Producer Dino In Charge, Kodaka 15 Years, DDT Nostalgia, Ohka Gambles Big

DDT “DDT DRAMATIC GENERAL ELECTION 2017 ~FIRST REQUEST SPECIAL!~”, 25/08/2017
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

0. Match To Determine If Amon Tsurumi Can Return As GM: Amon Tsurumi Vs X

With “RYOGOKU PETER PAN” done for another year it’s time for a fresh start in DDT, especially since we now have Danshoku Dino as the Producer. The card for DDT’s next show will be determined through “Danshoku Interviews” Dino will hold with the roster. Also he is giving Amon Tsurumi an opportunity to return to his role as General Manager but Tsurumi has to wrestle for it. Tsurumi does not need to win to get his job back, he only has to do a good enough job convincing Producer Dino that he deserves it.

DDT “DRAMATIC ARMOR ATTACK! 2017”, 27/08/2017
Kanagawa Odawara Arena

0. King Of Dark Title: Dai Suzuki (c) Vs Kouki Iwasaki
1. Sanshiro Takagi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Shunma Katsumata & MAO
2. Big Single Match At Late Summer ~ 41 Year Old Chubby Wrestler Vs 38 Year Old Idol Wrestler!: Toru Owashi Vs Makoto Oishi
3. Shigehiro Irie & Kazusada Higuchi Vs KUDO & Masahiro Takanashi
4. HARASHIMA & Soma Takao Vs Danshoku Dino & Keisuke Ishii
5. Big Single Match At Late Summer ~ Crazy Gold Wolf Vs Crazy D●ck Throw!: Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Joey Ryan
6. Odawara Specialty! Kanagawa Special 6-Man Tag Match: Konosuke Takeshita, Akito & Diego Vs Daisuke Sasaki, Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie

Some extra rules have been established for the brand new KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles. After the first champions were crowned Dino quickly realised how difficult it will be to schedule all five members of the team to appear at the same shows on a regular basis. In this situation, only Makoto Oishi & Ken Ohka can be relied on for regular DDT bookings at this moment in time. LiLiCo, Lady Beard and Super Sasadango Machine all have conflicting schedules. So the plan is title defences will be endorsed if at least 3 members of the defending team including the team captain are available. The remaining spots on the team can be filled by temporary replacements. However the replacements will not be recognised as champions themselves. Any successful defences will be credited to the original champions even when they are absent.

BASARA “VAJRA 45 ~OSHU BATTLE~”, 02/09/2017
Sendai City Miyagino Ward Cultural Center

1. Single Match With Beef Tongue As Ingredients: Gouma Ryu Vs Atsushi Maruyama
2. Isami Kodaka 15th Anniversary Memorial Match ~Miyagino Ward~: Isami Kodaka & Ryuichi Sekine Vs Minoru Fujita & Masamune

Isami Kodaka is setting up a few special matches in the build up to his 15th Anniversary show this October.

DDT “NON-FIX ~ 9.13 ~ DDT 20TH ANNIVERSARY MEMORIAL EXTRA EDITION VOL. 2”, 13/09/2017
Shibuya Club ATOM

1. 4 Way Match: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Danshoku Dino Vs Muscle Sakai Vs Ken Ohka
2. KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi Vs HERO!, MIKAMI & Tanomusaku Toba
3. Konosuke Takeshita, Akito & Poison Sawada JULIE Vs Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata & MAO

DDT returns to Shibuya Club ATOM for the first time since I think 2004 for a nostalgia show. Poison Sawada JULIE comes out of retirement to team with ALL OUT. Other returns include HERO!, MIKAMI, Tanomusaku Toba and Muscle Saki.

DDT “FACTORY WRESTLING IN MIYAJI IRON WORKS 2017”, 20/09/2017
Miyagi Iron Works

KO-D Tag Team Titles: HARASHIMA & Naomichi Marufuji (c) Vs Sanshiro Takagi & Danshoku Dino

When the working day is done, DDT will take over the Miyaji Iron Works for a special Factory Pro Wrestling match. The KO-D Tag Team Titles are on the line! Naomichi Marufuji is hesitant about wrestling a Falls Count Anywhere Match inside a factory but his boss over in NOAH gave him permission to take part.

GANBARE☆WRESTLING “BAD COMMUNICATION 2017”, 21/09/2017
Shinjuku FACE

1. “Kamen Women” Nanaka Kawamura Debut Match: HARUKAZE & Nanaka Kawamura Vs Emi Sakura & Riho
2. Independent World Jr. Heavyweight Title: Ken Ohka (c) Vs “brother” YASSHI

Days before Ken Ohka puts his Independent World Jr. Heavyweight Title on the line in the special 3 Way Match, he will first have to go through a title defence in Ganbare☆Wrestling. The good news for Okha is if he loses the title to “brother” YASSHI, he will still be part of the 3 Way Titles Match in DDT. The bad news is he will have to put something else on the line to replace the title. More on that below.

DDT “WHO’S GONNA TOP? ~DDT DRAMATIC GENERAL ELECTION 2017 ~LAST REQUEST SPECIAL!~”, 24/09/2017
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. KO-D Openweight Title, DDT Extreme Title & Independent World Jr. Heavyweight Title – 3 Way Match: Konosuke Takeshita (c/K) Vs Daisuke Sasaki (c/E) Vs Ken Ohka (c/I)

Producer Dino ended “RYOGOKU PETER PAN” with a major announcement concerning the main event for DDT’s next show in Korakuen Hall. It is a 3 Way Match with the KO-D Openweight Title, DDT Extreme Title and Independent World Jr. Title all on the line! The winner will become a double champion, taking the title from whoever he pins or submits. The odd man out will escape the match with their respective championship still in their grasp. In the case that Ohka loses his championship in Ganpuro a few days before this show, he agrees to put his entire life savings of 664,111 yen on the line instead.

DDT “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2017 ~PETER PAN EVEN IF YOU BECOME 20 YEARS OLD PETER PAN~” Results

DDT “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2017 ~PETER PAN EVEN IF YOU BECOME 20 YEARS OLD PETER PAN~”, 20/08/2017
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
5,900 Fans – Super No Vacancy

0. Street Pro Wrestling Extra Edition! Gota Ihashi Ryogoku 5 Game Series: Gota Ihashi (c) Vs Mad Paulie, Gorgeous Matsuno, Dai Suzuki, Rocky Kawamura & Lingerie Muto ended 2-3.
0a. King Of Dark Title: Gota Ihashi (c) defeated Dai Suzuki with a Body Press (0:36).
*Gota Ihashi passes D3. Dai Suzuki becomes the 20th King Of Dark Champion.
0b. Gota Ihashi defeated Gorgeous Matsuno with a Body Press (3:31).
0c. Mad Paulie defeated Gota Ihashi with a Lou Thesz Press (4:35).
0d. Rocky Kawamura defeated Gota Ihashi with the Balboa Blow (1:23).
0e. Lingerie Muto defeated Gota Ihashi with the Shining Wizard (1:36).
0. Dark Match: Mizuki Watase, Rekka, Diego & Daiki Shimomura defeated Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Hoshitango, Nobuhiro Shimatani & Masato Kamino when Watase pinned Kamino with the Back Drop (6:23).
0. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Battle Royal: Yuu defeated Tetsuya Koda (c), Miyu Yamashita, Syoko Nakajima, Yuka Sakazaki, Nonoko, Rika Tatsumi, Azusa Takigawa, Nodoka-oneesan, Maho Kurone, Marika Kobashi, Yuna Manase, Mizuki and Cherry (16:46).
0a. Nodoka-oneesan and Nonoko eliminated Cherry by Pinfall when Cherry tripped over Tetsuya Koda (3:17).
0b. Nodoka-oneesan eliminated Tetsuya Koda (c) by Pinfall (4:52).
*Nodoka-oneesan becomes the 1,625th champion.
0c. Yuka Sakazaki and eliminated Nonoko and Yuna Manase by Ring Out (5:01).
0d. Mizuki eliminated Nodoka-oneesan (c) with the Cutie Special (6:47).
*Mizuki becomes the 1,626th champion.
0e. Maho Kurone eliminated Marika Kobashi by Ring Out (10:04).
0f. Rika Tatsumi eliminated Maho Kurone by Ring Out (10:43).
0g. Yuka Sakazaki and Syoko Nakajima eliminated Rika Tatsumi with a Sunset Flip & Jackknife Pin Combo (11:40).
0h. Yuu eliminated Miyu Yamashita by Ring Out (13:04).
0i. Mizuki (c) eliminated Yuka Sakazaki and Syoko Nakajima by Ring Out (13:28).
*V1 and V2 for Mizuki.
0j. Yuu eliminated Azusa Takigawa with a Sidewalk Slam (14:53).
0k. Yuu eliminated Mizuki (c) with the Katahajime (16:46).
*Yuu becomes the 1,267th champion.
1. Yuki Ino Debut Match: Naomi Yoshimura & Yuki Ueno defeated Kouki Iwasaki & Yuki Ino when Yoshimura pinned Ino with the Shonenba (10:49).
2. KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles: Makoto Oishi, LiLiCo, Lady Beard, Super Sasadango Machine & Ken Ohka defeated Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata, Joey Ryan, Saki Akai & Yoshihiko when Ohka pinned Hirata with the Fire Spear (10:23).
*Makoto Oishi, LiLiCo, Lady Beard, Super Sasadango Machine & Ken Ohka become the 1st KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Champions!
3. Ikemen Vs Idol! Handsome Humanity Battle: Jiro Kuroshio defeated Shunma Katsumata with the Ikemen Clutch (12:00).
4. Special 4 Way Tag Match: Kotaro Suzuki & Soma Takao defeated Kaz Hayashi & Keisuke Ishii, Isami Kodaka & Yuko Miyamoto and Mike Bailey & MAO when Takao pinned MAO with the Endless Waltz (10:30).
5. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi (c) defeated Dick Togo, Yasu Urano & Antonio Honda when KUDO pinned Honda with the Diving Double Knee Drop (13:52).
*V1 for Shuten-dōji.
6. DDT 20th Anniversary Weapons Rumble – All Rights Contra Marriage: Danshoku Dino defeated Sanshiro Takagi with the Gotch-Style Danshoku Driver (17:16).
-. Weapon Match: Kendo Kashin Vs Mitsuo Momota (w/ Momota Family) ended in a No Contest (2:36).
7. DDT Extreme Title – Cabellera Contra Cabellera: Daisuke Sasaki (c) defeated Akito with the Chair Assisted La Mistica Cross Facelock (21:14).
*V5 for Daisuke Sasaki.
8. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Uchikomi! Presents: HARASHIMA & Naomichi Marufuji defeated Shigehiro Irie & Kazusada Higuchi (c) when HARASHIMA pinned Irie with the Somato (16:14).
*YaroZ fail in V4. HARASHIMA & Naomichi Marufuji become the 62nd KO-D Tag Team Champions!
9. KO-D Openweight Title – Good Com Asset Presents: Konosuke Takeshita (c) defeated Tetsuya Endo with the Cross Arm German Suplex (29:02).
*V7 for Konosuke Takeshita.

Konosuke Takeshita overcame his toughest challenge yet to achieve his 7th defence of the KO-D Openweight Title! The grudge match against Tetsuya Endo was the headline attraction for DDT’s return to Sumo Hall. Last time the two fought to an hour long draw but this time, Takeshita was able to defeat Endo in just under 30 minutes. Endo did hit the Torture Rack Bomb, the Shooting Star Press and both versions of Tetsuya In The Sky but Takeshita kicked out of all of them. Endo also reversed a Tombstone Piledriver on the ramp during an outside attack. In return, Takeshita hit Lariats, Big Boots, Pump Up Knee Strikes, German Suplexes and the Blue Thunder Bomb but Endo kicked out of them. Finally, Takeshita crossed Endo’s arms over for one last German Suplex and that one brought an end to the match. Takeshita wanted to show good sportsmanship to Endo after the match but Endo spat in his face and was carried away from the ring by DAMNATION.

Takeshita thanked the fans for coming to Sumo Hall and supporting him. His victory speech was interrupted by the new DDT Producer, Danshoku Dino. Coming out wearing a peach colored suit jacket over his wrestling gear, Dino congratulated Takeshita and said that part of his new job is to come up with new challenges for the champion. Dino told Takeshita he will defend the KO-D Title on 24th September against another champion. Out came Ken Ohka with his Independent World Jr. Heavyweight Title! Takeshita accepted the challenge and wanted Ohka to put his title on the line too in a unification match, one on one. Dino looked surprised. He never said Takeshita and Ohka would be in a singles match. It’s going to be a 3 Way Match with a third champion involved. Daisuke Sasaki entered the ring with his DDT Extreme Title. He wasn’t happy with the idea but if it means getting revenge on Takeshita for beating Endo, then so be it. With that decided, everyone left Takeshita alone in the ring to finish the show closing speech. Five years ago, 17 year old Takeshita had his debut match in Budokan Hall. Fast forward to today and 22 year old Takeshita is making DDT grow bigger in both mind and body!

It was a new song but the same old story for Shigehiro Irie. He just can’t beat HARASHIMA. Irie and Kazusada Higuchi came out to Irie’s new entrance music “T2” (“Tachimukau Ver.2”) by Kinniku Shojo Tai. He even had the support of the band’s main vocalist Kenji Otsuki sitting at ringside for the match. But HARASHIMA had Naomichi Marufuji on his team and Marufuji kept Higuchi at bay with their Chop Battles. Irie did what he could to put away HARASHIMA but nothing worked. Irie readied himself for one last Beast Bomber but was cut off by Marufuji. Irie was then pinned after the Shiranui from Marufuji followed by the Somato by HARASHIMA. As the new KO-D Tag Team Champions celebrated, Irie went over to Otsuki and cried for forgiveness. Higuchi also apologised to Irie but Irie wouldn’t let him take the blame.

HARASHIMA & Marufuji’s celebration was then cut short by Dino, who introduced himself to Marufuji. Dino said he wants to provide a dream match for the next Tag Title defence and it will involve the two wrestlers who best represent DDT. Himself and Sanshiro Takagi! Dino also wants Marufuji to experience the kind of match only DDT can provide. So on 20th September, HARASHIMA & Marufuji will defend the KO-D Tag Team Titles against Dino & Takagi inside the Miyagi Iron Works for a Factory Pro Wrestling Match! Marufuji was taken aback by the announcement and referred to the NOAH president Masayuki Uchida at ringside for his opinion. “No problem!”, Uchida said. Welcome to DDT, Marufuji.

Daisuke Sasaki and Akito fought in a crazy Hardcore Submission Hair Vs Hair Match for the DDT Extreme Title. Akito came out with new wrestling gear but focused all of his attention to the task at hand. Sasaki meanwhile lived it up by walking to the ring with two blonde haired foreign women for his entrance. The match became dangerous in between the submissions when a table, ladder and chairs were all brought into the ring. Akito used the chairs to attack Sasaki by the legs. Sasaki hit back with a major move, placing Akito sitting on a chair outside the ring then jumping off the ladder from inside the ring for the Super Diving Elbow! Back in the ring Sasaki laid Akito down inside the ladder and hit a chair-assisted Diving Elbow from the top rope. Akito returned fire by putting Sasaki through the table from the ladder. He put Sasaki in the Scorpion Lock but let it go when Mad Paulie jumped onto the apron for a distraction. Sasaki swung a chair at Akito but he ducked and Paulie took the shot instead. Akito tried to give Sasaki the Double Knee Buster but it was countered into a DDT onto the chair. Sasaki then found a guitar and smashed it over Akito’s head. Finally, Sasaki made Akito submit to La Mistica Cross Facelock with a chair wrapped around Akito’s head pulling back for extra damage.

Sasaki took joy from slowly cutting off pieces of Akito’s hair with clippers until Akito grabbed an electric shaver and shaved off the remaining hair himself.

Company power versus romantic freedom were on the line when Sanshiro Takagi and Danshoku Dino fought in a Weapons Rumble. If Dino won he would be given complete control of booking DDT shows. If Takagi won then Dino would have to go find a romantic partner and get married. The early weapons brought into the match included a barbed wire baseball bat, a vibrating massager also wrapped in barbed wire which Dino stuffed behind Takagi’s shorts, a gigantic marriage document which Takagi forced Dino to sign and Takagi’s Rolex watch which Dino smashed to pieces with the baseball bat. The next “weapon” turned out to be Kendo Kashin but he was immediately attacked by Mitsuo Momota with Chikara accompanying him. Their planned match at 6:30am never took place so DDT decided to begin the match here and now. It was called off when Dino and his friends assaulted the referee assigned to the Kashin Vs Momota match. Kashin promoted the next All Japan show in Sumo Hall to be held on 27th August and then left. Dino’s friends were then distracted by the appearance of the Macho 29 dance troupe so that got rid of them. Dino then had an old video of a drunk Takagi stripping naked during a fan event play over the arena screen. Takagi had a mental breakdown until his secret weapon appeared. It was Dino’s mother, Yaeko! She entered the ring and gave Dino the Lip Lock! Takagi then hit Dino with a Lariat and the Sit Down Himawari Bomb but Dino kicked out. Then it was time for Dino’s secret weapon, Takagi’s wife Kayoko Takagi! She hit a Moonsault on Takagi. The end finally came when Dino delivered the Lip Lock and the Danshoku Driver, a Gotch-Style variation for extra insult. Dino is now in charge of DDT!

Dino celebrated winning what must now be the most important match of his career. Takagi tried to convince Dino to go and get married anyway. Marriage can be nice, just look at him and Kayoko. After he said this Kayoko gave him the cold shoulder and left the ring. Takagi then changed his mind and said it’s probably alright for Dino to stay single for a little while longer. He also thanked Yaeko for appearing. She received cheers from the audience as she left the ring. Moving on to other business, Takagi asked Dino if he realises how much power he now holds in DDT. Dino said he was prepared otherwise he would never have asked for it. Takagi accepted the answer and promoted Dino into the DDT Producer. Takagi then announced he was going to retire but quickly admitted he was lying. Amon Tsurumi came in to congratulate Dino for becoming the Producer. With Takagi, Amon and Dino all working together DDT will become a more interesting place. Takagi then fired Tsurumi! DDT only needs two people to captain the ship so Tsurumi’s position as General Manager is no longer needed. Dino agreed and said in English “You are fired!” Tsurumi tried to complain but was pulled out of the ring by a bunch of DDT wrestlers and carried away from ringside.

The combined powers of Dick Togo, Yasu Urano and Antonio Honda telling his bedtime story were not enough to take the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles from Shuten-dōji. Honda was put away with the combo of Yukio Sakaguchi’s Right Knee Of God, Masahiro Takanashi’s Takatonic and KUDO’s Diving Double Knee Drop. The champions declared they will drink until the morning to celebrate. Sakaguchi also sent a message to Togo. If Togo wants a match anytime, Sakaguchi will be there to kill him!

The 4 Way Tag Team match turned into a free for all. Kaz Hayashi & Keisuke Ishii hit stereo Planchas onto Yankee Two Kenju. Then Mike Bailey & MAO jumped off of the same top corner together to hit Moonsaults onto everyone outside the ring. Bailey & MAO then singled out Soma Takao but couldn’t catch the guy. Takao rolled away from Bailey’s Shooting Star Double Knee Drop then avoided MAO’s Cannonball 450. Kotaro Suzuki then grabbed MAO and did Takao’s Endless Waltz for a few nearfalls. Takao then took over the Endless Waltz for some more nearfalls until he finally pinned down MAO long enough to get a three count. Suzuki revealed that he got permission from Takao before the match to use the move so it is now officially part of his moveset. Takao hopes he and Suzuki will tag together more in the future. Bailey & MAO also expressed a desire to team up more often in DDT. On a sidenote, Takao is now 9-0 at “PETER PAN” events.

Shunma Katsumata and Jiro Kuroshiro provided a handsome looking change of pace with their singles match. Katsumata made his entrance on a stage gondola with the rest of NωA throwing autographed balls into the audience. Kuroshio then spent the entirety of his entrance frolicking through the crowd. His big move of the match was a Lionsault out of the ring onto Katsumata standing on the ramp. Katsumata got a nearfall with the Firebird Splash and also used his own version of the Ikemen Clutch for a nearfall. But Kuroshio got the victory by locking in the real Ikemen Clutch for the three count. Katsumata and Kuroshio embraced after the match. Katsumata said he regrets not being able to grasp his big opportunity today but he has no hard feelings over the result. Kuroshio said he felt lucky to get the match today and he thanked DDT for giving him their support.

In order to win the brand new KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles, a special battle plan was necessary to succeed. Super Sasadango Machine had such a plan ready for his team. First he held his PowerPoint presentation, “Reasons Why We Cannot Stop Wrestling”. Short answers, it’s because wrestlers feel a sense of accomplishment when they win. But wrestling is mostly an individual competition and when you are not the champion it is not as fun. When Tag Team Titles are introduced it increases the variety of ingredients to make tastier dishes. So he approves of a 10-Man Tag Title being created. for his battle plan, Kazuki Hirata is the target. Sasadango wants the audience to applaud Hirata so much that he will become deliriously happy. Then LiLiCo can sneak in and pin him with a School Boy. The plan didn’t work and Hirata kicked out of the School Boy. Later, Joey Ryan overpowered almost the entire opposition with his dick strength, flipping everybody away except for LiLiCo. She held on, forced Ryan to grab her crotch and used her power to flip him over. Hirata came back in to dance to his cover of “TOKYO GO!” until Ken Ohka hit him with the Fire Spear to win the match. So the first champions are Makoto Oishi, LiLiCo, Lady Beard, Super Sasadango Machine & Ken Ohka! Sasadango said backstage that the team are open to challenges from anybody as long as they come to DDT.

DDT’s new big lad Yuki Ino was the focus in the opening match for the main show. His power overwhelmed Yuki Ueno and he also went toe to toe with Naomi Yoshimura. He had no problem teaming with Kouki Iwasaki while Ueno & Yoshimura had a moment of miscommunication that almost cost them the match. Ueno’s Dropkick hit Yoshimura by mistake and Ino capitalised with a Spear to Ueno and a Back Drop to Yoshimura. Ino went for another Spear but Yoshimura sut him off with a Lariat and pinned the new rookie with the Shonenba. Ueno was impressed by Ino’s strength but Yoshimura wasn’t. He doesn’t see what the big deal with Ino is and why he was given the spotlight.

The Tokyo Joshi Pro GM Tetsuya Koda has the face the wrath of his entire roster because he had to enter their Battle Royal as the defending Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion. He tried to act tough but was easily beaten up by Cherry. When Nodoka-oneesan came out and Cherry fought her, Koda backed off to the corner and tried to stay out of the way. That backfired when Nonoko was thrown into the corner and she squashed him. Nodoka-oneesan then pinned Koda to become the champion. Her reign was ended by Mizuki with the Cutie Special. Mizuki held on to the belt until she was in the final two with Yuu. Fifteen years ago when Yuu was a kid, she tried to win the title as part of a fan contest and failed. But today, Yuu accomplished her goal and tapped out Mizuki to become the Iron Man Champion!

The All DNA team were victorious in the pre-show 8-Man Tag. The veterans Tomomitsu Matsunaga and Hoshitango came close to winning it for their side but their pins kept getting cut off. Rekka, Diego & Daiki Shimomura wiped out the opposition with Planchas then Mizuki Watase pinned Masato Kamino with the Back Drop.

When the doors opened at 2:00pm that afternoon, the first match of the day began. Gota Ihashi was put into a special 5-match Gauntlet series to be held all around the building. Plus he would be defending the King Of Dark Title so there he had many opportunities ahead to pass the cursed title to someone else. In fact he did it immediately outside Sumo Hall to his first opponent Dai Suzuki. Ihashi pinned Suzuki in 36 seconds and Suzuki rolled down the stairway with the title belt. Even though Ihashi is now free from dark match hell, he still had to complete his series so he move into a restroom for match number two against Gorgeous Matsuno. They fought over to a balcony where Matsuno used a tarp rope to attempt the Gorgeous Superstar Elbow. That obviously didn’t work and Ihashi leapt on top of him for the three count. Ihashi had to go down to the lobby and interrupt a DAMNATION autograph session for Match #3 against Mad Paulie. They moved over to the ring where Ihashi ran the length of ringside to do a Lariat. Paulie countered it with a Lou Thesz Press, got the three count and went back to the autograph table. An exhausted Ihashi looked around the halls for his first of two mystery opponents and found Rocky Kawamura. He put on a pair of boxing gloves and sparred with Kawamura until he got knocked out and pinned. Possibly dazed and confused or just by being a pervert, Ihashi found the women’s locker room and entered it. Saki Akai and Cherry ran out screaming but one person walked out of the shower and stayed. It was Lingerie Muto! He attacked Ihashi with shampoo, gave him a Dragon Screw and hit the Shining Wizard to end the match. Ihashi finishes the series with two wins and three losses.

During the ending credits, Akito sadly showed off his new bald head, Takagi was slapped down by Kayoko then their two daughters did standing Moonsaults onto him and Amon Tsurumi was seen pleading for his job back.

Suwama, Ultimo Dragon, Hideki Suzuki and Abdullah Kobayashi will all compete at the 22nd October show in Korakuen Hall. This is the same event where the Top 20 wrestlers in the Dramatic General Election will be booked.

One of the trends DDT is following as part of its 20th Anniversary is to return to venues that housed their events as they grew. One of the venues is Shibuya Club ATOM where DDT will have a special nostalgia show on 13th September. Three matches are announced so far. Takeshita, Akito & Poison Sawada JULIE take on NωA. Takagi, Dino, Muscle Sakai and Ohka will fight in a 4 Way Match. Lastly, Shuten-dōji face HERO!, MIKAMI & Tanomusaku Toba.

DDT “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2017 ~PETER PAN EVEN IF YOU BECOME 20 YEARS OLD PETER PAN~” Preview

DDT “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2017 ~PETER PAN EVEN IF YOU BECOME 20 YEARS OLD PETER PAN~”, 20/08/2017
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

0. King Of Dark Title – Street Pro Wrestling Extra Edition! Gota Ihashi Ryogoku 5 Game Series: Gota Ihashi (c) Vs Mad Paulie, Gorgeous Matsuno, Dai Suzuki, X & X
0. Dark Match: Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Hoshitango, Nobuhiro Shimatani & Masato Kamino Vs Mizuki Watase, Rekka, Diego & Daiki Shimomura
0. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Battle Royal: Tetsuya Koda (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita Vs Syoko Nakajima Vs Yuka Sakazaki Vs Nonoko Vs Rika Tatsumi Vs Azusa Takigawa Vs Yuu Vs Nodoka-oneesan Vs Maho Kurone Vs Marika Kobashi Vs Yuna Manase Vs Mizuki Vs Cherry
1. Yuki Ino Debut Match: Kouki Iwasaki & Yuki Ino Vs Naomi Yoshimura & Yuki Ueno
2. KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles: Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata, Joey Ryan, Saki Akai & Yoshihiko Vs Makoto Oishi, LiLiCo, Lady Beard, Super Sasadango Machine & Ken Ohka
3. Ikemen Vs Idol! Handsome Humanity Battle: Jiro Kuroshio Vs Shunma Katsumata
4. Special 4 Way Tag Match: Kaz Hayashi & Keisuke Ishii Vs Isami Kodaka & Yuko Miyamoto Vs Mike Bailey & MAO Vs Kotaro Suzuki & Soma Takao
5. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi (c) Vs Dick Togo, Yasu Urano & Antonio Honda
6. DDT 20th Anniversary Weapons Rumble – All Rights Contra Marriage: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Danshoku Dino
7. DDT Extreme Title – Cabellera Contra Cabellera: Daisuke Sasaki (c) Vs Akito
8. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Uchikomi! Presents: Shigehiro Irie & Kazusada Higuchi (c) Vs HARASHIMA & Naomichi Marufuji
9. KO-D Openweight Title – Good Com Asset Presents: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Tetsuya Endo

The main show airs live on DDT UNIVERSE on Sunday 20th August at 3:00pm JST, 7:00am GMT, 2:00am ET and Saturday 11:00pm PT.

I was a guest on the Burning Spirits podcast this week to preview the show. The episode can be heard here.

Now that the 20 year celebrations are mostly done with it’s time to return to Neverland for DDT “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2017”! A lot has happened since Saitama Super Arena. DDT went viral for their portrayal of Donald Trump (even getting featured on @midnight), for having a Battle Royal on a moving train and for booking the Tokyo Dome for an Empty Arena Match. We’ve had the new generation establishing themselves in the main event and even got one to reveal his entire tragic life story because he believed it was all the champion’s fault.

So what’s in store for Sumo Hall this time? The show is headlined by the definitive rivalry of modern DDT, the previous ace teams with the ace of NOAH for tag team glory, hair will be chopped off, the company is put on the line against a wrestler’s romantic life (or lack thereof), two handsome men face off, multiple championships are on the line including a brand new 10-Man Tag Team Title, a new strong lad debuts and there will be some free for all brawls spread around the building.

?. Maybe A Dark Match: Kendo Kashin Vs Mitsuo Momota or Chikara

We’re going to start off with something weird that has been developing over the last week but has been simmering in the background for months. Kendo Kashin is an ideas guy and he never lets something like common sense or reality limit his plans. For his appearances in DNA and Ganbare☆Wrestling during the year, Kashin often threw out challenges for a 5 Vs 5 Elimination match to be held on this event’s pre-show with Kashin’s team representing IGF NEW. Nobody took the challenges seriously. Then this past week at the Ganbare☆Climax, Kashin got into confrontations with Mitsuo Momota. The tension between them raised so high that Kashin is now claiming he got permission from DDT to fight Momota inside Sumo Hall on the morning of “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2017”, at 6:30am to be precise. DDT denies this and also revealed that they do not get access to the building until 7:00am. But DDT is interested in doing some sort of dark match featuring Kashin and Momota. They are, as of this writing, negotiating with both wrestlers to organise a match to take place outside the venue at 6:30am. Momota thinks it is a difficult task for him to commit to but his son Chikara has offered to take his spot. Kashin has also demanded Bomber Saito to be the referee. Momota is against that idea because he knows Kashin and Saito went to the same high school together so there is no guarantee Saito will be neutral. If this match goes ahead does this mean the bout will be a Dawn Match instead of a Dark Match?

0. King Of Dark Title – Street Pro Wrestling Extra Edition! Gota Ihashi Ryogoku 5 Game Series: Gota Ihashi Vs Mad Paulie, Gorgeous Matsuno, Dai Suzuki, X & X

Whenever DDT runs in Sumo Hall they can’t help but take the action out of the ring and even out of the building. Gota Ihashi is still cursed to fight for DDT only on the pre-shows because of his status as the King Of Dark Champion. At least DDT is giving him a bunch of opportunities to get rid of it. The rules for his upcoming challenge have not been explained yet but it looks to be a 5 match Gauntlet series, all of them being Falls Count Anywhwere. Mad Paulie, Gorgeous Matsuno and Dai Suzuki are the only opponents revealed so far but the remaining two entries have been kept secret. I have predictions for who they will be. Maybe one of them can be Jun Kasai because he has a habit of showing up for these kind of matches whenever DDT produces them, either as a participant or by getting in the way while working another job. And what if the other was Kota Ibushi? The DDT Falls Count Anywhere matches are right up his alley. Also Ibushi’s first wrestling match after the G1 Climax being a Falls Count Anywhere dark match for DDT in Sumo Hall is the most Kota Ibushi decision he could ever make. I mean yeah, the drama surrounding his relationship with Kenny Omega is captivating and all but you know his desire to Moonsault off of the Ryogoku balcony again is too strong to resist.

Now watch me be wrong and the two mystery wrestlers turn out to be Kendo Kashin and Mitsuo Momota making another appearance.

0. Dark Match: Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Hoshitango, Nobuhiro Shimatani & Masato Kamino Vs Mizuki Watase, Rekka, Diego & Daiki Shimomura

Not much to go on for this mixture of veteran lowcard and DNA wrestlers. Masato Kamino is the freshest face in the match after only debuting on 5th August. He’s trying to grab attention immediately by wearing a lavish entrance jacket that is allegedly worth 100,000 yen. Tomomitsu Matsunaga reclaimed his Sumo King throne during Beer Garden week. Nobuhiro Shimatani has been the butt of many jokes throughout the year. It remains to be seen if this is just rookie hazing or if this will be his role in DDT from now on. Hoshitango has had a quiet year, sticking to appearances for the more significant shows on the calendar. On the other side Mizuki Watase, Rekka, Diego & Daiki Shimomura have all been hard at work in building up DNA. Diego has the highest profile of all four by being a part of the ALL OUT stable. Watase has shown that when you remove him from last year’s romantic soap opera he has solidly improved in the ring. Rekka sadly missed an opportunity to grab the spotlight when his DDT show in Taiwan had to be cancelled. Shimomura has been able to climb a small step above his generational counterpart Shimatani.

0. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Battle Royal: Tetsuya Koda (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita Vs Syoko Nakajima Vs Yuka Sakazaki Vs Nonoko Vs Rika Tatsumi Vs Azusa Takigawa Vs Yuu Vs Nodoka-oneesan Vs Maho Kurone Vs Marika Kobashi Vs Yuna Manase Vs Mizuki Vs Cherry

The Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title found its way to Tokyo Joshi Pro when the zombie girl Maho Kurone ended Joey Ryan’s international title reigns. Since then the belt did its thing and made its way through the roster until Cherry surprisingly got involved and won the title. Until now Cherry has had little to nothing to do with Tokyo Joshi, at least publicly as far as I know. But her determination to be the Iron Man Champion led her to show up and win the belt. So when it looked like Cherry would be the defending champion going into this Battle Royal she lost the belt to the brand’s general manager Tetsuya Koda at a fan club event. Koda claims that he wanted to guarantee the title would be staying in Tokyo Joshi and he would have passed the belt over to one of the girls. However he thinks all of them are equally cute so he couldn’t decide who deserves it most. His solution is to keep the belt for himself! It later turns out that Koda is going to a handshaking event starring singer Maria Makino later this month and he wants to impress her with a nice, shiny championship belt wrapped around him. Unfortunately for Koda, him being the champion means that he now qualifies as an active wrestler and he must enter the Battle Royal to defend the title! Further more, the joshi are pissed that he looked past all of them for a hopeless attempt at impressing some singer.

1. Yuki Ino Debut Match: Kouki Iwasaki & Yuki Ino Vs Naomi Yoshimura & Yuki Ueno

Yuki Ino is the latest in the growing line of DDT rookies to debut on the big stage. The 22 year old university rugby player had several opportunities from other sports on offer but he chose instead to go with pro wrestling. He is pretty strong with reports that he can bench press 205kg, dead lift 300kg and leg press 560kg. He bragged about smashing past the opposition on the rugby pitch and he will do the same in the ring. The kind of attitude might not mesh with another big ego standing on the other side, like say Naomi Yoshimura. The young brute is throwing bodies aside so he can claim to be the new ace of DNA. Now that somebody else of his size has entered the fray things will get interesting indeed.

2. KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles: Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata, Joey Ryan, Saki Akai & Yoshihiko Vs Makoto Oishi, LiLiCo, Lady Beard, Super Sasadango Machine & Ken Ohka

I have one word for this: Overkill. You noticed how many wrestling promotions have established 6-Man Tag Team Titles recently? New Japan, DDT, Big Japan, Ring of Honor and Lucha Underground have all established such championships in the last couple of years. Dragon Gate has always had them so they can get away with it. Then the zombie corpse of FMW decided to come up with an 8-Man Tag Team Championship last year that has since vanished because, well, what do you expect from Atsushi Onita (Not a singles match that’s for sure)? Well, DDT decided to up the ante once more and create the KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles! This probably came about after watching too much Super Sentai because the title belts follow a similar colour scheme. Red, blue, yellow, green and pink belts are on the line for the winners. And what a line-up of insanity DDT has decided to bring in for the two teams!

Toru Owashi is the captain of the side featuring Kazuki Hirata, Joey Ryan, Saki Akai & Yoshihiko. Hirata has spent the year in muted limbo because his entrance song could not be used on DDT UNIVERSE. He was also deported from Japan and replaced by his Italian cousin Hirata Collection A.T. The cousin’s entrance song was also muted so he was no improvement. When Hirata returned he was told to record his own version of “TOKYO GO!”. Lo and behold he pulled it off! Joey Ryan is coming off of a heated feud with Daisuke Sasaki over pictures of his wife Laura James. Saki Akai’s been making allies with foreigners, learning English to team with them and serving beer inside an empty Tokyo Dome. She also has the right to be DDT general manager for a day. Yoshihiko has just been laying around doing its own thing.

The other team is being led by Makoto Oishi and mostly have a flair for live performances. LiLiCo returns to DDT after her romantic life within the company last year went haywire. Lady Beard hasn’t wrestled in DDT much this year but is always ready to sing his heart out. Super Sasadango Machine will undoubtedly have a PowerPoint presentation ready. Ken Ohka is coming in fresh off of winning the Ganbare☆Climax in his home promotion Ganbare☆Wrestling. There are so many questions to ask. Who will win? Will either team get along? Does Ken Ohka still have his “FUCK” hat? Can the belts combine to form a Megazord? Will this championship have a longer shelf life than the WWE UK Title? Who knows?

3. Ikemen Vs Idol! Handsome Humanity Battle: Jiro Kuroshio Vs Shunma Katsumata

We have two charmers here. The kind of people who light up any room they enter. Even though Shunma Katsumata got his start in DDT he first trained to wrestle in the dojo ran by the SMASH promotion. He never got to debut for them and he left before the company fell apart. Juro Kuroshio was also in that dojo and he did get his debut match. From their the two youngsters split apart. Kuroshio stayed with SMASH as it transformed into Wrestling New Classic, then when that went bust he jumped to WRESTLE-1 and became the lovable Ikemen he is today. Katsumata went to DDT where he was among the first generation of DNA wrestlers for the brand’s launch. He then became a pop idol as part of NωA. Now fate has brought them back together in a battle of handsome men. Kuroshio’s jacket Vs Katsumata’s singing. It’s possible Kuroshio’s entrance could last longer than the match. He likes to milk the chants by running through the audience and Sumo Hall is a big building.

4. Special 4 Way Tag Match: Kaz Hayashi & Keisuke Ishii Vs Isami Kodaka & Yuko Miyamoto Vs Mike Bailey & MAO Vs Kotaro Suzuki & Soma Takao

Four teams are thrown together, maybe we’ll get some No. 1 Contenders out of it. Keisuke Ishii removed a ghost from his past by going back to the All Japan Dojo he left many years ago to train with Kaz Hayashi. He was taught how to properly use Hayashi’s finisher the Final Cut but he has yet to use it in DDT. Isami Kodaka has been busy running Pro Wrestling BASARA but he is stopping by with his usual Yankii Ni Cho Kenji partner Yuko Miyamoto. Miyamoto is here as part of Smile Squash for the upcoming Dramatic General Election so he’ll be looking for fan votes. Mike Bailey became cocky when he won a Right To Challenge Contract but has been a bit aimless when his cash in left him empty handed. He teamed with MAO once in July and are teaming again here. Kotaro Suzuki & Soma Takao seems to be a random pairing. Takao is still undefeated at “PETER PAN” with an 8-0 record. But given the number of teams in this match it is the biggest threat yet to his streak. Like I said earlier, I expect the winners will be chasing after a tag team championship afterwards.

5. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi (c) Vs Dick Togo, Yasu Urano & Antonio Honda

Maybe I shouldn’t have trashed the idea of trios championships earlier. Then I look at the title history and see that Shuten-dōji became 6 time champions in the space of 3 years. If it wasn’t for the Iron Man Title, this right here would be the hot potato of DDT. Still, a championship is worth fighting for (King Of Dark excluded) and the challenging team are no slouches. Dick Togo is back for a special appearance with two of his guys. Yasu Urano is no longer affiliated with DDT but still shows up for shows like these. Antonio Honda is here to talk about Gon, The Little Fox. What is Gon’s story anyway? Maybe I can fill out the rest of this preview with the tale and hope that nobody would notice.

…
…
…

You know what, I just looked it up and it’s best that I don’t tell it. Poor Gon, he only wanted to help…

6. DDT 20th Anniversary Weapons Rumble – All Rights Contra Marriage: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Danshoku Dino

Something drastic needed to be done for this special celebration of DDT’s 20 years of existence. Two of DDT’s most important figures will clash and the stakes are as high as they could be for both of them. Sanshiro Takagi has done it all. He created DDT and over two decades built it up to where they now run buildings the size of Sumo Hall on an annual basis. He even got to headline the Tokyo Dome this year… in an empty arena match. Anyway despite his hard work paying off, somebody out there thinks a better job can be done. Danshoku Dino believes Takagi has taken DDT as far as he can and it’s time for a new leader to take over. Dino should be that leader. So his stipulation is simple. If Dino beats Takagi, Dino takes over DDT! In order for this to go ahead, Takagi had to think of something for Dino to do if he lost. Inspiration struck when Takagi had a private conversation with Dino’s mother. Dino turned 40 years old this year he is still single. His mother is worried that he will live the rest of his life alone because there are not that many gay wrestlers available for him to date. A lightbulb went off inside Takagi’s head and he promised to help her. If Takagi beats Dino then Dino must go and get married!

So those are the stakes. One man’s wrestling empire against another man’s bachelorhood. Such an important match needs important rules so DDT is bringing back the Weapon Rumble. Takagi is a veteran of the match facing The Great Sasuke in 2009, Minoru Suzuki in 2012 and Michael Nakazawa in 2014. Every few minutes a weapon is introduced to the match. What it is could be anything. Bicycles, a castle of chairs, boiling hot stew, giant mechanical fists and most importantly of all, famous wrestlers from outside of DDT could appear. Expect a couple of unpredictable cameos in this match.

DDT are already coming up with ideas if Dino loses and has to get married. Top of the pile is “Danshoku Terrace House”, a reality show where Dino is forced to live in a house with a bunch of other people from all around the world until he picks a partner. Another idea is “Danshoku Bachelor” where 25 men and women compete for Dino’s affections. Both DDT UNIVERSE and Samurai TV! are interested in getting the rights to the show.

7. DDT Extreme Title – Cabellera Contra Cabellera: Daisuke Sasaki (c) Vs Akito

Somebody’s going to get a haircut. Daisuke Sasaki has been a scrappy DDT Extreme Champion ever since he won it from Jun Kasai inside Saitama Super Arena. He fought Dick Togo to a 30 minute draw in an Ultimate Submission Match, beat Antonio Honda in a No DQ Match and had two defences against Joey Ryan, one being a Last Man Standing draw and the second being a Ladder Match which Sasaki won. His record as champion hasn’t been 100% but he’ll admit when he’s beaten. Akito has beaten him plenty this year including a singles win during the King Of DDT. Everytime Sasaki lost to Akito he would hand over the DDT Extreme Title to him and walk out of the ring. Akito would be happy to accept the championship if it was an authorised title transfer but a ring attendant would always take the belt away and give it back to Sasaki. It led to a brief period where Akito couldn’t figure out how the concept of championships in wrestling worked.

When the time came for Sasaki to nominate his challenger at Sumo Hall, his usual request for Candice LeRae was declined. Again. Akito came out to challenge him. Sasaki would accept but only if it was Cabellera Contra Cabellera. Hair Vs Hair! Akito agreed because he is willing to sacrifice anything to become a champion again. Sasaki is fine with that. He claims he doesn’t care about his own hair so he’s willing to risk it too. It led to a weird situation during last week’s press conference where both Sasaki and Akito tried to cut off their own hair to prove how much or little it meant to them. Amon Tsurumi had to stop both of them from ruining the stipulation.

The match itself will have No Disqualifications and can only end by either submission, knockout or TKO. Sasaki has more experience in Hardcore Matches but Akito realises he can now use objects to cause even more limb damage for his submission holds.

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

Shigehiro Irie & Kazusada Higuchi will be the first to tell you they are not pretty boy ikemen wrestlers. They are bastards, guys, lads, YaroZ. The two have found success in the tag division since teaming together to represent the unconventional YaroZ sub-brand. Now as the KO-D Tag Team Champions they are challenged by the most powerful ikemen alliance of all. When Naomichi Marufuji was announced to wrestle on this show back in March I knew that he would be doing something with HARASHIMA. I though it was the perfect fit for him as an opponent. But they thought of a different idea and are instead teaming together. When HARASHIMA lost all of his remaining chances to headline Sumo Hall this year he told the wrestling media it was time for him to do something selfish. In previous years he did what was best for DDT but this year he wanted to do something for himself. Turns out it was to join forces with Marufuji and go after the Tag Titles. Plus there looks to be a business relationship being formed between DDT and NOAH. I mean DDT sent two thirds of NωA over for the NOAH Jr. Tag League. That’s kind of like giving your crush a mixtape.

While Marufuji’s appearance in the match would be interesting on its own, the other factor in the match is the rivalry between Irie and HARASHIMA. Poor Irie no matter how hard he tries just cannot beat HARASHIMA. Time after time, HARASHIMA has come out on top. It’s almost a certainty at this point. In their last meeting in June, HARASHIMA pinned Irie in under 3 minutes and Irie’s only reaction was to storm out straight back to the locker room. That has to be stuck in the back of Irie’s mind. Higuchi’s record against HARASHIMA is only a little better with a pinfall tag team victory earned back in April. History is in the challengers’ favour too. Whenever a high level DDT wrestler teams with a famous outside they usually win the KO-D Tag Team Titles. Examples include Shiro Koshinaka & Danshoku Dino, Daisuke Sekimoto & Masa Takanashi, MIKAMI & Tatsumi Fujinami and Yoshihiro Takayama & Danshoku Dino. The odds are against the champions but they wouldn’t be YaroZ if it were easy.

9. KO-D Openweight Title – Good Com Asset Presents: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Tetsuya Endo

This is going to be the definitive match of DDT’s current era. So much history to delve into here. Former friends, former tag team champions together, both have been built up for the last 3 years to be the next generation of stars to lead DDT into the future. Konosuke Takeshita has been described as a supernova ever since his debut match in 2012. You can hardly dream of a better road to the top. When you get a significant debut match held inside Budokan Hall you know there are high aspirations for your career. From there you get special one on one matches with Tatsumi Fujinami, Kenny Omega, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Kota Ibushi, Hiroshi Tanahashi, HARASHIMA, Isami Kodaka and Shuji Ishikawa all before he reaches 21 years of age. Then when he does turn 21 he wins the KO-D Openweight Title on his birthday. Like I said, it’s a dream come true. But while Takeshita has been positioned front and centre, his friend turned rival Tetsuya Endo took a different direction in his rise up to the main event spot.

While Endo and Takeshita were on a successful tag team run as the New Generation Combination, they fought each other several times with the KO-D Title as the reason. Whether it was a No. 1 Contender’s Match or a Championship Bout itself, the two were put in enough situations to find out who was better. And more often than not, Takeshita would win. As it currently stands Takeshita and Endo have had 9 single matches against each other in DDT. Takeshita won 6 of them (1 match was stopped when Endo dislocated his elbow), Endo won 2 and their last match was a draw. To make it even more frustrating for Endo, he couldn’t win the KO-D Title after two attempts while Takeshita achieved the goal with the same amount of opportunities. Endo ended up looking like the bridesmaid to Takeshita. So in July 2016 when Endo lost to Takeshita again, this time in a KO-D Title match, he was immediately approached by Daisuke Sasaki to join DAMNATION. When tempted with the promise that he would no longer be seen as a second class wrestler next to Takeshita, it didn’t take Endo long to make his decision and he willingly abandoned his friends to go down a darker path. Since then Endo has built on success while discarding his emotions. Although he’s been accused of faking his new nihilistic attitude to look cool, Endo can back up his actions with the success he’s earned since joining DAMNATION. The latest achievement was winning the 2017 King Of DDT tournament which leads us to the climactic main event at Sumo Hall.

So much has developed between Takeshita and Endo during the last year. Back in April we learned that 60 minutes was not enough to determine a winner between the two. Takeshita had been using the Cross Arm German Suplex for his most dramatic victories but he also developed a new Wrist Clutch Fisherman Buster called the Surprise Rose to put away his more recent challengers. If that’s not enough, Takeshita has one other big match move in his arsenal. He recently used the top turnbuckle Brainbustaaaaahhhhh!!!!! in tribute to his first opponent and inspiration El Generico. Endo meanwhile has turned the Shooting Star Press and Spanish Fly into killer moves. Endo won the King Of DDT with the Shooting Star Press. The grounded version of the Spanish Fly is called Tetsuya In The Sky and it has given him some unexpected quick victories. Then there is his top rope version the Tetsuya In The Sky With Diamonds to look out for. Is it now Endo’s time to shine or will Takeshita continue to shape the future of DDT? We won’t have to wait long to find out!

Hunt For Full Face, Okuda Will Take DNA To School, TOKYO Princess Tag Titles

DNA “DNA 36”, 07/09/2017
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Yuki Ino Vs X
2. Daiki Shimomura Vs Masato Kamino
3. Yuki Ueno & Koju Takeda Vs Diego & Royce Isaacs
4. Kouki Iwasaki & Nobuhiro Shimatani Vs Keisuke Okuda & Mizuki Watase
5. Dai Suzuki Vs Tanomusaku Toba
6. Shunma Katsumata & Mike Bailey
7. MAO & Rekka Vs Naomi Yoshimura & Full Face

Both MAO & Rekka have been victims of attacks by the mysterious Full Face. MAO blames Naomi Yoshimura for being involved in the mystery too. He was already determined to unmask Full Face and discover the biker’s real identity but is even more so now that DNA has promised to refund tickets to people who do not enjoy the show.

Keisuke Okuda’s comments about about the DNA roster being lukewarm talents has ruffled some feathers. Both Kouki Iwasaki & Nobuhiro Shimatani would be happy to prove him wrong. Even Mizuki Watase would rather fight him than team with him. But Watase promises to bring an exciting fight for Iwasaki & Shimatani out of respect for them. Okuda has called the three of them elementary students and he will teach them all how to fight properly.

Koju Takeda is from Triple Six.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “SHINKIBA DE BAKOON!”, 09/09/2017
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. TOKYO Princess Tag Team Titles Tournament – Round 1: X & X Vs X & X
2. TOKYO Princess Tag Team Titles Tournament – Round 1: X & X Vs X & X
3. TOKYO Princess Tag Team Titles Tournament – Round 1: X & X Vs X & X
4. TOKYO Princess Tag Team Titles Tournament – Round 1: X & X Vs X & X

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “YOKOHAMA DE BAKOON!”, 16/09/2017
Yokohama Radiant Hall

1. TOKYO Princess Tag Team Titles Tournament – Semi Final: X & X Vs X & X
2. TOKYO Princess Tag Team Titles Tournament – Semi Final: X & X Vs X & X

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “SMILE YES YOKOHAMA”, 14/10/2017
Yokohama Radiant Hall

1. TOKYO Princess Tag Team Titles Tournament – Final: X & X Vs X & X

Tokyo Joshi Pro is creating its own tag team championship. The TOKYO Princess Tag Team Titles Tournament will be up for grabs in a tournament spanning three shows in September and October. The teams will be announced at a later date but there should be a few guaranteed entries. Tokyo Joshi’s regular teams include the Dragon Bombers (Rika Tatsumi & Maho Kurone), NEO Biishiki-gun (Saki-nami & Martha), Konkatsu-gun (Azusa Takigawa & Nonoko) and the Ito Respect Army (Maki Ito & Mizuki). Three more examples of teams that could enter are Yuka Sakazaki & Syoko Nakajima, Miyu Yamashita & Marika Kobashi and Yuu & Nodoka-oneesan.

BASARA Invades Dove Pro

I was only able to find partial results of the BASARA related matches from the DDT website.

DOVE PRO “CLASH! DOVE X BASARA OSAKA GAMES”, 10/08/2017
Osaka Theater Sekaikan
??? Fans

1. 3 WAY THRASH: SAGAT & Takumi Tsukamoto defeated HAYATA & Taniyuki Ota and Gunso & Kabuki Kid when SAGAT pinned Kid with the Gore Grind (?:??).
2. Hide Kubota & Yasu Kubota Vs Yuki Aoki & Kouhei Kinoshita (?:??).
3. 3 WAY THRASH: Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi defeated Shoichi Uchida and Rey Paloma when Hiroshi pinned Paloma with a Cradle (?:??).
4. DOVE Tag Team Titles: YO-HEY & Kenshin Chikano (c) defeated Ryuichi Sekine & Ryota Nakatsu when Chikano pinned Nakatsu with the Buzzsaw Kick (?:??).
*V3 for The Gingin BOYS.
5. Isami Kodaka defeated “brother” YASSHI with the European Clutch (?:??).

BASARA was invited over to Dove Pro’s house for a weekend series of inter-promotional matches. Day 1 was held in Osaka and BASARA almost dominated the challenge by winning 3 of the 4 inter-promotional matches. Isami Kodaka beat “brother” YASSHI but he was saved from defeat when the referee was knocked down during the match, missing a vital pinfall by YASSHI. Kodaka countered YASSHI’s Locomotion Suplex into the European Clutch to steal the win.

Cavalry were the only losers on team BASARA. They failed to win the DOVE Tag Team Titles from The Gingin BOYS and they blamed the BOYS’ female fans over it.

Both Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi and Rey Paloma ignored Shoichi Uchida for most of the 3 Way Match. They were more focused on wrestling each other until Hiroshi convinced Paloma to sing with him. Hiroshi then rolled Paloma into a pin as they were singing to get the three count.

The 3 Way Tag match was fought under Hardcore Rules and it got violent. SAGAT was unstoppable with the chairs while Takumi Tsukamoto used a ladder to great effect. Their opponents were no match for them and SAGAT got the pin on Kabuki Kid to win. Kid’s partner Gunso had a stare down with SAGAT after the match.

DOVE PRO “CLASH! DOVE X BASARA HIROSHIMA GAMES”, 11/08/2017
Hiroshima Marina Hop
??? Fans

1. Shoichi Uchida & Sauser Vs Takeshi Okada & Van Veer Negro (?:??).
2. Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi defeated Rey Paloma with a Cross Armbreaker (?:??).
3. Yuki Aoki & Kouhei Kinoshita Vs HAYATA & YO-HEY (?:??).
4. Kenshin Chikano defeated Ryota Nakatsu with the Buzzsaw Kick (?:??).
5. Elimination 8-Man Tag Match: “brother” YASSHI, Naoki Tanizaki, Kabuki Kid & Gunso defeated Isami Kodaka, Takumi Tsukamoto, Ryuichi Sekine & SAGAT (?:??).

The next day’s show took place in Dove Pro’s home location in Hiroshima. It was highlighted by a crazy 4 Vs 4 Elimination brawl between Dove Pro and BASARA. Kodaka was busted open early after chairshots and a collision with the ring post. He later scored the first elimination over Naoki Tanizaki. Kabuki Kid got rid of Tsukamoto but was then eliminated by Ryuichi Sekine. YASSHI evened the sides by escaping Sekine’s Let’s Combine and pinning him with La Magistral. YASSHI and Kodaka eliminated each other when a tackled took both of them over the top rope and out of the ring. This left SAGAT and Gunso as the last members of each team. Gunso came out on top with a Vertical Drop Brainbuster and the Diving Guillotine Drop.

Chikano pinned Nakatsu with the Buzzsaw Kick for the second show in a row.

Hiroshi and Paloma continued to sing at each other duiring their second match. Hiroshi trapped him in a Cross Armbreaker to win but continued to attack him after the match. Paloma fought him off and hit the Paloma Bomber to make Hiroshi flee out of the ring.

Next up, Dove Pro will be back in BASARA for another inter-promotional challenge series on 23rd & 24th August.

GANBARE☆WRESTLING “GANBARE☆CLIMAX 2017 FINAL ROUND” Results

GANBARE☆WRESTLING “GANBARE☆CLIMAX 2017 FINAL ROUND”, 13/08/2017
Tokyo KFC Hall
247 Fans – No Vacancy

1. Ganbare☆Climax – Semi Final: Ken Ohka defeated GENTARO with a Cross Armbreaker Cutback (6:44).
2. Ganbare☆Climax – Semi Final: KENSO defeated Dave Crist with the Soul’s Leg Lock (10:57).
3. HARUKAZE’s Hot Summer: Saori Anou defeated HARUKAZE with the To Be Continued (8:10).
4. Ganbare☆Climax Special 6-Man Tag Match: Takafumi Ito, Tanomusaku Toba & Hollywood GOTA defeated Shinichiro Tominaga, Yukihiro Abe & Shinichiro Wakita when Ito pinned Wakita with a German Suplex (12:30).
5. Special Tag Match: Mitsuo Momota & Chikara defeated Kendo Kashin & Yumehito Imanari when Momota pinned Imanari with a School Boy (9:20).
6. Special Tag Match: Minoru Fujita & KAZMA SAKAMOTO defeated Shigehiro Irie & Shinichiro Tominaga when Fujita pinned Tominaga with a Modified Choke Hold (12:23).
7. Ganbare☆Climax – Final: Ken Ohka defeated KENSO with the Fire Spear (16:08).

Ken Ohka is your winner of the 2017 Ganbare☆Climax! Ohka had to face and beat one of his rivals KENSO to be crowned the tournament’s first winner. KENSO had KAZMA SAKAMOTO in his corner to help out but that plan backfired late in the match when a Lariat aimed for Ohka hit KENSO instead. Ohka hit the Fire Spear several times but the referee was out of action every time. Another Fire Spear hitting KENSO in mid-air led to one final Spear for the three count.

KENSO congratulated Ohka for winning the tournament and called him the “fucking best”. He then switched the subject over to his ally Hollywood GOTA. KENSO announced that GOTA was dismissed from the New York Head Hunters! GOTA was as surprised as anyone else but left when SAKAMOTO hugged him goodbye. KENSO said he wants the Ganbare☆Climax to become as big a prize as the G1 Climax then left the ring. Ohka thanked the fans, friends and family for their support. There was no prize money or championship on the line but everyone still fought their best. He then announced his next Independent World Jr. Heavyweight Title defence will be on 21st September. His opponent is somebody from his past, a wrestler who was part of the same Dragon System class that he flunked out of. It’s “brother” YASSHI!

KENSO defeated Dave Crist to advance to the final. At first KENSO showed respect to Crist and fought clean. But as the match went and the fans rallied behind Crist, KENSO became more aggressive and refused to break holds or follow the ref’s orders. He countered Crist’s Axe Bomber with the Soul’s Leg Lock and forced Crist to submit.

Ohka was able to beat GENTARO in the semi-final by countering a Cross Armbreaker into a Cradle pin. GENTARO was upset over the result and still wanted to fight Ohka after the bell. He had to be held back by the referee. It was clear he was disappointed in his tournament run ending this way.

The father/son duo of Mitsuo Momota & Chikara won their grudge match against Kendo Kashin & Yumehito Imanari. Kashin today weighed in at 88kg and he entered the ring carrying a wand he borrowed from Fairy Nihonbashi at a WAVE show the day before. The match had a weird ending where Momota held Imanari in place for Chikara to hit him with the Sabre Chop. However, Kashin then grabbed Momota and held him in place too. Chikara hesitated but did the Sabre Chop. Momota somehow ducked so both Imanari & Kashin were hit. Momota then rolled over Imanari in a School Boy for the pin. After the match Kashin said he had a talk with Sanshiro Takagi and they agreed to book Kashin Vs Momota at Sumo Hall on the morning of DDT “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2017”. The match will begin at 6:30 am. Takagi was in the audience and he denied making the match or ever talking to Kashin.

Shota was the ring announcer for all three days of the tournament and by the time Day 3 began he was running out of topics to talk about during the opening ceremony. He acknowledged there was another Climax tournament happening nearby and his Twitter timeline was a confusing mixture of tweets about both shows.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “~AT THIS TIME, EXCITEMENT IN ITABASHI~” Results

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “~AT THIS TIME, EXCITEMENT IN ITABASHI~”, 12/08/2017
Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall
180 Fans – No Vacancy

1. Mizuki defeated Marika Kobashi with the Cutie Special (7:10).
2. Syoko Nakajima defeated Nodoka-oneesan with the Northern Lights Suplex (8:40).
3. Rika Tatsumi & Maho Kurone defeated Azusa Takigawa & Nonoko when Kurone pinned Takigawa with the Ouroboros (12:34).
4. Yuu defeated Yuna Manase with the Katahajime (8:17).
5. Yuka Sakazaki & Miyu Yamashita defeated Reika Saiki & Maki Ito when Yamashita pinned Ito with the Attitude Adjustment (15:40).

Miyu Yamashita & Yuka Sakazaki had different responses to their team winning in the main event. Yamashita was surprised by Maki Ito kicking out of a Head Kick and this drove her to finish the match with the Attitude Adjustment. Sakazaki meanwhile was in an excited mood because her team won the match and she continues to be a strong champion. She asked Yamashita if she will beat Meiko Satomura on 26th August. Sakazaki then asked Reika Saiki if she is willing to win. Saiki said she is but Sakazaki told her she won’t. Sakazaki will win but losing to her is nothing to be ashamed of.

Tokyo Joshi Pro will soon get its own Tag Team Championships. The TOKYO Princess Tag Team Titles will be up for grabs in a three show tournament taking place in September and October. Round 1 will be held on 9th September in Shin-Kiba, the semi-finals will be in Yokohama on 16th September and the champions will be crowned at the final in Yokohama on 14th October.

Rika Tatsumi thinks she needs to improve her Hip Attacks so she promises to make her butt stronger. Her goals for the rest of the year is to vanquish NEO Biishiki-gun and win the Tag Titles with Maho Kurone.

NEO Biishiki-gun were in attendance but just for an autograph signing. Saki-nami told the fans if they want to see the unit wrestle they should come to the Korakuen Hall show. She also teased Hyper Misao for being lonely and having nothing to do over at the merchandise table during shows.

Back during Beer Garden week, the GM Tetsuya Koda won the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title from Cherry. The side effect of this was Koda now had to defend the title in the upcoming Tokyo Joshi Battle Royal at DDT’s big Sumo Hall show. He teased an announcement regarding his position to be revealed at the end of this show. Koda explained he pinned Cherry because he wanted to make sure the title stays in Tokyo Joshi. He thought about passing the title over to one of the women but he couldn’t decide who. He loves them all and all of them are cute. So Koda’s announcement is he will keep the title for himself! He dared everyone to try and take it from him. But they won’t and he will bring the belt with him to a handshake party with singer Maria Makino soon to impress her.