DDT “INTO THE FIGHT 2024 TOUR IN SHINJUKU”, 07/02/2024 Shinjuku FACE
1. Kazuki Hirata & Danshoku Dieno Vs Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi
2. Jun Akiyama, Yoshitatsu & Soma Takao Vs Toru Owashi, Akito & Kazuma Sumi
3. DDT Extreme Title Next Challenger Match – Hardcore Match: Hideki Okatani Vs MJ Paul
4. Special Tag Match ~ DDT Vs AJPW: Takeshi Masada & Rukiya Vs Ryuki Honda & Yuma Anzai
5. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yuki Ueno, MAO & Shunma Katsumata Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Naya & Makoto Oishi
6. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Daisuke Sasaki & KANON (c) Vs Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino
7. Yukio Sakaguchi Retirement Match: Yukio Sakaguchi Vs HARASHIMA
Tomorrow we bid farewell to the wrestling career of Yukio Sakaguchi.
Yesterday Hideki Okatani put out a message asking for his match against MJ Paul to be turned into a Hardcore Match. Paul sent a letter via courier to the DDT office that was simply a large, bloody “OK” smeared on the page. Challenge accepted.
There will be contract signings for the upcoming KO-D Openweight Title and DDT Universal Title matches held before this show begins.
DDT “NEPPA OVER FLOWERS 3 ~TOTONOI TO YOU~”, 14/02/2024 Shinjuku FACE
1. Hideki Okatani, Yuni & Ilusion Vs Takeshi Masada, Kazuma Sumi & Rukiya
2. ~DDT Sauna Club Vs DDT Open Bath Club~: Kazuki Hirata & Naya Tonttu Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Makoto Oishi
3. ~Toy Kojima’s Sauna Room~: Toy Kojima Vs Masato Tanaka
4. ~Shunma Katsumata’s Sauna Room~: Shunma Katsumata Vs Kuroshio TOKYO Japan
5. ~Mao Inoue’s Sauna Room~: MAO Vs Chris Brookes
6. KO-D Openweight Title ~Yuki Ueno’s Sauna Room~: Yuki Ueno (c) Vs Danshoku Dieno
A conflict has suddenly broken out between the DDT Sauna Club and the DDT Open Bath Club. Although Kazuki Hirata declined to join The 37KAMIINA, he still gets to participate in the Sauna Club away from matches. While heading out to a riverbed one day Hirata confronted Kazusada Higuchi & Makoto Oishi from the Open Bath Club and an argument broke out between them. Hirata found himself outnumbered when all of a sudden somebody who looked like Yukio Naya showed up to protect him. That being is Naya Tonttu, the mythical guardian of the DDT Sauna Club! Hirata convinced him to team up against the Open Bath Club at The 37KAMIINA’s sold out show next week.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “PRO WRESTLING WINTER FESTIVAL 2024 IN JOETSU DAY 1 – SHOKO NAKAJIMA IS BACK ~ NIIGATA HOMECOMING PERFORMANCE”, 17/02/2024 Niigata Dúo CEREZO
1. 3 Way Match: Mizuki Vs Raku Vs Shino Suzuki
2. Kaya Toribami Vs Haru Kazashiro
3. Rika Tatsumi Vs Zara Zakher
4. Yuki Aino & Pom Harajuku Vs Mahiro Kiryu & HIMAWARI
5. Suzume & Arisu Endo Vs Yuki Kamifuku & Toga
6. Miyu Yamashita Vs Wakana Uehara
7. Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao Vs Miu Watanabe & Moka Miyamoto
The homecoming show for Shoko Nakajima sees her team up with Hyper Misao as Kyoraku Kyomei again. They cannot get full revenge on Daydream for being eliminated from the Max Heart Tournament but they still get to fight Miu Watanabe. Teaming with her here is Moka Miyamoto.
A first time singles match between Miyu Yamashita and Wakana Uehara is on the show. Zara Zakher also continues her tour with a match against Rika Tatsumi.
DDT “INTO THE FIGHT 2024”, 25/02/2024 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. Chris Brookes, Masahiro Takanashi & Antonio Honda Vs Yuki Iino, Yuni & Kazuma Sumi
2. Daisuke Sasaki & KANON (w/ MJ Paul) Vs Akito & Soma Takao
3. Kazusada Higuchi & Yoshitatsu Vs Yukio Naya & Rukiya
4. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Danshoku Dieno, Makoto Oishi & Toru Owashi Vs Kazuki Hirata, Naruki Doi & X
5. Special Single Match: HARASHIMA Vs Toy Kojima
6. DDT Universal Title: MAO (c) Vs Hikaru Machida
7. Kaisei Takechi Debut Match ~ Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & Kaisei Takechi Vs Tetsuya Endo, Hideki Okatani & Takeshi Masada
Kaisei Takechi is responsible for selling out the show so no question he gets the main event slot.
So it looks like Hirata got Naruki Doi on board to join his new unit. He isn’t the only one though because Hirata is teasing another addition will be revealed at Korakuen Hall. Is he going for something Dragon System flavored as the unit’s theme I wonder?
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “GRAND PRINCESS ’24”, 31/03/2024 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
1. Princess Of Princess Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) Vs Miu Watanabe
DDT “INTO THE FIGHT 2024 TOUR IN NAGANO”, 04/02/2024 Nagano Act Hall 220 Fans – No Vacancy
1. Hideki Okatani defeated Rukiya with a Modified Neck Lock (10:00).
2. Sanshiro Takagi, Yoshitatsu & Yukio Naya defeated Chris Brookes, Takeshi Masada & Kazuma Sumi when Yoshitatsu pinned Sumi with the This Is My WWE (10:10).
3. Daisuke Sasaki & KANON defeated Yuki Iino & Akito when Sasaki submitted Akito with the Crossface Lock (17:22).
4. Special Tag Match: Yukio Sakaguchi & Antonio Honda defeated Kazuki Hirata & Kazusada Higuchi when Sakaguchi pinned Hirata with the God’s Right Knee (17:21).
5. Nagano Specialty Special 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Toru Owashi & Akihiro defeated Danshoku Dieno, Makoto Oishi & Tetsuya Endo when Akihiro pinned Oishi with the Reincarnation (15:29).
6. Special Tag Match: Yuki Ueno & Shunma Katsumata defeated HARASHIMA & Soma Takao when Ueno pinned Takao with the BME (17:51)
Yuki Ueno & Shunma Katsumata used today’s main event to show their intent that The 37KAMIINA are at the center of DDT right now. Katsumata did a dive off of the entrance gate onto their opponents and did another dive out of the ring to wipe out HARASHIMA. Ueno went on to pin Soma Takao with the BME. They told the Nagano fans that they will have even more championship belts with them the next time they come back here. Backstage Ueno hyped up his KO-D Openweight Title defence against Danshoku Dieno while Katsumata promised to finally beat Kuroshio TOKYO Japan at the same show on 14th February. Ueno said he cannot be the kind of KO-D Champion that Dieno, HARASHIMA or Konosuke Takeshita all were but he will stand across the ring from Dieno as his own type of great champion.
The “Hero Of Nagano” Toru Owashi (who admitted he isn’t actually local because his hometown Saku City is a fair distance away from Nagano Act Hall) was in the semi-main event but may of had his spotlight stolen by Akihiro. It was Akihiro who scored the pin by doing its Reincarnation finisher on Makoto Oishi. Meanwhile Jun Akiyama was more concerned about avoiding his face being pressed into Dieno’s backside. That is what happened to Tetsuya Endo when Akihiro gave him a Top Rope Frankensteiner across the ring.
It’s only a few more days until Yukio Sakaguchi’s retirement match to today he wanted to do something a little bit different. He appeared for his tag match wearing a costume identical to Antonio Honda! He wanted to just have fun but Kazuki Hirata still found a way to annoy him and get angry as the match progressed. Honda dedicated his Gongistune spot to Sakaguchi’s upcoming retirement. Hirata then offered Sakaguchi a pair of Hirata GO! Glasses so they could dance together one last time. He accepted them, they danced to the music and then Hirata tried pinning Sakaguchi with the Miracle One Shot Cradle. Sakaguchi kicked out and hit Hirata with the God’s Right Knee for the win.
After the match Hirata called Sakaguchi a scary person who bullied him a lot but he can’t help but feel lonely now that Sakaguchi is retiring. He will never forget seeing him dressed like Honda today and dancing along with him. Sakaguchi praised Kazusada Higuchi for how strong his Chops were today, he thanked Honda for always telling good stories and he admitted to Hirata he had fun today. He brought up Hirata winning the MVP Award during the Japan Indie Grand Prix Awards and asked if Hirata will use the prize money to treat him to a meal? Hirata had to tell him the award did not include any prize money.
Today was the first time in a long, long time that Akito and Yuki Iino were teaming together without any trace of Pheromones around to get in the way. However Iino has no memory of their time together in ALL OUT. Akito asked him before the match if he remembers being in that unit? Iino asked what was that because he is a member of BURNING and that is all he thinks about. That answer was still good enough for Akito to put his complete trust in him again. However DAMNATION T.A were able to redirect things and make Iino Spear Akito by accident, leading to Daisuke Sasaki tapping out Akito with the Crossface Lock while Iino and KANON got into a fight outside the ring.
This Is My WWE is the name of Yoshitatsu’s Diving Knee Kick finisher. Don’t let The Rock find out about that. Sanshiro Takagi attacked both Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada with a Double Stunner after the match. He then taunted Masada by pouring mousse over his head and rubbing his hair with it.
Don’t worry everyone, Konosuke Takeshita got to wrestle a bit last month! His time spent in AEW during January was matches involving Darby Allin but by the time the month ended, he is back to targeting Chris Jericho for an upcoming rematch of their “ULTIMATE PARTY 2023” bout. Tokyo Joshi Pro had some more involvement with Major League Wrestling. Another noteworthy thing is Yukio Sakaguchi on the verge of retirement having his last wrestling match in Taiwan. We also got updates on DDT and TJPW for their shows during Wrestlemania Week coming up in April.
Other schedules went pear-shaped last month due to injuries and illnesses. Maki Itoh had to cancel her American dates in order to take time off for recovery reasons. The good news is she will be back wrestling again near the end of February and will return to the American indies in March. Chris Brookes getting surgery to remove a tumor from his abdomen prevented him from travelling around Southeast Asia with Masahiro Takanashi. It’s a more quiet month than usual because of Itoh and Brookes being absent. Only going to make things busier when they get back to normal.
AEW “DYNAMITE”, 03/01/2024 Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey, USA
1. Darby Allin Vs Konosuke Takeshita
Video starts at 44:10 MLW “RELOAD”, 06/01/2024 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
1. Nao Kakuta Vs Moka Miyamoto
AEW “DYNAMITE – HOMECOMING”, 10/01/2024 Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida, USA
1. Tornado Tag Match: Darby Allin & Sting Vs Konosuke Takeshita & Powerhouse Hobbs (w/ Don Callis)
AEW “RAMPAGE”, 26/01/2024 Enmarket Arena, Savannah, Georgia, USA
1. Christopher Daniels Vs Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Don Callis)
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Results
AEW “DYNAMITE”, 03/01/2024 Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey, USA
1. Konosuke Takeshita defeated Darby Allin with the Powerdrive Knee (12:50).
Takeshita throwing Allin around the ring was so much fun he got to do it even more this month. Allin got his licks in too with a top rope Stunner and a few dives. But Takeshita blocked the Coffin Drop with his knees, fought off a dead leg to German Suplex Allin across the ring. He then turned him inside out with a Lariat, kicked his face off with a Helluva Kick and then German Suplex him off the top rope. Takeshita finished him off with the Powerdrive Knee. More of this please!
MLW “KINGS OF COLOSSEUM”, 06/01/2024 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
1. Nao Kakuta defeated Moka Miyamoto with the Shiden Kai (6:23).
2. MLW World Featherweight Title: Janai Kai (c) (w/ Salina de la Renta & Jesus Rodriguez) defeated Hyper Misao with the Demon Clutch (7:15). *V3 for Janai Kai.
Several TJPW wrestlers went to New York to compete at MLW’s latest supershow. Hyper Misao got a shot at the MLW World Featherweight Title, becoming the second TJPW wrestler in a row to challenge Janai Kai for the belt. She brought along the Combat Bike and cycled around the outside of the ring to hit Kai with a Lariat. Salina de la Renta stood on the apron to distract Misao but got sprayed in the face for her troubles. The distraction still worked though because Misao turned around into the Tornado Kick from Kai and she then gave up to the Demon Clutch Dragon Sleeper.
TJPW also provided an exhibition match between Nao Kakuta and Moka Miyamoto. Kakuta won the match but afterwards Miyamoto was approached in the ring by Love Doug. He wanted to ask her out for dinner and she said yes.
AEW “DYNAMITE – HOMECOMING”, 10/01/2024 Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida, USA
1. Tornado Tag Match: Darby Allin & Sting (w/ Ric Flair) defeated Konosuke Takeshita & Powerhouse Hobbs (w/ Don Callis) when Sting pinned Hobbs with the Scorpion Death Drop through a Table (9:53).
And we did get more of this! Takeshita’s AEW debut took place in Daily’s Place during the pandemic so it meant a lot to him to be in a Dynamite main event there. It was a wild Tornado Tag match that also dragged Don Callis and Ric Flair into the ring. The fighting went over to the entrance where Allin hit a Coffin Drop from a bleacher onto Takeshita, taking the two of them out of action. Powerhouse Hobbs carried Sting over to a stage with the intention of putting him through a table. But Sting reversed it and gave Hobbs the Scorpion Death Drop off the stage through the table instead.
SPW “CHAMPIONS NEVER YIELD 2”, 19/01/2024 Foo Chow Building, Singapore
1. Queen Of Asia No. 1 Contender Match: Mizuki defeated Alexis Lee (?:??).
2. SPW Southeast Asia Tag Team Titles: Da Butcherman & Dr. Gore defeated HARASHIMA & Masahiro Takanashi (c) (?:??). *The Horrors become the 11th SPW Southeast Asia Tag Team Champions!
CDK’s plans for the month were changed because of Brookes’ health issues. Takanashi had to find some replacement tag partners for his matches in Singapore and Thailand. Over in Singapore Pro Wrestling Takanashi still had to defend the SPW Southeast Asia Tag Team Titles without Brookes. The good news was HARASHIMA agreed to join him as a substitute so the match against The Horrors could go ahead. The makeshift team couldn’t pull it off though. CDK’s long reign with the titles were ended by Da Butcherman & Dr. Gore.
Also on the show was a No. 1 Contenders match for the Queen Of Asia Title. The championship currently belongs to Yuki Kamifuku and is being kept with her in TJPW. The former champion Alexis Lee needed to beat Mizuki in order to get a rematch. However Mizuki was too much for her to handle and it will instead be Mizuki who is getting the next shot. It’s possible that match will happen at a TJPW show in Japan rather than in Singapore for SPW but we’ll have to wait and see what gets announced.
NTW “THE GOD’S RIGHT KNEE RETURNS”, 20/01/2024 Xingren Road, Zhongli District, Taoyuan City, Taiwan
1. Special Single Match: THE JOKER defeated Yukio Sakaguchi (8:00).
During Sakaguchi’s announcement about his retirement plans he mentioned one of his remaining matches was taking place in Taiwan. It was for New Taiwan Entertainment Wrestling and was put together when Sakaguchi was challenged by THE JOKER in December. THE JOKER is someone who Sakaguchi fought years previously and he holds Sakaguchi is high esteem. The match meant even more for him because Sakaguchi gave him his ring robe as a gift afterwards.
SETUP “BANGKOK SHOWDOWN”, 20/01/2024 The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand
1. 3 Way Tag Match: Kevin Weng & Pondhub defeated Masahiro Takanashi & Rubber Man and Anont Alonzo & Mister Suchart (?:??).
Takanashi needed to find another partner over in Thailand for the SETUP show. Oddly enough Sanshiro Takagi was in the area visiting for business reasons but he wasn’t available to take part. Instead Takanashi had to team up with Rubber Man, one of the many monsters that comes from the UMA Corps.
AEW “RAMPAGE”, 24/01/2024 (Aired 26/01/2024) Enmarket Arena, Savannah, Georgia, USA
1. Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Don Callis) defeated Christopher Daniels with the Powerdrive Knee (3:06).
A little rest to recover from the Tornado Tag match put Takeshita back on track. His next match was a win against Christopher Daniels, an opponent he previously faced on a AEW branded ring in Japan. He countered the Angel’s Wings into the Implant and then turned that into a German Suplex. All that was left to do was hit the Powerdrive Knee for the victory.
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Upcoming Appearances
BZW “X”, 03/02/2024 Salle Jacques Brel, Faches-Thumesnil, France
1. MBM & Ultima Sombra Vs MAO & Yoshihiko
Travel buddies MAO and Yoshihiko begin their European weekend with Banger Zone Wrestling in France. Their opponents are Rivality, the team of MBM & Ultima Sombra.
TNT EXTREME “MERSEYSIDE MASSACRE”, 04/02/2024 Hanger34, Liverpool, England
1. Fatal 4 Way: Jordan Oliver Vs Leon Slater Vs Yoshihiko Vs MAO
One day later the pair travel to England for TNT Extreme. Even though this booking has been known since December, Yoshihiko still got in trouble with DDT when they booked the doll for their Nagoya show on the same day only to find out it already has this tour organized. DDT warned Yoshihiko not to let this happen again.
AEW “DYNAMITE”, 07/02/2024 Footprint Center, Phoenix, Arizona, USA
1. Chris Jericho Vs Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Don Callis)
The time has come for the rematch! Chris Jericho defeated Takeshita in DDT last November and Takeshita’s been biding his time to even the score. Go get that win back!
Announced so far for DDT’s USA show are Yuki Ueno, MAO, Kazuki Hirata, Konosuke Takeshita, Tetsuya Endo, Daisuke Sasaki, Chris Brookes, Shunma Katsumata, KANON, Takeshi Masada and Yoshihiko.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN PHILLY”, 05/04/2024 Penns Landing Caterers Auditorium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
TJPW are sending over 14 women to Philadelphia for Wrestlemania week. They are Miyu Yamashita, Yuki Aino, Shoko Nakajima, Rika Tatsumi, Mizuki, Maki Itoh, Miu Watanabe, Yuki Kamifuku, Hyper Misao, Nao Kakuta, Raku, Pom Harajuku, Suzume and Arisu Endo.
GCW/TOKYO JOSHI PRO “GCW VS TJPW”, 06/04/2024 Penns Landing Caterers Auditorium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
When GCW put out a blurred image teasing the complete schedule for The Collective I joked the blurred part looked like it said “GCW VS TJPW”. Turns out that’s what it actually is! All 14 TJPW wrestlers above will be part of the crossover show pitting their side against GCW’s female contingent.
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Cancelled Appearances
GCW “NO COMPADRE”, 12/01/2024 Thalia Hall, Chicago, Illinois, USA
1. Maki Itoh, Effy & Allie Katch Vs Matt Cardona, Steph de Lander & Broski Jimmy
Itoh taking time off for recuperation led to a few cancelled appearances this month. She wasn’t able to team up with Bussy against Deathmatch Royalty for example.
GCW “56 BIRDZ”, 13/01/2024 Valley Dale Ballroom, Columbus, Ohio, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs Tony Deppen
The world will have to wait another day to see what Itoh wrestling Tony Deppen would be like.
F1RST “WRESTLEPALOOZA – NIGHT 2”, 14/01/2024 First Avenue, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs X
Itoh hopes she will get to be at a F1RST show somewhere in the future.
GCW “LOOK AT ME”, 26/01/2024 Egypt Shrine Center, Tampa, Florida, USA
1. 4 Way Match: Allie Katch Vs Maki Itoh Vs Dark Sheik Vs Lindsay Snow
Itoh was replaced by Masha Slamovich on the show and Slamovich ended up winning the match.
DDT “SWEET DREAMS! 2024”, 28/01/2024 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 1,120 Fans – Super No Vacancy
1. Special 10-Man Tag Match: HARASHIMA, Tomoya, Antonio Honda, Takeshi Masada & Kazuma Sumi defeated Sanshiro Takagi, Toru Owashi, Akito, Shinichiro Kawamatsu & Yuni when Sumi pinned Yuni with a School Boy (7:07).
2. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & Bryan Keith (w/ MJ Paul) defeated Tetsuya Endo, Yuki Iino & Rukiya after KANON pinned Rukiya with the Freedom Call (8:39).
3. Yukio Sakaguchi Korakuen Final Match ~ Special Single Match: Yukio Sakaguchi defeated Hideki Okatani with the God’s Right Knee (5:42).
4. MAO Birthday Commemorative Match: MAO & TAKA Michinoku defeated Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi when MAO pinned Takanashi with the Cannonball 450 (8:45).
5. DDT Extreme Title – Who Is The Fated One!? Toy Kojima Challenge Death Match: Shunma Katsumata defeated Kazuki Hirata (c) (8:33).
5a. Kazuki Hirata pinned Shunma Katsumata with the Miracle One Shot Cradle (0:57). *Toy Kojima fails his challenge.
5b. Shunma Katsumata submitted Kazuki Hirata with a Crab Hold (4:04). *Toy Kojima fails his challenge.
5c. Kazuki Hirata pinned Shunma Katsumata with the Miracle One Shot Cradle (7:42). *Toy Kojima fails his challenge.
5d. Shunma Katsumata pinned Kazuki Hirata with a School Boy (8:33). *Toy Kojima passes his challenge. Kazuki Hirata fails in V6. Shunma Katsumata becomes the 59th DDT Extreme Champion!
6. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles – DEAD OR ALIVE Contra DEAD OR ALIVE: Jun Akiyama, Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi (c) defeated Hikaru Sato, Kazusada Higuchi & Ryo Kawamura when Oishi pinned Kawamura with the Jikiden Tornado Clutch (8:20). *V3 for D.O.A.
7. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA defeated Naruki Doi with the Wagamama (10:58).
8. KO-D Openweight Title: Yuki Ueno (c) defeated Yukio Naya with the Twister (23:35). *V1 for Yuki Ueno.
Yuki Ueno’s run as KO-D Openweight Champion has just begun and in his first defence he put down Yukio Naya, shutting down the D-Oh Grand Prix winner’s momentum. The champion went for big dives from the get go but took high risk damage of his own when Naya gave him an Avalanche Choke Slam. Naya also blocked the BME with his knees and used a Wrist-Clutch Back Drop. Ueno was only able to break the pin thanks to a rope break. He switched to using Dropkicks and got a nearfall with the BME. Naya tried fighting back using Knee Strikes but Ueno grabbed him in a Face Lock and pulled him into a Twister hold, making Naya give up. After the match Ueno said Naya has nothing to be ashamed about. He is a great wrestler not because he crawled from the bottom up to the top but because he uses pro wrestling to stand up for himself. Ueno will take what he learned from Naya today and carry them on his own shoulders.
Ueno was told the next KO-D Title defence is scheduled for 17th March. He expected to hear that and already has an opponent in mind. He wants to defend the KO-D Title against Danshoku Dieno and he is willing to do it before the mandatory March defence. The 37KAMIINA will be holding a produce show in Shinjuku FACE on 14th February and Ueno can defend the title against Dieno there. Sanshiro Takagi entered the ring and told Ueno his request cannot be met. The KO-D Title is DDT’s top championship and its matches need to attract large audiences. Ueno explained he does not want this match for the venue size or as an easy title defence. He chooses Dieno because Dieno is the most amazing guy and interesting wrestler in DDT. Takagi accepted his reasoning and gave permission for the match to go ahead. Dieno told Ueno what he said to Jun Akiyama three years ago. He knows the champ will not let him win and DDT does not want him to become the KO-D Champion but if you flash the belt in front of his face he is going to want it! And if he does win the belt who knows what direction he will take DDT in!
The semi-main event was a first time ever meeting between Konosuke Takeshita and Naruki Doi. Takeshita dealt a big blow by giving Doi a Brainbuster on the floor outside the ring. Back in the ring Doi had to rely on speed to try and keep one step ahead of his opponent’s power. He used the V9 Clutch to counter a Lariat for a nearfall. There was one power spot Doi got the better of. That was for a Brainbuster that led to the Doi 555 and Bakatare Sliding Kick combo for another two count. Takeshita blocked the Muscular Bomb and used Doi’s rolling attempt to throw him over with a German Suplex. He then hit the Wagamama to get the victory. Takeshita called it a fun match that made him feel like Takeshita the young wrestling fan again. He never forgets that feeling wherever he goes. He wants to fight Doi again and next time it should be in America.
The D.O.A branding is safe again for the time being. The name was up for grabs along with the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles for the second time after Hikaru Sato complained about his catchphrase being stolen by them. Akiyama was the first one to stand against Sato and Kazusada Higuchi in the ring. Ryo Kawamura ended up sparring with Dieno and made the mistake of putting him in a Triangle Choke. Makoto Oishi kept trying to bring out wasabi and eventually succeeded in wiping it over Dieno’s backside. Both of them regretted it when Kawamura shoved Oishi face first in there but Oishi recovered and flash pinned Kawamura with the Jikiden Tornado Clutch. He celebrated the successful title defence by saying he is well aware that other people use the phrase “Dead Or Alive” so we are all D.O.A! He hoped Akiyama & Dieno would join in but he was left alone in the ring. Sato questioned if the team really are D.O.A because they show no intentions of staying alive and act like they only want to die.
The fate of the DDT Extreme Title all rested on Toy Kojima’s shoulders. Kazuki Hirata and Shunma Katsumata were wrestling each other under 2-Count Fall rules for the belt but the match result would only stand if Kojima could pass a challenge given to him backstage. He didn’t have to wait long for his first task because Hirata pinned Katsumata with the Miracle One Shot Cradle in under a minute. Kojima had to endure bumps for 30 seconds but he couldn’t so the match restarted. Katsumata then submitted Hirata with a Crab Hold so Kojima’s task was to drink a bottle of cola in one go. He couldn’t do that either. Hirata pinned Katsumata with the Miracle Cradle again so Kojima had to play Pop-Up Pirate for 10 turns without losing. He lost in the first turn. Katsumata used a School Boy to pin Hirata so Kojima had to play with a Kendama toy. He was given three goals to swing the ball onto the cup. He did it on his third and final go, making Katsumata the new Extreme Champion!
Katsumata thanked Hirata for coming up with such a fun ruleset. He also announced that after talking with the other members of the group, Kazuki Hirata has been accepted as the newest member of The 37KAMIINA! Unfortunately Hirata changed his mind and no longer wants to be part of the team. Why? Because he wants to create his own brand new unit instead! He later found Naruki Doi backstage and kept pestering him to join this new stable. Doi is reluctant but may have been talked into joining. Meanwhile Katsumata was asked for who he wants his challenger to be for his first defence on 17th March. He suggested Hideki Okatani so they could renew their rivalry over the title. However MJ Paul then came out to attack Okatani, handed Katsumata a piece of paper saying he wanted to challenge him and then he attacked Katsumata too. Katsumata and Okatani worked together to fend off Paul’s attack. Hisaya Imabayashi came up with a solution. Okatani and Paul will face each other on 7th February and the winner will get the title shot for 17th March.
MAO was having a big birthday bash and invited the likes of TAKA Michinoku and CDK to be at the party. One present he got was to be the headpiece of the Kaientai spot with poor Masahiro Takanashi being the victim. Somehow Chris Brookes got to be on the good side of that present. CDK fought back using their double team moves to wrap their opponents into each other but it couldn’t get them the win. Instead TAKA dropped Takanashi with the Michinoku Driver II and MAO pinned him with the Cannonball 450. MAO is happy to start off being 27 years old with a win. He said no matter where his career goes, TAKA Michinoku’s name will always be around him because he is his hero. TAKA said he is proud to be an influence to people outside of K-DOJO and JTO. He calls MAO one of the few genius young wrestlers he’s seen and that geniuses often don’t see it in themselves. He is sure he can become the KO-D Champion some day. CDK were disappointed to lose but everyone in SCHADENFREUDE International was happy to see Brookes be healthy and wrestle again.
Today was the final time Yukio Sakaguchi would wrestle in Korakuen Hall. He was given a singles match against his former Eruption teammate Hideki Okatani for the occasion. It was a chance for Sakaguchi to test how Okatani could fight by himself. Okatani took all the kicks he could and fought back with the Double Arm Suplex. But Sakaguchi blocked the Quetzalcoatl and put Okatani down with the God’s Right Knee to end the match. His message to Okatani backstage was to ask what is his strength? He needs to find that answer in order to change from what he is now. Okatani thanked Sakaguchi for the lesson and will use the DDT ring to show him what he learned.
The services of Bryan Keith were used by DAMNATION T.A to fight what’s currently left of BURNING along with Rukiya. MJ Paul interfered to take the Spear from Yuki Iino instead of KANON. Keith used the Emerald Tiger Driver on Rukiya then left him for the others to pick at the pieces. Daisuke Sasaki & KANON used a Vietnam Driver & Diving Elbow combination called the Freedom Call to finish Rukiya off. Sasaki called BURNING worthless and thinks the group should disband. KANON made fun of them, telling them to go home and drink their mothers’ protein. Iino complained about KANON needing Paul’s help because he doesn’t want to take the Spear. Tetsuya Endo thinks he needs to improve his accuracy because today’s performance wasn’t up to snuff. But he is confident that if he and Iino hit DAMNATION T.A right, they will win the KO-D Tag Team Titles from them.
The opening match went ahead with No Tag Rules. Takagi quickly gave Kazuma Sumi the Stunner but was then caught in a Train Attack that included the referee getting involved. HARASHIMA and Toru Owashi got to fight each other until Akito came in to target HARASHIMA’s leg. So did Tomoya and Shinichiro Kawamatsu in what turned out to be a battle between pro wrestling politicians. Antonio Honda paused the match for his Gongitsune joke but it backfired. Yuni gave Takeshi Masada a Tornado DDT but then missed a Moonsault aimed for Sumi. That allowed Sumi to roll up the school boy with the School Boy for the win.
The first set of wrestlers to enter this year’s King Of DDT are a mix of previous winners and finalists to mark the 20th Anniversary of the tournament. Poison Sawada JULIE (2004 winner), Sanshiro Takagi (2009 finalist), Danshoku Dieno (2012 finalist), HARASHIMA (2010 & 2013 winner, 2017 finalist) and Shuji Ishikawa (2016 winner) have all been announced to be taking part.
Kaisei Takechi’s debut match on 25th February has him teaming up with Yuki Ueno & Shunma Katsumata. They will be against Tetsuya Endo, Hideki Okatani & Takeshi Masada.
GANBARE☆JOSHI “GANJO WINNING SHOT ’24”, 16/01/2024 Shin-Kiba 1st RING
1. Alex Lee & Riara Vs Kaho Kobayashi & Itsuki Aoki
2. Ice Ribbon Offer Match: Ibuki Hoshi & Kaho Matsushita Vs Arisa Shinose & Tsukina Umino
3. SAKI Vs Banny Oikawa
4. Sumire Natsu & YuuRI Vs Yuu & Yoshiko Hasegawa
The next Ganbare☆Joshi show takes place tomorrow.
BAKA GAIJIN + FRIENDS “VOL. ELEVEN: STRANGE BUT NOT A STRANGER”, 17/01/2024 Tokyo ARENA Shimokitazawa
1. 2-On-1 Hardcore Match: Shunma Katsumata Vs Mad Dr. Ueki & Mecha Mummy
Only one match announced so far for this month’s Baka Gaijin + Friends show. It was originally supposed to be Shunma Katsumata against Mecha Mummy but Katsumata complained about getting an uninteresting opponent for his first Baka Gaijin show. So plans changed and Katsumata now has to fight both Mummy & Mad Dr. Ueki in a Handicap Hardcore match.
Also scheduled to appear on the show are Chris Brookes, MAO, Masahiro Takanashi, Antonio Honda, Gota Ihashi and Munetatsu Nakamura.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “THE 4TH “FUTARI WA PRINCESS” MAX HEART TOURNAMENT”, 20/01/2024 Tokyo Shinagawa Prince Hotel Club eX
1. Yuki Aino, Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe Vs Suzume, Arisu Endo & Shino Suzuki
2. “Futari wa Princess” Max Heart Tournament – Round 1A: Kaya Toribami & Haru Kazashiro Vs Yuki Arai & Wakana Uehara
3. “Futari wa Princess” Max Heart Tournament – Round 1B: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao Vs Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu
4. “Futari wa Princess” Max Heart Tournament – Round 1C: Nao Kakuta & HIMAWARI Vs Raku & Pom Harajuku
5. “Futari wa Princess” Max Heart Tournament – Round 1D: Miyu Yamashita & Toga Vs Moka Miyamoto & Juria Nagano
The Max Heart Tournament begins this weekend!
Mizuki will not be at the show because of a scheduling conflict.
DDT “NEW YEAR FAN APPRECIATION DAY!”, 20/01/2024 Tokyo Shinagawa Prince Hotel Club eX
1. 4 Way Tag Match: Yuki Ueno & Kazuki Hirata Vs HARASHIMA & Kazusada Higuchi Vs Yoshitatsu & Akito Vs Yuki Iino & Yusuke Okada
2. New Year’s Six Major Single Match: KANON Vs Yuni
3. New Year’s Six Major Single Match: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Ilusion
4. New Year’s Six Major Single Match: Danshoku Dieno Vs Kazuma Sumi
5. New Year’s Six Major Single Match: Yukio Naya Vs Takeshi Masada
6. New Year’s Six Major Single Match: Jun Akiyama Vs Rukiya
7. New Year’s Six Major Single Match: Tetsuya Endo Vs Hideki Okatani
8. Special 6-Man Tag Match: MAO, Shunma Katsumata & Makoto Oishi Vs Bryan Keith, Soma Takao & Shota
Toy Kojima got injured in yesterday’s match and was diagnosed with a fractured rib. He will be out of action for a month and is expected to be back on 14th February. A lot of the DDT cards for the next month have to be changed around due to his absence.
DDT “SWEET DREAMS! 2024 TOUR IN SHINAGAWA”, 21/01/2024 Tokyo Shinagawa Prince Hotel Club eX
1. Jun Akiyama, Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi Vs HARASHIMA, Hideki Okatani & Kazuma Sumi
2. Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino Vs Takeshi Masada & Rukiya
3. Kazuki Hirata & Yuni Vs Akito & Yusuke Okada
4. Special Single Match: Kazusada Higuchi Vs MJ Paul
5. Special Tag Match: Yuki Ueno & Shunma Katsumata Vs Yukio Naya & Yoshitatsu
6. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Soma Takao & Shota (c) Vs Daisuke Sasaki & KANON
7. DDT Universal Title: MAO (c) Vs Bryan Keith
At least both Yuni and Kazuma Sumi will be well again to come back and wrestle this weekend.
DDT “SWEET DREAMS! 2024”, 28/01/2024 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. Special 10-Man Tag Match: Sanshiro Takagi, Toru Owashi, Akito, Shinichiro Kawamatsu & Rukiya Vs HARASHIMA, Tomoya, Antonio Honda, Takeshi Masada & Kazuma Sumi
2. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo, Yuki Iino & Yusuke Okada Vs Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & Bryan Keith (w/ MJ Paul)
3. MAO Birthday Commemorative Match: MAO & TAKA Michinoku Vs Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi
4. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs Naruki Doi
5. Yukio Sakaguchi Korakuen Final Match ~ Special Single Match: Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Hideki Okatani
5. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles – DEAD OR ALIVE Contra DEAD OR ALIVE: Jun Akiyama, Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi (c) Vs Hikaru Sato, Kazusada Higuchi & Ryo Kawamura
6. DDT Extreme Title: Kazuki Hirata (c) Vs Shunma Katsumata
7. KO-D Openweight Title: Yuki Ueno (c) Vs Yukio Naya
It is on short notice but we are only getting a few more Yukio Sakaguchi matches until he retires next month. One of his requests is to have a singles match against Hideki Okatani. Now that Eruption has ended Sakaguchi wants to see for himself just how much Okatani has progressed as he starts the next chapter of his career.
Kojima’s injury has led to Shinichiro Kawamatsu getting booked for his first wrestling match of the year.
DDT “INTO THE FIGHT 2024 TOUR IN NAGANO”, 04/02/2024 Nagano Act Hall
1. Special Tag Match: Yukio Sakaguchi & Antonio Honda Vs Kazuki Hirata & Kazusada Higuchi
2. Nagano Specialty Special 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Toru Owashi & Yoshihiko Vs Danshoku Dieno, Makoto Oishi & Tetsuya Endo
Another match being specially put together for Sakaguchi is a tag match involving some of his favorite people to wrestle with. He and Kazusada Higuchi always hit hard as tag partners and opponents. Antonio Honda and Kazuki Hirata are at the opposite end of the scale. Their comedy antics always made Sakaguchi laugh.
DDT “INTO THE FIGHT 2024 TOUR IN SHINJUKU”, 07/02/2024 Shinjuku FACE
1. Yukio Sakaguchi Retirement Match: Yukio Sakaguchi Vs HARASHIMA
Sakaguchi chose HARASHIMA to be his opponent for his retirement match.
Ryuki Honda and Yuma Anzai from All Japan will both be on the show.
Talent announced for the show so far are Yuki Ueno, MAO, Kazuki Hirata, Konosuke Takeshita, Tetsuya Endo, Daisuke Sasaki, Chris Brookes, Shunma Katsumata, KANON, Takeshi Masada and Yoshihiko.
DDT “INTO THE FIGHT 2024 TOUR IN SHINJUKU”, 07/02/2024 Shinjuku FACE
1. Yukio Sakaguchi Retirement Match: Yukio Sakaguchi Vs HARASHIMA
An emergency press conference was held by DDT in Shibuya today for the announcement that Yukio Sakaguchi will soon retire from pro wrestling. His final match will take place on 7th February. Sakaguchi said his reason for retiring is a personal matter but it is not because of lost motivation or declining physical ability. He is currently 50 years old and originally thought to keep wrestling until he was 55. However he thinks everybody in the business knows when the day they want to retire will come and for Sakaguchi that day has come to him now. Sanshiro Takagi wanted Sakaguchi to reconsider and tried to pursuade him to stay because he still has a lot to offer as an older brother figure to the rest of the roster. Instead Sakaguchi could not be convinced and is sticking with his decision.
Sakaguchi does not want his road to retirement to last long so he is only wrestling a couple more matches until his retirement bout. Three of them will be in DDT and he also has a booking in Taiwan next week. He remembers when his father Seiji Sakaguchi retired it was in a tag team match with Kengo Kimura. It was a normal match but still very memorable which is why Sakaguchi does not want to do anything drastic for his own retirement match. He has chosen HARASHIMA to be his final opponent because he holds a lot of respect for him and they have been regular opponents in DDT. Sakaguchi has already told his father about his decision to retire.
Sakaguchi was asked about his favorite memories in DDT. He said his family was always involved in pro wrestling. When he was a child his playground was the New Japan dojo. It felt like destiny he would become a pro wrestler. However he grew up resenting the Sakaguchi name due to his strained relationship with his father and brother. He even wanted to change his surname so he could finally escape it. Joining DDT gave him the freedom to be himself and have fun. He got to wrestle wearing pantyhose over his head, get drunk at Beer Garden shows, have hard hitting fights with the likes of HARASHIMA, Shigehiro Irie & Naomi Yoshimura, laughing at the silly jokes Antonio Honda & Kazuki Hirata came up with and forming Eruption with Kazusada Higuchi & Saki Akai. DDT was where this serious and scary looking man covered in tattoos could go do stupid things inside a ring. He has so many memories he could write a book about them.
There was a question asking if Sakaguchi would still be retiring if Eruption did not lost the All Asia Tag Team Titles yesterday. He went into the match treating it like Eruption must split up if they lost. He admits he would still go through with this announcement if Eruption were still the champions and he would have held onto the belts until retirement. He praised his tag partner Hideki Okatani for growing tremendously over the last couple of months. For that reason Sakaguchi also asked for a singles match against Okatani to happen before he retires. That match will take place on 28th January.
DDT “NEW YEAR’S CURRENT BLAST! 2024”, 14/01/2024 Kanagawa Tsurumi Fruit & Vegetable Market 220 Fans – Super No Vacancy
1. Wind And Clouds! Takagi Castle Match: Kazuki Hirata & Danshoku Dieno defeated Sanshiro Takagi, HARASHIMA & Masahiro Takanashi when Takagi’s team were unable to build the Castle (10:00).
2. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo, Yuki Iino & Yusuke Okada defeated Yoshitatsu, Kazusada Higuchi & Akito when Iino pinned Akito with the Spear (10:56).
3. Special Single Match: Daisuke Sasaki defeated Shota with the Crossface Lock (8:58).
4. Special Single Match: Soma Takao defeated KANON with the Sorarina (8:24).
5. Special 4 Way Match: Demonio Uno defeated MAO, Mecha Mummy and Mecha Pandita when Uno pinned Pandita after Pandita was run over with a car (14:06).
6. Special Tag Match: Yuki Ueno & Shunma Katsumata defeated Yukio Naya & Rukiya when Katsumata pinned Rukiya with the Totonou Splash (15:32).
7. All Asia Tag Team Titles – Current Blast Bat & Board Tag Death Match: Atsushi Onita & Toy Kojima defeated Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani (c) when Kojima pinned Okatani after a Sandwich Current Blast Bat Full Swing with Onita (11:36). *Eruption fails in V2. DDO becomes the 122nd All Asia Tag Team Champions!
Once again the All Asia Tag Team Titles have been taken by Atsushi Onita. This time around Toy Kojima is his partner in crime, earning the first proper championship of his career. They defeated Eruption in an Exploding Bat & Board Death Match where the items were rigged with three and a half times the amount of explosives than they normally would be. Onita himself took the first explosion when Yukio Sakaguchi hit him with a baseball bat. Kojima grabbed the bat and hit Sakaguchi with an explosion for revenge. Sakaguchi got his own back by Power Bombing Kojima through an exploding board. Onita blinded Hideki Okatani with the Poison Mist. Together with Kojima, they each grabbed an exploding bat and hit Okatani with it at the same time. Kojima then pinned him for the three count.
The team known as Dramatic Dream Onita (or DDO for short) celebrated their prize and left ringside. That left Eruption defeated in the ring. Sakaguchi had said leading up to the match that they were going to fight as if they would disband if they lost. It turns out he was living up to his word and Eruption are splitting up as of today! Okatani said everyone in Eruption helped get him to this point but he cannot rely on Sakaguchi forever. From here on out Okatani is going to tell his own story. The final two members of Eruption then thanked the fans for their support, took off their Eruption shirts and left them behind in the ring.
As for DDO they already have new plans in the works after becoming the All Asia Tag Champions. Onita wants to bring the belts back to All Japan! Kojima will follow him, ready to make an explosion anytime, anywhere. There is also a third member of DDO that should not be forgotten about. Shunma Katsumata is on their side and wants the three of them to challenge for the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles! If they win they will then exclusively defend the titles in exploding death matches! DDO is ready to take over DDT!
Yuki Ueno had some harsh words for Yukio Naya after their tag match. He said it cannot be helped whenever Naya loses a match and he just rushes home. Being strong is not enough to take the KO-D Openweight Title from Ueno. If all Naya has is strength then there is no way he will win at Korakuen Hall on 28th January. Naya brushed off the comments and said he is looking forward to the actual title match. He is strong now and able to beat Ueno.
Kazuki Hirata is trying to gain membership into The 37KAMIINA even if it is just temporary. He tried interviewing Ueno & Katsumata after their match and joined in on the NeppoWER!! pose. However that does not mean he’s been fully accepted into the unit yet.
Fresh back from America, MAO had a lot of crazy ideas he wanted to do so DDT stuck him in a match with Mecha Mummy, Mecha Pandita and Demonio Uno. That way when things went out of control no living creature under contract to DDT would be harmed. MAO brought out a bazooka that shot fireworks at Mummy and then drove a van into Pandita. Demonio took advantage and pinned Pandita to win.
The latest batch of matches between ROMANCE DAWN and DAMNATION T.A has resulted in ROMANCE DAWN declaring war on their enemies! Daisuke Sasaki cheated to beat Shota by using a chair and giving him a Low Blow. Sasaki then immediately tried to interfere in the match between Soma Takao and KANON but Shota was right behind him to get back in his way. In the chaos Sasaki hit KANON with a chair by mistake and Takao used the opportunity to get the win. Shota complained about Sasaki’s attitude and said ROMANCE DAWN will still be the top tag team throughout 2024.
The opening match had to be changed in the last minute because Yuni caught the flu and couldn’t be at the show. So instead the other five wrestlers came up with a new match type. Sanshiro Takagi, HARASHIMA & Masahiro Takanashi were given the task of building a castle of chairs inside the ring within a 10 minute time limit. It was up to Hirata & Danshoku Dieno to stop them and knock over the castle whenever they could. If Takagi’s team couldn’t complete the castle after 10 minutes then Hirata & Dieno were the winners.
DDT “SWEET DREAMS! 2024 TOUR IN SHINJUKU”, 05/01/2024 Shinjuku FACE 225 Fans
1. Soma Takao & Kazuma Sumi defeated Kazusada Higuchi & Ilusion when Takao pinned Ilusion with the Perfect Driver (7:40).
2. Eruption Vs D.O.A!: Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani defeated Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi when Okatani submitted Oishi with the Modified Dragon Sleeper (11:01).
3. Jun Akiyama, Yoshitatsu & Yukio Naya defeated Akito, Yuki Iino & Rukiya when Naya submitted Rukiya with a Crab Hold (11:24).
4. DISASTER BOX Final Match: HARASHIMA defeated Toru Owashi and Kazuki Hirata when HARASHIMA pinned Hirata with the Somato (20:22).
5. BURNING Vs DAMNATION T.A!: Daisuke Sasaki & KANON defeated Tetsuya Endo & Yusuke Okada when Sasaki submitted Okada with the Crossface Lock (11:01).
6. KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles: Masahiro Takanashi, Antonio Honda, Takayuki Ueki, Takeshi Masada & Mecha Mummy defeated Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata, Toy Kojima, Yuni & Yoshihiko (c) when Honda pinned Katsumata with a Leg Fold Hold (23:57). *The 37KAMIINA & Shinya Aoki fails in V1. SCHADENFREUDE International & Baka Gaijin + Friends become the 9th KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Champions!
Before the show took place today Chris Brookes informed the combined forces of SCHADENFREUDE International and Baka Gaijin + Friends that if they lost in the main event he would disband the unit. It was just the motivation the ragtag group of wrestlers needed to beat the fractured combination of The 37KAMIINA, Yuni & Yoshihiko. The Rocket Fist belonging to Mecha Mummy saw plenty of use while Takayuki Ueki pulled out a pistol to threaten Shunma Katsumata with. Honda used the Rocket Fist to power up his Diving Fist Drop but he missed the move. Katsumata was just as bad with the follow up because Honda dodged it and rolled him up with a Leg Fold hold to get the three count.
The new KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Champions celebrated with their titles. Honda thanked everyone for giving him their strength so he could win for the team. He promised to protect the titles until Chris Brookes is safely able to wrestle again. When he does come back Honda said he will fire Mecha Mummy from the team so Brookes can get back in. Backstage Takeshi Masada said they no longer have to worry about splitting up because they won so now they can grow and become a masterpiece. The new champions are willing to defend the belts against any five things no matter what they are. It all depends on whenever DDT wants to use this championship again for a title match.
Yuki Ueno, Katsumata & Toy Kojima are looking on the bright side despite losing the titles. When they were doing their post-match interview backstage they came across Kazuki Hirata sitting in a cardboard box marked “Discarded Wrestler”. Kojima felt sorry for him and asked the others if any of them can take him in for shelter? They can’t so they told Kojima to leave him alone and they all walked off.
DAMNATION T.A used the numbers game to beat BURNING. It was a normal tag match but MJ Paul interfered and gave Yusuke Okada a German Suplex. KANON followed up with a Lariat and Daisuke Sasaki finished him off with the Pedigree and Crossface Lock. After the match Sasaki asked Endo if he made his decision to join DAMNATION T.A so they can create a new world together. Endo refused, telling Sasaki there is no way he will join and the DAMNATION he knew is already gone. Sasaki gave him a Low Blow and attacked him with a chair until Yuki Iino suddenly ran out for the save and took out the three DAMNATION T.A wrestlers. With the ring cleared of danger, Iino then asked Endo if he could join BURNING? Endo accepted, calling Iino the piece that Jun Akiyama left out for them to find.
The last battle of DISASTER BOX pitted HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi and Hirata against each other. That wasn’t all because former members Yuki Ueno and Naomi Yoshimura appeared during the match to read out goodbye letters they wrote for the group. HARASHIMA, Owashi and Hirata all put on Hirata GO! glasses for one last dance together before Owashi gave Hirata a Choke Slam. All of the glasses were then placed on Hirata’s head and HARASHIMA gave him the Somato to win the match. Owashi said DISASTER BOX is now on hiatus but the relationship between himself and HARASHIMA will last forever. The same goes for his teacher-student relationship with Hirata. The three can still team up together and whenever they do, they will make everyone smile.
Yoshitatsu’s first match as a regular means a lot to him because he got to be in the ring with Jun Akiyama again. He also recognises how important it is to be in the ring with Yukio Naya because Naya just won the D-Oh Grand Prix. Yoshitatsu admits he isn’t able to compete on their level right away but he is confident he can adapt to the DDT style.
Both Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi arrived for their match wearing pairs of pantyhose over their faces. They also offered pairs for Eruption to wear too. Yukio Sakaguchi volunteered to have Oishi put them on him and he scolded Hideki Okatani whenever he laughed because Okatani was ordered to take the match seriously. Okatani eventually put the pantyhose on his face and gave Oishi a Dragon Sleeper to make him give up. Afterwards Eruption reminded everyone they are the All Asia Tag Team Champions and there are no other champions like them.
DDT “D-OH GRAND PRIX 2023 THE FINAL”, 03/01/2024 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 1,194 Fans – Super No Vacancy
1. Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul defeated Soma Takao, Yuki Iino & Yuni when KANON submitted Takao with the Cobra Twist 2.0 (8:15).
2. Jun Akiyama & Makoto Oishi defeated Yusuke Okada & Kazuma Sumi when Oishi submitted Sumi with the Fujiyama Knee Lock (7:42).
3. Special Tag Match ~ Shunma Katsumata Return Match: Shunma Katsumata & Toy Kojima defeated Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani when Kojima pinned Okatani with a Modified Facebuster (9:37).
4. HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata defeated Sanshiro Takagi, Akito & Antonio Honda when Hirata pinned Honda with the Miracle One Shot Cradle (12:05).
5. Special Tag Match ~ DDT Vs AJPW: Jun Saito & Rei Saito defeated Kazusada Higuchi & Rukiya when Rei pinned Rukiya with the Saito Iginari Smash (11:40).
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Kuroshio TOKYO Japan defeated Christmas Tree (c) by Pinfall (8:11 pm). *Kuroshio TOKYO Japan becomes the 1,600th champion.
6. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Kuroshio TOKYO Japan defeated Danshoku Dieno with the Ikemenrana (12:31). *V1 for Kuroshio TOKYO Japan.
7. The 37KAMIINA Vs SCHADENFREUDE International!: Yuki Ueno & Yuki Iino defeated Masahiro Takanashi & Takeshi Masada when Ueno pinned Masada with the Jul.2 (10:28).
8. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – Final: Yukio Naya defeated Tetsuya Endo with The World’s Best Back Drop (26:59).
At the end of 2022 Yukio Naya made it all the way to the D-Ou Grand Prix final but could not win the tournament. He made it his goal to do one better in the 2023 Grand Prix and right here at the start of 2024 he achieved it! Tetsuya Endo was also determined to win today’s final but he couldn’t defeat Naya even with Exploder Suplexes, Spinning Torture Rack Bombs and Burning Star Presses. The last move in particular was blocked by Naya and served him the opening to take over the match. Endo relied on Rolling Chops to try and get back into it but Naya cut him off with Knee Lifts and a Choke Slam for a nearfall. Naya then overpowered Endo with The World’s Best Back Drop to put him away and win the Grand Prix!
Naya burst into tears after the match when Kenta Kobashi presented him with the trophy and posed with him for a photo. Naya thanked everyone for supporting him from his family to everyone in DDT. This means so much to him because a few years ago nobody ever thought he could compete at this level. He still has one dream that hasn’t come true yet and that is to win the KO-D Openweight Title! He called Yuki Ueno down to the ring and challenged him for the championship so everyone will see who really is the strongest in DDT. Ueno accepted but told him the title should be held by the most interesting guy in DDT. The title match will take place at Korakuen Hall on 28th January.
As for Endo, he thought 2024 was going to start out well for him because he was on the winning team of the Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament on New Year’s Eve. But after losing to Naya today he now feels like he fell to the bottom of DDT and has to climb out of Hell. Then suddenly backstage Daisuke Sasaki approached Endo after his post-match interview with the media. Sasaki explained the reason why Endo lost today is because he did not have Jun Akiyama next to him. But that also means there is nothing tying down Endo anymore either. Sasaki suggested that Endo does not need BURNING anymore and they should go change the world together. But before Endo could respond, Sasaki told him to relax and think about what he just said because they will see each other again soon.
Ueno was meant to team with MAO in the semi-main event but MAO had fever symptoms and was pulled from the show. Parts of the card were changed around and Ueno got to team with Yuki Iino instead. Masahiro Takanashi & Takeshi Masada jumped them early but Ueno & Iino quickly rallied together. Things went pair shaped when Iino’s Lariat missed Masada and hit Ueno by mistake. Masada tried to capitalise but Ueno held on until he could counter attack and pin Masada with the Jul.2. The result left SCHADENFREUDE International feeling disappointed because Chris Brookes was in attendance for the first time since getting his surgery. Brookes suggested they disband right away but everyone else convinced him not to. Instead they figured out Masada can get revenge on Ueno beating him today by pinning him for the KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles in two days time!
After Danshoku Dieno made his entrance to the ring for his match, footage was shown of Kuroshio TOKYO Japan and Seigo Tachibana hanging out backstage. They opened a nearby locker and out fell the Christmas Tree that won the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title on Christmas Eve! Tachibana decided to pin the tree but Kuroshio stopped him and stole the pin to become the champion instead. Kuroshio then forced Tachibana to get into the ring with Dieno while he completed his long and elaborate entrance. Dieno kept Tachibana in the Lip Lock while Kuroshio pranced around the audience until his theme song looped back to the beginning. He finally attacked Dieno to start the match and they brawled through the crowd with the back of their tights all pulled down. The fight went up to the commentary table where Kenta Kobashi was seated. Dieno tried to stumble over for a kiss but Kobashi sent him away with a Chop. The match returned to the ring where Tachibana tried to get involved again. He ended up getting a water bottle shoved up his rear by Dieno that Kuroshio then had to pull out. Makoto Oishi forcibly filled Dieno’s mouth with wasabi but the Lip Lock missed Kuroshio and landed on Tachibana instead. Kuroshio then rubbed the wasabi onto his crotch and pinned Dieno with a Hurricanrana to retain the Iron Man Title. Backstage he admitted he doesn’t even know what this championship is. He likes it but wants to win a proper title as well as compete in DDT more often in 2024.
If DDT thought they were now safe from The Saito Brothers bringing them doom then they are sorely mistaken. Rei Saito had one more appearance left for them and this time he brought along his brother Jun Saito. The two of them fought Kazuasada Higuchi & Rukiya. Higuchi did a good job handling them in the ring but it was a more difficult challenge for Rukiya. In the end they just couldn’t handle so much doom. Jun used a Lariat to take out Higuchi and then The Saito Brothers together threw down Rukiya with a Double Choke Slam for the win. Rei said next time he is going to beat up Rukiya even more! Jun however showed interest in seeing Higuchi show up in All Japan some day. Apparently Higuchi and The Saito Brothers already have a history together going back to their sumo days over a decade ago.
For the final time the three main members of DISASTER BOX all teamed together and they finished the occasion with a win. Toru Owashi brought along the lucha to fight Akito while HARASHIMA suddenly had bad flashbacks when Sanshiro Takagi started using Hiroshi Tanahashi’s moves on him to celebrate the New Japan wrestler’s promotion to company president. Antonio Honda relied on Gongitsune like he always does but Kazuki Hirata’s eyes were protected by his Hirata GO! glasses. The deflected attack allowed Hirata to pin Honda with the Miracle One Shot Cradle.
After the match HARASHIMA told the others DISASTER BOX is going away but it will always feel like the unit is still around whenever they are together. They all left the ring together when Shunma Katsumata suddenly ran out and dragged Hirata back into the ring. Without taking any breaths Katsumata challenged Hirata for the DDT Extreme Title. He was the previous champion who had to vacate the title due to injury but admitted Hirata has become the kind of Extreme Champion he always wanted to be. They agreed to have the title match on 28th January.
Katsumata’s challenge came shorty after his return match from injury. He teamed with Toy Kojima to take on Eruption. He made sure to start off the match against Hideki Okatani and even thanked him for waiting all this time for him to return. But it was Kojima who stole the spotlight by using a new Spinning Flapjack move to pin Okatani for the 3 count. After a brief staredown with Yukio Sakaguchi, Kojima told Eruption this will be the same when they fight in the exploding death match on 14th January! Katsumata said now that he’s back, The 37KAMIINA will make DDT more hotter than ever!
Jun Akiyama & Makoto Oishi gave Kazuma Sumi a tough night in the ring. Yusuke Okada was there to help out until he missed a Diving Headbutt aimed for Akiyama. Sumi found his second wind and used Oishi as a footstep to Dropkick Akiyama off the ring apron. However Oishi dodged the Mickey Boomerang and planed Sumi with the Miracle Ecstasy. That would have been the end but Akiyama pushed Oishi away during the pin and gave Sumi an Exploder Suplex as payback for the Dropkick. Oishi then made Sumi tap out to the Fujiyama Knee Lock.
DAMNATION T.A now find themselves in the midst of a KO-D Tag Team Titles shot after they won the opening match. Sasaki took out Yuni with a Spear and then tricked the referee into distracting Shota because he was holding a chair. While that was going on Sasaki hit Soma Takao with another chair and KANON applied the Cobra Twist 2.0 for the submission win. Afterwards KANON wished ROMANCE DAWN to have a miserable new year and declared himself and Sasaki as their next challengers. The two sides agreed to have the match on 21st January. Sasaki insulted Shota for claiming he is a part of the Young Communication generation. According to Sasaki, Shota was only a supporting role and that name should only be used for the likes of Shigehiro Irie and Keisuke Ishii!
The first DDT show of the year means a lot of big announcements to get through along with other major news stories. First, the DDT Vs All Japan rivalry will continue throughout 2024. Ryuki Honda and Yuma Anzai will be at the 7th February DDT show in Shinjuku. Then on 17th March at DDT’s 27th Anniversary show Konosuke Takeshita will face Yuma Aoyagi one on one! Aoyagi was in attendance to greet the fans after the announcement. He hoped Takeshita would be here too but he has to wait until 17th March to show Takeshita his own Dramatic Dream. Later backstage Aoyagi told reporters he would also like to face Yuki Ueno for the KO-D Title too!
Kaisei Takechi sent in a video to promote his pro wrestling debut on 25th February. The celebrity who is part of THE RAMPAGE from EXILE TRIBE told fans he worked with DDT wrestlers during the filming of Fukumen D and felt indebted to them. He is very happy to repay them by doing this match. This is just his first step into the pro wrestling world and he is honored to do it on such a wonderful stage.
Student pro wrestler Tsubasa Suzuki has applied to DDT as an intern wrestler. He will debut on the 27th Anniversary show on 17th March. Suzuki comes from Hitotsubashi University World Pro Wrestling Alliance and previously appeared on DDT shows a year ago under the ring name “Mother’s Child” Mazakon Kid. The point of an internship is so students can get work experience before starting their careers so he will wrestle on DDT shows for a certain amount of time. At the end DDT will talk with Suzuki and decide if he can join the company. Suzuki told the fans he is the world’s first intern wrestler and promises to do his best to become a beloved member of DDT. He likes high flying wrestling and has a lot of respect for Kota Ibushi and Naomichi Marufuji (bad timing to bring those two names up) so he thinks it will be great if he could become like them (hopefully not in their present forms).
Miu Watanabe appeared in the ring to promote tomorrow’s annual Ittenyon show for Tokyo Joshi Pro. She will be part of the 3 Way Tag Match to determine the new Princess Tag Team Champions.
During the show’s opening ceremony Yoshitatsu appeared and announced he will become a regular part of DDT shows starting on 5th January. The wrestler had just left All Japan over the new year. He said when he fought in DDT a couple of times in 2023 it reminded him of the fun side of pro wrestling that he had forgotten. One match he had with Jun Akiyama in particular stood out for him and he would like to have more tough battles against him. Also DDT working with Chris Jericho and Matt Cardona who he both knew from WWE made it an appealing place for him to look for an opportunity.
Chris Brookes told the fans he would like to come back from his surgery as soon as possible. He feels fine physically but does not know when he can return to wrestling again yet.
The last piece of news came after the show had ended. Sanshiro Takagi announced to reporters he will be taking an indefinite break as a pro wrestler after DDT’s Sumo Hall show on 21st July. He is doing this for several reasons from taking care of his health to concentrating more on managing Cyberfight. He also said he will soon need to begin the process of finding his successor because he believes current management across Japan’s pro wrestling industry is aging out. This is not intended to be him retiring from the ring because he will start wrestling again when his health improves. However he does not know when that will happen which is why he saved this announcement for the media after the show. He may go into more details later this week.
DDT “D-OH GRAND PRIX 2023 IN KORAKUEN HALL”, 24/12/2023 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 761 Fans – No Vacancy
-. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – B Block: Rei Saito (8) defeated Chris Brookes (2) by Forfeit.
1. KANON & MJ Paul defeated Yukio Sakaguchi & Rukiya when KANON submitted Rukiya with the Torture Cobra Twist (4:57).
2. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Battle Royal ~ Toru Owashi Return Match: Toru Owashi defeated The Great Koji (c), Sanshiro Takagi, Kazuki Hirata, Akito, Kazuma Sumi and Poison Sawada JULIE (10:21).
2a. Sanshiro Takagi eliminated Akito by Over The Top Rope (8:25).
2b. Sanshiro Takagi eliminated Kazuma Sumi by Over The Top Rope (8:25).
2c. Sanshiro Takagi eliminated Kazuki Hirata by Over The Top Rope (8:25).
2d. Poison Sawada JULIE eliminated Sanshiro Takagi by Over The Top Rope (8:25).
2e. Poison Sawada JULIE eliminated The Great Koji (c) with the Cattle Mutilation (10:08). *Poison Sawada JULIE becomes the 1,597th champion.
2f. Toru Owashi defeated Poison Sawada JULIE (c) with a School Boy (10:21). *Toru Owashi becomes the 1,598th champion.
3. Special Single Match: Rei Saito defeated Hideki Okatani with the Drill-A-Hole Piledriver (4:43).
4. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Jun Akiyama, Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi (c) defeated Masahiro Takanashi, Antonio Honda & Takeshi Masada when Oishi pinned Honda with a Rotating Cradle (10:41). *V1 for D.O.A.
5. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – B Block: Yukio Naya (8) defeated MAO (6) with The World’s Best Back Drop (10:58).
6. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – A Block: HARASHIMA (4) defeated Daisuke Sasaki (5) with the Somato (6:37).
7. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – A Block: Yuki Iino (4) defeated Yuki Ueno (5) with the Spear (8:14).
8. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – A Block: Tetsuya Endo (6) defeated Kazusada Higuchi (6) with the Burning Star Press (20:37).
– Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Christmas Tree defeated Toru Owashi (c) with a Body Press (1:39 pm). *Christmas Tree becomes the 1,599th champion.
1. Yukio Naya (8)
-. Rei Saito (8)
3. MAO (6)
4. KANON (4)
5. Kazuki Hirata (2)
-. Chris Brookes (2)
Back from the brink, Tetsuya Endo has won the A Block but only just! The last day of group matches in the D-Ou Grand Prix took place at Korakuen Hall on Christmas Eve. Every remaining A Block match had somebody fighting to finish in first so they will qualify for the grand final. The other potential challengers all fell at the final hurdle leaving it all on the line in the main event between Endo and Kazusada Higuchi. Throughout the tournament Endo has been using the Rolling Chop taught to him by Kenta Kobashi. The move here was not enough to put down Higuchi so Endo came up with an even more dangerous idea from Kobashi’s moveset. He wanted to do the Torture Rack Bomb but Higuchi grabbed him with the Brain Claw. Endo resisted and turned the Torture Rack into a Sitout Burning Hammer! He was then able to do the Spinning Torture Rack Bomb but Higuchi kicked out. Endo then hit the Burning Star Press and this time Higuchi was done for, ending the A Block with Endo heading to the final!
The other two frontrunners in the A Block both collapsed, leading to Endo to overtake them. Yuki Ueno was knocked for a loop thanks to Yuki Iino’s Spear. The first one was blocked with a Dropkick but when Ueno went for the WR, Iino countered it with a short-range Spear and pinned last year’s D-Oh winner in an upset! Iino calls the result a very precious victory and he will use this momentum to keep evolving into the next year. Ueno said whether he won or lost in this tournament, he is still the KO-D Openweight Champion coming out of it. He thinks it is still up to him to carry DDT over his back.
Daisuke Sasaki saw his chances of reaching the final blow up in flames thanks to HARASHIMA. Even with MJ Paul at ringside helping him behind the ref’s back, Sasaki fell to the Somato in short order. HARASHIMA credits his battleplan for the win because you have to be careful fighting against Sasaki. He isn’t pleased with only getting 4 points in the tournament but it will spur him on to train harder for next year. Sasaki meanwhile was so upset over his failure to win the Grand Prix that he decided to retire! Then he got cold feet and convinced a nearby reporter to grant permission for him to delay the retirement for one year.
Meeting Endo in the final is Yukio Naya in the B Block. There was only one match left in that group and Naya needed to win or else Rei Saito would go to the final instead. MAO was out of the running due to circumstances out of his control but he still fought like he had a chance to qualify. But despite using the match to get his frustrations out, MAO was hit with Knee Strike after Knee Strike, including one with his kneepad pulled down. It was all over for MAO when he was given The World’s Best Back Drop. He wasn’t happy about the result and complained about Naya not showing enough spirit when he fight. It has MAO wondering if Naya really wants to win this?
So the D-Oh final comes down to Endo against Naya. The two had a standoff in the ring after Endo’s match. Naya called Endo as amazing wrestler and Naya has to surpass amazing wrestlers to make up for last year’s defeat in the final. He wants to be the best not just in DDT but also all of Japanese pro wrestling so he cannot afford to lose now. Endo said Naya is bigger than him but not as strong. On 3rd January keep your eyes on Endo because he promises to crush Naya!
D.O.A might be getting a little ahead of themselves by accepting more title challengers than they need to but right now they look like they can handle the pressure. Their first KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles defence was a successful one against Schadenfreude International. The match saw Jun Akiyama using his own Gongitsune to combat Antonio Honda’s version. Things were looking bad when Masahiro Takanashi & Takeshi Masada blocked Danshoku Dieno’s Wasabi Lip Lock. But Makoto Oishi maneuvered Honda to run face first into Dieno’s backside and Oishi then rolled him up for the victory. Even though the champions won, Dieno was in agony because he still had the wasabi stuck in his mouth. Their next defence will be against Bodyguard’s Osaka team on 6th January. That match also has the D.O.A name on the line!
Rei Saito went into today’s show with a forfeit win over Chris Brookes. So with no tournament match Saito instead fought Hideki Okatani in a singles match between an AJPW World Tag Team Champion and an All Asia Tag Team Champion. Okatani had some chances to win but Saito was too big to let the Quetzalcoatl be used against him. Saito used his strength to turn things around and beat Okatani with the Drill-A-Hole Piledriver. Saito is still booked for 3rd January and so is his brother Jun Saito. Since the D-Oh final is no longer on the cards for Rei, The Saito Brothers are instead challenging DDT to give them a tag team to fight. Meanwhile Okatani promised to get revenge on Rei no matter if it is in DDT, All Japan or anywhere else!
The return of Toru Owashi from injury has him back in his natural role. He is and always will be the straight man in a comedy Battle Royal. The Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title was on the line as The Great Koji emerged from Parts Unknown against a field of challengers including a mystery opponent. That mystery wrestler turned out to be the championship’s creator Poison Sawada JULIE! He used his Snake Magic on Sanshiro Takagi forcing him to eliminate Akito, Kazuma Sumi and Kazuki Hirata one by one until JULIE eliminated Takagi by himself. Great Koji armed himself with a sickle and resisted JULIE’s magic at first but the spell eventually overpowered him. JULIE then applied his version of the Cattle Mutilation, forcing Koji to give up. JULIE was not the Iron Man champion but Owashi quickly pinned him with a School Boy to win the belt and the match.
Afterwards Takagi attacked JULIE and they fought their way to the back. Owashi stayed in the ring so he could thank the fans for their support during his recovery. Backstage he also made a decision to disband DISASTER BOX! Over the last five months Owashi has seen Hirata grow up and learn to take care of himself. The reason why DISASTER BOX stuck around for so long was so Owashi & HARASHIMA could look after Hirata but now that is no longer needed. Hirata is now walking down a new path, Owashi feels lucky he still has time to be a pro wrestler and HARASHIMA is fighting to remain the ace of DDT so the time is right for DISASTER BOX to end. The unit may come back in the future because it has been revived before. Also the three of them can still team together in some form whenever DDT tells them to so Hirata thinks not much is going to change from this decision.
Both KANON & MJ Paul were interested in fighting Yukio Sakaguchi because he is one half of the All Asia Tag Champions. So KANON felt a bit let down when he had to beat up Rukiya instead. At least DAMNATION T.A are having a year end drinking party at Sasaki’s house to make up for that disappointment.
At the very end of the show everyone came down to the ring dressed in Santa Claus outfits to celebrate Christmas with the fans. Hirata talked about how great DDT is and how he cannot wait for 2024. He then suddenly attacked Owashi with a Christmas Tree and everybody piled on top of them to try and win the Iron Man Title! Yukinori Matsui counted the pin and then seperated the pile of bodies to figure out who won. Everyone was pulled away until the only thing left directly lying on Owashi was the tree. Which means the Christmas Tree is the new Iron Man Champion! Takagi ordered everybody not to attack the tree because it is fitting for it to become a champion on Christmas Eve. Ueno closed out the show telling fans DDT in 2024 will make dreams come true for everyone!
The team challenging for the KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles on 5th January have chosen the replacement for Chris Brookes. Taking his place for the title match is Takayuki Ueki. That means the team is not fighting as Schadenfreude International but instead representing Baka Gaijin + Friends!
DDT will be holding two outdoor Beer Garden shows in Tokyo Ueno Park on 21st and 26th March.
Posted by JamieOD 
Dramatic DDT 