Globe Theatre Closed Down, Combat Princess USA Still Going Ahead, New Year’s Eve Teams Announced

DDT “GET ALIVE 2023 TOUR IN SHINJUKU”, 16/11/2023
Shinjuku FACE

1. Special Single Match: Demus Vs Kazuma Sumi
2. 53rd KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions 1-DAY Tournament – Round 1: Chris Brookes, Masahiro Takanashi & Antonio Honda Vs Jun Akiyama, Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi
3. 53rd KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions 1-DAY Tournament – Round 1: Yuki Ueno, MAO & Toy Kojima Vs Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul
4. Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku Vs Noriyuki Yoshida & Rukiya
5. DDT Extreme Title & Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Did you Know!? Past → Present DDT Trivia King Death Match: Kazuki Hirata (c/c) Vs MIKAMI
6. Soma Takao, Shota, Tetsuya Endo & Yukio Naya Vs Sanshiro Takagi, HARASHIMA, Kazusada Higuchi & Akito
7. 53rd KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions 1-DAY Tournament: X, X & X Vs X, X & X

A public contract signing for this weekend’s DDT Universal Title match will be held before the show begins. Both MAO and Demus will be there for it.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO/PRESTIGE “COMBAT PRINCESS USA”, 14/12/2023
???, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Miu Watanabe Vs Hyan
2. Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh Vs Masha Slamovich & Killer Kelly

Uh… so everybody just found out overnight that The Globe Theatre has suddenly shut down without warning. Prestige are now searching for a new venue in Los Angeles to host “COMBAT PRINCESS USA”. They are confident the show will go ahead somewhere in LA on 14th December as scheduled.

“NEW YEAR’S EVE PRO WRESTLING 2023 ~TOSHIWASURE! SHUFFLE 6-MAN TAG TOURNAMENT~”, 31/12/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1A: DDT X, Big Japan X & Dream Slot X Vs DDT X, Big Japan X & Dream Slot X
2. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1B: DDT X, Big Japan X & Dream Slot X Vs DDT X, Big Japan X & Dream Slot X
3. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1C: DDT X, Big Japan X & Dream Slot X Vs DDT X, Big Japan X & Dream Slot X
4. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1D: DDT X, Big Japan X & Dream Slot X Vs DDT X, Big Japan X & Dream Slot X
5. X Vs X
6. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Semi Final: Winners Of Match 1A Vs Winners Of Match 1B
7. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Semi Final: Winners Of Match 1C Vs Winners Of Match 1D
8. X Vs X
9. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Final: X, X & X Vs X, X & X

Bati Bati F’N In The Sky: Tetsuya Endo, Daisuke Sekimoto & Fuminori Abe
Big Bombers Kai: Yukio Naya, Hideyoshi Kamitani & Minoru Suzuki
Team Katagi Returns: Kazusada Higuchi, Yasufumi Nakanoue & Kohei Kinoshita
Anal Destruction Hidaka: Danshoku Dieno, Daichi Hashimoto & Ikuto Hidaka
The Kind People: Chris Brookes, Kazumasa Yoshida & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi
Lonely Hot College Students: Takeshi Masada, Yuya Aoki & Koji Iwamoto
Smile Lizard Gorilla: HARASHIMA, Kota Sekifuda & Yuji Hino
Go For It! The Three Detained Brothers: Hideki Okatani, Yuki Ishikawa & Brahman Shu (w/ Brahman Kei)

The teams for the New Year’s Eve tournament are all gathered together and names have been made for all of them. The tournament brackets will be revealed as soon as they are determined.

DDT “NEW YEAR’S CURRENT BLAST! 2024”, 14/01/2024
Kanagawa Tsurumi Fruit & Vegetable Market

1. Current Blast Death Match: Atsushi Onita & Toy Kojima Vs X & X

Atsushi Onita returns to DDT to celebrate the new year with an explosion death match. Toy Kojima will also be part of the match.

Ultimate Party Match Order, Houseboat Pro Wrestling, Demonio, BASARA’s Korakuen Card

I haven’t even started on writing a preview for “ULTIMATE PARTY 2023” yet because of the busy week I’ve had. I’ll try getting it done by Saturday but if it doesn’t show up it’s because I just didn’t have the time to complete it.

DDT “ULTIMATE PARTY 2023”, 12/11/2023
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

1. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Soma Takao & Shota (c) Vs Masahiro Takanashi & Antonio Honda
2. Staggered Entry Tag Rumble: KANON & MJ Paul Vs Naruki Doi & Kazuma Sumi Vs Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku Vs Toy Kojima & Yuki Ishida Vs Yuni & Rukiya
3. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer 6-Woman Tag Match: Yuki Arai, Moka Miyamoto & Shino Suzuki Vs Suzume, Arisu Endo & Wakana Uehara
4. Special 8-Man Tag Match: Sanshiro Takagi, Akito, Makoto Oishi & Shinichiro Kawamatsu Vs Yoshitatsu, Yoshihiko, Danshoku Dieno & Super Sasadango Machine
5. Special Single Match: Kuroshio TOKYO Japan Vs Takeshi Masada
6. Special 6-Man Tag Match ~ DDT Vs VOODOO-MURDERS: Jun Akiyama, HARASHIMA & Yukio Naya Vs Jun Saito, Rei Saito & Toshizo
7. Special Single Match: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Tetsuya Endo
8. Goodcom Presents Saki Akai Retirement Match ~Strong, Noble, Beautiful~: Saki Akai, Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani Vs Naomichi Marufuji, Kazusada Higuchi & Miyu Yamashita
9. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Nivea Cream Care Body Wash Presents ~ Dramatic Dream Round “Let’s Have Fun!!” What Will Happen!? Fun Death Match: Hiromu Takahashi (c) Vs Kazuki Hirata
10. DDT Universal Title: Matt Cardona (c) (w/ Steph De Lander) Vs MAO
11. Double Main Event I: Chris Jericho Vs KONOSUKE TAKESHITA
12. KO-D Openweight Title – Double Main Event II: Chris Brookes (c) Vs Yuki Ueno

Here is the match order for Sunday’s big show. There is a public press conference tomorrow featuring the wrestlers involved in the most important matches so there may be a last minute angle or moment done to heat them up a little one last time.

The KO-D Tag Team Titles match being pushed all the way down to the opening bout is odd. Maybe it’s for scheduling reasons regarding some of the wrestlers involved? Everyone in that match are the kind of wrestlers who keep themselves busy on the indies.

DDT “ULTIMATE PARTY 2023 OFFICIAL AFTER EVENT IN RYOGOKU”, 13/11/2023
Tokyo Ryogoku Pier

1. Staggered Entry ? Way Match: Sanshiro Takagi Vs MAO Vs X

The first ever Houseboat Pro Wrestling match will take place in the middle of the Sumida River. There will be a Rumble entry style Falls Count Anywhere match with a potentially unlimited amount of people taking part. Sanshiro Takagi and MAO are the only wrestlers announced so far but who knows who else will show up?

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TOKYO JOSHI PRO WILL IMPRESS YOU ’23”, 23/11/2023
Kanagawa Tsurumi Fruit & Vegetable Market

1. 3 Way Match: Super Sasadango Machine Vs Yumehito Imanari Vs Antonio Honda
2. Rika Tatsumi Vs Demonio
3. Shoko Nakajima Vs Pom Harajuku
4. Miyu Yamashita, Hikari Noa & Yuki Aino Vs Yuka Sakazaki, Mizuki & Hyper Misao

We’ve had Demonio Uno and Demonio Dos previously showing up at Tokyo Joshi Pro whenever they are in the Tsurumi Fruit & Vegetable Market. Now there is just Demonio. Whichever one it is, Rika Tatsumi will still want to run it over with the ring truck.

BASARA “BASARA 237 ~GRIND AN AXE TO MAKE A NEEDLE~”, 03/12/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. KUBITO, Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi, Daichi Kazato & Fuminori Abe Vs Ryuichi Sekine, Minoru Fujita, Yasu Urano & Abdullah Kobayashi
2. 3 Way Match: Masato Kamino Vs Gouma Ryu Vs Leo Isaka
3. Takumi Tsukamoto & SAGAT Vs Hideyoshi Kamitani & Daichi Hashimoto
4. Takato Nakano Vs Yuko Miyamoto
5. Lil’ Kraken Vs The Great Sasuke
6. IRON FIST Tag Team Titles: Ryota Nakatsu & Kazusada Higuchi (c) Vs Tsutomu Oosugi & Banana Senga
7. Union MAX Title: FUMA (c) Vs Isami Kodaka

The full card for BASARA’s next show in Korakuen Hall is here. The IRON FIST TAG TOURNAMENT finalists Takumi Tsukamoto & SAGAT get to take on a Big Japan team. Hideyoshi Kamitani & Daichi Hashimoto are coming over from BJW along with Abdullah Kobayashi who is in the opener.

Danshoku Fantasy, Banny Makes It to GanPro, BASARA At Korakuen, New Year’s Eve Guests

DDT “ULTIMATE PARTY 2023”, 12/11/2023
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

1. Staggered Entry Tag Rumble: KANON & MJ Paul Vs Naruki Doi & Kazuma Sumi Vs Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku Vs Toy Kojima & Yuki Ishida Vs Yuni & Rukiya
2. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer 6-Woman Tag Match: Yuki Arai, Moka Miyamoto & Shino Suzuki Vs Suzume, Arisu Endo & Wakana Uehara
3. Special 8-Man Tag Match: Sanshiro Takagi, Akito, Makoto Oishi & Shinichiro Kawamatsu Vs Yoshitatsu, Yoshihiko, Danshoku Dieno & Super Sasadango Machine
4. Special 6-Man Tag Match ~ DDT Vs VOODOO-MURDERS: Jun Akiyama, HARASHIMA & Yukio Naya Vs Jun Saito, Rei Saito & Toshizo
5. Special Single Match: Kuroshio TOKYO Japan Vs Takeshi Masada
6. Special Single Match: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Tetsuya Endo
7. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Soma Takao & Shota (c) Vs Masahiro Takanashi & Antonio Honda
8. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Nivea Cream Care Body Wash Presents ~ Dramatic Dream Round “Let’s Have Fun!!” What Will Happen!? Fun Death Match: Hiromu Takahashi (c) Vs Kazuki Hirata
9. DDT Universal Title: Matt Cardona (c) (w/ Steph De Lander) Vs MAO
10. Goodcom Presents Saki Akai Retirement Match ~Strong, Noble, Beautiful~: Saki Akai, Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani Vs Naomichi Marufuji, Kazusada Higuchi & Miyu Yamashita
11. Dramatic Dream Match: Chris Jericho Vs KONOSUKE TAKESHITA
12. KO-D Openweight Title: Chris Brookes (c) Vs Yuki Ueno

Danshoku Dieno’s team has been spending time together in preparation for their match against Sanshiro Takagi’s squad. The latest meeting had Dieno, Yoshitatsu & Yoshihiko go visit MMA fighter Hideo Tokoro’s gym to learn some new techniques. Yoshitatsu has been friends with Tokoro since childhood and Tokoro also got along with Dieno when he found out they are all 46 years old. Tokoro tried to teach them submission holds by using Yoshihiko as a training dummy. He then showed Dieno a way to apply multiple submissions at once by demonstrating a Cobra Twist and Muffler Hold combination. Dieno failed to apply the combination to Yoshitatsu and was scolded for not taking the training seriously.

Suddenly Takagi, Akito & Makoto Oishi barged into the gym. They heard from the media about this session going on and told Dieno that training with Tokoro for just a few minutes isn’t going to work. Dieno disagreed but Akito reminded him he is currently in a slump. Oishi said he will make sure Dieno won’t even make it to Sumo Hall and he suddenly attacked him. However all of a sudden Dieno outwrestled Oishi and successfully applied the submission combination he tried earlier while also reaching over to touch Oishi’s groin. This caused Oishi to submit while in great pain. Takagi, Akito & Oishi then fled from the scene. Dieno announced he is naming his new submission move the Danshoku Fantasy. Tokoro was surprised at how quickly Dieno learned the move. Dieno explained that people tend to get stronger when they are backed into a corner. He is in a slump and adversity was the key for him to break out of it.

Dieno then invited Tokoro to give pro wrestling a try. Tokoro declined, saying he would have to start off as a trainee. Dieno pointed out that DDT is unlike other wrestling companies. As long as you are willing to put your life on the line then you can step into the DDT ring. He told Tokoro the possibility will always be there if he is interested.

DDT “ROJO PRO WRESTLING IN NARAHA TOWN”, 18/11/2023
Fukushima Tenjin Misaki Sports Park

1. Falls Count Anywhere 3 Way Tag Match: MAO & Toy Kojima Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Makoto Oishi Vs Yukio Naya & Kazuma Sumi (Special Referee: Shunma Katsumata)

Wrestling in his hometown is not the only advantage Toy Kojima might have for this Falls Count Anywhere match. Shunma Katsumata is the special guest referee so he might play favorites with The 37KAMIINA team.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “THE MOUNTAIN TOP 2023”, 19/11/2023
Osaka Edion Arena #2

1. Next Generation Tournament ’23 – Semi-Final: Shino Suzuki Vs HIMAWARI
2. Next Generation Tournament ’23 – Semi-Final: Wakana Uehara Vs Toga
3. Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta Vs Yuki Kamifuku & Runa Okubo
4. Hyper Misao, Mahiro Kiryu & Haru Kazashiro Vs Yuki Aino, Raku & Pom Harajuku
5. Yuki Arai, Suzume & Arisu Endo Vs Moka Miyamoto, Juria Nagano & Kaya Toribami
6. Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki Vs Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe
7. International Princess Title: Max The Impaler (c) Vs Shoko Nakajima

The main event is subject to change if Max The Impaler loses the International Princess Title to Kasey in EVE later this week.

It’s been over a year since Juria Nagano has wrestled in Osaka so Tokyo Joshi Pro is putting her in the same match as Yuki Arai to make it a bigger deal. The two of them have only been in the same match once before and that was at “CYBERFIGHT FESTIVAL 2022”.

Miyu Yamashita is not at the show because she will in wrestling at EVE in England that same day.

BASARA “BASARA 236 ~TAKAGARI 21~”, 23/11/2023
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. SAGAT Vs Akiyori Takizawa
2. Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi & Daichi Kazato Vs Keisuke Ishii & Shinichiro Tominaga
3. Takumi Tsukamoto & Lil’ Kraken Vs KUBITO & Ryuichi Sekine
4. Ryota Nakatsu, Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino Vs Tsutomu Oosugi, Banana Senga & Yasu Urano
5. Isami Kodaka & Minoru Fujita Vs FUMA & Hagane Shinno

As we get closer to the last Union MAX Title match of the year FUMA and Isami Kodaka are both bringing in reinforcements. Kodaka is staying within Sento Minzoku and has Minoru Fujita on his side. FUMA is calling in an old ally of his from BASARA’s early years. Hagane Shinno will be teaming with him.

This weekend Masato Kamino will be challenging T-Hawk for the G-REX Title in GLEAT. Will he be their new champion by the time BASARA’s next show takes place?

This is Akiyori Takizawa’s first appearance in BASARA since Sparky disbanded.

GANBARE☆PRO “ELEVATOR TO THE GALLOWS ’23”, 23/11/2023
Tokyo Takashimadaira Kumin Center

1. YuuRI & Riara Vs SAKI & Yoshiko Hasegawa
2. Dan The Dad, Tyson Maeguchi & Banny Oikawa Vs Soma Takao, Shinichiro Tominaga & HARUKAZE
3. Yumehito Imanari Vs Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi
4. Ken Ohka & Mizuki Watase Vs Koji Doi & Kuma Arashi
5. Spirit Of Ganbare World Tag Team Titles: Shuichiro Katsumura & Takuya Wada (c) Vs Keisuke Ishii & Munetatsu Nakamura
6. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Isami Kodaka (c) Vs Shota

Kind of cheeky for Ken Ohka to lose a hair match and then take a month off from running main Ganbare☆Pro shows so it would have grown back a little bit when the next one takes place. He has wrestled on other indies since then so it’s not like he’s been avoiding attention. Anyway he still wants revenge on DoiKuma and gets another tag match against them. This time Mizuki Watase is teaming with him.

Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi pays a visit from BASARA to face Yumehito Imanari.

After months of preparation on Ganbare☆Joshi shows Banny Oikawa finally gets her wish to wrestle on a main GanPro show. She’s taking part in an intergender tag match too which is the style she came back to wrestling for. What a weird world we live in when we get a match that has both her and Dan The Dad involved.

BASARA “BASARA 237 ~GRIND AN AXE TO MAKE A NEEDLE~”, 03/12/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Takato Nakano Vs Yuko Miyamoto
2. Lil’ Kraken Vs The Great Sasuke
3. IRON FIST Tag Team Titles: Ryota Nakatsu & Kazusada Higuchi (c) Vs Tsutomu Oosugi & Banana Senga
4. Union MAX Title: FUMA (c) Vs Isami Kodaka

Kodaka has the slight edge over FUMA after he pinned him with a Japanese Leg Roll Clutch yesterday. A flash pin from moves like that or the Samson Clutch is a danger that FUMA needs to watch out for.

The IRON FIST Tag Team are now shared between a BASARA wrestler and a DDT wrestler. Kazusada Higuchi for now has to bounce back and forth between the two promotions while representing the Harimao stable with Ryota Nakatsu. Their first title defence is against Speed Of Sounds and will be held on the same day as a DDT show. However Higuchi made sure that none of his D-Ou Grand Prix matches are taking place that day so he can concentrate on defending the belts without having to worry about his tournament run at the same time.

Two of BASARA’s younger wrestlers have each been given challenging opponents in an effort to make them step up and progress further. Lil’ Kraken grew up watching videos of The Great Sasuke and would love nothing more than to surpass the legend. Takato Nakano steps into the ring to fight Yuko Miyamoto. The match seems to be held under normal rules but if Miyamoto wants to make it hardcore, who is going to tell him no? Nakano would take on that challenge if he had to.

No matches announced yet for Abdullah Kobayashi and Hideyoshi Kamitani. They were already announced for the show along with Leo Isaka.

“NEW YEAR’S EVE PRO WRESTLING 2023 ~TOSHIWASURE! SHUFFLE 6-MAN TAG TOURNAMENT~”, 31/12/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1A: DDT X, Big Japan X & Dream Slot X Vs DDT X, Big Japan X & Dream Slot X
2. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1B: DDT X, Big Japan X & Dream Slot X Vs DDT X, Big Japan X & Dream Slot X
3. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1C: DDT X, Big Japan X & Dream Slot X Vs DDT X, Big Japan X & Dream Slot X
4. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1D: DDT X, Big Japan X & Dream Slot X Vs DDT X, Big Japan X & Dream Slot X
5. X Vs X
6. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Semi Final: Winners Of Match 1A Vs Winners Of Match 1B
7. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Semi Final: Winners Of Match 1C Vs Winners Of Match 1D
8. X Vs X
9. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Final: X, X & X Vs X, X & X

DDT: Chris Brookes, HARASHIMA, Danshoku Dieno, Tetsuya Endo, Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Naya, Hideki Okatani and Takeshi Masada

Big Japan: Yuki Ishikawa, Yuya Aoki, Daisuke Sekimoto, Yasufumi Nakanoue, Daichi Hashimoto, Hideyoshi Kamitani, Kota Sekifuda and Kazumasa Yoshida

New Year Dream Slot: Minoru Suzuki, Yuji Hino, Ikuto Hidaka, Koji Iwamoto, Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi, Kohei Kinoshita, Brahman Shu (w/ Brahman Kei) and Fuminori Abe

The New Year’s Eve tradition continues with Minoru Suzuki, Yuji Hino, Ikuto Hidaka, Koji Iwamoto and Kohei Kinoshita as some of the special guests. There will also be around two non-tournament matches booked on the show.

The lottery to determine all of the teams entering this year’s Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament will be held on 15th November.

“~ALL STAR JR FESTIVAL 2023~” Results

“LEC PRESENTS JUNIOR DREAM FESTIVAL ~ALL STAR JR FESTIVAL 2023~”, 01/03/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,381 Fans – Super No Vacancy

0. Special Gift Match: YOH, Soma Watanabe & Kazuma Sumi defeated Fuminori Abe, Akira Jumonji & Ryo Hoshino when YOH pinned Jumonji with the DIRECT DRIVE (10:35).
1. Fujita “Jr.” Hayato, AMAKUSA & Hiromu Takahashi defeated YAMATO, HAYATA & Kazuki Hashimoto when Hayato submitted Hashimoto with the K.I.D (8:52).
2. Isami Kodaka & MAO defeated Onryo & SHO when SHO was Disqualified for assaulting the referee (9:43).
3. Ganbare! Shinjiro Otani 10-Man Tag Match: Tatsuhito Takaiwa, TAKA Michinoku, Minoru Tanaka, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Jun Kasai defeated MUSASHI, LEONA, Kota Sekifuda, Shoki Kitamura & Chicharito Shoki when Takaiwa pinned Shoki with the Death Valley Bomb (10:28).
4. Hikaru Sato, Ryusuke Taguchi & Yumehito Imanari defeated The Great Sasuke, Tigers Mask & Batten×Blabla when Sato submitted Blabla with a Cross Armbreaker (7:29).
5. 3 Way Tag Match: Volador Jr. & El Desperado defeated Yuki Ueno & El Lindaman and HANAOKA & DOUKI when Desperado pinned HANAOKA with the Pinche Loco (10:34).
6. Mistico, Gurukun Mask, Billy Ken Kid & Alejandro defeated Dragon Kid, BUSHI, Black Menso~re & Atlantis Jr. when Mistico submitted Menso~re with La Mistica (11:29).
7. Surprise Match: CIMA defeated Kazuki Hirata with the Meteor (7:16).
8. 5 Way Match: Taiji Ishimori defeated Shun Skywalker, Ninja Mack, YO-HEY and Soberano Jr. when Ishimori pinned YO-HEY with the Bloody Cross (9:38).
9. Master Wato defeated Atsuki Aoyagi with the Recientemente II (14:24).

I’m only covering the matches relating to DDT, BASARA and Ganbare☆Pro but the entire event is worth watching. One of the highlights was the unexpected appearance of Kazuki Hirata for a surprise match with CIMA! Given CIMA’s history with people previously associated with the “Tokyo GO!” song, he was in no mood to dance along with Hirata. CIMA grabbed the Hirata GO! glasses to prevent the song from coming back and got boos from the crowd, causing him to sulk. Later in the match Hirata got his glasses back and convinced CIMA to put on his own pair so the two could finally dance together. They shook hands afterwards and CIMA pinned Hirata with the Somato. Backstage CIMA praised the show for bringing the entire Junior Heavyweight wrestling scene together. If there are still barriers keeping these companies apart, he thinks we should get rid of them. Hirata asked if he is invited for this kind of show again then please do not put him in the unadvertised surprise spot.

Yuki Ueno was thrown into a lucha flavored 3 Way Tag Match teaming with El Lindaman. He was in the ring from the start squaring off against both Volador Jr. and DOUKI. But as the match went on Ueno & Lindaman started bickering a little bit while trying to fight off both DOUKI & HANAOKA. Then El Desperado got a few of his opponents out of the ring for Volador to dive onto all of them. HANAOKA stopped Desperado from doing his own dive but ended up taking the Pinche Loco from him instead for the finish. Backstage Lindaman said he does not hate DDT or Ueno, he just got worked up because he wants to beat everybody. Ueno said he had fun both wrestling in this match and from watching all of the others. He believes the strongest pro wrestlers are those who enjoy wrestling and he hopes there will be a second “ALL STAR JR FESTIVAL” in the future.

Yumehito Imanari showed off his more pervy side by wearing a “Virgin Killer” sweater along with Hikaru Sato & Ryusuke Taguchi in their match. Because their costumes were at risk of becoming too revealing, their opponents were careful with how they fought to avoid shocking the audience. Batten×Blabla convinced Imanari to continue the match without the costume while Taguchi and Tigers Mask did some actual wrestling in between. Sato went on to tap out Blabla with a Cross Armbreaker. Afterwards Sato called his team the pinnacle of Japan’s Jr. division! If there are three wrestlers better than Sato, Taguchi & Imanari then send them their way. Sato has had enough of every pro wrestler trying to look cool. They should instead bare it all for the fans!

MAO wants fucked up pro wrestling for a fucked up world. Isami Kodaka wishes “Peace & Fuck” on the world. But the two of them combined still wasn’t as unusual as the combination of SHO & Onryo. SHO ended up using Onryo as a weapon by slamming him on top of MAO. Onryo got his own back by throwing his ectoplasm powder in SHO’s face. Then in an even weirder turn of events, Ram Kaichow got on the top turnbuckle and hit a Diving Cross Body on SHO. The match lost control when SHO got out of the ring, pulled the referee out with him and then started attacking him for the DQ. Kodaka got on the microphone and told SHO if he wants to use weapons so bad they should do a death match against each other! SHO refused and left ringside in a huff. Backstage Kaichow complained about the show only inviting male wrestlers. If another “ALL STAR JR FESTIVAL” happens she wants to wrestle on it!

A bonus pre-show match gave Kazuma Sumi a spot on the card and a chance to share the ring with YOH & Soma Watanabe. Sumi’s main confrontation was with Akira Jumonji but he had interactions with Fuminori Abe & Ryo Hoshino too. He ended up on the winning side thanks to YOH pinned Jumonji with the DIRECT DRIVE. Sumi thanked the organisers for inviting him and said Jr. Heavyweight wrestling is the best!

All Star Jr Festival 2023 Announced

“LEC PRESENTS JUNIOR DREAM FESTIVAL ~ALL STAR JR FESTIVAL 2023~”, 01/03/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

This is a show that has been years in the making yet I never thought was going to happen. Wrestlers like Hiromu Takahashi and El Desperado have said over and over on interviews their desire for there to be an all star show that gathers together the best junior heavyweights from across the Japanese wrestling scene. Meanwhile other junior heavyweights from different promotions keep interacting with each other on social media teasing matches at times when there were no chances of those matches ever happening. Well now it’s finally happening thanks to sponsorship from LEC, a company that seems to have sponsored every notable Japanese wrestling promotion you can think of at some point in the last decade.

The only details announced so far is it will be taking place in Korakuen Hall and will be broadcast as a PPV on NJPW World. 22 different wrestling companies are attached to the show with wrestlers and matches to be announced as soon as they are decided on.

The participating promotions are:

– Dark Pro Wrestling 666
– Osaka Pro Wrestling
– Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling
– Kyushu Pro Wrestling
– New Japan Pro Wrestling
– All Japan Pro Wrestling
– Big Japan Wrestling
– Pancrase MISSION
– Pro Wrestling SECRET BASE
– Pro Wrestling ZERO1
– Pro Wrestling NOAH
– Pro Wrestling BASARA
– Pro Wrestling FREEDOMS
– Michinoku Pro Wrestling
– Ryukyu Dragon Wrestling
– CMLL
– DDT Pro Wrestling
– DRADITION
– DragonGate
– GLEAT
– JUST TAP OUT
– 2AW

We have a lot of choices among DDT, Ganbare☆Pro and BASARA to throw onto the show. Shunma Katsumata, MAO, Chris Brookes, Masahiro Takanashi, Keisuke Ishii, Shuichiro Katsumura, Shota, Isami Kodaka, Daiki Shimomura, Takato Nakano, the list goes on and on. Not Tetsuya Endo though. He’s been bulking up recently and now weighs over 100kg.

It’s been pointed out online that the show will take place the day after New Japan and CMLL finish up their “FANTASTICA MANIA” tour which explains why CMLL is part of an otherwise Japan only line-up. Also AEW was never going to be a part of this. Even if they could have been, the show is on a Wednesday anyway.

“NEW YEAR’S EVE PRO WRESTLING 2022 ~TOSHIWASURE! SHUFFLE 6-MAN TAG TOURNAMENT~” Results

“NEW YEAR’S EVE PRO WRESTLING 2022 ~TOSHIWASURE! SHUFFLE 6-MAN TAG TOURNAMENT~”, 31/12/2022
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
615 Fans – No Vacancy

1. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1: MAO, Yuya Aoki & Yuko Miyamoto defeated Yukio Naya, Hideyoshi Kamitani & Kikutaro when MAO pinned Kikutaro after a Double Choke Slam from Naya & Kamitani (8:06).
2. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1: Kazusada Higuchi, Kota Sekifuda & MUSASHI Vs Chris Brookes, Daisuke Sekimoto & Isami Kodaka ended in a Time Limit Draw (10:00).
2a. Overtime – 1 Count Fall Rule: Kazusada Higuchi, Kota Sekifuda & MUSASHI defeated Chris Brookes, Daisuke Sekimoto & Isami Kodaka when Higuchi pinned Brookes with a Cradle Turnback (1:03).
3. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1: Yuki Ueno, Daichi Hashimoto & Yuma Aoyagi defeated Tetsuya Endo, Yasufumi Nakanoue & Brahman Shu (w/ Brahman Kei) when Aoyagi pinned Kei with a School Boy (7:58).
4. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1: HARASHIMA, Yuki Ishikawa & Masashi Takeda defeated Takeshi Masada, Takuya Nomura & Masato Tanaka when Takeda pinned Masada with the Reverse U Crash (8:31).
5. Ryuji Ito, Abdullah Kobayashi, Jaki Numazawa & Kankuro Hoshino defeated Danshoku Dieno, Antonio Honda, Kazuki Hirata & Shunma Katsumata when Ito pinned Hirata with the Biribiri Dragon Splash (14:27).
6. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Semi Final: MAO, Yuya Aoki & Yuko Miyamoto defeated Kazusada Higuchi, Kota Sekifuda & MUSASHI when Aoki pinned Sekifuda with the Blue Storm (10:15).
7. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Semi Final: Yuki Ueno, Daichi Hashimoto & Yuma Aoyagi defeated HARASHIMA, Yuki Ishikawa & Masashi Takeda when Ueno pinned Ishikawa with the Rolling Guillotine Ace Crusher (11:16).
8. Special 8-Man Tag Match: Konosuke Takeshita, Drew Parker, Cara Noir & RSP defeated Yuji Okabayashi, Kazumi Kikuta, Takuho Kato & Kazumasa Yoshida when Takeshita pinned Yoshida with the Zahi (15:23).
9. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Final: Yuki Ueno, Daichi Hashimoto & Yuma Aoyagi defeated MAO, Yuya Aoki & Yuko Miyamoto when Hashimoto pinned MAO with the Rising DDT (19:21).

Last year’s tournament being built around trios matches was kept around for this year’s edition. Each team featured one DDT wrestler, one Big Japan wrestler and one wild card all of which were random combinations. For everyone involved it was their last chance to grab some glory in the ring before the new year begins.

Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1

Ika Ra Takeshi Ki Asu Manji Hai (Driver’s High) Vs Big Bombers

The atmosphere of the show was set early by the team called Big Bombers. Their entrance included a video of MAO, Yuya Aoki & Yuko Miyamoto all travelling together for a road trip on motorbikes. Their opponents attempted to use a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors to determine who starts but Kikutaro misunderstood. He thought it was just a charade to jump Big Bombers while they weren’t looking so he charged them on his own and got beaten up for it. Kikutaro had even more bad luck, the worse of which involved MAO manipulating Yukio Naya & Hideyoshi Kamitani into Double Choke Slamming their own partner. MAO slipped in for the pin afterward to keep his team’s road trip going.

Team 2023 Vs Super J Cups

The only time limit draw on the show took place in the second match. The Super J Cups are called that because it is a trio of junior heavyweight champions. Supposedly. Kazusada Higuchi’s weight was announced in the venue as 99.999999kg so he was really pushing it. Higuchi spent the end of the match fighting with Daisuke Sekimoto too so nobody was complaining about getting to see that heavyweight battle. It built up to Sekimoto leading Chris Brookes & Isami Kodaka into a Triple Topé Suicida aimed at Higuchi, Kota Sekifuda & MUSASHI. The time limit was reached right when Sekimoto gave Higuchi the German Suplex. When overtime began Sekimoto went straight for the pin but Higuchi kicked out immediately. Brookes tagged in and caught Higuchi in a Prawn Hold. However Higuchi reversed the move and rolled himself on top of Brookes to steal the 1 Count pin needed to win.

Zero Hyaku Vs BraNoue In The Sky With Diamonds

If there is one thing everyone knows about The Brahman Brothers its that they like to stay clean, am I right? Tetsuya Endo & Yasufumi Nakanoue shared their concerns and carried around disinfectant spray. Oh, the two of them were also Brahman-ised and happy to take part in their cheating during the match. Yuma Aoyagi fought back by covering his arms with the metal hoses and Lariating both Brahmans but he ended up pinning Brahman Kei by mistake so the match continued. Nakanoue placed a stake up to Yuki Ueno’s butt (after disinfecting the butt first of course) and Brahman Shu hit it with a chairshot. The gameplan then fell apart due to miscommunication. Endo accidentally hit Kei over the head with a steel tray and then the suitcase thrown by Nakanoue hit Shu instead of Aoyagi. It ended up costing them the match and Zero Hyaku advanced at their expense.

Emi Chichichi (Wara Chichichi) Vs Team Kansai

Round 1 almost closed out with a little bit of death match flavour. Masashi Takeda brought out a pair of scissors which annoyed the referee Yukinori Matsui. When that was taken away we were left with a match on the regular level of danger. I mean Takeda and Masato Tanaka were still on opposite sides of the ring here. We also had HARASHIMA and Takuya Nomura trading kicks against each other. Takeshi Masada though ended up getting the worst of everything. He took a Swan Dive Body Press from HARASHIMA, a Double Stomp from Yuki Ishikawa and was finished off with the Takeda’s Reverse U Crash.

Non-Tournament 8-Man Tag Match

DDT and Big Japan got threw some of their veterans together for an inter-promotional 8-Man Tag. Danshoku Dieno was back to his old self looking for men in the audience to kiss during his entrance. Shunma Katsumata took to taunting Ryuji Ito when the opportunity presented itself. Antonio Honda tried to tell a Gongitsune joke but Jaki Numazawa cut him off so he could tell his own jokes. Gongitsune groaned after every punchline. Kazuki Hirata put on the Hirata GO! glasses and danced until Kankuro Hoshino placed fox ears over his head. The music changed to “What Does The Fox Say” and the two danced until Hirata realised what was going on and fainted. Dieno set himself up in the Hell Gate position in the corner to charge up his teammate’s attacks. Abdullah Kobayashi then revealed he has the same ability, it only works once every four years. Kobayashi then formed his own Hell Gate. Ito placed a steel plate over his chest, used Kobayashi to charge it up and then did the Dragon Splash onto Hirata to give Big Japan the win. Ito declared Big Japan as the winners of the feud against DDT but Dieno refused to accept defeat. Ito and Dieno threw challenges at each other and both left the ring in a huff.

Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Semi Final

Ika Ra Takeshi Ki Asu Manji Hai (Driver’s High) Vs Super J Cups

People still didn’t believe that Higuchi is a junior heavyweight so he tried vaulting the top rope along with his tag partners. The whole thing didn’t work because Sekifuda & MUSASHI were both pulled down and Higuchi tripped. The Driver’s High team capitalised and all three hit Handspring Back Elbows to the opposition. Sekifuda recovered and keep trying to go for the win until Aoki cut him off and stole the win with the Blue Storm.

Zero Hyaku Vs Emi Chichichi (Wara Chichichi)

The death match flavour did show up in this match. Takeda took out his scissors again but put them away, promising to fight fair. Zero Hyaku had a lot of communication problems when Ueno tried to direct Hashimoto & Aoyagi into setting up a Triple Power Bomb properly. The match then broke down when chairs were brought into the ring. Ishikawa and even HARASHIMA threw chairshots at their opponents. Ueno took the chair and hit HARASHIMA with it. Takeda then pulled out a stapler and stapled a show poster onto Ueno’s chest! Ueno got his revenge by stapling the poster onto Ishikawa’s forehead and then pinning him with the Rolling Guillotine Ace Crusher.

Special 8-Man Tag Match

Before the final could take place there was another non-tournament match to get through. Konosuke Takeshita led a team of foreign wrestlers against Yuji Okabayashi and his band of Strong BJ fighters. The DDT related side won this one. Everything was built up to Takeshita, Drew Parker and RSP doing stereo Swanton Bombs along with the Fable on Kazumi Kikuta, Takuho Kato & Kazumasa Yoshida. Takeshita then pinned Yoshida with the Zahi. After the match backstage RSP said he first wrestled in Japan for Big Japan but now he considers himself part if DDT. Takeshita thinks 2023 will see the full return of wrestlers travelling everywhere around the world. Cara Noir did not say anything. Okabayashi is impressed by how much Takeshita has improved since the last time they fought. However he is also happy with the knowledge that his Chops are still effective against Takeshita. Kikuta told the DDT team not to get carried away just because they won. Kato spoke about Parker’s success since leaving Big Japan. He considers himself close to Parker because they are the same age and their birthdays are only a few days apart. Yoshida was happy to get to fight Takeshita.

Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Final

Ika Ra Takeshi Ki Asu Manji Hai (Driver’s High) Vs Zero Hyaku

The final came down to this. The Driver’s High team came out all wearing gear matching with Miyamoto’s. Late in the match MAO & Aoki focused on Missile attacks to Hashimoto until the tables turned. Ueno caught MAO with the Dropkick, Aoyagi hit the Rockstar Buster and Hashimoto hit the Shining Wizard. MAO kicked out of both at one so Hashimoto had to drop him with the Rising DDT, crowning Zero Hyaku as the tournament winners!

The winners received their prize from Sayoko Mita. Aoyagi was happy to win because this was his first New Year’s Eve show. Hashimoto said the team went from Zero to Hyaku! Ueno admitted he never expected Hashimoto to be so mischievous and Aoyagi to be so nice. He doesn’t know what to expect in 2023 but the three of them will continue to change pro wrestling. Aoyagi wants the three of them to reunite for next year’s tournament but he was told it can only happen if the random lottery somehow pairs the three of them together again.

Japan Indie Grand Prix Awards 2022

MVP

1. Kazusada Higuchi
2. Drew Parker
3. Fujita Jr. Hayato
4. Konosuke Takeshita
5. Yumehito Imanari

Best Bout

1. MUSASHI Vs Fujita Jr. Hayato (Michinoku Pro, 1st July)
2. Jun Kasai Vs El Desperado (JUST TAP OUT, 12th September)
3. Hartley Jackson Vs Mizuki Watase (Ganbare☆Pro, th )
4. Drew Parker Vs Masashi Takeda (FREEDOMS, 16th November)
5. Konosuke Takeshita Vs Tetsuya Endo (DDT, 20th March)

Best Unit

1. Pheromones
2. The 37KAMIINA
3. Astronauts
4. CDK
5. Speed Of Sounds

Best Box Office

1. Big Japan @ Yokohama Budokan, 5th May
2. Ganbare☆Pro @ Ota Ward Gymnasium, 10th July
3. Michinoku Pro @ Korakuen Hall, 1st July
4. FREEDOMS @ Yokohama Budokan, 3rd May
5. DDT @ Ryogoku Kokugikan, 20th March

Best Newcomer

1. Daiju Wakamatsu
2. Yukio Naya
3. Takeshi Masada
4. HARUKAZE
5. Jun Masaoka

Teams Chosen For New Year’s Eve Tournament

“NEW YEAR’S EVE PRO WRESTLING 2022 ~TOSHIWASURE! SHUFFLE 6-MAN TAG TOURNAMENT~”, 31/12/2022
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1: X, X & X Vs X, X & X
2. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1: X, X & X Vs X, X & X
3. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1: X, X & X Vs X, X & X
4. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1: X, X & X Vs X, X & X
5. Danshoku Dieno, Antonio Honda, Kazuki Hirata & Shunma Katsumata Vs Ryuji Ito, Abdullah Kobayashi, Jaki Numazawa & Kankuro Hoshino
6. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Semi Final: X, X & X Vs X, X & X
7. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Semi Final: X, X & X Vs X, X & X
8. Special 8-Man Tag Match: Konosuke Takeshita, Drew Parker, Cara Noir & RSP Vs Yuji Okabayashi, Kazumi Kikuta, Takuho Kato & Kazumasa Yoshida
9. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Final: X, X & X Vs X, X & X

Ika Ra Takeshi Ki Asu Manji Hai (Driver’s High) – MAO, Yuya Aoki & Yuko Miyamoto
Team 2023 – Chris Brookes, Daisuke Sekimoto & Isami Kodaka
Zero Hyaku – Yuki Ueno, Daichi Hashimoto & Yuma Aoyagi
Big Bombers – Yukio Naya, Hideyoshi Kamitani & Kikutaro
Emi Chichichi (Wara Chichichi) – HARASHIMA, Yuki Ishikawa & Masashi Takeda
Bara No Ue In The Sky With Diamonds – Tetsuya Endo, Yasufumi Nakanoue & Brahman Kei (w/ Brahman Shu)
Team Kansai – Takeshi Masada, Takuya Nomura & Masato Tanaka
Super J Cups – Kazusada Higuchi, Kota Sekifuda & MUSASHI

The eight teams for the New Year’s Eve Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament were all chosen last week. Each team combines together one DDT wrestler, one Big Japan wrestler and one wrestler from outside those two companies. Each trio came up with their own team names based on a something that connects the three wrestlers together. In some cases there was a stretch. Take the Super J Cups for example. Kazusada Higuchi, Kota Sekifuda & MUSASHI were the last three wrestlers remaining after the draw. All three are currently champions but Sekifuda & MUSASHI are both in the Jr. Heavyweight division. Sekifuda told Higuchi that for one night only he gets to move down from Heavyweight to Jr. Heavyweight, which is why Super J Cups became their name.

There are two non-tournament matches also taking place on the show. Both of them are DDT Vs Big Japan 8-Man Tag matches. One of them sees a DDT team of international talent led by Konosuke Takeshita taking on Yuji Okabayashi and his band of Strong BJ fighters. The other has DDT’s comedy troupe pitted against BJW’s Death Match division.

Hartley Faces RENEGADES, Dieno’s Selfish Matches, Rookie Munetatsu, New Year’s Eve Participants

“MASAHIRO TAKANASHI INDEPENDENT PERFORMANCE – BOKUTACHI 4 HANJUKU 4 I LOVE YOU! 2022”, 22/11/2022
Shinjuku FACE

0. Dark Match: Shinsetsu Gomu Ningen & Gota Ihashi (w/ Miyako Haru) Vs SAKI & Yasu Urano (w/ KUDO)
1. Chris Brookes, Mizuki Watase & Antonio Honda Vs Keisuke Ishii, Shigehiro Irie & Soma Takao
2. Mei Suruga Vs MAO
3. Mixed Gauntlet Tag Match: Ram Kaichow & Yuko Miyamoto Vs Saki Akai & Brahman Kei (w/ Brahman Shu) Vs Mochi Natsumi & Hoshitango Vs Cherry & Gorgeous Matsuno Vs Chie Koishikawa & Shin Suzuki Vs Choun-Shiryu & Lee Yoneyama Vs Isami Kodaka & Emi Sakura W
4. Daisuke Sekimoto Vs Masahiro Takanashi

Drew Parker had to pull out of tomorrow’s show due to an arm injury. Mizuki Watase is his replacement.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “ALL RISE ’22”, 27/11/2022
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Shoko Nakajima, Hyper Misao & Kaya Toribami Vs Pom Harajuku, Haruna Neko & Mahiro Kiryu
2. Suzume Vs Yoshiko Hasegawa
3. Mizuki Vs Arisu Endo
4. Maki Itoh & Hikari Noa Vs Yuki Kamifuku & Nao Kakuta
5. Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe Vs Moka Miyamoto & Juria Nagano
6. EVE Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) Vs Millie McKenzie
7. Princess Tag Team Titles: Saki Akai & Yuki Arai (c) Vs Yuki Aino & Raku
8. Princess Of Princess Title: Yuka Sakazaki (c) Vs Billie Starkz

The undercard has now been filled out. Daydream are back together for a match against the Karate Tag of Moka Miyamoto & Juria Nagano. Also Yoshiko Hasegawa from Ganbare☆Pro returns for another appearance in Tokyo Joshi Pro. This time she’s getting a singles match against Suzume.

GANBARE☆PRO “TOKIMEKI NISHISU 2022”, 03/12/2022
Yokohama Radiant Hall

1. GanPro Vs P.P.P: Yumehito Imanari & Yuna Manase Vs Kentaro Hachisu & Echika Miyabi
2. Tokimeki Nishisu 2022 Special Tag Match: Hartley Jackson & Seiya Morohashi Vs Shigehiro Irie & Mizuki Watase

This is one last chance for Watase to prove he will be some kind of threat against Hartley Jackson. The Spirit Of Ganbare Champion suddenly turned sour on the idea he could be welcomed into the Ganpro family because of Watase’s recent weak efforts against him. So this time Watase is calling in his buddy Shigehiro Irie to provide back up against the champ and Seiya Morohashi. The power of RENEGADES may be just what Watase needs.

Yuna Manase and Echika Miyabi are in another match together after the two enjoyed their first rendezvous. This time the match is attracting other members of Ganpro and P.P.P Tokyo because Yumehito Imanari and Kentaro Hachisu are getting involved too.

DDT “D-OU GRAND PRIX 2022 THE FINAL”, 04/12/2022
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. DDT Extreme Title: Joey Janela (c) Vs Jun Akiyama
2. D-Ou Grand Prix 2022 – Final: Yuki Ueno Vs Yukio Naya

The D-Ou Grand Prix final is between Yuki Ueno and Yukio Naya. Ueno lost in last year’s final and is determined not to repeat that result. Naya has already called his shot after he wins the tournament to challenge Kazusada Higuchi for the KO-D Openweight Title in Tokyo Dome City Hall at the end of the year.

Why does Eddie Kingston get to have all the fun? Joey Janela wants to fight Jun Akiyama too and is willing to put the DDT Extreme Title on the line for it to happen.

DDT “DANSHOKU DIENO 20TH ANNIVERSARY BOOK PUBLICATION COMMEMORATION”, 21/12/2022
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Selfishly For The 2nd Time In 20 Years, A Single Match That Danshoku Dieno Just Wants To See: Yuki “Sexy” Iino Vs Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari
2. Selfishly For The 1st Time In 20 Years, Danshoku Dieno’s Self-Satisfaction Match: Danshoku Dieno Vs Muscle Sakai

A book launch to celebrate 20 years in the business is a good enough reason to give Danshoku Dieno some match making powers for the event. He is happily being selfish with the power by booking himself against his old friend Muscle Sakai. He also wants to see what Yuki Iino versus Yumehito Imanari would be like.

GANBARE☆PRO “GIRI GIRI CHOP! 2022”, 27/12/2022
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Munetatsu Nakamura Debut Match: Munetatsu Nakamura Vs X
2. Kouki Iwasaki Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling Last Match: Keisuke Ishii Vs Kouki Iwasaki
3. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Hartley Jackson (c) Vs Mizuki Watase

The new rookie Munetatsu Nakamura is a 21 year old college student from Chiba. He is 168cm tall, weighs 65kg and his athletic experience is with wrestling and Judo. Nakamura originally trained for the DDTeeeen!! project but never wrestled a match (unless he was Ilusion all along but I have no evidence to back that up). Instead he switched his training over to Ganpro earlier this year and will make his pro debut with them.

DDT “NEVER MIND 2022”, 29/12/2022
Tokyo Dome City Hall

1. Pheromones Vs “Miyako & Ward” Pheromones Subjugation Allied Forces: Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno, Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari & Koju “Shining Ball” Takeda Vs Akito, Osamu Nishimura, Shinichiro Kawamatsu & Shunma Katsumata
2. Special Tag Match: Saki Akai & Yuki Arai Vs Saori Anou & Riko Kawahata
3. KO-D Openweight Title: Kazusada Higuchi (c) Vs X

The KO-D Title shot at the end of the year is not the automatic prize for the D-Ou winner but it’s clear Ueno or Naya is going to get it.

Akito needs some powerful and influential people to help him keep Pheromones under control or else DDT is at risk of being banned from Korakuen Hall and probably all the other venues within Tokyo Dome City. Who could be more powerful and influential than politcians? Osamu Nishimura & Shinichiro Kawamatsu are here to help. Shunma Katsumata is also getting dragged into the fight.

It’s already been announced but here’s a reminder that Konosuke Takeshita and Cara Noir will be on the show. Takeshita is still part of the DDT roster along with his new affiliation with AEW.

“NEW YEAR’S EVE PRO WRESTLING 2022 ~TOSHIWASURE! SHUFFLE 6-MAN TAG TOURNAMENT~”, 31/12/2022
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

DDT: Kazusada Higuchi, HARASHIMA, Tetsuya Endo, Yuki Ueno, Chris Brookes, MAO, Yukio Naya & Takeshi Masada

BJW: Hideyoshi Kamitani, Takuya Nomura, Kota Sekifuda, Yasufumi Nakanoue, Daisuke Sekimoto, Daichi Hashimoto, Yuya Aoki & Yuki Ishikawa

Year End Dream Slot: Masato Tanaka, Yuko Miyamoto, Isami Kodaka, Masashi Takeda, MUSASHI, Yuma Aoyagi, Brahman Kei (w/ Brahman Shu) & Kikutaro

The lineup for the annual New Year’s Eve trios tournament has been revealed. There will be eight teams involved each containing one DDT wrestler, one Big Japan wrestler and one “Dream” wrestler. The teams will be chosen on 24th November. There will be two non-tournament matches happening on the New Year’s Eve show as well.

“NEW YEAR’S WRESTLING 2021 ~TOSHIKOSHI! SHUFFLE 6-MAN TAG TOURNAMENT” Results

“NEW YEAR’S WRESTLING 2021 ~TOSHIKOSHI! SHUFFLE 6-MAN TAG TOURNAMENT”, 31/12/2021
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
655 Fans – No Vacancy

1. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1: Kazusada Higuchi, Ryuji Ito & Shiro Koshinaka Vs Chris Brookes, Takuya Nomura & Minoru Fujita ended in a Time Limit Draw (10:00).
1a. Overtime – 1 Count Fall Rule: Chris Brookes, Takuya Nomura & Minoru Fujita defeated Kazusada Higuchi, Ryuji Ito & Shiro Koshinaka when Fujita pinned Ito with the Modified Samson Clutch (0:52).
2. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1: HARASHIMA, Daichi Hashimoto & Kengo Mashimo defeated Soma Takao, Yuya Aoki & Shuji Ishikawa when Hashimoto submitted Aoki with the STF (9:06).
3. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1: Konosuke Takeshita, Yuji Okabayashi & Kuishinbo Kamen defeated Naomi Yoshimura, Kota Sekifuda & Brahman Kei (w/ Brahman Shu) when Takeshita pinned Kei with a Cradle (5:17).
4. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1: MAO, Yasufumi Nakanoue & Shigehiro Irie defeated Akito, Daisuke Sekimoto & Jun Kasai when MAO pinned Akito with the Cannonball 450 (8:50).
5. MUSASHI, Daisuke Kanehira, Takafumi & Tatsuya Hanami defeated Takuho Kato, Kosuke Sato, Hideki Okatani & Yuki Ishida when MUSASHI submitted Ishida with the Modified Sasorikatame (13:40).
6. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Semi Final: HARASHIMA, Daichi Hashimoto & Kengo Mashimo defeated Chris Brookes, Takuya Nomura & Minoru Fujita when Mashimo pinned Fujita with the Vertical Drop Brainbuster (11:41).
7. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Semi Final: Konosuke Takeshita, Yuji Okabayashi & Kuishinbo Kamen Vs MAO, Yasufumi Nakanoue & Shigehiro Irie ended in a Time Limit Draw (15:00).
7a. Overtime – 1 Count Fall Rule: Konosuke Takeshita, Yuji Okabayashi & Kuishinbo Kamen defeated MAO, Yasufumi Nakanoue & Shigehiro Irie when Kamen pinned MAO with a Crushed La Magistral Cradle (0:44).
8. 3 Way Tag Match: Stan Kobayashi & Kazuki Hirata defeated Jaki Numazawa & Antonio Honda Vs Danshoku Dieno & Kankuro Hoshino when Kobayashi pinned Hona with the Bakachinga Anal Elbow (14:21).
9. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Final: HARASHIMA, Daichi Hashimoto & Kengo Mashimo defeated Konosuke Takeshita, Yuji Okabayashi & Kuishinbo Kamen when HARASHIMA pinned Kamen with the Somato (16:19).

The annual New Year’s Eve Shuffle Tag Tournament switched over to a trios format for the end of 2021. Each team consisted of a DDT wrestler, a Big Japan wrestler and a “Dream Slot” wrestler from another company or batch of freelancers.

Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1

I’ll Do It!! Vs Three Brothers Kawaii

Fans didn’t have to wait long for the reveal of Chris Brookes & Takuya Nomura’s mystery partner. It was Minoru Fujita! Their combined cuteness went to a 10 minute stalemate against the rugged trio of Kazusada Higuchi, Ryuji Ito & Shiro Koshinaka. In the final seconds Fujita hit Ito with the SAYONARA but time ran out before the pin. Sudden death overtime meant One Count Fall rules to win. Koshinaka misfired the Hip Attack and hit Ito by accident, allowing Fujita to get the 1 Count to win.

Ikemen’s Vs LEFTOVERS

Next up the team of Soma Takao, Yuya Aoki & Shuji Ishikawa all walked out dressed and posing like Masahiro Chono. They continued the Chono tribute by locking in a Triple STF to HARASHIMA, Daichi Hashimoto & Kengo Mashimo. They got a taste of their own medicine at the end when Hashimoto locked Aoki into his own version of the STF to win. He then encouraged his own team to do Chono’s pose.

Deadlifters Vs I Dream Of Twins, Lizards And Naomi

Things got weirder because next up was The Brahman Brothers entering the ring with Naomi Yoshimura & Kota Sekifuda behind them carrying stuffed toy lizards. Konosuke Takeshita and Yuji Okabayashi brought out chairs looking ready for a fight until they had powder thrown in their faces. Kuishinbo Kamen tried to help but couldn’t do much. Takeshita was given a Low Blow but found a way in his doubled over state to block a Sunset Flip and press down to get the three count.

Ugo Association Vs Team Saiyuki

Before this match began Shigehiro Irie and MAO shook hands to show that their problems are in the past and they can work together. Jun Kasai announced he created a new move and it is punching MAO a lot. MAO took a beating from Akito, Daisuke Sekimoto & Kasai but toughed it out so Yasufumi Nakanoue & Irie could come for the rescue. Akito then got singled out and fell to the trademark moves of his opponents.

Non-Tournament 8-Man Tag Match

The buffer match after Round 1 brought together a mixture of wrestlers from across the indies. DDT & Big Japan were represented by their young generation of Takuho Kato, Kosuke Sato, Hideki Okatani & Yuki Ishida. Their opponents were MUSASHI from Michinoku Pro, Daisuke Kanehira from HEAT-UP, Takafumi from ZERO1 & Tatsuya Hanami from 2AW. In the end MUSASHI picked up the win by making Ishida submit.

Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Semi Final

Three Brothers Kawaii Vs LEFTOVERS

The semi-finals had a tense start when Hashimoto and HARASHIMA declined to shake the other team’s hands. Fujita and Mashimo had a back and forth that ended with Fujita asking for a handshake only to get attacked. HARAHSIMA and Nomura got into a spirited kick-off and Fujita almost pinned Mashimo with the SAYONARA. The tables were turned when Fujita was hit with a Triple Super Kick and Mashimo pinned him with the Vertical Drop Brainbuster.

Deadlifters Vs Ugo Association

Kamen was targeted as the weak link in this match. While Takeshita & Okabayashi cancelled out Nakanoue & Irie the dying moments of the match fell down to Kamen and MAO. Kamen was caught in the Clothespin submission but held out for the last 30 seconds so the match could end in a draw. When Sudden Death began Kamen was quickly given more big blows but when MAO attempted La Magistral Cradle, Kamen blocked it and stole the win with the 1 Count fall.

3 Way Tag Match

The other non-tournament match brought the show back to weird territory. Danshoku Dieno jumped into the Hell Gate position, Kazuki Hirata started dancing, Kankuro Hoshino vanished to be replaced by Kenshiro Hoshino, then Abdullah Kobayashi disappeared and Stan Kobayashi took his place. To cap it all off, Jaki Numazawa left and returned as RoboCop! Antonio Honda was ready to finish the match but tripped and injured his knee. Kobayashi ended up using Dieno’s backside to charge up his Lariat arm and pin Honda with the Bakachinga Elbow.

Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Final

LEFTOVERS Vs Deadlifters

Poor old Kuishinbo Kamen has never won a tournament in his career. His run of luck in these things is so bad that back in Osaka Pro it was a known flaw that he would get eliminated early in their annual tournaments. By making it to the final, today could have finally been his day. Sadly it just wasn’t to be. He brought out some fun antics at the beginning but was there to win with his partners as the match heated up. Okabayashi floored HARASHIMA with a Lariat and Takeshita wiped out Hashimoto & Mashimo with a Topé. But HARASHIMA regained control of the match against Kamen and pinned him with the Somato to win the final.

The tournament winners celebrated and HARASHIMA said he felt good fortunes with his team this year. They were all the last people picked in the lottery draft which is why they called themselves LEFTOVERS in the first place. Hashimoto agreed and thinks it is a sign that the new year will be good to them. He’d like LEFTOVERS to team together for next year’s Shuffle Tag show but doesn’t know if that will happen. Mashimo credited all of the wrestlers involved for making today and exciting tournament and he invited all of them out for a group photo to end the show.

Japan Indie Grand Prix Awards 2021

MVP

1. Konosuke Takeshita
2. Takuya Nomura
3. Drew Parker
4. Takumi Tsukamoto
5. Jun Kasai

Best Bout

1. Takuya Nomura Vs Daisuke Sekimoto (Big Japan, 18th October)
2. The Great Sasuke Vs Jinsei Shinzaki (Michinoku Pro, 4th June)
3. Jun Akiyama Vs Konosuke Takeshita (DDT, 21st August)
4. HARASHIMA Vs Yuji Okabayashi (DDT, 21st November)
5. Tetsu Inada Vs Shota Okamura (Hiragana Muscle, 1st September)

Best Unit

1. Pheromones
2. Astronauts
3. Speed Of Sounds
4. The 37KAMIINA
5. E.R.E

Best Box Office

1. Hiragana Muscle @ Korakuen Hall, 1st September
2. DDT @ Fujitsu Stadium Kawasaki, 21st August
3. CyberFight Festival @ Saitama Super Arena, 6th June
4. Big Japan @ Sapporo Chateraise Gateaux Kingdom, 20th September
5. Masahiro Takanashi Produce @ Shinjuku FACE, 1st August

Best Newcomer

1. Drew Parker
2. Tomoya Hirata
3. Yumehito Imanari
4. Tetsu Inada
5. Kosuke Sato

New Year’s Eve Shows, Prominence Reveal Motivations Against Gake no Fuchi, Tokyo Joshi Homecomings

“NEW YEAR’S WRESTLING 2021 ~TOSHIWASURE! SHUFFLE 6-MAN TAG TOURNAMENT”, 31/12/2021
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Toshiwasure! Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1A: Kazusada Higuchi, Ryuji Ito & Shiro Koshinaka Vs Chris Brookes, Takuya Nomura & X
2. Toshiwasure! Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1B: Soma Takao, Yuya Aoki & Shuji Ishikawa Vs HARASHIMA, Daichi Hashimoto & Kengo Mashimo
3. Toshiwasure! Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1C: Konosuke Takeshita, Yuji Okabayashi & Kuishinbo Kamen Vs Naomi Yoshimura, Kota Sekifuda & Brahman Kei (w/ Brahman Shu)
4. Toshiwasure! Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1D: MAO, Yasufumi Nakanoue & Shigehiro Irie Vs Akito, Daisuke Sekimoto & Jun Kasai
5. MUSASHI, Daisuke Kanehira, Takafumi & Tatsuya Hanami Vs Takuho Kato, Kosuke Sato, Hideki Okatani & Yuki Ishida
6. Toshiwasure! Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Semi Final: Winners Of Match 1A Vs Winners Of Match 1B
7. Toshiwasure! Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Semi Final: Winners Of Match 1C Vs Winners Of Match 1D
8. 3 Way Tag Match: Abdullah Kobayashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Jaki Numazawa & Antonio Honda Vs Danshoku Dieno & Kankuro Hoshino
9. Toshiwasure! Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Final: X, X & X Vs X, X & X

Team Saiyuki – Akito, Daisuke Sekimoto & Jun Kasai
Ikemen’s – Soma Takao, Yuya Aoki & Shuji Ishikawa
I Dream Of Twins, Lizards And Naomi – Naomi Yoshimura, Kota Sekifuda & Brahman Kei (w/ Brahman Shu)
Three Brothers Kawaii – Chris Brookes, Takuya Nomura & X
I’ll Do It!! – Kazusada Higuchi, Ryuji Ito & Shiro Koshinaka
Deadlifters – Konosuke Takeshita, Yuji Okabayashi & Kuishinbo Kamen
Ugo Association – MAO, Yasufumi Nakanoue & Shigehiro Irie
LEFTOVERS – HARASHIMA, Daichi Hashimoto & Kengo Mashimo

The tradition of wrestling on New Year’s Eve is always a busy one. DDT and Big Japan along with a gang of wrestlers sprinkled throughout the indies close out 2021 over in Korakuen Hall.

BASARA “NEW YEAR’S EVE SHOW”, 31/12/2021
Tokyo Oji BASEMENT MONSTAR

1. Lil Kraken Vs Yasu Urano
2. Tsutomu Oosugi, Banana Senga & Daiki Shimomura Vs FUMA, Yusuke Kubo & Fuminori Abe
3. Jacket Match: Ryota Nakatsu Vs Daichi Kazato
4. Isami Kodaka, Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi & Takato Nakano Vs Takumi Tsukamoto, SAGAT & Masato Kamino
5. Battle Royal: X Vs X

Meanwhile BASARA have their own little end of year show going on at Oji BASEMENT MONSTAR.

DDT “DDT 25TH ANNIVERSARY OPENING SPECIAL! ALL SEATS 3000 YEN BOX OFFICE!!”, 03/01/2022
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Yusuke Okada Vs Yuya Koroku
2. KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles: Toru Owashi, Antonio Honda, Kazuki Hirata & Yoshihiko (c) Vs Sanshiro Takagi, Akito, Soma Takao, Gota Ihashi & Yuki Ishida
3. Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno, Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari Vs Yuji Hino, Yukio Naya & Toui Kojima
4. Special Mixed Tag Match: Shunma Katsumata & Saki Akai Vs Masahiro Takanashi & Maya Yukihi
5. Special Single Match: Chris Brookes Vs Pokotan
6. Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Yuki Ueno
7. Kazusada Higuchi Vs Hideki Okatani
8. HARASHIMA & MAO Vs Tetsuya Endo & Naomi Yoshimura
9. DDT 25th Anniversary Opening Memorial Special Single Match: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Shinya Aoki

The match order is official. Konosuke Takeshita Vs Shinya Aoki is the headliner, a few units get mixed together for tag matches, Chris Brookes gets to deal with the returning Pokotan, previous tag partners Saki Akai and Maya Yukihi are now against each other and the KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles have to be defended by four people.

GAKE NO FUCHI JOSHI PRO “CLOCKWORK GAKE NO FUCHI 2022 ~GAKE NO FUCHI VS PROMINENCE~”, 04/01/2021
Shinjuku FACE

1. Hardcore Match: Chris Brookes Vs Suzu Suzuki
2. Special Tag Match: Sanshiro Takagi & SenoSister Mao Inoue Vs Mochi Miyagi & Akane Fujita
3. Special Single Match ~ Gake no Fuchi Rules: Miyako Matsumoto Vs Risa Sera
4. Gake no Fuchi Vs Prominence Full Scale Battle! No DQ 8-Man Tag Match: Miyako Matsumoto, Sanshiro Takagi, Chris Brookes & (w/ Ippanjin Munenori Sawa) Vs Risa Sera, Mochi Miyagi, Akane Fujita & Suzu Suzuki (w/ Hiragi Kurumi)

This is the first challenge for Prominence since their inception. Risa Sera is close with Miyako Matsumoto and Miyamoto was even considered to be recruited for Prominence during its inception. However Matsumoto turned down the invitation out of loyalty to Gake no Fuchi, CyberFight and Sanshiro Takagi. It must be noted that Matsumoto is NOT a CyberFight employee.

When Suzu Suzuki originally debuted, people kept saying she reminded them of Matsumoto. She felt insulted by that and after holding in her feelings for so long, she will take her anger about it out on Chris Brookes. She isn’t sure how to deal with the height difference but thinks if she can beat a big man with big moves then she cane become a big woman in the ring.

Mochi Miyagi thought she would be taking on the Mao from SenoSister and was looking forward to it. Then she found out it is actually the wrestler MAO and she now wants a explanation. On the bright side she is looking forward to fighting Takagi and making him scream squeal. She isn’t the only person targeting Takagi.

Akane Fujita has accused Shunma Katsumata of stealing all of her ideas for death match weapons. She has proof of using block toys and acupuncture mats as weapons in her own matches before Katsumata used them in DDT. She isn’t facing Katsumata on this show so she will target Takagi instead because he is the DDT president.

Last but not least, Hiragi Kurumi admits she doesn’t know what she is going to do at the show. She isn’t able to wrestle at the moment so she is only advertised to accompany the rest of Prominence for the main event. She knows Munenori Sawa is doing the same so she guesses she will have to deal with him one way or another.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TOKYO JOSHI 2022 WINTER ~KOBE PERFORMANCE~”, 08/01/2022
Kobe Art Center

1. “Futari wa Princess” Max Heart Tournament – Round 1A: Pom Harajuku & Mahiro Kiryu Vs Moka Miyamoto & Yuki Arai
2. Kobe Special 6-Woman Tag Match: Yuka Sakazaki, Mizuki & Shoko Nakajima Vs Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh & Yuki Kamifuku

Will Mizuki enter her hometown of Kobe as the Princess Of Princess Champion?

Kaya Toribami is expected to have her return match on this show. She has spent the last few months in Budapest, Hungary away from wrestling.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TOKYO JOSHI 2022 WINTER ~OKAYAMA PERFORMANCE~”, 09/01/2022
Okayama Convention Center

1. “Futari wa Princess” Max Heart Tournament – Round 1B: Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta Vs Haruna Neko & Kaya Toribami
2. Okayama Special 6-Woman Tag Match: Nodoka Tenma, Yuki Aino & Shoko Nakajima Vs Miyu Yamashita, Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe

The next day will Tokyo Joshi Pro will be in Okayama for The Bakuretsu Sisters homecoming show.