. Later in the match everyone began to fight over the Hirata GO! Glasses. When Akiyama was the last man standing he decided to put them on. Right when he was about to dance Oishi pinned Hirata to cut the music and end the match.
The other dark match had Keigo Nakamura winning the bout for his team. Yuni & Ilusion both did dives onto Soma Takao & Yuya Koroku outside the ring. But Kazuma Sumi couldn’t follow up for his side and got pinned by Nakamura’s Diving Headbutt.
There were a few announcements for some of DDT’s upcoming shows. Minoru Suzuki will be at “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2024” on 21st July. There will be a Street Pro Wrestling match held inside a sauna on 21st June with Sayaka Unagi as one of the participants. Unagi will also be at the 20th July Beer Garden show.
Posted by JamieOD 
Dramatic DDT 