Chris Jericho | Dramatic DDT

DDT Around The World – October 2023

November 1, 2023

A messy edition this time around because I wrote most of this up a week ago before going on holiday. Then in the last seven days came the usual landslide of upcoming bookings and match announcements for the following month that I tried to catch up on. That is why some of the graphics below are outdated.

Anyway, this month Konosuke Takeshita is in the same position as he was last month in the whole Don Callis storyline. AEW has really taken a beating with reviews and criticism for their TV shows lately and rightfully so. Thankfully Takeshita got to have a few matches on the indies so he can do his thing more often. Maki Itoh was part of GCW’s visit to Japan so while this article is supposed to be everything DDT related that happens outside of Japan, this still finds a way to be included here. Miyu Yamashita did another group of bookings in America and Miu Watanabe got to join her for a bit. Yamashita also unintentionally made her on-screen WWE debut when she was seen sitting behind the commentary desk on an episode of NXT. May God have mercy on her for having to hear Booker T’s commentary that close in person. Closing out the month was CDK getting to torment the wrestling community in Thailand again.

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Videos

Konosuke Takeshita In AEW Playlist

AEW “DYNAMITE ANNIVERSARY”, 04/10/2023
Stockton Arena, Stockton, California, USA

1. Kenny Omega & Chris Jericho Vs Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher (w/ Don Callis)

LLL “THE HANDS OF FATE”, 20/10/2023
The Oriental Theater, Denver, Colorado, USA

1. Lilith Grimm Vs Miyu Yamashita

AEW “RAMPAGE”, 27/10/2023
Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1. Kyle Fletcher Vs Konosuke Takeshita

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Results

AEW “WRESTLEDREAM”, 01/10/2023
Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, Washington, USA

1. Sammy Guevara, Will Ospreay & Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Don Callis) defeated Chris Jericho, Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi when Guevara pinned Jericho (22:10).

The month kicked off with AEW’s latest PPV being a put together as a tribute to the late Antonio Inoki. For Takeshita, his part on the show was to team up with Sammy Guevara & Will Ospreay to defeat Chris Jericho and The Golden Lovers. Takeshita hit a wall when he went face to face with Kota Ibushi and the two more or less cancelled each other out. The result instead went to Guevara who pinned Jericho after Callis struck Jericho with a baseball bat behind the referee’s back.

AEW “DYNAMITE – ANNIVERSARY”, 04/10/2023
Stockton Arena, Stockton, California, USA

1. Kenny Omega & Chris Jericho defeated Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher (w/ Don Callis) when Omega pinned Fletcher with the One-Winged Angel (15:15).

A few days later Takeshita and Guevara were meant to team up again to fight Jericho & Kenny Omega. However Guevara was not medically cleared to compete so Takeshita teamed up with Kyle Fletcher instead. Omega got Takeshita out of the way with a Snap Dragon Suplex, leaving everything open for The Golden Jets to finish off Fletcher.

WARRIOR “WARRIOR WRESTLING 31”, 06/10/2023
Bendix Arena, South Bend, Indiana, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita defeated Storm Grayson (w/ Frank The Clown) with the Powerdrive Knee (16:09).

Takeshita was back to being a babyface when he returned to Warrior Wrestling. Anybody going against a wrestler accompanied by Frank The Clown would be a babyface no matter what. Storm Grayson needed Frank’s interference to have a chance of winning. Frank pulled the referee out of the ring, got Takeshita to chase him around the venue and grabbed Takeshita’s leg back in the ring to stop his momentum. Grayson followed up by relying an exposed turnbuckle to damage Takeshita’s groin thanks to a missed Helluva Kick and then follow up with a kick between the legs. Takeshita however blocked a second Low Blow, threw Grayson away with the Rollover German Suplex and then pin him with the Powerdrive Knee. Given the way Takeshita was selling the low blow after the match, it does make me wonder if he got an injury that kept him away from the ring for pretty much the rest of the month.

GCW “TO LIVE AND DIE IN TOKYO”, 10/10/2023
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Maki Itoh defeated Jimmy Lloyd with the I.S.D. (9:36).

GCW returned to Japan and Itoh was along for the ride. On night one she took on Jimmy Lloyd by herself and took every big move he threw at her. She kicked out of Piledrivers and even a One-Winged Angel. She fought back violently by using a pizza cutter and also smashing a lighttube over Lloyd’s head. Itoh pulled off the upset by dropping Lloyd with the Itoh Suicide DDT.

SPARK “RISING HEAT WEST”, 11/10/2023
LA Dojo, Carson, California, USA

1. Spark Joshi World Title: Billie Starkz defeated Miyu Yamashita (c) with a Title Belt Attack (15:36).
*Miyu Yamashita fails in V2. Billie Starkz becomes the 2nd Spark Joshi World Champion!

Yamashita’s reign as Spark Joshi World Champion came to an end not that long after she became an international triple crown holder. Xtinguish leader Billie Starkz relied on Sumie Sakai’s interference to hit Yamashita with the title belt and become champion.

GCW “THE WRLD ON GCW”, 12/10/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Effy, Allie Katch & Maki Itoh defeated Kikutaro, Kikutaro (Abdullah Kobayashi) & Kikutaro (Jimmy Lloyd) when Effy, Katch & Itoh all pinned Kikutaro with a Triple Kokeshi Headbutt (8:20).

Night two of GCW’s Japan tour brought them right into Korakuen Hall. Itoh’s match here was a more lighthearted affair because she teamed up with Bussy to take on not one, not two but three Kikutaros! Itoh did a full Nick Gage style entrance with the crowd. She then used a bull rope with Effy to crotch all three Kikutaros with some added rope burn for extra damage. Itoh attacked the original Kikutaro with a pizza cutter until she realised she couldn’t cut through his mask. She and Bussy then unmasked the other two revealing they were Jimmy Lloyd and Abdullah Kobayashi! The original Kikutaro was then triple teamed with Effy, Allie Katch & Itoh all hitting Kokeshi Headbutts on him at the same time for the finish.

SPARK “RISING HEAT EAST”, 14/10/2023
Engelwood Neighborhood Center, Orlando, Florida, USA

1. Miu Watanabe defeated KiLynn King with the Tear Drop (14:09).
2. Miyu Yamashita defeated Jessie with the Skull Kick (13:13).

Things went off better for the Tokyo Joshi Pro side at SPARK’s next show. Jessie tried to match Yamashita kick to kick but fell to the Skull Kick like so many others.

Miu Watanabe scored a big win over KiLynn King, spinning her powerful opponent around with the Giant Swing in the process. She just about kicked out of the King’s Curse, stunned King with the Laserbeam and pinned her with the Tear Drop.

LLL “THE HANDS OF FATE”, 20/10/2023
The Oriental Theater, Denver, Colorado, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Lilith Grimm with the Skull Kick (?:??).

Yamashita didn’t have to worry about Heidi Howitzer in Lucha Libre & Laughs this time around. Her opponent instead was Lilith Grimm.

AEW “RAMPAGE”, 25/10/2023 (Aired 27/10/2023)
Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita defeated Kyle Fletcher with the Wagamama (11:17).

From tag partners to opponents. Takeshita and Fletcher last fought each other one on one in Manchester almost four years ago. Now they fight again this time on American TV. Takeshita used the Wagamama version of his Powerdrive Knee that involves pulling down his kneepad and striking the opponent with the exposed knee. After the match Fletcher attacked Takeshita with a chair in an act of frustration but was stopped by Powerhouse Hobbs and Don Callis. Callis then convinced Fletcher to join his side.

SETUP “SETUP EP.16”, 28/10/2023
The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand

1. SPW Champion Of Singapore & Gatoh Move One And Only Title & SETUP Thailand Openweight Title Unification Match: Shivam (S/c) defeated Masahiro Takanashi (T/c) and Kappa Rockstar (?:??).
*???
2. Dramatic Dream Match: Chris Brookes defeated Monomoth with the Praying Mantis Bomb (?:??).
3. IWA Japan SETUP World Tag Team Titles: Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi defeated Anont Alonzo & Mister Suchart when Brookes pinned Alonzo after the Thrust Kick & Praying Mantis Bomb with Takanashi (?:??)
*THE GOOD DEAL fail in V?. CDK become the 11th IWA Japan SETUP World Tag Team Champions!

CDK went and caused a lot of havoc in Thailand at the end of the month. Chris Brookes defeated Monomoth in what was advertised as the main event Dramatic Dream Match but cheated to do so. He gave Monomoth a Low Blow before finishing him off with the Praying Mantis Bomb. CDK then demanded an impromptu tag title match against SETUP’s tag champions THE GOOD DEAL. They beat the champs to win the IWA Japan SETUP World Tag Team Titles.

Earlier in the show Masahiro Takanashi lost his SETUP Thailand Openweight Title in a 3 Way Match. His original match against Paksa was changed on short notice to a 3 Way Match with Shivam and Kappa Rockstar. Shivam ended up winning the match and all of the championships involved in it.

REPUBLIC OF LUCHA “ROL VI VI VI: LA NOCHE DE WALPURGIS”, 30/10/2023
Republic Of Lucha, South Pasadena, California, USA

1. Penta el Zero Miedo & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Sami Callihan & Shun Skywalker when Penta pinned Skywalker with the Fear Factor onto a stack of chairs (?:??).

This match was originally meant to be Takeshita and The Lucha Brothers teaming up against Shun Skywalker and La Rebellion. Well that didn’t happen. For a variety of reasons from Rey Fenix being injured and La Rebellion recently splitting up (I think? All I heard about the NWA PPV was it included a comedy scene where a bunch of wrestlers did cocaine on camera which is both the least NWA thing ever and also the most NWA thing ever), the match was changed to Takeshita & Penta el Zero Miedo taking on Skywalker & Sami Callihan. The match featured the unexpected inclusion of actor Jason Segel when Callihan found him in the crowd, threw Penta onto his lap and then Super Kicked them. Takeshita and Penta used some good teamwork together on Skywalker, leading to Penta crashing him through a bunch of chairs with a Package Piledriver for the win.

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Iron Man Title In USA

But wait, there’s more. The Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title was taken to America this month too thanks to Hiromu Takahashi. The New Japan wrestler won the belt just before his company’s return to the USA so he was obligated to bring it with him. He was targeted by Danny Limelight during the show but made it out safe and sound as champion. It wasn’t until Takahashi was back at his hotel room when he was completely defenceless. Sumie Sakai snuck into his room with a referee and they found Takahashi sleeping on his bed. However the ref noticed that Takahashi’s iPhone was lying on his chest so he treated it as a pin, counted to three and declared Yellow iPhone 14 as the new champion! Sakai immediately grabbed the phone and pinned it on the floor to win the title. Her celebration was quickly cut off when Takahashi rolled her over with a School Boy to get the belt back and send everyone out of his room. At the time of writing Takahashi is back in Japan with the title but is still getting ambushed backstage at New Japan shows by other wrestlers who want to be the Iron Man Champion.

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Upcoming Appearances

GCW “PLEASE, BUDDY”, 03/11/2023
Pop’s Nightclub, Sauget, Illinois, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs Shazza McKenzie

This was a match originally booked by GCW back in May but was changed into a multiple woman free for all. Itoh and Shazza McKenzie have only wrestled each other in those kind of scramble matches so if plans don’t change again then there first singles match will take place here.

DAIKAIJU PRO “VOL. 1 – THE KAPPAS WALK AMONG US”, 04/11/2023
White Eagle, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA

1. Shoko Nakajima Vs VENY

America gets the first time ever Shoko Nakajima Vs VENY match. The two met in the ring for the first time earlier this year in DDT for one of Saki Akai’s 10th Anniversary celebration matches. Their next meeting is in somewhere very different, the new Daikaiju Pro group.

GCW “¿SI OR NO?”, 04/11/2023
Center Stage, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

1. Maki Itoh, Effy & Allie Katch Vs Jordan Oliver, Davey Bang & August Matthews

The match in Japan worked out for them so Itoh is now teaming up with Effy & Allie Katch to form the unbeatable force known as… Maki Death Bussy! Their opponents is also a trio of teams mashed up together. Jordan Oliver, Davey Bang & August Matthews are going by the name Young, Dumb & Bros.

EVE “FRIDAY NIGHT’S ALRIGHT FOR FIGHTING”, 10/11/2023
Big Penny Social, Walthamstow, London, England

1. International Princess Title: Max The Impaler (c) Vs Kasey

The relationship between TJPW and EVE extends even further with Max The Impaler’s arrival in England. EVE has been given permission to have Max defend the International Princess Title against their upcoming opponent Kasey. The winner will next have a title defence in Japan against Shoko Nakajima.

GCW “GOING AND GOING”, 17/11/2023
Washington Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA

1. Maki Itoh & Nick Gage Vs X

Not a guarantee that Maki Death Kill are teaming up just because they get advertised together.

HOODSLAM “RED”, 18/11/2023
Continental Club, Oakland, California, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

Itoh returns to Hoodslam. I hear things in their shows are getting a bit out of control over there lately.

EVE “WRESTLE QUEENDOM”, 19/11/2023
The Dome, Tufnell Park, London, England

1. EVE Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) Vs Safire Reed

Yamashita will have become a year long EVE Champion by the time her next appearance and title defence on their shows takes place. The next big challenger being built up for her is Safire Reed, the winner of this year’s SHE-1 tournament. Reed got to beat two of Yamashita’s previous EVE opponents to get here too. She has wins over Emersyn Jayne and Alex Windsor.

LLL “DEEP HURTING”, 22/11/2023
The Oriental Theater, Denver, Colorado, USA

1. 3 Way Match: Lilith Grimm Vs Maki Itoh Vs Stormi Renee

Grimm gets another crack at a TJPW talent in Lucha Libre & Laughs, this time against Itoh. It’s a Triple Threat match though with Stormi Renee also in the mix.

SPW “VIVA LA LUCHA!”, 24/11/2023
Foo Chow Building, Singapore

1. Queen Of Asia Title: Alexis Lee (c) Vs Yuki Kamifuku

A second chance for Yuki Kamifuku. She fought Alexis Lee in Singapore Pro Wrestling for the Queen Of Asia Title back in January this year but lost. Since then Lee also successfully defended the title against Saki Akai.

GCW “WRESTLECADE WEEKEND”, 24/11/2023
Benton Convention Center, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs Kenzie Paige

Now here’s something interesting. Kenzie Paige is currently the NWA World Women’s Champion. Does that play into this match against Itoh in any way shape or form? Or does GCW just ignore that and tell her that Itoh is going over, sister!

BLACK LABEL PRO “SLAMILTON”, 02/12/2023
Berwyn Eagles Club, Berwyn, Illinois, USA

1. Rachel Armstrong Vs Maki Itoh

In another era that image above would be a King Of Trios team. Instead Itoh’s appearance in Black Label Pro is fighting against Rachel Armstrong.

GCW “WHAT IS YOUR CHOICE?”, 03/12/2023
Roulette Intermedium, Brooklyn, New York, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

You know what would be a fun idea? Sayaka Unagi is booked on GCW’s other show that weekend. Put her and Itoh in a match together for old time’s sake.

DREAMWAVE “UPRISING”, 08/12/2023
Knights of Columbus, LaSalle, Illinois, USA

1. Shazza McKenzie Vs Miyu Yamashita

A rematch from ROH earlier this year. Fingers crossed we get the same result.

DREAMWAVE “GOOD AS GOLD”, 09/12/2023
Knights of Columbus, LaSalle, Illinois, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita & Emi Sakura Vs Zayda Steel & Zamaya

Well, well, well, what do we have here? Yamashita and Emi Sakura in the same ring on the same team at the same time? They were on opposite sides once before and that was on a DPW show during the summer. Now we get to see how they will fare when they on the same page. Zayda Steel & Zamaya could be in for a rough night if their opponents gel together really well.

SKYFIRE PRO “NAVIDAD NIGHTMARE”, 10/12/2023
Bay City Brewing Co., San Diego, California, USA

1. Shota Vs X

Shota is heading back to America for an end of year tour. First stop for him is at Skyfire Pro Lucha Libre in San Diego.

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

1. Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh Vs Masha Slamovich & Killer Kelly

Free WiFi and Pom Harajuku have been added to the show.

PANDEMONIUM PRO “HOLIDAY IN LA”, 17/12/2023
Don Quixote, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Vinnie Massaro Vs Shota
2. Mike Bailey Vs Miyu Yamashita

Shota will also be on the same Pandemonium Pro show that’s hosting Yamashita versus Mike Bailey. He takes on indy journeyman Vinnie Massaro.

CIRCLE 6 “KING OF THE DEATHMATCHES”, 30/12/2023
Don Quixote, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. MAO Vs X

Circle 6 is one of the messier deathmatch promotions going on in the scene right now but MAO likes wrestling there so he’s going back to party with them for New Year’s.

Comments Off on DDT Around The World – October 2023 | Around The World | Tagged: 121000000 (One To Million), Abdullah Kobayashi, AEW, All Elite Wrestling, Allie Katch, Anont Alonzo, Around The World, Asuka (VENY), August Matthews, Bestia 666, Billie Starkz, Black Label Pro, Bussy, Chris Brookes, Chris Jericho, Circle 6 Wrestling, Daikaiju Pro Wrestling, Davey Bang, Don Callis, DREAMWAVE Wrestling, Effy, EVE Championship, EVE Riot Grrrls of Wrestling, Frank The Clown, Free WiFi, Game Changer Wrestling, Gatoh Move One And Only Championship, GCW, Golden Lovers, Hikari Noa, Hiromu Takahashi, Hoodslam, International Princess Championship, Iron Man Heavymetalweight Championship, IWA Japan SETUP World Tag Team Championship, Jessie, Jimmy Lloyd, Jordan Oliver, Kappa Rockstar, Kasey, Kenny Omega, Kenzie Paige, Kikutaro, Killer Kelly, Kilynn King, Konosuke Takeshita, Kota Ibushi, Kyle Fletcher, Lilith Grimm, Lucha Libre And Laughs, Maki Death Bussy, Maki Death Kill, Maki Itoh, MAO, Masahiro Takanashi, Masha Slamovich, Max The Impaler, Mecha Wolf, Mister Suchart, Miu Watanabe, Miyu Yamashita, MK Ultra, Monomoth, Nao Kakuta, Nick Gage, Paksa, Pandemonium Pro Wrestling, Penta el Zero Miedo, Pom Harajuku, Prestige Wrestling, Republic Of Lucha, Rey Fenix, Safire Reed, Sami Callihan, Sammy Guevara, SETUP Thailand Openweight Championship, SETUP Thailand Pro Wrestling, Shazza McKenzie, Shivam, Shoko Nakajima, Shota, Shun Skywalker, Skyfire Pro Lucha Libre, Spark Joshi Puroresu, Spark Joshi World Championship, Speedball Mike Bailey, Storm Grayson, Stormi Renee, Sumie Sakai, The Don Callis Family, THE GOOD DEAL, TJPW, Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling, Vinnie Massaro, Warrior Wrestling, Will Ospreay, WWE, Zamaya, Zayda Steel | Permalink
Posted by JamieOD

DDT “GOD BLESS DDT 2023” Results

October 22, 2023

DDT “GOD BLESS DDT 2023”, 22/10/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
800 Fans

0. Dark Match: Masahiro Takanashi & Antonio Honda defeated Soma Takao & Yuni when Honda pinned Yuni with a Modified Leg Clutch Hold (7:53).
1. Special Single Match: MIKAMI defeated Kazuma Sumi with the Swanton Bomb (5:57).
2. Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul defeated Tetsuya Endo, Toy Kojima & Rukiya when KANON pinned Rukiya with the Sleepy Hollow (9:25).
3. Yukio Naya Vs Yuya Koroku ended in a No Contest when The Saito Brothers attacked Naya (5:17).
4. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi defeated defeated Kazusada Higuchi, Akito & Yusuke Okada when Dieno pinned Akito with the Danshoku Driver (7:52).
5. Saki Akai Debut 10th Anniversary Match Vol. 4 ~ Special Tag Match: Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani defeated Saki Akai & Chihiro Hashimoto when Sakaguchi pinned Akai with the God’s Right Knee (12:19).
6. DDT Extreme Title & Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – Let’s Enjoy! Everyone Will Have A Great Time Death Match: Kazuki Hirata (E/c) defeated Takeshi Masada (I/c) by Countout (15:27).
*V4 for Kazuki Hirata. V? For Takeshi Masada.
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Kazuki Hirata defeated Takeshi Masada (c) with the Miracle One Shot Cradle (1:30 pm).
*Kazuki Hirata becomes the 1,583rd champion.
-. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title: Hiromu Takahashi defeated Kazuki Hirata (c) with a School Boy (1:32 pm).
*Hiromu Takahashi becomes the 1,584th champion.
7. Road To Ultimate Party 2023! Special Tag Match: Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA defeated Yuki Ueno & MAO when Brookes pinned Ueno with the Praying Mantis Bomb (22:11).

The upcoming Sumo Hall main event was previewed at today’s Korakuen Hall show. Chris Brookes and Yuki Ueno showed respect to each other but neither wants to lose. The competitive atmosphere carried over to the other wrestlers in the match. Brookes was teaming with HARASHIMA while Ueno teamed with MAO. This pairing of The 37KAMIINA hit their unique version of the MADMAX to Brookes but HARASHIMA broke up the pin by hitting Ueno with the Somato. Brookes then dodged the BME and gave Ueno a Piledriver only for MAO to break the pin. HARASHIMA got rid of MAO allowing Brookes to finish off his upcoming challenger. He hit a Buzzsaw Kick, the Diving Double Knee Drop and then the Praying Mantis Bomb to score the win over Ueno.

After the match Brookes said he and Ueno are both friends and rivals wanting to show their ideal vision of DDT. They can have a great match in the main event of “ULTIMATE PARTY 2023” on 12th November but Brookes thinks he is going to win at Sumo Hall. Backstage both HARASHIMA and MAO spoke about how happy they were to see Brookes and Ueno wrestle each other before Sumo Hall because recently one would get sick and the other would get injured. Ueno knows how strong Brookes is but that will not stop him on his mission to become the best in DDT!

When Takeshi Masada’s lack of a social life was discovered by DDT it was all up to Kazuki Hirata to find a way to fix it. Their double title match would use a stipulation that can teach Masada how to open up and have fun with people. The match started off normally until a few minutes in when music began to play and a group of masked people entered the ring. They assisted Hirata in teaching Masada by playing games of Jenga and basketball as well as putting together a drinking party in the ring. Masada enjoyed the experience and was having fun until Hirata and the masked men attacked him! He fought them off and was then chased around the venue. Masada soon realised he was being counted out and he rushed back to the ring. But just when he made it to the apron at the 19 count Hirata knocked him to the floor. Masada was counted out and Hirata recorded a successful DDT Extreme Title defence.

However the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title held by Masada cannot be won by a countout so the result counted as a successful title defence for Masada as well. The two shook hands until Hirata rolled Masada into the Miracle One Shot Cradle. The masked men piled on top helping Hirata get the three count and win the Iron Man Title after all! The masked men dragged Masada away from ringside while Hirata explained he needed to become a double champion to make his Sumo Hall match with Hiromu Takahashi next month an even bigger deal. But while he was saying this, Takahashi suddenly ran into the ring and pinned him with a School Boy to become the new Iron Man Champion! He celebrated the championship now belonging to a New Japan wrestler and admitted he doesn’t even want the belt. He just took a shot at winning it because the opportunity was there. The actual reason he showed up today was to ask Hirata what the rules for their match on 12th November is going to be? Hirata said he cannot decide now but promised it will be something fun for them and the fans. Hirata then tried to win back the Iron Man Title and chased Takahashi around ringside.

Saki Akai’s road to retirement hit a rough patch this weekend. Yesterday Eruption lost the AJPW TV 6-Man Tag Team Titles in All Japan with Akai dropping the fall. Today in DDT Akai had a special tag match where she faced against the other two members of Eruption. Backing her up though was Chihiro Hashimoto from Sendai Girls. The power of Hashimoto was on show when she used German Suplexes to throw around Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani. Akai had Sakaguchi on the ropes by hitting the Rookie Award and she tried to finish him off with the Quetzalcoatl. But Sakaguchi blocked the move and came off better in a High Kick exchange. Akai kicked out from a Right High Kick at 2 but was put away with the God’s Right Knee.

After the match Sakaguchi and Hashimoto exchanged words to let everyone know they want to fight each other again. Hashimoto also praised Akai for being strong, cool and beautiful. She asked her to continue being like this until she reties. Sakaguchi asked Akai not to cry because it would make everyone else sad too, even himself and Okatani. Today is the last time Akai wrestled in Korakuen for DDT so she should get to talk about it. Akai said Okatani’s growth has been her purpose in life lately. She thanked him for joining Eruption. She also thanked Sakaguchi for teaching her so much from her fighting spirit to her wrestling techniques. She hopes he will continue being everyone’s big brother. Until Akai’s wrestling career ends she will continue to represent Eruption.

The teams in Match #4 were slightly switched around by Danshoku Dieno’s request. Makoto Oishi and Yusuke Okada swapped sides based on Okada’s recent interactions with Dieno and his weakened state. The result of this was Dieno, Oishi & Jun Akiyama working unexpectedly well together as a trio. They won the match against Okada, Kazusada Higuchi & Akito. Oishi thought things worked so well that they should team up more often. Dieno disagreed so Oishi tried to convince him that a person like Akiyama who has had many ups and downs in his career can help Dieno get out of his current slump. Oishi already decided on a team name. Take the D from Danshoku, the O from Oishi and the A from Akiyama and you get D.O.A which also stands for Dead Or Alive! Oishi wants D.O.A to fight for the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles once Eruption vacates them. Akiyama agreed to take part but only if the D.O.A splits up if they fail. Dieno doesn’t like the idea but he’s now stuck with it.

The Yukio Naya Vs Yuya Koroku match was interrupted by the sudden appearance of The Saito Brothers! The Voodoo Murders team from All Japan entered the ring and attacked Naya, causing the match to get thrown out. Koroku and Toy Kojima were attacked too until HARASHIMA ran down for the save. Rei Saito grabbed the microphone and complained about Naya disrespecting him and his brother lately. They are going to spend the next few months destroying him! They will be fighting Naya in a tag match at Sumo Hall next month and Rei Saito is taking part in the D-Ou Grand Prix this year, entering in the same block as Naya! Jun Saito warned everyone the D in D-Ou is the same D you will find in “DOOM!”

Daisuke Sasaki is taking his upcoming singles match with Tetsuya Endo very personally. DAMNATION T.A beat Endo today with KANON pinning Rukiya but Sasaki was focused on Endo’s fallen body outside the ring when the match ended. Sasaki told Endo what’s going on now has nothing to do with DAMNATION or BURNING. It is all about their match at Sumo Hall on 12th November. He will not let anybody get in the way of it. Endo agreed with the comments backstage, saying the match will be a pure fight between two people. He doesn’t want anything else to get mixed up in it.

One of DDT’s legends returned to the promotion today to wrestle one of the company’s prospects. MIKAMI defeated Kazuma Sumi by hitting the Mickey Boomerang (the 619 before Rey Mysterio even used it as an offensive maneuver, that’s how long MIKAMI has been around) and following it up with the Swanton Bomb. MIKAMI said Sumi has a long way to go but he’s got something good to work with. They can team up next time so Sumi can learn some MIKAMI-ism skills to his repertoire. MIKAMI then threw his name out as the next challenger for the DDT Extreme Title. He was the very first Extreme Champion when the title was created in 2006. He later approached Hirata backstage to challenge him in person. Their title match will take place on 16th November.

The dark match gave Masahiro Takanashi & Antonio Honda some prep time for their KO-D Tag Team Titles challenge at Sumo Hall. One-half of the champions Soma Takao was on the opposing team with Yuni. The other half Shota was there at ringside and even got lured in by Honda’s Gongitsune joke. Yuni took over with an RKO to Honda but he missed a Moonsault. Honda then rolled him up with a Rolling Leg Clutch for the victory.

There was a lot of newsworthy stuff on the show away from the matches in-ring. Chris Jericho sent in a video message for Konosuke Takeshita. He showered praise towards Takeshita for already creating a great pro wrestling legacy in DDT and AEW. Jericho admits he should be angry over Takeshita’s constant attacks on him but instead he wants to give him a gift. He promised he will give Takeshita the best match of his career at Sumo Hall. On that night Takeshita will learn that Jericho is the greatest wrestler of all time and he is just an idiot!

Hisaya Imabayashi revealed a new addition to “ULTIMATE PARTY 2023”. It’s the DDT return of the man formerly known as Jiro “Ikemen” Kuroshio! After announcing his return to the Japanese wrestling scene this month, this person is now being called Kuroshio TOKYO Japan! He is still the same old Kuroshio though, taking his sweet time entering the ring while “HELLO” played in the background. When he finally did speak he said Takeshita recommended he challenge Masada to a match. Masada was surprised to hear this and accepted. He was already booked for a Tag Gauntlet on the show but Imabayashi agreed to change the card so this match can go ahead.

The D-Ou Grand Prix 2023 blocks were announced at the beginning of the show. Block A contains Yuki Ueno, Tetsuya Endo, Kazusada Higuchi, Daisuke Sasaki, HARASHIMA and Yuki Iino. Block B has Chris Brookes, MAO, Yukio Naya, KANON, Kazuki Hirata and Rei Saito. The tournament will be Iino’s return to DDT after Pheromones broke up. He is currently away getting rehabilitated to remove whatever Pheromones was left inside him.

Comments Off on DDT “GOD BLESS DDT 2023” Results | Results | Tagged: Akito, Antonio Honda, Chihiro Hashimoto, Chris Brookes, Chris Jericho, D-Oh Grand Prix, D.O.A (Dead Or Alive), Daisuke Sasaki, DAMNATION T.A, Danshoku Dieno, DDT Extreme Championship, DDT Pro Wrestling, Dramatic Dream Team, Eruption, HARASHIMA, Hideki Okatani, Hiromu Takahashi, Hisaya Imabayashi, Iron Man Heavymetalweight Championship, Jiro Ikemen Kuroshio, Jun Akiyama, KANON, Kazuki Hirata, Kazuma Sumi, Kazusada Higuchi, KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship, Konosuke Takeshita, Korakuen Hall, Kuroshio TOKYO Japan, Makoto Oishi, MAO, Masahiro Takanashi, MIKAMI, MJ Paul, ROMANCE DAWN, Rukiya, Saito Brothers, Saki Akai, Shota, Soma Takao, Takeshi Masada, Tetsuya Endo, The 37KAMIINA, Toy Kojima (Toi Kojima), Yuki Ueno, Yukio Naya, Yukio Sakaguchi, Yuni, Yusuke Okada, Yuya Koroku | Permalink
Posted by JamieOD

DDT Around The World – September 2023

October 1, 2023

September was looking to be more of a quiet month for looking at the overseas adventures of the DDT extended family until the last week showed up like an avalanche. You can always get a lot of news to cover during tournament weekends. It’s a shame that the current state of the independent scene means those tentpole super weekend events don’t get as much coverage like they used to. Can’t blame them when WWE and AEW dominates everybody’s attention. It’s only going to get tougher when those two companies increase their schedules and reach out even further. This week’s news of WWE getting an ABEMA deal and having NOAH promote it on social media does not thrill me. I’ve seen how this story goes before. Even if some kind of big crossover does happen with WWE it is never worth it for the other company in the long run. And any pundit who says a project like NXT Japan will work as a gateway for getting WWE fans into Japanese wrestling is only fooling themselves. The appetite that audience has for non-WWE wrestling is just not there anymore.

Heading into October we have Konosuke Takeshita deep into a feud with The Golden Lovers. The lack of actual wrestling from Takeshita last month annoyed me. I get holding some wrestlers back for PPV but his standard of ring work has been missing from AEW TV recently. His storyline is also pulling in other wrestlers who are never hurting for screentime which makes me worry he is getting pushed to the side. Maki Itoh has finished up her latest North American tour, Shoko Nakajima had a quick trip to the USA and Miyu Yamashita was in the middle of wrestling in UK and Ireland when the month began. The big chunk of news that completely passed me by until it happened was Mizuki Watase going over to wXw in Germany with Shigehiro Irie. Oh and Tokyo Joshi Pro squeezed in a visit to China right at the deadline.

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Videos

Konosuke Takeshita In AEW Playlist

AEW “DYNAMITE”, 13/09/2023
Heritage Bank Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

The Invisible Hand, Don Callis, debuts his new masterpiece and next target!

AEW “RAMPAGE”, 22/09/2023
Heritage Bank Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

After his shocking turn on Chris Jericho, Guevara explains his actions!

AEW “DYNAMITE”, 27/09/2023
1st Bank Center, Broomfield, Colorado, USA

Don Callis, Takeshita & Guevara admire their work before WrestleDream!

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Results

OTT “WRESTLERAMA”, 02/09/2023
The Warehouse Red Cow, Dublin, Ireland

1. Session Moth Martina & Miyu Yamashita defeated Debbie Keitel & Emersyn Jayne (w/ Anita Vaughan) (9:36).

A few years ago the idea of Yamashita wrestling in OTT would have had me overjoyed but nowadays I don’t want to give the company much of my attention because of how people attached to them handled and disregarded Speaking Out. Her Irish wrestling debut had a slight change in plan thanks to the other team. Debbie Keitel was advertised to team with Anita Vaughan but she instead surprised everyone by bringing along Emersyn Jayne to be her partner instead.

MLW “FURY ROAD”, 03/09/2023
2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1. MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title No. 1 Contendership: B3CCA defeated Maki Itoh with the World Tour (7:42).

A singer showdown took place when Itoh made her first appearance in MLW. Itoh and B3CCA both love to be the centre of attention and literally fought over the microphone during their match. Itoh won that exchange and told B3CCA to “kiss my ass, bitch!” She also found a Singapore cane to beat up B3CCA with outside the ring. But Itoh made the grave mistake of missing the Flying Big Head, allowing B3CCA to give her a Death Valley Driver to the corner and then pin her with the World Tour 450 Splash.

AEW “ALL OUT”, 03/09/2023
United Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Don Callis) defeated Kenny Omega with the Powerdrive Knee (22:30).

A few days after Takeshita pinned Kenny Omega in England, he did it again back in America this time in a singles match. The match carried history over from Omega’s time in DDT, wearing new green and yellows tights based on what he wore in the early 2010s. Don Callis got involved though and brought the dreaded screwdriver into the match for Takeshita to use. However this time the referee stopped it from being used. It turned out Takeshita wouldn’t have needed it because he went on to beat Omega anyway, pulling down his kneepad to hit a raw Powerdrive Knee for the victory. The match even got ***** from Dave Meltzer! Okay, that doesn’t mean as much as it used to but it’s still a good accomplishment to have. Also let’s face it, when the wrestlers who complain about star ratings actually do get ***** from Meltzer they all of a sudden do a 180 and become grateful for it.

MYSTERY WRESTLING “MYSTERY WRESTLING 3”, 08/09/2023
Centre Aydelu, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada

1. Emi Sakura defeated Maki Itoh with La Magistral Cradle (?:??).

This year over in Canada Evil Uno has been running a Mystery Wrestling show on his Twitch channel every couple of months. The surprise headline match for the most recent event was a first time singles bout between Itoh and Emi Sakura. Itoh played a trick to escape from Sakura’s attacks by beginning to cry and then walking out of the match back to the locker room. She then reappeared from the opposite side of the room to attack a confused Sakura from behind. Sakura’s not someone you can beat with just one trick though. She ended up rolling Itoh into La Magistral Cradle to win the match.

GCW “CRUSHED UP”, 10/09/2023
Roulette Intermedium, New York City, New York, USA

1. Maki Itoh defeated Killer Kelly with a Tornado DDT (10:43).

Itoh’s current run with GCW ended here with a match against Killer Kelly. She’ll be back again later this year but what will be in store for her next? Her feud with Matt Cardona & Steph De Lander can be never ending but there has to be other stuff she wants to do in GCW next. Maybe she already found a new arch nemesis as you will see at the bottom of this post.

WXW “INNER CIRCLE”, 21/09/2023
wXw Wrestling Academy, Gelsenkirchen, Germany

1. Mizuki Watase defeated Danny Fray with a Diving Foot Stomp (7:23).
2. Shigehiro Irie defeated 1 Called Manders with a Roaring Elbow (8:57).

This was already announced earlier in the summer and I completely missed it. Irie & Watase reunited as RENEGADES to enter the annual World Tag Team Festival in Germany! But first the wrestlers took part in separate warmup matches the night before the tournament began. Watase’s first match ever in Germany was a win against Danny Fray. Irie also won his match by beating 1 Called Manders in a hoss fight.

WXW “WORLD TAG TEAM FESTIVAL 2023 – NIGHT 1”, 22/09/2023
Turbinenhalle 2, Oberhausen, Germany

1. World Tag Team Festival 2023 – Round 1: Shigehiro Irie & Mizuki Watase defeated Aigle Blanc & Senza Volto when Irie pinned Blanc with the Beast Bomber (16:41).

Irie won wXw’s other premium tournament the 16 Carat Gold back in March so he had his heart set on winning WTTF with Watase. They eliminated The Frenchadors in the opening round. Aigle Blanc & Senza Volto are former wXw World Tag Team Champions so RENEGADES could not have gotten off to a better start.

GCW “LONG. LIVE. GCW”, 22/09/2023
Turbinenhalle 2, Oberhausen, Germany

1. Shigehiro Irie defeated Arez with the Beast Bomber (9:20).

The WTTF weekend also featured shows promoted by GCW as part of their September European tour. Only Irie was on the first of two GCW shows that weekend where he beat the luchador Arez. Normally I wouldn’t include entries for Irie by himself but since he was RENEGADES affiliated for the weekend, I’m adding it here.

FREELANCE “ONCE UPON A TIME IN FREELANCE”, 22/09/2023
Avondale Music Hall, Chicago, Illinois, USA

1. Shoko Nakajima defeated Shazza McKenzie with the Diving Senton (12:19).

Nakajima did a quick trip to the United States near the end of the month. Her first stop was at Freelance where she got over big with the crowd during her win against Shazza McKenzie. Nakajima’s quickness and ability to hit the 619 from any height near the ropes were the key to victory here.

WXW “WORLD TAG TEAM FESTIVAL 2023 – NIGHT 2”, 23/09/2023
Turbinenhalle 2, Oberhausen, Germany

1. World Tag Team Festival 2023 – Round 2: Shigehiro Irie & Mizuki Watase defeated Takuya Nomura & Fuminori Abe when Irie pinned Abe with a Roaring Elbow (16:14).

RENEGADES weren’t the only Japanese team taking part in WTTF weekend. Takuya Nomura & Fuminori Abe from Astronauts were there too! The two team crossed paths in Night 2 where the winners would advance to Sunday’s final.

GCW “GCW VS THE WORLD”, 23/09/2023
Turbinenhalle 2, Oberhausen, Germany

1. Scramble Match: Gringo Loco defeated Mizuki Watase, The Rotation, Arez, Jimmy Lloyd and Aigle Blanc when Loco pinned Blanc with the Base Bomb (11:46).
2. Joey Janela defeated Shigehiro Irie with the Diving Foot Stomp (17:19).

Irie was in GCW again for their other show in Germany, losing to Joey Janela in the main event. Watase also showed up by taking part in one of GCW’s staples, the Scramble Match. Watase hit a big dive and also the Coast To Coast Dropkick but otherwise got lost in the action and did not factor into the finish.

WXW “WORLD TAG TEAM FESTIVAL 2023 – NIGHT 3”, 24/09/2023
Turbinenhalle 2, Oberhausen, Germany

1. wXw World Tag Team Titles – World Tag Team Festival 2023 Final 3 Way Match: Hektor Invictus & Dennis Dullnig defeated Robert Dreissker & Laurance Roman (c) and Shigehiro Irie & Mizuki Watase (23:13).
*Amboss fails in V1. Hektor Invictus & Dennis Dullnig become the 64th wXw World Tag Team Champions!

RENEGADES made it all the way to the final. Had Irie & Watase won the match and the tournament they would have become the new wXw Tag Champions. Sadly for them they couldn’t pull it off. Instead Hektor Invictus & Dennis Dullnig were the winners, taking the titles away from the defending champions Amboss.

PRESTIGE “THE RESPECT ISSUE”, 24/09/2023
Globe Theatre, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Trish Adora defeated Shoko Nakajima with the Lariat Tubman (9:51).

Nakajima’s other US booking this month was with Prestige at the Globe Theatre, the same location TJPW will return to this December. Trish Adora was a tougher opponent for her and kicked out of the Northern Lights Suplex. Just when Nakajima thought he had another shot, she was caught off guard and pinned with the Lariat Tubman.

JFC “JINGWU TAN JFC EXOTIC FIGHTING EXHIBITION 2”, 30/09/2023
Rucker Park, Chaoyang, Shanghai, China

1. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Maki Itoh defeated Yuki Aino with the Itoh Deluxe (?:??).
2. Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer Match: Mizuki defeated Nao Kakuta with the Cutie Special (?:??).

TJPW sent four of their wrestlers over to China for a martial arts expo taking place in Shanghai. They would be presenting two women’s pro wrestling matches to go along with a bunch of other martial art bouts provided by other groups. It is not the first time joshi wrestling has been part of the event. The same organizers had Sareee and Nanae Takahashi wrestle for them during the first expo in the summer. After a lot of searching through Chinese social media I was able to find a clip of Mizuki beating Nao Kakuta and Itoh locking in the Itoh Deluxe on Yuki Aino.

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Upcoming Appearances

AEW “WRESTLEDREAM”, 01/10/2023
Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, Washington, USA

1. Chris Jericho, Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi Vs Sammy Guevara, Will Ospreay & Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Don Callis)

Takeshita has spent the rest of the month either standing to the side Don Callis or wrestling back in Japan for DDT. Oh and he also invaded Kota Ibushi’s gym, attacking him with a kettlebell (and also getting Yumehito Imanari caught in the crossfire) because Callis understands how much Ibushi means to Omega. The big payoff it is leading to will happen later today when The Golden Lovers & Chris Jericho join forces to get revenge on The Don Callis Family. Takeshita is part of that family teaming with Sammy Guevara (newest member) and Will Ospreay (not a member). It is annoying to see what looked like a big push for Takeshita turn into him getting pushed aside so Jericho, Guevara and Ospreay can all squeeze into the spotlight instead.

WARRIOR “WARRIOR WRESTLING 31”, 06/10/2023
Bendix Arena, South Bend, Indiana, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita Vs Storm Grayson (w/ Frank The Clown)

One of the few American indies Takeshita wrestles for when he’s not busy with AEW is Warrior Wrestling. The next time he shows up there he takes on one of Frank The Clown’s clients, Storm Grayson.

SPARK “RISING HEAT WEST”, 11/10/2023
LA Dojo, Carson, California, USA

1. Spark Joshi World Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) Vs Billie Starkz

A familiar opponent challenges Yamashita for the Spark Joshi Title. She has a 1-1 singles record against Billi Starkz so this championship bout can also end up becoming a rubber match between the two.

SPARK “RISING HEAT EAST”, 14/10/2023
Engelwood Neighborhood Center, Orlando, Florida, USA

1. Miu Watanabe Vs KiLynn King
2. Miyu Yamashita Vs Jessie

A few days later Yamashita takes on Jessie, the former Jessi Kamea from NXT. That’s an interesting matchup because since leaving WWE, Jessie wound up doing a tour in Stardom. So we have a TJPW Vs Stardom match on a Spark show.

But Yamashita won’t be the only Tokyo Joshi there. Miu Watanabe is along for the ride too! She is getting to fight KiLynn King from Impact in what is sure to be a hoss fight. Or a hossette fight? Whatever, two strong women are going to fight each other. What more do you want?

LLL “THE HANDS OF FATE”, 20/10/2023
The Oriental Theater, Denver, Colorado, USA

1. Lilith Grimm Vs Miyu Yamashita

Are there Lucha Libra & Laughs to be found when Yamashita pays another visit to Denver? Her opponent Lilith Grimm is nicknamed “The War Hammer” and does an entrance where she sets off sparks with a grinder.

SETUP “SETUP EP.16”, 28/10/2023
The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand

1. Gatoh Move One And Only Title & SETUP Thailand Openweight Title: Paksa (G/c) Vs Masahiro Takanashi (S/c)
2. Dramatic Dream Match: Chris Brookes Vs Monomoth

Whenever CDK goes over to Thailand and shows up in SETUP they tend to take over the place. One of the local faces Monomoth tries his best to defend his home but Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi find ways to get the better of him. Monomoth now gets to fight Brookes in a big singles match the next time Brookes heads over.

Meanwhile Takanashi has been ruling the roost in SETUP as the SETUP Openweight Champion. He can increase his domination when he has a double title match against Paksa. Takanashi puts his SETUP Title on the line while Paksa is defending a Gatoh Move branded championship called the One And Only Title.

REPUBLIC OF LUCHA “ROL VI VI VI: LA NOCHE DE WALPURGIS”, 30/10/2023
Republic Of Lucha, South Pasadena, California, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita, Penta el Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix Vs Shun Skywalker, Bestia 666 & Mecha Wolf

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that nobody in The Lucha Brothers gets injured, company politics do not keep Takeshita and Shun Skywalker away from each other and Vampiro does not show up with La Rebelion.

DAIKAIJU PRO “VOL. 1 – THE KAPPAS WALK AMONG US”, 04/11/2023
White Eagle, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA

1. Shoko Nakajima Vs X

Something new and monstrous is coming out of Massachusetts. Daikaiju Pro is holding their debut show and seems to have deep ties with SETUP and also the UMA Corps. The new promotion is promising a mixture of talent coming in to mix around with monsters and other strange creatures. A show like these requires a Big Kaiju so Nakajima will be there.

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

Miu Watanabe has been added to the lineup.

PANDEMONIUM PRO “HOLIDAY IN LA”, 17/12/2023
Don Quixote, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Mike Bailey Vs Miyu Yamashita

Yeah this do quite nicely. Pandemonium Pro is doing Yamashita against Mike Bailey in a first time ever matchup.

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Other Appearances

GCW “SAY YOU WILL”, 01/09/2023
Grand Sports Arena, Hoffman Estates, Illinois, USA

Itoh did not wrestle on the first GCW show of the month. Instead she showed up to attack Frank The Clown with a pizza cutter much to everyone’s delight.

Comments Off on DDT Around The World – September 2023 | Around The World | Tagged: 1 Called Manders, AEW, Aigle Blanc, All Elite Wrestling, Anita Vaughan, Arez, Around The World, Astronauts, B3CCA, Bestia 666, Billie Starkz, Chris Brookes, Chris Jericho, Daikaiju Pro Wrestling, Danny Fray, Debbie Keitel, Dennis Dullnig, Don Callis, Emersyn Jayne, Emi Sakura, Fight VGM Fight, Frank The Clown, Freelance Wrestling, Fuminori Abe, Game Changer Wrestling, Gatoh Move One And Only Championship, GCW, Golden Lovers, Gringo Loco, Hektor Invictus, Jessie, Jimmy Lloyd, Joey Janela, Kenny Omega, Killer Kelly, Kilynn King, Konosuke Takeshita, Kota Ibushi, Laurance Roman, Lilith Grimm, Lucha Libre And Laughs, Major League Wrestling, Maki Itoh, Mecha Wolf, Miu Watanabe, Miyu Yamashita, Mizuki, Mizuki Watase, Monomoth, Mystery Wrestling, Nao Kakuta, OTT Wrestling, Paksa, Pandemonium Pro Wrestling, Penta el Zero Miedo, Prestige Wrestling, RENEGADES, Republic Of Lucha, Rey Fenix, Robert Dreissker, Sammy Guevara, Senza Volto, Session Moth Martina, SETUP Thailand Openweight Championship, SETUP Thailand Pro Wrestling, Shazza McKenzie, Shigehiro Irie, Shoko Nakajima, Shun Skywalker, Spark Joshi Puroresu, Spark Joshi World Championship, Speedball Mike Bailey, Storm Grayson, Takuya Nomura, The Don Callis Family, The Rotation, TJPW, Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling, Trish Adora, Warrior Wrestling, Westside Xtreme Wrestling, Will Ospreay, wXw, Yuki Aino | Permalink
Posted by JamieOD

Brookes Off This Weekend, SOG Title Signings, Full Wrestle Princess IV Card, Ultimate Party Updates

September 26, 2023

DDT “SAKI AKAI 10TH ANNIVERSARY & FINAL COUNT DOWN IN KYOTO!!”, 30/09/2023
Kyoto KBS Hall

1. Kazusada Higuchi & Rukiya Vs Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku
2. Sanshiro Takagi & Shinichiro Kawamatsu Vs Makoto Oishi & Yukio Naya
3. Pheromones Final Countdown In Kyoto: Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Toy Kojima & Kazuma Sumi
4. Special Single Match: KANON Vs Takeshi Masada
5. Kazuki Hirata & Akito Vs Yuki Ueno & MAO
6. BURNING Vs DAMNATION T.A!: Tetsuya Endo & Jun Akiyama Vs Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul
7. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani (c) Vs HARASHIMA, Masahiro Takanashi & Mei Suruga

There is a change to this weekend with Chris Brookes. He is getting his right shoulder examined for injury this week and is unable to wrestle on either shows. DDT will update everyone on when Brookes can return as soon as they get his results. HARASHIMA will take his place in the main event for the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles. The earlier match HARASHIMA was booked for will now have Akito in it instead.

GANBARE☆PRO “GIRI GIRI CHOP! 2023”, 01/10/2023
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Riara Vs SAKI
2. GanPro’s Famous Mixed 6-Man Tag Match: Keisuke Ishii, Munetatsu Nakamura & HARUKAZE Vs Soma Takao, Shinichiro Tominaga & Kaho Kobayashi
3. GanJo x TJPW Special Tag Match: Yuki Kamifuku & YuuRI Vs Suzume & Yoshiko Hasegawa
4. Loser Haircut Tag Match: Ken Ohka & Shota Vs Koji Doi & Kuma Arashi
5. Spirit Of Ganbare World Tag Team Titles: Shuichiro Katsumura & Takuya Wada (c) Vs Hikaru Sato & Tyson Maeguchi
6. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Isami Kodaka (c) Vs Yumehito Imanari

The contracts for the two title matches were signed earlier today. Yumehito Imanari spoke of the pride he felt seeing Shinichiro Tominaga try to beat Isami Kodaka for the Spirit Of Ganbare Title. Tominaga failed but his efforts inspired Imanari to be the next challenger to step in front in Kodaka. Even though Kodaka originally planned for this title reign to be like an invasion he has felt the warmth, fun and brightness of Ganbare☆Pro over time. So when he beat Tominaga it brought him back to reality when he noticed the fans were disappointed with the result. He wants to remain champion in order to keep getting guaranteed bookings from GanPro. His previous memories of Imanari are only from back when Imanari was on the DDT video team. He is confident he will beat him because he cannot envision what kind of pro wrestler Imanari can be.

Hentai Punch Drunkers said they want to win back the Spirit Of Ganbare Tag Team Titles because they never got to hold onto the physical belts while they were champions. Hikaru Sato said that means you cannot say he and Tyson Maeguchi ever “lost the belts”. It is a loose end that needs to be tied up. In fact, Maeguchi is acting like this is his first ever championship match and believes the title he is fighting for has a lot of history behind it (no and no). Takuya Wada complained that GanPro was too leniant over the decision to book this rematch because Maeguchi hasn’t done anything recently to deserve another chance. Shuichiro Katsumura wants to win in order to prevent the first champion team from ever establishing a connection with the physical title belts. Wada and Maeguchi then almost got into a fight during the group photo and had to be kept apart.

DDT “GOD BLESS DDT 2023 TOUR IN OSAKA”, 01/10/2023
Osaka City Minato Ward Citizens Center

1. Pheromones Final Countdown In Osaka: Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Sanshiro Takagi & Makoto Oishi
2. Tetsuya Endo & Jun Akiyama Vs Hideki Okatani & Rukiya
3. Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul Vs Akito, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku
4. Osaka Specialty 3 Way Match: “brother” YASSHI Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Kazuma Sumi
5. Special Single Match: Yukio Naya Vs Takeshi Masada
6. Special 6-Man Tag Match: HARASHIMA, Masahiro Takanashi & Kazusada Higuchi Vs Yuki Ueno, MAO & Toy Kojima

Akito also gets moved out of the “brother” YASSHI tag match to take part in a 6-Man Tag against DAMNATION T.A.

DDT “GOD BLESS DDT 2023 TOUR IN SHINJUKU”, 04/10/2023
Shinjuku FACE

1. Yukio Sakaguchi & Saki Akai Vs HARASHIMA & Gota Ihashi
2. Pheromones Final ~ Special 8-Man Tag Match: Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno, Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari & Koju “Shining Ball” Takeda Vs Akito, Yuki Ueno, MAO & Toy Kojima
3. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Minoru Fujita & KANON (c) Vs Soma Takao & Shota

All four members of Pheromones will be together for what is supposed to be the group’s final match. Akito has The 37KAMIINA backing him up just in case there’s any funny business going on.

BASARA “BASARA 231 ~OJI NI KITSUNE 27~”, 07/10/2023
Tokyo Oji BASEMENT MONSTAR

1. ~Song Corner~: Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi Vs Antonio Honda Vs Takumi Tsukamoto Vs X
2. Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi & Trans-Am ★ Ryota Vs Trans-Am ★ Takato & Trans-Am ★ Ika
3. 3 Way Match: Isami Kodaka Vs Ryuichi Sekine Vs Daiki Shimomura
4. Fuminori Abe Vs A.YAZAWA
5. Hardcore Tag Match: Takumi Tsukamoto & Akane Fujita Vs SAGAT & Jun Masaoka

The first show in BASARA’s October tripleshot is being produced by the promotion’s bar in Shinjuku called Pro Wrestling Clutch. One of the guests on the show is Akane Fujita from Prominence.

BASARA “BASARA 232 ~OJI NI KITSUNE 28~”, 07/10/2023
Tokyo Oji BASEMENT MONSTAR

1. Takumi Tsukamoto Vs Ryuichi Sekine
2. 3 Way Match: SAGAT Vs Ryota Nakatsu Vs Daiki Shimomura
3. FUMA, KUBITO & Lil’ Kraken Vs Takato Nakano, Masato Kamino & Fuminori Abe
4. IRON FIST TAG TOURNAMENT – Round 1B: Isami Kodaka & Gouma Ryu Vs Yasu Urano & Antonio Honda
5. IRON FIST TAG TOURNAMENT – Round 1A: Tsutomu Oosugi & Banana Senga Vs Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi & Daichi Kazato

The tripleshot also features the first round of this year’s IRON FIST TAG TOURNAMENT.

BASARA “BASARA 233 ~OJI NI KITSUNE 29~”, 07/10/2023
Tokyo Oji BASEMENT MONSTAR

1. Isami Kodaka Vs Lil’ Kraken
2. Ryuichi Sekine, Fuminori Abe & Banana Senga Vs Ryota Nakatsu, Daichi Kazato Vs Yasu Urano
3. Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi Vs Tsutomu Oosugi
4. IRON FIST TAG TOURNAMENT – Round 1D: Takumi Tsukamoto & SAGAT Vs Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino
5. IRON FIST TAG TOURNAMENT – Round 1C: Daiki Shimomura & Minoru Fujita Vs FUMA & KUBITO

The current Union MAX Champion and IRON FIST Tag Team Champions are facing off in the opening round. IRON PRIEST are former champions too.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “WRESTLE PRINCESS IV”, 09/10/2023
Tokyo Tama Mirai Messe

1. Haru Kazashiro Vs Runa Okubo
2. Arisu Endo, Kaya Toribami & HIMAWARI Vs HARUKAZE, Yoshiko Hasegawa & Riara
3. Moka Miyamoto Vs Juria Nagano
4. Aja Kong, Raku & Shino Suzuki Vs Hyper Misao, Wakane Uehara & Toga
5. Ryo Mizunami & Yuki Aino Vs Miu Watanabe & Yuki Arai
6. Sakisama, Mei Saint-Michel, Martha & Yukio Saint Laurent Vs Shoko Nakajima, Suzume, Pom Harajuku & Antonio Honda
7. Special Single Match: Nyla Rose Vs Maki Itoh
8. Princess Tag Team Titles: Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu Vs Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta
9. International Princess Title & NWA World Women’s Television Title: Rika Tatsumi (I/c) Vs Max The Impaler (N/c)
10. Princess Of Princess Title: Mizuki (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita

This is the complete card for “WRESTLE PRINCESS IV”. We have the next appearance for NEO Biishiki-gun against a force assembled by Shoko Nakajima. The pairing of Ryo Mizunami & Yuki Aino are back again. Aja Kong gets to reunite with Raku after Raku missed their last scheduled match together due to illness. Moka Miyamoto and Juria Nagano get pitted together for a karate fight. Tokyo Joshi Pro gets to do another inter-promotional match with Ganbare☆Joshi and this time Riara gets to be part of the TJPW experience. Last but not least the two youngest rookies on the roster Haru Kazashiro and Runa Okubo face each other in the opener.

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

1. Saki Akai Retirement Match: Saki Akai Vs X
2. Special Single Match: Hiromu Takahashi Vs Kazuki Hirata
3. Dramatic Dream Match: Chris Jericho Vs KONOSUKE TAKESHITA
4. DDT Universal Title: Matt Cardona (c) (w/ Steph De Lander) Vs MAO
5. KO-D Openweight Title: Chris Brookes (c) Vs Yuki Ueno

I’m betting that Brookes’ shoulder injury is not bad enough to take him out of “ULTIMATE PARTY 2023” where he is advertised to defend the KO-D Openweight Title against Yuki Ueno. I’m daring fate here.

Despite losing his big match over the weekend, MAO was still encouraged to go his own direction and make a decision that will be best for himself. That quickly sent him down the road to challenging Matt Cardona for the DDT Universal Title. Of course Steph De Lander will be there too by the champion’s side. Maki Itoh had the right idea to try and incapacitate her in order to beat Cardona. Give MAO that battleplan and he will come up with an even crazier way to get that done.

So yeah, Chris Jericho is going to be on the show fighting Konosuke Takeshita. I didn’t expect that. The AEW feud surrounding Don Callis is going to have a chapter over in DDT where Takeshita is establishing himself back into a face for the home fans. I’m among the critics of Jericho who accuse him of constantly positioning himself into AEW angles that take the spotlight away from people who are getting over. But I’ll give it to him here, it’s paying off with a big match for DDT in Sumo Hall.

Comments Off on Brookes Off This Weekend, SOG Title Signings, Full Wrestle Princess IV Card, Ultimate Party Updates | News | Tagged: Aja Kong, Akane Fujita, Akito, Chris Brookes, Chris Jericho, DDT Pro Wrestling, DDT Universal Championship, Dramatic Dream Team, Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling, GanPro, GROUND ABSOLUTE, HARASHIMA, Haru Kazashiro, Hentai Punch Drunkers, Hikaru Sato, IRON FIST Tag Tournament, Isami Kodaka, Juria Nagano, KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship, KO-D Openweight Championship, Konosuke Takeshita, Kyoto KBS Hall, MAO, Matt Cardona, Minato Ward Citizens Center, Moka Miyamoto, NEO Biishiki-gun, Oji BASEMENT MONSTAR, Pheromones, Pro Wrestling BASARA, Raku, Riara, Runa Okubo, Ryo Mizunami, Ryogoku Kokugikan, Shin-Kiba 1st RING, Shinjuku FACE, Shuichiro Katsumura, Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Championship, Spirit Of Ganbare World Tag Team Championship, Steph De Lander, Sumo Hall, Takuya Wada, Tama Mirai Messe, TJPW, Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling, Tyson Maeguchi, Yuki Aino, Yuki Ueno, Yumehito Imanari | Permalink
Posted by JamieOD

DDT “WHO’S GONNA TOP? 2023” Results

September 24, 2023

DDT “WHO’S GONNA TOP? 2023”, 24/09/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
967 Fans – No Vacancy

0. Dark Match: Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku defeated Kazuma Sumi & Rukiya when Koroku submitted Rukiya with the Triangle Lancer (8:42).
1. Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul defeated Hideki Okatani, Yuni & Takeshi Masada when Sasaki pinned Yuni with the Vietnam Driver IV (7:43).
2. Pheromones Final Countdown In Korakuen ~ 3 Way Tag Match: Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno defeated Kazuki “Magnum” Hirata & Naruki Doi and Akito & Antonio “FOXY” Honda when Iino submitted Akito with the Eiffel Tower (7:24).
3. Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama, Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Naya defeated Yuji Hino, Makoto Oishi, HARASHIMA & Yukio Sakaguchi when Naya pinned Oishi with The World’s Largest Back Drop (13:39).
4. Special Tag Match ~ DDT Vs AJPW: Yuki Ueno & Toy Kojima defeated Atsuki Aoyagi & Dan Tamura when Ueno pinned Tamura with the BME (10:12).
5. DDT Universal Title: Matt Cardona (c) (w/ Steph De Lander) defeated Maki Itoh by Pinfall (15:03).
*V1 for Matt Cardona.
6. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA defeated MAO with the Wagamama (11:28).
7. KO-D Openweight Title: Chris Brookes (c) defeated Saki Akai by Referee Stoppage with the Modified Octopus Stretch (21:00).
*V2 for Chris Brookes.

In the last ten years as a pro wrestler, Saki Akai had never competed for the KO-D Openweight Title before today. With retirement from the business around the corner, Akai was chosen by Chris Brookes to be his next challenger so they could have a rematch of their 2021 bout at Korakuen Hall, this time in front of an audience. Akai went into the match determined to show this opportunity was earned and wasn’t given to her out of charity. She fired with a Big Boot from the beginning but Brookes quickly turned things around by doing a Death Valley Bomb on the ring apron. The challenger had to pull out some deep moves to fight back, including her old Riemann Galaxy submission as well as the Takatonic. The two wrestlers found themselves fighting on the top rope where Akai dropped Brookes with the Avalanche Quetzalcoatl. However Akai wasn’t able to pin him afterwards, giving Brookes valuable recovery time. Brookes powered out of a Triangle Choke but was given the regular version of the Quetzalcoatl. To Akai’s surprise it only got a two count, marking it one of the rare times when her finisher did not end her opponent. Brookes fought back with a Piledriver, Double Knee Drop, Buzzsaw Kicks and the Praying Mantis Bomb but Akai kicked out of all of them. Brookes had to twist and pull Akai apart with the Octopus Stretch until Yukinori Matsui called for the match to end.

After the match Brookes reminded the fans he will face Akai again on 30th September, this time with the roles reversed because Eruption are defending the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles against CDK & Mei Suruga. He thanked Akai for doing her best and asked her to continue doing so until her retirement because we only live once. Brookes next wanted to talk about his next KO-D Title defence at “ULTIMATE PARTY 2023” on 12th November. Yuki Ueno walked out to the ring and appealed for the title shot. Brookes accepted and the two talked about being close friends for the last four years even though they hang out in seperate units. He wants the best challenger at the biggest stage so he’s fighting Ueno at Sumo Hall! Backstage Akai spoke about the pressure and responsibility she felt going into today’s main event. She is going to fight for herself as well as for everyone who supports her starting with the KO-D 6-Man Tag Title match taking place in Kyoto. She wants to pin Brookes in her hometown to clear up her regrets from today!

It turned out Konosuke Takeshita did not come back to DDT alone this time around. Midway during Takeshita’s match with MAO, his manager Don Callis walked down to ringside. MAO was taken aback by his appearance but kept his focus on the match. He tried to go big with the Avalanche Michinoku Driver but Takeshita blocked the move and turned it into an Avalanche Driver of his own. MAO tried to turn things around with a Palm Strike but Takeshita worn him down with Jumping Knee Strikes and the Zahi to get the win. Despite the recent differences between the two, Takeshita encouraged MAO after the match to take his own path because he is proving his style of pro wrestling can be successful around the world. They both joined DDT as teenagers and they are already in their late twenties so Takeshita thinks it is time for MAO to make decisions for himself.

Takeshita then introduced the DDT audience to Don Callis and spoke about how much they get booed in America. He said the Don Callis Family is only getting started so the entire pro wrestling world should pay attention to them from this point forward. Takeshita revealed his next appearance in DDT will be at “ULTIMATE PARTY 2023” where he would like to make everyone dream again. Suddenly the lights in the room went out and a video played on the screen. The video is sent by Chris Jericho and he is challenging Takeshita to a singles match at Sumo Hall! Jericho listed all of the Japanese wrestling legends he has fought over the years and swore to get revenge on Takeshita for his recent attacks over in AEW. Takeshita agreed to the match, calling it a “dramatic dream” to defeat him in a DDT ring. He promised to destroy everything about Jericho from “Lionheart” to “Y2J” to “The Painmaker”!

The GCW feud between Deathmatch Royalty and Maki Death Kill made its way over to Japan when Matt Cardona put the DDT Universal Title on the line against Maki Itoh. The champion was accompanied by Steph De Lander while Itoh went into the match alone. She had a plan to battle the number disadvantage though. Cardona made a big mistake by giving Itoh a Low Blow and being confused when it didn’t effect her. He then accidentally knocked out the referee Matsui with a missed Clothesline. Itoh’s plan came into play when she ducked De Lander’s attack with the title belt causing Cardona to get hit instead. Itoh took out a trolley at ringside, taped De Lander to it and pushed her away from ringside. She then took out a pizza cutter back in the ring and sliced Cardona’s forehead open with it! However De Lander freed herself from the trolley, returned to the ring with a chair and dropped Itoh onto it with a Modified Facebuster. Cardona pinned Itoh while De Lander revived Matsui so he could count to three.

Backstage Cardona complained about his match not being in the main event while De Lander said she wants DDT to put her in a match against Itoh the next time she shows up here. Itoh regretted not using more tape on De Lander. She knows this feud isn’t finished and there will be more matches against them when she goes back to America. She will chase after Cardona & De Lander to the depths of Hell in order to beat them one more time! Meanwhile MAO made the decision to challenge Cardona for the Universal Title at Sumo Hall. His thought process is if he can beat the indie wrestling god then he can become a puroresu god! Cardona accepted his challenge with a handshake but then attacked MAO with a belt strike from behind. When MAO recovered he warned Cardona that he just pulled out the Joker card.

The new DDT Vs All Japan rivalry continued with AJPW sending over Atsuki Aoyagi & Dan Tamura to take on The 37KAMIINA. The visitors entered the ring wearing sauna caps and then paired off against their opponents. Toy Kojima spent a lot of time fighting Aoyagi while Ueno went back and forth against Tamura. Ueno scored the win for the home team by pinned Tamura with the BME. He called the match fun and praised All Japan for being bright, intense and fun in a way that feels similar to The 37KAMIINA. Kojima then stole the All Japan team’s sauna cap and dared them to try and take it back. Aoyagi mentioned he will be wrestling MAO in AJPW on 5th October so his fight against The 37KAMIINA isn’t done yet.

Yuji Hino finished up his run with DDT by getting HARASHIMA & Yukio Sakaguchi to wrestle in Ω shirts. Makoto Oishi had his cane taken by Jun Akiyama while HARASHIMA went toe to toe with Tetsuya Endo. It wouldn’t have been Hino’s last match with DDT if he didn’t get into a chop battle with Kazusada Higuchi so one went down here. In the end though it was Yukio Naya who won the match for his team by pinning Oishi with The World’s Largest Back Drop. Hino thanked all the wrestlers after the match. He told the fans not to be said because today does not mean Hino will never wrestle in DDT again. He spoke about his children and how it is up to parents to protect their children. Backstage Hino said his wrestling future will be with Yasu Urano because apparently Urano is his mentor, not TAKA Michinoku. Oishi called him out for lying. Naya said the next time Hino will wrestle him will be when he is the KO-D Champion. Naya will even pick Hino as his first challenger.

A threat loomed over the 3 Way Tag Match when Danshoku Dieno announced that somebody among the other two teams was a traitor! Much to Akito and Naruki Doi’s horror it was gradually revealed that Kazuki Hirata and Antonio Honda were wearing O-backs, which means they are both with Pheromones! From there Yuki Iino, Dieno, Kazuki “Magnum” Hirata & Antonio “FOXY” Honda all joined forces to defeat Akito, giving Pheromones the victory. The effect on Hirata and Honda is only temporary but Dieno explained afterwards that even when Pheromones dies, it will never die!

Daisuke Sasaki unleashed a fourth version of the Vietnam Driver to win the opening match for DAMNATION T.A. While their match was against Hideki Okatani, Yuni & Takeshi Masada there were more people for them to fight when ROMANCE DAWN appeared. Shota & Soma Takao started a brawl at ringside when they stopped Minoru Fujita from interfering. KANON went over to help Fujita fight them while MJ Paul was there to stop anybody from breaking up Sasaki’s pin.

There was a Dark Match where Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku defeated Kazuma Sumi & Rukiya. The rookies team showed teamwork when Sumi Dropkicked Koroku into a Backslide Pin from Rukiya for a nearfall. Koroku took control by grabbing Rukiya’s arm and eventually grinded him into submission.

Before the main show began there was a contract signing for the KO-D Tag Team Titles match on 4th October. ROMANCE DAWN talked about how long they have known each other and their excitement of fighting for the championship together. Fujita didn’t find their story interesting while KANON started acting erraticly. He started crying at one point and then switched to shouting at people before excitedly posing for the group photo.

Comments Off on DDT “WHO’S GONNA TOP? 2023” Results | Results | Tagged: AJPW, Akito, All Japan Pro Wrestling, Antonio Honda, Atsuki Aoyagi, Chris Brookes, Chris Jericho, Daisuke Sasaki, DAMNATION T.A, Dan Tamura, Danshoku Dieno, DDT Pro Wrestling, DDT Universal Championship, Don Callis, Dramatic Dream Team, HARASHIMA, Hideki Okatani, Ω (Omega), Jun Akiyama, KANON, Kazuki Hirata, Kazuma Sumi, Kazusada Higuchi, KO-D Openweight Championship, KO-D Tag Team Championship, Konosuke Takeshita, Korakuen Hall, Maki Death Kill, Maki Itoh, Makoto Oishi, MAO, Matt Cardona, Minoru Fujita, MJ Paul, Naruki Doi, Pheromones, ROMANCE DAWN, Rukiya, Saki Akai, Shota, Soma Takao, Steph De Lander, Takeshi Masada, Tetsuya Endo, The 37KAMIINA, The Don Callis Family, Toy Kojima (Toi Kojima), Yuji Hino, Yuki Iino, Yuki Ueno, Yukinori Matsui, Yukio Naya, Yukio Sakaguchi, Yuni, Yusuke Okada, Yuya Koroku | Permalink
Posted by JamieOD

DDT Around The World – August 2023

September 1, 2023

As always with this article I start off thinking it is going to be a lighter month than the last until it grows and grows. There are always extra bookings on the horizons whenever the boys and girls from DDT and Tokyo Joshi Pro go abroad. August was dominated by two stories in my mind. Konosuke Takeshita wrestling The Golden Lovers in Wembley and Maki Itoh being all over GCW even more so than usual. Other things of note include TJPW announcing its return to America while dipping its toe into China, MAO becoming fast friends with El Desperado and Miyu Yamashita finding herself in ChocoPro territory by virtue of being EVE’s champion. Maybe next month’s article will be the one that finally slows down a little bit.

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Videos

Konosuke Takeshita In AEW Playlist

AEW “DYNAMITE 200”, 02/08/2023
Yuengling Center, Tampa, Florida, USA

1. Chris Jericho & Konosuke Takeshita Vs Sammy Guevara & Daniel Garcia

WRESTLING REVOLVER “HEAT EM UP”, 03/08/2023
Calumet Center, Dayton, Ohio, USA

1. Lucha Street Fight: Gringo Loco Vs Konosuke Takeshita

Video starts at 39:54.
MDRN NMD/GATOH MOVE “CHOCO NIGHT GRAPS!”, 29/08/2023
The Bread Shed, Grosvenor St., Manchester, England

1. Masahiro Takanashi Vs Kid Lykos

———————————————————————–

Results

AEW “DYNAMITE 200”, 02/08/2023
Yuengling Center, Tampa, Florida, USA

1. Chris Jericho & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Sammy Guevara & Daniel Garcia when Jericho pinned Garcia after a Bat Attack from Don Callis (12:21).

As I feared, Takeshita’s storyline with Don Callis was pretty much hijacked by Chris Jericho to set up his own angle with Takeshita’s manager. Takeshita & Jericho teamed up under Callis’s recommendation against two people close to Jericho, Sammy Guevara & Daniel Garcia. Callis knocked out Garcia with a baseball bat behind the ref’s back and Jericho made the choice to pin him for the victory.

WRESTLING REVOLVER “HEAT EM UP”, 03/08/2023
Calumet Center, Dayton, Ohio, USA

1. Lucha Street Fight: Konosuke Takeshita defeated Gringo Loco with the Diving Senton (14:39).

Takeshita showed up in Wrestling REVOLVER as a short notice replacement for Jon Moxley. His appearance made up for Takeshita’s own cancelled booking with the promotion back in June. Here Takeshita faced Gringo Loco in a Lucha Street Fight. By coincidence one of Loco’s big moves is the Himawari Bomb that Sanshiro Takagi also uses. Takeshita kicked out of the move and then countered a top rope version into a Poison Rana. Loco kicked out of the Powerdrive Knee so Takeshita then took a page out of Moxley’s book by giving Loco the Paradigm Shift. From there Takeshita won with the Diving Senton.

DREAMWAVE “SUMMER SPECTACULAR 2023”, 04/08/2023
Knights of Columbus, LaSalle, Illinois, USA

1. Dreamwave Women’s Title Qualifying Scramble: Zayda Steele defeated Brittnie Brooks, Maki Itoh, B3CCA, Kaia McKenna and Shazza McKenzie when Steele pinned McKenzie after the It’s Brittnie Bitch from Brooks (8:08).

Itoh entered Dreamwave’s 6-Woman Scramble in the hopes of qualifying for their new Women’s Championship. It was first fall to a finish but the ring soon emptied when some of the women, Itoh included got thrown out. She didn’t factor into the finish but would soon find out she had another chance.

DREAMWAVE “THOSE SUMMER NIGHTS”, 05/08/2023
Knights of Columbus, LaSalle, Illinois, USA

1. Dreamwave Women’s Title Qualifying Scramble: Brittnie Brooks defeated Maki Itoh, B3CCA, Kaia McKenna, Maggie Lee and Shelly Benson when Brookes pinned Lee with the It’s Brittnie Bitch (8:08).

The second chance didn’t work out any better for her. Another 6-Woman Scramble was held the next night with some of the same women involved. Itoh tried to submit two opponents at once by giving them a Double Half Crab but it left her vulnerable to a Super Kick. She went to recover outside the ring and couldn’t climb back in time to break the pin.

GCW “NO SIGNAL IN THE HILLS”, 11/08/2023
Ukrainian Cultural Center, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. 4 Way Match: Steph De Lander defeated Allie Katch, Maki Itoh and Masha Slamovich when De Lander pinned Itoh with the Fireman’s Carry Facebuster (11:53).

Okay maybe multi-person free for alls are not Itoh’s forte. This one was a bit crazy though. Masha Slamovich had Allie Katch beaten when all of a sudden Blake Christian jumped into the ring and attacked her. Itoh took exception and threw punches at Christian, opening herself up to Steph De Lander giving her an F5-like move to win.

PWG “MYSTERY VORTEX”, 13/08/2023
Globe Theatre, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita defeated Rey Horus (?:??).
2. Evil Uno, Maki Itoh & Aramis defeated Masha Slamovich, Peter Avalon & Látigo (?:??).

Here’s something I never thought I’d write. Maki Itoh did a balcony dive at a PWG show! It’s been rare to see PWG holding shows nowadays but last month they held one of their signature events “MYSTERY VORTEX” where nothing is advertised before hand and fans only know what the matches are when they happen. Itoh was involved in a bizarre mixture of wrestlers in a 6-Person Tag Match. She teamed with Evil Uno & Aramis to beat Masha Slamovich, Peter Avalon & Látigo in a match mixing together AEW, lucha libre and women’s wrestling talent.

Takeshita was also on the show too, beating Rey Horus. I’d call him a PWG regular at this point if they ran shows more often.

KOPW “THE NEW ERA OF CHINESE PRO WRESTLING III”, 19/08/2023
Tianyue Sports City, Nanhai Foshan, Guangdong, China

1. Mizuki defeated Nao Kakuta with the Cutie Special (?:??).

TJPW made their first steps into China when Mizuki and Nao Kakuta were invited to take part in King Of Pro Wrestling. They faced each other in a non-title match and won over the crowd with their back and forth action.

NJPW “LEC PRESENTS ALL STAR JR FESTIVAL USA 2023”, 19/08/2023
2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1. El Desperado & MAO defeated Nick Wayne & Jordan Oliver when Desperado pinned Oliver with the Pinche Loco (19:14).

The All Star Jr. Festival proved to be such a good idea in Japan that they brought the show over to America. MAO was invited along and got to team with El Desperado. The two of them bonded by playing Dragon Quest V on the flight to America so their team name was DQV. They fought a tag team MAO lost to earlier this year, The East West Express. Both Nick Wayne & Jordan Oliver performed Stereo Springboard Cutters to their opponents but both only got a two count. MAO got rid of Wayne by spiking him onto the canvas with a Spinning Headscissors and Desperado pinned Oliver with the Pinche Loco.

GCW “HOMECOMING – PART 1”, 19/08/2023
The Showboat, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

1. Nick Gage & Maki Itoh defeated Matt Cardona & Steph De Lander when Gage & Itoh pinned Cardona & De Lander each with the Kokeshi (11:57).

Months of fights between Maki Death Kill and Deathmatch Royalty led to a climactic battle between them finally happening. Itoh & Nick Gage were finally going to get their hands on Matt Cardona & De Lander with nothing in their way to stop them. Cardona & De Lander made a big entrance out of it, arriving at the venue in the Ecto-1 and wearing Ghostbusters outfits. For you see tonight they were the Deathmatch Busters! The joke blew up in their faces because Maki Death Kill sliced the two of them apart with pizza cutters! Cardona & De Lander tried to Pedigree Gage & Itoh onto thumbtacks but they were both Back Body Dropped onto the pile instead. Gage & Itoh then delivered stereo Kokeshi Headbutts to win the match and possibly put an end to the feud.

IMPACT/NJPW “MULTIVERSE UNITED”, 20/08/2023
2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1. Scramble Match: Chris Sabin defeated Kevin Knight, Frankie Kazarian, BUSHI, YOH, Rich Swann, MAO and El Desperado when Sabin pinned YOH with the Cradle Shock (8:06).

MAO was involved even further with the international Jr. Heavyweight Division action the next night. Impact and New Japan held a co-promoted event and MAO was thrown into an 8-Man Scramble match to open the show. He tried joining forces with Desperado again but the numbers game still proved to be too much for the two of them. Instead Chris Sabin ended up being the last man standing. Well, at least until BUSHI blinded him with Poison Mist after the match.

GCW “HOMECOMING – PART 2”, 20/08/2023
The Showboat, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

1. Maki Itoh defeated B3CCA with the Itoh Deluxe (9:21).

In the first of two singles matches they have coming up together, Itoh beat B3CCA in GCW. Will the result be the same when they have a rematch at MLW next month?

ROW/GCW “GCW VS RENEGADES OF WRESTLING”, 25/08/2023
Roundhouse, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

1. Maki Itoh defeated Charli Evans with the Itoh Deluxe (18:03).

Itoh’s next focus in GCW was their tour of Australia with the Renegades Of Wrestling promotion. On Night 1 Itoh defeated Charli Evans and revealed a new word she learned that Aussies like to call other people. I’m not going to type it out here. It’s difficult enough trying to keep this blog from getting caught in web filters.

ROW/GCW “GCW VS RENEGADES OF WRESTLING”, 26/08/2023
Melbourne Pavilion, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

1. ROW Women’s Title: Aysha (c) defeated Maki Itoh with a Double Arm DDT (12:58).
*V3 for Aysha.

The second night featured Itoh challenged Aysha for the ROW Women’s Title. Itoh had the champion beat when she made her tap out to the Itoh Deluxe but Aysha’s cronies at ringside kept distracting the referee so it wouldn’t be seen. Itoh let go of the hold to chase them off but turned around into a Double Arm DDT, stealing the win for Aysha.

GATOH MOVE “CHOCOPRO”, 26/08/2023
The Yard Theatre, London, England

1. Emi Sakura & Masahiro Takanashi defeated Emersyn Jayne & Debbie Keitel (12:53).

Just including this result because Masahiro Takanashi is a DDT guy as well as a ChocoPro regular. I have more to talk about the second show of the double header.

EVE/GATOH MOVE “CHOCOPRO X EVE SUPER SHOW”, 26/08/2023
The Dome, Tufnell Park, London, England

1. EVE Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) defeated Emersyn Jayne with the Crash Rabbit Heat (19:39).
*V8 for Miyu Yamashita.
2. Mei Suruga & Masahiro Takanashi defeated Kanji & Kid Lykos when Suruga pinned Kanji with the Maple Model (11:25).

Being the EVE Champion got Miyu Yamashita to appear on a ChocoPro branded show for the first time. She opened up the show with a title defence against Emersyn Jayne. That match was supposed to happen in July but travel problems for the challenger prevented that from happening. It finally went ahead here and the match turned out to be a violent one. Yamashita was slammed onto the front row of chairs outside the ring and Jayne ended up getting busted open. Jayne did kick out of the Skull Kick, being one of the few people to do so. But Yamashita followed it up with the Crash Rabbit Heat to remain the champion.

One of ChocoPro’s victories on the show against EVE happened when Masahiro Takanashi & Mei Suruga defeated Kid Lykos & Kanji. It was one of the rare times men got to wrestle on an EVE show too.

The show also left with a question of what could have been because Marika Kobashi was planned to compete as an EVE representative. She is currently staying in Scotland but her flight to London was cancelled and she was unable to make it to the show. Part of her apology included regret over not being able to see Yamashita again so I wonder if she was meant to wrestle her instead of Jayne?

I was at this show by the way. Although I admit leaving during the main event in order to catch my train back to the hotel so I missed Emi Sakura’s surprise induction into EVE’s Hall Of Fame at the end.

ROW/GCW “GCW VS RENEGADES OF WRESTLING”, 27/08/2023
Eatons Hill Hotel, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

1. Maki Itoh defeated Allie Katch with the I.S.D. (11:03).

Itoh bounced back from her failure to win a title by taking on GCW’s own Allie Katch on the final night of the Australian tour. It was another clean victory for Itoh. She seems to have Katch’s number every time they face each other.

AEW “ALL IN LONDON”, 27/08/2023
Wembley Stadium, London, England

1. Jay White, Juice Robinson & Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Austin Gunn & Colten Gunn) defeated The Golden Elite Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi & Adam Page when Takeshita pinned Omega with a School Boy (20:28).

I was at this show too! Getting to see Takeshita live in front of 80,000+ people in Wembley was great especially since my first time seeing him was in front of 330 people somewhere in Saitama back in 2016. That I got to see him mix it up with The Golden Lovers was a bonus. Even the result went Takeshita’s way. He countered Kota Ibushi’s Kamigoye with a sick looking Jumping Knee Strike of his own. Then when Kenny Omega was dealing with Bullet Club Gold, Takeshita rolled him up with a School Boy to steal the win.

MDRN NMD/GATOH MOVE “CHOCO NIGHT GRAPS!”, 29/08/2023
The Bread Shed, Grosvenor St., Manchester, England

1. Masahiro Takanashi defeated Kid Lykos with the Takatonic (?:??).

ChocoPro’s trip to England ended with a collaboration show alongside Modern Nomad Pro Wrestling. Takanashi took on Lykos again, this time in a singles match and at a venue where there was no wrestling ring. It was a mat wrestling show similar to ChocoPro’s own events in Ichigaya.

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Upcoming Appearances

GCW “SAY YOU WILL”, 01/09/2023
Grand Sports Arena, Hoffman Estates, Illinois, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

GCW advertised Maki Death Kill as showing up in the show but they won’t be wrestling together. Gage is facing El Hijo del Vikingo while Itoh’s match on the show has not been announced yet.

OTT “WRESTLERAMA”, 02/09/2023
The Warehouse Red Cow, Dublin, Ireland

1. Session Moth Martina & Miyu Yamashita Vs Debbie Keitel & Anita Vaughan

Yamashita is heading over to my neck of the woods in Ireland for OTT. She’s looking forward to it and I bet Itoh told her stories about what Session Moth Martina is like. Debbie Keitel & Anita Vaughan will be there to stop the party though.

MLW “FURY ROAD”, 03/09/2023
2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1. B3CCA Vs Maki Itoh

Funny stuff that MLW announced this match first then GCW went and did it anyway.

AEW “ALL OUT”, 03/09/2023
United Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA

1. Kenny Omega Vs Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Don Callis)

It was announced during the “ALL IN” post-show scrum that Omega and Takeshita will face each other this weekend in Chicago at “ALL OUT”.

GCW “CRUSHED UP”, 10/09/2023
Roulette Intermedium, New York City, New York, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs Killer Kelly

Itoh’s last match of her current tour is a one on one meeting against Killer Kelly.

PRESTIGE “THE RESPECT ISSUE”, 24/09/2023
Globe Theatre, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Trish Adora Vs Shoko Nakajima

When Itoh is back in Japan, Shoko Nakajima tags out to be the next one going over to America. It’s all to build up TJPW’s big plan with Prestige as you will see at the bottom of this post.

REPUBLIC OF LUCHA “ROL VI VI VI: LA NOCHE DE WALPURGIS”, 30/10/2023
Republic Of Lucha, South Pasadena, California, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita, Penta el Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix Vs Shun Skywalker, Bestia 666 & Mecha Wolf

Now isn’t this quite interesting? Takeshita from DDT and Shun Skywalker from Dragongate being pitted against each other. We also have the Lucha Brothers and La Rebelion involved in the match too.

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

TJPW with the help of Prestige is coming back to Los Angeles this December! Announced for the show so far are Itoh, Yamashita, Rika Tatsumi, Mizuki, Taya Valkyrie, Masha Slamovich, Killer Kelly and Sandra Moone.

Comments Off on DDT Around The World – August 2023 | Around The World | Tagged: AEW, All Elite Wrestling, All Star Jr. Festival, Allie Katch, Anita Vaughan, Aramis, Around The World, Aysha, B3CCA, Bestia 666, Brittnie Brooks, BUSHI, Charli Evans, ChocoPro, Chris Jericho, Chris Sabin, Daniel Garcia, Debbie Keitel, Don Callis, DQV, DREAMWAVE Wrestling, El Desperado, Emersyn Jayne, Emi Sakura, EVE Championship, EVE Riot Grrrls of Wrestling, Evil Uno, Fight VGM Fight, Frankie Kazarian, Game Changer Wrestling, Gatoh Move, GCW, Golden Lovers, Gringo Loco, Hangman Page, Impact Wrestling, Jay White, Jordan Oliver, Juice Robinson, Kaia McKenna, Kanji, Kenny Omega, Kevin Knight, Kid Lykos, Killer Kelly, King Of Pro Wrestling (China), Konosuke Takeshita, Kota Ibushi, Látigo, Lucha Brothers, Maggie Lee, Major League Wrestling, Maki Death Kill, MAO, Marika Kobashi, Masahiro Takanashi, Masha Slamovich, Matt Cardona, Mecha Wolf, Mei Suruga, Mizuki, MLW, Modern Nomad Pro Wrestling, Nao Kakuta, New Japan Pro Wrestling, Nick Gage, Nick Wayne, NJPW, OTT Wrestling, Penta el Zero Miedo, Peter Avalon, Prestige Wrestling, Renegades of Wrestling, Republic Of Lucha, Rey Fenix, Rey Horus, Rich Swann, Rika Tatsumi, Sammy Guevara, Sandra Moone, Session Moth Martina, Shazza McKenzie, Shelly Benson, Shoko Nakajima, Shun Skywalker, Steph De Lander, Taya Valkyrie, The Elite, Trish Adora, Wrestling REVOLVER, YOH, Zayda Steel | Permalink
Posted by JamieOD

DDT Around The World – July 2023

August 1, 2023

America had to deal with the adventures of MAO & Yoshihiko for most of July. The two of them were inseperable and causing chaos on every wrestling show they were booked for. Meanwhile Konosuke Takeshita is fitting into his heel role nicely, bringing the act over from AEW to DDT and creating consequences in both companies. Since next month is AEW’s big week of doing Wembley in London and the United Center in Chicago one after the other you would think Takeshita will get an important match somewhere on either card.

With those topics out of the way that leaves us with Maki Itoh. The experience gained from touring America is doing wonders for her career but she didn’t win the Princess Of Princess Title back in Tokyo Joshi Pro like she hoped. Her storyline in GCW is coming to a head in August and she has her sights set on many more tours in the future. It can make you wonder if she will reach a stage where she might choose to say goodbye to TJPW some day. Her interviews on the subject have been contradictory depending on who she talks to. She would love to get a full time deal from a big American company but she also likes being signed to TJPW because they let her work this kind of international schedule. It’s nothing to fret over right now but the thought has crossed my mind when it became clear her future plans do not include the Princess Title.

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Videos

Konosuke Takeshita In AEW Playlist

AEW “DYNAMITE”, 12/07/2023
SaskTel Centre, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

BCC & The Elite reveal their final members for Blood & Guts!

AEW “RAMPAGE”, 14/07/2023
SaskTel Centre, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

1. Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Don Callis) Vs Mentallo

AAA “TRIPLEMANIA XXXI: TIJUANA”, 15/07/2023
Estadio Chevron, Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico

Konosuke Takeshita attacks Kenny Omega

CIRCLE 6 “LOVE DON’T LIVE HERE”, 16/07/2023
1720 Warehouse, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. AJ Gray Vs MAO

AEW “DYNAMITE”, 19/07/2023
TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

1. Blood & Guts: Kenny Omega, Hangman Page, Nick Jackson, Matt Jackson & Kota Ibushi Vs Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, Konosuke Takeshita & PAC

Video starts at 1:01:38 for the match. Go to 01:41:04 for Itoh’s birthday celebration.
SMASH “CAN-US CLASSIC 2023”, 22/07/2023
Western Fair District, London, Ontario, Canada

1. Jody Threat Vs Maki Itoh

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Results

EVE “NMITB”, 02/07/2023
The Dome, Tufnell Park, London, England

1. Eve Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) defeated Rhio with the Crash Rabbit Heat (21:21).
*V6 for Miyu Yamashita.

Miyu Yamashita was scheduled to defend the EVE Title against Emersyn Jayne but the challenger couldn’t make the show due to travel problems. Yamashita instead had to put the belt on the line against “The Unbreakable” Rhio with both wrestlers having no time to prepare for each other. Rhio’s power was brought into the fore with her getting nearfalls from a Pumphandle Bomb and Death Valley Driver onto her knee. But Yamashita escaped from a Package Piledriver attempt and caught Rhio with the Skull Kick. Rhio fell next to the ropes so she used a rope break to avoid being pinned. Yamashita then wore her down with kicks until she could pin Rhio with the Crash Rabbit Heat.

WEST COAST PRO “CRUEL SUMMER 2023”, 08/07/2023
United Irish Cultural Center, San Francisco, California, USA

1. Bryan Keith defeated MAO with the Emerald Tiger Driver (15:55).

MAO’s trip to America began at West Coast Pro where Bryan Keith was waiting for him. Keith had warned MAO not to expect any moonlight on this ocassion while MAO thought he would be fine because he is a “fucked up wrestler with an empty head.” That was proven when Yoshihiko interfered to help him! Keith survived the surprise attack and fired himself up and threw Yoshihiko out of the ring with a Razor’s Edge to even the odds. After a back and forth, Keith pinned MAO with the Emerald Tiger Driver for the win.

JCW “BIG ASS EXTREME BIRTHDAY BASH”, 09/07/2023
Ridgefield Park Knights of Columbus, Ridgefield Park, New Jersey, USA

1. MAO defeated Mike Bailey with the Avalanche Michinoku Driver (14:47).
2. Bunkhouse Stampede: Manders defeated Charles Mason by Ring Out (22:13).
Order Of Elimination: Jay Sawyer, Steve Off, Steve Scott, Grim Reefer, Brogan Finlay, Marcus Mathers, Kaia McKenna, Charlie Tiger, Eddy Herrera, Bam Sullivan, CPA, Ciclope, Miedo Extremo, Yoshihiko, Yoya, John Wayne Murdoch, Parrow and Charles Mason.

Wherever MAO went in America, Yoshihiko followed him the entire way. It led to an awkward reunion with Mike Bailey in JCW. MAO and Speedball faced off in a battle between The Moonlight Express but things went sideways when MAO accidentally knocked out the referee with a Helluva Kick. Yoshihiko grabbed itself a ref shirt and went in as the replacement! However its officiating didn’t meet Bailey’s expectations so Yoshihiko was thrown out of the ring Razor’s Edge style deep into the crowd. The distraction might have led to Bailey’s undoing because MAO went on to beat him with a top rope Michinoku Driver with the original ref making the count.

Yoshihiko would reappear in a Bunkhouse Stampede match booked later in the show. It was a complete free for all where Yoshihiko appeared for a confrontation with Charles Mason and his backup muscle Parrow. The three of them have previous bad blood in the GCW/JCW system because Mason hates being embarrassed by the doll. Parrow tried to throw Yoshihiko out but Yoshihiko grabbed onto him and applied a Sleeper Hold. Mason lost his mind and hit Yoshihiko/Parrow with chairshot after chairshot before finally throwing the doll out of the ring to eliminate it.

AEW “RAMPAGE”, 12/07/2023 (Aired 14/07/2023)
SaskTel Centre, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

1. Konosuke Takeshita defeated Mentallo with a Diving Senton (4:07).

Don Callis went the personal route to help Takeshita prepare for Blood & Guts. The show took place in Canada so Callis got AEW to book Kenny Omega’s longtime friend and training partner Mentallo as Takeshita’s opponent. The masked wrestler put up a good effort but Takeshita was victorious in the end, using a Diving Senton to add a new high flying move to his arsenal.

IWTV “MARCUS MATHERS ALL I WANT 2”, 13/07/2023
H20 Wrestling Center, Williamstown, New Jersey, USA

1. Yoshihiko defeated Jimmy Lloyd with the Yoshihiko Destroyer (9:56).
2. MAO defeated Brandon Kirk with the Phoenix Splash through the Plastic Cases (16:14).

The bottom ring rope snapped off during the first five minutes of the opening match and couldn’t be repaired. That should tell you the kind of night waiting ahead for MAO and Yoshihiko. But that’s the kind of fucked up wrestling MAO wants so he didn’t lose a step fighting against Brandon Kirk. A lot of chairs and plastic boxes were thrown into the mix for the two to beat each other up with.

Yoshihiko was tasked with fighting Jimmy Lloyd and both were prepared to tear the place apart. Yoshihiko did a balcony dive and landed Headbutt first onto Lloyd to break him through a wooden panel. Lloyd tried using a Steiner Screwdriver, Package Piledriver and Sleeper Suplex onto chairs but couldn’t get the three count. He went desperate by taking Yoshihiko to the top rope with chairs laid out below. Yoshihiko flipped him off with a Canadian Destroyer onto the chairs and then followed up with a second Destroyer for the finish.

GCW “NOW AND FOREVER”, 14/07/2023
Melrose Ballroom, Queens, New York, USA

1. Maki Itoh defeated Billie Starkz with the Itoh Deluxe (15:16).
2. Mike Bailey defeated Yoshihiko with the Stormbreaker (23:28).
3. GCW World Title: Blake Christian (c) defeated MAO with a Step Up Curb Stomp (14:21)
*V6 for Blake Christian.

MAO had a big chance to grab some gold in his trip to GCW proper. He took on Blake Christian for the GCW World Title but things just didn’t work out for him on this night. Christian gave him a Low Blow, a Death Valley Driver and then finished him off with a Curb Stomp for a successful title defence.

There was something familiar about Bailey Vs Yoshihiko but I just can’t quite put my finger as to what it was. In a completely original match Bailey was accompanied by MAO Callis and his bodyguards. MAO was quickly ejected backstage but later returned to hand Bailey a screwdriver to attack Yoshihiko with. He then used the One-Winged Angel but Yoshihiko kicked out at one. Bailey lost his temper so he gave Yoshihiko the Tiger Driver ’91 (maybe that should be written without the apostraphe because he slammed the doll’s head into the mat around 91 times), the Hidden Blade and the Stormbreaker to win the match. It was unlike anything anyone had seen within the space of a three week period.

In a rematch from last August, Itoh defeated Billie Starkz not just in a wrestling match but in a pose-off to see who is cuter that happened midway through. After the match Itoh celebrated with Nick Gage and they then threw out a challenge to Matt Cardona & Steph De Lander. A video message from the two played over the screen in response but it turned out to be a trap! Cardona & De Lander ran into the ring through the crowd and ambushed Maki Death Kill. When they were done with the attack they accepted the challenge for a tag match.

IWS “SCARRED 4 LIFE”, 15/07/2023
L’Olympia, Montreal, Québec, Canada

1. Maki Itoh defeated Vanessa Kraven with the I.S.D. (14:49).

I don’t often talk much about match quality in these articles but you’re best to avoid watching this one. It wasn’t good.

CIRCLE 6 “BARROOM BLITZ”, 15/07/2023
Knucklehead Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. MAO Vs Bobby Beverly

I couldn’t find the result for this match on a show that had no wrestling ring. What I could find was footage of MAO giving Bobby Beverly a really nasty looking Package Piledriver onto a chair with Beverly’s head clipping off of the headrest. There was also footage of MAO singing with a band so win or lose he looked like he was having a great time.

CIRCLE 6 “LOVE DON’T LIVE HERE”, 16/07/2023
1720 Warehouse, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. AJ Gray defeated MAO with a Lariat (?:??).

Yoshihiko again interfered in one of MAO’s matches to aid him, this time against AJ Gray. While Yoshihiko did not get hurled across the room into the audience, Grey overcame the 2-on-1 disadvantage to win.

AEW “DYNAMITE”, 19/07/2023
TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

1. Blood & Guts: Kenny Omega, Hangman Page, Nick Jackson, Matt Jackson & Kota Ibushi defeated Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, Konosuke Takeshita & PAC when Moxley gave up (23:01).

Oh what drama that has been brewing in The Elite Vs Blackpool Combat Club feud in its final month. Takeshita travelled over to Mexico to assault Omega then helped BCC launch another attack on him back in America. That was when The Elite revealed their ace in the hole for Blood & Guts. The return of Kota Ibushi! In a match that was violent as promised, the BCC team fell apart when PAC took an accidental blow from Claudio Castagnoli. PAC has no loyalty to the group so he broke out of the cage and left. When The Elite got their second wind, Callis told Takeshita to leave the cage too! Takeshita did so and The Elite went on to beat BCC to end their feud.

SMASH “CAN-US CLASSIC 2023”, 22/07/2023
Western Fair District, London, Ontario, Canada

1. Maki Itoh defeated Jody Threat with the I.S.D. (?:??).

Itoh was having a good night in Smash to begin with when she defeated Jody Threat. Then at the end of the show she was given a surprise birthday party in the ring because everyone found out it was her birthday that day! How sweet of them.

PRESTIGE “ALL RISE”, 23/07/2023
House Of Independents, Asbury Park, New Jersey, USA

1. Trish Adora defeated Maki Itoh with the Lariat Tubman (13:43).

Itoh’s return to Prestige was for a semi-main event match against Trish Adora. Oddly enough this was the first time they’ve faced each other even though Adora has become a regular opponent for TJPW wrestlers. Itoh lost on this day by running straight into Adora’s Lariat. Itoh declined to shake her hand afterwards.

DEFY “SPIRIT WC”, 28/07/2023
Washington Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA

1. DEFY Women’s Title: Vert Vixen (c) defeated Maki Itoh with the Game Over (?:??).
*V7 for Vert Vixen.

The main event of DEFY’s women only show was where Itoh had her latest chance to win an American championship. Vert Vixen defeated her, making it three successful DEFY Women’s Title defences against TJPW talent.

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Upcoming Appearances

AEW “DYNAMITE 200”, 02/08/2023
Yuengling Center, Tampa, Florida, USA

1. Chris Jericho & Konosuke Takeshita Vs Sammy Guevara & Daniel Garcia

It was only a matter of time until Chris Jericho would latch onto the new hot act and change the story into one about himself. He got the screen time with Callis while Takeshita was back in Japan wrestling for DDT. When Takeshita returns to America he will team with Jericho to take on Sammy Guevara & Daniel Garcia in the latest chapter of the Jericho Appreciation Society story. It’s going to suck if the latest direction for “ALL IN” and “ALL OUT” only pushes Takeshita into the background. Maybe there is hope for him getting an important match if Omega is not going to face Will Ospreay for a third time or if Ibushi is not being a tease about showing up at Wembley.

WRESTLING REVOLVER “HEAT EM UP”, 03/08/2023
Calumet Center, Dayton, Ohio, USA

1. Gringo Loco Vs Konosuke Takeshita

Coming in hot right as I am finishing up this article is news that Takeshita will be at this Thursday’s Wrestling REVOLVER show as a last minute replacement for Jon Moxley. According to Moxley he gave REVOLVER his approval for them to book Takeshita. The original plan was for Moxley to take on Gringo Loco in a Lucha Street Fight. Instead Loco will face Takeshita but the Street Fight stipulation seems to be dropped.

DREAMWAVE “SUMMER SPECTACULAR NIGHT 1”, 04/08/2023
Knights of Columbus, LaSalle, Illinois, USA

1. 6-Person Scramble: Brittnie Brooks Vs Maki Itoh Vs Zayda Steele Vs B3CCA Vs Kaia McKenna Vs Shazza McKenzie

The winner of the scramble match in DREAMWAVE earns a spot in a match on 14th October that will crown the promotion’s first Women’s Champion.

DREAMWAVE “SUMMER SPECTACULAR NIGHT 2”, 05/08/2023
Knights of Columbus, LaSalle, Illinois, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

Most likely the results on the first show will determine what Itoh is doing on the second. DREAMWAVE says there will be a second Scramble match on this second show where the winner also qualifies for October’s championship match. So if Itoh does not win the first time then maybe she can get a second chance if she demands it.

GCW “NO SIGNAL IN THE HILLS”, 11/08/2023
Ukrainian Cultural Center, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. 4 Way Match: Allie Katch Vs Steph De Lander Vs Maki Itoh Vs Masha Slamovich

The four leading women in GCW right now are all set to collide in a 4 Way Match. Itoh has her grudge with De Lander but the likes of Allie Katch and Masha Slamovich could get in her way.

KOPW “THE NEW ERA OF CHINESE PRO WRESTLING III”, 19/08/2023
Tianyue Sports City, Nanhai Foshan, Guangdong, China

1. Mizuki Vs Nao Kakuta

TJPW is sending Mizuki and Nao Kakuta over to China to hold an offer match at the latest King Of Pro Wrestling show. The Chinese promotion has booked joshi before such as Riho, Makoto, Emi Sakura and Mei Suruga.

NJPW “LEC PRESENTS ALL STAR JR FESTIVAL USA 2023”, 19/08/2023
2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1. El Desperado & MAO Vs Nick Wayne & Jordan Oliver

The first “ALL STAR JR FESTIVAL” in Tokyo earlier this year was such a major success New Japan and the sponsor LEC decided to bring the concept over to America. MAO gets invited back as a result and gets to take on The East West Express again. This time however he is teaming with El Desperado, making it the first time those two will be in the same match together.

GCW “HOMECOMING – PART 1”, 19/08/2023
The Showboat, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

1. Matt Cardona & Steph De Lander Vs Nick Gage & Maki Itoh

The big grudge match GCW has been building up since March finally takes place near the end of the summer. Maki Death Kill have been trading blows back and forth with Cardona & De Lander ever since. Is one match enough to settle the score?

GCW “HOMECOMING – PART 2”, 20/08/2023
The Showboat, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs B3CCA

If that is the end of the feud then what will be next for Itoh in GCW?

ROW/GCW “GCW VS RENEGADES OF WRESTLING”, 25/08/2023
Roundhouse, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

1. Charli Evans Vs Maki Itoh

The answer of course is go to Australia! GCW is touring over there with a local group called Renegades Of Wrestling. First up Itoh takes on Charli Evans.

ROW/GCW “GCW VS RENEGADES OF WRESTLING”, 26/08/2023
Melbourne Pavilion, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

1. ROW Women’s Title: Aysha (c) Vs Maki Itoh

The second Australian show gives Itoh a shot at the ROW Women’s Title held by Aysha. The promotion has only been around for a year so the championships don’t have much history behind them. I think Aysha is more of a regular with Deathmatch Downunder.

EVE/CHOCOPRO “CHOCOPRO X EVE SUPER SHOW”, 26/08/2023
The Dome, Tufnell Park, London, England

1. Masahiro Takanashi Vs X
2. Miyu Yamashita Vs X

Well, well, well, isn’t this a surprise? ChocoPro are heading over to London the same weekend as All In to hold shows with EVE. It makes sense for Masahiro Takanashi to be one of the guests because he is linked to Gatoh Move. But Yamashita appearing on the show is something I didn’t expect even though she is EVE’s main champion. There is also a solo ChocoPro event happening that day but this is the show where you will get to see Yamashita. Do you think AEW is interested in booking her again, for the next day? I hope so but the answer is probably no. Come on, she’ll become the only person to wrestle in the Tokyo Dome and Wembley the same year if they book her!

ROW/GCW “GCW VS RENEGADES OF WRESTLING”, 27/08/2023
Eatons Hill Hotel, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

1. Allie Katch Vs Maki Itoh

Itoh ends the Australia tour with a match against Allie Katch. Itoh already has a singles win over her in GCW. In fact that was the match where she discovered how useful a pizza cutter is against opponents.

GCW “SAY YOU WILL”, 01/09/2023
Grand Sports Arena, Hoffman Estates, Illinois New Jersey, USA

1. Nick Gage & Maki Itoh Vs X & X

Another tag match for Maki Death Kill? This could go anywhere from fighting The East West Express to taking on Los Macizos or anywhere in between!

MLW “FURY ROAD”, 03/09/2023
2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1. B3CCA Vs Maki Itoh

Now Major League Wrestling has to deal with Maki Itoh. MLW has a habit of chasing after trends but not really getting much out of them. The company also has a knack of putting out whatever news stories they want and wresting sites will report it without question. Court Bauer just has the clout to say anything and always be taken at face value I guess. The curse of that though is the attention never really pays off with anything substantial. When MLW is at its best their storylines can be really creative and different to what the other promotions are doing. But if they don’t have a plan for you you’re just there to put over people they do have plans for. Even worse is how they sometimes write people out of storylines. Itoh can kayfabe be carried out of her last show inside a body bag if they want to. Or since her opponent B3CCA has a pop singer gimmick on the show they can do a vocal injury if they want to get sinister. But that’s just me fantasy booking based on what they’ve done before.

PRESTIGE “THE RESPECT ISSUE”, 24/09/2023
Globe Theatre, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Trish Adora Vs Shoko Nakajima

Good to see Shoko Nakajima getting international bookings again. Prestige seems to handle that sort of stuff Stateside thanks to their working relationship with TJPW. They’re trying to get her a couple other bookings while she’s over there. A match with Trish Adora is the first one on the cards for her.

Comments Off on DDT Around The World – July 2023 | Around The World | Tagged: AEW, AJ Gray, All Elite Wrestling, All Star Jr. Festival, Allie Katch, Around The World, Aysha, B3CCA, Billie Starkz, Blackpool Combat Club, Blake Christian, Bobby Beverly, Brandon Kirk, Brittnie Brooks, Bryan Keith, Charles Mason, Charli Evans, ChocoPro, Chris Jericho, Circle 6 Wrestling, Claudio Castagnoli, Daniel Garcia, DEFY Wrestling, Don Callis, DREAMWAVE Wrestling, El Desperado, EVE Championship, EVE Riot Grrrls of Wrestling, Fight VGM Fight, Game Changer Wrestling, GCW, GCW World Championship, Hangman Page, International Wrestling Syndicate, IWTV, JCW, Jersey Championship Wrestling, Jimmy Lloyd, Jody Threat, Jon Moxley, Jordan Oliver, Kaia McKenna, Kenny Omega, King Of Pro Wrestling (China), Konosuke Takeshita, Kota Ibushi, Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide, Major League Wrestling, Maki Death Kill, Maki Itoh, MAO, Masahiro Takanashi, Masha Slamovich, Matt Cardona, Mentallo, Miyu Yamashita, Mizuki, MLW, Nao Kakuta, New Japan Pro Wrestling, Nick Gage, Nick Wayne, NJPW, PAC, Parrow, Prestige Wrestling, Renegades of Wrestling, Rhio, Sammy Guevara, Shazza McKenzie, Shoko Nakajima, Smash Wrestling, Speedball Mike Bailey, Steph De Lander, The Elite, Trish Adora, Vanessa Kraven, West Coast Pro Wrestling, Wheeler Yuta, Wrestling REVOLVER, Yoshihiko, Young Bucks, Zayda Steel | Permalink
Posted by JamieOD

Dramatic DDT

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DDT “WHO’S GONNA TOP? 2023” Results

DDT Around The World – August 2023

DDT Around The World – July 2023

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