DDT “JUDGEMENT 2018 ~DDT 21ST ANNIVERSARY~” Results

March 25, 2018

DDT “JUDGEMENT 2018 ~DDT 21ST ANNIVERSARY~”, 25/03/2018
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
5,796 Fans – Super No Vacancy

0. Under Match: Mad Paulie, Hoshitango, Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Gota Ihashi & Cherry defeated Mizuki Watase, Rekka, Daiki Shimomura, Nobuhiro Shimatani & Takato Nakano when Paulie pinned Shimatani with the Paulie Buster (7:26).
0. Under Match: Kenshin Chikano & Akira Jo defeated Kouki Iwasaki & Shinichiro Tominaga when Chikano pinned Tominaga with the Leg Lariat (8:10).
0. Under Match – Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Yuka Sakazaki & Shoko Nakajima defeated Rika Tatsumi & Maho Kurone when Sakazaki pinned Kurone with the Magical Girl Splash (8:45).
1. Gauntlet Tag Match: Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata defeated LiLiCo & Makoto Oishi, Reika Saiki & Lady Beard, Akito & Shunma Katsumata, Antonio Honda & Ethan Page and Naomi Yoshimura & Keisuke Okuda.
1a. Antonio Honda & Ethan Page eliminated Reika Saiki & Lady Beard by Ring Out when Beard was knocked out by a Missed Saiki Attack (3:26).
1b. Antonio Honda & Ethan Page eliminated Naomi Yoshimura & Keisuke Okuda by Ring Out when Page knocked Yoshimura out of the ring with a Big Boot (5:01).
1c. Akito & Shunma Katsumata eliminated Antonio Honda & Ethan Page when Katsumata pinned Honda with the Katsumata Guillotine (1:00).
1d. Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata eliminated Akito & Shunma Katsumata when Hirata pinned Katsumata with the One Shot Miracle Cradle (2:04).
1e. Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata eliminated LiLiCo & Makoto Oishi when Hirata pinned LiLiCo with the One Shot Miracle Cradle (3:20).
2. World Crazy Wrestler No. 1 Decision Battle In DDT: Colt Cabana defeated Joey Ryan with the Billy Goat’s Curse (10:11).
3. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match – Special 6-Woman Tag Match: Saki-sama, Yoshiko-sama & Azusa Christie defeated Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh & Mizuki when Saki-sama pinned Mizuki with the Academy Award (11:55).
4. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Super Sasadango Machine (c) defeated Jiro Kuroshio with a School Boy (9:12).
*V? for Super Sasadango Machine.
5. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Kota Umeda, Yuki Ueno & Koji Takeda defeated KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi (c) when Umeda pinned Sakaguchi with the Umeda Driver (12:28).
*Shuten-dōji fails in V3. Kota Umeda, Yuki Ueno & Koji Takeda become the 33rd KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions!
6. Weapon Rumble 5 Way Tag Loser Gets Anal Blast Match: Mike Bailey & MAO defeated Sanshiro Takagi & Ippanjin Munenori Sawa, Yuko Miyamoto & Soma Takao, Isami Kodaka & Fuminori Abe and Michael Nakazawa & Chinsuke Nakamura when MAO pinned Nakazawa with the Cannonball 450° (17:43).
7. Dramatic Dream Match: Great Muta, Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo defeated Danshoku Dino, Keisuke Ishii & Ken Ohka when Muta pinned Ishii with the Moonsault (20:09).
8. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Uchikomi! Presents: Daisuke Sekimoto & Kazusada Higuchi defeated HARASHIMA & Naomichi Marufuji (c) when Higuchi pinned HARASHIMA with the Goten (17:49).
*HarashiMarufuji fails in V6. Sekiguchi becomes the 63rd KO-D Tag Team Champions!
9. KO-D Openweight Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) defeated Shuji Ishikawa with the German Suplex (23:31).
*V11 for Konosuke Takeshita.

In the main event Konosuke Takeshita defeated Shuji Ishikawa once and for all to continue his dominant KO-D Openweight Title reign. Takeshita took everything that Ishikawa threw at him from the Knee Lifts to the Fire Thunders to the Splash Mountain and survived. He was even put through a table outside the ring with the Fire Thunder from the apron. In return Takeshita fired back with Lariats and German Suplexes until his big rival couldn’t take any more. Takeshita gave him the Cross Arm German Suplex but couldn’t keep his grip for the pin. He was able to reposition himself to give Ishikawa another German Suplex and this time pin him to win.

Takeshita thanked the fans for coming to Sumo Hall. A year and a half ago he defended his title against Ishikawa in this building and lost. Since then the support from the fans kept him going while he grew as a wrestler and a person. Time passes by so quickly but day after day he is still the champion. He loves that DDT is growing while he is becoming stronger. Takeshita then went to climb the turnbuckle and celebrate but he slipped and fell. Everyone laughed including him and the show was over…

…except that wasn’t the ending. When the ring was emptied and the ending music was playing, Shigehiro Irie appeared and climbed into the ring! Irie had disappeared from DDT right at the end of 2017 and was allegedly on another one of his overseas expeditions. This was his first appearance in a DDT ring for 2018. He called for Takeshita to come back out and face him. He congratulated him for the victory then challenged him to a title match. Takeshita said he always knew Irie would come back but is he ready for such a match? Takeshita carried DDT while Irie was gone. Akito entered the stand off and was full of criticism towards Irie. Everyone in DDT has responsibilities and Irie runs away whenever he doesn’t get what he wants. Akito does not accept Irie just coming back and demanding a title match. Irie threatened to shut up Akito and left the ring. Takeshita apologised for letting the argument happen. However his final words were about how he would like to see Akito and Irie settle their differences in the ring.

At last Kazusada Higuchi has taken down HARASHIMA! The KO-D Tag Team Titles changed hands after a back and forth match. Naomichi Marufuji used his strike combos to cut down the opposition as much as he could. HARASHIMA kept Higuchi & Daisuke Sekimoto on edge with the Somato. The final moments of the match were down to HARASHIMA and Higuchi. HARASHIMA hit a Buzzsaw Kick but Higuchi woke up out of it and Headbutted his rival. Higuchi had the win in his sights when he hit the Doctor Bomb but Marufuji broke the pin. Sekimoto German Suplexed Marufuji away and Higuchi finished off HARASHIMA with the Goten to win the titles. Higuchi thanked Sekimoto backstage and said he felt amazing after he finally defeated HARASHIMA. On the other side, Marufuji took the blame for his team’s loss. HARASHIMA said he enjoyed teaming with Marufuji for the last several months. They don’t need the titles to team again but they will stick to messaging each other on LINE for the time being.

The Great Muta entered DDT in an alien looking form to take part in his most bizarre wrestling match since the first time he was in HUSTLE. You know the one I’m talking about. Daisuke Sasaki, Tetsuya Endo, Ken Ohka and Keisuke Ishii were all there to play second fiddle to Muta and Danshoku Dino locking horns. Dino’s typical moves didn’t work on Muta at first. It wasn’t until Muta accidentally struck his partners with a chair when Dino grabbed him by the crotch again and the action slowly took its effect on the demon. Seeing his chance, Dino set himself up for the Hell Gate on the turnbuckle. Muta was thrown into Dino’s ass but Muta stopped himself and sprayed the Poison Mist into Dino’s ass! However much to everyone’s shock, Dino’s ass sprayed the Mist back into Muta’s face! Ohka hit the Fire Spear on Muta but it wasn’t enough to win. Ohka hit Sasaki & Endo with the Double Fire Spear but Muta was back up giving everyone Dragon Screws. Dino gave Muta and DAMNATION the Lip Lock but Muta stopped him and gave him the Lip Lock right back. Then all three of them spat red Poison Mist at Dino. Endo hit Dino with the Handspring Leg Lariat, Sasaki followed up with a Pedigree and Muta ended the match with the Moonsault. Quite possibly the final Moonsault Muta will ever do. The match was over but Dino had the last word. Dino wants Muta to tell Keiji Muto that this isn’t the end. Dino wants a singles match against either The Great Muta or Keiji Muto!

After intermission Sanshiro Takagi and Hisaya Imabayashi came out for a few big announcements. First, DDT will return to Sumo Hall later this year on 21st October for “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2018”. Second, there will be two Sumo Hall shows during the same weekend next February. The shows, nicknamed “2 DAYS Of Hell”, will be held on the 16th and 17th February, 2019. However, only the second show is a DDT show. The first show will be a MUSCLE show hosted by Super Sasadango Machine! The show is called “MUSCLE MANIA 2018 ~I CANNOT WAIT UNTIL 2030 SP~” referencing the humorous return date in the year 2030 for the MUSCLE spin off brand. Sasadango wants the official return show in 2030 to be held in the Tokyo Dome.

The Weapons Rumble was the crazy spectacle it promised to be. Chinsuke Nakamura was accompanied by a violin player for his entrance. He and Michael Nakazawa were attacked while they finished their ring entrance. The first weapon to enter was Soma Takao’s steel basin. He whacked Takagi over the head with it. Next was Nakamura’s surfboard. He swung it down at Takao. Takao tried to block it with his basin but it only made the impact worse. Takagi & Munenori Sawa wanted to do the Golden Shower but they were cut off. The dreaded locker was brought into the match by MAO & Mike Bailey. They trapped Takagi inside and kicked the sides of the locker. The next weapon were the T2HiJoshi girls: Margaret★Owashi, Kazuko Hirata & Gorgeous Matsuko. MAO got rid of them by snapping the back of Matsuko’s bra, knocking her out of the ring. Fuminori Abe knocked out Sawa with a Rabbit Punch which brought out the next weapon, three monks. Abe and the monks prayed for Sawa to wake up and it worked. The next weapon was a special rule. No laughing allowed. Takagi then came out with his Combat Bicycle and cycled over to his opponents to Lariat them. MAO & Bailey countered the bicycle by bringing in a Dramatic Road Roller. MAO and Takagi crashed into each other, wrecking the Roller. A massive barbed wire board was thrown into the ring by Takao & Yuko Miyamoto, taking out everyone else. Isami Kodaka’s weapon was next, the Giga Ladder. Isami struck Miyamoto with the ladder and sent him crashing through the barbed wire board outside the ring. The final weapon was Shinjiro Otani dressed in a black bodysuit! Every laughed, breaking the No Laughing rule from earlier. The punishment was Otani hitting everyone in the ass with a baseball bat. When Otani was finished, he did the Fire Festival Sword pose with the bat. The match reached its end when Bailey gave Nakazawa the Ultima Weapon and MAO got the pin with the Cannonball 450°.

As part of the match stipulation, Nakazawa must now take an Anal Explosion. However Nakazawa couldn’t take another explosion after taking so many over the years. He shouted about going back to Thailand and ran away from ringside. This left the others with a problem. An explosion was promised and DDT cannot continue the show without doing it. One by one, different wrestlers volunteered to sacrifice themselves until Takagi offered to do it. Everyone else immediately accepted his request. “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” by Aerosmith played over the speakers as Takagi walked up to the stage, stripped down to his underwear and prepared to take the explosion which was 100 times more powerful than he thought when it was prepared. Takagi hesitated to push the button next to him. The tension was so unbearable that Sawa couldn’t take it any more. He approached Takagi and told him that they will take the explosion together. Sawa leapt on top of Takagi, they joined hands and they both pressed the button, causing a tremendous explosion inside Sumo Hall and also their backsides.

Youth beat liquor in the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles match. But it almost didn’t end that way. Yukio Sakaguchi hit Kota Umeda with the Right Knee Of God and tried to choke him out with a Sleeper Hold. Umeda was only saved by Yuki Ueno & Koji Takeda hitting double Missile Dropkicks to Sakaguchi. The DNA team kept KUDO & Masahiro Takanashi away while Umeda and Sakaguchi slugged it out with a kickfest. Umeda got the upper hand and dropped Sakaguchi with the Umeda Driver for the victory. Sakaguchi handed the titles over to Umeda and told him “Well done”. The new champions bowed when Shuten-dōji left the ring.

Super Sasadango Machine got his wish and successfully defended the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title against Jiro Kuroshio. Sasadango began with his PowerPoint presentation and promised it wouldn’t take longer than 20 minutes, the same amount of time as Kuroshio’s entrance. Sasadango’s plan was to make Makoto Oishi lay a bear trap around Sumo Hall for Kuroshio to fall into during his long entrance. The first trap was placed on the ring apron. The second trap was planted near a group of women in the audience. They were given custom Kuroshio signs to lure Kuroshio over to the trap. The signs were hand made by Kazusada Higuchi. The third and final trap was placed beneath the balcony next to Kuroshio’s father where two other Sasadango Machines would hold him hostage. This trap was delayed because Oishi and the Machines were looking for him on the wrong side of the arena.

Kuroshio came out and nonchalantly avoided most of the traps. He vaulted over the first one, cartwheeled over the second and easily stepped over the third. The plan looked to be ruined until Sasadango grabbed the trap and placed it into the ring at the right moment. Kuroshio somersaulted over the ropes and landed head first into the trap! Sasadango hit the Vertical Drop Lehmann Shock for the quick finish but Kuroshio barely kicked out! Kuroshio retreated outside to get his bearings then sent Sasadango flying outside with a Hurricanrana. He then followed up with a big Moonsault off the top rope to Sasadango and Oishi outside. Sasadango tried to defend himself with the trap but Kuroshio kicked it away. He applied the Ikemen Clutch for the pin but time slowed down to a halt and a video of both wrestlers’ inner monologues played while they fought in slow motion. Ikemen grabbed the trap and threw it out of the ring (still in slow motion). He knocked down Sasadango and was ready to finish him off when another video played. This time it was his father’s inner monologue. It turns out his father is actually an omnipatent god here to offer his son a choice. He can choose either a Gold Trap or a Silver Trap. Kuroshio chose the Gold Trap. Oishi came out and placed the Gold Trap on top of Sasadango. Kuroshio didn’t noticed and Moonsaulted onto the trap! Sasadango got back up and pinned Kuroshio with a School Boy to win the match. Backstage Kuroshio was shocked to learn he is a son of a god. He then snapped back into reality and talked about wanting to challenge Konosuke Takeshita for the KO-D Title if Takeshita wins in the main event.

Maki Itoh made the grave mistake of throwing down Yoshiko-sama’s teddy bear in the Tokyo Joshi Pro match. This made Yoshiko-sama so angry that she beat up Itoh with the bear. Miyu Yamashita went toe to toe with Yoshiko-sama and Azusa Christie until she and Itoh were taken out with a Double Lariat. An outnumbered Mizuki was then picked apart by NEO Biishiki-gun with Saki-sama winning with her finisher. The Two Step Face Kick she uses is now called the Academy Award.

In the battle of the crazy gaijin, Colt Cabana outwitted Joey Ryan. Cabana blocked Ryan’s attempt to stick a lollipop into his mouth by redirecting it into Yukinori Matsui’s mouth. Ryan pulled out more lollipops and every time the lollipop ended up in Matsui’s mouth. Ryan’s plan finally worked when he pulled the lollipop out of Matsui’s mouth and into Cabana’s. Colt grabbed one of the lollipops from Matsui and shoved it into Ryan’s mouth. Cabana then forced Ryan to grab his own crotch and make him flip himself over. Ryan was helpless and tapped out to the Billy Goat’s Curse afterwards. Cabana tried to give a celebratory speech but the microphone cut out from him. When it finally worked he called himself the craziest gaijin in DDT.

An over the top rope rule was added to the Tag Gauntlet at the last minute. It was this addition that led to the eliminations of DEADLIFT LOLITA and Naomi Kingdom. The pace of the match changed when ALL OUT eliminated Antonio Honda & Ethan Page. The last two eliminations were caused by Kazuki Hirata. First he pinned Shunma Katsumata with the Miracle Cradle. LiLiCo & Makoto Oishi caused him some problems but Hirata caught LiLiCo in another Miracle Cradle to win the match. Toru Owashi handed him a pair of Hirata GO! glasses and he got to do his full dance celebration.

The Miraclians beat the Dragon Bombers in the Tokyo Joshi pre-show match. Rika Tatsumi did her best with her Hip Attacks and Maho Kurone tried to eat Shoko Nakajima’s tail. The Apricots hit Kurone with a Double 619 and Yuka Sakazaki landed the Magical Girl Splash for the three count.

Kenshin Chikano & Akira Jo were victorious over Kouki Iwasaki & Shinichiro Tominaga in the second pre-show match. Yep.

The very first match of the day saw the DDT Veteran team defeat Team DNA. Poor little Nobuhiro Shimatani was given the Cherryton Bomb from Cherry, the Midnight Buenos Aires from Hoshitango and the Reverse Splash from Mad Paulie all in a row. The pin was cut off but Paulie just gave Shimatani the Paulie Buster to end it.

DDT unveiled a brand new logo designed by NIGO, the creator of the A Bathing Ape fashion line. The logo resembles a wrestling ring on top of a cube. The intention was to create something that was not your typical pro wrestling logo but still has an element of pro wrestling associated with it.


DDT “JUDGEMENT 2018 ~DDT 21ST ANNIVERSARY~” Preview

March 24, 2018

DDT “JUDGEMENT 2018 ~DDT 21ST ANNIVERSARY~”, 25/03/2018
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

0. Under Match: Mizuki Watase, Rekka, Daiki Shimomura, Nobuhiro Shimatani & Takato Nakano Vs Mad Paulie, Hoshitango, Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Gota Ihashi & Cherry
0. Under Match: Kouki Iwasaki & Shinichiro Tominaga Vs Kenshin Chikano & Akira Jo
0. Under Match – Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Yuka Sakazaki & Shoko Nakajima Va Rika Tatsumi & Maho Kurone
1. Gauntlet Tag Match: LiLiCo & Makoto Oishi Vs Reika Saiki & Lady Beard Vs Akito & Shunma Katsumata Vs Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Antonio Honda & Ethan Page Vs Naomi Yoshimura & Keisuke Okuda
2. World Crazy Wrestler No. 1 Decision Battle In DDT: Joey Ryan Vs Colt Cabana
3. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match – Special 6-Woman Tag Match: Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh & Mizuki Vs Saki-sama, Yoshiko-sama & Azusa Christie
4. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Super Sasadango Machine (c) Vs Jiro Kuroshio
5. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi (c) Vs Kota Umeda, Yuki Ueno & Koji Takeda
6. Weapon Rumble 5 Way Tag Loser Gets Anal Blast Match: Sanshiro Takagi & Ippanjin Munenori Sawa Vs Mike Bailey & MAO Vs Yuko Miyamoto & Soma Takao Vs Isami Kodaka & Fuminori Abe Vs Michael Nakazawa & Chinsuke Nakamura
7. Dramatic Dream Match: Danshoku Dino, Keisuke Ishii & Ken Ohka Vs Great Muta, Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo
8. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Uchikomi! Presents: HARASHIMA & Naomichi Marufuji (c) Vs Daisuke Sekimoto & Kazusada Higuchi
9. KO-D Openweight Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Shuji Ishikawa

For an audio preview I appeared on an episode of the Wrestling Omakase podcast to talk about the show. We also review the “SAKI AKAI PRODUCE ~ DDT COLLECTION” show on the same episode. You can listen to it here.

The DDT UNIVERSE live broadcast begins on 1:30pm JST with the first pre-show match beginning at 2:00pm JST and the main show beginning at 3:00pm JST. So for other time zones the main show begins at 7:00am GMT (remember the clocks will have gone forward one hour in this time zone), 2:00am ET and (Saturday) 11:00pm PT. For those with access to AbemaTV the event will also air live for free on the DDT channel (VPN needed for those outside Japan). There will be either muted audio or replacement music for the entrances and video packages because of this.

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DDT is back in Sumo Hall once again for its biggest event of the year. “JUDGEMENT 2018” is being held to mark DDT’s 21st anniversary and is providing a stacked card to celebrate. The headline match is a rematch of a 2016 Sumo Hall main event but there is plenty to talk about from top to bottom. We have grudge matches, we have generational battles, we have wrestling demons, we have anal explosions, we have title matches, we have joshi, we have crazy foreign wrestlers and we have the other sub-brands jumping in to get involved. The only way this show gets any more insane is if DDT goes the Pop Team Epic route and holds an identical 5 hour show immediately after this 5 hour show ends but with different a commentary team.

0. Under Match: Mizuki Watase, Rekka, Daiki Shimomura, Nobuhiro Shimatani & Takato Nakano Vs Mad Paulie, Hoshitango, Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Gota Ihashi & Cherry

The first match of the day is between rookies and veterans. The rookie team consists of DNA and BASARA wrestlers. Mizuki Watase’s big matches in DNA for the last few months have been against wrestlers like Koji Kanemoto & Minoru Tanaka. Taiwanese wrestler Rekka recently formed a short lived team with Chinese wrestler Choun-Shiryu that fell apart over their national differences. Daiki Shimomura has been bottom of the pile and taking loss after loss on most shows. His Gran MilliMeters partner Nobuhiro Shimatani has been the same except he has spent his time trying to win over DAMNATION so he can join their group. BASARA’s Takato Nakano is approaching the first anniversary of his debut match in April.

On the veteran team Mad Paulie has become a little bit calmer ever since he discovered dancing. He loves to dance along to Shuji Ishikawa’s karaoke. Because of this he acts a little bit nicer to his opponents but he is still dangerous to wrestle. Gota Ihashi embarrassed himself on the big stage when he got to team with Kota Ibushi and Riki Choshu on a show produced by Choshu. They won their match but Choshu ripped apart Ihashi with criticism during a post show interview. Ever since then Ihashi has been trying to regain his confidence and even wants to discover if the power of Choshu is inside of him. It isn’t. The real power is the friends you make along the way and Choshu has been friends with Ibushi for years so the entire journey is a waste of time in the first place. Hoshitango, Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Cherry have been filling up the DDT pre-show matches throughout the year.

0. Under Match: Kouki Iwasaki & Shinichiro Tominaga Vs Kenshin Chikano & Akira Jo

The focus of this match is between Kouki Iwasaki and Akira Jo. The two are feuding against each other in DNA where the homegrown wrestlers are defending themselves against the Naomi Kingdom, which Jo is a part of. Shinichiro Tominaga comes over from Ganbare☆Wrestling as a proud “amateur” pro wrestling card carrier. Kenshin Chikano has a DDT appearance here and there. He had a little more of a presence in BASARA last year when BASARA had a summer long rivalry with Dove Pro Wrestling.

0. Under Match – Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Yuka Sakazaki & Shoko Nakajima Va Rika Tatsumi & Maho Kurone

Tokyo Joshi Pro gets fully represented with two matches this time around. The pre-show match is between two of their long standing tag teams the Miraclians and the Dragon Bombers. The Apricots have been teaming together for as long as Yuka Sakazaki & Shoko Nakajima have been around. They have a few achievements between them but the one they share together is becoming the first ever TOKYO Princess Tag Team Champions. On the surface the Dragon Bombers look like an odd pairing but Rika Tatsumi and Maho Kurone have won over fans with their personalities. Kurone’s entire zombie character is immediately eye catching and her behaviour at shows is often fun to follow. Tatsumi got some media attention when she admitted to fancying another Tokyo Joshi wrestler Mizuki and openly questioned the No Relationships rule used by the promotion because it only refers to having boyfriends and not girlfriends. She is currently preparing for the biggest match of her life in May when she main events Korakuen Hall. She recently pinned Nakajima to build up her momentum. Either repeating it or pinning Sakazaki would only increase it further.

1. Gauntlet Tag Match: LiLiCo & Makoto Oishi Vs Reika Saiki & Lady Beard Vs Akito & Shunma Katsumata Vs Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Antonio Honda & Ethan Page Vs Naomi Yoshimura & Keisuke Okuda

The show kicks off proper with a wacky Gauntlet Match for Tag Teams. When LiLiCo was last in DDT she was defending the now forgotten KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles with Makoto Oishi and three others. That was in November. Now she’s back in training with Oishi to enter the gauntlet. Oishi has planning his next steps ever since NωA split up. He demanded to join T2Hide so he could take over the group and even won the right to be a member. But he instead turned it down so he could go do literally anything else. Reika Saiki & Lady Beard are connected together outside of wrestling as the idol duo DEADLIFT LOLITA. This is their first time teaming together for a wrestling match. Shunma Katsumata became the breakout wrestler from NωA when he joined ALL OUT and went through a crazy Hardcore Match where he used thumbtacks. Akito has been by Katsumata’s side during this encouraging him to come out of his shell. Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata are still the same except for the times when Hirata gets deported and replaced by a suspiciously similar looking foreign substitute. They might still be feeling burned by Oishi rejecting them. Ethan Page has been loving his stay in Japan which probably explains why he acts different here compared to how he normally elsewhere. DDT brought him in with big hopes that he will be their next big Canadian star. Antonio Honda is with him to make sure that happens. Finally, Naomi Yoshimura & Keisuke Okuda have been terrorising DNA with their Naomi Kingdom unit. Their troublemaking is now spreading to DDT and they are very interested to be in the same ring as LiLiCo and Saiki.

2. World Crazy Wrestler No. 1 Decision Battle In DDT: Joey Ryan Vs Colt Cabana

Everything about this match is a little funny. Two of America’s most known and successful comedy wrestlers will face off one on one inside one of Japan’s most prestigious wrestling arenas… and there’s been zero build up for it. That’s not to say either of them have done nothing in DDT at all. In January Joey Ryan competed at the D-Oh Grand Prix. He seemed to be more concerned about convincing the audience to throw paper tape at him for his entrances than he was with winning matches. Colt “Boom Boom” Cabana challenged for the KO-D Openweight Title on Christmas Day but failed to win it. He then spent New Year’s Eve pretending to be Abdullah The Butcher. Both are fighting for the right to be called the DDT’s craziest gaijin wrestler.

3. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match – Special 6-Woman Tag Match: Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh & Mizuki Vs Saki-sama, Yoshiko-sama & Azusa Christie

For the first time Tokyo Joshi gets a main card spot on a Sumo Hall show. Miyu Yamashita has regained her position as the ace of the promotion when she won back the TOKYO Princess Of Princess Title on 4th January. Since then she has been fighting off challengers like Veda Scott, Yuna Manase and Maho Kurone. Teaming with her is one of the scariest egos ever to grace a DDT ring. Pop idol turned pro wrestler Maki Itoh often becomes intense when she wrestles. Her petite figure doesn’t stop her from throwing headbutts and giving her opponents the middle finger. She also formed her own team/fan club called the Itoh Respect Army and brought in Mizuki as Member #001. Mizuki doesn’t mind and is happy to make a friend. They even recorded a music video together. It’s just that this friend can act like a psychopath when she doesn’t get her way.

Their opponents are NEO Biishiki-gun, the snooty aristocratic unit led by the snootier and even more aristocratic Saki-sama. Her biggest move over the last year was abducting one of the weakest wrestlers in Tokyo Joshi, Azusa Takigawa and brainwashing her into becoming Azusa Christie. Azusa is now a devoted nun who worships Saki-sama as if she was God. This change has seen her gain more success than she ever had previously and she along with Saki now holds the TOKYO Princess Tag Team Championships. Ever since her inclusion, NEO Biishiki-gun have been the dominant force in Tokyo Joshi and now they have a new girl joining them for this show. In February Saki-sama brought out a shy woman who was hiding her face behind a teddy bear and introduced her as an old friend from her childhood. Maki Itoh confronted this girl and threatened her until the bear was lowered and the face was revealed. The girl is Yoshiko-sama and she isn’t afraid to fight back! Her teddy bear is named Charlotte by the way.

4. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Super Sasadango Machine (c) Vs Jiro Kuroshio

I’ve had trouble trying to keep up with the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title this year. Super Sasadango Machine won it the first week of January and asked to defend the belt against Jiro Kuroshio at Sumo Hall. His wish was granted but on one condition. Sasadango would need to defend the title at least twice a week every week up until the show takes place. Sasadango quickly found a solution to this problem. He set up an office in Nagoya and invited celebrities, spokesmen and other various business people to try and win the belt from him. In return they would get to promote their projects on DDT’s social media. It worked for the most part but there were some title changes I missed from people I don’t know and from there I lost track. As of writing I think he is still the champion and his title match with Kuroshio is all set.

But things are never just normal with this championship. There are always people hunting after the belt and I’ll be shocked if this match just stays between Sasadango and Kuroshio. Heck I’ll be shocked if a title change does not happen right before the match takes place! Also I don’t think Kuroshio would be just satisfied with doing just this match. Remember, he has a pinfall victory over Konosuke Takeshita from the D-Oh Grand Prix. There has to be some sort of follow up to that.

5. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi (c) Vs Kota Umeda, Yuki Ueno & Koji Takeda

On the one hand Shuten-dōji finds themselves in the familiar position of the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles match on DDT’s big supercard. On the other hand their opponents this time includes what used to be one of their own! Kota Umeda returned from a long injury absence last November and is making up for lost time in both DDT and DNA. He built up a quick but intense rivalry with another rookie Yuki Ueno. He also joined the rest of DNA in their feud with the Naomi Kingdom. It was during this time that Umeda started to figure something out. As the fourth member of Shuten-dōji he was often left out of their 6-Man Tag Title matches. The only times he got to step in was to cover for one of the other wrestlers if they were hurt. This had to change.

Shuten-dōji reached the point where they were disappointed by their current position. They wanted to face the best trios DDT could throw at them but in the end it is they who are the best trio. That was when Umeda stepped up to them. He wanted to challenge his brothers for the titles and to do so he is teaming with his rival Ueno as well as another rookie Koji Takeda. The response from Shuten-dōji was mixed. Masahiro Takanashi found it funny. He thought Umeda’s new unit looks so bad that they should be called Pigging 2018 after the consistently worst unit to compete in the DDT General Elections year after year. But KUDO & Yukio Sakaguchi took this seriously. They would allow Umeda to challenge them but he would no longer be a part of Shuten-dōji if he does so. Umeda was willing to pay that price. Now Umeda is leading his generation team against his former family and in the process became a fierce enemy to Sakaguchi in particular. It might get worse when the title match takes place.

6. Weapon Rumble 5 Way Tag Loser Gets Anal Blast Match: Sanshiro Takagi & Ippanjin Munenori Sawa Vs Mike Bailey & MAO Vs Yuko Miyamoto & Soma Takao Vs Isami Kodaka & Fuminori Abe Vs Michael Nakazawa & Chinsuke Nakamura

Well this has been crazy. Originally DDT was going to hold its Falls Count Anywhere specialty match but Sumo Hall management and the Japan Sumo Association finally put their foot down and told them no. The potential risk of audience injuries and building damage is too high for them to accept. Unfortunately for them they weren’t prepared for DDT’s Plan B. Sure DDT will keep it in the ring but now there are explosives involved. At least it’s still safer than Sami Callihan playing with a pinata.

It all begun when Sanshiro Takagi was reunited with an old friend. In a moment that they absolutely swear was not like anything else that happened that same week involving former DDT talent, Munenori Sawa returned to DDT to save Takagi from a beatdown. They embraced, tears were shed and one of DDT’s wackiest tag teams from the last decade were back in business. Although Sawa had retired from pro wrestling to become a salaryman, he would still show up near a wrestling ring every now and then. Takagi threw out a challenge. He and Sawa would face anyone in a Falls Count Anywhere Match at Sumo Hall. They attracted a lot of offers. Yuko Miyamoto wanted to get involved and as the current DDT Extreme Champion he surely qualifies. Soma Takao joins Miyamoto as part of Smile Squash. The call was also answered by Isami Kodaka & Fuminori Abe from BASARA. Kodaka is a hardcore wrestler and Abe is pretty much Munenori Sawa Jr. so the stipulation suits them fine.

The challenge led to an old enemy of Takagi’s resurfacing. Michael Nakazawa sent a video saying he would enter with a friend from “New York”. That friend is Chinsuke Nakamura! The Pauper Of Strong Style made his presence felt when he threw Takagi over the top rope and out of the ring. He celebrated this accomplishment by pointing to the RyogokuMania sign held above Korakuen Hall. The loudest response of all was from MAO fresh off of his split from NωA. MAO thinks now is the time DDT gets a new face for Street Wrestling and it should be him. He’s bringing Speedball Mike Bailey back to team with him. However MAO may be too crazy judging by that time he ran over Takagi with a van to win a Falls Count Anywhere match. He then threatened to blow up Shin-Kiba 1st RING with fireworks.

So the match was set and tensions grew to a dangerous level between Takagi and MAO. Takagi’s response to getting hit by a vehicle was to start shoving fireworks into other wrestlers’ butts to give them an Anal Explosion. MAO responded in kind until it was the major focus by everyone involved in the upcoming match. That was when the ban came and the match had to be cancelled. During that announcement all of the teams came together and threw together a replacement match. The BASARA team wanted to use weapons. MAO demanded that someone should get an Anal Blast. Everyone agreed to a Weapons Rumble match. As the match progresses, new weapons would be brought out Royal Rumble style. Plus whoever loses the match must subject themselves to an Anal Explosion! This means everybody is happy except for the Japan Sumo Association. Serves them right.

7. Dramatic Dream Match: Danshoku Dino, Keisuke Ishii & Ken Ohka Vs Great Muta, Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo

One of the first announcements for this show made back in January was the involvement of The Great Muta. DDT eventually announced that he would be teaming with DAMNATION to take on Danshoku Dino and his friends. Daisuke Sasaki would use the news to announce that he is in charge and Muta would be fighting under his leadership. There was no response from Muta about this. Sasaki then started taunting Dino by spitting cola and coffee at him Poison Mist style. Again there was no response from Muta. But Sasaki’s actions did bring Dino to his breaking point. The attacks made Dino transform into The Great Homo! Under his own Muta-style personality, Dino would constantly attack Sasaki and Tetsuya Endo. Endo moreso than Sasaki. He would spit Poison Milk Mist at them and attack their backsides with a spike. The only way he could be stopped was when Sasaki transformed into Nerima Sting to combat him. This finally made Muta stir. The demon was not pleased by this nonsense especially from Dino.

A threatening message was sent to DDT HQ. Dino has been given the Poison Curse! No matter where Dino goes, Muta would possess everyone around him and make them spit the Poison Mist in Dino’s face. Nowhere was Dino safe. Employees, trainees, referees, wrestlers, fans, models, TV hosts. All of them spat the Mist at Dino under Muta’s power. Dino would get attacked again and again and again and again and again! Has Muta’s plan brought Dino back to the brink enough to summon The Great Homo? Keisuke Ishii and Ken Ohka are there to help Dino but the three of them are clearly outmatched. The only thing they don’t have to worry about is Muta doing a Moonsault but that’s what Endo is there for.

8. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Uchikomi! Presents: HARASHIMA & Naomichi Marufuji (c) Vs Daisuke Sekimoto & Kazusada Higuchi

For many in DDT there is one task that seems impossible and that is beating HARASHIMA. The backbone of DDT is often the biggest mountain to climb and some wrestlers have become obsessed with doing it. The latest wrestler in this position is Kazusada Higuchi. HARASHIMA has been a thorn in his side ever since Higuchi’s first year in DDT. HARASHIMA gave Higuchi his first loss, beat him twice in KO-D Title matches and also won the KO-D Tag Team Titles from him with Naomichi Marufuji. The team known as HarashiMarufuji have held the titles ever since. They even survived a title defence held inside a factory! If they were ever to be beaten, Higuchi would have to find somebody really strong to team with him.

Oh crap. Daisuke Sekimoto wants to get involved.

Sekimoto & Higuchi joined forces for the annual New Year’s Eve cross promotion Tag Team Tournament and made it all the way to the final. They made such a good impression together that they are reuniting to go after HARASHIMA & Marufuji. Sekimoto and HARASHIMA have a history together but there is respect between them. HARASHIMA and Higuchi however do not like each other ever since HARASHIMA knocked out Higuchi during a singles match earlier this month. When Higuchi came to he went on a rampage chasing after HARASHIMA. A defeat to Marufuji too in the run-up to this match hasn’t helped. Higuchi will have to keep his emotions in check against these two.

9. KO-D Openweight Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Shuji Ishikawa

This is the rematch 19 months in the making. Konosuke Takeshita and Shuji Ishikawa main evented “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2016” with the KO-D Openweight Title on the line. Ishikawa came out on top that night and held onto the belt for almost the rest of 2016. HARASHIMA won the title from him in December that year but the championship made its way back to Takeshita at “JUDGEMENT 2017” just over one year ago. Since then Takeshita has firmly kept the belt in his grasp and fought all-comers, breaking the DDT record for most title defences in a single reign with 10 successful defences at this time. Freshly graduated from college, Takeshita has been having a great year as the champion. It’s getting tough though. A lower back injury has plagued Takeshita throughout February and gave him a big target that can be exploited. So it’s been a tough year but a great year none the less.

However you can argue Shuji Ishikawa’s last 12 months have been just as good if not better. He goes on a tear in All Japan and wins the Champion Carnival, then the Triple Crown, then the Real World Tag League with Suwama and then AJPW World Tag Team Titles also with Suwama. When he refocused his efforts in DDT at the beginning of 2018, Ishikawa ends up winning the first ever D-Oh Grand Prix tournament almost unbeaten. His only loss in the competition was against his DAMNATION leader Daisuke Sasaki. The goal of the Grand Prix was to establish DDT’s leading star for the rest of the year and Ishikawa proved there is no one more deserving of it than him.

Ishikawa has gone out to prove he has a range of other talents too. Ever since he won the Grand Prix, Ishikawa has performed karaoke in the ring to celebrate his big victories in DDT. Mad Paulie has joined in the fun by dancing along to his songs. Sasaki & Endo aren’t as eager to join in so they just grin and bare it while he sings. With the big title match on the horizon, Sasaki gave Ishikawa a serious order. Ishikawa cannot sing karaoke and Paulie cannot dance again until Ishikawa beats Takeshita at Sumo Hall to become the KO-D Champion. This gave Ishikawa an idea. Takeshita is injured. If he gets so injured that he cannot defend the title at Sumo Hall then Ishikawa will become the champion by default. Then for the main event Ishikawa can sing karaoke inside the ring all night long! So for the last month Ishikawa has intentionally tried to injure Takeshita in their preview matches. It briefly worked when Takeshita had to miss a show to recover but he came back and in their most recent match together pinned Ishikawa.

So there you have it. The strongest champion in DDT’s history is hurt but still capable of beating whatever is being thrown at him. DDT’s strongest challenger is almost unstoppable and is powered by the desire to show off his vocal talents. Their 2016 match is well worth the watch in preparation for this.


DDT “SUNDAY KASUKABIAN! 2018” Results

March 18, 2018

DDT “SUNDAY KASUKABIAN! 2018”, 18/03/2018
Saitama Kasukabe Hall
260 Fans – No Vacancy

1. Makoto Oishi, Antonio Honda & Saki Akai defeated Sanshiro Takagi, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata when Honda pinned Hirata with the TTD (9:16).
2. KUDO & Masahiro Takanashi defeated MAO & Yuki Ueno when Takanashi pinned Ueno with the Takatonic (12:26).
3. Naomi Yoshimura defeated Ethan Page with the Throwaway Power Bomb (9:11).
4. Special Single Match: Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Kota Umeda ended in a Double Countout (7:53).
5. Daisuke Sasaki & Nobuhiro Shimatani defeated Danshoku Dino & Keisuke Ishii when Shimatani pinned Dino with a School Boy (8:39).
6. HARASHIMA & Soma Takao defeated Kazusada Higuchi & Kouki Iwasaki when Takao pinned Iwasaki with the Gin And Tonic (11:38).
7. Konosuke Takeshita, Akito & Shunma Katsumata defeated Shuji Ishikawa, Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie when Takeshita pinned Ishikawa with a Lariat (21:11).

In the rivalry between Konosuke Takeshita and Shuji Ishikawa, Takeshita is beginning to gain back some ground. He sent a major message out by withstanding Ishikawa’s Running Knee Lift so he could pin him with a Lariat. Takeshita told the fans that there is nothing to worry about. It won’t be easy but Takeshita is certain he will retain the KO-D Openweight Title against Ishikawa at Sumo Hall. “Please look forward to it!”

HARASHIMA took out Kazusada Higuchi with a Somato to the back while Higuchi was sitting on the ring apron. With him out of the way, Soma Takao was able to pin Kouki Iwasaki with the Gin And Tonic.

Danshoku Dino is learning that actions can have repercussions. His antics of transforming into The Great Homo have not gone unnoticed by The Great Muta. A message was sent to DDT during the week saying there is now a Poison Curse surrounding Dino. Wherever Dino goes, Muta will possess the people around him and make them spit Poison Mist at his face. It has gone far enough to effect Dino’s everyday life. Whether he goes to get a massage or visits the dentist, there are people who spit mist at him. At the show today Dino denied such a curse exists but he was misted again throughout the show by ring announcers, referees, other wrestlers and even fans!

Nobuhiro Shimatani wore a DAMNATION shirt to mark his first time teaming with Daisuke Sasaki. Dino was misted by Yuki Iino before the match. Then when Dino had Shimatani beaten, Yukinori Matsui spat more mist at him! Shimatani took advantage and pinned Dino with a School Boy, getting his biggest victory in his career.

Tensions between Yukio Sakaguchi and Kota Umeda got so bad their match was thrown out as they spent too much time fighting outside the ring. Yuki Ueno, KUDO and Masahiro Takanashi had to pull them apart from each other after the match.

Keisuke Okuda helped Naomi Yoshimura beat Ethan Page. Matsui got knocked down during the match and Okuda came in to help Yoshimura. They gave Page an STO double team move and an assisted Throwaway Power Bomb leading to Yoshimura getting the three count when Matsui got back up. Yoshimura said that he and Okuda will win the Tag Gauntlet at Sumo Hall and nobody can stop them. Not LiLiCo. Not Reika Saiki. Nobody! Page promised to get revenge and win the Tag Gauntlet with Antonio Honda.

Kazuki Hirata was allowed to do his dance entrance in full today. He thanked the other wrestlers for allowing him to do it then teased that some of them might be in the upcoming Loser Expulsion Match on 1st April. The smile was wiped from his face when Sanshiro Takagi told him that he will be in the match! Hirata panicked because he lost the last Expulsion Match. He’s already decided to stack up on Red Bull and egg sandwiches if it happens again.


DDT “D-KING GRAND PRIX 2018 IN SHINKIBA” Results

January 14, 2018

DDT “D-KING GRAND PRIX 2018 IN SHINKIBA”, 14/01/2018
Shin-Kiba 1st RING
328 Fans – Super No Vacancy

0. Under Match: Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata & MAO defeated Kouki Iwasaki, Mizuki Watase & Yuki Ueno when MAO pinned Ueno with the Michinoku Driver I (5:58).
1. P-King Grand Prix: KUDO defeats Akito, Mad Paulie, Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata and Antonio Honda (Special Referee: Danshoku Dino).
1a. A Block ~ 2 Count Rules: Mad Paulie defeated Kazuki Hirata after a Bionic Elbow from Honda and Owashi (2:34).
1b. B Block ~ 2 Count Rules: Akito defeated Antonio Honda with a School Boy (2:34).
1c. C Block ~ 2 Count Rules: KUDO defeated Toru Owashi with a School Boy (2:34).
1d. Final Survival 3 Way Match ~ 1 Count Rules: Mad Paulie eliminated Akito with a Cradle (1:21).
1e. Final Survival 3 Way Match ~ 1 Count Rules: KUDO eliminated Mad Paulie with a Jackknife Pin (2:05).
2. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Soma Takao (6) defeated Yukio Sakaguchi (4) with the Official Endless Waltz (7:56).
3. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Joey Ryan (6) defeated Masahiro Takanashi (2) with the Super Kick (10:10).
4. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Mike Bailey (6) defeated Daisuke Sasaki (6) with the Buzzsaw Kick (14:54).
5. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Shuji Ishikawa (10) defeated Kazusada Higuchi (6) with the Giant Slam (16:40).
6. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Konosuke Takeshita (7) defeated Keisuke Ishii (6) with a Modified Armbar (18:47).
7. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: HARASHIMA (8) defeated Tetsuya Endo (7) with the Somato (19:28).

A Block

1. HARASHIMA (8)
2. Konosuke Takeshita (7)
-. Tetsuya Endo (7)
4. Keisuke Ishii (6)
-. Joey Ryan (6)
-. Jiro Kuroshio (6)
7. Masahiro Takanashi (2)

B Block

1. Shuji Ishikawa (8)
2. Kazusada Higuchi (6)
-. Mike Bailey (6)
-. Daisuke Sasaki (6)
-. Soma Takao (6)
6. Akito (4)
-. Yukio Sakaguchi (4)

The final is now set. HARASHIMA Vs Shuji Ishikawa will face off to be the first D-King Grand Prix winner! The last match in Block A was the main event. HARASHIMA and Tetsuya Endo fought in a winner takes all bout. Endo missed the Shooting Star Press and HARASHIMA hit the Somato to win. In the last Block B match, Ishikawa had to fight off Kazusada Higuchi with all of his power. Ishikawa kicked out of the Doctor Bomb but needed more than the Fire Thunder to win. He had to bust out the Giant Slam to put Higuchi away.

The show ended with the two finalists facing off in the ring. Ishikawa said the Grand Prix was a fulfilling experience. He and HARASHIMA are from the same generation so it is kind of fitting that the final is down to them. HARASHIMA said everyone knows Ishikawa is strong. This match will be the heyday of their generation so let’s do their best.

The only threat to the top spot left in Block A was Keisuke Ishii but Konosuke Takeshita shut him down. Takeshita countered the Double Arm DDT into a Koji MAX Hold to make Ishii submit. Takeshita said his lack of ability is what prevented him from reaching the final. Ishii may have lost but he may have finally found the motivation that he’s been lacking for so long. Fighting a champion like Takeshita has fired him up and next time, he will beat Takeshita!

Daisuke Sasaki’s chance of reaching the final was dashed by Mike Bailey. Speedball was willing to put his grudge with DAMNATION aside but Sasaki rejected his handshake. Sasaki brought in chairs but Bailey kicked them into his face and pinned him with a Buzzsaw Kick. Sasaki didn’t take the loss well. He said the 2018 of Daisuke Sasaki was now over and everyone now has to wait for the 2019 of Daisuke Sasaki. The interviewer tried to tell him 2018 has only begun but Sasaki wouldn’t listen. Bailey called Sasaki a smart wrestler but he came prepared. Bailey was able to win because he thought over and over what Sasaki was going to do to him and planned around it.

The remaining group matches only had pride left on the line. Joey Ryan used an unconscious Daisuke Kiso to aid him in beating Masahiro Takanashi. Ryan placed Kiso’s limp body on top of Takanashi’s back, placed Kiso’s hand next to his crotch and used his dong strength to make Kiso give Takanashi the Yoshi Tonic. Joey then Super Kicked Takanashi for the three count. Takanashi promised that next year KUDO will enter the tournament to make up for his poor record.

Soma Takao used the newly renamed Official Endless Waltz as a counter to Yukio Sakaguchi’s Cross Armbreaker. Takao did okay in this tournament and he has another round robin tournament coming up in All Japan to look forward to. He hopes to do well over there too. Sakaguchi does not have an excuse for his overall performance other than he admits he is weak. He will write more about it on his blog so everybody better read it or else!

Producer Danshoku Dino changed the plans for the opening match. Instead of a 7 Way Match, it was now a one night tournament called the P-King Grand Prix featuring the other 6 wrestlers while he gets to be the referee. The Round 1 match ups were Kazuki Hirata Vs Mad Paulie, Akito Vs Antonio Honda and KUDO Vs Toru Owashi. The catch was all three matches took place at the same time and all held under two count rules. Paulie, Akito and KUDO all won at the same time. They advanced to the 3 Way Elimination Final that used 1 count rules. Paulie pinned Akito and KUDO pinned Paulie afterwards. Afterwards KUDO said he regrets not entering the D-King Grand Prix but he now found something else he wants. KUDO wants to challenge Yuko Miyamoto for the DDT Extreme Title! Dino granted his request.

MAO promises that the NωA will perform their best hits for their final match together on 28th January.


DDT “D-KING GRAND PRIX 2018 IN YOKOHAMA” Results

January 11, 2018

DDT “D-KING GRAND PRIX 2018 IN YOKOHAMA”, 11/01/2018
Yokohama Radiant Hall
241 Fans – No Vacancy

0. Under Match: HARASHIMA, Antonio Honda, Mizuki Watase & Rekka defeated Kazusada Higuchi, MAO, Daiki Shimomura & Nobuhiro Shimatani when HARASHIMA pinned Shimomura with the Somato (8:16).
1. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Tetsuya Endo (7) defeated Joey Ryan (2) with the Shooting Star Press (8:24).
2. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Soma Takao (4) defeated Akito (2) with the Gin And Tonic (8:18).
3. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Jiro Kuroshio (6) defeated Keisuke Ishii (4) with two Moonsaults (11:51).
4. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Mike Bailey (4) defeated Yukio Sakaguchi (4) with a Buzzsaw Kick (9:56).
5. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Masahiro Takanashi (2) defeated Konosuke Takeshita (5) with the Pedal Style Bacchus (11:17).
6. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Daisuke Sasaki (6) defeated Shuji Ishikawa (6) with an Inverted Hurricanrana (16:19).

A Block

1. Tetsuya Endo (7)
2. Jiro Kuroshio (6)
3. Konosuke Takeshita (5)
4. Keisuke Ishii (4)
-. HARASHIMA (4)
6. Masahiro Takanashi (2)
-. Joey Ryan (2)

B Block

1. Daisuke Sasaki (6)
-. Shuji Ishikawa (6)
3. Mike Bailey (4)
-. Yukio Sakaguchi (4)
-. Soma Takao (4)
-. Kazusada Higuchi (4)
7. Akito (2)

The main event was friend versus friend, Giant Vs Charisma, pet versus master, Shuji Ishikawa Vs Daisuke Sasaki. As much as it pained them to fight, they both had their battle plan. Sasaki started off begging for mercy then blindsided Ishikawa by throwing his t-shirt at him. Sasaki charged in but Ishikawa stopped him with a Knee Lift. Ishikawa yelled “Charisma, goodbye!” after every big move thinking it would finish him off. But Sasaki kept kicking out. Sasaki took out a bunch of chairs and smashed all of them over Ishikawa’s head. But Ishikawa got back up and Superplexed Sasaki onto the pile of chair remains. The end came when Ishikawa went for the Splash Mountain and Sasaki countered it into the Hurricanrana for the flash three count. Sasaki apologised to Ishikawa and invited him as well as Tetsuya Endo back into the ring. Sasaki said that today he became the strongest and best Charisma he’s ever been. He is only 168cm tall and weighs 80kg but he beat the best heavyweight in the tournament. Now he can win the D-King Grand Prix for sure. Ishikawa, Endo and Mad Paulie are strong too. They are DAMNATION and the pro wrestling world will revolve around them! Backstage Sasaki got to have some fun by making Ishikawa admit he is now stronger than him.

Konosuke Takeshita hit another bump in the road with an upset loss to Masahiro Takanashi. All was going well and he was ready to set up for a Brainbuster when Takanashi twisted himself free, clutched Takashita’s arm and cradled him into the Bacchus to get the pin. Takanashi was so surprised by winning the match he didn’t give a comment for the backstage interview afterwards. Takeshita meanwhile is coming to terms on whether or not he can still qualify for the final. It mostly rests on the upcoming results of other wrestlers in his group.

More surprise results came when Mike Bailey beat Yukio Sakaguchi in a kick heavy battle. Bailey dodged the Right Knee Of God while Sakaguchi avoided the Ultima Weapon. The two wore each other down with dueling kicks until Sakaguchi trapped Bailey in a Sleeper Hold. He tried to turn the move into the Cobra Clutch but Bailey freed himself and hit a Buzzsaw Kick followed by the standing Moonsault Double Knee Drop. Another Buzzsaw Kick brought the match to an end. Sakaguchi doesn’t understand how he lost. Why was he so weak but Bailey was so strong today? Something must be wrong. Bailey is full of praise for everyone in the Grand Prix but he is looking forward to when it ends. He points to the KO-D Openweight Champion not being undefeated as proof that this is a hard tournament.

Jiro Kuroshio is back in the race to the top of Block A with a win over Keisuke Ishii. It took two Moonsaults to put Ishii away and that’s not including a third Moonsault Kuroshio did earlier in the match for a nearfall. Ishii feels miserable over the result but does not deny the amazing talent Kuroshio has. Ishii now has Tetsuya Endo and Konosuke Takeshita as his final opponents.

Akito’s poor form continues when a back and forth contest with Soma Takao ended in defeat. The Hanamasa was countered into the Gin And Tonic for the finish. Takao was determined to win this and did not take his opponent lightly despite Akito’s record. Akito is already trying to deal with not making the final so another loss does not effect him mentally at this point. He has one more match left and it’s against Sakaguchi. Akito will treat Sakaguchi like a toy and break him with his play!

Endo is now the sole leader in Block A. His win over Joey Ryan has made him question his own worth again. If beating a wrestler from another promotion makes Endo worth 100 million yen annually then beating a big foreign star means he should now be paid 200 million yen a year! Ryan was so upset by the loss he wishes he could go back home to America. But he has two more matches left in his schedule so he will stick around for that.


DDT “D-KING GRAND PRIX 2018 IN NERIMA” Results

January 10, 2018

DDT “D-KING GRAND PRIX 2018 IN NERIMA”, 10/01/2018
Tokyo Nerima Coconeri Hall
356 Fans – Super No Vacancy

0. Under Match: Mike Bailey, Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata & MAO defeated KUDO, Masahiro Takanashi, Kouki Iwasaki & Nobuhiro Shimatani when Bailey pinned Shimatani with the Ultima Weapon (5:48).
1. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Kazusada Higuchi (4) defeated Akito (2) with the Doctor Bomb (9:30).
2. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Joey Ryan (2) defeated Keisuke Ishii (4) with the Super Kick (8:06).
3. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Daisuke Sasaki (4) defeated Soma Takao (2) with the Vietnam Driver II (11:02).
4. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Tetsuya Endo (5) defeated Jiro Kuroshio (4) with the Shooting Star Press (14:04).
5. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Shuji Ishikawa (6) defeated Yukio Sakaguchi (4) with the Splash Mountain (15:25).
6. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Konosuke Takeshita (5) defeated HARASHIMA (4) with the Takeshita Special No. 1 (15:50).

A Block

1. Tetsuya Endo (5)
-. Konosuke Takeshita (5)
3. Keisuke Ishii (4)
-. HARASHIMA (4)
-. Jiro Kuroshio (4)
6. Joey Ryan (2)
7. Masahiro Takanashi (0)

B Block

1. Shuji Ishikawa (6)
2. Yukio Sakaguchi (4)
-. Daisuke Sasaki (4)
-. Kazusada Higuchi (4)
5. Soma Takao (2)
-. Mike Bailey (2)
-. Akito (2)

Konosuke Takeshita and HARASHIMA headlined today’s show with their rematch from their Saitama Super Arena bout at “JUDGEMENT 2017”. HARASHIMA was ruthless in targeting Takeshita’s left knee. Takeshita was difficult to pin down though and he tried to avoid the Somato when he could. HARASHIMA did hit the move from behind a few times. But HARAHSIMA went for one more and Takeshita dodged it. Takeshita hit the German Suplex and added a Bridging Pin to the move afterwards to get the three count. And with that the Takeshita Special No. 1 is born! Takeshita commented that he feels like he is currently in a paradox. He is certain that his leg is injured, possibly a damaged ligament or a meniscus but the constant adrenaline rush he gets from the D-King Grand Prix makes him ignore the pain and keep going. HARASHIMA is unhappy with the result but if the referee counted to three, he has to accept it. He defended his tactics of targeting Takeshita’s knee. The referee never stopped him and the match continued so he feels it was right to keep attacking like that. The fact that Takeshita beat him with damaged knees means that Takeshita is growing stronger. But next time HARASHIMA believes he will grab the opportunity and definitely beat Takeshita!

The two leading wrestlers in Block B clashed for the top spot. Shuji Ishikawa survived Yukio Sakaguchi’s Right Knee Of God and the Cobra Clutch to win. Sakaguchi didn’t go down easily though. He kicked out of the Running Knee Lift at one so Ishikawa had to hit him with it again, this time Sakaguchi barely kicked out at two. Sakaguchi finally stayed down after the Splash Mountain. Ishikawa was happy to see Sakaguchi bring the fight to him. His opponents so far have all been wonderful so he feels honoured to have the six points he amassed so far. Next up is his good buddy Daisuke Sasaki. Ishikawa said he may have to become the new leader of DAMNATION if he beats Sasaki. Sakaguchi doesn’t know if he can redeem this loss but thinks he can win his remaining matches.

Tetsuya Endo continues his unbeaten run in Block A with a win over Jiro Kuroshio. He wasn’t happy to see Kuroshio prance around and seemed to have a chip on his shoulder for the entire match. Afterwards we found out why. According to Endo, Kuroshio’s annual income is 5 million yen. Since Endo beat him today that means his own annual salary should be raised. Endo is now demanding to be paid 100 million yen a year! Kuroshio said his eyes aren’t crazy and that Endo really is as great a wrestler as he looks.

Daisuke Sasaki came to his hometown as the “Hero Of Nerima” so he wanted to fight clean and fair against Soma Takao. Given their recent history, Takao didn’t believe him and went on the offensive pretty quickly. They fought outside where Sasaki grabbed Yuki Ueno nearby and threw him towards Takao. Takao stopped Ueno and knocked him out of the way with an Elbow Strike. Back in the ring Sasaki took off one of the turnbuckle pads and threw Takao into the exposed corner. Sasaki even used his own attempt at the Gin And Tonic but Takao kicked out at one. Sasaki then hit an Avalanche Pedigree but Takao kicked out of that too. Sasaki had to use the Vietnam Driver II to finally put Takao away. He offered Takao a handshake and a DAMNATION shirt after the match but Takao refused and threw the shirt away. Takao said backstage he is annoyed that Sasaki used the Gin And Tonic against him. He is also insulted by Sasaki offering him the handshake and DAMNATION shirt. Sasaki said that tens of thousands of Nerima’s residents came out to welcome the Hero Of Nerima. He only offered Takao the shirt to look good in front of the locals. When he was reminded that his next opponent is Shuji Ishikawa, he said three seconds is enough to beat his friend.

After spending his first few days asking for it, Joey Ryan finally got paper streamers thrown at him for his ring introduction today. Maybe that gave him a major boost in motivation because he went on to beat Keisuke Ishii to earn his first points. Ryan escaped the Tiger Suplex, stuck a lollipop into Ishii’s mouth and Super Kicked him for the win. Ryan celebrated by hugging the paper tape afterwards. Ishii said he didn’t expect his calculations to go so wrong but Ryan used “the most disgusting techniques” to beat him.

Kazusada Higuchi countered Akito’s Cross Armbreaker into a Sit Down Power Bomb to set up his victory. Higuchi isn’t satisfied by that though. He felt it should have taken him less than 5 minutes to beat Akito and he went 48 seconds over that limit. Akito meanwhile is coming to terms that he virtually cannot win the tournament now after his third loss. All he can offer now to close out his group run with some fun fights.


DDT “D-KING GRAND PRIX 2018 IN OSAKA 2 DAYS” Results

January 7, 2018

DDT “D-KING GRAND PRIX 2018 IN OSAKA 2 DAYS”, 07/01/2018
Osaka Hirano Community Hall
438 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

1. Shunma Katsumata, MAO & Veda Scott defeated Danshoku Dino, Kazuki Hirata & Yuki Ueno when Scott pinned Hirata with the Back Drop (8:18).
2. 4 Way Match: Keisuke Ishii defeated Toru Owashi, Kouki Iwasaki and Naomi Yoshimura when Ishii pinned Iwasaki with the Carolina Reaper (7:36).
3. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Kazusada Higuchi (2) defeated Soma Takao (0) with the Doctor Bomb (10:11).
4. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: HARASHIMA (2) defeated Joey Ryan (0) with the Somato (10:49).
5. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Mike Bailey (2) defeated Akito (2) with a Scorpion Lock Roll Up (11:35).
6. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Jiro Kuroshio (4) defeated Masahiro Takanashi (0) with a Takatonic Turnback (12:56).
7. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Yukio Sakaguchi (4) defeated Daisuke Sasaki (0) with the Modified Cobra Clutch (6:56).
8. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Konosuke Takeshita (1) Vs Tetsuya Endo (3) ended in a Time Limit Draw (30:00).

A Block

1. Jiro Kuroshio (4)
2. Tetsuya Endo (3)
3. Keisuke Ishii (2)
-. HARASHIMA (2)
5. Konosuke Takeshita (1)
6. Joey Ryan (0)
-. Masahiro Takanashi (0)

B Block

1. Yukio Sakaguchi (4)
2. Shuji Ishikawa (2)
-. Mike Bailey (2)
-. Akito (2)
-. Kazusada Higuchi (2)
6. Soma Takao (0)
-. Daisuke Sasaki (0)

DDT’s biggest rivalry was back in force for the main event of the D-King Grand Prix Day 2. Konosuke Takeshita and Tetsuya Endo faced off in the rematch to last year’s “RYOGOKU PETER PAN” main event. Takeshita already got off to a bad start after losing his first block match while Endo won his first bout. Neither man got the spoils as the match went to a 30 minute time limit. It is a result both are familiar with when it comes to their singles matches. Endo left the ring after a brief standoff. Takeshita apologised to the fans for failing to beat Endo for them. He then said their battle is not over.

Daisuke Sasaki slumps even further into the depths with his second Grand Prix loss in a row. Yukio Sakaguchi hit him with the Right Knee Of God then put him down with the Cobra Clutch. The win places Sakaguchi on top of Block B for the early going. Sakaguchi’s next goal is to survive against Shuji Ishikawa. Get past him and it will be clear sailing from there. Sasaki is now getting desperate. His current plan for his next opponent Kazusada Higuchi is to hit him with a beer bottle.

The Grand Prix is off to a beautiful start thanks to Jiro Kuroshio. His win over Masahiro Takanashi means he currently sits on top of Block A. Once again his tricky style caught his opponent off guard for an unexpected pinfall. He promises to show HARASHIMA a Handsome World when their match happens next. Takanashi is 0 for 2. He promises to win his 4 remaining matches.

Mike Bailey scraped by with a win against Akito. Speedball’s legs were targeted throughout the match and he was in real danger of losing to the Scorpion Lock. But somehow Bailey fought so hard to block the move he rolled himself on top of Akito to pin him. Bailey said he has to keep winning so he can catch up with Ishikawa. He also thinks the middle portion of the tournament will determine where he finishes. It won’t be easy but he needs to imagine he can win it all. Akito meanwhile is worried that his usual losing pattern is surfacing again. But he can’t focus on that because tomorrow’s opponent is Ishikawa!

What is the best way to take on the Somato? Joey Ryan unsprisingly thought it was with his dong. He tried his own version of the move on HARASHIMA, hitting him crotch first in the face. It didn’t work. HARASHIMA then took control and hit the proper Somato, putting Ryan down for the count. This was HARASHIMA’s first match with Ryan and he was left puzzled by the experience. When Ryan regained his whereabouts during the backstage interview he described HARASHIMA as a “very tough bastard” who survived Ryan’s many traps. Ryan promises to set up more traps for his next opponent Takeshita. He also hopes the fans shower him with paper tape before the match. He likes it when they do that.

Kazusada Higuchi scored his first points with a win over Soma Takao. He countered the Gin And Tonic into a Power Bomb. From there he hit a Lariat and the Doctor Bomb for the three count. This was Soma’s first match in the Grand Prix and a defeat is not a good start. His next opponent is Mike Bailey and Soma is worried about facing him with the momentum he has.

Keisuke Ishii has a new finishing move called the Carolina Reaper. The move is a Modified Facelock where he traps one arm in a Chicken Wing and the other gets hooked behind his leg. He used it to submit Kouki Iwasaki in the 4 Way Match. Elsewhere in the match Toru Owashichallenged Naomi Yoshimura to try and beat him in their exchanges.

To celebrate the new year in Osaka, Danshoku Dino told the audience a dancing star from Tokyo has come over to cheer everyone up with his performance. He was talking about Kazuki Hirata. Normally whenever Hirata tries to dance during his entrance he gets interrupted so Dino ordered Yuki Ueno to help him stop anyone from laying a finger on Hirata while he dances. They succeeded although Dino did take a Plancha from MAO during the performance. However Hirata got angry and yelled at everyone to give the audience an exciting match. As it went on Ueno asked Hirata to tag him in so he could show off cool moves to his hometown crowd. Dino later got too excited and gave Ueno the Lip Lock even though they were on the same team. That allowed NωA and Veda Scott to isolate Hirata and beat him. When the match was over Hirata asked the audience if they enjoyed it. They gave him a positive applause.

Yukinori Matsui announced he will produce a wrestling show inside Osaka Edison Arena #2 on 27th May. He called upon the DDT wrestlers to help him make it a lively show.


DDT “D-KING GRAND PRIX 2018 IN SHINJUKU” Results

January 5, 2018

DDT “D-KING GRAND PRIX 2018 IN SHINJUKU”, 05/01/2018
Shinjuku FACE
464 Fans – Super No Vacancy

1. 4 Way Tag Match: Joey Ryan & Veda Scott defeated Antonio Honda & Soma Takao, KUDO & Toru Owashi and Makoto Oishi & Shunma Katsumata when Ryan pinned Honda with the Super Kick (8:44).
2. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Yukio Sakaguchi (2) defeated Kazusada Higuchi (0) with the Right Knee Of God (7:48).
3. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Tetsuya Endo (2) defeated Masahiro Takanashi (0) with the Tetsuya In The Sky (6:01).
4. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Akito (2) defeated Daisuke Sasaki (0) with the Scorpion Lock (12:03).
5. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Keisuke Ishii (2) defeated HARASHIMA (0) with the High Angle Double Arm DDT (12:45).
6. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Shuji Ishikawa (2) defeated Mike Bailey (0) with the Splash Mountain (15:15).
7. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Jiro Kuroshio (2) defeated Konosuke Takeshita (0) with the Casadora (23:23).

A Block

1. Jiro Kuroshio (2)
-. Keisuke Ishii (2)
-. Tetsuya Endo (2)
4. Joey Ryan (0)
-. Konosuke Takeshita (0)
-. HARASHIMA (0)
-. Masahiro Takanashi (0)

B Block

1. Shuji Ishikawa (2)
-. Akito (2)
-. Yukio Sakaguchi (2)
4. Soma Takao (0)
-. Mike Bailey (0)
-. Daisuke Sasaki (0)
-. Kazusada Higuchi (0)

Day one of the D-King Grand Prix kicked off with some big upsets in the opening round of matches. Jiro Kuroshio defeated Konosuke Takeshita in the main event. He took all that Takeshita could throw at him then countered the German Suplex into the Casadora for the surprise three count. A cheerful Kuroshio told Takeshita after the match he would see him again. Takeshita’s response was to raise his KO-D Openweight Title and give Kuroshio the middle finger.

Mike Bailey has only been in Japan for 5 days during his current stay and there’s already two times when he thought he was going to die in the ring. The first was from HARASHIMA’s Somato on the 3rd and the second was from Shuji Ishikawa kicking his head in today. Ishikawa used the Knee Lift to great effect in their match. He thinks that next to Yoshihiro Takayama, he is the best at using the move.

The second big upset on the show was Keisuke Ishii beating HARASHIMA! Ishii’s use of statistics in his preparations paid off when he knew HARASHIMA was setting him up for the Somato after a Buzzsaw Kick. Ishii got up and cut HARASHIMA off with the Kneel Kick. The struggle over to pin him took long enough for HARASHIMA to kick out but Ishii then gave him the Double Arm DDT for the finish. Ishii said that it took him 10 years to finally beat HARASHIMA because Ishii joined DDT in 2007. He will now use today’s result times of his match, Takeshita’s match and Tetsuya Endo’s match to prpare for his upcoming bouts against them.

The history between Akito and Daisuke Sasaki wasn’t forgotten when they squared off. Akito quickly grabbed Sasaki by the hair when the bell rang while Sasaki tried to apply the Cross Facelock as fast as he could. Poor Daisuke Kiso was stuck in the crossfire and was knocked down by a chairshot. Akito’s chance to win seemed to have disappeared when there was no ref to see Sasaki submitting to an Anklelock. Yukinori Matsui finally came down to replace Kiso and he saw Akito countering the Cross Facelock into an Arm Clutch Scorpion Lock. Sasaki had no choice but to tap out with his free hand. Akito said he will use the Grand Prix to get rid of all of the depression he accumulated over the last year. Backstage Sasaki had a mood swing and wanted to abstain from the rest of the tournament. He also threatened to cut off his own hair but he was talked out of it.

Masahiro Takanashi played dirty to try and beat Tetsuya Endo. He used the referee as a shield then kicked Endo below the belt during the confusion. Endo was still in the match though and he avoided the Takatonic to get the ref involved again. When that was sorted out, Endo hit the Tetsuya In The Sky to put Takanashi away. Takanashi was so flustered by the result he asked KUDO backstage to calculate his current standing. 1 loss, zero points. Takanashi thinks he’ll need to win his 6 remaining matches to succeed.

Yukio Sakaguchi wore down Kazusada Higuchi with the Cobra Clutch, only letting go when Higuchi tried to press him into the turnbuckles. Before Higuchi could get his breath back, Sakaguchi hit the Right Knee Of God to knock him down for the pin. It doesn’t matter how busy his match schedule is, Sakaguchi said he can win his block with his eyes closed.


DDT “NEW YEAR’S SPECIAL! 2018” Results

January 3, 2018

DDT “NEW YEAR’S SPECIAL! 2018”, 03/01/2018
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,187 Fans

0. Under Match: Hoshitango & Rekka defeated Mizuki Watase & Daiki Shimomura when Rekka pinned Shimomura with a Reverse Power Slam (6:23).
1. Akito defeated Yuki Ueno with the Scorpion Lock (8:19).
2. Infomercial Match – “LADY NINJA: A Blue Shadow” Movie: KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Saki Akai (w/ Mai Hakase) defeated Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata & Veda Scott when Sakaguchi pinned Hirata with the PK (11:41).
3. New Year Kakizome Rumble (Calligrapher: Nachu): Keisuke Ishii defeated Sanshiro Takagi, Super Sasadango Machine, Nobuhiro Shimatani, Mad Paulie, Hoshitango, Gorgeous Matsuno, Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Gota Ihashi, Joey Ryan and Joey Axl (17:46).
3a. Joey Axl was eliminated by speaking Japanese (4:39).
3b. Nobuhiro Shimatani was eliminated by climbing the corner post (6:04).
3c. Tomomitsu Matsunaga was eliminated by saying his name (6:14).
3d. Joey Ryan was eliminated by speaking English (9:31).
3e. Sanshiro Takagi was eliminated by doing the Stunner (12:37).
3f. Gota Ihashi was eliminated by missing a Moonsault (14:03).
3g. Gorgeous Matsuno was eliminated by doing the Gorgeous Star☆Elbow (14:38).
3h. Mad Paulie was eliminated by laughing (15:55).
3i. Super Sasadango was eliminated by doing a Flying Body Attack (17:46).
4. Road To D-King GP Special Special Single Match: Soma Takao defeated Masahiro Takanashi with the Endless Waltz (9:13).
5. NωA, If You Lose Immediately Withdraw Your Dissolution Special: Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata & MAO defeated Danshoku Dino, Brahman Shu & Brahman Kei when Oishi pinned Dino with the Triple Ecstasy (10:02).
6. Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo defeated Colt Cabana & Antonio Honda when Endo pinned Honda with the Shooting Star Press (16:21).
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Super Sasadango Machine defeated Colt Cabana (c) with a Flying Body Attack (8:40 pm).
*Super Sasadango Machine becomes the 1,286th champion.
7. Road To D-King GP Special 6-Man Tag Match: HARASHIMA, Kazusada Higuchi & Jiro Kuroshio defeated Konosuke Takeshita, Mike Bailey & Shuji Ishikawa when HARASHIMA pinned Bailey with the Somato (20:17).

With the D-King Grand Prix just days away from starting, six of the participants took part in the 6-Man Tag Team main event of 2018’s first DDT show. Jiro Kuroshio is already testing the patience of some wrestlers with his long entrance that this time involved the unwilling participation of a small child. Konosuke Takeshita in particular made Kuroshio his target in the match. Elsewhere Shuji Ishikawa and Kazusada Higuchi squared off in a power battle while HARASHIMA had his hands full with Mike Bailey. It all built up to unlikely team moves like Takeshita doing a Codebreaker on HARASHIMA then holding him down for a Body Press from Ishikawa followed by the Standing Double Knee Moonsault from Bailey. However, HARASHIMA avoided the Ultima Weapon from Bailey and pinned him with two Somatos.

HARASHIMA was about to give his victory speech when Kuroshio grabbed the microphone and gave his own speech. He said he was happy to be in the tournament and is looking forward to beating up Takeshita even more. Higuchi threatened to rampage his way through the block to the final. He is happy to see that Ishikawa is even stronger than ever and looks forward to fighting him. Ishikawa asked if Higuchu knows how many championships he has won? Ishikawa guarantees he will win the GP because he is at his best. Bailey said the Somato he took made him understand his wrestling career could end at any moment. But if it does end it will be when Bailey fights HARASHIMA in the final. Takeshita told Kuroshio he will make his handsome face look awkward when they fight again. HARASHIMA said he will win the league and headline Sumo Hall. As usual. He tried to close out the show but Kuroshio stole all the attention again by posing in front of him.

Daisuke Sasaki is sick of Antonio Honda telling his “Gon, The Little Fox” stories. He told Honda his goal for 2018 should be to give up telling them. Colt Cabana backed up Honda by going along with his story and joining in with his antics. They performed the Superman Dive together for a double nearfall. But it all went wrong when a double Bionic Elbow ended with them hitting each other. Tetsuya Endo took advantage with the Springboard Overhead Kick and then won the match with the Shooting Star Press on Honda.

After the match Cabana was attacked by Nobuhiro Shimatani because he wanted to win the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title. Cabana fought him off but then Super Sasadango Machine came in and pinned Cabana with a Cross Body Block. Cabana tried to win the title back at the end of the show but failed.

The NωA had to fight for their lives against Danshoku Dino and the Brahman Brothers. They were told by the brothers before the match that they would fall into Hell! What followed was a brawl between both sides that moved into the audience. The Brahmans took out a mixer and blended together a liquid made out of beer, boiled egg, natto and raw squid. They considered throwing it into the audience but they poured it over Yuki Ueno instead. NωA turned the tables and used the Brahmans’ own tricks against them including throwing the bowling ball and suitcase at them and spitting the black India Ink at their faces. They then attacked Dino with a piece of wood up the backside and pinned him with the Triple Ecstasy. The NωA are now allowed to break up and their final match will take place on 28th January. They asked for T2Hide to be their final opponents. All of T2Hide came down to the ring crying with happiness over being chosen.

In the second D-King GP preview of the night, Soma Takao beat Masahiro Takanashi. He countered the Takatonic into the Endless Waltz series of rolling pin attempts, constantly rolling Takanashi into another pin until he finally got the three count. Takao thinks the move will help him immensely in the tournament. Just using today’s match as an example, the Endless Waltz got Takao a total of 10 pin counts, that’s enough for three wins. Takao hopes the Endless Waltz along with the Gin And Tonic will help him win both the Grand Prix in January and also All Japan’s Junior Heavyweight league in February.

Two years ago a calligrapher named Nachu was invited over to DDT to paint Kakizome new year messages on the backs of the wrestlers. She came back this year so it could be done again. The rule of the Battle Royal was every wrestler had a “Prohibited Skill” painted on their back. If the wrestler performed the skill during the match they would be disqualified. But since it was painted on their backs they did not know what their banned skill was. So the wrestlers all tried to bait each other into doing their prohibited moves. One of the entrants was Joey Axl, a pro wrestler from Australia. He appeared during the show opening ceremony unbeknown to the rest of the roster. It was only when Hisaya Imabayashi noticed him standing next to the other foreign wrestlers that he introduced himself and asked to wrestle in DDT. It was decided he would be added to the Battle Royal.

Sadly for Axl he was the first one eliminated. His prohibited skill was speaking Japanese and he was tricked into saying “Ichiban!” after he overpowered his opponents. Nobuhiro Shimatani was out when he climbed the turnbuckle to do a high flying attack. Tomomitsu Matsunaga was not allowed to say his name in the manner of the RVD/Toru Yano taunt that he likes to do. He teased doing it first but later did it for real to get eliminated. Joey Ryan was tricked into speaking English when Gorgeous Matsuno told him he had a small dick. Sanshiro Takagi was out after he gave Gota Ihashi a Stunner. Matsuno wasn’t allowed to do his Gorgeous Star☆Elbow. It took him several attempts to do the move because he kept getting tangled into the ropes mid-move. He finally did it with Keisuke Ishii’s help but that meant he was now out of the match. Ihashi did his Moonsault but he wasn’t supposed to. He also missed. Super Sasadango Machine eliminated Mad Paulie by making him laugh. Sasadango unmasked himself to show he was wearing similar facepaint as Paulie. It made Paulie so happy that he laughed. Finally Sasadango eliminated himself by doing a Cross Body to Ishii. Ishii was declared the winner because he avoided doing his prohibited skill, performing a combination attack with another wrestler.

The Infomercial Match was supposed to begin with a trailer for the upcoming movie LADY NINJA: A Blue Shadow which features Yukio Sakaguchi and Saki Akai in supporting roles. However Kazuki Hirata stopped the trailer because he wanted to dance with the movie’s lead star Mai Hakase instead. Hakase appeared with Shuten-dōji wearing her movie character’s costume. Sakaguchi got so mad at Hirata for his behaviour that Toru Owashi & Veda Scott bailed from the apron and left Hirata alone in the ring with him to get beaten up. Later in the match Hirata challenged Hakase to a duel. Hakase pulled out her prop sword and looked to have bested Hirata until he knocked her out with a sudden karate chop. Sakaguchi stole the Hirata Go! glasses and danced his way into beating up Hirata again to win the match. With Hirata defeated, the movie trailer was allowed to be shown. Afterwards Hakase, Sakaguchi and Akai spoke about their experiences during the making of the movie. Hakane said that she was afraid of Sakaguchi when they first met and she wanted to run away when it was time for them to film their fight scene. But he was able to work with her shyness and it turned out fine. She also said Akai was really strong when they filmed their scenes together. Next time she’d like to see her get a role as a sexy ninja.

Akito’s tune up match for the GP was against the rookie Yuki Ueno. While it wasn’t a big challenge for Akito, he felt it was a good way to prepare for the tournament. He was also nicely surprised by how well Ueno wrestled in the match. He’s pleased to see the younger wrestlers in DDT growing up in the ring and thinks he can teach them stuff that other wrestlers in the company cannot.

The wrestlers in the pre-show match all yelled “Happy New Year!” mid-move to each other at some point. Rekka & Hoshitango worked well together and did a lot of damage to Daiki Shimomura. Their big move involved Rekka climbing onto Hoshitango’s back then Hoshitango doing a Splash onto Shimomura with Rekka still on top of him. Mizuki Watase stopped the pin but once they got rid of him it was easy pickings for Rekka to finish off Shimomura.

It was announced that The Great Muta will appear at “JUDGEMENT 2018” in Sumo Hall on 25th March!


D-King Grand Prix 2018 Preview

December 27, 2017

More details have emerged for the D-King Grand Prix tournament taking place in January. At the end of “NEVER MIND 2017” on Christmas Eve, Konosuke Takeshita asked what would be the big prize for him because he is already the KO-D Openweight Champion and will most likely be the defending champion in the main event of “JUDGEMENT 2018” next March. The original announcement of the tournament was that the winner will get a main event KO-D Title shot on that show. DDT Producer Danshoku Dino revealed his intentions behind setting up the D-King GP. The winner will be “cast in the leading role” for DDT in 2018 so whoever wins the GP will become a major focal point of the company over the next 12 months. If that isn’t enough, a few days later the Assistant Producer Hisaya Imabayashi revealed that the winner will also receive 2,000,000 yen in prize money!

A press conference was held with all of the Japanese entrants making an appearance to comment on their chances in the tournament. Takeshita said he’s been satisfied by defending the KO-D Title in Korakuen Hall but there are many regions in Japan where the title has never been defended in. Some of those areas are on the tour schedule and while he is not defending the title in the tournament, he wants to wrestle in those towns as if the title is on the line every show. He thinks the strongest wrestler should win the Grand Prix and it doesn’t make sense if the champion is not the strongest.

The rest of Block A gave their opinions. For HARASHIMA it has been years since he last competed in a Round Robin tournament. He knows how much risk there is in suffering an injury because there have been times when he got hurt early in tournaments and could not complete his remaining matches. Keisuke Ishii sees the Grand Prix as an opportunity to end his current depressing run. He is confident he will win because his total singles record against his Block A opponents are 9 wins, 7 losses and 5 draws. Tetsuya Endo claims that he is only interested in fighting Jiro Kuroshio, nobody else. Masahiro Takanashi had spent his recent time wondering why he was put in the tournament because he is more of a 6-Man Tag Team specialist. He found out it was because KUDO is not in good enough condition to compete in a league format and Takanashi was nominated in his place. Now he realises he is the second most experienced wrestler in the tournament after HARASHIMA. When he looked at the poster for “JUDGEMENT 2018” that was when he found his answer. He believes he will face Kazusada Higuchi in the final. Jiro Kuroshio is happy for the opportunity and is excited for his matches. He wants to win the Grand Prix for himself rather than for WRESTLE-1.

Over in Block B the atmosphere is a bit different. Daisuke Sasaki has become depressed after losing the Independent World Jr. Heavyweight Title to Ken Ohka then failing to win the KO-D Tag Team Titles with Endo. He doesn’t think he will win the tournament. He feels so low that he thinks he will only win one match. He said this while looking at Shuji Ishikawa. Yukio Sakaguchi is delighted to take part because he gets to prove he is the clearly the strongest in DDT. Soma Takao is entering his first league competition and is counting on the experience he learned wrestling in All Japan to bring out his full potential. Akito already has his battle plans in place to beat all but one person in his block. The one man he can’t figure out is Ishikawa. If he can beat him then as far as he is concerned, winning the tournament is guaranteed. He desires to face his friend Takeshita on DDT’s biggest stage. Kazusada Higuchi is keeping it simple and will focus on one match at a time. He’ll defeat whoever steps in front of him then the main event spot in Sumo Hall will come naturally to him. Shuji Ishikawa thinks he had a good 2017 and wants to continue that momentum going into 2018.

Some questions were asked to the wrestlers by the wrestling press. Takeshita was asked which wrestler he is most looking forward to fighting. He said Kuroshio because it is a new generation DDT Vs WRESTLE-1 match. Kuroshio said he has a plan to beat Takeshita but he’s keeping it secret. Ishikawa was asked about having to fight his friend Sasaki. Ishikawa said it was a conspiracy by DDT to put them together in the same block. But he will fight Sasaki if he has to. Sasaki joked that Ishikawa only has three seconds to beat him. HARASHIMA was asked about Takeshita throwing around the words “New Generation” in his earlier comments. HARASHIMA has no thoughts in particular about it and he is only focusing on winning his matches. Endo was asked about being separated from DAMNATION and being alone in his block. Endo promised to give the prize money to Sasaki when he wins it.

Ishii was asked to provide more data about his singles record against the rest of Block A. He said he has 6 wins & 1 loss against Endo, 3 wins & 0 losses against Takanashi, 0 wins & 5 losses plus 1 draw against HARASHIMA, 1 loss & 1 draw against Takeshita. He has never wrestled singles matches against Kuroshio and Joey Ryan. Sakaguchi & Takanashi were asked about wrestling in KUDO’s place. Sakaguchi described the tournament as being different from King Of DDT which KUDO usually participates in. They are sorry that KUDO is unable to compete in the GP but he will be there to celebrate with them when they win.

Akito was asked about what Ishikawa’s potential strategy will be against him. Akito repeated that he cannot figure Ishikawa out. He has time to come up with something but right now he can’t see anything at all when he looks at him. Endo was asked about getting to fight Takeshita one on one again for the first time since “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2017”. He refused to give an answer. He doesn’t want to think about it until it happens. Finally, Ishikawa was asked if he has a blueprint in place for 2018. He said he has no such thing. He just does his best and the fans appreciate it. He doesn’t know if he will win the tournament but he will make the effort.

Neither of the two foreign entrants were in attendance so there are no comments available for Joey Ryan and Mike Bailey.

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DDT “D-KING GRAND PRIX 2018 IN SHINJUKU”, 05/01/2018
Shinjuku FACE

1. 4 Way Tag Match: Joey Ryan & Veda Scott Vs Antonio Honda & Soma Takao Vs KUDO & Toru Owashi Vs Makoto Oishi & Shunma Katsumata
2. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Jiro Kuroshio
3. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: HARASHIMA Vs Keisuke Ishii
4. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Tetsuya Endo Vs Masahiro Takanashi
5. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Akito
6. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Kazusada Higuchi
7. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Mike Bailey Vs Shuji Ishikawa

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DDT “D-KING GRAND PRIX 2018 IN OSAKA 2 DAYS”, 07/01/2018
Osaka Hirano Community Hall

1. Danshoku Dino, Kazuki Hirata & Yuki Ueno Vs Shunma Katsumata, MAO & Veda Scott
2. 4 Way Match: Keisuke Ishii Vs Toru Owashi Vs Kouki Iwasaki Vs Naomi Yoshimura
3. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Tetsuya Endo
4. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: HARASHIMA Vs Joey Ryan
5. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Masahiro Takanashi Vs Jiro Kuroshio
6. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Yukio Sakaguchi
7. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Soma Takao Vs Kazusada Higuchi
8. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Akito Vs Mike Bailey

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DDT “D-KING GRAND PRIX 2018 IN OSAKA 2 DAYS”, 08/01/2018
Osaka Hirano Community Hall

1. Danshoku Dino Sometimes Throws Away The Heavy Responsibilities Of A Producer To Hit The Desire Of Man New Year’s Special Battle Royal: Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Tetsuya Endo Vs Toru Owashi Vs Toru Owashi Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Naomi Yoshimura Vs Mizuki Watase Vs Yuki Ueno Vs Veda Scott (Special Referee: Danshoku Dino)
2. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Joey Ryan
3. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: HARASHIMA Vs Jiro Kuroshio
4. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Keisuke Ishii Vs Masahiro Takanashi
5. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Kazusada Higuchi
6. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Soma Takao Vs Mike Bailey
7. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Akito Vs Shuji Ishikawa

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DDT “D-KING GRAND PRIX 2018 IN NERIMA”, 10/01/2018
Tokyo Nerima Coconeri Hall

0. Under Match: KUDO, Masahiro Takanashi, Kouki Iwasaki & Nobuhiro Shimatani Vs Mike Bailey, Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata & MAO
1. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Konosuke Takeshita Vs HARASHIMA
2. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Keisuke Ishii Vs Joey Ryan
3. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Tetsuya Endo Vs Jiro Kuroshio
4. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Soma Takao
5. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Shuji Ishikawa
6. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Akito Vs Kazusada Higuchi

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DDT “D-KING GRAND PRIX 2018 IN YOKOHAMA”, 11/01/2018
Yokohama Radiant Hall

0. Under Match: HARASHIMA, Antonio Honda, Mizuki Watase & Rekka Vs Kazusada Higuchi, MAO, Daiki Shimomura & Nobuhiro Shimatani
1. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Masahiro Takanashi
2. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Keisuke Ishii Vs Jiro Kuroshio
3. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Tetsuya Endo Vs Joey Ryan
4. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Shuji Ishikawa
5. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Mike Bailey
6. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Soma Takao Vs Akito

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DDT “D-KING GRAND PRIX 2018 IN SHIMIZU”, 13/01/2018
Shizuoka Shimizu Marine Bill

1. 3 Way 6-Man Tag Match: Konosuke Takeshita, Antonio Honda & Kouki Iwasaki Vs Daisuke Sasaki, Mad Paulie & Nobuhiro Shimatani Vs Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata & MAO
2. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: HARASHIMA Vs Masahiro Takanashi
3. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Keisuke Ishii Vs Tetsuya Endo
4. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Joey Ryan Vs Jiro Kuroshio
5. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Akito
6. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Kazusada Higuchi Vs Mike Bailey
7. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Soma Takao Vs Shuji Ishikawa

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DDT “D-KING GRAND PRIX 2018 IN SHINKIBA”, 14/01/2018
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

0. Under Match: Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata & MAO Vs Kouki Iwasaki, Mizuki Watase & Yuki Ueno
1. 7 Way Match: Danshoku Dino Vs KUDO Vs Akito Vs Mad Paulie Vs Toru Owashi Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Antonio Honda
2. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Keisuke Ishii
3. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: HARASHIMA Vs Tetsuya Endo
4. D-King Grand Prix – A Block: Masahiro Takanashi Vs Joey Ryan
5. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Mike Bailey
6. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Soma Takao
7. D-King Grand Prix – B Block: Kazusada Higuchi Vs Shuji Ishikawa

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DDT “D-KING GRAND PRIX 2018 THE FINAL!!”, 28/01/2018
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

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