Quick note while I’m enjoying my holiday. It will likely be next weekend when I start writing up the show reports I’m behind on. That will be once I’m home from Japan and fully settled back into my regular day to day life.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TOKYO JOSHI PRO ’26”, 04/01/2026 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. Shion Kanzaki Debut Match: Uta Takami & Chika Nanase Vs Ren Konatsu & Shion Kanzaki
2. Yuna Manase & Toga Vs HIMAWARI & Kira Summer
3. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – 4 Way Match: Mahiro Kiryu (c) Vs Aja Kong Vs Rika Tatsumi Vs Shino Suzuki
4. New Year! TJPW Uma Princess Cup Match: Shoko Nakajima Vs Hyper Misao
5. Miyu Yamashita & Kaya Toribami Vs J-Rod & Mifu Ashida
6. Yuka Sakazaki, Mizuki & Yuki Arai Vs Max The Impaler, Raku & Pom Harajuku
7. International Princess Title: Arisu Endo (c) Vs MIRAI
8. Princess Tag Team Titles: Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara (c) Vs Yuki Aino & Haru Kazashiro
9. Princess Of Princess Title: Miu Watanabe (c) Vs Suzume
The rules for the annual Shoko Nakajima Vs Hyper Misao match has been announced. Since 2026 is the year of the horse (and anime horse girls got a huge boost in renewed popularity recently with the global launch of Umamusume), this match will be the first ever Uma Princess Cup race! When the match begins, three uma-wrestlers will be racing each other around ringside for three laps. Nakajima and Misao can win the match if they can correctly choose the winner. They are also permitted to interfere in the race so their chosen horse girl will win by any means necessary. The names of the three uma-wrestlers are Haru Utata, Gold Konatsu Ship and Silence Shion.
There is now a 4 Way Match taking place where Mahiro Kiryu will have to defend the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title (if she is still champion by then) against Aja Kong, Rika Tatsumi and Shino Suzuki.
Some other wrestlers have been moved around so Shion Kanzaki can get her debut match. Uta Takami, Chika Nanase and Ren Konatsu will all be part of it now.
DDT “NEW YEAR☆DRAMATIC PARADE 2026 ~THE ANSWER WILL BE REVEALED ONE YEAR LATER~”, 03/01/2026 Tokyo Korakuen Hall ??? Fans – Unannounced
1. Junta Miyawaki defeated Rukiya with the Sunshine Driver (4:27).
2. Daisuke Sasaki, Hideki Okatani, MJ Paul, Demus & Ilusion defeated Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Yuya Koroku, Daichi Sato, Yuni & Hinata Kasai when Ilusion pinned Sato with a Cradle (9:29).
3. Special Single Match: Shinya Aoki defeated Sanshiro Takagi with a Backslide Pin (6:39).
4. Jun Akiyama, Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya defeated Kazusada Higuchi, Naomi Yoshimura & Yuki Ishida when Naya pinned Ishida with The World’s Best Back Drop (9:46).
5. Chris Brookes, Antonio Honda & Takeshi Masada defeated HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata when Brookes pinned Hirata after the Thrust Kick/Praying Mantis Bomb combo (13:25).
6. KONOSUKE TAKESHITA & Akito defeated Danshoku Dieno & Super Sasadango Machine when TAKESHITA pinned Sasadango with a Body Press (0:56).
6a. Rematch – 1 Vs 3 Handicap Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA defeated Danshoku Dieno, Super Sasadango Machine & Akito when TAKESHITA pinned Dieno with the Raging Fire (9:59).
7. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Yuki Ueno, To-y & Kaisei Takechi (c) defeated MAO, KANON (w/ KIMIHIRO) & Kazuma Sumi when To-y pinned Sumi with the Kojima Impact (23:57). *V2 for Yuki Ueno, To-y & Kaisei Takechi.
The first DDT show of 2026 kicked off with a mostly mystery show with only the main event announced in advance. Kaisei Takechi had his latest pro wrestling match teaming with The 37KAMIINA to defend the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles against Strange Love Connection & Kazuma Sumi. Takechi hit some big moves like Choke Slamming Sumi onto the ring apron and hitting KANON with the Swan Dive Forearm. MAO kept his team in the running and left it up to Sumi to finish the job. But Sumi missed a Reverse 450 aimed for To-y, allowing To-y to give him the Kojima Wonderland followed by the Kojima Impact to win the match and protect the titles.
After the match Hisaya Imabayashi announced Takechi will next wrestle in DDT on 25th January where he will team with HARASHIMA to take on Jun Akiyama & Konosuke Takeshita! Akiyama told Takechi the match will be like a fight between a father and his son. He will go all out so Takechi better bring it too! Takeshita congratulated Takechi on winning the Tokyo Sports Newcomer Award and he believes whatever fears Takechi still has about being a wrestler he will eventually overcome. HARASHIMA warned Takechi they will be fighting the strongest opponents possible in this match but it will be fine because they will do their best. Takechi is happy to hear what everyone is telling him and will aim to win despite still being a rookie. He then asked Yuki Ueno if they could have a singles match together this year, possibly at his 2nd Anniversary show on 22nd February? Ueno wants this match to happen too so he accepted the challenge. It will be Takechi’s first ever singles match when it happens.
One day before he goes into the Tokyo Dome to defend the IWGP World Heavyweight Title, Takeshita got to wrestle in DDT again and was put in a tag match with Akito, Danshoku Dieno and Super Sasadango Machine. Akito told Takeshita that his Wagamama knee strike will be the key to victory tomorrow so he should remove his right knee pad and let everyone bless it. Takeshita reluctantly did so and the match began. While the kneepad was passed around the audience, the match only lasted a minute when Sasadango missed a corner charge, knocked himself out and was easily pinned by Takeshita. Imabayashi complained about the abruptness of the match while Dieno & Sasadango explained the two of them together cannot beat Takeshita. They and Akito all agreed to team up for a 3 Vs 1 Handicap Rematch because the three of them combined is comparable to having one Yota Tsuji. The three used the numbers game to wear down Takeshita until Shunma Katsumata handed the now blessed kneepad back to Takeshita. With the kneepad now back on, Takeshita tore through the other team but instead of using the Wagamama to win, he pinned Dieno with the Raging Fire after giving him the Lip Lock. He told Akito after the match he will save the Wagamama for tomorrow’s big title match. No matter where he goes, he will always show everyone his dramatic dreams.
The time had come for Takeshi Masada to leave SCHADENFREUDE International. His final match as a member of the unit had him team with Chris Brookes & Antonio Honda while Bunbun watched on. They did their usual tricks on HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata which ultimately brought them the victory. Masada told the others after the match he is sad to leave but this is the path he chose. They are still family but the next time they’ll be in the ring together it will be as opponents and rivals. Brookes then revealed some surprising news. He said SCHADENFREUDE International was originally created to give Masada a platform to grow as a wrestler and without him the unit no longer has a purpose. So as of today SCHADENFREUDE International is disbanding! He got in contact with Masahiro Takanashi before today to get his blessing and Takanashi agreed to it. Honda said there is no point looking in the past. In 2026 they will all work hard towards a brighter tomorrow. After one last group pose, Bunbun whispered something to Brookes & Honda. They handed him over to Masada so he isn’t going to be entirely alone on his new journey.
One of the surprise matches put together on the undercard was Akiyama teaming up with The Apex to fight Harimao. Akiyama got his chest lit up with Chops which was Kazusada Higuchi’s way of wishing him a happy new year. Naomi Yoshimura also joined in with him clashing against The Apex. Yuki Ishida ended up taking more than he could chew despite scoring a nearfall with the Dosukoi Splash. Yukio Naya stopped his momentum with a Big Boot and Yuki Iino followed up with The Apex Elbow. Ishida tried making a comeback on Naya but he was put away with The World’s Best Back Drop.
Another unexpected match pitted Shinya Aoki against Sanshiro Takagi in a one on one bout. What was even more expected was just how straightforward of a match it turned out to be. No nonsense from Takagi or an unusual switch of wrestling style from Aoki. It was just the two doing their best to outmaneuver each other for the winning pinfall. Aoki came out on top by countering the Stunner into a Backslide Pin to get the three count.
DAMNATION T.A ended last year by winning the KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles and the belts now all belong to Ilusion. He’s doing everything he can to carry all of the belts to the ring while the rest of the group keep doing what they’re doing against a team of mostly D GENERATIONS wrestlers (plus Tomomitsu Matsunaga). Demus & MJ Paul worked over Hinata Kasai until Yuya Koroku tagged in to fight back against Hideki Okatani & Ilusion. Yuni wiped out Daisuke Sasaki and others with a Moonsault out of the ring. But things went wrong for the younger team and Ilusion ended up rolling up Daichi Sato to win the match for DAMNATION T.A.
At the start of the show there was the announcement of a new wrestler deciding to regularly participate in DDT for this year. It is NOAH’s “Sunshine Hero” Junta Miyawaki! He said he wanted to bring his sunshine wrestling style to a variety of other wrestlers from his generation which brought him here to DDT. For his first match he took on Rukiya in the opening bout. Rukiya didn’t want to give him a warm welcome but Miyawaki overcame his attacks to beat him with the Sunshine Driver. There isn’t an exact amount of time for how long he will be in DDT for this year but he said he will leave his mark here. Akito explained it is a similar kind of deal between DDT and NOAH that Tetsuya Endo is doing between both companies. Although he also made clear this is not a direct trade of Miyawaki for Endo or vice versa.
Chaos broke out at the end of the show when El Phantasmo all of a sudden showed up to interrupt a speech Brookes was giving to the fans. ELP had warned at a New Japan fan event the day before that he could show up here to confront Brookes over their upcoming NJPW World TV Title match in the Tokyo Dome. A brawl broke out between the two around the front row before making its way into the ring. ELP wiped out everyone at ringside with a dive before getting on the microphone to declare himself the No. 1 Baka Gaijin. He then sent another message loud and clear by grabbing Bunbun and giving him the CRII! Brookes however got his own back by chasing ELP out of the ring, making the champion leave his title belt behind. Brookes posed with the belt and told fans to look forward to their match tomorrow.
During the show opening announcements, everyone sang a birthday song for Antonio Honda and Hinata Kasai. Both of their birthdays are on 2nd January.
Posted by JamieOD 
Dramatic DDT 