DDT “DRAMATIC DREAM TOUR 2024 IN MIYAGI” Results

DDT “DRAMATIC DREAM TOUR 2024 IN MIYAGI”, 12/05/2024
Miyagi Yume Messe West Building Hall
301 Fans – Super No Vacancy

1. Akito & Yuya Koroku defeated Makoto Oishi & Yukio Naya when Akito pinned Oishi with a Rotating Crucifix Pin (0:10).
1a. Rematch: Makoto Oishi & Yukio Naya defeated Akito & Yuya Koroku when Oishi pinned Koroku with the Blue Dahlia (7:29).
2. Chris Brookes, Takeshi Masada & Kazuma Sumi defeated Danshoku Dieno, Kazusada Higuchi & Kazuki Hirata when Masada pinned Hirata with a Lariat (0:12).
2a. Rematch: Danshoku Dieno, Kazusada Higuchi & Kazuki Hirata defeated Chris Brookes, Takeshi Masada & Kazuma Sumi when Higuchi submitted Sumi with the Brain Claw (9:37).
3. Special Single Match: Yoshitatsu defeated MJ Paul with the This Is My WWE (10:42).
4. Jun Akiyama & Tomomitsu Matsunaga defeated Yuki Ueno & To-y when Akiyama pinned To-y with the Exploder Suplex (12:35).
5. Special Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino defeated HARASHIMA & Keigo Nakamura Endo submitted Nakamura with the Modified Yurikamome (16:42).
6. The 37KAMIINA Vs DAMNATION T.A!: MAO & Shunma Katsumata defeated Daisuke Sasaki & KANON when MAO pinned KANON with the Iai Kick (24:13).

Now that we know who the final four are in the King Of DDT, today’s show gave them time to prepare for the semi-finals. MAO and Daisuke Sasaki were on opposite sides of the main event, giving people a preview of a possible final round match on 26th May. MAO won the tag match and told fans it is his wish for DDT to hold a show in his hometown of Osaki City, Miyagi later this year. Meanwhile Sasaki told everyone he is going to steal moves from his mentor Dick Togo on 19th May to get ready for the semi-final.

Another possible final matchup is Kazusada Higuchi against Chris Brookes. The two faced off in a 6-Man Tag on this show but didn’t spend much time together in the ring. Both said they are going to focus more on their semi-final matches first before worrying over who they could potentially fight in the final.

DDT “KING OF DDT ~20TH ANNIVERSARY~ 2ND ROUND” Results

DDT “KING OF DDT ~20TH ANNIVERSARY~ 2ND ROUND”, 11/05/2024
Yokohama Radiant Hall
270 Fans – Super No Vacancy

1. 3 Way Tag Match: Yuki Iino & Akito defeated KANON & MJ Paul and Kazuki Hirata & Soma Takao when Akito submitted Hirata with the Ankle Lock (9:31).
2. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Poison Sawada JULIE, JARASHIMA & Danshoku Dieno defeated Takeshi Masada, Yuya Koroku & Kazuma Sumi when JULIE submitted Sumi with the Cattle Mutilation (8:45).
3. Yuki Ueno & Shunma Katsumata defeated Yukio Naya & Keigo Nakamura when Katsumata pinned Nakamura with the Totonou Splash (12:23).
4. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 2: Chris Brookes defeated Tetsuya Endo by Referee Stoppage with a Heel Hook (14:58).
5. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 2: Daisuke Sasaki defeated Sanshiro Takagi with the Crossover Face Lock (7:18).
6. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 2: Kazusada Higuchi defeated Shuji Ishikawa with the Buchikamashi (16:16).
7. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 2: MAO defeated To-y with the Iai Kick (17:36).

Some of the stories built up for this year’s King Of DDT have come to an end in Round 2. To-y was able to make it past the opening round but fell to MAO after a spirited performance against him. He kicked out of the Michinoku Driver II and Senpukyaku. He also did his best to shrug off an Iai Kick but MAO finally kept him down with a second Iai Kick. To-y said he has watched many of MAO’s matches from ringside and when it comes to fighting him he found out MAO is actually ten times stronger. MAO described To-y as a weird guy. He will suddenly go mad then go dead then come back to life and go mad again. Maybe that is the Kojima Wonderland experience.

A battle of the heavyweights was promised when Shuji Ishikawa entered the tournament. Kazusada Higuchi and Yukio Naya both targeted him and had to fight each other for the opportunity to fight Ishikawa next. Higuchi won that match and made the most of his opportunity by beating Ishikawa in Round 2! The match had heavy blows from both guys and Higuchi even kicked out of the Fire Thunder at 1. Ishikawa followed up with the Kamigoye and Running Knee Lift but Higuchi kicked out of them as well. Higuchi then took over with a Throwaway German Suplex and ran over Ishikawa with the Buchikamashi for the victory. Ishikawa praised Higuchi for the win and said he had a great time in the tournament with the exception of losing this match. Higuchi thinks he has not surpassed Ishikawa just yet. The battle between them will continue to move back and forth.

Sanshiro Takagi made a mistake early in his match by accidentally hitting the referee with a Lariat. Daisuke Sasaki took Takagi out of the ring for a fight that involved both of them crashing the Dramatic Dream bike into each other or into MJ Paul. The referee took more bumps leading to more cheating by Sasaki including a Low Blow and a chairshot to the head. Takagi relied on using Stunners to fight back until Sasaki caught him in the Crossover Face Lock, forcing him to give up. Sasaki criticised Takagi for being so satisfied with beating Yuki Ueno in Round 1 that he had no motivation to win today. Backstage Takagi said he is disappointed with the result and is still aiming to get a KO-D Openweight Title shot before he takes his break from wrestling. Ueno told reporters he would like to defend the title against Takagi because he owes him for so much. Even though Takagi has not earned a shot, Ueno wants it to happen in order to express his feelings to Takagi in the ring before it is too late.

An injured heel has ended Tetsuya Endo’s chances of advancing further into the tournament. Even though he was cleared to wrestle today, the heel wasn’t in 100% condition and Chris Brookes knew to target it. Endo still tried some high risk moves but he missed the Burning Star Press. Brookes made him pay for it by hitting a Diving Double Stomp to the foot. He then applied a Heel Hook and the referee had to stop the match when it was clear Endo couldn’t escape it and was at risk of getting even more injured. Endo was angry with the finish because he never gave up. Brookes isn’t sure if he could have won if Endo was at 100%. The news of the injury was all over social media leading up to the show so even if Brookes wanted to ignore it for the sake of having a fair fight he couldn’t.

The show ended with a lottery between the remaining wrestlers to determine who faces who in the semi-finals. It will be MAO Vs Higuchi and Brookes Vs Sasaki on 26th May. Higuchi has lost count of how many times he reached the final four (this will be his 7th time) and knows this is where the biggest walls are blocking him. Brookes said both Higuchi and MAO are strong but Sasaki is not at all. However, Sasaki is sneaky and Brookes would have preferred not to worry about fighting somebody like that next.

Poison Sawada JULIE was up to his old tricks by transforming HARASHIMA into JARASHIMA for one night only!

A contract signing for the next DDT Extreme Title match took place during the show. Shunma Katsumata revealed he will defend the title in a 3 Round Pokkiri Strategy Match against Antonio Honda. It a Best 2 Out Of 3 Round match and each round will use different rules that will be announced before the match begins. Both Katsumata and Honda will come up with rules they want to use. The reason why Honda is also allowed to come up with rules too is because Katsumata likes to gamble and wants to be put in a position where the odds can be against him.

GLEAT X DDT Card Revealed

GLEAT/DDT “GLEAT VER. & – GLEAT X DDT PRO WRESTLING”, 06/06/2024
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. 3 Way Tag Match: Shunma Katsumata, Takanori Ito & Issei Onitsuka Vs MICHIKO, Keigo Nakamura & Yu Iizuka Vs Danshoku Dieno, Makoto Oishi & Jun Tonsho
2. Minoru Tanaka Vs Kazuki Hirata
3. CIMA & HARASHIMA Vs Soma Watanabe & Soma Takao
4. Tetsuya Izuchi Vs Tetsuya Endo
5. SBK & TAKUMA Vs To-y & Kazuma Sumi
6. Yuki Ueno, El Lindaman & MAO Vs Sanshiro Takagi, Kaz Hayashi & Akito
7. Elimination Tag Match: T-Hawk, Chris Brookes, Takehiro Yamamura, Seiki Yoshioka & Takeshi Masada Vs Daisuke Sasaki, Kaito Ishida, KANON, Hartley Jackson & Kotaro Suzuki
8. Hayato Tamura, Ryuichi Kawakami & KAZMA SAKAMOTO Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya

Wrestlers from GLEAT and DDT gathered together for a press conference in Yurakucho, Tokyo yesterday. The two promotions will be holding a show together at Korakuen Hall on 6th June (although by the looks of it everything so far suggests this is a GLEAT produced show with DDT mostly just providing talent). CIMA at the conference said he once told the president of GLEAT that he wants to do something interesting, fierce, stylish, fast and crazy in pro wrestling. He recently bumped into Sanshiro Takagi at a restaurant and the two got talking. CIMA wanted to work with DDT again because he felt like the story of #STRONGHEARTS in DDT ended at the halfway point and he would like to continue the story. He was also frustrated over GLEAT not getting to participate at “ALL TOGETHER” last week.

Takagi said DDT never had much contact with GLEAT in the past. DDT and #STRONGHEARTS worked hard together but their relationship faded away when #STRONGHEARTS joined with GLEAT. But he liked CIMA’s idea and wanted to work on something interesting with him. He believes something that DDT and GLEAT has in common is both companies have a young generation of wrestlers with a lot of momentum behind them. He hopes this show will bring something exciting out of that generation. Takagi also sees this as an opportunity to work with Kaz Hayashi one more time before Hayashi retires from wrestling later this year.

GLEAT’s current top unit BULK ORCHESTRA will face DDT’s three top heavyweight wrestlers in the main event. KAZMA SAKAMOTO remembers Yukio Naya as the pathetic little rookie from Real Japan but admits he ended up in a good place with DDT. He is more interested in fighting Kazusada Higuchi. Naya reminded SAKAMOTO he is not the same person as he was back then and he looks forward to repaying his debt to him. Both Higuchi and Ryuichi Kawakami are excited to be part of a super megaton match between teams exceeding over hundreds and hundreds of kilograms in combined weight. Hayato Tamura is the current G-REX Champion and is eager to fight all three of his opponents. Out of the three wrestlers on the DDT team, Yuki Iino has the biggest problem with the GLEAT side. They’re called BULK ORCHESTRA but they can’t sing and have arms as thin as recorders! His harsh words caused a fight to break out and end the press conference.

Some of the matches on the card will be GLEAT Vs DDT and some will mix the two promotions together. One of the matches taking the latter approach has El Lindaman teaming with Yuki Ueno & MAO to face the combined management trio of Takagi, Hayashi & Akito. Lindaman already teamed with Ueno once before at last year’s “ALL STAR JR FESTIVAL”. Ueno has also heard stories about GLEAT from Shinya Aoki in the past. MAO thinks he will fit in with GLEAT because it is a universal company and he is the DDT Universal Champion. Lindaman feels a little out of place because he is the only one on his team who is currently not a champion. So to make up for it he wants to take over the position of whichever wrestler from the other team he beats! Akito pointed out that even though this July Takagi will be taking a break from wrestling and Hayashi will be retiring, both of them are still finding success this late in the game. Hayashi said he’s been booked in a lot of nostalgic matches recently but this match is against first time opponents in Ueno & MAO. He wants to show them how he wants to see them fight and also have a match so exciting everyone will want to see it again.

Loads Of Injury Updates, Ohka To Wrestle 3 Matches In A Row, MMA Vs Tire Boxing, VertVixen Gets Princess Title Shot

DDT “KING OF DDT ~20TH ANNIVERSARY~ 2ND ROUND”, 11/05/2024
Yokohama Radiant Hall

1. 3 Way Tag Match: KANON & MJ Paul Vs Yuki Iino & Akito Vs Kazuki Hirata & Soma Takao
2. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Poison Sawada JULIE, HARASHIMA & Danshoku Dieno Vs Takeshi Masada, Yuya Koroku & Kazuma Sumi
3. Yuki Ueno & Shunma Katsumata Vs Yukio Naya & Keigo Nakamura
4. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 2: Chris Brookes Vs Tetsuya Endo
5. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 2: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Sanshiro Takagi
6. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 2: Shuji Ishikawa Vs Kazusada Higuchi
7. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 2: To-y Vs MAO

Here’s the match order for King Of DDT Round 2. The match pitting two of The 37KAMIINA against each other gets the main event spot. The semi final pairings will be decided with a lottery held at the end of the show.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE TOUR 2024 SPRING”, 11/05/2024
Osaka Azalea Taisho Hall

1. 3 Way Match: Yuki Kamifuku Vs Raku Vs Uta Takami
2. Mahiro Kiryu Vs Chika Nanase
3. Rika Tatsumi Vs Shino Suzuki
4. Yuki Aino Vs Pom Harajuku
5. Shoko Nakajima, Wakana Uehara & HIMAWARI Vs Maki Itoh, Haru Kazashiro & Runa Okubo
6. Miu Watanabe, Suzume & Arisu Endo Vs Mizuki, Moka Miyamoto & Kaya Toribami

A few changes to the undercard because Toga is too unwell to wrestle tomorrow. Yuki Aino is now facing Pom Harajuku. The tag match Harajuku was a part of has been changed into a 3 Way Match.

BASARA “BASARA 248 ~TAKAGARI 24~”, 11/05/2024
Tokyo Takashimadaira Kumin Center

1. Masato Kamino & Yasu Urano Vs Chicharito Shoki & Daiju Wakamatsu
2. Minoru Fujita Vs SAGAT
3. FUMA, KUBITO & Jet Bar Vs Lil’ Kraken, Leo Isaka & Takahiro Katori
4. Ryuichi Sekine & Ryota Nakatsu Vs Takumi Tsukamoto & Judomaster
5. Union MAX Title Next Challenger Match: Isami Kodaka Vs Daichi Kazato

More injuries to talk about. Takato Nakano dislocated his left shoulder during training this week so he is now out of action. He also tweeted about dealing with knee pain from time to time. He is hoping to recover from everything so and do his best to come back to the ring in perfect condition. Yasu Urano is moved into his spot in the opener of tomorrow’s BASARA show. Jet Bar (an alter ego of Thanomsak Toba) will be taking Urano’s place in the trios bout later in the show.

DDT “DRAMATIC DREAM TOUR 2024 IN MIYAGI”, 12/05/2024
Miyagi Yume Messe West Building Hall

1. Akito & Yuya Koroku Vs Makoto Oishi & Yukio Naya
2. Danshoku Dieno, Kazusada Higuchi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Chris Brookes, Takeshi Masada & Kazuma Sumi
3. Special Single Match: Yoshitatsu Vs MJ Paul
4. Yuki Ueno & To-y Vs Jun Akiyama & Tomomitsu Matsunaga
5. Special Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino Vs HARASHIMA & Keigo Nakamura
6. The 37KAMIINA Vs DAMNATION T.A!: MAO & Shunma Katsumata Vs Daisuke Sasaki & KANON

No way was Yoshitatsu Vs MJ Paul going to be the bloody semi-main event!

DDT “EARLY SUMMER BEER GARDEN PRO WRESTLING – DAY 2”, 17/05/2024
Tokyo Ueno Park Outdoor Stage

1. Chris Brookes Vs Yuya Koroku
2. Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida Vs HARASHIMA & Keigo Nakamura
3. Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul Vs Jun Akiyama, Yukio Naya & Makoto Oishi
4. MAO & To-y Vs Toru Owashi & Akito
5. Special Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino Vs Yuki Ueno & Kazuki Hirata
6. Danshoku Dieno Birthday Eve Commemorative Match ~ Special 3 Way Match: Takeshi Masada Vs Kazuma Sumi (Special Referee: Danshoku Dieno)
7. DDT Extreme Title: Shunma Katsumata (c) Vs Antonio Honda

After getting examined, Rukiya’s injury has been diagnosed as a cervical sprain. He will be out of action for a while. The only change to this card is his removal from Danshoku Dieno’s match.

GANBARE☆PRO “EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE 2024”, 18/05/2024
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Shota Kawakami Debut Match: Ken Ohka Vs Shota Kawakami
2. Ken Ohka, Banny Oikawa & Gabai Ji-chan vs Hartley Jackson, Choun-Shiryu & Yuna Manase
3. Ken Ohka & Baliyan Akki Vs Shigehiro Irie & Mizuki Watase
4. Yumehito Imanari Vs Tyson Maeguchi
5. Spirit Of Ganbare World Tag Team Titles: Shuichiro Katsumura & Takuya Wada (c) Vs Shinichiro Tominaga & Daisuke®️
6. Kitsune World Title: Sayaka Unagi (c) Vs YuuRI
7. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Keisuke Ishii (c) Vs Kouki Iwasaki

It wasn’t meant to be this way but Ken Ohka is going to wrestle three times on this show! Munetatsu Nakamura pulled out because he is sick and HARUKAZE can’t show up because of a scheduling conflict. Apparently Ohka told management he is willing to work twice and step in to fight either Shigehiro Irie or Mizuki Watase. He didn’t expect to be given a tag match against both of them. He also didn’t expect to be put in a third match either! That right there is a lesson in being careful if you offer to do extra work at your job.

DDT “DRAMATIC DREAMS! VOL. 11 ~ YUKINORI MATSUI REFEREE 30TH ANNIVERSARY BOX OFFICE ~ MAKING THE SQUARE WORLD INTERESTING”, 19/05/2024
Osaka City Sumiyoshi Civic Center

1. Future Is Here!: Yuni Vs Ilusion Vs Kazuma Sumi
2. Staggered Entry Tag Battle Royal “Surprise! Tag Rumble”: Keisuke Ishii & Akito Vs Masahiro Takanashi & Makoto Oishi Vs Soma Takao & Shota Vs KANON & MJ Paul Vs Yuki Iino & Yuki Ishida Vs Toru Owashi & Black Menso-re Vs X & X
3. An Absolutely Outrageous Tag Match Between The Four Heavenly Kings Of The Variety Team: Danshoku Dieno & Super Sasadango Machine Vs Kazuki Hirata & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi
4. ACF & Koyo Daiichi Consultants Co., Ltd. Presents Mixed Martial Arts Battle: Bushimasa Vs Thanomsak Toba
5. THE Non-Stop Action Battle! ~Three High Speed Crows Vs Naniwa Pro Wrestling Three Musketeers~: Naruki Doi, Shunma Katsumata & Keigo Nakamura Vs Yuto Kikuchi, Harutoki & Kouhei Kinoshita
6. Seisho Kogyo Co., Ltd. Presents Battle Between Generations! Legends Vs Next Generation Special 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Jinsei Shinzaki & Sanshiro Takagi Vs Takeshi Masada, To-y & Yuya Korku
7. Tsuji Dental Clinic & Yasuda Dental Clinic Presents Special 6-Man Tag Match – “20 Years Ago THE OSAKA”: Magnitude Kishiwada, HUB & Kengo Takai Vs Tsubasa, Billy Ken Kid & Shoichi Uchida
8. Special 6-Man Tag Match ~Everyone Is Superhuman!~: HARASHIMA, Yuji Hino & Chris Brookes Vs Shuji Ishikawa, Shigehiro Irie & Yukio Naya
9. PANTASIA Presents Special Tag Match Wrestling Masters Vs Let’s Go 40’s ~With The Bolivian Wind~: Dick Togo & Daisuke Sasaki Vs Yasu Urano & Antonio Honda
10. Triple Main Event Kagoshima no Dancho Presents Special Single Match Kuishinbo Kamen & Kikutaro & Yukinori Matsui, Everyone’s 30th Anniversary, Add Them To Get 90th Anniversary(!) Commemorative Match ~Laughing Fukuraimon~: Kuishinbo Kamen Vs Kikutaro
11. Triple Main Event Ondo Metal Co., Ltd. Presents Special Tag Match ~DDT PRIDE~: Yuki Ueno & Kazusada Higuchi Vs MAO & Tetsuya Endo
12. Triple Main Event – From All Over The World, Arriving In Osaka. Special Singles Match ~THE ALPHA Vs King Of Pro Wrestling~: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs Minoru Suzuki

A disagreement broke out between Bushimasa and Thanomsak Toba over what rules they will use for their match. Toba wanted to use MMA rules but Bushimasa wants the match to be a Tire Boxing fight! They eventually agreed to do one round each of both. Round 1 will be an MMA fight with a 3 minute time limit, submissions allowed and a 10 count for Knockout. Round 2 is Tire Boxing where both fighters keep a foot in the middle of a tire and box each other. Victory is achieved by knocking the opponent out of the tire 3 times or knocking them out with a 5 Count. If there is no winner after both rounds then the fight will be ruled a draw.

Here are the names of each of the tag teams entering the Rumble match. Keisuke Ishii & Akito are “Wakamori Generation!“, Masahiro Takanashi & Makoto Oishi are “Team Sneaky People“, Soma Takao & Shota are ROMANCE DAWN of course, KANON & MJ Paul are “DAMNATION T.A Special Attack Team“, Yuki Iino & Yuki Ishida are “Dosukoi BURNING ~100% Yuki~” and Toru Owashi & Black Menso-re are “El Dorado Brother Combination?“.

Rukiya’s injury removes him from the opening match. The tag bout is now a 3 Way.

DDT “DRAMATIC DREAM TAKASHIMAYA VOL. 2”, 01/06/2024
Tokyo Shinjuku Takashimaya 1st Floor JR Exit Special Venue

1. Shinjuku Takashimaya Half Day Promotional Ambassador Contest Staggered Entry Battle Royal: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Makoto Oishi Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Yuni Vs Keigo Nakamura Vs Kazuma Sumi Vs Pokotan Vs X
2. HARASHIMA, Kazuasada Higuchi & Soma Takao Vs Chris Brookes, Yukio Naya & Takeshi Masada
3. Yuki Ueno, MAO & To-y Vs Tetsuya Endo, Yuki Iino & Yuya Koroku

The event will have these three matches spread out across the day with different activities going on in between them. Saki Akai will be there to do a talk show for example.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW PRISM ’24”, 09/06/2024
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Princess Of Princess Title: Miu Watanabe (c) Vs VertVixen

A video message was sent by VertVixen from America to Tokyo Joshi Pro earlier today. She is coming back to Japan this summer and has levelled up to the point where she wants to challenge Miu Watanabe for the Princess Of Princess Title!

Endo’s Not Injured! Kamiyu Is Now A Double Crown Champion, Tominaga Finds A CWP Tag Partner

DDT “KING OF DDT ~20TH ANNIVERSARY~ 2ND ROUND”, 11/05/2024
Yokohama Radiant Hall

1. 3 Way Tag Match: KANON & MJ Paul Vs Yuki Iino & Akito Vs Kazuki Hirata & Soma Takao
2. Yuki Ueno & Shunma Katsumata Vs Yukio Naya & Keigo Nakamura
3. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Poison Sawada JULIE, HARASHIMA & Danshoku Dieno Vs Takeshi Masada, Yuya Koroku & Kazuma Sumi
4. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 2: To-y Vs MAO
5. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 2: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Sanshiro Takagi
6. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 2: Shuji Ishikawa Vs Kazusada Higuchi
7. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 2: Chris Brookes Vs Tetsuya Endo

A minor left heel injury suffered on Sunday’s DDT show took Tetsuya Endo off of the “ALL TOGETHER” show that happened the next day. Thankfully after getting it examined Endo found out his heel has not been fractured and he is cleared to continue competing in the King Of DDT this weekend.

Even though Poison Sawada JULIE was eliminated from the tournament, he will be hanging around for a little while longer. He gets to form a DDT Legend team with HARASHIMA & Danshoku Dieno to take on the young blood.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE TOUR 2024 SPRING”, 11/05/2024
Osaka Azalea Taisho Hall

1. Mahiro Kiryu Vs Chika Nanase
2. Rika Tatsumi Vs Shino Suzuki
3. Yuki Aino Vs Toga
4. Yuki Kamifuku & Uta Takami Vs Raku & Pom Harajuku
5. Shoko Nakajima, Wakana Uehara & HIMAWARI Vs Maki Itoh, Haru Kazashiro & Runa Okubo
6. Miu Watanabe, Suzume & Arisu Endo Vs Mizuki, Moka Miyamoto & Kaya Toribami

The new champions cleared their first defences over the weekend and will be teaming up in Osaka. Also Shino Suzuki is rewarded for earning her first singles win by getting to wrestle Rika Tatsumi one on one.

Nao Kakuta is not at the show because she will be performing in a stage play. Kira Summer has been feeling unwell lately so she will not be at the show either.

BASARA “BASARA 248 ~TAKAGARI 24~”, 11/05/2024
Tokyo Takashimadaira Kumin Center

1. FUMA, KUBITO & Yasu Urano Vs Lil’ Kraken, Leo Isaka & Takahiro Katori
2. Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino Vs Chicharito Shoki & Daiju Wakamatsu
3. Ryuichi Sekine & Ryota Nakatsu Vs Takumi Tsukamoto & Judomaster
4. Minoru Fujita Vs SAGAT
5. Union MAX Title Next Challenger Match: Isami Kodaka Vs Daichi Kazato

No. 1 Contendership is on the line when Isami Kodaka and Daichi Kazato fight for who gets the next Union MAX Title shot. Kodaka has built up his case but Kazato hit a speed bump at the most recent BASARA show when he lost his match. Can he get the job done without the momentum that took him up to this point?

DDT “DRAMATIC DREAM TOUR 2024 IN MIYAGI”, 12/05/2024
Miyagi Yume Messe West Building Hall

1. Akito & Yuya Koroku Vs Makoto Oishi & Yukio Naya
2. Danshoku Dieno, Kazusada Higuchi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Chris Brookes, Takeshi Masada & Kazuma Sumi
3. Yuki Ueno & To-y Vs Jun Akiyama & Tomomitsu Matsunaga
4. Special Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino Vs HARASHIMA & Keigo Nakamura
5. Special Single Match: Yoshitatsu Vs MJ Paul
6. The 37KAMIINA Vs DAMNATION T.A!: MAO & Shunma Katsumata Vs Daisuke Sasaki & KANON

Rukiya is still out injured so Tomomitsu Matsunaga will be replacing him in Match #3.

A year ago Keigo Nakamura teamed with HARASHIMA to challenge for the KO-D Tag Team Titles. They reunite this weekend to face the current champions BURNING in a non-title match.

DDT “EARLY SUMMER BEER GARDEN PRO WRESTLING – DAY 1”, 16/05/2024
Tokyo Ueno Park Outdoor Stage

1. Soma Takao Vs Ilusion
2. Sanshiro Takagi & Jun Akiyama Vs Yukio Naya & Keigo Nakamura
3. Early Summer Beer Garden Specialty NG Behaviour Penalty Match: Tetsuya Endo, Yuki Iino & Yuya Koroku Vs Shunma Katsumata, Toru Owashi & Makoto Oishi
4. Early Summer Beer Garden Specialty Doki Doki! Special Rules Match: Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi Vs Danshoku Dieno & Kazuki Hirata
5. Yuki Ishida Return Match ~ The 37KAMIINA Vs Harimao!: Yuki Ueno, MAO & To-y Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Ryota Nakatsu & Yuki Ishida
6. Smile Squash Vs DAMNATION T.A!: HARASHIMA, Yasu Urano & Akito Vs Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul

We only just recently had Smile Squash back together again so let’s keep it going for one of the Beer Garden shows. Also on the undercard are two tag matches each with different special rules applied.

DDT “EARLY SUMMER BEER GARDEN PRO WRESTLING – DAY 2”, 17/05/2024
Tokyo Ueno Park Outdoor Stage

1. Chris Brookes Vs Yuya Koroku
2. Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida Vs HARASHIMA & Keigo Nakamura
3. Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul Vs Jun Akiyama, Yukio Naya & Makoto Oishi
4. MAO & To-y Vs Toru Owashi & Akito
5. Special Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino Vs Yuki Ueno & Kazuki Hirata
6. Danshoku Dieno Birthday Eve Commemorative Match ~ Special 3 Way Match: Takeshi Masada Vs Kazuma Sumi Vs Rukiya (Special Referee: Danshoku Dieno)
7. DDT Extreme Title: Shunma Katsumata (c) Vs Antonio Honda

Oh there’s Toru Owashi. He disappeared from DDT for a minute there. I only just noticed now.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE TOUR 2024 SPRING”, 18/05/2024
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Queen Of Asia Title & VPW Women’s Title: Yuki Kamifuku (c/c) Vs Alexis Lee

All of a sudden Yuki Kamifuku has created an Asian Double Crown championship! She has held the Queen Of Asia Title since last November and just a few days ago won the brand new VPW Women’s Title in Vietnam. Both of those title wins came from Kamifuku defeating Alexis Lee, a 10 year veteran of the Southeast Asian wrestling scene. Her name has come up a lot in my DDT Around The World reports because she is the go-to opponent for whenever somebody from Tokyo Joshi Pro travels to Singapore. Lee has not given up on getting revenge for losing both championships to Kamifuku and is coming to TJPW for a double title rematch!

Wakana Uehara will not be at the show because she will be performing at a stage show elsewhere that day.

GANBARE☆PRO “EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE 2024”, 18/05/2024
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Shota Kawakami Debut Match: Ken Ohka Vs Shota Kawakami
2. Kitsune World Title: Sayaka Unagi (c) Vs YuuRI
3. Spirit Of Ganbare World Tag Team Titles: Shuichiro Katsumura & Takuya Wada (c) Vs Shinichiro Tominaga & Daisuke®️
4. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Keisuke Ishii (c) Vs Kouki Iwasaki

Shinichiro Tominaga had to go looking through the student pro wrestling scene for a partner so he can challenge GROUND ABSOLUTE for the Spirit Of Ganbare Tag Team Titles. What he found is Daisuke®️ from Tomginaga’s other home promotion CWP. Daisuke®️ is allegedly a former trainee from another company whose name he cannot reveal. He’s been wrestling in CWP since 2019 with the dragon gene in his heart and his goal is to one day open CWP’s dream gate.

BASARA “BASARA 249 ~UTAGE~”, 28/05/2024
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Iron Fist Tag Team Titles: Ryota Nakatsu & Kazusada Higuchi (c) Vs Takumi Tsukamoto & Judomaster

There is a very slight naming change to the IRON FIST Tag Team Titles. BASARA noticed that the media and wrestlers keep writing the name of the championship in katakana instead of using the upper case “IRON FIST”. So from now on they decided it will be written as “Iron Fist Tag Team Titles” (アイアンフィストタッグ選手権).

Also something to note is BASARA themselves aren’t quite sure where Judomaster belongs to. His affiliation is written as “Free?” on their website.

DDT “SPA & POOL AQUA YUKARI – SAUNA ROJO PRO WRESTLING”, 21/06/2024
Chiba Aqua Yukari

1. Shunma Katsumata Vs X

The next street wrestling match DDT has come up with will be at the Aqua Yukari hot spring in Chiba. Shunma Katsumata is the first wrestler announced to take part.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “UP! UP! TJPW (2) ~TANABATA FESITVAL WITH NIKI-CHAN~”, 07/07/2024
Tokyo Ueno Park Outdoor Stage

1. X Vs X
2. X Vs X
3. X Vs X
4. X Vs X

TJPW is teaming up with one of the other versions of The Up Up Girls for an outdoor show held at Ueno Park. The event will feature concerts from both Up Up Girls (2) and Up Up Girls (Pro Wrestling). There will also be a short TJPW show taking place with 4 or 5 matches scheduled to happen.

DDT “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2024”, 21/07/2024
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

1. KO-D Openweight Title: Yuki Ueno (c) Vs X

Minoru Suzuki will be on the show, joining Konosuke Takeshita and El Desperado among the first bunch of names announced.

Video – Sayaka Unagi’s Adventures With The Iron Man Title

DDT At “ALL TOGETHER” Results

UJPW “ALL TOGETHER”, 06/05/2024
Tokyo Nippon Budokan
4,583 Fans

1. EVIL, Ren Narita & Yujiro Takahashi defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Sanshiro Takagi & Naomichi Marufuji when EVIL pinned Tanahashi with the EVIL (8:50).
2. Kenoh defeated Kosei Fujita with the PFS (9:44).
3. Starlight Kid & Natsupoi defeated AZM & Miyu Amasaki when Ken pinned Amasaki with the Star Suplex (9:50).
4. Tomohiro Ishii & Daisuke Sekimoto defeated Jeff Cobb & Masa Kitamiya when Ishii pinned Cobb with the Vertical Drop Brainbuster (13:15).
5. El Desperado, HAYATA, Ninja Mack, MAO & Kota Minoura defeated Hiromu Takahashi, Dragon Bane, Alpha Wolf, Shunma Katsumata & YAMATO when Minoura pinned YAMATO after an accidental Hiromu-chan Bomber from Takahashi (13:21).
6. Taichi & KAI defeated Zack Sabre Jr. & Chris Brookes when Taichi pinned Brookes with the Taichi-Style Gedo Clutch (14:59).
7. Jake Lee, David Finlay & Gabe Kidd defeated Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji when Lee pinned Naito with the FBS (17:46).
8. Shota Umino, Kaito Kiyomiya & Yuki Ueno defeated Yuya Uemura, KONOSUKE TAKESHITA & Shun Skywalker when Kaito Kiyomiya pinned Uemura with the Modified Shining Wizard (23:18).

Let’s have a little look at what DDT got up to at the “ALL TOGETHER” show that took place earlier today. Yuki Ueno and Konosuke Takeshita were part of the main event on opposite teams. They had moments in the match to fight each other as well as everyone else. Ueno along with Shota Umino & Kaito Kiyomiya delivered a Triple Missile Dropkick to Yuya Uemura. Ueno then hit a Moonsault to Takeshita & Shun Skywalker outside the ring, leaving Kiyomiya to finish off Uemura with the Shining Wizard. Ueno and Takeshita left separate comments to reporters after the match. Ueno said every company involved in United Japan Pro Wrestling have joined forces to make pro wrestling more exciting because wrestling gives strength to everyone. He got to wrestle inside Budokan Hall today as a champion and he wants to continue making wrestling fun for everyone with DDT. Takeshita however had more demanding things to say about the main event. He wants his generation to create a new era and that will not happen when everyone behaves like friends. If everyone wants to be the best like he does then they should step up and do singles matches with himself and each other. If any of the other five in the main event have the courage to do that then they should step forward.

Zack Sabre Jr. and Chris Brookes got to team up together again. They are now getting SCHADEN TEKKERS across as their team name but they failed to wear matching gear. They enjoyed getting to wrestle against Taichi but maybe didn’t feel the same about KAI. That all came to a head when KAI brought a chair into the ring and Taichi stopped him from attacking Sabre and instead hit KAI with it. He went back to wrestling Brookes and pinned him with the Gedo Clutch. KAI attacked Taichi after the match but SCHADEN TEKKERS came to the rescue.

The Junior Heavyweight divisions of several promotions all banded together for a 10-Man Tag Match. MAO and Shunma Katsumata were there on behalf of DDT. Katsumata was a last minute replacement for Tetsuya Endo because Endo got hurt during yesterday’s DDT show and needed more time to recover. MAO started the match with Hiromu Takahashi and got help from El Desperado when YAMATO came to aid Takahashi. Ninja Mack kept wanting to do the Sasuke Special but kept getting cut off by Katsumata and the rest of his team. He got to hit his dive and so did Dragon Bane and Alpha Wolf. Takahashi’s teamwork with YAMATO self-destructed when he accidentally hit YAMATO with a Clothesline. Kota Minoura then Cradled YAMATO for the three count. MAO told Desperado after the match that Brookes should invite him to Baka Gaijin + Friends some day. MAO will even deliver the invitation to New Japan. Desperado told him he doesn’t think the idea will be possible. Katsumata blamed the loss on his team not having enough NeppoWER!!

The super team of super presidents failed to beat House Of Torture in the opening match of the show. Not even Sanshiro Takagi crashing the Dramatic Dream bike into everyone outside the ring was enough to win the battle. Dick Togo interfered in the match until Takagi gave him the Stunner and Naomichi Marufuji Thrust Kicked him. They even used the same moves to set EVIL up for Hiroshi Tanahashi’s Sling Blade. However the numbers game tipped in House Of Torture’s favour when more of their members showed up for interferene. Ren Narita, Yujiro Takahashi, SHO, Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Togo overwhelmed the presidents and EVIL beat Tanahashi to ruin everyone’s day. Backstage Takagi was confused to see Togo out there because he thought he retired years ago.

DDT “KING OF DDT ~20TH ANNIVERSARY~ 1ST ROUND” Results

DDT “KING OF DDT ~20TH ANNIVERSARY~ 1ST ROUND”, 05/05/2024
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,025 Fans – No Vacancy

0. Dark Match: Soma Takao, Keigo Nakamura & Yuya Koroku defeated Yuni, Ilusion & Kazuma Sumi when Nakamura pinned Sumi with the Diving Headbutt (9:25).
0. Dark Match: Jun Akiyama, Makoto Oishi & Tomomitsu Matsunaga defeated Shunma Katsumata, Akito & Kazuki Hirata when Oishi pinned Hirata with the Jikiden Tornado Clutch (0:09).
0a. Rematch: Jun Akiyama, Makoto Oishi & Tomomitsu Matsunaga defeated Shunma Katsumata, Akito & Kazuki Hirata when Oishi pinned Hirata with the Jikiden Tornado Clutch (4:43).
1. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 1: MAO defeated Poison Sawada JULIE with the Iai Kick (9:16).
2. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 1: To-y defeated KANON with a Frankensteiner (11:09).
3. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 1: Sanshiro Takagi defeated Yuki Ueno with the Stone Cold Stunner (11:09).
4. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 1: Daisuke Sasaki defeated Yuki Iino with the Standing Crossover Face Lock (11:15).
5. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 1: Kazusada Higuchi defeated Yukio Naya with the Buchikamashi (14:12).
6. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 1: Shuji Ishikawa defeated HARASHIMA with the Giant Slam (13:58).
7. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 1: Tetsuya Endo defeated Danshoku Dieno with the Burning Tanetsuke Press (18:26).
8. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 1: Chris Brookes defeated Takeshi Masada with the Praying Mantis Bomb (15:53).

2004 was the year when DDT held its first King Of DDT tournament. It was not held on an annual basis until 2009 but the history of the tournament is filled with winners who have gone on to accomplish many things in DDT and pro wrestling as a whole. This year is the 20th anniversary of the first King Of DDT and the 18th edition of the event. The main show began with all of the 16 participants lining up in the ring for the opening ceremony.

The main event was all about SCHADENFREUDE International as two of its members faced off in the last of the Round 1 matches. Brookes had a special guest with him because Zack Sabre Jr. was there to be in his corner. Takeshi Masada wanted to win badly and tried using the Takatonic and the KOBU Mukimuki. He even tried to withstand the pain from taking an Avalanche Tiger Suplex but at that point Brookes just had to keep up the attack until he won. Masada had one last chance left when he countered the Praying Mantis Bomb but Brookes countered the Mukimuki, hit two Somatos and pinned Masada with the Praying Mantis Bomb. After the match Brookes told Masada that any bad things he said about him at the press conference was lies and he really wanted him to do his best today. Backstage Brookes and Sabre talked up the tag match they are having at “ALL TOGETHER” tomorrow.

Meeting Brookes in the next round is Tetsuya Endo. He had to dig in deep to beat Danshoku Dieno because Dieno was ready to avoid the Burning Star Press at any opportunity. One of the counters Dieno pulled off was a top rope Frankensteiner! He also had Makoto Oishi interfering when the two of them gave Endo the 3D after the referee was knocked out with a Lip Lock. Dieno went into the Hell Gate position over the turnbuckles but it was Oishi who got a face full of the Gate. Endo then grabbed Dieno by the crotch and Headbutted his butt! When Endo climbed the top rope to finally hit the Burning Star Press, Dieno had one last idea to defend himself. He rolled over and stuck his butt into the air daring Endo to jump in. Endo did exactly what Dieno wanted except first he pulled off Dieno’s tights and then hit the Burning Star Press! He was able to turn Dieno over and pin him without exposing anything further to the crowd.

After the match El Desperado unexpectedly entered the ring while Oishi was getting Dieno’s trunks back on him. He has a lot to look forward to this summer but he isn’t here to talk about the Best Of The Super Juniors or his next DDT appearance at “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2024”. Instead he pulled out two invitations for the “DESPE-INVITACIONAL” event he is holding at Korakuen Hall on 10th June. The two invitations are for Dieno and a wrestler of his choice. If it was up entirely to Desperado he would have wanted his main event to be Pheromones Vs House Of Torture just so he could see Dieno chase EVIL around the ring. Dieno confirmed to him that Pheromones have disbanded and cannot be brought back. Desperado will give him the invitations anyway and trusts Dieno to find a suitable partner so they can do something similar to Pheromones at the show. Dieno asked if that means his partner does not have to be anybody from DDT? Desperado said yes, the choice is all up to Dieno and no one else.

One of the former King Of DDT winners Shuji Ishikawa returned with a bang by eliminating HARASHIMA in Round 1. HARASHIMA was able to kick out of the Splash Mountain, Running Knee Lift, Fire Thunder and also the Kamigoye. But he was a beaten man at that point and was finally put away with the Giant Slam. He will be facing Kazusada Higuchi in the next round and Higuchi met him in the ring after the match to give him a Headbutt! Backstage Ishikawa admitted he needs to improve his own conditioning. When he fights Higuchi he will either strike out or hit a home run. If the latter happens then nothing will stop Ishikawa from winning the tournament and then the KO-D Openweight Title!

Higuchi already got rid of one big boy to advance into Round 2. He beat Yukio Naya by wearing him down with the Brain Claw inbetween the moments of high impact moves between them. Naya finally went down to a series of Headbutts and struggled to get back to his feet to beat the 10 count. When he did stand back up, Higuchi was already in position to run him over with the Buchikamashi for the victory. As mentioned above, Higuchi is eager to face Ishikawa next.

Yuki Iino was almost unstoppable against Daisuke Sasaki but “Charisma” found a way to beat him eventually. Chair shots over the head and interference from MJ Paul didn’t work. Even trying to Spear Iino just had Sasaki bounce off of him. What did work was countering the Spear into a Pedigree in midair. It wasn’t enough to pin Iino but Sasaki was able to give him La Mistica Crossover Face Lock from there. Iino used his power to stand back up but Sasaki would not let go of the hold, keeping it on tight so Iino had no choice but to give up from the pain he was feeling in his shoulder. Sasaki bragged about showing off his power as the strongest wrestler in DDT.

There were a couple of upsets in Round 1. The biggest of perhaps the entire tournament is the KO-D Champion Yuki Ueno losing to Sanshiro Takagi! This year’s King Of DDT looks to be Takagi’s last stand before he takes a break from being a wrestler and he could not have sent out a louder message for everyone to hear. They fought in the crowd so Takagi could knock Ueno down the stairs. Ueno fought back with a Moonsault out of the ring and also a Frog Splash in the ring. But he missed the BME, landing on his feet right there for Takagi to give him the Stunner for the shock three count! Takagi later said if he wins the tournament then he will challenge Ueno for the KO-D Title. Ueno does not want to end this with a loss and thinks Takagi must come challenge him for the title eventually.

The other big upset in the opening round is To-y advancing past KANON. He kept on getting hit with K-Spikes but fought back using the Kojima Wonderland. KANON avoided the Kojima Impace but got caught with a Frankensteiner for the upset loss. He heard KANON’s comments about Hideki Okatani during the week and is sure Okatani was supporting him rather than KANON. All he needs is a 1% chance of winning to turn it into a 100% chance! Meanwhile KANON can’t believe he lost in the first round again. After three years of trying he has never gotten past Round 1 in the King Of DDT.

It was a battle of magic and danger when MAO took on the very first King Of DDT winner Poison Sawada JULIE. The dreaded Snake Magic is Sawada’s main weapon. Using it causes the victim to raise their rattling hand in the air to show that Sawada can then make them do whatever he wants. However it turns out MAO has been learning the same dark magic and used his own version to fight back. The spells ended up knocking out Yukinori Matsui after they were deflected into his direction. MAO then summoned invisible baseball bats rigged with explosives that had its own warning siren to go with it. He and Sawada both hit each other with the bats, causing an invisible explosion every time. Sawada then blinded MAO with Poison Mist but couldn’t get the three count with the Choke Slam or the Maoi Of Easter. MAO had to defend himself from the magic and did so by spitting his own Mist in Sawada’s face. Sawada was then powerless to block the Iai Kick, ending the match and eliminating him from the tournament.

The King Of DDT Round 2 matches on 11th May will be MAO Vs To-y, Sanshiro Takagi Vs Daisuke Sasaki, Kazusada Higuchi Vs Shuji Ishikawa and Tetsuya Endo Vs Chris Brookes.

One of the dark matches ended before Jun Akiyama could even enter the ring so they had to restart it on his orders. His team did their entrance again and the same thing almost happened a second time. However Akiyama was there to stop Oishi from quickly pinning Kazuki Hirata again so everyone could get a chance to wrestle. Later in the match everyone began to fight over the Hirata GO! Glasses. When Akiyama was the last man standing he decided to put them on. Right when he was about to dance Oishi pinned Hirata to cut the music and end the match.

The other dark match had Keigo Nakamura winning the bout for his team. Yuni & Ilusion both did dives onto Soma Takao & Yuya Koroku outside the ring. But Kazuma Sumi couldn’t follow up for his side and got pinned by Nakamura’s Diving Headbutt.

There were a few announcements for some of DDT’s upcoming shows. Minoru Suzuki will be at “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2024” on 21st July. There will be a Street Pro Wrestling match held inside a sauna on 21st June with Sayaka Unagi as one of the participants. Unagi will also be at the 20th July Beer Garden show.

Rukiya Is Off Tomorrow’s Show

DDT “KING OF DDT ~20TH ANNIVERSARY~ 1ST ROUND”, 05/05/2024
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

0. Dark Match: Soma Takao, Keigo Nakamura & Yuya Koroku Vs Yuni, Ilusion & Kazuma Sumi
0. Dark Match: Shunma Katsumata, Akito & Kazuki Hirata Vs Jun Akiyama, Makoto Oishi & Tomomitsu Matsunaga
1. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 1A: MAO Vs Poison Sawada JULIE
2. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 1B: KANON Vs To-y
3. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 1C: Yuki Ueno Vs Sanshiro Takagi
4. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 1D: Yuki Iino Vs Daisuke Sasaki
5. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 1E: Kazusada Higuchi Vs Yukio Naya
6. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 1F: HARASHIMA Vs Shuji Ishikawa
7. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 1G: Tetsuya Endo Vs Danshoku Dieno
8. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 1H: Chris Brookes Vs Takeshi Masada

Rukiya is still waiting on the results for his neck examination. His doctor advised him to keep resting until then. That means he won’t be at tomorrow’s show. Soma Takao will be stepping in to replace him. The teams in that dark match have been slightly changed around to fit him in.

King Of DDT 2024 Press Conference

DDT “KING OF DDT ~20TH ANNIVERSARY~ 1ST ROUND”, 05/05/2024
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

0. Dark Match: Yuni, Keigo Nakamura & Yuya Koroku Vs Ilusion, Kazuma Sumi & Rukiya
0. Dark Match: Shunma Katsumata, Akito & Kazuki Hirata Vs Jun Akiyama, Makoto Oishi & Tomomitsu Matsunaga
1. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 1A: MAO Vs Poison Sawada JULIE
2. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 1B: KANON Vs To-y
3. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 1C: Yuki Ueno Vs Sanshiro Takagi
4. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 1D: Yuki Iino Vs Daisuke Sasaki
5. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 1E: Kazusada Higuchi Vs Yukio Naya
6. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 1F: HARASHIMA Vs Shuji Ishikawa
7. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 1G: Tetsuya Endo Vs Danshoku Dieno
8. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 1H: Chris Brookes Vs Takeshi Masada

A press conference was held at yesterday’s DDT fanfest featuring 14 of the 16 entrants in this year’s King Of DDT tournament. Takeshi Masada could not be there due to university commitments but sent in a message. The message said Masada does not want to get knocked out in the first round like he did last year. He will be in the main event against his stablemate Chris Brookes. Masada has learned a lot from being in SCHADENFREUDE International and sees this match as a challenge to surpass his friend. Brookes is last year’s winner and he brought the trophy with him. He is motivated to win the tournament again and go all the way to winning back the KO-D Openweight Title. However he admits he felt a little aimless after he lost the KO-D Title last year. He’s still motivated but felt something was missing.

Elsewhere Tetsuya Endo’s match against Danshoku Dieno has more meaning to it than you would think. Endo’s recent luck in King Of DDT hasn’t been good but he feels he has gotten into shape after winning the New Year’s Eve trios tournament and raching the final of the D-Oh Grand Prix. However Dieno means so much to DDT that Endo admits he is not as good of a pro wrestler as Dieno is. He thinks Dieno does not realize that though and for that reason Endo is confident he will win. Dieno said he is only concentrating on this match and has done a lot of studying for it. His entire game plan is going to be based around Endo using the Burning Star Press. He knows how to avoid it and also how to counter it. The percentage of him succeeding is low but if Dieno can nail the timing of the Burning Star Press being used against him, he can find a way to exploit it and beat Endo.

It’s been a while since a HARASHIMA Vs Shuji Ishikawa match has happened. HARASHIMA is well aware of his big and strong Ishikawa is. He is also a believer that tomorrow is when a person will reach their peak so he will be stronger too. Both of them are evolving so he does not expect the match to be identical to their previous fights against each other. Ishikawa understands it takes a lot of training at his age to keep fit and HARASHIMA is older than he is. He had seen Yuki Ueno wrestle at Korkauen Hall last month and it made him realise all of DDT’s champions right now are young. He intends to last forever though. He also feels emotional about the tournament because he missed so many of them due to his affiliation with Union Pro at the time. When he finally got to have a proper go it was as an independant wrestler in 2016 and he won it that year. His hope is he will face Poison Sawada JULIE in the final.

An illness prevented Kazusada Higuchi from being at the event but he had a message written out for everyone. His thought process is the same, he will take it one match at a time. His 1st Round opponent is Yukio Naya so he will be focused the most on beating him. Naya is trying to repeat his success from the D-Oh Grand Prix so he can get another shot at the KO-D Title. He believes his momentum began when he beat Higuchi at the 2022 D-Oh GP. He wants to beat him again to take his place as the center of DDT’s heavyweight division.

There is a lot going on is Daisuke Sasaki’s mind. He knows if Yuki Iino hits him with the Spear in Round 1 it will be all over for him. However Sasaki realized some of the best wrestlers in the world right now like Jon Moxley, Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns are all 38 years old. He is 38 years old so that means he is going to win! Iino has never beaten Sasaki in a singles match but is confident he can do it because of the Spear. He doesn’t know what direction it will come from but he will hit it. Also if age is a factor then Iino at 29 is the same as Shohei Ohtani and Yuzuru Hanyu. That means he is going to win, not Sasaki!

Sanshiro Takagi’s entry into the tournament has caught the attention of the wrestling press because of his age and also who he is facing in Round 1. The 54 year old is taking on the KO-D Champion Yuki Ueno! He told Ueno that when he was his age it was a year into DDT’s existence and he worked as hard as he could to keep the company from collapsing. He wants to fight Ueno like he is 28 again. In order to do that he is thinking about visiting beauty salons and saunas to build up his stamina for a possible 60 minute long match. He also wants to keep his promise to Konosuke Takeshita. The promise is Takagi wins the KO-D Title one more time, Takeshita wins a singles title in AEW and the two of them will have a champion versus champion match together. Takeshita recently showing intentions to challenge for the IWGP World Heavyweight Title has only made Takagi’s wish become stronger. Ueno’s entire reign as champion has been about him proving he is the ace of DDT. Fighting the company president continues that story and will provide a look into DDT’s future. He will be in the main event of next week’s “ALL TOGETHER” show and wants to convey the fun that DDT brings to wrestling at that event.

It is To-y’s dream to win the KO-D Title so he is all revved up to be in the King Of DDT. KANON was unusually serious when he talked about looking forward to the match. He offered a handshake but To-y didn’t trust him. That caused KANON to burst into tears and claim he was told by Hideki Okatani to win the tournament. He then flipped out and attacked To-y putting him in the Cobra Twist. To-y promised to get revenge afterward.

There is a lot of nostalgia surrounding this year’s tournament because it is the 20th anniversary of the first one. The very first winner Poison Sawada JULIE is not feeling that nostalgia. He knows just how clever and tricky MAO is to fight. He is going to be careful but is confident he will win because of his magic spells. MAO said this year’s tournament is the turning point of DDT and he is that turning point. He has a counter for Sawada’s spells and that is to point somewhere so Sawada loses attention and then punch him in the face. Sawada sees the funny side of MAO’s idea and suggested the entire match just be them casting spells at each other.